C1: The Cycle Begins Anew

Long ago, the world was filled with nothingness and endless grey, there was no green earth to walk upon or cool waters which filled seas farther than a mortal's gaze could reach. No change or progress caused the world to move and life to flow. But then a golden light came forth to illuminate that which had known no such luminescence ever before. Three sisters, born from some need for creation to change, emerged from that blessed light, and set to fulfill their purpose.

Din, the first of the sisters, raised her flaming arms and wrought upon the world with sheer force. With pure will she brought about the shifting lands, the great mountains she raised, and valleys she carved with ease. Deserts began to form and great canyons emerged as the earth shattered before the power of Din. She shaped the land and its future, creating the cradle for all that would come to be. Then her flames subsided, and she lowered her hands to allow for her sisters to do their work.

The second came forth, Nayru was her name, and with patient wisdom she poured out her laws upon the world. She filled the valleys and great basins with water and the beginnings of life, setting forth the order that would dictate all things to come. The endless tides she set in motion and the rivers she caused to course through Din's canyons and great fissures. With methodical and deliberate will Nayru set the stage for the last sister to complete their shared task.

When the last rose up, she looked upon what her sisters had caused to be, then leapt onward into her work with unbridled enthusiasm. Farore's dancing and whirling presence spun the wind behind her, sending gales and breezes across that which the others had set forth. By her will were the beings, spirits, and organisms of the world given the courage to grow and change. Of the three, Farore brought the most joy unto her work.

When, at last, the three sisters finished shaping what would become our world, they looked upon it and felt pride in what they had done. But even as their task came to a close, they felt that their work required guardianship and guidance. To this end they each created a guardian who would protect this beautiful world. Din brought up a spirit of such power that no one being could defeat him, gracing them with fire. Nayru set a being of wisdom to watch over and guide, granting her magic that would uphold the order which had been set forth. Farore, unlike her sisters, set two forces to safeguard the life she so adored. One was a being similar to that which Nayru had caused to be, but with powers over time. The other was a spirit of indomitable courage, which would sleep until the need arose.

Satisfied with what they had done, the three Goddesses departed, leaving behind a symbol of their power that would become the center of all that which would to come to pass. Three golden triangles, which existed within both the Sacred Realm of the three sisters, and in the world which they had formed. The three pieces were granted unto the avatars that were set to guard their creation, and when unified they could grant any wish. In the ages to come this would be called the Triforce.

And so creation began to move, the world turned and life grew and died, the seas swelled and danced beneath the shifting sky as rocks wore down to sand and were crushed back into form. But it would not remain so forever. The avatar of Power, Din's chosen, began to grow restless. He sought to prove himself against another, but none existed which could best him. An enmity for the Goddess who had caused this to be grew within the spirit, and slowly he became darker and more filled with rage. As a final test of his power, the spirit sought to conquer all else the Goddesses had created.

The spirit, known now as Demise, began to burn and crush any and all things that would dare stand before him. With flaming swords and dark magic he swept across the world like a sea of smoke, choking the trees and incinerating the creatures. This sudden assault caught the other defenders off guard, and it was too late for them to stop Demise entirely. So Nayru's chosen, now named Hylia, the unnamed Goddess of Time, and the now awakened spirit of courage, sealed Demise away and set a plan in motion to destroy him forever.

But ultimately, they would fail, and all that the Goddesses had wrought fell into a cycle of destruction and rebirth. Over and over again the land was torn apart by fire, rage, and darkness; only to for the guardians to rise up once again to seal evil away. For thousands of years did this repeat itself, but each time the world moved forward just that much more, on to its final destination.

But that would not come for many eons yet, and now the world has found itself mired in the depths of one of the most brutal cycles it has ever seen. Time itself seems to have warped around the lands of the kingdom called Hyrule, with monsters and spirits roaming its once verdant fields. Few, if any, remained completely free of the darkness that choked the life and will from all else. Even the earth seemed to bend knee to that awful power.

It was now, when the hour was latest, and even Hylia herself had become silent, that the Spirit of Courage awoke once more. His wail carried across the stark night, the quiet torn asunder as he was born at last. As his ailing mother breathed her last, the mark of Farore became visible upon his hand, and the father was filled with fear. Driven to madness through the death of his wife and the horrors that had taken all the world, the man cast his only child into the waters of Zora's River, where he was caught by one of those for whom the river was named.

The Zoras did not know what to do with the abandoned child, so they reached out to their ailing guardian, a great fish known as Jabu-Jabu. The dying servant of Nayru could only speak the name of Ordon, the forest spirit, before returning to his slumber. So the boy was taken to the lands which had been spoken of, a place of deep woods and old magic buried deep within the earth itself. The two zora's to whom Farore's chosen had been given, left the child with the forest children and their guide, the Deku Tree.

And so hope lay far from those who needed it, courage grew within the Lost Woods of Ordon, and failing hearts felt that distant spark.