The Legend of Zelda: Re-Imagined
Chapter 1-3
Tempered By Destiny
No one had seen it coming. But how could they? For what they were witnessing now was indeed a rare sight.
A civilian was interfering with official Hylian business.
That sort of happenstance oft took place many years ago, but it eventually became a thing of the past. In recent years, or more like the last few hundreds of years or so, Hyrule had set itself up to be in a position of great respect.
Not because the Royal Family demands respect, but simply because they have earned it, and in many eyes, deserve it. The once common act of defiantly hindering Royal affairs eventually faded away with the increase of Hyrule's honor.
But concerned with the here and now: there was no honor to be seen, so the clock has been turned back.
There he stood. Wearing a rain soaked cloth that covered him from the top of his head to just below his knees. The cloak itself was a light brown, but had turned dark due to the rain.
Under the hood on his head, all you could see were partial features of his face. He had fair skin, and a youthful smile. His eyes were not quite visible since the dripping fabric hid them away, but his vision wasn't lessened by what he was wearing.
He stood there in battle stance, holding a long spear. Having recently acquired it from a soldier – whom is now writhing in pain on the floor – the robed young man looked ready to oppose Lieutenant Piers and his cohorts.
The stern, and currently red-faced, official looked ready to suffer from a rage-induced aneurism. One of the other knights took notice and quickly called to mind his anger-management and additional stress-relief exercises.
Piers took in a deep breath, and out of nowhere, his demeanor changed drastically. It was almost unnatural how different he seemed.
"What is your name, and on what grounds do you challenge my authority?" he inquired, calmly but firmly.
"My name is Link. And I'm here on the grounds that your butt needs to be whooped." He replied with a smirk.
"Clearly of low class citizenship. Rude, impertinent, and thinks he has authority to impede on us because he threw down one man." The lieutenant sneered. "You must be one of those rebellious types. A flummoxed vigilante that thinks he's benefitting the world with his self-righteous defiance."
With a raise of the arm, and a snap of the fingers, two more guards stood at the ready.
"Well, Mr. Link," he added emphasis on the last word, "I think it's time that you be brought back to reality."
He took another deep breath, and extended his arm forward.
"Those who challenge power, fall."
As if it were their battle cry, the two soldiers leapt from their leader's side and charged for Link with their lances extended forward.
Prepared for the assault, the young man swiftly shifted his stance, and held his weapon up over his shoulder as though he were about to hurl a javelin.
He took a couple steps back, winding up for his throw. In his mind, he had ample time to ready himself. The hall in which he was facing these men was long, and there was very little maneuvering room to the sides as there were pews preventing them from going anywhere but straight ahead.
Without missing a beat, Link took one loud step forward, and let the weapon fly from his grip.
The razor-sharp edge ripped through the air as it soared, like an eagle diving towards its' prey.
In that silent moment, one of the two soldiers could have sworn he heard "Whistling."
The staff had met its' target. Momentarily, the sound of a suit of armor colliding with the ground echoed throughout the halls of the sanctuary, the sound reverberated off each pristine surface.
What felt like hours ended in a mere moment. One of the soldiers laid there on the polished surface of the floor; the spear protruded from his chest piece, as he gasped for breath. Blood began to slowly trickle from the crevice where the edges of the lance bore through his breastplate.
He slowly came to the realization that the weapon had pierced through his armor, but before being able to react to the pain, he fell unconscious.
Then all went silent. The Captain and his guards, including Princess Zelda herself, were at a loss for words. The Lieutenant looked on in anxiety, and the second soldier had stopped in his tracks, staring straight into the face of his fallen comrade.
What just happened here? That was the question running through everyone's minds.
The painful blow had merely incapacitated the soldier. The wound itself wasn't fatal, almost as if it was intentionally meant not to kill.
Soon, a new sound filled the hall, and began to repeat itself with increasing speed.
The soldier who was left standing had still been focused on the man who had been lying at his side. But, he too, began to notice the strange series of sounds.
The noise itself was all too familiar, but he couldn't quite recall what it was. The part that confused him, though, was that it seemed to be getting louder.
No, not louder. Closer.
It was then that he figured out exactly what he was hearing. Footsteps.
The knight quickly turned to brace himself for the clatter quickly heading his way, but the cloaked man was suddenly in his face and delivered a swift haymaker into the soldier's left cheek.
The armored foe stumbled a few steps back, and reactively tried to ready himself for another attack, but as he raised his spear, Link grabbed a hold of it and began to wrestle him for it.
Both sides were tugging at the shaft of the weapon, and each one tried to weaken the grasp of the other. They both grunted and groaned as neither would give up in their struggle.
They came to a standstill. Both had a strong grip on the handle, and both refused budge. The soldier put a smirk onto his face, almost as if he had won this bout.
His expression changed when his competitor asked him a question.
"Do you know which area of your armor has no protection?"
The knight gave a befuddled look before hearing the answer.
"Right here!"
Link then promptly delivered a powerful knee strike into his opponent's pelvic area. The impact made a sort of "cracking" sound, and every man in earshot universally recognized that unpleasant noise, cringing as a result.
With rapidly weakening resistance, the strained knight released the spear he held onto so tightly, and crumpled to the floor doubled over in pain.
The look on his Lieutenant's face was priceless.
"I'm sorry, brother. I didn't want to do that, but you left me no choice." Link apologized as he stepped around the man groaning on the floor.
"But hey, at least you don't have a spear in your chest like your buddy here." he commented dryly as he walked around the other soldier who laid flat on his back.
"Poor, poor man."
Piers let out a low growl, as words failed to express his frustrations. He decided it was best to take a moment to consider his position; he was left disappointed with the fact that he was now down to just three men: himself, and two others. One of which was still holding a poor woman captive.
Sandwiched in between some "renegade warrior", and the Princess' personal guards, the only option left was to exploit their hostage.
"That's it! If any of you take another step, this woman dies!"
The situation grew tense. Princess Zelda returned to her senses due to Piers intolerable hollering, as she had been distracted by Link's actions the entire time.
"Let her go, Piers! If you do, your punishment will not be nearly as severe!" the princess exclaimed.
"Punishment? HA! You think you're in control of this situation? Guess what? I'M the one in control here!"
He turned to the guard holding the woman and yelled, "Kill her! Now!"
The soldier hesitated at the command. His armor was that of a new recruit's. Which meant he was still green, and lacked the experience to make a fateful decision in the heat of the moment.
Princess Zelda caught that minute detail and chimed in, "Don't do it! If you let that woman go now, you'll be forgiven of your actions here!"
Piers roared angrily, "KILL THE WOMAN!"
The young soldier was torn: follow the commands of his superior? Or spare the woman at the beckoning of the princess?
Another voice rang out. It was Link's.
"I just want you to be aware of what happens if you do kill her." He began to explain.
The young knight looked to him, listening desperately.
"If she dies at your hands, two things will happen." He held up two fingers on one hand. "First, you will have committed murder."
He gave a short pause to let the thought sink in a bit.
"Spilling the blood of an innocent being is something that will haunt you as long as you live."
The conflicted soldier broke into a cold sweat.
"The second thing is," he continued, "that if you kill her, nothing will stop us from coming over there and ripping you to shreds."
The young knight had been on the brink of making his decision, but that was the final nail in the coffin.
"I just thought you'd want to know." he finished, with an out-of-place casual tone.
The rookie had made his decision, and let the woman run free.
A large vein appeared on the Lieutenants forehead.
"YOU TRAITOROUS FOOL! I'll have your head on a silver plat—" was all Piers could scream before the tip of Viscen's blade was at his neck.
The soldier behind Piers looked ready to make a move, but was quickly stopped when Link stood behind him and nonchalantly prodded his back with the tip of the spear.
The rookie soldier ran behind the Captain, dropped his weapon, fell to his knees, and began to plead profusely for forgiveness in front of Zelda. It would've been a pathetic sight, had it been any other man, especially since he was at the point of tears.
How the graceful princess responded, however, was something that captivated Link's attention.
"You are forgiven. Thank you for sparing that woman's life. It means so much to me that you reconsidered your actions." She spoke gently.
With a smile that would melt any heart, she placed her hand on his tear-soaked cheek. This caused him to begin sobbing even louder than before.
She then gave him what seemed like a motherly embrace, crossing the boundary between royalty and commoners.
She hugs her own men to comfort them? And here I thought all Nobles were pompous, stuck up, and incapable of showing any compassion for us common folk. Link mused.
As if on cue, the princess looked straight at Link.
Okay, okay! I'm sorry about the whole 'pompous' thing! He thought to himself.
After the dust settled, Piers and his men were tied up, all except the one who had been wounded in his encounter with Link. He was being taken care of by a doctor who was brought in by one of the churchgoers.
"Well, that's all of them." Viscen let out with a sigh of relief.
"And great timing too, the rain has ceased." Said the young scholar who had been in Zelda's group previously. His name was Shad.
"We still have to make the travel plans before it gets too late." The toughened woman from before spoke. Her name was Ashei.
Old Auru commented as well. "We still need to find someone who knows the landscape of Ordona. We can't just leave willy-nilly and hope to the gods that we don't get lost while traveling to a place we don't even know how to reach."
That's when Zelda re-entered the conversation. "I believe we already have our navigator."
She left them confused until she began to walk towards Link, who had sat down in the first row of seats shortly after the commotion ended.
When he noticed her, he looked a bit surprised.
She curtsied, and formally introduced herself. "I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule."
To that, he smiled.
Link stood up, and pulled down his hood. Revealing his face to them for the first time. He was a very attractive young man, with bright blue eyes, medium-length light-blonde hair that naturally curved to the left side of his face, with some bangs that curve to the right. His face exemplified many "soft" features, which made him very easy on the eyes.
He was also wearing a "unique" green floppy cap on his head that extended just past his neck.
He gave a courteous bow, one that impressed Zelda for how well mannered he made it, and introduced himself as well.
"My name is Link, swordsman of Ordona."
End of Chapter 1
Author's notes: Hey, guys! Thanks for reading this! I hope you've enjoyed it so far.
I believe I should give more clarity on this story. This is an Alternate Universe of my own creation. It is in no way connected to the stories or worlds in the games, however it does borrow heavily from the games.
Many include characters, and some include situations or events that take place. For instance, Telma, Auru, Shad, and Ashei all come from Twilight Princess.
Captain Viscen however, originates from Majora's Mask.
And the whole jealous prince plot-line comes from Zelda II.
Just thought I'd clarify! Seeya!