Welcome to the first of my longer stories which, and I can say this quite happily actually, I have finally begun working on again. Anyways, this is my little retake on the story of Twilight Princess and a bit of my own creation as well. I'm trying to follow the story line as closely as possible but I am going to change a few of the dialogues later on, just to keep with the overall picture. However if you happen to think that I'm missing something, or if there's something specific you would like to see, don't hesitate to tell me. Well then, without further adu, I give you… The Hunter of Twilight.
p.s. I don't own Zelda

Chapter 1: The Guardian

Hunter was a mercenary; one of the best of the Dagashi, a group of highly trained individuals living on the outskirts of the Gerudo Desert. He had quickly gained the title of 'best swordsman' in his class, wore more titles than he had years, and had done work for royalty in Hyrule, Termina, Labrynna, Holodrum, and the island of Koholint. Yet here he was, sleeping in a tree on the outskirts of a small village called Ordon. He had been sent to meet the mayor of the town who, unfortunately for him, was not even there.

Hunter had been in the town for three days, each without the mayor Bo showing up. Every day he'd had to stay at the small town, his temper had slowly begun to grow worse. At the moment he was pacing back and forth in his tree house as a knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Hunter? You in there?" It was Rusl, the town blacksmith and swords master. Rusl was one of the few people whom Hunter could actually talk to without become even more annoyed at his situation.

'Where else would I be right now?' he thought with a frown. This situation was definitely not helping with his anger problems. After a minute of waiting to make sure the villager was alone he answered.

"It's open," Hunter said coldly. Despite being only nineteen his voice carried a deep tone of experience. As the door opened the aging swordsman looked into the dark room, gazing over at the young mercenary. Despite being alone and inside, Hunter was still armed to the teeth with two swords on his back, various throwing knives strapped to his sides, and two hunting knives one on each of his calves. The armor that he wore was leather encased metal plating, bearing his personal insignia on the right shoulder. All of his armor, underclothing and the sheaths of his weapons were the customary black and silver of the Dagashi.

"I was told to come over and get you," Rusl said with a smile.

"Get me; what for?" Hunter asked.

"It seems as if the mayor and his daughter will be arriving home shortly. They asked if you would meet them at their house."

"Of course," the boy said quickly. Grabbing his long black cloak he followed Rusl into the town entrance. He had only been in the village one other time, when he first arrived to show that he was there, but he still had an odd feeling about the town. "It's the openness,' he thought to himself gravely, 'if needs be there's no good place to hide the inhabitants, and one exit.'

Stopping in front of the mayor's house he looked around once more. 'Let's just get this over with,' he thought. It wasn't long before a single horse-drawn carriage pulled up in front of the waiting men.

"You must be the mercenary," said the large driver stepping down from atop the carriage. "Names Bo, but I'm sure you already knew that."

Shaking his hand Hunter could feel that he had once been a very strong man. "You used to wrestle, didn't you?" he asked.

"Ha, and how did you figure that one out, we just met," Bo answered with a laugh.

"Your knuckles. Most people that I know who wrestle have rough calluses on both their hands and feet from rubbing against the dirt."

"Ah an observant lad, I like that." Turning to Rusl he said, "Ilia is still asleep in the back. I would appreciate it if you could keep her at you house tonight."

"I'd be glad to," he replied with a smile, "I'm sure Collin would appreciate the company as well."

"Thank you old friend," Bo said embracing the man before him. "I'm sure that me and…"

"Hunter," replied the mercenary. "You can call me Hunter."

"Hm, odd name. Anyways, I'm sure Hunter and I will have quite a bit to talk about tonight and I'd rather Ilia get her sleep tonight; she hasn't seemed to be doing well recently." AS Rusl quietly led away the carriage, Bo motioned for Hunter to follow him into the house.

"I was a bit surprised to hear that the princess was sending one of the Dagashi over here," Bo said as he sat down, "if anything I was expecting more than just one person."

"You're most likely thinking of the normal Hylian guard," Hunter said with a faint smile. The Dagashi are much better trained and a lot more disciplined. But I'm still not aware of the reason I am here."

"You mean to say that no one told you?"

"No," he said simply. After a moment of silence he continued. "I was told by Teacher that I was being sent down to Ordon Village, that's it."

Bo stood, only to sit back down as if reconsidering. With a glance at Hunter he stood once more and made his way over to the small stove set in the wall. "We have had some trouble with monsters recently," he said lighting a small fire under his teakettle. "We're not entirely sure why, but it seems more and more have been moving into the Faron woods north of here."

"Is it unusual for them to do so?" Hunter said. "I only ask because out in the desert they are actually quite common."

"Yes for this forest it is quite… odd. Tea?" he asked holding up the kettle.

"No thank you. So you're saying that I'm here to act as a… guardian, in some sense."

"Unfortunately yes." Hunter could see that admitting the fact the town needed the mercenaries help was hard on the old man. "While Rusl is an experienced swordsman, he is getting along in his years. That, plus the worries of what would happen to his family, well…" He didn't need to finish; Hunter had seen firsthand the worries that a family man had. That was one of the reasons the Dagashi never married, so they wouldn't be weighed down.

"Very well," said Hunter. "Luckily this town is quite small so it shouldn't be too hard to protect it."

"Then you'll do it?"

"Of course, that's why I'm here." Hunter was surprised at the shocked tone that Bo had in his voice. "I promise you that no matter what happens I will make sure that every citizen here is protected. You have my word."

Bo smiled, a small tear gathering at the corner of his eye. "Thank you Hunter."

Not much for the storyline in this chapter, although it is the first so whatever. I can honestly say the next will be much more action as well as storyline. So until then, I bid you...
Good Day and Good Hunting.