The Legend of Zelda: In The Days Before

Chapter 1

The young princess gripped the stone ledge hard enough to turn her knuckles white, lurching with the motion of the mechanical wonder. "Urbosa!" she cried ecstatically, a wide grin on her face. "It's working! It's finally working!" The desert sand blew up in clouds around the monster's feet, stinging her eyes, the wind howled shrill and piercing, and the sun blazed down on her, yet Zelda believed she had never been happier. The Divine Beast given to Urbosa had been silent for all the months that followed its unearthing. While the others worked fine, the camel had been stubborn, and no one could figure out why. Zelda had discovered the conduits along the spine of the divine beast were for, not blue fire, but lightning. After Urbosa had given Vah Naboris a controlled shock, the creature jumped to life, and now it was speeding across the open desert, the stone joints rattling and quaking with every footfall as it jogged merrily through the sand. Zelda tilted her head back and laughed. "I've never felt so alive!"

"I'm glad you're happy!" came the deep voice of the Gerudo woman in the main chamber, "But she's going too fast! And I'm driving blind!" Zelda stood, stumbled, stood again. She raced inside, still grinning, and pulled on a lever beside the conduit. Unfortunately she pulled to fast and too hard, because Naboris skidded to a halt, nearly tipping over, throwing both women forward several feet. Sprawled out on the floor, Zelda laughed in sheer joy. "We did it! Ah, Naboris, I knew there was still life in you, you tired old thing." She patted the floor that served as the camel's underbelly and stood, her back bruised, her head spinning, and blinked away stinging granules. She rubbed her eyes.

Urbosa laughed, stood. "We're still a long ways off, dear child. But I believe this day of victory belongs to you." She put a hand on the girl's shoulder, while she still rubbed sand out her her eyes. "Your dedication is paying off, your highness." Zelda looked up and smiled at her, eyes red, streams of reflex tears making mud tracks down her cheeks. "I just can't tell you how happy I am! And you should be proud!" She gave the Gerudo woman a bone crushing hug. "Naboris is a beauty, she runs with more grace than any of the others. But," she pulled away. "Don't tell them I said that."

"Not a word." The princess looked up at the main control unit. "Could you control her while she ran?"

"Somewhat, but I couldn't see where we were going. Perhaps a slate up there is still inoperative?" Zelda began to climb the the ramp to the tulip-shaped slate sensor. She was pleased to see that the panel that had been dim since its unearthing was now lighted, displaying a string of Shiekah text. The indentations on either side of the pillar were glowing blue, however, Urbosa was right. There was no way to see where the beast was going. Zelda tapped the screen, which responded with a disgruntled-sounding chime. The Shiekah text appeared again. "I'll see if Impa can come and read that, I'm sure it's something simple." Urbosa approached, having checked their location outside. "How fares the castle these days? Does the King still want to give you a knight?" Zelda sighed. "I think so, but frankly my father and I don't speak much to each other these days."

"I think he just wants you to be safe."

"He wants me to stay focused on my training. He wants to assign me a knight to keep me on track, that's all." She shook her head. "Anyway, I don't want to think about that right now. We didn't run anyone over, did we?" Urbosa placed her fingers on the indentation, and there was a dull rumbling sound. "We're a little too close to the oasis, I'm afraid. Let's see if we can take her back to the desert." Zelda jogged up the ramp towards Naboris's head, hit a button to open a window, and leaned outside. "It's just to your left," she called to Urbosa. "Watch your back foot, it's dangerously close to the tower." Naboris carefully side stepped to the right and Zelda stumbled, but managed to hang on. "That's it! Just a little more and we should be in the clear. Urbosa, we're making so much progress, I can't believe it! Once all the beasts are functional, we'll have no trouble defeating Ganon if he returns!" A little Gerudo girl waved when she saw the princess leaning out of the window, and Zelda waved back, welling up with pride and happiness when she realized that the dear child would never have to fear an oncoming attack as long as Naboris was watching over her.

* * *

Zelda galloped over the castle bridge on her white stallion, guiding him through the compound to the stables in the back of the castle. She had to yank back on the reigns to get him to stop, and even then he stubbornly pranced forward before coming to a complete halt. She dismounted, handed the reigns to the stable hand, and entered the nearest tower, climbed the stairs, crossed the tower bridge above the stables. She entered the main section of the castle, meaning to escape to her room as soon as possible to jot down the day's events in her diary. But she turned the corner, and there stood her father. King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule. He was a large man, imposing, much taller than herself. He was clothed in the traditional crimson garb of the Hylian king, gold platelets riveted on the bottom of the robe and on the neckline, his great grey beard protruding forward, which only served to make him appear even larger. He stared down at Zelda with a hard-set, disapproving gaze, and the princess understood why.

She looked like a mess: blonde hair frazzled, her clothes solidly covered in dust and oil, sweat making mud trails around her hairline, her eyes still red and burning. She swallowed hard and said, with more confidence than she really felt, "Naboris is in working order now." The king said nothing. After a long, awkward silence, Zelda continued, trying to sound optimistic: "We're one step closer to fending off Ganon if he ever shows himself again."

"And has this awakened any sealing powers you might posses?" There is was. Zelda swallowed hard, gritted her teeth. "But...but I got a Divine Beast to function again. She hasn't moved since we dug her up, and I--please Father, that must count for something!"

"The Divine Beasts alone cannot combat Ganon. You know this very well, Zelda." She knew. She had heard the story time and time again, that Ganon in past generations had been sealed away with the power of a royal family member, along with a knight wielding the Master Sword. The King turned, about to leave, and said, "You should take this as an omen. Things are falling into place, Zelda, can't you see it? The prophecy is coming true."

Zelda didn't want to think about the prophecy. She wasn't yet convinced at its truthfulness. Further, she didn't want to think about her role regarding that prophecy, that she would have to face Ganon should he ever return. She pictured the little girl she saw while she was atop Naboris. Hundreds, no, thousands of other children would be counting on her to succeed. She shook her head. No, she reasoned. There was still a way. And surely, there was still time.

She watched her father leave, and it suddenly occurred to her how strange it was that he was about at this hour, so near to the stable and the knights' quarters. No matter, she thought.

As she continued to make her way to her room, a heavy feeling began to set in her chest. Approaching her desk in the far corner of her room, she couldn't bring herself to lift the pen. She didn't feel right. Perhaps a hot bath would set her mind straight, she reasoned. But it didn't. It only gave her time to ponder over what her father had said, that things were falling into place. Perhaps, just perhaps, he was right. Things were indeed falling into place.

It was only a matter of time.