A Restless Hero's Reward I

Chapter One

DISCLAIMER: I own only my ideas.

Eh… It seems I never stop with the new ideas…especially when they stem from really weird dreams… O.o

Oh well! I hope you guys get just as much enjoyment out of it as I do! ^.^

Break

Break

Returning to his small house on the outskirts of Ordon Village had been all Link had wanted when he had been journeying to dispel the Twilight. He couldn't help but feel as though there was something more, however, even as he stood in the home he had longed for.

"…" He looked out of the window with a soft sigh, watching the moon and feeling the wolf inside of him begging to be under it again. "Midna… Is this why you purified that crystal and fused it with me? Did you know that the wolf still lives inside of me?" he wondered aloud before closing his eyes and turning toward the bed that was almost too comfortable and nearly too soft.

I never thought I'd miss the open fields or running through the denser parts of the forest…swimming with the Zora…wrestling with the Gorons… he thought as he lay down and drifted into a light slumber born from too many ambushes and battles.

(x)

"Come to me… If you seek the sky, come to me…!"

(x)

Link gasped and jerked awake, grasping the sword beside his nightstand and ripping it from the sheath before even fully waking. He growled softly when an unfamiliar scent reached his enhanced nose.

"Do you seek the sky, boy?"

The voice startled him, and Link looked up to where an owl was on his windowsill. …Seek the sky... "I do," he answered softly. "The wolf stirs within me. I can't be content with such a mundane life anymore," he added, ashamed at being unable to be happy with what he had.

"Being appreciative and being happy are as different as you are, child," the owl consoled as it fluttered down to perch on his bedpost. "Always trust your instincts… What are they telling you?"

Link looked out at the sky again before getting up and going into his basement.

The owl looked on with satisfaction when the young hero returned, clad in green instead of pajamas. "You're carrying the wrong blade, boy," was the bland response to Link's curious stare.

Link couldn't help the excitement that shot through him at those words. He quickly strode over to his bed and reached to the other side. "I longed for a reason to be reunited with this sword…like a close friend who was being dangled in front of me."

"Come, child… Come and take back your sky," the owl bade before flying back out of the window.

Link grinned as he nearly dashed out of his house, leaping over his ladder and landing on four paws. He howled and took off running, following the owl that returned the spark of his spirit.

Break

An ear flicked toward the sound of a twig snapping. Link cracked open one eye to look at the cause, and both eyes widened. Why is she here?! How?! he wondered, swiftly transforming to carry a conversation.

"I had wondered when stable, peaceful life would drive you for something more again."

Link snorted but grinned. "What brings Her Majesty to Faron?"

"How many times must I tell you that we have been through too much for such formalities?" Zelda asked with a smile. She stepped closer but nearly jumped when an owl swooped down and perched on Link's shoulder.

"It waits… How long are you planning to stagnate, boy?" the avian questioned.

"I can't fly. There are obstacles on the ground," Link answered, earning a raised eyebrow from the Princess.

"Link… You are speaking with an owl…" she mentioned somewhat-hesitantly, reaching for the power within her to dispel any illusions.

The owl ruffled its feathers and gave a dry glare to the young woman. "Your eyes and ears do not deceive you, girl…though I cannot fault you for your caution," was the calm assurance given by the owl. "Come, boy… We have rested long enough if you are able to carry a conversation without nodding off," it said to Link before flying over to a branch.

"Well… You heard the bird, Zelda…" Link said as he turned to face her again. "I need to go where this owl leads… My instincts tell me to," he added, looking out over Faron as though he could see through the dense trees and tall cliffs.

Zelda smiled softly. "Then do what you feel is right, Link, but be careful…please?"

After a startled blink at the young woman, he smiled, too. "You know I will. I've been through too much to let myself get hurt or killed so easily," he assured, earning a relieved sigh, and shifted into the wolf's form. He gently nuzzled Zelda's hand and gave a happy bark before darting off after the owl.

Break

"Where are you taking me?" Link grumbled as he half-stumbled groggily through the trees, barely keeping sight of the owl.

"Do not let an illusion blind you, boy."

The only thing that stopped him from jumping out of his skin was conditioning against random and frequent ambushes. "Don't do that!" he hissed, clutching a hand over his rapidly-beating heart.

"If you would have allowed your instincts to guide you as I told you to do, I would not have startled you," was the smart response.

Link could've sworn the avian was laughing at him. "Yeah, yeah…" he mumbled, pressing forward now that he knew the bird hadn't left him behind.

"It isn't much further, child…" the owl said in a way of apology for the earlier scare.

"Thank the Goddesses."

Break

"The Temple of Time?" Link asked almost-incredulously, barely able to keep the tone out of his voice from his time spent dealing with Midna's ever-fluctuating moods.

"You are letting illusion blind you again!" the owl scolded from the young man's shoulder, where it had perched as they came upon their destination.

Link sighed and allowed his inner beast's instincts to overcome his senses. A soft growl came from him as he shook his head against the strange scents that came at him. He opened his eyes and gazed at a meadow that he had never seen before. "What…is this place?" he asked, a soft rumble in his voice from the easy merge with the wolf.

"Welcome…to what was once the Sacred Forest Meadow," the owl answered, flapping its wings to glide over to a vine-covered stone. "You will find what I have led you to beneath me."

Link stepped over to the oddly-symmetrical rock and cleared the vines away. "It's…a Pedestal?!"

"Yes… Drive your blade into it, child… Find the way to your sky and know that I will be watching over you…"

The young hero gasped as the owl faded away as though it had never been there. He sighed and took a deep breath. "How do I get myself into these things?" he wondered with a slight grumble but couldn't help smiling as he thrust the Master Sword into the slot made for it. "Help me find you…my sky…" he whispered as blue light surrounded him.

When he opened his eyes again, a mildly-disgruntled frown appeared on his face. "This…wasn't what I meant," he mumbled as he stared around at the sky-blue-colored waterfalls of light that extended into eternity. Resisting the urge to scratch his head, he looked down only to find himself standing on nothing with a platform far below him. A shout of surprise was cut off as he suddenly began descending with frightening speed toward the platform.

"Welcome, Hero of Twilight, to the Chamber of Sages," a disembodied voice greeted.

He found it wasn't so disembodied when he looked upon an elderly man standing on a yellow circle with a strange symbol engraved into it. Wait…I know that symbol… he recalled, thinking back to the Mirror Chamber in the desert. "Sages? Meaning the ones who sealed Ganondorf into the Twilight Realm? The ones who enabled Zant to gain so much power and harm two different worlds nearly irreparably?!"

"Listen to yourself!" the man half-roared, "If not for doing that, the Princess of Twilight would have been harassed constantly by Zant!"

Link took a deep breath and let it out slowly, nodding in agreement. "You're right… I apologize for being so upset. It was out of line."

A small smile curved the old Sage's lips. "It is quite alright, child. You are young and able to be rash in certain situations," he said gently. "However…your journey leads you further than we Sages would have ever imagined… You seek your sky, boy, and the Goddesses feel it is Their place to help you."

Link couldn't help the shock that overcame his face before hesitance crept over it. "Wait… Are They going to help me…because I saved Hyrule and the Twilight Realm?" he asked quietly, almost not wanting to hear the answer but knowing he needed to.

"In part-" The old Sage held up a hand to stop the young hero's interruption. "They know you would have saved your home and Midna's home without ever being repaid, child. The Goddesses may live in a separate realm, but I can assure you that They are far from detached from Hyrule and its people."

"I understand that, Elder-" Link was stopped by a sudden laugh.

"Please… I know that I'm old, boy; you don't have to emphasize it! I am Rauru."

"Wait a moment…" the swordsman murmured, "Your voice… You're the owl! You're the one who led me to the Sacred Forest Meadow!"

Rauru nearly grinned. "Very observant…more-so than the Hero of Time, at least," he complimented, causing the young man's cheeks to gain a pink tint.

"Um… I would rather not be compared to a man who faced the horrors I have but in his childhood," Link replied, smiling slightly in appreciation despite his comment. "I'm already named after him-"

"That," Rauru paused after interrupting the young warrior, "is because you are his reincarnation." He stopped again in time for the spluttered, shocked protests and held a hand up for silence. "Ganondorf is…or was, I should say, the holder of the Triforce of Power. Because of this, he was, for all intents and purposes, immortal. Each time he would…act up – for lack of a better term, the Hero's Soul and the Goddess's Soul would be reborn," he explained.

"Goddess's… Zelda?" Link murmured, still feeling shocked even though he practically knew the answer before the old Sage confirmed it. He didn't even question that he was the reincarnation of the Hero's Soul. "But…why Ganondorf?"

Rauru sighed and cast his gaze over the Chamber of Sages. "Because a Demon God, with his last bit of power, cast a curse to cause a reincarnation of his hatred to be born…a very long time ago," he answered quietly.

Link nodded, easily accepting the explanation after everything he had seen and been through. "That still doesn't answer…why Ganondorf?"

"His position was prime as the King of the Gerudo, a race of warrior women to whom a male was born only once every one-hundred years," the Sage informed and added, "The Gerudo were very proud people…but they were shunned. Hylians viewed them as having fallen out of the Goddesses' favor because their ears were rounded instead of pointed… Din was the One who had blessed them to be able to withstand the harshness of the desert."

"I…see," the much-younger male murmured. "But…what does this have to do with me now?" he wondered softly. "You, yourself, said that Ganondorf was the bearer of the Triforce of Power-"

"You still have not felt it, I believe…"

The hero blinked in confusion. "'It'?"

"Princess Zelda already possesses power from her status as royalty. She has courage by not fearing taking up the mantle of leadership to help and protect the people of her country. She was bestowed the Triforce of Wisdom to aid in deciding when to have the courage to use that power." Rauru finally looked back at the young man, having gotten his fill of being reluctant to reveal such pertinent information. "Ganondorf took the Triforce of Power… He already had power, the courage to use it, and the wisdom to use it opportunely…

"You, however…" Rauru paused and gently sighed. "You, child, had to earn your power and your wisdom through your trials that you faced courageously, which you would have been given the Triforce of Power to be able to face… As a simple farm-boy, you did not hold power, child. Therefore, when you defeated Ganondorf, the Triforce of Power was given to you..."

By the time Rauru had finished, Link had become somewhat pale. "So…you're saying that I have two pieces of the Triforce within me?" He barely stopped his voice from squeaking.

"You were meant to have Power, boy! It was the only thing you lacked! Ganondorf stole it, so you were given the last piece that would have went to someone else if the situation arose that the pieces needed to be separated!" the old Sage spoke in a low but scolding voice. "Before you even knew what the mark on the back of your hand meant, you charged into the Twilight to rescue the other children from your village! You knew it would be unwise to inform the adults and wait on them to finally decide what to do instead of simply doing something!"

Link was wincing heavily when Rauru finally stopped and took a deep breath. "I… I understand, Rauru. Honestly, I do. But…what does that have to do with finding my sky?"

The Sage almost raised an eyebrow. "Have you wondered what your sky is, child?"

The young warrior blinked, stopping for a moment to seriously consider the question, before giving his answer, "I would think it would be something that would…soothe my craving…my need to be on the move and my need for adventure."

"Then allow this Sage of Light to help you… Allow the Goddesses to repay the Hero's Soul for all the trials it has had to face through the ages."

Link looked away before sighing and giving a small smile. "Okay…" he murmured softly.

Rauru returned the smile then raised his arms. "Come, Sages!"

The young man gasped as a soft rainbow of colors surrounded the dais he was standing on. Through each of the gentle, yet strangely-vibrant colors, he watched as the shadow of a person appeared. He stumbled backward slightly when he felt the platform beneath his feet tremble. "It's…!" His eyes widened when another Pedestal raised from the dais.

"Look up," said a gentle, deep voice that somewhat resembled his own.

He did so, gasping again at seeing who Rauru compared him to. "Hero of Time…?" he questioned softly and would have kneeled in respect if not for the other Hero stopping him.

"You're just as much a Hero of Hyrule as I am. It would be like kneeling before your own father, as well."

Link blushed in embarrassment. "You've…got a point. I apo-"

"None of that, either!" the elder incarnation of the Hero's Soul interrupted with a grin. "C'mon! This is your time to find what makes you happy, just as all the other incarnations were able to! Even me!"

"And what made you happy?"

"Traveling! I loved it!" the Hero of Time answered excitedly. "I got to see new places, meet new people, and pretty much save entirely different worlds while I was at it! …Stupid Majora…" he added, grumbling the last part.

The Hero of Twilight raised an eyebrow before grinning and shaking his head. "I can see why… It soothes the beast in me, too," he admitted quietly.

"Then let's get you soothed, shall we?" The elder leaned forward, brushing the sandy-brown hair from the younger's forehead and pressing a soft kiss to the skin. "Go with the blessing of the Goddesses, Sages, and previous incarnations of the Hero's Soul."

Link couldn't help smiling slightly as all of the shadows faded, including the Hero of Time. "Thank you, Rauru…even though I have a feeling this won't be the last time I see you," he said softly, not giving the old Sage time to reply as he drove the Master Sword into the Pedestal.

With another column of ethereal, blue light, he vanished from the Chamber of Sages.

Break

"Unh… My head…"

"Finally awake, are you?"

Link hissed quietly in pain, the voice having a strange sneering drawl that only strengthened the pounding in his head.

"Tell me, Elf," the brunette's eye twitched at being insulted so unrepentantly, "which Clan you are from? You look like the High Elves but have an odd sensation about you that is characteristic of the Dark Elves."

Still smarting over being called an Elf - the scum of Hyrule's societies, he didn't answer the question and instead barely cracked an eye open to get a look at his surroundings.

"Answer me, boy!"

He wanted to scoff but resisted. This guy has nothing on Ganondorf, he thought to himself, letting his eye close again. High Elves…Dark Elves… No matter which way you look at them, they're nothing but weak low-lives. A moment after thinking that, he could feel Zelda smacking him for not considering that he might be in another world. The Elves here might be different from the bandits in Hyrule…

"You're trying my patience!"

Link carefully stood and rolled his eyes. "And you think I care because?" he retorted, knowing that Midna would be proud for finally rubbing off on him with her smart remarks. He raised an eyebrow when a stick was pointed at him for his comment. Deciding not to test the Fates, he swiftly drew his blade and sliced the offensive twig into two pieces. "Now, if you'll excuse me…" he mumbled and turned away, sheathing his sword in a smooth movement.

I have no idea where I'm going, he grumbled mentally, completely ignoring the fuming man behind him.

"You just destroyed my wand, boy!"

He growled at the man and snarled, "If you're so pathetic a wizard to have only one, then you deserve to have it destroyed!"

"You have no idea who you're dealing with! I am Lord Malfoy!"

"You're stupid enough to not carry a backup weapon, and I really don't care who you are," Link retorted before slipping effortlessly into a roll, coming back to his feet behind the man and delivering a heavy blow to the back of his head. "Ugh… Midna, I swear… You rubbed off on me, and it's going to get me into a load of trouble one of these days."

He then turned and made his way toward what looked like a small village. I wonder if this place is more advanced like the Twilight Realm?

Break

Break

End Chapter One

Well… Transportation: check. First confrontation with wizards: check. Plan for future outline: …Not check.

Reviews make me happy! :D