the FULL legend of
Zelda
t
b Chapter 1: The Festival b
Our story begins on the day of The Picori festival. This is a celebration that is known all throughout Hyrule. A celebration held once every year. This particular year marks 100 years since the lest visit of the Picori. on this day, the door to the land of the Picori is said to open and the small race brings great gifts to the humans to represent the peace that was brought to Hyrule.
Link, a young man with blonde hair, can be found in the upstairs bedroom of his grandfather's blacksmith shop. "Link! Link! Wake up boy!" Smith shouted. Smith was the Royal Blacksmith who owned the shop, as well as Link's grandfather. Suddenly the young man snapped out of his deep sleep and slowly stumbled out of bed. "I'll be right down!" he called with a yawn. after putting on his green tunic, he slowly walked down the stairs until he heard an all too familiar voice. As Link ran down the rest of the stair case, he found the source of the voice. A tall girl with a slim figure with long, flowing, blonde hair. She wore and expensive white dress with pink and gold trimmings. A small crown rested carefully upon the golden hair on the top of her head. "Z...-Zelda!" he called out in excitement. A beautiful smile of contentment played upon her face at the site of the boy. "'Morning sleepy head." she said with a faint giggle. Zelda and Link had been close friends since childhood, but they never saw each other much, considering Zelda was the princess of Hyrule.
"So..." Link said after a few moments of small talk. "...what is so important that you had to come all the way here WITHOUT AN ESCORT?" he asked in a slightly harsh tone. Zelda rolled her eyes childishly, "oh not that again, I don't need any kind of escort, its just a short walk from Castle Town." she groaned. "It's far enough... you know it could be a real problem if something were to happen to you Princess." Smith chimed in before throwing a hunk of steel over the raging fire. "Well... I came to see if I could borrow Link for the day. I thought we could go to the festival together. That way, I'll have him to protect me." she said with a grin. Smith sighed for a moment before moving his attention to Link. "You know Link, you still have things you need to do..." Link slouched a bit. "Awe common Gramps, It's the Festival... Think of it as serving my kingdom by protecting the princess." he said, in hopes to convince his grandfather. Smith let out another long sigh. "Well... I suppose your right... the festival only comes once a year... and I had to run an errand in town anyway." as a look of excitement covered the two young adults, smith approached a nearby wall and grabbed a sword that was mounted on the wall. Smith held the sword out to link. It was a carefully carved blade with common Hylian designs on it. The Hilt was made of pure silver, with a few expensive gems for decoration. "I want you to deliver this to the king It is for the winner of the swordsmanship competition." Link nodded in agreement as he took the sword from the master smith, and arming himself with it. "Sure thing Gramps, I'll make sure the king gets it." Link said as he prepared to walk out of the room the smith called out once more. "Now Link, I know you and Zelda are friends, but she is STILL The Princess of Hyrule. Be careful not to let anything happen to her." Link rolled his eyes some at the lecture. "Yeah Gramps, I get it. No worries, she'll be fine." he assured the old man as he and Zelda walked out of the room and soon out the front door.
Link shut the door behind him with a sigh. "Thanks Zelda... if it wasn't for you, I would probably have missed this years festival...-" Zelda quickly interrupted. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, lets go already..." she said as she took Links hand an began to run down the path. Without another word, the two Elvin teens raced through the dusty dirt road into Hyrule Castle Town.
Once reaching the castle, Zelda quickly let go of Links hand and Raced into town to an area set aside for vendors. Quickly, Link ran to her side to find himself in front of an old man that looked to be even older than the master smith himself. There was a few other people crowded around the man, but payed full attention to what the man was saying. Zelda exclaimed in a slightly hushed voice. "Look Link! There's a story teller here, we should stop and listen to--" her attention quickly shifted to another vender. "Oh! whats that over there?" Link rolled his eyes some and with a sigh, chased after the princess who was acting more like a common teenager than a princess.
After a struggle, link managed to catch up to the princess. He opened his mouth to speak, but she quickly interrupted her. "So the Picori ARE real! My father always told me they were...- Ooh! Look at that!" she exclaimed as she once more darted off without him."Z-Zelda!" Link called as he once more chased after her. As he approacher her, she once again interrupted. "Say, wasn't there supposed to be a Sword-Fighting tournament at the castle? I wonder who won this year... Oh, wow! Over here!" As per the pattern, she darted off toward yet another vender.
Just as he approached the vender who appeared to be a large, middle-aged woman with blonde hair. As Link approached, the woman grabbed the bell next to her and shook it violently. The Very sound startled him for a moment. The woman then shouted at the top of her lungs. "We have a winner!" This shocked both Link and the princess. "Congratulations on winning the Grand Prize in our drawing Princess Zelda. You get your choice on one of these three wonderful prizes. What will it be?"
Upon addressing the princess, the woman turned around and pulled a large, red stone from her bag. "First we have this lovely, heart-shaped stone! Next, we have..." she said, digging in the bag once more. "This magnificent gem!" The woman said, placing a large Rupee out on the counter. "As if she doesn't have enough of those." link thought to himself. "And Finally..." the woman spoke once more reaching into her bag. "We have this teeny-tiny shield. So, whats it gonna be princess?" The woman asked once more. Zelda stared at the items intently. The woman giggled some. "Let me guess, the Jewel? Although this heart stone is very cute,too. Chose whichever one you like. Take your time." Link said nothing but could not help but stare at the craftsmanship of the shield. Zelda could see the boy's stare, which helped her decide immediately. "The shield is adorable! I think I'll take it." The woman stared at Zelda with a puzzled look. "What? why would you want that ugly old thing? What about the heart stone! It's cute! Or... or this giant gem! it's pretty! Honestly, they're both much nicer than that nasty little shield thing." The princess simply shook her head. "Nope! I want the shield. Can i have it?" the woman looked even more puzzled at the request. "What a strange princess you are..." she mumbled. "Well... OK. Here's your teeny-tiny shield." Zelda took the shield from off of the counter as the woman began to pack the other two items back away.
The Princess then turned to Link, holding the shield behind her back, as if he had not been standing there the entire time. "Here, i want to give you something... it's a present." she then took the wooden shield from behind her back and presented it before him. "Don't you think this shield suits you perfectly?" Link shrugged and took the shield from her hands and examined it by holding it above his head and looking at the very craftsmanship. "If you say so Zelda." As tiny as it was, it kind of embarrassing to wield it around like it was something to be proud of. But, it was the thought that counted, he thought. And as such, he armed himself with it and showed off a few blocking techniques in front of the princess to show his gratitude.
The princess clapped in amusement and let out a small giggle. "Yep! Just as i thought! you look great! Now, if anything happens, you will have that shield to help protect me, so Master Smith won't have anything to worry about." Link nodded and began to stretch out some. Chasing after the princess seemed to be quite the task. Soon, a quick gasp escaped the princesses lips, alerting Link. "Oh! I almost forgot! we have to take that sword to the castle." Links eyes grew wide. He knew there would be another long lecture waiting for him if Master Smith found out that he had made a late delivery. Without another word, the two ran to the castle courtyard.
As they neared the courtyard a wild Deku Scrub ran in front of the passage, and shot a Deku Nut at the princess. The large nut whizzed passed the princesses head. "UGH! It's that scrub i heard the guards talking about." Zelda scowled, stamping her foot on the stone path. "He's been terrorizing everyone around here. You think you could take care of it for me?" she asked, switching to a sweet innocent tone. Before he had a chance to respond, the scrub shot another nut at the princess. Out of instinct, Link rolled in to the path of the shot and raised his new shield in front of him. the shot quickly deflected off of the shield and shattered as it hit the scrub between its large yellow eyes. It quickly stood from its flower and bowed before the two. "Please! Forgive me, sir! I heard there was a festival, and i came to town hoping to hawk my wares. Unfortunately, we scrubs have a tendency to spit nuts when we speak! Everyone got scared and ran away, and no one would buy anything! This is a terrible place to do business, I'm going back to my cave." In an instant, the scrub grabbed his bags from inside his flower and flew away. Zelda frowned some. "I almost feel sorry for that scrub. But those Nuts hurt! Oh well, he won't be hassling anyone anymore, and we have to get to the castle!" Link agreed, and the two set off once more.
After entering the castle walls, the two approached the minister Potho. "Ah, Link. You brought the sword, thank you." the old man said. Everyone around the castle knew Link. After all, not only was he friend of the princess, but grandson of the Royal Blacksmith. The king treated him like family, and expected everyone else around the castle to do the same. Potho motioned for the two to move on inside. "Hurry, the award ceremony is about to begin." Zelda nodded to the old man and took a few steps forward before turning around. "I'm sorry Link, I'd better go. I have to go prepare for the ceremony. I had a great time at the festival." With only a moments hesitation, she ran forward
and bid him farewell with a warm embrace. "Thanks for coming with me." As the princess broke the embrace and ran off into the distance, Link's eyes followed close behind her until she was no longer in sight.
Potho adjusted his glasses and cleared his throat as to catch the boys attention. "Well Link since your here, why don't you join us for the award ceremony?" Link shrugged. "Sure, I mean, I don't think I don't think i ever got the chance to see it." a look of shock befell the minister. "No? Well my boy, then this should be quite the learning experience."
After a few more minutes of small talk, a group of four guards carried the large chest-like pedestal into the center of the courtyard. "Do you know about that sword, Link?" Potho asked. Link nodded hesitantly. "Isn't that the Picori Blade?" He asked. "Right, and it locks away much evil in that chest. The Picori Blade is sacred to the people of Hyrule. Legend has it the that, long ago, the Picori gave us this blade. Whoever wins the competition is given the honor of touching the sacred blade." Within a moment, The king and princess stepped out. This cued Potho to step forward. "Let the Award Ceremony commence! Vaati, champion of the competition, you may approach the blade!"
Upon the announcement, a pale man wearing dark clothes approached the group. Something about this man didn't feel right. Link stood on guard in case something should happen. A dark, devious smile soon played across Vaati's face. "To think things would go this well. The Picori Blade and the Bound Chest spoken of Hylian lore." he spoke. "This chest must hold what I seek! I will now relieve you of it's contents."
This quickly sent the guards into full alert. They raised their spears into a battle-ready position and charged forward. Vaati, with relative ease deflected the guards attack and sent them flying backwards with some unknown force, almost as if it were some kind of magic. "HA! Do not interfere with me... As Victor, i have earned the right to approach The Picori Blade. I have been waiting for this moment!" As he spoke he heald his hands above his head forming a large ball of energy between them. Quickly, he fired it at the chest. When it collided with the blade, the blade soon flew from the chest and landed on the ground next to it. This caused the chest to shake violently until it burst open. When it did so, countless evil spirits flew from the open chest and began to circle above it. Just after, a strange glow began to emit from the princess. She soon approached the dark man. "Who are you. Why are you doing this?!" Vaati stared for a moment. "The Princess with the Mystic Aura... The power that was gifted to the people of Hyrule still flows within the veins of the ladies of its royal family? Interesting..." Link did not like the way things were going, but could not help but stand back. Not only did he know Zelda would not approve of him interfering, but there seemed to be a strong force holding him in place.
Vaati took another moment to look over the princess before speaking. "If I leave you now, you'll only cause me trouble later. That will never do." he said with a scowl. Quickly, Vaati once more raised his arms up gathering a dark ball of energy in between his hands. With all of his strength Link forced himself free of the mystic force and stood in front of the princess to shield her from the blast. He was full prepared to take whatever this dark wizard was going to throw at him, as long as he knew he would be protecting The Princess Zelda from it. Vaati ignored the boys bravery. "To stone with you!" he shouted, whipping the ball at the two of them. Link drew his shield, in hopes that it could deflect the blast, just as it did the Deku Nut earlier that day. However the blast simply tossed the elfin boy aside and struck the princess. She let out a loud shriek as the blast surrounded her, quickly turning her a pale grey color.
Link fought with his consciousness as he witnessed the very person he swore to protect, so long ago, turn to stone. As link slowly began to black out, he could hear the threatening words of Vaati. "Heh heh heh... All who stand in my way shall share this fate! Now, to find out what power awaits me in this chest!" Link rolled to his side, to see what Vaati was going to do. The pale wizard in dark clothes approached the chest. At first Vaati was puzzled as he looked inside. "What? Empty? There was nothing in there but a rabble of monsters?" he thought aloud. Within that moment, Vaati became angry. "What is the meaning of this?! Fine... I know the force I'm after is somewhere out there." as he continued to speak his words began to sound more calm and focused. "I'm in no hurry. I can take my time searching for it." He chuckled deviously at his own thoughts for a moment. Just as quickly as he had appeared Vaati vanished. With no strength left, Link blacked out.