It's still Februrary 21st somewhere in the world, so I'm gonna say that I made it *nods solemnly*
Happy Birthday, Legend of Zelda! You've come to mean so much to me, and i couldn't let you birthday pass by without doing something. So here, a little fic that I hope expresses how much this franchise means to me.
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There was a little boy kneeling besides an old woman. The scattered smoke of dying monsters filled the air here and there, evidence of a victorious skirmish.
The old woman was weak and faint, her hands shaking with weariness. The little boy pulled her arm over his shoulder and fumbled for his canteen, helping her drink. After several careful gulps, the woman pushed the canteen away, despite the shivering in her hand.
“Are you sure, mother?” the boy said, a little doubtfully, hesitating to put the canteen away. “You don’t look so good.”
“It’s not me who needs help,” the woman gasped out. “It’s—it’s the princess who needs help. Please, I have to be on my way.”
“The princess needs help?” the boy frowned. “Why? What’s wrong?”
The story tumbled out of the old woman—of an evil beast named Ganon, who had attacked the country, ravaged the land, and stolen one of it’s greatest treasures. “And the princess—she sent me away to find help, and sacrificed herself to cover my escape!” Tears slipped through the furrows on her aged face. “A nursemaid is supposed to protect her charge, not—not—”
The boy’s frown grew sharper. “What happened to the princess?”
“I’ve heard rumors that he’s imprisoned her in his fortress on Death Mountain.” The old woman tried to push herself to her feet, but the boy held her still, eyeing the shake in her limbs with worry.
“Please, young lad, I have to go—the princess told me I had to find a man of great courage; someone who can defeat Ganon!” She clutched at his hand imploringly. “You see why I cannot delay?”
The boy nodded. “This Ganon… he wants to hurt everything, right? The land, and the people, and the princess?”
The old woman nodded solemnly, tears squeezing out below her closed lids.
The boy carefully stood, helping the old woman to her feet, and took her hands in his. The woman opened her eyes in confusion, and stared in astonishment when the boy smiled at her. “You don’t have to worry anymore, mother! Ganon sounds like a bully, and I don’t like bullies.” He nodded firmly, and gave her hands a squeeze. “So I’ll beat him! I promise!”
The old woman stared at him. “But you’re just a child! Are you sure—”
“I’m twelve!” The boy said proudly. “That’s old enough to start an apprenticeship. Don’t worry, mother, I can do this!”
“But…” the woman blinked in astonishment. “Your accent—it’s from Calatia. You’re not from here. …why?”
The boy shook his head, and gave her hands another squeeze. “Because you need help.” He said simply, and shrugged his shoulders. “And I can help you. That’s all the reason I need!”
The woman burst into tears again. “I have heard tell of heroes of old, but I never truly believed I’d see one like them. Tell me, child, what’s your name?”
The boy grinned, and opened his mouth—
And Link woke up in his bedroom on Skyloft, clutching his loftwing stuffie and staring at the ceiling.
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Link spent the next day moping around Skyloft thinking about his dream. He had strange dreams sometimes—and by strange he meant not normal-strange, like the one where the loftwings wore clothes, or the remlits picked up Master Gaepora and flew him in circles around Skyloft.
No, this was a strange-strange dream. The kind that some part of Link’s heart said was super important and really true.
So Link spent his day with his head in the clouds, thinking about his dream. Nobody noticed anything particularly, as little Link spent most of his days with his head in the clouds anyway—nobody, that is, except for his best friend.
“What’cha thinkin about?” She asked, and plopped down beside him.
Link propped his chin on his hands. “I had a dream about someone. He was really brave, and when there was a big bad monster threatening people, he went to fight it just cause they needed help. I was just thinking… that’s what knights are supposed be like, right?”
Zelda screwed up her face as she thought about this. “I think so.”
Link laid on his back, staring at the loftwings circling in the skies above. “…I think that’s the sort of knight I want to be one day. Someone who helps cause they can.”
Zelda flopped on her back next to him, reaching out and nudging his elbow with her own. “I bet that’s just the sort of knight you’ll make!” She scowled suddenly, and gave him a harder nudge. “But if you want that, you need to stop slacking so much!”
Link ignored this. He was pretty great at the basic knight skill stuff, so why waste his time studying when he could be napping. Still, something was bothering him. Zelda noticed the odd tone to his silence and sat up, cocking her head to one side as she looked down at him.
“What is it?”
“I just…” Link pouted slightly. “The boy in my dream—he was gonna face a big nasty monster, but he didn’t even have a sword.”
Zelda crossed her arms, furrowing her brow in thought. “That’s not good. Every good hero needs a sword.”
Zelda frowned at the ground, and Link frowned up at the sky, when sudden Zelda’s head shot up. She grabbed Link’s arm and pulled his torso up, a bright grin on her face. “Remember, you carved a wooden practice sword for fun last year! Why don’t you make him one like that!”
Link blinked, and then a grin of his own spread across his face. “I could do that!!!” He scrambled to his feet, yanking Zelda along with him. “How’d you come up with it first?”
He started sprinting in the direction of Jakamar’s house to beg for the best quality wood he could get, Zelda clinging onto his hand, giggling like the waterfall at the far end of the pool.
“Cause I’m the smartest, that’s why!”
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Link grew older, and the dream faded into the background—though the feeling Link got from that dream remained. The idea of a knight who helped cause he could, who faced a monster to save people in need—somehow, they sunk deep down inside him, coiling about his very core, and gave him strength when his greatest trial came.
But that was over, and Demise was sealed, and now the time had come for Link and Zelda to settle on the Surface.
They were sorting through boxes stuffed in the bottom of Link’s wardrobe when he found it—a strange bundle wrapped in an old, musty blanket.
He pulled back the folds, stared down at the wooden sword, which had been laying forgotten for over half a decade—and suddenly he remembered the dream.
“Hey, Zelda, look what I found!”
Zelda turned from where she was packing his hoard of items from the surface into boxes, took one look at the sword, and smiled.
“I forgot all about that!” She quickly set the amber artefact she was holding down, and scrambled over to kneel at his side, holding her hands out. “Can I hold it?”
“Of course, my lady,” Link said, and handed the blade over with an overdramatic flourish. Zelda giggled as she took it, but the moment it was in her hands her giggles died down.
Link glanced up, even more attuned to her and her moods now, after all they had been through, and saw her staring down at the sword with a strange expression.
“Link… that dream you had, all those years ago…” She bit her lip, struggling to give voice to her thought.
Like a bolt of lightning streaking across the sky, Link realized where her thoughts were headed, and swallowed hard. “You’re think about the curse.”
Zelda’s fingers tightened on the sword, her knuckles yellowing under her grip. “…if it is true, and the spirit of the hero is reborn again and again… that boy you dreamt of may be real.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke, struggling to come to terms with… with everything that possibility meant.
Finally, Link reached out, laying a hand on the sword. “If… if it is, then I want the boy to have this sword, more than ever.” He grinned at Zelda, though the smile was edged with sorrow. “After all… I know how valuable having a sword by your side can be during an adventure.”
Zelda laid her free hand over his, her heart aching. Link took the chance to entwine their fingers, and they clung to each other’s strength for a long moment.
Finally, Zelda stirred. “Well…” She said slowly, straightening. “I am the reincarnation of a goddess. I’m sure I can pull some strings to make sure this sword is in the right place at the right time.”
Link’s eyes widened, and then he flung his arms about her shoulders, tugging her close and pressing a kiss against her cheek. Zelda squeaked in surprise, blushing pink, as kisses were still rather new territory for them, but she quite happily wrapped her free arm around him as he murmured praises and gratitude in her ear.
“Of course I’m happy to do it,” she finally giggled the first chance she got, which happened to be when Link had to finally pause to take a breath. “I’d do anything for you, you know?”
“I know,” Link said, but he didn’t let go yet. There was a brief pause, and Zelda grinned as she waited for what she strongly suspected was coming.
“…do you think you could use your goddess powers to, yknow, upgrade it a little?”
Yup. Zelda stifled a laugh. “What kind of upgrades are you thinking, Link?”
“Well…” Link said, and drew back far enough to aim her with his most adorable cuddly-remlit expression. “If you could give it the power to do something like the skyward strike, that would be really really cool.”
Zelda laughed, and pressed a kiss to his own cheek, grinning triumphantly at his own flush. “I’ll see what I can do.”
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Link eyed the old man and the object in his hand excitedly. Was that a sword? And was it for him? He didn’t want to assume, but the old man had said that he had a special gift for him, and then he turned back around holding the sword.
Link hoped it wasn’t too selfish to really, really hope he could get to keep it. He’d never had a sword before! He had to beat monsters to death with his trusty stick instead.
“It’s dangerous to go alone,” the man said, with a twinkle in his eye that was mostly kind and a little sad. “Take this.”
Link wasn’t quite sure how having a sword meant you weren’t alone any more, but he also wasn’t gonna look a gift mouth in the horse—or however that saying Mama liked went.
He reached out and laid his hand on the wooden handle—and all of a sudden he thought he understood what the old man meant.
The moment his hand touched the wood, a warmth filled him, as if there was someone standing there at his side, shoulder to shoulder, back to back. Moving on instinct he didn’t know he possessed, Link lifted the sword and stabbed skyward.
He stared up at his blade, at how the flames gleamed on the varnished veneer of the wood, and wondered why he felt so strange.
Like how he’d done this before, and yet also he was the very first one to do it.
“Very good.” The old man smiled. “The blade will serve you well, I think.”
“I think so, too,” Link said, his voice full of wonder, and he slowly lowered the blade to his side, giving it a couple practice swings and swooshes on the way down. He grinned up at the old man. “Did you make this?”
The old man laughed. “Oh, no. It’s far, far older than even I. I trust you’ll take care of it?”
“Of course!” Link said, and bowed gratefully, feet itching to rush out into the wild and try his new sword on some tektites or something.
“Thank you very much! I don’t know how I can pay you back—”
“No need,” the man chuckled, and waved a wrinkled hand. “I think the sword was waiting for a hero such as you.”
Link blinked. He didn’t know what that meant, but it somehow sounded right all the same.
“Now get going, lad,” the old man said kindly. “Don’t you have a princess to save?”
“Oh yeah!” The boy grinned, and turned to the cave door. “Thanks again! See you later!”
The man bowed his head with a smile. “Until next time, then, young hero.”
And Link ran out of the cave into the sunlight, his new sword bouncing against his leg, he lifted his face to the wind and grinned.
“Just wait, Ganon!” He said, and drew his sword with a flourish, stabbing it in the direction that he guessed (or hoped) was Death Mountain. “I’m coming to get you!”
And somewhere, deep inside him, a very old piece of his spirit sighed with contentment. Something long-prepared-for had meant it’s fruition at last… and yet…
Tell Me the Story of Hyrule--a Happy Birthday fic for LOZ
HAPPY THIRTY-SIXTH BIRTHDAY TO LEGEND OF ZELDA!!!
I was lucky enough to be in the fandom for the 35th anniversary last year, but I was yet untumblred and could only shyly look at everyone’s fics instead and celebrate by myself. But this year I have a tumblr, and an Ao3, and so here I am contributing!
Here, Legend of Zelda, a fic for you <3 Thank you for existing and being absolutely wonderful and amazing and full of adventure, and here’s to many, many more.
“Tell me the story of Hyrule, Mama!” Link would ask each night, as he was tucked into his bed.
Mama would smile, and rest her cheek on one hand, and sigh. It was an odd sort of sigh, sad and happy at the same time, and she would tell him the story.
“To the east of here, there is a land called Hyrule, by the shores of the great sea.” Mama would begin. “Your father came from that country long ago, wandering westward over the mountains.”
“You came from that country, too, right Mama?” Link would butt in excitedly, as he did every night. Mama didn’t mind however, and simply tapped the top of his head with one finger, a gentle reproachment that only caused both of them to smile.
“Listen, my son.” She chided with a grin. “Or do you want to tell the story yourself?”
Link firmly shook his head, and settled back under his covers, waiting for Mama to continue with the story.
“Yes,” she conceded then “I came from that country too, even longer ago. But I was born in Hyrule, and while I live here, in Calatia, Hyrule shall always hold my heart.”
“And where did Hyrule come from?” Link asked, knowing all the questions he was supposed to ask.
“Hyrule came from a Goddess and a Hero, a long time ago.” Mama said. “They lived up high in the clouds, but a long, long time ago—”
“Before you were born, Mama?”
“Yes, long before I was born,” Mama laughed, “The Goddess fell down through the clouds to the land below, a land that was plagued by an evil monster.”
Link shuddered, eyes wide with concern for the Goddess, despite knowing how the story ends, and Mama smiled fondly at the sight. “But don’t worry! For the Hero loved the goddess, and he was very brave, so he jumped down to rescue her. And with the Goddess’ wisdom, and the Hero’s courage, and their combined power, they struck down the evil monster, and healed the land. There, on the ground below the clouds, the decided to make a country, and they named it Hyrule. The Goddess became Queen, and the Hero became King, and they ruled wisely and bravely and well and lived happily ever after, to the end of their days.”
At this point, Mama’s smile faltered slightly, the light behind her eyes dimming.
“But… the evil monster was nasty and cruel, and couldn’t stand the fact that he lost.”
Link scowled and stuck his tongue out at the evil monster. “He’s a bad loser.”
“The worst,” Mama said, and chuckled, even if her laugh sounded a tiny bit like a sob. “So he put a curse on the Hero and the Goddess, that they have to fight him over and over and over again. The evil came back again and again, and each time a kind, courageous hero and wise, noble princess would rise up and fight it.
“But one time,” Mama said sadly, “the hero fought as hard as he could, and managed to delay the evil long enough so it could be sealed away… but he fell. And the evil managed to poison the land, and Hyrule grew sick. Hyrule didn’t give in, though, and a hero rose up again and again... but things changed, eventually. The treasure of the gods was lost, and Hyrule got sicker, and sicker, and sicker.”
Link curled up tightly under his blankets. This was his least favorite part of the story.
“But…” Mama said softly. “All is not lost. The land of Hyrule may be sick, but the heirs of the Goddess and the Hero still look after it, faithfully and true. And even if the day comes where Hyrule itself dies, it’s not lost.”
Link peeped out from his blanket. “It’s not?”
“No,” Mama said, and shook her head. “Do you know why?”
Link had known the answer as long as he could remember, but he didn’t think he’d ever get tired of answering that question. He popped out triumphantly from beneath his blankets, throwing his arms wide. “Cause it lives in me an’ you!”
“Exactly!” Mama poked his chest with one finger, causing her son to erupt into giggles. “As long as the people live with courage and kindness in our hearts, Hyrule will never be lost. It’ll keep living on, inside us. The end.”
“Not the end,” Link pointed out, and Mama smiled.
“That’s right. Not the end.”
So Mama set about the business of tucking Link back into bed. Just as he was settling down, however, and she was about to turn away, his little voice piped up sleepily.
“Mama… I wanna go see Hyrule someday.”
Mama paused for a long moment, before smiling sadly and patting his head soothingly. “Maybe someday.” She said at last. “When you’re older.”
Link pouted slightly, as ‘when you’re older’ wouldn’t come soon enough. Mama left him to sleep, and as he began to drift off, he thought dreamily of his favorite bedtime story.
Mama always said that Hyrule was sick. When Link was sick, Mama took care of him and made him better!
He snuggled deeper under his blanket and drifted off to sleep.
I think I’d like to take care of Hyrule and make it better, if I can.
When I’m older.
.^. .^. .^.
‘Older’ came when Link was twelve. Boys his age were leaving their homes and taking apprenticeships... but Link didn’t want to be a smith or a tailor or a farmer.
Link wanted to wander, just like his father, and make maps of all the places he’d traveled to. So he packed up his map-making tools in a little leather satchel, found a sturdy stick, got a kiss from his mother, and set out on an adventure.
(Please, his mother prayed, He’s full of courage and kindness, so watch over him, Farore)
It had taken him a couple weeks to cross the mountains from Calatia, but now here he was—overlooking a stretch of craggy green hills, with glimpses of vast woods to either side, and a tall dark mountain rising in the distance.
If his father’s map was right, he’d made it.
Hyrule.
Hyrule is sick. Mama had said.
It didn’t look sick to Link.
It’s beautiful—a wide and open world full of adventure. It was new, and bright, and exciting. A vast land, all for him to explore, stuffed full of secrets for him to discover.
And if it was sick, and tattered, and torn, well, that was all right. He’d do his best to fix it, and help where he can!
A wide grin stretched across his face, and he jabbed his stick in the air with a whoop.
“Adventure, here I come!”
And he ran down the hill into Hyrule.
.^. .^. .^.
Fifteen minutes later, he poked his nose into a cave, and found a wizened old man. The man looked at him carefully, and saw he carried courage and kindness in his heart, so he handed him a sword.
It’s dangerous to go alone. The old man said. Take this.
Link stretched out his hand and grasped the hilt, drawing it and holding the blade aloft… and a legend began.
Link stared at the gift, awed and bewildered at the same time. He looked up at the princess once more. “F-for me…?”
Princess Zelda nodded eagerly, her little cheeks flushed with excitement. “I can never thank you enough for defeating Ganon and saving Hyrule, Link. But I… I know you love to travel and I wanted to be sure you were safe while doing so. I made this tent myself! It should keep you dry and warm from wind and rain.”
Link looked at the folded tent once more. He’d never had one of these before. He usually just found a good cave to hide in and get some brief rest. Or a tree if he was desperate enough, but those weren’t his best option after the last time when he fell out of one in his sleep (he figured out that he needed to tie himself to the tree after that, but that wasn’t really comfortable).
He was too shy to ask how it was supposed to work. Instead, he smiled and bowed gratefully. “Thank you, Your Highne—”
Zelda grabbed him by his wrist and started to run down the hallway, dragging him. “Come on, we can test it out in the gardens!”
Link stumbled and tripped over his feet, but he recovered before he could bring the princess in pink down with him. The sun was setting, and the idea of sitting in a tight space with the pretty princess was making his skin tingle and his heart race far more than any fight with Ganon could. He didn’t understand why, though.
The pair of eleven-year-olds ended up in the middle of the garden, and Zelda snatched the tent out of Link’s hands.
“Now, let’s see, how do we set this up?” she wondered aloud.
Link watched her, bewildered, but the longer they both stared at it the more awkward it got, so Link helpfully offered to try and set it up.
Zelda pouted a little. “Impa told me the pattern to make it, I should know how to set it up.”
Link smiled. “It’s ok, m’lady, I don’t know either.”
Oh, whoops, he didn’t mean to say that. Princess Zelda stared at him a moment and he blushed, and then she laughed.
“We’ll figure it out together, brave hero,” she said reassuringly.
The pair set to work, and by the time the sun had finally given its last light to the sky for the day, they had something set up. Link could only assume it was what it was supposed to look like, but the material sagged a lot as the two wiggled their way to the interior.
Link suddenly realized how close he was to the Princess of Hyrule and he coughed uncomfortably, shifting away until he hit the wall of the tent. Should a simple traveler like him even be allowed this close to the princess?
Princess Zelda giggled. “I think it works!”
Discomfort forgotten, Link laughed in reply. “It could stop the rain and the wind—”
The tent shifted and the entire thing collapsed on top of the pair as the two yelped. Tangled, Link squirmed as the princess practically squealed, thrashing about and landing a smack on Link’s nose.
Link grunted, and Princess Zelda immediately said, “Oh, was that you, Link? I’m so sorry!”
“It’s ok,” Link said in a very silly sounding nasal voice as he pinched his nose.
“Oh this is—I messed it up!”
Link could hear that the pretty princess was upset, and he opened his mouth to reassure her when she interrupted his attempts.
“Stupid tent!! You’re stupid and I’ll fix you!!”
Link blinked. Then he laughed. He wasn’t sure why, but something about the fancy Princess of Hyrule yelling at a tent was really funny to him.
Link’s giggles were infectious, and before they knew it both were laughing hysterically under the tent’s collapsed frame.
Which is how Zelda’s elderly nursemaid, Impa, found a lump of canvas wiggling and giggling in the middle of the garden. She shook her head good naturedly. Honestly, these children.
