AUTHOR'S NOTE: Could not fit full title in the interface. Sorry! Also, what is WITH so many minor Wind Waker characters getting short shrift on this site?

The Legend of Zelda: The Four Sacred Winds

Book One-The Legend Begins, Prologue: Darknuts Howling At the Moon Means Doom

The land of Hyrule. Long ago, the Demon King Demise, sought to lay waste to this peaceful country. To do this, he commanded both a vast demonic army, and a great living weapon...a black sword of incredible dark power. In opposition to him stood the Goddess Hylia...but Demise's power was too great for her or her own forces to fully eradicate, and he and his forces were merely sealed away.

An unknown number of years passed...and one day, Demise's sword somehow managed to slip through the seal and reassume humanoid form. Calling himself "Demon Lord Ghirahim", he began machinations to return his master Demise to his former strength. However, it was not long before a hero, clad in green, rose to stop him. Though Ghirahim sought to hinder and destroy the hero at every turn, he claimed the Triforce before Demise could be revived, forcing Ghirahim to take extreme last second measures to complete his master's restoration. Even this was in vain, as the boy performed a feat Ghirahim had not thought possible-he defeated the revived Demise single-handed, ending his life like Hylia herself never could.

Although his life was ended, Demise's fury was not. He cursed the hero with his dying breath, giving him the ability to impose his desires on a series of powerful beings which would then hound the hero's descendants each in turn, until they too were vanquished. This process endured for several centuries.

Meanwhile, the shock of his master's death rendered Lord Ghirahim catatonic in his true sword form, unable to assume any other form or affect the world around him in any way. This reverie ended around the time the Dark Lord Ganondorf, the latest of the line of Demise's chosen at the time, set his plans in motion. However, Ghirahim's slumber had been long, and he did not have the strength to reassume his humanoid appearance.

Then, Ganondorf was defeated. By this time, Ghirahim had recovered enough power to sense that his master, from beyond the grave, had been thwarted yet again. The anger this gave him accelerated his recovery, and by the time Ganondorf was resurrected, Ghirahim was nearly strong enough to assume his former appearance. He was very eager to find Ganondorf and offer himself to him, reasoning that since Demise was dead, he would devote himself to the next best thing. But then, something that Ghirahim could never have anticipated happened...something that would devastate him and push his machinations back considerably. The remaining Hyrulean deities, beseeched by their followers, buried the entirety of Hyrule under several million cubic miles of water. At first, he despaired, until he sensed Ganondorf's presence in the magically preserved portion of Hyrule that Ghirahim also found himself in. He renewed his effort to recover with vigor...and soon, he regained his humanoid form at long last, albeit with a bare minimum of that form's former strength and abilities. However, he was again fated to be infuriated, this time by being too late to prevent the King of Red Lions from using the Triforce to dispel Hyrule's protection from the surrounding Great Sea. Nor did he arrive in time to assist Ganondorf against the hero's descendant-the very instant he reached the battle, he could only watch in horror as the descendant, who was an even younger child than the one who defeated him and his master, to his eternal rage and humiliation, impaled Ganondorf through his forehead. As he turned to stone, Ghirahim could sense that no force that existed could revive him. As the Great Sea closed in, he had no choice but to revert to his sword form and painstakingly float to the surface.

When he emerged from the depths of the Great Sea, he had formed the beginnings of a plan. His desire to be wielded by a master once more was all-consuming, but he no longer wanted Demise's agent to be the one to do this if such agents could be so dispatched by the descendants of the hero. He would need a way to ensure that his new master would not squander his powers. With this in mind, he willed himself as the sword to float in a specific direction...to Ganondorf's former base, the Forsaken Fortress.

It took a large amount of time and even more effort to reach the ruins of the Forsaken Fortress. Ghirahim had become extremely fatigued, and took a few days in his sword form to recover. An errant Moblin or two attempted to pick him up and wield him during this time, but he made it abundantly clear even to beings of such limited intellect that he would not allow himself to be subjected to such an indignity, via mild dark magic that manifested similarly to electric shocks. Once he regained his stamina, Ghirahim easily dispatched the larger-than-average Moblin that styled himself as the others' chief, and all the others immediately became his followers. This was a particularly lucky windfall for Ghirahim's plans-Moblin brand dumb muscle would lend itself to construction nicely, with proper supervision. As soon as he had the strength for such a spell, he used his magic to increase the island's diameter considerably. Then, he ran into a problem. The Moblins were indeed serving excellent as builders-in fact, they had already made considerable progress in the dismantling of the Fortress for building materials. However, the materials that would be gained when the deconstuction was complete would be woefully insufficient for his plans. Furthermore, if he was going to procure more, the best source of material was Old Hyrule, beneath the Great Sea, and such an operation required delicacy, and the Moblins had none.

Fortunately, the dismantling of the Forsaken Fortress had not gone unnoticed. Even more fortunately, by this time, the descendant had sailed off to parts unknown with the goal of founding New Hyrule, and no other heroes had risen-in other words, any righteous being with the capacity to investigate was too cowardly to do so. Beings that were less than righteous, on the other hand, had come in droves.

Darknuts were the first to arrive, for their senses were keen, and they eagerly flocked to investigate this power that they sensed was strong enough to direct them. Some of them brought relatively small groups of monsters with them, comprised of members of various species that those particular Darknuts had cowed into obedience. This delighted Ghirahim, who rewarded those Darknuts with supervisory positions, charging them with enforcing his will and keeping the lesser minions in line as well as from slacking off. A few of these were given direct command of a detachment comprised of one of the non-Moblin lesser species, charged with swelling Ghirahim's ranks of that species by any means necessary. The remainder stayed behind to supervise the Moblins and ensure they maintained the pace and quality of construction-a job that Ghirahim relished delegating rather than doing himself, as he had done to that point. He quite liked these Darknuts, he decided-they were hands down the most intelligent minions he'd had the pleasure of commanding. As for those Darknuts who came alone, he assigned them their more traditional role as elite guards-an occupation that they resumed with considerable relish.

Next came myriad varieties of seagoing monsters, extreme curiosity drawing them to the construction site's commotion en masse. By this point, Ghirahim had regained enough of his magic to enthrall them, rather than cowing them through force or attracting them with power. Among these were several scores of "Warship" monsters-he welcomed them into the fold even more eagerly than the rest, for he had not seen such a creature before, and knowing such things existed gave him inspiration at last as to how to solve his salvage problem. Not only had he recovered enough magic to control existing monsters, he could now, with difficulty, synthesize his own. This new monster type would have a complex role, and it took him several tries to create ones that had abilities sufficient to the task, but he eventually perfected the Clawsub-a monster that could operate under the Great Sea as well as on it, equipped with a hull-mounted Salvage Arm. Just in case, he also perfected a Warsub. This subset of his new Submarine line of monsters had the ability to launch heat-seeking torpedos to deal with potentially hostile indigenous creatures, and were given great resilience in case a heroic meddler did show up and somehow found a way to reach the depths of the Great Sea. He made sure to have twice as many Warsubs as Clawsubs so that an adequate escort formation was possible.

No sooner had he sent his new Submarines on their first mission than his Recruiter Darknuts returned...and the news was not good. Ghirahim had directed them to avoid detection in their efforts to gather more monsters, but this had failed utterly, and several Darknuts had even suffered losses. Darknuts were simply too conspicuous-one of the ones who suffered losses did so due to directing his troops to enact a diversion so that he could go undetected, and not only did this still fail, but the Darknut had gotten so deep into the island in question by the time of failure that he was unable to entirely escape before he was confronted. He'd slain his opponent and successfully escaped, but had sustained damage to his armor and lost his helmet in the process-the helmet's absence in particular being a mark of incomparable shame among Darknuts.

Ghirahim, try as he might to become utterly furious with this news, was unable to, a fact that astounded all present, including himself. He felt he SHOULD have been angry, but if he was totally honest with himself, that particular Darknut's tactics were extraordinarily impressive for a minion-particularly after the sheer idiocy of the types of minions he was more used to dealing with till now. He gave an order for all the Darknuts to assemble.

They obeyed, dutifully as usual, but to the Darknut without a helmet, Ghirahim gave a different order, as he was about to lumber off to the ordered assembly area. "Not you," he said, in its language, "you will arrive at the assembly when I do...and by my side." Darknuts were far and away the most intelligent of monsters, and this one was definitely one of the smartest of them, but his lord's pronouncement completely perplexed him. At first, he quaked in fear, assuming that he was going to be publicly executed. But the tone of his lord's order was totally inconsistent with this. It could have been a deception, the Darknut thought-perhaps his liege wanted to soften the blow, to placate him, preventing him from fleeing or performing a short-lived act of rebellion. However, one thing shot down this line of reasoning. We humans would translate the last thing Ghirahim said to him as "by my side", but this would be an error. Truthfully, while gruff, gutteral and primitive sounding, the Darknut language is remarkably nuanced. Ghirahim had actually used a very special native Darknut term, nigh sacred. Just one word, but the concept it describes is one of deepest respect. A Darknut using this term in reference another Darknut is essentially saying that he trusts that fellow member of their species with his life, that there was no other Darknut that he would have at his back, and that he would place this particular Darknut's well being over any other desire save the desire to complete a directive assigned by his lord. It was, in truth, the closest concept to love that Darknuts could comprehend. For one's lord to use such a term was beyond unheard of-and Ghirahim had used it in reference to him.

He walked right behind his liege, his monster mind reeling. This only added to his distress, as it was very unprofessional for a Darknut to be so distracted, and the last thing he wanted was further dishonor. Fortunately, Ghirahim was keeping an oddly slow pace, and he still kept up easily. As they reached the stage, he was directed to stand directly at Ghirahim's right, at attention. All his fellow Darknuts were already assembled. Some of them wore expressions of bloodlust beneath their helmets, anticipating the same thing he had been at first-not that he could see this. Ghirahim raised his right hand, and the Darknuts instantly fell silent, as signaled.

"My Darknuts," Ghirahim began, "most loyal and powerful of my minions, on this day each and every one of you, including the one up here, has something in common: You have all failed me. Yes, every single one." A highly uncharacteristic fearful tittering arose from his audience, who now feared that the one on stage would not be the only one executed tonight. Those of you I trusted with command duties abroad are already well aware of their failure. Those of you I did not...I have observed inexcusable sloppiness, from the highest Warden of the Moblins to the lowest Elite Guard. Something must be done."

Every single Darknut, onstage and in the audience, stopped their tittering, due to now being paralyzed with fear-no mean feat for even Ghirahim to accomplish. "I see you all. Every single one of you quaking with fear...and rightfully so. I'll deal with you all shortly. But first!" he said, turning to his companion on stage, "If any of you deserves the maximum punishment for this incompetence, surely the one here besides me does. He had the heaviest losses out of all of you I sent, and was the only one of you damaged in battle. He even lost his helm, which I understand that among your kind is a dishonor of the highest order."

The offending Darknut's dread mounted with every syllable his lord spoke. Miraculously, his composure held when he recalled the term Ghirahim had used. His liege wouldn't go to such lengths to string him along...would he? Ghirahim continued. "However! That is not all he has done. He has done several more things-and I feel they serve to vindicate him. Allow me to list them for you now." At these words, there was an astonished, though quiescent stir throughout the Darknuts, most of all the one on stage. "He has shown initiative, and uncharacteristic cleverness. He was the only one of you to even have a thought in his head concerning diversionary tactics. True, his implementation was flawed, but...baby steps."

"He has inspired loyalty in those he commands. Recall that a charge against him is his sustaining the most serious loss among the commanders. But through my connection to him I have seen the truth of the matter. His losses were heaviest because in the first minute or so of his peril, his troops, a band of Wingless Mothulas, covered his retreat from a fearsome foe with a veritable minefield of Morths, at great peril to themselves, and-and this is the important part, not only without being ordered to, in fact they were actually disobeying him! It took him that full minute to at last coerce them to retreat with him, during which time four Mothulas were lost. And it is well he did, for his troops efforts were entirely in vain. Before I continue the story, I note the first charge is now refuted."

All the Darknuts' astonishment had been growing throughout this part of the speech, again, the one his liege was now defending from his own accusations most of all. And Ghirahim was far from done. "As I said, the Mothulas' illicit efforts were completely in vain. Their commander's pursuer was able to catch him and deal several significant blows. But once again, there is more to this tale than it appears. How do any of you suppose he sustained his injuries?" Ghirahim paused for just a moment to get conclusive proof that none of them had any inkling, then continued, "I'll tell you all how. He ordered the remainder of his troops to the boats to face his foe alone! The second and final charge against him are grievous breaches of Darknut honor, true. But is it not also a paramount concern of Darknut honor to face one's foes alone, especially those worthy to face a Darknut? Is this not why he pleaded with his troops who were ready to give their lives for him to not do so? Yes, he has committed a serious breach of Darknut honor, but he also fought and successfully killed his assailant. Thus, he has upheld his Darknut honor in equal measure."

More titters, and now around a half dozen growls, from Darknuts who disagreed with this particular assessment despite themselves. "This directly refutes the other two charges against him. Thus, he will recieve no punishment. However...there is one final matter to consider. As I said, he faced his foe alone, and coincidentally or not, saved the lives of much of his command as a result. Therefore, he has earned the loyalty that he inspires. Which brings us to the crux of this meeting."

Ghirahim turned again to the Darknut on stage, who allowed himself a slight smile, which was still very toothy. "This Darknut has proven beyond a doubt that he possesses cunning, bravery, and honor leagues beyond any of you. Which is why I say to him, that when I give him this next order, he has nothing to fear, and everything to be proud of. Now...go and stand before the stage, between the crowd and it, and face me so that I may bestow upon you that which you deserve.

The Darknut's smile was gradually widening as he followed the command, and by the time he reached the spot Ghirahim indicated, it was its maximum possible toothy grin. He quickly wiped it off his face as he turned to face his liege, kneeling down in subservience. Ghirahim extended his arm towards him with a single outstrectched finger. From that finger, a beam of dark energy shot out of it, striking the Darknut in the chest, but it was not harming him at all. In fact, it was making him stronger, or at least larger, and his armor's plating was repairing itself. The design was also changing, gaining an ornate diamond pattern gilding and the overall color turning from normal steel to gold.

A genuine gasp issued from all the other Darknuts as the vulnerable spot on the back that all Darknuts shared in common melted away on his armor, and where it had been, a diamond shape that looked as though it was as hard and strong as actual diamond appeared. Through it all, he continued to grow larger, and did not stop until he was easily the size of one of the larger Hyrulian Boss class monsters. When it finally did, Ghirahim raised his arm skyward, finger still outstretched. A brilliant golden light orb descended from the sky, following where Ghirahim pointed his finger. As it descended, the light faded away to reveal an immaculate golden colored helm, with more diamond pattern gilding to match the armor, and one other decorative feature-a large diamond shaped gem at the very center of the brow in Ghirahim's exact favorite shade of red, which was, of course, blood. It eclipsed the Darknut's head perfectly. "This...this is what you deserve. Now...rise, my Darknut General!" Ghirahim said, feeling a rush of manic, psychotic elation for the first time in centuries.

"My lord," said the General in the Darknut language, as he rose, "This honor...I know no words to comprehend the height of it. My gratitude to you is unending."

"Yes, that is only natural...the Darknut language has no words for your rank...because you are the first of your kind."

"My lord!" The Darknut General was totally overcome at these words, displaying uncharacteristic emotion. It was lucky he had his helmet again and was facing away from the crowd, otherwise they could have seen the inky black tear that released from his eye, despite his best efforts to prevent it from forming.

"Isn't this wonderful! And I'm not even finished! It is with a heart brim full of rainbows for the first time since bygone days that I announce that the Darknut General is not the only one of you to recieve a reward tonight. You see...the blame for the failure of your mission was not on your own heads, but mine. I sent you on a mission that no Darknut, that no mere monster, would be capable of completing. If there is dishonor here, it is on my head as your lord for abusing you. Today this ends! My gift to you!"

Ghirahim shot his finger straight up skyward again, and more dark energy released, this time as a wave that enveloped not just the General, but the entire crowd of Darknuts. By the time the wave dissipated, the intelligence of every Darknut present except for the General tripled, and the General's brain expanded even more, making them able to speak Hylian, among other effects. Up until this point, they had all served Lord Ghirahim with total obedience and duty above all, as befit a Darknut. After this action they needed no code. They would follow Ghirahim anywhere, and do anything he said at all without the beginnings of a question forming in their minds. Their unwavering loyalty had crystalized into rapturous adoration. Never before had a Darknut served someone so worthy-which is why what happened next had not ever happened before. Each and every one of them, from the General to the lowliest elite guard, removed his helmet and kneeled. This was the ultimate gesture of Darknut respect and admiration, one signifying that their love for their lord was stronger than their love for their lives, their race, or even their honor. "Lord" was no longer a sufficient title in their eyes-to them, he was their complete and utter Master. If what Ghirahim had said to his General before the speech began was a Darknut's understanding of love, this was a Darknut's understanding of worship. In the entire history of Hyrule, Ghirahim was the first being to ever command this level of Darknut respect.

As such, Ghirahim was unaware of this custom, until his general explained to him his part in the ritual that had commenced. "Speak, my Darknuts!" Ghirahim intoned, "Tell all of Hyrule, from the lowliest fish below to the Goddesses high above...WHO IS YOUR MASTER!" This was a slight deviation from the usual phrasing-it was theoretically supposed to reference "the lowliest worm" not fish, but under the current geographical circumstances it worked far better. The de-helmeted Darknuts worked themselves into a frenzy, chanting at the top of their considerable lungs, "Ghiiiiiirahim! Ghiiiiiirahim!" This repeated about five times, then every single one of them pointed their snouts skyward, directly at the moon. It was not full, in fact it was barely a sliver of a crescent, but that made no difference. "Arooooooooooooo!" The howl, which had never before been heard by any Hyrulean entity, goddess or mortal, was long and sustained, and carried across the Great Sea in all directions. A chill immediately ran through the spine of anyone awake to hear it, and anyone not awake to hear it was tormented by nightmares until morning.

"Come, General," said Ghirahim after the ritual was complete, "we have much to discuss."