Zelda froze. "How do you know who is past that window?"
"You had a strange dream lately." Link said. "Dark storm clouds, billowing over Hyrule. A ray of light shooting out of the forest, parting the clouds. A green figure holding a shining stone, followed by a fairy..."
"How could you...how could you know that?" Zelda said, her voice nearly a whisper.
Link remembered his manners. "I'm very sorry, Princess. I should have first asked you to forgive me for alarming you. I didn't come here to hurt you. ...And I never introduced myself, either. My name is Link."
"...I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule..." Zelda said nervously, remembering to give a slight bow, but keeping both eyes on the enigmatic boy. "How did you know the song and the secret?"
Link gave Zelda a quick summary of his adventure, and explained that he had come from the future. Zelda was silent.
"...Do you believe me?" Link asked.
"...I...I believe you." Zelda said. "I know that you're telling the truth. I can feel it."
Link smiled. But there was something wrong.
...Ganondorf.
Ganondorf himself was standing about twenty feet away.
The smile disappeared from Link's face. "Please, let me look into that window."
Zelda was somewhat surprised, but stepped aside to allow Link to look.
The future King of Evil walked down a blue carpet, knelt down, and bowed his head as he insincerely proclaimed his allegiance to the King of Hyrule. Seeing Ganondorf at this point in time was surreal - frightening.
Ganondorf tilted his head to the side ever so slightly. His yellow eyes rolled to meet Link's. A slight sneer of annoyance disturbed his lips. Link fought the instinct to prepare his sword and shield for combat, and quickly sunk away from the window.
"What happened? Did he see you?" Princess Zelda asked.
"...Our plan was to obtain the Triforce before Ganondorf did." Link said. "But although we opened the Door of Time in the name of peace, Ganondorf used it to enter the Sacred Realm."
"...So, then we can stop Ganondorf by simply not opening the Door of Time?"
Link shook his head. "I don't think it will be that simple. Ganondorf could simply collect all the Spiritual Stones and open the door on his own...and even if he doesn't, he will still one day attempt to betray the king. We must stop him before that happens!"
Zelda nodded. "Yes! ...But, what can we do?"
"If we could warn the king, we could prevent Ganondorf from ever getting a chance to betray him."
"I've tried telling my father about Ganondorf - but he doesn't believe me." Zelda said.
"We've got to think of something..." Link muttered to himself.
"If the king refuses to believe either of you - "
The two children merely leapt out of their skin as they whirled around to face the voice coming from behind them.
"...Then perhaps you should convince Ganondorf himself to confess the plans of his betrayal to the king." Impa finished. "I apologize for startling you and your new...friend, Princess."
"Impa, don't worry about Link! He's not an enemy! He - "
"Don't worry." Impa said. "I heard everything from the beginning. ...I find it hard to believe his claims, but in this instance, I believe it does not matter whether it he is lying. I do not sense any evil in this boy, and we share the same level of...distrust towards that Gerudo."
"Thank you, Impa." Zelda said with a smile. "...What were you suggesting a moment ago?"
"Trick Ganondorf into revealing his ambitions. If the king will not believe the words of his own daughter, then our only hope is to have him discover Ganondorf's plans with his own eyes and ears."
"That's a good plan, Impa! ...But, how will we trick Ganondorf into revealing his plans to the king?"
The Sheikah paused for a moment, and rubbed her chin in thought. Then, a smile slowly crept across her lips. "I've got it."
"O Lord Ganondorf, ruler of the Gerudos..." Said a kneeling Link. Before his sentence was half completed, a blade was at his throat, but he did not flinch. Link calmly looked up toward the man he was addressing. "Forgive my intrusion." Link said. "This is the only place I knew that I would be able to speak to you in private, without risk of being heard..."
"How did you get in this room, boy?"
Link pointed a finger to his left. "There is a hole in that wall just small enough for a child to fit through. It appears that the royal family doesn't care enough about their visitors to keep the guest rooms in good shape. You'll change all that once you're in charge, though - right, Master?"
"...Who are you?" Ganondorf asked. "What are you after?"
"My name is Link, and I am your servant." Link said, bowing his head. "I wish for nothing more than to help your plan succeed. And a brilliant plan it is! Usurping the throne, seizing the Triforce - you will be King and Master of all Hyrule. No - the world!"
"...How did you know about this, boy?"
"My Lord, I confess to being something of an eavesdropper. I hear a lot of things. But most of all, I like being on the side of someone I know is going to win. The side of someone who is going to go very far in the world...and I doubt that any shall rise higher than you will, my Master."
"So, you think you can weasel in and ride on my success...you've got guts, kid." Ganondorf moved his sword away from Link's neck, tilted his head up, and looked down his nose at the blonde boy clad in black before him, judging him. He smirked, and chuckled slowly. "I like your attitude."
Link tried to force an 'evil' smirk. "Would you share with me the details of your plan?"
"You make it sound grandiose, but it's quite simple." Ganondorf said. "I'll continue earning the king's trust and letting him shelter and feed the one who will slit his throat while I search for the Spiritual Stones. If I can obtain them all, I will simply use them to open the Door of Time and enter the Sacred Realm. If I grow bored of hunting for the Stones, I will simply kill that fat excuse for a king. Then I will kill his impudent daughter, who always looks at me with such hateful eyes. With the royal family exterminated, the castle will be in chaos, the entire Gerudo army will descend upon it, and Hyrule's army and town will be destroyed without effort. Then I will take my seat on the throne."
"Ah, my Lord, I have good news for you. I come bearing a gift. Please except this offering form your humble servant."
Link reached into his cloak, took out the Kokiri's Emerald, and held it out to Ganondorf.
"That's a...!" Ganondorf violently snatched the Spiritual Stone from Link's hand, and held it up, observing it from every angle. "How did you get this, boy?!"
"Consider it a down payment for the others, my Master. I will obtain both other Stones for you. My only request is that you allow me to stand by your side as you rise to power."
Ganondorf smirked. "You're a crafty one...and a greedy one, too, I can tell - you're hoping to bask in my power and wealth after I'm King of Hyrule. Or maybe your ultimate goal is to kill me and take my crown after I've done all the work for you!" The evil Gerudo laughed. "You're a strange one, boy, but I wouldn't mind at all if you helped me. Fetch me those two other Stones and I promise you that you'll be a wealthy, powerful man once this land is putty in my hands."
Link gave a deep bow. "My only desire is to serve you, Master." He slipped back into the hole from whence he came, leaving Ganondorf to eye his new Spiritual Stone.
"Better hide it someplace safe..." He mused to himself, and left the room.
Impa removed the gag from the king's mouth.
"Now do you believe me?" She asked.
"I'll have that filthy Gerudo executed!" The king snarled.
"Once again, Your Majesty, I apologize for binding you, gagging you, and forcing you to hide in a duct. Am I still going to be 'severely punished'?"
"No, Impa. I should be the one apologizing for not trusting you...or my own daughter. I take back everything I said about punishing you for this. Just untie me so I can get out of here - I have two demons to stop."
"Two?" Impa asked as she began untying the king's bonds. "The boy is on our side."
"What?" The King of Hyrule asked.
"The boy, Link, was on our side all along. I instructed him to say all of the things that he said. You should thank him - without him, Ganondorf's plot would never have been exposed."
"Is that so? He's a remarkable boy. He's a true hero, indeed."
"Perhaps more than we'll ever know..." Impa said.
The king wanted to kill Ganondorf, but Link explained that Ganondorf could only be slain by the Master Sword, and that it would be impossible to wield it at this point in time. Killing Ganondorf would free his soul from his body, possibly making him more of a threat than he ever could be while alive, as in theory he might be capable of possessing other bodies, speaking to others as a ghost to convince them to resurrect them, or any number of circumstances that they could not even imagine.
Instead, it was decided that Ganondorf should be imprisoned for seven years until Link could wield the Master Sword and use it to banish him into the same Evil Realm that he was banished to before.
And so, a trap was set for Ganondorf. He was lured into it, and successfully apprehended with only a few dozen casualties. The tendons of his arms and legs were immediately sliced to prevent him from ever attacking or walking again. He was imprisoned in a dungeon built specifically for him - hundreds of feet deep in the ground. His tongue was cut out, not as punishment, but to prevent him from ever assembling another army, in the unlikely event of his rescue.
The Gerudos were, predictably, outraged. After a few failed diplomatic meetings, an all-out war was declared. The Gerudo and Hylian armies clashed, and the Ganondorf War, as it would be called, claimed many lives. An inner conflict among the Gerudos weakened them, enabling the Hylian army to triumph over them in combat and claim victory.
Seven years later, Link descended the spiraling staircase in Ganondorf's dungeon with the Master Sword in hand. When he beheld Ganondorf, the fallen Gerudo appeared to be little more than a corpse gifted with animation. Partially to remove the sorry sight from his eyes, partially out of pity for the emaciated man, but mostly to bring an end to the being that might have caused all of Hyrule to suffer, Link plunged the Master Sword through Ganondorf. His thin, malnourished body glowed brightly as the evil Gerudo was banished into the Evil Realm, and Hyrule was safe from Ganondorf's reign...
...For a time.