Night fell over the land of Hyrule like snow to the ground. All was silent, and the people of Hyrule were retiring to their homes for the night. Somewhere, from a window of Hyrule Castle, a young girl looked out at the night, and it seemed darker than ever. There was something more than night setting over the prosperous land of Hyrule, something darker, and more menacing. She shivered, and disappeared from the window. The night dragged on, and all was dark and silent.
The Princess felt nervous somehow as she crawled into her bed after her attendant left the room. She was worried about something, but she didn't know what it could be. It was a bad feeling, and she couldn't dismiss it. But just the same, she settled down, and closed her eyes, and soon she entered a fitful sleep. The minutes passed, then hours, tossing and turning...
The Princess of Hyrule awoke with a start in the darkness of the night. She rose up from her bed, crying out, a worried look on her young face. Locks of her golden blond hair bounced in her eyes as she rose quickly, and she drew in quick breaths of air, nervous and scared.
A light suddenly shone from the hall. It was not long after that when Impa, her attendant, came rushing in the door of the Princess's room, and knelt down on the carpeted floor at her side.
"Zelda! Zelda! What is it?" Impa asked fearfully as she nudged the frightened Princess to speak.
Princess Zelda looked up at her nanny, almost crying. "It...it was a dream...but not just any dream, Impa...!"
Impa nodded and said, "Again? Is it a new dream, Zelda? A vision? What did you see, Zelda?" Impa waited patiently for the Princess to speak again, still kneeling at her bedside. This wasn't the first time this had happened.
Zelda sat up straight in her bed, sighing. Slowly, she began to talk again. " It was a different dream, Impa. It was a vision, I believe, a prophecy, and it scares me...maybe it means something, but I know that it felt so real! It scared me because...because I think that something bad is about to happen. I could tell in my dream, the way I feel."
"What?" Impa questioned, "What will happen? Please, Zelda, tell me of your dream."
Zelda tried to relax, and spoke again to her attendant. " OK, Impa. I know I can tell you." She took in a nervous breath. "I saw dark clouds billowing in the sky...darker than any I've ever seen! They spread quickly over the blue sky, until all of the blue was gone, and all was dark. It was scary, and felt so, so evil and menacing. But then, I saw this...light. It shot up out of the forest and into the skies, then suddenly it parted the dark clouds and lit up the ground! It was so bright, and then the evil disappeared! And then, the light faded and turned into a greenish figure, a figure of someone holding a green stone that glittered in the light. And then, next to the figure, there was another light...a fairy, I think. It followed the figure. What does it mean, Impa? It felt so real!" Zelda finished, turning to her attendant.
Impa looked thoughtful for a moment, a little bit amazed herself, then said, "I don't know for sure, Zelda. That certainly is one of the oddest dreams you've had, my dear."
"Oh, Impa...there was one more thing!"
"There was? What?"
"Well, then, suddenly, I saw you...next to the green figure with the stone. The figure was playing an Ocarina, and I could hear the Melody of the Royal Family...Zelda's Lullaby! You were teaching him the sacred melody!"
Impa was surprised by this, and it shone on her face. "This seems like a definant prophecy, all right. We should tell your father about this, and maybe he can do something about it. But go back to sleep, Zelda. It's so late, and you haven't been sleeping well lately. I'll take care of everything." Impa rose from her knees and stood as a shadow in the doorway.
Zelda lay down under her covers. "OK, Impa. I'll tell my father tomorrow."
"Good night." Impa said softly.
"Good night."
The hall went dark. Zelda sighed, and closed her eyes, though she still had a nervous feeling inside.
ยท * * * *
It had been nearly a week since the Princess Zelda of Hyrule had her prophetic dream. She believed that it was, and Impa, too, even though her father, the King, didn't think it was anything to worry about. She had told him, and begged him to believe that it was prophesy, but he dismissed it as anything important, simply saying that she "Has these dreams all the time."
As the days wore on, a man came to the castle...a dark man. He was the leader of the Gerudos, and though no one else seemed to sense his bad intentions, the Princess did. She knew he was not loyal to the King. But it didn't matter what she told her father--he would never believe such a thing. But Zelda wouldn't let that stop her. She couldn't let something terrible happen, and be responsible for not acting on how she felt. She had to do something.
"Impa," Zelda asked her attendant one day in the royal courtyard, "Do you think that that Gerudo man is...evil?"
"You mean, Ganondorf?" asked Impa, "Well, he does seem a little strange to me. I know you have felt an evil presence, Princess."
Zelda nodded, standing among the flowers. "But no one believes me."
Impa put her hand on the Princess's shoulder. "I do, Zelda."
"I don't know if I can even believe you. Maybe your just saying that, like the others. Why can't someone just take this seriously? No one understands!" Zelda smirked and folded her arms worriedly.
"But I know that things you have seen in the past have been real...maybe nothing you have seen was as serious as this, but I think your right. I feel something strange about this whole thing, but even though no one else understands, we will be ready if something does happen."
"I hope you mean that." Zelda said, " I can't stop thinking about the dream...that light from the forest! I know there was something about that strange light! And the dark clouds...Impa, I think...I think they may mean that Gerudo man, Ganondorf!"
"You mean, they represent Ganondorf? He is the darkness in your dream?"
"I think so. But what about the light? Who represents the light from the forest? It's almost like I am missing half of a puzzle, and I can't finish putting it together without the other pieces! I need to know!" Zelda looked down at the ground, feeling like she could do nothing more to stop the evil force she knew was present.
"It's OK, Zelda." said Impa, "We'll figure something out." She sighed, then added, "I think it's about lunch time, Zelda. I bet as soon as your father is done, it will be time to eat. Let me check. I'll return in a moment."
"All right. I'll stay here, in the courtyard."
Impa nodded, and walked off.
Zelda looked up at the sky...so blue and calm. If only it would stay that way. She knew better than to believe that Hyrule was safe, and to think that Ganondorf was no threat.
She walked uneasliy up the stairs onto a stone platform above the small stream that surrounded the courtyard. Her eyes stopped on the window above the platform, which looked into the royal Thrown Room. Zelda slowly walked to the window.
Inside she could see Hylian soldiers lining the walls before the royal thrown where her father sat. Across from her father, Zelda saw another man, dressed in dark attire, walking up the carpet and toward the King. She knew immediatly that it was Ganondorf.
Zelda watched as he made his way up the carpet. She could not believe that this evil man was inside her home, Hyrule castle, pretending to be loyal to her own father, the King. It was the man that represented to dark clouds, and she knew his evil would spread. She couldn't take her eyes off the evil figure within the window.
A sound came from behind.
Zelda turned around quickly, and found herself face to face with a young boy, about her age, blond, and wearing a green tunic.
"Wha..!" Zelda cried, shocked almost beyond words, "Who...who are you?! How did you get passed the guards?!?"
Before the boy could say anything, Zelda's eyes lingered to gaze behind the boy to see a small, glowing light that followed the boy in green. A...fairy?!
Zelda gasped. "Is that...a fairy?" She asked the boy eagerly.
He said nothing, but Zelda knew.
"Why, that means...your from the forest!!" Zelda cried.
"Yes," the boy answered, seeming a little surprised himself.
Her heart began to race, and she inquired further. "Do you...happen to have a green and shining stone? Do you have it with you?"
"The Kokiri Emerald?" asked the boy, "Yeah, I have it."
Zelda smiled, wanting to cry out in happiness. It was true...she had found the missing piece of the puzzle. But now the hardest part would be putting it together. They continued to talk, learning more, their destiny slowly opening up for them to look in to, and neither of them fully understanding what was yet to come upon the peaceful land of Hyrule.
But that's another story.
THE END