\Chapter 1 – Hyrule Trembles In The Night
In the last days of Hyrule, there lived a boy and his father. Well, actually "boy" might not be the right term at all to describe him since he was nineteen years of age and was at the verge of becoming a young man. He had dark brown hair and always wore a tunic that was also brown. He lived with his father in a small house located within the Green Fields of West Hyrule.
But before the story goes on, it would be best to explain the business of West Hyrule and all that. In those days, the kingdom of Hyrule was vaster than it had ever been. So vast that it was impossible for the King to directly rule it. In a way, Hyrule was separated in three smaller countries: West Hyrule (the land of green hills and farmers), King Country (the smallest of the three yet the one with the capital city and the land of the King), and East Hyrule (a land which strove to be like King Country). The people of these lands acted as if they weren't brothers and were separated. The people of East Hyrule, who never let go of the fact that they were once an old conquered land, always looked at the people of King Country with jealousy and bitterness. The people of West Hyrule on the other hand were content to keep to themselves and their quiet ways.
Another thing that should be cleared up is that it wouldn't be all together true to say that Link lived with his father. His father, the great scholar Laylon, was in fact never home. He had spent his entire life traveling all over Hyrule's three lands. It had all began a long time ago when Laylon was just a digger for another scholar. One day he discovered an old piece of stone with strange writings on it. This was of course an amazing finding because according to Hylian history, no such other language has ever been spoken except the current. The scholar pushed it away, saying it was probably the work of ancient savages, but Laylon realized in his heart that the people who had written these words were of a civilized race. He knew this could tear up the very foundations of Hyrule's past.
From that day on he began expeditions of his own, searching all the forests, canyons, caves in Hyrule. Little by little he began finding more evidence and small relics of Hyrule's ancient past. He wrote the words he found in a small book he carried and studied hard his findings. Eventually, he come to know this ancient language and realized many of this relics actually gave clues to something else. From then on it was like following a map as each relic he found led him all over Hyrule. This relics spoke of an ancient tablet which itself was the final map of something far greater. Laylon was convinced (for each of the other relics he had found were made very small stones or rock, obviously broken off of statues or other tablets) that if he found this tablet, it would be the final proof to change Hyrule's history and launch a kingdom wide expedition with many other scholars trying to uncover the truth.
Laylon was also so deep in his devotion to his work that he never really let Link get in on it. For that reason Link wasn't all that interested in Hyrule's history. Like many young people who grew up in quiet surroundings, Link dreamed of adventure. He dreamed of wars. He dreamed of being a hero. It may have been naïve but he was young. His lifelong goal was to leave West Hyrule and go to King Country and on to the Royal City. There he would join the Hylian army and hopefully be one of the best ever to become one of the famed Hylian Knights. He had looked forward to that all his life. Link even had made himself a wooden sword and taught himself how to sword fight. He wasn't by any means a master swordsman, but he was better than he believed.
It was for this very reason that on this clear, quiet night, Link rode to northern West Hyrule to bid farewell to his father and then on towards the east. East to King's Country for he was finally of age. He was kind of sad though. He did love his father, but he had always felt a bit angry at the fact that Laylon wasn't always there. It wasn't that Laylon was a bad father. That wasn't the truth at all. He had provided for Link all his life and taught him how to be a good man. But they never talked that much. And now that Link was leaving….he regretted that.
He sighed and as if knowing something wasn't right, his horse neighed.
"It's okay Eponal," Link said calmly as he patted his horse.
The land they traveled through was peaceful. Miles of green fields and green hills could be seen in all directions. His father's expedition was about one night's travel away.
To make himself feel better, Link did what he always did when he felt down: he looked toward the sky. That night the sky was clear and stars were scattered everywhere. It was a beautiful site. Though Link never cared much about history, he had always excelled in astrology when he used to go to school. He loved the Hylian constellations and knew most of them by heart. Most of all he loved the old tales that went with them. One of his favorites was the "Bird-Man" constellation. The story behind that was that once there was an old race of bird-men that lived among men. One day, they decided to leave Hyrule and flew away into the heavens. But one stayed and lives in the sky now, watching Hyrule from high above. Another of Link's favorites was the "River Monster". The story for that star constellation was that a long time ago, sea monsters used to swim in Hyrule's many rivers and blow fire at little children who went too close to the current. Of course, Link knew the story was created to keep kids from drowning, but he enjoyed it anyways.
Probably his favorite constellation was the one that no one else (as far as he knew) knew about. It wasn't in any of the astrology books nor did anyone ever point it out. As far as Link knew, he discovered it and it was his secret. This was the one Link was looking at right now. He called it the "Three Triangles". For the constellation was made up of three stacked triangles forming one big one. It was his favorite not only because he discovered it, but also because….it gave him a strange feeling. A mysterious one.
Suddenly, as if from nowhere, breaking the silence came the most thunderous sound and the ground began to shake violently.
"I say!" Link shouted. Eponal neighed in horror. He jumped on his back legs and tossed Link hard onto the ground. Link tried to get up but the earth was shaking so powerfully that it was impossible to do so. Then as suddenly as it had began, the shaking stopped. All was peaceful except for the thundering sound that seemed to be fading into the east.
Link scrambled to his feet to calm Eponal down. He held him by his reins and whispered calmly into his horse's ear. Then with a worried expression, he looked toward the north. "I do not know why I feel this, but my soul tells me that this tremble had something to do with Father. We make haste, Eponal. Something is conspiring that I do not know of."
