Disclaimer: I don't own anything to do with Zelda.

OoOoO

It had been thirty years since the war between the tribes had begun. The Hylians and Skeikah were allies, but all the other tribes preferred to fight on their own. The Gorons held the mountains; the Zora the rivers and lakes. The Hylians held the plains, and their secretive allies held the underground caves and passages. The Gerudo held the desert, but the undead and their dark king held the night. From dusk till dawn, his minions would roam and attack anything living. The other tribes fought him as best they could, but were not enough on their own.

The Hylians were possessive of their plains and let no one pass through without a heavy toll; sometimes no one was allowed to pass at all. The Gerudo, in their arid desert, wanted the plains. A river went through the desert, but it was fiercely guarded by the Zora. They wanted nothing to do with the other races and wanted them to have nothing to do with their rivers. The Gorons, long lived creatures that they were, remembered every slight, every wrong. They let no one past the foot hills of their mountains, flattening the intruders with rocks if they came in too far. As for the Sheikah, they had sworn to protect the Hylian leader, and that they would do. Most would have nothing to do with the secretive race; their white hair and dark skin, as well as their flashing eyes, gave many an uneasy feeling. Add to that their knowledge of the land's dark secrets, of every race, and their fondness of the night and silence, they were not often a welcome people. But the Hylian leader had proposed an alliance as soon as war loamed over the horizon; the Sheikah were known as some of the best fighters in the land. What they lacked in strength and magic, they made up for in speed, silence, and slights of hand with their many powders.

Meanwhile, as the good tribes refused to cooperate and fought, the king of the undead plotted. This king was a disciple of Ganon's, and longed to return his master to the land. His main way of doing so was to gain the Triforce, which was hidden in the Sacred Realm. However, each race held a key that was needed to open the gateway. The Gorons, Zora, and the secretive forest people, who were staying in the forest and not fighting, each had a spiritual stone that were the first set of keys. A magical ocarina, known as the Ocarina of Time, was held by the royal family of the Hylians and a set of songs known only to the Sheikah were the second set of keys. And the third,
most important key to opening the Sacred Realm was the Master Sword, which was currently held by the Gerudo. They had acquired it in a raid; no one knew where it came from or whose it was. However, they could not use it. For some reason, the sword would not allow itself to be used by anyone.

The ocarina and the sword would not be hard to get, the dark king mused. The ocarina was always in the possession of the Hylian king and the sword, despite the fact that it could not be used, was always worn into battle by the Gerudo leader, who happened to be a man. It seemed that the first male in quite a while to be born was born in time for the war; lucky him. It was the three spiritual stones that were giving the king a headache. The Zora's Sapphire was hidden deep in the depths of their watery kingdom, and none of his undead did very well in water. He hated the stuff; it was too easy to die in. The Goron's Ruby was zealously protected. The Gorons, because of their size and appearance were usually looked upon as a lesser race. Thus, the fact that they had a key to the Sacred Realm was considered extremely important to them, and it was a matter of Goron pride. No, it would be extremely difficult to retrieve the stone. But despite how hard it would be to trek up Death mountain, avoid falling rocks and get through the Goron cavern to find the ruby, it would be even harder to gain the Spiritual Stone of the forest. The forest, known as the Kokiri Forest, was off limits to all but the forest people. No one knew what they looked like because they never came out and anyone who tried to enter never returned. Rumors spoke of a great tree in the center of the forest that protected it and its people with magic, but no one knew if they were true. And any undead who entered were promptly sucked under the soil. He had seen it happen; he had sent in two Stalfos, for since they were dead and could not be killed, and as soon as their feet touched the forest soil, it sucked them under. The next night, they did not rise from the earth as all the others did. The only way to kill an undead was with fire, and now it seemed, by having the forest suck them up.

And then there is the matter of the songs, he reminded himself. But that did not matter as much. All he had to do was find a Sheikah graveyard and summon some of its members. As much as the loyal Sheikah may try to resist, they would eventually tell him what they knew of the songs. That part would take a while, but it would be simple. But first, he had to get the Spiritual Stones.