-Heroes rarely have time to rest. War, peace, and day-to-day life bring no end to the varied struggles and challenges they face. Daring deeds are done with valor and bravery, and with that comes fame, and with luck, maybe even a bit of fortune.

Even those things can be a challenge in and of themselves, but heroes must shine no matter what burdens fall upon their shoulders.

But what can anybody really learn from any one such hero, or company of heroes? What drives them to do the things they do? What motivates them to risk their lives for the sake of others? Is it patriotism, coupled with a sense of duty or honor? Could it be loyalty to an abstract cause or to their fellow man?

What about faith? What about destiny? Surely these must play a role in some way, shape, or form.

Could it be, ultimately, love that drives these men and women to push forward through suffering and hardship?

All these questions, of course, are empty speculation, for we're sure, as you know, that actions speak louder than words...

The Legend of Zelda: Facade of the Living

By: Lord Augustus and ShadowWolfX

Chapter One: HERO

-In a dank, long forgotten prison cell, somewhere in the eastern mountains…-

Waking from his terrible nightmare, a male prisoner grasped vainly for his bedside. The stone floor that served as his bedchamber, as well as his bathroom, was as cold as the icy glaciers of the northern lands. All he could truly remember was a sharp blow to the back of the head, then blackness, followed by a period of some time of weaving in and out of consciousness, staying awake long enough only to eat and perhaps be assaulted. Reaching up to his face, he gingerly tested the sore spots and welts where his guards had beaten him in days past and found them to be healing, though a dull ache in his head, and indeed most of his body, persisted. The only purpose now to the guards' visits was to feed him a mushy gruel once a day, along with a side dish of stale bread, and to sling general insults his way in a barbarous tongue.

The man touched his long, slender, pointed ears and began to rub them, a technique that often calmed the nerves of his species. Slowly, his bloodshot eyes became adjusted to the dim light of his surroundings, and he could make out the flat gray stone walls and the black iron bars of his cell.

He then realized that his dream had come true; he had been captured and was thrown into this dungeon by the forces of the evil Gorkhan. The new King of the Gerudo, a race of black-hearted human pirates and theives, had managed to have him abducted, beaten, and robbed. The man did not know exactly where he was, or exactly how he had been brought there, but he knew that his escape was the top priority of the moment.

The prisoner searched frantically for his sword, as he did every time he was awakened, but could not come across it, as always.

"Well, of course they took my weapons," he thought. "It'd be stupid of them not to. Hmm…but look on the bright side. If you turn a well sideways you have a tunnel…"

Believe it or not, a fairy had given him that little anecdote. If he could reflect upon it, he might somehow find a way to escape.

Looking down at himself, the young man noticed that his once splendid green tunic was torn in many places. The enemy had taken his chain-mail undershirt long ago, and he'd last seen it in the hands of his monstrous guards, squabbling over it like a prize of war. He found himself now covered in dirt and his own dry blood, and his thin, brownish-blonde hair was soiled and matted. Barely mustering the energy to sit up, the prisoner tried to think of a way to extricate himself from the situation. The back wall of the cell was composed of bare, grey stone bricks, and from that, the other three walls were solid iron bars, old and rusted on the outside, but still sturdy and strong on the inside. There was only a single, barred window slit letting in a weak stream of cloudy white light somewhere in another part of the room which held the prisoner. .

Shaking off his confusion, the man stood, picking up the sound of footsteps against the floor.

Just then a shadow loomed from the brightness of the hallway. The prisoner prepared himself for the worst and got ready to attack. When he laid eyes upon a boy, perhaps only a few years younger than he was, walking down the corridor, he became confused once again. Dressed only in a raggedy shirt with a hood that obscured his features, he was probably another prisoner, but the man failed to see any guards with him.

Suddenly, the man came to a realization.

This boy was a Sheikah, one of the shadow people of the eastern mountains.

There was no denying it any longer, as the boy quickly pulled off his hood, revealing the rest of his face. Slightly shorter than he was, the boy had an unkempt shock of stringy whitish hair that fell down over his face. His penetrating eyes were an unexpected color, deep crimson red, typical of the Sheikah, but seldom seen in the rest of Hyrule's population.

In his hands, he held both a small knife and a long, double edged broadsword. The knife appeared to be well kept and quite sharp, but still clearly a common thief's dagger. However, the sword blade gleamed brightly in the scarce light. The handle was of made of a blue silver, and the blade was a deadly length of solid steel.

Spoken of in legends, this had to be the Master Sword, the one and only Blade of Evil's Bane. Supposedly, according to some scholars, the steel itself radiated with the holy power of the Goddesses and the Ancient Sages. In the hands of the one destined to wield it, the sword would always have a gentle glow about it that seemed to grow brighter in times of adversity.

At this point, considering the misery of the situation, it should have been lit like a torch in the blackness. Unfortunately, the person who possessed it at the moment was clearly not the individual chosen by the gods to wield the sword against the forces of evil.

Indeed, the boy seemed to be having great trouble even holding the sword. It appeared as if the blade was incredibly heavy, and he dragged the tip across the floor, unable to bring it any higher than his shins. Still, the boy plodded on, pulling the blade behind him, clearly looking for something, or someone.

Suddenly, the male prisoner made an exclamation from the darkness, visibly startling the boy, who jumped a full foot and a half in the air in surprise.

"Hey, kid, come here! Let me see that sword you have!" the prisoner whispered as loudly as he could without being too noisy, hoping for a reply. "I'm over here!"

The boy's face turned from one of caution to one of suspicion as he whirled to face the source of the voice. He located it, and sauntered up to the iron bars and laughed aloud at the man behind them.

"You think I'm gonna give a common criminal this sword? This is the legendary Master Sword! Only the Legendary Hero can use it," he retorted, starting to walk away. "It weighs at least a million pounds. You couldn't lift it if you tried, so shut up before you get us both caught! I have work to do!"

"But I am he! Listen, hand me the sword and I'll show you," replied the prisoner, hoping for some mercy.

"Out of the question! You could be anybody! Why would I let someone like you touch something as sacred as this?"

"I ask because I can prove it to you. Do you have no compassion for the downtrodden?"

For a moment, the Sheikah was left speechless. He didn't have time to be diverted from his mission, but this fellow, clearly a Hylian by the look of him, had an sense of genuine sincerity on his face and in his eyes that he could not resist.

"Let us say that you are at least lucky that I am Sheikah, and not Gerudo," the boy said in a smug tone. "It will be worth it to see you pull a muscle trying to lift the blade."

Interested by this wretch who was claiming to be a hero, the boy warily handed him the sword as best he could, dragging the tip along the floor until he could rest the handle against a bar of the prisoner's cell. In his mind, the Sheikah couldn't quite believe the way this random prisoner had spoken to him, as if the boy were the one locked inside with no hope of seeing the light of day again. The young boy gripped his dagger a little tighter, ready to stab the man in the green tunic at a moment's notice.

As soon as the Master Sword's handle was pressed into the Hylian man's palm the incredible weight was gone. The razor sharp blade glowed with a brilliant blue light that briefly illuminated the room and outshone the meager torchlight of the dungeon. Bringing the blade through the bars, the man took two steps back, brought the blade up high over his shoulder, and swung it down in a wide arc, effectively slicing all the iron bars in two.

The green clad warrior swiftly kicked the door with the heel of his boot, and when the hinges came undone, it toppled over, barely missing his new friend.

Slamming hard onto the stone floor, it threw up a great billowing cloud of dust that took quite some time to settle. Afterward, the boy had a look of pure astonishment on his face.

"You...you're Link!" he exclaimed. "I don't believe it, you're the Legendary One?"

Like a figure out of ancient history, the man stepped out of the cell and he and the boy wasted no time in departing the blackened dungeon room for the brightness of the nearby torchlit corridor. His hair, once very fair, had changed over the years, and had more shades of brown than it once did. To an observer, he was tall for a Hylian, and muscular enough for his age, and despite the bruises on his face, he remained ruggedly handsome. His cobalt eyes were heavy with suffering and much toil, although underneath it was an inner softness that could not be easily explained.

Truly, this man was the Legendary Hero spoken of in legends.

"Didn't I say so?" Link replied. "Of course, you didn't take my word right away, but I don't blame you for it."

To show his respect and to apologize, the Sheikah took a step backwards and bowed at the waist.

"Forgive me, Master Link," said the boy, obviously more than a little awestruck. "I was sent to find you, but at the rate I was going I did not think I would ever do so. My apologies for not recognizing you when I had the chance to."

The hero did little more than smile back at the Sheikah.

"Honestly, don't worry about it. I know I'm not lookin' real good right now. Forget everything else and tell me who sent you to…" Link began before being interrupted by a tremendous thundering noise.

Before the hero could even finish another thought, a rampaging, bloodthirsty group of Death Knights entered into the corridor.

Seven feet tall, and fully covered with black armor, these evil, dog faced creatures were the scum of the earth. They were originally simple Moblins, who were bipedal, anthropomorphic, dark-hearted creatures by themselves, but no more so than any of the other evil minions sent out to cause pain and suffering to the people of Hyrule. However, these creatures had been pushed even further into darkness by a will infinitely greater than their own. Immensely powerful, they could snap a man in half as if he were a toothpick. The fact that they carried broadswords the size of elephant tusks didn't help the matter.

The situation turned grim as the boy and escaping hero were noticed. There were twelve of the monsters standing shoulder to shoulder in rows of two in the relatively confined space of the hallway, meaning that if they charged, the Hylian and the Sheikah would certainly be mowed down.

Link held his sword high as the young boy spun his dagger, waiting for the battle to commence. Before the boy could say or do anything, the hero grabbed a hold of him and ran away from the knights towards the termination point of the corridor, a flat, grey stone wall no different from any other in the dungeon.

"It's a dead end! Why bother running if we're gonna fight anyway?" yelled the boy as he was being pulled, his warrior spirit not wanting to be silenced.

"No time for that," replied the Hylian tersely. "Those who fight and run away will live to fight another day!"

As Link said this, he was already in the process of slashing his glowing sword at the stone wall. When he kicked it like he had the cell door, it quickly fell to pieces, revealing the absence of ground below. The only things visible were the air and a murky fog which seemed to extend forever upward into the sky, but below was the unmistakeable sound of running water.

The hero gripped the boy firmly by the arm and they dove out of the strange castle into the abyss where itseemed to take forever to fall, and everything was moved in slow motion. Minutes seemed to go by, though not really, and they still plummeted toward the ground, which they still couldn't see clearly at all.

Link turned his head to his new friend, who was absolutely terrified.

"Everything's gonna be okay!" the Hylian screamed at the top of his lungs.

The boy didn't seem to care. Besides wondering if he would life to see the next sunrise, he was really only interested in one thing.

"How'd you do that?" he asked as loud as he could. "Didn't think stuff like that was possible!"

"Isn't usually!" Link yelled back. "I used magic energy to charge the sword!"

"You can control magic!" the boy exclaimed. "That's incredible! I'm Jaden, of the Sheikah!"

"Nice to meet you Jaden, my name is Link!"

"I know that already! Worry about the crocodiles when we finally hit the river!"

"Good idea kid!"

In actuality, only several seconds later, the man and the boy connected with what was at the bottom of the cliff face. With an absolutely tremendous and body-quaking splash, Link and Jaden landed in the cloudy waters of the river. After a good half-minute, the two surfaced, and congratulated themselves on a genius breakout. Naturally it would go down in the history books as one of the most daring escapes ever.

Unfortunatly, nobody saw them get away except the crocodiles, of which there were actually only a few, in the end.

Life isn't all about fame, after all.

-At the bottom...

Looking around as he floated in the muddy water, Link made a rough guess as to where they might be. High above him at the edge of a cliff was the tower they had just leaped from. It was ancient and very dilapidated, with the north wall gone completely, though he guessed that might now be the one he had just kicked down.

A swiftly flowing river current was now carrying them quietly, but roughly downstream.

Link turned his head to his new friend, who bobbed up and down next to him in the water.

"Everything's gonna be okay!" the Hylian exclaimed.

The boy didn't seem to care. Besides wondering if he would life to see the next sunrise, he was really only interested in one thing.

"How'd you do that?" he asked as loud as he could. "Didn't think stuff like that was possible!"

"Isn't usually!" Link yelled back. "I used magic energy to charge the sword!"

"You can control magic!" the boy exclaimed. "That's incredible! I'm Jaden, of the Sheikah!"

"Nice to meet you Jaden, my name is Link!"

"I know that already! Worry about the crocodiles when we finally hit the calm waters!"

"Good idea kid!"

He realized that they were swimming in one of the Zora River's tributaries that flowed northeast of Hyrule. That meant they were somewhere in the vicinity of Death Mountain, the largest of the volcanic peaks in that part of the country. If Link and the boy started off now, they might be able to make it back to Hyrule City in perhaps only a few days.

As the two of them pulled their soaked forms from the murky waters, Jaden started to frantically ask questions on how Link could possibly have been captured. The endless line of questioning never received any answers from the Hylian, as the Sheikah frequently answered his own queries, or interjected with an exclamation of how brave and daring a hero Link was. Quickly starting to get annoyed by these questions, Link waited for few moments of silence where he would have the chance to turn the tables and annoy Jaden.

Maybe it would make the boy go away, or so Link had hoped, but this never came to pass.

They started into the dark forest that grew on and around the mountain range. It would be another long journey that would take its toll on both the body and the mind, and thankfully, the boy's questioning had come to a welcome halt as they traversed a rather steep bit of terrain. Of course, no more then five minutes of venturing into the forest proper Jaden burst out in another outburst of knowledge seeking.

"Where are we going?"

"What are we doing?"

"When are we gonna get back?"

"What's your favorite color?"

Although the boy began to utter another few syllables, he abruptly stopped and showed no signs of explaining why.

Link started to turn, and as soon as he did, was shocked to see the boy held in place by an enormous, brawny set of arms. A light brown, and covered in mineral growths, they were attached to an enormous Goron, easily nine and a half feet tall, one of the race of rock people who lived in and around these mountains. The Goron had no trouble restraining the boy, and upon his face was an emotionless look of solemn duty. Nimbly balancing himself atop his flat-topped head stood a Deku Scrub, a member of the sapient plant-like races of the forests and swamps. He was tiny, and perhaps would come up only to Link's hip had he been standing upon the ground, but unlike his Goron compatriot, he wore a look of considerable malice, visible by the down-turned shape of his circular mouth and the furrowing of his brow.

The Deku had his barbed hookshot, a spring-powered chain weapon with a pointed grapple at the end, aimed at Jaden's head, while the giant rock man had his hand over the boy's mouth to stop him from screaming. Jaden had been abducted so quickly that the hero didn't even notice it, which had the side effect of making him second guess himself, something he never liked to do.

Link held his sword at the ready, and as it glimmered in the sun, reflecting brilliant flashes of color from the silver steel, he caught sight of the Goron's hammer. It was considerably massive, with two enormous flat faces that made the weapon look like a wine barrel stuck on the end of a short, but heavy spear. To be hit by it would surely mean a painful, squishy death, as although Gorons were notorious for being slow, but they were gifted with the most mind boggling strength.

To add to this, their rock toughened skin was close to impenetrable, and might have proved a match even for the Master Sword.

"Hey now! Let the boy go and I won't hurt you!" Link threatened, not really knowing if he could free the boy.

Link watched as the Scrub very slowly lowered his hookshot, perhaps backing down as a result of his threat. The Goron refused to let go of Jaden, however, and only gripped him tighter. With an enormous smile, he showed his gigantic, peg-like teeth. The young Sheikah soon turned blue and passed out, and the rock man let him fall to the ground in an unconscious heap.

Quite unexpectedly, the Goron burst out into a fit of laughter, causing the hero to become very irritated. Link always prided himself on having a good sense of humor, but nothing about this new situation was at all amusing to him.

Just as the Legendary Hero was about to charge into battle, his ears picked up a sound coming from the trees, the sound of something hard and weighty flying through the air at high speed.

As Link fell to the ground at the feet of his attackers, the lump already forming on the back of his head, one of the last things he saw was a fleeting glance of the Zora woman who had nailed him.

Through his pain and clouded vision, he was able to see one final detail about his enemies, the strange tattoos on their shoulders.

-Some time later-

As Link woke up, he immediately feared that he was back in his dungeon cell awaiting the horrible execution fitting for an escapee, but when his eyes adjusted, he found himself unchained. There were no bars here and apparently no way to keep him from leaving.

Better yet, his sword had been wrapped in a neat cloth and laid beside him. Someone had also had the foresight to supply him with a baldric, a strong leather belt that he could use to strap the sword to his back. He took hold of the blade itself and withdrew it from its new sheath, exhaling in relief when he saw that the Blade of Evil's Bane was in no way damaged.

When Link returned the blade to the cloth, something miraculous happened. Right before the hero's eyes the simple linen sheath changed into something completely different. It widened a bit first, then lengthened more and suddenly became hard, strong wood. The wood then turned a deep shade of blue, upon which a clear varnish appeared, followed by several brilliant gold fittings.

The linen cloth had become the True Scabbard of the Master Sword.

Of course, while the transformation had been visually stunning, it did not surprise Link. In his own free time, he had studied many of Hyrule's ancient legends, among those, the ones that pertained to the mystical powers of the Master Sword's sheath. If one sheath was lost or destroyed, the blade needed only to be placed in another, simpler one, and that one would then become the true scabbard.

All these things left the Hylian's mind in an instant when his sensitive ears picked up movement.

"Who's there? Show yourself, fiend!" the hero yelled as he saw a dark shadow loom from the corner.

He grabbed his sword as Jaden walked into the room carrying a bowl of fresh fruit and a jug of cider for him.

"Whoa! Master Link, I get that you're always ready for battle, but this is ridiculous. I'm not gonna kill you," said the boy.

The Hylian huffed at that, and stared the boy down, letting him know silently that he should never sneak up on an armed and jumpy hero before speaking again.

"My apologies, I'm just a little bit confused still. Where are we now?" Link asked as he returned the Master Sword to its scabbard.

"I'll explain after you eat and recover your strength. While I'm here, I'm gonna get something to eat myself. You want anything?"

The hero shook his head no, and with that, the Sheikah disappeared back into the shadows from whence he came.

After Jaden left, the daylight seemed to penetrate the darkness a little more. Link, now being able to see more of his surroundings, started to look over the moss-covered walls. He seemed to find himself in a damp cave cut into the mountainside. It had been dug out by running water over eons to fit the likes of perhaps three Gorons stacked on top of each other.

There was straw thrown about here and there on the floor, either to soak up water or to be a cheap form of carpeting. Wooden boxes of supplies and other artifacts of sapient habitation were scattered around the chamber, and it appeared that this part of the the cave was some sort of a storage area. It didn't matter though, as Link could make neither heads nor tails of any of it at the time, and he walked around in a circle in the space to test his legs. Finding them to be in working order, he began an exploration of the area.

As Link surveyed his surroundings, the smell of cider and fruit made its way to his nose and he could not bear not to resist.

He located a crate of assorted fruits and grabbed the nearest thing he could get his hands on, which ended up being a vaguely cylindrical piece of fruit. It had the overall shape of a banana, but was a very odd shade of red, and even through the skin it managed to smell deliciously sweet to the hero's nose. As he peeled it, it opened up into a flower-like petal and seeds poured out of the sides.

Link then noticed a tall, clear glass bottle, filled to the brim with some sort of red liquid that he could not immediately identify.

"What is all of this?" he said to himself as he raised the bottle. He brought it to his nose and took a whiff of it. To his surprise, it had a very syrupy smell to it, so he brought the cup to his lips and took a sip.

He took one but drink and immediately his body felt rejuvenated.

Many of the painful wounds on his person instantly closed up and scarred over. As the liquid coated his stomach, his splitting headache finally went away, leaving him clear-headed and very lucid.

Pulling himself to his feet, Link was ready to investigate the strange cavern.

With his body feeling fresh and his sense of curiosity screaming, he walked in the direction he had seen Jaden go a few minutes before. He was crunching on some of the seeds from the banana fruit, which seemed to contain a sort of chewy, sugary, gum-like substance, when he heard voices down a hall that seemed to lead into another chamber.

He peeked around the corner to see the three people who had attacked him conversing with each other.

"Yes it is Link! I know it is! The blade does not lie. It is the Master Sword of legend!" said the Goron.

"No way! You mean the Link is here?" the impish Scrub exclaimed.

"Yes, it seems to me that we have indeed found who we were looking for, doesn't it?" the Zora woman said, looking thoughtful. "But do you think he will help us? I mean, I did throw a rock at his head, after all."

"Well, it's not like you stabbed the guy!" yelled the excited little Deku Shrub. "It was...small enough. No lasting damage. Just to stun him, ya know?."

The Zora woman sighed and held her head in her hands and asked herself why the Deku had to be so difficult?

"Use your little wooden brain Dreck! Do you think he knows that?" she shot back at him.

It was at this point, seemingly as if on cue, that Link decided to emerge from his little hiding space. With his trusty sword in hand, he was positive there was nothing they could do this time to injure him, but he nevertheless warily stepped forward

"At least I'm still alive," he said as he nonchalantly strolled from around the corner. "I'm certainly thankful to you for that."

The Zora, Goron and Deku were all startled by his sudden arrival. All three of them rushed at once to greet him in a grovelling, awestruck horde.

"Master Link! I must apologize if I've injured you. I mean Dreck and Gonga thought that the only way a man of your status and fame would talk to us would be for us to...incapacitate you," said the Zora, apologizing.

The hero suddenly felt like he could use a drink, or two, and ran his fingers through his hair in a gesture of frustration.

"I've been incapacitated enough over the past few days. A bit of consciousness would be nice," Link asked, sighing heavily. "Who exactly are you people? I don't think I ever got your names."

First the proud Goron stepped forward. On his shoulder rested the giant war-hammer, presumably for smashing things into oblivion and maybe a bit for show. His size was truly impressive, almost twice Link's height, and he had a thick beard encrusted with minerals, as most elder Goron men did. Aside from this, his eyes were a chestnut color and he wore only a simply loincloth, as was the custom among the people of the mountains, and perhaps because Gorons had no weave-working skills of which to speak of. Clothes were nearly anathema to them, as it told others, according to their philosophy, that were trying to hide something, and above all the mountain folk praise honesty and straightforwardness.

"I am Gonga! Proud warrior of the Goron race," he proclaimed loudly. "I am honored to meet you, and hope to soon call you friend."

His earth-shaking voice didn't seem to affect the young Hylian in any way. Despite his volume, the rock eating man gave off a sense of jolliness, and no longer did he strike any particular dread into Link's heart.

Next, the tiny Deku Scrub took a step forward. Despite being only two and a half feet tall, he exuded an aura of confidence that more than accommodated for his lack of height. A wide brimmed straw hat was upon his head and it concealed a head of what appeared to be brown leaves and wooden textures, leaving little to no contrast between his face and his hat, of which the former consisted only of his red eyes and circular mouth. He was clothed in a small dark blue tunic, like one that a small child would wear, fastened at the waist by a leather belt. On his little belt swung what appeared to be a hookshot. This one was different however, as the ends were tipped with many razor-sharp spikes.

"Yes, they call me Dreck. It's my name, and I'd ask you not to wear it out," he said in a voice fitting his stature.

Again, Link wasn't impressed, but he gave the Deku a courteous nod of approval anyway. The Deku's size and squeaky voice didn't exactly instill mortal fear in him, but he knew better than to trust first impressions.

Lastly, the Zora woman stepped forward. She was thin, with turquoise colored eyes, and rather shapely, as much as a female member of a species that evolved from fish can be. Interestingly, she was clad in the most leather out of the three of them, her brown top supporting her chest well, but leaving her arms and her midriff bare, though in a tasteful way. Her pants were leather as well, and tightly fitting, though worn in, and they did not seem to affect her mobility in any way. All this hide provided striking contrast to her skin, which was a myriad of several different kinds of blue, and in certain places, she had scales like a fish, and they caught the light at times when she moved, making the Zora woman seem as if she were of many colors all at once.

Link was instantly hesitant, and scrutinized her the most. He'd had enough experiences with Zora women in the past, and few of them were pleasant. He could theorize that she was the one who had shot him, as she had a bow and a quiver full of arrows strapped to her backside.

"My name is Zetalyn'fendura'shanai vab Zora" she said, her tone suddenly laced with annoyance. "You may call me Zeta, if that's what you wish."

The hero had been staring at her for a full ten seconds, and she was clearly unsure if he had been eying her up or not. Link smiled and scratched his head nervously, as he didn't quite know how exactly to respond.

"Ahh, pleasure to meet you…" he carefully said. "I'll keep that in mind."

The woman nodded to him, and turned her head to the right as the Sheikah boy Jaden, stumbled, into view. He had, of course, been eavesdropping on their conversation. The young man stumbled around for a minute before tripping over his own feet and falling to the ground. After wiping himself off, Jaden picked up the jar of cider he had dropped, stood up, and pointed a crooked finger in the direction of the group.

"Are you people ever gonna pay me?" the youth asked in a cocky tone. "I found him, got him his sword back, brought him to you, and then you pull this? You knock him unconscious, drag him here, then keep him unguarded and let him wake up with his weapon at his side? You people are amateurs. Why should he believe anything you all are about to say?"

The others sighed and shook their heads and backed off a few steps as Link stood looking puzzled, giving the Hylian a moment to compose himself. The boy certainly needed to learn a little respect, and a sense of balance, but besides that all, Jaden did have a good point. Just as Link was about to argue that point and resume the conversation, he changed course when something suddenly caught his eye.

"What does that symbol mean?" he inquired, pointing to a cloth tapestry on the damp wall. "I've seen it in some taverns here and there, but you three have got it on your shoulders."

Permanently tattooed on each of their shoulders were mysterious emblems. They somewhat resembled the scarlet phoenix symbol used by the Royal Family of Hyrule, however the wings of the bird were huge, wrapping around their upper arms like a decorative bracelet.

"It is the sign of our free companies. We are the elite, the strong, the fierce, the brave. We are the Renegades!" the small Deku said with a great measure of pride in his voice.

The young Hylian quickly narrowed his eyes at the group in front of him. He had heard many tales of the Renegades in his travels, and knew quite well that they were mercenaries for hire, soldiers of fortune so to say. These three even looked seedy, but he could tell they had been through many ordeals and had a relationship between them all that could only be forged in the heat of battle. He could tell from their eyes too, as well as the way they carried themselves, that they had not always been on the side of justice and order.

"You see, we used to work for a man named Gorkhan," the large Goron said. "He's the new Gerudo king. He often hired us to eliminate resistance and take out rebellious groups within his domain."

"There's other tribes what live in his big ol' desert, and not all of 'em wanted to worship him as a god," Dreck continued. "He didn't wanna waste any of his pretty harem warrior girls on them, so he had us squash anything from whispered rumors of rebellion to active resistance. It wasn't pretty, or even halfway honorable, but the pay was excellent."

Link nodded, listening intently to the tale. He crossed his arms instinctively, and raised an eyebrow while pursing his lips.

"After a while, though we started to realize that these other groups were right in trying to take Gorkhan out," Zeta said solemnly. "This guy is insane, and kills and maims people for his own demented pleasure! He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants, which is obviously all of Hyrule. We've tried to stop him, but by the time we were ready to attack, he had found out our plans through a leak in the organization."

The Zora spoke with an odd tone, as if she had once been the leader of a much larger group then just the three of these misfits. As if to answer the question in Link's mind the Deku spoke up.

"Yeah, we used to be many, but now we are few. We were betrayed by General Treb," he said.

The Shiekah boy chimed in unexpectedly, waving his arms to get everyone's attention.

"I know that name!" Jaden said, sounding knowledgeable. "Antono Finnaeus Treb, hero and villain of the Hyrulean Civil War. He pretended to be a part of the Renegades, and was even in on the assassination plot, but he turned out to be the Gorkhan's right hand man didn't he? In the end, Treb betrayed you all and you fell into his trap."

Zeta and Dreck appeared to be shocked, and Link was confused again by this revelation, but it was the jolly Goron who became irate.

"How did you know that, boy?" Gonga growled through clenched teeth. "Have you been one of his agents all along?"

The boy managed to feign looking hurt by the accusation long enough to come back with a witty retort.

"Never!" he exclaimed. "I simply read my history books, and Sheikah know a lot of hidden things about hidden things that would surprise most people."

Jaden said this with a knowing tone to his voice, and Gonga backed down, but not before using two fingers to let the boy know that he'd be watching him closely.

Link steered the conversation back to its original topic, tapping his foot impatiently as he did so.

"Listen, while I'm thankful to you all for arranging my rescue," said the hero, "I'm still not sure what it is you even want me to do."

Nodding quickly amongst themselves, the Renegades quickly convened a council. They stood in a small circle, with Jaden and Link on the outside not participating. and discussed in hushed tones the small details of the plan and how they would accomplish it. It was a rather animated affair, with lots of heavy gesturing and arm flailing, and for the first time, Link was more amused than frustrated or annoyed.

When they were finished, the Zora, the Deku, and the Goron approached the hero and set forth their case.

"We ask you, humbly, Master Link, to help us rid the world of Ganondorf's successor," the tiny Dreck said.

"Please, help us destroy him, so that our brothers and sisters in arms may know peace in the afterlife," Zetalyn pleaded. "Help us to destroy him before his evil spreads."

"And restore the balance of good and evil that has been protected by you on so many occasions," said the big Gonga.

For a good moment or two, Link could do nothing but digest everything he had just heard. He let the information and their requests stir around in his brain for half a minute, allowing the whole concoction of outcomes and possibilities percolate. Turning over his left hand, Link glanced at the mark of the Triforce of Courage. It had been several years at that point since he had really scrutinized it and what it meant. Though his understanding of it was limited, and its ultimate purpose in the grand scheme of things was nebulous to him, it had still never steered him wrong in his life, and had given him the resolve to save the world on more than one occasion.

He felt the warm glow in his hand as he lifted his head and smiled.

That smile faded when he thought about what the new Gerudo king could do to the land of Hyrule. At the very least, there would be war, and there had been precious few generations in Hyrule that had never been touched by it. Link didn't know what his power was, but if this Gorkhan character was anything like Ganondorf, then darkness would soon enshroud the kingdom.

There was perhaps one more person who could be of great help to their cause.

"Okay, I'm in," the Legendary Hero said, "but first…I must gain an audience with Princess Zelda."

End Chapter One

Proceed to Chapter Two