Part 1: Prophecy
By: Timestones
Stories are one of my favorite things in the world. A well written story won't make you think you're just reading words, but actually seeing, hearing, existing in a world unlike your own. A good story allows you to feel the warm, spring breeze, to taste the cool, refreshing water of a stream, to hear the rustling of the forest trees. And there's all sorts of stories for all sorts of people. For those who love romance, there are romance novels. One who likes to have the hairs on the back of their neck stand on end and a chill to run down their spine would prefer horror, and others would rather be floored by a good comedy, or moved by a dramatic epic. Still, others just wan to learn to read, so they pick up their old copy of "Hop on Pop" and read that, and then some people like to read those stories where a young, buxom maiden gets her wildest fantasies fulfilled with some prince in hot, steamy.... uh, I mean to say- er.... Hey! You know what else is fun? Videogames! Yes, the two best things in the world: videogames and stories! (There are other things, but I'd rather not incriminate myself further by saying those things right now.)
Speaking of stories and videogames, you've all heard of fanfic, right? (Course you have, you wouldn't be reading this if you didn't!) Well, have I got a delectable piece of work here for you! It's the story of a little boy from the forest who was chosen to save his entire country, and the entire world, from an evil power that threatened to destroy it all! Can you guess what it is? Here's a hint: the evil descends through time beyond that of this one boy. Can you guess now? No!? Okay, okay, here's another hint: the story involves a magical sword, and the boy wears a tunic and has a bit of a punkish haircut. Can you guess what it is now? What was that? NO! It's not about Crono Trigger, it's about the Legend of Zelda, you ninny! (For crying out loud, this story is even labeled as a Legend of Zelda fanfic!) Even I would have been able to figure that out! Sheesh, you must be really stupid to not get that!
Hey! Where do you think you're going!? GET BACK HERE! (Sheesh, you try and tell a simple story and look what happens!) Anyway, much of what happens before this story is left somewhat vague, other writers have been able to develop a theory of how some things came to be (i.e. other fanfics that take place a few years before the events of this one.) One of the most logical tellings of these events was written by Lady Draco in the story "Four Races Stirring Under One Night Sky", and I suggest you read that before taking a dive into this story. Also, all these characters are made up, but not by me (as if I could come up with characters as good as them...). They are copyright Nintendo Entertainment, with the exception of characters like Cale, the sentry, Korrik, Nall, and Mara, the Shiekah, Kari, the inept Gerudo guard, and others, which are mine. (And lady Draco came up with the name for Rikki as well as the Gerudo, Tarra.) Now sit back and enjoy the tale of a young boy named Link, who rises above the odds and manages to beat the bad guys (and become Hyrule's biggest heart-throb).
Prologue
In another universe, another time, and another plane of reality, there exists a world like our own, but also very different. In this world, the things that fantasies are made of exist in reality. It is a world of magic, dragons, monsters, and fairies. One land in particular is perhaps the most mysterious and amazing of all the world. It is located in western hemisphere and is a peninsula that juts out into the White Sea. This land, for all its worth, can be considered a geographers's dream. It has every type of landscape imaginable! Deserts, mountain, prairies, forests, swamps, rivers, lakes, valleys, everything except for an arctic wasteland.
This is the land of Hyrule, where the air is thick with magic, and danger. And with its diversified landscape, Hyrule also has a diverse population. In the deserts live a race of women with amber eyes and flaming red hair called the Gerudos, who, because of the harsh climate of the desert, resorted to a lifestyle of thievery. Where ever there's an abundant source of water, you can find the Zoras, a race of water dwelling sea folk who are half man, half fish. The mountains are home to the rock people, the Gorons. A fairly simple minded race, but with tremendous curiosity, strength, will, and skill with smithing metals. As for the prairies, valleys, and other landscapes, they can be inhabited of one of three races. First are the Shiekah, a mysterious folk with eyes the color of blood and the unique ability to hide within the shadows. This unity with the darkness, coupled with the fact that this old race of people have managed to escape the evil side of the darkness for so long, has earned the respect and fear of various other peoples. However, the Shiekah are a dwindling race, with only a few of their kind still inhabiting Hyrule.
Then there are the Humans, who, like the Shiekah, are small in numbers. The humans also lack the special skills attributed by many of the other races, but manage to get by on their ability to quickly adapt to new situations. The third of the races are the Shiekah's sister race, the Hylians. Hylians resemble a cross between the Shiekah and humans. They don't possess the stony, pale faces of the Shiekah, nor their ability to blend in with the shadows, or the shiekah's blood red eyes. For the most part, they mostly resemble humans. Similar in stature, with similar features, eye and hair colors. The only cosmetic difference between the two races, is that the Hylian's possess the pointed, elf like ears of the Shiekah. But there are much more differences between Humans and Hylians than that. The Hylian's also possess the unique ability of magic. To be truthful, just about anyone in Hyrule, be it Gerudo, Goron, Zora, Shiekah, or Human can utilize magic. However, some of these races are limited to only being able to perform simple, or weak magic spells. Others are hindered by the difficulty they have of learning the skill. The Hylians, however, do not experience either setback, allowing them to utilize their magic to their fullest potential. It's this skill that allowed the Hylians to grow to such a large population and live almost anywhere they please.
Almost anywhere. There's one place the Hylians cannot go. The forest that grows in the east, along the base of the great Rinado mountain range. Only two races live within the confines of the trees. The Kokiri, a group of small, elf like, bright eyed children, who live in peace and solitude amongst the foliage, doing nothing but what they please. They are the epitome of innocense, having no interest in warfare, or politics, or economy. Such an innocent race of children could easily be taken advantage of. That's why the Hylians, or any other race cannot enter the forest that surrounds the village of the Kokiri. In order to protect the children from those who would take advantage of them, the woods around them were cursed, so that anyone who entered them without the power of a fairy to protect them would be transformed into a monster.
Fairies, they were the second of the two races who dwelled in the Kokiri Village. They acted as guardians of the Kokiri, taking care of them almost as if a parent would, and yet never imposing any of their own traits on the children. They could offer advice, guard the children, and mentor them, but could not control them.
Also in the forest resided the Great Deku Tree, the guardian spirit of the forest, who also watched over the Kokiri and protected them from the monsters that lived outside the village. It is a very old and large tree, with its trunk nearly twenty feet in diameter, and a very wise tree, and very kind one. In fact, this tree knew just about everything that happened in the forest, which was good, because this knowledge of the world would save not only save the forest one day, but would indirectly save the entire world from a dark and evil power.
Chapter 1: Rude Awakening.
The Kokiri, Link, walked swiftly, yet silently along the dirt path, away from the tall, stalks of grass. He learned a while back that if one stayed on the dirt path, that the monsters wouldn't come out and attack. Not that he was particularly scared of them, he just didn't feel like tangling with them was all. The sky overhead was dark and the air around him was cool with the chill of night. Link folded his arms and shivered in order to keep warm. It was strange for it to be this cool in Hyrule during summer, even at night.
"I wonder why its so cold," he stated to nobody in particular. Even so, someone replied to his rambling. It was a tiny, slight voice, one that Link had never heard, and spoke to him with such a familiarity that Link would have been scared if this had been any ordinary circumstance. Yet, the voice also seemed strangely familiar. Enough that Link didn't give much thought about, or look behind him to see who it belonged to. Anyway, the voice said something about rain, which made Link shudder again.
"I hate rain," he stated. "Especially wet rain. Come on," he called to the strange voice. "If we hurry, we might get there in time to escape the rain."
As if on cue, the clouds above began to sprinkle droplets of water to the ground. At first, the drops of water were few and far between, but then grew into a light sprinkle, and then into a drizzle. Link picked up his pace once the rain started, but even so, the precipitation was increasing in force with every second. A rumble of thunder or two later, and the light drizzle turned into a full downpour, matting the young boy's hair against his forehead. Link wiped his bangs out from his eyes and began running forward at full speed. The ground was quick to absorb the water, and soon became muddy and slippery. Even so, Link dashed forward at full speed, kicking up mud and splashing in puddles along the way. The rain was falling so hard now, that it was nearly impossible for Link to see more than a foot in front on him. By a stroke of luck, a lightning bolt flashed and he was able to see the large, stone walls of the town he was headed for.
"There it is!" he called out to his identity-less companion. He changed his direction and began running to his left, through the tall grass and on to the lowered drawbridge. The mysterious voice called out to him again, but the rain was falling hard, and muffled its words to the point that Link couldn't hear. Again, another bolt of lightning flashed, allowing Link to see a white horse with two riders charge at him with great speed he never would have imagined. With a startled yelp, he jumped aside as the horse rode past, and caught a glimpse of a young girl, possibly around his own age, gripping tightly to the neck of the horse, dressed in pink and white. She gave him a pleading look, and just as soon as they had come, the horse and its riders disappeared.
Link stared after them for a few seconds, greatly confused. He'd never seen that girl before in his entire life and yet, there was something familiar about her. He turned around and gasped in shock as a man in black armor, riding atop a black war horse that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The man, who had amber eyes and short, flaming red hear, glared at him with evil sneer. Link stood transfixed, gaping in horror at the sight that he saw. Suddenly, without warning, the black stallion reared up and kicked violently in the air, whinnying a terrible, angry sound. The man himself continued to look at the small boy, and began to laugh a deep, cruel laugh. Link screamed in terror at this, and the man, who's hand was now crackling with green energy, fired a blast of power at him. Link felt the energy sphere hit him full force, felt the electricity crackle and burn on his chest and spread out to his arms, legs, and to his head, causing his vision and perception to blur. The entire world around him went dark, and he landed on the ground with a thump.
* * * *
Link's eyes shot wide open as he gasped in terror, expecting to see the hooves of the crazed war horse come baring down to crush him. Instead, he was greeted with the sight of a familiar looking wood roof above his head. His body was laying on the floor, next to his small bed, tangled up in a thin, white blanket. He was home, and had only fallen out of bed. It was only a dream. Just a dream, and no more. He breathed deeply, slowing his racing heartbeat, and calming himself down.
He then heard a group of voices outside his door. Two were high pitched a small, the other two were juvenile.
"Come on Saria, get out of the way so I can get up!"
"Be quiet, I don't want to wake him."
"Boy's probably already awake, the way we heard him scream."
Eventually the voices made their way to his front door and peeked inside. The juvenile voices belonged to the two Kokiri, and the small voices to their fairies. One of the Kokiri was a girl, around Link's own age with green hair and eyes, a long sleeve tunic and green shorts; Saria. The other was a boy with a green cap on and a ragged green tunic, as well as a pair of green, worn shoes. He also had long, brown hair that fell over his eyes and made people wonder how he ever saw anything. The name of this Kokiri was Rikki, the boy that Mido always bullied into cutting Saria's grass.
"Link," Saria asked in a concerned tone, "are you okay?"
There was a brief pause before the boy answered. "I'm fine."
"Hey Link," Rikki asked next, "why are you lying there on the floor?"
Link sighed and scrambled to his feet, rolling the blanket into a bundle under his arm. "Well, I was kind of uncomfortable sleeping in the bed, so I decided to try sleeping on the floor boards to see if I could get to sleep that way."
"Oh," the other Kokiri replied. "Gee, I thought you'd just rolled out of bed or something."
The other two Kokiri and the fairies sighed. Rikki wasn't the brightest of all Kokiri, and his powers of picking up sarcasm were even less spectacular.
"Is everything okay, Link?" Saria asked again. "We heard you scream and then a loud bump, and we came to check if everything was alright."
"Everything's fine," Link replied. "I only fell out of bed and yelled out cause I was so surprised by it." He yawned, and covered himself with the blanket a lay down again, with his back turned to his visitors. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go back to sleep now."
"Are you sure everything's alright?" Saria prodded the question, not fully believing Link's story.
"Hey, if Link says everything's okay, then everything's okay!" Rikki replied for him. "Right Link?"
"How does a guy expect to get any sleep around here with his two friends standing at the door jabbering away?" he replied sleepily.
"Link, we're only concerned about you," Saria replied, but her fairy, Naomi flew in front of her, blocking the green haired Kokiri's view of the boy.
"He's fine, he says," the fairy stated. "Now run along and let him rest. Go on, shoo, shoo!" Rikki and his fairy readily complied and bid night to the others. With Saria, it took a few seconds, but she eventually left the abode of her best friend, albeit dejectedly.
Link sighed when they had gone, and lay in bed with his eyes open. He didn't like having to lie to Saria, she being his best friend and all, but there were times when she was too concerned for his well being, mainly because of the fact that, unlike all the other Kokiri, Link lacked a fairy guardian of his own. And while Saria's extra help was appreciated when he was younger, he now found it to be a tad bit overbearing. After all, he could take care of himself just fine without his own fairy, as he assured the others numerous times. And besides, what was he going to say? That he had a nightmare and he wanted Saria's company until he was comfortable enough to go back to sleep? No, that wouldn't do. He had many bad dreams in the past and none of them ever scared him so much that he was afraid to go back to sleep without someone else's comforting, so why stop now? Sure this was the same dream he had been having for months now, and each time it became longer and more vivid, but what did that matter? With a yawn, Link closed his eyes and began to drift off to sleep, despite the fact that the dream might once again resurface.
And besides, it wasn't as if dreams like that ever came true, right?