A/N: This is the first in a multi chapter installment for the Legend of Zelda. It takes place on the timeline about 400 years after Skyward Sword and 200 years before the Minish Cap. (I am taking some liberties with the timing simply because exact amounts of time aren't given) Enjoy!
* Chapter 1 *
Before Link was the corpse of King Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule, split in two from his right shoulder to his left hip. Behind the former king stood a figure in all black, laughing at the scene before it. The Hylian Army fell soldier by soldier as the demonic horde overtook the square. Link only had time to notice that the decorations for the Festival of the Rapture were alight with fire as he felt himself fall into an abyss. As he fell he heard a melodic voice cry out, "This shall be my revenge!"
Link's head shot up at the sound of the voice. Link looked about confused before he realized he was at his schoolhouse near the center of Castle Town. His classmates sitting behind him snickered as he rubbed the side of his face feeling the pieces of parchment that were stuck to him. Link peeled them off ignoring his classmates.
"It is known that in the first days of the world, Din the Goddess of Power created the Earth, Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom, the Sky and the waters, and Farore, Goddess of Courage, the life among them. It is also known that time has its own Goddess as well, but her name was lost to her own creation. The Goddesses created Hyrule to rule over the rest of the world. Of course the Zoras have their king, the Kokiri have the Great Deku Tree, and the Gorons have their Elders, but all defer to the Royal Family of Hyrule when it comes down to any matters of life or death." Droned the teacher as Link daydreamed about adventure. Link was seventeen years old and didn't want to take part in the classes any longer. He yearned for adventure not the life of a farmer or a merchant. Link returned his attention to his teacher. "… And we the Hylians worship the Goddesses in order to keep their favor, for when their favor falls from us, an evil always befalls Hyrule." The teacher went on pacing at the front of the room. Link just wanted the class to end. He wanted to head out to the festivities for today was the celebration of the Rapture of Old.
"Can't we go now?" Tingle, the strangest (and oldest, he may be 20 years old!) of Link's classmates, asked the professor as he stared out the window. "We're missing the celebration!"
The professor answered tersely smiling at his answer, "If you can tell me exactly what is being celebrated, I'll let you out for the day."
Tingle confidently answered, "Today we are celebrating The Rapture of Old. The Rapture was the day that the Goddesses lifted the Hylians to the sky as the Demons of the outside world had nearly wiped out the Hylian race. This was thousands of years before the establishment of the Royal Family and the kingdom of Hyrule. According to legend the Hylians returned to earth a few thousand years later and created the kingdom. The first few settlers were the Royal Family's ancestors themselves. And because of the brave actions of the young Princess of the age, who initiated the return to the ground, the first born female of the Royal family was to be named Zelda. The young man who had helped establish the kingdom's name had been lost to time." Tingle recited tapping his fingers as he hit each point. "We've heard the stories since we were young!"
"Fine. The class is dismissed, but now I want a report on the Goddesses and their respective virtues by next Friday." The teacher said confused by Tingle's sudden burst of knowledge.
Praising the Goddesses for his lesson's early end, Link quickly made his way out to Hyrule Castle Town Square. Here the bulk of the celebration was occurring. On this day everyone spent the night feasting and dancing and competing in games. Link's favorite was always the sword fighting competition. As a child he would spend hours pretending a stick was a sword. He was very good with the stick, sending many a child home with bruises, never on purpose nor untended. And finally this year he was at an age where he was allowed to participate. He was near the end of the registration line due to the popularity of the tourney, but was excited none the less. After an hour and a half, he finally made it to the front. The lady asked, "Name?" Link stared at her in bewilderment. I'm so close I can taste victory, but why? Why didn't I bring someone with me?
That was when he heard a voice from behind him say, "His name is Link. He doesn't talk." Link had decided at an early age that he would not speak. Not that he was unable, seeing as he had spoken in his childhood and will not refrain from the occasional yelp from pain. Link turned around to see his childhood friend, Alaira, standing there smiling at him.
Thank the Goddess she came! Link thought to himself. After Link lost his parents to a group of bandits as a child, Alaira was the only one who had been there for him. Now, once again, she was there saving him from embarrassment, just like she saved him from those bandits all those years ago. The registration woman sighed and got the rest of his information from Alaira as Link waited patiently while smiling at Alaira in thanks. While the registration lady was finishing writing up Link's height and weight, Alaira, looked over at Link and winked. Alaira was about five foot four inches which was a bit shorter than Link at five foot eight. She was about a year younger than Link, but Link was often mistaken as her junior by those who don't know, and Alaira was not one to correct that misconception. Her hair was a dark brown that approached black in the right light and was drawn out in a single braid down her back ending at her midsection, which was nearly opposite Link's bright yellow-blond hair that was short enough that he didn't look feminine but long enough where if the wind was wrong it would cover his eyes. Her eyes were as brown as Death Mountain while Link's were as blue as Lake Hylia. The only similarity between the two was their build. Both were quite fit. Link had trained every day since he was twelve to fight in this sort of contest, and Alaira, had trained with him every step of the way. She was nearly as good a swordswoman as Link, which he appreciated. Link, taken aback by the wink smiled a little brighter and nodded his head just a touch. It would have been completely unnoticeable if Alaira didn't know Link so well.
"Pick a weapon already!" the registration lady yelled at Link breaking his gaze. He quickly shook his head and grabbed a hand and a half long sword from the pile of weapons in front of him. The pile contained a lot of the standard weaponry; swords, daggers, greatswords, axes, and the like, but there were some exotic weapons not known by most in Hyrule, such as a long curved sword that grew thicker most of the way up then came back to a point. "Now move along kid, they'll give you armor over there," she said pointing to the next tent down the line, "that kid must have been touched in the head," the lady whispered as he put the scabbard over his back. Link walked over to the other tent pretending not to hear what the lady said or the sound of flesh hitting flesh when Alaira smacked the woman. He did smile as he heard Alaira spitting out about a dozen curses a second as the registration lady apologized repeatedly.
Link waited for Alaira's little spat to end before walking into the armor tent. It would have been hard to get any armor without Alaira there to help interpret for him anyway, and she was his best friend. It took her a bit longer than Link was expecting, but they entered the tent together. Link almost didn't notice the sword placed across Alaira's back. The tent was large, about sixty feet by sixty feet, and was run by two men. The one in front was the larger of the two with many scars across his bare chest and back, while the smaller man looked to be about Link's age and stature, but without the years of training.
"Aww look he brought his girlfriend!" the large man in the front mocked. "Is she here to help you patch up your boo-boos?" The fitters laughed as Link balled his hands into fists.
"Aww she even has her own sword so she can protect him when he goes down!" the young apprentice joked from the back. Link's face grew red and it took all of his restraint not to unsheathe his sword, but Alaira did not share his composition. Alaira had thrown the large man onto the ground before he knew she was upon him.
"I bet you wish your girlfriend was here to protect you, now don't you?" she taunted with her foot on the back of the man's neck and his arm up on her shoulder. "Maybe if she kissed your boo-boos they wouldn't hurt so bad," she said as she pulled the man's shoulder out of its socket. Alaira was always a bit of a loose cannon when people made fun of Link or her, but when they did both, the medical ward always knew about it. Thankfully Link was always an exemplary citizen. This meant that whenever Alaira said she was defending Link, and Link nodded in the affirmative, Alaira wasn't put in the dungeon. There were two instances where Link had to shake his head "no" when the guards asked for confirmation, and both times Alaira was livid for almost a month and that was after the two week sentence.
The small man in the back quickly came forward after seeing Alaira dispatch his master so quickly and asked, "So what kind of armor are you looking for," over the whimpering of the larger armorer. As Alaira explained exactly what she wanted (Dark color, light, very protective, and a shield) Link squatted down next to the pained armorer and got to work. Well, I can't let him just sit and suffer, Link thought both annoyed and pleased with Alaira's outburst. He rolled the armorer back onto his stomach, much to the armorer's displeasure, and pushed his shoulder back into place. After hearing the satisfying *pop*, he looked up to see the armor Alaira had gotten. It was a deep blue tunic, not as protective as most armors, but much more agile, which played into her strengths.
"I'm not sure it's protective enough…" She started, looking to Link. Link looked up at the tunic and looked at Alaira, smiled, and gave a nod. Alaira smiled back and said, "I'll take it!" She then looked over to Link, "So what do you want?" she asked pointing around the tent. He nodded at her and she blushed a deep red color. "I meant for armor!" she said laughing. Link got up off the floor and patted the master armorer's (who was still whimpering a bit) back and walked over to Alaira and pointed at the tunic she had in her hand. Her blush deepened farther as young apprentice went to grab another tunic. This time he came back with a green one. Link and Alaira then left the armor tent to go to the changing tents.
Once they got to the changing tents, Alaira noticed that the armorer's apprentice forgot to give both her and Link shields. Link stepped into the provided tent and changed while Alaira went to go fetch them. I don't know about these tights, Link thought as he started to move to the next portion of the tunic. It looks like a skirt… maybe I shouldn't have chosen the same armor as Alaira…
As he exited the tent he heard Alaira shout, "Come off it, the only thing that won't heal is your pride!" Link laughed as Alaira faced forward to where he was standing. She looked at him and nearly dropped the two wooden shields in her hands. Her face was red as the sunset and she placed her left hand over her mouth. Link could tell she was smiling from her eyes. Maybe she likes it? Hopefully? Link thought in desperation. Link's hopes were dashed as Alaira walked up to him and whispered, "Nice tights, they're perfect with that skirt." Then she burst out laughing as she could conceal it no longer. Link bowed his head because he knew that she was right to make fun of him, but all of the other armor he saw in the tent would have greatly reduced his mobility, and he wanted to start fighting as soon as possible. She dropped a shield in front of Link and went toward the changing tent then turned around. Link turned with her as she passed with a confused look on his face. She said, "I just wanted to enjoy the view," then laughed as she walked into the tent. Link waited until he was sure she was inside to pick up the shield.
Alaira came out minutes later in her deep blue tunic. The color rolled over her like an ocean wave that led to her sparkling eyes and bright smile. Link couldn't help but to blush as he realized that he had been staring. Alaira smiled and pushed him with her shield. The duo walked over to the battlefield in order to see who they would be fighting. The friends approached from the northwest and took in the view. Along the north boundary was seating for those spectators who did not wish to follow the fighters in any specific arena. The Southern boundary was a raised platform where King Daphnes watched over the tournament and where the closing ceremony would take place. To the East was the healing tent, where the best healers across Hyrule waited to get fighters back into fighting condition so the tournaments didn't take weeks at a time. And in front of the duo was the pairing board, where each match was announced for the current round. Alaira got to the pairing board first. She stood on her tiptoes to read the sign and without looking away she said, "It looks like you're fighting… Goron-Lifter?" Goron-Lifter was the competition favorite having won the last three years after defeating the previous champion, Mountain Crusher. "Link you're competing with the reigning champion! Holy Goddess! You've already hit the jackpot! You know, so long as you don't mess this up!" Alaira laughed now poking Link in the chest, "And I've got… Cletus. A guy named Cletus. Oh, he put his profession down, 'Professional Cucco Farmer.' How interesting." She continued sarcastically whilst rolling her eyes. She looked at the other matchings. "Look Link, this one calls himself Giant Slayer, and this one goes by Ankle Shanker, and this one calls himself Regent Slayer. Sheesh these guys take their fighting seriously! Maybe we should have come up with cool names… well I'd have to come up with one for you, but I promise it would be cool!" Alaira joked sneaking a sideways glance at Link. But Link had stopped listening.
I… I can't believe I'm finally here! Link thought to himself, I'm at a real competition and I'm fighting the REIGNING CHAMPION! I finally get to live my dream and become the Champion of Hyrule! This is going to be great! Wait a second not only am I here but so is Alaira! She's actually going to participate! I didn't realize that she wanted to fight too, but the more the merrier I guess! Link thought excitedly. He looked over at Alaira, smiled, and nodded his head in the affirmative, not knowing what he was agreeing to. He and Alaira started walking out toward the training area.
"What is this?" Link heard a voice behind him roar. "Why would I be paired with a first-timer? This is disrespect!" Goron-Lifter exclaimed at the man who stood by the pairing board.
"Good sir," the small man squeaked rubbing his hands nervously while looking at the ground, "the pairings are entirely random! Please don't feel as though we wish to insult you!"
The little man continued pleading for forgiveness until Alaira spoke up stepping toward the pairing board once again, "I'm sure Link will beat you anyway. He's been training for this for years!" The area around the pairing board went entirely silent.
Then Goron-Lifter dropped his head back and laughed. "Who is this Link person? Is he to cowardly to speak for himself?" Link stepped forward placing himself between Alaira and Goron-Lifter while giving Alaira a dirty look. "Tights!" He chortled seeing Link for the first time, who was beet red, "Your woman speaks out of turn! No matter, I will enjoy crushing you in the pit now that I have been offered a challenge." At this point Link thanked the Goddess that he had stepped between Alaira and the hulking man, as she attempted to race at him spewing all sorts of insults.
Geeze, why didn't this guy just call himself "The Goron?" I mean he's at least six feet tall and 240 pounds. I've never seen a Hylian that large in my life! And he's using a greatsword? That makes sense… If I had that much weight to throw around I'd probably use that kind of weapon too… And that armor… It's plate mail… I guess I just have to hit the places where it connects… Link thought sizing the man up. Kind of weird his face isn't covered, maybe he just decided to keep his helmet off until the match starts… It is sweltering out here… Link continued as pulled on the neck of his tunic. He smoothly walked up to the duo and shouldered past them nearly knocking Link over.
"Link, if you don't knock his lights out," Alaira said fuming, still staring at the Champion, "then, sure as the sun rises, I will." And then the first gong sounded.
"Remember Link, the first gong means to go to your arena to start the competition! This is a knock out competition, where losers from each match are sent home prizeless. First prize is a Hylian Shield presented to the winner by the beautiful Princess Zelda herself." Alaira said raising her eyebrows suggestively as she spoke of the princess, "Which partially explains why King Daphnes himself is watching over the tourney! Anyway, the shields are only made every fifty years and legend says that they're indestructible. Can you imagine what it would be like to have an indestructible shield? Every Hylian shield was given away in tournaments like this one and the owner of each new shield is considered the protector of Hyrule, just as the Goddess gave the first protector the sword!" She finished bouncing with excitement. Link smiled and shook his head it always surprised him how quickly Alaira could change moods. Alaira had talked about the Hylian Shield since they were kids. She had a countdown for the number of years until the next was made. Link sat through her spiel about the tournament every year since her family started watching out for him. Although he had lived alone in his home just outside of Castle Town since he was twelve. After Alaira finished speaking, she and Link parted to enter their separate arenas. Link was on the near side of the battleground and Alaira on the far. This made it hard to keep tabs on the other during battle, which was a Goddessend for both of them. They always watched each other's backs, but whenever they had one on one tournaments with the other village youths, both would focus on the other's battle and they always did worse than when they trained against each other.
Link was the first in his arena and waited patiently for Goron-Lifter. A crowd had started to gather to watch the favorite for this year's competition destroy the new comer. Sure Link was a bit nervous, but his excitement far outweighed any worry in his heart. Goron-Lifter entered the arena minutes later with cheers from his many fans announcing his arrival. "Ahh, Tights! I was half expecting you and your girlfriend to have run home by now!" Goron-Lifter taunted while the crowd laughed. Link simply unsheathed his sword and held it in his left hand as he had trained. Goron-Lifter was enraged, "You aren't even going to fight me with your good arm? This will be over in mere moments!" he shouted. Link looked at him with confusion on his face. He lifted his shield in his right hand and shifted his left leg behind him. He leaned forward and yelled, "Hyet!" Then the second Gong sounded.
The crowd cheered as the enraged Goron-Lifter instantly sprinted straight for Link, not bothering to unsheathe his greatsword. His barreling offensive caught Link off guard, but the young fighter was able to roll out of the way before Goron-Lifter could grab him much to the crowd's displeasure. As soon as Link had righted himself, Goron-Lifter was racing at him once more, this time sword at the ready. Link had just enough time to deflect the blow with his shield and hit the large man on the outside of the right leg. Where the leg guards met the waist. The wound was far from serious, but the sight of the champion's scarlet blood leaking off his iron armor to stain the ground caused the crowd to gasp. "RAAGH!" Goron-Lifter exclaimed while swatting Link with his right hand and knocking Link over as though he were a ragdoll. The crowd cheered heavily once again for the large champion. Link's sword fell fifteen feet left of the teenager. Goron-Lifter hobbled over to where Link laid and lifted his sword. Link took the shield off of his right arm and grabbed it with his left hand, a motion unseen to the seething Goron-Lifter. When Goron-Lifter had moved his sword just enough, Link threw his shield with all of his strength right into the large man's midsection. The crowd fell silent as Goron-Lifter doubled over trying to catch his breath. Link took this opportunity to run to his sword. He picked it up and stood in a fighting stance, both hands on the hilt, facing Goron-Lifter.
The champion had just regained his breath as Link lifted the sword. In a rage he smashed Link's shield with a single mighty blow of his greatsword. The crowd cheered even louder than upon the Champion's entry. It seemed as though they were excited to see their champion challenged. Link watched the beast of a man in front of him and the beast was watching him.
Well this is new, Link thought. Now I'm basically defenseless. It seems as though I have two options to avoid getting hit: avoid every blow and let him chase me around the arena, or take the fight to him and don't allow him to attack. Yielding the fight didn't once cross his mind. Link sprinted straight toward Goron-Lifter and feigned an overhead slash aimed at the champion's right shoulder. As the large man moved to block the blow with his greatsword, Link dropped to his knees and slid between the larger man's legs. As he did so, he landed another blow, this time on the inside of the champion's right leg at the connection point in his armor. Goron-Lifter's eyes lit up with pain and his heart raced with adrenaline. Once again, the champion's blood splashed into the dirt creating a sticky mud.
"Stupid kid, I'll rip you limb from limb for that!" He lifted his great sword turned around and attempted to slash at Link in a horizontal direction. Link who had just turned around to see the sword approaching his midsection attempted to block the blow with his own sword as he jumped back attempting to avoid the blow. This resulted in two things, first the blade merely skimmed his midsection cutting a hole in the fabric of his tunic. Second, the blow shattered the bones in Link's left arm causing his sword to once again fly off away from him. The crowd cheered at the sight as Link, pained by the loss of usage in his arm, rushed over to the sight of his sword. Goron-Lifter laughed and asked in a booming confident voice, "So Tights, do you yield?" The crowd cheered thinking that the champion had once again attained victory. Link holding the sword in his right hand looked down at himself. His left arm was shattered, his stomach cut, then he looked up at Goron-Lifter.
This might be it… I might have to quit the field… Link thought forlornly. I shouldn't have attempted to block that. What was I thinking? He saw behind the champion in the crowd was Alaira. She looked tired but was smiling at Link. Link looked back to Goron-Lifter and slowly started to walk forward.
The champion was confused, "I asked, boy, do you yield?" he shouted, but Link kept walking toward him. Finally Goron-Lifter shouted "If you don't yield I will have to continue!" as he lifted his sword once more. Link stopped about ten paces in front of the man. I can't quit now, not while I still have one arm to fight with! Link thought staring past the champion. He shook his head "no" and lifted his sword to a fighting stance.
"As you wish," Goron-Lifter said as the crowd cheered louder than ever. The champion stepped forward two steps to bring Link into range of his sword. He slashed in a low horizontal fashion from Link's left and started to bring the blade up as it approached Link. Link dived forward and to his right putting him on the champion's left side. Link then brought his sword across the outside of Goron-Lifter's left leg. Another bellow of pain was heard across the battlefield and another splash of crimson hit the ground. Goron-Lifter's iron armor looked rusted from his waist down due to the flowing blood from his wounds. The crowd around the arena had grown exponentially as the fight became more and more intense. Goron-Lifter quickly brought his greatsword from his left side where the last slash had ended, wildly to his right. Link quickly dived behind the man landing on the champion's left side, and this time Link slashed at the man's shoulder where the chestplate meets the shoulder. Once again the champion's blood splashed, but this did not slow him. Goron-Lifter in a blind rage spun in a complete circle with his blade at waist height. Link saw that the man had thrown himself off balance with the wild attempt, ducked the slash, and kicked the man in the right leg directly where he had been cut before. The champion fell to the ground face first over the flat of his greatsword. Link stood above him and placed a foot on the man's back and the tip of his blade against the back of Goron-Lifter's neck. The crowd went totally silent. "Aren't you going to tell me to yield?" Goron-Lifter asked. Link just stared down. Goron-Lifter tried to move to free his arms, but Link pushed his blade until he saw a drop of scarlet blood. "Fine. I yield." Goron-Lifter finally stated. Link lifted his sword toward the heavens and smiled then the pain hit him like a rolling Goron. Link fell over, dropped his sword and covered his stomach. The green tunic looked was covered in deep brown mud from the dirt on the ground. The last thing Link saw before consciousness left him was Alaira jumping the fence of the arena and running toward him.