The Ocarina of Time and the King of Thieves
(As told by the elder in the inn)

As Gannondorf wooed the Hylian court and bombastically reaffirmed his allegiance to the King; Princess Zelda met with a young boy named Link in her private courtyard within the castle. When their eyes met, the girl felt a deep connection with him and a sudden confidence that he had been sent to her by destiny. She was certain that the key to saving Hyrule from Gannondorf's evil lay with Link.

She quickly dispatched him on a quest to find and gather the three spiritual stones that her ancestor had created. Her goal was to obtain the Triforce before Gannondorf could discover its location, and to use its power to banish him back to his homeland forever. She also revealed to the boy that her ancestor had created an additional "secret key" to open the way to the sacred realm: The Ocarina of Time.

Carved from an ancient blue stone and imbued with sacred power, the Ocarina possessed many strange and mystical abilities. Only one who could obtain the three spiritual stones and the Ocarina of Time, could open the Door of Time and find his way to the Sacred Realm.

The boy traveled far and wide across Greater Hyrule on several perilous adventures - facing terrible beasts of darkness and helping the inhabitants of Hyrule where ever they needed him. After several months, the boy succeeded in collecting all three of the spiritual stones and hastily returned to the capital to present them to Princess Zelda.

As he approached the southern gate to the capital city, however, he found it closed and the drawbridge raised high - something that had not been done since the end of the Civil War. Despite the high walls, the boy could hear the screams of terrified Hylians and the sounds of battle inside. Gannondorf had sprung his trap.

The sun slowly dipped below the horizon and darkness drew over the sky as panic began to grow inside Link's heart. All of the city's gates were closed and he could not think of any other way to get inside. He desperately wanted to find the princess and make sure she was safe. Suddenly, a cry from the tower-guard signaled the lowering of the drawbridge and the opening of the gates.

As Link moved to rush into the city, he was met by a brilliant white stallion, charging at full speed out of the city. The boy leapt out of the horse's path, and heard the cry of Zelda's voice - shouting to him to catch something. In the darkness, the deep blue Ocarina was invisible and sailed clear over the boy's head and landed in the nearby moat. He heard the water splash behind him, but he kept his eyes on Zelda and her attendant as they fled into the night.

Gannondorf was not far behind. Blasting troublesome guards and townsfolk out of his way, he soon dashed through the city market and out the open gates. As he reached the great expanse of Hyrule's northern grasslands, a fierce rainstorm suddenly gathered and he lost all traces of the Princess and her guardian. Crying out in his fury, the great chieftain thought he had been defeated, but soon, his eyes fell upon Link - who stood to the side of the drawbridge, near the moat's edge. He demanded the boy tell him something, anything about where the Princess had gone, but the little hero only glared at him, and drew his small sword in defiance. The wicked sorcerer knocked the young boy into the moat for resisting, and charged southward in a desperate effort to pick up Zelda's trail.

Link struggled against the storm-swollen moat as he swam to the water's edge. Suddenly, as if a silent voice had whispered into his ear, he knew that he should dive down and reach out his hand toward the bottom. Miraculously, in the darkness, he recovered the Ocarina that the princess had thrown to him. When he climbed back onto dry ground, he felt a powerful urge to take it to the Temple of Time.

In a trance-like state, he slowly walked through the city gates, across the bloodstained fountain courtyard, and on to the Temple's entrance. He neither heard, nor saw the destruction and chaos being wrought by Gannondorf's servants.

As he strode deeper into the temple, the boy could hear Zelda's voice echoing in his mind: "Link... it will be up to you now! You have the spiritual stones and the Ocarina! You must protect the Triforce from Gannondorf! Place the stones upon the alter - at the head of the Temple - and play the Song of Time... that will open the way. I will find you soon, keep Hyrule safe!"

Though Link had never heard the song before, nor seen its notes written down, he knew exactly how to play the Ocarina - as if the princess herself were guiding him.

Once he lay the three spiritual stones upon the alter and played the song of time, the emblem of the Triforce above the Door of Time's threshold began to shine with a bright, golden light. The magnificent stone door rumbled and slowly parted, revealing the chamber of the sacred sword.

The boy curiously passed the sacred alter, and climbed the steps. Inside, atop a small platform of marble, proudly stood the Master Sword – it's point, buried in the stonework of the floor. As if by instinct, he reached out and grasped the weapon's handle.

Navi, Link's fairy companion, hovered just over his right ear, "Are you sure about this Link?" she whispered, "The princess only said to keep the Triforce safe from Gannondorf!"

The young hero paused and carefully studied the sword before him. The pommel, grip, and guards were the same bluish-purple as the Ocarina of Time, but its blade was a perfectly smooth, silver mirror of steel. It glimmered with a pure reflection of himself and the chamber it guarded. He couldn't be sure, but he wondered if it was reflecting the light from the temple, or if it was faintly shining with its own light.

To him, it looked… almost holy standing there: the silent sentry of this sacred temple. The boy closed his eyes, and drew a deep breath as he carefully considered what he should do. Gradually, a gentle hum rose up out of the blade and into his hands. Very faintly, Link thought he could hear a soft voice whispering to him.

"We need this sword to protect the Triforce." He said to Navi, in a firm voice. With sudden determination, he clasped both hands firmly on the sword's grip, he pulled upward. The blade slid from the stone and came free into his hands. He lifted it up, amazed that he had been able to draw it; then a brilliant blue light began to glow from the floor near his feet.

Link stepped back and looked down at the stone pedestal which had held the sword. The light came from the small break in the floor where it stood and focused into a bright beam which struck the temple ceiling above him.

It grew and spread across the entire chamber. The walls and stained-glass windows around him disappeared from sight. Navi, frightened of what was happening, dashed under Link's cap and gripped his blonde hair tightly. Awe-struck by the magnificence surrounding him, the boy took a few paces forward, searching for any discernible feature in the world of light.

He knew that he still stood in the chamber of the sword, as the marble stones still lay beneath his feel, but the sun's light from the windows and the sounds of the townsfolk outside had vanished. His ears twitched as he began to hear distant music. It was beautiful but unlike anything he had heard before. Like a chorus of voices singing together, but… still different.

The sound quickly intensified as a new gateway suddenly opened before him; opposite the Door of Time. For a moment, within the light, Link thought he could see the figure of a robed man, standing within the Sacred Realm. But with a wave of his arm, the stranger cast the young hero into a deep sleep, and he slowly collapsed to the floor.

~A Few Miles Away~

Gannondorf had doggedly pursued the Princess and her attendant through the capitol city and out over the storm-lashed Hylian prarie. Though he possessed the greatest horse of the Gerudo desert, Zelda's mount was not burdened by heavy armor, and quickly lost its pursuer in the rain. For hours the Chieftain scoured the countryside near the Capital and the nearby ranch, but failed to locate the Princess or any sign of her passage.

His rage gradually turned to anxiety - as he knew he could not afford to chase her forever. His ambush had taken the King and Queen by surprise, but soon a vengeful Hylian Army would be gathered and his advantage would be lost forever. As the storm slowly weakened and drew off to the west, Gannondorf brought his mount to a halt and began debating with himself over his next move.

Suddenly, a wave of great power rippled out over the landscape - from the North. It was something very powerful… Something he had never felt before.

Turning back to face the capitol, it felt as though the heat from a great fire was upon his face. Incredible power was now flowing outward from the Hylian city. His eyes quickly fell upon the spires of the Great Temple. He had spent a considerable amount of time studying the ancient legends and myths of both the Gerudo and the Hylians. His own adopted mothers had encouraged him to seek out the "Ultimate Power" that lay in some secret location within Hyrule. Over the past few weeks, as he played the broken enemy and willing supplicant to the King, he was forced to spend time at the Hylian court. Many of the more foolish nobles had boasted freely of the legends surrounding the Temple of Time and the "great power" it allegedly held.

He now feared that his attack had panicked the Hylians into using that power. "The Princess!" he thought, "She's doubled back! She's unlocking that power to stop me!" but he quickly dismissed this as impossible. While he had lost sight of her in the storm, he was certain she could not have passed him and returned to the castle.

Frantically retracing her escape, he realized what had happened: "The boy! THAT BOY! He was waiting by the gate to meet her! He must have helped her escape! And now he's... he's... he's opening the temple for her!"

Cruelly, he spurred his horse back to the capital - fear rising higher as dawn crept into the eastern sky. The soldiers and knights of the King's Army would likely be waiting for him when he returned.

But Gannondorf was lucky, the Capital City was still in chaos, and few guards remained alive to restore order. His small team of Gerudo assassins had set several fires within the town, which the garrison was struggling to put out. The desert Chieftain easily rode through the gates and on to the temple.

"I won't let that little brat stop me!" he growled as he leapt from his horse and charged through the temple's open gate.

Within the Sacred Realm of the Goddesses

For centuries, Rauru, the ancient wiseman and Sage of Light, had silently maintained his vigil over the Triforce and the Sacred Realm. After completing the Temple of Light, he began to prepare a small home and provisions for himself, but quickly found that there was no need for food or water within the Sacred Realm. The Goddesses' power sustained and rejuvenated all who dwelt here.

As the years passed by, he spent much of his time in deep meditation and prayer; often reaching out and witnessing the turnings and happenings of his beloved Hyrule. With great effort, he could even manifest an avatar of his spirit within Hyrule, and guide lost souls to the proper path.

On a peaceful day of reflection, like any other, the elder centered his focus, and prepared to look out over Hyrule, when the gateway to the Temple of Time suddenly opened. For the first time in hundreds of years, the thrill of excitement raced through him; someone had pulled the Master Sword!

The great sage rose to his feet, and approached the chamber of the sword, where a brilliant blue light flooded out from the Temple of Time. As he looked, he found a young boy clutching the Master Sword; staring with awe-struck wonder into the brilliant glory of the Temple of Light.

The Sage was shocked to find that a child had opened the way to the Sacred Realm, alone. With a wave of his hand, he cast the young lad and his companion into a deep sleep and carefully drew them into his temple. "He is too young to carry the sword, or wield the power of the Gods. I must contact the others and discover what is happening in Hyrule!" he thought to himself.

He placed Link on the soft bed that he had prepared for himself all of those centuries ago, and gently lay the Master Sword on the marble floor beside him. The delicate Navi was carefully set upon Link's chest.

As the wiseman gazed at him, he was puzzled that the first Hylian to ever follow him to the Sacred Realm was a boy. He had expected Hylia, or perhaps the King to be the first to come for the Triforce. "Could this boy be a thief? Could he have stolen the keys to the Sacred Realm?" he wondered.

But Rauru knew this was impossible. Even if a skilled thief had managed to take the Ocarina and the Spiritual Stones from the Royal Family, The Master Sword would never allow itself to be drawn by an unworthy criminal. The sword had yielded itself to this child for a reason.

Drawing away from his guest, the elder seated himself upon the Temple's floor and prepared to commune with the other sages. They had to be told of Link's arrival and he fervently wondered what was happening in Hyrule. Just as their voices began to come to his mind, an icy shadow passed over his heart and the connection was lost. "Something... something is coming." he muttered, slowly opening his eyes.

Gannondorf had passed through the Door of Time and entered the Temple of Light.

As his eyes adjusted to the brilliant, sacred light, a great sense of shock and surprise came over him. The Sacred Realm – even in Gerudo legends – was described as beautiful and holy, far beyond anything found in the mortal realm. But he had never really believed that a connection to the realm of the divine would actually exist within Hyrule. He had assumed that the Triforce was simply a magical weapon, created hundreds of years before, that remained locked within some vault that the royal family kept secret.

The new temple seemed to be made of a marble, so pure and so perfectly polished, that it reflected light like a mirror. The outer walls – if one could even call them "walls" – were a gentle cascade of glimmering water falling at such a slow pace, the mind was strained to understand what it was seeing. Within the temple, great pillars of stone rose to unseen heights – holding the glorious temple's roof aloft.

It was a blending of mortal material and divine ether. A bridge between the earth and the heavenly unknowns.

Even Gannondorf – the dark sorcerer of the Gerudo Tribe, murderer, thief, and defiler, even he was humbled – for a brief moment – at the realization of where he was standing and what it meant for his people. The gods were real! Here was the proof of their existence. And, their temple lay within the Hylian capitol. Maybe… the Hylians truly were favored.

But just as doubt began to form within his heart, the Chieftain's eyes fell upon the bright, golden forms of the Triforce.

Hovering, proudly, at the center of the temple – only a few feet above its pedestal – stood the illustrious magnificence of the last blessing of the elder gods. All of the temple was illuminated by its light – which hummed and pulsed with a heartbeat of its own. As he stared at it, Gannondorf's mind turned numb with awe.

It was true! All of it! The legends, the myths, the Great Golden Power of Hyrule was here; and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

The song and light of the Triforce quickly flooded his heart. No longer would his people be burned by the harsh sun! No longer would they be forsaken in some harsh wasteland – starving and thirsting for even the slightest morsel! No longer would the Hylians sit on high and deny them their rightful place in the world.

The Hylians…

A renewed greed and lust for power surged over him. His face twisted into a deranged smile as he declared, " I will eradicate them! And take their precious kingdom!" He only needed to claim the Triforce, and all of the Goddess' creation would be his! His mind raced over how he could conquer and remake the world according to his desires, as he reached his arm forward and stepped toward the golden triangles.

Using his great power, Rauru suddenly appeared between the Gerudo Chieftain and the Triforce; stretching his arms out to the sides and barring his way. "STOP!" he boomed, "The sacred power of the Goddesses can only be wielded by one who has proven his heart to be worthy!"

"Old fool" sneered Gannondorf, enraged at this obstacle, "it is said that the Triforce can be claimed by any mortal who touches it!" His eyes drifted past the elder and back to the hovering gold, "... and I will have it!"

The sage could feel the dark power that the Gerudo held, and the evil greed within his heart. "You cannot imagine the ruin you would bring to the world! Turn back and deny yourself this power!" he plead. But the thief's eyes blazed with fury and he gathered his power to strike. "I will be denied, NOTHING!" he roared.

Their battle was fierce and terrible; the greatest of Hylian and Gerudo magic clashing within the Temple of Light. Gannondorf recklessly hurled fire and destruction, while Rauru skillfully blocked and deflected each attack.

Throughout, the Sage of Light remained patient. This was his temple and his sacred charge to guard the Triforce. He would exhaust his opponent and drain him of his power. When the right moment came, Rauru would stun the intruder, and cast him back into Hyrule - closing the Gate of Time. The boy could be returned later, via other passages.

The desert thief was incensed by his inability to put down the troublesome Sage. Though his pride would never allow him to admit it, he began to fear that they truly were evenly matched and that his efforts might be in vain. As his fear and impatience grew, The Gerudo became more and more destructive; smashing even the stone pillars that supported the temple roof and casting the rubble at Rauru. But the elder was far too powerful, and used his magic to dodge about the chamber, rendering the attacks useless.

He was unconcerned by the destruction. The temple could easily be rebuilt and the sacred Triforce could not be harmed by simple stone. But Rauru possessed a weakness that he was not aware of: in all of his years of solitude, he had never had to care for or protect another life. As he allowed Gannondorf to further destroy and destabilize his home, a large section of the temple roof began to fracture and crumble above Link. Turning and moving about the chamber, the invader soon spotted the boy lying unconscious at the far side of the chamber.

As it was in ancient times: he who possessed the heart of cruelty and evil proved the more powerful in battle. Gannondorf's next blast was directed upward, toward the ceiling above Link. The boy, still unconscious, could do nothing to protect himself, and Rauru was forced to turn and focus his power into a shield to protect the child. The falling stonework shattered against the shield, and rolled outward onto the floor.

This was the chance Gannondorf needed. With all of his might, he struck Rauru in the ribs with a terrific blast, wounding the sage seriously and knocking him to the floor. Coughing, and holding his bleeding side, he looked up in horror as the murderer dashed toward the Triforce. He reached out his hands and cried, "Power of the Goddesses, give me what I desire! Help me to conquer this world!"

As his finger-tips touched the smooth, golden surface, the music of the Sacred Realm fell silent and all movement of time became still. The Essence of the Triforce, awakened by the mortal's touch, prepared to fulfill its purpose: to grant limitless power to the mortal who claimed it. But… there was something within this mortal. Something from the past. Something that should not be.