The Legend of Zelda: The Lost Key
Chapter 1
The rooster crowed on what seemed to be the earliest morning of Jade's life. She of course was up late last night thinking of somewhere she'd rather be. This farm was so plain and boring that she could hardly keep her head out of the clouds. It's not even the fact that she kept the same wearisome routine every single day; it was the fact that whenever she'd ask her parents about what was happening in the town of Kakorkio, that she had never been to, they would simply ignore her. The only thing her father would say was that the people of Hyrule were experiencing troubled times. Jade would spend her time daydreaming about what could possibly be the troubles of the town. She thought maybe a giant dragon or a dark plague, but of course everything came back to Lord Ganondorf, but Jade, who had never left the village, didn't worry about it too much.
She had only seen Ganondorf once in the past. He was one of the most frightening things she had ever seen. He was tall and muscular, not that the muscles mattered. Her father had told her about the dark and magical powers he possessed. She'd found a hiding spot and hid for the period of time he was there. He'd come to the Ranch on a great black horse wearing dark clothes and a long cape. It was a dreadful day. Jade's father was forced to give him seven of their ten horses so that he could give his soldiers a reward for helping him. It was a very hard time for their family. Luckily enough, one of the horses was pregnant. Now they had 15 horses, but when they didn't have many, it was a tough for their family.
She has also heard quite a few other things about Ganondorf. He was the one who started this whole war in Hyrule. The legend says that anyone who holds the legendary triforce would rule all the land of Hyrule. Well, of course Ganondorf was thirsty for power and decided he should take it for himself. In his struggle the triforce broke apart into two other pieces. Ever since he has been searching throughout the land to find the two missing pieces. He recently discovered one that was on the hand of Princess Zelda. He captured her and forced her to take his hand in marriage. Jade felt a twinge of sorrow for her. She imagined how horrible it would be to live with a monstrous man such as him. Now, he was off in search of the last piece.
Jade got dressed in her usual attire, farm boots, long black leggings, her blue farm skirt that went to about her knees, a long sleeved white shirt, and a tiny gold necklace, shaped like a triforce that had a diamond placed in the center, that she was given when she was born. She pulled her long blond hair back into a tight pony tail and proceeded down the stairs. "Good morning Jade," her mother said as she plopped another egg into a frying pan. "Good morning mother," sighed Jade. As Jade sat down at the table at her usual seat she found an abnormally large breakfast. "What's with all the food, mother?" She asked questionably. "Good gracious girl, don't you remember? It's your 17th birthday today!" Exclaimed her mother. Jade had completely forgotten. "I'm 17!!" She yelled as she jumped up and down in excitement. At that same moment her father walked in the door, "Good morning and happy birthday hunny," he said as we wiped sweat from him forehead. "Thanks daddy!" She exclaimed as she leaped into his arms for a hug. "How would you feel about taking a trip to the village this afternoon?" He asked. Jade's eyes lit up. "What? Oh my gosh really?" She squeaked. "Yes, your old enough now I think you can handle it." he said smiling. "Oh thank you father!!" she said, and with that she took off to her bedroom.
As she made her way back up the stairs to get some rupees she's saved up she realized she wasn't tired anymore. She couldn't believe that today was the day she was going to finally be able to get out of the ranch. She would get to see people. Not that she never saw people. There were the few that stopped by the ranch to do business and she had other friends that lived on the ranch, but today was they day she went out into the world of Hyrule.
She has saddled up her horse and galloped to the gate. On her way she passed James who was carrying two jugs of milk. James was a couple years older than her and very fond of her so she decided to make this a quick conversation. "Hey Jade, happy birthday. Where are you off too?" he said right on cue as he heaved the jugs along. "Oh I'm just going to the village with my father," she said dreamily."Well, that sounds like fun, if you want me to come along I will just be a moment," he gasped as he was now heaving the jugs faster. "No, that's okay," she said as she pulled ahead on her horse, "I'm leaving right now and I don't want to be too bothersome to you. See you when I get back!" With that, she was off towards the gate to meet her father. James was a nice boy and probably the best looking one in the village, but there was something about him Jade just didn't like.
As Jade and her father made their way across Hyrule field Jade had her eyes peeled. She was fascinated by everything she saw. The birds flying, the crystal clear river that flowed along the path, and the giant stone gates that lead to the castle. By the time they reached the steps to the village she was so excited she could hardly contain herself.
They entered the village and Jade immediately started to walk faster. She didn't want to miss anything. "Jade don't go too far, I'm just going to do some business with Edward and then I'll be back in an hour. Meet me over here by this tree," he called as he walked towards a local store. "Yes, daddy," she bellowed and then she shot off along all the buildings and stores.
She stopped at numerous places, one place of which she bought a new dress. It was dark blue and had silver lining around the collar and bottom. She also bought a couple different kinds of chocolates to bring home and share with her friends and family back at the ranch. She continued walking when she spotted a weapons store and decided to check it out. They were bound to have a good bow. Shooting a bow was one of her favorite things to do. It was also probably one of the few things she was good at. She could shoot better than all of the boys at the ranch. Her friends and her would steal their parent's bows and compete in entertaining contests to see who could hit chicken coop door from a distance. They heard it the next day when the door couldn't be opened, and of course Jade would get in the most trouble because she was the only one who could hit it.
Jade proceeded into the shop and began looking around. She started looking at a display of a unbelievably beautiful bow when she bumped a couple of arrows off the shelf. As she bent over to pick them up her blue eyes met a pair to match her own. Her heart skipped as the boy spoke, "I'll get that for you miss, these arrows are always falling off the shelf." "That's okay, it's my fault. I can be a little clumsy," she said blushing and lowering her eyes. They both stood back up and the boy placed the arrows back on the shelf. He stood about six feet tall, had short blond hair that fell just past his royal blue eyes, wore a green tunic, brown boots, and had an expression of mild curiosity. "Do I know you? I don't think I've ever seen you around here before," he said as he looked her up and down. "I – uh, this is my first time coming here," she said flustered. She felt as though she was being X-rayed. "What's your name?" He asked making his way over to a dagger display that needed reorganizing. "Jade," she said shyly. "Jade Lightstone? That ranchers daughter?" he asked. She nodded. "Heh, small world. Your father bought a quiver here a little while back. He mentioned your name. I'm Link," he said offering his hand. "Nice to meet you Link," she said grasping his hand and giving it a hard shake. "The pleasure is mine," he said smirking and staring into her eyes. She smiled feeling her cheeks get rosy and said, "Well, I have to meet my father soon. I think I'll be off," and with that she sped out the door.
'Why was he looking at me like that?' Jade asked herself as she slowly walked back towards the spot she was suppose to meet her father. 'He was so close to me all of a sudden, and how was I suppose to react? I looked like an idiot.' Jade snapped out of her thoughts when she saw a sight that made her heart sink. Her father was on the ground holding his nose as blood gushed from it. Standing above him was a group of creatures. They resembled men, but their skin was colored a puke green and they were much larger and uglier. They wore dark clothes bearing a symbol of a red triangle, no doubt the sign of Ganondorf. "Where is she?" one of them barked as he kicked her father. Jade gasped as he let out a cry of pain. "Come on old man, don't make me kill you," the same creature said. "I-I don't know," he stammered. "Liar!" the creature said loudly giving him another kick. "Leave him alone!" Jade hollered as she began to run towards her father. Her father looked up and his eyes grew wide. "No Jade!" he screamed. Jade suddenly felt something strong grasp her wrist, pulling her back, away from the scene. "Come on," he said as he began dragging her in the opposite direction. She then reconized the voice and realized it was Link. "Link," she breathed, as they were now sprinting into a crowd of people. "We have to help my father." "He'll be fine," he said quickly, "They have no reason to kill him."