The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Chapter 1: A Guardian's Warning

"Navi.."

The old voice creaked through the forest clearing, carrying its words along the wind itself.

"Navi, where art thou? Come hither" the voice demanded. As soon as the last word were spoken, a small blue light came flying through the trees into the clearing and stopped itself in front of a grand old tree.

This ancient tree had stood watch for longer than anyone can remember; his branches stood taller than all the other trees in the Kokiri Forest and it's thick trunk took up almost half of the clearing. The bark on the trunk looked warped and shaped as if to be a heavy set of eyebrows and a thick moustache.

If you looked close enough at the ball of blue light that had presented itself, you could see a pair of tiny wings fluttering wildly and a small young fairy who, despite looking calm and collected, was on the verge of a panic attack. You see, the Great Deku Tree was the father and creator of all the Kokiri Forest's inhabitants, including the fairies, so to be summoned by him was a huge deal.

"Oh, Navi, listen to my words, the words of the Great Deku Tree."

Navi forced herself to be calm and pay attention; if the Great Deku Tree had summoned her than it would be for a very important reason.

"Dost thou sense it?", the Deku Tree asked, "The climate of evil descending upon this realm. Malevolent forces even now are mustering to attack our land of Hyrule".

She couldn't help it, Navi shivered with fear as the Deku Tree warned her about the impending doom. Only something truly terrifying could get the Deku Tree as worried as this.

"For so long, the Kokiri Forest, the source of life, has stood as a barrier, deterring outsiders and maintaining the order of the world", boomed the Deku Tree. Each word that came from this guardian seemed to carry its own mass that hit heavy against Navi.

"But, before this tremendous evil even my power is as nothing. It seems the time has come for the boy without a fairy to begin his journey."

Navi couldn't believe it; something so powerful even the Great Deku Tree is dwarfed by it, how could this be? The Deku Tree is the most powerful being in Hyrule, isn't he? And what can a lone boy do against an enemy like that? Truly baffled, Navi listened on as the Deku Tree explained what she must do.

"The youth whose destiny it is to lead Hyrule to the path of justice and truth. Navi, go now! Find our young friend and guide him to me, I do not have much time left."

Before Navi could wonder what the Deku Tree meant by that last sentence he was once again ushering her away.

"Fly, Navi, fly! The fate of the forest, nay, the world, depends upon thee!"

And with that last order, Navi rushed off to the Kokiri Village to find this boy without a fairy; this lone boy who was going to save the world.

***

It didn't take long for Navi to find the boy; she knew straight away who she was looking for. The Great Deku Tree had been scouting this one Kokiri boy named Link for some time now. Navi never knew why but then she never would've guessed that he would become this great hero of Hyrule.

Searching through the Kokiri village, Navi noted all the forest children she had seen have fairies which means that Link must have been inside somewhere.

All of the Kokiri were children, they never grow up no matter how long they live and they had been alive for centuries. Although no one can remember anymore, apparently a group of Hylian children wandered into the forest one day and were transformed into the Kokiri by mystical powers. According to legend, any Kokiri that would dare venture out of the forest would no longer be under the Great Deku Tree's protection and would die.

Having seen no sign of the boy, Navi made her way to his home to try and find him. All of the Kokiri made their homes inside hollowed out tree trunks and Link was no exception. Flying in through the window, Navi found Link sleeping in his bed although, judging by the cries and the turning it looks like it was not a peaceful sleep.

"Hello, Link! Wake up!", cried the exhausted fairy, "the Great Deku Tree wants to talk to you! Link, get up!"

Link woke up from his dream still half asleep, sits up and yawns.

"Hey! Get up! Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy?"

Startled, Link sat straight up and looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.

"Good, you're finally awake!"

He found Navi and, for a second, just stared at her in shock but then the realisation hit him.