Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Zelda characters. They are all property of Nintendo. Oh, and I do not own Marth either. Now that's off my chest, so now I can go on with the story.

A/N: I'm so happy I got reviews for the last chapter! Thank you, reviewers! A note about my other story: I'm kind of stucked right now, but in case you want to read it, I'll put the next chapter up soon. I know it's been a while, but I haven't given up on that story yet! I'm also going to put a SSBM fic up here soon, as soon as I get the game, that is... I've written the first chapter, but I'm unsure if I'll post it... but I hope I can get the game for Christmas! ^_^

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Chapter seven: The Prince of Hyrule

"Marth! Get up!"

The Hylian Prince let out a sleepy groan and opened his eyes. Once again, he felt disappointment when he saw the canvas around him instead of brick walls and scarlet curtains. He was lying on a hard, uncomfortable mattress in an old tent, instead of in his canopy bed. It was such a disappointment every morning when he woke up, though he had lived like this for two years now.

"I'm comin'", he moaned sleepily and tried to get up, but the chilly morning breeze made him shiver and he wished he could stay in bed the whole day. Tael, the fairy who had woke him up, was floating impatiently in mid-air, waiting for his master to get up and get dressed. He wasn't white like the most fairies were; he had a nice purple colour instead. Marth was grateful that Tael had come to him a couple of weeks ago. The fairy and his two older sisters had been on their way to Hyrule, but fortunately for Marth, Tael had wanted to stay in Termina with him. Although they had just known each other for a couple of weeks, they were already best friends. Marth had read a lot about the races in Hyrule and knew about the Kokiri tribe, which lived deep into the Lost Woods. Each Kokiri had a guardian fairy, to help and protect him or her.

But since Marth wasn't a Kokiri, Tael wasn't his guardian fairy, just a very good friend. But you could call him a guardian fairy anyway, Marth thought and yawned. He's watching me as though he was my mother or something!

"C'mon, you've got to get ready!" said Tael impatiently. "We'll be late otherwise! C'mon!"

Marth sighed and got dressed rather quickly. He attached a sheath with a dagger to his belt and put on his boots. He tried to comb his teal hair with his fingers, but soon he gave up trying to comb his shaggy mop of hair and made his way out of the tent. Tael was floating in front of him eagerly. Marth just couldn't understand how the fairy could be in such a good mood every day.

The sight could actually make anyone in a really bad mood. It was rainy and chilly outside, with dark rain clouds covering the sky and no sight of the sun anywhere. The walls of Clock Town looked rather dark and gloomy, and the clock tower looked all the same as every day, high, dark and boring. Marth wished something unusual would happen...

A lot of soldiers from Hyrule and Termina had been camping outside the town for a while now, always wary about any attacks. A pack of evil creatures, including Moblins, Wolfos and Stalfos, had been lurking up among the mountains, near Snowhead, and they had even attacked Clock Town. Nobody knew what they were up to, but one thing was for sure: an evil force had been planning everything. The creatures used to attack pretty frequently, but not anymore. They had not attacked for at least a month now.

Marth's life was as boring as usual. He sighed and went over to another tent to get some breakfast before the practicing started. Before he could reach it, however, he felt Tael tugging nervously at his sleeve.

"What?!" Marth was beginning to get really annoyed. He wanted to hit Tael, but managed to control himself. Tael had turned white, and Marth could tell he really was scared.

"It seems like there finally is something happening here. Look!"

Marth turned around. Oh no, he thought before heading off to his tent to get his sword and shield. No, please, not this!

These were the only thoughts we managed to think before he felt someone tugging at the canvas and the tent was sent to the ground. Someone screamed, and Marth recognized a young woman's voice. He succeeded in trying to get out from under the canvas, and what he saw almost made him faint.

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"Your Highness, it doesn't matter. There's nothing that matters anymore", said Impa in a defiant voice.

"But... but it's dangerous, Impa!" King Harkinian said. "I command you to stay here!"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness, but nothing can get me to change my mind", Impa said and turned at her heel, leaving King Harkinian speechless.

She mounted the stairs and hurried to Zelda's bedroom. Once she was in there, she looked around and recollected all those happy memories she had with Zelda. She remembered how she used to sit on Zelda's bedside and read fairy tales for the young Princess before she would go to sleep. Zelda had loved to hear those tales, over and over again. Impa smiled slightly to herself as she walked over to the bookcase and picked a certain book. Its cover was a deep red, with a Triforce in gold printed on it. It was the tale of the three golden Goddesses. Impa opened the book and read the first sentences:

"Once upon a time, before the life began, before the world had got its present form, three golden Goddesses came down from the Heavens to the chaos that would become the land of Hyrule. They were Din, the Goddess of Power, Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom, and Farore, the Goddess of Courage.

With her strong arms, Din created the red earth. Nayru spread her wisdom across the country and sowed the seeds of Justice. Farore's breath created all forms of life that would obey the Law.

The three mighty Goddesses returned to the Heavens and left the golden, sacred Triforce..."

Impa closed the book, and realized she was crying. Goddesses, how I miss her, she thought as she put the book back in the bookcase. She gazed dreamily at another book that lay on the floor. On its cover was a neat picture of a knight in shining armor, fighting a dragon. The dragon looked so real... Impa remembered that Zelda had been afraid of that picture when her nursemaid had read the story to her. Impa picked up the book and turned the page. The knight had stabbed the dragon in its heart with his beaming blade. The dragon seemed to be shrieking in agony, and dark blood was trickling down its body and down on the ground. She turned to the next page, and saw the dragon lying dead on the ground with the sword protruding from its chest. Next to the dead creature was a picture of the brave knight, with a beautiful young maiden in his arms.

"Why, everything seems so easy in the fairy tales!" Impa sighed and threw the book aside. She then remembered what she was looking for, and began to look in the drawers of Zelda's chest of drawers. There, she found what she had been looking for: the Ocarina of Time. Clutching the shiny, blue instrument to her chest, she left, aware of what she had to do. What she had to do to find out the truth.

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"Link?"

"What?" Link was lying in the soft grass, gazing up into the blue, almost cloudless sky. He sat up when he heard Zelda's voice. The young girl came running through the grass, holding something in her hand. She smiled warmly at him.

"Guess what I've got!" She hid her arms behind her back and looked impatiently at him.

"I don't know", he sighed.

"Guess!"

"Come on, Zel, show it to me!"

"All right... look!"

She held out her right hand and showed him a weapon. But not a usual weapon; it was a bow and a quiver with arrows. The bow and the arrows were made of willow wood. Zelda beamed as she saw Link's impressive expression.

"Saria helped me with it", she explained. "Just you wait, Link, I'll be as good with the bow as you are with the slingshot!"

"I believe that when I see it", Link chuckled mockingly. "I can help you, Zel. Saria is very good with the bow, too. I've never exactly tried a lot with it, but I'm sure you can become the greatest archer in all of Hyrule!"

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The camp wasn't recognizable anymore. A pack of Stalfos had attacked the camp and turned it into utter confusion. Marth got to his feet somewhat clumsy, and unsheathed his sword. He had not time to get his shield from under the canvas, so he decided to help fighting instead. He ducked to avoid an arrow that passed inches over his head, fended off an attack from a Stalfos and managed to take off its head before being knocked to the ground. He saw a pair of dark, evil eyes staring down at him. The Stalfos raised its sword, but Marth managed to roll out of the way just as the skeleton lowered it. The sword merely scratched his forearm.

He heard a young woman scream again and got to his feet again, looked around and tried to find her. He knew who it was, Cremia, the oldest of the sisters from the ranch. He'd had a crush on her when he arrived to Termina, but that was over and done with now.

A little girl about the age of ten came running at him, with tears in her eyes, her long, reddish hair tousled and dirty. He recognized her as Romani, Cremia's younger sister. She was about the age as his own little sister, Zelda. Marth suddenly realized that he had not seen his sister in two long years. She had been eight years when he left, so she would be ten by now.

"Marth! Please help! They... they've got Cremia!" yelled Romani anxiously.

"Romani, where is she?" asked Marth and looked at the young girl. She pointed in the direction of the town. "She was captured by one of those horrible skeletons and taken inside the town", she explained. "We've got to hurry, Marth! Please, don't let them do anything to her..."

"Don't worry, Romani, she'll be just fine", Marth tried to convince her, though there was a slight hesitation in his voice. "Come on, I've got to find someone to take you back to the ranch..."

Marth grabbed Romani by the waist and held her tightly to his body. His only thought was to protect the young girl from being hurt. He parried a slash from a Stalfos and stabbed it in the ribs, then took its head off. He could feel Romani clinging to his side, her head leaning against his shoulder. He could easily tell she was scared, her blue eyes were open wide in horror at the sight. Marth spotted a soldier on a brown horse some yards away. Calling out, he lifted Romani up and placed her in front of the man in the saddle.

"Please take her to the ranch", Marth said. "She's not safe out here!"

The soldier nodded, goaded his horse and they left. Marth looked after them, breathing heavily, before heading to the north gate. He killed a lot of Stalfos on the way, but was not hurt badly. He reached the gate with merely a few scratches and bruises. Just as he would enter North Clock Town, he felt something heavy hit his head. Clutching his sword and wincing with pain, he fell to the ground. Everything went black before his eyes.

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A/N: There's chapter 7! Short, I know, but if the chapters are shorter, it means I can update more frequently. I would be glad if you sent me reviews and told me what you think of story so far. It's strange, this chapter didn't turn out like I expected at all... but I thought it was about time I wrote something about Marth, too, since I barely have mentioned him in the previous chapters. A good or bad idea? I don't know, but I think this chapter turned out all right.

If you think this story isn't going anywhere: it's just because I don't like stories that are too rash, if you know what I mean. But I've got plenty of ideas for the following chapters, so if you want an update, you know what to do…

..::Hylian Heroine::..