Dancing through Seasons
1. The Calling
Sunset over Hyrule had always been quite a sight, especially at the coast. Few things could equal the beauty of the golden sun sinking beneath the waves, setting the horizon aflame, making the droplets of water in the air sparkle like diamonds while the waves crashed onto the cliff. At other parts of the coastline, the salty water would gently roll onto the beach, and anyone who sat there then on the sand, watching the sunset, would quickly find himself lulled to a peaceful sleep by the sound of the waves and the cries of the seagulls. Or at least they would under normal circumstances.
These weren't normal circumstances.
At least not for the boy on horseback speeding along the cliff, entirely ignoring the beauty of nature that he could see if he just turned his head. But he didn't, and his blue eyes kept looking forward only. His straw-blonde hair ran in a forelock over his forehead, being blown before his eyes often thanks to the speed by which he rode. Two more locks ran down each side of his head, just before his pointed, elfish ears, but the rest of his hair was hidden beneath the green cap he wore on top of his head.
He wore a brown cotton shirt and white leggings that fit tight to the skin, and over that a green tunic reaching to halfway his thighs. A reddish brown belt with golden buckle was wrapped around his waist, and his feet went into sturdy brown boots that came up to halfway his calves. He had nothing with him, not even a backpack or a weapon, nor did it occur to him he might need those.
He was young, age sixteen, healthy and strong, and his name was Link.
An adventurous but kind spirit by nature, he had spent his life growing up as a farmhand, a honest and respectful occupation. He had worked hard on the fields, helped with the cattle, and when the tasks of the days were done he had raced with the other farmhands on their horses, teased the deku scrubs and made traps for the octoroks. His life had been on the farm, always. He had not sought or wondered about another life, content with what he had. But when he had woken up in the dead of night, cold with sweat after being plagued by nightmares, things changed.
The feeling grew in his gut that something would change, and as the nightmares returned more often and darker in nature, the feeling only grew stronger. Dark were his dreams of an unknown land in chaos, buckled under the weight of a dreadful shadow, waiting for someone to step up and try to change things for the better once more. This had gone on for a few weeks, until suddenly, after waking up yet again in the middle of the night, there had been the call.
The call, so insistent, so persistent. Almost like a voice in his head, one only he could hear. It beckoned for him, urged him to his feet, pulled him out of his bed. As if in a dream he had obeyed, gotten dressed, saddled his horse and galloped away into the night, his only guide the voices that called for him. Through the night, through the sunrise, through the day and now through the sunset he rode, never stopping, lured by the call. It was hard to say if he was even aware of what he was doing. Perhaps not, for had he been, he would certainly have called himself a madman and turned back. But he didn't, for he couldn't, almost as if an invisible presence lulled his mind to sleep and pulled his body along, spurring on his horse to ride without tiring.
And then, through the haze that had fallen over his mind, Link found himself on the top of the cliff, overlooking the ocean to his left, but the forest – and more importantly, the ancient, lonely castle looming over it – to his right. It was on that moment that he realised he had arrived at his destination, and the voices in his head grew all the more strong. Whatever the reason was for this call, he would find it in the castle. Almost blindly, the young Hylian farmer gently nudged his horse towards a path down the cliff, towards the castle.
...
Later, when he awoke from the trance the call had put him into, Link would remember the ride on the cliff, along the coastline. He would even remember seeing the castle and going down the path towards it. But he never remembered how he had dismounted at the gates and wandered into the unoccupied stone structure, the voices guiding him through the maze of long forgotten halls, down dark staircases into corridors even more ancient. All he remembered of his visit to that castle, was the blinding glow at the end of the path, in an empty throne room.
Vaguely he saw triangular shapes within the glow.
Vaguely he was aware of the burning sensation on his left hand.
But oh so clear was the feeling that he was falling, and even clearer were the voices in his head, so loud and booming that if they had been spoken out loud they would have shattered the walls of the castle. As one they said:
"Accept our quest, Hero!"
But there the memories would end, as all faded to black while Link fell. Endless his fall seemed, until in a flash of burning red light, he was no longer falling, was no longer in the castle, was even no longer in Hyrule. He was laying in the bushes, out cold, only to be found by a woman with flaming red hair.
To be continued.
...
AN: So, after two years of being on hiatus, I have finally returned to "Dancing through Seasons". I make no promises of finishing it this time around, but for the time being, I'm feeling like working on it again. First of all I'm rewriting the chapters already posted, since they've become hopelessly outdated and I wasn't satisfied with a couple of them. I'm going to take some more liberties from the game, for both surroundings, dialogue, dungeons and in a few cases items. Worry not, though, it will still be a novelization of that fantastic game called "Oracle of Seasons", and will be recognizable as such.