Zelda
Hyrule Castle Dungeon
1:56 a.m.
13 days before Declaration
Zelda opened her eyes to the song of dripping water, just as she had done three days before. In the vacant darkness of her prison cell, she had little to do but recall the events that had brought her there: surrendering to Zant and plunging the world in twilight, hiding the truth of the castle's destruction, her overconfidence in herself in the face of the general. It was her fault; all of it.
She felt the cold wet stone underneath her bare fingers as she lifted herself off the floor. The gloves were ruined, soaking wet and filthy just like most of her dress. Her shoes were too uncomfortable to wear, so she walked the stone over a thin layer of tights. The jewelry around her neck was falling to pieces, and her hair flew as it pleased down her shoulders. At another time and place she may have worried if she looked presentable. But that no longer seemed to matter.
For a brief moment, the steady beat of water revived her spirit with rage. "This place is deplorable!"she shuddered. "At least Zant was courteous enough to give me a bedroom in the tower. Donphes is treating me like a common thief!"
But then she realized: that was exactly how he saw her. She was nothing more than an incompetent con-man in his eyes; a thief who stole her father's title and drove it into the ground. She was no princess to him, she was a criminal.
The sound of a door unlocking woke her from her thoughts. The wooden door creaked as one of Donphes' guards entered the dungeon with a set of keys and a torch. Despite the sudden intense light, Zelda could make out the red lion on the soldier's breastplate, and more importantly the sheathed sword he had at his side. After locking the entrance behind him, he silently walked to the cell as he searched for the proper key to unlock the door.
"Excuse me sir, but where are you going to take me?"
"To the courtyard." the guard replied, never straying from his task to look at the prisoner.
"Why am I being taken there, exactly?" Zelda asked, too curious to remain silent.
"You are to be executed at dawn."
The word struck her like an axe to the neck. Executed. The word itself seemed to possess the power to kill, filling her with terror and shock...but why was she so surprised? The man in charge saw her as a threat to his power; of course he would want her dead! She should have seen this coming, but she was too busy moping to realize that her life was about to end. Yet another foolish mistake.
The cell door unlocked and the guard approached her. With each step he took towards her, Zelda took two steps back. She considered seizing the guard's sword and slitting his throat, or stabbing him through the heart before he could take her. Anything to do to escape this nightmare.
Zelda reached the wall and slid into the corner, trapping herself like a caged animal. "You are making a terrible mistake, sir." she trembled. "Donphes cannot execute me. I am the princess of Hyrule!"
"Not anymore."
"What do you mean 'not anymore'? Of course I am! I am the heir to the Royal Family and the ruler of this kingdom!" She did not know if she was trying to convince the guard or herself.
The soldier unsheathed his blade and held it just before her neck, "Don't you ever compare yourself to them. The Royal Family has protected the people centuries; while you let your people suffer. You ruined this kingdom! Donphes may want you killed in public but if I hear another word out of you I won't hesitate to kill you myself. Now MOVE!"
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The guard turned towards the locked wooden door as someone pounded on it from the other side. Zelda did not utter a sound, in fear the guard would go through with his threat. The banging continued as the guard grabbed his keys and unlocked the entrance to see who it was.
The door opened inwards; the person on the other side was covered by it. From her viewpoint, Zelda could see nothing but the guard's terrified face. As he slowly stepped backwards the princess saw a small point at the soldier's neck, almost touching it.
"Drop your sword." a familiar voice ordered.
The guard obeyed, and continued to slowly move backwards. As he did the small point at his neck stretched into a long thin sheet of metal: a sword.
The person's voice was that of a young man, she was certain. And as more and more of him was revealed Zelda noticed the man's strong muscular arms, his dirty blond hair, and his fierce blue eyes. He wore the clothes of an Ordonian farm boy, and had a strange tattoo of the Triforce on his left hand.
Zelda's rescuer continued to push the guard back into the open cell, and gestured to the princess that she should get out. His eyes were strong and intimidating, the growl of a feral beast.
As soon as she was out, he followed and locked the bar doors behind him. He smiled at her innocently, "Jeez Zelda, how many times am I gonna have to save you?"
She blushed slightly, more in self-loathing than in embarrassment. "I suppose as many times as it takes. You always do seem toappear at just the right time, Link."
The Hero of Hyrule smiled brightly, his eyes shining with glee like a dog wagging his tail.
"Now if you do not mind Link, I would very much like to be rid of this insufferable place as soon as possible."
"Oh! Right. Let's go."
As the two ran out the prison door, Link suddenly stopped and turned to face the imprisoned guard. "Sorry about this!" he shouted back before dashing out of sight.
-
The princess followed Link as best she could up the dark and winding stairs. So many questions went through her mind. Why was he here? How did he find out about her imprisonment all the way in Ordon? Did anyone else know where she was?
"A few days ago I got a letter from Telma." the Hero said; he must have guessed what she was thinking. "It was scribbled so fast it was tough to read, but it said that you'd been kidnapped by the Army and that you were in danger. I got on Epona with Rusl and rode here as fast as I could."
"Are many people aware of my abduction?" Zelda asked as she stubbed her toe on a stair.
"I dunno. There were a couple angry soldiers that I saw on my way in. A couple of people in town were mad too."
"Link, I am not sure those are related." she smiled in the dark.
"Well, they could be!" he said defensively.
The duo reached the castle's surface, and were greeted by a shadowy semi-circle of soldiers. Link held his arm out to keep Zelda behind him, as the semi-circle closed tighter around them.
A shot of concentrated thunder struck the ground, as a hole was suddenly created like a splash into water. The soldiers looked around to see where the explosion had come from, but then suddenly another one appeared, then another.
The soldiers started fleeing the area, afraid of getting blown to bits. The unfortunate ones who had the courage to stay got an arrow through the head or torso.
Zelda held on tightly to her protector. By his side she felt like she was in a sanctuary; in a warm, comforting place where no agent of Donphes could ever harm her.
"Uuuuhh, Zelda? You can let go now. It's over."
Reality set back in again. She quickly released Link, "Yes. Of course. Very sorry about that."
The low voice of a woman pierced the silence, "Hey! Link! That's the Princess with you yeah?"
Out of the shadows appeared a pale young woman with raven black hair. She had an almost bored look on her face, which was complemented by her dark expressionless eyes. She wore red pants and various pieces of silver armor. At her side was a sheathed rapier, but in her hand was the bow used to kill the guards who refused to leave.
"Ashei!" Link beamed. "What're you doing here?"
The woman shrugged, "Same thing as you I guess. Got a letter from Telma saying the Princess was in trouble, could use my help. Had nothing better to do so I thought I'd come, yeah?"
"Are the others here too? Rusl came with me and is making sure our way out is clear, but where's Shad and Auru?"
"Well Shad's about as useful as a headless cuccoo in a fight, so he's back at Telma's place keeping watch. As for Auru..." Ashei pointed to the top of a stack of stone blocks fifty yards away. There Zelda could just make out the shape a large man with what looked like a cannon on his shoulder.
"I suggest you and the Princess be more careful, Link." Ashei commented with what appeared to be her version of a smile. "We've already saved your ass twice. Can't guarantee there'll be another encore, yeah?"
"Thanks." Link chuckled playfully. "We will."
He grabbed Zelda's hand and started to make the long run to the bridge to Castle Town, where they could find the princess a place to hide.
-
Captain Attics
2:18 a.m.
Attics' armor clunked as the captain paced his post. Despite years of being able to speak his mind to Donphes, his earlier demands that the princess should be freed had not been tolerated. Donphes had ordered him to patrol the castle ruins on the graveyard shift as punishment.
Attics could not care less. Constantly walking from the light of the torch to the dark of the shadows let his mind be at ease. But the question of his loyalty sat like a bad taste in his mouth. He sincerely wanted the best for his friend, but was his friend above the law? Could he trick his conscience into justifying Zelda's arrest?
Out of the corner of his eye he watched a shadow dance out of sight. Darkness always spreads lies, he thought. Bathing in the light one could find his way, but the unknown darkness always holds danger. Always.
"Zelda has escaped! Sound the alarm! The princess has escaped!"
A guard dashed by Attics as he yelled the command. Attics had no time to think; he simply followed with his sword in hand.
The captain thought he saw the shapes of two figures running ahead of him; holding each other's hands like it was their only connection. He heard the jingling of chain mail as the other guards took notice and also gave chance. It was not long before there were dozens of soldiers chasing the shadows.
One guard managed to cut them off, and the hunt was over. A torch was brought to lend its light, revealing the shadows as a young man and woman. The man held his sword out against the guards as they surrounded them. The woman stood behind him, hiding her face from their captors.
"Princess Zelda?" Attics asked the woman.
She seemed to recognize his voice, because she looked over at him. But her face showed no sign of comfort by his presence; on the contrary, she looked at him as if he were her executioner.
"Captain. Please, you must let us out of here." she said barely controlling her fear.
"I'm sorry, Your Highness. I tried to get you released, I honestly did. But Donphes wouldn't listen to me. I couldn't do anything."
"You can do something now." Zelda replied urgently. "Order the guards to stand aside. Please captain, if you know what is right you will call them off!"
Some of the guards looked to Attics, as if asking if he was really going to do what she said. Others pressed in even closer, trying to shut the princess up with a sword at her throat. But Attics could not decide. He did not want to choose sides. This was not a war, there were no sides to choose from! He feared betraying his friend as much as he feared betraying his conscience.
It was then he remembered: the unknown darkness always holds danger. Always.
"Stand down." Attics heard himself say.
The guards looked confused; some even laughed, thinking the captain was making a joke. But Attics did not laugh, nor did he hold up his sword against the captives.
He walked into the circle and turned to face his fellow soldiers, "I can't be the only one here who thinks that Donphes has gone too far. You might not agree with what Her Highness has done but that doesn't mean you can kill her and replace her with someone else! The fact is, nobody but her can pull off running the kingdom. We just can't, and pretending we can is lying to ourselves and to all the people in Hyrule we claim to protect."
A guard up front summoned the courage to speak out, "But General Donphes said-"
"General Donphes can kiss my ass!" Attics interrupted. "If you're going to blindly follow orders then you're nothing more than puppets! Do what you know is right, not what Donphes tells you is right. Now stand down before I beat the shit out every single one of you!"
A few guards lowered their weapons, convinced by their consciences that what they were doing was wrong. But many kept their blades held high. They began to shout at the captain, branding him a feeble minded traitor. Those who chose his side defended Attics, and it was not long before someone started swinging his sword in fury.
What had started out as an attempt to recapture a prisoner had transformed into an armed brawl. "Go, Your Highness!" Attics barked as he punched an incoming soldier in the jaw. "We'll keep them busy!"
The princess took one last look at the captain, and mouthed two words he could not hear, before dashing back into the darkness.