A/N: Hello, my dear readers! I have decided to write another LoZ fic, as you might have guessed. I want to explain that this fic takes place four centuries after the original Twilight Princess, so there will be new characters accompanying our Link and Zelda. We will see some familiar characters as well. Also, this will be a fic that ships ZeLink and there might be some lemon... just not sure when (if at all). I also want to say that I added elements of all my favorite games, like ALttP, OoT, and TP; maybe more in the future. As there aren't many animals in the LoZ games, I am using animals that appear throughout the entire franchise, even if they don't particularly belong to TP or its Timeline. Forgive any and all typos. I hope you enjoy!


The smoke could be seen from miles away. Thick, black smoke ascended towards the evening sky. Link wondered what was going on and where, for the smoke was not coming from Death Mountain; the active volcano his uncle had told him about. His father and his uncle told him humorous tales of their adventures in various places in the Kingdom of Hyrule, back when they had been young men themselves. Link envied them and spent his days day-dreaming about having adventures of his own one day. He had never stepped outside of this hamlet in the outskirts of Ordona Province. The farthest from home he had ever been was Ordon Village, about an hour east of where he lived, and that could hardly count as an adventure as the path to Ordon Village was straightforward. A thin, dirt road connected the two, and the only thing of any real interest was the tiny pond along the way that was full of curious little fairies Link had always admired but had never dared approach. He closed the curtain to his window and flopped down on his bed. He wanted to go out. And not just out, because he was outside most every day, tending to the cattle, the horses, and the cuccos. He had to help with raking the leaves during autumn and harvesting food for the winter. He was also the errand boy, so to speak, sending messages from Gaeboran, his home, to Ordon Village. He usually accompanied his father or uncle to Ordon, where they traded and sold merchandise and other goods like milk, cheese, rice, leather, furs, cloth, and weapons. Once in a while, they made weapons especially for the Royal Family, which was neat because his father was an expert swordsman and his uncle was a renowned blacksmith. Now, at the tender age of twelve, Link was proud to say that he knew a thing or two about being a blacksmith and a swordsman. Both father and uncle taught him when either of them had free time. So, no, Link wasn't a prisoner or anything of the sort. He just wanted to go out and see the world. See what his father talked about with his own eyes. He wanted to meet a Goron… swim with a Zora. He wanted to see what the members of the Royal Family looked like in person, not just the oil paintings he had seen in his father's tiny study.

There was a knock on his door followed by his father's entrance. His face was grim, and that could only mean one thing: bad news. Link wondered if a wolf had attacked the cows again. Maybe a keaton had run off with a goat. Maybe, he thought rather cheerfully, the cuccos had fled. Those nasty birds had a habit of pecking Link for no reason!

"Link," his father said seriously, "I have just received a message from Ordon. Hyrule Castle has been infiltrated. The enemy is wreaking havoc and they need reinforcements. I have to go," he explained to Link, who stared at his father.

"Can I come, too? I can help!" he said bravely. His father gave him a fond smile before shaking his head.

"No, Link. You must stay with Maco. You two will have to craft weapons as fast as the two of you possibly can," his father said. Link frowned.

"I don't want to stay with Uncle Mac. How long will you be away?" he huffed, crossing his arms across his chest. Here was the perfect opportunity to visit Hyrule Castle and he had to stay put!

"I don't know, son. I don't know how bad the situation is yet. Maybe a day, maybe a week... I don't know. All I know is that I have to leave right now," his father replied.

"Fine," Link said after a moment. "But... promise you will bring me a bow when you return? Just like the one you used to have. I've been saving my rupees," he said, walking over to the small desk in his room. Opening the drawer, he pulled out a small, brown bag. Rupees jingled inside as he handed the bag to his father, who laughed good-heartedly.

"Alright. I promise," he said, hugging his son. Link followed him outside, where other men had gathered.

"Gaelin, there you are. We have to move fast if we want to make it before morning" one man said.

"Well I'm ready... is everyone else ready too?" Link heard his father say. There was general agreement by the gathered men as they all mounted their horses as wives and children said their goodbyes.

"I'll see you soon, son" Gaelin said before he took off with the other men.

"Come on, Link" Uncle Maco said beside him. "Dinner time and then bedtime, I think. There's nothing for us to do till the sun rises in the morning."

They ate their warm dinner in silence. Link wasn't fond of haggis, so he only picked at his mashed potatoes and buttered vegetables.

"Cheer up, Link!" Uncle Maco said, clapping the young boy hard on the back. Link almost choked on his veggies.

"I'm ok, Uncle Mac" he gasped. Roaring with laughter, his uncle put the dishes in the sink.

"Alright, m'boy. It's time for bed. Wash up and go straight to bed. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Good night!" Maco said before retreating to his room. As Link climbed the ladder that lead to his own room, he thought about Uncle Maco (or Uncle Mac, as he called him).

His uncle was shorter than his father, but had a stocky, beefier build. He wasn't fat, but his muscles made him look big. People sometimes wondered if Gaelin really was Maco's brother, but one had only to look at their moss-green eyes and raven-black hair to know the answer. Even though Gaelin was taller and thinner than Maco, the resemblance was unmistakable. Link, however, had inherited all of his mother's looks. From the sandy, blond hair to the icy, blue eyes. He even had a curious, tiny, triangular-shaped birthmark on his left hand that he was sure he had seen on her hand, too. Well, if he was even sure of what he remembered. He had been four years old when his mother died in a freak accident involving a bullbo. The accident had also claimed the lives of his aunt May and his three year old cousin, Illy. Link had been there too, his father said, but miraculously survived. They had found him buried beneath the carriage's broken pieces. Link didn't remember any of that. However, he did remember his mother always singing a pretty song. That he could remember vividly. Sometimes, he hummed the melody to himself. He fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow, and he dreamt of giant bullbos, burning castles, and a pale, sinister figure he didn't recognize. He remembered none of it the next morning.


"Word 'as it it ain't nearly as bad as we thought," Mister Satchi said. He was the hamlet's butcher, and he was waiting for his butcher knife to be sharpened. He sat on a small, wooden stool Link was sure wouldn't hold the big man's weight for much longer.

"What did you hear?" Uncle Mac asked without taking his eyes off the knife he was sharpening.

"Castle was 'tacked by o'buncha thieves, is what I heard. A big band'a good-fer-nuthins. 'Spect our good men to return safely within a week," Mr. Satchi said, scratching his big belly.

"Why did they need so much help, then?" Link piped up. He had been busy using the bellows to make the furnace reach the appropriate temperature to start melting the iron.

"'Oo knows? Prolly just wanted exter help to make sure everything got taken care of. Maybe needed help with fixing up the place. Maybe they wanted help putting out the fire, eh? Helluva fire it was. Still is, by the looks of it," Mr. Satchi said thoughtfully.

After the butcher left, Uncle Mac and Link began working on making weapons.

"Hard to believe Satchi is the descendant of the mayor of Ordon, eh? The mayor who was in charge back when the whole Twilight thing happened," Uncle Mac said out of the blue. Link wiped his sweaty forehead.

"What twilight thing? What do you mean?" he asked, taking a swig of water from the canteen.

"Well, tales have it that many years ago," Uncle Mac began, "I'd say about... hmm... about three hundred and fifty, maybe four hundred years ago... Hyrule was covered in Twilight. I don't know all the details, except that some folks called the Twili came and invaded Hyrule. Wanted to make it stay in perpetual twilight. Some stuff happened, but in the end, a hero saved Hyrule. Matter of fact, you're named after him. Your mother was a big fan of the story. Rumor has it he was born and raised in Ordon Village. Crazy stuff, huh?"

Link digested the information. So a hero had been born in Ordon? And the butcher was a descendant of the mayor of that time? Maybe Ordona Province wasn't so boring after all. How incredible it would be if he could go to the castle and become a knight... There was a light knock on the door that startled Link out of his thoughts.

"Answer it, Link, be a good lad," Uncle Mac said, pouring molten iron into a stone bowl. Link set the canteen aside and went to answer the door.

"Link! Hi!" a woman said breathlessly. She was a pretty lady, with dark red hair and light blue eyes. Sometimes, like today, she would bring Uncle Mac a basket full of food or cookies. Lately, Link noted, she had been visiting more often.

"Ms. Lon, hi. Please come in," Link said, opening the door for the lady.

"Thank you; you're such a sweetheart," she said, giving him a kind smile.

"Link, who is... oh," Uncle Mac stopped short. "Malony... hi," he said rather pleased. Malony turned a delicate shade of pink.

"Hello, Maco. I brought you and young Link some food and cookies," she said, averting her eyes shyly.

Link wasn't dumb. He politely thanked Malony and took the basket laden with food to the kitchen. Everyone knew Uncle Mac and his lady friend, Malony, liked each other, and he didn't know why they didn't get together already. Shaking his head, he dug into the cookies, relishing in the deliciousness that was this woman's cooking.