Chapter 1: The Encounter

It was a quiet afternoon.

Ayri took a deep breath. She felt prepared, or as prepared as one could be in this line of work. She checked herself out once more in the makeshift mirror the pond provided, and then stood up. Her long hair was tightened into a single long braid, expertly dyed to match the pitch black style demanded by the Yiga Clan. Her orange jerkin and long pants were spotless, and the hooded maroon cloak was clasped at her neck with a silver sphere that she could snap off at second's notice if she found herself in battle. Master Kohga's advice went through her mind again; "Stay on top of things and look good doing it!" She smiled, and took a moment to stretch her arms. Then she checked her weapons again.

Ayri held up her bow first, and was satisfied to see that the wood was clean and unblemished. She did not have to check the quiver on her right hip. She knew each arrow was of truest quality, courtesy of Kanan the fletcher. Her backup weapon, the dagger sheathed on her left hip, had a double-edged blade sharpened to perfection.

This was the Great Plateau, the central spot of, and the supposed origin of, the fallen Kingdom of Hyrule. It had been quite a chore to get up the steep slopes that separated the plateau from the rest of the land, but she had her ways.

The grass was a soft green, and the mountains stretched to the azure sky. But Ayri did not care much for nature. She had come here on a mission. This was the area that contained the Temple of Time, and as rumor had it, the Shrine of Resurrection.

So there she was, dressed as a common traveler, as was tradition with Yiga raiders. After years of training, she had proudly accepted her place as one of the new generation of soldiers that would defeat the Hylian Champion, Link. Just thinking of the name stole the smile from her face and replaced it with a baleful glare. Though there were no tapestries in her hands, she could not shake away the images that decorated the Yiga Temple built below the Wasteland hideout.

A sinister figure with a long beard, dressed in dark blue rags, carrying a bloody sword in one hand and the Sheikah Slate in the other. His position was the same whatever the individual tapestry, facing off against the savior of life, Ganon. He had to be stopped, and if he could be found anywhere, it would likely be the Temple of Time or the Shrine of Resurrection.

She stood a little straighter. She did not have partners; each Yiga raider worked autonomously in the field. But she believed in herself. She was prepared to hunt for the one bearing the Sheikah Slate, and to put an end to him. She swore, as she did every day, on the honor of the Yiga Clan that she would execute this miscreant if she ever had the opportunity.

And if she did, everything over the past years would be validated. Training had not been easy, but she had managed.

Ayri tipped back a bit upon her heels, reminicing on her first lessons. She had held a wooden training sword in both hands, carrying out clumsy swings against the training dummies and the practice weapons of her sparring partners, most of which were also ten years old. Each wooden sword was designed to be three times the weight of the real weapon. Ayri's lean musculature attested to the regimen's effectiveness.

She learned how to use a live sword soon enough, learning to mold the steel into an extension of her arm as she sliced through each target placed before her. Her group had been taught to throw their swords as well, and no one launched their blade with more range or with more power than Ayri. She had mastered every other skill demanded by the clan as well; shooting with bow, climbing sheer cliffs, even how to identify each fruit, vegetable, and grain the countryside had to offer. Sustenance was a top priority when traveling alone, particularly if said sustenance was a Mighty Banana. Even with all her training, and even if she considered as many scenarios as possible, there was always a margin of error.

"Luck is skill, preparation, and being in the right place at the right time." That was something Master Kohl had often told her.

Ayri took a deep breath of the cool spring air. Today was her first day as a true member of the Yiga Clan. She was in the field now, ready to take on whatever challenges the dead kingdom would throw her way, and the Hero of Hyrule was at the top of the list. She promised herself that she would uphold the Yiga mission with all her might...

And then she doubled over in pain. An arrow had passed straight through the calf of her leg. She dropped to one knee, hissing in abject pain, her fingers feeling the blood as she grabbed at the skin around the protruding shaft. She barely registered the deer running in front of her, bounding away from an unseen danger. She heard a quivering screech, and forced herself to look around at what had intruded upon her space.

It was a pair of Bokoblins. And they were not even high-level ones, but the typical red gremlins that served as the species' cannon fodder. Of course it was a couple of those damned Bokoblins that dotted the landscapes and refused to differentiate between Hylian, Sheikah, Yiga, or anything else. They had been trying to hit the deer, and their wayward aim had thrown Ayri's safety to the wayside. The monsters turned their gaze towards her, their greenish eyes expanding as they chuckled and shook with manic glee. The one that held the bow nocked another arrow.

"Luck is skill, preparation, and being in the right place at the right time."

One moment of relaxation, and Ayri had found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.

For the first time in what seemed like forever, panic raced through Ayri's heart. She was too far away to interrupt the archer, even if she was in perfect condition. If the second arrow did not kill her, it would surely keep her paralyzed and vulnerable to a coup de grâce. And everything of the past eight years would have been for nothing…

"Hey!"

And then she saw something else.

A stranger was running close. He was a young Hylian man, perhaps eighteen years old. He wore a patched white shirt over a pair of tan leggings, and a yellow shawl was wrapped around his neck. He waved his arms, his expression panicked.

"Stop!"

Both Bokoblins looked his way, and Ayri seized her opportunity. She grabbed her dagger and flung it at the Bokoblin archer, blade-first. Her aim was true, and the archer dropped like a stone. The remaining Bokoblin gaped in surprise, buying Ayri the few precious seconds she needed to grab her bow and yank an arrow from her quiver. She crouched on her good knee and fired the arrow, dropping the remaining Bokoblin. She tried to stand up, but faltered.

She hissed again, staring at the ugly wound in her leg as the pain forced it's way through her brain again. Dropping her bow, she impulsively grabbed at the shaft of the arrow.

"Don't pull it!" Ayri looked up.

His blonde hair was parted elegantly, and his face was sculpted and without blemish. His eyes were blue like the sky, and seemed to shine as he looked….

"Don't pull the arrow!"

Immediately Ayri felt like slapping herself. Of course it was a bad idea to yank out a sharp object imbedded in oneself. It would surely rupture whatever was in the way. The damage done by the blood flow could be fatal.

The stranger extended a hand. Ayri suspected nothing, reaching out with her own hand and grimacing as she started to pull herself up. Nonetheless, she started to collapse again. She felt both of the stranger's arms around her, and then she found herself hoisted into the air. She blacked out.

She did not notice that her savior was carrying a small black item on his hip, the one that she had been told over and over was the tool if the Hylian Champion...

The young man had not known what to expect when he had woken up in that dark, dank chamber that morning. . His head had been woozy and his body weak. The air was stale, and he felt cold. Nonetheless, he managed to stumble over to the nearby pedestal and grab the strange ornament that lay upon it. It was a smooth black rectangle. He could not recall seeing it before, but he grabbed it deftly, watching in amazement as a blue emblem lit up in the center. The emblem looked like an eye with a large teardrop, but he could not deduce what it meant.

He had yelped as the pedestal suddenly flashed blue, but it did nothing more than produce a low rumbling sound. Next to the pedestal, a section of the stone wall split apart, revealing a passageway. Cautiously, he stepped into the tunnel.

Halfway through, he had yelped as he stepped on a small, sharp rock. It had occurred to him too late that he had no shoes. In fact, he did not have any clothes except for a set of dark blue undergarments. No wonder the chilly air was so unbearable. Hissing, the youth kept going. The light at the end seemed to get bigger, bigger, and bigger...

And then he was outside, on top of a hill. The green fields were lush, the sky was pure blue, and...he breathed through his nose. The breeze was sweet...so wonderful.

"You are the light..."

His pointed ears twitched.

"Our light...that must shine upon Hyrule once again."

He looked from side to side, wondering where the voice was coming from. There was no one else around. Had it just been his imagination?

As he turned his head, he found his eyes had more to behold. There were tall trees, and steel gray mountains in the distance, and what looked like a small palace at the bottom of the hill. There was something else at the bottom of the hill, too. A fire.

The young man began to descend, mindful to watch the ground and not step on anything else. Step by step, he got closer to the fire. It occurred to him that there was someone sitting next to the fire, holding up what looked like a kabob of apple slices. The figure turned slightly, revealing himself to be an old man with a great white beard and a hooded brown poncho. He slowly cracked a smile as he saw that he had a guest.

"Hello, there. What is your name?"

Ayri drifted in and out of consciousness throughout the night.

She grabbed at whatever memories she could. The stranger taking her through a door, a blanket being pulled over her...a spoon had been put into her mouth...there was the voice of a stranger, albeit a much older one, remarking that it was lucky that she had been taken in time...that the Bokoblins used poison for their arrows...the younger stranger assuring her that she had been given an antidote...

Even the brazier nearby did not make her feel any warmer. Her limbs felt numb. But even her current state could not shut down her mental faculties indefinitely. She forced herself to reorient her thoughts whenever she could, starting with the motto of the Yiga Clan.

"Hail the One, Hail Ganon." She repeated the words so softly on her tongue. That phrase was the central tenet of what the Yiga Clan stood for, and the thing that had kept her going no matter what situation she found herself in.

There were good times and bad times in Hylian history. There were good times, such as when the Sheikah clan was united, working in the service of the nobler past iteration of the Royal Family. Bad times included when the King betrayed the Sheikah, stealing their technology. Hotspots of evil would have to be destroyed so that better civilizations could rise in their place. And that was the role of Ganon, the rejuvenator, the redeemer, the firm hand guiding all intelligent life to stay on the better path.

It was in his name that the Yiga lived by the same creed their ancestors did thousands of years ago: "Be vigilant. Be vicious. Be victorious."

And a single arrow would not easily deter Ayri's ambition to become the greatest warrior in Yiga history.

It was at the start of the year that I started writing my first Breath of the Wild AU fic, "Ages of Love." To say that Tears of the Kingdom has changed a lot of my expectations and plans would be an understatement. Really, I blame myself for not waiting a few months. I'm glad I didn't get too far along in my old story, because I'm planning this one as a rewrite. Here's to the first chapter!