Silent Realms! *silent screaming*
Enjoy and read on!
It was one thing to see the ocean for the first time, but it was another experience altogether to be completely submerged in it.
Link held his breath for as long as he could, then realized that oxygen was strangely and suddenly available. His head whipped from side to side, taking in the scene before him. His boots sank into the murky sand of the ocean floor, the water cloudy and dark as he walked deeper and deeper into the water. Currents drifted past lazily, billowing his clothes out before him. Carefully Link fished the Pirate's Charm out of his pocket, and the stone cast a bluish glow about him, barely enough to illuminate the navy water.
Finally his inner compass stopped and he stood on a raised sandbar, tendrils of coral clawing their way to the light all around him. The world was dark and utterly quiet, the only sound the rush of the water around him. Every motion was alien – whenever he moved a limb his body seemed to reach too slowly, then reach out to far in an awkward dance across the sand. The sandbar he stood on didn't seem special by any means, but Link drew the Master Sword, tying the Pirate's Charm around the sword's hilt. For luck.
Remembering Orielle's advice, Link raised the sword above his head. The combined light of the blade and the Pirate's Charm cast a glow like a shaft of sunlight across the ocean floor, details and shadows swirling through the rippling light. Tightening his grip on the sword's hilt, Link aimed the Master Sword for the center of the sandbar and plunged the weapon into the silt up to the hilt. Sand billowed away from the point, settling in the folds of his clothes and across the water.
Nothing happened.
"Just perfect." Link groaned, his voice echoing in the eerie timbre of the water. He was about to tug the sword out and try again when a strange sensation filled him, like cold water draining down his back. Strange blue light, like a thousand will-o-the-wisps, surrounded him, filling the water with a blazing blue light. Link was blinded by the searing light, and when he opened his eyes again he was in a different place altogether.
The world appeared to be make of light, pulsing slowly and erratically across rising dunes of sand and slopes of cliffs. It was like the very air was holding its breath, a knot of panic growing in Link's stomach. His hand tightened on the Master Sword and he observed the scene in a new light. The rolling dunes seemed oddly sinister, the everything oddly out of proportion and decidedly alien.
"Good, you made it here." A voice echoed in the silence, reverberating a thousand times in Link's ears. He jumped about a foot in the air, kicking up sand over a pattern on the ground he hadn't noticed before. An electric blue circle surrounded him, its diameter about as wide as he was tall, intricately decorated with runes and a design not unlike the petals of a flower.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." The voice spoke again, this time with a tinge of exasperation. Link raised the Master Sword, turning in a slow circle and now mindful of the design on the ground.
"Who are you?" He shouted, pointing the sword in all directions. "I warn you, I'm armed!"
The voice released a languid sigh. "I have eyes, you know. Aren't you so special with that pretty little toothpick there? This is me, astonished."
Link rolled his eyes. Just what he wanted – his first time in a silent realm and Kindel had somehow followed him in. Now he could listen to sarcastic comments while he made a fool of himself.
"As for the question on who I am, does it really matter?"
Partly to stall for time Link mulled over the question. "Well, I guess not."
"Now that we've cleared that up, let me properly introduce myself. You see, I wouldn't be needed if you had a sword spirit. You don't happen to have a sword spirit, do you?"
Link glanced down at the Master Sword, which stayed stubbornly silent. "I don't think so." He wondered what the Master Sword's spirit would be like – probably a trigger-happy badass.
"Then we'll have to make do. I'll be helping you out with your silent realm experience. Trademarked by the golden goddesses, mind. You and your new-fangled technologies! Back in my day we had sword spirits. Anyways, back to the point. This is your first silent realm, isn't it?"
Link nodded slowly, sheathing the Master Sword. "Sure is."
The voice chuckled in a somewhat sinister tone. "Oh, it's always hilarious to watch them blunder through the first one. I'm sure the Guardians and the Watchers enjoy it too. If they talked, of course, and weren't too busy trying to gore the Heroes with spears and such."
Staggering back a step, Link viewed the area with even more caution. The knot of panic in his stomach felt more like a basketball now. "Wait, what?"
"Oh, are they not here yet. Just a second. You know, if you had brought a sword spirit..." The voice grumbled. Almost immediately a change was cast over the area. The brilliant light dimmed to a muted, yet still eerie glow, but a new feature of the landscape was easily more terrifying.
Massive creatures patrolled the area, each armed with weapons and instruments more horrifying than the last. Beasts with dog-like faces and brawny bodies stood upright, cloaked in armor and standing perfectly still. Every limb seemed stretched out of proportion, a little too long to be normal. Their hanging faces were drawn and perfectly blank, expressionless as they waited.
A floating being ran circles around the area Link stood in, bobbing up and down. Most of its body was covered in a long robe, and ghostly hands clenched a rod from which hung a sort of spotlight. The light bathed a perfect circle of sand in light blue, a stark contrast to the now-dimmed light that formed the other features of the silent realm.
"I'm screwed."
"There's that positivity I love." The voice drawled. "Let me explain to you what's going to happen, okay?
"Have at it, dude."
"Thank you. Since this is your first time in a silent realm, let me show you some of the features you're going to see in your journey. The tall twig-men? Those are Guardians. Once you step out of the protective circle or step in waking water they'll be on your tail. Those double-swords? Unless you want to be mincemeat you'd better run hella fast. See, I'm catching up on the modern slang!
"Then, over there with the lantern, those are the Watchers. I'd advise you to stay out of this spotlight. And you see over there?"
Link crossed his arms, biting back his growing irritation. "You're a disembodied voice. I can't see what you're pointing at."
"Right, of course. Well, over there beyond that small hill, by that large rock? That's waking water. You can see how the Guardians and Watchers are placidly waiting for the beginning of your trial? Step in that water and they won't be to so patient anymore.
"And finally, see the small glowing thing in front of the rock?"
"You're a poet, really." Link rolled to the back of his heels, feeling the budding pressure of the task at hand.
"Those are tears of light. Oh, I should give this to you." With a burst of light a flower bloomed in front of Link, petals a ghostly white that matched the eerie light of the tears and the Watchers. "You'll use this to collect the tears. The tears stop the Guardians' and the Watchers' violent rampage, which is a plus. There's also light fruit scattered around, which will project beacons above the remaining tears. Pretty useful, huh?"
"Forgive me if I don't applaud." Link muttered, wishing for nothing more than to draw his sword and gut the strange voice.
"You're a riot, Hero. Can I continue? There's a catch, though."
"I just adore catches." Link growled, starting to pace within the circle.
"The tears of light will stall the Guardians and Watchers... Temporarily."
Link's heart dropped to his feet. "What?"
"You're have ninety seconds to collect another tear, or they'll awaken again." The voice spoke slowly, almost apologetically.
"Let me get this straight. I get a tear, then have ninety seconds to find another one. If I don't the demonic beings will string my guts out like a clothesline. How many tears are there?"
"Oh, just ten. Nothing too hefty." The voice replied with a tone close to levity.
"Great." Link spat, then looked up at the sky. "Can I at least call you something?"
"What?"
He shrugged, attempting to make light of the situation. "Well, if I need to ask you a question it's kind of awkward to go, 'Hey, Disembodied Voice!' A little too lengthy, if you get what I mean."
"I agree," The voice mused. "Well, what do you want to call me?"
Link twisted his features in a look of mock concentration. "I dunno. Fred has a nice ring to it."
The voice – Fred – gave a loud groan. "I, a treasured adviser of the golden goddesses, who has watched Heroes save the realm for millennia, am finally given a name. And you choose Fred? Why not something epic, like Stormbringer or Reaper?"
"How about Armageddon?" Link proposed, smiling slightly despite the anxiety clawing at his stomach.
"I agree from now on I shall not be dubbed Fred –" Link could almost imaging the voice shuddering – "But Armageddon!"
"It's got a nice ring to it too. So, when do we start this silent realm business?" Link drew the Master Sword, eyeing the nearest Guardian apprehensively. Maybe if I can aim for the opening in their robes...
"One last thing." Armageddon sounded relieved when he spoke, having dodged a bullet with the name business. "You'll have to leave the Master Sword with me."
"What?" Link yelped, reaching back for the hilt of the sword.
"Is that all you can say? 'What?' 'What?' That should be your name..." Armageddon mused, and Link shook his head firmly. His hand grasped empty space where the Master Sword should have been, and he turned to see the scabbard and weapon vanish in a flash of ghostly light. "You must understand, you will be defenseless in the silent realm. This is a trial of spirit, not swordplay."
Link's breath caught in his throat and he forced himself to stay calm. This was exactly what he had been fearing: alone and afraid in a strange and alien world, where creatures lurked with the sole purpose to destroy him. He had no support, no items to help him, and even the native disembodied voice couldn't assist him in any way. Sweat pricked his palms and the air seemed unusually frigid.
"If you're going to faint, try to faint inside of the circle. That way the Guardians don't decapitate you." Armageddon added unhelpfully.
Link's boot nudged something in the circle and he pried open his eyes to see the Pirate's Charm lying on the sand, half-buried. He slipped it around his neck, feeling the stone settle against his frantically beating heart.
If Zelda were here she would probably make fun of him first and foremost, then say something reassuring. He could almost imagine her standing next to him, glowing with the spirit-essence that dappled the silent realm in pulsing light.
But Zelda was gone. Her jokes and reassurances had been stolen from him an in instant.
And whose fault was that?
Armageddon butted in again, voice resounding and rippling through the air. "Were you wondering how you can breathe? Just came to me. That would be your Korok friend – wonderful magic they've got, by the way. Since your physical body is still underwater you might want to get a move on. Before your miniscule companion can't keep up the spell and you drown with your spirit trapped in the silent realm forever. On the plus side, you'd get to listen to the sound of my voice for the rest of your life! A win-win, right?"
Link closed his eyes briefly, shutting out the silent realm for a second more. His hand tightened on the Pirate's Charm, feeling a small bloom of warmth that emanated from the stone's core. For you, Zelda, anything.
"I can do this." He muttered, walking to the edge of the circle.
"That's the spirit! Get it? Spirit, spirit realm... Well, I thought it was funny." Armageddon sounded sullen, not a promising sentiment.
Link scanned the area, spotting a tear of light relatively quickly. The tear was about the size of his fist, with a sort of tail on the top this did add to the idea of a 'tear.' It glowed brightly, casting a warm light about it in an almost welcoming sense. Without another thought he stepped forward to the edge of the circle when Armageddon interrupted yet again.
"Now, just think about this for a second. You don't want to regret this, do you? Be careful with your next move."
"Shut up." Link replied coolly, then jumped over the protection circle and into the silent realm.
Immediately the mood of the world shifted. Everything was thrown into relief, doused in scarlet red, violent purples and blues that shifted and thrashed across the landscape and the sky. The Guardians and the Watchers jolted upright, heads snapping up and latching onto Link. Beams of light from their eye sockets pinned onto his chest, armor-plated fingers tightening on swords and massive clubs. Adrenaline pounded through his body as the Guardians sprang forward, holding their weapons aloft and sprinting towards him with impossible speed.
For one horrifying second Link was paralyzed by fear, unmoving as the nightmarish creatures advanced toward him. They seemed to swell and grow in size, the world spinning beneath him as the all-too-real apparitions came closer. With difficulty he forced himself to move and leaped for the tear, hand latching onto the glowing object as the fell to the sand.
It was as if a switch was flipped – the Guardians and Watchers froze where they stood, relaxing into their passive stance. The colors of the world shifted to the same muted grays and blues. Link's heart throbbed with fear and adrenaline, his breath short and eyes wild. Slowly he picked himself up from the ground, feeling the sand slide from his clothes. A few paces to his left hovered a different shape, unlike the tears of light but with the same glowing aura. He jogged over to it and brushed it with a finger. Across the landscape beacons leaped into the air.
Past one of the waiting Guardians was one of the beacons and he ran past, acutely aware of the seconds slowly ticking away. The dune abruptly dropped off to a sheer cliff face and Link turned to climb down, hands gripping the rock. The cliff wasn't a tall one, but the descent seemed to take years as Link worked his way down the rock face. He nearly fell about a half-dozen times, but the tear at the bottom was reward enough. Frantically he climbed back up the cliff and continued his search.
The beacons had vanished by the time Link reached the top of the cliff, but he happened upon a tear half-hidden behind a patch of boulders. The landscape looked oddly familiar as he reached the top of the boulders to survey for more tears. The forms of Guardians stood like pillars across the rolling waves of sand, the only movement the shift of the ghostly light and the bobbing bodies of the Watchers as they patrolled.
"Recognize it?" Armageddon's voice boomed in the quiet and Link groaned with frustration.
"Can you respect that fact that it's called a silent realm? Leave me alone!"
"Harsh, for Nayru's sake! Um, sorry, Nayru. Just trying to be helpful here."
Sliding down from the top of a boulder, Link continued his journey down the slope of a particularly daunting dune. "It would help if you would tell me where all the tears are. Or, you know, just give them all to me."
"What would be the fun in that? I was just about to tell you that this is the Sandsea Desert."
As soon as Armageddon mentioned it Link wondered how he hadn't noticed. The landscape was familiar because he had wandered it for so long with Zelda. The only changes were the fact that the desert was transformed into an alien, blue-glowing trial for Heroes of Time... And that he was alone this time.
Taking a step forward, Link leaned over a dune to peer down in the sandy valley, searching for more tears of light. Immediately the sole of his boot splashed into a pool of liquid and his heart electrified with panic. The sky flashed from mellow blue to violent red and the heads of the nearest Guardians snapped upright with an audible click.
"I'd watch your step if I were you..." Armageddon warned.
"You tell me now?" Link yelped, then took off running with two Guardians in hot pursuit, swords held aloft.
This week's donations go to the psychiatric rehabilitation of past Heroes who had to face the horrors of the silent realm. Respect, man. Respect.
HEY thank you all so much for 100 reviews! Respect, man. Respect. *tips hat*
I guess that's all for now? Until next time!