Link stood outside the door of Princess Zelda's study, staring down the hallway before him. His princess was busy writing reports about the current status of Hyrule. How many monsters had been spotted around certain villages. The amount of food each village had. Things like that. Zelda hated it. It bored her to death. But that was part of rebuilding an entire kingdom, so she had to do it.
Link listened to her mutter under her breath for hours every day. Zelda did get some work done, but it was mostly her grumbling about how stupid all the reports were. Link wished he could do something to make his princess feel better, but there wasn't anything he could do.
Link dutifully stood outside the door for a little while longer. Eventually, he heard Zelda begin to swear, and decided she'd had enough for today. He opened the door, startling her. She whirled around, raising her right hand, a nasty scowl on her face.
After realizing it was only Link, she lowered her hand and sat back down in her chair. "What?" she demanded.
"Perhaps you should take a break, princess," Link suggested.
"I can't do that!" Zelda exclaimed angrily. "I have too much work to do." She turned around to continue writing.
Link rested a hand on her shoulder gently. "Princess, let's just take a little walk. Five minutes."
Zelda sighed. "Fine." She got up out of her chair and walked past her knight, her steps short and stiff. Link followed behind her, keeping his regular three pace distance. Zelda meandered through the castle's walls for a few minutes. Her attitude didn't seem to be improving. She huffed and mumbled things under her breath about how dirty the castle was.
But after five minutes, she wasn't done yet. Just as Link had hoped. "We're going outside," Zelda announced.
"As you wish, princess," Link agreed. He followed her through the castle's gates and into the main courtyard. But Zelda still wasn't satisfied. She led him around to the side of the castle and out a small gate that had been placed in the wall there. Now they were in Hyrule Field. Zelda finally began to relax. She closely studied all the flowers they passed, but she seemed to be looking for something.
Apparently she found it, because she abruptly changed direction and hurried over to a small tree. She smiled, and pointed at a delicate white flower with light blue spiraling outwards from its center. "Look, Link!"
"A silent princess," Link stated.
Zelda nodded excitedly. "Yes! I haven't seen one of these in one hundred years! Do you remember the first time I showed you a silent princess?"
"I do, princess," Link answered.
"It was under this tree too, I think," Zelda went on. She sat down and leaned against the tree's trunk. Link came to stand beside her. "Can you believe that was one hundred years ago?"
"I cannot, princess," Link answered. He was fairly certain that was the correct response. To him, all the memories he had recovered felt like they had happened a million years ago, maybe even to someone else.
"It feels like only a few weeks ago," Zelda sighed contentedly.
The pair sat in companionable silence for a few more minutes. But Zelda was not one for silence. She always had to be having a conversation. "Thank you for bringing me out here, Link. I really did need a break."
"Of course, princess," Link replied.
"I'm sorry I've been so grouchy," Zelda sighed, thinking about how she had been behaving.
"It's quite alright, princess," Link answered.
"No, it's not," Zelda insisted. "I've got no right to treat you like that. So, I apologize."
"I assure you, it's fine, princess," Link stated.
Zelda sighed. "In any case, it's very nice outside today, wouldn't you agree?"
"Of course, princess," Link agreed.
"All the rain we've been having has really made everything so beautiful," Zelda went on, gesturing to the rolling green hills dotted with wildflowers splayed out before them.
"It has, princess," Link agreed.
"Well," Zelda began, standing up again. "I think it's time we head back. I can't neglect my work forever."
"As you wish, princess," Link said.
Zelda turned to head back into the castle. Then she froze. Link tensed, unsure what was wrong. Zelda looked back at her knight. "Something's coming. I don't know what. But something's coming."
Link unsheathed the Master Sword, his eyes searching for anything out of the ordinary. But there was nothing to be found. "How do you know, princess?"
Zelda showed off the Triforce of Wisdom on the back of her hand. It was glowing brightly. "Nayru herself told me."
Link nodded. The word of the goddess of Wisdom was more than enough for him. Zelda began hurrying back into the castle. She didn't quite run, her dress was much too long for that, but her pace was quick. Link followed behind her, his eyes still looking for anything that could be a potential threat.
Just as Zelda reached the castle's side gate, the sky grew dark. Link spotted something forming up in the sky. He wasn't quite sure what it was. It was a circular shape, tinted with green and red and black around the edges. The inside of the circle was purely white, but it was swirling around like a whirlpool.
"A portal," Zelda whispered fearfully.
"Go, princess," Link commanded. "I'll hold off whatever's inside there."
"But what about you?" Zelda questioned.
"I'm unimportant, princess," Link answered easily. "Now go."
Zelda nodded after another second of hesitation. She flung the gate open and hurried inside, closing it once she had entered. Link listened to the sound of her footsteps receding.
Then he returned his attention to the bizarre portal before him. And the even more bizarre company it brought with it. From out of the portal floated...a huge white glove. Link tensed. Several robots followed the glove, flying with the use of rockets on their undersides. They too were white, with blackened goggles for eyes. They all had red buttons on the tops of their heads. And they all looked exactly the same. There were about four of them. But it was what they were carrying that was the strangest. They were carrying a cage. No doubt about that. But it was unlike any cage Link had ever seen. It was mostly white, with glass all the way around the middle of it, so you could see the inside. The top looked like a hatch with a handle only on the outside. But the cage was only big enough for one person. And Link had no doubt it was for his princess.
Link raised the Master Sword, preparing for a fight. But he was caught off guard yet again when the huge glove laughed. It was a terrible sound. Echoing all over the place despite the fact that there was nowhere for it to echo from. Deep and booming, the laugh chilled the marrow in Link's very bones. But he refused to be daunted. His princess was in danger, and he wasn't about to let her get taken.
"Some hero you are," the glove began.
Link didn't reply.
"Telling your charge to run away," it went on.
Link still didn't answer.
"Not one for talking much, I see," the glove sighed. "Well, that's a welcome change."
Link was confused, but didn't say anything.
"But, you see," the glove continued. "I'm not here for your princess. I've already got a few of those. I'm here for you."
"You're not taking me anywhere," Link snarled.
"We'll see about that," the glove laughed. It signaled its robots to come forward. They landed right before Link, lowering the cage onto the ground. Its hatch clicked open. Link raced forward, slashing one of the robots through its neck. The Master Sword was glowing now, its full power unlocking in the presence of true evil. But even so, it had no effect. The sword clanged off the metal robot, causing Link to lose his balance. He recovered himself, but not before a robot fired a laser into his side.
Yet, instead of being burnt, Link was launched backwards. He felt no pain until he slammed into the side of the castle's walls. He heard a horrible crunch as several of his ribs cracked and splintered. But he stood up again, weakly raising his sword. He trudged forward, refusing to stop. Finally, he came to stand before one of the robots. With all his remaining strength, he thrust the Master Sword into its chest. It had no effect once again, and the robot punched Link in the gut. He went flying, much further than he should have, and crashed into the castle's walls. He groaned in agony, certain he had broken every bone in his body at this point. Black spots flickered in his vision. But Link refused to quit. He stood up again, swaying back and forth and breathing hard from the mere effort of standing. He crept forward, one step at a time, not even sure where he was headed anymore.
What was he doing? Why was he walking? Why did everything hurt so much? Link couldn't remember. All he knew was that his princess was in danger. That thought kept him creeping forward. Eventually he bumped into something. His vision had given out at that point, so Link had no idea what it was. Then something nailed him in the side, and he flew into the wall a third time. This time, Link had no strength left to hold on. Everything went black.