A/N: Alright, it's finally up! I've trying to finish this chapter up for a bit. This is my first fanfic, btw, so please, no flames. Constructive criticism most certainly welcome, though. R&R, please!
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters featured in this story. Yet. A couple of OC's may make appeareances, Idk.
Wayward Warrior
Chapter 1: Down the Rabbit Hole
by: shadowreploid
As the Hero of Time gazed upon the prone form of the Dark Lord, he knew that he should feel elation that the tyrant's reign was over. Instead, all he felt was a bone-deep weariness. So much loss, so much suffering, he mused as he prepared to strike. All because of this monster's selfish desires. Well, time to end this... He leapt forward, Blade of Evil's Bane in hand. Link closed his eyes as he-WHAM!
"What the hell!" Link cried as he got up off the ground. He glared at Ganondorf, who had gotten back on his feet and was now smirking at the hero's confusion.
"What's the matter, boy?" the villain sneered. "Did you really think that it would be that easy?" As he spoke, the crimson-haired tyrant waved his hand, dispelling the golden barrier that had surrounded them throughout the fight. Princess Zelda, on Link's loyal horse, Epona, was in far closer proximity to Ganondorf than Link had realized. Before he could act, the murderer seized Zelda off of Epona.
"Fool! This was just the beginning! Soon, all the multiverse shall tremble before me!" Ganondorf yelled. Even as Link leapt to attack him, the Gerudo king summoned his blood-red blade with his free hand. He held the blade of darkness up, then brought it down forcefully. Where the sword traveled, it seemed to rip through the very air. A shockwave pulsed from the tear, knocking Link to the ground. Ganondorf roared with demented laughter. "Follow me, if you dare!" With Zelda struggling under his left arm, he walked into the rip in space.
Link struggled to his feet. He had not even heard most of what Ganondorf had said. All he saw was the reason why he would never be able to go home again escaping his blade. With a mindless cry of rage, he charged into the hole, Epona close behind him.
It was the most bizarre thing he had ever experienced, and considering some of the things he'd seen while traveling Hyrule, that was saying something. It was as though he was flying forward at great speed, down a dark tunnel that was streaked with red and blue. Then, he saw a light rapidly approaching him. Before he could even brace himself, he was out of the tunnel. He flew through the air, his flight only eventually arrested by the immutable laws of gravity...and a rock.
"Ow!" Link muttered as he rose to his feet, rubbing the bump on his head. "What is it with me and hitting the dirt recently, anyway? Hey, what's that sound..."His voice trailed off at the sight laid out on the vast plain below him.
There seemed to be two sides to the conflict. The side on Link's left looked organized and well-trained, with ranks of soldiers marching forward to combat, their carmine banners waving in the breeze.
The group on his right, by comparison, looked absolutely ragged. They looked careworn and tired, their weapons dragging in the dust. The only thing that seemed to be keeping them from just surrendering was a figure standing near the forefront of their ranks. Although Link couldn't tell for sure, it looked like the figure was doing its best to encourage its companions.
Gazing about, Link realized that what at first he had taken to be scavenger birds, appeared to be winged horses or dragons! What was more, they seemed to have riders! As he started to take out his Hawkeye to get a better look at the strange creatures, he heard an explosive TWANG! It was not unlike the sound of his bowstring when he launched an arrow, only much louder.
Almost immediately, one of the flying creatures over the ragtag group jerked and began to fall to the ground. Focusing the Hawkeye on the plummeting creature, Link realized, to his surprise, that the beast had indeed bore a rider. From what he could see, it looked to be a young woman. Her mount somehow managed to maneuver underneath her, cushioning her landing. However, the duo still crashed in the region between the two armies.
His attention firmly on the crash landing, Link was surprised by a monstrous roar from the red garbed side. Swinging his head towards the noise, he saw a massive red dragon rearing up over the human army.
"Where the heck did THAT come from?" he wondered. Suddenly, the beast dropped to the ground and began to charge towards the base of the hill, where the girl lay, unmoving. The ragtag leader (or so Link dubbed him in his own mind) started forward as well, though it was easy for Link to see that the young man could not beat the dragon to the damsel.
He quickly examined the ground before him. About four feet away, the hill sloped sharply downward to where the girl was just starting to stir. Looking at the drop, Link grimaced.
"Dammit! I can't get there in time, either!" Glaring at the rocky ground before him, he found his eyes being drawn by the white of the dead winged horse. "White...white...snow! The yetis and their strange fascination with sledding! But what can I..." His voice trailed off as he realized that he still had the Master Sword and his shield drawn. He looked at the shield. "Well, I don't have any better ideas, so...here I goooo!" Flinging his shield onto the ground before him, Link jumped on and started sliding downhill rapidly.
"Ack! Whoa, big boulder!" he cried out. Looking ahead, he saw that, despite his best efforts, the dragon had still beaten him to the prize.
The behemoth reared up over the young woman, who was struggling to move. A broken leg, however, kept her trapped. Flames started to flicker from the monster's nostrils. The leader was still too far away to do anything.
Distracted by the tableau before him, Link forgot to watch where he was headed. Suddenly, the hero found himself air-born, his shield flying through the air below him...straight into the dragon's gaping mouth.
The creature looked perplexed for a moment, until it realized that it couldn't expel the combustible gas it had built up. Upon realizing that rather disturbing fact, it panicked. It reared up even more...enabling Link to land right on its face.
Link suddenly found himself face to eyeball with an extremely irritated dragon. "Um, hi?" he said tentatively.
The dragon, needless to say, was NOT amused. Growling as best it could with a shield in its throat, it began thrashing about, trying to get the crazy guy off of its face. Link gripped the scaly maw with all his might. Without warning, the beast dropped to all fours and raced away from the hillside.
"What the heck?" Link said. Looking over his shoulder, he saw, rapidly approaching, what appeared to be a rather deep canyon. "Ah, crap!" he yelled as he released his death grip on the dragon's face. He started to run down the length of the sinuous body, but too late. Just as he reached the base of the tail, he felt the sudden tug of gravity. They were over the edge.
Thinking quickly, Link drew one of his Clawshots. "Well, hope this works..." he muttered as he fired the grappling device at the cliff in front of him. For the first time that day, it seemed that the goddesses were listening after all. The claw dug into the cliff face, causing the chain to snap tautly and arrest his freefall down to the rocky bottom.
The dragon, however, was not so lucky. It failed to catch enough wind with its wings to arrest its descent, which ended with a sickening CRUNCH!
While he was catching his breath, Link heard a rush of wind behind him. Turning around as best he could, he saw another one of the strange flying mounts. It looked like a smaller, bluish version of the dragon. In the beast's saddle was a red-haired young woman, clad in armor that matched her hair's fiery color. She was gripping the reins of her mount with one hand, while reaching out to him with the other.
"Well, do you want some help, or do you want to wait until they summon another Manakete to the battlefield?" she snapped at Link.
A look of confusion passed over his features. "What in the name of the Sacred Realm is a Manakete?" he queried.
The girl looked at him like he was an idiot. "Did you hit your head or something?" Before he could respond, she continued. "Argh, it doesn't matter right now! Do you want help, or not?"
Link gazed at her, a bemused look on his face. "Do you really think you can pull me up behind you?" Quickly continuing, he said "How about you bring that...thing up underneath me? It'd be a lot less risky, at least for you."
She grimaced. "Fine. Hang on!" As she took her mount into a slight dive, Link shook his head.
"Already doing that, thank you very mu-whoa!" The impact from the creature coming up underneath him caused him to accidentally hit the release for the Clawshot. After retracting the chain, he grabbed hold of her waist. At that, she stiffened, but didn't tell him to let go, so Link figured he was good for the moment. They cleared the top of the cliff, the sight before him causing Link's jaw to drop from the sheer strangeness.
The red-armored side was retreating! They were pulling back in a panic, and, as Link strained to hear any indication of why they were fleeing despite their clear advantage, he heard shouts of "Run away!" "The General is dead!" "Flee!"
"What in Din's name are they talking about?" he asked the girl. "It doesn't look like anyone's fought here yet, so where's the deceased 'general'? Only thing that's dead is that stupid dragon."
She looked back over her shoulder and replied, "That dragon WAS their general. All of Dolhr's armies are now led by the Manaketes." The warrior-woman directed her mount toward the ragtag group.
"That's the second time you've used that word-Manakete. What does it mean?" Link asked. She looked back at him in shock, then, when she realized that he was serious, responded.
"A Manakete is a fairly normal looking person who, with the use of a dragonstone, becomes a dragon. The vast majority follow the Shadow Dragon, Medeus. There were two that aided us in our fight against him, but Bantu fell in combat just three days ago. Tiki has still not fully recovered from the loss, so at the moment, we must fight them ourselves." They landed as she finished speaking.
Link was quickly approached by the one whom he had taken to be the leader. He was a young man, about Link's age and height. He had blue hair and eyes, and a careworn look.
He extended his hand to Link. "I am Marth, Prince of Altea, and leader of those who seek to defy Dolhr. Thank you for saving Caeda." Link looked at the young man, shrugged, and took Marth's hand in a firm grip and shook.
After releasing the prince's hand, he replied "I'm Link, and you're welcome, but other than that, I have no clue what you're talking about."
Marth looked at him in shock for a moment, but he quickly recovered. "Maria!" he yelled.
Almost immediately, a young girl, who looked so much like Link's rescuer that they had to be sisters, came running.
"Yes, Marth?" she asked brightly. Marth pointed at Link.
"Please check him for head injuries. He seems to be suffering from memory loss." The little redhead nodded and moved forward, only to stop as Link erupted.
"For the love of the goddesses! I do NOT have a concussion, or anything like that! Could someone, who, by the way, is NOT going to act as though I'm some sort of retard, PLEASE, in Farore's name, tell me what the HELL is going on! One minute, I'm in Hyrule Field, the next, I'm on a hill overlooking a frickin' battlefield!" Everyone besides his rescuer and Marth was slowly backing away. Marth looked at him, and sighed.
"Alright, but first we need to get away from here, before Gharnef's apprentices start trying to-ˮ He was interrupted by a ripping sound that came from behind Link. Immediately, everyone who was armed, including Link, drew their weapons and looked toward the source of the disturbance. Upon seeing what was coming through the tear, Link put away his sword.
"Epona!" he joyfully cried as the ever-faithful horse trotted up to him. "Where have you been, girl?" The rust-colored mare lowered her head and nuzzled his shoulder as he stroked her neck. Marth coughed, breaking up the reunion.
"We still need to get moving. I'll explain more later, but it's imperative that we leave, now!" Link nodded and swung up onto Epona's back. All around him, everyone was preparing to depart the plain. As he gazed around, he was impressed by the degree of organization those around him displayed. Suddenly, he was distracted by a tap on his shoulder. He turned around, only to see his redheaded rescuer glaring at him from atop her mount.
"Ah, there you are. Thank you for earlier," he said. At that, the intensity of the glare lessened. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I caught your name."
"I am Minerva. Marth has asked me to accompany you, and answer any questions that you have as best I can." She did not look happy about the request.
Link looked at her mount skeptically. "Can that thing stay that low to the ground?"
Now the glare regained its former strength. "No, she cannot. I am to ride with you."
"Okay, so where's your horse?" he responded.
"I am to ride with you," she repeated.
"What do you...oh. Right." Link looked rather sheepish for a moment. "I presume you know how to ride?"
Now her tone was positively frozen. "Yes, I do." She dismounted, handing the reigns of her mount over to another flying rider.
Link got down with the intent of helping her up. She looked at his extended hand, sniffed contemptuously, and swung herself up onto Epona's back.
Epona's reaction was instantaneous. The mare began bucking wildly, trying to fling the stranger off her back.
"What the-ah!" Minerva exclaimed as she found herself deposited on the ground behind the horse. The moment that the girl was off, the proud mare settled down. Link, meanwhile, was struggling to not laugh out loud.
"There was a reason why I offered to help you up!" he managed to get out. Minerva glared at him. Everyone else was staring at the two of them like they were crazy. "Epona's very stubborn. I'm the only one who can get her to accept a rider." He walked over to where the girl still sat, glaring at him. He extended his hand. She looked at him, and after a moment, took his hand. After helping her up off the ground, he smiled good-naturedly. "Want to try again?" Minerva looked at him and nodded. "Okay then. I'm going to help you up into the saddle. Once you're seated, I'm going to swing up behind you. Do not move once you're there until I'm behind you. She won't try to buck you so long as you do that, I promise."
He was as good as his word, too. By the time that the two of them were seated comfortably, the rebels were ready to move out.
Marth rode to the front. "Okay, we're all set. Let's go." With those simple words, they started out.
Link and Minerva rode in silence for a few minutes. Finally, Link spoke up.
"Okay, first question. Where are we?"
Minerva looked over her shoulder before answering, "We're on the back of a horse."
Link snorted. "Ha ha, very funny. You know what I mean."
"We are on the continent Archanea, in the kingdom of Aurelis. We're headed to the Holy Kingdom of Archanea. Princess Nyna, who is riding alongside Marth, is the rightful ruler of Archanea."
"Okay. Who or what is this Medeus person?"
Minerva sighed. "He is the Shadow Dragon, the ruler of Dolhr. He wishes to conquer everything."
Link thought about that for a second. "Hm, sounds like someone I know..." At this, Minerva briefly glanced over her shoulder.
"Really? What's their name?" she asked. Her voice, which had begun to lose its tenseness, suddenly sounded brittle. Link, however, was oblivious.
"His name is Ganondorf, and I have sworn to destroy him," was the reply. He was thrown off balance as Minerva turned around suddenly. "Um, is something—ˮ
She looked at him. "How do you know of him? He only appeared two months ago."
Link looked at her in shock. "What do you mean, two months? I was through that portal thing about 20 seconds after he was!"
Minerva glared at him. "Answer my question first!" she demanded.
Link glared back, then sighed and looked away. "Okay, where do I start? Well, where I come from..."
(A/N: At this point, we're going to skip ahead a bit, as I'm going to assume that if you're reading this, then you already know what he's going to tell her.)
"...and that's why I've sworn to kill him. He must be stopped before he succeeds in fusing light and shadow." Link finished. Looking up, he realized that night had fallen. Minerva was leaning back against him.
As he gazed down at her head, memories rose, unbidden, of the Time Before the Twilight, of simple days spent with…he shook his head. No, he couldn't afford to think of her. Not yet, not if he was to keep his focus. He felt bad not telling Minerva about that part of the history between him and Ganondorf, but the pain… was still too fresh.
All around them, everyone was stopping. "I guess it's time to stop for the night." As he spoke, Link noticed that Minerva's breathing was very regular. Taking a closer look at her, he saw that she had fallen asleep. He chuckled to himself. "Am I really such a bad storyteller?"
Marth rode up as Link was gently removing Minerva from the saddle. "Link, tonight I...did she really fall asleep?" Marth asked in surprise.
Link snorted. "Yeah, she did. Anyway, you were saying?"
Marth shook his head. "I would like to properly introduce you to the commanders tonight at dinner."
Link thought about it for a moment. "Okay, that sounds smart. When do we eat?"
Marth chortled. "Right now, so please wake Minerva up and then come on over to the main fire." As he walked away, Marth added, "Oh, and the windswept look suits you."
Link watched him walk away, confusion evident on his face. "Windswept? What is...oh no, where's my hat?" He quickly looked around, but couldn't find it. "Ah, well. Come on, Minerva, wake up. It's time to eat." She woke up when he softly shook her.
"Wha...?" she murmured dazedly.
"Come on, it's time to eat." He helped her up. "Can you walk comfortably?"
Minerva shook her head. "No, I can't. I'm sorry for falling asleep on you. I heard enough of what you said to not be worried about whose side you're on."
Link glanced at her. "What, so that was why Marth had you ride with me? I feel a little insulted." He offered his arm to her. After giving him a strange look, she took it.
As they were walking towards the main campfire, Minerva leaning ever so slightly against Link, she explained. "No, that wasn't why Marth had me ride with you. He really did just want me to answer your questions. Unfortunately, we've had several traitors infiltrate the Archanean League before, so I had to make sure for my own peace of mind that you were trustworthy."
"So, did I pass?" Link inquired, with a raised eyebrow.
Minerva chuckled. "Yes, with flying colors. Now, Marth is going to want you to sit near him, so we're going to have to part ways for now. I'll see you later." Upon saying this, she released his arm and walked over to where Maria was sitting with yet another young redhead who was dressed in what looked to be clerical garb. Marth looked up from his discussion with a grizzled older man in purple armor with spikes.
"Ah, Link! Come over here, please!" Marth motioned him over. "Link, this is Jagen. Jagen, Link," he said, indicating the older man who he had been talking to. Link shook Jagen's hand then sat down at Marth's gesture. "Please, make yourself comfortable. Tiki just came out and said that the meal will be served presently."
As Marth spoke, a red-haired man wearing an apron and a young green-haired girl exited a nearby tent, a large, cast-iron pot carried by four people following them, steam rising from it.
"Food's ready!" the girl announced proudly.
"Thank you, Tiki," Marth replied. The pot was being carried around the circle, with the stew being served into the bowls in front of each person.
"You're welcome, Mar-mar," she cheerfully replied. Her face abruptly fell as she looked at Link, who had not touched his food.
"Something the matter, Link?" Marth queried.
"What exactly went into this stew?" the Hylian responded. Marth and Jagen both looked at Tiki.
"Oh, a bit of this, a dash of that… whatever was handy, really," the girl replied. "Why do you ask?"
Link set the bowl down. "No offense, but I feel a little uneasy not knowing something about what I'm eating."
Marth gazed at him in a pitying manner. "Well, I can tell you one thing about it."
"Oh? What's that?"
"If you don't start eating, Tiki will make you."
At this, Link burst out laughing. "Oh yeah, I'm real frightened of…the…oh, shit."
This outburst was elicited by the fact that where, mere seconds ago, there had been a fuming little girl, there was now a thirty-foot long, slender, silver-scaled dragon glaring down at him. It opened its mouth, and roared:
"EAT YOUR STEW!"
Link promptly grabbed his bowl and began eating. Tiki remained in her dragon form until he had eaten all of his stew, then, as the red haired man and the assistants collected the bowls and utensils, reverted to her sweetly smiling child form. As she skipped off, the Hylian could see several of the others seated around the campfire struggling not to laugh. He turned to Marth, who was amongst those proving mostly successful.
"So, Mar-mar," Link said, smirking as the smile suddenly fell away from the prince's face, "are you going to introduce everyone, or not?"
Marth glared at him for a moment, then shrugged. "Very well. You've already been introduced to Jagen, so I'll continue from there. Next to Jagen is Draug, the commander of our armored units…"
As Link walked away from the fire, he yawned. Wow, he mused as he moved towards where he'd left Epona, they're a lot better organized than I thought. We might actually stand a chance. Suddenly, he realized that Minerva was standing in front of him.
"Can I help you, Princess?" he asked. That had been an unexpected piece of information he had garnered during the lengthy introduction session. She looked at him, sadness in her eyes.
"Please, don't call me that," she responded. "I prefer to be judged for myself, not for my ancestors. Anyway, there is extra space in our tent, if you don't have one of your own."
Link smiled. "I appreciate the offer, but I think it'd be best if I stay outside." As a hurt look passed over her face, he hastily continued. "I'm a lot more comfortable outside. Thank you sincerely for the offer, though." She looked at him oddly, then nodded.
"Very well. Good night to you, Hylian." With that, she walked off. He chuckled to himself once he was confident she was out of earshot.
"By Farore, these are strange people." He walked to where he had left Epona. As he expected, the faithful mare was still there. "Ah, Epona old girl. Time to set up camp to sleep." He removed the traveling pack from her back, he checked his gear. To his surprise, all that he had with him was: some more green tunics; the Master Sword; a lantern; a collapsible fishing rod; the Hero's Bow, Giant Quiver, and the Hawkeye; both Clawshots; the horse whistle; four empty bottles; and his guitar. He also had some blankets and a flintbox. Shrugging about the loss of the rest of his gear, he got out his blankets and laid them on the ground. Settling down, he played a soothing tune on his guitar, put that away, and, gradually, fell asleep.
Elsewhere…
Two voices, one a deep baritone, and the other a simpering alto, conversed.
"So," mused the baritone, "the Thief King's rival has appeared at last. We must keep an eye on him, and arrange to have him removed from the equation as soon as possible."
"Why, my lord?" queried the other, in a sycophantic tone. "Surely he cannot pose a threat to our plans?"
"Silence, fool!" roared the other. "He does not now, but if he is given the opportunity to develop, he could destroy us!"
"My apologies, lord! I did not mean to doubt your wisdom…"
"Of course not." The first scoffed. "Go. Inform the thief that his eternal foe has arrived, and we shall watch the results. They should be most…amusing."
"Of course, sire! I go! I go!"
The deep-voiced speaker said to himself, once the other was gone, "It is time." Taking on a different tone, he proclaimed "Cry havoc, and let loose the dogs of war! Let blood be spilled, and lives torn asunder! Give shackles to the Wolf, and wings to the Boar! Call forth the lightning, and send down the thunder! Mwahahahaha! Our conquest begins!"
A/N: So, what do ya think? Please let me know. Looking forward to putting more up for this story.
P.S.- does the simpering voice remind you of anyone? Kudos to whoever can guess the inspiration for him was! (Here's a hint: he served the Horse-Lords' king.)
