"They don’t know it’s coming."

"Of course not, how could they?"

"I thought their mental ability would tip them off."

"Well, it didn’t."

"I see that."

"The Link is approaching the barge, with the Paul."

"Shh, watch."

Link and Paul loaded the barge. "I’m glad to leave Hyrule for a while," Paul said.

"I’m not to fond of leaving just to tour a Gnomish country," Link retorted.

"Not a tour," Paul said, "We’re talking treaty with Chintilon! That’s a good ally, the Gnomes are as skilled with swords and magic as us," Paul looked back at the bay as the barge began its slow way to Chintilon.

"I still shouldn’t have to come," Link said.

"Well, the King wasn’t able to leave, Zelda refused, so who better than the captain of the palace security and Hyrule’s famous hero?" Paul asked smiling.

"Yeah, whatever, I don’t like leaving the Triforce unprotected." Link said as the two began touring the deck. "You got big, separate rooms, right?" Link asked in a menacing tone.

"Yes, yours is...3. Mine is 8." Paul stopped and noticed a bar cabin. Link saw him watching.

"Later," he said, "You can shoot the breeze and flirt later, it’s still daylight." Paul lingered a second longer then began walking with Link again. Paul had been quite the drinker since Zelda rejected his marriage proposal. Link didn’t really mind, except Paul would often find a way to bring ‘Zelda the bitch’ into his conversations. They continued around the barge. Eventually, they came to their rooms.

"We meet at the bar at sunset," Paul said as Link was unlocking his door. Link nodded and Paul walked off. Link found his key was upside down. He turned it right-side up. He continued to jam the key into the door, when it finally made it, Link turned it, the door didn’t open. ‘Maybe it’s a push door,’ Link thought. He started to press as he turned the lock when an old lady arrived at the room across from him. She turned around, saw Link, and hit him with her bag.

"What’re ye doin’ sonny?" Link found this was room 4, his was 3. He apologized and skipped to 3, he quickly went in. Link felt stupid about that, but it was just a simple mistake, he told himself. He didn’t really care to change just to go on an expedition with Paul, so he just lay on his bed in his usual green tunic. He grabbed his cap and threw it away from him. ‘I’ll wear it later,’ he thought.

Paul had been searching for someone to impress all night. Link was finding himself quite bored and didn’t try to strike up a conversation with anybody. Then, Link heard glass break, wood collapse, and the sound of bone slammed against bone. Link turned around from his spot at the bar and felt for his sword or shield. He realized he didn’t have them with him. He stared forward at Paul and someone else beating the shit out of each other. People were screaming, Link noticed one woman laughing. It was all to obvious, she wanted to see them fight, so she got them, somehow, to fight over her. Link ran in to this brawl just to be slammed in the face by someone cheering on the man Paul was fighting.

"Hey, what the hell did-Agh!" He slammed Link again. Link was now quite mad. He grabbed the man by the right shoulder and spun him around. The man raised his hand to hit Link again. Link punched him in the stomach and kicked him out of the way. He then ran into Paul and the other man. But, when he got there, Paul, somewhat drunk, had beaten the other man down. "What happened?" Link asked.

"I was just, um," Paul began, "I w’s talkin’ to the girl, when, then boom, and I hit him back, and-"

"Okay, sure, now let’s take you back to your room, and you’ll sleep there, okay?" Link asked.

"Al right," Paul said a bit loudly.

Zelda sat under a tree behind North Castle between the wall and the moat, it was night, she was now wishing she’d went with Link instead of sending Paul. It was so boring to be here without Link to whine at or talk to. But, he wasn’t here, wouldn’t be for a few weeks. The King had decided to let Link go since Ganon was still trying to gain control of his moblins, they had revolted recently. ‘It would be good if Hyrule and Chintilon to become allies, That way they could help us with moblins, and we could help them with ogres’ Zelda told herself. She got up and wiped off her dress. Then she made her way around to the way into North Castle.

"Hello, Zelda," said the King.

"Hello, father," Zelda said as she began walking to her room.

Zelda opened the door to her room and lied down on her huge bed. She knew she wouldn’t sleep, but she closed her eyes. ‘I wonder what Link is doing now,’ she thought.

Ganon was standing in the forest near North Castle. He had most of his moblins back, but about one third had revolted permanently. With his moblins, and his Triforce, he could attack. He knew Link and Paul had left. It was a stupid move, very stupid. He could attack now, he certainly could. ‘Those fools, I could summon my troops, and raid them now, I’d probably destroy half the castle, and I might get either the Triforce or Princess, but not both, no, and I need both, Zelda must show me how to use the Triforce, but, I may not have this chance again,’ Ganon continued contemplating what to do. ‘Yes, now,’ he decided.

Zelda just fell to sleep, she was awoke very suddenly by a loud clash and screams that followed. She didn’t bother to get up. It all made perfect sense. Ganon was ready to attack when Link was gone, it was almost funny.

"Princess, get up!" A guard had made his way to Zelda’s room. "You and the King are being put in the tight room," he said. ‘The tight room, great,’ Zelda thought. The tight room was an almost completely sealed and secure.

"The Triforce! Where’s the Triforce?" Zelda screamed.

"We’re trying to get to it, come on!" The guard was in a hurry. Zelda grabbed a robe and followed the guard out.

"Dear!" The King exclaimed as Zelda entered the tight room.

"Daddy, the Triforce, where is the damn Triforce?!" Zelda was getting very hyperactive.

"I don’t know, we’ll get it, we’ll get it," the King assured.

Link and Paul arrived on Chintilon and were immediately greeted by cheesy actors and such. Soon enough, they arrived at the oddly built castle that King Ne~Chin resided in.

"Ready?" Paul asked.

"No, but, we’re going in anyway," Link said.

"That’s right, we are," Paul said as they began to walk into the throne room. Ne~Chin sat on a throne in the center of the room instead of the end. Link tried very hard to smile. Paul succeeded with flying colors. "Hello, sir," Link said.

"I’m Paul, and we represent the fine country of Hyrule, and that fine country would like to have the friendship of another powerful country, and that is why, I, the Head Knight, and Link, our hero I’m sure you’ve heard of, are here," Paul said with a confidence only a missionary could have. Link beamed.

"Very nice, very nice," Ne~Chin said, "That was not even rehearsed, I can tell," he said. Paul smiled. "So, let’s get to the point, Hyrule’s peace is invaded by creatures run by a, um, Cannon?"

"Ganon, sir," Link spoke up.

"Ah, yes, Ganon, and my country is corrupted by ogres, we used to know the leader, but he and my son were found dead, so, now who runs them is a mystery," Ne~Chin finished.

"Yes, sir," Link suddenly had a new strategy, Ne~Chin, of course, didn’t know about the Triforce, now he was going to find out the Gnome power problem. He took a deep breath, and began to talk.

"It is on its way, you know, they are very unprepared."

"Yes, but we won’t help them, not unless Link comes back, but I don’t think he’ll have time."

"The others are coming, get in position."

"Do we have a visitor?"

"Yes."

"All right, get in the circle, a moblin and an ogre are coming."

"Okay, everyone, in unison, now, speak...."

Zelda sat in the tight room. Still, no Triforce. Knights would sometimes report what was happening. It was well into the night, the fight was dying down. Ganon obviously thought that because Link was gone Hyrule was unprepared. ‘Well, we weren’t as prepared as we should have been, but we are holding out,’ Zelda thought.

The King was very nervous. The fight was dying, but it was still going, Ganon was obviously staying until he got the Triforce. Now, that the fight wasn’t as bad, someone was going to bring the Triforce here. ‘I hope it is still there,’ he thought.

Ganon was quite discouraged, this wasn’t going right. North Castle’s army was better prepared than he had anticipated. ‘But,’ he thought, preparing to retreat, ‘I’ll be ready, soon.’

"It will hit North Castle first."

"I think it will hit Death Mountain."

"Maybe Ganon will come."

"You like him, don’t you?"

"Well, we don’t have that ability, I’m afraid."

"Then you admire the way his mind works."

"Somewhat, yes."

"Hmm."

Link had his information, Ne~Chin didn’t even suspect Hyrule had its own source of omnipotence, the Triforce. Ne~Chin had the Staffs of the Gods. There were eight of them. The ogres had four, and the Gnomes had four. Ne~Chin, Link, and Paul were all in a conference room, Link was mostly thinking, and not talking.

"It would be good for my country to unite with yours," Ne~Chin said, "You know, we were in bad shape a while ago, volcanoes were erupting everywhere, and such. My daughter, and the ogre leader, for some reason, teamed and left the country searching for an eternal knowledge."

Link was suddenly listening, himself and Ganon had a similar experience recently, "Sometime later, they both were found in a boat near the bay, dead," Ne~Chin finished, he was smiling.

Paul was puzzled by the smile, "That’s, nice..." Paul said very unsure of himself. Link sat back. Paul began to talk again, Link drowned him out, he just nodded at the ‘Right, Link?’s and such. This would work out, of course it would.

As they had reached an agreement for peace, the castle was attacked by a squad of ogres. Link was pleased in a demented way. This way, he could show off his skills and usefulness, and Ne~Chin would realize his importance. When Link got to the front court, however, he found that the ogres, were much bigger than moblins. "Oh, this...damn," Link mumbled. He jumped at one, and found they also had hard back skin. The only place to stab them was in the chest, head, or stomach. When Link made his way around the beast, he found they weren’t very coordinated, and easily struck it down. Then he moved on to the next, swiftly he took it out. Then, six attacked him at once. Link tried to use the whirling blade, but the sword hit their hard sides. So, he took them out one by one. Soon enough, the Gnomish army had killed one half of the ogres, and Link had taken the other.

"Wow, that was, great!" Ne~Chin said. Link smiled.

"Ghmnh," Odron growled. Now that he had taken over the ogres, he saw that the Gnomes were allying with a country that had great fighters, this one standing out. He was watching from the wood. This ‘Hyrule,’ maybe he could convince them that they should ally with the ogres instead of the Gnomes, after all, they probably didn’t know the truth.

Zelda was watching a new set of knights being taken into Hyrule by their lords. ‘Link should come back today,’ she thought. Ganon hadn’t attacked again, so he probably didn’t know. Zelda walked around to the back of North Castle, she sat in Link’s usual spot against the lone tree between the castle wall and the moat. that evening, Link arrived. He sat down on the side of the tree facing the moat, Zelda was facing the wall.

"Hi," Link said.

"What happened?" Zelda asked.

"We met with Ne~Chin, and I found out that their source of power is the Staffs of the Gods, the ogres have four, they have four. Paul set a treaty, and now we have a new friend."

"Does he know about the Triforce?"

"No."

"Well," Zelda sighed, "Ganon attacked, he wasn’t quite together, but it took a while to repair."

"Yeah, well," Link said watching the moonlight reflect on the water.

"How’s Paul?" Zelda asked. Link turned his head slightly.

"No better, he still likes you, it’s obvious, he always refers to you as, ‘that bitch,’ but it is all he talks about," Link turned back.

"Look, Link is just sitting there with the princess, he has no idea."

"I may admire Ganon, but you are obsessed with Link."

"Well, it already hit Death Mountain, if it hits North Castle, too...."

"It also already hit the Gnomes, the ogres are on their way to Hyrule."

"All of them?"

"All of them."

"I must admit, I was disgusted the King thought the Gnomes were the right side to ally with, just because they look decent."

"Yes, that was a dumb move, the ogres may ally with Ganon, after all they watched it hit the Gnomes, they may want to help Ganon."

"I doubt it, the ogres are smart, they will side with Hyrule."

"Perhaps."

The next day, a giant amount of marching ogres came to North Castle. Guards were swarming everywhere. But the ogres did nothing but stand by the moat. "Hello?!" One yelled.

"Who goes there?" Someone worked up the nerve to ask.

"I am Odron, I speak for the ogres! You are making a tragic mistake by allying with the Gnomes! Let me talk to you! This must be quick! Something is going to happen, soon. Something important!"

Some time later, Odron was in conference with the King, Zelda, and Paul. "You said something is going to happen, what did you mean?" Paul asked.

"I’ll get to that," Odron said, "you see, the Gnomes aren’t what you seem to think. Long ago, in our distant past, Gnomes and ogres lived together. The staffs of Gods were kept in a sacred temple. One day, a Gnome named Chin, stole the staffs from the shrine. Chin used the combined power to create distortion in the people’s way of thinking, so prejudices developed, and wars started. Chin, of course, pretended to be a savior, and was appointed King. But the ogres were baffled by their hate just disappearing, and realized what Chin had done. So, all ogres united. And we raided the freshly built castle, and stole four, of the eight staffs." Odron finished.

"So, your people have been at war ever since," Zelda inquired.

"Yes," Odron said.

"Why should we believe you?" The King asked.

Odron sighed, "Well, did you notice how the Gnomes dress, or fight? They have everlasting greed. They wear ogre skins. They care not to defend, or make peace, but to attack!"

"Really?" Paul asked, "Ogres attacked them while Link and I were there."

"No," said Odron, "They were trying to sneak to the bay, to catch you on the barge, and talk there, but the guards spotted and attacked them."

"Ah, well, how did they know we were there?" Paul asked.

"We have spies," Odron stated, "Where is that hero I saw fight?" He asked.

"Around," Zelda said sharply, "You said you’d say what you meant by ‘something is coming.’"

Odron slumped back. "The something, is a strange, storm."

"Storm?" the King said, "What do you mean?"

"I mean, okay, at first, it looks like a very thick, green fog. Then, when it gets close, you can hear an odd noise, a buzzing. Then, it covers around you, it blinds you. At this time, you have one chance to get away. Run, and run without pattern. You-"

"What do you mean, without pattern?" Paul asked.

"I mean, run as in, don’t do it normally. Run very fast, then slow, then drag a leg and jump a leg, no pattern."

"Okay, then what?" Zelda asked.

"Then, hope you’ve run in the direction of water. If you have jump in. Swim, swim fast. It won’t get close to water, but it will try to chase you, get to the area that the water flows, a lake, or bay. Water that big will stop it. Then, wait for it to go back to its area it is conquering, then, leave."

"Leave?" The King asked.

"Leave," Odron said.

"How do you know this?" Zelda asked.

"It happened to the Gnomes while we were in combat. I was inches away form their staffs when I was blinded. Ogres have excellent hearing, so we ran to the rushing of water, and, luckily, it saved us," Odron finished.

"What makes you think it’s coming here?" Paul asked.

"I think, I’ll tell you that after a deal is made."

"Hmm, well, you and your party may stay here," the King said, "we have a shortage of beds, so you’ll stay in the dungeons below the castle."

"They better deal with the ogres, soon."

"How long do they have?"

"About, three weeks."

"Well, that’s time enough."

"If they care to save their kingdom, moving fast is required."

Link hated being left in the dark. The King, Paul, and Zelda were all discussing some new problem with the Gnomes and Ogres. So, that left Link with nothing to do but tour the countryside. Yippee. Link was at the bay. He noticed the tide was coming in early. "Strange, it is quite early really," Link whirled around to see who was talking.

"Who are you?" Link asked the robed person.

"You don’t remember?" The robed person asked.

"Maybe, what should I remember?" Link asked.

"Sometime ago, you arrived at an island in search of your past and-"

"Okay, shut up, what are you doing here?"

"The ogres could save you, you know?"

"Save me from what?"

"The tide comes in, now, that is not natural, water plays a very important role in your safety."

Link began to speak when another robed man came walking towards him. "You, what are you doing?" He said. The first robed man spoke.

"I’m hinting."

"You are breaking the rules."

"No, I’m not."

"You aren’t supposed to mess with the path these people forge."

"I’m not."

"You are, how would you like it if I stopped it from hitting Ganon?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Link asked. The two stared at him, then vanished in a puff of smoke. ***

"I should tell the others what you did."

"Go ahead, when you get down to it I didn’t do anything wrong."

"You left the island!"

"It isn’t a rule not to."

"It may not be, but you know you cheated your way into violating our ways!"

"Things change, things change...."

Ganon noted it was unusually dark. He made his way through the twisting tunnels of his domain, and climbed out the peak of Death Mountain. There was the sun, but a sheet of darkness was obviously there. Something was wrong. Ganon rushed to his chamber for the Triforce, but it was to late. He noticed a strange noise on his way to the chamber. Then, there was motion. The air moved.

‘Bugs,’ Ganon thought, ‘Small bugs.’ Then, stinging. Incredible pain. Between Ganon’s and his minion’s screams, Ganon noticed the walls being eaten away. He made it to the Triforce. He grabbed it then slammed his way through the mountain. In a blind rage, Ganon through the Triforce. He heard a splash.

"Aghhhhhagh-ungAhaHAH," Ganon screeched as he lost all possible vision. He tripped on something and fell into water. Then, he could see, and the water stung the huge welts on his body. He saw the bugs didn’t get to close to the water. He groped around for the Triforce. He didn’t find it. But, at that moment, he didn’t care. Ganon noticed how his wounds bled and pussed. He needed a healer. It wouldn’t kill him, he knew, but Ganon preferred not to go through continuous pain. He then realized how his energy was depleted.

Ganon walked down the river a way. The bugs still swarmed above him. He found a rock in the water and leaned on it. Then, Ganon slept. He didn’t dream.

"And, you are sure it was one of them?" Zelda asked Link. They were sitting in their usual spot behind the castle near the moat against the tree. The only thing different, was they were both on the same side of the tree. Link, for some reason, didn’t like this.

"Yeah, I’m sure," Link answered.

"I don’t think of them much, I wonder what they are."

"Who knows? So, with this, what do you have to say about the Ogres now?"

"I was already going to vote to team with them."

"Good, very good."

"Link?"

"Yeah."

"If a time comes, when Hyrule is at peace, what would you do?"

"What?"

"What would you do?"

"Well, I don’t know, anyway, Hyrule won’t be at peace any time while I’m alive. Maybe it’ll be close, but these things are gradual."

Zelda was stunned. She didn’t expect Link to say that. Also, he didn’t even change his tone. "How do you know?" She asked.

"How many lives have I gone through without Hyrule being peaceful?"

"Well, those robed people may have just been playing a game of-"

"Then how were we compelled to go to them?"

"Just, shut up." Zelda closed her eyes. Link got up. "Where are you going?" Zelda asked.

"To the other side of the tree."

"Why?"

"It is normal, easier to talk this way."

"Things change, Link, things change." Zelda smiled.

Ganon woke up. The bugs weren’t gone. But they were thinning out. Ganon could see Death Mountain, it was covered in an odd green slime. Ganon didn’t get out of the water, but he got up. Ganon walked over as far as he could get. He reached out and touched the mountain. It broke. There was a hand hole straight through the mountain. Ganon sighed. He wanted to scream.

'I gotta rally my troops,’ Ganon thought. He turned around and began walking down the river hoping others had gotten in. As he walked on, he saw a group, a big group, in a huge lake, taking up most of it.

"Minions!" Ganon yelled.

"Ganon?" The moblin at the end of the river asked.

"Yes!" Ganon ran up face to face with the moblin.

"The bugs hit the mountain, huh?"

'What,’ Ganon thought, "Yeah," he said.

"How convenient." Next thing Ganon knew he was thrown into the middle of the lake. Moblins were all around. So were Hylian thieves. Then, it hit him.

‘Of course,’ Ganon thought, ‘it is the rebels!’ The rebels, the moblins that never reallied with him after his temporary insanity. Now, they had made their crew bigger with the help of thieves. ‘Almost funny,’ Ganon thought.

"You promised to be loyal to me to the end, moblin," Ganon said.

"My name is Ocit, and you left us, so that makes you no longer my leader."

"Is that so?! You are a moblin! I saved, no I am, I am, your race!" Ganon screeched.

"Ha! You are a fool, Ganondorf! A fool!"

"You, You will call me Ganon! Ganondorf is the name of a pink being of human shape!"

"You see! You aren’t my race! You are a thief, a thief who got in over his head! A small, thief who lied his way to the Triforce of Power!"

"I will kill you when I find it again!" Ganon said, realizing everyone suddenly was very aware. He didn’t have it anymore.

"You lost the Triforce? You stupid, twisted, disguised Gerudo!"

"You know nothing of me! If it weren’t for me, you’d be eating dog shit in the Lost Woods!"

"I owe you nothing! Nothing you damned pig!"

Ganon began to speak but cut himself off and punched Ocit and attempted to fly. Without the Triforce, though, he couldn’t. And he was vulnerable to counter punches from Ocit. The first was to his face, then his stomach, finally he was kicked in at the chest. Ganon fell into the shallow water spitting blood and flem.

"Ha, look at our great leader now!" Ocit taunted.

"I...kill, you......" Ganon dropped his head, looked at the green sheet of bugs in the air.

"Have you nothing to say, pig?" Ocit laughed.

"I, ughh," Ganon rolled over and coughed up blood.

"Old fool, have you no dignity?"

"I was....savior," Ganon made out.

"Really?"

"Uhhuh," Ganon sighed.

"We are loyal to you know more, you will be tortured now, not killed, but believe me, you will wish you were dead," Ocit said.

"You pledged, my, you, pledged," Ganon said softly.

"Things change, dear Ganondorf, things change."

"That was ironic, yes?"

"Yes, it was, things are changing, we are losing ability."

"No, we aren’t losing, they are gaining."

"Is that what you think?"

"Yes, yes it is."

"Wait, never mind."

"What?"

"I thought someone was listening."

"That is happening quite a bit, isn’t it?"

"Yes, they are gaining."

"Well, things do change, don’t they?"

Zelda, Paul, the King, and Odron were back in the conference room. "Alright," the King said, "we sent a group of people to your lands, everything is as soft as butter, and covered in green, the gnomes are nowhere to be seen. We have reason to ally with your people, now, why do you think this is coming for us?"

"What of the staffs? Did you find the staffs? With their power, I could probably heal our land," Odron asked.

"Answer me first," the King asked.

"This is a powerful place, and the bugs attack powerful places, in fact, Hyrule is one of the few they haven’t, I don’t know why, maybe someone controls them," Odron said.

"And that is your explanation?" Zelda asked.

"Yeah, that’s it."

"Hm, where would it attack first?" Paul asked.

"Mountains, it attacks mountains first," Odron said.

"It may have attacked Ganon already," Paul said.

"Maybe," Zelda said.

"My only word of comfort is, hope it rains." Odron said.

"Yes, we will have to hope that," Zelda said getting up and leaving. No one stopped her.

Link was walking along a river when he saw it. Right there, floating down stream. The Triforce of Power. Link wasn’t sure at first, but then, it came floating to him. The Triforce of Power. There it was, Link reached out and grabbed it. It was surprisingly lightweight. Link looked at it for a minute, then began a slow walk back to the castle.

Link was light on his feet. He was almost gliding to North Castle, ‘I have it!’ he thought, ‘I have it.’ Link saw North Castle. He ran around back and sat down at the tree. He’d wait there, he’d wait.

Around sundown, Zelda still hadn’t arrived. Link stretched out, and went to sleep. Later that night, Zelda arrived. "Hi," she said.

"Hi," Link answered.

"I don’t like this thing with the ogres," Zelda said, sitting on the other side of the tree, facing the water.

"Why?" Link asked.

"Well, it’s all to vague, this ‘storm,’ thing. A lot of maybe's and such."

"Where was it supposed to hit first?"

"The mountains."

"That may vary well be true."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, wait, did the Kings scouts get back?"

"Yeah, the gnome place was like jelly."

"Then, that part of Odron’s story checks out."

"I guess."

"So, anyway," Link began, "If the storm hits mountains first, Ganon would be badly hurt."

"Yeah, I guess." Zelda answered.

"It probably already happened," Link said. Zelda turned her head slightly, Link spoke again, "I found something in the mountain river."

"What?" Zelda asked.

"Something, pretty cool," Link stood up, and took the Triforce of Courage from his pouch.

"Are you watching Ganon? You are Link’s fan."

"Ah, yes, well, Link is presenting his prize to Zelda, this is much more interesting."

"Really?"

"Yes, Ganon is being tortured by rebels."

"Ah, poor soul."

"Hm, I believe it is crudely righteous."

"You do?"

"Yes, I do."

"You know, the Gnomes have a good ability of mental and physical logic."

"And?"

"Through spies and such, they know Hyrule has allied with the Ogres."

"Oh?"

"And they are going to attack."

"But the Hylians took their staffs."

"They don’t know how to use them."

"The Ogres do."

"Well, that’s true."

Paul was at the bay tower, when a guard reported it. A squad of Gnomish warships were approaching. And they were ready with soldiers. Paul rushed to North Castle with the news. This was bad, very bad.

The storm was in the swamp. It was approaching at a good rate. Diette sent a command to it to slow down, it was going to rain ahead. Diette and the other outcast fairies waited. This was the place they’d been looking for, they were sure it was. This had to be Hyrule, it was more familiar than the previous places, this was the place, it must be the place.