Chapter 1: Journey

A/N: I've put a lot of thought into this story. This is basically what I think would be totally awesome for the third book in the Inheritance trilogy. Flame me if you wish, I just feel like the worlds of Hyrule and Alagaësia would mix extremely well. Anyway, on with the story!

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Link, the Hero of Time, entered the castle gates on the back of his trusty steed, Epona, and took the familiar path to the castle throne room. He had recently received a summons from Princess Zelda Harkinian, with whom he had been a friend since he was a young child. The message she had was urgent.

As soon as he set foot in the throne room, he bowed to the King and his daughter, the princess. He then strode forward to meet her. He took her hand and kissed it. She then stood before him and gave him a friendly hug.

"What did you need me for?" Link asked. Zelda cleared her throat.

"We found something in the Lost Woods; something extremely strange. You must come with me. I cannot describe it." Link nodded and followed the princess out of the throne room and into a room across the hall. Link had never been in this room.

Link was astonished at what he saw. There were valuable artifacts on shelves, many of which Link recognized: the Zora Sapphire, the Kokiri Emerald, the Goron Ruby, the six Medallions, his old Megaton Hammer, and many other items he used on his quest to defeat Ganondorf, King of Evil. Right in the center of the room, on a table, was a stone covered in a burlap cloth. Zelda strode over to it quickly and took the cloth off.

Link was instantly mystified by it. It was a bright green, oval-shaped stone. There seemed to be some kind of mist inside it, swirling around like a thick mix of hot chocolate. He wanted to reach out and grab it. He moved to do so, but Zelda stopped him.

"Don't. We think it's dangerous," she said abruptly.

"Dangerous?" Link scoffed. "What could be dangerous about this? It could be valuable."

"We're not sure. It could be enchanted. Don't touch it with your bare hands. What we want you to do, however, is return this to the site where we found it."

"And where would that be?" Link inquired.

"In the southeast Lost Woods."

"The Lost Woods?" said Link. "They call it that for a reason."

"We need you to do this, Link. What we want is for you to look around for some of the Skull Kids who might know where it came from."

"How exactly did you get a hold of this? It's not like we send battalions of soldiers into the Lost Woods," Link stated.

"It was a couple of traveling mercenaries we sent in that direction. They got lost, naturally, and stumbled upon this. When they came to us, they died at our feet from lack of nutrition. This tumbled out of their travel bags."

Link pondered. He put aside his skepticism, having realized she was being very reasonable. After a moment, he nodded.

"Okay, Princess. I'll do it," he said.

"Thank you, Link," she said, giving him another friendly hug. "You are to leave immediately. We'll give you enough provisions for a few days; it shouldn't take any longer than that."

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Twelve hours later, Link was deep in the Lost Woods of Hyrule. The Kokiri, his childhood friends, had provided him with a map they had recently finished. It had taken them years to accomplish, but they finally created a somewhat accurate map of the Lost Woods. Link was nearly at his destination, he hoped.

He had been searching for a good two hours in the same general area, and there was no sign of any Skull Kids. He was about to give up hope when he heard a familiar tune being played. Link looked in the direction it was coming from and saw a Skull Kid hanging upside-down on a thick tree branch.

"Hey, you!" said Link. The Skull Kid flipped himself right and looked at Link. He smiled devilishly and scampered off.

"Wait!" Link cried. "Hyaa!" He kicked Epona's sides and she instantly went after the Skull Kid. Link ducked under branches and twigs, catching glimpses of the Skull Kid he had seen.

The chase went on for almost a half hour before Link gave up hope. It was then that he realized he was utterly lost. Looking at his map was no help; he hadn't referred to it for the entire chase. Link held his head in his hands and pulled his hair. He didn't care that it hurt; he deserved it for being a complete idiot.

Suddenly, the map was snatched out of his hands. He whipped around to see the same Skull Kid looking at it quizzically.

"Hey! Give that back!"

The Skull Kid snickered and scampered off again. Link was furious.

"Hyaa!" he cried again. Epona whinnied and galloped off. Faster and faster he rode, desperate to catch the Skull Kid that had his only chance of survival in the Lost Woods.

After a while, he knew it was hopeless. There was no chance for him to survive. The Skull Kids were the masters of the Lost Woods. They were the only ones that could find their way through.

And so, Link, the Hero of Time, began his desperate, hopeless search for some way to exit the Lost Woods. He knew it was impossible, but what else was he going to do?

He camped out at nights and ate his provisions sparingly. But even then it wasn't enough. His three-day supply of food ran out after five. After a week, he was ravenous with hunger.

On the eighth day, two Wolfos attacked him. His voracious hunger motivated him enough to kill them both and cook and eat their meat. It sated him, but he still hungered.

Link's vision started to get hazy. He was getting weaker and weaker. On a particularly hazy day, he was slowly making his way through the woods when he saw a shadow in the trees. Thinking it was the Skull Kid that took his map, he got extremely angry and chased after what he had seen. He continued to see different shadows in the trees. Link lacked the strength to support himself; he had to lean against Epona's neck to stay awake. Epona stopped running after a few minutes. She had lost almost all her strength as well. Link dismounted her and tried to pull her along with the reins, but to no avail. She would not budge. Link finally abandoned her and almost instantly collapsed. He weakly got back to his feet and stumbled through the woods.

His vision was so blurry, he couldn't make out anything. Link saw what looked like people staring after him, and what seemed to be a city concealed in the trees. He could definitely tell what one thing was: the large structure ahead of him. He made his way for it, and hopefully food. There was a ramp that led up to it and a large door. It took all of his strength to open it.

He heard voices as soon as he entered, but they were not speaking his native tongue.

"Blöthr! Gánga aptr!" a voice said. Link saw someone's face close to his, and he pushed it away. He could see someone standing in front of a throne. It looked as though he/she was sitting on it at first.

Link's strength finally gave out. His knees buckled, and he collapsed. He heard several gasps. His vision started fading to black. Link heard a deep thud and even more gasps, and then he blacked out.

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A/N: So, how's that for my first chapter? I assure you, this is the only chapter that will have any Hyrule in it. The rest takes place in Alagaësia. I'm only posting this to see what you guys think; I might not even continue with it. Please, please R&R!