If you were to ask the average teenage guy to describe his life in one word, he'd probably do one of three things:
Say something douchey like "lit" or "dank" to let you know that he's cool and parties.
Be really pretentious and try to sound deep by saying something along the lines of "journeying" or "aimless".
Use a phrase instead of a single word, effectively ignoring the point of the whole question.
If you asked me, though, I'd just saying "boring". It's kind of like accepting defeat to admit that your life is boring. You just offer yourself up to the mediocrity of a desk job and suburban life and hope for the best. Teenagers will practically always deny it if you say their life is boring, because it's sort of hardwired into our brains that we're all going to be millionaires and professional athletes someday. To say that life is boring, is to give up the dream.
My day to day life, however, was anything but exciting, and I'd be the first person to admit it. I mean, let's face it, we can't all be the Hero of Time and go around slaying evil. Maybe some people grew up thinking that they'd just been born in the wrong time period, but if we were born back in medieval times most of us would probably just die of dysentery anyways.
And hey, don't get me wrong. I grew just like everyone else, making believe like I was the Wielder of the Triforce of Courage fighting off evildoers. I even shared my name with the Hero of Legend: Link. Sooner or later though, everyone just has to grow up. I'd given up on being a hero a long time ago, and I wasn't holding out any hope that my adventure could begin at any moment. Not even on the morning of my seventeenth birthday.
I woke up on my seventeenth birthday the same way I did every year on July 26th: uncharacteristically early. I had never been too keen on celebrating my own birthday (the cake was the only good part really), but my mom was always crazy about making a big fuss over any household birthday. On mine or my sister's birthdays, my mom liked to wake the whole house up at an ungodly hour to an onslaught of cheesy birthday songs being blasted on a boombox. If you didn't get out of your room on your own, she'd barge in and proceed to talk your ear off to the tune of "do you know what day it is?". She'd dance around the whole house until everyone was gathered in the kitchen to go through the standard birthday ritual. All of this was good and well, except for the fact that it took place at six in the morning.
My little sister Aryll always loved the morning of her birthday, and it showed in the way she would dance around with mom in the morning, singing as her blonde pigtails bounced almost as happily as she did. Unfortunately for my mom, though, I don't really share my sister's enthusiasm. I'm the kind of person who puts a lot of emphasis and value in sleep. I'm not typically in high spirits before the sun rises.
It is for precisely this reason, that every year on my birthday since turning thirteen or so, I get up even earlier than my mom so that I can start my day off with a shower. It's just about the only way that I can peacefully wake myself up without having slept in first.
So, like I said, I woke up immensely early on my seventeenth birthday, dragged myself to the nearest bathroom, stepped into the shower, and proceeded to let the warm water pour over me. I had practically been sleep walking as I made my way into the shower, but after letting myself soak for ten minutes or so I didn't feel completely drowsy. I quickly washed myself and turned the shower head off before stepping out of the tub and drying myself off. I pulled on my lucky boxers, my comfiest pajama pants, and my favorite green t-shirt, knowing that I was going to need to be as comfortable as possible in order to face the day.
Sure enough, as soon as I opened the bathroom door I was greeted by my mother excitedly flinging her arms around me and shrieking "Happy birthday Link!"
"Good morning to you too mom," I said tiredly. She pulled back and examined my face with a proud smile. I was a little on the short side, just 5'8, but she still had to look up to look me in the eyes.
"Goodness, just when did you get so big?" she said. Her arm was resting lightly on my upper arm in that motherly sort of way that was slightly annoying and comforting at the same time.
"Not sure," I said. "Although you asked me the same thing last year so I think we can deduce that it wasn't between the ages of 16 and 17." Mom smiled lightly at me, but didn't seem to fully appreciate my dry sense of humor.
"Oh just hurry up and get downstairs you party pooper so we can start celebrating!"
"Yeah yeah, I'll be right down," I said, but mom was already hurrying down the stairs. I sighed before I started to brush my teeth, and at some point cheesy birthday music starting blasting throughout the whole house. I knew from experience that there was no point in trying to comb my mop of dirty blonde hair that seemed stuck in a perpetual state of bedhead, so getting ready didn't normally take me too long
Apparently two minutes is too much time to spend rushing teeth and putting on deodorant though, because eventually my little sister Aryll poked her head around the corner and started glaring at me. Her short blonde hair was tangled and sticking up in funny places, but despite that she looked completely wide awake.
"C'mon Link!" she said while tugging on my sleeve. "I'm starving and you know mom won't let anyone eat until you're downstairs. Hurry it up." Though try as she might, she couldn't get me to budge. I had a five year age advantage, but besides that Aryll was just naturally small. She had only just gotten taller than grandma a few months ago, and that still wasn't saying much. Her thin frame frame and bright blonde hair was practically a mirror image of a younger version of our mom.
"What is it with everyone in this house and hating the concept of a peaceful morning?" When Aria just returned my question with a scowl I figured it was time to quit messing around.
"Right right, breakfast," I said. "Let's go, come on." Aryll happily led the way downstairs and into the kitchen where grandma was already sitting at the ready. I walked up to her and pecked her on the top of the head before taking my seat to her right.
"There's my special boy," she said placing her wrinkled hand on top of mine. "Happy birthday Link." I smiled and started to respond until my mom burst into the room with a birthday cake.
"Happy birthday indeed!" she sang as she placed a double decker chocolate cake onto the center of the table. 17 candles adorned the top of the cake, and my stomach rumbled in anticipation of mom's special chocolate cake. It was to die for. Mom and Aryll took their places at the table, and finally everyone was in place to start the obligatory birthday singing.
And they did start to sing the obligatory birthday song. They got about as far as "happy" before they were all interrupted by our doorbell.
"Who on earth could be here at this hour?" my mother asked in a tone that greatly contrasted with her previously bubbly attitude. To her credit though, it was six-thirty in the morning. After hearing the doorbell ring one more time, my mom hustled off to answer our front door. The rest of my family waited awkwardly in the kitchen and overheard little snippets of the conversation between my mom and our visitors. It went a little something like this:
"Yes he is... How do you know... Well I suppose... He did WHAT?" mom yelled, causing everyone in the room to jump. "LINK, GET IN HERE!" I winced upon hearing my own name being uttered in such an aggressive tone. My mom is a nice lady, but when she's angry it's the stuff of nightmares.
I rushed out of the kitchen and towards our front door to see my mom looking so angry that her face was actually turning red. Standing just outside our door was an odd looking trio. There was a tall, lean woman with a stern face and silver hair pulled into a tight ponytail. She looked like she was around 40 or so, but something about her told me that she was not to be messed with. There was a guy who equaled the woman in height but looked far more relaxed and easy going. He stood with his hands jammed into the pockets of his ripped jeans and had long blonde hair that was pulled loosely into a ponytail that reached his lower back. He didn't look much older than me, like he might be a college student.
It was the shortest and obviously the youngest person of the group who grabbed the most attention though. Standing in the middle of the two figures, was a girl probably about my age who was easily the most gorgeous girl I'd ever seen. She was about my height and slender, but not thin. She had possibly the best posture I'd ever seen in my life, and even though she was just standing around, I could see that she a certain grace and elegance about her. Her golden blonde hair cascaded down to her shoulder blades and matched perfectly with her fair skin. What really got you about her, though, were her eyes. They were the biggest, brightest blue eyes I'd ever seen, and they had a spark of intelligence that was noticeable right off the bat.
As soon as I made eye contact with the girl I saw her breath hitch and some undecipherable emotion flashed across her face, but it was gone before I could make anything of it. I looked at the scene curiosity and then shot a glance at my mom who was looking at me with expectation that I hadn't the slightest clue about.
"Well, don't you have anything to say for yourself?" my mom said. I looked at her quizzically, having no idea as to what was going on.
"Happy birthday to me?" I said. The look on my mom's face was one that told me I should've been taking this whole thing a lot more seriously.
"This girl," my mom said while jabbing her finger towards the stunning blonde at our doorstep, "claims that you got her pregnant at a party last weekend." What followed was complete silence.
I shot a look of confusion/panic towards the girl whom I had never seen before in my life, and she winced and tried to hide her face which had turned a bright shade of red.
"Woah, slow down for a second," I said while putting my hands up defensively. "Let's backpedal real quick. I've never seen this girl before in my life! And I wasn't at any party last weekend. I was just hanging out at Colin's house." I wasn't lying either. Colin was a friend of mine who was just one grade below me. The previous Saturday night he had me and a few of the guys from the track team over to his house. All we did was play video games though, and there definitely hadn't been any girls. If I had ever seen that girl before I would've remembered her too. She was drop-dead gorgeous.
My mom opened her mouth to begin a fresh onslaught of accusations, but thankfully the girl interjected.
"Can I talk to you in private!" she blurted out. It didn't really sound like a question so much as a desperate plea. I gave my mom a pleading look and after a few seconds she finally sighed and nodded towards the door.
"Sure," I said. "Let's just step outside real quick." I stepped outside and closed the door behind me. As soon as I heard my moms footsteps walking away, the college aged guy burst out laughing. He was laughing so hard that he was doubled over and was fighting to suck in air.
"You should... have seen... look on your... hysterical!" he wheezed out in between fits of laughter. The blonde girl was still blushing furiously, and the tall woman was just shaking her head solemnly.
"Sheik, I can't believe you told his mother that!" the girl chastised. Then she turned to me and said "I'm so very sorry about his behavior. We needed to get you alone to talk to you, but we weren't planning on saying anything about... uh..."
"Anything about that," I finished.
"Yes," the girl echoed, a fresh blush rising to her cheeks. "Anything about that."
"We were going to tell your mother that Zelda was a classmate of yours and that she needed your help for a school project," the tall woman explained. "Although I don't think that is a viable excuse any longer."
I did a double take when she said "Zelda". It wasn't like people naming their daughters after the Princess of Legend was all that uncommon, but it was the kind of thing that always stood out. It was especially noteworthy this time, though, because this girl looked a lot like old descriptions and paintings of the Princess. Flowing blonde hair, bright blue eyes, a fair complexion, unmatched beauty. She fit the description to a tee.
"I'm so sorry to have caused so much trouble for you," Zelda said. "I promise we'll work out everything with your mother, isn't that right Sheik." Sheik, who had been lost in thought with a bored expression on his face suddenly snapped to attention.
"Oh yeah, course we will! No problemo," Sheik said.
"Yeah, thanks for that..." I said awkwardly. "So what's this all about anyways? What do you guys want with me?" As soon as I asked the question, the trio exchanged uneasy glances. They seemed to be having a telepathic argument amongst the three of them, with Zelda losing. The longer the silence drew out, the more my curiosity grew.
"Well, I'll go ahead and explain our situation since you asked, but it's really the kind of thing that's easier to show than it is to tell," Zelda said. "You're not likely to believe us, to be perfectly honest." Ever since learning that this girl's name was Zelda, I'd begun to notice that she even had a kind of regal way of speaking.
"Your highness, it is not wise to discuss such matters out in the open like this," the tall woman said. "We should exercise caution and find a more private place to speak."
"Impa! I told you not to call me that while we're here," Zelda said angrily.
"Did she just say 'your highness'?" I asked.
"My apologies Zelda," Impa said before turning to me. "I promise this will all make sense in time, Link.
"Look, how about it all starts making sense now," I said. I was tired and cranky and done of people not explaining things. I wanted some answers. "Just who the hell are you people? None of this makes any sense."
"You know, this would be a lot easier if we could just take him to the Temple of Time," Sheik said.
"The Temple of Time?" I said. "That's at least a two hour drive! If you people think you're about to get me to go that far without any kind of explanation, you belong in a mental hospital." I wasn't about to move two inches for these people without some kind of explanation, much less dozens of miles. I meant what I had said... until a certain beautiful teenaged girl intervened.
Zelda stepped forward and clasped my hand in between hers. She was uncomfortably close, and the scent of her intoxicating perfume pretty much knocked down all of my defenses.
"Please Link, I promise we'll explain as much as we can on the car ride to the Temple. And I promise that this all really will make sense if you come with us," Zelda said with a look in her eyes that I just couldn't quite place. "The very fate of the world rests on your shoulders. We need you."
I was at a loss for words, and Zelda's plea had raised more questions than it had answered, but one good look at those blue, pleading eyes told me that my decision had already been made. My life was about to get a lot less boring
Author's note: Hey everyone! If you're here I'll assume that you actually read this jumble of words I've concocted, so thanks a million! It really means a lot. This is my first attempt at fan fiction, so if the format is kind of weird or you have any suggestions or comments at all please feel free to review or message me. I'm hoping to turn this into a relatively long series, but I'd be lying if I said you could expect super frequent updates. Anywho, let me know what you thought about this story and if you'd like to see more. There's no such thing as bad feedback!