Part 1: The Unknown

A faint symbol on his hand… that was all he had. He remembered nothing, not who he was or what that strange mark was on his right hand. He looks about his surroundings and sees nothing but a barren wasteland, a desert, for as far as the eye can see. He is surprised that he knows what a desert is but not anything about himself. The harsh sands whips at his face, blinding him as he unsuccessfully tries to find something, anything that will protect his eyes from the whipping sand. The sandstorm halts for a moment and he finds a piece of cloth, then looks around for something sharp to create slits in the cloth so he can see and still protect his eyes.

Surprisingly, he has a sword at his hip, a blade with a mysterious blue handle. It seems familiar to him as he gripped the sword, as if he had used this sword many times and his hand remembered even if he does not. Using the sword, he cuts slits in the cloth then wrapped the cloth around his head, somehow knowing that while the cloth would slightly hinder his sight, it was his best chance of being able to see in the desert.

A realization came to him; he was wearing some sort of pack. Wondering if anything in it could help his memory, he slung the pack off his back and looked inside. He saw a red tunic and a blue tunic, some potions, and various weapons. He inspected these weapons with great interest. Some of them looked like children's toys a slingshot and a boomerang. There were other weapons like bombs, bow and arrow, and an unusual device. He automatically came up with the name hookshot, but had no idea how it was used. He gripped it by the handle, examining it. He then finds a button and clicks it.

WHAM! He smacks himself in the face with the hookshot. He is blinking back tears as he tries to clear his vision. Okay, so this device shoots out at things… he made a mental note of that, deciding it was best to try it out again later when his head stopped aching. As he put the hookshot away, he sees something he did not notice before, a picture. He picks it up carefully, not wanting to rip his shot at remembering something. He sees a gorgeous woman in the photograph, with a smile that made his heart hammer in his chest.

'Who is she?' he wondered. From the way his heartbeat responded he guessed she meant something to him, if only he knew what. He looks at the back of the photo and sees a message written in an elegant hand "To the Prince of My Heart, May you always find your way back to me." The message had a 3 and a signature "Yours always, Princess Zelda."

Zelda… if he finds her she might help him regain his memory. As he rereads the message he wonders if he was a prince or did she just love him and that was her pet name for him… he did not know… He rummaged through his pack once more to see if there was anything he missed. He found another picture. This picture one was of him and Princess Zelda. Except he was not in his green clothes, he was in black, more formal attire. He was looking lovingly into her eyes and her in his. Now he knows that she definitely meant something to him. If only he could find her. He looked on the back. It had a date and it said "Princess Zelda with her future husband Knight Link at the annual festival."

'Knight Link?' he thought to himself, so he was a knight and his name was Link. So that explains the sword, but why was he in the desert. He notices a pocket in his tunic. In it there was a map and some parchment that looked like a journal or documentation of sorts. The map had a desert on it with a place circled on it saying potential clue, but he did not know where in the desert he was. Which way should he go? Link then looked at the notes. They resembled a journal. The dates went almost as far back as the date from the picture. Flipping to the first entry he read…

"My dearest Zelda has been kidnapped? How could this happen right under my nose?! I am supposed to protect her! DAMN IT! I will go traveling to all the lands in Hyrule. I will try the Gerudos first. They are thieves after all. The only problem is that I have to cross the desert. The desert is rarely forgiving; hopefully I can follow the red posts that mark a path through the desert."

Link looked up from the notes, looking frantically for a red post. If he found one of those, at least he could get out of the desert. He finally spots one. He then pulls out his compass, the needle is pointing northwest. He looks at his map again. The Gerudos were to the northwest of the start of the desert, he hoped it would lead there and set off toward the red post.

He followed the red posts until night fell, once the darkness had settled upon the land, there was not enough light for Link to see the posts by, so he decided to set up camp right beside the post, so at least he would not be lost when he woke up the next morning. Link took some timber and twigs from his pack and made a small fire, just enough light to see the surrounding area. Link decided to add a journal entry, so in case he forgets what he is doing tomorrow, at least he can lead himself on the right track. He then thinks of the beautiful, mysterious woman in the picture. He drifts off to sleep with Zelda on his mind.