Impa went to knock at the door. As she did, a thought crossed her mind.

"I am going to enter now." She announced. "And I hope that when I do, there are no sharp objects pointed at me."

She walked through the door to find the children all staring at her, with one child looking particularly guilty. In the absence of an adult, Malon had asked to be taught how to use a sword. At that very moment, she held Links sword above her head with Link guiding her movements. She stared at Impa, and the only way she could have looked guiltier was if she was holding the blade to someones throat.

"Um…" The redhead whispered meekly. "Hi." She handed back the blade to Link, who softly sheathed it.

Impa shook her head. "I don't know, I don't care." She turned her gaze to Link. "We need to talk."

Link hugged himself, afraid. Before anyone could move, Malon jumped between them.

"Leave him alone!"

Impa frowned. "Excuse me?"

"He saved me!" She shouted. "And Dad! And Mr Ingo! You can't punish him for that!"

Impa sighed. "Young Lady, you don't understand the complexity of the situation."

"Yeah, well I understand you made my best friend cry!"

The Sheikahs eyes turned harsh. "I admit, I let my anger control me. But the boy put his life on line, against the better judgement of those that have gone to war." She tilted her head. "Now I suggest that you take a moment and think before insulting me."

"Malon," Link put his hand on the farm girls shoulder. "It's fine. Really."

"But-"

"Malon, I don't regret what I did. I'd do it a thousand times over." He smiled weakly. "But Impa is smarter than us. I should have listened."

Malon scowled. "She's making you feel bad for no reason."

"Malon?" The boy grinned. "Shush. Don't make it worse."

"Sorry, what? I'm defending you. You could at least back me up."

He laughed and softly punched her arm. "It'll be fine. I trust Impa."

"Regardless," Impa interjected. "I have need of Link for a seperate issue."

Link frowned. "What?"

Impa looked around the dormitory. "I must speak with in private. It may take some time. A shield may help."

Link nodded, slowly understanding. "Ok. Should I grab anything else?"

"Of course not. We aren't going to into a fight."

With a nod, Link moved to his bed and slung his sword and shield over his back. Once they were secured on his back, he shot a smile at the other kids and moved to the door, and stopped quickly to hug Malon.

"Don't let her push you around, Fairy Boy." She whispered in his ear.

He winked. "No way."

As he walked through the door, Eshie called out mockingly. "Good luck, Fairy boy!"

He turned back and, looking pink, feigned a smile as Impa closed the door behind him. After a few seconds, Malon spun on Eshie.

"Excuse me?! You can't call him that! Only I get to call him that!"

Impa led Link through the castle grounds silently. The whole seemed abandoned, with all the knights and soldiers defending the town. Link felt uncomfortable, following the imposing Sheikah without so much as a word between them, but lacked the bravery to converse.

Eventually, they reached a seat that Impa sat down and closed her eyes. Not sure on what he was supposed to do, Link shuffled in next to her.

A moment passed.

Link cleared his throat. "Impa. I'm sorry. I did-"

"That doesn't matter now." She interrupted him. "There will be consequences, but now is not the time."

"I still want to apologise."

"That's fine." She muttered absentmindedly. "But it is unimportant."

Another moment of silence.

Link looked at Impa. "What are we doing?"

"We are sitting down."

Link frowned. "Why?"

"I am clearing my mind. I will inform you in a moment."

They sat there for a minute. The sounds of a battle echoed in the distance. Links mind raced to the worst case scenarios. Something only he could help with. What would that be? Something about the Spiritual Stones? Could the Zora be in trouble?

His mind whirled with the possibilities, only broken when Impa placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Now, allow me to explain." She said solemnly. "A faction of the army has broken off and headed south east."

Links eyes widened. "The Zora?"

Impa shook her head. "No. The cursed forest."

Link frowned. "The curse..?" Suddenly, the blood drained from his face. "Oh no. The Lost Woods." He shot out of his seat. "I let this happen. The Kokiri… goddesses no!" He fell to his knees, holding his head. "It's my fault!"

"Link." Impa knelt down beside him. "Please, calm yourself."

"How do you expect me to be calm?!" He screamed. "I could have warned them! I could have been there!"

"We cannot know if the enemy in going to find them." Impa reassured him. "But we will help them."

Link took a shaky breath. "How?"

"The Sheikah can travel great distances in an instant."

"Teleportation?"

Impa nodded. "A basic, but accurate, word." She held up her hand. "However! I have expended a lot of energy, and even at peak health I would likely struggle to… teleport… directly to the woods themselves."

Link shuddered. "So what are we doing to do?"

She stood up. "You once claimed the there was multiple passageways into and out of the woods, correct?" He nodded. "Which one is the closest?"

Link thought for a moment. "It would be the one in Goron City. It leads right into the Lost Woods."

Impa was silent. She had hoped it would be closer, but she trusted Link. If he said it was closest, it was closest.

"Very well." She stood up. "I will get us there. However," She looked into his eyes. "The consequences of traveling such a large distance may be sever. You may need to keep me alive. Can you do that?"

Link, taking a moment to steel his nerves, nodded. "I can do whatever you need."

"Very well." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "Close your eyes."

Link complied and, after a moment of silence, they were gone.

A wave a cold washed over Link, engulfing him, with a malevolent force grasping at him, dragging him through the darkness, and before Link could gasp in shock, it was over. He stood there for a moment, feeling the heart blast him from all directions, before opening his eyes. He stood before the entrance to Goron City, with smoke of Death Mountain hanging over him.

"We did it." Link sighed in relief, a feeling that only lasted a moment as Impa collapsed to the ground.

Link, panicking, grabbed her shoulders and held her up. Her skin was slick with sweat, yet she was shivering as if she was buried under foot of snow, and her eyes were rolled back to her head.

"Impa!" Link shook her. "Come on, you never said your brain would stop working!"

When she failed to respond, Link backed off. He didn't know what to do. He looked to the entrance to the cave. If he could get inside, Darunia could help Impa. Maybe.

He took off his cap and stuffed it into his belt and slung Impas arms over his shoulders and began dragging her towards the city.

Impa was heavy. Link chalked it up to her muscular build, height and armour. He felt his feet crunching against the gravel beneath him. He hoped he wasn't scratching up Impas knees. He could hear her being dragged through, but he didn't look back. He simply kept moving forwards.

Crunch. Crunch.

Usually there was at least one Goron by the entrance, acting as a guard or greeter, but there were none there. Link grumbled, annoyed. They could carry Impa for him, without his sword in her face.

Crunch. Crunch.

His legs felt weak, but he was in the cave. He just needed to keep going until he found a Goron.

Crunch. Crunch.

Where were the Gorons?

Crunch. Crunch.

Link walked through the entrance to the city, and the ground changed from gravel to solid stone. Link saw a strange rock in front of him and sighed in relief, before placing Impa down before approaching. Suddenly, the Goron sort up, baring its teeth and roaring. Instinctively, Link drew his sword.

"Wait," The Goron frowned. "You're not a monster. You're a Hylian."

Link blinked and sheathed his sword. "Right, of course, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Oh, I wasn't scared." The Goron chuckled. "I was just seeing if I could scare monsters away. Didn't seem to work though."

Link pursed his lips. "Right." He pointed to Impa. "Could you please carry her? She's too heavy for me."

"Of course." The Goron threw her over their shoulder and waddled over. "Say, you look familiar."

"I've been here before." He looked at Impa and winced. "We need to get her some medicine. Where can we get some?"

"Big Brother will know what to do. He has a lot of odd things for Hylians."

Link nodded impatiently. "Ok! Let's go then."

Link ran through the city, urging the Goron to move faster, that she needed immediate aid, drawing the attention of the cities residents. Despite his impulsiveness, the Goron had a good pace, moving quickly yet being sure not to jostle his passenger. In good time, Link found himself outside Darunias alcove.

"I'll go get Big Brother." The Goron said, setting Impa down on the wall.

"No need." Link pulled out a pink ocarina, a treasured gift from his closest friend, from his belt and brought it to his lips, playing the notes of a sacred song, a song used by the royal family, used as a call to arms to their allies and a rally to the people of Hyrule.

A deep growl echoed of the walls, as a tall figure stepped out of cave.

"Darunia!" Link called out. "It's-"

"Hmm?" The chieftain grunted. "Link?"

"Yes, it's-"

"Link!" Darunia broke into a terrifying grin. "Brother!" He opened his arms and, in an instant, crushed Link between his arms.

"Darunia! Please!" Link gasped.

Darunia laughed. "Sorry brother! But it's been so long!"

The Gorons eyes widened. "Oh! You're the Hylian Link."

"Yes!" Darunia chortled. "What other Hylian is this green?"

The Goron rubbed his head sheepishly. "Sorry for trying to scare you, Brother."

"Darunia…" Link wheezed. "I can't… Can't…"

"Right, sorry." Darunia let the young boy who, thankfully, had all his ribs intact.

"Thank you… Darunia." He waved his arm in the general direction of Impa. "She… She needs… medicine. Now."

Darunia knelt down by Impa. After a moment of poking and prodding, he walked back into his cave and came out with white flowers, a strange root and a bucket of water. He crushed the plants in his hand and guided the liquid into Impas mouth. After a moment, he grabbed the bucket, grinned, and emptied it onto Impa, shocking her awake, who drew her knife and swung it wildly.

Darunia cackled. "Hello there, Sheikah!"

Impa wiped the water from her eyes. "Darunia? What's going on?" She turned to Link and frowned. "What? Link?"

Link sighed in relief. "We're in Goron City. You teleported us here."

Realisation dawned on her face. "Ah. I remember now. What happened to me?" She frowned at her knees, which were indeed scratched and dirty. "You had to drag me?"

Darunia helped her up. "You over exerted yourself. Made your brain pop like a plugged volcano."

"Right." Impa was shaky, but managed to stand up by herself.

Darunia turned to Link. "Now Brother! It's been too long since we've seen you. We saw your brother earlier today."

"My brother?"

Impa cut in. "I'm afraid we haven't the time to chat."

Link nodded. "Yeah, you're right." He turned to Darunia. "We need to use the tunnel to the forrest. It's urgent."

"That tunnel that goes nowhere?" Darunia frowned. "I don't see how that could help you, but then again, you walked out of it one time." He shrugged. "That was very creepy. Anyway!" He picked up Impa, ignoring her protests, and headed for the tunnel. "I'll get the boulders out of the way for you."

Darunia grunted as he shoved the massive rock out of the tunnels entrance. The passage before them was long and dark, and a cool breeze flowed from within.

"I don't know what you're doing Brother," Darunia spoke softly. "But if you need help with whatever it is, I will gladly aid you."

Link smiled. You're helping us now."

"No, no." Darunia chuckled. "I can go with you, down this tunnel. You might need me to crush some skulls!"

"No." Impa said a little to quickly.

Darunia frowned. "Why not?"

Impa silently cursed her haste, but remained composed. "Where we are going is not a place for Gorons. Besides, your people may need you."

Darunia snorted. "Eh, they'll do fine without me."

Link cleared his throat. "Impa, we might need him."

Impa looked at the boy and shook her head. "Where we are going is incredibly dangerous. I won't be responsible for the Gorons losing their chieftain."

"Is this about me carrying you?" Darunia interjected.

"No," Impa growled. "But I could have walked here myself, thank you very much."

Darunia shrugged. "Oh well. If I can't help you, then you guys should get going." He grabbed a torch off the wall and handed it to Impa. "And you were too weak to walk here."

Before Impa could respond, Link jumped in. "Thank you Darunia. I'll see you again soon."

Darunia grinned and ruffled the boys hair. "I hold you to that promise Brother."

Link grinned and put his cap back on his head. With a final wave, he followed Impa into the gloom. Darunia watched until the light from their torch faded away in the distance before resealing the tunnel, leaving a small gab that the small boy could crawl through should he return.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY CREATION!

*kazoo*

To think, I started this a year ago. In just a year, over 6,200 people have tuned in to read something that I wrote. That feels... magical. Thank you to the 33 people that read it a year ago today. If not for you guys, my confidence would have shattered there and then. But you guys did read it, and because of that, there are now 21 chapters in what is actually a thought through story. When I first wrote this when I was, I don't know, 14, it was shit. It was going no where. Now? I have a plan.

Special thanks to KDRDEADMAN and Karochi, the first people to review, favourite and follow this story. You guys gave me the confidence to go beyond the initial blast. Thank you.

Now enough mushy crap.

One of the driving factors of Links choice between Lon Lon or the Kokiri came from an analysis video about "Man of Steel." Now, I am not a personal fan of the movie, but thats beside the point. The video stated that, due to none of Supes choices having any consequences, that nothing is important, that the ol' red capped hero isn't changed in any way throughout the movie. I believe the term used was "Static." If I find the video, I'll link (heh) it. Basically, I want Link to evolve. And not like Diglett to Dugtrio, where its just more of the same. I want Link to be shaped by what he does. Fingers crossed I succeed in that ($5 says I don't).

I've had another grievance with this story, but this time it's my fault. Its about geography I'm creating. Like, how far away from Castle Town is Kakariko? And how far is Death Mountain from there? And What about Lon Lon Ranch? And where does Zora's Domain fit into all this? I'm still sorting this out myself, but I feel I made the locations feel too close together. I'm not sure how I'll fix this problem, I will try.

Finally, some of you may have noticed that the former "Captain Hargrave" is now "Captain Graves." Allow me to explain myself. The captain started out as a shout out to the man that got me into the Zelda series, the one and only PeanutButterGamer. I wanted to just show my respect for him, I guess. But as I kept writing, I felt the character was veering too far from a friendly reference to PBG, and into something that wasn't accurate to the real person. The thing that made me think about it this much was having him swear. It felt sacrilegious. Having them share a name felt like an invasion of privacy. So, the references are less on the nose. PBG will still shape this character, but Captain Graves will be his own character more than ever.

Anyway, that's it from me.

Thank you.