Link had her fair share of weird dreams. But this one was really weird.
There was a burst of light with the sound of clattering glass. Something with a blinding glow grew rapidly and made the world turn blazing-hot-white.
Suddenly, all that light vanished, and a pitch-black thing splattered onto walls that definitely weren't present half a second ago. It began to writhe before it vanished as well.
Link saw herself crossing blades with someone. But she looked like she had two more limbs, lashing out like a pair of tentacles. Not one but two swords were thrust towards her opponent's throat.
A small, pale girl was pinned up against a wall by a giant spear in her stomach. Before Link could react, the child pulled the spear out of her body and snapped it in two. She looked up, but dissolved before Link could see her face.
A jet-black arrow sailed through the air. There was the sound of metal clashing and an awful, unmistakable scent of blood. The arrow landed somewhere, but Link couldn't see.
BOOM!
Link jolted awake, her hair still the living definition of a rat's nest. More importantly, she had just heard what sounded like an explosion. She knew it was real because the entire house had trembled. Was Kakariko under attack? Thanking the goddesses for her easy-to-wear clothes, she slipped into her boots, grabbed her(slightly worn) bow and a quiver of arrows, and burst outside.
"What's going on?" she asked as naturally as possible, trying to look like she hadn't just gotten out of bed.
"Well, well, look who overslept." Impa, Link's foster mother, slapped Link's shoulder with a chuckle. Link's hood fell off, revealing her absolutely fabulous bed head.
"Can't you just let me off for once?" Link pleaded, with her best shot at puppy-eyes. Unfortunately, Impa was immune to cuteness. Link was also very bad at puppy-eyes(Romani remained the sole undefeated champion).
"If you woke up on time, you'd know what's going on."
"Fine then. What's going on?"
"One word: Paya."
"...Oh." Link felt like an utter fool. Paya had started trying out new experiments in her lab(read: the basement) a few days ago, and as a result, explosions were heard every now and then.
Fortunately, unlike their aunt Purah, Paya was cautious enough to be prepared for some mistakes.
"Link? Do your hair. Small critters might mistake it for a home."
"'Kay." Link smoothed her pinkish blond hair, but it retained its state of tangled and messy. Link was stubborn, but so was her hair. She wrestled with her pink locks for a solid three minutes while Impa watched in mild interest.
"Don't skip out on training, either!"
"But I'm doing perfectly!"
"Eleanora," Impa's tone carried a warning. The use of Link's alias signaled many things, such as the dangers of being a Hero and the need to be prepared for them. The branching scar that decorated Impa's forehead helped.
'Eleanora' was apparently a late friend of Impa's, but she refused to tell the story. Even Purah, who had a soft spot for short people(even though Link would never call herself short) refused to say a single word.
"...Fine," Link said. She had always hoped that perhaps she would be able to escape destiny's hand, that the Triforce on the back of her hand would have no more significance than the papaya seed on Paya's left butt cheek. It didn't seem likely, but there was no harm in hoping.
"Before you go," Impa stopped Link before she went to do her hair. She pulled something out of her pocket that unfolded with a series of loud clacks. "Here. It's a new bow that Paya designed last night."
Link's jaw dropped. Paya would usually design new arrows, but the bow... in Link's eyes, it was a work of pure art. The string was made of several thin wires twisted together so there was no danger of it ever snapping. Link examined the numerous runes engraved on the bow and the few visible pulleys that probably did something important(Link could ask Paya, but that would kickstart a three-hour long lecture on various mechanisms and how they could be incorporated into bows, swords, and maybe some cooking utensils).
Paya, like her aunt Purah, was all about using Sheikah magic and technology in tandem with other... things. Sometimes they would work beautifully, sometimes they would blow up spectacularly in her face. Link would occasionally act as Paya's guinea pig, and they would blow up in her face instead.
But the bow... aside from the runes, which were thoroughly tested(but you never know), nothing stood out as even remotely dangerous. Link made a mental note to thank Paya later. Even if they weren't related by blood, Link couldn't think of Paya as anyone besides her sister. Aside from Impa and maybe Sheik, Paya was the person who knew Link best. She even knew when Link needed a new bow.
Either that or she just wanted Link to be her next test subject. Link preferred to believe the former.
The new bow, Link had discovered, could fire arrows much further than her old bow. But the string was much tighter, so Link adjusted her fingers by practicing on a reasonably placed, stationary target that was around the size of a dinner plate.
For the first few minutes, that is.
Link had a reputation for getting bored fast, and the second her hands finished adapting to the new weapon, her target lost its 'reasonably placed' characteristic and found itself on the other end of Kakariko Villiage. After her seventh consecutive bullseye on the said target, Link returned to her usual training method.
The target was no longer reasonably placed nor stationary. It was inside a crate, suspended in midair with a rope, hanging from a tree branch. Link's objective was to sever the rope with one arrow, and once the crate broke, pin the bouncing/sliding/rolling target to the ground with another, while in midair.
Link did this five times a day. She fixed her rope and crate every time, too.
It was her usual training method because it was both a fun and challenging way to practice her archery. She wished she could only practice archery, but Impa insisted she had to keep honing her swordplay as well. Link did have a knack for swinging sharp metal, but the sparring with Impa and Sheik was only challenging and not much fun.
Even though Impa had trained Link for a very long time, she was still a nightmare to try and predict. She'd use her naginata like a lance, switch to a horizontal swing, and vault off like an acrobat without warning. Link got her ass handed to her on a daily basis, but Impa always told Link that she was improving day by day, saying that Link kept forcing her to use new techniques.
Sheik was... different. He was fast and slippery, weaving through Link's attacks with ease. He never seemed to go on the offensive, though. But Sheik was never the main problem.
"ELEANORA! DON'T JUST SWING WILDLY! WATCH YOUR POSTURE! YOU ARE A SHEIKAH, NOT A STREET THUG!"
"SHEIK! STOP RUNNING AND STAND YOUR GROUND! YOU HAVE A WEAPON, SO USE IT!"
Impa bellowed orders at the top of her lungs, yelling about all sorts of mistakes Link and Sheik were making, while using Link's alias. Both Link and Sheik knew they had to focus completely on their battle and not anything else, but that was difficult for a number of reasons.
Most of which started with an 'I'.
Shiek held his wooden knife in a reverse-grip, beginning his reluctant attack. Even so, his strikes were quick. Link felt like she was fighting an opponent with four arms instead of two. She was forced into a defensive stance, something she never appreciated. Catching his attacks with her sword and shield was a piece of cake, as even though Shiek was a hair faster than Link in terms of physical speed, her eyes and mind were second to none. Instead of just blocking with her shield, Link took the chance to push back the moment it surfaced.
Shiek stumbled, loosening the grip on his knife.
Link discarded her shield in favor on a two-handed swing known as the mortal draw(which was, contrary to popular belief, possible to counter), which Sheik barely blocked with his wooden knife. But Link did manage to knock the weapon out of his hands and send it spiraling into the grass. She followed up with a claymore-style spin attack, which Sheik dodged by folding himself backward at the price of his balance. Link saw that his eyes were wide with surprise, and knew that if he had been only a little slower, and if she had been using a normal sword, she probably would have cleaved him in half.
Impa's silence showed that she was interested in Link's plan, which was actually nonexistent, as Link always fought her swordfights flying by the seat of her pants.
It worked though.
Link stabbed her wooden sword into the ground to regain her balance, pushed off it for extra force, and planted her boot firmly into Sheik's stomach.
Sheik crumpled to the ground with a low thump. He groaned and sat up slowly, trying to breathe.
"That's enough!" Impa stepped in, but Link already knew she had won.
"Oww... heh. Nice kick. You really channeled your inner Epona there," Sheik said with a grin. Then he winced and grabbed his stomach.
"Sorry... Guess I overdid it." Link struggled to find something else to say. Judging by the look on Sheik's face, so did he.
After eating, chores, another explosion, 'saving' Aunt Purah from the cuccos, getting saved from the cuccos, convincing Cremia that it was a good idea to give Romani some basic archery lessons by saying that aliens might try to abduct the cows, giving Romani some basic archery lessons, coaxing Paya out of her lab, hitting the books(both figuratively and literally), and an argument about who would mow the lawn which Paya won("You got twenty rupees from last week and fifteen from the week before that, it's my turn now,"), Link got some free time for herself at last, even though she would rather be mowing the lawn in hopes of getting a fortune.
She took her sword, shield, and bow to have some fun in the woods.
Faron Woods used to be teeming with monsters, namely bulblins, but ever since Impa had single-handedly slain King Bulblin, they were pretty safe.
According to Purah, bulblins were theorized to be an evolved, superior variant of bokoblin, being both stronger and more intelligent. They were supposedly the smartest type of blin, with moblins being the strongest, miniblins being the fastest and second smartest, and bokoblins just being the runts of the group. But without their leader, King Bulbin, they were unorganized and easy to deal with. There were also rumors that some blins could even read and write, but those were just rumors.
Link hopped over small streams and sidestepped tree roots, humming a little tune to herself. This was where Link belonged, not the enclosed village of Kakariko, but the stretching, unending open world. Here she truly felt free. It didn't have to be Faron Woods specifically, it could be Eldin, Lanayru, or even the bustling city.
"It's getting late," Link murmured. "The moon should come out soon. I'd better get back home in time for dinner."
Link was returning to Kakariko when she noticed a small group of miniblins huddled around something, making their strange miniblin noise. Link checked the sky and decided that she had enough time to satisfy her curiosity. Even if it meant dealing with waves of miniblins. Slowly and soundlessly, she raised her bow.
The miniblins poofed out of existence in typical monster fashion. Link took no time at all noticing the shiny thing on the ground since shiny things just scream for attention. That was an undeniable law of the universe which applied to hylians, miniblins, and all living creatures, moths in particular. This particular shiny thing seemed to demand attention even more than most shiny things, as this shiny thing was a bottle.
A bottle with a fairy inside.
"Huh?"
Link scooped up the bottle and examined the little winged creature. The fairy flapped her wings impatiently.
"Hey there. You wanna get out?" Link pulled on the cork, gritting her teeth and making a noise that could be mistaken for a snoring moblin if one was paranoid enough. The cork came free with a satisfying pop!
"'Kay! Now- wait, what in Farore's name is that?"
A bright yellow mark gleamed over the opening of the bottle, sparking vigorously. The fairy flapped her wings and spoke in an annoyed voice. There was something about the fairy that made Link think of a teenager who wasn't content with anything, despite the fairy having no visible facial features.
"That is the thing that's keeping me stuck in here. Great Fairy's work. Thanks for getting rid of that stupid cork, though. I haven't had any fresh air in here for ages. And I mean ages."
"The Great Fairy put you in this bottle?"
"Yeah, because I wasn't 'acting like a proper fairy' or whatever. I'm just smart enough to ask questions! Tell me, do you think we fairies should have to sacrifice our lives to save others? I'm not saying that saving others is a bad thing, but there's only meaning in self-sacrifice when it's not forced! It's called self-sacrifice, not forced-sacrifice! In fact, one human is expected to spend countless fairies! How is that fair?! Fairies shouldn't be spent in the first place!"
"I, uh, I suppose it's pretty messed up," Link admitted.
"Finally! Someone who agrees with me and is capable of basic logic! All lives should be considered equal, everyone knows that, right?! But why aren't fairies included?! We shouldn't be treated like living potions! We fairies need..." The fairy launched into a speech about equality, equity, and fairy rights, which Link completely failed to keep up with. She used her wings like a politician would use their hands, making large gestures both to help with understanding and simple dramatic effect.
"Thank you for listening," she said with a small bow(she put one wing in front of her and tilted her body), "What's your name?"
"Uh... Eleanora."
"Alright, Eleanora, I'm Ishtar! Ishtar the fairy!"
Link shrugged and said, "I guess it's not hard to remember. Better than Oman Au. I always mess that one up."
Ishtar snorted. "You're just not trying hard enough... pfft." She stretched her wings and said, "Hey, but is the sun only setting now? The sky's all reddish... Those miniblins kinda made me lose track of time, but I thought-" Ishtar stopped mid-sentence and screamed, "BLOOD MOON!"
Link looked up and looked back down just in time to cut down the rising miniblins with a hasty spin attack.
"Run, run, run!" Ishtar shrieked. "They're all coming back!" Link followed Ishtar's advice, clutching the bottle tightly in her hand.
"The blood moon?! It's real?! I thought it was just a fairy tale!"
"You are literally talking to a fairy right now, is 'fairy tale' really the right phrase?! And yes, use your eyes, it's obviously real!"
Link raced through the woods frantically until the sound of a horn cut through the air. She had heard that horn before, on the day Impa had killed the-
SNAP!
A huge boar crashed through the trees, trampling small bushes, its eyes full of malice. Riding atop it was the one monster Link wished she would never have to see again, King Bulblin.
Years ago, the entirety of Faron Woods was terrorized by bulblins. Surprisingly clever, they had impressive teamwork which they used to expand their territory with efficiency. Kakariko Village was the only place where the bulblins hadn't taken over. They attacked over and over but were defeated by the Sheikah every time. Until King Bulbin came in, blowing his horn.
Link had been only nine, but she had taken a bow and managed to shoot one of the bulblins nonetheless. She was feeling incredibly proud of herself when she looked into the red eyes of King Bulbin. She'd frozen up, seeing the massive battle axe. Only because many people had charged to fight King Bulblin was she able to survive. Those people had held back the monsters while Purah led Link, Paya, and other children away from danger.
The next time Link saw those people, they were either unrecognizable or unbreathing.
Impa was the best warrior in all of Kakariko, so she went alone to fight King Bulblin one-on-one, despite Purah, Paya, and Link's protests. Link and Paya had huddled up with their aunt, hiding out of sight until Impa returned from their fight, her naginata covered in blood. Her naginata wasn't the only thing covered in blood, either.
Link's legs shook in fear. Her mind was screaming at her to run, but she stood still like a paralyzed deer.
The king urged his boar forward.
Only Impa could kill King Bulblin. Only Impa. The best of the best. I could only run away.
The images of the injured and dead flashed before Link's eyes. Her own image overlapped with theirs.
Run, run, run! Ishtar's words echoed in her ears. Maybe the fairy was actually yelling, but it seemed so distant.
Run!
The last cry didn't sound like Ishtar... more like herself. Or...
King Bulblin raised his axe, which glinted scarlet in the moonlight, as if it was already, or still stained with blood. But that didn't make sense...
Run? Link repeated the word in her head.
"ELEANORA!"
Fight.
King Bulblin turned his head in the direction of Paya's voice. Paya blanched and made an appropriate squeak, but she had brought Link to her senses. That axe was clean. It would stay clean.
"HEY! I'M STILL HERE, YOU OVERGROWN, MOLDY PIECE OF BURNED BACON!" She dashed in front of King Bulblin, placing herself between Paya and the monster(She wasn't sure if he counted as a pig, but for whatever reason, he looked like one).
Link wasn't sure if the king had understood exactly what she had said, but he sure didn't seem happy. Out of the corner of her eye, Link thought she saw her left hand glowing faintly.
He roared in defiance, only to get an arrow to his forehead.
It didn't actually pierce his skull, so it just sat there like the horn of a very strange unicorn. Paya did the smart thing and ran while she still had a chance.
Link had willingly given up that chance, so she had to at least last until Impa or even Sheik came to help, and then-
No.
She would fight to kill. To win. Not to let others fight for her, or even with her. That was not her objective.
Link needed to protect her family.
Link glared at King Bulblin, allowing herself to feel a little satisfaction at the thin trail of blood trickling between his little beady eyes. She dug her feet into the ground, spreading her legs apart into a more balanced posture to send a universal message, she would not back down.
"You. Are. Crazy." Ishtar hissed, now shoved into Link's pocket.
"Thanks for the support, Ishtar."
Link fired another arrow, this time at the boar, but it bounced off the right tusk harmlessly. Link rolled to the side, only grazing her clothes on the king's axe.
"Think, think, think, think..." Link muttered to herself. Her only weapons were her bow and her sword, and even though she didn't feel like getting within swinging range, her arrows wouldn't be much help if they couldn't harm either monster. If she could position herself well enough, maybe she could kill the boar. Her shield wasn't going to be much help against the heavy swings of King Bulblin, so she didn't have much room for mistakes. At any rate, she still needed to bring the fight to the ground.
Using an impressive series of incredibly flashy backflips, Link dodged the boar again. Then it occurred to her, King Bulblin didn't have any ranged attacks. He had only one form of offense, and that was charging with his boar.
Link gave the king a quick scan. He was right-handed, he couldn't bend his back very well, and needed to keep one hand on the reins at all times. The axe was huge, powerful, and most importantly, limited. He could only perform horizontal and diagonal swings, as vertical ones would crack the boar's skull. King Bulblin also couldn't attack anything too close to the ground, that was the job of his mount.
Link knew how to take out enemies who charged, especially when most of them were right-handed. Her being left-handed helped tremendously as it allowed her to slip through their defenses with ease. This was no different, except that her foe was at least five times stronger than what she was used to.
She quit her cartwheels and drew her sword.
"Come on," she said, beckoning him closer, "Time to play."
King Bulbin blinked as if he didn't understand the phrase or the gesture.
Link thought for a moment and flipped him a much more colorful sign, calling him something unspeakable.
He seemed to get the message.
"LANGUAGE!" Ishtar bellowed, which was both appropriate and inappropriate as a reaction.
"Seriously? Now?" Link asked, which was a completely appropriate reaction.
The boar raced forward, kicking up dirt. King Bulblin raised his axe, ready to swing to his right. Link didn't dodge, instead, she dug her feet into the ground. While it looked like she was going to try to block with her shield, Link wasn't stupid enough to do something that was no different from suicide.
Link jumped to her right(aka the king's left) and buried her blade into the boar's side. The beast's momentum rendered stopping impossible, and as such, Link's sword made a huge gash. The Sheikah has to use all of her strength to keep herself from being carried away.
"Ugh..." Link rose back up to her feet, her arms sore and aching. Her left was now patterned with dark red. The boar crashed and skidded, throwing King Bulblin several feet. When Link turned around, the sight of the heaving creature surrounded by pooling blood made her wince. Link didn't usually get guilty about slaying monsters, but the way she had sliced it open was downright brutal.
That guilt nearly killed her.
The axe only grazed her stomach, but Link could feel the winds from the powerful swing. Now she understood Sheik's expression whenever she barely missed him. Except that King Bulblin's weapon wasn't made of wood, and would definitely kill her if he landed a blow.
King Bulblin made another swing, which Link dodged. Link had several advantages, she was small, fast, and reckless. She dipped in and out of his range, tossing in a few sword strikes of her own. Several shallow cuts joined the arrow on Link's list of accomplishments, but she was getting nowhere fast.
King Bulblin made his first vertical swing, embedding the axe in the ground. A web of thin cracks appeared on the earth's surface, where the Sheikah had been standing mere seconds ago. Link stared, both mildly intimidated and intrigued.
The king pulled his axe from out of the ground.
Link grinned. She'd missed her timing, but that didn't matter. She knew what to do.
"Come and get me, you-" She called him something even worse.
That did the trick.
King Bulblin charged(if you could call it that) over to Link and made another swing. Link gave up on keeping her distance while she wove around King Bulblin's attacks, waiting for her time to strike.
Link dove under the axe, positioning herself for what looked like a jab at his legs. But it was actually a masquerade, a sly invitation to bring down the axe once more.
King Bulblin took the bait. He slammed his weapon down.
Link rolled off the ground just in the nick of time. The Triforce on her hand blazed gold, and Link felt a surge of power run through her. She stomped down on the axe, sticking it deep into the earth, up to the shoulder. She made a spin attack straight at King Bulblin's neck.
Thunk.
"Wha..." Link stared at the arrow in disbelief. She couldn't accept it. Deep, red, and warm blood spilled onto the ground. "No fair... I won!" She growled in anger and frustration. Her arms trembled and her hands loosened as she stared at King Bulblin. Her sword was less than an inch away from his throat.
"Eleanora? Is this... blood?" Ishtar's trembling voice was the final nail in the coffin.
Link's legs gave way, unable to deny the arrow sticking out of her chest any longer. The last thing she remembered was lying in a pool of her own blood, next to the lifeless boar.