I'm Staying

A Legend Of Zelda FanFic

By Bentarb Jade Bronze

Link sat at the end of the pier on Outset Island, swinging his legs as they dangled over the end. He looked out across the waters of The Great Sea, the sounds of celebration emanating from the house behind him. To Links left Tetra's ship was moored. To his right his own boat – The King Of Red Lions – floated passively, no longer giving advice or instructions, all traces of sentience having vanished when King Daphnes flooded the last remnants of Hyrule using the power of The Triforce. It was thoughts of the late King that filled Links head, his final instructions to be precise.

He wanted Link and Tetra to travel beyond the known limits of The Great Sea and find a new land. A land that would become their Kingdom, a land that would allow them to move beyond the past of Hyrule, a land that would become a beacon of hope for future generations. But Link, he didn't want to leave his home on Outset Island, not so soon after returning from a year long journey. All he wanted was to save his sister, nothing more. But through a series of events that seemed to belong in a dream or story book, he'd visited a sunken Kingdom, claimed an ancient legendary sword, assembled a portion of an artifact holding the power of Goddesses, and defeated an evil older than The Great Sea.

And he was so tired. All he wanted to do was sleep in his own bed, in his own house, and wear something other than the same green tunic and same three pairs of underwear. But he couldn't, not yet. There was one last thing he had to do.

"Hey, Link!" a girls voice called. Link turned his head and saw Tetra jogging down the pier towards him. "What are you doing out here? You're missing the party," she said as she got to Links side.

"I needed to think," Link replied, turning to look back at the Ocean. Tetra sat down beside him.

"Well, we have been through a lot lately," she said, looking across the Ocean with Link. "And we'll be going through even more in the future."

"Are you sure about that?" Link asked, unable to feel even a portion of the excitement that seemed to leak into Tetras voice.

"Of course!" Tetra said, looking at Link before turning back towards The Great Sea. "You know what the King said. You think it'll be easy, finding New Hyrule?"

"No, I don't think so," Link answered. "But Tetra, don't you think-"

"And not just finding it," Tetra continued, too focused to listen to what Link was saying. "We'll have to settle it as well. And you know what that means?"

"Yes, and-"

"It means exploring unseen lands!" Tetra got to her feet, posing with one hand on her hip while the other pointed out towards the horizon. "We will have to clear them of monsters and map them out."

"Tetra, I-"

"And who knows what we'll find in the process? Ancient ruins filled with treasures, or distant tribes descended from people who escaped Hyrules flooding? Maybe there'll be whole new Species, like fish people or-"

"I'm staying!" Link snapped, stopping Tetras speculation.

"What?"

"I said, I'm staying," Link reiterated.

"Wha– what do you mean 'staying'?" Tetra asked incredulously.

"Tetra, how old am I?"

"Eleven?"

"I'm eleven," Link confirmed. "And in the last year alone I have been through more than most people do in a lifetime."

"And wasn't it exciting?" Tetra asked, failing to understand Links reasoning.

"At first yeah, it was. But when I left Forest Haven, it became tiring," Link explained. "And when I got to Great Fish Isle, when I saw what Ganon did to it…" He paused as memories of the destruction came to his mind, before finishing. "That was when I understood what was going on, what I was up against. And I didn't want to keep going."

"Link, I-"

"I didn't even want to go to Dragon Roost," Link continued, interrupting Tetra. "All I wanted to do was save Aryll and go home, I never asked to save the World."

"You're not being asked to do that!" Tetra said. "It's not a quest to save the World, it's a quest to explore it. To find new lands and-"

"And how long will that take? When we leave the known limits of The Great Sea, how long will it take to find a new land? A week? A month? A year? Or a decade? How do we even now such a land even exists?" Link shook his head. "I can't do that Tetra. I need… I need certainty, I need something I know is here."

"But Link, you can't stay," Tetra argued. "You heard what King Daphnes said."

"And why should I care!?" Link snapped, making Tetra flinch back as he turned to look at her with anger on his face. "Why should I care what the Ruler of a dead Kingdom said?" Tetra opened and closed her mouth silently before finding the words.

"It was his last wish," she reminded. "Are you really going to deny someones last wish?"

"I guess so," Link answered with a shrug before getting to his feet. As he turned to walk away, Tetra became irrationally angry in her confusion at Links stubbornness.

"What If it was your Grandma!? What if she told you to-" The realization that this reasoning wouldn't work, hit Tetra at the same moment Link whirled round and grabbed the front of her shirt. The look on Links face made it perfectly clear that if he wasn't angry when Tetra told him he couldn't stay, than he was now.

"That," Link growled out. "…is a cheap trick." He let Tetra go and made his declaration. "If you want to listen to a dead man and go looking for something that might not even exist, go ahead. But I'm staying here. I'm keeping my boat and everything I got during my journey." He then walked back towards his home, leaving Tetra staring open mouthed after him from the pier.

Four Years later

"You ready, Aryll?" Link asked as he stood in the Woods atop Outset Island where he'd set up a branch for his sister to practice using the grappling hook on. He was dressed in a larger version of the blue shirt with a white lobster on it that he had worn on his birthday where everything in his life changed. It was tattered at the edges and came with a brown leather sling bag Link used to carry the sword Orca gave him on his back.

"I'm ready," Aryll replied, nodding her head. She had been heavily influenced by her brief time with Tetras pirate crew and was wearing a green and white striped shirt with white trousers and a length of light red material. Wrapped around her neck was a light red bandana with a skull motif, and she had a pair of brown leather boots.

"Alright, then let's start," Link said, handing the grappling hook to his sister. "Now remember, while it's not a weapon, it is a piece of solid metal. So when you spin it round before throwing, you have to be careful not to swing it into your face."

"You don't need to tell me something so obvious."

"The fact it's obvious didn't stop me from breaking my own nose the first time I tried using it," Link countered, pointing at his nose for emphasis. "Now, first thing you do is plant your feet in this stance." He then positioned his feet so that they were slightly wider than his shoulders and Aryll did the same. "Good. Now loosely hold the rope coil your off hand, don't grasp it. And with your main hand, swing the hook around a few times to build up speed, and when the hook-"

"OW!" Aryll exclaimed, dropping the grappling hook to clutch at her nose. Link run over to check on her.

"Aryll, are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"I think so," Aryll answered through her hands, eyes clenched shut. "I don't think my nose is broken."

"Let me take a look," Link said, gently prying his sister's hands away from her face. There was no sign of blood and nothing was at an angle it shouldn't be. "It doesn't look broken." He gently gripped Aryll's nose and wiggled it. "Does that hurt?"

"No," Aryll replied.

"Well you're luckier than I was when I first tried doing this," Link said. "Do you try again?"

"Yes," Aryll answered with an enthusiastic nod, acting as if nothing had happened. "I have to keep trying if I want to be like you."

"Well, then pick the grappling hook up, and let's get to work," Link said with a smile.

And as Link continued teaching Aryll how to use a grappling hook, he felt happy that he chose to stay behind. Not a day had gone by where he regretted his decision, and he didn't imagine a day would come where he ever would.

Author's Note: Ayrll's outfit was based on a dwaring by onisuu on DeviantArt.