So while the last chapter was the bones, this is the meat and sets up the story. So there's a lot of talking. I promise future chapters won't be like this. Have patience and enjoy!
Hyrule In Danger
A council was called within minutes of Link's departure. Malen, the leader of the Kokiri was present, the Great Deku Tree, Zelda, and Elder Impa, a woman in her forties with platinum blonde hair who had just arrived by teleport from Kakariko Village to visit the Princess. After thirty minutes of debate, the decision was made to wait for the Shiekah twins to return. Impa was nervous; this was the twins' first assignment after graduation from Shiekah school, but she was confident in their abilities.
An hour passed, then more, making everyone nervous. Three hours in, everyone's nerves were wearing thin. Impa was pacing, Zelda was twisting her hair in and out of a braid, Malen was rebuilding the same log cabin over and over and the Great Deku Tree was sending out feelers from his roots, trying to find them to no avail. Finally, someone emerged from the mists, three Skull Children bearing two limp bodies. To everyone's horror, it was Otulissa and Rowan. Both were a bloodied mess.
"Move, bandage them," Impa commanded, as a horde of Kokiri lifted both Shiekah from the Skull Children. "What happened?"
"They were struggling with a boy when he said some words," one of the Skull Children said. "A Wynel appeared and caught them off guard. It's dead; but we couldn't let them die."
They disappeared back into the woods.
"Hurry," Impa commanded. The Kokiri children took the twins into the navel of the Deku Tree and set them on piles of leaves.
Impa examined the wounds more closely. The Wynel's ax had done it's work, leaving deep cuts on their stomachs. Barely breathing, Impa knew she had to act fast or they might both meet the Goddesses far too soon.
"Alright Zelda, place your hands over Otulissa," Impa said, instructing the princess, demonstrating over Rowan.
"I can't do any magic," Zelda exclaimed, panicked.
"JUST DO IT!" Impa shouted.
Zelda immediately obeyed, unable to resist Impa's commands.
"Concentrate! Don't even think about it. Three, two, one-Go!"
Zelda concentrated and was floored when a large amount of magic flooded from her body. Her hands glowed yellow and the bleeding on Otulissa slowed and finally ceased. Just a little bit farthur, she thought.
"No, stop right there," Impa said, grabbing Zelda's hand, cutting off her magic flow. "You don't want to use too much. You'll faint if you do that."
"Oh," Zelda said.
Malen arrived with herbs and plant-based bandages along with the sage of the forest Saria.
"Leave them to us, the longest lived of us used to help travelers on the road to Terminia," Malen explained.
The two set to work bandaging up the Shiekah twins and sewing their wounds back together again.
"That's all we can do," Impa said, gesturing for Zelda to accompany her.
"Now what?" Zelda asked as Impa left the hollow in the middle of the Deku Tree.
"Zelda this is Karine, my second," Impa said, introducing her to another woman with white hair. "She'll be your personal guard until the twins recover."
"My personal guard?"
"Everywhere you go princess, until Ganon is defeated, you will be protected by a Shiekah. I know it might be cumbersome, but it's necessary."
"So...…"
"Another time Zelda," Impa said. "You'll have lessons in due time."
"But what about my father," Zelda said, stepping in front of the Shiekah leader and folding her arms across her chest. "He's planning to marry me to Gamelon's lame excuse of prince."
"We'll worry about that later. If there's one thing the Shiekah do best, it's protect the princess."
"After this is over, can we maybe make other arrangements that include me not going back to the Castle."
"Maybe," Impa said, wondering just how troublesome this princess was going to be.
"Now what?" Zelda asked again.
Remember, it's for Hyrule, remember it's for Hyrule, Impa reminded herself.
"We wait."
Next day dawned bright and clear as to everyone's relief, the Shiekah twins had made a small recovery. Everyone then convened for the second time in a council in front of the Great Deku Tree. Zelda, Impa, heavily bandaged but conscious Otulissa and Rowan, and finally Malen of the Kokiri.
"So, let's start at the beginning?" the Great Deku Tree said. "We saw Link run into the woods. Otulissa, Rowan, what happened when you caught up to him?"
"We found Link halfway through the Lost Woods," Rowan said. "We stopped him, tried to reason with him. He kept going on about being betrayed, the sword was his...something like that. Then the Wynel appeared and I tried to hold it off."
He glanced at his sister.
"He looked at us with such hatred I've never seen before," Otulissa picked up. She shivered as she spoke, clearly somewhat traumatized. "In his eyes. I've never seen anything like that, even on the criminals we've taken down. He then said some words and a silver Wynel appeared and charged at us. We took it down, but it suddenly regained health and swiped both of us with it's ax."
"Impa I swear, it was dead," Rowan said pleadingly, wincing at having sat up too quickly. "It suddenly regained health. You should've seen it. I know I sound crazy, but I think...I think what Link said was a spell."
"A spell?" Impa said in disbelief. "Are you sure? Link has rarely done incantation spells in the past."
Everyone looked at Zelda, who flinched under so much attention.
"What?"
"You lived with him, so," Otulissa asked. "What gives?"
Zelda mulled over her answer, not sure whether it would help much.
"I don't know," she admitted. "We were close until I was ten, then my father separated us saying I needed to learn to be a good 'wife'. We just grew apart. But when I did see him on formal occasions he struck me as a bit of a dork. Goofy, not entirely serious, indifferent, but odd, he had a fascination with soldiering, and he was very eager to assume the throne. He shouted it from the rooftops at the last state dinner."
Impa and the Great Deku Tree glanced at each other darkly.
"What?" Zelda said, very worried now.
"I don't know if that's a good combination," Impa said, biting her lip. "He's twenty right?"
"Yeah. Just a year away from being of age. What, you can't possibly think that...?"
"He wasn't worthy of the Master Sword," the Great Deku Tree said.
Everyone turned to look at him in shock.
"What?" Otulissa, Malen, Zelda, Impa, and Rowan chorused.
"A true Hero would've taken the sword and joined his sister," the Great Deku Tree insisted. "But he didn't. The Master Sword sensed that and chose the only other being capable of wielding it; the Princess."
The meeting then descended into speculation about why Link ran, but nothing came close to the Deku Tree's explanation. Finally Impa broke it up. "We first need to get Link to grow up and accept his role."
She fixed her gaze on the Princess.
"You'll have to return to the castle..."
"She can't," Rowan, Otulissa, and the Deku Tree said together. Zelda had briefed all of them on her situation and they'd all previously agreed that Zelda shouldn't go anywhere near Hyrule Castle again.
"Not knowingly," Impa said. "Just long enough to talk to your brother. You're probably the only one he'll listen too."
"Okay..."
"Or maybe not," said a voice behind them.
Everyone turned around and a feeling of dread drained all of the emotion in the clearing. A man over six feet tall stood behind them, with dark beady eyes, along with blood red hair and mustache. He wore the black attire of the king of the Gerudo. Every Kokiri child knew his predecessor from the fairytales, every Shiekah drilled for hours each day to fight him, the Great Deku Tree's ancestor had been killed by him, many a princess of Hyrule had been kidnapped by him. It was Ganondorf.
"I need your help" Ganondorf said, trying to ignore the looks of alarm and panic on everyone's faces. "Especially yours Zelda. If it events continue the way it's going, you might have to end your brother's life."
All pandemonium broke loose.