Of Knights & Heroes
by Mase992 (-chan)
Chapter 1
"Butterflies"
"Where am I...? Am I dead?"
Blond locks covered sky-blue eyes searching their surroundings. Pointed ears listened intently to the fluttering wings of the birds flying above enchanted trees. The owner of said hair, eyes, and ears was a young Hylian boy. He wore a white silk, long sleeved shirt trimmed with golden stitchings. And loose, brown pants covered his middle-length legs. The exquisity of the masterfully sewn garbs and its ornamented design were proof of his nobility.
As he treaded through dew-covered grass, the male recognized the fact that he was lost, somehow, in the middle of an unknown forest. The profuse place was blanketed with an eerie fog as trees swayed back and forth with the cool wind endlessly. A few sleeping buds laid scattered all around the moist ground along with shades of the past twilight. The youngling was careful not to stand on those dormant flowers.
"This is naught but Heaven." Chanted a voice coming from the towering trees. At the sound of said vociferation, the flowers seemed to 'awaken' and its petals fluttered open revealing their identity as resting butterflies. The pale yet attractive insects soared around the gaping boy whose vision was blurred by the amazing quantity of tiny wings surrounding him.
"Get them off me!" he grunted flailing his arms before his face and removing the creatures from his vision.
"All right. It seems you don't like butterflies a lot, do you?" Chirped back the mysterious voice. Soon enough, the white pests scattered from the Hylian. When the boy opened his eyes again he saw how the glassy surface of a lake revealed itself before him.
Awed by the shine of the waters, the boy sighed relieved that such a pretty body actually existed and ran toward it. Just when he got to the glimmering liquid's edge, he stopped and looked down at his reflection. He really liked lakes like this one; it made things look pure...
"And... what is your name?"
A silhouette appeared next to his image on the liquid mirror. Jolting slightly, he turned to face the newcomer and before falling backwards and into the water he caught a glimpse of flowing ebony hair. Splash!
"Oww..." he moaned rubbing his back and growing a bit annoyed that his clothes had gotten all wet. He was about to turn sharply at the one who caused the accident but his insults (of course low-leveled) got stuck in his throat when he looked up. A young girl giggling softly was stretching her hand at him.
"Need a hand?" she grinned.
He blushed madly with embarrassment. Here he was lost, wet, and getting helped by an unknown (but cute nonetheless) girl. Trying to keep his cool, the boy just looked away and took her hand slightly. But she wasn't expecting his next move as he tugged her into the water with him.
The female shrieked slightly before she disappeared within the glass. He started laughing as little bubbles reached the spot where the girl had sunk. Quickly she reemerged from the depths with a pout on her pretty face.
"Hey that wasn't fair!"
"Well you made me fall in the first place!" he said. And remembering his clothes were totally soaked by now, the Hylian boy started toward the edge of the lake and quickly got out of the cool water.
The girl just looked back at him with the same brooding eyes.
He dried his golden hair the best he could and then, with locks and garbs dripping, he turned to his companion. She turned away quickly and avoided eye contact with him. Apparently he had made her pretty angry. Girls were strange sometimes.
Shrugging that thought away, the male stretched his hand at her one more time, "Sorry 'bout earlier..." (Gah! He was so bad in apologizing!)
The girl just ignored him as she swam toward the edge by her own. Trying to act strong huh? The kid frowned a bit at her attitude. Boy, she was hotheaded...
"Look, I'll help you out but don't be angry with me," he started.
"I don't need your help!" she snapped.
"Sure you do!" He replied smirking. Another mischievous thought flashed through his mind. "Don't tell me you know of the Octoroks in there?"
The girl stopped swimming and looked up at him with her vibrant blue orbs. Water dripped from her dark (looked almost blue) hair and her small frame was surrounded by ripples, "Octoroks...?" she asked hesitantly.
"Exactly! Father once told me of those creatures. They live in the sweet waters like that lake's and he also told me that they're gruesome monsters!"
The girl yelped and tried to contain her next doubt, "H-how come...?"
The male snickered, "They have long, sneaky tentacles that they use to capture people and drag them into the depths of the lake where they remove their victim's insides. They also spit hard stones at rescuers so they can't do anything. Then... they eat their pray!"
The girl looked around her frantically, splashing and creating new ripples. She believed that some Octorok that swam below her formed those little waves and so she quickly headed to where the boy was.
"There may be plenty of those belo—"his sentence was cut short when the female quickly jumped from the cold water and into his arms. Losing his balance, he fell on his back with a loud thump.
His eyes flashed open as he noticed the girl clinging onto him for dear life. He smiled in surprise and awe (upon noticing she was indeed pretty) and tried getting back up. Of course the weight of the other kid was not helping him at all.
"Hey... you okay...?" he asked blushing. At the young age of 14 he already knew that being so close to a stranger (specifically a girl) was not something usual. And it was kind of embarrassing...
The girl held onto him tighter, "Is the Octorok gone?"
He sighed feeling pity for scaring her that way. He could really be a bully sometimes, "Yeah, you scared him away with your screams."
The female looked up at him relieved and slowly let go of his soaked shirt, "Oh..."
He sighed and looked back at her, studying her clothes, face, and hair. She seemed to be the child of a high esteemed family too since her azure dress seemed to be made of fine materials and if that wasn't enough proof, then it was the golden necklace that was coiled around her neck and was decorated with a bejeweled butterfly. The male's attention was then drawn to her long braid as the she played around with it nervously.
"You know there's really no monster in there right?" he asked.
"O-of course I knew that!" she said looking back all flustered.
He smiled warmly, getting tired of making fun of her, "My name's Raven Halbe, son of Erol. And you...?"
She looked away again and continued playing around with her braid until the knots went loose and she was brushing her undone bangs unknowingly.
"Look... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you angry... I shouldn't have done that either." He bit his lip slightly and hissed, "That's not a knight's way Raven..."
The girl looked back at him confused, "You want to be a knight?"
Raven look surprised at her keen hearing; now that he looked carefully, she also had pointed ears, "Well... yes." He took a sudden interest in telling her all about it. "I've always wanted to be like Father so having a title like his is my major dream. Father used to be the best knight in Hyrule for He was righteous and strong and there was no one who questioned him!" He smiled remembering the sight of his deceased progenitor riding his favorite horse.
"Hyrule...?"
He looked down at her frowning, "You don't know Hyrule?"
She shook her head shyly and stopped playing with her hair. The female hugged herself and buried her face slightly within her knees, "I have heard my Master mention it some times. But... I've never left home."
"Where is your home?" he asked, now it was his turn to be interested. He knew there were lands beyond the green hills of Hyrule Field or the whimsical Lost Woods, yet he had never gotten the opportunity to leave Hyrule.
She smiled, "Ah it's a beautiful country! You ever heard of Labrynna? Well, I live in its capitol city Rennu. It's a very lively place and there's lots of kind people in there like my Master!"
Raven was paying close attention this time. To know a person from another country outside of Hyrule was fantastic! He had never heard of a place called Labrynna yet the more the girl told him about it, the more his interest sparked with the need to actually be there at least once.
Needless to say, both youngsters continued chatting until the bits of sky that showed themselves through the curtain of leaves turned into hues of pink and orange. They talked and laughed so much that they never noticed the butterflies that flocked around them. During this little time they had known each other, both seemed to share the same passion for knowledge and adventures.
"Woah..." gasped the girl when Raven finished telling her about the bustling Castle Town back in Hyrule.
"Yeah it's real pretty there I tell you! There's always something to do and also, the princess of our land lives there."
"You know a princess?" she inquired with delight reflected in her eyes.
"Yes! She's real formal for her age (she's younger than me...) but I still like her. My brother and I play with her every chance we get."
"That sounds so nice! I wish I could meet her someday... Hey! Perhaps I can ask my Master if she knows about her. Maybe that way she can take me to Hyrule and you can present me to all those people you told me about!" she giggled imagining what she had just said.
Raven grinned, "That's a great idea!"
"You see?" she giggled cutely (Raven blushed actually), "So what's the princess's name?"
"Well, she's named Zelda." Chirped the boy.
"Zelda? Hmm... I think I've heard that name before..." said the female pondering, "No problem then! I'll ask my Master about it then."
She hurriedly got up and turned her back at Raven who, surprised at her sudden prance, stood up too in an intent to stop her from going. Just as they showed some violent movement, the butterflies woke up from their slumber as buds and started circling them.
"Hey wait! There's no need to rush it! We can talk a little more and—"
"We'll continue talking tomorrow Raven," she said looking back at him with vibrant eyes.
Raven's heart seemed to stop for a second there. She actually looked extremely pretty with all those hues of orange coloring her form.
"But we don't even know where this place is! How am I gonna know if I'm even going to see you again?" he suddenly burst out. The blonde realized he wanted to be with her a little more. It was nice.
The dark-haired girl smiled back at him and handed the little butterfly button from her necklace to him. "I know how to contact you Raven. Just like I did today, I can do it tomorrow and you'll see we'll meet here again."
He was confused. Now that he thought of it, he had totally forgotten how he had actually ended in this forest in the first place!
"But—"
"I can't wait to see Hyrule with my own eyes! It sounds like a beautiful place!" she interrupted before turning once again and then running through the blinding curtain of white wings.
"Wait! Hey! Please, I'm confused! What am I gonna do? Who—" Raven screamed trying to catch her but the butterflies blocked his escape. Since when had there been so many of those bugs?! "Who are you? At least tell me that!" he begged clutching the bejeweled ornament close.
There was a soft giggle that resounded all over the forest just like when he found himself in there the first time he opened his eyes.
"It's Nayru. My name is Nayru."