Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda or any of its characters. Everything is owned by Nintendo.
Prologue:
10-year-old Princess Zelda stood at the window of her room as she watched the King of Evil's army advance through Hyrule's defenses into the castle town; Hyrulian soldiers retreating in a panicked frenzy to prep more defenses, in a futile attempt to stop the enemy's advancement to the castle and the royal family. The town's inhabitants were fleeing for their lives, screaming in terror as their houses were burned and their loved ones slain before their eyes.
"Everyone, this way! Evacuate to the castle, to safety!" the captain of the royal army shouted to the citizens. The guards were ushering the surviving inhabitants out of the town – out of harm's way, however temporary it may be.
A tall figure with dark skin, bright orange hair, and menacing eyes rode a large, black horse into the center of the market place, blasting corpses – civilian casualties, and the bodies of fallen soldiers from both sides – aside with magic, paying no heed to the dead or the moaning of the dying strewn across the stones of the ground. He wore a wicked smile and chuckled quietly as his army made contact with the hastily set up, second defensive line of Hyrule's royal army.
Zelda – even from the distance of the castle window – could see how triumphant this man – no, not a man, monster – looked. It both frightened her and made her sick to her stomach. Despite her personal guards reassuring her that everything would be alright, she knew that Hyrule would fall. Even as powerful of a country Hyrule was, it could do nothing in the face of this overwhelming power.
Zelda choked back a sob as she watched the wicked army plow through Hyrule's second line of defense, ripping the line apart. She knew they would soon reach the castle.
"Princess! Princess!" Zelda's attendant and bodyguard Impa shouted as she burst through the door. "We must go – quickly!" She grabbed Zelda's hand and led her through the door out into the castle corridor.
"Where are we going?" Zelda asked, panicked.
"Someplace safe – don't worry," Impa replied with a forced smile, in an attempt to reassure the young Princess. "But we must hurry. We don't have much time."
Impa led Zelda down the hall; they scurried past and dodged around soldiers and guards running to and fro, carrying spears and arrows and shouting orders.
"This way, Zelda! To the stables!"
"Stables? But, but what about Mother and Father? Aren't they coming too?" Zelda questioned, already knowing the answer.
"Not now, but we'll meet them soon enough. But for now, I must get you out of here. Now come on."
Tears started to form at the corners of Zelda's eyes, but she forced them back. 'I will not cry. Mother, Father, the guards – and even our people – are all staying strong right now, so I must as well!' Zelda told herself as they hurried down the corridor towards the stables.
As they arrived at the stables, there was a loud, thunderous cracking sound. 'Oh no! They must've breached the front gate!' Zelda assumed.
"Zelda, we've got to go – now!" Impa said with urgency in her voice that Zelda had never heard before. Zelda just nodded her head in response and tried to look brave, though it failed and only made her appear even more uncertain and afraid.
Impa hoisted her up onto a white horse, then swung herself on and took hold of the reigns. "Hyaah!" she cried as she dug her heels into the horse, causing it to shoot off like a rocket.
Swiftly they exited out through a secret escape passage and rode away, only to discover to their horror that the entire castle was surrounded and there was nowhere to go.
"Over there! Grab them!" a group of soldiers wielding blood-soaked swords yelled.
Impa whipped the horse around and rode off in a full sprint, determined to get Princess Zelda to safety, on the honor of the Sheikah. They ran down a hill, to the market center of Castle Town, hoping desperately that they would be able to get past any remaining enemies that way. Somehow they managed to dodge around and escape past a few enemies.
As they reached the outskirts of the town and the exit came into view, Zelda's heart sank – the draw bridge was down! 'What are we going to do now?' she worried.
However, Impa would not be deterred or slowed down. She had prepared for this and let out a loud, piercing, distinct whistle, signaling hidden guards to emerge from a passage to open the door. She had instructed them to pass through the castle's passages to get to the controls for the bridge to prevent her and Zelda from becoming trapped in the town if they had to take this route out.
The draw bridge slammed down to the ground and Impa made the horse go even faster. They bolted out into Hyrule field, Impa not looking back, only focusing on getting Zelda as far away from danger as possible.
The princess clung to Impa, her arms wrapped tightly around her waist, not letting go for fear of falling off. She buried her head in Impa's shirt until she saw green from the corner of her eye. 'Wha–' Zelda started to think, until the figure came into full view as they passed it. It was a young boy, who couldn't be much older than she was judging by his looks, clad in an all green tunic, brown boots, with semi-long blonde hair, and wearing a short sword and shield on his back. Their eyes met for a brief moment as they passed. Zelda turned her head back to get another look, but before she knew it, the boy in green was out of sight as she and Impa rode further and further from the castle.
'Who was he? He must be from the forest…' the princess thought to herself.
But her thoughts were interrupted when she spotted an emergence of orange and red light from inside the castle town; smoke billowed out. Hyrule Castle Town was in flames, burning to the ground. It wasn't long before only the smoke could be seen in the sky, and it made Zelda feel as though all was lost.
'Hyrule has fallen…' Zelda lamented. Despair overtook her and she passed out, black overtaking her vision until that was all she could see – her arms still wrapped securely around Impa's waist as they continued to ride.
Zelda awoke with a start, her hair plastered to her forehead by sweat. Her sheets had been thrown off the bed in sleep.
Zelda looked outside, only to see that it couldn't be much later than half past two in the morning. Sighing, she knew she wasn't going to be able to make it back to sleep after that nightmare, so she proceeded to light a candle and fetch a book of Hyrulian poems from her bookshelf for comfort.
"Who was that man…and who was that boy?" she muttered to herself as she flipped open the book of poems she must have read over twenty times.
Sorry if it's bad! It's my first attempt at writing a fanfiction! Please R&R. Constructive criticism appreciated.