Chapter 1: The Lost Hero.
A blue bolt shot out from the waterfall and picked up speed as it hit the flow of the river leading to Hyrule castle. The Hylian river; with its jagged rocks and Octorok infestation, was a dangerous prospect for swimmers but to a Zora it was a cakewalk. Only one of the water's denizens made an attempt at impeding the traveler and it met its end quick, slashed to bloody ribbons by two hardened fins
Moving with the current, Princess Ruto of the Zora made quick time as she banked the turn leading to the final stretch of river. The bridge connecting Kakariko village to the rest of Hyrule field was coming up fast, and the princess used the momentum of the current to launch herself out of the water, before landing gracefully on the stone bridge. Ruto shook her body, her fins flapping quickly. She turned toward the midday sun and sighed, enjoying the heat of its rays. Still, this was not the time to relax. Her father, King Zora, was not the most observant when it came to keeping tabs on his daughter, but once he knew she had left their domain he would waste no time sending out scouts to being her back.
"Wow, hey princess," a voice on the road called.
Ruto turned to see Malon, the young red haired Hylian from Lon Lon Ranch, walking down the path, her fairy bow slung across her back. She had a horse with her, but it wasn't Epona.
Link had talked frequently of the red haired ranch girl and had even brought her to Zora's domain on one occasion.
Forgetting all pleasantries, Ruto struck straight into her quest. "Where's Link?" she asked in an imperious tone.
Malon shrugged her shoulders, "Fairy boy? I have no idea. He hasn't visited the ranch in a while, but he's with Epona so I figured he was just travelling, you know how that boy loves to wander!"
"And that's the truth?" Ruto quizzed.
"Of course it is. Hey what's going on?" Malon asked becoming uncomfortable under the scrutinizing gaze of the Zora.
"I'm not quite sure. I was swimming with Lord Jabu Jabu the other day and I found a new inlay had been engraved on his Tiara. It was a clasp, and inside was my Mother's Sapphire.
"The Spiritual Stone of Water, why would it be there, I thought Link held the three spiritual stones."
"Exactly," Ruto said, irked by the girls slowness. "And don't even get me started on the deeper significance of him giving up my Sapphire," a flash of real hurt shimmered in her purple eyes as she said that.
"Do you think he has returned the other spiritual stones as well?"
"He better had," Ruto spat venomously. If Link had only returned her stone it would mean the worst thing to Ruto: it would mean he was reneging on his engagement to her. Technically this would be true even if he had returned all the stones, but at least that scenario would imply some other reason for abandoning her stone.
"What are we going to do?" Malon asked with concern.
"We?"
"Yeah. Link's my friend too you know," Malon reminded, a little annoyed at the Zora's bottomless capacity for jealousy.
"Well, I am going to see Princess Zelda. If anyone knows what is going on it will be her…" Ruto turned and began marching towards Hyrule town gates. "You coming or not?" she sighed.
Malon smiled and followed on behind.
Ruto had a flash of pain in the back of her mind, like an intense migraine. These had happened a lot since Link had sealed the door of time. She knew Link, Zelda and the other sages of Hyrule suffered from these too. Impa theorised that they had these due to the changes wrought to Hyrule's timeline by Link's defeat of Ganondorf. Link's victory seemed to have erased Ganondorf both in the future and here in the present… or was it the past?
Occasionally, Ruto's mind would flash in presences from the alternate future, and as she entered into the square she had a flash of the town as an abandoned ghost town filled with undead wandering aimlessly under an oppressive sky. The image unstuck her for a moment and she had to put real effort into maintaining balance. The sound a cockerel brought her back to reality and she blinked at Malon. The red head looked at her with concern. Ruto was envious of Malon. Though she, and indeed the rest of Hyrule, were aware of Link's importance as the Hero of Time, they had no residual memories of the alternate timeline and no flashbacks to those horrible seven years under Ganondorf's thumb.
The guards of Hyrule castle were surprised to see the princess of the Zoras marching up the royal way and they wasted no time in ushering her through to the royal gardens to where princess Zelda was wandering. From the look on Zelda's face, Ruto knew that she was already well aware of the purpose of her visit.
"Princess Ruto, you are very welcome," Zelda began, falling effortlessly into the familiarities of protocol.
"Save the pleasantries, this is about MY fiancé." Ruto announced. Malon shied away behind the Zora not wishing to cause a scene.
Zelda was visibly downcast, her eyes unable to meet the aquatic princess'. "Yes, I figured it'd not be long till someone came to me. I want you to understand now that I urged Link to stay, or at least to tell you all first."
"Tell us what?" Ruto demanded, desperate to cut through Zelda's preamble.
The princess of Hyrule, stood straight, her eyes focused and steady. "The hero of time has left Hyrule."
"What!" Malon and Ruto both exclaimed at once.
"I know, it is shocking. Please believe me, I did my level best to persuade him to stay here, but his heart would not be swayed… he seemed sad almost hurt when he left." Zelda's eyes were tearing up from the memory. "He seemed lost and forlorn; he left the castle with his head hung low."
"And he took Epona with him?" Malon asked.
"Yes, though he insisted that he would send her back home if his journey took him too far."
"But how long ago did he go and why?" Ruto asked.
"Around three week ago now. He made preparations well in advance though. He returned the spiritual stones to their home domains, he wanted to ensure the door of time could be opened again should he not return."
"Never return?" Ruto whispered with tears in her eyes. "How… How could you have allowed him to leave?"
Zelda's eyes shifted down to her feet. "It was not within my power," she confessed. "Whatever our hero needs it seems we are unable to give it to him."
"Horse muck!" Ruto challenged, her hands clenched into balled fists. Were it not for the plethora of guards on patrol she would have knocked the princess down there and then. "Whatever my love needs he can't find it by leaving his life behind. I'm going to send out word to all the sages and to everyone who loves our hero in Hyrule. The message is going out: for once, we are going to rescue Link."
Ruto stood outside the entrance to Kokiri forest with the ranch girl Malon. To prevent her father from forcibly returning her to Zora's domain, Ruto had spent the last week hiding on Lon Lon Ranch. It had been a rough week; she wished Talon and Ingo would dig a small pond there. Every day she had commuted to the river to soak her gills, but going so long on dry land was murder for the Zora and only her sense of unwavering purpose kept her going.
Word had been sent out to the corners of the land calling on any and all for aid in finding Hyrule's lost hero but there was no guessing who was going to show up. Zelda herself had refused any participation in Ruto's scheme, her place was at the heart of Hyrule and she firmly believed in honouring Link's decision to leave. Malon had been swayed to the cause, though this was as much for Epona's sake as for Link's. The two girls would wait by the forests entrance till midday before embarking into the Kokiri wood.
"Who do you think will come?" Malone asked, nervously shifting from one foot to the other. She did not much like the idea of searching for link with only Ruto for company.
"I sent word to all of the sages. They remember best what Link did for us in the dread future that never was. They get the same flashbacks as me and will remember how much we owe Link. For all that though, I can't say if they will actually come. Impa is Zelda's pet lap dog and wouldn't dream of leaving her side, Rauru, to the best of my knowledge, has never set foot outside the temple of sages and Nabooru, she's too unpredictable to bank on.
"What about people like me?' Malon asked, "Those who don't really remember the things you sages do?"
"Unlikely we'll get any help from people like that." Ruto said with a curled lip. "No offence to you guys but your ignorance is your bliss. You don't remember the years of misery. Hell, I bet you don't even remember your Father being kicked off Lon Lon ranch, and Epona being promised as a stead to the desert king.
"No..no I don't," Malon admitted.
The two girls stopped talking; a sound like rolling thunder was approaching from the east. Ruto turned toward the sound and grinned as a large hairy rock rolled towards them at breakneck speed. "Ah, Darunia, I knew Link's sworn brother would not sit idly by."
Darunia rolled to a stop and uncured just inches from the two girls. He let out a deep booming laugh as the dust cloud he had created caused the two girls to cough.
"Well met Mountain King," Ruto said demurely, curtsying as she spoke. There weren't many people who Ruto would show proper deference to: Darunia was one of those few. He was a leader Ruto could respect: impulsive, powerful and a true champion and paragon of his kind. The princess often wished her father, King Zora, would follow the Goron King's example.
"Ha ha, well look at you little Minnow, you've grown up some since last I saw you."
"It's been two years since Link saved the land, the last time we met was at Link's ceremony when we was recognised as the Hero of Time."
"Is it really that long?" Darunia said stroking his beard.
"My fins have hardened since then. Look!" Ruto went into an attack pose, showing off the sharp fins on her elbows.
"My, but I bet you can slice up some sushi with those." Darunia patted Ruto on the head with his usual over enthusiasm. Ruto winced at this but was still smiling at his affirmation.
Darunia wasted no more time on pleasantries and his face quickly turned serious as he looked toward the entrance of Kokiri forest. "Bad business about Link. I know that boy adventures where he pleases, but to contemplate leaving Hyrule itself... who would've guessed he would do such a thing without telling his sworn brother."
"So he didn't tell you either?" Malon asked sadly.
"No Fire Hat, he did not."
Despite the sad mood, Malon couldn't help but smile at her new nickname, and ran a hand shyly through her red locks. "Will anyone else be joining us?"
"I will." The new voice seemed to come from no where and the three companions looked in all directions for its owner. A shapely, female leapt from out of the shadows and then sauntered casually towards them. She had strong sharp features, easily seen owing to how little she wore. Her baggy white trousers billowed like sails in the Hylian wind and as she walked the small golden medallions hanging from her bra jingled melodically. She extended one tanned hand to Ruto, "Greetings princess."
"And to you Nabooru, Queen of the Desert." Ruto stammered through her words, still caught off guard by the Gerudo's sudden appearance. "We were not sure you'd come."
"So I heard, but I owe Link more than you might think. You get the flashes of that alternate nightmare, the years of Ganon's reign we were spared from. I think my nightmare to be worse than either yours or the other sages. While you and Darunia were at least free to try and combat Ganon's corruption over the years we waited for the hero, I was trapped. I was ensorcelled by Twin Rova. I spent seven long years as a puppet inside a shell of armour. The man who saved me from that deserves all of me."
Ruto didn't like the way Nabooru said that last part, but she let it pass. She was hardly going to pass up such a deadly ally.
"I have already scouted ahead," the Gerudo continued. "The Kokiri girl, Saria, waits for us just beyond the woodland border and will accompany us so long as our quest remains within the confines of the forest."
Ruto nodded and then turned to look out over an empty Hyrule field: no one else was coming with them. "Five people, is that really all we could recruit to find the boy who saved the world?"
Malon shuffled her feet, "Most of us aren't even aware of how much we owe the fairy boy, we don't remember it like you guys do."
"And you don't seem to realise my dear," Nabooru added, "how weak the Hylian people are. They are quite happy to be rescued, but suggest they return the favour and they hunker down in their houses and lock their doors."
The two girls shook their heads in disgust.
"Come on now," Darunia boomed, he punched his chest with his fist three times for effect. "Let's go find Link. Four sages and Fire Hat will accomplish more than a hundred Hylian's might do." Without waiting for a response, Darunia scooped Malon up onto his broad shoulders and lumbered towards the forest entrance.
Saria, the sage of the forest, fell into line quietly with the travelers as they strode through into the realm of the Kokiri.
The search for the Hero of Time, their friend, had begun.
Authors Notes.
This is my first attempt at writing a fan fiction on here, so I hope I have not embarrassed myself too terribly.
For those who are unsure, this story takes place during the events of Majora's Mask but looks at the events going on in Link's absence while he is questing in the alternate world of Termina.
I would love to hear some feedback from you good people out there, especially how I might improve the writing / story.
Oh, and sorry if any character names have been auto-corrected by my checker, it insists on changing Malon to Malone when I'm not looking.
Thanks for reading.
Red Rupee 20