(The Legend of Zelda)
Legends Of the Waker: Remnants Of Old
Chapter I: Link's Awakening
-12 years before The Wind Waker
The full moon shone in the dark, starry sky as I ran for the cliff before me. The shadow-cloaked figure of my father watched behind me. I leapt into the air, wind nearly pulling my green stocking cap from my blond hair. On Roc's Island, boys were given a green hat, and a magic cape on their coming-of-age birthdays. The cap symbolized some ancient hero I didn't know much about. The cape gave the ability to fly, and was made by Roc, a strange weaver. He was said to be from a long line of weavers, making magic items that gave lightness. I spread the brand new blue cloak wide and flew over the fresh, saltless ocean. I had just received mine and was trying it out. Everyone over thirteen had one, but there were only a few dozen living here.
I soared in all directions, laughing aloud at the sheer pleasure at being able to zoom about. The wind pushed by me as I flew, up and down, in twisting circles, but suddenly, I felt it, a slight pain like being winded. The cape needed a chance to rest. I was about to turn and head back for the cliff-top where our house rested, when I saw a shadow against the ever-moving waves. I gasped when I made it out.
A pirate ship, here! Few but pirates ever sailed, fearing what would happen when the comfort of the tiny islands was left behind. My curiosity won out over my fear of punishment from my father, and I soared downwards towards it, as my cape drew nearer to giving out. I landed on the crow's nest quietly. The lookout saw me so quickly that he started and collapsed to the deck. I could feel my cloak recharging as I climbed down the mast. Suddenly I heard a strange swoosh and something grabbed me from behind and pulled me into the air.
I soon realized it was my father and that he had come to pull me back towards the island. I did not struggle, knowing it would only make the anger that was coming even worse. When we returned home, he flung me to the grass near our house and descended, pulling out a small staff and raising it to the moon. He brought it down with a swift crack on my leg, and I could already feel it bruising.
"You could get us all killed, you fool! We have survived on this island by keeping to ourselves and you nearly ruined everything!" I said nothing in response, taking the beating that came without words. When he was finished, he turned without speaking and stormed back towards the house. We lived alone, my mom and two sisters having died to a plague years ago. I wanted to fly, but was in to much pain, and laid back to watch the clouds dance by the moon, and with the peaceful wind blowing my hat and hair I soon fell asleep.
I awoke to see my best friend, Meena, a member of a family of Zora that lived on the island, mid-morning sky framing her face. "Wake up, Link! Your father wants you back home right away! You know what he's like angry!"
"Yeah. I learned all over again last night," I muttered, standing up.
"Wow! Is that your cape? I wish I had one!" I suddenly remembered the strange cape on my back.
"Yes, it's great. Father's at home, right?"
"What? Oh, yeah! You'd better get going!" She gave me a shove and I took off for home, using my cape to 'pick up speed'.
I ran in the door and received the greatest shock of my life. There, sitting with my father at the table was a man that could only be the legendary Ganondorf.
"Is this young Link? Looks a strong lad. He'll do nicely," Ganondorf said in a deep, yet oily voice.
"…what?"
"Yes. A bit brash, foolish, but I'm sure you'll work that out of him," My father said.
"What's going on here?"
"Of course. Of course. He'll receive a great deal of work, very character building."
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" I yelled, chest heaving.
"See what I mean?" Father said, "Brash. Foolish. Watch your mouth, boy. You're to be Mr. Boroki's apprentice.
"No! That's Ganondorf! I won't go with him! I-I won't!"
"Ganondorf? Don't be silly. He was destroyed centuries ago by the Hero."
"Keese! Then what's he doing in our living room?!"
"You'd better watch that language. Mr. Boroki is a respectable merchant and you will work for him. No more argument."
It was obvious I was getting nowhere. I bolted for the door as fast as my legs could carry me. As I ran, I risked a look back and saw that the two had taken to the air and were flying after me. In the excitement, I'd forgotten my cape! I leapt into the air as well and soared over the very same cliff I had the night before, my father and that hateful man now very close behind. This whole thing wouldn't have happened if I were really thirteen. The disease had delayed me in getting my cape, and I'd had to wait a few years. At sixteen, I was eligible for apprenticeship
My father's voice called out, "Running won't help, Link! Come back now and we won't punish you."
I ignored them and kept going. There was no going back ever again. Far off in the distance I could see the pirate ship had dropped anchor. Somehow, I knew safety lay there and began to soar for it, hoping dearly I could make it.
Suddenly I heard a thwok thwok behind me and knew my father had launched his boomerang. He had a magic boomerang that could be made to go any direction he desired. I turned and nearly lost an eye as it flew for my face. My hand swept up and I just barely managed to catch it. I held on tight as it spun in circles and loops.
"Come on…just a little longer…" I whispered, waiting. Then…
"Yes!" I had only to hold onto it for long enough and it would obey me. Ganondorf was not far behind me now. He had outdistanced my father and drawn twin swords from behind his cloak.
"Heh. You've got courage, kid. No mistake there, but you're coming with me now." My hand, my right hand, began to throb. On the back of it I had an odd yellow birthmark of three triangles close together, they formed a triangle of sorts themselves, with two on the bottom and one on top. The lower right one was filled in, the other two hollow. It was then that I noticed he had one as well, but the upper was filled instead. A change came over me then, though I hardly realized it at the time. It had been as if something inside me had stirred.
I had no time to ponder this. I threw the boomerang and guided it into his left sword hand, causing him to drop it. I soared underneath and caught it, blocking the blade he still had and swinging up, catching the boomerang as it returned to me and letting it fly into his head, after stunning him, I caught the boomerang once more and fled, I tucked my limbs close and the pirate ship began to loom closer and closer, and the pain of keeping aloft grew stronger and stronger.
Finally, when I could take no more, I landed on the deck and the last thing I saw before collapsing into darkness was a brown-haired female pirate.
Chapter II: The Last Kokiri
-Narrated by Fado (300 years earlier)
I could feel the fear all around me. I knew something wasn't right. An evil wind was blowing. The other Kokiri seemed to be almost paralyzed by it. We'd only recently secured our home here, around a coven surrounding the Great Deku Tree. I stood on a high cliff outside, staring at the island that had once been our home. It had become overgrown with monsters, however, and we'd moved to this island with the Great Deku Tree. Mido, boss of the Kokiri, had been slain covering our retreat. On our leave, he'd named me boss. I didn't feel the boss of anyone, including myself. But I'd always been optimistic to the extreme. What would happen would happen.
The bellowing of the Great Deku Tree reached my ears suddenly from below.
"FADO!"
I ran for the inside and leapt clear into the massive opening. Grinning broadly, I soared for the ground at an insane speed, without fear as usual. At the last moment I stretched my Deku Leaf wide and stopped short of the ground. Right before me was the Deku Tree, about ten feet tall, far from as 'great' as the last, I'd been told, but growing. The other Kokiri were there too. My sister, Foria was there, plus the few older remaining from the Kokiri Village, where the Hero of Time had spent his childhood. Then those born since the coming of the Great Sea. They'd clearly been waiting on me.
"Ah, Fado, making an entrance as always," The Deku Tree said. "I have a matter of some importance to discuss with you. I thought the other Kokiri should hear it as well."
"What is it, Great Deku Tree?"
"Something is not right. I know you feel it. You're sleep has been restless, has it not? And you, who Mido felt worthy of Boss, have always been perceptive."
"Yes. I do not know what to do."
"You must do something! You must save us!" One of the Kokiri called out. Then the others began to murmur fearfully. It grew worse and worse, till my yelling and even the shouting of the Great Deku Tree could not stop the fear they felt.
Then it happened.
One of the Kokiri, Dyluus, the one who'd called out, fell to his knees. And changed. One minute I looked at a lifelong friend, the next a strange creature of wood. His face was a leaf with features imposed. He was shorter now, with odd, stubby limbs.
One after another changed this way till I alone remained the same.
"What has happened to them?!"
"They have become Koroks. The way Kokiri were before The War. They took on Hylian form to avoid being mistaken for monsters and stayed as they were. The fear seems to have returned them to their former states. This is most peculiar, but does not change what I must say to you. I fear Ganon is returning once more. You are a sage. There is work for you to do in a temple to the North. But first you must go to the old village and reclaim the Kokiri Sword. You are the last Kokiri, and a sage. The only one
capable of doing what is needed. Do you accept the charges I lay before you?"
I could only nod, dumbfounded at all I'd learned. Me, a sage? All the sages had been wiped out fighting Ganon in the absence of the Hero. I wondered vaguely if he would kill me, too. It would be quite a challenge, all I'd need to do, but the adventure would be more than worth any hardship. I grinned.
"I'll be coming back armed."
"I'm glad to see you're still hopelessly arrogant. You'll need that. After you get the sword, come back to me. I've more to tell you."
Creeped out and feeling horribly distanced from my old family, I left for the upper reaches without another word.
Chapter III: "Is it over?"
-Narrated by Laruto (200 years later)
Horror was everywhere.
The Zora of Greatfish Isle had been hit and hit hard by a terrible plague that caused both physical and mental deteriorations. Odd, debilitating boils and hallucinations had taken nearly all the Zora which were followed promptly by death. Only a few remained unhurt by the terrible disease.
"I'm dying!" a young man named Fryt screamed at me, inches from my face. I was somehow immune to the disease, but with my people nearly gone, I saw little reason to be thankful for that.
I pushed away and ran to the docks seeking Jabun. I'd hoped he'd be able to help, but he'd been powerless. Our once great civilization, filling the honeycombed mountain beneath the waves with thousands, had been brought low to a few dozen.
I found Jabun there, as expected, but nothing could have prepared me for what else I saw.
About forty strange fish were surrounding him, blue scaled with faces like a Hylian's. I knew what it meant, who they were. The last surviving Zora.
"I had to, Laruto," Jabun said sadly in the voice that, for some reason, only I could understand. "They would have died like all the others. I transformed them with some of the magic I possess.
"Can you change them back?" I asked, edges of hysteria in my voice. His silence was answer enough.
"Is it over? Is it really over, Jabun? Our civilization really gone in a week? What…what caused it?"
"I think someone contaminated the food supply, poisoning it before it was eaten, somehow, as nothing else has been effected."
"Then why do I live?" I asked bitterly.
"Because you are something more than most. You are a sage. You must stop the one who brought all this hate. Destroy the cause of so much pain. Defeat Ganon."
"But why? He seems to have already won! What's the point?"
"Do you think he will stop at this? He could do this to others. He must not be allowed. We will kill him." He said with uncharacteristic malice.
"What can I do?"
"Go to your parent's storeroom and return with the harp. I will instruct you further on your return.
The storeroom. My parents, once King and Queen Zora, were now dead. I was only vaguely aware that that made me queen. I didn't feel like a queen. Queen of what? A few dying remnants? A bunch of fish? If I were Queen Zora, I was only queen of myself, and I didn't feel like bowing to the crown.
Pulling my mind back to the task at hand, I thought of the storeroom. It was all the way at the base of the mountain, only accessible from the outside.
Without a look at the few wrecked survivors and the disconcerting fish-men, I dove into the water.
Chapter IV: The Pirate Zelda
(Link)
A hazy room spun into focus as I awoke to a strange sensation in a strange bed. A ship rocking in ocean waters. I still had my fisherman's clothes on, and across the room I could see my cloak and hat, as well as the boomerang and sword, all scattered on a simply patterned chair. On the other side of the room was a crib. A blond haired baby stared at me, had been for some time, and as I watched, she winked hugely. Everything that had happened still fresh in my mind, I began to get up when a woman walked in bearing a tray of food.
"Oh, you're awake. I brought you some food. I'm Zelda, captain of this ship. That's Tetra, my daughter." She was a tall, striking woman with long, brown hair, clothed in rough pirate garb. "We know who you are, Link." She said suddenly.
"W-what?" I asked, wondering what she meant, how she knew my name.
"Do you not know yourself?" She sounded surprised. "You are the Hero of Time. You bear the Triforce of Courage."
"Is that what this is?" I said, staring at the three triangles on my hand.
"Yes. I trust you know the legends." Zelda waited and went on after I nodded. "The three Triforce pieces were left scattered. Your ancestor held one, as did mine, as did Ganon. Evil arose in Hyrule, and the Hero left into the Sacred Realm to claim Ganon's Triforce of Power, so that the Triforce could be whole and the evil abolished. He left his own Triforce behind, shattering it into eight and scattering the shards to the winds. He then amassed a small band and set out to the other realm. A thief restored most of the Triforce as the rains began to come, and it was reclaimed by the Hero of Time when he returned home. And what I was getting at by telling you all this is that-"
Before she could finish, the ship rocked violently, sending the tray of food across the room. I heard a yell from above: "We're being boarded Miss Zelda!"
"You stay here, Link. We'll take care of this." Intent on doing nothing of the kind, I gathered my now scattered belongs, put on the hat and cloak, jammed the boomerang into my belt and holding my sword tightly rushed out of the door.
I tumbled out the door to see a huge ship, bigger by twenty yards at least than the modest pirate ship I'd landed on. Pirates were rushing around the deck to confront strange monsters carrying weapons, some even wearing armor. "Moblin." I knew somehow that the brown creatures carrying spears were called that. "Iron Knuckle." "Bokoblin." Doglike armored beings carrying swords that curved in and out, and scrawny creatures carrying mix-matched staffs, swords and shields.
With no effort I leapt at them, swinging my sword in perfect motion so that even a crowd could barely touch me. The Triforce on my hand glowed golden as I swung into the air, flipping end over end and ripped though the binds on an Iron Knuckle's armor. I disarmed a Bokoblin and took his arc shaped sword and fought with both, forcing the warriors back onto their own boat. I noticed the pirates had all stopped fighting as I jumped ten feet and dealt two slicing swings to a Moblin. They were all watching, mouths agape.
Finally, the last warrior fell. The Moblin I'd just downed hurtled his spear at me and I swung my blades in a blur and several bits of evenly cut wood fell to the ground. I didn't even bother to kill him. I sheathed my sword without fear, confused about why a force like this would attack us. Surveying the wounded and dying troops all around me and the scattered weaponry, I looked over to the pirate ship, wondering what to do when they all came from their daze and began cheering.
The door to the cabin of the intruding ship burst open so hard it came off its hinges. The one called Mr. Boroki I knew to be Ganondorf burst out. He drew his single sword and lurched forward without any noise save a snarl. I cried out and drew my own sword.