Alliance

Mark three. Hopefully the last time I have to do this to chapter one.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda, that right belongs to Nintendo.

Chapter 1:

Link, a young man about seventeen years old, was wandering the calm plains of Hyrule field. As he was walking in the calm, early morning sunlight, he heard a snarling noise. Link turned his head towards the noise and saw a large, pink, club-wielding moblin running towards him. The moblin quickly made it to Link and swung its club at Link's head. He ducked, but the moblin's club knocked his hat off, revealing his blonde hair. Link, noticing the massive torso of the moblin, kicked its feet out from under it, hoping that it would lose its balance due to the disproportional size of the moblin's arms and chest compared to its relatively small legs. As the moblin flayed about on the ground, hideous pig-like face snarling, Link drew his sword, feeling the balance of the blade. The moblin somehow managed to get to its feet and ran towards Link, club raised and hideous snout grinning in a sort of primitive joy. At the last second of the moblin's charge, so quickly it wouldn't have been able to react even if it saw the attack coming, Link thrust his sword into the heart of the moblin, killing it instantly. Instead of bleeding, the moblin turned black and disintegrated into purple smoke. Link, accustomed to this reaction from the hundreds of thousands of monsters he had killed, just rolled his eyes and put his standard, military-grade sword that he was given to replace the Master Sword back in its sheath and quickly ran to Hyrule Castle.

As Link ran towards the castle, he passed by a couple of trees in the field until he eventually made it to the large, forbearing drawbridge that marked the entrance to Hyrule Castle Town. The guards at the gate saluted him as he passed. Link ran through the town, past all of the stalls. Since it was still pretty early in the morning, there were few people up and about the town, but several people were still there to shout "Hail the Hero of Hyrule!" as he passed. Link ignored them, his mind focused on getting to the castle. He had to get to the castle.

Link ran out the back entrance of the town, past the Happy Mask Shop, and into the small field that surrounded Hyrule Castle. Link ran past the guards who saluted him or muttered "Hail, Hero," as he passed. He ran through the gates erected along the road to regulate traffic, though there was little at this time of the morning. Link noticed the new gargoyles along the ramparts of the gates. They disturbed him, but he was too focused to figure out why. Link continued running, showing the guards his remarkable cardiovascular endurance, past the field, over the bridge that the guards used to avoid swimming in the now zola-filled moat, until he at last stood at the doors of Hyrule Castle.

Link burst through the large, golden doors of Hyrule Castle, running past all the ornate tapestries and statues of the Goddesses, past all of the stained glass windows depicting beautiful pictures of past princesses and battle, to the large, golden throne, where Zelda sat, looking as beautiful as ever. Her long, golden hair shook as she turned to look at him, puzzled by his apparent urgency. Most times Link burst into the castle like that, unannounced, something had gone seriously wrong. "Link, what's going on? What happened?" she asked, worried that someone was grievously ill or severely injured. Last time Link burst in like that, Rusl was severely injured by a wolfos and was in desperate need of medical attention.

"Zelda, someone's back. Some villain is back, and we're completely unprepared!" Link replied hysterically.

"Link, I need you to calm down. Now, please tell me why you think that a villain has returned," Zelda calmly replied. She was accustomed to this sort of thing. Link would occasionally burst into the throne room and tell her that some villain has returned because he had a nightmare and saw some villain. Link would think that it's a vision, but he never had any real proof. Zelda would get the castle ready, just in case, but Link's nightmares proved themselves to be just that; nightmares. Zelda thought it was a form of post-traumatic stress.

"I just fought a moblin, and I'm positive I wiped all the moblins out a long time ago. The only way a moblin could possibly roam Hyrule now is if someone remade one, and the only people twisted enough to create such hideous creations would have to be some villain!" Link said.

"Whose moblin? Who do you think made it out?" Zelda, though often doubtful of Link's belief in a villain returning, had no problem believing what he says. Link never lied, and although he may get a little paranoid when it comes to villains returning, Zelda believed in what he says. If Link said he fought a moblin, then Zelda knew that Link fought a moblin. Link's dreams were one thing; his real-life experiences were another. And, since Zelda knew Link was never in a dream-like state (he was either fully awake or completely out, never in between), she immediately dismissed the possibility of a day-dream or hallucination.

"It looked kind of like both. During Ganondorf's reign, the moblins all bore either clubs or crude iron swords and they were an average size, like my size, and a greenish color. When Vaati was around the moblins all carried spears and were pink, with disproportionally huge upper torsos. The moblin I fought was pink and had a disproportionally huge upper torso, but it carried a club. I'm not sure whose moblin this is. If I had to hazard a guess I'd say it's likely Vaati's, but I'm not very sure of that. The fighting style was similar to the moblins Ganondorf used," Link replied.

"Then we have to check. Come with me!" Zelda quickly darted out the back door that Link knew led to the sanctuary where the Four Sword was kept. Link followed her, having to sprint to catch up.

As they ran down a long flight of stairs Zelda said to Link "Personally I'd rather it be Vaati who is free. He's a lot weaker than Ganondorf and he'd only require a little beating by the Four Sword to reseal." That was Zelda, even in the possible moment of a crisis she always looked at things in an academic, analytical way, kind of like a tactician. She rarely got directly involved in anything, so she didn't fully understand the danger that even Vaati presented. Though, in her defense, she was a statue during most of Vaati's reign.

Zelda turned down into the dark basement of Hyrule castle and ran outside a small door into the sanctuary, where Vaati lay, sealed within the Four Sword. The sanctuary was outside and very green. There were bushes and trees scattered everywhere, with several insects and birds flying around. The sun shone brightly here, even though it was fairly early in the morning. The area around the Four Sword, however, was dark and dead. The sun's rays didn't seem to reach that little circle around the sword. Even the insects that buzzed around them wouldn't go near it. The Four Sword was still in its enchanted pedestal that was supposedly holding Vaati. Zelda walked up to it and examined it, waving her hands over it and muttering under her breath. Link figured she was casting a spell to figure out if the seal had been broken.

"I don't see anything wrong with this seal. That means it was probably Ganondorf whose moblin you just killed," she said. Zelda seemed to grow a bit more nervous, which Link understood. After all, Ganondorf was the one who captured Zelda while she was fully conscious.

"Uh, Zelda, the area around it is completely dead. What makes you think it wasn't Vaati?" Link asked. Link noticed that when Zelda got focused, she tended to ignore some obvious things. Link knew very little about magic; he preferred to use his common sense, brains, and brawn to solve his problems, not some fancy spells. Link's reluctance to use magic extended to a reluctance to use magical items. Link refused to use the Four Sword until it came time to seal Vaati. Link also preferred to use the Biggoron sword until he had to fight Ganondorf. Link was also hoping that, if someone had to be free, that it'd be Vaati. Link's nightmares after fighting Vaati were considerably less intense than the ones he got after beating Ganondorf. Vaati was evil, and a very nasty villain, but he was no where near as bad as Ganondorf. Vaati had a some obvious and easily manipulated weaknesses that Link was able to use to beat with Vaati a basic, simple sword before sealing him away into the Four Sword. Ganondorf had no such weaknesses. Link's victory was solely due to the power of the Master Sword. On top of all that, Zelda's obvious concern over it being Ganondorf was helping to remind Link why he was so terrified of that man. Link was terrified at this point, but his adventures led him to ignore his fear and push on anyway. Fear was something that Link only noted; he never acted out of fear anymore.

"The area around the Four Sword is dead because Vaati's evil magic seeps through the seal and kills the land. That's also why the seal breaks every so often; because Vaati is stronger than the sword he's trapped in," Zelda replied.

"Hang on a minute, does that mean Ganondorf is stronger than the Master Sword?" Link asked. Link, despite the situation, couldn't help but feel both shock and a guilty bit of pride.

"No," Zelda said. Link's small flash of pride quickly faded, "but since we sealed Ganondorf in the Sacred Realm, he may have found another way out. The Sacred Realm is kind of like a parallel to our world. There are ways in and out besides the main entry sealed by the Master Sword, and the seal is as strong as the blade. No one is stronger than the Sword of Evil's Bane, but both Vaati and Ganondorf are stronger than the Four Sword. The Four Sword cannot repel evil, either, so it's all around a worse sword. Well, you'd better get to the Temple of Time and get the Master Sword so you can vanquish Ganondorf again."

Link gave Zelda a long look saying something like, "You mean we'd better get to the Temple of Time." Link really doubted Ganondorf would stay in the Temple; in fact, that was the exact opposite of what Link expected Ganondorf to do. Who would want to stay in the place that held the gate to one's prison? And Link wanted Zelda to be there when he pulled the sword, in case something happened. Last time Link touched that sword he was trust seven years into the future. Link wanted Zelda there in case something else went magically wrong, so she could hopefully fix it.

Zelda sighed and turned around to exit the sanctuary and exited the castle. Link followed, without saying a word, and the two of them walked through the basement of Hyrule Castle, into the Castle Town. It was still fairly early in the morning, so the town's usual chaos wasn't present, though it was a bit more active than when Link had first arrived. Link and Zelda walked to the Temple of Time, which was just barely out of town. It was far enough away to not be disturbed by the normal activity of Hyrule Castle Town, but close enough to still be in full view and easily accessible to any who wanted to go there.

Link and Zelda entered through the grand archway and passed through the huge antechamber, passing several tall, ornate pillars. The early morning light passed through the stained glass windows, illuminating the room in an array of mystical colors. The candles and torches that were always lit, kept that way by magic, added to the overall mystical feel of the room.

They proceeded to pass through the doorway that once used to be the Door of Time into the inner chamber, the chamber where the Master Sword rested. The light came into that room through a single skylight, and the light settled on the Master Sword, giving the weapon a holy look.

Link walked up to the Master Sword, reached for it, "Stop, Link!"

Link, surprised, turned around and looked at Zelda. Her face was pale, and she looked scared. "What? Why?" Link stuttered.

"The pedestal holding the Master Sword is glowing. Don't you dare pull that sword!" Zelda commanded. Link just continued to stare at her.

Eventually, Link asked "What does the glowing have to do with Ganondorf being sealed?"

"When the pedestal glows it means that the Sacred Realm is sealed. Ganondorf didn't open a way out," Zelda said.

"Then who made the moblin?" Link asked.

"I don't know. Maybe Zant?"

"Zant's dead. He was killed during the battle against Ganondorf. Is it possible that a new villain is roaming the land?"

"I guess so. Someone made that moblin, and all known villains are accounted for," Zelda said.

Link was about to say something when his hand began to glow. The mark tingled with a kind of raw energy. The mark on the back of his hand was reacting to something, Zelda's was, too. They both turned and looked at the entrance of the Temple. Link saw a huge, black shadow monster with a long snout-like face and sharp claws on its hands approach them. The creature walked on all fours, though it looked as though it could easily walk on its hind legs and use its claws as weapons.

Zelda threw a bright, golden ball of magic at it, but the creature seemed to absorb it. Link, having mastered the art of aiming almost instantaneously, shot a light arrow at the creature, but it had no affect. The creature kept on walking towards them, the arrow sticking out of its shoulder. Link threw the ball and chain at it, but the creature caught it and yanked it out of Link's hands. It crushed the ball and chain in its hand and threw it away like it was trash. Both Link's and Zelda's eyes grew wide with fear. The mark on the back of his and Zelda's hands grew brighter. The creature approached even closer. Link drew his sword and readied himself for an intense fight. The creature kept walking. It was now in the room containing the Master Sword. Link lunged at it, faster than the eye could see, but the creature caught the sword and threw it, with Link still holding onto it, to the side. Link hit the ground, hard. The creature kept going. Zelda tried to blast it with a large amount of magic at close quarters, but it had no affect this time, either. The marks on the back of Link's and Zelda's hands grew even brighter. The creature kept walking towards the Master Sword. Zelda stood in the way of the creature, as if to protect the Master Sword. It kept walking. Zelda remained unmoving. Link was not going to let that creature kill Zelda, and leapt in the way of the creature, shoving Zelda aside in the process. Zelda gasped in surprise and, after she saw what Link had done, yelled something that Link didn't quite catch. Link stuck his arms out to the side in a sort of "You shall not pass!" way. The creature grabbed Link by the throat and lifted him up off the ground. The mark on the back of his hand glowed incredibly bright. As the light hit the creature it howled in pain and threw Link at Zelda, knocking them both to the ground. Zelda screamed in pain, Link merely grunted, but couldn't move because of the pain in his arm. The creature hissed at them and kept walking towards the Master Sword. The mark on Link's hand dimmed down to the same brightness as Zelda's. The creature stopped in front of the Master Sword, reached out to grab it, grabbed it, and howled out in pain. The Master Sword began to glow. The creature exploded in a blast of light, knocking Zelda out and nearly knocking out Link. Before Link passed out he heard a voice saying "It failed. Lord Ganondorf is still sealed. Time to try Lord Vaati's seal."

Author's Note:

Third attempt. Well, third times a charm, right? Hopefully this edition is notably better and I don't need to redo it again. So, please review, tell me what you think. Newcomers, I would appreciate any ideas regarding plot and what you thought of my story so far. Sorry about the next few chapters, I still need to go back and edit them. Trying to get chapter one before the next few. People who have already read this, please let me know how improved this version is from the last one.