Undue Visitors
It's been many months since the young Hero of Time saved the land of Termina from Majora's Mask. After leaving the realm behind, the hero clad in green continued his journey to look for his lost fairy friend. Returning to his childhood past just after sealing Ganondorf in the original timeline, Navi left the boy behind without a word. Left unsure and broken about her abrupt departure, he has since then set out to search for her. Navi was one of the few people he was closest to since the very beginning of his life changing journey for Hyrule's destiny. She was also, to his belief, the only other person who knows everything about his original quest in this timeline.
Since returning to the past after saving the world, the hero warned the young-again Princess Zelda about Ganondorf's intentions and what will become of the future if nothing was done. At the same time, for the last relived several days of staying at Hyrule, the young hero embarked on redoing the goods deeds he had done before throughout the kingdom, befriending those he met before, and rebuilding his friendship with the princess from the ground up, until the time came for him to set out on a personal quest to find and reunite with his beloved fairy companion beyond the kingdom's outskirts. Subsequently, shortly after the boy left Hyrule behind, the Gerudo king's true motives were exposed and thus, was imprisoned.
These turn of events eventually lead the hero into stumbling upon the land of Termina after getting ambushed by a Skull Kid, possessed by Majora's Mask at the time, ultimately leading up to a quest to save the realm from its inevitable destruction by the falling moon. Defeating the evil within the mask, the hero parted from Termina with a newly formed friendship bond with the now freed Skull Kid and his two fairy sibling companions to continue searching for Navi.
...
One month…
Two months…
Three months…
Four months…
Five more months go by, for as long as he's been searching after saving Termina, the young hero still hasn't found any trace of Navi or her fate yet and will not stop until he does so, but not without after a short quick visit to the people he knew back home.
One day, Link alongside his beloved foal, Epona, set out to make a quick return to Hyrule to visit a friend of his, and eventually all the others he made. They have been traveling in a big circle, which Link figured out as they were coincidentally heading back to the direction of the expansive but familiar parts of the Lost Woods they came from months ago. This person Link is willing to see first is not only the nearest and by far, the closest of all people he knew back home, but she is someone who Link hasn't seen since helping him get to Ganondorf in the original future. For as long as he's been at Hyrule after being sent back to his childhood, he hasn't visited his hometown at Kokiri Forest, or even get to see his best friend who resides there. She was one of the seven future sages who helped him seal away Ganon and save the land from the evil the Gerudo king brought over.
In the original future, Link visited her not long after leaving the forest to set off on his journey. This time, its been well over nine months or so since they both last saw each other. But, since this friend of his is currently the nearest of all the people he knew from the land, this was his chance to make it up for both of them and keep his internal promise, and he might have an idea where to look first. Not in Kokiri Forest, but her secret place within the one and only labyrinth he knew of in the Lost Woods.
...
It is now just before nightfall. A couple of days worth of traveling through the darkness under the trees of the Lost Woods, avoiding wolfos and cutting through some occasional deku babas along the way, Link, riding on top of Epona, had just arrived at the familiar sight of what's below in the large grassy pit before them. The maze-like area of the Sacred Forest Meadow. To their right was the stairway that lead to the entrance of the Forest Temple.
Link could've reached this place by playing a song he had learned in the future with the Ocarina of Time to warp himself here in just seconds. But his instincts wanted him to give his best friend a more proper reunion surprise if she were there, and he was not yet ready to show her what great powers he had learned in his travels.
He jumps off of Epona and stands still, using his pointed ears to listen. He listened carefully for the sound of music from an ocarina that belonged to his friend; and he hears it. Faint playing notes of his friend's song coming from the temple's entrance. His face lightens with a small smile. She is there right now.
Saria.
But there was something different about it. It wasn't as lively as before, but rather a bit slow with a hint of somberness to it.
Link climbs back up to his horse's back, and descends with Epona carefully sliding down a less steep enough slope on her hooves to the grassy tops of the maze walls. Following his friend's song, they eventually make their way to the end of the maze and stop just before the final ledge. Link jumps off from Epona and decides to go on by himself from there. He jumps down before the stairway entrance and ascends up the path with mixed excitement and anxiety. It's been a long time since he's ever seen his friend again, and he doesn't know how she will react to his return when she sees him.
Making way to the top of his destination, he makes it to the yard of the Forest Temple's entrance. Just beyond the large pedestal with the forest sage insignia was who Link wanted to see most, tonight. Sitting on a short stump and playing a clay-carved ocarina next to the stair ramp ruin was a little Kokiri girl. She was in all green from her tunic, darker colored turtleneck, hairband, belt, shorts, boots, and matching colorful and pretty hair with pointed curved bangs going under her elf ears. A pink glowing fairy fluttered above and circled her head.
Link lays onto his stomach, hiding behind the pedestal and stealthily crawls his way to the left, away from her. He peaks from his cover to observe his friend playing her song.
...
As the song ended, Saria lowers her ocarina to her lap and stares off at the darkening sky, sighing sadly. Her fairy, Nera, flutters in front of her.
"Are you okay, Saria?" Nera spoke in her high voice.
Saria's head drops down, ears lowering in with sorrow. "I'm sorry, Nera. I already told you, it's about Link."
Nera leveled to the Kokiri's face. "Hey, as far as I know, he will come back any day. You know you said the forest spirits said he's still out there somewhere, and I'm sure he would want to visit you first when he returns."
"I know." Saria's voice began to break. "It's just... I miss him so much."
Tears built up in her eyes and began to stream down her face as she explained, small sobs escaped her tightening throat. She uses a sleeved arm to wipe away some of the tears dripping down. Nera hovers herself to the side of Saria's face, patting her with her tiny hands that formed from the ball of light that made up her body, in an attempt to comfort her.
Ever since Link left Kokiri Forest, Saria hasn't been much like herself. True, her other fellow Kokiri friends back home would try to cheer her up, and while she did try to be so from time to time, they don't last too long. Memories of her best friend whom she had raised since she found him in the forest next to the Great Deku Tree, would always come back to haunt her. Even staying away from the village for some lone time out here at her secret place with her fairy as her only company to play her favorite song on her ocarina, she can't seem to truly wash away the emotional memories of him leaving home, and she hated it.
...
From his hiding spot, Link's ears folded back with sorrow, and something inside him ached; something he hasn't felt since being sent back to this time and Navi leaving him so suddenly. For as long as he's lived his life with her at Kokiri forest, he can't remember the last time he saw Saria cry in person. She was sad, so sad that he left her without saying or giving any proper "goodbye" or even returned to say "hi" in this future. Was this how she felt in the original time immediately after he left the forest but only returning to see and make her happy not long after, and later during his seven year absence when he was sealed within the Temple of Time while the land was plagued by Ganondorf's evil powers and forces? When Link was sent back to his childhood, he didn't want to return home without Navi by his side to avoid such questions from all the Kokiri, including Saria, after such a short departure from that appointed time. But was he too selfish for doing that? Link didn't want to think about that now. All of his thoughts were on the fact his childhood friend had been waiting for him since he left the forest in this timeline for too long.
She needed to see him again to let her know he's okay and that he had never forgotten about her. He sneaks around to his right, still in his prone form. Making his way to the other side of the pedestal, he stands back up from cover. Link slowly and quietly approaches the crying green-haired girl on tiptoes. Neither she or her fairy seem to take notice of his presence, so he continued. As he got closer without any of them knowing, he stretches out his left child hand and places it gently on Saria's free right hand that held her ocarina.
Saria made a tiny gasp, head bolting up from her other arm that blocked her now free teary eyes. Nera springs back in surprise and looks straight at the interpreter, pausing in mid air.
Her reddened but bright ocean blue eyes widened as she saw the familiar blonde haired boy standing before her. His own blue eyes looked deep into hers, with a hand reached out and touching her with warmth and reassurance. He still wore the same Kokiri outfit from his tunic to his floppy cone cap since he left home, and he had that tiny smile on his lips which immediately drove out her negative emotions. Her own mouth widened and curved into a smile after she gotten who exactly was looking and standing in front of her. Her heart was pumping so loud and fast it blocked the other noises in the woods from her now straight ears and she held her free hand to her heavily beating chest.
"By the goddess..." she whispered audibly with relief and joy. Her hand drops her ocarina to her lap which slides off her legs and onto the ground, and places her other hand to her beating heart. Without warning, she sprung from her spot at lightning speed, crying out his name and clutched herself onto him. "Link!"
Link spun around with Saria in his arms, surprised and nearly loosing his balance by her sheer power. Setting her onto her feet, they both stood there, embracing each other. Saria held her head on Link's shoulder while fresh tears of joy dripped onto his tunic. Link buried his face into her turtleneck, taking in her pleasant scent of deku flowers that always relaxed him whenever they hugged. They both held on for more than half a minute with tightened grips, making sure they would never be separated again. When they finally broke the hug, Saria looked up to him with glistened eyes.
"I was so worried for you." her voice was weakened. She blushed a little, looking away from Link for a brief moment, wiping her tear stain face with a sleeve before getting a good look at him again. Her voice went back to its lively state when she noticed something different about Link. "My my, I think you've grown taller!"
Saria placed a palm on top of Link's head and vertically moved it to her own. She can tell already he had grown a few inches since they last saw each other, as she was who had been measuring his height for as long as she raised him when he was still a baby. She couldn't help but giggle a little about it.
Link smiled and giggled along. He admits he does feel a little bigger, though most of those feelings were probably from the time he was an adult in the original future.
Saria took both of his hands into hers, crossing each other's fingers. Her petite child face brightens and beams a wide smile, giggling and feeling jumpy again. She felt herself coming back to life, now that Link has returned home. Taking this as an advantage, Link spun with her, making her yelp in surprise, still holding hands. The two children explode into laughter as they spun uncontrollably. When they slowed, beginning to feel dizzy, Link brought her into his arms, holding her close and they fell, Link first on his side to the grass. They laughed with joy as they stayed in their downed positions. A minute later of catching themselves after their little playtime, they both sat up.
As Nera flew above, spinning in a circle over themselves, it wasn't long before Saria realized something was missing from Link when she saw her fairy. "Hey, where's your fairy?" she asked.
His face dropped and he shrugs which she knew meant, 'I don't know.'
"Oh." Saria frowned.
Navi was a subject Link wanted to avoid for another time. So he gets back up, helping his friend to her feet, and pulls out his little brown pouch from the pocket of his tunic (a bag that can hold many things by shrinking them when put away, and back to normal size when pulled out) and reaches into it. Pulling his arm back out, the Ocarina of Time immediately reverts to normal size the moment it was out of the bag.
"Wow! That's a pretty ocarina." Saria awed at the polished violet ocarina, decorated with the Triforce carving on the steel that ringed the mouthpiece. She had never seen such a sparkling instrument before. But where was the ocarina she gave him? "Where's the one I gave you?"
He reaches back into the pouch, and in no less than a second, reveals the clay-carved Fairy Ocarina she had given him just as he was leaving the forest for his first journey. He kept it as a memento of home and of course, Saria. She was happy to know he had been carrying it with him and it told her that he had never forgotten about it or herself. It's no wonder why he came back to visit her here.
Link slips the Fairy Ocarina away, shrinking in size as it was brought back under the pouch's flap in his pocket. He positions the mouthpiece of the Ocarina of Time to his lips, closing his eyes in concentration, and plays the first six notes of "Saria's Song" with perfect ease. It was a song she taught him how to play in the future that he has been playing during his travels beyond Hyrule. He repeats the melody again, this time, extending the song even further. When he finished, he lowers the ocarina and reopens his eyes.
Saria's own face lit up with shock and placed a hand over her chin, silent for several seconds before speaking. "Y-You know how to play my song?" she said in awe.
He nods. The silence between them made Link uneasy. Without warning, Saria started bouncing and giggling ecstatically, clapping her hands below her face. Link was taken by surprise from her sudden joyous response.
"How did you know?" she asked, voice filled with joy.
In his usual silence, he expresses himself with his face and shoulders in a way to say, 'I just do.' Link wasn't a very talkative person as always. There were times he does speak, but very little, and times where he doesn't say anything at all. It was something Saria and most of the other Kokiri have learned to respect for as long as they knew him.
"Oh Link," she started again. "I'm so happy for you!"
Link smiled in contentment, relived that his friendship with Saria was still strong.
"I've always wanted to teach you this song since you left, in case you would come back, which I knew you would. It's a very special song that you can talk to the spirits of the forest with it, even to me through our fairies. That is... if you still had your fairy. I usually play it out here at my secret place that no one else knows about, but I knew you would find me here someday."
Link pretended to learn what she was explaining was something entirely new to him as he listened. Everything she had told him was something he already has learned in the original timeline. Though Zelda and the Royal Family were exceptions, Link never wanted anyone to know he came from the future, especially those closest to him. He didn't want them to know he knew about the places he's already been to or what happens then, despite repeating the good deeds he had done before in his original childhood, and he didn't want to frighten or disappoint Saria if he shared this to her.
Saria turns and walks over to her stump and sits. She scoots to her left and pats a hand on the empty space beside her for Link to come over. He follows her gesture and sits on the space next to her. The children sat there for a moment with silence, admiring the view of the temple's front yard, and the peace and quiet of the night. Stars glittered in the moonless night sky, while fireflies flew over the yard, leaving trails of light behind them. The only sounds in the air was the calm summer wind and the chirps of several night bugs, frogs and birds.
"Link," Saria broke the silence, making Link turn to her, "before and right after you left the forest, I... I had a sensation that whenever I'd come here to play my ocarina, I'd feel as if this place would be very special for us in the future. Something greater than what it is right now."
Link's heart raced hard with anxiety to the point where it blocked the ambient noises of the night. He knew what she was talking about and what that would become of her in the future. He tries not to show any signs of his nervousness.
"But, that feeling I had just... disappeared all of a sudden when I came back here one day." She sounded both worried and confused, staring off into space. "It's as if something had told me that what I felt for so long was no longer important. It was on the same day when everything in the forest started to go back to normal. All the monsters who stalked the woods suddenly just left without a trace, and a new Deku Tree sprout grew before the Great Deku Tree's remains to grant us our protection once again. I tried asking him about what these feelings I've been having were about, but he refuses to share that knowledge as he told me it would potentially alter my life. I don't know what happened that day, but I still consider this place my favorite hangout to spend some time alone with my fairy. It's just... strange."
After Saria finished, Link felt relief more than he ever did in a long time cast over him. A tiny smile tried to form on his child lips that he forced back. Link knew and understood what she must've been talking about, because he knew what those old feelings were for her and what they meant. Saria was the "Forest Sage" in the original future, and he knew how real it was when he experienced it himself when he came to rescue and awaken her at this very location within the temple that sat behind them. Now, it's as if the forest spirits have somehow in ways they can't explain tell her that this was not going to happen this time.
This also firmly tells him that Ganondorf has failed to take over and curse all of Hyrule as before, which he knew already, long before he even got here as there was not a single presence of Ganon's powerful black magic anywhere in the world, not even here in the forest for which he was very thankful for. Though he has yet to hear what happened to the Gerudo king and sorcerer, he knew that evil man is now out of the picture for good and that Saria no longer felt the importance of this place as before. Because of this, Link truly believes that she was not to be a sage in this future. All of this was thanks to his warnings to the Royal Family and after the princess entrusted him with the Ocarina of Time to take far away with him to prevent such disastrous consequences. He knew he could trust their word after taking the whole situation to a whole different level.
Link knew what becoming a sage meant and what the costs were, but if this is what the case will not be this time, he has never been better to know that Saria will still be around for what he hopes for the rest of his life to be like this at this secret place of her's where they can still hang out with each other. He also wonders if this sage absence is true for the rest of the six future sages, particularly the Princess of Hyrule for good reason. Link doesn't know what became of Saria and the others after helping him save Hyrule in the original timeline, but all he could do is wish them the best, without him there.
As the silence kicked in again, Link unstraps his hero's shield and the Kokiri Sword, now forged into a gilded sword, off from his back and sets them aside against the side of the stump. Then, he lifts the Ocarina of Time to his lips and begins playing Saria's Song in a slow, calm pace, swaying his body to a side to side motion. Saria watched and listened how well Link was able to play her favorite song. A minute later, Saria positions her fairy ocarina to her lips and plays the song along, together. It was a song that symbolizes their forevermore friendship, and they've played for what seemed like minutes on end.
...
Nera fluttered lazily above their heads, listening to their song as it went along, until going to a sudden halt when she sees something in the sky.
A shot of bright light in the moonless sky bolted from right to left in lightning speed.
Then there was another that followed...
And then another...
Then another...
Nera turned around and called out to the two children. "Hey, guys! It's starting right now!" she exclaimed.
Saria stopped her performance at the sound of her fairy's voice shouting out loud and looked up to see both her, who was now glowing a green hue, and half a dozen shooting lights bolt past the starry sky above. She gasps and her eyes widened. She almost forgotten what tonight was, and she didn't want herself or Link to miss it. But he didn't seem to pay any attention of what's going on and continued playing her song.
"Link," she patted his shoulder to get his attention. "look up!"
Interrupted by Saria's touch, he turns to see her pointing up at the sky, throbbing excitedly at her spot. He looks up, and the boy's expression went to astonishment as he saw the activity above them.
Hundreds of thousands of shooting stars lit the night sky, illuminating the night with flickering dashing lights. Link had seen shooting stars before once in a while in the sky when it's dark, but never in his life had he seen so many at once. It's as if the all the stars in the night were on the move.
"It's so beautiful!" Saria commented. She looked at Link to share something to him. "It's a rare event that happens every 37 years, and I never thought I would get the opportunity to see this one with you, before you would leave."
Link looked at her with suspicion, her lightened face weighed down. There was something else Saria wanted to confess to her best friend. She couldn't keep whatever she has left to say a secret any longer.
"Link, I'm telling you this because..." there was a long pause of silence. "I've always known you were Hylian."
His face went to shock, jaw dropping open. She knew what he was all this time? Link was about to force out a question, but quickly stops himself. He didn't dare to make Saria any more uncomfortable with spoken words than what her expressions already told him how she felt.
Knowing what he was going to say, the ashamed feeling Saria continued. "It's something the Great Deku Tree told me when he summoned me to bring you in when you were little, next to his side. We both wanted to keep it a secret from everyone else, so you wouldn't feel like an outcast with the rest of my friends, until the time came for him to tell you about a 'great destiny' you had ahead of you. I don't know what exactly he told you before he died, but I knew that day would be when you would leave the forest, which I feared. Only the Deku Tree, Nera and myself knew what you were all this time. After the Deku Tree Sprout grew, he told me the forest spirits said you've already figured out what you really were before you left Hyrule."
Link just stared at her, unbelieving of what she was telling him. His best childhood friend, who had raised him since he was an infant, knew what he was all along, and she kept it a secret from him and the other Kokiri so that he would live happy with the rest of them until that very day that changed his life forever came. His elf-like ears drooped, and he felt the side of his eyes burning.
Saria took notice of his hurt expression. This had reminded her of the last time they saw each other on the day he left the forest. The same day when she had heard the Great Deku Tree had died and Mido spreading the rumors of Link being the one responsible, right after saying their farewells to each other. The same day she waited at the bridge, hoping it wasn't going to be that time. When it was, she gave him the Fairy Ocarina for him to remember her, and she remembered seeing the pain he tried to force back in his eyes, the way be backed away from her while still he tried to give a reassuring smile on his lips before taking off in a heartbeat. She could've sworn she saw see his face scrunch up with sadness the moment he turned away and could still see it even when viewing from behind. Although it was likely because of what's been happening back home that day, Saria feels she made him feel even more uncomfortable and broken, considering how he reacted after giving him the ocarina, not giving anymore strong affections but signs of forced back pain and depression, something she can detect from him very easily. Now she has done it again after telling the truth she kept to herself from him.
Her own ears lowered to the back of her head. "I'm sorry, Link."
She quickly turns away, horrified, unable to look at him any longer and squeezing her arms around her abdomen. The tears that had been forming up again in her eyes spilled out. What had she done? She had damaged their friendship, again, and she braced herself for the worst.
But instead, she feels an arm gently wrapping itself around the back of her shoulders and pulling her in towards Link. Her form was pressed against his, and her head rests under his chin. The feeling he gave off was warm, soft and soothing. Taken aback by his bold move, she looks up to face her friend again. Though he did have watered eyes, his face held a smile that told her only one thing, 'I forgive you.'
Saria smiled back. Even in the amidst of after sharing a most hurtful secret she kept from Link for so long, and after giving him the Fairy Ocarina which made him fragile enough to run with little hesitation, their friendship has never broke apart. She leans into Link's body, wrapping her arms around him and burring her face into his neck, while the hero helped pull her in further with both arms around her back. A sigh from Saria was all that was heard from their long embrace.
"Aww, how sweet!" Nera playfully interjected.
Still holding on to each other, Saria pulled away first to face her fairy. "Nera!" she retorted back, trying to hide her smile.
"What? I'm just trying to lighten the mood." the fairy teased.
The children giggled. It wasn't long before Saria decided to change the subject back to the shooting stars that still went on in the sky. After all, they still had all night long to see it together.
"Come on." she patted his left arm.
Saria lets go and slides from her stump, sitting herself on the ground, leaning her back against the aging wood, watching the celestial shower and tucking in her legs. Link followed and did the same. They sat and watched the shooting stars for several minutes with nothing to disturb them from their moment of peace.
"You know, Link?" Link turned to Saria, still watching the shootings stars with her head rested in cupped hands, elbows resting against her tucked legs. "It's been said by those outside of the forest that if someone with a good balanced heart makes a wish to the shooting stars, they are guaranteed to come true, however long it takes to become so." she looks over to Link. "I know you have a balanced heart. Do you have a wish?"
Link nodded. He does have a personal wish he wanted to fulfill, besides reuniting with Navi one day. But, it's a subject he wished to discuss with her hopefully by tomorrow when he shares a bit of his travels in Hyrule after they head back home. Making his wish to the shooting stars in his thoughts, he jerks his head in a way to ask what Saria's own wish was.
She looks back towards the sky with a dreamy expression, sighing in content. "Sometimes whenever I look at the night sky, I wonder if there's some other place out there. Not just the forest, but the whole world we live in." Turning back to Link, she clarifies something before she continued. "Ever since the Deku Tree Sprout grew several months back, he has given us Kokiri the ability to leave the forest without aging. Something the Great Deku Tree always wanted for us."
Saria could see his face lightening up. Link was glad the Deku Tree's successor had grown in place of the original to take care of the others while he was away.
"Because of this, I wish I could see what's beyond Hyrule. Maybe there is someone else out there willing enough to greet us, and wondering what it's like here." she pauses before asking one last question. "Do you think we'll meet them?"
Link only shrugged to say, 'Maybe'. As long as if it isn't another life threatening incident or worse, it would probably would be nice. Saria was right about worlds far away from Hyrule, but Termina was something Link wanted to keep secret from everyone for the sake of its isolation.
Feeling the urge of tiredness creeping over, Saria lets out a little yawn, stretching her arms wide and lazily lowers her eyes. The sleepy Kokiri girl shifts closer to Link and leans against him, resting her head on his shoulder and shutting her eyes gently, while the young hero slides an arm around and pulls her closer and rests his own head on top of hers. It's been a long time since they last slept together at a secluded spot, and they were now making it up for his long absence. Her sweet forest scent made Link's eyes feel heavier and quickly made him drift to sleep. Tomorrow, he will share with her and the others at home little of his travels before moving on to visit everyone else in Hyrule and hopefully fulfill his wish he mentally made to the shooting stars about someone else he knew since meeting them in the original future.
Nera, stretching her orb of light form and making a tiny yawn herself, flew behind Saria's head and disappears behind it, settling herself to slumber. Her snoozing barely heard within the green colored hair.
The meteor shower continued for hours into the night. By this time, it was at its final minutes as the shooting stars became fewer and fewer. But the night remained the same as every other night over Hyrule.
The outdoors were peace and quiet with the chorus of nighttime bugs and animals in the calm evening air, while monsters became active at uninhabited areas, such as Hyrule Field. Lon Lon Ranch at the center of the field remained quiet with its raised horses brought indoors into the barn with the rest of the animals where they are protected for the night until their daily exercise to the farm's paddock by the next morning. The only noises heard outside to be reckoned with were the flocks of gauys that cawed through the rest of the night, as it always has been so.
To the north, the usual busy crowded Hyrule Castle Town remained calm and empty as the citizens had either left or went back to their houses in town for the night, while the streets were patrolled by Hyrulean guards and the townsfolk's dogs. Many of the shops were closed for the night and the drawbridge, the passage to the town across the Zora's River, has been raised to protect its civilians from the monsters that became active at this time.
The small community of Kakariko Village to the northeast, right next to Castle Town, was just as quiet (if not, quieter) and predominately empty, until the next morning when the construction of the village becoming a full fledged city shall continue. Elsewhere in Hyrule, the rock eating Gorons of Death Mountain, the amphibious fish-like Zoras of their domain, the child-like Kokiri of the forest, and the all-female nomadic Gerudo of the desert, all had their settlements active in their own respective ways for the whole night. Many of those who stayed up at this appointed time were fortunate enough to see the meteor shower, a rare sight that occurs every 37 years or so that cascades the night sky, in its final moments.
The night itself was as if nothing else significant was going to happen.
...
There is a sudden faint quake that is felt throughout Hyrule Castle Town.
The town dogs began barking and the night guards stood their ground, prepping themselves with their spears and shields. The ground remained still for several moments, the dogs still barking aloud in the streets and houses.
Another quake shakes the marketing town, stronger this time, enough to be felt and heard from the marketing town, all the way to Hyrule Castle, Kakariko Village, Lon Lon Ranch, and Death Mountain.
Then there was a third...
Many of the residents rushed to the windows of their homes to open and take a peek, while others busted out their front doors. The guards marched through the streets and alleys of town and the next door village, coaxing everyone to remain in doors and announcing out loud for everyone to keep calm. The Gorons just outside their city on Death mountain unrolled themselves the moment they felt and heard the second tremor and frantically looked up the mountain. Some of the guards below turned their attention to the volcano the Gorons call home. The volcano, Death Mountain, has been active for the last few centuries, and earthquakes do occur from it in rare occasions. But these tremors everyone has been feeling were frequent than ever, and the clouds above the mountain's peak were normal looking, indicating that the mountain was at a peaceful state.
When the fourth quake happened, a bright flash of light, with no identifiable source, pulsed and illuminated the thin clouds above the kingdom. Everyone looked up, realizing these tremors weren't coming from Death Mountain, but the sky itself.
There was another, quake, and another light flashed, only it was an orb of pure white light this time. It stays there, pulsing again with more bright flashes and an aura of cyan to light blue colored light circling the anomaly.
As the orb of light grew bigger, the ground continued shaking, the spiraling winds felt by those at Castle Town and the castle itself, picking up pieces of debris along with them. There was a loud rumbling noise that came in waves and slowly getting louder. Many Hylian residents stood out or peeked from their confined homes and residential areas to glimpse at the activity above while the guards of the towns continued to persuade the citizens to remain calm and to stay indoors. Elsewhere in Hyrule, individuals outside of the civilized areas took immediate notice of the sky anomaly's activity from as far north as Dampé from Kakariko Graveyard, to as far south as the Lake Scientist from his house and laboratory at Lake Hylia.
Several Gorons rolled out of the entrance of their city under Death Mountain in single file onto the mountain trail. Stopping at a halt at the cliff's edge, they joined the other Gorons outside to see the sky anomaly beyond the canyon where Kakariko Village is settled below. The Zoras of their domain rushed out to the Zora's Fountain, the source of all Hyrule's water and the lair of Lord Jabu-Jabu, in a panic that their gargantuan guardian deity may be in danger. Instead, they look towards the west to see the chaos of the sky anomaly beyond. To the northwest, the Gerudo people have been on high alert since the quakes started and had no problem spotting the formation of the lights in the skies. They were just as disturbed as all the other neighboring races of the land, but they were more prepared for anything as they watched the unexpected anomaly grow each second. The Kokiri, however, were totally unaware of the sky anomaly's formation in the distance from their tree hidden sanctuary, but they were frightened and shaken-up of what they've been feeling and hearing. They don't know what may be causing these disturbances and they hope their village is protected from what may be coming.
...
Meanwhile, the animals at Lon Lon Ranch were at a state of unrest. The cows and horses, startled by the rumbling of the earth were causing a total ruckus, unable to be calmed down by the hard-working farmhand, who was still in his white nightshirt and cap, Ingo. The hotheaded man bursts out of the barn in a furry with a rake inhand, smashing through the farm house's doors, breaking the nob off, startling the residing cuccos, making them fly into the air and creating a shower of feathers. Ingo darts his eyes left to right, searching frantically for the farm's owner. Not seeing the owner anywhere, he charges up the stairway and swiftly opens the door to the room of the second floor: Malon's room.
Inside, Malon, another one of Link's best friends, was at the window closest to her bedroom door. She was resting on her belly against the window sill with the shutters wide open and sticking half of her body outside. She had woken up by the disturbances of the sky anomaly's formation to the north, which she is able to see from her spot. She was distracted and frozen by the sight, not paying attention to the flocks of guays flying away southward or the enraged farm assistant breaking into the house.
The door right next to Malon jerks open, startling the young redhead. Ingo's face was burning red with anger and stress, huffing through gritting teeth. Looking over at the wooden table in the middle of the rather large room, sure enough, was Talon, the farm's owner and father of Malon, snoozing about on one of the three chairs and still dressed in his daytime attire. A snot bubble inflated from his nose as the man in red and blue snored loudly.
"Why the bloody hell did you not wake your father!?" Ingo snapped at Malon, who back herself from him, shaken up.
The farmhand growled as he stomped over to the table side on bare feet across from Talon. He lifts his rake over the table and stomps the end of the handle hard on the clothed wood.
BANG!
"I'm up! I'm Up!" Talon jolts up, spazzing his arms up. After calming down and looking over across the table, the obese man saw Ingo staring at him with fire in his eyes. Oblivious of the quakes and the situation, he dumbly scratched the back of his head and asked, "Is it morning already?" confused by the darkness of outside.
Ingo facepalmed and shook his head side to side, annoyed, but not surprised. "Those sodding animals are out of control, I can't clam them down on my own!" he shouted.
Talon quickly stood up with worry. "What? Oh dear! On my way. I'm on my way, Ingo!" he ran past Ingo who blocked himself from the gust of air as Talon dashed out of the room, knocking one of the chairs in the process.
"As for you, girl," a more but not totally calm Ingo pointed at Malon, "get back to bed while your father and I take care of your animal friends." the grouchy man walked over to the open window, pushing the girl aside, and shuts the shutters close. "And stay away from the windows. There is something going on outside and let us do the work."
He slams the door, hard, in front of Malon and rushes back down the steps. Malon stood there in utter shock. She was hurt by Ingo's rude acts, but she was more concerned about the situation outside. She had never seen anything like what she just saw in the sky before in her life. What ever it was, it was scaring the animals in the barn and the cuccos in the house, and she can't do anything to help without getting into trouble. What is going on out there?
...
Atop of her tower at the castle, young Princess Zelda bursts the shutters open in a swift motion. In just her pink nightie with matching slippers and her blonde hair disarranged from the hours of sleep, Zelda stares in horror as she sees the anomaly ever growing larger, dense clouds forming around it, and the cyan colored glow becoming more intense in the sky. Entranced by the sight, she doesn't even hear the bedroom door down the steps open and someone rushing in.
"Princess!" Impa's voice called out to her. But the princess didn't respond.
Zelda's eyes were fixed at what was happening just above Hyrule Castle Town, mouth gaped, hands resting on the sill, feeling the air swirl around her with little pieces of debris flowing with it. When two strong arms wrapped themselves around her and pulled her back in, she immediately snaps out of it as she felt the familiar presence of her attendant and sworn protector and sinks herself further into her.
"Impa!" Zelda cried out to her nanny who held her tightly.
Both females watched the sky anomaly grow bigger and brighter every second. The chaos lasted for a few minutes until more activity lights up. There was now lightning of teal color sparking out of the light of the anomaly, followed by a loud low-pitched sound which seemed to silence everything. Suddenly, the quakes became stronger just as another extremely loud roaring sound comes to life and the bright white light turning brighter than earlier.
Impa curses under a whisper, knowing what might be coming next. The Sheikah woman stood up and quickly shuts the wooden shutters with a bang and locks it with the latch. Bending back to Zelda's level, she commanded, "Keep your head down!" and scooped Zelda into her arms close to her torso, a hand placed on the back of the girl's head. The frightened little princess buries her face into Impa's body, wrapping her arms tightly around her back.
A sharp cracking sound splits through all the background noises, rays of light from the anomaly seeped through the closed, rattling window shudders and a massive shock wave shakes the entire castle. Accessories and furniture from the princess's room rattled audibly. Impa and Zelda kept their balance as they braced themselves against the force of the blast.
...
The light from the anomaly shone brighter than ever, illuminating the dark night over Hyrule, blinding the viewing bystanders. The shock wave that is produced by it ravages across every corner of the land, felt by everyone. Those close enough to the anomaly braced themselves or nearly lost their balance by the blast. Few glass windows at the market town shattered into millions of pieces, the street dogs took cover under whatever they could find, and the guards shielded their faces from the intensity of the flash and the flying window shards.
After the shock wave passes, the bright light dims down and the tremors weakened. The white glowing orb was now replaced with something else nobody in Hyrule could explain. A circular image appears in the center where the orb once was, floating in mid air. Its sides moved in a very distorted manner. The air around it looked as if the view of the sky was being pulled back outward by the anomaly's force and accompanied by a series of low rumbling sounds.
It grew considerably in size at a fast pace. In just thirty seconds, the reflection grew to be larger than Castle Town itself. By the time it reached that size, the tremors stopped, the only noises that remained was the wind being generated by the anomaly and the thunder produced by the lighting that surrounded it.
Panic had settled in among the citizens of every race in Hyrule, all shaken up by the chaos. The mysterious anomaly remained calm and quiet after its rather extremely violent creation. The night sky was hardly visible, where the last of the shooting stars cannot be seen properly, hidden behind the layers of rotating clouds with lightning flashing around the anomaly.
The reflection or image it had was too hard for anyone to make out. The center of the anomaly's reflection was a large black colored structure of some sorts, illuminating a pillar of light in the middle of it. The area around it was hard to identify anything distinguishable, other than seemingly it was during the daylight hours, with the sun lowered as if any indication of the yellowish hue. Overall, the image the anomaly was showing was too blurry and disoriented by waving streaks of light.
Nobody can make out what exactly it was. Many fear this is an act of black magic conjuring, while others perceive it as a granted wish to the shooting stars for uncertain malicious intentions. But those who knew better know the former can't be true, as the wishes made to be true to the celestial show behind the anomaly's clouds could only be from those with hearts of stable good. The Gerudo, in particular, feared this may be a sign or attempt of the return of Ganondorf himself. But few individuals knew this was impossible; the dark lord of their people is securely locked away at the Arbiter's Grounds where no escape was possible.
All citizens of Castle Town and Kakariko were confined in their homes, panic stricken. The guards outside kept sure none got out for their safety sake and never kept their eyes off the sky, nervous but ready for more probable inevitable concerns. While the Kokiri raced back into their tree huts when the shock wave was felt in the forest, the Gorons and Zoras remained outdoors out of fear to see what happens next; and the Gerudo held their ground to protect their settlement from what might be coming next.
...
Cautiously, Impa reopens the bedroom tower window, and gazed up at the sky, seeing what the anomaly has become now. Her mouth gaped open. In place of the bright orb of light was the free floating image in a disoriented circle, filtered with unnatural colored lightning streaks within its feature and surrounded by swirling dense clouds that overcast where the clear night sky once was, directly above Castle Town.
What sorcery is this?
Zelda steps beside the silver haired Sheikah woman to take a look for herself. But Impa kept her back from the window with her right arm, wordlessly bringing the princess behind her back. The princess, however, was still able to see the strange phenomenon in the sky from her spot, leaning over behind her attendant.
Impa carefully observes the anomaly by every inch, examining its aspects and nature for any potential danger. But it just remained there for over a minute with out anything else happening, and besides the thunder and low rumbling noises it was producing, was awfully quiet for such a massive occurrence. The air in the atmosphere was calm, still, and unsettling, giving an uneasy vibe which Impa could feel; her protectiveness for the princess becoming more excessive. She could tell the princess was feeling the same thing, as if any indication of her grip slowly tightening around her right leg. The young hero who traveled through time never mentioned anything like this before, so there is no possibility this could have anything to do with Ganondorf.
But the question remains: what is this phenomenon in the sky and why was it brought here? Impa thought what it could be, but she cannot jump to conclusions at this point without full confirmation.
To make things disturbing, there was not a single presence of any magical essence coming from the anomaly. Zelda herself can easily tell if the aura of a specific person, condition or event is good or evil. But this, for something enormously disruptive and supernatural, was empty; devoid of anything magic related at all.
Something isn't right. Both princess and Sheikah can feel it.
Before Impa could turn back to bring Zelda downstairs to her father, something catches her ears. A very faint low-pitched continuous buzzing noise can be heard coming from the anomaly itself. Squinting her eyes, Impa could see new movement within the imagery. Half a dozen undetermined shapes with what appears to be 'wings' start to grow in size and the buzzing sounds were getting louder, like their getting closer...
The moving shapes were too blurred to make out further, but as they got larger, there was a flash of white light which shines over the anomaly, a brief faint tune-like noise plays as it did. The buzzing sound was now clearer to the ear, yet still significantly far away, and a figure emerges out of the pulse.
An insect shaped entity hovers in the air, heading into the direction of the castle. It suddenly makes an uncharacteristic yet graceful twist and turn to Castle Town, using its front limbs that were tipped with a pair of pointed 'wings' and blue glowing lights at the base. The four rearmost 'legs' were also tipped with blue lights, the topmost legs being longer than the stubbier ones beneath them. It had four extra slender legs in the center of its body, carrying what could only be described as a black streamlined container of sorts.
More similar bug-like creatures, each carrying a container of similar design, followed the first's entrance to this world, all heading in different directions towards unspecified destinations. Soon enough, another different shaped being spawns out of the anomaly. Its whole body resembled a giant mosquito's head, completed with compound eyes and tiny pairs of limbs on its sides, a strange fan-like structure on its rear, a luminous blue glow on several areas of its pale underbelly, and an elongated 'snout' that made up most of the body, ending with a slender pointed tip. Unlike the other creatures, the sounds it was producing sounded like a propeller and even an occasional deep, pinging growl was heard. It headed straight south to Hyrule Field where the majority of the cargo carrying creatures flew.
Along with the strange creatures, a swarm of tiny dark specks emerge out of the anomaly in little pulses. Once they entered this world, two beams of light shine out from each of them like little flashlights, all heading to random locations, including the castle.
...
The first dropship swoops over Castle Town, rattling the buildings as it passes by. Approaching the open space of the Central Square, the free six crafted-in engine legs extended outward to a break in midair before retracting. The legs open up again, the front ones raising above its body level and the four behind it lowered; the three toe digits of the small lower thrusters and the panels on the larger ones extended forward.
Debris and dead leaves kick up into the air by the turbulence of the incoming dropship. Trees, the water of the square's fountain and flowerpots on the town windows blow along with the air disturbances. The dropship hovers between the fountain, the Shooting Gallery and the Bombchu Bowling Alley, facing southward. A continuous hooting sound emits from the creature as it gracefully descends, snapping off the arrow from the sign above the Shooting Gallery's entrance.
Hoo-Hoot! Hoo-hoot! Hoo-hoot! Hoo-hoot!
Its metallic container nearly touches the ground by a few inches off. Street guards took a few cautious steps toward the dropship, spears ready and shielding their faces from the gusts of air from its now easing out thrusters. They watched as a hatch from the front of the container falls forward, hitting the old stone with a clank.
A humanoid figure stands within the tightly spaced vessel. It runs and jumps out of the container. The figure looked like a person, dressed in a thick heavy looking suit that was white as snow, polished black knee high boots and gloves that held an all-metal strange shaped weapon, a red arm plate on the right humerus, and a helmet that matched his uniform's color that concealed his whole head. The person's true identity was cleverly hidden out of sight. The center of the man's helmet sported a single red glowing ocular light the guards presumed was how and where he could see through. An insignia showed on the man's left arm sleeve and on the chest crest to the left, both which represented an upward claw with a cracked Hylian-like skull in black and white colors (black and grey on the chest variant). The imagery on the arm also had foreign syllables on the base of the claw below the skull.
C17
More uniformed figures appeared from the dropship's container. One by one, three differently uniformed soldiers leaped out and stood on either side of the white suited individual, all possessing the same weapon of choice as the former. Their attires were more dark grey with a faint bluish camo pattern all across the body, short laced boots, and a different styled helmet with two teal glowing lenses. Two soldiers had under arms that were a pale white, a small pouch on the back of their belts, and a dull yellow insignia circle on their upper right sleeves with two black triangles facing each other; while the other's under arms were bright yellow and had a thick large bag with an antenna and two rows of little blue lights moving downward. An odd metallic object was clutched in his arms and his signature weapon strapped to his right side which was shinier than the others.
After all four soldiers were deployed, the container's hatch raises up and shuts itself and the dropship's thrusters lift it high into the air before folding back, taking off back to the sky anomaly where it came.
"Sweeper Team Zero beginning perimeter inspection." the white clad soldier announced in Hylian, but with a noticeable different accent, similar to what some of the other races speak in, ending with a bleep. His words were distorted, rough and unrecognizable as a typical person's voice, probably by what he and the others wore to disguise their physical identities.
The backpack soldier fiddled with the metal item he held with his hands. In less than five seconds, the thing raised above their heads and took shape, the sound of electronic servos activate as it did. A mechanical abdomen with a turning wheel in its center uncurls out of its ball form. Its 'face' was a big orange glowing eye, surrounded by four tan metallic plates on all sides with red tainted at the bases. Its sides had twitching spikes that pointed backwards and underneath it was twisting wind-up gear. A beam of white light shoots out just above its head region from a device that caged its back.
The street guards watch everything as they eye on the soldiers and their steel hovering device. It didn't take long before it spots one of the guards standing next to the end of the shopping booth right against the Bombchu Bowling Alley. It makes a low tune and its eye shrinks in size, advancing to its target at an eerily smooth manner. Its flashlight shines directly at the guard.
Two more guards pop out on both sides of the other; one from the back alley to his left and the other to his right from the other side of the marketing square streets. They all held a defense stance as the drone neared the guard it first spotted.
"ATTENTION CITIZEN!" it spoke in an emotionless monotone speech, voice thick with that very same foreign accent as the soldiers. The guard steps back as it got real close to his face. "HOLD STILL FOR SCAN." the drone ordered. The guard do as told, nervous of what it might do next, while the others only watched, eyeing its every movement. The drone hovered in place, servos running and making electronic hums and beeps.
Suddenly...
Click!
A sudden blinding flash flickers from its spotlight without warning. The guards, especially the one it scanned, yelped out and covered their faces as the light enters their visions. They all blinked the blindness out of their eyes to see the drone hover away to the back alley, ignoring the other two guards.
"No hostile contact report in, Sweeper Team Zero proceeding assignment, sweep and confirm." spoke the white soldier, gesturing one of his comrades to follow as he marches his way to the back alley behind the building to their right. "Weapons down, avoid hostile contact by command." he spoke again. The backpack soldier stays behind with the other, monitoring with a tiny device in hand, pulled out from his utility belt.
The guards, collecting themselves from the flash, reluctantly allows the two soldiers access to the other part of town where their drone just went.
Not seeing any good or bad intentions from the invaders, the three guards and all the others in town are at a loss for what to actually do. They Hyrulian army is still at a slow recovering state for any another confrontation, even with another race they don't know anything about. The three who just had their close encounter split up from the marketing area to monitor the soldiers' actions as another dropship arrives to the square, this time at the other side of town beside the mask and the potion shops.
...
Zelda and Impa watched from the tower as the creatures pour out of the anomaly, invading the night sky, setting down and raising back up to exit through. Who or what ever they were, they were invading all Hyrule as well, but they couldn't tell what they were doing from the tower. There is no sign of an attack or anything malicious, yet the invaders seem to be setting something in motion.
As Impa examines everything that is going on and thinks back on what has happened, it is just as she suspected. What had formed in the skies above this kingdom is a door; a doorway to another place of the unknown. An unknown location where these strange beings were coming from what is presumably their home beyond this phenomenon.
A portal...
The girls were too focused on the activity beyond they do not notice something hovering above the window. When a buzzing noise is heard, they look up to see a green ocular drone, as big as a typical clay pot, with light beams emitted from its right side, hover to their face level. Zelda gasps at the sight of it and Impa brings her behind her back to hind from it.
Impa stares defiantly at the oddball drone taking a good look at it. Its body was made up of a green hued artificial shell that was decorated with unevenly placed details. The two spotlights were placed on its right side which was oversized to fit them, and three little green lights in between. Moving hair-like bristles were present beneath the vertically built spotlights, and a lone antenna bristle on its top left. While the body looked mechanical, the 'eye', which made up its center looked like it was made of fleshy material with fused glass in the middle of it, two little eyestalks on both sides and three extra on its leftmost side. Foreign signatures were written from the top and bottom of its structure. It hummed a noise that sounded like a mix between machinery and organic grumbling with electronic whirls as the eyestalks moved independently.
The green lights turned and flickered a pale grey, ringing out a tune, simultaneously backing up and the glass core of its organic 'eye' shrinking like a pupil. Before the Sheikah and the princess could react-
Bleep!
Its pair of spotlights sparked at once, blinding the two with an intense white flash. Zelda shrieked when the light cascades her vision, turning her head away. Impa, squinting her eyes enough just to see, reaches behind in a swift motion and pulls out her sword and slashes the blade at the drone.
Her sword strikes onto the drone's 'eye', shoving it aside as flails out of control, smoking and sparking from the damage output. It crashes onto a conical rooftop and explodes into a mess of scrap metal and synthesized organic tissue.
Blinking the blindness from her eyes, Impa closes the window and locks it shut before kneeling down to Zelda's level. "Are you okay?" she protectively asked.
"Yeah." the princess replied in a groaning voice, rubbing her eyes to rid of the bright flash spots that stained her vision.
She grabs one of Zelda's hands in hers. "Come on, you need to get to your father, now!"
Zelda and Impa dash down the stairs of the tower, holding hands. They've been spotted by the unknown entities from the portal of the unknown, and goddesses know what might be impending from the invaders. They must get to Zelda's father, the King of Hyrule, about the situation outside.
The little princess, still in fear, was at a loss about everything. Whatever was happening, these entities have no presence of magic, good or bad, not even an essence of humanity in them; nothing she could sense out of them or their massively conjured portal. This has definitely got nothing to do with Ganondorf or anything else she knew or what her young friend she cared for and thought of the most encountered in the future. But, she knew for fact this friend of hers was not here to help either. Seeing how courageous and compassionate he was since they first met at the courtyard, she had always hoped he would come back one day for her since the day he departed with the Ocarina of Time she entrusted him with. Something is telling her to not trust these newcomers, and without her hero to have her back as he did when they met, she can't imagine what potential danger Hyrule might be in right now.
Link, where are you?
...
Dropships landed in various locations in Hyrule, dropping off squads of three to six at Castle Town, Hyrule Field and Kakariko Village. The drones deployed by the backpack troops scouted ahead and flickered a flash at any unfortunate denizen who gets spotted, announcing the citizens to hold for a scan, while some retreated into their rooms in time and shutting their windows before them. But, not a single unit of the invaders attacked or hurt anybody, leaving everybody confused, but still on edge.
The mosquito-head ship flew over Hyrule Field until it stopped over beside Lon Lon Ranch. It twirled its form side to side, grumbling ping-like noises, as if it were deciding where to go next. A low-pitched growl came from the creature as it turned west and headed straight for Gerudo Desert in alert, flying over the farm which wasn't seen by anyone there. The sound of its rear propeller and rotors trailed behind it.
In the first minutes of the invaders' arrival, dropships had yet to stop by at the desert, but the Gerudo themselves were already experiencing their close encounters with the invaders. Numerous green recon drones with their oddly placed light beam emitters have breached their territory, intruding their settlements as well as their fortress, snapping shots into their eyes. They spared no time in fighting back, striking out at the drones with their glaives and scimitars, destroying them to pieces, protecting their home.
When the Gerudo saw the big insectoid ship-creature flyover the cliffs of the valley, they ceased attacking, focusing on the bigger threat coming to their home. But instead of performing any sort of attack, the creature harmlessly hovered lower to the confines of the fortress walls. Sand kicks into the air by the creature's downwash from its propeller. Gerudo shielded their eyes from the blowing sand, backing up by the blasts of air. Its smaller pair of compound eyes behind its steel nozzle drop from a socket on a tiny eyestalk. The eyes swayed side to side as it scanned the surroundings, pinging small growls as it did, before finally lifting up and headed eastward, away from the shaken up Gerudo.
The Gorons had been seeing it all on the cliff sides of Death Mountain. Their first contact with the invaders were the green scanner drones, flying over to their faces and blinding them with flashes. Some Gorons rolled back to their city's entrance either out of fear or shock after receiving their flash shots.
The Zoras, meanwhile, have not been found yet, but just like almost everyone else, they've been watching everything from the Zora's Fountain, seeing the dozens of strange creatures arriving out of the portal, wave after wave. Many minutes pass without contact before the flying insectoid ship comes into view as it heads right for them, lowering just over the wooden fencing that cuts between Jabu-Jabu's lair and the waterfall. The Zoras felt their fins and the water beneath their legs blowing with the air, generating from the ship-creature.
As if realizing it was a threat, Jabu-Jabu rears his enlarged head from its resting position and inhales a deep breath. A stream of water shoots out of the whale-like deity, making a direct hit at the creature. It shrieks a mechanical roar as it was pushed back by the force. The creature recollected itself when it finished, lifting half of its armored exoskeleton covered body and back down with a thrust, its steel nozzle jogging at the motion.
However, the creature did not back away. It hovers over the fencing once more, a loud unexplainable noise is accompanied with a bright blue laser of light came from underneath the creature's pale underbelly. The laser beam gets more intense, the compound eyes on its sides contract inward, and the cylindrical structure that was creating the laser thrusts downward-
Blast!
An explosion of yellow energy destroys a section of fencing to shreds in a heartbeat, sending splinters of wood everywhere. Several Zoras flee back into the domain in terror, screaming and shouting. The remaining Zoras, including their king, kept ground to see the bug-ship creature turn and fly away.
That wasn't an attack, it was a warning. A demonstration of its power, should it prove necessary. What ever this was, the Zoras knew they shouldn't provoke or underestimate it further, despite being smaller than their guardian.
After the first wave of dropships finished their drop offs of troops, they all flew back to the portal in the sky, at which point, more cargo carrying creatures would emerge out. Some of the containers the creatures carried were three times the with compared to the others.
One of which, from the second wave, was heading straight for the forest...