It's been a long time since I posted anything to the FFML ... matter of fact, 
I don't think I've posted anything since the list moved to its new home. 
Anyway, here's the start of my current project.
Since I'm currently in Japan, my Internet connectivity is under serious 
restrictions - I have to use my ISP's web-mail interface, I can't even telnet 
into my shell account. As a result, I'm going to have to post each part in 
sections, and I will NOT be able to post them on my web site until I get home 
- or get very lucky with 'Net connections.

So, with that in mind ... here's the first segment of the first part.


     The Legend of Zelda: Eternal Prophecy

                              Prologue: "By Fire, Water, and Wind"

     Since the most ancient of known times, the country of Hyrule has been
considered by those who lived within its bounds to be both sacred and magical.
Hylian myth recounts the creation of the world by the three goddesses, Din,
Nayru, and Farore; each of these made her contribution to the forging of the
world, and also gave a piece of herself to the mystical Golden Power, known in
later days as the sacred Triforce.
     Whether or not there is any truth to this myth may never be known;
however, such myths have a way of making their own truth. To be sure, the
Triforce is real; so too are the names of the goddesses, and the names of
those who fought in later days to protect the Triforce against those who would
wield its power for the sake of greed and destruction - names which have been
woven together into a legend nearly as old as the recorded history of Hyrule.
     The names have grown to hold their own power as well. Zelda, daughter of
the royal family, keeper of the Ocarina of Time in the days when Hyrule faced
its greatest peril ... Impa, Zelda's eternally loyal nurse and guardian ...
Link, a child who was called on to become the hero of five races ... Ganondorf
Dragmire, the Gerudo thief who was transformed by the Triforce's power into
Ganon, the incarnate King of Evil ...
     Of all these names, only one is still held by the original: Ganon.
Sealed into the Dark World after his initial defeat, and kept there throughout
countless generations, his curse brought the dubious blessing of near-
immortality; however many times he may be reincarnated and killed, the magic
which sealed him away once has ensured that his spirit will always return to
the Dark Realm, howling in fury after each defeat. The other names have been
passed down through the ages, bound into the legend; many times, they have
encountered one another, drawn by the threads of fate to re-enact the events
of history - Zelda's peril and Link's unmatchable bravery, brought together by
Impa's loyalty ... and perhaps, the continued will of the goddesses.

     But the passing of time has always taken its toll on the legend. Now,
the truth of the events which led to Ganon's dark birth has been lost in the
mists of time, and the other names which were associated with that time - the
names of the seven great sages who aided Link in Hyrule's darkest hour, and
the names of those others who met the Hero of Time in the course of his quest
- have been consigned to the dust of history. The sages, at least, are
remembered in some way by the towns which have received their names, and some
few of the other names are still given to infants at their first blessings,
but none of them are remembered in the legend.
     The Triforce still exists, as it has from Hyrule's creation, and as it
will until the end of time itself, but it is guarded so preciously that its
golden light no longer appears outside the walls of the royal palace. It is
treated, not as the sacred gift of the goddesses, but as the symbol which it
has become. The five races - the forest-dwelling Koriki, the aquatic Zora, the
rock-eating Gorons, the desert-roaming Gerudo, and the Hylians whose strong
hearts enabled the races to be united in the first place - live in peace, for
the most part, because of the Courage, Wisdom, and Power which the Triforce
represents: any Hylian monarch who falters from the Triforce's path is swiftly
corrected, most often peacefully.
     And the names which live on at the center of the legend?
     The name of Zelda is rarely bestowed, even within the royal family, and
when a girl-child is named Zelda, she is never without at least one trusted
protector - often, for tradition's sake, named Impa, and chosen as much for
her own courage, wisdom, and strength as for that unshakeable loyalty.
However, Zelda's name is associated with both good and bad luck - bad in that
disasters have traditionally befallen either princesses named Zelda, or the
land in which they live; good in that most often, a hero appears who will
rescue both princess and land in their hour of need.
     As for that hero's name ... the hero is not always named Link, but the
name is often given to boys who show the promise of the Triforce's traits at
their birth; if these traits of courage, wisdom, and power fail to manifest,
sometimes the name is given up at maturity.
     Only the name of Ganon is never bestowed on any child in any race, and
only rarely is that name spoken above a whisper - never without some sign or
motion to ward off evil, for the belief is that Ganon is always lurking,
hammering away at the infinite walls of his prison, seeking that tiniest of
cracks through which he can begin struggling back into the realm of the
living, the Light World ... the land of Hyrule.

     Hylians have always been traditionalists, slow to change, never letting
go of what is tried, tested, and trustworthy; this is one reason why the
traits associated with the Triforce are still held dear. The other, quite
simply, is that they *work* - as long as all three exist in balance. In any
case, Hylian traditionalism has ensured that, despite the advancing of
technology, new inventions are rarely brought into use without making sure
that they won't disturb what already is in place. As a result, the land of
Hyrule has retained its natural beauty throughout countless centuries, only
occasionally disturbed by various natural or magical disasters - never
industrial. Most Hylians would still rather ride a horse than a car, or even a
bicycle; a horse can be nursed back to health if it gets sick or injured, but
if you break a machine, it takes more than food, water, and medicine to fix.
     Most weapons are still traditional as well. There are a few rifles and
other firearms throughout Hyrule, but you'll rarely find anything more
sophisticated than a Bombchu in regular use - again, the more complicated a
machine is, the harder it is to use and maintain. Bombchus are typically made
to explode anyway, as are the more mundane (and much more common) bombs. It
helps that Hyrule hasn't had to fight a war against outside invaders in
several millenia, of course.
     As a result, it's still not unusual to walk through one part of the
countryside or another and see teenagers riding on horseback at nearly
breakneck speeds, swinging swords or nocking arrows to bowstrings, sometimes
throwing boomerangs or fragment-etched pots (to simulate the impact of bombs)
to hone their skills. Most of the time these are just friendly competitions,
but you'll also find young warriors who are honing their skills in earnest,
for hunting or to try for a spot in the royal guard. However, the really
serious training is done indoors, where the trainees can be carefully watched
by those who are teaching them.
     Or at least that's the idea.
     In the straw-lined, high-ceilinged basement room of one countryside
house, three young men were fighting with wooden swords and shields; one of
them was holding back, letting his equally-burly companion handle the assault
against the smaller boy in the padded green tunic.
     "Give it up, Link!" snapped Romal as his sword smashed into the younger
boy's shield, sending splinters flying. "I don't care how many legends your
name is in - NOBODY is good enough to beat me and Gill at the same time!"
     "Oh, for the love of Nayru -" Link batted Romal's sword away from his
face again, glancing around at his father's other students before bringing his
shield back up to deflect a reversed slash. "All right, you're my dad's star
pupils -" He jumped over a slice directed at his legs. "- and you've won the
last two village championships between you -" The shield swung at his head was
against all traditional etiquette of Hylian swordsmanship, but Link dodged it
instead of complaining. "- but this challenge was *your* idea, not mine!" He
spotted an opening, and quickly swung his sword at Romal's unguarded belly,
checking his swing so as not to do any more damage than necessary (ideally
none).
     The slash was blocked, not by Romal's sword or shield, but by Gill's
intervening wooden blade. "Actually, friend," Gill smiled far too pleasantly,
"I just said we could have defeated the *legendary* Link. You took the comment
as a personal challenge."
     Link took a few steps back, tightening his guard and watching both of
his opponents. "Yeah, well, if you want a Link, you've got him."
     "Don't you mean the weak Link in the chain?" Lomar charged forward,
bringing his sword down in an overhead slash that practically ignored Link's
defenses and drove the boy to his knees, shoulder throbbing. "Din's flames,
kid, you're *older* than any young hero in the legends, never mind Zelda's
own!"
     The next slash came square across Link's shield, but with enough force
at just the right angle to send him sprawling flat on his back. "So count
yourselves lucky -" Link rolled away, hand clenched tightly around the hilt of
his sword. "- that we don't have any evil kings being resurrected this year!"
     "Oh, please," sighed Gill melodramatically as he closed in on his shared
opponent. "Like you'd stand a chance against Ganon if he walked up and
introduced himself by name?"
     Link's hand tightened further. "You know as well as I do that that's not
how the legend -"
     "Right, right," snarled Lomar, closing from Link's other side. "Evil
king gets resurrected somehow, princess is kidnapped or something, shadows
gather, monsters appear, yadda yadda rock-screwing yadda -"
     "SHUT UP!!!" Link's sword flashed straight out in front of him just
before he pivoted around on one heel, light trailing behind the wooden blade.
"I've told you -"
     The sound of two bodies hitting the padded floor cut him off in mid-
thought. Except for that and one whispered phrase of swearing, the room was
silent.
     Link didn't let the silence last, dropping his sword and shield and
kneeling next to Lomar; Gill was already sitting up as the young boy ripped
Lomar's tunic open to reveal the welts which were starting to seep blood.
"Damn," groaned Link. "Kedan, get the emergency kit - and for all the
goddesses' sakes, *use the null-gloves*! The last thing I need is you soaking
up Hearts when Lomar needs them!"
     With an audible gulp, the youngest student in the room dashed for the
wall alcove where the emergency treatment kit was stored, running back over
with it and pulling on the magically-insulated mittens which were kept next to
it.
     "Don't move; Gill, hold him down," said Link to both of his erstwhile
opponents as Kedan knelt next to him and opened the white metal box to reveal
a row of softly glowing red crystals and an assortment of more conventional
medical supplies. "Kedan, have you - good. One Heart should stabilize him,
right there," he indicated the center of the injured area. "Be careful with it
but don't hesitate."
     "Okay," Kedan nodded, resisting the urge to swallow again. His gloved
fingers closed gently around one of the red Heart crystals, lifting it out of
the padded case and pressing it to Lomar's skin; with a faint chiming sound,
the crystal melted and seeped into the boy's body, taking the blood with it
and closing the wound.
     "And I would say that puts an end to today's training session," a grown-
up voice interrupted several sighs of relief. Link's father stepped down onto
the straw mats that covered the floor of the training room, looking around. "I
trust that this will put an end to unmonitored 'training' for the next three
months or so, particularly if that was bad enough to merit using a Heart to
treat."
     "Father!" exclaimed Link as he scrambled back to his feet. "It wasn't my
idea -"
     "I don't care whose idea it was, Link, you *know* the rules of any
training hall: no duels, practice or otherwise, are to be held without proper
supervision and equipment. If any of you were using sharp or metal swords I'd
already have your hides soaking in oak and water, but since I only see wooden
swords - without padding, but not sharpened - I'll let you three off with a
month of daily clean-up duty, and no excuses if you're not here to do it. I
don't care if the Evil King," the teacher paused to trace a sigil in the air,
"does walk in here and demand that everyone bow to him: you three *will* be
here daily after lesson time, even if we don't have lessons on a given day,
and I'll personally make sure you have work to do. Understood?"
     "Yes," came the trio of answering sighs.
     "Good. Link, stay here; the rest of you are dismissed. Gill, Lomar,
extra duty starts tomorrow for you. - Oh, and take the used swords to the
workshop for repairs; I see splinters on the floor."
     "Your dad's got an eagle's eyes," Lomar whispered to Link. "Bet the
eagle's not too happy."
     Link managed a wry grin as he handed his sword and shield over to Lomar.
"See you tomorrow, Loam."
     Link's father waited until the other students had cleared the training
hall before motioning at the floor around where Link was standing. "Start
picking up those splinters - oh, close the emergency kit first, we don't need
to keep any extra injuries in there." As Link began working, his father
started asking questions. "What exactly happened?"
     "The usual, with a few new variations," Link answered as he began
picking loose splinters out of the woven straw mats that covered the floor. "I
got teased about my name, I tried to come back with some good remarks, next
thing I know the teasing's gotten out of hand and they've strapped on their
shields, someone's tossing swords to us ..."
     "So why did you use that technique?"
     Link had to stop for a moment and think. "You mean the move you taught
me early in my training?"
     With a sigh, Link's father sat down on the mats, handing a few splinters
to his son. "Link, I knew when we named you that we were saddling you with a
burden you'd have to shoulder for many years, maybe your whole life. Now, most
of my family and a fair portion of your mother's, at least among the males,
has been in the royal guard at one point or another; we've even had a couple
of Links in the family tree."
     "And the Kaitengiri?"
     "Our family's got as much right to use the Kaitengiri technique as any
warrior clan among the Hylians ... but I trusted you to have the judgement not
to use it unless you absolutely had to. It's on every damn shield in this
training hall, Link - the Triforce. Courage and Power you've got, but you make
me wonder about Wisdom at least twice a week, usually more. I was starting to
worry before today, you've been unusually sound in your judgement lately ..."
     Link looked up sharply before realizing that his father was teasing him,
and his scowl faded into a smile. "How many weeks did I make up for?"
     "Not enough to get you out of cleanup duty." Link's father smiled back.
"Look on the bright side; you'll be done one day before those two oafs."
     "They're not oafs, father. They're good students ... better than I am."
     "Don't say that, boy; they've got height, strength, and experience on
you. Not talent, and definitely not the willingness to learn - you're a sponge
for knowledge, Link, and I'm really proud of you for that."
     Link dropped his handful of splinters into the tightly-woven sack his
father held out. "I didn't see you at the doorway when I did the Kaitengiri."
     "I wasn't," Link's father answered. "I heard the sound of a sword
sweeping through the air, though, and between that and Lomar lying flat on his
back and bleeding, I figured it out. One of these days," he mused briefly,
"I'm going to check to see just how much you do notice in the Kaitengiri ...
well, that's for another time; it takes forever to set up properly. It wasn't
invented just as an attack technique, you know."
     That got Link's attention. "It wasn't?"
     "Well ... the truth is, nobody's too certain, but there are more
efficient ways to strike out with focused power than to swing your weapon
around in a circle. My theory has always been that the Kaitengiri was intended
for use in the middle of a big battlefield with fighting going on all around;
the elite knights who waded into the thick of the enemy's forces would need to
check their surroundings, but they couldn't do that without letting their
guard down."
     "So they developed a technique that would drive any opponents back for
that split second," Link realized. "I never thought of it that way."
     "Still, it takes a few seconds to prepare, and it requires full
concentration while you're getting ready to unleash the Kaitengiri. The
technique may have grown some weaknesses since its origin, for all we know."
     "It didn't really feel like it." Link looked around, placed another
handful of splinters in the sack, and stood up straight again. "Although I
guess without going back and seeing how some of the legendary heroes did it,
we'll never know."
     "Yeah." Link's father slowly drew his gaze along the floor, searching
for any splinters his son had missed; he didn't see any. "How's your hand?"
     Although his hands were still covered by leather practice gloves, the
fingertips of Link's right hand brushed against the back of his left hand.
"It's still there."
     "The hand, or the mark from that sting?" Link's father looked concerned.
     With a faint sigh, Link reluctantly answered, "Both. I told you it
wasn't an insect's sting or bite, father; I'm sure that was a fairy touching
me."
     "Link, whatever it is, that was a whole week ago - and nothing I know of
leaves splotches *around* the sting for a mark while the point of contact
itself keeps the appearance of normal skin."
     Link looked down, remembering the sudden flush of warmth that had seared
from his hand through his whole body when the floating ball of light had
touched the back of his hand. "You don't believe me either."
     "I didn't say that."
     "You don't have to say it, father; I know that's what you think about
it. Fairies don't exist; everyone knows that - except there's nothing else it
could have been!"
     "This 'everyone' you mention must have a penchant for denying reality."
Link's father scowled, but this time the scowl was directed at empty air.
"Look, you know about Heart crystals backwards and forwards; you always make
sure to handle them with null-magic gloves or tongs, something that won't
conduct the energy back into you. Even ordinary metal or dead wood carries the
life-essence back to the living being holding it. Now, where do Hearts come
from?"
     "They're crystallized life-essence," answered Link dutifully, "in a
loose matrix which remains stable until it comes into contact with a living
flow of life-force energy."
     "That's what they are, not where they come from."
     Link sighed again. "Nobody knows. Sometimes they materialize when a
monster is slain and the body disintegrates, *if* it disintegrates when
killed, which doesn't always happen. You also find a lot of Hearts in areas
with lots of trees and other plants, or around natural springs, but you
usually have to look harder for those."
     "So we have a species of magical creatures which supposedly doesn't
exist, and a very valuable para-natural resource with an unknown origin. Link,
your mother taught you about this before she died, and I've been over it with
you as well; there's no reason to believe that fairies don't create Hearts
with the life-energy they harvest from the abundance of life around their
homes. The only reason nobody believes in fairies any more is that they
haven't needed to appear, and there *are* other people who believe in them
besides the two of us and your mother."
     "Will any of them be at the festival tomorrow?" Link was still rubbing
the back of his hand gently.
     "Festival ..." Link's father frowned a little bit, pushing his hair
back. "I forgot all about it."
     "You forgot about the biggest festival of the year?" Link stared at his
father. "The Feast of Legends? I know we're close to the castle town, but - !"
     "If you want to blame me for being upset at seeing one of my students
injured, feel free."
     "... Oh." Link's shoulders slumped. "Should I tell Lomar and Gill that
they don't have to worry about tomorrow?"
     "Don't bother; festival or no festival, they have to work tomorrow - and
so do you. You can tell them *that* if you like."
     "I guess I'd better, yeah ..." Link took a step towards the door, then
stopped and looked down at his gloved hands. "Tomorrow ..."
     "What is it, Link?"
     The boy pulled off his gloves. "How am I going to hide this?"
     The back of Link's left hand bore a strange mark, the result of the
fairy's "sting" - but it had gone from a mottling of the skin to something
more akin to a birthmark or scar, save for its light color, almost golden
against the faint pink of Link's own skin ... and the unusual pattern of three
triangles arranged to form a larger triangle, touching at the points.
     The crest of the Triforce.
     "Link, why didn't you tell me how much the shape had changed? You must
have seen it while you were getting dressed."
     Link was staring at the mark again. "But this morning, the shape wasn't
so clear ... the Kaitengiri - the energy I focused in that technique ..."
     Link's father rubbed his hands across his face. "Of all the times ...
damn. Link, you'd better go ahead and wear light gloves tomorrow to cover
that, or there'll be way too many questions. Feast of Legends or not, the last
thing we need is for someone to be walking around like he just stepped out of
one."
     "No argument there," Link replied, already worrying about the ribbing he
would get from the other students if they saw the Triforce crest on his hand.
They'd probably think he put it on with some make-up just to seem more like
his namesake ... and that was an argument he really didn't need or want.

     They woke up well before dawn the next morning, leaving one of the
junior teachers in charge of the house, before Link and his father left for
the castle town on horseback. The horses were better rested than Link was, but
he was able to stay awake enough to avoid falling off of his young mare.
     "You don't need to think much to stay in the saddle on that horse,
Link," his father reminded him. "Just tighten your leg muscles enough to stay
upright and let the rest of your body rest."
     "I'm worried," Link replied distractedly. "I don't just get teased by
the other students ..."
     "Trust me, son, they'll be too busy having fun to bother with you today.
Or is your hand bothering you more?"
     "That too." Link glanced reflexively at his hands as they gripped the
reins. "I was having a dream just before you woke me up ... the mark on my
hand felt like it was burning, and there was something going on all around me
- something really bad."
     "You didn't look like you were having a nightmare," Link's father
commented. "I wouldn't have known you were dreaming at all, in fact ... do you
remember anything more detailed?"
     "Nope. I almost wish I did."
     "Well, the festival ought to help put that out of your head ...
especially when you see the princess."
     Link's heart leapt into his throat. "Princess Zelda?! They're actually
letting her out of the castle for once?"
     "It's the Feast of Legends; of course they're going to let her make a
public appearance. Just don't try to get too close to her ..." Link's father
trailed off with a chuckle. "There's no reason to tempt fate, after all."
     "Of course not," Link answered, looking ahead into the darkness as he
tried to let his body and mind relax.

     The festival itself did more to relax Link than the pre-dawn ride from
their village had, and even the tingling in his left hand seemed to have
abated in the glee of one of the greatest holidays in all of Hyrule. Not only
were all five of the usual races extremely well represented, but even some of
the less-accepted denizens of the land were in attendance: Moblins and Goriyas
seemed to have set aside their usual antipathy towards the other intelligent
species, although a few of them were taking part with great glee (and amazing
restraint) in the tests of strength and martial skill. One of the high points
of the day in Link's mind was the sight of three burly Moblins trying to
remove a young Goron from the grappling ring and being flung into the stands
for their efforts; the fact that one of the Moblins had nearly landed on top
of him did little to dull the exuberance of the moment, and they had taken the
thrashing in good spirits.
     "Isn't this great?" gushed one teenaged Hylian girl, a couple of years
older than Link himself, as they waited in line to buy some snacks for lunch.
"I don't think the races of Hyrule have ever enjoyed such peaceful relations
with each other! I swear I saw some Zora with a pet Octorok over by the
boomerang range ..."
     "Which boomerang range?" wondered Link. "There's at least four of them,
including one that's *run* by a pair of Zora. Not to mention the Goriyas'
stand, and who gave the Gorons permission to ..."
     The barely-muffled roar of an explosion drowned the rest of Link's
sentence, thereby proving his point. The girl just giggled. "They're only
using really small bombs; otherwise they'd never be allowed to have a target
game where you had to hit moving targets with live bombs."
     "Thank the goddesses for small favors," replied Link dryly. "I still
think someone must have landed a bomb in the stock by mistake."
     "That would have been the Moblins' bombing range," the girl told him.
"And it doesn't sound like anyone was hurt ..." She tilted her head,
listening. "No cries of pain, and the only Moblin curse words I can hear are
frustrated ones, not like they'd use if they were injured."
     Link whistled softly. "You can actually hear that much detail in this
crowd?"
     "Moblins aren't noted for being soft-spoken, are they?"
     Link was forced to concede the point.
     The second biggest mistake he made during the day was entering the Goron
dancing challenge; the vibrations alone as the rock-eater's feet hit the
platform was enough to make him think an earthquake was starting. Even though
he managed to stay on his feet for the entire contest, he literally was
staggering as he made his way off the reinforced ironwood arena and back to
truly solid ground. "Good work, son," Link's father congratulated him as he
offered an arm for the dizzy boy to lean on. "There aren't many who can keep
up with a dancing Goron, but you've got the prize to show for it."
     "Yeah," grinned Link as he held up the Goron-made boomerang, admiring
how its polished surface reflected the sunlight. "Guess I have to learn
another weapon now."
     Link's father laughed heartily. "Come on, it's almost time for the
princess to make her appearance. Can you make it to the castle square in five
minutes?"
     "Uh ..." Link tried standing on his own. "Not without help, sorry."
     "Think nothing of it - huh?" Link's father stared upwards. "Did you just
see a shadow?"
     "You mean besides ours, and everyone else's who's around us?"
     "Hmmmm ... I guess it might have been a bird. Let's hurry."

[ Continued due to buffer limits .... ]

Tim Miller
trmiller@bcpl.net

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