Prolog:
Hyrule, the land of beauty, the land of adventure, and the land of legend. In its borders have unraveled many tails of powerful heroes and death-defying adventures to the ends of the earth. A new peace has recently settled in the land of Hyrule sense those days of old.
The people of Hyrule have come accustom to the endless efforts of the Gerudo to take the land for themselves. They have come used to the frequent villains spreading havoc throughout the land. They have come acclimated to the endless amounts of heroes to spawn from there feet and rise to legend. Recently, however, they have forgotten those times. No longer are the people of Hyrule in need of a hero; no longer are they in need of a guardian.
The peace of Hyrule, now settled for fifty years, is about to be risen from the land like dust. A new threat grows deep in the town of Ordon and it grows in the heart of a man that descended from heroes. It is in Ordon Village that our story begins, in the tree house of a young man named Link.
Chapter 1:
Link awoke to a new day, his eyes still heavy from over sleeping. He had done a fair amount of work in the fields of Ordon Village the day before and was enjoying a day off by sleeping in. He didn't sleep in long, only about an hour, but that was far longer then even he was used to. He rose to a bright day; the morning sun shining through his window with a glorious shine. Today is going to be a fine one, Link thought to himself, he could feel it.
Link walked over to his clothing and looked in the mirror. He was about five-feet tall and a good nine inches, not a very tall lad but still hardy. His hair was un-combed and generally short, though it was longer then most boys his age. His eyes were a brilliant blue, a feature he took after his mother. He flexed in the mirror as a show of self confidence and began to dress himself.
As Link threw on the last of his clothing, he felt a pain down his back. Now doubt in result of the heavy lifting he did yesterday. Link worked as a stable hand in the fields of the near by village of Ordon. The previous day was filled with lifting bails of hay for the horses to eat and guiding the oxen back into the stable. It wasn't something Link particularly enjoyed, but he was paid well by the mayor, who he was good friends with.
Link went down stairs to fix his breakfast and feed his horse, Epona. He sat down with the beautiful brown horse and ate his oatmeal while brushing his friend. After he finished his breakfast he mounted his saddle on Epona and rode into the forest as per his usual daily routine. He rode to the spring of Ordona, a lake-like spring with beautifully clear water; perfect for swimming in. He did a few laps around the clear waters of the spring and hoped out to sit in his favorite spot, just above the opening of the spring from which the water pored.
It was around this time of day that a gorgeous sound could be heard from the woods. It was a sound that echoed throughout the forest like a stream of water. During the waking hours of the day all the forest and even the village of Ordon was in tranquility. Humans and animals alike were stricken with a calm that lasted as long as the beautiful music that flowed from the forest. It was from Link's ocarina that this melody flowed and it was his heart that flowed into his ocarina.
"Your song is so beautiful, Link. I always wonder where it was you learned to play an instrument that well," Ilia, an Ordonian and friend of Link, said to him. She looked at Link with bright eyes. Her affection for Link was well known by many in Ordon Village but Link was still oblivious to the fact.
"It's not something that can be learned, Ilia, it must be felt from the heart," Link responded, looking off into the sky in mid-sentence. He didn't truly know where he learned how to play the ocarina, either, but has been playing it as long as he can remember.
"Either way, your music sends a calming feel threw us all. Even the animals can feel it," Ilia said, walking over to Epona to pet her. "Even when we were children and you and I spent hours in the fields playing, I was always calmed when you started playing your ocarina," she said, shyly glancing at Link from time to time.
"Ah, yes, our childhood was a great time. I can still remember the feeling of running through the oat grass fields at full speed, what a time that was!" Link laughed at his memory of his past and smiled at Ilia. He hoped down from his perch atop the falls and walked over to his remaining garments. He re-dressed himself and took Epona by the reigns to lead here back to his tree house.
The walk to the tree house was not very long but it was tiring none-the-less. Link looked at Ilia; her beautiful brown hair that was never very long, her childish smile that could brighten up even the gloomiest of days. Link had always had some feelings for Ilia, but was always afraid to tell her of them. He had always thought that Ilia looked up to him as a big brother, so she would never be interested in a relationship.
"I found a golden feather in our chicken coop this morning!" Ilia said, seemingly to break the un-comforting silence. The sudden outburst of words frightened Link to look back forward.
"That's a good sign," Link said with a smile, looking back over at Ilia. "That means that the next egg laying season will be fruitful!"
"Yes, and it was next to Purna. She still hasn't laid any eggs yet, so the golden feather is a good sign that she will!" Ilia said with a chipper look of confidence. The two just laughed and continued to walk in silence.
Once they arrived at Link's tree house, Link offered it to Ilia to come in and have breakfast with him, but she declined claiming that she had business to attend to back at her house. The two stood in silence looking at each other for a few moments before Ilia finally said goodbye in a very sweet and hesitant voice and ran off toward the village. Link stood in awe as his favorite person jogged away toward the village, wondering if he would ever have the guts to tell her how he truly felt.
"How do I tell her, Epona? How do I tell the girl I love that I love her?" Link asked his horse as if she would answer his question. He shook his head and sighed as he turned to bring Epona back to her stable. Link then climbed his way back up to his tree house to begin the daily sweeping and cleaning. He was not particularly in the mood to do the chores but he remembered his mother telling him that all chores must be done before he could have fun, so he got to doing them as quickly as he could.
Ah, Link's mother. Link sat down when the memory came to him of her. She had been his favorite person in the world, beside Ilia. She was the wisest woman he had ever known and was the only one that could cook an Ordonian catfish with any success. As he sat and remembered his mother, a memory he did not care for surfaced. He saw her in the meadows of Hyrule field. The arrow that pierced her was still fresh in his mind, though her death was years ago. Not a day went by that Link didn't shed at least one tear for her passing. Link quickly snapped back to reality and went back to doing his chores, trying to keep the memory just that, a memory.
Around noon, Link heard a knock on his door. He went to go see who it was as he finished the sweeping. When he opened the door, he was pleased to see Victor, his best friend from Ordon Village. He and Victor work together in the fields of Ordon so they had come to be friends rather quickly.
"Hay, Link, how have you been?" Victor asked his friend.
Link took a step back and let Victor come in. "Hay, Victor, I just finished doing the chores around the house," Link said, sighing deeply.
Victor was a slightly heavy set lad, but he was rather tall for his age which threw off his obvious weight. He had brown hair and brown eyes but was usually seen garnering a red cap, which was the case today as well.
"Chores? On your day off? That's just funny," Victor said with a chuckle.
"Laugh all you want, at least my house is clean," Link said, undoubtedly referring to the pig sty that was Victor's house.
"Yeah, well, you're done now, right?" Victor said, trying to change the subject.
"Yes, I am, why?" Link said, laughing at Victor.
"There's a new cave out in Hyrule field that I want to check out and I was wondering if you wanted to come?" Victor said eagerly.
Link looked at his friend cautiously. Link didn't like going out into Hyrule field very much, it reminded him too much of the past. "I don't know, Victor, Hyrule field is kind of dangerous, isn't it?" Link said, looking at his friend, hoping that he could be swayed otherwise.
"Oh, come on, Link, it's not like people get attacked there EVERY day. Anyway, you could bring Ilia with you…I could leave you guys alone for a while," Victor said.
Link looked up and his interest was suddenly sparked. "Well…a cave would be a good place to tell her how I feel," Link said to himself out loud.
"That's the spirit. I'll go get ready while you go get Ilia," Victor said in an enthusiastic tone. He then rushed out the door toward the village to grab his hiking gear.
"I sure hope this trip isn't too eventful. I'm not sure my nerves could stand it," Link said to himself as he grabbed his hiking gear and headed into the village to fetch Ilia.
Link went into the village of Ordon to find Ilia. Ordon wasn't a particularly large village, but everyone there was very friendly. From the merchant that sold fish, bee honey, and oxen milk, to the kind fisherman that supplied the fish to the merchant. All of them were nice, especially the village mayor, Bo, who owns the fields and pays Link for helping out. Bo was also the father of Ilia. Link ran up to the door of the mayor's house and knocked on it, hoping that it was Ilia, not Bo that answered.
Sure enough, Ilia was the one to answer the door. She had already gotten her hiking gear ready and looked like she was ready to leave before she had been told. She was rather surprised when she saw Link at the door.
"Link, its you," Ilia said, almost shocked. "I was just about to go to your tree house to see if you wanted to go hiking out toward the new cave in Hyrule field!" she said.
"That's strange, I was just here to ask if you wanted to join Victor and I there," Link said. Ilia looked a little disheartened when she heard Victor's name, but the excitement of the invite was still there.
"I would love to join you two," Ilia said with a delighted smile. Link smiled and the two started toward Victor's house to fetch him for the hike out.
The three were on their way to a newly discovered cave not far from the entrance to Faron Woods which was the woods that separated Ordon Village from Hyrule Field. They crossed the bridge over Ordon Gulch, went through the glades of Faron Woods, and into Hyrule Field.
Hyrule Field was a massive place and was generally known as the center of Hyrule, with the castle at the northern end of the field. As the three marched on, they looked out toward the castle, though it was a long distance away, it was still a foreboding presence from anywhere in the kingdom.
The three friends saw the entrance to the cave, thought it was a very good distance from them now. "There it is, I can see it!" Victor said as they came into view of it.
"It's so far, I need a break," Ilia said to the two boys.
"Alright, I can wait for you. You can go on ahead if you want, Victor," Link said. He thought this a very good time to tell Ilia how he felt, in sight of the new cave and the castle.
"Oh, alright, but don't take too long, I can't explore the whole cave by my self," Victor said as he ran on ahead. Though Link didn't want to say it, he was also a bit tired from the hike out.
"How can he have so much energy?" Ilia asked Link.
"I'm not sure. He's never this energetic while he's working in the fields of Ordon," Link said, just as perplexed at his friends sudden burst of energy.
The two sat in silence, looking out towards the castle. "Oh, how I would love to travel there one day," Ilia said out loud. "It must be twice as beautiful up close," She sighed and looked over at Link, seemingly waiting on his response.
"I, too, have the dream to see the castle, but my dream is to see it from the inside as a knight of the Hylian Throne," Link looked out toward the castle with longing eyes, knowing that that will only ever be a dream.
The two both sighed and sat in silence once more. The silence, however, did not last very long. Ilia looked over to her right, "What's that?" she asked out loud. Link peered over and saw a group of riders headed in their direction. Link quickly grabbed Ilia and jumped into the heavy bushes behind them.
"What are you doing?!" Ilia said, nearly at a scream.
"Shh, those riders are the same ones that killed my mother!" Link said with a glaring eye.
"Oh," Ilia gasped in a frightened voice.
"Don't worry; I don't think they saw us. If you don't move and stay quiet I'm sure that they will keep moving," Link calmed his friend the best he could.
The riders got closer and closer until finally they stopped about ten feet from where Link and Ilia once sat. The three riders were dressed in armor that resembled the scales of fish. Their skin was a dark tan and they had red, dark eyes. To all of Hyrule, they were known as Gerudo, a ruthless desert folk that often spread out from their home seeking better accommodations then the blistering heat of Gerudo Valley. Two of the three dismounted and sat down in the shade of the near by tree, while the bigger one stayed on his horse and looked around.
"Calm down, Vulrune, its not like the Hyrule guard are ever chasing us," the skinny one under the tree said to the mounted Gerudo.
"I agree with Trip, it's not like they want us that bad," the fatter one under the shade said.
"You two underestimate the Hylian Knights, they want us out of their land and they will do anything to get us out. Besides, I'm not looking for them, I thought I saw two figures up here and I lost sight of them for a while. I don't want any surprises," Vulrune said to his two companions.
"Ha, ha, I think Vulrune is a little too paranoid, don't you agree Fal?" Trip laughed looking over at his pudgy friend.
"Ho, ho, I do, maybe the heat of the desert has finally got to you Vulrune," Fal said, laughing along with Trip.
Vulrune just sneered at his two companions and continued his search. Link looked up at the Gerudo intruders and just hoped that he and Ilia were hidden well enough to stay from the sight of Vulrune. While they just lay there, Link studied the three Gerudo. He didn't know if they were the exact three that killed his mother, but he didn't like them just the same.
It was then that Link remembered, Victor was still in the cave, if he came out looking for Link and Ilia he might be seen by the three Gerudo bandits. The more Link thought about this the more he knew that he and Ilia could not stay hidden there forever. However, it was then that his fear came true, Ilia was, unfortunately, allergic to some plants and the one they were hiding in was one of them. As she sneezed, Link gave a look of terror to Ilia. All Ilia could do is sniff and hope that the three didn't hear it.
Vulrune, unfortunately, heard the sneeze and gave notice to his two companions. The two quickly rose, grabbing their weapons and started looking around. The two friends just lay in total silence, hoping that they remain unseen. As the three Gerudo searched, the two towering legs of Vulrune appeared directly in front of the bush that Link and Ilia now used as cover.
"There you are," Vulrune reached into the bush and grabbed Ilia by the brim of her pants. He swept her from her hiding spot and held her by the pants, dangling in front of Vulrune. He smiled and looked deeply into her eyes, "Now where is your other friend," He said with a devilish smile.
"LET HER GO!!" Link leaped from his hiding spot to tackle Vulrune, but was intercepted by the grab of Trip and Fal. The two goons held Link back as Vulrune looked at him, now holding Ilia around the throat with his great, big arm.
"There you are, a bit feisty aren't you," Vulrune smiled and looked at the young lad. As he looked at him, his face shifted, "I remember you. You're that little brat from ten years ago, I thought I killed you?" Vulrune said with a puzzled look. "Oh well, I guess I just get the pleasure of doing it again," He smiled and held his large dagger to Ilia's throat.
"YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!!" Link was starting to become a hand full for the two, obviously larger men that held him.
"I think I'll just slit her throat so I can see the sheer look of terror in your eyes before I gut you too," Vulrune smiled and licked the side of Ilia's cheek.
Link just looked at Ilia. Her eyes were watering, he could tell that she was crying but the fear was too much for her to handle. In that instant something in Link changed, something deep within him.
Link felt a sharp pain in his back that was very similar to the pain he felt early this morning but much harsher. He felt an inner boil, like a volcano about to erupt. An instant later, a light began to shine from inside him; showing threw his ears, eyes, and mouth. The two Gerudo holding him let go as he fell to his knees in pain, holding his face. It was then that the pain was too much and he threw himself back as the light that shined out of him now burst out of every pour in his body.
The Gerudo bandits just looked on in awe as the boy that once stood before them was now a changed man. He was taller, considerably taller, standing at the same height as Vulrune. His eyes were pure white and three red, jagged lines went from his brows to his cheeks. On his forehead was a downward triangular, blue symbol and his hair changed from a dark blond to a nearly colorless blond. He was now wearing a breast plate that resembled ancient Hylian armor and a long, pointed, drooping hat. In his right hand was a sward that was nearly the size of the warrior himself, spanning out in a double helix shape colored gold and green.
Vulrune looked at the man in awe and let loose the only words he could, "Who are you?"
The changed Link looked at the stunned Gerudo with a piercing gaze. "My name is Lanyru, the Fierce Deity," Lanyru looked at the three Gerudo and then at the girl who was being held captive.
"Why…why are you here?" Trip said, trembling in his boots.
"I occupy this child's body. His blood line is very heroic you know?" Lanyru looked at the three with sadistic glee. "And now that I'm awake, I think I'll warm up my muscles by cutting you down," he said, cracking his neck.
"W…wait, if you attack us I'll kill the girl!!" Vulrune said with a fear that was evident in his eyes.
"Go ahead, she means nothing to me," Lanyru just gazed at the tall man with a pure, straight face.
"Y…your…your not kidding!!" Vulrune just stood, stunned at how cold this new form of the boy was.
"Nope…now brace yourself, this may hurt," Lanyru lifted his double helix blade and rushed at the tall Gerudo with a terrifying speed. In a blink of an eye, the Fierce Deity was behind his query. The two others looked up at the man and dropped their weapons. This didn't save them because Lanyru delivered a palm strike to Fal's chin and a broad side with his sword to Trip, simultaneously. His eyes never left Valrune, who was now turned, facing Lanyru. Valrune stumbled backward and fell on his hind end. He then began crawling backward, his front still facing Lanyru, who was now stepping slowly toward Valrune.
"P…p…please. Don't kill me," Valune begged for his life at the feet of the living Deity. Valrune's back now to a tree, he had no other choice.
"Ha, ha, ha. What makes you think I'm going to let you live, you worthless slime," and with those words, Lanyru lifted his blade with one hand and swung down upon the head of Valrune, killing him instantly.
Ilia looked on in horror as the boy she loved, or at least who she thought was him, blatantly and effortlessly stole the life from another. All she could do is cry as Lanyru turned to see the other two Gerudo riding away on their horses.
"Curse it, they escaped. No matter," Lanyru said to himself. He then looked over at the weeping girl. "Ah, the girl, at least my fun isn't fully over," Lanyru turned to walk toward Ilia. Ilia heard this and looked up in sheer terror, the fear ripping the sorrow right out of her. As the Fierce Deity walked over to Ilia he stopped in mid stride, evidently flinching in pain. He fell to one knee, grabbing his sword which he stuck in the ground.
"What…what's going…on," Lanyru grabbed his head with one hand grunting in pain. "No…no I won't let you," the Deity said, seemingly to no one. All Ilia could do is watch in horror.
Lanyru finally reeled from the pain and threw his arms back as the same light that overtook Link now overtook him. When the light dimmed Link was now in the same position that Lanyru was, still screaming in pain. When he finally stopped his yelling, he let his hands fall and let out one sentence before passing out, "I won't let you hurt Ilia."
Link awoke in Ilia's arms a few minuets latter, Victor now standing over the two of them. Link looked deeply into Ilia's eyes and spoke, "You're alive, I knew you would be," he said in a weak voice.
"Shh, it's alright now," Ilia said, comforting Link.
"I know, I stopped him from hurting you. I stopped him from killing you," Link got up to his knees and looked into Ilia's eyes again. "Ilia, I promise that I won't let anything happen to you," Link said to Ilia.
"Oh, Link," Ilia just hugged Link. The two embraced each other, both hoping that this moment would never end. But they both knew it wouldn't last forever, they knew that what ever was in Link would come back out again, and Link just silently asked himself a single question; if the Fierce Deity does come back out, would he be able to stop him again?