Saving Grace

Chapter 1

It was a stormy spring night in Kakariko Village. The wind blew furiously and icy rain came down in sheets, drenching everything it touched. Rivers of water flowed down the winding pathways of town, pooling into a lake at the foot of the largest settlement, which was home to the wise old woman called Impa.

Squat huts with sweeping roofs dotted the hillside, but one hut in particular stood out among the rest; it was guarded by plum trees dressed in pink blossoms. Branches banged and rattled against its windows in the harsh wind, but inside, the booming blustery sounds of nature were met with the calm silence of sleep. A couple lay curled up against each other; a blanket draped over them for protection against the chilly air. They appeared to be unfazed by the unruly weather happening outside.

There, in the shadows, a young woman's golden blonde hair draped across her pillow and flowed down the edge of the bed, while her right hand rested against her man's bare chest. The young man's left hand was placed over hers in return; a gold wedding band glinted from his finger in a flash of lightning through the window. His forehead dipped in towards hers, causing copper-coloured locks to fall down over his closed eyes. Even through the grumbling thunder, he remained deep in slumber.

A gust of wind forcibly pushed the doors to the hut open, throwing pink plum petals across the floor. A whisper on the wind followed it:

"Link..."

The young man stirred in his sleep, tossing his head to the left and letting it nestle back into the pillow.

"Wake up, Link..."

Slowly, Link opened his eyes. He turned and looked over his shoulder. His wife Zelda was still sound asleep; her eyes were closed, breaths were long and deep. He settled his head back down and stared up at the ceiling, letting out a long exhale. "Must be just a memory," he thought.

Suddenly, a blast of wind and rain entered through the open doors, causing a cool mixture of mist and petrichor to wash over Link's face. He flinched as a bead of water hit the corner of his eye. "Ah, what a lovely way to be woken up," he thought to himself with a scowl as he brushed the dampness away with the back of his hand. "Better shut those doors before the blankets get soaked." Carefully rolling over so as not to wake Zelda, Link removed the semi-damp blanket and stood up. The floor felt like ice on his toes.

As Link walked barefoot across the room to shut the sliding doors, he heard a small coo come from behind him. He stopped, then turned and padded toward the wooden crib that stood against the wall next to the bed. He stooped over, reached down and lifted up a small child, a girl. He took the baby in his arms and bounced her back and forth while looking into her big blue eyes. He smiled, "Just like mine."

"Link..."

Link snapped his attention toward the open doors and squinted out into the dark and stormy night. "That voice again," Link thought. He absentmindedly set the baby back down into the crib, then headed over to his wardrobe and threw on some pants and old shirt. He grabbed his cape and threw up the hood, then pulled on his brown boots. For self-defence, he grabbed his trusty Master Sword from off the wall and slipped out into the night to investigate.

A strange aura seemed to fill the air, drawing him down the path toward the Goddess Statue by the pond. Despite the darkness and cloud cover, Link found his way using the light from the fireflies taking cover in the pine trees.

After dodging a few puddles and narrowly escaping death by slipping on a muddy slick, it wasn't long before he arrived at the short stone statue. He could barely see it to know it was there, but the silhouette of its rounded shape gave it away. Assuming the aura that led him there was a call from the Goddess Hylia, Link stood in front of the squat statue and prayed, expecting to be enlightened or blessed; however, nothing happened. There was no glow around the statue, no sign that the Goddess was about to speak to him. Perplexed and soaked to the core—rain still beating down on him—Link came to the conclusion that the lack of sleep he was getting due to tending to the child may have been affecting him.

He was just turning back towards the hut when a shrill cry echoed in the humid air, louder than the rain thundering to the ground. Eyes wide, Link snapped his attention to the top of the hill from whence he came. "Zelda." Without hesitating, he raced as fast as he could in the slippery conditions back to the hut, sword drawn, ready to face the unbeknownst danger.

Heaving, raindrops dripping off his eyelashes and off the tip of his nose, Link made it back just in time to see a horrible turn of events that would later haunt the both of them for a multitude of sleepless nights.

A screaming Zelda in her white silken nightgown came rushing out of the gaping doors of the hut toward a dark shadow retreating across the lawn. Instinctively, Link dashed toward the thief with his sword poised, hoping to stop them in their tracks. The moment the thief realized they were cornered, they stopped abruptly, snapped their fingers and *poof* they vanished into thin air, leaving nothing behind but a burst of red and black cards with the infamous Yiga Clan symbol on them. Zelda reached her arms out toward the spot where the shadow had vanished and collapsed into the mud, wailing loudly.

Link was by her side in an instant, grasping her shoulders as she sobbed into him.

"They took our daughter," she cried, "They took our Grace!"