Blood and Water
Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've posted anything on here, so go easy on me. Part of the inspiration for this story came from zestycrouton's story "I'll Walk With You", which I recommend you check out. Plus, the Breath of the Wild has such potential for story ideas I was finally motivated to actually write something. Anyways, on with the show.
Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda.
It was truly a beautiful morning.
The sun had just begun to rise over the kingdom of Hyrule, casting a warm glow over the countryside and draping it in a gentle orange hue. This was most peaceful, tranquil time of the day, and to a young kid like Link, watching the sunrise was his favorite part of the morning.
"Hey, wait up Link!" came a high pitched wail from behind him, causing Link to softly groan in annoyance.
Unfortunately, it always felt far too brief, thanks to the constant interruptions by a certain someone.
Link turned his head to see a young girl scrambling behind him, attempting to climb the small cliff that he was currently perched on.
Link turned back to watch the sunrise, ignoring the little girl as she struggled to scale the rocks to reach him. From behind him, he could hear soft grunts as she seemed to being having trouble with the climb.
After a few moments of trying to simply ignore her, Link stifled a groan and rose from where he was sitting. He walked over to the edge of the cliff and stared down blankly at the girl as she helplessly clung to the wall, seemingly unable to ascend any further.
"Need any help?" Link asked in a deadpan voice.
The girl merely grunted in defiance as she slowly pulled herself just a bit higher. "Please," she said with a clearly forced grin, "I could do this in my sleep!"
Link continued to stare down at her flatly. "Well, if it's so easy, then I guess I'll leave you to it then," Link retorted, turning to head back to his spot, but before he could even take a step, the little girl sputtered out in protest.
"No wait!" she called out a little too quickly. Link once again turned to face her. "Can you help me up?" She refused to make eye contact with him as she begrudgingly mumbled the plea.
Link smirked a little before kneeling down and extending his hand to her. She took his hand, and with a bit of effort he pulled her up onto the clifftop.
The little girl mumbled a quiet thanks, still looking a little upset in herself.
Link continued to smirk at her. "What happened to 'I could do this in my sleep'?" he teased, earning him a glare from the girl.
"Hey, I almost had it!" she protested, her face turning a bit red. "I was just a little tired, that's all!"
Link continued to give her a teasing smile as he returned to his previous spot and sat down. "Is that so?"
The girl nodded fiercely, obviously not willing to admit she couldn't handle it. "You bet! In fact, I bet the next time we come up here, I'll make it to the top even faster than you!"
Link chuckled a little in spite of himself, causing the girl to pout and huff childishly. "You can't even make it to the top by yourself yet, Karyl." Link pointed out, still holding a small smile at his companion's pouting face. "So even if you could make it to the top before me, you'd still need my help to actually get up here."
Karyl, still pouting, merely huffed once again and turned her back to him.
Link chuckled at her childishness. She could be so much fun to tease. "What, you're ignoring me now since you know I'm right?"
She continued to look away from him, keeping her pout as she glared at the rising sun, as if it were its fault that Link was teasing her.
"Come on, I'm just playing with you, Karyl," Link said, leaning into her vision, only for her to quickly turn her head away from him.
"I'm not talking to you anymore, Link," Karyl stated firmly, causing Link to playfully roll his eyes in response.
"You said that yesterday," he recalled, "and if I remember correctly, only an hour later you were banging on my door asking me to play with you."
"Well I mean it this time." Link chuckled a little, knowing she didn't really. No matter how much he messed with her sometimes, she couldn't stay mad at him.
"Tell you what," Link offered, deciding to finally stop playing with her, "Next time we come here, we'll race – I'll even go easy on you."
Karyl continued to scowl at him, this time in suspicion. "What's the catch?" Whenever they competed in anything, Link always liked to raise the stakes to 'make it more fun'. Unfortunately, since he was older, faster, and stronger than she was, it usually meant she ended up with the short end of the stick.
Link grinned impishly. "Loser has to do all the chores that day."
Karyl gaped at him. "All of them?"
"All of them."
"Even cleaning the stables?" Karyl asked hesitantly. She absolutely hated cleaning the stables.
"Especially cleaning the stables."
Karyl immediately protested. "But that's not fair! You'd obviously win! And I hate cleaning the stables!"
"But I thought you were just tired?" Link joked, earning an exasperate huff from Karyl.
"You know what?" Karyl stood up with a fierce look in her eye. "It's a deal! I'll beat you so badly you'll never be able to live it down!"
Link immediately laughed good-naturedly in response. "We'll see. But if you want some pointers on climbing, I can help you out."
Karyl blinked in confusion. "But wouldn't helping me just make it harder to win?"
Link nodded. "But that makes it more fun. Besides," Link added, "You kind of need all the help you can get."
"Hey, that's mean!" Karyl lightly kicked the still sitting Link in the back in response. Still, she had a light smile on her face.
"Ow!" Link winced, rubbing his now sore back. "Hey, that hurt!"
This time it was Karyl's turn to giggle. Though Link tried to look upset with her, he couldn't pull it off, and in the end, he ended up laughing along with her.
After a few moments, the two stopped laughing and turned to stare at the sunrise, which had progressed even further, now illuminating the countryside whilst the shadows of the mountains in the distance crept over the landscape. From their perch, they could see just about everything on the plains of Hyrule; from the little towns dotting the central plains, to the towering ascent of Death Mountain, to the majestic Hyrule Castle looming in the center of the field like a great jewel on the crown of Hyrule.
As Link turned to face Karyl, who was smiling brightly as she stared out at the beautiful sight before her, Link smiled softly in contentment.
Today truly was a beautiful morning, and he was glad he got to enjoy it with Karyl.
The sound of a crowing cuckoo quickly jolted Link awake. He shook his head groggily, trying to wrap his head around the dream he just had as he readjusted himself to the present. He turned to view his surroundings: he was no longer sitting on the cliffside – he was laying in his bed in Hateno Village.
Such a strange dream, he thought as he slowly rose out of bed. It felt so real, so vivid.
As he got up and began getting dressed, he couldn't help but continue to wonder about the dream.
I wonder if it was more than just a dream.
It wouldn't be that surprising, to be honest. It had been about nine months since Calamity Ganon had been defeated, and in that time, Link had gradually begun regaining some of his memories from before the Great Calamity. There were rather fractured, and many of them were little more than random events, moments, or feelings from a time long past, but it was still comforting to know that, at the very least, he was slowly beginning to remember his life from before.
Even so, it was rare for him to remember moments from his youth. In his dream, he seemed to be about 12 or 13; most of his memories were of after he began serving Zelda. The few memories he did have of his childhood were of his time with Mipha in Zora's Domain, and those were usually from when he was very young.
Even as he made himself breakfast and began to eat, the dream wouldn't leave his mind. Of particular curiosity was the girl from his dream: Karyl.
She seems so familiar, he thought as he bit into his breakfast. I have no idea who she was, though…
Whoever she was, she seemed to be quite close to him; from the sounds of it, they spent a lot of time together. Plus, the feeling of nostalgia that he felt throughout the dream told him that she was a very important person to him.
Before he could ponder anything further, he heard a sharp knock on his door. Getting up from the table, he set his empty plate on the counter before reaching the door. He opened it to reveal Zelda standing just outside his home, with Bolson and Karson lingering behind her.
In the weeks since Calamity Ganon's defeat, Zelda had slowly begun readapting to life outside of the perpetual darkness she suffered from when holding Ganon. After the fight, they returned to Kakariko Village, where Zelda and Impa had had a heartfelt reunion, and she managed to almost instantly befriend Paya. From there, Link and Zelda had spent the past nine months venturing throughout Hyrule, declaring the end of the Calamity and trying to lay the groundwork for rebuilding the kingdom. It was busy, difficult work – trying to rebuild an entire nation after a century of ruin was no easy task – but thanks to the combined efforts of all the tribes and clans in Hyrule, they were making surprising strides.
Bolson and Karson had been thrilled when Zelda asked them to help her in the rebuilding, with Bolson practically over the moon at the possibility. Since then, they had begun making serious headway in turning many of the camps and stables into larger settlements. Zelda had even launched a small expedition into the ruins of Hyrule Castle Town to see if anything could be salvaged from the wreckage.
Even though they still had a long way to go, it was starting to feel like Hyrule was finally recovering from the Calamity.
"Good Morning Princess," Link greeted politely, bowing respectfully towards her. He then raised a hand toward Bolson and Karson, which they responded with a wave of their own.
Zelda smiled brightly. "How many times do I have to tell you, Link," she chided, though her smile never left her face, "you can just call me Zelda."
Link returned her smile with one of his own. "You know I can't do that, Princess. It just wouldn't be proper."
Zelda playfully rolled her eyes. "It's no use arguing this with you, I suppose," she conceded. She then gestured towards the inside of his house. "Anyways, may I come in?"
Link nodded, stepping out of the doorway to let her in. Bolson and Karson gave one last wave to Link before returning to their usual spot right outside his house; for some reason that continued to be their favorite spot in the entire village to hang out.
As Link followed Zelda inside and took a seat, she instantly began to report to Link about the current state of affairs and the plans for reconstruction. She would rattle things off so fast Link could barely comprehend what she was saying half the time, not that it mattered; he half-suspected she just liked having someone to talk to. Most of the time she just rambled on for a time until Link finally stopped her or changed the subject.
"…And apparently the Gerudo in particular are looking forward to these trade agreements – building a strong trade network would certainly help to bring our economy back to a healthy level, and doing that will almost certainly facilitate progress in reconstruction…"
While Link would normally at least try to pay attention to Zelda's political talk, he was still distracted by his dream, and most of her words went completely ignored.
No matter how much he tried to push it away, he couldn't – the dream was something important. The girl, Karyl, was someone important. He had no idea who she was – all he knew was that she was special to him.
"Link?" Zelda's voice finally brought him back to reality. He started slightly, realizing she had caught him not paying attention.
She raised an eyebrow, a look of concern and slight confusion on her face. "What's wrong, Link? It's not like you to ignore me like this."
Link shook his head quickly. "It's nothing Princess," he tried to assure her, though she didn't look like she believed him.
She sat down next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Her eyes softened. "Link, you know you can talk to me about anything, right? It's obvious something's distracting you – if it's something troubling, I'm here to help."
Link stayed silent for a moment. Now that he thought of it, Zelda probably knew more about his past than anyone – he wasn't sure how much he shared with her about his past, but it wouldn't hurt to see if she somehow knew anything about this strange memory. Besides, talking to her and getting it off his chest would help.
Finally, Link opened his mouth. "Princess," he began, unsure of how to start. "Did… did I ever mention anything of my past to you?"
Zelda blinked a bit in surprise. "U-um… well, a little bit, I guess." She then looked away, seeming rather sheepish. "To be honest, I always wanted to know about your past back then, but you were so reserved and quiet about it, I didn't ever learn much."
"I see," Link said, trying to mask his disappointment.
"Any reason you ask?" Zelda asked, both curious and concerned.
Link hesitated to say more, before deciding he could trust her. "I… had a strange dream last night."
Zelda raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. "A dream?"
Link nodded. "More like… a memory."
Instantly Zelda's eyes brightened, and she grew excited. "A MEMORY!" she exclaimed, slamming her hands onto the table, causing Link to jump slightly. "Sorry," she quickly apologized, slightly embarrassed at her outburst. "It's just that this could be another breakthrough! We could be one step closer fully restoring your memories!"
Zelda was always like this when it came to Link's memories – she would get extremely excited whenever he'd tell her he regained another memory, and would always be looking for more ways to help him fully recover. Honestly, half the time it felt like she was more devoted to restoring his memory than he himself was. He was lucky to have someone so invested in helping him.
He then continued to explain his dream in detail: the girl, their playful and teasing interaction, even the scenery – maybe if he found the spot where this happened, he could remember more.
Finally, once Link finished recounting his dream, Zelda sat there silent for a moment, staring intensely at the table as if it held all the secrets to their predicament.
After a few moments, she looked up at Link, sighing in defeat. "I'm sorry Link, I just can't think of who this girl might be," she admitted, looking disappointed in herself. "Do you know what her name was, by chance?"
Link almost felt like smacking himself – of all the things, in his recounting of the memory, he had forgotten to tell her the girl's name!
"Karyl," he stated quickly, "Her name was Karyl."
Zelda eyes widened slightly in surprise, and she had a shocked look on her face. "Karyl?" she repeated, as if she was in disbelief.
Link nodded, suddenly anxious – it was obvious Zelda knew who this Karyl was. "Yes, Karyl," he repeated, "Princess, do you know who she was?"
Zelda stared at him for a moment in disbelief. "Link… do – do you really not remember her? At all?"
Link shook his head slowly, confused by what Zelda was insinuating. "No, Princess. Why? Who is she?"
Zelda was slow to answer, as if the answer was one she was afraid to give.
"Link… Karyl is…. Karyl was your sister."
"Argh!" Karyl snarled in frustration, kicking at a small tuft of grass. "How come I can't beat you!"
Link laughed lightly as he plopped down on the grass, slightly out of breath. They had just finished one their many races up the cliff, and though Karyl had finally gotten to the point where she could scale the cliff by the herself, she still wasn't as fast as Link.
Link offered a small, sympathetic smile. "If it's any consolation, you're actually getting really good at climbing; I doubt I'll be able to keep beating you at this rate."
Karyl's frustrated expression cracked a little, and she looked at her brother a little caught off guard. "Really? I'm getting better?"
Link nodded. "Of course you are: we race practically every day! It'd be a bit embarrassing if you didn't get at least a little better."
Karyl had a small look of pride on her face; while she often competed with Link – and usually lost, since he was a child prodigy in practically everything – she appreciated how Link never seemed to mock her for it, and in fact even praised and encouraged her whenever she got better. She'd never admit it, but she looked up to Link, and more than anything wanted to make him proud or earn his approval.
Still, Karyl couldn't help but playfully poke at her brother. "It'll probably be even more embarrassing when your little sister starts beating you!"
Link smirked. "You still have a ways to go," he retorted. "Just because you're getting better doesn't mean I'm going to let my baby sister start beating me in everything."
Karyl huffed in annoyance. "Hey! I'm not a baby!" she snapped, lightly punching Link in the arm. "I'm 11 years old! Besides, you're only a year older than me, so if I'm a baby so are you!"
"Hey, that hurt!" Link grumbled, rubbing his arm. Despite this, he still had a playful smile on his face. "Little girls shouldn't be hitting their big brothers, Karyl. Especially when they were going to be nice and help with the stables anyway."
Karyl immediately began apologizing profusely, begging Link to help her clean the stables. "I'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorryI'msorry!" she chattered at lightning speed, causing Link to bust into laughter.
"It's fine, Karyl!" Link insisted, putting up his hands to motion her to stop, as she was currently bowing on the ground as if her life depended on it. "I was going to help you no matter what; that's what big brothers do."
Karyl looked up at him, a thankful look in her eyes; it was as though he told her he was saving her from eternal damnation.
Given the usual state of the stables, that probably wasn't too far off. "Thanks, Link!" she cried, tackling him a hug. "You're the best sometimes, you know that?"
Link smiled and hugged her back. "Thanks, Karyl." He then let go of her, before brushing himself off and returning to his feet.
He turned to Karyl with a grin. "Hey, let's get back to the stables and finish them up quick – I hear Mother's making her fish and mushroom stew tonight!"
Karyl's mouth began watering as she scrambled to get up. "Then what are we waiting for Link? Let's get moving!"
Link laughed as his sister practically dove off the cliff towards the path leading back to their cottage before chasing after her.
And as the two siblings got to work on the stables, Karyl smiled to herself – even cleaning the filthiest stables known to man wasn't so bad as long as Link was by her side.
She knew that no matter what, Link would always be there for her.
Wouldn't he?
So there you have it! I'll be honest, I have no idea when I'm gonna update this next, but I will be updating it - I have no intention of leaving it a one-shot. I have a fully developed story for Karyl and Link, and most of the chapters will contain both flashbacks and time in the present. So, if you have any comments, criticisms, ideas, or anything else, leave me a review!
Anyways, that's all for now - I'll see you in the next chapter!