Hello all, I, the author, just wanted to give you a little heads up on why I wrote this...kinda.

I started playing Skyward Sword, the only Zelda game I've fallen in love with since OoT, and it got me curious to find some Zelda fanfiction on this website which got me to reading some and before I knew it, I decided I wanted to write my own. OoT has been done to death, I know, so I hope this very strange, post-apocolyptic Hyrule isn't too off-color for you fellow readers. The problem is is that it's really the only Zelda game I really, REALLY know, so it was kinda hard to stray from it at all. And these kinds of stories just pop into my head and what else to do but write them down, right? Hope you enjoy. :)

Hyrule.

A land of legend. Many generations of heroes have had a close connection to the ancient world, infusing it with myths and stories almost too unbelievable to even tell. But some people still believed...

A pointy-eared male, nearly seventeen, walked outside a lonely but well-built shack in the center of a large, empty field. His crystal blue eyes shimmered with the morning song, and his soft blonde hair floated in the gentle breeze. It had been many, many years since this land had been inhabited, a magical aura now surrounded the land and people feared returning to it. He shielded his eyes from the sun as he directed his attention northwest, spying a run-down structure near the center of the field.

He sighed, ducking back into his small living structure to grab a very loaded backpack filled with supplies. He wore little else than a green stitched shirt, brown pants and leather boots. It was his duty to research this entire area, even if it meant being alone for awhile.

Hiking across the terrain was dull and difficult since the grassy fields had dried into a withering dust bowl over the years. Few patches of green remained, and little of the once great Hyrule was still intact. The young man could hear his father's voice in his ears...

"That place is dangerous as well as useless. No one has yet to find out what cataclysmic event happened to destroy that place..."

This place used to thrive, be a home to many races and people. It saddened him to think human lives once depended on this land, and now dust storms ravaged the wasteland. He tilted his head up, reaching his destination. It took him the better half of the day, but he was able to get a good look at the crumbling structure in front of him. A worn down sign, actually half-rotted, still attempted to stay it's ground at the entrance of the place. The young man leaned forward to try to make out the worn words.

'Lon Ra' was all he could make out. He shrugged his shoulders, and strolled through the entrance, noticing the blown out doors that used to keep intruders from invading. It was kind of pathetic, the man decided. What he could safely assume were a living quarters and barn was nothing but the base of a building now, rooms exposed and whatever wood was left was nearly rotted or bug-eaten. He continued to walk forward to notice the remnants of a large circular fence in a big open field...now barren. The man scowled, not finding much of interest to pick up here. No clues or artifacts...anything. He looked up. The only think that truly remained were the stone walls, topped with vicious looking spikes. They seemed to be made to last, so the youth decided here would be a good place to rest before setting out in the morning. He dedicated the rest of the daylight hours to exploring the ruins well, just in case, but by the time he had to start a fire before complete darkness overtook him, he was very much dissapointed.

The next day, and the first day in his third month of this journey, he had managed to make it completely across the rest of the field and investigate whatever he could. A dried up stream left a trench filled with dust and sand, and he was able to walk across it to find something rather surprising. Stone flooring across the river on the farthest side of the field. He looked up, searching for stone walls or structues that would usually be found with this kind of concrete flooring...but he saw nothing. Yet it was plain to see that in the ground was a solid stone foundation. Scratching his head, he continued to follow the stone to see just how much was laid down. To his great surprise, it was laid in such a way that would intend to hold an entire town, and at the far edge, he saw a beat stone pathway leading even further into the desert. The man stared down the path, he was already having trouble breathing as the wind grew harsher and the sun blew in every direction. Heaving his luggage, he turned and left to investigate the strange path another time.

Making his way back across the stone grounds, the young man was startled to see a shimmering white in the ever-growing sand. He made his way towards it, moving more and more east with every step. Goddess it was getting hard to see... he tried his best to breathe properly, but with each passing second the storm grew stronger. Finally, the shimmering white was visible, even through the storm, and he was shocked to that it was a pure white stone path. Now how could he have missed that? His insticts were screaming for him to find shelter soon, as the air would become unbreathable. Running as fast as he could against the wind, he followed the pristine steps that seemed to appear as he advanced. He guessed it was due to the visibilty rate of the sand, but something in the back of his mind tugged at his conciousness...

He was so focused on the steps that he was unprepared to ram straight into a wall, knocking himself flat on his back as the impact jarred his whole body. Squinting, and attempting to shake the fuzziness from himself, he was shocked to see a pure white building standing tall in front of him. It was so white that it seemed to take on a bluish glow, like a beacon in this Goddess-forsaken desert. Feeling the wind pick up once more, the young male grasped the door handle and muscled his way inside the creaking door.

Once inside, an odd thrumming seemed to vibrate throughout the building. The clack of his boots against the floor rang like a chorus. Several steps in front of him was a raised platform was a symbol on it that he was quite familiar with, the symbol of the Triforce, a power that was used many times over in history to save the people of the world. A bit farther ahead stood a pedastal with an inscription. Curious, and with nothing better to do at the moment, he stepped forward to examine the pedastal. The inscription had long since worn off, leaving only a few unreadable marks here and there. What interested him were the three gold-encrusted stones the lay about, each in different design and mostly grey with different colored tints. One lay in the ground, cracked and fragile-looking. He gingerly picked up the piece, eyeing it with interest.

"Who dare enter..." A light breeze swept behind him, picking up his soft hair and brushing it against the back of his neck, making him freeze.

"Who dare enter..." It whispered again, this time stronger, more forceful. Fearfully, the man slowly turned, a nearly dropped the artifact from his hand at the sight before him.

A crystalized woman hovered inches above the ground, her entire body glowed blue. She didn't seem to be wearing clothes, but no details of her body were discernable. Her eyes were nothing but pure white lights. "Who dare enter this temple?" She demanded forcefully.

The man took a step back, frightened and surprised. What in all of the lands was THAT?

"No man but he may enter here. Proof of finding this place is not enough. I will ask only once more." The figure floated closer, leaning towards the frightened male as he fell backwards from the sheer force of will the crystalized woman seemed to release. "WHO ARE YOU?" She demanded in a frightening tone.

Sweat seemed to cloud the man's vision as he had to take a moment to process the question. "L-Link..." He finally stammered out. "I hail from the land of Laiden...an explorer's son." Was that too much information?

The other tilted her head slightly, as if to ponder the information. "You are welcome here." She stated simply, her tone suddenly turned from hostile to almost friendly. "You have come to explore the ruins of this land."

"Yes." Link answered, although it wasn't a question.

"The time has come to revive this land. Your arrival is proof of such..."

The blonde man blinked, confused. "I'm...sorry? Revive?"

"Tell me. What do the races remember of the Hero of Time?"

That was an old, OLD story, as Link recalled. He knew it was actually a childrends book, and one that was waning in popularity. His grandfather had sworn by it though...and it was a favorite of his...

"Well...I know that a fairy-accompanied boy defeated a King of Evil...he faced many trials and overcame them."

"Is that all?"

There was very little detail to the old folk legend, but Link felt somewhat solemn as he nodded his head slightly.

The creature seemed to growl in anger. "And what of the Princess? The prophecy? Is any of this part of the story you know?"

"The details...have been lost." Was all Link could manage to say. He wondered how expansive the story actually was.

"The time has come then. If balance is to be kept in the world, the legend must be revived and relived. Without the dedication to the legends, future generations will not survive."

"You...talk about it as if it really happened..." Link stated slowly. His words seem to anger the other.

"Of course it happened! You have a rare opportunity archeologist." The female said soothingly. " I have the power to revive this land. To do something wonderous and amazing. Without the favor of the Goddess's, a deep and dark shadow has overtaken this land of Hyrule. Crippling, choking, and draining the life energy out of every area of that used to thrive with activity. I ask you this...if you could save generations of people, would you be up to the task?"

Generations? Revive an entire land? Link sat blankly on the cold stone floor, gazing upwards at the glowing white eyes that seemed to be staring at his very sould. This was entirely sudden and

odd. Why him? Why now, of all times? "I...I honestly don't think I understand."

The bluish figure sighed heavily, her shoulders slumping ever so slightly. "The choice is entirely up to you. You may choose to return life to the wasteland outside...or leave it as it is. But remember, in doing so, you ensure the safety of millions of people not yet of this world."

How could she be so serious? The entire scenario just didn't even seem real to him...but something in his heart was tugging at him, and he felt his chest tighten. A chance to let this land live again...he had spent much time scrounging this dead place of the world, and was saddened when every overturned rock or broken down door revealed a piece of a past someone's life. Forgotten and abandoned.

He sighed heavily. This wasn't a choice. In his mind, everything deserved a chance at the very least. He wasn't sure what the female figure in front of him meant by a 'shadow crippling the land', but whatever job he had to do couldn't be more tedious than scrounging the desert for ancient artifacts. And accomplishing a monumental task such as this would probably be just the push he was looking for...

His blue eyes shimmering with a growing excitement, the blonde boy stood up and nodded at the bluish figure. "I'll do it..." He said, suddenly feeling as if he had most definitely made the right decision. Yes, this was going to be the right thing to do!

"I am glad you have come to a quick decision."

"What must I do?" The blonde asked curiously. Suddenly, he felt the tiniest twinge of regret of not asking first, but he shooed the feeling away with the reminder of life in this place once again.

"There are several places you must go. I will discuss each with you. There are temples throughout this land, sacred places that were once used to house great power and guarded by powerful sages...they are gone now, however, and the temples have been overrun by creatures that thrive on darkness and shadows. Time has altered or destroyed some of them. But removing the creatures of darkness may help restore some of their power, and can aid you in the revival of the land."

"O-Okay..." Link nodded, suddenly nervous. The most battle experience he had was just the way over. Monsters didn't overrun the land, but you still had to be careful.

"Do not fret. You're instincts will begin to takeover, and I shall provide with this enchanted steel sword and shield..."

Link stared as she held out her hands and magically produced a full length sword in a fancy scabbard and a worn shield that had some strange markings on it. "This shield..."

"It's an old Hylian shield, perserved by this temple. It will work well for you, as it worked well for it's previous master."

As Link touched the sword and shield, he felt an odd familiarence with the armory. Setting down his heavy pack, he strapped the sword across his chest and set the shield on his back. He felt strangely comfortable weilding them.

"Do you have an instrument?"

Link frowned, confused. "No...I can sing, though." He smiled at himself a bit. He was actually quite good.

"That will do. Before you can even attempt any of the sacred temples that are strewn throughout the land, you must open that door." The blue girl said, indicating a giant stone slab behing the pedastal.

"THAT is a door?"

"Yes. And to open it, you must revive the three sacred jewels, one of which you hold in your hand."

The blonde male looked at the cracked and dead-looking stone. The female continued. "Their power can be revived by visiting their places of origin...the Zora Domain, Death Mountain, and the Kokiri Forest."

All three of those places sounded strange and exotic to Link, but he gave a stout nod, confirming that he was listening in close intent.

"The forest is next to impossible to enter. You should save attempting going in there last. In the Zora Domain there used to be a great fish by the name of Lord Jabu Jabu. He no longer exists, but his reincarnation might. Search for him. He can revive the Sapphire. As for the Ruby, the Gorons used to value it as their greatest treasure. If you search their ruined city, you may discover a power enough to revive the Ruby."

Link took in all the information with a serious expression, contemplating everything that was transpiring. It seemed nearly impossible. but here was this magical creature, talking to him and giving him enchanted items. He stretched his arms high above his head, and tapped his boots on the ground.

"You...have been chosen. Please...do well." And with that, the figure vanished in a glow of blue light.

Chosen? How was he chosen? Deciding that it wouldn't do him any good to worry about it, Link watched for the desert storm to subside before venturing back out into the wild barren wasteland.

Hope that wasn't too strange... Dx