Okay, so uh, this has actually been at this state for a while. Unfortunately, my beta's been super-sick, and still hasn't been able to look over it. He told me earlier he has no idea when or if he'll get to it, so I'm giving it to you as-is. That being the case, please let me know if you see any glaring mistakes in this chapter :)

~ Chapter 4 ~

~ Of Trees and Time Travel ~

"Well, that was completely unhelpful", Link grumbled. After all that trouble, the Maku Tree had simply vanished before she could give him any advice at all! No trace of her remained, leaving the clearing full of sick-looking reeds in the shallow water and nothing more.

With nothing more to go on, Link slumped down on the soggy ground in annoyance. Only this morning, he had been with Zelda and was about to be knighted! How had he managed to end up all the way out in one of the colonies? How would he get home? Most troubling of all: why was Ganon's name being mentioned? Perhaps he was transported to an alternate Realm, similar to the Dark World? Did that Realm even extend past Hyrule proper? No one had ever managed to explore the Dark World properly and return with any sanity left to tell the tale aside from himself, and he'd never had the opportunity to travel far. Even with the Pearl he'd felt the oppressing magic of the Realm and had never lingered more than necessary. Perhaps—

Link's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the sound of running footsteps.

"NAAAAYRUUUUU!" A blurry figure sprinted past, nearly giving him a heart attack before recognizing the man.

"Ralph? Where were you? I thought I'd never find you!" he said breathlessly.

Ralph skidded to a stop. "Link? You're still hanging around? ...And what are you doing in this old place?"

"I came to see the Maku Tree."

Ralph burst into mad laughter at that. "Maku Tree? Our guardian deity has been dead for about 400 years now! You sure you got your head screwed on right, pal?"

"What? But Impa just told us to come here a few hours ago!"

"Impa's crazy, obviously. However, there should be... Ah! Here it is! There's a path through the reeds this way. It should lead to that portal Veran created. I'm going after Nayru. You don't need to follow."

Link stood up. "I've... got nowhere else to go."

"Fine. Be my cheerleader or something, skirt-boy."

"Skirt?! It's a tunic! You're wearing one too—!"

"No, I am wearing a doublet, because I'm not a lady." With that, Ralph ran into the woods, towards the portal.

Link wasn't letting him leave like that, however. "You're not getting away that easily, Ralph! I know you're just trying to get me to follow you, but I was gonna do that anyway!"

"Who says I'm jesting? I meant every word." Ralph panted back, slowing as he reached the portal. "...Do you think this thing is safe?"

"Only one way to find out. Gentlemen first," Link smirked.

Ralph glared at him. "You bastard." He turned and stuck his hand into the portal. "This feels... really weird." He then swallowed thickly and proceeded through the portal.

.:.

Link opened his eyes, disoriented by the sudden shift in energy.

"Another one? First that guy in the weird hat appears, and now you! Things are getting weirder and weirder ever since Nayru came...!"

Link jumped at the sudden voice. "Nayru? Do you know where she is?"

The middle-aged man who had spoken gave him a dry look. "Of course I do. Everyone knows where she is. She's in the castle; she is Queen Ambi's advisor, after all. Did you hurt your head or something with that sudden...whatever that was?"

When Link didn't answer immediately, the man simply shrugged and walked off.

.:.

Lynna City had... shrunk? Where were all the buildings?! Link couldn't quite wrap his head around what was going on. Ralph seemed to have disappeared (he was beginning to expect this of the blue-clad boy). Everywhere he looked, citizens were working on some sort of construction. He approached the nearest worker without hesitation.

"Excuse me, sir? Can you tell me what you're building?" he asked, though the response was certainly not what he was expecting.

"WHA?! I ain't slackin' off, I swear! I's workin' just as 'ard as th' next guy! Please don't 'urt me or mah family!" the man cowered.

"Uh, nevermind then. I'll just—" Link tried.

"Hey! You ain't one of th' guards! Mighty suspect if ya ask me. Where ya from, boy?" the worker asked.

"Uh, Hyrule. What's going on—"

"Haiyrool?" He made a face like the word tasted terrible. "Ain't never 'eard of it. Yer jus' pullin' mah leg 'ere! You there! Guard! This 'ere urchin's interferin' with the work!" The man suddenly addressed a passing soldier. Link thought he seemed too well-armed for a normal guard. Unfortunately, he also heeded this mans hailing.

"You Boy! What're you doin' out here? If you're not goin' to abide by the laws of the Queen, I'll have you thrown in the dungeons!" the soldier shouted.

"I-I'm not from around here! I'm los—"

"Yeah, save it for the jailer, kid. You're comin' with me." He grabbed Link roughly by the shoulders, and twisted his arms painfully behind his back before tying them together. "March, brat."

Link didn't dare try to defy him.

.:.

As they approached the castle, another soldier approached Link and his captor. This one was more decorated, presumably a superior rank. The soldier behind him confirmed this a moment later.

"Captain Raven! This kid was wandering around unsupervised, hindering the work effort!"

The man named Raven glanced at Link briefly, before returning his attention to his man. "Thank you, Private. I'll take it from here."

Link was roughly shoved towards the captain, before he heard the receding footsteps of the soldier. Captain Raven grabbed his upper arm and led him towards the castle gates. Link took the opportunity to attempt to explain again.

"Sir, I'm sorry. I'm not from around here, and I was lost when I found the city. I was just trying to—"

"Hylian."

"—find— wait, what?" Link gasped.

"Your accent. You're from Hyrule, aren't you?" the captain smiled.

"How did you...?"

"I traveled here from Hyrule when I was younger. I hated living in the shadow of my great-grandfather. He was... a celebrity, shall we say, so I left." The captain turned to Link then. "You know, you look a lot like the paintings I've seen of my great-grandfather in his youth. I don't know why, but I've got a gut feeling I should let you go this time. Take this shovel and help with the work effort and you'll be fine. Just work your way to the edge of the village while working and you should be able to get away without being caught again. I won't be able to help you a second time. Good luck, kid."

Link gaped as the captain untied his hands and handed him the tool. "Thank you, sir! Thank you so much!" he said, before turning to run off to the nearest pile of dirt to pretend to look busy.

"Wait, kid!"

Link stopped and looked back. "What is it?"

The captain walked over and knelt. "What's your name?"

"Link, sir."

"Link? That was my great-grandfather's name... this must be a sign from the Goddesses... for some reason I feel like I should tell you this. Alright, Link, here's the deal." The Captain leaned closer so that he could whisper into Link's ear. "Head for the Maku Tree."

"Maku Tree? But she's gone! I saw her disappear!"

"No, not yet. Trust me when I tell you this, she's still very much alive... but not for long if you don't haul ass over there!" At this, he stood up, and swung a kick at Link that the boy had no trouble dodging. "Now get going!" he yelled.

.:.

After pretending to shovel his way over to the Maku Gate, Link looked around to see if anyone was watching before ducking into the side-path to the Tree. After a brief time in a small maze, he emerged on the other end, only to see two royal soldiers pointing their lances at the Tree.

"Stop! What are you doing?! Why are—ow!" the young sapling squealed.

Wait... sapling? Huh, so that portal really did send him back in time. He'd suspected it after seeing the downsized version of Lynna City, but this was absolute proof. So Veran had used Nayru's powers to go this far back in time... How far back was this, anyway?

One of the soldiers' next words jerked Link back into reality: "General Veran has ordered you to die. Sorry, Barky, but you can't exactly bite back, hahaha!"

"Stop!" Link hadn't even realized he's spoken until the Tree and both men were staring at him.

"And who are you, boy? You wanna get in the way of General Veran's orders? That's an offense punishable by death, yeah?"

"I'm new here. General Veran just changed her mind. Don't kill the Tree." Link mentally berated himself for the idiotic comeback.

"If you were really new here, they'd have given you something to prove it. But I don't think you're really here to deliver a message... at least not a real one!" the fighter said, turning his lance around to point at Link's throat.

Environment: Medium-sized clearing. Ground is extremely muddy, footing is questionable. Hostage situation, added risk.

Cover: None.

Defense strategies: Disarm enemy. Armor is cheap, standard-issue. Neither man's armor fits properly, has exploitable gaps. Focus offense there. Agility is key.

Enemy strategies: Two infantrymen, both armed with lances. Advantage in range, superior armor to mine. Enemy will likely try to overpower with range and numbers. Agility will be lower than mine due to heavy armor and mud.

Weapons available: Sword. Shield. Mud.

Link felt as if he watched what happened next as a spectator, and hadn't even been aware of his strategizing until after he heard the words leave his lips: "Bring it."

The man thrust his lance forward, but Link had grabbed the shaft and knocked it off-course while dodging in the other direction. He dove to the side, grabbing a handful of mud in the process and flung it into the guard's face.

Ignoring the guard's screams of irritation and disgust, he rushed towards the second grunt who was still hacking at the Tree. The man hadn't even turned around fully before Link had thrust his sword through the man's neck.

He turned and regarded the first grunt with apparent apathy, though his mind was screaming in anguish. The man had just finished wiping the mud out of his eyes.

"Get out of here, and don't you dare come here again." Link stated, still unable to process what was happening.

"You fool. Defying General Veran means death. I will not flee." He raised his lance again, and Link knew he wouldn't fall for the same trick twice. He carefully positioned himself away from the Tree, and deflected the grunt's first strike with his shield, bypassing his defense and running his sword right through the cheap armor. He hadn't actually expected it to pierce through; he'd missed his intended jab to one of the gaps in the plates. Nevertheless, the body fell to the ground.

And then he was in control.

Blood. Human blood. I did this no no no I killed them ohmygoddessesIkilledthem. Sweet Farore nonono I killed—

"Thank you for saving me!" Link's attention snapped to the high-pitched squeal. "I wish I could help you, but I'm still so young! Come back when I've grown up, and I'll give you something nice~ Teehee!"

Link had only one last thought before he passed out from the putrid stench of blood:

Oh goddesses no. I killed two men and now a tree is hitting on me.

I hope you enjoyed, and once again, apologies for the even longer-than-necessary delay :) I know I post rarely; I'm not as much of a writer as I am a reader, lol. Hopefully I'll have time to start the next chapter soon (though I am swamped with overdue homework; Trust me, as a college student that is NOT fun. Three art projects and three papers to do in a week.)

Speaking of reading, I highly recommend "The Legend of Zelda: Sky Lines" by Light Onthemayo. If you enjoy that, check out the sister fic, "Airman Link of the Grand Sails"! Both are truly brilliant :D I'd put an actual link to the fics in here, but we all know how that turns out rofl. So PLEASE make use of that lovely search bar up top!

I guess I'll just leave you by saying reviews are much appreciated for the feedback, positive or negative :) Thanks for reading!