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[History:]
In the beginning, there was only chaos. The Goddesses descended upon this chaos and began to create the world. Din, with her infinite power, gave the chaos the shape of the red earth. Naryu, with her endless wisdom, gave the land law and order. Farore, with her boundless courage, created the creatures that would help uphold the laws that were created. However, all Light always had a Shadow and in order to maintain balance between the two forces the Goddesses created one more being to act in their stead against the darkness that would rise. Before leaving their newly created world, they created a single soul; that of a Hero who would rise whenever the Darkness threatened to destroy that which the Goddesses had created. The last thing the three left in the world was the Golden Power in the Sacred Realm in the location where they departed...
Link was born and raised in the small farming village of Ordon located in the Ordona Province of Hyrule Kingdom. It was an isolated little village, but it provided for most of Hyrule with it's pumpkins, cheese and well known sheep (along with some other goods that aren't brought up). As one of the few young adults in the village (as well as being known as the most skilled rider in the land), Link worked diligently tending the sheep and his mare as well as looking after the children with Ilia, the Mayor's daughter. The adults respected the teen, the children adopted him as their unofficial leader and all in all, life was peaceful, fair and routine. One day, the day that Link would go to Hyrule Castle for the first time to present a gift crafted by the people of Ordon to the Royal Family, the routine was broken. Link's horse, Epona, had suffered an injury the day before and Ilia had taken the mare to the spring to recover, delaying the young man's departure. It was this delay that resulted in Link ultimately running into the Twilight after his friends in an attempt to save them.
Whether it was a curse or a blessing in disguise, one cannot argue that it must have been the Goddesses' design.
It was there in the grasp of a Shadow Monster that Link's Triforce of Courage activated, the power of its light driving off the beast and preventing Link from turning into a spirit. Instead, the hero was transformed into the sacred Blue eyed Beast told of in another race's legends, but not before he passed out from the strain of the transformation. When he awoke later, it was to a dingy cell and a chain on his forepaw. Suffice to say, the country boy was at once confused at being a wolf and just a little miffed at being chained for seemingly no reason. After a few minutes struggle with his bonds, the lupine became aware of another presence in the cell with him.
Enter Midna.
With her help (and a fair bit of teasing from her) Link managed to free himself from the dungeon only to discover the Twilight covered castle. Surprised? There was only more awaiting him at the top of the tallest tower of the castle. Within waited the crowned princess of Hyrule; Princess Zelda. She reveals that because of the decision she made to submit to the Usurper King's demands the land was now beginning to be shrouded in the mist of Twilight. The task of returning the world to Light now fell to Link, and the first order of business was to return to the point where he entered the Twilight. Midna provided an easy enough route back to Ordon spring, but with the one catch that Link couldn't return to his normal body until Faron's Light was restored. Of course, to make things a bit more interesting, the imp had the wolf run around his village to collect something to fight with. Specifically, the two gifts - a sword and a shield - that were to be presented to the Royal family.
After collecting said items, Link re-entered the now Twilight covered and monster infested Faron woods to locate the spirit of Light. Upon learning that the required item to return the spirit to its former glory were located with shadow bugs only visible to wolf Link, the two set off through the forest collecting the 'Tears of Light'. To say that Link was thankful for Midna's help would be true, but it didn't stop him from feeling just a bit of agitation towards the imp and her rather obnoxious tendencies. Her personality quirks would become the least of his worries when he returned the Vessel of Light back to the spirit Faron. It was there that his true form was revealed.
He was the Hero chosen by the Goddesses; destined to protect the land from Darkness for all of time and keep balance between the two forces.
However, that was all that he could recall (or would be allowed to recall) before Midna and Faron told him to go collect a piece of the dark power that lay sealed within the Forest Temple. The knowledge that he was a hero didn't stop him from worrying though, and the Hero's Shade he met along the way berated him for the fear. Overcoming his self-doubt, Link learned the Ending Blow and later completed the Temple with the help of an odd creature named Ooccoo and the monkeys that called Faron Woods their home.
Once the duo collected the first Fused Shadow, the Spirit Faron directed them to the neighboring province of Eldin which was also covered in Twilight and was where the children of Ordon were taken. Once again with Midna's help, Link returned the province to Light and another part of his memories were unsealed; this time the senses that he felt a close association with, such as the sound and smell of an ocean that he has never been to. He wasn't allowed to reminisce long before becoming the middle man for another conflict between groups. The Gorons of Death Mountain protected the next Fused Shadow per Goddess' wishes, but their patriarch had been altered by the black magic sealed within the Shadow. It would take a number of trips between Ordon, a horseback battle and a sumo match before Link was allowed into the Goron Mines to collect the Fused Shadow and free the hapless Goron.
Two Fused Shadows down, one left to go.
With that thought in their minds, Link and Midna set off again; this time to the province of Lanaryu where the last Light Spirit and Fused Shadow lay. Soon they would be have the power to defeat Zant and this journey would be over. Upon returning the last part of Twilight covered Hyrule to Light, Lanaryu revealed to the hero the truth of the dark items that he sought. The revelation also came with the last part of his memories that were sealed along with his soul; the vague memories of people he knew once. Still shaking from the overload of information, Link once again set off to find the final Shadow for Midna. They ran into a few detours along the way, but no matter what Midna thought Link couldn't just leave those who needed help unaided (and the now memoryless Ilia just added to the need to help the Zora Prince). Ultimately, they managed to enter and clear the Lakebed Temple without too many problems. Now that the three pieces of the Fused Shadows were theirs they should be able to defeat Zant.
Then again, when has anything this monumental ever been easy?
Upon exiting the Temple, Midna and Link came face-to-face with Zant and while the Spirit Lanaryu attempted to give aid it was ultimately in vain. Zant pushed the Light back into it's slumbering state and Twilight descended upon the province again. The now lupine hero didn't catch much of the conversation between the Twili, but part way through he foolishly attempted to attack Zant. The result left Link unconscious for the rest of the encounter and stuck in his sacred beast form for an undetermined time. There was only one thing that he was sure of when he woke up, and that was getting Midna help as soon as possible. His own problem could wait (after spending so much time as a wolf, he'd become used to it), but she was in danger.
And he couldn't help the feeling of guilt at not being able to protect her, sharp words and personality problems aside.
It was Princess Zelda who had helped them in the end. After all the memories of her - and he wondered if she remembered him the same way he remembered her - he had expected nothing less. The method though... Even at the knowledge that Midna was now safe from the Light that had threatened her life initially, it didn't quell the ache in his heart.
Midna's distress dealt with but Hyrule Castle cut off from the kingdom, Link headed off to locate the Master Sword. Since the geography of the land had shifted, it took some time before they were able to figure out where the Blade of Evil's Bane resided. However, hearing Saria's Song from Skullkid was something that the hero had not expected but appreciated. It wasn't everyday you get to see your life a few decades to centuries later after all. Upon reaching the Sacred Grove, the Master Sword cut through the dark magic like Zelda had predicted it would and the two traveling companions were left with the Shadow Crystal, an item that allowed Link to transform between his two forms whenever he wished.
As Midna put it; "Since Zant was so nice as to give this to us, we should use it as much as we can."
Upon leaving the Sacred Grove, the companions set out to look for the Mirror of Twilight; something that Midna had brought up in her conversation with Zelda (and something Link had absolutely no recollection of). It took a while, but they were able to find the Mirror Chamber after making it through the Arbiter's Crypt and defeating the cursed Stallord that Zant set upon them, the two were only left to find that the mirror had been shattered into pieces by Zant. Thankfully, the Sages (none of whom looked like the Sages of Link's memories) knew the whereabouts of the other three pieces and so the hero and his companion set out once again to find the pieces of the broken mirror.
The amount of time spent running errands for everyone coupled with the remote locations of the temples did not help them in terms of speed, but eventually the shards were gathered and put together again. The path to Twilight was now open.
But before that, Midna's real identity was revealed to the hero. She was the true ruler of the Twilight Realm, cursed into the form of an imp by Zant. Before she had been looking for a way to exact revenge but after all that had happened had changed her goal to try and help both worlds. It took a few tries for Link to get past all the Shadow Crystals and collect the Sols, but when they finally reached and defeated the Usurper King, the real fiend behind the darkness was revealed. The bearer of the three pieces of the Triforce were coming together once again.
Now that Midna had the Fused Shadow again, the two returned to Hyrule Castle and with the magic of her ancestors successfully broke through the magic barrier and entered the Castle. The castle was devoid of life except in the form of monsters and spirits. With a sense of urgency, Link fought his way through the monster infested halls of Hyrule Castle to the throne room. There, he and Midna finally meet Ganondorf face to face for the first time. The hero couldn't help but wonder briefly if this was the same Ganondorf of his memories...
It was a long fight, even to the point that Hyrule Castle was caught in the explosion of power between the ancient Twilight magic and the Triforce of Power. Link had almost lost hope when he had seen Ganondorf crush the Fused Shadow that Midna wore - a testament to who had won that phase of the battle. After a long struggle, the hero was finally successful in putting an end to the Dark Lord's scheme by running the Gerudo through with the Master Sword. The victory felt hollow as Link and Zelda stood watching the still standing body of the former bearer of the Triforce of Power. It was then that Link noticed the four Light Spirits hovering near the hill where the broken pieces of the Fused Shadows lay only instead of pieces there was an oddly familiar shape there instead.
Hardly believing what he was seeing, the young hero ran to Midna's form as fast as he could only to find that the imp had returned to her original form. He was filled with relief and surprise, but he couldn't help but think that somehow, she saw past that...
"Am I so beautiful that you have no words left?"
It made sense that her personality wouldn't change. Shortly afterwards, the three set off back to the Mirror Chamber to see Midna back to the Twilight Realm. Heartfelt farewells were said before Midna departed, but not before she shattered the Mirror of Twilight completely. He had felt oddly betrayed by the gesture, heartbroken even, but he didn't think that it would have caused the wave of vertigo and nausea that quickly clouded his vision and mind. The last thing he recalled was the sound of Zelda's voice, filled with worry...
His next journey was merely starting.