Requiem of Light

by bladeofthebookworms

An expedition deep beneath the ruins of Hyrule Castle goes catastrophically wrong. Link finds himself alone and grievously injured, with only a handful of clues about what happened to him - and what happened to his beloved Zelda. As he sets out to find her, clinging desperately to the hope that they will be reunited, he begins to discover the mantle that was always meant for him.

5. Lookout Landing

Chapter 5: Lookout Landing

Note: Well, I won't usually break schedule (MoWedFri) but it's the first week the story is live, and we get to meet some fun characters in this chapter, so here you go! I hope you enjoy! ( :

A light rain began to fall as Link made his way towards the lurking castle in the distance. It wasn't a particularly heavy or thick storm; the clouds were thin enough that sunlight still shone golden through it, turning droplets into slivers of diamond as they fell. Link waded through the rolling fields of tall green grass, glancing up every so often at Hyrule Castle to ensure he was on the right track. Birds sang, and scattered up from the brush as he drew near. He caught sight of a trio of does hunkered down under a small grove of trees in the distance, watching him curiously from afar, their large ears angled his direction.

It would have been a beautiful day for a ride, he thought. The gentle sprinkling rain and light breeze keeping the air cool, the clouds bringing out the vibrant colors of the wilderness. Yet he and Zelda had left their horses at the ruins of Castle Town before departing into the castle itself. The absence of Zelda and the horses both, coupled with the sight of Hyrule Castle hovering in the air on a bed of reaching, grasping tendrils of black and red magic, made it regrettably difficult to be awed by Hyrule's breathtaking landscapes.

The storm worsened as the day passed, and before long Link was shivering, soaked to the bone in his measly ancient robe from the Great Sky Island. Soon he wasn't paying any attention at all to the scenery; his head was frozen and numb, his exposed chest and arms prickling with goosebumps, his feet blocks of ice that jittered angrily with each step. He focused his gaze wearily on the castle slowly getting larger as he neared, taking step by sodden step through the grass and mud.

A bokoblin's nearby screech froze him in his tracks, and he looked around quickly, his eyes narrowed. Bokoblins? Here? But we cleared Hyrule Field years ago!

Clearing the monsters from Hyrule Field had been among the monster control unit's first priorities after the fall of the Calamity, since it was such a central location – one that any traveler would have to pass through to get anywhere else in the kingdom. And for years, the monsters had not returned.

But they're back now…

Frowning, crouching lower in the tall grass, Link crept towards the sound, climbing up a small rise. His eyes flew wide as he saw, marching in an organized line below, four bokoblins trailing a fifth creature, not quite large enough to be a Hinox but certainly getting there. Link's blood ran cold as he noticed that, overall, it seemed to have a similar shape to the bokoblins. And… similar markings.

Goddesses above – it is a bokoblin, but it's enormous!

And the organized manner in which the other four followed it was something Link had never seen from bokoblins before. It's almost as if they've – no, that couldn't be. How could they just get more intelligent overnight?

Unsettled, he stayed low in the grass, hoping to pass by them without being noticed – he didn't have a weapon of any sort. Now was not the time to go experimenting with what these new giant bokoblins were capable of; he only hoped that they stayed away from the roads.

He managed to creep past the bokoblin patrol without being noticed by them; on the other side of the next hill he rose back to his full height, stretching his shoulders and back from maintaining his crouched position. Lucky I'm so short I can actually hide in the grass, he thought sardonically.

Link was close enough now to the castle that he could see a stake wall erected not far from the ruins of Castle Town. He squinted at it, feeling a pit of dread rising up within him. That wasn't here when Zelda and I went into the castle, he noted. There were several watchtowers along the perimeter of the wall, and torches burning bright beneath their awnings. One watchtower was significantly taller than the rest, and it was oddly shaped, draped in cloth and lanterns, with three or four long beams protruding from the top. As Link trudged nearer he could see that there was another tall building within the walls, not nearly as tall as the watchtower, but with a massive telescope at the top. The building itself seemed to be built in the Sheikah style, with a domed thatch roof and white-painted walls highlighted with darker timber.

None of this was here before, Link thought with a shiver that, this time, wasn't anything to do with the cold and rain. All of this was built after Zelda and I left.

…Just how long was I unconscious?

He reached the gate on the side of the walls facing him, noting the moat and the drawbridge – this was meant to be a defensive structure. He turned his gaze to the two guardsmen – men that he recognized from the monster control unit, he realized at once. They had been watching him with some suspicion throughout his approach, but now that he was close enough to see their faces – and they his – their expressions morphed into shock and astonishment.

"Link, is that – is that you?" one of them called, his eyes wide.

"It's me," Link confirmed, quickening his pace and drawing closer. "Good to see you, Drozer. What… what is this place?"

"We've been calling it Lookout Landing," Drozer answered. "Miss Purah's doing, of course. She's really the one in charge here. Center of all our operations to find you and Princess Zelda." He shook his head. "Where have you been? What happened? No one has seen you or the princess since you went into the castle to investigate the gloom – and then the castle rose into the air! Everyone's been so worried about the both of you –"

"Miss Purah in particular," the other guard, Burwar if Link remembered correctly, cut in with a nudge to his partner. "Link, it's such a relief to see you now. We want to hear everything. But you really should report to Miss Purah first."

Link nodded, his chest feeling tight. 'We want to hear everything' – Goddesses, I hadn't considered that part. "I'll do that," he said. "Where is she?"

Drozer gestured, unsurprisingly, to the Sheikah building with the telescope. "She'll probably be in there somewhere. Or in the tower. Or in the ruins."

Burwar winced, running a weary hand across his face. "Admittedly, she's… kind of tough to keep track of," he muttered.

Link clapped the man's shoulder. "I'll see what I can do," he said, passing beyond them into the little settlement.

His stomach did a somersault as he saw just how much development had gone into the place. It was a fairly well-put together little fort, with several open spaces for training, complete with dummies. There was what appeared to be a market stall run by a Lurelin woman, and a cooking fire along with several little shelters around the walls. He noticed Lester, an old man with many years of experience working with horses, talking with Kapson of Hudson Construction next to a low building surrounded by bales of hay, clearly intended to be a sort of stable. The stable was empty now, Link noticed worriedly. He wondered where his and Zelda's horses were then, since they'd been here, the last he knew.

Kapson's presence at least explained a few things – as Hudson's second, he managed many of the larger reconstruction projects. So Hudson Construction is responsible for building this place. But… how long did it take? he wondered again with growing dread.

"Link!" another familiar voice called out excitedly, and Link looked towards the center of the fort. Scorpis, a major in the monster control unit. "Wh-where have you been this whole time?" His eyes widened, catching on Link's arm. "What happened to your arm?"

"I'll explain everything later," Link deflected, fighting a pang of guilt. These were men he had personally trained, men that he had fought countless battles with over the years – they deserved better. But I don't even know what to say! "I… there's a lot of confusion right now."

Scorpis nodded in understanding. "I guess it's good enough for now to see that you're safe," he said earnestly. "We hoped you'd come back soon, but then you didn't… and now you have! Where's Princess Zelda? You didn't bring her with you?"

Link's mouth went dry. "I… it's… it's hard to explain," he managed, inwardly berating himself for his cowardice. Is it really that hard to say 'I don't know?'

…Yes. It is.

Scorpis frowned. "Well… whatever happened, Miss Purah needs to know the details." He said her name with no small amount of frustration and jerked a thumb in the direction of the Sheikah building. "I heard some crashing and banging around in there a little while ago, so it's all but guaranteed that you'll find her there."

Link sighed. "I'll talk to her," he said, taking half a step forward before glancing back to meet Scorpis' gaze. "And… I'll explain everything later; I promise. I just… I need to figure some things out first."

There was a crease between the soldier's brows. "Take your time, Link," he said, concern evident in his tone of voice.

Link headed up a set of wooden stairs to the second level of the fort, which wrapped all the way around the walls providing access to the watchtowers as well as the much larger tower, and the Sheikah building. He noticed that the door to the building was blocked by a teenage Sheikah girl leaning against it, scribbling furtively in a notebook. She seemed familiar; Link scanned through his memories, trying to place where he'd seen her before.

Oh, yeah… trailing after Purah almost every time we saw her.

He cleared his throat as he neared. "You're… Purah's apprentice, aren't you?" he said, and the girl didn't look up from her notes. "Sorry; I forgot your name."

The girl gave a sudden start, nearly dropping her pencil and catching it quickly. "Oh – you were talking to me?" she said, her cheeks pinkening slightly. "It's Josha. Yeah, I'm Purah's assistant." The pride in her voice as she corrected him revealed how much status she placed in being an assistant over a mere apprentice. She squinted at him through her glasses. "Wait a second… Doc!" she shouted at once, looking over her shoulder at the door. "Docter Purah! The swordsman's here!"

There was a sudden thud and clatter from within the building, and an instant later the door slid open, revealing an out-of-breath Purah, her bizarre chameleon goggles lopsided. "Oof – okay," she panted, leaning slightly on the door frame. "Now – where have you been? Honestly, Link, you and Zelda could've chosen a better time to elope!"

Link crossed his arms, well accustomed to her teasing, and raised an eyebrow at her. "I hear you've been giving my men a rough time."

Purah jabbed a stick in his direction. "You're not a ghost here to haunt me over all that, are you?" she sighed. "I'm not a soldier – how am I supposed to manage them?"

"They manage themselves well enough," Link scoffed. He aimed a pointed glance over her shoulder, into her workshop – even from here, evidence of her legendary disorganization was clearly visible. Stacks of teetering books, paper and notes on every surface, various items hanging from the ceiling. "That's the problem – their organization versus your chaos."

Purah chuckled. "I am rather chaotic," she admitted with a hint of pride, as if her disorderly life was somehow a great accomplishment. "Regardless, I'm glad you're back – now you can deal with all them."

Link snorted. "I have a feeling there's a lot more on my plate than just that," he said grimly. "I have a lot of questions, Purah."

"As do I," she agreed. "Come in where it's dry – you look like a half-drowned squirrel. Josha, can you grab us something warm to eat?"

"Ugh, fine," the girl grumbled, rolling her eyes. "Can I use him for my research later?"

"I'll ask him," Purah smirked, lifting up her goggles to give Link an ominous grin. "Now, hop to it!"

She led the way into her lab and unceremoniously pushed a stack of books off of a chair. "All out of date anyway," she muttered, brushing papers away from another chair. "I'll clear off the table when food arrives. Now, one step at a time, Link – tell me everything." There was an uncharacteristic weight in her voice as she crossed her arms over her chest, looking at him expectantly.

Link winced, brushing his damp hair out of his face. "Where to even begin," he sighed, leaning back in his chair. "Well… we found a lot of things that we weren't necessarily looking for, under the castle." Struck by an idea, he pulled out the Purah Pad from his belt and flipped to the pictures Zelda had taken. "Mostly Zonai ruins. It went down much farther than we anticipated, and we didn't come across any of those crimson pools the treasure hunters mentioned, but the darkness itself got very thick."

Purah squinted at him in confusion. "Treasure hunters…?" she mouthed. "Oh! Oh, yeah – the first people infected by the Gloom. Right – I remember. Go on."

Link swallowed, his stomach clenching. It's been a long time. "Well… we found what's probably the source of the Gloom. A mummified corpse, held down by a magical glowing green hand."

Purah flipped rapidly through the pictures and made an angry sound. "And you didn't get a picture of the mummy?" she exclaimed.

"We weren't really thinking about pictures by then," Link answered wryly, raising an eyebrow. "The Master Sword was reacting to the presence of some great evil."

Purah's lips pressed into a thin line, and her eyes darted to somewhere next to Link's hip, the sacred blade conspicuously absent. "Go on."

"As we neared, the arm popped off, and a stone fell off of it," Link said, squinting as he parsed through his memories. "Zelda picked it up. Then the… the corpse… reanimated. It… knew our names, somehow." He swallowed, feeling a deep chill as he remembered the excruciating pain across his body from the corpse's magic. "It's the source of the Gloom, I'm certain. It used its magic to… to poison my arm, and damage the Master Sword."

Purah's eyes flew wide, and there was a tremor in her voice. "Go on."

"Then it used its magic to push something upwards – Hyrule Castle, I'm guessing," Link said. His heart ached as he went through the next memories. "The chamber we were in collapsed. Zelda… Zelda fell, and… disappeared. There was a flash of light around her. I lost consciousness." He blinked, pushing quickly on. "I woke up on one of the sky islands. The owner of the arm holding down the corpse had… somehow replaced my damaged arm with his, thus… saving my life. His name is Rauru – he's a spirit now, but he was one of the Zonai." He swallowed, eager to finish his explanation and be done with it. "The Master Sword vanished in golden light. I heard Zelda's voice, telling me to find her. Then I came here."

Purah's gaze was fixed on his arm. "So for you, it's only been a couple of days, at most," she murmured.

Link sighed heavily. "How long has it actually been?" he asked. "I need to know."

"Honestly, it's… it's been about six weeks," Purah answered, watching him with deep concern. "Yeah… six weeks."

Link exhaled shakily, running a hand through the damp clumps of his hair as his heart pounded. Over a month. It's been over a month, and Zelda was missing that whole time, and I…

I was asleep.

He glanced at Purah sideways. "Well, it wasn't a hundred years this time," he joked weakly. "I guess that's an improvement, right?"

Purah gave a startled laugh. "That's the spirit," she said with a grin that looked more like a grimace. Her features quickly darkened. "You must've been badly wounded, to be out of it for so long."

Link nodded. "It's like I have Gloom… inside of me," he said darkly. "It's in my very blood. If I let it get out of hand, it… it may yet kill me. But there is something that keeps it at bay, at least temporarily. Have you seen any giant seed-shaped rocks, with green light coming out of them?"

Purah's eyes widened. "Yes, actually," she confirmed in surprise. "A ton of them popped up out of nowhere when the castle started flying and the ruins fell down. The Upheaval, we're calling it. There's one just outside of Lookout Landing."

Link felt his shoulders relax in relief. "Good," he murmured. "They're called Shrines of Light. They were built by the Zonai and filled with sacred light – the opposite of Gloom. Spending time in them helps my arm." He didn't mention seeing Zelda, and the power she had given him – power that had seemed to reverse some of the evil magic's effects. It was all too disturbing, too confusing, for him to wrap his mind around.

"I'll put someone on the Zonai Survey Team on it," Purah decided. "They'll get a kick out of that, I'm sure."

"I thought it was the Hyrulean Survey Team?" Link asked, raising an eyebrow. "Or… is it a new group?"

"No, it's the same one," Purah laughed. "At the time of the Upheaval, ruins started falling from the sky – big ruins, all of them Zonai in origin. So our pool of accessible Zonai relics went from that –" she pinched two fingers close together – "to that –" she spread her arms out widely – "in the space of a single day! Needless to say, it's gotten all of us academics completely enthralled, and the Survey Team is now completely devoted to studying all things Zonai." Her voice softened. "You and Zelda… you're more than beloved to the people of Hyrule. When you disappeared, it was your monster control unit and Zelda's survey team that at once stepped up and dedicated everything they had to try and find you." She smiled gently. "So this evil arm stuff you're dealing with… we'll be happy to help, in whatever way we can."

"Thanks," Link murmured. He scanned quickly through his body for any trace of that unbearable pain from the previous day, unsure how long the shrine's effects would last. He felt tired, but otherwise fine. Good enough for now.

He felt even better when Josha walked in with a small pot of soup that she set on the table. She handed him a spoon and glanced at Purah. "Can I get him started yet?" she asked eagerly.

"In a bit," Purah promised. "I'll send him down when I'm through with him."

Josha grinned. "I'll hold you to that," she said sternly, before leaving the room once more.

Link swallowed a mouthful of soup. "What exactly have you signed me up to do?"

"We'll get to that later," Purah said, waving his question away. "I'm more interested in going through everything that's happened since you disappeared." She tapped her forehead thoughtfully. "So the arm itself came from a Zonai named Rauru, you say… I think that's what the first King of Hyrule was named. They could be one and the same. Or they might be different. Not sure yet; we'll do more digging on that. As for your other observations, I agree that your mummy-corpse-thing must be related to the Upheaval. The timing is too perfect to be a coincidence, and you saw it raise something upwards while you were underneath Hyrule Castle. Now, correlation isn't always causation, but I feel pretty confident here."

Link's eyes narrowed, remembering the malevolence in that creature's gaze, the hate in its rasping voice. He nodded in agreement, scooping another spoonful of soup into his mouth.

"And… you're sure you heard Zelda speaking to you?" Purah clarified. "And she specifically told you to find her?"

Link nodded firmly. "Completely sure," he said.

Purah sighed wearily in relief. "That must mean she's alive, then," she murmured. "Thank the Goddesses. But you said she fell… maybe she's stuck beneath Hyrule Castle and needs help?"

Link felt something loosen in his chest. So Purah agrees – she's most likely still underneath the castle. "I'd had a similar thought," he said. "I was making my way there when I came across this place."

"I'll find you a cloak, then," Purah said. "I… I know you just got back, but there's a search party already up at the castle, or as close as we can get from the ground. They've been searching tirelessly for you two. I'm hoping with you back, and with your firsthand knowledge of what the Upheaval looked like from under the castle, you'll be able to find Zelda and bring her back quickly."

"I was planning on going up there right away anyway," Link assured her, scarfing down the rest of the soup as she pushed to her feet and started digging through her piles of garbage – research materials – for a spare cloak. She pulled one out at last, brushed off several pieces of torn paper and dust, and placed it on the table next to the bowl of soup.

"Er… maybe I do need to be a bit more organized," she admitted sheepishly. "Anything else you need, Link? You know the way…"

"I could use a sword," he said, finishing off the last bit of soup and standing up.

A strange expression crossed Purah's face. "Yeah… about that," she said, grimacing. "At the time of the Upheaval, all of our weapons just… decayed. I don't know how else to describe it – just like how plants get black and mushy when they decay, the same thing happened to all of the weapons – black and mushy. The handles have been mostly fine, so we've salvaged what we can of them, and the monster control unit has people working on making new weapons out of… not metal."

Link frowned, glancing at his hand. Attaching things to weapons – just like Rauru said. I guess this Fuse ability will be useful after all. "Well… where can I get a hilt and something to attach it to, then?" he asked uncertainly.

"We've got monster horns, sharpened stones, and weapon hafts and handles all down in the emergency shelter," Purah said, taking his arm and pulling him outside into the rain. She pointed to Scorpis. "Ask that guy. He's the guard."

Link chuckled ruefully. Poor Scorpis. He hates sitting still. "I'll head out, then."

"Let me know as soon as you get back," Purah said urgently. "In the meantime, I'll organize some of the scholars to start putting together everything we know about the whereabouts of shrines. Okay?"

"Perfect," Link smiled tightly.

"Good luck," Purah called. "Watch out for that mummy!"

Link winced. Goddesses will I ever, he thought with a shudder, draping the cloak across his shoulders and fastening it under his chin. Despite Purah's neglect, it was thick and warm, clearly of a much better quality than her treatment would suggest. He returned to the center of the fort, where Scorpis waved a greeting.

"How'd the debrief with Purah go?" the soldier asked.

"Oh, fine," Link answered with a shrug. "I'm heading up to the castle to help the search team now. See what I can do."

Scorpis brightened at once. "That's fantastic! With you helping, we'll find the princess before the day is out!"

Link kept back a grimace. I hope so, he thought. "Purah told me there's weapon materials in the emergency shelter?" he said, changing the subject.

Scorpis nodded. "All our regular weapons corroded during the Upheaval," he explained. "Same thing happened to all new steel we've tried to forge. But attaching hilts and things to stone, wood, or monster horns and claws still works for some reason. They're not as good, but they'll do in a pinch." He shook his head, tapping three times with the haft of his spear on the crest of Hyrule carved into the stone beneath their feet. "Gotta say, it's a damn effective way to cripple our military, going after all the weapons. But we're finding ways to deal with it – we'll be alright."

Link's blood turned to ice at Scorpis' statement. The corpse destroyed the Master Sword – and at the same time, all of Hyrule's weapons were also destroyed. Was it intentional? Did the corpse plan on that?

He thought of the cold, calculating cruelty in the corpse's voice. More than likely, he decided.

Scorpis tapped again on the seal. "Hey, open up down there!" he called, sounding frustrated. "It's me! And you won't believe who's with me!"

With the low grating of stone against stone the Hyrule crest slid aside, revealing a circular hole. Link heard footsteps and some cursing from below, and then someone raised a ladder.

"Okay, come on down!"

Scorpis gestured with a grin for Link to climb down first. Scarcely had his feet touched the floor before a chorus of voices all broke out at once –

"It's Link! Link's back!"

"Hey, great to see you!"

"We all thought you were dead! Are you alright? What happened?"

"Your arm!"

"Where were you?"

"What are you wearing? New Gerudo armor?"

"Where's the Master Sword?"

There were so many voices, so many hands clapping his shoulders, so many wide, beaming smiles; Link didn't know how to react at first. Scorpis jumped down the ladder behind him, shooing away the others.

"C'mon, give the man some space, you shameless gaggle of mother-hens," he laughed, and the men relented with wide grins. "I think we missed you, Link."

Link laughed at that, feeling warm at the enthusiasm of their welcome. Almost everyone down here was a member of the monster control unit, he realized, and as they showed him around the space he realized that this was their barracks, armory, kitchens, and map room all in one. There were rows upon rows of beds down one wing, and massive crates of monster and weapon parts and discarded sheathes in another. "Don't get it confused with the kitchen," one of the soldiers laughed; the kitchen was the next room over, with a warm fire and a cooking pot in the center, and a fountain of fresh water along the wall, along with crates of food and shelves of various spices. The fourth and final wing was much smaller, a room with several maps along the wall tagged with various markers.

With the tour finished, Link gave them a briefer version of what he'd told Purah – the corpse under the castle, its attack on his arm and the Master Sword, his awakening with a new arm some time later. He skimmed over most of the details about Zelda, and finished with his current mission – to search Hyrule Castle for her.

"Well, with you up there, we'll find her in no time," one of the men nodded, echoing Scorpis' sentiments.

"I'll need a weapon first," Link said. "Can you show me what you've got?"

They returned to the materials room. Monster parts were sorted by species and tier, all the way up to black for most monsters. Link nodded his approval, genuinely impressed by how much they had harvested. "Any sign of silver monsters?" he asked, remembering the evil magic-infused creatures he'd faced during the Calamity.

"None yet," someone answered darkly. "We're keeping a keen eye out for them. Blood Moons too – we have yet to encounter any of those, but we remember the Calamity."

Murmurs of assent from the rest of the men.

Link searched through the gathered materials and the others dissipated, returning to their duties. There didn't seem to be anything similar enough to the Master Sword's blade shape; the closest he could find were the horns of blue lizalfos, which was shaped more like a katana. Link took one, impressed by the sharpness, as well as an ordinary bokoblin horn. He took the salvaged hilt of a katana and a hunting knife and, glancing around to ensure no one was watching, crouched down behind one of the crates. He Fused the blue lizalfos horn to the katana hilt, and the smaller bokoblin horn to the knife's hilt. Grinning, he slipped the knife into his belt alongside the hammer he had crafted with Rauru's assistance, and found a suitable sheath for the sword.

Well… good enough, he thought, fairly pleased with the results. He emerged from the supply room and headed back up the ladder, emerging into Lookout Landing proper once more. As good as I'll get, most likely.

Nodding to Scorpis as he passed, he headed out towards the north gates of the fort – to Hyrule Castle, or whatever remained of it.