Chapter Text
The brunette youth checks his map one last time, wiping sweat from his brow. His red tunic clings wetly to his body from the blood of several injuries taken in the trials he has conquered in this castle.
"Today it ends, Ganon," his high alto murmurs to the empty room.
A deep chuckle carries out of the room on the other side of the open door.
The lad feels a ghost of movement from his pack, and glances inside. The golden triangle inside pulses, humming audibly. He pulls the strings of the pack closed and draws his sword before stepping into the ominous room ahead.
He fishes a bottle of red fluid from his belt, pulling the cork with his teeth and downing half of the draught. His face pulls into a grimace and he coughs lightly, before chasing the medicine with some clear water from a different bottle. His remaining wounds knit together instantly, and he breathes easier.
The door slams shut behind him, but he does not flinch.
He feels no fear in this moment;
No concern for failure;
Merely anticipation.
"A little small, even for a Hylian, aren't you?"
A fireball shoots out of the darkness towards the youth, and he ducks to the side, looking around for the magic’s source.
"I'm big enough to take you down, Ganon." He blows stray auburne hairs out of his face as he creeps towards the middle of the room. 'There!' He dodges in a roll as another fireball coasts lazily towards him.
"Hmph. So that scorpion couldn't even muster a full-grown man to fight me? I won't pretend surprise."
The voice comes from all around, as if the speaker is running circles around him - but the youth hears no footsteps.
Another flame and another dodge.
The lad hears a rustle of fabric behind him and strikes blindly with his blade. A glistening spark flies out from it as the exaggerated serrations slap into thick leather.
A giant porcine man materializes where the small flamberge blade strikes, sneering before him with tusks askew. He thrusts the back of one blue-tinged hand at the young Hylian, flinging him towards a wall on the other side of the room, "Fool!"
The boy’s hair flips around in the wind as he twists to catch the impact with his feet, skipping to the stone floor with only a slight jar from the collision.
"You could not defeat me in the peak of your power with that fairy-blessed blade! I threw it's shards in the caldera of Death Mountain - you have no blade which can harm me now."
The boar-snouted man bellows with laughter as he disappears again, the gales of mirth echoing around the small chamber.
The youth ducks a ball of flame that darts for his head, but sees the second one chasing it too late to even block it with his shield. It slammed into his torso and flings him back into the wall. His head bounces off of the stones and his skull rings from the contact.
Another peal of laughter greets his descent to the ground, reverberating in his head. 'No blade can harm, huh?' He glances down at his quiver and the glinting magic within. He had found the quiver here in this very castle, its case covered in arcane scripts he could not read.
The symbol in the scrollwork is clear to him though. Three round gems hug together into a setting that could be a circle itself, were the others not digging into it. It was the Goddesses' Crest and marked the quiver as a holy tool.
"Giving up already, Chosen of Farore? I expected more from you, to be sure. Even if you are but a child in this time." The sentence punctuates with another fireball blasting toward the boy.
He bats it casually away with his shield. He reaches to his belt and grabs the stoppered bottle of red fluid again, ripping the cork out with his teeth and spitting it to the side before downing the rest of the foul draught. His head begins to clear as he darts forward and begins slashing through the air, dodging fireballs and chasing the invisible fiend who tosses them about.
Another laugh guides his blade and he once more slaps the beast's skin with his magic sword. The illusion is cut even though his flesh is not, but the warlock immediately begins to weave it anew with his hands, floating backwards away from the child.
In a series of well-rehearsed motions, the boy sheathes his sword and pulls his bow around off his back, leaping forward as he pulls a silver-white arrow from the gleaming quiver at his side.
The beast-man's brows shot up as his eyes opened wide. The arrow lands in his chest right as he finishes reweaving his illusion.
A roar of pain greeted the youth's ears. 'Looks like holy arrows hurt plenty.'
"Link! YOU CURSED CHILD! I will kill you as I have killed you time and again!"
The youth's eyes widen as he darts away from a new stream of magical bolts, 'How does he know my name?!'
The warlock's flames erupt at a much greater pace now, following him too closely for comfort.
Link searches for a pattern, desperate for an opening. Every few cycles around the room, the fireballs start coming from an unexpected direction, as if Ganon is altering course completely.
'He's too fast. I can't dodge his fire and strike him, too. He keeps moving.'
The boy ducks his head under another blast, panting. His eyes narrow.
The next time the warlock's flames change direction, Link does, too, darting to meet him in his cycle around the room. Several fireballs flash directly at him. He slashes the first with his sword, grunting at the heat traveling up the blade as it absorbs the spell and grows searingly hot. The next he absorbs into his shield, while lashing out blindly in front of with his sword. The blade slaps flesh and illusion as a third firebolt slams into his chest. He drops the blade as he flips backward from the brunt of the blow. He ignores the taste of fire on his tongue and limbs as he pulls the bow out to shoot another bright-white arrow.
It sinks into a scar on the warlock's porcine face and he screams, falling backwards onto the floor. The scar ripped open, shedding light and mist as the man screeches.
Link drops the bow to grab at the floor before he lands, but the angle is wrong and his wrist collapses as he slides along the ground.
He struggles to his feet amongst his own screams and his opponent's. He strides forward, shrugging off his shield and grabbing his sword from the ground in his off-hand, his stronger left hanging limply to his side.
Fury shines in his eyes as he stalks towards the warlock. Before Link’s eyes, his blue-tinged pigflesh shimmers and dissolves, leaving behind an emaciated man with dark skin and short unruly red hair, sitting in a puddle of robes upon the floor.
He stands shakily, towering over the boy, robes barely granting him modesty, "Im... possible."
Light continued to fountain from the scar across his brow, but the warlock seemed blind to it, staggering forward, reaching at the young Hylian in the red tunic. "I... will not be defeated... by a child."
His hand starts to glow in red light aimed directly at Link.
The boy darts forward and slams his sword into the man's chest. He leaves it there, watching in fascination as red tendrils of energy spring from the blade and spread through Ganon’s torso, drawing the life from him.
The man sucks in a breath, "Din’s grace..."
He collapses to his knees, hands going to the sword in his chest and pulling it out with a sucking sound. It drops from his hands, weakly, and he falls backwards. His body turns to dust even as he sinks to the ground..
A shining golden triangle stands among the ashes. Link creeps forward and slides it into his pack to join its sister. They hum in resonance for a moment.
Link grunts and gasps as he gathers his supplies the best he can with one hand and then pries open the northern door of the chamber..
Behind a wall of fire, Link can see her. Red hair billows below a circlet of gold and a simple green dress adorns her. Pointed ears escape her radiant mane and mark her as a Hylian just as he is. "Princess Zelda."
The woman looks at him over the fire and nods, concern evident in her eyes as she takes in his condition, "You have vanquished Ganon...?" She looks uncertainly around the room and through the doorway into the chamber beyond. Link nods tiredly at her and strides forward, sweeping his sword against the enchanted flames. As he does, the lines of power keeping them burning slit apart and the flames wither away..
Zelda steps closer to him, looking over his wounds. "We're going to need to take care of that," she points at Link’s broken wrist. "Unfortunately, I am not at my full powers myself, or I could bind it quickly." She points at the faded Goddess Crest on the back of her right hand.
Link stares at her foggily and then clumsily sheathes his sword. He reaches into his pack, "Right... Impa said to bring this to you." He pulls out one of the golden triangles and hands it to her.
The princess claps her hands together and brings them to her mouth smiling, "The Triforce of Wisdom! Yes, that will do nicely." She gently caresses the artifact; a lover stroking their partner's cheek. Blue sparks trail from her fingertips and she weaves them together in the air, sending them coursing around Link’s mangled limb.
He closes his eyes and ignores the tingling and painful rearranging under his skin. He refuses to grunt in pain as his broken bone pieces shove past each other and back into alignment. He does not cry at all.
After a few moments, the sensations stop, "There, all done!"
Link glances at his hand appraisingly and then looks to his healer. She holds the golden triangle over the Goddess Crest on the back of her hand and slowly lowers it. The Triforce of Wisdom shrinks into her, seeming to take the place of one of the triangles upon her hand. The whole crest glows golden for a moment, and then color fades from all but one of the triangles.
Link bows to Zelda, "Thanks, princess."
She looks him up and down again, "You are quite a bit younger than I expected."
Link feels heat rising in his cheeks, "I get that a lot."
Zelda chuckles, "I bet you do, at that. Well, no matter. We must leave this forsaken place at once. Too long has our kingdom been under that pig's leash. There is much work to do to fix the scars he has left on our land." She looks at her rescuer, "Come along then, sir ...?"
"L-Link," he stammers out, looking up into her face. 'Stars and moon above. Her eyes are like sapphires under a sea of fire.'
Zelda smiles at him, "Sir Link, then. Hero of Hyrule! You will have to give the next batch of royal knights instruction in this whole hero-ing business."
"I -" the boy swallows, "I will do whatever you command, Princess."
She grins down at him, mischief dancing in her brows, "Of course you will, sir Hero!" She looks around her prison and turns her nose up, her bottom lip pouting out, "And the first request I have of you is to escort me from here. At once!"
Link gives a hurried salute and spins around, redrawing his sword as he goes before her to the doorway. They stride through together, back into Ganon’s ceremonial chamber.
Link looks around the room, from side to side. He carefully steps in front of the princess to halt her movements and stares into each of the corners of the room.
Zelda cocks her head and looks at the young Hylian, "Sir Hero - is something the matter?" She summons a ball of light in her hands, looking closely around the chamber herself.
Link nods, his brown locks dancing in front of his face, "He's gone... Ganon’s… ashes."
The young woman winced and then drew in her breath quickly, "No... then his Triforce of Power?"
Link shakes his head, patting his pack and feeling it thrumming inside, "I grabbed it before I left."
Zelda sighs, "Small miracles." She holds her thumb and fingers in a circle and marks the Sigil of the Goddesses upon her shoulders and forehead. "Perhaps one of his servants came to collect their master's remains for some arcane purpose. Whatever it means, we should leave here at once. I suspect we are not alone."
The young warrior nods. He looks around the room and then at Zelda. He cocks his own head briefly, and then nods. He sheathes his sword and pulls a bracelet inset with rubies off of his wrist. Immediately, his tunic turns green, matching her own dress.
He holds the jewelry out to her for inspection, and she takes it in her hands. She closes her fingers around the bracelet and then shuts her eyes briefly. "Oh! It is a magic armor!" She opens her eyes again and admires the bracelet more closely.
Link nods to her exclamation and pulls a sapphire-laden bracelet from his pack. He holds it in front of her face, "This one matches your eyes better, Princess, but its magic is not as powerful." He slips it onto his wrist, and his tunic shines with a blue-white brilliance for several moments, before fading away into more muted colors.
Zelda nodded and places the bracelet upon her arm. Her green dress flares to life briefly before settling into a crimson color after several moments. She spins briefly, admiring the change.
Meanwhile, Link digs through his pack, muttering. After a few moments, he looks her over, scrutinizing her form, “Hmmm.”
She blushes and looks away, "Sir Hero!"
"Princess," he begins, "have you ever practiced archery?"
"Oh!" She looks at her bare arms, lean and fibrous. "Yes, actually. Impa insisted that it has been a Hyrulean tradition since time immemorial."
Link nods, unbuckling his quiver and handing it to her, along with his bow, "If you have a clear shot, take it. We will restock arrows whenever we can, but for now, we will just have to make do with what we have."
He draws his sword again and waits while she settles the quiver to her own sash and nocks an arrow, undrawn and pointed to the ground. He nods again, and then strides away, leading her away from the desecrated chamber.