~*One: Premonitions*~
Disclaimer: I own neither The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, nor any succeeding Zelda games that may be referenced. This is merely a fanfiction. Enjoy.
Little sleep for the Hylian King on this night. Nightmares plagued his slumber. Death, destruction, tyranny of his land by an unknown, unspeakable evil. These were his dreams. As of late there had been many nights such as this one. Nary an hour of sleep for his royal majesty, Hyrule's 'Hero of Time', Link.
In a cold sweat he awoke. He looked at the wooden clock hanging on the far wall of his room, its pendulum swinging back and forth, back and forth. He had been asleep barely an hour. His wife, the great Queen Zelda, stirred on the side of their bed she called hers. "Link, darling, whatever is the matter?" she said drearily, eyes still half-closed. "It is…..nothing, my love, nothing at all."
As dawn broke, Link sat in a chair by the large window of his and his wife's bedroom. The Queen had long since awoken, dressed, and begun her day as Queen of Hyrule. Link found himself staring out the window, down on castle town and all its residents. He envied the townsfolk. Envied their simple lives, no treaties and peacekeeping attempts for them. Their only worry was keeping food on the table.
Link reminisced about before he became King. During his glory days when he was known far and wide as the "Hero of Time," the man who, in his youth collected the three spiritual stones and drew the great Master Sword, a blade that no evil could best. The man who slept for seven years only to awake and draw together the five elemental Sages. The man who defeated the malevolent Ganondorf, ending his tyrannical reign over his beloved Hyrule.
But alas, he was no longer this great man. He was but a shell of his former self, having aged many years past his prime. A middle-aged king with perpetual nightmares of his demise. He was, in a word, inferior to his former self.
The King's reverie of great times past was broken by a knock on the door. "Yes?" he said with an exhausted tone to his voice. He was answered by a welcome voice, that of his son, Prince Darsus, "It is me, father, Darsus, I was told you wanted to see me." Link, in his never-ending self pity thought of his son, Darsus, or "Dari," as he called his son, as his life's greatest accomplishment.
"Come in, my son, come in," Link said, running his fingers through his sandy blonde hair. The Prince opened the door and bowed respectively to his father. "Nonsense, Dari," Link proclaimed, "you have not a reason in all of Hyrule to bow down to me." Darsus nodded and brushed his strawberry blonde bangs out of his eyes, revealing a striking grin all the while.
He was a very handsome young man. The embodiment of chivalry and benevolence, although being a mere nineteen years of age. The Prince was well-known, and loved by his people. He had done many good deeds, ranging from helping citizens with day-to-day tasks to commanding an army in the defeat of a horde of Gerudo warriors, enraged at the defeat of their precious king,
Dari stood at six feet and two inches tall, weighing but one-hundred and seventy pounds, an athletic build considering his height. He was forever garbed in a tunic of the finest blue silk, embroidered with a magnificent silver trim. A cape and two silver pauldrons accompanied this tunic, both of equally grand quality.
His legs were wrapped in white leggings, quality leather boots on his feet, covered by silver greaves. Leather gloves and silver gauntlets clung to his wrists. An excellent swordsman, The Prince kept a sword like no other strapped to his leather belt, forged by the best Goron blacksmiths, the blade had been crafted from the finest steel that the Goron mines had ever produced. A golden hilt and cross guard sat atop the fine blade, a magnificent sapphire set in the pommel.
"I must talk to you, son," said Link, a grave expression on his face. The Prince sat down by his father, a worried look on his face, "Yes, father?" Link peered across the table, into his son's deep cerulean eyes. He started, "Dari, I believe that my time is coming to an end." Darsus' expression turned from worriment to shock, "Why do you say such things, father?" His eyes still locked with those of his son, Link replied, "I have had dreams, my son," he paused, "terrible dreams, depicting the devastation of our kingdom…and my death, by a tyrant like no other."
Dari shook his head, "Father, these dreams of your's are but mere nightmares brought about by your lack of sleep." It was true that Link had not had a full night's sleep even before the dreams started. After defeating the rogue Gerudo that had ravaged his kingdom, mere months before, the King had begun work on a peace treaty with the desert-dwellers. This treaty, although not yet completed, would prevent further attacks on the Kingdom of Hyrule.
"No, Dari," Link said with a more grave appearance than before, "these are not mere dreams. I believe they are premonitions." Dari shook his head and stood from his seat, "Father all is well in the kingdom. Who would possibly want to attack Hyrule and murder you? You are very well loved father." Link followed suit, standing as his son had, "Be that as it may son, I am not the hero I once was, and this threat my dreams have shown me is like none I have seen since the Dark Lord, Ganondorf, himself."
Dari chuckled slightly, his perfect jaw line rising and falling with his laughter, "Mere dreams, father. After all, Ganondorf was forever sealed in the Dark World by the Five Sages, a seal that none can break" he said as he turned to leave. "All I ask of you son is to be ready for whatever may lie ahead," were Link's final words as his son left his presence.