Chapter 1: International Relations

“Link, wake up,” Zelda grabbed Link’s shoulder and gave him a slight shake.

Link opened his eyes and sat up. “Zel? Why did you wake me?” he asked. Alina lay asleep in her crib next to Link and Zelda’s bed. The legendary Master Sword was propped up next to the foot board.

“Don’t you remember what today is?” asked Zelda. She was already dressed in one of her nicer dresses.

Link closed his eyes and thought for a moment. Link’s eyes snapped open when it came to him. “Today is the day of the good will mission to the kingdom of Solarin.” Link got out of bed and quickly got dressed. He put on his pants and a formal, white tunic. Then he picked up the Master Sword, in its sheath, and tied it across his chest. Lastly, he donned a red cape with a gold lining. Link and Zelda walked to the west wing of the castle and stopped outside of Zinc and Pike’s room. Zinc and Pike had moved into the castle shortly after Zinc had become Capitan. They had given Sky Castle to Sthil. Zelda knocked on the door to the room. Pike opened after a few moments.

“What do you want?” asked Pike, who was not a morning person.

“We need Zinc,” said Zelda.

“He’s down at the training grounds with some new recruits,” said Pike.

“Thank you,” said Zelda. “Would you mind watching Alina while we’re gone today?”

“Yeah, I’ll take care of her,” said Pike. “Try not to stay to long though.”

Zelda and Link walked out to the training grounds, which were located at the base of a 50 foot rock face on Death Mountain. Zinc was halfway p the rock face, while all the recruits were only a few yards above the ground.

“Come on!” Zinc yelled down to the men. “The last man done has to run to Lake Hylia and back!”

“Hey, bro!” Link called out as he and Zelda reached the base of the rock face.

Zinc stopped climbing and looked down. “Link? What do you need?”

“Today’s the day of the good will mission to Solarin,” said Link.

“That’s today?” Zinc let go of the side of the rock face and dropped to the ground. He tucked into a roll just before he hit the ground. He stood up and dusted himself off, unharmed from the fall.

“I’ve never seen anyone as willing to risk their lives just to save a few minutes as you two,” said Zelda.

Zinc ignored her comment. ”Ensign, run these men through the rest of the morning routine, and if I’m not back by this evening through routine four.” Zinc picked up his cape, sword, and the Shield of Reflections.

“Yes sir,” the soldier snapped a salute to Zinc. Zinc put his cape on over his sword and shield.

“Zinc do you think you can summon some pegasi for us?” asked Zelda.

“I prefer to use the unisi now that they’ve reached maturity,” said Zinc. “Nightfire, Bluestar, Phoenix, come to me.” Three unicorn-pegasus hybrids descended from the sky. Night fire was solid black from the tip of his horn to the end of his tail. Blue star had a blue body, blue wings, and a cream colored star beneath her pure white horn. Phoenix was an orangish-tan. His wings and horn were a deep crimson.

“They’re so beautiful,” said Zelda.

“They can fly faster and farther than any pegasus, and their horns are harder and sharper, than a unicorn’s,” said Zinc as he mounted Nightfire. Zelda chose ride Bluestar, leaving Link with Phoenix. The unisi took to the skies, and before long they were only small points on the horizon.


After a few hours, Zinc, Zelda, and Link arrived at the border of Solarin. As they continued flying Solarin Castle came into view. Solarin Castle was easily twice the size of Hyrule Castle. It has several towers and was made of thick black stone. The king of Solarin was waiting by the drawbridge of the castle as they landed and dismounted their unisi.

“Welcome to Solarin,” said the king. “I am King Drius.” Drius was the opposite of his castle. He was short, thin man with short, black hair; a disproportionately large beard; and small, cheerful eyes.

“Thank you for having us,” said Zelda. “I am Princess Zelda of Hyrule and this is my husband, Link.”

King Drius became very excited at hearing this. “The famous Hero of Time is in my kingdom, wonderful just wonderful. Do you think I could see it, the legendary Master Sword?” Link drew the Master sword and held it out for Drius to see. Even in the bright mourning sun, the enchanted steel of the blade cast its own ethereal light. “It’s so beautiful.” Drius’ eyes left the blade and focused on Zinc. “And this must be Zinc, the Capitan of Hyrule’s army. The same man who stopped a moblin rebellion in half an hour with a troop of only ten men.”

“Check it out bro,” said Zinc, “were famous.”

“Don’t let it go to your head,” said Link. “There were only a hundred or so moblins in that rebellion.”

King Drius led everyone to a room with a large, round table. A young man, roughly Link’s age, was already seated at the table.

“This is my son, Prince Tasterin,” said King Drius. Tasterin was built a lot like Link. He had tone and definition to his muscles but not to an exaggerated degree. His black hair was tied at the base of his neck and hung down to the small of his back. He had dark brown eyes which did not contain his father’s cheerful sheen.

“Welcome to the kingdom of Solarin,” said Tasterin. His voice was cold, and it was clear his welcome was hollow. Zelda, Link, and Zinc all took seats at the table.

“As you know, we’ve come to work out a trade agreement between our two countries,” said Zelda.

“Ah, yes. What sorts of things do export?” asked Drius

“We are mainly an agricultural country, but we are most widely known for out fine sword smiths and potion makers,” said Zelda. She took some potions and swords from her magic pouch.

Tasterin picked up one of the swords and examined it. “I see nothing that cannot be made by one of our own sword smiths. They would not even have their precious Master Sword if the Goddesses did not so blatantly favor them.” He slammed the sword down hard on the table.

“Tasterin, calm yourself,” said Drius. “These are fine swords. Our swords are much heavier and are not as well crafted.”

“You are a fool, father. You are blinded by stories of heroes and chivalry. I saw how childishly you acted by the front gate. ‘Do you think I could see you legendary Master Sword.’ How you were found fit to rule is beyond me.” With that Tasterin stormed out of the room.

“I am sorry you were forced to see that,” said Drius. “It is Tasterin that is blind, blinded by his thirst for power. He does not understand anything that does not pertain to war, even simple trade negotiations. I do not know what I must do with him.”

“You could always send him to Hyrule for a few training sessions with Zinc,” said Link. “We’d implement that as a punishment in our courts, but it’s too cruel.”

“Shut up,” said Zinc.

“I think it would be best to end this meeting rather quickly,” said Drius. “Solarin deals mainly in gold and precious gems.

"We are willing to trade a pound of gold for each of your swords, and a pound of gems for a gallon of your wonderful potions.”

“That sounds like a good trade,” agreed Zelda.

“It is a tradition here in Solarin to end a meeting with a friendly exhibition.”

“What do you have in mind,” Link suddenly became very interested in the discussion, when the talk of fighting came up.

“The captain of the Solarin army will face Zinc in a friendly duel,” said Drius.

“I have a better idea,” said Zinc. “I’ll face your three best soldiers.”

“Yes, that would be splendid,” said Drius getting up from the table. The others all got up as well. Drius led them to an arena style room. Zinc hopped over the divider wall and dropped down to the sand covered floor, four feet below. Zinc unclasped his cape and let it fall to the floor. Three men entered the arena from a tunnel. The first guy was huge. His biceps were as big around as Zinc’s head. He stood well over eight feet tall. His hair and eyes were as black as coal. The man standing at the left of the big man was a lot smaller, but judging from the way he moved and condition of his legs he was a lot faster. His hair was red, and his eyes were blue. The last man, who was obviously the leader, carried a foil-style sword and wore a hood to cover his face.

“I have a new idea,” said Zinc. “To make things fair, I’ll only use my sword once.”

“You’ll regret that decision,” said the big man. He removed one of Biggoron’s swords from a sheath on his back. As big as the sword was, the man still managed to hold it in one hand with little effort. He swung the sword horizontally. Zinc rolled under the sword, and unsheathed his own. As he stood back up, Zinc delivered a slash to just behind the big man’s knee, severing the ligaments and tendons that held his leg together. The large man collapsed to a kneeling position. Zinc threw a powerful kick to the side of the man’s head knocking him out.

The fast man attacked next. He dashed at Zinc and landed a well placed kick in Zinc’s mid-section. Zinc doubled under from the force of the blow. The fast man aimed another kick at the side of Zinc’s head. Zinc snapped back to his senses before the kick hit and grabbed the man’s foot and violently twisted it, breaking the man’s ankle. Zinc turned his back to the man, still holding on to the man’s foot and threw the man over his shoulder. The man hit the ground hard and did not get up.

The man with the foil stabbed at Zinc. Zinc parried the attack, grabbed the man’s hand, and disarmed him. Zinc grabbed the man’s head and dropped to his knees, so that the back of the man’s neck connected with his shoulder. Zinc let go of the man and walked over to where his cape had fallen. Zinc picked up his cape and placed it back over his shoulders.

“I must say, that was quite a performance,” said Drius. “But I must express concern with the condition in which you left my men.”

“Give them a few red potions and a few days bed rest, and they’ll be as good as new,” said Zelda, as Zinc climbed back over the dividing wall. After a few minutes of light conversation, Drius led Zinc, Zelda, and Link out of the castle. They each mounted their unisi and set off on their trip back to Hyrule.