Origins: Zelda and Young Link
Lake Hylia
On a balmy, summer night, the fields that orbited Lake Hylia, the nocturnal creatures that normally patrolled the eerily silent fields had an unusual but expected musical accompaniment. The sounds of a harp.
A figure clad in garbs as blue as the night sky, her face wrapped in a dusty white cowl plucked the strings of the golden instrument. The tune ebbed fast and slow as her concentration broke and reformed like these. On nights like these, when she could not sleep, she often dawned her disguise, sneaking out to a sparsely populated region of Hyrule. Or rather, her guardian Impa allowed it.
She was Princess Zelda, and the truth was, she worried for her friend.
She had received word through the grapevine that Link had gone off in search of his fairy Navi and then disappeared. No guards at the port or doing road patrols had seen anyone matching the blonde's description for six months now. The tournament Link had been rambling about when he disappeared the first time, and the astrological reports of odd lunar behavior in Hyrule's hemispheric opposite, Termina, were likely connected, but Hyrule had withdrawn its embassy before she was born after some intense pressure over Goddesses-knew-what, so the eyes and ears she had in Hyrule were non-existent in Termina.
Out of impulse, his fingers strummed across the harp, instinctually trying her tune again. Suddenly, all of the emotions, all the anger, all the worry that she'd been failing to express through music, bubbled to the surface. Glaring up at the moon suddenly.
"Where are you?" Zelda's deepened voice cracked.
"Funny you should ask," warbled an unhinged voice.
A gloved hand appeared in the sky. The hand twitched and jittered as if it too was playing a musical instrument wildly.
Zelda's eyes, reddened by the transformation spell that transformed her into Sheik, narrowed, "Are you some new messenger of the Goddesses?"
"I mean, you could say I'm a god," thought the hand, miming stroking a chin, "But I don't have churches. I don't like churches, you have to be quiet! The audacity!"
"You…" Zelda sputtered, all diplomacy failing her for a split second, "You said you could help me find Link,"
"Not so much help you find Link, but pick him up on the way to where we're going."
"Where we're…"
Zelda's expression brightened.
"Are you the proprietor of the tournament Link was on about?"
"That wasn't me, that was my brother, and he's mellowed out since then if Link told you anything."
"He did," Zelda's eyes narrowed again, "But I suppose if I refuse your tournament offer, you won't take me to Link,"
"Ding ding ding you are correct ma'am," cheered Crazy.
"Alright," Zelda nodded, "Take me to him.
With a snap of his fingers, a portal opened. The smell of what was on the other side caused Zelda's nose to wrinkle immediately. It was a bar.
Transforming into her Zelda form, she briskly stepped through the portal.
"LINK," she screamed.
The music, a sailor's shanty, stopped. Everything in the bar ceased to move, all the patrons frozen in shock at a well-dressed woman appearing seemingly by magic. The waft of Termina's legendary saltwater smell hit her as she strode through the bar, powered only by rage, Crazy Hand following meekly after. At the bar sat Link, looking as dirty and disheveled as had begun to look ever since his war with Ganondorf, drinking some cheap-smelling brew as if nothing was going on.
This drunken, slovenly version, bearded of Link was becoming her mental image of her friend. And with that realization, Zelda felt nothing but fury,
Transforming into Sheik, she threw out a single needle, the pointy object shattering the brew Link was drinking. It was only then Link turned, his eyes widening in realization.
"OI!" shouted the bartender, a slender old man, "Get out of my-"
"WOAH WOAH WOAH!" Crazy Hand screeched, snapping his finger.
"BARRRRRR!" the bartender's cry slowing as it escaped his throat.
Now, the world around Crazy, Zelda, and Link were truly frozen, not just out of shock.
Before Zelda could even register that. Another portal opened. Another, much calmer hand, seemingly Crazy's brother, zipped out of the portal, tentatively followed by…the child form of Link?
"I cannot," seethed the elder hand, "Leave you alone for five seconds can I?"
"For once, it wasn't my fault, it was her," Crazy shouted, dramatically pointing at Zelda.
"O brother of Crazy Hand, I must take responsibility for my anger, for that, I apologize. It's just that Link's behavior drives me so batty I…"
"Forget all that," Link slurred, "Who's the…?"
Suddenly, Link's head slammed onto the table, clutching it in agony.
"I am making good on our offer," Master Hand explained.
"Offer?" shouted Zelda, stamping her foot, "What-?"
"Master Hand here was telling me about how my battle with Ganondorf in the future gives me all sorts of bad memories," the smaller Link said, his forehead wrinkling in a confused expression "Can't see how though, I just left Kokiri Forest."
"It does trust us," Master Hand said, "I figured by unifying Link's memories as a young boy, the timeline as it should be, with his current memories would create something of a temporal feedback loop, which is, unfortunately, what you're seeing now."
Zelda's Triforce of wisdom glowed as she looked back at Link, his writhing slowing in intensity.
"However," Master Hand continued, drooping in dread, "There's a final piece we need to alter the timeline to its proper state,"
"Ganondorf," Zelda and Link said together, while Young Link's expression twisted in confusion.
"We need him, really?" whined an indignant Young Link.
"Yes, unfortunately. His construction of Ganon is what caused this mess in the first place, and my plan won't work if he's antagonizing our Order." Master Hand explained
"Which means breaking the seal," Zelda snapped, "We can't…"
"Trust us, there are safeguards in place for any undue harm coming to any of you. Fighting will be reserved for the tournament, and the tournament only,"
"He's right," Link turned to Zelda, "I've seen him keep such fights at bay before. If anyone can do it, it's him."
Zelda frowned. Young Link suddenly sprung to life, "And if anyone can keep Ganondorf at bay, it's the three of us," chirped the enthusiastic young boy.
"Aye, you're right kiddo," Link said, standing up from his barstool and extending an open palm, "What do ya say? All for one and one for all?"
Young Link nodded, "I like that! All for one and one for all," Young Link said, putting his hand on top of Link.
"Yes," Zelda proclaimed, with a giggle, turning back into her regal form, "All for one and one for all!"
The three exchanged a look, before looking at the dogpile of hands, Triforce symbols glowing brightly on all three.
"Woo!" Crazy Hand yelled, opening his palm, "Teamwork!"
Master Hand sighed, mimicking his gesture. The two hands slapped together. As they did another portal opened up, this one to an opulent mansion.
"So this'll where we'll be staying," asked an excited Young Link, "I've never stayed in a castle!"
"Yeah," Link chuckled, "Beats the tree hut we used to stay in…"
Young Link cocked his head as his older counterpart's thought died mid-sentence, "What?"
"Just...what do we call you?"
"We're going with Young Link." Master Hand snapped, sounding tired.
"And that's something you approve of?" Zelda asked, glancing at the young boy.
Again, Young Link nodded, "Oh yeah, definitely!"
Link nodded, brushing past the hands, muttering, "I could use a shower, geez,"
Exchanging a glance and a giggle, Zelda and Young Link stepped through the portal. Master Hand exasperatedly bringing up the rear as Crazy zoomed ahead.
