We all knew it was coming. And heeeeere it is.
Zelda crouched in the shadows of an octagonal room, pressing herself as far into the darkness as was possible as she stared upward at a brilliantly blue light.
From the Realm above Hyrule, a figure descended, looking very much as she had always pictured it would.
Link, the Hero of Time, had awakened.
There was completely silence as soft leather boots hit the stone alter.
"Holy Farore," Link finally muttered, glancing around in a state of awe.
"Link.... We're back in the Temple of Time!" shouted a small bundle of light hovering at his shoulder.
"Looks like it," the Hero responded. "...but what do we do now?"
As if in response to this question, the disguised Hylian Princess stepped forward, deliberately making her footsteps louder than they needed to be.
A hand shot up instinctively to the sword that was sheathed on Link's back, and he drew the legendary blade as he spun around with a dangerous look in his suddenly darkened eyes.
There was silence for another moment as neither said anything, Link not re-sheathing his sword and the figure in the shadows not saying anything.
"Greetings, Hero of Time," the shadow finally said, shattering the silence.
Link looked at the person before him, lowering his sword but distinctively not putting it away. "Who are you?" he asked, bluntly.
"A Shadow," the young man who was not really that answered. "A member of the long forgotten race, loyal to the Hylian Royal Family; the Sheikah."
Link only glared, not quite trusting this mysterious stranger as of yet.
Zelda, meanwhile, was studying the boy she saw before her. But then, she abruptly realized that this figure was not at all the boy she had last seen seven years ago. He had grown into the very figure of someone made for battle, and his face left nothing of a question of how quickly he could kill her, if he wanted to. He wore the same Kokiri attire that he had seven years ago, but it was of course made for someone of his size, and it had several changed made to it to make it look not quite so... childish. Leather gauntlets covered his wrists, and he wore a green cap that hid most of his unruly blonde hair. His eyes were at the same time those of someone bred to kill, and of the child trapped in the body of an adult.
And without realizing it, Zelda was saying, "You really do look like the Hero of Time."
Clearing her throat only slightly, feeling that underneath the scarf she was blushing violently, she started off on a minimalist explanation of exactly what the Hero should be doing. The trademark Sheikah obscurity was present in full force, and Link found himself, at the end of it, asking...
"And where should I go next?"
Zelda was slightly taken aback, but replied, "To Kakariko. There is someone there who can provide you with the weapon you will need to gain access to the Forest Temple."
"Good luck, Hero," Sheik said, stepping back to throw a Deku Nut and effectively disappear.
Link stared, wide eyed, at the spot where that mystery figure had been only seconds before.
"Well, that was weird," he said.
"Very," Navi replied, sitting on his shoulder.
"...Should we go to Kakariko?" Link asked, looking around the room for any sign of the Sheikah.
"There isn't anything better we can be doing right now, is there?" the fairy asked, slightly irritable. "Unless that Sheik person was lying... But for some reason, I don't think he was."
Link made an uncertain 'hm' noise in his throat, and started toward the exit of the Temple of Time.
Meanwhile, on a plain of changed air above the said same Temple, the Princess of Hyrule looked down on the exiting figure, knowing that she wouldn't be seen.
For seven years, April had lived a largely uneventful life. Sure, she had tried to keep herself as busy was possible, but she had never had so many things to do that she felt that she was buried in things that needed her attention.
Now, though, she jumped every time someone called her name, expecting that call to be one of a mysterious voice, summoning her yet again to Hyrule.
It didn't take more than a week for Link to get through the Forest Temple. And Sheik was quickly needed on Death Mountain to teach the Bolero of Fire to the Hero.
While he was away in the Fire Temple, Zelda, disguised as Sheik, made her way to Zora domain, to observe the damage that had been done there.
And what she found was truly shocking.
The ice that positively dripped from every corner of the large cavern was so cold that April wondered if it hadn't somehow been made colder by the evil that had caused it. Though it did make for some particularly beautiful reflections of light, an air of death surrounded the once lively domain.
And the first frozen Zora that she came across, standing on a lone island in the middle of the glaringly bright, cavernous room, was the Zora Princess.
The Hylian Princess shook her head, recalling something that the Zora Princess had said just under four years ago.
"You can handle yourself, huh?" Zelda smiled sadly as she set about freeing Ruto from the ice.
When she had used magic to chip the ice away, the Zora immediately let out a scream of terror. But she stopped abruptly, the sound of the scream echoing eerily around the cavern.
Ruto looked around wildly, and the first thing she saw was the figure of a young Sheikah.
"You!" she demanded imperiously. "What's going on here!?"
Zelda blinked beneath the disguise, wondering how there was so much life in her after having been frozen for who knew how long.
"Princess Ruto, I am a servant of the Royals of Hyrule. There is no need for you to fear me."
The Zora looked into crimson eyes suspiciously, but she looked away when she couldn't sense any note of false truth.
"Well, then," she began, haughtily. "Can you tell me what exactly happened here?"
"Zora's domain has been frozen over-"
"I can see that, you half-wit."
Sheik glared at the Zora Princess, but continued unfazed. "...by the current King of Hyrule. Ganondorf. He has brought ruin to much of Hyrule, but Zora's Domain has possibly been the most affected these last seven years."
Ruto took the time to look around at her beloved home, before she quickly started walking toward the exit.
"Hey!" Zelda called out, briefly loosing her Sheikah composure. "Where are you going?"
"The Water Temple," Ruto answered. But she turned around right before she reached the outside. Her figure was framed by white light, and for a moment, April thought that she looked like a ghost.
"As Princess to the Zora, I'm going to be the one to save them." She looked around one last time, eyes suddenly filling with concern, and she concluded, "Can you see what you can do for my father?"
"I'll do everything in my power, Princess Ruto."
"Oh, and by the way.... What's your name?"
The blond figure smile. "Sheik."
Ruto nodded. "Thank you, Sheik."
With that, the Zora was gone.
And Zelda was left standing in the very cold Zora's Domain, wondering how in the world Ruto could have still been alive.
Yes, short. I did that on purpose. I really needed to get on with it, you know!!
Um... we're counting about three chapters and an Epilogue left.
Yeah... and that's all.
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