Mira awoke to the sound of chirping birds, the smell of fresh bread, and the heat of the sun on her face. She opened her eyes slowly and took in the usual surroundings of her small bedroom.

Chalice was a small town, but also considered some what large compared to some of the other villages in the forest. Still, it only had a population of about ten thousand people. Ten thousand Hylians to be specific.

She crossed her room from her twin sized bed to the wooden wardrobe on the others side. She didn't have many clothes, but she didn't need much. Nobody in Chalice needed much. She had work clothes, a few nice clothes for festivals and other events, and her school uniform.

Mira attended Chalice's Elite Knighthood Academy. The majority of her time was spent there. Six days a week, and at least eight hours a day. It seemed like a lot, but she didn't mind at all. It was her dream to one day be part of Hyrule's Army.

Quickly she dressed in the simple uniform of the academy, brushed her long chestnut colored hair, and climbed down the ladder to the main level of their hut. Her mom was in the kitchen with something cooking on the stove.

"Mira, Mira, Mira! Look what I drew!" Carter, Mira's younger brother, yelled as he hopped off his stool and ran to her holding up a piece of paper. "Wow, that's impressive." Mira said as she took the drawing to examine it. Carter was only seven, but he proved to already be an excelent artist.

"Breakfast is ready." Their mother said. Mira ushered Carter back to the table where they both sat down. Their mother brought over a pot and dished a few spoonfuls of the porridge into each of their bowls. "Thanks mom." Mira said, grateful to get something in her system.

She quickly ate her porridge then ran to the door calling a quick goodbye to her mother and Carter. She grabbed her scabbard which was hanging from a hook next to the door and quickly put it over her shoulder. She ran out the front door then headed for town.

She was almost late to the academy and she definitely did not feel like doing the dishes after lunch today.

When she reached the school she ran up to her friends. "Hey guys." Mira said panting. "Running late again?" Lana asked with a smirk. "Oh shut up." Mira sighed punching her arm lightly. "Guys, look, it's Conan." Gemma breathed staring after him with a dreamy expression.

Conan was one of the best knights in the whole academy. He was also very handsome and definitely popular. Almost every girl in the academy was in love with him, hell maybe even the majority of the town was. All the guys either hated him and wanted to be him or were friends with him and wanted to be him.

Lana and Gemma were unfortunately part of the majority of females that were in love with Conan. Lana sighed dramatically and got the same dreamy look on her face that was portrayed on Gemma's. "Eww, guys. Please snap out of it." Mira said rolling her eyes.

She was in the minority of females. The ones that weren't desperately in love with Conan. She had to admit he was good looking and he did have decent swordsmanship, but she didn't see the big deal.

Finally, Conan was out of sight, thus letting her friends finally join reality. "Jeez. I was starting to get worried when the drool almost dribbled out of Gemma's mouth.." Mira muttered annoyed. "I wasn't drooling! Was I?! Oh I hope he didn't see me!" Gemma exclaimed in panic.

"Oh shut up. Like he would be looking at you." Lana sneered. "Hey!" Gemma yelled glaring at her. Lana just shrugged and smirked nonchalantly. Gemma quickly unsheathed her sword and pointed it at Lana. "You do not want to mess with me!"

"You really think you can beat me?" Lana scoffed unsheathing her own sword.

"Oh it's on."

"GUYS STOP!" Mira yelled just as her friends were about to charge each other. Of course neither one paid any attention to her. They ran at each other and began clashing their swords. Mira just sighed and smacked her fore head with her palm.

She unsheathed her own sword and within ten seconds Lana and Gemma were both dazed on the ground with their swords knocked aside. "Enough guys." Mira said sternly.

Gemma quickly stood up. "Since when did you get so good Mira? My goddess."

"Yeah? Before I even knew what happened my sword was out of my hand and I was on the ground.." Lana agreed in amazement. Mira just shrugged. "Once you two start going at each other, there's almost no stopping you guys."

Just then the bell rang signaling it was time for classes to begin. "We better start heading to class." Gemma said picking up her sword and placing it back in her scabbard.

The three walked to the building together with their swords sheathed. "See you guys at lunch." Mira called to them. "Bye." They replied in unison.

Mira was the same age as Lana and Gemma, but sense she was so advanced, they moved her up a year. She wasn't the only one though. Another kid from her year moved up as well. His name was Link, or so she thought. She couldn't really remember for sure. She never talked to him.

She walked into class and sat down on her usual mat in the large spacious room. For the first ten minutes of class everyday they meditated. Their instructor believed it helped with their balance and focus. Two very vital things for the art of sword fighting.

The rest of the class was seated on mats before the second bell rang a few minutes later. Usually Instructor Hillark would walk in, sit at the front of the class and meditate with them, but he was no where to be seen.

Some students started whispering. Instructor Hillark hadn't missed a single day at the Academy. Not even once out of his twenty-eight years of working there. He was never late either.

Mira just ignored everyone and went on to her meditating. It's what Instructor Hillark would want.

The door suddenly swung open banging against the wall loudly. The class fell silent. Mira couldn't help but open her eyes to see what was happening. Instructor Hillark stood in the doorway looking pale and sweaty. His calm demeanor had completely vanished.

"Conan Redmond, Link Animus, and Mira Whelan with me please." He said. His voice was off. Everything about this was off.

Conan stood up and started walking towards the door. "Quickly." Hillark added with more urgency. Mira stood and followed Conan. Link walked up next to her. Hillark ushered them out the door. "Class, please continue meditating. I will return shortly." He instructed the remaining students before closing the door.

He led the three of them down the hall at such a brisk pace Mira had to jog to keep up. She had so many questions, but instead she held her tongue.

Instructor Hillark stopped at his office to open the door for them. He practically pushed them all inside and walked in behind them. The door slammed shut making Mira jump. She heard the lock click and suddenly felt very uneasy.

She trusted Instructor Hillark with her life, no doubt about that, but he was acting so strange. It didn't seem right. She shared a look with Link. He seemed to be having similar thoughts on the situation.

Hillark never invited anyone into his office. Nor did he randomly pull three students from class and lock them in it with barely any lighting.

"I'm sorry to take you from your learning." A voice said. It was then that Mira noticed the dark shadow behind the desk. "I would've waited until the end of the day if it wasn't completely urgent."

The shadow leaned into the light revealing a man. He was dressed in a dark cloak concealing most of him. His face revealed that he was older, but not too old. Maybe around middle aged.

"Who are you exactly?" Conan asked. He was the only one here brave enough to speak up.

"The name's Doyle. I'm commander of the Hylian army; I get direct orders from Princess Zelda herself." He explained.

Mira's mouth dropped in surprised. The commander of the Hylian army was here, at her school, speaking to her privately. Was she dreaming?

"It's a huge honor, sir." Mira said quickly bowing. "Thank you, but there's no need for that Miss Whelan." Doyle replied with a small chuckle.

"An explanation seems to be in order. Last night Hyrule was attacked by dark forces. We don't have much intell on where it came from or who was leading it yet, but they attacked the castle. Impa made off with the Princess to bring her to safety, but she was not far from the castle this morning. She's alive, but in some kind of trance state. The Princess is nowhere to be found. She's most likely been captured, but we still have a small hope that she managed to escape."

"That's terrible.." Mira whispered quietly.

"No disrespect sir, but why are you telling us this?" Link asked.

"The reason I'm telling you guys this is because I have a mission for you. I need you guys to locate Princess Zelda, make sure she's safe, and help get to the bottom of this..."

"Why don't you send some of your troops? You can have them search multiple areas at once and surely they're more experienced than us." Mira interjected.

"Yes, that does make more sense doesn't it." Doyle said. "Here's the thing I didn't mention, whatever dark force it was has totally brainwashed our troops. Somehow they made an impersonation of the Princess and they have the whole town and army convinced it's her. They're all convinced that last night never happened, except for me of course. I can see right through it. That's why this meeting is so secretive. Who ever is in charge can't find out that I came here. Part of the reason I chose three students for the jobs is one, you guys are the best in school, you're practically knights anyway. Two, you guys can pass for normal people more easily. It's important that the dark forces have no idea what's happening. And three, they wouldn't notice your absence. If I or any of the troops that aren't brain washed left they would know." Doyle explained.

He peaked out the curtain. "Speaking of which I need to get back. If I'm gone too long it'll be suspicious." He stood from his chair and began heading for the door.

"Wait, are you sure we can really pull this off? We're just students after all..." Mira said a little uneasily.

Doyle just smiled. "If you believe, you can do anything." With those last words he put his hood up and left the room.

"There's a few more things I would like to go over with you guys. Please, have a seat." Instructor Hillark said as he took a seat behind his desk. Conan, Link, and Mira all sat in one of the seats in front of his desk.

Hillark rolled out a large map in front of them. "To start the search we're going to go with the assumption that Princess Zelda escaped. So for the beginning of the journey you are to search through this area of woods," Hillark began tracing the map with his finger, "and then head through Kakariko Village. Now, going with the assumption that she was captured, I would like you to get as much info as you can from everyone. Sometimes listening to local rumors actually leads you to the truth. After Kakariko head up the mountain and speak with the Gorons. They usually have great insight. If not, visit the Zoras."

Mira glanced nervously from the map to Link and then to Conan. She loved sword fighting and this was definitely something she wanted to do when she grew up, but she wasn't grown up yet. She wasn't sure if she was ready for a mission. Especially one this important. Their Princess was missing for goddesses sake.

"When do we leave?" Link asked. Mira stared at him. His voice was full of confidence and he held a determined expression. How could he be so okay with this? They had spent their whole lives in Chalice, she had never stepped outside the gates. She was pretty sure that he hadn't either.

"Tonight." Hillark answered gravely.

"Tonight?!" Conan burst out, speaking for the first time. "Why so soon?"

"I'm sure you can understand, Conan...this is an emergency. Hyrule is in severe danger. Dark forces that we have no idea what they are have half the kingdom brainwashed, Princess Zelda is missing, and you want to leave later?!" Hillark exclaimed. A hint of anger was laced in his voice.

"I'm sorry sir, it's just a lot to take in." Conan replied quietly. Hillark's face instantly softened. "That's quite alright boy. I know this is a large task, especially for three students, but I'm very confident that we can succeed!"

"What can we do to prepare?" Link asked. Mira wondered how he could be so unnerved by the whole situation. Or so it seemed.

"Go spend time with your families. You can tell them about the quest, but not what's going on exactly. Just tell them that the academy is putting you on a quest and that it's a very high honor...something to celebrate. You'll leave tonight just after sun down. I will provide you with a wagon, an ox, and some supplies. You can bring a few other belongings or anything else you deem useful for the journey ahead. Any other questions?"

Nobody said a word. Mira was lost in her thoughts. How had it come to this...her dreams were coming true, but at the same time she was terrified. She had no idea what the future would hold. Would she die on this quest? Would they succeed? It all seemed rather impossible. No. She couldn't think like that...she had to be positive.

"Good, you're all dismissed for the day. Return home and tell your family of your quest. Relax and spend the day with them. I will see you all here just after sunset." Hillark said interrupting Mira's thoughts. The three stood and bowed before their instructor then left the room.

"Can you believe this?" Conan said as the three walked down the hall. Mira wasn't sure if she should answer or if it was a rhetorical question. "No...honestly I can't." She answered.

Link remained silent. He didn't seem to talk very much. "Honestly I'm not sure if I even want to go..I mean it seems like such a huge responsibility. I don't think we're ready for this really." Conan continued.

Link turned to him. "Maybe you aren't ready Conan, but I know that I am. Yes, this is a huge responsibility, but isn't this the whole reason why we're in this academy? To become knights of Hyrule's army? All three of us are close to graduating, why not now? Maybe you don't realize this, but this is an enormous honor for all of us. You should be proud that you've been chosen out of all of the students in this academy or any other knight academy out there to try and locate the princess. If you're having second thoughts now, maybe you aren't cut out to be a knight after all." With that Link stormed away down the hall and out of sight.

Conan and Mira stood frozen for a second. Mira glanced over to see a look of embarrasment or maybe fear on Conan's face. Quickly his expression returned to his usual confident and calm demeanor. "Get a load of that guy huh? Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed." He chuckled lightly as if it didn't bother him at all, but Mira could tell that it was forced.

"He's kind of right you know. This is a huge honor, a dream come true, not a burden." Mira said thoughtfully. She wasn't only telling Conan, but herself as well. She was nervous and having second thoughts about the whole ordeal. Now she knew that this was what she wanted.

She walked away briskly leaving Conan alone in the deserted hall. Outside the academy the air smelled sweet and was warm. As she walked she listened to the birds and watched all of the villagers bustling about. Kids running around, mothers scolding mischeivous boys, people in the markets, and she could even see people working in the distant fields harvesting the grain and vegetables. She smiled at a few of her familiar neighbors and waved to some little girls playing with their dolls.

This place was worth protecting. Hyrule was worth protecting. At that moment she realized that she was ready for the journey that lay ahead.