A/N: IMPORTANT: Mudora here. That's right. I'm back. Several things occurred to hold off the completion of this chapter. If you actually care, check out Mudora's profile to find out what. In any case, Mudora is back, though probably won't update as frequently; his life is very busy.
Mudora decided, after such a long wait already, why hold off on the next HP chapters? So he rearranged his plan. And turns out, it may be even better than what he originally planned to do with his stories.
Do not be alarmed at events in this chapter. No, Mudora would NOT change the tale of Ocarina of Time so much. If you are unhappy with this chapter, please hold all flames until next chapter. That is all Mudora asks. Now for the story to get good, as Mudora thinks.
Oh, and see if you can't catch the blatant misuse of a character in this chapter.
A Hero's Path
Chapter 21: A Seven-Year Dream
Silence. Link opened his eyes to see a much duller blue glow than that which he had last seen. He heard the faint sound of ripples in still water. He no longer held the Master Sword in his hands. His vision cleared enough to see that where he stood was elevated. A pool of water raised above the floor. He stood on a platform in the very center, with the symbol of the Triforce upon it. All around him were other platforms in the pool with various symbols on them.
The platform in front of him was gold. On it stood a silver-haired man wearing red robes.
"Who are you?" Link said. "Where am I?"
"I am Rauru, the sage of light, and this is the Chamber of Sages, inside the Temple of Light. We are situated in the center of the Sacred Realm, Link. The Master Sword – the evil-destroying sword you pulled out of the Pedestal of Time – was the final key to the Sacred Realm. But you fell unconscious when you came through the portal and I brought you here."
"How do you know my name?" Link said.
"Your name was decided long before you were born, possibly even before the creation of Hyrule. You are the one to draw the Master Sword."
Link started looking around for the legendary sword, and found it already resting in its sheath on his belt. It was so large that it dragged along the ground at his feet. He struggled with it, but finally pulled it out. It was the most majestic piece of craftsmanship he had ever seen, especially in a weapon.
"The Master Sword is a sacred blade which evil ones may never touch," Rauru continued. "Only one worthy of the title 'Hero of Time' can pull it from the Pedestal of Time. However, you are too young to claim that title now. Nor do you have the skill with a sword to do what is necessary, Link."
"What is necessary?" Link asked, confused.
"Though you opened the Door of Time in the name of peace, Ganondorf, the Gerudo King of Thieves, used it to enter this forbidden Sacred Realm. He has obtained the Triforce from the Temple of Light, and will use its power for all kinds of evil for certain. There is little you can do now, but you will learn."
"How?"
"You must go on a journey, Link. To the top of Life Mountain."
"You mean Death Mountain?"
"No, Link. The Sacred Realm is the mirror image of Hyrule, but with out blemish. With the Triforce lighting the sky it was also the source of all kinds of magic, but now… In any case, you must climb Life Mountain. There you will find your future."
"Alright, Navi, let's go."
"No. She cannot go with you."
"WHAT!" Navi screamed.
"Without magic to sustain the realm outside, a fairy like her would cease to exist. Her destiny leads apart from yours for a time."
"You mean I have to go without Navi?" Link thought of all the things they'd done together, all the trials they'd shared, all the times they had worked as a team, saved each other… and now they had to part ways? Though it had only been a short time that he had known Navi, she was his closest friend now, closer than Saria, even. They couldn't part now. "If facing the future means leaving my fairy, I can't…"
Rauru interrupted Link as he was about to make a speech. It wasn't something Link particularly liked. "You have no choice this time, Link. It is your destiny to do this. Either you go ahead without her for now, or you stay exactly where you are, with her, watching this world and Hyrule crumble under Ganondorf's mighty hand. You know what you must do."
Rauru reached forward and handed Link his bag. Inside were his bottles, the Kokiri Sword, and the silver gauntlets.
"Atop Life Mountain you will find a man, whom the goddesses protected after he usurped a deity. Now he lives in solitude. He will show you the path to the future."
Rauru made a strange rising motion with his hands and Link was surrounded by blue light that led him upward, into the air, straight through the ceiling to the next floor, and through that ceiling, and the next one, and the next, until he arrived on top of the temple.
The temple was a ziggurat-like structure, and in every way symmetrical. Stairs led straight down the front of the Temple of Light to a bridge across a moat. But Link paid little attention to any of this to start. What he noticed was the sky, or lack of it.
It wasn't dark or light, it was almost white, yet almost something else too, something indescribable. This entranced him for the longest time until he finally made his way down the steps to the bridge.
Crossing the water that reflected the nondescript sky, he stopped and stared out on to the plain. It was much less awe-inspiring than Hyrule Field. It was flat and expansive, perfect, and solid, pure green. Everything he saw was a perfect color, no shade or blend, but perfect and pure.
He turned left and stared out toward the east mountains of the Sacred Realm. Every mountain was also perfectly symmetrical, and cone-shaped. He saw one mountain that appeared different than the others. It was flat at the top and stuck out against the rest. Link made his way toward it.
It was awkward to walk all the way while dragging a sheath at his side, but he managed.There were steps leading up to the entrance to what was Kakariko in Hyrule. Here it was uninhabited, as everything else appeared to be as well. He found more stairs leading up in the north of this valley.
Link couldn't discern how long he'd journeyed, nor whether there were night and day, for there was no sun. Rauru had said something about the world being lit by the Triforce, but that was no more.
The stairs he climbed up this mountain reminded him of the path up Death Mountain, only without changes in steepness, or Gorons. He climbed for what seemed forever. Finally, he reached the flat top of this mountain. As he climbed onto it, he was surprised to see what he found.
A man was sitting cross-legged with his arms on his thighs and his eyes closed. He must have dozed off, Link thought. The man had pale blond hair, long and unkempt, as though he hadn't bothered cutting it in a long time. A large feather stuck out of his hair, perhaps stuck in a headband underneath it all. He wore a brown cloak, concealing a fancy breastplate over a pale, decorated tunic. He had long, blue gauntlets and brown, fur boots. At his side was a large brown sack.
"Excuse me, sir," Link said loudly, in order to wake him up. The man raised his head, irritatedly. He didn't appear as though he had been asleep at all. He said nothing to Link at all.
"Umm…" Link said. "Is this Life Mountain?"
The man just stared at Link. He was almost as tall as Link even in his sitting position. After what seemed forever the man slightly nodded.
"A-Are you the guy who's supposed to show me a path?"
Another eternity passed before the man nodded again and motioned for Link to continue.
"A path to the future?"
After another long pause the man nodded once more.
"Please, show me."
The man stood upright and removed the feather from his hair. Link watched as it slowly changed. The individual plumes became rigid and clumped together to form serrations. As he watched, the rest of it changed as well. The feather had changed itself into a sword. The man took a defensive position and motioned for Link to come at him.
This was it. The path to the future. Link loosened the Master Sword in its scabbard and drew it. He held it in both hands and still the blade weighed down to the ground. He dragged the blade toward his opponent and raised the mighty sword. The future was this. Link would soon charge toward Ganondorf in the same manner, holding the sword that pierced evil. The past was Link, the Kokiri hero of Hyrule. The present was Link, the chosen hero of the goddesses. The future was Link, the Hero of Time.