Disclaimer: I do not own Legend of Zelda. I just... erm... borrowed... the characters and built a story around them.

Authors note: I am so, very sorry. Lots of things happened recently, I changed jobs and had to move in with Arthemis Daluna, my sister, to whom I am so very thankful. And then, (after three weeks of mixed trouble and procrastination) my computer kept crashing while I was writing. It is very, very irritating to write the same sentences twenty times. Dimmit.

Little side note, I had written "Fall" as a Season, but ended up changing it in this chapter. I shall not, however, edit the previous chapters until I have finished the story from one end to an other. What is posted, will stay posted. For now.

Thanks to kreite, TheFanatics and Aki no Hikari for their reviews! And I am so sorry I made you wait that long!

Chapter two

Echoes

Snow. Snow Falls is the season of peace. The season where, during a few short months, every citizen rests, every child stays in, every bovine remains within the shed and every army patches themselves up for the oncoming season.

Actual snow falls were not unusual in Hyrule. They weren't catastrophic, and rare were the times where more than a foot fell from the skies in the whole season. It remained that Snow Falls was the calmest season. With the cold, many fevers would peak, many people would be sick, and very little could be done but keep warm and wait for The Flooding Days. The snow-slicked roads were nothing short of useless, the snow buried all the fields in a white blanket and many animals and beasts would simply go into hibernation, both to survive and to rest.

Thus, it was in that season that the council meetings ran the longest. Because there is so little to do, plans can be made ahead. And while the world rests, all of the nobles may just stay at one place, so to both visit and keep boredom at bay. It was probably such sayings that made Snow Falls the best "court" season. There was also a good chance that those kind of saying led to someone's death by insanity.

Thus the court had gathered, in what had come to be called the Frozen Court House. It was, naturally a castle, despite it's downplaying title, and the Nobility had gracefully packed it's rooms within a few days before the first Snow. Just like every Snow Fall. And, just like every Frost , the monogamous life and speeches and balls and other courtly duty was dragging on beyond belief.

It was unsurprising for this season to be this slow. The Legends told that during the snow season, Din went to sleep, while Nayru woke up. Since each Goddess watched over the World in a different manner, each three periods were unique. But this time, Farore was not awoken by the Flood. The Goddess of courage was awoken much, much sooner.

The first hint they had had been the Kakariko village. There was little they could do at the end of the Fire-trees season, and they had patched up what they could. The Snow Fall was going to stop everything, the council had said. And the King had believed. The Gerudos were, after all, desert-dwellers, rogues that had lived in the hot climates all of their lives. What could they do against frigid weather?

The second hint, had been how cut off the Frozen court house became. Of course, communications during Snow Fall are hard to make, and it had happened that the messenger got lost and fell to a frozen death. There was no reason to get worried over such silly cases. The only thing the King could do was wait for the Flood to clear the snow and only then would they find the poor body. A burial would be done, and life would go on.

But the third hint was not ignored. By anyone.

When the sun awoke during earlier hours and the snow had just begun to melt, the third hint came to the House. Literally. Strapped high upon a horse's saddle was a flag. The Hyrulean flag. The horse appeared to be mad, and although worried, the guards had opened the doors for a small squad to pass and calm the horse.

They had not expected the animal to jump over the line that had formed, nor burst in the House like it owned the place. It was only at that precise moment that people saw why the creature was so panicked. The creature was small, green, and let out a loud growling shriek as it jumped on the wooden pole that held the flag up. Then, it slapped it's two hands together and stuck them to the flying piece of fabric.

The flag burst into flames... It was the final hint. The war was upon them. Whether the council admitted it or not, whether the King liked it or not, such a clear sign was not – could not be mistaken. It was a threat and a promise all at once. It was also a suicide for the little imp like creature, of what only the horned helmet remained. And it was also quite a shock for the poor mare they had used.

Reeling and kicking the brown coated horse threw what remained of the dirty creature off its back. The flag had taken seconds to burn, and the traumatized animal had been abused enough not to trust anyone close to itself. Now, the wooden pole was slowly receiving the same treatment as the flag, and any person daring to get near it quickly backed away from the hooves.

The Princess, being who she was, had been pushed back behind the knights, the pages, the stable hands and her maids. The Princess, from her far away position, understood immediately why such precautions were needed. The Princess saw the animal and regretfully diagnosed it as crazed. It would almost be better to put it down. It would be best to end it's suffering.

And then, the girl felt a brush along her spirit. She immediately jumped up, and ducked close to a wall. As if the horse and flag weren't enough, the fear all around her seemed to have attracted a Poe. Quickly, she reached for her right hand and scratched it as she opened her senses to find it. Poes were dangerous, and she had learned this the hard way.

And Zelda Felt. She could feel the fear rising through the crowd. She could feel the anticipation of a squire that tried to slip close to the horse, and the boy's sudden intake of adrenaline as a soldier grabbed him and pulled him away from his death. She could feel the ladies' heart beat much stronger and louder in their chests. She could feel the unease, the fear of the noble Lords, searching for their King and his following decision. She could feel her maids' worry – for the soldiers, for the nobles, for her.

She could feel the mare's will to live.

It was stifling all other emotions, so deep were her feelings. There was fear. A lot of it. There was also the knowledge of the flame so close to her, even if she could not see it. There was the knowledge of pain. It had been constant for the past few hours as the creature had driven her on and on across the plains. And there was the knowledge of Death. And her fear put It's face on all the soldiers surrounding her.

And it was that will that had brushed along the fair haired princess' soul.

And Zelda felt the need to protect the mare from her own soldiers. The sudden rage almost tore at her insides as her powers grew to push them back. Shards of purple light danced in her ocean eyes, and her hand practically glowed, the Mark a bright golden. The spell was upon her lips and she had been just about to cast it...

And Rauru seized her left hand, pulling her towards the door that led inside, that led to safety, and it was his concern that overflowed her senses. It was her own state – bedraggled, tired and using magic – that made her rage. She was not being a good girl. She was flaunting her powers and strength. She was loosing herself. Quickly realising her mistake – whoever had her focus, had her focused senses on top of her attention – she clammed the magic shut. This was the reason she had not used it since that day with the Poe, a good four or five years ago.

But it had made her see one thing. And she refused to close herself from it. The mare was not going to die. She would not fall to the sword of these soldiers. She would not face Death, and she would never, never have to bear the torture of fire again in her entire life. Not if Zelda had anything to do about it.

And, for the first time since she was very, very young, Zelda screamed.

"ENOUGH!"

And there! Second chappie is done! Sorry for the long wait! It's Thanksgiving this weekend, and I'll try to write the third chapter tomorrow. Finally, political questions and stalling should be gone! It was getting irritating. Of course, there are some motives, and Zelda is still in a diplomatic mission, but at least, she won't be stuck in the castle anymore, which means more character will come to play. Next chapter, we'll see Kafei! Yay~!

I asked kreite for her advice, but it's a rather an open question. I have not played all of the Zelda video games – I have never played Majora's mask, for example – but I still want to have most of the characters. So, who do you think should be in the Sheika tribe, and in what animal do you think he/she will transform?

Thanks in advance!

~Lunie