Chapter One
"Link wake up! Link!" His eyes slowly opened to find Zelda preparing breakfast. "Come on."
"I'm awake already! He got out of bed and sat down at the table. "You look beautiful this morning," he complimented Zelda. She kissed him on the cheek.
"Eat up were going for a walk in the forest with Saria. Remember?" Both of them were about thirteen but with all their experience and maturity they acted in their own certain way. After their adventures they both lived in Link's home in the Kokiri Forest. Link finished eating and he accompanied by Zelda walked from his house to Saria's.
Saria herself was just finishing her breakfast. She was waiting to go on a walk in the forest with Link and Zelda. They always did fun things together. But something kept nagging at her. She seemed to be missing something but she couldn't put her finger on it.
She brushed the thought aside as Link and Zelda appeared. The specter thought panged her once again as she got up and grabbed her shoes. "You ready to go, Saria?"
"Yeah!" She yelled back as she came to the doorway. She thought about things for a second. Seeing Link and Zelda together seemed to bring about such feelings. She felt certain emptiness. She and Link were like brother and sister. She walked out to the waiting Link and Zelda. "You two look so happy together," Saria commented to Link and Zelda. They looked at each other and smiled. "Think we’ll find anything interesting today?" Saria asked.
Adam was on the complete opposite of the spectrum from Link, Saria, and Zelda. His whole life was just one bad thing after another since he could remember. His existence was one of hell. He couldn’t go back to the forest; he shuddered to think about what would happen if he opened that can of worms. All he could do to keep himself from going insane was to read books he had stolen from the Kokiri. Being bright was what got him in trouble in the first place And then, her. He shook the thoughts from his head. He stooped down to get a look at a plant. The leaves were edible and there was nothing else around to eat. He pulled a leaf and began chewing on the bitter plant. Why am I cursed to such an existence? He thought. It would be better if I just went to sleep and never woke up. He sat on the ground. “Why,” he asked himself this all the time. He wondered if he should’ve just stayed in the forest. But no, he was nearly forced out. After that he couldn’t live in the forest so he simply withdrew. He hated every minute of this.
A noise. He looked around, terrified. Three sets of footsteps were coming. He crept from behind the bush right into view of Link, Zelda and Saria. They looked at each other for a moment before Adam broke into a sprint, mentally cursing his stupidity. They started chasing him. He was unable to run very quickly due to asthma. He kept on running even as his breathing started to get heavy. He kept thinking to himself that he must not be caught. “ All to quickly he hit his foot on a rock and slammed his head to the ground knocking himself unconscious. They moved to investigate the figure lying on the ground. And there he was. Face down into the grass was the legendary Adam. He was pale and gaunt. Link knew he couldn't weigh much. His clothes were a deep shadowy purplish black. He had dark brown hair. They turned him on his back and looked at each other in amazement. Link caught sight of the dagger in his belt. Just in case As Saria and Zelda tried to rouse Adam, Link examined the dagger. "So this is the infamous Shadow Kokiri. " Link said to the others. Saria understood this but Zelda looked at him quizzically. “He was said to have disappeared five years ago after being tormented or something. I personally thought he was just a myth, but well, that seems to have proved me wrong.” “How sad.” Zelda responded. She felt sorry for him, after seeing him and hearing what Link had to say. Adam's eyelids began to flutter and all three gathered round. As Adam's eyes opened, he gasped in terror. Link, Zelda and Saria were all staring at him. He felt around for his dagger as if to slit his own throat before they could do something to him, but could not find it. He was cornered. “Don’t worry, you’re okay, were not going to hurt you.”
In a shivering voice he began to speak, "Who, who, who are you, what do you want from me?" Adam trembled. All three gave him a nice warm smile.
"Hello." the blond girl said in a soothing voice. It was obvious that Adam was scared of them. He started shaking. In an attempt to calm the terrified boy down, Zelda took his hand into hers.
He had forgotten how warm people’s hands were.
Link, Zelda and Saria looked at each other.
"We just want to help you," answered the blond haired boy. There was a long pause as they looked at each other.
"Why, why would you care about me?" Adam asked, still shaking.
The green haired girl answered him. “No one should have to live like this, Adam. You don’t deserve this.” Adam began to feel strange. Did he trust these people? The fact that he was actually meeting this beautiful green haired girl was surprising enough. On top of that, they seemed to care about him. Adam looked at each of them for a moment. Saria, deciding to take an initiative introduced herself to Adam. “My name is Saria, It’s nice to meet you, umm.” “Adam, my name is Adam.” “Link went next. “My name is Link, I’m glad we found you.” “I am Zelda.” They all looked at him. He was shocked. No ones ever cared before. “Can we see where you live, Adam?” Link asked. “Promise me, you won’t, you won’t…” “We won’t, Adam, I promise.” Zelda said, answering what she knew he meant without his even saying it. Zelda helped Adam up to his feet. She was surprised he was even alive given his physical condition.
"So is everything in place?" Drane inquired.
"We have the supplies, 30 men and our weapons. So you really think we can extort a ransom from the Hyrule Castle by holding the Kokiri Forest hostage?"
"Like I said, it would look terrible for the country if the king didn't do anything, and according to our source inside the castle, Zelda is staying there with that one kid, the Kokiri hero, what is his name, Link that's it. Besides, we can take some of the locals and use them as slave laborers. They can build our weapons and help us build an army. Think about it. Soon, we could attack Hyrule Castle.”
"So when is it?" Tare asked, getting excited.
"In two days we'll be ready," replied Drane.
"We're almost there," Adam announced as the rain started to come down. They reached a clearing. "Follow me," he instructed as he climbed up a bunch of vines. He moved some brush revealing his little knothole where he lived. The other three were shocked. Not even a home. All it was some space in a partially hollowed out tree. All that was inside was a blanket and some books he took with him when he fled.
"Adam," Saria began, "how could you live like this for so long?"
"Do you want to move back to the forest?" Link suddenly asked. Zelda jabbed him with her elbow. "I'll make sure no one bothers you."
"I sort of do, but I don't want to go back to the way things were.”
"Adam, you can't live here any longer, I won't let you," Saria added.
"You know there is that safe house place in the forest," Link started. "You can live there until your ready to move back."
"Okay," said Adam, overwhelmed by their kindness and lovingness. "This is all I have so can, um, I move in now?" Adam was hesitant about asking for something, especially a home.
"Yeah let's go, I cannot stand to see someone live in those conditions any longer!" Saria insisted. The three of them climbed out of the tree. Adam, with a small sack with his few possessions, took a long look at his old home and started sniffling.
"I can't believe it, five years and now I'm going to return."
"Let's go, Adam," Link said. Adam followed their lead until they reached a small cabin that the Kokiri used to use as camping site when they played in the forest. The forest however grew more and more dangerous over time so it was all but abandoned. "This'll be your home for a while until your return. Is that okay?" Link asked. Adam happily nodded. Link opened the door.
Once everybody was inside Link picked up two sticks and rubbed the together to start a small flame. This he transferred to a lamp on a table, instantly lighting the torch and shining light on the entire room. The cabin was made of a single room but it was very large inside and had some chairs, tables and several beds. Adam set down his bag. And smiled at the three with glee. "Thank you so much!" he exclaimed. He started crying with joy. "I finally have a home."
Then Link brought up another subject. "I'm hungry, Saria where's the food?" Saria hit herself in the head.
"Rats! I forgot let me get it." After reassuring Adam he was safe she started running into the woods back home. Adam gave a loving sigh as he watched her leave. Link and Zelda looked at each other.
"Is Mr. Shadow in love?" Link began teasing. Zelda glared at Link then looked down at Adam.
"It's okay if you love her, Adam."
Link pulled out a book from Adam’s bag. Adam slapped his hand to his forehead and made a face as if he swallowed poison.
"Yeah look this poem he wrote," Link said looking up from a book from Adam's bag. "Adam, you're sweet," Link commented.
"Can I see the book, Adam?" Zelda asked.
"Fine it's not secret anymore, is it?" Adam replied.
In this book he wrote his deepest feelings. Mostly, those of frustration and heartache in the form of poetry. The most saddening was the one detailing why he left the forest.
Zelda read for a few minutes and started tearing up. "Adam it's really beautiful, I never knew you could write like this."
"Zelda, you just met in what seems mere moments ago.”
Link began laughing. "He's got a point you know."
“You probably didn’t know this Adam, but Zelda here is the princess of Hyrule.” Adam jaw dropped. These are the first people he had talked to in years and now he’s talking to a princess. “I, um, your highness, its an honor to…” Zelda put her hand in the air and cut him off mid sentence. “Please, I cannot stand the fame and applause, I’m just a normal person like you or Link. Most people in the castle town cannot recognize me walking through. So please, just talk to me like you would a regular person.”
“The problem is, I really don’t know how to talk to regular people.” Adam said.
Suddenly Adam started turning really pale. "Adam are you ok?" Link asked concernedly.
Adam nodded. "I'm just tired. I haven't had a good night's sleep in those five years."
"You can sleep here now if you want. We'll protect you," Zelda reassured.
"Okay, good night then," said Adam. He walked over to the bed, removed his medallion and climbed in, immediately curling up and falling asleep.
"Poor guy," Link said. The door creaked open. It was starting to get dark out. Link and Zelda immediately put their fingers to their lips and pointed to the sleeping Adam.
"Oh, okay," Saria whispered. "Anyway here is the food." Saria pointed to the basket in her hand. The three sat down at the table and unloaded the food, taking care not to wake Adam. After setting aside a portion for Adam for when he woke up, they began eating. They noticed the medallion on the table. Link picked it up and noticed the inscription.
He tried to pronounce the words on it. "Noctornus ex artimes shadan." As soon as he finished speaking the words the medallion began to glow. A beam of light shot out and hit Saria. Before she could react, she became enveloped in an orb of light. It began spinning for about thirty seconds as Link and Zelda watched, scared stiff. The light died down and Saria's feet touched the floor again. Only now she looked different. She was taller. Her hair was longer, down to her shoulders. She also grew in the chest area.
"What happened, I'm bigger?" Her voice was also more adult sounding.
"Saria you've grown up!" Link exclaimed. The medallion glowed again and shot another beam of light. This time it hit Adam, who was still in bed. He seemed to float in the air for a second before the orb surrounded him. Thirty seconds later his feet hit ground. Link, Zelda and Saria looked at Adam as the light died down. He seemed to have woken up. He stood before them, somewhat stunned. He was now 5 feet tall. He was still a few inches behind Link and Zelda but he was almost as tall as Saria. He had well combed hair, a slender figure and a more serious face. Adam's eyes opened. His eyes were no longer childish but a deep piercing blue.
"What the heck just happened?" Adam inquired, his voice no longer high pitched but a deeper tone. Saria and Adam looked at each other for a moment.
Almost simultaneously they said to the other,” You grew up!"
"That's how it seems," Link started. "That medallion had the power to break the curse of the Kokiri."
Adam looked at his arm, noting a scar. “I’m thirteen, he announced to them, still focused on the scar. “See this scar, every year it seems to get a little bigger. It eventually learned how to time it to a year.”
"I wonder what else that medallion can do." Zelda asked curiously.
"Oh yeah, Adam. I have your knife," Link said. Adam looked down at his waist. Sure enough no dagger. Link handed it to him. "Thank you, Link."
"Adam, you look hungry so we brought food," Zelda offered. Adam smiled. Here sit down and eat. She showed Adam the food on the table. Adam almost fainted at the sight of all of it. Fresh fruit, bread, fish and some items he never saw before. He looked at them in amazement.
"Th-tha-thank you!" Adam sat down and looked at all the food before him. He never ate this much even when he lived with the Kokiri.
"While you're here, Adam, can you tell us how you lived for the past five years? Its pretty amazing that someone could live in that forest for five years with no external contact." Adam pulled his face out of an apple.
He swallowed and said to Link, "OK, can I just eat a little more first?"
"Of course you can," Saria replied.
