This one turned out to be shorter than I expected...

Well, enjoy! ;)

Chapter 3: The Princess of Destiny

The group exited the woods for the first time and into the wide Hyrule Field. The field stretched as far as their eyes could see, with soft green grass covering the ground and dirt roads leading to the castle and some sort of ranch. The sky was clear blue, unlike the dull green sky in the forest since trees were obscuring it.

"Wow! It's so huge!" Mario exclaimed in amazement.

"I'll say." Link agreed. "I've always wondered what it was like out of Kokiri Forest."

"So you never left the forest? Why?" Peach asked.

"Because it is said that Kokiris might die if they leave the forest."

"Oh dear…"

"Well, you have us on your side." Yoshi smiled. "We'll definitely make sure you won't get killed!"

"Thanks, Yoshi." Link replied.

"Alright, let's not waste any time!" Navi interfered. "Let's head to the castle!"

So with that, they took off to Hyrule Town by following the dirt road. Although the Mario cast couldn't help but remember of something:

"This castle… It looks similar to the one in my dream!" they thought each, having a flashback of the same location in their dream, as they passed by the drawbridge.

Then, they snapped out of their thought when they caught sight of a door leading inside of a building right next to the drawbridge.

"I wonder what's in here?" Link wondered as they all went inside… where they saw a lot of pots in the room.

"Golly! Just how many pots does this room need?!" Luigi questioned in surprise.

"…For some strange reason, I have a strong desire to destroy all of these…" Link breathed, unsheathing his sword.

"Are you sure that's a good idea, Link?" Peach inquired. "They could belong to someone, and they could be value-…"

*CRACK!* *SMASH!*

"…-able." she finished as the Mario cast sweatdropped, watching Link destroy the pots like a maniac.

"Wow! Look at him go!" Navi, on the other hand, seems to be enjoying it.

"RAAAAAAAAH!" Link yelled while smashing the pots. Soon, the whole room was just covered in debris and green and blue Rupees.

"Okaaaay, I think that's enough…" Luigi trailed as Link was panting heavily while collecting all of the Rupees.

"*pant* *pant* Sorry about that. I don't know what came over me." Link apologized.

"This has to be one of our Author's shenanigans, for sure." Toad thought as they exited the building.

They made it to the main square at the Market, and what a remarkable sight: houses everywhere, all sorts of people roaming around minding their own business, squeals of joy coming from children playing around… you name it. This place was definitely loud and noisy, in contrast to the silent and serene forest.

"This town sure is peaceful." Peach smiled, looking around. "And quite noisy too."

"Yeah, not even Toad Town is that noisy!" Toad exclaimed.

"Wish we could hang around here a bit, but we have something more important to do." Mario said.

"Yeah! We have a princess to meet!" Navi piped up.

"But, which way is the castle?" Yoshi wondered.

"Hey, do you hear… singing?" Link's ears twitched when he heard someone singing. He looked around for the source, and saw that it belonged to a young girl around his age with long ginger hair and wearing a long white dress. "Maybe we can ask her!" he exclaimed, directing to the girl.

The Mario cast nodded and they all went towards the singing girl.

"Hey, excuse me…" Link said to her.

"Huh? Oh!" the girl stopped singing and faced the group. "Can I help?"

"Do you know the way to the castle?"

"The castle? It's right over there, silly!" she giggled before pointing to the direction, which was revealed that she was standing right in front of the road leading to the castle.

"Oh." Link blinked. "Well, thanks anyway." he and his friends begin to leave.

"Wait!" the girl stopped them. "Your clothes… They're different…" she mused. "And there's also two strange beings I've never seen before with them either!" she thought, referring to Yoshi and Toad. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Um, well…" Link replied nervously after he and his friends exchanged glances. Then, the girl noticed Navi fluttering about and that's where it hit her:

"Ohh, you have a fairy! Then you must be from the forest!"

"I guess so…?" the Mario cast thought, knowing that they're not exactly from the forest since they're from a different world, but they decided to stick with that fact in order to hide their true fact so the girl wouldn't think they were crazy.

"Nice to meet you all! My name is Malon! My dad owns Lon Lon Ranch!" the girl named Malon continued. "Dad went to the castle to deliver some milk, and he hasn't come back yet…"

"Why is that?" Link asked.

"I bet he fell asleep… AGAIN. But I can't go into the castle either because there are guards on patrol. I tried talking with them, but they wouldn't let me in!"

"Perhaps we can help you with that." Mario offered.

"You'll do this for me? Thank you so much! Here, take this." she hands the group a Cucco. "This little guy will definitely wake him up. Oh, and before you go, can I at least know your names?" the group told her their names. "Wow! What peculiar names! Tee hee! Well, I wish you luck!"

Everyone then took off to Hyrule Castle. The main road leading to it had two guards on patrol, so the group instead climbed some vines on the wall on the right. After avoiding some more guards around and finding an alternate entrance past the castle's gates, they swam in the moat, leading them to a man who dressed oddly similar to Mario snoozing next to some wooden crates, probably containing the milk he was supposed to deliver.

"Look at this guy, snoozing on the job." Toad sassed.

"This has to be Malon's father!" Navi confirmed.

"Then let's wake him up, shall we?" Link grinned, taking out the Cucco, and…

*COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOO!*

"GAH!" the man snapped awake. "What in tarnation? Can't a person get a little shut-eye around here?" he then noticed the group. "Oh, hello… and who might you be?"

"Are you the owner of Lon Lon Ranch, by any chance?" Link asked.

"Yep. I'm Talon. I went to the castle to deliver some milk, but I sat down here to rest, and I guess I fell asleep…"

"Um, you see… we came to inform you something. Your daughter was looking for you." Peach told.

"What?! Malon was looking for me? I'm gonna catch it from her now! I messed up bad, leaving Malon behind to wait for me! She's really gonna let me have it!" Talon then scurries off across the grounds, leaving the group in their dust, and they were already coughing.

"That… was the strangest thing I've ever seen… of all time." Link coughed.

"No kidding." Navi agreed. "I think I got dust in my wings…"

"We've seen stranger." Mario shrugged.

"Yep." Yoshi nodded.

They then leapt towards the narrow passageway in front of them and crawled into it, taking them to the castle's courtyard, where there were more guards walking around.

"So, we sneak around?" Luigi guessed.

"We have to." Mario replied.

Thankfully, they managed to sneak around the courtyard without being caught, and made to the garden of the castle.

The garden was quite pretty, with two flower beds on the left and right sides of the center, small cone-shaped trees, and blue banners decorating the walls. But what caught the group's attention the most was definitely the person up ahead peeking through a window in the back wall.

"Is that…?" Link whispered.

"She must be!" Navi exclaimed. "Let's go talk to her!"

The girl looking through the window looked like she had a distressed look on her face, until she heard footsteps from behind her. Puzzled, she turned around… and was quite shocked to see strangers into the garden.

"What?! Who?!" she questioned. "Who are you? How did you get past the guards?" they were about to respond to her, until she caught sight of Navi. "Oh? What's that? Is that… a fairy?!"

"Yep!" Navi chimed. "The name's Navi!"

"*giggle* Hello!" the girl giggled before turning her attention to the others and concluding, "If you do have a fairy… Then are you… Are you from the forest? Then…then…you wouldn't happen to have…the Spiritual Stone of the Forest and the first Platinum Star, would you?! Do you have them?"

"We do." Link nodded, pulling out the Kokiri's Emerald while Mario pulled out the Platinum Star.

"Just what I thought! Then you must be the ones I saw in my dream!"

"There's a SEVENTH one?!" the group thought as Navi looked a bit…scared by this.

"I had a dream… In the dream, dark storm clouds were billowing over the land of Hyrule… But suddenly, a ray of light shot out of the forest, parted the clouds, and lit up the ground… The light turned into six figures holding a green and shining stone and a platinum star, followed by a fairy… I knew this was a prophecy that some people would come from the forest…"

"And you think those people were…?" Luigi started.

"Yes, I thought you might be the ones…" then, the girl realized something very important that she almost forgot; she haven't even said her name yet! "Oh, I'm sorry! I got carried away with my story and didn't even properly introduce myself!" with a polite bow, she spoke, "I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule." now it was her turn to ask. "What are your names?"

"Link."

"Mario."

"Luigi."

"Peach."

"Yoshi!"

"Toad."

"Strange…" Zelda mused. "These names sound somehow…familiar." she decides to shake it off and continues, "OK then, Link, Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, and Toad… I'm going to tell you the secret of the Sacred Realm that has been passed down by the Royal Family of Hyrule. Please keep this a secret from everyone…"

"We promise." Mario replied.

"Good! Anyway, the legend goes like this: The three goddesses hid the Triforce containing the power of the gods somewhere in Hyrule… the power to grant the wish of the one who holds the Triforce in his hands. If someone with a righteous heart makes a wish, it will lead Hyrule to a golden age of prosperity… If someone with an evil mind has his wish granted, the world would be consumed by evil… That is what has been foretold… So the ancient Sages built the Temple of Time to protect the Triforce from evil ones."

"…So are you saying that the Triforce is in the Sacred Realm, and the Temple of Time is the only way to gain access to it?" Yoshi guessed, trying to put the pieces together from the story he and the others just heard.

"That's right…" Zelda nodded. "The Temple of Time is the entrance through which you can enter the Sacred Realm from our world. But the entrance is sealed with a stone wall called the Door of Time. And, in order to open the door, it is said that you need to collect three Spiritual Stones and three Platinum Stars. Another thing you need…is the treasure that the Royal Family keeps along with this legend… The Ocarina of Time!" she shows said object to them.

"That looks similar to Saria's ocarina…" Link thought as he and the others stared at the royal blue ocarina in awe.

"I forgot to tell you…" Zelda puts the ocarina away before directing to the window behind her. "I was spying through this window just now… The other element from my dream…the dark clouds… I believe they symbolize…that man in there!"

Link and his friends decided to look through the window with curiosity. At the other side of the glass, they saw a dark-skinned man with red hair and wearing dark armor bowing before to someone, possibly the king. Wait… didn't that description about the man seemed familiar? That's right; he was the same man our heroes saw in their dream!

"Can you see the man with the evil eyes?" Zelda asked. "That is Ganondorf, the leader of the Gerudo. They hail from the desert far to the west. Though he swears allegiance to my father, I am sure he is not sincere. The dark clouds that covered Hyrule in my dream… They must symbolize that man!"

It was at that moment that Ganondorf took a quick glance at the window, where at the other side, the heroes quickly put their heads down, even if it was a bit too late.

"What happened? Did he see you? Don't worry. He doesn't have any idea what we're planning…yet!" Zelda giggled mischievously.

"Have you at least told your father about your dream?" Peach asked. Zelda hung her head in shame before responding:

"…Yes. I told my father about my dream… However, he didn't believe it was a prophecy… But…I can sense that man's evil intentions! What Ganondorf is after must be nothing less than the Triforce of the Sacred Realm. He must have come to Hyrule to obtain it! And he wants to conquer Hyrule… No, the entire world!"

"Yikes…" the heroes thought.

"Everyone… Now we are the only ones who can protect Hyrule! You believe in all of this, don't you?!"

"Of course we do!" Link replied firmly. "That man's evil power killed the Great Deku Tree, after all!"

"Yeah!" Toad threw in.

"Thank you!" Zelda beamed, but she gets tense again. "I…I am afraid… I have a feeling that man is going to destroy Hyrule. He has such terrifying power! But it's fortunate that you have come… We must not let Ganondorf get the Triforce! I will protect the Ocarina of Time with all my power! He shall not have it! You all go find the other two Spiritual Stones and Platinum Stars! Let's get the Triforce before Ganondorf does…and then defeat him!" she then pulls out a piece of paper and hands it to them. "One more thing… Take this letter… I'm sure it will be helpful to you."

Link takes the letter and puts it into his pocket.

"My attendant will guide you out of the castle. Don't be afraid to talk to her." Zelda said. "Good luck to you all…"

They turned around to see a tall strong woman walking up to them as they walked to her.

"I am Impa of the Sheikah." she spoke. "I am responsible for protecting Princess Zelda. Everything is exactly as the princess foretold. You all are courageous… You are heading out on a big, new adventure, aren't you?"

"Yeah." Link nodded.

"My role in the princess's dream was to teach a melody to the ones from the forest. This is an ancient melody passed down by the Royal Family. I have played this song for Princess Zelda as a lullaby ever since she was a baby… There is mysterious power in these notes. Now listen carefully…" Impa then puts two fingers in her mouth and begin to whistle Zelda's Lullaby.

Link followed suit, playing on his ocarina. Thus, he learned his second ocarina song.

"Good. Now, let me lead you all out of the castle." Impa said.

Later…

The group and Impa were now standing at Hyrule Field, with Impa directing them to the large mountain at the distance.

"Brave lads… We must protect this beautiful land of Hyrule! Take a good look at that mountain. That is Death Mountain, home of the Gorons. They hold the Spiritual Stone of Fire and the second Platinum Star."

"Well, at least we got our next destination settled." the group thought as Impa continued:

"At the foot of Death Mountain, you will find my village, Kakariko. That is where I was born and raised. You should talk to some of the villagers there before you go up Death Mountain."

"Got it." Mario nodded.

"And one more thing. The song I just taught you has some mysterious power. Only Royal Family members are allowed to learn this song. Remember, it will help to prove your connection with the Royal Family. The princess is waiting for you to return to the castle with the stones and stars. All right. We're counting on you!"

After that, Impa tosses a Deku Nut near the group and vanishes, much to their surprise.

"…How did she do that?" Luigi asked.

"Who knows?" Toad shrugged. "Let's just head to Death Mountain."

To be continued…

I decided to skip Kaepora Gaebora's encounters since I want to give him a much better role in this story than just give obvious informations. Also, am I the only one who loves to go into that building filled with pots every time I first enter Hyrule Town?

Now our heroes' journey begins for real! See you at the next chapter! Please review!