The Legend of Zelda: Undiscovered Power
Link & Epona sat at the banks of Lake Hylia. It had been three years since the land was transformed into a dark realm, with the clouds as black as the night itself. Three years since he had seen the face of his beloved friend, Midna, disappear into the Twilight Mirror, never to be seen by the light world again. He sighed loudly, which made his furry companion look up from her grazing. Ever since that day Three years ago, Link had been a loner; wandering the fields of Hyrule in search of more adventure.
None ever came.
He wore his Hero's clothes most of the time now. Most people recognized him better with it on, since Zelda had publicly announced him as Hero of Hyrule.
Zelda...
His mind always seemed to wander to her when it was quiet. Her soft, kind eyes, the sweet smile, & the flowing delicate braids that flew into the wind whenever there was a breeze. There relationship remained uncertain. Sure, she was cute, but a serious relationship just did not occur to him.
The sandy blond boy had just reached his 18th birthday yesterday, the year most Hylian boys set off on their own. Apparently, Link had set out early.
He didn't remember much of his parents, only that they had died when he was very young. He was raised by Ordon village itself, coping by himself at a young age. Despite that, the town bullies almost never messed with him. When they did, boys came wailing home to their mother with their noses bleeding and nearly broken. Link chuckled to himself. They had always gone looking for trouble, and since Link was the seemingly easiest target, they always aimed for him. He had soon gained a reputation in Ordon that he would never back down from a fight unless forced to. But he didn't always fight.
Most people saw the soft side of him; mannerly, dashing, gentlemanly, & he had a knack for horses.
When he was six, he found Epona stuck in the in the creek after a raging storm. Cooing softly to her, he managed to coax her out and the chestnut steed had never left him since. They shared a bond that surpassed any other. When they concentrated, they were one, horse & rider; faster than the wind, wild like the sun.
Link's reverie was suddenly cut short by a snapping twig. Instinctively, he reached for his sword. Epona pawed the ground nervously. Link had heard animals could sense danger before humans could, and he was pretty sure they were right. There were no more sounds, and the blond boy was beginning to feel silly standing by a lake with a sword in hand. He allowed his arm to lower.
Big mistake.
Out of the woods roared a band of ruffians; Tall, gruesome figures that Link had not encountered in years; Lizalfos. Epona reared and dashed down the bank. Link readied his sword and makes his first strike at the nearest Lizalfo who dropped to the ground at the touch of his sword. He was yet again surrounded. Using a spin attack made most of the Lizalfos fall to the same fate. But more kept coming. They poured out of the woods & into the clearing that had been peaceful just moments before. Though bewildered at first, Link refused to be intimidated, which could mean death in a battle. He plunged into the thick of the scaly foes, and the battle began.
One after another, the Lizalfos began to thin out. A life of wandering had not let Link become out of shape to battle at all. Actually, he was beginning to grow bored, but could not let his guard down. He had seen his friend, Rusl, a talented swordsman, seriously injured from being unprepared. So he continued on, slashing & hacking numerous villains until he heard a loud, alerting sound from behind. Spinning around, a huge Lizalfo twice the size of Link stepped out of the shadows. The enemy's eyes gleamed evilly at him and brought out a deadly sword at least 6 feet long and the color of liquid night. All of it's companions slid into the darkness; making hissing sounds that seemed to be some kind of laughter. To Link's utter surprise, the scaly creature could speak Hylian. It glinted it's black eyes and rasped,
Die, Hero of Hyrule!
Link thrust out his sword, which by now was glowing from the darkness that surrounded it's atmosphere. Searching his opponent's weak point, he saw that it's tail was not covered with armor. Surprising the unfortunate Lizalfo, he rolled to the side, slashing his tail while rising to his feet. The foe shrieked in agony, stumbling for a few paces before twisting around to face Link. The Hero dove for the side once again but the lizard seemed prepared. A flash of darkness sliced through the air until landing on the green-clad boy's shoulder. His body seemed to freeze mid-roll as the blade went into his flesh. The villain laughed evilly as he saw the boy wince. Struggling to get up, his vision blurred as he looked around for his sword. A cold, heartless laughter sounded from behind
Faithless Hero, are you always this easy to beat?
Stars were circling his forehead, his shoulder was on fire, Epona was somewhere at the lake running crazy, and this snotty Lizard was getting the best of him. His hand felt for his weapon, which fortunately was not too far away.
Stumbling around while loosely holding his sword, Link struggled to send back a stinging reply, but only a feeble, "Are you always a big-headed jerk?" came out of his mouth. He knew he was beat, although he would never in a million years admit it, and was at the mercy of his attacker. The Lizalfo stalked forward, licking it's lips contentedly as if it was about to have feast, when a somewhat familiar sound came from the side of the clearing.
Whizzzz!
An arrow had found it's way to the creature's head, making it wail in pain as it fought for it's breath. As Link tried to see through the stars around his head, he could make out a Hylian standing on the cliffs with a bow in hand. At first, it appeared to be a boy, but if you looked through the shaggy mane of hair, you could see feminine eyes peering out hungrily into the world. Almost at once, Link collapsed onto the ground, breathing hard. Blood was pouring out from his shoulder, and he was beginning to feel light-headed. The mysterious girl had somehow found her way from the cliffs to the clearing atop a bay mount, and was rushing to Link's side.
"Mister, hey, Mister, you alive?" the girl asked, clearly worried.
Moaning softly, he managed to say that indeed, he was alive.
"Phew, thank goodness! Now, let me go get your horse & I'll take you to my home."
The girl was back of what seemed like minutes later with Epona in hand. The gentle equine whuffed the wounded hero's hand as if in apology for running away. With the girl's help, he mounted his horse and let Epona follow the girl at her will. To get things from being awkward, the girl politely told Link that her name was Ahn. All the boy could do was nod, which made him feel pretty horrible. Here was the girl who had just saved his life, and he looked like a drowned cat & didn't even have enough energy to say his name. Ahn could tell he wasn't in the mood for talking, so she settled for talking to her horse. The woods they walked through were unfamiliar to Link, but he did not care. He was slowly slipping into unconsciousness, and his shoulder seemed to be getting worse every minute. Finally, when they reached the footstep's of a cave, his world went black.