Aryll's Adventure Ch.1
Out at sea, in an island on the horizon known to many as Outset Island, a little girl could be seen climbing down a ladder from a lookout tower. The girl had a blue dress and short blond hair put into two little pigtails. Her name was Aryll.
It had been 3 years since her brother Link left Outset after his wind waker adventure. Aryll was now 10, and he still hadn't returned.
After much waiting once again, she had decided to take a break and go explore the forest. The monsters of the forest were gone, and it was now safe to explore. As soon as she had reached the bridge, however, she paused and remembered how the giant bird had taken her away. Just as soon as it came, she had shrugged off the memory and reminded herself that the bird was dead and her brother killed it.
She then cautiously proceeded over the bridge and made it to the other side, completely safe.
As she walked on, she thought back to when she was trapped inside the forsaken fortress and her big brother had rescued her. She sighed and wished she had that kind of courage. She then stopped and sat on a nearby log. Her brother had gone away, and now, her life was almost meaningless.
It was half an hour before she decided to get up and resume walking. However, as she proceeded, she was completely unaware that a pair of menacing eyes was watching her from the shadows, as if waiting for something. The figure shifted and caused a quiet rustling noise, but not quiet enough to be unheard.
Aryll's eyes darted to the creature's position and saw something, although she wasn't sure what. Out of instinct, she asked,
"Who's there?"
She soon had found it better if she hadn't asked, for, a huge bokoblin (1) jumped out and pointed his spear at her. Aryll shrieked and ran as fast as she could away from the monster, but she soon found out it was no use, for not only was the bokoblin giving chase, but he was gaining on her.
Just as she was about to be caught, she somehow disappeared under the ground through a hole, much too small for the monster to fit through.
Aryll landed with a soft thud on the ground, which was fortunately soft, giving her a much easier and painless landing. Aryll then got up and rubbed her head from the fall and looked at her surroundings. She was in a beautiful cavern with a glowing pond at the end. She then looked up and saw that the hole was way too high, and that there was nothing for her to use to climb back up.
Having no other options, she walked towards the pond and as she got closer, she saw that there were many fairies flying around the cavern. When she reached the pond, she saw circular steps that seemed to overlap on each other. She climbed the small steps and reached the edge of the pond. As soon as she did however, a great fairy with four arms sprang up from the pond and looked at Aryll. She then spoke,
"Ah, little child, I knew you would come. Please listen to our words."
Not knowing what to do, Aryll just simply nodded and listened.
"Child, we didn't want to bother you, but your brother, the hero of wind has gone away and we have no one else to turn to but you. Something is troubling all of the fairies. It is an ancient dark being which we fairies had thought long gone."
The great fairy then clasped her hands and the wall behind her moved apart to reveal a great hall lined with paintings of all kinds. The great fairy then said,
"Come with me, there is much to be learned."
Aryll followed the great fairy through the hall until they stopped. The great fairy began,
"These paintings tell the story of a fairy that once went dark. Her name was Iren."
Aryll looked up at the painting of the fairy who looked different. She had bright purple hair that was in the form of an upside-down flame, and a black dress. The great fairy continued,
"Iren was a quiet fairy throughout her childhood, and most of her adult life. As an adult, she showed that she was ambitious. She had always wanted to reach great heights in everything. At first, most of us fairies were happy for her, until we saw the true nature of her plan."
Another painting on the wall was of Iren smiling, looking up at the sky, and extending her arms apart towards it, the constellations could be seen. The great fairy then said,
"Iren wanted to harness the hidden power from the spirits of the constellations, and use it for herself. At one point, she had almost succeeded in her plot, luckily, a fairy learned of her plot a few days before she could execute her plan."
This painting was of Iren being confronted by all the fairies with a single pink one leading them through. Her hair was like three actual flames at this point.
"The fairy queen herself sealed Iren and cast her into the sun, never to be seen again."
This painting was of Iren with the sun around her as she laid in it.
Aryll followed the fairy to the exit which somehow led them right back where they entered. The wall then closed up and the great fairy said,
"You are our only hope, young Aryll. You must travel to the fairy queen to see if our worst fear has become reality. We all hope it not to be true, but we fear that the fairy witch Iren has come back."
Aryll gasped for a moment before she asked,
"But how am I supposed to do that? I'm not like my big brother!"
The great fairy giggled before saying,
"Yes you are. You too, are a descendant of the hero of time. The same Hylian bloodline flows through you, as well as your brother."
Aryll thought for a moment before saying,
"Well, I can try."
"Good. Now you must hurry to the fairy queen's shrine. Chime,"
A pink fairy flew over next to Aryll and said,
"Yes great fairy?"
"Chime, I wish for you to aide Aryll to the fairy queen's shrine."
The pink fairy, Chime, responded,
"Yes great fairy, I shall do as you wish."
The great fairy turned to Aryll and said,
"Chime will be of most help to you. Now, you must hurry. Step into the light, and you will be lifted upwards."
Aryll began to do that when she remembered,
"Wait! If I go up there, the monster that was up there just now will get me!"
The great fairy clasped her hands and slowly let them apart. Right between her hands, an orange flower appeared, then, a small dagger-like object, only longer, levitated from the flower as it dispersed. The great fairy said,
"This is the Kokiri sword. It was the first weapon the hero of time wielded. I entrust it to you."
The sword then hovered into Aryll's hands and she took hold of it. She then said,
"But I don't know how to use a sword."
The great fairy then said,
"I'm sure that you will figure it out. Now, you must hurry."
With that, Aryll stepped on into the light, and she then began floating upwards. As soon as she was out of the hole, she took a look at her surroundings and saw no sign of the bokoblin and just ran toward the bridge where, big surprise, it just so happened to be waiting. Fortunately, his back was turned to Aryll. Chime, who had followed, then whispered in her ear,
"Maybe you can try to push him off the cliff, and he won't know what happened."
Aryll then cautiously proceeded right behind the oversized pig and was very close to pushing him, when due to rotten luck, she stepped on a twig.
The bogoblin turned and saw Aryll standing there in fear. She took two steps back and the bogoblin began charging at her. Knowing there was nothing else she could do, she turned tail and ran. She just kept on running all over the woods until she came right back to the cliff. She turned and saw the bokoblin grinning and slowly walking towards her with a spear in hand. Chime then whispered in her ear,
"When I say jump, you jump out of the way, got it?"
Aryll just nodded. Suddenly, he lunged at her spear raised, when Chime yelled,
"Jump!"
Aryll then jumped to the side and the monster fell down the cliff. Fortunately, there were sharp rocks at the bottom. Out of curiosity, Aryll peeked over the cliff just in time to see the bokoblin hit the rocks and turn into purple dust. Aryll sighed and said,
"Phew, for a while there, I thought there was gonna be blood."
Chime then said,
"These monsters are made of pure evil. They have no blood."
With that, they continued towards the bridge and walked across. As soon as she reached the other side, Aryll took off running. She ran down the hills, past the pig pen, and finally, past her lookout tower, until she stopped in front of her house. She then went inside and saw her grandmother knitting in het chair. She calmly said,
"I see you're back Aryll. And who's your friend?"
Aryll hesitated for a bit before saying,
"It's a long story."
Later...
"...and that's everything."
Aryll took a breath as she finished her story, and waited to see what her grandmother might say about her going off on an adventure on her own, after all, it was the great fairy who told Aryll what she had to do. With a sigh, her grandmother answered,
"I'm not so sure you're ready to go off on your own. After all, there are so many dangers out there, and it just worries me to see you try to do this."
Aryll and Chime began protesting but were cut off,
"However, seeing as how it's the great fairy that wants you to do this, I suppose that there is no stopping fate. And also..."
She then got up from her chair and laid a hand on Aryll's cheek, and continued,
"You too have the same Hylian blood like your big brother. I really don't like this, but I'm sure you can do this."
Aryll then hugged her grandmother and said,
"Thanks grandma!"
"Hang on dear, there is one thing I have to give you."
She then walked off to her sewing cabinet and pulled out a locked box. With a key, she unlocked it and gave it to Aryll, motioning her to open it.
Aryll slowly opened the box to see a green outfit like Link's. Only the sleeves were shorter and the skirt was longer, in fact, it looked exactly like Link's outfit, only completely re-designed for a girl. While smiling, her grandmother said,
"I made it for you to wear during the annual celebration of the hero of time, but it looks like you need it now more than ever. Try it on."
After a few minutes, Aryll had the entire outfit on and finished adjusting the cap. Her grandmother said,
"Wonderful. Now please, you must go. But before you do, be sure to stop by at Orca's for some sword training."
"I will. Thanks grandma!"
With that, she headed outside. The first thing she did was go to Orca's. She entered his house and saw him pounding something with his bare hands. Aryll cleared her throat to catch his attention and said,
"Um, excuse me Mr. Orca, but I was wondering if you could-"
Orca interrupted by saying,
"Teach you some sword maneuvers?"
"Yes, if it's not too much trouble."
"Oh no, no trouble at all! I just need to know if your grandmother approved of this first."
"She did."
"Well then let's get started!"
Aryll then withdrew the Kokiri sword out of the sheath that appeared out of nowhere, (Seriously, have you ever wondered where the hell Link gets those sheaths?) and took a fighting stance. Orca took his spear and prepared himself. (H for horizontal, D for diagonal, and V for vertical.) He then began,
"We will start with the most basic moves, basically the combination strikes, cut (H), slice (H), cut (D), and slash (V)."
Aryll did as was told and did so, in exact order. Orca continued,
"Good, now for the jump strike."
Aryll jumped and brought her sword down on Orca who blocked with his spear.
"Excellent! Now for the reaction attack. As soon as your enemy strikes, dodge, hit and back away. Got it?"
Aryll responded,
"I think so."
"Good, now let's try it out. Remember, just as the enemy strikes."
Orca then thrust his spear while Aryll jumped out of the way. She swung, but missed by an inch and backed away.
"Well, you got it right, but you have to make sure you land the blow. Now let's try this again."
Once more, Orca thrust his spear and this time, Aryll managed to nearly cut him, but couldn't because he had once again blocked with his spear.
"Well done! Now finally, the spin attack! You could both gather strength and spin with your sword or you could just spin really fast with your sword out. Note that the second option is trickier but faster. Now try it out!"
Aryll prepared and executed it flawlessly in both ways, although the second way was indeed trickier.
"Perfect! Well, that's all I have to teach you today. Be sure to bring me 20 knight's crests for a new move."
Aryll sheathed her sword and said,
"I will. Thanks Mr. Orca!"
"Please, no need to call me Mr."
"Okay then, thanks Orca!"
Aryll was about to leave but Orca stopped her after she opened the door,
"Now hang on! You can't just use a sword alone! Here, take this!"
Orca then pulled something from a shelf and tossed it to Aryll. It was a small round shield. Aryll thanked him and went on her way. As she walked toward her lookout, which conveniently had a dock right next to it, Chime then came out from under her cap and said,
"Aryll, the first place we should go is the southern fairy temple, let's go!"
"Right!"
Aryll walked onto the docks and stepped on her little blue sailboat that she had gotten a few months back. Normally, she was only allowed no further than the little islands off the coast of Outset, but now the situation called for it. Aryll raised the sail and set off. She looked back to see her grandmother waving at her from the porch. Aryll waved back and turned to her sail. She then muttered,
"Next stop, Southern fairy island."