Hello readers. After my Zelda fic crashed and burned all those years ago, I always wanted to fix it up. I found that I was able to fix some stuff up, drop a bunch of things and now I may be able to rewrite my Zelda story, using salvaged parts of the original and putting them onto something better. This…is still not that story. Ultimately, I decided that the writing was just too slipshod to be worth salvaging and so, even more of it got deleted.

This will share the same general outline, but it'll be a lot better, though it'll rarely be updated, and probably won't even be finished at all. At least there's no chance of screwing up this time; I actually have experience now. Anyway, I'll stop monologuing. Here's what you came for:

This is the story of a ragtag band of warriors. One is a hero; another is a princess. With them are a young dragon, a girl from the forest and a taciturn magician.

This is the tale of what happened when Link a boy from the forest, known by a precious few as the Hero of Time, returned to Hyrule after four years searching the woods for a dear friend.

This is,

∆
The Legend of Zelda:

Heroes of Hyrule

And this…is how it begins…

∆ Prologue: A Dark King, a Hero, and a Princess ∆

The dark skinned man walked silently down a seemingly endless set of stairs leading into the Arbiter's Keep, accompanied by seven guards. This was truly The Prison of Hell. How far the Gerudo had fallen to offer such a sacred site to that poor excuse for a king. It had been four years since then; the princess herself had come to Gerudo Valley, asking not to speak with him, but to Nabooru, his right hand. He was allowed to sit in on the discussion, naturally. He was the King of the Desert after all.

The princess had been nothing but diplomatic, and Nabooru had said nothing that would have given away any of his plans, and to her credit, did everything as she should have. But the princess made so many offers with no thought of personal gain that she had to be up to something. Free trade for Gerudo-made silks and gems found only in the desert, mostly rubies and topaz; Construction of a tower to raise water from the gorge; citizenship within Hyrule's borders;

Nabooru had told him that she was also suspicious, but that they would have been foolish to decline the offer. A few years of this, and their peoples' historical chapter as a race of thieves would come to a close, leaving nothing but a bright future ahead of them.

It was good for the Gerudo, he agreed. He would never prevent his people from accepting such generosity.

Even so, a part of him resented her for setting his plans back nearly five years. And of course, Nabooru happened to be the only other Gerudo besides himself and his mentors who happened to be able to cross the Haunted Wasteland. And somehow, the princess knew about this. Nabooru was flattered that her reputation had reached the ears of royalty. The girl obviously studied the Gerudo's culture extensively to even know about the tradition of crossing the Wastes, but that was only amongst the kings. She shouldn't have known about Nabooru's extraordinary accomplishment. She knew too much.

The signing process for accepting her offers had taken a long time, as in what he could only explain as a fit of genius, the princess had written up all the documents herself, and read them out loud, proving beyond all doubt that she was in fact not up to anything. At all. After thirty-nine hours of diplomacy, all she asked for in exchange for all of Hyrule's kindness was to allow the royal family and their associates to expand the Spirit Temple, and make it grander than ever before. Nabooru had accepted.

And that clever little girl had made good on her word. The Spirit Temple could now be seen all the way from Lake Hylia. There was now an alternate route there; one that he had grudgingly helped build by starting a path from the other side of the wastes. There now stood an arena at the top where duels could be held between the tribes if there was ever need (or want) for competition. The interior was embellished to a beautiful degree. This of course, had also forced Twinrova to go into hiding elsewhere. The construction workers and gorons who were assisting them also came across numerous hidden chambers that even he hadn't known about, halls filled with lethal traps leading deeper into the darkness beneath the desert sands than he had ever thought possible.

Now here he was, being led into those tunnels. He had come to realize that Koume and Kotake had personally hidden them from him so that he and the other Gerudo would never know its true purpose:

The Spirit Temple was no temple at all…

It was a prison. And one that might not even have been meant for Hylians or Gerudos, but for things far more sinister: Things that he had only learned about from Koume and Kotake themselves. In fact, Ganondorf wondered exactly what they were hiding down in this abyss beneath the desert sands.

It had been four years since that day; the day he was in Hyrule Castle about to 'swear fealty' to the king… His intention was that of regicide in the first place, he supposed, so he didn't know what stopped him from killing the meddling princess. Perhaps killing a child didn't sit very well with him. Perhaps he couldn't bring himself to murder the young woman who had given his people so much. But if that was what it took to find the sacred Ocarina, he should have just done it.

And that boy in the Kokiri tunic…

He didn't know who he was, but he knew things that he shouldn't — no, couldn't — have possibly known.

Suddenly, something clicked. That boy was the reason the princess knew about Nabooru, how she knew about his machinations that he had only ever told to Twinrova. He never even made it to the Sacred Realm… Ultimate Power…Triforce… It had slid out of his fingers like sand. All that was left was this deathly prison. He noticed that all of the moans he could hear came from behind what he had thought to be walls; the prison doors were made of stone. He was lead deeper and deeper into the Keep, the halls twisting and turning too many times for him to keep track, and finally into a room in which he would spend the rest of his life. And suddenly, his rage at the situation overtook him. And even seven well-trained guards couldn't stand up to him. He roared furiously as black and gold energy roiled off him in waves, slithering along the ground and consuming the guards, muffling their screams. Their desiccated skeletons wouldn't be found for a long time.

Ganondorf rushed through the dungeon, getting as far away from the cell, and the skeletons that he had left in front of it as he could. Occasionally, he heard moaning coming from behind a wall. He could easily spring his fellow prisoners out of their cells, but he didn't care. He was getting out of this damned prison.

Soon however, he found himself wandering the halls aimlessly. Two thoughts occurred to him during his hunt for an exit: One; there appeared to be an eerie lack of guards this evening, and two; he really should have just gone back out the same way he came in.

He entered the next room and groaned. It was a dead end. Then he noticed that there was a large, beautifully crafted, and engraved sword struck upright into the floor of the room, suspended by wires. Its make was of the style of some of the more ancient fairies' swords, but it was of a dull ebon color and the insides of the engravings were stained in blood. Fairies were usually more upbeat in their craft, and this weapon seemed far too morbid to be one of theirs. He was about to pick it up when he noticed that the wires were covered in large strips of parchment. There were strange symbols all over them. Then he read what was engraved on the sword: DEATH.

"How morose," he mused silently. He cut one of the wires and he heard a snarl. A small dragon, only about three meters long, appeared out from a narrow gap in the stonework. It was serpentine with bright red scales and a black carapace over its face that looked like a helmet. It also floated in the air, although it lacked wings. He reattached the wire and the dragon moved to dart back into the crack in the wall. Ganondorf caught its tail and threw it to the ground, knocking it unconscious.

"I imagine that you might fetch a good price on the Hylian market," he sneered. "Who wouldn't want to have their own pet dragon?

"Shouldn't make you too expensive though. I don't want to be burdened with a nuisance like you for too long," he added as an afterthought. He didn't even have a bag to put it in. He just wrapped the limp form around his arm for now. He left and ran down the next hallway, climbing up a ledge and heaving a large door out of the way. He found himself in a circular room, dominated by a large pit filled with sand, at the center of which lay the skeletal remains of an immense beast. That wasn't what he noticed: What he noticed was the gate on the other side of the chamber. He breathed fresh air coming from outside.

"You won't trap me!" he sneered darkly. With a single magic infused punch, the thick metal bars gave way like twigs. He grabbed a torch as he ran outside. It had been evening when he was brought in; it would surely be dark by now.

Deep within the Keep, in the Death Sword's chamber, something awoke. The chamber began to overflow with darkness once more. It needed servants, and the foolish Hylians that had disentombed it would be the perfect puppets, just as soon as their lives were snuffed out. It was time to finish the job it had begun before that meddling whelp of a dragon came snooping around, poking its nose where it didn't belong.

Something about that dragon was familiar, but nothing from the demon's former life mattered any longer. There was only one thing that it needed to do anymore.

Feed.

Everything left alive within this dungeon belonged to him, and he would devour them all.

Eat.

Eat!

EAT!

Ganondorf had only been outside for a moment. There was a flash of light, and his torch went out. Then he heard the thunder. He was caught in a storm. "First rain that the desert has gotten in years…" he muttered grimly. It was a shame he hadn't the time to appreciate it. Looking around, he saw that he was on a featureless balcony except for a tall staircase leading up from where he stood. This was one of the entrances to the arena, he realized. The thought of an arena reminded him that he still needed a weapon and armor.

He looked over the side and saw that he was a good ten-minute walk from where he came in. He needed to get down from here. After all, his sword and rucksack had been confiscated there. It was at least a good place to start looking. The dragon suddenly began to stir on his arm, and he whacked its head against the side of a pillar. It stopped moving shortly after that. He gauged the distance to the ground. He might have been as many as five stories high.

Not even a challenge.

He jumped without a second thought, landing with an earth-shaking crash.

His sword and sheath were there but none of his other equipment was anywhere in sight. He strapped the sword to his hip, and began hunting for his armor around the vicinity of the entrance. Searching the immediate area yielded no results, but he persisted. Still he came up with nothing. He groaned and decided to look for his equipment back at the top.

After climbing back up to the balcony, he walked up the stairs, finding himself in the arena. In front of him stood a tower, situated in the center of the field. "My property had better be up there," he said to himself. Even so, he doubted he would find anything there. Why would the guards carry his heavy armor all the way up that tower and just leave it at the top? Yet he was strangely curious about what lay there. He climbed up to the top of the stands encircling the arena and noticed a ledge where he figured he would be able to jump onto the top of the tower. He jumped, caught the edge of the tower, and pulled himself up. The top of the tower was empty—except for a mirror. He looked away from the mirror and he saw what faced it. A giant black rock was suspended in the air by thick iron chains. He looked back at the mirror and read an inscription at its base: The Black Mirror.

He idly brushed his hand along the top of the frame. As though reacting to his touch, the mirror suddenly began glowing with a golden light. And then he saw it: He saw the Triforce in the mirror's reflection. He turned around and saw that the black rock was glowing, but there was no Triforce. The mirror was not reflecting anything; rather, it was projecting an image onto him. He stepped away, and the mirror's light hit the rock; the image of the Triforce hit the rock, framed by several other polygons spinning around it, which were framed by a circle. This was a portal to the Sacred Realm. And it had been left unguarded! He began to laugh uncontrollably.

"Fools!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. Still laughing, he jumped towards the rock and was sucked into the portal.

Ganondorf found himself lying on the ground of the Sacred Realm. Out of nowhere he was suddenly assaulted by excruciating pain, but despite this, he looked up. The Triforce was nowhere to be seen. He was just on an island in the middle of a vast lake, and he screamed in frustration. It almost sounded inhuman. That was when he felt something pulsing in his right hand.

And what he saw made him ecstatic; the image of the Triforce was glowing on his right hand! The top portion turned red for an instant and then changed back to gold, glowing brighter that the other two.

The pain suddenly grew in intensity and he screamed that inhuman scream again. He doubled back and his hands slammed back down again as his hair began to frizz out in all directions and his body began a drastic transformation. His fingers and toes sprouted claws and his muscles swelled up, his bones and joints rearranging themselves until he found himself incapable of standing up straight anymore. He screamed one last time, but it deepened dramatically halfway through and he found that the bellowing from his throat could only accurately be described as a bestial roar.

The agony came to an end just as suddenly as it had begun and Ganon got up. He looked at his reflection in the water. To his horror, he found that in place of his own face was that of a demonic cross between a lion and a wild boar. He tried to scream but he roared instead.

What in the name of the goddesses had happened to him!? This wasn't right! Was this the price of power? A curse that came with the mark of the Triforce? Or was it… He wracked his brain for the stories told by the ancient Hylians that the witches had taught him. The ones about the Triforce, and the golden lands it resided in. He snarled furiously, unable to find an immediate answer. Something about this new form had made it difficult for him to think rationally. He had a powerful urge to fly into a rage and just smash anything and everything he could find. He had to force himself to remember those stories.

That was right… The sacred realm transformed people into beasts that reflected what was in their hearts. How appropriate that he became a fearsome creature.

It didn't matter what the world did to him however. He had found what he came for regardless of what form had been thrust upon him. He lumbered around until, to his immense relief, he found the portal, and he charged back through it without a second thought.

Ganon was spat out of the Sacred Realm and hurled out of the arena. He landed on top of Gerudo Mesa. The first thing he realized was that he was human again. The second was that he was wearing his armor. The dragon was squirming around on his arm.

"I'll have to get rid of this nuisance before setting a new plan into motion," he muttered to himself. He would meet with Twinrova later on and formulate a new plan to conquer Hyrule and its miserable nobility.

He found his horse, Nightmare, waiting for him at the bottom of the cliff face. Ebon black, with fiery red mane, she would most likely have terrified anyone else. He took one more look at the ostentatious arena that stood out arrogantly above the nightmarish prison, and sped off towards Castle Town. ∆

A boy in green wandered the deep forest. The Lost Woods were no ordinary forest. They were enchanted by a magic beyond the comprehension of any mortal who still walked this earth. The spirits of the woods perpetuated this enchantment. And as their magic dictated, any who dared wander the Lost Woods was doomed to die and have their skeletons raised as a gruesome stalfos. Their transgression was wandering through a forbidden land, and so they would wander forever, desperately seeking a way home, steadily forgetting who they were in their past life, until the only thing they knew was that they wanted to escape the forest that now held them captive. Not that it could ever set any of its undead victims free. Those who walked upon sacred ground would wander forever.

Not this boy however. He had allowed himself to get lost of his own volition. And though he actually knew a way of navigating these woods, he chose to remain lost. He had wandered aimlessly for four years now and still hadn't turned. He was protected by the great forest spirit himself, the Deku Tree. It had been three years since the boy left the other world where he lived the same three days over and over again in order to save a populace from an apocalypse. And once again, after all was said and done, he was forgotten by nearly everyone he had helped. There were a few people he could name who had somehow remembered him, but even then, most of them were…copies. Alternate versions of friends he knew in the country beyond these woods.

But he never intended to save another country from destruction when he began his monotonous, perpetual search of the ever-changing forest. All he wanted was to find an old friend. A friend who, after four long years, was still nowhere to be found.

He had a companion in his horse, Epona, who actually belonged to the rancher's daughter. She was probably sick with worry over her beloved horse.

He really should have brought the poor animal back after he returned from the other world.

But what if he missed her by leaving the woods?

He couldn't bear the thought, and thus took the path less painful for him.

The friend he sought was a fairy. A talkative one who always seemed to have something on her mind, and when he was lucky, the perfect solution to the problems he was faced with.

Of course, the Lost Woods were teeming with fairies. The fact that she glowed blue didn't really narrow anything down. There were as many blue fairies as any other color. He wasn't so much looking for a needle in a haystack as much as looking for a specific needle in a stack of identical needles.

Link leaned against the trunk of one of the many gigantic trees and let himself slide down to the mossy forest floor.

"Who am I trying to kid, Epona…? I'm never going to find her."

The chestnut colored horse whinnied cheerily, as if to say, 'Nonsense, you can do it.'

He didn't feel encouraged. Lately, he just spent his days sleeping in whatever hollowed out tree he could find, and barely even trying to search. He had been hunting through the forest with more enthusiasm than he could contain when he began his search, but over the course of four years, even he began to lose heart. And so, silence reigned as Link failed to respond to his horse's encouragement.

For whatever curses ruled the Lost Woods, there was one thing that could never be denied about it; it was peaceful.

A sinister giggle cut through the peaceful tranquility of the moment. Link knew what was coming before he even saw his assailant. He quickly drew a razor sharp sword encrusted with gold and swung it in a hasty spinning attack.

Four wooden puppets fell to the ground in a circle around him each cut cleanly in half. The threat apparently vanquished, he slid his sword back into the scabbard on his back…

…Leaving him completely undefended for when the puppetmaster struck.

The only sign that anything had come to stand behind him was a faint sound of rustling leaves, but he knew there was someone else with him now.

But that someone wasn't an enemy. Indeed, the little imp in straw clothing wearing a skull mask was his only other companion during his endless wanderings.

"Skull Kid. It's good to see you."

"I'm always happy to drop by to play a game. But today I have something better."

Link sighed, but did his best to wear a grin.

"Okay, what is it?"

"It's a surprise! Follow me!" said Skull Kid, growing impatient in his excitement.

"Alright, I'll come. Don't go too fast though. I'm tired."

Skull Kid turned around to look at him. Behind his novelty skull mask, an item he had procured from the eerie Happy Mask Salesman, his expression was unreadable, but on the other hand, he wore the mask because he had no real face of his own.

"You've been tired a lot lately. You can't give up yet! Just give it a little longer!"

"Why bother…she never wanted to be my fairy anyway…" Link murmured.

"That's not true, and you know it!"

"But she left!" Link shouted, blinking a few stray tears out of his eyes.

"Well, when we find her, you can ask her why she did! Now follow me!"

Without another word of warning, Skull Kid hopped into the branches and conjured a puppet made out of leaves and various bits of undergrowth. It beckoned for Link to follow it. Not very far off, he could hear Skull Kid playing a jazzy form of Saria's Song on his reed clarinet.

Somehow, the upbeat tune only made him feel worse about the situation. Saria herself was often in this forest. He still heard her song echoing throughout the woods sometimes, the cheerful tune amplified by the forest spirits who loved the girl so well.

He had ignored her too. Nothing short of a crime from the boy who had once claimed to be her best friend.

Nevertheless, he followed the puppet along the ground. Occasionally, he'd see his excitable undead companion hopping between the branches in the trees ahead of him, or notice Tatl and Tael swooping around underneath their charge.

Eventually, he realized where Skull Kid was taking him. There was a small clearing in the forest, with nothing in it but a stump, upon which the imp had carved a crude drawing of the two of them, labeled 'friends.'

"Skull Kid, I don't need you to show me the latest change to the picture. It's okay."

"The picture? What I've got is way better than a picture."

Again, Link sighed.

Finally they arrived. There was the stump, picture and all. And on top of it was…

"A bottle? You brought me all this way for a bottle?"

"Ignoring the fact that you just dismissed a bottle as being unimportant, which is just crazy, it's not the bottle itself; it's what's inside the bottle.

"Hey! Let me out! Hey! Hey! Are you even listening?!"

…

Link stopped reacting. To everything. He was simply too stunned to move. Or breathe. He could barely even feel his heart beating.

Navi was in a bottle.

Skull Kid had found Navi for him.

She was here.

And she was in a bottle.

Link couldn't help it. He just collapsed into a fit of giggles. When he finally managed to catch his breath, he walked up to the glass jar and knelt down to look inside.

"Stop!" the fairy shouted, "Just…just go away!"

"Navi, it's me… it's Link."

"I know!" she wailed, "Please, d-don't look at me!"

Navi seemed to be trying to press herself up to the opposite side of the bottle.

"What's wrong?"

"Don't make me say it! I know you can't stand me…" Navi choked, her wings drooping, as she fell to the bottom of the jar.

"Can't stand—what are you talking about!" Link gasped in shock.

"It's why I left! I knew that I was just bothering you… You hated me…"

"Navi, I won't deny that sometimes you bothered me, but why would you ever think I hated you?"

"Wait…y-you mean you don't?"

"I don't understand," said Link, "what—?"

"I wasn't there!" Navi screamed before Link could finish asking his question. "I wasn't there when you needed me more than ever! In that last fight with Ganondorf I was completely useless, and I flat out hid when he turned into that monster! I…abandoned you…"

"The only time you abandoned me has been for the past four years. But I've spent the entire time looking for you!

"When you left…I…I was devastated. I don't care how talkative you are, you were the best companion I could ever hope to have. I missed you! I missed you so much it hurt!"

He couldn't see it through her glow, but he had brought Navi to tears. She was stunned speechless. How could she have misread the situation so horribly? She had thought she was helping him, but had only ended up making him miserable. She'd have a lot to make up for…if he even wanted her back…if he didn't…she didn't know if she could handle that kind of rejection. They sat there in silence for some time before either of them spoke again.

"Um…are you going to let me out?"

"Promise that you won't fly away?"

"Promise me that you won't yell at me," Navi countered.

"Just don't leave me again, and you have a deal."

The fairy took a deep shaky breath and replied.

"Deal!"

Link smiled. He felt happier than he had in years! He couldn't wait to tell Saria. He owed her a visit and was long overdue. He twisted the cork off of the bottle and Navi fluttered out. He held out his hand, and she hugged it. It was as close as he could get to giving her a hug.

"You're going to leave now, aren't you?" Skull Kid said. He didn't sound very happy.

"Yeah. I have to return to my life in Hyrule. I still have a few years of being a kid left, and I owe it to Zelda to use them like one. She kind of sent me back in time for that specific purpose. I don't want to make her feel guilty all over again."

"I don't want you to!" the imp shouted suddenly. "You can't do this! I don't wanna lose another friend! I won't let you leave!" he was descending into a hysterical fury. Link grabbed him firmly by the shoulders to keep him still.

"This won't be like the time with the giants. I can still come and visit. And I will. I promise."

"I've heard those words way too many times in the last five minutes," Tatl grumbled off to the side.

"Are you sure?" Skull Kid demanded of Link accusatorily.

"I'm positive."

Skull Kid didn't say anything for a few moments. But finally, he let his shoulders fall.

"Fine… but don't forget to visit! You promised!" he shouted, pointing.

"I know. I wont forget."

Link took his hands off Skull Kid's shoulders.

"Uh, Link?" Skull Kid began hesitantly. "Is your left hand supposed to be glowing like that?"

"Huh?" Link and Navi said in unison.

Link raised his arm to see the Triforce of Courage pulsing on the back of his left hand.

"This could be a problem…" he muttered. "I guess seeing Saria will have to wait. I have to ask Zelda what's going on."

He hopped onto Epona, and gave his friends a brief wave as Navi tucked herself into his cap, just like she used to, "I'll see you soon guys."

And he galloped to forest's edge.

It was time for him to return to Hyrule. ∆

Princess Zelda knew something was wrong from the moment she saw the Triforce of Wisdom glowing on her right hand, but the news her handmaid brought her had done nothing to ease her anxieties.

"That's impossible!"

"I'm very sorry to bring such terrible news, Princess, but the reports were confirmed."

The girl shook her head, "Apologies no longer matter, Impa," she gestured to her handmaid, an armored woman with silver hair and a single braided lock hanging down the right side of her face, "if this is true, then you know we have only one option."

"You cannot possibly mean…"

"Yes, Impa, I do."

"My apologies, Zelda, but with all due respect, the boy hasn't been seen for four years now. Not even the children of the forest have heard any news from him. And that girl who left it…"

"Impa please! I'm not ready do defend Hyrule on my own."

"You don't need to do anything on your own. You have me, and you always will have me right by your side."

"Thank you, but you know as well as I do that without the Blade of Evil's Bane, we have no chance of defeating Ganondorf. And only one person can pull it from its pedestal."

The handmaid sighed, and relented.

"It shall be done, Princess, but even without his help you must prepare yourself for bad news."

Princess Zelda barely hesitated for a moment before nodding, steeling her resolve.

"Very well. I want all available knights to scour the land for any reports of a boy in green outside the forest. He should have a reddish brown horse with him and is likely carrying a sword and shield."

"Yes, Princess! Will that be all?"

"Yes, Impa," Zelda smiled sincerely, "Thank you, as always."

One week later found Zelda seated in the audience chamber while her father busied himself reading, re-reading and occasionally signing documents in his study. Impa stood stalk still to her right, her arms folded tightly across her chest. She heard the balcony doors open and a man in a guard's uniform hurried up the stairs to the hall.

"Your Highness!" he announced, coming to a stop before the throne and kneeling, "I have information for the King. If you don't mind me asking where your father is?"

Zelda resisted the urge to groan. It wouldn't do to show weakness in front of her subjects, especially when the subject in particular was already assuming it of her.

"Rise, guardsman," she said. The soldier did as he was instructed, scrambling to his feet. Father is presently busy and would prefer to be left undisturbed. Whatever news it is that you bring us, you may present it to me. I will make sure father gets the message as soon as I see him."

"Forgive my…audacity, but the captain also needs His Majesty's approval on a course of action regarding to the development in question. We cannot get authorization to commit to a course of action with only the princess' word to go by."

"Actually, you can." Zelda responded smoothly, "I am just as capable of providing you with the Royal Seal, if that is what you've come seeking. I may still be the princess, but do not forget that I know the laws just as well as my father."

The soldier hesitated, but ultimately broke under the princess' stern gaze.

"Y-Yes, Your Highness. Very well. In two hours it will have been exactly one week since we received any sort of word from the Arbiter's Keep. Now, the captain wishes to know whether he should send a squad of knights to investigate, or to declare that we have lost all contact."

Zelda closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Bad news had finally arrived. She knew what had to be done.

"Do not send anyone to the prison. I will handle the investigation personally."

"W-W-Wha–? Y-Your Highness, you cannot possibly be serious!" the knight stammered, "Your father will never approve of this."

She frowned. The man had a point. But this changed nothing. However, she would need to say something…

"I agree, he would be most outraged if I traipsed off without a moment's notice. Never mind what I said a moment ago. Your captain is to declare that Hyrule has lost contact with the Keep. A course of action will be plotted shortly, but until my father gives you instructions, you are not to mention this again. This is a very delicate matter and must be approached as such. Understood?"

"Yes, madam!" he saluted.

"Excellent. You are dismissed."

"By your leave," the guardsman said. He bowed and retreated from the audience chambers.

Once she heard the doors close, Zelda turned to Impa.

"Do you think this is Ganondorf's doing?" she asked.

Impa scratched her chin thoughtfully. "It seems quite likely."

Zelda finally gave in and sighed heavily. She stood up and pressed a panel on the wall in the corner of the hall. The wall slid inward with a grating rumble, revealing one of the multitudes of secret passageways hidden within the old castle. She turned to Impa.

"If anyone comes to call, tell them I merely stepped out for some air and will return shortly. I'll be in the garden," she said softly. "I need some time to think."

She heard the doors on the balcony open just as she slid the secret door back in place. She had left just in time. She couldn't handle any more crises right now.

She smiled half-heartedly as she entered her private garden. It seemed so much less vibrant than it used to when she was still a child. She was barely into her teenage years and already she felt like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. She sat down on the marble steps in the courtyard that looked in on her father's private audience hall. Of course, he was still in his study. This crushing sense of hopelessness… She wondered if this was how Link felt when she sent him on his grand quest to defeat Ganondorf. She felt a wave of regret wash over her as she empathized.

If only she still had the Ocarina of Time, she and Impa could be at the prison, take a quick look at the situation and be back in time for tea with her father. She turned her eyes up to the sky, looking at the clouds.

"Link…where are you…?" she asked absently.

"Ask and you shall receive? Is that how it goes, Navi?" he asked.

"Not quite, but it's the gist of it," came the high voice of a fairy.

She could practically hear him…

Wait…

"Link?!" she cried, whipping her head back down so fast she needed to refocus her vision.

He was there, standing in front of her in his green tunic and hat. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

"Afternoon, Princess Zelda. Um… it doesn't sound like you're having a good one though."

She suddenly began patting him down, to his immediate protest. Shoulders, knees, back. She held both of his hands for a moment then grabbed him by the face.

"OW! What are you doing? That hurts!"

Zelda sighed in relief. She wasn't hallucinating. Probably. Whether or not she was crazy, she supposed had to be up for debate. She did just manhandle him after not seeing him for four whole years. Not exactly the most 'normal' thing to do.

"Sorry. I wanted to make sure you were real. Silly of me, I know."

"The pain in my cheeks is certainly real," he said, massaging his jaw. Anyway, I went to the throne room and you weren't there, and Impa told me that I'd find you where we first met.

'So that was him who was coming to see me just as I left. Figures…' she thought.

"I know this is terribly sudden, but I need the Ocarina of Time back," she said. We have to see Impa and then go to the Spirit Temple immediately."

"Um, sure, it belongs to you after all."

"Perfect. Come with me," she grabbed him by the arm and pulled him out of the gardens and up a staircase behind a fake wall. She burst back into the throne room, Link in tow, in a manner that would have startled most people. Impa only raised an eyebrow, a soft grin playing at the corners of her mouth.

"We're going to the Keep," Zelda stated simply. "Hold on to me."

Impa and Link each put one hand on Zelda's shoulders.

"Huh? Where?" asked Navi, even as she tucked herself inside Link's hat. It wasn't often that she found herself out of the loop.

Link handed her the Ocarina and she played the Requiem of Spirit, picturing the towering structure of the Spirit Temple in her mind's eye.

In a flash of bronze light, they found themselves standing outside the very impressive structure that had been made for the people of the desert.

"This is… the Spirit Temple?" Navi asked. "What happened to it?"

"It was expanded. But we lost contact with the knights posted here approximately one week ago. Worse yet, this was where Ganondorf was sentenced to incarceration."

"Wait, you're saying that he only was convicted recently?!"

Zelda smirked. "Since you arrived far earlier than I could have expected. I handled things in such a manner that threw him off his guard and benefited his people. He couldn't argue with my diplomacy when I asked for virtually nothing in return. When you finally returned again on the day he planned to kill my father, we were ready and we thwarted him easily. However, the bureaucracy involved in convicting him for a crime that he failed to commit took far longer than I expected. He was left in the castle dungeons for four years until it was decided that leaving him there wasn't safe anymore. Even without the Triforce of Power, his brute strength is something that one would be a fool not to fear. The bars on his prison cell were slowly but surely being wrenched apart. So he was transferred. A whole squad of knights brought him here," she gestured to the Arbiter's Keep. "But he managed to escape anyway."

Link nodded grimly.

They approached the entrance together. Strangely enough, the closer they got to the doors, the colder it felt. Zelda actually found herself shivering.

"I take it you can feel that, Princess?" Impa asked.

"Yes. Something is very wrong here."

"You're telling me… It's the middle of the day in Gerudo Desert; we should be boiling in our own skin," Link stammered.

"It isn't just that… I… sense something here; some sort of presence. It's furious, and… it doesn't want us to come inside. And it's hungry. Really, really hungry. I don't think I want to go inside at all."

"I get the impression that Ganondorf isn't actually responsible for the situation here. Even he would never desecrate one of his own peoples' most sacred monuments," said Impa.

"So, do we go inside?" Link asked.

"No. We haven't the time for a thorough investigation. We're retreating for now," Zelda said, walking away from the dungeon. "I'll play the Prelude of Light to return to Castle Town. Hold on."

The next week was spent at the castle, planning their next move. The captain of the guard was informed that Ganondorf's escape and the mysterious situation at the prison were two entirely separate problems, which just added to the list, which included that the three of them couldn't do anything to solve such obscure issues on their own.

They needed allies.