Chapter Text
He stirred.
There was a bright light, it weighed on him like a stone, pulling him to consciousness as he blearily opened his eyes.
There was a persistent ringing in his ears, and the light burned even brighter now that he was more awake. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, trying to get the burning to stop.
It didn't.
He didn't even realize he was encased in some kind of fluid until it was draining away. It wasn't water. He didn't know how he knew, but he knew instinctively it wasn't water. He didn't even remember what water felt like. Maybe it was too thick?"
It was obviously a pattern that he wouldn't realize something was happening until it happened, because suddenly whatever was sealing him broke. The see-through material lifted away from him, disappearing somewhere in the ceiling.
He sat up, coaxed by that ever-present light. He didn't recognize where he was, but he felt at peace. It was odd, by all accounts, he should be panicking. But something about... where he was made him feel like everything was going to be okay.
'Link, Link!' A feminine voice called, snatching his attention. Again, no panic rose when it very much should have.
He felt like he knew this voice, though he didn't know where. She had called him Link. Was that his name? He felt like it fit. It felt right. Like it was something he'd always known, despite the fact that he had no idea what it was a few moments prior.
'Please, Link, open your eyes.' She said, pleadingly. 'You have been asleep for a long time, but we need you.'
Well, it certainly explained why he felt like he was thinking through a fog. Again, no panic. It would have concerned him if he felt any concern either. The only thing he really felt that was negative was a growing desire to leave. To get out of this room. To see... something.
There was a shifting on a pedestal of stone ahead of him, and he pushed himself up. He stood on unsteady legs, looking over at what seemed to be a glowing piece of stone in confusion.
'Take the Sheikah Slate from the pedestal, it will help you on your quest.'
Wobbily, he moved to the other side of the room one step at a time. He almost collapsed, but he was close enough the use the pedestal to steady himself. Unsurely, he gripped the 'Slate' and pulled it from its resting place.
He held it uncertainly, but moments later the engraved section of the wall next to him rose, and an entryway was revealed.
Some intuition inside of him told him that going through there would be a step closer to getting out. So he made his way through the 'door'.
His steps were more confident now, much more assured as he found two weirdly shaped containers he identified as chests.
He knew intrinsically that they would probably contain something important, so he opened the first one to come across a pair of trousers.
Clothing. That would definitely be useful for the future. He didn't realize how bare he felt until he was rushing to pull them on.
He idly noted that the trousers had a kind of hook that allowed him to hold the Slate by his hip, so there was no doubt that these clothes were meant for him.
Opening the other chest, he found a thin beige shirt that he threw on immediately.
Feeling much more comfortable with actual clothes to cover him, he surveyed the rest of the room. There were rotten crates and barrels around him, but one look told him they held nothing of value.
At the end of the room, which he noticed was much larger than the one he'd woken in, he saw another glowing pedestal. It glowed the same color as his Slate, so it was quite obvious they were connected.
'Place the Sheikah Slate on the pedestal, that will show you the way.'
He felt a spike of irritation for the first time as he looked between the very obvious door and the pedestal. While he was thankful he didn't just wake up completely alone, he wasn't an idiot. He could see that the rectangle went in the rectangle hole.
He unhooked the slate and pressed it to the stone, watching as the orange was replaced by a bright blue. The wall groaned as it lifted and revealed the way out. Glimmering light shone through the door, actual light. The light of the sun.
The breeze drifted through the opening, carrying an air of something that made his spirits soar.
He broke into a sprint through the doorway, clambering up the decayed staircase as he emerged from the dusty air of the shrine into the open breeze.
His eyes widened as he took in the surroundings.
There were bright fields surrounding him. He stood on the edge of a small cliff that overlooked a great deal of this area. There was a great forest out beneath him, and to his right he saw the remains of a temple.
But what really caught his attention was the clouds. The feel of the air, the chill of the breeze.
He could easily see how the slice of paradise hit a certain point and just dropped off. There was nothing beyond it but open air.
"The Sky," He thought with no small bit of wonder.
It was odd, something within him protested. Screaming that it wasn't right, that it should be impossible for the piece of land to just be in the sky. But it also felt right. It felt like it was meant to be in the air. It felt like he was meant to be in the air.
He heard a call of a bird, and turned to see a wonderful sight. There were several giant birds of all colors flying around the island. There were tons of them, he assumed they had to be native to the area. Somehow, a name came to his mind.
Loftwings.
There was something about them that captivated him, a sort of pull that made him feel like they were connected.
He dragged his attention away from them though and pondered his next move. He was interrupted by the voice again, helpfully giving him a new direction.
'Link, head to the point marked on your map. Use the Sheikah Slate to guide you. I fear the world may be more changed than I anticipated.'
With that vaguely ominous message, he felt the Slate chime.
He stared at it, perplexed, before he tapped at the front of it. It opened up to... a black screen with a triangle, which he assumed represented him, and a glowing yellow marker.
He looked in the general direction of the yellow dot and saw a rock outcrop not too far away.
It was as good a lead as any, and he literally had nothing better to do than listen to the whims of a mysterious voice, so he began his trek down the hillside.
Along the way, he collected sticks, apples, and some kind of mushrooms. He was very interested in how they seemed to simply disappear into the Slate, reappearing in whips of blue light when he called on them.
He kept a stick slung across his back, it seemed sturdy enough to serve as a weapon in an emergency. He didn't know why he needed a weapon, but he knew two things. He felt much more comfortable with a weapon the defend himself with across his back, and going out unarmed into the wilds was a very bad idea.
He walked past an alcove, noting its position on his map. It could serve as a potential shelter if the weather turned nasty.
Though how it would do that was unclear, given that he was apparently above the clouds.
He ventured onward, deciding to follow the beaten path laid out for him for as long as he could.
He heard snorting up ahead and quickly hid in a bush.
Peering through the undergrowth, he quickly spotted a pig-like creature. It was bipedal and carried a club that was probably much more sturdy than the stick he carried now.
A Bokoblin.
Seeing the monster stirred an unfamiliar emotion in his gut that he recognized to be hate. This thing was dangerous, he knew that. And he'd have to fight it. And he also knew he'd win.
He grasped his stick firmly, muscles tensing as he adopted a posture on pure muscle memory. He rushed the thing while its back was turned, bringing his stick down full force over its head.
The thing squealed in surprise, but Link didn't stop hitting it. He swung until his stick shattered, pulled a new one from his Slate, and went back to pummeling.
It didn't take long for the thing to stop moving, seeming to poof into a cloud of purple smoke.
There were a few horns and fangs along the ground where it once was, and he begrudgingly tapped them against the Slate to store them.
He wrapped his fingers around the creature's club, hefting it and testing the weight.
It wasn't much better than the sticks, but it would last longer in a fight, so he slipped it onto his back and stowed the stick into his Slate.
He followed the path, not coming against any more monster resistance.
The planes were eerily quiet. Only the piercing cry of the Lofwings disturbed the otherwise silent air.
He didn't like it. That monster he killed definitely wasn't the only one. Somehow, he knew Bokoblins always lived in groups. The one he killed must have been a hunter or some kind of scout. The question was, where was the rest of the group?
He approached the rock outcrop, swiftly finding it to be hollow, and went inside.
Inside, there was some more of the weird stone that the weird room he'd woken up in had been made of, and a glowing pedestal with a rectangular slot in the center.
Thankfully, the voice didn't insult his intelligence and tell him to put the rectangle in the rectangle hole once more.
He unhooked the slate and placed it in the slot. There was a chime that sounded like a beep of affirmation.
Sheikah Slate confirmed.
... What?
Watch out for falling rocks.
He barely had time to process the message before a deep rumbling pulsed through the island. Whatever he was standing on began to ascend towards the heavens, and it was all Link could do to hang onto the pedestal and hope for the best.
He could feel the cries of the animals, birds shrieking whilst smaller critters rushed for cover.
And all too soon, it stopped. The tower reached its apex, and the violent vibrations ceased, an unsteady calm running through his body.
Tentatively, he let go of his death grip on the pedestal and stepped back. He saw a drop of strange blue liquid gather on the end of the stone, it coalesced into a single drop that fell with a splash onto the Slate.
He saw something light up on the Slate and rushed over to see. Part of the darkness that obscured the map had been filled in, giving him a view of the area. It was surprisingly detailed.
'Link. Link!' Came the voice once more. There was golden light that was different from that of the sun. It pierced through the cloud barrier below, reaching out to him.
'Remember, try, try to remember!' She pleaded with him.
Remember what? He couldn't remember anything, the thought was incredibly concerning. But what did the voice want him to know? What did they want him to remember?
'You have been asleep for the past 100 years. If the beast breaks free, this world will be ruined. Please, you must hurry, Link!'
He... didn't know how to respond to that.
This mysterious voice wanted him to fight some kind of beast? Oddly enough, that felt correct. It felt like he was meant to do that, just another thing he'd always known, even though he couldn't remember any of it.
And 100 years... he could feel his breathing quicken. How was he still alive? How much had changed? Was this why some part of him felt like he shouldn't be in the sky? That there shouldn't be anything in the sky?
He took a deep breath of the air, and let it out slowly. Whatever calming properties the air held, he felt the tension building in his body slowly relax.
He'd figure it out.
Apparently, he'd have to.
Clearly, he wasn't going to figure out anything monologuing to himself on top of a high tower, so he looked around before beginning his descent down to the bottom.
About halfway down, he heard an earsplitting shriek.
It was the call of a Loftwing, only it seemed to be in pain.
He dropped to the ground, spinning on an axis to survey what seemed to be some kind of jumping?
There was a group of 4 Bokoblins, led by the one who had a blue pelt, attacking a Loftwing with a beautiful crimson coat.
The poor thing's wing looked bruised, and it was struggling to flee. Link felt white hot anger surge through his chest and broke into a sprint.
He slammed his club into the leader with enough force to send him sprawling. As he was flung away, Link grabbed the sword he'd dropped and stowed his club. He stabbed the blade into the neck of another, ripping it out to block the strike of a third who'd recovered from the initial shock.
He kicked the shield the second Bokoblin had dropped into the air and grabbed it with his left hand. He used it to intercept the fourth one's counterattack, before retreating out of range from the two Bokoblins.
The blue one was pushing itself off the ground, so Link moved to reengage. He thrust his sword at number three, only for it to be batted away by its club.
It swung for him, and he dodged. Time seemed to slow.
Deciding to roll with the punches, he pressed the advantage, slashing and slicing at the monster. When time resumed, it fell over dead.
He whipped around to aim a decapitating strike at the disoriented leader, only for his sword to bite empty air.
The blue one came at him with a wide hook, but he ducked and slashed at the overextended arm.
The beast howled in pain as its arm was severed, which gave him the opening to slide his sword between its ribs.
He whirled around, only to see the final Bokoblin fleeing for its life. He'd have given chase if the whines of the Crimson Loftwing hadn't draw his attention.
It was in pain, he could obviously see that. It was looking at him with wild, wary eyes.
He tentatively reached forward to brush a hand against its face, and he felt it relax as he began to gently stroke it.
"Shhh, it'll be okay." He soothed the creature. "I'm Link, it's nice to meet you."