The Valley of Dreamers
A Legend of Zelda fan-fiction
The city of Koholint sits at the base of the Great Deku Tree, a towering testament to nature in the middle of the Hylia Valley. The city encircles the roots of the tree, which spread out among the valley floor and helps to connect the outlying villages together. The valley is isolated from the rest of the world, mighty canyon walls surrounding the canopy of the tree. Given this situation, the valley has taken in the belief that there is nothing beyond the valley, and provides only what's necessary for its people to survive.
Although the valley is ruled by the Royal Family, Koholint is governed by the Sages; one for each sector, or smaller cities, with differing personalities. Their responsibility to the city involves taking care of any problems, to maintain a comfortable atmosphere for the inhabitants and the visitors that the city has. Civilization has thrived under this rule, but nothing is ever as perfect as it seems. For who could guess what was in store for this sleepy little valley world?
~ Prologue: The Shadows of a Sleeping City
A chilled hush blew across the empty cobblestone streets of Nabooru. The street lamps had been blown out earlier in the night, leaving nothing but silenced shadows that danced creepily under the obscured moonlight above. As the leaves of the Great Deku Tree shook about to do its best to hide the moon's rays, it put on show of lights on the city below. Often, a lone figure could be seen running down the alleys of Nabooru due to the rays of lunar luminescence being cast on it.
The footsteps of the creature sounded off as if metal was hitting hard against the stones underneath, but nothing could be made out of its true physique under the guise of the shadows and the dingy cloak it wore in the glow. Heavy breathing could be heard with every step forward, hinting at a sense of urgency in its actions. As it stepped out of an alley and into the grander street of the sleeping city, it landed a weighted foot down onto the ground and spun about on it, turning around.
"I'm tired of running," the person said, its voice masked in a gruff growl. Raising its hands, it took hold of the robe and pulled it off over its head. As the body was exposed more, the nearby lamps sparked to life, bathing the streets in sparks. The cloak was thrown away on the ground as the cloaked being, revealed to be a young man, braced himself for his pursuers. His body was garbed sparsely in a thin suit of armor, decorated with red and gold symbols that were glowing. "If this is how it must be, then the Goddesses are cruel indeed."
He waited in the middle of the street, holding his fists out and standing in a martial arts stance. Gripping his fingers tightly, the metal rings around his fingers clanked against one another. Time continued to pass, but nothing manifested from the alleyway. He relaxed some, standing up straight and looking around. There was still no sign of life throughout the city, aside from the small illuminated area he was found in. Figuring it best to continue, he spread his arm out in front of him quickly. The flames beckoned, responding to his command and extinguishing themselves. He was bathed again in the shadows, accompanied rarely by the rays of the moon.
"Were you followed?" Someone asked him cautiously from the darkness. The young man cleared his throat before producing a small flame in his hand, the luminary brightening the scene. Standing with him now was a young woman with pale skin and hair tinted the same as the moon. Her lips were the only thing on her colored brightly, while even her clothes were tinted pale against her skin. The young man shook his head, although he wasn't confident to speak to his contact just yet. He watched out of the corner of his eye as they walked through another alleyway, casting the shadows away with the man's flame. "You were recommended for your abilities, but you do stand out in this area. We'll have to do something about that." She spoke softly, almost like a whisper tickling his ears. He was surprised he could actually understand her quite clearly, despite the tone she was taking.
As they walked further into the alley, she came to a halt and told him to extinguish the flame. He did so, and felt the wind escape his lungs. He clutched his chest and fell to his knees, gasping for air. He lit up the room again, this time the source being his body as it glowed with a radiant aura. Their surroundings had changed so drastically during the temporary blindness. He slowly stood up, recovering his breath as he observed his surroundings. The woman was dusting herself off and trying to get some smudges out of her gown that had appeared within the short time they were bathed in shadows.
"What just happened? I felt like I had been hit in the chest," the young man asked, rubbing his chest carefully. There was no bruise from being hit, but it didn't change the way it felt. She shook her head and raised a finger to her lips, extending her other hand out into the shadows. He turned to face the direction she was pointing, seeing another source of light coming towards them. There was nothing casting the glow, nor anyone within, but it sort of haunted towards them, slowly and smoothly down the hall.
"Who goes there?" A raspy female voice cried out. As the glow neared them, there was finally a figure walking within it. A hunched over being slowly crept towards them, and the young woman saw no reason to try and hide. "Is that you, Linnea?"
"Yes, grandmother… I brought you the young man I spoke of." The one they were speaking of was dimming in his brightness, relaxing a little. The elderly woman finally entered the same room as them, the luminescence expanding within it in a dim glow. He saw that it was coming from behind her body, but couldn't see around her to look at the source. "Go ahead, introduce yourself," Linnea prompted the young man to speak. He gasped and straightened up, turning quite rigid in his expression of politeness.
"Sorry about that. My name is Kent, from Darunia." He bowed before the elderly woman that was slowly walking up to him. Linnea finally managed to get the smudge off of her gown and walked across the room to get a chair for her grandmother to sit in. "I was told you needed an Auran for something, and would pay well?"
"Oh yes, indeed," the grandmother giggled, sitting down in front of him. She was using a small cane for support, gnarled and wrinkled like her hands. "See, I need a Flame Auran like yourself to do something special. Are your abilities truly as great as my granddaughter has been telling me?" Though Kent didn't know what Linnea had been saying of him, he was sure he could easily meet the woman's expectations. To prove it, he clenched his fists tightly and stuck out his chest, building up an intense pressure throughout his body.
His body responded to his actions by shedding a radiance similar to what he displayed earlier. His skin shined as if it was covered in a thin layer of sweat, and his armor gleaned like it was freshly polished. The air was beginning to warm around them, and Linnea had to shield her eyes as his intensity only grew further. He changed up his stance, throwing his hands forward to meet. His fingertips were only an inch away from one another, his hands themselves curving around an empty spot. The glow from his body traveled in visible pulses through his arms, down to his fingers, and collected in the empty air between his palms.
"Such a boisterous display," the woman whispered. Her words fell onto his ears quite clearly, though, as did her granddaughter's. "You are definitely one for showing off, aren't you, young man?" Kent cooled down, casting off the energy he was building up. All that remained was a small ball of pure energy floating where he had his hands together. It continued to glow for a few seconds before it faded into the dimness of the room. "You should do nicely, though, for what we need you for."
"What do you need me for, exactly?" He inquired curiously, trying to read her reactions carefully. The grandmother smiled, her polished teeth shining in the shadows of her hood. Before he knew it, he felt his arms and legs wrapped up in a cool binding, pulling him back against the wall. He lashed about, caught off-guard by whatever was holding him. He began to generate another glow through his body, trying to see what was holding him down. The wall was pitch black, shadow-cloaked hands reaching out of it to hold him down. "What's going on?" He cried out as he continued to fight back.
The grandmother just continued to curve her lips with a tinge of smug to it, Linnea standing beside her. Slowly, the old woman began to rise to her feet, only to turn back to the hall she had come down. He saw, as she turned, that the light source she was using was shining through a hole in the back of her hood. A green flame danced back and forth under the hood, generating the glow behind her. He watched, powerless, as Linnea waved him away.
The shadows pulled him further in, and not even his natural glow could cut through the darkness he now found himself in. He was left with a final, stunning moment as it attempted to burn into his mind: Linnea, in her pale clothing and even paler complexion, staring at him with golden eyes. Were they gold when they first met, he couldn't remember. Not even that memory stayed fresh in his mind before it, too, was drenched in darkness.
"Grandmother", Linnea said, finally catching up to the old woman after having seen Kent off, "was it truly necessary for us to do that? Couldn't we have simply asked him if he would help on his own?" They were walking slowly down the hallway, coming up to a door near the end of the hall. "I mean, we didn't even ask him. Perhaps he would've been willing…?"
"Linnea, you have to understand the course of things. People don't respond well to things they don't understand. He would not have joined us willingly, so this was the only way to get what we needed from him." The old woman reached for the doorknob, but her hand was soon covered by Linnea's, stopping her briefly. "Trust me, young one; this was the quickest way, and the least resistance we get this early, the better. We don't want to lure unwanted attention just yet." Linnea stared into her grandmother's eyes, able to see beyond the shade of her hood. Slowly, she removed her hand, allowing the door to be opened.
"So, does this mean we're well on our way then?" Linnea asked, standing out of the way as her grandmother passed her. All her grandmother could do was turn around and smile, showing off that crooked grin. The door closed behind her, leaving Linnea in the shadows once again. She clutched her arm, looking down at where the floor should've been. It didn't feel right, what her grandmother was asking of her and the others. She couldn't afford to show her feelings around her, though…