The Hero of Kakariko

The rider had left Hyrule Castle in a daze, still shocked at the scene before him: a titanic beast erupting from the earth of the Ordon Forest, the ancient oaks of the land trampled like grass. It began its march towards Hyrule Castle Town, and panic burst forth from the people, scrambling to leave or hide or pray to the Goddesses above for help. The Princess, however, had other plans. With a knowing look on her face, she pulled the rider, Beck, from his own pleading to the heavens, and handed him a thick envelope, seemingly containing a set of instructions. "Leave, now. Take the fastest horse you can find, and get to Kakariko Town. Give this letter to Lia, she will tell you what to do next."

Beck had blinked at his sovereign, not understanding her words. "Kakariko, your highness?" While Beck had heard of the place, he was Castle Town, born and bred. "How can that help against...against that!" He turned and pointed dramatically at the enormous monster heading their way.

The Princess's eyes went hard as steel, and when she spoke her words carried the authority of her position in every ringing syllable. "I gave you an order! How does one respond to an order from their Princess?"

Almost unconsciously, Beck saluted the princess. "Yes, your highness," he said, his legs still quivering, but he put the envelope in his side-satchel and ran to the town stable, taking the horse that looked the strongest. Of course, Beck was a merchant, and not much for horseback riding, but when duty called, he answered, albeit a bit reluctantly. After riding for a few miles, he looked behind him, and wished he hadn't. The beast was now only steps away from the tall towers and high walls of Hyrule Castle Town, and though the keep had stood for more than eighty years, Beck knew it was hopeless. Instead, he kept his eyes facing forward, toward the town he was commanded to enter.

As he approached the walls of the town, Beck had to take a moment to appreciate the sight. While it lacked the regal splendor that suffused every brick on Castle Town, it made up for it in sheer practicality. The wall looked like it was made to fend off an army, maybe two of them. Tall, thick, and covered in what looked like some sort of tiny holes. Holes that were, at that moment, filled with arrows pointed at him. At that, Beck stopped, sweating profusely from exertion, exhaustion, and naked terror. A woman, tall with tanned skin and long red hair, looked down at him from on top of the wall. With a single look, Beck knew she was a warrior, despite the fact that she wasn't carrying any visible weapons. She didn't need to. Her bearing, stiff and at attention, and her face, calm and intense, was all she needed. "Why do you approach Kakariko Town, stranger?" she asked. "I'll tell you now, if you want in here you'll need to work for it. With the crisis, we've agreed to take on refugees, but we won't have layabouts."

With flinching, shaky hands Beck reached into his satchel and removed the thick envelope, the one carrying the seal of the Royal Family. "I have a letter from Princess Zelda, for someone named Lia! She sent me herself!" This clearly interested the woman on the wall, who raised an eyebrow, then pulled out a spyglass, looking intently at the letter. Finally, she made a hand signal, and the gate of the wall opened. Not wanting to spend more time out in the open with arrows pointed at him, Beck rushed inside, where he found the woman from the wall waiting for him. "I am Lilliana, the leader of this village. Lia is my grandmother. I will take you to her."

As they hurriedly walked through the town, Beck was barely able to look around. He saw many women who looked like Lilliana, with the same color hair and skin, but he also saw many Hylians, and more than a few Gorons as well. They all looked busy, preparing arms of war or sorting through goods, though for what reason he did not know. They approached an old house, what looked to be the oldest in the town, and once they reached the door Lilliana took a deep breath and knocked. They both stood there, waiting for a response, until the door slowly opened and an elderly woman, bent low from age, could be seen, scowling at them. "Granddaughter, what is it? This is not a time for friendly visits." While age had taken this woman's beauty and height, it had not taken her strong, fierce will, which rang through her every syllable as clear as a bell.

Lilliana flinched in response and bowed her head to her elder. "I am sorry, grandmama, but this man is here to see you."

The old woman's eyes seemed to see Beck for the first time, and then they moved lower, to the envelope he still clutched in his hand. The sigh she let out then was long, and tired. "So, it is that time then. Come in, both of you, quickly." Without pause they answered her order, and she closed the door behind her. To Beck's surprise, the interior of the home was much warmer and softer than he had imagined, with large rugs on the floor and comfortable armchairs and couches in the living room. The woman pointed at a nearby couch for them both to sit, and then she left the house herself, without explanation. Lilliana took this as though it was expected, and looked at the nearby wall, which only now Beck realized was covered in pictographs. Family portrait after family portrait hung on the walls, and few blank spaces remained.

The town leader noticed Beck's staring and pointed a nearby one out to him. "That's me, as a child, with my mother and Lia." Her eyes looked as though they were seeing somewhere far off, and fondly remembered. "Grandmama has a picture on these walls of every member of the family. Soon, she will run out of space in the living room, and have to start putting some in her kitchen." Her voice was full of warmth and love, and it touched Beck's heart.

"My grandmother is in Hyrule Castle Town...I don't know if she's still alive. Or my mother. My father. My sister. That beast...I don't know what your grandmother can do against something like that. What anyone can do..." his voice trailed off, and he realized he was crying without realizing it. Lilliana's hand moved to wipe his tears away, her own eyes looking at him with naked empathy and compassion.

Without warning the door opened, Lia had returned. "Lilliana, this is not the time for this sort of foolishness," she snapped, and before Beck knew what was happening Lilliana's hand was in her lap, her cheeks blushing. Then Lia looked at her granddaughter, a softer expression touching her face. Something passed between them then, Beck knew, but had absolutely no clue what it was. The moment passed, and Lia approached Beck, and held out her hand. Without a need for an explanation, Beck handed her the thick envelope, stamped with the royal family's deal. Lia lifted the envelope up to her face and ripped the wax seal off with her teeth, which she had managed to keep, despite her years. She unfolded the letter and read, her face intent. Page by page she read through the document, until her eyes closed and she let out a long sigh. "I was afraid of this. I don't know if she's ready..."

A knocking on the door, rapid and sharp, filled the air, interrupting Lia's words. Scowling, she rose from her comfortable armchair and slowly walked to the door, which she opened just as a second round of knocking had begun. Standing outside the door was a young girl, maybe around ten or eleven years old, dressed in a handmade dress that she looked uncomfortable in. Her red hair was cut fairly short, barely reaching halfway down her neck, and her dark skin contrasted well with her bright, blue eyes. The little girl looked completely unphased by the angry old woman standing in front of her, and gave her elder a bright smile. "Hello, great-grandma! What did you want to see me for?"

Instead of answering, Lia pointed to the couch where Beck and Lilliana both sat, and with a nod the little girl walked over and sat next to Lilliana, who she gave a big, childish smile to. The town leader returned the child's smile, though with a little less enthusiasm. As Lia walked over to sit back down in her favorite armchair, the little girl looked at Beck, her face curious. Irritation flared up in Beck, and he scowled at her. Beck didn't like children. Once Lia was back in her seat, she looked at all of them. "I suppose I'll start with the giant monster attack Hyrule Castle Town then, yes?" The little girl suddenly looked more serious, Lilliana's gaze sharpened imperceptibly, and Beck paled. "It is called Ganon, and once many years ago it was Ganondorf, King of Thieves."

"Ridiculous!" Beck said before he could stop himself. All eyes were on him, their glares sharp. Beck coughed. "Yes, well, um, everyone sensible knows that's rubbish. People exaggerating, and things like that. Ganondorf was a sadistic tyrant, but just a man, like any other. Perhaps he was a skilled fighter, and good at magic, but the tales of him growing into an immense beast in the final push against him are distorted fairy tales." As he talked, he became more sure and confident of his correctness, and by the end his face looked haughty, a cocky smile on his face.

Once he looked at Lia, that look vanished. The old woman looked at him like Beck might have looked at a sick puppy on the side of the road: with pity. "You poor fool. What you dismiss is the truth. I should know. My mother, Lara, matron of Kakariko Town, is the one who slay the beast. When I was a little older, I saw the bones: large, twisted, and unnatural. No goddess-made creature has bones such as Ganon did."

Beck rolled his eyes, though the sweat on his brow showed the cracks in his confidence. "Alright then, let's say this is that Ganon fellow. He was killed, you said? If he's somehow back again, we have armies, I'm sure if they did it once they can do it again." Lilliana, despite herself, looked as though she agreed with him, which made Beck feel marginally better.

"It was no army that killed Ganon, boy," Lia said, her words harsh. "The final blow, the only one that counted, was struck by my mother, Lara, with the only blade that exists what can harm the evil beast. But my mother is long dead, and the blade is lost to us." At first Beck wasn't sure if she was deliberately pausing, or just telling them that they were completely screwed. However, the pause ended and she spoke once more. "What I am about to tell you cannot leave this room. It is a secret my family has kept for generations." Lilliana gave her grandmother a hurt look, and Lia looked back with some amount of compassion. "I am sorry, Lilliana, but only one can know the secret at a time, but you were in the line of succession.

"My mother was not born with red hair and sun-dyed skin. She was, in fact, born a Hylian, though she was raised in the Kokiri Forest." Beck, like any Castle Town boy, had heard of the place, lost to time in the ancient Ordon woods. "She was also born a boy. As a child, she was called upon by the Royal Family to protect the kingdom from Ganondorf, and once he took over it was her task to defeat him and save the world. In her travels, however, she suffered a curse which turned her into who she is known as now: Lara, the woman of renowned beauty and fierce strength who built up Kakariko Town into what it is today. She never found a way to reverse the curse, but my mother never really looked for it too hard either. It was a blessing in disguise, and the only reason I am alive today. After she died, the Princess of Hyrule at the time, also named Zelda, was getting old, but she contacted me to let me know that my mother would not stay dead forever. The evil that had nearly destroyed the kingdom had merely been sealed away, and that seal was weakening. When the time came that it emerged once more to reek havoc and destruction, one would be born to us who would be a reincarnation of my mother, the next hero." Lia looked at the young girl, and she smiled fondly at her. "Lucia, my sweet girl, you are that hero. You are the Hero of Time, reborn. It is your task to find the Master Sword and defeat Ganon, and save our world."

The old woman pulled out something from beside her, a green tunic, a shirt of chainmail, and a green hat. She handed it to Lucia, who took the clothes as though they carried an immense weight to them, her eyes wide. For a moment, it looked to Beck like the girl would crack, like she would tell her great-grandmother that they had the wrong person, and that she couldn't do this. But then the little girl took a deep breath, and when her eyes opened again they were intent and focused, a fierce smile on her face. "When can I start?