A/n: This chapter is now revamped.
Disclaimer: Cheese.
Chapter 14: It's Time to Wake Up
"Hero of Time! It is time to wake up."
"My mommy said…eating…snakes…are like…eating….wood…"
"Hero of Time! It is time for you wake up!"
"Wood….Do…you….give…birth to it?"
"Come on! The time has come for you to wake up!"
"Saria…Your…voice is….deeper…than…yesterday…"
"Oh, for the love of Nayru…"
Link tried to open his eyes, but he found the task to be comparable to something very difficult. His mind was too hazy to come up with a good comparison, so he settled with that. His eyelids felt like stone, and his limbs felt like limp noodles at his sides. His vision was hazy at the moment and all he could make out was a colorful blur standing before him, snapping at him to wake up. Suddenly, a bonk to the head made the process of waking up much faster.
"Link! You idiot! Wake up!" Navi's annoyed voice pierced the hero's skull and his vision cleared up to see where his disgruntled companion was. She was floating next to him, her blue aura flashing in annoyance. He looked around him and noticed that he was standing on a platform surrounded by other platforms in a sea of blue nothingness.
"Holy Din!" Link exclaimed, throwing his arms up almost losing his balance. "Wait…Why do I sound different? Wait…Who are you? Did I die?"
"Settle down, Hero of Time." the old man standing before him on yellow platform, dressed in red priest robes, reassured. "I am Rauru. I am your ally, one of the ancient Sages."
"Oh! You're old! Does that mean you feel like pie?" Link asked, completely forgetting the fact that he sounded different. Navi slapped him in the back of the head and he yelped. "What's going on?"
"All will be explained in due time, Hero." Rauru explained. "Five years ago, you and your friends opened the door to the Sacred Realm and pulled out the Master Sword from its stone. By doing so, your souls were locked in the Sacred Realm because none of you were old enough to become true warriors."
"Huh?" Link's eyes were wide.
"It's true!" Rauru reassured, gesturing down the blue nothingness, which turned out to be sparkling water of some sort, with his robed arm. "Don't be so alarmed, young man! Look at yourself!"
"Huh…Ah!" Link screamed in surprise at the person staring back at him in the water. Rauru was correct, he no longer was a child anymore and Link didn't need to be a genius to figure that out. He wasn't the tallest person in the world, but skinny arms and baby fat had disappeared and his body was now carved with visible muscle-the fit stature of someone who was athletic. His once-rounded child's face had curved and narrowed into the face of an adult, and while his sky-blue eyes had narrowed too, they still held the innocent gleam of a naïve child. He still wore his green tunic, now grown to fit his new body, and underneath it, he wore a tight white suit. His boots weren't so big and awkward looking and he wore brown, leather gauntlets on his hands. His hat still completed the outfit, but his blond bangs were now longer and more layered. He even had a silver hoop earring on one ear.
"Well, you're certainly not a kid anymore." Navi declared, sitting on his head. "There's quite a view from here, kiddo."
"Navi!" Link seemed to have just now comprehended her existence as he tried to soak in all the other details. "Where is everyone else? Are they okay?"
"We're right behind you, dude." Joey's deeper voice alerted Link and he clumsily spun around, still trying to get used to his new height. His eyes widened at everyone, now adults, standing behind him on platforms.
"You all are so different now!" Link declared cheerfully, looking over each of his friends.
Kaori hadn't grown very much, since she was the shortest and most petite of the bunch. She had a slim figure without many curves, and she had sun kissed skin. She was still quite pretty though, almost cute in a girlish, coy way, with her narrow face and stormy-grey eyes that seemed to now have hints of light blue. Her delicate face and small nose was almost like that of a noble's daughter. Her dark hair was curlier and longer, but it was still pulled back in a ponytail, held back with a purple ribbon. Her outfit was simple, as expected of Kaori, with a lavender, sleeveless top, laced on the ends, with a dark purple jacket over it, tied at the top with a ribbon, which had short sleeves. She wore blue pants and dark purple boots that went to her knees. She had purple earrings in her ears, a ribbon belt around her waist and purple gloves.
Joey had shot up in some sort of belated growth-spurt, as he now towered over the rest of the party by a good foot, and his muscles had grown too to compensate. His face had matured into that of a grown man, and his blond hair had grown out into a layered, messy-sort of look with bangs that fell into his amber eyes. He wore a long, black jacket that went to his knees that was red at the cuffs and collar. It was completely unbuttoned to reveal a simple red shirt underneath. He had on black pants and black boots trimmed with red buttons. He wore red, fingerless gloves and a couple of belts, one of which wrapped around his leg with a storage pack buttoned to it.
Kurama had grown a few inches taller, but not enough to make a glaring difference, and, while he looked mature before, his facial feature reflected the change. His face lost the feminine qualities they had before, but he remained attractive, almost beautiful, in the way his face was flawless. His hair had grown a little longer to compensate the growth, and it seemed to have darkened just a shade. He wore a green jacket that was light green at the cuffs that was a little longer than the average jacket, and underneath that, a light green button-up shirt that was unbuttoned to the chest. He wore slim-fitting, dark green pants and brown boots in a casual style. The only accessory he had was a brown belt around his waist.
Aya retained something of a natural beauty as an adult, having grown taller by a couple of inches and developing a curvy, hourglass figure. Her face held a natural, unblemished kind of prettiness to it, in the soft features of her face, with her chocolate brown eyes more noticeable than before. Her hair had also grown out as well, flowing down to her lower back. She wore a black, sleeveless dress that went to her knees with a skirt that was flowing. It was lined with yellow on ends, near the top and bottom, and she wore a short sleeved, black jacket-shirt, that was semi-transparent. She wore black boots that were yellow around the ankles that went up past her skirt and two long black dress-like gloves, with several yellow bangle bracelet on her left wrist. She had a yellow belt around her waist and a black choker necklace as well.
Katara was beautiful in an exotic way, her skin still a tanned color. She had grown to the same height as Aya, and she was curvy and athletic-looking at the same time. Her clear bleu eyes were still noticeable, and her face had only narrowed a bit to seem more adult and feminine. Probably for convenience's sake, her hair was no longer done in the elaborate, tribal braid of before, but instead was a simple braid, which kept her long, upper-leg length hair in check, which was tied with a simple blue hair-tie, though, two tendrils of hair still hung on either side, holding the silver beads leftover from her previous hairdo. She wore an off-the-shoulders blue and white top that was midriff-baring, but not really revealing, still modest in its own right. She wore a long, blue skirt with a long slit up the left side, revealing her dark blue and white boots that went to a little above her knee. She had white belt around her waist that wrapped a second time around her knee, and had a storage pack buckled to it. She wore two dark blue gloves with white plating on the knuckles, and her black choker necklace with the silver pendant from before.
"Wow!" Link clapped his hands childishly, which slightly clashed with his adult appearance. "You all look so cool!"
"It's nice to see that he's pretty much the same." Kurama said pleasantly, putting his hands in his pockets in the same casual gesture.
"Does this mean I can say cool words like damn?" Link asked Navi. "Because I remember Joey saying cool things like that. Does that make me man?"
"Yep, buddy. Real men cuss." Joey seemed proud.
"Quit tainting him more with your stupidity!" Katara snapped.
"Just because you're older and hot now doesn't mean I'm going to listen to you." Joey looked off to the side.
"I don't know whether to be flattered or grossed out." Katara crossed her arms.
"It's nice to know that after five years in slumber, those two still argue." Navi said.
"Anyways." Rauru interrupted their greetings. "I have some things to explain to you all. You see, five years ago, you six, as children, opened the door of time and pulled out the Master Sword."
"Alright, I understand that much." Aya nodded. "What happened after that?"
"Though you opened the door in the name of peace, Ganondorf was able to enter the Sacred Realm as you all fell into slumber and he seized a piece of the Triforce." Rauru's voice was solemn. "In the time you all have been sleeping, growing and awaiting the day you would become adults worthy of the hero title, Hyrule has become overrun with evil. It has become a shadow of its former glory."
"What?" Joey practically fell of his pedestal.
"I speak the truth." Rauru seemed sad. "The people are terrified and monsters roam the landscape. It is a stormy, dark place."
"That's horrible." Katara looked down.
"We are currently in the Chamber of Sages, in the Temple of Light, in the center of the Sacred Realm." Rauru explained. "This is the safest place from Ganondorf. My powers have been enough to protect the place, and your bodies, as the last stronghold against Ganondorf's evil powers."
"Wow." Joey looked off to side. "You said you were a Sage, right? What are those?"
"The Sages are guardians of the land of Hyrule, in legend." Rauru answered. "The powers of the Sages can be unlocked in their respective temples, but Ganondorf has cursed the five temples in Hyrule, preventing the Sages from hearing their awakening call."
"Go figure." Aya said sarcastically.
"I am already awakened as the Sage of Light, since my temple is not cursed." Rauru said. "Please take this medallion as a symbol of my power, as a token of our alliance!" Rauru held out his hand a glowing, gold medallion rose from his hands and landed in Link's hands. "When you awaken a Sage, you'll receive a medallion, like this one, symbolizing your alliance with that Sage."
"Wait." Joey called out, halting the sage's movements. "What about us? What are the Spirits? Don't we have a right to know?"
"Oh, yes. That." Rauru coughed a bit." The Spirits are the elemental guardians of the Sacred Realm who accompany the Hero of Time on his journey, protecting him. You could say that you all are the hearts of the elements themselves, if that makes any sense."
"So, while you all guard Hyrule, we guard the Sacred Realm?" Aya confirmed. "So, it's this never ending loop of protection then, right? Because we protect you and vice versa."
"Precisely." Rauru nodded. "You all, including Link, were chosen by the Goddesses themselves. The Hero of Time and the Spirits, destined to rescue this land in its darkest hour."
"Sounds pretty spiffy to me." Aya crossed her arms. "I like that title. Spirit of Light."
"Actually, now that I have explained this to you, you should all take these back now." Rauru made a motion, and the five pendants appeared in front of the rest of the party. They took them, staring at the colored gems. "These pendants belong the Spirits. Wear them with pride!"
"Um…Okay." Joey blinked, placing the pendant around his neck with the other Spirits.
"Well then. Off you go!" Rauru snapped and the party landed gracelessly on the stone floor of the Temple of Time, lying next to pedestal the Master Sword was in.
"Anyone else feel like only a few minutes have gone by?" Joey asked, standing up with everyone else.
"Naps are good like that." Link said stupidly.
"I guess you can give Link a hot, adult body but he'll still be a ditzy child on the inside." Navi said, sitting back on the hero's head.
"Hot? Like cupcakes?" Link asked.
"Link, seriously. Shut up." Navi said. "I don't know if I can take you seriously now."
"Huh?" Link's eyes were wide with confusion.
"I have been waiting for you all for a long time." a voice snapped everyone out of their thoughts and they turned to see a shadowed figure in the corner.
"Have the cow demons come back for revenge?" Link whipped out the Master Sword. "They can have my milk and my wife, just don't take my pancreas!"
"…" Everyone, including the shadowed figure, just remained silent.
"Does Link even know what a pancreas is?" Aya turned.
"Probably not." Kaori squeaked, smiling a bit in exasperation.
"Right." the figure stepped into the light. The figure was androgynous, at best, being long and slim, like a female, but having some muscular building the arms, shoulders, and legs, like a male. His voice was deep, like a man's, so it was a he, but he had some shapely, delicate features like a woman. He mostly covered up, though, with a white scarf wrapped around his neck and face, covering the lower half of his face and shoulders, with bandages wrapped around everything his tight, blue body suit didn't. He had a white, bandage-like hat on his head, and messy blond hair covered the right half of his face, obscuring his identity more. All that was noticeable was red, garnet colored eye staring at them.
"Who are you?" Joey narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Kurama obviously sensed nothing bad about the man, as he was calming Link down and telling him to sheath his weapon.
"I am Sheik." Sheik explained, walking closer to them. "I am the one of the last of the Sheikah race, and I am an agent of the Sages, sent to aid you."
"Sweet." Aya said. "Because we have no idea what we're doing right now."
"We don't?" Link turned.
"Seeing as how the old man didn't give us a destination, yeah, we're clueless." Aya retorted.
"It really doesn't make much sense for him to not tell us what to do when we're supposed to save the world." Katara agreed.
"I assume that's what Sheik's job is." Kurama turned to the man, who nodded his head.
"There are five temples hidden in this land." Sheik began cryptically. "One in a deep forest, one in a volcano, one in a vast lake, one in the house of the dead and one inside the goddess of the sand."
"Huh?" Link's eyes were wide again in confusion. Clearly, the cryptic riddle went over his head.
"House of the Dead sounds like loads of fun." Navi said wryly.
"Dead?" Kaori's eyes widened in shock.
"Don't worry about it now." Katara pat the girl on shoulder, smiling.
"That is a legend passed down among my people." Sheik confirmed. "The first temple is a place you've all seen before and know well, the Sacred Forest Meadow. The first sage is a girl you all know."
"Okay. We need to go the Lost Woods then." Navi confirmed.
"However, you are unable to enter the temple as ill-equipped as you are." Sheik said. "You need to find a special device that will allow you to access the temple's entrance. You will find this item in the graveyard in Kakariko Village?"
"Are we pillaging graves like those muscular guys in the pointy hats that I read about in a storybook?" Link asked Sheik like an eager child.
"Not in the right sense." Sheik answered, brushing some hair out of his visible eye. "I wish you all luck. We will meet again." Sheik stepped back and threw down a Deku Nut, disappearing in a flash.
"Okay. He was odd." Aya blinked.
"Are we sure he was a he?" Joey turned. "Did he even have a gender? I didn't notice any boy or girl parts."
"You actually looked?" Katara lifted an eyebrow.
"Well, I was curious. And I wasn't the only one who was, so back off!" Joey declared.
"Let's get out of this stuffy temple before the land become more overrun with evil than it already has." Navi urged, preventing another argument from breaking out. The party complied and left the temple, entering what the guessed used to be Hyrule Castle Town. It was horrifying, to say the least. The burnt remnants of buildings lied scattered haphazardly around the broken square. Some skeletons of old soldiers, they guessed, were thrown like broken, mismatched toys, all over the place. The sky was an ugly, tan color and a black castle stood in the distance in place of majestic Hyrule Castle. Walking around in the citizens' places were ReDeads, who moaned lifelessly in the square.
"Let's get out of here." Navi ordered, taking now time wasted in shooing the group out of the ruined town. They managed to make it out of the town without much incident and walked far enough away from it to feel sunshine in the field again.
"The sun is a welcome change from before." Aya smiled, looking up at the sky. "Before we were put to sleep, we were soaking wet from being out in that storm. And the temple was really cold before, too."
"Yeah, it's really nice to be out in the sunshine again." Katara agreed.
"I'm glad. It was really scary before." Kaori looked down. "At least the field is still pretty."
"For the most part, yeah." Navi agreed.
"Thing weren't looking well the day we disappeared." Kurama said. "People were fleeing the city when we left, so I assume most of the townspeople made it out in one piece."
"I'm glad." Aya sighed. "But if Ganondorf did that to the biggest city in the land, what did he do to everything else?"
"What do you mean?" Kaori turned, a bit urgent.
"I mean, he decimated an entire city." Aya turned. "In one day, that man single-handedly overthrew the royal family. If he did that to Hyrule Castle Town, what did he do the ranch?"
"And the forest, for the matter." Navi said, worriedly. "Or the Gorons. And the Zoras."
"I have a feeling he wreaked havoc everywhere." Kurama nodded his head. "The best we can do is help these places out one at a time."
"I am worried about the ranch, though." Katara turned.
"The things! And the chick!" Link exclaimed in his own, worried way. "What happened to the thing and the chick?"
"I don't know how well Malon would fare against the evil manipulation of Ganondorf." Navi said. "Should we go check up on Malon before we go to the village?"
"I want to see if she's okay." Link said worriedly. "She had nifty things! And she taught me the nifty song!" With Link's somewhat incoherent declaration said, the newly grown party made their way to the ranch.
A/n: Yay. Adults. Wee. I did keep the whole five-years thing, for those who don't know, because it works out better for the ages of all the characters if it's five instead of seven. Since I aged child Link up from ten to twelve, he's still the same age as he his in the game.
Review, please.