Chapter 1
Princess Zelda gazed steadily at the peaceful land far below her bedroom window; moonlight filtered in. While everyone else in the kingdom was at rest, she was unable to join them in that untroubled state of pure bliss. ...She had had the same dream for a third night.
Seven years had come to pass since the reversal of time, and Hyrule had certainly prospered. In her dream however, she had envisioned a great darkness once again consuming the land...She had even caught a brief glimpse of Ganondorf, but she knew it was not he who was the threat, but someone far more powerful and that was what worried her.
"Princess?"
She jumped in surprise and turned to see who had disrupted her thoughts. It was none other than Link.
"Since when do you address me by my title?" she asked with a smile as she took in the sight of him standing there with a concerned expression on his face. As usual, he wore that same green tunic, his blonde hair remained unkempt in a shaggy style, and the lone earring gave him somewhat of a roguish look-one she absolutely adored.
"You didn't respond to my calling your name," he shrugged. "Is something troubling you?"
"I had that dream again...," she sighed deeply, but then she realized something was misplaced. "And just what are you doing here? If my father found you in my room, especially at these hours, he would have you beheaded!"
"I was worried about you, that's all," he said. "Besides, there's nothing to worry about. I've never been caught and I never intend to be."
"That's the kind of attitude that'll get you caught."
"But I know my dear princess will come and save me. Switching rolls would be nice for a change you know," he replied cheekily.
"And just how many times have you had to save me from anything?" she snapped.
"Maybe twenty or so..."
She stared at him blankly.
"I'm only teasing."
"Oh...," she shook her head. "I'm just tired I guess, though I can't seem to get any more sleep."
"Would you like to come riding with me? Epona is just out in the field."
Another thought struck her. "Wait, how'd you get over the drawbridge into the town?"
"The guards left it down tonight. I think they're finally starting to realize that the monsters disappeared from Hyrule Field a while ago. If you want to come, get dressed and I'll be waiting for you outside your door."
Zelda nodded and went to retrieve a more suitable outfit than the nightgown she currently wore from her closet as Link exited the room and shut the door behind him. Once she was dressed in a pair of brown pants that her father had no clue about, a sleeveless red top, and a pair of boots, she and Link slipped silently out of the castle, through the quiet town, and out into Hyrule Field where Epona was indeed waiting.
xxxxxxxxxxx
In another land not too far away...
Three long time friends were sitting on a slightly bent tree, gazing at the mystical ocean before them. The sun was about to set, but they still remained in their spots, enjoying the peace and quiet.
For the longest time, there had never been peace or quiet in their lives. Instead, it was taken away from them over a year ago by thousands of fiends called the Heartless, but now everything was okay again, and they could just sit and relax like they had when they were younger.
One quirky looking boy with brown spiky hair and cerulean colored eyes yawned and put his hands behind his head. "Shouldn't we be going now?" he asked the other two beside him.
The girl, sitting on his left side, faced the boy as she pushed a piece of her auburn colored hair away from her face. "Can't you just sit and enjoy the view for a while without asking how much longer we're going to be?"
Below them, the other boy with silvery hair and aquamarine eyes chuckled to himself waiting to hear what the other would say next.
"Yeah I can, but ... the sun's fixing to set and-"
"And nothing, Sora. Just sit and relax," the girl giggled, closing her eyes as the ocean wind brushed across her face.
Sora sighed heavily and looked at the girl. At this rate, he couldn't take his eyes off of her. She looked so pretty. He wanted just to put his hand on her cheek and caress it. He had missed her so much. Kairi... Suddenly, he broke away from his dazed infatuation when he heard laughter below him.
He looked down to see his silver haired friend with a smug grin plastered onto his face, "Aw, Sora's in love..." he cooed.
"What?" Sora blushed. "Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"What are you two arguing about now?"
Kairi snapped as she opened her eyes. Apparently, she wasn't listening to what they were saying, which caused Sora to breathe a huge sigh of relied.
"Nothing. Just to let ya know, Sora wa-." The silver haired boy was about to reveal what was going on, but was cut off when he received a smack on top of the head by Sora. He grimaced. "What was that for?"
"For being a tattle-tell, Riku," Sora grumbled.
Kairi giggled, "Just like the old times, huh you guys?"
There was no response from them. "You guys?"
Still nothing.
She glanced at Sora who seemed to be in some strange trance as well as Riku. What had just happened?
Suddenly, both Riku and Sora fell forward, collapsing onto the sandy ground. "SORA, RIKU!" Kairi shouted as she hopped down from the paopu tree. She shook the both of them, but they were out cold. "You guys, this isn't funny!" she said, tears stinging her eyes. "Get up!"
Kairi!
Kairi looked up. Did someone just say her name?
Princess of Heart, listen to me! There's danger in another world. You must come with the keybearers to help fight this monstrosity.
The voice was as clear as day now. Something, or someone, was trying to give her a message.
"How? And what happened to Sora and Riku?"
Just say you will come. The fate of a world and possibly others are at stake.
Kairi bit her bottom lip hard. They had just come home from an exhausting journey and now there was another one? She didn't want to accept this, but she didn't want to be alone without her two friends. She breathed in deeply and nodded her head. "Okay, I will go."
With an abrupt flash of blinding light, Kairi collapsed onto the ground beside Sora and that was the last thing she saw before everything faded into darkness.
xxxxxxxxxxx
Link smiled as he felt Zelda's grip around his waist tighten sequentially with a flawless leap by Epona over a small fence. He was in a lighthearted mood and could tell that Zelda was starting to cheer up too and momentarily forget about the dream.
It wasn't that the dream needed forgetting or anything because of its message of impending doom, but a chance to unwind and have fun was much better than despairing over such a thing all of the time.
"What was that?" Zelda exclaimed several minutes later, completely startling Link as her statement rang out over the rhythmic pounding of hooves on land.
"What was what?"
"Hmm...It's gone now but--Oh no, there it is!"
"Where and what?" Link questioned, immediately bringing Epona to an abrupt halt. His eyes skimmed over the large blanket of the night's shadow that surrounded them.
"That shadow...I could have sworn it had glowing yellow eyes..." Zelda muttered to herself. "But it seems to have disappeared...or maybe I'm just seeing things..."
"I'm thinkin' you're just seein' things," Link replied slowly as he casually continued his search. His nerves were on edge now so it was very likely that he had said that merely to quell his own fears.
Suddenly Epona reared and the two were thrown from her back. Link twisted himself sideways while still airborne to avoid landing on Zelda. Impacting the ground was a painful experience and he knew the same stood for Zelda when he heard her moan. Epona was in a mad frenzy and Link quickly forced himself up so he could figure out what was wrong. Before the horse were two glowing orbs that beamed out from the surrounding darkness, and Link sensed evil in this thing.
"Stop Epona!" Link yelled.
The horse heeded to her master's command and once backing several elongated feet away from the strange glow, she stood motionless. Link bent to help Zelda up and signaled for her to go by Epona incase an escape was necessary.
He drew his sword, one he always carried with him in its sheath on his back, and approached the yellow light that pierced the darkness just outside the moon's radiance. He froze when it too, stepped towards him. However, when it proceeded to lunge at him, he went into instant action and sidestepped what would have been a nasty blow from a sharp set of claws.
In that moment he caught a good view of the owner of what he discovered to really be glowing yellow eyes, and was slightly taken aback. It was a creature that appeared to be made of shadow...and it made its intent evident when it tried to attack once again.
Link responded with another sidestep and swung his sword in a wide arc, catching the strange creature across its side. Instead of blood, black puss, that was scarcely visible, oozed from the fresh wound and some even splattered onto Link's clothing.
The moon brightened its light and the darkness was illuminated so that Link had a much clearer view of his adversary.
"What is it?" Zelda asked.
"I don't know---Zelda, watch out!"
Upon hearing Zelda's voice, the creature had decided to go for her instead. Out of desperation Link forgot about his own safety and tackled into the creature before it could reach her, and they both tumbled to the ground. To make matters worse, Link's sword flew from his hand only to fall far from his grasp.
The mysterious creature gouged Link with its claws and pain tore through him with each new opening added to his vulnerable flesh.
"Zelda---sword!" he shouted without hesitation and stuck a free hand out in the air. His other hand was busy trying to pry the creature off of him.
Zelda easily retrieved the sword and tossed it so that the hilt landed in his outstretched hand. Link kicked the surprisingly lightweight creature so that it flew up into the air above him and as it fell back towards the earth where he laid, he thrust his sword upwards and it tore right through his assailant. The body slid farther down the sword and after delivering one last slash to Link's chest, it went limp and Link shoved it aside and yanked his sword free to find it covered in black goop.
He breathed a deep sigh of relief as Zelda dashed to his side.
"I think I've heard talk of such a creature, but I shrugged it off to be only something meant to scare children into submission," Zelda said in a shaky tone of voice.
"That figures," Link muttered, looking down at the black puddle before him. Something seemed very familiar about that creature, but he couldn't seem to put his finger on it. Other than that, though, where did these fiends come from? And who had brought them here?
He slowly turned to the princess and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I think we should take you back to the castle. It's obviously not as safe as we first thought."
"I'm not going anywhere until you've rested a bit," Zelda stated defiantly. "And just look at yourself Link, you're bleeding."
"It's nothing I can't handle," Link argued. "Besides, we're in more danger if we stay here."
"I'm not afraid."
Link sighed and struggled to stand, but pain stormed his system. "Fine, you win. I suppose a few minutes rest should be ok...but then we're out of here. Deal?"
"Deal," Zelda declared.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Reviewer replies for the prologue may be accessed by going to my profile and clicking homepage. Thank you reviewers very much! We hope you enjoyed this chapter. : )
-blondie91
Disclaimer: We do not own The Legend of Zelda or Kingdom Hearts.
