I'm back! Ready?

"Hey y'all!" called Malon as she burst through the door of Zelda's dorm.

"Oh, hey Malon," responded Samus in an unenthusiastic tone. She was bent over a book, wearing a stylish pair of glasses and still in her PJ's.

"So… where is everyone?"

"I think they went out on the back porch. Wanted to catch snowflakes on their tongues or something like that."

"Oh! Well that sounds like fun!" Malon shrugged her jacket back on and went out side to join the rest of her friends.

Just as Samus had said, Saria, Zelda, Wendy and Peach were all outside on the deck catching snowflakes.

"Hey girls! I'm back!"

"Malon!" Peach ran up and gave her a friendly hug. "How did things go with the food rationing?"

"Well, there's good news and bad news." Malon used a tone of voice that didn't sound promising. "See, at the end of every week the campus gets new food shipments. And it was like, Tuesday when the power shut off…"

"Let me guess," began Zelda, "We're running low on food, but the "good news" is that we won't starve to death, right?"

"Right-on!"

"None of that sounds good to me," commented Samus who had entered the area. "Any news about the power or plumbing? The whole reason why I haven't been wearing my power suit is because it needs to charge up on electricity."

"Oh come on Samus, you look really pretty without the suit!" commented Wendy.

A chorus of agreements could be heard which made Samus blush. She never had been a girly- girl but it felt good to be flattered once and a while.

"You guys…"

There was silence for a moment, until Malon butted in and suggested that they all play a game. "Back on the ranch, when I was just a little girl, my mom would tell me to make a wish and catch a snow flake on my tongue. She said that it would bring good luck in the New Year." Malon threw her head back and stuck out her tongue. A fluffy snowflake landed and almost immediately melted as it met her mouth. She giggled and twirled around in a circle.

"My mother showed me that too!" commented Zelda. "It's an old Hyrulian tradition. All the children would run outside and make wishes, then catch a fresh snowflake on their tongue. Their wishes would come true when the New Year came around, but if they were greedy and tried to catch more than one flake, the goddesses would give them bad luck for a whole year."

"I remember those days…" mentioned Saria. "The forest children would always get so excited by snow."

Wendy recalled her own memories when she would play outside in the snow with her older brother. The city of Ostia was a beautiful sight in the winter time, all the castles and farm land covered in a thick, white snowfall.

"We should wish for someone to get us out of here," said Peach in an optimistic tone. The other girls quickly agreed.

Meanwhile, tension was building in other parts of the campus. The Poke'mon were cranky and disliked the snow, while the heavyweights like Bowser and Donkey Kong were having a heated snowball fight to ease the pain of boredom. But somewhere on campus, lost in the swirling, twirling snow and huddle of trees was a young man who was missed by his companions.

"Roy?" asked Young Link, "When is Big Link coming home? He always reads to me before bed and if he doesn't come home tonight then I'll never find out how my story ends!"

"I wouldn't worry," said Roy while pushing a long, red strand of hair out of his face. "Besides, you can always ask me to read to you!"

"Will you read to me now?"

"If it'll make you feel a little better, than sure."

Roy went into his room and sat down on the bed while Young Link went to get his book. The room was still messy; clothes strewn about the hardwood floor, posters tacked up against the white walls and the bed was still not made. However Roy didn't care. At home in castle Pherae, he would have been expected to keep his room neat and tidy, just as a proper young lord should. Being a smasher had its advantages after all.

"Here's the book!" Young Link skipped into the room and jumped onto Roy's bed. The two bounced upward at the jolt and landed with thump.

"So, where exactly are you in this book?" asked Roy. He flipped through the colorful pages and noticed that they depicted different scenes of adult Link fighting his way to Ganon's castle.

"Chapter nine, the part were Link and his horse race against the mean, old ranch owner."

Roy cleared his throat and began to read. "The blue sky contrasted perfectly against Epona's dark brown skin. Her mane was something wild, white and windblown as she galloped steadily across Hyrule. Link had chosen today to face the evil ranch assistant who had taken over Lon Lon Ranch. He had a score to settle and previously had made a promise to the owner's beautiful daughter, Malon, to save their farm…" his voice carried out into the hallway and into Marth's earshot.

Again, a forceful and demanding thought pounded through Marth's head, "Link… You should be out there looking for him, Marth. Who knows where he could be right now…"

"Roy?" called Marth.

"He galloped quickly over the first fence, then the—"Roy paused from reading in mid- sentence. "Young Link, can I go see what Marth wants real quick?"

"Okay! But hurry! I want to know if Big Link beats the evil assistant!"

"Marth?" asked Roy. He had jogged out of the bedroom and into the den where Marth had been sitting. "What's up, man?"

"Roy, I'm really worried about Link. I haven't seen him since this morning and the storm's starting to get really intense." At that moment the wind howled at the house and a gust of snow blew up towards the window.

"Are you sure he isn't over at Zelda's?"

"How would I know? I can't call over there and I haven't heard anything!" Marth used a tone of voice that left Roy taken aback. There was silence until Marth gave a quiet apology for yelling at his young friend.

"I'll go with you to look for him if it means that much to you. But we should at least check Zelda's place before we search anywhere else."

"Thanks Roy."

From within a dead bush and jumble of branches, a youthful figure could be seen lying limp.

"My goddess, is it ever cold…" he mumbled. The boy pulled his coat closer to him and looked down at his injured leg. "Why was I so stupid? I should have just walked on the trial instead of through the woods. Now my leg's all cut up from where I tripped over that rock and landed in this stupid bush." The snow had blinded the boy's vision and buried a rather large rock, which he managed to trip over and land in a sharp, thorny bush. He had tried to walk many times before, but found it was no use when his leg gave out from under him. "Stupid…"