EXT. LON-LON RANCH – EARLY EVENING.
A small ranch set apart from Castletown (which is visible in the FAR DISTANCE) by the vast plain of HYRULE FIELD; the ranch sits on a small hill in prime soil for the growth of food and livestock. It is dominated by a FARMHOUSE beside the MAIN GATE.
A window on the second floor of the farmhouse OPENS, revealing LINK, who looks out upon the ranch from a small guest bedroom.
NAVI perches upon the boy’s ear, LOUNGING.
NAVI
“Whatcha thinking about?”
Link STARES DOWN at the farmland around them; his eyes move over in Navi’s direction.
NAVI
“Yeah: I think it’s nice here, too...”
Navi shuttles off the boy’s ear and lands on HIS NOSE.
NAVI
“But that’s not all you’re thinking about, is it?”
Link goes CROSSEYED to look at Navi, then returns his focus to the land below them.
NAVI
“You are a sucker for pouty purple eyes; you know that?”
Navi FLIES UP to Link’s head and rests on his hair.
Link LOOKS UP at her with his eyes.
NAVI
“Yeah, and I guess you’re not totally ignoble, either...”
INT. LINK’S ROOM IN LON-LON RANCH – TWILIGHT.
A small, comfortable guest bedroom on the second floor of the farmhouse.
Link lies on a bed. He wears a REPLACEMENT GREEN TUNIC (the same color as Link’s green KOKIRI TUNIC, but far less ornate) with his SHOULDER SASH and the CRIMSON GORON TUNIC draped over a bedpost. He is also wearing a FLACCID GREEN NIGHTCAP.
The boy is asleep on his back and expressionless. SLOW ZOOM on Link’s face from ABOVE.
A BRIGHT FLASH fills the screen. We see the DHISE SLAIGHRE briefly, rising in the darkness; below it is a GIANT SLAB OF STONE, quickly being RENT in two. ANOTHER FLASH reveals Link, standing in darkness, with his ARMS SPREAD; dazzlingly bright ORANGE LIGHT explodes from one of his fists while bright BLUE LIGHT explodes from his other fist. ANOTHER FLASH reveals the Dhise Slaighre again; SMALL RIVULETS OF BLOOD inexplicably begin cascading down the sword’s blade. ANOTHER BRIGHT FLASH reveals HORSES’ HOOVES tromping MADLY across rainy soil; ANOTHER FLASH reveals an EXTREME CLOSE-UP of PRINCESS ZELDA’S FACE, riding in the saddle with an adult, her head turned back and LARGE TEARS streaming down her face.
Link TURNS ON HIS SIDE once, and then he WAKES with a start, bathed in SWEAT: we hear the sound of HORSES’ HOOVES and WHISTLING from far outside his window.
Link slowly pulls the NIGHTCAP from his head.
Navi is unconscious in Link’s hair; her body BRIGHTENS as she wakes.
NAVI
“Startled up? Bad dream? You were back in the forest, weren’t you? You were with her?”
Link stares into his lap; he SHAKES HIS HEAD.
Navi flutters down and hovers in front of the boy’s face.
NAVI
“The sights, the smells in the forest: they’re not really like they are here at all. It can make you feel isolated: alone. It can make you dream about sights that are comfortable, and smells that are comfortable. You start dreaming about people that make you feel comfortable...”
Link SHAKES HIS HEAD AGAIN.
NAVI
“You were. You were dreaming about Sar—”
The boy looks up at the fairy, SCOWLING DANGEROUSLY; he GROWLS. Navi says nothing for several seconds.
NAVI
“...maybe not. My mistake.”
Link COCKS AN EYEBROW. He looks over at the window.
NAVI
“The brat woke you up; I think Malon’s taking the horses out to exercise before bed.”
The fairy YAWNS.
NAVI
“All these people outside the forest stay up way too late, and they get up way too early...”
Link pulls the sheets off his body and moves toward the door. Navi flutters after him.
NAVI
“Hey, listen...”
Link looks back at the fairy.
NAVI
“If you’re going outside, you might want to wear your nightcap, huh?”
Link STARES at the fairy, confused.
NAVI
“It’s kinda chilly. You could catch a cold, you know...”
Link COCKS HIS HEAD, incredulous.
NAVI
“It’s a fact!”
Link TURNS FOR THE DOOR.
NAVI
“Alright, alright! Look: the real reason you could wear it is ‘cause I like ‘riding’ on your head, you know, and it’s easier to keep a hold of those slippery locks of yours if you’re wearing a hat...”
Link faces Navi and CROSSES HIS ARMS.
NAVI
“What? It’s a better way to travel! It beats the heck out of being jammed inside one of those smelly pockets on your shoulder sash!”
Link appears UNCONVINCED. He again turns to leave.
NAVI
(sighing)
“Your hair smells comfortable, okay? That’s the reason. Frankly, of all the parts of a little boy to hitch a ride on, it’s the most pleasant for me, anyway, and I just feel... ‘safer’ up there. Look: I can’t explain it, and if it’s really that weird to you then you can just ignore me. If you’re that uncomfortable doing it then don’t: I guess there’s no reason you should go out of your way and make such a fuss just for your fairy, anyway...”
Link AGAIN FACES Navi; the boy ROLLS HIS EYES and rubs one hand over his forehead.
EXT. LON-LON RANCH – TWILIGHT.
Below Link’s window a BARN contains many cows; behind this is a CORRAL where THOROUGHBREDS gait about, recently released from their STABLE by MALON; who lies in the center of this corral, prone, with a TATTERED BOOK before her on the grass. The girl is WHISTLING the refrain to the CHICK-A-CHUCKA SONG. The horses move about the pen at will, often even GALLOPING directly over the girl’s body, however Malon shows no concern about this.
The girl is IMMERSED in her book; she occasionally removes a CARROT from the pocket of her tunic and holds it up to a horse as it passes near her, allowing the animal to bend down and take the carrot from her hand. A frosty MILK BOTTLE sits beside the girl on the grass; the girl takes a LONG SIP from it.
One SMALL FOAL mills around apart from the other horses. Each time Malon removes a carrot for one of the adult horses the foal STEPS FORWARD, hesitant, but ultimately does not move toward the girl.
Eventually Malon LOOKS UP at the foal, SMILING.
MALON
“Epona...”
The girl produces another CARROT and wags it; the foal moves slightly closer, but pauses as an ADULT HORSE comes up to Malon and bends down to take it in its teeth. Malon shoots the adult horse a WITHERING STARE and it backs off. She again WAGS the carrot for the foal.
MALON
“Epoooooona...”
The foal SHIES CLOSER, but does not brave the throng of adult horses to reach the girl.
Malon’s SMILE BROADENS. The girl launches into more WHISTLING; this time she is whistling EPONA’S SONG.
The foal RESPONDS to this song; ultimately it BRAES and tromps over to the girl, who supplies the foal with a carrot.
CLOSE-UP as Malon feeds Epona the carrot. SLOW PAN.
Malon’s HEAD TURNS SLIGHTLY; the girl then goes back to feeding Epona.
MALON
“Epona is really timid. Sometimes I wonder if she’ll ever be brave.”
SLOW PAN continues until we see Link standing about ten feet away from the prone girl, off to the side. He is wearing the FLACCID GREEN NIGHTCAP on his head.
MALON
“After all: you can’t be a knight’s horse if you aren’t very brave.”
Malon looks back at Link.
MALON
“Epona’s really good stock, Fairy Boy. Two months ago— when she was newborn— a foul wind crept through the farm from the Westland: there was a chill, big solid black clouds and everything. Chickens stopped laying eggs, parts of the field out in the fringes of our land rotted away and all the horses came down with a really bad case of the strangles.”
Malon PATS Epona’s muzzle and looks down at the ground.
MALON
“The big horses came through alright, but all the foals died, except her; Epona’s the only one who was spared. She’s not just strong, I think: she’s special. Someday, when she’s big and strong, I know she’s gonna do special stuff. She’s... noble; know what I mean? A horse like that isn’t cut out for farm work, no: I think she’s destined for more than that.”
The girl NUZZLES Epona’s mane affectionately.
MALON
“This girl’s not the kind of horse to carry bales of hay, or fat tourists come out from town looking for ‘folksy’ thrills. I know that when Epona grows up she’s gonna be a valiant steed. Someday she’s gonna carry around a grand knight on his adventures to faraway places and go on strange quests with him.”
Link SITS DOWN on the grass beside the girl.
Malon TURNS HER HEAD to face the boy. She NODS slightly.
MALON
“I’d miss her, yeah. Of course I would. But, you know, when a great knight does come looking for her, and all, he could always take me along with him. I wouldn’t really mind that, too much...”
Malon stares down at A PAGE IN HER BOOK: it depicts ‘New Hylian Language’ text on one side of the page and bears an illustration of a KNIGHT IN ARMOR on the other side.
Malon LOOKS UP at Link, self conscious and blushing; she GLARES at him.
MALON
“Hey: what’re you looking at, Fairy Boy?”
Link quickly LOOKS IN THE OPPOSITE DIRETION.
Epona has RETREATED since the boy sat down beside Malon; Link stares at the foal, eventually removing the FAIRY OCARINA from his back. He brings the instrument to his mouth, THOUGHTFUL, and after a moment he launches into a SLOW, spot-on mimic of EPONA’S SONG.
SLOW-ZOOM on Link playing his ocarina with his EYES CLOSED. After he finishes we see the boy’s head being NUDGED from somewhere off-camera; PAN-OUT reveals the foal NUZZLING Link’s ear.
MALON
“Heh! She likes you, Fairy Boy! She’s playing nice with strangers: that’s the first step to bein’ brave, isn’t it? Oh, she’ll be a knight’s steed yet!”
Malon SLOWLY returns her attention to the book.
MALON
“They used to be everywhere, you know. The knights, I mean. They weren’t like us— like most of the people in Hyrule, today: if you wanted to be a knight then you had to be a Hylian. You had to have pure blood from the old shores of the world: where civilization was born. Nowadays almost no-one has that kind of blood. Yeah: the Royal Family’s got it, but even their servants— the Sheikah— don’t. I’ve heard that the Sheikah are more related to the Gerudo Race than they are the Hylians. Isn’t that weird? But the Hylian Knights, they didn’t just have different blood: they were a crazy-devoted group. They had all kinds of privileges: they could waltz right through almost any part of Hyrule Castle unchallenged. They were trusted, entirely. When they met with their lords and ladies— the people at court— they didn’t have to say a word: they didn’t even have to introduce themselves by name. Everyone knew they were knights, and everyone knew that they were there to do a job, no matter what that job might be. They’d never refuse a request, or even question a command...”
(NOTE ON PREVIOUS: SLOW ZOOM on Link’s face beginning at the THIRD SENTENCE (‘They weren’t like us...’) and ending with the line ‘no-one has that kind of blood’).
Malon rests her CHIN IN HER HANDS, spacing out.
MALON
“They didn’t have any ‘attachments’, or ‘relationships’: no weaknesses! They’d go to the deepest pits of the earth and back for their lords... or for their ladies...”
The girl CHUCKLES faintly. She gets off her stomach and sits on the grass beside Link. She picks up the MILK BOTTLE and places it between herself and the boy; Link TAKES IT UP and DRINKS DEEPLY.
MALON
“I like to dream, sometimes, Fairy Boy. I know I’ll never be a grand lady at court, and I’ll never meet a knight, I guess. What would happen to the ranch without me, anyway? Profits would disappear and we’d be evicted! No, I don’t think so: Talon would probably lose the place in a card-game within a week. Heh! The big ol’ lazy oaf needs me to pull him out of the pub before he gets too confident. I guess that kinda makes me his knight, huh?”
The girl LAUGHS, then eventually grows more quiet.
MALON
“I guess everyone needs a knight, sometimes...”
A TALL, GAUNT MAN with a spindly-black handlebar moustache walks out of the STABLES. This is INGO. He is balancing two filled water cans on a pole over his shoulders; one of the horses careens past him, sending him spinning into the fence and spilling much of the water on himself.
INGO
“Ghaaaaaaah!”
The man picks up the WOODEN BEAM he was using to balance the water cans.
INGO
“Pebble-brained, knock-legged galoot!”
He swings the pole WILDLY and INACCURATELY at the retreating horse. Ingo speaks with a THICK, ‘SOUTHERN’ ACCENT.
MALON
“Ingo!”
Ingo STARTS and DROPS the stick. He looks over at Malon and Link and bows obsequiously with a FORCED SMILE.
INGO
“Oh! Uh: so sorry, Miss Lonni! Churlish horses do like to play at games, don’t they, now?”
MALON
“It’s all in good fun, Ingo.”
The man FORCEDLY LAUGHS and STALKS OFF, MUTTERING under his breath.
INGO
“‘Good’ fun until someone gets ‘good’ and wet and then looks ‘good’ and foolish and comes down with a ‘good’ cold and gets ‘good’ and sick... I’d just as soon have some ‘good’ horsemeat on my table...”
Link notices a PLUCKED FLOWER on the ground beside Malon: it is a PALE LILAC-COLORED ROSE. Link picks it up, noticing a DEEP RED ‘STAIN’ of color near the stamen at the base of each of its petals.
MALON
“We don’t really have the thumb for roses, here: that’s one of our little freak hybrids. Talon made it by accident once when he tossed a load of rose hips into a compost pile, if you can believe it. It’s the ‘Eighteen-Day Blusher’; that’s what I like to call it, at least...”
Malon takes the rose from Link’s hand and MOTIONS to the red stain at its center.
MALON
“It’s lilac-colored, but it’s also got a little red stain. When the flower matures— over eighteen days, or so— that red color spreads to the tips of every petal. In eighteen days these things become respectable, bright red roses...”
Malon looks over at Link, hesitant.
MALON
“We... haven’t talked about things lately, Fairy Boy: you’ve been with us just a few days less than that, but you’ve already paid off our window, you know, so you’re not our slave anymore, or anything—”
NAVI peeks out from under Link’s GREEN NIGHTCAP.
NAVI
(to Link)
“That might be the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to us...”
Malon sets the ROSE back on the ground.
MALON
“—and, you know it’s nothing, and all, but you’re not really worthless to have around, you know: no matter what kinda job we have for you, you seem do it really well...”
The girl BLUSHES and looks off to one side.
MALON
“I mean, you don’t really have a home, do you? So, then who’s to say you shouldn’t stay on as a farmhand, huh? I mean, I’m sorry that you don’t have a home, but at least then you’d have a job... a roof over your head, hot meals and a bed... it would kinda be like if you did have a home—”
The girl FACES LINK quickly.
MALON
“—but you wouldn’t, of course, ‘cause you’d be here to do a job. But still: it’d be nice to work with someone who pulls his own weight once in a while, you know?”
Link STARES DOWN AT HIS SHOES while Malon speaks. He appears PENSIVE, but he does not speak.
LONG PAUSE.
Malon’s face slowly reddens. The girl JUMPS UP quickly.
MALON
“Oh, fine! I’m sorry: I forgot! You’re too high and mighty for that, aren’t you? After all: you’ve got such great friends at the castle, don’t you? That’s my mistake, Fairy Boy: I should feel honored that you even walk around amongst us commoners! Well, that’s fine, then: you can just go and play with your pretty princess, an’ have little balls, an’ eat crumpets! Never mind us peasant hicks!”
The girl STORMS AWAY in TEARS.
Link STANDS UP during this diatribe. He watches Malon run off with an extremely PUZZLED LOOK on his face.
NAVI hovers near his ear.
NAVI
“What the heck is her problem? And for that matter what the heck is a ‘crumpet’?”
MALON is moving off for the farmhouse; Link removes the MASK OF TRUTH from his back and begins pulling it over his head. He STOPS before he can fit the mask over his face, though, WATCHING Malon run off with his own eyes. The boy slowly removes the mask and holds it in one limp hand. Eventually he DISCARDS the mask in the dirt of the corral and walks off, slowly, in the same direction as Malon.
The boy STOPS beside a CORRAL POST; NAVI lands on top of it, eye-level with the boy.
NAVI
“Whatcha thinking about?”
The boy looks at the fairy with SORROW.
NAVI
“Yeah, I know: it’s nice here, but we can’t stay...”
Link walks up to the FARMHOUSE DOOR.
NAVI
“We can probably get to the Zora’s Font in two days, if we set out first thing in the morning... and if we can find some decent transportation along the way...”
FADE OUT as Link opens the door and enters the farmhouse.
EXT. ROAD TO LON-LON RANCH – EARLY EVENING.
It is 12 YEARS LATER.
A depressing, scrub-infested road through a field of DARK BUSHES and withered trees leading up to Lon-Lon Ranch’s farmland. There is a thick fog.
Link rides in the saddle, DOZING, with his horse moving at a TROT. Soon his head COMES UP, slowly, and his horse’s pace LESSENS.
Link LOOKS TO ONE SIDE, eyeing the withered field beside him; several DARK SHAPES in the field move unnaturally.
Link MOVES HIS CLOAK and SETS HIS HAND on the hilt of Dhise Slaighre.
A FIGURE rises in the fields; someone completely enshrouded in a VERY DEEP PURPLE CLOAK— their face invisible for darkness.
Link very slowly MOVES DHISE SLAIGHRE’S BLADE one inch out of the scabbard, making a LOUD, ‘RUSTY’ SCRAPE.
The cloaked figure TURNS TO ONE SIDE and RAISES AN ARM; the arm is entirely encased in the purple robe save for part of the hand, covered in a SHINING SILVER GAUNTLET.
Many other CLOAKED FIGURES rise up out of the field; they MOVE OFF into the distance, several of them KEEPING WATCH on Link as they walk backwards. They soon disappear into the fog.
Link keeps his eyes on that field as his horse moves even slower. He RELEASES Dhise Slaighre to fall back into the scabbard with a CLANK. Many seconds pass.
Link finally SIGHS, quizzical, and continues down the road at a TROT.
EXT. LON-LON RANCH – EARLY EVENING.
Lon-Lon Rach’s layout is similar to its 12-year-old counterpart, however the BARN and CHICKEN-COOPS are in a state of EXCEPTIONAL DISREPAIR (although they each still hold a reduced number of cows and chickens, respectively). The CORRAL is maintained largely as it was in the past, and the GROWING FIELDS behind the ranch are GREATLY BUILT-UP compared to their 12-year-younger counterpart, with many intricate trellises and STRANGE FRUITS growing on DARK VINES. The ornate field surrounds a parcel of SEEMINGLY EMPTY LAND at its center; the color of the vineyard grows progressively DARKER as its reaches this central, vacuous point. The vines immediately around this area are ALMOST BLACK.
Adult Link rides past the Ranch’s MAIN GATE. He dismounts from his horse and approaches the farmhouse.
Navi peeks out from under Link’s dun-colored cowl.
LINK
“I’m not particularly looking forward to this, Navi.”
INT. LON-LON RANCH FARMHOUSE – EARLY EVENING.
The first floor of the farmhouse is dreary and empty in a ‘Dickensian workhouse’ sense. INGO sits at a decrepit table in the corner, illuminated by a STARK WHITE CANDLE. He is counting out RUDDY COPPER CURRENCY and writing figures up in a RED LEDGER. Behind him a BUSTED WINDOW overlooks the black vineyard.
Ingo LOOKS UP as the farmhouse door CREAKS OPEN. Link enters, SURPRISED to find Ingo at the table. Link LOOKS AROUND dutifully, and then slowly pulls the cowl down from his head.
INGO
(greatly annoyed)
“Eh! What business do ya’ bring me, stranger?”
Link steps forward.
LINK
“What other business is there in this land? I bring his business...”
Ingo puts down his quill and leans back, SMILING.
INGO
“Oh-hoo? His business? Is that right, now? And what ‘business’ do you bring from our blessed High King?”
LINK
“A question. You run a tight operation, here, don’t you? And you know everything that happens on this land...”
Ingo TOUSLES his moustache idly.
LINK
“...on your land.”
INGO
“It certainly pays to have eyes and ears, my curious-lookin’ friend.”
LINK
“So you doubtless saw a rider in black armor come through your land, recently?”
Ingo GRINS UNSETTLINGLY and leans forward.
INGO
“Hahaha! What amateurish snooping is this, buffoonish galoot? It pays us people to have eyes and ears, but the High King of kings doesn’t need ‘em to keep track of his Brotherhood. You are not a member of his court anymore than I’m a Stalfos mutant—”
LINK
(with narrow, threatening eyes)
“I ride from Castle Town, sir—”
INGO
“You ride from Kakariko Village, to there from Castle Town, to there from the Petrified Forest, and to there from parts unknown. You are a foreigner, Pale Rider, and you seem a tad too curious for your own good...”
LINK
“Your eyes and ears are quite keen.”
INGO
(waving a hand, dismissive)
“Heh! Don’t need ‘em— either one:”
Ingo briefly LOOKS OUT his window at the dark vineyard and its DESOLATE CENTER.
INGO
“Learned about you through the grapevine...”
LINK
“Then what am I to you, exactly?”
Ingo stares at Link derisively.
INGO
“A dead man walking. Not that it makes any difference to me. Whatever time he gives you, he gives you. Don’t count on more’n that, though. After all: who could truly know the will of one so great ‘n mighty as he, huh? Doesn’t matter: anyone who interferes with the High King’s business finds the same end—”
LINK
“And what does that mean to you?”
INGO
“Anyone who interferes with the High King’s business interferes with my business. That’s all it means to me, stranger.”
LINK
“You’d help bring me to that end, then?”
Ingo SCOFFS.
INGO
“Death is never good for business, Pale Rider: my task is to tend His Lordship’s land, not to pull up his ‘weeds’...”
The man WAVES THE QUILL in his hand dismissively.
INGO
“Meantime, you want supplies? Water for your horse, grain for your belly? Take what you want, within reason. I wouldn’t begrudge a dead man some final comforts. Take it an’ get outta my sight: I’ve got business to attend to.”
LINK
“His business?”
Ingo attends to the RED LEDGER on the table.
INGO
“What other business is there in this land?”
Link WATCHES Ingo for some time, and then finally turns to leave the farmhouse. INGO calls out to him as he reaches the door.
INGO
“I’ve got a message for you, too, stranger. It’s something I’d be darn keen on heedin’, if it were me. ‘Course, I’m not a fool galoot, either.”
LINK
“A message?”
INGO
(slow, deliberate)
“‘Leave Hyrule’. Now.”
Link SCOWLS.
LINK
“And where does that message come from?”
Inigo SMILES shrewdly.
INGO
“From the grapevine, of course. Where else?”
EXT. LON-LON RANCH – EARLY EVENING.
Link passes the farmhouse and enters the DECREPIT BARN. Many of the wooden slats of the barn are ROTTED, allowing ruddy, cloudy light to enter. Much of the place, however, is bathed in shadows. COWS line the far side of the place, slightly SICK-LOOKING but not outright diseased. In another far corner there is a COT, small WASHBASIN and MIRROR, along with a CLOTHESLINE spanning much of the far wall upon which several articles of FEMALE CLOTHING hang. Link wanders over to a SMALL TROUGH containing DIRTY ICE and MILK BOTTLES.
Link picks up one such bottle and slowly untwists the cap. SLOW PAN around his head as he brushes-off some grime from the sides of the rim and prepares to drink it; during this SLOW PAN we see A PETITE, 22-YEAR-OLD WOMAN standing a few feet away from Link behind him, her green eyes piercing through the darkness. This is ADULT MALON. She has a large, half-matured (ie: about one-half red-stained) EIGHTEEN-DAY BLUSHER in her hair.
MALON
“It’s soured...”
Link JUMPS, startled, and he faces the woman, staring at her with ALARM.
After a slight pause Malon continues.
MALON
“It comes from the cows that way. It always does, no matter what, these days. The land here is ‘off’ for grazing. We tend to certain crops for the High King’s needs. They thrive, but they salt the soil: the cows get sick so very often...”
The woman approaches the trough and TIDIES UP the area that Link disturbed.
MALON
“It wasn’t always so: we— this farm, I mean— it used to have some very fine milk: rich and nutritious. People used to come from far and wide to drink it; it tasted of sweet grains and—”
LINK
(whispering)
“—honey.”
Malon looks back at Link, SURPRISED.
LINK
“I... I only imagine that such a milk would taste of honey.”
The woman nods.
MALON
“The milk is still nutritious, though: enough to be vital to the people. Children, especially, need such nourishment...”
LINK
“You ship this milk to Kakariko?”
MALON
“As much as we’re allowed.”
LINK
“‘Allowed?’”
MALON
“Depending on their behavior. The villagers might fail to pay proper tribute to the High King one month, or disobey some minor rule of his law, or perhaps hide a fugitive from the Silver Gauntlets...”
LINK
“‘Silver Gauntlets’?”
MALON
“The Hyrule resistan—”
Malon CUTS HERSELF OFF abruptly.
LINK
“Shikashi told me that no one resists the King of Thieves.”
MALON
“The villagers mostly ignore such organizations, for fear of their lives. When they do disobey the King they are stricken with such awful shortages; they need our grain and our milk to compensate for their own diseased farmland, but when the High King demands it we slow our supplies— less milk, less grain— until told otherwise.”
Malon FINGERS a few of the milk bottles, contemplatively.
MALON
“There’s always spare room in the carts, of course. I often try to hide a few more casks here and there, as often as I can, but...”
LINK
“But not always, because you fear for your own life, right?”
Malon looks back at Link.
MALON
“Not especially. Being caught isn’t so traumatic, really, but sometimes...”
The woman stares at the barn floor, SORROWFUL.
MALON
“...Ingo abuses the horses, so. He can be so terribly angry when the High King’s wishes aren’t followed to the letter. When he uses that hickory stick on the animals... it’s so heartbreaking...”
Malon WALKS DOWN THE TROUGH LINK, slowly, her fingers moving over several of the ice-cold milk bottles. We see a SMALL PART OF HER BACK exposed via bunching on her dress; there are multiple scarred-over WHIP MARKS.
Link GRITS HIS TEETH.
MALON
“Any other punishment isn’t so terrible a thing, but that sight I can’t stand.”
LINK
“I’m... sorry—”
MALON
“Why would you be sorry? It isn’t your fault.”
LINK
“I meant for doubting your bravery—”
MALON
“I’m not brave; none of us really are. The people of Hyrule are all attached to each other, in one way or another; these links used to make us such a very strong people, but since the High King came to power these same links are used to weaken us. To enslave us.”
LINK
“You don’t strike me as the kind of person who’d be anyone’s slave...”
MALON
(Smiling)
“I know you don’t know me, but would you say I have a gentle heart?”
LINK
“Absolutely. Very gentle.”
MALON
“Well, a gentle heart is not so difficult a thing to enslave. You think differently because you don’t have any attachments here, do you? No relationship to the land? No reason to really care about our plight. Personally, I mean...”
Navi stirs in the BACK OF LINK’S COWL, angry, but Link chinches the hood to conceal her.
LINK
“That’s right: I don’t have any attachments. I’m... I’m a foreigner—”
MALON
“You’re the Pale Rider they’ve been talking about.”
Link NODS.
LINK
“I need... information, but I don’t want to get you into any trouble—”
MALON
“You’d be willing to do so, though: wouldn’t you?”
There is a PAUSE. Link eventually SHAKES HIS HEAD and TURNS to leave the barn.
MALON
“You’re looking for one of the Brotherhood of the Knuckle, aren’t you? The one in black armor moved south of here not too long ago: it was heading for the Southeast Dale Road, probably moving for the Great Forest and the Lost Woods.”
Link FACES Malon.
MALON
“They do not move across the land without a purpose, but I don’t know what the iron soldier is doing in the woods.”
LINK
“I don’t want you to get in trouble for speaking with me—”
Malon LAUGHS.
MALON
“Everyone’s in ‘trouble’ these days; a little more of that isn’t such a big deal, is it? Right now you’re probably the only one who isn’t in trouble.”
Link COCKS HIS HEAD.
MALON
“He knows you’re here, but he isn’t doing anything about it. I don’t know why. You should leave Hyrule as soon as possible; don’t follow the High King’s agents around. It will end very poorly for you...”
LINK
“I’m okay with that, so long as it ends very poorly for him, as well.”
MALON
“You’re an assassin, then?”
LINK
“I’m just a man with no attachments, and no relationship to the land, like you say. Have you heard of a man called Sheik?”
MALON
“Sheik? Yes. I’ve never met him, though. He fights for the people of Hyrule, or so I’ve heard, at least...”
The woman WALKS FORWARD.
MALON
“But if you just want to kill the King of Thieves, without regard to the cost of it all, you should find the Silver Gauntlets: that’s their mission.”
Malon WALKS OFF, heading to the barn door.
MALON
“They don’t really give a damn about the people of Hyrule, either.”
Malon LEAVES the barn, leaving Link alone.
NAVI emerges from Link’s cowl and PERCHES on his shoulder. Link WHISPERS after the retreating woman.
LINK
“I’m— I’m so sorry, Malon... I’m so sorry.”
EXT. RIVER GORGE ENTRANCE TO THE ZORA’S FONT – MIDMORNING.
12 years prior to the previous scene.
This is the East-by-Southeast terminus of Hyrule Field, north of the Great Forest; a small tributary of the LAKE OF LEAGUES winds through a LARGE, RIVER-WORN CANYON. The land is narrow and treacherous, here; it is the gateway to the old haunt of the Zora People: the ZORA’S FONT.
CLOSE-UP on LINK’S HEAD, BOBBING UP AND DOWN in the frame with clear blue sky behind him.
ZOOM-OUT reveals Link PIGGYBACKED upon a man’s shoulders (legs draped down around his neck). Link is still wearing the GREEN NIGHTCAP and the crimson GORONI TUNIC. He is holding the man’s MOSTLY-SHAVED HEAD with both hands for support. The man is thin, gaunt but very physically fit. This is the RUNNING MAN. He is running across Hyrule Field at a very fast clip.
RUNNING MAN
“Ah, killer— little guy: killer! A fifty-pound backpack: just what I needed to max-out my workout and kick-up the ol’ endurance! And not just that, but a living backpack!”
The man accidentally TRIPS over a stone in the middle of the path; he CLUMSILY corrects, and Link FLAILS his body in such a way to COUNTERBALANCE the man and keep him on his feet, going so far as to GRAB HIS EARS while pulling his own body as far back as possible. The man REGAINS HIS BALANCE and continues on.
RUNNING MAN
“Ha! What other kind of backpack can correct for road hazards, huh? Woooooooo!”
The man slows, then finally STOPS at the narrow CANYON ENTRANCE.
RUNNING MAN
“This is your stop, little guy: Zora’s Canyon. They say it’s the source of the Lake of Leagues, if you can believe that!”
Link SLIDES DOWN the man’s back and faces the canyon.
RUNNING MAN
“‘Course, I’ve never been one for swimming, so what do I care, huh? Well: take care, little guy, and if you do see any Zoras in there be sure to prime those legs...”
The man again TAKES OFF at top speed, continuing his CIRCUIT around the massive Hyrule Field.
RUNNING MAN
“...‘cause you’ll find yourself running from a ghost! Wooooooo-hoooooo!”
The man’s ENTHUSIASTIC SCREAMING fades as he runs off.
NAVI emerges from the GREEN NIGHTCAP on Link’s head.
NAVI
“Remember when I mentioned that thing about finding some ‘decent transportation’ to the Zora’s Font?”
Link LOOKS at Navi and NODS.
NAVI
“That wasn’t it.”
The boy LOOKS at the CANYON ENTRANCE with DETERMINATION. After a dramatic pause he STEPS FORWARD and promptly FALLS ON HIS FACE with a PAINED GRUNT (camera remains STATIONARY at head-level, focused on NAVI).
NAVI
“Be careful— by the way— ‘cause you were riding on that guy’s shoulders for hours: your feet may have fallen asleep on you...”
Off camera Link GROANS slowly.
EXT. ZORA’S CANYON – MIDMORNING.
A winding, narrow canyon with a river at center, cutting through the land in WEIRD FORMATIONS and rugged terrain. Link and Navi move through this deserted land.
NAVI
“Whaddya think we’re gonna find in here, huh?”
Link SHRUGS HIS SHOULDERS.
NAVI
“Who do you think is causing all this commotion? Think it really is Ganondorf?”
Link SHRUGS.
NAVI
“Whose bright idea was it to force the Royal Family to get ‘consent’ from some long-dead race to power-up their ultimate weapon, huh?”
Link SHRUGS.
Navi flies SLIGHTLY CLOSER to the boy’s head.
NAVI
“An’ who do you like more, huh: Princess Zelda, or Malon?”
Link SHRUGS; the boy’s eyes quickly DILATE and he FLUSHES.
NAVI
“Hehehehe-hahaha!”
Link SCOWLS. He JUMPS UP to swat at the fairy and MISSES; Navi ‘DIVE-BOMBS’ the back of Link’s head, after which the boy quickly GRASPS at the fairy, knocking her from her course. The pair SHUTTLE down the riverbank after each other, Link bearing a LARGE SMILE.
Eventually they round a CURVE and run smack into an ANCIENT IRON FENCE, long ago rent in two. Beside the fence a MORBIDLY OBESE MAN lies on the ground (with generally ‘piggish’ features), his back to the fence, CHOMPING on STRANGE-COLORED beans. This is the MAGIC BEAN SALESMAN.
MAGIC BEAN SALESMAN
“Eh... ah... oh...”
Link SLIDES TO A HALT before the man, AGHAST at his grotesque appearance.
MAGIC BEAN SALESMAN
“Gooooh... zat a customer, izzit?”
The Magic Bean Salesman takes a LABORED BREATH before continuing.
MAGIC BEAN SALESMAN
“Ahhhhh: wanna buy some ‘magic beans’, sonny? Good for what ails ya’: good for growin’ in any soil. Weathers the bleakest of winters in spades. Nutritious, sonny. Good for what ails ya’. Nutritious, at that!”
NAVI
(to Link)
“Given what they’ve done to him they might be a little too nutritious...”
The Magic Bean Salesman extends a fat arm out to the boy, holding one MAGIC BEAN. Link slowly takes it and looks the thing over, putting it to his nose and SMELLING IT, then quickly RECOILING.
MAGIC BEAN SALESMAN
“Eh... ah... pungent, sonny: very pungent. Don’t get ‘em near your eyes, neither.”
NAVI
(to Link)
“Or your stomach, for that matter...”
Link ‘WEIGHS’ the bean in one fist, then looks over at Navi.
NAVI
“I know what you’re thinking: you wanna bring a sample back for Malon and Talon to look over, don’t you?”
Link SHRUGS.
NAVI
“Well, that’s very sweet of you, but you don’t have a rupee to your name, you know...”
Link looks down at the Magic Bean Salesman, his eyes PROBING.
MAGIC BEAN SALESMAN
“Ahhhh... three beans, fifty rupees, sonny. Fixed price. Fair price.”
NAVI
(to Link)
“Ha! Really? That’s only ‘fair’ if he’s got diamonds hidden in the seeds.”
FAR OUT shot of this scene from ACROSS THE RIVER; Link stands before the Magic Bean Salesman. In the water there is a reflection of this scene (the reflection is rippling and is NOT OBVIOUS to make out). Instead of a grotesque, pig-faced man sitting at the fence in the reflection there is another being: a LITHE-BODIED AND BLUE-SKINNED CREATURE (somewhat similar in appearance to a human-sized version of Navi, but with some obvious differences), leaning against the fence. This is the Golden Goddess NAYRU. This shot lasts only as long as Navi’s previous line (“Ha! Really? That’s only ‘fair’ if...”)
Link again ‘WEIGHS’ the bean in one hand and finally brings his other hand behind his body: he retrieves the FAIRY OCARINA from his sash and hands it over to the obese man.
MAGIC BEAN SALESMAN
“Guuuuuugh... ocarina... wood... dual-tone capable... child-sized configuration... worth ten rupees, give or take...”
The obese man continues TURNING the instrument over in his hands.
MAGIC BEAN SALESMAN
“Aaaaahhh... forest wood... Koikiri craftsmanship... fairy ocarina... a rare thing... eh... ah— forty rupees.”
NAVI
(to Link)
“Woah! Woah! Woah! You’re gonna sell her ocarina?”
Link shoots the fairy a WITHERING STARE.
NAVI
(gulps)
“Ooookay: you’re gonna sell her ocarina...”
MAGIC BEAN SALESMAN
“Eh... ah... geeeeh... close enough!”
The Magic Bean Salesman hands Link TWO ADDITIONAL BEANS to go with the one in Link’s hand. The boy pockets the beans in the compartment of his sash beside his SLINGSHOT.
Link walks past the Magic Bean Salesman, who sets aside the fairy ocarina and goes back to MUNCHING on his beans. He calls out after the boy.
MAGIC BEAN SALESMAN
“Ehuhhhhh... nice havin’ customers: always nice. Zora ain’t buyin’, that’s for sure. Ha-huuuu! Even that guy in the black cape didn’t buy anything!”
Link STOPS WALKING, briefly, before pressing on down the canyon.
DISSOLVE CUTS as the boy passes through the canyon and into the ZORA’S FONT.
EXT. ZORA’S FONT – MIDDAY.
This is the Western terminus of the Zora’s Domain (that is, its border with Eastern Hyrule). The Zora’s Font itself is a DEEP MOUNTAIN POOL beside a LARGE RIDGE.
It is EXCESSIVELY QUIET in this area, unlike the previous canyon area, where BIRDS CHIRPPED and wildlife could be heard, there is no noise save for the GENTLE ROLL of water in the deep lake.
Link walks across the DIRT GROUND near the water, as he walks he notices ANOTHER SET OF FOOTPRINTS in the dirt, these much larger, adult shoes with CRUEL-LOOKING CLEAT TREAD PATTERNS to them, similar to the design of Ganondorf’s RIDING BOOTS.
Link looks up ACROSS THE LAKE; there is a CAVERNOUS HOLE against the large ridge across from him. Most of this ledge is COVERED IN BOULDERS. The entire face of the ridgeline is covered in greenish moss, but a SMALL SURFACE above the cavern opening is, instead, a SMOOTH STONE SURFACE (as if it was recently demolished to produce the landslide now covering the cavern opening).
Link sits on the edge of the water and KICKS OFF HIS LEATHER BOOTS. He REMOVES THE NIGHTCAP and tucks it into the front of his shoulder sash.
The boy jumps in the water and SWIMS (modified doggie-paddle) through the water.
CAMERA VIEW from deep, deep beneath the water, near the bottom of the lake, looking up at Link (The boy is a SMALL SPECK crossing the water).
Link climbs out of the water on the opposite side of the pool. He climbs up the rockwork on the ridge and, with effort, reaches the SEALED CAVERN ENTRANCE.
Link slowly moves into this hollow in the rock and stares at the BOULDERS in his way. He looks back at Navi, QUESTIONING.
NAVI
“Yeah, I’m afraid so. That’s the only way into the Old Domain. If such a jewel as this ‘Zora’s’ Eye’ thing ever did exist you can bet it’d be somewhere in there.”
Link walks CLOSER to the rubble.
NAVI
“So... no Zora’s Eye for us, that’s for sure. ‘Course, on the plus side, that means no danger, either. You’d be out of your mind to go in there, clear path or no! I can’t imagine what kinda nightmare Ganondorf might’ve sealed up inside this place to guard it from ‘interference’. That spider in the Deku Tree was bad enough, wasn’t it?”
The pair both STARE INTO THE CAMERA (that is, straight ahead at the rubble). Link CROSSES HIS ARMS.
NAVI
“Heck of a landslide, though. I wonder how a single person could manage to—”
LINKS BARE LEGS are violently ensnared by a THIN, AQUA-BLUE TENTACLE lurking behind him; the boy is dragged backwards, instantly FALLING ON HIS FACE, whereupon ANOTHER TENTACLE comes around his ARMS AND CHEST, wrapping around Link’s torso multiple times. ANOTHER TENTACLE ensnares LINK’S NECK and, as he is quickly dragged out the cavern entrance, a FINAL TENTACLE ensnares the boy’s JAW AND MOUTH, pulling his head back with force. This tentacle abruptly cuts-off the boy’s FRENZIED SCREAMING.
LONG DISTANCE shot (WAAAAAAAY long distance) of the cavern entrance and the mountain pool; PART OF A LARGE CREATURE’S BODY is on the pool surface, RADIATING TENTACLES. Some of those tentacles emerge from the cavern carrying Link through the air and into the water with UNSETTLING SPEED.
Link is helplessly DRAGGED DOWN in the water by a massive LIONFISH-LIKE ANIMAL; it possesses MANY AQUA-COLORED TENTACLES and a CENTRAL EYE in its massive head protected by VERTICLE, BONE-LIKE EYELIDS (similar to Ghoma’s). This is JABU-JABU.
Link STRUGGLES WILDLY in the water, BUBBLES exploding from his exposed nose.
LONG DISTANCE shot (WAAAAAAAY long distance) of Link being dragged down by the SLOWLY SUBMERGING Jabu-Jabu; far below the pair in the abyssal distance is the ORNATE TOWER of a long-ago submerged ruin; this is the WATER PALACE.
Link manages to get his POINTY BABY TEETH around the tentacle covering his mouth; he BITES DOWN violently and WAGS HIS HEAD like a dog. The tentacle first TEARS, and then RUPTURES, spewing a GREASY-PURPLE SLUDGE through the water with the force of a jet stream.
Again (and identical to the last) a LONG DISTANCE shot (again, WAAAAAAAY long distance) of this massive jet stream; Jabu-Jabu’s tentacles all RECOIL AWAY from Link’s body. Jabu-Jabu SCREAMS through the water (sound like an IRATE HUMPBACK WHALE).
Link, meanwhile (a small speck in the shot) FLAILS WILDLY upward, swimming to the surface far above him.
The boy EXPLODES ABOVE the water’s surface near the rocky shoreline, COUGHING UP WATER and then INHALING deeply. Link SCRAMBLES up the rocks, immediately pursued by MULTIPLE TENTACLES. He jumps atop a nearby rock and FACES the water, SNARLING. As soon as the lead tentacle ENSNARES THE BOY’S WAIST Link ATTACKS it with his ORNAMENTAL OYSTER KNIFE. The resulting JET-STREAM EXPLOSION of purple gunk throws Link back (SCREAMING) and prompts another IRATE SCREAM from beneath the water. ALL TENTACLES DISAPPEAR beneath the water.
Link sits up, COVERED IN PURPLE GOO; the boy GRINS with satisfaction.
Jabu-Jabu’s BODY suddenly BEACHES itself on the rocky shore.
Link SETS HIS TOP TEETH ON HIS LOWER LIP, as if he’s about to use a word with a very strong initial fricative (that is, a word that starts with an ‘f’). Immediate CAMERA CUT AWAY before any sound (other than the initial ‘ffffff’ noise) is actually made.
The creature forces itself up the crags far enough to quickly ENVELOP the lower half of Link’s body in its MOUTH; it GUMS at Link, and the SCREAMING boy pulls himself up and out of the creature’s TOOTHLESS MAW; his lower body is coated in TRANSPARENT SLIME. Link races up the rocks and towards the SEALED-UP CAVERN with Jabu-Jabu FLAILING its body further and further up the rocks. At one point Link picks up a SMALL STONE and AIMS it in his SLINGSHOT; firing it at the creature’s SINGLE LARGE EYE. Jabu-Jabu’s BONY EYELIDS come closed, DEFLECTING the rock with ease.
MORE TENTACLES explode from the water (where part of the creature’s body remains submerged). One of them quickly plucks Link up into the air, ARCING, and then moves back to the creature’s head. Link STRUGGLES in the tentacle’s grasp, then STOPS and EXAMINES the tentacle’s position CALMLY. The boy, still holding his oyster knife, SWIPES at a section of tentacle in FRONT of him (his back is to Jabu-Jabu); the resulting JET of gunk propels the boy directly onto Jabu-Jabu’s FACE. Link recovers quickly and MERCILESSLY STRIKES the center of Jabu-Jabu’s eyelids with the OYSTER KNIFE; the eyelids RESIST opening, however Link PRIES them apart with the knife as if shucking an oyster; there is an UNHEALTHY CRACKING NOISE and the eyelids come apart, exposing Jabu-Jabu’s BLOODSHOT PURPLE EYE.
The creature instantly BUCKS ITS BODY, throwing Link onto a nearby pile of boulders.
CLOSE-UP of Jabu-Jabu’s EXPOSED EYE; it appears highly DISORIENTED and IRRITATED by the full, bright sunlight.
Link races back up to the CAVERN ENTRANCE.
CAMERA CHASE from Jabu-Jabu’s point of view (‘messy’, ‘chaotic’, purple-hued camera tones). Camera view RISES and SWINGS RIGHT, suddenly revealing Link standing beside the cavern on some boulders, his slingshot PREPPED AND AIMED at the camera. Link fires directly at the camera.
One of the MAGIC BEANS impacts dead-center in Jabu-Jabu’s eye, exploding in a cloud of NOXIOUS BROWN SILT; the creature ROARS LOUDLY and its body SLAMS INTO the cavern entrance, DISLODGING many of the boulders blocking the way. Jabu-Jabu FLAILS WILDLY and falls back into the water, submerging beneath the surface quickly.
Link is THROWN to the ground by this violent impact; rolling into the cavern entrance where he is nearly crushed by several dislodged boulders. The boy lies PRONE, hands over his head on the ground, now with ROCK DUST and pebbles dotting his head as well as the purple gel on his body and transparent sludge on his waist and legs.
The entrance to ZORA’S DOMAIN is now visible in front of the boy (a few DISTANT, MASSIVE WATERFALLS can be discerned in the darkness of the cavern) and a ‘SWEET’, CHIMING NOISE rises from within. When Link finally looks up he is greeted with a pair of eyes staring at him from the cavern entrance.
A JUVENILE FEMALE ZORA is standing at the cavern entrance (appx. the same height as Link); this is PRINCESS RUTO. She has an overall humanoid appearance with a deep blue body, large head and multiple sets of FINS (this is a creature both capable of bipedal motion outside the water and blisteringly fast swimming while in the water).
Link stares at the girl in WONDER, slowly rising to his feet.
As Ruto emerges from the cavern— moving slowly— more sunlight comes into contact with her body. We see that she is actually TRANSPARENT and SHINING (in a ‘ghostly’ sort of way).
Link NOTICES this, first with UNEASE, then SORROWFUL REALIZATION.
Ruto step closer to the boy and stares down at his chest, noticing the INTERLOCKING TRIANGLE PENDANT dangling from his shoulder sash. She looks Link in the eyes, SMILING MISCHIEVOUSLY. Ruto slowly brings her own hands up to take Link’s hands; the boy at first SHIES BACK, at which point Ruto stops, but after a pause Link allows the girl to hold his hands in hers. Ruto comes closer to Link, face-to-face, as if to speak; Link leans forward, EXPECTANT, but Ruto quite suddenly PUCKERS HER LIPS and closes in to KISS the boy.
Link CRIES OUT and falls backwards quickly, landing in the rock dust with a thud. When he looks up again we see that Ruto has vanished, although a BRIGHT BLUE LIGHT is still shining in the cavern. Link holds one hand up, revealing a BRIGHT BLUE GEMSTONE set in a platinum fixture. The gemstone is vaguely reminiscent of an eye and it is, in fact, the ZORA’S EYE.
NAVI comes lilting into the cavern behind the boy; Link rolls over to a prone position to face the fairy and dangles the gemstone before her, GRINNING with self-satisfaction.
Navi immediately DIVE-BOMBS the boy’s head multiple times (as many times as there are EMPHASIZED WORDS in the following dialogue), forcing Link to SHIELD his head with both arms.
NAVI
“Of all the stupid, reckless, ridiculous, idiotic things I’ve ever seen in my entire life...”
EXT. HYRULE CASTLE – AFTERNOON.
Several days since the events at Zora’s Font.
Several CASTLE GUARDS stand watch at the MAIN ENTRANCE to Hyrule Castle.
Link walks up the COBBLED ROAD beneath the main gate, approaching the guards HESITANTLY. One of the guards TAKES NOTE of the boy, but neither man reacts as Link walks under the gate and into the castle.
INT. HYRULE CASTLE CORRIDORS – AFTERNOON.
The opulent main chambers of Hyrule Castle. There are many window-lined corridors, bright with many TAPESTRIES and PLANTS at regular intervals.
A PALACE GUARD leads Link through these corridors. At one point he EXTENDS A HAND back at Link, bidding the boy wait against the wall.
Two other PALACE GUARDS come walking through the corridor, escorting two ANCIENT-LOOKING WOMEN gently through the corridor. One of them bears a strong resemblance to KOTAKE; this is the Gerudo witch KOUME. The other woman is, in fact, the Gerudo Witch KOTAKE. Link stands in a SMALL ALCOVE in the wall shielded by a large BIRD OF PARADISE plant; neither woman takes note of the child.
The PALACE GUARD with Link nods his head as the ancient women pass.
PALACE GUARD #1
“Prince Ganondorf was lunching with the king earlier. But there’s his entourage; the prince must have gone ahead of them, back to his guest quarters.”
The guard MOTIONS down the corridor.
PALACE GUARD #1
“You can find your own way down the line: it’s the second door on the left. Lady Impa is on her way to meet you from there. Few guests can move unescorted through that section of the castle; frankly Her Highness has never had playmates with the ability to come and go in such a manner.”
The guard SCRATCHES HIS CHIN.
PALACE GUARD #1
“In point of fact, Her Highness has never actually had any—”
The guard CONSIDERS Link, then quickly stands back at attention.
PALACE GUARD #1
“It’s not for me to discuss such things. Anyway, I doubt you can cause too much mischief along the way.”
Link WALKS down the corridor slowly. Soon he comes to an ORNATE DOOR— the second on the left— along one side of the corridor. The door’s latch unexpectedly CLICKS.
PRINCE GANONDORF comes through this door suddenly, fast enough that Link cannot get out of the way; the boy bumps headlong into the prince’s waist, hitting his head on a LONG BLACK DAGGER— sheathed in a macabre sheath— and tumbles before him on the floor.
Ganondorf stares down at the child, first with SURPRISE, and then with a SLY, KNOWING SMILE. He READJUSTS the black dagger on his waist.
GANONDORF
“Wherever doest thou wander, o very little thing?”
Link is GETTING UP when PALACE GUARD #1 comes racing up the corridor; he forcibly DRAGS the boy to his feet.
PALACE GUARD #1
“Apologies, prince Ganondorf! This is just one of Her Highness’s playmates— attendants— come to wait on the princess.”
Ganondorf stares down at Link CONDESCENDINGLY. His SMIRK widens and the man brings a BLACK-IRON GLOVE up to the boy’s face, SCRATCHING Link’s cheek (he does this DURING the next line of dialogue). The boy expresses OBVIOUS DISPLEASURE, but he does not recoil.
GANONDORF
“A little playmate for the Princess of Hyrule? How very sweet! But he seems so out of place in these halls, like a ‘sapling before willows’...”
Link’s eyes BULGE at these words; Ganondorf’s GRIN spreads.
GANONDORF
“Hopefully there’s nothing ‘fishy’ about him...”
Link’s face CONTORTS with UNDISGUISED HATRED.
Ganondorf STEPS AROUND the boy; the palace guards escorting the prince also follow him.
GANONDORF
“After all, playmates playing at games is only natural, but I’d hate to think he’s playing at some very dangerous game with the princess. Small children, you know, can be so very insufferable...”
Ganondorf STALKS OFF down the corridor, his BLACK CAPE trailing behind him and two palace guards following at a respectful distance.
Link WATCHES the man retreat, SCOWLING.
SLOW PAN from one side of Link’s face to the other; IMPA’S MIDSECTION inexplicably appears in the background from one angle to the next.
Impa COUGHS.
Link spins around to face the woman.
IMPA
“My charge is changing. She will not see you.”
Link COCKS HIS HEAD at Impa, INCREDULOUS.
IMPA
“She would see you, I know, but it’s for the best that she does not. For her sake. Your ‘business’ together is concluded, as you know. For my charge to see you again: it would bring her pain, I believe.”
Impa TURNS AWAY from the boy.
IMPA
“This is a dangerous game, after all, and lately I’m overtaxed, following all the whispers and rumors within these walls. Something is happening, and whether my charge’s visions are related I cannot say, but I will not prolong her pain by showing you into this castle without cause—”
A JINGLING NOISE behind Impa distracts the woman; she faces Link, who is dangling the ZORA’S EYE from a silver chain.
IMPA
“What is that?”
Link TOSSES the pendant to the woman; Impa snatches it out of the air and holds the ZORA’S EYE up to her face.
IMPA
“Oh: I see...”
She looks down at the boy.
IMPA
“‘Cause’.”
INT. PRINCESS ZELDA’S PRIVATE CHAMBERS, ROYAL FAMILY ROOMS – AFTERNOON.
A large, ornate sitting room laden with all manner of creature comforts and articles befitting a young princess’s room. Ancillary rooms bud off from the sitting room like spokes off a wheel: bedroom, washroom, servants’ passages and others.
Link stands beside a large, frilly settee, OBVIOUSLY UNEASY. Beside him is a large, ornate OAKWOOD WARDROBE CLOSET. The princess’s washroom is at ‘12 o’clock’ in the room’s configuration, graced with a POROUS STONE FLOOR. The girl’s voice ECHOES from around a corner in the stone wash-chamber.
ZELDA
“You’re fantastic: really you are! I can’t believe you did that! It’s absolutely incredible!”
Link SMILES MODESTLY. Looking down to one side he notices a CHILD-SIZED WHITE BATTLE DRESS wedged amongst clothes in the wardrobe (identical to the one from pg. ______); it is stained with PAINT in several places.
Impa notices the boy staring at the garment and promptly SHUTS the wardrobe.
There is a WOODEN STICK with paint on its tip beneath a coffee table next to Link (although it is NOT easy to see). Link does notice some SHINING OBJECTS on the table and picks one up: it is the tip of a BROADHEAD ARROW.
ZELDA’S VOICE again echoes from the washroom.
ZELDA
“I’m sure that the Zora are at peace, again. I hope they stay that way for the rest of time; the dead really ought to be allowed to sleep forever.”
Zelda walks from one end of her washroom to the other, briefly passing by the narrow entryway; she is nude, save for a towel wrapped around her body. Notably, the girl bears several VERY SMALL, HEALING BRUISES along her shoulder and near her side (in an arrangement befitting that of SPARRING INJURIES). Part of this towel slip briefly as she passes, allowing Link (though not necessarily the audience) to see part of the girl’s rear (upon which a faint TRIANGLE SHAPED CAFÉ-AU-LAIT BIRTHMARK rests; again, it is not entirely necessary that the audience see this).
Link is notably SHOCKED by this.
Impa immediately stands before Link and GLARES at the boy; a BRIGHT FLASH fills the screen, immediately followed by a SEPIA-TONED IMAGE: Zelda again walking by the washroom door, although this time her towel remains modestly in place over her whole body.
Link STEPS BACK from Impa, seemingly DISORIENTED; he blinks, wags his head and then GRUNTS.
Zelda emerges from the washroom; she is wearing FEMININE, CALF-LENGTH PANTS (basically a version of upscale capris) with an INTRICATELY-DESIGNED TANK TOP and her INTERLOCKING-TRIANGLE HEADSCARF on her head. She stands before Link, smiling.
ZELDA
“You’re a real hero, do you know that?”
A FEMALE SERVANT enters through the servants’ passage; she appears to be in her mid-20’s. She whispers to Impa, then BOWS in Zelda’s direction and retreats. Impa approaches the princess.
IMPA
“Your father wishes to see you in half-an-hour, at the northern greenhouse.”
Zelda nods. She looks at Link.
ZELDA
“He’s very cross with me, right now. My father has planned one final event with the crown prince, soon, to wish him a safe journey home to the Gerudo Valley: an intimate dinner party at the hanging gardens above our castle keep. It’s not like all the other ceremonies so far. There will be too few people there for my absence to be overlooked; my attendance will be mandatory."
The girl rests her hands over her chest SORROWFULLY.
ZELDA
“I... don’t want to attend.”
She LOOKS TO ONE SIDE, then back at Link.
ZELDA
“I’m... afraid, even. That’s such an unseemly thing for a ruler, isn’t it? Even for a very young one. Don’t you agree?”
Link SHAKES HIS HEAD back and forth.
Zelda SMILES WISTFULLY. The girl then looks back at Impa.
ZELDA
“Impa, could you keep an eye on Kotake and Koume’s actions this afternoon? The castle guard is watching the prince well enough, but I worry about those two: they make me very ill at ease.”
Impa first looks at Zelda, then at Link. The woman NARROWS HER EYES at the boy, and then she nods.
Zelda steps forward, closer to Link.
ZELDA
“Koume and Kotake are the two old women traveling with Ganondorf: they’re his mothers, actually...”
Link NODS, but then he quickly SCRUNCHES HIS FACE in puzzlement. Navi is perched upon the boy’s EAR.
NAVI
(to Link)
“Now, I really don’t know how that would work out...”
Link LOOKS AT Navi out of the corner of his eyes; he then notices that Impa is no longer standing beside him; she has DISAPPEARED from the room.
The Female Servant again enters from the passage.
FEMALE SERVANT
“Will it be the lavender dress for lunch, Your Highness, or perhaps the auburn frock?”
NAVI
(to Link)
“Huh: royals are so fancy that they don’t just wear pretty clothes...”
The fairy BUZZES closer to Link’s face.
NAVI
“They eat ‘em, too.”
Link INACCURATELY SWATS THE AIR beside his head.
FEMALE SERVANT
“Or shall I send for your wardrobe attendants to assemble an outfit for you?”
Zelda BOWS HER HEAD; Link notices the girl GRIT HER TEETH in annoyance, but when she looks back up she is COMPOSED.
ZELDA
“Please leave me, just for a moment: I’m not quite finished with this one.”
The girl MOTIONS to Link.
The Female Servant bows.
FEMALE SERVANT
“Of course, and I’ll be right outside, Highness, but please understand that your father would rather you don’t make him wait...”
Zelda NODS at the retreating woman, then she wanders over to a NARROW WINDOW after the woman leaves the room.
ZELDA
“It’s... a really funny thing: I always wonder how someone can be surrounded by so many people, but still feel so alone...”
Link SLOWLY APPROACHES the girl.
Zelda turns to face the boy, bearing a MISCHIEVOUS SMILE on her face.
ZELDA
“Before— when we first met— I told the castle guards that you weren’t a kidnapper; do you remember that?”
Link MOVES HIS EYES TO ONE SIDE with unease. He looks back at the girl and NODS.
Zelda APPROACHES the boy, hesitant.
ZELDA
“Would you... like to be one? Temporarily, at least...”
Link COCKS HIS HEAD, quizzical.
Navi produces a VERY NERVOUS SQUEAK.
EXT. ROYAL FAMILY STABLES – AFTERNOON.
Giant wooden stables set apart from the rest of the stonework of Hyrule Castle inside the main courtyard.
An ELDERLY HORSE TRAINER toddles out of the stables leading two ADULT RIDING HORSES by the reins (a STALLION and a MARE). One of the horses (the mare) has a SMALL BUNDLED SACK on its back.
HORSE TRAINER
“Here we are: both to order for ya.”
The man SQUINTS DOWN at Link.
HORSE TRAINER
“Ye sure ya can ride, child? These’re willful beings, they are. ‘Specially this one, here.”
The Trainer motions to the MARE carrying the BUNDLE.
Link CROSSES HIS ARMS, SCOWLING.
NAVI hovers near the boy’s green nightcap.
NAVI
(to Link)
“We can probably handle it, inasmuch as a horse is like a giant spider monster, a dodongo, or a tentacle-bearing killer fish from the gates of hell...”
Link LOOKS at the fairy.
NAVI
(to Link)
“If it’s any different, though, we might be in trouble...”
The boy IGNORES Navi and CLAMBERS up the side of the stallion; he is unable to reach the saddle without assistance from the trainer, which Link appears to RESENT.
HORSE TRAINER
“There, now: close enough. Not quite a master, are ya’? Ah, but you’re young, yet, and mastery takes precious time, don’t it? Oh, so many things a body needs to be a master! The wisdom of age, innit? Hehehe! Ya’ don’t have that!”
The Trainer PATS one of Link’s scrawny legs in the stirrup. Link SCOWLS at the man’s condescension.
HORSE TRAINER
“And a touch more power to put all the rest into play! Hahaha! Well: you’re certainly courageous enough, though, aren’t you? An’ I’ve never seen such prize thoroughbreds go out of the grounds so quickly, and into such inexperienced hands: you must certainly have your friends in the Royal Family, to boot!”
NAVI
(to Link)
“Do me a favor and give him your boot...”
Link PULLS HIS FOOT BACK, pausing while staring at the Horse Trainer’s head (temptingly at ‘foot level’). The boy eventually uses that foot to gently spur his stallion onward. He passes the Horse Trainer, who still CHUCKLES.
The boy moves his horses under the STONE ARCHWAY leading out beyond the castle walls. TWO CASTLE GUARDS stand watch, eyeing the boy suspiciously. Link passes by slowly until one guard blocks his path.
CASTLE GUARD #4
“You: boy! Hold up!”
The guard CIRCLES Link slowly, GLOWERING at the child.
CASTLE GUARD #4
“Odd thing: one small rider taking two royal steeds out an’ about...”
CLOSE-UP on the BUNDLE attached to the mare.
CASTLE GUARD #4
“One would think you were up to something...”
The guard passes the bundle slowly.
CASTLE GUARD #4
“One might even think...”
The guard SPINS AROUND quickly and cuts away the binding on the bundle; a mess of BLANKETS bulge out from the bundle.
The guard RUMMAGES around these, finding nothing else. He scratches his head and again GLOWERS at the boy.
CASTLE GUARD #4
“...that one might be mistaken.”
The guard curtly motions for Link to proceed; the boy spurs his mount on, GLARING at the man with a snide look.
CLOSE-UP ON LINK, from the front, as he passes under the stone archway. The archway becomes NARROWER and the ceiling possesses LOWER CLEARANCE as he moves through it. The ceiling is eventually just a meter or so above Link’s head.
NAVI darts out from Link’s green nightcap.
NAVI
“Just as well: they’d have certainly tossed your rear in the dungeon if they found out about this little stunt. As for Her Royal Highness: that girl’s planning is a bit off, isn’t it?”
MAINTAIN close-up on Link.
A pair of GIRL’S LEGS suddenly dangle just above the boy’s head.
NAVI
“‘Just leave it to me’? Ha! It was a dumb idea, anyway, and it’s really for the best that she couldn’t pull it off...”
Princess Zelda suddenly falls down from the archway, landing gracefully right behind Link in the saddle; the boy LOOKS BACK with a start at the same time that his stallion launches into a QUICK TROT, spurned on by the unexpected new weight on his back.
Zelda peeks around the boy’s shoulder and SMILES at him.
Navi produces a VERY NERVOUS SQUEAK.
Link rides out into the fields behind Hyrule Castle. Eventually Zelda COAXES the mare up beside the pair. Link WATCHES as Zelda readies the mare’s saddle for herself, despite the fact that they are still moving at a fast trot on the stallion. Link TURNS HIS BODY to assist the girl, but then Zelda suddenly SLINGS herself off the stallion and lands directly in the mare’s saddle. She takes the reins and GRINS at the boy, spurring her horse into a FAST GALLOP.
ZELDA
“He-yah!”
Link WATCHES as Zelda’s mare disappears over a dandelion-covered hill, leaving a CLOUD OF WHITE DUST.
Navi perches on the boy’s ear.
NAVI
“Your track record against little girls is getting even worse, isn’t it? Best to get moving, shall we?”
Link looks back over at Zelda’s dandelion cloud and SMILES DEVILISHLY. With a SIMILAR CRY to Zelda’s the boy spurs his stallion on in pursuit of the princess.
EXT. ROYAL ORCHARDS – LATE AFTERNOON.
A copse of large fruit trees beside a small artificial pond. The back of Hyrule Castle is visible in the distance. The sun is READY TO SET on the horizon.
The children’s mounts are TETHERED to a nearby apple tree. Link and Zelda sit side-by-side on a sloping limestone rock, their feet skirting the pond water.
Zelda BALANCES a RED APPLE on her kneecaps and SIGHS with contentment.
ZELDA
“It’s so seldom I ever get to come out here, and never like this. Thank you.”
The girl HOLDS THE APPLE in front of her face, then she HANDS IT over to Link; the boy takes the apple in one hand and ROTATES it around playfully.
ZELDA
“Whenever I do get to come out here— with all the servants, and the attendants, and the matrons, and the wait staff, and the honor guard, and everything else— everything feels so artificial, so cold...”
The girl LOOKS at Link.
ZELDA
“But they’re always there. And... and I always kinda feel that ‘artificiality’: that ‘coldness’...”
Link SETS THE APPLE DOWN between the princess and himself. Zelda LOOKS AWAY from the boy and SWALLOWS uncomfortably.
ZELDA
“I shouldn’t speak of my loneliness: it couldn’t make sense to you. You’re the one that has all the cause to complain. I couldn’t imagine being driven from my home like that, being left to wander all by myself. I can’t think of how alone you must feel...”
Link LOOKS AWAY from the girl.
Zelda PICKS THE APPLE UP and TURNS it in her hands.
ZELDA
“We have a job to do, you know: we’re going to save Hyrule, and that’s all that matters...”
The girl SETS THE APPLE DOWN beneath her bunched-up legs and looks over at the boy.
ZELDA
“Our feelings don’t really matter compared to that. But, still: it’s kinda nice, I think, that we could be lonely together, at least for a little while...”
Link MEETS ZELDA’S GAZE; the children give half-smiles to each other.
After a moment there is a NOISE rising from the direction of the castle: many RIDERS are approaching the orchard from the distance, still a great distance away and barely discernable in the sunset’s HAZE.
Zelda slowly STANDS UP; Link does likewise.
ZELDA
“The Royal Guard.”
The girl looks at Link SORROWFULLY.
ZELDA
“I didn’t think they’d track us down so quickly.”
Zelda LOWERS HER EYES and BOWS HER HEAD. Suddenly she RAISES her head.
ZELDA
“Oh! But wait!”
The girl RUMMAGES through a small SATCHEL she brought along for the trip; eventually she retrieves a DEEP-PURPLE HUED OCARINA; this is the OCARINA OF TIME. Zelda holds it up carefully.
ZELDA
“I told you I play, remember? This is the ocarina King Darunia gave to me.”
Zelda TURNS the instrument over in her hands.
ZELDA
“He gave it to me a long time ago. It could be very lonely for a small child in such a large castle. Darunia gave me this ocarina and told me never to cry for my loneliness. ‘This ocarina’, he told me, ‘has the power to unite the most devoted of hearts wherever they roam’.”
The girl puts the mouthpiece to her lips and begins playing a SLOW, LILTING TUNE on the ocarina; this song is ZELDA’S LULLABY.
When she finishes Zelda holds the instrument closer to her face, SMILING AT IT FONDLY.
ZELDA
“My mother used to hum that song to me, usually to get me to sleep. I’ve always liked it: it makes me feel safe, as if that song could pick up all my worries and cast them away, while gathering up all the things that could keep me safe and linking them together in a tight, unbreakable bond that fit snug around me. I’ve always thought that my mother’s song sounds best through this ocarina...”
Zelda EXTENDS HER HANDS, holding the Ocarina of Time out to Link. The boy stares at the girl with SURPRISE. He takes a STEP BACKWARD.
ZELDA
“Please? I’m not a princess giving you a command, but please...”
Link does nothing for several seconds, then he STEPS FORWARD and carefully takes the instrument from Zelda’s hands.
ZELDA
“This ocarina has the power to unite the most devoted of hearts, wherever they roam...”
(NOTE: Link had accepted the ocarina WITHOUT TOUCHING Zelda’s hands; as Link holds the ocarina Zelda slowly MOVES HER HAND over the top of the instrument, bringing her fingers into closer contact with the boy’s; she is interrupted by the Castle Guard BEFORE she can touch Link’s hand)
The sound of MANY HORSES’ HOOVES and MEN SHOUTING rise; the Castle Guard swarms through the orchard trees.
Zelda is on the VERGE OF TEARS.
ZELDA
“Don’t worry: I won’t cry for my loneliness. But I’m sorry that we never got the chance to play that duet...”
One of the LEAD CASTLE GUARDS swoops in on his steed, SCOOPING UP the girl as he passes.
CASTLE GUARD #5
“Beg pardon, Highness.”
He gently deposits the girl in the saddle in front of him and quickly DEPARTS back towards Hyrule Castle with half-a-dozen other guards flanking him.
Several other horse-mounted guards lag behind the group, including CASTLE GUARD #3, who moves his horse up near Link and SNEERS DOWN at the boy.
Link GLARES UP at the man; the boy makes a fist and then makes as if to PUNCH the man’s foot in the stirrup. Castle Guard #3 STARTS and makes a pained shrieking noise, PULLING HIS HORSE BACKWARDS. The man again SNEERS at Link before RIDING OFF with the other guards.
Link STARES DOWN at the Ocarina of Time as the sound of horses’ hooves FADES. The boy brings the mouthpiece up to his own; it still GLISTENS in the sunset with trace spit from Zelda’s use. The mouthpiece is ODDLY DESIGNED, with an INTRICATE AND ORNATE arrangement of delicate wooden prongs. Link SETS HIS LIPS to the mouthpiece, closing his eyes, and pretends to play though ZELDA’S LULLABY (mimicking the finger positions).
SLOW PAN on the previous shot; panning beyond Link’s head shows that Impa is inexplicably LEANING AGAINST THE APPLE TREE in the background; she is holding the APPLE that Link and Zelda were toying with.
IMPA
“That was not a wise thing to do.”
Link JUMPS and SHRIEKS with surprise. Navi BURST out from the boy’s nightcap.
Impa TAKES A BITE out of the apple.
NAVI
(to Link)
“How in the hell does she do that?”
Link SPINS AROUND to face the woman.
IMPA
“Are you surprised that we could find you so easily? It’s not so difficult a thing to track my charge; she is a very clever girl, but she’s also an 8-year-old. The fact that she came out of her washroom wearing her riding clothes was a subtle hint...”
NAVI
(to Link)
“This is another reason why nobody ever puts absolute power in the hands of little kids: they’re rather stupid..."
Impa STEPS FORWARD.
IMPA
“She will not be returning to her chambers; I am personally keeping watch over her for the time being. A shadow is falling over the castle. Ganondorf is to leave Hyrule very soon, but I am certain he will make his move before long...”
Impa walks past the boy and STARES at the setting sun.
IMPA
“There’s too much to do, and too few people to do it. There’s too much to protect with too little time, now. So many pieces on the board, and so many choices: which to salvage, and which to sacrifice? I’ve known so many hard choices in my time with the Royal Family, so many trials...”
Impa LOOKS OFF TO THE SIDE, her eyes UNSTEADY.
IMPA
(whispering)
“...so many Zeldas...”
Link has been watching the woman; he NODS at these words, but then quickly LOOKS UP with ABJECT PUZZLEMENT on his face.
The woman LOOKS BACK at Link.
IMPA
“This one is precious to me, though.”
Impa turns to Link and KNEELS DOWN, coming eye-to-eye with the boy.
IMPA
“I’d give up more pieces on the board than I should just to keep her safe, but I’m confident that she is vital for the survival of Hyrule. I am not. Nor are you.”
Impa RISES and turns away.
IMPA
“My job is to do what I can to protect my charge. If you believe that you still have a part to play in all this then I suggest you do your part...”
The woman begins WALKING OFF. Link starts to follow, but then notices a JINGLING NOISE at his hip: the GORON’S HAND and ZORA’S EYE dangle from his waist on a chain.
IMPA
“You’re no master, I know, but at the very least you can help protect our artifact for its use by more... ‘capable’ hands. As long as Dhise Slaighre remains safe under the Golden Goddesses’ sun people like Ganondorf have no cause for confidence, no matter how black their hearts roil, and no matter what darkness they manage to inflict.”
She FACES Link once again.
IMPA
“Little one, I— you should know...”
The woman LOOKS TO ONE SIDE. There is a LONG PAUSE.
IMPA
“In the darkest night— when there’s nothing to be seen for a mile, let alone your hands right in front of your face— when one’s despair is snapping at one’s throat— there is a light. There is always a sunrise. Sometimes it can be the darkest of times: the hour just before dawn. Sometimes one cannot see the sun before it crests, before the light shines so radiantly.”
Impa STARES AT LINK purposefully.
IMPA
“Like the sand falling through an hourglass, or colored fall leaves strewn over a path; seawater breaking the beach at high tide, or the shadows...”
Impa CLENCHES ONE FIST OVER HER BREAST and stares down, melancholy.
IMPA
“...the shadows lingering— so very long— where they do not belong: on the fringes of the light.”
Impa LOOKS UP again.
IMPA
Tell yourself this: ‘all that, and more, will pass as sure as the darkness gives way to the dawn’. That, I think, should give you strength enough...”
The woman stares down at Link intently.
IMPA
“Sand, Leaves, Water and Shadow: all that, and more, will pass.”
Impa CROSSES HER ARMS and SMILES.
IMPA
“It’s waiting for you in the Temple of Time, little one. I truly think that it has been, too, for so very long. But, of course, even if you wanted to remove the Dhise Slaighre from the temple you’d need to know that you have the heart...”
Link looks down at the CHEST of his tunic.
IMPA
“...or the stomach to play your part through, at that. But then I don’t think that’s your problem, is it, little one? Guts, I mean?”
Link LOOKS BACK UP, but he finds that Impa has vanished. He stands silently for a time, then he RECLINES AGAINST AN APPLE TREE, sitting contemplatively at its base, and watches the sunset. Link slowly brings the Ocarina of Time into his lap.
NAVI sits on the boy’s shoulder.
NAVI
“Well, that’s just dandy, isn’t it? Zelda’s the lynchpin that’ll save Hyrule— and all that— and she’s got Impa to look after her; Zelda’s little family heirloom is gonna help her protect the land, and that little family heirloom has you to protect it. But let me ask you this: who’s gonna watch out for your backside in all this, huh? Who’s gonna ‘pick up all your worries and cast them away’, huh?”
Link LEANS HIS HEAD against the apple tree. He puts the OCARINA OF TIME TO HIS LIPS, CLOSING HIS EYES, and he plays a slower version of ZELDA’S LULLABY.
EXT. TERMINUS OF THE SOUTHEAST DALE ROAD – EARLY MORNING.
It is 12 years later.
A paltry dirt path, leading through a mess of sickly-looking scrub and bushes. Much further on, however, is the true greenery of the LOST WOODS and the KOKIRI FOREST.
There is pitch blackness. A FAINT BRIGHT FLASH reveals YOUNG LINK standing with his ARMS SPREAD; bright ORANGE LIGHT radiating from one fist and bright BLUE LIGHT radiating from the other fist. Another color— bright GREEN LIGHT— begins welling up from all directions around the boy. ANOTHER FLASH reveals an EXTREME CLOSE-UP ON DHISE SLAIGHRE’S HILT, PANNING DOWN fast.
EXTREME CLOSE-UP on Adult Link’s closed eye; it OPENS as the young man GASPS.
Adult Link is sleeping on the side of the road, his horse tethered to a bush in the background. He bolts upright, instantly bringing the glistening DHISE SLAIGHRE up out of the folds of his dun-colored cloak. He pushes the blade up against the neck of a figure standing over him in the darkness.
The figure STUMBLES out of the darkness, uncoordinated, NICKING THEIR CHIN on Link’s blade as they wobble (not a serious injury). As they stumble into the light it becomes apparent that the figure is a YOUNG FEMALE CHILD (appx. 8-years-old in appearance) in a GREEN FOREST DRESS: a KOKIRI GIRL. Her clothes are TATTERED and SINGED and her eyes are VACANT.
Link quickly DROPS Dhise Slaighre to his side; the girl FALTERS and FALLS FORWARD, landing hard on her side in the dirt.
Link KNEELS beside the girl, ROLLING HER onto her back. He EXAMINES HER with ALARM; she is GASPING like a fish and bears an OBVIOUSLY PAINED look on her face. The girl continually CLUTCHES at her heart, DIGGING HER NAILS into the fabric of her dress around her chest, unable to speak for pain and constriction.
LINK
“Hey... hey! Hang in there. Stay with me, alright? Stay with me!”
NAVI flies out of LINK’S COWL but Link quickly SNAPS HER OUT OF THE AIR (into his hand) before the Kokiri Girl can see her; he deposits her back in his COWL.
LINK
(to himself)
“Ummm... breath and blood: salt and salve!”
Link RACES INTO THE TREELINE, quickly moving amongst the shrubs until he finds certain COLORED BERRIES. He COLLECTS these, along with SCRAPINGS from the bark of some trees and RACES BACK to the roadside.
When he returns he finds SHEIK on his knees LEANING OVER the Kokiri Girl; he has his own FOREHEAD pressed to HERS and one GLOVED HAND on her chest, directly over the girl’s heart. MAGICAL RED LIGHT gums-up the gaps between their bodies.
Link RUNS UP to this scene just as Sheik PULLS AWAY from the Kokiri Girl; Sheik stumbles away from the child UNSTEADILY.
Link KNEELS DOWN beside the Kokiri Girl. He is FRANTICALLY SORTING the ingredients he collected when he notices a change in the girl: her breathing is SHALLOW, BUT REGULAR and her face bears a look of TRANQUIL PEACE (analogous to a morphine-induced stupor).
LINK
“Hey, there...”
Link GRIPS THE GIRL’S CHIN, but he gets little response.
LINK
“Hey!”
The girl stares STRAIGHT UP, peaceful, and then her CHEST slowly stops moving. She lets out one last LONG SIGH OF CONTENTMENT, and then she stops breathing.
Link GENTLY SHAKES the girl’s chin.
A BRIGHT PINK PINPOINT OF LIGHT slowly emerges from the NECKLINE of the Kokiri Girl’s dress: it is her FAIRY. The creature FLIES UP erratic, for a moment, and then quickly loses all color and while FALLING out of the air it DISINTEGRATES into ASHES and scatters over the dead girl’s face.
NAVI again emerges from Link’s cowl and lands on his shoulder.
Link TOYS with a very small RED EARRING in his RIGHT EAR. He GRUNTS. CLOSE-UP on LINK’S FACE, contemplating the dead girl’s body with HORROR. Sheik is in the frame’s background leaning beside a tree with his back to Link.
Link’s look of horror soon turns to ANGER; he rises— bearing Dhise Slaighre— and FACES Sheik.
SHEIK
(labored and fatigued)
“Would you so slaughter a defenseless wanderer?”
LINK
“What did you do to her?”
SHEIK
“Little, really... I did what I could—”
LINK
“That seems like low praise, to me. You murderous toad—”
SHEIK
“I served her as best I could—”
LINK
“You just killed her!”
SHEIK
(shouting)
“She killed herself!”
There is a LONG PAUSE after these words, broken only by the FAINT NOISES of distant wildlife.
CLOSE-UP on SHEIK’S FACE (Link in background); Sheik’s RIGHT EYE has a massive, CRIMSON TEAR training down his right cheek (this is the remnants of one of Sheik’s MIND’S EYE worms, now dead, dripping out his eye). The eye itself is IRRITATED and red, but no longer BRIGHT RED like its counterpart: it is obviously a SHADE OF VIOLET underneath all the irritation. The PATCHWORK SCARVES that normally cover his lower face dangle LOOSELY in the breeze.
SHEIK
“She is a Kokiri. She left the forest. No Kokiri can ever leave the forest— on pain of their lives: they’re bound to it. She knew that she couldn’t survive. And she didn’t...”
Sheik KNEELS DOWN quickly, as if in PAIN, and then VOMITS a thick, black SLUDGE onto the ground. He soon regains composure and STANDS. Sheik COVERS the right side of his head with his scarves and TURNS; he LOOKS OVER at the dead forest child.
SHEIK
(whispering)
“...they never do.”
Link slowly DROPS Dhise Slaighre to his side. He KNEELS beside the dead Kokiri Girl, FATIGUED.
LINK
“You’re a hard man to track down. Do you know that?”
SHEIK
“You have been looking for me?”
Link SHAKES HIS HEAD.
LINK
“Had been, yeah. Not anymore, though.”
SHEIK
“You hunt much bigger prey now; don’t you, traveler?”
LINK
“An armored knight, and his cargo...”
SHEIK
“What would you accomplish by catching-up to it?”
Link NARROWS HIS EYES.
LINK
“What wouldn’t I accomplish, huh? I could do more than nothing, at least.”
Link GETS UP and DUSTS HIMSELF OFF; he sheathes his sword and moves to untether his horse.
SHEIK
“The iron-skinned warrior is in the Great Forest, traveler. You wanted to know this, didn’t you?”
LINK
“I already knew that. And I have a good idea where he’s going, specifically.”
Link GAZES OUT across the road, eyeing the thick FORST far in the distance.
LINK
“There’s a strange place deep in those woods— the Sacred Forest Meadow. At its center is an ancient ruin— the Kokiri Forest Children called it the ‘Forest Temple’; it’s the heart of the woods...”
Link MOUNTS his horse.
LINK
“If you wanted to drive a knife through the last vestige of the forest’s power, that’s where you’d go: that’s the place you’d target.”
SHEIK
“Tell me, traveler: why would the King of Thieves care about such a thing? Hasn’t he had 12 years of rule to strike the forest down, if he so chose?”
Link STARES AT HIS LAP and nods.
LINK
“Yeah: I’ve been thinking about that, too: if he’s been ruling for so long, why would his desire only now bring him to this place?”
SHEIK
“And your answer?”
Link GLARES DOWN at Sheik. He MOVES HIS CLOAK to reveal the hilt of Dhise Shaighre.
LINK
“The Dhise Slaighre— this sword that I wield— it is not an instrument that can travel this land unnoticed. That’s why, Sheik.”
Sheik CROSSES HIS ARMS.
SHEIK
“Do you mean to throw my own words back at me? And if he is truly acting because of that sword’s presence then he is forced into action: he believes that he must entirely obliterate any semblance of power from Hyrule, lest the rocks themselves sing out with the praises of Dhise Slaighre—”
LINK
“I’ve found this thing to be a pretty ordinary sword, Sheik; it isn’t particularly amazing—”
SHEIK
“Granted. But, then, you are not particularly ‘masterful’.”
LINK
“Maybe so, but I’m all it’s got, right now. Or do you want to have a go with it? Should I give it to you?”
Sheik stares at Link, then down at the sword at his side.
SHEIK
“You use that sword as you will, traveler.”
Link scoffs and begins TROTTING off on his horse. Sheik calls after him.
SHEIK
“Strange, that the King of Thieves would choose that remote temple, above any other; one might assume you had a connection to it: something that he may be exploiting—”
LINK
“No. Not especially. I’m not a Kokiri. Obviously...”
SHEIK
“Do you ride for the Southern Forest Road?”
LINK
“Naturally.”
SHEIK
“It’s impassable.”
LINK
“Not if I detour through the Forest Glen: the Kokiri Village—”
SHEIK
“Is vacant; a mire of swamp water and black vines have overtaken the Glen where the village stood. For many years now only the Brotherhood of the Knuckle can move freely through that place; all others, even those on horseback, fall to it. The forest children’s village is gone and its former inhabitants have all fled.”
Link STOPS his horse. There is a VERY LONG PAUSE.
LINK
(whispering)
“‘Fled’?”
SHEIK
“Yes.”
LINK
“To where?”
SHEIK
“Some to the depths of the Lost Woods; others out here— beyond the forest borders— like this girl—”
Link TURNS in the saddle and faces Sheik.
LINK
“Impossible! They would all—”
SHEIK
“Yes. And they do. This child’s case is no rare occurrence. Most who’ve come out of the forest don’t even make it to the Old Castletown Road. And, as for all the rest, none much farther than that.”
Link FACES FORWARD again, away from Sheik; he bears a PAINED LOOK on his face.
SHEIK
“The others— sunk deep in the Lost Woods— have their own problems, of course. Becoming a Skull Kid is no easy thing; I suppose those children that leave the forest consider their fate to be better than that.”
LINK
“Are there no others?”
SHEIK stares at the ground. There is a VERY LONG PAUSE.
LINK
(screaming)
“Are there no others?”
SHEIK
“I am not omniscient.”
Link COOLS OFF, then GRITS HIS TEETH. He FACES Sheik.
LINK
“If that’s the case, then I’ve got some advice for you: don’t damn-well act like you are.”
Link CUTS HIS HORSE’S PATH across the road, moving through thin scrub and into deeper foliage. NAVI peeks out of his cowl.
LINK
“The Southeastern Pass, Navi: through the Stoneheart. It’ll put us a little closer to the forest center, anyway. That’s how we reach the Sacred Forest Meadow.”
As Link’s horse tromps through the brush he passes Sheik, who is inexplicably standing in the background.
SHEIK
“You’re so set on tracking this trouble down, despite the probability that he is waiting for you?”
LINK
(to Navi)
“How the hell does he do that?”
Sheik WALKS beside the horse in the background, matching pace with Link’s horse.
SHEIK
“Traveler, I said that this girl’s appearance is no rare thing, but we have not had a very recent case of any forest children fleeing out of the woods like this. The ones that have done so recently have all shown signs of transfiguration: poisoning from their time spent wandering through the Lost Woods. This girl is— at least she was— unblemished...”
LINK
“Because there are others out there that haven’t fled into the deep woods. That has to be why. And if an unblemished Kokiri Girl committed suicide like that— trying to escape from the forest— that must mean that all the pure Kokiri left in the forest must be in trouble...”
SHEIK
“You would assist them, then?”
LINK
“No. I’m just here to kill the King of Thieves, Sheik— that’s all— and if you won’t help me do that then you can leave me alone...”
SHEIK
“I would. I would prefer to, certainly. But, if you do insist upon pursuing this course of action, it’s quite possible that we may meet again...”
Sheik produces a SHINING MARBLE; he drops it and a massive CLOUD OF SMOKE erupts. When it clears he is gone.
Link LOOKS AROUND THE SCRUB LAND with grit teeth. He SNARLS.
LINK
(shouting)
“You’re a disgrace to your people: you know that? The Royal Family would’ve been disgusted with you!”
Link LOOKS AROUND again. Finally he SHAKES HIS HEAD.
LINK
(whispering)
“Zelda would’ve been as disgusted with you as you are with her...”
Link’s horse GALLOPS OFF into the distance.
EXT. THE STONEHEART – MIDMORNING.
A narrow gully between two dense walls of rock and foliage; the area is all but impassable except for a narrow passageway between the forest walls. A MASSIVE WHITE ROCK (different from the dark rocks all along the gully) hangs about twenty feet above the crevasse, suspended by an ancient-looking arrangement of vines that rise up into the dense canopy far overhead. This gigantic stone is (vaguely) in the shape of a heart.
At one time (in the past) the Stoneheart was completely suspended in the air; now, however, it rests on its side above a messy rubble of FALLEN STONES. All throughout the rubble are DISCOLORED VINES poking out at various intervals; they are nearly, but not quite, totally black.
Link DISMOUNTS from his horse and steps forward; the scant sunlight streaming though the canopy highlights his FACE. The ghostly, echoing sound of CHILDREN PLAYING fades in and out as Link steps forward, facing the stone rubble wall.
NAVI sets down on Link’s shoulder.
LINK
“Those fissures on the ground: you’d have to be a housecat to slither through them. Or a child, I suppose. You know, I always knew that it would never be easy coming back...”
He LOOKS OVER at the fairy.
LINK
“But I didn’t think it’d be that difficult, either.”
Link smiles, but NAVI CROSSES HER ARMS and SCOWLS at the young man.
LINK
“Right: never mind...”
Link APPROACHES the rock wall; he puts on a pair of dun-colored GLOVES and then gingerly grips some of the stones. He starts making his way up the rock wall, pausing to PUSH several throbbing vines out of the way.
After rising about ten-feet off the ground he is violently GUT-CHECKED by a vine that shoots out of a dark nook in the rocks. Link goes flying backwards, SCREAMING, and lands hard on the forest floor, right in front of his horse.
Link GROANS and looks up; we see Link’s horse staring down at the man (upside-down, per Link’s view). The animal SNUFFS loudly.
LINK
(hoarse with pain)
“Yeah...”
Link STUMBLES to his feet, clutching his chest, and RECLINES against a nearby rock, PANTING. He stares up at the rock wall, eyeing all the black holes and vines.
NAVI again flies up to Link’s shoulder.
LINK
“This might not be as easy as I thought.”
Link’s gaze again wanders over to the STONEHEART resting on top of the rubble wall. The echoing sound of CHILDREN PLAYING again rises and falls.
Link SNAPS OUT of his reverie, looking down at Navi, DISORIENTATED.
LINK
“Nothing, Navi... just some ghosts. Now let’s get the hell out of here: there’s too many ghosts for my taste...”
Link STANDS UP and walks back to his horse; Navi hovers near his head.
LINK
“No: I didn’t hit my head...”
EXT. KAKARIKO VILLAGE – EARLY EVENING.
Link RIDES INTO the village.
Several RICKETY WOODEN CARTS sit at the village center bearing VARIOUS ITEMS from Lon-Lon Ranch which villagers dutifully unload. Link and Shikashi WALK past this scene, Link with his COWL firmly cemented over his head and most of his face.
SHIKASHI
“Yes: the poison rotting this earth extends even into the Great Forest, but it is of a ‘wild’ type out there...”
LINK
“‘Wild’?”
SHIKASHI
“Uncontrolled. Here— in the heartland of Hyrule— it behooves him to have control of it, of course, and he does. Without it our crops might flourish. Without it we might live independently. Without it... we might be free.”
LINK
“He... controls the vines?”
Shikashi nods.
As the pair move past the cart Link notices MALON up at the reins, covered in a white robe. She notices Link out of the corner of her eye, but then appears to ignore the man.
SHIKASHI
“The ‘grapevine’. A gift to him. Gerudo witches are so very handy with their horticulture, after all...”
LINK
“Koume and Kotake, you mean?”
SHIKASHI
“Just Kotake. Her gift to him.”
LINK
“He has a funny way of showing his appreciation; she was cast out and abandoned to the petrified wastes.”
Shikashi LOOKS OVER at Link.
SHIKASHI
“Yes. I believe she disappeared from her old haunt very recently, did she not? Perhaps that’s something you’d know of?”
LINK
“I believe she was killed.”
Link LOOKS OVER at Shikashi.
LINK
“But, then, I’m new around here— I’m just assessing the lay of the land, that’s all— so why should I know of such things?”
SHIKASHI
(laughing)
“The High King is so very all-or-nothing in his personality. When the witches came to him with their ‘coronation gifts’ he evaluated both of them. Kotake’s gift, I suppose, just didn’t measure up.”
LINK
“What did Koume give him, anyway?”
The old man looks at Link FORBODINGLY.
SHIKASHI
“The Brotherhood of the Knuckle.”
LINK
(staring down to one side)
“‘“What good is a plant... compared to an animal’?”
SHIKASHI
(laughing)
“I’d hardly call the Brotherhood ‘animal’... I’d hardly call the Brotherhood ‘alive’...”
LINK
“What, then?”
Shikashi takes a few jugs of milk from a cart.
SHIKASHI
“Nightmares come awake, and grown teeth.”
LINK
“Shikashi: I need to find a way into the Great Forest. I need the help of someone— anyone— willing to give it to me.”
SHIKASHI
“Why don’t you speak to—”
LINK
“He isn’t interested in helping me.”
SHIKASH
“I see...”
Link MOVES CLOSER to the old man, his eyes PROBING.
LINK
“What do you know about the ‘Silver Gauntlets’? Would they be able to help me?”
SHIKASHI
(shrugging)
“Able? Yes, perhaps. The Gauntlets are quite masterful at getting though all manner of impediments— like ‘thieves’ in the night— naturally, but willing? That’s different.”
LINK
“We have the same goals, from what I hear. They will at least listen to me.”
SHIKASHI
“The last time we had any interaction with those cloaked bastards was when one of the Gauntlets stumbled into town after an aborted siege on the High King’s castle; they were wounded badly, and delirious— kept muttering nonsense about ‘flesh’, ‘iron’ and ‘bone’, on and on and on. They died that night, despite our care...”
Shikashi RUNS ONE HAND over some of the goods in the cart.
SHIKASHI
“...and then— for two months thereafter— there wasn’t a drop of liquid or morsel of grain to be had from his ranchland. We adults weathered that famine with knotted stomachs and pained hearts, but we lived. Some younger ones— especially the babies— weren’t so strong in their constitution...”
Link STARES DOWN at the ground. He nods.
LINK
“You’re unwilling to risk the lives of your people, I know, but think of how many of them will die in your lifetime under that monster’s ‘care’, even if you obey all his whims to the letter. I’m willing to bet that if you really thought all this through you’d realize that the cold embrace of a coffin is more desirable than the shackles of his slavery.”
Link TURNS to leave.
SHIKASHI
“That’s such an easy thing for you to say, isn’t it? Go and speak with Sheik, Pale Rider—”
LINK
“He won’t help me—”
SHIKASHI
“He knows more than you can imagine, though a reckless fool he may be. If he thinks you meeting the Silver Gauntlets is wise then he can manage it. Sheik is most... ‘sensitive’ to any and all happening in Hyrule around him, even though most of the time he’s confined behind a smoldering volcanic crater. I told you that the Golden Goddesses favor the High King in many things, but at least some of them must favor Sheik, as well, although he’d be the last to admit it...”
Link WATCHES Shikashi unloading a cart for awhile, and then he STALKS OFF. Shikashi calls after him.
SHIKASHI
“Tell me: just why are you here? Is it for mere ‘assessment’, or perhaps action? We deserve to know, lest you bring us all to ruin...”
Link IGNORES the man.
SHIKASHI
“Which is it, Pale Rider? Assessment, or action?”
Link TURNS and faces the man.
LINK
“Atonement.”
He turns and MOVES AWAY, disappearing amongst a row of run-down buildings.
EXT. STAIRWAY TO THE TEMPLE OF TIME – EARLY MORNING.
It is 12 YEARS PRIOR to the previous scene.
The main marble staircase leading up into the Gothic-themed cathedral.
Young Link stands in front of the imposing building. Navi emerges from his nightcap, perches on his shoulder, and then both boy and fairy EXCHANGE GLANCES.
Link WALKS UP the stairway.
INT. TEMPLE OF TIME – EARLY MORNING.
Link’s measured FOOTSTEPS echo throughout the cavernous marble great hall (this shot is IDENTICAL to the one from pg. 1).
Link APPROACHES a set of MARBLE STAIRS; beyond this is a MASSIVE MARBLE ALTAR. Behind the altar is a MARBLE WALL (hewn of darker stone than all the rest). This wall spans the entirety of the cathedral, rising over five stories to the ceiling and spanning nearly half a football field. There are various INTRICATE PICTOGRAPHS and writing all along the wall (all written in ‘Ancient Hylian’).
NAVI flies off Link’s shoulder as they approach the altar.
NAVI
“Ooooooh, where to start here? First, we don’t have that Kokiri’s Heart thing that we’re supposed to have— never mind the fact that I’ve lived in the Great Forest forever and I’ve never even heard of it. Second, Impa herself admits that you probably can’t use Dhise Slaighre even if we could get to it and, third, yes— that Ganondorf is one nasty character, and he’s up to his neck in no good— but who’s to say that some scatter-brained 8-year-old princess’s ‘mystical vision’ about how to solve this problem is at all accurate?”
Navi hovers near the BACK OF LINK’S HEAD.
NAVI
“Zelda could be wrong about how to take care of all this; surely you’ve considered the possibility that she’s stark-raving nuts—”
Link TURNS HIS HEAD quickly to face the fairy, SCOWLING DANGEROUSLY.
NAVI
“Or not...”
FAR OVERHEAD SHOT as Link approaches the PICTOGRAPH WALL.
The boy STANDS before the wall; he crosses his arms and GLANCES impatiently at Navi. The fairy SWOOPS CLOSER to the wall.
NAVI
(sighing)
“It’s Hylian, but not like the altar over there; the stuff on this wall is ancient Hylian. Okay, let’s see...”
The fairy slowly FLIES IN FRONT of the wall, ILLUMINATING different sections of pictures and writing as she goes.
NAVI
“Umm, ‘the waves that crash, that breech the dream, threaten nightmare’s untoward scheme... a one-man-band, born to seek... and wake the... the... uh: ‘air-trout’?”
Link COCKS AN EYEBROW.
NAVI
“Or... ‘wind-fish’... maybe... ‘from its sleep’.”
Navi FACES Link.
NAVI
“Whatever. Obviously that verse doesn’t apply to us...”
Navi continues FLYING IN FRONT of the wall.
NAVI
“Let’s see... ‘to gain his ground, brave Thunderbird’s breath, to wake the dreamer from her death’— sheesh, everyone’s always sleeping in ancient prophecies, aren’t they?”
Navi continues FLYING IN FRONT of the wall.
NAVI
“Here’s... some kinda recipe for turtle soup— no, wait: rock. ‘Turtle Rock’. Sorry...”
Link FOLLOWS the fairy with CROSSED ARMS, ROLLING HIS EYES as the fairy speaks.
The fairy STOPS before a certain part of the wall, very near the CENTER of the temple.
NAVI
“Ah, wait! Here we are:
‘For evil’s bane— a devoted heart—
earth and rock are sure to part
Pure intent— born of a wish—
for his charge’s benefit:
the eye that sees, the heart that feels,
the hand that moves
unearths the blade that, vital, proves
the weapon for staying whatever disaster
for he who wields Dhise Slaighre as a master’.”
Navi FLIES UP near LINK’S HEAD and hovers.
NAVI
“There’s your prophecy. So... what now?”
Link SLOWLY DETACHES the Zora’s Eye and Goron’s Hand from his belt; the jewels are GLOWING faintly— blue and orange, respectively.
NAVI again flies near the wall.
NAVI
“Are there... like, depressions, anywhere, or anyplace to put the jewels... like they’re keys, or something?”
Link STEPS FORWARD; he is STARING at the wall with an UNSETTLINGLY FOCUSED gaze. Link slowly puts one jewel in EACH of his hands. The boy’s BREATHING becomes more intense.
NAVI
“This is ridiculous: there are three jewels in the prophecy. We need three jewels before we can try anything—”
LONGSHOT from behind Link as the boy stands before the wall.
Link CLOSES HIS EYES, takes a BREATH, and then he holds the two jewels out in his fists on either side of his body.
After several seconds both of the jewels in Link’s fists ERUPT with their respective colors, followed by a HIGH-PITCHED CHIMING ‘SQUEAL’.
NAVI CIRCLES Link’s body, nervous, as the colors erupt all around the boy.
A THIRD COLOR eventually comes into the mix: a nebulous ball of BRIGHT GREEN LIGHT flames up over LINK’S CHEST. This color— along with the blue and orange from the other jewels— EXTENDS OUT and washes over the wall in front of the boy.
There is a loud noise like an ‘ENERGY WEAPON’ POWERING UP; suddenly a radiantly bright WHITE LINE OF LIGHT shoots out vertically across the pictograph-covered wall at its center (directly in front of Link). When the light quickly DISAPPEARS there is another loud noise: that of BRICK SLAMMING INTO BRICK. The entire wall SHUDDERS very faintly and a mess of DUST slides out from where the bright white light had been: it is a SURGICALLY-CUT FISSURE in the wall.
Both the jewels in Link’s fists immediately LOSE THEIR COLOR; the BRIGHT GREEN ORB of light swirling over Link’s chest also DISAPPEARS.
Close-up on the marble floor; the Zora’s Eye and Goron’s Hand both land hard on the floor with a CLANK, completely BLACK as if they were, in fact, OBSIDIAN GLASS, and not precious jewels.
Link’s body FALLS FORWARD, completely limp, and the boy FACE-PLANTS on the marble floor.
Navi FLIES DOWN to Link’s side.
NAVI
“Hey! Hey! What the heck was that?”
Link lies PRONE on the floor with his head to one side. His eyes are GLASSY; the boy is not breathing.
The PICTOGRAPH WALL begins SLOWLY SLIDING APART from its center with a very loud scraping noise. The entire temple RUMBLES and dust BILLOWS everywhere around the moving wall.
Navi flies near LINK’S NOSE, inspecting the boy.
NAVI
“Wha... wha... Hey, come on: get up. Hey... hey: breathe. Hey! Hey! Breathe!”
Navi DIVE-BOMBS the boy’s vacant face, slow and gentle at first, but then with rising DESPERATION.
NAVI
“D— don’t fool around! C’mon! Wake up... wake up!”
The PICTOGRAPH WALL continues SLIDING APART.
NAVI
“P— please! C— C’mon!”
Navi resorts the SLAMMING INTO Link’s face with all her might, basically PUNCHING the boy.
NAVI
“Hey! C’mon! We’ll get you some Lon-Lon milk! Cases of it! Malon’ll give it to you, you know! All you gotta do is ask! All the milk you could drink! I’ll... I’ll get you some roast beef in Castle Town, too; promise! Lots of it! All you can eat! Lots! You can have whatever you want! Just wake up! Please wake up! Please wake up! Please!”
Navi continues DIVE-BOMBING Link and SCREAMING at him, tearful.
The PICTOGRAPH WALL has finally moved away in both directions, revealing a VERY LONG EXTENSION to the temple behind it; the LOUD SLIDING NOISE ceases and all RUMBLING in the temple stops.
EXTREME CLOSE-UP on the Zora’s Eye and Goron’s Hand, both still resting on the marble floor; the COLOR slowly returns to each stone.
Navi has resorted to TEARFUL SOBBING over Link’s body.
SLOW-ZOOM on Link’s vacant, pale face. All at once the boy SPASMS on the floor and GETS TO HIS KNEES, RETCHING. He leans forward, COUGHING up a small yellow-green puddle of BILE.
The boy FALLS BACK on his rear and sits SPREAD LEGGED, in a DAZE. Navi flies near the boy’s face; Link looks up at her with CONFUSION.
NAVI
“You... were asleep. Now you’re not...”
Link WAGS HIS HEAD and looks past the fairy: the LONG HALL beyond the wall ends with a very high-ceilinged NAVE. There is one SKINNY WINDOW (far too thin to accommodate a person) very high up above a CENTRAL PLATFORM of STONE EARTH. This is a circular disc of earth, perhaps fifty meters across, and at its center is a VERY LONG ARMING SWORD set into the ground, vertically.
This is the DHISE SLAIGHRE, however unlike its 12-year-older counterpart the blade is COMPLETELY WHITE and free of any bloodstains. Bright light from the window SHINES on the sword.
Link APPROACHES the sword, cautious, and is particularly HESITANT as his feet meet the disc of earth. As the boy moves over the ground he notices a PAIR OF FOSSILIZED FOOTPRINTS in the earth, very faint; the footprints are ‘off’ in a way that strongly implies that the individual that made them is not entirely human.
SLOW ZOOM OUT as Link crosses the ground toward its center; there are TWO OTHER sets of footprints along the other parts of the disc, all converging near the place where Dhise Slaighre is anchored (they are, however, difficult to see, and not at all obvious to pick-out).
Link reaches the sword and CIRCLES AROUND IT slowly. The boy goes so far as to TOUCH the hilt, QUICKLY RECOILING in anticipation, but nothing happens.
NAVI flits around the blade, at first very cautiously like Link, but then more curiously.
NAVI
“This... is it? This is the hidden power behind the Royal Family’s rule? But... I don’t feel...”
Navi lands on Link’s shoulder.
NAVI
“...I don’t feel anything. In point of fact I feel quite the opposite; this sword makes me kinda sick, actually, just from looking at it. Weak, even. How very strange...”
Link STEPS UP close to the sword (the hilt comes up to the boy’s chin).
EXTREME CLOSE-UP on Dhise Slaighre’s HILT; Link’s bare hands grip the dull metal base of the blade (where the blade is not yet sharp).
Link BRACES HIMSELF.
The boy PULLS UP, HARD, but nothing happens; the sword does not move.
NAVI
“Maybe you do need some more milk...”
Link SHRUGS the fairy off him.
NAVI
“Well: the prophecy does say something about ‘earth and rock’ being ripped open for a ‘devoted heart’; maybe you gotta prove your ‘pure intent’, you know?”
Link LOOKS at the fairy quizzically.
NAVI
“Think about what you wanna do with Dhise Slaighre— if you were to use it, which I know you’re not: think about Hyrule, and how you’d want to protect it. Imagine that you’re using it to slash-up some really bad guys...”
Link CLOSES HIS EYES— a ‘BAD-ASS’ look on his face— and again wraps his hands around the BASE OF THE SWORD’S BLADE; the boy PULLS UP again, GRUNTING this time, but nothing happens.
NAVI
“Ooookay... um, try to think really hard about that rotten Ganondorf, and how nice it’d be to face him down with this thing— wipe that smirk off his face— and finally send that thug packing back into the desert. Try that.”
Link CLOSES HIS EYES and again wraps his hands around the BASE OF THE SWORD’S BLADE; the boy PULLS UP again, GRUNTING, but nothing happens.
The boy pulls so hard that he WINDS himself; he steps away from the podium PANTING and FRUSTRATED.
NAVI
“Hmmm: either we’re got a defective sword, or a defective boy...”
Link FACES AWAY from Dhise Slaighre, awash in LIGHT from the tiny window overhead. The boy STARES DOWN at his shoes; his eyes happen to glance over the INTERLOCKING TRIANGLE TRINKET given to him by Zelda. The boy looks OVER HIS SHOULDER at the Ocarina of Time, dangling from the back of his sash.
NAVI
“You’d think the Royal Family would have more specific instructions on how to get the darn thing out of there. Why couldn’t they have just put it behind some safety glass, or something?”
Link LOOKS FORWARD with a more SERENE expression.
The boy TURNS around and again APPROACHES the sword. He SLOWLY GRIPS the base of the blade, his face much more
‘ZEN’, CLOSES HIS EYES, and VERY GENTLY pulls upward.
EXTREME CLOSE-UP on the STONE EARTH FLOOR where the blade is sunk-in; after several seconds there is MOVEMENT. The sword is slowly drawn out.
FAR DISTANCE SHOT of Link (silhouetted in the bright window’s light) fully withdrawing the sword from the stone floor. The boy stands with the sword HELD-UP above his head for a moment, then the boy’s KNEES WOBBLE and, with a SCREAM, Link FALLS BACKWARD and hits the floor hard, with Dhise Slaighre’s hand-guard landing on his head.
INT. LON-LON RANCH FARMHOUSE – EVENING.
The cozy downstairs den of Malon and Talon’s house, complete with a roaring fireplace.
Link sits at a TABLE before the fireplace with a SMALL BAG OF ICE on his head; when the boy removes it we see a SMALL GASH (OBVIOUSLY similar in appearance to the SCAR that Adult Link carries on his forehead).
DHISE SLAIGHRE lies on the table; Talon cursorily INSPECTS the blade with his hands.
TALON
“My, my, my... there’s truly more to you than meets the eye, isn’t there, my boy?”
Malon sits beside Link; the girl STARES DOWN at the blade.
MALON
“It’s... pretty, Fairy Boy, but it seems pretty ordinary to me.”
TALON
“Ah, it’s anything but that, honey. Assuming our gabby little friend here did take this thing out of the Temple of Time then there’s no debating it: it’s gotta be this— what was it?— ‘Dhise Slaighre’ thing. Or the ‘Master Sword’, as we common-folk might call it. That’s the name I remember from all the legends and tall-tales I heard as a child. Tch! I first heard those stories when I was younger than either of you.”
Talon LOOKS at Link.
TALON
“I suppose Her Highness’ll want to take delivery of this blade soon, huh?”
Link LOOKS OFF TO THE SIDE, then back at the man, UNCERTAIN.
TALON
“She hasn’t thought that far ahead, huh? I see...”
The man STANDS UP, picking up several MILK GLASSES from the table.
TALON
“Well, I suppose you’ll get your marching orders soon enough, won’t you? Naturally you’re at Her Highness’ beck and call, and she wants you to sit tight with this thing for a time. It wouldn’t do for you to disobey the Princess, would it? Nobility must be served, after all...”
Talon carries the milk glasses to a SINK on the other side of the room. At his words Malon LOOKS at Link with a WOUNDED expression; she gets up and STALKS OFF, wordless.
EXT. LON-LON RANCH – LATE AFTERNOON.
The next day, at the HORSE’S CORRAL.
A new wooden slat barrier is nearly complete; one board on the fence top juts out from the others. Link BALANCES on the top of the fence and STOMPS the stray board into place. The boy is wearing a SQUARE BANDAGE on his forehead over the gash left by Dhise Slaighre’s handle. Talon and Ingo STRUGGLE with a particularly large tree plank, which Link helps GUIDE into another notch in the fence. It goes in with a snap and both men SIGH, mopping their heads; Link WOBBLES and FALLS off the fence (into the background). Ingo SNICKERS at this, but then the foal EPONA head-butts him from behind, causing the man to BUMP HIS HEAD on the front of the fence.
INGO
“Gheaaaaa! Galoot!”
All three of them retreat to a shaded portion of the corral where there are FLASKS of cold water. Talon and Ingo LEAN against a small stone wall while Link SITS on it in the background. Talon produces a pack of SELF-LIGHTING CIGARETTES. Ingo STRIKES the head of his against Link’s SHOULDER SASH, Talon against Ingo’s TOOLBELT and Link (who has taken one of the cigarettes from the pack) strikes his against the STONE WALL he’s sitting on. Link puts his cigarette between his lips before Talon immediately (but gracefully, in cadence with the elegant motion of the whole scene) REMOVES it from the boy’s mouth and adds it to his own mouth.
Link SULKS.
TALON
(said DURING the previous cigarette-lighting scene)
“It’s a funny thing— wouldn’t you know it— but I feel a foul wind creeping up. Can’t say why; all this sunshine, and all this pleasant weather, but all I feel’s a storm comin’ on. And strong, too...”
INGO
“Tarnation! ‘Sunshine’ means ‘heat’ anyway— wouldn’t you know it— an’ the fields at midday are powerful-hot as it is. I wouldn’t so much mind a little bit ‘o shade, I dare say! We’re do a spot of rain, anyway!”
TALON
(sighing)
“Mmm. No crops without rain; no sunshine without the occasional shadow...”
Talon LOOKS BACK at Link.
TALON
“No day without a night, isn’t that right?”
The HORSES are parading around in their corral. All at once EPONA leapfrogs off a bent fence post and goes GALLOPING out of the corral.
Ingo begins RUNNING OFF after the foal.
INGO
“An’ no peace and quiet with such dad-gum crazy piss-head galoot horses!”
The man’s IRATE SHOUTS fade as he runs.
Talon LAUGHS. He EXHALES SMOKE from his cigarettes and LOOKS OVER at Link.
TALON
“Y’know, my little friend, nobility must be served, like I said, but so do a person’s own dreams and desires. What you’re doin’ for the princess is downright admirable— let it never be said it ain’t— but you’re no slave. Not to us, and not to her, you understand? Point I’m trying to make is, well, when these days’re done you have to chart a new course, and I want you to think about that. When you bring Her Highness that sword you’ll have a choice to make— whether you’ve done enough for the girl, or not— and that’s where things get interesting...”
Talon LEANS CLOSER to Link.
TALON
“You know how I feel about the job you do, here. Hell: you’re damn-near ‘indefatigable’, as they say. On top of that, you ‘n Malon are the only two people in Hyrule that can hand-feed Epona without getting’ your fingers chewed off and your noses busted open. And— of course— you know that Malon doesn’t exactly hate you, either...”
Link BLINKS IN CONFUSION at this ironic statement, then he FLUSHES.
Talon PATS THE BOY’S LEG and starts MOVING OFF.
TALON
“Well, I’d better go help Ingo track Epona down before she winds up on the shores of Old Hylia, or someplace farther off, yet. You just take your time in thinking, my boy: there’s no rush. Such things are important decisions, after all, aren’t they?”
Link WATCHES Talon walk off; the boy bears a CONFLICTED LOOK.
Talon follows Ingo FAR OUT into the fields (camera stationary near Link’s rock wall).
Link slowly DESCENDS from the wall; he still appears DEEP IN THOUGHT as he presses the OCARINA OF TIME against his lips. He slowly plays EPONA’S SONG.
EPONA comes into the shaded area from the other side of the field, gently NUZZLING against Link’s side.
NAVI moves out of Link’s nightcap and LANDS on EPONA’S FOREHEAD; the horse tolerates this.
NAVI
(to Link)
“I know what you’re thinking: you don’t know what you’re thinking, right?”
Link looks OFF TO ONE SIDE.
NAVI
“It’s usually so easy to know, and from you of course, but right now even I can’t tell...”
Link LOOKS BACK at THE FAIRY (Epona’s head comes up to Link’s, so both boy and fairy are clearly visible in the shot).
NAVI
“What’re we gonna do, huh?”
Link BLINKS, COCKS HIS HEAD, STARES AT THE GROUND, and then (after a good fifteen seconds) LOOKS at the fairy.
NAVI
“You sure?”
The boy NODS.
NAVI
“Okay... then that’s that...”
NAVI FLIES OFF Epona’s head and lands on the BOY’S SHOULDER; she lies prone on the green fabric.
NAVI
“Easy enough, making such an ‘adult’ decision like that: isn’t it?”
Link FACES FORWARD, EXPRESSIONLESS.
Navi (chin in her hands) NODS SOMBERLY.
NAVI
“Yeah: I don’t think so, either...”
EXT. CASTLETOWN – LATE AFTERNOON.
The same dirt roadway leading up to the moat and main drawbridge of Castletown (Link passed through this area on his first visit into the city).
The sky is covered in CLOUDS, THICK AND DARK, growing blacker over time.
Link is WALKING up the Hyrule Field Road towards the drawbridge. EPONA walks beside the boy; he loosely holds her rein in his hand. A BUNDLED PACKAGE is slung over the foal’s back; it is obvious that this is the DHISE SLAIGHRE.
THUNDER rumbles in the distance.
Link approaches the DRAWBRIDGE only to find it RAISED; the boy is PERPLEXED at this.
Suddenly, as the boy and his horse approach the bridge, a METALLIC CLANK sounds and the drawbridge FREEFALLS down, SLAMMING into the bank near Link with a THUD.
Link recoils and COUGHS at the DUST kicked-up in this event; the sound of HORSE’S HOOVES, distant at first, quickly overtakes all other noises. The boy SQUINTS through the dust, grows WIDE EYED and quickly DIVES out of the way; a horse comes GALLOPING across the bridge, missing Link by inches. IMPA is at the reins.
Link LANDS HARD beside the drawbridge; EPONA NEIGHS and goes RUNNING OFF in some random direction. Link looks after the horse that nearly ran him over; a SMALL PERSON, bundled in a DARK CLOAK, is sitting up in front of the woman; the figure WHIPS THEIR BODY around to look back at Link. It is Zelda; the girl is almost entirely shrouded in the black cloak. Her face bears a GASH along one cheek and there is a SMALL RING OF BLOOD (not her own) around the girl’s LIPS. She is WEEPING HYSTERICALLY and looks back at Link, DESPERATE.
Link gets into a SITTING POSITION and watches Impa’s horse speed away through the fog; the boy CONTEMPLATES this event for a moment.
Link GETS TO HIS FEET, still staring into the fog; SLOW PAN around HIS HEAD reveals the massive SNOUT of a black horse. The horse SNUFFS a loud breath, ruffling the back of Link’s head and sending the boy SPRAWLING FORWARD with surprise. Link looks behind him to see Ganondorf mounted atop a fearsome black horse. The Gerudo Prince wears FORMAL CLOTHES (not battle garments); they are stained with BLOOD in several places. A few small TRICKLES OF BLOOD are visible on the corners of the man’s MOUTH.
Ganondorf STARES DOWN at Link with a WIDE GRIN. It gets even WIDER before he speaks.
GANONDORF
“Wherever doest thou wander, o very little thing?”
The man RAISES HIS RIGHT HAND, slowly, fingers spread.
Link SNARLS at the man and UNSHEATHES his oyster knife; he deliberately moves to BLOCK the black stallion’s path.
Gannondorf quickly CLOSES HIS FIST and RAISES HIS HAND in one cruel, quick motion.
Link’s body is suddenly and violently SUSPENDED off the ground, brought about six feet into the air; the boy’s limbs are FULLY SPREAD and he CRIES OUT with pain. The OYSTER KNIFE falls out of his hand and lands in the dirt of the road.
NAVI ROCKETS towards Ganondorf; the man HOLDS OUT his left hand and SNAPS his fingers. There is a ‘WHOOSHING NOISE’, followed by a streak of BRIGHT PURPLE LIGHT; Navi suddenly LOSES ALL COLOR and falls to the dirt road like a limp housefly.
Ganondorf returns his attention to LINK; the boy’s arms down to the elbow are now PINNED to his side. His head and neck are CONTORTED uncomfortably. The boy WHIMPERS in pain.
Ganondorf GRINS SADISTICALLY and SLIGHTLY ADJUSTS the position of his raised right hand.
CLOSE-UP on LINK’S THROAT: a DEPRESSED GROOVE sinks into his flesh, as if an INVISIBLE CORD were wrapped around his neck. Link clothes and exposed arms and legs show similar perturbations.
The boy RAISES HIS HEAD upward, GASPING for breath.
GANONDORF
“You may have just seen a certain Sheikah whore come tromping through here, recently, hmm?”
Ganondorf DRAWS HIS HAND closer to his face; Link COMES FORWARD through the air like a marionette.
GANONDORF
“Well, my very little thing: that certain Sheikah whore was carrying a most special little cargo. A most special little thing...”
Link SQUIRMS mightily.
Ganondorf ADJUSTS his hand position; Link appears to be caught TIGHTER in the invisible bonds. The boy CRIES OUT with pain.
GANONDORF
“You would call her your lovely little princess. As for me? I would call her my lovely... little... servant-girl!”
Link’s face CONTORTS with anger.
GANONDORF
“Who else but such a helpful little girl would go to all that trouble and remove the Master Sword from its rightful seat of power; the one thing that stood in my way?”
Link GLARES at the man.
GANONDORF
(Laughing)
“Oh, but that’s right! I’m sorry. You must still be operating under a small misconception, hmm?”
Ganondorf again ADJUSTS his hand position; Link moves even CLOSER to the man, within a FEW FEET of him.
We finally see that the GROUND beneath Link’s suspended body is RENT, as if something invisible had RISEN UP from it.
GANONDORF
“I’m sorry: what am I thinking, using such very large words with someone so very small? Let me explain: when I say ‘misconception’ I mean that you have acted most stupidly for yourself, but most brilliantly for me. Dhise Slaighre is an archaic weapon, little child: it existed for use by the knights of the Old Hylian Guard. Those that can use it ‘as a master’. No one alive today has that ability, my very little thing. For generations now the Master Sword has served a very different purpose...”
Ganondorf LEANS FORWARD, grinning.
GANONDORF
“You see: it is a ravenous blade. It draws its breath from all across this devil-cursed land— sucking it dry like some noxious lamprey— and do you know what it drinks, little thing? Do you know what manner of drink quenches the Dhise Slaighre’s unrelenting thirst?”
Link STRUGGLES.
Ganondorf CLENCHES his fist tighter; Link SPASMS in the air, CRYING OUT. The RUPTURE in the ground beneath Link is WIDER.
GANONDORF
“Magic. The sword saps it up, and greedily. But now the blade has been loosed, hasn’t it? Now it thinks that it’s ready for action. It’s done drinking up all the magic of the land. It’s ready to use all the power it has stored up over the ages, waiting for some great knight of the Old Guard to wield it, waiting for someone who will never arrive!”
Ganondorf EXTENDS his right hand; Link RISES UP in the air and MOVES BACK a bit. He SCREAMS as he is forced SPREAD-EAGLE.
GANONDORF
“The princess of Hyrule has just given me a very lovely gift...”
Link’s WRISTS are both TIGHTLY ENSNARED by invisible bonds; his hands are TURNING BLUE. The boy hears THUNDER and EXPLOSIONS in the distance beyond Castle Town’s wall; he looks up briefly (BRIEFLY) to see Koume and Kotake in the distance over the city FLYING on broomsticks, RAINING DOWN lightning and VARIOUS TERRIBLE THINGS on the city.
GANONDORF
“...her kingdom. And I must say, little thing, that she couldn’t have done it without her ‘special friend’... her little ‘knight errant’...”
Ganondorf’s SMILE WIDENS.
GANONDORF
“...her ‘playmate’!”
Link STRUGGLES MIGHTILY, LOWERING HIS HEAD as he fights the bonds.
Ganondorf SCOWLS and GRIPS HIS RIGHT HAND tight.
Link’s body STIFFENS. His head is FORCED BACK, as if the bonds are PULLING HIS FOREHEAD taut.
GANONDORF
“If you ever want to live to see another ‘play date’ with anyone ever again you’ll tell me which way that Sheikah whore went on that horse of hers...”
Link GLARES at Ganondorf defiantly.
Ganondorf’s SCOWL DEEPENS; he ADJUSTS his hand position.
Link’s FLESH AND CLOTHING CONTORT in various places as the invisible bonds TIGHTEN and MOVE over him. The boy WHIMPERS. There is a NOTABLE MOVEMENT of bonds over the boy’s CROTCH.
Link GRITS HIS TEETH, TEARS welling up in his eyes.
GANONDORF
“You can speak well-enough, I think, so I’ll ask you one last time: which way did they go?”
The invisible MOVEMENT over Link’s CROTCH is more pronounced.
SPIT forms in the corner of Link’s mouth. The boy OPENS HIS MOUTH, slowly, and finally lets loose a PIERCING, TORTURED SCREAM. This scream lasts as long as the boy has the breath for it. He quickly grows HOARSE.
In his struggle two of the remaining MAGIC BEANS fall out of Link’s shoulder sash; they BOUNCE over the invisible vines that ensnare the boy as they fall to the ground, DISRUPTING the vines’ function (forcing them into ‘visibility’ in the places they come into contact) and sending Link TUMBLING TO THE GROUND, prostrate.
Ganondorf’s SCOWL turns into a FAINT SMILE.
Link kneels there, prone with his legs bunched up (ie: rear in the air), in AGONY.
Ganondorf brings his horse up BESIDE THE BOY, staring down at the child condescendingly.
GANONDORF
“But— then again— what kind of ruler is totally without ‘mercy’? Hahaha! Especially when a ruler’s subjects so grovel at their feet! I shouldn’t so much condemn you as bless you, little thing: without your ‘expert’ help I would never have seen this moment come to fruition.”
Ganondorf MOVES HIS HORSE PAST Link, CHUCKLING.
GANONDORF
“Go with your ruler’s blessing, little thing, and live your childhood...”
The man TURNS BACK and looks at Link cruelly.
GANONDORF
“...after all: it’s bound to be a very short thing!”
Ganondorf DIGS HIS BOOTS into the side of his horse and gives a CURT YELL; the animal REARS, NEIGHING, and then sets off across Hyrule Field at a GALLOP.
NAVI’S body again BRIGHTENS in the dirt road; she FLIES up, wobbly, beside Link, who eventually FALLS OVER onto his side in the dirt. The boy looks up at the fairy with TEAR-SOAKED EYES.
FADE OUT on this scene.
INT. UPSTAIRS ROOM OF THE OLD INN AT KAKARIKO VILLAGE – EVENING.
It is 12 YEARS LATER.
A decrepit attic space in Kakariko Village’s old inn; now a makeshift STOREROOM for some of the village’s supplies.
A SERIES OF BRIGHT FLASHES reveal several SMALL, JUMPING SCENES: houses afire in Castle Town; locusts swarming farmland fields; an EXTREME CLOSE-UP of a barbed-wire fence with a child (gender unrecognizable) huddled-up beside it and people in the background; Child Link STUMBLING over uneven terrain— dirty and sweaty— leading the foal Epona through a SWAMPY MARSH. The boy TURNS HIS HEAD to face the camera, which FAST ZOOMS on his eyes.
Another FLASH reveals ADULT LINK’S eyes in their place.
Link is BEDDED-DOWN in the attic storeroom with his few PERSONAL EFFECTS lain out in a corner by a partially boarded-up window. Link sits atop a RATTY BOX, MOONLIGHT shining on his face as he SMOKES a cigarette. The TWO CHILDREN from earlier (the boy and girl) sit before him on the floor.
LINK
“But the Goblin King, he was very wrong, you see...”
BOY
“About the sword, right? It did have power, an’ it did kill the Goblin King, right?”
Link SMILES WISTFULLY and shakes his head.
LINK
“No, not about that. The king told the little boy that his childhood would be a very short thing: that it would end ‘soon’...”
Link STARES OUT THE WINDOW.
LINK
“...but the truth is the little boy’s childhood ended that very day, at that very moment. There was no more innocence— no more purity of heart— he was only left with the realization of what he had done, and his helpless inability to fix any of it...”
GIRL
“Why’d the Goblin King let the little boy live, do you think?”
Link STANDS and SHAKES HIS HEAD. He DROPS and CRUSHES OUT the cigarette with his boot and then SURES-UP the loose parts of his dun-colored cloak and cowl.
LINK
“I suppose he was very grateful that the boy acted so stupidly, or maybe he wanted to taunt the boy: to make him witness what he had truly done...”
Link moves toward the ATTIC STAIRS.
LINK
“It’s very late: you two need your sleep. Be good and go back to your beds.”
The boy STANDS UP.
BOY
“What happened to the little boy, though? How does the story end?”
Link STOPS. He doesn’t face the children.
LINK
“The boy... he died.”
GIRL
“But—”
LINK
“The rest of that story’s written by people without ‘innocence’ or ‘purity’: there’s no more room for someone like that foolish child in a story like this. As for how it ends...”
Link begins TROMPING down the stairs.
LINK
“...I haven’t thought that far ahead, yet.”
GIRL
“When you do, will you tell it to us?”
Link STOPS AGAIN.
LINK
“I probably won’t be... around to do that. I’m sure that someone will tell you, though...”
Link again MOVES DOWN THE STAIRS.
LINK
(whispering)
“They can even wait until you’re old enough, if need be...”
EXT. KAKARIKO VILLAGE – EVENING.
Link steps out into the dirt path that cuts through Kakariko, passing the OLD WINDMILL. The decrepit structure SQUEAKS forlornly as the ratty windmill blades spin far overhead.
Link LOOKS AROUND in all directions; he RUMMAGES in his dun-colored cloak and retrieves the OCARINA OF TIME from under his clothes. The instrument’s purple hue is FADED and it is covered in SCRATCHES and BLEMISHES. Link puts it to his lips, CLOSING HIS EYES, and softly plays EPONA’S SONG.
There is a NEIGH from across town (ie: source unseen). Eventually Epona (Link’s horse) comes trotting around a building.
Link MOUNTS Epona; NAVI emerges from his cowl and perches on the horse’s forehead.
LINK
“You can take us as far as the crater ridge, Epona; from there I think it’ll be too hot for horses.”
NAVI stares up at Link with CROSSED ARMS.
LINK
“Oh, I’m not worried about you at all, Navi: you’re icier than a snowball, aren’t you? You should be able to last all day up there, I’m sure.”
Link SURPS Epona on with a SHOUT; the horse goes GALLOPING out of town and up the DEATH MOUNTAIN TRAIL.
EXT. DEATH MOUNTAIN CRATER – BEFORE DAWN.
A sunken crater of hellishly rough terrain that sits beyond Death Mountain’s peak. The rocks are deep crimson and many small fonts of steam seep out of the unstable earth. The air is GREENISH with sulfuric emissions.
Link and Navi move through this wasteland, PAUSING ever so often to get their bearings. At one point NAVI flits over to a certain PASS in the rocks. Link SHAKES HIS HEAD and motions to a DARKER, MORE CLOUDY PATH.
LINK
“It’s this way...”
Navi FLIES UP near Link’s head, her face SKEPTICAL.
LINK
“I just know, alright? Trust me: it’s over here.”
The pair moves through a DENSE LABYRINTH of fulminating geysers and rock formations. Eventually Link comes to a SMALL PLATEAU set deep inside this maze.
SHEIK is sitting near the center of this place, cross-legged on the rock earth. Before him (twenty meters or so) is a SHARP RISE in the rock, complete with a WATERFALL of molten rock cascading down into the depths below the plateau. His back is to Link.
Directly in front of Sheik is a POOL of GREEN WATER; several MIND’S EYE worms swim in the steaming brine.
Link APPROACHES the man silently, although Sheik detects his movements.
SHEIK
“For a man who is no longer searching for one, you have a very odd habit of turning up on one’s heels...”
Sheik has part of the intricate web of wrappings over his body pulled back, baring his RIGHT SHOULDER and part of his ARM. He holds a DISHEVELED CEREMONIAL DAGGER in his left hand and has just completed DRAWING the tip down part of his shoulder, leaving a HALF-MOON SHAPED CUT in his flesh.
SHEIK
“...and it’s so very rude to step on one’s feet, so.”
LINK
“I’m not here to pester you; all I want is some information.”
Sheik moves the blade down his arm and makes another small INCISION along his forearm. By the light of the volcanic flow we see many small HEALING SCARS on Sheik’s exposed flesh similar to the cuts he’s made on-screen.
SHEIK
“Information?”
Link moves in a small SEMI-CIRCLE around Sheik, coming to an ‘8 o’clock’ position at his side.
LINK
“Before you bleed out and lose consciousness, preferably. What in the Goddesses’ names are you—”
SHEIK
“Blood carries life, but it can carry sin, as well. Blood grows back in the body after it’s been loosed; sin fades so slightly over time: like the color of a carpet left lying in a sunbeam. It’s a stain. Loosing the blood is like bleaching the fabric: it makes a body more pure, so slightly more worthy, no matter how unworthy it is to begin with...”
LINK
“Bleaching? It makes it more white, then. Well, before you make yourself as white as a ghost I need you to tell me how to find someone.”
SHEIK puts away his dagger and RISES; he doesn’t face Link.
SHEIK
“Your friend, perhaps?”
LINK
“I have no friends in Hyrule—”
Sheik TURNS HIS HEAD in Link’s direction; his right eye is again BRIGHT RED with a Mind’s Eye worm, even redder than his left.
SHEIK
“Its princess, perhaps?”
LINK
“You’ve got a real set of ears on you, huh?”
SHEIK
“One hardly needs them.”
LINK
“Damn it: look, I know that you’re a Sheikah, and I also know that you were born too young to do anything for the Royal Family, but—”
SHEIK
“But it seems that— in your youth— you did more than enough for that sniveling little bitch of a ‘noble’. Using you to remove Dhise Slaighre... she was an idiot, and even worse—”
LINK
(growling)
“She was a child. So was I. Our intentions were pure. Hers were, anyway...”
SHEIK
“And yours weren’t? What were your intentions, then?”
Link STARES OFF TO ONE SIDE.
SHEIK
“It doesn’t matter, now, I suppose. So now you want to find your old friend...”
LINK
“I met Zelda very briefly, and only a few times; I didn’t say she was my friend.”
SHEIK
(nodding)
“Of course, and I apologize; why would someone claim friendship with one so manipulative, yet so utterly foolish—”
Link STEPS FORWARD, angry.
LINK
“No: because she is the Princess of Hyrule and it’s not my place to call her a ‘friend’. She was nobility; I’m just a commoner...”
SHEIK
“Do you really think her breeding made her a superior specimen? Blood doesn’t make one noble, traveler.”
LINK
“Only sinful, huh? It doesn’t matter I’m not looking for Zelda, anyway, Sheik: I don’t have any specific loyalties to the princess of Hyrule. Look: I want you to put me in touch with the Hyrule Resistance; tell me how to contact the Silver Gauntlets.”
SHEIK
“What business could you have with them? They wouldn’t work with you, anyway.”
LINK
“I need their cartography skills, assuming they’ve got any. The last time I was in Hyrule it was slightly less infested with demonic hellspawn, wouldn’t you know. And why wouldn’t the Gauntlets help me, huh? Because they’re cagey?”
Sheik FASTENS all the scarves over the exposed parts of his body; he LOOKS OVER HIS SHOULDER at Link.
SHEIK
“Because... they are racists.”
Link COCKS HIS HEAD.
LINK
“What?”
Sheik has CEASED ALL MOVEMENT, even breathing; he stares over Link’s shoulder with an UNSETTLING FOCUS. Link DRAWS BACK, unnerved by the man’s rigid and creepy posture. Link finally LOOKS OVER HIS SHOULDER, seeing nothing. He looks back at Sheik.
LINK
“What? What is it?”
Sheik does not answer for many seconds.
SHEIK
“The Princess of Hyrule— being the High King’s whore that she is— she... I can only imagine that she would have been honored to call you a friend, Traveler...”
There is a LOUD CRASHING NOISE from far away in the distance below the crater, like thunder, along with the faint sound of SCREAMS. Link TURNS around with a start, and when he turns back to face Sheik he finds that the man has VANISHED.
Link TURNS around again as the THUNDEROUS NOISES in the distance continue. NAVI emerges from his cowl.
LINK
(whispering)
“Kakariko!”
Link RUNS back through the crater labyrinth.