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“Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoaaaaaa-”
Link twisted as best he could as his clawshot missed its mark. A deep crevasse rushed towards him as he continued falling. Need a target, need a target, need a- There!
He leveled one of his new tools and aimed it at a handy bit of moss growing off one of the walls. It’d be nice to take a look around before he had to switch to his sailcloth, and he let out a sigh of relief as the tool found its mark and he went slamming feet-first into the wall.
“Right, now where the heck am I…”
Keeping a firm hold on the clawshot, Link craned his head to study the crevasse he’d dropped into. It was a lot deeper than others he’d found here in the desert, which had him staring at it in fascination. The sheer diversity of environments he’d discovered here on the Surface never failed to take his breath away.
Though, right now, that might just be the heat. It was hot. Just a little less so now that he was in the shade.
As he continued looking around, Link suddenly spotted a strange little ledge not too far from where he was clinging. It looked big enough to crawl into and he was pretty certain he could see something shining inside…
Which meant, of course, that he was firing off his second clawshot moments later so he could try and squeeze his way inside.
The ledge turned out to be the entrance to an entire cave and the glittering thing he’d caught sight of a time-shift stone. He cast his eyes around the cave, wanting to get an idea what might appear if he triggered it. And it was…
Kind of battered looking, honestly. He could see layers and layers of rock piled on top of each other. There were bits of broken rubble all over the place and a thick layer of gravel and debris that made it seem as though everything had just collapsed in on itself at some point in the past. As he peered forwards, he could just barely make out the rusted, broken remains of tracks. There were more timeshift stones here and there, with long lines of metal connecting them. Maybe. It was a curious sight, honestly.
“Some kind of abandoned facility,” he murmured to himself. This felt a bit removed from the Lanayru Mining Facility, but perhaps this sent materials there? It was a puzzle for sure. Although… he didn’t have to just keep standing here in ignorance.
And so, with his eyes fixed on the strange, half-crushed cavern, Link aimed his clawshot at the timeshift stone, and fired.
The quiet purple stone pulsed and flashed, geometric shapes seemingly to ripple around it as it turned a powerful, throbbing teal. Light rushed down the crystal as energy poured out of it, then it lifted up in the air above the cradle it had been slumbering in for countless years and began to rotate even as a matching greenish light flew past him and traveled deeper into the cavern. The fallen rubble lifted up into the air and restored itself to the heights they’d once supported, even as more timeshift stones activated further down the line.
In moments, Link found himself staring into a strange blend of bare stone and worked materials. Cheerful little robots went bumbling down the rails, pushing carts full of stones and other, colorful materials while others followed the tracks in other directions carrying all sorts of curious, spiky looking tools.
“They’re mining,” Link realized with surprise. Mining was… hard, from what he knew. There were a few Skyloftians who pursued the delicate craft. Opening up distant sky islands and extracting useful materials was challenging work. One wrong move and precious ores and tools could vanish forever.
This looked… a lot more straightforward than what his people had to do.
Link started forward, peering curiously at his new, temporary surroundings. These windows into the past never failed to fascinate him. People had lifted this way, once upon a time. This had been part of their regular, everyday lives. It was truly wondrous and he wanted to know more about these ancient, distant peoples.
It was a shame he only ever saw-
Clink. “Oof- Damn it, Link!”
What?!
Without thinking, Link ducked down behind a large metal… thing… before peering out around it towards the noise.
There, for the first time ever… the timeshift stones had revealed people.
“Keep up, Orville,” came the reply. The second voice was stern, somber, and spoke with a hint of a growl that sent a shiver down Link’s spine.
A pair of men were leaving one of the tunnels, each carrying a bucket full of rocks. The men set them down with a grunt and a groan off to the side, then collapsed down next to the buckets. The one in simple browns then sighed and began to sort through the rocks while the green clad man seemed to just go limp.
“Do you want to help me sort through these or what?”
“You’re the blacksmith, Orville, not me. What would I know about ore?”
Orville let out a soft huff. “You can do some basic sorting. Heavier versus lighter, separate the black and gray ores from the ones that are more reddish-brown, looking for the ones with more sparkle, that kind of thing.”
Link - the other Link - let out a groan and seemed to go even more slack. It didn’t come across as simple laziness, though. It looked like… exhaustion. Which fit with the generally haggard look to the man.
This ancient hero (he had to be) was wiry and thin, but not in a way that looked… healthy. His complexion also had a chalky undertone that made his paper-thin looking skin seem quite unhealthy looking. His hair also seemed liberally mixed with white strands despite lacking any other signs of advancing age. His garb looked remarkably similar to that of the knights of Skyloft, but also… taken in. It might simply have been the fashion back in the ancient age the timeshift stones were revealing, but… his tunic and trousers looked very much like they’d been taken in to thin the man’s too-thin frame.
When Link didn’t reply, Orville hesitated, then simply bit his lip as he focused on the bits of ore he was sorting.
Silence fell between the two as Orville continued sorting everything they’d retrieved from the tunnel, and neither of them spoke until Orville pulled out a small, sturdy looking hammer and began breaking open the chunks of rock so he could inspect the interior.
“I’m sorry. I should have done more when Lord Dagianis leveled his accusations against you. I- I didn’t do enough to speak up for you and you-”
“Leave it.” Link sound wearied beyond all possible belief. “You simply would have been imprisoned as well, and then I’d have no blacksmith to forge a new blade for the goddess. We can’t have that now, can we? The demons are too strong for us to face down with paltry mortal weapons. Hylia, however, has offered us a chance to craft a weapon capable of casting those demons down, one made by our hands.” He paused, then let out a sudden snort. “Well, your hands, rather.”
Orville struck another chunk of rock and held it up to the light as he inspected it. This one passed muster and was tossed into one of their buckets. The next failed and was cast aside. “You speak as though you have no part in this when it took your strength to break that divine blade for us. And while I may do the work of smelting the new iron and welding that holy steel to it, it will be your hand that wields the blade.”
Link held a hand up in front of his face. It shook, overtaken by a great tremor. “Perhaps. We shall see what comes of that. A lion they may call me, but I may be too broken a beast to truly fight.”
“Link-” Orville gasped, pausing in his work.
“Oh, don’t worry. I won’t speak so around anyone else. Certainly not our people, who live in terror of the demons’ approach, nor the goddess who has set herself in harm's way to try and protect us. But…” His voice dropped to a murmur. “But surely I am not so cursed that there are none who can hear my own fears without losing heart.”
At once, Orville abandoned his work and hurried over to Link’s side. He seized his hand and gripped it firmly. “Never. I have always believed in you and I always shall. There are no words you can speak that I would shun or shy away from.”
“Orville…”
Link was gathered into a gentle, all-encompassing embrace, which he slowly relaxed into. “You have borne too much already, and suffered for other people’s cruelty and ambition. Despite that, you refuse to turn your back on us, which none could fault you for. You suffered more than simple insult or slander. You were…” His voice broke and Orville’s shoulders shook with quiet grief.
“When this tale is retold, years from now, I hope it is not lost the sheer hubris of those who came scurrying back to you after reviling you and casting you into a dungeon. And so too should people speak of how you took up your sword to defend us moments after having been freed of your chains. You are lion, Link, and your teeth are sharp.”
And then, the magic of the timeshift stones suddenly cut off.
Link jolted backwards, gasping in shock, as the strange metal box he’d been hiding behind was suddenly replaced with layers of fallen rock. He barely had any room for himself, actually, as the natural influence of time re-exerted itself.
Then he went still, still staring forward towards where those ancient heroes had once sat and shared a moment of such deep pain. The conversation he’d just barely been able to overhear lingered in his ears, offering a tantalizing - and horrifying - look into a world long-passed.
Link, his predecessor? He’d been falsely accused of some crime and imprisoned? Hurt, certainly, and left to suffer through untold illness on top of it. Orville had looked even more upset than Link at the mention of it, which… just hurt. In so many ways.
The exhaustion. The wear. The weakness and despair in his predecessor’s voice had Link trembling in shock. How… How could anyone be so cruel to another person? It went so far beyond the worst of Groose’s torments, venturing into the realm of monsters. The behavior had been- been monstrous.
And yet, despite that, he’d still taken up a sword to defend his people. He hadn’t wanted to frighten people by sharing his own fears and doubts with them. All he wanted was just… someone to listen. To be present for him the same way he stood all who relied on him.
Was Orville enough?! He seemed to care so much, surely he could…
They were dead, Link suddenly recalled. He didn’t know if they’d died in battle or survived to ascend into the heavens on Skyloft, but… but they were long dead and their stories left untold. There was no one left who’d been alive back then-
Or… Not alive, maybe, but…
Sky drew his sword from his back and studied it closely. The pattern on the blade was beautiful and the carvings of the hilt a true work of art. Could this be Orville’s work? If Hylia had wished for a new sword to be forged to battle the monsters with, surely that referred to this blade.
“Fi? I… have a question.”
At once, the familiar blue and purple spirit appeared before him, spinning into view like the perfect work of art she was. “Yes, Master?”
“... who made you?”
“My essence was created by her grace, the goddess Hylia,” Fi promptly answered. Then she paused in a considering fashion. “If you are inquiring after the blade itself, then the weapon you hold was created by the ancient swordsmith Orville with the aid of her grace’s first knight.”
Link let out a slow, shuddering breath. “In that case… As we continue on, can you tell me about them? I’d… really like to know.”
Fi bobbed up and down in the air briefly as she considered his request.
“Yes, Master, I can relay information to you about these humans. I would suggest you leave this area first, as the lack of anchor points for your clawshots shall make that endeavor very difficult.”
“... Alright. I’ll do that. Then I’d like to know everything you do about Orville and… and Link, Hylia’s first knight.”
“As you wish, Master. It is my honor to serve.”
You learned that from him, didn’t you? Link suddenly realized. He gave the cave one last, lingering look before resolutely turning away. Re-activating the timeshift stones would simply restart the scene he’d just witnessed. He needed to keep moving forward if he wanted to learn more.
That’s what his predecessor had done. No matter how cruelly he’d been treated, he’d stood up to do what was right, no matter how badly he was wronged.
He’d been a true hero. A lion, with sharp teeth.
“Hey, Fi? What’s a lion?” That seemed like an excellent starting point.