As the days and weeks went by and the rain continued to fall, I began to feel strangely at home in the dank swamp. I was confident that Ganon would have given up any search for me as he would be busy with his own plans to conquer Hyrule. It pained me I could not save the maiden who had been trapped in the dungeon yet, where could she have run to after escaping the dungeon? I gave a sigh and my thoughts turned to the lush green land I had come from but the picture was now hazy in my mind. I could feel my old personality beginning to slowly slip away, along with my memories of who I once was, as much as I struggled to keep them.

It was by chance one day when I was adorning some decorations to spruce up the sparseness of my dwelling that I happened across a small opening in the back of the cave. Puzzled, I gave the surface a scratch with my claws and found it was not solid rock but soft earth. I began digging furiously, infiltrating the wall of dirt and loose rock to find a small opening beyond it. Wriggling through, my now sharp fox eyes letting my vision penetrate the darkness I saw some supplies and old parchments hidden at the back! I brought the texts back through the opening and into some light where I began to pore over them. It appeared they were very old, written by the ancient Hylians that one populated our land. I still had my Mudora book with me though to translate and I read slowly through the ancient parchments when I stopped at a peculiar lightning-shaped symbol.

Ether.

I had seen this somewhere before too - a marker to the marsh dungeon. Somehow, this symbol had the power to manipulate the weather, even overriding the dark magic being employed by the wizzrobes. Until it could be found, the rain would continue forever and so also would the marsh dungeon remain inaccessible. I continued poring over the old parchments when one section in particular that caught my eye:

The Hero's triumph on Cataclysm's Eve wins three symbols of virtue. The Master Sword he shall then retrieve, keeping the Knight's line true.

I was certain I had seen that somewhere before.. but where? Tales about a Hero rising up to save the land and a mythical sword? I had never paid much attention in the past to such things and try as might, I couldn't recall them now. It did give me some hope though - that someone could stand up. Someone to save Hyrule from Ganondorf. Who that Hero could possibly be, I had no idea. Until that day, I would remain here, stuck in my bizzare shape.

No escape. At least, not for now.

Author's note: Thankyou for reading! I have tried to make this story very technically consistent with the game and I hope you enjoyed my take on the events that took place before it. I first began a Zelda fanfic ten years ago that I never finished so it was tremendously satisfying to complete one after so many years. You can see a picture of my character here: http:img73.exs.cx/img73/8017/Fox.jpg . Any comments you have regarding this story are most welcome.