Once upon a time, in the large and mighty kingdom of Hyrule, Princess Zelda was born. Kings and queens from all around came to offer gifts to the newborn princess. Queen Nayru brought her young son, Prince Link. And as Link gave Zelda his gift - a pretty locket - their parents had a wonderful idea. Zelda's father, King Roham, and Link's mother, Queen Nayru, would bring the children together every summer. Maybe...just maybe...the two would fall in love, marry, and unite the two kingdoms.
But the evil enchanter Ganondorf had a different plan. He wanted King Roham's kingdom - all for himself. Back in his hideout, Ganondorf gazed into his magical fire. "The kingdom will belong to me and me alone," he vowed.
Ganondorf was soon banished from the kingdom for plotting against the king. But he remained determined. He would leave quietly with his assistant, an old ugly hag. But he would have his way - one day.
Years passed and Ganondorf was forgotten. And each summer, Princess Zelda and Prince Link were brought together by their parents. At first, these visits didn't go as smoothly as the king and queen had wished. Neither child seemed to like the other and the two refused to play together. King Roham and Queen Nayru were ready to give up hope that the prince and princess would ever marry.
Then one fine summer day, Link took Zelda into his arms.
"Arrange the marriage!" he cried. "Zelda is so beautiful."
"Thank you," said Zelda. "But is beauty all that matters to you?"
"What else is there?" Link asked, confused. He couldn't put his true feelings into words. And Zelda was hurt. Didn't he care about her? The marriage was not to be.
Feeling sad, King Roham and Zelda rode off into the forest. They were deep inside the woods when a figure appeared before them. It was Ganondorf! At first, he seemed to be an ordinary man. But then, there was a burst of light and Ganondorf was transformed into a dark beast. The beast took flight, soaring high above the king and princess. An instant later, down he swooped - straight toward Zelda!
News of the attack spread through the kingdoms. Zelda was gone! She had disappeared without a trace! And all because of a fearsome dark beast. A beast that was not what it seemed.
"My poor Zelda," Link said softly. "What has happened to you?"
Link cried out in fear and loss. "Zelda!!" His voice broke the stillness of the woods, carrying deep into the darkness until it finally reached Swan Lake. By then, it was just a whisper.
A sad-looking swan swimming on Swan Lake heard a rustling noise and lifted her head. Was someone calling her? No, it was only Ganondorf coming towards her.
"See here, Zelda," Ganondorf told the swan. "You are under a spell. But it doesn't last the whole day. You will change back to human form as soon as the moon comes up..."
Just then, a beam of moonlight touched the swan's wing. Suddenly, Zelda was no longer a swan. She was a beautiful princess once again, standing ankle-deep in the water.
"The spell will be broken if you marry me," Ganondorf explained. "That way I will become king. Or there is one other way. You can find someone who will declare everlasting love and prove it to the world." Ganondorf gave a nasty laugh. "But that seems unlikely since you can't leave Swan Lake for long. You will turn back into a swan when the moonlight leaves...no matter where you are."
Zelda did not run away. There was nowhere she could go. Instead, she made friends with Yunobo and Sidon, a goron and a zora who lived on the lake. Days and nights came and went, each one the same as before. But then, Zelda met a tough-talking rito named Kass. And together, she and Kass formed a plan to break the spell.
"We'll find Link," he told the others, "and lure him back to the lake just when the moon is coming up. He'll see Zelda change into a princess. He'll declare his love. And everyone will live happily ever after!"
At the very same moment, Link was readying himself to battle with the Dark Beast.
"Zelda is alive," Link told his friend, Fledge, turning his back on him. "No one else thinks so. But I do. And I'm going to rescue her."
Fledge swallowed nervously. It was time for Catch and Fire - archery practice at its most dangerous.
"Oh please, oh please, oh please," said Fledge as their teacher placed an apple on Fledge's head. Then Fledge raised his bow and arrow. Still muttering, he aimed his arrow at Link's heart. The arrow sliced through the air. Quickly, Link spun around, catching the arrow right before contact. Then, with lightning speed, he sent it back toward Fledge. It neatly sliced the apple in half. Link was ready.
But first, Prince Link had to puzzle out one thing. What was the Dark Beast? Link hurried to the royal library. He flipped through book after book, searching for an answer.
"It's not what it seems," he said again and again. "What does it mean?" Finally, he shouted, "Of course! That's it!"
He was just about to race off to the forest when his mother came into the room. "Remember, the Great Ball is tomorrow night," she told Link.
"I'll be back in time," he promised her. To himself, he added, "After I find Zelda!"
Zelda and Kass were already scouring the forest for Link, as he and Fledge started their search.
"We are looking for a beast that change its shape," Link said to Fledge. "A harmless creature that approaches and suddenly..."
Fledge eyed a dragonfly. "You mean it could be anything?"
Link nodded and moved. But Fledge was walking in another direction, following the dragonfly.
"Remember, it will look harmless," Link muttered as he cleared a path. He moved a branch out of the way and found himself face-to-face with Zelda the swan.
"A swan?" said Link, thinking Zelda was the Dark Beast. "Of course!"
He raised his bow and arrow. Zelda gasped and took off in flight. Prince Link was below, giving chase.
"Our plan is working!" Kass cried, joining Zelda. "We'll lead him back to the lake!"
Zelda beat her wings furiously. "He thinks I'm the enchanter! This is too dangerous!" But she had to keep going. It was the only way.
The sun was setting behind Zelda and Kass as they darted in and out of the forest. They soared high in the sky, then low to the ground. They kept one step ahead of the prince, but they were careful not to let him fall far behind.
At last, Zelda and Kass reached Swan Lake. Prince Link came into the clearing a second later. Huffing and puffing, he paused for a moment, looking around. There was Ganondorf's castle with a water dungeon below it. And there was a beautiful swan, floating on the water's edge. Once again, Link raised his bow and arrow. He took aim...
Suddenly, a ray of moonlight stretched across the lake. Then, a sparkling light swirled and twinked around the swan. Link watched in awe as the beautiful swan turned into Princess Zelda. Amazed, Link dropped his bow on the ground.
"Hello, Link," Zelda said quietly and they fell into each other's arms.
"I knew you were alive, Zelda," Link said. "I knew it!"
In the distance, Zelda heard the heavy thud of Ganondorf's footsteps.
"You can't stay," she told Link. Quickly, she explained about Ganondorf and his evil spell.
"Don't worry," Link said. "I'll make a vow of everlasting love. And I'll do it at the ball tomorrow night to prove it to the world."
"Zel-da!!" Ganondorf was calling to her now. He was nearing the lake.
"Yes, tomorrow night," said Zelda, pushing Link back into the forest. "Now go!"
Reluctantly, the prince left his love behind, just as Ganondorf crashed into the clearing.
Zelda sighed. Link had escaped just in time. They were safe. But then Ganondorf held out the prince's bow; the one he had just dropped.
"Come to the ball! I will make a vow of everlasting love," he sneered, imitating Link. "Ha!!!"
Ganondorf hurled the bow into the lake. "I have news for you, Zelda. You won't be able to attend the ball after all."
Zelda looked at him fearlessly. "You can't stop me!" she cried.
"I won't have to," Ganondorf answered. "You see, tomorrow night...there is no moon!"
Laughing wildly, Ganondorf went into his castle. There, he fell silent. "Prince Link's vow could still break the spell!" he told the hag. "What am I going to do?"
He looked at the old ugly woman and had an idea. "I know! I'll get Link to offer his vow to the wrong princess. Don't you see? I'll make you look like Zelda."
Ganondorf rubbed his hands together gleefully. It would be Zelda's ruin. It would be perfect.
That night, under a moonless sky, Ganondorf locked Zelda in the water dungeon.
"Too bad you can't go to the ball," he taunted her from a window high above. "But I can bring the ball to you. The prince is busy, of course. But here is a substitute. This scared little fellow got lost in the woods."
The hag shoved Fledge down into the dungeon. "Help! Help!" Fledge cried, splashing around the water. "I can't swim!"
Zelda dragged him to safety, just as Ganondorf slammed the window shut. At the castle, the ball was already underway. The prince was growing anxious. Zelda had still not arrived. Though he was surrounded by pretty princesses, Link could think of no one else. Has something gone wrong? Was Zelda in trouble? Then, there was a loud knock. Slowly, the castle door swung open. A woman walked inside.
"It can't be!!" whispered Queen Nayru.
But it was. The woman was Zelda...or so the prince believed.
The real Zelda was still a prisoner in the water dungeon. Luckily, Kass had another idea: Sidon and Yunobo would save her! Sidon dove above the watery depths of the moat, searching for a hole in the dungeon wall. At last, he found one. He squeezed inside and dug at the wall, while Yunobo - faster than any Goron had ever moved before - was digging on the outside. Soon there was a hole large enough for Zelda and Fledge to fit through.
"To the rescue, Mademoiselle," said Sidon, bowing low. Fledge, though, was too scared to move. And Zelda didn't have a second to waste. She shot through the opening, up through the water, and into the sky.
Meanwhile, the prince was at the ball, dancing with the wrong Zelda.
"Something about you seems different," he said to her, sounding worried. The hag said nothing. She just showed him the locket - the same locket he had given Zelda when she was a baby. Link smiled, feeling better. She was still the same Zelda after all.
"I have an announcement to make," he said loudly, facing everyone in the room. It was time to make his vow of love. The real Zelda was streaking through the sky. She was getting closer. But she was still nowhere in sight.
Finally, Zelda reached the castle. Flapping her wings, she hovered close to a window. Inside, she saw Link grasp the hag's hand.
"Today," he was saying, "I have found my bride."
Using all her strength, Zelda beat the window with her wings. "It's a trick!!" she shouted.
Link didn't hear her. "And now before the world," he continued, "I make a vow. A vow stronger than all the powers on earth. A vow of everlasting love..."
Zelda fell silent. She just stared in horror as the prince said, "...A vow to Zelda."
Suddenly, the ballroom windows flew open. A cold wind rushed in. And there, in all his frightening glory, stood Ganondorf.
"You have pledged your love to another," he told Prince Link. "But not to Zelda."
With that, he sent a spray of mist over the hag. Crumpling into the heap, the hag fell to the ground. And when she raised her head, she was old and ugly once again.
"Now Zelda is doomed!" Ganondorf roared, pointing out the window.
At last, Link saw the real Zelda, flying weakly away.
Link ran out of the castle. He jumped on horseback, then raced deep into the forest. "Zelda!!" he called. "Zelda!!!"
Above the trees, Zelda was struggling to reach Swan Lake. With her last ounce of strength, she dipped among the leaves until finally, she sank onto the stones by Ganondorf's castle.
Yunobo, Kass, and Sidon gathered around. "Please, Zelda. Don't die!!" cried Sidon. All of a sudden, the swan was surrounded by a brilliant light. When it faded away, Princess Zelda was lying motionless on the ground.
Just then, Link came crashing through the trees, rushing to Zelda's side. "It's you I love," he said. "The vow I made was for you!!"
Link whirled around as Ganondorf magically appeared. "Don't you dare let her die!" Link shouted. "You have the power. Save her!!"
"Only if you defeat me!!" Ganondorf said, turning into the Dark Beast. He spread his enormous wings and opened his beak, screeching.
Link and the Dark Beast faced each other, ready for battle.
"Get the prince's bow - the one that Ganondorf threw into the lake," Kass whispered to Yunobo and Sidon.
The goron and the zora dove to the bottom of the lake and pulled it out from a tangle of weeds. Quickly, they tossed it to the prince. Now Link held the bow, but there was still a problem. He didn't have any arrows. And the Dark Beast was closing in.
"Oh please, oh please, oh please," cried a familiar-sounding voice.
"Fledge?" the prince said, confused. "Is that you?"
Having escaped from the water dungeon. Fledge released an arrow. Just as he had done in Catch and Fire practice earlier, he was aiming the arrow straight for Prince Link's heart. Link caught it, then spun around, fitting it into his bow. A second later, he sent the arrow flying. It struck the Dark Beast, and he fell into the lake.
Link hurried to Zelda, and then cradled her in his arms.
"Forgive me," he said. "I only wanted to prove my love."
Slowly, Zelda began to stir. Then she opens her eyes.
"Oh Link!" she whispered, already growing stronger.
Link had made a vow of everlasting love. The two embraced, happily reunited, happily in love. And that's the way it would be on their wedding day forever after.