Fyras14: Yo, folks! Sorry for the late update! I just got Super Mario Galaxy 2 and well you can guess what took my time...both of us, me and my brother, were playing for almost all day...addicting game that one, and really nice too...sigh...if only Skyward Sword were here now...well, I can only wish...
Now, as I said, the chapters will look almost alike from here and out, but a few things will change, especially the story and some parts of it all...Next week's chapter might come a little late, still working on it.
Summary: After the attack on her castle, Zelda manages to escape, half dead. Found by Link in the wild, she is taken care of, but when fate plays its harsh hand once more, the princess must do everything in her power to aid the hero, recover her kingdom, and maybe fall in love. AU Twilight Princess.
Please read or review, or criticize, whichever comes first. Flames are not accepted, frowned upon, and possibly deleted.
Also remember, that this story is not a walkthrough, and that Zelda and its characters do not belong to me.
See, the human mind is kind of like... a piñata. When it breaks open, there's a lot of surprises inside. Once you get the piñata perspective, you see that losing your mind can be a peak experience.
-Jane Wagner
-Chapter Two-
-Ordon-
Where…am…I? Zelda wondered, as she blinked, trying to take in the surroundings that had suddenly appeared before her. Everywhere she looked, the world was going all around, fuzzy even. The princess blinked once more, trying hard to adjust her vision, and her ears, as she could hear strange things speaking around her, but the voices or sounds came out as if the winds were talking to the leaves of the trees.
It didn't take her long to recover her sight and her hearing, finally recognizing that she was around some sort of plain…or ranch, considering the fact that she could spot some wooden fences and some goats. Not really sure what she was doing in a ranch in the first place, so the princess's first thought was to ask what she was doing here in a ranch, of all places. Zelda was about to open her mouth to speak, when suddenly she realized that something was holding it closed. When Zelda went to remove the material from her mouth, she found out that her hands were nowhere to be seen. No matter where she looked, Zelda couldn't find her hands, and that struck her as rather odd. Here she was, in some random ranch with goats, with something on her mouth, and instead of hands, she could see….wings! Where did those wings come from? Zelda soon felt the need to move her unseen hands, only to find with a great shock, that the wings moved in the direction that the princess wished her arms to move into. Deciding that something was terribly wrong, Zelda went to see her body, only to let out a strangled squeak in shock.
Everywhere she looked, she could see brown feathers decorating her body, small like talons were also part of the sight that Zelda was forced to see. The princess couldn't stop herself from looking around frantically, realizing in a short while that she also had a beak. She looked around herself again, wondering if her appearance was but a mere joke, or perhaps if she was dreaming…but, no matter how hard she looked, she was still a hawk, and she was still in a ranch. Suddenly, however, another thought hit her…why wasn't she…in her cast—WAIT! The castle! Those beasts that came from the shadows! That evil king! Worry shot through her entire being as she began to recall the past events, and so, she started a frantic attempt to free herself from whatever held her down. Pain began to shot from somewhere around her arm, but she didn't care, the only thing she cared about was to be free of whatever held her down, but then, something else happened.
"Whoa! Easy, girl! Easy!" cried an unknown voice from somewhere, making Zelda stop, recognizing that voice. She looked up, and faced up towards a young man with blonde hair and blue eyes. The hawk princess blinked in confusion, finally calming down, as the young man sighed in relief, muttering something about strange behavior. Zelda had found it odd, too, that she had stopped when she heard that young man's voice; she had recognized it. But, how? She had never met this young man before, nor any of his companions for that matter, who were all looking at her in mild concern.
"She sure calms fast, eh, pal?" one of the young man's companions, a taller and older man spoke, looking at Zelda curiously.
"You think she's sick again?" asked the other companion, a young woman, who looked at her in concern.
"Well, I doubt she's playing a game…" Zelda's captor told her, glancing down at Zelda, troubled. "You are beginning to worry me, Shannon…" The hawk princess suddenly blinked at the mentioned of that name. Shannon? Zelda wondered. Who is he talking abou—oh! It didn't take long for the hawk princess to remember that she was an animal now, looking down at herself once more. He must mean…me…the hawk princess thought sadly.
"You sure she's not sick or something?" asked the big man, to which the young man answered with a shake of the head.
"She doesn't look sick, although she does look a bit tad alert…"
"Well, at least look at the bright sight," the young lady began, smiling brightly. "she isn't trashing about anymore, nor biting your fingers off!" Zelda was rather taken back by the girl's remark. Had she been trashing about? Biting her captor's fingers! Her? Surely it was a mistake! The princess of Hyrule couldn't possibly have done all that…well, she wasn't the princess anymore, that was a fact. But, even so… "She's looking better than she had been before, doesn't she?"
"Better…if you weren't to count the broken wing, Ilia…but, I guess you have a point, but she's still far from better…" The girl, Ilia, patted the hawk princess's head, while the latter looked down at her bandaged wing, barely noticing the bandage was there. Hmm…I guess that explains the pain from earlier…
"I still think she's okay, Link…Shannon looks like she recently woke up from some sort of nightmare."
"I'm still not too sure about that, Ilia," Zelda's captor, Link spoke up, worry evident in his voice.
"Well, if one were to ask me," spoke another from somewhere around the place. "I would say she was quite fine." Zelda blinked in confusion as a fourth person spoke, and she struggled to find out who had just spoken, and had been ignored by the others as they continued to talk about the hawk princess. "Over here, little hawk!" It didn't take long for Zelda to find the fourth person, but she was rather surprised when she was staring face to face to a nearby chestnut colored mare, who nodded her head back at her. The hawk princess was rather surprised that she could understand the horse, but then she realized her situation and then reasoned that it explained why she could understand the mare. "It seems you have awaken from your malady, little hawk!" the mare went on, making Zelda look back at her confused. Malady? What was this mare talking about? "It is good to know that you are not crying out madly anymore, little hawk…poor thing, you were suffering for quite some time…my master, Link, had a hard time controlling you…especially after you bit his fingers…" Biting and crying at madly? Hadn't that Ilia girl said that she had been trashing about?
I must have developed some sort of fever after I was injured…Zelda reasoned, as she recalled the events of the castle, the memories coming to her quickly, but nothing after that, except what she was experiencing now.
"It was kind of hard to understand the pain you were going through, little hawk," the mare went on, shaking her head a bit. "It was hard to tell if you were angry or desperate…but, oh, I forgot my manners…talking to you all of the sudden without introducing myself…my name is Epona. Nice to…oh, I seem to have forgotten, too, that you cannot speak for the moment." Zelda gave the mare, Epona, a confused look, and tried to speak for herself. The hawk princess then slapped herself mentally, recalling the strange material that had been tied around her mouth. Noticing her struggle, Epona told her, "I hope you are not angry at Link for tying your beak down, little hawk…when you came to live with him, he was forced to tie you down for fear of losing his fingers." Zelda blinked a bit, before she looked up at the young man that held her down, Link. She began to feel a little ashamed for how she had behaved towards him, even if she couldn't control herself. Glancing back at Epona, the hawk princess made a sign with her uninjured wing, as if pointing to her beak, to which the mare nodded. "I agree…why don't you peck him to catch his attention, little hawk? He might understand that you want that rope off your beak…" Zelda nodded at the horse, and gently, began to peck Link's hand. The young man's attention was caught almost instantly, and he stopped talking with his group of friends to look down at the small hawk on his hands.
"Hmm? Something wrong, Shannon?" he asked. To answer him, Zelda raised her beak up in the air, then made a sign with her wing. It took a while, but Link finally understood what the hawk princess wanted, and went to pull the rope off her beak.
"Wait!" the big man cried, both he and Ilia finally taking notice of what Link was doing. "Won't she bite you if ya take that off?"
"Come on, Fado!" Ilia told him, slapping the big man gently on the shoulder. "She's not even angry anymore, see? Shannon's probably realized by now that we aren't her enemies." As she said this, Link went ahead and took care of the rope that was tied around the hawk princess's beak. Once it was removed from her beak, Zelda shook her head, and opened her mouth, testing it.
"There we go!" Epona said, nodding her head a bit. "Much better, I presume?"
"Yes…it is. Thank you, Epona…your kindness is much appreciated."
"You're welcome, little hawk…or I suppose I should call you Shannon now, right?" Zelda opened her mouth to speak, but then, closed it, realizing that it wouldn't be a good idea to blurt out her true name, even to a horse. The hawk princess understood that by hiding her true self she could practically get others in trouble, but what choice did she have? She had no way of communicating with people, nor she had no way of leaving, either. But, I just cannot go around revealing myself…it would probably would do more harm than good…she thought, before she finally nodded.
"…yes…Shannon will do." For now, the hawk princess added mentally, nodding her head at Epona. She was about to tell her something else, when suddenly, she felt herself be lowered to the ground. Looking up, she watched as Link bent down to put her on the ground. At first, Zelda was mildly confused, but then, got the idea, and started to walk a bit, only to trip and fall face down. Before she could get up, she felt Link lift her up again, crying out,
"Whoa! Easy there!" Zelda gave him a silent thank you for helping her up, and tried to walk once more, only to trip and fall again, quickly getting up to start again. The group of humans and mare watched at the hawk's failed attempts to walk, with Fado scratching his head as he watched on.
"She's quite the clumsy one, wouldn't you agree?" he asked Link.
"Well, if you had only been flapping your wings madly for two whole weeks without using your legs, you'll be pretty clumsy, too, you know?" the young man pointed out, helping Zelda up again, after she fell for what appeared to be the tenth time.
"Poor thing," Ilia said, shaking her head. "she still must be weak, then." She went over towards the clumsy hawk, and picked her up. Zelda scowled in Ilia's arms, with Epona being the only one able to tell, and letting out neighs that were giggles.
"Nice try." Epona joshed.
"I sincerely didn't believe walking again would be this difficult!" Zelda cried, or more like squeaked, in annoyance. Ilia patted the young hawk's head, looking back at Link.
"She must be upset, Link," she told him. "What about if I give her a bath on the spring? I assume you'll be busy here in the ranch…I'll return her back, I promise, after all it's not like I can keep her. You know Daddy…" Ilia told him, to which Link was quick to nod.
"That might not be a bad idea, Ilia…she probably might feel better after a bath in the Ordon Spring." The young woman gave her friend a nod, before she began to walk away. Epona bid her farewell, watching on as Ilia and her new friend left, with Zelda wondering whatever would the future hold.
She is sure is one weird animal, Link thought, as he changed his clothes, watching from the corner of his eye, as Shannon turned away from him, as if giving him privacy. Four days ago, the hawk wouldn't have given it a second thought to be polite, and would have tried to grab Link as he was changing, or cry out in annoyance if he tried to change her bandages. She must have been domesticated, somehow…he went on, not really understanding why the small hawk would turn her head away as he was changing clothes, and even nod her head as if saying thank you when he gave her, her food. It was as if the hawk had made a complete transformation right before everyone's eyes, even the Ordon kids were happy to come and visit the hawk regularly, and she let them pat her, never complaining about it at all. Even Rusl appeared rather surprised by this unexpected change when he came to visit the bird, but, then both he and Link had assumed that she had been like this before she had been injured.
"Makes you wonder how she got injured, though," Rusl had said to him one particular evening, as the kids and Ilia took Shannon to the spring. "Shannon's too calm of an animal to start a fight…it probably had to be the work of those monsters roaming the woods…"
"I wouldn't be too sure…" Link had told him, fixing a worried gaze into the sky. "She practically came crashing from the sky…she must have come from far away…" Link still pondered, though, as he finished changing and moved to get Shannon something to eat.
Where had this hawk come from, anyway? Hawks weren't rare within the Ordon Woods, but still, it made Link wonder. Shannon had been flying when he had found her. From what Link could gather, the hawk had been flying the opposite side of Ordon, coming from Faron, but Link knew those woods well, since his visits to them to cut some trees for wood, that hawks rarely appeared in the Faron area, unless they were called with Hawk Grass. He continued to wondered about this mysterious hawk, as he served her some berries in a small bowl, moving towards the hawk's makeshift bed. Noticing him, Shannon looked up at him, and nodded once the young man set the bowl down. She didn't waste any time to eat, doing it slowly and patiently, something that Link found very amusing. Her kind were always eating at a fast pace, as if expecting their catch to suddenly grow legs and run off. As he watched her, Link couldn't help but realize that the hawk was feeling even better than she had been in years.
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Zelda balanced dangerously on Link's clothe covered arm, squeaking a bit when her claws slipped off the arm. Luckily for her, Link had quickly come to the rescue and had helped her balance herself on his arm.
It had been almost a month since the princess had come to live in this village in her hawk form, and yet, no matter how much she tried, Zelda still found it hard to stand, and even much more difficult to even fly. She also wondered how she had managed to come here at all after she escaped capture back in the castle. The hawk princess, though, was lucky to have friends backing her up, even if they didn't know who she really was, but Zelda couldn't have asked for better friends. Even some of the local animals had come to like her, despite the fact that she rarely saw them, unless the local cat came stealing fish from Link. Being an animal had surely taken its toll on Zelda, but she was getting used to it, no doubt the work of the Triforce of Wisdom she carried within her being.
Both Zelda and Link, well, mainly Link, were making their way towards the Ordon Ranch, accompanied close by Epona, who appeared to be pretty bored, but hid some amusement as she watched Zelda balance on Link's arm. She had giggled once or twice, and when she caught the hawk princess looking at her, the mare only said,
"Your kind is just too funny…" Zelda forgave her, then, unable to hide a smirk of her own, as she looked at the large farm that stood not too far away from them.
Epona had told her many stories about Link and the ranch, mainly that the mare had grown up inside the ranch, and had been raised by Link ever since. Link himself also worked in the ranch, working primarily as Ordon Ranch's second goat herder, or only goat herder, as the owner of the ranch, Fado, was rather incompetent when keeping goats in the ranch. They always kept running away. Link, however, had no problem in keeping the goats inside the ranch, but that was because the goats would always say that he smelled of nuts and leaves, and had a pure spirit. Epona, too, had said that Link had a way with animals, but even she didn't know if it either was his kind spirit or something entirely different.
"Well, here we are…" Link murmured, making Zelda turn away from her thoughts, to look at the small piece of land with wondering goats before her.
Ordon Ranch was a small ranch, that was overlooked by a large valley of mountains. Grass decorated many of its floor, and a few wild flowers made their way as the goats dinner. A large barn lay right in the front of the herd of goats, which was ignored by the animals, just as much as the fences that lay all around the area, except for the rocky parts, as the goats themselves couldn't climb up the rocks and escape. The ranch itself wasn't as well-known as the famous Lon Lon Ranch that stood hidden in the outskirts of Hyrule Field, but it still the sight of it was incredible. Zelda herself, hadn't seen any ranches since the duty of a ruler always stood before, but now that she saw one, she couldn't help but take in all this wild beauty that lay before her. Her concentration was broken, however, when Link suddenly put her down on the floor. Zelda was rather a bit surprised, but managed to hold herself up, and slowly pace around, getting the feeling of walking back again. "Well, it's good to see you up in your two feet, eh, Shannon?" Link asked her, smiling. Zelda nodded back at Link, to which, he surprisingly, returned, before he dragged Epona with him to work. The hawk princess watched them go, and then, gave a small sigh of content.
Out of all the people and animals that Zelda had met days ago, Link was probably the only one that had really caught her eyes. He was kind, honest, brave, and even a bit tad handsome. Lately, whenever Link approached her or patted her head, the hawk princess would get warm all of the sudden, and sometimes, become a little shy. She would always wondered why she felt like this all the time, but she never knew why. The hawk princess began to pace around again, this time, her thoughts went towards her home. …I wonder…how are my people faring? I hope…nothing has happened…Zelda looked at the sky. Do they believe their leader dead? Is my castle destroyed? she asked mentally, receiving no answer from the light breeze that blew nearby. Zelda gave an inaudible sigh, as she glanced towards Link, who along with Epona, was herding the goats back into the barn. Turning away from Link, the hawk princess looked down at herself, and then, extended her wings to the heavens. Oh, when would she return to normal? When would this nightmare end? Or…had it just begun? Zelda could only beg to the heavens and hoped that everything would be alright…despite the fact that somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew otherwise.