A/N: Heh, long chapter, but it's mainly because of all the changes in POV. :P Anyway, this is the first part (out of two, I'm thinking) of the seven years that passed while Link was knocked out in the Sacred Realm. It features the goddesses, Zelda/Sheik, Malon, the Happy Mask Salesman, Saria, Ruto, Darunia, and Nabooru. Basically I wanted to show what was going on in Hyrule from as many different POVs as possible, and I think I've mostly done that. I know I'm missing Lake Hylia, but… eh. XD
---
Chapter Nine: Seven Years, Part One
—The Gerudo is inside—
—That's not possible—
—The boy was successful. He opened the Door of Time—
—And so the Gerudo entered after him—
—He has laid hands on the Triforce, but it broke at his touch—
—So all is lost—
—Not yet—
---
The beginning of the end came quickly.
Zelda and Impa rode all the way to Lake Hylia, where Impa whipped out her ocarina and played the Nocturne of Shadow. Doing so forced them to leave the horse behind, but at least it made them untrackable. Ganondorf, of course, would know what had happened, but Hyrule was big and they wouldn't be found so easily.
They wound up in the graveyard, which was empty save for a little boy poking at the ground with a stick. They hid behind a large tombstone and waited for the boy to leave, which turned out to be just a few minutes later.
Impa straightened. "We knew this day would come," she said softly.
"That doesn't mean I have to like it." She wanted to cry, but to do so right now was a sign of weakness. No, she would cry later. When she was safe.
"It'll be all right."
Zelda didn't bother to reply. She helped Impa move one of the tombstones and climbed down into the hole beneath; once they were inside, Impa managed to maneuver the tombstone back to its original position.
She looked around. They were in a small room furnished with a torch, two cots, and a box containing enough provisions to last them for some time. It wasn't much, but they would be safe here. Space wouldn't be a problem, either—the room was connected to a series of other underground rooms that spread throughout Kakariko Village. The network was old; it had been around for hundreds of years so that the Sheikah could travel them at leisure. Impa had come here recently to tidy up the room enough for their imminent arrival.
"Sleep, Princess," Impa said. "I will check to make sure nothing nearby threatens…"
She meant Redeads, of course. Being located in a graveyard, running into one was a likely occurrence if you weren't careful. Impa was more than a match for them, though.
After she was gone, Zelda sat down against the wall and thought. During their ride to Lake Hylia, she had felt something—she didn't know what at the time, but now she recognized it. Link had retrieved the Ocarina of Time and learned the Song of Time. All he had to do now was to…
She gasped suddenly, feeling as if her heart would stop. Something had happened just now.
There were footsteps; an instant later, Impa appeared in the room, breathing heavily. She had felt it too.
Link had opened the Door of Time. But something more had taken place, and it wasn't what she had been expecting.
Ganondorf had entered the Sacred Realm.
"Oh, goddesses!" she cried out, then clamped her hands over her mouth. She was suddenly scared that if she spoke too loudly, he would hear her.
What had she done?
Ganondorf was going to take over Hyrule, and it was all her fault.
---
Ingo was acting strangely.
Ever since they had seen the two horses galloping past Lon Lon Ranch, he had been laughing gleefully to himself and muttering nonsense under his breath. When she asked him why he was doing that, he'd tell her to shut up and keep working.
It had been a day since she had witnessed that strange race. That day turned out to be the longest of her life.
Something was wrong at the castle. That much was obvious. A visitor had come to them that day, saying that there had been a takeover and that the king was dead. "Who did it?" she asked.
"The King of Thieves," the visitor replied.
But she didn't know who the King of Thieves was until weeks later, when she overheard an argument between Ingo and her father.
"You are useless to the great Ganondorf!" Ingo was shouting as Talon sat in a corner, fiddling with his mustache. "How are we supposed to please him if you can't do anything?"
"There now," Talon said, holding his hands up. "I thought Ganondorf was an evil man…"
Ingo turned suddenly to look at the door, and Malon was scared that he might somehow be able to see her through the keyhole. "Evil to those who refuse to work!" he shrieked. "You had better contribute soon, or I'll kick you right off this farm!"
"But this is my ranch!"
"I don't care!"
At that point, Malon couldn't take it any longer, so she opened the door, which shut them both up immediately.
"Hello there, girl," her father said, trying to smile.
She glanced at Ingo, whose face was red. "Malon," he said, nodding tightly in greeting, then stormed upstairs to get some sleep.
"Daddy, what's wrong?" she asked after the door to Ingo's room had slammed shut.
"Nothing," he replied.
She didn't believe him for a second.
---
The Happy Mask salesman peered out of the windows of his shop, watching the townspeople gossip about meaningless, trivial little things. He wondered if he should go out and join them, but then decided that they weren't worth his while. Besides, they'd never give him the time of day. They liked his masks—since he had opened shop a little while ago, he'd gotten a steady flow of customers—but they thought he was the strangest thing ever created by the goddesses. That was all right by him—he thought they were the strange ones. To each his own, he supposed.
He closed the window blinds and stood in front of the door. Maybe he wouldn't talk to them, but he could still take a walk. The chase on horseback he had witnessed had been interesting. He had been almost sure that the Princess had been on that white horse, accompanied by Impa, her caretaker. He'd be able to find out more if he asked around.
Moments later, he was facing the soldier who was guarding the gate to Hyrule Castle. "Halt!" the soldier called out. He stopped obediently and smiled. The guard eyed him warily. "There's a lot going on in the castle right now," he said. "I can't allow even a dog to get in!"
"Of course," the Happy Mask salesman replied, smile still in place. He had always had a fondness for soldiers. The people of Hyrule looked up to them. Why, if he could get one to wear one of his masks, he was sure business would boom! "Tell me, is Princess Zelda in the castle?"
The guard shifted uncomfortably. "It's not my place to tell others the whereabouts of the Princess."
"That's because you don't know, do you?"
"Watch it." The man's hand was on the hilt of his sword.
"My apologies," he replied smoothly. "I will leave you to guard over—what? Nothing, it seems." With a short bow, he left, leaving the soldier to stare quizzically after him.
He decided to go to the back alley. None of the common people hung out back there, save for a few loiterers and thieves. Well, he had no problem with them. The only thing that mattered to him was his faith, and they couldn't steal that. That, and his masks, but he had a very large supply of them.
When he was as far in as he could go, he was shocked to discover a body lying against the wall. He leaned in closer to inspect it, then breathed in sharply.
Why, it was the body of a Hylian soldier!
He couldn't believe his luck. He hauled the body onto his back and went back to his little shop, where he cleaned the man up and polished his armor. From there, he arranged the dead man so that he was leaning against a wall and placed a Keaton Mask on his face. Hopefully, when the body stiffened, it would remain in that position. He'd take a trip to the potion shop later to get the proper ingredients to ensure that it wouldn't spoil.
"It's always good to have faith," he said to himself.
---
There was something growing in front of the Great Deku Tree's remains. She wasn't sure what it was, but before he had died, the Great Deku Tree had said that when he passed from this world, another would take his place. Maybe this was it.
She stood up and went back to the others. Technically, she could spend as much time as she wanted to watch the plant grow, since she didn't age, but that usually didn't provide much entertainment. She'd check back on it tomorrow.
"Let's go to the Lost Woods, Saria," Mido said, grabbing on to one of her hands.
She disengaged herself from him. "I'm not in the mood," she replied.
He frowned, but didn't say anything more. She knew what he was thinking about. Link.
"Let's talk about him," he said after a while.
She shook her head. It was too painful. "I'm going to sleep," she said. "Maybe later."
He frowned again. "I'll hold you to that."
With a quick wave, she left him and went to her house, where she crawled into bed. She didn't sleep, though. She couldn't.
A week ago, she had felt danger at the castle and had told Link. He had immediately gone there with a quick promise that he would talk to her later. But he hadn't.
Not that she was mad at him for not contacting her again—she could never be mad at him. But she could be afraid, and she was. Something terrible had happened at the castle. Link was at the castle. What if something terrible had happened to Link?
She sighed into her pillow. She had a feeling that change was coming—change that would permeate even their forest. But what could she do about it?
Nothing, she thought bitterly, and drifted off to sleep.
---
Goddesses, it was getting cold in here. Not that the cold bothered her, but the temperature in Zora's Domain always remained the same throughout the year, and obviously, if it was getting cold, then that meant the temperature wasn't the same.
Something strange was going on.
She wondered if it had anything to do with her future husband, Link. The Zoras at Lake Hylia had told Ruto that on the same day he had left Zora's Domain after saving her, the Hylian Princess Zelda and her caretaker, Impa, had fled to the lake while being pursued by Ganondorf. When they had arrived at their destination, they had simply disappeared. Ganondorf, in his rage, had killed one of the Zoras that had been unfortunate enough to be in his range of vision. And then he had disappeared as well.
That had been two months ago. Since then, the weather had been getting colder—it was barely perceptible, but she could feel it nonetheless.
"I'm going to visit Jabu-Jabu," she announced to her father. Maybe the fish's warmth would help her take her mind off it.
"Don't get lost," King Zora said.
---
Whenever he put his ear to the wall, he could hear it shaking. This, of course, was no easy task, since his ears were small and located in a most inconvenient position for placing one's ear against the wall. But how was he supposed to tell otherwise? Certainly, if he just went about his business as usual, he could pretend it wasn't happening. But what good would that do? If he denied it, Death Mountain would explode and he would still be in shock.
He glanced over at the baby. His baby. And a fine baby it was! A few days old and he was already eating several pounds of rock a day.
Link, he had named him, after the little boy who had come to Goron City not so long ago to ask for the Spiritual Stone of Fire. And Darunia had given it to him, of course—how could he not, after the boy had proved his worth by destroying King Dodongo and freed up the cavern so that they could enjoy their sirloin rocks again? The boy deserved to have a child named after him.
It was strange, he thought, about how this boy had touched his life so profoundly. How he had touched everyone's life. King Zora had contacted Darunia earlier and told him that they had given Link the Spiritual Stone of Water after he had rescued their Princess from Lord Jabu-Jabu. There was a certain quality to the green-clad child that enabled him to win over everyone's hearts. Altruism. It was hard to find these days.
But Link was gone now, and he had no idea where. The Zoras couldn't tell him. There had been talk of a takeover in Hyrule Castle Town, which was where Link was supposedly last seen. What if he had been killed by that wicked man, Ganondorf?
Nonsense, he thought to himself, and believed it. If Ganondorf had indeed taken over, then Hyrule was in danger and his Sworn Brother, the King, was probably dead. This would sadden him greatly, but he would have to verify it for himself first. However, he didn't think for an instant that Link was dead. Where was the boy? He didn't know. He was sure, though, that they would meet again someday.
---
"Look at this," he said, and thrust his fist at her. "You thought I wouldn't be able to do it. But I did."
She looked at his hand coolly for a few seconds, then pushed it away. "It looks incomplete to me."
He reddened visibly. "That wasn't my fault!"
"Wasn't it? I know the legend, Ganondorf. You may be powerful, but apparently you lack wisdom or courage."
"That's not true."
"Oh? I heard what happened at Hyrule Castle Town. You killed the king and his guards. That doesn't sound very smart to me."
"Then tell me, Nabooru," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm, "what would be smart?"
"At this point, nothing." She couldn't believe it. He had killed the king. Her advice had gone unheeded.
"I have the Triforce of Power!"
"I know, I know. But now the other two pieces are gone. What are you going to do, tear apart Hyrule to look for them?"
He snarled at her. "Yes. The country is mine now. I am King."
She said nothing. What could she do? Whatever happened now was irreversible.
A few minutes passed without either of them saying anything. Finally, her curiosity got the better of her. "What will you do next?"
"Take over, of course," he replied immediately. "I have sent my men to retrieve Redeads from Kakariko to clear out Hyrule Castle Town. And then… I'll work on the rest. Burn the Gorons. Freeze the Zoras."
"Oh, so you don't plan on doing anything horrible to us?" she snapped.
He looked at her. "Don't talk to me like that."
"I can talk to you however I like!"
"Nabooru!" he said, his voice so loud it hurt her ears. "Why can't you understand? Don't you know why I did all this? It was—"
She had a sudden, sinking feeling that whatever came next wouldn't be good. "No, Ganondorf!" she interrupted. "I can't understand why you would want to kill innocents or rule over people who aren't even Gerudos! It's over! I loved you! Why couldn't you understand that?" She couldn't bear to speak to him anymore. Without another word, she stormed out of the room, needing to put as much distance between herself and Ganondorf as possible.
But before she left, she could hear him say something so quietly that she wasn't even sure she had heard right.
"I did."
---
"Princess!" Impa's voice was sharp, commanding. Zelda woke up and was on her guard instantly. "Ganondorf's creatures are in the graveyard. I believe they are looking for Redeads."
Redeads? "Can we hide from them?"
"I can. And with my help, you can as well."
"What do you mean?"
Impa looked unsettled, something that was rare for her. This was serious.
Of course, everything was serious. Living beneath a tombstone provided no room for laughter.
"I wanted to wait until you were older to do this, but it seems as if we have no choice now."
"Tell me."
The older woman stared at a point above Zelda's head. "I can turn you into a boy." She paused. "But this is very old magic. It's not easily done. If I do so, Ganondorf will never find you, even if he is looking you in the eye. But once you are a boy, you will remain a boy until you change back into a girl. And once that happens, it's done."
"So I cannot change between the two," Zelda said.
"You will have to grow up as a boy."
There was a crash from without. It was faint, but Zelda knew it wouldn't stay that way for long.
"And this is the only way?"
"This is the only way. But it's your choice, Princess."
Zelda nodded. "Do it," she whispered.
---
—How long can Hyrule last without the Hero—
—It doesn't matter; the Hero has not yet grown—
—This would have been avoided if we had never allowed Ganondorf into the Sacred Realm—
—You know that we cannot interfere in the affairs of mortals—
—Then tell me: what good is it being a goddess if all we can do is watch the country we created tear itself apart—
---
She cannot see him, but she knows that he is there. Their world is dark, but they can still feel each other's presence.
"Zelda," he says. His voice is filled with pain. "I don't know what happened. I opened the Door—"
"It's all right," she replies softly. "It's not your fault."
They do not say anything for a while. Being close to the other is enough. Then, he speaks.
"I'm sorry I left you."
"No," she whispers. "Don't be sorry. I left first, remember?"
"Don't turn this around."
They both sigh. Link speaks again. "I don't know what's going on with me."
"I don't know, either." But she does know. She had known ever since she had met him. He was not old enough. Hyrule had to wait for him to mature. And then, once he did, he would have to become the Hero of Time…
She cannot tell him this, however. You must be careful in the land of dreams. He would be shattered if he found out.
He has already been through so much, she thinks. It hurts her to know that he is not yet done suffering. For now, then, he must sleep. If this burden is to be placed on him, he could be, at the very least, spared from watching Hyrule fall into ruin.
"Do you think we'll see each other again?"
She hesitates before answering. She cannot say for sure. But she knows he needs a reason to go on. "Yes."
"I'm going to kill Ganondorf."
She nods, even though he cannot see. He continues.
"I'll find you."
Three words, and they pierce her heart.
Quietly, so that he cannot hear, she cries.
---
When she woke up, her entire body was aching. What had happened to her? She couldn't remember. Impa had told her to go to sleep because Ganondorf's creatures were coming, so she had.
But wait, that made no sense. Wouldn't hiding have been a more sensible thing to do?
She shook her head. She'd think about it later.
Her throat was parched. She wanted to get up to find some water, but her entire body felt stiff. "Impa?" she called out weakly. What was wrong with her voice? It sounded… deeper.
And then she remembered.
Forcing herself to sit up despite the pain, she threw off her blanket and looked under the loose shift she had been sleeping in.
Well.
She was a boy.
"I'm a boy," she said, trying out her new voice—although truth be told, her voice wasn't that different, considering most boys her age still hadn't gone through puberty. But still, it was obvious enough to her.
She reached up to feel her hair. It was shorter now, much shorter. And without the covering she always wore while in princess garb, her head felt incredibly light. What would Link say when he saw her?
Link. Sleeping in the Sacred Realm, unaware of everything that was going on. He had really been in her dream, that much was for certain. But would he remember it? Would he remember his promise?
I'll find you.
Would he still want to, once he woke up? To find that he had lost the best years of his life because of her?
Her thoughts were interrupted when Impa entered the room. "Are you all right?" Impa said without preamble.
Zelda nodded. "It looks like it worked perfectly." She smiled wryly.
"Good." Impa stared at her for a moment, then continued. "Ganondorf's followers are gone. They took several of the Redeads, but not all. They also did something with the Well and the Shadow Temple, but I do not know what. It's dormant for now, so that's all that matters. And as for you, we must begin your training." She paused to measure Zelda's reaction. "Your name will be Sheik. I will train you to be a Sheikah."
Zelda nodded again.
"Then come with me," Impa said, "and we will begin."
---
Things were taking an interesting turn of events.
From what he could tell, secluded in his small store, Hyrule Castle Town was being evacuated. He didn't know much other than that, aside from a small bit of conversation he had overheard when two people were passing by his window.
"…don't want to be around when they come."
"Who does? I thought they were legend until now. Seeing them slouch across Hyrule Field like that…"
"It's enough to make your blood run cold. I wish we had left long ago… so that we would never have to see these Redeads…"
Redeads? That was preposterous. Everyone knew that Redeads hung out in dead places. Hyrule Castle Town was not a dead place, especially with him here. His masks brightened the world around him.
Even so, apparently they had been sighted. Though he usually didn't trust the commoners, believing them to be foolish and incapable, he believed what they were saying now. Besides, the darkening sky helped to confirm it. The weather was getting worse every day.
But what could he do? He would never leave his shop or his masks. They were his life. Even if everyone else left, he would remain.
And that was exactly what happened.
By the time the Redeads arrived, the city had been evacuated, save for him and a few stubborn others. However, the Redeads passed him by and went straight from the castle, which, though it was inhabited, was falling into disrepair. They walked through the city slowly, moaning so loudly that he could hear them from his shop. When they had passed, he decided that he would need to hide himself. He did not fear them—why, one of his masks was based off of the Redeads—but he knew it would not be good if he were to get caught.
He went to the general store and brought as much food as he could carry back to his own shop, smiling at the other people who were trying to do the same thing. Then, he took down the bright sign that proclaimed "Happy Mask Shop" and dirtied up the front so that the Redeads would not intrude. Some of the remaining townspeople asked if they could stay with him, but he smiled and told them no. He had faith. They did not.
They would die.
He would not.
Over the next few days, weeks, months, he watched Hyrule Castle Town fall prey to the Redeads. He heard screaming often and knew that the Redeads were feasting on the survivors. "Unhappy souls without faith," he would say to himself whenever he heard the now-familiar sounds. It was unfortunate, but they had brought it upon themselves when they decided to spurn him and his masks. Silly fools.
Not once did he think to leave. Not once did he think to abandon his masks and his soldier.
He would hum tunelessly to himself every now and then, thinking of mask ideas and sales tactics. He changed the soldier's mask often, from Keaton to Skull to Scary to Bunny, a never-ending cycle. His skin grew pale, paler than it had been before. No sunlight ever filtered into his store. Where he was, there was no sunlight.
He was unbothered by this, though. As long as he still had his faith, he was happy, and happiness was a beautiful thing.
---
Saria realized that the baby plant in front of the Great Deku Tree was no longer growing. In fact, nothing was. Nothing good, anyway.
She had recently discovered several Deku Baba sprouts scattered throughout the forest, and with the other Kokiri, she had rooted them out. But they kept on growing anyway.
There was no doubt in her mind that this had to do with the man from the desert.
However, her knowledge wasn't very helpful. It didn't stop these weeds from developing and didn't remove the taste of poison in the air. Before she knew it, the only bearable places to be were the Lost Woods and the Kokiris' houses.
Tonight they were all gathered in Mido's house, swapping stories and talking of better times. The changes to the forest were scaring them, and they knew no other way to cope.
Mido was sitting in the middle. "Before the Great Deku Tree died, the forest would be completely safe! We were unafraid of going outside! And look at us now! We're terrified! Do you know whose fault this is?"
"Link," a few of them said.
"That's right!" Mido was beaming. "It's a good thing that we kicked him out of the forest, or else—"
"Stop it," Saria said. She was so tired of having to defend Link from the others. Why couldn't Mido accept that the Great Deku Tree had been cursed, and that Link had tried to save him? "It's because of the man in the desert that we're now like this."
Mido snorted.
"Maybe the Great Deku Tree could have been saved, but we were too busy with our own problems and didn't notice in time," she continued. "If it's Link's fault, it's our fault as well." There was some grumbling at this. She didn't care. "In any case, no matter who caused it, it's up to us to stop it. When I find the source of the poison, I'm going to go destroy it." She glanced at Mido. "Does anyone have any issues with that?"
All of the Kokiri shook their heads. They still respected her.
"Good," she said, but she knew that nothing in their future would be good at all.
---
Princess Ruto woke up one morning to hear the excited talk of the Zoras. "Something's coming from the sky," they whispered. "It's beautiful."
Naturally, she had to see for herself. Of course, she had to feed Jabu-Jabu anyway, so she was going outside no matter what.
What she saw, when she entered the fountain, shocked and amazed her.
It was snowing.
She had heard of snow, but had never seen it before. Even the best descriptions couldn't have prepared her for this. Each glistening white snowflake glided to the ground, shimmering as it did so. When it made contact with the earth, it vanished.
Fascinating, she thought.
But Jabu-Jabu didn't seem to like it very much. In fact, he didn't seem to like it at all.
She realized that he was dying.
He looked terrible, like he was wasting away right before her. His once shiny scales were now dried up, making him into a withering husk. How could she not have noticed this before?
For the next few weeks, she went to sit with him every day, trying to soothe him. The snow continued to fall; it seemed to get heavier as time passed. She fed him the tastiest fish she could find, hoping against hope that he would get better.
As she sat with him, she found herself casting about madly for a target to blame. Her fiancé, she thought immediately, but discarded the thought. Link had done a lot of things inside Jabu-Jabu, but it hadn't been his fault. No, the fault had been Ganondorf's.
She thought of him and was angry. What right did that evil man have, filling their deity with Biri and Octoroks? Jabu-Jabu was supposed to have lived for many years more, but Ganondorf had stopped that from happening. And now he was causing it to snow, too, so that Jabu-Jabu couldn't even die in peace.
I am going to rectify this, she told herself over and over in her mind. He will regret the day he ever came to Zora's Domain!
Almost a year passed before Jabu-Jabu finally died. When he did, he sank to the bottom of the fountain, and no one ever saw him again.
---
Link was crying again. Not weakly, but a big, booming cry that could probably be heard throughout all of Goron City.
Darunia tried to pat him so that he would calm down. It was hard, though. Link was crying because the smoke was bothering him, and he had no idea how to get rid of it.
Once the little Goron could no longer cry because he had screamed his voice hoarse, Darunia decided to go outside and look at the mountain from a different point of view. Link crying meant that it was getting worse. But how would he be able to tell?
He glanced up at the sky and had his answer.
Above him, the ring of smoke around Death Mountain was turning into a ring of fire.
---
She fled for the Spirit Temple, trying to escape Ganondorf and his words. But there was no escape. As long as she could think, she could remember. And she did.
Don't you know why I did all this?
She didn't, not before. But she knew now.
It was—
"Me!" she howled into the sandstorm.
He had destroyed Hyrule for her. He had thought that it would impress her, that it would bind her to him like nothing else ever would. But he had been wrong.
Why couldn't he have understood? She had told him, didn't she? She didn't care about taking over Hyrule. She wanted him to concentrate on their people. The Gerudos. She had told him, and he hadn't listened.
But no matter what she told herself, she always found herself coming back to the same thought. She was the cause for his takeover. If she had never loved him, if he had never loved her, none of this would have happened.
So in a way, this was because of her.
No, she thought furiously. Don't say that.
But denial didn't mean it wasn't true.
When she arrived at the temple, she collapsed and didn't wake up until the next day. Mechanically, she killed a Leever and ate it, then went inside and tried to figure out what she should do next.
One thing was for sure. His conquest was now beyond any need to impress her. She might have removed herself from the picture, but he was still dangerous.
Ganondorf needed to be stopped.
Don't be a fool, Nabooru, a voice whispered in her head, but a plan was taking shape even as she thought it.
She wasn't strong enough to take him on her own. But she could be.
What she needed were the Silver Gauntlets.
---
A/N: And on that happy note, we end Part One. Hopefully I've introduced a dynamic in the Ganondorf/Nabooru relationship that'll… make things interesting later, I guess. We'll see what happens with that—all I'll say for now is that, if everything goes well, there'll be at least one chapter where things don't quite play out the way they do in the game.