Growing up in Colony 9, I had never been much of a swimmer, so falling head-first into a giant ocean was not a welcome sight. Icy water clawed at my body as I sank into an immense pool of water, deafened by the sound of the waves breaking under me. I cautiously opened my eyes, revealing a sea of dark blue emptiness. Lungs burning, I turned my head toward the light above me and began to reach out for it. My head broke through the surface as I gasped for air. All around me was water. Deep, midnight blue water. Fantastic, I thought, I guess I am pretty far off the map. What now? I can barely swim as is, but there's nowhere to go anyway! It was all just water. Water to my left. Water to my right. Water meeting the horizon, forming a perfectly straight line separating the...Wait a moment, I squinted at the skyline. Is that… Sure enough, I could make out a small brown blob interrupting the border between sea and sky. Oh thank goodness, I sighed, partly out of relief and partly to catch my breath.
Stroke by stroke, the previously unintelligible mass in front of me grew into an island, fairly large by the look of it. The saltwater stung my eyes. The drone of the wind sighing atop the sea rang in my ears. My arms aching, I started to wonder if I would be able to make it to this mysterious island alive. Each stroke hurt more than the last. The ether relic weighed heavily in my pocket, dragging me beneath the waves. My eyelids grew heavy and my breaths became shorter and shorter. The last thing I recall was watching the light of the sun gradually grow dim as my conscience faded to black.
"Heeey…..Hey!... Hello?.. C'mon, wake up!" A voice echoed through my head. Groggily, I opened my eyes, my head pounding. I was greeted by a young woman with short black hair, kneeling beside me. Her ears were long and pointed at the tip, as were everyone's in this world, I would soon learn. But at the time, I thought I was just seeing things. "You're awake!" She smiled. I then noticed that my outfit had changed. I was wearing an old, ragged, cotton shirt and matching pants, lying on a wooden cot very near to the floor. The cot rested in a small, round room made of dark wood with a round pole in the middle, surrounded by some shelves and a desk. Someone's house?
"Wha...what happened?" I asked, pressing my hand against my spinning forehead.
"I found ya on the beach this morning when I was collecting Razorclaw crabs. You and that strange-looking sword over there." She motioned towards the wall, where she had set-
"The Monado!" I exclaimed. It had certainly seen better days; it was covered in a layer of dried sand and kelp. But what was it even doing here in the first place?
"That's yours?" She asked. I nodded, wondering how she was able to carry it over here. "Nice. If ya don't mind me asking," she inhaled deeply. "Who are you? What's your name? Where are ya from? How did ya get here? Why are ya here? What's your name? Did I already ask that? Sorry, we don't get many visitors here. I'm Mubs by the way. Did ya-"
"Woah, woah, hold it!" I stopped her, waving my hands. "Slow down! My name's Shulk, and I'm not from here. My friends and I are from another-"
"Friends? But I only saw you! Oh no.."
"Don't worry; we were each put in a different place when we came here. Speaking of," I looked around the room some more. "Where am I?"
"Ok, well you're in Lurelin Village, to start. Just south of just about everything! Well not quite everything everything, but we are on the south side of Hyrule."
"Hyrule..." I repeated. Well, I made it. I hope the others did too.
"Yep! Well, if you're feeling better, maybe you should walk around a bit. Everyone can't stop talking about you! Not a lot happens here, so you're probably the most interesting thing to happen this year!" I chuckled softly.
"Yeah, fresh air would be nice." The girl, Mubs, extended a sun-tanned hand and helped me up. I nearly fell backwards again, but she caught me with a surprisingly strong grip. We walked through the doorway to the small house, and the sight of the outdoors took my breath away. Sunlight danced through the trees, casting frond-shaped shadows on the white sand. Soft, green grass and gentle hills decorated the landscape, resting beneath several other wooden homes. Most notably, however, was the cerulean bay, glittering in the sunlight, dotted with colorful trade ships. Mubs guided me down the well-worn stairs as I was greeted by another woman.
"Good morning! Or afternoon, really," she called as she hung some laundry on a clothesline. "I was wondering when you might get up. Hope my niece wasn't too annoying."
"Aunt Kiana!" Mubs frowned.
"No, no," I shook my head. "She's fine." Ms. Kiana laughed.
"I'm joking. How are you feeling, Mr…"
"Shulk. And I feel fine, thank you." Mubs carefully removed her arm from under my shoulders, allowing me to stand by myself.
"Good." Her motherly smile reminded me of Sharla when she's taking care of Juju. "ZUTA! KINOV! COME HERE!" She shouted. Two young kids ran up, a boy and a girl, seemingly the same age, each with matching coal black hair and pointed ears. "This is Shulk." She motioned to me. "Why don't you all go play until dinner?"
"Ok!" The kids cheered.
"C'mon Mr. Shulk," the boy Zuta called. "Imma show you around!"
"Wait for me!" His sister called, dragging me by the hand. The two of them proceeded to give me a full tour of the village.
"That's the inn, and that's Mr. Armes's house, and that's cousin Mubs's trade boat, and that's the shaaaaaady rupee place that Mommy says to stay away from, and this way is Gogobi Shores, and Rimba Beach, and Cape Cresia is over there, and waaaaaaay out there is Soka Point!" They continued this for about an hour, eventually leading me away from the beach onto a large grassy meadow. "I found a really cool thing on Palamore Beach over there! There's a bunch of old ruins and stuff, and a glowy-shrine thingy!" As interesting as all of that sounded, I was distracted by three magnificent creatures lingering near the shoreline. They had four legs and long, soft tails, as well as hair growing down the length of their necks. Their coats were such vibrant hues: one deep chestnut, another black as night, and the last almost blue in color.
"Are those...horses?" I asked Kinov. She looked at me like I was crazy.
"Yea, there's lots of horses." After a short pause of confusion, they continued their tour. Fascinating, I thought. I've heard stories of horses from the other fighters in Super Smash Brothers, but I've never seen one in person before. I was still gaping in awe when I heard Ms. Kiana call from the house.
"KIDS! DINNER!" she yelled.
"COMING!" the twins screamed, tearing off for the house. I did my best to keep up, though I can't say I did very well.
We soon reached their home, where Zuta and Kinov's family had gathered.
"You must be Shulk," a man with a thin, black beard and ears to match his wife and kids extended his hand. "I'm Sebasto." I shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you, sir."
"I've heard lots about you from my niece." He nodded towards Mubs, who was trying to hide behind her hands. "She says you're from another world?" I explained everything to the family: the game, my friends, I even showed them my piece of the ether relic. It gave off a soft, blue glow in my hand, which Zuta thought matched my eyes very well when he held it next to my face. Mr. Sebasto stroked his beard as I finished my story. "Interesting."
"Y'all wanna eat or not?" Ms. Kiana sighed, hands on her hips.
"Yes please!" we all exclaimed in unison.
"Mm, seafood paella!"
"My favorite!"
"Tasty tasty!" And so the night went on, all of us enjoying ourselves around the fire. Ms. Kiana makes great seafood paella, by the way. Not quite as good as the food Fiora cooks, but still delicious.
"I assume that the twins took you on a tour around the village?" asked Mr. Sebasto. I nodded, my mouth full of food. "But you didn't go to Aris Beach, right kids?" He gave them a stern look.
"No no!"
"Of course not!"
"What's Aris Beach?" I asked between bites.
"My necklace came from there!" Kinov smiled, holding up the shell attached to her necklace.
"Aris Beach," Ms. Kiana explained, "has been overrun with monsters for quite a while now. It is very dangerous, so you need to stay away from there." She pointed at the twins. "Understand?"
"Yes, Mommy." They sighed together. The setting sun beamed across the bay, glowing beautiful shades of pink and orange. Zuta yawned.
"It's getting late." Mr. Sebasto echoed Zuta's yawn. "Off to bed, you two."
"Ok, goodnight Mommy! Goodnight Daddy! Goodnight Mr. Shulk!" The twins called, ascending the stairs into the house.
"As for you - Shulk, right?," Mr. Sebasto pointed towards the inn. "You can sleep there. Don't worry about the cost; my wife explained the situation to Chessica, the innkeeper, and she's agreed to let you stay for free."
"Thank you very much," I said, and I meant it.
"Here are your clothes, all washed and dried," Ms. Kiana handed me my shorts, black shirt, and pink vest, folded up very neatly. "Sleep well, dear."
"Thank you again. Goodnight!" I waved, heading for the inn.
The beds in the inn were very comfortable, especially since Ms. Chessica had saved me a special "fluffy bed." I would have slept well, but I was troubled by a strange dream. A tall structure, the sunrise, malicious red eyes, a boy screaming, someone falling, falling, falling. I woke with a start. Dreams like this were not uncommon for me, but I didn't expect to be able to see into the future outside of my world. My eyes drifted to the Monado, propped up against the wall. Why did I see that? I wondered. What's going to happen? Nothing from the vision made much sense yet, but they rarely do. I did my best to go back to sleep, hoping that the rest of the night would be uneventful. Thankfully, it was.
I awoke the next morning to the sound of Zuta shouting at me through the window.
"HEY MR. SHULK! WAKEY WAKEY!" I moaned, covering my ears with my pillow. Unfortunately for my desire to sleep in, the window was big enough for the boy to fit through. Zuta bounced around on my bed, chanting "GET UP! GET UP! GET UP!"
"Okay, okay, I'll get up," I yawned. I slowly dragged myself out of bed. The chilly ocean breeze made me shiver as I pulled on my clothes. A quick glance in the mirror told me that I needed to brush my hair, but Zuta had already dragged me halfway out the door.
"Good morning, Shulk!" Mubs called from the front yard of their house. Ms. Kiana waved "hello," her coral skirt flapping in the breeze. "I made breakfast!"
"Thanks, and good morning to you too," I replied, combing my fingers through my messy, blond hair. Breakfast consisted of a delicious, spicy omelet that made me feel all warm inside, a pleasant feeling compared to the chill of the morning wind. Mubs could see me smiling and blushed.
"Spicy peppers. Pretty good, huh?" I nodded in agreement. "So," she asked, "what are ya gonna do today?"
"We got it all planned out!" Zuta and Kinov marched up to where I was sitting, smiling broadly. "We're gonna take ya down to Palamore Beach, and then aaaaaaaaaall the way out to Soka Point!" I barely managed to finish my breakfast before the twins dragged me away. I looked back at the two women. The twins' mother waved, and Mubs giggled, combing her fingers through her hair, eyes locked on the ground.
An hour or so later, we had arrived at the ruins Zuta had mentioned yesterday. They were quite impressive, especially for a research scientist like myself. Amidst the crumbled architecture stood a small building. It emitted a soft, orange light and matched a pair of circular platforms located no more than 50 feet away. As I observed the ruins, a bright flash of blue interrupted my sight. Sunrise on the ocean, a tall wooden hideout, several pairs of glowing, red eyes, a young boy screaming, calling my name, pushed off the structure, falling towards the water, falling, falling, falling...
"Mr. Shulk!" Zuta tugged at my shirt, snapping me out of the trance. "Are you ok, Mr. Shulk?" That voice...he's the one calling out in my vision!
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Good, 'cause now we're going to Soka Point!"
The sun had passed the apex of the sky once we arrived at Soka Point. We spent an hour or so chasing the Ironshell crabs out from under the rocks and racing each other to the very tip of the peninsula - I never won - before heading back towards the village. When we arrived, the twins suggested we go swimming.
"You guys go ahead," I said to them. "Yesterday was more than enough swimming for me." They shrugged and dove into the bay while I sat down on the end of the pier.
"Tired out?" Mubs joined me, putting her feet in the water.
"Yeah," I replied. "I was never much of a swimmer anyway."
"Me either," she blushed. "I'm more of a boat person."
"I've never been on a boat before."
"Really?" She blushed even more. "I could, uh, take you out if ya want. I mean, not like take you out as in, like, take you out out, like a date, er, yea not a date, I mean-"
"I'd love to see your boat."
"Okay, heh, yea, it's this one." She motioned to a trade vessel, docked near us at the pier.
"Cool," I stood up to see it better. It was very well taken care of, and carried a lot of goods, many like I had never seen before.
"Yea," Mubs sighed. "I like her alot. Come on in!" She grabbed me by the hand and pulled me onto the deck. The boat was kept in very good shape, as though her captain really cared about keeping her that way. Something had been bothering me for a while though.
"Mubs?" I asked, leaning on the railing of the boat.
"Yeah?" She walked over to join me.
"When I said that I came from a different world, you accepted it just like that. No questions asked. Why?"
"Well, ya know, you're not the first visitor we've had from the other worlds."
"Really?"
"Yeah! They come through every now and again, but since our little village is kinda off in the middle of nowhere, we don't get too many. I was kinda excited when I found ya on the beach, since you got those tiny ears and stuff." She reached out to touch the tip of my ear, very small and rounded compared to hers. I looked over at her, and her face immediately turned red. I chuckled and returned to watching the sun start to set over the waves. We were quiet for a minute, just enjoying the sound of the waves and the gentle rise and fall of the boat.
"Say, Shulk," she broke the silence. I looked up at her.
"What is it?"
"I, uh, just wanted to say that, well," she paused. "I've really enjoyed having ya here. Like I said, we don't get a lot of visitors, so it's been nice to see someone new around here. And, uh, I, well...I think you're-" CRUNCH! Mubs was cut off by a sudden noise from the shoreline. Kinov was kneeling in the sand, eyes red and puffy, like she was crying. In her hands she held several white fragments: all that remained of her seashell necklace.
"Kinov!" Ms. Kiana called, rushing towards her daughter. "What happened?"
"Zuta!" Kinov wailed. "Zuta stepped on it and broke it!"
"Sorry, sis," Zuta apologized. "I didn't see it!"
"It was special! Daddy got it for me from Aris Beach!" Kinov got up and ran to the house, crying.
"I'll go after her," Mubs said, heading back to the cottage.
"C'mon, Zuta," his mother called. "Let's get some food and then head to bed." Zuta looked down the beach for a moment, smiled mischievously, and followed after her. I went with them to the house for dinner before heading back to the inn.
That night, I was woken up by a loud scream. Pulling my shirt over my head as I went, I dashed outside to see what happened. Nearly everyone in the village had gathered at the twins' house. Ms. Kiana wailed from the front porch, Mubs and several others trying to comfort her.
"What happened?" I asked.
"It's Zuta," Ms. Kiana exclaimed between sobs. "He's missing!"
"It'll be alright," Mubs patted Ms. Kiana's shoulder.
"Yeah, we'll find him," her husband reassured. "He couldn't have gone far." He motioned to some of the other men. "Come on, let's split up. Two of you can check up the path toward Faron, and one of you come with me to Palamore Ruins." They sped off, calling Zuta's name. I was about to ask what I should do, but I was interrupted by a vision. Sunrise over the ocean, a treehouse-like fortress, hideous monsters with huge heads and glowing red eyes, Zuta screaming from the fort, calling my name, running from the monsters, a wooden club flying through the air, he screams, falling towards the water, falling, falling, falling... I snapped back to reality with a gasp.
"What's wrong?" asked Mubs.
"It's Zuta," I replied. "He's in trouble."
"How do ya know?"
"This is gonna sound crazy, but," I inhaled, "I can see into the future?" I grimaced, expecting them to act like I had lost it, but they didn't. They just stared.
"Really?" Mubs looked curious. "You can really see the future?"
"Yeah, I can." They all paused to consider - likely whether or not to throw me off the pier.
"Well," Ms. Kiana said after some time. "What did you see?"
"There was a tower-like structure, kinda like a treehouse but over the water, and at least 6 or 7 monsters, nasty ones too - red eyes, big heads, blue, brown, and orange, I think, it was hard to tell in the light of the sunrise - know anything like that?" Ms. Kiana drew in a sharp breath.
"Aris beach!"
"Of course," replied Mubs. "He broke Kinov's necklace, and is trying to get her a new one to replace it!"
"If I don't get there soon, Zuta will get hurt, or worse."
Mubs furrowed her brows."You'll never make it there before sunrise on foot."
"But you will on horseback." Ms. Chesica, the innkeeper, strode up to the group, leading her magnificent, chestnut brown horse. I stretched out my hand to pat it's neck. "You have ridden a horse before, right?"
I'll spare you the details of me learning to ride, since you might fall asleep, and start up again with me riding off toward Aris Beach. Riding a horse feels amazing. The wind whistled through my hair, ice cold. As I rode, the structure on Aris Beach became clearer. It was definitely the one from my vision. But where was Zuta?
I tightened my grip on the Monado, scanning the structure. He was nowhere to be found. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a boat leaving the shoreline. One of the monsters was rowing it towards the structure, and another, larger creature held something tightly in its deformed little arms: Zuta. There you are. I raced the horse over to the edge of the water and leapt as far as I could, landing with a thud on the floor of the poorly made raft. The monsters roared, upset that someone had come to steal their midnight snack. Red eyes glared from all over the tower, the cacophonous sound of alert horns blaring through the cold night air. I raised the Monado over my head and brought it down on the small creature, knocking it down. A few more hits and it collapsed into a cloud of smoke. Just as I turned to take down the larger one, it threw Zuta up at the structure, where he was caught by another one. I groaned, swinging my sword and knocking the large creature into the water. It panicked for a moment before dissolving into a similar cloud of darkness. The raft having drifted close enough to the structure, I jumped off and ran up the stairs along the tower. Another pair of monsters approached, but one blow from the Monado sent them both plummeting into the water below. I reached the platform they had tossed Zuta towards to find the boy cowering on the ground, ducking out of the way of a monster's familiar looking club. He noticed me and called out, dodging the monster's attack.
"Mr. Shulk! Help me!" He had accidentally backed himself into a corner; one more step and he'd fall off. The hideous pig creature grinned maliciously, raising his club to send the boy over the edge. Everything about the scene was so familiar to me - a well known feeling of deja vu.
"This is the moment. You know what to do. Now, Shulk!" I heard a voice from inside my head.
It wasn't mine.
Ignoring that for now, I focused my energy on the Monado, watching for one final time the scene play out before my eyes. Now in perfect clarity- the sunrise, the fortress, the monsters with glowing red eyes, Zuta calling my name, the wooden club flying through the air, the screaming, and falling towards the water. My mind snapped back to reality, ready to change the future.
"Monado, Armour!" I commanded. The blade began to glow golden yellow, and the air filled with particles of ether, drawn from the relic. Bright lights swirled around both Zuta and I, forming a protective barrier from the monster. The wooden club bounced harmlessly off the shield: the perfect time to retaliate. I leapt forward, bringing the sword down on the creature's head with a power-filled "Backslash!" All that remained of the monster was a puff of smoke, dissipating into the air.
The golden light of the Monado began to soften as the effects of the art wore off, and I extended my hand to a shivering Zuta.
"...Mr. Shulk?" he sniffled.
"It's okay," I said, smiling. "You're safe now." Zuta paused to look around for a moment. Tears welled up in his eyes.
"I- I'm sorry.."
"I know, let's get you home." I pulled him in for a hug, which he gladly accepted, sobbing into my shoulder. I carried him down to the raft, back to shore, and we rode back to the village.
As the honey-tinged sun rose from its watery bed, the small town of Lurelin grew on the horizon. Approaching the town, I could see some of the villagers running back to report Zuta's return. Before we even reached the gateway, Ms. Kiana ran up to us, face stained with tears.
"Zuta!" She cried. The boy leapt off the horse and into his mother's arms.
"Mommy!"
Later that day, I was getting ready to leave - packing up the few things I had and buying some supplies for the road - when Ms. Kiana approached me.
"Shulk," she said. "I just wanted to thank you again for saving Zuta. I don't know what I would have done if..." Her eyes watered at the thought.
"Hey, it's ok!" I smiled. "I'm glad I was able to help."
"Yes, me too. Here," she handed me a small package, wrapped in leaves and tied with string. "Seafood paella. Since you liked it so much."
"Thank you!" I packed the gift into my backpack.
"Safe travels, Shulk." She walked back to her house. Zuta waved from the front steps; he was going to be grounded for a long time yet. Kinov ran over and gave me a quick hug on my way out of the town, saying
"Imma miss you, Mr. Shulk!" I patted her hair and waved back at Zuta before making my way to the village's main entrance, saying my good-byes to a few other villagers as I went. Mubs waited for me at the gate with Chessica and her horse. The magnificent creature whinnied when he saw me, and I combed my fingers through his mane.
"It was nice to meet you, all of you," I smiled, turning to the horse. "I suppose this is goodbye then?"
"Goodbye?" Chessica asked. "What are you talking about? He's going with you." She handed me the horse's reins while I stared in wonder.
"Wait, really?"
"Yeah! He seems to like you." The horse raised his head in the air with a triumphant neigh, as if to agree with her.
"Oh, wow, thank you! Thank you so much!"
"Of course!" Chessica laughed, patting the animal's coat. "Travel safe, Rhodis."
"Rhodis…" I repeated, attaching my bag to the saddle. Before I mounted the horse, Mubs grabbed my arm.
"Wait!" she said. "Before you go-" she pulled me into a tight hug, refusing to let go for a few seconds. Once she loosened her grip, she looked me in the eyes, cheeks flushed. "See ya later, Shulk."
I hopped up into the saddle, setting off through the gate. As the town and it's waving citizens faded behind me, I wondered where I should even be going. I didn't really know where I was - except south, somewhere. That left me with quite a few options for sure. But where would I end up following the road?
Before I could get too far, I still had one thing to take care of. I took the Monado from my back and held it out in front of me.
"Don't think I forgot about you, Alvis."
Silence.
"I know that was you during the fight on Aris Beach, don't try to deny it."
More silence.
"...I know you're there."
After a long pause, a quiet voice echoed through my ears.
"Yes, Shulk. I am here."
"Yeah, I know. But how? And where did the Monado come from in the first place?"
"Back in your world, after you recreated the universe, I continued to exist, even without a physical form. When that woman, Trish, appeared in your world, her technology was able to detect my… for lack of a better term, 'spirit.' We had spoken a few times before, of all manner of things, including you, Shulk. She must have added me to your party at some point before you left, though I am not sure why she had me inhabit this particular form."
"She did mention she was going to give me a little extra help."
"I hope my presence does not bother you. I was not aware of her actions-"
"No, no, it's fine! I'm not upset, I just wanted to know." I smiled at the voice of my friend, which probably would have looked odd to any onlookers. Fortunately, there were none. "Is this the only form you can have? Or can you switch to the Homs one? I'm gonna look ridiculous if I have to keep talking to my sword like this."
"As much as I would like to, there is not enough ether here for me to be able to change between forms."
"Really? Hmm, that's strange. Doesn't this world have its own ether?"
"If it does, it is either not compatible with the Monado, or there is too little of it here."
"But I used the Monado before? And my vision? Why did it work then?"
"I am… not sure. Let me try to think for a while."
"Alright, take your time, I guess." I returned the Monado to my back and continued on my way. At least I wasn't all alone out here.