The Legend of Zelda: A Dark Future

Chapter 1: A Special Day

Link stirred in his sleep, sweating profusely from his apparent nightmare. "Chaple! Chaple, NO! CHAPLE!" was ringing through his ears and echoing in his head. As the screams echoed there was, suddenly, another voice, echoing around and against the screaming, "Hey! Link! Wake up! Link!"

Link would awake to find himself being shaken by his older brother, Chaple. A man of around 26, Chaple had taken their late mother's raven-colored hair and hazel eyes. He saw Link's eyes flutter open and smiled, chuckling, "Hey, bro, you alright? That seemed like quite the nightmare. You're drenched in sweat!"

Link quickly sat up and hugged his brother then let go, "Sorry. I don't know why I did that. I just had this awful dream, but... I can't even remember most of what happened." Chaple nodded, "Well, it was only a bad dream. Now, hurry and get ready, we're going to be late." And with that he walked out of the room.

Link tilted his head a moment and blinked a couple of times as he registered his brother's words when his eyes suddenly shot wide open and he jumped out of bed to check the calendar on his wall, "No way! It's already today?!" He quick ran into the bathroom and checked himself over in the mirror. He definitely looked like he just got out of bed.

A boy of around 17, Link had inherited their late father's blonde hair and fierce blue eyes. He sighed at his present appearance and decided to quick jump in the shower. He pulled his shirt off and threw it in the hamper he had, revealing that he had a toned, muscular build thanks to his years of acrobatics and combat training at the local academy. He quick slid his pants and boxers off and threw them into the hamper as well before hopping in the shower and washing up.

After getting ready, Link walked out of his room to meet his brother, strapping his sword to his back. Chaple saw this and stated, "Uh, you probably won't be able to bring that into the company. Besides, you won't need it today, Princess Zelda will have plenty of guards. I'll bring you back if you want to grab it before going to the academy today." Link looked to protest but then nodded, taking the sword off his back and setting it against the wall.

Chaple had been watching the news as he waited for Link, something about recent disasters throughout Hyrule, "Well, hopefully all that gets situated soon. Weird for all of that to happen so suddenly, and almost all at once." He turned it off and grabbed his keys, "Alright, let's go. I gotta get my presentation ready for Zelda before she arrives." Link nodded and they both headed out of the house, locking the door and getting in the car.

"You excited to meet Zelda? I know I am. I get this prototype approved it'll be my greatest invention to date." Chaple said as he drove. Link chuckled and nodded, "Not every day you get to meet the princess, right? This is a great privilege, Chaple, thank you for bringing me along." He smiled at his brother and looked out of the window... what was that? Were his eyes playing tricks on him? He could have sworn he saw a figure jump from rooftop to rooftop. He shrugged it off and looked forward to meeting the princess.

They arrived at Chaple's place of work and made their way inside, Chaple's co-workers greeting them and wishing him luck with the presentation. Link looked around at all the things that had been invented here, quite a few things by his own brother, as they made their way to Chaple's lab. As they entered, Link gazed around at the room, he had only been here a few times but it always amazed him, it was covered in blueprints and plans for new inventions and there was always a few more new ones whenever he came in.

He looked ahead at Chaple, who was opening up a briefcase and setting up a stand at his desk. He quick turned around and threw something to Link, when it was caught, Link realized it was a sword hilt just... without a blade, "Uhh, Chaple. What good is a hilt without even a small blade?" Chaple chuckled and shook his head, "Press the button on the side of it, ya goof. Yes, that one. And make sure it's pointed AWAY from you." Link turned the hilt over and found the button, doing as his brother had instructed, he held it like you would a sword in his left hand and pointed it outward, pushing the button on the side with his thumb. As the button was pushed, a click was heard inside as well as numerous other devices inside the contraption and a double edge blade shot out of the top in multiple sections before linking together. Link looked at it in awe.

"How's it feel?" Chaple asked his younger brother. Link swung it a couple of times, careful not to hit anything, "It's light. Lighter than my sword at home. Is that good?" Chaple chuckled and nodded, "It's half the weight of an average knight's sword but also twice as strong. And not only is it resistant to dulling and rusting, it has a self-sharpening mechanism inside of it to keep it at peak sharpness." Link looked in awe at the weapon in his hands, Chaple had done it again. After testing it on some practice dummies in the lab, Link set the sword on the stand on Chaple's desk and they both waited for Zelda to arrive.

An hour passed and the familiar sound of the door being unlocked finally beeped, opening to reveal the princess and her escort. Zelda, a beautiful woman of roughly 19 with lovely blonde hair and beautiful blue eyes, walked inside with her escort, another woman by the name of Impa, a fierce looking woman with blood red eyes and white hair. The two bowed to the brothers and Zelda spoke, "Hello, you must be Chaple. I am Princess Zelda and this is my personal bodyguard, Impa. I am quite excited to see what you have in store for us. Oh, who is this with you?" Chaple had bowed and waved Link to bow with him, "Hello, Princess and Impa. Yes, I am Chaple and I do hope you enjoy the presentation. Oh, and with me is my brother, Link." He motioned to Link, who gave a soft smile and stood to the side so Chaple could give his presentation.

Chaple took a deep breath and turned to his sword, wrapping his hand around the hilt and pulling it off the stand, bringing it over to Zelda. She looked it over then wrapped her own hand around the hilt, taking it out of his hands. He stood back and she swung it a few times, "This is exceptionally light for a sword like this. Are you sure it will still be good for combat?" Chaple nodded to her, "Oh yes. Though half the weight of an average knight's sword it is twice as strong. And it even keeps itself to optimal sharpness." She took in his words and ran a slender finger gently across the flat of the blade, "This craftsmanship is wonderful. You put a lot of work not only in just the mechanisms but also into the blade and design itself. Excellent work, Chaple, I approve of this project." He beamed at her words and bowed, "Thank you, Princess!" She smiled and bowed her head to him and then Link before handing the weapon back to him and turning and leaving with Impa.

He took the sword and walked back to his desk, "Alright, let me get this packed up and I'll take you back home. This is really all I had to do today so I'll probably be at home when you get back from the academy." Link nodded, "Well, I can skip the academy today. We can just hang out and play some video games for a bit." Chaple chuckled and looked at his younger brother, "You just read my mind."

As he finished packing the device and stand in its carrying case, the building suddenly shook violently as an explosion erupted in another part of the building. Link and Chaple would find themselves struggling to regain their balance from the force of the blast, "Shit! Something must have happened in R&D. Come on, let's go!" They ran out of the room and made their way down to the buildings main doors. As they ran, Link looked to his brother and asked, "Hey, you think Zelda got out alright?" Chaple shook his head, "I can only hope so. Keep running!"

They made it out of the building and took a quick glance around for a head count, "Well that's most everyone." Chaple noted then called out, "Hey! Did anyone see Princess Zelda get out?!" But all he got in response was a bunch of no. "Shit! Something must have happened to her. Link stay here! I gotta get her out of there!" As he turned to run inside, he was stopped by Link, visions of his dream returning to him, "Chaple! No, don't go!" Chaple pulled away from his brother, "Link if I don't act now it will be too late! Just stay here! I'll be right back." And with that, he was gone, running back into the building that was beginning to catch fire in numerous places, with glass shattering on every floor. Link didn't feel right with this situation, he could feel it in his blood.

He couldn't wait anymore, he had to make sure his brother and the princess were okay. He took of for the front door when it exploded, the force of the blast knocked Link back and unconscious, the last thing he saw was the building engulfed in flames and beginning to collapse.

Link awoke sometime later still in front of the building, only he saw that it had collapsed and the flames had been extinguished. He quickly sat up and looked around, "Chaple... No..." He stood and ran into the debris of the building, sifting through it, lifting and moving whatever he could and whatever could hide his beloved brother, praying to the Goddesses that he somehow found shelter inside. As he searched, he saw something, a glint of sorts, that caught his eye, and as he turned to look at it, his face immediately filled with dread, there it was... his sword, sticking out of the ground. He walked over to the weapon slowly and upon reaching it, fell to his knees, tears now falling from his eyes. He wrapped both hands around the hilt and rested his head against the pommel as he sobbed, "Chaple... Brother..." He turned his upwards and screamed to the heavens, "NOOOOOOOO!!!"