Chapter 3

A void. That's all that Link could see before him. Infinite in its emptiness, but strangely, it was lit. Not light a lightbulb, more like early morning sunlight was streaming in from a crack somewhere. But there wasn't a crack and it just seemed to be there, with no source. There was wind too, it blew over him like a stream, or as if he were in a shower of wind. The breeze didn't seem to have a point of origin either, it just came from wherever it fancied. That was fine though. Link found the void and all its strangeness quite comforting, even though blinking didn't seem to block his vision. Nothing disrupted the endless painting of light and dark that was around him, not even waving his hand in front of his face. . Yet he could see himself and his clothes, waving his arm in front of his face was an odd sight, since Link could see both the hand and the void behind it at the same time. He knew he still existed, he could feel his clothes, as the wind rustled his tunic and hat. Yeah, he didn't wear a tunic so that concerned him, but only at first. It seemed… natural to wear this. It was a green tunic, with chainmail underneath and a belt across the waist and one of those sideways belts crossed his chest. The green reminded him of the forest he camped in from time to time, the sense of adventure in those woods always brought him back, although nothing ever happened there.

As comforting as the void was, an odd sensation lingered at the back of his mind, like there was something he was supposed to be doing, or remembering. Something important. He tried to push the feeling aside, but it just would not leave him as he slowly adapted to the odd environment. He crossed his arms, and for the first time, noticed something drifting in front of him. Something distant, he thought, but that could just as easily be close. He had nothing to give him a sense of depth, not a tree or a car or anything.

He took a deep breath and began moving toward the thing, and thankfully he actually began to move forward. Nothing to push off of and no water to swim through, yet moving was not at all difficult or impossible, as it should be. The object slowly began to get closer, which was a relief to Link, it was proof that he was moving toward it. He didn't want to just keep moving toward the spec, not making any progress. That would have been too weird for him. Well, at this point nothing was too weird but it would make him uncomfortable.

The object flashed, and Link blinked. It was a drastic change to the odd lighting of the void, and honestly he covered his eyes. Yet, as before, when he wanted to not be able to see, he could still see. It began to flash erratically, piercing golden light filtering out the odd twilight around him. The erratic flashing soon turned into a sustained bright and blinding light that Link continued to try and filter out, to no avail.

"Link."

The voice seemed to echo through the vast emptiness around him. Link stopped. He stopped breathing, blinking and moving. His thoughts flew by him, with no time to linger on any single thought except: "I thought I was alone." It was only after a second passed that Link realized he had spoken that thought aloud.

"You have been, but fear not, I am with you now."

Link lowered his arms, for all the good they did anyway, taking in what had happened to the void. It was all filled with the golden light, the same that had nearly blinded him before. The vast space around him was now a solid color, making it even harder to distinguish anything. He tried to gather his thoughts again, but he just did not feel that any of them were important enough to form words for. After a few minutes he was able to collect enough fragmented thoughts to speak, even if it was only a simple question.

"Wh-who are you?" He managed.

The voice laughed. Not a mocking tone that Kaepora might have used to distract Link in a fight, but a calm and caring tone, that genuinely might have expected him to ask that very question.

"I am here to assist you, Link. I am the Triforce of Courage."

Something in Link's mind snapped. Not like his sanity or anything, but whatever had been preventing him from speaking was suddenly gone. So he laughed, in surprise if nothing else. He didn't even bother to compose himself before speaking again. "Of course you are! And I am Link, King of England! What a joke." He slowly stopped laughing, the voice oddly silent, betraying nothing. It felt as if it was smiling for some reason. Link honestly felt insulted. While he had, at last, finally realized that he was inside a dream, his own dream was poking fun at him! He had spent all day cleaning up the Statue Hall, which contained all the Heroes of Hyrule, most of which had the Triforce on their hands. His mind must have focused in on that part of his day and done this!

"Do you really believe that, Link?"

Link sighed and raised a brow, contemplating for only a moment how the voice had read his mind. "Well yeah, it's pretty obvious to me now. Hell, I'm even dressed like them!"

"Then allow me to prove myself to you, oh lowly cleaner of halls."

Link crossed his arms yet again. Who did his subconscious think it was dealing with? Well here he was talking to himself, at least three times over. At least he could go along with whatever his mind was doing.

He waited a few moments before anything began to happen, then the void slowly began to become filled with something. He could feel a plush carpet under his boots, the air crisp and cold. A low music began to play. Neutral in tone, but ominous all the same.

Then things began to solidify out of the air. The carpet slowly became real, the white stone beneath growing out from where he was standing. The walls formed and rose higher and higher until the ceiling was lost in darkness. Windows that brought in light from the void, which looked as it did before the voice arrived, slowly came into being; large and simple while making distinct shapes in the surface of the glass.

Several platforms rose up on either side of the now deep red carpet. Too many to count. Statues formed on each, all of which portrayed a figure in similar clothes to what Link was now wearing. Theses must have been the Heroes of Hyrule. They were exquisite in detail, much more so than those in the Statue Hall, which were amazing, at best. He heard wood creaking and turned, behind him rose a huge wooden door from the carpet, very simple, yet very imposing. It was at least as tall as the door to the Academy, which was two stories high. At its base were carved several symbols which Link could not decipher.

He turned away and saw that a large pedestal upon an even larger platform had risen up from the floor at the far end of the strange building. The wings normally found on the Hylian crest of the royal family rose on either side of the platform. Behind this a smaller door, made of pure white stone and lined with gold. Throughout all of this, one symbol stood out and repeated itself over and over.

The Triforce.

It was on the Pedestals, all over the carpet. On the bases of every statue. The windows portrayed three each, and the door behind him had a single large Triforce, right in the center of it. The door far in front of him was the only object to not have a Triforce on it. But that wasn't an issue, as floating right in front of the door, between the wings of the royal family's crest, was a single golden triangle.

"Do you believe me now, janitor?"

Link jumped away from the voice, which this time had come from right beside him. He bumped into one of the statues, the Hero of Skies perhaps, and turned to face the voice.

Standing, well no, floating next to where he had been standing was a rather tall woman. She had golden hair, and calm grey eyes. She wore a rather simple dress, with the symbol of the Triforce around the wrists, waist, and base of said dress that reached down to her feet, which were bare. Her face was rather skinny, as was the rest of her, and it gave her a distinct look. One that made it obvious that she was no human or Hylian, even though she had pointed ears like Link and many others in Hyrule.

Link took a moment to respond after studying her. "Well…" He took a breath and stood up straighter, brushing invisible dust from the tunic. "You present a compelling argument." He watched her face for anything, any sort of telltale sign that she was just a face he had known somewhere. He was beginning to doubt that though, especially after she smiled. He had never seen a genuine smile like that, or if he had it hadn't been nearly as breathtaking.

She chuckled at Link's expression, and to his surprise he found himself blushing. "I thought that having somewhere you could stand would help, your type always prefers the tangible experience. I thought this may help to convince you, or at least open you up to listening to what I have to say." She waved her arm around the room, motioning to it all. "This is the Hall of Heroes. A sacred place that few Heroes find themselves visiting, but are immortalized for all time after being found as a Hero."

She pursed her lips, apparently thinking. "Well, my recreation of it in your mindscape at any rate. I somehow doubt that it still exists after such a long time with no new heroes."

The smile returned to her face as she turned away from Link. "And over here…" She floated across the room, not making a noise, to the Golden Triangle. "Is myself, as all within Hyrule know me."

"The Triforce of Courage." Link said, almost without thinking. His hand rushed up to his mouth, already kicking himself for going right along with the dream, which he was quickly realizing might not actually be a dream in the sense he had been thinking of. She smiled kindly.

"Correct, Link."

Link began to approach the Triforce of Courage, not the woman, slowly. He did not yet entirely feel convinced, but he was definitely almost ready to believe it. He could never, in his wildest dreams, come up with a place like this. He wasn't that creative, or dedicated to make this place. But…

The Triforce suddenly loomed before him, and he realized he had been moved to the platform. Or the platform had moved to him. He couldn't remember, it all seemed like a blur. She no longer stood beside the golden triangle, and the room around him had grown dim, aside from the light of the Triforce piece. The different statues of the different heroes seemed to be staring him in the back. Not in any judgmental way but almost… almost as if they were encouraging him.

Brief thoughts flashed in his mind, faces and places he had never been in or had never seen. He felt a strangely familiar weight on his back, making him stand straighter. He grabbed at his back, feeling nothing. He blinked as more memories flashed in his vision, like a film. Except each frame was vastly different from the one before it. With each flash, a new emotion wedged itself into Link's mind, vanishing moments later. A terrible thought began to occur to him, one that had slowly been forming in the back of his mind. The Triforce interrupted his thoughts, and confirmed his thoughts.

"Link, you are the chosen Hero of this age, chosen bearer of the Triforce of Courage!"

He stood there a moment, not completely registering what had just been said to him, even though he had already almost come to the same conclusion. Him? A Hero of Hyrule? It just was not… possible? He thought a moment, about what he had learned about the Heroes of Hyrule's past.

None of them had been prepared for what was only providence that descended upon them like a crown. Labeling them for all time as a Hero. The difference between them and Link was that there, thankfully, wasn't some looming threat hanging over Hyrule or the world. Just the terrible threat of cleaning up after different parties.

"That is where you are wrong, Link." The Triforce piece said, its voice echoing off the stone around him. "There is a threat looming over Hyrule and the world, one that will soon strike to destroy all. But now is not the time for this, there are more… pressing matters you should see to." The Triforce began to glow and, to his surprise, Link's hand flew up to touch the surface and, for a moment, he could feel the cool, smooth surface vibrating with energy under his fingers.

The Triforce glowed brightly, Link's vision enveloped by the golden light. "First you must make sure that you are still in one piece. My timing may have been poor, considering how strangely fast you were going…" The Light began to fade slowly as Link felt himself gaining consciousness.

"Wait! What is the threat! What have you put me up against?" There was no reply as the dream crumbled and EVERYHING began to hurt.

"Ooooh man, what happened?"

Link rolled over in the grass, early morning light hurting his eyes as he attempted to take stock of himself and his surroundings. He remembered now, the feeling of sleep overtaking him as he rode home from work. His eyes closing as his bike began to tumble off the road. His eyes shot open wide, and he forced himself up. "A crash, just great." His body had focused in on only a few pain centers now, meaning that the pain he felt earlier was mostly dulled as his body attempted to tell him where to put his attention. Mainly his chest but his leg too.

He grimaced as he got to his feet. Thankfully his legs weren't broken, so that was a bonus. His chest hurt like a truck had hit him, but at least it didn't feel like anything was too wrong. Link began to walk around the clearing, slowly picking up his goggles and the contents of his bag.

He stopped and leaned against one of the small trees surrounding the clearing he was in. Link wasn't even sure if you could call them trees, they were more like large shrubbery. The Eldin Mountains were notorious for these types of plants, but patches like these were not quite as common. Thankfully, however, they cushioned his fall. Maybe even saved his life. He looked beyond the small clearing, and saw the sheer drop-off on the other side. Yeah, definitely saved his life.

Link turned around, looking at the hill he had fallen down. It wasn't too steep at least, he could get back up fairly easily. He took a breath, and immediately tripped over his Triumph motorcycle, which he had somehow failed to notice at his feet. His leg screamed at him, annoyingly. "Goddesses damn…" He mumbled, picking himself and his bike up off the dirt. He then, again began to walk it up the slope back toward the road. His helmet had, thankfully, stayed on through the crash and was definitely beat up. But it had probably saved his life.

If it hadn't been for that damned Triforce…

Link's heart stopped. The dream. He slowly raised his left hand from the handle. Taking a deep breath he pulled off his riding glove and there, etched clearly into his skin, was emblem of the Triforce which slowly pulsed with light. The bottom right triangle of the Triforce was was the source of the light, pulsing with his heartbeat. The other two pieces were simply black, like a tattoo, but outlined with the same pulsating light.

Link stared at the mark on his hand, no longer thinking about the pain in his chest or legs, as he steadied himself on the slope. So the dream was real. He stared a few seconds longer, basically contemplating his life. The sound of birds bringing him back to his senses. Shaking his head, Link pulled his glove back on. There will be time later for gawking at this… I should get to the academy, they have an infirmary that can help. I hope.

He got on his bike after checking it over for damage. Not too much, surprisingly. He would probably want to get it checked out though, if he could afford it. Otherwise he would have to walk, and that would take much too long. He sighed, pulling his helmet down on his head. Thank the gods he had been wearing it…

Link revved the engine and set off towards the Academy. He would have to visit somewhere in town to eat, if he even wanted to. He didn't actually feel too hungry, but he knew that was from shock. He had some money on him, rupees mainly, so that would be fine. Maybe he could get coffee out of the teacher's room.

Link took a shuddering breath. Trying to distract himself wasn't working. He could not get IT out of his mind. He didn't want this! He had a plan for his life! Well, not a very good one, but it was more than most other people his age.

He cursed under his breath as he rounded the next turn, down below his was the village. Kakariko, he was pretty sure, he was still a bit distracted by the thought of being a hero to really dedicate his mind to anything. He hit his breaks, skidding to a stop on the dirt road. He lifted his goggles up onto his helmet as he stared down toward Kakariko. Something caught his senses by surprise, which was surprising to be surprised by your sense's ability to be supposed.

That last sentence should adequately describe his confusion at that moment.

Making its way through the center of the sleepy village was a carriage adorned with blue and silver banners. A whole entourage accompanied it, 15 soldiers on horseback, three other carriages of varying quality and at least twenty armed guards on foot. Well armed for the Hylian army anyway. Spears and swords mainly, firearms weren't allowed unless you were on border duty.

The carriage in the middle, the blue and silver one, had the seal of the royal family on it; the red bird, the eye of the Shiekah below it, and the Triforce above. But that was hard to see, and Link only knew it because it was all over the Academy, primarily the hall of heroes, but also in every hallway and in the center of the front gate.

Link wasn't even quite sure of how to describe what caught his attention, but he was beginning to think he knew. Inside the carriage, the one covered in silver and flags and all other royal insignia, was the Princess Zelda. And she had the Triforce of Wisdom, passed down the royal family line for generations. And Link, ever so far away and up above the whole royal entourage, could sense her piece. It radiated energy that he could just make out. He swallowed as he watched the carriage slow to a stop.

One of the men on horseback got off and went to the door of the carriage, opening it with a flourish. Link's heart began to race, every fiber of his being wanted to run away, get back to safety, get back to the Academy, get back from who was about to step out of that carriage. Link's hands gripped his bike. This wasn't fear, he knew that much: it was his instincts.

He pulled down his goggles.

Link barely took notice of the Princess stepping out of the carriage before he sped off down the road toward the Academy. But he could feel her eyes on him right up to the moment he got out of sight.

Author Bottom Text

Hah! I got this out within the same month as the last chapter! I think it's a little longer too, maybe by a few hundred words. Well just A hundred worlds but whatever. And Link was sleeping! He didn't open up sleeping, but now he's ready to get to work. What is his job? Next time, I think. Next time. Hopefully next month, but college is getting down to the grinder so that will more than likely interfere. At any rate I hope you enjoyed it, if you have any questions PM me, or leave it in the reviews. Cya!