Chapter 2

"So…has any change come over him since he has returned?"

"No."

"Why is this?"

"They seam not to know…"

"Hmm… well… it seams Link the Hero of Time has come back a broken man… perfect…"

Link stood within a clearing, which he was told was where he was brought back into the world of Hyrule. The place was deep within the lost woods, close to the Sacred Forest Meadow. This was his returning place…but why? What made this place so special?

He stood underneath the shade of one of the many trees that made up the wood, pondering these things, when he heard it. A small snap of a twig… Link kneeled down and leaned forward, bringing his left hand up over his head to retrieve the short sword he held on his back, his other arm trying to get his shield. He leaned forward, letting the momentum take him as he unsheathed his blade, rolling forward as the being that had snapped the twig dived overhead.

Link let the momentum carry him all the way around, leaving him back in his kneeled position. He spun to see his opponent, who had recovered from the dive and shifted it's weight and landed on it's feat. The figure was of Hylan appearance, but wore a cloak to hide the person's armaments. As soon as the figure landed on it's feat, it shifted it's weight once again and changed to a dash at Link. Link waited to meet this attacker, holding his position. A woman's voice hollered from within the cloak, anger filling her.

As she came up to him, Link shifted his weight and dashed towards her, his shield in front of him. They both hit, but Link with his shield to hold his ground overpowered. The figure was pushed back and fell towards the ground. Link jumped upwards, spinning his sword in his hand, into the position so the blade was facing the ground, he prepared himself for what would be a killing blow. He came down, and landed right above the figure, his legs just parted enough so that he didn't land on her. His blade came down and stopped at her neck. Laughter emitted from inside the cloak, then she reached up and pulled the covering from her face. Underneath was a face full of sorrow, and a small thin scar below her left eye.

"So you finally came back…" came the voice of the woman, young sounding as if she was not more than 17.

"What do you want with me?" came Link's voice, commanding, his sword not wavering from it's position above her neck. More laughter came, crude sounding, as if the woman was forcing the laugh to a joke that was not funny.

"I merely came to see if the rumors were true, if the Hero of Time had truly returned to the land that he had forgot." She stared at him, her eye's filled with an anger that Link new was hatred.

"The rumors may be true, but that is no reason for you to attack me." he said, still unwavering.

"I was testing you…to see if you were the one I had heard so many stories about. The hero that defeated the evil King of the Garudos, then left this place to go find a single friend." A smile crept across the woman's face, then sarcasm filled her voice. "How noble."

"You don't know me, and you have no right to sneak up on unsuspecting people and attack them." The woman's smile faded.

"I know more than you think…" With that, she grabbed both his legs, and pushed herself hard so that she slid from below him, however, Link swung his foot around and kicked her in the ribs, knocking her down again. A cough came as she hit the ground. She lay there…motionless. Slowly Link started over to her, but instead of standing above her as he did before, he stepped on her right hand, hard. A yelp came from the girl as she struggled to get her hand up, in the struggle a small knife came from under her hand, concealed so that she could easily stab him when he was not ready.

"I saw that knife when you grabbed your cowl from over your face. Either you don't know what you are doing, or you let me see it." he stepped off of her hand, so that she may massage it with her other. She gave him a cold hard stare as she did so.

"You never wanted to kill me… you don't have the skill anyways." The woman jumped to her feat.

"What do you mean?" Her face was red with anger.

"You look as if you have only been training for about 3 years. Your skills aren't as fine tuned as my own." The woman's face changed from anger to puzzlement.

"You've changed…" Link looked into her eyes.

"Do you know me?" Link scanned her up and down. She removed her garb to reveal her hair, brown. The woman laughed.

"That wouldn't help much…my hair was different then…" With that she reached into her sack she had on her side, and pulled something out. She placed it into her hair, parting it so that one side was favored more than the other.

"Saria?…"

Impa the Sage of Shadow stood within the Hyrulian market place, looking up at the night sky. The stars shown brightly tonight, and the moon was full, illuminating the ground so that all could be seen. However, her kind was not as easily seen as most others are. She was a Shiekian, a race that had almost completely died out from the war 2 decades ago, and they were blessed with the ability of stealth. Beside her was another figure, cloaked.

"I do not know if the Princes will wish to speak with you, it may confuse her in a way, you being back and all, she thought you for dead my friend." said Impa to the shadowy figure, still looking at the twinkling lights of the night.

"She will see me if she is ready or not…" the figure said, his voice that of a young man's, just out of adolescence. "She will remember me, will she not Impa?" Impa smiled,

"Yes, she will remember you my friend. She cared for you deeply, in a way that most did not, you were more than a friend to her, you were a loved one. When you had died…" Impa stopped, then looked towards the figure. "The only reason you are alive again is that Zelda had turned back time to a point before Link had gone on his first journey. Only Link and the Sages held these memories of the 7 years that would never be. In the action of turning back time, she never thought that it would bring you back, but… it has been 5 years now, and you kept your living a secret from her until now… why?"

"I had my reasons…"

"Why are you revealing yourself now?"

"The attacks that have been happening… the very reason that Rauru and Zelda brought the Hero of Time back, this is the reason that I wish to make myself known to her once more. I thank you for telling me all that you have my friend, but I must go now." The figure turned and slowly started off.

"Wait, what about the guards?" Impa stammered. A chuckle came from the shadowy figure.

"We are the last of the great Shiekians Impa, and yet you forget our ability of stealth?" Impa smiled t this remark.

"I will see you later my friend, most likely within the castle itself." And with that, the figure disappeared, as if into nowhere. Impa looked back up towards the night sky, watching the stars once more.

"I hope you know what your doing my friend…"