Chapter 1: In the Beginning
Silence filled the land of Hyrule as dawn was just beyond the horizon. Shops began to open up to sell their respective merchandise, the gate opened to allow travelers into town, and one young farmhand was just about to be awoken by his little sister.
"Link!" Ilia shouted to her older brother from downstairs, "It's time to wake up!"
Her attempts were pointless, as she knew her brother was a very, very, heavy sleeper. Only one thing could wake him. Ilia went up the stairs and opened the door to Link's room, seeing the unconscious hylian in his sleep. She quickly grabbed a nearby bag and pull out an ocarina.
"You brought this upon yourself," Ilia said with sigh.
With all her strength, Ilia inhaled as much air as she could, placed her lips on the mouth piece, and blew with all her might. A loud screech filled the home as Link fell out of his bed, startled but not surprised. This wasn't the first time she did this to wake him up after all. Link rubbed his eyes to get whatever crud was in them and gave his sister a nasty look.
"What?" Ilia questioned, "It's not my fault it's the only thing you wake up to."
Link got up off the floor and simply snatched the instrument from Ilia's hands. The look he gave her wasn't for waking him up, it was for using one of his most prized possessions. The ocarina wasn't just an instrument, it was all he had of his birth parents. But of course, Ilia didn't know that. She still thinks they're related by blood.
"It's alright," Link said after returning the instrument to his bag, "I'm not mad, I just need time to wake up."
"Well you better wake up fast, Dad wants you to deliver a gift to the castle," Ilia stated, "Your girlfriend will be there."
"I keep telling you, Zelda isn't my girlfriend," he responded.
"Then how do you know I'm talking about her?" Ilia commented with a smirk.
"J-Just get out!" Link shouted as his face grew red, "I need to change anyway."
Ilia decided to give her older brother some space so he could get dress. She walked out of the room, closing the door behind her, then proceeded to walked back down the stairs.
-x-
Zelda looked out over her balcony to see her kingdom. While not hers per se, she will be in charge of keeping it safe one day in the future. Her eyes were taken off the town and up to the skies, but what she saw brought her a shocked look. Dark clouds swarmed around Hyrule, seemingly out of nowhere.
She darted her gaze back to the town, just to see it in ruins. Buildings burning in a blaze, bodies lying in the streets devoid of all life, and blood in the fountain instead of water. Her vision became blurred by her tears of agony. She turned around when she heard the sound of footsteps behind her. A cloaked figure was slowly walking toward her. It's face could not be seen aside from two blood red eyes.
"I... am... here...," it said in an eerie voice, "this... will... come..."
The figure pulled out its arm, and extended its pale hand toward Zelda. The fingers wrapped around her neck, pressing against her wind pipes. The stranger lifted her up by her neck and hung her over the balcony.
"I... want... it...," it spoke once more, "I... Want... POWER!"
In one quick motion, the grip was released, and Zelda began to fall. Her screams filled the silent air as she rapidly descended toward the ground. She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact. Zelda gasped and jolted upward in her bed, eyes widening at her nightmare. Tears once again filled her eyes, scared of what she just witnessed. The bedroom door swung opened, and showing a older woman in the doorway.
She was taller than Zelda by nearly a foot, her skin was a slightly darker shade, and her hair was silver with streaks of gold near the ends. It was short, but was tied up into a small ponytail. She was holding a small blade in her hands, and upon seeing Zelda in tears, she returned the blade to its sheath. She walked over to the young hylian and pulled her into her embrace.
"It happened again, Impa!" Zelda said as her tears rolled down her cheeks, "It's going to come true, I know it will!"
"Don't fret, milady," Impa said comforting the sobbing Zelda, "I am here, no one can hurt you."
She held Zelda very close to herself, as if it were her own child she was holding in her arms. With her mother gone, Zelda needed someone to fill the void. Being her handmaiden, Impa quickly found herself the one who could do so. The tears began to stop, and so did the sobbing. It got softer and softer until it was mute. Impa pulled Zelda out of her grasp and looked her in the eyes.
"Are you okay now, child?" she asked with a sincere voice.
Zelda simply nodded, not wanting to choke on her own words.
"Now, I'm going to need you to recall what happened in your dream," the sheikah woman asked, "Can you do that?"
This time with hesitation, Zelda once again nodded.
-x-
After getting dressed in his usual clothes, Link could tell he would need new ones soon. He sighed in the fact that more of his rupees would be spent on fabric. At this rate, he might as well kiss that entrance fee goodbye. Link opened his door and walked down the small flight of stairs. There he saw his mother, Medilia, just finishing what housework was left.
"Morning, Mother," he said as he reached for the door.
"Hold it!" Medilia shouted before he could do anything.
She walked across the room, over to her petrified son. His eyes closed, ready to take any bad news.
"Here," she said plainly.
Link's eyes opened to see a small loaf of bread.
"What is this for?" he asked surprised.
"Your growing young man, Link," she stated, "You can't just wake up and go straight to working. It's unhealthy."
"Thank you, Mother," Link said accepting the loaf.
He walked out the door as he waved to his mother saying he would be back soon. Medilia watched as her son ran out the house and down the street to her husbands forge.
"He's not some little boy anymore," Ilia informed as she grabbed an apple and bit into it.
Her mother just stared out the open door. She knew her son had grown into quite the young man. She closed the door behind her.
"I know," Medilia replied to her daughter, "but he still is to me. To your father, not so much."
"Dad just wants to toughen him up," Ilia reassured her mother.
Medilia knew what Ilia said was true, Arn wanted nothing more than to make sure Link was ready for the world. Even if it meant keeping him from taking the the entrance exam for the knight academy, just to make sure he could pass.
-x-
"So, that is what your dream was about," Impa said to Zelda who had just retold her entire story.
"Yes," Zelda replied, "That is my vision. Hyrule's destruction."
Impa didn't know how to respond to that. The fact that they both know it will come, but they can do nothing to prevent it from happening. Zelda's visions have never been wrong before, especially about disasters. Like the one warning her of the illness that took her mothers life.
"Hyrule will fall. And everyone is going with it," Impa said to herself, "Not if I have anything to say about it."
"What can we do, Impa?" the young hylian asked her handmaiden, "No one will listen, they didn't listen about my mother and they certainly won't about this. Everyone thinks Hyrule is indestructible."
The sheikah warrior was truly at a loss of words. There had to be a way to prevent the future. She needed time, time to think, to plan ahead.
"I will come up with something," she said as she walked to the door, "I will protect you, milady."
Impa opened the door and walked out. She carefully closed the door quietly, sighing at the news she heard. Turning to her right, she began to walk down a hall, thinking to herself.
'We'll need to increase our defenses, as well as our inspection on people coming into town,' she created a mental list of priorities.
She looked up and saw the general of the Hylian Royal Guard. Quickening her pace, she caught up to the general which caught his attention.
"Ah, Lady Impa," the general greeted, "I assume with you walking the halls, that the young miss is awake."
"She is," Impa replied, "General Groose, where is my nephew, he should be back by now?"
"Commander Sheik has yet to return to the castle from his travels to the forest," Groose answered, "We all know how one can be easily lost within those woods."
"I see," Impa said, beginning to ponder on what to do.
Groose noticed her worry, and became quickly concerned. The great Impa was never worried, she always remained calm, and if it wasn't calm it was pissed.
"Is something troubling you, Miss?" Groose asked with all out concern.
"I need you to raise our defenses, and make sure to increase inspection on all incoming travelers," Impa ordered, retaking command, "And I want all staff to have their eyes open for anything odd. And I also want guards around the king and princess at all times."
"Um, yes, ma'am!" the general saluted.
Impa left the general dumbfounded, and continued on her thoughts. She couldn't tell him what was going on, or else she'd risk starting a panic amongst the castle guards and staff. She had to wait for her nephews return before she did anything else.
-x-
Finally reaching the his father's forge, Link gripped the handle and opened the door. The first thing he saw was his father, wielding a forging hammer in one hand and a blade in the other. He slammed the base of the sword with the hammer, causing sparks. Link knew his father didn't notice him, he never noticed anything while working on a new masterpiece. After pounding the blade with the hammer, Arn placed the hot blade into a vat of water, to let it cool. Arn wiped the sweat off of his forehead with his arm, and then began to clean his hands with a rag. He then noticed his son at the door.
"You're up early," he said in surprise, "Ilia?"
"Yeah," Link answered, "same trick as usual."
"That girl, I told her to wake you in an hour," Arn stated, "until then, the sword won't be ready. Why don't you go to work, I'm sure Talon's got something for you to do."
Link exited out of his fathers forge, and walked down the nearly empty streets, left alone with nothing but his own thoughts.
'Maybe I should have brought up the entrance exam,' he thought to himself, 'Probably for the best I didn't. He'd probably just give me the same speech as before.'
He continued down the street and he notice people were putting up some sort of decorations. He almost forgot that it was the Day of the Hero. The Day of the Hero was a celebration of a hero who saved Hyrule from an dark power, along with help of the princess of that time. This year would be the one hundredth anniversary.
Link's father said he was named after the hero in hopes of him having strength and courage like him, despite the fact that no one knows the hero's real name. Link continued down the street and was coming up to the gate. As he walked through the gate, he felt some one brush past him, bumping his shoulder. As he turned to see who, the person in question snapped at him.
"Watch yourself you insolent child!" the stranger barked at Link, "Or else you may anger the wrong individual!"
The stranger was wearing a dark blue robe and a scarf to cover a good portion of his face. All Link could see was the bridge of his nose and his eyes, which were a bright red and glaring at him. The figure then turned back around and quickly walked off. Link didn't know what to make of that. Was it a threat or was it a warning? Link continued on his way and exited the town.
The cloaked figure quickly walked through the street, picking up his pace as he went. Stepping out of the line of sight, he found his way to an alley. He pulled out an orb from within his robes.
"I'm in the town," he spoke to the orb.
"Good," a female voice came from the orb as it shone, "Now we move on to phase two. Make your way to the castle. You know what to do from there."
The cloaked figure looked up from the orb and saw Hyrule castle in the distance. He pulled down his hood and scarf revealing his pale skin, silver hair, and devilish grin. He laughed underneath his breath.
"Hyrule," he said to himself, "soon, you will be mine!"
