Legend of Zelda; Civil War
Dark clouds collected over Hyrule Castle as they had done many times before. Because it was nightfall the inhabitants remained blissfully unaware of what was transpiring outside. Nothing came from the rooftop guards: they were all dead. Calamity Ganon strode along the battlements, his force multiplying with his every step, a ragged dark blade in his hand.
"Too many times I've failed, not this time," he said, more to himself than anyone else.
"Seize the princess, don't fail me again," he warned his chief Wynel. "Old King Daphnes isn't able to do it; so I'll do it for him."
Deep inside the castle basement, shadowy figures flashed from torchlight to dark passageway. Guards would jerk thinking they saw something, only to slump back into the stupor that comes with standing in one location all day. On a balcony above the cavernous throne room, a shadowy figure stood up, resting against a wooden beam. Another one joined the first.
"This is too easy," a girl told the first one.
Both were masked and wrapped in dark clothing, but the leader of the two of them was slightly shorter, thinner, and had a feminine figure. The girl pulled off her headband, revealing blonde hair tightly done in a bun, and dark bronze blue eyes.
"Too easy, I don't like it," he replied.
"Where is the Princess?" the girl asked.
"Like I'd know," the boy said. "We've searched everywhere, but nothing."
"Just watch," the girl said.
"Isn't this weird, spying on someone's family meal?"
"Like we have a choice. Hyrule's future could depend on this."
Both watched as the Royal Family gathered for their evening meal. A gorgeous meal was placed on the table: cucoou meat from Lon Lon Ranch, fresh cut lemons from the coast, carrots from Hateno Village, bread from the shores of Lake Hylia, and plush coconut cake from Lumaria Village. The wafts of the food was enticing for the occupants, but for those in the ceiling, it was nothing. Shiekah were trained to resist all temptation, including food.
Slowly the Royal Family trickled in. King Daphnes, a large man with whitening hair and wearing a red robe came in first, followed by his son and heir Link, but no Zelda.
"Where is she?" the girl said. "Rowan, do you..."
"Let's not think about that right now," the one called Rowan pointed out, ruffling his black hair out of his eyes. "Keep calm Otulissa, be patient."
Otulissa averted her eyes from the Royal Family.
"Let's search the lib..."
"Go get Zelda," King Daphnes said to Liam.
"She won't come out," Prince Link said, mouth full of cuccou meat. "After that arranged marriage she refuses to talk to anyone."
"Guards, let's go get her," King Daphnes called. "No excuses this time."
"Our opening," Otulissa said to her brother.
Five minutes later...
"Zelda come out, your father commands it," one of the guards called, pounding on the door.
"Go away, I'm not hungry," came the reply through the door.
"Don't make us break down the door Princess," the largest of the guards yelled, hungry for more action.
"I'm not dressed."
Now the largest of the guards looked very hungry, making Otulissa's blood boil.
"Stand back we're..."
"Fine," Zelda relented, opening her door a crack as two shadowy figures dropped from the ceiling.
Outclassed, both went down within seconds. Otulissa reserved her heaviest kick for the largest guard; she'd seen that look the guard had before. Zelda's excitement went through the roof as she recognized the red eye on the shirts of the two figures.
"'Bout time," Zelda almost yelled before silencing herself. "When are we leaving?"
"Leaving?" Rowan asked, uncertain, looking at his sister.
"Yes leaving," Zelda said, completely missing the panicked looks on the faces of her audience. "Prefect timing. I'll go to dinner, retire early, and we'll be long gone in the dead of night."
"Wait princess, we're actually here to warn you," Otulissa protested.
"Ganon of course," Zelda said, pulling a suitcase out of her closet. She threw it open; to the Shiekahs' astonishment, it was already neatly packed with at three days' worth of clothing, food, and other suppies. She'd clearly been preparing for something like this for sometime. "I get the drill. I'm not going to stay here and wait for him to seize me like he did my ancestors. Let's go."
Otulissa and Rowan simply glanced at each other.
Try again, Rowan thought projected to his sister.
"Princess, I don't think this is a good idea," Outlissa pleaded, stepping forward. "I..."
"It's you take me with you, or I'll call all the guards here in the castle."
Otulissa glanced at her brother, who shook his head. She glared at him, causing him to slightly cower before her.
Impa's orders were to warn her, not help her escape, Rowan telepathically told his sister.
Yes, but we are to be flexible, Otulissa responded. Zelda does have a point. Leaving her here is tantamount to surrendering her to Ganon on Day 1. But at the same time, we'll have a price on our heads.
You planned the operation. What do you want to do?
Otulissa sighed, as she normally did when things weren't going her way. She thought and thought, letting snippets of what she was thinking magically drift to her twin brother. Zelda, meanwhile, was getting antsy and her anxiety level was increasing as she watched Otulissa pace at a dizzying walk around her chambers.
You're right, we don't have a choice. Let's allow her to come. Nobody can get through the Lost Woods.
"Fine," Otulissa conceded. "We'll take you to our hiding place."
"Where would that be?" Zelda queried, now packing dresses and corsets.
"Lost Woods."
I'm never going back and father is never going to find me, Ganon be damned, Zelda thought.
Zelda smiled as she played with the Kokiri children. Earlier that morning she'd burned the royal attire she'd packed for a collection of simple green dresses and tunics the Kokiri children and the Great Deku Tree had sewn for her. Now barefoot, and hair flowing freely down her back, she ran along with the small pack down the path towards the Great Deku Tree.
"Got ya," Zelda said, lifting a giggling girl high into the air.
"Good one Zelda," Malen commented, suspended a foot off the ground. "I'll bet you can't catch me again."
"Dear Princess," came the old, yet gentle and deep voice of the Great Deku Tree. "I never knew you to be such a free spirit."
"I can finally be myself," she confided, as the Kokiri children raced away. "No marriage prospects to worry about, no stuffy courtiers to please, no father, no brother, no kingdom I'll never rule."
"Be careful young lady, you still bear a great responsibility," the Deku Tree gently chided. "Are you sure the king won't let go that easily?"
"So, you aren't going to turn me in?" Zelda queried, her hand ruffling nervously behind her. As much as she hated to admit it, this was her only chance to escape the royal life.
"No, your father hasn't sent anyone to inquire, no one's visited since the Shiekah twins," the Deku Tree said. "You may stay here as long as you like."
Zelda's insides were doing a victory lap when she turned to find Otulissa and Rowan coming up to her from out of the Lost Woods, packs in their backs. It was a marvel to her how they easily navigated them each time without incident. Wynels, Bokoblins, Skull Children, and other varmints still made the crossing a dangerous place. Yet the Shiekah twins, as everyone called them, had done it at least six times since she'd arrived. Nearly identical in every feature except for gender, both were of the same thin build, sandy blond hair, height, reddish blue eyes, only Otulissa's shoulder length hair enabled anyone to tell them apart.
"Nothing yet, the manhunt for Zelda continues with no leads," Rowan said, brandishing a poster from taken from a nearby village. Zelda's image and information were on it, along with a 10,000 rupee reward for her safe return.
Zelda huffed, souring as she saw it: her father's ambition to have her married off to Gamelon's prince was still as strong as ever. She wondered if she'd ever leave these woods-or return to Hyrule while her father still lived.
"Nothing in Karkariko Village either," Otulissa said. "I checked with Elder Impa: she hasn't heard anything from her younger sister or seen Link yet. Neither have her contacts in the Gerudo Desert, Castletown, Hyrule Castle, the Army, or the Temple of Time."
"Presents!" came from the clearing.
Grinning, Otulissa and Rowan emptied out the packs they'd been carrying. Trinkets, little items Hyruleans took for granted, were greatly prized by and marveled at by the Kokiri children. The Shiekah were soon surrounded by a vast chattering mob, with the occasional child running off with a vase or children's toy.
Zelda didn't say anything, staying mum and pondering the latest developments. Behind her, in a podium in front of the Great Deku Tree, was the Master Sword, it's pommel sticking out of the ground.
"Still we wait," she said, attracting everyone attention. "I'm getting worried though. What is taking the Hero so long?"
"Be patient Princess," the Great Deku tree said in his deep voice. "Link usually takes longer than your ancestors did to recognize his mission. For all we know, he might still be in some small settlement with no knowledge of what is to transpire."
Zelda sighed; the sooner she could get her mission over with the better. She had big post-Ganon plans that involved getting out of Hyrule entirely.
"I'm starved so...uh wait, what's going on?"
Subconsciously, Zelda had brushed the hilt of the Master Sword with her left hand. She tried to walk away, her hand refused to come with her, glued to the sword's hilt.
"Oh, what the?" Zelda said, tugging. Her hand still remained firmly attached to the sword. "Deku Tree, what's going on?"
"I don't know," the Great Deku Tree confessed. "The Master Sword has never acted this way before."
Zelda didn't dare touch it with her right hand. Rowan and Otulissa came up and glanced at this mysterious phenomenon. Rowan touched the sword.
"Ouch," he said, jumping back. "It's hot. Really hot."
"Then why am I not feeling it?" Zelda asked, anxiety building in her stomach.
The Great Deku Tree watched, a remote but amazing explanation forming in his mind. Rowan and Otulissa grabbed ahold of Zelda's midsection and tugged.
"Ouch, ouch, be careful," Zelda screamed, panicking as her arm threatened to separate from her hand. This wasn't in her plans for the day. She grabbed ahold of her left hand with her right: magic seized it and began to pull it towards the hilt.
"No, no, no."
Otulissa and Rowen conjured a red shield between the blade and Zelda's hand, which was being attracted to the hilt like a magnetic. Blue light streaked out from the sword and electrified both of them, throwing them into the trees. Zelda's right hand joined her left, both now locked firmly to the pommel of the Master Sword.
"No, LET ME GO!" Zelda hysterically shouted, causing a nearby swarm of birds to fly away into the sky.
The Triforce of Wisdom on Zelda's right hand glowed brightly. Zelda lost her head: she began tugging as hard as she could. Suddenly the blade came free, Zelda toppled over into a patch grass and the Master Sword finally let go of her hands, landing in the bushes near the dazed twins.
"My, my," the Deku Tree said in a voice only himself could hear. "The Master Sword has bonded with the Triforce of Wisdom. How unusual."
Zelda got up, relieved to finally be rid of the sword. Her eyes found the podium: the sword was gone.
"Where the Master Sword?" she almost shouted, panicked.
"Here," Otulissa said.
Rowan came out of the bushes, leaves cushioning the blade.
"Zelda, you drew it," he informed her. "Which means the blade is yours."
"No it's not," Zelda firmly stated.
"We can prove it."
"How?"
Zelda instantly regretted asking the question. Otulissa seized the princess from behind, preventing her from moving. Rowan forcfully placed the sword into her hands.
"See, it not hurting you," Rowan said. "Somehow you drew it. Which means-"
"It's yours," the Great Deku Tree informed her.
Zelda's anxiety shot through the roof and she dropped the blade on the ground.
"It's not mine! I've never even taken a swordfigthing class before...its...its...Link's..."
As much as she didn't want to believe it, a part of her knew it to be true. She was the true wielder of the Bane of Evil's Blade, the Triforce of Wisdom pulsating in her body testified to her that it was now her's.
...it cant' be true...It must've let me draw it so that Link..."
A rustling in the bushes attracted everyone's attention. Her brother Prince Link was there, eyes glued to the princess, who was still holding the Master Sword. Princess Zelda tried to say something, yet words would not come. had he seen everything? She tried to explain, tried to tell it was a farce, explain why she was there, that the Master Sword was his.
"Hi.." Zelda choked out, the rest of her words dying in her voice box.
Link turned and disappeared into the mists surrounding the Great Deku Tree.
"Shiekah after him!," the Great Deku Tree barked.
Otulissa shot past the princess, almost dragging her surprised brother after her. Rowan threw her off and ran past her, both disappearing into the trees after the Hero.
"What have I done?" Zelda said, dropping to her knees.