Great Plateau
Roxas had gone to the designated place where Hylia wanted him to meet Link. After a while of waiting near the fire, he remembered the goddess telling him that the hero would be without a weapon. Fortunately, he realized he'd slain a Blue Bokoblin with a sword on his first day.
Granted, the sword could have been picked up by another monster, but the Nobody was banking on it still being where he remembered slaying that monster. Fortunately, it was, so he took the weapon before going back to where he was meant to meet this hero.
Upon nearing his camp, he saw an older teenager with dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and simple clothing looking around at everything inquisitively. Roxas pinched the bridge of his nose because of course the hero, at least he assumed, would come around when he was gone.
Ultimately, Roxas decided to approach him from behind and clear his throat which did draw Link's attention. The problem was that he seemed ready to attack which is what the Nobody didn't want. It didn't help that this was an unfamiliar situation for him.
"Hey… I'm Roxas." Roxas waved awkwardly. "I guess we're supposed to be partners for now."
That at least seemed to put the hero at ease, and Roxas would honestly take the win right about now.
Even if he were calmer now, Link hesitated on what he should say or do. "Is this the partner the woman promised? If so, he's rather strange. Regardless, I need the help." He cleared his throat. "Where am I? What is this place? Who am I?"
Roxas rubbed the back of his head. "We are currently on the Great Plateau, at the center of Hyrule. According to legend, this kingdom was born on this plateau. That temple behind us was once called the Temple of Time. Long ago, it was the center of worship for the land. Ever since the decline of the kingdom, it has been forgotten."
Link frowned. "Temple of Time? Hyrule? The decline of the kingdom?"
None of these words or phrases meant anything to him. Even the name given to him by the bodiless female voice was unfamiliar. He didn't know if that was his real name or not. Roxas noticed how lost Link seemed to the point that it reminded him of Xion before they were friends.
It compelled him to step forward and put a hand on the hero's shoulder. "Why don't you sit and tell me how you came to be here? I was just about to roast some apples on the fire which I'm told is quite enjoyable. You are welcome to share in my meal."
Link's only response was an audible grumble from his stomach and a furtive look towards a nearby basket which held several, red apples. Ultimately, he decided to join Roxas for a meal. It didn't take long for Link to recount the events he could remember.
Though he kept the presence of the strange voice to himself, he explained that he had woken up in the strange chamber with no memory of who he was or how he got there. Then, how he found the Sheikah Slate and clothes waiting for him.
"You can't remember what led you to be in that cave." Roxas commented.
Link wasn't sure, but he thought the teen sounded disappointed.
He looked down at the Sheikah Slate attached to his hip and pursed his lips. "What am I supposed to do? What does this guy expect from me?"
They fell into silence for a time with the only sounds being the crackling fire and birds chirping. Roxas was having a difficult time because he wasn't used to this level of interaction. Missions only required so much talking, and conversations over ice cream came between long silences.
Finally, Roxas sighed as he stood. "Well, this isn't ideal, but I did say I'd be your partner to someone." Link looked up at him in confusion and relief. "Ultimately, I can't abandon you no matter your state. I know where the Sheikah Slate can go."
Link stood and looked down at the Sheikah Slate before turning his attention back to Roxas. "Sounds better than my plan of aimlessly wondering around."
Roxas nodded before presenting the sword to Link who took it. The blade had long ago lost its luster. It was pitted in several places and other spots had clear signs of rust. The hero looked at who he was now assuming to be in partner in confusion.
"This whole place has monsters everywhere, and if we're going to stick together, you got to be able to defend yourself." Roxas informed. "From what I can see, you at least look capable of wielding such a weapon."
Link gripped the sword's worn leather hilt and found that he agreed. He started with the sword in his left hand, but it felt uncomfortable. Once he switched it over to his right, he immediately felt a sense of rightness.
Stepping back from the Nobody, he grasped the sword in both hands and took a few practice swings. His movements weren't quite fluid; however, this seemed familiar to him in a strange way. After a few more practice swings and adjustments to his stance, Link was satisfied.
He looked to his partner before nodding slowly. "Thank you."
Roxas nodded in recognition and noted that a little gratitude felt nice. The only people he got this feeling from was Axel and Xion. The rest of the Organization tended to just expect success no matter what they asked of you.
He quickly shoved that aside before using a stick to break apart the small fire and only then turned to Link. "Anyways, we should be on our way. Based on what I've learned, it's going to be quite the walk to where we need to be."
As they walked, Link contemplated his situation and realized there were certain things he knew without any memories. He still knew how to speak, for example. He certainly knew how to walk and perform basic functions. He understood what certain things were.
For example, when a bird flitted across their path, he understood that it was a bird. He just wasn't sure of its kind. Honestly, he wasn't sure if that was due to his memory loss or lack of knowledge on the species.
Other things seemed right to him. When the woman had referred to him as Link, it had initially felt unfamiliar. In his conversations with Roxas, he had found that the name seemed to suit him. He wondered if that was out of desperation for something to hang onto.
When he tried to remember any events from his past. He did not know from which land or province he came from. Though, his partner had remarked that his pointed ears, from his knowledge, likely marked him as a resident of Hyrule.
At the very least, he had to be a Hylian. Other than knowing this, Link had no idea what such a term meant to him. As they made their way down the hill, the dirt path eventually gave way to a partially buried, stone path.
Roxas glanced at Link. "For someone with no memories, this situation feels different than what I had with Xion."
"So, I woke up in that chamber on the hill." Link looked at his partner. "Do you have any thoughts on why that was or what it was for?"
"I honestly only know so much more than you do on the situation." Roxas admitted. "I did promise the person who wanted me to partner up with you that I wouldn't explain things over them. Before you ask, she wants us to do this before you learn the truth."
"You've mentioned a person before." Link stated. "Do they live around here like you?"
"Firstly, let's just say I'm really not from around here." Roxas informed. "Secondly, no one really lives here; however, you'll understand more about it soon."
Roxas was now starting to regret agreeing to this, and he still couldn't bring himself to leave even with how awkward this all felt. Honestly, he just wanted to be in a good standing with the hero and worried he'd do something rude the longer they talked.
"What really stinks about this whole situation is the fact that to become more at ease with social interactions, I'll need to keep interacting with this hero." Roxas thought. "What did I get myself into again?"
"Since you say you don't live up here, what were you doing?" Link asked.
"Trust me when I say it's not something you need to concern yourself with." Roxas turned back to Link and smiled solemnly. "Besides, I do not think my story will be as interesting as yours."
Link met his partner's eyes only to be surprised by the pain and sorrow he could see within them. As their eyes remained locked, Link opened his mouth to press him for the information that he was clearly hiding. Then, he caught movement behind his partner.
In one fluid motion, Link stepped forward, grabbed Roxas, and thrust him back. With his other hand, he brought the sword up over his head to block an overhead blow by a Blue Bokoblin wielding a club. He pushed the Bokoblin back causing it to stumble backward with an angry cry.
Link took another step forward and swung his sword at the creature's head; however, it scurried backward while screeching angrily at him. Gritting his teeth, Link pushed forward holding the sword in both hands. The Bokoblin suddenly lunged forward and swung his club at Link's side.
Moving by instinct alone, he parried the blow and swept his sword upwards. The maneuver broke the Bokoblin's grip, and the club was sent spiraling through the air. He gripped his sword with two hands and moved to cleave the monster in two.
Just before Link finished the dead, the monster had yelled in his guttural tone. As the parts of the Bokoblin fell, Two more Bokoblins, another blue and the other black, burst out from behind a small, broken wall just behind where the first Bokoblin had fallen.
The blue one was wielding another club while the blue one had a sword like what Link wielded. The Blue Bokoblin swung his club at Link who'd been caught off guard upon seeing them. This prevented him from deflecting or dodging the blow, so Roxas decided to step in.
He got in front of Link and summoned Oathkeeper to block the club. He then summoned Oblivion and thrust it through the monster causing him to collapse. The Black Bokoblin charged Roxas held out Oblivion to catch the sword. Using Oathkeeper, he dished out a flurry of strikes.
This monster's hide was a bit tougher, but the Nobody managed to get through resulting in the monster collapsing. Link looked from his enemy to the ones Roxas felled in surprise. It wasn't the fact that he could fight that surprised him. It was the fact that he had reacted before thinking.
"Maybe I was some type of knight or bodyguard." Thinking that seemed right even though Link had no memories to correlate.
Suddenly, a fourth Bokoblin, blue like two of the others, screamed in fury as he thrust its sword towards Link's back. Before Roxas could intervene, the hero spun around and blocked the one held a sword, like the Black Bokoblin, but it also had a wooden shield in its other hand.
Link swung his sword towards the Blue Bokoblin's neck, but the monster caught the oncoming blade with its shield. With a sharp crack his sword snapped in stumbled forward but managed to throw himself back to avoid being run threw by the Bokoblin.
He then noticed the discarded sword the Black Bokoblin had been using, so he rolled back before scooping it up. When the monster thrust its blade forward, the hero parried the blade to the side and thrust his blade into the opening.
His blade went through the monster before Link grasped it with two hands and pulled with all his might. This sliced clean through the monster making it collapse dead with the other monsters. There didn't seem to be any more in the immediate area.
"He does have skills despite the memory loss." Roxas smiled. "I think I could even pick up a thing or two on technique from him… Regardless, this doesn't look as bad as I initially thought upon meeting him."
Link ended up eyeing the sword he now held. There was what appeared to be a bird with outstretched wings underneath a trio of triangles stacked together to form one large triangle stamped into the pommel. It seemed to mean something to him.
Without thinking, the hero stood tall and held his head higher. Then, he noticed Roxas watching him, so he relaxed again. He wished he had a proper sheath. Considering this, Link walked over to the wall that three of the Bokoblins had been hiding behind.
"Had they just been waiting to ambush us?" Link questioned internally.
Ultimately, that didn't seem to be the case considering he found the remnants of a small encampment. It was clear that they had been in the process of eating a meal of what looked to be a mutilated rabbit. A few possessions littered the site.
Mostly crude trinkets made of wood or bone; however, Link's attention was drawn to a worn scabbard leaning against the wall. He picked it up and noted that it had a generous loop attached to it. He slid the sword into its sheath and slung the scabbard on his back.
Stepping back from behind the wall, Link approached his partner. "How long ago did you say Hyrule fell?"
"I was told it was a century." Roxas replied.
Link's heart sank. "What caused it to fall?"
"That is knowledge you should probably get from the ones that sent me out to meet with you." Roxas replied honestly before turning and continuing down the hill.
Link watched the younger teen walk away before pursing his lips and feeling frustrated by his lack of knowledge. He eventually fell into step with his partner. Most of their remaining walk down the hill was done in silence and Roxas was grateful for it.
On the way down, they passed the remnants of a large courtyard with a broken fountain in the center. Surrounding it were several destroyed buildings. Some lacked roofs while others had massive chunks of their walls shattered.
As they walked, Link found himself often gazing back up at the Temple of Time. The structure had obviously fared better than the buildings surrounding it. While he could see that the glass had been shattered and it was in disrepair, at least that building had a roof.
"We're nearly there." Roxas informed.
Link stopped beside him with a frown. The path they had been on continued to the left some ways until it dropped into a deep pool of water surrounded by the remnants of an old stone structure. Roxas pointed one finger to the right at what appeared to be a large pile of boulders.
"Once we make it over there, and you use the Sheikah Slate, we can move onto the next segment of the journey." Roxas informed.
Link nodded as he'd come to quickly learn he wasn't going to get answers his partner didn't want to give. "Alright, let's go."
They walked towards the pile of rocks while keeping an eye for would-be attacks. On the way down, Link spotted some crudely made arrows sticking out of a tree and did not want to be the target of Bokoblin archers if he could help it.
As they approached the rocks, the pair came upon a small hollow in the center of the stone. It looked as if there had been a gazebo of sorts that had been covered over with stone. Eventually, that rock had been broken to reveal the hidden interior again.
The two of them stepped on in and spotted a pedestal which Link could see looked a lot like the one from within the chamber he'd woken up in. It glowed orange and was segmented into a few concentric rings with the center one raised slightly.
The raised ring had a hollow that looked to match the Sheikah Slate. Link unhooked said device from his belt and placed it into the hollow. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the Sheikah Slate and pedestal flashed with an orange light which quickly subsided.
Link saw that text had appeared on the face of the Sheikah Slate again. "Sheikah Tower activated. Please watch for falling rocks."
Link and Roxas looked at each other as the later hadn't obviously been informed of this. "Falling rocks?"
Before they could react further, the ground under their feet trembled. It began as a low rumble but grew into violent shaking. Both teens stumbled and lost their balance falling painfully onto their backsides.
The rock that surrounded the structure cracked and crumbled as it fell away in large chunks. With an uncomfortable lurch in the boys' stomachs, they realized the floor they were now sitting on was in motion. The stone around the structure continued to fall as the platform began to rise.
The tower continued to rise until becoming level with the Temple of Time's uppermost spire where it shuddered to a stop. A sound drew their attention upwards where three, arm-like appendages pointed directly at the sky.
At the same time, a shaft of blue light began at the base of the tower and traveled up its center until it reached the pedestal which flashed a brilliant blue. Blue text neither boy could read formed a ring around the roof and other strange symbols glowed as well.
It was at that moment Link noticed the strange rock that hung down from the center of the roof, like a stalactite, directly over the pedestal and Sheikah Slate. Strange, glowing symbols appeared on its black surface and traveled down its length gathering near its tip.
Condensation formed before falling onto the Sheikah Slate with a noticeable splash. By now, Roxas was paying attention as well, so both noticed that the stone had gone dark. Link approached the pedestal, and the Sheikah Slate was lifted revealing new text.
"Regional Map Extracted."
A large, dark blue map could be seen before part of it glowed changing into a clear image of the Great Plateau.
"Stasis Rune… Non-Functional.
Magnesis Rune… Non-Functional.
Remote Bomb Rune… Non-Functional.
Cryonis Rune… Non-Functional.
Teleportation Rune… Functional.
Camera Rune… Functional.
Cartography Mode… Functional.
Telescope Mode… Functional.
Master Cycle Zero… Unable to detect/Non-Functional."
"Remember…"
Link jumped with a start while Roxas look around which the former took note of. If his partner could hear the voice as well, then it must be real. What's more, this time it seemed to be coming from a certain direction. Their eyes fell on the distant castle.
A pale white light shone at its center which pulsed as she spoke again. "Try… Try to remember, Link."
"Who are you?" Link questioned. "Do you know who I am? Why I'm here?"
"You have been asleep for the past one hundred years." The voice informed.
Link stumbled to a halt as all other thoughts fled his mind. "One hundred years? That wasn't possible. That couldn't be possible." He looked at the castle. "I don't understand. What do you mean I've…"
The ground beneath their feet shuddered and both boys braced themselves thinking it had something to do with the tower. Then, the castle in the far distance ended up changing. A strange red-purple haze began to rise from the ground around it.
"The beast… I know you do not remember, but when the Calamity regains its full power, it will destroy everything!" The woman's voice grew urgent with a definite note of strain.
They watched as the haze began to take shape. It continued to swirl around the castle, but at its forefront, it began to solidify into a much darker shape. Though it was hard to make out from this distance, the fact that they could see any detail at all was a testament to the entity's enormity.
It formed what looked like a creature's snout with horns like a boar. It continued to take shape until a distinct pig-like head, though deformed, was visible at the forefront of the smoky haze. The beast opened its massive mouth, and the ground trembled again.
Something like the distant sound of a thunderous roar rang out as the entity continued to circle the castle and rise into the air above the central spire. Suddenly, the pulsing light at the center of the castle seemed to burst through the rising haze, and the creature's head broke apart.
The haze sunk back towards the castle as if the pale light absorbed it. It did not fade completely, and the red-purple haze around the base of the castle, diminished. The creature was no longer visible.
"I fear the calamity has sensed something has changed. It presses, even now, to break free of its bonds, and I must do what I can to reinforce them. I do not wish for it to realize that you still live, Link. But go! You two must hurry before it's too late."
In the center of the distant castle, the pulsing light faded, and Link suddenly felt a little more alone. Roxas noticed this and sighed as he hoped what he was about to do was the right thing to do. He put a comforting hand on the hero's shoulder. Link smiled gratefully back at him.
Eventually, the hero turned to face him. "Before we move onto whatever this next thing you want us to do, could we take some time for you to answer some of my questions? I mean, you pretty much know as much about me as I do, so I'd like to know a little more about you."
"I guess that'd be okay." Roxas rubbed the back of his head nervously. "What do you want to know?"
"Not that'd I'd really know, but where are you from?" Link asked.
Roxas was not sure how to answer that question. Sure, he told Hylia a truth; however, he hadn't even told her the whole truth about him. He didn't quite feel like telling him that he was a Nobody that appeared one day and was taken in by Xemnas.
"I'm from somewhere pretty dark and grey." Roxas finally settled on something. "Honestly, despite the problems of this world, I'm liking it better here."
"What are your weapons I saw you use?" Link asked. "You wielded them like swords, so is that what they are?"
Roxas thought about what Link said. While keyblades did have some magical properties, they were a lot like swords.
"Actually, that's probably an apt way to describe them." Roxas had considered just calling them keyblades, but that would have led to a bit more explaining than he would have liked. "With them, I can perform a bit of magic, so I guess they're very intricate swords."
Link nodded. "I see…"
"In all honesty though, I should have just gone with one of them in that fight we had with those monsters." Roxas admitted before images of his battle with that guy in the same cloak flashed through his mind. "Guess I'm just not over a battle I had before coming here."
"Well, why don't we spar to help you loosen up?" Link offered drawing Roxas' attention. "I don't remember how, but I clearly know how to fight. Though, I don't quite feel right, so while you loosen up, I can refine my movements."
"I don't know if it'd help but refining his movements can only be a good thing." Roxas looked to the sky and noticed the sun's position. "A spar would probably be a better use of our time." He looked to Link. "Let's head back to where we met since I took care of the monsters around there.
We can have our spar there before heading on into the shrine. Regardless of whether your slate can close it back up, it's one of the safest places on the plateau besides the place I shouldn't bring you yet." He walked over to a nearby hole. "You can climb down this way."
"I can climb down this way?" Link looked at his partner. "What are you going to do then?"
"This." Roxas replied plainly before leaping off the edge.
Link ran to the edge with wide eyes, but before he could speak, he spotted Roxas gliding down around the tower. "I don't think that's something everyone can do."
Granted, he had no memories telling him this was the case; however, the way Roxas talked clued him into the possibility that this was not normal for everyone. Regardless, the hero still had to get down himself, so he moved to the hole.
Honestly, the climb down from the tower was not nearly as difficult as Link thought it would be. The sides of the tower provided stone patterns that made for easy hand and footholds. In addition to that, the series of platforms were a nice addition.
In truth, he wished it had been more difficult. Despite learning his partner could glide, that alone was not enough to distract him from the voice's words, or what they'd seen at the top of the tower. He'd heard the strain in her voice and sensed the difficulty she experienced.
"What am I supposed to do?" Link pondered. "She gave me no instructions beyond telling me to go while my partner is being pretty tight lipped at the moment."
If he'd had his memories, Link was certain this would make more sense. Now, he was lost. The hero tried to pierce the darkness of his own mind, but it was like trying to remember a dream long forgotten. The maddening part was that he could almost sense his past just out of reach.
Link eventually joined Roxas at the bottom of the tower, but before either could say a word, they backed away from one another as a pair of arrows sailed on by and clattered to the ground uselessly. Looking in the direction the arrow came from, they saw three Bokoblins on the hill.
Two were blue, and they used crude, wooden bows. The third was black and stood a little behind the two Blue Bokoblin. He wielded a sword and shield combo along with a dagger sheathed at his side. The two Blue Bokoblin were knocking more arrows.
Roxas summoned Oathkeeper and held it in the air generating electricity. "Thundara!"
Lighting struck down on the Blue Bokoblin nailing both since they were right next to each other. Both monsters ended up collapsing dead which seemed to shock the Black Bokoblin. Link took advantage of this as he charged in to initiate combat.
As Link crested the hill, he lunged at the Bokoblin going for the kill. The monster managed to lunge back and only loose the arm carrying his shield. Link pressed the massive advantage this gave him before moving after the monster.
The Bokoblin moved to use the sword to block, but it was too late. Link had swung his sword decapitating the monster and leaving him dead. With the situation handled, everything came crashing down on Link. He dropped his blade in shock while looking at the scene around him.
He hadn't thought of the first encounter since he was more concerned with how he could do what he did, but now he couldn't help it. He and Roxas had taken down a total of seven monsters. While Link only felled three of them, that was still seven lives taken between them.
"Who am I?" Link looked to his partner as he approached. "Who is Roxas really?"
Link found that he wasn't afraid of himself or Roxas; however, the things they could do simply brought such questions to his mind. After realizing standing around wouldn't answer these questions, he took stock of the area around them.
He collected the bows, shield, and dagger. Even if they weren't in the best of shape, he felt a compulsion to collect them along with the arrows on them. What's more, he felt a compulsion to tuck them away on his body before noting they vanished which was odd.
Roxas noticed his confusion. "I heard you were blessed by a Great Fairy to the point that you can store a lot on your person even without a bag to carry it." He shrugged. "It's said if you want the item, you merely need to reach for it."
Link nodded before bringing out the dagger and strapping it to his belt. "I think I'm good."
"I see." Roxas hadn't been blind to the hero collecting weapons from these battles, and he finally decided to ask about. "Why exactly did you feel the need to collect all these weapons?"
"Well, the sword you gave me did break earlier." Link shrugged. "Stands to reason that I'll need to gather supplies as we go considering my weapons aren't unbreakable like yours seem to be."
"Yeah… that's fair." Roxas admitted with a sigh of relief at the fact that Link wasn't mad at him for asking such a question. "Come on, let's head on back over to where we met."
The Nobody would be lying if he said he wasn't excited by what Link had suggested. Despite what he said, the Organization hadn't properly trained him. Everything he knew came from the field. Usually, Roxas found himself relying on raw instinct over anything else.
While he knew he had some natural, latent ability in wielding the keyblades, he had felt comfortable wielding them since day one, his objective was still to get stronger now. Based on what he saw, the technique Link could provide was a good first step.
"A battle where the outcome won't be life or death." Roxas thought.
As a bonus, he'd be able to really figure out just how strong Link was. Sure, he's seen the hero in action; however, the battles hadn't lasted that long. The pair eventually made it back to the place where they met before climbing up to the overhang above.
They then moving where they'd have room to fight before moving across from each other. Roxas brought out Oblivion before widening his stance and sinking down while keeping the tip of the blade pointed at an angle. This was the usual battle stance he chose when wielding one keyblade.
He didn't know why, but it felt instinctual. Link drew the sword he'd acquired earlier along with the shield. He got into his own stance before both teens stared one another down. Neither moved until the wind blew. Only then did they charge each other.
I don't think there's too much to say about this chapter in particular. I mean, you got Roxas and Link beginning their partnership. I do think, given the nature of what Breathe of the Wild is as a game, that Link would be a curious sort of guy. Roxas wouldn't be all that open with his past, at this time, with Link. As for the fight, I figured having one next chapter would be a nice way to measure how far Link and Roxas come as they grow.
DARKPHANTOM13: At this current time, I'd say Link doesn't know how to camp; however, I think skills like this are more inherent memories... if that makes sense. For instance, combat. As you've seen, Link was rather rusty, but he quickly began to pick up on skills he's learned before. He may not remember where these skills came from, but he comes to remember how to do them.
I can say that Roxas won't develop magic to do everything the slate can, but he'll develop magic that can do what two runes can. He already has a spell that can do something like one of the runes... even if it can't craft a pillar. I think that will keep things interesting if there are some things both can do that the other can't. The final ruin can be rather destructive which I don't think is a problem as Roxas already has ways to be as or more destructive than that rune.
Guest: That's not the only way as in Breath of the Wild I find it hard to believe that Link could be talking to Zelda through the Goddess Statue when Zelda can already contact Link mentally. Additionally, the one within the statue refers to itself as Hylia rather than Zelda when it would have no insentative to do so. Personally, I subscribe to and use an idea presented by Bandit Games. The video is called, The Mystery of the Goddess Statues (Zelda Theory) ft. Hyrule Gamer.
They theorize that the spirit of Hylia must have at one point broken away from Zelda to become its own consciousness. Something seperate from its mortal being. They say that is happened with none other than Zelda's mother who they theorize was a Zelda herself and had the same power as her daughter hence explaining the mother's sudden death. It's actually a fascinating video.
ultima-owner" Personally, I don't see it. For one, that would be treading previous ground since Roxas had Xion to fulfill that role in the game. Secondly, given the nature of Breath of the Wild, I don't think it'd be in character for Link to be like how Roxas and/or Xion were. Sorry if that disappoints.