Disclaimer: I do not own any Legend of Zelda charcters or terms, Nintendo does. I just write about them.
Long live Hyrule!
Chapter 8
The Triforce of Courage
"Whoa, hey, relax. We're friends," said one of the captors who had wings on his arms. When Arthur and Lillian were pulled into the van, they put up a bit of a struggle to cooperate.
"Says who?" Lillian asked, her voice painted with a threatening tone.
"We do, 'cause we are. We know your cousins very well."
"So would any stalker," Lillian pointed out.
"True, but we also know about the triforce legend. Do you trust us now?"
"Triforce legend?" Arthur asked, looking at Lillian.
"You actually believe that story?" Lillian asked.
"I didn't say anything about believing it, but yes," the winged captor started taking off his wings, sitting cross legged on the floor of the van.
The second captor was a girl with a horse charm on her necklace. She slipped into the front seat next to the driver who also wore wings.
"But what's the legend?" Arthur asked again.
Lillian sighed annoyed, not at Arthur though. "It's this story my whole family lives upon as the truth. Supposedly, there was this great hero of this kingdom a long time ago. He was always there for the kingdom whenever it was in total dispare. But when the kingdom needed him to fight off what my father calls "the dark essence," he just disappeared. The kingdom fell not long after that."
"Is that what they told you, 'cause there's a lot more to the story than that," the first captor said.
Lillian and Arthur looked at him. "The triforce that blessed the land of the kingdom vanished the same day the Hero of Legend disappeared. Some say that the darkness took it when it stormed the castle town."
"Aye, I've heard that before."
"But at the same time the whole place was deserted. No supplies and no people. The two don't add up, agree?"
"But why do we care?" Lillian said, shaking her head. "It's only a legend anyway."
"It's become more than a legend lately," said the driver in a solemn voice.
Arthur poked his head to the front seating area. "So are you saying the guys in the black cloaks are that dark essence in the story?"
The driver nodded and added, "Keep your head down. Those men are looking for both you and Lillian."
Arthur did so, but asked, "Why?"
"They have reason to believe that both of you are some value to their quest."
"And are we?"
"Maybe. We'll see when we get you two to safety. In the meantime, Malon, can you see what you can do with Arthur's wounds?"
The girl with the horse charm nodded and slipped into the back of the van again. The boy who took off his wings slapped his forehead. "I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Komali. This is Malon, horse-expert extraordinaire. And the one who's driving is Quill."
Malon looked at Arthur's large gash and remarked, "I'm surprised you can still be conscious. It looks as if you lost a lot of blood."
"I might have, I don't remember really," Arthur said. He looked into Malon's eyes. He saw a flash of a horse that looked like the one on the girl's necklace. "Do you have a horse?"
Malon nodded. "Her name is Epona. She's tame, but can have a wild spirit sometimes. Especially now; recently she has been very restless in a way I have never seen her be before."
"It'd probably the darkness," Komali said.
"Maybe..." Malon did not seem convinced.
Arthur felt a wave of exhaustion sweep over him after Malon was done covering up his wounds. He guessed that it was from all of the action of the day. He settled himself in one of the seats at the back of the van.
"So, Malon, are you on a farm?" Lillian asked.
"Yes, my father owns a ranch a few hours away from the city. It's really beautiful too; especially in the springtime when the flowers..."
Arthur did not hear the rest for he slipped out of consciousness like a light turning off.
He found himself inside a ruined temple. It seemed to have stood for many long years and was just recently been destoried by something other than human hands. As he walked through, he could feel that he was being watched. He stopped right in front of an altar that somehow was spared from the recage. On he base of it was a symbol of a large triangle made of three smaller ones.
"Hero of Legends," called out a voice that startled Arthur completely. "You have returned." There was no sign of the sorce of the voice.
"I think you might have the wrong person," Arthur said. "I'm not a hero. Just some regular kid."
"There is no mistake; you just do not remeber who you are."
"How do you know?"
"You wield the triforce of courage. Only the Hero of Legends can wield it."
Arthur looked down at his hand instictively to find a small golden triangle imprinted on his hand. "And what does it do?"
"Alone, it gives the wielder a courage he has never known before. But together with it's sisters, it has a power no longer known to any creature under the sun. But the darkness remembers it's fanastic power, and hunts for it."
"Is that why the black cloaked people are after me?"
There is no reply to that question. Instead, the voice said, "You must remember who you are, Hero of Legends. The world needs you once again."
There is more to come. Please comment and I'll keep on writing.
