Disclaimer I do not own anything relating to The Legend of Zelda
A very well dressed man sat in a large chair in what looked to be a private study. Shelves all around him filled with hundreds of books all written by the man's ancestors. He was seated by a fireplace reading one of the books using the light from the fire to guide him as he read the text. He liked being in this room, it allowed him to get away from the many troubles outside of it. He turned the page of the book and a small weary smile came across his bearded face as looked at the page. The page depicted the legend of the 'Hero'. He thought for a moment if he would be one of the few kings to meet the great hero of legend, a legend that he used to enjoy hearing as a child. The man was interrupted from his thoughts when a soft knock came to his door. He began to get up when the door opened and then closed. The person who opened it was wearing a very well-tailored crimson military jacket, with a purple sash wrapping around his upper body.
The man who had just entered bowed to him "Forgive my intrusions your majesty but I have news from one of the Temple followers"
The king of Hyrule Daphnes the Third merely sat back down in his chair "Come Richard tell me what the Temple followers find so important at this hour" Daphnes reopened the book as General Richard walked towards the king. Daphnes flipped the page of the book when Richard pulled out a scroll with a golden Triforce wax seal.
No words were exchanged when Daphnes took the scroll and broke the wax seal, unraveling the paper slowly. Daphnes began reading the piece of parchment, at first thinking it was another request for funds to refurbish the Temple of Time. But as Daphnes kept on reading he realized the message was direr than originally thought. After what felt like hours Daphnes stood up and threw the message in the fire and stood for a moment stroking his beard, his eyes staring into the fire watching the message burn.
Daphnes then turned to his general "General Richard this message never existed and you will find the person who wrote this and bring him to me immediately"
General Richard looked stunned at first but gained back his composure. "What did the message say that has you so worried your majesty?"
Daphnes didn't answer for moment but then turned to a nearby window "They say the Goddess Farore has chosen her champion, the new hero" Dahpnes turned back towards General Richard.
General Richard relaxed and scuffed at the news "Has she now? If I do recall they said the same thing just last year you're majesty" Richard continued to talk about the flaws of the Temple Followers and how they were just another group of schemers.
Daphnes toned out Richards rant knowing he was not a man to believe such things as prophecies. He didn't want to mention to Richard that his daughter Zelda had been having strange dreams. Dreams that showed the great castle city of Hyrule burning. Daphnes then began to think of the legends his mother always told him some he believed and some he didn't, one that he believed in the most was that an evil being would attempt to take the Triforce and plunge the world into darkness. With Farore's champion chosen it was only a matter of time until that evil showed itself. Both men were jarred from their thoughts when another sudden knock came to the door.
"Your majesty General Delkin of the Ordionian Auxiliaries has requested an audience with you immediately." The muffled guard's voice said from behind the door
Richard scoffed at the Ordonian's name "What in goddesses name does he need at this hour, forgive him your majesty I will go see what is so..."
Daphnes placed his hand on General Richard's shoulder shaking his head "Have you ever known him to come to me without it being important" Richard didn't respond but merely just bowed his head "Guard let General Delkin in!"
The door open and shut, the young man before Daphnes was General Delkin of the Ordonian Auxiliaries. He was only 21 years old, taller than most at his age and instead of traditional brunet hair that most Ordonians had, he had black hair. Delkin was dressed fairly well, a dark green military jacket not as well tailored as Richards, with two swords strapped to his hips. Delkin bent one knee and put a clenched fist over his chest and bowing his head at Daphnes. This was customary as Ordonians by Hylian law were lesser people and needed to bend their knee to nobles and the king. This was a tradition that Daphnes disliked greatly.
Daphnes lowered his hand and motioned for Delkin to stand, Delkin stood back up becoming eye level with the king. "Delkin what is the meaning of this audience" said the king of Hyrule.
Richard stepped forward to just a few inches from Delkin "And it better be good his majesty is very busy and doesn't have time for meager conversation." Richard said earning a glare from Delkin
Delkin simply bowed his head at Daphanes "Forgive my intrusion your majesty but just recently a patrol returned from southern Hyrule field"
Daphnes noticed Richard getting frustrated at the other general "What did they have to report Delkin?"
"They encountered bokoblins near lake Hylia" Daphnes face grew sterner but General Richard didn't look convinced of the threat
"A raiding party your majesty nothing to worry ab..."
"My men reported over 200 bokoblins 50 of them mounted, my men were able to get away undetected but they said the bokoblins were chopping down trees and appeared to building towers and what looked like a small frame of a fort" Delkin then reached into one of his pouches and pulled out a tattered crimson bokoblin flag.
Richard grabbed the flag from Delkin and inspected the ragged material quickly "You said your men left undetected"
"Not without getting evidence of what they saw"
Daphnes raised his hand getting both generals attention "Delkin how fast can your auxiliaries deploy to Fort Hylia?"
Delkin thought for just a moment "I can have 500 mounted men there within a day or two, but at least 3 to 4 days for the other 1000 foot soldiers your majesty"
Dahpnes nodded "Have them there in 2 days general" he then turned to Richard "Begin to mobilize the army reserves and have recruiters in the markets and bars within the city"
Richard was slightly taken back by his king's boldness "Your Majesty for all we know this could just be nothing there's no need to spend the rupees on mobilizing the whole army and furthermore I believ.."
"General Richard you will do as I command" Daphnes deep voice sent a shiver of fear down Richards's spine. "General Delkin"
Delkin instantly stood at attention. "Leave us and lead your men to Fort Hylia secure the fort and the surrounding area but do no more until commanded to do so"
"Yes your Majesty" Delkine bowed his head at both Daphnes and Richard before leaving the room.
Ricard looked back at his king the expression on his face was hard to read but he could tell that king was worried "Your majesty forgive my outburst earlier but do you really trust that...Ordonian to hold the fort"
This time Daphnes scoffed at Richard "Yes I do have faith in the young general to do as I order him as I hope you will do now. We are going to crush this threat before it can take root"
"Please forgive me your majesty but he is a savage just like the rest of his men"
Daphnes for a moment was taken back by the comment "A savage? For what? What has he done to earn such treatment?"
Richard didn't hesitate with his answer "For Castle Oakheart and what they did to our people"
Castle Oakheart Daphnes remembered getting the report about the atrocities that happened but he also remembered the retaliation that occurred from his own men. "I will never forget what they did but that is in the past and the proper actions have been taken against the Ordonians" Daphnes said this getting closer to General Richard "But unlike you that 'savage' didn't question a direct order...now you will do as I commanded is that understood"
Richard bowed his head at the king and left the room. Daphnes was alone with only his thoughts keeping him company. He turned back to the book he had never finished. He turned the page of the book, staring at illustration a young boy in a green tunic wielding the legendary Master Sword.
1 week later...Western Hyrule Field...
The darkness of night clung to a grassy empty landscape that was Hyrule field. A low mist stuck close to the ground. Off in the distance a small farm stood over a large plowed area of field. Inside the farm a middle aged man was just beginning to move out of bed. He moved slowly as not to disturb his wife from her sleep. He began to change from his night wear to his working outfit. An old worn green tunic that seemed to have lost its color and just as worn pants. He slipped on his dirt cover boots. The man exited the room walking down the small hallway that had two more doors and a stairway to the ground floor. He opened one of the doors to his eldest son's room.
He looked at the sleeping body of his son nudging him slightly "Raven, time to wake up son" he said as he started to shake him lightly
Raven stirred from his father's shaking before reluctantly getting up. Slowly he sat up, rubbing the tiredness out from his eyes. "Morning father" Raven mumbled swinging his legs over his bed. Getting up from his bed Raven stretched his arms attempting to shake away any thoughts of sleep from his head.
"Get changed and wake Link up, we have a lot of work today"
Raven nodded watching his father leave. He let a out a yawn before changing into similar clothing his father had. Coming out into the hallway Raven went to the door next to his. Slowly opening the door he peeked into his younger brother's room. He saw Link sprawled out on his bed, pillow thrown off on the ground, blanket half covering him, and loudly snoring. Raven shook his head as he entered the room. He started to shake his younger brother "Link get up" he repeated for almost a minute.
When that didn't work he used both hands to shake Link more aggressively "Link wake up dammit we have a lot of work to do today". For a second Raven didn't get a response, but then he heard Link mumble something. Raven got closer to listen when he heard Link say "ah take that wizard I have you now"
Raven just shrugged his shoulders as he walked out of the room not bothering to close the door. Raven walked into the small kitchen where his father had a pot over the fire. His father was stirring something when he tapped him on the shoulder.
"Link's having that dream again" Raven said slightly annoyed at the newly recurring event
His father just sighed tiredly moving away from the pot and walking out of the room. Raven heard the main door to the house open but not close. He then heard the sound of a very angry cucco come from outside. Raven watched as his father held a struggling cucco in one hand. The bird was flapping its wings like crazy shooting off small feathers in its frantic state. Raven followed his father up to the top of the stairs "Uh father what are you doing?"
Raven's father stood at the threshold of Links room, plucking off one of the cuccos bigger feathers which sent the bird into an even more angry frantic state. "I'm waking up Link" without warning he threw the cucco into the room and closed the door. Raven heard his brother hit the ground hard and scream in fear as the cucco was mostly likely attacking him.
"Come now Raven well eat breakfast, Link should be down soon." Raven's father walked by him ignoring the screams and frantic banging from his youngest son's room.
Raven followed his father into the kitchen. "um father you don't think that was a little too harsh was it?"
The old father of two sons thought for just mere moment "No, not at all"
Raven grabbed a few rolls of bread from a nearby basket and placed them on the table as his father poured three bowls of thick soup. They were both about to eat when sudden footsteps were heard rushing down the stairs into the kitchen. Raven and his father turned to see Link with white feathers fluttering off him and some stuck to his blonde hair while he breathed heavily from the terrifying encounter. He was also wearing a green tunic that had seemed to be covered in more dirt than fabric.
"Morning son glad you could join us" Link's father said with a slight grin
"Seriously a cucco?! You couldn't just dump water on me?!" Link said brushing off the feather and taking a seat at the table next to his brother Raven
Raven broke a piece of bread dipping it in the warm soup "Now where's the fun in that?"
Link decided not to respond but simply started to eat his food. He looked towards his father who had also started eating. "Um father I wanted to ask if I could..."
"Come with me and you're brother to the Capital?" his father said finishing the question.
There was an awkward silence as Raven looked at his younger brother who was looking down at his breakfast.
Link nodded his head "Ye-yes sir"
Link's father stood up quietly with his bowl placing it in a small stone sink. "Let's go boys we have long day ahead of us" he said walking out of the room
Raven got up patted Link on the back "Don't worry he'll let you go, your 16 now and that's when I first went to Castle City"
Link got up from the table following his brother out of the kitchen. "Knowing my luck father will find some way not to let me go"
"Don't worry too much about it Link, I mean he didn't say no"
"He didn't say yes either"
Raven shrugged his shoulders "You can be so negative sometimes you know that?"
"Not all the time" Link said plucking a white feather from his blonde hair "Just after being attacked by cucco" Both brothers laughed as they walked outside. It was still dark out making it hard for the brothers to see their father walking back from the mill with a musket.
"Raven, Link I'm going to be loading the wagon while you two go hunt for beaver down by the stream." He said handing Raven the musket "I don't have to remind you to be careful with this do I?"
Both brothers shook their heads. "Good now get going and be safe"
Link and Raven both nodded and then jogged off into the nearby woods. They slowed their jog to walk as they went deeper into the woods. As they were walking Link was thinking of the Capital. He remembered when Raven got back from there for the first time and how he told him about all the huge buildings he saw. The one thing Link wanted to see most was the castle. Raven said it was bigger than anything he had ever seen, that it could probably hold the entire population of the city and more. Link was still thinking about the capital when Raven stopped him from walking.
Link looked up to see his brother with one finger over his lips. Raven then used his other hand pointing at something. Link looked over at where his brother had pointed to see the stream and a few beavers in and around the water.
Both Link and Raven knelled on the ground. Raven began to load his musket as quietly as he could as not to scare their hunt. He silently brought the butt of his musket to his shoulder and aimed down the barrel at the beaver.
Raven pulled the trigger, the gun's mechanisms went to work causing sparks to fly which then ignited the gunpowder in the barrel sending a small metal ball flying towards it target. The force of the shot pushed Raven back a little and slightly hurt his shoulder. A large amount of smoke was also made from the shot. Link and Raven got up from where they were and walked over to try and find the beaver Raven had shot. The other beavers that were around had already fled the scene.
Raven walked over to the beaver he shot and saw it laying their lifeless. He picked it up and strung it up quickly, hanging the beaver over his shoulder.
"One down a whole lot more to go" Raven said rolling his shoulder and then handed the musket over to Link "You get the next one ok Link?"
Link took the musket and both brothers walked further into the woods. The brothers hunted for beavers up down the stream all while the sun continued to rise over them. Link was having a better day than he expected hitting a majority of the beavers then his older brother Raven. It was just about mid day and the brothers had accumulated just about 16 beavers. Having the lug around the weight of the animals began to take its toll on the two boys. They had decided this was enough and started heading back to their home.
"So Raven how long does it take to get to the capital?" Link asked his brother
Raven readjusted the beavers he was carrying "Well we go to Kakariko first, which as about almost full days ride. Then it's about another full day to the capital from there."
Link tried to imagine what both places looked like as he had never been to either cities before. "How big is Kakariko compared to Castle City?" (the capital if anyone is confused)
Raven sighed and cheerfully shoved his little brother lightly "are we going to play 20 questions all the way home now?"
"Well yeah! I wanna know what it's going to be like!"
Raven simply shook his head "I don't want to spoil everything for you besides it will take too long to explain and I just don't feel like doing it haha" Link started shouting at his brother and his brother continued to ignore choosing to hum a nice melody instead.
The sun was now up and high in the sky when the brothers returned to their house. As they were getting closer Link could see his father preparing their wagon for its journey to Castle City, Link thought of what his father had said earlier in the morning and he slowly began to get nervous about it.
Their father was tying some of the boxes down when he saw his son's approaching. He quickly finished what he was doing and walked over to his sons. He saw the beaver pelts strung out on their shoulders quickly he guessed by looking that they had at least 16.
What was more surprising is that he saw Link for the first time had more than Raven. "Good job Link" he said patting Link's shoulder "How did you best your brother this day?"
"I uh don't know I just did I guess" Link said nervously, to Link it was not normal to get praise from his father
Raven quickly wrapped his arm around Link "Oh you know Link just gets better with every time we go out, soon he'll be hitting rupees off a fence post"
Their father seemed amused by Raven's comment "Maybe maybe, now get those beavers in side, Raven I want you to skin them. Link I need you to get the bags of grain from the mill and put them in the cart for me" Raven nodded placing the musket on the ground and grabbing Link's roped beaver bodies. Raven then walked off into the house.
Link picked up the musket and walked off towards the mill. Link looked back at his father preparing the wagon. What his father 'didn't say' still bothered him and he couldn't get the thought out of his head. He had never left the general area outside the farm and he felt trapped in it. He wanted to go out and see the world and not be just another farmer in Hyrule Field. Link arrived at their mill entering through the wide door. Link walked in the small round structure. On the far side was where he placed the musket and the pouch of gunpowder. Link glanced over to his right to see 8 large sacks of grain. He picked one up with some struggle at first but was able to carry all 7 sacks to the wagon. As he was carrying the last sack to wagon Link could see off in the distance a group of horsemen. Placing the last sack in the wagon he saw two horsemen approaching their house.
His father had been inside the house but walked out when he heard the sound of approaching horsemen. The men ridding the horses both wore thick brown leather tunics with iron arm plates and iron helmets. One was holding a flag with the standard of the Ordonian Auxiliaries which was a black Ordonian Goat head with the golden wings of the Hylian crest. The two soldiers stopped in front of Link's father.
"Gentlemen is there something I can do for you today?" Link's father asked wiping blood off his hands and signaling for his youngest son to come over
"Yes you see we have been ordered to by Genereal Delkin..."
Link's father waved his hand in a hurrying motion "Yes yes General Delkin of the Ordonian Auxiliaries I know who commands you, now what does the good general want"
This earned a glare from both soldiers "General Delkin has ordered us to go to every farm and house to warn the residence of a potential bokoblin threat near Lake Hylia"
Link looked at his father with sudden worry, no bokoblin has entered Hyrule since the Great Purge which was over 1,000 years ago. Link's father however was not worried at all by the news. "Lake Hylia is nearly 50 miles from here we'll be fine from the likes of them" He then glared darkly at the Ordonians "But you people have me more worried about being just as close"
One of the soldiers tightened the grip around his lance and would have said something back but the one holding the flag punched his chest lightly "Thank you for your time sir we will take our leave" The flag holding Ordonian turned his horse and began moving away from them. The second did the same but spat at the ground toward Link's father first.
Link who had only watched the encounter was taken back by its hostile tone and looked to his father for an answer "Father I thought you said soldiers were good people, so why did you not like them?"
There was a long silence before Link's father answered "Because their Ordonian" He looked at his son and saw confusion in his eyes, he then looked back at the two mounted Ordonians. He looked down at Link patting his back softly "Now come on your mother has lunch ready for us and we're also going to have to talk about what you'll need for the trip to the Capital "
Link upon hearing this nearly jumped for joy but instead embraced his father as tight as he could out of excitement "Really! I'm coming!"
His father laughed at his youngest son's reaction "Of course you are I have no idea where you ever got the notion that you weren't, now let's not keep your brother and mother waiting we still have a lot to do today for our trip"
Link and his father walked back into the house. After lunch they finished preparing the wagon and horses for tomorrow's journey. The day may have been long and hard but in the end in Link's mind it was well worth it. The hour was late in the night when Link finally fell asleep. He was going to the capital and for the first time he was leaving the farm. As Link fell asleep he barely noticed the glowing light coming from his left hand.
Hyrule Capitol City
Delkin the general of the Ordonian Auxiliaries sat in his office looking over maps of Lake Hylia. The room was barely lit with only one candle providing any source of light in the late hours of night. On the map were lines of blue and red signifying enemy and allied positions. Delkin was standing over the desk when a knock came to his door. He didn't answer instead he continued to study the maps in front of him.
A minute passed by when the door slowly opened and then closed. Delkin didn't bother looking up because he knew only one person who would enter without permission, his second in command. "Sven what can be so important at this hour?" Delkin said not looking up
Sven was the second in Command of the Ordonian Auxiliaries, he was only 19 and had typical build of someone with that age. Sven fixed his dirty blonde hair and straighten up his back. "Sir we found him"
Delkin looked up at Sven in his officer's uniform which was the same as his a dark green military jacket "You will have to be a little more specific than that Sven"
Sven nodded "My apologies, we found Jacob Hamilton the man from the London City state" Sven placed some papers on Delkin's desk
Delkin took the papers and quickly looked them over "Are you sure this is him?"
"Yes general, he will be making an appearance at Kakariko this week to sell at the market there" Sven pulled out another paper "He will be selling false potions but he will also be making an illegal arms deal with this man"
Delkin looked over both files memorizing the contents of both. Jacob Hamilton was a not so known arms dealer from the London city state. His buyer was just another run of the mill scheming lord of Hyrule.
Delkin pulled out his pocket watch from his jacket looking at the time, it was 2:43 at night "Sven" the young ordonian stood at attention "Have our horses ready at daybreak we're going to Kakariko to make a visit to our friend Mr. Hamilton"
Sven saluted Delkin "Yes General!" the young officer ran out of the room leaving General Delkin
Delkin looked out a nearby window. Outside he could see the silhouette of the Royal Palace. He glared at the castle, so much death and destruction had been caused to his people by the men inside of it. Enjoy your time of peace your majesty fore soon it shall end. Delkin looked at his right hand taking off his glove. Delkin stared at a black triangle on the bank of his hand. A quiet voice echoed in his head just then "Dont forget our deal Delkin". Delkin put his glove back on and blew out the candle which sent the room into darkness.