Sorry for not updating sooner. I said I'd update this fic in the same week as the last update, but I got busy. After that, I had a lack of motivation to write, so it didn't happen, sorry.

Chapter 3

The sun rising was a beautiful sight in the new and unfamiliar Hyrule. If you stood a good distance away and roughly in the centre of the two mountains called Duelling Peaks, the view of the rising sun was extraordinary. The sunlight would filter through the mountains but could still be seen over the horizon. That day only one person watched it, or, wolf, rather. The day had been uneventful for Link; mostly all he did was stay under the shelter with the crackling fire. The only time he moved was to get some more wood to keep the fire burning.

Goddesses, Link thought, you gave me this task. I have no knowledge of where I am supposed to go now. Please… give me some sort of sign.

Nothing happened.

Link sighed. Nothing yet again. There was no point trying to pray at this point. If the Goddesses weren't going to give him any sort of sign soon, he'd go looking for the new hero himself. Suddenly, the ground began to rumble, and Link lost his footing. To most people, and earthquake of this size would scare them, but all Link felt was excitement that his true journey may be starting soon. He looked around quickly to see what was causing the shaking, and noticed that the ground in front of and to the left of Duelling Peaks was breaking apart. Suddenly the ground was destroyed as something emerged from the ground and large rocks were flung outwards. Realising that a heavy rock was going to land right on his shelter, he dashed out of the way, fear rushing through his veins and excitement at finally being in some action again. Once the rocks had all landed on the ground, the thing that had burst out of the ground was clearly visible. It was unusual structure, which Link figured was a tower of sorts. He wasn't completely sure though, so he decided that a closer look would be ideal. As he walked towards the strange thing he felt exhilaration like nothing else he'd felt before. He'd accepted this quest for the adventure alone, but now he was finally getting into the action, he couldn't hold back his eagerness.

Once he arrived at it, his suspicions were confirmed right – it was definitely a tower meant to be climbed. Link could tell by the way the walls were made – they had good sized gaps for climbing and were made out of a type of metal that was easy to grip. Platforms were placed at even intervals, spiralling up around the tower, making them good places to rest when scaling up the tower and easy platforms to drop onto when going down. Link quickly sniffed the tower and he could tell it was man-made, though it was obvious from the looks and design of the tower. Yellow-orange patterns swirled through a smooth, cylindrical shape in the middle, visible through the gaps in the climbing part of the tower at the top. Unusual designs were engraved onto the top part of the tower and the platforms that lead up around it. Link, being the curious person he was, wanted to go up and find out more, but he knew he could never scale such a structure when he was in the form of a wolf. He would have been able to if the platforms were closer together, but they were too far for a wolf, or anything, to jump from one to another. Slightly disappointed that at the current moment he was not able to do anything, Link decided to wait around at the base of the tower. After a few minutes of wondering what to do, Link realised that a traveller was about to pass, and he lunged behind one of the fallen rocks which would hide him. Peeking out from behind the rock, he saw the traveller wasn't passing; they were heading towards the tower. As they got closer, Link got a clear look at the traveller's face, and what he saw shocked him.

Three shrines down and one to go.

"Geez, how does four valuable treasures equal the worth of a paraglider?" Link muttered to himself in annoyance. After completing the shrine that the old man had pointed to earlier, he'd been told to find three other shrines and their treasures. Did he even know hard it was to get through those things? He knew he had to do it to get the paraglider, however, so he searched for the other shrines.

When Link had stepped into the first shrine, it was not what he was expecting at all. He thought it'd be simple – there'd be some treasure lying there or something. He definitely didn't expect to walk into a place filled with traps and battles against dangerous futuristic enemies. What surprised him the most, however, was gaining the different runes on his Sheikah Slate in each shrine. They were so far proving to be useful both inside and outside the shrines.

At that point in time, Link was deciding where he was going to go and look for the last shrine. Looking at his map on the Sheikah Slate, he decided that it was probably sensible to look for it in the cold part of the Great Plateau. As he entered the snowy biome, he immediately noticed how cold it was, so cold that it was potentially dangerous to even venture any further. Suddenly, he had a great idea. He walked for a few minutes until he was back in the area with a regular temperature. He took out a small camp of red bokoblins that he'd noticed earlier but avoided, then took out the torch he'd stolen. Using the fire of the campfire to light the torch, Link once again headed back to the cold temperatures of Mount Hylia. The torch, although not completely blocking out the warmth, provided enough heat for Link to continue on his way.

So far, the mountains of snow were proving to be tricky to navigate. The shrine wasn't in sight and when Link saw a big mountain which he could just walk up, he knew that he needed to go up it to spot the shrine. There was a camp of monsters who seemed to be blocking the way up, but Link couldn't fight when he was holding the torch. He ran as fast as he could after them. They chased him, but proved not to be very fast. After a while, they stopped giving chase and he made it to the top of the mountain. He was surprised to find the old man standing there. He noticed Link and spoke to him.

"Ahh… I enjoy gazing out at the world from here…" The old man told him.

"B-b-breathtaking view…" Link said, his voice clearly affected by the cold.

"You did well to make it this far without the proper clothing." The old man commented, noticing the cold affecting Link's voice. "Please take this warm doublet as a reward for your tenacity. Do take care to put it on before you get to cold, though" He said, handing Link some much warmer clothing. The old man departed from the cliff, paragliding back down to wherever he came from. Without wasting a second, Link planted the burning torch near him in the snow and changed into the new clothing. It did well to insulate the cold, and knowing that the torch was no longer needed, he blew it out and pocketed it for later use. With all the tree branches and bokoblin bats stored in his pouch, Link figured that he wouldn't be able to store any more melee weapons if he were to leave room for other types of weapons, items and clothing.

From the view on the mountain, the glowing orange swirls of the last shrine were clearly visible in the distance. Plotting the place on his map with a stamp, Link hurried down the mountain and followed it to the point on his map. Going up to the pedestal beside the shrine, he activated it and the once orange markings now glowed blue with the unusual symbol from earlier glowing yellow. He stepped onto a platform that lowered himself down into the last shrine.

It was immediately noticeable that the layout if this shrine was a lot different to the previous one. Bars could be seen covering a view of the higher floor. He stepped off the platform and a voice spoke out to him.

"To you who sets foot in this shrine… I am Keh Namut. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial."

After the person had finished speaking, Link headed over to a pedestal and placed the Sheikah Slate in it. Like the other shrines, the rock above the pedestal began to glow blue and Hyrulean text appeared all over it. A blue liquid formed a droplet at the bottom of the stone, completing the symbol that Link had been seeing a lot. The droplet landed on the Sheikah Slate and the screen activated, showing that a new rune called cryonis had been installed. From the description it seemed to be able to create climbable ice blocks if it was used in water, which, to Link, didn't seem like it was be extremely helpful outside of shrines except for maybe crossing rivers or lakes.

Looking around, it seemed as though the only pathway to progress onwards was a high up wall with a passage in it. It would be unreachable by normal means.

This one's simple enough. Link thought with a smirk, seeing the water underneath the wall. He made an ice block with cryonis and climbed up it easily. He headed down some stairs with twisted around a corner and came across a gate with water underneath it. Link knew that the answer to the puzzle would be to make an ice block underneath the gate, since the way they were formed was by rising up from the water, however he was concerned whether the ice block would be strong enough to lift it up, or hold the gate as he passed under it. Link gave it ago, and surprisingly enough, it worked. He immediately was forced to take out his shield, however, as a spider-like enemy rushed around a corner towards him after being alerted by the noise. Link knew what this enemy was: a guardian. He'd been able to find out the name earlier by managing to identify one that hadn't yet noticed him through the Sheikah Slate.

The guardian in front of him had charged up its laser and fired at Link, hitting his shield which damaged it heavily. It was now charging up another laser, and Link used this chance to dash towards it and attack with his broadsword. He managed to get a few hits in before moving back to take the guardian's next attack with his shield yet again. At the impact of the laser hitting it for the second time, it broke. Charging forward, Link got multiple hits in on the guardian and then it was down. Making sure to pick up the parts that the guardian left behind, Link continued onwards through the shrine, also equipping another shield (which happened to be the last one he had).

Before he got to the next puzzle, Link noticed a chest in an alcove in the wall, so he quickly used cryonis to make an ice block to reach it. Inside the chest was a traveller's spear. This was interesting, as Link had not yet come across a spear before. He decided that, in some situations, a weapon that could reach further may be useful, so he got rid of a bokoblin bat out of his pouch and put the spear in.

The next puzzle was just as easy as the others. The challenges in all of the shrines so far had been pretty straightforward – most likely since each shrine centred around the rune that was just obtained, so it was obvious you had to use that rune for every puzzle. For this one, there was a flat platform that was balanced at the centre on a pole that stuck out of the wall. Link used an ice block to make one of the sides go down and the other go up which meant he could climb to the higher level. Now the end of the shrine was visible and after climbing up a flight of stairs, he was there. He'd seen the monks at the end of the shrines three times already, but their ancient, withered bodies still creeped him out. Their skeletons were practically visible through their skin. He walked up to the thin blue wall that separated him and the monk, and touched a finger to it. The point where he'd touched it rippled outwards then a symbol appeared briefly on the wall. After that, it burst into many separate rectangular fragments which floated outwards.

"Your resourcefulness in overcoming this trial speaks to the promise of a hero…"

The monk spoke in an old and raspy voice – it was the same voice that had introduced him to the trial at first.

"In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I bestow upon you this spirit orb."

An orb emerged from the body and floated its way over to Link, who now had it in his possession. It was the last spirit orb he needed.

The monk said the words, "May the Goddess smile upon you." before crumbling away in what seemed to be a non-existent wind. A pillar of light surrounded Link and he was teleported out of the completed shrine.

As soon as Link was back at the entrance of the shrine, the old man paraglided over to him from the shrine.

"With this, you have now acquired all of the spirit orbs from the shrines on this plateau." The old man told him. "That means… it's finally time…"

"Time for what?" Link asked, confused at the old man's sudden change in tone.

"Link… it is time for me to tell you everything. But first… Imagine an X on your map, with the four shrines as your end points. Find the spot where those intersect. I shall wait for you there."

"Wait-" Link tried to say, but the old man interrupted him.

"Do you understand? Where two lines connecting the shrines would cross… There… I will… be… waiting…"

Link was taken completely by surprise, because as the old man said the last few words, he began to slowly disappear in a blue glow. Eventually, he completely disappeared, leaving behind only some small blue wisps which flickered like flames, which eventually disappeared too. He had suspected that there was more to the old man than what met the eye, but what happened really intrigued him. Getting out his Sheikah Slate, Link created imaginary lines which connected the shrines together on his map. After a few seconds, he realised that the place he had to go to was the Temple of Time – the collapsing and decaying building he'd wanted to explore before.

After teleporting to the nearest shrine to the temple and walking from there, he eventually arrived at the ancient building. It was night and a blue glow inside the building was visible through the holes where windows would have once been. Walking through the entrance, Link saw a large statue of what he assumed to be a goddess, perhaps Hylia? He lowered himself to one knee and prayed to the statue, and a voice, presumably from the statue.

"You who have conquered the shrines and claimed their spirit orbs. I can offer you great power."

Great power? That would surely be useful on his quest.

"It appears you have claimed four spirit orbs. In exchange for those four spirit orbs, I can either offer you a heart container to increase your durability for when you get harmed, or a stamina vessel to increase your durability for when you are running, climbing or swimming."

Link decided on a stamina vessel so that he could travel for longer periods of time in one go. As soon as he told the statue, a green tear shaped jewel trimmed with gold descend from above him, and as soon as Link touched it, it disappeared, and he felt his current weariness fade.

"Go, and bring peace to Hyrule."

After this, the light shining above the statue disappeared. Link could tell this was not what the old man had wanted him to come here for; though it was convenient that he'd made Link get four spirit orbs, it didn't explain anything. He decided to look in the last possible place he could think of – the roof. Climbing a ladder that he'd spotted earlier, he found out that his guess was right as he noticed a blue glow from a small room on the roof. Being careful not to fall down, Link carefully walked along the narrow parts of the roof that were still left, and once he'd got to the more intact and stable part of the roof, progressed onwards quickly.

When he climbed up into the room, he saw the old man, except this time the flickering wisps surrounded him.

"Well done there, young one." The old man said, the tone of his voice practically the same but it seemed to echo more, like it wasn't a human speaking.

"Now then… the time has come to show you who I truly am. I… was King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule. I was… the last leader of Hyrule."
Before Link even had time to react, the old man – or King – burst into bright light, making Link have to shield his eyes. What he saw afterwards was… Well, there was going to have to be a big explanation.

After finishing his story, the King began to tell Link what he should do now.

"I believe it would be quite reckless for you to head directly to the castle at this point. I suggest… that you make your way east, out to one of the villages in the wilderness. Follow the road to Kakariko village. There you will find the elder Impa."

Impa… it was an unfamiliar name, but it was probably somebody he once knew but had now forgotten. The story just told to him had left Link speechless. He felt even more desperation to have the land now, but he felt so much shame in falling to the enemy and practically dooming Hyrule to the brink of destruction…

"Make your way past the twin summits of the Duelling Peaks. Here is the paraglider, just as I promised…"

Finally, Link was able to leave the isolation of the Great Plateau and continue on his journey to save the land.

"There is… one more thing. On your quest, you must find another one destined to aid you. The kingdom of Hyrule has never faced such a dangerous evil ever before. That is why there is need of somebody else to help you overcome the evil. But do not be alarmed by his appearance; though he may look like a beast, he has the heart of a hero." The King informed Link.

A beast… he thought, I should be careful as to what I classify as an enemy…

"Link… you must… save… Hyrule…" the King finished, as he faded away like he'd done previously, outside the shrine, except this time, Link assumed it was for good. As the last wisps of light faded, Link turned to face the vast kingdom of Hyrule and wondered if this time, he could save it.

Author Notes:

Originally, Wolf Link and BoTW Link were going to meet in this chapter, but I really wanted to get it done so you're gonna have to wait for the next one. It'll get exciting soon I promise.

Did you notice any of the small details I changed in BoTW's story? Some of them were to do with the plot of this fic, some of them were just to make it easier to write, or some of them were to just make the writing make sense, like the heart containers and stuff.

Anyway, thanks so much for reading, I appreciate all the reviews I've been getting.

I think in this chapter, I answered somebody's question about whether the King of Hyrule would be aware of the other Link.

Someone said something about how Wolf Link should find a way to change back to human and wolf by will. I'd never really thought of that before, but it could be good if I figure out a sensible way to incorporate it at some point.

And to the person who told me not to call Wolf Link 'Wolfy', don't worry, I'd never do that lol. Speaking of names for Wolf Link, please suggest something to call him, I'm terrible at naming D: As nice and cool as names like 'Twilight' are for him, it's gotta be something that BoTW Link would name him, since Wolf Link can't talk.