Destiny Overruled

-Two-

There was an eerie feeling in the air, Zelda noticed as she walked through her rather green courtyard. Twirling a strand of blonde hair that had escaped from the clutches of her headdress around her finger, she knelt on a stone bench near the window to her father's study. He was in a meeting and didn't want to be disturbed, he told her. So he had Impa send her out to the courtyard where she could play amongst the many fountains and gardens for a while.

Zelda didn't trust her father's judgement, letting the Gerudo king come to Hyrule for "peace treaty talks". She knew the dark complexioned man had ulterior motives hidden up his sleeves, and used his charms to convince her father that he meant no harm, that he just wanted to speak of becoming allies, that he wouldn't mind becoming the king's advisor. Her father, of course, fell for the spell, and Zelda was trying to think of a way to expose him.

She had yet to speak to him about her dreams, the weird visions where light cut through the darkness surrounding Hyrule, and under the light was a boy. It wasn't like her father would believe her; he always thought she did it for attention, and would often frustrate Zelda. Her nursemaid Impa seemed to believe her, however; sadly, she was the only one the eight year old princess could turn to.

"On this fated day," she muttered, shifting slightly as she peered through the window, "the Light Bringer shall come and rid Hyrule of the potential darkness. And I will meet with him, as my dreams have said."

-x-

Too easy.

Sheathing his sword, a boy with blond hair halted his horse and tethered it to a nearby bush just outside the courtyard. The castle, he noticed, was smaller than the one back home in Gerudo Valley, and he smirked - Hyrule was supposed to be renowned for its "huge" Hyrule Castle. Stretching out his legs and arms, he proceeded through the courtyard, taking care to not attract the attention of the guards (who looked like they wouldn't even be able to kill a fly, let alone him), and ended up in an open span of green with flowers and scrubbery surrounding him on all sides.

Not as awe-inspiring as back home, the boy thought. A figure moved into his field of vision and he tensed up - he didn't expect someone to actually be in the courtyard - his father simply told him it was the easiest way to get into the castle.

She too was blonde, and - he thought it was amusing - her ears were pointed like his, something he was sure only he had. She was almost as tall as him he guessed; she was kneeling on a stone bench, face and hands against a window pane.

"It's not polite to spy on others, you know."

The girl jumped, a gasp barely passed through her lips as she turned around and saw him standing there.

"You...you're here for the Ocarina..."

The boy raised an eyebrow, confused. What was she talking about? And just what was an ocarina, anyway? It must have been a Hylian thing, for it was unfamiliar to him.

"Actually, I was here to see-"

"Please listen to me," she said, walking towards him, hand in the pocket of her dress. "You're the one who will vanquish the darkness, right?"

He would have laughed if she didn't look so serious.

"...If that's what you want to call me," he said. "Everyone else just calls me Link."

The girl nodded. "Link...you must unlock the Sword... You have to fight and defeat the evil." She turned away from him. "My father is being misguided by someone from the desert, and he won't listen to me as a result. I can...see things, and you...you were there."

This girl's nuts.

"I...see," Link replied, playing along. "So what do you want me to do about it? I can convince your father that this man is bad..."

She turned back to face him, holding something in her hands then. "It is too late for my father to be convinced. What you must do..."

She picked up a stick and went to an area covered in sand, Link not far behind her.

"You need the three Spiritual Stones, which you can get from three special places," the girl explained, drawing the stones as best as she could. "The first one is the Kokiri Emerald, which you can find in the Kokiri Forest. The second one is with the Gorons, up high in the mountains, and the third and final one resides with the Zora under the waters."

Link nodded. "Then what?"

"Then," she said, drawing a rectangular building with a Triforce symbol on the door of it, "you place them in the Temple of Time, on an altar in front of the Sword. You need to play a certain song, which I will teach you once you fulfill these requirements."

Father said it would be easy to retrieve the Object, but I didn't think it was this easy.

She looked at him, her eyes pleading for his help.

Link sighed. "All right, I'll help you, Princess Zelda."

Zelda gasped. "How you do..."

Link smirked and crossed his arms. "Everyone knows of you, Princess. It's nothing about of the ordinary."

He waved slightly as he exited the courtyard.

I don't think she realises what she just did will end up bringing Hyrule's peaceful times to an end.

-x-

"All I want is the Emerald."

The sun was beginning to set when Link had arrived to the Kokiri Forest, and by the time he was able to push his way through to see the Holder of the Emerald, the skies were pinks and purples with orange streaks cutting through.

"Your heart is filled with darkness," the Holder of the Emerald said. "Only those pure of heart can possess the Kokiri Emerald."

"But I'm the chosen one. I'm supposed to get the Emerald - Princess Zelda even said she saw me in her visions."

"You are the Chosen One, yes, there is no doubting it… But you possess great evil inside your heart, and until you conquer it, I will not give you the Emerald."

Link sighed, annoyed.

"I will force you to give me the Stone. It is not your place to fool with Destiny."

The Great Deku Tree stared at Link.

"It is you who is fooling with Destiny. 'Thou canst overrule thy destiny,' according to the Goddesses themselves."

Link pulled something out of his pocket and shoved it into the Great Deku Tree.

"It has been foreordained that my father will claim Hyrule as his, and his wishes will be the ones fulfilled. It is not your place to try and prevent the inevitable, and for your efforts, I have lain a curse upon you. The Emerald is mine - and your efforts to stop me are fruitless, for you are now powerless against my father and myself."

As the Great Deku Tree was slowly sapped of his power, Link pocketed the green coloured stone and swiftly took his leave from the forest. He didn't care what became of the Forest so long as he carried out his father's will.

One down, two to go.

-x-

Author's notes: Yeah, I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to revise this chapter! I have two novel-length series I'm working on, so they've taken priority over everything. But I haven't forgotten about this fic, but it's going to be a long time to revise this whole story - there are eleven published chapters I have to go through, and then I hope to finish this fic eventually.

Like I said in the previous chapter, this story might take a different turn as I revise it, and I'm hoping that will happen. This sort of plot has so much potential, so many things to explore, so I want it to live up to that potential.

Feedback is appreciated!