The One Who Stole the Sun
By Intemporel.J
Chapter 1
In the Golden Age of Hyrule when the High King Daphne's reign was prosperous, the turmoil that was slowly growing between the neighboring kingdoms of Eloeinia and Ikana quietly crept closer towards the land of the Goddesses.
North of Eloeinia's capital on a little creek near the forest, there lived a poor married couple of goat herders and a boy who called them mother and father. In the early days of the war, they had lived in peace for they were people of good character and had offered what little they had to those who needed it more. However, despite their upstandingness, the looming war had inevitably reached their small ranch and the family was no more. That is, except for the small boy no older than three. When Eloeinia's troops made their push northwards against the invading kingdom, by the grace of the goddesses, they had heard the crying of a small child in the rubble of the razed ranch. It was then and there that the Eloeinian general had a vision from the goddesses that he couldn't understand but knew it had been about the child. He then commanded for the boy to be brought back to the capital to be raised in an orphanage.
It had been fifteen years since the day that marked the beginning of the ongoing war between Eloeinia and Ikana. Ikana was no longer a kingdom, but an empire for it had conquered other small kingdoms with their infamous rain of fire. Although the odds were against them, the Eloeinians had been slowly regaining their territory, not by the efforts of their army, but rather by the efforts of a small group of vigilantes. Their accomplishments were so great that the citizens of Eloeinia had compared them to legends of old. Hearing about the legendary undertakings of the small group of fighters, the Eloeinian King was urged to summon their leader.
The king looked nervous as he twiddled his thumbs. His already sweaty palms were made all the more clammier by the humidity of the summer. He looked over the person who was kneeling before him. He was surprised that the leader of the vigilantes was so young. From the stories of the man's exploits, he was sure that he would be a hulking man who could dominate his enemies on the battlefield, not just some child. The king's thoughts were flooded with doubts of the potential of the young warrior.
"Ahem. Please rise, I do not wish to make you feel uncomfortable in my presence."
The young man looked up. The king examined his battle hardened face and realized that he was speaking to a person who had experienced more pain and suffering than most of his soldiers.
"Might I ask of your name, young warrior?" the king asked in a venerable tone that hid his uncertainties of the young man.
"I'm known as Link, your highness. It is truly an honor to be in your presence." he replied stoically. "Im assuming you had summoned me because of the tales of the feats that my comrades and I had accomplished. I am sorry to say this but, they are a bit exaggerated up to the points where I would just call them rumors." he said, his face showing no emotion.
The king felt a lump in his throat form when he heard those words. Slowly, his fears of the invading Ikana empire began to show on his wrinkled face. "The tales of your band of 20 defeating 500 Ikanian soldiers are untrue? Even the tale of you surviving a duel with the feared Ikanian general, rumored to be the strongest man alive that this world has ever seen?"
"Do not misunderstand me your majesty. When I had said that they were just rumors, I had meant that our feats were just not as they seem. We did not effortlessly take back our northern regions, but rather fought to tooth and nail in every battle that we had. We are by no means the heroes of legend that the citizens speak of. We are just warriors fighting for the freedom of our people." he said. "In my duel with that monster of a Gerudo, I would not have survived had it not been for him wishing to battle me once more in the future. I was left bloody and beaten, although I pride myself in being the first to ever scathe the man." he cleared his throat, obviously bothered by the topic of conversation. "All I am trying to say, your majesty, is that nothing was ever done easily. Many times would we have perished had it not been for dumb luck."
The king, now with renewed hope for salvation, replied, "Your feats may not seem impressive in your perspective. You may even call it dumb luck, but I say that it means that you are in favor of the Goddesses." The king straightened his back and said in the voice of a wise and humble leader, "Link, I am asking this of you and your comrades for I have no more troops to spare. As a king, no as a man, I am pleading that you would undertake a mission for the sake of Eloeinia. I know it may not be right of me to command you to do something you are not willing to do, so I will only ask. If you are willing, would you journey to the kingdom of Hyrule in my stead and plead for aid? The circumstances as they are now do not allow for me to journey myself, as the circumstances are currently dire for our small kingdom. I beg of you Link, this is the only hope left for our kingdom."
"Your majesty, the road to Hyrule is marked with dangerous terrain. It won't be simple for a large group of people to traverse those dangers easily. I only ask this of you. I will make the journey with three of my own as long as I have your trust that the rest of my comrades would be well taken care of for food and money is hard to come by. With the well being of my comrades guaranteed, I would be honored to journey to Hyrule for the sake of our Kingdom."
"Then let it be so." The king said, his composure now regained. "Your comrades will be well taken care of. May your journey be void of danger and may you have the blessings of the goddesses. Good luck, Link."
As the young man left the throne room the king called for his advisor and gave him instructions to provide for the warriors. As he walked towards the council room, he whispered a quiet prayer to the goddesses. 'Goddesses, bless us with your power and wisdom for times are dark. I suspect that the boy was sent by your will, and I give thanks.' A small tear ran down the old king's wrinkled face. 'I pray for forgiveness for I have not told the whole truth. I have knowingly sent the boy into the midst of the battle field for the battles have now raged on towards the fields of Hyrule. I can only hope that he is able to make a difference for Hyrule while they are being sieged by the Ikanians. Goddesses, bless Link with your courage for he will need it more than ever before. He is the light in this dark age and i trust that he will bring upon an era of peace after the war.'
Wiping the tear from his eye, the king entered the council room with renewed hope that the boy would be able to exceed his hopes and expectations and become the hero that Eloeinia needs.