"Every death is different." This quote from my Pathophys. professor inspired this. That and Centennial, by sardonicsmiley.
Disclaimer: I own none of them.
The first time he died, I was with Zelda. She was 11, I 12. We were standing in her little garden, where she used to spy on her father when blood suddenly started pouring from her mouth. I tried to move to help her, but fell to my knees instead. There was a spider claw protrouding from my abdomen. The last thing I saw was Zelda reaching towards me before the world went dark. The next thing I knew, I was being slapped by a strange man. It was the knowledge of my death, rebirth, and remembering this that made me cry out.
The next time he died, I was only 5. My adopted family found me with my head smashed in, though there was no evidence of what had been used. As they conducted death rites and hunted for my murderer, the Kokiri were wailing over a small blond boy who fell from his tree house and died. I was unaware of this though, lost in the pain and shock of my second rebirth.
This time we lasted until 16, meeting Princesses Zelda and Ruto. I was born to a servant in the Royal Household. Princess Zelda was given a small Kokiri boy to play with, and as a result I was not her playmate. I quickly distinguished myself as a messenger around the castle and at the age of 14, was running messages across Hyrule. I was with Princess Ruto, delivering my message when her throat was cut. I gaped as her blood sprayed me, before my own throat was cut. In the Castle, Zelda and Link were killed by Ganondorf in his mad quest for power. I had no notion of this, because I was being born yet again.
Over and over it went. I died of fever, of drowning, of more knife wounds than I could even begin to count. I was crushed, mangled, and reborn every time, as every conceivable race. I was always born a male- that was the only constant. Each time I did my best to contact Princess Zelda. One particularly memorable lifetime, where we lived until 38- an eternity for one is used to dying before adulthood- the Princess and I married. Together, we survived the attempted coup by Ganondorf. Together, we met the Sages. Together we learned about this living hell the 9 of us where locked in and together we were horrified. This lifetime was the last time that Zelda and I were romantically close- the horror of knowing that we were going to live and die as someone unknown to us killed our romance. We were found dying of one of the many knife wounds in each others arms, and together we re-entered the world as twins.
Something finally clicked this time. Separated at birth, I was trained in the arts of war and espionage, and Zelda was trained in the arts of royalty. It was really quite easy for the two of us to pretend to not be twins- I got all of our true mother's Sheikah coloring and Zelda inherited our father's Hyrulian looks. The only thing that linked us was our ears. We were 11 again when He came to the castle. Zelda met him in her favorite courtyard while I was away training. She told me later that she tried to hate him, but quickly realized that He had no idea what He was forcing us to live through. She sent him to fetch the gems that she needed to unlock the Ocarina of Time. It was her hope that with the Ocarina, she could communicate with the Goddesses and ask them why they were forcing this upon us. Before He could return however, Ganondorf made his play for power. He ravaged the castle while I was away on a mission and our mother spirited Zelda away. I returned to find Him in the Temple of Time, the Ocarina clasped in his hands. I left and returned yearly, waiting for Him to awaken. And when He finally did, at the age of 17, well...His legend is well documented. He and Zelda went on to marry, with my blessing. And with Zelda and the other Sage's blessing, I recorded our legend. Because someone needs to tell the other side of the story
Ganondorf didn't try and take over the world in every lifetime of Links, and by extension the Sages, Zelda and Sheik. Sometimes he tried and failed, other times he just didn't give two shites.
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