Hey... This is the REAL chapter 18! Those of you who reviewed the notes, you will have to review this anonomously! I hope you enjoy this one.

To Find The Future, Find The Past

Chapter Eighteen

Return To The Forest

By the time Zelda woke up, it was almost time to leave. Standing up, she stretched and popped many joints in the process. Zelda winced every time she felt the tell-tale pop. She thought it quite disgusting, really. Walking out into the kitchen, Nabouru greeted her.

"Morning, Princess. Help yourself to some cereal or toast." She half-joked.

"Morning, Na-Nab-" Zelda yawned, "Nabouru."

"As soon a Impa wakes up and eats, you two will be going." Nabouru sat across from Zelda at the counter.

"You aren't coming?" Zelda asked groggily, getting herself a bowl from the stack of clean dishes next to the sink. She grabbed a box of Coco-Pops and a bottle of milk, and set about getting breakfast.

"Nope." Nabouru nursed a cup of tea, "Darunia, Ruto and I are still needed to find the Hero."

"I've already found him." Nabouru shook her head.

"You might have found one of the potentials, but I seriously doubt that you've found him." Zelda looked up at the woman.

"Potential?" Zelda was confused. Surely there was only one person who could be the hero?

"Hasn't Impa told you?" Zelda shook her head, "Well, the Hero doesn't necessarily have to be his soul reborn. He has to possess the kind of courage that would draw the Triforce of Courage to him. And he has to be able to wield the Master Sword, as well. That means he has to have a pure mind and heart, incapable of any evil. Of course, it would help if he had the Hero of Time's soul, but it is not necessary."

Zelda sat, absorbing it all, as Impa came out and got herself some breakfast. She was obviously not a morning person.

"I still think he's the one." She whispered to Nabouru.

LATER

Zelda and Impa trudged through the thick, soggy undergrowth of the Lost Woods. It had rained overnight, and it was quite difficult to walk in the mud.

Since Zelda had that conversation with Nabouru this morning, she had a lot of questions running through her mind. She was so sure that he was the Hero… How could he not be? He even looked like him! But… She might have been wrong… But that was near impossible, wasn't it? She had the Triforce of Wisdom, for crying out loud! But then again… being wise and being right were two totally different things…

"What's wrong with you, Zelda?" Navi piped up from her jacket, having being hiding there for the last two days with Tatl and Tael, "You seem so quiet."

"Hm?" Zelda was roused from her thoughts, "Oh, it's nothing. I was just thinking…"

"Zelda!" Impa called her from a bit further up, "Hurry! We're almost at Kokiri Forest! Don't lag behind. I wont come back for you!"

Zelda smiled. She knew full well that Impa wouldn't come back. Not for a little while, anyway. She would come back for her in the end, though. Nonetheless, Zelda sped up through the squelching mud, not wanting to be left behind.

Zelda and Impa emerged into the small village, and gasped. The place looked like a wrecking crew had come and demolished it. There wasn't a single living being in sight. The three fairies flew out into the remains of what had once been their home, searching for survivors.

"No…" Impa muttered, "No! It's too early! This cannot happen now!"

"I'm afraid you are correct, Impa." Zelda jumped and turned around. She heaved a sigh of relief. Saria had emerged from the trees behind them and sat on a rock, watching Zelda, a strange look in her eyes. She was alright, save for a few shallow bleeding cuts on her face and arms. But, other than that, completely fine.

"Where is everyone?" Impa demanded, turning to face Saria. Was it Zelda's imagination, or did Saria sound… strange? She definitely had a deeper voice than before. Impa, though, appeared not to notice.

"I don't know." Saria stood and faced Impa, "They all took off when Dark Link and his mob got here."

"Dark Link?" Zelda questioned. She should have known this. Somehow. There was something terribly, terribly wrong. She just couldn't quite place it.

'The shadow of the Hero of Time.' Her mind whispered as Impa turned around to face the village again, 'The one who swore to defeat him and wreak havoc on all of Hyrule, if Ganon did not succeed in killing him.'

It all flew together in Zelda's mind. But it was a moment too late. Saria was not Saria. Zelda was not sure who the small child in front of her was, but it sure as hell wasn't Saria. She tried to warn Impa, but there appeared to be a spell on Zelda. She couldn't speak!

Whoever it was, Zelda had to fight them. Zelda didn't know how, though. She was just hatching a plan in her mind, when she felt someone grab her from behind. She panicked, and dug her elbow into the attacker's abdomen. What she heard was not a cry of pain, or even a gasp. Her attacker laughed.

"You think that would be enough to make me let you go, wench?" the voice chuckled in her ear. Zelda gasped in surprise and disgust. It sounded almost exactly like Link!

Alarmed, Zelda tried to defend herself. To warn Impa. To do anything! Impa, however, was clipped over the head by the villain that had disguised themselves as the trusted Forest Sage. She fell into unconsciousness the second she was hit.

Zelda didn't know exactly what happened next. All she knew was that she also suffered the same fate.

MEANWHILE IN THE OUTSIDE WORLD

Link felt as if he had taken a blow to the gut. He had just been sitting in the lounge-room, waiting for Richard to get ready for school, when the pain struck. He did not show any obvious signs, but he did clench his fists. It was a pretty strong blow, though.

"Dude!" Richard stared at him, open-mouthed, "What happened to your shadow? It's, like, gone!"

"What are you talking about, Dick?" Link laughed, causing pain in his already aching stomach. His older brother just gaped like a fish and pointed. Rolling his eyes, Link looked to where his shadow should have been.

"What the fuck!" Link burst out, jumping up. He mentally slapped himself. His three little sisters, Aryll, Sophie and Geneva, had walked into the room as soon as he had cursed. He was just glad that his parents were out. He would've gotten a slap across the face for that from his mother.

OUTSIDE LINK'S HOUSE

Nabouru watched the scene unfold in front of her. Since she had spoken to Zelda this morning, she had decided to watch this boy. If Zelda felt that he was the Hero of Time, then Nabouru believed that he was. She just had to be sure.

'Odd,' She noticed, 'he doesn't have a shadow… How peculiar…' There was something not quite right about that.

There was a burst of energy behind her. She could tell that one of the immortal Sages had teleported behind her. She wouldn't have that power until she returned to Hyrule. She turned, expecting to see Impa, but that was not who was standing behind her.

"Saria!" Nabouru shouted, then cursed herself. She had alerted the children inside the house of her presence. Saria, though, either didn't notice or didn't care.

"Who are you?" Link shouted out the window, watching them carefully as if he were afraid that they were going to attack him or his siblings.

"Old friends." Saria walked over to the window, and climbed into the house. Nabouru followed her lead.

"I have no idea what you're on about!" Link's brother yelled, grabbing his sisters and running out of the room like a giant wuss. Link, however, stood there like a statue.

"What do you mean, 'old friends'?" He demanded, his eyes darting between them and a nearby softball bat. Saria noticed this, and rolled her eyes.

"I mean," she held out her hand, and the bat flew into it, "that we wont hurt you, unless you try to attack us with this." She brandished the bat. Link took several steps back, not wanting to be hit.

"Now, Saria," Nabouru turned in annoyance to the forest child, "What is so important that you left your people?"

"Something's happened."

HOURS LATER, IN THE KOKIRI FOREST

"What happened here?" Nabouru gasped, eying the wreckage that was once a village.

"Dark Link and a group of Stalfoses attacked the village." Saria was acting strong, but it was obvious that she was breaking up inside.

"Whoa…" Link wasn't listening. He had never imagined a place like this. He had refused to be left behind, when he heard that Zelda would be heading to this place.

Link heard a moan from somewhere to his left. Turning, he saw a hand sticking out from underneath a bunch of logs and leaves. Hearing another moan, he ran over to the pile, and began moving the logs. The other two noticed what he was doing, and rushed to help him.

"Impa!" Saria squealed, feeling for a pulse. In her haste, she had forgotten that Impa was unable to die.

"What happened, Impa?" Nabouru asked, helping Impa sit up.

"I-" Impa shook her head to clear it, "I'm not sure. We got back here, and I has hit over the head. Where's Zelda?"

"Zelda was here?" Link asked in hushed tones, afraid of what he might hear.

"Saria! Oh, Saria!" The four of them looked over to the left side of the woods. Across the destruction flew three balls of light. Link almost fell off the ledge he was sitting near.

"Navi! Tatl! Tael!" the small child cried, and took the small things into her hands, "what happened here after I left?"

"We-we got here, and we saw all the destruction." The blue ball of light sobbed, "And we flew out to check for survivors. I saw— I saw— Oh Saria, it was Dark Link! He grabbed the Princess from behind, and a wizard disguised as you knocked Impa out. Dark Link knocked Zelda out, and dragged her out of the forest. We don't know where he took her! We went to follow him, but by the time we were in the tunnel on the way to the field, he disappeared! We looked all over for them, but we couldn't— We couldn't— We couldn't find them!" Navi ended in a huge sob.

"What do you mean, Dar— Ouch!" Link cursed, as he felt a scratch cut his face open.

"What happened?" Saria moved to get a look at the cut.

"I have no clue…" Link put a hand up to his face, and felt something warm and wet. He looked at his hand. Blood.

"Ow…fu—" Link cursed again, as he felt something crush his foot. It felt like someone stomped on it.

"What's going on?" Nabouru asked Impa, watching as more cuts and scratches appeared all over him. Eventually, there was a blow that knocked him out. Somehow he was being attacked by an invisible enemy. No one knew what was going on.

"We'd better get him to the castle, and try to figure out where the Princess is." Impa muttered. All the Sages nodded. They weren't happy about it, but until they knew where the Princess was, they had to help Link.

How'd you like it? I hope you did! R&R! Questions anscomments are welcome, as it makes me think! You want me to think to keep this going. The updates will be a lot slower as of now, cause school is back. Also, I have to get my computer re-formatted, so it may be a while.

Thanks if you read this far! Once again, R&R!