Webmail actually *can* handle attachments, it seems ... so here's a fresh copy 
of the prologue - hopefully it'll come through with the formatting intact. 
Chapter one will follow shortly.

C&C is invited. ^_^ Enjoy the read. Oh, and do please bear in mind that the 
series may contain potential spoilers for those not familiar with the Legend 
of Zelda series, but this is an original story in the Zelda universe and not 
tied to ANY of the existing games' storylines.

Tim Miller
trmiller@bcpl.net


-- Attached file included as plaintext by Listar --
-- File: Zelda-00.txt



     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 Kokiri, 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."

     It was fortunate that most of the festival-goers were also headed

towards the castle square, because the crowds were too thick to fight through

as Link and his father made their way through the streets. All along the way,

Link's father maintained a steady monologue of "Excuse us, coming through,

pardon me, excuse us ..." as he elbowed and shouldered his way past idlers at

one stand or another.

     "Good thing Gorons don't hang around in the streets," Link's father

muttered as they reached the square, just as the trumpeters were playing the

royal fanfare. "Just in time ... ah, stop fidgeting with your glove, boy."

     "My hand itches," Link complained. "Gaaaaaah ..."

     "Leave it be," whispered Link's father as the king and queen emerged

onto the balcony above the square. "Now keep quiet and look polite!"

     "Citizens of Hyrule," boomed the king, "we welcome all of those who have

made the journey here to celebrate the legends on which our nation is founded!

Legends of each of the races - Hylian, Kokiri, Zora, Goron, Gerudo - and as of

today, legends of the Moblins and Goriya as well. It is our great pleasure to

announce that from this day forward, all those members of the Moblin and

Goriya races who uphold the nation's laws and choose to accept citizenship

will indeed be counted as citizens of Hyrule!"

     Many of the cheers which went up from the crowd were reluctant to a

greater or lesser degree, but Link and his father were honestly cheered by the

news. Link knew that Moblins, Goriyas, and some other intelligent species were

more typically brigands and worse than law-abiding citizens of the realm.

     "Today," the king continued, "we celebrate the ancient heroes who have

shaped the course of our history -"

     A pair of high-pitched cackles interrupted him. "Heroes?" exclaimed one

of the voices, "HEROES?! Why only celebrate the heroes?"

     The other voice chimed in, "Why not remember the VILLAINS too?!"

     In an instant, Link realized that the shadow his sharp-eyed father had

seen earlier hadn't been a bird ... because the owners of the voices became

visible above the square: figures humanoid in form, barely recognizable as

feminine due to their height above the ground, and riding what Link would have

sworn were broomsticks. One was clad in red, the other in blue, and as they

swooped down on the castle square, their turbans disappeared to reveal the

figures' hair, or what passed for it: instead of real hair, the red-robed

enchantress had a mane of fire spreading from her scalp, while her blue-clad

companion bore flowing ice.

     "Damn!!" swore Link's father, fumbling at the cords which held his sword

in its scabbard. "Link, get out of here now! Those Gerudo witches are going to

-"

     "Get out *how?!*" cried Link. "There's too many people in the streets

around the square!"

     "They'll start running - NO!!" With a jerk, Link's father yanked his

sword from its sheath, snapping the cords and struggling to get the blade

above crowd level, but he was too late and too far away to do anything with

it; still well above the people's heads, the two broom-riding sorceresses

began unleashing blasts of fire and ice upon the citizenry below. Link's

father swore long and hard enough to make a longshoreman flinch, and with

enough force for Link to hear clearly above the rising screams. "Link, I'm

telling you to GO!! Don't wait for me, don't look back, get your horse and

head back to our village!"

     Reluctantly, Link turned towards the street by which he and his father

had reached the square - and found that it was blocked by a block of ice

easily as wide as three Gorons, because that was exactly who was encased

within the ice. "Oh, no ..."

     "Gerudo witches," spat the king as the two flying spellcasters hovered

level with the balcony. A burst of fire forced both king and queen back

towards their thrones. "What do you want?!"

     "For the people of Hyrule to remember their *true* history," hissed the

red-cloaked witch. "You can't have heroic legends without monsters for the

heroes to fight, can you?"

     "And an ultimate evil to be defeated by those same heroes," added the

blue-robed witch, leaning over the side of the balcony to sneer at the queen.

"And a princess in danger ... like your daughter ... a princess named Zelda."

     "Call your daughter," hissed the fire witch. "Now. Or I'll burn you down

to ash where you sit, and we'll find her by ourselves."

     The king swallowed hard, sweat trickling down his face. "You'll never

get away with this."

     "Why? Because of the festival? Because of all the valiant citizens

gathered here to remember the bright and shiny version of their history?" The

ice-wielding witch cackled, glancing downwards and scattering a few shards of

magical ice amongst the crowd. "They're sheep, you old fool! Sheep waiting to

be herded by whoever has the force of will to tell them where to go and what

to do - even if they're sent to their own deaths!"

     "Father?" The door at the back of the balcony opened slowly, revealing a

girl in a gown of pale pink satin, her long, honey-blonde hair pulled back

from her face in a loose but ornate braid. "I heard ..."

     "Zelda, RUN!" shouted the queen. "Run for your AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!"

     "MOTHER!!" shrieked Princess Zelda as her mother was simultaneously

frozen and incinerated. "By the Triforce, no!!"

     "The Triforce?" The red-robed Gerudo hissed softly as her gaze slid from

the steaming remains of the queen to the wide eyes of Hyrule's princess. "The

Triforce ... you know what it is. You know *where* it is. You will lead us to

it. Or you will die, much more painfully and infinitely more slowly than your

dear departed mother ... you will give the Triforce into our hands, and

whether you live to regret that action depends entirely on how much you resist

us now." Smoke rose from the witch's fingers as she raised her hands to point

at Zelda. "And you will make your decision ... now."

     The princess took a step back, her breasts rising and falling rapidly

within the confines of her gown, her heart racing just as fast. "I ... you ...

who are you ... ?"

     "We are Twinrova," whispered the blue-robed witch, an icicle forming in

her hand and growing swiftly to the size of a sword, with edges just as sharp.

"Our own names no longer mean anything in the face of our destiny and mission.

Now ... dear princess ... DECIDE!"

     "NO!" shouted Zelda. "I will not - !" She didn't finish the sentence,

heaving the balcony door closed just ahead of the blazing fire that rushed

towards her; the oaken door was heavy and thick, strong enough that the first

blast of flame failed to burn right through it.

     "Little bitch!" snapped the fire sorceress, flames lashing out to

ensnare the immobile king in a deadly embrace. His death cries echoed over the

turmoil and panic of the crowd below; Twinrova ignored both as they blasted

their way through the door in pursuit of the princess.

     There was one cry to which they should have paid attention: the wails of

a boy who has just seen his father frozen in a solid block of ice, a raised

sword forming the core of an upwards spire.



     Her skirts hiked up around her knees, royal propriety be damned to the

Dark Realm, Zelda ran through the corridors of the royal palace, rushing down

stairs as quickly as her feet could carry her. She had to reach the chamber in

which the Triforce was kept, and quickly; somehow she knew that the ancient

symbol held the only hope of stopping Twinrova from achieving their goal,

whatever that might be.

     Impa was nowhere to be found; both of her parents were dead.

Technically, Zelda was no longer princess, but queen of Hyrule - but only if

she and her country survived long enough for her to be queen of anything more

than her own fate. That thought echoed in her mind, backed by the dying

screams of the king and queen, almost as loud as her desperation as she

navigated through the depths of the palace, trusting instinct to guide her.

     Finally, she reached the ancient door which served as the last physical

barrier between the Triforce and the outside world, and Zelda collapsed

against the wall just next to it. It was a solid door in solid walls, wood and

steel set in the thickest, heaviest stones, and believed impervious to any

attack - but after seeing magical ice and fire used together, Zelda was no

longer certain of anything.

     "Princess ..."

     With a startled gasp, Zelda jerked upright, leaning back against the

wall as Twinrova floated around the corner at the bottom of the stairs. "You

led us right to it," snickered the ice witch. "You're too kind ... yes, we can

feel the power of the Triforce from here; maybe you won't need to *give* it to

us if the power is unsealed this much."

     "You'll never get the Triforce," promised Zelda, her hands cupped in

front of her heart. "Every part of my being ... all the strength in my body

and spirit ... I'll use all that I have, all that I *am*, to stop you."

     "Oh, my dear princess," sneered the fire witch, drifting from side to

side across the corridor as she slowly closed the distance between the stairs

and Zelda. "Poor Princess Zelda, ignorant of her own heritage ... it's not

your destiny to drive off Twinrova and protect the Triforce, is it? No ...

Zelda never *really* protects her kingdom, especially not when she's just been

orphaned ... it's your destiny, Zelda, to fall before evil's power."

     "There's more than one orphan here, witches of the Gerudo!!"

     As one, the pair of witches looked behind them, towards the base of the

stairs; all they saw was a flash of reflected torchlight as a metal boomerang

slashed through the air, ripping at their robes before returning to the hand

from which it had been thrown.

     Zelda let out a sigh of relief. "Whoever you are, I thank you. But

they're still alive ..."

     Link shook his head as he stepped into the light of the nearest torches.

"I don't have the weapons to kill them; let's get out of here and leave them

for the guards."

     "The guards can't handle them - I saw them murder my parents; the guards

can't handle that kind of magic."

     "Yours too ..." Link looked down, then remembered who he was talking to

and belatedly got down on one knee. "I beg forgiveness, Your Highness. I am

named Link."

     "Link ..." Zelda looked at the vault door. "The legends are coming true

again. - Link, we have to take the Triforce away from here."

     "That will not be necessary." Icicles shot past Zelda, covering the

vault door in a thick layer of frost.

     "The Triforce will serve our purpose just fine where it is." Both of the

Twinrova witches hovered next to each other, flames starting to curl from the

fingers of the sorceress in red. "Now, princess, unless you desire to die

where you stand ..."

     "Oh, no," moaned Zelda. "Link, MOVE!" She half-lifted the boy to his

feet as she dragged him towards the relative safety of an alcove; he stumbled

along after her, reaching shelter just before a gout of flames worthy of a

dragon seared down the corridor, slamming into the frozen door - and blasting

it into so much dust and smoke.

     As soon as the flames had passed, Zelda stepped back out into the

corridor, gathering up all of the magical power she could muster and flinging

it at the two witches; the shockwave slammed into Twinrova, momentarily

unbalancing them, but they straightened out and bore down on the vault,

grabbing Zelda between the two of them and soaring through the still-

smoldering doorway.

     "Hey, wait!" Link scrambled back to his feet and gave chase, but he was

only in time to see the princess deposited roughly on the stone floor and the

pair of witches land next to the pedestal beneath a shining golden set of

linked triangles.

     The Triforce itself was unprotected.

     Twinrova laughed in unison as they dismounted from their brooms. "Now,"

spoke the red-cloaked witch.

     "We," continued her blue-robed sister.

     "Will,"

     "Attain,"

     "OUR WISH!!" Their bodies glowed, red and blue respectively, then merged

into one form, white fading rapidly into black, then revealing the combined

form of Twinrova: ice on one side, fire on the other, taller and more lethally

beautiful than either of the separate witches.

     "NO!!!!" howled Link, drawing and flinging his boomerang, then drawing

his wooden sword from its scabbard at his belt.

     Ice encased the boomerang in mid-flight, freezing it so deeply that both

ice and metal shattered when they struck the ground; white-hot flames reduced

what was left to liquid, and smoke rose where molten metal seared the floor.

     "Foolish boy," proclaimed Twinrova in a dual voice. "You can oppose

neither us nor our master - the master who will now be reborn." Ignoring Link,

Twinrova turned back to face her goal, and reached out to grasp the Triforce.

"Hear our wish, gift of the three great goddesses! By fire, water, and wind,

through courage, wisdom, and power, we claim thy power and our goal! Undo the

spell of ages past, revoke the curse of the seven sages, and let the incarnate

King of Evil, Ganon, be freed from his eternal dark prison!"

     "No," whispered Zelda as the Triforce began to shine more brightly.

"Please, Triforce, do *not* grant their evil wish ..."

     The Triforce didn't speak as its golden light intensified; Twinrova was

forced to let go of the sacred artifact in order to shield her eyes. "We have

claimed the power of the Triforce," said Twinrova in a voice of quiet triumph.

"Nothing can prevent our wish."

     "Din! Nayru! Farore!" cried Zelda. "By these sacred names do I plead,

let the Triforce be scattered! Power, Wisdom, Courage be separated, and let

the power of the Triforce seek a new master when all are reunited!"

     "It is too late!" exclaimed Twinrova. "Our master is being reborn!"

     Link briefly considered saying something like "Not if I can help it!"

but discarded the heroism of legends in favor of a more practical approach,

such as sneaking up and striking Twinrova from behind. At best, he considered,

he would break through the intense magic and fulfill Zelda's wish before

Twinrova turned around and killed him out of hand; at worst he would simply be

sent to join his father's spirit and the ghosts of so many others in whatever

kind of afterlife existed.

     He didn't get the chance to do either, as a blinding flash of light

filled the chamber. Something immensely powerful rushed through Link's body,

leaving him enervated and as weak as a kitten in its wake, yet ready to face

the worst that either Light or Dark World had to offer.

     When the light faded, the Triforce was gone ... and Link realized that

whatever power he had felt in that rush was little more than an illusion as he

looked up at a massive form, as dark as midnight, with a face that looked

somewhere between that of a Moblin and that of a wild boar.

     From the floor next to where he was standing, Link thought he heard

Zelda begin to cry softly.

     "TWINROVA," boomed Ganon, "YOU HAVE DONE WELL. MY PRISON HAS FINALLY

BEEN BROKEN; AFTER COUNTLESS AGES, AT LONG LAST I AM FREE!!"

     Twinrova's body dissolved and separated, the two witches genuflecting in

unison before the King of Evil. "We are born to serve you, Lord Ganon,"

murmured the red-robed Gerudo witch, "as our ancestors were so long ago. What

would you have us do with those who stand in your way now?"

     Ganon turned around slowly, surveying the vault. "TAKE THE PRINCESS

ZELDA; I SHALL SUMMON YOU TO BRING HER WHEN MY FORTRESS IS COMPLETED. AS FOR

THE BOY, HE MATTERS NOT. WE SHALL LEAVE THIS PLACE AND BEGIN TO GATHER MY

FORCES; WE MUST FIND THE TRIFORCE WHICH ZELDA SO FOOLISHLY HAS SCATTERED."

     "We are born to serve," repeated the blue-cloaked half of Twinrova as

she scooped up Zelda's unresisting body and straddled her broomstick. "The

Moblins and Goriyas who came to the festival ..."

     "THEY ARE FOOLS!!" thundered Ganon, his giant fist slamming into the

stone wall hard enough to crack it. "THOSE WHO DO NOT SERVE ME ARE AGAINST ME!

LET THOSE WHO WILL OBEY THE WILL OF GANON FLOCK TO MY BANNER; ALL OTHERS SHALL

BE DOOMED TO SUFFERING AND DESPAIR!"

     "It shall be as you decree," bowed the red-garbed witch as her

broomstick rose into the air beneath her. "The king and queen are dead by our

hands, and Zelda is our prisoner; Hyrule is yours over which to reign."

     "NOT UNTIL PRINCESS ZELDA IS DEAD," Ganon corrected the enchantress.

"AND BY THE TIME HER BODY IS CARRION, I WILL HAVE THE POWER I NEED TO ENFORCE

MY RULE. NOW LET US GO, AND QUICKLY; I HAVE NO DESIRE TO FIGHT OUR WAY THROUGH

THE ROYAL GUARDS OF HYRULE." He casually backhanded Link across the face, hard

enough to fling the boy's limp body clear across the vault and crashing into

the stone wall. As Link's body slumped to the floor, the pain of his impact

and the other injuries he'd collected over the course of the day seemed to

fade away ... the only thing he felt was the burning sensation on the back of

his still-gloved left hand.

     The last thought he had before losing consciousness was a memory of his

dream from the night before.



                         TO BE CONTINUED



Author's notes:

     This is actually my first independent fanfiction work in some time; I

wrote what may have been my last episode of MTCFF Ultra a month or so ago, and

I have a couple of other projects simmering at the moment, including the

DHY/BtVS crossover which is in a holding pattern (it's set between seasons 3

and 4 as far as the Buffy angle goes, so no worries about her being dead), but

I really wanted to do a Zelda fanfic - something which I don't think there

have been many of.

     Why write about The Legend of Zelda? It's been one of my favorite game

series, in one way or another, ever since the original game on the original

Nintendo Entertainment System; unfortunately, it wasn't until this summer that

I actually *finished* a Zelda game.

     The problem has been that I've never had a video game system of my own,

so until recently, I could only play video games on rented systems. "Recently"

dates back roughly to the American release of Pokemon Red and Blue, when I

finally marshalled my resources and bought a Game Boy Pocket; I considered

buying Link's Awakening, but I was never totally sure about it ... and then

the Oracles games came out for the Game Boy Color - by which time a friend had

given me a GBC, and I finally dove back into the Zelda canon.

     Quick recap here: I've played part of the original Legend of Zelda, a

little bit of The Adventure of Link (I didn't like the changes), about the

first half of A Link to the Past (through the fight with Agahnim in the

castle), and both Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons, in both individual and

continuation modes. Link's Awakening and the N64 Zelda games I've only

heard/read about.

     Nintendo's own website for the Zelda universe would have you believe

that all of the Zelda games take place over the lifetime of a single Link; I

have a hard time believing that based on what *I* know, and some of the other

Zelda players I've met online (who have more knowledge of the actual games)

don't believe a word of it. With that thought in mind, I considered the series

title: The Legend of Zelda. And I thought about the way the timeline seems to

be arranged when you look at the major games (at least if you define "major"

as those in which Link actually fights Ganon).

     It breaks down roughly into three eras, at least in my opinion: the N64

game, Ocarina of Time, sets the first time period - Ganon's origin and the

seven sages, and a starting point for the legend proper as the "Hero of Time"

performed the deeds which would inspire Hyrulian minstrels and bards for ages

to come. Majora's Mask is set roughly in the same period as Ocarina, and the

introductory animations for the Oracles games suggests that they fall into

this period as well.

     The second major era (again in my book) begins with A Link to the Past

on the Super NES; this game contains the first references to the seven sages

(note that it came out well *before* Ocarina of Time) who sealed the Dark

World. Link's Awakening, the first Zelda title on a handheld system, was set

in this time period when it was released.

     Finally we have the original NES Zelda games. By this point, the third

part of the Triforce has been "lost" and never appears during the battle

against Ganon; it wasn't until Zelda II: The Adventure of Link that any

mention was made of a third Triforce besides those of Wisdom and Power. The

canon in this period is somewhat notably fuzzy, too ... at least as far as I

know. ^.^;

     Anyway, three different time periods - and the Zelda title that's

forthcoming for GameCube may make it four, which would be appropriate in a

one-period-per-home-console kind of way. (Handheld systems, for better or for

worse, don't count into that pattern. At least not yet. We'll see what the

Game Boy Advance holds for the Zelda canon.) So I thought, "Why not take the

story and its standard 'rules' into an area the games aren't likely to touch?"

and started making mental notes for the series.

     Here you see the first part of the results, and I really hope that (1)

you've enjoyed it so far and (2) I can keep myself up to this kind of

standard. Part of the reason I'm writing this *now* is to keep myself from

getting homesick while I'm in Japan for my year of study-abroad.

     Actually, the being-in-Japan part is a more direct contribution ...

because, as a nice little side effect of being in Tokyo, I got to go to

Nintendo Spaceworld last weekend with some of my IES classmates, and the Smash

Bros. Deluxe page in the guidebook included a Japanese phrase which I'd been

searching for: the original Japanese term for Link's infamous Spin Attack.

Hopefully you figured it out in the reading, but if you didn't, that's the

Kaitengiri. ^_^;

     Anyway, it's late and my laptop's batteries are low, so I'll end the

notes here. - Except for one necessary statement, of course:



     The Legend of Zelda, its various incarnations, and all associated names,

likenesses, monsters, and unique treasures are copyright Nintendo, 1986-

present. This story is a work of fan-written fiction, produced on a purely

non-commercial basis, and is copyright Timothy Miller, a.k.a. Shachihoko. This

work may not be reposted or published in any commercial venue ... unless

somebody at Nintendo reads it and gets generous enough to pay me for it, but

we all know how likely *that* is, right?

     Anyway, as the owner of this fictional universe and most of the

characters, Nintendo has the legal right to tell me if they don't like my

borrowing them for my personal enjoyment and that of whoever reads my work.



                              Timothy Miller

                                   trmiller@bcpl.net



     September 2, 2001
	     .---Anime/Manga Fanfiction Mailing List----.
             | Administrators - ffml-admins@anifics.com |
             | Unsubscribing - ffml-request@anifics.com |
             |     Put 'unsubscribe' in the subject     |
             `---- http://ffml.anifics.com/faq.txt -----'