Faithful to the Hero

by Mira-LoZ

A re-telling of Ocarina of time from a different perspective. Link and Navi don't start off on great terms but if they want to save Hyrule they will have to learn to get along. As they go on their journey Navi begins to care for the boy, and would do anything to protect him, even if that means becoming a Hylian herself.

3. Hyrule Field

A/N: This chapter starts to deviate from the orriginal Ocarina of Time Storyline, but it will still be pretty much the same. I'm just adding thing in so it's not a direct novelization would be no fun to write.

enjoy! Please review to let me know what you think :)

Disclaimer: I love Ocarina of Time however do not own rights to it.

Link awoke to the unexpected shout of a Cucco through the open window however the boy did not get up. He lay motionless in the bed thinking back and trying to piece together the last day's events, everything from The Great Deku Tree dying to ending up wounded here at Lon-Lon Ranch. He sighed softly; knowing that no matter how much he wished to simply lie in the warm bed there was work to be done.

The young hero opened his eyes towards the window; the sun was just beginning to rise creating a beautiful gold glow that carried into the room. Against the wall by the window Link spotted his sword and wooden shield as well as the small slingshot with a handful of seeds. The boy's boots were there as well, although he didn't remember taking them off. "Maybe it was Malon..." He whispered, causing something to begin moving behind him.

Link turned in the bed to look at the spot beside his head where he'd left his hat. Although he saw more than just the old green hat, Navi had pulled herself under the rim and turned it into a little blanket for herself. Link had to keep himself from laughing, but the noise he had already caused seemed to have woken up the small blue fairy. Navi slowly opened one eye, looking up at link with a confused look on her face. "Link? Why are you watching me sleep?.."

At this Link leaned away, shaking his head quickly and explaining "Uhm- No, I just woke up as well!" Navi seemed to believe the boy, turning over on her side with her back facing him and seemingly trying to fall back to sleep. "Hey, Navi.. It's time to get up we've got to get going."

Navi's wing seemed to look fine which made Link smile, the potion had worked perfectly. He'd have to thank Mido once he got back to the forest. Navi made no motion to respond, and Link frowned before moving a little closer to her. "Navi," He whispered quietly knowing that she'd still hear. "If you don't get up I'm going to put my hat on anyways with you still in it."

The blue fairy spun around looking a little angry, yelling in her high-pitch voice "Why would you put me in your hat? Why not on your shoulder or something, that's gross... All sweaty and smelly." Navi crossed her arms in front of her chest which just made Link chuckle.

As angry as the fairy thought she looked to the young hero it was simply cute. "Well if it's so gross, why are you sleeping in it right now?." At this Navi slowly looked down, realizing what she had made a bed out of. And despite her previous comments found Link's hat actually rather soft and comfortable and not bad smelling at all. Not wanting him to know though, Navi instantly jumped out and onto the bed sheets.

"How did I end up in there?.." She asked looking up at Link, although he was quite close lying down. Then she remembered the end of the previous evening. As the hero fell asleep she'd lied down in his hat wishing she could be closer to him.. Navi's cheeks began to turn a shade of red, causing Link to raise a brow as she spun around shouting "never mind! Forget it, let's go."

Link found himself laughing as the fairy stormed to the edge of the bet then began to fly, but she still seemed to be having troubles even with a fixed wing. "Navi, you're wing isn't better yet. Let me carry you for just a little longer" requested the boy, reaching a hand out to his fairy. "Don't worry you can sit on my shoulder instead of my hat."

Navi glared at Link unimpressed with his little joke but had to admit that her wing was still causing a great deal of pain so accepted his offer, landing in the boy's hand. "Whatever.. Let's just get going already."

Agreeing with his fairy Link quickly collected his things and put his boots on, not daring to pull his tunic up to view the small gash that had upset him so much the previous night. It was still hurting but the boy decided to suck it up until they arrived at castle town and could get more red potion. With sword and shield strapped to his back and Slingshot, ocarina, and bottle tied to his belt, Link was ready to go. "Okay, let's get out of here."

Navi seemed upset as Link opened the door and begun down the hallway to some stairs leading down, she kept looking at Link's beaten up and reddened tunic. There were cuts and rips all over it, and even though most of the injuries had been healed by the blue light Link left the Deku Tree through the proof that he had been so hurt was still all over him.

Navigating through the strangely large house Link found the front door and left through it revealing a huge ranch with animals running around all over the place. Link simply looked at it in amazement for a few seconds; this 'Lon-Lon Ranch' was larger than the entire Kokiri village he had grown up in. A group of Cuccos ran across Link's feet causing him to break from the trance and watch the strange white birds run over to a young girl with long red hair sitting by the gate to the horse's pasture. She was feeding them, throwing seeds around on the ground but had not noticed Link standing there.

"That's Malon, the girl who saved us" Whispered Navi into Link's ear, he liked this method of communication much more than the fairy simply yelling at him as she had through the Deku Tree. Link nodded in acknowledgement and began to walk over to the red-head; Navi noticed a slight limp in his step. "Link, how bad does your leg hurt?.." She asked, feeling bad about using so much of the red potion.

He didn't reply however as Malon looked up at the boy and cut Navi off yelling "You're up!" The farm girl jumped off the little box she had been sitting on and ran over to the boy whom she spoke of causing the Cuccos to scatter around the farm. "Oh thank the goddesses; I was so worried about you! Last night it looked like you-" Malon stopped dead in her tracks a few steps away from Link, looking down at all the dirt and blood stains on his once green tunic.

"What.. What happened to you.." The farm girl very carefully moved closer, almost looking frightened to approach the Link with how he looked. Link figured he probably looked pretty scary and tried to smile to let her know he wasn't dangerous.

"It's okay; I just got caught up fighting those big skeletons outside last night. They kind of caught me off guard." Link hoped that this would calm the girl but did just the opposite; instead of looking scare she now looked angry.

"How could you possibly get caught off guard by the stalchildren? Everyone knows to get inside somewhere safe below nightfall, and that the stalchildren won't go anywhere the light. Or at least stay on the roads and wait the night out, Hylian guards always set torches on the roads so that travelers will be safe..." Link listened carefully, now knowing that he would not make the same mistake twice. This new world outside Kokiri forest seemed very dangerous but as long as he could adapt to it he should be okay.

Appreciating the advice Link smiled and replied "Good to know, I'm actually not from around here so I had no idea what those things were. I'll make sure to be careful from now on." This seemed to pacify the redhead momentarily, but she still seemed to be upset.

Malon looked down again at the boy's tunic and upon closer study realized that there was no way the stalchildren could have caused all the cuts and rips it had. Also, the boy himself didn't seem to have the injuries to match the damage to his clothes. Other than the gash he had earned on his thigh he actually looked fine. 'Who could this boy possible be.. He doesn't even look hurt other than maybe his leg, so why does the blood look still look fresh?' The girl thought to herself, but had already decided Link posed no danger to her.

"Okay, I'll believe you." She spoke, back to her cheerful smiling self as when Link first saw her feeding the Cuccos. "But tell me, where are you fro-" Malon's eyes shifted away from Link's and fell upon the blue being resting on his shoulder. "What is that!?" she screamed stumbling back away from the two once again.

Link looked down to Navi then back up at Malon, not understanding her reaction as he replied "Navi? She's my fairy. Speaking of which where is yours?" Link tried not to grin after saying 'my fairy' for the first time, now he wouldn't get made fun of by everyone else for not having one.

Navi then reached up and poked Link's cheek to get his attention and replied for Malon whom still seemed to be in shock. "Link Hylian's don't have fairies. At least.. Not usually. Only the Kokiri have fairy partners. Last night when she saved you I hid so that she wouldn't be scared." This greatly confused the boy, causing him to completely ignore the second half of Navi's statement.

Link looked up to Malon, whom at the sight of Navi speaking had begun to turn a little pale. "Hylian..." He repeated and thought about it. 'I guess that makes sense, Kokiri live in the forest while this girl lives out here on this ranch with the animals.' "Well then Malon, this is Navi. She's a fairy from Kokiri forest."

Malon seemed to be taking it alright, nodding softly. "A fairy.. Wow.. I've only heard of them. Wait, Kokiri forest? So you're a Kokiri?" At this Link simply nodded, but noticed Navi looking away as if she were hiding something. Malon continued adding "Wow, I thought that Kokiri would die if they ever left the forest!" Link had thought the same thing before he actually left. "Link, I have no idea why you are out here but let me help you okay? Where are you headed next?"

Link smiled at the generosity of the farm girl and answered quickly "We're heading to Hyrule Castle to see the princess."

Malon broke into laughter at his statement, obviously finding it ridiculous. "Fine, fine don't tell me where you're going haha. But allow me to help, is there anything you need?" Link didn't understand why the girl found his statement so unbelievable but waved it off. Instead his eyes drifted over to the large range behind Malon where the horses were running around. A few of them were saddled and Link guessed that they were ride-able.

Navi replied for the young hero, asking Malon "Could we borrow one of your horses? We'd be able to get to our destination much quicker with a horse than on foot." At this Malon raised a brow, starting to wonder if the odd pair was actually trying to reach Hyrule Castle. "We definitely don't want to be stuck outside again tonight" finished the fairy.

Malon shook her head slowly at the request, turning and moving to walk over towards the horses' pasture and making a motion for Link to follow which he did. "I can't let you borrow a horse, but if you want I could let you ride one here? You should be fine to get to Castle Town by nightfall if that's really where you want to go. It's only a few hours walk from here.

Link smiled at the girls' offer showing the true child inside himself and followed close behind her. Down on his shoulder Navi was giving a disapproving glare, the longer they stare at the ranch the more upset she seemed to get. "Link," the blue fairy whispered into his ear so Malon wouldn't hear. "Don't you think we should just be going? What if something slows us down, we need as much time as we can get to make it to Castle Town."

Link turned to the fairy and frowned, obviously very upset. He'd never had a chance to explore a new world like this and loved it, but knew the fairy was right. At seeing the young hero upset Navi got a little sad too, she didn't like making him frown but at the same time also didn't like seeing him with the other girl too much.. She didn't know why but seeing Link around Malon smiling made her heart sink in her chest. "Fine.." She whispered, deciding to let Link have his fun. "But not for too long okay?.."

At this Link nodded happily, trying to catch up with Malon as they entered the massive horse pen. However all the horses seemed to avoid the three of them, which Malon didn't seem happy with. "They aren't usually like this.. Maybe it's because you're from the forest? You probably smell different than the other Hylians."

Link waited patiently with Malon at the entrance not wanting to scare any of the horses further. That's when Malon caught a glimpse of the ocarina on Link's belt and smiled softly. "Well, if all the horses don't want to be around you I bet Epona will have no issue with you. Link, take out that ocarina and I'll show you a song that Epona likes."

Grinning the boy nodded and quickly un-latched his ocarina from the brown belt, bringing it to his lips and waiting for Malon to begin. The young red-head began to sing and after going through the short song a few times Link worked to mimic it on his instrument. It was easier than he had expected it to be, the notes coming naturally to the boy. After a couple minutes he'd figured it out, and before he knew it a small cherry-brown horse had poked him in the side with its nose.

The hero stumbled a little from the push and turned to the horse, it was a little smaller than all the others but he thought it was beautiful. Malon moved to put a hand on the horse's head; it had a short-hair white mane that seemed to match it perfectly. "She's quite gentle if she likes you, here go ahead and try petting her." Malon smiled up at the young hero as she spoke.

Link took a small step towards Epona, slowly moving a hand up and to the side of the horse's head. She nuzzles into his hand a little, her nose just barely fitting against the boy's palm. As he looked at Epona Link felt something strange in his chest, as if the horse was already his. "That's a beautiful name.." the boy whispered as he pet her nose. "Epona.."

"Link, we need to get going." Navi's voice cut Link out of his trance, and although he didn't like it he knew that she was right. "We have to get to castle town before night, it's almost midday already." Looking up the green-clad boy saw that the sun was directly above the trio. The small fairy was right; they didn't have much time to waste. Looking down at Epona again Link smiled, whispering "I don't think that this is the last time we'll meet. I'll see you again Epona." He then turned to Malon, and added "thank you for everything Malon we really appreciate it. But we must be on our way; I'll come back after we've figured everything out okay?" At this comment Navi didn't seem too happy.

Malon smiled and nodded before asking "So it's true, you really do plan on going to Castle town? Link, could you do me a huge favor?" the boy nodded and Malon quickly continued, "My father left for Castle Town a couple days ago and hasn't come back yet. I fear he might have fallen asleep somewhere. Could you wake him and send him back home?"

Navi didn't seem thrilled with the idea, whispering into Link's ear "We don't have time for this Link.." But the boy completely ignored the fairy and responded to Malon "Sure, of course I will. We owe you for helping us out, but.. What is a father?" The re-head girl simply stared at Link, unsure if he were joking or not.

After deciding that the boy wasn't just joking she answered "Link... you don't know what a father is? A dad?" Link shook his head slowly, causing the redhead to frown.

"Family?.. My father is part of my family." Link kind of understood what that meant; the Great Deku Tree had always said that the Kokiri of the forest were all his children; that they were all family. Link remembered how hard it was to lose the Deku Tree, and if Malon's 'father' was anything like the Deku Tree was to him he knew he had to get him back.

"I see, of course we'll get him Malon. How can we find him?" This made the farm girl smile happily, moving forward to throw her arms around the boy which caused Navi to squeak and jump up onto his head.

"Oh thank you! He always does this but I've been so worried..." Link didn't know how to respond to the hug, just standing awkwardly until the girl finally let go and stepped back. "Here, take this. You can use it to wake him. He's a pretty heavy sleeper so you'll need it. Just keep it safe okay? And have this Lon-Lon milk as well, drinking it should slowly heal any wounds you have."

The farm girl held out her hands revealing a small egg and a bottle of white liquid. Link had no idea how he was supposed to use the egg to wake her father, maybe throw it at him? As the boy reached out and received the egg and milk Navi made her way back down to his shoulder and again spoke "Link, we really have to go." He nodded, and looked up at Malon. Epona was still there as well, poking her nose into the boy's side to try and get his attention.

"Malon, thank you for everything. I'll get your father to come home I promise. And I'll most likely see you again as I plan on coming back to see Epona." With this last comment the young here turned to the small Cherry-brown horse and placed his hand on her nose one more time. "Bye girl, I'll see you again."

The young redhead misunderstood what Link meant, assuming that he planned on coming back to see her and instantly the girl's cheeks began to flush. "You better come back!" she yelled before moving towards the boy and catching him off guard, leaning in to place a small kiss on his cheek. Before he could respond the young girl had turned and ran away towards her house.

Suddenly Link's vision went blue once again as Navi appeared right before his eyes. "Link!" She yelled causing the boy to stumble back. "Again?! Do you enjoy playing with these girl's hearts!?" He tried to reply and defend himself but Navi didn't allow it. "You big idiot! Don't you ever even think about yours and other's feelin-" The small fairy's rant was cut to an end as Link poked a finger against her mouth, only causing her face to grow angrier.

"Navi, trust me I don't have feelings towards the other girls." Link meant this to be as innocent as possible; however Navi heard it slightly different putting an emphasis on 'other'. "They're just friends, and they've been a great help so far. We owe Malon to find her dad. Plus with this Lon-Lon milk my leg should be able to heal.

The fairy nodded slowly, still with Link's finger at her lips. The fairy's cheeks suddenly went red as Link felt something against his finger; for a second he thought it was a kiss but shook the thought away as the Fairy quickly flew over to rest on his shoulder again, she was probably trying to bite him or something.

"Well, let's go Navi." The young hero moved to put his arms around Epona's neck, squeezing softly. "Bye girl, we'll see you again." And with that the two turned and left Lon-Lon ranch. Navi's cheeks held a consistent red shade though as the small fairy had a mental battle with herself. 'Why the heck did I just do that?' she thought, trying to hide her face from Link. 'His finger was against my lips and I just... kissed it...'

The two had been traveling uneventfully for what seemed like hours, the path obviously being longer than Malon ha said. Maybe she was used to it only been a couple hours on horseback. Navi had been strangely quiet which kind of worried the boy; the blue fairy had been avoiding eye contact since Lon-Lon. Link didn't notice too much though as path to Castle town was distracting him every few minutes with amazing scenery all around. Every small thing like a wild animal or new plant Link would stop to look at; it was all new to him.

Navi began to look nervous though as the sun was nearing the horizon, the two both knew that it would be dark soon. Suddenly her high-pitch voice broke Link away from looking at a strange bunny-like creature he'd seen as she shouted "there it is!" and pointed up the path. Link's eyes followed the fairy's direction and came across a small castle, not too far off in the distance. It didn't look like it would take too long, walking they should be able to make it in under an hour.

Something seemed wrong though, as the Sun fell nearer to the horizon it seemed that night was approaching rather quickly. Already a large shadow began to cover Hyrule Field. Link panicked, picking up the pace a little into a light jog. "What's going on? It's getting darker pretty fast Navi" spoke the boy as he moved to pick the fairy off his shoulder. She wouldn't be safe there as the wind could blow her off while he ran. Link pulled her in against his chest as the shadows continued to creep over them.

Navi seemed afraid too as she responded "I don't know.. Something is wrong Link. Maybe it's the same thing as what happened to the Deku Tree. I believe only one force is at work here." If this had happened before last night Link would not have been afraid, however after having seen the Stallchildren and remembering how it felt to have one of their claws dig into his flesh the young hero began to panic further.

His heart began to beat harder and the blue fairy quickly understood that Link was very afraid. She tried to calm him, saying "Link just stay on the path! The Hylian Guards have set torches remember? The Stallchildren won't go near the path." Link nodded as he did remember Malon saying that. And as the shadow of night grew darker the torches seemed to light themselves as if through magic.

The boy wished that he had actual Hylian guards with him, not just their torches but at least he calmed down a little as the warm light worked to counter the darkness. After only minutes the field had fallen to the night, hiding everything only feet away from the path in a black shadow. Link couldn't see anything except the path in front of him and even lost vision of Castle town's great walls.

Navi chimed in again, commenting "Link its okay. If the Stalchildren wanted to attack us they would have done so already." The hero knew that she spoke the truth however he could not stop his heart from beating hard in his chest. He continued to jog down the path just hoping to see the entrance to Castle Town as soon as possible. And then the voices began to creep through the night just as they had the night before.

'Kill... Him...' 'Kill.. The boy...' The Stalchildren seemed to be moving with Link outside of the light's barrier. He couldn't see them but began to hear footsteps moving as quickly as he was. No doubt they were waiting for a chance to strike. 'Spill... his blood to the earth...'

Link held Navi tighter against his chest as she sat speechless. The fairy had no idea what to do or say as even she was beginning to panic. If there were even one torch that was not lit the Stalchildren would be able to cut the two off. Suddenly Navi's world began to spin, and she realized that they were falling. Link had tripped over something as he ran, falling fast and hard. The boy reacted quickly though, spinning mid-air to land on his back with a small shout of pain to protect his fairy.

As Link tried to catch his breath Navi realized that they were very close to the edge of the torch's light. Before she could shout though a couple skeletal arms reached in, beginning to scratch at the boy who quickly sat up, leaving only his back vulnerable. "Link!" Shouted the fairy, pounding her fists into the boy's chest. "Get up!" And he did, standing to his feet and beginning to run down the road again.

"I'm okay Navi" He whispered through strained breaths. "They barely got through the tunic." Navi wanted to look at the boy's back, but he held her too tightly against his chest. The fairy was getting more and more worried as the two moved through the darkness. Luckily however Castle Town's walls came into view up ahead and Link as well as Navi let out a unison sigh of relief. But once they actually got to the wall Link began to freak out again, the wall was surrounded by a rushing moat with one drawbridge to get across.

This one drawbridge was currently pulled up against the wall leaving no was to reach the safety of the castle. 'Soon...' The voices began to laugh as Link simply stood in front of the moat. 'The torches... often... Don't last the night…'

Just as Link began to feel that there was no hope he heard movement from inside the castle. Instantly the boy cried out "Is someone there! Please let me in!" Immediately the movement got louder as if multiple people were shifting around.

After only seconds a voice shouted back though a small gap to the side of the bridge "What the hell are you doing out there kid!? Hold still we're coming out!" Link stood still for another few seconds, holding Navi even closer but remembering Malon's reaction to the fairy.

The hero quickly whispered to his companion, asking "Navi can I put you in my hat? We don't want to scare whoever is helping us." The drawbridge began to lower with a loud clanking sound and Navi nodded, prompting Link to quickly hide her away. The Stalchildren began to sound even more angry, screaming 'No! You can't... Get away…' Link noticed a skeletal arm reach into the torch's light, only to be burned away into dust followed by a loud scream.

Finally the Drawbridge hit the ground revealing a small group of large armored men. There were five of them, the two on each side wielding long spears as the one in the middle held a massive shield and short sword. Without even a second's delay the soldiers ran across the bridge, forming a circle around Link with their spears pointed out.

The man with the sword and shield knelt before Link so they were on the same level and quickly asked "Are you okay? Where are you from? You're lucky kid, the princess told us to come watch the gate tonight as she felt something was wrong. She was definitely right..."

Link answered without thinking, almost whispering "I- Yeah I'm alright... I'm from Kokiri Forest." Even though the guard wore a full helmet Link saw his brown eyes widen through his helmet's eye sockets. Without saying a thing, the guard stood and held onto Link's arm, guiding the boy as well as the ring of guards through the gate in the massive wall. The Guards had never heard the Stalchildren so active before, and the undead continued to shout from outside.

A/N So I have decided to split what was previously just chapter 3 into chapter 3 and 4, as it was rather long and I feel that it kind of dragged on. I'm going to be re-working the now chapter 4 to make it a little more interesting as well as slow down the speed I was progressing some things. I think it'll do the story better in the long run to have things move more slowly.

Please review to let me know what you think!