Chapter 6 - Truth of a Age Long Past

 

 

‘Link…please…!’ New tears came, going down her face rapidly and dribbling onto the floor of marble. ‘Zelda…I… can’t. You don’t know what I am. What I have become…’

‘What you are? Why do you say that Link? I…I don’t understand! She cried even more, her face in pain. I have never understood since that night… I... she gulped hard and hesitated. I have always wanted to be with you, by your side! Don’t you understand that? Since the day I first saw you when you saved me from Ganondorf! It’s so strange, I don’t know you anymore Link, you have changed from the hero I knew and…loved…’ She trailed off, she had said it now. Her deepest secret and feeling for him, she had said it. She closed her eyes tightly. For so long had she kept this feeling hidden, put away deep in her heart. To finally say it to the one she loved, always had loved felt relieving and painful at the same time. Would he walk away from her now, maybe forever?

He gave out a faint gasp. Had he heard her say…that which he never had had the courage to say? His heartbeat slowed down a bit and calmed the inner wolf which always wanted to come out at this hour of the day. What was he going to do? Leave her because of his condition and guilt he felt to her after being such a burden, or stay and… Link lowered his head heavily, his bangs falling down and his eyes reflecting the twilight outside. He turned, looking at her, Zelda. A sad glance in his eyes, as he decided: I will go… you don’t have to suffer any more of what I am, Zelda. I’ve just been in the way, and a burden. These last thoughts in his eyes, he ran. ‘Link, why?’ he heard her fading voice as he ran and jumped out the tower window, bleeding and leaving a trail behind him. He rolled badly when he landed on the grey brick ground, a splatter of red indicating where he had touched them. Epona was already up on her feet, ready to take him where ever he wanted to. He mounted her saddle, taking as firm a grip as he could around the reins and set off, away from Hyrule Castle, away from Zelda. The heavy hoof beats of Epona leaving a cloud of dust after them in the fading light. Twilight seemed forever to come and the wolf wanted to get free, struggling to make him give in.

 

Zelda hurried. She wasn’t letting him get away from her this time. She wanted to know the truth, once and for all. She wiped her tears hastily as she swinged her black cloak over her back. She quickly saddled her white horse, Aesir, a royal and noble shire stallion. As she put the reins over his head, she noticed the blood on the ground. ‘Is he still bleeding?’ She lost herself and looked sad for a little moment until she felt Aesir pushing his head at her face. She wasn’t going to forget why she first came down here, was she? ‘Oh, Aesir…I hope he’s all right’…

 

Link rode fast and fiercely, kicking his heels into Epona harder than usual, making it feel painful for the poor horse. But she obeyed him, despite his harshness, and kept going to where he wanted to. Deep in the woods, a hidden peaceful place which only he knew of. A large forest spring, dark and secluded, where fire flies danced above the water and soft green moss covered the ground with surrounding trees. Here, he used to howl out his sorrows, and reflect over himself, he had done everything here. Sleeping, eating, thinking. Hidden from the world and by himself. Epona treaded through the soft moss, her hooves sinking into it slowly for each step she took. Link let go on purpose, falling down into the moss, like he was falling through water, it felt like. He turned where he lay, looking into the lake’s mysterious darkness, his reflection cast over small rippling waves on the calm surface. Fire flies beginning to glow their yellow pale light, a silence coming over him.

He relaxed, and immediately the wolf hairs began coming out of his skin, a thick mane going down his back, and his fingers adorning long claws, his eyes shining in the dark with a blue fierce fire. He sat up, feeling tense and shivering. His senses felt a fragrance, his eyes widening. The smell was coming closer for every minute. He couldn’t concentrate, his vision was blurred. ‘…Don’t!’ He stretched out his clawed hand. The blood loss was too great, and he fell, into her arms, recognizing the smell. Zelda’s smell. He awakened a little bit and came to his senses. She stroked him over his half-grown mane, silently. ‘You…knew didn’t you? That.I would…’ ‘I always knew, I felt it ever since I saw you…you reminded me so much about the wolf…yes I remember now… those eyes, they could only belong to you…Link.’

A light embraced them; their triforce’s shining strongly, reacting towards each other. The light disappeared slowly, fading away into the night, and in the lake’s reflection laid the hero and the princess. He had returned to his normal self, the wolf attributes gone and his wounds healed, leaving only scars. They lay, staring into each other’s eyes, a burning passion in their hearts.

 Suddenly, it happened. All hesitation gone, Link passionately and forcefully pinned Zelda down and kissed her deeply, feeling her lips on his. She answered him, their hearts racing.

Hear wolf’s howl of sadness

In the darkness of time, forever engraved, never lost.

Here in this shining moon’s surface

Feel the touch of winds blowing grass

Love is but another trace in the night

Through ages of winter

Let the snow fall

In the twilight, and never end

Vauvaulamedfe samekhvauvaulamed reshvaununsamekh fereshhehe

Vauvauheresh nunvaureshtechhereshnun lamedyodgilmedhetechsamekh

Samekhpealephreshkelamedyodnungilmed vaualephyodsamekh…

 

‘…Do you remember, Link?’ Zelda caressed him over his bare chest tenderly, resting her head on his shoulder. ‘..Yes. I remember…the Past…’ Their eyes shone of remembrance of an age long passed, a lost Hyrule of Legends, something yearning deep within them, waiting to be revealed… Both closed their eyes, feeling a tremendous power overtaking their minds, as their triforce’s shone brighter than ever before.

Drifting away from the real world slowly and steadily…

Memories of the Past began coming back, of a long gone Era. A golden ray shot past a blue sky, its light embracing the heavens with its dark blue tail, leaving nothing in its wake.

‘Zainhelameddelaphaleph… Zainhelameddelaphaleph… remember your past… your long lost path…’

‘…Nayru!!! Zelda called in the darkness. ‘Nayru…’ The light of the goddess was shining and being reflected by Zelda’s eyes. Zelda stood frozen, as the goddess reached out her hand, touching her forehead. Zelda closed her eyes, feeling like she was being swept away by waves.

‘Lamedyodnunke…Lamedyodnunke… remember your past…your long lost past…’

‘…ah—Farore? ‘Link gasped out in the darkness that surrounded him. ‘Farore!!!’ He screamed out.

‘AHHHH!!!’ He covered his head, falling on his knees. A green enshrouded entity came out from the shadows, her light shining at him. He felt how the wolf hairs came over him without control, ripping his skin, his hands claws. His eyes flashed, his canines long and fierce. ‘Make it stop!! Please Farore!!’

Zelda suddenly found herself floating in the sky…A warrior clad in green stood before her, his blond hair blowing across his hidden face. She looked closer at him…he looked like Link, but at the same time not. Zelda was shocked when she stretched out her own hand, it didn’t look like her hand…This…This wasn’t her! And the Hylian standing before her, wasn’t him! This was another Hyrule, another age!

Farore looked down at him, where he lay on his knees, quiet and suffering. He didn’t understand what she tried to tell him. She spoke in the ancient Hylian, Kyuushiki Hairyagana. But suddenly, as if he had always known the language, Link spoke out to her in the ancient and forgotten Hylian:

‘Why can’t I be in my normal form when I am in your light?’ ‘The triforce of Courage forces you to become a wolf when in the light of your Goddess Farore, as she also takes such a form when speaking to a mortal.’ In the strong light’s place was a large golden female wolf, with tainted green fur.

‘You don’t know of your past, hero chosen by the Gods…

 ‘My past? I know of my past, I have always known—‘

Not your true past. You only know of the past which have been told to you by others. I will reveal to you hero of light, your forgotten and true heritage…’

A light engulfed him, making his fur hairs go away. He fell through darkness to the very creation of Hyrule’s existence. ‘You already know of how Hyrule came to be, but you forget about your own past in the history of Hyrule. The Legend of the Triforce, as old and true as the sky above, enchanted those who heard it with this ancient rhyme:

In a realm beyond sight,

the sky shines gold, not blue.

There, the Triforce's might,

makes mortal dreams come true.

For you see, the triforce has the power to make mortal dreams reality if received in its entirety. As you know, one of balanced equal qualities of power, courage and wisdom in their heart, will get the true force to govern all and the sacred realm will become a paradise, while if one of an evil heart will make the sacred realm a realm of Darkness and Evil, a land devoid of life.. It is then that the Triforce shall split into three separate pieces, going to the three chosen by Destiny who have these attributes the most. Thus, the triforce is split until the chosen ones are reunited once more. The Legend of the Triforce quickly spread over the realm of Hyrule, making it ever the more desirable for those who wanted it for their own selfish needs. The Triforce, waiting in the Sacred Realm for the chosen one to harness its powers, was the reason Hyrule was pulled into a great battle.

The legend quickly reached a group of dark magic wielders known as the Dark Interlopers. As greed for the Triforce’s power rose within them (as it was throughout Hyrule), they resolved to use their magic, the Fused Shadow, to seize control over Sacred Realm and harness the power of the sacred Triforce for their own needs. It wasn’t long until other races in Hyrule, including Hylians, Hyrulians, Kokiri, Gorons and Zoras found out what the Interlopers planned. But they began to quarrel and fight amongst themselves as they knew what it would mean if one tribe gained the Triforce and could use it to dominate all others. Soon, a mighty battle ensued between the Interlopers and the Tribes and amongst the tribes themselves to establish dominion over the sacred realm. It was this battle that became known as the first war of Hyrule, the Hyrulean Civil War…

 

Link found himself being engulfed by flames shining in the darkness like red fire. He saw the fierce battle before him, the dark armies of the Interlopers covering the horizon, and the tribes fighting against them and amongst themselves in the blood covered battlefield that was Hyrule and the triforce revolving and shining in the sky above. Sword clashing against sword, magic against magic, brothers killing brothers, leaders fighting leaders, a split Hyrule of Chaos and Evil. And amidst it all stood the Hero of Light seeing the past in flames. The war spread across the entire world of light and threatened to destroy all that the goddesses had created. To save Hyrule from utter destruction, the golden goddesses sent the four light spirits to obtain the Fused Shadow and to chase off the Interlopers into the alternate world of the Twilight Realm, thus removing one of the largest contributors to the war. The race of Dark Interlopers would eventually evolve into the Twili people, who in time would become a less selfish and kinder race than their ancestors.  The only link left between the world of Light and Twilight was the mirror of Twilight who was overseen by a group of spirits who represented the elements of the world, the Ancient Sages.

It was around this time, when war tore the land of Hyrule that the King of the Hylian tribe’s wife gave birth to a child, a girl they chose to name Zelda. However, due to complications with her delivery, the Queen died shortly after giving birth to Zelda. The King selected the leader of the Sheikah tribe that had forged an alliance with the Hylians, Impa, to tend to Zelda in place of her mother and to be her overall caregiver. Impa had been born and raised in a village on Death Mountain's slopes named Kakariko, founded by her race, the Sheikahs. It was Impa's first and foremost responsibility to protect Zelda and keep her out of harm's way. Hence the baby's title would become "Princess Zelda," the first to ever hold that title, but certainly not the last as time would reveal. 

One day, to escape from the fires of the war, a Hylian mother and her baby boy entered the forbidden Kokiri forest. The mother was gravely injured... Her only choice was to entrust the child to the Deku Tree, the guardian spirit of the forest. The Deku Tree could sense that this was a child of destiny, whose fate would affect the entire world, so he took him into the forest. After the mother passed away, the baby was raised as a Kokiri, unaware of his true heritage. That boy was you Link, once upon a time. You are The Hero of Time reborn, just as Zelda is the princess of Destiny reborn!’

 

Link stood shocked and still, as if something had awaked in him a second time. If he had lived a past life as the Hero of Time, this could only mean that his history already began in Old Hyrule and not the Hyrule he now lived in. Now that he thought about it, he never even knew who his parents were in this Hyrule, only that he had been found in the Faron woods as an infant by the residents of Ordon Village. He almost cried inside when he thought about what had happened to his true parents. His mother had passed away as she had brought him to safety in Old Hyrule… So he was…The Hero of Time reborn into another Hyrule, another time than that which he really belonged in…

 

Zelda saw that the warrior’s eyes were set on her. The lightly blue eyes reminded her so much about Link… she felt something cold in the palm of her hand, an instrument only mentioned in legend, the Ocarina of Time! She started remembering…hadn’t she…been here before? A long time ago…

 

She flinched slightly as she felt his hand over hers on the ocarina, it felt so warm and comforting. She looked into his eyes, which bore a glance of sadness within them. What was going to happen? Why did he look so sad? Tears began coming in her eyes. She wanted to cry, he looked as if he was suffering. She felt his hand slip away from hers slowly, as the ocarina came towards her mouth, she heard it play an ancient mysterious song… For each note she played, Zelda became aware of a memory long, long forgotten within her. Once she had had a dream, where she stood in the clouds with a green clad warrior, their hands united in one link for a brief moment of time over the legendary ocarina of time, they were saying farewell… And, just as in her dream, the hero was warped away to the past by the power of the ocarina, by her.

It all came back to her. This hadn’t been a dream, it had been reality! This scene she experienced at this time now was a memory of the past… The warrior that had been standing in front of her was none other than the legendary Hero of Time!

 ‘Then…Then I must be…--‘The scene vanished and she stood once more in the darkness. ‘You are indeed the princess of Destiny...  Zelda could now, just as Link had, understand and speak Kyuushiki Hairyagana, and understood the words of Nayru’s wisdom. This, Zelda, is the one you really are, the one he really is. The ones you originally were before you were reborn as the next hero and princess. This is your true self, his true self…’ After hearing those words, Zelda once again felt as she was being washed away by peaceful waves, and once again closed her eyes.

In the blinding light, Zelda heard the words of ancient wisdom: ‘Link is your…Destiny…’

‘Now that you know of your origins, Hero of Time, my task here is fulfilled… A blinding light hit Link, completely engulfing him and making him close his eyes.

 In the pure light he heard the words: Zelda is your…Destiny.’

He awoke, together with Zelda once more in the darkness of the forest. Now, they both had found out about their origin, and learnt more about themselves than ever before. ‘There are some things I wish to find out more about my origin, Zelda. I need to know…-- I can help you. There is a book about the History of Hyrule, The Book of Mudora, that can help us to know more about our linked past…’ They mounted their horses and rode back towards the Castle…

 

‘Everything is going as I planned. Soon, the Triforce shall be mine!!!’ A terrible roar emerged from the Dark Realm, as a large shadow broke out from it and into the Fields of Hyrule…

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