The Legend of Zelda: A World Away
A/N: Hello and welcome to my new Zelda fanfic. I have done something like this before, but I wasn't really satisfied with the tone of my other attempt at fanfiction with War Wounds, so I've approached it again, hopefully with a new direction and more Zelda-like atmosphere. I hope you all enjoy, I've got a lot of plans for this.
Chapter 1: Be Brave
"Tell me, Zhara... What do you see?"
"I," Zhara started, seemingly trying to find the words to describe her vision. She sat cross-legged on a woven rug in a dark roundhouse, accompanied by burning incense and an arrangement of stones in front of her. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing was shallow as her caretaker sat across from her, also in the same position. Zhara took a deep breath as her eyes winced.
"Rhona, I-"
"You can do this, Zhara," Rhona replied, encouraging Zhara along in the best way she possibly could. "Just say what comes naturally, the words will find their way. Trust your instincts. Listen… and Watch."
She listened. At first, she heard the drops of the light rain tapping against the thatched roof above her. Then, that sound dampened, and then phased into nothingness. Even Rhona's encouraging voice was lost. It seemed like time stood still to her; she had no idea nor reference for how long she had been there. It just… was. Zhara's eyes opened, and she was no longer in her house. She was somewhere else. Somewhere… different.
In fact, she saw a room. At least, she thought it was a room. There was a wooden floor, freshly lacquered and well taken care of, but there were no walls that she could find. It was as if there was no beginning nor ending to the room, and she was just somewhere in a void. She couldn't find any light source, but the room was lit up with a pale, yet soft and warm light for as far as she could see.
Sitting in front of her, however, was something she didn't expect to see. A wolf with gold fur and a white mane stared back at her. Its red eyes were piercing as it silently stared, studying her. It appeared to be young, almost a pup, but it carried a presence that she couldn't help but be intimidated by. Once the wolf seemed satisfied, it turned around, walking a few feet away from her before turning to look back, almost beckoning her to follow.
"You want me… to follow you?"
The wolf nodded, and Zhara stood up. She took two steps before the nice and clean floor was replaced by a soft snow over hard, frozen, loamy soil of a forest, and the vast endless room was replaced by a thick forest almost instantly. It was jarring at first, but she was made aware that her visions would be. Rhona taught her that. In any other case, she would be ecstatic that she was having a legitimate vision. She had worked hard for this, and now she was reaping the benefits, if she could or even should call them that.
She felt cold, like she just stepped from the humid summer air into Winter in its full rage. She heard the snow compress under her feet as she walked, following the wolf as it led her deeper into the forest. She did not recognize this place, but she trusted the wolf to guide her where she needed to be. It felt like hours, and all was quiet, save for the sounds of her journey. She started to shiver to the cold as she was not ready for a trek like this coming from summer, but she persisted. She needed to see where this led. This is what she trained to do.
Eventually, the wolf led her to a small shrine. She didn't recognize the structure, but it seemed ancient. There was an altar with an indentation that looked strikingly familiar. She subconsciously reached her hand towards the talisman around her neck, tracing its shape with her fingers before finally untying the band around her neck and gingerly placing it in the indentation. She felt the ground rumble as the altar pulsed with a iridescent energy, and then the rumble turned into a loud and jarring shift that knocked her off her feet and onto the snow. She yelped as she hit the ground with a muted thud, the cold from the snow biting into her hands, assaulting them with a familiar burning sensation. The shift started to feel like a quake, shaking ice and snow from the surrounding trees onto the forest floor below.
Zhara's attention turned to a central point behind the shrine, where a large obelisk started rising out from the ground. She got to her feet and approached the shrine with growing curiosity. She saw the wolf sitting patiently, as if it was waiting for her to do something at the shrine, so she turned her attention to the obelisk. It was still pulsating with some energy, and just as if she was going to reach her hand out to touch it, she heard an audible bang as the front popped off of it. She winced at the sound, and when she opened her eyes, she was shocked by what she saw.
There, asleep inside a deep amber-colored crystal, was her. Everything was the same, from the color of her hair to the clothes she wore, it was all the same. She couldn't make sense of it. She turned around to find the wolf to try to ask any question, but the wolf was gone, and instead, there stood a young boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, staring right back at her.
"Who are y-" Zhara started, before a new sensation snapped her from her vision. Heat.
"ZHARA!" A voice called, snapping Zhara's attention back to reality. Rhona was there, trying to grab her and get her back to the real world.
"R-rhona?! What happened?" Zhara asked, before having the question answered for her with the abrasive stench of smoke littering her nostrils. The roundhouse she was in was on fire.
"Zhara, we're under attack, I need to get you to safety, follow me!"
Zhara scrambled to her feet and followed Rhona out of the house. Rhona had armed herself with a bronze-tipped spear, and kept herself close to Zhara as they made their way out of the roundhouse and onto the rain-soaked mud outside. There was a melee outside, of several of her townspeople defending themselves by soldiers attacking on foot or on horseback. It appeared that it was an ambush. An invasion, maybe.
"You are in danger here, do you understand?" Rhona whispered, which earned a nod from Zhara as she tried not to look at the fighting and death outside. While she could try not to see, she couldn't help but hear, and her imagination did the rest. She almost wanted to throw up, but she had to stay strong, at least for now.
"Good, you are going to stay close to me and follow me out to the forest, okay? You'll be safe there."
"Okay."
They broke out into a run as they avoided soldiers, arrows, and spears from all directions. They had almost made it to the outer wall before they were noticed by attacking soldiers, with one of them pointing out their location.
"Over there! There's the Oracle! Grab her!"
Rhona swore under her breath as she grabbed Zhara's hand. Soldiers approached them on both sides, and Zhara started to realize why they were being attacked in the first place.
"Run!"
They ran. Zhara moved as fast as her feet could take here. Faster, even, thanks to Rhona's steadfast grip. A soldier armed with a bronze sword approached on her right, trying to stab at Rhona. She broke the grip, and maneuvered around her attacker, stabbing him through the chest with the spear as she moved. Zhara heard the man's squeal in agony before Rhona let go of the spear, now repurposing the man's sword as her new weapon as she left him standing, already dead, impaled on the spear.
"Keep running, Zhara!" Rhona yelled, snapping Zhara back to attention. They made their way past the palisade and out into the forest. Rain was falling hard, helping mask their disappearance from the village as Rhona led them deeper into the forest. Deep enough for them to feel comfortable striking up a conversation.
"Who were those men, Zhara?!" Zhara yelped out, "Why are they after me?"
Rhona sighed before turning around and putting her hand on Zhara's cheek to comfort her.
"They are men from the Empire. Those with power always want more, and it appears that they want your power next."
"But…"
"We mustn't let men like that wield your power, you are not a tool, okay? You are an oracle," Rhona warned, "You are blessed with a gift from Mahnu to protect this world, do you understand?"
"I do…" Zhara replied, trying to wipe the mud, tears, and rain off her face. She was shaking from the cold, and also from fear, making Rhona frown.
"From now on, I need you to trust me more than ever, all right?" Rhona said, putting her other hand on Zhara's other cheek, "No matter what happens."
Zhara nodded, making Rhona grin. Zhara couldn't quite be sure, but she thought she saw tears falling from her mentor's eyes.
"Let's go."
They traveled for a few more hours in the wet, humid forest. The rain was punishingly cold, but they worked through it before reaching a somewhat familiar location. A shrine, in much better condition than the one she saw previously, was sat out before her. The obelisk was above ground
"No… not this," Zhara choked, realizing where she was and what Rhona's intentions were.
"Zhara, listen to me, I cannot allow these people to capture you." Rhona had suspicions on what Zhara saw in her vision, and all her questions were answered from Zhara's initial reaction.
"I saw this in my vision!" Zhara yelled before Rhona grabbed onto her, holding a lot more firmly than she was previously. "No! Don't put me in there, there must be some other way!"
"We must! Please!" Rhona yelled, before hearing cracks in the forest behind them.
"I think I hear something!" A soldier yelled out, before more noises were heard of soldiers making their way through the forest.
"Shit!" Rhona swore, before picking Zhara up forcefully and placing her inside the obelisk.
"I'm sorry, but this is the only way I can protect you now," Rhona said, "If you saw it in your vision, then it's your fate. You will make it through this. I love you."
"I…" Zhara started, she was already starting to sob at the realization of what was going on, "I love you too."
"Be brave, Zhara. Be brave." Rhona said before pulling off Zhara's talisman, "I will see you on the other side."
Rhona placed the talisman in the center and closed her eyes, "Oh Mahnu, protect your charge and let her light the path for the flame of justice and courage." The altar glowed an iridescent light, one that Zhara recognized, and she felt a warm embrace of air as the world around her slowed down and she was lulled to sleep with an amber crystal forming around her.
"Goodbye, Zhara," Rhona muttered, "Be brave."