The land is peaceful. I hear a bird chirping off somewhere. They sound really happy. I wonder what they're talking about. Maybe they're just so happy about the day. It is a beautiful sunset. It's like an old painting or tapestry, just beautiful. If feel like I can stay here all day. It just feels so right. I know I sound redundant, but who cares? It's fantastic! I could watch this for as long as possible! It's just so wonderful. There're so many animals and they're all just so delighted. I wonder if—

What is that? ! Oh no, this is bad! I can feel the ground rumbling... but this is no ordinary quake!

WHAT. IS. THAT! ? It's huge! It's a big black, beast! It's going to destroy everything!

Oh, no. I can't believe this. I don't want to die! I DON'T WANT TO DIE! ! ! Somebody do something! Wait... who's that? Is he... fighting that thing? That's incredible! Who is he?

Link...

What? Who said that? But who's fighting that thing? A man and a woman? Come on, get it! GET IT! YEAH! Wait, what are those people doing there? Is she...

Oh, my—how did she do that? She sent that thing to the sky? !

Link!

Who said that? Wait, what about the other two? Okay, the guy's fighting that beast... Oh, no. Oh, no!

Link!

Oh, no, is he dying? No, please don't—

"LINK! ! !"

"GAAH! OOF!"

"About time you woke up, sleepyhead! Come on, you've got class in one hour!"

Link scowled at his roommate Mido. For a Kokiri, he sure was bossy! He rubbed his head, feeling for a bump. Luckily, there wasn't much of one, since he fell on his ass first. The carpet in his dorm room also cushioned his fall off his bed. He got up off the floor to open up the window. He squinted as the sun hit his eyes and he looked out over the urban campus of the University of Hyrule. Man, what a dream, he thought. What was that about, again? Oh, wait, I have class! Just barely enough time to take a quick 15-minute shower and have some cereal.

After his 15-minute shower was over, he grabbed the box of cereal. Even as a college freshman things hadn't changed much since when he was a kid. HNN (Hyrule News Network) was the same drivel it usually was. A lot of it was coverage of the remnants of the long-deposed royal family talking about how their daughter wanted privacy and junk like that. He didn't really pay attention (of course, public opinion on the royal family is literally split 33-33-33; 33% hate them, 33% like them, 33% have neutral opinions).

Discussions of royalty aside, Link still had a class to get to. Combing his spiky hair, he got up and walked over to his closet where he picked out his green short-sleeve button-down. He didn't even bother to button it up, exposing his white t-shirt.

"Hey nerd!" said Mido. "Are you going to put your comics away or not?"

"Don't touch those!" Link shouted, grabbing the stack of comics away.

"Hey, don't blame me, geek," said the half-pint Kokiri. "You're the one buying all the Captain Hyrulecomics!"

"Why did I have to be roomies with this half-pint jerk?" said Link. Of course, despite Mido calling him a "nerd", he was actually pretty gifted in the looks department. He wasn't the prettiest or the most handsome man on campus, but he was still pretty good-looking. Of course, he didn't really care that much about it. "And pleasedon't touch that sword and shield, okay?"

"Why?" asked Mido, changing the channel.

"Rusl gave those to me," he said. "I don't want them broken."

"Whatever," said Mido. Link shook his head, grabbed his backpack and slung it over his shoulder.

"Fledge, Pip and I are going out to lunch at Telma's," said Link. "So I probably won't be back until this afternoon."

"Whatever!" said Mido. Link sighed and walked out the door to be met by Fledge.

"Hi, Link!" he said.

"Hi Fledge."

"Link, why are you in such a bad mood?" asked Fledge. "And why did you have to take it out on me?"

"My Kokiri roommate is an asshole," said Link. "Let's just get going and meet Pipit later."

"You don't want to—"

"No." he said. "I don't want to see Groose."

"What's that, geek-boy?"

"Too late," said Link. "Groose, please leave me alone."

"Why?" said the pompous pompadour'd strong man. "Are you in a hurry?"

"A bully in college," said Fledge. "Is it even possible?"

"You know, I still don't get how you got into the best university in Hyrule," Groose said, pointing his finger in Link's face. "All I see is some idiot who just sleeps in class and gets by with his head in the clouds!"

"I wouldn't be in Hyrule U if that was true," said Link. "And why are you here? I thought your hair took all the smarts."

"Hey, shut up!" Groose shouted. "You sicken me, you know that?"

"Fledge, let's just go," Link groaned.

"What about Pipit?"

"Oh damn," he said.

"Well," said Groose. "Looks like it's just you and me."

"GROOSE!" Speak of the Demon King.

"Hey, Pipit!" Link said to their RA.

"Groose, what are you doing?" asked Pipit. "I don't want you harassing the other residents, got it?"

"Oh no, I wasn't doing anything," said Groose. "We were just hanging out, like buddies!"

"If buddies constantly insulted each other," Link snarked.

"Groose, get out of here," said Pipit. Groose huffed and puffed and stormed down the hall back to his room in Lanaryu Hall. "Link, that's the 3rd time this week I've had to bail you out! When are you going to stand up for yourself?"

"Sorry," said Link.

"I know you don't think of yourself as a fighter," said Pipit. "But please just tell him to go away next time."

"Okay," said Link. "Let's go, Fledge. I'll meet you later, Pipit." He and Fledge walked to the elevator, which they took to the ground floor. Minutes later, they were out the door and headed for class.

Infodump time; the University of Hyrule is the largest university in Hyrule with 35,000 students. Located in the capital of Castleton, its urban campus is in the residential North Park neighborhood. And unlike the other two major universities in Castleton, Nayru University and the University of Castleton, its campus blends in with the neighborhood. By contrast, Nayru and Castleton U are like little islands in the city. There campus is bisected by the Castleton Transit Authority's Green Line elevated train.

With that info dump over, Link and Fledge still had to get to class in Gaepora Hall, the main lecture hall. They had to cross Royal Road to get to the main part of campus. The main part of campus is strewn across several blocks and there are a couple of quads in front of the university's main offices and in front of Gaepora Hall. The third quad is actually a triad in between the Triforce residences (Lanaryu, Eldin and Faron Halls).

Gaepora Hall is on the east side of the south quad on Draco Road. It was an especially nice and sunny fall day in late Majora (equivalent to August, credit to Demonic Apple of ZeldaUniverse for the calendar). It was still shorts weather (although Link was wearing jeans with his shirt!).

Fledge had a class in a different building from Link, so when they reached the quad (itself its own little island) he split up from Link who walked over to the modern, 5-year-old Gaepora Hall. Once inside, he looked for a place in the lecture auditorium for his History of Hyrule class.

He sat in the middle of the middle section, but a little close to the front so he could read the presentation at the screen. It was one of the larger and more popular classes at the U of Hyrule (primarily because it's a required course). He was pretty much a proverbial face in the crowd. But one face seemed to grab his attention.

It was a brown-haired girl who sat in the same row as him. And man, she was gorgeous. She's the kind of girl he'd be lucky to serve coffee to. He wasn't sure if he'd seen her anywhere other than in class, but he may have seen her somewhere else, maybe walking around campus or in the neighborhood—

"Alright, everyone, calm down and we'll get this class underway," said the professor, Prof. Nohansen. "First, some announcements, you will still have sections, I have found a suitable substitute, so don't expect to get out of class just because it's the second week of class. With that out of the way, we can get started.

"Last week we went over the syllabus of course," said Prof. Nohansen. "And on Nakaru (Tuesday) we talked about the creation myth, about how the Golden Goddesses created Hyrule and created the Triforce and Sacred Realm, and that the location of both the Triforce and the Sacred Realm have been lost. Well today, we're going to talk about the early history of Hyrule." He began his Slide presentation and the students started writing it down word-for-word.

"Much of the early history of Hyrule has been lost, but what we do know comes from several sources," said Prof. Nohansen. "First off, we have the somewhat unreliable oral history, but we also have some surviving documents. Second, we have archaeological evidence pointing to this era ending in a massive cataclysm. Third, there is a massive gap between this cataclysm and the next period of hylian civilization, with the founding of what would become the now former Kingdom of Hyrule.

"We don't know what Hyrule was called before the cataclysm," said Prof. Nohansen. "Historians prefer to use the term 'Prosperity Era' because it's said Hyrule was a land of prosperity under the Goddess Hylia. This era came to an end with this aforementioned cataclysm.

"But in this cataclysm, we have writings of a man who fought to stop it. We don't have his name, but he was referred to as a hero. And there have been several heroes over the years, it's just that Hyrule hasn't needed one since the Wind Sorcerer Vaati's last attack on Hyrule over 400 years ago.

"But, I'm getting ahead of myself. This lecture's about the Era of Prosperity, so let's get on with it. By the way, we'll get to the cataclysm in a couple of days, and we may end with the fall of the Royal Family, but let's get this lecture underway, we've already wasted a few minutes. Now, if you read your textbooks, you'll know that after the foundation of early Hyrule, the land was still tribal lands…"

Link started to nod off a little bit while the professor talked about… whatever. He was so—wait, gotta stay awake! Didn't want to fall asleep in the wrong place (He got the "sleepyhead" nickname for a reason). The professor faded in and out while he desperately tried to stay awake. Eventually, it became too much for him and he faded to black.

SLAM! The bad guy's gone flying! Keep coming, I'm just getting warmed up! That's right, don't mess with me, Captain Hyrule! Hyrule's super soldier can't be stopped, G.A.N.O.N.! They're still coming? Come ON! Oh well, Din bless me, for I'm about to kick some ASS! Here they come, how many are there? Fifty? Fine.

Okay, first one—POW! Right hook to the jaw! Who's next? They're coming now! Time to get this show on the road! Duck, dive, punch, kick, shield bash, kick, punch, duck, dodge, spin, turn, parry, block, punch! Ha ha, the Hylian Shield is fantastic! Okay, the Hyrulean soldiers are getting out of here. It shouldn't be too long, these G.A.N.O.N. guys should be easy!

Okay, just a few more, and I should be—what the—what's going on? ! Why are they all leaving? Did I do this? No, this doesn't feel good. Something's wrong. Are the soldiers—BOOM! ! ! OH MY GODS! ! ! What's going on? Okay, I know I'm not supposed to be scared, but I can't help it! Oh, Farore, all the soldiers are dead, and something's going on. Farore, give me courage! Alright, you—

What's—what is this? What's with all the black! I'm screaming… but I can't hear myself! Somebody save me! Save me save—

Link awoke with a start. He almost screamed out loud but he clamped his hand over his mouth before he could let it out. No one in the large lecture hall heard him. The professor was still talking about early Hyrule. Link looked around. The brown-haired girl was the only one looking at him, but she had turned away from him. She must not have really noticed.

He took his hand off his mouth and quietly sighed. Where before he was sleepy, now he was wide awake. That nightmare must have done the trick. Well now he had to listen to the professor talk and talk and talk. At least he wouldn't have to deal with the nightmares now. That's actually been the fifth nightmare all week. And there seemed to be no end to them.

Link was relieved to finally get out of class. The professor was getting duller by the second; there was no chance in the underworld that he could survive another minute. As soon as it was over, he raced out of the lecture hall and into the noontime day.

So now he was hungry. He did not want any dining hall food. It tasted like cardboard, no matter which universe (Hyrule or Earth) you live in (trust me, I know). He dug for his wallet to check his Rupee bills. He had about 23 Rupees and 67 Cens. Telma's looks good. Telma's Bar and Grill, named for the woman who housed the Hyrule Resistance during the Twilight Incident, and founded by one of her descendents. And it's got some of the best food in this part of Castleton.

In fact, it wasn't even that far from campus, just across the street to the south. Well, not from his current spot, but south of campus. He slung his backpack strap across his right shoulder and headed off.

Once he got to the street across from Telma's, which was housed in a building sharing a dress shop, was right across the street. One of the campus buildings was also across the street, just to give you the idea. It's similar to DePaul University in Chicago, which blends into the surrounding Lincoln Park neighborhood.

Anyway, Link was about to cross when he noticed the brown-haired girl. Wait, she's here? ! She was reading a textbook (probably the history book). She had her figurative nose in the book, only glancing up on occasion to see where she was going. Her purple blouse stood out and she had her hand on a shoulder bag. Well, at this point, she walked right past Link.

He took one whiff of her perfume and stiffened like a sword. He brown hair flowed past her and she didn't even bother to look at him. Damn. But then he noticed she was about to step off the curb into oncoming traffic. This is bad!

Instinctively, and he's not sure why, he reached out and grabbed her by her upper left arm. She only glanced at him before he yanked her back on to the sidewalk. She yelped before she got a look at him. "What did you grab me for?" she asked. He pointed at the street and she looked to see a car driving right past. She sighed, recognizing what he'd done for her. "I'm sorry," she said.

Man, was she gorgeous! And he could have sworn she was a member of the Royal Family just by her looks. "You're welcome," he said with a deep blush that covered most of his face. She laughed lightly. And how melodic and wonderful! This girl's amazing.

"Well, I guess since we didn't meet properly, I must introduce myself," she said. "I am Zelda Kingson."

"Link Forrester," he replied shakily while shaking her hand. "Um, I was about to go and get some lunch at Telma's. Do you—"

"I love Telma's!" she replied. "Of course, I'll go with you!"

"Great!" he replied. "Then let's go!"

The crowd at Telma's was not as bad as Link had feared. Instead, it was a lighter than he expected. That's good! He just ordered a grilled cuckoo sandwich while Zelda ordered a salad. "Mm, this is good," she said with a mouth partially full of salad, "Much better than dorm food."

"I know," said Link. "If only the dorms had Telma for a cook."

"To be honest, I don't eat in the dining halls much anyway," said Zelda. "I make my own food."

"Do you—"

"Kingson apartments," said Zelda, answering his question before he could ask.

"How do you…"

"My family's well-off," she said. "And if you must ask, yes, it is a coincidence."

"Are you a mind-reader?" Link asked while handling some potato chips (or at least what we on Earth refer to them as). She chuckled.

"No," she replied. "But I do get those questions a lot."

"Do you ever wish to… not… be rich?" not the best choice of words, but they were the ones Link could best come up with.

"Oh, of course!" she said, luckily for him. "While there are exceptions, most rich people, they don't care about the average Hyrulean. All they care about is keeping up appearances. It's like some game the rich play, trying to out-opulent each other while people starve on the streets. They'll look like they care about the average Hyrulean, but most of them don't care."

"And your father…"

"I admit, he was an exception," she said. "Rich people are still people. I just don't like the way most of them act."

"I gotcha," said Link. "So what's the apartment like?"

"It's really nice," she said. "I have a great view of the campus."

"Lucky," he lamented.

"Hey," she said. "Don't act like that."

"Why?" he asked.

"Because you seem like a really nice person," she said. He looked at her like she just praised the ancient villain Ganondorf. "Hear me out," she said. "I know when you pulled me out of traffic, I got mad—and I apologize for that—but I realized that someone who had a good heart would do something like that."

"You really think so?" Link asked.

"Yes," she said. "I am a very good judge of people, and—what is that?"

"What is what?"

"That," she pointed at his right hand. He looked at his hand.

"It's just a birthmark," he said. "I don't know why it looks like that."

"It looks like the Triforce," said Zelda.

"I'm not the only one with a Triforce birthmark," said Link. "My sister had one."

"I see," she said. "You do know what the three Triforce pieces are, don't you?"

"Courage, Power and Wisdom," he replied. "The Gods mad it as soon as they were done with the creation of Hyrule."

"You know your legends," she said. "Who knows, you may be destined for great things."

"You think so?"

"I can't predict the future," said Zelda. "But that's the beauty. Fate is predetermined. A person makes their own destiny. If you chose to do great things, you will be destined for great things."

"That kind of makes sense," said Link. "Say, um, do you want to see my dorm—not tonight, I have to baby-sit for someone, but can you—"

"It sounds nice," said Zelda. She was done with her salad and was getting up, grabbing her bag, Link followed suit. "Oh, and nice save earlier; I thought you were going to scream or something."

"Oh, you were watching?"

"Yes, and it looked like you were having a nightmare," she said as they walked out of the grill. "Is something going on?"

"I don't know," he said. "I've been having strange nightmares lately. Some… black… stuff; I'm not sure what it is. Sometimes I see some other things like people, but they get swallowed up by the blackness."

"That's just like mine…" she said quietly.

"What?"

"It's nothing," she said. 'What do you think they mean?"

"I don't know," said Link. "The university shrink isn't going to know anything."

"That attitude isn't going to help," she said. "I think you should talk to someone about it.

"Okay," he said. "Um, I know this sounds kinda crazy, but could I… um… getyournumber?"

"Excuse me?"

"Your… number."

Zelda raised her eyebrow. Then she figured out what he was trying to say. "You're not good with women, are you?"

"Not really," he said.

"You're kind of a geek, aren't you?"

"Yeah."

She chuckled, although not in a derisive manner, but more charmed by his dorkiness. "Alright," she said. "But you have to give me yours, too."

"Okay!" he said, whipping out his cell phone a little too eagerly, but in Zelda's mind added to his dorky charm. After exchanging phone numbers they bade goodbye and Link went to his next class. Right as Zelda was about to leave, she noticed something out of the corner of her right eye. She looked, but whatever it was, was gone now. She shrugged and left for her next class.

:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:

Okay, that's the end of that first chapter, how was it? If there's some kinks I need to straighten out, let me know, I'll try and fix them.