The Thirsting Hero
A Breath Of The Wild FanFic
By Bentarb Jade Bronze
Chapter One
Darkness.
Empty, endless, darkness.
That was all the man could see. He was alone, and frightened, and thirsty. But then, there was something else.
A bright light began to shine above him. Then something else, a sound.
"…Open your eyes…" A voice. The light engulfed his vision. "Open your eyes…" the voice said again, clearer this belonged to a girl. "Open your eyes. Wake up Link." Link… that was his name the man realized. He awoke with a pained gasp and found himself laying down, his body nude save for a pair of underwear and a brown leather belt with hooks and pouches, surrounded by a glowing liquid that drained away into the stone floor.
'Thirsty,' was the first thing Link thought as he painfully made himself sit up. He dragged himself off the strange alter, barely registering the large room he was in. It was made of carved stone, there were patterns on the walls and a glowing thing above the stone bed. Across from Link as he stood up was a dais of some kind, its surface adorned with patterns glowing blue. He slowly walked over to examine the dais and as he approached, it flashed in seeming recognition. A circle in its middle rose up, rotated and offered up a rectangular object with a handle on one end and a carving of an eye with a single tear.
"That, is a Sheikah Slate," the voice informed Link. The voice sounded so familiar to him, but he couldn't tell who it belonged to, he was so thirsty. "Take it," the voice continued. "It will help guide you after your long slumber." The voice was barely clear within Link's mind.
'Thirsty,' was all he could think, his throat was so dry. 'So thirsty, must drink.' Obeying the voice, his only companion since awakening, Link grabbed the Sheikah Slate his hands feeling sluggish and heavy. As he turned it over, the other side lit up showing the same weeping eye symbol as on the back, and some small part of Link's mind said that this item was familiar and important. The centre of the dais turned round and retracted back into place as a door opened, rising into the ceiling. Link staggered through it, tripping on his own feet. He literally stumbled into a stone chest and moved around it, wanting only to leave this place, he needed to drink.
He reached the entrance to the cave he had awoken in, and walked out of it. He shielded his eyes from the sun, its' light seeming to offend him somehow. When his eyes adjusted, he saw a world of grey. The trees below the cliff face he stood atop, the grass beneath his feet, and the strange swirling far off in the distance, all of it was grey. The voice spoke to Link again, but he couldn't understand what it was saying to him, the words overridden by the overwhelming need to drink.
Link turned his attention to his right and saw a person stood down the hill. The person went back to a camp of some kind and Link started moving towards them.
All this was being watched by an old man with a vast white beard, a large nose on his face and a walking stick in his right hand. He looked on with worry as the young from the cave moved towards him in nought but underwear. His movement was unrefined and he tripped over his own feet a few times before reaching him. Once the young man was in the old man's little camp, he saw that the person before him was visibly unwell. His skin was grey like a corpse, his eyes were empty looking at nothing, and his mouth hung slightly open.
"Young man, are you all right?" the old man asked, worried for the blonde that stood before him. The blonde didn't seem to really see the mans hooded face, instead looking through him. A few seconds passed before the younger man spoke.
"…thirsty," was all he said, voice course like his throat was lined with sand. The old man then grabbed a canteen from his belt, removed the cork, and presented it to the blonde who didn't respond. Not knowing what else to do, he placed the canteen against the blonde's lips. The blonde then gripped it with shaking hands, took a mouthful of the contents, and violently spewed it back out as if the water were burning poison. He then walked pass the old man and down the hill.
"Young one!" the old man called after him, gaining no reaction. "Where-where are you going?"
Link didn't hear the man calling for him as he stumbled down hill, his grey world telling him only that he was thirsty, thirsty, so THIRSTY.
Soon he came across another being. It's large head was round with large flapping ears and crowned with a single horn, and it held a wooden club in one hand. The creature's triangle snout twitched as it sniffed Link. It then raised it's club but before it could swing, Link darted forward, placed his mouth around the creature's neck, and bit down. As sharp fangs punctured skin, as crimson liquid of life filled Link's maw and his thirst began to sate, images with colour and sound played through his mind.
The images were disjointed, playing in no apparent order. Link saw glimpses of animals being hunted, dances around a fire with other beings and people screaming as they were chased and attacked. As the blood ran dry and the last of the images ended, Link lifted his head and gasped, his thirst finally quenched and colour entering his world. Only then did he take in the sight of the creature that lay dead before him. He had only a brief second to look at the corpse – life ended by his action – before it disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving only a horn and club behind.
"Young man," a voice said behind Link, making him whirl round and see the older man he had passed stood looking with an expression of shock. Evidently he had followed him and saw what he did. "What… what happened?"
"I don't know," Link answered truthfully. He then began to panic as he realized he didn't know anything. He brought a hand up to his mouth, feeling his blood soaked lips as he began to shake in horror. "I… I don't know, I don't know, I DON'T KNOW!" he yelled as tears filled his eyes and he began to weep. The old man approached his shaking form and wrapped his arms around him in a bid to offer comfort, as Link repeated the mantra of 'I don't know'.