Breath of Life | LoZBoTW

Challenges

"You two look exhausted." Zelda commented as she noticed them the next morning. They were almost a hundred percent sure she probably knew what they did last night, but they weren't ashamed. They felt more in touch now than ever. "Well, help yourself to some breakfast. I'm going to be busy in my studies today, so you won't have to worry about me. You all can take a day to yourselves."

Link and Emery sat in a comfortable silence as they ate their food on the cafeteria. The castle was huge, even bigger than she ever could've imagined. She wasn't use to living somewhere you could literally get lost. "So, what do you want to do today?"

"I don't know. Explore I guess." She shrugged.

"I've been wanting to head back to the Great Plateau. You've never been there, have you?" He asked. She shook her head. After eating, they traveled there. It didn't take long since it was right outside of Hyrule Field.

"Why do you want to go there?" She asked as she looked up the wall. Climbing that was going to suck. Did they really have to?

"You'll see." He shrugged, then started climbing. She let out a sigh before beginning to climb also. Since they were so in shape, it didn't take them long to climb up the walls. Link helped Emery up once she got to the top. She took in the surroundings. She'd never seen it before. Realistically, who would look at a giant, intimidating wall and climb it? Especially not knowing what's up there. It was surprisingly beautiful though, and there was one building that caught her eye. Link noticed too. "Come on."

They headed towards it, and all the way, there was a guardian. It was stationary though, and Emery just shot it in the eye a couple of times to kill it. As they made their way up to the building, Emery looked at the map on the Sheikah Slate. She just recently had time for Link to start teaching her how to use it. Technology was weird and advanced, but it was incredible. She loved it. As she read the map, it read places called the Eastern Abbey and other things that sounded oddly familiar to the legends she'd read with Link before. What was this place really? As they stepped up to the structure that was pretty rundown now, she couldn't help but still admire it. It was obvious it had been around for years and years, maybe even as long as the Great Deku Tree. Maybe that was pushing it a little, but it seemed close to it. When she looked on the map, it read the Temple of Time. She looked to Link.

"I never told you about what happened to me, how I came back. What it was like starting out." He began. She listened to him intently, and knew he should go on. This would be like telling a story to her. Like another legend. "This is the Temple of Time. Just up there, that's where I walked out from after I awoke. That cliff, seeing everything. I had no idea what was happening, all I know was that everything was incredible. All I knew was my name and Sheikah Slate. It was so confusing, but oddly I didn't freak out. It all felt natural to me in a way. When I came down the hill, I instantly started exploring things. I found sticks that I immediately thought to use as a weapon, and I found Hylian Shrooms and other herbs. Then, underneath that small rock overhang where that fire still burns, I met The Old Man."

"Where is he now? Is he dead?" She asked quickly. That had now sat down on the steps of the Temple of Time. The legends had to be real, she wanted to believe they were. Link chuckled at her enthusiasm, but hurried to go on.

"At that point, I realized that I was alive, but I didn't know anything. I had no memories. This world seemed so familiar, yet unfamiliar at the same time. My body felt old, but my brain rejuvenated. The sun was so bright and blinding after being that dark, cold place for so long, I could barely see. It hurt my head. I met that man, and he helped me. He told me where I was, and what was going on outside the safe terrain of the Great Plateau. But he didn't tell me much at first. He didn't want me to worry or be overwhelmed. I took a roasted apple from him, and that's how we started to talk. I just walked over and picked it up, not truly knowing what was meant to do. I just wanted to eat, I felt so hungry. It was the sweetest thing I'd ever tasted. As soon as I picked it up, he peaked out from beneath his hood and scolded me. I was frightened, but he ended up saying he was simply teasing me, and I was welcome to sit with him for a while. I didn't want to do that, I wanted to explore. So he told me what I needed to know so I could be on my way. He said that this was known as the birthplace of Hyrule Kingdom. The first thing I did, the Sheikah Slate took me to this spot on my map. All the while, Zelda was speaking to me. I didn't recognize her voice at all, I had no idea who it was. I could've swore I was going crazy hearing voices in this land with no recollection of anything. I put my Sheikah Slate up to the pedestal, and I fell back as the ground shook beneath. Up rose a tower, and I saw the entire land from there. As I looked at the castle, through all the evil, I saw a blindingly warm light that gave me... hope. Motivation, determination, purpose. But I didn't know what it was. Some how The Old Man appeared behind me. I, of course, questioned him. I had an attitude, no doubt. But what would expect after being so confused about what was happening? He told me to go to the shrines. I went to all four, and that's when I got the runes for my Sheikah Slate. I found items, armor, weapons, foods, all kinds of things. I learned how to use the runes, my weapons, how to cook, how to stay warm or cold, how to cut wood, how to survive out in the wild. I fought monsters, and everything was just coming back to me like I knew before. Still, I just knew my name and all these skills. I didn't know where I came from or what I was doing here, or what that cave was that I woke up in. The Old Man told me that once I got all four of the shrines completed, to come find him where they cross on the map. That was here. I went in first, and went to that Goddess statue."