Disclaimer: I don't own Zelda. If I did, I'd be a multi-millionaire and wouldn't have to write
these disclaimers before fics. Nintendo owns everything in the story that y'all recognize.
Anything not recognized is mine. That means that Nara is mine, so hands off! This is my first
Zelda fic, so be gentle.


Old Evil, New Hero

Chapter One: Nara Steps Out


"Nara, what in the name of the Goddesses are you doing? When I leave an opening, you're
supposed to take advantage of it by lunging with the sword, not by just standing there, looking at
me! How you ever got to be a soldier is a mystery to me!", the Captain said during one of their
sparring sessions.

"Sorry, sir! I've been preoccupied with these strange dreams I've been having lately. I get the
feeling that they're trying to tell me what I'm supposed to be doing. It's really weird. I see the
castle and a white horse with unidentified riders on it being chased by a rider on a black horse,
and I'm standing there, not helping with the drawbridge, like I usually do.", Nara said and the
Captain shook his head.

"The dreams again...Nara, if it were up to me, you'd be out of the Hylian Army long before now,
but, somehow, Her Royal Highness, Princess Zelda(all female members of the Hylian Royal
Family are named Zelda...remember?), has taken a liking to you, though I can't explain it.
Unfortunately, I also can't drum you out of the army, so we're stuck with you."

"I'll improve, Captain! The dreams tell me that I must become a better swordsman, or else
Hyrule will be doomed.", Nara said as she put her sword in the sheath on her back. The Captain
shook his head.

"I think I'll agree with those dreams of yours, this time, and say that you'd better improve if you
want to be promoted out of drawbridge duty. You keep this poor swordfighting up and I'll make
sure that not even the Goddesses themselves will place you in the fighting arm of our ranks.
You're dismissed.", the Captain said with a long-suffering sigh, then walked off to the bar in
Hyrule Market to get a stiff drink.

Nara sighed sadly. "Oh, Din, I've done it now. How am I going to get better at fighting
quickly?", she muttered to herself as she walked toward the stables and stopped at her horse's
stall. The horse was a beautiful chestnut mare named Wildfire, with a white stripe running down
her nose. Nara sighed and fed Wildfire a carrot and gently patted the horse on the neck.

"Wildfire, I need a drink, and we can't go to the bar here because the Captain's there, and we
don't want him thinking that the Goddesses have cursed him with my neverending presence. Of
course, he thinks that anyway. So, where can we go to get a drink and let the Captain drink in
peace?", she asked the horse. Wildfire softly snorted in response and promptly snatched a
mouthful of hay from the floor.

"We could go to Kakariko. It's nearby and we can make it back in time to avoid getting locked
out of the castle again.", she said, answering her own question. She picked up Wildfire's saddle
and bridle.

"Okay, Kakariko Village it is, then!", Nara said with a smile, and Wildfire snorted again and
twitched her tail at an annoying fly.

Minutes later, after Nara fought with Wildfire to get the saddle and bridle on, because the mare
was perfectly happy staying in her stall all day, they were trotting through the market. Nara felt a
mental twinge when they passed the Temple of Time, and had an uneasy feeling that something
very evil was about to rear its ugly head. She shrugged it off as completely normal paranoia and
gently nudged Wildfire into a canter when they were in the vast expanse of Hyrule Field. She
looked around at the vastness and beauty of the place as they turned to go over the bridge over
the river and into Kakariko Village. Well, actually, Wildfire balked at going into the village and
reared up to assert her independence.

"Oh, Din, not now, Wildfire! This is why I don't trust you enough to let you stay out here on
your own. You'll run off and I'll have to chase you around Hyrule to get you back, with the guys
opting to laugh their heads off instead of helping! Now are you going to be a good horse and go
into the village so I can tie you up and not have you run off, or do I have to get off and push you
into the village and you don't get carrots tonight with your dinner? Your choice.", she said
sternly.

The horse seemed to think it over, then trotted up the stairs and into the village. Nara smiled
triumphantly and rode the horse over to the bar and dismounted, her left foot getting caught in
the stirrup,causing her to lose her balance and nearly fall, until she grabbed onto the saddle.
Cursing under her breath, she disentangled her foot from the stirrup and tied Wildfire to the
hitching post outside the bar. She looked at the horse, who seemed to be smiling. She shrugged
and headed toward the bar's entrance when she heard a growl and hiss, followed by a high
pitched scream.

"What the hell?", she muttered to herself as she looked int he direction of the sounds and was
surprised to see a glowing red fairy trapped under the paws of a cat.

"Help me!", the fairy screamed.

"Huh. I thought fairies never left the forest. This is a first. Maybe the fairy got bored in the forest
and just wanted some excitement. Well, she certainly found it.", she muttered to herself as she
approached the cat.

"Bad kitty! Let the fairy go! Shoo!", she shouted at the cat. The cat hissed at Nara, but refused to
let the fairy go. Nara sighed and picked up the cat, who hissed even more and lashed out at her
with razor sharp claws, catching her on her arm, through the armor.

"Ow! Damn cat!", she exclaimed, dropping the feline, who trotted off smugly, its tail held high.
The fairy flew over to her.

"Thank you! You saved me from that nasty cat! I'm in your debt forever, so I'm going to hang
out with you for the rest of both of our lives.", the fairy said happily. Nara sighed again.

"Okay, that's great...that's just great.", she said as she walked into the bar for her stiff drink,
followed by the fairy.




Author's Notes: I'm taking suggestions for the name of the fairy, and will write part two when I
have a name for the fairy. So, if you want part 2, review! Hey, that rhymed!