Eight Pieces of Courage
Once, many years ago, there was an evil man. Ganondorf, the king of thieves, strived to obtain the sacred Golden Triangles, the essence of the gods also known as the Triforce. His efforts were successful in obtaining his goal, but not all went as planned. Because he was full of such a potent evil, his heart was not in balance and the Triforce split into three parts. Ganondorf kept the Triforce of Power. The princess of Hyrule, Zelda, came to hold the Triforce of Wisdom, and Link, the legendary Hero of Time, held the Triforce of Courage. For seven years Ganondorf's evil reigned supreme, until the hero stepped forth from the shadows.
Link was asleep for those seven years. When he awoke he was finally able to wield the Master Sword and begin his quest to stop Ganondorf's evil Reign. He was sent to awaken the sages of the seven temples, for only they could seal the evil Ganondorf away. Using the currents of time, he awakened the sages and marched to Ganon's Tower to fight against the evil tyrant. After the battle of the century, Link had won and the ultimate master of chaos was sealed away in the Sacred Realm, no longer able to spread evil throughout the land of Hyrule. But Ganondorf still held the Triforce of power and Zelda and Link still had their pieces of the divine relic as well. Returning to his original time, Link returned the Master Sword to the Pedestal of Time and set out on a quest to find his dedicated partner, Navi, who was the fairy who aided Link in his quest for Justice.
The hero of legend had vanished from existence. His heroic tale was now but a legend. But where had the hero gone? How could someone just disappear without a trace? The answer is because he assumed another identity. Shedding his Kokiri clothing and disguising himself as a commoner, he now called himself Antony. He eventually settled in Kakariko Village. There he met Lorena. When he was forty, he and Lorena had a son, whom they named Link, after the great hero. This is where the tale begins. A tale forgotten in the Legends and Lore of the Hyrulian people, so important, yet lost in the winds of time.
"Link! Let's go back now. This is really dangerous, you know."
"Yeah, yeah, I know. But I really need a dodongo's scale."
Link and his best friend Xander were in Dodongo's Cavern. Links desperately wanted a dodongo scale so he could craft an arrowhead for the bow his father gave him and win the heart of Sara. He desperately wanted to show her how brave he was so she would fall in love with him. They had told the villagers that they were going to play with the Gorons as to not get themselves into trouble.
"Link, come on. I have a really bad feeling about this." Xander grabbed his stomach and acted like he was sick.
"You are such a baby!" Link replied, "You have no sense of adventure. How do you expect to win a girls heart with such cowardice?"
"I don't intend to." Xander murmured. "I will win her hand with my gentle, romantic persona."
"Hah!" Link laughed, "That will never work! You must win her with bravery and courage!"
"We'll see how brave and courageous you are when you two go explain to the Elder why your here!" Link and Xander quickly turned around to see none other than Anji, Anju's daughter. Anji was a taddle-tale of the highest order. Because of being such a taddle tale none of the other children in the village liked her, so she became quite a bitter person. "I'm going to tell the elder on you two right now! The two looked at each other with fear in their eyes and began to run after her.
"Don't you dare tell on us Anji!" Link screamed.
"I am going to tell!" Anji called back to him, "I'm going to tell him everything and get you two into deep trouble!" It was a race to the village. Try as they might they couldn't quite catch up to Anji. She burst into the Elders house and quickly began to tell him everything. "Elder! Elder! You'll never guess what Link and Xander were doing! They were in Dodongo's Cavern, the place you told us never to go to because it was so dangerous. I think they should be severely punished for disobeying your wishes, oh great and wise Elder." She finished of her little show with a bow and a cute smile. Link and Xander had rushed into the door only to hear Anji telling the Elder to punish them. The Elder sternly looked at them as they came into the room.
"Boys," he began, "Anji tells me that you were playing around in Dodongo's Cavern, is this true?
The boys looked at the floor, "yes Elder."
The Elder sighed, "If I've told you once I have told you a billion times! That cavern is dangerous! You could be killed by the dodongos that lurk in there. They are highly explosive! Even the babies are a great danger! You could have been killed! And Goddesses forbid that should happen, who do you think has to deliver the terrible news to your parents, hmmmm?" The two were still starring at the floor. "I do!" the Elder snapped, "And frankly I just don't want to have to do that. Now, don't expect you will be getting off scott free. There will be a punishment." At those words a huge grin came over Anji's face. Link returned the gesture with a sarcastic smile and Xander stuck his tongue out at her. The Elder walked over to Xander, "My goodness. I know you two are smarter than that, especially you Xander. I can't believe you let Link here talk you into something this dangerous." He proceeded to walk over to Link, "And you, Link. I should have expected this from you. You're always getting into trouble, going places you shouldn't and such. Honestly, I don't know where you picked up such an adventurous spirit. Your mother was always so calm, and your father seems pretty laid back too." He sighed. "Alright, your punishment is as follows: Xander, you will be helping Corlin with the routine maintenance of the windmill for two months."
"Two months!?" blurted Xander, "Awwwwww, Elder please, I...."
"Quiet Xander. You deliberately disobeyed my order to keep away from Dodongo's Cavern and now you must pay the piper! But your punishment is far less than what your buddy Link here will be getting." Link got an unsure look on his face. "Link. Seeing that you are the mastermind of this little ordeal and that you have been in trouble more than you should..." He paused for a second, "I have received a message from Darunia, King of the Gorons. It seems that the Bomb flower harvest was extremely fruitful this year. He needs some extra help picking and packing them. He also needs help distributing them to stores around Hyrule. Your punishment, Link, will be to help him in these tasks. You will help him pick, package, and distribute this years harvest."
Link's mouth was wide open with awe and Anji was giggling to herself. "Bu...bu...But Elder! That isn't fair! All that for going into a stupid cavern?"
"Don't argue Link! It is time you started getting out into the world anyway. Besides, this will assure you keep out of trouble."
"Humph" Link huffed and starred at the ground with an angry look. Anji was really giggling now.
"As for you, Anji" The Elder boomed, your punishment....."
"Punishment!?" Anji interrupted, "What do you mean, my punishment? I was the one who saved these poor boy's lives by informing you of the great danger they were in."
"None the less," the Elder began, "you went into Dodongo's cavern to get the boys. By going into Dodongo's cavern you also disobeyed my orders."
"But....but Elder!" she whined.
"No buts Anji, you broke the rule too, so now you must also pay the piper. Your punishment will be to help Xander and Corlin with the maintenance of the windmill. And I expect it to be in working condition all the time. After all, that windmill gives us our water supply." Link and Xander both laughed silently at Anji when the Elder wasn't looking. She left the Elders house in a huff and muttered to herself all the way home. "Xander, you are free to go, but I must have a word with you in private, Link." Xander bowed to the Elder and waved goodbye to Link. Link waved back and approached the Elder.
This is but the first chapter in this epic tale. Keep an eye out for the chapters to come.