Chapter 1.

Into Darkness

Link might not have looked like it, but he had endured more pain and suffering than almost anyone else in the world. He is, or rather, was the Hero of Time. He was raised among the Kokiri of the Lost Woods but went on a life-changing and world-saving quest that had changed him both physically and mentally. He had defeated huge monsters, an evil Gerudo sorcerer, and even his own shadow. He had even traveled back and forth through time!

However, when he defeated the Demon King Ganondorf, he had to be sent back to the time when he was a child, to warn everybody of the danger that was to become. Afterward, he had wandered deep into the lost woods in order to find an old friend; A fairy named Navi. She had been his constant friend and companion, but when Link reappeared in the temple of time, she had flown off. Link had not seen her since. He searched all of Hyrule high and low but ended up on his horse named Epona, in the middle of the lost woods.

Link rode Epona in a daze, barely aware of his surroundings. He had been riding for hours now, calling Navi's name every now and again, and asking every fairy he could find if they knew where she was. So far, he had no luck in finding her. He was traveling deeper into the woods than he ever had with Saria. The trees here huge, at least two or three meters across each, and there was a thick mist around him. Link was daydreaming when two bright balls of light, one white, and one purple, whizzed in front of Epona's face. She whinnied, and reared back, knocking Link off of her back, and stealing the breath from his lungs, stunning him.

"Hehe, you two fairies did great! I wonder if he has anything good on him?", said, someone. When Link looked over, trying to catch his breath, he saw a strange-looking child. He wore an orange tunic and a straw hat, with pants made out of dark green fabric. Link couldn't see very well with the mist, but he thought he even saw the child's skin, which was rough and brown, like bark. He was a Skull Kid, but what was he doing this deep in the woods? They normally preferred the airier and warmer meadows of the woods.

There was one more strange thing about the Skull Kid: He was wearing a mask. The mask was heart-shaped, with three horns on either side of its face, two horns on top, and two glowing yellow eyes. This was quite uncommon among the Kokiri's cousins, but Link had once given a skull-shaped mask to a skull kid before. He wondered if this was the same skull kid.

"Huh? This guy? Well, that shouldn't be a problem." The Skull Kid walked over with the typical waddle of a skull kid and rifled through Link's Sachel of Holding. He pulled out a navy blue ocarina with a gold band around the mouthpiece. It was the Ocarina of time! This ocarina was an important piece of Link's equipment, as it was a key to the sacred realm!

"Ooh, ooh! What a pretty Ocarina! Hey, Skull Kid, lemme touch it, I wanna see it!", said the purple fairy

"You can't Tael!", said the white fairy, "What would we do if you dropped it and broke it? No way! You can't touch it!

"Aww, but sis, Why can't I try it out too?" replied Tael.

At this point, Link had caught his breath, and the Skull Kid seemed oblivious to Link's stirring. Link had gotten up and was about to grab him when the Skull Kid turned around. He quickly hid the ocarina behind his back, and then Link lunged for it.

"Hey, that's mine! Give it back!"

Laughing, the Skull Kid flipped over Link and onto Epona and spurred her into a gallop. Link just barely managed to grab onto the saddlebags as Epona ran.

The Skull Kid swerved Epona from side to side, and Link gasped and grunted as he was dragged through the dirt and dead leaves. After one final swerve, Link was knocked off and fell into a small clearing with a tunnel leading into a hill. The Skull Kid rode Epona into it, and the sound of hooves faded quickly.

Link grunted as he got up:

"That's gonna leave a mark." He was bruised but had no major cuts or any broken bones. He stared into the blackness of the tunnel and sighed heavily. This was not how he had planned this trip into the Lost Woods. He was expecting to hear a sarcastic remark from Navi, but when he looked at his shoulder, she was not sitting there. This only made him feel more determined. Besides, he and Epona had gone through a lot together, and he would not give up on her.

As Link ran down the tunnel, he equipped his Shield and Sword on his back. This meant that he was not paying attention as the path suddenly ended at a deep hole. Link tried to regain his balance, but his momentum carried him off of the edge, into darkness.