Chapter 6

The Next Day…

The group had left the cave earlier that morning and were traveling through the woods. Rusl had mention of a village of his knowledge that was nearby, for he believed they all can find sanctuary there.

"How far is this village, Rusl?" Link asked.

"Well, this is harder without a map. But if I can remember, hopefully soon," Rusl said.

"What makes you think they'll help us?"

"I know their mayor, Oswin. He was my mentor when I was young. Taught me everything I know. He used to come by the village to visit, but stopped when his years started to catch up to him."

"He sounds like a good friend," Zelda said.

"Oswin was practically my father, I trust him with my life. It'll be great to see him again. I just wished it was under better circumstances."

A short while later, the group approached a giant boulder which blocked most of their view ahead.

"If I can remember the village is just around that boulder," Rusl stated.

A sense of relief washed over the group. They approached the other side of the boulder with a sense of hope. But only felt horror. There was no bustling village, but only the charred remnants of burnt down homes.

"No..." Rusl was in disbelief. He faced the occupants in the wagon. "Uli, Ilia, stay with the kids, please. Link, Zelda, come with me."

Rusl jumped off the wagon and Link and Zelda unmounted their horses. The trio slowly approached the village looking around for any sign of life.

"I'm going to look for Oswin. See if you both can find survivors."

Rusl dashed forward, while Link and Zelda split up. Link searched his side but saw no signs of life.

Zelda walked into remnants of a house when she then felt something under her foot and looked at the ground. It was a doll with burn marks. She picked it up slowly and held it close to her chest.

Zelda heard footsteps from behind. She turned and saw that it was Rusl approaching her.

"Did you find anything?"

Zelda shook her head. "Have you?"

"I haven't." Rusl replied, "Where is everyone else?"

"Guys!" Link suddenly shouted.

Rusl quickly followed Link's shout. Link had a horrified expression as he was seemingly pointing something below him. Rusl looked in horror as below the hilltop, dozens of bodies were scattered across the field. Rusl dashed to the bottom. Zelda had walked up behind Link as she lay her eyes on the corpses with the same horror-struck expression. The bodies contained men, women, and even some children. Zelda quietly thanked Nayru that the kids were not here to see this.

Link noticed Rusl was kneeling next to a body covered with a cloak, with his head mournfully looking down. Link assumed that the body was Rusl's friend. The young man walked through the field and went towards Rusl, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Rusl...I'm sorry"

Rusl slowly got up on his feet, as Link's hand never left his shoulder. The two men headed back to the hilltop and wagon, while Zelda remained looking over the small field. Clutching the doll that was still in her hand, she knelt down, placing the doll on the hilltop. She briefly mourned the dead villagers, before getting up and rejoining the others. Uli was comforting her husband as Zelda approached.

"Rusl...I'm so sorry about Oswin. I know how close you both were," Uli said.

Rusl looked at his wife.

"I just don't understand. What happened here?" Rusl said in disbelief.

Everyone was thinking about the possibilities. Zelda then thought of one. "Do you think...whoever attacked here, attack our village as well?"

Rusl stood quietly for a moment as he thought about that possibility.

"Zelda does make a good point." Link stated, "Our village was attacked last night, and the burn marks in this village look recent. This is definitely no coincidence.

"One thing is for certain," Rusl said, "Something bigger is going on. And we're caught in the middle of it."

Everyone had remained quiet.

"What do we do now?" Zelda asked.

"Our best bet now is reaching Hyrule Field," Rusl said to which Link and Zelda agreed, though unsure as they prepare their journey back into the woods.


Ever since leaving the ruined village, no one said a word. Link glanced over to Rusl, who still had a straight face, but Link can tell he was in mourning. In less than twenty-four hours he had almost lost his son, watch his village burn, and found out his friend and his village as well ended up with a gruesome fate.

The young children were the most afraid. while they didn't seem the harsh effects of both burnt villages, they knew it was awful. Uli and Ilia tried their best to keep the children calm. Despite that, they were still scared, including Beth who was slightly whimpering.

"Easy Beth...Everything is going to be okay," Uli assured.

Before Beth could say something, Talo suddenly shouted. "Look!"

Link look where Talo was pointing and saw a figure running behind a tree.

"Did you guys see that?" Link asked.

"I did," Ilia said.

"Me too!" Colin followed up.

"Where did it go?" Uli asked.

"Let's check it out," Zelda said.

Rusl wanted to look for the figure too, but instincts told him otherwise. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"Rusl, that could be a person, and we need help," Uli said.

"I know, but something's telling me we shouldn't."

"Look we won't know for sure unless we check," Link said to which everyone agreed.

Rusl soon agreed to check it out, but was still reluctant. "I have a bad feeling about this."

The group made their way around the tree. They saw nothing but kept heard strange noises. It didn't even help that the forest was covered in fog, making it harder too see. Link and Zelda darted their heads a few times as they heard loud running footsteps. This went one for a bit until it suddenly got quiet. To quiet for anyone's liking. Link look around again before getting jump scared by a green creature.

"Bulblins!" Rusl shouted.

A number of Bulblin's suddenly appear and surrounded the group. Link got his sword and Zelda prepped her bow and arrows. As the Bulblins were getting closer, Link saw an opening which could be their only escape. He gestured Zelda to the opening and she gave a nod. Without a second to spare, both horses and the wagon darted for the opening and ran, only for the Bulblins to start following them on boar-like creatures.

The Bublins were getting closer and both Link and Zelda kept their guards up while also keeping an eye on the wagon. A Bulblin was approaching Rusl's blind spot and was about to attack, but Zelda shot an arrow at it before it could.

Another Bublin threw a lasso towards the wagon. It went around Beth and she screamed once she felt the tug. Colin grabbed Beth's arm before they could pull her off.

"Beth!"

"Hang on!" Followed Ilia who did the same.

Link heard the screams and use his sword to cut the rope. Beth climb back in the wagon safely and Link kick the Bulblin off of a boar-like creature that it was riding. Everyone continued to run from the Bulblins in the fog. They weren't expected a giant rock wall to block them. The group was cornered into the wall by the Bulblins. Link and Zelda prepared to probably fight for the lives to protect the group as a Bulblin was charging at them.

Suddenly an arrow struck the charging Bulblin, but it wasn't from Zelda. A figure that covered her face with a huge red scarf covering her face, had white hair, markings on her left eye, some armor, dark skin, and wore blue clothing with an exposed breastplate on her left side jumped between the Ordonians and the Bulblins.

"Leave them alone!" The woman pointed a longblade at the creatures.

Three more figures jumped in between both groups as well. One was a blonde male dressed in tight blue clothing, and a white mask covering his mouth. The other two had cloaks. One had a feminine figure while the other was buff.

"You heard her! Beat it!" The blonde also pointing his weapon at them.

The Bulblins looked at the four figures for another moment before they fled. The Ordonians were confused but were grateful for their rescuers. Who were they? Link and Zelda kept their weapons locked on as the scarf covered female approached them.

"Are any of you harmed?" She asked.

Link glanced around his group saw that everyone was physically fine and then nodded.

"Where do you hail from?"

"Why should we tell you?" Zelda said.

"Not too many come by these parts. These woods are dangerous on days like these," the woman said.

"Ordon…" Link answered, sadness was in his eyes. "We're from Ordon Village."

The white-haired woman's eyes had perked up at the mention of Ordon.

"What are Ordonians like you doing here?" The other woman spoken up.

"Our village...it was attacked...burned," Zelda explained."We're what's left of it..."

The blonde male in blue perked his head up at Zelda's revelation. "With giant fireballs and arrows? Did you see a big dark purple bird beforehand?"

"Easy, Sheik," the woman then faced the Ordionians. "I am sorry for your loses. Allow me to introduce ourselves."

The woman and the rest of the rescuers, minus the blonde, removed their mask's and hoods. The woman looked to be in her 40's and some markings on her face. The other woman had pale skin and raven-haired pigtails and looked to be in her early 20's. The buff man was a grey-haired Hylian man in his 60's.

"My name is Impa. This is my apprentice, Sheik." Impa gesture to the masked blonde.

"Call me Ashei," the raven-haired girl said.

"Auru at your service," The old Hylian said with a bow.

Link was the first to say his name before the rest also introduces themselves with Zelda being the last one to do so. When Zelda said her name, Impa gave her a look of interest before facing away.

"I guess that now that we're acquainted, what was it that Sheik mentions about the bird?" Rusl asked.

The rescuers looked at each other before giving their answer. All of them had an uneasy look in their eyes. Impa faced the Ordonians.

"Do you know the king of this land?"

The Ordonians nodded. Over the years, they heard little of Hyrule's current ruler, King Ganondorf, given that their village was a far distance from Hyrule's capital. But they were very aware of who he is.

"Have you heard rumors of his 'methods." They nodded again at Impa's question.

"He is responsible for the destruction of your village," Ashei spoke.

The Ordon group looked in bafflement. They were was surprised to hear such a thing. They've heard Ganondorf tended to be an aggressive ruler who took order very seriously. But burning down a village? That was unheard of.

"How would you know that?" Zelda wondered.

"Let's just say...Your village wasn't the first," Sheik said.

"But...Why would he do that? Aren't Kings suppose to protect their subjects?" Colin asked.

"Sadly young one, Ganondorf is not the case," Impa said.

"He seeks to destroy all who oppose him. Whatever your village did, he did not like it," Sheik said with a small hint of anger.

"But our village is peaceful!" Ilia claimed.

Impa stayed silent. "You all must come with us now."

"Why?" Beth asked.

"If Ganondorf found out that you've escaped, he will hunt you down until you're imprisoned...or worse. All of you will be much safer with us."

Link looked towards his group. "What do you guys think?"

Rusl looked at his wife and the other children in his wagon. Impa took notice of the children and Uli's pregnant stomach before speaking up.

"We have everything to fit your needs. Food, water, shelter, medicine. Everything. Our base is well hidden."

"Give us a moment." Link and the others turn away and discussed among themselves. They were still wary of this woman her companions, but they did save their lives. Plus, if what she said about Ganondorf hunting them down is true then Impa could be their best bet. After a short while of discussing it, they gave their answer to Impa.

"We'll go with you," Link said.

"Good. We must get going. The Bulblins may come back with reinforcements if we don't leave now."

Impa put her fingers in her mouth and gave a whistle. Four horses appeared out of the fog and the four rescuers mounted them. Impa gestured the Ordonians to follow as her group's horse started to walk. Link and the others slowly begin to follow.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" Zelda asked.

"I'm not sure either..." Rusl admitted. "But this could be the only option left."

"What if they try to hurt us?" Talo suggested.

"They did save us. If they wanted to, they would've done so..." Ilia said.

"Rusl's right. This is our only option. Besides, I rather take chances with them than those guys." Link looked at the dead Bulblin with an arrow in its chest.

The Ordon group then followed their rescuers with a little more speed.


Far in Hyrule's center lies its capital, Castle Town. Guards and Gerudo patrolled the streets and civilians avoid them at all costs, for even giving them eye contact could have severe consequences.

Uphill from the town, King Ganondorf was in the highest tower in the castle watching the citizens as he smiled evilly at the sight. Alongside him was his loyal second of command, Ghirahim.

"Lovely day, isn't it, your majesty?" Ghirahim suggested.

"Indeed it is," Ganondorf replied.

For about seventeen years, Ganondorf had ruled this kingdom and he enjoyed every moment of it. It always wasn't so easy, however. After killing Daphnes, he had searched for the queen and the princess. With even the possibility of them being alive, Ganondorf couldn't have total power. After a year, he finally located them and killed the queen. To the citizens, he was the hero about the rescue them, only to end in tragedy once Ganondorf came back with the queen's corpse and no sign of the princess. Not knowing that Ganondorf was the one who killed her.

With the queen dead, and the princess nowhere to be found, Ganondorf was officially crowned King of Hyrule. It would've been perfect, except for two issues. One was the lost princess.

Ganondorf had told the kingdom that the princess had shared the same fate as her parents, but that was to ensure a secure link to the throne. The princess wasn't with the queen when he finally found her. The ex-Queen died before Ganondorf forced her to give her daughter's location. It was one of the biggest mistakes he believed to have made. A mistake Ganondorf vowed to never make again. Throughout the years, his closest advisers had tried to convince him that the possibilities of the princess claiming the throne were very slim, even if she's still alive and aware who she is. Even then, the Gerudo man had always looked into possible leads from his spies. Every one of which ends up as false.

The second but the more important issue was a group known as The Insurgents. They are a group of rebels led by the former bodyguard of the monarchs, Impa. Ganondorf remembered her from his time as the royal adviser that she was a sheikah. Impa fled with the queen that night Daphnes died and most definitely stuck around with her up until her death and then disappearing before he could capture her. No matter what Ganondorf threw, Impa always had the will to fight against him.

The sounds of clanking metal had interrupted Ganondorf's thoughts. An armored guard had entered the room.

"Who dares disturb his majesty unannounced?!" Ghirahim shouted.

Ganondorf had to put his arm in front of him. Ghirahim tended to act on an impulse, not to mention tended to be aggressive.

"What is now?" Ganondorf asked the guard.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, your majesty. Your messenger hawk has returned with this." The guard hand the letter to Ganondorf.

"Anything else to report?"

"No, sire."

"Then you may leave."

The guard bowed and left the room in a quick matter, avoiding Ghirahim's glare as he did. Ganondorf unveiled and read the message.

"What does it say?" Ghirahim asked.

"Aveil had done her job." Ganondorf set the note down on a nearby table, while Ghirahim gave an evil smile. "Nabooru!"

A Gerudo dressed in pink entered the room. Nabooru was a young Gerudo who had been in Ganondorf's services for many years. Nabooru's job was managing the castle affairs such as staff, guards, even the dungeons, and other things as well.

"What do you wish, my king?" Nabooru bowed.

"Aveil is due to return within the next few days," Ganondorf stated.

"I take she was successful in taking down the rebel bases in the forest regions?"

"She was. See to it that the servants prepare for her return. And while you at it, tell the dungeon keeper to prepare the cells. Knowing Aveil, she might bring back unexpected guests."

"It will be done your majesty. Anything else you need?"

"Has there been reports of rebel activity?"

"None as recent, milord," she replied.

"That's...concerning."

"Why is that? Isn't that a good thing?"

Ganondorf gave a stern look at her. "My dear Nabooru. If we let our guard down, even for a moment, the rebels could take us out. We cannot show weaknesses towards them, for they could use that weakness against us. Do you understand?"

"Of course my king," Nabooru said in an apologetic tone.

"Good. Now see to the preparations."

Nabooru bowed and left the room. The evil king sat on his throne and thought about Nabooru's response. While she was loyal to him, Ganondorf knew that she was...different. Unlike most Gerudo and knights, Nabooru was more soft-spoken, and shown compassion, even towards criminals. This troubled Ganondorf, but she still had her uses.

Ghirahim on the other hand always had a distaste for Nabooru as he finds her unworthy of Ganondorf's services. Even showing disgust towards her at any sign she shows kindness. Though that was only part of the reason.

"I don't see why you still keep her around, my king. She's too naive. Her compassion towards these criminals will possibly be our downfall one of these days."

"In time, she will learn her place," Ganondorf assured him. "You may have your issues with her, but I still expect for you to treat her as your equal."

"I would never dare to go against your orders."

"Good. I do not require your services for the rest of the day. You have my leave to go."

"As you wish." Ghirahim bowed. "I'll be around the castle in case you change your mind."

Ghirahim made his leave, which left Ganondorf alone. The Gerudo man once again brought his gaze back upon Castle Town, thinking about the rebels.


The part where Link and others find the burning village I wasn't gonna add. But I wanted them to get the idea that there's something bigger going on.

We have the the introduction of Impa, Sheik, Ashei, and Auru. Sheik a separate character and is a male in this fic. So no gender debates here.

Impa's look is based off her Hyrule Warriors design.

Ganondorf finally makes his introduction. Along him are his loyal subject Ghirahim (who is a human in this fic rather than a sword spirit) and Nabooru.