Chapter 1
"It was "The beginning of the end". That's what the Hylian historians called the end of World War 2. When Hyrule was introduced to the world anew, and Hyrule's lifestyle was threatened by the superpowers of the USSR and the US. Only Britain's presence prevented total catastrophe in the Hyrule summit meetings, kept hidden from the public eye, and other world powers like France or Japan. No, this was a meeting of those who knew of Hyrule. Either through the pilots or through borders, Hyrule was no longer a secret.
The USSR dominated the scene, surrounding Hyrule on all sides it threatened Hylian everyday life. Communism would see the royal family murdered, not that there weren't supporters of that idea. The United States attempted numerous times to overthrow the Hylian government, either through supporting the small rebel groups, or through changing their culture. It was this attempt that turned the farming town of Ordon, who was not considered part of Hyrule Proper, into a modern city, with a few skyscrapers to its name. Once the Cold war went into swing, however, their presence left entirely. Only Britain remained to preserve the monarchy, assisting Hyrule's government whenever uprisings occurred through USSR or American supported rebels.
The major reason for the indirect interference, were the magic borders which surrounded the land of Hyrule. Ancient magic to keep enemies of the Hylian people from invading. Only one entrance was not covered by this magic: the Lost Woods. Many times people emerged from these woods from all over the world, from many different ages. But with Latoan city's rise and spread, all that remained of the ancient, vast forest, were a few groves and parks littering the city. If you weren't careful, one could step into those tiny groves and never return. But that wasn't a problem for those who stood clear.
With the Lost woods gone, a border patrol was put in place and a miniature Cold War between Hyrule and Britain against the USSR. If there was even a shot fired, the USSR would retaliate, then so would Britain and through NATO, the US would return. Thankfully this never happened. Latoan city grew without interference, and thus the Ordon agreement was signed. No citizen of Latoan city would enter Hyrule proper, not without proper documents and permission from Queen Zelda herself. That however was the bad side of the Historical documents. But this also forced Hylian Citizens to stay within Hyrule's magical borders, which covered even Ordon. Hyrule would not leave. No ideas would enter or exit through its citizens.
Many other historians called this "The awakening of Hyrule". Hyrule began to realize how far behind in the world it was, literally in the dark ages to some nations in the world. It could have spurred a period of advancement, but with the passing of the Ordon agreement, this idea didn't come to be. Hyrule would keep its traditions, and its technology safe from conforming to the rest of the world. At least, in Hyrule proper. Latoan city grew with the world, at least for a time. At some point in the mid-seventies it stopped growing with the world trends. Its own culture forming and simplifying the city. Some people called it the Legacy of Malo, but others simply called it Ordon Syndrome. It became unique in a way, its own city for its people.
Then we come to what could be considered "modern times" to the rest of the world. Cars and trucks drove through the city, out to drop-off points at the edge of the city to pick up crops and other supplies from Hylian farmers. The tiered city, as some call it, is now modern in some ways. It lacks in others. The rest of the world can move on and Queen Zelda would have us sit here and forget…" Link dropped the newspaper, draining the last few drops of his coffee from his mug and tossed it in the sink to wash later, like the other hundred dishes. The political section was always so wordy, honestly annoying in a lot of ways. Why he read it he had no idea, the paper was a month old at least but he had seen it on discount Malo-mart so he bought it. He didn't have much else in the apartment to read anyway. It wasn't a large apartment, nor was it fancy. Some would call it impoverished, but to Link it was his home. The dirty carpet and the beat up cupboards. The stained ceiling that chipped away whenever the people above stepped to hard, and the faucet that didn't stop dripping. That was home to him.
He pulled his bag onto his shoulders and grabbed a keying from the hook. Pulling on his boots he stepped out the door, locking it behind him. He jogged down the steps, pulling his jacket on. With a quick wave at Ms. Genery at the desk, Link stepped out onto the streets of bottom tier Latoan. Not much to look at in the bottom tier, brick and cement buildings lined the busy street, litter spilling out of some alleyways and a few people slumped on street corners, either dead, drunk or knocked out. Yep, just like the Hyrule the Hylian Academy talks about.
Link walked down the street a ways, stepping over a pile of garbage bags. He got to the shed, owned by the apartment he stayed in. This is where he kept his pride and joy: a Triumph Thunderbird motorcycle, made and driven to Hyrule by some company that was quickly driven out of Hyrule by the few Hylian auto manufacturers. Their inventory had stayed in its warehouse and were sold at very low prices, due to their age. Link had gotten one when he had the money, about when he was fifteen, so he had been driving it for about three years now. Its green paintjob was heavily faded, and there were many scratches along its body from when Link was figuring out just how to use it. It wasn't much, but it still ran fairly well for its age. It made his ride to work easy enough with all the traffic.
He used his key and opened the rickety wooded door. He stepped inside and grabbed his helmet from a bench littered with dusty and ultimately useless tools. He pulled his green beret out of the helmet, stuffing it in his bag. Sitting down, Link fixed his goggles securely around his head, and started the bike. It revved to life, and he pulled out of the shed, the door slamming shut behind him. He got onto the street, with a few angry shouts from some other drivers, and sped on his way, dodging traffic.
It wasn't before long that he had left the city behind, driving into a small path in the eastern Hills. Traffic was never bad on a Saturday, especially the day after the Picori Festival. So many celebrations often left people with a homely disposition. Link however was on his way to academy, where the second largest party was held by the students of that school. He stopped at the border check, waved his card to William, the guard on post today. He barely showed his pass before Link was waved through, he was a regular on this rarely used road. He drove onward, through the trees and hills until the trees thinned out, and the grass turned to course brown dirt that the Eldin Province was known for.
To his left, Link caught a glimpse of the town of Kakariko, it was rather small but it always managed to warm his heart seeing the town. Not that he wanted to live there. He hadn't left the familiar, and he didn't want to. He was content, and he was sure the villagers were too. The town disappeared behind high walls of sedimentary stone. The sound of his engine no doubt unheard by the mining town. He sped along the road to the academy.
AUTHOR THING
Well here we are again, its always such a pleasure. The beginning of the story and the introduction of Link! I hope to make this feel somewhat link a normal Zelda title, complete with dungeons, companions and items, just a more modern world to run around in. This one is a shorter one, I admit, but the original version of this, vastly different, bugged out and became corrupted. So I had to rewrite it to get it out today. I will summarize the rest in coming chapters next week.
I hope to post a chapter either every month or every ~two~ weeks (aside from next week). I might even open up a question blog or something later if this picks up in views. So stay tuned for the introduction of the Hylian Academy! A place of knowledge, learning, parties, other stuff, and hopefully no cliches! (The Hylian academy will not be the focal point of this fic, I assure you) I do not own anything to do with The Legend of Zelda.