The Legend of Zelda: The Rohan Chronicles
Synopsis
Link has finally defeated Gannondorf and returned to Ordon Village. Soon, an unexpected friend from the Kingdom of Rohan visits Ordon to see Link. He has troubling news and Link must leave again to help the Rohirrim in a battle for their land. As a quick footnote, all dialogue in Rohirric will be in a different font.
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters from The Legend of Zelda or The Lord of the Rings.
Chapter 1: The Man from Rohan/The Uruk-hai
Link led Epona through the Faron Woods as they made the journey back home. He took in the sweet smell of pine with every breath. With the dark lord, Gannondorf defeated, Link could finally return to his normal life. Zelda had offered Link a position among the ranks of the Hylian Royal Army, but Link refused, as he longed for the scent of the trees of Ordon, the slow life of a rancher, the silence of the village that he grew up in and the presence of his friends. Soon, Link and Epona reached the Ordon Spring. He took in a big breathe of air and exhaled quite loudly.
"We're finally home girl." Link said as he patted Eponas's mane. He dismounted and led Epona into the spring where he saw a figure standing there, just staring at the waterfall. It was a girl, slightly younger than Link, with blonde hair. He went over to her and whispered into her ear, "Ilia?"
Ilia spun around to see her childhood friend standing there. "Link!" she shouted as she threw her arms around his neck. The two stood there, embracing each other for a few minutes before Link broke the silence.
"I'm so glad to be home."
"It's so good to see you, Link. Come on. Everyone's waiting."
Ilia led Link back to the Ordon Village where all of the children were waiting for him. "Link!" they all shouted in unison as they ran up to the 17-year-old boy that they all admired. They had all been through so much and if it hadn't been for Link, they might not have come home. Ilia smiled as she watched how Link knelt down and talked with them. She secretly had romantic feelings for Link and she was so happy to see him again. The boys began to pull him towards the town and Ilia laughed at the boys' eagerness. Link looked back at Ilia and gave a little nod of his head, signaling her to follow. Ilia giggled and did so, taking Beth with her.
Link was welcomed back as a hero. Rusl came up to him and gave him a big bear hug. Uli came up and asked if Link was alright and if he was wounded. Uli was like Link's mother in a way, as Link never knew his parents. Link protested Uli's concerns, stating that he was alright and that he was just glad to be home. Rusl and Fado, of course, wanted to hear all about what he had been through, along with the children. Bo, the mayor of Ordon and Ilia's father suggested sort of a welcome home celebration for their young hero to which everyone agreed. Preparations began immediately. The children were sent off by their parents to do random tasks and the adults followed. This gave Link and Ilia a little time to talk.
Link led Ilia back to the open space in front of his house and the two began to talk.
"So, what was it like? Hyrule? I'm sure you must have covered much more ground than me." Ilia said.
"It was amazing, but at the same time, terrible. There are definitely places in Hyrule that I'll never go back to. Arbiter's Grounds is definitely one of them. It was probably the worst of them all."
"What's Arbiter's Grounds?"
"It was a prison built to hold the worst criminals in Hyrule. Obviously the inspector hasn't stopped by that place in a while as the numerous re-deads, quicksand pits and ghosts are a definite liability."
Ilia giggled at Link's comment. "But there must have been places you must want to visit again."
"Yes there are. The Temple of Time in the Sacred Grove was amazing. The Zora's domain was beautiful and I'd definitely like to visit Lake Hylia again. One of the places that I remember most, though, is actually an entirely separate kingdom. To the west, there is a great expanse of land made up of many different kingdoms. I stumbled across it while wandering beyond the Gerudo Desert. I had been travelling for many miles and it was nearing the middle of winter. That's when I met-"
He was interrupted by Beth, who was on her way to fetch water from the spirit spring.
"Oh, am I interrupting something?" she said
"No, Beth," Ilia said "you're not. Go on and fetch the water." Beth went off and Link continued to talk. "Sorry, Link. What were you saying? You met who?"
"I was picked up by a race that I think you would love. They are a race of horse masters. Even though many in Hyrule see them as barbarians, my mind has been made up of them."
"Who are they?" Ilia asked.
Meanwhile, Beth was at the spirit spring. She was distracted and began playing in the water rather than fetching it like she was told. While she was playing, a figure clad in a Viking-esque garb came riding up to the spring on a brown horse. Beth saw the figure and froze. He was a relatively young man, about seventeen or eighteen years old and sat tall and proud upon his steed. He had medium-length dirty blonde hair, brown eyes and a medium build. His horse was carrying what looked like a very large round, wooden shield. He then stooped down and patted his horse's mane.
"Very good Hasufel. That is enough for today. Good job." The stranger said in a strange language. He then dismounted the horse. Beth could now see that the stranger carried a large sword. The man then turned around to see Beth standing there.
"Oh, hello there." The man said in what we refer to as a British accent. "Is this the Ordon Province?"
Beth took a step back as the stranger spoke to her.
"Why do you recoil? I mean no harm. I am looking for the one called Link."
Beth stopped when she heard the stranger refer to Link's name.
"This is where he lives, is it not? I am a friend of his."
"Y-you know Link?" Beth said.
"Yes. I saved his life a few months ago. My name is Théoden, son of Thengel, crown prince of the Kingdom of Rohan."
"You're from Rohan?"
"Yes. The home of the horse lords."
"W-well this is where Link lives. The village is right down the road."
"Is it? Are you one of the villagers?"
"Mm-hmm. I was sent here to gather water for a welcome home party we're throwing for Link."
"Is that right? Well, if you don't mind, I would be happy if you would lead me to the village. My horse is very tired. He's had to carry me all the way from Rohan."
"Sure. Follow me." Beth said and they headed for the village.
"Wow, these Rohirrim sound like an amazing race." Ilia said.
"They are. While I was there, I befriended the prince of Rohan. His name is…Théoden?" Link saw the Rohirrim prince enter with Beth. "Wh-what are you doing here?"
"I came to see an old friend." Théoden said with a smile on his face. "It is good to see you again, Link." The two friends embraced each other and Link introduced Théoden to Ilia.
"It is a pleasure to meet a friend of Link's." Théoden said.
"Likewise." Ilia said. "Link was just telling me all about the Rohirrim. You sound like an amazing race of people."
"Thank you. Perhaps I might have the pleasure of meeting the others."
"Absolutely." Link replied and Théoden was introduced to the villagers of Ordon. Link led Théoden to where the others were. They gave him a bit of a strange look when they saw his garb. Link then introduced him as one of his friends and they began to warm up to him a bit. He pleasantly greeted them and gave them and their town a traditional Rohirrim blessing, as was customary in Rohan. As night fell, the festivities began. There was food and drink, Théoden played them a few Rohirric songs on his pennywhistle and Link and Théoden began to share stories about their adventures. Ilia sat down next to Link and tried to scoot next to him a bit, which made Link blush. Ilia thought it was cute to see the savior of Hyrule do that and she gave Link a smile, which Link returned. Théoden and Link began to tell the story about how they met.
"Well, after I got out of Arbiter's Grounds I began to wander around the desert a bit. I was curious about what was beyond the western mountain range. After I managed to find a way through the mountains I began to wander even more desert. I was running very low in water and I honestly thought I wasn't going to make it. That almost became a reality when I did run out of water. I thought it would be best to turn back, but when I thought about how far I had travelled already, I thought that turning back would be suicide, so I just kept going. After another three days, I finally made it to a small river. I was thinking about deciding whether I should keep going or fill my canteen and turn back. I thought that if I had made it past the desert, it might be worthwhile to continue. I made it to a town on a large river called…called…What's the name of the town, Théoden?"
"Osgiliath." Théoden replied.
"Right. I made it to Osgiliath where I was able to find rest and resupply before heading out again. It seemed like there was no end to the amount of land. I made it to Rohan but I couldn't find a town anywhere. It was near the Gap of Rohan that I was trapped in a huge snowstorm."
"That is where I came into the story." Théoden began. "I was out hunting with my elder brother, Theodred, and my younger brother, Eomund. It was at this time of year when the wolves were out and the time of year when the wolves were one of our only sources of food next to deer. We were armed with bows and arrows and spears somewhat like this." Théoden reached behind him and pulled out a spear about seven feet long. It was his battle spear. "The spears we were using were a little shorter than this with the same spearhead. They were excellent for hunting. Anyway, as we were out, we came across a pack of wolves, but they dispersed when we attacked. We then decided to split up and hunt them down. As I was looking for them I saw a figure in the distance collapse in the snow. As went over to pick him up, a few of the wolves attacked us. I managed to bring a few of them down with my bow but I was knocked to the ground by one and I lost my bow. I managed to use my spear to bring it down but he wasn't the last one. Two more wolves attacked and one of them was able to wrestle my spear from my hand. I finally drew my sword and killed it. The last wolf was going for Link and before he ripped him to shreds, I jumped and tackled it to the ground. It made one last attempt to kill Link and I struck it dead as it leapt for him. I then brought him back to the capital city of Edoras."
"I stayed there for a while to recover and to wait until spring so I could return to Hyrule. While I was there, Théoden taught me everything about the Rohirrim."
"That's probably why you're still alive." Théoden remarked and everyone chuckled.
"So, how far away is Rohan?" Ilia asked.
"Let me show you." Théoden said as he reached into his bag and pulled out two maps: one of Hyrule and one of Middle-Earth. He lined them up and began to trace his journey. "I started here in Edoras and rode across the Eastfold all the way to the Anduin River. I then rode between Osgiliath and Minas Tirith, the capital city of the Kingdom of Gondor. I found a crossing in South Ithilien and continued down into South Gondor and then across the Harad Desert, just south of Mordor. I then had to find a path through the mountains and then I had to ride across the Gerudo Desert. After that, it was a matter of finding a path down to the main road. After that, it was just ride east and then down south to Ordon. It was definitely a long journey. Even while riding nonstop, it was still a three day journey."
"Wow. Are you sure you weren't pushing your horse too hard?" Ilia said.
"My horse?"
Link explained to Théoden Ilia's love of horses.
"Oh. Well, I'm sure I wasn't. The breed of horses that lives in Rohan is a much stronger and sturdier breed and lives much longer. The oldest horse in Rohan lived to be about 150 years old."
"Wow!"
"Yes, quite."
"Well, welcome to Ordon, Théoden." Link said. The festivities continued for another few hours. The children began to ask Théoden about the rest of Middle-Earth, while Link and Ilia snuck away to spend a bit of time alone. They went over near the waterwheel and began to talk.
"You know, you really scared me when I walked into Telma's bar and you didn't recognize me. I thought that there was no way anything would be the same." Link said.
"I know. For some reason though, you seemed somewhat familiar when I saw you. I just couldn't tell why."
"Well, it's a good thing you know now."
Ilia smiled and let a tear fall from her eye as Link embraced her. The two looked into each other's eyes and they began to lean toward each other. As their lips drew close, they heard a strange sound in the distance. The sound could be heard by the others as well. It sounded like the grunt of a boar, only worse and more frightening. It was accompanied by several others. Théoden stood up and turned toward where the sounds were coming from.
"No. It can't be. They can't have followed me all the way from Isengard!" he muttered.
He then turned to the others. "Everyone, get inside, turn out the lights, lock your doors, and if you have any weapons, whether it be a sword, a pitchfork of a kitchen knife, arm yourselves." They all just sat there, staring at him in confusion. "Now!" he shouted and they all scattered. Link and Ilia ran up to Théoden and he told Link to gather all of him weapons together. He then grabbed his spear and mounted Hasufel, his horse. "I'm going to ride ahead and try to slow them down."
"Try to slow who down?" Link asked.
"I'll explain later. Prepare yourself. I'll be back…hopefully."
"Alright. Whatever it is, good luck."
"Run, Hasufel. Show me the meaning of haste."
Hasufel then took off with Théoden on his back. Link then led Ilia back to her house. She went up to her room and Link helped to bar the window. As they were working, they could hear the sound of a brawl in the distance; the sound of metal striking metal, the cries of the unnamed creatures, and the sound of a sword striking flesh. Link then began to head for his house to gear up. Ilia grabbed his shoulder and spun him around.
"Link…please be careful out there."
"I will."
Ilia gave him a kiss on the cheek before he headed out. Ilia then said a quick prayer for Link. "Din, goddess of power, give Link the strength to fight off this strange evil that threatens us."
Link went into his house and grabbed all his equipment and prepared for battle. As he left his house, Théoden came riding around the corner and told Link to head back to the village, where they would set up an ambush.
As they took their positions, Link got his first glimpse of the creatures as they entered the village. They were very tall creatures, very muscular and very ugly. They had large teeth, black skin and long hair. Each one carried a very large scimitar.
Link prepared his bow and prepared to fire. He looked to Théoden for the command. He gave a nod of his head and they loosed their arrows. They quickly reloaded and fired two more. After bringing down eight beasts, they drew their swords and entered the fray. Ilia looked out from her window to see the creatures. She was shocked to see what they looked like. She stood there watching her love interest fight these terrible creatures, but she was also amazed at the ferocity of the Rohirrim. He never gave way to these beasts and cut them down like grass. He had already killed twice as many beasts as Link.
Suddenly, she saw a very large berserker knock Link against a rock, knocking him out. The large beast then did the same to Théoden. However, Théoden stood back up and faced the berserker. The two fought for several minutes, Théoden using his shield as a second weapon as the berserker wielded two swords. As the creature struck him to the ground on more time, Théoden raised his shield and the berserker jammed its sword into the shield. Théoden wrestled it out of the berserker's grasp and cast his shield aside.
"There. Now we're on equal footing." Théoden said as he charged the creature. He brought a fierce fight and soon cut off the berserker's head. He lowered his sword and muttered, "Lasto Rohan (Long live Rohan)." He then sheathed his sword and went over to wake up Link. Ilia ran out of the house to help him. She helped Théoden carry him inside the house where she nursed him back to health.