Walkthrough:The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess/VicGeorge2K9/Part 1

This part will take you through the start of your quest.

The First Day
The story starts with two men sitting in front of a spring, with the older man Rusl sharing his thoughts about twilight to the younger man Link. He feels as if it was the only time when their world intersects with another, the only time they can feel the lingering regrets of spirits who have left their world. Rusl will then ask Link about doing a favor for him about delivering something important to the royal family of Hyrule the day after tomorrow, to which Link silently agrees. They will get up, and Link will walk his horse Epona across the bridge before Rusl locks it up for the night. He will depart to the village with his wife Uli and his Colin after Link's horse has been tied up. However, somebody will let the horse loose without Link's knowledge of it and take her away.

Link will then be summoned by Fado, his boss at Ordon Ranch, to help him herd in the goats at the ranch. Fado will notice that Link's horse is missing. Link will now appear outside his house next to Fado, who will then tell Link to hurry up and bring Epona with him. Head down the path that will be to your left and follow it until you reach a fork that goes to your right. The fork will take you to Ordon Springs, where Link will find Epona with Ilia, the daughter of Mayor Bo, who will say that she had just taken Epona to wash her and that we can now take her. Link will give Ilia a look of gratitude, as if he wasn't expecting this act of kindness from her.

So let's get on Epona and ride her into the village. Head back the same path toward Link's house and then take a right here. You'll now enter Ordon Village, which is the starting place of his adventure. This location also serves as a tutorial for how to use the controls for our hero. Ride along the path until you cross the far bridge and then pass through the gate and go up the hill. You'll now be in Ordon Ranch, where your task will be to herd ten goats into the barn. Here there's no time limit, so you can take as much time as you want to get used to the controls for goat-herding. Generally, you want to get behind the goats and steer them so that they will run in the direction of the barn door. The message GOAT IN! will appear when a goat successfully enters the barn door.

When all the goats are herded in, Fado will then set up some fences for Link to practice jumping over on his horse. You can use the time to practice the fine art of jumping over fences and obstacles with your horse if you want to so you'll know how to do so later on in the game. If you're already familiar with how to do that, or when you're finished with practicing your jumps, just simply jump over the gate and ride the path back into town. The game will then prompt you to save at this point, which you might as well do.

Some random things
It is now morning, and Link is greeted by three kids from the village -- Beth, Malo, and Talo -- who call out to him. Have Link climb down from the window to get to the door and then climb down the ladder to greet the kids outside. Talo will then talk about somebody selling a slingshot in the village and that he has to have it. He will ask Beth if she could loan it since he doesn't have that many rupees to buy it, but Beth will say that she will get into trouble if she did that.

Anyway, let's head into the village. On your left you'll see a guy named Hanch who is staring up at a bee's nest, trying unsuccessfully to knock it down. Go forward to the far bridge, and you'll see Uli, who is pregnant, carrying a basket with her toward the water. Talk to her, and she'll say her husband left early this morning with his sword. She will then ask if Link has seen a cradle lately, which is now missing from her house. Head back toward the large rock outcropping that's across from the waterwheel, and a man named Jaggle who's sitting on top of it will call down to Link. He will then have you come up to where he is, so climb up the vines and then he will tell Link about a cat that belongs to Sera who's sitting near the waters, waiting to catch a fish, and scoffing at the idea. He will then direct your attention toward a special kind of grass that's growing on top of another rock outcropping across from you that you can blow into.

Now head across the next outcropping toward the roof of a house and then leap over two more outcroppings to get to one where there's more of that special grass. Pick it up and have Link blow into it. This is hawk grass, which will summon a hawk for Link to use at various points into the game. One will come and perch onto Link's arm. Use the pointer to aim at the top of a rock out in the distance. The hawk will then fly in that direction, and as we get closer to the rock, we will see that there's a monkey holdining onto a baby cradle. If done right, the hawk will then snatch the cradle away from the monkey and bring it back to Link. Take the cradle then to Uli, who will be so grateful for retrieving it that will she will ask you to bring it to her house. So bring it over there (you don't have to wait until Uli gets there, because she will automatically be there when you do), and she will hand you what her son has been working on for you -- the Fishing Rod. Now we can go practice fishing with it.

Head over to the dock where Sera's cat is and equip the rod to the B button to have the item be ready for use, then make a casting move with the Wii Remote to cast the line out into the water. The object is to watch the bobber in the water and wait for it to sink down and get jerked around in the water, then pull back on the remote and hold it straight in the air. You'll see FISH ON appear on the screen if you're successful or lucky, indicating that you've caught something. What you want to do is catch two fish, the second of which Sera's cat will snag onto and carry it all the way back to her house. Head back over to Sera's house, which is near the rock outcropping where you met Jaggle, and she will tell you how smart and cute her cat is. Though she doesn't know what you've done, Sera will be so pleased she will give you a bottle that's half-full of goat's milk, which will give you a few recovery hearts when drunk. The bottle can later be used to hold other items later on in the game.

Sera will then open up her shop to you, and one of the items she'll sell you is a slingshot worth 30 rupees. You can go around the village and find rupees so that you'll have enough to pay for it. She will then chide with you about being a nasty boy playing with a toy like that when you buy it. Mothers! Anyway, you'll have 50 pellets to start off with and you can replenish your supply by smashing pumpkins to get the seeds.

Chasing after the kids
Once you get the slingshot, head back toward Link's house. Rusl will greet you there, telling you he left something in your house. Equip your Slingshot and fire at the Walltula that is hanging on your ladder to get it out of your way, then climb up and enter the house to open the chest. In there you'll find a Wooden Sword, which will be your main weapon for a while. Go outside to talk to the kids hanging around, and Talo will be so excited that you have the slingshot. The kids will then set up targets for you to practice using your slingshot with, which you might as well do at this point. When you're done hitting all the targets which include the pumpkin heads on the stick figures, Talo will then tell you you'll have to teach him how to use the sword because of the monkeys that are bothering them. You'll enter a tutorial on how to use your sword in which the kids will tell you how to perform certain sword moves. In case you mess up, Malo will mutter under his breath that that wasn't the move and you'll have to try it again.

After the tutorial is over, Talo will then spot a monkey near the path that leads to the spring and the kids will chase after it. Get upon Epona and ride the path to the spring, where Malo will meet you and tell you that they (meaning Talo and the monkey) went past the bridge. Go across the bridge and take the path up into South Faron Woods, jumping over the hurdle that's in your path. Head to the left when you reach the spring and then head to the left when you get to the cave with the gate before it. Pull over and dismount when you see a bushy-headed man sitting near a fireplace outside a house. This man's name is Coro, and he will give you a lantern so you can enter the cave. The lantern runs on oil, which you must be careful to conserve when you use it.

So head back to the cave and light the lantern so you'll be able to see your way through it. (You can also adjust the brightness level of your TV screen to get a better view of the obstacles in the cave if you don't want to bother with the lantern.) In the cave you can light torches along the way so you'll have a better time going through the cave the next time you use it. Follow the path of the cave, burning whatever spiderwebs that block your way with the lantern, until you get to the fork, then take a left and go that way until you reach the other end of the cave. Along the way there will be Keese, rats, and plant-like Boko Babas for you to destroy with your sword.

Outside the cave, you'll now enter North Faron Woods. You'll want to first head for a cave that's to the northwest of the immediate area (indicated by a red spot on your map), so as you travel there you'll encounter Bokoblins that will harass you. Strike them down with the sword to get them out of your way. Inside the cave you'll find a chest that contains a small key. Now head for the gate that's in the southeast of this area and open it. This will take you through a path that leads you to the entrance of the Forest Temple. Along the way you'll see a bird running a shop where you can get more lantern oil as well as red potion for restoring some of your health. He will thank you for slaying the Bokoblin that's directly in front of his shop. Continue up the path until you see Talo in a cage with the monkey he's been chasing, with two Bokoblins guarding the cage. Slay the Bokoblins, then use the sword to break open the cage. Talo will be grateful for Link's rescue as he brings him back through the cave, saying that he and the monkey would have been eaten if Link hadn't come for him. He will have Link promise not to tell his father about what happened to him before he runs off. Then Rusl will meet with Link, telling him that it shouldn't have fallen on him to go after Talo like that. He will then say that things in the forest seem strange lately, and that he feels uneasy about what lies in wait. Before they walk home, Rusl will say that tomorrow is the day Link will head to Hyrule to make the delivery, and if that he's lucky, he may even see the princess.

NEXT: Your last day in Ordon Village and your first visit into Twilight.