exxtreme appologies that it took so long to update, but I had to get these three chapters all done before I could live with myself. You'll see why when you read the next chapter, though you might pick it up in this one

this chapter takes place a day after the previous one, just to let you know


Link got up at the usual time, but he was set to go to the temple to find this fire charm as Sheik had shown him. Again Sheik insisted that Link would have to go by himself, though Link was questioning why exactly. It seemed Sheik had more on his mind than Link just being a proper hero.

Breakfast was probably the most interesting thing of his day today. Why? Well because of the extremely odd and random and informative conversation he and his mother had.

"Link," his mother said as he sat down at the table. "I need to ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have a crush on the princess?"

Of all questions she could have asked, Link was definitely not expecting this one. "No" he said quickly.

"You do!" his mother groaned, sitting down herself. Link started to protest, but his mother stopped him. "Don't deny it. I can hear it in your voice. Plus, you answered 'no' way too quickly. But that's beside the point. You need to knock that idea out of your head."

"What for?" Link asked. "This isn't because she's a princess and I'm not royalty of any kind is it?"

"If only life were that simple!" his mother laughed. "But no, it has nothing to do with that. You see, there's something you need to know about your heritage."

"Is this about dad?" Link couldn't keep the eagerness out of his voice.

"No, this is about me."

Link frowned. What did his mother have to hide about her family?

"I'm the Queen's sister."

A lot, apparently. Link's jaw dropped. "No way" he said.

"The Queen's your aunt, Zelda's your cousin. Now do you understand? It would be extremely awkward if you were to marry your cousin."

"Yeah…"

"Good." Link's mother stood up and tossed him a bag. "For your trip," she explained, noting the confused look on his face. Link nodded, understanding. Though he wasn't quite sure what Sheik had said that made his mother not worry about this. She had forbidden Link to go anywhere near the forest when he was younger.

Well, whatever it was, he wasn't complaining. It was about time he got to see the world for himself. Definitely time.

Thanking his mother and telling her goodbye, Link headed off to the ranch to go get his horse. Maria didn't bother him much when he got there, but did seem like she was doing her best not to laugh while he was getting his horse.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, nothing" she said, and then walked away.

Link did a quick check to make sure his clothes were clean and that his hair wasn't out of place or anything. Who knew what Maria could be laughing about? Without use of a mirror, Link certainly didn't.

Determined to get out of the ranch as soon as possible, Link saddled up his horse and left.


The ride to the forest could take two days apparently, and for Link, it did. He stopped only once to eat and take a short nap, though the short nap lasted longer than he would have liked. He still made it to the forest before sundown the next day.

Finding a nice place to leave his horse, Link set off into the forest alone.

Having never been to the forest before, he spent plenty of time just staring at its wonders (which were few). Fairies hung around all the springs he came across. Most were nice, but there were a few pesky ones that told him to go away.

Link stuck his tongue out at the offending fairies and walked off.

Within no time though, Link found that he was lost.

"Will you play with me?" a voice said suddenly from the trees. Link jumped and pulled out his sword. There was a childish laugh and something emerged.

Link smiled at the sight of it and lowered his sword. It was just a kid. Well, sort of. The kid seemed like it was made more out of forest than out of flesh. Noticing that it meant no harm, he sheathed his sword.

"I'm a Skull Kid!" it said. "You can call me Bob!"

"Okay…" Link said slowly. "I'm Link"

"I shall call you Boy in Green!" the Skull Kid said happily.

"No, my name is Link"

"Boy in Green"

Link sighed. "Fine then, Bob. Can you-"

"Will you play with me?" the Skull Kid asked again.

Link frowned. This was going to go nowhere if he kept this up. "Listen, Bob, can you show me to the temple here? I need to get something from there, when I'm done I'll play with you, okay?"

"Okay! Follow me!"

The Skull Kid took off, forcing Link to run after him. It led him through what felt like miles of endless forest. Eventually they did end up at the temple. Link thanked the Skull Kid and headed inside.


Finding the Fire Charm didn't take long, though it was a harder task than Link thought it would have been. He exited the temple, charm in hand, only to find the Skull Kid waiting for him.

"Hello Boy in Green!" it said happily. "Can you play now?"

There was no way out of this. Link had promised. "Yeah"

"Great!" the Skull Kid ran off. "Bet you can't catch me!"

Link frowned and followed after it. It led him through miles of forest again. Link was so caught up in the chase he didn't notice when they passed a large chasm. He also didn't notice that the Skull Kid was taking him through numerous amounts of secret passages that shouldn't be accessible to Hylians.

"Hurry up!" the Skull Kid called, anger creeping into its otherwise happy voice. "I want to show you something!"

Link had stopped, only because he had nearly tripped over Sheik, who was asleep. Confused about why Sheik would be here, Link stayed put.

"What's taking so long!" the Skull Kid asked, backtracking to find Link. "There's something I want to show you!"

Link ignored the Skull Kid. His mind was still wondering. It was odd to see Sheik asleep anywhere. But Link put the matter aside. For all he knew, Sheik could be on a secret mission or something. It would be best if he just let him be.

But something nagged at the back of his mind, and after a moment, Link turned to the Skull Kid. "Hey Bob," he said. "Where's that thing you wanted to show me?"

"In the ruins up ahead!" the Skull Kid replied.

"Would you mind waiting here with my friend and let him know that I'm looking through the ruins when he wakes up?"

"Okay!" the Skull Kid said, and found a rock to sit on.

"Thanks," Link told it, and then continued his search through the ruins. They brought back memories for some reason, even though he knew he had never been here in his life. He had no idea why it was so important that he found something here. But he knew that it was important.

Whatever it was, it was calling to him.

And if he didn't find it, the voice would drive him mad.

Because memories were coming back to him, he could see the ruins in which he now stood as a temple in full splendor, and then again as ruins that weren't as ruined as they were now. He had no idea where they were coming from, but they were urging him on. Telling him to find the thing that was calling to him.

Because whatever it was, it was important.