"Open your eyes…

… Wake up link"

The voice permeated his dreamless sleep, rousing the young man lying in his watery bed. As he slowly opened his eyes, the young man felt the water around him retreat slowly, dropping away to who even knows where. As he sat up, the young man held his head in one of his hands, shakily looking about a little. Is that my name. link? He asked himself in his thoughts. Well, it seemed to fit, and so link shakily got up, holding onto the edge of the strange bed he had been lying in for support.

As he sat up, the voice spoke again. Link fixed his gaze on a pedestal that had just lifted up a weird looking tablet of some sort. Or something rectangular anyways.

"that is a sheikah slate. Take it. It will guide you on your journey." As the voice faded, link carefully grasped at the slate and took it from its pedestal. The slate suddenly lit up, making link jump a little. The slate lit up and jumped into life.

Link looked at the slate for a little while, trying to figure out the controls, when he noticed another pedestal. He walked over to the other pedestal, and observed it, before the voice prompted him to place the slate to the pedestal. And so he did, with the door opening to another room containing a few chests and another door at the end of the room. A few large boxes and old broken barrels were strewn about as well.

Link opened the first chest, to see a pair of old trousers inside. They fit, strangely enough, but they did only just cover his knees and a little bit lower on his legs, which really did not help his lower legs much. Also in the chest was an old, worn out shirt, that was coming apart at the seams, but it was better than going about bare chested. Still, link felt a little silly wearing such raggedy clothes, but he really had no choice. The second chest contained a small pouch, with an even smaller piece of fur knotted into a bracelet. It seemed to fit snugly around link's hand, and so he wore, smiling at the simple beauty. The pouch, he clipped onto his belt with the slate.

After looting through the chests, link crossed the room, and interacted with the pedestal. There, he placed the slate upon it again, watching as the door opened up, and the sunlight from outside beamed in. link walked over to the opening, shading his eyes from the unexpected light. As he did so, the same voice spoke to him once again.

"link… you are the light… our light… that must shine on hyrule once more… now go! Go forth and bring peace to hyrule…"

Around the same time, something awoke from a small nap. The thing blinked a few times, before yawning, and clambering up the rock face that sat near the cave opening. It then stretched, and snorted a little, as it watched the sun make it's way lazily through the sky. Today seemed like any other day.

The thing sighed, before perking up brown ears, listening for any noises in the cave nearby. Noth-

wait. What was that? The thing blinked in surprise, before a low growl escaped it's furry throat. Something was going on in there. And it had to find out just what it was. One way or another.

Link climbed the wall separating him from the entrance carefully and walked out of the cave slowly. After a little while, he ran toward the edge of the cliff, overtaken with the breath-taking view. All of the land before him seemed lush and beautiful. Link tore away his gaze from the view as he noticed he was being watched by a strange old man.

After a little while, link moved toward the old man's resting place, grabbing a tree branch on the way there. He reached the old man, unaware that he was being watched by something else as well.

"why, hello there young one. It's rather rare that I see visitors up here on this high plateau." The old man began, speaking in a cheerful, calm manner. He smiled at link from under his hood, that concealed most of his face, save for his beard. Link smiled and sat with the old man, hungrily eyeing up a baked apple nearby. Maybe if he took it, then the old man would be fine with it?

Just as he was about to take the apple, another, unbaked but still fresh apple rolled down towards him. Link frowned, but picked up the new apple, biting into it and enjoying the sweet taste of the fruit. The old man smiled and sat, looking around the top of the path that link had taken to reach this spot from the shrine of resurrection. A large figure watched the two, with blue eyes unblinking.

The old man watched the figure for a moment, before turning back to link, who had just finished his apple, and sat there, sighing a little. One apple was not that great, but it would have to do for now. The morning was starting to fade into midday at this point, and link's stomach growled. But he had work to do. So, he turned to the old man, about to ask a question, when he heard a low growl.

The young man whipped around, frowning as he saw nothing, and he stood up, clutching at the tree branch in his hand carefully. Whatever it was, it did not seem to be bothered by link and his tree branch, as the growl did not echo out again.

After a while, link decided to get up and make his way to the strange building he had noticed nearby. Saying his goobyes to the old man, he made his way to the old building, but suddenly stopped. There was the voice again.

Link

Link

Link.

Make your way to the point marked on your sheikah slate. It will show you the way.

A small glowing dot suddenly appeared on the expanse of blue background, which was outlined by several blue lines. A small yellow arrow was pointing towards something, though link could not see what it was. As he moved however, the triangle moved, so it seemed that the triangle represented him. Well, that actually helped a little.

Link made his way toward the glowing circle on the slate, keeping an eye out for any danger, but he found none, strangely enough. Or maybe that was thankfully enough. As he reached his destination, link found his first enemy.

It looked like a bipedal pig of some sort, with a small horn on top of it's head and big floppy ears. The creature was orangey-red and was currently chomping on some fruit, noisily munching and growling as it did so. With a frown, link hunkered down behind a rock, watching the creature as it blocked the way for him to get to his destination. He sat there for a little while, unsure of how to proceed, when he suddenly heard a loud boom and a roar. The creature snorted and looked toward the source of the noise.

Link took advantage of the distraction and made his way into the cave where the yellow dot on his map seemed to be sat in. the triangle indicating his position seemed to agree, and so link decided to look about to try and catch a clue on what was going on.

As he looked about the small enclosed cave, link noticed a small pedestal with a hole that seemed to fit the sheikah slate. Link placed the slate into the pedestal and watched as the slate was spun into place and the pedestal glew.

"sheikah slate authenticated. Please watch for falling rocks." The slate stated, link frowned, then gave a shout as the platform he was standing on shot up into the air, making him fall onto his back.

At the same time, something perked up brown furry ears and watched with blue eyes as the tower sprang from under the rock formation nearby. It's eyes suddenly swivelled to look at the sun, which was nearing the end of it's afternoon run, and was slowly starting to descend to the evening.

Link slowly got up from the floor and stood rather shakily. As he looked about, the tower bleeped once more "distilling local information..." a large teardrop of energy gathered below an eye marking on an overhanging rock just above the pedestal. Suddenly, it fell, causing little splashes of water to drop out over the air. Link took a close look at the slate, to see that the map now had a large area of land filled in. that, and a strange white head on the map, only for a few moments.

Link frowned a little at the head, but shook his own as he watched the slate spin about and lift up for him to take "regional map extracted" the slate bleeped, as link took it.

"t—t- r—e—be-"

"try… try to remember"

The voice spoke out again. As it did, a light shone out of a made his way over to the edge of the tower to get a closer look, and as he did so the ground began to shake.

"You have been asleep for the last 100 years.

The beast. When the beast regains it's true power, then this world will meet its end."

A large smoky pig monster flew out and roared at the sky as the voice continued. Link felt a twinge of fear deep down, and something else. A deep sense of… Anger? Revenge?

He had no time to dwell on this, however, since the voice began to speak again.

"now then.

You must hurry link. Before it's too late"

The voice faded away, and link nodded to himself. It was time to descend the tower. This was easier said than done, however. As link looked over the edge, a sudden dizzy spell overtook him, and he pulled his head back. After a little while, however, he stuck his head out again, to gauge the distance. Something in him marvelled at the sheer drop to an untimely death, and a part of him seemed rather excited by the height. Weird.

As link moved back from the edge, he noticed a large-ish hole, that seemed to lead to a platform. Trusting himself, link jumped down and landed quite nicely on the platform. He looked about, and sure enough there was another platform, and some mesh like grips on the tower itself for him to climb with. And so link climbed down the tower using the meshing, and jumping when he felt too tired, and he knew he would land on the platform.

The sun was starting to drop toward the horizon, and a feeling of dread welled up in link. The young man absently clutched at the fur bracelet around his wrist, frowning at the sudden feeling. What was going on. Why was he getting afraid of darkness?

As link's feet finally hit the bottom of the tower, and the hard floor, the young man was startled by a sudden "HO!" flying in from somewhere was the old man again, using a cloth that seemed to be attached to some wooden supports. As the man tucked away the contraption, he turned to face link with a smile.

"my my… it would seem that we have quite the enigma here. This tower and others just like it have erupted over the region one after another. It is almost as though… a long dormant power has awoken quite suddenly." The old man sighed a little, before addressing link again "if you do not mind me asking… did anything… odd occur while you were atop the tower?"

"well, I kinda heard a voice. And I saw some big smoky thing out there." Link replied, pointing toward the castle. The old man nodded to himself.

"well now, a voice you say? And did you happen to recognise this mysterious voice?" at link's shake of his head, the old man nodded thoughfully. "I see. Well that is unfortunate" he replied. The old man then turned and pounted towrd the caste with his travelling stick. " now then, that atrocity enshrouding the castle. That… is calamity ganon. One hundred years ago, that vile entity brought the kingdom of hyrule to ruin. It appeared suddenly and destroyed everything in it's path. So many innocent lives were lost in it's wake. For a century, the very symbol of our kingdom, hyrule castle, has managed to conatin that evil. But just barely. There it festers, building it's strength for the the moment it will unleash it's blight upon the land once again. It would appear that moment is fast approaching…" the old man looked back toward link. "I must ask you courageous one. Do you intend to make your way to the castle?"

Link hesitated for a moment, thinking. Then, he nodded. "I do." He replied. "Maybe then I can find out who the voice belongs to"

The old man gave out a slight chuckle. "I had a feeling you would say that" he replied. "here on this isolated plateau, we are surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs, with no way down. If you were to try to jump off, well… no death could be more certain. Or more foolish." The old man shook his head a little at the thought. Then he nodded in thought. "of course, if you had a paraglider, then that would be a whole different story right there"

"wait, you have a paraglider? Can I have it?" link asked, politely holding his hand out a little. The old man smiled and laughed a little.

"why of course. Why not? But unfortunately there is no such thing as a free item in this world, you know. Let's see now… why don't I trade it for a bit of treasure that slumbers nearby?" the old man replied. Link nodded in agreement.

"very well then, let me show you something" the old man stated, before slowly walking away. Link followed behind the old man over the nearby hill, and they stopped at the crest. The old man pointed to a strange object not too far away, and spoke "do you see that structure there? The one shining with a strange light?" at link's nod, the old man continued. "it began glowing at the exact moment those towers rose up from the ground. I would think that such a place might house some sort of treasure, wouldn't you?" link frowned and stared at the orange structure, as the old man spoke again. "treasure for the paraglider. A fair exchange I believe" the old man walked over to a boulder and sat down, watching link. "I will wait for you here. Please do return when you have the treasure."

Link ran along the ground, keeping to the edge of the pond that was sat in front of the structure. When he got there, he noticed a pedestal for his shekah slate. As he held up he slate to the glowing orange spot, the slate bleeped, and a blue light seeped up from the floor, making a circle next to the pedestal. "travel gate registered. Access granted" the slate read, as the structure rumbled. The wall of rock moved out of the way, to reveal a small circle of blue with a crying eye, similar to the one on the slate, lying in the back of the structure. A mystical voice in link's mind stated that this was the Oman Au shrine. So that's what it was called.

As link walked onto the circle of blue light, looking about, the circle suddenly juddered and slowly came down, down, down into the interior of the shrine. Link looked about in awe at the amazing blue hued room, before hearing the same voice as before.

"To you who sets foot in this shrine… I am oman au. In the name of the goddess hylia, I offer this trial."

A large stone overhanging a pedestal that looked like the one on the top of the tower glowed gently. Link approached it carefully, and set the shekah slate on it. The slate spun about and laid flat, as once again the same eye dropping action from the tower happened once more, only this time it installed a rune on the slate. The slate spun and flicked back up again, and link carefully took it in his hands. A red horseshoe like rune appeared on the slate and link tapped it carefully. Suddenly, everything seemed to be tinted with pink, s link waved the slate about, trying to see what was going on.

As he waved the slate about, a metal panel on the floor lit up yellow. Link tapped the door on the slate, and as if by magic, the door started to levitate. Link experimented with moving it this way and that, before he moved the panel to one side, noticing a hole underneath.

Link made his way slowly through the shrine, moving metal objects when he needed to, and even fighting a small strange robot by dropping a metal box on it. He gathered the screw and shaft he found in the remains, and proceeded.

Eventually, link came to the end of the shrine itself. There, seated on a seat of stone, sat an old skeletal monk. Link pressed his hand to the eye symbol on the wall in front of him, and the wall exploded into lots of shards of light that shattered and disappeared. Then, the voice he heard from before spoke once more, seemingly coming from the skeletal monk itself.

"you have proven to possess the resolve of a true hero. I am oman au, the creator of this trial. I am a humble monk, blessed with the sight of the goddess hylia and dedicated to helping those who seek to defeat ganon. With your arrival, my duty is now fulfilled. In the name of the goddess hylia, allow me to bestow this gift upon you…" a small ball of light appeared from the monk and flew gently into link's chest, filling him with warmth. link placed a hand to his chest, and frowned a little, wondering what had happened. The monk spoke out one last time

"may the goddess smile upon you"

Suddenly, the monk disappeared, becoming small particles that floated away. Link tunred, and made his way out of the shrine slowly.

The hour was getting late as link wearily made his way out of the shrine, the orange glow having faded to a quiet blue. The sun had very nearly set, when a strange grunt and smething whistled through the air. Link turned to see several bokoblins advancing on him. He was just about to run over and attack them with his ax, when suddenly he fell to the floor, clutching at his head.

The suns last rays hit the earth as link doubled over with a headache, and a firey pain that shot through his body. The young man gasped out as he tried to stand but found he couldn't. he half expected the bokoblins to rush over and kill him whilst he was down, but they didn't come.

As link shuddered, he felt something pulling out of his skin like little blades. His head pounded, and his hands and feet ached. He collapsed in on himself, trying to get rid of the pain, as his teeth felt like they were trying to get out of his mouth, which broke and elongated. Something pulled out of his lower back, just below hi spine, as he screamed out in pain.

Suddenly, it was over. Link shuddered for a few koments, with his eyes shut tight, before trying to stand. He shakily got up onto his hands and knees, and tried to push up, but found he couldn't without wobbling like crazy. So, he opened his eyes.

Standing in front of him was a large brown furry creature, with huge brown ears and a long bushy tail. Four paws were standing firmly on the ground, as two big-ish blue eyes stared at him, over a small black nose and a mouth that was partially open, revealing blood stained teeth. The same substance was on her mouth and fur as well.

"are you alright there?" the creatur asked, extending a paw. Link shrank back, and stumbled, falling onto something soft. He frowned at the feeling of fur under him, since he had no furry clothes on, and he got up onto his hands and knees again, before crawling over to the edge of the pond that sat around and behind the pond. The brown creature raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

With a sigh, link looked into the water. A blond cat stared back at him. Link blinked. And so did the cat. Link raised his hand, and the reflection raised a paw to his face.

The young man suddenly screeched as he realised, he was now a cat! A cat of all things! What had happened to him? As he worked himself up, terrified by the fact that he was now a cat, the brown creature once again spoke up.

"uhh, you're weird. What's you're name?" link turned to the brown creature and flicked his tail in annoyance at being called weird.

"my name I link. and I don't actually look like this normally. What's yours?" link replied. The creature smiled and puffed out her chest, before nodding proudly.

"nice to meet ya link. my name is faria. Faria the wolfos"