Chapter One: A New Dawn

"And the princess of Hyrule will fall to the hands of her murderer. And from the ashes shall rise a phoenix."

It had been six years since her death. The nightmares still came at night, the tormented screams, the horrible carnage that awaited the princess Zelda the day she was slain; they played over and over again like some horrible reenactment in his head. He'd awake at night – shaking, his body trembling as he sobbed uncontrollably. He promised he would never let anything happen to her, never let anyone hurt her, that he'd always be there for her. But he failed, and something did happen to her, something terrible, and when it happened, he was too late. She died alone.

Link wouldn't have known what time it was let alone what day; his days had been often spent in the bottom of any kind of hard liquor bottle. He lay against the soft green sheets of his bed, the blankets border was inlayed with gold, the trim curling around in an exotic pattern of triforces and birds. For a moment he wondered what would have become of them – as he often entertained the thought – if she had lived, if he had gotten to her in time. As pleasurable as the thought was, it was fleeting and only something he would never have. Link shut his eyes tightly as something inside him burned, a feeling matching no other he'd ever had - an intense rage, hate, and sorrow. "I'm sorry… Zelda." He whispered aloud, his voice broken. He often broke down like this, sometimes the thought of living just too much for him.

"Link?"

His eyes snapped open, almost flying from his bed, the voice was so familiar and haunting, yet gentle and tender… Eyes wide, he was now fully awake, trying to shake off his drunken disposition, his voice was horse and sharp. "Zelda?" He asked loudly - daring the voice to respond; the dark room offered no reply, only silence to comfort his sorrow. Reluctantly, Link returned to his bed, backing toward the soft inviting sheets with a slowness that gave away his truly inebriated state. Angrily Link griped the white and green sheets back as he turned his backside from the rest of the room, burring himself in the sheets, the dark blonde locks resting against the pillow. Instead of shaking his drunken disposition, Link now tried to shake off the feelings of craziness. Depression was an all too familiar feeling knew as of late… and then, it came again; closer this time, as if she where right next to him.

"Link.."

This time there was no mistake. He knew it was her. This time, he did not move, only whispered as he shook in terrible fear. "Zelda…? .. Is that really… you?" he whispered in desperation of a reply as he ended his question.

"Yes… it is me."

He breathed in sharply as if he wanted to break down and cry, he wanted to scream, to turn to her and hold her. What did he truly feel at this moment in time? Relief, fear, curiosity? The toxic mix of emotion made him break out into a cold sweat. He could feel her presence, her smell. She was there. "Zelda.. forgive me… for all… I.." he desperately tried to apologize for everything, for her death, for not being there like he promised.. everything. But she wouldn't let him.

"Link… I have little time.. and strength. Close your eyes."

Her voice was frail for a fraction of a second, urgent and hushed. He did as she asked, always doing anything for his princess, though somewhere he begged this not to be some kind of dream that would disappear and he would find himself asleep as he awoke. As everything grew darker from the natural ascension of his eyelids – and there she was, as perfectly as if she had never… died. She was drowning in white; her golden colored hair flowed softly from her features. He took a step toward her, she only seemed so farther away. "Zelda?"

"I have little time… Link." She smiled with remorse, her features soft and smooth as if she were a flawless angel. Zelda didn't move at all as she began to speak to Link, only her lips moved with the occasional smile. "This will be the last time we speak… or see each other."

"No!" Link said rather forcefully, he could feel the hot tears though none fell, nor could he even see himself. Only her. "Please… no." He'd have collapsed to his knees if he was able, his strength nearly spent from the emotion that overcome him. He had been trying to hold himself together since her murder.

"Yes. This is the last time – and I have something for you." She whispered, "You will find it when you open your eyes, next to you, on your pillow. 'And the Princess of Hyrule will fall to the hands of her tormentor, and from the ashes shall rise a Phoenix.'"

The breath left his lungs.

She closed her eyes briefly as if she where in pain. "From my ashes, there shall rise another and she will replace me." She needed him to understand that there is an end and a beginning to all things, and her end had come - yet Link's life... yes His life... would continue for many years yet - though he had no way to know this - Zelda knew, she knew all of it.

"No." Link whispered again, the sensation of his body shaking suddenly coming over him.

"I did not suffer… in the end Link. None of this, was ever your fault. Forgive yourself, for this is not the life I wanted for you. You're stronger then this…" her voice trailed - as courageous as Zelda's spirit was she was unable to console him, unable to make him see how okay everything would really be in the end, she was powerless.

He felt so alone. Never had he felt such an empty feeling as the one he held within the pits of his stomach as he dispared. Link wanted to run to her, grab her, never let her go; but he was helpless do anything about the situation. Nothing would let him go to her… nothing.

"I am dead Link. And I am not coming back. You must search for your new Princess – She will lead you from Darkness."

"Where… where… will I find her?" he choked back a sob.

"She will find you."

He awoke. Was it all just some dream, something he made up? The tears that flowed freely from his eyes were real enough. Heaving a great and labored sigh, his hand rose to pull some stray strands of hair from his face, after it's small task he let the hand fall limply to the right side of his pillow. Something cold tickled his flesh. Something was there, something small, metal. Jumping forward, he sat up. "It wasn't a dream." Somewhere inside himself, Link felt something die. He would never see Zelda again, he knew that, but he would never disobey his Princess either. Breathing in heavily, he pulled the small trinket from the confides of his pillow. It was golden chained, braided, a pendant attached, the symbol of a phoenix rising from ashes; flames licked the outer most border of the pendant.

Link cried no more tears, nor did he mope around anymore. He hurried himself to the bathroom, his face was in terrible need of a wash, he'd only now realized how terrible he looked. He was in shambles, well we'd have to do something about that, now wouldn't we? He felt refreshed in a spiritual sense of the word. The desperation in his life had been temporarily filled, he had his orders, he had an objective. It made Link realize how strange it was to now have a purpose for living once more. Link cleaned and polished himself through the night, getting ready for the journey he would embark on in the morning.

The sun that dawned over the castle market of Hyrule the next morning was soft and brilliant. The air was clean and crisp caring a slightly chilled under tone while he breathed the sweet scent of the morning in. He stormed through the Hyrule Palace, his place of residence since his last return from his adventures. He felt whole once more. Of course he was decked out in his green tunic, white leggings, shield strapped to his back, and the Master Sword at his side - the general weaponry and attire he had always worn on his adventures. He breathed new life into the towns people as he walked through the small town square that was slowly filling with on lookers and other towns people. It brought joy to Link to see his followers, his people rejoicing in his return.

He strolled leisurely across Hyrule Field making his way toward Karkio Village – where Zelda had been buried with the rest of her ancestors. Clutched in his right hand was a single pink rose, Zelda's favorite. She was right – he did need to move on.. how many times had he saved her from peril? Many. How many times did he save her life? Too many to count. That was Zelda's story, of which, it had come to an end for her. It pained Link to think that way, but, it was time..

Mounting the steps toward the Royal Family crypt, he smiled as he felt lifted almost, making his way there. The still fresh look of the grave made him want to stop and cry, it still seemed all to be some terrible nightmare that he might wake up from - but he would resist such a temptation - such a weakness. Slowly, the grave came into view, Zelda's name scrawled across the beautiful inlayed stone, a short note from the royal court who present the people with Zelda's body. Link sighed softly, his lips parted as he silently said his good-byes and thank you's. "My princess." Gently he dropped to one knee, presenting the beautiful flower, to is most beautiful princess.

Then, in a strange gesture, Link kisses his lips, and pressed his fingers to the stones head – and then he stood; he was resound, silent, and ready. His cerulean colored eyes traced the top of the stone across the beautifully carved work. The subtle flowers and curling chizzel marks completed the piece. The council had done well to select the artisan they had, this stone work would have been loved by Zelda. Strangely - the connection he had always felt with Zelda, whenever she was near, was absent from the area. A true signal her spirit had found peace, or was at least resting in silence. True to form, the spirit of Zelda was not at the tomb that day. Link sighed dejectedly.

Turning from the grave, he walked. The road ahead would be long... Before he knew it the spires of the Palace came into view. A dark looking storm looming over the top of death mountain signaled the impending rain that would renew the thirsty landscape that evening. His thoughts wondered. Eopna would be ready by now for his journey. The sun hung in the sky at it's mid-day post in the sky, when Link entered the palace's safe walls. The towns people had also been gathering their flowers to offer up to Zelda's memory, some of them had passed Link on the high road as he returned to his would-be home. In some strange way, Link didn't feel at home, nor did he feel like remaining in the castle any longer. There were too many memories…

Finally Link reached the stables, Eopna was indeed ready for the journey that they where going to embark on, the question was, what was the new journey? How would Link find his new princess, much less know where she would find him? Was she a towns person? A Princess from a distant land? Surely it would be so much more complicated then all that – his adventures normally were. With a smile now repainted on his face, Link inspected the old steed, her stirrups position correctly, the saddle in order. "Ready for another one? Hm, Eopna, can you do it one more time for me?" The horse whinnied in delight as if she offered some reply to her master. He pat her in a loving manner, brushing her hair back to place as he smoothed it back down. "I think we're ready."

Where would he look? Everywhere.

--End Chapter One--

Please R&R please!! )