The Legend of Zelda The Missing Link A Legend of Zelda story by Helen Stansfeld. The Legend of Zelda is © 1998 Nintendo, as are all related characters, locations etc. Text © Helen Stansfeld 1999. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Part One - Remembering Bathed in moonlight, Kokiri forest was exceptionally beautiful. Not a soul stirred as the stars graced the sky. From within the depths of the woods an owl hooted. It looked just as if nothing had ever happened. As if Ganondorf had never appeared on the scene. But that was all history now. Or was it? After Link, The Hero of Time, had delivered the final blow that would result in Ganondorf, King of Evil, being sealed in the Realm of Darkness, Princess Zelda had sent him back in time, back to before he had even met the Great Deku Tree. So, technically, Ganondorf had never taken over. Link had never had to risk his life to save the land of Hyrule. The castle had never been twisted beyond recognition. The people had no recollection of Ganondorf at all. But Link remembered. He remembered pulling the Master Sword from the pedestal in the Temple of Time. He remembered how he had been transformed from a ten year old boy to a man capable of wielding such a sword. He remembered the glory of having saved his beloved homeland from the clutches of darkness. The gratitude of Princess Zelda... but most of all, he remembered belonging. And now he had to return to Kokiri Forest knowing he wasn't one of them. Before, he had known he hadn't fitted in, but it was in ignorance to his true heritage. He knew now that he wasn't a Kokiri at all, but a Hylian. Navi had gone, and once again he was the boy without a fairy. Saria was the only one who paid him any attention, except for Mido, who bullied him for being different. Saria was his best friend, someone who he could talk to. But in a couple of years... he would still be growing and would have to leave the forest for certain. Out of all Kokiri Forest, he would be the only one to grow up. If he ever came back, no-one would recognise him. He was a miss-fit. A child with no true home. Link stood by the wooden bridge leading to the forest and stared straight ahead. He didn't want to go back. He wished that Zelda hadn't made him go. He wanted to be where he had been seven years later, when people looked up to him, knew him as a hero, not as a pitiful little boy. He took a tentative step forward, and then another one. A look of determination crossed his face. His footsteps echoed around him as he entered Kokiri Forest. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ From inside her chambers, Princess Zelda sighed. However hard she tried, she couldn't get Link out of her mind. The brave boy who had believed her when no-one else would. She had not contemplated what would happen when Link opened the Door of Time. She had ruined his life. She had thought that it would be easy to defeat Ganondorf, that all they had to do was get the Tri-Force before him. But Link had been sealed in the Sacred Realm for seven long years and Ganondorf had taken the golden triangles. When Link got back to Hyrule, he had had to rid the six temples of the evil that haunted them. Poor Link. She had wrenched him from his home and plunged him into a perilous quest that suggested death at every turn. She cupped her face in her hands and looked up at the night sky through the window. Nobody in the whole of Hyrule remembered what had taken place. If she ever told anyone, they would laugh in her face. But what had happened to Ganondorf? Did he remember what he had done? Was he back in the desert, or was he in the Realm of Darkness? A lot of the time-travel factors didn't make sense, Zelda realised. How did she remember a future that hadn't, and would never, happen? Did she still hold the Tri-Force of Wisdom inside her? Did Link still have the Tri-Force of Courage? If not, where had the pieces gone? Did the six Sages remember? Were they even aware they were Sages? Where was Link now? Her head fell onto her pillow as she slowly drifted off to sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Looking around, Link scurried through the shadows of the forest. He deftly climbed the ladder to his home and sat down on the bed. Rummaging through his pockets, his eyes widened as he brought out the Fairy Bow. How did he still have it? It was meant to be locked up in the Forest Temple! A quick exploration showed that he still had all his possessions from the future. How was that possible? He would never visit any of those places... He stared wistfully into space, remembering the thrill of his journey. How he longed to be doing it again... how he longed to be somebody. For a moment he nearly wished that Ganondorf would come back, just so he could fight him again. He shook his head. He could never wish for the horror and suffering to re-play itself. Suddenly he knew what he had to do. He gathered all of his belongings and packed them into a sack. He had nearly passed through the door when a tear ran down his cheek. How could he not say good-bye? Slowly he fingered the ocarina Saria had given him. Silently he played her song, the one he knew so well. He began to scribble fervently on a scrap of paper. When he was satisfied with the message it bore, he slipped it into an envelope and sealed it carefully. He paused outside her house, feeling nervous. Finally he pinned the envelope bearing the legend "Saria" onto the trunk of her tree and walked a few steps backwards. When he knew for sure that he hadn't woken her, he turned to his heels and fled the forest. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Author's Note: This is my first ever Zelda fanfic. I know it's short, but I wrote this in just over an hour, and I feel it is my best fanfic to date [that isn't actually saying much ;) ]. I hope you enjoyed it so far, and, yes, subsequent parts will be longer. Please send all comments to sonic@chilham44.freeserve.co.uk. Thank you. blueblur@mailcity.com