Preface: This was my first Legend of Zelda story, originally written in 2005. If you don’t recognize some of the characters
or places, it is because this story takes place about fifty to sixty years
following Ocarina of Time. Some of the
current sages are descendants of the sages of the Ocarina era. The story was originally written in movie
script format, but it has since been modified into normal book form. Since I wasn’t as accomplished a writer when
I wrote this story, the speech might not be what you expect of medieval
Hyrule. I modified some of the dialogue,
but not to the point where the story would lose its raw character. It is an emotionally charged account of war,
alliances, and human interaction during time of physical and emotional strain.
Chapter
1: Ganondorf Returns at Sandtopolis
According to the legend passed down by the generations of peoples of Hyrule,
there was a hero who always seemed to triumph over the evils of the realm.
Never was this more true decades ago. In
the year 1998, a young boy named Link single-handedly destroyed the evil Ganon
and restored peace to the land
of Hyrule. Despite Link's
leaving the land a few years later, the land of Hyrule
entered a period of peace and prosperity unlike any other in its history. Well,
until recently that is. Within the last
few years, the land
of Hyrule had experienced
numerous attacks at the hands of raiders, invaders, and other evildoers who
were believed to be gerudos associated with the evil Ganondorf. The people of
Hyrule believed that the hero would return before long.
”We’re cleaning house!” Ganondorf shouted. “Natasia, round up the troops, we're going in!”
“Yes sir.” Natasia replied.
Ganondorf had been waiting for this moment for a long time. For fifty long years he had waited for the
seal on the sacred realm to be broken. A
combination of dark magic from a wish and a reversal of ancient Hyrulian
psychic energy had set him free. He
looked back toward Natasia, the sage of Spirit and his second in command. She was strong-willed and stout as she barked
orders to members of the Gerudo military.
Ganondorf was glad to have her, for the campaign was going well. The Gerudos had been making guerilla-like
attacks on various locations for about a year and a half. Everyone in Hyrule
was getting worried a bit about Ganondorf's re-emergence. However, that was
nothing compared to what the small town of Sandtopolis was about to feel. Located along
the northwest banks of Lake Hylia at the mouth of Zora's River, Sandtopolis was
the major port of Hyrule, but wasn't a huge city like Hyrule Castle
Town. This made it a
perfect target for the gerudo attackers.
The attack began on the morning of March 29, 2057. The gerudos cut off the
river in a spot north of the river, making sure no reinforcement from the north
would be able to re-supply the city. Then the gerudos headed into the city on
horseback. Very skilled in the ways of
the horse, a gerudo on horseback meant bad news for anybody on the other side
of the fight. The civilians of Sandtopolis, up and in the streets trading,
buying things, etc, were caught off guard by the attack. Within minutes, many
villagers were trampled, blood was flowing in the streets, and buildings were
on fire. The gerudo archers supplementing the horseback attack did an
especially nasty job, picking off citizens of Sandtopolis from long distances
away with their bows and arrows. Most hit by these arrows collapsed in a heap,
dead. Once a sizeable amount of people
were either dead or injured, Natasia declared the city to be in Gerudo
possession and ordered the remainder of the citizens in the square to get on
their knees and beg for mercy. This is when Ganondorf made his entrance into
the town from the north gate. The people of Sandtopolis, certainly scared
before, were absolutely stone-cold when Ganondorf became visible.
”Good job my gerudo warriors. Take them, all of them!” Ganondorf yelled. “We need as many followers as we can! Go.”
Within the next few minutes, a mass enslavement began, as the gerudos swarmed
the city, putting people into chains and dragging them out of the city north
toward Gerudo Valley. Most of the people, given the
demoralizing circumstances just gave up without a fight, not knowing what
awaited them on the road ahead. They knew that massive trouble was present, and
they could only pray for the hero's return.
Chapter
2: The Battle of Gerudo Valley
Back at Hyrule Castle,
King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule was enjoying his morning tea and milk. He was about to be briefed by the royal
family’s main attendant, Impa.
“What is the news from Sandtopolis?” the
King asked.
Impa responded, “They've been taken out. The Gerudos have invaded the city,
killed many and taken the men in the square into slavery sir.”
”So that's it. Send word to the Knights at Lon Lon Ranch, they are to attack Gerudo Valley
and free the men taken at Sandtopolis.”
Impa begged the King to reconsider. “There's
more to it than that.”
“Get going!” the King yelled.
“But your majesty...”
Daphnes Hyrule gave Impa a look of pure anger. “I gave you an order, now go
before I decide to take you into personal contempt!”
Impa was resigned. “Yes, sir.”
What Impa was going to tell Daphnes Hyrule is that Ganondorf had returned and
that an attack on Gerudo
Valley would be a suicide
mission and none would survive on the Gerudos’ home desert sand. It was a
lose-lose situation, but he would not listen. Impa sent out the word to the
Hylian Knights stationed at Lon Lon Ranch, who then promptly made a 2-day ride
on horseback down the 50 mile road to Gerudo Valley.
They would enter the Valley on April 2.
Driving through the narrow cliffhanging valley leading into the Zora's River
area, the Knights looked perplexed, as there were no signs of Gerudos anywhere
to be found. They did see the fortress beyond the bridge, and began to cross.
But then the attack from the gerudos came, from all directions! They came in on
horseback from the fortress in the west and by foot from the east down some
steep canyon paths, sealing an airtight trap around the Knights. Within
moments, the Knights were trying to scamper back off the bridge, but for some,
it was too late, as the Gerudos on both sides of the bridge cut the ropes
holding the bridge. Instantly, some 20 Hylian Knights fell some 200 feet down
toward Zora's River and death. The remainder of the Knights got blasted, as the
Gerudos were far more skilled on horseback than the Hylians. Not only that, but
their swords were far more deadly. They
knocked knights down one by one. Once on the ground, the Knights were able to
gain back a bit of ground as their armor was strong enough to withstand the
sharp blades of the gerudo warriors. However, sheer numbers began to wear the
Hylian force down. Reinforcements began
to arrive from Gerudo Fortress. Seeing
the prospect of having to fend off a force five times bigger than his own, the
first in command for the Knights had no choice but to surrender.
Ganondorf, who savored the moment, appeared late in the battle to determine the
surrender punishment. He looked down upon the Hylians, whom he thought were
cowards for not fighting to the death.
He decreed that every single one of the remaining Knights would, one by
one, jump off of the cliff to their death. If they refused, the gerudo soldiers
were ordered to behead those individuals.
In other words, it was total victory for the Gerudos and Ganondorf. With this act of savagery, he made it known
that he was on the warpath, and anybody in his way would feel the pain.
Upon hearing the news of the loss in Gerudo
Valley, Daphnes Hyrule knew that the land of Hyrule was in major peril, and something
had to be done.
Chapter
3: Anarchy in Hyrule Castle Town
With the news of the defeat at Gerudo Valley and the reemergence of Ganondorf, the entire
city of Hyrule
Castle Town disintegrated into a frenzied mess on April 4. The city marketplace
was swamped with angry and scared crowds of people. Prices skyrocketed as store owners preyed on
scared citizens, who feared that food and other goods would become scarce
during a war. Looters preyed on the
outdoor shops and stores as well.
Upheaval and unrest was in the air
everywhere. The Hylian Knights on duty were unable to stop the madness on their
own, which carried on well into the night.
People demanded answers from the royal family. An embarrassed Daphnes Hyrule was forced to
call an emergency summit of the sages and the representatives of honor (the
king's self-appointed body of hyrulian people).
The summit meeting took place on April 7 in the meeting room of Hyrule Castle. Daphnes Hyrule welcomed everybody. “Welcome everybody to the Summit of
Emergency. As most of you know, the land
of Hyrule has experienced
two tragedies within the past week. First, the city of Sandtopolis
was taken by the Gerudos, and then the Hylian Knights of Lon Lon were destroyed
at Gerudo Valley. Worse yet, Ganondorf has
returned to the land, so what are we to do about this? I will give each and
every one of you a chance to speak, but by the end of this day, April 7, 2057,
we will reach a decision on what to do as a nation to combat this threat. Now
who will speak?”
Impa, the daughter of Queen Zelda, stood up. “I will, she said firmly.
“Step forward, sage of the Shiekahs.” The king said.
”As the last in the bloodline of the shiekah, I take great pride in what my
mother was able to accomplish decades ago as the sage of shadow. She, along
with Link, Zelda, and the other 5 sages, were able to defeat Ganondorf.
Assembled here today are the reincarnations of those great legends, the new
sages, and the new heroes of the triforce. I do not see why we cannot fight
this threat to the fullest. When we come together as a group of people, we
truly cannot be beaten.”
Daphnes Hyrule concurred. “Okay, that is
one option. Anybody else?”
Link, the fire sage of the Gorons, stood up. “I’ll speak.”
”Step forward, sage of the gorons.”
”It has been said that force can defeat Ganondorf. But without the hero among
us today, I am doubtful that we can do it alone. Decades ago, when our people
tried to beat Ganondorf by ourselves, we got near extinction at the hands of
the dragon Volvagia. I think trying to beat Ganondorf like Impa says is going
to end in failure, which is why I propose we hide away and wait for the coming
of the hero. He will come again to save us, then, that's when we will have the
strength to win.”
The King considered Link’s speech. “Okay,
that is the 2nd option. Anybody else?”
Malon, the sage of light and oldest of the sages, stood up. “I will speak.”
”Step forward, old lady of wisdom.”
”Having associated with the hero myself a long time ago, I find it very
doubtful that he will ever emerge again. A person like that is legendary, a
being that we can never count on to do the things he has done in previous years
again. And like Link the goron says, we do not have the strength to beat
Ganondorf on our own without the hero. Therefore, Ganondorf will pillage and
kill until there is nothing left. We should at least be able to keep our
dignity as a people and a nation.”
The King was confused. “And how do you
suggest we do that?” he asked.
“Your majesty, I ask this of you, that you
wish upon the gods that a torrent of ocean wash over this land forever, wiping
away every last remnant of Ganon!”
A disquieting hush fell over the room.
People starting murmuring to themselves, and some were in disbelief at
Malon’s proposal. Then the Zora sage of
water, Laruto, stood up to speak. “She's
right. That is the only way to protect
the land from Ganon now. Without the hero, we are doomed into oblivion.”
Link could not believe what he was hearing. “Yeah, you say that because you are a Zora and
you'll survive. Meanwhile, I get drowned and destroyed just like the rest of my
people! That's rock-trash!”
Laruto stayed calm. “Your plan is
flawed. You cannot beat Ganondorf. Your people failed miserably years ago
trying to do just that. You should accept your fate.”
”Why you little!!!” The massive goron
rolled across the room quickly and tried to flatten Laruto, who just barely
dodged the attack. He instead hit Fado,
the forest sage of the Kokiri instead. Fado
was knocked out cold by the attack. The
crowd was up in arms and started shouting like crazy. Daphnes Hyrule summoned the Knights in the
room to take Goron Link away from the room.
It took about five of them to get Link under control and out of the
quarters. Medical staff quickly attended
to Fado, who eventually regained consciousness after downing a bit of red
potion. The King pounded his blade
against the marble floor of the room to get the crowd to settle down.
“It is time to put our proposals to a
vote. All in favor of wishing upon the
Gods to drown the land raise hands.”
A slight majority raised their hands, roughly 55% of those assembled. Almost all the Zoras were in favor, as were a
majority of the Hylians. The Gorons were
solidly against the plan, and the Kokiris were mostly against it as well.
The King raised his hands. “Okay then
that is what we will do.” He said.
His daughter the Princess, who had not spoken all meeting long, suddenly stood
up to speak. “You’re all forgetting
something though.” She said.
Daphnes Hyrule wondered. “What, my dear princess?”
”We need the power of the triforce to make such a wish.”
Chapter
4: The Gerudos Scheme
Back in Gerudo
Valley, the Gerudos had to determine
what to do following their successful defense of Gerudo Valley. They agreed that going on the offensive was a
must, but just how to do it was the point of contention.
”Ladies, please come in.” Ganondorf said as his advisers entered the meeting
room of Gerudo Fortress.
Natasia spoke first. “Master Ganondorf,
the battle here was a complete success. We should follow up that success immediately
and kick them while they are down.”
Dragmira, the head of the weaponry guild, spoke next. “Yes, but we do not want
to go and try and take over Hyrule yet. “That plan of action will get us many battles
with massive armies.”
Natasia pressed. “Dragmira, if we allow
them time to prepare their armies, it will not be to our advantage. We need to
hit them and hit them as soon as possible.”
Ganondorf concurred. “Natasia, I like your thinking. I really think that a
follow up attack is important right now. Where do you suggest we go?”
”I would go for the jugular, and go after Hyrule Castle
right now. Finish this before it gets too nasty.”
Kotarika, head of the cavalry unit of the gerudo military, was opposed. “NO WAY!” she shouted. “Why on earth would you
do that without capturing a support base first?
That’s basic strategy. What if we lose and have to retreat?”
Natasia quickly responded. “We won't ever have to retreat, we're the gerudos! We can fight all day and all night if we have
to, but we will win.”
Ganondorf wasn’t so sure. “Natasia, with
all due respect, Kotarika has a point. We can't just go and put our heads into
the lion's mouth like that. We should aim to ta---“
Natasia interrupted him. “Oh you of all
people. You're the king of let's go all out at any cost even if we get killed.”
Ganondorf slammed his sword onto the table. “You don't EVER raise your voice to me! I'm the
King of the Gerudos! You don't raise your voice to me, not ever. DO YOU
UNDERSTAND ME?!!!”
”Yes, Master Ganondorf.” Natasia responded, clearly humiliated.
”Kotarika, where do you think we should attack next?” Ganondorf asked.
”Well, I don't think it should be anywhere too close to Hyrule Castle, but
somewhere not terribly far away, so we can use it as a support base for the
coming invasion. It's got to be somewhere with a fairly good defensive system
we can fall back on if necessary.”
Natasia continued to show her disgust. “All
this talk about defense is ridiculous. Where is your backbone?”
Ganondorf had seen enough. “That will be
enough out of you. Tajria, please escort Natasia out, she is no longer needed
here.”
”Yes Master Ganondorf.” Tajria led
Natasia out of the meeting quarters.
“Now, Kotarika, continue please.”
”As I was saying, we need some place that will be difficult for the enemy to
drive us out of in case we get into trouble battling for the castle. You know
the Knights will be out for blood, and the Zoras are always tough going across
their river of death. So I suggest that we move out to the east and capture Lon
Lon Ranch.”
”Eww, no way I'm going near those smelly, disgusting animals!” Dragmira said.
”You're supposed to be a warrior!” he said. “What do you care if you get messy?”
Dragmira responded. “You do realize that you are the only male within a 20 mile
radius right? Consequently, Master Ganondorf, you are the only one who doesn't
care about their appearance. It happens to be quite important to me.”
”Fine then,” Ganondorf responded. “You'll
command the rear flank. Kotarika, how do we go about attacking Lon Lon Ranch?”
Kotarika laid out the plan “Well, we have a horseback unit ride at the front,
and the first unit will carry bombs and bombchus. They will take down the west
wall of Lon Lon. You know that bombchus are very effective going up walls like
those in Lon Lon. Then, once the wall is down, you'll shoot an energy beam high
into the sky, letting those inside know that they surrender or die. If they
make any hostile moves toward us, then the horse unit will charge ahead and
trample the opposition, followed by the sword infantry unit. They will take
down any survivors. What do you think about that Master Ganondorf?”
”I must say, it sounds very, intriguing. BRILLIANT!! It's more evil than any
plan I could have come up with myself. Only one problem though, once we break
down the wall, how do we rebuild it once we take over Lon Lon.”
Dragmira responded. “That's easy, use
the power of the triforce.”
Ganondorf froze.
Chapter 5: Princess Tears and Zora
Sapphires
While the Gerudos were thinking attack and
waging war, the Hylians were plotting a scheme to take control of the triforce.
According to Hyrulian lore, one who acquires the three spiritual stones; the
Kokiri Emerald, the Goron Ruby, and the Zora Sapphire, and lays them at the
front of the door of time can access the sacred realm by playing the Song of
Time with the Ocarina of Time, a sacred instrument of the Hyrulian Royal
Family. This would open the Door of
Time. Beyond the Door of Time lay the
master sword, the sword of evil’s bane.
The King’s daughter already had the Ocarina of Time in her possession;
it was simply a case of obtaining the spiritual stones.
It was a beautiful spring day at Hyrule
Castle. The King and his daughter, Princess Zelda the
2nd, discussed the triforce, the sacred triangles of Hyrule. The one who possessed the triforce could wish
for whatever he or she desired, and it would be granted.
Daphnes Hyrule spoke first. “We need the
triforce to wish upon the goddesses. Where is the triforce now?”
Zelda spoke. “Well, after the hero left,
the triforce of courage resonated and left him.
Nobody is quite sure of its whereabouts. Some claim that it has been
passed down, but since there was nobody known to be in his bloodline, I doubt
that happened. Our best bet is that it lies in the temple of light inside the
sacred realm.”
”And the other two pieces?”
“The same spot. My grandmother (Princess
Zelda the 1st) selflessly gave up the triforce of wisdom piece upon
her death, and restored it to the sacred realm. As for the triforce of power,
in attempting to escape from the sacred realm 20 years ago, Ganondorf attempted
to use the triforce to escape, a huge no-no inside the sacred realm. The power
of wish reflected right back onto him, causing him to lose the triforce of
power. That's what the legend says.”
Daphnes Hyrule was intrigued.” So you
are saying if we go into the Temple
of Time, we should be
able to pull the master sword and get the triforce?”
”Yes,” the Princess said. “However, it
is a very treacherous mission.”
”Yes it is,” the King replied. “Your
grandmother and the hero nearly doomed the entire land of Hyrule
sixty years ago, because Ganondorf got inside the sacred realm when Link got
sealed away by the master sword.”
According to Hyrulian legend, only a
pure-hearted individual strong enough to confront Hyrule’s evils could wield
the Master Sword. The sword had judged
the Hero of Time to be too young when he pulled the sword, so he was sealed
away in the sacred realm until such time he was judged to be old enough to
wield it.
”That's true, but that wasn't what I was going to say.” Zelda said. “There's another problem.”
”What?” the King asked.
”Why do you want to destroy Hyrule and its people?”
There was an extremely long pause, lasting several minutes. The King clearly wanted to duck the question,
but Zelda’s curiosity made this impossible. At last he came out with an answer.
”Because there's no hope for this land anymore.” He said.
Zelda was stunned. “You can't seriously mean that...”
”Without the hero, we're doomed.” The King said.
Zelda started to cry. “Yes, I'm sure
giving up and mass murdering all of our people is the way to go. How can you
think of doing something so horrible?”
She ran from the room.
The King was speechless.
Another day passed. The plan was to
gather the three spiritual stones so they could open the temple of time and
attempt to obtain the triforce, which was believed to have been reformed as
three triangles by 2057. Daphnes and his royal entourage went first to Zora's
Domain to engage in talks with the Zoras.
He started there because he figured that they would be the easiest sell,
seeing as they would survive the drowning by the Great Sea
anyway. Princess Zelda would not be accompanying him on the journey, as she was
still upset at her father.
It was very warm and humid inside Zora’s Domain, a cavern of rock carved out by
Zora’s Fountain, the source of Zora’s River.
The sage of water and leader of the Zoras, Laruto, welcomed the King and
his men. They started to talk, but
before long Laruto jumped into the open waters of the domain with the other
zoras, and instructed the king and his men to do the same.
”Do I really have to jump in Laruto?” the King asked.
Laruto responded. “It's zora
policy. For any talks to be official,
they must be conducted in the waters of the domain.”
Not wanting to disregard the traditions of
his greatest ally, the King complied. He removed some of his heavier clothing
and leaped into the water. Many of the
other hylians followed.
”Now, what is it that you want from us?” Laruto asked.
”We need the spiritual stone.” The King responded.
“Why?”
The King went into a protracted tirade about needing the triforce to make the
wish to drown Hyrule, and thus needing to pull the master sword, and thus
needing to obtain the spiritual stones.
It was virtually a re-hashing of the old Hyrulian legend, repeated
during the Ocarina years.
Laruto understood completely. “We're on
your side all the way. You can have it,
but only if you'll promise us one thing.”
”What?”
You need to guarantee that once Hyrule is officially drowned, the Zoras will
become the rulers of the new Great
Sea order.” Laruto said.
The King did not object. “That will be
granted, and that is a promise from the King.”
”Well, then, the deal is done. I'll be back.”
Laruto climbed out and left the pool area. Several minutes later she appeared atop the
waterfall high above the pool. She
raised the Zora Sapphire above her head.
It gave off a shiny blue light that echoed throughout the domain. Then she dove off the waterfall high above
making a splashy entrance at the bottom. She gave the stone to the King. “I wish you luck in obtaining the Goron Ruby.
They did not seem too happy with our plan...”
The King agreed. “I know. They are going
to be a tough negotiation. I won't
hesitate to use force if the situation becomes critical.”
”Be careful if you do.” Laruto warned. “A goron fearing for his life will roll
and roll like there's no tomorrow. There's no telling what it might do.”
Chapter
6: Lon Lon
Ranch Falls
The gerudos did not realize it at the time, but they could have attacked Hyrule Castle
on April 16, and they probably would have won and taken Hyrule Castle
and taken control of the Hyrulian government without much of a fight. There were two reasons for this.
1. Daphnes Hyrule was on his way to Goron City, and with him were about 400
Hylian Knights, about half of the remaining force of Knights in Hyrule. The Knights were there because of concerns
about a potential battle to come in Goron
City for control of the
Goron Ruby, the 2nd spiritual stone. This left Hyrule Castle
Town open to a large
degree, despite the presence of about 400 more Hylian Knights and the Zora
force guarding the entrance into town over Zora’s River.
2. The hero of legend was not there to stop them, and Princess Zelda was in charge
of interim governing duties with the King out of town. She could have been caught by such an
invasion.
Alas, the gerudos had no way of knowing these things, and their plan for
attacking Lon Lon Ranch was in full force, so they could not back out without
an order from Ganondorf. He had no intention of giving such an order, so on the
morning of April 16, the attack on Lon Lon Ranch began.
The Gerudos were crafty, they stayed the previous night camped out in Hyrule
Field right up against the wall they were going to attack the next morning.
They waited that morning until they heard a bunch of horse noises coming from
beyond the wall at around 07:00. It was at this moment that they set off the
bombchus, about 50 of them sent up and over the wall. With the massive explosions
and horse screams that came about 30 seconds later, they started cracking their
spears and blades, and bombs against the wall. It took a long while, but thanks
to some of Ganondorf’s energy beams, the west wall eventually broke apart and
crumbled. Ganondorf then threw a warning shot into the air as planned. But he
was surprised to see no hylians anywhere in sight.
In fact, the ranch was completely abandoned with the exception of a few animals
left behind. Zelda, at Malon's urging,
had the ranch evacuated on April 11, a week after the Hyrulian loss at Gerudo Valley. She was afraid of a possible gerudo invasion
into western and central Hyrule Field, which was exactly what happened. The
fact that there were no hylians to be found irked Ganondorf a bit, but he also
knew that the Hylians as a whole were afraid, very afraid. But, he was also
concerned that they might be planning to set a trap of some sort, similar to
the trap the Gerudos had set for the Hylians in the Battle of Gerudo
Valley. Northern Hyrule Field, between Hyrule Castle
Town and Lon Lon Ranch
particularly worried him. There were
many underground tunnels and secret passageways beneath the vast grassland that
could be used as potential booby traps or secret hiding spots for Hylian troops.
It was for this reason that Ganondorf halted the Gerudos inside the ranch and
told everybody to rest up while they plotted their next course of action.
On that same exact day, April 16, Daphnes Hyrule and his entourage reached Goron City.
They planned to meet with the Gorons and hopefully strike a deal by which they
could get the Goron Ruby. Given their opposition to the drowning plan at the
emergency summit on April 7, it was a long shot, but the King was confident.
Unbeknownst to Daphnes Hyrule, his daughter was not really back in Hyrule Castle
Town conducting
government tasks at all. She was actually
on her way, alone, across Hyrule Field to Kokiri Forest.
Already sure that the Zoras would give up their spiritual stone, she set out to
convince the more unsure Kokiris not to give up theirs. The King hardly knew
it, but he was about to butt heads with his own daughter.
Chapter
7: Fire on Death Mountain
It was a cold, chilly spring day high up Death
Mountain as Daphnes Hyrule and his
band of soldiers and workers made their way into Goron City.
They were to meet with Link and the Goron council inside the city on April 16,
2057, the same day as the Gerudo attack on Lon Lon Ranch.
”Welcome everybody to Goron
City.” Link said. “And now, let the meeting of the Hylians and
Gorons commence. Daphnes Hyrule, King of the land of Hyrule,
I bid you please.” He beckoned to the
King to sit in a well crafted chair made of rock. Everything in the city was made of rock. Heck, the gorons even ate rocks as their
primary food. They were a race of people
directly tied into the volcanic landscape of Death Mountain.
”Thank you very much,” the King said. “We
have come with big news. We are on a search for the triforce. We must obtain
the triforce in order to complete our task. But to obtain the triforce, we need
your support.”
”What do you need from us?” Link asked.
”We need the Goron Ruby.”
Link was ready to dismiss the pleasantries. “Uh, let’s see here, why would you need our
sacred stone? Oh yeah, to get inside the
sacred realm to obtain the triforce. But what are you going to do with the
triforce?” This question was mostly in
jest, for Link already knew the answer.
”That's what I have come to discuss with you,” the King responded. “We have entered into a plan to destroy
Ganondorf and his minions once and for all, by wishing upon the goddesses of
Hyrule to drown this land in a giant ocean.
The Zoras are already on our side as they have presented us with the
Zora Sapphire. He showed Link the
glowing blue spiritual stone. Within
seconds several gorons tried to grab it out of King’s hands, presumably to eat
it, but Link’s security force dealt with the unruly gorons and escorted them
out of the room.
Oblivious to the stupidity of his fellow gorons, Link beared down on the
King. “Are you out of your mind?!” he
yelled.
”It sounds crazy on the surface. But just listen.” The King pleaded.
”No Buts!” Link yelled. “You know full well that Gorons cannot swim or breathe
underwater. You're going to kill every
one of us! You can't do this!” The room
began to rumble as the other Gorons started to show their anger.
”Look, you must understand.” The King said. “The land of Hyrule
is doomed. We have no chance without the hero…”
Link interrupted the King. “What in the
bloody heck are you talking about?! The hero will return. He always does, and
when he does we will beat Ganondorf again.
You just wait, the hero has come before, and he’ll be back again!”
”We cannot make that assumption.” Daphnes Hyrule pleaded. “The last time your
race tried to stop Ganondorf, you all almost got fed to the dragon Volvagia.
The fact that you people would even try to face Ganondorf again, at a time when
he has his mind on revenge, is ludicrous.”
Link became visibly red-faced as the King continued to speak. “You must
realize that this is our only choice, and you must accept it.”
”I don't have to accept anything you say.” Link said.
”You're under my power as the King!”
”As the ruler of the Goron race and the Sage of Fire, I cannot allow our entire
race to simply perish! You are trying to kill us all!” He rose from his throne.
“You're just like your father, the one
who almost let us starve to death while Dodongo's Cavern was enclosed. What has
the Royal Family ever done for us?! Nothing! You make me sick Daphnes Hyrule,
absolutely sick! What you are doing will kill all of your own people too. Whose
side are on you on?”
”The Hylians and Zoras have decided to freely accept their destiny!” The King
yelled, his patience running thin.
”You've had those people in your back pocket since day 1. The way you're trying to intimidate me, its
no wonder why they're prepared to die!” Link screamed.
The King got up. “You raise your voice
to me again and I'll...”
”You'll what?” Link got right into the King’s face as hylians and gorons both
ran toward the King and the Goron leader, worried that things might get
physical. The King said nothing, and
Link spoke again. “That's right you won't
do anything. Now if you don't take your sorry butt out of my city before I
count to 10, you're going to find out what a Goron Punch feels like. And if any
one of your merry men decides to try and steal the Goron Ruby from my domain, I
swear to Din, they will never see the light of day again. Do you understand me?”
”You're being ridicul---“
”DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!!!”
The King had seen enough. “Knights, move
out!” He turned back around to
Link. “Goron Link, this is not over. You
are as much a resident in this land, my land, as anybody else. You will fit in with our plans, whether you
decide to yourself or not. It's either
the easy way, or the hard way, and you just chose the hard way my friend.
Hylians, move out!”
The King had to revert to plan B. Meanwhile,
another meeting was going on, deep in the green of Kokiri Forest...
Chapter
8, Zelda Schemes, Daphnes Sneaks
About 150 miles to the southeast of Death Mountain,
it was a beautiful day in Kokiri
Forest, a small village
within the luscious green landscape of the Lost Woods. Princess Zelda had traveled here on horseback
in order to meet with Fado, the sage of Forest,
and Saria, the leader of the Kokiri government.
The two acted essentially as King and Queen of Kokiri Forest. Saria, along with Malon, was one of the few
sages of the Ocarina years still living in 2057. Due to the fact that members of the Kokiri
race never age while inside Kokiri
Forest, Saria still
carried much the same appearance as she did sixty years earlier. She met Zelda at the wooden bridge at the
Hyrule Field-Kokiri Forest border.
”Princess Zelda, welcome, we have been expecting you.” Saria said. “Fado is waiting in the Deku Tree Meadow.”
Zelda trotted into Kokiri
Forest on her white
horse, accompanied by a bunch of Kokiris. The Kokiri Forest
village area was largely unchanged from the Ocarina years. There were four houses on each side of the
greenspace in the center, with a stream running down the center of the
greenspace. At the back end of the
village was a narrow passageway that led to a wide open grassland where the
Deku Tree stood tall. In front of the
dead Deku Tree was the smaller, yet livelier Deku Tree Sprout, the guardian
spirit of Kokiri Forest.
Fado was sitting in the grass in front of the Sprout. He stood up.
”Welcome Princess.” Fado said. “Feel
free to sit in the wood chair.”
”Thank you very much Fado.” Zelda said.
Fado spoke. “What brings you to Kokiri
Forest?”
”There is tension brewing in the land.” Zelda said.
”Yes, with Ganondorf returning, its a very harsh time.”
Fado nodded in agreement.
Zelda’s face was still concerned. “Well,
there's that, and then there's my father.”
”What about him?” Fado asked.
Zelda explained. “He wants to destroy
the land of Hyrule in order to stop Ganondorf. This means killing off every living thing in
the kingdom. I think he's out of his
mind and we have to stop him.”
Fado felt helpless. “What are we
supposed to do? I mean, us Kokiris, we're pretty isolated from everything here.
Even Ganondorf really doesn't mind us too much.”
Saria chimed in. “Back in the Ocarina
area, he unleashed some of his minions into the forest, but that was because
the Deku Tree had died years before and couldn't protect us. Now as you can
see, the Deku Tree Sprout has grown quite massively. It will protect us. Even though it has never had to do so in the
past, I am confident in its abilities.
”Well Saria, I'm not sure about that.” Zelda said. Didn’t Ganondorf inflict a deadly curse upon
the Deku Tree that caused it to shrivel up and die?”
“We never really figured out why the Deku
Tree died. I cannot recall that
happening.”
Fado spoke. “I don’t think we are served
well either by the King’s plan or by Ganondorf taking over the kingdom. We’re stuck in the middle.”
“This is exactly my point.” Zelda
said. “The way to avoid a watery fate is
to refuse to give up the Kokiri Emerald.
My father is attempting to make a wish to the goddesses of Hyrule that
will drown the kingdom so that Ganondorf cannot rule it. To wish to the goddesses, one needs to
possess the triforce. As I'm sure both of you know,
the triforce is found inside the Sacred Realm, which is only accessible from
the Temple of Time. To get past the Door of Time, you
need the three spiritual stones, one of which, the Kokiri Emerald, you possess.”
”That is true.” Fado said.
“My father is already searching around
Hyrule for the spiritual stones. In all likelihood the Zoras have given theirs
up. The Gorons probably did not, but in
case they did or my father took it by force, you must protect your spiritual
stone. If that means you must fight the
King’s forces, then you must do so. We
must not let my father get the three spiritual stones and get his hands on the
triforce, or we are doomed!”
“We cannot possibly fight.” Fado said. “We’re too small and too peaceful.”
”Fado, she has a point.” Saria said. “With
our course of action, we either wait for the hero in our
isolation and hope the Deku Tree Sprout protects us from Ganondorf, or
we die with the King’s wish. Zelda’s
proposal gives us hope. We could use our
immortality within Kokiri
Forest to fight off
either Ganondorf’s forces or the King’s.”
”Well, our immortality will protect us either way.” Fado said.
”No Fado.” Saria said. If the Deku Tree
Sprout dies from the deluge of the coming flood, there goes our immortality.
Besides, I don't think we would exist well in an ocean world.”
Zelda spoke quickly. “Saria, trust me, I
know what lies in your future if you accept the deluge from the gods. Your body forms will morph. You don't want
that.”
”I’ve heard enough.” Fado said. “I agree
that we should protect the Kokiri Emerald.”
Fado wanted to go on but stopped suddenly with concern. Zelda was hunched over and had grabbed her
head. She was nearly into the fetal position. “Zelda, are you okay?!” Fado said with
concern.
”Ugh, my head is splintering!” She let
out an awful moan.
”She's experiencing a seizure!” Saria yelled. “We have to get her to the
know-it-all-brothers house.”
”No. Just gotta, get, through, the next, few, moments, aaaaaah”
”Are you okay?!” Fado asked again. Zelda
started to straighten up in her chair again.
She explained. “I get these
splitting headaches when bad things happen. You just saw one. Fado, Saria,
something really bad has just happened. I don’t know exactly, but I feel my father has
gotten hold of the Goron Ruby. If so, he is coming to Kokiri Forest.
Saria, where is the warp path to Goron
City from here? I have to know for sure.”
In Hyrule, there are three worm hole paths where people can warp themselves from one end of
the country to another. One connects Kokiri Forest
with Zora’s Domain, the second connects Zora’s Domain with Lake Hylia,
and the third runs between Goron
City and the Lost
Woods. This is the path Zelda intended
to take.
”Well, its in the lost woods, but Zelda...” Saria
said.
Zelda interrupted her. “I have to get there now.”
”But if you go into the Lost Woods, you might turn into a Stalfos!” Saria
exclaimed.
In Kokirish lore, it is said that anybody
that goes into the Lost Woods and loses their way runs the risk of becoming a
Stalfos, a skeleton-like demon creature.
The Kokiris themselves were protected from this occurring because of the
power of the Deku Tree Sprout, but other races were not protected. It was either you knew your way, or you
suffered the consequences.
Zelda knew all about the legend. “I know, I've heard the stories. But it is a risk I must take. If
my father is coming down here with his men, we'll need the help of the Gorons,
and that's the quickest way for them to get down here.”
Saria and Fado both nodded. “Okay then, here's
the directions.”
Zelda was dead on with her prophesy. Daphnes Hyrule's men had snuck back into Goron City
at 03:00 the night of April 19. On that night, there were two Gorons that were
supposed to be protecting the ruby high atop Goron City,
but they both nodded off. Three men went onto the tightropes above the city,
and undetected, they stole the Ruby from its perch. Within minutes, Daphnes
Hyrule's men were heading down Death Mountain toward Kakariko Village,
with only one stone left to obtain. Kokiri Forest
was their ultimate destination.
Chapter
9: Ganondorf and Daphnes Move South
The Gerudos were still plotting their next move. They convened inside the main barn of Lon Lon
Ranch early on the morning of April 20.
”Kotarika, what should we do now?” Ganondorf asked.
”Well, I need to hear what our spies have found out. Tajria?” Kotarika asked.
Tajria, the head of the Gerudo’s elite spy team, responded. “We've had our spies inside Hyrule Castle
Town for 3 days now, and
they are reporting that both Daphnes Hyrule and Princess Zelda are away from
the city. They also report that city
traffic is way down. Plus, with the Temple
of Time firmly shut in,
the city is of no use to us right now.
Really, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Hylians are shutting up and
abandoning the city for either the underground or the country. They are a bunch of scared cowards really.”
Ganondorf was mad. “Dang! I thought they’d man up and fight. Apparently the enemy is trying to run from
us.
”Boy, that leaves us in a predicament.” Kotarika said.
”We cannot just stand here forever.” Ganondorf said. “Afraid or not, they will plan a
counterattack at some point. We have to stay on offense. Natasia, who can we
make a positive attack on right now, on April 20, 2057?”
Natasia answered. “Well, we have several
options. We can go after Kakariko
Village, which is where
Daphnes Hyrule is rumored to be right now. That would be difficult because of
all the enemy troops in the area, not to mention the large Hylian population
there. We can go after Zora's Domain and try to take over the Zoras and the Zora River
Valley. This would be
troublesome as well given our past performance against them. They are exceptionally skilled at river and
water warfare, certainly not our specialty. Or we can go after Kokiri Forest. Our spies have reported that Princess Zelda
was heading there a few days ago.”
Ganondorf responded. “Daphnes Hyrule isn't a threat. We can deal
with him when the time comes. Zelda though, she's a big threat. Unlike her
father, she is smart and knows how to foil our plans. I say we go into Kokiri Forest
and see if we can't capture her. Plus, if I could regain her piece of the
triforce, I would become the most powerful man in Hyrule once again!”
Natasia briefed the others. “Kokiri Forest
won't be a difficult target because the Kokiris don't fight. As soon as we walk
into the forest they'll be surrendering by the masses.”
”Exactly.” Ganondorf said. “Kotarika,
Dragmira, prepare your units to move out of Lon Lon Ranch at 14:00 this
afternoon. We will take everybody. Blow out the east wall of the ranch now, it
will make our exit easier.”
Meanwhile, the King’s forces were gathered in Kakariko Village,
next to the well in the center of town.
Founded by the Shiekah clan and a small village for many years, Kakariko
by this time was a bustling town, though still not quite as large as Hyrule Castle
Town. Located at the foot of Death
Mountain, Kakariko was equidistant
from Goron City
in the north, Hyrule
Castle Town
in the west, and Zora’s Domain in the south.
”Well, did you get the Goron Ruby?” the King asked his servant.
”Does this look like a cucco to you?” the servant replied as he pulled out the
ruby.
”YES!!” the King exclaimed. “Great work my loyal servant. We shall continue to
move out then.”
The King’s men pushed out of Kakariko
Village at around 17:00
on April 19, allowing them to get about almost a whole day’s head start on the
Gerudos, who departed Lon Lon Ranch the next afternoon.
Meanwhile, inside Goron
City, Princess Zelda was
checking her body features, making sure she had not lost anything in the
wormhole. Everything appeared to be
fine. The whole story about the Stalfos
and then the wormhole had made Zelda really nervous. She started down a rocky passageway toward
the main center of Goron
City when a Goron named
Babgoro noticed her.
”Hey! There's the intruder!” He curled
up and rolled at Zelda. Not expecting an
attack, Zelda just barely dodged his wild rolling attack. Eventually other gorons saw her, and started
chasing after her as well. The chase
continued around Goron
City for roughly ten
minutes, with some gorons running after her, others attempting to cut her off
with their rolling attack. Eventually, one of the rowdier gorons tried to run
her over. Zelda dodged the attack, but in doing so, fell down 15 feet to the next
level. Luckily, Zelda landed on her feet, so no major injury occurred. However,
that was not of consequence at that moment, as she got up and looked right into
the face of Goron Link, who shoved her to the ground. Several other gorons
surrounded her instantly.
Link stalked her. “Well well, what do we
have here? We have little miss princess coming into
our city and performing daddy's dirty work. You think you can get away with
stealing my people’s greatest treasure? Very well then, take her to the lava
pit.”
Babgoro protested. “We cannot do that to
the princess. This means war.”
”DO IT NOW!!” Goron Link screamed.
”NO! This is a huge mistake! I'm on your side I don't even have
the ruby!” Zelda screamed frantically, finally realizing why the gorons were
after her.
“If you don’t than who does?!” Link
snapped.
”The King's servant snuck into your city last night, they have the stone and
are on there way to Kokiri Forest, we have to stop them!!” Zelda screamed.
There was a long pause. Link was a little surprised at Zelda’s saying
that they had to stop the King. It
didn’t make sense. He suspected she was
lying. The big goron got up to her and
started searching through her dress for the Ruby. Zelda was paranoid. “Hey, be careful with my
dress, I don’t want it ruined!”
Link was sure that she did not have it on her, so he decided to talk. “So you're saying,
we have to stop your father?”
”Yes,” Zelda responded. “He's trying to
kill us all, and you Gorons have to help stop him. There's no time, we must go
through the warp to the lost woods!”
Finally realizing that Zelda was indeed not aligned with her father, Link
repented. “I'm so sorry, I had no idea.
Goron Guards, man up your units, we are going down to
the Lost Woods right now. We must intercept Daphnes Hyrule's men before it is
too late. This is not a drill, let’s
move!”
Chapter
10: All Eyes on the Forest
It was a situation that Hyrule thought it would never see, three different
alliances from within the nation of Hyrule, unknowingly converging on the one
place in the kingdom that knew nothing about conflict, war, bloodshed, or suffering.
Even more interesting, the people in charge of the groups did not know what the
other's intentions were, or in the case of Daphnes Hyrule, did not even know
that his own daughter was leading the resistance to his “gather the triforce”
movement. The stage was set for combustion.
On the morning of April 21, the Gerudos were held up in South Hyrule Field due
to some bad navigation and a nasty attack by the peahats on the night of April
20. They were about 20 miles out of Kokiri
Forest when morning
broke. On the other hand, the Hylians led by Daphnes Hyrule were right outside
the forest, ready to come in and negotiate with the Kokiris, and hopefully
leave with the Kokiri Emerald. They did not expect resistance from an unlikely
source.
Saria, like she had with Princess Zelda, greeted King Daphnes Hyrule at the
wooden bridge leading into Kokiri
Forest. “Your majesty, welcome to Kokiri Forest.
The sage of forest, the great Fado is awaiting all of you in the Deku Tree
meadow.”
”O great Saria, thank you very much.” The King replied.
The Hylians moved into the Deku Tree meadow very nonchalantly, where a bunch of
Kokiris were waiting for them. Standing at the front of the bunch of Kokiris
was Fado.
”Welcome your majesty.” Fado said.
”Thank you much Fado. As I am sure you are aware, we are undertaking a great
mission, and as such we must talk about the---“
Fado interrupted him immediately. “We
won't need to talk about anything. We’ve
already made our decision.”
”What are you talking about?”
Zelda entered the meadow from the backside of the Great Deku Tree Sprout,
flanked by a bunch of Gorons, including Goron Link. “We aren't letting you get this!” She said
loudly as she held up the Kokiri Emerald for all to see. Its green light glowed through the forest.
Daphnes Hyrule was flabbergasted.
“Z-Zelda?! What the heck are you doing?”
”Father, please forgive me.” Zelda said.
”I thought you were back at the Castle. How crazy are you to come down here
alone, you could have been killed.” The
King said, concerned.
”You're going to kill me anyway, what does it matter?” Zelda asked.
”Don't tell me you are joining the resistance.” The King said, angrily.
Zelda spoke from the heart. “Father,
please forgive me. I cannot simply let you destroy this kingdom. We all live
for so much, and just because an evil force has infiltrated our land does not give you the right to destroy it. You are the supreme ruler of this kingdom,
and by planning to wish upon the goddesses to drown the land you have turned
your back on the land
of Hyrule. If you will not uphold your sacred duty to
protect this kingdom from the powers of evil, then I will.” Goron Link and the other gorons nodded.
Daphnes Hyrule was crushed. “I cannot
believe my ears. Zelda why are you doing this?! What happened to the princess,
my daughter? She is gone. She must be
gone.” He moved up close to Zelda. “You,
you've changed. You're becoming a rebel right in front of my very eyes. Under
my nose you have grown and developed into a being that I can no longer hope to
control, even as the King of Hyrule. You've, become an enemy of the state. As much
as it pains me to say it, you must be dealt with. Guards!”
Saria moved in from the right. “If any
of you make one move toward her, by the power of Farore you're going to pay.”
She said.
There was a long pause as virtually everybody was surprised at Saria’s
defiance. She was the last person the
King expected to rise against him.
Daphnes Hyrule shook his head. “What
the heck is going on here?!”
The king’s vizier stepped forward. “Who are you to tell the King what he can and
cannot do?” he asked Saria. There was a
lot of grumbling and noise in the Hylian delegation. They wanted answers.
”Think for a minute.” Saria said reverently. “You are all going to drown this
land and kill yourselves because you do not have the courage and the valor to
fight and stand for your country?” Saria
walked toward the Hylian Knights. “You
call yourselves Knights? You're nothing but cowards! You are giving up right
before the battle even starts! That goes against every code of chivalry ever
established. Do you think the Hero would
surrender before the battle? No he
wouldn’t. And neither should any of you.
Now, I don't know much about war. But I
guarantee you this, if Kokiri
Forest were invaded tomorrow,
my people would not simply give up and run like you have decided to do. We Kokiri lived through invasion once,
we’d do it again and live to tell about it!
And that is why I will never, ever give you the Kokiri Emerald. Me,
Zelda, Link, the gorons and kokiris, we solemnly swear we will fight if you
even try to take it.”
Upset, a Hylian regiment moved toward the Kokiri and Goron forces. In response, Zelda shot out a nasty fire
warning blast in the direction of the Hylian Knights. Just then a massive energy explosion occurred
in the sky to the west of Kokiri
Forest. Everybody suddenly turned around back to the
west.
“Well, that can't be good.” Zelda said.
The clouds in the forest area, previously a yellow haze began to turn a deep
black...
”Knights, remain at your station.” Daphnes Hyrule said.
”Gorons, about face, be ready to face enemy to west!” yelled Link.
Within a few minutes, a big regiment of gerudos, led by Ganondorf came rolling
into Kokiri Forest. They were flanked by a bunch of
gerudo cavalry units. Everyone else in the deku tree meadow tensed up on the
inside, all except Princess Zelda, who perhaps stupidly, approached the Gerudo
regiment. She walked straight toward
Ganondorf.
The King pleaded. “Zelda! Don't do it!
Have you gone mad?!”
”She has no fear.” Goron Link said as he turned to Fado. He nodded in agreement.
”Well well, it seems we have made contact. Princess Zelda, a pleasure to meet
again.” Ganondorf said.
”The pleasure is mine, Ganon.” Zelda said.
”Hah hah hah.” Ganondorf laughed. “That's
funny. Anyway, I figured you'd be hiding away somewhere since you weren't at
the castle, but here you have the audacity to approach us.” He shot a blast of energy at Zelda.
Zelda dodged the shot, ducking under it.
“What, you can't take a woman with courage?”
This sentence got into Ganondorf's head a bit, as it suggested that she was
courageous as much as she had wisdom, which was bad. Finally, he spoke again.
”Well, if you don't mind, we'll be taking over this village. But we'll be
taking you first.”
”Over my dead body you are!” Zelda shouted.
Ganondorf was insulted. He shot several
more energy blasts at Zelda.
Zelda dodged most of the energy, but one glanced her
left shoulder. She was furious. She moved in to engage Ganondorf. Suddenly a lot of noise fills the meadow as
everybody realizes that Zelda and Ganondorf are about to fight. Everybody gathered in a circle to watch them
in a huge circle in the center of Kokiri
Forest.
Ganondorf got up close and punched her twice Zelda, then punched again,
knocking her backward into a house. Ganondorf
then picked her up and throws her to the ground again. By this time the Gerudos were going crazy and
making tons of noise while the King’s men were screaming in horror, as were the
Kokiris. Ganondorf moved to finish Zelda off with a warlock punch, but before
he could land the attack, Zelda rolled behind Ganondorf and connected, low.
Ganondorf hunched over clearly in pain.
Zelda took her shoes off and started raking his eyes with her heeled
shoes. Then she used her Din's Fire spell a few times, causing Ganondorf to
flee to the stream in the right of the circle.
Zelda charged toward Ganondorf with the Kokiri Emerald in hand, but he charged
up an energy beam and nailed Zelda in the chest. Zelda fell down, and was in
such pain that she could barely get up.
Ganondorf drew his sword and lowered it toward her neck.
”I could kill you now, but that would be too easy and not much fun.” He said.
Zelda looked into his eyes, knowing she cannot continue to fight, and whispered
something into Ganondorf's ear. Then she fell over into a heap on the grass.
Daphnes Hyrule said out loud what most were thinking. “What was that about?”
”Very well then.” Ganondorf said. “Listen
up, hylians, you miserable wretches of this miserable land. You have been
spared today due the diligence of your dear princess. Thanks to her, you will
not be dying in a flash of destruction. This emerald will be our key to
success.”
Ganondorf and his minions left with Zelda and the Kokiri Emerald, leaving the
other Hyruleans in their wake inside the forest.
Chapter
11: Let the Bickering Commence
Inside Kokiri Forest,
it was April 22, 2057, the day after the Gerudo attack. It was an intense day to say the least.
Daphnes Hyrule spoke first over Deku Nuts and Lon Lon Milk that morning. “You see, this is why we cannot bear to fight
the evil forces. My daughter has now been taken captive, all because you morons
would not obey me. You are all guilty of treason, and you will be dealt with
accordingly.”
Goron Link was astounded. “Wait. You are
using yesterday's attack to say that we cannot fight Ganondorf? Are you
kidding?! Zelda had him down on his knees and was winning the fight! If we had
swarmed onto him at that point, we would have won the fight right there. But
no, you're too scared to even look like you want to fight. What were the
gerudos going to do? We had them
outnumbered by 4 to 1! If there was ever a time to beat Ganondorf, its was
right here yesterday!”
Fado agreed. “Link has a point. Besides,
it’s not like we can even wish to the goddesses now because they took the Kokiri
Emerald. I am furious about that. I want
revenge.”
The King attempted to reason. “Let me
get this straight.” He said. “You people saw what happened yesterday, a true
measure of Ganondorf's awesome power, and Zelda pays the price, and that makes
you all want to go after him? You're all insane.”
Fado pressed. “We aren't insane. You're
the one that's insane. He beats your own daughter and takes her captive, and
you aren't going to do anything about it? Shows your love for her. You really know how to handle a crisis.”
”One more comment like that and I'll have your head!”
the King shouted.
Saria had seen enough bickering.
“Enough! Don't you all see? This is where the hero returns. Zelda has been
taken by Ganondorf, this is the spot in the legend
where the hero is bound to return. This is what happened in the Ocarina years.
With the hero on our side, nothing can stop us.”
”The hero is dead.” The King said.
”Don't you ever say something like that.” Saria said. The hero never dies. He will come again to
save Zelda and to rid Hyrule of Ganondorf.”
The King was exasperated, especially with Saria. “I've had enough of this nonsense. Knights, I
want you to attack them, all of them! Forward march!”
Link quickly yelled to the Gorons. “Gorons! Get ready to engage!”
Saria was enraged. “Stop in the name of
Farore!” she yelled as loud as she could.
Everybody stopped dead in their tracks.
Fado handed Saria a brown staff of some kind, and he wielded one himself. Saria continued. “If any of you get hostile in this forest, by
the power of the Deku Tree Sprout I will have you all turned into Stalfos!
That's what happens when you attack a Kokiri on the homeland. Why do you think
Ganondorf's men never attacked us in the Ocarina era? That's right, because he
knew that he would suffer the same fate.
”You little maggot!” the King shouted. “You
dare circumvent my authority?!”
Fado stepped in. “How dare you talk to
the Queen Kokiri that way? Your majesty,
get out of our forest. Take your men, take them all
out of here now. And don't ever come back. Saria, let’s do this.” Saria and Fado take their staffs and put them
together in the ground. Within seconds, green energy blasts shoot out of the
combined staff into the sky. A gleaming
green barrier of aura energy covered the forest. Fado spoke again. “As of this moment forward, the lands of Kokiri Forest,
the Lost Woods, and the Sacred Forest Meadow, are officially seceded from the
realm of Hyrule. You no longer have any authority here. Now leave.”
The King moved toward Fado and Saria in a threatening manner. But before he could get anywhere near either
of them, Mido, the former boss of the Kokiri turned bodyguard, jumped out of
the bushes and dropkicked Daphnes to the ground.”
“You miserable wretch!” Mido yelled. “If you ever, EVER put your hands on either of
them, I'll have you dead so fast you won't even have long enough to become a
Stalfos!”
Daphnes Hyrule got up in a daze, and reluctantly told his men to move out of the
forest. The retreat was swift. By
afternoon, Kokiri
Forest is devoid of all
Hylians.
While this was going on, several Gerudo
officers talked to Zelda. They were on
their way back to Lon Lon Ranch.
Kotarika was first. “Okay, so what were
you thinking coming toward us anyway?”
“You people don't understand do you?” Zelda
asked. Her chest and back were still
killing her from the battle against Ganondorf.
She was in enough pain that the Gerudos agreed to let her ride on
horseback.
”No we don't understand.” Kotarika replied.
Zelda started. “First of all, I don't
have the triforce of wisdom, I tried to explain that to your brash leader over
there but he attacked first. Secondly, we are all in big danger!”
Dragmira laughed. “That’s easy for you
to say. You’re in danger, but we’re
not.”
Zelda’s voice was stern. “That's where
you're wrong. My father has hatched a plan to drown the land of Hyrule,
killing everything in the land, including you, your people, and everything you
know. You may not realize it now, but
the Gerudos are in just as much trouble as the rest of Hyrule’s population.”
”You, surely you’re not serious.” Ganondorf said.
Zelda just looked at him coldly, as if she was trying to stare a hole right through him.
”We need to talk.” Ganondorf said.
Chapter
12: Zelda and Ganondorf, Partners?
The date was April 24. It was a cold,
and the wind whipped into the main barn of Lon Lon Ranch. Several of the gerudo thieves were shivering
from the chilly conditions. Ganondorf
and Zelda met near what were once the horse stables.
”Zelda, remember our deal.” Ganondorf said.
Zelda nodded, and Ganondorf continued.
“So, when you were going down, you whispered something to me, something
about your father wanting to kill all of us. Now me, I could understand that,
because I want to take over this land and depose him. But you, his own
daughter, I don't understand. Why would
he want to kill one of his own?”
”If I tell you the reason behind this, you must promise me one thing.” Zelda
said.
”What is that?” Ganondorf asked.
”You must agree to give me back the Kokiri Emerald.” Zelda said.
”Now why would I do that? Give me one
good reason why I should give it up.”
Zelda was again stern. “Because what I
am about to tell you involves the security of every man, woman, and child in
this country. This information is vital
to the security and well-being of the Gerudo nation.”
Ganondorf wasn’t completely convinced, but he agreed anyway. “Proceed.” He said.
”My father wants to destroy the land
of Hyrule. He is going to
do it because he is so afraid of you are your minions that he'd rather destroy
both sides instead of fighting you. And you won't believe his plan to
accomplish the goal. He is planning on
collecting the triforce to wish upon the goddesses to summon a giant tidal wave
to fill up this land with water, drowning everything.”
Ganondorf was downright speechless. His
facial expression was that of shock, something that he hardly ever experienced.
Zelda continued awkwardly. “Yes, it is really
quite a problem, and for once, both of us can actually say we are on the same
side of the dilemma.”
Ganondorf snapped out of his funk. “Zelda,
there is something I must have. In
accordance with our deal.”
Zelda smiled. “I know. You want the triforce of wisdom. I hate to disappoint you, but after my
grandmother got done sealing you away in the sacred realm she surrendered it to
the gods. It's no longer in my
bloodline.
”You lie!” Ganondorf yelled. He grabbed
Zelda’s arm and looked at the back of her hand.
The triforce insignia was missing.
It was at this point that he realized that he had been tricked. “Why you thief! Do you think you can just play games with
me? Do you think this is funny?”
Zelda did not miss a beat. “And let me
guess, you lost the triforce of power trying to escape from the sacred realm,
didn’t you?” She pointed at the back of
his hand, where the triforce insignia was missing.
“Zelda, you’re quite cunning, and your
wisdom has apparently led to your adopting some decent thieving skills. Let you hear this loud and clear. I don't
trust you, and I don’t trust your bloodline.
I’ve been defeated by your kind in the past. Since you lied to me about the triforce of
wisdom, I am not giving you the Kokiri Emerald.
Furthermore, you're staying here under maximum security. I'm not going to imprison you or anything, but
if I even see you trying to escape, the details are hazy, but the punch line is
you're dead. I’ll have about twenty
gerudo guards slice you into pieces. Do
you understand, princess?”
”You're smarter than I thought, Ganon. But you'll never be the King of this
land.”
Meanwhile, back in East Hyrule Field, the Hylian force led by King Daphnes
Hyrule was plotting revenge against the Kokiris and Gorons following their
humiliating retreat.
”The Kokiri are going to pay. The Gorons too. Men, beginning tomorrow morning, we begin a
massive assault of Kokiri
Forest. And nothing gets spared;
we are going in to eliminate this silly resistance movement of theirs.”
One of the Knights objected. “Why would
you attack your own people like this? You've lost your way, you've become a
tyrant!”
The King had no patience. Get him out of here. Knights, deal with the lost
one.” The Knight was taken away from the
area. The King continued. “Now the plan is to go across the bridge and
we get going with the attack. If the gorons engage us, drop back into a solid
column, and avoid the rolling attacks.
If you engage them with their legs exposed, swing for the legs. They’ll fall quickly if you do that. As for the Kokiris, well, they won't do
anything.”
Another knight spoke up. “What about the
Stalfos curse?”
The King responded. “Kokiris can't turn people into Stalfos, that’s completely bogus.”
Daphnes Hyrule did not realize it, but seldom in Hyrulian history had more
futility been expressed in one sentence. The Civil War was officially
beginning, in the land of the goddess Farore, the Deku Tree, and the one place
in Hyrule that knew no war. That is,
until April 26, 2057…
Chapter
13: The Battle of Kokiri
Forest
In the town area of Kokiri
Forest, Saria and Fado
knew that there would be consequences for their actions. They knew that by succeeding from Hyrule and
the King’s rule that there would be pain and suffering ahead. But they saw it as the only just means of
dealing with a ruler that they saw as nothing more than a tyrant with bad
intentions. They were prepared for an
invasion of their homeland. Mido had
rallied the small Kokiri militia, and although it was true that Kokiris were
immortal within their homeland, they were still nervous. They had taken a stand, and their friends and
family were about to bear the brunt of their decision.
For the King, it was a matter of national unity and pride. Had the masses of Hyrule not risen up and
declared their intention of drowning the land through popular sovereignty? What right did the minority have to devalue
the thoughts and opinions of the majority?
In the end, these things did not even matter, for Hyrule was an absolute
monarchy. The power of the King exceeded
the powers of any other being in the land.
It was time to show the rebellious ones the true nature of divine right.
Daphnes Hyrule's army began to roll into
the canyon leading into Kokiri
Forest around 08:00 on April
26. They hoped to catch the enemy napping, but they failed. Quite the opposite,
the Gorons pushed the action before the Hylians could move into their attack
positions. They charged right across the
bridge and started rolling right at the Hylian squadron. A massively nasty and
bloody conflict then ensued on the isthmus leading out into Hyrule Field just
across the Kokiri border from the forest itself. The Gorons flailed at
everything that moved, while the Hylians fought more conservatively, swinging
their swords when the got a chance. Despite taking some losses, the Gorons had
done a bunch of damage by 08:30. Having
achieved the objective without taking many losses, Link ordered a retreat back
across the bridge. Worse yet for the Hylians, once most of the Gorons had gotten
across the bridge, they goron pounded the bridge in several locations,
destroying it. Link thought that by
doing this, the enemy would not be able to pass into the main section of Kokiri Forest. But he was wrong. The knights broke out a bunch of standard
hookshots, and starting pulling themselves across the chasm by latching into
tree bark on the other side. The first few knights were obliterated by gorons
upon landing, but eventually, the Hylians began to take control of the bridge area.
The advance was on.
The Kokiri unit led by Mido stood behind the Goron defensive line in western Kokiri Forest.
They were determined not to let the Hylians reach the town area to the east.
They awaited their chance to strike.
The Gorons did a number on the Hylians at the front lines, but they were
beginning to lose the numbers battle, as they were outnumbered by about 4 to 1.
A Hylian breakthrough was inevitable, and Goron Link wanted to issue a retreat,
but Saria would not let him. She had a plan. Goron Link knew in his mind, it had to be a good
one, because by 11:00, the gorons were losing the battle. The Hylians were
aiming their swords and spears at the stubby legs of the gorons, which was
their undoubted weak spot. gorons started going down
left and right, and eventually, the hylians broke through in the middle of the
lines. A bunch of hylians came rushing right at the kokiri unit.
Saria and Fado took their combined staffs and aimed at the opening. A powerful
green energy beam came out of their staff.
Total unprepared, many hylians were shoved back by the force of impact.
Within minutes, their bodies were beginning to decay and solidify. These
soldiers began to go insane and started hitting random people on both sides
while they turned into Stalfos. Daphnes Hyrule could not believe his eyes.
Saria, somebody who was docile as anybody in Hyrule, and somebody who had
helped save Hyrule as a sage 60 years earlier, was now using sage magical
powers on his men. With Mido and his
Kokiri unit closing in, he gave the signal for his secret weapon.
The Kokiris and Gorons thought they had the battle in their favor, but they did
not account for an attack from the backside. With Daphnes' signal, a bunch of
Zoras began to swim down the waterfall on the north end of town. Within minutes they were into the streams of
the central village, where they commenced attacking the Kokiri unit from
behind. The Kokiris were not prepared in the least bit for this attack and were
taken completely by surprise. The result was predictable, within minutes, the ground ran red with Kokiri blood. Although they were not dead, the sharp fins
of the Zora attackers were strong enough to knock most attack Kokiris out of
the battle entirely. Now it was Saria
and Fado that were in complete shock. Why on earth were the Zoras attacking the
Kokiris? What business did they have in
this conflict? What did the Kokiris ever do to the Zoras? It was a harsh and
grim reality that they could not hope to comprehend.
By afternoon, the battle grinded toward a conclusion. The Gorons and Kokiris
tried to hold on against the advancing Hylians and Zoras, but since they were
forced to fight in both directions, the situation became desperate. With only
one chance left, Saria and Fado tried turning their energy blasts from the Hylians
to the Zoras, to see if they would work on their aquatic adversaries as well.
They did not. With the town about to be pillaged and burned to the ground, the
Kokiris and Gorons surrendered. The King had beaten the resistance, like he
said he would do, but it came at a huge cost. Half of his Hylian unit was dead
or injured, and he was vulnerable.
Chapter
14: The Death March
May 1 was a dark day in Hyrule. The sun
was shining brightly, but in no way was the weather representative of the
situation across the land. This was
especially true in northern Hyrule Field, where Princess Zelda remained
imprisoned by Ganondorf.
By this time, Zelda was miserable.
“Ganondorf where are we going?” she said glumly.
Ganondorf was flustered at her seemingly constant stream of questions. “Zelda, we’ve been over this. If you want to stop your father, and I
certainly do, then we have to find him coming back from the forest. He should be coming back any day now.”
”Actually, I do want to find my father.” Zelda said. “But not with you.”
Ganondorf laughed. “Well, you are quite the wise one, aren’t
you?” Zelda sighed.
Daphnes Hyrule and his men had advanced north through Hyrule Field after
winning the Battle of Kokiri Forest. They were brutal in their treatment of the
vanquished Kokiris and Gorons, making them walk on with their injuries
virtually at spear point and sword point. Saria and Fado in particular were
both hurting, mentally and physically. They knew that outside the forest, they
were not immortal, and both of them, and most of their race were tired and about
to drop. Worse yet, a wave of unusually warm weather hit Hyrule Field in the
last days of April, boosting temperatures from the normal 60's and 70’s well up
into the 80's and low 90's. The heat made the march almost unbearable to the
Gorons, who were not used to such warm conditions. The result was that many
Gorons collapsed on the grass. In most
cases, if they did not get up immediately they were stabbed and killed. Upward of 20 gorons met such a fate by the
night of April 30, along with several Kokiris.
Saria fell to the ground. Her will was broken. She no longer cared if they killed her on the
grass. But the King would not allow
that. “Knights!” he yelled. “You have to keep the kokiri on her feet! We
can't have her dying on us before the execution.”
Saria turned around and looked and the King incredulously.
“Oh yes, you and Fado both.” Daphnes Hyrule
said. “We are going to execute both of
you in front of Hyrule
Castle. All the people in
the city will see your heads of the traitors chopped off!”
”It's not like its going matter, we're all going to
die this way.” Saria said glumly.
It was the night of May 2, and just a few miles south of Hyrule Castle
Town, Ganondorf and Zelda
had spotted the brigade of Hylians, Kokiris and Gorons led by Daphnes Hyrule.
Ganondorf shot off an energy beam that ended up just missing the army. Daphnes
Hyrule sent out the word to the Knights to engage. However, when he saw Ganondorf, a fall back
order instantly came from the King, who was petrified, even after he saw Zelda.
”Zelda, use your Nayru spell!” Ganondorf commanded her. The Princess gave out another deep sigh, then rose her arms into the air. A blue ball of light rose above her hands,
and then covered Zelda and Ganondorf, forming a protective aura barrier. They advanced quickly toward the Hyrulian
brigade. They stopped in front of Daphnes Hyrule at the front of the brigade.
Ganondorf clearly enjoyed himself at the sight of the king. “Well, well now, what do we have here?” he
said. “The King of Hyrule I presume. And
a whole bunch of people who look like they've been shot out of the fires of
war. Care to explain yourself King?”
Daphnes Hyrule was insulted. “I don't
answer to you.” He said sternly.
”Well then, that's okay. Besides,
Zelda’s told me everything I need to know.
You don’t need to talk to me.”
Suddenly Ganondorf charged up an energy blast and hit the King in the
face with it. Horrified, Zelda ran
behind Ganondorf and strangled him with her headscarf. She pulled out a sword that she had stolen
from a knight. “Ganondorf, you excuse of
a man! You hurt my father, I will hurt
you!”
What followed next was an akward silence. Zelda stood there for a while, hoping for the
knights to swarm in and kill Ganondorf. Another facet of the deal she made with
Ganondorf in the forest was that since Ganondorf spared her life, Zelda would
be obliged to spare his as well. But by
strangling him from behind, she hoped somebody would move to kill him. To her
chagrin, nobody would move without an order from Daphnes Hyrule, and Ganondorf
eventually got up and smacked Zelda backward about 10 feet. Then, perhaps even
more baffling, after getting whacked in the face with an energy blast, Daphnes Hyrule
ordered his troops to move out toward Hyrule Castle
Town.
Chapter
15: The Execution
The day was May 3, and it was cloudy and
overcast. The sun was nowhere in
sight. On the grass in front of Hyrule Castle,
a whole bunch of Hylians were gathered in front of the King and some of the
Knights. In the center of the field was a guillotine-like contraption, and Saria and Fado sat
next to it. Most of the other Kokiris and Gorons had already been locked deep
inside the castle. The lone exception
was Mido, whom the King purposely had sitting in the front row. He wanted him to see the deaths of his
dearest friends personally.
The King welcomed the crowd. “Ladies and
gentlemen of the land
of Hyrule, we are
gathered here today to serve witness to an event seldo