(Edited 6.30.20)
Lone Survivor
Though she knew it to be mid-afternoon, one could not tell the time of day by looking at the sky due to the thick fog that blanketed the coast. From their perspective on a bench at the edge of the sand, she and her brother were able to see the entirety of Ordon Bay.
"Zeric, the very reason we come out to Ordon and the coast is to escape our political lives and get some peace and quiet. Please, can we discuss His Majesty another time?"
"His Majesty? He's our uncle, Zelda. The mere fact that he demands us refer to him formally in even the most informal of occasions is significant of a problem. Can you not see that he has changed? The kindly man we once knew is all but gone. Even father can see it. Why do you refuse?"
"Zeric," she looked at him pleadingly, her bright blue eyes searching his for a sign of relent. After a moment, he sighed and shrugged, shaking his head slowly and running a hand through his groomed sandy locks.
"I'm sorry. It's just… I am afraid of the future," he explained, gazing past the sandy beach of Ordon, out over the gray waves, and beyond the limits of the small Ordon Bay, "and Uncle Ghirahim's behavior has somewhat startled me of late." The two royal siblings shared a moment of silence, each deep in their own thoughts. "Do you remember the time when he had a commoner sent to the gallows for stealing bread for his starving family? I could understand maybe a spell in the stocks or something of the like, but the hangman's noose? He rules with an iron fist, Zelda. Hyrule was once a peaceful land where the punishment fit the crime. Also, the mere fact that the people are starving is a sign. Can't you see that we need new leadership? Father would never rule this way. Ghirahim's taxes crush the people's spirit. Half the farmers can't afford them and end up having to give up most their harvest; you know this. Why must your turn your head and choose to ignore their suffering?" This time, Zelda didn't respond so quickly. They were both absentmindedly watching a brig sail around the southwest cape of the bay and head toward the harbor, gliding smoothly over the gray waves.
"Zeric, Uncle Ghirahim is a fine King. Criminals are criminals, dear brother. Besides, the people were born into the peasantry; they are not the same as us. We musn't worry about their troubles, we're better than them. His Majesty is still the kindly, white haired old uncle we've always known." As she looked from the sea and back to her brother, another ship seemed to materialize from out of the fog, and Zeric could see that she wasn't completely convinced by her own words. The ships were probably a mile or two off still, but they were able to tell that the brig bore the Hyrulean crest upon her sails; the mythical golden Triforce set in a red circle. They could not tell what the second ship was yet, and their minds were deep in thought regarding their family's political status.
"Zelda, have you not met a commoner? They're not as different as you might think. I can't help it, but I know I would steal bread if my family was starving. I—"
"Zeric."
"I'm serious, Zelda," he said sternly, looking at her. His eyes pleaded with her to agree. She sighed.
"I know, but..." She drifted off, not able to find the correct words. "It's not the same," she said, still troubled.
Suddenly, a deep BOOM rang out across the bay, followed by another, and another. Momentarily, the vicious crack of small arms fire carried to them over the waves. Both the young nobles stared out across the water in shocked alarm. The second ship had caught the brig, and was now firing upon it. They could just make out the flag it flew: a lone white cutlass on a field of black.
"Pirates," Zeric whispered. They watched as the two ships engaged one another in combat from their spot on the beach. The pirate ship, now evident as a galleon, far outgunned the smaller brig, and shortly, the fore mast of the navy ship lurched violently and toppled sideways across the two ships. At this point, a few Ordonians who had heard the cannon fire ran up from behind, joining Zeric and Zelda, and looked out anxiously, hands shielding their eyes.
"Goddesses..." Zelda breathed, astonished at the sight of the massive mast crashing down across both ships' decks. After the few onlookers had been watching in horrified silence for another couple minutes, the brig suddenly keeled severely to one side, and it was evident that the pirate galleon had won the day.
"Oh, Gods…" whispered a woman standing beside Zelda.
Zeric reached inside his coat and produced a small spyglass. He rose to his feet, and extending it to its length, peered through it out at the ships. He always brought it with him when he and his sister came to the coast in case there were any whales breaching.
The two ships had drifted much closer, and Zeric was able to see the goings on fairly well.
"The pirates are boarding the brig," Zeric whispered.
"What will happen to the crew?" Zelda asked breathlessly. She had never witnessed a naval battle before, nor had she ever considered what might become of the men who lost such a battle.
After a few seconds, Zeric looked back at her disdainfully for a moment. "It's a battle. The losers die!"
"No, no, I mean after the battle; the survivors. What happens to them after they surrender?"
"Ah." Zeric considered this. "Well, either the pirates will murder them in cold blood or perhaps throw them overboard i suppose. Oh you know what? They probably take some of them and hold them for ransom. I've heard of that before," he continued. "Wait, the pirates are leaving the other ship now, and quite hastily at that. I say, two of them are carrying a great chest! They've taken no prisoners..."
They watched for a couple minutes in silence, still shocked at the sudden outburst of violence. Soon, the rogue galleon was distancing itself from the now-sinking brig. Then, it vanished into the fog, and only the stricken navy ship remained, nearly capsized over her port side.
"I can hardly believe that we just witnessed that," Zelda said, still breathless. Zeric remained quiet however, still peering through his spyglass out at the wreckage. After he had been silent for nearly a minute, Zelda looked up at him.
"Zeric?" she prompted. After a moment of silence, she tried again. "Zeric... Zeric what is it?"
"I think there's someone swimming toward us."
"What?" Zelda asked, surprised. Zeric did not answer, however, since he knew she had heard him. Not able to hold back her curiosity, she stood up as well, stepping forward and straining at the gray waves to see if she could spy a person beyond the surf. After a few moments, her efforts rewarded her with a glimpse of two heads bobbing above the water. One was abnormally white and slippery looking; almost bearing a blue tint. The other head was covered in dirty blonde hair, though obviously it was slicked to the head from the water. The two were coming closer now, breaching the breakers and coming to shallower water. Then, the white being was carrying the man through the surf. Both Zeric and Zelda gasped as the rescuer came out of the water.
He had massive fins on his arms and even hanging from his head. He was naked and completely white; his skin looked almost like a fish's scaly skin. In his eyes, no whites or irises were visible, only the black of pupils.
"A... Zora?" Zeric whispered. Both he and his sister stared in awe. Neither of them had ever seen a zora in real life; they had only heard tales of them. In his arms was a bloody sailor. The man hung unconsciously in the zora's arms. The zora looked up at them and back down at the hylian in his arms. He strode up the beach to where the water didn't reach and set the sailor down.
"Care for this man," he commanded quietly. Zeric and Zelda both simply gaped at the zora as two Ordonian villagers took off through the sand to reach the wounded seaman. The white being then retreated to the waves and vanished beneath the bay. The mystical zora gone, their attention finally switched to the unconscious man lying supine in the sand. They rushed forward, Zeric one step ahead. The sailor was clad in the uniform of the Royal Navy, wearing a loose white poet shirt belted under navy blue canvas pants. Normally he would have had a thick red cotton jacket to complete the uniform, but obviously his had been discarded at some point.
"Farore... Look at his head," a man was saying as Zeric and Zelda arrived to examine the man. There was a gash in his scalp from which crimson seeped into his already saturated hair, and a deep wound in his shoulder. Zelda gazed upon the sailor's visage. He had sharp features from his chin to his pointed hylian ears to even his eyebrows, and he had a small blue ring in each ear. Stubbly growth of blonde hair covered his jawline. Doubtlessly, his facial hair had grown during his time at sea.
"We should take him to Mayor Bo at once," a heavy-set woman said, glancing at the other man kneeling beside the sailor.
He nodded emphatically, "Good idea, Sera. You run ahead and let him know I'm coming, and I'll carry this poor fellow there." The woman named Sera then rose to her feet, picked up her skirts, and ran by Zelda and Zeric who were standing a few meters back. So the man scooped up the unconscious sailor in his arms and began to carry him back up the beach.
"Excuse me, mister," the man said as he approached Zeric and Zelda. Zeric glanced subtly at Zelda to see that she was drawing breath to scold the man for not referring to them by their titles, but he shook his head faintly, gesturing to her attire. Then she remembered that there was no way the stubby Ordonian could know that they were royalty, since they disguised themselves as peasants on their coastal excursions. She stood seemingly frozen in her spot as the Ordonian drew close.
The unconscious sailor moaned softly as the Ordonian passed by, and Zelda's right hand suddenly felt warm. Confused, she looked at it, and saw that her golden tattoo glowed faintly, but as abruptly as it had begun, it ceased, and the Ordonian continued to trudge through the sand further up the beach. Shaking it off as an illusion, Zelda hurried to catch up with her brother, who was following closely.
As they reached the end of the sand and began passing into the village proper, they encountered a few more people watching the stricken brig slip beneath the waves, and staring curiously at the unconscious man being carried through the village.
"Zeric," Zelda said quietly, laying a hand on her brother's shoulder.
"What?"
"This man is none of our business. I think that he will be taken care of well by the Ordonians. I wish you would leave them alone so we can go…"
"Are you kidding? That soldier just survived a pirate attack! and did you not see his ears? Hylians are getting rarer and rarer; are you not interested to know who he is?" Zeric brushed her hand off his shoulder and turned to keep following the man burdened with the sailor. Reluctantly, Zelda followed her brother. Momentarily, they were approaching a slightly larger house than the others, and the door burst open just as they were drawing near. Out of it came the woman named Sera followed closely by a massive man.
"Jaggle! What have we here?!" The Mayor of Ordon spoke as loudly as he was large. Stepping down off his porch, he regarded the unconscious sailor in Jaggle's arms.
Behind Jaggle and around the two royals, a small crowd had gathered, all curious about the wounded man.
"Will anyone allow this navy man to bed in their home until he is conscious again and can be on his way?" The immense Mayor searched the inquisitive faces before him, but no one spoke up. After giving the Ordonians a few more seconds, he shrugged. "Well, no matter then, he can rest and recover in my home."
"By Din's Holy Fire, it's Link!" One man who was peering extra closely at the unconscious seaman shouted, and at this declaration, the Ordonians all reacted. Most uttered brief outcries and attempted to get a closer look, while others simply sat back but looked bewildered. Zeric and Zelda for their part just shot one another a confused look, then gazed back at the villagers and gave them space.
"Nayru's Love, it is Link!" a woman confirmed the other man's revelation.
"After all these years, he's finally returned," one man said excitedly from Zelda's left.
"I never would have recognized him with a beard," another mused.
"He's changed so much," a young woman beside Zeric murmured.
Zelda stepped closer to Zeric and got up on her tippy-toes, reaching her mouth up to whisper in his ear. "Can we please go? I feel uncomfortable being amongst these…"
"People?" Zeric shot back quietly. She sighed, but didn't move to leave.
"Please Jaggle, bring him to my home," the man who first recognized the sailor was saying. The shorter man nodded and began to follow the first. The crowd including the vast mayor also followed the two men, all talking excitedly amongst themselves.
"Zeric, can we please be on our way now? It's getting later, and we really should be back to the castle by dark," Zelda begged her brother quietly. After a few seconds' hesitation, the prince conceded and they headed back to where they had tethered their horses, off of the east road from Ordon.
\-][- /...to be continued...\ -][-/
A/N - Well, that's the beginning of the adventure. This story takes place in a Hyrule very similar to 17th century England. I am trying to make it as historically accurate as possible, but I'm sorry to those of you who know a lot more than me about this time period, because researching it is difficult, so I'm doing my best. I wanted to try out a time period that I haven't seen done, and I think this has major potential, and I hope you'll end up liking it! Please feel free to review and if you're feeling ultra generous, favorite/follow as well, but hey: that's on you!
If you're a writer, then you know that SOME motivation + reviews = LOTSA motivation.
Constructive criticism is, of course, welcomed.
