Author's Note: This story doesn't take place in any specific Zelda game. I am assuming that the Windwaker is the last game chronologically and this story would take place after it. The name and chapter titles are all based on Buddhist beliefs surrounding reincarnation--something that I think fits all too perfectly with the Zelda universe. Each chapter is named loosely after one of the links in the chain that keep souls bound to the wheel of death and rebirth.

Chapter One:

Ignorance
(Avidya)

The sprawling city seemed to acquire a new layer of grime each time he visited it, the cobbled streets a little dustier and the cheap new buildings on the outskirts of town a little tackier than the ones built before. The kingdom of Hyrule had traditionally been a center of wealth and prosperity—a temptation to any angry usurper who had the will to attempt claiming it for his own—but even when it was ruled by a dictator, it had never before been this dirty.

Doran smiled, a twisted line of bitterness traversing his broad face. Centuries had passed since the last tyrant had threatened the arrogant kingdom and it had been even longer since the hated Ganondorf had attempted to claim it. The world had been little more than a vast ocean at that time specked with minuscule islands, and the coveted land of Hyrule had been nothing more than a lost city buried leagues beneath the sea.

In time the world had dried, the waters had receded and Hyrule had once again seen the light of day, but the sun had continued to cruelly blaze down upon the exposed land until it withered and grew parched. Ironically, the land of Hyrule now resembled the wasteland of the infamous Ganondorf's birth, and while some prayed for the return of the fabled Hero to save their dying land, others whispered that perhaps the ancient evil had finally succeeded in cursing Hyrule.

Doran personally liked to think of the misfortune as a kind of justice, a belated punishment for the peoples' arrogance and complacency. None of them had ever lifted a finger to save their kingdom, after all. They relied instead on the myth of some legendary Hero who would do all the dirty work and save their worthless asses once again. He found their fragile hope pathetic. Shouldn't they be doing something to save themselves rather than relying on a futile dream? How many of them would die before they realized that their Hero might not be coming to save them?

His wry smile deepened and he hoisted his pack more securely against his broad back. Only a few travelers were scattered across the country road, a fact for which he was grateful. Focusing on simply putting one dusty boot in front of the other, he squinted into the rising sun and felt his smile fading when he focused on the silhouette of the castle spires thrusting up into the golden fabric of the sky like knives. He hadn't come near the capitol for several years, preferring to travel instead among the outlying districts and distant towns in an attempt to ease the inevitable weight of history.

While the land had been transformed drastically by all the ecological shifts, the great castle itself had remained relatively unchanged over the centuries, and seeing it looming on the horizon always made him uneasy. The castle was the fulcrum of the mythology, the symbol of Hyrule and the center of its power—and also the battleground where countless struggles over the possession of that power had taken place.

"Watch your step." The man ahead of him scowled back over his shoulder when Doran inadvertently stepped on his boot heel. The man immediately recoiled, frowning at Doran's sun baked skin and angular features, his eyes snagging on the shock of red hair and widening. Looking away quickly, the man muttered something to his wife about foreigners.

"Let him pass," his wife whispered, her voice pitched low, but not low enough to escape Doran's sensitive hearing. "I'd feel safer with more distance between us and him."

Doran's smile was a crack across his craggy face, probably only enhancing his formidable appearance. He was weary of the unfounded suspicions, but the insults were too frequent for them to cause him any real pain. Let them fear him if they wished. At times he wondered if the peoples Hyrule were bred for exactly that purpose. In the past, the thought had brought him joy. Now, he simply smiled and kept walking. Joy was an emotion for the short lived, an impermanent sensation experienced by those with youth still dwelling inside of them; he had died to such things long ago, and for many long years only hatred had remained. But after so much time even that had turned into nothing but an empty emotion worn thin by repetition. He had allowed the wheel to turn several times unhindered over the centuries, his stale hatred no longer enough to sustain his ambition, and he sensed it turning again, the cycle bound to repeat itself.

In his travels, he had heard rumors that the old king was dying and that his only male heir was being groomed for the role of succession. The fact that a male heir existed at all eased Doran's mind, for he had been concerned ever since he heard that the firstborn daughter had been named Zelda, a name he had rarely heard without hearing the name of the dreaded Ganondorf in the same breath. She was named after the princess in the ancient stories and Doran found the choice to be in poor taste. Clearly, even the king had been clinging to the hope of that illusory savior, a weakness which made Doran even more convinced of his poor ruling abilities.

But the name had stirred old memories, and real anger was growing within him at Hyrule's dearth of motivation to save itself and reliance on mere hope when what it truly needed was action. Watching the arrogant kingdom fall apart piece by piece was satisfying in its own way, but even that had failed to continue amusing him.

Perhaps it was time for him to settle in the capitol and keep a closer eye on the balance of power. It wasn't as if he had anything better to do. Not anymore.

Note: For anyone who is interested, the name Doran means "stranger" or "exile" in Irish.

I've added a few twists to the story--like the male heir--but hopefully you can guess at Doran's true identity fairly easily.