PROLOGUE

     The sun rose quickly and quietly over the tall mountains to the north and cast black shadows across the vast grasslands below. The shadows seemed to move like long bold figures across the horizon as the sun continued its journey. The dance of the light and dark stretched to the minuscule farmhouse across the lands creating strange creatures on the great wooden walls.

     Only one life stirred in the small house, an old man. He had a stern face and wore long turquoise robes draped across his arms and his body. He moved gracefully through the shadows to a room in the corner of the hall. His hand reached out and pushed the creaky door open, the edges of the cloth rustling on the unpolished floor.

     Inside the small, dreary room was a small pine dresser and next to it was a cot covered in blankets and sheets. The old man whisked along the wall to the cot. He threw off the coverings to reveal a boy who looked to be in his young teens. The little boy had golden hair and an almost feminine face. He could easily be mistaken for a 10-year-old girl.

     "Link! Get up boy! It's nearly 6 o'clock!" the oldest of the couple yelled. Link rolled over onto his front and scratched his head violently. He hesitated and then yawned, "…come on Gramps… I already worked double… yesterday…"     

     "The Harvest Moon is nearing! You'll be working double everyday until then!" The old man raised his voice as he glared at Link. "What?! Everyday!?" Link was wide-awake now. "That's right! 24-7!" He couldn't stand to work in the fields for an hour let alone all day for a whole two weeks!

     Link's muscles ached as he stretched out his thin arms and pulled himself off of the ground. He looked to his Grandfather and mumbled a reply. He thought to himself, "One day he'll be sorry… I'll get him back one day…" He walked on out the door into the hallway. His Grandfather's words echoed through the wall to him, "And you can wipe that smug look off your face!"

     Link frowned and stomped down the hallway, putting his rage into each footstep. He stopped in their small room with a table, which they preferred to call the "kitchen" and grabbed his green tunic and cap without even looking towards the clothing's home. It was an instinct to him now and he had no need to look to get the job done. He placed the cap in his mouth and slipped the tunic on. The cap fell to his hands and came to rest on the back of his head, allowing is hair to flow freely.

     The door slammed shut as he grabbed his leather belt and was out the door. He walked across what seemed to him as a barren wasteland of heat. The sun baked his head and sweat had already began to dribble down his hair and forehead. As Link reached the rickety stable he could hear the sounds of the donkey whining inside. His hand came forward and flipped up the metal latch.

     The floor of the stable was dabbed with piles of hay and the ever-watching sun shone through the cracks in the walls and ceiling. An ancient donkey lay sprawled across half the room. It continued its horrendous whining as Link approached it. "Come on Trojan…" Link said under his heavy breath as he grabbed the donkey's reigns and pulled it off the ground. Link, still holding the reigns, led the donkey out into the boiling fields.

     The donkey clopped along close to Link as the two continued till they reached the middle of the great farmland. There, stuck in the dirt, was a small wooden device. Link attached the reigns to small loops on the left and right sides of the device. He shuffled to the front of the strange machine and reached in his pocket. His hands retrieved little blue seeds and he quickly shoved them into the front of the device. Link slapped the donkey in the rear and it set off in the opposite direction pulling the seed planter after it. Link walked in front of the donkey clearing any small bushes and pushing any rocks aside that blocked the path.