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Link…
Open your eyes.
Open your eyes..
Open your eyes.
A woman’s voice echoed in my head, growing from just some muffled sound to what truly did sound like someone speaking, and as I came to, dim blue light filled my eyes and I felt water being drained from the tub of some sort I was laying in.
Wake up Link.
When she said so, I blinked a few times and let my world get more clear before sitting up and looking around. What the hell…
I was in some kind of isolated room laying on a hard, kind of uncomfortable stone bed with something hanging from the ceiling above me. It was connected by a plethora of large blue tubes that were severely tangled and glowed brightly.
I quickly realized how cold I was in this room and kind of curled up, hugging myself. All I had on were a pair of shorts and my binder, which of course hurt like a motherfucker. Who wears a binder when they go to sleep? Apparently, me when I passed out did!
It took me a minute of trying to stop shivering and get my breathing under control before I mustered the energy to stand up, getting a better look at the room. There was a blocked doorway on the other end with a pedestal next to it and some kind of stone tablet stuck in the divot in the middle.
Without thinking I stepped forward and looked down at it. I kind of wanted to touch it…
That is a Sheikah Slate. Take it. It will help guide you after your long slumber.
Once again I did exactly as this new friend of mine said and as soon as I reached out to touch the Slate, It snapped up and turned so that a creepy eye that sat on the back looked at me, staring into my soul. Eugh. I glanced around, waiting for her to maybe tell me “Nevermind! Actually, that’s kind of weird. Here I’ll use my magic abilities to open this door for you!” However, that never came and after a minute of me just staring at the poor thing I took it.
The holder flipped back around and snapped itself back into place, sort of setting my fate in stone and opened the door, revealing yet another secluded room. Bruh I swear--
There were two chests and a bunch of crates and barrels in this room though, and without thinking I dug into the chests with no bear in mind of if they belonged to someone. Hopefully, they didn’t, because as soon as I realized they each held some clothes I claimed them as my own and put them on, feeling ten times more comfortable. We wouldn’t want this voice seeing anything of mine that’s inappropriate…
Once I was done getting the shirt and pants on I noticed another pedestal on the other side of the room. However, there was no divot, just a blue circle in the middle, and the face was orange where the former one had previously been blue.
Hold the Sheikah Slate up to the pedestal. That will show you the way.
I hesitantly obliged with the mysterious voice and put the Sheikah slate against the face of the pedestal. Part of me had a bad feeling like my new imaginary friend was trying to trick me into getting myself killed within a minute of waking up from… whatever that was. Not that it mattered, because as soon as that thought passed through my mind I realized that I didn’t exactly care if I were to die at this moment. Oh well! Nothing worrying there.
Authenticating…
Sheikah Slate confirmed.
The slate’s orange glowing details turned blue and a mystic matter came off of it suddenly, to which I flinched and took a step back, staring at it. It hadn’t even occurred to me that the pedestal itself had turned blue as well, and the opening of the doorway snapped me out of my haze.
Link… You are the light--our light--that must shine upon Hyrule once again. Now go.
In front of me was a long hallway with a distant light at the end. In the middle of the hall, there was a puddle and a rock wall I needed to climb, however, that wasn’t much of a challenge and I quickly pulled myself up the ledge and to the foot of some stairs. The light from the outside so blinding and I had to shield my face as I slowly made my way outside.
Once I’d actually gotten there, the light subsided and became less intense, and I was greeted with the ledge of a tall cliff in front of me, as well as an absolutely beautiful sunrise. It took my breath away almost as I absentmindedly stepped forward toward the edge and just stood there in amazement. However, that was quickly interrupted when I heard footsteps down the path away from me.
A man stood a little far down the path from the hole in the mountain, and almost as soon as he saw me staring back at him he turned around and walked back toward his fire, sitting down on a mossy rock. I felt drawn to him, and my legs moved before my mind to walk in his direction. Something felt familiar about him but I couldn’t quite place it.
After only a few steps down the path, I heard her voice again and stopped dead in my tracks as I listened to her.
Link.
Link.
Link.
Head for the point marked on your map in the Sheikah Slate.
With that I looked at the side of the Sheikah Slate with the weird eye initially, looking for the marked point, but quickly realized that I’m an idiot, and turned it over to see the other side was actually a screen. First of all, Woah. On that side, there was a white arrow in the middle with a yellow dot off to the edge of the screen in some direction. As a test, I decided to turn around and watched the screen as I did so.
Surprisingly, the arrow turned with me and I then immediately turned in the direction of the golden dot, still watching the screen as I started to walk, totally forgetting about the old man. However, my journey quickly ended as I realized after only a few steps that if I were to continue I would fall off the edge of this cliff to my doom. Not the best way to start off a fantastic adventure, huh?
I took only one more small step forward to peer down the edge of the cliff. There were a group of red monsters at the bottom, sitting with a fire in the middle of their circle. They looked like they were babbling to one another but I couldn’t hear them from where I was standing. They looked pretty intimidating. As a test to see if they really were dangerous I picked up a small rock and tossed it up to see the weight. When it landed back in my hand, I examined it for a second before dropping it down to the bottom of the cliff.
It hit one of the monsters in the head and I felt a pang of fear as the others jumped up and ran over to a log that I hadn’t seen before then. There were weapons laying against it, and I had a feeling if they saw me I would be dead in my tracks. Luckily though, they just looked around and sniffed the air. When they saw the victim of my vicious attack was actually kind of okay, they put their weapons down again and went back to their creepy circle. Crisis avoided.
For another minute--maybe hour I don’t know it was too interesting--I watched the monsters sit there and talk amongst themselves, attacking any animal that came near until eventually I remember the old man and looked back over to see that he was thankfully still sitting there, resting and watching the fire as he’d been the last time I looked at him.
I went back to running toward him and stopped on the other side of the fire just kind of staring at him. Oh, shit wait was he dead…
His eyes were closed and he didn’t look like he was moving at all. His staff was on the ground in front of his feet and his hands were both sitting peacefully in his lap.
I kept staring and eventually took a step forward to go over and check when my foot hit something hard. A baked apple. Come to think of it I was starving. I picked it up and examined it for a second before getting ready to take a huge bite out of it. The dead guy can wait…
But I guess he couldn’t, because all the sudden I heard, “I BEG YOUR PARDON! I do believe is my baked apple! You can’t just go about taking whatever you please!”
AH WHAT THE FUCK IT’S ALIVE--
I almost jumped back 10 feet and instead just froze up, dropping the apple and staring at him wide-eyed. Then I watched in even more horror as he started to laugh.
“Oho ho! Forgive me--I could not resist pulling your leg. Please help yourself. An apple and an open flame make for a succulent treat. However… it is a bit strange to see another soul in these parts.” The old man offered kindly. He picked his staff up and pushed the apple toward me as it started to roll away down the brick steps of the path.
It took me a second to recollect myself, but with a surprisingly raspy voice I stuttered out, “Wh-who are-- Who are you?”
“Me? I’ll spare my life story. I’m just an old fool who has lived here, alone, for quite some time now. What brings a bright-eyed young man like you to a place like this?”
Still bewildered I did my best to calm myself down as he spoke, feeling a sudden shyness as I looked at the ground with my hands together in front of me. This man was very jolly…
“Where… a-am I?” I couldn’t seem to get the last two words out almost. Speaking felt foreign in my throat, and I felt a crushing anxiety every time a sound came out. While the old man noticed, he seemed to sort of ignore it… either that or he was trying to draw my attention away from the discomfort by continuing to talk. No matter what, I definitely appreciated it.
“Answering a question with a question. That is fair enough. As I cannot imagine our meeting to be a simple coincidence… I shall tell you.” He stood up and put his weight onto the staff, turning around and gesturing to the rest of the landform we were standing on all dramatically and such.
“This is the Great Plateau. According to legend, this is the birthplace of the entire kingdom of Hyrule.” He turned toward the ruins of what looked like an old church and pointed at it, “That temple there… Long ago, it was the site of many sacred ceremonies. Ever since the decline of the kingdom 100 years ago, it has sat abandoned, in a state of decay.”
He sat down quickly thereafter, making a little ‘pfuh’ sound when he landed before continuing on, “Yet another forgotten entity. A mere ghost of its former self.”
I looked on past him at the church for a second longer before a small stick that was charred at the end caught my attention and I impulsively went forward, picking it up and examining it.
“Well then, just help yourself to that torch there. And how may I ask, are you planning to use it?” The old man turned back to me and looked amused by my fascination.
A sudden want to be mischievous entered my mind, and I felt a grin creep onto my face, “T-To set… things on-- on fire!”
He seemed uncomfortable when I said that and adjusted how he was sitting, “That is rather… unnerving. Please be cautious with that around any dry grass that might catch fire.” Then he looked to have an alternative to my rampage of fiery doom, “You know, there are plenty of monsters in this area. That torch would make a good weapon if need be. However, do not just swing it around without purpose. You must face your opponents and lock your sights on them!”
He did have a point. As I turned the torch in my hands I realized that it would indeed make a good weapon. Maybe I’d be able to defend myself from those red monsters at the base of the cliff if they became a problem.
I flipped the torch a few times in my hand, looking at it proudly before glancing back at the old man. He had turned back around by then and looked to be relaxing again, so I decided not to bother him, in fear of him playing another scary prank. Instead, I bounded forward and saw an axe stuck into a trunk by a heap of charred firewood. Quickly, I claimed it and slung it over my shoulder.
With an axe in my hand and a torch by my side, I was ready for anything and finally began on my adventure, using my free hand to hold the Sheikah Slate and follow the dot, doing my best to stay on the path until I saw some sort of structure sticking out of the ground under a pile of rocks. It sat on the edge of the plateau near the remanence of the walls of the landmass. How interesting…
There were several of those same red monsters from the cliff in front of it. One was sitting on the ledge of the base of the structure and looked to have a beat-up sword and a make-shift wooden shield that was most definitely a hunk of bark that’d been ripped off a tree and painted over. A little closer were two more red monsters sitting on a hill with crude wooden bows, babbling to one another. There were a handful of arrows in the ground in front of me and some of the grass was stained with blood. God, I hoped that wasn’t fresh.
Without thinking, I took another step forward and of course, my foot hit a branch, breaking it in half.
The sound alerted all of the monsters and they all snapped out of their daze, staring at me for a second before the one with the sword started to run at me. It let out some kind of battle cry as it raised its sword, ready to pounce on me. Okay… maybe an axe and a torch were not going to keep me as safe as possible. However, some knowledge of what to do ran through me. I couldn’t tell what the source was, but I let my body move on its own like it had some kind of muscle memory and I slid the slate onto my belt to hang there as I readied the axe, getting into a fighting stance.
It was like a dance. The monster swung its sword and as if I’d been trained, I flipped back out of the way and zipped under the sword, slashing the axe into the monster’s stomach. Black liquid malice spilt out onto the ground and bubbled, then almost immediately evaporated. The monstered flew back, dropping its sword and shield and as I looked up to the other two, I pulled the torch from my waist and held it up in front of my face.
Two arrows lodged themselves so deep into the rod that I could see the tips break through to the other side, one almost barely touching the bridge of my nose. I dropped the torch and grabbed the sword as the other monster ran up to swipe it. Then while it was still close I stabbed it in the head. More malice seeped from the wound and I watched the life leave its eyes, then it disappeared into a puff of smoke and its teeth and horn fell into a pile on the ground.
I didn’t give it another thought at the time and instead dropped the axe and took the shield. Then I ran toward the two other monsters, holding up the shield to deflect the arrows. Once I was close enough I slashed the other two monsters with my sword over and over until they burst into the smoke too.
By the time I realized what I was doing I was covered in malice and was breathing heavily, staring down at the two piles of teeth and horn. Despite the minor cuts I’d gotten from the arrows whizzing past me I felt a hint of exhilaration and excitement. That was much more fun than expected. This-- this was okay, right? I just killed three living creatures… but then again they did try to kill me first… it was just self-defence. Right… right.
I took a moment to recollect myself and put my sword on my side where the torch was before, then slung the shield against my back and claimed one of the dropped quivers, doing the same for one of the bows and all the arrows as well. I ran back over to my axe and grabbed that too before continuing on to the rocky structure. Once I investigated this I also kind of wanted to get a good look at the horns and teeth… they looked disgusting but at the same time so interesting and collectable.
Once I got to the ledge I threw the axe over before pulling myself up and climbing onto the platform of the structure, then once I got on I rolled onto my back and stared up at the sky. I stood up rather quickly since the structure made me feel uneasy and I didn’t really want to be there longer than I needed to.
In the middle, there was another pedestal. This one had a divot like the first but was orange like the second, so I pulled my Sheikah slate out and took a step forward, examining it carefully.
Place the Sheikah Slate in the pedestal.
I did so ever so carefully and the slate flipped around, snapping into place. Then I felt a rumble under my feet.
Sheikah Tower activated.
Oh cool.
Please watch for falling rocks.
Wait-- what?
Suddenly the force of the structure shooting up out of the ground knocked me to the floor and I watched in total shock as the rocks encaving the structure fell away, almost hitting me. As I got under the small ‘ceiling’ that was above the pedestal I saw across the land, farther than the Plateau, maybe a dozen towers with the same top all sprout out of the ground like weeds. Whether it was through rock or dirt they all had the same force and looked the same. Some on mountains, and others near rivers or winding paths that I could barely make out in the distance. It was amazing and brought my attention to many landmarks that I hadn’t noticed before. Like to the west of me, there were many canyons and they all looked to be covering some kind of desert. To the north, there was a huge castle covered in thick darkness. Behind it was a tall threatening volcano on one side and an even taller mountain with a seemingly perfect hole that ran right through it on the other. To the east was a rainforest, a lush mountain range, and sea that seemed to go on for miles. It was all so gorgeous.
I was so enamoured that I didn’t even realize I’d stopped going up. When I did snap out of it though, I was shocked that I was on one of the towers.
Distilling local information…
Regional map extracted.
The Sheikah slate snapped back out of its divot and sat on the pedestal facing me, waiting for me to examine its new contents. I got up and stepped forward, snatching it from the pedestal excitedly, looking at the screen.
Now on the previously black background, there was a small map of my immediate area. I could see the path I’d taken to get here, the church, and the forest that sat at the base of the cliff I first stepped out on. This was amazing. Then, I felt drawn to the edge facing the castle, and I could hear the girl’s voice fade in once again as I slowly lowered the slate and walked toward the edge, stopping when I saw the same malice that those monsters turned into now surrounding the castle.
Link.
Try… Try to remember…
I tried, but I didn’t know what I was supposed to remember. Nothing felt familiar except for my dance with death earlier against those monsters and the old man. Nothing came to mind.
You have been asleep for the past 100 years.
The beast…
Something grim and dragon-like flew around the castle now. It was also made of malice-- no… infected with it. I could hear it’s roar from where I stood miles away.
When the beast regains its true power, this world will face its end.
It looked at me, then it vanished and I felt a sense of duty and dread run through my core.
Now then…
You must hurry, Link.
Before it’s too late…
New Objective: Escape the Plateau.