Legend of Zelda 1. Chapter 1

**Introduction**

A long time ago the world was in chaos. Evil and good were combined in the mighty pot of space -- swirling and swooping through the void of Kilrok. Kilrok, the mighty realm containing these evils and goods, was composed of air, land, and water. Air was the good of the soul, land was the median of mind, and water was the evil of force.

In this mighty chaos, beings from an alternate world -- a world of power -- found Kilrok in chaos. Combining the goods of the Kilrok, they used their mighty forces to create the living, stable world of Hyrule -- a land of happiness and well being. Chaos was no more.

But what became of Kilrok's waters? Where did the mighty goddess store the evil of Kilrok? Good cannot exist without evil.

**Chapter 1**

Whistles of gleeful birds flowed through the open windows. Air traveled inside the cot, flowing and swirling towards a young man asleep on a small oaken bed. His blond hair fluttered in the breeze. A small anticipation could be felt in the wind as it carried a message.

Slowly, his eyes fluttered open revealing bright blue eyes full of innocence. The light wind woke him with its silver ambience. Pushing the white sheets off, he laid his legs over the edge of the bed and yawned, pushing his arms above his head.

With a sudden burst of energy, he lifted himself off the bed, onto his feet, almost hitting the tall ceiling. The morning air felt good on his skin. He slowly moved himself towards his dresser and pulled out his clothing. The tan cotton cloth of the garment slipped onto his upper body, which he brushed down with his hands in order to take the animal hair off. He also slipped on his dark brown trousers.

"Link! Hey, Link!" A voice echoed from outside the window. "The shop is ready to open. I hope you finished that sword for Alto. He's been expecting it for the past three days and you promised to have it done by today!"

Link sighed and went to the corner of his cot and picked up a small, green notebook. Walking slowly outside with uncertain anticipation of his brother's rants of his laziness, he flipped through the text filled pages of names, numbers, and items. "Link, you might be better at metal crafting then me but I am still your big brother. I expect you to have things done on time." Link continued walking, ignoring his brother.

The orange morning sun blinded Link as he walked through the center of town past the recently built Nayru Fountain. The town was not very large, mostly composed of small brick buildings and wooden cots. The brick buildings were reserved mostly for shops and stores, except the lucky few with money, while the cots were strictly homes for the citizens of Hyrule City.

As Link kept walking, tracking dust in his path, he saw his Metal Crafting Shop approaching. It was a nice, small brown brick building with a blue tarp hanging over the front entryway. His brother had been talking the whole time but Link really only started to pay attention to him again at that moment. "Link, don't forget about Juma's order too. He ordered a shield six days ago. I hope you have finished. He did want it by tomorrow but it's always a good idea to finish early."

Ignoring his brother's berate of commands, he stepped inside the shop onto a hard, stone floor. He looked across the room at the window on the other side which nicely framed an enormous, white and blue castle being built. Link had only heard details about this but from what he has heard, the goddesses bestowed Kinghood upon a citizen of Hyrule. Link did not hear how this happened but he's content with his well off metal shop. Kings and godly things do not affect him much, to his opinion, so he often didn't care about such things. He never wished to become involved in anything of that enormity. He was happy here with his brother, his town folk, and his shop.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The slapping of sandals on the hard floor signaled the presence of a customer in Link's shop. He looked up in mid-swing of a hammer on a boiling hot rough sword. The customer tracked a small amount of dust into the building, causing the room to become a bit of a haze giving everything a light brown hue as the sunlight rushed through it. Link recognized him as the man his brother mentioned earlier: Juma.

"Hey Link," Juma said. Link smiled and nodded towards Juma and got straight back to work. "Do you have my shield for me?"

Link's shoulders sagged a bit. "Oh, I see…" Juma said, "How much longer do you need? A few hours, another day?" Link just shook his head. "Alright, another day it is. I'm not in much of a hurry, I just need the shield for a new recruit into the Hylian Army the new Royal Family is forming. I'm not sure why they feel a need for an army. Up until now it seemed that all we needed swords and shields for were hunting and hobby. Now it seems the Royal Family has been warned of something we are not aware of. Why did the gods have to pick a royal family? I really think we were quite happy as we were, not as we are."

Link was really only half listening mostly because he had heard this speech from his uncle every day, more then he'd like to hear. The dust was starting to settle again causing a grey-brown matte finish on every object in the room including Link's new sword.

"Hey, that's nifty Link. Do that on purpose?" Link had no idea what he was talking about but then Link looked down at the sword and saw that the dust had melted on the sword, giving it a look of dripped glaze on brown pottery. The dust had melted into a bright red color, giving it a look of blood.

"Well, I'll be back tomorrow for my shield. I expect it to look as interesting as that sword, okay?" Link again nodded and got back to work on the sword. Juma left with the slap of his sandals tracking dust back out with him, pushing the dust back into the air.

Sparks few from the sword as Link slammed his hammer onto the bright red metal. The girl saw the sparks jumping out onto the street giving the side of the brick building a tiny amount of light as if fireflies were mating on the doorstep. The sun had already set on the small city and tiny candles gave the townsfolk light for the evening as they read poetry and stories to their small children.

The girl walked into Link's shop, causing a dark shadow to splay itself across the floor with each spark of Link's Hammer. She made no sound on the hard floor – no slap of feet nor sandal. He features were silhouetted by the outdoor light caused by the numerous candles. Link didn't notice her presence until she was a little more then two feet away from him. He looked up suddenly, startled by the unexpected presence of the girl.

Link was about to talk as the girl put her finger up to his lips. "Shhh… follow me." Her voice was liquid mercury on marble – spreading itself through the air with unmentionable smoothness. "Oh wait… bring that sword with you… and that shield." Link didn't know what was going on but when she touched his arm, he felt a searing pain in his palm as he saw a bright gold glow seep into the air, giving a better glimpse of the girl's face.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Pure. Pure skin, pure eyes, pure mouth, pure radiant hair. Link had never seen a face as pure as this girl's. The beauty was indescribable, yet not overwhelming. It was a face one could immediately fall in love with in a single glance. Through the searing pain of his palm, he felt another glow in his heart which overwhelmed the pain.

"Come, Link. You must be quick." Her voice of mercury poured over him. Link nodded and followed the girl through the midnight haze.

Shadows were surrounding the couple in peaceful silence, cast by the glowing fires of the newly installed street lamps. Link was not sure why but the girl stayed in the shadows, despite the lurking iniquity within the darkness. Why is it safety is found within shadows?

They weaved themselves through buildings, alleyways, small underground corridors, until they found themselves near the ever looming castle. Link looked up at the fortress walls as the girl glided to a small door imbedded in the stone.

"Link, through here… quickly, they're watching." The last few words caught Link. Who's watching? Why are they hiding? Why are they by the castle? So many unanswered questions ran through his head for less then a split second before he ran up to door the girl was holding open.

They walked inside the dark room, the room smelled old, not new. It was slightly musty and stuffy and a small amount of dust could be felt floating around in the air. Link could hardly see in it at all with the dim moonlight sifting through the open door, let alone when the girl closed the door. As his eyes adjusted he could see a thin glow from the other side of the room in a square shape which he recognized as another door.

"Link…" she said, calling him from the other door. "I know this is sudden and I know I am going to be asking a lot but I need you to do this for me. No, not just me, for Hyrule. You… unknowingly, have been chosen. I am not sure why but the gods chose you to be courage. The glow on your hand is part of a sacred object called the Triforce. You have courage, I was blessed with wisdom, and power has yet to be revealed to me but I constantly feel its presence.

"In dreams you were revealed to me as the possessor of courage. I was told in the dream to seek you and together we must meet the King. I am not sure what this concerns but I know it is best to follow the messages of dreams. I was also told that everyone in the castle, including the King and Queen, have been consumed by a dark power. I am again, not aware of what these powers are but, alas, if you or I are seen together in the castle we will be killed immediately and our Triforce extracted. But we must not disobey the orders of dreams. We must meet the King.

"You must enter this hallway outside this door and make your way to the King. He is in the throne room on the first floor of the castle. If you are seen, you must kill the soldier, or anyone, before they alert anyone else. And yes, I mean anyone. All the people in the castle have been possessed – women, children, soldiers – and if you are seen they will immediately alert the guards and we will not be able to escape.

"I know I am pushing you into something of which you are not aware but I have no choice. This could be a matter of life or death and not just for us but for all of our world. I will follow you but do not worry about me, I can keep myself safe." She pushed the sword and the shield towards Link's chest. "Use these as best you can. I know you are but a metalsmith but do not think I am unaware of your secret practice with the sword and shield. You are more capable then you think, use it to your advantage."

Link did not understand. Triforce? Dreams? Hero? He had heard of the Triforce, of course, but it had always been sort of a myth – A bedtime story for children concerning the creation of Hyrule. But he actually _possessed _a piece of it? And what is this of dreams? How could this girl, without ever meeting him, have dreams about him? How could she know that he is a "hero?" He did not know what to do.

But as he stood wondering, the girls eyes could be felt piercing his soul. He knew, even with all these questions, that she was right. He felt it within him the soft glow of a golden power – The soft glow of courage. He felt it grow warmer as he slowly pushed the door open feeling the slight heat of firelight stroke his forearm.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Creeping out father and farther, he didn't see any guards roaming this hallway. But Link was not naïve, he knew that they had to be somewhere. With the constant recruiting that has been going on lately, there had to be plenty of them. But as he kept walking past door after door, window after window, hallway after hallway, he never even once ran into a guard.

That's when he noticed it, a huge courtyard outside one of the windows. In the courtyard, still seemingly being nurtured into a full fledged castle garden, Link saw the oddest sight. Hundreds, perhaps a thousand soldiers were lined up in front of a golden cauldron radiating a strange glow of black. A large, muscled man seemed to be scooping the purple and red liquid from the pot and pouring it on top of the soldiers. But strangely, the liquid did not make the soldiers wet but seemed to soak into their skin and armor like acetone spilled on paper.

Link suddenly realized he was staring out the window in plain view of all the soldiers and quickly jumped onto his stomach and crawled to the floor. Hopefully no one had seen him, he thought. He knew he was close to the throne room, it was in the back of the enormous castle and when he looked out the window he saw he was nicely near the rear of the castle.

He decided to stay on his stomach for now, deciding that he is not quite experienced enough yet to take on hundreds of soldiers at one time. It felt weird though, sneaking around what he would expect is a friendly castle. But the girl told him otherwise. He knew he must follower her advice: kill anyone he is spotted by. So far he was in the clear, though.

Thankfully, he got to a door at the end of the hallway hopefully leading into the throne room. Doors are a strange thing, though. Only Nayru knows what is on the other side and he could very well push the door open right into a soldier, which it did swing outward unfortunately. But he knew he wasn't going back as a coward just because he was afraid to open a door. Once again, he slowly opened a door.

This time, there was no fire light greeting him but a seemingly soft red glow throughout the whole room. The walls were aphotic despite the bloom of light coming from an unknown source. He shut the door behind him only to see it disappear into the black walls. Suddenly, he noticed that his skin seemed to have an incandescence to it that slowly got brighter. He walked forward a bit more and heard a small click and noticed he had stepped onto some sort of switch on the floor.

He wasn't sure what had happened at first but slowly saw the red light grow brighter and brighter, almost blinding. Like a collapsing star, all the light abruptly condensed into one single spot floating in midair. Link wasn't sure if he was imaging it but it seemed that from the spot of light, a small droplet seemed to be growing from it. After a couple of seconds, he was sure of it as a droplet of purple and red fell from the light onto the floor making a small puddle of swirling black, red, and purple.

As quickly as the droplet fell, the puddle seemed to start shifting its shape, growing larger and larger taking on a vague humanoid shape but it was definitely anything but human. It seemed to smile at him, a disgusting smile of not teeth but purple gel covering the inside of his mouth. Swirls of the gel fell out of the mouth and molded with his skin making a design of elaborate twists of violet.

Link was in shock and still slightly blinded from the bright light. All of this had happened in little more than 5 seconds and gave him little time to respond as the creature launched himself at Link. He tried to dodge the monstrosity but the thing landed on top of his right shoulder and started knowing on Link's neck.

As quickly as he could, Link removed his sword from its sheath on his back while shaking the thing off his shoulder—he could feel a numb pain from his neckline but ignored it. He quickly whipped his sword around but the creature tried to dodge the blow and come at Link's neck once again. Swiftly, Link countercut the monster and watched as its torso tumbled off the bottom half, gel poured from both halves onto the floor casting itself into the floor. Rapidly, the body deflated and finally disappeared.

The gel had covered the whole room from ceilings to walls to floors. Finally Link came back to his senses from a ostensibly ultra-focused state. He put the sword back in its sheath noticing that it was glowingly slightly and not even a drop of purple coagulate was on it. He took a step forward and saw the purple crack under his feet and spread to the whole room which caused the whole of the purple to fall of in sheets like a broken mirror revealing the stone walls and a small alcove in the wall that the pitch black was hiding as well as a door.

Inside the alcove was a large chest with ornate decorations but it looked like it needed a key to get open so Link passed on it for now and went to the door. Finally, he felt the heat of fire again as he pushed it open. Finally, he could tell, it was the throne room – grand and bright.

He could see, as he pushed the door open more, the throne about 30 feet away with a regal old man dressed in purple and red robes with a large aurulent crown placed on his equally gold hair. His face was down in his hands but his ears seemed to move slightly when Link closed the door.

"Who's there?" The king said, "Who is it? What do you want? I've told you to stay away from me!" He lifted his head. Link saw the man's face completely in distress. Green eyes shone in dismay and grey was littering his golden beard. "Who are you?"

Link didn't speak. He didn't want to alarm the man too much.

"I know you. I've seen you before. You are the goldsmith correct? No, no. The goldsmith's son. Right, you are the town's metalsmith?"

Link nodded.

"What are you doing here? How did you get past the tocsins?" That's when he noticed the sword and shield on Link's back. "You… fought your way in? A lowly metalsmith battled his way through the tocsins? Your name is Link, correct?"

Link walked closer to the throne as the King continued to talk.

"You are not one to be underestimated, Link. So, what brings you here?"

Link shrugged in completely honestly.

"Oh, I see. Actually, I do know why you are here. I've been praying to Farore for days wishing for a man of courage. Well, Link, I need to ask you something. Something of great importance to Hyrule. You see, I am being held here. My family has been hidden from me and I fear the worst.

"I must tell you something, Link. Have you ever wondered what is past the high mountains to the east and the great desert to the west – what is on the other side of the great Kingdom of Hyrule? Well, Link, the whole of that side is a huge ocean of water but not just ordinary water but Kilrok's waters.

"The waters of Kilrok are the complete collection of evil within this world and it has found intelligence – sentience – and it is starting to act on its own and it has already taken this castle and will so take me but is unable because of this."

The King pulled up his sleeve and Link could see an imprint of a Triforce on the King's wrist and the top Triforce was gleaming gold.

"I have the Triforce of Power and Kilrok's Waters are powerless against me while I have it. You, Link, are much the same and have the Triforce of Courage. Please, Link, you must find my family. I am almost sure they have taken my family to the shores of Kilrok's Waters where the Dark Tribe inhabits. Please Link."

Just then, Link saw the angelic girl from earlier appear from the door Link had left open.

"Zelda!" the King exclaimed.


End file.
