Chapter 1: The Hero, the Princess, the Villain

There are many stories in our land of Hyrule, ancient legends and mysterious folklore. But this is a recent tale, of a valiant war ten years ago started by a troublesome thief. The thief had come from the nearby land of Sudai, just beyond Death Mountain. It is a wicked land, producing all kinds of bandits and deviants. While they declared that they intended to be good allies, their people would often steal from traders and travelers. Their knights would do nothing to stop this.

And one of these thieves made a theft so daring that everyone in Hyrule was angry, so dangerous that many in the lands all around us were afraid. The Sudain thief, using forbidden techniques of shadow magic, crept into the royal treasury itself and took the Septdraco, an artifact used to seal dragons out of the world. The thief then brought the Septdraco to the Sudain king in order to give them a way to devastate the land of Hyrule.

Furious at the threat, the Hylian king rallied up people in all the lands encompassing Hyrule and led them in an attack on Sudai. He continually said that he would stop the war if Sudai gave up the Septdraco, which their king refused to do. Sudai even threatened to call out the dragons that were sealed inside to ruin the Hylian army. However, the wicked king lacked the appropriate ritual to summon the dragons. The Hylian armies swept through his lands, conquering the castle and reclaiming the Septdraco. The Sudain king was then killed, leaving his young son to take the throne after him. The boy wisely agreed to give dominion of Sudai to the Hyrule, ending the war.

With the might of Hyrule proven, peace reigned in the world once more.

"Does the castle really have a treasure that can summon dragons?" a young boy asked.

Link brushed aside his honey blond hair, seeing clouds drifting lazily by. A few flowers and grasses waved at the edge of his vision, giving a familiar scent of the forest. Nearby, he could hear one of the teachers telling stories to a group of children. Her voice was nice, enough that he could almost fall asleep by listening. But the story was over and they would be discussing it. A pity, he could use a nap.

"If they do, it will be under greater security," the teacher said. "It is said that even if you perform the summoning properly, it is unlikely that you can control the dragons. It should be guarded and unused."

One thing the story failed to mention was that the war back then was why many of the children and teenagers were here in Taven Village. The village adults had been conscripted into the army during the Sudain war, men and women alike. A few had been left behind to watch the children; Link himself was one of those kids. In spite of what the story said, the war had not been a clean sweep (nor valiant, but he kept that opinion to himself). Nearly all that had gone off to war from Taven did not return, including his parents. Those remaining gathered the children in an orphanage, even taking in those from other towns in order to get help from the castle. And since that was hardly the last war that had gone on, more war orphans had gathered under the care of St Saria's Orphanage.

"Can we hear more about the Picori story now?" one of the girls asked.

"Of course, since you've listened well to the history lesson," the teacher said. She summarized the story as it had been told over the last week, then continued on in the story of a child hero who could become tiny in his search for a holy blade.

It was a fun story for the kids. Link closed his eyes and relaxed. In the past year, monsters had gotten stronger and aggressive. They were especially dangerous at night, even getting into town. The villagers were normally safe as long as they stayed indoors. Still, the monsters would ruin crops and try to damage the buildings. Link and a few others had been staying up to fight the monsters that invaded the village. Day was safe; hopefully it would stay that way while they tried to make the night less restless.

He dreamed, of a mine where the very ground had turned dangerous. Lava bubbling and filling the caves with steam, dividing the pathways into separate islands. To get to his goals, he had to drift along updrafts, trying to reach the safe heights without dropping into bright red lava. It wasn't that bad, in all honesty. But the hat kept making comments about the heat and being used to drift around. At this point, the hat itself was getting tiring to deal with. But he needed the hat, for what it knew and what it could do for him. Ezlo…

"Link!" One of the older kids poked his shoulder with a foot. "We're going back home, come on sleepyhead."

He could have used more rest, but he nodded and opened his eyes. The headmistress of the orphanage believed in fresh air and exercise, leading to this daily excursion along the forest trails to a spring with a small pool. While this was safer during the day, someone able to take care of monsters needed to accompany the children whenever they left town. He got up from his resting spot and glanced around to make sure they had all the kids who'd come out for the lesson today.

"All right, line up," the teacher called, getting the kids to group in pairs to walk back. That made it easier to see that yes, they did have all of them. "Link, are you ready?"

He nodded and went to the back of the line while the teacher took the front. She could cast some magic, like using a shield or a small fireball if monsters jumped them from there. But only a few of the kids here were old enough to be learning magic. There usually wasn't any trouble, but Link knew from experience how quickly a group like this could be in grave danger. While he hadn't lost any kids under his watch, he'd seen quite a few injuries. But the people of Taven often made their living through the forest. It was important to teach the kids to be brave.

On their way back to town, one of the girls in the last pair kept glancing back at him. She was a new one to the orphanage, having come in from another region of Hyrule. "Um, Mister Link?" she finally asked shyly. He glanced down at her, making her blush. "Are you going to be a great hero too? Cause you're named just the same as a lot of great heroes."

Link shrugged. Besides, it wasn't the name he'd been given when he'd been born. Maybe it was a sign that he'd been renamed that. He didn't really think so, as he knew the actual reason he'd been given a new name. Due to a childhood speech defect, he'd found his original name unpronounceable. Link was a nice simple name in contrast.

"I think he could be because he's brave and really good with a sword," the girl walking with the newcomer said. "But a real hero becomes one because it's the right thing to do when things get bad. So you can't know if somebody, even yourself, is a great hero until things get bad."

"I wouldn't want things to go worse," the new girl said.

Neither did he. Today was going well, they didn't even hear a monster on the walk back. Still, he had to wonder about the brief dream from his nap. Was it merely because of the Picori story? It might be, but he'd had other dreams of other heroes named Link quite often in the past year. Maybe something was about to happen and a hero would be needed?

But like the girl had said, a hero wasn't needed until things went bad. It'd be better if a hero wasn't needed at all.

And then, it came. The page at the door announced, "From the province of Sudai, King Ganon Garula."

Zelda felt a chill in her skin hearing that name. It didn't help that the man was intimidating in stature, like he could knock aside any of the armored knights here with his bare hands. According to some gossiping handmaidens, he was considered handsome, for his strength but also for his exotic looks of dark brown skin and long sunset red hair. It was rumored he had some blood from the nearly forgotten Garudo people. None of this was exaggeration, she thought, watching him approach and kneel before them.

However, that name caused her a great deal of worry. There were a great many villains within legends and history that went by that name of Ganon or Ganondorf. What kind of person would be bearing that name with the legacy it held? Had he chosen it or was it his parent's folly? But there was another possibility. There was the chance that destiny had given him that name.

A princess of Hyrule was always named Zelda. Her mother was named Zelda, as was her grandmother and great-grandmother and many more before. However, there was a difference between being a princess named Zelda and being the Princess Zelda. The princesses were often given secondary names that they could go by to distinguish themselves. But she had not been given a secondary name. There was a ruler of a neighboring people bearing the name of legends, here before her today. According to the castle records, there was also a young man living in the southern forest province that had the name Link.

Had someone invoked the legends for this to happen?

Her father, King Albertos Ordonne, addressed Ganon with a chilly sternness. "You have done well to finish your country's reparation payments for the war. But it would not be prudent of your land to reclaim your independence at this time. We are keeping you safe from the bandits that fled your land to the west; they would surely descend upon you again and cause anarchy should you leave the kingdom of Hyrule."

"I will keep your advisement in mind, as always," Ganon said calmly, respectfully. "But our land still holds scars from that war, ones we've been unable to fix alone. Since the reparations are complete, would you please assist us with rebuilding our towns?"

"You should be fully capable of doing so yourself," Albertos said. "Indeed, it's a worrying sign that you have not managed to address such issues in all these years."

Even if there was destiny behind their names, Zelda couldn't keep herself quiet on that. "If they haven't, they may very well be having great difficulty instead. Couldn't we lend them some workers for assistance?"

"No, we won't be doing that," he said.

Zelda did not like that. But, it was an official meeting and she wasn't about to be too disruptive. She did give her father a piece of her mind when the meeting was over, once they were back in the private halls of the castle. "He has been asking for such assistance politely for years and the traders say that Sudai really is struggling to put itself back together after our forces crushed them in that war. There's sure to be a lot of anger and resentment towards us in the Sudain people. Why would we not assist them in rebuilding their towns and stabilizing their lives? They would have a better opinion of us if we had done so from the start."

"You cannot run a country on charity," Albertos said firmly. "And they were the ones who started the war. They must pay the price for their corrupt ambitions."

"It doesn't have to be charity, it's more of common sense," she said. "Fear and obedience don't mean respect; a ruler can earn respect by showing some mercy and kindness alongside authority and strength."

He shook his head. "We can't go about fulfilling everyone's little wishes, Zelda, especially when they haven't earn them. Being kind, as you put it, would lead the people to depend on us too much, make them unable to stand on their own. Say if you were to give a poor family a meal every day. They'd come to expect it and not bother trying to work their way out of poverty. It would be better to train knights to protect the streets and keep people from breaking the law."

"But they might be starved and commit crimes out of desperation," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. "And we're not talking about that, we're talking about fixing damage we caused in an invasion."

"It was a proper and noble counter to a vile greedy move," he said, some anger coming into his words.

Zelda's mother (who always went by her secondary name of Abigail) took her arm and looked at her. "Now now, dear, don't be argumentative. It's not attractive in a young woman."

Not caring about that, she frowned. "I don't care about being attractive. I care about doing what's right. Besides, haven't you realized there's a lot of dangerous signs going around? Even the name of the Sudain king is like that of the old legends; I have a feeling that things will get very bad very soon. The fact that you've been treating the Sudain people with such injustice is going to cause a disaster."

Albertos looked her in the eyes, a quiet fury there. "If it does, the injustice will be their fault. I have been nothing but just, giving people what they deserve. Not only that, but I have always worked towards making Hyrule great. It has been a long process with many difficulties. In spite of that, we are already greater than we have been in centuries. Would you throw away Hyrule's glory for the sake of naive ideals?"

"Do you really think our greatness is in conquest and bloodshed?" Zelda said, trying hard not to be in tears. "The spirits of legend are stirring, already with many pieces on the board. Everyone in Hyrule could suffer as a result and if we have lost touch with Hyrule's true glory, we may very well be struck down."

"That's nothing to worry about," he said, deciding to head on down the hall. "If the spirits of legend are indeed stirring, they always work towards our kingdom's greatness. It may be a dark night ahead, but a bright dawn of a golden era will be waiting further on."

"But it might not be waiting for us," Zelda said sadly, looking down at her hands. There was nothing there now, but she had seen that glimmer of gold. "Even if it is, so many more will suffer."

Abigail patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, dear. Have you been reading dismal tragedies or stuffy political tracts again? Go read something more lighthearted, that's sure to cheer you up. I can't stand the serious stuff myself."

"It's not that," she said, holding back a sigh.

Her mother finally let go. "Besides, if the legends do happen again, you're sure to end up with a brave strong hero at your side. Wouldn't that be magnificent? A happily ever after like that would be worth some dark times."

"Oh mother, that's not important," Zelda said, although she smiled a little at the thought. The thing was, she'd never met the young man who held the name of legend now. Ending up with him would mean losing someone very dear to her now.

You could call it the Legend of Zelda because it was one of the foundations that kept the Hylian royal family in power. A story told time and time again, a cyclical play where objects, places, people, even ideas could change, but there was always that core centered around the princess. She who was chosen by the Triforce of Wisdom as its bearer, in trouble because of her purity and influence. If not, then she held enough qualities to fulfill the role of Wisdom anyhow. The same went for the other two, the hero Link who was chosen by the Triforce of Courage (but often ended up as one who could claim the whole of that golden treasure) and the villain Ganon who was chosen by the Triforce of Power (seeming like an insurmountable force of terror, but he was always struck down in the end).

With such powerful legends connected to the names, some hopeful parents would name their children such to gain the favor of the goddesses. Or not, in the case of the villain. But the name alone did not make one chosen. When one was chosen, they were given the name. All the princesses of the royal family had Zelda in their name, but any one of them would simply be a Zelda until the story begun again and she became the Zelda. The villain might rise under another name, but become the Ganon in time.

There was no choice in that. Hiding among tall bookshelves of the Hyrule Castle library, the young king shifted his hand in a shaft of light that fell through. Against the dark brown skin, a golden glimmer could be seen. He'd been chosen by the Triforce of Power a full year ago, which meant that a story was preparing to begin. Before long, no one would recognize his old name, not even himself. They'd call him Ganon as if he'd been named that his whole life, completely missing the implications of the legends.

Slamming the records book shut, he sighed. He didn't like the Hylian royal family, that much was true. They acted like their kingdom was the only worthy land in the whole world. When they had won that bloody and violent war (they always won wars, either that or wars they lost were never recordeed in history books), the Hylian king had his parents executed, but spared him out of what he called mercy. What he'd really wanted was for him to remain firmly under the control of Hyrule, paying them compensation and taxes that made it hard to rebuild. Some places were still in ruins.

Even so, this? It gave him power, true. He was a great deal stronger than he had once been. If he wanted, he could take back his kingdom from the Hylians. But although they called this a sacred power, something he could only call evil had crept into his life the moment the triangle appeared. He found himself with a desire to not only take back his kingdom, but to take over Hyrule as well and utterly humiliate the Hylians. He felt a delicious thrill when he fought or even watched others fight. Especially to the death, that would let him really feel this power with ecstasy.

The young king gripped his hand tight, pushing his fingernails into his palm. No, he had to stop thinking like that. He didn't want that to overtake him. He didn't want to be cast as the villain in some play that seemed created by the Hylian goddesses. But if his studies were right, it was going to happen anyhow. They gave him plenty of temptation by pushing him to stop being a good vassal, take back his proper inheritance, and restore his people's prosperity. But when he made his moves to do that, the legend would overtake him and he would be Ganon, out to destroy Hyrule's peace, kidnap their princess, and set off the journey of the hero. His people and his kingdom would collapse, soon to be just a small reference in the pages of history for giving rise to him.

But did the story have to end like that? The villain died at the end, but perhaps there was some way to make sure he didn't take out his kingdom as well. It might take acting as a villain towards them too, to lure both the princess and the hero into sympathizing with them. Although he loved his people and didn't want them to be hurt, if that's what it took to save them from the legend that was beginning…

It was an easy decision to make, a tough plan to map out. While the dark spirit want him to simply act, Ganon had mentally argued it into letting him study. Knowledge was a form of power, after all. He'd studied all he could in his own country's resources, then sent requests to borrow references from other provinces of the kingdom. And with this yearly visit (which failed to change anything, as he thought), he was able to find some more within their library. He couldn't find the books he really wanted to study, since they were in a restricted area and a visitor like himself (especially himself) was not allowed to go there.

He'd already filled in some holes, including finding out about the hero of this cycle. In the war that ruined Sudai, another place had been ruined due to all the bloodshed. The Taven province to the south held an orphanage founded in the aftermath of war and one of the children from the start was named Link. Currently, the nineteen-year-old was part of the orphanage staff, looking after the children and protecting the area from monsters. He had applied to get recognition as a mercenary who focused on guarding travelers on the road, just three months ago. And two months ago, he had declined an offer to join the Hylian army instead. He'd never gotten the approval as a wandering mercenary.

Opening the records book back up, he found copies of the paperwork that had gone back and forth about this young man's work. While he was said to be a reserved and quiet person, he was brave, hard-working, and observant. He already escorted people through the forest at times, finding those who were lost and keeping them safe. The reason he gave for declining the army was that he wanted to give a part of his earnings back to the orphanage, something they didn't allow for. While Ganon only had circumstantial evidence, it seemed the castle wanted soldiers to fight its wars rather than mercenaries who chose their own work. When Link got pushed into being the hero, though, he'd be fighting for Hyrule anyhow. Maybe they knew that.

Finding out about the princess was even easier. The sole child of the king and queen (as always, Ganon had noted that from a lineage chart here in the library), she had already taken on some work from her parents in ruling the kingdom. And not just ceremonial duties: this Zelda could manage the treasury, keep records organized, lead civil engineering projects like the repairs and additions to the roads between provinces, and give sound reviews on legal disputes. She could be an intelligent and fine queen someday.

And according to rumors that were backed up by other pieces in these official records, she had an equally talented suitor whose main obstacle to marrying her was her parents' stubbornness. Ganon flipped back to an advisement about farming communities from one Joachim Reynard. Joachim was a merchant's son who took after his father at a young age. By the rumors, the pair had met because of a shared tutor and became sweethearts quickly. Zelda had gotten her beau hired on for work within the castle where many admired his work ethics and potential. While the king had humored her for that, it seemed he didn't fully approve of their courtship. The princess was nearly twenty-one, and it seemed others were hopeful that she'd marry Joachim once she came of age.

Ganon was twenty-one himself; he remembered the time he'd visited when he'd been sixteen. At that meeting, in front of the knights and other witnesses (but not the princess that day), Albertos warned him not to try courting his daughter because he would refuse the match outright. Ganon had responded that it had not been his intention to court Zelda. Albertos acted offended at that and claimed he wouldn't acknowledge that year's reparations unless he apologized. Whatever happened, Albertos was going to suffer for that humiliation, and much more besides. Not long from now, the Hylian king would grovel at his feet before he died.

Be careful thinking on that, he warned himself.

Soft footsteps on the wooden floor caught Ganon's attention. He set the book of records back just before Zelda stopped to find him there. While she was the princess of Hyrule and thus a possible route to take over the kingdom, he truly had no interest in trying to court her. She was like a delicate porcelain doll, her skin fair from being sheltered and soft from never doing hard work. Her hair was snow white and braided elegantly. In his mind, the look like she might wilt under the sun or break if made to do something physical was not that attractive.

Unlike a doll, her gray eyes did show a strong spirit. She was wary of him, but not afraid. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking up a few things," he told her. "I don't like acting blind; I'm sure you can understand that. What are you doing here?"

"I am studying as well." She had a voice that matched her looks, soft and pristine. But given how she had been at the meeting, maybe she could lose the softness if pushed.

At this point in time, Ganon didn't want to antagonize her. "Since we have met, I would like to thank you for trying to get my request accepted. It has always been denied, so it is good to know that there may be some give. My people have been working so hard simply to survive that we cannot put good effort into rebuilding."

Zelda gave a nod of acknowledgment. "I can't promise anything now, but I will try to convince father to ease up. After all, you fall under the banner of Hyrule now and I do not like seeing any of us suffer needlessly."

That was good. With that attitude, he might be able to plant a seed of doubt in her even if she was wary of him. "You may wish to pray to your goddesses that things do not occur to make people suffer," he said, adding some regret and concern to his tone.

"Why is that?" Zelda asked, taking a step closer to be within the bookshelves, then catching herself and staying there where she could step out again quickly.

"I know your legends," Ganon said, putting a hand to his chin and closing his eyes. "I have seen some signs that cause me concern, heard," put a pause there, "some things. I have a responsibility to my people; I don't want them to suffer more. If it were as simple as that, it wouldn't be a concern. But I don't think the goddesses will listen to me. It seems the stage is already set, just waiting on the players to give in."

"What is it that is bothering you?" she asked. She seemed greatly worried about his words. When he opened his eyes and glanced at her, she had a hand to her chest and now seemed a little afraid.

Taking a harder tone of voice, one that should sound like a completely different person, he said, "I apologize, I shouldn't have spoken to bother you like that." Then he turned back to his softer tone. "But if you could pray to the goddesses that this is not needed..." and back again. "Well, do what you like. Excuse me, there's something else I'm hoping to find out."

"Oh, of course," she said, stepping out from the shelves and out of his way. As he passed by, she added, "I hope you find what you're looking for."

He nodded, but didn't reply. If she could reach the goddesses and somehow convince them not to let this play go on, then that would be ideal. However, he doubted that would happen. The stage was indeed set, the pieces in place or almost so. All that was needed for this iteration of the legend to begin was for one of the three of them to make a move.

Ganon had plans in motion already. Zelda might have some herself, but it was to be seen if those plans were for preventing the legend from starting or preparations for when it would begin. As for Link, the heroes usually didn't have plans. Their role in the beginning was always reactive, responding to a call for help, a request, or even just an errand. But if Ganon was to make his plans work, he needed the hero's first moves to go in a particular way.

Thus, the opening move of this legend was for him to go to the forests around Taven and get the hero started.

Zelda often went into the royal chapel at times it was quiet, when nothing else was going on there. Light seemed to come alive in this space, giving a powerful feeling of sacredness here. By day, color filled the air as the sun streamed through the grand stained glass windows all around. They depicted the goddesses Farore, Nayru, and Din as well as the glory of all they created: scenes of the fields, rivers, and mountains of Hyrule as well as some of the treasures they had blessed.

As it was night now, the warm glow of many candles filled the air instead. The scent of incense lingered around the altar's triptych where Zelda was kneeling. She came here not just to pray, but also to think. In this place, it felt like she could reach the spirits of her predecessors. Sometimes it made it easier for her to make decisions. But tonight, it felt like someone was reassuring her as the light of blessing faded from the land. Like someone wanted her to accept that the legend would reoccur soon and things would be bad, but if she had faith, it would turn out for the best. There was a promise of dawn at the end of a long night, perhaps even the dawn of a new golden age.

Zelda lowered her head and sighed. This was not going to turn out well. Maybe, if this went as the legends always did, maybe there would indeed be peace and happiness at the end of it all. But at what cost? And what could she really do during the long dark night? It felt like her parents had gone to great lengths to make her a gentle princess with very little power. She'd had to sneak in lessons about magic and governance as a child, things that they insisted it weren't feminine. Even if she knew about magic, her knowledge was all for peaceful use. If someone threatened her with violence, there wouldn't be a thing she could do to defend herself. They'd taught her to depend on her guards, something she didn't like but had realized too late to do much about.

Footsteps on the stone floor came from behind her, someone approaching her. She felt like this was someone she trusted, so she took a moment to collect herself. "Zelda?"

"Good evening Joachim," she said, setting her hands in her lap.

"Good evening." He came up and knelt beside her. He was always well-dressed, making him charming in spite of somewhat ordinary looks of wavy brown hair and black eyes. But it wasn't his appearance that she treasured him for.

After a brief silent prayer, Joachim reached over and took her arm. "What's troubling you? I heard you argued with the king again."

She tightened her lips into a frown. "He is needlessly harsh, like he's trying to provoke all of the provincial leaders at this time. Whenever I try to confront him about it, he acts as though he has the god-given right to do this to them and is never at fault. He says the glory of Hyrule will prevail, but some of the things we're doing are anything but glorious. I wish there was more I could do to counter his ambitions."

"If he were more lazy, then we could do a lot through taking more powers from under him," he whispered, just loud enough for her to hear him, just in case there was someone there to overhear them. "But he is diligent. I did have an idea for how to counter him."

Inching closer to him, Zelda looked over at his face. "What is it?"

Joachim looked at her and smiled briefly. "You're already well liked, spoken of highly across all the land. We should travel through the provinces and speak with all the peoples who make up Hyrule now. If we help them in little things, listen to them, and show that we care, that will only improve. At the same time, let it be known that Albertos' policies are hindering what we can do, as well as ultimately harming the kingdom."

"It wouldn't do for me to speak out against him strongly like that," she said.

He shook his head. "You don't have to speak strongly. Give little apologetic statements here and there, let people spread it amongst themselves and stir up discontent. With enough time, Albertos will either have to reign in his ambitions or face the people of Hyrule demanding that he step down and let you take over."

"Yes, time, that's the issue," she said, looking down again. "A new legend will begin soon, if it hasn't already begun."

"What do you mean by a new legend?"

"When the land of Hyrule falls in danger, the goddesses will send a hero to defend us," she recited. "It happens regularly through our history, enough to where you can see the parts being put into place. Perhaps even enough for an ambitious person to create the parts in order to trigger the legend without seeming to be at fault."

"Could Albertos really do that?" he asked, considering it himself.

Zelda nodded. "With mother's help, and possibly some others, I believe so. I don't know why he would take such a risk. As the king, he may end up dying in the course of the legend. It would put us all in danger. Or, it might not be him, but others... the time seems right."

"But if we can see it coming, we could take measures to make things less tragic." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Whatever may come, I will be your support and aide."

She put her hand on his. "Joachim, you would put yourself in very grave danger doing that without being the hero. And you don't seem the sort to be one."

"I can do things heroes can't," he said, trying to cheer her up by sounding lighthearted.

She did smile a little at that. "True. And the hero doesn't always marry the princess at the end. Still, you are dear to my heart and that will make you a target regardless of how the hero this time views me. Please, be careful in these coming days. Don't risk yourself even if you have to go into hiding away from me to avoid being killed. I want to have faith in a good ending, but more than that, I want you to still be at my side after the end of this legend. Please, promise me."

Joachim was quiet at that. When she went to clasp his hand, he shook his head. "I can't do that."

"But if you get hurt," Zelda said, some tears coming to her eyes just at the thought of it.

"I'll be careful as much as I can," he said quickly. "But if a time like the legends of old comes around again, it'll be a heavy burden on you. I don't want to leave you to face that alone. I know you can be strong; I want to see to it that you can be even stronger by being with you. So I can't promise that I will part from you just to keep myself safe. I will promise that I will do everything in my power to help you in this."

Fearful of losing him but glad for the promise he gave, she hugged him and sobbed for a moment. "I hope we both make it through this."

"I hope so too," Joachim said softly before giving her a light kiss. "If there is not much time left... would you come with me to our secret place? We can put this out of mind for tonight, then figure out how to handle this starting tomorrow."

She nodded, knowing that if she had to take on this role no matter what her wishes were, she wanted to clasp these moments she had as herself before she had to let them go.

The reddish-brown horse stopped before the stable door, nose flaring and hooves stamping. "Shhh," Link said to her, coming closer to pat her neck. He was familiar enough with her to know how to keep her from panicking. "Hush, girl," he said softly.

"Why is it that you only ever speak to the horses?" a girl asked as she came out of the stable. In Link's opinion, she was one of the prettier girls in Taven, with lots of freckles from the sun and orange-ish red hair that she kept long and loose. Not to mention her really nice figure, which she knew how to accentuate well. Many of the men around town would like to have Charlotte's attention. Despite her being pretty, he wasn't fond of her attitude and the horses didn't like her.

Not replying to her, Link got hold of Epona's bridle and encouraged her gently to follow him into the stable. The horse gave Charlotte a warning snort, but went inside because he was closer. She was the last that he was bringing in tonight. While the others were larger and stronger, excellent for pulling timber, plows, or wagons, Epona was small but faster. Even in the forest with many obstacles, she could get around quicker. The horses here were owned by the town elder officially, but she was more or less his.

Charlotte followed him in despite being ignored. "That's going to make people think you're weird, you know. Sure, you're great with all the horses and you might just be the best swordsman in town since Gregio got injured. A lot of people do admire you for protecting the town, especially the others at St. Saria. But when you won't talk to other people, just the horses, that makes people doubt you."

Link kept focused on taking Epona's equipment off. He already had a pail of hot soapy water to wash her down with nearby. In his mind, he thought that Charlotte of all people should remember why he didn't like talking. Though it would make sense to him if she was conveniently ignoring things that made her look bad. If he was going to speak to anybody, it definitely wouldn't be her.

"Hey, I'm just trying help you out," Charlotte said, coming over. "You'd be a lot more popular if you spoke up, even just a little. I think you..."

Before she could get close enough to knock the bucket over (or just stub her toes against it), Link turned to her and held a hand up for her to stop. He then pointed down towards the bucket, then waved her to go. Or at least keep back if she was going to keep lecturing him.

"Would you just say what it is you want already?" she demanded, continuing forward a step.

He decided it was better to pick up the bucket and put it further in the stable. Epona was edging away from Charlotte, but still had her saddle on. Ignoring the girl, Link went to take the saddle off fully.

"You can't just keep quiet forever or people are going to walk all over you," Charlotte said. "If you really don't like talking, then why don't you stick with me more often? I know you're really talented and you could be something great. And I could help you out, talking with people for you and making sure you got treated fairly. Wouldn't that be a great thing?"

Link shook his head to that, then grabbed a sponge to start washing Epona.

"Now what's wrong with that idea?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. Not even giving him a chance to answer if he wanted, she went on. "We've known each other for a long time and I know you well."

As he wasn't looking at her, Link smiled at that while shaking his head. Nope, she didn't know him as well as she thought. Epona even snorted when she made that statement.

"Link! Quit being a jerk!"

"Charlotte, don't be bothering Link," an older woman said as she came into the stable. It was the innkeeper. "Especially not when he's working and you've got your own chores to finish."

"I was trying to be nice but he keeps brushing me off," Charlotte said, then left.

Thank goodness. Link glanced over and saw that the innkeeper was bringing in a stranger and his horse. The man had a striking appearance; his red hair stood out starkly against the black cloak he wore. Both the beaded hair tie and cloak were trimmed in gold, with enchantments for defense that would make for nice armor. He even had gold earrings that held a diamond-like sparkle. What kind of lord was this?

"Your horse will be safe in here with the rest," the innkeeper said, opening up one of the unused stalls. "Link, would you make sure Gale's horse is taken care of?"

Turning to them, Link nodded. Then he held up the soapy sponge and pointed over towards the horse to offer to wash it down too.

"Would you wash him down as well?" the man asked. When Link nodded again, Gale said, "I'd greatly appreciate that, thank you. Just be careful, as he is unruly to strangers."

"No need to worry about that, Link has a special touch around horses and takes care of them well," the innkeeper said.

Once he finished washing down Epona and making sure her stall was good, Link went over to take care of the noble's horse. With that kind of gear, Gale had to be nobility of some kind. And he had this magnificent horse too, with a black coat and the look of a purebred. The horse gave him a prideful look of warning as he came in the stall.

"You are a fine horse," Link told him with respect as he started to make sure the stall was good. He'd not been warned that another horse would be in, so he went ahead and replaced the water in the trough. The horse went to take a long drink right away, letting him start with taking off the saddle.

The stallion was taken care of well; that was clear to Link quickly. He'd also had a long run just today. From the amount of dust and sweat, burrs and bits of grass, he and his rider could have come from Hyrule Castle Town. A well-trained horse with just a rider could make that trip in a couple of hours. This horse was strong, used to travel. Battle too, there was a faint scar on one of his hind legs like a monster had attacked him.

"Rest well, stranger," Link told the stallion as he started to get drowsy while being washed. He finished up the task quietly, then made a last check over the stable. Everything looked fine, so he left and locked up to keep the horses safe.

Sometimes, Link thought of trying to talk normally again. With one person, he'd tell himself, make sure he really wasn't as bad as he'd once been. Maybe this Gale person? He took good care of his horse. But he might be worn out from his trek as well, then who knew where he was going and how long he'd be here?

It didn't matter that much. Besides, night had fallen and the lamps around the streets were already lit. He had to be on watch to protect the town for a few hours tonight. Link walked around to find who else was on guard tonight, to hear about how things were.