Within the deepest reaches of Kokiri forest the children of the Great Deku Tree slept peacefully, soft smiles touching their childlike faces while guardian fairies flew above their heads in lazy circles.

One kokiri, however, could find no solace, even in the sanctity of his dreams. He tossed and turned in the throes of some horrible nightmare, making frightened noises, trying to throw away the blankets that had wrapped around his struggling form.

They called him the Boy without a Fairy, and although he looked and acted as they did, there was always one thing that set him apart, a guardian fairy. All Kokirians had a fairy, given to them at birth by the Deku Tree, but oddly enough this little boy had never received one.

So while he sought acceptance, he would find none, and although he wanted nothing more than to blend in it was never meant to be, for he had a greater purpose to fulfill.

So even as the Gerudo with the fire in his eyes tormented the young boy's sleep; the wheels and cogs of destiny began to turn.

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Miles away from the forest a young girl's sleep was haunted by the very same nightmare.

She awoke with a gasp, looking around the room in blind panic. It was only after the darkness calmed her racing heart and the man with the burning eyes faded did she begin to ponder the dream.

It had made little sense to her, and she was extremely sensible for a ten- year-old, why would someone she had never seen suddenly appear in her dreams?

"Malon," a sleepy voice called from downstairs, "Are ya alright?"

The young girl smiled slightly and responded, "Yes daddy, it was just another bad dream. Go back to sleep."

Malon waited patiently until she heard the sound of her father's snoring, she then jumped out of bed and walked over to her window, easing it open and looking out.

A gentle breeze immediately entered the room and twined through her red hair, and she smiled again this time more genuinely.

Carefully climbing out the window, she stretched her small legs to their fullest, her feet touching the ledge that ran around the side of her house. Malon stepped along the narrow edge, and then jumped onto the lower part of the roof, giggling merrily at the feat. She walked along the lower roof until she reached the edge, glanced at the distance between her and the tree that grew by her house and without further delay leapt onto a branch, climbing down with a child's carelessness until searching toes met solid ground.

Grass tickled her feet as she made her way to the stables; she opened the door, peering in; she saw several pairs of wide eyes staring back at her. She grinned sheepishly and walked in, patting the horses apologetically. Many of them sniffed her pockets for treats and upon finding none turned away from the young girl, sullenly going back to sleep.

Malon walked around until she found the horse she had been looking for; she ran over to Epona and patted the colt's head, murmuring a now familiar greeting. Epona snorted, head-butting the young girl in the chest to welcome her in return, then sniffed curiously at her pockets just as the other horses had done. Malon beamed, opening the stable door she laid down at the young horse's feet, grabbing a few handfuls of hay to serve as a pillow.

Ever since Malon had lost her mother she had been cursed with nightmares, and it had become customary to run out to the stables and sleep near the young horse whenever one decided to invade her usually simple dreams. It seemed the bad dreams had problems returning when she was in the barn, but how she had come across this revelation she still wasn't sure.

Epona stood over the girl like an oversized guard dog, snorting at a mouse who was making its nightly run. The mouse bolted, chattering angrily all the way and Epona grunted in satisfaction, pawing the ground farthest from Malon in a triumphant manner.

Malon grinned and slowly fell asleep. The nightmare didn't return to trouble her; it seemed a more pleasant dream had finally come.

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A young man smiled at her, blonde hair falling around his face and into his mischievous blue eyes. A bluish light, a fairy, hovered above his head, cursing amiably about something. In one hand the blonde man held a beautifully crafted ocarina that glowed with an ethereal light; in the other he held a blade, a sword that seemed to murmur the very secrets of time.

He whispered something to her, but the words escaped her hearing as soon as they were uttered. She smiled anyway, feeling a happiness that filled the void her mother had left behind when she had passed.

Malon continued to dream, blissfully unaware of what awaited her in the near future, and innocent to the fact that her fate was now irrevocably intertwined with someone she had yet to meet.

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The Gerudo sat back in his heavily padded chair, his attentiveness fading quickly as the image in the scrying pool disappeared into the swirling black water.

"Interesting." He murmured, tapping his chin as though in consideration, "Very interesting."

So They planned to foil him, did They? And through a pair of children's dreams no less. He chuckled humorlessly at the thought, orange eyes gleaming with something sinister. Ganondorf was not one to be so easily deterred, especially by two little kids who were frightened at the mere projection of his face into their dreams. It seemed beneath him to deal with these brats. If they became dangerous, he could wipe them off the chess board with a simple flick of the wrist, they were not an immediate problem.

He rose and paced the length of the room, his slightly battered cloak brushing against a great pile of books. He sneered at the tomes, annoyed. He had scoured the Royal Library for anything containing the slightest hint about the Triforce or the Sacred Realm and smuggled several dozen choice volumes into his guest room to research. Unfortunately, long hours of concentration had passed in vain; there was nothing that could lead him to what he sought, only silly legends that held no truth.

"Nothing." He hissed, knocking over a crooked stack furiously, "At this rate I'll be in the grave before I find anything useful."

A soft sound made him turn hastily toward the door just in time to realize it was ajar. Ganondorf listened raptly, and upon hearing the hushed thuds of retreating footfalls, let loose a heated curse. Zelda, it had to have been that royal pain eavesdropping on him once again. The distrust in her eyes when he had first arrived was readable enough, and even though it had faded in the other residents of the Castle, the girl had remained defiant in her suspicions of him.

'Not that they're without merit.' He thought as he shut the door and locked it before seating himself near his scrying equipment once more. 'It appears that Fate has decided to throw a bunch of children in my path.'

He grabbed the decanter a servant had brought earlier, pouring its red contents into a jeweled goblet. He swirled the red wine, eyeing it wonderingly before deciding the King would not have dared to poison him. Old habits died hard however, and he sniffed the liquid's delicate aroma before deeming it safe enough to drink.

He picked a random book up off the nearest stack, flipping open the cracked cover to look at the contents and taking another sip from the goblet. If the Goddesses wished to send a trio of brats his way then They were entitled to it. He smirked darkly as he turned a yellowed page, 'It's Their own fault, however, if I return them in pieces.'

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