Chapter Text
Prologue
Zelda crawled forward on her stomach, the wound on her left shoulder throbbing and leaving a trail of red behind her.
“Hylia.” She gasped, her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. “Hear me, your servant and vessel.” Zelda reached out towards the altar before her, her hands trembling in pain and fatigue. “Reap this spirit from the blade and guide his path.” Loud footsteps crunched behind her. She was running out of time. “Deliver him from his Blight, and prepare him for what is to come.” The door to the temple cracked open and the large form of the Demon King strode in, his hair like flaming ribbons licked at the terrain around him.
“Your forces are depleted.” He said, approaching her on the altar. “You have no one left to protect you. This world is mine, Zelda. Surrender your triforce, and allow me to come into my own.”
“Darkness can never snuff light.” Zelda spat, gripping at the sword on the altar and rolling over to face Demise. “For all it takes is a spark, yea even the spark of youth to reignite the fires.”
“You aim to fight me?” The Demon King cackled, pulling out the large black blade from his back. “You are no warrior Zelda, you are weak. You are not Link, and even if you were I killed him. You think you can wield the Master Sword?”
“I could never.” Zelda admitted, pulling the sword to her chest. “But I will send out the spark to prepare the one that can. This world may fall, but one will rise that will defeat you.” A light began to form around Zelda and her eyes drifted closed. “Hylia!” Zelda called with her final breath. “Save him, save the swordsman Link. He is our only hope! Prepare him to face the blight of the Hero. Prepare him to save Hyrule!”
The light from her body entered into the sword and the blade began to glow a vibrant blue. Demise took a step back, his eyes widening, and his mouth curling into a snarl.
“No!” he shouted running across the room and reaching for the blade, but it was too late. The blue light rose out of the metal and began to pulse growing more intense by the second. “Curse you Zelda, curse you Hylia! You have not defeated me, only delayed the inevitable. I will find the hero, and I will kill him again and again as many times as I have to. Mark my words!”
And then the blue light blinked out of existence. At least, out of existence in this world, and in this time. And it entered into the mind of the one of Hylia’s choosing, where it began its preparations.
Chapter 1
Across the Great Northwestern Gorge, and over the Hebra Mountains lay the Great Plains of Central Hyrule. Its crowning jewel, Hyrule castle. There a royal family has ruled since what seems the beginning of time itself, watching over the kingdoms and people that surround it, using the light of the Goddess Hylia to ward off darkness, wherever it may come from.
But, if you journey a bit farther, making your way over the plains to the southeast, trudging through the Bottomless Swamp, and crossing Hylia River, you will run into a small village nestled into the mountains. Kakariko Village. To many, it may appear small, and unimportant, but for centuries, the elite warriors of Hyrule castle have been born, raised and trained to defend the royal family, all came from that small village in the mountains. For the Goddess Hylia had always smiled upon the people of Kakariko Village and blessed them with strength above all other Hylians.
The men and women started young in their training, often wielding swords as soon as they were old enough to walk, although wooden ones. When the inkling of reason entered their minds, they were entered into school, where they were taught to read, and write, to sharpen their minds, alongside their swordsmanship. And by the time they turned 16, they were sent to the Castle to serve in the guard, many not returning home till they had finished their service, their lives now behind them.
But before they were fit for service to the royal family, each and every youngling had to go through the dread duty of guarding the entrances to the village. As Kakariko Village sat between the vast Necluda Valley to the south, and the Lanayru Wetlands to the north, it was not uncommon for travelers to pass through, looking for food, lodging or just a way through the mountains. But more than just Travelers found their way to Kakariko Village. Bokoblins, Moblins, and sometimes even the occasional Hinox would wander to the entrance. And those keeping guards were responsible for their dispatching.
But any of that rarely happens. With only Hateno Village to the east, there was little foot traffic through Kakariko. And the mountains did a good enough job turning any monsters around before they became a threat. So, anyone on guard duty was plagued with hours entertaining themselves or stuck listening to the wind whistle through the Pillars of Levia.
“You think I could hit that squirrel from here?” Link asked, spinning his slingshot in his hand. His tongue pushed from his mouth in concentration as he eyed the target fifty yards down the road.
“No chance.” Marin scoffed. “There is a cross wind, and I don’t think the slingshot even has that much power. Even then, I don’t think you have the skill.”
Link scrunched his nose and deposited a rock into the pocket of the sling. He hadn’t really planned on giving it a try, but Marin’s doubt rang in his ears as a challenge. “Maybe you can’t.” Link sneered. “But you also didn’t pass your combat testing till the third try.” Slowly, Link pulled the slingshot taut, the prongs bending back, wracking up a great deal of force. He felt the wind on his face, and gently corrected for it, knowing how it would affect the pathing of the rock.
With a slight angling upwards, he released the pocket of the sling, and sent the rock soaring through the air, in a perfect arc down the road. Link could feel his chest tightened in anticipation. It was going to hit, it was, he could feel it in his bones.
Then, crack. The rock slammed into the branch, not more than an inch below the squirrel, spooking the creature and causing it to run off up the tree. “Told you that you couldn’t make that shot.” Marin teased, playfully sticking her tongue out.
“But look how close I was!” Link pointed out, his voice tight with exasperation and disappointment. “Name one person in this village that could have made that shot, let alone gotten as close as I did.”
“It was luck.” Marin advised haughtily. “You couldn’t pull it off twice.”
“You wanna-.” Link was halfway bent over to fetch another rock when he froze solid. Down the road was… a traveler?
“Link.” Marin hissed, standing perfectly straight. In a blinding flash her leg kicked out stomping on his foot, commanding him to attention. He was about to kick her back, before stopping himself, knowing the amount of trouble he would be in for striking his senior. He hated even thinking about that, Marin his senior. She was three days older than him, but that meant when they were on duty together, she was in charge.
“Ahoy there!” The traveler called out once they were close enough to be heard. “How great it is to see other Hylians after so much traveling.” At this distance Link could make out more of their features. They were a gangly sort of person, with a nose that took up a good deal of the center of their face. Their hair was crudely cut, almost as if they had stuck a bowl on top and chopped everything they could see with a set of rusty shears. On their back was one of the biggest packs Link had ever seen, easily three to four times the size of the traveler themselves. Link eyes them up and down trying to figure out how someone as skinny as they could keep upright with all that weight.
“Welcome to Kakariko Village!” Marin announced, her body still rigid and proper. Link had stood up straight, but he had no intention of putting on nearly the same effort that Marin was.
“Ah, so this is Kakariko Village.” The Traveler noted. “Never have made my way here before. Not an easy place to get to.”
“Not that there is anything worth getting to.” Link pointed out under his breath.
“Everywhere is worth getting to!” The traveler corrected. “My life goal is to make it to every corner of the world. It would be a shame to pass on and leave any stone unturned. So much world, why not see it all?”
Link blinked at the traveler. “You travel for… traveling sake?” Link pushed.
“I sell my wares as well.” The Traveler answered. “The name’s Beedle. Traveler and merchant extraordinaire. On top of wanting to see every part of the world, I plan to trade for a piece of it as well.”
Then an idea crept into Link’s mind. In that moment it was like a part of him woke up. “So, you plan to trade in Kakariko?” He asked, trying to suppress his smile.
“Of course!” Beedle responded. “I would love to see what your Village has to offer and hopefully provide something of use to you as well.”
“Then of course you are prepared to pay the trade tax?” Link could feel Marin’s eyes bore into the side of his head, but she said nothing. “Anyone that enters for trade owes a trade tax of… ten rupees.”
“If that is the custom.” Beedle nodded. “Then of course I can pay.” With an extravagant swirl, the pack on his back was deposited before him, and before they knew it, the top half of him disappeared into the pack. It took only moments before he emerged with two shiny blue rupees. “Will this suffice?”
“It will.” Link said, snatching the rupees from his hand before Marin could say anything. “Please enjoy your stay in our Village.”
As the merchant, Beedle continued onward through the mountains into the village, Marin continued to stare at Link, her face red.
“How… dare you.” She seethed. “We don’t take payment for entry, we- we- I- I’m telling!”
“What’s the harm?” Link asked, holding one of the rupees up to the light. The sharp angles of the gem refracted the sunlight causing the rupee to glimmer. “Here, you can have one.” With a flick of his thumb, he sent the Rupee in Marin’s direction, but she made no effort to grab it.
“You are perverting our customs!” Marin squeaked. “Just because you’ve never wanted to be a guard doesn’t mean the rest of us don’t. What you did today is just unacceptable!”
“He’s a merchant.” Link said, rolling his eyes. Quickly he swiped the fallen rupee off the ground and tucked it into his pocket. “He didn’t seem all that broken up over a small fee. Don’t we deserve something for being out here all day?”
“Honor?” Marin offered.
“Ha!” Link burst out. “Honor. You know what honor will get you? Killed. They said my dad died with honor protecting the queen. And then she ended up dying anyway in childbirth. So, what did honor even get my dad? What was accomplished in the end?”
“We got a princess.” Marin pointed out.
“We? Why do people say we like it means anything to us? You think the royals actually care about us? When was the last time anyone from the royal family came to Kakariko Village in person? All they care about is that we keep providing them with soldiers that are willing to die for them. Hylia forbid I get 10 rupees out of it every now and then.”
“I’m telling Impa!” Marin announced, her face somehow both pale and red at Link's tangent. “I’m telling your mother!”