This is a legend.

"Big BROTHER!!!!"

A legend of growth.

"Big brother, wake UP!"

"...Aryll???"

The boy wakes up with a start as he realizes that seagulls are pecking his head.

"Whaduyawant?!" He bursts, flailing around until they disperse.

"Awww, why'd you have to go and scare off the seagulls???" She pouts, then looks at him quizzically.

"Have you forgotten?"

"Forgotten what?"

"...are you still asleep?" Aryll's pigtails bob up and down as she jumps excitedly. "TODAY IS YOUR BIRTHDAY!!!"

"Wait...it is!" Link realizes, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Yeah! Grandma wants to see you, so you should go see her! I bet she has a present!!!"

Link's grandmother did have a present, but he wasn't sure whether he liked it or not.

The green tunic was itchy and hot in the island weather.

"I know it's a little hot, but it makes you look so grown up, Link!"

Not to mention the hat.

It looked like a windsock!

"Um...yeah. Thanks, Grandma."

Link was 99 percent sure that he would be best off just taking off the stupid hero's outfit and going back to sleep.

Not a bad way to spend a birthday, in his opinion.

Sadly for him, not much sleep would come to him on that birthday.

A legend of tricks.

"Hey, don't worry, I'm sure we can get you over there!" The pirate girl says.

"Really?" The boy in the green tunic brightens.

"Heh...of course..." Tetra giggles, and Link's not sure how to feel about the strange smirk on her face, so he just goes with it.

What a mistake that was.

Link suddenly finds himself being shoved into a barrel.

"W-what are you DOING?!" He sputters at Tetra, who looks on proudly as her shipmates squeeze him into the cask.

"Hey, stop complaining! You wanna get to your sister, we'll get you to your sister!"

"But this isn't what I MEANT!!!"

"Oh? Well..." Tetra smiles maliciously, "too late to back out now!"

"No it's not!"

"Unless...are you afraid?"

(She knew exactly how to trap boys of his age).

"Wha-no."

"Are you suuuuuure?"

"Yes."

"Sure you're sure?"

"Yes!"

"Sure you're sure you're sure?"

"YES!!!"

"So you're totally ok with it if we shoot you into the Forsaken Fortress inside a barrel."

"Umm..." Well...he was stuck now.

"Ah, alright...load 'em up boys!"

"Wait-no!"

"What's that? Are you sure you're not scared?"

"Of course I'm not!!!"

And that's how he ended up getting shot out of a cannon, in a barrel, into the Forsaken Fortress.

And utterly failing.

A legend of presence.

After he had climbed the Forsaken Fortress, all the way to the top...

Aryll was almost in his grasp...

It was all for nothing.

He had messed up.

A bird crashed down from the sky and snatched him up in its talons.

Presently, he's being presented to an ominous figure, surrounded by shadows.

The man has red hair, a dash of color in the otherwise black wardrobe.

He smirks, then throws a hand out in a shooing motion.

The bird caws in acknowledgement, then slowly turns its head, gathering momentum, then letting go. Link finds himself crashing through clouds...

And then there's darkness.

A legend of adventure.

Link closes his eyes, listening to the air whoosh past him, feeling the sea spray on his skin.

Then he opens them, and sees the great blue ocean all around him and the King of Red Lions, flowing all the way to the horizon, where it meets the rosy sky, awash with color as the sun sets.

As he looks onto the horizon, he sees the silhouette of an island, and checking his sea chart, he realizes he hasn't been there before.

Grinning to himself, he calls out to the King of Red Lions, and despite the boat's protests, the pair sails towards the small mass of land.

They're visiting that island, even if it's in the middle of nowhere and surrounded by sharks.

A legend of change.

Link and Tetra stand before the King of Red Lions...no...the King of Hyrule.

And he's telling them that they're standing in Hyrule.

The Hyrule.

They stare at him in awe and uncertainty.

"Tetra. Come to me."

Tetra looks as terrified as Link's ever seen her, but she steps forward.

The king reaches his hand towards her, and from around her neck, an object begins to glow.

"Wha-"

"That necklace was given to you by your mother, who told you to keep it safe at all costs, correct? Well, it is the Triforce of Wisdom. And you, dear..."

The king pulls a small golden triangle from his pocket.

It immediately floats towards Tetra's necklace...and hooks into it, perfectly.

A flash of light appears, then it's all silent.

In front of Link, Tetra no longer stands.

She has a pink dress on, long blond hair, and a crown.

"You are Princess Zelda, heir to the Hyrulean throne."

"Wha-what? I'm a...princess?" Tetra-no, Zelda-utters.

She's dumbstruck, hardly managing a word.

When he goes to leave, she calls him back.

"L-Link...I don't know how to say this...but everything that happened to you and your sister has been my fault. I'm...sorry."

"Hey. It's ok. No biggie!" Link waves, turning and walking out of the chamber.

"Link..." She mumbles, a little envious of the adventures he's about to have, "be careful..."

A legend of fun.

As they're walking through the temple, Medli on Link's shoulders, Medli gets bored.

Link's preoccupied with the redeads popping out of every corner, but Medli is bored enough that she decides to sing.

"Can you hear? A song is born? It's the ballad of the storm...let us stay outside, nature plays tonight...we want wind, we want clouds, we want thunder roaring loud, let us play the song, of storms..."

"Medli? What're you-"

"Feel the rain, feel the snow, feel the wind it's mighty blow...dancing in the cold, ancient storm of old...let the wind, blow away, all our troubles melt with day, these notes will control, nature's storm..."

"Hey, Medli! What'cha doin' up there?" Link asks, halfheartedly cutting down another redead.

"...I'm singing..." she bashfully whispers, as if she wasn't just doing it in his presence.

"So...what's that song?"

"Oh, just one I've heard a couple of times."

"From who?"

"Just...around. I dunno...I just liked how it sounded."

"Oh. Ok."

They lapse into silence, then she begins her song again. This time, Link begins bobbing with the beat of the song.

"Play the notes, loud and strong, rain is hiding in the song...lightning strikes the ground, rain falls all around...play the song, you will see, it's a cursed melody, and the storm will come, to you..."

"Medli?"

"Yes, Link?"

"Do you wanna race?"

"Um...what?"

"Like...through the temple?"

"Um...ok?"

Link sets her down, then they both run off, into a dungeon full of terrifying monsters, though neither one seems to care.

Though Link can't seem to get a certain song out of his head.

(A-down-up, A-down-up...

Doodadoo, doodadoo, dodadodadodadoo...)

As he was running after Medli, he realized his tunic was covered in small water droplets.

Almost as if...

It had rained.

A legend of memory.

The King of Red Lions, Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, is gone. He's only memory, a whisper in the breath of the wind.

The boat remains, but it is a hollow shell-a ghost of its former glory.

It no longer responds to his questions, nor gives him advice in his times of doubt.

He's sailed a few times since Hyrule drowned, but always, he's been agitated by the lack of company.

But Link knows that he still seeks adventure.

Even with a gaping hole in his heart, he knows this is what the king would have wanted.

"I have scattered the seeds of the future..."

So Link will go. He will leave the comforts of Outset Island again in search of more.

He isn't sure what he'd find...but he knows he wanted to find it.

Whatever it is.

A legend of contention.

"Hey...so would you want to...come sailing with us?" Tetra asks in an uncharacteristically meek voice.

As soon as Hyrule was buried, the princess vanished, and Tetra's dress and attitude returned.

He hasn't asked her about it...

"Hey...are you even LISTENING?!"

Because he's thinking he might like the pirate more than the princess.

"Well excuuuuuse me, princess."

Her face grows red.

"Don't call me that..."

"Yeah, I'll come with you guys." He shoots, taking her off guard.

"Wait...you will?!"

"Yeah! Oh course! Adventure's calling me!!!"

"Umm...ok...well, we're glad to have you, swabbie!"

"Don't call me that!" He cries in an exaggerated squeak.

"Stooooop..." She grumbles, pouting. "Anyway, we're leaving tomorrow morning, so you better be ready. Say goodbye to your Grandma and stuff, cause it might be awhile till we're back."

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

A legend of horizons.

Setting sail in the Boat of Red Lions (as he's decided to call the husk of a king), Link looks back towards his home.

The island and its few residents, waving back at him, similarly to how they waved him off his first time leaving Outset.

This time, he knows he's destined for greater things. There's new things to discover on the horizon, and he, a pirate crew, and a forgotten princess are sailing straight towards the future.

The King scattered the seeds of the future, and Link's going to help them grow.

This is The Legend of Zelda.