Prologue:
Centuries have passed since the Hero of Twilight defeated Ganondorf, banishing the shadow from the land of Hyrule. Hyrule has flourished to the point where the people were becoming slack. They were not afraid, having no threat of evil since the Hero of Twilight and the princess Zelda defeated it long ago. With time, the great Heroes of the Goddesses slowly faded from memory. The great power of Hyrule, the Triforce, and the goddesses, who created it, lost all recognition within the people. The only lapse in peace was the great plague almost a century ago. The Hyrule slowly but surely began to wipe out the humans of Hyrule. Twenty years of the plague with no cure eventually took its toll leaving no humans left in Hyrule.
For how perfect Hyrule previously was, it could not be a perfect world forever. Soon, strange occurrences began to happen across Hyrule. Sightings of mysterious creatures have begun to pop up all over Hyrule. The weather was unusually dry causing a drought in Hyrule. Crops are dying and people began to worry about a food shortage amidst the coming winter. A general feeling of heaviness and stillness seeped into the air.
Fear of the unknown, the people pampered for so long, were beginning to mistrust one another. What was once a peaceful Hyrule is now on the verge of civil war. Families and villages stick together looking down at any outsiders. The royalty, trying to keep the peace among its people, use funds from its own coffers in an attempt to appease some of the troubles. It has troubles of its own; however, as the king of Hyrule has come down with a terrible illness. The princess, Zelda, forced by her father's illness, had to take the duties of ruler in her father's place. Being barely a teenager many look at her with contempt knowing she does not have what it took to be the ruler of Hyrule.
A cold, dry winter came and went leaving many hungry as spring has come still bringing no appeasement. Hoping for a better year, the workers of land, forced by the current state, work almost double what they have in past years to give the best chance for a better year. With the king still restricted to bed, the princess herself leaves the castle in attempt to d1o anything she can to save the dying land.
Link:
Link awoke to a warm sun shining on his face. He heard the sounds of birds chirping outside. He squinted waiting for his eyes to adjust to the bright light after a night of sleep. A female figure moved from the window removing her hands from the now open shutters. As she came into focus, he heard her voice.
"You can't just sleep for your birthday silly!"
Link just groaned. "Iris is too much of a morning person," Link thought.
"Come on sleepy head get up!" she said playfully.
"Give me a minute," Link said grumbling. As he got out of bed, the wood floor gave a slight creak accepting his weight. He raised his arms above is head and stretched yawning. He felt the warm sun on his bare chest. He looked over at Iris who stood smiling. Her shoulder length auburn hair was up into a ponytail. Her bangs lowered on her forehead were moving in the slight breeze coming through the window. Her simple white short-sleeved dress hung to her knees. A brown belt laid across her slim waist with a small pouch on it. Her green eyes were shining as she stood there looking at him. She then walked over to Link and gave him a friendly hug. The top of her head brushing against the bottom of Link's chin. The scent of her hair giving him a warm, comforting feeling. Her hair felt soft against his bare chest as he wrapped his arms around her.
"Happy birthday Link," she said as she broke away from the embrace smiling. "Get dressed and meet me downstairs."
Link just nodded and watched her leave his room, hearing her light footsteps as she walked down the steps just outside his room. He looked over at his desk at the end of his bed. He walked to it, the shadow of his body outlined on the wall from the sun on his back. He looked and saw a few papers, most folded with the words: Happy Birthday written on them. He smiled, turned, and moved to his dresser next to the window. As he got to his dresser, he looked outside of his window. He saw a few people milling about near the Ordon's center fountain, making a soft bubbling noise as the water poured from the top into its base. The town clock, opposite his house, left a looming shadow across the square. As they walked on the dry ground, they left small trails of dust behind them. Life had been hard the past winter in Ordon village. However, life went on for the village.
Link opened the middle of his three-door dresser. He pulled out one of his simple white tunics. He slipped it over his head. He grabbed his leather belt on the top of his wooden dresser and slipped it around his waist over his leather pants that he had slept in. He turned and walked toward the door. He grabbed his boots by the side of the door, and put them over his cool bare feet as he walked out of the door.
Link ran his hand over top of his blonde hair in an attempt to flatten it. He started walking down the stairs, his brown leather boots not making much noise other than the soft creak as he stepped on each stair. He reached the bottom of the stairs, and as expected, Iris was waiting for him.
"Took you long enough," Iris said in a serious tone. Link knew her well enough to know she was just messing with him as she always did. Link just shook his head at her with a smile.
"Come on let's get our chores done early today," she said with a smile showing her white teeth. Iris was Link's friend as long as he could remember. She was the only one in Ordon close to his age. All throughout childhood, as they grew up together, they were inseparable. A mysterious stranger brought Link to the village when he was just a baby. He did not belong to a single family, but to the village as a whole. As a child, he and Iris went and played like any normal child should, but when night came, he simply stayed at the village inn. The inn owner, Hal would be the closest thing to a father Link could imagine. Hal's wife died when Link was only a few years old, leaving him with very few memories of her. When he hit his teenage years, with the help of the villagers, they built a house for Link. He has been there ever since working for his stay in the village like everyone else. He worked for Iris' father at the mill since he could work. Her father always gave him and Iris chores and jobs for them to do, often things they did together.
Iris grabbed Link's hand as she led him out the door of his small house. As they walked off the wooden porch onto the dry dirt of the village road, the town clock began to ring it deep tone from the large bell in its tower.
"It's only 8," Link thought. "I should still be sleeping."
The pair headed toward the large windmill atop a nearby hill. They passed a few of Ordon's villagers like Agatha, the village's cloth maker and, Kori the village's blacksmith. Each one whishing Link a happy birthday as they passed. Link loved the Hylian people of the small village. Everyone was nothing but friendly to everyone. Unfortunately, Ordon had a large flour production for a lot of Hyrule. This caused the first pointing of fingers to be to them when the drought started. It made for unpleasant experiences if anyone outside of Ordon came through, or if any of the people of Ordon travelled outside of Ordona province.
As Link and Iris reached the mill, she let go if his hand as she put one hand on the doorknob and the other on the door to push it open. The familiar creaking of moving wood entered Link's ears as he walked through the door. The large central column with the grinding wheels moving by force of the windmill outside. The air inside was still, with dust able to be seen floating in the sunlight coming through cracks in the wooden walls.
"Iris, Link?" a gruff voice said from the small room in the back corner of the mill, where packing took place.
"Yes pa?" Iris returned.
"You need to get that north field planted today."
"But pa, it is Link's…" she started.
"I know honey but it needs to get done," the voice said as shuffling was heard. Iris sighed and turned to Link.
"Come on, we better get started" she said in a somewhat defeated voice. She went to a small bench on the wall closest to them. She grabbed two bags of seeds and handed one to Link putting the other in the small pouch in her belt. Link put the bag in his own pouch as the two walked out of the mill and back onto the dusty road again. As they turned and started to walk toward the edge of the village, Link heard a noise. It sounded like a deep horn off in the distance. He stopped and holding his hand out to stop Iris.
"What?" She said oblivious to the noise.
"I heard something" he responded. He walked down toward where the entrance to the village was. Iris followed him and slowly the sound of hoof beats entered the ears of the two standing on the road. They broke out into a run to get sight of the village entrance. They stood there in awe as they saw, followed by a large cloud of dust, a troop of riders. There was three large male riders in the front in heavy plate armor. The middle of the three was carrying a large banner. Following them was a girl no older than Link or Iris. Link could not help but look a little long at her. She was beautiful. Her brown hair was flowing free in the breeze, swaying down to her lower back. An ornate golden tiara rested on the top of her head. Following her were three other males wearing lighter leather armor. Each of their horses had large saddlebags overflowing with scrolls. Link went back to look at the female figure when he felt a sharp nudge in his ribs.
"Link," Iris whispered. "Look at the flag."
Link in an attempt to get a closer look at the light blue triangular flag blowing lightly in the soft spring breeze, he put his hand on his forehead to shield his eyes from the sun. He squinted slightly and saw a familiar shape of a golden triangle with a smaller black triangle inside of it. It was atop of an outline of a bird. Realization dawned on Link.
"What is the princess doing here?"
Alright, this is my first official fanfiction. Please, please, please review and let me know what you think! I know it is not much...yet. I have great plans for this I hope you all stick with me. For those of you that do I thank you in advance!