It felt like she was in a dream. She felt so disoriented when she finally opened her eyes, feeling more or less well rested though, but maybe she was still dreaming, there really was no exact way for her to tell. It looked to be like a dream-like place she was in; what surrounded her was blue, the blue walls moving like waterfalls. Where she had woken up laying down was blue water-like platform to match it. She slowly stood to her feet, feeling completely off balance as she looked around her.
There were small pedestals around the circular platform she was on, and one in the center where she was currently standing, each a different color. She turned, slowly looking around, her eyes landing on someone standing there before her. Seeing him caused her to jump slightly in surprise, having not expected anyone there with her.
"Greetings." The man was big in size, the top of his head bald, with white side burns flowing into a large moustache covering almost half of his large face, with large eyebrows. It almost looked like he had a scowl on his face, but she figured it could be because of all the hair on his face. He wore long orange robes, they looked like ones wise scholars would wear. "My name is Rauru. You are probably wondering where you are, yes?" His voice was humble and friendly, almost betraying his look. "Before I say," He began to gesture towards her. "You should take a look at yourself."
She was about to question him, but a little fluttering blue ball of light interrupted her. "Link!" The female voice squeaked out to her, bouncing around the girl. "You're big now!" The fairy flew towards her, lightly throwing herself against her cheek to get her to look at herself.
"I-" Linkette looked down at herself, and saw her reflection in the clear blue flooring of the platform. Navi was right, she was big now. She was taller, she was more… Formed, she had a curvier body. Her light blonde hair now fell down to about her back midway. How was it possible? She was only ten years old.
"All will be explained, my child." Rauru said before she could say anything more when she looked back up at him. It was like he was reading her mind. "This is the Temple of Light, a sacred temple deep within the sacred realm, the resting place of the Triforce. It was opened up when the Master Sword was pulled from its pedestal and the Triforce was stolen by a great evil."
The Triforce? She knew about the legends of it; if someone who is pure of heart wishes something upon it, the wish will be granted, but if someone who had evil intentions wishes upon it, the Triforce would shatter into its three pieces and it could bring the world to destruction. She actually had no idea it existed, she among everyone else thought it was just a legend, nobody knew of its whereabouts until just recently. "So-" She started, before being cut off again.
"Yes." Rauru stated. "The Evil King, Ganondorf, wished upon the Triforce. It was shattered into three pieces. With the piece he obtained, he took over the once peaceful kingdom. The other two pieces are nowhere to be found."
Linkette shifted from foot to foot uncomfortably as she had it explained to her. "What happened to me then? Why am I here?"
"When you pulled the Master Sword, it deemed you too young to wield at the time, so it sealed you here in the Sacred Realm in a deep sleep until you were old enough to wield it. That day has finally come. You are the hero of destiny, Linkette, you will be the only one to save the world from the evil of Ganondorf." Rauru explained to her. "And now that you've awakened, it's time for you to start your journey.
"But before you go, you should take this." He beckoned her towards him, and handed her a small medallion. It was pocket sized, able to fit snug into the palm of the hand, but as she held it in her hand, she felt great power emanating from it.
"What is it?" She asked curiously, looking at the golden medallion she was given. It had a pattern on it, similar to the one on the golden pedestal he was standing on.
"It is a sage medallion. I am the Sage of Light. Within it is my strength, I hope it will prove useful to you on your journey." He explained. "There are five other sages, each of whom have medallions of their own for you, to help you in your final battle against Ganondorf. Find each of the five."
Linkette nodded slowly, and placed the medallion gently in her pouch. "Okay."
"I wish you luck, my child. May the Goddesses know you'll need it." Rauru said, taking a step back, and suddenly a blinding light surrounded them, and even though she tried to block it, covering her eyes, everything went dark for Linkette.
Her eyes fluttered open, bright blue eyes appearing from behind her closed lids. She groaned quietly, lifting herself up into a sitting position, lifting a hand to brush back hair behind her pointed ears. She looked around, and it slowly dawned on her where she was again. She was back in the Temple of Time now, in the sealed room where the Master Sword rested.
She looked at the Master Sword, and found it was just laying on the ground beside her. The last thing she had remembered was pulling it out, then there was a bright light, and then... Nothing. That was it, she didn't know what had happened. It was explained to her in that dream-like state, but she had no idea if even that was even real.
She reached into her pocket, remembering that she was given a Medallion from the Sage she met. Her fingers hit something small and round inside it, and she wrapped them around it, pulling it out. It was real; maybe that place she thought was a dream wasn't? She wasn't sure, but put the Medallion back in her pocket anyway. That had to be the reason why she couldn't remember then; it was true she was put to sleep. She sighed quietly and took the sword in hand, standing up finally and sheathing it in the sheath on her back.
She started to leave the sealed room of the Temple of Time, when a sound of a clearing throat from behind her caught her attention, and she turned around. Standing where she was laying only moments before was a person, a male it looked like, his face almost completely obscured by a cowl.
He wore something like a jumpsuit, it was mostly a dark blue with a lighter blue where his joints were. His forearms had bandages wrapped around them and some of his fingers. Was he in a battle and got hurt? She didn't know; his head was wrapped in the same bandages, his blond bangs came out from behind it, with a single red eye being revealed. His cowl was connected with some kind of fabric that looked like rags and on it was a symbol of an eye with a teardrop. She remembered seeing that symbol before, she recalled it was on Impa, a symbol of the Sheikah. Was this man a part of that tribe?
How did he even get in here? There was no way anyone could've come into the Temple without her detecting him. Her face had a questioned look appear, as she gazed at him, wondering who he was and what his deal being here was.
"Who-" She started, only to get cut off.
"Linkette," He interrupted her; she couldn't help but wonder how he knew her name... "As the newly named Hero of Time, this is important, you must listen to these words of wisdom." She responded with a nod. "When evil rules, a call shall sound to those destinied to be the Sages of the five temples in Hyrule. One in the forest, mountain, the lake, the House of the Dead, and Goddess of Sand. Together they will bind the evil that has been creeping the land."
She listened silently to the male, remembering that Sages were mentioned to her by Rauru, but she was never told of their locations. She made note to remember each of the locations.
He then noticed her questioning look, and he crossed his arms over his chest, his head tilting to the side slightly, blinking once. "My apologies. My name is Sheik." He told her, "The last survivor of the Sheikah Tribe."
Linkette was still silent, taking this in, her mind working around it. "But..." She started, still thinking, trying to understand. "What about Impa?" She asked quietly, pretty sure that she was part of the Sheikah tribe, the sole protector of the Hyrulian Royal Family, remembering the story Impa had told her about Kakariko Village and it's importance to the Sheikah, being her home village.
Sheik shook his head, giving a shrug. "I can't say." He seemed to go quieter as he spoke. She started thinking that Impa was killed; it sounded quite possible under the circumstances. "Perhaps you'll find out during your journey, hero."
"What happened to me, though?" She just wanted to know the answer to that. There had to be some logical reason there was a sudden change in her body. There was no possible way she could be put to sleep and then wake up older and bigger. It couldn't have been that long, could it?
"You were put to sleep," He answered, his red eyes giving her a look, as he walked closer to her, away from the pedestal of the Master Sword, pausing for a few moments while she waited for him to continue. "For seven years." He watched as her eyes widen and mouth open slightly, her elf ears tilting back in distress, most likely really upset at hearing this news. "Ganondorf, I'm sure you know of him," He said, seeing her nod and he continued, "He got into the Sacred Realm while you were asleep. You opened the door to it when you pulled the Master Sword from its pedestal; you were too young to wield it then.
"The Sages I spoke of, found in the forest, mountain, lake, graveyard and desert, put you into this sleep until they decided you were old enough to save Hyrule. But because of this," His arms fell to his sides, seeing Linkette just get more and more distressed over this, clearly really upset. "Ganondorf has taken over Hyrule. Evil lurks in every corner. His heart was full of evil intentions when he entered the Sacred Realm, and the Triforce granted his evil wishes."
He finished the story, and the room fell almost deathly silent, as Linkette took all this in, her eyes glazed over as she stared at seemingly nothing, not blinking. She was told only part of the story, she certainly wasn't told she was asleep for that long. Hyrule could be long gone by now in the seven long years she's been sleeping.
After a few more moments of this, almost a full minute, she looked up at Sheik slowly. "Is this all my fault...?" She asked, her voice quiet, sounding small, almost scared.
The more she thought about it, the more she believed it. Over and over she was told that she had pulled the Master Sword without thinking of the consequences when she was too young. She opened the door to the Sacred Realm holding the most powerful thing in the world and letting evil get to it. She let Ganondorf take over the world, and no one was able to stop him except for her.
Sheik gave a quiet sigh. "It can be fixed. You're the hero now, and I'm going to help you along your journey as best I can." He didn't give her a straight answer, she noticed. She exhaled a shaky breath. If it was fixable, she may as well try to make up for her devastating mistake.
He reached behind himself, pulling out a lyre. "I'm going to teach you a song on your Ocarina. I'm sure it'll prove useful in your journey. It has the power to bring you back right to this spot." He said, deciding it'd be best to switch topics for now.
How did he know she had an Ocarina? She didn't know, but she reached into her pouch once again, finding the familiar feel of the smooth oval instrument and pulled it out. She looked at the cerulean Ocarina, it had eight holes, and two octaves. The base of the mouthpiece had a golden band around it with the Royal Family's crest on it, the Triforce. She remembered when she got it from the Princess; she was even lucky to know her personally.
Princess Zelda and her bodyguard, Impa, were leaving Castle Town on horseback, it was all dark and stormy that day... She had just reached the gates to Castle Town as they ran by. Ganondorf was following them on horseback too. It was her second time seeing him face-to-face, but he looked much more powerful and vicious and ready to tear her out of his way. Zelda had thrown her Ocarina at her before she got too far away from her, telling her to take it as Ganondorf took off chasing after her.
It seemed like Ganondorf was after the very same Ocarina she received to get into the Master Sword chamber, though came to prove he didn't need it after all. All he needed was for her to open it.
Sheik slowly began to pluck the strings, creating a short light-hearted melody; the notes giving a feeling of tranquility, of safety, so different from everything else going on around them ranging from their conversation to what was actually going on in the world. He taught the notes to her one by one, repeating them a second time, just as slowly, to make sure she got it.
She listened carefully to the notes he played, playing them back and matching them by ear; she had a special talent for that. Soon enough, the two were playing a duet of the Prelude of Light, the song echoed throughout the circular space of the room, bouncing around them, until the last note was played, echoing gently.
Linkette looked at Sheik, lowering the Ocarina, feeling a little more relaxed from the music they created together, and he nodded.
"I think you're ready, hero." Sheik said, pocketing his lyre again. "Go to the forest, and find the Sage there. They'll help you with your journey." He directed her, "But before you leave, go to the Village of the Sheikah. Within the Graveyard, you will find an item that will help you on your quest to the forest. We'll meet again. Good luck to you, hero." He nodded towards her, giving her a smile that couldn't be seen from behind his cowl. He raised his hand, throwing it down in a quick motion, letting go of something that caused a bright flash, and he was gone just like that.
She realized that he'd used a Deku Nut, the flash usually came in handy to stun the monsters she faced, and he used the flash to get away when she couldn't see. The female sighed, she was alone again. "Well..." She said to herself, having no choice but to do what the male said she should, being forced to be the hero once again. She pocketed her Ocarina and took a deep breath, looking out the door of the Master Sword chamber into the main hall of the Temple.
"Time to save the world." She finished, making her way out of the Temple of Time as the newly named Hero of Time.