Chapter Text
Link soared through the sky, wind whipping through his hair… and fur… and massive ears. He’d seriously have to get used to that. Regardless, he smiled as he fell through the sky, marveling at all the new sights he could see from all the way up here. Both new and old.
‘Oh hey! I think that’s Kakariko village way over there! And is that… a dragon? Odd, it doesn’t look like any of the three I’ve seen…’
As much as Link enjoyed this fall through the sky, he was soon interrupted by the rapidly approaching water below. He quickly got into a proper diving position and took a plunge into the cool waters of the sky-lake.
SPLASH!
With a massive splash, Link sank far below the water’s surface, thanking the goddess that the lake was deep enough to arrest his momentum from such a fall. He was reminded for a moment of when he dove off of Shatterback Point to escape an angry Lynel.
Breaching the surface, he quickly paddled his way to shore, maneuvering his way around some massive lily pads before finally reaching solid ground once more. He shook himself off again, mildly annoyed that he’d had to soak his new clothes so soon after getting them. If he had his Sheikah Slate he could’ve just stored them in its pocket space before taking the dive. Gripes about wet clothes and fur aside though, Link found himself awed by what he saw upon looking around.
The soft grass that spread around him was the color of gold, as were the leaves of the trees he could see. Their bark also far lighter in shade than the dark browns he was used to. He walked over to the nearest tree, placing his hand – paw? – upon its trunk, and tracing the grooves along its bark. This place was not the Hyrule he knew, that much was certain. But it was beautiful regardless.
During his long and oft dangerous journey after awakening from the Shrine of Resurrection, Link had come to appreciate the beauty of the world, and ignited a passion for exploration he’d not indulged in since being chosen by the Sword that Seals the Darkness. The thought however became a sour reminder of the sacred blade’s current state, looking down with a wince at the blue hilt sheathed in its scabbard, hiding the sheer extent of the damage beneath.
Link shook his head, droplets of water flicking from his long fluffy ears as he steeled his resolve once more, and began following an old stone path that made its way down from the pool he’d landed in.
Link marvelled at his surroundings as he went, spotting a curious-looking mushroom poking out from the base of one of the sky-trees, he made his way over to it. Eagerly plucking it from the ground as he reached for his… ah, right. He didn’t have his Sheikah Slate anymore. He was really starting to miss that thing, it truly was a miracle device. Easily portable and having a wide array of useful powers. One of which being its scanning feature which could tell him what something was.
The scent of apples caught his nose soon after though, and the rumbling of his empty stomach spurred him to follow. It was odd though… the apples turned out to be nowhere nearby, in fact they were a short distance away in a clearing up ahead. Had his sense of smell gotten sharper?
Another thing he quickly noticed was that his hearing also seemed to have grown an order of magnitude more acute. As he didn’t even need to approach the tree to be able to hear that there was… something skulking about nearby.
Link couldn’t quite recognize the sounds, but from what he could hear it wasn’t something natural… Sheikah tech maybe? But all the Sheikah tech he knew of shut down after he and Zelda destroyed Calamity Ganon. No, this had to be something new. And new meant potential threat, so he approached with caution.
Keeping low to the ground, Link rounded the corner and spotted something that made his ears raise up with surprise. An involuntary reflex that he quickly corrected by pulling them back down out of sight. He really needed to learn how these things worked. But what he’d spotted had surprised him indeed.
It looked to be a… construct of some kind, but it was definitely nothing like the Sheikah constructs he’d come to recognize. No, this thing was something new.
First of all, it appeared to be hovering above the ground without the use of a propeller or jet. And secondly, its body appeared to be made of a combination of greenish and orange-colored stone, held aloft by a flowing green energy that connected to its head and limbs. The construct’s head resembled a helmet of sorts, with a facsimile maw bearing pointy tusks at its front, and a single glowing red eye set in the center of its head. A sharp-looking orange blade protruding from the top of its stony visage. It also appeared to be heavily damaged, the side of its head was cracked, and some of the green energy seemed to be flowing out from between the cracks.
Link quickly began to analyze the odd construct, which he could now see wielded a tree branch in one of its hands. The branch was of least concern, what he really needed to look out for was the horn-like blade on its head. And if this thing was in any way similar to the Sheikah constructs he was familiar with, there was also the possibility that its glowing red eye could shoot lasers.
He took a deep breath and assessed his options. What’d he have access to right now?
The decayed Master Sword, a decent-sized rock he’d just picked up, a sturdy-enough-looking stick… and a mushroom. Great.
Well he’d made it through worse with less before. This would hopefully not be a problem. He set down his items and carefully made his way out of cover, stick at the ready. He still didn’t know if this thing was hostile or not, so as much as he would’ve preferred to keep the element of surprise, his sense of honor would not allow him to attack a potential non-threat. He sucked in a breath before calling its attention.
“Hoy- bugh-”
He forgot that his mouth was an entirely different shape now. He’d probably need to learn how to speak again, thankfully this wouldn’t be much of an issue to him. He’d always preferred to use sign anyhow.
Regardless, the construct immediately flipped to face him, its red eye glinting as it began advancing towards him, stick raised in a combative stance. Alright, not friendly, good to know. Link held his own stick at the ready, his brow furrowing as he got into a combat stance of his own.
The construct swung first, its attack easily read from a mile away. Link responded with a riposte, capitalizing on the opportunity to return a smack to the underside of its stone jaw. The construct’s head hardly moved from the impact, which gave link the impression that his stick was probably not the best tool for the job. Regardless, he easily dodged a second attack from the construct. Surprised the thing hadn’t resorted to using its horn yet as he dashed it across its stone face. Again, the construct seemed largely unfazed by the ineffective attack, only advancing forward towards Link for another heavily telegraphed attack.
Link began to think as he backstepped from another one of the construct’s wide swings. If his stick was having no effect on it, perhaps it was time to fight fire with fire. Or stone with… stone. Link punished one of the construct’s wide swings with a swift riposte, knocking the branch from its hands, and then quickly kicking it off the edge of the sky island. The construct, now without its ‘weapon’, began to swing at link with the sharpened blade on its head.
Alright, so they only use the blade on their heads when otherwise disarmed, good to know…
Link began to put more focus in the fight, as the construct’s swings now posed much more of a physical threat thanks to the stone blade’s sharp edge. He dashed towards the rock he’d left behind by the still-sheathed Master Sword, the construct hot on his heels. Just as it thought it had caught him, he sprung back and flipped over it, narrowly dodging the construct’s horn as it sailed harmlessly past.
Then he felt it, that sensation like the world had suddenly gone into slow motion, his focus sharpening to a razor’s edge as he surged forth, bashing the construct’s head with the stone, specifically aiming for the already cracked section he’d noticed earlier. Sure enough, the blunt force of the stone seemed far more effective at damaging the construct than the stick had been. And soon he’d bashed a hole into the thing’s stony head.
The construct let out a broken sound as it spontaneously collapsed, the green energy that had held it together dispersing into the air. Link smiled to himself as his perception of time returned to normal, letting out a victorious chuckle before suddenly feeling unsteady on his feet. He dropped the stone and wobbled for a moment, clutching a paw to his head as his vision spun.
That was… not good. He recovered quickly enough, but that sudden bout of dizziness showed that he was far from being in top condition. The lingering effects of the Malice that had taken his arm still all too present.
He shook the dizziness out of his head, taking a few deep breaths to re-center himself as he went back to grab the Master Sword. After tucking the scabbard into his belt, he walked over to the apple tree he’d sniffed out earlier. Finding that much to his chagrin, his mysterious transformation hadn’t had the courtesy to at least give him a few more inches of height. Regardless, picking the apples from the stout tree wasn’t too much of a challenge, and he found himself chowing down on the familiar taste of the sweet and crisp fruit.
He’d taken notice of what appeared to be a stone gazebo of sorts hanging over by the side of the sky island, and took the opportunity to sit in the shade as he ate. Finding that there was also a sturdy-looking stick laying on the stone table. This one even had a small strip of leather tied around one end to make a sort of handle. Link gave it a few practice swings and was satisfied with its weight and balance, electing to make it his new primary means of self-defense.
After finishing his small meal – consisting of 3 whole apples – Link continued on following the weathered stone path, marveling at how close the clouds were now. He passed what looked to be the ruins of a house. A quick peek inside however didn’t reveal anything of importance. Soon after, Link came up to what looked to be a similar statue to the one he’d encountered back inside the structure he’d awakened in. Though this one seemed to be only a half-circle, and didn’t light up with a glowing green glyph once he approached it. After waving his hand around at it and realizing he probably looked quite silly, he turned to the left of the statue and saw what he assumed was a dormant construct. Though this one looked quite different to the one he’d fought earlier, sporting four round bulbs atop itself that reminded him of pinecones, and lacking the sharp bladed horn the other one had. Link figured that whatever this construct was, it likely wasn’t made with combat in mind.
He waved his hand in front of it, and to his surprise found that his gesture seemed to awaken the thing. The stone frame of the construct shook and jittered, dust falling from its moving segments as it suddenly rose up to twice Link’s height. Link startled back from the unfolding construct, noting that it had a rather long neck and flimsy-looking hands which unfolded from under its frame.
The construct then leaned down, and Link realized that unlike the previous one, the eye at the center of this construct’s head appeared to be decorational, as two holes opened at either side of its oval-shaped head which had been closed previously. It seemed to study Link for several long moments, and Link studied it in turn. The pinecone-looking things on its head seemed to faintly glow, and it appeared to have big dangling ‘earrings’ at either side of its head. Overall, Link judged that this construct did not appear to be overly threatening in any way, aside from its height.
“Link. I have waited for you.”
A robotic, almost musical-sounding voice rang out. Link was quick to place himself at ease, feeling no threat from the friendly-looking construct. And if it knew his name, he was certain that someone had told it about him. Which meant he may not have such a hard time making it back home.
“Princess Zelda left something for you in my care.”
Link’s eyes came alight, Zelda!? Oh thank the goddess she was alright! All the tension he’d been holding lessened considerably, and he allowed a small smile of relief to grace his new muzzle. He watched as the construct’s chest slid outwards, revealing an interior compartment which held-
SHEIKAH SLATE!
“This is the Sheikah Slate.”
The construct continued, seemingly unaware of the vibrating excitement of the one standing before it.
“I am told it is an invaluable tool that will provide you with direction.”
Link quickly snatched the rectangular device from the construct, eagerly flipping the screen to face him as he turned it on. Greeted with the familiar Sheikah eye symbol as the device powered on. Link’s smile had spread into a full-on toothy grin.
Link quickly flicked over to the Runes section of the Sheikah slate, only to find that, much to his endless dismay, his beloved bomb runes were no longer installed. Oh- yeah, and he supposes the other ones mattered too, they weren’t there either.
Nooooooooo!
Once again seemingly completely unaware of Link’s plight, the construct continued talking.
“I received it from Princess Zelda. I have now passed it on to you.”
Well… at least the other features were still here, including the many tabs of pocket space for him to hoard- I mean- procure necessary materials and carry them around easier. Link flicked back over to the slate’s map page, finding a convenient map showing the primary cluster of sky islands he was on. There was a large structure with a blinking indicator on it, which wasn’t too hard to spot as the massive temple-looking building was… well, massive. He clicked the Sheikah Slate off and affixed it to his belt, thankful that the device’s seemingly magical adhesion still worked.
“My records indicate that Princess Zelda is waiting at the location marked on its map. My message has been delivered”
The construct finished, its chest storage sliding back into place. Though… Link had to ask, at least just to sate his curiosity.
‘Where am I?’
He signed, though he soon realized that the thing probably didn’t know how to sign, with it just tilting its stone head in response…
‘I suppose there’s nothing else for it then…’
Link didn’t particularly like using his voice, and now that his mouth had a completely different structure to it, it was even more difficult than before to get his words sounding right.
“Wherr… am I?”
Link was slightly surprised by his own voice, it sounded a bit different… He could still tell it was His voice, but there was a distinct, non-hylian edge to it now. He found that he actually liked the way it sounded a little more than his regular voice. Though that didn’t mean he was going to get into the habit of using it often. He still much preferred to sign, after all.
Regardless, now with words it could understand, the construct responded.
“We stand in the Garden of Time.”
The construct then turned, looking towards the large building that’d been marked on his map.
“The Temple of Time is visible from here. It was used in the distant past. Many rites and ceremonies of the kingdom were held there.”
Aha! So Link was right to assume it was a temple. Temple of Time, huh? The name sounded oddly familiar… the construct then turned back to Link, continuing to speak.
“But no more. Now it is a lonely place. No one visits.”
Link felt a little bad for the construct. Even if it couldn’t feel emotions, he felt a sense of foreign melancholy in its monotone voice. Nonetheless, he spotted that the half-statue he’d tried to activate earlier flickered to life, showing the same hand-shaped glyph he had used before to open the door in the place he woke up. He strode over, giving the construct one last glance before holding his hand up to the glyph. Sure enough, it activated and dissipated into streams of light just as the one before had. The ground beneath him began to rumble as he watched a stone pillar extend out from the platform he was on, mirrored by another extending from the island across the gap.
It was a bridge! An automatic bridge, Link watched with fascination as both of the segments slotted together, allowing him safe passage across… still though, it could’ve done with some handrails.
Oh, right!
Link quickly hurried back to the broken construct he’d fought earlier. Now that he had the Sheikah slate, perhaps he could salvage something useful. He began to take the thing apart, finding a glowing core of sorts hidden just underneath its main armor plating. It took some effort to dislodge, but soon he’d pulled it out and marveled at the odd device. It was made out of the same green and orange stone as the rest of the construct, formed by a half-ring and a full ring that seemed to be holding something at its center. It was a roiling orb of blue-green energy, the same kind that seemed to power the constructs. Link didn’t know what he could possibly use it for, but stored it in his Sheikah Slate all the same. Even if it did turn out to be useless, at least it looked cool!
He then finally turned back and hurried across the bridge, finding another apple tree, which he picked clean. Apples were great for cooking, he’d just have to find a campfire or pot to do it in. As he reminisced upon baked apples and apple pies, he came to notice another of the constructs fiddling about inside a second stone gazebo. It appeared to be the same type as the one that’d given him the Sheikah Slate, so he felt no apprehension when approaching it. Clearing his throat to get its attention.
The construct turned to face him, its stony face looking him up and down before that same slightly musical voice rang out.
“Hello. You seem to be new here.”
Link nodded in response, prompting the construct to continue.
“Be wary of Soldier Constructs as you travel this way.”
Link tilted his head, thankfully the constructs seemed to be able to comprehend body language, as with his prompt, the placid stone construct continued to speak.
“Soldier Constructs are those of us given strict orders to protect this land. The Zonai who created us directed them to subdue trespassers. But many of them have become damaged, and have reverted to a state where they will attack anything they consider as a trespasser. Zonai such as yourself included.”
Link was taken aback, even from such casually spoken words, ideas began to form in his mind as to where, and more importantly, What he was. The construct had said that the Zonai had created them, which finally gave Link a name to pin towards who was responsible for their existence, as well as who had created the ruins he now saw all around him on these sky islands. But more importantly, the construct had referred to Him as a Zonai.
Link looked down at his right hand, the one which despite matching his new, fuzzy form, still retained a notably different appearance. Not only due to the golden jewelry that encased it, but the color of its fur was darker than the fur on the rest of his body.
‘Zonai… so that’s what I am now.’
Link nodded his head, realizing to his slight embarrassment that he’d completely forgotten to pay attention to the construct’s words, as it had now finished speaking. He elected to pretend that he had heard what it had said and gave a thumbs up, to which the construct turned to continue delicately scraping dirt off of an ancient-looking pot.
He swiped another sturdy-looking stick off of the gazebo’s stone table and stashed it in his Sheikah Slate before continuing onwards. His goal was the Temple of Time, where he’d be able to meet with Zelda and… Goddess, he wasn’t particularly sure how he’d go about explaining his current form. A problem for another time though, as right now his main concern was finding his way to the temple proper. He made his way towards the edge of the island, where a stone platform jutted out and-
‘Oh not again…’
He sighed as it appeared he’d have to take another leap into cold sky lake waters. At least now he had the Sheikah Slate… He stored his clothes inside of its pocket space, dutifully ignoring the chill breeze on his once again exposed body as he took another leap.
SPLASH!