Disclaimer: The Legend of Zelda belongs to someone who isn't me
Paradise
With his bare hands, he had built it. It was not extravagant, but it was their home.
Chapter 4
Ganondorf had spent many years preparing for this moment. His every move, every action had been calculated very precisely. He cast a glance around the throne room, taking in the sight of his best soldiers. For they were no longer just thugs or scoundrels. They had been trained to serve him. They had been taught to serve him.
They had been bred to serve him.
For many of these men, he was the only father they had ever known. To say that Ganondorf was all-powerful was not a thing of hubris. Ever since the bloody swath of war, the butchering of so many people, since the nuclear fire that had engulfed the world so long ago…
He allowed his gaze to drift to the back of his right hand. His lips twisted into an evil smirk.
Yes, ever since those events that he himself had caused, Ganondorf had Power.
But it was not yet true power. And for that reason, he had set out to conquer this barren, dead land. Once all of it was his, he could find what he needed.
The second piece was already in his possession. After all bowed before him, finding the third would be overwhelmingly simple.
Once again, his gaze returned to his soldiers, to his generals and commanders. Perhaps an army of roughly one hundred and fifty soldiers did not seem all too frightening, but when his only enemies were a small handful of starving farmers….
His hand clenched into a fist. The act of taking what he desired was always so thrilling.
The people he claimed would try to fight back. They would yell and scream about losing their "freedom." Ha! He was giving them freedom, the freedom to live under his glorious rule. All who opposed him would die until, eventually, only the loyal remained.
Ganondorf stood from his throne. He walked slowly to one of the enormous windows that adorned the walls of his castle. He gazed out upon the world, and laughed loudly.
For how could there possibly be any in this desolate world with the strength to oppose him?
Every time she decided to wander outside her settlement, the others told her that it was far too dangerous. Every time, Midna ignored them. She would often leave early in the morning, and not return until late at night. Sometimes, she would sleep outside, under what stars she could see.
She enjoyed the solitude. She liked to explore, and to find things, even if they were not very exciting or valuable. Today, she had found some old, rusty cans. She was pushing them around with a stick she had also found. As usual, her red hair was tied back to keep it out of her face. Midna enjoyed knowing that the opinions of others did not concern her.
When she looked up from her game of Push the Can with a Stick, she found a stranger.
He was a very strange stranger. His blond hair was messy, yet somehow it seemed clean. His clothes were worn and faded, and yet they seemed bright and colorful. And he had beautiful blue eyes.
The reason Midna found this stranger to be so particularly strange was that he was watching her. But he wasn't wearing a look of contempt or irritation.
He was looking at her in a way that suggested he was reminded of a fond memory.
Midna dropped her stick, looked away, and realized she was blushing. She chose to believe that she was embarrassed to have been found playing in the dirt, and not because this stranger was incredibly attractive.
By the time she deiced to look back and explain her very mature reasons for appraising these particular cans with such a crude instrument, he had turned his back and begun walking away.
"W-wait!" she found herself shouting.
He stopped and looked back at her. Her brain lurched and grasped for something to say.
"Uh, do you mind if I go with you?" was what it ended up choosing.
He gave her a slightly confused look, mixed somewhat with amusement. She twitched, and resisted the urge to break the awkward silence by punching him.
"I mean," she started, "You seem like a bit of a drifter. And, well, I like to wander around so it might be nice to have someone to talk to for a change…"
She drifted off at the end of her sentence, and wondered what she was doing. Going off alone with someone she didn't know could get her killed, or worse. But somehow… Midna knew she could trust this man.
"Ah, I'm sorry. Just forget it, that was a stupid thing to ask."
He began to walk away again. She sighed, feeling disappointed for some reason. The stranger stopped, and looked at her as if to ask her if she was coming. She blinked several times in rapid succession.
Midna quickly caught up, and then she and the stranger began to walk.
It took Midna all of two minutes to realize that the stranger wasn't going to say a word. She asked him a few random questions at first, and he responded with either a nod or by shaking his head. So they walked on in silence.
Somehow, it managed to be a comfortable silence. She didn't feel out of place next to this person. If she didn't know any better, Midna would have said that they had met before.
After half an hour, she recognized where they were heading.
"Going to those old temple ruins, huh?" She assumed that he knew where he was heading.
His continued silence somehow managed to affirm that she was correct. She laughed.
"So, what, you on some kind of spiritual journey or something?"
He gave her a glance that told her she was probably right again.
"Never would have guessed," said Midna. "You don't look the type. But hey, what do I know?"
When they entered the crumbling remains of the graveyard that preceded the temple ruins, she had to try very hard to not make a comment about how romantic this trip was turning out to be. She nearly had a heart attack when she realized that the stranger was clambering up to the temple entrance.
"Woah woah woah! You're gonna go inside?"
His look suggested to her that that should have been obvious. He continued to make his way through the deteriorating gravestones. Midna followed him, the whole time trying to shake of the feeling that all of this was a very bad idea.
Two massive stone doors blocked off the entrance to what was left of the temple. Or they would have, had they not collapsed long ago. The stranger clambered over the stone fragments, Midna right behind him.
It turned out that the doors weren't the entrance of the temple, but the entrance to an antechamber of sorts. There was an ancient looking stone pedestal on the floor, in the middle of a circle of torches. All of the torches were lit.
Midna continued to have a nagging feeling that they didn't belong there. She was about to voice her strong desire to leave when her eyes came across the doorway that led to the actual temple itself. The doors had been decimated. From the way the remains were strewn across the floor, it appeared that…
It appeared that they had been blown open by something inside.
Now she really didn't want to be here.
She turned to the stranger, intending to coerce him into leaving with her. He was sitting on the stone pedestal. It looked like his eyes were closed, as if he was praying or meditating.
Midna was so surprised that she momentarily forgot that she was supposed to be feeling terrified.
Then she felt it.
It was a deep, dark presence. It was malicious, it was angry, it wanted to hurt.
It was rushing towards them, through the broken doorway.
There was a horrible noise, like a demon from the pits of hell was shrieking with all it's might. Midna was petrified with pure terror.
The flames of the torches all went out simultaneously.
The stranger opened his eyes, and looked at the doorway.
The evil presence was around them, Midna could feel it. It was encircling them, preparing to lash out in it's horrible anger.
The long, thin object on the stranger's back shifted slightly.
Suddenly, there was another unearthly scream, this one of pain, and the presence was gone. It fled back into the depths of it's lair, screaming in agony, and was silent.
Midna realized that she was sweating and trembling uncontrollably. She succeeded in holding back the tears that were on the verge of spilling out.
The stranger got up slowly.
He gently took her hand, and led her outside.
Past the cold torches.
Past the stone door fragments.
Past the graveyard.
When they were back in the dull sunlight, he attempted to let go of her hand.
She held it tighter in her grip.
They walked on, together.