Blizzaga Saga: LINK IS NOT FEMALE IN THIS. The title refers to something else. ;)

I wrote this on a whim for Camp NaNoWriMo. (It's fun; look it up!) It's been sitting in my folder for unused plot bunnies, and I thought I might as well post it. The idea adheres to OoT's main plot points but also differs in big ways. The genre is all over the place with some action, adventure, romance, and angst. Chapters will be short and won't take priority over my other stories, but hopefully they'll still be enjoyable. :)

"Freak! You don't belong here!"

Every day was the same. If he didn't hear it out loud, he sensed it in the stiff or even hostile way they regarded him.

Link cried. The Deku Tree said big boys don't cry, but he was so tired of being alone, tired of not understanding why Mido hated him. The boss of the Kokiri had never accepted him as one of them, and the others were finally starting to side with him.

His blonde bangs fell in front of his eyes as he ran. His hair still grew, even though a Kokiri's was supposed to stop after it reached a certain length.

"I wish he would just get lost in the forest and turn into a Stalfos," one of the twin girls said. She probably thought he couldn't hear her, but his ears were longer than everyone else's—another reason everyone was suspicious of him—and he heard every bad thing everyone said about him.

"Maybe he's already turning into one," said the other twin. "He's getting bigger than any Kokiri has ever been. Mido wants to keep everyone safe in case he attacks."

Tears blurred his vision. How could they think he would attack them? Didn't they realize they were the ones hurting him?

"Saria's not going to like that."

Saria... She was such a nice person—the only nice person. She was too nice for her own good, refusing to believe what Link had already accepted.

He would never be a Kokiri. Mido would never stop bullying him and watching him like he was a threat, like he was committing a crime just by existing. If it wasn't true before, it was certainly true now that he was an inch taller than everyone else. All his life, Link just wanted to blend in so no one would make fun of him, but with his long limbs, he stood out more than ever.

"Link! Stop!" one of the know-it-all brothers yelled. Link didn't listen, but it didn't matter because he soon found himself on the ground beneath the other brother.

"Stop it, Link! Stay still!" the Kokiri demanded, pinning Link's wrist to the ground. Link was about to retort when a fist collided with his temple, stunning him.

When he snapped out of it, he saw Mido coming toward him, and his eyes widened; the boss of the Kokiri carried the Kokiri Sword.

"Tie him up," Mido commanded. "We have to make sure he can't hurt anyone!"

"Let me go! I didn't do anything!"

"Link, if you don't stay still and let us do this, we're going to have to hurt you."

Not trusting his safety to the boys who chased him, Link shook off his captor, but his victory was short-lived. As Mido shifted his stance with the Kokiri Sword, Link was shocked into inaction; the Great Deku Tree said the weapon was only to be used on wolfos and monsters. Did that make Link a monster?

The blade sank into his shoulder, and he let out a scream that filled the forest. In her home across the village, Saria stiffened. Recognizing her best friend and the pain he was in, the green-haired girl ran outside.

Stunned by what they had done, the boys attacking Link froze long enough for him to stand and put some space between them. His right arm hurt too much to move, and it bled all over his green tunic, but all of Link's sadness and fear had turned to rage. He was bigger than they were, if only slightly. If they wanted a fight, he'd give them one.

"Leave me alone!"

The know-it-all brothers shared frightened glances; this was the first time the shy, depressed blonde had ever been this loud and aggressive. Mido, however, was just as angry as Link.

"Stay down!" the Kokiri boss demanded and swung the blade again. He seethed when Link stepped back and avoided it. "You think you're better than us, freak? I bet you're just trying to get close to Saria so you can hurt her!"

Link's wound throbbed, but Mido's words hurt worse. For years Link knew he didn't deserve Saria's friendship. She was only person who was nice to him, the most wonderful girl he knew, and she shouldn't have had to waste her time with him just because he couldn't do anything right. No matter how good he felt around her, the fact that he needed her to make life bearable was just more evidence that he didn't belong.

"How come a fairy hasn't come to you yet? Are you sick?" Fado asked with genuine concern, back when she and the others were more tolerant of him. He didn't look at her, too ashamed to admit that he didn't know what was wrong with him.

"Don't worry, Link," a beautiful green-haired girl soothed. "You'll get a fairy someday. And until then, you'll always have me!"

He stared at Saria in awe. For some reason, his heart started beating more quickly. Moments like these made him think that maybe life wasn't so bad...

...But he didn't deserve her, just like he didn't deserve a fairy. Tears burning his eyes, Link lashed out with a fist at Mido's face, knocking him to the ground and taking the Kokiri sword.

"S-Stay back!" Link ordered, trying his best to look tough as he held a weapon he had no experience with. It didn't work, and he ran when the know-it-all brothers lunged at him.

He had always wanted to be included in the others' games of chase, he thought woefully, but not like this. His legs were slightly longer than those of his pursuers, but his arm just wouldn't cooperate. It didn't matter for long, because suddenly he stood before the giant hollowed-out log which marked the end of the forest, the gate which no Kokiri had ever crossed. Turning around, he found that all three boys had caught up to him. The brothers held ropes, and Mido—now sporting a black eye—was furious.

"You have nowhere to run, monster! Give up, for good of the village. If you let us tie you up, this will be a lot less painful."

Link felt like a cornered animal, wounded and frightened while people with weapons closed in on him. Knowing there was going to be more pain for him if he gave in, he did the only thing his panicked mind could think of.

"What are you doing?!" one of them yelled, but Link didn't listen. He turned his back on everything and everyone he had ever known and ran to the light at the end of the log tunnel.

Mido and the others could only watch and yell, none daring enough to follow. Once he disappeared from the forest, they waited in silence, horrified by what they had caused to happen until the brothers found their voices.

"Wh-What are we going to do?! The Great Deku Tree said any Kokiri who goes out there dies!"

"I know that!" Mido snapped. "Just...let me think."

He would have no time to do so, however, because at that moment a new voice arrived at the scene. "Link? Where are you?"

Mido's stomach plummeted. Usually he was thrilled to see the green-haired girl, but not when he looked like a bad guy.

"Guys, where's Link?" she asked. Surely they had heard his scream. "What are you doing with those ropes?"

Mido took a step back. "U-Um, well, funny story..."

"We're sorry!" the others blurted, falling onto all fours and bowing before her. "Please forgive us!"

"Wimps," Mido thought.

"For what? What did you do?"

"Link...Link is...He's out there!" one of them yelled, pointing through the log while looking away.

Saria stiffened. "What do you mean?"

"We're sorry! He's gone! We didn't mean for this to happen!"

The know-it-all brothers bawled loudly, but Saria couldn't process what was happening. "You're saying...he's dead? He can't be! I heard him scream not two minutes ago! Where is he?" Her eyes narrowed at Mido. "What did you do?"

"We only wanted to make sure he couldn't hurt anyone!" the leader said defensively. "He's getting way too big for a Kokiri, and we thought he was turning into a Stalfos. Look what he did to my eye!"

"Mido, you just killed someone! No one cares about your eye!" Saria snapped before her words registered. "Link's dead... He's dead... Oh, Farore..."

Her best friend, the person she cared about most, was gone. Falling to her knees, she threw her head back and let out a pain-filled scream as Link had. Her days of playing with him were over. She'd never get to comfort him when the others bullied him too much, never see him smile or see the day when he finally received a fairy and stood beside her as an equal. He'd told her once how much her friendship meant to him; now she'd never get to tell him how much he meant to her.

The Kokiri had never experience loss like this. Saria felt as though part of her had been ripped out. She kept waiting for someone to tell her it was a joke or she was dreaming, but the best she got was Mido's hand on her shoulder, which she shook off bitterly. By the time the rest of the village emerged from their homes to see what the fuss was about, her rage had given to sorrow, and she let her friends hold her as she sobbed.