A/N: Since my other stories are ending soon, I've decided to start a new one. This is a crossover between Slayers and the Legend of Zelda. The main characters are the ones introduced in this chapter. I will eventually have a Zelgadis/Lina and Link/Zelda pairing, including maybe a few others, but for now, we'll just start at the beginning, okay?
Disclaimer: I don't own Slayers or the Legend of Zelda.
CAVE OF THE ANCIENTS: CHAPTER 01.
The metallic ring of swords clanging penetrates the air of a near-empty clearing, the two swordsmen within being the only exception. A few little kids linger at the edge of the woods, watching to see who will win and (among some of them) making bets and collecting Rupees. One child in particular seems to enjoy the battle most out of all of them, watching intently from the branch of a tree, whereas the rest of her friends prefer to remain on the ground.
Sure, the cloaked man is rather cute and charming at first glance, but so far she much prefers the one in green, whom she has helped in the past. He has an almost elfin appearance, with light brown hair (almost blonde), brilliant blue eyes, and long, pointed ears.
At least, she knows that from personal experience. The two are moving so fast, it's as though they're fast-forwarding in time! The girl giggles to herself when she remembers that one of them has done such a thing. Her cute, emerald green hair, which she has been growing out for the past seven years, is tied back in a short ponytail today (because no matter how long she tries to get it, her hair just doesn't grow as fast as a Hylian's). Her eyes are the exact same color as her hair, down to the shade, and they flicker back and forth between both of them.
The second man could be Hylian, she decides, but even if he is, he dresses rather strangely to live in Hyrule...it makes her wonder if he even lives here, in this kingdom.
As far as she can tell, his ears are pointed, but something about him just doesn't match a Hylian's features. She doesn't have much to guess on, but she can just feel it. He is not related to the Hylians.
Finally she realizes that the battle is nearly over. The two blurs of beige and green slow down just enough for her to be able to pinpoint features. The cloaked one, indeed, has pale blue skin and...what looks like pale grey pebbles on his face.
The Hylian, unfazed by his appearance, pauses for just a second, fairly, as his opponent flinches nervously at all the pairs of eyes on his features. But however long the Hylian allows him to get used to it, he doesn't fight the same, much more tense, and is soon bested, his sword flung into the air and driven deep into the ground. He makes some sort of noise, as if his sword was the one thing that protected him from all those stares and, in some cases, glares.
Well, of course he wouldn't know that those glares are from the children who voted for him to win, so of course he's going to flinch away from them.
"Congratulations," he says to his opponent. "You win, fair and square. I let my nerves get the best of me, and then came my downfall." He holds out a hand to the Hylian, and the other man shakes it politely.
With that, the man cloaked in beige begins to walk away, and after a few seconds, the green one calls, "Hey, can I get your name?"
He turns back with surprise etched on his already stony features. Finally, with one corner of his mouth twitching upwards, he replies, "It's Zelgadis. And yours?"
"Link. Maybe we'll meet again sometime. We'll go to a more private area and have a rematch, see who's truly the best swordsman," Link calls.
The girl thinks she sees a true smile on his face, even when he turns away from Link, waving a peace sign casually behind him. After he's gone, she leaps down from the tree without hardly making a sound.
"Hey, Link! That was great!" she calls cheerfully. "It must've been really cool to finally fight someone your skill level, right?"
Link nods with just as much cheer. "It was. I've never really fought anyone quite like that, no matter how long I've searched. I'm glad I met him, Saria."
Saria tilts her head cutely. "How did you meet him?"
"Oh, I was visiting Kakariko Village, and I happened to bump into him at the potion shop. He was apparently searching for something to help out one of his friends, and he looked pretty down about it. I went with him to see if I could help in any way," Link explains. "It turns out she was really sick with something, so I gave her a Health potion, and we visited the doctor down by Lake Hylia. He gave her a remedy, and she was cured instantly."
Saria, back to the tree branch, swings her legs a few times before thinking to say, "Wow, that was really nice of you, Link! I can't believe you helped someone you didn't even know the name of!"
He shrugs. "Well, I am the Hero of Time, after all. I didn't earn that title from ignoring others' needs, did I? Besides, if we didn't get her to the doctor, she would have died. It was the right thing to do."
Saria gives him a bright smile. "That sounds wonderful of you! And he seemed like he needed a bit more cheer in his life anyway; I'm glad you met him, too!"
"Thanks, Saria."
Finally the other kids, after finishing their money sorting, come up to Link and congratulate him, although some of them look rather grumpy about it. As the triplets are leaving, Saria can hear one of them muttering, "Why couldn't Link have been a little slower?" She giggles as Link looks after them in bewilderment.
"Gee," he mumbles. "Next time a keaton wants to play with them, you won't see me there to help."
Saria giggles once more before taking him by the hand and leading him through the forest. "Come on, I bet you're starving after something like that," she says, walking into her house and pulling some nuts and berries out of her cabinet.
His face flushes when his stomach growls affirmation. He mutters sheepishly, "Well, I guess..."
The Kokiri continues to giggle as she chops up the nuts and makes some juice from a few of the larger and better-tasting berries. "Link, you're priceless," she exclaims through bursts of laughter.
Walking down the twisting paths of the Lost Woods, Zelgadis still can't believe how kind Link was to him. No, not just to him, but to Amelia as well, who was sick with what must have been a deadly disease.
At times like these, Zelgadis wonders how his home could be so judgmental and yet still have Hyrule as its neighbor. It just doesn't seem right to him. Everywhere he has gone in this kingdom, the people have been kind and understanding. Back where he lives, some have simply ignored him, as he prefers, but others make snide comments behind his back as he walks away. It isn't kind, but no one ever seems to be kind over there, maybe because they don't have a Hero of Time to help them out with Mazoku and demons.
Such as myself, he thinks bitterly. No wonder no one ever seems to trust him. Over the years, word of what he's made up of has spread throughout the land, and demon attacks are becoming more and more frequent.
Now, ordinarily, Zelgadis is a very reliable man, albeit somewhat unpredictable at times. He trusts his friends, and he communicates kindly with other people, no matter how harshly they may treat him. They just never seem to trust him. They think he'll turn on the human race, ignoring how many times he has fought Dark Lords side-by-side with the great Lina Inverse herself.
To be truthful, it angers him every once in a while, and sometimes he'll vent that frustration to his friends, who understand him for who he is, and not what he appears to be. Because no matter how demonic his eyes may seem, or however cruel he may act sometimes, he is a good man at heart, and that's really all that matters.
"Mister Zelgadis, there's nothing wrong with the way you look," Amelia said one day as Zelgadis sighed in the chair beside her.
"Yes, Amelia, you've told me that hundreds of times, but that doesn't make anyone treat me differently, does it?"
"Well, maybe if you don't let them know it bothers you..."
"That's exactly what I do, Amelia!" Zelgadis snapped, losing his temper completely. "I act as though it doesn't bother me when it really does! Did I betray any emotion when that child asked me if I was a monster yesterday, Amelia? Did I?!" He took a deep breath, regretting his words when Amelia flinched away. But he just couldn't help it; while his face remained stoic, his insides burned with rage and...maybe something else, too.
He doesn't remember when the tears started falling, but he knows that Amelia was soon at his side, trying to tell him that it was all right.
Finally, with sobs still causing him to tremble all over, Zelgadis whispered, "Amelia, I...it's just that...I really wish...I wish that I was normal...Why did Rezo have to...?"
The princess' eyes watered, and it took her a long time to calm herself enough to talk to him again. "Mister Zelgadis, no matter what other people may say, you will always have a special place in my heart, okay? You're no monster to me. In fact, I think even Mister Gourry may be more of a monster than you are, and he's one of the kindest people I know."
Reassured by this, Zelgadis had stayed safely inside the walls of the castle with her, offering help where he could, and slowly, the rest of Seyruun began to trust him as well. When Amelia grew ill, the whole of Seyruun was devastated, and looked not to Phil, but to Zelgadis for help. And so began his quest to find a medicine for her, bringing the green-clad Link back in order for him to help.
Their battle had really begun with Link casually saying, "Nice sword you've got there. Can I have a look at it?"
Zelgadis, although rather hesitantly, pulled his sword out of his scabbard and let Link look at it. They hadn't even known each other's names at the time, and yet they acted as though they had known each other for years. Brotherly instinct, Lina had insisted. Remember how quickly you and Gourry bonded?
Now, traveling down the road to wherever it may lead, Zelgadis continues to roam Hyrule, admiring the lush greenery, whereas overseas everything seems to be either destroyed or burning down. Nothing is peaceful over there anymore; no one trusts even their next-door neighbor that they've known forever.
Even Amelia's cheerful spirit seems to have dulled with the most recent demon attack on Taforashia, one of Seyruun's closest allies, in which their king was killed. Now Pokota, one of their allies in the battle against Shabranigdo, has become king, and stepped up to the job just in time to get bombarded with angry complaints.
Zelgadis shakes his head. Their country is turning for the worse.
Trying to remove these thoughts from his mind, he darts up a tree to scan his surroundings. He's still in the Lost Woods...he wonders why that is, when he should be out by now.
Oh, of course. He's lost, isn't he?
Zelgadis chants under his breath, casting a spell to help guide him through the forest. If he's lucky, it won't be too long before he finds the exit, but these woods don't exactly welcome visitors.
"Are you lost?"
Zelgadis looks up to the very same tree he was just in, where a blonde Kokiri girl is staring down at him with huge blue eyes. His eyes narrow. "Not particularly. I have my ways. Who are you?"
"My name is Kiera. And if you think you know where you are, then you're definitely lost." She leaps down from her perch near the top of the tree. "So, since I gave you my name, you should be obliged to give me yours."
He doesn't like this girl. She's too cocky, much like he used to be back when he was human. He decides to humor her. "Tell me, then, Kiera, where I am, if you know."
"Oh, that's simple. You've wandered into the Deep Woods, where there are dangerous monsters and things. I'm actually surprised you're not a Stalfos yet. There must be something the forest likes about you," the girl comments.
Zelgadis shudders slightly, wondering what that must be and not liking the thought at all. Kiera seems to notice, and she smiles in a much too cheery way, almost as if she knows something he doesn't.
"In case you're wondering," she tells him, "it's not what you think it is that the forest likes about you. It's something...different. But, anyway, do you want me to lead you out of here? After this little occurrence, the forest should like you enough to keep you from getting lost, but right now is an exception."
He sighs. "Very well."
She takes his hand and begins to walk through the forest, and Zelgadis begins to like her even less. Her hand is freezing cold, and the demeanor in which she wanders through the woods, gently brushing her fingertips upon the bark of the trees, is starting to unnerve him. Finally, she releases his hand, turns to look at him, and says, "We're about halfway there. Do you want to rest a bit?"
He doesn't trust her, but after his sword fight with Link, he truly is tired, and it wouldn't hurt to sit down for a few minutes...but Zelgadis shakes his head and answers, "No, carry on."
She takes his hand with a slightly disappointed look on her face and begins to lead him through the forest again. At long last, they reach the edge of the forest, and Kiera once again releases his hand.
She looks up at him with pleading eyes and says cutely, "Promise you'll come back! Please?"
He doesn't reply, scanning the undergrowth. Something is coming, he thinks when his ears prick to hear leaves rustle without the wind.
His theory proves correct when something leaps out of the bushes towards Kiera. "Look out!" he shouts, drawing his sword and moving the few inches in order to protect her. His steel blade rings loudly as he swings it through the wolfish figure.
Kiera whispers, "It's not dead, fool." Zelgadis looks back just in time to see her morph into something very similar to the Wolfos he just attacked.
"You know, I think the best thing to do right now would be to run, wouldn't it?" he asks somewhat calmly, parrying her clawed blow easily despite his fatigue.
"You fool," she snarls. "Don't you realize that my pack members are coming now to hunt you down? You'll never be able to outrun us, and our skin is like steel!"
"In all but a few places," he corrects her, slicing with his sword when she leaps at him to attack. Her wolf-like eyes widen as she shrivels up and explodes in a puff of purple smoke reminding Zelgadis vaguely of Xellos.
After this occurs, around five other Wolfos come out from the trees and snarl at him.
"That's it," he mutters. "Ray Wing!" As Zelgadis floats up and out of the forest, he feels something strike against his stone skin, creating sparks and setting the forest on fire. "Oh, how brilliant of you!" he calls. "Don't you know that stone against steel makes sparks?"
With that, he flies off as the sun begins to set in a crimson sky.