THE LEGEND OF ZELDA
The War of Time
Chapter one: Return
A sixteen year old boy clad in a green tunic and a hat rode from the deep woods of Hyrule, his blue sword slung on his back, along with his numerous other weapons, riding on a brown horse. This boy’s name was Link. And he had finally returned home.
Link had not returned to Hyrule for a long time. He had been away on his other adventures, trying to save the entire world, (or in his case, other worlds,) from certain destruction. He had not had time to return here, but now that his adventures were over for a time, he could come back. This place was where all his greatest friends resided, most importantly of all, Princess Zelda.
Link rode on Epona into Hyrule Field, where there were no visible borders to it in any direction. Link knew his home well, however. To his right, (the north,) resided Kakariko Village, and Zora River, as well as Zora’s Domain. Death Mountain towered above Kakariko Village. That was where the Goron race resided. Behind that, the mountains, that signified the “borders” of Hyrule. Nobody had ever ventured beyond those mountains, (except Link,) so nobody knew exactly where Hyrule ended. To the west, (in front of Link, though he could not see it quite yet,) was Hylia City, where Hyrule Castle was located, the Royal Families home. Hylia City was enormous. To the far south on Link’s left, were two places. First was Hylia Lake, and Gerudo Valley, then, beyond that further, was the Haunted Wasteland, and yet still further from that, was the Desert Colossus. And finally, to the East, from behind Link, was Kokiri Forest, the place where he had lived for 10 whole years of his life before realizing that he was not a Kokiri, but a Hylian. The forest had played a very important role in Link’s life. And it still did even now, after he had become a legend.
Link looked forward to seeing Zelda again very very much. After all, she was his age, (slightly younger,) and she was intensely beautiful. Link did love her. But he kept it to himself.
He did not know however, that she felt the same way toward him.
Zelda missed Link dearly, and, only a few days earlier, she had received a letter from Link saying that he would be back in 2 days. She had gotten prepared, and at the moment that Link was riding through the vast field of Hyrule, Zelda stood on the grounds of Hyrule Castle, anxiously awaiting his arrival, very excited for his return.
Epona whinnied, looking around at the familiar sights.
“Ah,” said Link laughing, as he patted her on the head, “I see you are happy to return home to?”
Epona snorted her agreement.
After about a half hour, Link found himself staring up at the white walls that surrounded Hylia City. The sun was just rising, casting a flickering glow over the distant treetops, making the walls sparkle. It was a wondrous sight, and Link was happy to look upon it once more.
And Zelda waited, even more anxious and excited now, sensing his presence outside the city. She was not going to contact him with her mind. She wanted to meet him full.
Link rode into the marketplace. This was Hylia City’s center, and was mostly a place for food, trade, and fun. There was everything here, food markets, Inn’s, Mask Shops, (Link kept looking back at the mask shop, remembering vividly the trouble one had caused in Termina,) shops that sold shields and bows and swords, and nearly every day, the people of Hylia City would gather in here and just relax and have fun.
It was a wonderful place. Yet Link rode on, not stopping.
People were just waking up and coming outside to enjoy the sunrise. When people saw him ride by, they hailed him jovially, and jubilantly. They all cheered as he passed. He was sure that he made them feel safer. He tried to wave at everyone in turn, but did not stop his relentless pace.
He eventually rode out of the Marketplace, and arrived on the grounds of Hyrule Castle. His heart leapt with joy. He saw the guards grin enthusiastically, seeing him, and opened the gate to him, also cheering his arrival. He smiled at them, and kept going.
He rode into the large grass area of Hyrule Castle, and, seeing Zelda standing there with a huge charming smile on her face, he stopped, leapt off Epona, and ran to her.
Zelda ran too.
They reached each other, and embraced tightly.
“I’m so glad your back,” she said, slightly muffled, since she was pressed against his chest.
He laid his head on her shoulder and kissed her cheek.
“I am too.”
They let go, smiling.
“Where on earth have you been all this time? All I know is that you were off in other worlds, trying to save them.”
“It’s a very long story,” said Link, and I’m sure I’ll tell you once we go somewhere else. I don’t relish having the guards listening in on all the things I’ve been doing.”
“Yeah...”
She led him off the grounds, and to the open gate that led over the moat surrounding the castle.
They went inside the castle, and into the main room.
Link was always very taken with this place. It was so fancy and perfect, and...well, flawless.
Zelda saw him staring around, and smiled.
“You never used to stare like that,” she pointed out.
“Well, these past years, I haven’t been staying in what you could call–er–fancy lodgings like this.” he said with disdain.
“Let’s go up to my room. Then you can tell me everything there, and I will tell you everything that happened here.”
They went up the huge red carpeted stairs, and turned left. They walked along a long corridor, until they reached a large door. She opened it up.
They were inside her quarters. The windows were very high, and the domed ceiling sparkled with jewels. The walls were lined with very expensive furniture, and it was brightly lit.
She led him into her room on the right, and they sat down on her bed.
Link began to tell her everything that had happened to him since he left for Termina. It took him nearly 2 hours to tell the entire tale.
Once he was done talking, Zelda breathed softly.
“Wow,” she said, “that is incredible. And you survived it all?”
“Yes,” said Link, with a slight frown.
“Well, I’d like to tell you that everything has been going great here, but it is not so,” Zelda said sadly. “You see, a couple months ago, our barracks on the other side of Hylia Lake was attacked by an army of Lizalfos, Stalfos, and to make it even worse, 10 Iron Knuckles.”
Link gasped. “Where did they come from?”
“The Iron Knuckles had silver signs on their plate mail,” continued Zelda, “bearing the hand of Ganon.”
Link froze, his breathing oddly constricted. He shifted his sword uneasily. He looked down at the bed sheets, and spoke hoarsely.
“But, I killed him,” he said.
“We don’t know how it happened,” Zelda said sympathetically, watching Link struggling with her words. “Many of our soldiers died in the battle. We managed to beat them in the end. But, unfortunately, it was just a small army. We have certain information that we gathered from the dying minions, that Ganon is once again active, and is gathering an enormous army to launch an assault on Hyrule with.”
Link stared.
“He wants to seize Hyrule?!” he said incredulously.
“And he will, unless we stop it. The trouble is, we don’t know when or where he is going to start. And, we aren’t exactly sure how he is going to do it.”
“You mean, h-he might attack in a different time?” Link said shakily.
“Yes,” Zelda replied, “he knows that you were gone for a long time, so he might attack in one of the years that you were gone.”
Link stared at the wall, thinking hard.
“So,” Link said, “this means...”
“That you are going to have to travel back in time, once again.” finished Zelda. “But,” she added, “this time, you will NOT be going alone.”
“You’re coming?” Link said. “But...”
“Remember before you say it Link,” Zelda said, “I can easily turn into Sheik.”
“That’s right,” smiled Link, “you are an excellent fighter as Sheik. Can you use your telekenetic powers yet?”
“Are you kidding?” Zelda said, and Link felt his hat lift from his head, revealing his spiked, slightly long blonde hair. He looked at Zelda’s hand, and saw her finger twitch in the direction of the door. He looked up, and saw his hat fly very fast indeed to the door, then hang itself on the doorknob.
She then moved it back on.
“You’ve been practicing,” noted Link.
“We want to leave soon, but we want to get you settled in,” said Zelda, “so we leave tomorrow morning.”
Link was dismayed by how soon they were going to leave, but knew that it was necessary.
“Is the Triforice still safe?”
Zelda frowned, looking away for a second.
“Yes,” she said quietly, “but we don’t know how much longer we can hold it. Ganon has the three spiritual stones, and he might just storm Hylia City and take the Temple of Time before he attempts to seize Hyrule altogether. Come to think of it, if he got the Triforice again, then he could just summon an army so big that it would be child’s play to just take Hyrule without a fuss.”
“But we can’t leave this time then! It would be like leaving the gate to the Temple of Time wide open to him!”
“We don’t have a choice,” said Zelda, “which is worse, Link, staying here and letting him seize Hyrule in a different year, or leaving and leaving the fate of Hyrule in the hands of the King for a few days? My father is not a fool, Link.”
“I never said he was,” Link replied quickly, “its just....I’m not going to like the fact that Hylia City will be unprotected by us.”
“Neither do I,” Zelda said, “but it is necessary.”
Link nodded.
And with that, Link went to his reserved room, and settled down for the day, mentally preparing for what they were about to do tomorrow, and trying to relax, when he knew that Hyrule was facing the single greatest threat it had ever witnessed.
Ganon was loose once more.
