A/N I don't own the Legend of Zelda. I have posted this before, but I took it down for revision. The updates will be slow as I have college work to focus on, so please forgive any slow updates. I'm not one for Author's notes, so please just read it and see what you think. Enjoy and review please.

Summary: Link, a young Hylian living in the Hyrule city, raised by himself as an orphan on the streets, is forced to become a thief, living in the shadows of society, waiting for his next target. His overall goal: To survive. He has heard many tales on the food and riches the royal family own, living in a huge castle and having maids and butlers following their every whim. But one among the royal family does not enjoy all these things: The princess Zelda, she has always resented ordering them to do her work, and her wish was to play with the local children in the town. A 'chance' meeting between these two may be just what she needed. But will Link feel the same way about being caught sneaking around the castle?

Chapter 1

For as long as he could remember, people have told him that there was only one way to survive in this world; if you want anything, you have to be willing to steal, lie and cheat. This is the way he has lived his life, heeding the words and wisdom of life's valuable lessons, to never get caught, to never back down, and above all else, never trust anyone, for they will stab you in the back. These words ran through his head as he crept through the shadows of the night, making no noise as he made his way down the alley, secretly following his target: a rich noble who was carrying enough rupees to feed a family of six for three whole days.

The noble walked with elegance and rich clothing swaying in the breeze, his shadow flickering in the lamplight of the alley as he walked. The boy slowly dragged his dagger from its sheath, an almost inaudible sound danced through the pungent air that stunk of stale beer and sex. He sped up so he was walking right behind the noble, using his own shadow against him. He lifted the dagger to his eye level, which was at the man's hip, and, with a cautious grip, lifted the bag of rupees at the man's side with his unoccupied hand. He slashed the string keeping the rupee bag to the man's belt and slunk once again to the shadows, where he turned to the exit of the alley, grinning in a satisfied manner when he heard:

"Wha... Where did my wallet go? I had it just a second ago..." The nobleman huffed in irritation, his voice fading into nothing, discarding his lost rupees as if they were nothing to him, which, the boy had no doubt, was true. All the nobles have whole treasuries full of rupees, gold, jewels and any number of things that brought high prices. He had always wanted to go to one of those treasuries and stuff his pockets with as much as they could carry, which was why he planned to hit the castle tonight. He was en route when he saw the noble; he couldn't resist. He tied the bag to his tattered belt using the left over string and made his way to the castle route.

The boy, named Link, ran through the city on light feet, his shoulder-length blonde hair blowing with the wind and his cobalt blue eyes scanning the land in front of him. He wore tattered clothing; a dark grey, long sleeved jumper, which showed signs of heavy use, dark brown trousers that were in the same state as the jumper, and brown boots that reached up to mid-shin before folding off. They suited his purpose; they were light and didn't cause much, if any, noise when moving.

"Finally, I can't wait to see all that food and treasure!" He spoke with barely contained excitement as he neared the gates. He saw that the gate was guarded by a sigle guard, while other guards stood at seemingly random spots around the front entrance. After a quick look around, he found a way up the cliff to his right, using some vines and got over the gate. He used the shadows once again to hide his presence and formulate another plan. He picked up some stones, thinking he may need them to distract the guards.

As it were, he managed to avoid all the guards by going through a blindside in their defence, which was remarkably big, then run across the fairly large field in front of the castle and climb up yet another wall to get over the final gate by exploiting the holes even further. He dropped down and, seeing the drawbridge as a 'no go' he dropped himself into the water of the moat quietly, so as not to arouse suspision from the guards, swimming to the far side of the path.

Climbing up, he noticed two things: one, there was a door that was likely locked and guarded on the other side, and two, there was a small water-way entrance that only a child would be able to fit through. He grinned, 'Good thing I'm 7.' was his thought as he approached the edge of the walkway to jump the short distance from the waterway. Link crawled through the small space with relative ease, following the tunnel as it curved right until he ended up in a courtyard, rich in the smell of grass and flowers of all kinds.

Link stood, amazed at the beauty of the garden in front of him, it was obviously well cared for, and as he looked further down he saw more guards patrolling. He nimbly dashed to a bush, taking cover behind it and peeking around the side.

He saw a single guard patrolling around a large hedge, cut to a perfect square, he memorised the simple pattern of patrol and made his move while the guard's back was turned, running right under his radar, only to make it to another section where there were two guards patrolling around two fountains. He did the same as with the first guard, only sneaking in the only blind side in between the two guards.

Next, there was a wooden construction in between two hedges with weeds growing all around it, and a single guard patrolling around a pole. Link quickly got past him and moved on to the next area. 'Just how big is this place?' He wondered as he took cover behind a wall.

The next area was a large monument of a Hylian stood in battle garb, with several smaller hylians reaching away from the main statue. Link stared in wonder at the magnificent piece of art from behind his cover before snapping his attention to the patrolling guards. 'Two of 'em. Heh, no problem.' He grinned confidently as he expertly weaved through their defences, mocking the incompetence of the guards as he went. Then he came to an area with one large bush in the middle surrounded byother bushes, two guards patrolled at different paces. He pulled out the stone and threw it to the left wall, drawing the attention of the guards so he could slip around the right side.

Cautiously he crept through a large archway leading to a small but beautiful garden; flowers of all kinds decorated the ground and were obviously well cared for. Link slowly moved through the open area, his eyes darting this way and that, keeping a look out for any sign of movement, however, there was none. He inspected the area; it was a closed square with three windows, he peeked through the one straight on. 'Must be the throne room... That's too heavily guarded, I have to find another way in.' So he looked through the others, both seeming clear of guards. Suddenly, he heard a rustle from behind him, but having nowhere to hide, he turned his head to gaze upon a pair of dazzling sky blue eyes, twinkling in the moonlight... And staring straight at him.

A/N Sorry it's so short, but I felt that was a good place to stop. Anyway, how was it? Please tell me what you think, any improvements you think I could make, or anything of the like.