Author's note: So many years ago, back when Wind Waker hadn't even been released and I was just starting high school (around 2002 or so) I thought it'd be a cool idea to write up a sequel to Ocarina of Time. This was back before I understood that game design was brutal and that, for the most part, the Zelda franchise was a Japan-exclusive club for development purposes. So instead now I'm going to write it in fan fiction!
… yay!
Warning: I have no intention of following the official timeline. This story, and any subsequent stories, are my own but the majority of the characters and setting are not. All of those rights are reserved by Nintendo. All hail the big N.
Also, I'm probably not going to dabble too much into romance or pairings, at least not in this story. Maybe in a future one. At any rate, this story takes place ten years after the original events in Ocarina of Time after Link returned to the past. In this timeline, Link travels abroad after going back in time, which leads to the events in Link's Awakening. He has just returned home to Hyrule.
And sorry about the angst. Link lives a hard life.
When she was little, the courtyard had been her favorite place in the world. Her own small sanctuary that brought her close to nature but not too far from the things that mattered most. How many times had she spied on her father as he greeted dignitaries, embassies, and the highly esteemed? It had all seemed so magical back then, as though she was part of that center of the world.
And apparently, so she had been. Her interference had been enough to bring about utter catastrophe, though at the time she couldn't believe it, insisted that her visions were all true and they must do something, get the sacred stones, boy of the prophecy, we must defeat him together!
She hadn't seen the sadness in his eyes then. That flicker of hope being dashed, as though something terrible within him had cracked. He went to Impa, then, and told her his story.
There was still the thrilling adventure. The three of them traveled Hyrule together and gathered the sages, then lured Ganondorf into the Sacred Realm. Everyone had been waiting for him, but he was no easy foe, and few of the sages were warriors. Realms above, most of us had been children. Impa, Darunia, Rauru and Nabooru were really the ones who had taken him down. Even Link was trapped in stasis, if only briefly.
He still reached the Triforce in the end, and it split apart as it had before. But that, ironically, had been exactly what they needed: Ganondorf's shock at the Triforce rejecting him gave everyone enough time to forge the seal. Freeing Link from the Master Sword's stasis was an easy affair, and then they returned home, relishing in their victory.
Link was the last to go, but not home. He wanted to travel, to find his companion (some fairy, apparently; wasn't there a fairy in her dream back then? It was so long ago now…), to find adventure. He couldn't go home, he said. Not to stay. She offered to let him stay in the castle, but he was adamant.
So she left him with the ocarina. Another time, another person, that would have been incredibly foolish: even Impa bristled at first. But in their short time together, she saw his immense bravery and self-sacrifice, his courage and honor. She could think of no better person to entrust it to. They played some songs together, and with tears in his eyes, he bade her farewell.
After he had left, she found herself heading to the courtyard, lost in her thoughts. What once seemed so big and full of mystery was now confining, a tiny playground compared to the vast world out there. It could no longer compare.
She never went back to the courtyard again. But as she grew older, she did ask for her father to let her start a garden. One that would let her capture that feeling of excitement and freedom, to give her that corner of adventure her heart desired. Naturally the king could not refuse her; what father could?
And such a magnificent garden it became. A swath of verdant field so large the castle walls could barely be seen, covered in fragrant blossoms and blooms of every color she could find. Towering oaks and resplendent maples, lush willows and narrow pine. Ponds and streams ran hither to yonder, carrying all variety of carp and koi, frog and turtle, and colorfully-plumed birds danced and wove across the sky. And at night, when the animals grew calm and the air cool, the fireflies would wake from their slumber and shine their eerie soft light upon the earth's sleeping form while crickets chirped their lullaby.
It was her favorite place in the world to be. Whenever she could break from her studies or escape the duties of a princess, she would be in the garden. It was there that she practiced her magic, where Impa helped her see the Unseen, and where she learned the ways of a Shiekah. Ganondorf had taught her that, if nothing else, she needed to be prepared to defend herself, and Hyrule, from any threat. She couldn't simply expect someone like Link to show up and save the day.
What self-respecting monarch could?
Zelda closed her eyes, feeling the breeze flow across her face, stray strands of hair trying in vain to follow. Link was due to arrive home soon; she had seen it in a dream last night. It filled her with a tremendous joy when she saw that he would return, safe and alive. Her last vision had been terrible, of storms and lightning and a dark cloud seeping into Link's mouth and nose, as though it were trying to consume him from the inside. She had feared the worst, but whatever trials he had faced had been overcome, goddesses be praised.
She walked the grassy paths, a colorful bouquet in her left hand as she searched about for the most perfect blossoms. She intended to be there to greet Link as soon as his ship arrived at the docks, and she could not be there empty-handed.
As she bent down to inspect the fire roses, she felt someone approaching discreetly from behind her. They paused for a moment, then settled into a relaxed pose, with an air that they could switch to deadliness in an instant. Her mouth quirked into a smile; she would know that stance anywhere.
"The garden's doing well today, don't you think, Impa?"
The Shiekah showed no surprise, of course. She had trained Zelda personally how to sense her surroundings, listen for soft footfalls and rustling leaves, cast her aura about to feel the flows of life and power that surround her. Had Zelda been caught unaware, that would have been more of a surprise. And would have earned no small scolding, to boot.
"It is well as always, your highness."
Always of few words. She grinned as she plucked the perfect blossom and added it to the bouquet, giving it a splash of burnt orange and red. She turned around and smoothed her dress self-consciously, as she always had when she was a child. She gave a tsk and ruefully looked around the garden, trying to hide her embarrassment. She presented her bouquet so far to the warrior, trying not to act too much like the excitable child that she was feeling right now. "I think I will present these flowers to Link when he arrives, as a welcoming gift of course. What do you think, Impa?"
With little more than the half-smile that Impa would always show when she was amused, she casually remarked, "I don't believe the boy to be as wild about flowers as you are, your highness."
Zelda's cheeks flushed for a moment, but she brushed off the momentary embarrassment with an air of playful royal haughtiness. "Nonsense! I'm sure he could use some color in his life, after all of his adventures." She bent down to examine some nearby daisies, picking several choice samples to add. "Something to comfort him whenever he feels blue, no?"
Impa looked around dismissively, clearly not in agreement. "If you say so, your highness."
With a grunt, Zelda thrust the flowers into Impa's hands. "Don't you 'your highness' me! Make yourself useful and hold these while I gather some more." Waiting just long enough to catch Impa's surprised look on her face (that is to say, her eyebrows ever so slightly rise), she twirled about and began to head toward a nearby creek, hoping the horsetails were at their fullest.
She was not disappointed, naturally. As she gathered up several stems into her arms, Impa slowly followed, watching the princess with passive amusement. "Your father has given up telling me to keep you out of the water, by the way," she mentioned, "though you are causing the laundry boys no small amount of grief, to be sure."
Zelda waved a dismissive hand. "I must give them something to do, mustn't I? Have to make our lives interesting… where is it now…"
A smile spread across Impa's face, which would have shocked Zelda had she been looking at that moment. In moments the indifference returned, and she began studying her surroundings again, sniffing the air slightly.
Finally satisfied with what she had gathered, Zelda gathered up her dress and mucked her way out of the creek, trying not to laugh as she stumbled through the mud and rushes. "Impa, if I ever take father's place, do not let me be so boring as to never wade a river in these shoes again!" She expected to hear a retort or at least one of her grunts, but Impa didn't reply at all. Finally out of the mud, she looked up and saw Impa fixated at something in the distance, brow furrowed in worry.
She paused for a moment, trying to read Impa's mood. Were they under attack? No, Impa hadn't armed herself or sounded a warning. She was tense, though, she saw as she came to the guardian's side. "Impa, what is it?"
Even as the Shiekah raised her hand to point, Zelda had already cast her gaze where her old nurse was watching, and what she saw took her breath away. Pitch black clouds tumbled and boiled over each other, lightning crashing across the sky with careless abandon. Trees bent and swayed to the violent wind as rain pelted the ground, all only a few scant miles away. She was certain that only moments ago none of that had been there save for some stray clouds.
Zelda felt her body go tense, the urge to flee to the safety of the castle overwhelming. "What—what kind of storm is that?" She tried to calm herself, to cast her aura towards it, sense the magic that she knew must be creating such a terrible storm, but her nerves were failing her.
The woman beside her suffered no such issues, or was better at not showing it. She placed a strong hand on Zelda's shoulder, pulling her toward the castle, to safety. "A dangerous one, princess. We must get inside. Now."
She nodded slowly, confused and frightened. Of course, they must get to safety. The alarm bells would sound soon, with a storm like this. But this wasn't right, nothing was right about this! As she felt herself being pulled along by Impa, she could feel the gentle breeze pick up pace, teasing the imminent danger. The castle was so far away, how would they even make it?
She shook her head. She was being extremely foolish. The princess of Hyrule was not helpless to a mere storm, even a magical one. She pulled herself out of Impa's grip and cast her hands around her, conjuring a protective field. Even the lightning wouldn't penetrate it, and she needed to know. What could make this storm? Could this be an attack?
Could it be…
"Princess!"
Impa was outside the field. She didn't even realize that. It didn't worry her, but she knew that would worry Impa. She quickly lowered the charm, moved to Impa, and restored it.
This, apparently, did nothing to alleviate her concern. She grabbed Zelda's arm, but this time did not pull. "This is foolish, princess! And you've only weakened yourself by casting that charm twice now. Let us away, now!"
"No!" She shouted, the wind starting to shriek around them. She could hear the peal of the bells in the distance, sounding the alarm, far too late to be of much help to those who had been caught unaware. There was nothing she could do about that. She cast her aura toward the storm, into the clouds.
She expected magic, but not this powerful. Not this raw, this terrifying. There was anger, an awesome might behind it that was beyond her understanding. She felt like a pebble weighed against a mountain, suffocated by such an incredible aura. She pulled herself back, eyes wide.
"This is wrong!" she shouted. The rain pelted the barrier every which way now, how long had she been away? Seconds surely. Already it was upon them? "This storm is not right! Can't you feel it, Impa?"
"All I feel is the charm failing us, princess. We must go, now!"
She was right. Even now, she could feel stray drops falling onto her dress and arms, brief fits of gust twirling around them as the barrier began to fail. Even if they ran now, they would only barely make it back. But still… that aura…
"Impa, I am going to the Temple of Winds."
"Princess—"
She raised her hand up, commanding silence. "No time, Impa. You must get Link, he must know of this. Bring him to the temple." Even as she spoke she began to prepare the teleportation spell, knowing she'd have to leave Impa in the maelstrom outside. She did not worry too much; if the Shiekah had proven anything, it was that she could easily handle herself.
"But princess! What if you come across monsters?"
"No time! Just go! Just go!" She could feel the light grow within her as the spell took hold, could feel herself slipping into a ball of pure light. She could not think of Impa now; she threw her concentrated form toward the sky, toward the direction where the answers lay to her greatest fear.
So that's the first chapter of my first fan fiction... ever! Let me know what you guys think!