Not A Damsel

Chapter 2: The Name of A Hero

A/N: Hello everyone! It's been way too long. Actually, you've got one of my LU Discord pals to thank for this update! I'm also trying something new with this story. As many of you who've read my other works may know, I tend to have lengthy chapters after gaps of several months or years of no updates. So here, with this story, I'm trying a different approach. I'm going to try shorter chapters and more frequent updates! (I hope). Minimum chapter length will still be 1k words, but most chapters will be between 1k and 5k words until we hit LU.

Also, expect the in-game journey through Hyrule to be more like flashes of Phoenix's (how I refer to this 'Wild') journey and experiences. I do hope it still reads well! Please kudos and review, and remember to check out my tumblr for some exclusive story snips and concepts that you won't find on my writing platforms! You can find the link on my pfp!

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The first thing she awoke to was cold. For a moment all she could hear was an odd humming and dripping sound that tickled the back of her mind. Thoughts drifted through her like formless clouds. They had no substance, mere wisps of what should've been. But there was a soft warning bell on the edge of her consciousness. Like she was forgetting something important.

Her brows furrowed as she traced whispers of memories towards the last clear one. The castle... Ganon... Link.

She sat up with wide eyes, gasping for breath. "I... I'm alive?" Her voice echoed around the cavern she was in, but it didn't sound like her. She cleared her throat and tried again, but her voice was rough and low. It sounded almost masculine in a way. Her hand flew to her throat, but instead of smooth skin there was an unnatural roughness that had her heart quickening in her chest.

Her hands shook as they traced their way up to her face—scars, awful deep horrid scars, she could feel them. They covered her entire left side. She glanced down, realizing she was in nothing but her undergarments. What she saw had her feeling a strange mixture of horror and fascination. There were chunks missing from her left side, and she was certain she had one less rib than she should have. Yet there was no pain. The scar tissue looked years old, and she traced the divots in her body as she tried to understand her situation.

There was only one place that she knew of that could heal someone like this—heal someone who had injuries as severe as her. "The Shrine of Resurrection." She whispered in awe. But... she was certain she'd died. The Shrine was... had it truly brought her back to life? How?

She carefully hauled herself over the edge of the basin, leaning heavily against it as she forced her legs to bear her weight for the first time in Goddesses knew how long. They shook frighteningly so, but did not give. Though the sudden vertical position had her head spinning, she managed to blink through the black spots in her vision to focus on one of the only light sources in the room—her Sheikah Slate.

"How did...?" She reflexively cleared her throat again, but to no avail. There must've been damage done to her vocal chords then. With a quiet sigh, Zelda stumbled her way towards the pedestal. Somehow, the Slate felt right in her hands in a way that it never had before. Like some part of her was now connected to it.

The screen lit up, and she blinked. Zelda had spent excessive time studying the Sheikah and their creations. She'd grown up with Impa and Purah and Robbie. Sheikah—both spoken and written—came to her as easily as Hylian and Common. But there'd always been odd symbols in the Sheikah Slate that even the best researchers couldn't understand. Old Sheikah—from the age of ten thousand years passed—was quite a headache to translate and required a cipher at the very least. Even still, they hadn't managed to completely understand it.