Link pulled his bike off to the side of the road halfway home, realizing that it was a place that he couldn't go anymore. He didn't have any idea what to do. He paced up and down the deserted street for a bit until he remembered that he could always ask Senator Zelda what to do. He jogged back towards his bike, pulling the contact card she had given him out of his pocket.

It was quiet, he noticed suddenly. Too quiet. Unnaturally quiet. It wasn't simply silent, it was as if all sound had been sucked out of the air. The night creatures, the sound of vehicles in the distance, even the breeze was quiet. Link turned just in time for something large to tackle him to the ground. He instinctively reached for his sword, realizing he had left it with the bike, before breaking free and scrambling away.

A blow from behind sent him flying. He rolled onto his back to face it, and got his first look at his assailant. It was a yellowish color and had a large body, with four stubby limbs and two giant, flopping ears. And it was between Link and his bike.

Link gave a yell as he charged towards it, hoping to plow through it or get around it to reach his sword. The yell started fairly loud, but as he drew closer, it sounded muted, as if the noise was being swallowed up. He took a breath and shouted again. The monster recoiled briefly at the noise, though it was quickly muted again. Link took a deep breath to shout once more, but in that second, it leapt forward, tackling him and placing one of its paws over his mouth and nose, suffocating him. He tried to make a noise, but he couldn't. He tried to move, but the creature was too heavy. He couldn't breathe, and the air had been crushed out of his lungs.

As his sight started swimming, he thought he heard a noise in the distance. He mustn't have, because the monster paid no mind.

"Hey!" came a muffled voice off to his right as he started losing consciousness. "Listen." A gunshot rang through the air, and suddenly, the monster flopped off of him. All the little noises that had disappeared returned to the world.

The last thing he could make out before he lost consciousness was a pair of dirty feet.

"Senator Zelda!" boomed a voice behind her, full of insincere joviality. She started walking faster. A wall of flame flared in front of her, stretching from wall to wall, before instantly dying down, leaving no indication that anything had happened. The message was clear: she didn't have the choice to run away. She turned to face the man.

"Senator Zelda," Ganondorf smiled, spreading his arms wide. "Really, there's no need to run, is there? Do you really wish to avoid speaking to me that badly?

Zelda just glared at him. "What do you want, Ganon?"

He gave a deep, booming laugh. "Cutting right to the name-calling, are we? Look, Senator Zelda…I'm just here to talk."

"I'm sure," she said icily. "What are you really up to? All the work you're putting into that orphanage…why? What do the children matter to you?"

"All of Hyrule matters to the future king…Princess," he said, spitting the old title at her like a snake shooting venom. "Why shouldn't I care about the children of my kingdom?"

"You've never taken an approach like this before. Why this? Why now?"

He chuckled. "Well, you are right about one thing. I don't care about the children. I just care about one of them."

"What—"

"It would just spoil all the fun if I told you, Senator. I like it when you're angry." His eyes narrowed. "But I don't like it when you go messing up my plans. You've found the Hero again, haven't you? Well, he won't be able to help now. Not it this world, with all its politics. What power does he have? He's a nobody. A street kid. Just one step above a bum.

"And what power do you have, for that matter? After all, you're so suspicious of me that you're not thinking of your reputation at all. That bothersome park that takes up so much space…I'm sure we could half the size and put up a new building. And I'm sure we could find an optimal place near Lake Hylia for a factory. I think that you and the Zoras are about the only opposition at this point."

"Ganondorf, when I find out what you're up to, I will—"

He grabbed her chin in a firm grip, turning her face upward into his. "You'll do what? Face it, Senator. I'm winning your supporters over, one by one. You had so much, when you first started. A senator born with a silver spoon in her mouth, and a silver tongue to go with it. But I had nothing. I worked my way up to the top, as I always have. I fight for what I get. Funny how our positions are reversing now. As my popularity rises, yours dwindles. You don't know what's best for the people anymore, Senator Zelda. You only know what is best for you and the royal family, and what is worst for me. You can't win people over like I can. I bet you never once thought about the racism the Twilit are facing, or how willing Zant was to give me complete power over the entire Twilight Realm once he heard that I would do something about it." He threw her back, smirking as she stumbled. Her face burned where his fingers had dug into her jaw. "You're nothing, Senator. And there's no place for you in my new Hyrule." He bowed in insincere respect before turning and striding back to where he had come from.

"Hey, wake up," came a girl's voice. Link forced his eyes open, a person coming into focus. "How's it going?" the girl asked. "You almost bought it there, didn't you?"

He sat up, taking a look at the girl. Her hair and skin, covered in grime, were extremely pale, though with a healthy, almost luminescent glow that seemed to give of blue tones. Or maybe that was just because of her plain blue dress, the hems in tatters. She was barefoot, her feet covered in what seemed to be a permanent layer of dust.

"What happened," he moaned groggily.

"You got jumped by a Pols Voice. Nasty creatures, those. Scared of noise, so they steal the sound right out of the air around them." She expertly twirled a large gun around her finger. "Of course, if you manage to create a noise, a loud bang, for example. Or just put a bullet through their head, point blank."

"Thanks, I guess," Link said, picking himself off the ground. "You saved my life."

"Yeah, about that. Most people tend to run away from monsters. You know, for future reference."

He grabbed his sword from off of his bike. "I'm not most people," he said. "Then again, it sounds like you aren't either. Who are you, exactly?"

"My name's Natavhari. Fifteen-year-old encyclopedia of monsters and history. Expert marksman."

"Nata…?"

"Navi," she said. "All my friends just call me Navi."

"All right. Thanks, Navi."

"So what sort of person are you, that you're not afraid of monsters and you carry a sword around? I mean, guns work so much better."

"The sword is a personal thing," he said. "And yeah, I'm…well, I'm sort of on a quest. Important stuff to do. So thanks, and later."

"You're looking for the Master Sword, aren't you?" she asked.

He turned to face her. "How did you know that? Only one other person could possibly know."

She grinned mischievously. "It's pretty obvious, isn't it? Big save-the-world sort of quest, guy who carries a sword…I'll bet your name's Link, isn't it? Oh, come on," she said at his look of shock. "I told you, I'm like an encyclopedia when it comes to history. It's just what I'm good at. Besides killing monsters, that is. Look, you're really lucky you found me, because it just so happens that I'm one of the only people who can actually take you to the Master Sword."

"And what, nobody else knows where to find it?"

"Nope. It's pretty well guarded, so it's a secret to everybody. But I have my ways of learning about things. I know where to find it. I could take you there."

He looked at her warily. "Are you my guide?"

She shrugged. "Dunno. But I can help you out. Get you info on enemies. If you're looking for the Master Sword, you're obviously doing something pretty big, and you're gonna need all the help you can get."

"So what's the catch? What do you want?"

She looked down. "Well, you're Link. You're obviously after Ganondorf, and so Zelda has got to be involved somehow. If I come with you, I might get to meet Zelda, and…well, all I really want is a place to call home. A family of some sort. I've gone from place to place, doing what I can for a bit of money, living in shelters…I'm basically just a child of the streets. I don't have anywhere I fit in. And Zelda's got the wisdom to help me find that place."

Link smiled at her. "Well, Navi, even if Zelda can't do anything, I'm sure I can. Now come on, you say you know where the Master Sword is?"

"Yeah! Well…well, okay not really."

"What."

"No, wait! I don't exactly know where it is, but I've got some ideas, and I'm positive I know someone who does know."

"All right, so who is it?"

"He's a mapmaker. A genius mapmaker, actually. He can get us the maps to find anything, though he never actually goes for it himself. He just, well, he likes maps, I guess."

"All right, let's go, then. Hop on the bike." He swung his leg over, and Navi hopped up behind him. It was the first time he had actually watched her move, and it was quite fascinating. She moved with an odd sort of agility, as if she were dancing, or even floating. There wasn't much grace or purpose to it, but it was gentle and quick. She bounded up behind him, thrusting her arms around his waist to hang on.

"There's just one thing, Link," she said.

"Oh? And what's that?"

"Well, you have to promise that, when we get there, you won't be mad at me."

He laughed. "Navi, if you're sure he can help us, why would I be mad?"

"Oh, trust me. You'll see what I mean as soon as you see him."