Chapter 1:

Hyrule Castle Town

Link was already able to see Castle Town. It was hard to miss seeing as Hyrule Castle was half the size of Death Mountain.

"What did you think of Zora's Domain, Navi?" He asked, looking up at his fairy companion.

"This isn't a vacation Link!" The fairy shouted, "Why do you treat it like one?"

"I don't! Don't worry, Navi. We're just going to Castle Town to give the three Spiritual Stones to Zelda."

Link was beginning to worry about his fairy. Navi had been losing her temper very easily lately.

"Oh, by the way, when we get there, remind me to buy some food for the walk back home."

They could see the town's front gates ahead of them. It would take about ten more minutes to get there.

"OK, but we won't be able to buy very much with only 70 rupees. You should have taken King Zora's reward."

"We'll be able to buy as much as we need", said Link, "That's all that matters."

As he said this, he failed to notice the cloaked figure on a black horse dashing towards the town gates. By the time they turned back to face the gates the horse was tethered and the rider was gone. As Link passed through the gates he got a strange feeling that he recognized the horse, but he couldn't think of where he could have seen one like it, and it shared no resemblance to Epona, so it couldn't be because of her. "Best not to think about this right now", Link mumbled to himself. And with that, he strode into Castle Town.


Ganondorf was setting up a simple stall in the market. He kept his face hidden under the cloak however. If he was caught here, he would have a lot of trouble. He pulled the dragon out of the bag, went behind a wall with a steel fence perpendicular to it, tore off some of the bars, and fashioned a makeshift cage. At that moment the dragon woke up and nearly escaped. He grabbed its tail like before and threw it into the cage. He went back to his stall and waited for a customer. He waited, and waited, and then he realized he had forgotten to put a price on it. "Stupid mistake", he muttered. 70 rupees should do it. And whoever bought this wretched curse would have a hard time on their hands if they bought it. But they would be too late to catch him by then. He would be long gone…


"Link, you did it! You have the three Spiritual Stones!" shouted Zelda.

"Did you think I would have any trouble?" asked Link.

"But you did", said Navi.

"So what", Link retorted before getting back to the princess, "So Zelda, what happened to Ganondorf?"

"He was sent to Arbiter's Dungeon" Zelda said cheerfully, "It's known as the Prison of Hell. Suitable for him don't you think?"

"Absolutely", said Link.

Link frowned. It suddenly didn't feel as good to be around Zelda as it used to be. He thought he was in love with her. He was, wasn't he? He decided to sort it out over the next week, which he would be spending in Castle Town.

"Link, why are you so quiet all of a sudden?" Zelda asked worriedly, "You were so much more talkative the last time we saw each other."

"I don't think I'm feeling very well", said Link, looking up at the slowly darkening sky.

"I'll probably feel better tomorrow. I should go back to the inn. I get a free stay if I get there before the next hour, and Navi has been very concerned about my money problems.


Link arrived at the inn right on time. A bell on the town clock chimed eight times the moment he was given his free room. Suddenly, Navi started shouting ecstatically.

"Link! Link!! Look what I found!" she cheered. She held up a purple rupee. "I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. Could you get a bowl of rice for me?"

"Sure!" said Link, who was immediately cheered up by the good news, "I need to get something for myself though."


Link was walking through the market. He found a pastry stall and couldn't resist buying half-a-dozen chocolate rolls. Fortunately, they only cost him 1 rupee each. He also got a loaf of bread for 4 rupees. The last thing he bought was the bowl of rice for Navi. Only then did he realize that the price was 40 rupees! "You cheap, avaricious scumbag!" shouted Link, "If this isn't really good rice you'll have the royal family to deal with!" Ten seconds after he had left the rice stall did he realize how ridiculous he had sounded.

On his way out of the market, Link saw a shadowy stall with a makeshift cage on the table. He went up and saw a little red dragon staring at him with puppy dog eyes. "70 rupees", growled the cloaked figure manning the stall. Link knew that Navi would be angry with him for wasting all of the little money that they had, but he couldn't just leave the little dragon here in this cage. He thought of the food that he would need to get back home, but then he looked back at the dragon, which was looking at him more and more forlornly. "70 rupees kid, don't just stand there all day!" snarled the cloaked man. Link took out his wallet and poured every last rupee inside it onto the table. A dark skinned hand reached out of the cloak and snatched up the money. Link took the cage and ran. "I can see why you wanted to get away from there", said Link to the little dragon, "That guy gave me the creeps."


Ganondorf dumped the lumber that he had stolen to make the shop off the side of the wall separating Castle Town from Hyrule Field. And it suddenly hit him. "The boy who I sold that dragon to was that Kokiri boy who had helped get me imprisoned in the Arbiter's Dungeon!" Ganondorf snarled. He could barely contain his rage, "Well, not exactly. After all, I had escaped very easily. But still. Now, if I ever show my face in Hyrule again I'll be apprehended." Ganondorf snarled. "I missed a perfect chance to kill him!"

He would not let anything like this happen again.