Heads up, these // are for italic parts (because I can't do it here on webnovel)
•••
"You keep pointing the arrow away," you said to Link, who seemed to be distracted by his surroundings. He turned his head to look at you before giving a sheepish smile. His attention then went back to the slate. He started to turn his body and the slate in direction of the glowing point.
"Sorry about that," Link said, his eyes glued to the Sheikah Slate. You couldn't help but chuckle softly. Your eyes made their way up to the sky, seeing the sun now slowly descend from its highest peak. You looked back to Link, standing on your toes a bit to see the slate and how far the point was. From what you could tell, you guys would be reaching it pretty soon. You nodded a bit and went back to admiring your surroundings, that is until Link began mumbling things.
"Weird," Link said to himself, his eyes squinting as he looked at the screen and then around. "Apparently the glowing point is supposed to be there." He pointed to two large rocks that met together at the top, leaving a wide gap from the middle and down. You rose an eyebrow and looked at the screen and then the rocks. It certainly was weird, but soon you noticed a rusty golden coloured arch in between the rocks. There also seemed to be a platform there, and in the center there was something, but you couldn't make out what it was.
"There seems to be something between the large gap of the rocks," you told him. Without a thought you went towards the rocks, with a bit of cautiousness of course. You hoisted yourself up, stepping onto the platform before walking towards a cylinder shaped... thing. You knelt down, fingers coming in contact with the thing in front of you. You examined it closely, seeing a rectangular shaped opening in the middle of the objects surface. There were also lines engraved deep into the stone. It was glowing a burnt orange colour which puzzled you a bit. What is this?
"Woah," Link said as he walked towards you. He also began examining it until his slate began beeping more loudly. You stood up and looked at him, eyes then travelling down to see words appear on the screen. /Place the Sheikah Slate in the pedestal/, it said. You rose an eyebrow and looked at the pedestal and then Link.
"Guess we do what it says," Link said, eyes meeting yours for a few seconds before going back down to the slate. He followed the instructions, hesitantly looking at the pedestal before placing the Sheikah Slate in it. For a few moments nothing happened, which made you grow rather anxious. Suddenly, the slate turned by itself, the screen now facing you both as a bright orange glow came from it momentarily. Once the glow went away you leaned in closer to the screen, words appearing once again.
"What does it say?" Link asked you.
"Sheikah Tower activated," you read. Just as those words finished coming out of your mouth, the screen showed another sentence. "Please watch for... falling rocks?"
"Why would there be falling ro—," Link was cut off by the crashing sound of rocks. The platform you both stood on began to shake violently, causing you and him to fall on your backs. The impact made you wince slightly, but that was the least of your worries because more rocks began coming down. You quickly moved your arms over your head, in hopes of protecting yourself. You had absolutely no idea what was going on, but one thing was certain. You were rising up.
To be more specific, the platform Link and you were on was rising up. You didn't dare stand to see how high up you guys were going, since fear of falling off came into your brain. Soon enough the violent shakes died down, and everything seemed still. Cautiously, you began to peek through your arms to check if everything was alright. You caught sight of Link, who was still laying flat on the ground.
"Are... are you alright?" You asked with a gulp, now slowly sitting up. You kept your eyes on Link, simply waiting for a response.
"Yeah, peachy," he answered with a small cough. "Holy Hylia, that fall sure hurt."
You sighed out, now allowing yourself to look around you. Using the pedestal as support, you hoisted yourself up from the ground. From where you stood, you could see every inch of the Great Plateau, which mesmerised you. You turned your head, watching as Link finally stood up from the ground. Your attention soon went to the Sheikah Slate, since a weird beeping sound came from it.
"It says it's distilling local information," you read, moving to the side so Link could see as well.
"What does that even mean?" He asked, leaning towards the slate to get a better look at it before standing straight again. You shrugged as a response. You were about to walk towards the edge of the tower to get a better look of the landscape, but Link's gasp made you stop. Turning to look at him, you saw his eyes staring at the top of the pedestal. You followed his gaze, seeing a large stone hanging from the ceiling of the tower. The end of the cone-like stone was pointing towards the pedestal, but what caught your attention the most was the glowing blue that came from it.
The blue glow began forming some type of liquid, which made Link and you raise an eyebrow. The blue liquid then dropped onto the Sheikah Slate, and the two of you leaned in to inspect it. The slate now displayed a map, and in the map you could see where the glowing point was more easily. At the bottom of the screen, words were displayed once again. /Regional map extracted/, you read in your head. You stepped back as the screen turned off.
"Well... now we have a map of this place," you said with a small smile. Yes, you already had the one that you found in your Shrine, but you didn't bring it up. Link simply nodded at your words and took the slate, attaching it once again to the belt that was on his hip. He was going to move back from the pedestal, but a puzzled expression came over his features. You cocked an eyebrow, head now tilting as you studied him.
"Link... are you okay?" You asked after a bit. There was no response from him. He turned to look at you. No, not you. Behind you. He started moving towards the edge of the tower. You followed him, and soon your eyes landed where his were directed. Down, below the Great Plateau, was the castle you had seen so many years ago. You rubbed your head, the memory coming into your head more clearly.
"Help him," a voice said in your head, startling you. "(Y/n)... help him remember. Calamity Ganon will regain its true power soon. Help Link, before it is too late." As the voice continued speaking to you, the castle began to be surrounded by the same dark clouds that covered it before. A monster could be seen through the clouds, and when you saw the yellow eyes of the creature you froze slightly. The ground below you began to shake a bit, making you lose a bit of balance, but you were able to regain it. The voice soon ceased, which made you sigh out.
"The voice...," Link spoke up, which made you remember where you were. You snapped out of your thoughts, quickly looking up at him. "It came back."
"Wh-What did it say?" You stuttered, your mind still not completely there.
"It was telling me to remember."
You didn't say anything to this. A simple nod came from you which was followed by a small sigh. "We should probably head back down," you said to him. Link seemed a bit surprised, since he was half expecting you to ask more questions about the voice he was hearing. Actually, he was rather shocked that you didn't even seem weirded out by it. Pushing his own thoughts away, he nodded to your words.
It took a while to find a way down from the tower, but soon enough you were both on solid ground. Suddenly, out of no where, the two of you heard what seemed like a laugh. You looked around, trying to find the source of the sound and then your eyes landed on the old man from before. The only thing was that he was coming towards the two of you from the sky. He was using some type of... object to descend down to you both. Once he landed on the ground he faced Link and you.
"My, my... It would seem we have quite the enigma here," the old man said, his arms now coming to rest on the top of his wooden stick. "This tower and others just like it have erupted across the land, one after another. It seems as though... a long-dormant power has awoken quite suddenly."
Link seemed to tense slightly at the presence of this man. You took notice of this, but simply turned back to look at the man, who was now directing a question to Link.
"If you do not mind me asking... Did anything... odd occur while you were atop that tower?"
Link hesitated, his eyes flickering from the man to you. It almost seemed like he didn't know what to say to the man. He began chewing on his bottom lip, nervousness coming from his actions. This made you sigh out, and you decided to step in to help him.
"He heard a voice," you responded for him.
The old man didn't seem surprised by this. He simply looked at you, a fond smile coming onto his lips before speaking up once again. "A voice you say? And did you happen to recognise this mysterious voice?" He asked, now looking back at Link.
This time Link simply replied with a shake of his head. The old man nodded with a bit of disappointment. "I see. Well, that is unfortunate," he said. He turned a bit, his body facing the direction that the castle laid. With his wooden stick, he gestured to it, which made you and Link turn to look. "I assume you both caught sight of that atrocity enshrouding the castle."
The old man went on to explain how the monster was Calamity Ganon, and how it brought the kingdom of Hyrule to ruin a hundred years ago. Of course, everything he was saying you knew because you were there when it happened. Nonetheless, you listened to what he had to say. Little by little though your mind drifted off as you stared at the castle. Seeing it in this state troubled you, but you dismissed the feeling when another question came from the old man.
"I must ask you courageous one... Do you intend to make your way to the castle?" The old man now faced Link.
Link furrowed his eyebrows, nodding a bit before making solid eye contact with the old man. "I do," he said firmly.
The old man seemed very pleased with this response. "I had a feeling you would say that," he said. His eyes then made their way towards you. The eye contact you both made, made you feel a bit nervous, but you did your best on not looking away. He seemed to be studying you, before speaking up once again.
"Well, here on this isolated plateau, we are surrounded on all sides by steep cliffs, with no way down," the old man began saying. "If you were to try to jump off, well... no death could be more certain. Or more foolish."
You nodded to his words. "How do you propose we get down there then?" You asked.
"Ah, well if you had a paraglider like mine, that would for sure help you both."
"Hand it over," Link said immediately, extending his hand out in a way of telling the old man to give it to him. The action made you shake your head as you face palmed yourself.
"Oho! Certainly! Why not? But there is no such thing as a free item in this world, you know," the old man said, laughing a bit at Link's actions. "I have an idea. How about I trade it for a bit of treasure that slumbers nearby?"
•••
"Are you sure about this?" You asked Link. You looked towards the shrine that laid way ahead of you. According to the old man, Link and you would get his paraglider if you got the treasure —if there was any— that was in the strange looking shrine.
"Well if this gets me the paraglider, then yeah," Link replied, glancing over at you for a few moments. You didn't turn to look at him, since you were too invested in your thoughts. You figured that, since he was still letting you stick by him, you were basically partners already. Of course, you could ask him to know if you were or not, but you decided to not talk about that subject.
"We're here," Link said after a bit, making your thoughts go away. You looked in front of you, seeing the large shrine which made your jaw drop. The curious part of you made questions rush through your mind. /What does this shrine do? How do we get in? What's that pedestal for?/ Link and you stepped onto the platform, but you were the first to go towards the pedestal that was on the right side.
"I think you have to put the Sheikah slate here. Like you did in the tower," you told Link, your fingers gently brushing over the pedestal before looking back at him.
Link nodded, and went towards you. He removed the Sheikah slate from his belt and placed it over the pedestal. The engraved lines of the pedestal glowed a bright blue when he did this. A little noise then came from the slate, which made you look at it.
"Travel Gate registered to map," Link read what the words on the slate said. You were both confused as to what that meant, but neither of you asked about it. Soon, another sentence appeared. /Access granted./ You looked a bit more confused at this, but when the rock wall that covered the entrance of the shrine parted you figured out what it meant. You looked inside the small shrine, seeing nothing but a circular platform in the center.
"I think I have to step on that," Link said, his hands now moving to put away the slate. You nodded, making your way inside the shrine until you felt yourself being tugged back by the arm. You turned, watching as Link gently pulled you back from the entrance.
"I'll go in there. Alone," he told you with a somewhat firm voice. You blinked for a few moments before shaking your head. You certainly couldn't let him go alone, not when you didn't know what could happen. It was your job to protect him, so there was no way you were going to let him go. But Link seemed to be firm with his decision of going alone, because when you opened your mouth to protest he rose a finger.
"Look (Y/n), this is something /I/ have to do. You don't have to come along with me, I'm sure I can manage on my own," He said. He gave you a gentle smile, now letting go of your arm. You frowned slightly, not at all liking the idea of him /managing/ alone.
"But what if something bad happens?" You asked him, your hands now coming to rest on your hips. "In a situation like that you'd need help."
"I doubt something will happen. Besides, it's just this one thing I have to do, and then I'll get that paraglider from the old man," he said with a shrug. You huffed out, crossing your arms with a small nod. He was right, he just needed to do this and then he'd get what he needed. /Surely there's nothing in the shrine... I mean it looks pretty safe./ You moved further back from the entrance, waiting for him to go in but he didn't. Link moved his hand up to his neck, which he was now rubbing slightly as a weird expression came over his face.
"What is it?" You asked, figuring something was going through his mind.
"Ah... are you going to stay here and wait for me?" He asked slowly, seeming unsure of his words. He raised his blue eyes to look at yours. "I-I mean just know that you don't have to! I don't want you to feel obligated to stay and all... I'm sure you have far more important things to do."
His small stutter made you snicker a bit. You ran your fingers through your hair with a small hum. "I know I don't have to," You said to him, maintaining eye contact. "But I don't mind, just be safe in there, alright? I wouldn't know what to do if you came out all beaten up or something."
Link had a look of relief wash over his eyes. "I'll be safe," he affirmed with a nod of his head. He turned and made his way into the shrine, looking around before moving his body to face you. You rubbed your arm, waiting for something to happen. Then, the circular platform he was on glowed and he slowly began to descend down. You sent him a tiny wave before he was gone.
•••
You pressed your back against an old ruin, your eyes still remaining on the shrines entrance. The sun was now barely peaking out between a few mountains. Its rays reached out slightly, warming you up a bit. /What's taking him so long?/ Your thoughts threatened to think of bad things that could be happening to Link, but you did your best on dismissing them. You looked up, admiring the different shades of pink and red that were painted across the sky. It was truly a beautiful sight.
You then felt your stomach growl. Your nose scrunched up a bit at the sound and the feeling. /I need some food/, you told yourself in your head. You scanned the nearby trees, in hopes of finding apples. When you successfully found an apple tree you stood up and walked towards it. You snapped a couple of branches, thinking about starting a fire since it was already getting dark out. Once you collected enough wood you stood on your toes and grabbed the few apples that were on the bottom branches.
"Time for some baked apples," you said with a hum. You walked back to the ruin you were sitting next to and set the apples down. You then came down onto your knees, putting the wood on top of each other one by one. You didn't know if you were going to be able to start a fire, but the skill came into you all of a sudden. Grabbing two sticks, you began rubbing them together quickly which caused them to warm up until successfully lighting up the wood. To make the fire more big you yanked dry grass from the ground and put it on the fire.
Once the fire was big enough you collected the apples from the ground and placed them around the fire. It didn't take long for them to bake, which was good since you were getting pretty hungry. After the apples turned a dark shade of red you took them one by one and put them farther away from the fire so they wouldn't burn too much. You then took one and took a bite, humming happily at the delicious taste.
"This won't fill me up much, but least it's something," you said to yourself. Just as you reached to get another baked apple you caught sight of movement ahead of you. Your eyes darted up, seeing Link now walk off the platform of the shrine. He smiled when he saw you, and then made his way towards you and the warm fire.
"Well you sure took your time in there," you said, relieved to see that he was okay. You grabbed a baked apple and offered it. "I don't know if you're hungry, but if you are there are plenty of apples."
Link chuckled a bit and sat at the opposite side of you. He crossed his legs, happily taking the apple from your hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take so long," he said with a soft sigh. He then took a bite of the baked apple.
You were going to ask him what was in the shrine, but in that exact moment a figure came from above. You turned your head, seeing the same old man again now standing near you. The old man fixated his eyes on Link before speaking.
"It seems you managed to get your hands on a Spirit Orb. Well done!" The old man began saying. You didn't know what he was talking about, but you looked over at Link to see if he knew.
"How did you know that?" Link asked him, now standing up from the ground. You figured you should stand up as well so you did.
The old man started explaining his ways of knowing, and the knowledge he had of these Shrines that were apparently dispersed all across the land. But when he mentioned how Link would have to go to three more before actually getting his paraglider you frowned.
"Wait what? That wasn't part of the deal!" Link said, obviously bothered.
"Hmm, true. I suppose I changed my mind, but I'm sure that won't be a problem for a young go-getter like you!" The old man said with a light laugh. "Although, I'll give you time to rest. I am sure that you are tired after completing a shrine, and it is getting late after all. Tomorrow morning you shall continue. Rest well young ones."
Before the old man left you bent down, grabbing a baked apple. You then handed it to him with a sweet smile. The action made the old man soften his eyes at you. "Thank you my dear," he said before walking off. You watched him leave before turning your attention to Link, who was looking at the fire with a small frown.
"It's not fair. I don't want to do more of these shrines," he mumbled, sighing out. He sat back down on the ground, grabbing another apple and then took a big bite out of it.
You nodded your head slowly before sitting down as well. "Hmm... well hey, least you won't be alone. I'll keep you company if you'd like," you told him. You hoped that would cheer him up a bit because it was obvious he didn't like the idea of travelling to other shrines. Your words seemed to have a good effect on him, since he now turned up to look at you with a half-smile.
"I'd like that," he answered with a nod.
"Well good. I'll try to help you out as much as I can," you said with a tiny laugh. Slowly your eyes began to look up, meeting a sky full of thousands upon thousands of stars. These new things you were witnessing made a smile spread on your lips. "It's pretty late. We should probably get some sleep."
Link followed your gaze, now mesmerised by the countless numbers of stars that illuminated the sky. "Yeah," he said with a small nod, although it took him a while to lay down, since he was enjoying the view. You stretched a bit before finding a spot to lay on. You were quite glad that the bit of grass that was under you made it slightly more comfortable.
"Good night," you told Link, sleep coming to you quickly. You didn't hear if he responded back because you knocked out after a few seconds.
Author Note: I changed up some dialogue from the game and all because I don't want it to be identical, that way the story it isn't too predictable :) Anyway, I hope those of you that are reading my story are enjoying it so far!