The Entrance of the Hero
Whaaaaap
Link grumbled as he rubbed his head. Every morning the same thing happened. He would go to roll out of bed, and when he stood up he hit his head on the same beam that was positioned over his bed. Though it was painful at first he had come to become to used to the event. The one thing that was good about it was he was awake when he hit it.
He stood up and pulled on his shirt. He brushed his raven black hair out of his eyes. It was a big joke in Kakariko about the fact his name was Link. It was not that common a name, and most of the people who had borne it had been heroes. He laughed at this. The Heroes had all been blond, left-handed, and not a one stood over 5'5". Link had black hair, was right-handed, and stood close to 6' tall.
He didn't have time to muse over this at the moment though. Sometime during the night the forge had gone cold, and it took close to an hour for it to get up to where it could be used. Carefully raking the ashes out of the firebox he shoveled it into one of the large barrels that would be sent to the soap makers. After the fire had caught on the small pile of coal Link carefully shoveled more and more coal onto the fire until the box was half-full; here Link worked the bellows until the coals glowed a dull orange. Satisfied he reviewed the work list for the day. After making a quick list in his mind he stacked the iron the smithy would go through for the day.
Link looked out into the night. He always woke up three hours before the dawn to prepare the forge for the day's labor. Upon finishing that he would take his sword over to the graveyard and spend some time respecting his parent's graves and then going into his sword practice until dawn broke.
However, that would not be the routine today.
A noise from the edge of the village caught Link's attention. Grabbing his blade he ran at full speed to the location the disturbance came from. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness he saw a Lizalfos attacking one of the village children. Link reached the monster and blocked its blade before it could cause harm to the child. A single stroke from Link's blade finished off the thing.
Looking down at the child her name popped to mind, "Lita, shouldn't you be in bed at the moment?"
"I heard a noise and went to see what it was, then that monster atta- atta- attacked me," Lita said somewhat shaken from the ordeal.
"That was awfully brave, but I believe it would cause your parents a little less worry if they found you in bed instead of on the street in your nightclothes."
"OK, see you later Link."
Chuckling under his breath Link returned his attention to the monster's corpse that was still lying where it fell. Lizalfos rarely came down from the mountains, and even rarer still came near the village. If it happened again the village guard may have to be activated until the reason they were approaching this close to the village was discovered.
After that the day went as it usually did. The smithy was busy repairing plows, axes, and other implements. The village men would stop by and chew the fat to get away from work. Then their wives would appear out of thin air to berate them and get them back to what they were supposed to be doing.
"Link, bank the coals and wind everything down. There is going to be a village meeting to discuss that monster you killed this morning. If there are more lurking we may be seeing some old blades coming in for repair and I want both of us to be prepared for it," Garth, the large middle-aged blacksmith, declared.
Link wasn't too disappointed hearing this. He took every opportunity to get away from the hot forge. However the talk of repairing swords worried him. If there were thoughts of hunting down monsters he knew he would be going along, because of his daily practice he was the finest swordsman in the village. Somehow he knew that that was going to come back to haunt him.
Another fell to his blade as the small band of defenders pressed the Lizalfo attackers back away from the village. Link brushed the sweat out of his eyes and sought out his next opponent. The attack had come during the middle of the meeting. Link had been the first one to respond since he had absently picked up his sword when he left for the meeting. One by one the other men had trickled out into the street to fight the monsters. Most of them were armed with long wooden rods that were to be used for an implement handle when the current one needed replacement. Others had axes and some even had proper swords.
The attack had been unexpected but explained the presence of the lone monster that morning. It had been a scout and more likely had had a partner that had stayed back where it couldn't bee seen. However that made no difference at the moment.
Turning another blade Link sent his sword through another Lizalfos throat with a half-glance. Turning he encountered the one that had to be the leader. Covered in steel plates from head to toe it was three times the size of any of the other monsters. Throwing his own safety to the wind Link charged the beast with his blade held in a strong two-handed grip and impaled the beast through the stomach before anyone could react. In its death-throes the armored monster managed to catch Link across the side of the head with the flat of its blade.
Blackness claimed Link before he could tell how the battle was progressing. Had he not been knocked unconscious he would have been among those who did not see the night.
"Well are you just going to lay there or are you going to stand up like a man?"
"What happened," Link said slowly opening his eyes to find himself in a grand hall full of banners and tapestries, "I'm not dead yet am I."
A man dressed in green came into focus after a few seconds. "No, you are still alive, though you are unconscious in the world of the living. At the moment you are in the Hall of Heroes. The resting place of every Hero's soul since there has been a Hero. I am the Fallen Hero, and you Link, are my successor," he said in what seemed to be a single breath.
"What."
"Great, I am going to have to convince him. Farore grant me your strength. You are the newest Hero. You have been brought here now because it is your time to be awakened."
Link slowly stood up and looked around. As far as he could tell him and the guy who claimed to be the Fallen Hero were the only people present in the room. Grand tapestries showing images that when looking at them from the top to the bottom told a story hung from the walls on either side. Weapons hung around the great lengths of cloth.
Looking around the room he noticed an extremely short tapestry that showed a black haired youth slaying a great monster and summarily being struck by that monster during its dying moments.
"You aren't lying are you," Link asked in wonder.
"No, there is a reason you are here though. Two hundred years ago I sacrificed myself at Ganondorf's hand. I did this to set the stage for you. During the time you slumber you shall come here and learn from me and the other Heroes that have lived throughout time. When you are awake you shall fight for the freedom of Hyrule from the emperor. You are surprised; apparently you didn't know that the emperor was Ganondorf. He holds the Triforce of Power, which has granted him immortality. I know this is a great amount of information, but I must end here. You are waking in the physical realm, but I will warn you before you go that things won't be the same."
Link's eyes shot open as he stood up. Feeling weak he fell to his knees as he surveyed his surroundings. His village was in shambles. He could see someone moving around here and there, but the streets were littered with the corpses of most of the people from the village. Smoke billowed from the husks of buildings, the stench of blood was overpowering, and the cries of the survivors brought him to tears.
He stayed there for several minutes until his eyes cleared. Looking down he noticed he was wearing a forest green tunic and chain mail instead of his light cotton shirt. Feeling around he picked up a long conical hat and placed it on his head. He had thought that he had been having a dream, but he was wrong.
He stood up and looked around, he would help bury the dead today. When he slept that night he would accept the training of the Heroes of old. Then he would go forth on whatever quest he was given. And he would seek justice for those who died here. Many would seek vengeance, but vengeance was useless to those no longer in this world, justice was the only thing that would help their souls rest.
