Storm clouds thickened the surrounding ruins of Hyrule Castle, and a man stood alone, shrouded in darkness, gripping a sword with the symbol of the old relic shining upon the back of his hand.

Across from this menacing being was a young man stepping forth, ready to fight, to end whatever the man decided to do with the world. One of the three pieces had bestowed upon him, sitting idle on the hand that clutched the sword of legend, from stories spoke to young children, to myths in old texts, and rumors fading in the wind as time went on.

To their right, far into the distance shone a white light, and like the man who was shrouded in darkness, this person was hidden by pure light, and they shared the same mark on the back of their own hand.

The puzzle must be completed, and they were the pieces that fit together, even though the three were vastly different with different ideals of the lifetime they lived in.

The one wearing the green tunic and hat, clutched the Blade of Evil's Bane, and before he could take a step, the dream came to a startling end.

Link woke from an insistent knock coming from his front door. He scrambled, barely awake before falling off the bed and onto the floor. He groaned, pushing himself up, he walked toward the staircase and descended to the main floor of his home, past the nook in the corner where the green painted bookshelf and sofa sat against the wide window, and the kitchen that was close to the front door where the noise was coming from.

He grabbed the knob and pulled it open. The brightness of the outside made him wince, only to be laughed at by his friend, Jin. His brown soft hair was partially hiding the side of his face and he wore an amused grin.

"Finally awake?" Jin asked.

Link nodded, rubbing his eyes. "Yeah...what's going on?"

Jin walked past him and into the house, Link closed the door and turned to see Jin with his hands on his hips.

"You were meant to meet me at Fado Lake."

Link's mind was still muddled by the dream and the questions to what he witnessed. It seemed real, the danger had his heart beating frantically in his chest. He glanced down at the back of his hand where the mark sat glowing faintly inside his dream. Except there was nothing there, just his plain hand unmarred.

"Sorry, Jin," Link said, finally coming to his senses and looking up at his friend.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Jin asked, watching him peculiarly.

Link smiled, it seemed like a bad dream, and it seemed like something more important. He didn't know what, but there was a sinking feeling in his gut that he knew why that place, those people, seemed so familiar. As if it happened before, standing in that same position, with the blade that he knew was only his, including the mark itself. There was an intense feeling toward the man, and an indifference to the bright light. He didn't know why.

"Garik likes to ramble on about the old ways," Link said with a shrug, "sometimes I listen to him, sometimes I don't. His nonsensical stories must've gotten stuck in my head."

"Do you always speak to Garik?" Jin asked, curiously.

"No."

Jin nodded, "Alright. Well, you should get dressed and we can head out."

Link watched Jin walk out the front door, and once it was closed, he went upstairs to look for clean clothes. He picked a simple deep blue tunic with red markings along the collar. He pulled on beige colored pants and socks. He looked for his rupees before heading downstairs to slip his shoes on.

Jin was at the bottom of his stairs, waiting for him with a plucked flower in his hand.

"Quit destroying my flowers," Link reprimanded, glaring at Jin who gave a smirk in return as he discarded the pink flower and its pulled off petals.

They walked away from his home and along the path into Akyllan Village where they grew up in.

"Will Dira met us at Fado?" Link asked Jin who was quietly humming beside him. Jin was two inches taller than Link, and a year older. Since becoming adults, they were given more work in the village, and the expectations kept growing as they aged. Link wondered when he could ever wander alone without someone telling him that he had to set an example for the younger children.

"She's bringing Keras," Jin informed Link, who frowned.

"Why?" he asked. There was nothing wrong with Keras, except the stony gaze and indifference she piles onto them. Nothing they did ever made her smile, made her want to do something besides practice sword fighting with Vollon, the village master swordsman. He trains most recruits who wants to learn how to wield a weapon to defend their village, or even the other villages around Hyrule Plains.

Jin seemed content in Link's presence, and his smile was always easy going. There were times when he was distracted when other people were with them, but it didn't mean that Jin would get up and leave. He simply tolerated certain people.

"I didn't ask Dira why she's bringing Keras, but maybe Vollon isn't teaching today," Jin said, and it didn't look like he cared about the real answer.

Link didn't bother pushing the subject. The village was thriving like usual, houses sat along two roads, and young children played together between houses and into the farmlands. They were never allowed near the forests, nor the entrances of either side of the village. Once when Link was young and feisty, he had played pranks on most of the adults, and because of this temperament, he was isolated to a home away from the others, and as he grew older, the adults share a similar distrusting look when they see him.

He isn't offended, more triumphant that he was able to have this type of affect.

Several young women they grew up with waved at them. Some who Jin had spoke to many times during their school years, and even had the chance to be more than friends. Link was never interested in dating, and when he was isolated, he grew distant toward the affection of others.

"Still dating Paka?" Link asked, his gaze spotted a young woman sitting on the steps of a shop. She wore a pink dress that came to her knees, and her long brown hair was pulled into a braid. Her gaze fell on them, and whatever carefree expression she had was gone.

"Broke up with her a long time ago," Jin said, looking away from her and at Link, "I'd rather not date anyone I'm not interested in."

"You dated a lot of people," Link commented dryly.

Jin shrugged, "I didn't know who I was interested in. It was all experimental at the time."

"And you know now?" Link asked, they passed Paka whose gaze stayed on them until they were walking along the path out of the village.

Jin didn't break eye contact when he said, "Yeah. I know who I'm interested in."

Link hoped he'd elaborated, but Jin said nothing else, and they were interrupted by Dira standing at the end of the path with Keras. Her dark eyes were unlike most of the women in Akyllan, they spoke of dangerous things, and she had her arms crossed, looking quite peeved at them.

"You're late."