Outsider Chronicles: Legend of Lief

Getting reborn as the hidden prince of a nation consumed by Darkness is not fun. Especially if that means you're basically going to be forced to go on a pretty intense scavenger hunt to find a bunch of magic stones. Of course, that alone would be to little of a headache for the bastard who put me here, so I naturally have to have a glowing birthmark on my hand. This is really gonna blow...

And we're back. Before I begin, I have this to say...DON'T ASK QUESTIONS IF YOU DON'T HAVE AN ACCOUNT! Its really annoying when I can't just PM the answer to you. However, I'll answer it anyway. The question was if this happened after Breath of the Wild or if it was a different timeline. Well, my original intent was to have it be set in the flood timeline, but thats kinda gone out the window cus I plan for the Kokiri and Zora to show up. Its best to assume that this happens in its own timeline since I haven't played BotW yet. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter 2

The tunnel existed onto a dark path surrounded by trees, as most of the roads around Del were. I was content with allowing Barda to lead as I had never left the City before and he seemed to know where he was going. I kept my guard up though, although I appeared relaxed. My sword, sheathed across my back under my shield, was loose in its sheath and ready to be drawn at a moment's notice. Not that I was expecting trouble for a while.

After a few hours of walking, we came to a fork where Barda stopped. The main path continued off, while the side road was narrower, crossing a little wooden bridge and then winding away into the darkness.

"I believe that this is the path to Wenn Del and the shortest way to the Forests," said Barda, "The turning fits the description I was given. But there should be a signpost, and there is none."

Now here I had a choice. On one hand, I could easily avoid the first danger of our quest by simply suggesting we go the long way, on the other, if I did that then, chances are we wouldn't meet Jasmine and, considering how many times she'd save our bacon, we'd probably be dead before we even found the Topaz. Hmm, potential death at the hands of a monster but gaining a loyal friend or definite death at the hands of a ghostly knight obsessed with flowers...tough choice.

I glanced around for the signpost, aided by the handy moonlight, and quickly spotted it under some leaves.

"Here it is," I said, brushing away the leaves that covered it, "Looks like someone pushed it over…"

I trailed off when I saw the word BEWARE that had been scrawled across the sign.

"Well, thats not ominous at all."

"Someone has tried to warn other travelers of danger along this path," muttered Barda, "No doubt the sign was not pushed over to hide the way, but to hide the warning."

I sighed and got to my feet, brushing off my leggings as I did.

"Well, looks like we'll have to ignore it," I said, "Deep joy."

Barda raised an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" he asked, "This path will save us a day and a half, if we take it, but perhaps I should not lead you into certain peril when we have just begun."

"Can we really afford to waste any time?" I asked, "The Shadow Lord has spys everywhere and he will learn of our quest sooner or later. We are prepared for trouble, now. We will watch for danger as we go."

"Very well," said Barda, turning to face the path, "Come, lets go."

We headed down the path that quickly started to get narrower and darker. Tall, thick bushes lined it on both sides, not helping the darkness in the slightest. Their leaves were large, smooth, and stiff, with strange, pale veins showing almost white against the dark green. Yeah, I don't think those are normal in the slightest.

We had not gone far before the back of my hand began to prickle, as it often did when someone was watching me or trying to sneak up on me. I turned my head slightly and, from the corner of my eye, caught a glimpse of something gleaming through the leaves. It was a pair of red eyes, glinting in the moonlight. I gritted my teeth. The next few minutes were REALLY going to suck. I sped up slightly and touched Barda's arm.

"I see them," Barda muttered, "Draw your sword, but keep walking. Look to the front. Be ready."

I did as I was told, also setting my shield on my right arm. I was left handed, so naturally I held my sword in my dominant hand. I swallowed nervously as more and more eyes started to appear. I was REALLY starting to regret deciding that meeting Jasmine was worth the risk. I had definitely underestimated the creepiness factors of these stupid things.

Then something skittered across the road behind me. Without thinking, I swung around just in time to see a creature disappearing into the bushes, a bent, pale, scuttling thing that seemed all legs and arms. Just a glimpse made my skin crawl and the back of my hand itch. These things were...wrong. So wrong.

"Look ahead!" hissed Barda, furiously dragging on my arm to make me move again, "Didn't I tell you —"

Then the humming began. The sound that the Wenn made was absolutely horrible. Rather than insect buzzing, it sounded almost like music, but no instrument could ever make a sound like that. It quickly built in intensity and it wasn't long before my head was pounding, my ears were ringing and I'm pretty sure my eardrums were starting to tear.

Desperate to shut it out, we clapped our hands to our ears and bent our heads against it, walking fast, faster, eventually breaking into a run. Our feet thudded on the endless path, not helping the pounding in my head any, but it was kind of hard to tell since all I could perceive was the pain of the sound that rose and rose, piercing my brain, driving out every thought. We ran, weaving and stumbling, desperate to escape it, without any luck. Finally we fell, exhausted, to lie writhing, helpless in the dust. The sound rose to an agonizing wail of triumph. The leaves thrashed and rustled. A host of pale, lanky creatures with hot red eyes scuttled towards us and, in moments, we were covered.

Then, just as I was about to pass out, my hand suddenly flared up and a massive flash of light erupted, blasting the Wenn away. That was the last thing I saw before the darkness claimed me.

I woke slowly, with no idea of where I was or how much time had passed. There was still a dull ringing in my ears, my throat was raw and every muscle in my body was aching. Basically, I felt like I had the day after my Graduation last time through. Still, I was alive, so that was something. Alive and helpless unless Jasmine choses to help that is. Light slanted through branches high above me.

"It is day now, then," I thought drowsily, "Late afternoon, by the look of it. Guess it won't be long before the Wennbar shows up…"

I groaned and lifted an arm to rub my head. Wait…

I sat up and looked around in confusion. I shouldn't be able to move, right? Thats what the Wenn did. As I looked around, I realized that Barda was nowhere to be seen and, unless I was very much mistake, I was still on the path we had been attacked on. Well, wasn't that interesting, the Wenn had not taken me for some reason. The question is, why…

"Oh, your finally awake!"

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the unexpected voice and spun around. No one was there. I frowned and looked around in confusion.

"Who's there?" I demanded.

"Oi, I'm right here!" said the voice as something fast and glowing shot up and buzzed around my head.

I blinked and took a step back, only for my eyes to widen in utter shock when I saw what was floating in front of me. It looked like a ball of blue light with a pair of insect-like wings sticking out the side .I shook my head, slapped myself hard across the face and looked again. Nope, still there.

"Hey, quit spacing out and listen!" said the Fairy, "We don't have much time if you want to save your friend from being eaten!"

"Whoa whoa whoa, wait a sec!" I yelled, catching the fairy before it could fly away, "Whats going on here? Who and what are you?"

"Tch, damn, I hate the curious ones," grumbled the Fairy, "Alright kiddo, listen very carefully cus I'm only gonna say this once."

She wriggled out of my hands and flew up into my face, her light dimming slightly to reveal that she wasn't actually a ball of light, but rather a tiny humanoid with pale skin, blue hair tied in pigtails, blue eyes and wearing a dress that looked like it was made of petals.

"My name is Navi and I'm a Fairy," she said, "Normally I wouldn't show myself to Humans like you, but something about you blasted away the Wenn and prevented them from touching you. That means that you might be the person I've been waiting for."

I blinked.

"Person you were...what are you talking about?" I asked.

Navi (Aw shit, this could end badly) sighed.

"Truthfully, I have no idea of the specifics," she said, "All I know is what the Great Deku Tree told me before he was trapped by the Dark. He told me that one day, a Human clad in green would come and he would have the power to finally defeat the Darkness that has settled over this forest for so long."

I glanced down at my clothes. Sure enough, I was indeed wearing a green tunic over a white shirt and leggings...wait a Chu sucking minute!

I wrenched my glove off and looked down at the back of my hand. Sure enough, there was the mark I'd had since birth, sitting there innocently as if it hadn't just made my life about a million times more complicated. For most of my life, the mark had been little more than a slight discolouration of skin, barely noticeable, but now it was clearly standing out. An outline of a triangle split into three smaller ones with the bottom right one filled in. Shite, this won't end well!

"Oh, thats interesting," said Navi, suddenly popping over my shoulder, making me jump, "Although it does explain why the Wenn couldn't take you."

She frowned and looked me up and down.

"You know, I always thought that the Hero of Legend would be taller…" she mused.

"Whats that supposed to mean?" I growled.

"Oh, nothing," said Navi, "Now come on. I'll explain on the way."

I hesitated for a moment, before following the Fairy deeper into the woods, listening closely as she told me the true history of the Forests of Silence and, although she didn't know it, Deltora as a whole. As it turns out, the Forests were once known by different names. The Lost Wood, the Kokiri Forest and the Faron Woods, and had been the home of the Deku Trees and the Kokiri people. However, at some point in the past, a Darkness had swept over the forest, bringing with it the Wennbar and a powerful curse that had transformed the Kokiri into the Wenn while simultaneously stripping the Great Deku Tree of its power. Now, the only light to be found was the Lilies of Life, which were actually the last remnants of the Trees power.

"So basically, you want me to drive out the Darkness by killing the Wennbar?" I asked.

"Pretty much," said Navi, "Of course, that should break the curse over the Kokari, but you'll also need to do something about the undead Knight in the Great Deku Tree's clearing, otherwise the forest will never be free of the Darkness."

I sighed. Well, wasn't this an annoying turn up for the books. Whats next, the Lake of Tears is actually Lake Hyrule and the cursed people are the Zora? Actually, considering this revelation, that wouldn't surprise me in the least considering the Lake of Tears was next and it was probably Lake Hyrule.

"Alright fine, I'll do it," I said, "He probably has what I need anyway…"

"You mean the Topaz?" asked Navi.

"Yep."

"Then he does. But first, we need to save your friend and defeat the Wennbar."

"Greaaaat," I muttered.

At that moment, we reached the end of the treeline and Navi stopped.

"We're here," she said, "This is where the Wenn leave the offerings."

I crouched down and stuck my head through the leaves, just in time to see a girl drop out of the trees and land beside Barda. At the sight of the girl who could only be Jasmine, my eyes widened in utter shock, before I pulled my head back in, grabbed it and did my best to hold back a scream of rage and frustration. Why? Well, the future addition to our group was slightly different to how she was depicted in both the book and the Anime. The main and most obvious difference was that, instead of having dark hair, hers was blond, although it was still wild and tangled, and her ears were pointed. Actually, so were mine and everyone else from the Del tribe, so that particular detail wasn't as surprising as it could be. However, with the new information Navi had given me, I was willing to bet good money that the Del tribe had originally been the Hylians.

Anyway, other than her blond hair, Jasmine looked mostly like I was expecting, elifin features, short and slim stature and wearing the outfit she did in the Anime, crimson arm guards, leggings/boots, a utility belt, pink collar, pink dress, and a gray toga made of what looked like the same material as the Gray Guards uniforms.

I sighed and stood. This was going to be a minor pain in the rear. I stepped out of the treeline and slowly headed towards the Guard and Wild Girl. I was a few meters away when Kree the Raven spotted me and let out a loud caw. Immediately, Jasmine spun around, her knife flashing out of its sheath, ready to slash my throat. I ducked under it, smacking her arm up in such a way that her fingers released the knife and spun, catching the knife and ending with the tip pressed against her throat.

"Wha…" was all she could say as she stared down at the tip of her own knife with wide eyes.

"Nice to meet you too," I drawled as I removed the knife from her throat and took a step back.

Jasmine immediately jumped away and glared at me.

"Who are you?" she demanded.

"My name is Lief," I said, "And this big lug…"

"HEY!" said Barda.

"Is my traveling companion, Barda."

Jasmine narrowed her eyes at me, but didn't say anything as I bent down to check on Barda.

"Are you OK?" I asked.

"Yes, but I can't move," said the big man, "What about you?"

"I'm fine," I said, "Those things didn't do anything to me other than knock me out. I came to a short time ago."

I glanced back at Jasmine, who was still watching us suspiciously.

"I don't suppose you have anything that could help, do you?" I asked.

The girl snorted and stuck her nose in the air.

"Why would I want to help Gray Guards like you?" she asked.

I raised an eyebrow.

"What in the world gave you the impression we were Gray Guards?" I asked.

"Only Grey Guards take the Wenn Del path, for it leads nowhere but to the Forests," said Jasmine.

"We are not Guards," growled Barda, "We came to the Forests for good reason."

"What reason?" asked Jasmine.

"To help drive out the Darkness!" said Navi, popping up out of nowhere and making everyone jump.

"What the...a Fairy?!" spluttered Barda in shock as Jasmine stared at the little orb of light in surprise.

"Wha...why would a Fairy be with a Guard?!" she spluttered.

"Because their not Guards you stupid girl!" said Navi, "Come on girl, use that common sense thats kept you alive for this long. If Lief was a Guard, you'd be dead right now."

Jasmine gulped and rubbed her throat where I'd placed the knife.

"Oh, speaking of which, you can have this back," I said, tossing the knife back.

Jasmine caught it instinctively and looked between it and me uncomprehendingly.

"Hey listen, we need to do something about Barda," said Navi, "It won't be long before the Wennbar shows up. You have an antidote to the Wenn's poison, right?"

"I-I do, but…" started Jasmine.

"Then go get it!" said Navi, "Hurry!"

Jasmine hesitated for a moment longer, before leaping into the trees and vanishing. I sighed as I sat down beside Barda.

"And now we wait," I said as I removed my cloak and tucked it under Barda's head.

"Now we wait," said the big man.

We fell silent as the sun began to dip below the horizon. I really hope she hurries because I did NOT want to fight the Wennbar while having to protect Barda at the same time.

And there we go. Done. Well, wasn't this a chapter full of revelations. I actually planned to save the reveal that the Forests were actually the Lost Woods until after Lief defeated the Wennbar and all the Wenn turned back into the Kokiri, but the idea of him meeting Navi was way to good.

Incidentally, yes, Navi will indeed be tagging along. If only so I can enjoy the irony considering who'll be making an appearance once they get the Topaz back.

Yes, I changed Jasmine's hair colour and gave the Del Tribe pointed ears. I really don't think I need to spell out why, do I?

Anyway, short AN here, so I'll sign off. Next time, Lief vs the Wennbar...who is the mid-dungeon boss. Until next time, don't forget to leave a review!