The Legend of Zelda
It was still and quiet in the room around me. Only the faint howling of the wind whipping at the sides of the well-furbished log house pierced the dull silence that now hung over everyone as though it were a blanket, until it soon began to smother our spirits. There were only fifteen people in our group, all of whom formed a decently sized circle around a central fireplace to keep warm. We were all out in the secluded mountains for our own reasons. Two person were hiking; a group of people were determined to have a fun vacation; another was an archeologist, looking for some kind proof that the Goron race had in fact once lived in the mountain where we stood (he insisted that this mountain was at one point called Death Mountain); the innkeeper; and an old man who never offered what his business was. In fact, he never talked much at all.
And then there was me.
I was the odd one out of the group, as I was the youngest. It was obvious, too: I was only nineteen, and the others around me were all in their thirties at least. Naturally, people wondered how someone so young could come so far up a vast mountain alone. But I grew up around the base of the mountain, so for me trekking up its face was nothing new.
The fire crackled as one of the men added a log to it to keep it going. Suspended above it was a pot full of soup, still uncooked. We were all hungry. It was a depressing time.
Tragedy had struck not two days ago, when a massive avalanche spontaneously crashed down the mountain. None of us knew what happened to anyone outside of this cabin; we were completely trenched in for the time being. The cabin, which served as a lodge for anyone on the mountain, had most likely saved our lives. Who knew?
The old man suddenly chuckled, which surprised me: it was probably the first noise I'd heard him make in the time we'd been there. A couple others gave him a glance, but went back to looking down. The man looked around at everyone, a slight grin on his face, and held eye contact with me. I was the only one who would acknowledge him.
"Tell me, boy," he grunted out, speaking directly to me. "Have you ever heard of the legend of Zelda?"
He spoke slowly, but with a strength uncommon for a man of his age. I replied with a confused look. To be honest, I didn't know what to say, other than 'no.'
The man smiled again and looked down at the fire once more. The grin never left his face, and I began to wonder if he were some kind of crazy. After several silent minutes, he looked up at me again and stood up slowly. His frail legs carried his body closer to me, and then set him down back on a seat. Looking up, as if in remembrance, he began to tell me a fantastic story. A story that, although almost unbelievable, I will never forget.
"They say that long ago, thousands of thousands of years before you or I were born, mind you, that the Goddess who created this amazing world separated part of her creation from the rest. Hylia herself lifted a city into the sky, where it remained for generations, until the sky-dwellers and the ground-dwellers knew of each other only by myth. One day, though, an evil unlike any other arose, seeking to conquer, or destroy, all of creation. But with that evil came a Hero. That sky-dwelling Hero travelled to the surface and went to impossible lengths to stop this evil. And in the end, he succeeded. But at a price."
When he paused here, I realized he'd captured my attention. I was leaning forward in my seat, waiting in anticipation. His voice, though somewhat weak from age, resonated beautifully. A few others were listening now as well.
"What price?" I asked.
"The evil who arose placed a curse on the Hero, that all of his descendants would have to go through the same ordeal he did: arise to defeat a seemingly unstoppable dark being to protect and preserve the Triforce. And if any ancestor of this Hero were to fail… well, the evil would then ultimately win.
"So who is Zelda?" I asked intently. "Is she the hero?"
"No!" He quickly snapped at me. I shot back quickly, not expecting his outburst. "The hero's name is Link… always Link. But I'm getting there.
"There are three pieces of the Triforce: Power, Wisdom, and Courage. With the curse, came the Triforce, an almighty force that granted its bearer omnipotence. But, as this power was too much for one person, it was, as the name suggests, broken into three parts: The Hero was given Courage; the Evil, Power; and then there was Wisdom. Wisdom was granted to the descendant of Hylia herself: Princess Zelda. Anyone who controlled all three pieces of the Triforce would become unstoppable. The pieces had to be protected. You see, the legend of Zelda isn't so much about Zelda as it is about Link: the hero."
"So why not call it the legend of Link?" one of the others chipped in.
"It doesn't sound nearly as good, and Zelda has just as much a role in the grand scheme of things. Now listen!" he scolded.
"When Hyrule's waters were drained some sixty years ago, and people began to move back down into the lowlands, there came the resurrection of that evil once more: it manifested itself as a resurrected Wind mage named Vaati. With his advent, however, a new Hero was born, as per the curse; a descendant of the original. That Hero, only a teenager at the time of Vaati's sudden arrival, ventured out into an old forest, which had miraculously stayed alive throughout the flooding of Ancient Hyrule. In this woods he found ruins, like that of an old temple, crumpled and worn with time. But in the midst of those ruins, mostly preserved, was a sword so sharp that it could slice the air, so shiny that he could see the reflection of his blonde hair in the blade, and so perfectly balanced that it felt as though it were made for him and him alone. It was upright in a pedestal, but it pulled out easily. "
By now, I noticed that the elder had everyone's attention. All in the room were absolutely captivated by the words coming out of this man's mouth, slow and low in volume as they may be. He paused here for a little longer, collecting his thoughts, I assume. I felt like I was missing part of the story, somehow. Like, in some way, I was supposed to… "get" something, but I couldn't place it. Something was off about this story. Regardless, he continued.
"The Hero drew the sword, but at the same time, Vaati appeared before him. You see, Vaati knew that he would not be able to defeat both of the opposing Triforce-bearers. He knew that in the past, incapacitating the Wisdom-bearer, Zelda, had rarely, if ever, worked. Link, the one who possessed the Triforce of Courage, always managed to overcome him. So this time, he went for Link while he was most vulnerable. Surely, Zelda would not be able to stop him. So, while Link was caught off-guard, Vaati struck him down with a dark magic, then vanished.
"While he was right… Vaati was also very, very wrong. Zelda, too, knew that she would be unable to stop Vaati's Triforce of power. Sensing Link's danger, she rushed to the abandoned ruins. Utilizing the power granted to her from the Triforce of Wisdom, she drew the deadly magic from Link, at the cost of absorbing it herself. She collapsed immediately, and the Hero awoke. Knowing immediately what had happened, he bound the sword to his back, and rushed Zelda back to the castle where she'd come from, a several hour's run, carrying her all the way. He never stopped sprinting.
"Upon arrival at New Hyrule Castle, he was greeted by the guards, who promptly took Zelda from the Hero's care. Zelda was cared for by Impa, a descendant of the Shieka tribe, destined to always care for the princess in her times of need. The next day, after Link had much-needed rest, Impa confronted him. She told him that without the magic made from a combination of three sacred crests found in the highlands around the now-uncovered Hyrule, Zelda would ultimately die. Link wasted no time. With sword in one hand and shield in another, the Hero set off on an epic adventure against the forces of evil, and time itself. "
Leaning back, the old man took a deep breath. At this time, the innkeeper removed the pot of soup from the fire pit, then pulled several bowls from underneath the bar on the other side of the room, and filled them. He handed a bowl to each person, but the old man surprisingly turned his bowl down. The innkeeper shrugged, and returned the contents of the dish to the pot. I, on the other hand, readily accepted the meal. After the initial sigh of relief that came with the first spoonful of stew, everyone once again began to look at the man, who only leaned forward, hands resting on his chin, elbows on his knees.
"Well?" Asked one of the hikers. "Did Link make it?"
"He did." replied the man. "He spent some number of months defeating countless monsters, defeating several of Vaati's underlings, his generals, even his second in command. He gathered the magic from the sacred crests and imbued them in his sword. Upon obtaining the magic from the final crest, he returned to New Hyrule Castle, and gave the sword to Impa. Through some strange and foreign procedure, the magic was transferred from the sword into Zelda's body. She awoke for the first time in the many months Link had been on his quest, her body atrophied from the lack of muscle use. While both the Triforce of Wisdom and the Triforce of Courage were now both free, Vaati's power had grown exponentially since his first appearance in the new world. Link set off for the final fight against evil, but was stopped as he left by the weakened Zelda. Using the power of the three crests inside her, and the Triforce she possessed, she turned her body into an ethereal form and possessed Link's sword, giving it power once again. Together, the two would face Vaati.
"Ironically, Vaati had made his lair in the temple where Link's sword was originally found. While it was not difficult to find, it was difficult to enter. It took several hours of hard, laborious fighting to finally make their way to the final room, where Vaati awaited their arrival. The Wind Mage, turned into a monstrous, dark being by Triforce of power and the corruption inside of him, immediately attacked. Through agility gained over the time Link spent fighting uncountable monsters, he was able to dodge or reflect Vaati's attacks. It took time, but Link and Zelda were able to slowly whittle down the Dark One's vitality, until he eventually fell to his knees before the other two. Knowing the end was near, Vaati unleashed one last devastating explosion of power, in a final attempt to take Link and Zelda down with him. But with Zelda's deft reactions, she created a magical shield around the two of them that protected them from Vaati's self-destruction. And thus… the Hero once again prevailed."
The man fell silent.
The fire was dwindling, but no one noticed. All were sitting forward, captivated by this man's tale. The elder stood without making a sound, and purposefully walked to the door.
"Goodbye, young man." He said, looking directly at me as he began to unbar the wooden door that led to the snowstorm outside. We all shifted uncomfortably as he said these words, and I physically got up to stop him from leaving.
"Where do you think you're go—"
I was stopped when he grabbed my arm, looking into my eyes as though he could peer into my soul.
"I'm so sorry," he whispered into my ear. "I'm so sorry it has to be this way."
Once again, he'd confused me. He pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, then stepped outside and closed the door behind him. The snowstorm had not died down yet. Almost immediately, I threw the door open… but he was gone. Nowhere to be seen. The others looked out in amazement at this… this vanishing act. But, one by one, everyone sat back down, and I closed the door once more. As I retook my seat, the archeologist laughed a bit.
"What a weird way to dress."
"How do you mean?" I asked.
"That old guy's clothes. I mean, who dresses in all green?"
I looked down and felt an itch on my hand. There, adorning the back of my left hand, a small golden triangle glowed for a second, then disappeared. I rubbed the location as I pensively glanced up into the fire.
"I don't know," I said as the fire gave its final flame for the night. "But I kinda liked it."