You've no doubt noticed the summary update, it was a long time coming considering the old one lol. This entire thing has had an overhaul down to original events that happened before this story is set. It also includes characters not in Twilight Princess, hence the AU part in the summary.
Lyke personality has changed, becoming a more serious and quieter person from the childish and talkative one I'd given her before. It didn't seem to fit her anymore, and I like the new version.
Anyway, I'll let you read on
"Common speech"
"Elvish" translation.
'Hylian'
"Dwarven"
"Black speech"
o-o-o-o-o
He exhaled heavily as he awaited Elrond's command, bow lose but an arrow notched. The action comfortably familiar to him despite the current situation he had found himself in.
His long ears twitched, listening to the sound of marching men in armour, the firing of arrows, the slashes of swords, the whistling of the wind, the crackling from the volcano and the screeches and growls of the Orcs.
The aforementioned Orcs drew ever closer, the frontline of elves lifted their shields.
"Tangado Haid!" Elrond ordered. Hold positions!
He, along with the elves, drew their bows.
"Hado I Philin!" Release the arrows!
The arrows were released, sent flying towards the Orcs that charged at them. They went down but were quickly replaced by those behind them, hardly hindering their charging pace until they were met head-on.
The frontline of elves slashed, and he used that chance to swop his bow for the Master Sword. The line broke and scattered, breaking off to fight against the Orcs while trying to keep within proximity of one another if help was needed.
The blond sliced the head off an Orc and hissed out a grunt as he moved onto the next. He didn't allow himself to stray far from his friend.
Time did not matter in the moments spent fighting. He left it to the wind as he swung and killed his opponents. It seemed as if they were winning, the numbers of Orcs slowly but surely decreasing before his very eyes.
But then a presence made itself known and his entire body jolted, his eyes widened as both he and Elrond came to a stop. They watched as Sauron appeared before them in the distance, the men that surrounded the evil being readied themselves, but it was fruitless.
With the simple act of swinging his mace, he took out a handful of men all at once.
The foreigner's chest clenched for his human friend and his father that was among the men that stood before the evil being.
The King of men was thrown to the side with the swing of the mace, hitting a wall and the action killed the man on impact. The prince, his friend, rushed to his father's side and Sauron approached them. Isildur reached for his father's sword but it was broken by the simple action of the Sauron stepping on it. However, that didn't stop the prince, who used the broken blade to slice the evil being's fingers which ultimately freed the Ring from his grasp.
Then before everyone's eyes, they watched as Sauron's body glowed brightly, drawing in a strong gust of wind before he imploded. The action sent magic flying outwards, a strong current of wind blew the soldiers from their feet, even killing some.
He stealthed his sword and climbed to his feet as Elrond did the same. The dark and light haired males shared a look and quickly moved toward their fallen friend. They arrived at their friend's side to see him examining the Ring that had been the cause of this entire battle.
The man glanced up at them when they arrived.
Elrond wasted no time in speaking. "Isildur, hurry. Follow us."
They led the man up the side of the volcano, where they would destroy the evil. The trek was long and as they got nearer and nearer to the top, the heat continued to rise. But they made it, the large opening revealed a stone path that led into the very heart of the unstable volcano.
"Hurry." He waved Isildur on. The man's expression twisted into something he could not put a name to, but it had a bad feeling settle inside him.
Elrond gestured for Isildur to throw the Ring into the magma but when he did not move, they turned to the man.
"Cast it into the fire!" Elrond ordered. "Destroy it!"
But Isildur ignored him, favouring to examine the Ring within his grasp instead. Then with a single glance at them with a look that said it all, Isildur spoke: "No."
"Isildur!" He shouted but neither he or Elrond moved, too shocked to run after the leaving man. The betrayal stung deep and hard.
To think their friend would fall for its whispering after all they'd done to destroy it.
o-o-o-o-o
The day was young and the sun still low in the distance; it was a tranquil morning. The trees could be heard rusting, birding cooing and the world all around sang.
It was the perfect morning for a lay-in for a certain person, who was doing just that. Their snores could be softly heard from beneath their blue embroidered duvet; only pieces of short dishevelled golden blonde hair stuck out from the top. They muttered something within their sleep, twisting under the cover so their back faced the window as if sensing the early morning light that peeked in from the cracks in the curtains.
Slowly but surely, they blinked their sleep filled eyes open. The odd dream that had been plaguing them had awakened them.
They let out a deep breath, allowing what they'd dreamt about to twirl and sink into their mind. It began to go fuzzy, only key points stuck out to them and they groaned in annoyance. Damnit.
With another heavy breath, they sat up, letting the cover fall to reveal a young Hylian woman. She ran a hand through her hair to try to at least somewhat tame her wild bedhead.
"Cast it into the fire!" Elrond ordered. "Destroy it!"
The elf… she thought, was this the memory of one of my previous selves? But which one? I know Ocarina was at least nine hundred at the time of his death and I was born roughly a hundred and fifty thousand years after that. But what is the reason I'm being shown this? Does it mean something is going to transpire? Something to do with that… ring?
Another sigh was released before she shoved back her covers. "Might as well get up, not getting back to sleep after that. Thanks whichever one of you guys sent that, really appreciate it."
She discarded her nightwear and pulled on some casual clothes rather than her knight getup. It consisted of light cream trousers with brown boots and a fitted light red non-sleeved turtleneck. The last thing she did was drag a brush through her hair and tug it into a ponytail.
"Right, let's see if I can find anything on that Ring." She muttered and left her room, forgoing breakfast as it was already too late in the day to worry about it.
The library wasn't a place she often visited, it wasn't her scene; she left that to Zel but this was important. The large room was quiet, only a few people pottered about, and the blonde skimmed over everything until she reached what she'd been searching for. Books from Middle-Earth.
Her lips quirked upwards as she took a closer look at them. History, history, history, where art thou, history? Ah. Her blue eyes caught sight of a possibly useful book and she pulled it out.
Middle-Earth: Second Age.
Gotta start somewhere, right? She mused. She nabbed the First Age book that sat beside it before she took up residence at a window seat. She scanned the index page of the Frist Age book but found nothing that noted anything about rings. She swopped it with the second and quickly discovered what she'd possibly been searching for. Rings of Power.
She glanced back at the cover and noticed that the male version of her name was one of the authors. This is gotta be it, right? Zel's name is on there too, wonder if she's remembering anything?
The outside world was quickly forgotten to Lyke as she delved into the book, eager to learn more about the thing she'd seen within her dreams.
That was where Zelda found her three hours later, a piece of parchment and ink beside her as she made notes on what she'd discovered and intrigued her; things that she wanted to look into more.
"Colour me surprised." Zelda voiced and Lyke blinked several times before glancing up at the butterscotch- blonde haired Queen.
Lyke's lips curled upwards as she leant back.
"What has you hold up in here?" Zelda inquired as she took the spare seat beside the knight. Said knight slid the parchment over to the royal. "Rings, Middle-Earth, Sauron… I see. So you've been having them too, huh?"
Lyke made a sound, so I'm not the only one?
Zelda shot her a look between amused and serious, understanding what words were silently spoken simply by the sound made. "Yeah. I didn't bring it up since you didn't look like you were having any dreams but if you are here then, well, you have been."
Lyke snorted, voice quiet as she spoke. "Ain't been able to remember clear enough till this morning."
Zelda let out a deep breath as she glanced over Lyke's notes again. "Something must be brewing over there if our previous selves deem it important enough to send us dreams."
The knight groaned, head tilting back, why not tell us directly, damnit!
Zelda stifled a snort. "Either way, we won't know for sure unless we receive a message from Elrond. If he still lives that is."
Don't doubt it.
Zelda chuckled. "You did know him best."
o-o-o-o-o
Two days.
They received word two days after they'd spoken of their dreams.
It was a detailed letter from Elrond telling them of the news. Letters were sent back a forth to quickly catch up.
It was the day after that that Lyke was prepared to depart for Rivendell.
"How are your memories of the past?" Sheik questioned as he stood leaning against a wooden frame in the stable.
Lyke made a so-so gesture over her shoulder which got a snort. She peered over at the long-haired blond male with a calm expression, don't think I really need all that much, just important things.
Sheik sighed. "I can't understand you nearly as well as Zelda, Lyke. Which remind me, you are going to have to speak to them, you are aware, yes?" His tone turned teasing and Lyke's lips curled downwards into a pout of sorts.
"I know, I know." She grumbled quietly. It wasn't her fault she was quiet. She'd never been a loquacious type of person and all the time spent travelling didn't really help either- don't even get her started on the whole turning into the wolf with the Twilight thing.
She shuddered, although the pain of each transformation had worn away over time, she still sometimes got phantom pains. It was annoying.
Sheik huffed out a laugh, moving forward and pat Epona roughly on the neck. "Make sure she stays out of trouble, you hear me girl?"
Epona huffed, stomping a hoof as she threw her head up and down in response.
"Think she took offence from you implying she doesn't already do that." Lyke hummed, lips parting and quirking up.
Sheik chuckled lowly. "No need, girl, I already know you do, but this is Lyke after all."
"What?"
Epona nickered, the horse equivalent to a laugh no doubt.
"Oi!"
Sheik snickered and pat Lyke on the shoulder this time.
"You have everything?" At Zelda's voice, the duo turned to see the Queen stood at the entrance of the stable.
Lyke nodded and opened Epona's stable door to allow the horse to walk out.
Sheik instead snorted, crossing his arms over his chest. "She's answered that questioned five times already."
"Hush, Sheik." Zelda shushed the Sheikah, and he raised a thin brow.
"Just stating a fact, milady."
Lyke hummed. "He's right, Zel and yes, I do."
Zelda gave a sheepishly thin-lipped smile. "Sorry, but I cannot help but worry. I do so every time you leave."
Epona snorted, raising her head sharply. Sheik moved forward, gently patting her neck. "Epona's always the one that watches out for Lyke when she's not paying attention, so no need milady."
The blue-eyed female shook her head, not deeming the recurring… conversation important enough to comment on and instead said: "Anyway. I don't know how long I'll be gone but I feel that I will more than likely accompany them on this quest."
Lyke climbed onto Epona's back.
"Good luck, my friend." Zelda declared.
"Safe journeys, Hero." Sheik added, red eyes softening as her locked with his.
Lyke gave a jerky nod of her head in thanks, then with a strong kick into Epona's side, she cried out: "Hiya!"
Epona pounced into a canter, her hooves thundering against the solid earth. Lyke spared a glance over her shoulder, I don't know what to expect but I do know that it is similar to Hyrule but vastly different too. I'll just have to hope for the best, the rider glanced down at her companion, won't we, Epona.
Midday arrived and parted; Lyke and Epona only sparing breaks when absolutely necessary. This continued for nearly a complete two weeks until the reached the port that allowed them to cross the ocean to arrive in Middle Earth, then catching another boat that went down the river that would bring them even closer to Rivendell.
The boat rides took another three weeks too many to reach her destination.
As she waited for the boat to dock, she set off saddling Epona up. Lyke feeding her an apple as she led the brown and white mare onto the wooden dock.
As Lyke stepped from the dock and onto the soil, she paused. A dark presence unfelt by the race of men that worked at the docks. She frowned, while she'd noticed it the nearer she got to Middle-Earth, just stepping on its soil made a shiver rack her spine. No doubt the dark presence would continue to strengthen the longer the Ring continued to exist.
With a sharp exhale, Lyke swung herself up into the saddle.
'Come Epona, we have somewhere to be.' Lyke spoke in her native tongue to her familiar. Epona nickered, feeling unsettled by the feeling in the air, the familiar a lot more attune to the earth than most horses. "It's likely Sauron's presence you are feeling, dear one." She murmured the last part under her breath to Epona, who chuffed.
Once Lyke was settled in the saddle, Epona took off cantering without any prompting. As Lyke road, she never strayed far from the hidden river path that she'd been gifted the knowledge of and would lead her to Rivendell without delay. It was another full four days of hard riding before she finally managed to see the house of Elves.
She pulled to a stop on the ledge; Epona nickered and reared up onto her hind legs before thumping back down. Lyke leaned forward and pat her familiar's neck as she continued to stare down at the beautiful Elvish buildings.
"It's now or never, right?" Lyke hummed in a light joking tone to Epona, who neighed softly, tail whipping in response.
Epona shifted and turned, heading towards the entrance of Rivendell; Lyke was in not a much rush now that she was here. The entrance wasn't hard for Lyke to locate and Epona trekked across the stone path in a trot. In a subconscious gesture, Lyke tugged the hood of her cape down.
As she reached the entrance, a familiar looking tall raven-haired elf with grey eyes made his way down to her. He wore his people's elvish clothing and a silver crown sat upon his head. Lyke paid no attention to the three small children, (they don't look young enough to be children, were they a different species? Lyke mused.) that were stood at the top of the stairs, watching curiously.
He smiled lightly at her. "Lyke, yes? 'Hero of Twilight and Personal Knight to Queen Zelda, I welcome thee to Rivendell.' I am Elrond, I have heard great things about you from her highness, and it is also a welcoming sight to once again see the Campion of Hylia set foot in Middle-Earth." Elrond greeted warmly.
Lyke tilted her head, eyes softening. 'It is good to see you again–uh... I mean, ah.' Lyke's face momentarily twisted into a look of embarrassment at her mistake and Elrond smiled at the slip-up. 'Either way, I had hoped that I could have been here for more pleasant reasons–' Lyke swiftly brought her leg over and slid from Epona's back. The heroine turned to Elrond once more. "–But it would seem that it is not the case."
Elrond gained a grim look. "Yes, a pity indeed. But I shall show you to your room. Someone will come to fetch you companion."
Lyke hummed with a nod, she glanced back at Epona, be a good girl for them, would you sweetheart? Epona nickered, bumping her head into Lyke's chest in understanding but the playful look in her eyes promises mischief if she was given the chance. Lyke mock glared but it softened, and she dropped a kiss onto her snout.
Lyke quickly unwrapped her sash and slung it on her shoulder before she turned and followed Elrond, who had already made is way up the stairs and stopped. He stood beside the people had watched her arrival.
She stopped a few steps down and glanced at them, the young Hobbits (Lyke could now see that they weren't children) were staring at her ears with awe. At the gazes, her ears twitched.
Lyke's eyes slid to Elrond and he nodded to them before walking on, Lyke followed–no words traded.
o-o-o-o-o
The day was still young and Lyke exhaled, watching the river from her balcony. Her ears twitched as she listened to the chirping birds and quiet talking of the occupants of Rivendell.
It was almost to quiet for her strangely enough.
She shook her head and turned for the door. She'd rather be doing something in silence then nothing at all. Maybe refamiliarizing herself with Rivendell would be best. The memories that had been passed onto her had included this house of elves. There had been changes made but ultimately the entire place had stayed the same.
She was a bit envious that Hyrule didn't have buildings like this, sure they had their own styles but there was just something about elvish architecture that felt so homely and safe, not to mention its beauty.
"Lyke."
The blonde slowed to a stop at Elrond's voice. She twisted her head to face him and his companion. The companion was an older man with a grey beard and clothing- a wizard, she realised, the Gary wizard.
Elrond and the wizard approached her. The former smiling as he introduced them. "Lyke, this is Gandalf the Grey."
Lyke turned to Gandalf, bowing her head to show repeat and the wizard chuckled in response as he waved her off. "No need to bow your head, my dear. You are just as worthy of as much respect."
Lyke blinked in surprise- had Elrond told him about her?
The wizard chuckled again. "I have heard much about you over the years."
Fair blue eyes turned to Elrond who only smiled. "You will always be my friend, even if you now inhabit another body."
They walked together, Lyke eyes taking in every detail she could. They finally reached their destination, Elrond's office. She shuffled to the railing immediately, still unable to stop taking in everything. She was sure had Sheik been here, he'd already made a remark about her awe. She hummed lowly at the thought, lips twitch upwards.
Her eyes were drawn to the two hobbits that were below them. He recognised the dark haired one as Frodo, the one that was the ringbearer. She recalled the mention of his injury by the Nazgul.
"His strength is already returning." Lyke remarked. She was joined by Elrond and Gandalf at the railing. They watched as Frodo and Sam spoke to one another. "I forgot how good elvish healing was but the wound won't fully heal, yes?"
"You are correct." Gandalf nodded with a heavy sigh. "He will carry it the rest of his life."
"And yet to have come so far, still bearing the Ring, the Hobbit has shown extraordinary resilience to its evil." Elrond noted as he moved away from the railing and to his desk.
"It is a burden he should never have had to bear." Gandalf's voice twanged with sympathy. "We can ask no more of Frodo."
"Gandalf, the enemy is moving." Elrond stressed, turning to give the Wizard a pointed look. "Sauron's forces are massing in the east. His eye is fixed on Rivendell and Saruman, you tell me, has betrayed us. Our list of allies grows thin."
Lyke exhaled heavily, rubbing her brow.
"His treachery runs deeper than you know. By foul craft, Saruman has crossed Orcs with goblin-men, he's breeding an army in the caverns of Isengard. An army that can move in sunlight and cover great distance at speed. Saruman is coming for the Ring." Gandalf followed Elrond and Lyke lent on the wall, arms crossed as she watched them.
"The elves cannot conceal the Ring." Lyke cut in.
"Lyke is correct, we elves do not have the strength to fight both Mordor and Isengard!" Elrond asserted. Gandalf moved away, turning his back to them. The elf continued, voice softening. "The Ring cannot stay here."
The Wizard lent on the railing, and Lyke's eyes were drawn to the entrance of Rivendell as a group arrived. A group of four human men.
"This peril belongs to all Middle-earth. They must decide now how to end it. The time of the elves is over, my people are leaving these shores. Who will you look to when we've gone? The dwarves? They hide in their mountains seeking riches. They care nothing for the troubles of others." Elrond inquired with a heavy look.
Gandalf turned back to them. "It is in men that we must place our hope."
"Men?" Elrond echoed bitterly. "Men are weak. The race of men is failing. The blood of Numenor is all but spent, its pride and dignity forgotten. It is because of men the Ring survives." Elrond wandered, turning his back to them.
Lyke closed her eyes, the soldiers and fighting echoed within her mind of a time long since forgotten. The dreams that had been sent to her had continued since she discovered what they had meant but only now they had become clearer.
"Lyke's previous incarnation and I was there, Gandalf." Elrond continued. "We were there three thousand years ago… when Isildur took the Ring. We were there the day the strength of men failed.-"
"Isildur, hurry. Follow us."
Lyke sharply exhaled, their voices ringing inside her mind as she closed her eyes.
"-We led Isildur into the heart of Mount Doom, where the Ring was forged, the one place it could be destroyed.-"
"Cast it into the fire! Destroy it!"
"No."
"Isildur!"
"-It should have ended that day, but evil was allowed to endure." Elrond finished, a heavy expression on his face.
"Isildur kept the Ring, he was not strong enough to fight the temptation." Lyke sighed, crossing her arms.
"Hmm, and so the line of kings is broken." Elrond added. "There's no strength left in the world of men. They're scattered, divided, leaderless."
"There is one who could unite them." Gandalf points out. "One who could reclaim the throne of Gondor."
"He turned from that path a long time ago. He has chosen exile." Elrond argued, staring Gandalf in the eye.
Lyke frowned, unsure of who they were speaking off.
o-o-o-o-o
lol I know 'where art thou' is actually 'wherefore art thou' and means 'why are you' but I couldn't find an alternative, so…
Anyway, again i'd like to apologize and i hope this makes up for it.