FicWad

Deep under the great sea, in the ruins of Hyrule castle, something stirred for the first time in several hundred years. Hyrule was a land frozen in time, all the life and colour drained from it. But colour was returning to the green tunic of Link, the hero of time. He awoke, locked in combat with a still frozen darknut. As soon as he awoke, he instinctively lowered his sword, and plunged it through the darknut’s stomach. It went right through, but left no visible wound.

He looked around, and thought back to what had happened. He had been fighting uselessly in the castle, which was overrun by Ganon’s leftover creatures. The castle had begun to freeze up, and it was still frozen now. Except him. He had never seen this particular effect, but he knew what it was. The area was frozen in time. Why he had awoken was anybody’s guess.

Link walked through the entrance, out into the front area. He looked up, and noticed something wrong with the sky. It was wavy, and a deep blue colour he had never seen. He couldn’t leave the area, as there was a cliff all around that was just a little too high. It seemed the castle had sunk into the earth a few meters.

Out of the blue, a golden ring of light appeared in front of him, on the ground. He thought he heard a faint, echoing voice, urging him to step inside. He shrugged, and jumped into the centre. He felt himself slowly lift off the ground, up to the sky. The ring of light shot up, forming a column all around him. He approached the sky, and it slowly dawned on him that it was water. He was beneath water? The column stopped as he hit the water, and it was just like falling in a river, but slowly and upside down. He was floating up, and he held his breath as long as he could. Finally he had no choice but to inhale. Instead of a mouthful of water, he was able to breathe normally.

He breached the surface, into an open expanse of very clear, blue water. There was a large ship straight ahead of him. He shielded his eyes, trying to get a look at who was on it. He could see a figure pointing at him and shouting something. A much smaller person ran up next to him, and took a look. Link waved his hand above his head, still using his other to help stay afloat. The ship adjusted its course, and sailed towards him. As it got closer, Link could make out the people on board. They all had casual clothes, some torn up in places. They were all armed, and Link couldn’t help but notice several had drawn weapons. Giving commands was a very young girl with tanned skin and blonde hair. She looked barely past childhood.

A rope was lowered, and Link swam over to it. He gripped it tight, and climbed up quickly. When he got to the top, He was roughly grabbed by two large men, and tossed to the floor. One of them stomped his foot down on Link’s back, holding him there.

“Alright, who are you!” The man shouted.

Link didn’t answer. He reached his hands back and grabbed the leg, pulling it and tripping the man. The man fell back, and Link hopped to his feet, drawing his sword. Another guy charged at him, but Link disarmed him in two quick slashes, and then smacked him on the head with the flat side of his sword. He spun around and pointed his sword to the neck of the first man, who was just getting up. Another pirate was coming to join the fight.

Suddenly the young girl laughed. She walked forward, hands in her pockets, slouching.

“That’s enough. He got you good! Two on one and he didn’t even have his weapon out.” She said, smiling.

Link backed away, slowly lowering his sword, but keeping it out.

“Who are you, anyway?” the girl asked.

“My name is Link. Yours?” Link replied.

“Tetra. How did you end up out there? Way far from any land.” Tetra asked.

Link shrugged, and said, “how did someone as young as you get to be captain of some pirates?”

She shrugged. “Fair enough. I won’t press you any more. I like you, want me to drop you off next stop?” She asked.

Link nodded. He didn’t know how long he had been frozen in time, but if Hyrule was flooded, it had to have been a few hundred years. Something like that couldn’t have happened overnight. A hundred years at the very minimum. He would get dropped off at some land, or an island, and… live. He suddenly felt an overwhelming sorrow, Hyrule was gone, all his friends were dead.

Tetra must have seen something in his eyes, because she said, “you don’t look so good… how about you lie down, but when you wake up there’s going to be some work to do. We don’t take cheapskates.”

Link bowed his head in thanks. She had a short, stubby pirate lead him downstairs into a room full of mattresses on the floor. The stubby guy pointed to one, and Link lay down. He fell asleep quickly, and his dreams were full of water rushing, pouring from all sides and filling everything, and he saw everyone he knew, Malon, Zelda, the Kokiris, his home village, all covered by it…

He woke with a start. Several pirates were sleeping on other mattresses. Link got up, stretching. He headed up the stairs onto the deck. It was dark, probably around two in the morning, judging by the moon. Tetra was at the front, staring out over the ocean. She turned around to look at Link.

“Know anything about ships?” She asked.

Link shook his head. She sighed. “Just stand in the crow’s nest, and tell me if you see anything. Oh, and there’s a telescope up there.” She said.

Link looked at her blankly. She groaned, and pointed to the bucket on top of the mast. Link climbed the ladder quickly, and picked up the telescope at the top. He peered out over the vast ocean, occasionally peering through the telescope to check something out. He stood there for four hours, but just as the sun began to rise, he saw something. He zoomed in with the telescope. It seemed to be a funny coloured bird flying towards them. He thought nothing of it, until he realized how far he had zoomed in. The bird was massive. It was mostly blue, with red feathers at the ends of its wings and a white metal mask. Link’s eyes widened.

“Tetra!” He called. “There’s a giant bird over there. Is that normal?”

“What? Hold on, I’ll be right there.” She called, expertly climbing up the ladder. She peered out at the bird, which was definitely heading for them now.

Link drew his sword. Tetra turned and shouted orders to the pirates, who scrambled around. Link took a quick look at the ships defences. It had two cannons on each side, a cannon up front and one on the back. The cannons were being aimed but it was too late. The bird was extremely close and heading right for the crow’s nest. Link stood in front of Tetra, shield raised. The bird slowed and lowered its talons, knocking Link over the side effortlessly. He stuck his sword in the sail, sliding down slowly.

He heard Tetra shriek as he landed. He looked up to see the giant bird, flying up again with Tetra in its talons, unconscious. A large man in a green shirt took command, giving orders and ignoring Link. The ship was brought about, pointed towards the bird, with the cannon being loaded and aimed. The sail was fully raised, and the chase began.

Meanwhile, on an island not that far to the south, a young boy, also named Link, was just waking up. He slowly stood up, stretching.

“HHHHOOOOYYY!!!!!!!!” A voice shrieked from right behind him. He jumped, spinning around. A grin broke out on his face as he saw his sister, Aryll, smiling back at him.

“Grandma’s looking for you.” She stated smartly.

“Why?” Link asked.

“You’re so hopeless… don’t you remember? It’s all grandma’s been talking about. Your twelfth birthday?” She said.

Link’s eyes widened. He had forgotten. He stretched again, cramped from sleeping on the hard, wooden floor of the lookout tower. He waved bye to his sister, climbing down the ladder quickly. He took off as he hit the ground, enjoying the sun’s warmth. He approached his house, opening the door and calling out to his grandma.

“Up here!” He heard her voice come from up above. He climbed the ladder to the second story quickly. His grandma was standing against the wall, smiling. She was very small and hunched over, with white hair in a bun. She held in her hands some weird, green clothes.

“Hello Link. How are you this morning? I suppose you know what an important day this is. You are now the age the hero was when he saved the world from evil all those years ago, according to our legends. Of course, that hero was a swordsman. Our ways are the ways of peace, but it is important nonetheless that you know true courage as well. I made these special hero’s clothes for you. Try them on!” She said, holding the clothing out to him. He looked at it distastefully.

“Don’t be so down. Just for one day, I think it looks quite neat. Now go downstairs and try them on!” She said.

Link reluctantly did so. It was a brown shirt and white pants, with a sleeveless green tunic and green, pointy hat. It was very hot, and he felt ridiculous. A great hero wore THIS?

He climbed back up the ladder. His grandma smiled, and said, “You look fabulous. Run along now, show some people… You’re party is tonight. I made your favourite soup!”

Link forced a smile, sweating underneath the heavy fabric. Weren’t heroes supposed to wear armour? He said goodbye, running out the door. He headed for the tower, figuring his sister would get a kick out of his outfit.

He was right. She burst out laughing as soon as she saw him. His sister was ten, with short blonde hair and a flower dress. “Aren’t those clothes hot? Well, they are kind of neat, I guess… in their own way.” She said after she stopped laughing.

Link smiled. “I only have to wear them for today!” He insisted.

“Whatever. I’m going to give you your birthday present now… close your eyes.” She replied.

Link did as he was told, extending his arms. Some thing metal was put there, and he opened his eyes to see his sister’s telescope. It was orange, with gold rings and a picture of seagulls on it. Link smiled, kissing her forehead.

“Only for today. It’s my most prized possession. Why don’t you try?” She said.

Link did so, to make her happy. From the tower he had a great view of the island, as well as the ocean. He was gazing out over the forest when his sister shrieked, “Link! LOOK UP! Dear Goddesses!”

Link looked up, noticing what looked like a bird. He zoomed in, and saw a massive bird creature, carrying a blonde girl in its talons. A cannonball shot by, and he looked down to see a pirate ship chasing it. One of the cannonballs smashed the bird upside the head as it flew over the island, and it glided somewhere behind the island, out of view. The girl, however, was dropped in the woods.

Link wasted no time. Aryll was shrieking about how he had to do something, and he agreed. He jumped off the ladder, running up the trail. Ha slowed down at the top, looking across the bridge at the entrance to the woods. He had no weapon, but that didn’t matter. He trained occasionally with Orca, the resident swordsman, but he didn’t own a sword. The woods could be dangerous, but he’d be ok as long as he was careful. He strode across the bridge. It was possible the girl had snagged on the trees, and survived.

He entered the woods, weaving through the trees. The island’s forest was small, but hard to navigate. He vaulted a log, climbing up onto a ledge. He climbed up, and his heart almost stopped. A monster with a scimitar was up there, standing at the base of a large tree. The girl was caught up there, dead or unconscious he didn’t know. He tried to back away, but the monster looked over. It was humanoid, but all green with a pig-like nose. It began to slink towards him, and he froze in fear.

“HYAAHH!!!” A voice called out. A man jumped up on the ledge, charging at the monster with a sword drawn. Link watched in awe as the man made short work of the monster, knocking its scimitar out of its hands and beheading it. He sheathed his sword, turning to look at Link.

The first thing Link noticed was that he was wearing almost the same outfit. The man was in his late teens probably, with a green tunic. No brown shirt, just a tunic with sleeves. He also had the same white pants and hat, although it was a bit longer. He was wearing brown gauntlets with silver plates on the back. His eyes were a piercing blue, and he had little blue earrings. The man was staring back at him, looking surprised.

“Who- who are you?” Link asked tentatively.

“My name’s Link. What’s yours?” He asked. His voice was warm, which was a contrast to his no-nonsense, take-no-prisoners appearance.

“Um... Link.” Link said.

“Really? It’s not really a common name. And why are you dressed like that? You look a bit old to be a Kokiri.” He replied.

Before Link could say anything, a big man in a green shirt climbed up on the ledge, screaming, “Ms. Tetra!”

The girl woke up. She panicked almost immediately, snapping the branch. She landed on her feet amazingly, looking at both Links.

“I… have I lost it? There’s two people wearing the same god awful outfit? Some kind of fad?” She asked, as if nothing had happened. “By the way, you two look like bothers or something. It’s insane. Do you know each other? In fact, who are you, little guy?”

“Link.” Little Link replied.

“You’re both named Link? I’m losing it. Whatever. Gonzo, we gotta get going.” She said, heading out with the big one in tow.


The two Links looked at each other, and followed.