Legends of the Hero of Time

by Ryan-Sinclair

The Hero of Time, Link, is blessed by the Golden Goddesses with a normal existence, free for himself to rule over. He must learn the true meaning of life as he attempts to join Hylian society. Along the way, he finds a family to call his own. Protecting and loving them, as a new threat emerges, he grows to understand how he must still endure the challenges of fate.

12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

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[Time: 3:11 P.M. (Afternoon)]

[Date- Month 4 'Late-Spring', Day 12, 8th Era]

[Location- Hyrule, Forbidden Forest - Lost Woods]

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"Everybody stick together here, okay?" Breena, the fairy of Mido said.

Laila, the fairy of Saria made sure the others listened. "Getting lost here is a huge no-no."

Link was still a bit surprised that they decided to tag along; all of them, but especially the fairies. The sprites back in the Great Deku Meadow seemed hellbent on staying where they were until the village recovered. Most of them just wanted to take care of the Deku Tree Seedling, to watch over it as well as ensure its safety. Breena and Laila were the only exceptions. For whatever reason that they decided to come along, it only added an extra layer of protection to their journey. The hero was positive they would absolutely never get lost, or mistake one place for another.

Mido and Saria both listened to their fairies as they always tried to do, knowing that the sprites were their wise guardians. Fado didn't seem to mind all that much on not having Tessl, her own fairy. Instead, the blonde haired Kokiri focused on her blowgun, toying with it and tinkering a little. "Nobody's going to get lost, don't worry." She said while checking the bandolier wrapped around her chest, making sure she still had plenty of darts. "Just pray that we don't run into any Wolfos or Stalfos."

In a way, the kokiri girl was right. Although Link definitely had the means of fending off any form of attack, he'd much rather not even risk the dangerous possibilities.

According to Malon, the paint mark left by Timi, the Skull Kid, was approximately a mile inward. That information wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. The last thing the boy wanted was to be completely and utterly on his own in terms of navigation.

For the moment, it was still daylight. The sun struggled to successfully break through the dense foliage, providing them with only brief rays of sunshine. The Lost Woods didn't seem so cursed during the daytime. There wasn't any spooky fog floating about, or Keese swooping down at their faces, no blood-dripping monsters or even those foul disease-ridden Deku Babas. Everything was peaceful, almost serene. If the hero didn't know any better, he'd tell the group that they were safe. However, because of how insecure things are back at the normally safe Kokiri Village, he wouldn't be fooled by how the woodland initially looked. The further in they went, Link had a feeling the more wildlife they'd see. None of them wanted to encounter anything big, but he would do what he had to do.

"Well… Let's get started." The heroic hylian boy soon found himself saying. There wasn't much of a point in them standing there near the exit of the Lost Woods. Pushing doubts aside in favor of progress, from there he turned around to look at Epona. "What do you say, girl? Can you lead us through the path you traveled?" The filly neighed in response to her master talking to her and yet, didn't do anything other than stare at him prior to looking back at the village. "I know you want to leave. I don't want to be here either... Let's get this over with and we can all relax."

Eventually, with a little coaxing, he managed to get Epona in front of him, where he then gave her rear end a small slap to get her going. Thankfully, the horse appeared to know what was being asked of her as she began moving in the same direction they were heading.

"Are you sure your horse knows where to go?" Mido asked, unsure of how an animal was going to lead them in the right direction.

"She knows better than any of us." Link replied with a vague answer, truthfully as unsure as they were. His faith in Epona was the only thing that allowed him to trust her enough to blindly follow out into the Lost Woods.

Being as smart as the equine is, they all hoped that she'd follow the same trail she went the last time she was there. Considering that, unless she was simply traveling forward aimlessly, she was clearly heading somewhere. They just had to find out where that somewhere was.

Following her, Link remained on high lookout. Nothing worried him more than the thought of one of his friends, his family getting hurt. Again, it was as if his mind kept switching back and forth from glad they decided to join him, to concern that they decided to join. He was glad for their help, but concerned for their safety.

The group stayed quiet so as to not attract any unwanted attention. The only sound that could be heard was that of the leaves crunching beneath their feet and Epona's occasional huffs. At least the silence provided a boost in hearing. Nothing was going to sneak up on them if the threat was walking on the ground. As he walked, Link glanced upward, even checking the treetops for any signs of life. He knew well that Keese enjoyed high-up branches, where they can watch for their prey from high above. There were so many places to hide around them, that it frustrated him to think about the possibilities of being ambushed.

"You should relax, Link." Fado said while still fiddling around with her blowgun. "We'll be fine. We've been going through these woods since long before you wore your first diaper."

Raising an eyebrow, Link wondered what made Fado realize he was concerned for their safety. He was well aware that the kokiri had traversed the land many decades before he was conceived. Nevertheless, it didn't stop him from having the basic fear of being attacked. They might know more about the place than a mere child such as him, but it didn't mean they were more capable of going through here than he was. Even for the kokiri, the Lost Woods is dangerous.

"If anything shows up, we'll take it down. Nothing to it…" Fado gloated a little. "Besides, you saw how good I am with this thing. I bet I could nail a Wolfos right between the eyes."

Saria, being the squeamish and innocent girl she always has been, lifted her upper-lip in disgust of how Fado was seemingly enjoying the violence happening around them.

On the other hand, by the looks of it, Mido was highly impressed. He laughed momentarily prior to asking "Since when have you ever even used a blowgun?"

Seeing as how he'd never seen the blonde haired kokiri girl with a weapon either, Link kind of wanted to know the answer himself. Although, he was much more interested in obtaining his valuable relic. The Ocarina of Time was so imperative it got to the point where its recovery was beginning to be the only thing he could think about. Link worried that he wouldn't be able to find it, that it might fall into the wrong hands or just be used unwittingly. 'If Princess Zelda found out that I lost it, she'd probably send Impa to tear my head off.'

Unfortunately, the others weren't thinking of rescuing the Ocarina of Time as being so dire. Fado and Mido definitely weren't since they weren't a sage like Saria, nor were they as knowledgeable on the subject as LInk. This left them with the room they had to converse, not needing to focus on the task at hand.

"I just started using it today." Fado replied to Mido, stunning Link as he found it shocking that she could be so good at it without prior practice. She took down several Deku Babas, Chupas and even a Baba Serpent; all with direct shots to their heads. In other words, her skill with a blowgun far exceeded that of someone who supposedly just started using it.

"Wait, what!? Seriously!? Whoa! You're way too good with that thing!" Mido responded excitedly.

Fado smiled as they continued to follow Epona through the Lost Woods. "Yep! I know, right? I didn't expect to be this good."

Shrugging, based on his experience, Link could only offer a small bit of advice. "Make sure you keep the darts sharp and remember that it's not a toy… Keep it away from Mido."

The last part was a joke and it got the exact reaction Link was hoping to get from saying it. The Kokiri boy snorted and then crossed his arms as Saria and Fado laughed at him. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean!?"

Again, they all chuckled happily. To remain with high spirits was a good thing, for it would help the journey stay partially enjoyable. "It means we all still remember how you tried to get honey from bees by shooting down their nest with a slingshot!" Link replied.

Mido grunted as he subconsciously scratched himself, able to recall the sensation of how it felt to have ninety percent of his body covered in itchy insect bites.

Sticking together, there wasn't much else they could do other than to keep traveling. Every now and then, as they stepped into the sunshine struggling to break through the treetops, it warmed them up, temporarily easing their concerns. Five minutes in however, Link started to grow curious of whether or not they were heading in the right direction. Epona was literally his ace in the hole whenever it came to finding the way, yet, if she was wrong, they could be taken out miles away from the entrance/exit of the Lost Woods which led into Kokiri Village.

Breena and Laila were with them, so the group wouldn't get utterly lost. Nonetheless, a trip all the way around the Lost Woods for nothing wouldn't be very enjoyable or a proper use of time.

'What am I going to do if Epona's just walking forward in a straight line?' Link contemplated the possibility. 'I highly doubt that going in the same direction the entire time is going to lead us to where Malon found me.' Narrowing his eyes, the hero quietly thought in his head so that the others wouldn't worry themselves with his concerns. 'I guess we can't get too lost going in a straight line, but… Ughh… This is incredibly annoying.' All of it was frustrating. He wished that they'd simply find the Ocarina of Time shimmering in the light. Having that happen would be too easy though, and he knew it. 'Nothing in this world is too easy, there's always a catch.'

Their only option was to continue onward with the plan at hand. They had no other choice than to follow Epona and pray she knew exactly where it was she's going. Soon enough, they noticed her veering slightly off from where she looked like she was going to walk. This was their best indication of her actually going elsewhere besides in a direct line forward. Link was sure now that Epona was actually leading them somewhere. For now, the only thing they could do was keep following to see where it is she's going.

"Where did Malon say she found you again?" Mido asked, referring to the place Malon found the hero unconscious.

"She said it was a clearing, like a small meadow with a big tree in the center…" Link replied. "According to her, it's about two miles in." Giving a quick glance around, there wasn't any place he could see nearby that looked like that description. He only saw more trees and bushes. It was going to be hard to spot a clearing through all of this dense vegetation.

"Two miles? Geez..." The orange haired Kokiri boy complained, stomping his feet a bit as he walked to make a scene. "That's going to take forever, especially with how slow your horse is walking."

In response to what he said, Link shook his head, fully aware that Mido was going to be the one to whine the entire time.

"Mido, don't start..." Saria spoke for them. "You're the one who wanted to come along with us, so you can't gripe that there's too much walking."

In exasperation, Mido mocked Saria, mimicking her talking by making the blabbering hand gesture. "Blah, Blah, Blah… It's not like it's too far for me, I just don't really want to walk this entire way."

Glaring at him angrily, Saria looked like she wanted to hit Mido. As rare as it was, even the Forest Sage found herself upset at times. Whenever it was something dumb Mido had done or said, Link didn't blame her either. There had been a countless number of times where Mido had bothered the hylian hero so much that Link wanted to slap the kokiri boy upside his head. On the other hand, instead of causing a scene and making it take longer to get to where they're going, Saria calmed down and ignored the rude gesture. "Mido… Ughh. You're so immature."

For a little while, things went back to being quiet as the group carried onward with traveling. Epona once again veered off from the direction she was walking, proving once more that she wasn't merely traveling aimlessly. Several meters ahead, the density of vegetation thickened, not to the point where there wasn't any light, but significantly enough to be bothersome in an attempt to walk through it. Heading straight toward said brush, Link shook his head, fully aware that Epona planned to go through it. Sure enough, the horse trampled right over a bush.

Link started pursuing his hunt for a paint mark left on a tree. It was going to take a sharp pair of eyes to locate something so small amongst so many other things, and yet despite knowing it was still a bit early to look, it wouldn't hurt to be extra precautious. On top of all that, he also had to keep a clear head and never let Epona's ears out of his sight. The equine had far better hearing than any of them. If anything or anybody tried to sneak up on them, she was going to let them know through body language.

A small breeze blew through the woods, blowing Link's hair back and making all the leaves on the trees move. He was far too wrapped up in his thoughts to pay attention, but Fado enjoyed the wind, letting it cool her off and refresh her mind. Saria and Mido did the same. Being children of the forest, they were so in-tune with it that they could feel sensations only known to them, all brought about by the nature of their home. As for Link, despite not being an actual Kokiri, he could still remember every memory he had in the Forbidden Forest. The wind subconsciously affected him too as he breathed in deep, getting a good whiff of fresh and crisp air.

Eventually, following a good ten minutes of silent walking directly behind Epona, all of them grew to remain on lookout for a paint mark. While on watch, the group started getting physically closer and closer together as the brush grew thicker and thicker. Before long, Epona was in the lead, followed by Saria and Link walking next to each other, and Mido and Fado behind them. The path Epona traveled was a tight squeeze, but, as long as it didn't narrow itself any further than that, they'd be fine.

Occasionally, on the sides of the path they were taking, they'd see broken tree limbs and crushed grass, indicating that something had come that way at some point. Since it hadn't been too long, it was possible that Epona had done it the last time she had come through. Otherwise, there was a creature that had come through more recently.

Inside his own mind, Link made sure he was mentally prepared to draw his sword within a moment's notice. At any given time, something ungodly could jump out and reveal itself to them. If that were to happen, the boy had to be ready to put up one hell of a fight. Best he could do was figure that was unlikely to happen. Nothing was going to get the drop on him because he was far too protective of those traveling with him. Besides, of all the times he'd been in the Lost Woods, now shouldn't be any different. There hopefully wouldn't be any enemies he'd never faced before.

Before long, as Link stayed locked inside his mind where he conversed with himself over the best available options for getting through the woodland safe and sound, he felt an arm wrap around his. Taking a look beside him, he saw Saria staring at him as she held onto his arm. Her blue eyes still shimmered, sparkling even though there wasn't an abundance of light around us. "What's wrong?" Link asked her quietly, trying not to catch the interest of the others.

Saria's cheeks flushed ever so lightly as her eyes stayed glued on Link's. "N-Nothing… I'm just glad I came with you. Now I can make sure that you're safe." She smiled softly. "I don't know what I'd do if you got hurt in here again."

Her blush made Link feel uncomfortable as he thought her behavior was awkward. He knew Saria had just started acting this way as he had never seen her display affection to him like this beforehand, affection that was clearly turning into romantic attraction. She is a Kokiri and he's a Hylian. The hero thought that alone should be enough to keep their relationship the way it currently is. 'There was no reason why she'd have such feelings for me. She and the others took care of me, for goddess' sake'

Her arm tightened around his as he briefly glanced back at the others, watching to see if they were looking at them. As embarrassing as it was, Link still wanted to know why Saria was acting like this. Hearing a fluttering noise, Laila flew around Saria, likely also curious why she was being so lovey-dovey with the hero. 'This… Is so unusual.' Link continued to think. 'Why is she being like this?' Feeling her head gently lean against his shoulder, he contemplated more on what the cause could be. 'Maybe she's just missing me. I've been gone for a while and before that, I was gone even longer.'

Whenever Saria's hand traveled down Link's arm to hold onto his hand, the boy was reluctant to do such a thing. He hadn't held her hand in years. Back when he had his crush on her, when he was eight, the kokiri girl made it clear that she was only interested in taking the role of his mother, his maternal guardian, nothing more. Now, here they are, with the table having seemingly been turned.

'Calm down, Link. Calm down… It's Saria.' He told himself. 'Nothing to be all flustered about. She's special to me, but not like that… Not like how I am w-with… with-…' Ending the thought, he found himself holding his bottom lip with his top row of teeth.

She was putting some serious stress on him. To an extent, he felt as though he had to get to the bottom of it whenever he got the chance to do so in private. Right this second really wasn't the best time for this to be done, and he knew that. If he missed something because he wasn't paying attention, he'd be furious.

This awkwardness with Saria which had suddenly arisen had to inevitably be dealt with. The hero knew it wasn't the way it was supposed to be. He feared that whatever had warped their relationship might turn out to be more than he thought it would be. Thinking about it hard, he wondered if it were possible that whatever it is affecting the Forbidden Forest might also be affecting the Kokiri as well. 'Earlier, I had assumed they had some physical effects from this plague. Now, I'm sure there are mental side-effects too.'

Even with Breena and Laila around, without Kokiri Forest being healthy and green, the kokiri were susceptible to suffering forms of illness. Although Link didn't think the affection Saria continued to display was a sickness, it too was shaped by the unwelcome changes made to her home.

Another response brought about by the tingling sensations when the boy thought about her was what little was left of certain repressed feelings he held. Although he tried to stave it off, eventually, he gave in and admitted to himself how he had always loved Saria slightly more than 'just a mother'. The green-haired kokiri girl was not only his mother or his best friend, she was the first person he'd ever fallen in love with.

He felt his own cheeks warm up as he mentally pictured when he was an eight year old boy, running up to Saria with a rose in his hand, one he had picked for her. Roses almost never grew in the Forbidden Forest. Young Link was so surprised that he had to show it to somebody and she was the first person he thought of.

Since the time he was a mere six years old, Saria was the main highlight of his day, every day. Nothing and nobody was as important as she was and is to Link. Taking all of that into consideration, it was exceedingly difficult to pinpoint how he felt now at his current age. He'd gone through so much with her. There were countless nights where they fell asleep in each other's arms. They were a true family. She's his family. Without her, he felt he wouldn't be who he is now. 'She raised me so fantastically that I was shaped to be the Hero of Time. From birth, she took care of me and raised me to be good hearted with proper morals. It's for that very reason that I hold her in such high regard.'

Turning his head just enough to see the side of Saria's face, the tingling sensation inside of Link intensified further as he took a good look at her. Out of all the girls in the village, he still felt she was the most gorgeous, stunning even. To him, no other kokiri girl had the beauty Saria did. Whether it was her curvaceous features, in body and facial structure. The hero found himself almost as entranced by her blue eyes and green hair as he was to her lips. The urges coursing through him, the desire to press his lips against hers, to feel how they felt against his, all of it was close to being far too much.

Kokiri and Hylian, it was an odd match, a match that wouldn't work. He knew that now, and she knew it the entire time. In the end, it wouldn't work out because of their differences. Soon, he'd tower her in height and she'd remain the little kokiri girl she is.

On top of all of that, they wouldn't have the same relationship if they acted in such romantic ways. Kissing wasn't something a mother and her child should do, and Saria IS essentially his mother, no matter the difference in their kind. His heart would always be with her, they would always be close to one another in ways that nobody else could be. However, their affection for one another had to have boundaries. To an extent, Link figured anything would be fine as long as it didn't involve kissing or anything beyond holding hands or cuddling.

The sudden realization of another girl who had his attention made shivers travel down his spine. Somehow he had temporarily forgotten about Malon. He knew she definitely wouldn't appreciate the way he'd been thinking. 'Malon, being as obsessed with me as she seems to be; I doubt she'd find it comforting to know I've been contemplating romance with the girl that has her arm wrapped around mine right now.' The love he had for Saria was different because he knew it could never be. What he held with Malon, whatever it is; love, infatuation or gratitude, it was special and something he didn't want to ruin because he couldn't properly understand his adolescent emotions.

Malon didn't raise him from birth and yet, he had a strong connection with her that made him feel almost like he did with Saria. The two hylians had something that Link would never-ever-ever forget. The way they almost admitted their feelings for one another, the way they almost kissed, having their lips only inches away, that was something he had never done before.

He didn't even want to involve himself with love anymore after all he had dealt with involving his feelings for Saria. He thought that 'If the Kokiri can go without romance, then so can I'. At the time, it seemed to be the most logical conclusion and it worked for the most part. Prior to his journey into a seventeen year old body, he was successfully able to go without romantic thoughts. It wasn't being sought after by his nine to ten year old brain. All of that changed when Malon rescued him. After that, he found himself attracted to the farm girl no matter how he tried to look at it.

The concept of loving somebody in a 'love-love' way had returned to Link now that the farm girl was in his life. Over the short course of several weeks, he'd grown attached to her to the point that he wanted her to be with him for a very long time. He dared to say forever, as it embarrassed him, and yet that is exactly how long he wanted the fiery haired girl by his side.

As the boy's mother, Saria HAD to be with him. Malon, a Hylian girl, WANTS to be with him and he wants to be with her as well.

*CRACK* A noise came from the woods.

"What was that?" Fado abruptly said, taking Link's thoughts off the previous subject. All of the group looked around fairly quickly as they knew to be on alert. Nothing would be able to sneak up on them if they were already preparing for something to slink about like that.

Mido drew a steel dagger from his tunic, one which he hadn't shown to the others before. "I didn't hear anything, but I'm not going to let anything get the drop on me again… Never ever!"

Curious, Link wanted to know exactly where Mido had gotten as well as hidden the dagger he held in his hand. Silencing the wonder, however, the hero stayed at the ready without unsheathing his sword as there wasn't any need just yet.

"Shh..." Fado shushed him. "Just listen."

Craning his neck while cupping his hand around his ear, Link listened intently. The others did the same. Way beyond close proximity came a long howl that echoed throughout the entire woodland. It sounded like a Wolfos.

Saria momentarily shivered in fright as Kokiri and Wolvos didn't mix. Kokiri never worked well when they're dealing with feral beasts. Thankfully, the Know-It-All Brothers taught what they could to the kokiri about defending themselves. Link knew the same as the brothers did that the explosive noise of Deku Nuts terrified hounds of the forest. Witnessing it firsthand, through what he understood happened during the time he was unconscious; everyone, including Malon, bore witness to the Deku Nut's power of causing discombobulation.

"There's a Wolfos." Fado said.

"It's pretty far off..." Mido replied "Just ignore it. I doubt we'll run into that one with how big this area is." Since the Wolfos was so far off, the group tried not to worry about it. Unfortunately, they all had a feeling doing that wouldn't work.

'Wolfos, such a nasty beast. So bloodthirsty, like a rabid dog.' Link mentally analyzed 'I always disliked such monstrous creatures. In my opinion, they served no further purpose other than to be a deadly nuisance to the other majority of non-hostile critters inhabiting this section of the forest.' Shaking his head, he continued thinking 'Why the Goddesses created them is beyond my knowledge. They're wicked and foul, vile and disgusting; even more-so than sewer rats. Having an insatiable hunger for anything warm and furry nearly made them deserving of extinction. In fact, when I had heard about people in Castle Town wanting to perform a 'hunt', where aggressive or no good animals were chased out of the region, I actually wondered if I should agree with it or not…'

Again, the same howl ensued. This time they were sure that it wasn't going away. It was getting closer. Wolfos almost never give up a fight and hiding from them isn't much of an option either. The nose on one of those brutes could track down a person from a mile away, all by scent.

Learning from past events, Link knew that he could track its position for the most part; needing only to listen and estimate from how far away it sounds to be. This one was a ways away, but not too far from them.

Judging by the course Epona seemed set on taking, they might run straight into the Wolfos despite there being so much space for them to avoid it. Fate was cruel. It wouldn't surprise them either if it happened exactly as they thought it would happen. The only thing that improved their odds was when the filly finally turned some, making a small curve in her path. From there, the next Wolfos howl sounded as if it was further to the right, no longer being in front of them. It improved morale, but not much considering how dangerous this place was. They all knew that thinking they are safe doesn't necessarily mean that they were, that much is guaranteed to be true.

"I think we'll be fine." Fado suddenly spoke, referring to how all of them looked a bit on edge. Immediately following that, she coughed. Nothing to notice, but it was rare for a kokiri to cough.

What Link was truly focused on was the small lump lying on the forest floor multiple meters ahead. From the distance he was at, he couldn't make out what it was. All he knew was that it was something. "Yeah, but look ahead… What is that lying in the middle of the road?"

Saria strained to see, putting her palm to her forehead sideways in an attempt to gain further vision.

Mido cocked his head before saying "It looks like something dead."

Fado didn't care if it was dead, but Saria seemed to. She didn't like the thought of there being a deceased critter in their path. "Oh no! Poor thing."

Mido and Fado groaned and then spoke in response. "Poor thing? How do you know it's not something that would've tried to kill us?"

As Saria shrugged, Link figured that they'd find out what it was soon enough. The distraction caused him to lose a bit of focus. To his shock, exactly what he prayed not to happen occurred; he missed what was most important to them, to him. Thankfully, the boy was saved by the watchful eye of Fado.

"And what's that?" The blonde kokiri girl pointed. "Is that the paint mark we're looking for on the tree next to whatever is dead?"

Link's eyes made haste in darting top-speed to the location Fado specified. Sure enough, on the tree next to the dead critter, was a mark of paint which was dried to the bark. The paint itself was likely naturally made, but it held up well for two weeks out in the weather it had been exposed to. The hero was simply amazed they actually found it, that Epona really knew where she was going. "By the Goddesses..." He uttered as they came closer, still entranced in astonishment. "Good girl, Epona. Good girl! You're definitely getting an extra helping of sweet feed when we get back to the ranch."

The filly neighed as she continued to lead them ever closer to the mark.

Approaching the tree, a putrid odor filled the air, wafting into the group's nostrils. Mido, Saria and Fado began coughing. "Uggh! That stench!" They complained as Breena as well as Laila checked on them, the fairies fearing for their safety.

Link did his best to not grow nauseous. However, as he never grew accustomed to the smell of death, it wasn't very easy. Pinching his nose closed, he managed to avoid the coughing issues the others were facing.

"Oh, it's so-so gross!..." Saria gagged, "I can't stand it." Why something as small as the critter at their feet could give forth such a foul scent, was unbeknownst. "What is it? What's dead?" She asked

Mido grimaced as he poked the critter with a branch found nearby. "Uhh, it looks like a squirrel."

"Mido, stop poking it. That's gross..." Saria said after watching him repeatedly poke the rotting squirrel body. Her stomach couldn't handle much more.

As she began heaving again, Link gently pushed her away and then snatched the stick out of Mido's hand, using the wooden branch to move the carcass out of the way, burying it under a small mound of dirt and leaves to prevent it from stinking up the entire forest. "Go stand over there, Saria... Now, let's focus on our task at hand and not worry about the natural order of things or what a Wolfos had for lunch." Getting back on track, he focused on what to do. "This is the paint mark we've been looking for. It's marked slanted to the right, so that's the way we need to go."

Glancing in that general direction, Link saw that Epona was already way ahead of them. The horse didn't stop whenever they did. He grunted at that, pointed and then took off running to catch up. "Epona! Wait up! Sheesh!" Being the equine she is, she carried on with traveling her set course without a care in the world.

Fado, Mido, and Saria caught up with Link and Epona rather quickly. The colour was returning to Saria's face, lessening her nausea from that revolting smell of rotting tissue. "Finally! Fresh air again… Ughh, that was awful!"

In spite of calming down, the three kokiri kept coughing. It lessened but never ceased altogether. Being so goal-oriented, Link still passed it off as nothing. In fact, he himself gave a few coughs from how badly death stunk.

Following two or three minutes of silent walking, they came to a point where Epona shifted off course from where she had been going. Seeing how she led them in the right direction earlier, Link had no complaints or doubts, choosing to walk behind her instead of worrying. What the young hero had said earlier, about the horse getting an extra helping of her food for doing all of this, leading us to where I need to go, that was merely the beginning. He couldn't be happier about the bond he had with her as master and horse.

Despite not having such a relationship as close to Epona as Link, the others felt the same toward being glad that they had a reliable source for finding their way through the accursed jungle.

Link turned his head again to check on the others, only to become aware of Fado's inquisitive look. It seemed to be as if she was deeply contemplating. "What is it?" He asked her, waiting for her to acknowledge that he was talking to her.

"Huh? Oh, nothing…" Fado redirected. "Just thinking." Attempting to fool him into believing it wasn't anything important, Fado pretended to pay attention to the road.

It didn't work. Link could clearly tell that she still had something going on inside of her head. "Fado..." He tried to convince her to talk. "Tell me. What is it you're thinking about?"

She turned her head to the side with a cough prior to striking up what was floating in her thoughts. "It's just… That squirrel… Well, I don't think that was a meal that belonged to a Wolfos."

Narrowing his eyes, Link thought about it too. 'Actually… She's right. It wouldn't make any sense if it belonged to a Wolfos.'

"It wasn't ripped to pieces. It still had all of its body parts." The kokiri girl continued. "Whatever killed this squirrel, I don't think it was a Wolfos."

Giving Fado's thought some credit, Link had to admit that what she said made sense. If the squirrel was wanted by the Wolfos out of hunger, then there wouldn't be any of it left. Being ten times larger than the squirrel, it wouldn't take much for a Wolfos to snap one up and chomp it down whole.

"Then what did?" Saria replied to Fado.

The group looked at one another for a minute prior to Fado saying. "How should I know? I just don't think it was a Wolfos. Maybe it died on its own… We don't live forever, you know."

Almost in unison, all three of the kokiri coughed. This time, Link caught on to the strangeness of their incessant hacking. Earlier, the boy had assumed that the rancid smell of rotting death caused them to expel the air from their lungs. However, now he realized that it couldn't have been that, for the smell had expired several feet back. "Are you all alright?" He asked them out of concern.

Saria was first to nod. "Y-Yeah…" She coughed. "I think I sw-wallowed my spit wrong; that's all…" Her face contorted a bit as she gulped roughly. "We're fine."

Link knew that couldn't have been right. All three of the kokiri couldn't possibly have a problem swallowing their own spit, especially not at the exact same time. In spite of there being time for him to call her out on what she meant by that, or if she was telling a lie to stop him from worrying, the hero soon made the decision to keep moving on.

'What's going on?' His inner thoughts rambled. Before long, he came to the conclusion that the air was thickening around them. The further they went, it appeared to get hazy. It wasn't enough to affect their vision, but sufficient for the hero to take note of the drastic change. 'Is that… Fog?' Seeing as how it was a fairly crisp day, with the sun shining bright onto the tops of the trees above them, he kept growing curious as to how there could be a patch of ever slightly thickening fog encroaching upon their position.

"Is it getting foggy to anyone else?" Mido questioned.

Breena, his fairy, responded to the fog. "Yes, it is. But, I'm not sure why… There shouldn't be any fog here this time of the day. It even feels like it's getting cooler."

The fairy was right. The temperature was dropping further into the haze the group went. It was odd. Nevertheless, Link lost interest in caring about that whenever he saw the next tree mark. "There!" The boy shouted without regard. "The next paint mark!" Epona was, without a doubt, leading them all in the right direction. Link was ecstatic too, until his nostrils caught wind of yet another ghastly scent. "Ooh! Dammit to Din! What is that stench!?" He held his nose closed, breathing solely through his mouth. He thought he was going to puke from how atrocious the smell was.

"Link!" Saria shouted at him for cursing, slapping his arm in response. Unfortunately, she too felt the same nausea coming forth from the pit of her stomach. "Watch your…" She stopped her reprimand to gag. "Watch your mouth!"

To be honest, Link could care less about his foul mouthing. Whatever it was that was making the stink soon came in sight, next to their feet like the squirrel was. Yet again, right beside the tree which had been marked, there laid more dead critters rotting into the ground beneath the group's boots. "It's a bunch of birds..."

The sight held before them wasn't very pretty. A pile of dead birds laid next to the tree, smelling far worse than the single dead squirrel from beforehand. It appeared to be a mix of birds; several Guay, a Keese, and multiple Hawks. Obviously, this time it wasn't a random coincidence that they could pass off as chance. A single squirrel was one thing, but this was something completely different. Somebody or something put these dead birds here as a warning, a warning to whomever followed the paint markings.

This was meant to discourage Link, and yet he wasn't going to back down that easily.

"This is sooooooo gross!" Saria exclaimed as she kept her hand clasped over her mouth to stop the vomit from escaping her stomach. "Who keeps doing such a nasty thing!?"

Narrowing his eyes further in speculation, Link had the feeling that Saria was right about it being a 'somebody' and not a 'something'. It definitely wasn't a Wolfos. Wolfos don't pile up their prey as if they're saving them for later. After beasts such as them get a hold of a creature, they tear them to shreds and crunch on their bones until there's close to nothing left. This was the work of a person, a certain type of person, a humanoid with intelligence and hands to manipulate that which is around them. "A sickly twisted creep!"

"I bet it was that accursed Skull Kid!" Mido spat, furious to see the death of innocent critters in his forest, the one of which he claims to protect with his so-called 'superior' leadership skills.

Saria and Link shook their heads in tandem. Link wasn't sure how Saria felt on the subject, however, he knew that this wasn't a thing a Skull Kid would do. 'This death and destruction has to be another person's doing, one that doesn't have a connection to the forest.' He licked his lips before saying "No, this wasn't the Skull Kid's work..."

Saria picked up where Link left off. "Timi wouldn't do a thing as violent as this... This is just... it's just vile! No child of the Great Deku Tree would do such a thing, not even a reject!"

Eventually, after the group stood there a couple of minutes, the smell began to get to them again. It was stronger than the scent coming from the Squirrel. The sight was too much to stare at for much longer anyway.

Link's teeth clenched tightly as he grew ever more angry. It was frustrating the boy, annoying him to know that this was happening so close to the place he called his home. All that he wanted was to find who it was that's doing this and pull them apart.

Most importantly, the tree which was marked had been found and Epona was ready to move on. Link decided it was time to move onward. "Come on, let's keep going."

Saria was still in the process of dry heaving as they quickly carried onward. Unfortunately, their coughing worsened.

Soon, Link worried more. The hero knew all along that what Saria said about choking on her spit was a lie, a lie to make him stop being so concerned. If only she had realized that he had a right to be concerned. 'If they were having problems, then they needed to turn back. There's no way I'm going to let them risk their health just so they can accompany me.'

If they had to turn back, then Link was going to see to it that they did so safely. "Okay… What's going on?" The boy questioned sternly, not about to let them ignore him again. "You three are coughing pretty badly."

Fado, after giving one last harsh cough to clear her lungs, shook her head as if to say that she was alright. "It's… It's nothing. Congestion I think."

Mido was quick to judge that idea as he began realizing the possible direness of the situation. "No… I don't know about that…" He stopped speaking in order to cough before continuing "It's not congestion. It's like-… like it's getting hard to breathe." The trouble intensified as he fanned his face. As if he were a magnet, the fog drifted around him. "Ughh! This stupid fog, it's really muggy!"

Upon the mention of fog, Link glanced around, checking out the surroundings. Although there was little of the mist floating behind them, in front it thickened into a near opaque cloud of haze. His ears picked up on the tiny fluttering sound of fairy wings prior to having both Breena and Laila land on his shoulders, looking out at the same thing he was. Epona may have been calm, but her ears were stiff and she held her head low. She was acting cautious and for good reason as it was an odd sight to behold. Normally, at this time of the day, any sort of fog would have dissipated. The temperature shouldn't be changing either.

"It's the fog..." Breena, Laila and Link all said in unison, slightly surprising the others and even themselves. Nonetheless, they were right, they had to be right. There was no other explanation for what had been causing Mido, Fado and Saria to cough so profusely. "It has to be." Link pondered aloud. "But, where did it all come from?"

Fado sniffed at the air as they all stared at the wall of fog clouding the rest of the forest from the beloved sunshine. "I don't know… It doesn't smell right though; the fog. It's not just water vapor. There's-… There's something in it, something causing it-… a magic of some sort."

Curiously, Link turned his head to stare at Fado, wondering how she came to the conclusion that the fog in front of them was caused by a form of magic. There hadn't been any clear indication which led the hero to think such a thing. However, it wasn't impossible and it did account for why there was a heavy perimeter of it encircling a portion of the Lost Woods at a time in which there shouldn't be any. The weather isn't even capable of allowing fog to be out, yet there it was. "What makes you say that?" He asked. "It looks and smells like normal fog."

The kokiri girl stopped sniffing the air. She was able to sense the difference in this and normal fog. "It looks like normal fog, but it doesn't smell like it…" She explained while shaking her head. "There's just something… well-... off about it."

Saria as well as Mido both nodded in agreement while Link spent a few seconds taking deep breaths, trying his best to smell what they were talking about. To the hylian's dismay, there was nothing he could note that immediately differentiated things from normal. He felt as though the fog was exactly what it was; normal fog. After several attempts, he gave up and simply decided to take the kokiri's word for it.

"I see what you mean." Saria mentioned, confirming that only the kokiri could sense it.

"Well, I have no clue what you're talking about…" Link stated. "All I know is, there isn't any amount of haze that is going to stop me from retrieving my Ocarina."

Everyone, including Breena and Laila stared at the hero. He directed his own gaze right back at them. It was up to them if they wanted to pursue onward with him, or head back home where it was guaranteed to be safer than out there. That wouldn't happen though, they wouldn't abandon him. He knew they were far too keen on staying with him.

"We only want you to stay safe, Link." Saria replied. "None of us are going to leave these woods until you do. We're with you every step of the way. The only thing different is that we won't let you walk directly into danger if we know something beneficial that can help you."

Leaning against Epona, Link wondered why Saria said that last part. He nearly grew suspicious. "What do you mean? Do you know something about this fog that you're not telling me?"

Furrowing her brow, Saria shook her head after a moment to contemplate what Link meant. "Huh? No, it's just that we know it's abnormal. We all need to be careful until we figure out why it's here."

Taking a decent amount of time to process the information, Link held his hand to his chin, staring off in the direction of the cloudy wall. It was obvious that Saria was correct in this matter. Clearly the fog wasn't natural either. Link knew that much through his own speculation. Unfortunately, he was simply unable to physically sense it like the kokiri could.

Exhaling, soon he decided that it was time to move on from their current position. The hero had already made his point on how they were going to have to go on the other-side of the obscuring haze. If the others were going to stay with him, then that was fine. His only worries were that of what would happen if they grew sicker upon further travel onward.

Breena and Laila stated that the haze was unnatural and Link took their word for it. However, it merely fueled his concerns for Saria, Fado and Mido. Whoever it was doing this, their intentions probably weren't good. 'It might be Ganondorf for all that I know, or at least somebody who's working for him, doing his bidding like a lackey.' Regardless, as he had previously said, no magic would stop him from retrieving the Ocarina of Time. Nothing other than the safety of his friends and family was more important than getting back such a powerful relic. Everything would be fine as long as his hands were the only hands that held it. Until then, they had to continue forward.

"Epona… Let's go." Link uttered, giving the horse a gentle smack on her furry rear. Together, the group resumed their walk through the Lost Woods in high hopes of finding what the hero was looking for. "Come on everybody, that means you all too… I promise I won't let anything happen to you on the other side of that fog; not as long as my name's Link."

Briefly, for the mere second he was mounting Epona to achieve a higher visual, Link noticed Saria's eyes on him. At first, he thought she had something to say. But, then he realized the stare was more of a gawk, as if she was enjoying the sight of him. 'Oh boy, here we go again.' He thought in his mind as he tried to keep a blush from creeping up onto his cheeks. Whatever her problem was, it was beginning to seriously bother Link. He didn't want her looking at him like that. It was embarrassing, made him feel funny inside and he wasn't even sure of how to respond other than to move on, which he swiftly did as he rode Epona closer to the plume of smokey vapor.

Further ahead, Link could see what appeared to be another marked tree. To his dismay, instantly, his eyes were drawn to the lump of whatever it was that laid on the ground beneath it. Same as the previous trees that had been marked by the Skull Kid, there was what appeared to be one more creature lying dead. The closer the group grew, he confirmed the unmistakable suspicions himself. 'Great… Now, not only is Saria swooning over me, but there's something leaving 'gifts' for us; dead animals.'

Link was getting quite upset about it. So far, They'd encountered next to no wildlife. Instead, they were constantly seeing bodies of the critters that called this place their home. 'It isn't right, none of it is. I'm going to get to the bottom of this.' He told himself as Epona trotted right up to the dead critter. 'A thing like this cannot continue.'

Before long, the others caught on by nothing more than the scent. On the other hand, this time, the stench of death wasn't quite as rotten, with the smell being only half as bad as the others from before.

"Geez! Again!?" Mido shouted while Saria visibly held her breath.

Closing in, it was obvious that the dead beast was that of a Chupa, a big one on top of that; about twice the size of the ones encountered earlier. From a quick observation, it didn't look like there was a noticeable way to show that it was killed. There was no blood, no cuts or lacerations, no missing limbs, no nothing to indicate that it was a person or another creature that had finished it off.

"It's a Chupa..." Fado replied while noticing a pattern. "Hmm… Did you guys notice how the animals keep getting tougher?" She decided to rephrase it once she saw Link staring at her with a raised eyebrow. "I mean that the creatures we keep finding dead are being found consecutively, in order of how tough they are… Think about it-… First a Squirrel, then Birds, now a Chupa? There's not a chance of that being random. There's no doubt that there's somebody laying these out for us to find, as if they're luring us toward them."

"They want us to know..." Link eventually spoke, knowing that he was right. "They're not luring us, they're guiding us right to them."

What he said was an obvious truth. The animals didn't all simply decide to go die underneath the very trees the hero just so happened to be looking for. It was planned and calculated. Somebody made sure to make this appear frightening, knowing it would scare any Kokiri off. They knew it wouldn't work on Link, a Hylian who grew up in this forest. He was only determined to put a stop to whatever is causing it.

"SHH!" Mido suddenly shushed them, even though they weren't being loud at the moment. His eyes darted around the forest floor; something of which they took immediate notice of prior to doing the same, making an attempt to see what he was seeing. "Did you hear that?" He asked, "I swear I heard something."

Cupping his hand around his ear, Link waved at Mido swiftly to make him be quiet. Finally, he had heard something too; a slight rustling of bushes. It was barely audible, yet, just enough to block out the noise of what the boy had initially believed to be footsteps. Although he didn't want to alert the others, with Mido having already done that for him, he decided that the safety of the group was most important. With that, Link hopped off Epona and drew his sword, unsheathing it from its scabbard.

The very moment his blade was brandished, that sound he assumed he heard made itself present. Whatever it was, they were sure now that it was feet moving, tapping the ground, barely being out of sight due to the fog.

This was a situation that wasn't very pleasant. From the beginning, Link feared something like this would occur and it was the reason why he didn't want anyone to accompany him in the first place. 'If I come under attack by something that requires me to take evasive action, I'll have no choice other than to trust the others to do the same.' It was impossible to run away while also fighting for the well-being of others. It couldn't be done at the exact same time.

At that moment, hearing noises all around, he wasn't even sure of how many beings/creatures/entities were slightly beyond visual range, safe from being spotted. Epona's ears were flattened back, a sign that she wasn't comfortable with the situation either. With her head movement switching back and forth from up high to down low, Link knew she was unsure of how to react, unsure whether they were in imminent danger or not.

"L-Link?" Saria whispered nervously while also coming closer, hiding behind the hero.

Link's arm was quick to shield Saria as he backed up toward Epona. All of them had to watch out. The fog was thick, so they'd have to be within close proximity to spot anything nearby. 'If we formed a circle, that could potentially help.' Link tried to strategize. However, for the time at hand, he had to do what he was capable of doing. "Not now, Saria. Get behind me… Fado, Cover our flank. Don't let anything into our perimeter... Mido, keep watch. Use your weapon if you have to."

For the most part, they listened to what the hero said. Saria didn't particularly like that he wanted her to merely stand-by. Fortunately, now wasn't the time to bicker about the decision as they all knew well and understood by now that Link was further capable of doing things than they were.

Before long, they didn't have to wonder what was making its way around them. A lone howl, one of which made all of them shiver in response, rang out amongst the deepening foggy mist. No creature in Hyrule made the same sound as that. A Wolfos howl often disrupted its intended victims by confusing them. Each time it howled, it swiftly changed its position very soon after. In other words, it was most assuredly a Wolfos, if not multiple.

"So-of-a…" Link uttered with teeth gritted in anger. The situation was dire. Considering the potential possibilities, he wasn't sure how he could protect himself, Epona and three battle-inept Kokiri.

"Deku Nuts, Link!" Saria spoke louder. She knew how intensely focused he was, so she made sure to get his attention. "Deku Nuts! Use Deku Nuts to scare them off!"

With ever widening eyes, Link knew what it was that she meant and wanted. On the downside, he also knew through experience that throwing a Deku Nut at a Wolfos can back-fire. Normally, a well placed stun could utterly deter a Wolfos from going any further. Then again, under certain circumstances, it only made the situation ten times worse. If a Wolfos is extra hungry, already harmed or simply bound and determined, then a Deku Nut would merely infuriate the nasty beast. Because of that, Link found it best to wait and see what was going to happen. He figured it was possible for him to deal with them on his own; or so he greatly hoped.

Two other howls ensued, forcing the hero to jerk his head left and then right in order to catch a visual of anything he could. Clearly, the beasts were in great numbers, plus they had the group encircled. There wasn't any retreating to a safe distance. Their only option was to defend their current position.

"Deku Nuts, Link!" Saria resumed pestering him with her idea until she finally realized that he didn't want to use them.

Link's teeth were clenched from frustration, gritted in a lock of his jaw. In the following moments, he gripped the handle of his sword with tenacity as the growling, snarling and howling intensified.

Breaking though the thickening blanket of fog floating amongst the forest, prickly hairs revealed themselves as matted canine fur accompanied by sharp wolf claws. While Link and the group had already figured out and even confirmed what the beasts were, seeing them up close and personal, knowing that they wanted to feed, it was completely different, far more alarming.

The ground beneath Link and the Kokiri's boots vibrated from the running of what was potentially an entire roaming pack of Wolfos. Mido's face turned white and Saria looked like she was ready to hit Link in the head for not throwing a Deku Nut. Fado, however, was more concentrated, similar to Link in both focus as well as stance. 'Out of all three of them, it was Fado who I could assume would fare better in this fight.' The hylian hero quickly contemplated. 'Including Saria. She's far too kind and loving to battle offensively.' He shook his head and snorted. 'A blowgun isn't the ideal weapon in this situation, but in the case of it being a dead shot between the eyes, even a Wolfos would fall to an attack like that.' Taking all of that into deep consideration, Link backed up even further, knowing everyone in the group had to be protected at all costs.

Despite the beast's initial delay, once the time for tedious scare-tactics was over, they began their move by encroaching even more, slipping through the cracks of the smoky curtain of mist.

"Link! They're here!" Mido shouted, receiving a vicious growling howl in response from the approaching Wolfos. "Do something!"

Although he didn't want to admit it, Link was basically glued to the forest floor as he was too unsure of how to proceed without endangering somebody in the process. 'Dammit…' He mentally cursed. 'I'm going to have no choice other than to fight as quickly and powerfully as I can. If there's more than two, I'll have to rely on Fado to defend Mido and Saria.' With the conclusion in his mind that there was no alternative, now that he had a plan at least halfway formulated, he advanced across the forest floor by taking several steps forward.

The hero wasn't afraid of the Wolfos. He knew exactly where to strike them to end their lives as well as how to defend himself from both their disease ridden claws and their foul blood soaked teeth; teeth which were infested with cavities the size of his knuckles.

"Link!? What are you doing!?" Saria shouted, looking horrified until he moved in front of the group.

Now that everyone was behind him, they bore witness to his plan. He hoped they would agree to it without hesitation. Yelling at the monster, the hylian boy used the moment to let the beasts know that they weren't intimidating him. Confidence was everything whenever dealing with them; that being an experience he learned. "ALRIGHT! IF YOU WANT A TASTY SNACK, THEN COME AND GET ME!"

"Are you out of your mind!?" Mido shouted at Link from behind.

The hero had no time to look back to reply. The first Wolfos decided to act on his taunt by revealing itself in a horrendous display of glory; lunging out from amongst the wall of fog with its claws at the ready. The beast was smaller than anticipated, appearing more or less as that of a young blood, dwarfed by the others still out in the fog. Either way, in spite of its diminutive size, it was obviously ready to pounce.

As Link had previously speculated, it truly was all about disheartenment when it came to these vicious animals, a game of scare to see who's the strong and who's the weak. The weak were always chosen over the strong because they were easier to kill. Considering that, under normal circumstances, Saria's scream of fright would've gotten its attention far more-so than Link's aggressive yelling. However, there was something different about this Wolfos, perhaps even the entire group. It gave a single ferocious growl prior to making its move by taking a flying leap at Link with its jaws open.

"WATCH OUT, LINK!" Saria hollered at the top of her lungs.

The creature ran on four legs until it was within ten feet of the young hero. It rose up on its hind legs, above the boy's height, to try and take his head off in a swift bite. Steel was stronger than its teeth or claws, that much Link knew for sure. Guarding himself, his shield came up first to block the bite. Other than the clank of its face smashing into hylian steel, a small yelp could be heard. Without giving into victory, he remained strategic and used his sword to stab forward before the wolfos could take the opportunity to make a swipe at him with its claws.

The very tip of Link's sword pierced the beast's abdomen, causing it to holler out in pain. The Wolfos felt the wound as well as the steel still wedged between its flesh. Link's shield served as the next part of his attack strategy, for as the wolfos focused on its injury instead of him, though it was a fraction of a second, it was plenty for Link to crack the monster's jaw against the edge of his shield several times over. Blood trickled down the blade of the hero's sword, flowing faster as the Wolfos backed up to free itself from the sharp grasp.

"That's right… Come on." Link taunted evermore as he kept his combat stance. "I won't let you harm me, my horse or my friends. None of you will hurt any of us. I won't allow it…" He spun his sword in his hand like a baton before pointing it at the wounded wolfos. "I… won't allow it."

Being the monster of an animal that it is, in lieu of taking advice, it instead snarled ferociously with its vile yellow teeth fully visible, salivating as it had been the entire time it fought. Its injury wasn't enough to damper its high hopes of devouring the boy whole. Unlike times before, these Wolfos convey the impression that they have a personal vendetta against Link, as if his smell, his scent was riling them up. They're intelligent, more-so than the other creatures of the forest; considering this, they know and remember a smell once they've smelled it at least once before. Link had fought them prior to this. Because of that, there's no doubt they knew precisely who the hylian child was.

Roaring in wrath, the stricken Wolfos made another run at Link. The boy was quick to once again block its attack. All throughout his defensive maneuvers, again and again, the monster tried to slice him open with its razor sharp claws. As fearsome as the beast already was, it was literally going into a frenzy right before the group's very eyes, trying its absolute best to kill the hero any way that it possibly could.

Ultimately, Link had to fend for himself by devising a trick to throw the Wolfos off track. So long as Mido, Saria, and Fado stayed out of the way, he felt everything would work out perfectly. First, strafing side-to-side, the boy brought up a rhythm, one that the Wolfos could easily comprehend and get used to. Over and over, he dodged its attacks by moving left and then right, left and then right. Soon enough, the fiend caught on and began predicting Link's moves on its own accord, just how the hero wanted it to. Each thrown strike from the beast was defended easily, providing the boy with time to think.

If there had been another Wolfos, he likely would've been in trouble. For that very reason, Link swiftly made the attempt at contemplating why the other Wolfos, those on the outside of the mist, were merely watching and running around the group like they were trying to keep them encircled. They were being kept in one confined area. The thought was short, yet, nonetheless intriguing with the wonder of if they were testing the group's strength; Link in particular, Link specifically.

The Wolfos facing off against the hero was a ploy, a show of the hylian's might on display for the others, letting them know exactly what they're up against. In other words, this was only the beginning. This was only the first wave of that which was yet to come.

Becoming more aware of what the vicious pack of roaming teeth with fur actually had planned, it became clear to Link that it was time to put an end to this skirmish. If the savage hell hound of the forest was meant to test his might, then the hero was bound and determined to give the rest of its crew the show they desired. As he had said beforehand; nobody was going to hurt him or his friends, not without severe repercussions.

Narrowing his eyes, Link knew the opportunity was close at hand. This entire time, he had been dodging attacks defensively, strafing left and right, waiting for the right moment to strike. The boy's own scheme ultimately worked whenever the beast decided to try and swing in prediction to his movements, an attempt on its behalf to hurt the kid by seeing through his constant evasion. It probably would have hit Link were it not for the fact that Link had already planned on it realizing what he was doing. As it took a swipe at the boy with its paw, Link ducked prior to coming back up to deliver a painful slice directed onto the wolfos' forearm, cutting all the way down to its claws. Fur and flesh split like warm butter as the Wolfos howled out in surprised agony. It wasn't expecting Link to counter its move in such a way.

Blood was a common sight amongst the forefront of a battle, however, it always stood out from the surrounding green when inside the Forbidden Forest. The Lost Woods was the same, only exaggerated worse by the density of the flora. Crimson Red spilled out onto brownish-green, gushing with each throb of the creature's heart.

How they were before, the anger coursing through both of them, it intensified tenfold; more-so in the injured Wolfos than Link. The crazed monster darted forward, with a trail of blood following close behind. The hero had to take true evasive action by vaulting across a fallen log laying on the ground. Just barely, he was capable of avoiding the onrush. There wasn't any way or time to hide considering he had to protect the others in his group. Then again, hiding wasn't what he wanted to do anyway.

Jumping back over the same log, Link resumed his tactical position with a sturdy stance. Again, it was time, the moment for him to try to end this fight had come. The Wolfos standing before him was a youngblood, yet, one of his foes. While he didn't have a personal wish for its death, the boy knew all too well that was the only solution, the only way to deal with this scenario.

If it wouldn't have been for the scuttling of feet and the feeling of a hand reaching into his knapsack, Link would've gone for the final blow right then and there. Instead, he glanced down to see Saria grabbing a handful of Deku Nuts from within. Last the boy had seen, she was still huddled back against Epona with Mido and Fado. It shocked him to see her next to him, in the midst of a battle, a struggle for life and death. No matter their close relationship, he grew upset at having her getting in his way, subjecting herself and the others to danger by splitting up.

"Wha-...!? Saria!? Get back! What are you doing!?" He spoke through gritted teeth, holding back from sounding meaner.

Without bothering to answer him, Saria threw a handful of the Deku Nuts at the approaching young blood, aiming as best that she could in order to get the greatest effect. "TAKE THAT!" She screamed as the Deku Nuts impacted the beast with a small series of explosions centered around its torso. Not a single shot missed. All of the Deku Nuts busted, several in the abdomen in addition to a well-placed shot straight on top of the beast's injured arm, the split wound freshly dripping with blood. Having the stunning explosion seep into its body must have been excruciatingly painful.

Link's ears rang worse from the loudness of its shrill shriek than they were from the detonation effect. Never before had he heard a Wolfos scream as such. The pain it felt must have been overwhelming.

While many might have thought this to be a good thing, it wasn't. Disastrously, from that moment onward, things took a turn for the worse. Taking into consideration the distinguished circumstances, Link knew all too well that the badly injured Wolfos ahead of them wasn't going to back down. It wasn't there in the interest of food. If it didn't successfully kill them in front of the pack, failing to kill an enemy and then attempting escape, the other Wolfos would finish it off on their own just for being too weak, for losing. To the youngblood, this was a trial by rite of passage. Killing Link and the others would prove its hellish honour, allowing it to travel in might with the rest of them pack. Adulthood was calling its name. The only people standing in its way was the group invading the Lost Woods.

Summoning all of the reserved vigor remaining in its body, the beast again rose to its back feet, onto its hind legs for its final grandstand. In spite of the blood, deep lacerations, a puncture and even Deku Nut explosion marks with accompanied burns, it wasn't going to merely give up.

Link's plan turned backward as soon as he saw the wolfos' gaze shift from him over toward Saria. Those evil red eyes stained with its own dripping vital juices; immediately, the second they connected with Saria's, the kokiri girl's legs quivered. Such display of aggression to it, combined with the cowardly aftershock on her behalf, definitely got the interest of the monster in question. The green-haired kokiri girl should have listened to Link or known that he had the situation under control. Now, in place of the plan he initially had, he had to protect her and the others.

Since Link had always worked on objectives alone, he wasn't used to having another person alongside him, much less three Kokiri. "SARIA! DAMMIT, GET BACK, YOU IDIOT!" He shouted at her, shoving her further backward against Epona and the others. He was rough, much rougher than he had to be. On the other hand, as frustrated as he was to have their lives now in more danger than they were a mere fraction of a second ago, he really only wanted her to be safe and not get in the way anymore.

The Wolfos charged without any warning, changing its course away from Link in favor of Saria, the one who threw the Deku Nuts at it. As Link had predicted, Saria's intended inflicted effect was far less effective than it would have been if it were a single 'hunting' Wolfos. Seeing how the monster was being tested by the others in its pack, it wasn't going to give up, back down or run away. Saria knew this now as well. To her dismay, it was too late to forget and forgive as the frenzied beast was already rampaging.

The problem presented to Link was how to handle the young blood now that it wasn't focused on him anymore. With the hell hound darting toward Saria, he didn't have any more time to think about it. For this predicament, the hero was forced to let natural instincts flow bit by bit.

Howling out in demented terror, the fiend leapt toward Saria with its claws fully extended. The green haired Kokiri girl shrieked loudly in fright, trying her best to run behind Epona, who was also shaking fearfully. There wasn't anywhere for the kokiri to run off to as they were still encircled by the remaining pack of Wolfos.

Instead of retreating, due to it being impossible, Link did the only thing he could think of to do. Without letting it pass him to get to the others, he swung his sword alongside giving a shield bash. The shield smashed into the wolfos' snout as his sword sliced the tip of its ear off. Repeatedly, the beast's jaws snapped until Link stopped resisting and chose to dodge to the left.

Everything had just begun. Now that Link was temporarily behind the wolfos, he moved on to the next phase of his strategy. Gripping the monster's dirty tail tight, he was able to pull himself closer to it by yanking forward, causing him to land on its back from behind. As hard as it could muster, the wolfos tried to shake Link off its posterior, trying to send him to the ground so he couldn't gather his bearings. It wasn't going to happen though. With his fists gripping the creature's backfur tightly, the young hero wasn't going anywhere.

All around him, the group watched as Link showed everybody how he fought; what it looked like to kill a living creature, no matter if it was a beast with a vicious personality. Intending to put an end to this nonsense, the hylian boy refused to allow himself to hold back. He intended to deliver a death strike.

Ascending up the creature's back using its matted fur as climbing material, Link's arms wrapped themselves around the wolfos' throat as soon as he was high enough to do so. Squeezing as tight as he could, all of his muscles came into play, especially since the monster was trying to grab and shake him off of it. The hero was sure the following seconds were to be the wolfos' last.

Only a monster kills without feeling. While Link had never before thought much about the death of one of his foes unless they were someone he once knew, he also never wanted to have to make the decision to take anything's life. Unfortunately, he had to do what he had to do in order to protect himself and his friends. Keeping in mind that this was for the sake of safety, needing to ensure the others wouldn't get hurt, Link took his sword and held it to the Wolfos' throat. In one swift motion, the steel blade slit its jugular, forcing a yelp in advance of disgusting gurgling sounds as blood shot out of its severed windpipe in a warm red shower.

Life drained from the wolfos' eyes within thirty seconds. When the sounds ceased and its spirit escaped its physical form, the beast's dead body fell to the ground on its stomach with Link still on its back. The hero returned to his feet in no time at all. His arms were completely soaked in blood. No matter how dirty or gross it was, he had done it. The hero had taken the creature's life in order to ensure the survival of himself as well as his friends. That would prove to the other Wolfos what he was capable of.

It had been a long time since the boy had last killed something. Refreshing, satisfying, frustrated, angry; he had no clue how to react or what emotions he should currently be feeling. Nonetheless, he knew he was successful as he'd been countless times beforehand. He did what had to be done. With blood dripping from his tunic and arms onto the ground beneath him, each barely audible drop was a constant reminder toward what he had done.

Saria and the others looked near terrified of Link whenever he turned his head to stare at them, merely trying to see if they were okay. As Kokiri, bloodcurdling scenes were close to being too much for them to mentally handle. Being sheltered by the Great Deku Tree, they knew little of the grievous details of battling. Decapitation, disembowelment, mutilation, torture; that's exclusive to the most horrid of nightmares to them, not something that existed within their waking life.

Fado was the only kokiri that responded differently. After Link slit the throat of the youngblood wolfos, with its precious red fluids dripping from his clothes, instead of looking as if she was about to pass out, she simply stared at him with an understanding as to what he had done.

Under the circumstances pressed upon him, Link didn't have much longer to contemplate the unprecedented lucidity in his value on life or what others thought of him. Having finished off the runt of the litter, the remaining Wolfos began to cease their stampede. No more running in a circle around the hero and Kokiri. Instead, all but one stood there, staring at kids with extremely hostile intent. The lone pack member that remained on the move was headed straight toward Link at a slow, yet steady pace. It soon became clear that the level of confidence it had in approaching signified that it was more than just another member of the pack. No, this time, they were going to get a close up of what was likely to be the wolfos leader, the alpha male of the pack.

This Wolfos appeared much larger than the one Link had just killed. That wolfos was already up above his head, so this one was literally towering above him. Were it standing on its hind legs, the creature would measure close to seven feet tall. However, instead of standing, it was currently running on all fours directly at the boy, with hatred burning in its eyes and foaming anger spewing from its mouth. Its howl was deafening, topping the ringing sensation already present.

'Let's do this.' Link thought, spitting on the forest floor while cracking his neck. This fight was going to be different and he knew it. Being far larger than the runt he had just faced off against, this Wolfos would also be much stronger. The hero's defense strategy would have to change. Certain attacks or if he tried to block, could quite literally cause his arm to be dislocated, if not the bone in it broken. Link would have to be careful as well as know his own limitations while fighting it. For now, he stood his ground, letting the monster charge straight toward him with no regard once-soever.

Getting closer, around twenty feet from the hylian boy, the fiend snarled loudly at all of them. For a moment, Link wondered if it would make an attempt to attack the others. Thankfully, that worry was squashed whenever it made the motion as if it was getting ready to lunge at him. This confirmed that it was only looking at him and he knew that the plan he made would likely work. If it did, it would end the fight before it even began, and if it didn't, then he'd have to move on with something else.

Jumping off the ground to leap at the hero, the Wolfos had its tongue hanging out of its mouth as it anticipated the kill. As for Link, he let it get as close as it could before bending over backwards, letting the beast soar past his head prior to jutting his sword directly up to slice through its torso, abdomen and stomach.

Howling out in debilitating anguish, the finely tuned sword ripped through furred flesh, tearing the wolfos internal guts out as the blade pierced deeper. Sickeningly, as it landed on the ground behind them with a rolling thud, its intestines fell out of the gaping vertical hole in its chest, hanging there with blood shooting forth onto the grass around it. Twitching, gurgling and pawing at its own mangled body, the Wolfos, which had thought itself to be so high and mighty, slowly died a painful death without ever getting itself to score a single strike.

It was then that Link noticed how he was wrong about the monster being the leader of the pack. It wasn't. In fact, it was merely another pack member. Lamentably, it also meant that there were additional fights ahead; more death to come. Whether he was right or wrong, what was more important was that things changed yet again in the behaviour of the rest of the pack. After dealing with the first one, the rest had stopped their running. Now, with this second success, they began approaching in an intimidatingly harsh manner.

Coming closer, Link could see all of them, far too many wolfos to take on alone; even taking into consideration the kokiri. Numbering in the thirties, they ranged from a few other young bloods, to those more experienced. Most of the pack gradually closed in the distance Link and the others had from each other, getting closer and closer, keeping the kids encircled. However, there were also several veterans hanging back on the sideline. These old beasts of the forest may be advanced in their age, but they were still by far the fiercest members in the pack, in terms of respect and power. Those veterans were the real alphas. They called the shots and every other Wolfos did exactly as they were commanded, no matter how primal.

"This is just great… JUST GREAT!" Link shouted furiously while lifting his sword up to be at the ready. Fearing the absolute worst, there was no telling when or if the encroaching wolfos horde was going to cease its march forward to narrow the fighting circle. "I don't know how we're going to get out of this, guys." The boy managed to utter out above the noise of leaves crunching around them. "There's way too many for me to deal with and no chance of escape."

While they still had the opportunity to converse, Mido stepped forth quicker than the others. "What!? You're kidding!? Do to them what you just did to the last two!"

Grunting, in the heat of the moment, Link yelled back at him. "I CAN'T DO THAT TO THIRTY OF THEM, YOU DUMBASS!"

The orange haired Kokiri's eyes shot open as he angrily shouted back while shaking his fist in the air. "I'M NOT A DUMBASS, YOU'RE A DUMBASS! I NEVER WANTED TO COME IN HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

All of the distraught yelling did nothing other than make things worse. One of the Wolfos from amongst the advancing pack flew at Link with its claws ready to do to him what he had done to the two Wolfos before. "SHIT!" The young hero shouted, barely blocking the attack with his shield. The blow knocked him to the side, but he remained standing. "

"WATCH OUT!" Link screamed, pointing at the Wolfos, which had landed relatively close to the kokiri in comparison to where they were. Although the monster was mostly focused on him, his fears became reality whenever it swung around to take a swipe at Mido and Saria, who were about three feet away from it. Saria shrieked in horror, afraid for her life.

"GET AWAY FROM THEM, YOU FURRY FUCK!" Hollering as loud as he could while running as fast as his feet would let him, Link tried his absolute hardest to get in the way before the attack so he could block it. Then again, he also knew that he wasn't going to be able to cross a twenty foot gap in time to stop the swift swipe of the beast's claws.

The only thing that saved the diminutive Kokiri was the quick thinking of Fado, who used her blowgun to rapidly fire several darts into the creature's torso. The darts weren't big enough to cause severe damage, but it definitely hurt as the monster yelped like a little puppy in trouble. Those well placed shots bought the children of the forest just enough time to escape immediate danger. "Get on the horse, now!" Fado shouted, loading more darts in her blowgun as Link jumped at the Wolfos, stabbing it in the shoulder with his sword.

"Ghaa! Hurry!" The hero commanded them, watching briefly as Mido and Saria mounted Epona.

The Wolfos tried to shake the small hylian hero off before managing to reach behind itself and grab the boy's boot. "RGNNN!" He let go of his sword with a groan as the monster yanked him off and threw him to the ground.

"My sword!" The boy bemoaned. Since he was a well-trained swordsman, he knew that he should have hung onto his weapon with an iron grip, but it happened to be impossible at the moment since it was still stuck in the beast's shoulder. For the time being, he was without any way of defending himself or anyone else until the wolfos spun around in place, gripping and pulling the blade out of its shoulder. Dropping the sword, it turned to face Link with a look of sheer frenzy plastered onto its face.

"What are you looking at, you ugly son-of-a-bitch?" Link taunted as he stepped forward.

Fado gave the hero a good advantage by unleashing yet another series of darts. Each projectile hit too, with great velocity and enough pinching pain to hopefully distract the wolfos long enough for him to retrieve his sword. After all, there wasn't any possible way to dispatch such a foe without some form of weapon. He knew he couldn't fist fight a wolfos.

Running full speed, Link lowered his body along with having his hand near the ground. He barely managed to snatch up his sword. A split second later, he saw in the eyes of the creature that it had outwitted him through trick or pure determination. Instead of focusing on Fado, who shot it with eight darts, it kicked Link back with a filthy canine foot planted firmly to the boy's face. The kick shoved the hero back onto the ground, forcing him to roll out of control for about two and a half seconds, just long enough for the monster to make its next move. It threw itself at Link with the intent to either body slam, or just plain crash into him with all of its body weight.

Dodging the attack, Link had to cartwheel out of the way, with barely any time to spare. If it weren't for Fado still unleashing a wave of darts, the beast may have been further focused on him and moving even faster. Nonetheless, several swipes from its oversized claws still managed to get extremely close. Link could feel the air moving from each attack. Frenzied, the wolfos snarled, then charged. Just like last time, the hero had to maneuver himself out of the way.

Repeatedly, the wolfos kept up the game of run and chase. No matter how much Link dodged its ferociousness, it refused to give up. The boy's legs were getting slightly tired as an outcome. All of this was unprecedented. Although his skills were still as sharp as a razor blade, he wasn't capable of keeping this up indefinitely.

'This isn't working!' He thought, looking around at all of the other wolfos still remaining, which were watching the battle. 'I have to do something quick, or else I'm going to run out of strength… I haven't recovered enough endurance to let this go on for hours. Not like I could whenever I was a full blown adult.'

Knowing that he had other items, Link felt it was time that he used them. As he sheathed his sword, the beast stood its ground with arms out at its sides, ready to make a quick slice at a moment's notice. It had absolutely no clue what the hylian child was doing or planning on doing. However, being incredibly intelligent for creatures of the forest, it did know he was doing something. Luckily for Link, he was able to use that advantage to retrieve his bow and arrow.

"Time to test out my archery skill again." The hero uttered with a smug smile. He swiftly grabbed an arrow from his quiver, placed it to the string of the bow, then drew back with as much strength as he could prior to taking aim. "Let's see how you fair against an arrow to your skull."

Of course, the Wolfos didn't remain still to allow such an easy targeting. Running at Link, he was forced to unleash the arrow without getting a decent aim. Flying through the air at great velocity, the arrow still managed to hit the creature in its left paw no matter the sprinting. Having gone halfway through its foot, the piercing sensation was enough to temporarily stun the beast, giving Link the time he needed to reload one more arrow. This time, the monstrous canine remained still as it tried its best to remove the arrow lodged in its paw. The attempt was unsuccessful and a fatal error on its behalf. Continuing to use the time it foolishly gave him, the boy let another arrow fly straight toward the wolfos' chest. Feeling confident that this would be another deathblow, he didn't bother to ready another arrow.

To his ultimate dismay, before the arrow could impact the Wolfos, another one, rivaling the same size as it, came out of nowhere to completely smack the arrow out of thin air. Link had never seen such an action before and was dumbstricken for several seconds until it fully soaked in that his strategy had failed. "What the hell!?"

Slowly turning to face the boy with fangs shown, the other wolfos rose to full height. Link's eyes widened in response to seeing two of them. Fighting them both at the same time was going to be incredibly difficult.

"Oh no!" Saria shouted. "We have to find a way to get out of here! There's no way we can face all of them! There's just too many!"

Turning briefly to stare at her, Link shook his head to let her know that retreat wasn't an option. They were far outnumbered. Epona wasn't big or fast enough to escape the pack of wolfos in front of them. The hero had to think of a way to defeat the monsters and he needed to do it fast. For the time being, the only thing he could think of doing was using his bow and arrow for ranged attacks, then his sword when the creatures were in close proximity.

"This has to work." The boy remarked. His arrows were of limited supply. On the other hand, so were his strategies. Since this was a dire situation, he had to do anything he could in order to survive, including depleting his ammunition.

Loading two arrows at a time, Link tried to do a useful combat technique he'd learned from Nabooru during his training with the Gerudo. Both projectiles should add double trouble for the wolfos who get struck by them. Like last time, however, the wolfos wouldn't immediately allow the hero to score a hit. They evaded his tracking as fast as they could, not wanting to feel the aftermath of what would happen if he succeeded in shooting one of them. This went on for what felt like five minutes, until he heard a howl from one of the elderly beasts watching from the sideline. Being no ordinary howl, he watched the two wolfos in front of him change their attack patterns, listening to their leaders.

Soon enough, the group bore witness to multiple wolfos stepping forth from their pack. With blood lust stricken eyes, it was obvious they were getting ready to join in on the fight.

'What?' Link thought to himself, beginning to severely worry. 'No… There's no way. I can't possibly defend myself or Saria and the others if I'm going to have to fight five or six of these hellhounds.' Lowering his bow without bothering to fire another arrow, the hylian knew that he didn't have anything sufficient to take on all of these beasts with full force. No strategy would compensate for their sheer numbers either. "I think I screwed up, guys!" He shouted to them over the roar of thirty approaching wolfos. "We… We shouldn't ever have come back here. We should have just tried to protect the Kokiri Forest until the Deku Sprout grew… Oh, by the Goddesses…... I… I don't know what to do!"

Fado tried to do her best with her blowgun, but the amount of darts she had dwindled quickly until she was down to what she had left on her bandolier. Mido shook nervously while frailly holding onto his dagger. Saria as well as the fairies were in utter disbelief as to what was happening. Just like Link, the green-haired kokiri girl couldn't believe that they were so outnumbered, that there was no possibility of surviving this.

The impending realization of death was beginning to soak in for Link. He felt he had failed miserably; so badly that it led to the end of his friend's lives too. His heartbeat thumped harder, wrenching in pain as he envisioned the entire Kokiri Village succumbing to the same fate as this. Without Saria or even Mido to lead them, the rest of the kokiri would most likely lose their homes or be killed by the rest of the evil infecting this place. It was a horrible potential outcome, but it ran through Link's mind nonetheless. He just couldn't believe that he was going to be struck down by a group of lowly canines. After all that he'd been through, after all that he'd done; it was about to put him to great shame. The Hero of Time, who redeemed all hylian-kind and ensured the safety of the Triforce, was to be killed by a pack of vicious wolfos. 'I'm sure Ganondorf will be laughing in his dark castle for years to come.'

"Keep fighting, Link!" Saria yelled at the hero, encouraging him in spite of being scared of getting consumed by the monsters. "You can't give up! You never ever give up!"

Link wanted to listen to her and yet, he couldn't see a way of getting out of the situation alive. Nothing he was capable of doing would save them this time, because nothing he could do was capable of eliminating this many wolfos in a partially confined space; especially not with the three kokiri he had to protect. In fact, the others made the circumstances as hard as they were. Then again, in the long run, the boy supposed that Saria was correct. He knew the attack would be even worse if he didn't put up a fight. He had to defend himself or else he'd be practically committing suicide by giving up and allowing himself to be killed by wild animals. That definitely wouldn't be a good ending for a person of such high combat status.

Gritting his teeth, Link swiftly drew back the two arrows he still had nocked and released them without hesitation. Due to his quickness, none of the wolfos had a chance to evade. The arrows impacted the chest of one of the beasts the hero had just fought off. It fell to the ground after that, yelping in pain. While Link might not have expected the attack to have worked as well as it did, that gave him an advantage in this extraordinarily dire situation. Pulling out another two arrows from his quiver, the boy nocked and drew back the string without taking immediate aim this time, trying his best to not visibly track them in a way they'd know he was doing as such.

In spite of having killed or incapacitated another monster, Link still didn't get his hopes up. The group was still far too outnumbered for his efforts to make a difference. Inevitability would win out eventually. All he could do for the time being was keep trying. Link had to keep fighting, even whenever the fire inside of him grew dim and his confidence plummeted.

Before long, as he stopped thinking and only focused on the battle, one of the Wolfos from prior ran at the hylian without a second of hesitation. Unleashing another two arrows, one scored a shot to the lower abdomen while the other stuck itself in the trunk of a nearby tree. Not being enough to stop it, the creature kept coming at the boy until he was forced to unsheathe his sword to defend himself. "Nrghhh!" Link grunted as the beast's claws slammed into his blade. The force was almost too much to bear. The monster's strength would've broken his arm if it was any more powerful than it already was. Nonetheless, the hero kept at it, struggling to stay on his feet as he used his shield to block a barrage of savage strikes. Each bang of keratin against metal forced him back a couple of feet until he had been pushed back against the kokiri. To make matters even worse, the pack of wolfos proceeded to accelerate their forward advancement, narrowing the fighting space an additional fifteen feet all the way around.

As abruptly as they marched onward to begin with, another two jumped forth as if to add their input. This left Link defending himself against five of them. 'I can't…' The young hero started thinking as he blocked each strike of the monster's claws, sweating profusely in response. 'I can't do it… I want to, but there's no possible way that I can kill them all AND make sure all of us stay safe at the same time.'

Out of nowhere, one of the bigger wolfos lunged at Link. He lifted his protection like always, yet this time, instead of slashing at him with its claws, the beast bit down on the top of the shield. "What the!?" The hero barely managed to get out prior to having the shield ripped away from his arm so roughly that it hurt. "NO!" Flinging the metal shield to the ground, the wolfos stared at him, snarling with foam dripping from its mouth. Without his shield, Link would have much more trouble guarding himself. Blocking an attack was going to be far harder than it was before.

'Not good. Not good at all…' Link's brain was concerned. 'I'm done for.'

Now that he was pressed against Epona alongside the others, things went downhill incredibly quickly. Following a howl from the elder wolfos, the rest of the pack started walking forward without stopping. Though the monsters took their time encroaching, the looming sensation of death made it feel as though things were occurring so fast.

"I'm so sorry, Saria…" He pleaded. "There's no way I can defeat them all. I'm sorry for failing to protect you all. I just wanted to fix everything and… and now… It looks like I got us all killed."

All of the kokiri shook in fright. In spite of that, Saria didn't blame the hero. None of them blamed him. They knew he was trying his absolute best. "It's alright, Link." Saria said.

"No it's not..." Link insisted. As the wolfos came closer, his pulse increased even more. "You were right." The boy admitted. "This is a suicide mission. But, that shouldn't have meant that you three had to die alongside me. That's my fault. I never should have let either of you accompany me on this." The hylian's palms got the handle of his sword wet with sweat as the anxiety coursing through him rose every inch the hellhounds made toward them. Sorrow was the only emotion keeping itself firmly rooted within the hero. "I just wanted to protect this place…" He sniffled sadly. "It's my home, you know? You guys have always been like family to me and because of that, I'd do anything to help you all out." Shaking his head, he continued "I didn't realize how much seeing the Kokiri Forest in such dismay would hurt me as much as it hurt you." Gulping, he reiterated what he meant. "That's the real reason why I'm here, about to die by these disgusting creatures."

As a tear rolled down Link's cheek, he felt someone's hand lay itself upon his shoulder. When he looked up, he saw Saria with a mournful smile. "We know, Link. It's why we don't blame you for what's about to happen. All of us knew the risks and yet, we came out here with you anyway. So, don't blame yourself." Sniffling, she continued. "Like you said, we're a family and family sticks together until the bitter end."

After saying that, he felt two other hands latch onto him. Staring at them, even with the desperation flowing in the air, the boy couldn't help other than to feel loved by them, including Mido. "We love you, Link. You're always going to be our favourite boy in the entire world."

Proceeding to cry more, the hero's sword nearly fell from his hand as he ultimately decided to give up. The only thing holding him back from actually doing as such was knowing the pain that was to come by being torn limb from limb by over thirty wolfos. He'd seen what happened to things they consider prey and no matter what, I couldn't allow it to happen with no resistance once so ever. He might lose his legs and or only have a single arm, but Link was confident he'd still be stabbing at them until life had completely drained itself from his body.

A mere twenty foot perimeter was all that was left of the group's space inside the encroaching circle of wolfos. Seeing this happen, Link's cognitive deliberation sped up, drifting to thinking about his relationship with Malon as well as how he'd never get to experience new things with her, things that every hylian should be allowed to do in their life. He lamented how he wouldn't be there to protect the Kingdom of Hyrule during other times it required him to save it. Everything he ever knew was about to be cut off, everything he wanted to do was going to be made unachievable. All that he could've done shall soon be an impossible dream. It was difficult for him to estimate which was going to truly be worse; the fact that he was going to feel what it felt like to die, or that he had failed his mission and disappointed the Goddesses. Neither would be great, but it was likely the fact that the hero would have to explain his defeat to omnipotent beings that upset him worse. Knowing that he allowed innocent Kokiri to be killed alongside him doubled that disconcerting sensation of non-accomplishment.

"This is it..." Link moaned in woe, literally able to feel the warm foul smelling odor of the wolfos breath.

Raising his sword above his head, the hero readied himself for a final showdown, one that he figured was already predestined to fail. Hearing nonstop snarls around him, he decided that he would end the predicament at the count of three, by going out fighting with all of his might. Closing his eyes, the boy's plan of action ensued.

"One..." Link counted, listening as the crunching footsteps grew louder around him. "Two..." A wolfos snorted as the boy felt a strangely cold breeze abruptly blow by him. Tightening his grip on his sword, he tried to keep listening to their movement, but the sudden wind blocked out a lot of the sound. "Three!"

Jumping forward, the young hero lashed out with a do-or-die attempt at taking as many of the oversized forest dogs with him as he could. "RHAAAAAA!" Link hollered at the top of his lungs, letting out what he assumed would very likely be the last battle cry to ever escape from his lips again. "TAKE THIS YOU MUTTS! I SWEAR BY THE GODDESSES, I'LL COME DOWN TO HELL MYSELF AND KILL YOU ALL OVER AGAIN!"

Swinging his sword madly and with little skill, it soon dawned on him that something was amiss. The hero felt no resistance, no strikes or slices. Once he had obviously moved beyond the point at which he should have run into the circle of wolfos, he stopped his erratic frenzy and opened his eyes. Shockingly, Link bore witness to all of the monsters backing up, with fear plastered on their faces. They appeared terrified, with certain members of their pack going so far as to shake nervously like they were absolutely traumatized beyond all means of conveyance. This startled Link; on the other hand, obviously not as much as whatever it was that was deeply disturbing them. The very second the cool breeze blew by Link another time, he saw each wolfos sniff the air before backing off more, eyes widening in horror.

"W-What… What's happening!?" The hero asked in bewilderment.

Whimpering, tucking their tails between their legs, the wolfos backed off more. The Alpha Males of the pack seemed confused, but scared as well. All of them looked around like they thought something was about to get them.

"Link..." Saria curiously questioned the situation. "What's going on? Why are they acting like that?"

In advance of Link having the chance to respond, Mido spoke instead. "Who cares!? Just be glad that they're leaving!" Trying to stop his teeth from chattering, he continued "Hauuu! I think I need to change my tunic!"

Fado and the fairies expressed similar emotions as each of them were sure, up until now, that they were about to be killed. Now, to have this abruptly happen, it was a goddess sent miracle. "I… I can't believe it. We're so lucky!"

With the wolfos all cowering in dread, Link was dumbfounded until a strong, chilly gust of wind blew through the air, rustling the trees and leaves. Upon the occurrence of the mysterious gale, the entire pack of thirty or so wolfos took off, running away from the group as fast as they possibly could. Howls of despair were the last they heard of the creatures up until their tails disappeared into the fog they originally came from. The way the rumbling ground settled as they left made it clear that they were truly making haste out of trepidation.

No matter the unexplained aspect of it, like the others, Link was still overly excited and overjoyed that they weren't going to be mauled to death. Although tension was higher than ever within him, the hero's heartbeat began to slow to a normal pace. "This is unbelievable!" He exclaimed in total stupefaction. Not giving the critters a chance to return, however, his arm instantly motioned for them to leave. "Go! Go! Go! Run like the damn forsaken wind!"

Epona's hooves tore at the soil beneath her as her master followed behind as quick as his legs could muster. Nothing mattered more at the time than for them to escape the area.

All that had been said prior to now still held true. This had turned into a complete suicide mission, yet there was also absolutely no reason for the hero to endanger the others, his family and dearly held friends. If anything, as soon as he could be sure that those mongrels were gone for good, he planned to turn back for the Kokiri Village. For now, all they did was run blindly. It wasn't until Link saw another paint mark on a tree that he came to realize they were still somehow traveling in the right direction, all without even meaning to.

Minutes later, the hero clicked his tongue and whistled to get Epona to stop. "Alright, girl. Whoa… Whoa now! I think we're safe."

Inhaling and exhaling rapidly, it took Link a couple of moments to get his breathing back under control. Now that the group was safe, he noticed how much his hands were shaking from anxiety. This came with an ego breaking understanding that he wasn't nearly as strong or powerful as he needed to be. Knowing this, it also severely hurt his confidence. Unfortunately, there wasn't much he could do in the immature body he had. 'I can't believe what happened… I… I can't believe I was that close to death, to the death of my family.' Sighing, the boy's mind kept trying to control the tremors in his hands. 'How could I possibly have been as strong as I was, only to sink down to this weak state of lacking skill in the face of overwhelming odds. Not long ago, I would have been able to take them all on, or at least I like to think I could.'

Continuing to stare at his hands, Link wondered if there was anything he could have done differently; if there was anything that he could have done to have made it seem a bit less like he was so far out of his league. Going over it again and again, he convinced himself that his lack of defensive capabilities were simply due to the enclosed space as well as the overwhelming number of red-eyed foaming-mouthed mutts of the forest. He told himself that for all he knew, he may well have had a lot of trouble no matter what his age was. In fact, he was probably right that even having been a seventeen year old wouldn't have made that battle any easier.

Clenching his hands tightly, although he knew he was being hard on himself, Link knew he shouldn't be. There were always going to be times where he wouldn't be able to defeat a large number of enemies. What he truly needed to do was respect his courage for trying to go out fighting, knowing that he would die if he did. Besides that, he killed several of them with a great show of display toward his skills. Sure, he was lucky. Even still, a normal person definitely wouldn't have been able to last nearly as long as he did. A couple of times, he even protected Saria, Fado and Mido in a way other hylians would've surely failed to do so. Keeping that in his mind, it became clear to Link that it was fine to be upset in regard to his possible demise, granted he stayed aware of his incessant drive to stay alive as well as the things he'd succeeded in doing.

The wind blew the hero's exposed hair back, thereafter pushing his green cap to the side. Once he felt more content with the way things occurred, he exhaled one final time in relief, happy that they were much safer than previously. "Thank the Goddesses..." He uttered.

"Okay, where to now?" Saria asked, making Link look at her.

Like always, right before the hero got a chance to speak, Mido beat him to it. "Are you kidding!? We're getting out of here! There's no way in heck we're going to live if we don't!" The orange haired kokiri boy's rapidly rising chest was evidence that he was still highly scared.

Link couldn't blame Mido either. Yet, the surprise came from the fairies accompanying them agreeing with the kokiri kid. "W-Well, I hate to say it..." Breena meeped. "But, Mido's right; we need to get out of here before we turn into wolfos chow."

Laila clearly felt the same. "I don't want to be eaten by a monster!"

Fado was the only one not showing any desire to get out of the haunted forest. Instead of shaking like the other kokiri, she seemed to be paying close attention to the breeze, letting it blow through her hair and sniffing it in a strangely similar manner as the wolfos did. The hero didn't have much time to pay attention to the girl's eeriness, however, as Saria replied to everybody's readiness to leave. "Come on, you four… We have to keep going. Link needs us and we need to figure out the cause of all this disruption."

Mido grunted and interjected. "We won't figure out anything if we're eaten alive!"

Sighing, Link managed to butt into the conversation. "You know, he's right and Breena and Laila are right too. It's dangerous here. I need to get you all out of here as fast as possible." All of them looked at him in disbelief, so he decided to clarify himself. "Don't look at me like that. Most of you want to get out of here anyway, and it's true… It's way too dangerous here for a Kokiri. I don't want to be responsible for getting any of you killed."

"You're so wrong!" Saria shouted at Link. "Quit worrying about us! Now is not the time to be discussing this, because the sooner we get through with this, the sooner ALL of us can go home!"

Saria's frustration may have been unusual, but it was clear what she was trying to say. It would most certainly take longer if Link chose to backtrack with the intent of sending them back to the Kokiri Village. They were already a bit over halfway. If they turned back now, it would take another hour and a half to get back to this point, which wouldn't leave Link with much daylight left. The last thing he wanted to do was be out here during the nighttime, especially if there was a chance of running into that pack of wolfos again. His own safety would be greatly reduced as well without the presence of the fairies.

"Are you crazy!?" Mido retorted angrily at the green-haired girl, acting totally different now that there was a chance of escape. "Saria, we get it! You've got a crush on him, but we can't risk our lives for this maniac!"

Upon hearing that, Saria, with a vein bulging in her forehead, reached back to pinch the kokiri boy's ear, tugging on it until it looked like it was about to be ripped off. "SHUT UP, MIDO! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!"

With the two starting up a loud fight in the middle of forest, it wasn't until they all heard a sudden yelping sound in the distance did they all silence themselves yet again. That yelp was followed by a roaring snapping noise which echoed throughout the entire woodland. After that, another breeze blew through the area, bringing forth an eerie sensation unlike anything Link had felt up until that point. It made the hero wonder what it was that the pack of wolfos was so frightened of. If it was an actual being or creature, then it was out there and the group needed to watch themselves rather carefully. Whatever it was, it must have been fairly unique, for the hylian boy had been around these woods all his life and a wolfos was the worst thing he'd ever encountered. To see those mongrels run away in fear brought out the aspect that there was another beast lurking nearby far worse than them.

"What was that!?" Saria asked in response to the yelping, letting go of Mido's newly red ear.

Moving on, Link started walking toward the tree with the paint mark on its trunk. "I don't know, but..." Sighing, it was hard for him to fully make up his mind on what it is that he wanted to do. "I… I guess we should keep moving. Even though I want to take you all back to the Kokiri Village where it's safe, it'll be quicker to simply keep going. Plus, it'll be safer for me if I stayed with you all as well…" Stopping, he clicked his tongue a few times as if he wasn't sure of what to do.

Saria didn't like his indecisiveness at all. She grew angry, frustrated with his inability to keep his mind made up. "Knock it off, Link! Geez! There's nothing to discuss. We all agreed to come with you, and we're going to do it. Running away now is just going to make us cowards… I know you're not a coward, Link…. We just have to be brave like you are, that way we can keep supporting you all of the way until we succeed in restoring order to the Forbidden Forest."

Hearing another whimper and yelp from off in the distance, they stopped talking again, focusing more on what it was yelping in pain. It sounded like a wolfos. Although Link wanted to know, the last thing he was going to do was venture out to confirm that there was something out there the pack of wolfos were afraid of, something they caught by scent.

"Okay, Okay..." Link finally gave up, agreeing to let the kokiri continue accompanying him. "But, the only reason why I'm relenting is because it's easier if we keep going and get this over with."

Mido shook his head with a loud grumbling sigh, not happy about the idea of what was happening at all. The others knew he'd be this way, which is why they didn't really want him to come. The kokiri boy had to have known they'd be going through this, at least to have known they'd face some form of danger. It wasn't like the journey was advertised as risk free from the beginning. "This is ridiculous!" The orange-haired kokiri boy still complained. "You're both going to get us killed!" Hopping down from Epona, he held out his hand to the blond haired kokiri behind Saria. "Come on, Fado. Let's get outta here before we end up in the jaws of a wolfos."

Following about a solid minute, Fado eventually shook her head, making Mido's mouth fall open in shock when she said "No. The others are right; we need to keep going and get this over with and you need to stay with us because there's no way you'd be safe traveling back on your own." Proceeding the refusal, she went back to examining her surroundings.

Mido gave up then, keeping to himself with arms crossed, mumbling about how things were unfair or how they were going to get themselves killed.

Hearing that the kokiri were going to ride the rest of the way with him, it made Link happy as he really didn't want to be in there alone, even if he'd always have Epona by his side. With it settled as to what it was they were going to do, they all resumed their travels, albeit while on high alert, definitely watching out for signs of more enemies.

Mido and Link walked on foot, following Epona, who carried Saria and Fado on her back. The fairies, Breena and Laila fluttered amongst the group the entire time until they came upon the next paint-marked tree. They couldn't be sure how many more were left, but it would seem that they were closing in on the location of the Skull Kid Timi.

Looking up, through the treetop foliage, Link could see a massive tree protruding above the rest. Using the memory of what Malon had told him, he realized that it resembled the humongous oak tree she spoke of while finding him. It had to be the clearing where she said the Skull Kid resided. "We're almost there..." The hylian hero managed to say before being interrupted by an earsplitting squeal. The sound startled the entire group, making them flinch. Whatever it was out there wailing in pain must have been getting savagely murdered.

The worst part of it came from the fact that the shriek sounded as if it came from ahead, the very direction in which they needed to go. If that was the case, then Link knew he might as well begin preparing himself for another long winded battle. "Not good..." Sighing, the others looked back at him, listening to what he had to say. "I've been thinking about it… I mean, those wolfos were friggin' terrified. Whatever scared them off like it did, it must be immensely powerful."

That same eerie breeze gusted through the forest, bringing with it more feelings of intense dread without a noticeable cause. It brought goosebumps to Link's skin. Saria and the others shivered as well. The green-haired kokiri girl was the one to reply in regard to what the hero said about there being something stronger than a wolfos out there. "We all watched you fight that pack of wolfos, Link. You did great. Sure you were outnumbered, but your skills were outstanding." She encouraged him with moral support. "Trust me, I know how powerful you are. I know how you've always succeeded and it's my belief that you can take on any enemy you want."

What she spoke of started to give the hero courage, yet he just couldn't be sure about himself. After all, they almost died.

"I know you're being hard on yourself..." Saria resumed. "But, you did everything that you could. The only reason why you were at disadvantage was because of how many there were. No matter what, you're still a hero."

Cheering himself up from the destitute state of mind he'd slipped into, Link realized that she was correct about him still being a mighty warrior. He shouldn't let himself give up after facing defeat. Instead, he should work harder.

Now, feeling motivation, he took the lead again. Unfortunately, ahead it seemed as if the strange fog invading the woodlands was thickening. It was unnatural. Like the spooky feeling he kept getting; it wasn't supposed to be there, much less in the middle of a warm afternoon such as it was. Nonetheless, despite having obscured vision, the group progressed onward in search of the Skull Kid's tree, Timi's home.

Being so close to the Ocarina of Time, Link couldn't wait to feel it in the palm of his hands again. Only once he recovered it would he feel that it was safe from the evil infesting the world around it. Just a little longer and he wouldn't have to worry about it falling into the wrong hands anymore. From then, he'd hopefully be able to fix what it is that was ailing the Kokiri Forest.

"What in the world?" Saria wondered while suddenly starting to cough like she was earlier. "Is it getting hard to breathe?"

Fado and Mido repeated their earlier coughing fit, but this time Link noticed them expelling fog, as if the mist around them was filling the kokiri's lungs. "Yeah, and that wind is making things chilly." Fado retorted while shivering.

In the hero's opinion, he was glad they weren't ignoring the coughing this time or pretending as if it wasn't bothering them. While he couldn't explain why they hadn't reacted again up until now, he knew for sure that there was indeed something going on within them, a sickness of some sort that might be related to the corruption of the Kokiri Forest. Taking that into consideration, Link stayed put for a bit until they calmed themselves.

"Are you alri-..." Link almost got to ask prior to suddenly hearing footsteps rapidly closing in on them. "Take cover!" Link shouted, drawing his sword in preparation to attack. An abrupt whimper left the boy to guess that it was another Wolfos. Soon enough, that speculation was confirmed whenever the shape of the monster revealed itself from amongst the murky haze. Howling at the group, the way it came bursting through the barrier of fog, he felt sure it was attempting to stalk them. Then again, he wasn't sure why the beasts would bother to do such a thing when they could have simply killed the hylian and kokiri earlier.

"No way! Look out, it's another Wolfos!" Saria hollered, watching as the creature revealed itself.

It was definitely a Wolfos, on the other hand, it was a much younger one; similar to the first wolfos encountered thirty minutes earlier. As Link prepared for the worst, it became apparent that this one wasn't heading toward him as the hero had initially assumed. No, the beast was fleeing. Catching a closer glimpse, they could all see the monster was grievously injured. Upon such a revelation, Link's thoughts shifted back toward what else was out there. 'What is out there ripping into that pack of wolfos, the very wolfos that nearly ate us for a scrumptious snack?' Whatever it was, it was far more powerful than anything the boy cared to make an attempt at taking on in combat. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to tell where the unidentified demon was, as another wolfos, this one bleeding from the head with a busted jaw, emerged from their left, only to disappear into the backdrop of sheer fog. 'If this monster can take on a bunch of wild mutts that outnumbered us, it might be using this haze to its advantage, leaving us open to an ambush at any possible moment.'

Not giving any consideration into retreating, Link knew that they had no choice other than to persevere onward as they were already too far into the Lost Woods to hightail it out of there now. With any luck, they would encounter the area Malon mentioned, the last location and known whereabouts of the Ocarina of Time. He'd come too far to give up now.

"Just… Keep moving." The hylian boy spoke while resuming their walk along the tree lines. "We've got to get to the clearing. That's all that we can do! Just get to the clearing!"

Proceeding that statement, Link took off running. The kokiri all looked a tad shocked, but kept up with him nonetheless. They knew that standing around yapping wasn't going to do anything anymore. As the hero had stated in his head a hundred times up until now, the sooner this was done and over with, the sooner they could all leave the accursed woods for good. What he wasn't going to say to them was that he didn't want to encounter whatever it was out there scaring off an entire pack of wolfos. "JUST RUN!" However, in a sense, he had a feeling they already knew that based upon his actions.

Passing trees left and right, the fog invaded their nostrils and thus their lungs as it was forced through their noses due to their heightened speed. They were hardly able to see where they were going. It wasn't going to stop them, yet it did make it more difficult to actually spot any more supposed marks that would lead them in the correct direction. Instinct was truly the only thing they were going on by this point in time. Jerking their heads at every angle they possibly could, they kept themselves on alert in case that which was out there decided to reveal itself, which it could very well decide to do at any moment.

Sudden movement to the left caught Link's eyes, as well as Mido's. In another shocking turn of events, it was yet another Wolfos, one fatally wounded, looking to be nearly cut in half at the waist. The monster's head had clearly been bitten off, torn from the torso along with its entire left arm. What the group saw moving was nothing other than muscle spasms. Absolutely mortified at the sight, their legs sped up with more adrenaline coursing through them; sending them into a horrific moment of flight or DIE. Preferring the former over the latter, without so much as screaming or vomiting, their hast quickened tenfold. That which could bite off the head of a Wolfos must be humongous in stature, something of which none of them knew to exist within the woods; a new creature unlike any foretold in all of their previous treks into this forest.

'W-What the hell!?' Link thought to himself while staring back at the rest of the group for a second, just making sure they were okay. 'What could do something like that!? A… A Moblin?' He tried to speculate. 'No… No, that doesn't make any sense. Moblin's aren't that blood thirsty. No… No… They like to crush things, not bite off heads or tear things in half. Besides, without Ganondorf, there shouldn't be any Moblin's in these woods anyhow.'

In spite of the contemplation, the hero couldn't figure out what the unknown entity was, especially not without a confrontation. He had no plans of instigating such an encounter either. Instead, he focused on the coming few yards ahead, where a blood trail began with a few drips. The boy nearly missed the blood due to his hesitation to slow down. Since others weren't aware of it yet, he continued onward. The drops increased, gradually turning into a steady line of red amongst the brown and green forest floor.

"Look!" Mido suddenly exclaimed, pointing ahead of the group. "There's another tree with a mark on it!"

Focusing his vision forward, Link realized that the kokiri was right. They began to slow their pace. Straight ahead, following the ever thickening trail of blood, a tree stood marked in front of what appeared to be a clearing. "We're close!" Link shouted in response. Approaching the tree, the situation soon deteriorated. Another smell filled their nostrils, a familiar smell the hero had come across on every adventure; the smell of a newly killed body, the scent of fresh blood and exposed entrails.

"Oh no! Not again!" Saria squeamishly looked away, not wanting to see what it was they were getting ready to place their eyes upon.

Sure enough, as they came up to the tree, they were met with a sight similar to what they'd encountered previously. This time, instead of squirrels, birds or chupas, the dead carcasses littering the base of the tree were none other than several of the wolfos they had just been endangered by not even fifteen minutes ago. Three dead wolfos laid by the roots, waiting to begin rotting into the ground. It was gruesome. Two of them had been eviscerated and even skinned, having their own tattered fur draped over their smashed faces. What was even more shocking was the one in the center. The center wolfos was one of the elderly alpha males they had seen leading the pack. Instead of having been brutalized in the same fashion as the others, this one looked like it had suffered far more, with its mangled limbs broken behind it, its jaw ripped off as well as its eyes gouged out and replaced with blood covered acorns; its throat had also been stuffed with the same kind of oak nuts. An act such as that made it clear that whatever was doing this was far more intelligent than a simple forest beast. It was taunting others, leaving markers for its territory as a warning to anyone else who attempts to encroach.

"What would do such a thing!?" Saria asked loudly, receiving a motion to stay quiet from everybody else.

Shaking his head, Link gave his answer. "Not what, who…" Quickly passing the tree with the dead wolfos, they kept going onward, into the still thickening haze spreading out amongst a clearing they were slowly coming across. "Whoever's doing this is leading us here; just like Fado said. The way those wolfos were killed isn't how a monster would kill to feed itself."

Preparing themselves for the worst, the kokiri knew the hero was correct. It was too obvious. Besides that, it was also a decent likelihood that somebody powerful had come for the Ocarina of Time. How that person knew its location was unknown, but it sure seemed as if they did regardless. As for the clearing the group was currently traveling through, they could only hope that it was the one Malon was talking about. It had to be the right direction at least, for this is where the mark had indicated to go. The fog made it far too hard to see clearly and yet, it did look as if there was a giant tree a hundred yards ahead. Only the branches stuck out amongst the smoky waves of mist, which was how they were capable of seeing it in the first place. This tree was by far the largest they had as of yet seen. It would probably take seven normal-sized trees just to fill the inside trunk of the one in view.

Whimpers out in the haze followed by loud snapping sounds, trembles on the ground and bird wings flapping in the sky made it difficult to hear anything other than unsettling ambience. Nerve-racking as it was, each step Link made was another step closer to his final objective. Unfortunately, to make things even worse, the surrounding atmosphere began to grow even heavier than it already was, throwing off danger signals during every turn the hero made. This made him suddenly feel as if he was being watched, which ended his movement as he chose to stand still. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

"What is i-...?" Mido nearly asked until Link promptly shushed him.

"Shh… Not now. Just… Listen." Stopping and silencing themselves, the entire group remained still, focusing on the background noises while trying their best to ignore all else. It wasn't easy, yet, honing in on it, a small voice could be heard from what sounded like a decent distance away. The voice wasn't talking, instead it could be heard crying. Soft, yet steady, the sobbing gently echoed throughout the open expanse of land. "Do you hear it?" Link asked as Saria and Mido cupped their ears, listening for what he had heard.

"Uhh… Is that somebody crying?" Fado asked, beating them to the question. Now, knowing that they could hear it too, the hero was sure he wasn't misinterpreting it or merely hearing the wind.

"I hear it too. Is somebody else out here with us?" Saria asked without getting a response.

The sobbing continued, sounding almost childlike. Taking a step forward, Link was stopped by the hand of Mido, who gripped his shoulder tight. "Wait… What are you doing?"

Shrugging the kokiri boy off, Link kept his sword at the ready like he'd done for the past thirty minutes. "What do you mean?" He replied. "The same thing I told you we've been doing the entire time we've been in this forest… I'm going to recover the Ocarina of Time. It's incredibly important."

Walking alongside Link, Mido argued further. "Okay, but, what about the crying sound?"

Not knowing what to say, Link could only shrug again. If Mido thought it was going to stop the hero, he was most certainly wrong. As for what to do about it, the young hylian supposed that he could investigate. After all, he couldn't leave someone out there who was lost and in need of help. Nonetheless, his main priority was still the recovery of the Ocarina of Time. Being so close to achieving that, it was all that was on his mind and all that would be on his mind until he finally held the relic in his hand once more.

Soon enough, Link put aside all of his concerns in order to proceed with the mission. As alert as he was, he still felt as though he could be walking into a trap. There was no way to ascertain such information yet, so he was forced to let fate take action on its own. With one foot after the other, he tried to stay quiet. On the other hand, the leaves covering the forest floor made that nearly impossible as each step crunched beneath his feet. Nevertheless, he proceeded onward. The further the hero walked into the meadow, the louder the sobbing in the near distance grew. Glancing back at the others, the boy could clearly see how uneasy they were. Just like him, the kokiri found the situation to be direly frightening.

'By the Goddesses, please let this be the clearing.' Link prayed to one of his creators. 'Din, guide my way with might.' Examining his surroundings, the closer they came, he was able to successfully confirm that the tree in front of them was most definitely the tree that Malon was talking about. Its trunk was simply massive. What he thought initially to have been seven times the size of the nearby trees actually turned out to be nine or ten. If there was any hope within him that could spark, now was the moment and he knew this all too well. 'This has to be it!' His mind mentally exclaimed in excitement. 'Other than the Great Deku Tree, I've never seen another tree as large as this one. I know it has to be the right one, it has to be!'

Although the fog severely hampered his vision, continuing to scan his surroundings was his first reaction. It had been weeks since he'd been there, back when he had been unconscious. Weather, time and animal life was bound to have moved the ocarina around some. However, as long as nobody had taken it on their own accord, it should be in a fairly similar position of where it had been left. Not knowing any of the specifics, Link could only search for it. No way was he able to recall anything from when he was there. Everything from that time was just a blur. His only hope was to find it lying on the ground.

"Is this it?" Saria whispered, trying to stay low and not alert anything or anyone of their presence. "It has to be the place Malon was talking about. Look at the size of that tree."

Glad as he was that the others agreed, Link still shushed them in order to speak his own thoughts. "Shh… I think so, which means we made it. Now, we all know what an ocarina looks like; Saria has her Fairy Ocarina if anyone needs a refresher… Mido… Just remember, it's blue. That's all we need to see, is a bit of blue." Following those instructions, a sudden silence fell upon the creepy meadow, with only the bare, dead branches of the massive tree creaking in the gentle wind. 'Great, now what.' A feeling of dread washed over the young hero without warning and yet he had no clue why. He thought that perhaps it was related to how every fiber of his being was telling him to get out of the woods and stay out forever. It almost felt as if he was feeling pure hatred, directed solely at him. As little sense as it made, he definitely knew the place was hostile, he could feel it in his soul.

Fado's gasp was unwelcomed at an eerie time such as this and made the entire group turn back to see her pale face, with mouth hanging open.

"What now?" Link asked, not wanting to have missed something or have there been a problem.

The strange kokiri girl looked like she'd seen a ghost, with the breeze barely blowing through the blonde bangs hanging down in her eyes. "We… We need to hurry." She finally replied.

Link raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "We all know that, Fado. Now, help me look for the ocarina!"

Spanning out, splitting up put more stress on them as they had to worry about each other's safety. Ten minutes later, Link's suspicions were confirmed in that he wasn't able to immediately locate the Ocarina of Time in the vicinity around the tree. Regrouping with the others, the last place he felt it could be was the area in front of the tree, where a hole had formed through to the inside of the trunk. Having looked all around, this was the only other viable solution unless it had been taken by someone. Nonstop, the entire time, the sobbing continued, never ceasing. Sooner than later, it grew incredibly annoying having to hear it over and over, the same sound rattling around inside all of their heads. It never fluctuated, never changing pitch or any other variations, always staying the same. Whoever it was crying, it didn't sound completely natural anymore. There were no gasps for air, hiccups or that wavering laboured breathing noise one makes when they hyperventilate; just straight sorrow.

Narrowing down the source of the crying sound, the echoes gave away its position as the humongous tree in front of them. The wail then reverberated into the ground; that itself posed yet another complication. 'Great…' Link groaned. 'The last place the ocarina could be and it's where the crying is coming from. If this isn't a trap, then I don't know what is.'

Getting the others to follow him inside the tree wasn't going to be easy, as he knew one hundred percent that Mido was far too chicken. Then again, Link didn't have much room to talk. The hero's only saving grace was that he wasn't afraid of monsters or boogey men, just a tad fear for the safety of his family. Choosing to keep quiet about his concerns, however, his feet moved onward to the tree.

Sure enough, about thirty seconds later, Mido reared his opinion. "H-Hey. Look, there's no way I'm going any closer to that freaky crying. I'm hanging back and anyone smart would do the same."

Rolling his eyes, Link figured Mido would say a thing along the lines of that which he did. What he didn't expect was for Fado to stop next to him. On her face, she donned the same expression of horror she had for the last ten minutes. "I'll hang back with Epona and Mido. You two carry on and we'll let you know if we see anything."

After that, Fado grabbed Epona's rein, slowing her to a halt. It ticked Link off that she decided to 'keep' his horse. Yet, staring at the two cowering kokiri, he could tell they were deeply disturbed. Arguing would only make things worse and take away time that was quite precious.

"I'm staying with Mido too. Sorry." Breena fussed, adding to the situation.

"Fine. Saria, did you want to hang back too?" Link asked, annoyed his group was backing down at the very peak of their journey.

Thankfully, Saria shook her head, gripping the rusty kokiri machete tighter. "No way, I'm sticking with you." With her going, Laila was coming as well, so there wasn't even a need to ask the fairy.

Following that, the group separated. Mido and Breena stayed behind with Fado and Epona, while Saria, Laila and Link proceeded onward. Staying quiet, the investigating trio crept slowly toward the huge tree. The crying stayed the same as it had been, so they presumed that what or who it was still had no idea they were out there. In a sense, Link felt bad to be so startled. If it was a person genuinely injured, he knew he needed to let them know that he was there and was going to do all that he could to get them out of there. To the hero's dismay, it seemed unlikely that this was the case, for his previous suspicions of it being a possible trap still held ground. Regardless, he was too close to not make an attempt at figuring it out. He had to search the area anyway because it was the last place to look. He kept holding out hope that the Ocarina of Time would finally be there waiting for him to pick it up. No matter what, he moved in to investigate and explore. Saria held the back of the boy's tunic as they finally made it to the front of the tree. Right then and there, they started looking around every direction for the holy instrument.

"There!" Saria whispered in slight exclamation.

Jerking his head forward, on the ground and halfway buried beneath dirt as well as leaves was a blue glimmer of porcelain coated clay. Being all that he needed to see, Link ran toward it as fast as he could, praying to the three Golden Goddesses that what he was seeing was indeed what he was looking for.