A/N: As part of one of my presents to my fans for Christmas, this story will be added along with Link Between Worlds Retold and a few other stories. Think of it as my way to wish you all a Merry Christmas.
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This is but one of the legends of which the people speak...
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Long ago, there existed a kingdom where a golden power lay hidden.
It was a prosperous land blessed with green forests, tall mountains and peace.
But one day... a man of great evil found the golden power and took it for himself...
With it's strength at his command, he spread darkness across the kingdom.
But then... when all hope and died and the hour of doom seemed to be at hand...
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...a young boy clothed in green appeared, as if from nowhere.
Wielding the blade of evil's bane, he sealed the dark one away and gave the land light.
This boy, who traveled through time to save the land, was known as the Hero of Time.
The boy's tale was passed down for generations until it became legend...
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But then... a day came when a fell wind began to blow across the kingdom.
The great evil that all thought had been forever sealed away by the hero...
...once again crept forth from the depths of the earth, eager to resume it's dark designs.
The people believe that the Hero of Time would again come to save them.
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...But the hero did not appear.
Faced by an onslaught of evil, the people could do nothing but appeal to the gods.
In their last hour, as doom drew nigh, they left their future in the hands of fate.
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What became of that kingdom...?
None remain who know.
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The memory of the kingdom vanished, but it's legend survived on the wind's breath.
On a certain island, it became customary to garb boys in green when they came of age.
Clothed in the green of fields, they aspired to find heroic blades and cast down evil.
The elders wished only for the youths to know courage like the hero of legend...
The waves rolled onto the shore of the peaceful little island known as Outset Island. The sun peaked over the horizon and gave the water a crystal clear look. The inhabitants slowly shuffled out of their beds as the morning light peeked through their windows. The sound of a cucco crowing from somewhere had woken them up. Each of the denizens of Outset Island shuffled out of their beds and made their coffee to get them up and going for the day.
...save for one lone boy.
...which is exactly who one specific little girl was looking for.
A young girl stepped outside of the house with her telescope in her hand. She had blonde hair that was tied in pig tails and wore a blue dress with orange flowers. She cupped one of her hands and shouted as loud as she could.
"BIG BROTHER!"
No response from anyone. The young girl walked forward a bit and shouted again, this time even louder. "BIG BROTHEEEEEEEEEEER!" Still no response.
She lifted the telescope to her eye and looked through it. She couldn't see any sign of her brother at all. Giving a slight frown, she lowered the telescope and sighed.
That's when she saw the flock of seagulls surrounding the look out on the far edge of the island. Her frown disappeared quickly as she sprinted towards the tower in a hurry. She almost ran into a younger boy. "Sorry, Joel!" she called out. Joel waved her off. "No prob, Aryll."
Aryll climbed up to the top of the ladder and found exactly who she was looking for, fast asleep on the wooden floor. He wore orange pants and a blue sweater with a lobster on the back. He had short, blonde, messy hair and, for some reason, looked so peaceful when he was asleep. "There you are," Aryll whispered. "I found you... Link..."
Link slowly opened his eyes after hearing a voice coming from over by the ladder. Still half asleep, he pushed himself up a bit and looked over towards the ladder to see that no one was there. He sighed, kinda upset for getting the early wake-up call, and stood all the way up. He closed his eyes and stretched his arms over his head. He let out a grunt and then released his breath when he lowered his arms. "Alright, let's get another day started."
"BOO!"
"AH!"
Link jumped up out of surprise and fell onto his butt. He looked over to see his sister giggling like crazy. "Scaredy-cat! I knew you'd be up here." Link let out a grunt. "I swear to Din, you're gonna give me a heart attack one of these days, Aryll..." Aryll gave him a slight frown. "But scaring you is so fun!" Link took a step back. "Evil little child," he thought to himself. "She's innocently evil! So, did you come up here to tell me something, Aryll?"
Aryll put her hands on her hips. "You don't remember what day it is today, do you?" Link shook his head. "Nnnnnnope."
"You're still half asleep aren't you?"
"Well, you did wake me up at... what time is it?"
"Six AM."
"SIX AM?!"
Aryll nodded happily. "Mhmm! It's really important!" Link pinched his nose. "Alright, Aryll, I give up. What day is it?" Aryll shook her head and sighed. "I can't believe you forgot your own birthday."
Link's eyes widened. "...beg pardon?"
"Today's your birthday. Remember?"
Link facepalmed himself so hard that he left a little red mark on his forehead. "Of course! How can I forget my own birthday?!" Aryll pointed over to the house in the distance. "That's why Grandma's been waiting for you to come back home. She's been waiting for a while, y'know. It's a good thing I came to find you."
Link shrunk back a little bit. "She's not... mad at me... is she?" Aryll shook her head. "Of course not. Grandma is never mad with us. Though, she might be a bit upset. You should probably see what she wants." Link nodded. "You're right. I should get going." He turned around and headed towards the ladder. Then he turned around. "You coming, too?" Aryll shook her head. "Nah, I think I'll stay here with the gulls."
Link gave her a blank stare. "Ooooooookay... well, bye." He started making his way down the ladder as he waved goodbye. Unfortunately, he missed one of the ladder rungs and slipped. He let out a scream as he crashed onto the wooden bridge below him. Aryll rushed to the edge to check on him. Link slowly stood back up and lifted his thumb up. "I'm okay!" he assured. Shortly after he started walking, his side started hurting. "More or less..." he mumbled.
Link knocked on the door in front of the house. "Come in," came an elderly voice from inside. He opened the door and stepped inside. "Grandma?" he called out. "I'm up here," his grandma called from the upstairs. Link climbed up the ladder, meeting his grandmother who was giving him a loving smile.
"I've been waiting for you, Link."
Link scratched the back of his head. "I know. I'm sorry, Grandm- hey, what's that you're holding there?"
Grandma smiled and handed the clothes to him. "This is your birthday present, Link. Please, try these on."
Link scratched his head. "Eh... I dunno... green's not exactly my color... I'm more of a blue and orange kind of guy."
"Oh, don't look so disappointed, Link. Just try them on."
"But I-"
"Please, Link. Just put them on... for dear old grandma," she asked sweetly, making Link get a pit in his stomach for trying to weasel out of the present. "Okay, I'll put it on. Please turn around." Grandma nodded. "Of course," she said as she turned around. Link slowly got changed into the clothes that his grandma gave him.
"I cannot believe you're finally old enough to wear these clothes... time flies so fast... today is a day to celebrate, dear one. It is the day that you become the same age as the young hero spoken in all the legends... You only have to wear them for one day, you know... so you should be proud. Why, back in the olden days, this was the day boys were finally considered men. They were taught the ways of the sword to prepare them for battle with their enemies. But we don't live in such days any longer. Our ways are the ways of peace. I mean, nowadays, I suppose Orca is the only one on the island who still knows anything about swordpla- Link?"
Link darted back up after falling asleep during his grandmother's long-winded speech. He wiped the drool off that was coming from his mouth. "Yeah, yeah, age of peace, boys become men, I was listening." Grandma turned back around. "Oh, look at that. They fit you perfectly. Well then, I'll invite the whole town for your birthday party, so I'd better start getting ready, shouldn't I?"
"You really work too hard, Grandma," Link told his grandmother. "Here, I'll go get Aryll." Link hopped off of the ladder and ran out of the house. Running all the way towards Aryll's Lookout, he got multiple comments from tons of people on the island about his new look. Link sighed, thinking that he must have looked like a complete fool. He shook off the thought and kept going.
"Boo!" Link shouted as he poked his head out from the ladder. Sadly, no one was there. Link sighed, kind of disappointed for not being able to surprise his own sister. He pulled himself up onto the lookout and peeked over the edge, seeing if he could spot any sign of he-
"BOO!"
"AH!"
Link nearly fell off the edge after being surprised by his sister again. "Heheh. You look funny, Link." Link rolled his eyes. "Um... isn't it a little too hot out to wear something like that?" Link shrugged. "Well, Grandma really wanted me to wear it, so..." His sister nodded. "I guess I can't argue with that. So, uh... Link? Can you... close your eyes for just a minute?" Link gave his sister a weird look. "Uh... okay?" He closed his eyes and held out his arms. Ayrll fished something out of her pouch and put it in Link's hand. It felt a bit weird though.
"Aryll, I swear to Din, if this is another dead sea gull, I'm gonna- woah," he said as he opened his eyes. "Definitely not a dead sea gull..."
"Happy Birthday!" she shouted. "I'm giving you my telescope. Just for the day, though." Link gave his sister a warm smile. "Well, thank you, Aryll. That's... really thoughtful of you."
"Hey, why don't you try it out? I see something over by that postbox over there."
Link shrugged. "Why not?" He put the telescope to his eye then looked over towards the postbox next to Grandma's house. He zoomed in to find... some kind of... bird man? He guessed that it was the postman. The postman looked up and started to freak out and flap his wings all sorts of ways around. "Huh. Wonder what's got him so excited?" Link wondered out loud.
Aryll let out a scream. "Link! Up there!"