All of the characters and places in this story belong to Nintendo. Don’t anybody sue me, okay? Please?

Be warned: this story is a SERIOUS spoiler-like thing for The Wind Waker (Z9), so don’t read this until you’ve completed Forsaken Fortress (and killed the bird). Either that, or you’ll ruin the most fabulous twist in the game…

Chapter One – The King Of Thieves

The gigantic monstrosity that was Helmaroc King shrieked wildly. The end was nigh for him; he flailed in mid-air then, with a sickening crunch, plummeted down to earth. Link backed away from the corpse, as it exploded, the gruesome, bloodstained spikes retracted into the ground. Link had been wounded by the bird’s claws on his arms, back, and chest. Carefully, he walked up the winding wooden bridge. Little did he know, someone was expecting him…

"HA! HA! HA! You thwart my pet and I kill you! You wield the sword, you even dress the garb, but you aren’t a patch on my real nemisis, Link. I’m waiting, Link, waiting for you to come and meet your maker. HAHAHAHA! Finally, I, the king of evil will triumph." Ganondorf chuckled evilly. "Die you mortals, die! Hmmm, the poor lad’s coming. Ha! A peasant boy! Ha! The gods choose a peasant boy to defend Hyrule? Din, Farore, and Nayru, I thought you were wiser than this!"

Link was at the top of the tower. He was quivering like a skultula in a snowstorm. Not that he knew what a skultula was, or how it quivered, but he was all the same.

"Come, Link. Please, come inside." Ganondorf mumbled enigmatically. He was going to enjoy this, or so he thought. Link, almost silently, crept through the doorway and into Ganondorf’s haunting wooden cabin.

"COWARD!" Ganondorf yelled. This made Link jump, and he shuddered. "I am Ganondorf, Gerudo King. You are Link, am I correct?"

Link was frozen on the spot. He was so frightened he dared not breathe.

"WELL AM I? I HAVEN’T ALL YEAR, SIR!" Ganondorf roared.

Link nodded. Ganondorf was successfully intimidating the young teenager.

"So? What are you going to do now, eh, peasant child? Come on? Is that not the legendary Master Sword you hold in your very hands? Are you a hero, or a meddling kid? Sir, you are the strong and silent type, I can plainly see." Now Link was sufficiently infuriated, he made a lunge at Ganondorf, but he’d miscalculated his attack, and landed a yard short of the evil figure.

"Hahaha! What a fool!" he laughed. Ganondorf didn’t hesitate to swat Link across the room with a hefty slap. There was no way Link was getting up now.

"How? HOW did you expect to strike down the King Of Thieves when you don’t even possess the power to repel evil? HAHA! How funny! Oohoohahoohoo! Ahohohahahehe! Ahem. Now I shall finish you off before anything unexpected happens. Yes something usually does…"

"Tetra!" Link cried.

"What the? Aaah!" screamed Ganondorf, "Get OFF of me, fool!

Tetra had clambered through the large window on the front of the cabin. She had a death grip on Ganondorf’s head and pounded away furiously, but to no avail. He batted her away, and picked her up by clasping her neck in one hand as she rose up to Ganondorf’s eye level.

"I see, it’s Miss Pirate. Quite the adventurer aren’t you? I’m glad to say, the adventure ends here!"

Ganondorf drew his long, jagged sword, held it high, and was just about to strike when he felt vibrations on his right hand.

"Huh? My Triforce Of Power is resonating."

Ganondorf redirected his attention to Tetra. And he chuckled evilly to himself.

"Geez, am I missing something here, Mr G? Will you let me go now? Err, Link, what’s up with him?" Tetra queried. Link merely shrugged.

"At last," Ganondorf said, his evil tone returning, "I’ve found you…Princess Zelda."

"What? Zelda? I don’t know any Zelda." Tetra retorted.

"DON’T LIE TO THE KING OF THIEVES! I know it’s you! The Triforce is never wrong!"

"I swear, sir, I’m Tetra, y’know, scourge of the Great Sea. THE PIRATE?! Boy, are you slow to catch on!"

"Very funny. You are a fool to think the one and only Ganondorf is tricked by a simple disguise. Show yourself Zelda, or you will have to die…"

"I tell you, I ain’t the princess you’re lookin’ for!" Tetra pleaded.

"Very well. I shall kill you, as it is your wish, Zelda."

Tetra was thrown to the ground by the impending figure of Ganondorf. He drew his jagged sword once again…

Have Link and Tetra met their match? Surely no-one can save them now; or can they? Go on, read chapter two and find out…

Chapter Two – Lord Valoo

"Perish, fools!" Ganondorf boomed.

"NO!" yelped Tetra. Ganondorf’s sword whistled through the air.

"OH DAMMIT! CURSE YOU LINK! CURSE YOU ZELDA!"

Link’s Rito friends, Prince Komali and the mad postman soared in at the perfect moment to pick up Link and Tetra.

"WOW! Nice timing, guys!" Link exclaimed.

"Don’t worry about it, Link. I told you I’d repay you someday, for when you helped out my island and the young fledglings." Komali replied. Then he whistled for his backup.

"VALOO! COME HERE NOW, LORD VALOO!" he called.

"RAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!" came the roar of Valoo.

"Oh no. Oh, NO!" Ganondorf growled in disbelief, as the great dragon Valoo flew up and breathed a roasting stream of fire into Ganondorf’s cabin; it set alight like oily rags.

"So is Ganondorf dead then?" Tetra asked, clinging tightly to Prince Komali’s claws.

"I doubt it Tetra. It takes more than a fire to destroy a Gerudo King." explained the postman, "You don’t have the power to repel evil." He was struggling to hold Link up for much longer.

"Man, Link, have you put on weight?" he joked. Link frowned in reply.

"Yeah, tubby!" Tetra giggled.

"OH SHUT UP, YOU TWO." Link said, "Hey, that’s what Ganondorf told me…about repelling evil."

"Really? You’ve got the Master Sword haven’t you?" Komali asked, "It’s infused with evil’s bane! Of course you still have the power to repel evil!"

"No. I have a feeling the sword has lost it’s power." Link groaned. Lord Valoo, who was flying alongside, grunted in agreement.

It wasn’t long after that, that they reached the Tower Of The Gods. The King Of Red Lions was waiting for them.

"Ah, my old friend Valoo. Thank you for saving the young lad. Greatly appreciated, and all." the enchanted vessel greeted him. Valoo grunted something in old Hyrulian lore, which the King Of Red Lions seemed to understand perfectly.

"Yes, you are quite right, Valoo. Link, Tetra, you’re coming with me."

"What? Where? We’re not going to that underwater place again, are we?" Link argued.

"Underwater?" Tetra enquired.

"Come on, people! We’ve no time to lose! Pay attention!" King Of Red Lions ordered. Link and Tetra dropped down onto the boat, and the pillar of light that shone through the water’s surface appeared again.

"Cheers, Ritos…and Lord Valoo." Link called.

"I told you; any time! Okay, Link?" Komali yelled back. They sank into the sea and sailed down, down, down…

So what’s Link’s next task under the sea? And to find out who’s been using Tetra’s Pirate Charm without her permission, you’d better read on, eh?

Chapter Three – The Princess and The King

Finally, the trio reached the majestic underwater castle. Suddenly, the Pirate Charm (which Tetra had given to Link when they first met) in Link’s pocket rattled and glowed brilliantly.

"Hey, Link!" said the masculine voice inside the stone, and the voice was just about to speak again when Tetra cut in and yelled at the stone;

"Hey, who’s communicating through MY stone? Link and I are the only ones who can use this stone!"

"Oh, put a sock in it, Tetra!" replied the voice beyond the stone.

"How do YOU know my name, mister?" Tetra shouted.

"Never mind. Link, you and your friend come to where you got that sword. Then I’ll reveal my identity to you."

"Can we really trust this guy? I mean he IS tampering with our stone." Tetra grumbled.

"I’m sure we can. He helped me get this far, after all. Besides, aren’t you a tiny bit curious?" Link said.

So, Link and Tetra took themselves to the Master Sword’s former resting-place. They climbed up to the ominous pedestal and realised that nobody was there.

"Ah! I knew that guy was stringing us along!" Tetra exclaimed. But, all of a sudden, a man dressed in regal costume materialised in front of them. Naturally, the pair were quite shocked at such a feat.

"Well? Don’t look so gobsmacked! I’m the person you’re looking for!" the man said.

"Golly! I suppose you’re the guy who’s messing with my stone. EXPLAIN YOURSELF, MAN!" Tetra demanded.

"Be quiet, will you Tetra? Let someone else get a word in edgeways," the rotund man said, "so, Link! My name is Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule. I’m the King of Hyrule, see? And, well, I’ve been with you…in my poorly resurrected state…the King Of Red Lions."

"Oh! Honestly? Yes, you are!" Link gasped, wearing his most baffled expression at the same time.

"And, um, the Master Sword has lost almost all of its power, as you suspected. Yeah, there’s two temples you’ve got to visit, pronto…but you don’t go yet. There’s something I need to explain to you both."

"Too right! How are you using my Pirate Charm?" Tetra argued.

"Okay," the King began, "that there stone is just a modern version of the gossip stones we used to have a century ago. I made it. Does that answer your question Tetra?"

"Errr, I suppose so. You still didn’t have my permission." Tetra replied grudgingly.

"Oh, I am very sorry. But it seemed to me that you weren’t helping Link at all. I was the one who directed him away from the pitfalls and traps, y’know."

"FINE, be that way."

"Now, let me tell you something. The Hero of Time; you know who he is, don’t you? He sealed Ganondorf in the Evil Realm nearly one hundred years ago. However, the seal did not last long, and Ganondorf, sadly, broke out. All the people of Hyrule waited for the hero of legend to come, but no hero came, and the people were left to the mercy of the gods. As the situation became increasingly dire, the gods had no choice but to seal away the whole of the land with great rainfall. All was not lost, however, because the gods requested that the seven sages take their good people to high ground, and establish new communities. Then, all that remained was the Great Sea. A vast, lonely ocean. Oh, it makes me weep! No matter, I shall hold back my tears for the while. Yet, Ganondorf was sealed away for good – or so I thought. The sceptics were proved right, and Ganondorf emerged again. He was just too evil. And that’s how you have always known the world. But Hyrule was quite a different place an age ago. Quite glorious it was too, under my superb rule. Now, as for you…" Daphnes suddenly addressed Tetra, "Hmm. How should I tell you this? Errr, well, you know that necklace you wear…your mother told you treasure it, and guard it with your life, did she not?"

"Why, yes. How do you know?" Tetra asked.

"Well I know you don’t remember your parents very well at all."

"HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?" Tetra cried in an excited, squeaky voice.

"I ought to cut to the chase, y’know. There’s a good reason why your mother told you to look after that trinket. It’s a piece of the Triforce Of Wisdom."

"WHA-?" both Tetra and Link yelled simultaneously.

"I don’t make the world y’know? Now to show you your true form…the reason you were born into the universe, and the reason my lifelong search has finally concluded, Tetra." Daphnes said, taking another magical golden triangle from his royal red coat. Slowly and cautiously, he pieced together the two shards of Triforce. A great golden glow illuminated the gloomy underground chamber, and in a blinding flash, Tetra had changed from the scruffy pirate into the glorious Princess Zelda.

"I’m…a princess? Is that why Ganondorf called me Zelda? I, I remember my parents now!" the surprised young woman cried jubilantly.

"Link and I have to go now, Zelda. But we’ll return soon…I promise, dear."

 

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