Twilight Princess: Footsteps of a Hero
By: ComplexityAndPassion
Summary: AU Fear of the Twilight Realm has fallen on the provinces of Hyrule. As a young man prepares for a long journey to bring back the light, other powers awaken from a long slumber and the rumblings of a war with an ancient enemy spread.
Author's Note: This is an AU version of LoZ: TP. There will be quite a few OC's based on the nameless characters that wander about the towns in the game. Some of the plot will change, and the world will be bigger than it is in the game. This fic is rated for violence and gore.
Timeline: I have only completed a small number of the LoZ games and so I shall only include a few of them in the timeline to simplify things. The order will be such as the following:
1. Ocarina of Time
2. Majora's Mask
3. Twilight Princess
4. The Wind Waker
This is just for your information so you're not too confused when the various characters are talking about the Legend of the Hero. Obviously, the Wind Waker will not be referred to, since it is post-Twilight Princess.
Disclaimer: I do not own or make any profit off of any of the LoZ names, characters, items, etc. Holy Nintendo, God of Games, does. –bows respectfully to said God- I simply own the OC's and some of the plot twists in the story. This applies to this entire fanfic…
Please R&R!!
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Chapter 1: Whispers of Death
She stumbled as she ran, her torn and tattered green cloak flying behind her. The woman did not have much time – the moblins had followed her into the forest, their snarls and cries spreading fear through her entire body. Her strong head start was slowly being closed up as fatigue began to seep through her limbs. But the woman had to go on.
Her baby's life depended on it.
The cool night air stung her lungs as the woman ran as fast as she could down the dirt path, following it through a rather large clearing, up a small hill, and through a narrow pass. In better circumstances, she would've spent days exploring the forest and it's natural beauty; now she ignored her surroundings as she sprinted across the wooden hanging bridge that spanned over the giant abyss, skidding to a stop at the shut gates covered in green moss and vines.
"Goddesses help us," she muttered in her soft voice, placing her sleeping baby on the ground for a few seconds. The child did not notice – he was sleeping soundly in a warm green blanket, wrapped tightly against the night chill. The woman's fingers fumbled as she pulled out a pin from her hair, a dirty blonde color in the pale moon's light. She quickly picked the lock on the gate, gently lifted her son, and, cradling him against her breast, bolted through the now-open gate, following the path once more.
She could now hear the moblins catching up from behind, their foul reek tainting the pure forest air. She sprinted through another clearing, up one more little hill, and through a dark hollow, the ground and trees rising on either side of her. She had now reached the largest clearing yet, set on the edge of a valley. A decent sized house was built into a great tree that grew at one edge of the clearing, facing a second path that led down into the little village of this valley – Ordon Village, home of the Ordonians, close cousins of the Hylia. A low wooden gate stood across that path, blocking the way in for anyone on foot with a burden. The Hylian woman was exhausted to the core, but she couldn't give up now; the woman hauled herself over the wood, clutching tightly to her son. The moblins had followed her into the clearing; they screeched and yelled their joy at finding the Hylian woman and her child. They scuttled to catch her as she ran into the village, yelling at the top of her voice, "Help us! Moblins! Help us!"
Rusl, the son of the village swordsmaster, could not sleep that night. Fortune had smiled on the Hylian woman and her baby when she ran up to Rusl's family's door, banging on the wood for help. Rusl heard the insistent banging and yelling. He snatched up his deceased father's blade and bolted to the front door, yanking it open just as one of the moblins had grabbed a hold of the Hylian woman. Rusl hacked the monster's arm off, followed by the brute's head. The other moblins were stunned for a moment, giving Rusl enough time to shove the woman into his home and slam the door. He gave a yell as he lunged at the moblins, slashing and hacking just as his father had taught him years ago. There weren't very many, and in a few minutes the brutes were lying dead in the lane, black blood splattered everywhere.
The entire village was awake now, thanks to the noise that had been going on outside. The elected mayor, Bo, came running down the lane and across the small stream up to Rusl's house, staring in horror at what he found. Rusl had rushed inside soon after killing the monsters to check on the woman, who was lying unconscious on the floor of his living room. The baby boy wriggled on the floor, wailing his young lungs out. Bo ran in, picking up the baby boy and trying to calm him as Rusl tried to help the woman on the floor.
"Please…" she begged, her life force fading. She looked Rusl directly in the eyes as best she could. "Please protect… my son…"
"He is safe here, Hylian lady," Rusl told her. Suddenly she gripped Rusl's hand with her own, her blue eyes piercing him to the core.
"His name… is Link…"
And with those last words, the Hylian woman passed into the next world.
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The sun was rising over the vast northern plains of Hyrule, specifically the Eldin Province. The small army that defended Hyrule and its people, the Hylia, were weary. They had been fighting off the moblin army since the previous day, and now they were not so sure if they could hold out.
Prince Ephesus Kalian Corian Hyrule sat astride his proud white stallion at the head of the column, his royal blade drawn and glinting in the rising sun's rays. He surveyed the forces of monsters assorted at the ridge of the hill in front of them, his fierce sapphire eyes burning with the wisdom and strength of the Royal Family. His father, the King, had been taken by sickness a mere day ago, and due to the attacks by the moblins the prince had not been crowned king. Behind the army, in the high-walled Hyrule Castle Town, lay the magnificent Hyrule Castle, where an assortment of guards and nurses were watching over Prince Zarian Kalian Corian Hyrule, Ephesus's three-year-old son, and Princess Zelda Kalian Hyrule, Ephesus's two-year-old daughter.
"My lord, what are we going to do?" a stern captain asked Ephesus. His name was Taeron Silivri, and he was Ephesus's second most loyal knight. The other was named Nilaldar Tar-Calion, a descendent of the old knights.
"We charge head on once the sun had fully risen," Ephesus answered Taeron, keeping his horse in check. All the steeds were nervous at being so close to the moblins, their movements restless. Ephesus looked at Taeron, giving him a hard look. "Prepare the men."
The sun rose fully as the men lined up, facing down their fears and doubts. Ephesus was at the head, waiting for the right moment to charge forward into almost certain death. He only hoped that Nilaldar would come from the north in time to save what was left of the defending soldiers. Ephesus raised his sword – a loud horn was sounded… And then they charged.
Men yelling, horses whinnying, hooves pounding like a mad thunderstorm, blades glinting in the morning light, and the golden hair of Ephesus flying in the wind. The moblins kept a tight line; their spears, pikes, and bows ready to rip into the on-coming horsemen. The monsters had no chance. The front line of charging horses broke through easily, trampling any moblin that got in the way. Soon blood was being shed in every direction, some of it red Hylian blood, and some of it black moblin blood. The bloodshed did not last long, however, before Ephesus and his men were being pushed back; there were simply too many moblins to fight off.
"My lord! We must turn back!" Taeron yelled over the noise, chopping off a moblin's head as he struggled to keep his horse in control. Ephesus gave one last look at the enemy and then nodded, turning his stallion and galloping away back to the bridge that led to the town. Taeron yelled out retreat to all who could hear, and soon the moblins were screeching in triumph as they ran on the heels of their enemies.
But it was not over.
Ephesus heard the army before he ever saw it – the noise of the one thousand mounted horsemen sounded as though Farore herself had brought the mighty thunderclouds of the foreign lands down upon Hyrule. At the top of the great hill of the northern plains, Ephesus and a few others stopped their horses and turned to see what had happened.
A glorious white Hylian warhorse was charging from across the ancient stone bridge of Eldin at the other end of the plains, it's rider's blade raised high in the air. Ephesus's enhanced sight enabled him to see the rider's face from so far away – the rider's emerald green tunic was lined with the most beautiful golden armor, the metal gleaming in the sun. His blade, made of rare emerald-steel, glowed like a weapon made by the Goddesses themselves. His vicious face was set in one of anger and revenge; his short golden hair was flown back as the wind swept past the rider.
This was Nilaldar.
A great shout of joy and relief went up from the men as Nilaldar and his men annihilated the moblins forces from the rear, only a few escaping and retreating to the northern lands from whence they came. They ran from the powerful Hylian warriors, screeching in fright and dismay.
It would be a battle that would be carried down through the generations in song.
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