Some Links Between A World

Chapter 1 - 'Prayer'

Link

A blaring, loud and harmonious cacophony of strings and harps filled the dorm room of the Knight Academy. Link woke up with a start. As usual, it took him several seconds to get used to reality. He slowly recollected: he was Link, he was a student at the Knight Academy in Hyrule Castle Town. It was summertime, it was probably Wednesday.

He located the source of the epic tune - his telephone, which was alight with the name Zelda 'Skybird' Gaepora. Eyes still watery with sleep, he picked up.

"Yes?"

"Good morning, Sleepyhead", replied Zelda with thoroughly indecent enthusiasm.

"Morn."

"Did you sleep well?"

"I, um…"

She interrupted - "Of course you slept well! Like, one simply doesn't sleep ten hours a day without sleeping well. That would be extreeeemely weird."

"I guess, well, erh.."

"Get up!"

"Well.."

'Link", she sounded suddenly stern. "I WILL keep this conversation going until you drag your handsome ass to the coffee machine!"

"I…"

"Do you remember what day it is today, by the way?"

"It's, er.."

"It's the day of the Ceremony, Sleepybrains!"

"The cer-"

"The Ceremony.

CE RE MO NY.

You need to-"

"Which one?", asked Link, at long last recovering the ability to speak. "The wing ceremony was last month. Is it perhaps the summer solstice ceremony? Or the Hero of Time Ceremony? It's not the Ceremonial Ceremony, that was pretty recently.."

"Ha ha ha.", replied Zelda.

She cleared her throat, and continued.

"It's only a small Prayer. Me and the 'GG' and probably Telma will be there. I've arranged flowerbeds in front of the statue, and I'm off to dad's to get an altar or two, and I guess Impa'll be lending me-"

Link dazed off, blinking away the dazzling sunlight and relishing the soft touch of his Loftbird-patterned sheets against his bare chest as Zelda ranted on about her unhealthily ambitious plans for the Prayer:

"…and I guess a fruit salad would do, do you think we'll bring soy milk? I know the, like, I mean, I'm staying vegan with this, I'm persistent. Groose has to bear with that, right?"

"Well, uhh, yeah.", said Link.

"Nice!", Zelda sounded happy. "See you soon, then! Bye!"

"Bye…"

A moment of 'ah, nobody would care if I wore a nightshirt anyway' later, Link leaned against his kitchen table, drumming his knuckles impatiently against the table, eagerly watching the espresso machine rumble. When it was done, and Link took his first few sips, he realized once again that he had had too much water.

The thing tasted weak, and was not about to shake him awake as espresso usually did. What really DID bring his pulse up, was the prospect of seeing his Skybird again.

"Don't phrase it like that", he said sternly to himself. "She's not *your* Skybird. And she'll never be, will she?"

Nevertheless, it has been a while since they hung out outside of class.

Not that she was unkind to him in class, but it was clear that she really didn't think of the Academy as a first stop for idle chat. Their talks revolved around homework, horseback archery and more homework.

If he managed to make yet another lame excuse for hanging back after the Prayer, ('flower-disassemblement' was a known tactic) .. perhaps he could strike up a conversation. A REAL one.

And if she gave a reply - a LONG reply - he would be given a chance to meet her eyes for at least a few seconds.. but could he do it without freaking her out by unintentionally drooling, or perhaps dilate his pupils to hell and back?

He put down his 4% finished espresso mug down on the table and set off.

Zelda

The sun was shining and the statue of Goddess Hylia was in front of her. And yet Zelda was ridden with anxiety this particular afternoon.

The events of yesterday seemed to flimmer through her mind over and over again, disturbingly fresh and accurate;

1. The look in his eyes, like she had single-handedly destroyed his entire world with a mere flick of her fingers.

2. His casual voice as he bravely exclaimed "they said it'll rain tomorrow', in a feeble and saddening attempt to change the subject.

3. The slump of his shoulders as he beckoned Cawlin to accompany him home.

(Zelda hated slumping shoulders more than anything.)

"I'm sorry! I'm SO SO sorry.", she had said.

"Does it hurt, ditching someone?

Yes it does, Groose, and with all my heart I wish I don't have to! But I don't love you THAT way.."

"But.. Zelda.. I can't help I feel this way, can't you just give me, .. a chance?", he had pleaded.

"What we had, what we did that night.. it meant so much to me!"

("I know, and I got it, Groose. And that's why I let you kiss me one more time, and hold my hand, because I enjoyed it, and I'm so sorry if I.. i-if I..")

"Yo yo yo!"

For half a second, she feverishly hoped that Pipit had somehow re-entered puberty and needed help to herd the goats, but it was unmistakeable - here was Groose, Cawlin and Stirch, approaching.

Groose himself moved with his usual pompadour, but that didn't make Zelda less anxious.

Her entire body became tense. She glanced at the stony face of Hylia - what would the Great Goddess say, if her one true acquaintance was lolling around Castle Town, destroying peoples lives by tossing around false hope here and there?

Groose suddenly came to a halt. Zelda didn't dare to look him in the eyes, and her ears began to prickle and grow hot with the unmistakeable signs of impending drama.

"What'cha doing, Gro?", said Cawlin in his usual sneery, nasal voice.

Groose laughed. "Can't proceed, guys. The friend zone starts here."

Zelda stared intently at the Sky Stag Beetle approaching her Rhododendrons.

"Friend zone? Did ZELDA put you there all of a sudden? Karane, sure, Ashei, fine, but that's cuz they're taken 'n engaged 'n shit, what's ZELDA's got to do with this Zone stuff? She's SINGLE, rite?"

.. The Sky Stag Beetles sure are fascinating…

Groose boomed and continued "Well, that's what she thinks of me anyway. I'm not good enough even for the biggest tramp in all of Castle Town! Single, virgin, and yet she chooses to distance herself from The Groose! How humiliating!"

.. VERY fascinating..

"Cut it off!", yelled Cawlin. "just get to the goddamn statue willya?"

"My friend", said Groose, "I'm a MAN. And a man is not a MAN if he don't know about consent!"

Zelda finally looked up and caught Stirch's eye, which actually cheered her up, for he looked quite sheepish - it was evident that it has never crossed the guy's mind to ask any of his bugs about consent.

"Ya YA", yelled Cawlin. "Yo Zelda, bring that harp here!"

"Oh.. oh right", said Zelda.

Her hands trembled as she dug into her bag for the harp, tossing out hair brushes, an entire Malo's Fashion Magazine subscription, an empty bottle..

.. and then she found the harp.

"I..". She was so anxious she forgot half the procedure and begun playing the Ballad of the Goddess straight away.

"Oh goddess, guide us by the .. l-light.

.. a-and.."

"She's doing it totally wrong!", boomed Groose, and poked in the air in front of him as if trying to pass an invisible barrier.

Link

Castle Town was unusually empty. Link strode past the sunlit streets, hands in pockets, and careful to make sure his fringe was hiding most of his pimples.

He saw Telma in front of him, no doubt heading for the plaza herself, but did not catch up. In fact, seeing her always made him kinda depressed.

It was rumored that Telma was very sensually active, and Link had had many a fantasies about the experienced elderly woman, showing the young novice how many wonderful, strange things human beings could do to one another.

The word crossed his mind once again: Virgin. "Virgin". His heart sank at the thought..

Maybe if he had more experience, he could show Zelda 'how it's done'. yeah, she would like that. Maybe she, too, longed to lose her virginity to someone 'experienced'. Maybe she found it attractive. Yeah, she would definitely be interested in doing it with a MAN.

His heart sank, and he did not immediately recognize the faint voice calling his name from the attic. "I'm not a MAN, he thought miserably. I'm a BOY. And nobody wants a boy. Nobody, nobody, Nobody!"

And then he heard it.

"Master…"

"Master..

.. Master, are you there?"

Links first thought was 'wow'. His first emotion was wonder. His second emotion was trepidation, though.

She was neither human, nor creature. She most of all felt like some kind of spirit. Her face was pale blue, and like a doll or a statue, she had no eyes, but lips. Her legs looked like those of a Gerudo dominatrix, and she had long, dark blue shawls covering her arms.

"Master"

"Er", said Link, the pale blue light making him kind of spooked. "I'm really no, 'Master.'

"No", she continued. "You are."

Link's eyes widened.

"It has been brought to my attention", she continued, her voice now sounding much more monotonous, "that it is in this current age, day, date and city that the One who must undertake the task and path as laid before them by the Goddess will make his or her appearance. And judging by Your demeanour, your feral blue eyes and the posture - mostly logically explained through an analysis culminating in the factual conclusion that You're spending at least 50% of your day-to-day routinely behaviour being remotely to moderately physically active - I conclude the following: that it is a 80% chance, or probability, that You are the person and the Master which I seek."

"Wh… I'm sorry what?"

"Confusion is a logical and momentarily plausible feeling for You to have at this particular moment. But as a Messenger, it is my task to make sure that You will walk away from this particular spot with a 100% awareness about what You must do to fulfill Your Task, as entrusted to You by the Goddess."

"What task?"

"My Master", explained the spirit, "A task that will determine the fate of Hyrule and the fate of all beings on the planet."

Now he was sweating.

"F-Fate …?"

"This Task is essential. The Goddess has chosen You to carry the heavy burden of vanquishing a slumbering evil from this existence and thus become a true Hero."

Now he was beside himself.

"Hero?! Really?!"

"That's right. I, the spirit Fi, has been entrusted with the task to seek out the Chosen One, the one who will relieve Hyrule of a slumbering evil. It has been brought to my attention that there's a 85% possibility that the individual before me, the one who seems to be enlightened with the fact that he or she is able to express his or her ambiguity, is the Chosen Hero."

"Chosen by the Goddess?"

"That's right, Master.", said the spirit.

"Well, I'll be damned.."

He began walking towards the plaza, with the spirit, evidently called Fi, following in his footsteps.

"Tell me more about this Task stuff, will you?"

"Of course, Master. I speak to You, in place of the Goddess, who is fighting the Calamity from her place at the edge of time. In a final effort to once and for all seal the Evil away from these lands, the Goddess has entrusted me, Fi, with the task to seek out her Chosen Hero. It's essential that the Chosen Hero, should he or she possess an evaluational quality prominent enough to deem him or herself worthy, must accompany me, the spirit Fi, in setting this plan in motion, to wield the Sword of Evil's Bane, to ensure the fate of Hyrule to be ever so prosperous."

"Sword, huh?"

"Would you like to hear what I said again?"

"Sure."

"Of course, Master. I speak to you, in place of the Goddess, who is fighting the Calamity from her place at the edge of time. In a final …"

(Oh, shit..)

".. effort to once and for all seal the Evil away from these lands, the Goddess has entrusted me, Fi, with the task to seek out her Chosen Hero. It's essential that the Chosen Hero, should he or she possess an evaluational quality prominent enough to deem him or herself worthy, must accompany me, the spirit Fi.."

Zelda

The silence seemed to tauten and strain with every second. Having finally offered her prayers to Goddess Hylia, everyone present at the Prayer was now to indulge in the exquisite lunch buffet that Zelda had poured her heart into making.

But despite the table positively bursting with pumpkin pies, swift carrots, honeyed apple and mushroom skewers, only Telma seemed to be even remotely interested in the soy milk.

Stirch was on all four, examining that bloody Sky Stag Beetle, and Calvin and Groose just stood there, looking dumb.

"Eh," said Zelda, desperate to lighten up the mood. "Have you tried, like, the swift carrots, Telma?"

"I'm allergic.", said Telma bluntly.

"Ah, that's right."

"Do I have to remind you every damn time?", Telma said, suddenly pissed. "Or do I have to tell you ONCE AGAIN how I nearly choked to death after Shad brought me that late night snack evidently spiced with 'ooh, the great food of Kakariko?'"

"Zelda has never been one to keep such things in mind", sneered Cawlin. "She never pays attention to what other's like or want out of her."

Zelda's cheeks burned, and she was infuriated by her own inaction.

The air was free and quiet. WHY couldn't she just yell back, or argue? Did she have to keep on standing there like a shy girl, hearing insult after insult until she broke apart completely?

"Hey there!"

She turned around and saw Link. But she had never been less happy to see him. In fact, he would only make this situation worse.

But who was that with him?"

"Hey y'all. This is Fi!"

The blue spirit, which was nothing unfamiliar to Zelda, having read all about spirits in some of the Academy's religious books, responded monotonously:

"It seems like Master has indeed tasked me with the necessities of introductions. And as per request from my Master, I feel the obligation to tell this small gathering of humans that I am Fi, the spirit that has been entrusted with the task to seek out the Chosen One, the one who will relieve Hyrule of a slumbering evil. It has been brought to my attention that there's -"

"Yeah yeah", Link cut across. "Hey Fi, so this is Groose… Cawlin… Thelma.. whoa, is that soy milk?! Err… Stirch and Zelda."

Everybody greeted the spirit, but Fi did not seem to notice.

-" should he or she possess an evaluational quality prominent enough to deem him or herself worthy, must accompany me, the spirit Fi, in setting this plan in motion, to wield the Sword of Evil's Bane, to ensure the possibility of Hyrule to be saved."

Groose and Cawlin, and even Telma, exchanged stiff smiles. But Zelda felt relieved: finally someone had come to out-awkward everyone and everything. She used the lapse of attention to start packing down the food and reassemble her bag. She felt her stomach sink: this Prayer had been a disaster!

"Link, can you-"

But she was talking to no one. Already about ten feet away, everyone - Link, the spirit, Groose, Cawlin, Stirch, Telma - was walking away.

Not only that, they were talking and gesticulating. Telma was even laughing. Zelda knew what was up - they were all feeling relieved and joyous, finally being able to escape the company of pompous, pretentious Zelda Gaepora!

She averted the gaze of the Goddess statue as she poured the rest of the soy milk into one of the plaza's many bushes.

The Goddess Hylia must be beyond ashamed over her now. Her most faithful servant, not even able to give her friends carrots without people being mean to her!

And what was up with that spirit? She wasn't thankful anymore, she was hurt by the fact that even Link preferred the company of that stupid, boring old b-

Her hands slipped: she now dropped five or six pumpkins onto the pavement.

"AAAAHHHH!" She let out a cry of fury, kicking her bag as hard as she could, so that it flew right into the castle wall. It did hurt her foot: but what really made her heart stop was the sound of breaking strings coming from the bag.