Introduction

Link awakened from his sleep in a cold sweat. This was not an unusual thing, for ever since his last adventures, glimpses of his nightmarish memories kept appearing in his dreams. Glimpses of shadows and Stalfos and other evil creatures that lurked in the dark. But most prominently, Ganon. Ganondorf Dragmire had been evil to the core, and as ruthless and powerful a warrior as Link had ever faced. But Ganon fit into another category altogether. He had not only been evil, but he radiated it. The very presence of him was enough to make Link’s blood run cold, and to make him shiver with terror. It was no lie. Link had been scared of Ganon even as an adult, and now, even two years after the battle, his blood still froze at the thought of him, and the memories were as vivid as ever.

      Link lay still in his bed for a moment, silently wondering whether it would be better to try to sleep some more or just wake up. After almost no time, he decided on the latter. It would be better to just get up and shake of the dreams as he always did; going to sleep again would let them return. Besides, he was hungry. And almost nothing came between Link and food when it came to matters of the stomach.
So he grabbed some clothing of his which he had tossed on the floor the night before, and got dressed as quickly as he could. Besides the bad dreams, he wasn’t feeling all that bad in total. In fact, he felt downright happy. The adventures were over for now, and he could safely walk out of his treehouse without worrying about being attacked. So Link swiftly jumped off the balcony of his treehouse, landed with a roll, and headed out towards Saria’s house.

      Everyday that Link went over to Saria’s house, she was, without fail, still asleep. He sometimes teased her that she could sleep through a tornado if she wanted to. Instead of having to wait for her to wake up, which would take at least three hours, he decided to just creep into her house, and give her a good shake to wake her up. It seemed cruel, but he knew it was for the best. Kokiri weren’t supposed to be lazy, and Link didn’t want that to happen to Saria. What fun would she be if all she wanted to do was sleep? The only problem with waking her up was her fairy, Nova. If she ever saw Link about to wake Saria up, she would make such a racket that all of Hyrule would hear her.
Once he was sure that Nova was out cold, he ran up to Saria’s bed, and shook her gently.
      "Saria, wake up," Link whispered, "Time to get up." Saria moaned in her sleep, then opened her eyes to see Link hovering over top of her. She hated getting out of bed, but she really did like getting up bright and early once she was up.
      "Link…" Saria moaned tiredly, "it’s still early…go back…bed…".
      "But it’s already an hour past dawn," Link said superiorly, "and we’re usually up earlier than this. Would it kill you to be up at sunrise once and a while?" Link was used to her early morning whining, so he just went along with it. She’d snap out of it in a few minutes. She was just cranky. It was for her own good and he knew it. "Come on Saria," Link cooed cheerily, "wakey wakey!"
      "Oh shut up…" groaned Saria, obviously not wanting to move.
      "Remember that funny bug that I found outside your house?" Link asked deviously, "I found another one just like it yesterday. And if you want, I can go get it for you and introduce you two…"
      "Eeeek!" Saria yelped. She jumped out of bed faster than Link had ever seen her move, "You wouldn’t dare!"
      "No, I wouldn’t. But it sure got you out of bed quick," Link said with a laugh. They had found a strange looking bug outside of Saria’s house a while ago, and when he had invited Saria to come take a look at it, she put her face too close, and the bug took a flying leap at her nose. Link was sure the entire forest heard her scream. She had never forgiven him for that, and she had been terrified of those bugs ever since. Link knew it was cruel to use her fears like that, but he wouldn’t really do anything to scare her or hurt her. It was just fun to watch her squirm once and a while.

      "You know that’s not fair," Saria whined, "I hate bugs ok?!"
      "No you don’t," Link contradicted, "you just hate that one."
      "Okay fine. Let’s just eat something," Saria huffed. Link laughed as Saria stormed off to grab the berries they had collected the night before. She was mad now, but she’d come back bright and cheery; she always did. He still wondered how she did that.

      As Link watched Nova float out the door after Saria, he felt a pang of sadness as he remembered his friend and companion, Navi. She had been an annoying little twirp at times, with her "Hey! Look! Listen!", but she had stuck with him during the hardest times he had ever had, and remained faithful, always willing to help. It was she, in fact, that had helped him defeat Ganon. And he never forgot the day she left. He just wandered around aimlessly, wondering where he should go, where he belonged. He so wanted to hear her tell him where he should go next, but he waited all day to hear it, and it didn’t come.

      "I’m back!" said Saria cheerfully, "Miss me? I brought food, which I’m sure is all you thought about while I was gone. Speaking of thinking, do you think the water from the stream will be alright to drink today? After the mudslide yesterday you never know, and it still looks kinda dirty. And boy, is your tunic ever dirty! What did you do, roll in the mud?"
Link noticed that her mood had definitely changed. It was strange the way she did that. She would disappear outside for a few minutes, completely ticked off, and come back in a better mood than if she just won a thousand rupees. Only Goddesses knew what she did out there. Whatever it was, it made her happy, and Link was vaguely mystified by it. So he decided to ask about it.
      "What made you so happy all of a sudden?" he asked casually, trying not to make her think anything of it.
      "Nothing," she said, blushing, "besides, it’s none of your business. Don’t be so nosey. I have a right not to tell you anything so stop asking me questions."
      "Okay…" said Link, his hands up in surrender. This was not the reaction he was expecting, but if she didn’t want to tell him anything, he wouldn’t pry. Prying only gets you in trouble, he learned. That, and it would hurt her feelings. So he let it go and started stuffing as many berries as possible into his mouth.

      "Link!" Saria scolded, "Do you have any manners? I swear you eat just like a moblin!"
      "mmmffmgck," Link mumbled, his mouth full of food.
      "That’s gross," Saria said, wrinkling her nose, "I would ask you again about the manners, but I don’t want another close encounter with the food in your mouth."
      "ggmmf…" said Link, then swallowing his food, "Hey!"
      "Well, we’ll have to work on your manners if you want to avoid making a fool of yourself when you eat at the castle in a few days. Do you suppose the princess eats like this?" asked Saria with a cocked eyebrow.
      "Um, no," replied Link sourly, "but what’s wrong with eating like this? It’s not like I’m grabbing food off of other people’s plates or anything…" Then he had to stop and think. If he were to ever impress Zelda, he’d have to be polite when at the castle. It wasn’t everyday he got invited there. He was also thinking of bringing her some flowers. Girls liked flowers, or so Saria said. She’s a girl, she should know. But what if she didn’t like flowers, or was allergic? Then the whole day would be ruined. He couldn’t bear with the thought of Zelda not wanting to see him again. He didn’t think he could handle that kind of rejection.
      "Still, it’s not very polite to just mash food into your face like that. You do know how to use a knife and fork don’t you?" Saria asked, doubtful of Link’s abilities with utensils.
      "Umm…no." Link replied flatly.
      "That’s just another thing we’ll have to work on then," Saria sighed, "You may have been brought up in a tree, but you can’t expect royalty to understand that."

      That brought another thing to Link’s mind that had been bothering him for quite some time. "What should I wear?" he asked, staring down at his dirty tunic and old, worn-out boots. He didn’t have any problems with his regular outfit, but it just didn’t seem right to go marching into the castle like this.
      "Just wear what you always wear," answered Saria, "but make sure you actually wash you cloths for a change. You have a tendency to smell like, well, rather strongly…" she giggled. It was true that Link was not usually known for being clean, and his romping and running around all day didn’t help his odour much.
      "Oh thanks," mumbled Link. He liked to think of his smell as ‘manly’, but obviously, Saria had much different opinions. He decided to take her advice this time, though he hated the thought of having to stay clean for an entire day.

      Link finished shoveling the last of his breakfast into his mouth, and then he got up from his chair, said good-bye to Saria, and headed towards the exit of the forest. He had promised to pay Malon a visit today, and to break a promise to her was probably not a good idea. Malon didn’t look it, but she was pretty strong. Working with horses her whole life had helped her become stronger than the average person.

      Link slowly stepped out into the hazy morning light, shielding his eyes for a better view. Hyrule Field looked as beautiful as it ever did, even more beautiful now that he had time to enjoy it. When on his adventure 3 years ago, he was unable to stop and enjoy anything, even the rising sun. Always running, always fighting. He almost wished he could ask Zelda to turn back time just once more, so he could have just a little more time to enjoy living life to it’s fullest. Not to say that he didn’t like adventuring, because if it hadn’t found him, he probably would have gone looking for it anyway.

      When he cleared the little passage of trees from the exit of the forest, he pulled out his fairy ocarina, and played "Epona’s Song". He rarely used his ocarina songs that he learned for warping and such now, but they were still useful once in a while. Before long, he heard a horse’s whiny in the distance, and Epona came galloping furiously across the dewy field. That had been one part of the adventure he truly missed; being able to just call up Epona, and take her for a ride around the field, either in the depths of nightfall, or in the shadow of a sunrise. No matter where he was headed, and what terrors he was to face, just speeding across the field on her made him calm and peaceful.
      "Hiya girl," Link said as he patted Epona affectionately. Epona whinnied again in response. He noticed that she was saddled, which was strange enough, because he and Malon were the only ones that could get near enough to her without her running away. Malon must have guessed he would be calling for a ride, and she must have saddled her up for him. I’ll thank her when we get there he thought.

      In a flash, they were off, speeding through the trees and over the hills towards the ranch. Link knew it wasn’t far, but he wanted to ride quickly anyway. Before they knew it, they had reached the ranch. Link had to dismount to open the gates to the ranch. Epona must have jumped right over when she heard the song. He hoped that Malon would at least be awake. It wasn’t that early was it?

      Link quietly walked into the ranch, so as not to wake anyone up. The ranch was ghostly. No one was there, only a faint clucking from the main house could be heard. He was just about to walk into the paddock area when…
      "Boo!" Link whirled around, his sword flew to his hands, his eyes focused, then he sighed when he noticed who it was, and leaned on his sword empathetically.
      "Again Malon?" He sighed, "You really gotta stop doing that to me. One day I’m gonna end up slicing you to bits,"
      "That…was…so…good!" Malon breathed in between fits of laughter. "You should have seen your face!"
      "That’s not funny Malon," Link complained, "Do you always have to scare me like that? I thought we made a deal?"
      "The deal was that I wouldn’t scare you anymore. I was only trying to startle you. But I guess it worked a little better than I thought it would," Malon added with a snicker.
Link flushed pink for a minute, then regained his composure. Malon always had a way with scaring him, but he was pretty easy to scare since his past experiences. Expecting monsters after every turn can make you jumpy.
      "Well, enough with the laughing," she said solemnly, "How about we take the horses out for a ride, maybe go fishing or something?"
      "Sure," Link agreed heartily. He loved fishing because if he caught a decent sized one, he could keep it and bring it home for dinner that night. He, and his stomach, could never refuse a meal of delicious fried fish.
      "Alright, but you have to help me finish my chores here first. My dad won’t let me go anywhere until I’m done."
      "Fair enough." Link stooped down, grabbing a bucket, "Oh, and thanks for saddling Epona for me,"
      "No problem," answered Malon. Then Link followed her into the barn so they could start the chores.

      They entered into the council room. It was darkly lit, with only a long wooden table, wooden chairs, and a few candles for light. There were no windows; that would risk their privacy. Everyone took their seats quickly, and looked with utmost attention towards the chancellor. This meeting was going to be interesting, one way or another.
      "As you all know very well, we have a matter of great importance to decide upon this morning. It is our job to figure out how to deal with this…problem. Does anyone have any suggestions?" The room was silent for a moment, then a quiet voice piped up.
      "I think it would be best if we eliminate the problem immediately. There is no way we can avoid that. It does not belong with us, so maybe "getting rid of it" if you will, would be the best solution?"
      "And how do you propose we do that?" The chancellor asked curiously
      "Quick and simple. It is our way to not allow such…problems to occur in our society, so maybe the goddesses above would be better to deal with it…"
      "Are you saying that we should just…exterminate it?"
      "I object!" said another voice from the table. "You must remember what we are dealing with here. This problem should be faced in a direct manner, I think, but eliminating it in such a way is cruel. We must give it a chance to thrive somewhere else. It’s only fair."
      "Quite true," the chancellor replied, "The two choices I believe this council has come to decide upon, is extermination of the problem, and releasing it. All those who want it eliminated, say Aye." The crowd was totally silent, except for-
      "Aye," said the stranger who had suggested it. No one else seemed to want to take this route however, so the chancellor knew that the choice had been made.
      "It is decided then. We get rid of the problem…tonight."

      Zelda sat placidly in her throne, staring blankly at nothing. It was another boring day being a princess, and her duties were somewhat of a royal pain. She wished she could be out in the courtyard doing something more interesting.
      "Aren’t they beautiful Impa?" Zelda sighed, waving her hand at the people dancing gracefully across the ballroom floor, "The delicate ladies and their handsome husbands…it’s so romantic…and yet so boring." She added with a yawn. Being brought up in this sort of thing did not make it very exciting for her. She couldn’t wait for Link to come so she could have some real fun.
      "Now, now, Zelda," scolded Impa, although she too thought it was boring, "You know that this is part of your duty as Princess of Hyrule. You need to make public appearances."
      "This isn’t public! I’m still in the castle!" retorted Zelda, but she knew the battle was already lost. She’d never convince Impa to let her go into the market without a thousand guards surrounding her each moment. All she wanted was to get out there and be a normal person, not the Princess, for once.
Zelda sighed and slumped back into her throne. I might as well look bored, then maybe Impa will take pity on me and let me go! thought Zelda desperately, but Impa knew her tricks by now. She would just have to wait it out. One more day she thought then Link will come and we can do whatever we want! Maybe he’ll take me out of the palace! Finally…