"My Lord, it is done." Sakon bowed as he presented proof of his deed to Edwin. He cursed himself inside that he let her fall into the river, but it was a fifty foot drop and there were numerous sharp rocks at the bottom. The King wouldn't be able to tell that the heart in his hands belonged to a beggar anyway.

"Thank you Sakon, now for your reward." Edwin threw a sack of gold at his assassin, and dismissed him. He initially planned to kill him, but that can wait. He was going to need good men once the Triforce came to him.

"Now we must wait until the knowledge comes to me. After all, I'm the only one left now that Mother and Zelda are gone..."

Near dawn the next morning, Link burst into the throne room. "My Lord, urgent news! A stable boy found the Princess's horse by the path, her things thrown from the saddle. Is she here?"

Edwin stood from his desk, wearing his most convincing look of concern. Being up all night waiting for the knowledge made him look rough, and furthered the ruse. "I worried when I didn't see her last night for mass, but I thought it was because she was with you. Oh Goddesses, our dear Zelda is missing? GUARDS!" When the guards assembled, he gave further instruction. "Find the Princess! She may be in danger! And Link, I'm counting on you to bring her back safely. Do this for me, and you may take her as your wife."

"Yes sir!"

"Ugh..."

Zelda woke on the bank of a river in an unfamiliar area of the forest. She was able to sit up, but a severe pain in her ankle kept her from standing. She looked around for signs of settlements, but there were no trails or markers. She was in the middle of nowhere, and it was getting colder.

The injured princess managed to drag herself away from the river and closer to the trees, where she found a broken limb big enough to use as a crutch. From the position of the sun, she guessed that it was around noon. Days were growing short in November, so she had little time to find shelter. Her first attempt failed, and she was forced to huddle beneath an abandoned footbridge.

When the sun's rays woke her the next day, the pain in her ankle made her want to remain curled into a ball beneath the rotten bridge. But she knew that she would catch her death if she laid there any longer, and so she stumbled on. After a few hours, she caught sight of an old cabin. It was hard to see through the brush at first glance, and she wouldn't have noticed it if she hadn't been digging in the bushes for berries. But there it was, looking as sweet as her own home.

She hobbled over to the door and threw it open, relieved to escape the cold brought on by the setting sun. It took time for her eyes to adjust, but she could soon scan the interior. It was filthy, barren, and riddled with insects, but it was warm. Assuming it was abandoned, Zelda inched closer to the cabinets to peek inside. A few broken dishes, some knives, and a towel were all she found in the first, so she reached for the second.

Suddenly something grabbed her arm, and Zelda was thrown against the wall. A thick gray hand encased in a filthy black sleeve squeezed her neck, and she could do nothing but whimper. When she turned her head to face her attacker, all she saw were ferocious orange eyes and a scarred mouth. "Thieeff..." he hissed, giving her no chance to explain herself. Her tears fell faster when she realized that he intended to kill her.

"ENOUGH."

A deep and imposing voice rang out through the cabin, and the attacker released his hold. A large man stood in the doorway, glaring daggers at the scarred attacker. His voice was so terrifying that surely even the Goddesses would tremble.

"But she is stealing from usss..." the attacker whined.

"Have you taken the time to verify this for yourself?" a third, refined voice asked, as a group of men entered the cabin. Zelda cowered in pain and fear, withdrawing as far into the corner as she could get while the large man came forward. He kicked her attacker away and knelt in front of her.

He said nothing as he stared her down with golden eyes, sending more shivers down Zelda's spine. She had studied many things in her life, and was familiar with all the races in Hyrule. But this man resembled none of them. His skin was dark, near black from all the grime covering it, with fiery red hair lining his large face and arms. He was certainly more human than her attacker, but at the same time he gave off a beastly demeanor greater than any criminal she had ever encountered.

His eyes made their way down her tattered gown to her bare feet, and paused when he noticed how one was significantly dirtier than the other. He then grabbed the thigh of her injured leg and pulled it forward, making her yelp from surprise.

"Your ankle is broken, Princess."

Zelda's eyes went wide- this barbaric man recognized her. With a shaky voice, she spoke. "Y-you know w-who I...?"

"Of course we do," the earlier, refined voice said as he brought the large man a torch and bundle of sticks and cloth. "There shouldn't be a soul in Hyrule who doesn't know the lovely Princess Zelda." He set about lighting the room, and she could finally see that her company totaled seven: the dark man at her feet, the facially scarred attacker, the refined man in robes, a tattooed youth with white hair, a purple skinned dwarf, a child dressed in straw, and a lanky man with coiled red hair.

The dark man silently splinted her ankle, while the refined man introduced the group. "My name is Agahnim, Your Highness." He motioned to the scarred man rolling in pain on the floor. "You will have to excuse my comrade Zant's behavior... He is very distrusting when it comes to his belongings, so he struck before thinking. After all, we have so little, sometimes we have to protect it."

"I've heard your name before..." Zelda said as she studied the polite man. He was average height and build, but through his heavy robe and hood she could see he was cursed with albinism.

"Yes, Your Highness. I used to be a priest in the Royal Sanctuary, before I was cast out. All of my comrades were cast out, some of us for crimes we committed, others for crimes we did not." Agahnim lowered his head. "Some for just being different..."

Zelda couldn't help but turn her gaze to the man wrapping her foot, and froze when they made eye contact. He growled, interpreting her glance as judgemental. With a final yank of cloth, he released her and stood. "Let her stay 'til dawn, then throw her out," he barked before retreating into a back room. The slam of his door rattled the entire cabin.

"Master is surprisingly kind today," the white haired youth remarked, shoving Zant out of the way to get a good look at the princess. "If you were anyone else, he'd probably cook and eat you." Zelda recoiled in horror, making the boy giggle. As he did, his bangs waved around, revealing his facial tattoo. "I like you. You may call me Lord Ghirahim, though I suppose I won't hate you too much if you drop the title." Ghirahim ran a finger down Zelda's trembling cheek. "Too bad you'll be leaving so soon, we could really have fun with you around..."

The sound of a fist slamming into a desk in the other room made Ghirahim jump back, and his pale skin went nearly as white as his hair. "I didn't mean it, Master! We promise, we won't touch her! Not a one of us!"

Zelda cowered at the thought of being taken advantage of by these strangers, and buried her head into her knees. After a moment, she felt a small hand on her shoulder, and she looked up to see the two smaller men had come closer.

"It's okay, Princess. The Skull Kid and I'll protect you from harm," the purple one explained, introducing himself as Vaati. "Here, take my blanket. You can sleep in Yuga's bed, I'm sure he won't mind. Right, Yuga?"

Yuga, the man with coils in his hair who until this point sat in the opposite corner, looked up from a small drawing pad in his hand to nod. He slid the pad in his pocket, then came over and carried Zelda back to a small pile of hay in his corner. "Sorry it's not much," he mumbled. "Someone as pretty as you deserves more, but the only bed is in our leader's room."

Senses overloaded, Zelda merely nodded as Yuga sat her down and Vaati wrapped her in the blanket. Her tears continued to fall, and soon became loud sobs.

"Poor child," Agahnim commented, removing his robe and wrapping it around her. He was clearly the oldest and wisest of the group, and as a priest had surely calmed his share of distress. "Don't worry, no more harm will come to you. Rest tonight, and in the morning you can tell me why you've ended up here. I won't allow any of them to throw you out into the cold."

As Zelda huddled in the corner crying, the Skull Kid pulled a flute from his belt and began playing a lullaby. It wasn't as soothing as the one her nursemaid always played, but it had a healing quality to it. Her sobs became sniffles, and soon soft breathing. She fell into slumber, never noticing the golden eyes peering out at her from the door across the room.

A/N: The seven dwarves- Ganny, Agahy, Ghiry, Yugy, Zanty, Vaaty, and Skully... I'm sorry. orz