Harry James Potter whimpered softly as a large, beefy fist slammed into his tiny, fragile body.
Why? Why did he have to suffer like this? Why didn't anyone love him?
Harry was always scared, and confused, and in pain, and he hated it. He wanted to be held and told he was loved, like Dudley was, though maybe not to that extent...
He wanted to be saved...
"Somebody...Please save me..." The little boy whispered under his breath.
He didn't notice, but a small spark flew from his body, through the roof, and into the air.
Meanwhile...
Princess Zelda had no idea how it had happened.
One moment, she had been practicing with her magic out in the courtyard, the next, a spark of foreign magic had caused her botch a Farore's Wind spell, and she now found herself floating in a seemingly endless blank void.
She wasn't too concerned for her people. After all, she had arranged with Impa, who had been with her at the time, to keep an eye on things should anything ever happen to her...But this void was not appearing to end...
Just when the princess of Hyrule thought she was going to float through the void forever, there was a bright flash of light.
When the flash cleared, the princess collapsed onto a hard, wooden floor in an undignified heap. Sighing in disdain, the Hylian rose and dusted off her dress.
Where on Earth was she?
Suddenly, a sound grabbed her attention. It was in the same room as her, and it sounded like the one making it was in pain...
The princess snapped her head over to the direction the noise was coming from, and she immediately raised a hand to her mouth in shock.
There was a man, towering over a little boy...Beating him with everything he could get his hands on, from his bare fists to a glass vase.
These were not her people...Her people would never perform such brutality on each other, especially not children. But still, her people or not, she would not allow such horridness to continue.
And so, without a word, before the fat man even noticed her presence, the Hylian created a ball of red magic in her hand, and launched it at his face.
Vernon howled in agony as the flames fried his face, and he stumbled back, clawing at the spot in pain.
Zelda's blood was still boiling. A light glowed around her hand, summoning something...
After his eyesight returned, Vernon opened them to see a rapier was mere inches away from his face. His eyes widened in panic, and he gulped as he stared at the pointy-eared, brown-haired woman in front of him.
"Step away from the child. Right this instant." She said firmly. Vernon let out a soft squeak, and waddled out of the room as fast as he could.
Zelda let out a heavy sigh, then turned her attention to the little boy, the source of her actions. The tiny, black-haired child was still cowering. Zelda blinked, and realized she had not put away her rapier. With a quick flex of concentration, the blade was dispelled, and Zelda approached the tiny boy. She knelt down to his level and looked him over. She frowned sadly at the various wounds and bruises that littered his tiny body, then pulled out a red liquid from her satchel.
Harry flinched when he saw her reaching into her satchel, thinking she's going to pull out a lighter and burn him like Vernon had done so many times in the past. He was confused when she pulled out a red liquid, then got scared as he realized it must be like those chemicals Vernon had forced him to drink last week. She held the bottle to his lips. "Drink." She said simply.
It was a short command, but it was uttered in a soft and kind tone. The shaking child grasped the glass bottle in his small hands and pulled out the cork. Slowly, he tilted the bottle back and let the liquid wash down his throat. To his surprise, it tasted like stawberries. When a third of the contents were gone, the strange woman with the pointed ears grasped his hands softly. "That's enough now. Don't want to get a tummy ache." She said softly.
Harry looked up at the pretty woman with an expression of wonder in his eyes. Who was she? Why had she saved him? She seemed...nice. She'd have to be if she was willing to tolerate the presence of a worthless little freak like him...
Zelda watched with sharp blue eyes as the wounds slowly faded away. She smiled at him and helped him to his feet. "And what's your name, child?"
Harry looked down at the floor. "H-Harry...B-But you can call me F-Freak..." He said those words with such a defeated tone in his voice, as if he'd just grown to accept that his fate was to be beaten, tormented and verbally assaulted.
The Royal frowned and grasped his chin, gently pulling his head up so that he was looking at her. "Well then, nice to meet you Harry. I am Zelda, Crowned Princess of the kingdom of Hyrule." She said with a closed-eye smile and her head tilted to the side.
Harry felt every ounce of fear get sapped out of his system at the woman's touch. She wouldn't hurt him. He just knew it. Slowly, the corners of his mouth twitched, then curled upwards in a small smile. He felt safer around her. "H-Hi, M-Miss Zelda..." He greeted softly, bracing himself to get slapped for speaking out of turn.
The Princess was about to respond when her sensitive ears heard loud footsteps approaching them. Turning, she saw Vernon with a hunting rifle in his hands. She deftly stepped in front of the boy and called forth her rapier. "Take this freaks!" The fat thing yelled as he fired. Thinking quickly, the Triforce mark appeared on the back of her left hand and she spun around with a cry of "Nayru's Love!" A crystalline substance in the shape of a diamond appeared around her form and revolved around her, blocking the bullet from hitting her or Harry.
The bullet bounced off the crystal, and ended up lodging itself in Vernon's right foot. The obese man howled in agony and stumbled back, clutching his foot, before falling on the sofa. Zelda was quick to move, and stabbed her rapier into Vernon's other foot, punishing him for daring to harm this poor innocent child. Vernon's agonized screams sounded throughout the entire house, and Zelda angrily pulled back her rapier, and turned back to Harry.
The poor child cowered behind the sofa as the Princess' piercing blue gaze bore into everything she set her sights on. Her heeled boots clacked against the wooden floor and her dress swished with the movement of her legs.
The moment Zelda's gaze rested on the scared little boy, her expression softened. She hadn't meant to frighten him... She turned to Vernon with a glare, then pulled out the healing potion. She knelt down to the terrified man's level.
"Listen to me, monster." Vernon looked at her in fear. "I will make a bargain with you. I will allow you to drink this potion, and heal your injuries. In return, you are not to harm this child ever again, and allow me to leave this terrible home. You will also refrain from alerting the authorities to my actions. Will you agree to my terms?"
This was one of the reasons she was so loved by the people of Hyrule, and why she possessed the Triforce of Wisdom. She was a fair and just ruler who wasn't too harsh.
Vernon nodded hastily, then grabbed the potion out of the princess's hands and greedily sucked down the liquid, moaning at the relief it brought his wounds. Without another word, the fat man rose to his feet and waddled away as fast as his stubby legs would carry him.
Zelda sighed, and thought about what she was to do... She was in an unfamilar land, with no idea how to return to her own kingdom... She wasn't too concerned about her subjects, as Impa was more than capable of filling in for her...But she couldn't have these terrible people calling the authorities on her...What would she do?
After Vernon ran out of the room in terror, Zelda decided the child needed to be checked on. She stood tall and approached the child, who was still cowering behind the sofa. She felt a wave of guilt was over her. She hadn't meant to frighten him, she'd only wanted to protect him... Tentatively, she reached out a hand and placed it gently on the boy's cheek.
Her heart almost broke when the poor child flinched. "There, don't worry Harry." She began to hum the lullaby that always put her to sleep and smiled when his eyes began to droop. She picked him up and sat down on the couch, Harry on her lap and his head resting against her bosom.
The smile on her face almost hurt as she child slept soundly in her arms. She knew she couldn't stay too much longer...She wanted nothing to do with that terrible man... But...she didn't want to stop watching the sleeping boy...He was so cute.
...Where would she go? Should she attempt to use Farore's Wind again to return to her homeland? A possibility, but with dangerous consequences should she make a single mistake. No. What she needed was someplace she could learn as much as she could about this world.
She decided...She wouldn't get the answers she needed sitting on this sofa. Gently, she placed Harry down on the sofa, then planted a kiss on his cheek. "Your life will be easier. I am entrusting your guardian to heed my warning." Without another word, she rose, and moved for the door at a brisk pace. She turned the knob, and threw the door open...
What?
Where on Earth were the vast fields? What were those odd mechanical things moving down the street?
Where on Earth was she?