The sun was slowly rising above the great plains of the former Kingdom of Hyrule. As dawn broke, Link found himself roused awake by the gentle warmth of sunlight on his face. He sat up, stretched his arms, yawned...
He was sitting atop an ancient vertical stone pillar situated a mile or two outside the Great Plateau. Link had figured it was the only safe place he could sleep for the moment, high above the ground. He'd built a fire at the top and quickly passed into a deep sleep - one that could only have been rivaled by his previous century-long slumber.
With his Sheikah Slate's convenient scope function, he scanned the horizon to get his bearings. He spotted a long stone structure - a bridge - crossing a river nearby. It was part of the main road he intended to travel, straight towards the twin peaks he saw in the distance. He'd have to make his way there next.
Link strapped on his gear, whipped out his glider, and began to soar in the direction of the bridge.
As he did so, he spotted movement on it. A monster?
...No…
It was a person!
Link grew excited. This was the first person he'd seen since his awakening three days prior, apart from the old man. But Rhoam had been merely a spirit… this person was alive! He landed gracefully at the foot of the bridge, and sprinted straight towards this new unknown individual…
"GAH!" The figure on the bridge drew his spear as Link approached him, aiming it directly at him. "Get back, you monster!" Link held his hands up in the air.
"Relax. I'm friendly."
The man squinted, then dropped his guard. "Oh! Oh… sorry. You startled me. I wasn't expecting anyone around here so early in the morning…"
Link put his hands on his waist and grinned widely. "...And had I truly been a monster… do you honestly think that I'd actually 'get back' just because you told me to?"
The man shrugged. "Point taken." He put his spear away. "Pleased to meet you!" he said. "The name's Brigo. I patrol this bridge….o." He stuck his hand out towards Link.
Link just stared at his hand for a second.
"Er…." Brigo began, "Sorry, that was a pretty bad pun." his hand retracted slightly.
Link's face remained stoic for a second, then broke into a smile. Recognizing Brigo's gesture, he firmly grasped the young man's hand and shook it violently. "On the contrary," Link said, "I thought that was pretty funny."
Brigo returned his smile, now fully disarmed. "Right...sorry. I've been out here alone, talking to myself for a while. Guess that's made me a bit socially awkward…"
He turned towards the river. A guardian husk sat on a small island nearby. He gestured towards it. "Having these things out and about doesn't help either. They keep me on edge." He crossed his arms. "Between those patrolling more frequently, and those weird towers and buildings suddenly popping out of the ground...that's gotta be a sure sign…. that the end is near right?"
Link shrugged. This guy seemed pretty paranoid, best not to mess with him too much. If he could help it.
"It's certainly crazy…." he offered.
"Glad you agree." Brigo said.
"You said they were... patrolling?"
Brigo seemed mildly shocked at Link's lack of knowledge. "You heard the old stories about Hyrule?" he asked. "Those guardians are pretty messed up..."
Link decided to play dumb. "I'm pretty ignorant of both historical and current events I must admit…care to fill me in?" he said.
"Sure..." Brigo gave Link a primer on the legends of ancient Hyrule, and the guardians' role in bringing about its demise.
"...and would you believe that those colossal things can run? One of them chased me down and tried to kill me! I had to duck into a nearby forest just to get away..."
"This one here chased you?" Link asked, pointing at the guardian husk in the river.
"No, it was a different one...a bit closer to the castle but before the forest up north."
This piqued Link's curiosity. He'd seen nothing but ruined or half-functioning guardians in-person so far…the old man's vision didn't count. He turned and faced the riverside north of the bridge.
"I'm gonna go see it." He said, flatly.
"What?!"
Link hadn't gone for a nice swim in a while, and he figured the cool water would refresh him...fully-clothed and all. He hopped onto the cracked wall and took a loose diving pose.
Brigo's jaw dropped. "Those things will vaporize you instantly if you're not careful! Are you insane?!" he shouted.
Link nodded.
"Wait a minute! Please, think about what you're doing! There are too many enjoyable things in the world to gamble with your life like that-"
Link dove into the river below with perfect form. As he cut through the water towards the shoreline, he was confident that he had nothing to fear.
"OY!" Brigo called after him. "If that thing spots you and sets you on fire or something, don't say I didn't warn you….!"
Sure, sure, I'm pretty careful...just a peek and I'll be out of there , Link thought.
Link was on fire.
He ripped his ruined tunic off himself and tossed it aside in a single motion, sprinting as fast as humanly possible down the steep hill. An active guardian robot quickly followed suit, armored tentacles flailing wildly and threatening to trample Link underfoot.
Link pressed a button on the screen of his Sheikah Slate as he ran, dropped a bomb right in the path of the guardian, detonated it...as expected, it did absolutely nothing.
Except, perhaps, agitate it even further. It charged its laser then sent a sharp blast of super heated plasma rightpast Link. It vaporized a nearby tree.
Now shirtless, he kept running, down, down, straight towards the river nearby. He planned to dive in, and just hope to swim deep enough down to avoid the guardian's lasers-
NEIGH!
What in the world was that? Definitely not the guardian...
Link dared to turn around, and saw a group of strange-looking animals - horses - running straight towards him and ahead of the charging guardian. They were quite fast on their feet, and appeared to be outrunning the robot quite easily…
Link made a quick decision. He waited for one of these horses to catch up to him, just as the guardian began to charge yet another blast that would surely melt him.
He caught sight of one of the horse's heads in his periphery, and immediately dove onto its back, pulling its hair sharply to the right as the guardian sent another blast right past him. It struck one of the other horses in the group, incinerating it instantaneously. Panicking, Link kicked his heels into the ribs of his new steed. It neighed loudly, increasing in speed. The move came automatically to him but Link had no time to ponder what kind of experience with horses he'd had in his past life. He just wanted to get the heck out of there as quickly as possible.
He continued to ride in a zig-zag pattern for a few moments, and soon found that he'd finally gotten himself out of the guardian's line of sight. It scanned the horizon a few times, its head spinning wildly, then it turned itself around and headed back to the top of the hill where Link had initially spotted it. After staring a bit to be absolutely certain he was no longer being chased, he pulled back on the horse's hair, stopping it.
Link finally collapsed straight to the ground, and the horse followed suit. Both were panting heavily. He sat up and examined himself for injuries. No harm done, aside from a scorch mark on his shoulder from where the guardian had grazed him with its initial blast. Unfortunately, the flames had destroyed his only shirt. The fire had also melted the belts on his chest, so his melee weapons were now gone too. He had zero intention of going back to retrieve them.
He checked his waist. Sheikah slate….check.
Bow and arrows….check.
Knapsack….also check.
That last one was the most crucial. So long as he still had all his cooked steaks, he was perfectly happy.
He caught his breath, stood up, dusted himself off. His new steed also stood up with him. Link found himself brushing the horse's neck in an effort to sooth it.
"Good horse, that's right...it's okay…" the horse turned its head and nibbled at Link's hair. He decided to take the time to examine it for injuries as well.
It was a beautiful specimen, solid black in color all the way down to its mane and tail. If the pace of their dramatic escape was any indication, it - she - was quite a fast little beast.
Well...that's one way to get around.
Once he'd confirmed that the horse was in good shape, he hopped on her back. Between their successful escape from the guardian and Link's soothing efforts, he'd earned her trust for now.
The horse began to gallop along the main road. Smiling, Link examined his surroundings. They were still on the river, but it had been a half-day's walk just to get to where this guardian was; and he found he could no longer see the twin peaks that marked his next destination.
Link sighed loudly.
He was lost.
And yet his smile remained...something about this freedom put him at ease.
I've been completely lost from the moment I woke up in this world anyway. This is nothing.
The horse kept galloping along the main road, and Link continued soothing her every few minutes to ensure she wouldn't suddenly buck him off without notice. She was a bit of a wild one.
He could certainly relate to that.
After about half an hour of riding, they came across a bridge. And on this bridge….was a bokoblin. He could recognize that bright-red colored monster anywhere.
But this one...was standing above something... someone.
A woman. And she wasn't moving.
Fearing the worst, Link prodded his horse's ribs and picked up speed straight towards the bridge. The bokoblin hadn't spotted him yet, offering Link a chance at a sneak attack. He'd lost his spear and axe in the earlier chaos, so he grabbed his bow and nocked an arrow. As he got close to the creature, he jumped straight off his horse's back, took aim-
-and shot the creature straight in the back of the head. Instant death.
The bokoblin fell to the side and off the bridge, right into the waters below. Link landed on the bridge next to the unmoving girl and knelt beside her. His new horse - should probably name her later he thought - also walked up to him to check out the situation. Link examined the downed stranger then breathed a sigh of relief. She was only unconscious. Just a head injury. He turned her over and pulled a canteen out from one his waist pouches, another gift from the old man back at the plateau.
The cool water he poured on the girl's face roused her awake. Clutching her head, she slowly stood up, turned to face Link…
And started berating him.
"OH, lookie here. It's the guy who stood by and watched me get attacked by monsters!"
What…?!
"Some help you are!" she said. I could have died!"
Link was shocked at her audacity. He started to explain what happened, and how he'd only just arrived there after the attack had occurred...
"A likely story!" she said, before he could finish. "You're just a selfish inconsiderate stupid little-"
"WRONG." Link said with conviction. The girl instantly shut up. His voice was powerful, confident. Loud. This surprised him, but he kept on.
"I'm not about to sit here and get chewed out by some petulant, ungrateful stranger! I literally just saved your life!"
The girl quietly stared at Link for a while, fuming, then stuck her chin straight into the air and started to walk away. "I could have handled myself anyway! You...you... exhibitionist!" She turned and stuck her tongue out at Link, then sprinted in the direction he'd just come from.
Link stared after her.
Exhibitionist? What was the talking about-
He looked down.
...Oh.
The fire caused by the guardian's blast had apparently scorched off half of his pants as well. He had hardly noticed earlier. Link shrugged. He tore the tattered remains of his pants off and tossed them into the river. Now shirtless and trouserless, he mounted his horse again and continued his ride.
He didn't really care that much. After all, he was much more comfortable in his underwear in the first place.
It was mid-afternoon now, the sun was still quite high.
Continuing his ride up the main road, Link noticed some fellow horseback travelers up ahead, riding towards him. As they approached, they didn't seem to care much about Link's mostly-naked state...
"Hello there." Link greeted them, as they all stopped their horses in the middle of the road.
"Hello…" came the hesitant reply from one of the travelers.
It was only then that Link noticed that they were both clutching their arms, injured. They had bandages on their faces, braced arms…
"What happened to you two?" Link asked.
The pair stared at each other, grimly, then looked back at Link.
"It was…" began one of them… "a Zora's fault."
Link tilted his head in curiosity. "So... you were attacked by something?"
The traveler shook his head. "Sorry, that's... inaccurate…" He coughed, painfully. "What I meant to say was, it was a Zora that got us into this mess."
Link stared blankly. The travelers began to realize that he had no clue of what they were trying to say.
"You... do know who the Zora are, right?" one of them asked.
"Nope." Link said, curtly.
"Right, well…" One of the travelers kicked his horse and began to ride away. The other followed suit.
"You must have been living in a cave or something, buddy. They're an old aquatic race. Live up the river in the mountains ahead."
Link turned around as their horses trotted past him.
"What do they look like?" he asked.
"You'll know them when you see them..." the traveler said. "Some are green, some are black. Whatever. All I'll say...is if a red Zora asks you to go with him to Zora's domain…"
Red!
"...Don't do it."
The travelers accelerated their horses and rode away. Link stared after them as they made their way over a hill and out of sight. His mind swirled with possibility. Green skin, black skin, but also red varieties...
... a different race from Hylians...they can speak...
It was a longshot, he admitted. But perhaps he'd get some answers about his weird memories. Link paused for a second, then kicked himself mentally.
Should have asked them about how to find that village Rhoam told me to go to…
Oh well. He'd forgotten its name anyway.
His ride continued for a long while...rolling plains eventually gave way to wet marshlands as they traveled in the direction from which the travelers came. The marshy landscape didn't seem to stop his horse - now dubbed Inferno, in honor of their fiery escape from before - from galloping steady through the shallow water. As the sun bore down on the two, Link found the splashes of water refreshing on his skin.
They rode northeast, and soon Link saw a large yellow-glowing structure looming on a mountain in the distance. Another Sheikah tower. He'd head that way to get his bearings-
-or at least, after I find my way through this... Link thought, as he pulled back on Inferno's mane. She stopped quickly and reeled back on her hind legs, whinnying loudly. They were at the top of a hill, peering at yet another river down below - except this river contained what appeared to be a massive pier-like base rising out from the waters. He hopped off Inferno's back, reached into his rucksack, produced an apple. He brushed her mane as she ate it from his hand. When she'd had her fill, Link pulled out his Sheikah Slate, turned on the scope function, and examined this fort that separated him from his likely destination.
Constructed mostly out of wood and adorned with enormous bones from some gigantic slain creatures, it was quite imposing to say the least. Strange new monsters patrolled it, green in color. They vaguely resembled the lizards he'd seen scurrying about during his trek to the guardian earlier that day. Except these were bipedal, huge, and probably hostile.
Unless...these are the Zora? He thought. He noticed a few of them slithering through the water... An aquatic race…some of them were green. Just like the traveler said.
They're...quite a bit uglier than I expected.
He decided he was hardly one to judge though.
Link tied Inferno to a nearby tree, leaving her with a nice pile of apples to munch on. He marched down to the riverbank, swam through the water, and climbed up the stairs towards what appeared to be the entrance. As he made his way out of the water, he spotted one of these strange creatures squatted ahead, facing away from him. It was worth a shot.
"Hello!" Link called out. "Are you perhaps...Zora?"
The creature turned to face Link - and in that moment, he knew he'd made a grave error. It was even uglier up-close. Its enormous bugged out eyes swirled into a single point, each one looking around separately from each other. An enormous horn protruded from the creature's forehead. It appeared incapable of speech, instead rasping at him as it took a step and lunged toward him, attacking with the metal spear it wielded.
Link was starting to wish he hadn't lost his weapons earlier. I should really just go back to bed...start the day over again...
He dove quickly to his right as the lizard-creature whiffed the air near Link with the tip of its spear. He briefly considered using his bow to counter-attack, but he had only about two arrows...
Just enough to defeat Ganon, heh.
He turned his full attention to the still-charging monster. It spit out a few massive globs of spit-
Gross!
-which Link dodged with ease. It also attempted to stab at Link with its spear again. Link figured he was going to have to try and disarm this creature if he wanted to defeat it. He prepared for it to jab the spear at him again, but it seemed to learn from its failures and ceased its attack. This time, the creature snarled at Link, hopping backwards on the platform they were standing on. Its mouth suddenly shot open and its tongue stabbed out, quick as a flash.
What?!
Link ducked, the tongue nearly grazing him. His reflexes kicked in and he grabbed the tongue with his hands tightly, pulling as hard as he could.
The creature let out a shriek of pain, attempting to pull its tongue back. Feeling incredible resistance in the tug-of-war he now found himself in, he decided to use the monster's own strength against it. He jumped into the air, allowing the lizard to reel its tongue back in quickly - with Link still attached. Propelled at high speed, Link pulled his foot back then kicked out with all his might...
BANG. His foot struck the creature in the head with incredible force, spinning its head, and breaking its neck instantly with an absurdly loud crack.
Link relaxed briefly. He bent over to pick up the spear the creature dropped, as it disintegrated into a puff of black smoke in a manner quite similar to the other monsters he'd killed.
Well, at least I know for sure that these aren't Zora now…
He examined the spear in his hands. It looked incredibly familiar...cold, metallic…
The same spear from the vision! So that means I've been-
As he considered this, the loud call of a horn interrupted his thoughts. He turned and saw a single green monster, bow in hand, blowing on a hornlike instrument of some kind. Likely notifying his friends of Link's intrusion. Soon enough, dozens of similar monsters began climbing their way out of the waters around him. Others ran towards him along the pier's platforms. Link rolled his eyes at himself. Of course…
He took up a loose battle pose. The numbers would be impossibly against him in this fight. But with this new spear in hand, he still quite liked his odds.
A backflip here, a flurry of stabs there...He was having no major problems fighting back the waves of lizard monsters that attacked him. They came in droves as Link fought and stabbed and dodged his way through their base. He was roughly halfway through to the other side, having killed about fifteen of these creatures already. But it was beginning to seem like with every one he killed, another two or three took its place…
Perhaps I should consider using the slate's bombs...
Link quickly decided that there was no fun in that. And knowing his luck, he would probably just destroy the entire pier anyway.
As he prepared to jam his spear through yet another monster's face, a shriek of pain suddenly emanated from behind him. All of the creatures suddenly paused. Link spun around to see what the commotion was about.
Standing behind him was another lizard, solid-black in color. The leader, probably .
But protruding from its chest was the unmistakable tip of a sword. The creature was lifted up and into the air - and only then did Link spot the sword's wielder: an incredibly tall, red and fish-like humanoid. This aquatic swordsman turned around, yelled out a war cry, and slammed the creature through the wooden platform and into the waters below. He glanced up and placed his sword on his shoulder, flashed a smile at Link.
Link returned the smile.
So this was a real Zora. Excellent.
It appeared that the odds were now a little more in his favor now. He nodded in thanks, then turned around in time to see a handful more of the green monsters angrily charging his way…eager to avenge their fallen leader.
The unlikely pair made quick work of this colony of enemies. It descended into a competition of sorts, as bodies fell left and right with ease. A few minutes later, disintegrating bodies littered the floor of the pier base and Link eventually started making his way towards his new battle-buddy to thank him.
But before he could speak out to greet him, the tall red figure suddenly cried out with excitement.
"You were so incredible out there!" his joy absolutely seemed to pourout of him like a broken cistern. "It has been quite a while since I have seen such skill, such grace in combat!"
"Thanks!" Link replied. "It was nothing." he stood fully erect, and slammed the butt end of the spear into the ground like a staff. "I could say the same about you…I appreciate the help back there."
He looked over his new friend. This red Zora was immensely tall, at least twice Link's height. His body was mostly humanoid in shape, with scaly red skin covering his finned arms and short legs. His front was entirely white, all the way up to his face. He wore no clothes, only metallic jewelry. From the back of his head protruded a large red tail with a caudal fin at the end; and from his forehead, a forward-facing mound shaped like the flat tip of an arrow. These distinct features made everything from his neck up resemble a large and aggressive fish.
"It was not a problem!" the Zora said. "I happened to be searching the area for Hylians...I'd hardly refrain from lending a hand to a friend!"
Link continued to examine the Zora. He could tell from the sleek and sharp design that Zora were most definitely designed ideally for water travel. But on top of it all, Link just couldn't shake the distinct feeling of familiarity and kinship with this fellow. Meanwhile, as Link continued to stare blankly at him, the Zora realized he had yet to properly greet this new friend of his.
"Oh my, do pardon my manners!" he exclaimed, with a look of mild panic. "Allow me to introduce myself…" His hand clenched into a fist as his finned arm bent into the air in front of him in a dramatic pose. His mouth curled into a large grin. Link could see his sharp razorlike teeth, could have sworn they sparkled a little as he smiled too…
"I….am Sidon! The Zora prince!" he said excitedly.
Sidon's optimistic attitude was positively contagious. Link curled his fist and took the same pose as Sidon.
"Well I… am Link! And I'm totally lost!"
Sidon appeared flattered by the mimicry. "Link!? Your name is Link? What a fantastic name! But then again, I..." Sidon rubbed his chin in wonder, "Well, I cannot shake the feeling that I've heard that name somewhere before..." He paused. "At any rate, it is a strong name! A strong name for a strong Hylian!"
Link shrugged, then suddenly remembered something.
The spear... he thought. Perhaps I should ask Sidon about it... He held the weapon out. "Does this look familiar to you?"
Sidon's smile grew wider. "That, my friend, is a well-crafted Zora spear you have in your hands. Surely stolen from us by those lizalfos…"
Lizalfos...so that was what they were called. Link decided it was best not to tell Sidon that he thought they were Zora at first.
"Ah...I see. I suppose this belongs to you then." Link made a move to return the spear to Sidon, but he shook his head.
"It is yours, you have most certainly earned it. Your spearmanship I must say...would rival even the strongest Zora! In fact, your technique is so familiar I would almost venture to guess that you have trained with Zora in the past! Surely this is the case…?"
Link shook his head. "I can honestly say that I have basically no recollection of such a thing. Or of the Zora in general. Although…"
His mind once again recalled the vision of the Zora spear in his hand, the one he'd had in the shrine the previous day. He found himself considering the red color of Sidon's skin...his yellow eyes. But he clearly wasn't female. Was he somehow related to the figure Link had often seen, in his collection of fragmented memories?
Sidon interrupted Link's train of thought.
"Link, I apologize for springing this on you, but I must ask you to come to Zora's Domain with me. We have spent a long time searching for a strong Hylian like you to assist us. My father, King Dorephan will be pleased to-"
Dorephan! Link recognized the name from his conversation with Rhoam the previous night.
Which meant-
" Who is Mipha?" Link suddenly blurted out.
Sidon's eyes suddenly narrowed in suspicion. His smile faded.
"An outsider... should no longer have any knowledge of such a name…" he said. He suddenly drew his sword and pointed it directly at Link, who held up his hands in a defensive pose.
"You stated before that you have no recollection of the Zora…" he sounded irritated.
"...And yet here you are, spouting off my big sister's name, and you….you…."
Sidon stopped. A flash of recognition suddenly crossed his mind. He had not really taken the time to consider this Hylian's physical features yet.
He eased back, began to look Link up and down. Long, dirty-blonde hair in a ponytail... blue eyes... shirtless... incredible skills with the Zora spear…
And his name.'Link'. It couldn't be.
Or could it?
"Were you…" Sidon began. "Are you the Hylian Champion….who fought alongside my dear sister one hundred years ago…?" he sheathed his sword at his hip, and his smile became suddenly youthful, childlike. Link recognized that face now.
"Link.." Sidon said, but his voice was fading. "Do you remember...?"
A flash of light. The sounds of rushing water.
The familiar feeling of profound nostalgia.
The scene before Link's eyes faded away... to Sidon's face again, but now significantly younger: A very young Zora, smiling up at him - but it was unmistakably Sidon, with those sharp, glimmering teeth. Around Link, great carved stone, adorned the walls of this cavernous valley, glowing a faint blue-turquoise color. Intricately designed, beautiful. Mountains surrounded this place at all sides. Waterfalls descended from all over the elevated and interconnected platforms around him. Link couldn't place the reason...but it felt like home.
"Welcome to Zora's domain!" the Zora youth said excitedly, his arms outstretched. "I...am Prince Sidon!" he struck a miniaturized version of his trademark pose.
"And this…" He turned and gestured to a figure behind him. Another red Zora, a bit older than Sidon, approached them. She had smooth, flowing features. She carried herself with a subtle trace of grace and elegance. Her shimmering yellow eyes greeted Link warmly. Unlike his previous vision, he could see her face now, quite clearly…
She was breathtakingly beautiful.
"This… is my big sister-"
"-Mipha," she said, smiling. She nodded her head gracefully in respect.
"And it is my pleasure... to finally meet you, Link."
RIP, unnamed horse #2...
Up next: the first of many memory chapters to come.
Memories of Mipha Part 1: Hylian Orphan.
Thanks so much for reading.
