Chapter 14-Unnatural Disaster
Toothless and Stormfly land on Whistling Hill, a high point in the southeast of Hyrule Field. Hiccup, Astrid, Zelda, and Link all hop off of the dragons and stretch while Terrako stays perched on Stormfly's back. The quartet are returning from a trip to the jungle around the Spring of Courage to research some Sheikah relics around the site.
Hiccup smiles as he looks around, the surrounding plains bathed in the late afternoon light. The kingdom could not look more peaceful.
Astrid checks the strapping holding her Royal Broadsword to Stormfly's saddle, while Zelda pulls the Sheikah Slate off her hip and snaps a picture of the landscape, smiling at the natural beauty.
Astrid looks at the princess and asks a question. "Are the evenings always this beautiful in Hyrule?" Zelda nods as she responds. "If the sun is out, yes, they are. Remind me to let you see a sunset from onboard Vah Medoh. That's an–"
Zelda's reply is cut short as the ground violently shakes, throwing everyone off balance. Hiccup stumbles and falls to the ground while Astrid manages to keep her footing. Zelda almost falls over but Link catches her, causing the princess to blush slightly. Toothless and Stormfly both manage to keep their footing as the violent shaking ceases.
Worried, Link draws the Master Sword while Astrid pulls her axe off her back, activating the blue energy blades. Hiccup also pulls Inferno off his hip, activating the blade but not igniting it.
Zelda's gasp of fear catches their attention, causing them to look at the princess. Her eyes are wide in disbelief, with one arm raised, fingers pointing at something. They look towards what Zelda is pointing at and Link gasps in surprise.
One mile away, Hyrule Castle stands proud, but Hiccup and Astrid immediately see something off.
Rising up from around the castle are clouds of a black and magenta smoke. Then a larger more concentrated cloud emerges from behind and below the Sanctum. As it rises, the front of the cloud takes shape, forming a spectral face sporting long jaws and two glowing yellow eyes. Twin curved tusks descend from the front of the upper jaw while two fangs protrude from the tip of the lower jaw. The spectral monster circles the Sanctum and once level with the highest spire, the monster roars, a deep echoing monstrous sound.
Seeing the fear and disbelief in Zelda and Link's eyes, Hiccup addresses Zelda. "Is that what I think it is?"
The princess shakily nods. "Calamity Ganon. I don't know how on earth it broke free," she shakily replies, her voice a mere whisper.
Suddenly the ground shakes again, though less violently this time. Looking around, Hiccup's eyes land on Central Tower and widen. The three spires at the pinnacle of the tower are lowering and the blue glow of the core disappears, replaced by an orange glow. Now even more nervous, Hiccup looks at the other Sheikah Towers and sees similar occurrences.
Upon seeing the Sheikah Towers all deactivate, Zelda falls to her knees, dropping the Sheikah Slate.
Hiccup picks up the relic and opens the map. On the Slate's map, the icons representing the Sheikah Towers are all still present, but are now orange rather than blue. He taps one to see if anything happens, but nothing does. Zooming out, the only blue icons on the map that Hiccup sees are the four Divine Beasts, the Ancient Tech Lab, and a travel gate in the center of the Great Plateau. The blue icon of Hyrule Castle's travel gate is ringed in orange. Hiccup taps on it, but text pops up on the Slate saying that the travel gate is damaged.
Lowering the Sheikah Slate, Hiccup looks at Zelda, seeing the princess kneeling in the grass.
"How? Just how did Ganon escape?" She mumbles softly.
Seeing Zelda shocked while Hiccup and Link look at the princess, Astrid speaks up. "Hey! We don't have time to think about how! What we know is that the Calamity has taken over Hyrule Castle and isn't likely to stop there." Astrid pauses, looks at Zelda and continues. "Zelda, we need to do something. I presume we should rally the Divine Beasts?"
Zelda seems to break free of her momentary trance at Astrid's words and looks to the blonde warrior. "Yes," she replies, confidence returning to her voice. "We need to get there soon before Ganon tries to corrupt them. He'll have already taken over the Guardians."
Astrid nods acknowledgement and is about to jump onto Stormfly when suddenly, the Master Sword emits a bell toll-like sound and the blade starts glowing. Zelda looks at the sword, eyes widening. Hiccup hears something hurtling through the air and drops to the ground. He looks up and briefly sees an orb of the black-magenta smoke disappear into Terrako. The little Guardian whistles nervously, concentrates, then suddenly with a loud chirp, stands as high as it can and emits a powerful flash of pale blue light.
As Terrako's light blast dissipates, the orb of black-magenta smoke reappears, moving away from the Guardian. Currently on his back and about to get back to his feet, Hiccup's eyes widen as he sees the smoke orb stop and suddenly hurl towards him. He throws up his arms to defend his face, but nothing comes. However he hears a sound similar to a gasp-plus an actual gasp from Zelda-and lowers his arms. Zelda is pointing at his leg and Hiccup looks at what startled her. His eyebrows rise upon seeing the glowing areas of his prosthetic emitting a sickly magenta glow rather than the normal orange and blue glow.
Warily, Hiccup gets to his feet and looks at Zelda, an unspoken question visible in his eyes. Zelda also gets to her feet and in a nervous tone, addresses Hiccup. "I think that your leg just got corrupted by Malice."
Now even more worried, Hiccup responds. "How do we get it uncorrupted?" Zelda shakes her head slowly whilst replying. "Outside of resealing Ganon, I'm not sure." Hiccup opens his mouth to speak again, but suddenly loses his balance. He looks down and frowns upon seeing the riding foot of his prosthetic supporting his weight rather than the walking foot.
He leans down to switch the mode, but with a mechanical whir, the riding foot switches to the walking foot. Hiccup pulls his hand away, only for the prosthetic to switch modes again. He reaches towards the prosthetic again, but it suddenly starts rapidly switching between walking and riding modes, the two different feet blurring together into a half circle of silver. Due to the feet constantly switching, the rest of the prosthetic is moving as well. Hiccup tries to touch the leg again but the swinging foot attachment whacks his arm, causing him to pull away.
Hiccup looks at Zelda, worry evident in his eyes as he addresses the princess. "Well this is bad. With my leg like this, I can't operate Toothless's saddle or ride Stormfly since the leg would be constantly hitting her and I can't get it off since it's constantly in motion." Zelda closes her eyes, clearing her mind of panic while thinking of how to fix Hiccup's leg. Terrako chirps while pointing to the Sheikah Slate, laying in the grass where Hiccup dropped it when he dove to the ground.
As Zelda looks from the relic to Hiccup awkwardly balancing on one leg, she gets an idea.
Stooping to pick up the Slate, Zelda addresses Hiccup. "Alright, I have an idea on how to get your leg uncorrupted. One of the Sheikah Slate's runes is called Stasis and can freeze objects for about ten seconds. If I can freeze it when the riding leg is deployed, you can get to Toothless and clip the prosthetic into the saddle. It can't switch modes while in the saddle, correct?" Hiccup nods, relief filling his eyes as Zelda continues. "Once we have the prosthetic in the saddle, I'll expose it to my power. That should drive the Malice out. Are you good with that?"
Hiccup nods and turns to Toothless. "What about you bud? Do you want to help free my leg of Malice?" The Night Fury happily warbles and moves closer to Hiccup while Astrid and Link back away.
Zelda looks at Hiccup and asks "Are you ready?" He smiles and spreads his hands out in a 'proceed' gesture, lifting his haywire prosthetic off the ground. Taking a breath, Zelda selects Stasis from the rune menu and holds the Sheikah Slate towards the corrupted prosthetic. After a moment of studying the leg's movement, she activates Stasis. At once, long spectral yellow chains appear, fastening to Hiccup's prosthetic, which abruptly stops moving, now surrounded by a yellow glow. Miraculously for the first attempt, the riding foot is currently deployed.
"Go!" Zelda commands and Hiccup bolts. He jumps onto Toothless, and manages to clip the prosthetic into the saddle. A second later, the yellow glow around the corrupted tech vanishes and several spectral yellow chains fall away. Hiccup feels the fake leg try to switch modes, but fortunately, it can't due to being secured to Toothless's saddle. Returning the Sheikah Slate to her hip, Zelda steps forward and warns the others. "You should all look away, my power emits a bright light." Taking her advice, Hiccup, Astrid, Link, Toothless, and Stormfly turn away and close their eyes.
Focusing on the corrupted prosthetic fruitlessly trying to switch modes, Zelda raises her right hand. At once, light begins to emit from her palm as the symbol of the Triforce appears on the back of her hand. Concentrating, Zelda strengthens the light magic, moving her hand a few feet away from Hiccup's leg. Taking another breath, she fully unleashes her sacred power onto the rogue prosthetic. It suddenly begins shaking before slumping forward as the magenta glow fades. Wispy tendrils of Malice fly away from the leg, heading back towards Hyrule Castle.
As Zelda's light magic dissipates, the others turn back to her. Hiccup looks down and sighs in relief at seeing the usual orange and blue glow reappear on his prosthetic. He warily unclips the leg from the saddle, switches it to walking mode and hops off of Toothless. Taking a few steps, he turns and grins at Zelda. "Thank you," he exclaims. "You certainly showed that Malice who is the alpha." Zelda chuckles before replying. "I'm glad that it worked. You're welcome Hiccup."
Link grunts and holds up the Master Sword, pointing to it. Both Hiccup and Astrid notice that the blade is no longer glowing, meaning that Hiccup's leg is a hundred percent free of Malice.
Hiccups looks at Zelda and smiles again while addressing the princess. "Hey, at least we know that the anti corruption program worked for Terrako!"
Zelda is quiet for a moment, having forgotten about the program in the heat of Ganon suddenly appearing and Hiccup's prosthetic being corrupted. "You're right, it did work! That's wonderful!" She says in an excited tone. Hiccup cheerfully pats her on the back, causing Link to wince, the knight wishing that Daruk was as gentle when patting Link on the back.
Zelda claps her hands together and addresses the others in a serious tone. "Right, now that Hiccup's leg is fixed, we need to get the Champions and Divine Beasts. Let's split up so we can get to them as fast as possible. Astrid, you go request Urbosa's aid. Hiccup, go recruit Revali. Link, you go get Mipha, and I'll handle Daruk."
Hiccup, Astrid, and Link all nod in understanding, but Astrid steps forward, hand raised in a question. "Sounds good, but how are you and Link getting to Daruk and Mipha? I'm guessing you can't teleport to the towers since they seem deactivated and I'm positive we don't have time for you to walk all the way there."
Zelda gives Astrid a small smile as she responds. "I'm teleporting myself to Vah Rudania and I'll send Link to Vah Ruta. Both of them are stationed closer to their respective Champion's settlement than the local towers are. You and Hiccup can fly to Gerudo Town and Rito Village."
Hiccup speaks up with a question of his own. "Where are we meeting after we get the Divine Beasts on their way?"
Zelda turns to him and continues. "We'll rendezvous at the Great Plateau. Alright, let us get going and good luck to you all."
Hiccup turns to Astrid and smiles at her. "Stay safe, milady," he says.
She smiles back as she replies. "You too babe."
She then grabs his tunic and pulls him in for a quick kiss on the lips, before letting him go. Wearing his goofy post kiss smile, Hiccup gets onto Toothless's saddle, nodding to the others. Astrid gets onto Stormfly's saddle, nods to Zelda, and then the Nadder flaps her wings, launching off the ground, followed by Toothless.
Zelda watches the two dragons fly off before turning to Link. She holds the Sheikah Slate up as if to take a picture but instead activates a rather newly discovered feature of being able to teleport someone without directly holding the Slate. Marking Link as the person to be teleported, Zelda taps Vah Ruta's icon on the map and confirms the action. Link glows blue, turns blue, then dissolves into strands of blue energy.
Terrako chirps at Zelda and the princess bends down, allowing the plucky Guardian to hop onto her shoulder. The princess stands back up, locates Vah Rudania on the Sheikah Slate's map, taps the icon, and confirms the teleportation. She sees herself glowing blue before her vision goes black.
As Stormfly speeds southwest, Astrid looks over her shoulder, towards Hyrule Castle. The monstrous spectral form of Calamity Ganon is still circling around the Sanctum while clouds of Malice swirl around the castle. She notices several large spikes have appeared on the eastern side of the Sanctum. A chirp from Stormfly pulls Astrid's attention back to her flight path as the Nadder shoots over the northwestern portion of the Great Plateau.
Suddenly remembering where she is going, Astrid turns to one side and digs around in the saddlebag, looking for a certain item. Finding it, she tightly grips them and very carefully pulls her hand out of the saddlebag. Still exercising caution, she puts the Sapphire Earrings on, immediately noticing the cooling effect of the gems. She leans low and the saddle and urges Stormfly onwards. "Come on girl, Hyrule needs our help!"
A minute later, Stormfly passes over where the main road enters the Gerudo Desert. Astrid looks southeast of Gerudo Town and is relieved to see Vah Naboris is glowing blue, not magenta like Hiccup's leg was when it was corrupted. Turning her attention back to Gerudo Town, she gives directions to her dragon. "Stormfly, see the large stone pillar?" The Nadder squawks in acknowledgement as Astrid continues. "Land in the courtyard to the left of it." Stormfly squawks again and adjusts her course.
Before Stormfly's feet even completely touch the ground, Astrid leaps off of the saddle and runs up the stairs from the courtyard to the throne room. To her relief, Urbosa is sitting on the stone seat and is startled by the sudden appearance of Astrid.
At the same time, a guard runs in from the main entrance and speaks first. "Chief, we just saw a large flying creature apparently land in the south part of town. What should we do?" Astrid's hand immediately goes to the handle of her axe, but Urbosa responds first. "The creature is called Stormfly and she is a friend. Unless you want to be burnt alive or impaled with spines, leave her alone!" The guard nods and walks back out, while Astrid approaches Urbosa.
"Astrid, what are you doing here? Are Zelda, Link, and Hiccup with you."
Astrid shakes her head and replies. "No, I'm here alone with Stormfly. It's urgent. Did you feel the ground shake violently around ten minutes ago?"
"Yes, we did. Do you know what caused it?" Urbosa says, worry evident in her tone.
Astrid nods, her expression turning grave as she answers the question. "Yes, I do. It was Calamity Ganon."
Urbosa's eyes fill with a mix of anger and confusion and it seeps into her tone as she responds. "Do you know how it broke free? Is Zelda okay?"
Astrid smiles at Urbosa's care for the Hylian princess, then continues speaking. "We don't know how. We were in Hyrule Field when the ground shook. Looking over we saw the Calamity circling around Hyrule Castle. The Sheikah Towers all deactivated and Hiccup's prosthetic briefly got corrupted, though Zelda purged it of Malice. We all split up to inform and rally the Champions. I came here, Zelda went to get Daruk, Hiccup and Toothless went to get Revali, while Link went to get Mipha."
Urbosa digests the information then looks Astrid in the eye. "You have my scimitar and Naboris. I presume Zelda told us to meet at the Great Plateau?" Astrid nods and Urbosa stands up. The tall chief grabs her scimitar and shield from where they are leaning against her throne. Attaching them to her belt, Urbosa calls for a guard.
One arrives and Urbosa addresses the messenger. "Assemble a company of our finest warriors and meet me at the Great Plateau."
Dismissing the guard, the Gerudo chief turns back to Astrid. "Can you and Stormfly give me a lift to Naboris?" She asks. Astrid smiles. "Sure," she says and heads back to Stormfly.
Hiccup squints as Toothless rockets northwest towards Rito Village. As the Night Fury passes Hyrule Castle, Hiccup looks at the royal stronghold. On the eastern side of the sanctum he sees several large black spikes along with more present in the main courtyard. Additionally, he sees numerous patches of black stuff around the castle, but due to the speed Toothless is flying at, he can't make out what they are. Seconds later, they zoom past the deactivated Ridgeland Tower and over Tanagar Canyon.
Toothless slows down as he approaches the large lake around Rito Village. Looking up, Hiccup sighs in relief upon seeing that Vah Medoh is glowing blue, indicating that it hasn't been corrupted. He is about to direct Toothless to land in the village but a flash of orange catches his attention.
Looking to the source, he sees a small circular valley nestled in the mountains northwest of Rito Village. Recalling that Revali had threatened him with bomb arrows when they first met, Hiccup figures that the valley must be a training ground where Revali can safely train with the dangerous arrows. Hiccup nudges Toothless to adjust his course and they bolt towards the valley.
Arriving in the valley, Hiccup sees that the sides are extremely steep and also sees a small open air hut built on the northeast wall. Looking around, he sees a blur that can only be Revali, constantly firing arrows into targets hung on the walls of the valley and the tall central rock spire.
Remembering Revali's somewhat cocky arrogant attitude, Hiccup ponders how to get the Rito Champion to help. He then remembers that he knows someone else with a similar personality. His cousin, Snotlout Jorgenson.
Now having a plan to get Revali's aid, Hiccup addresses Toothless. "Bud, hit one of those targets with a plasma blast." The Night Fury warbles and charges up before firing a blast at a target on the far side of the valley.
When the target explodes in a flash of white and purple light, Revali suddenly stops soaring around and notices the two figures next to the hut. The Rito dives down and gracefully lands in front of the waiting Berkians.
"Oh, it's you. The man with the dragon. What can I do for you?" The Rito Champion says.
Hiccup takes a breath and responds. "First off, my name is Hiccup. Secondly, we need your help and the power of Vah Medoh."
Revali's eyebrow crests rise in surprise as Hiccup continues. "Calamity Ganon has somehow returned. One of the guesses as to why is because it desires a rematch against the legendary Rito Champion."
At those words, Revali grins-or at least the best grin he can do with a beak. "Say no more," he says. "I'll show that Calamity who is boss. Where are we meeting?"
Relieved at Revali's cooperation, Hiccup continues. "Zelda told us to meet up at the Great Plateau."
Revali nods and responds. "Tell her I'll meet her there." At that, Revali flaps his wings hard, generating a powerful updraft and soars skyward, towards Vah Medoh.
Turning back to Toothless, Hiccup addresses his friend. "We did what we were told, bud. Let's go see how Astrid fared." Toothless croons happily as Hiccup gets onto the saddle, switches his prosthetic's mode, and opens Toothless's tail fin. With a roar, the Night Fury leaps upwards, generating lift with his wings and soaring southeast to the Great Plateau, followed by Vah Medoh.
Astrid and Stormfly are standing on the Great Plateau Tower, awaiting Hiccup's return.
After dropping Urbosa off at Vah Naboris, flying over Gerudo Canyon to the plateau only took a few minutes. By now, the sun has almost set, casting most of Hyrule in shadows, but the Plateau Tower is still in the light. Astrid looks north to see the distant upper spires of Hyrule Castle are also still in the sun, while the rest of the castle is in shadow and surrounded by wisps of Malice. The stark contrast between the sunlight high spires and the rest being in shadow puts Astrid in a somber mood.
The familiar sound of a Night Fury rapidly approaching catches her attention and she looks northwest. A black blur shoots past the tower before banking around and slowing down. Losing the rest of his speed, Toothless lands on the tower and Hiccup gets off the saddle. Astrid is relieved to see him okay and also relieved that his prosthetic is still glowing blue and orange. As soon as his rider is off, Toothless walks over to Stormfly and the two dragons exchange greetings.
Hiccup decides to not waste time on small talk as he addresses Astrid. "I convinced Revali to aid us and Vah Medoh is on its way. Did Urbosa agree to help?"
Astrid gravely smiles as she replies. "Yes, she is also en route with Naboris. She also sent a squad of soldiers to help us, though they're arriving on foot."
Hiccup slowly nods, then looks north towards Hyrule Castle. "What should we do now?" He asks Astrid. She tilts her head in confusion, so Hiccup elaborates. "I mean, should we help fight Calamity Ganon? Remember, it's almost been an entire moon cycle since we arrived here and the wisdom that Zelda got at Mount Lanayru said that her powers would be refiled enough to send us home one moon cycle after we arrived."
Astrid's eyes widen before she responds. "I mean, helping them reseal Ganon is certainly the right thing to do, but that thing almost destroyed the kingdom four years ago. What do you want to do?"
Determination lights up in Hiccup's eyes as he answers. "I'm helping Hyrule. I mean, Zelda has done so much for us that to just leave when the kingdom's mortal enemy just reawakened? It's unthinkable." He pauses for a moment, then quietly continues. "Plus, I also have a weird feeling in my gut that Calamity Ganon breaking free is somehow connected to us being transported to Hyrule."
Astrid gives a small smile as she replies. "I'm not at all surprised that you want to help and I'm with you for aiding Zelda." She stops for a moment as a sudden thought appears in her mind. Pondering it for a moment, she then continues. "I just remembered that Zelda told us that Calamity Ganon corrupted the Guardians and tried to corrupt the Divine Beasts four years ago because they were key to its defeat ten thousand years ago. Ganon won't be expecting Toothless or Stormfly, so they can probably play a key role in resealing Ganon. It also definitely won't be expecting a stubborn brilliant talking fishbone or a stubborn ferocious Valkyrie."
Hiccup smiles at the descriptions of themselves before looking at Astrid and speaking again. "Glad to know you think so highly of me, milady."
Astrid smirks and lightly punches Hiccup in the shoulder. "That's for thinking of running," she says, then gives him a quick kiss on the cheek. "And that's for everything else." Hiccup's cheeks go bright red, but he smiles and puts his right arm on Astrid's shoulder while she puts her left arm on his waist.
The couple look out over Hyrule, enjoying the calm before the storm.
So begins Act Three: Unexpected Calamity
Notes about the chapter
The 'bell toll' sound that the Master Sword makes is meant to be the sound that it makes when it powers up around Malice.
Next chapter will reveal how Calamity Ganon broke free after just four years when previously it took 10,000 years
I'm in the group of Zelda fans who see Calamity Ganon and Ganondorf-from Tears of the Kingdom-as two separate entities independent of each other, so there will be appearance of or connections to Ganondorf in this story. Alongside with that, I also see Malice and Gloom-Ganondorf's version of Malice-as two separate evil powers and that will be reflected in this story.
For those wondering where the five columns containing the majority of the Guardians are, that will also be addressed next chapter.
Hoped you enjoyed the chapter.
