SPOILER WARNING: This chapter contains references to Memory 5 "Zelda's Resentment" / Photo 3.

PREVIOUSLY: After learning from the princess of the past that the Triforce is draining Zelda's life whenever she wishes something was different 100 years ago, Link and Zelda return to Hateno for a short rest. She attempts to convince the village leader to support her claim to the throne, but he says the remaining Hylians are not willing to accept leadership change without cause. After a nearly disappointing meeting with the Goron boss, Link turns the tide and helps her win the Goron support. They say goodbye to Daruk and see the first meeting between the Goron and young Link.


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Title: It All Must Start With Us
Chapter 8: Sounds Like a Test
Author: Sailor Song
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"Come on, Link! Kill it!"

"Shoot it! You've got this!"

"Watch out for it's hands!"

Link was paying no attention to the cheers and warnings coming from the cell door. He had weakened the Stalnox to the point where its eye had popped out. His sword's power was drained, and the majority of his weapons and shields had shattered, their remains littered all around. Now he only had a bow and a few arrows left, but he seemed determined to see this through to the end.

"What's going on?" Zelda asked.

"It's a combat trial for the guards," he explained, remembering having recently stumbled upon it as he explored the ruins of the castle. "It's a test of their worth."

The creature ripped out a pair of ribs and threw them in the past Link's direction. He should have been able to easily dodge the attack, but he tripped on bones that littered the floor. The ribs collided with him, causing him to cry out as he became painfully trapped between the wall and the heavy projectile.

"Enough," Link shouted through gritted teeth. "I quit. Open the door, now!"

"I'm trying, sir!" said the man trying to open the prison cell could not stop shaking enough to get the key in the hole.

"Dammit, give me the keys," his father said, his facial expression a mixture of anger and disappointment. The second the correct key was inserted into the lock and turned, the Stalnox fell apart and quickly vanished. "Get him cleaned up and have him report to me at 0-900."

A couple of the guards timidly walked in and helped a bruised and battered Link to his feet. He was limping and clutching his side, possibly suffering with at least one injured or possibly broken rib.

"Come on, sir," one of the trainees said. "Let's get you to the baths."

He was escorted out of the Lockup and down toward the hidden hot springs used by the guards after a long day of training. They could only manage to remove his chainmail before lowering him clothed into one of the healing baths, and he let out a groan as the hot, bubbling water began massaging his wounds and sore muscles.

"I'll be fine," he told the guards who were clearly unsure of what they were supposed to do next. "You don't have to watch over me. I'm sure you have some routines you could run through."

One of them spoke up, "Yes, sir, but your father said-"

"0-900 sharp, right? I'll be there," he said, closing his eyes and settling in.

When the only sound in the cavern was the bubbling of the springs, he cautiously peeked an eye open, and seeing that he was finally on his own, he swore loudly and slapped at the water.

"So close," he said, staring at his shaking hands. "Why am I still not strong enough?"

"Yes," said a voice from the shadows."With all of your years of training, why are you not able to beat such a meager shell of a monster? You are not at all prepared for the terror that is to come."

For the first time watching this memory of the past, Link of the present day had his attention pulled from the scene before him when Zelda grabbed his arm tightly. He was about to ask her if she was okay, when his past self yelled out.

"Who's there?"

The voice ignored him and carried on with its taunting. "It's because you're weak. You will be the doom of this land. Hyrule will be destroyed, and you will die knowing you failed all you love and hold dear."

"Show yourself, coward!" he screamed out as he stood and began looking around. There was nothing. It was just a large, empty space.

"Sir?" began a young trainee as he ran in.

"Did you see someone leave?" Link asked, grabbing his gear.

The poor boy was clearly terrified and couldn't stop staring at the darkness sealing sword. He finally found his voice and said, "No. No, sir."

"I don't know what that was," Link said giving one last look around the room. Seeing the kid still there, he snapped in frustration, "Is there something you needed?"

"Sir, it's the princess. She's gone."

"She's what?"

"Gone. She took her horse and rode off."

"That white one?" Link asked, and the boy nodded nervously. "But it's not… nevermind, which way did she go?"

The scene shifted to the Ancient Columns where Zelda tried using the Sheikah Slate to activate the shrine high atop the hill, which Link now knew would have worked had the towers been online.

"Nothing, just as I thought. Hmm… it appears that this structure was designed to be exclusively assessed by the sword's chosen one." She was staring up at the massive structure that absolutely dwarfed her. Looking back to the pedestal, she added, "But designs can always be worked around, at least I hope. How do I get inside… I need to activate it somehow."

"This bit always confused me," Link said as a horse approached and the past Link jumped down. For the first time, he noticed his past self wince as he landed awkwardly, mostly likely because he was still not fully healed from the earlier fight in the Lockup. "If you knew the shrines were meant for me, why didn't you tell me about your research. Why didn't you ask me to try it?"

"This wasn't the first time we had come across one. I did tests," she explained matter-of-factly. "I asked you to hand me the Sheikah Slate to see if it would respond to you, which it didn't. I took you to other shrines to see if they would react if they would react in your presence, which they didn't."

"Did you tell me what you knew?"

"No." Her answer, simple and so honest, pained her. "You had so much going for you, so much assisting you already, I didn't think this would make a difference. I-I didn't know."

Link, worried about what the Zelda from the ancient stories had told them about the Triforce's deadly power, put his arm around her and said, "Remember, we can't change anything; we can only learn. I just wanted to know."

"I know. I just hate how I treated you."

On cue, the past Zelda went off on her knight. "I thought I made it clear that I am not in need of an escort," she snipped, angrily putting her hands on her hips.

"I had told you repeatedly to let me go out alone, but that morning, I had gone to see your father in a new attempt to get you to back off," the present Zelda groaned in an attempt to provide some context. "I wonder if that's what he wanted to talk to you about."

"It seems I'm the only one with a mind of my own. I, the person in question, am fine, regardless of the King's orders. Return to the castle. And tell that to my father, please." She walked past him.

The past Link for his part, looking distracting and exhausted, muttered out a, "Whatever you say, Princess." It was so rote and uncaring that it was obviously something he had said hundreds of times before.

She clearly heard him, stopped and breathed heavily before turning around and yelling, "And stop following me!"

For the second time, where the memory had once ended, it carried on with Zelda mounting her white horse. Either because of her yelling or the stallion's wild nature, the horse was clearly skittish.

"Princess, wait, you shouldn't get on him angry," the past Link called out, but his warning fell on deaf ears. Seconds later, the horse reared, launching her off him, down and out of sight. He ran to the edge and found she had landed safely in the pool of water. He had to fake a cough to stop himself from laughing.

Present Link received a light smack to the stomach. "Hey! That was him, not me." It struck him as a weird argument to make, but it seemed valid. Zelda shrugged.

The memory Link had lowered himself down to help her out of the water. His face was clenched, as though every muscle being used to help her was causing him great pain. She didn't seem to notice and said nothing as she walked away from him to retrieve a towel from her horse's saddle bag.

Link waited, eventually asking, "Princess, are you injur-"

"Why won't you leave me alone?" she asked. She was calmer now, but still very upset.

"Because I'm here to protect you, Princess." It was a lame answer, even to the present day Link.

"Protect me, from what? Birds? Dogs? My own people?"

"Wolves. Yiga," he added under his breath.

As Link watched this new segment of the memory play out, he sensed that this was only going to continue getting worse. He turned to the Zelda beside him and pulled her into his arms to prevent her from seeing anymore of the memory if she wanted. "Don't wish to change this," he pleaded with her in a husky whisper. "We're just here to learn."

She said nothing in reply, but he could feel her nod against his chest.

"I have asked you repeatedly to leave me alone, so if anyone's to blame for me getting into trouble, it's me," she said becoming angry again. "Do you know the legends of the past heroes?" she asked, but didn't give him time to answer. "They often traveled alone. They were not tethered, they were free." She seemed to have a sudden epiphany, and as she walked up to him, her expression had softened almost frighteningly fast. "You are nothing like those heroes. You blindly follow the king's orders, where as they were brave and focused on their mission." She had closed the gap between them, and said softly in his ear, "You are weak."

Before the past Link knew what was happening, she pushed him back into the very pool of water in which she had just fallen into. After a tough time climbing back up, he found that not only was she riding away on HIS horse, but that she had unhooked the other saddle on the white stallion by slicing through both of the straps with his own travel knife.

As the memory faded, they could hear Link groan, "Give me a Stalnox over this any day."

Link did not move for a while once they had returned to the present, fearing that any movement or word he said might cause her to wish something was different. It was the sound of the Sheikah Slate that shattered the silence between them. With her still in his arms, he checked to see it had not only updated, but that he hadn't noticed a chance in their objective.

** Mysterious Voice - Sacred Grounds **

A strange yet familiar voice has tasked you and Princess Zelda with reliving memories of your past. Visit in chronological order. By figuring out the mistakes you both made before the Calamity occurred, you can create a record to guide Hyrule in the future.

An encounter with the princess who faced Ganon 10,000 years ago has led you to seek out the ancient hero to see if he knows a way to save Zelda from the strange affliction caused by the Triforce.

** Memories revisited: 6/19 **

He read the update to her, and she pulled away suddenly.

"Ancient hero?"

"That's what it says," he replied, reading it again.

"You don't think there's some clue about him here, do you? This area is known as 'The Ancient Columns' after all."

He smiled. This was the side of her he absolutely adored, for from the moment he saw the memory of her trying to make him eat a frog, he felt something for her.

As they looked around, he sensed she was holding something back. True to form, she eventually came clean with her concern, although it was not their horrible interaction as he originally thought.

"That voice you heard earlier in the memory," she began, "in the cavern with the hot springs. Did you recognize it?"

He thought back, but something about that part of the memory was slipping away from him. "No, I don't think so."

"Is that all?" she pressed.

"Do you recognize it?" he asked. When she didn't answer, he continued, "I know it wasn't your father, Ganon, or even the voice that gave us this task. Otherwise, I can't place it."

She didn't add to the discussion, instead she looked over yet another identical column.

"Why are these even here?" she shouted in a huff. "They should have been torn down a long time ago. It was nothing but forgotten ruins back when we first-"

"Wait, what did you say?" Link had been distracted by a green glow. It had first appeared in the corner of his eyes and seemed to be following them from a distance, but now it was coming closer and beginning to take a larger shape.

"No one cared about these one hundred years ago…"

He smiled. "Not that part. Come on, I know exactly where we should check next."

… … …

"Link, it's freezing up here!" she said through chattering teeth.

"It won't be for long. Hold on!" he told her and leapt off the Hebra Tower once he knew she had a firm grip.

It didn't take long for them to leave the cold, frozen air of the tundra for the dry, empty canyon. As she slid down, he instantly missed how it felt to have her warmth pressed up against him. Everything suddenly became very hot, but this time, thankfully, it was not his biological urges heating up.

"What is that?" she cried out, pointing upward as balls of fire came shooting down around them

"Dinraal," he replied. "Weren't the dragons around in the past?"

"Dragons? You mean to say there are more?" she asked. In awe she watched as he floated by, dancing through the air as he made his way through the canyon. "No, we didn't have dragons before; they were only a myth. This canyon wasn't here before either."

"Hm…" he said, feeling like he was seeing it for the first time.

As the red beast disappeared from view, she looked at Link. "Just think of the magical properties a scale might have."

"Way ahead of you," he said, patting his travel pack. "Come on, it's not too far."

He liked building some mystery for her. Considering most of his life was a clean slate, it was nice to provide her with a surprise every now and again.

"I'm going to climb up there to make sure the Guardians inside are deactivated," he said handing her the Sheikah Slate. "Will you be fine on your own?"

She nodded, giving him the go ahead to jumped and began climbing. He was about a quarter of the way up when he heard her say from below, "I really like the view here."

What was she talking about? There were just ruins, desert, and brush. He looked down to ask, when he saw her staring up… at him. He only shook his head, and launched himself upward.

Inside, the Guardians seemed to be no longer corrupted, their pink light having changed to blue. Cautiously, he crept forward to make sure. One set off a beam, but instantly recognizing him, it turned off and whirled around.

Why were these here? He had wondered before, but now that Zelda confirmed the Forgotten Temple had long been buried, he was even more curious to find out. There was something Impa had said when she described the ancient hero and princess. What was it? Oh, yes. "The guardians were tasked with protecting the hero as the Divine Beasts unleashed a furious attack upon their terrible foe." They served the past hero, and by extension, they served him. They were his shield as he was hers.

"Doesn't mean I like you now," he said to the nearest one as it whirled around. Back at the entrance he looked down to tell Zelda it was all clear, but she was gone. He swore to himself and looked around in a panic.

He screamed out her name and was about to jump down to search for footprints or any evidence of her disappearance, when he heard a voice from deep inside the temple. He listened and finally heard a "Link?" echoing through the chamber.

"Zelda?" he asked, peering down as far as he could see. There was too much in the way, but she had gotten more confident in using the Sheikah Slate again. Using the air currents to guide him, he made quick work of traveling across the great temple ruins toward the shrine where he found her, not at all concerned that she'd caused him worry, but instead, exploring the area.

"Link, look at this place!" she exclaimed.

He wanted to scold her for running off, but that would mean telling her to be something she wasn't. She was adventurous, brave, courageous even, and to try to change that would be to take away from what he lov-

"Do you love me, Link?"

It was only sound that came to him this time, no image. The voice was clearly female, but the speaker, well that was impossible to tell for it sounded like multiple women all at once.

"I'm sorry for disappearing," she said running up to him and handing back the tablet. "I was exploring the map on the slate and when I tapped the shrine and ended up here! Look what I found!"

He allowed himself to be pulled towards one of the walls he had completely ignored on both of his visits here. Carved into the walls were pictures that told a story. Though the figures were all different, the story seemed the same over and over again. A princess, a hero, a monster.

"Someone recorded it all," he said. "Everything in my head since touching the sword. The histories, the legends, they're all here."

"Not just someone," she said. "It was the hero from the story of Calamity Ganon. He did all of this."

They scoured through the stone carvings, at times having to move large stones that had fallen over time, and eventually they discovered carvings that were not depictions of legends. The language accompanying the pictures was so old, he couldn't read it. Thankfully, they were detailed enough that he could figure it out.

"'The sacred power is a great-'"

"What's that?" he asked, interrupting her.

"It's what the sign says," she explained and began again. "'The sacred power is a great weapon, but it cannot stay active or it will drain the wielder's life force. It must be made to slumber-'"

"How?"

"I'll tell you if you let me finish."

"No, how can you read that?"

"You can't?"

He shook his head no. Very strange. It wasn't Gerudo, Goron, Zoran, or Sheikah. If anything, it mostly looked Hylian, but he couldn't understand it.

"Oh, it looks Hylian to me," she stated before continuing on. "'It must be made to slumber by removing it at the three shrines by giving a display of the values at each.'" She paused. "What do you think that means?"

Link shrugged. "Sounds like the springs will test you in some way. Is there any more?"

"Yes." She said nothing for a time, and she quickly accepted his arm around her. "It's a letter to his princess. 'Zelda, I'm an old man now. I am not sure how much time I have left, but the Sheikah believe that you'll be in the Shrine of Resurrection for a total of one hundred years. I've dedicated my life to finding a way to save you, yet had I known, I would have tried to find a way to keep your memory alive for future generations. All I've managed to do is leave supplies and hints to assist our reincarnations should the threat return to Hyrule.'" It was then that her voice began to choke. "'I'm sorry I couldn't protect you from this. I will seek you in the afterlife where, hopefully, we can have one last adventure together.'"

He knew from those words that the past hero loved his Zelda. The punch to the gut was that they had never found each other in death.

"I think we found everything here," he said after looking around the chamber.

She didn't respond, instead, spent a good amount of time staring at the text.

"Zelda?"

"Can I borrow the Sheikah Slate for a second?" she asked as though she hadn't heard him. After capturing a few images, she handed it over to him again. "Now we have them saved for future reference."

Smart. He switched over to the map and nearly dropped the slate.

"What's wrong?"

"The shrines at and around the three springs have gone offline," he said, showing her the map.

"Looks like we'll be walking. Where do you want to start? Wisdom, Courage, or Power?"

"Gerudo Desert," she replied simply.

He looked at her with feigned confused. "Is there a fourth?"

"No, silly. It's hard to explain, but I really want to see Urbosa about some of this. I'd like to ask her if there's anything my mother told her before we go to the springs."

It did make sense, he supposed. "Gerudo Desert, here we come."


AUTHOR'S NOTE: In Zelda's diary, she says "I said something awful to him today... My research was going nowhere. I was feeling depressed, and I had told him repeatedly not to accompany me. But he did anyway, as he always does, and so I yelled at him without restraint. He seemed confused by my anger. I feel terribly guilty...and that guilt only makes me more agitated then I was before." Maybe for a princess this is without restraint, but it wasn't enough to earn this entry, so I decided to make it worse (but not so bad they couldn't come back from it either in the past or present).

I'm sorry to say that the Forgotten Temple has none of what I described, so you don't have to go looking for it. It was purely artistic license on an otherwise underutilized area in the game.

I hope you like this chapter! :)