Chapter 1: A Warning To The People

"Well, here is another year to 'It can't get any fucking better.'" Impa swore from across the empty grand table. Zelda slightly laughed, watching the Sheikah girl down a glass of blood red wine. A large cake with nineteen candles sat in the center of the table, begging for someone to blow the tiny flames out. Sugar triforces were decorating the layers, and the words "Happy Birthday, Princess Zelda" were written on top in pale purple icing.

"I can't believe it's only been a year." Zelda stated, staring blankly at the ground. Impa shrugged. "Time moves by fast. I'm surprised the castle has been stable again for only two months." What the silver-haired girl had said was indeed true. Old paintings that were happily restored hung on the walls, the most recent one being of the princess herself. Zelda frowned at her own demeanor in that portrait. Her expression was entirely blank, lifeless eyes staring and following whoever was near. She looked...cold. Heartless, even. And that must have been what Link had thought of her. She barely knew the hero, and when they did meet, she didn't even smile until they left. She wondered if that was all Hyrule saw. Unlike some of her previous ancestors, notably the one from the era of the Hero of Time, this Zelda wasn't as good with people. She was nervous giving out verbal speeches and in crowds, and while she loved to meet her subjects, she wasn't very fond of being noticed and constantly reminded of her role as Hyrule's monarch. That was why she chose to keep the title of 'Princess Zelda IV' instead of 'Queen Zelda IV'. 'Queen' was too regal. It was bad enough that the girl had to constantly carry around her title of 'the fourth' with her. She didn't like to constantly be pampered, as elegant and polite as she acted in front of people.

Impa looked up at her friend and mistress from her end of the table. She caught the brunette staring at her wine glass, swirling around the liquid with an ungloved finger. "Hey, are you alright, Zel?" She asked. Zelda looked up, caught off guard. "Oh, I'm sorry, Impa..." She apologized, wiping her finger on a napkin and gloving her hand again. She was lucky, today her gloves only went to her wrists. They normally went up to just below her armpits, and they were quite a pain to take off. Her chestnut hair had been pulled back in a tight bun, She was also wearing an uncomfortable dark pink dress, being a little puffy and falling to her ankles. It didn't help that she had to wear a rib-crushing corset under it, feeling as her lungs were going to pop out of her throat at any given moment. Not to mention, she was not a big fan of pink. It was way too overused, it was extremely girly, cliche for a princess, and she liked purple a lot more. She was amazed that her ancestors put up with the color for so long, as she was the first princess to actually don purple.

"You just look like you don't want to be here." Impa pointed out as Zelda dusted herself off. "You should be happy." The Sheikah then smiled, raising her wine glass. "It's your nineteenth birthday! Make merry!" The princess' eyes averted from her glass to Impa again, and she gave the girl a fake smile. "I am happy, Impa. I am just uncomfortable." She admitted, shifting in her seat. Impa then chuckled strangely. "Don't worry, Zel, I actually hate that dress too. And were you forced to wear heels again?" She asked, raising an eyebrow. Zelda slowly nodded. She hated heels. They put her ankles in jeopardy and made her feet ache like a Goron's ingrown toenail. Impa then laughed. "Poor girl." She responded, and stood up. She then held out a tan hand to her friend with a smile. "C'mon, I'll put you in more tolerant clothes."

Impa was a wizard at knowing the Princess of Hyrule. She had dressed the young girl her favorite dress, being a purple upper half with a white bottom half. Zelda's hair was now pulled back loosely, the furthest strands to the front being tied in two bandaged braids. The crown had stayed the same, only there was a clip in the back, and Zelda now wore a pair of comfy brown boots. She then smiled at Impa kindly. "Thank you, Impa." She said, with a slight bow. Despite Zelda's normal distaste for behaving so princessly, she did not mind being polite. In fact, she was always polite. It was how she was raised. The Sheikah grinned and patted her best friend on the shoulder lightly. "Hey, don't thank me. What are best friends for?" She asked, and the princess laughed lightly. "Do you remember when we were children and we used to put on eachother's clothes, then pretended to be eachother?" Zelda asked, sitting on her bed. Impa grinned, replying, "That was always my favorite game." She took the discarded pink balloon dress from earlier and pretended to wear it, twirling around. "'Oh, look at me, I am Princess Zelda and I hate being a princess! I want to live my life like a normal country girl because I am so shy and I didn't even talk to the Hero of Twilight because he was so Hunky-Hunky, ohhhh~!'" Zelda rolled her eyes. "I do not talk like that." She responded with a slight chuckle. "Despite popular belief, I do not talk like a giggily school girl." Impa shrugged with a laugh. "Sorry, I'm just pretending to whine." Zelda decided that this would be the time for retaliation. She plucked Impa's purple vest off of her body (along with the dark blue scarf) and draped it over her body. "Oh, well I'm Impa, Royal Bodyguard to Princess Zelda IV and I'm a punk. I'm pretend I'm so powerful but I can't even talk to a guy without getting flustered." She imitated, making her voice sound slightly deeper. Impa rolled her eyes, giving the princess a fake glare. "If you weren't my best friend, AND the Princess of Hyrule, I would smack you." Zelda gave Impa her clothes back and stuck out her tongue. "I dare you to try." There was a strange silence, until Impa lightly hit Zelda on the arm. It was a sissy move, but the girls then started to laugh like psychopaths. This was normal for them. They loved stupid humor. A positive feeling filled the room, and every single burden on Zelda's body seemed to lift. But then there was a knock on the door.

"Your Highness." A guard called, opening the door. There were beads of sweat on his forehead, as he looked rather nervous. "I hate to interrupt such a party, but there is something that you must see." He said. Zelda sighed and walked to him. "Yes?" She asked. The guard gulped, ushering Zelda to follow him. Impa, on instict, also followed.

On her birthday, Zelda didn't expect to reach a place such as the Senate Hall. She recognized a few officials from there, which meant that this was important. Prince Ralis and Darbus looked towards her, smiling. Their worried looks, however, didn't help much. A few guards stood around Zelda's throne menacingly. Impa took the place right beside it, where she always stood. The princess gulped. She slowly walked up to the throne and sat down, rubbing her arm in anxiety.

Prince Ralis was the first to stand up. Surprisingly, he was more confident than Zelda was. "The Zora had a received a letter a few days ago that threatened to bomb our whole village if we did not cooperate with the sender's rules." He explained. Zelda leaned forward. "And what were the rules?" She intently asked. Ralis sighed. "The rules were to cut off all communication with the Hylian Kingdom. No talking, no assistance, zip." He shifted his weight and sat back down. Darbus then stood up. "Last night, Gor Coron was attacked as well. We believed it was an assassination attempt on all of the Goron Elders." "Were there any letters or signs of messages?" Impa asked with a skeptic brow. Darbus shook his head and sat.

The Hylian general stepped forward. "Then we received this." He told her, holding out a scroll. It was of a light grey parchment, with a black string tied around it. Zelda had not seen anything like this before. She hesitantly took the scroll and opened it. Her eyes carefully studied the paper, taking in every word like it was the last thing she was able to read. The whole room, with even loud ones such as Darbus and Impa, was as silent. If it were to happen, everybody could hear even a pin drop.

"...It's a declaration of war." Zelda finally announced, holding back the tears in her eyes. Hyrule's last war was before even the Hero of Time's era. She couldn't believe what she was reading. "It is from somebody by the name of Queen Darukurura." Impa looked at her. "Anybody we know?" She asked, and the ruler of Hyrule shook her head. "We need to act quick. Prepare your men for battle and start the hunt for whoever this hag is!" Darbus shouted, standing up. Three quarters of the people in the room cheered along with him, but Ralis stood up. "No, no, no. We need to be calm. War won't solve anything; maybe we should just wait and let them see what we are going to do. They're going to expect us to try to attack. They're going to think that we are simple minded." The Zora calmly stated. Darbus gritted his teeth, getting in the young boy's face. "Are you saying that we need to let ourselves be attacked?! You pretty much just explained that we need to let ourselves get killed!" He snapped. Ralis furrowed his brow. "I did not say that at all! I'm saying that we shouldn't waste our time and become putty in the opposing side's hands!" He fought back. The two males were neck and neck. "I'm beginning to think that you and your little fish race is behind this! You could be the one plotting to destroy the whole of Hyrule and take it for yourself!" "Are you questioning the Zora's loyalty to the Royal Family of Hyrule?!" "Yes, I am!" "Then you go put your army in danger while I lead mine to figure this out the smart way!"

The bickering of the Zora and Goron leaders was enough to make even the calmest mind explode. Zelda had already exited the room and slunk down on the wall. Impa had followed. "Well, happy nineteenth birthday." The Sheikah sarcastically stated, sitting next to her best friend. The clay beads in her silvery hair clatted as she sat down. "What are we going to do, Impa?" Zelda asked, in between silent sobs. Zelda's bodyguard sighed. "We need something powerful." She responded. "Doesn't every country or kingdom or something have a last resort or secret weapon?" The princess' teal eyes suddenly sparkled and she looked up.

"I...I have an idea."

"A warning to the people

The good and the evil

This

is

war"

~Thirty Seconds to Mars, This Is War

A/N: If you're wondering why Zelda is acting like this, it is my own characterization for the TP incarnation of Zelda. We don't get to see much of Zelda in Twilight Princess, as sad as it is, so we don't know what her personality is like. I picture this Zelda being quite shy and nervous, not comfortable as a princess most of the time, but when she is out of the castle, she can be the true confident fighter she really is. She's basically a girl that is shaken up from the desire to break out of the castle, and wishes to break free. The only impression that we get from Zelda in the actual game is serious, wise, but if you look at her concept and a few in-game expressions, she just looks...cold. And I don't want that. This fanfic is going to help her break out of her shell.