OK I'm soooooooooo sorry for the long wait on this chapter, but here it is. I do have a request for anyone reading this story though. PLEASE review it. We writers only get better from feedback. And one more thing, I have a poll up for which of Link's items from other games need to come back in this story. Help me out here and respond please.
Chapter 2: Unforeseen Consequences
Ordon Spring. This place had always seemed special. It possessed a natural beauty only rivaled by a select few other sites in Hyrule. The water was completely pure and clearer than crystal. None of these things had caused the young hero's visit, however.
An altogether different characteristic of the spring had brought him there now. It was home to Ordon, the Spirit of Light from which Ordon village, the spring, and the entire region had taken their names. Now, Link had come to ask Ordon for the answers to his many questions. He dismounted from Epona and stepped into the water, leaving her at the gate. At the center of the shallow pool he stopped, waiting for Ordon to appear.
All at once the sky darkened, the spring began to glow as a giant ram of golden light appeared over the spring and an orb of light matching its body floated in the circle of its horn. "Hero of Twilight, you have come with questions in your heart and mind. I cannot help you."
Link was shocked. If one of the Spirits of Light that protect Hyrule could not help him then where else could he turn? "It is not my place to do so. You must take up the blade of evil's bane once again. You will find the answers you seek there."
Ordon faded away and Link made his way back to Epona. "Well girl, it looks like another long journey," he said rubbing her neck. "We had better get started." Epona snorted in approval, eager to get moving.
They headed towards the tunnel that led to the Forest Temple and the entrance to the Lost Woods. Link was forced to leave her at the tunnels entrance, continuing on foot. "This would be so much easier if I could become a wolf and Midna was still here to help me," he said looking down into the seemingly bottomless chasm separating him from the Sacred Grove, the Temple of Time, and the Master Sword that lay within.
"I'm running out of time. Hopefully the Skull Kid still remembers me." Link reached behind his back, opened the magic pouch containing his items, and the Clawshots appeared on his hands.
Anchoring one to the wood at his feet he leapt into open space, firing the other at the mass of vines over the ledge at the Lost Woods entrance Link released the first Clawshot and hit the button to rewind the remaining Clawshot's chain, pulling him to hang just above the entrance to the Lost Woods for a moment before releasing it from the wall. "So far, so good." Link put the Clawshots away and entered the Lost Woods.
The Lost Woods had been aptly named. With the constant gloom and scores of almost identical trees, not to mention the mischievous Skull Kid, it was all too easy to loose your way. To make things worse, the forest had a habit of rearranging itself as well. All of this served as a magical defense mechanism protecting the Sacred Grove from those unworthy to enter the holy sanctuary of the Master Sword. Only a select few had ever returned from the Lost Woods alive. Link had not only made it through, but he had been to the Sacred Grove on multiple occasions and now it was time to do it again.
"It doesn't seem to have changed at all since the last time I was here," thought Link. He wasn't really surprised. He could feel the very air thrum with the purest magic. Out of nowhere came a soft giggle that broke Link out of his trance as he reflexively put his guard up.
Only one thing made that sound and their previous encounters hadn't been fun. "Where are you?" he thought, scanning the surrounding trees for movement. A swirl of leaves and the Skull Kid appeared before him. However, instead of blowing his horn to summon his puppets as Link had expected, the Skull Kid waved for him to follow and ran off. "He almost looks relieved to see me," Link thought as he cautiously followed. Then his confusion turned to worry as he wondered what could have caused the change.
Within minutes they arrived at a clearing and the ruins of an ancient temple. "This is the entrance to the Sacred Grove. Is something wrong inside?" The Skull Kid was urgently pointing for Link to hurry. Link drew his sword and shield as he stepped through the crumbling archway and nearly dropped them in disbelief. A swirling wall of darkness surrounded the normally beautiful meadow where the Master Sword rested in its pedestal. The stone guardians of the sword lay in shattered heaps where they had previously stood. The sword itself shown with a brilliance rivaling the sun, its light preventing the shadows from engulfing it entirely.
"I was too late. Why did I ignore it for so long?" he thought, instinctively knowing that he could do nothing to reach the weapon that was his last hope. Then he noticed the Triforce insignia in the center of the floor glowed faintly. "Wait, maybe it's not over just yet," Link said as his hope began to return. Submitting to a feeling he didn't understand, he moved to stand in its center. The glow strengthened as he drew closer and the mark on his hand began to shine as well. When he stopped, Link knelt facing the Master Sword and vanished.
Everything outside of the insignia disappeared to be replaced with white stone. To his right he could see another person wearing a blue jumpsuit, matching boots, and a white cowl that covered the lower half of their face. A curved blade just short enough to still be considered a dagger hung sideways at their lower back with the hilt on the right side. They were also kneeling on a Triforce insignia and had a matching one identical to Links on the back their left hand. A shock of golden blond hair obstructed his view of the strangers face above the cowl and a long white cloth tied the rest of their hair from the bottom which hung midway down their back.
He was distracted from any further observation by a powerful but kind voice. "At last the heroes have come. Rise, both of you." When Link stood up he was met with the sight of three beautiful women. They were seated on identical, solid gold thrones and each wore a robe of red, green, or blue respectively. The one in red seemed weaker than the others, but it was obvious that she still had great strength.
"Who are you, where am I, and what in all of Hyrule is going on?" Link asked as he sheathed his sword, though he thought he might already know the answer to his first question. The figure on his right glanced at him sharply and the woman in green smiled at him. "I know you are anxious to understand the evil feeling on your heart and your vision of Hyrules destruction. I think we had better answer your first two questions before moving on to the reason for your presence here," she said standing. "I am Farore, Goddess of Courage." Then the women in blue and red stood, introducing themselves as Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom and Din, Goddess of Power respectively.
"As for where you are," Farore continued still smiling, "you know it as the Sacred Realm. This is our home. Now before we continue I would also like to introduce you to the bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom." She indicated the stranger on his right and Link turned to face them. "For some reason I feel like I know you," Link told the stranger. She also turned to face him, revealing bright red eyes. "There is a very good reason for that, but for now you can call me Sheik." Then a thought struck him. "Wait a minute. Princess Zelda had the Triforce of Wisdom, so what happened to her?"
"I wondered how much you knew, Link," Sheik said. She crossed her hands in front of her face, her Triforce symbol glowed brighter, and in a flash Sheik transformed into Zelda. Now with brown hair hanging loose, blue eyes, and wearing a dress it was impossible to tell that she had been the mysterious fighter standing there only moments ago. "How did you…?" he said, unable to even get the words out. Zelda smiled at the look of disbelief on Link's face. "I used the Triforce of Wisdom to change my form so I could go where I want without needing an escort or drawing a crowd. Besides, it's much easier to fight and move around as Sheik than as my usual self," she explained.
"Shouldn't we discuss the matter at hand now? Time is running short and there is much to say before we begin in earnest," Din said, returning them to the reason for this meeting. "Yes, your right. Link, Zelda, there is a great evil finally stirring again after laying dormant for millennia," Nayru told them. "This story dates back to before the dawn of time. You know that the three of us created the world, its laws, and everything in it, but there is another like us. At his full power he is a match for any two of us. However, while we seek to create he wishes only to destroy everything. He is both the source and physical embodiment of all the evil that exists in the world. After a long, hard fought battle we were successful in defeating him, but because like us he is immortal, we could not destroy him. Instead, when the world was made we created the Triforce using part of our hearts, minds, and bodies to be the lock to his prison. We also created the Ocarina of Time as the key and three Spiritual Stones as the chains that would bind him. Over time the Spiritual Stones of Water, Fire, and the Forest fell into the keeping of our patron races and became known as the Zoras Sapphire, Gorons Ruby, and Kokiri Emerald. The Master Sword was created as a weapon of last resort, an insurance policy against the time when this evil might reawaken."
Here she let Farore pick up the tale. "Just over one hundred years ago another hero brought the three Spiritual Stones together for the purpose of stopping Ganondorf from entering the Sacred Realm and claiming the Triforce. That hero was a young boy also called Link. He was raised with the Kokiri from infancy, believing he was one of them. When the Great Deku Tree, Guardian of the Forest, refused to surrender the Kokiri Emerald to Ganondorf, he placed a terrible curse on the forest's great guardian. The tree was forced to summon Link to lift the curse and though he succeeded in breaking Gonodorfs spell, it was already too late for the Deku Tree. The young hero was heartbroken that the only parent he had ever known was dying. The Deku Tree told him that there had never been any hope that it would survive the curse and that he shouldn't blame himself. It told Link that he was a Hylian, not one of the Kokiri, and entrusted the Spiritual Stone of the Forest to him. Then it told him to seek the Princess Zelda of that time and finally died. After meeting the princess he set out to gather the remaining Spiritual Stones, eventually succeeding. Unfortunately, he was again too late. He arrived at the castle gate with all three artifacts just in time to see the princess fleeing Ganondorf with her bodyguard. Zelda threw the Ocarina of Time, which had been passed down through the royal family for generations, into the moat for Link to retrieve later. Then Ganondorf appeared and when Link tried to slow him down the young hero was tossed aside effortlessly. When Link regained consciousness he took the Ocarina and used it with the three Spiritual Stones to open the door to the chamber where the Master Sword waited in its pedestal. He drew the weapon, but he was still far too young to wield it. The sword put him into a sort of hibernation for seven years during which time Ganondorf had attempted to claim the Triforce. What he had not counted on, however, was that we had given the Triforce a final defense mechanism to help prevent it from falling under the control of an evil heart. When he touched it, instead of granting his wish to be king of all Hyrule, it separated leaving him with only the Triforce of Power, the virtue he most favored. The remaining pieces bound themselves to the one person in the entire world that most represented their respective virtues. Princess Zelda inherited the Triforce of Wisdom and Link inherited the Triforce of Courage. Now they have been passed to you."
Finally, Din took up the narrative. "Even though his wish had not been granted, the strength afforded him by the Triforce of Power allowed Ganondorf to take control of Hyrule during the hero's absence. An aged Link awoke in the Chamber of Sages to be greeted by the Sage of Light, Rauru, and given a new task to free the remaining five Sages from Ganondorfs prisons. Rauru then returned Link to the Temple of Time where Princess Zelda had been waiting for him in the guise of Sheik. They would meet several more times during his quest and each time she would vanish without revealing her identity until Link had rescued each of the Sages. After doing so he returned to the Temple of Time where Zelda finally showed herself as the Seventh Sage, only to be captured by Ganondorf. He used her as bait, giving Link no choice but to follow them into what had been Hyrule Castle. When he arrived the three pieces of the Triforce resonated in response to each other and attempted to reform into the whole once again. Because Zelda knew that this time it would grant the wish of whoever touched it first, she refused to relinquish the Triforce of Wisdom causing the others to stay with their wielders as well. A furious battle, long in the coming ensued between the corrupt, self-styled King of Evil and the resourceful, young Hero of Time. In the end, the skills Link had acquired over the course of his adventure and the combined power of the Triforce of Courage and the Master Sword allowed him to defeat Ganondorfs black magic. The Seven Sages bound Ganondorf inside the Sacred Realm and Link returned to the past to live out the years he had missed. As you already know, eventually Ganondorf was able to escape to the Twilight Realm using the Triforce of Power that remained in his possession, leading to the events that occurred one year ago."
Link and Zelda had grown ever more amazed as the tale went on, but while some questions were answered, others still remained. "I understand that everything that happened last year was caused by what occurred one hundred years earlier, but what does it have to do with us now?" Link asked. Farore gave him a sad look. "It matters for several reasons. The first is that because the Triforce remained separated for so long, each piece bound itself so tightly to its wielder that they can never rejoin without all three working together. This resulted in the Triforce of Power being left without a host after you killed Ganondorf. That would not be a problem, but because it also had not rejoined the Triforces of Courage and Wisdom, its strength was greatly diminished." "That is why I am so weak now," Din said heavily. "Through me Farore and Nayru lose strength and our enemy's prison also fails without the Triforce of Power." "Ganondorf must be brought back if we are to have any chance of victory, Link." Nayru said, though it was clear she did not like the idea any more than he did.
Zelda had stood and listened quietly all this time. Now she spoke, "If the Triforce has been separated for one hundred years, then why wasn't this enemy released when the Zelda or Link that first fought Ganondorf died?" Nayru smiled at her, "You truly disserve to carry the Triforce of Wisdom, Zelda. The difference is that they died of natural causes, so when they died their pieces of the Triforce remade them to be born again. Essentially, the two of you are them although only in looks and personality." This knowledge was even more incredible than everything else so far, but Link was all too aware of how short their time was becoming. "How do we revive Ganondorf?" he asked.
"You must find Koume and Kotake, the sorceresses that adopted Ganondorf. You will also need the Shadow Crystal that forces you to transform into a wolf," Farore replied. "They will obviously not be happy to see you, so be cautious." This presented another concern to Link. "A wall of darkness is surrounding the Sacred Grove preventing me from getting the Master Sword. Without it I'll be stuck as a wolf the moment I touch the Shadow Crystal," he told them.
"So, it has already started," Farore said softly. "You can use the Triforce of Courage to break a hole in the wall for a short time; the same way Zelda used the Triforce of Wisdom to transform herself." "I've never done this before and we don't have time for me to figure it out now. Isn't there any way you can help?" Link asked. Farore smiled at him again and said, "Yes, you have used it before, Link, even if you didn't realize it and it has acted on its own as well. Remember your transformation into a wolf after crossing the Veil of Twilight. Then there's your skill with a bow despite never having used one. Uncanny, isn't it?"
Link considered her words and realized she was right. "I never stopped to wonder about that, usually because there wasn't time for me to think of anything beyond the present. Even so, I don't remember ever having used it on purpose." "Link, you may not have consciously used the Triforce, but you have instinctively called on it several times without realizing it. Your intense desire to help others and protect those you care for, even when doing so could likely result in your own death, has activated it on more than one occasion," she told him.
"All you need to do is concentrate on a single task and direct the power into completing it," said Zelda, deciding to join in. Nayru shook her head, "No, Zelda. Each Triforce responds differently than the others. The Triforce of Wisdom responds to the strength of your mind, but that cannot help Link now." "All three can act independently of their bearer. Usually this only happens to protect them from life threatening situations, such as when Ganondorf transformed into a giant boar during his fight with Link or when Link became a wolf after crossing the Veil of Twilight." Farore explained. "However, the Triforce of Courage has a degree of free will far exceeding that of Wisdom or Power. This is because I am responsible for creating every living thing in the world. It originally gave Link his skill with a bow, but he no longer has any need for its help in that regard."
Her expression became very serious as she continued, "Link, do you remember the shadowy warrior who took the form of a golden wolf in the physical realm?" He nodded, "Of course I do. He was the greatest swordsman I've ever met. I might not even be alive now if it wasn't for him." "That was the shade of your predecessor, the Hero of Time, brought back by the Triforce of Courage to train you."
Despite everything he had seen and heard up till now, this new revelation caught him completely off guard. "For now, just try to find the power inside you. Then we can move on," said Farore. Link closed his eyes and lowered his head, searching for the power that he now knew lay within him. After ten minutes he still felt nothing and started feeling frustrated. "OK, calm down," he thought taking a deep breath. "If I can't force it out, then I'll try letting it show itself." Link slowly relaxed and thought of his friends all over Hyrule. A surge of power shot through him as if a switch had been flipped somewhere inside him. Link gasped and fell to his knees from the intensity. Then as quickly as it had appeared, the power dissipated.
"Very good, Link. Now just remember that feeling and use it to direct the Triforce," Farore told him. "Time is running short. You must hurry," Din said. "After you reclaim the Master Sword go to the Gerudo Desert. You will find the Sorceress Sisters there." Link stood up and Zelda changed back into Sheik. "Zelda," Link began, "Meet me at Lake Hylia in two days. That should be enough time for me to get the Master Sword and you to figure out something to tell everyone at the castle." She nodded, "Alright, I'll be waiting, but don't forget to call me Sheik when I'm in this form." She knelt, touched the Triforce mark on the floor, and disappeared in a flash of light.
"Fair well, Link," said Farore. "We don't need to tell you what will happen if you fail." Link gave her a look that showed just how determined he was. Seeing him like that was almost enough to erase her worry. Almost. Then he knelt and was gone.
Din looked over at her sisters. "Do you think we should have told them everything?" "You know we can't do that yet. Too much is at stake to take that risk so soon," said Nayru.
