Link stopped halfway up the cliff face, taking a few deep breaths to regain his composure. Traveling across Hyrule on the princess' official business was a busy lifestyle, but hardly the demanding workout fighting off the Twilight had been, and he was a little rusty. With a grunt and a heave he pulled himself over the last rocky ledge and fell to the stone cliff, gasping for breath. He looked up to the great expanse of clouds above him as the last dying rays of the summer sun bathed the sky in orange and red. With a sigh he forced himself to his feet, stretching sore muscles as he surveyed the land laid out below him. Kakariko village lay nestled in the valley out of sight to the west, Death mountain looming high into the clouds just east of true north. He turned and finally took in the pristine pool of water that was the reason for his murderous trek up the cliff side. The hot spring was at least fifteen feet across, gently sloping in towards the middle until he would be submerged to his chest in the center. The water gleamed with all colors of the rainbow due to the rocks beneath it's surface, a mixture of precious gems and minerals the likes of which most Hyrulians had never seen.
This pool was a treasured secret of the Goron's, not many outside their race knew of it's existence, not that many could reach it in the first place. If link hadn't helped them during the Twili invasion he wouldn't be here either. It's water was said to have powerful healing powers that extended far beyond the physical effects of wounds and stiff joints, it was said to make the blind see and relieve those stricken by grief. When it so deemed fit.
He stripped his tunic on autopilot as he neared the waters edge, dropping the green over shirt, chain mail and wool under shirt, and gloves with his boots and trousers just before entering the warm shallows. The steaming surface lapped around his feet as he entered and instantly he no longer felt the weight of his long travels in them. The relaxed sensation traveled up his calf as he ventured deeper, forcing a delighted gasp from him, it was all he could take not to dive into the deepest point and hold himself at the bottom. Finally when the water was level with his collar bones and he could no longer submerge himself further he bent his knees and let the warmth wrap around his head.
He remained under as long as he could, looking through the crystal clear depths to the radiant rocks around him. They shown in some places in patches of greens, reds, and yellows so tropical it didn't make sense that they could be resting next to the muted gray boulders flecked with purple and blue. He returned to the surface when his chest ached with the need for air, wading over to a spot halfway back to the edge of the pool to look closer at a rock that had caught his eye. He reached down into the shallow water fingering the smooth surface of the apparently jagged rock. As he caressed the stone it broke away from the rest and he caught it and brought it out of the water, it was a vibrant yellow, almost glowing in the dim sunset, in the center was a rich green. He turned it over in his hand and was surprised to find that where it had attached to the rest of the pool's floor it was the same smooth light gray of other rocks, however it too had color in its center, a burning orange with red smeared around it's edges. On a whim he tucked the stone into the lining of his breeches, deciding to keep it as a memento of his trip up the mountain.
He made his way back to the deepest part of the spring and sank into the water until it lapped at his chin, he cast his eyes up to the quickly darkening sky. Pain once again gripped his heart, the worst part about everything that had happened, he thought bitterly, was the daily reminder of all that he had lost.
"Twilight," he said, his voice full of acid. He starred up into the heavens in silence long after the sky darkened and night took it's place, but the feeling of loneliness did not fade. He did not know when the slow rumble started, he became aware of it as it rapidly increased tempo into a roar. Startled he looked around wildly and to his horror found that the water around him was boiling. Despite the fact that the water did not truly increase in temperature the sight alone sent his heart pounding and adrenaline coursing through his veins. He tried to escape to the shore but, as he slightly expected, couldn't move. An invisible force held his feet to the ground at the center of the pool. He reached a hand up to draw the Master Sword, but even as he did the boiling intensified and suddenly the water all around him exploded up into a pillar that extended far higher into the air then the size of the pool should have allotted. The column drowned out his yell, the rushing all around him desensitizing him to the rest of the world as he existence was reduced to blackness and an angry roar.
The moon reached it's highest point and the water fell back into the pool, the edges crashing against the rock lip that withheld their expanse. Immediately the water stilled, the surface as pristine as when Link had found it, and nothing remained on the cliff but a wet pile of clothes and a lonely hot spring.
AN: So here it is, the first chapter/prologue to my first LoZ story. This idea has actually been in my head for years. I first developed it in high school when I was playing Twilight Princess and just recently I came back to the fandom and was inspired to write this as I perused the LinkxMidna section.
This may seem confusing and short, but the next few chapters go back and explain how we ended up here and then we can get to the good stuff. So enjoy.
