Hey guys, it's been awhile huh? Well I'm not 100% sure how this is going to work. I have the ideas down on paper, but I don't know what it's going to look like when I'm done. The length of this for example isn't something I'm going to tamper with much, so this could end up longer or shorter than my last fanfiction. I'm also going to use some more 2nd person when telling the story so I don't sound so unprofessional with the Authors Notes all the time.
EDIT: I cleaned up the story so it will have less errors and look nicer.
This is a story of a noble kingdom of Hyrule. A land with a great and interesting history. A land of demons, spirits, knights, swords, monarchs…and magic. This land was not in the medieval ages, for their most common use of travel for the last one hundred years has been train. That is because this kingdom is not a part of our world at all. Our world knows no magic unless you believe your God (if any) is magic. This land is in a world of its own. Since the land is magic it runs on a slightly different logic than ours, and some inventions here don't exist in that land, such as guns. However even if you were to bring a gun to Hyrule, it wouldn't have much more effect than a regular bow and arrow because of the difference in their world's logic. Some of the inventions themselves worked differently too. For example their train does not run on oil or coal, it runs on the magical energy coming from the train tracks themselves. These tracks are known as Spirit Tracks. The Spirit Tracks run all over the land of Hyrule. One could go from one side to the opposite in ten minutes. This kingdom is by no means small, though. In fact it is the largest known kingdom in their world, the world itself is just smaller. It was founded by the great Pirate Queen Tetra when her kingdom drowned at the bottom of the sea. If you wish to know of this older Hyrule or how it drowned look for other great legends, they do exist. Tetra was also known as Zelda by a few. It is a traditional name for the royal family's princess that was kept alive in her kingdom for centuries but for unknown reasons her mother named her Tetra. Tetra brought back the tradition with her daughter, Zelda, and her granddaughter, Zelda II. Tetra herself, however, refused to be called Zelda. But enough preamble let us get on with the story…The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
This is a tale from long ago. It's the tale of the first settlers of this land. In the beginning, the people followed the spirits of good, and all was peaceful. But that era of peace soon came to an end. The evil Demon King rose to power, destroying everything in his path. The spirits of good had no choice but to face him in battle. The war that ensued seemed to last an eternity, and much blood was shed. Finally, the spirits subdued the Demon King, though they could not destroy him. Their powers were greatly depleted. With their remaining power, they buried the Demon King's spirit in the ground. They built shackles to imprison him, and a tower that acted as a lock. These shackles cover the land to this day. With their power drained, the spirits of good returned to the heavens. Suddenly bereft of both demons and spirits, this land was entrusted to us.
"Ho ho ho…" Niko chuckled merrily finishing his story with the last piece of artwork. Niko was an old bucktooth man with white hair and was going bald. He had a kind face and was wearing a red and white striped shirt with green pants and a belt with a skull. He was also holding a cane. While he was old, he tended to act a bit immature for his age. It was rumored that he was once a part of Tetra's pirate crew. "Well? Do I know how to tell a story or what?" Niko asked his roommate, Link. "I call it 'Spirits and Demons…at War!' I only do show this once a year, you know! It's a blasted masterpiece! A…a…a blasterpiece!" Niko looked over a Link and his face was full of dismay. Niko sighed "What's this? You fell asleep during my magnum opus?" in front of Niko lay a fourteen year old boy with long, wavy, fluffy, blond hair and dark blue eyes and bushy eyebrows. He was wearing brown boots, and a black and gray train engineer uniform. He also wore a red hat that looked too small for him; it had a dove on it. Here the symbol of a train engineer is a dove. His name was Link. Link was a kind boy, but he was poor mannered and tactless sometimes. The reason he didn't find Niko's story as interesting as you might have is because he heard it so many times before. He was an orphan was raised by Niko and his mentor, Alfonzo.
Link continued snoring gently until the sound of Niko's voice woke him up. Link gave a yawn and stretched; he then sat up and faced Niko. "I can't believe this! You know, Link… a lot of people would love to be in your position. As my roommate, you get to see my work for free!" Niko began pacing back and forth. Niko wasn't Link's grandpa or relative so he couldn't really punish Link, and he didn't really want to. But he found his lack of interest for anything really discouraging and he cared for Link. "Plus I'm not getting any younger here." Niko added "This story might be the only thing that proves I existed. Can't you pay attention for one minute…and listen to an old man's final creation? Are you listening to me, Link?" Niko asked for the boy was showing signs of only being half-awake.
"Sort of…" Link said honestly.
"OK, OK, I can take a hint. Sorry for boring you." Niko said. With that there was a knock at the door and whoever knocked immediately opened without permission. "Look, here comes your mentor. Hello there, Alfonzo!" Niko greeted as Alfonzo walked in. Link gave a small gulp and turned to face Alfonzo. Alfonzo was Link's teacher and, like Niko, took care of Link. Unlike Niko, though, Alfonzo couldn't care less about punishing Link for not being a blood relative. Alfonzo was dressed in complete red, red boots, red pants, red shirt, red and gold badge, red belt, and red bandana with a dove on it. The only thing that wasn't red was his gloves which were brown. Alfonzo was very burly and had a tattoo across his chest which you could see a bit of through his turndown collar. He looked tough and he was. He was once captain of the Hyrule soldiers and a bit of a drill sergeant. He had grown up with a father who was just the same and a grandfather who was a pirate. His grandfather was second in command in Tetra's crew.
"Why are you still here, Link?" Alfonzo asked "C'mon now—wipe the sleep out of your eyes!" When Link didn't do so Alfonzo picked him up as though he were a doll and began shacking him yelling "Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up!" until Link was feeling dizzy and sick. "Today is a very important day, you know! It's your audience with the princess!"
"Um, right." Link said as though he knew what he was talking about. Alfonzo wasn't fooled. Alfonzo dropped Link to the floor and shook his head with disgust.
"Don't tell me you forgot! You won't amount to much if you don't pay attention." Link was still feeling sick with the shacking and was having trouble listening. Suddenly Alfonzo pressed his face close to Link's and growled "Don't you want your engineer certificate?"
"Yes…" Link said
"Well the ceremony is at the castle. Princess Zelda herself is going to do the honors!" Link nodded sadly, he hated it when Alfonzo lectured him like this. "I'm heading to the station now, so meet me there. Remember, the station is up the road. Don't get lost!" Link nodded again. "Got it? Good! Then get a move on!" Alfonzo barked heading outside and giving an audible 'hmph!' "See you later, Niko." Alfonzo added as he left. Link stared sadly at Alfonzo's retreating figure and rubbed his head when Alfonzo dropped him. Niko sighed at Link too which upset him a little more. Having Alfonzo and Niko as your caretakers wasn't good for your self esteem.
Link walked to Niko and said goodbye. Despite being angry with Link before, Niko gave him a smile and said "Today is the day you graduate from apprentice to official train engineer. It's quite an honor and you mustn't be late. Now off to the castle with you." Niko said cheerily as Link took some rupees (the currency in this country) and headed outside.
The place Link was in was called Aboda Village. It was the smallest village in the country but Link liked it for that reason. There were only three small houses, a chicken coup, and a postbox here. The village was near the beach and ocean. The only people who lived here were Link, Niko, Alfonzo and a family of four. One of these was a girl named Fado who Link spotted and decided to say goodbye to. Fado was eight years old; she had red hair down into a pony tail and pink dress and always wore a flower or two. She had an older brother who was ten. His name was Mido and he bullied Fado quite a bit. Link was nicer so she liked him more. In contrast Mido didn't like Link much at all; it was possibly because Link was bigger and older than him.
"I hear your going to be a train engineer, you're leaving today?" Fado asked
"Yep, good luck with Mido. Don't let him get you down."
"I won't." Fado said. Link began heading to the station when Fado called
"Wait a second! There are a bunch of rocks in front of the house!" Link looked and saw that she was right. Her house door was blocked by four large boulders that Fado wouldn't be able to move. They looked to neat to have been done by nature. Link sighed, Mido clearly did this. "You have free time, Link?" Fado asked. Link sighed again, never able to resist the charm of Fado. Link grunted and then lifted up one of the heavy boulders and threw it several feet away. He did the same with the other three. "Thank you, Tee hee, your so nice, Link. Here this is for you." Fado said giving Link a red rupee which was worth twenty. "If you see my big brother, get him good for me, OK?" Fado said. Link smiled and set off for the station again. Link stopped when he heard
"Hey, Link!" it was Mido. Link decided to go over and see what Mido wanted. Mido was a short red headed boy with overalls and an overlarge blue cap on.
"Today's your graduation ceremony, right?"
"Yeah…" Link said slowly. He was wondering if Mido was going to compliment Link for being so young and to have a good job like engineer for his age or if he was going to try and ruin Link's day. It turned out to be the latter.
"How can someone who can't even do a somersault be a train engineer? If you can be an engineer, I bet anyone can do it. If you want to prove me wrong, do one right now." Link sighed, Mido was always making fun of the fact that he was better at these types of things than Link. He used to do it with snapping too, when Link couldn't understand how to snap. Now it was somersaults, Link couldn't do this because he wasn't very flexible. But Link wasn't the person to back down from a challenge. Link walked back a bit and took a running start and attempted to roll. Unfortunately he didn't do it right, and he landed into a tree. But the worst part was that he knocked down a bee's hive. Link body stiffened at the sight of bees.
"Bwahaha! You're such a klutz, Link! Why are you just standing there? Everyone knows that getting stung by bees hurts! When you seem them buzzing, start running or throw yourself in water STAT!" Mido's insult brought Link back to his senses and he ran full speed away. The bees were fast though and Link soon threw himself off the short cliff into the ocean to escape. When he got out his engineers clothes were drenched in water and Link's temper was running high. Link was usually very calm and controlled but when he lost his temper he was terrifying. He had inherited this from Alfonzo just like Alfonzo inherited from his father and grandfather. Link saw Mido who was laughing like crazy as though he were incredibly smart. Although, he didn't look all that smart with several teeth missing. He stopped laughing when he saw Link's expression, he had only made Link lose his temper twice and he didn't want to make that mistake again. He teased Link quite a bit but this was the line, because after all, Link was bigger than he was, and his parents never blamed Link if he did anything to Mido. Mido gulped and was about to apologize when Link began shouting.
"YOU KNOW I'M ALLERGIC TO BEES!"
"Listen, Link—"
"THOSE THINGS COULD HAVE KILLED ME, YOU IDIOT!"
"You made it in the water—"
"NOW I'M ALL WET FOR MY GRADUATION, YOU HAVE NO CLUE WHAT ALFONZOS GOING TO DO TO ME!"
"It can't be that ba—"
"EVERYTHING ALFONZO DOES TO ME, I'M GOING TO DO YOU TO TEN-FOLD!" Link roared. Mido gulped
"Link, don't get so bent out of shape, it was a joke! Here take this!" Mido handed Link a heart shaped nut. It was known as a Wood Heart. Link's face turned less red and he calmed down a bit. This Wood Heart looked like a chestnut but there was something special about it that made it sell for fifty rupees in some places. They were pretty rare. Link was still breathing heavily but he said
"Ok…you're forgiven…don't do it again." Link headed off to the train station, not wanting to have any more drama before he was at the castle. When Link arrived he heard the voice of Alfonzo tell him
"You're late!" Link looked at the source of the noise and saw Alfonzo riding a wooden train out of his garage on to the tracks. It didn't look like the trains you see today. It looked a bit more like a cross between a car and a train. There were two types of trains; there was the kind Link drove which was also a bit like a convertible car. In this you can openly see the tracks as you drive and there was another kind that resembles the buses of this world. In these you were inside the train looking out through a window. Both Link and Alfonzo preferred the former as they thought it was a bit more fun to ride with the wind blowing in your face and to see outside with no windows. It wasn't gold or steel like the royal trains, as neither Link nor Alfonzo were royalty. It was made of wood because Alfonzo had made it himself. On the back was a passenger car, unlike the train itself, the car was not open. This was because there were some hazards on the tracks such as monsters and it would be dangerous for passengers. There was a window though, for the passengers to look outside, and there were curtains and comfortable benches inside.
"Do you understand the significance of today?" Alfonzo asked "In order to become a train engineer in this kingdom, you must have an audience with the princess. If she grants you her permission, you can finally operate a train by yourself. Now hope aboard! We're going to the castle!"
"Yeah!" Link said.
"Good then lets get going…oh but one last thing, your driving us to the castle. Call it your final exam!" Alfonzo said "Don't look so worried—it will be a piece of cake." Alfonzo added catching sight of Link's nervous face. You need to get us to the castle in five minutes. I put lines through all the tracks you can use to get us there." Alfonzo pointed to a map of Hyrule and the tracks he traced. There are other trains on the tracks, so be careful not to hit them…think you can do it?" Alfonzo asked. Link was nervous; he had never actually driven with other trains before. But he didn't want to say he was scared, not now when he was supposed to graduate to engineer. So instead Link gave out a confident "Yes!" and Alfonzo smiled
"I like your confidence! I will remind you how to operate a train on our way there. So hop aboard." Link nodded and climbed into the train. Alfonzo stood next to him, normally this was illegal but as Link was an apprentice, it was mandatory. Link started up the train and instinctively set it on fast. "You've probably got this all down, but humor me while I tell you again." Alfonzo said. Link knew that Alfonzo was guessing that Link had forgotten in the long time since he had driven a train, or that he was just as nervous as Link. But at least now Alfonzo was trying to make it sound like he believed in Link. "Alright this is a gearbox." Alfonzo said pointing at the lever "You can make yourself go faster or slower with it. You can also stop or reverse. The revere can also be an emergency break. Make sure you look around a lot, an engineer needs to be aware of his surroundings." Link nodded and began looking around. "Now set the gearbox on fast to ratchet up the speed."
"I did." Link pointed out
"Oh you did? Good job, Link." They continued riding, and Link was beginning to notice a lot of moinks around. For the record a moink is a cow-pig hybrid. Alfonzo soon shouted "Animal on the tracks! Sound the whistle to scare it off!" and Link nodded and pulled the whistle. The moink quickly ran off. Alfonzo gave Link a pat on the back for this. They soon were coming close to a fork on the road and Alfonzo spoke once more "See how there's a fork in the road up ahead? We need to use to rail switch to decide which way we want to go." Alfonzo pointed to the level at Link's feet. For here they could change the direction they went on the rails on whim. "Got it?" Alfonzo asked. Link nodded. "From here on, we'll be sharing tracks with other trains." Link gulped "Make sure you choose the correct tracks…and don't be so worried, if we meet some we won't crash as long as you don't lose your head. It will just an inconvenience to move out of the way." Link nodded and pulled the whistle three times. A train answered this by blowing its train whistle three times as well. Link listened; the train was coming from his left. Link turned the lever to the right and Alfonzo clapped him on the back. "Good job, didn't even need to remind you of train signals." Train signals were a way for people to know where other trains were so they wouldn't crash. A train engineer was supposed to blow his whistle three times and listen to see if there were other trains who would blow there whistle three times. They blew it three times so they could tell what way the train was going. Link passed the Whittleton Village train station as he went, occasionally blowing the whistle again and getting responses from other trains. Link knew he was close to one on the coming fork. If the train engineer knew what they were doing, based off of Link's signals they would either wait for him to pass before going on his set of tracks or go in a different direction. As it was the train wasn't going that fast and Link managed to get ahead of the other train. Link took a right, and then took a left. He was getting close to the castle now. Link passed a lake; he knew he was close now. And sure enough he could see the castle station. The train station was basically two sets of loops, these were so the train wasn't in the way of those who passed the station, and so there was plenty of room for all who parked here. There were two sets instead of one so the trains could turn around if they wanted to head back the way they came. "We've got a clear view of the Tower of Spirits today!" Alfonzo pointed out, looking at the tower. Link saw it too. The tower was in the very center of their country and one could see it anywhere. It looked much more impressive up close though. "All right, we're almost at the castle!" Alfonzo pointed out.
"I know." Link said nodding.
"Just use the lever on the gearbox to stop at the station, remember not to use the emergency break when passengers…or teachers are on here." Alfonzo said
"Don't worry, Alfonzo." Link said. One thing that was bothering Link was the other train headed in the opposite direction of them. The engineer pulled his whistle twice. This was an engineer's way of asking another to either stop at a station or go to the station for other train to pass. The other engineer slowed down so Link had plenty of time to do so. Link brought the gearbox to stop, not letting it go to reverse and eased the train slowly into the station. The train was slowly losing speed until it gently stopped. "Good job! You passed the exam with flying colors!" Alfonzo complimented. They were at the castle.