Author's Note: Okay, how'd it turn out? I was so afraid Link would go OOC on me, that I added a bunch of silly stuff to his conversation with Zelda to remind you and I both that he IS a boy raised by a tree. Everything lined up pretty well between stories, I think. (Though, Zelda's side was a slight stretch if you're reading Princess' Destiny) If you notice any contradictories, feel free to point them out in reviews.

In other news, I've decided to give updates to readers on my story progress every Sunday (and sometimes Thursday). It will be posted on my author's page, if anyone is interested. More details are already listed there.

Spoiler Paragraph (if anybody doesn't know Sheik's identity) In response to the review asking to split Zelda and Sheik, please read my other story telling Zelda's side. Zelda is already learning to become a Sheikah. I'm trying to remain as close to the game as possible in my stories, but make them very novel-like. Sheik is almost a separate character (in that his personality is different), but will not appear as a separate character. Although, I'm planning a story based around the character Zelda used to disguise herself. That tale will not be told until after the Ocarina saga is told. Many are just begging me to move faster as is. Boy, I sure wrote a long Author's Note.

BTW, was Malon's accent too distracting, or unreadable in Ch. 6? Just let me know. Here we go.

Chapter Eight: The Village of the Sheikah

"You brave lad…" Impa said. They were standing on stone stairs about three miles out of Hyrule Castle Town and to the east. Ahead was a towering mountain range. Impa turned around to face Hyrule Field, and Link did the same. He sat down and put his boots back on, as the sun had dried his clothes to be just slightly dampened.

The sun now shone upon the whole of the field. The green hills, dirt paths, and scarce trees rolled on as far as the eye could see across a river from them. Impa described it as the Zora's River; it flowed down from the southern hills, east of the Kokiri Forest, where the people known as the Zoras lived. The entire landscape before them was even more majestic than when they first stepped on to the field two days prior.

"We must protect this beautiful land of Hyrule!" she continued.

"If Ganondorf gets it, will it not be so beautiful?" Link asked.

"I am afraid not. The princess has foreseen terrible things to come of the land if he were to rule it. We must not allow that to happen! Come. We must continue up the stone steps."

They turned back and walked up the stairs in the mountainside until finally they reached a wooden gateway with a sign over it. The doors were held open. A guard stood at the entryway.

"Ah, Kakariko," Impa said.

"Welcome back, Miss Impa," the soldier said. "Who have you brought with you?"

"This is Link," she said.

"Nice to meet you, Kakariko!" Link said, extending his hand. Impa and the guard laughed.

"No, no, Link. That is not this guard's name," Impa said. "Kakariko is the name of the village."

"Oh." Navi started laughing too. "Oh, come on, Navi! You didn't know either!"

"I am a clock soldier of Kakariko!" the man said, grabbing Link's hand and shaking it. "The current time is… oh, about eight-thirty."

"How does he know that?" Link asked Impa.

"I just watch the sun," the man answered. "I've been in this business for several years now. You know, if you'd come here a few years back, I wouldn't be here, nor would much of anyone really. Impa here opened the village to the common people. There's only a small population now, but someday this place will be as lively as Hyrule Castle Town!"

"Really?" The man had gotten Link excited, which wasn't a difficult task.

"Come now, Link," Impa said. "Follow me."

They walked through the gate, and Link and Navi learned that the man wasn't joking when he said there was a small population. Only a few scattered houses stood on the slope between rock walls. The valley made a decent farming area, but the economy didn't seem too good. Of course, these were things Navi noticed more than Link. What he saw, was, "Cuccos!"

"Link, would you give up the cucco thing!" Navi shouted.

"Got a bit of a hobby?" Impa asked.

"No. I think it's an odd obsession. A recent development, really, and partly my fault," Navi explained.

"I see." As Link started to chase a cucco running along the ground, he stopped watching where he was going, bumped into a man, and fell to the ground.

"There's a prime example for you!" the man shouted with his over-sized mouth. "You're all running aimlessly around the village, and you're not making any progress at all! You're worthless, I tell you!" He wasn't shouting at Link, of course, but four men standing in front of him, listening attentively, as though if they didn't, he might gnaw off all their ears.

"Something wrong, master carpenter?" Impa asked.

"Miss Impa!" he said in surprise.

The four men gasped and muttered, "The Great Impa!"

"Yes, Miss Impa, there is," the man admitted. "These boys working for me are all worthless!"

"That is not my fault, master carpenter. I hired you to improve this village, but you hired your own help."

"Well there's no such thing as good help these days, Miss Impa. Even my own son doesn't have a job, and he wanders around all day!"

"Well then, your new task is to whip these boys into shape, master carpenter," Impa instructed.

"Yes, ma'am, Miss Impa," he said. Then he turned to the four men and shouted, "Alright, you tubs of lard! Forty laps around the village!"

They all ran off in different directions.

"What's going on here?" Link asked.

"I see you're having trouble with your own helpers, Miss Impa," the man said.

"Absolutely not. Go about your business." Impa helped Link stand. "Come along, Link," she said. They descended to the grassy basin in the center of the village. Houses were built up on either side extending out of the basin. Impa pointed north, up the slope.

"Take a good look at that mountain," she said, pointing to one of the tallest peaks. It was thick and didn't quite make a point at the top. Though the skies were mostly clear, there was a cloud hanging above it. It was one of the closest peaks, and it almost seemed like a separate mountain than the rest of the range, of which Kakariko formed the foothills. "That is Death Mountain," she informed.

"Sounds welcoming," Navi said sarcastically.

"It is the home of the Gorons. They hold the Spiritual Stone of Fire."

"A stone of fire?" Link asked.

"I'm sure it's like the stone of the forest the Great Deku Tree gave you," Navi said.

"Kakariko is founded at the base of this mountain," Impa continued. "It is my hometown. It used to be a Sheikah village, but now I have opened it to everyone, being one of the few Sheikah left in Hyrule." She turned back to face the opposite wall towering above the village. A rocky slope built up into it, with scattered houses. She pointed to the furthest, highest house. It also happened to be the biggest. "That was my house before I became the princess's attendant."

She pulled out a slip of parchment and wrote on it. "This should allow you to stay the night there, if you so choose."

"Okay," Link said. He tucked it away.

"Link, I couldn't help noticing your ocarina," Impa said, pointing to the instrument on his necklace.

"Yeah. I got this from a close friend. I miss her a lot…"

"My role in the princess's dream was to teach a melody to the one from the forest. This is an ancient melody passed down by the Royal Family. I have played this song for Princess Zelda as a lullaby ever since she was a baby… There is mysterious power in these notes. Now listen carefully and memorize this song."

She pulled out a small ocarina and played it with one hand. She played a set of three notes twice over. It was very simple, but it sounded very soothing.

"Now you try."

Link took his ocarina off the string and tried to mimic the song, but he knew nothing of playing the ocarina. At first, Impa started repeating it to him, but when she saw that he didn't know it at all, she went to his side and placed his fingers over the right holes, until he finally played the three notes right a few times.

Suddenly, Impa stopped moving. She just sat, staring out into space as if she were listening to something.

"Impa?" Link said. "Are you okay?" No answer. "Oh no," he said to Navi. "I think I played so bad, I petrified her."

"Link, I don't think…" Navi started, but then Impa turned back to Link.

"I think you've got the hang of it," she said. "Only Royal Family members are allowed to learn the song. Remember, it will help to prove your connection to the Royal Family. The princess is waiting for you to return to the castle with the stones. All right, we're counting on you! Now, I must leave. Good luck!"

She stepped away from Link and Navi and pulled something out of a pouch. She threw it to the ground and it made a loud crack. A bright flash of light blinded Link and Navi when the item cracked. They heard a lot of gasping around them, as if the whole village watched in amazement. As their vision returned, they realized that Impa was gone. All the people of Kakariko started talking to each other in hushed excitement.

"What was that?" Link asked.

"No clue," Navi admitted. "What was her hurry? I don't understand."

"I knew she didn't like my music."

"I don't know that that is what that was," Navi said to reassure him, but Link wasn't paying attention. "Link?"

"Cuccos!" Link ran around, chasing cuccos in the valley as Navi chased him, trying to get him to stop.

"Stop!" a woman shouted. "You! Little boy! Please don't tease my cuccos!"

Link stopped in front of her. "You're cuccos?"

"Yes. My cuccos are all loose. What should I do?"

"I can help!" Link said.

"Would you?" the woman said. "Thank you! They're scattered around the village."

So Link went around gathering up the woman's cuccos for her. He brought one back to her and showed it to her, but she said, "Just put it in the pin!" So Link continued gathering cuccos and putting them in the pin she showed him, until she said he'd found them all.

"Thank you very much!" she said. "I have allergies, so I get goose bumps when I touch them. I can't offer you much, but please take some money." She offered him a blue rupee, worth five rupees.

"No, you don't have to do that," Link said, but she made him accept it.

"Now I have… eighty-four rupees, I think," he said when they walked away.

"Do you want to go to the market and see what we can buy?" Navi asked.

"Sure!" Link said enthusiastically. He started to run, then stopped and looked around. "Where is the market?"

"There isn't one," a nearby clock soldier said. "The only store we have here is run by that old woman in that house there." He pointed to a house on the Death Mountain slope. "Anything else we need is bought in the castle town."

"Okay, thanks!" Link said, and ran off, Navi close behind.

When they reached the house, they saw a man sitting on the roof. He was staring up at Death Mountain.

"What are you doing up there?" Link asked.

"I can't get down," the man answered. "So all I can do, really, is look at Death Mountain."

"Is this the old lady's shop?"

"Yeah, but don't call it that to her."

"Yeah Link, that's rude," Navi said.

"So can I get some equipment from a journey here?"

"What kind of journey are you taking? This is a potion shop, and an odd one at that!"

"A potion shop? Thank you!" Link and Navi went in the house and found a very old woman sitting at a counter, petting a cat. The entire room was filled with some strange smelling gases that clouded the air. The gases came from pots of brewing liquid, scattered through the room.

"A customer?" the woman asked. She didn't look directly at Link, but instead, the door. As he walked toward her, she looked in the direction he came, but not directly at him.

"Yes, I was wondering what you sell," Link said.

"Ah, a child?" How could she not know? Unless she were blind… "Yes, I see now. A child, and… a fairy?"

"Yes. That's right," Navi said.

"You must be from the forest. Oh, I have not seen forest folk in ages. The last time I went to the woods, I acquired an odd mushroom."

"A mushroom?" Link asked.

"Yes… I made a potion from the mushroom. It has strange healing properties…"

"A healing potion?" Navi asked.

"Yes… If you would like some, I will sell for a price…"

"How much?" asked Link. He was very intrigued.

"Eighty-five," was the woman's answer.

"Oh. All I have is eighty-four…"

"That is fine," the woman replied. "One rupee doesn't matter. Here, take some." She took a glass bottle and dipped it in a vat of red liquid, and then pulled it out, filled. She put a cork in the top and handed it to Link. Link set his rupee bag on the counter and walked to the door.

"Thank you, very much," he said, just before leaving.

"No, no," the woman answered. "Thank you. It was nice meeting a Kokiri again."

Link and Navi left, and Link stuck the potion in his pack.

"Hey, why don't we go ahead?" Link said.

"Go ahead? You mean climb the mountain?"

"Yeah, why not? We still have most of the day ahead of us!"

"I suppose we could…" Navi said.

"Alright!" Link took off up the Death Mountain slope. Navi flew up with him.

Finally, after passing several houses and their farmlands, Link and Navi reached a wall, extending from one rock wall to the opposite one, in front of them. A gate was built into it, and was closed. A guard stood beside the gate.

"The road is closed beyond this point!" the man said. "Can't you read the sign over there? Eh?" Link stared at him. "Oh, I see. You're just a kid, and you can't read yet. Ha ha hah!"

Link was somewhat upset that the man laughed at him, but didn't let it get to him. He noticed a sign next to the gate, and Navi guided him through the words. The sign read:

"Death Mountain

No passage without a royal decree!"

"So we can't go, huh?" Link said.

"Nope, sure can't," answered the man.

"Link!" Navi said. "Show him Zelda's note!"

"What?" Link said. "Why does he want that?"

"Just do it!"

"What are you two talking about?" the soldier asked.

Link pulled out the piece of parchment Zelda had given him. The man started reading it.

"Oh, this is… Princess Zelda's signature! Well let's see… 'This is Link… He is under my orders to save Hyrule.'" The guard paused for a minute, then burst out laughing. "What kind of funny game has our princess come up with now?"

"It's not a game!" Link said. "I have to collect some stones and fight evil monsters…"

"It does sound like a game, Link," Navi said. "But, seriously, sir! It's not!"

"Yeah, this is Hyrule we're talking about!" Link said. "The beautiful land, with the fields, and the hills, and the mountains…"

"Okay, okay, all right," said the guard. "This is the princess's signature. You can go, just be careful, Mr. Hero! But, you can't go with… what is that? A dagger and a wooden shield?"

"It's the Kokiri Sword, and a Deku Shield!" Link said.

"Kokiri Sword? You're that Kokiri everyone's talking about, aren't you?"

"I guess if everyone's talking about me…"

"Yeah! You're the kid that killed all those skeletons!"

"That's me!"

"Well I feel a whole lot better about sending you up the mountain, now! But you still can't go with that shield."

"What's wrong with my shield? It was a gift from Corey…"

"It's made of wood!"

"Yeah, so?"

"And this is an active volcano!"

"It's a what?"

"An active volcano!" Navi exclaimed. "We can't go there! Not with wooden equipment!"

"In Hyrule Castle Town Market, there's a bazaar that sells a much more protective shield."

"How much do they cost?"

"Eighty rupees, I think."

"Eighty rupees!" Link shouted. "I just traded away my whole rupee bag! Like, I even left the bag!"

"Yeah, I meant to tell you that was stupid," Navi said.

"Well that old lady was nice…"

The guard started laughing. "I like you, kid. Hey, how's this? My relief comes in around eighteen on the clock. When that happens, I'll head over to Hyrule Castle Town. Soldiers get a special discount, so I can get you one for really cheap. I'll just buy it for you, then you can head up tomorrow, if you want."

"That sounds good! Wow, another free shield. Boy, we get lucky, don't we Navi?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. Just go find something to do. I'll give you your shield this evening or tomorrow."

"Okay!"

Link and Navi went around town for the next hour or so, but couldn't find anything very interesting.

"Navi, we've been going around town for about an hour or so!" Link said. "And we haven't found anything very interesting!"

"Yeah. I bet if we were in Hyrule Castle Town, we'd find something to do," Navi said.

"Or the forest…" Link was really missing his friends back home.

"Well, we've got a job to do," Navi said. "And right now, our job is through here."

"Navi? What's an active volcano?"

"It's a mountain," Navi said. "Except it spits fire."

"Fire!" Link exclaimed. "We're climbing a mountain that will spit fire at us!"

"Well it's a little more complicated than that," Navi said.

"Navi, this quest the princess sent us on sounds really dangerous. I thought we were done when we went to see Zelda! I thought we'd give her the box, and the stone, and be done with it! Then we'd go back home and live with the other Kokiri. And no one could pick on me any more, because I have a fairy and I saved the Great Deku Tree, and…"

"Link, if you don't want to keep going, you don't have to. You can just go see the princess, tell her you can't do it, and go home. Honestly, the Great Deku Tree didn't tell me much more than to see the princess either."

"I can't do that. Just tell her I quit?"

"Well you can think about it, I guess."

"Most of the time these big decisions I took to Saria. She would know what to do. She always knew what to do."

"Do you want to ask her?"

"Ask Saria? Can we?"

"Yeah! We can go back home and see all your friends!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, there's no hurry! It's not like Ganondorf will get the Triforce anytime soon, anyway. Remember, Zelda said she wouldn't let him get the Ocarina of Time. We can do it! Let's go!"