Chapter 1: The Wedding
Malon looked out over the stretching fields of Hyrule. She loved this time of morning; it reminded her of Link. She loved thinking of Link, but the thought reminded her that Link was marrying Zelda today and that depressed her. It was a terrible tug-of-war on her very soul; a thought that brought her joy also brought her depression and pain. She sighed and shut her window. She walked down the stairs slowly as if each step caused her pain. She opened the door to the “hallway” between the house and the stables. As she walked out flames erupted from the ground in front of her and spiraled around each other. Malon shielded her face with her arms from the intense heat and light of the flames. The flames subsided around a human form. It was a man wearing a gray colored tunic and a cloak that shadowed his entire face with the exception of his bottom lip and chin.
“Wh…who are you?” Malon asked the man. The hood of his cloaked moved upward. Malon didn’t need to see the man’s eyes to know he was staring coldly at her.
“Who I am is no concern of yours,” said the man. “The only thing you need or deserve to know is that if I don’t find another hero to help me Ganondorf and Scythe will destroy this world and every thing in it. I may have taken back the Triforce of Power, but I can’t fight them both alone.”
“How did you get the Triforce away from Ganondorf?” asked Malon.
“Not that it matters to you,” said the man, ”but since I was destined to have it, all I had to do was cut off Ganondorf’s right hand.
“Do you have anyone in mind to ask for help?” Malon asked, debating whether she should tell him about Link.
“Not that this is any closer to being your business than it was when I got here…,” began the man. Malon having heard enough, tried to slap him, but the man caught her wrist before she even saw his hand move.
“Look, I’m not trying to be mean,” said the man, ”but when you have the fate of Hyrule resting entirely on your back, it’s really easy to get stressed. To answer your question, as matter of fact…”
“I do,” said Link,” that’s all I have to say, but I feel like I have to recite the entire history of Hyrule by memory.” Link was dressed in a black tunic that had been altered to look like a tuxedo. Darunia sat in the in the corner of the room half asleep, due to the early morning wedding and the repetitiveness of Link’s worries.
“Don’t worry Link,” said Darunia letting out a monstrous yawn. “Your biggest worry should be that the minister will fall asleep during the ceremony.”
“It’s not that early,” said Link.
“Not all of us are used to staying up nine or ten days in a row,” said Darunia yawning again.
“I can stay up longer than ten days,” protested Link”
“That’s my point,” said Darunia. “You don’t need nearly enough sleep as other people.” The gossip stones outside told each other and Link, one of the few people able to hear them, it was seven in the morning.
“Okay, it’s time for the wedding. I just have to get through the next hour and my worries will be over,” Link said as he turned to the door of his dressing room. He hesitated before turning the knob and walking out into the main hall of the temple. It was decorated in bows, ribbons, and lace; and in the center of it all was a wedding cake big enough to feed everyone in Hyrule and Termina. Link walked to the front of the temple and waited for what seemed like forever for Zelda to walk down the aisle. Then the wedding march began to play, and Zelda began coming down the aisle wearing a beautiful snow-white wedding dress and carrying a bouquet of the most breathtaking flowers Hyrule had to offer.
Zelda was only part way down the aisle when the ground before her erupted into flames. The flames spiraled around each other, forming a strait column of fire. Link had seen fires before, and he knew they didn’t act like this, at least not naturally. He pulled out his ocarina and played the Song of Time. The Door of Time slid open. Link used his Longshot to pull his trusted blade, the Master Sword, to him. The flames died down to reveal two forms. One was Malon and the other was wearing a hooded cloak that concealed his identity. Link could feel the magic of the Triforce of Courage emanating from his hand, and that only happened when he was using spells or when all three parts were close together.
“Ganondorf,” Link spat out the name of his mortal enemy as if it were a curse word.
“Sorry, you’ve mistaken me for someone else. But you at least had the right part of the Triforce,” said the man laughing, the Triforce of Power glowing intensely on the back of his hand. “I’ve been looking for you Link.”
“Why?” asked Link lowering his sword slightly but still keeping it in attack position.
“Originally, I was going to ask for help, but when Malon told me you were getting married today, I had another reason for coming. After all, what kind of man would I be…” he said taking off his hood, revealing his face, which was nearly identical to Link’s,” if I missed my only brother’s wedding.” The man’s few differences from Link were all easily caused by lifestyle. His hair was a little longer and straighter than Link’s and he had a straight scar across his right cheek. Even with these differences, it was obvious the men were twins.
“If you are who you say you are, prove it,” Link said. Link had known since he was a child that he had a brother, the Deku tree had told him and given him a locket that had proven it. Still, this could be a trick.
“You’ve a right to be suspicious,” said the man. He took a small object from his pocket and tossed it to Link. It was an enchanted locket that showed twin boys growing up in flashes. At the end of the cycle, one side was of Link, the other was of the man before him. It was identical to the one the Deku tree had given Link as a child.
“You really are my brother,” said Link, his voice cracking slightly. “I have so many questions, but we’ll start with two. What’s your name and why did you wait so long to find me?”
“My name is Zinc, and as we both have important destinies, I couldn’t risk looking for you. I came now because Ganondorf and my arch-nemesis Scythe have formed an alliance that neither of us can stop alone. And, if I know Scythe, and I do, his general Darkania won’t be far behind so we’ll need even more help,” explained the man.
“Zinc?” inquired Zelda.
“Dad had a thing for rhymes,” said Zinc.
“Why are we just standing around? If Ganondorf is back something bad is bound to happen soon,” said Link.
“Link do you happen to have the Fierce Deity’s mask?” said Zinc. “We’re bound to need its magic.”
“Yeah but will it work outside of Termina?” asked Link.
“Of course,” said Zinc.” It’s a mask manifested with magic that will work anywhere like Din’s Fire or my Lightning Storm and the Fierce Entity’s mask.”
Link pulled out his ocarina and played Epona’s Song. “We’ll cover more ground on horseback,” he said as his trusty steed rushed to his side.
“I have something better than a horse,” Zinc said. “Midnight, Starfire, come to me.” Two horses appeared on the horizon and ran to Zinc with unimaginable speed. But, these were not normal horses; they had wings. One was amber-gold and the other was solid black.
“Pegasi,” said Malon completely awe-stricken, “but I thought they were only a myth.”
“No, they’re just nearly impossible to catch,” said Zinc, “I’ve even got some unicorns and unicorn-pegasus hybrids at home. Of course all of the hybrids are just babies so their horns haven’t grown in yet.”
“Why did you call two of them?” asked Zelda. “Link has Epona.”
“Since they can fly a pegasus can travel much faster than a horse can. I need to get some things from my castle anyway,” said Zinc. “We can only get there by flying.”
“You live in a castle?” asked Malon.
“Yeah,” said Zinc. “It used to belong to Queen Shandi, of the Sheikah. She left it to me when she died.” Impa was shocked into attention when she heard this.
“You know the Sheikah race?” asked Impa. “How many of us are left?”
“Two and that’s including you. After Queen Shandi died the Sheikah left the hidden valley and just kind of dropped out of existence,” said Zinc.
“Why do we need to go by your castle anyway?” asked Link
“I need to get some of the weapons I left there for safe keeping,” answered Zinc, “like the Fierce Entity’s Mask and the Shield of Reflections.”
“All right let’s go,” said Link. The brothers mounted the pegasi and took to the skies.
