Disclaimer: If I owned LoZ, this would be canon. If it was canon, maybe somebody would review (hint hint). Yeah...

Note: Lack isn't supposed to be the character's name. It's a name that was given to her as a child and which has stuck ever since. For example, in the book Dreamcatcher, there is a guy called Beaver. This isn't his name, it's just what everybody (including the author) called him. Oh, and by the way, I'm probably not going to mention Koholint much. The Wind Fish will probably make an appearance and Marin will be in some flashbacks, but that's all.

The Bad Day

Princess Zelda was exhausted. Being the ruler of 'everything as far as the eye can see' (Impa had said this once or twice) made one pretty used to stress, but today had been especially headache- inducing. Impa had awakened her long before dawn to give her some disturbing news: a valuable Goron jewel had been stolen the previous night, and a guard had been killed. The culprit was obviously a Gerudo. This disturbed Zelda very much. She had been trying for months to stop the anti-Gerudo shit that had been circulating Hyrule recently, even gone so far as to institute a law stating that anyone known to be spreading racist propaganda would be jailed, and had been somewhat successful. A story like this would cause an incredible public outcry, and all of that work would be in vain.

Zelda decided that thinking of the matter any further this early in the morning could only result in disaster, so she told Impa to go back to bed. After her nurse had left, Zelda got out of bed and searched her bookshelf for a particularly old volume entitled "The Mysterious Heroes Of The Imprisoning War" and flipped through the volume until she found what she was looking for. Sheik. She had come across this book several months ago, and had since learned that an ancient relative of hers had had the ability to transform into a powerful warrior. Though she couldn't transform, Zelda was intrigued by the idea of being strong enough to repel any attempt on her life that might be made. After all, Link had gone off to Din-knows-where and left Hyrule helpless. The day after finding the text, Zelda began using a spare ballroom to train herself (with some help from Impa) and had become quite good.

The day got even worse when Impa came into her room with the next in a long list of misfits and would-be heroes that she was to consider for marriage. This one was nearly seven feet tall and probably weighed less than ninety pounds. He looked more like a coat hanger than a knight. Without thinking, she had dismissed him with a wave of her hand. He looked quite hurt, and Zelda tried to remedy her error by saying that she was sorry, but her heart belonged to another. This was not entirely true, but was better than watching the poor man start to cry.

As the poor hopeful was exiting the front gate, he stumbled over a sort of wet green mound. He stumbled again when the mound gave a loud groan and mumbled something. The thin knight leaned forward, turning the lump over and revealing it to be a young man of about Zelda's age. The young man was shivering, despite the blistering heat of the day. He raised a skeletal hand and groaned again. He looked very sick.

The knight had no idea what to do. He tried shouting for help, but all that came out was a croak. He tried again, but realized that the great wooden door would not let any of his requests through. Despite a disturbing feeling that whatever the poor fellow in green had might be contagious, the knight picked him up and burst through the door, running into the very center of the foyer and demanding aid for the man in his arms. Zelda, thinking that the knight was making a scene because she hadn't agreed to marry him, left her chamber and was about to have him thrown out when she saw the limp form in his arms.

"Link!" she cried, and, forgetting everybody else in the hall, she ran over to him, all the while calling for Impa. When Impa came, he was checked for any injuries that might cause him harm if he was moved. When it had been proven he had none, he was carried into one of the guest rooms, where a more thorough inspection was performed. Despite his apparent lack of any major injuries, his breathing was labored and he could speak very little. When he did say anything, it was usually nonsense, random words strung together. Link's face was gaunt, and the shivering still hadn't stopped. Nor would it.

T

It isn't pleasant to know that a friend is dying. To know that nobody can do anything about it is one of the worst feelings that anyone can experience, and Zelda was feeling it right now. Link had destroyed countless monsters and risked his life fighting terrible evils many times, never pausing to think of his own safety. To see him now, skeletal and pale, was almost unbearable. That the life was being drained out of him not because of some great evil but something as passive and seemingly harmless as the sea was hard to believe. But believe it or not, there it was. Zelda stroked his face with two of her fingers. If only she had told him before he left, he might have stayed. Perhaps then she wouldn't have to face the endless swarms of men coming from across the land to beg for her hand.

After several hours, Impa entered the room and, apologizing every other word, said that a group of 'concerned citizens' (probably journalists) had gathered outside the front gate and were demanding to know what the government was doing about the 'Gerudo fiasco'. A few of the better-informed ones were asking if the green-clad man that had been taken in several hours ago was in fact Link, the one who had saved both Labrynna and Holodrum from destruction. If so, one woman asked, would he sign autographs? Princess Zelda virtually had to scream that no further details would be released until the next day.

T

Lack found that using the giant stone to gather a crowd was not difficult. Upon seeing it, most bowed down or begged of her a chance to touch it. Just the fact that she was holding it seemed to make the others think she was a goddess. Actually, she felt a little like a goddess herself. She told them all to be silent, then began to speak. The voice that left her lips now was not the same voice that she had used to silence the crowd, which was now quite large.

"Sisters! Do you see this? Do you know what it means? It means freedom!" (Cheers at this) "Freedom from the vile beings that so imprison us in our own homes! Freedom to do and say as we like without the prying eyes of the Humans watching!" (More cheers) "I can give this to you, sisters! All that I ask is that you not question my orders. Do this, and I promise you that the filth of humanity will be destroyed!" (Deafening cheers).