(EDIT: 9/13/2018: Before you guys start reading, I thought I warn you that this is one of my earlier fanfics, so you might see some hiccups every now and then. Even till this day, I'm still making adjustments. Plus the first several chapters may be a bit slow, but they'll pick up later on.

That being said, I would still like it if you guys give this story a chance. It would be really appreciative.).

Thank you and enjoy:)

Prologue

It was a quiet night in the kingdom of Hyrule as citizens in the capital, Castle Town, were in their homes peacefully sleeping. Unaware of the events that were about to occur within the walls of Hyrule Castle.

Hiding in the shadows within the castle was Ganondorf, the leader of the Gerudo Tribe and trusted royal adviser to King Daphnes, or so that's what he appeared to be. What no one knew is that Ganondorf had desired to rule Hyrule. In order for him to accomplish this, he needed to build up the trust from the royal court, including the monarchs themselves. Then when the time came, Ganondorf would assassinate the King & Queen, take in and raise their infant daughter as his own, and blame the deed on others. He didn't know who'll put the blame on the murders, but he'll find it after his take over the land of Hyrule.

And after waiting for many months, tonight was the night where he finally set his plan into full motion. Lurking within the castle, he managed to evade the guards, killing some quietly, and made it to the royal chambers. Opening the door, he was surprised to see no one was in the bed.

"So it is true," came a stern voice.

Ganondorf turned around and saw King Daphnes himself closing the bedroom door with one hand while holding a sword in the other.

"Your majesty..." Ganondorf said.

"Ganondorf..." Daphnes retorted.

Without a second to pass, the pair then clashed swords and started dueling.

"I must admit, Daphnes, you manage to catch me off guard just a bit," Ganondorf commented as he made a swing. "However did you manage to figure my intentions?"

"The goddesses have their ways of warning me," Daphnes stated as he too made another swing of his sword.

"Well, warning or not, I will take your spot as ruler of Hyrule!"

"Never!"

The two kept on clashing swords. Daphnes tried with all his might to fight off Ganondorf. But the Gerudo leader has proven to have much more strength. Ganondorf quickly kicked the king back on a table, breaking it and causing him to fall onto the ground. Before Daphnes got the chance to comprehend what just happened, Ganondorf impaled his sword through the king's chest.

"It is over your majesty. Your kingdom is now mine." Ganondorf pulled his sword out and watch Daphnes groaning in pain as he tried to get up. "But before you die, care to tell me where your wife and daughter are?"

To his surprise, Daphnes gave a weak smirk as blood was coming out from the corner of his mouth.

"You fool," the King weakly said as he got on his knees. "As I told you earlier, the goddesses had warned me. Even as we speak, my wife and daughter are fleeing this castle. By the time you'll reach the town end, they'll be long gone…"

Ganondorf walked over to the window. Outside was the view of Castle Town. Two figures were on horses riding along Hyrule field before they both disappeared at the edge of it.

"You are more clever than I anticipated, Daphnes. But I will find them in due time."

"You may take over all of Hyrule, but people will know the truth of my fate one day. And one day you'll be taken down."

"Then I will make sure that it will never come to that," Ganondorf vowed as he faced the dying king.

"Well...See..." Daphnes slumped on the ground on his side, his sword falling from his hands and slowly closed his eyes, never to open again.

King Daphnes of Hyrule is dead.

1 week later…

New's of King Daphnes's death and the queen's sudden disappearance had spread, which caused panic throughout Hyrule. To keep order, Ganondorf had told the citizens of a fake story that a group of criminals had murdered the king, kidnapped the queen and her daughter, and that he promised to do everything he can to find them and took over as acting ruler. He even dedicated a week for the kingdom to mourn the late king.

Far from Hyrule's capital in the woodlands lies a small village was known as Ordon Village. The village was lead by Mayor Bo. Given the distance of the village, not many news make it there. That didn't stop the news of King Daphnes' death from reaching the small village. The news had come quite a shock to the villagers and shared their sorrow for several days. Soon they went about their day just like any other and just hoped for the best.

One person who was just doing was a young man named Leal and his 1-year-old son, Link. Leal's wife had died shortly after Link's birth so it was the two of them. Link was already started walking on his own, so Leal had to keep an extra eye on him. Leal was also close friends with Bo and Isabel. Bo's wife loved to watch Link. She hoped to have children of her own one day. But whenever she had asked, her husband always say that didn't feel ready yet.

Leal was fishing by the pond while Link watched. The water came here through a small stream from a nearby river, so lots a fish of every size came in. Link was sitting on the ground, watching his father fish where he quickly got bored. He brought his own fishing pole, but his father wouldn't let him fish because he believed Link wasn't ready.

"Go to where the water enters," A voice in Link's head told him. He looked to where the water from the ponds where enter. There was a river that was connected the small ponds in the village. The only way for the water to enter was through a pathway between two high rock walls.

Link was an obedient toddler, and his father had always instructed Link to never wander off. But the voice was nagging to Link to go to the water entryway and he wanted to prove to his father that he was ready to fish. Link quietly walked away from his dad and went straight to the water entrance where he cast his fishing pole hard while being careful not to fall in the water, which his father had always warned him.

Link cast the line very hard, which the end of the line landed in some long grass like plants and cattails. As he try to reel his line again, a heavy tug. The toddler's excitement grew as used all his strength to pull the rod. When he got his line out from the plants he was surprised to see that his catch wasn't a fish, but a basket. With another tug, he pulled the basket to the shore and unhooked from his line. Link looked at the basket and wondered what was inside. Slowly, he put his little hands on the lid and removed it. An amusing and odd look in his eyes grew once he saw what was inside.

In the basket was a baby, smaller than him, that had appeared to have woken up from its nap. The baby had brown hair, blue eyes, and ears like his. The baby looked at Link with awe and curiosity and reached for him. Link lifted his left hand and gently held the infant's hand. He watches as for a moment his left hand glowed for a bit but it died down. The baby started to giggle loudly, which brought the attention of Leal and other villagers.

Leal quickly ran towards his son and was the first at the scene. His eyes widen with shock as he wasn't prepared to see the infant in the basket. "What in the name of Hyrule…"

Not far from the small crowd was a woman known as Isabel, Mayor Bo's wife. She saw the small crowd gathering near the water's shore, including Leal and his son the water's edge. Curiosity got the better of her when she started to head towards them. Once she saw the basket and was in it she got the idea what's going on.

"Leal...What is this?" Isabel asked.

"I-I don't know," Leal replied. "This basket came from the river, I think."

Isabel kneeled down to the basket and look at the infant. At first glance, she could tell the infant was a female Hylian. As she looked more inside the basket, she saw two other items. One was a necklace with the Triforce at the center. Another was a folded piece of paper. Isabel picked it up and unfolded it and read the message.

'To whoever finds this basket,

Please take care of my daughter. For I am unable to do the same for her. Give her a nice, safe life. Her name is Zelda.'

There wasn't a signature or anything. Isabel looked at the note again before putting it into her pocket. She then reached into the basket and gently picked up the baby, now known as Zelda. The infant was giggling and smiling, most likely unaware of its situation. Just by looking at her, the baby was warming her into Isabel's heart. If she can convince her husband, she may adopt this child. She held the baby close and got on her feet.

Everyone looked with amusement and whispered among themselves, not really sure what to make of this. Isabel shot them quite a glare towards them. Needless to say, everyone quit staring & whispering.

"Let's go meet your father, little one," Isabel suggested.

Leal picked up Link as Isabel walked by them. As the two passed the father-son pair, Link looked at Zelda and gave the infant a big smile. It was the start of a very close friendship, maybe even more.

Bo was surprised later that day to see his wife come home with a sleeping baby in her arms. Isabel had explained the infant's sudden appearance along with sharing her idea of adopting the child. Bo was reluctant with the idea.

"Isabel, I'm not sure if we're ready to raise a child yet. I'm not even sure if I'm ready."

Isabel still had the baby in her arms as she tried to convince her husband. "I know that dear. But what if this is a sign from the goddesses themselves? This child needs someone to care for her. I can't really explain it, but I feel like there's something...special about her."

Bo thought about this long and hard. Having a child was a big step and would change a lot of things. Growing up, his own parents were never around for most of his life, causing him to fear that he would pass that off. But looking at the baby in his wife's arms made him think differently. If what Isabel said was true then this child needs a family. Maybe he was ready for this step in life.

"Alright. We'll adopt her."

Isabel hugged him with her free arm. After which, Bo looked at the infant with care in his eyes.

"Do you want to hold her, dear?" Isabel asked.

Bo was hesitant but he nodded his head. Isabel carefully places the baby in Bo's arms.

"What did you say her name was?" Bo asked.

"The note said it was Zelda."

"Well, she's our little Zelda now." Bo and his wife watch their newest family member sleep in Bo's arms.

For the future was looking bright for the little Zelda.

Well I hope you guys enjoyed the beginning of my first major fanfic

I should let you guys know a few things about the story overall:

*This is an original Zelda story. Meaning it has no tie ins to the other games. However, characters from other games will appear. (Fair warning, some of these characters may be different from their canon counterparts).

*Link, Zelda, & Ganondorf will have their Twilight Princess look (my favorite designs of them)

*I'm not very experience with the series (gameplay wise, but I know the stories)...so there's that. But I'll do my best

*(UPDATE 9/21/2018) After further planning...Hyrule in this fic will be a mixture of Ocarina of Time, Twilight Princess, and Breath of the Wild

A/N:

I was inspired by the Zelda fanfic Legend, Which I encourage to give that a read.

I don't Zelda. Nintendo does.

Thanks:)