She should have known better.

When Zelda woke up, the first thing she thought about was the pain in her left hand, or at least the pain that she was expecting to be there. She sat up quickly and observed the back of her hand. It was clear of any markings and the young girl nearly cried in relief. For the past two weeks, the Triforce of Wisdom that rested within her has been resonating. Typically this wouldn't be such a big occasion, as it usually occurred whenever she used any magical abilities or as a sign that something significant was about to happen. But those events happened in short bursts and were pretty much harmless. This episode was, however, truly terrible. The pulsing glow of the Triforce appeared one evening while she was combat training and it never stopped. What made it worse was the stabbing pain that came with it and also never yielded. As hard as Zelda tried, she could not figure out why that was happening. It began to scare her.

She never told anyone about it either. She knew she probably should have, but she didn't wish to scare anyone else. As well, there weren't many people to go to anyway. It was a complete secret to everyone in the Sheikah tribe that she held a piece of the Triforce within her. The only one who knew was her guardian and leader of the Sheikah people. The Golden Goddesses gave her this gift when a horde of monsters directly attacked the village the Sheikah called home. Zelda suspected that it was one of the reasons she survived, as there were a large amount of casualties in the battle, including both her parents. For years after, Impa and Zelda tried hard to figure out more about what holding the Triforce of Wisdom meant for her, but their search left them dry aside from a few legends and stories.

For this reason, Zelda believed it was best to keep her pain to herself. Thankfully the resonating stopped before it became too obvious. After saying a quick prayer to the Goddesses, she got dressed and exited her room to begin making breakfast.

"Good morning Zelda," a strong voice said from behind her. It belonged to Impa, the leader of the Sheikah, her guardian.

"Good morning," Zelda responded cheerfully as she began set out plates of food for the two of them.

"Has your wrist completely healed? You don't have it wrapped anymore," Impa, as observant and direct as ever, noticed her change in situation right away. Zelda was wearing heavy amounts of bandages to hide the Triforce's bright glow, blaming it on an injury sustained during a training exercise that she went through before the incident began. She was actually surprised Impa of all people accepted that excuse, because she's always seen through her lies in the past.

Unfortunately, the worst part of creating a convincing lie is being able to stay consistent with the story.

As if to call her out on it, the Triforce once again began to act up. Zelda reacted quickly, covering the mark with her other hand, but she pulled it away instantly when she felt the searing heat coming from it. The pain began again, this time even more fervently. It started on the mark and spread up her arm, through her chest, then to her other limbs, until it felt like her entire body was on fire. The pain zapped her of whatever resistance she had left and Zelda cracked, falling to the hard floor as she screamed in agony. Impa was soon at her protégé's side, face somehow calm, but in her eyes was fear. This only induced more panic in the poor girl. Impa was never afraid of anything…

Zelda tried her hardest to fight, to stay awake. Her vision was getting hazy and dim around the edges, but she couldn't let herself pass out. Who knew if she would wake up afterward? She screamed more, in hope that focusing on some sort of task would give her a chance at recovering the consciousness she was losing. It only ended up tiring her out more, so after a few minutes Zelda unwillingly plunged into darkness.

xxx

She was floating in the sky, looking down on a large castle surrounded by a bustling city. The scene was so clear; it almost felt like Zelda was actually there. Yet something insider her told her that it wasn't real. That it was just a vision. She looked more closely at the city. Everything was peaceful there; people seemed to be just going amongst their day to day life as if nothing was wrong.

Zelda, however, felt the darkness brewing. Dread and terror filled her as she saw it coming off the horizon. An army of people dressed in dark armor followed by disgusting demons marched straight toward the city walls at an incredible speed. Their speed would give the city's people no time to prepare. As the horrible group grew steadily closer, she could see at its front a man who emanated a powerful red aura. She felt her heart sinking in her chest when she saw him. She knew him. Somehow Zelda know him and she knew that he should be feared.

Zelda wanted to cry out. To tell him to stop, to warn the city of the upcoming danger, but she couldn't. She could only observe the scene before her with clenched fists. The guards posted at the city gates were able to close them, but that wasn't enough to keep the evil at bay. They made quick work of the gates and immediately began their storm through the streets. People screamed and cried as panic surged though them. Chaos ran ramped as some were slaughtered and others forced into quick hiding. Just as a core group of the army, including that man, made its way to the castle, a bright golden light illuminated the area, causing them to stop dead in their path and screech. Zelda searched frantically for the source of the light, recognizing it as the same glow of the Triforce that shows on her own hand. The light was brightest coming from the castle windows, as if the source of it was inside. From the windows she could also see small streaks of a bold green mixing with the shimmering gold, but it was soon overtaken as the gold grew. It engulfed the city, blinding her until she could only see blackness. As this happened, she heard a small voice. A woman's voice, with a light angelic quality.

Chosen hero of wisdom, find the bearer of courage and destroy the wielder of unnecessary power. The Goddesses bestow their blessings on you.

xxx

Zelda opened her eyes. She was once again in the small kitchen, her head now resting on Impa's lap. Her guardian sighed heavily in relief upon seeing her gain consciousness.

"Are you alright? Did the pain stop?" Impa asked, quickly.

"Yes, I'm fine," Zelda answered as she began to sit up. Her head spun slightly, but she did actually feel better than fine. The pain was completely gone, replaced with an energy she's only ever felt when casting magic spells. It was felt like sparks running through her veins. She surveyed the back of her hand again, seeing the Triforce return to its usual faint glow. It was strange, but she had the sense that the pain was needed to fully awaken her powers and her destiny. She would have taken a moment to relish in it, had for what she just witnessed.

Zelda turned back to Impa, eyes wide as the fear shot though her once again, but she calmed herself quickly.

"I… I just saw something, a vision," she began. Impa looked back at her attentively, but the look on her face showed as if she already knew what Zelda was about to say. "There's going to be an attack on the castle. The King of Evil is returning."

"Are you certain?" Impa questioned, seriously. The woman closed her eyes in concentrated thought when Zelda nodded. Her guardian stood with a sudden urgency, looking down at the young girl with stern, commanding eyes. "Pack your things. You're coming with me to Hyrule Castle."

Author's Note: And this begins the new tale of Zelda! You'll see as the story continues that I'm going to try my best to include little pieces and references of every main Zelda game in this story. If you're a little confused right now as far as whats going on, I will have a future chapter that does explain why everything is happening the way it is, but for now just know that pretty much every franchise game and the spin off game Hyrule Warriors are a part of this story's cannon and did happen as historical events. I've come up with a lot of stories in the past, but I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite stories I've come up with. With that being said, I'm setting a goal for myself to update the story at least once a week until it is finished. Will that actually happen? We'll see once I get bogged down with school work and actual work again come January! But do know that I actually have the plot of this story pretty extensively planned out in a journal from beginning to end, so I definitely won't forget my ideas. It's going to be a fun ride and I can't wait to share it with all of you!