A/N: I'd like you to stop for a second and read this note. This story is a first-person view on Twilight Princess that features a female Link instead of the typical male. If you have a problem with violence, sexual themes of any sort, cussing, or even (for you idiots) Link being female, stop reading now. I am writing this story my way, and if you don't like it, then please leave. Also, this story will feature some IliaxLink, MidnaxLink, and perhaps even some ZeldaxLink (yes, that means two girls being in love). If you have problems with that, then also leave, because this is how the story will be written and I will not change it. With that, you are now free to begin reading Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess so long as you have agreed that you will take no offense to the above. Also, please review once you've finished. =D

Chapter 1: A Girl Named Link

Have you ever felt it, the sadness that seems to come before dusk? They say that, for a single hour, we can feel the sorrow of those spirits who left our world. That's why sadness always seems to come before the Hour of Twilight. Twilight…how I miss that girl I met those several years ago.

Who am I you ask? My name is Link Marian Ysond. Back when I was seventeen, I ended up on a grand journey. People call it the "Legend of the Twilight Princess" now. Imagine that, though, only thirty years and it's already just a legend. No one believes my story…not the twilight part anyway. They believe about the monsters, but not about the wolf and the twilight, or even the part where I fought the evil king.

What's that? You'd like to hear the story? I don't really think it's worth telling, you won't believe any of it anyway. You're sure? Well…if you're willing to listen and to try to believe what I say, then I suppose I could tell the story, but where would I begin? Sure, "at the beginning" is an easy thing to say, but where does the story truly begin? Does it begin at the start of the adventure? Or does it begin before that? Let me think a moment…I think…I might know where to begin.

I grew up on the farmlands of Ordon. We didn't have much in those lands. To be honest, there were really only a handful of us. Ordon was far to the south of Hyrule, through the Faron Woods. If you didn't have a horse, it was probably a good week long trip or so from Hyrule. At least, it was back when the bridges were still there. Since the destruction of the Bridge of Eldin, Ordon hasn't had as many visitors from Hyrule, not that we had many to begin with.

I guess the story starts when I was seventeen. I had a job at the ranch in Ordon herding goats. I was employed there by a guy named Fado. The truth was, he employed me because he was fairly incompetent when it came to herding. Whenever it was my day off, I usually ended up working to keep the goats from escaping the ranch. Being a girl, most people wouldn't think I'd have the strength to stop an oncoming goat, as well as toss it aside and turn it back to the ranch, but I did. It came from practice really, always working at it.

In either case, I guess the story truly starts one day, during dusk. I had been spending most of the day aiding a guy named Rusl. He was the best swordsman in all of Ordon, and he had been training me to also use one. To be honest, he was surprised when a girl like me had an interest in swords, but, when I asked over and over again, he eventually took me under his wing and taught me what he knew.

Rusl had given me a wooden sword for practice, and believe me, when I wasn't working at the ranch, I was usually practicing. I wanted to be just as good at the sword as Rusl was. Unfortunately, his wife, Uli, was expecting another child soon, so lessons and training had been cut down severely.

Rusl and I had been training in the Faron Spring, which is on the Faron-Ordon border. The two of us had gotten worn out from our training, and so had sat down at the spring to relax and let ourselves rest for the trip back. We had talked for some time about many different things until finally he asked me a question.

"I have an errand to run in Hyrule in a few days," Rusl began. "I'm supposed to deliver something to Hyrule Castle." He turned to look at me, and I turned to look at him. "You've never been to Hyrule, have you?"

"No," I spoke. "I've never been out of these woods."

Rusl shook his head. "You should go, then. There's so much to see. How about this? The mayor entrusted me to deliver the package to Hyrule, but I think you're more then capable enough to do it as well. I'll talk to the mayor and see if he'll let you go in my stead, so then you can see Hyrule and the world. Does that sound okay?"

I nodded. "That sounds fine. What's Hyrule like anyway?"

"Well, there's a huge castle in the center. That's where the Crowned Princess Zelda rules from. There's also a huge town with people everywhere. It can sometimes be so crowded you have to squeeze through people just to get anywhere."

"Wow…"

"But, that's just the town and the castle. There's also the rest of Hyrule, as well as the whole rest of the world the Goddesses created."

"Has anyone ever seen it all?"

Rusl laughed. "The world is huge, Link. I don't think that anyone could ever see it all in one lifetime."

"Well, I'll certainly try my best," I spoke and gave a nod. I was determined to see all there was since I had the chance.

Rusl laughed. "Well, we'll see, eh?" He patted my back and looked up into the sky. "How are things with you and Ilia?"

I turned quite red at that question. "F-fine," I stuttered and looked away.

"Just fine?"

"G-good…and fine…"

"Good and fine?" Rusl laughed again. "Have you even told her how you feel about her?"

"N…no…" I sighed. See, there was this girl in Ordon named Ilia. She was really quite beautiful, probably the most beautiful woman I had met at the time. Her hair was short and brown, similar to mine, though she kept the back of it in a sort of weird ponytail. I'm not entirely sure how she managed the hairstyle. We had been friends since we were young, and I had fallen in love with her. I know that may same a little strange, a girl loving another girl, but it's how it happened.

Rusl stood to his feet and stretched. "We should be making our way back."

"R-right," I spoke, trying to calm myself down. We packed up our gear and made our way back to Ordon Village. When we arrived, I went to put Epona away, but I was stopped.

"Link! Epona's all dirty!" Ilia shouted at me, making me jump. She had managed to sneak up on me. "You can't be thinking of putting her away for bed like that, can you?"

"Well…err…" Ilia always seemed to be able to win battles with me. Maybe it was because I loved her so much I didn't want to fight with her, but whatever the case, I rarely won a battle with her.

"Honestly! You've been traveling and training all day. Epona's a filthy mess, and you just want to put her away for bed instead of cleaning her properly first!"

"Ilia…I'm tired, ok?" I spoke, hoping to get her off my back. "I've been training all day, and I need a rest, okay?"

"Fine." Ilia folded her arms over her chest and turned. She then snatched Epona's reigns from my hand. "Come along, Epona. It's obvious Link doesn't care about keeping you clean."

I sighed as I watched them walk off. "Link, you dumby," I spoke to myself and hit my head upon the ladder to my house. "Dumby, dumby, dumby." I sighed and slouched down onto the ground. "I just can't argue with such a beautiful woman…Now if only she wasn't a mayor's daughter…"

"What's wrong with that?" a male voice spoke and I looked up. Much to my surprise, Fado was standing there.

"Nothing…"

"Something must be if you said 'if only she wasn't a mayor's daughter'."

"No, really, it's nothing…you wouldn't understand."

"Well, I need help herding these goats…it's time to get them into the pen, but they won't budge…Think you could get Epona and help?"

I sighed. This wasn't a surprise to be honest. "I guess…I'll see if Ilia will even let me go near Epona."

"Ilia has Epona?"

I nodded. "Took her to be cleaned; said I didn't care about her if I was going to put her away without cleaning her up."

"Harsh…" Fado spoke and I nodded, then stood to my feet.

"Well, I'll go look for her. They're probably at the Ordon Spring."

"All right, just meet me at the ranch then with Epona."

"I will, Fado." With that, I turned and headed off to where the Ordon Spring was, which wasn't too far from the Faron Spring. When I reached it, I saw Ilia there, grooming Epona. Both her and Epona looked so happy, and at my arrival, I noticed Epona seemed even happier.

"There, she's all clean," Ilia spoke as she looked over at me. "You should treat Epona better…she's a girl, just like the rest of us, you know?"

"I…I know," I spoke.

"Good." Ilia turned and pet Epona as she smiled. "So, I'll guess you didn't come here to help clean her. You probably need Epona for something, right?"

"Y-yeah…"

"Well, she is your horse, so take her. However, please treat her a bit more gently." I nodded in response then walked over to Epona and pet her. She neighed happily and I smiled, then turned to look at Ilia again. I kind of got myself lost there, though. Whenever I would look at her for a length of time, I'd find myself lost in my mind. I wanted her. I wanted to hug her, to kiss her, to love her, but did she want that for me? I ended up staring at her for a good few minutes, which caused her to give me a weird look. "What are you staring at?"

"N-nothing!" I spoke up quickly, turning rather red.

Ilia turned to look in the direction I had been staring, but she didn't realize my gaze had been upon her. "I don't see anything back there to stare at…"

"L-like I said, it was nothing." I rubbed the back of my neck nervously.

Ilia shrugged. "You're weird sometimes, Link."

"I know…" I looked away. I grabbed onto the saddle, then turned back to look at Ilia again. She still hadn't looked at me. My heart began beating quickly, and I fought to keep myself under control. Just a hug…that wasn't so much, was it? She'd be okay with that, right? Maybe… I reached out, my hands gently moving around her waist. I closed my eyes and pulled her close, which startled her a little.

"L-Link?" Ilia asked and turned her head to look at me. "Wh-what?"

"I…" I let go of her and turned away. "I don't know why I did that…I'm sorry…"

Ilia seemed to stare at me for a moment, then smiled. "No need to apologize," she spoke then grinned. Next thing I knew, she had wrapped her arms around me and pushed me to the ground. I then found that her grip on me tightened into a sort of snuggle. I just stared, unsure of what to do. "It's been a while, Link," she then spoke. "You stopped hugging me years ago…I've missed it…Why did you stop?"

"I…that is…" I looked away. I couldn't admit the truth. "I…don't know…" I sighed. Now wasn't the time to think, I needed to act. I wrapped my arms around her and closed my eyes as I pulled her into an embrace. What surprised me is how we stayed that way for several minutes. It probably would have been longer if Fado hadn't burst in on us. I think he got impatient, though, and went to find me. After all, dusk was nearing its end and the goats were still out.

After that, Ilia and I went about our ways and I returned with Fado to help him herd the goats back into the pen. Once we were done, I returned to my house to sleep, but I couldn't sleep. I laid there in bed, staring at the ceiling, thinking. Ilia was always on my mind, and I thought of her the whole night through. In the end, I managed to fall asleep, but not for long as I was rudely awakened a few hours later by a loud voice.

"Link!" the voice shouted and I groaned. "Link! Are you seriously still sleeping? Wake up!" I groaned and sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"Who the hell is out there this early?" I asked and slowly got out of bed. I peered out the window, and much to my surprise, it was Malo, Talo, and Beth. These three were the kids who lived in Ordon at the time. Malo and Talo were the sons of Jaggle and Pergie. They weren't the most important people in all of Ordon, but everyone is family there, and we all did our part. Beth, however, was the daughter of Hanch and Sera, who were the local shopkeepers.

"Link!" Talo shouted, and I realized it was him who was shouting before.

"What is it, Talo?" I called out through the window.

"Link, you're awake, great! We've got something to show you, come down here!"

I sighed. "All right, I'm coming." I changed, then headed outside. I climbed down the ladder that lead up to my house, then turned to look at the kids. "So, what have you kids got to show me today?"

Talo rose a stick in his hand. "Look! It's a wooden sword!"

I giggled. "Really now? Looks pretty impressive, but do you know how to use it?"

"I…" Talo began to speak with enthusiasm, but then he stopped and looked down. "No…"

I giggled a bit more. "Well, then, I'll just have to teach you."

"Really?" Talo shouted and a huge smile appeared on his face.

"Certainly, but, you have to pay attention. I'll only do this once, understand?"

"All right!" With that, I went back into my house and got my own wooden sword out. I then returned to the kids and gripped it in my hands.

"All right, now then, there's a lot of basic movements to sword fighting, but in a real fight, you'll need more then that. Before you can learn anything else, you need to know the basics, though." With that, I began to swing my sword in the way I had been taught. I spent the next hour or so just showing the children sword moves.

"That was great!" Talo shouted and smiled. "You're really great with that sword!"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Nah, Rusl is still way better then me. So, then, let's see you do what I showed you. Come at me!" I readied my sword and waited for Talo to make the first move. He swung and I quickly blocked it with. I noticed as we fought that Talo's stick was rather sturdy. I had been going light at first, hoping not to break it, but when I realized how sturdy it was, I fought a little harder, giving him a real feel for combat.

It was a few minutes before Talo was tuckered out and I laughed. "Tired already?"

"How do you…do that?"

"What? Fight as much as I do? Practice. If you keep practicing every day for longer periods each day, you'll get stronger, and your stamina will grow. If your stamina grows, you'll be able to fight longer without wearing out."

Talo looked down at his stick. "Awesome. Then, I'll definitely do that!"

"Hey!" Beth shouted, pointing away from us. "It's one of those monkeys!"

"A monkey?" Talo asked and turned. "Those mischievous things have been causing all kinds of trouble lately."

"Yeah, Colin's Mom had her baby basket stolen by one of them," Malo spoke. "Good think Link got it back."

"Link's so great!" Beth spoke up and smiled.

"Yeah, she really is," Talo spoke then looked up to me and smiled. "All right! I'll go after that monkey before it causes any trouble!"

"Talo, wait!" I spoke up, but he didn't listen. I watched as he charged forward, scaring the monkey away and into the Faron Woods. Talo didn't stop there, though, and continued to give chase.

"Talo!" Malo and Beth shouted and rushed after him.

"Beth! Malo!" I shouted and growled. "Damn it…" I sighed. "Kids these days…they can be a pain in the ass…but the Faron Woods have been dangerous lately, I should go after them." I quickly snatched up a piece of grass from nearby and held it to my mouth. I blew into it and at once Epona came rushing to my side. You see, I had taught Epona a special song a while back, one that if I played on a special kind of grass would cause her to come running to me. With that, I quickly hopped onto Epona and kicked her a little to make her rush forward. "Let's go!"

We rushed forward into the Faron Woods. I didn't figure the kids could have gotten too far, which meant I should have been able to catch up to them. That was, until I stopped at the border between Ordon and Faron and found both Malo and Beth standing there, looking horrified. "What's going on?"

"Talo…he was…was…" Beth started to speak, then covered her eyes and began to cry.

"What happened?" I was getting mad to be honest. After hearing those words, my heart was filled with worry. Especially if whatever it was that happened was making Beth cry. I only knew a few things that could do that, and I didn't like the idea of one of them.

"Something…I don't know what…" Malo began, "…it appeared out of nowhere and attacked Talo and the monkey. Talo got knocked out…and then it took them away!"

I growled and turned forward. "Where did they go?"

"Deep into the Faron Woods. Link, be careful!"

"I will." I kicked Epona again and the two of us rushed forward. "Talo, I'm coming!" I shouted. We rushed with all the speed we could muster. Epona always seemed to be able to understand my feelings, and now, when I was anxious and wanted to rescue Talo, Epona felt those feelings. I didn't even have to ask and she raced forward with all of her might.

We rushed deep into the Faron Woods, all the way to where an ancient temple was said to be hidden, though I had never seen such a thing myself. As we raced forward, we discovered exactly what had attacked Talo and captured him. They were weird purple creatures with large stomachs and pig-like faces. They wielded a single sword, but unlike mine, theirs were real. This was going to complicate things quite a bit, but I knew I still had to try.

"I'm coming!" I shouted and quickly drew my wooden sword once more. I rushed right into the middle of the monsters and knocked them down with my sword. Epona then quickly trampled over them, and much to my surprise, as each monster fell, they seemed to instantly decay into dust. "Magic?" I asked, growling. "What kind of sorcery is this?"

I turned forward, seeing even more of these creatures coming towards me. I made Epona rush forward once more and I quickly dispatched the monsters as we rushed them. Finally, we made it to where the temple was said to be hidden. Even now, this close to it, I still didn't see it, but what I did see was Talo and the monkey in a wooden cage. "Talo!" I shouted.

"Link! Thank the goddesses you're here!" Talo shouted.

"I'm coming, Talo!" I shouted and Epona rushed forward. More of the creatures from before appeared before me, and I quickly dispatched them. However, one did manage to get a hit on, and it wasn't on me. Epona reared back as the beast's sword grazed her side. I was thrown back and onto the ground, and Epona collapsed in front of me. She and I had a connection, and I could feel her pain. I growled as I quickly stood to my feet and the creature turned to me.

"Come at me!" I shouted. The creature roared. I noticed it seemed fairly unintelligent, in that these creatures so far had never spoken. They're language seemed to consist of roars, and their only tactics for battle were "kill". It rushed at me and I quickly knocked it back with my sword. I then whirled around and struck it hard in the chest with my sword, and while I couldn't stab the creature properly, a good hard stab to the chest with even a wooden sword would do quite a bit of damage.

The beast roared and I brought my sword around, striking it in the head. I then heard a satisfying snap as I managed to break the creature's neck. It decayed away into dust like the others and I sighed. I quickly rushed to Talo's side and looked over the cage. It was a crude device, obviously built up around them. There was no way to get them out without breaking the cage.

I mustered my strength and stared hard at the cage. I balled up my fists, readying myself to attack. I then brought my hand out straight and hit the cage with the side of my hand, causing the wooden bars to splinter apart. I did this with each bar until I had broken it down enough to get Talo and the monkey free. "Oh, thank you so much for saving me!" Talo shouted and hugged me.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I shouted at him and he jumped back, wincing. I growled. "You know Faron Woods are off limits to you children! They're dangerous, and filled with all kinds of monsters!"

Talo looked away. "I know…I'm sorry…"

"Sorry?" I shouted. "You're 'sorry'? That's the best you can do? You could have been killed, or worse! Something terrible could have happened to you! If I hadn't come here…" I turned away and growled again. It was very rare that my anger ever rose to these levels. I guess you could say the whole thing had caused me to get so worried that, now that Talo was safe, I could only react with anger towards him putting himself in such danger. I took a deep breath and exhaled. "Forget it…let's just head home…"

I made my way over to Epona, who could sense my current emotion. She seemed sad that I was in such a state, but also happy to see we were all safe. She nuzzled against me for a moment, as if trying to say "it'll all be okay". I pet Epona and smiled a little, my anger going down. "Thanks," I spoke to her and she nodded. Even though I she couldn't speak Ordonian, since she was just a horse, I understood her anyway.

"Let's go," I spoke rather roughly to Talo and he nodded.

"Bye," Talo spoke and waved to the monkey. "She's not so bad, actually…I misjudged her…"

"An important lesson to learn, Talo. You cannot judge people or animals by the actions of others just like them."

"I know that now…" Talo looked down at his hand, where a broken stick now sat. "That creature trashed my sword, too…"

"You'll have to get a new one. Maybe ask Rusl, see if he can fashion you a real wooden sword."

"You think he would?"

I shrugged. "Who knows? All you could do is ask."

"All right, I'll do that!" The rest of our trip back was fairly silent. When we made it back, the children rushed ahead, and I sighed, hanging back some.

"I'm sorry, Link," a voice spoke and I turned. Rusl was making his way up to me now. "Such a responsibility should not have fallen on you."

"How did you know?"

"Colin had been nearby at the time. He's timid, but trying to learn courage. He watched you from a distance when you taught Talo how to fight earlier. He's been practicing since then. He also saw the kids run into the woods, so he came and told me and their parents."

"I can imagine, then, that Jaggle is going to give them a scolding…"

Rusl nodded. "More then likely."

I sighed. "I got really angry today…the whole thing…it set me off…I yelled at Talo pretty badly…"

Rusl set his hand upon my shoulder. "It's natural. You were filled with worry, and that made you angry. It happens to all of us, Link. It's nothing to worry about."

I sighed. "Maybe you're right…I just…know what you told me…about my birthmark…"

Rusl nodded. "The symbol on your left hand is a special mark saying you will be great one day."

"But what if I'm not?"

Rusl laughed. "Link, please, you're better then most of us here in Ordon at anything we do. You're a skilled swordswoman, you saved the children, you're better at Fado at herding goats."

"Anyone can herd goats better then Fado."

Rusl chuckled. "I couldn't herd a goat to save my life. If it was a match between me and one of them goats, if I didn't use my sword to slay the creature, I'd probably get torn apart by its horns and run over by its hooves. You, however, take the goat by the horns and toss it aside like it was nothing. Only you and Mayor Bo can do that, no one else here can."

"I suppose you're right about that one."

Rusl turned to look forward. "Ilia's been worried about you."

"She has? Why?"

"Because, she cares about you, just like you care about her."

My eyes went wide and I turned to look at Rusl. "Wh-what did you say?"

Rusl chuckled. "Ilia may not show it often, but she cares for you more then anything. I think…you two were meant for each other."

"But…is that really okay? I mean…she's a girl…and so am I."

"So? In none of the laws passed down by the Goddesses did they ever say two girls loving one another was evil. In fact, if such a thing was truly so evil, it would be impossible. Love is never wrong. When you feel it, that love is right. Even if the person does not return your feelings, your love for them is still right and true."

I sighed and looked down. "I suppose that's true…"

"Hey, don't look so down. Ilia loves you. I think that, if you tried to make a move, you'd find it very rewarding."

"But…how does one do that? How did you and your wife get together?"

"That?" Rusl laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. "That's actually…her fault…"

"Eh?"

"We were friends…and we were enjoying a beautiful day at Lake Hylia. As the sun began to set, we began to talk about heading home, but before we did, she said she had something important to say. I wondered what it was, but she never spoke. Instead, she wrapped her arms around me and kissed me, and it was then that we knew we were meant for each other."

"Wow…" I looked away. "Is that really…how love works?"

Rusl nodded. "Something like that, yes. It just takes one of you to initiate it…and I think…Ilia is waiting for you, Link. I think she's actually worried you don't like her."

"Why would she think that?"

"You two have been friends a long time, and when you were younger, you two used to play together all the time. It also seemed like, when you two were younger, you were inseparable. Every time we looked, you two were hugging or cuddling. We knew then that you were meant for one another, but then, one day, you stopped it all. You started pushing Ilia away little by little. You still talked and were still friends, but your hugging slowly came to a stop. I can only assume it was because you noticed your feelings for her and weren't sure how to go about with them."

I looked down and nodded. "Yeah…that's about it."

Rusl smiled and put his hand on my shoulder. "You must not be afraid of her. She's a beautiful woman, and she's even right around your age. I think, you two would make a wonderful couple."

"You really mean that?" I asked as I looked up at Rusl.

"With my whole heart," Rusl responded back and I smiled, hugging him.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Making me believe, and giving me the courage."

Rusl shook his head. "You've always had the courage, Link. You just didn't know how to use it. You might have the most courage out of all of us, to be honest."

"You mean that, too?"

Rusl nodded. "Absolutely." I hugged Rusl again and he hugged me back. To be honest…Rusl and his wife…they were like parents to me. My parents…had disappeared many years before…and they raised me. I knew I could always count on them to be there when I needed them to be.

"Thank you again, Rusl," I spoke. "You really are a wonderful person, and a great father, even if you're not mine."

Rusl rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, raising you is different from raising my own kids, you know?"

"I know. Oh! And how is Uli doing, anyway? Is she ready to have the baby yet?"

Rusl chuckled. "Not yet, Link, but soon, that I'm sure."

"A third kid for you two to raise."

"Third? I only have Colin."

"Well, you did raise me from a child, so, you could say I'm your first kid in a sense."

Rusl laughed. "Very true, Link, very true."