Conqueror

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time.

-- Sir J. Lubbock

Chapter Three

Link had grown up in Kakariko Village. By the time he was fifteen years old, the villagers knew him well, he'd learned much about the people who'd discovered the town, the Sheikah. Impa had long since moved out to maintain her permanent position in the castle as the princess' bodyguard.

Link didn't mind living by himself; in fact, he enjoyed it rather much. It was nice to live in solitude. People didn't enter his house without knocking like he'd done to them as a child, gaining much disrespect from many of the villagers. From then on, he'd earned their forgiveness and gained some respect.

Link worked in the village as a handyman. Strong and muscular for a fifteen year old, he was well-built and many of the villagers called on him to do hard jobs involving heavy lifting and hard work including house construction, repairs and other odd jobs.

Many of the young women of the village as well as the middle aged and the old also called upon him just to observe the handsome young man hard at work.

Link didn't mind the attention; he'd learned to ignore their stares, their giggles and whispers. It didn't irk him as much as it had when he was starting to become a man.

He didn't know how long he'd have to endure it, but he figured the villagers would probably try to pair him off soon enough.

He would often smile at the thought: imagining himself with a wife was hard. He'd never been in love, never even liked a girl. The girls of the village were pretty, yes, but they didn't hold his attention the way they probably would to someone else.

Link was up in the windmill one day with Argo, one of the older men with a long, pointed beard. Apparently the windmill keeper had been complaining about the wheel spinning much too quickly so Link and Argo had been summoned to go to work to check things out.

Argo was pleasant enough when in a good mood, but terrifying to anyone who didn't know him. He wore green pants and a sleeveless white shirt but it was his slanted pink eyes and long black beard that made him appear so frightening. His voice was gruff and he wasn't very strong in appearance, unlike Link, which made Argo very unapproachable.

Link found Argo's company to be enjoyable and liked working with him.

That particular afternoon in the windmill when Link was testing some of the axles to make sure they weren't rusty, he noticed a strange glow in the distance. Closing his eyes and picturing Hyrule, he discovered the glow was coming from the direction of the castle.

"Argo," he called. The older man came up to him and grumbled in response.

Link pointed. "Do you see that? A glow, by the castle."
Argo squinted, opened his eyes wide, squinted some more, then shook his head. Gruffly, he responded, "Nope. I see nothing. Somethin' wrong with your eyes, boy?"

Link shrugged. "I guess I'm seeing things…"
Argo nodded. "Get more sleep at night. It'll do ya good." Argo gruffly then walked up some more stairs to test other areas of the windmill.

Link frowned, rubbed his eyes, not aware he was getting oil on his cheeks, and sighed heavily.

"I get enough sleep," he muttered to himself, getting back to work. This was too weird. Not to mention he couldn't explain the weird tingling sensation coming from the tips of his fingers.

He didn't want to alert Argo: the man might think he was getting sick and send him home.

---

Darkness surrounded Hyrule that night as Princess Zelda paced in her room. Even though she was awake, she was receiving a prophecy.

"Together with the Hero of Time, the awakened ones will bind the evil and return the light of peace to the world. This is the legend passed by my people…"

She didn't know what to make of "the awakened ones."

She heard more. "If you believe the legend, you have no choice. You must look for the five temples and awaken the five sages."
Zelda frowned. That voice sounded familiar…yet…no. It didn't sound familiar at all. She shook her head. She'd have to write this one down.

It had been short, but long enough to gather some bits of information. She knew that they'd already sealed the evil…was she having a relapse? Or…was something new going to happen? Was there an unknown evil waiting to pounce on Hyrule?

She shuddered. The sages had been awakened. The temples had been defeated. Link had done it. The remains were there, just unoccupied. Link had no memory of this victory, and she knew by word of Impa that he was living in Kakariko.

Thinking some more, she frowned. The fifteen year old princess looked at herself in the mirror. "Zel, it may very well be time to go see Rauru."

---

In the darkness as Zelda paced, Link was in his home, asleep. His sleep was fitful, however, and he tossed and turned, his blankets tangled around his ankles.

His house was cold and he shivered, unable to find the blankets as his hands groped for them in the dark. He was still asleep, but dozing so lightly, he was able to completely discern his dream.

Someone was talking to him.

It was a girl. She was blonde.

"It's time, Link."

He heard himself ask, "Time for what?"

"Time for you to become a hero." She was beautiful, whoever she was. She seemed familiar, too.

What was with the familiarity? She was blurry in his dream, but he could discern the Triforce symbols she wore on her ears and dress.

She couldn't be…the princess? The Princess of Hyrule? What was her name…Zelda?

Link frowned as he watched himself shake his head and deny her proposition.

He didn't want to be a hero. Not again.

Again? What was this? Link struggled, grunting as he rolled over again in his sleep.

Fitful, the images faded and he relapsed into a tired, restless doze.

The night wasn't even half over.

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