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Chapter Text

It was sunset in the Faron Woods, and Link was watching as the day gave way to twilight and then night. He had already helped put the goats away at Fado’s request, so he was just spending his time watching the sunset, like he did on many days like these.

He recalled what Rusl had said a couple days before his adventure started.

They were sitting by the Spring of Faron, where Link was sitting now.

“Tell me…” Rusl had asked. “Do you ever feel a strange sadness as dusk falls? They say it’s the only time when our world intersects with theirs… …The only time we can feel the lingering regrets of spirits who have left our world. That is why loneliness always pervades the hour of twilight…”

Link hadn’t thought much of what his father figure had said, but now it weighed heavily on him. It had been a couple of years since he had saved Hyrule from the twilight, and now, Link understood the meaning of what he had said.

He was sitting at the Spring of Faron, where the two had had that conversation so long ago. There was so much that was similar, and yet so much had changed.

He had met the spirit of a long dead hero who was his direct ancestor, whose lingering regrets had caused him to stay behind, waiting to pass on his skills to the next hero. Sometimes, he wondered what it would be like to be completely forgotten, like the ancient hero had been.

Oddly enough, Link missed the Hero’s Shade, and wanted to talk to him again. It would have been a selfish request, asking the Shade to stay in the world of the living a bit longer, but Link wanted to understand the Shade’s story, and know just what regrets lead the Shade to linger beyond death.

Link also felt especially lonely at the hour of twilight now. He still was trying to sort out his feelings about Midna and wasn’t sure whether to continue hoping that he might see her again.

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On his way back to Ordon Village, he thought about everything that had changed since he defeated Ganondorf.

Zelda was the Queen of Hyrule now. She personally insisted that Link attend. He was pretty sure he was underdressed for such an occasion, especially for a guest held in such high regard by the Queen.

The Hyrulian Army was recovering from the losses they took against the forces of Twilight, and Link had heard that the soldiers were actually competent now (the remaining soldiers by the time Link arrived in Castle Town were all cowards, though he supposed all the brave ones had been killed in the line of duty).

Hyrule Castle Town was as prosperous as ever, and Kakariko was starting to recover despite being decimated by the Shadow Beasts.

Link had been offered honors and titles, but he refused them and chose to return home to Ordon. It only seemed right for him to return to the place he had known all his life.

Life hadn’t gotten fully back to what it was before, however. He still visited the rest of Hyrule from time and again, to connect with some of the friends he had made along his journey, but he always tried to keep a low profile.

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That night, Link had quite a peculiar dream.

He was with the Hero’s Shade, in that odd realm where the Shade taught him the Hidden Skills.

“We meet again,” the Shade said. “And for the last time before I finally depart this world.”

“Wait,” Link said. “But there’s so much I want to know about you.”

The shade chuckled, an odd thing that Link hadn’t before from the ghost. “You will in due time, Pup. But I’m not here to make simple conversation with you. I have a few words to leave you before I depart.”

“There is… a particular curse,” explained the Shade, “that affects heroes throughout Hyrule’s history. I was affected by it, you were affected by it, and it has affected people that long predate me and will come long after you. It… dooms them to fight a great evil that threatens Hyrule.”

“In time, you will get to know many people just like you, who have gone through experiences much like what you and I have experienced,” the Shade continued. “But for now, there is one in particular, who needs guidance.”

“Guidance?” Link asked. “Much like you had for me?”

“Indeed. But unlike me, who had to wait beyond death to aid you, you are going to be sent to the distant future through some sort of portal. But you are to mentor the hero of that time and guide him throughout his struggles.”

“Is there anything else?”

“Do as you see fit. But make sure you only enable him to succeed, instead of doing all the work yourself. There are certain things that only he can do, and you have to prepare him for that. For example, I did so when mentoring you when I taught you the Hidden Skills. I know for a fact that you needed the Ending Blow to defeat Ganon. But I am confident that you can guide the boy well.”

The Shade turned away from him. “Wait!” Link shouted.

“Whenever there is a meeting, a parting is sure to follow,” the shade said, almost wistfully. “However, that parting need not last forever…” The Hero’s Shade paused for a moment. “You’ll be seeing me again, Pup.”

And with that, Link’s predecessor faded into light and was gone.

Link was alone in this strange spiritual realm for a moment. And then he woke up.

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Uli woke him up by calling out at the base of his treehouse. So it was a waking like any other.

However, his dream weighed heavily on his mind. He knew that it wasn’t a simple dream. Meaningful dreams like the one he just had usually was some sort of prophetic vision. Which meant that he would be going on another adventure, it seemed.

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It had been a couple days since he had that dream. He had packed his adventuring gear, including his Shadow Crystal, and had said his farewells.

He had told them he was embarking on another adventure, though he didn’t give any details despite how much the kids asked.

He decided not to take Epona with him. He didn't know if whatever was on the other side was safe for her. Plus, he was pretty sure Epona could transcend time and space if she wanted to, so she could somehow make it to the distant future if Link needed her.

Though Illia might get a bit miffed about that.

Link let instinct guide him. He felt like he already knew where to go. And sure enough, he found himself in front of a portal.

He took a deep breath and stepped through.

Chapter Text

Link, the Hero of Twilight, was in another time. He knew that much.

He looked around him and took in his surroundings.

The first thing that hit him was how massive the world was. The entire part of Hyrule he had explored during the Twilight invasion could fit well within just the field to the north.

However, despite the scope of the world, the place he was in was bounded by high cliffs. They were basically impassible.

He stood in a place that he figured was probably the Temple of Time of this time. He thought so because it reminded him of the ruins of the Temple back in his time.

Apparently, the Temple of Time was somehow connected to his predecessor, but the Shade never gave any details.

Just like the Temple was in Link’s time, the Temple in this time was in ruins. In fact, an entire wall was missing.

There were old… things around the Temple, too. Link didn’t know what they were, but they were probably machines of some kind. He wondered if they would respond to him using the Dominion Rod.

There was a road that led north and presumably went down to the field below the cliffs, but the path was blocked and flooded. It looked like it hadn’t been used for a long time.

In the distance, he could make out a massive, ruined castle. It was probably the Hyrule Castle of this time, as it didn’t look to different than the Hyrule Castle of Link’s time.

To the west, there was a back road. Link figured that there may be something over there.

He ran into a couple of monsters along the way, but they were easily dispatched.

He found an old man sitting by a fire under a sheltered part of a cliff to the side. He was cooking apples over a fire. Link got the feeling there was more to this man than it seemed.

Something told Link that he could trust the old man. “Mind if I join you?” the Hero of Twilight asked.

The old man nodded. “Well met. It’s unusual to meet someone else around here.”

“I’m… not from these parts. Where exactly am I, anyway?”

“This place is called the Great Plateau. It is said to be where the Kingdom of Hyrule was founded. What brings someone like you to this place?”

Link thought for a moment. There was some instinct that told him that he could be trusted with the truth, so he followed it.

“I’ve been brought from the distant past, and I was told that I was to aid a hero.”

“From the past, to aid a hero, eh? Perhaps this is the doing of Hylia herself.” the old man said. He pointed to the west, at a strange archway that lead into the cliff face. “In there lies a place called the Shrine of Resurrection. It is said that the Hylian Champion sleeps there.”

“The Hylian Champion?”

“A century ago, a being called Calamity Ganon brought the kingdom to ruin. To tell an incredibly long story quickly, he was sealed inside Hyrule Castle by Princess Zelda. There was a knight who fought by her side and wielded the Blade of Evil’s Bane. He fell in battle protecting the Princess, but it is said that he sleeps in the Shrine of Resurrection and will one day awake. His name was… Link.”

Link took a moment to process everything the old man had said. Hyrule was in ruins, and Ganon was sealed in the ruins of Hyrule Castle.

“If you have been sent to this time to aid the hero, like you said, that means that the Hylian Champion will likely awaken soon. I will be aiding him in my own way. In the meantime, well, that’s up to you.”

Link nodded. This Hylian Champion would need guidance, all right.

Chapter Text

Open your eyes…

Wake up, Link.

He woke up in some dimly lit room in some sort of bathtub-like machine, with water around him draining. He had been woken up by a girl’s voice, though he didn’t recognize the voice itself.

He sat up in the bed-bathtub-thing and looked around. The room was not very large, but it was lit with blue lights, including the bed itself and the thing right above it.

He didn’t recognize his surroundings.

Scratch that, he didn’t recognize anything. He couldn’t recall anything from before he woke up.

Who was he? What was this place? Why was he here?

The voice had called him “Link,” so that seemed like a start.

He climbed out of this weird bed and got up, checking out his surroundings. He felt a bit cold, as he was still wet, and he wasn’t wearing anything other than dark blue boxer shorts.

There was what looked like a door, and there was some weird pedestal next to it. The door wouldn’t open, so he decided to check out the pedestal.

The pedestal popped out a contraption, which the girl’s voice called the “Sheikah Slate.” Huh.

“Take it. It will help guide you after your long slumber,” she said.

Link picked it up, and it emitted a chime. The screen at the back lit up.

He didn’t recognize it at all, but it seemed… oddly familiar.

The door at the end of the room opened, and Link walked through it.

He was in another dimly lit room, with two chests. They contained worn, threadbare clothes, but they would provide some protection from the elements.

After he got dressed, he walked to the end of the room. There was another, larger door at the end of this one.

There was also a nearby glowing pedestal. The girl’s voice instructed him to hold the Sheikah Slate up to it, so he did.

A rumble, and the door opened.

Light, bright sunlight, shone into the room from outside. Link averted his eyes to the sudden change in lighting, but his irises slowly adjusted to this new, much brighter light.

“Link,” the voice said. “You are the light—our light—that must shine upon Hyrule once again. Now… go.”

What was Hyrule?

Link made his way to the exit and found himself at a cliff.

He saw a massive, sprawling landscape before him. He could make out a dilapidated castle with pillars surrounding it, and a volcano in the distance.

That was way off in the distance. Below the cliff was a forest, and beyond that was land that seemed to abruptly cut off at a wall.

The massive plain beyond that seemed far down.

He turned his head to the right. There was a large, ruined building. Between him and that building, in a cave not too far away, was a fire, and there was an old man near the fire who seemed to be looking in Link’s direction.

The old man turned back towards the cave.

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The old man told Link that he was on the Great Plateau, where the Kingdom of Hyrule had been founded. The old man also said that the ruined building was the Temple of Time, which was an important place before Hyrule was brought to ruin 100 years ago.

Link first checked out the Temple. He found some less-worn pants there.

He ran into a couple of monsters, which he beat to death with a tree branch.

Oh, there were weird machine-like things around the building, too. Link scavenged a few parts, like screws, gears, and springs from them.

He also got arrows from smashing pots in the Temple. He found a simple bow, too.

There was a massive statue of a smiling woman. Link felt like he should be reverent towards her. Like if she was a goddess.

The girl’s voice then prompted him to head to a point marked by the Sheikah Slate.

There were a few more monsters there, but Link was plucky enough to deal with them.

There was a pedestal much like the ones from earlier, near a rock wall. He felt like he was in some structure.

He placed the Slate in the pedestal.

Sheikah Tower activated. Please watch for falling rocks.

Wait, what?

Overhead, a light shone blue, illuminating that symbol that was also on the Slate.

Everything started shaking, and Link struggled to remain standing. He failed, and fell on his back.

And suddenly, a tower erupted from the ground, breaking the rock around it.

Other, similar towers started popping up in the distance.

Anyway, Link had gotten up, and the stone overhead had dropped some sort of liquid into the Slate, adding a map of the area.

Link was turning away when he heard the voice again. “Remember…”

He turned. There was a light shining out of the ruined castle.

“Try… Try to remember…”

Link reached the edge of the tower, where he could see the castle. He couldn’t help but notice that the land right in front of it was gray and barren. The pillars around the castle were covered in reddish-magenta spots.

“You have been asleep for the past 100 years.”

There was a rumbling, and Link gasped in shock.

“The beast…” the voice continued. A red fog started appearing around the castle. “When the beast regains its true power, this world will face its end.”

Link could see the source of the fog. It was some monstrosity with boar-like horns, flying around the castle and trailing this red fog around it.

It let out a roar.

The light emanating from the castle grew brighter, and the… thing disappeared, though the red aura now surrounding the castle remained.

The voice spoke again. “Now then… You must hurry, Link. Before it’s too late…”

Chapter Text

When Link reached the ground again, he found the old man from that cave paragliding in.

The old man told Link that the monstrosity at the castle was a being called Calamity Ganon, the cause of the state of ruin Hyrule now rested in.

Every logical part of Link screamed that he shouldn’t go anywhere near the castle or the abomination contained there. But something at the core of Link’s being knew that he needed to make his way there. He had to reach the castle and stop Ganon. After all, it threatened all of Hyrule.

He told the old man as much.

“I had a feeling you would say that,” the old man said.

He then explained that there was no way off the Great Plateau. Indeed, the place was surrounded by steep cliffs, and trying to jump off the plateau would lead to certain death. However, the old man promised to give Link his paraglider in exchange for whatever treasure was in one of those nearby structures that had lit up. With that paraglider, Link would be able to glide away from the plateau and reach the land below.

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It turned out that the old man had lied to him.

He had to do the 3 other shrines, as those structures were called. They were scattered across the Great Plateau.

The second shrine he did was the one where he got the Stasis Rune. He had to climb up a cliff carefully and patiently before he could reach it.

The third shrine was the Remote Bomb shrine. It lay within ruins that also had some of those weird objects that were around the Temple of Time.

However, as he approached one of those things, it lit up, and started targeting him.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that it was an enemy. He ran away and dodged the white-hot beam that it shot. That laser hit part of the nearby landscape, creating a fiery explosion.

It was fairly obvious that they would kill him in one hit.

He also quickly found out that unlike the other monsters, these things were exceptionally resilient. None of his weapons could do any noticeable damage against it.

Link’s only option was to run and hide from their targeting beams.

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The fourth shrine was on the other side of a river, in the mountains in the south. However, he couldn’t reach it, as they were unbearably cold.

Link was now at the Old Man’s cabin. The Old Man himself was cutting wood somewhere outside.

Something caught Link’s eye. It was some sort of book.

It was the Old Man’s diary.

Apparently, the Old Man had come up with some delectable recipe called a Spicy Meat and Seafood Fry. It allowed the person who ate it to temporarily resist the cold. With it, the Old Man would no longer need his warm doublet.

However, the Old Man forgot the recipe. But apparently if Link could recreate the recipe, the Old Man would be more than happy to give them the warm doublet.

Link quickly decided to recreate the recipe. With the warm doublet, he could reach that mountain and be able to withstand the cold.

Fish was easy to find. There was a lake with fish in it near the Great Plateau Tower and Oman Au Shrine. He quickly found out that he could easily get the fish if he threw a bomb in the water and detonated it.

Now, for meat, Link would have to hunt wild animals. There were probably plenty in the forest just north of the Shrine of Resurrection, what the slate called the Forest of Spirits.

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Link hadn’t had that much luck with hunting yet. He had missed one animal and scared away another by accident.

Link wasn’t even sure how he had managed to miss. It was as if he expected the bow he was using to shoot further than it actually did.

However, Link noticed a plume of smoke that trailed up to the sky. It was some sort of campfire.

The old man was there, Link figured. He decided to make his way in the direction of that fire.

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The person attending to the fire was not the old man. Instead, it was a young man with light brown hair. He wore a green tunic with a strange belt and a wolf’s pelt. He also had a sword and a wooden shield strapped to his back.

The other man took notice of Link. “Oh, hello there! Feel free to join me, I could use some company.”

Now that the two were sitting at the fire, Link could get a much better look at the young man. There were strange black markings on his face.

Something about his blue eyes and brown hair looked remarkably familiar. Link suddenly realized that this was because this man somewhat resembled him.

The other man was cooking some meat. It was an extremely simple, rudimentary setup. Link could think of several ways he could be cooking better, but he decided to be polite about it.

Link awkwardly cleared his throat. “Uh, can I help cook?”

The other man shrugged. “Sure, I’m not a very good cook myself.”

Link went about making what the man had made into something far more delicious. He chatted a bit with the other man while he cooked.

“So,” the man said. “What brings you to the Great Plateau?”

“Don’t remember. I just woke up here.”

“You woke up here? Interesting. By the way, what’s your name?”

“Link.”

The other man raised an eyebrow. “Ah, that’s a good name. Feels… heroic. You can call me Twilight.”

“That’s… a name. What are you doing here?”

“I’ve just found myself here, much like you. But I’ve taken to living off of the land here, me and Wolfie.”

“Wolfie?”

“Yes, my pet wolf and hunting companion. You’ll probably be seeing him. He has blue eyes and has markings on his forehead that look like mine. Anyway, what bring you to this particular place, anyway?”

“I was trying to hunt.”

“Really? Why?”

“An old man will give me a warm doublet if I cook him a specific meal, and I need it so I can go to a mountain to the south. In the end, I’m trying to get a paraglider so I can get off of this plateau.”

Twilight stared into the flames for a moment before he looked up at Link. “Do you mind if I travel with you?”

“Why?”

“I want to see the world.”

Link thought for a moment.

“Hey,” Twilight said. “It’s not like I’m going to hold you back. I’m pretty handy with both a sword and a bow. Plus, it’s dangerous to go alone. It’s always better with someone to keep you company.”

Link nodded after a while. “Sure, I guess…”

He then noticed that his food was ready. He gave half of it to Twilight and started eating his own half.

Twilight bit into his food. “Oh, wow. That’s much better than anything I’ve ever made. You’re quite the skilled chef.”

Chapter Text

Link, of course, had a meal to cook for the old man. Twilight was willing to give him his remaining meat, and so Link made the Spicy Meat and Seafood Fry with the other ingredients he had.

Link quickly tasted it. It felt warming, as if he could stand out in the cold without more layers and not get cold.

“Link, that smells really nice,” Twilight said.

“Thanks.”

“So you’re just going to give it to the old man and then you’ll get his warm doublet?”

Link nodded.

“Hey, it’s getting dark. How about we stay here for the night, and then get going to the old man’s place the next morning?”

“Sure…”

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Link woke up from a dreamless sleep some time before sunrise.

He could tell that it was starting to lighten but it was still rather dark. He checked his Sheikah Slate for the time. It was around 4 AM.

Twilight wasn’t there, even though it was his watch. He said that if he wasn’t there, he would be patrolling around camp for monsters. So Link wasn’t too surprised.

He felt a presence approaching, characterized by a clinking sound. Probably not Twilight. Actually, this new presence was getting closer, and closer.

He soon saw the source of that noise. It was a rather large wolf with blue eyes and a broken shackle on one of its limbs.

There were also markings on its forehead, markings that resembled Twilight’s.

Wait, Twilight had mentioned that he had a wolf named “Wolfie,” that had the same markings.

“Wolfie? Is that you?” Link said.

Wolfie seemed to notice Link and trotted up to him before curling up beside Link. Some instinct in Link had him petting the wolf, running a hand through Wolfie’s fur.

“You’re a good boy, you know that, right?” Link asked.

Wolfie huffed. He looked… amused.

Link continued petting Wolfie, though he slowly found himself being dragged back into the darkness of sleep.

When he came to, he noticed that Wolfie was gone, but Twilight was back. He was sitting against a tree, watching the dying embers of the previous night’s fire. For some reason, his hair looked like someone had run their hand through it.

“’Morning, Link,” Twilight said.

“Twilight, I saw Wolfie last night.”

“Oh, really?”

“Blue eyes, forehead markings, a chain on a paw?”

“That’s the one.”

“Why does he have a chain on him, anyway?”

Twilight shrugged. “Not sure. He was like that when I met him. He didn’t seem to want to get it removed, like it held some sentimental value for him.” He stood up and picked up his sword and his wooden shield and strapped them to his back. “Let’s break camp. You said you wanted to give your meal to the old man for that warm doublet.”

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Twilight wasn’t initially sure what to make of this young man dressed in worn clothes. But as soon as he said that his name was Link, he knew that he was the Hylian Champion that the old man spoke of.

So he has awoken. Twilight knew what his task was, then. Link had lost his memories, and amnesia was something Twilight was unfortunately already acquainted with. But it also meant Link didn’t know that he was the Hylian Champion.

Link was frankly quite lost and didn’t fully understand what role he had to play. He only knew that he would have to defeat the evil in Hyrule Castle, nothing of the Divine Beasts or the fallen Champions of old. And he was lonely, without a companion to guide him like Midna had done with Twilight.

Twilight would indeed have to guide him a lot. But not in the same way the Hero’s Shade had done. Instead, he had to give Link companionship and a shoulder to lean on. After all, the role of hero is a hard burden to bear alone, and it is always better to have a shoulder to lean on.

Though Twilight would like to be less downright mean than Midna was sometimes.

He watched with a smile as Link gave the food to the old man and explained the recipe. The old man, as promised, gave Link a warm doublet as a reward.

Link and Twilight hiked over to the area near the River of the Dead, where it started to get cold. Wild tried on the doublet. “Wow,” he said. “This is pretty warm. By the way, Twilight, do you need extra clothes for the cold?”

Twilight shook his head. “I’m fine.”

The northern riverbank of the River of the Dead had a few Ice Chuchus, which were a bit annoying but were rather easy to dispatch.

It was indeed pretty cold, but Twilight had been in plenty colder places, like Snowpeak. Now that was cold.

Link and Twilight eventually found the remains of a bridge with a metal door nearby.

“Oh, cool,” Link said. “Looks like we can get across.”

“How? Don’t tell me that you’re going to jump in the river. You’ll get hypothermia for sure!”

Link grinned. “Watch.” He took out a strange rectangular object and the next thing Twilight knew he was moving the metal door onto the posts of the ruined bridge, creating a path across.

“Wow. That’s… quite something.”

The shrine they were trying to get to was on top of a mountain, so Link and Twilight had to go ascend it.

On the way up, they ran into a few bokoblins. Twilight decided to show off some of his sword skills by quickly dispatching one of them using the Mortal Draw.

Twilight watched as a bokoblin was sent flying and landed on the ground with a thump after being hit by Wild’s woodcutting axe. He quickly jumped and impaled the monster with an Ending Blow. Link put away his axe and unsheathed his sword (a really simple, almost rather shoddy sword) and started fighting the other ones.

Once all the bokoblins were dead, they paused a moment to catch their breath.

“Twilight, you never told me that you were a good swordsman.”

“Did I? By the way, Link, you’re a good swordsman yourself. You use excellent technique, almost if you’ve practiced a lot before.”

“Strange. I don’t remember training with a sword at all.”

Twilight shrugged. He knew why, but he wasn’t going to tell Link any time soon.

The pathway to the shrine was rather simple. Link opened it with his rectangular device (a “Sheikah Slate,” Link had called it) and stood on the elevator.

Twilight wanted to join him, but he was stopped by a voice.

This trial is not for you, Hero of Twilight. You have already proven your skill. It is up to the Champion to prove his own skill.

Okay, then. Right. He was there to guide Link, not do everything for him.

Chapter Text

Link rode up the elevator, having completed the fourth shrine and gotten the Cryonis rune.

The shrine gave a good view of the snowy area around him, as well as the Temple of Time and even the lands beyond the Plateau.

“Ho!”

Link turned to see the Old Man paragliding in. It looked like he had glided from Mount Hylia, from the direction he came from.

“With this,” the Old Man said, “you have now acquired all of the Spirit Orbs from the shrines on this plateau. Oho ho! Extraordinary! That means… it is finally time. Link, it is finally time for me to tell you everything.”

He turned around, facing east. “But first… Imagine an X on your map, with the four shrines as the end points. Find the spot where those lines intersect. I shall wait for you there.”

The Old Man turned to face Link again. “Do you understand?” He started glowing blue, with blue ghostly flames surrounding him. “Where two lines connecting the shrines would cross… There… I will… be waiting…”

And he disappeared in this ghostly light.

Link walked over to where the recently cleared monster encampment was. Twilight was there, polishing his sword.

“Hey, Twilight.”

“Hey, Cub.”

“Cub?”

Twilight reddened. “Did I say that out loud?”

“Is there… any particular reason why you called me that?”

“Uh… I can, um, not call you that?”

Link shrugged. “You can call me Cub, as long as I get to call you ‘Twi.’”

Twilight somehow managed to turn redder. “‘Twi?’” He scratched the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed. “I mean… I guess?”

“Okay. So it’s settled. Anyway, Twi, we have to go somewhere.” Link opened up the map and traced the X that the Old Man had described. “It looks like we’re going to the Temple of Time.”

“That’s a bit of a walk from here.”

“Well, yeah. What do you feel about teleporting?”

“Wait, what?”

Link pressed a button on his Slate and teleported the two of them over to the Shrine of Resurrection.

Once they had come to, Twilight looked around.

Link pointed towards the exit. “This is the closest point to the Temple of Time. We’re at the Shrine of Resurrection.”

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It was not a very long walk to the Temple of Time. Twilight had walked the path once before, when he met the Old Man.

He had decided to check out the Shrine of Resurrection, but there wasn’t much to see. It was a weird cave with a closed door, almost certainly intended to make sure the Hylian Champion recovered in peace.

Oh, right. The Old Man. He was probably some sort of ghost. He saw what happened at the shrine when Link finished the shrine.

The Temple of Time looked as ruined as always. Again, why did the Temple of Time exist in ruins both in this time and back in his own time, anyway?

Link and Twilight walked inside the temple. The statue of the Goddess was bathed in holy light.

Link approached it first, and a Heart Container lowered itself from the heavens. Link took it.

Once Link was finished, Twilight asked him what that was all about.

“I got to exchange my Spirit Orbs for either a Heart Container or a Stamina Vessel,” Link explained.

Then they heard a call from overhead and turned to look at the source of the call. It was the Old Man, still bathed in ghostly light.

“The blessing of the Goddess has made you that much more resilient, I see… Here I am… Get up here—quickly!”

Link found a ladder that went up the side of the Temple of Time. “You can stay down here, Twi.”

Twilight nodded. He wanted to have a few words with the Goddess Statue himself.

Once Link had started climbing, Twilight approached the statue.

“Hero of Twilight, you have once before saved Hyrule from a great evil. And yet you stand here now, called here to help the hero of this time vanquish evil himself. You will play a role much like your predecessor played for you.”

“My predecessor… What of the Shade? Is there anything with him?”

“I believe he has a few more words he wants to have with you,” the voice of Hylia said.

Twilight felt a distinctly familiar presence behind him. He turned and saw the Golden Wolf.

There was a flash, and he was now the Hero’s Shade, still looking as skeletal as ever.

“Hello, Pup,” the Shade said.

“Uh, sorry for intruding on you,” Twilight said. “You passed on, right?”

“I indeed have.”

“So what brings you here?”

“I’ve always been… attached to the Temple of Time, as you will. And I like to visit the world of the living at times where there is a hero. It’s not like when I taught you, when I simply couldn’t move on until I taught you everything.”

“This might be a bit blunt, but… what’s it like? Being dead?”

The Shade shrugged. “Well, I got to reunite with some friends I haven’t seen in a while. It’s… peaceful, I suppose. Certainly much calmer than staying behind because of your regrets. I wouldn’t recommend that.” He said that last sentence extremely dryly.

“Anyway…” Twilight thought for a moment. “Do you have any advice on mentoring this time’s hero?”

“Be yourself. I am absolutely confident that you will succeed.”

There was a long pause.

“Uh, I’ve been wanting to ask this for a while, actually, but what’s your connection to the Temple of Time?”

“It’s been… a central part… of my own fight to save Hyrule. I suppose I might have an emotional attachment to it, if you will.”

“What do you think about this time’s Hyrule?”

“I used to not be able to fully appreciate it, but it’s absolutely beautiful.”

“Beautiful?”

“This Hyrule may lay in ruins, but even where Ganon’s destruction brought death, life has regrown. This time is… wild, and you should come to appreciate that.”

“I see. By the way, why do you always appear in this skeletal form? Surely you can appear as you did in life.”

“If I did, I would only cause you future problems.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s best if you didn’t know.” The tone of the Shade’s voice told Twilight that there was no questioning him.

△
△△

Link was starting to get overloaded with all this information he was being told. About Hyrule’s fall, and that he once fought during the Calamity as Princess Zelda’s knight. About the Guardians and the Divine Beasts. And that the Old Man was actually the ghost of King Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule, the last king.

King Rhoam asked him to head for Kakariko Village and to seek out Impa, in the direction of the Dueling Peaks.

“Go on…” he said. “Here is the paraglider, just as I promised.” He handed over the paraglider, at long last.

“With that, you should be able to safely fly off the cliffs surrounding this area.” Rhoam paused for a moment. “And… I think that’s it. I’ve told you everything I can… Link… You must save… Hyrule…”

And with that, King Rhoam faded away.

Link glided off the roof of the Temple of Time. It felt good to finally use the paraglider. It was… liberating. As if there was no limit to the places he could explore.

He glided into the temple, right in front of Twilight. “Hey there.”

“So you finally got the paraglider,” Twilight noted.

“Yup. We’re going to go east, towards the Duelling Peaks and Kakariko Village.”

“Kakariko?” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like a good plan.”

Link teleported the two of them onto the Great Plateau Tower and was about to glide off before realizing something.

“Wait, Twi. You don’t have a paraglider. How will you get down?”

Twilight shrugged. “I’ll teleport, I guess.”

“I mean… if you say so,” Link said skeptically.

“Well, what are ya’ waiting for?” Twilight asked teasingly.

Link looked east. He could see the Dueling Peaks and the Sheikah tower right by it.

He jumped and started gliding.

It felt so good, finally being able to leave the Plateau and be in the vast lands beyond.

He touched down in the middle of a field. He felt a profound sense of accomplishment at that. He was finally in Hyrule for real, and the rest of the massive land was his to explore.

He heard a sound and saw a shower of black squares. They formed into Twilight.

“Hey, what did I say?” Twilight shrugged.

Link elbowed him hard in the stomach. “I’m not going to question it. Let’s get going.”

Chapter Text

They were finally off the Great Plateau. That took a while to fully sink in. They were off, and now they were in the vast land that lay beyond the cliffs.

Link and Twilight took in their surroundings. They had touched down south of some ruins that had a road run through it.

“It feels so good to be off that Plateau,” Link said. “Now I can go wherever I want!”

“Wait, Link, shouldn’t we head east to Kakariko?”

“C’mon, Twi, what’s the fun in that?” Link started running north towards the ruins, with Twilight reluctantly following.

Link poked around the ruins and found a few chests. He found some amber, a red rupee, and a bow. Nothing that special. So he decided to follow the road west.

“Cub, we’re supposed to go east.”

“I want to see what’s over there.”

Twilight groaned. “I suppose there’s no stopping you.”

“Nope!” Link said cheerfully.

They found what was originally the gate into the Great Plateau. However, the gate was blocked, and they both knew that the rest of the pathway was flooded and was now the lake near the Magnesis Shrine.

Link decided to go north from where the gate was and found a lake. There were ruins by that lake, so he of course wanted to check it out.

Of course, there were a few monsters, but with Twi’s swordsmanship and Link’s… unconventional tactics they were easily dispatched.

There was a chest in there, so Link opened it. In it was a purple heart-shaped mask. It felt… disquieting.

He showed it to Twilight. “Hey, Twi, doesn’t this feel creepy?”

“…Yes.” Twilight got the inexplicable feeling that the Hero’s Shade would be disapproving of what they were doing.

He put it away in his Slate and read out the Slate’s description. “Huh. It’s called Majora’s Mask, and it was passed down from ancient times. Apparently, it makes it harder to be spotted by some enemies.”

“That’s… something. Come on, Cub. We should go east. We can’t leave Impa waiting forever. You’ve gotten your reward for your curiosity; we should get going.”

Link eventually relented. They retraced their steps, and then followed the road east this time.

They had run into a Moblin and were fighting when Wild broke another sword.

The Moblin had been knocked to the ground by the force from the sword breaking, allowing Twilight to dispatch it with an Ending Blow.

After the battle was done with, Twilight asked, “What was that all about?”

“What?”

“Your sword breaking. Again.”

“Um… it just happens. I was actually considering asking you how your sword hasn’t broken yet.”

Twilight sighed. “Cub, it’s not normal to break weapons that quickly.”

“Really?”

“Look, Link, this sword has served me well long before and it will serve me well in the future. It’s simple. This sword doesn’t break.”

“Do you want me to test that?”

“No. If there’s anyone that can break it, it’s you. Hm, maybe it’s because these weapons are all poorly crafted?”

Twilight examined the sword Link was using now. “I’m no smith, but I’m pretty certain a sword isn’t supposed to be all chipped and scratched like that?”

“Um…”

“Let’s just blame it on your sword for now. Though I’m still not trusting you with my sword. It’s too precious to me. Plus I need to defend myself somehow.”

△
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Traveling further east, they came across an old stone bridge. Proxim Bridge, if the readout on the Sheikah Slate meant anything.

Link took the opportunity to pin the Sheikah tower near the Dueling Peaks.

There was a shrine next to it, so Link took the opportunity to take it on. Twilight waited outside as usual while Link took on the trial inside.

Twilight had the time to think about various things.

How were the people in his time doing? The people back in Ordon would probably feel his absence. Twilight felt a bit homesick at that thought.

He wondered how Hyrule as a whole was doing while he was in the distant future. By all accounts, with Ganondorf dead and the Twilight back where it should be, Hyrule should be as prosperous as ever. Twilight decided that he should have visited Castle Town more.

But his time was his time. The Hero of Twilight had a duty to fulfill, in this ruined future Hyrule.

Twilight heard the words the Hero’s Shade had left him in the Temple of Time echo in his head. “This time is… wild, and you should come to appreciate that.”

What did the Shade mean by that? To be brutally honest, Twilight had only seen wilderness and ruins. And yes, that included Hyrule Castle in the distance.

He was happy to hear that there was still villages out there, like Kakariko, but Kakariko was a long way away.

This Hyrule may have been large, but it was also rather empty.

The Hero’s Shade’s voice echoed in Twilight’s head again. “I used to not be able to fully appreciate it, but it’s absolutely beautiful.”

Maybe Twilight would just have to wait and see what the Shade had meant by that.

△
△△

After Link finished the trial in the shrine, he and Twilight started crossing the bridge.

There was a man armed with a spear on the bridge. He was the first person that they had seen since the Old Man.

Though again, the Old Man was actually a ghost.

He was looking at one of those weird things from around the Temple of Time. Link seemed to recognize it and eye it warily himself, but Twilight didn’t understand why.

“I may be somewhat used to seeing bad omens by now, but that… Well, let’s just say it’s badder than most,” he muttered.

They greeted the man.

He turned towards Link and Twilight. “We’re doomed! I mean, don’t panic! Sorry, who are you? Have we met? Well, doesn’t matter who you are, really. I was getting tired of talking to myself, so you’ve come at a good time. By the by, those strange things that popped out of the ground… Did you see them?”

He was probably referring to those towers that had erupted out of the ground.

“I’m not talking about mushrooms here! I’m talking about those towers! They seem to have popped up all over the place!”

Ah, so it was.

“And that’s not the only strange thing that’s happened. Those long-deserted shrines suddenly started glowing! You know what this means, don’t you? The end is here! With all this craziness happening, I’ve been keeping an eye on that thing.” He pointed towards the contraption in the distance. “Just to see if it suddenly starts moving, ya know?”

“What thing?” Twilight asked. Link gave him a strange look.

“I’m talking about that Guardian, of course! Haven’t you heard the old stories about Hyrule? See that thing over there? That one shaped like an overturned urn? THAT is what I’m talking about. Did you know some of them can move? One of them once chased me down and tried to kill me!”

“This one here?” Link asked, curious.

“No, it was a different one. That one was closer to the castle but before the forest… When they spot you, they shoot blue beams of light at you! Man, I was so sure that was the end for me. I was prepared for the worst. But I somehow managed to escape into the nearby woods.”

Link shuddered. He had been attacked by stationary Guardians on his way to the Bomb Shrine. Those ones were scary enough, Link didn’t like the idea of ones that could move.

“You think it was my lightning-fast reflexes that saved me? Ha, I wish. Truth is, I just got lucky. Anyway, I hear Guardians like that still wander around Hyrule Castle. Be careful.”

And so Twilight and Link went on their way, though quite unnerved.

Chapter Text

“Cub, it’s getting late. I think we should rest for the night.”

Link shrugged.

Conveniently, there was a simple shelter just past Proxim Bridge. It was a piece of canvas held up by poles, with a campfire under it. Quite minimal, but it did the job.

Twilight sat by the fire. Link took out his Slate and looked through its contents.

“Twi, I think I’ll go out foraging. Go find some more food.”

“Sure.” As soon as Twi said that, Link immediately walked off.

Twilight sat for a few minutes, realizing his error. There was just some part of him that screamed that Link couldn’t be trusted by himself, unless he wanted to see Hyrule literally on fire.

△
△△

Link got the distinct impression that he was being followed. Maybe it was that rattling noise of something being dragged along the ground.

He turned around and saw Wolfie.

“Oh, hey, Wolfie, I didn’t see you there.”

Wolfie huffed.

“Did Twilight send you?”

He huffed again.

Link shrugged. “Anyway, since you’re here, could you like, I don’t know, sniff out food?”

Wolfie gave him a look that seemed to say that he wasn’t a big fan of the idea, but he started sniffing the ground.

“Thanks.” Link looked around, though he was largely lost in his own thoughts.

It was just… everything that had happened since he had woken up in the Shrine of Resurrection. There was so much that happened, and Link wasn’t sure that he could quickly wrap his head around all of it.

But he knew one thing for certain. He didn’t remember what Zelda looked like, but he knew he would do much to see her again.

He saw a tree with apples in it and knocked it down with a bomb before picking up the apples.

Wolfie gave him a weird look.

Ah, there was something with Wolfie. He seemed like more than an ordinary wolf. He was much too intelligent, much too human.

Twilight may be talented with animals, but Link wasn’t sure that even he could train a wolf that well.

Link scratched behind Wolfie’s ears and rubbed the top of his head. The wolf glared at him in annoyance.

△
△△

Link came back to camp, having collected a lot of mushrooms and apples. Wolfie had run ahead, out of sight, which was quite curious.

“Twi! I’m back!”

Twilight was seated at the campfire. He had moved a bit, and his hair looked ruffled. It was almost as if someone had run their hand through his hair.

“What did you find?” He asked.

Wild showed him the supplies he had gathered.

“Nice.” Twilight didn’t look very surprised.

Link started cooking these supplies. He had found some bright green mushrooms, “Stamella Shrooms” according to the Slate, and started making skewers with them. Apparently, if the Slate was right, it could energize him.

Maybe it could come in handy.

“Must be quite convenient,” Twilight said offhandedly.

“Hm?”

“That slate. You don’t have to worry about food spoiling and can just bring stuff along with you without weighing you down.”

“Oh, yes, it really is.”

They had a couple of mushroom skewers for dinner. They tasted pretty good.

“Twi, have you been on the Plateau for your entire life?”

Twilight shrugged. “For all practical purposes, I may as well have.”

“Oh?”

“It’s a long story. But in brief, the only place I’ve been to prior to meeting you was the Plateau, yes.”

“I get the feeling that there’s more to the story.”

“Of course. In due time, Cub.”

Link lay down not long after he finished his meal. It had been a long day. He wasn’t tired, but he wanted to rest, nonetheless.

“I’m going to go ahead and see what’s on the road ahead,” Twilight said.

“Go do that,” Link replied.

△
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Twilight woke Link up in the middle of the night.

“Hm? What is it, Twi?”

“Can you take watch for the rest of the night? I need my sleep too, you know.”

Link sat up. “Sure. By the way, what did you see on the road ahead?”

“The Dueling Peaks are a few hours from here. There’s one of those strange towers right by them.”

“Well, that’s where we’re going first.”

“Pardon?”

Okay, so Twilight didn’t know about them

“The tower. They fill in part of the map on this thing.” Link held up the Sheikah Slate.

“Ah. Anyway, there’s a monster encampment right by the mountains, and another one further up the road, so we should be prepared for a fight.”

Link shrugged. “Doesn’t sound like much of a problem.”

With that, they got going. Link first ran up to a derelict Guardian that was near the shelter and looked at it carefully.

The last thing he needed was for this one to power up and shoot at him like the ones in the Eastern Abbey did.

The Guardian thankfully was nonfunctional, and Link got one of those strange Ancient Screws out of it.

He turned around to see a confused Twilight. “What are with those Guardian things, anyway?” he asked.

Link recalled what the King’s ghost told him on the roof of the Temple of Time.

“Machines built ten thousand years ago to protect Hyrule,” he explained. “When Ganon returned, he took control of them and used them to destroy the kingdom. The Old Man told me.”

“I… I see.” Twilight swallowed hard.

They got going, for real, after that.

The nearest monster encampments were only a couple of minutes away from where they set out. The Bokoblins there seemed to be minding their own business, and they were far enough from the road that they didn’t notice Link, so he decided to leave them to their own devices.

The next monsters he saw were weird octopus-like monsters that inflated and floated above the surface of the river.

Link pulled out his bow. He aimed at one of them, nocked an arrow, and fired. The arrow struck the monster, popping whatever part of it was inflated and causing it to fall into the river, where it perished.

The other monsters seemed to take notice of him, lowering themselves into the river.

…okay.

Suddenly, one of them jumped above the river and shot a large rock at him.

Link leapt aside, dodging it, and shot this monster with an arrow.

The other monster jumped up before Link could ready another arrow, but Twilight shot this one with his own bow.

Link saw that parts of these monsters floated up to the surface of the river, and he jumped into the river to check them out. Twilight objected, but Link ignored him.

He grabbed those monster parts and put them into his Slate. It called them “Octo Balloons,” and apparently the monsters they came from were called “Octoroks.” Huh.

Before the river current could carry him away, Link grabbed on to an outcropping of rock that jutted into the river and pulled himself up.

There was a dark, flat stone that sat on the rock. Hit by a sudden burst of inspiration, Link used Stasis on this stone, launching it. He found a stone chest underneath.

The chest contained an opal.

Twilight loudly cleared his throat. “Thought you wanted to get somewhere?”

“…Fine.”

They walked in the direction of the tower—that is, along the riverbank. However, there was yet another Bokoblin encampment right in front of them, and directly between them and the tower.

Link decided to demonstrate to the monsters why they should never camp between a Hero and his objective.

“Stay behind,” he told Twilight. “I’ve got this.”

Twilight was clearly reluctant to leave Link to his own devices, but he did relent.

Link snuck up to the camp, using a nearby rock to stay concealed. He took a look at his quiver.

He had plenty of normal arrows, but he’d also found some strange, specialized arrows, like quite a few fire arrows and bomb arrows.

Link glanced at the monsters once again. They were foolishly around some explosive barrels. A perfect opportunity.

He pulled out a fire arrow, carefully aimed, and let loose his arrow. It hit its mark, striking one of the explosive barrels.

It exploded, detonating the nearby barrels in a spectacular fiery explosion.

He quickly took out the one Bokoblin that survived the blast, a blue one that was smart enough to use both sword and shield, as well as the Bokoblins that were far away enough from the explosion as to not be affected by it.

His Traveler’s Sword broke on the last Bokoblin, though. Hey, at least it freed up an inventory space for the blue Bokoblin’s Soldier’s Broadsword.

Link made sure to get his reward from the encampment’s chest. It was a Soldier’s Shield, probably the best shield he had gotten his hands on up to this point.

△
△△

Link crossed the river without much difficulty with the help of Cryonis. Twilight opted to stay behind.

The tower was surrounded by water, and there was annoyingly an Octorok in them. Link was already getting annoyed by them, and he had only encountered them for just the past hour.

An arrow was more than sufficient to get it out of the way, at least.

Using Cryonis and his paraglider, Link managed to get to the rocks at the base of the tower, and he jumped to reach the one of the tower’s platforms.

It took a lot of climbing and some resting on the platforms on the way up, but Link managed to get himself to the top of this tower.

He took a brief moment to catch his breath before he walked up to the pedestal.

This time, he knew what he was doing. He put the Sheikah Slate into the pedestal and watched as the tower activated and added an entire new region to the Slate’s map.

This time, though, a message showed up on the Slate’s screen.

Sheikah Slate updated. Additional functionality detected.

A popup then appeared, telling all about this “Sheikah Sensor” and how it could detect unvisited shrines. Sounds convenient.

As Link put the Slate back on his belt, another notification appeared.

Sheikah Sensor now operational.

It then emitted a chime.

The sensor indicator has been placed near the minimap. Search for shrines by moving in the direction with the strongest signal.

Cool.

He walked around to test the indicator. There was apparently a shrine in the direction of the Dueling Peaks. Which was great since that was where he was headed next.

Link quickly jumped off the tower and paraglided over to where Twilight was waiting for him.

“Got the map,” Link said. “Looks like we should be able to reach Kakariko by nightfall.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Twilight said. “What are we waiting for?”