Afterword

"And while legends come to us from the distant past, others have yet to be written…"
-Prologue, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

It's a bittersweet thing, finishing a story that you've been working on for the past several months (correction: THREE YEARS), pouring all of your spare time into it and praying and hoping for reviews and followers. You start out with a single idea, one that your mind builds upon and builds upon until it becomes something so much bigger than your original intent. You grow with your story, learning how to craft a better tale in words, descriptions, emotion, characters and plot, and you reread through it every now and then, kicking yourself for every lousy wording or editing mistake. And, as you think ahead to what you want to write in the future, you plan, drawing from what you've already written so your readers will recognize those connections and so will you. And when it's all said and done, you take great pride in your work and get ready to start your next adventure.

And so here we are at the end, in the afterword, in which I plan on going on for a while about Wisdom and Courage, as well as my plans for my future writing (and don't worry guys, I'll probably never stop writing Zelda fanfic… ;), as well as a few other things. So bear with me for a spell as we delve on in!

Writing Wisdom and Courage

It all began in the month of October 2012. Amidst being busy with a Twilight Princess story that portrayed the events of the game through Midna's point of view (Princess of Darkness), an Ocarina of Time story that shipped Link and Sheik (I'll See You Again), and a full retelling of Hyrule's history (The Legend of Hyrule), a sudden idea came to me. If I remember correctly, I was playing Skyward Sword and I was beating it for the second or third time. I had just beaten Demise and what he said after the battle caught my attention for the first time. To quote the game exactly: "My hate never perishes... It is born anew in a cycle with no end! I will rise again! Those like you... those with the Blood of the Goddess and the Spirit of the Hero... They are eternally bound to this curse. An incarnation of my hatred shall ever follow your kind, dooming them to wander a blood-soaked sea of darkness for all time!" Upon seeing this, I immediately knew that the cycle he was referring to was the Legend of Zelda series in and of itself, explaining why Link and Zelda are always reincarnated throughout the series and the origin of Ganondorf, but I wondered, what if the spirit of the hero and the blood of the goddess were elaborated upon a bit more...

I let that idea flitter to the side for a while as another one came to me. I had been thinking for a while about writing a story set in the world of Ocarina of Time, where a new villain would capture all three holders of the Triforce, but I didn't really develop it too much. Originally I wanted to entitle such a story to be Power, Wisdom and Courage, and have equal emphasis based upon Ganondorf, Zelda and Link, respectively, but the more I thought about it, the more I wanted to craft a love story, as it has always been my strong suit. So, I changed the title to Wisdom and Courage, and started crafting the first few chapters of the story. I've always been interested in the child split of the Zelda timeline, since it only has three games that are very loosely connected in it. So, I decided that my story would be set within the child timeline, seven years post Majora's Mask to be precise. This allowed me to easily add direct references to Majora's Mask as well as have an adult version of Link and Zelda, but I didn't want to stop there. I took a look back at MM to see what things I specifically liked about it and there was one thing in particular that has always interested me about it: the Fierce Deity's Mask. So little is known about it in game and I knew that there was so much potential I could untap with it in a dramatic narrative. Hence the addition of the FDM into the story as well as the appearance of Termina itself.

Around this time, I also tried to come up with a good idea for a villain for the story. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to have a female villain, since the Zelda series rarely sees any. So I looked to past female villains in the series for inspiration and only found 2: Twinrova (which wasn't really the kinda villain(s) I was looking for) and Veran (who was EXACTLY the kind of villainess I was looking for). Veran was stylish, conniving, mysterious, wicked... nothing less than the perfect baddie for the story I was trying to create! So I decided to ultimately make Veran the villain, though I made her a different person from the Veran who appears in Oracle of Ages, ya know, for timeline purposes. Somewhere along the way, I realized just how much Veran looks like a Twili and I thought "well, maybe I could make her a Twili in my story and reference Twilight Princess!" From there, everything started coming together all at once: the Dark Interlopers, the Twili, the blood of the goddess and the spirit of the hero, the Fierce Deity's Mask, and all the other Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword references that I wanted to make. Eventually, I came to the point where I could not keep all of this history contained in one single story, so I decided to write a trilogy all based around these similar themes and plot points, spanning all three games: Skyward Sword, Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess. And, as it pleases me to say, the first story to be written in this trilogy and the second story chronologically, Wisdom and Courage, is finally complete.

However, as I began writing Blood and Spirit, the more I got into the more I realized just how flawed Wisdom and Courage in its first drafting was. I was still largely young and inexperienced when I wrote it, and while I did think a lot of its concepts were novel, I knew I could drastically improve upon it. And so, such is the price I had to pay for writing the first two parts of my trilogy out of order. Before I even finished B&S I came back here and began editing W&C heavily, making it more consistent not only with B&S, but also with the ideas I had for L&S, so that it could act as a bridge between the two, while still being a strong story on its own. Hence, I added things such as a lot more violence and drama, the element of the curse that Veran placed on Link, several completely new chapters (including Duel of Spirits, which I am still INCREDIBLY proud of), a larger role for Farore towards the end (foreshadowing her role in L&S, hint hint) and more! The end result is something that I can honestly look back on with pride and smile, knowing that I took something that was tolerable and made it into something that was truly wonderful.

Thank Yous

As a writer, I think that I have grown so much over the course of writing Wisdom and Courage. By looking over the course of my work, it's easy to say that the beginning was rough, but as it carried on, the more deep and extensive it came to be. The drama, the romance, the lore, everything improved as it went along and I have enjoyed writing it immensely. I hope that all of you, my loyal readers, have enjoyed it as well. And so, in appreciation, I wish to acknowledge all of you who have reviewed, followed and favorite, both in its first edition and in its updating process. First of all, I want to express my thanks to ALL of my reviewers, as your kind words were certainly the lifeblood of my story, so much so that we reached a grand total (at the moment of me posting this) of 253reviews! That's incredible! So, starting from earliest to latest: Clairae, Thearux, CaptainAzenor, Rosa Bella Mortiferum, PrincessZelda450, iranda20, Leina16, ash, Yuuten Keidy, AnimeMaster24, TechyZeldaNerd, bigblue88112, Erianne, Synea827, Beforethedawnbreaks, silverhawk88, Zelink005, shadow djinni, Mekuda, TheJediAvenger, Sparxthehedgehog, firerygummybears, Vocaloid302, .tsubasa19, Auslly1013, Jarvis R. Yeriel, RandomButLoved, Legionary Prime, Nintendoman01, GO ZeldaXLink, Lovely girl 10, LooneyCat55, YueHamachi, ShadowNinja1011, xxxDreamingflowerxxx, Pouda-P, Zelda the Wise, Arianna007, Fierce Deity's shadow, Shadow Rouge, Link The Hero of Light, NGS, Lily, Ackbarfan5556, Rolfman01, SkywardSwordMaster, Beautiful Nightmareism, RightHandofPalpatine, and any unnamed guest reviewers (you know who you are!) as well as anyone I might have missed or who are reviewing after I post this. To all of you guys who reviewed: YOU ARE AWESOME! No joke, I love you all! You are the very reason why I write. I wouldn't be lying if I told you I teared up a little while reading a few of your reviews, some of them were just so sweet! So, thanks again!

Now, for a special thanks to all 98 of you who followed my story as of the time I am posting this: Amacor16, AnthonyBarker7, Auslly1013, Beforethedawnbreaks, Blade Assassin, BluAcuza, Born of Prayers, BrandonBGamer, Cerberuswolf, Clairae, ColossusProblematic, Crazybowie, DakotaBlacky, Fairy Proxi, Fierce Deity's shadow, Fingolfin521, Go ZeldaXLink, Gabrielus Prime, Gene Devance Time Space Master, Havarth, Hylian Mage, IasWraith, Jarvis R. Yeriel, Jordan2k4, Kittylove653, Koolkat222, LEva114, Lenia16, LiddyRose, Link13PGF, LinkandTetra, Linkfreak210, LooneyCat55, Lovely girl 10, Lunar Blossoms, MasteroftheBlades, Mattariago, Mekuda, MintTea lovah, MissZelda296, Neko x3, Nintendoman01, NoSignalBlueScreen, Nuadize, Pandora151, Pouda-P, PrincessZelda450, RandomButLoved, Rachetx7, Reevees, Rolfman01, Rosa Bella Mortiferum, SB2Lazy, SailorZelda64, ShadowQueenMidna, ShadowRougeVII, SkywardSwordMaster, SyllverAngel, Synea827, Taichi L. Yagami, TenthDoctor21, TheJediAvenger, TheKingOfTime1324, Vocaloid302, WhatAreWeEvenDoing, Wraith Five, YueHamaci, Zelda the Wise, Zepora2276, aloof-kokiri, amwick, anaaaa.k, anarkhist91, asl2010, beatstarz, bigblue88112, bob1234, cody1989, d-saintsation-b, dragon knightley, erico637, explodingbunnies52, faceinbeta, hoozemy, hyperion77, iamfinalfantasy, kagomekikyo-arrow, kittykruger, momobeann, red shoulder85, runnergirl1228, supersmach, whitworth5279, xzelda1478, .tsubaba19, zeldaholic13, and anyone else who might follow this story later on! Love you guys! Hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I loved writing it and if you want more, well there is definitely going to be more in the future, as we'll discuss in a minute.

But first, I wanna thank the 100 of you how favorited this story as of now: Alcidis Aurora, AmyVideogamer, AnimeMaster24, Arianna007, Ausslly1013, Blizzard1827, BluAcuza, BrandonBGamer, ChewyPaper, Clairae, Corlink14, Crazybowtie, Darthcourt, Eclipsegirl4488, Fairy Proxi, Farli30519, Fierce Deity's shadow, GO ZeldaXLink, Gene Devance Time Space Master, GoldenWolfey, HaLfBrEeD2021, Havarth, Hero of Lorule, HeroofTime9891, Jarvis R. Yeriel, Jordan2k4, Kittylover653, Knithsil10, Koolkat222, LadyNood, Legionary Prime, Lenia16, LiddyRose, Link13PGF, Link The Hero of Light, LinkToTheAwesome, LinkandTetra, Linkfreak210, LooneyCat55, Lovely girl 10, Lunar Blossoms, Luxen T, MBkH28, MasteroftheBlades, MegaOmegaPhantom, Mekuda, MintTea lovah, MissZelda296, Neos the Final Builder, Nintendoman01, Pandora151, Pouda-P, PrincessZelda450, PrincessZelda1468, RandomButLoved, RightHandOfPalpatine, Rolfman01, SenileEmu, ShadowRougeVII, Shadownight77, Shadowwitch042190, Sheers Man, SkywardSwordMaster, SoftCanence, SyllverAngel, TenthDoctor21, TheKingOfTime1324, The Three Kings, This is not a good Name, Unanimously Anonymous 42, Vocaloid302, YamiPaladinofChaos, YueHamachi, Yuuten Keidy, Zelda the Wise, Zepora2276, adamsimpson8081, alexhacker39, aloof-kokiri, amwick, asl2010, beatstarz, bo mayor of ordon, cody1989, dangeldhill, dragon knightley, explodingbunnies52, grandprincessanastasiaromanov5, hoozemy, kittykruger, mombeann, red shoulder85, stevjej, twistofdestiny, whitetiger1337, xxxDreamingflowerxxx, .tsuabasa19, zeldaholic13, sippurp123, and everyone else who might favorite this story later on! Let me share a little secret with you guys: this is one of my favorite stories out of all the many that I have written! So I feel you guys, I really do! Thanks again!

Disclaimer

And now, it's time for my disclaimer so Nintendo won't sue poor little ol me. The Legend of Zelda series and everything that it encompasses does not belong to me. It never has and it never will (sad, I know). Its many wonderful characters, including Link, Zelda, Veran, Sheik, Impa, Malon, the Fierce Deity, Navi, Tatl, Fi, Hylia, Din, Nayru, Farore, Saria, Nabooru, Romani, Cremia and anyone else who graced us with their presence in this tale are not mine (though sometimes I wish Link was mine ;) what can I say? I can't help it! I've always had a crush on him!) Its fantastic locations, from Termina to Hyrule and all of their provinces do not belong to me. Its items, including the Master Sword (though I do own a replica Master Sword), the Triforce, the Bow of Light, the Ocarina of Time (I also have a replica of that, and it sounds lovely!), and all other Zelda items seen in the games are not mine. Anything else that comes from any of the games I received inspiration from (Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword (as well as other Zelda games)) does not belong to me, but the scenario of this story is largely my own unless it comes from a game itself. I also want to reference Hyrule Historia as a source of sorts, since it helped me work my way through so much of lore related things and I also want to give a shout out to Zelda Wiki, which also really helped me along my way when it came to the tiny details. But all in all, everything you see is pretty much owned by Nintendo. So there! Now they can't sue me!

Sources of Inspiration/Quotes

Same as was the case with B&S, I placed quotes before each chapter of this story, so I would be completely remiss if I did not give credit where credit is due with all of them. I have taken these many quotes from many sources, including books such as The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, Divergent, Insurgent, and Allegiant by Veronica Roth, Hyrule Historia, The Fault In Our Stars by John Green, the Bible, and possibly got inspiration from a few more, though it's hard to tell… I also took some quotes from a few films including (but not limited to…) Les Miserables, Sound of Music, Phantom of the Opera, Frozen, The Lion King II: Simba's Pride, Pocahontas, Maleficent, and possibly others… As for TV shows, I got my inspiration from mainly Avatar: The Last Airbender and the Legend of Korra (I don't watch much TV). For video games, I took quotes from The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Hyrule Warriors, Child of Light, and possibly others… And finally, singers: OneRepublic, Kodaline, Punch Brothers, Tom Odell, Sleeping At Last, among others.

Q&A

Same as was the case in B&S, I'm going to have a little Q&A session right here in order to get behind the process of W&C a little more, as well as delve into what made me tick while writing it. And so, without further ado…

Q: What was the best part of writing W&C?

…Hm…. Honestly, I'd say I was a complete sucker for the romance this time around, perhaps even more than I was in B&S, which was quite full of it as well! But even so, the relationship between Link and Zelda in here was absolutely beautiful to write and I won't lie in saying that I cried so many times while writing it!

Q: What was the worst part of writing W&C?

Editing through all of the old crap from the first edition. Oh my goodness, I don't know what I was thinking with some of this stuff. Some of it is just downright wretchedly terrible, and I'm so glad to be rid of it! Do I think the final version of W&C is perfect? No, and I still think that B&S is better overall, but at least its decent enough to the point that I don't have to be ashamed of it.

Q: What was your favorite chapter of W&C?

While there are a few I hold in high regard, such as the Princess and the Hero, as well as Reign of Shadows, I'm going to have to say Duel of Spirits. My word that chapter literally destroyed me as I was writing it. A lot of it wasn't even in my notes and came completely out of nowhere, but I thought that it was such a great struggle for both Zelda and especially for Link. Reading the ending where Farore comforts him as his spirit breaks tears me up every time… :,)

Q: What's your least favorite chapter of W&C?

I can't really pick just one for this, so I'm going to go with chapters 1-5 actually. I dunno, I just think they're all so slow and boring when compared to the rest of the story, as well as when compared to how quick B&S was about getting its plot started. Of course, L&S has the same issue, but the later chapters of it will certainly make up for it considering what I have planned!

Q: Who was your favorite character to write in W&C?

Link, of course! He's always my favorite, as you can tell by all of the torture I love to put him through! But seriously though, I love developing him as a character, forcing him to grow and change, and I think he did a lot of that here, perhaps even more than in B&S. But at the end of it all, while he's still scarred, I think he's in a really good place, having changed indefinitely, yet at the same time he still gets the happy ending he deserves.

Q: Why was Veran the villain of W&C?

Why not Veran? I picked her out of the fact that 1) I LOVE her design and 2) she's a bamf. But in all honesty, I think the Veran I crafted out is much different than the one in OoA, as she's much more sadistic, bloodthirsty, ect. Of course, I will admit right here and right now that I think she's the weakest of the three Bound Destinies villains, mostly because Veress has the crazy factor on her side and Verona… well, you'll all see in L&S… ;)

Q: What happened to Ganondorf? (submitted by Legionary Prime)

Can't give the answer to that one quite yet! After all, that's what sequels are for! (see below!)

Q: Did Link get his eye gouged out as a reference to the Hero's Shade, who is also missing his right eye (and who the Hero of Time becomes after death)?

But of course! As the Hero's Shade is going to be an important figure in L&S, I simply had to carve out his origins here with the Link who will eventually become him! But I'll say more about that later… ;)

Q: What happened to Majora?

As far as my plans for L&S go at the moment, Majora's gone. Dead. Finished. Yeah, Link actually managed to finally get rid of it during Duel of Spirits. Will it be making a comeback in L&S? Most likely not, but the Fierce Deity will! After all, the spirit of the deity is united with the spirit of the hero so… ;)

Q: Where did the title Wisdom and Courage come from?

It's a homage to the Triforce of Wisdom Zelda bears and the Triforce of Courage Link bears. Duh.

More on the Bound Destinies Trilogy!

Ok, so since B&S is already long written, I won't spare you the synopsis here, since you should have already read it if you've made it thus far. Instead, I plan on only giving out a synopsis for L&S here, as well as for the Bound Destinies Side Stories! And so…

Ok so, now that all of that business is out of the way, its time to talk sequels, prequels and trilogies! And, I think I shall start with the direct sequel to this story...

Light and Shadow:As I'm writing this, Light and Shadow is already several chapters in, but for those of you who haven't started reading it yet as you wait for W&C to be over, wait no longer! Go read it now! I'll even give you a free rundown on it! Before I say anything else though, know that Light and Shadow is set in the aftermath of Twilight Princess, so… In the aftermath of Ganondorf's defeat, Midna parted ways with Link and Zelda, and both the kingdoms of light and shadow began to rebuild and heal. But what none of them could have expected was the sudden attack of Verona, the Queen of Shadows on the Twilight Realm. After fleeing from her kingdom, Midna arrives back in Hyrule just in time for Zelda's coronation, as the princess and the hero are starting to build a budding relationship, in order to warn them both of the coming evil. However, none of them are prepared when Verona arrives in Hyrule, casting a veil of eternal night upon the kingdom, imprisoning its new queen and placing a deadly curse upon its hero. However, unlike her ancestor Veran, Verona knows well that the key to victory lies not only in the destruction of the Blood of the Goddess and the Spirit of the Hero. Instead of simply trying to end them both, the Queen of Shadows devises another plan instead: one that will tear the queen and the hero apart once and for all, severing the ties of love and destiny between them. As unnerving secrets about the Triforce and its power come to light and the land faces an eternal age of darkness, Verona begins to work in the shadows to turn Link and Zelda against one another, replacing kindness with bitterness, love with hatred and light with shadows…. Now, I hope that has you excited, since its barely even scratching the surface of what I have planned! Light and Shadow is the one project I'm the most excited about, and I simply cannot WAIT until it blossoms completely!

Bound Destinies Side Stories: Alright, so I'm not going to lie. The Bound Destinies Side Stories is on hiatus until further notice, but that doesn't mean you can't go enjoy it! Basically what it is is a series of oneshots and ministories all related to the trilogy and each of its different books. Some stories take place before a certain book, some after, some during, some are what-if scenarios, some are character explorations, some are in first person, some are in third, some are entire stories in and of themselves! You never really know what you're gonna get! At the moment, most of its stories are centered on W&C, so that works out even better for those of you who liked what you saw here and are craving a little bit more! Now I will eventually return to the side stories, though it may have to wait until L&S is done… who can say?

Sequels

Alright, so for those of you who haven't seen my profile lately, this will come as something as an announcement to all of you! I do plan on writing direct sequels to each book in the trilogy, though they won't tie into the Bound Destinies Trilogy, but rather stand on their own together. Each book is going to get 2 sequels, further detailing the lives and experiences of the characters after each story. And since I'm going to assume that you all have read both B&S and W&C, I think I'm at liberty to give a few details about each…

Strings of Fate: The 1st sequel to Blood and Spirit, set about two years after the ending. I'm not going to give out a summary for it just yet, as I'm still trying to figure it out myself, but I can give you a short one, just cause I'm feeling generous: Two years after the Interloper War, Link and Zelda are the young rulers of the new kingdom of Hyrule, all the while raising their young daughter Tetra. However, when an old foe returns, seeking revenge against the goddess and the hero, old wounds will be opened, and more than just the new kingdom could be at stake… Ooooo sounds intriguing, doesn't it? I must say that this one will have a lot of mystery in it, as well as the usual romance, angst, action, drama, and all that good stuff…

The Gerudo War: (Temp. Tittle) The 2nd sequel to Blood and Spirit, set like 16 or so years after it. Again, I have very rough ideas for it, but nothing too concrete. Largely, this will deal with the origins of the Gerudo race, as well as lead up to some things for both OoT as well as W&C. I can't really give away a lot, but I will say that there will be a significant focus on Link and Zelda's oldest daughter Tetra (who will be about 16 here), as well as their other children, though the focus will still remain on the couple themselves.

Unnamed Sequel to W&C: Ok, so I don't actually have a name for this one yet, but it will be the first sequel for W&C and I do have quite a few bursting ideas for it. It will take place over the next several months immediately following the epilogue (most likely beginning about a week later), and will follow what happens as Link is crowned king of Hyrule and rules the land instead of Zelda (until she can be crowned queen). Of course, not all is well during the hero's rule as dark clouds are gathering over Hyrule once more, and an old foe will return (and I bet you all know who that foe is… ;) So yeah, this one will be all shades of epic and angsty and romantic and awesome and I wish I could write it now, but alas, I must complete L&S before any of this happens….

The Hero's Shae: 2nd sequel to W&C, set like almost 30 years after it. To be short and sweet, this will basically (spoiler) detail how the Hero of Time dies and becomes the Hero's Shade, wandering alone for hundreds of years as he watched the Hyrule he saved fade into the sands of time, giving way to both a new Hyrule, and a new Hero… This one won't be too long, and it'll mostly be pretty artsy and sad, of course, but it will go nicely into both TP and L&S, so I will totally write it with style!

Now, since L&S isn't finished yet, I'm not gonna say anything about its sequels here, though I have one pretty well developed already. If you wanna hear more about those, you'll either have to ask me via PM or wait for L&S to come to completion!

Also check out…

Hyrule Warriors: Now, I know most of you are already reading HW, as it has a freaking ton of followers, which I totally appreciate, but for those of you who don't know, I'm in the process of writing a Hyrule Warriors novelization alongside my other works. It follows the plot of the game pretty well, though there are some parts that I have on deviating drastically for the sake of the drama and whatnot. And so, if you love action, drama, romance, and watching all of your favorite Zelda characters coming together in an epic battle, this is one you won't wanna miss!

Between Heaven and Hell: A new project at the time of me writing this, BH&H is a post-SS AU, in which Link and Zelda happen to stumble across Demise's discarded sword, the Demon Blade, in the middle of the woods one day. Believing it too dangerous to leave alone, Link takes it up, and begins wielding it alongside the Master Sword, much to Zelda's worry. However, it quickly becomes clear that the dark blade is effecting the hero for the worse, changing his attitude and behavior completely, and possibly, doing even more than that… I won't give anything else away for this, as I have it all planned out (it will be relatively short but sweet!) This one's also pretty artsy of me as it switches back and forth between Link and Zelda's first person PoV, but I can promise it will be one tearjerker of a ride when its done!

Twisted Fates: While its not a part of the Bound Destinies Trilogy, I encourage you to go check this other work of mine out, that, admittedly, has been placed on hiatus, but I do intend on continuing work on it eventually! Now, there had been a time that I wanted to make the BDT a quadrilogy (or tetralogy) with 4 books instead of three, one of these books taking place after Wind Waker, another one of my favorite Zelda games. However, I soon came to realize that doing so would be quite difficult, since WW kinda plays by its own set of lore and such. And thus, a new idea: Twisted Fates, was born! Now, here we go with the simplest plot explanation I can manage (since it's a kinda complex story line): For clarification, Twisted Fates' prologue is set a few months after Wind Waker (Around the time you would think Phantom Hourglass would start). It starts with Link and Tetra (who will both be 12 in the beginning of the story, as that's how old I think they are in the game) and the pirates, sailing around, looking for the land that will become the next Hyrule. Like in the beginning of Phantom Hourglass, they encounter the Ghost Ship, but here's where the retcons to the events of PH start to come in. Instead of Tetra leaping onto the ship like in the game, Link does instead and the ghost ship appears to go down with him on it. Tetra and the rest of the crew believe that the Hero of Winds has been killed in the sinking, but in reality he was whisked away to the waters of the Ocean King (from PH, ya know), where he becomes stranded for quite some time thanks to the monster Bellum, who is terrorizing the area. In both worlds, five years pass simultaneously (and in my interpretation, time passes in the same way for both the Great Sea and the world of the Ocean King, unlike in the game). Link, now 17, was able to defeat Bellum, but because of the Ocean King's significantly weakened state, the hero was unable to return home all this time. However, during a rare natural phenomenon, Link manages to finally find a way to return to the Great Sea, one that he gladly takes. Meanwhile Tetra, also 17, has spent the past five years embittered by the loss of the hero, whom she had considered to be one of her few actual friends. She blames herself for the accident and as a result, she keeps to herself, letting no one, not even her loyal crew in on her inner heartache. However, on one fateful night, she encounters the hero she had long thought to be dead and despite Link's clear joy in seeing her again, Tetra refuses to believe that he is anything more than another dream or illusion sent to haunt her. The hero continues to pursue the pirate captain, desperately trying to convince her that he really is back, but little do either of them know that something treacherous is rising up from the depths of the sea. An evil that seeks the life of the hero and the love of the pirate girl... The Great Sea has changed, and its nothing at all like it used to be... Ok, so, there's that! Now, understand that it recons the actual canon of the games quite a bit, but it still takes influences from Wind Waker, Phantom Hourglass and eventually even Spirit Tracks! And so, if you'd like Wind Waker and want to read a story that is about as dark and dramatic as the Bound Destinies Trilogy (cause it eventually will be)!

Links to Fun Stuff!

So since this afterword is all about self advertising, allow me to throw out some links as to where you can find lil ol MiniJen all over the internets outside of fanfic. Specifically, I encourage you to check out my Tumblr, as its where I'm my most active really, posting stuff related to the trilogy and Zelda in general. Since links gererally don't work on fanfic though, you can find all of these on my profile page right here on fanfic! I'd also like to direct you to my Facebook page, where I'll occasionally post updates, as well as my DeviantART, where I'll post artwork from my stories and more! Did you know that there's a TV Tropes page for the Bound Destinies Trilogy? Well I encourage you to go check it out and contribute to it if you'd like! I'd also like to throw out the handle for my new Twitter page, as I could also put updates there once I get enough followers. Its MiniJen16 . Also, if you'd like to listen to the playlist I put together for both Blood and Spirit and Wisdom and Courage (and there will eventually be one for L&S as well) go check out my YouTube channel! Once again, the links to all of these can be found on my fanfic profile page, which I also encourage you to check out to learn all about lil ol me as well as plans and idea I have for future writing! And also feel free to shoot me a PM whenever you feel like it! My inbox is always open!

Closing Remarks

Well, clearly I am going to be a very busy bee in the next few months, but as far as I can see, I am going to have such a fun time writing all of the many projects I have planned! And I am going to make a promise right now, that I will NEVER abandon this trilogy or put it on hiatus. At the most, writers block and life will keep me from posting chapters as quickly as I like (I am a college student after all), but I will try my hardest because I love my readers and I just love writing in general! So, my beautiful readers, thanks again for all of your kind hearted support! I hope you have enjoyed Wisdom and Courage as much as I have and I hope that you all continue to follow my stories into the future! And, for the last time (in this story, at least)...

UNTIL NEXT TIME!

Love, MiniJen