I'm posting this a little earlier than I mean to but... HERE IT IS!

Before you read this fan fic, note that it comes after Skyward Swaps and Twilight Twists. The spoilers for TT are going to be pretty heavy while the ones for SS varies.

In addition, this fan fic will be completely in third person perspective- too much will go on to allow first person perspective this time.

Please note that I made a few changes, in addition to the addition of the usage of characters who weren't originally in the game. Hyrule Warriors is a celebration of what we love, and I wanted to expand upon it. In fact, some of the faces that will show up were part of the requests of my long-time readers, and I'm going to try to balance out what I can.

Proxi is still in this, but she's a boy now. (I implied the same exact thing for Navi, so...)

With the exception of the beginning, this isn't my favorite chapter to write, so I apologize if it drags I'll be right at home in the next one.

Finally, since Zelda sort of has Link's move set in this fic, Link has Young Link/Fierce Deity's move set, if that helps anyone understand what is going on.

Chapter 1: The prince and the trainee

Mid-morning had fallen across Hyrule Castle and the surrounding Castle Town. In olden days, the town was on the outskirts of the castle, but it had now grown large enough that it could almost be considered a city.

Many townsfolk went about their day- most eagerly chattered about the return of the prince (who was returning from a journey from across the sea), while others went shopping, played, or enjoyed the sights of the grand town, but one in particular was in a hurry to get to the castle.

"Excuse me! Pardon me!" A young female knight in training dashed across town as fast as she could. With her long blonde hair flying behind her, she quickly glanced up to the castle as she passed two men who were juggling.

"They said the prince was on a diplomatic mission to Holodrum!" A red shirted man spoke. "Possibly to strengthen the friendship with the governor, no doubt!"

"I heard he went to take care of some nefarious scheme!" argued back.

The young trainee gritted her teeth as she pulled a wallet out and took out a blue rupee as she approached an apple stall. To the amazement of the seller, she slammed the rupee down and snatched an apple before repeating a similar process with a couple of muffins.

"Ocarinas!" A merchant by a display of instruments called out as he held up a blue ocarina. "Made in the image of the fabled ocarina of time! Play a note and perhaps something magical will happen!"

The young knight let out a snort as she passed the merchant by and hurried on.

Meanwhile, a group of children were gathered around an eccentric looking man who was putting on a picture show for them- he had a set of slides already in a box and would gradually pull them out. The current one displayed a beautiful warrior, who curtseyed to a tall ominous looking figure, with a strange circular device between them.

"And so!" The man's already wide grin grew an inch. "To the hero's surprise, the twili renegade revealed that he was none other then the King of the Twilight realm!"

The unsuspecting children let out a gasp of delight and shock, while the others who long suspected either rolled their eyes or nodded.

"Then he's the king of the in-between!" A young girl realized out loud.

"Mr. Mask Salesman?" A young boy timidly spoke. "If they fixed the mirror- then does that means the twili could come into our world?"

The Happy Mask Salesman looked up to see the young trainee running across the street. "Perhaps so, children." He gave them a small, secretive smile. "They might come sooner than you think."

The trainee darted past groups of people and ducked under a long plank of wood that was being carried by a couple of carpenters, and continued heading towards the castle.

"Oh youth," A choir from the temple were singing by the fountain for the people, and in hopes of greeting the prince. "guided by the servant, unite earth and sky, and bring light to the land."

As the trainee came closer and heard them sing, she felt a longing in her heart to join the choir and sing the fabled ancient ballad. It did not help when a young alto saw the knight and began to call for her.

"Hey, Zelda, why don't you quit your training and come back!" She pleaded. "We miss your voice!"

"I'll talk later!" Zelda called back as she rushed as fast as she could, but just as she turned her head away from the choir, she almost ran into someone, who was as in much of a hurry as she was.

"Ah!" The trainee stopped and immediately recognized the younger girl (who looked to be in her mid-teens) when she briefly came to a stop. "Sorry your highness!" She quickly apologized as the two girls immediately ran past each other, though she saw that Impa- the Hyrulean General- was chasing after the young girl.

"Is that the princess?!" A young boy gasped as the girl kept running. She was garbed in a regal, yet still modest sky knee length blue dress, with a lovely floral print at the helm, and which split in half at the center to allow a pinkish maroon banner with an embroidery of Hyrule's crest. With dark blue eyes, blonde hair in stylish pigtails and a modest tiara, she almost looked exactly like a feminine version of her brother.

At the entrance to the town, everyone was in an uproar and began to start hollering in excitement. The reason being that a young man came walking though the open entrance: the prince of Hyrule.

"Welcome back, your highness!"

"It's good to have you back!"

"I heard the princess was anxious for your return!"

The young man let out an amused chuckle: dressed in a forest green tunic, with slight gold trimming, unique chest armor and gauntlets, and a long blue scarf, he came across as humble, but the well known helix sword at his back, the way he held himself, and the confident look in his eyes made it clear that he was indeed the prince of Hyrule.

That was, of course, in contrast to his companion behind him who looked at the townsfolk with both nervousness, and great relief for being amongst civilization (and possibly near Telma's Bar.)

"Does it ever bother you when so many people come out to meet you?" The man's green, sunken eyes glanced back to Link. "I mean, you never know who could try to- I don't know- rob you while you do the meet and greet thing?!"

Link laughed at the man as he waved to the townsfolk. "Linebeck, I never realized you cared that much about my wallet. Besides-" Link turned to shot him a grin. "-If anything happens, I'll just chase them down!"

"Like those squid monsters earlier this morning?" Linebeck bitterly recalled the memory.

"They were annoying."

"The group of monsters that ambushed us in the woods?!"

"You know they ambushed that performing troupe." Link reminded him. "Besides- with my skills, there's nothing I can't handle!"

Linebeck sighed. "Way to be confident, kid."

"I'm almost nineteen!" Link shot at him. "You've been calling me that since I was twelve!"

Within almost five minutes of walking through the town (and greeting the townsfolk) Link heard the familiar cry of a young girl, and looked ahead to see many people immediately part ways to allow the princess to rush on ahead.

"BROTHERRRRRR!"

Immediately, Link beamed and raced towards the girl, with his arms thrown out. The girl did the exact same thing and the two almost crashed into each other when they hugged.

"You're finally back!" Aryll cheered as she tightened her embrace around her brother. "You took long enough! I ended up making something for you, even though I swore I'd never do needlework!"

"Sorry!" Link laughed in apology as he let go of Aryll. He looked up to see that General Impa had finally come to a stop and she gave him a welcoming smile and a nod of gratitude that he made it back to Hyrule.

"Impa." Link went over to Impa as Aryll walked to an out of breath and about ready to collapse Linebeck, to whom she greeted with a chipper "Hello Mr. Linebeck!"

"I trust the visit to Holodrum went well." Impa asked as she held a hand out for Link, who promptly shook it.

"The governor was disappointed that Uncle couldn't come, and there were some monsters, but I was actually able to take care of it." Link kindly replied. "The seasonal banquet was fun, until his daughter started asking if I was going to find any potential brides."

-*later*-

"You're late." Lady Ashei coldly, curtly told Zelda, whose face was flushed, her apple was in her mouth, and the muffins were stuffed into her wallet. To make matters worse, she was in front of almost all the trainees who looked on in both sympathy and amusement.

Zelda let out a groan and took the apple out of her mouth as Lady Ashei continued. "In the Hyrulean army, we don't tolerate tardiness, for it makes the difference between victory and loss. Moreover, if you wanted food so badly, you should have bought some during a time that wasn't going to interfere with your duties, yeah? Is that clear?"

"Yes Lady Ashei!" Zelda quickly saluted to the captain (who was more than five or seven years older than her.)

"Not clear enough." Ashei spoke. "Maybe some time for setting up practice dummies will teach you a lesson." She then turned around to the rest. "Alright you lot- get ready in five minutes!"

"Yes Lady Ashei!" They all saluted, as Zelda crept away from the rest of them and looked around until she spotted a certain large, red haired man.

"Not fun being late, is it Zel?" He gave her a cheeky grin.

"Not now Groose!" Zelda scowled while walking to him, but she pulled out one of the muffins and gave it to him: it was payment for a debt. "See how much trouble you landed me in?!"

"Ah, thanks!" The knight cheered as he bit into the muffin. "'Hank yoo!" He tried to speak through the muffin.

"Your welcome." Zelda smiled.

-*later*-

"Da, da, dah dahhhhhh!" Aryll grinned and cheered as she held a green cap out for Link, after accepting a medium sized parcel from him. "I made it to be just like the ones the knights of Skyloft wore!"

Link smiled as he accepted the cap and immediately put it on. He quickly saw that Impa was coming down the hallway, and turned to the general. "Impa." He greeted her, and was about to speak, when he noticed that Impa looked a little concerned.

"Could you care to explain what your traveling companion meant about you having nightmares?" She asked Link.

Aryll shot Link a worried look as Link's face slightly paled. "It- it's nothing." Link shifted his gaze, but Impa pressed on.

"By the sound of things, it was frequent- and since your family has had a history of prophetic dreams, is it by any chance the one you told me about?"

"I- I don't know." Link admitted with a shrug. "Something dark covered Hyrule, and swallowed me up... And then I started to get an uneasy feeling during the trip back to Hyrule, like something is going to happen at any moment."

Impa frowned and her eyes grew serious. "It could be an omen." She glanced out to the window. "We must find the reborn spirit of the hero."

"But how can you be sure she's alive in our time?" Aryll nervously asked. Link turned to her. "Aryll, don't you have a lesson to attend?" He asked. "You know he won't like it if you're late."

Aryll's eyebrows shot up in realization and she quickly dashed down the hallway.

"She's right though." Impa spoke. "As much as I hate to admit it, we don't know where the hero is."

-The training grounds-

As Link and Impa crossed over one of the many pathways around the castle, Link briefly looked to see the knights in training go about their lessons- they all seemed in good form, by the look of things.

"We will find no fully-fledged heroes here." Impa told Link. "We'd be wiser looking elsewhere."

Link was about to look away, when something- be it instinct, luck, or fate- caught his eye and walked over to look over the stone wall to see a one on one duel between two trainees, with an instructor and several trainees eagerly looking on.

One of the trainees was without a helmet and her hair was loosely bound as she held a practice sword and shield. The other held a spear and charged at her, but she then blocked it with her shield and, after a moment's pause, the blonde dodged the swing of the spear. In perfect retaliation, she preformed a helm splitter onto the trainee's helmet.

The defeated trainee fell to the ground and the others cheered as the girl watched her victory, before putting her sword and shield away. As if sensing the prince was watching, she turned to face him.

Link was impressed with her skill, but during that time he felt himself be drawn to that girl, as if by a thread- something told him that she was special.

However, when he saw her face, he was taken by surprise because (although it was too far away to tell) she was rather beautiful. Why on earth such a face fit for a goddess or a princess was amongst the trainees was beyond him, but when her eyes met his, he felt a strange sort of certainty- a confidence.

He then knew exactly who the hero was- it was the girl. He didn't know why, but somehow he could sense it.

As for Zelda- the mystery girl in question- she was surprised to see the prince in person, but she too felt the strange connection he did.

Before Link could ask Impa about the mystery girl, a soldier came rushing towards them, and just after they turned, he was immediately at his knees- whatever he had to say, it was urgent.

"Your highness!" He panted. "A horde of monsters is marching toward Hyrule Castle!"

Neither the prince, nor the general wasted any time. "Impa, prepare the troops for battle!" Link commanded. "I'll join them shortly!"

Impa nodded and she and the soldier rushed ahead. Link spared the mystery girl one final glance, before he could go.

Meanwhile, Zelda- who shared this glance with the prince- continued to look on, until a couple of female trainees spoke.

"Isn't that the prince?" One girl excitedly spoke. "He's so handsome!" She sighed.

"What's he wasting his time with us for?" the less excited, more skeptical one spoke.

WIth slight regret, Link went after Impa, but he figured that he would have time later to seek out the mystery girl.

As for Zelda, it was charming to think that he was looking at her, but she wasn't a fool: she didn't believe what she felt for the prince in that moment was 'love at first sight.'

In a short amount of time, the entire castle and the town was alerted and all the citizens either took cover or hurried out as fast as they could. It wasn't long until a good sized army waited at the front of the gates as Impa and Link gazed at their coming opponents. As if through a sign, the sky began to darken and turn grey, and a large army in the distance began to approach the castle.

"Bokoblins, stall children, lizafos..." Link identified the army, until he saw their leaders. One was a red armor cladded knight with a spear and a helmet in the shape of a certain famous dragon: Link immediately knew who this was, having met the knight many times before. The other reminded him of a poe, draped in purple and jewelry like some sort of gypsy, but there was something more... sinister about this one.

This was not going to be an easy battle.

-*a little later on*-

"So I guess we just wait to hear what happened?" a trio of trainees waited near an entry point to the castle. One of them was resting against a column, until they noticed Zelda approaching and stood up.

"Hey Zel!" He called out to her. "What d' you think you're doing with that sword?"

Zelda briefly looked at them as they all saw that she had a sword and shield- real ones, like the kind the knights owned.

"I'm going to help!" She shot them a grin as she swung the sword out. "If you lot want to join me, be my guest!" She then rushed ahead, to their complete surprise.

The truth was, Zelda was a little afraid of facing whatever was outside- sure, her father had initially taught her how to fight (being a former knight himself.) but this was not a pathway she had envisioned for herself. Once upon a time, Zelda entertained the idea of being just like the past heroes of legends, and she eagerly devoured their stories in delight, but she thought she would be an explorer, and possibly a musician and sing ballads and melodies of the past and of her own makings.

But this was an era in which the need for heroes was dwindling, and was replaced with armies. Dreams and fancies were dying away as the world expanded and stones were unturned. The education she initially received was better to pass on, rather than live out and experience, when opportunity (and rupees) were scarce, and she had to become of some sort of larger unit. She had to put what she knew towards aiding the kingdom in a different way.

And yet, something had awakened in her- as if something was going to happen- and when the horde was announced, she felt the need to act cry out within her soul. She felt a desire to take action- even though she was a trainee, she wasn't happy waiting for assurance or safety anymore.

And so, having no idea what fate had intended for her, or the faces her future would reveal to her, Zelda took up arms and rushed into the fray.

-Stage one-

Zelda passed through the gates and as she saw a horde of bokoblins head towards her, she took her sword out.

"You aren't going to enter the castle!" She determinedly cried out and proceeded to swing her blade through them. She made sure to take out as many as possible and it wasn't until there were so few left that she nodded and hurried to join what appeared to be Impa, who was in the midst of fighting her own batch of monsters.

"Where did these monsters come from?!" Impa wondered as she swung the biggoron's sword against the bokoblins. She growled in frustration. "We can't get to the prince with those boulders in the way." She referred to an obstacle that wasn't too far away, and just happened to block an entrance to a keep.

"Lady Impa!" Zelda called out as she swung the blade through hordes of bokoblins. "Permit me to assist you!"

"What's this?" Impa then noticed the girl and her uniform. "A new recruit?" Despite that she wanted to tell the girl to leave, it was quickly clear that the girl could more than hold her own, despite her ranking. With the girl's added contribution, the two and a small group of knights were able to fend off the bokoblins and Impa was able to fend off enough monsters that she was given a moment to watch the trainee- the girl had managed to clear a number of monsters with surprising ease, that it took the general by surprise.

"Who is this girl?" Impa wondered.

"Hah!" Zelda let out a sound as another bokoblin fell to her blade, and it was at that point she heard a cry for help.

"Someone! Help! I'm too little to fight monsters!"

Zelda turned in time to see a small fairy trying to dodge a few bokoblins who were swinging their swords at it. "Hang on!" Zelda rushed to the monsters and made quick work of them until they were defeated at her feet.

"Thanks!" The fairy sighed in relief as he flew to Zelda. "I thought I'd be chopped liver for sure."

"It's fine." Zelda smiled as she cupped her hands out for the fairy to rest in. "My name is Zelda- I'm not supposed to be here, but it looks like I came just in time."

"I'm Proxy, with a 'y'!" He greeted. "And I like your name? What does it mean? Where are you from? Nice sword!"

Zelda laughed. "I'm afraid that will have to wait. I need to help the others." She looked to the boulders. "We need to cross that keep, but those boulders are in the way. Could you see Prince Link by any chance?"

"Sure!" Proxy cheerfully flew up, over the keep and saw that the prince and his knights were outnumbered against their opponents.

"Have courage!" The prince yelled. "These are just obstacles to our enemy, but we won't let them into the castle!"

"Keep fighting, Prince!" Proxy cheered out. "We're coming to help!" He floated down to Zelda. "So far so good." He reported.

"The abandoned fort gate is opened!" A knight yelled. "Hurry!"

"Come on!" Zelda rushed to enter the keep and Proxy floated alongside her.

As Zelda rushed into the keep- which was already filled with a few bokoblins- a figure suddenly crashed down from the sky in front of her.

"Whoa!" Zelda stopped, as did her new companion. In her moment of shock, Zelda noticed that the armor cladded man was breathing fire from his mouth, before he stood up and spun his spear in front of him- which also caused fire to come out of it- before he slammed it into the ground and was engulfed in fire. He let out a battle cry that sounded inhuman, before he finally noticed the hylian and the flames disappeared.

"I think that's the dragon knight, Volga!" Proxy nervously gulped. "I hear that he's very dangerous!"

Without even hesitating, Zelda entered the fort.

"Are you nuts?!" Proxy frantically asked.

Volga noticed Zelda. "If you're ready to join your ancestors, then I accept your challenge!" He roared.

"I can't watch this!" Proxy moaned and was about to cover his eyes, when he saw that Zelda immediately blocked the first attack and changed his mind.

What ensued was an unusual fight- Volga was clearly more experienced, but Zelda was able to not only block his attacks, but she was able to hold her own. It then became noticeable that Volga was more used to fighting and fought like some sort of beast because of that, but Zelda had a more cautious approach and was able to go in, when he left himself open, which was slightly often.

"Don't let the dragon knight through!" Impa could be heard shouting as a number of knights began to fight off the monsters that entered out into the field from the keep. Proxy secretly found that any additional help was possibly unnecessary, seeing as Zelda had a good chance of winning.

"Gah!" Zelda finally swung the blade out, and sent Volga flying- he would of fallen, had he not quickly positioned himself in a proper stance as he skidded backwards.

Zelda nervously held her stance as the dragon knight began to tremble in range as her appeared to get up.

"Get out of my way." A low growl escaped him as his right arm became engulfed with flames. He stood up and Zelda watched in amazement as his arm changed into a large, monstrous claw, before he let out a harsh noise and charged at Zelda.

There was no way Zelda could win against this- she knew and yet, she held her stance.

Unfortunately, the knight knocked her back with his monster claw and she found herself tumbling to the ground.

"Zelda!" Proxy yelled out in horror.

It was at that moment, general Impa rushed in.

"Lady Impa?" Zelda groaned as the woman stood in front of her.

"How noble." The dragon knight sounded unimpressed. "Enjoy your shared grave."

Zelda watched as the knight became engulfed in flames once more- and this time, it was so overpowering, she could feel the heat radiating off it.

"Oh no." Impa quickly knelt beside Zelda as the girl looked at Volga- he was going to burn them, and there was nothing she could do about it. She wanted to live- she wanted Impa to live...

"No!" Proxy cried out as he closed his eyes- he just made a new friend and now she was going to die!

Suddenly, a warmth spread across Zelda's hand and her body regained it's strength.

Just as the fire Volga sent towards the two women was close enough, a soft glowing light quickly enveloped the trainee and the general.

Impa was still kneeling on the ground, but she was completely confused as to how the two survived, while Zelda saw a glowing brightness on the back of her hand. Slowly she got up and watched as the fires died away and the brightness of the light faded to reveal the mark of the Triforce glowing on her sword hand.

While the dragon knight was surprised the see that the two survived, Impa realized not only why they survived, but what the glowing mark possibly meant. "Could you be...?" She wondered.

"Is that the mark of the Triforce?" Proxy gasped (the fairy opened his eyes when he heard the strange glow.)

Before Zelda could begin to wonder about the mark, Volga let out a grunt. "You haven't beaten me. You've merely hidden behind your shields, human and otherwise." He then turned into a great dragon, which went up into the sky and retreated.

"Ah, the gate is opened!" Zelda realized as the doors ahead of them opened up to reveal another swarm of bokoblins. "Let's go on ahead!" She ran onwards, alongside her fairy companion, who then rejoined her. Impa watched the girl in wonder, before finally following suit- she needed to reunite with the prince as soon as possible.

"Is Volga slacking off again?" Volga's more sinister comrade wondered from elsewhere. "Fine! Send out the next unit!"

As Zelda raced towards a passage way with boulders up above it, she noticed a small unit of Goron soldiers. "The Gorons are helping us!" She cheered.

"We can't hold them anymore!" One of the Gorons yelled. "Somebody help!"

"On it!" Zelda saw a Lizafos in the group of bokoblins who were against the Gorons and engaged in combat. It was a slightly harder fight than the other beasts, but it eventually fell to her blade.

"Thanks a ton!" The Goron Captain gratefully told her as he crushed a bokoblin. "You should take the treasure in the mine as a reward!"

"Mine?" Zelda glanced up to see the passageway. "I suppose if it helps..." She rushed into the small mine and darted down the hallway until she saw a chest at the very end. She quickly opened it up to reveal-

"Bombs!" Proxy cheered. "You could use those on the boulders!"

"You're right!" Zelda grinned as she put the explosives in a special pouch that could carry almost a limitless number of items and give her exactly what she desired. "And then we can-"

There was a sound of boulders crashing from somewhere near the entrance. It was very easy to guess what exactly happened.

"-Be trapped in here by falling rocks?" Proxy asked.

"Not without the bombs." Zelda cheekily grinned.

Zelda raced back and threw the bombs at the boulders. They immediately exploded, upon impact, and she was free to escape with her companion.

"Let's hurry to the prince!" Zelda told Proxy. The two quickly raced through the armies, through the abandoned fort, and to the set of boulders that separated them from the others. One set of bombs later, the two found themselves facing more bokoblins, but it was nothing Zelda couldn't handle.

"You're good at this!" Proxy was amazed as he hid in Zelda's long hair while she sliced through the beasts.

"Years of training with my father helps in the long run." Zelda told him. She made sure to clear the entire keep, as well as it's boss, so that the hylian soldiers could claim it for themselves, while Impa finally rejoined the Prince.

"Impa!" Link beamed as he held his sword out. "So glad of you to rejoin us!"

"As am I!" The general beamed. "I fear I'd never reached you, if not for a brave trainee!"

"Oh?" Link was surprised to hear this, but it made him wonder in hope. "Could it have been the girl?" He received his answer shortly, for Zelda was quickly approaching the prince and his group of knights.

"That's the prince!" Proxy gasped as Zelda looked at him in amazement. In turn, Link finally noticed the young woman and was surprised to see her out in the field, but at the same time, he was not.

"You!" Zelda gasped "You saw me in the training yard!" Despite that they were in the middle of battle, she was surprised to be standing this close to the prince.

Before the prince could open his mouth, a nasty voice yelled out:

"ATTACK! DESTROY! MASSACRE! Kill the royal whelp before I grow impatient!"

Link winced. "That's not good." He looked over his shoulder. "It appears their numbers have grown." He then yelled. "Capture both the central and east field keeps and close their gates!"

"Leave the east keep to us!" Lady Ashei yelled to Link, before racing off with her own group of soldiers. "Someone take the central one!"

"I will take it!" Zelda volunteered.

"We also need to get to the fairy fountain in the south east." Link thought. "I think the Great Fairy will help us, so if we force the invaders to the north, we can trap them." He then rushed off to the south.

It did not take long for both keeps to be captured by the hylian forces, and Zelda left her position to re-join the prince.

"We really don't need to help him!" Proxy protested, before adding with a shudder. "The Great Fairy scares me."

"You never know if he needs help or not!" Zelda replied. Just as she thought, she saw that the prince had a wave of monsters to face, before he could enter the temple that served as the fairy fountain. "See?" She pointed out before rushing to his aid.

As she helped the prince, it gave her time to observe his fighting style. It was said that he occasionally used a broad sword, but it appeared that his preferred blade was the mighty helix sword, which was believed to be based off the one that belonged to a mighty deity. The blade was mighty and easily mowed down waves of enemies and, as Zelda watched, the blade suddenly became infused with a blue light, which Link sent hurtling towards another group of bokoblins. It was very strange, but since the Royal Family was known to be competent magic users, it was almost unsurprising.

"He almost doesn't even need my help." Zelda wondered, just as Link finally turned to her.

"Thanks again!" He beamed, before frowning. "I hate to ask, but do you have any bombs? The entrance is blocked."

"Ah!" Zelda grinned before pulling a few bombs out. "Here, your Highness!"

"Thanks!" Link quickly grabbed one and raced to the cracked wall that covered up the entrance. He threw one, which immediately exploded upon impact, and caused the wall to brake into pieces.

"Come on!" He grinned and waved a hand to the trainee. "We have to pray together for the Great Fairy! Just throw your hand in the air when I set the magic circle up!"

Zelda rolled her eyes- despite that he was the prince and a great fighter, Link seemed like a young child. However, she kept silent and followed the prince into the beautiful fountain.

"By the way." Link spoke as he placed a hand on the ground, which caused a series of magical runes to form. "What's your name?"

"It's Zelda, your Highness." She replied with a smile as she sent her hand up. Link sent her a smile in return as he stood up and held a hand out to the sky.

"Oh Farore...why?" Proxy grumbled as he hid in Zelda's hair. "I just got rid of the nightmares."

The water in the fountain rippled and splashed upwards and, to Zelda's amazement, a large woman came spinning outward and she let out a mighty, hearty laugh before she positioned herself into a relaxing position. The pink haired woman wore ivy and flowers on her clothes and hair and though she was initially beautiful, she wore quite a bit of eye makeup to the point that Zelda could not tell if the woman was beautiful or off putting.

"Ooo..." She grinned at the prince and the trainee as she propped a fist against her face. "I saw you fighting off those hordes of beasts. I take it that the dashing prince of Hyrule needs my help?" She playfully winked- apparently, she was familiar with the prince.

Link let out a nervous laugh as he blushed in embarrassment. "If you are willing, my lady."

The Great Fairy giggled as smaller fairies came out of the fountain. "Of course!" She threw her arms up and outward. "How about a nice, big, bomb?!"

The fairies went on ahead and surrounded Link and Zelda. To their surprise, the fairies took away Zelda's bombs and flew off with them.

-*elsewhere*-

"Could you give us your bombs?" One of the fairies asked Captain Orik, of the Goron army.

"Of course." Orik smiled as he held a bomb up and watched on as a set of fairies took it from him.

High in the sky, the fairies gathered all of the bombs together and, in a flash of pink light, a much larger bomb that glowed with runes could be seen dangerously hovering in the sky, before the fairies dropped it.

The end result? Many bokoblins in the north died from the resulting explosive, which sent a great tremor through the field.

-*The fountain*-

"We did it!" Zelda cheered when they felt the tremor.

"That should boost everyone's morale." Link agreed. "now let's head to the north!"

As the two headed north, Proxy flew out of Zelda's hair and sighed. "She creeps me out. I couldn't stand living at that fountain anymore."

"She's not that bad." Link admitted, though he added. "But she doesn't have a sense of personal space."

The two were about to enter north, when they encountered Impa. "We have the upper hand!" Link grinned and waved at her.

"Your highness!" Impa urged. "You must fall back! We can manage from here!"

Link merely held a hand up in protest. "I'd rather find who is responsible and end this! Don't worry- I can take it!" He then rushed on ahead, and left Zelda and Impa behind.

Impa sighed in displeasure at the Prince's actions before she turned to Zelda. "Please help him."

"Not to worry!" Zelda saluted, but that was when something unexpected happened. The ground began to shake and the two women turned to see a large yellow lizard like monster crash into the earth- sending debris of earth and stone from where it landed. It then let out a mighty roar that almost knocked Zelda backwards from it's sheer force.

"How did they transport a creature of that size to battle so quickly?!" Impa yelled.

"That's a dodongo!" Proxy panicked. "Swords won't work on it!" This made Zelda think very quickly.

"What about the bombs?" She asked. "If the stories are correct, the only way to defeat them-"

"-is for them to eat an explosive!" Proxy finished for her.

"Right!" Zelda took a bomb out and quickly spoke to the general. "I'll take care of this, Lady Impa!"

"Be careful." The general cautioned, before heading off.

-elsewhere-

The second Link heard the sound of rumbling, and the dodongo's roar, he knew that he made the right choice in staying in the battle. With determination, he moved on, until he found exactly who he was looking for.

"You!" Link pointed his sword out at the poe like creature. "State why you are attacking my castle, and I'll spare you!"

The creature let out a wicked crackle. "Well, if it isn't the prince of Hyrule himself! I'm almost flattered to meet you!"

"Last chance!" Link readied his blade. "What purpose do you have here?!"

"Not here, sadly." The creature snickered. "Though, I am terribly curious: is the princess as cute as they say? Perhaps I should pay my respects!"

A surge of fear hit Link, followed by anger. He immediately rushed and swung at the poe, but he quickly disappeared into smoke.

"I wonder what her screams will sound like when I'm through with her!" A crackling laugh could be heard. "I hope she makes quite the hostage!"

With a growl, Link immediately took a green crystal out and held it up. "Farore's Wind! Guide me to Princess Aryll!"

A wind engulfed Link, and he then disappeared in a flash of green.

-elsewhere-

With the aid of at least three soldiers, Zelda finally landed the finishing blow to the dodongo, after he had a 'full course meal' from her bombs. The beast turned dark before it finally exploded and the girl let out a laugh of relief.

"Finally!" She turned to Proxy. "Thanks for your help!"

"Aw, it was nothing." Proxy bobbed up and down. "But maybe we should go find the prince."

"Agreed!" Zelda sent to the north, where a group of soldiers were already out exploring. With the defeat of the dodongo, all the monsters began to make a full scale retreat- to the relief of the victors.

"Excellent job everyone!" Impa praised the other troops. "That's why we should never give up!" She smiled in the direction of the young trainee.

"General Impa!" One of the captains called out as he approached Impa. "Terrible news! The enemy wizard is attacking the castle!"

Impa froze in fear. "So... it was just a diversion?" She felt an illness in her heart- if anything happened to those who lived in the castle, the town, or the family she swore to protect-

"Perhaps the others will be able to handle it." A female knight nervously spoke. "I mean, we have the princess's tutor on our side, right?"

"Where's the prince?" Impa asked. When no one responded, she commanded. "Find the prince!"

"That's the problem." Another soldier nervously spoke. "We... we can't."

Horrified, Impa went off to search for the prince. Try as she might, there was no sign of the young man, but eventually, she found someone else who was immediately going to need her assistance.

"Oh no, not again." Zelda turned in time to see the bokoblins about ready to attack her from behind and she would have taken care of them, had the general not shown up to send them flying with the wave of her sword.

"Thank you." Zelda thanked Impa as she stood upright and prompted her sword next to her. She noticed the downcast look of concern on the sheikah woman's face. "What's wrong?"

"We can't find the prince." Impa told her. "He's gone missing."

-*Hyrule Castle*-

No one had seen the prince. It was as if he had vanished off the face of the earth.

As for the fate of the castle, no one knew what had happened. No messengers came for aid, but they could see that on one side of the castle that a dark, stormy cloud had formed and stayed in place for almost five minutes, before it vanished. This did not faze a select few of the soldiers- they knew only one person could have created that, and he was on their side.

On the return to the castle, Impa explained to Zelda that the prince had been receiving strange omens, and that they had long suspected something horrible was about to happen. The attack that day was most likely a sign of what was to come.

"Now," Impa asked. "When that mark of the Triforce appeared on your hand- is there by any chance a birthmark?" This took Zelda by surprise.

"Well..." Zelda took her gauntlet off and held her hand up to reveal that she indeed had a birthmark in the shape of the Triforce. "This mark appeared when I turned sixteen."

"So it's you." Impa realized. "If you bear that mark, then that means you are the hero we've been looking for."

"Hero?" Zelda looked at Impa in disbelief as Proxy flew out of her hair in interest.

"You are destined to be a savior for our kingdom." Impa told her. "It is no coincidence that you bear the mark, or that the prince noticed you during your training. The kingdom needs you more than you could possibly imagine, and we need a commander who is just like you: someone who is willing to go into battle, despite the danger."

Zelda looked out at the field- several of the soldiers looked exhausted from battle. "I'm just a trainee." She protested. "I know how to fight, but I'm not a leader- I was scared when I thought I was going to die to that knight!"

Impa's features softened. "And yet, you stayed." She placed a hand on Zelda's shoulder. "Rushing into battle was reckless, but it takes great courage to face the impossible. We need you for what is to come: can you help me find the prince?"

"You really are something!" Proxy joined in. "I don't know many people who have the confidence to face what you did. Plus, you're pretty strong, for a trainee."

Zelda knew, in her heart, what the answer would be. As horrible as this battle was, it gave her a strong feeling that she could be able to do something beneficial, for what life was offering her. Something was going to happen, and she wanted to do something about it- just like those heroes of old.

Zelda looked Impa in the eye. "I will." She sincerely promised. "If it's at the very least, it is an honor to fight among this army, and the kingdom deserves it's prince." Even if he came across as arrogant and childish, he was also good of heart- Zelda could see that he had great potential as a ruler, even if he wasn't quite ready to take the throne.

Impa lead the troops back to the castle, with Zelda (and Proxy) by her side. As expected, there was an attack, but those who were still inside the castle had quickly taken care of it. When asked about the prince, a few thought they heard him screaming somewhere in the castle, but when they tried to find him, they only found Princess Aryll.

The young princess was unusually quiet and it was assumed she caught word of her brother's disappearance, and everyone left her alone. All but Impa, who wanted to make sure the prince was safe when she confronted the young girl.

"I don't know." Aryll closed her eyes. "But I'm sure he's safe, wherever he is- he can take care of himself." He tried to give Impa a reassuring smile.

"Your brother tends to be overconfident, so I am not as sure as you are." Impa replied as she gestured to Zelda. "But it seems we have found the hero."

"Your highness." Zelda kindly bowed to Aryll, whose eyes lit up in sheer delight and her entire demeanor changed from withdrawn to happiness.

"My brother told me you'd be here one day!" She grinned and shoot a hand out. "Just call me Aryll!"

"Uh-" Zelda was taken aback by the girl's cheerfulness, but she politely shook her hand. "I'm Zelda... Aryll?" She glanced at Impa to see if it was ok to address the princess in an informal matter, but the girl jerked at her hand.

"If you're going to be a hero, you need to dress like one!" Aryll gleefully told her as she pulled Zelda's hand and took her down the hallway. "And I know just what will work!"

"Provided that it's suitable for combat!" Impa reminded the princess, but the girl ignored her and hurried to her chambers with the soon-to-be hero.

"I suppose it's better that she's happy." she spoke to herself.

FINALLY! The boring part is out of the way! Now the real fun can begin in the next chapter, because I can finally reveal whose replacing Sheik.

Link's personality is based off what was given to us from the game: He won't hesitate to help out, but he is prone to being prideful and confident. (which was pretty interesting.) Also, prophetic dreams do extend to Link: recall the beginning of Ocarina of Time.

I want to try to keep Zelda's optimism, as found in the game- but time will tell if she can hold onto that.