Disclaimer; Nintendo owns Legend of Zelda, I, thank goodness for all of you, do not.
"Link . . . We, the Sages, are going to send you back. To give you back your lost years,"
Those weren't her exact words.
He couldn't remember her exact words at this point. Or who 'she' was! The only words that he could hear were his own;home. I'm going home. Home . . . Home. Home! That was all that mattered. He was going home and soon.
Home and soon, two giant pillars of gold in his lonely spiritual poverty.
Home meant Saria and the other Kokiri. Home meant peaceful nights with no nightmares, no ambushes, no creepy ceiling hands, no darkness, a hot meal every night, a roof to sleep under every night, some bullying but whatever, and playing with 'his tribe' without a care in the world again. The list went on and on!
Soon meant well . .. Soon. That word made him turn into a giant puddle of Hero-scented goop.
The Hero of Time bent his head down; his unruly mop of blonde hair covered his expression from all who were in audience. A habit he had picked up from back when Mido and his gang bullied him. He would bend his head low and silently laugh at their idiocy. It had been good medicine.
Nevertheless, he wasn't laughing at the idiocy of the Sages, Zelda, himself, or anything. He was laughing so silently because Laughter was Medicine. This Medicine was cleansing everything. The Light was washing away all of the fears. All of the nightmares that would have haunted him scattered in fright. Every emotional scar, misunderstandings, and understood adult feeling was fighting this Light. This cleansing Light called Laughter, though silent as it was, like Link, like the creator of this Light, it prevailed.
Zelda tentatively took a step back, she as Zelda, hadn't known Link for that long. Through the eyes of Sheik, she had witnessed his many, if childish, emotions. Had talked with him, but never had she had known this to happen; the great Hero of Time wastrembling.
Zelda's sensitive ears, honed like that of a Sheikah, heard muffled --- sobs? Her first thought was consoling him, was he that deeply moved? She retracted her step, "Li--"
Link threw his head back and let his laughter fill the room. It had built up inside of his chest, this feeling and the amount of wind used, made his lungs cry out in agony. He didn't care.
It was a great booming laugh, almost hysterical, the sound brought to mind someone like Gannondorf or some other vile creature. Not Link! Not the Hero of Time, chosen by the Goddesses! The sound echoed off all of the walls, amplifying it. Louder, louder, and louder . . . As if a dark celestial being was trying to have audience with the Protectors.
Zelda leapt back in fright. Had the Great Hero gone mad?!
Five of the other Sages readied themselves, for they were thinking the same thing.
His body was shaking, muscles aching, and tears running down his face. His legs gave way and the Hero was sprawled over the floor like a fallen toddler. A rabid struggle for life-giving air replaced the dark Laughter. Link gulped in as much air as he could, filling his lungs with it. Then he would waste it all with a painful rasp.
Saria took off in a sprint to get him, her steps light and feverish, and a strange chime reverberating out of her Kokiri sized body. At first, those in the audience of Sages searched the hall for bells. They found none . . . Was this a sign from the Goddesses? A good or bad omen? None could say or even speculate, for all were to afraid . . . Expect Ruto, Princess of the Zora, the Water Sage.
"She's . . . laughing, the . . . Bells. . ." Ruto breathed, regretting the words as they left her lips. The little Sage shook with fear, would her thoughtless utterance bring them all to ruin!?
Saria's twinkling laughter sounded so out of place with Link's pitiful gasps. The little Kokiri girl reached out, taking
Link's head in her tiny hands, "Shhh . . ."
Link's breathing slowly went back to a normal rate, his large adult hand fisting into her little girl's tunic. "Sa-- Sari-ah?"
"Yes, Link?"
There was no dry eye in the hall.
There is nothing sweeter sounding then that of children's laughter.
The Sages promised and now they were delivering.
The Sages all stood in their Goddess-assigned places. Link stood off to the side, waiting for Zelda to call for him. Earlier, the Sages had proclaimed that the Hero of Time would be the first to return to the time of peace. He would be the first to smell the air without the scent of Gannondof's evil all around. Even with the Gerudo King trapped in the Sacred Realm, remnants of his evil remained across the land. It was still evident in everything. In the half of Castletown that stood in ruins and the makeshift tent-city on the other. In the way that the ReDeads still screeched at passersby, the influx in Stalchilds, Stalfos, Wolfos, Rare Poes, and the eyes of the people . . .
Link shuddered.
Zelda called him forward and directed him to stand in the middle of the temple. As he had done in the past when he awakened a Sage or talked to Rauru. Link gazed at the Seven Sages; he could feel their power just floating off them in waves. The Elemental powers entangling, starting the creation of another timeline. Another timeline, it seemed like he could reach out and touch it and feel home. Or be there. However, Link did not dare, if he had learned anything on his adventures, it had been not to mess with magical things. No good ever came from it.
Link stood transfixed as the Seven Sages powers twisted, writhed, knotting themselves around one another.
"Wow," he mouthed, the rainbow of colors that swirled all around the Temple was gorgeous. The hues mixing, blending, and changing all around him, no written music could produce this kind of harmony. Harmony that pushed all thoughts out the door and Link was pulled into a fantasy-world full of life, colors, and endless note-less music. No words could ever describe such peace as he felt, it was like nothing existed at all. Not even him.
Reality crashed down around him.
It only took a single turn of the head for him to realize what had happened.
"Link . . . I-I'm so sorry . . ."
End of Prologue.
Hello, from my little Wooden Box of Creativeness! So how was it? Any good at all? This is my first real fan fiction in a matter of two or three years. 0o Not that that should matter on my abilities to write. And I know it's a bit weird and kind of sad in a way, but . . . Hopefully it'll all make sense later? And it's so short! Bah!
Gannondorf; . . . Wait, wooden box? Isn't it normally a cardboard box?
I'm a step ahead of most fan fiction writers, but that's only because I found it first! hisses
Gannondorf; O-K . . .
Wait. Why are you here . . .? oo
Gannondorf; I'm your muse! BWWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Shouldn't my muse be someone handsome? Or cute?
Gannondorf; . . . No.
Noooooes!
P.S If you're interested in Betaing this story, please send me a message. I would love your harsh criticism. Even if it's something small like a verb tense or something.
