Hours later, Link awoke on a rocky cliff, surrounded on all sides by ocean. Zelda lay at his side, still unconscious. He took several minutes to admire her beauty before shifting to stand.
Zelda's brow furrowed as Link moved away from her, and she groaned. Her eyes fluttered open and she looked around in shock. She gazed at Link, as though she was trying to remember where she knew him from. Her face soon shouted with realization, as the events of the previous hours slammed home. She glanced down at her hand, her jaw dropped, and she ripped the glove from her hand.
The once bright triforce of Wisdom on her hand has sunken to an ash color.
"...no..." The princess whispered. She clenched her fist. She snapped her head up to glare at Link. "Link, we can not allow Ganondorf to win. We need to fight back against him!"
"Princess...I completely agree with you. But, I think I should mention we are stranded on a rock in the middle of nowhere."
Zelda grinned up at him deceptively before standing up. She reached into the folds of her dress, and produced a harp.
"Not quite." Said Zelda. She began to strum the strings of the harp, creating a low melody. The melody increased in speed as Zelda's fingers began to fly gracefully across the harp, and it seemed as though the Earth and the heavens had begun to dance with each other.
That's when Link realized they were floating.
While he had become en rapt in the beauty of Zelda's song, he had somehow not realized that they two of them were rising into the air, accompanied by two angelic wings. Then the wings engulfed the two of them, and they were gone.
As the motion of the wings stopped, he found himself in a building with large windows of colored glass. He recognized this as a sort of sanctuary.
"Zelda...where are we?" Link asked.
"A place from our past Link...It has served us well before, and now we must determine what we must do about Ganondorf. As of now you can't stand against him, he is too powerful. But there was a story passed through my family, which I shall tell you now."
Zelda closed to her eyes and began to speak, "When the tides of fate swing against the hope of heroes and princesses, there is only the Goddesses. Three bountiful deities who may shape or destroy the world. Yet there is darkness in Gods...For the warming love of Din, there is cold heart of Majora. For the calming essence of Nayru, there is the dark influence of Vaati...For the powerful resolve of farore, there is the evil ambitions of Zant. They hero must find the Goddesses, and reclaim an ancient treasure...thus the tides of fate shall reform"
Link sat in awed silence. "How do I find the Goddesses though?" He asked Zelda.
"The most obvious place to check would be their respective temples throughout hyrule. The nearest one is the Tower of Din, east of here." Zelda said.
It had been two days since Zelda had told Link to visit the Tower of Din. He could just see the pinprick of the tower in the horizon. Yet, something seemed off about it. The air seemed charged somehow, as though a storm was about to rip the world apart. As Link grew nearer to the tower, the feeling intensified. It was clear that nothing good could be happening.
"Hello there!" A voice shouted, startling Link out of his reverie. Link looked up, and saw a tall man with short black hair standing in front of him. The man had at least a foot on Link, and was incredibly muscled.
"Where are you headed to?" The man asked. His face was wrinkled in a way that indicated near constant smiles.
Link gestured to the tower of Din and the mans expression dropped.
"Haven't you heard? Ganondorf's forces have taken it over. He's got it filled with those desert people! Going there would be suicide"
Link casually shrugged at him and pointed towards the Hylian seal Zelda had ensigned on his tunic.
"I see..." The man said, almost a question. "It's too bad about the princess, huh? Kidnapped."
Link nodded, a flash of the princess laying lifelessly shot through is mind before he returned to himself.
"Well, I must be going. The names Kayden. I'm sure our paths will cross again."
And with that, the strongman was heading away. Link turned towards the tower once more, and set off.
Link reached the tower as the sun was setting. He looked up at the tower and saw the tower was crafted of a stone that caused the light of the setting sun to shoot off of it in a brilliant array of colors and hues. The tower was surrounded on all sides by a pool of water about twenty feet wide which reflected this light, making the pool look as though it were filled with liquid rainbow. The only means of entry was a solitary bridge, leading to the towering diamond door. The door bore the insignia of the Hyrule royal family.
After regarding his remarkable surroundings for several minutes, Link walked towards the door. He pushed the door, and was surprised to see that it wouldn't move. Taking a couple steps back, he examined the door with curiosity. He walked up towards it, and placed his palm on the center of the insignia. The door and the triforce on Link's hand begin to glow and resonate with each other. Link pushed forward once again, and the doors swung open as though they were set on oiled hinges.
Upon drawing his sword, Link walked into the brilliant structure. Glancing around, he noticed the interior was also beautiful. The same substance that had crafted the outside constructed the walls. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, bearing a single candle. This small flame was reflected around the room by the magnificence of the walls, resulting in the room being extraordinarily lit. A deep plush rug covered the floor, bringing solace to Link's aching feet.
Link was amazed by this display of effortless elegance, but couldn't allow himself to gawk and stare, he had a mission to accomplish. He found it odd that he hadn't found any reason to believe that the Gerudos were here.
"I had better be on my guard..." Link thought to himself. He entered the next room, his jaw dropped.
Piles of gold littered the floor in a splendor of yellow. The solidarity of the yellow was only broken by the walls of carefully crafted ruby. And in this, at least twenty masked Gerudos were glaring at him for interrupting their greed.
Several rushed the hero at once, curved scimitars gripped in hands of steel.
The first one reached Link and he brought up his own sword. He rolled to his right, sliding his blade against his opponent's, before slashing the Gerudo's calf. The Gerudo fell to the ground, bleeding heavily. Link leaped up, flipping over the next two Gerudos that were rushing him, side by side. He turned around, blade outstretched, slashing both across their lower backs. They cried out in agony, hands rushing to their backs, letting their blades fall with a series of sharp clacks.
Link finished his revolution, so he ended facing the rest of his adversaries. Another rushed him and he raised a leg, slamming his boot into the chest of the desert warrior. The enemy stumbled backwards, onto the blade of an advancing Gerudo. While the warrior struggled to get her dead ally off her sword, Link sprinted forward, delivering several strikes to her. He propelled himself over the dying two, towards the next challengers. The adrenaline of combat fueled him, and he made short work of the rest of the Gerudos, until none remained.
Breathing heavily, he exited the room as was greeted by a towering flight of stairs. After a moment of displeasure, he begin to climb.
Eventually, he reached the pinnacle, and found another door. He brought his hand to it as he had before, and the door glowed and dispersed, disappearing from existence.
Link walked into the room. It was a large, open room, reminiscent of a cathedral. A huge glass window took up the wall on the far side of the room, and standing by this window, looking out was a women, silhouetted by the light. Link approached her cautiously, hand on blade.
"There is no need for that...at least not yet." She said, unmoving from her position by the window. "Link, is it? I have stood guard here for centuries, awaiting the one who would need to contact Din. Before you, there was another. But he was a mistake. The doors here were designated to resonate with the soul of one who possessed a piece of the triforce. Years ago, Ganondorf came. Before his soul was stained with malice and hatred, he came before the Goddess, seeking the way to unite the triforce once more. She told him the triforce was bonded to a person's soul. This meant the only way to combine the pieces of triforce was to sap the soul of a triforce bearer. He left with this information, vowing to never use it. Yet something happened...and now he has sapped the soul of Princess Zelda. There is a link between Zelda and her triforce of Wisdom that cannot die until she does. Ganondorf left before he could learn this. When he realizes that Zelda still has some strength, he will seek her out once more, and he will kill her. It is your job to make sure she is safe." The woman turned from the window, though she was still silhouetted.
"Draw your sword Link, and prove that you have the strength to protect the princess!" And with that she leaped from her place closer to Link.
Link looked upon her, and saw something remarkable. The woman, was one he knew. But...different. Her hair was blonde, instead of brown. She seemed more experienced. Her eyes possessed a sharp look, as though they had seen incredibly difficult times. And she was wearing tight blue clothes, with a mysterious symbol over the chest. Strapped to her legs there were multiple knives, in addition to the formidable daggers she was holding in her hands. Yet, this was undoubtedly Zelda.
Zelda sprinted towards Link, and flipped over him. Link turned as fast as he could, attempting to keep up with her speed. She slashed at him with one of her daggers, and Link bent backwards, avoiding the swipe by less then an inch. He attempted to kick her, but she flipped backwards, dodging it effortlessly. He pursued her as she continued flipping back through the room. Sword upraised, he lunged at her. She caught the blade with her daggers, and swung it to the right. She then spun around, ramming a severe back kick into Link's chest.
Link flew backwards at high speed. He stabbed his sword into the ground to stop himself from crashing through the window. The resulting sparks turned his sword red with heat. Link skidded to a halt, and ripped the blade from the ground and looked to where Zelda stood. She wasn't there. He looked around hastily, and then up. She was diving towards him, crouching in the air, arms crossed, hands filled with throwing knives.
She threw the knives ruthlessly at him, forcing him to release a fury of quick strikes, knocking them out of the air. Zelda was still coming towards him, and Link drew back one fist to deliver a powerful punch. When he believed the timing was right, he shot his fist forward. She latched onto his arm with her legs, bent forward, and bashed him in the nose. She then grabbed his shoulders, and pushed herself off of him with a dancer's grace.
Through some stroke of luck, he managed to grab her ankle as she was soaring away from him. He grasped the opportunity and pulled her light form back towards him. For this offense she delivered a splitting kick to the right side of his face and tried to wrench her ankle from his grip. Link held firm, knowing he held his only chance for victory. He got Zelda close to him, and wrapped her in a tight bearhug. From there, he reared back his head and brought it forward, slamming his head into the back of Zelda's.
This inelegant move caused Zelda to go limp in his grasp. Gasping for breath, he laid her down gently and waited for her to arise.