(A/N) What? Zephyr Fyrian isn't dead? *gasp*

Haha, sorry for dropping off of the face of the earth for a month or so. I still am planning on completing The Essence of Life and the other stories I've begun, don't worry, but I was in a Zelda mood, and I've just recently started a new Breath of the Wild game, so Zelda was my main focus.

I am quite excited for this one, as this has been bouncing around in my head for several weeks, and I hope you like it.

Some warnings or whatever you'd call these: This story will contain storyline and characters from Breath of The Wild, Twilight Princess, Skyward Sword, and some references to Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, The Oracle of Seasons/Ages and Wind Waker.

This story will additionally contain the pairings of:

Breath of the Wild

Link x Paya

One-sided Zelda x Link

Riju x OC

Twilight Princess

Past Link x Midna

Link x Ilia

Zelda x Shad

And that's all I wanted to mention before you read it. I know I don't like it when I read a story and get invested in it and then they pair some people together that I just don't like. Also, Zelda's pairing will remain a secret, because it's supposed to be a mystery, but if you want to guess, go ahead.

Without further ado, happy reading!

A Breath of Life

Chapter One: A King's Queen

Having just exited the pass between the Pillars of Levia and Bonooru's Stand, Link and I, Ex-Princess Zelda, emerged into the village of Kakariko. Link was leading, in case monsters attacked, but after Calamity Ganon's fall, there were significantly less of them out and about. Still, Link insisted.

He was eager to get to Kakariko, for what reason, I didn't know, but I was excited to see Impa again as well.

I was comfortable in the saddle of my horse, a pure white stallion that Link said was a direct descendant of my old horse, Storm. This horse's name was Rhoam, named for my father.

Thinking about Father made my heart ache. I missed him so much. Out of all the people of Hyrule, he was the one I most wanted to see my powers. I had finally awakened them, but he had already passed on.

Shaking my head and willing myself to be happy, I looked ahead into the bustling Kakariko Village. It had been forever since I had chased cuccos with my childhood friend, Hilda (my personal maid, she accompanied me everywhere), swam in the pond below Impa's house searching for Koroks, or even since I'd eaten a nice roasted carrot.

I rubbed Rhoam's neck gently and urged him forward, following Link on his horse, Epona.

"Is that Zelda?"

"The Princess is here?"

"Koko sees a preeeetty girl!"

"Link and the Princess have returned!"

Cries and gleeful shouts followed us as we rode down the path to Impa's house. Link swiftly dismounted and held out his hand to help me down. I accepted graciously, giggling internally.

Once my feet hit the ground, Link let go of my hand, turning back to Epona. I felt a little disappointed at that, but Link probably still didn't have all of his memories, so it was a given that he wouldn't remember me as well as he should have. But, once he did, he was sure to remember his affection for me. After all, in all of the legends, the princess and the hero ended up together, right?

Oh, except for that one with the twilight spreading over Hyrule, the hero married a farm girl from a village not even in Hyrule.

Oh well, that wouldn't happen to me.

I pulled myself back to reality and followed Link up the wooden stairs to Impa's house. We walked inside and I was filled with a wonderful sense of nostalgia. I remembered Hilda and I sitting on these cushions, listening to Impa tell stories about ancient Hyrule.

I stopped my examination of the room when my eyes fell upon an old Sheikah woman sitting on a pile of cushions.

"Impa," Link said respectfully as he knelt before her.

"Oh, no need for that, boy." Impa chided, smiling kindly. "Stand up now. Oh, Zelda, is that you, my dear?"

I nodded and stepped forward to greet my old advisor.

"Impa," I said, smiling.

Impa held out her arms and I leaned down to embrace her, sorely missing the parental role Impa had played in my life. When I pulled back, there was another person standing in the room. It was a young Sheikah girl, with long, thick white hair and a Sheikah eye painted on her forehead. She stood at the entrance to the cabin, looking nervous.

"Is that-" she began, her eyes on me. "Are you Princess Zelda?"

"Ex-Princess," I corrected sadly. "The kingdom of Hyrule is no more."

Really? How unfortunate.

My pointed ears twitched at the strange voice.

"Did- did you hear that?" I asked slowly, turning around as if to look for whoever had spoken.

Don't bother, they can't hear me.

"Yes, I can." Link said softly, looking over at me worriedly.

Oh look, it's Courage and Wisdom. How…adorable.

"What do you mean by courage and wisdom?" I demanded, still trying to locate the source of the voice.

There was a ghostly laugh and then everything seemed to fade back into reality.

"W-what was t-that?" the Sheikah girl whispered, shuddering. "It g-got so c-cold all of a s-s-sudden."

Link walked over to her and placed his hands on her shoulders reassuringly.

"It's okay, Paya," he murmured, sliding his hands down to her shoulder blades and pulling her into his arms. "There's no need to be scared."

My heart tore at the love Link obviously held for this girl. He never treated me this way before.

No, he didn't, did he?

"Who are you?" I whispered, finding it strange that Link didn't seem to hear the voice this time.

My name is Power. Hello, my dear Princess Zelda.

Power? If I was Wisdom, and Link was Courage, based on our Triforce pieces, who was the third?

"Impa?" I asked suddenly, wondering if my old mentor would know anything about the original wielders of the Triforce pieces.

"Yes, my dear?" Impa looked up at me, concern in her gaze as she recognized my nervousness.

"I hold the Triforce of Wisdom, correct?" one of my hands fiddled anxiously with a lock of my gold hair.

"Yes, as the one chosen by the Goddess always does." Impa nodded sagely. "Just as Link holds Courage, you also hold Wisdom."

"What about Power?" I inquired, dropping my hand from my hair and letting it fall to my side. "Who holds Power?"

It seemed like a wave of cold wind washed over us, for not only did Paya shiver and curl closer into Link, Impa grew solemn and reserved. Even Link looked a little nervous.

"It was said to be held by the King of Evil," Impa said darkly. "The last Gerudo son; Ganondorf."

"Ganon?" I gasped.

Shocked? My, my, it seems you haven't been schooled in much at all, have you, little Hylian?

"Don't talk to Zelda that way," Link growled at the unearthly voice.

Oh, this one has some spirit! Hm, more than that other silent hero. The one who nearly killed me 10,000 years or so ago.

"You're Ganondorf?" I whispered, fear creeping into my heart. Link and I had just defeated Calamity Ganon, and now that was another one?

More or less. To be completely honest with you, I'm not too fond of the name.

"Why not?" I asked, my arms folding in to hug myself.

There was only another ghostly laugh in reply and then the room faded back its earlier, warmer atmosphere.

"I d-don't like this," Paya mumbled, her voice slightly muffled since her fae was buried in Link's tunic.

"Shhh," Link gently stroked her hair, resting his chin on the top of her head. "Just calm down, Paya. You're perfectly safe."

Turning my head away from Link and Paya to ease the ache in my chest, I walked back to the door, opening it just in time to hear a loud clamor at the entrance.

"Out of the way!" yelled a distinctly feminine voice. "Sorry- oh, I didn't mean to- I'm sorry!"

Powerful hoofbeats thudded and two horses carrying riders galloped into the gathering square and skidded to a halt, rearing up on their hind legs and neighing loudly.

Link and Paya ran out to stand beside me, startled at the sudden interruption.

The two riders dismounted, giving me a better look at them.

Both were female, though one was considerably shorter and thinner, and they both had long, blood red hair and dark skin. Gerudo women.

"Riju?" Link called, stepping down the stairway a bit to greet the new arrivals.

"Link!" the smaller Gerudo, apparently named Riju, cried in relief. "See, Barta? I told you he'd be here."

"Hmph," Barta, the taller, more muscular one, snorted. "We are certainly lucky you have good instincts, milady."

Riju shot Barta a skeptical look, but didn't say anyting else on the subject. Instead, she turned to Link, who had reached the bottom of the stairs and was making his way over to the young woman.

"What brings you here, Riju?" Link asked, bowing to her slightly.

"It's a long story," Riju sighed. "Could we come inside to rest a bit? We've been on the road for days."

Days? The Gerudo Chieftain, at least I assumed, had been riding nonstop for days? That didn't seem to add up right.

"Of course," Link nodded.

"Dorian," Paya said, rushing down the stairs to address the Sheikah warrior. "Could you take the horses out to the eastern field while we get Lady Riju and her guard settled?"

"Sure thing, Paya," Dorian patted the Sheikah girl on the shoulder affectionately and walked over to the horses to help Barta unsaddle them.

Link, Paya, and Riju all walked back up the steps to Impa's house, Link and Paya in the lead, hands clasped. Riju seemed to be disappointed at this, and I wondered how many women Link had captured the hearts of during his travels. When they reached me, Link gave me a small smile and gently tugged on Paya's hand as he opened the door.

"They do seem quite in tune with each other, don't they?" Riju commented as she fell into step beside me.

"Yes, I suppose so." I agreed, looking down.

"There was a time when I wouldn't have been jealous, but marriage has been on my mind a lot as of late." Riju said sadly, sighing.

"Why?" I asked, looking over at my slightly shorter companion as we entered Impa's house. I sat down on one of the cushions and motioned for her to do the same. "You don't seem to be the typical Gerudo marrying age, and besides, you are the Chieftain, you need to be with your people, not wandering abroad."

Riju sat down beside me and folded her hand in her lap, looking nervous.

"There were some…" Riju paused, as if searching for the right words. "Recent developments in Gerudo Town that caused Buliara to encourage me to marry."

"I see," I replied, though I really didn't. "Are you traveling abroad to find a suitable husband, then?"

"Hylia, no!" Riju looked horrified. "I'm not ready to get married!"

"Then why are you out here?" my brow furrowed, confused.

"I'm running away," Riju said quietly. "The Gerudo don't need me. Not anymore. Not with him."

"'Him'?" I inquired, wondering if Power/Ganondorf/Whoever-He-Was had anything to do with what Riju had gone through.

Riju shook her head, looking back toward the door as Barta walked in and stood silently beside the entrance like a sentry.

Link, who had been sitting with Paya beside Impa's seat, stood up to address Riju and Barta.

"So," he said, his arms swinging freely at his side to relieve the tension that was clear in the room. "What happened? What are you doing so far from the desert?"

"We are running," Barta said in her heavily accented baritone. "Lady Riju came to me in the dead of night saying she had to escape. Even if she is no longer the Gerudo Chieftain in title, she will always be the Chieftain to me, so I agreed and that very night we snuck out of Gerudo Town and trekked across the desert until we passed the Champion's Gate near the South Lomei Labyrinth. From there we climbed to the East Gerudo Mesa and traveled across the Taobab Grassland to the Grinnden Plains and Lake Hylia."

Link nodded, then turned to Riju.

"What spurred you into leaving?"

"It's a long story," Riju sighed. "But the easiest way to say it is that the Gerudo have found a new, 'better', Chieftain. I was running because I was afraid of what the new Chieftain would do to me if I stayed. I came to you, Link, to ask if you would help me reclaim my position as Chieftain from this usuper."

"Of course," Link replied without hesitation. "It would be an honor to aid you, Lady Riju."

Riju flushed slightly at the formality, looking down at her hands.

"When would be a good time to leave for the desert?" Link asked.

As soon as possible.

"Well, I suppose-" Link stopped, freezing mid sentence. "…Zelda? Did you hear that too?"

"Hear what?" Riju looked between Link and I, worry etched onto her pretty face.

"Yes," I whispered.

The strange voice laughed, the sound giving me chills, though I wasn't sure if it only because I was afraid.

I would love to meet lovely little Princess Hylia here. I'm very interested in getting to know her better.

The voice laughed again, before all faded back into normality. I shivered at the implications of Power's statement.

"What was that?" Barta demanded, her hand on her moonlight scimitar.

"A…an issue we're trying to sort out." Link said, scratching the back of his hand, bemused. "Zelda and I have been hearing this disembodied voice speaking to us, but no one else can hear it. We just can't seem to puzzle it out."

"It called us Wisdom and Courage," I said softly, taking a deep breath. "He says he is Power."

"That's why you asked about the Triforce," Link realized, sitting back down beside Paya. "Does that mean that…Ganondorf is the one speaking to us?"

"He…" I scowled, irritated with the lack of imformation Power had given me on his identity. "He said he was 'more or less' Ganondorf, and that he didn't like that name."

"What in Farore's name does that mean?" Link muttered, running a hand through his hair. Paya gently rubbed his arm, leaning her head against his shoulder.

"I'm not sure," I sighed, shaking my head. "But we musn't tarry on that; we have to help Riju reclaim her throne."

Riju smiled at me gratefully, relaxing for the first time since she'd gotten here.

"Thank you, Princess," Riju reached over and squeezed my hand. "Your help is much appreciated."

"Indeed," intoned Barta, dropping her hand from the hilt of her sword. "But we must rest before we set out for Gerudo Town. The Lady Riju and I have been unable to sleep for days because of the urgency of our flight."

"Barta is right," Riju agreed, and puncuated this with a yawn. "We do need to sleep. Perhaps tomorrow we can decide what to do, but now I am barely keeping myself awake."

After Riju and Barta left for the inn, and Link went out to do something with Cado(probably chasing his cuccos again), Paya and I settled into the loft of Impa's house, ready for sleep.

"So, Princess," Paya said as we finished our nightly routines and were each sitting on our beds opposite one another. "What do you think about this? Riju seems to be more than a little ruffled."

"I'm…not sure," I said truthfully, running my hands through my hair again. "I'm concerned by the takeover, but confused as to what that has to do with Riju and her marriage."

"Marriage?" Paya sat up.

"Apparently, something happened and Buliara wanted Riju to marry." I explained, still trying to make sense of it myself. "But why that would make Riju run, I do not know."

Paya's brow furrowed in though as she pondered my words.

"Perhaps," she began, biting her lip a little. "You said Ganondorf was the one speaking in your mind. He was born a Gerudo, so what if he took over Gerudo Town? He is the last and only male. In Gerudo tradition he would automatically be named King."

"That does make sense," I agreed, sliding off of my bed. "Do you have any records on Ganondorf from the old legends?"

"Plenty," Paya replied, hopping off her own bed and pulling out several scrolls and old parchments from underneath her mattress. "Why don't we take a look?"

Paya and I pored over the ancient texts, burying ourselves in the old myths and legends about the King of Evil. We studied far into the night, reading about the origin of Ganondorf's evil, the takeover of Hyrule, his banishment to another realm, and finally his defeat after the Twilight Occupation and the death of his pawn, Zant.

I felt a bit bad for this Zant, strangely enough, as it said Ganondorf's power manifesting itself inside of him drove the man insane. Even if he was inherently evil, no one deserved such a cruel fate.

However, the self-proclaimed King of Twilight was not the only pawn of Ganon's, there were many under the delusion of granduer that the King of Thieves conjured up, and far more met unspeakable fates at the hands of Ganondorf and his minons.

After we could not stay up any longer, Paya and I eventually crawled back into our beds and fell asleep. Paya drifted off faster than I did, but even the frightening image of a blood-thirsty demon king wasn't enough to keep me from submitting to the calm of sleep.

Or so I thought.

It was one of those dreams where nothing exists until you look at it. I didn't know where I was, and even looking around didn't help, because I couldn't focus on anything, and I was thoroughly confused as to why I was wearing gloves. I hated wearing gloves. They made me feel like a 'proper princess' like Father had always wanted me to be, and I wanted to be a scholar. Prettying myself up and wearing such frippery was not something I particularly liked about royalty.

The only reason I even noticed was because I was looking down from some reason, as if there was something in my hand. There wasn't anything, so I really had had no reason to look down, but I had nonetheless.

Suddenly, I felt a hand pull my chin up. My eyes were angled away, and I couldn't move them to see what or who was holding my jaw, but something felt off.

"You really should address your King as 'my lord' or, 'your highness'."

Oh Hylia, it was his voice. The voice of Power.

"You are no king of mine," I hissed out, though I didn't even remember thinking it.

Deep, slow laughter filled my ears and I felt the strange hand tighten on my jaw.

"Do not delude yourself into thinking you are still in control of Hyrule, little Hylian." there wasn't anger in his voice, only sadistic amusement. "Although…"

I didn't like the sound of that, but I couldn't move for some reason. I couldn't even look at him.

My brain went into overdrive when I felt cold breath on my ear.

"You could still rule Hyrule, Princess Zelda," he whispered, almost thoughtfully.

"And how could I when you have taken my throne and terrorized my people?" I heard myself ask. Strange, how no thought went into responding. As if I were living a memory…

The deep, rumbling laughter resounded again.

"Every King needs his Queen," he said softly, and if his lips had not been at my ear I would never have caught it.

"You disgust me," I snarled, ripping my chin away from him. I turned my head back around to look at the King but all I saw before I woke up was a pair of unblinking, golden eyes.

Watching me.

(A/N) Oooh, creepy! Haha, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of A Breath of Life. If you feel so inclined, leave a review so I know what you thought.

See ya! :3