Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Zelda: Facade of the Living ❯ There are some days... ( Chapter 1 )

- Heroes rarely find peace. War, peace, and day-to-day life bring no end to the struggles and challenges they face.

Heroes shine no matter what burdens fall upon their shoulders.

But what can anybody learn from any one such hero? What drives them to do the things they do? What motivates them to risk their lives for the sake of others? Is it patriotism? A sense of duty or honor? Could it be loyalty to a cause or to their fellow man?

Is it love?

That, is something only they know…


The Legend of Zelda: Facade of the Living

A Legend of Zelda fanfic by Lord Augustus and ShadowWolfX



Chapter One: There are some days...


In a dank and smelly dungeon…

Waking from his terrible nightmare, Link grasped for his bedside. His hand grabbed air as his eyes adjusted to the dim light.

The dream had come true; he had been captured and was thrown into this dungeon by the evil Gorkhan. The new King of the Gerudo had apparently abducted, beaten, and robbed him. He didn't know where he was, or exactly how he had been brought here.

All he could remember was a sharp blow to the back of the head, then blackness.

The hero searched frantically for his sword but could not come across it.

"Well, of course they'd take my weapons," he thought. "Hmm…but if you turn a well sideways you have a tunnel…"

His fairy friend Navi had given him that little anecdote. If he could reflect upon it, he might somehow find a way to escape.

Looking down at himself, the young hero noticed that his green tunic was torn in many places. He found himself covered in dirt and his own dry blood. Barely mustering the energy to sit up, Link tried to think of a way to escape. The walls of the cell were bare stone bricks, and there were no window slits to let in light.

He stood, and heard the sound of footsteps against the floor.

Just then a shadow loomed from the darkness of the hallway. Link prepared himself for the worst and got ready to attack. When he laid eyes upon a boy, perhaps no older then he was, walking down the corridor, he became confused. Dressed only in a raggedy shirt with a hood that obscured his features, he was probably another prisoner, but Link failed to see any guards with him.

Suddenly, Link came to a realization.

This boy was a Sheikah.

There was no denying it any longer, as the boy quickly pulled off his hood, revealing the rest of his face. Slightly shorter than he was, the boy had a shock of stringy whitish hair that fell down over his face. His penetrating eyes were an unexpected color, deep crimson red.

In his hands, he held both a small knife and a sword. The knife appeared to be rusty but still quite sharp, a common thief's dagger. However, the sword gleamed brightly in the scarce light. The handle was of blue gold, and the blade was a deadly length of solid steel.

It was the Master Sword.

The boy seemed to be having great trouble holding the sword. It appeared as if the blade was incredibly heavy, and he dragged the tip across the floor, unable to bring it any higher.

"Hey kid! Let me see that sword you have!" Link yelled, hoping for a reply.

The boy walked up to the iron bars and laughed aloud.

"You think I'm going to give a common criminal this sword? Ha! This is the legendary Master Sword! Only the true hero, Link, can use it," he retorted, starting to walk away. "It weighs at least a million pounds. You couldn't lift it if you tried, so shut up!"

"But I am Link! Watch, hand me the sword and I will show you."

Interested by this wretch who was claiming to be a hero, the boy warily handed him the sword. He couldn't quite believe the way this prisoner had spoken to him, as if he were the one locked in a prison cell. The young man gripped his dagger a little tighter, ready to stab the man in the green tunic at a moments notice.

As soon as the Master Sword hit Link's palm the incredible weight was gone. The razor sharp blade glowed with a brilliant blue light. He brought the blade up high over his shoulder and swung it down in a wide arc, effectively slicing all the iron bars in two.

The green clad warrior swiftly kicked the door with the heel of his boot, and when the hinges came undone, it toppled over, barely missing his new friend.

Slamming hard onto the stone floor, it threw up a great billowing cloud of dust that took quite some time to settle. Afterwards, the boy had a look of pure astonishment on his face.

"You really are Link!" he exclaimed.

"I told you that before. Now how do I leave?"

"I didn't know I was actually coming to rescue you! To think the almighty Link could need my help!"

"Gloating will get you nowhere. Who sent you to…" Link started.

Just as he was about to finish, a band of Death Knights raced into the corridor to see what had exploded.

Seven feet tall, and fully covered with black armor, these creatures were the scum of the earth. Immensely powerful, they could snap a man in half as if he were a toothpick. The fact that they carried broadswords the size of elephant tusks didn't help the matter. The situation turned grim as the boy and escaping hero were noticed.

Link drew his sword as the young boy spun his dagger waiting for a battle. Before the boy could say or do anything, Link grabbed a hold of him and ran away from the knights towards a dead end.

"It's a dead end! Why bother running if we're gonna fight anyway?" yelled the boy as he was being pulled.

"Because we aren't going to fight," replied the hero.

As Link said this, he slashed his glowing sword at the wall. When he pushed, it quickly fell to pieces, revealing the absence of ground below. The only things visible were the air and a murky blackness which seemed to extend forever.

Link gripped the boy firmly by the arm and they dove out of the strange castle into the abyss.


*****


It seemed to take forever to fall, and everything was moving in slow motion. Minutes went by, and they still plummeted toward the ground, which they still couldn't see.

Link turned his head to his new friend, who was absolutely terrified.

"Everything's gonna be okay!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.

The boy didn't seem to care. He was really only interested in one thing.

"Wow! How did you do that with your sword? I didn't think stuff like that was possible!"

"It isn't usually!" Link yelled. "I used magic energy to charge my sword!"

"You can control magic?!" the boy exclaimed. "That's incredible! By the way, my name is Jade!"

"Nice to meet you Jade, my name is Link!"

"I know that already! We should worry about the crocodiles when we finally hit the moat?!"

"Good idea kid!"

Several seconds later, their conversation was cut short. With an absolutely tremendous splash, Link and Jade landed in the cloudy waters of the castle moat. After a good minute, the two surfaced, and congratulated themselves on a genius breakout. Surely it would go down in the history book as one of the most daring escapes ever.

But nobody saw them get away except the crocodiles.

Oh, well. Too bad.









At the bottom

Looking around as he floated in the dirty water, Link made a rough guess as to where they might be. High above him at the edge of a cliff was the castle they had just leaped from. It was ancient and very dilapidated, with the north wall gone completely.

They actually hadn't fallen into a moat at all, instead a lazily flowing river current was carrying them downstream.

He realized that they were swimming in one of the Zora River's tributaries that flowed northeast of Hyrule. That meant they were somewhere in the vicinity of Death Mountain. If they started off now, they might be able to make it back to Hyrule Castle in a few days.

As they pulled their soaked bodies from the murky waters, Jade started to frantically ask questions on how Link could possibly have been captured. Starting to get annoyed by these questions, Link would eventually turn the tales and annoy him.

Maybe it would make the boy go away.

They started into the dark forest that grew on and around the mountain range. Of course, no more then five minutes into the forest Jade burst out in another outburst of questions.

"Where are we going?"

"What are we doing?"

"When are we gonna get back?"

"What's your favorite color?"

"Look just…" Link started as he turned around to see the boy held in place by an enormous, brawny Goron and a shrimpy, little Deku Scrub.

The Deku had his hookshot aimed at Jade's head.

Jade had been abducted so quick that the hero didn't even notice it.

Link drew his sword, and as it glimmered in the sun reflecting brilliant flashes of color from the golden steel, Link caught sight of the Goron's hammer. It was absolutely massive, and to be hit by it would surely mean death. Gorons were notorious for being slow, but they were gifted with the most mind boggling strength.

To add to that, their skin was close to impenatrable.

It might have proved a match even for the Master Sword.

"Hey! Let the kid go and I won't hurt you!" Link threatened, not really knowing if he could free the boy.

Link watched as the Scrub very slowly lowered his hookshot. The Goron refused to let go of Jade however. With an enormous smile, he showed his gigantic, peg-like teeth.

Quite unexpectedly, the Goron burst out into a fit of laughter.

The hero was starting to become very irritated.

Just as the Hero of Time was about to charge into battle, his ears picked up a sound coming from the trees.

The snap of a bowstring going taught.

As Link fell to the ground at the feet of his attackers, one of the last things he saw was a fleeting glance of the Zora woman who had nailed him.

Through his pain and clouded vision, he was able to see one final detail about his enemies, the strange tattoos on their shoulders.









Some time later

As Link woke up, he thought he was back in his dungeon cell awaiting the horrible execution fitting for an escapee. But when his eyes adjusted, he found himself unchained. There were no bars and apparently no way to keep him at bay.

Better yet, his sword had been wrapped in a neat cloth and laid beside him.

"What in Farore's name is going on here?!" the hero yelled as he saw a dark shadow loom from the corner.

He grabbed his sword as Jade walked into the room carrying a bowl of fresh fruit and a jug of cider for him.

"Whoa! Master Link, I knew you were always ready for battle, but this is ridiculous. I'm not going to kill you," said the boy

"I'm sorry kid, I'm just a little confused. Where are we?" Link asked as he placed the Master Sword back into it's new linen sheath.

"I'll explain after you eat. Hell, I'm gonna get something to eat myself."


*****


After Jade left, the daylight seemed to penetrate the darkness a little more. Link, now being able to see more of his surroundings, started to look over the moss-covered walls. He seemed to be in a cave some depth under ground. It had been dug out to fit the likes of maybe three Gorons stacked on top of each other.

As he surveyed the surroundings the smell of the cider and fruit made its way to his nose and he could not bear not to resist.

He picked up the bowl of assorted fruits and pulled out a strange looking banana-like object. It had the overall shape of a banana, but was a very odd shade of red. As he peeled it, it opened up into a flowerish petal and seeds poured out of the sides.

Link then noticed a goblet, filled to the brim with some sort of red liquid.

"What is all of this?" he said as he raised the glass. He brought it to his nose and took a whiff of it. To his surprise, it had a very sweet smell to it, so he brought the cup to his lips and took a sip.

He took one drink and immediately his body felt rejuvenated.

"Wow! Even Lon Lon milk doesn't taste this good!"Link thought to himself.

Many of the painful wounds on his person immediately healed. As the liquid coated his stomach, his splitting headache finally went away.

Pulling himself to his feet, Link was ready to investigate the strange cavern.

With his body feeling fresh and his sense of adventure screaming he walked in the direction he had seen Jade go a few minutes before. He was crunching on some of the seeds from the banana fruit, which seemed to contain a sort of gum-like substance, when he heard voices down a hall that seemed to lead into another chamber.

He peeked around the corner to see the three people who had attacked him conversing with each other.

"Yes it is Link! I know it is! That sword is no ordinary sword, it's the Master Sword!" said the Goron.

"No way! You mean the Link is here," the impish Scrub exclaimed.

"Yes, it seems to me that we have indeed found who we were looking for, doesn't it?" the Zora woman said, looking thoughtful. "But do you think he will help us? I mean I did shoot him with an arrow."

"Well, it's not like you stabbed the guy!" yelled the excited little Deku Shrub. "It was blunted. Just to stun him, ya know?."

The Zora woman sighed and held her head in her hands. Why did the Deku always have to be so difficult?

"Use your little wooden brain Dreck! Do you think he knows that?"

It was then that Link decided to emerge from his little hiding space. With his trusty sword, he was positive there was nothing they could do this time to injure him, so he warily stepped forward

"I'd say I do now," he said as he strolled from around the corner.

The Zora, Goron and Deku were all startled by his sudden arrival.

"Master Link! I am so sorry I shot you. I mean Dreck and Gonga thought that the only way a man of your status and fame would talk to us is for us to…shoot you," the Zora apologized.

The hero suddenly felt like he could use a drink.

"So what are your names again?" Link asked, sighing heavily.

First the proud Goron stepped forward. On his shoulder rested a giant warhammer, presumably for smashing things into oblivion. His size was truly impressive, almost twice Link's height.

"I am Gonga! Proud warrior of the Goron race."

His earth-shaking voice didn't seem to affect the young Hylian in any way. Despite his volume, the rock eating man gave off a sense of jolliness.

Next, the tiny Deku shrub took a step forward. On his little belt swung what appeared to be a hookshot. This one was different however, as the ends were tipped with many razor-sharp spikes.

"Yeah, they call me Dreck. What's it to you?"

Again, Link wasn't impressed. The Deku's size and squeaky voice didn't exactly instill mortal fear in him, but he knew better than to trust first impressions.

Lastly, the Zora woman stepped forward. She was thin, and rather shapely, but Link had very little interest in her. He had enough experience with crazy, obsessive Zora women. He could theorize that she was the one who had shot him, as she had a bow and a quiver full of arrows strapped to her backside.

"My name is Zeta, archer extraordinare!"

Link smiled and scratched his head nervously.

"Umm, nice to meet you…" he stammered out.

Suddenly, the Shiekah boy Jade stumbled into view. He had of course been eavesdropping on their conversation. The young man stumbled around for a minute before tripping over his own feet and falling to the ground. After wiping himself off, Jade picked up the jar of cider he had dropped, stood up, and began twirling his dagger on his left palm, probably to show off.

"I mean come on people. You think after nearly killing him he's going to listen to you, especially when he's fully armed?" the youth said in a cocky tone, sounding drunk. "You knock him unconscious and keep him unguarded with his weapon at his side...which I might add is capable of destroying you all in an instant."

The group shook their heads and backed off a few steps as Link glared at Jade. The boy certainly needed to learn a little respect, and a sense of balance, as he had dumped the contents of his jar onto the floor.

Suddenly something caught Link's eye.

"What does that symbol mean?" he inquired, pointing to a poster on the damp wall. "I've seen it in some taverns and you three seem to have in on your shoulders."

Permanently tattooed on their shoulders were strange emblems. They somewhat resembled the scarlet eagle symbol used by the Royal Family of Hyrule. However the wings of the bird were huge, wrapping around their upper arms like a decorative bracelet.

"It is the sign of our band of resistance. We are the elite, the strong, the fierce, the brave. We are the Renegades!" the small Deku said with a great measure of pride in his voice.

Jade nearly fell over laughing at something Link couldn't see.

"You're the Renegades?! What a joke! You guys are the biggest bunch of idiots I have ever heard of."

Anger flashed through their eyes, and the hero had to diffuse the situation quickly.

"Kid, stop it!" Link scolded as he turned back to the group. "Why have you formed this group, and why do you need my help?"

The young Hylian narrowed his eyes at the group in front of him. They looked seedy, but he could tell they had been through many ordeals. He could tell also that they had not always been on the side of justice.

"You see, we used to work for a Gerudo named Gorkhan. He's the new Gerudo king. He often hired us to eliminate resistance and take out rebellious groups," the large Goron boomed from his corner.

"But after a while we started to realize that these groups were right in trying to take out Gorkhan," Zeta said solemnly. "This guy is a crazy freak, who kills and maims people for his own demented fuckin' pleasure! He'll stop at nothing to get what he wants, which is basically all of Hyrule. We've tried to stop him, but by the time we were ready to attack, he had found out our plans through a leak in the organization."

The Zora spoke with an odd tone as if she had once been the leader of a much larger group then just the three of these misfits. As if to answer the question in Link's mind the Deku spoke up.

"We used to be many, but now we are few. We were betrayed by General Trebla'."

"I was a Renegade too, but I've never met these people. I do know that Trebla' was our main source of information though. He promised to help us strike Gorkhan down," Jade said, sounding knowledgable. "He turned out to be the guy's right hand, but he pretended to be in on the assassination plot. In the end, Trebla' betrayed us all and we fell into his trap. At one time, they had an army of two hundred, but we're all that's left."

"So we ask you, Link, the Hero of Time, to help us rid the world of Ganondorf's successor," the tiny Dreck said.

"Please, help us destroy the evil he has brought upon this land," Zeta pleaded.

"And restore the balance of good and evil that has been protected by you on so many occasions," said the big Gonga.

Link turned his hand over and glanced at the mark of the Triforce of Courage. It had been years since he had really looked at it. It had never steered him wrong in his life, and had given him the resolve to save the world countless times.

He felt a warm glow in his hand as he lifted his head and smiled.

His smile faded when he thought about what the new Gerudo king could do to the land of Hyrule. Link didn't know what his power was, but if this Gorkhan character was anything like Ganondorf, then darkness would soon enshroud the kingdom.

There was perhaps one more person who could be of great help to their cause.

"Okay, I'm in," the Hero of Time said, "but first…where is Princess Zelda?


End Chapter One



Proceed to Chapter Two