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Daylight Princess	By : Alyse_Arden Category: Zelda > General Views: 5268 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend of Zelda, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Link

He dug his heels into his horse's side, and let out a whoop when Epona sped up in response. Knowing what was expected of her, the mare raced toward the fence and leaped into the air, clearing it admirably.
Link winced as Epona's hooves hit the ground. He was sore all over, as he had been nearly every day since meeting Sheik.
As he reined in his mare and dismounted, Link thought back to that fateful morning in Faron Wood. Things had been going so well until that strange, fae-like woman caught sight of his birthmark.
(Link continued to think of it thusly, even though Sheik had hinted that what looked like two crescent moons engulfing a circle was not in fact a birthmark.)
It had taken several minutes of confusion and accusations before Link managed to convince the woman that he really did know nothing of the markings on his hand. Even now, after three moons of clandestine meetings and countless couplings, Link suspected that Sheik did not fully trust him.
For one thing, she continued to evade most of his questions, and the responses she did give seemed incomplete. And Link was ready for answers.
The people of Ordon Village had been mistrustful of the infant abandoned in their midst some nineteen years previously, bearing strange markings on the back of one tiny hand. No one knew what it signified, but superstition had made the villagers uneasy. Still, not a one of them had had the heart to leave a child to die on its own. Sera and Hanch, a childless couple with more means than most, had taken him in and given him his name. Abandoned children were not altogether common in Ordona Province, but neither were they rare. The kindly couple had fostered many foundlings and orphans over the years, feeding and clothing them as children, then helping to find them a trade as young adults. Sera and Hanch had been kind to him, but they had always treated his birthmark as a source of shame, something never to be spoken of. They loved their foster son, but they were as superstitious as any of the villagers. Link had grown to resent their refusal to ever mention or speculate about his abandonment or birthmark. It had almost been a relief when he was finally old enough to strike out on his own.
For four years now, Link had lived and worked at Ordon Ranch, assisting Fado with the care of his herd. Link did not mind his work; indeed, he was luckier than most in that regard. Fado never beat or starved him, and when his chores were finished for the day Link was free to do much as he liked.
These days, that consisted of sneaking off to Faron Wood to practice the sword drills that Sheik had taught him. He was learning to channel power into his movements, making him ten times more deadly than he would have been on his own. She had even taught him how to heal minor wounds, which she claimed would be an invaluable skill some day.
And that was another thing. Sheik acted as though all of the training and preparation she put him through was for a purpose. Yet Link could not think what use a ranch hand with a sword could possibly be. Hyrule had been a peaceful land for generations now. So why did Sheik behave as though their land was on the brink of some dire war?
Link finished rubbing down Epona, tossed some hay into her stall, and walked back out into the cool evening air. He held up his left hand and peered at it in the scant moonlight, tilting it this way and that. His “birthmark” had become a constant source of wonder to him now, after nineteen years of trying to ignore it. He shook his head, and started toward the forest.

“But what is it?” Link asked, exasperated by Sheik's constant evasion.
The beautiful, mysterious girl looked thoughtful. “Do you celebrate the feast days, in Ordona?”
“Of course,” Link replied, surprised. “Doesn't everyone?”
She shrugged. “Some places more than others. Tell me what you know about their origin.”
“Samhain, the harvest festival, is for Din,” Link intoned, as though reciting a lesson. “'With her strong flaming arms, she cultivated the land and created the red earth'. Then in spring we honor Farore,” he continued, ticking it off on his fingers. “'With her rich soul, she produced all life forms who would uphold the law'. That's Beltane,” he waggled his eyebrows at Sheik. Beltane was also known as the “rutting festival”. Hylians honored their creation by creating more Hylians.
Sheik ignored this and waved for him to continue.
“Nayru 'poured her wisdom onto the earth and gave the spirit of law to the world'. So naturally we honor her with The Feast of Fools in midwinter,” Link rolled his eyes. “And on Midsummer's Eve, there's a masque to honor the Toraifosu.”
“Do you know what the Toraifosu is?”
Link hesitated. He didn't, not really. “No one seems to know,” he admitted. “Everyone knows the name and the symbol.” He sketched a triangle in the dirt, then added the lines of the four other triangles contained within. “And everyone knows what to do. Everyone dons demon masks and runs around causing mischief all day. There's a music tourney, and whoever wins is dubbed the Hero of Time for the day. They dress in green and run about banishing all the demons. Then everyone gets drunk and dances.”
Sheik smiled at this simplification. “That's what everyone knows, yes. But don't they tell stories?”
“There's an official story that the village priest tells every year,” Link conceded. “But those who have been out of Ordona say that other villages tell other stories. Same basic premise, different details.”
He gave Sheik a searching look. “What do the festivals have to do with the marks on our hands?”
Sheik bit her lip. “I've never had to explain before, but I'll do the best that I can,” she'd said.
She was silent a moment, as though gathering her thoughts. “There are those few of us who do know what the Toraifosu is,” she began. “But the word “toraifosu” is a mistranslation. Its proper name is the Triforce. At Midsummer's Eve, we used to tell its story in honor of its power. But nearly one hundred years ago, things changed.”
Link leaned forward eagerly.
Sheik sighed. “I suppose I should start from the beginning,” she said.
“As you know, the three Golden Goddesses created our world. We don't really know why. We only know that each was responsible for certain things, as you've described. They each had their own aspect. Din is associated with agriculture and her aspect is fire. She was also called 'The Goddess of Power'. Farore is associated with fertility and the element of wind. They called her 'The Goddess of Courage'. And Nayru,” Sheik had smiled cryptically at this. “Nayru, the Goddess of Wisdom, is associated with knowledge and water.
“As I said, we don't know why they created our world, and we don't know why they decided to create the Triforce, either. But the fact is, they did.”
Sheik traced the large outer triangle that Link had drawn in the dirt. “They each placed some of their power into this artifact. Power,” she retraced the topmost triangle. “Wisdom-” the far left this time- “courage.” Sheik traced the rightmost triangle. “Three pieces of power, forged into one artifact.”
Link was aware that he was nodding. This made sense so far.
“The artifact was kept in the Temple of Light, in the Sacred Realm, where dwell the goddesses themselves. There it stayed for thousands of years. No one knew its purpose, but there were stories. There always are,” she added darkly. “The stories said that if one could cross into the Sacred Realm and seize the Triforce, they would have power over all of Hyrule.”
Link frowned. He had heard enough tales to sense where this was going. “There was a catch, wasn't there? There's always a catch.”
Sheik laughed and leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Clever boy,” she said fondly. Then her gaze turned serious once more. “Yes, there was a catch. The stories also warned that if the one who seized the Triforce did not possess all three virtues in balance- power, courage, wisdom- then the Triforce could not be wielded. As soon as the unworthy one touched it, it would shatter into three pieces. As a reward to the finder, however, they would be allowed to keep one piece, whichever they desired, and wield its power. But the others would be scattered. They would be lost until such a time as one deemed suitable by the goddesses was born to bear it. The goddesses would turn their faces away from Hyrule, and our land would never be at perfect peace again until the pieces were reunited.”
Link sighed. “Someone unworthy came along, didn't they?”
Sheik nodded solemnly. “Have you heard of the demon Ganondorf?”
Link stared. “You mean he exists?”
“Well, yes, but he was never a demon. He was a man. Ganondorf Dragmire,” she pronounced with a look of distaste. “History isn't certain as to what he was doing before he started going around stealing holy artifacts. Some say he was a king, others a common outlaw. Probably he spread his own legends, to intimidate his enemies. All we really know is that he was Gerudo, and his name,” Sheik said. Link knew she was referring to the desert people in eastern Hyrule, although he had never actually met a Gerudo. They were renowned as great warriors, and said to be the favored people of Din.
“Anyway, he must have had some magic to begin with, to breach the Sacred Realm. We don't really know. But we do know that he was unbalanced in his virtues, for when he seized the Triforce, it shattered. And whether by coincidence or divine intervention, one of the pieces made its way into the very next person to enter the temple. A young man named Kokiri, who had followed Ganondorf to stop him seizing the Triforce. Kokiri was too late for that, but the Triforce of Courage had made its way into his heart, and allowed him to capture the dark lord and bring him to the Holy Sages.”
Link frowned. “The Holy Sages?”
“In that time, the queen had died and her heir was too young to rule,” Sheik explained. “So until the princess came of age, Hyrule was led by a council of the Holy Sages, magicians of great power. Or so they say,” she said, smiling. “It was to them that Kokiri brought Ganondorf. For his crime against the goddesses, which they deemed blasphemy, the Sages condemned him to death. He was executed, and the Triforce of Power forever lost. Although some believe the goddesses may confer it again some day, to a worthy bearer,” she added.
Link was horrified. “But if they don't...”
Sheik nodded. “If they don't, then Hyrule will never be whole again.”
Link shuddered. This was a dire tale, and Sheik was claiming it to be true. He never would have believed such a story three moons ago, but things were so different now...
“And our marks? Where do they fit into all this?”
“The Triforce symbol is well known, even today. But the goddesses used to each have their own symbols.” Sheik brushed away the Triforce that he had drawn in the dirt, and drew a new symbol. It looked like three wavy lines, the top- and bottom-most ending in curls. “Din's mark,” she told him.
She held up her left hand, and the markings there glowed softly. Link gazed at the familiar image, what looked like three crescent moons each encompassing a circle. “Nayru's mark,” she said softly.
Link felt numb with shock as realization began to dawn. Sheik picked up his left hand, and his own mark glowed. “Farore,” she said simply.
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Daylight Princess