"How's your side holding up?"

I glanced down at my hip, which if I'm honest didn't really agree with the walking we had been doing. Despite that, I shrugged "Your poor dressing skills seem to be holding up okay."

"Thanks." Link scoffed sarcastically with a roll of his eyes. He nodded towards the temple, placing a hand on his belt "Let's have a look in there. I feel like we may have missed something, it could help us with... stuff."

The temple wasn't a place I was in a rush to return to. It was where I almost died, and just gave me the creeps in general. But, if it was abandoned, chances were that a few items could potentially be useful to us were inside. If treasure hunters hadn't gotten to them already.

"Okay." I shrugged "But stay close, I don't want another encounter with pig men."

Link nodded and we ascended the cracked and damaged steps leading to the temple, alert for any signs of an ambush as we pressed on. As I stared behind me, finally noticing the landscape past the plateau, I realized that not only here, but everywhere around me was unlike anything I'd even heard of. An active volcano... I hadn't heard of an active volcano anywhere near where I lived... mountains, cliffs, and a butt load of grass.

I know I was repeating questions at this point, but... just where was I?

Suddenly I was pulled aside against a wall, where an arm extended across my chest keeping me in place. I glanced over at Link, who was peeking around the corner of the temple's entrance.

"Li--"

"Shh."

I frowned as he turned back to me, only to mouth 'wait here' and then disappear into the ruins. What followed his entry was a bunch of slashes, grunts and cries.

Oh shoot!!

I was quick to rush to his aid, only to see he had already defeated whatever he had gone in to fight. Returning his axe to the spot on his back, he bent over to pick up what looked like a spear with sharp animal bones attached, only to turn to me with a blank expression.

"Pig man?"

"Yup."

I sighed "Why am I not surprised..."

Link made one of those 'I dunno' hums, along with a boyish hair flip, before tossing his newly acquired weapon towards me. Which I awkwardly caught between my elbows after failing to grab it with my hands.

"You might want to at least have some sort of defense on you." he explained, trying to sound professional "Do you know how to use a spear?"

"I don't know. Do you know how to teach me?" I shot back, which caught him off guard. Instead of answering, he continued inside the temple which had me smirking like I'd won something big.

Knew it; he's just as clueless as me.

Regardless, I tucked the spear away and began exploring the temple. I noticed Link had spotted something, and watched as he wandered off course to open a tattered looking chest and pull out a bow. He stared at it for a moment, before holding it up and pulling the string back. Maybe he was getting the feel of it. When he released the string, he seemed confused.

"Did you think an arrow would just appear before you?" I called out, only for him to shake his head.

"No, I... I feel like I know how to use this, but I don't remember ever doing it." He explained with a grimace, like he knew how dumb it sounded.

"Sooo, you're getting nostalgia?"

"Yeah, kinda."

I shrugged "I guess it's something you can test it out later when you find some arrows. Away from me, though. I don't want to get pierced."

Link swung the bow over his shoulder "So practice as close to you as possible, got it."

"What?! That's the exact opposite of what I said!"

He smirked as he rejoined my side, and we concluded that we'd done all we needed to do here, and so left the ruins to investigate the spot marked on the Sheikah Slate. As we walked, I boredly began twirling my spear around my hand, which didn't go unnoticed by Link.

"You might hurt yourself."

I scoffed "I'm fine, dad."

"Yeah, but right now that's your only defense. If it breaks or gets lost, you're screwed."

"Well then," I turned to him slyly "I'm sure you'll be there to be protect me, won't ya ponytail."

He snorted "Hell no, I--"

A quick movement made us whip out heads around, only to scream as another pig monster began charging towards us. Almost as if out of instinct my arm threw my spear at the creature, piercing its heart and killing it instantly. With my eyes wide and my arm still outstretched, I slowly turned my head to Link, who too seemed quite shocked over what happened.

"Did... um... did you mean to do that?" He asked.

"N-No. Yes?" I rubbed the back of my neck "I don't know, that was instinct... I think."

"Your instincts are deadly..."

I shivered, not wanting to think of the poor souls of my classmates had they tried to scare me during javelin.

Not wanting to waste anymore time, I walked over and plucked my spear from the ground "C-Come on... head to the spot marked on your Sheikah Slate, right?"

Link nodded.

"Then let's go!"

"R-Right." As he approached Link picked up a small sword and a poorly made shield that monster dropped. They weren't the best, but I guess it helped.

After a bit more walking, something caught my eye. At first, it seemed like nothing more than a pile of rocks. But when we got closer, it seemed like some sort of strange pedestal lay hidden amongst the ground. I was confused, but Link wasted no time in approaching it. He examined it for a bit, before removing his slate and placing it in the rectangular slit.

Nothing happened.

Then, something really really big happened.

The ground beneath us began to rumble, making me lose my balance and fall into Link as we screamed. And then, all of a sudden the structure beneath us shot up, forcing us to hold onto each other for support and dare I say it, comfort.

"What did you do?!" I yelled behind all the noise.

"I-I don't know! I-I just--" he couldn't finish as the rumbling stopped, causing us to topple over onto the ground. I lay there for a moment, right on top of Link's chest with his hand limply on my back as I tried to regain my sense of living.

"Y-You...okay?" Link breathed out, the shock still fresh in his voice. I nodded against his chest.

"I... I'm good..."

This was probably one of the weirdest days of my life...

Link began to shift underneath me, so I rolled off in order for him to sit up. The two of us glanced around the area, bewildered by the sudden height of the ground we stood on, and the area surrounding it.

"Wow..." I muttered, but Link seemed more interested in his Sheikah Slate as he stared at it in confusion. He noticed my staring, and turned the screen towards me so I could see what's going on.

He had a right to be surprised.

The portion of the map which surrounded us, was now showing, well... an actual map!

"That's... weird." I tried, not knowing quite what to say. Link scratched the back of his head and returned the slate to his belt, before holding a hand out to me. I scoffed, standing perfectly fine on my own "I don't need your charity."

Link rolled his eyes "I'm so going to shoot you in the foot later."

"I'd like to see you tr--"

"Remember..."

Our eyes widened at the familiar troubled voice inside our heads. Only this time, it seemed to draw us to one particular spot in the large landscape around us.

The castle.

"Try... Try to remember..."

Link and I ran to the edge of the tower, hoping to get a better view or even a better understanding of what was going on.

"Link, you have been asleep for the past 100 years... And Y/N, you have been brought back after meeting your demise that same time ago..."

The ground beneath us began to shake again, which halted our movement to the edge. Despite this, our attention was entirely on the castle with darkness that swirled around it. Our eyes widened as that darkness grew.

"The beast... When the beast regains it's true power, this world will meet its end."

"UHHHH, WHAT IS THAT?!" I screamed, pointing towards a creature made of the same storm of darkness that swirled around the tallest tower of the ancient castle. Link and I stumbled back in horror as the thing opened its detached mouth, letting out a horrendous roar that shook the land even more. However, to our relief a light shone from inside the castle, which seemed to absorb the creature until it was no longer seen. Breathing heavily I glanced at Link, who looked back at me with equal terror. What the hell was going on here?

"Now then..." Our attention once again returned to the castle "You must hurry, Link, Y/N... Before it's too late..."

After that there was nothing. No talking from the woman. No dark beast. No tremors. Just Link's and my own heavy breathing as we tried to recover from what happened.

I take it back. This is the weirdest day of my life!

After a while, Link covered his face with his hands, only to bring them together in front of his nose like he was praying. He let out a long exhale before speaking "I've been asleep for 100 years..."

I was just as confused as he was. Reincarnation? I mean, I guess it wasn't impossible for people to be reincarnated, but if it was possible why was mine so important? And why did all this crazy stuff start happening now?! I have finals coming up!

Wait, no. Calm down. No use panicking, you'll only make it worse.

I swallowed any questions that lingered in my mind, saving them for another time as I turned to Link "M-Maybe it's best we climb down. This place seems to like scaring us."

The boy's cerulean eyes flickered to me for a moment, then back to the castle before finally fluttering shut. His hands dropped from his face, but one came lifted again to ruffle up his hair. After a minute, he replied with a huff "Yeah... Okay. Let's go."

I nodded and began looking for a way down from this tower, until Link called out again.

"So your name's Y/N, huh?"

I froze, before pivoting to address the boy "Really? That's what you picked up from all that?"

He held his hands up in surrender "Calm down, it was just a question. I didn't mean any offence."

I rolled my eyes and turned back "Just... refrain from using it too much, okay?"

"Mkay."

Link didn't say anything more about it as he walked towards an opening in the floor, peering down it with a hand on his belt "Looks like there are ledges leading down to the bottom. Guess we jump on those."

I peered down the whole, only to shoot back as nerves struck. I never had been good with heights "Ummmm, no thanks."

"Relax," Link breathed out, before jumping down the opening to the ledge below. When landing he called back up to me "I'll catch you, don't worry!"

"You sure you're strong enough for that?" I yelled back, not even bothering to approach "Didn't those 100 years make you groggy?"

"Just do it, Y/N!"

I huffed, both at his pushiness and the fact he said my name. Though, I guess this was really my only way down... I didn't want to spend the rest of my life up here, anyhow. So with as much courage as I could muster, I stood at the edge and dropped down to the ledge. As expected I felt a pair of hands grasp my sides to ensure a safe landing, while also keeping in mind of my injury, and as soon as I felt my feet on the ground I opened my eyes to meet Link's.

"Was that so bad?" He asked.

I pretended to think for a moment "You could've been a little gentler."

This made him scoff angrily "Noted. How about I let you fall to your death next time?"

"Good!"

"Great!"

"Fine!"

"Fine!"

Despite this Link still caught me when jumping from ledge to ledge, even rushing to pull me up when I lost my footing on one jump and ended up clinging onto the edge. I admit, he's a decent guy. But right now I was too worried about what was going on to even consider being nice. My worry almost always shows as spite, much to a lot of people's displeasure. And right now I was taking it out on Link... I felt guilty, but that was just how I worked.

Emotions are strange, aren't they?

Finally we were on the ground once more. I rubbed my sides, which were probably bruised after Link had broken my fall about a dozen times. I wasn't kidding before, he had a strong grip...

"Hey there!"

I frowned and looked up, shielding my eyes from the sun as a figure descended from the sky only to stand before us. It was the old man again, to our surprise. He tucked away his paraglider and took out his walking stick, leaning against it when turning to us with a smile "My, my... it seems we have quite the enigma here. This tower here, and others like it have suddenly erupted across the land, one after the other. It's almost as though... a long-dormant power has awoken suddenly."

I glanced over at Link, who seemed to be nervously scuffing his shoe against the ground. Not surprised, as he was the reason behind those towers appearing.

"Pardon me for asking," The man continued "Did anything occur while you were atop that tower?"

Link and I exchanged glances. We were unsure about how much we could tell this mysterious stranger. However, Link spoke up "We... heard a voice."

The man's face lit up with interest "A voice, you say? Did you happen to recognise this voice?"

Link was silent for a bit, shaking his head after before turning to me "What about you?"

"No, sorry..." I responded with a sigh, crossing my arms in defeat. I honestly had never heard that woman's voice in my life, no matter how much I look back to all the people I've met.

"I see... That is unfortunate." The man gazed off at the land, focussing on the castle and pointing to it with his stick "I assume you caught sight of the atrocity swirling around the castle... That, is Calamity Ganon. One hundred years ago, that vile entity brought the kingdom of Hyrule to ruin."

"Hyrule..." Link muttered as his gaze lingered on the castle, as if he'd heard that name before.

"Yes. That evil force appeared so suddenly and destroyed everything in its path. So many innocent lives were lost... " The old man tightened his grip on his stick "For a century, the very symbol of our kingdom, Hyrule Castle, has managed to contain that evil. But just barely... It waits contained, building its power for the moment it will release havoc and destruction on the land once more. That moment is fastly approaching..."

I bit my lip. This was a tale that had not been written in a single book I'd read, nor was it a subject in any history lesson I attended. I was starting to lose hope of still being alive at this point... What if me disappearing, was actually my final breaths?

I was brought out of my thoughts when the old man cleared his throat, turning both my own and Link's attention to him. His attention was on Link as he spoke. "Well, courageous one, I must ask... Do you intend to go there?"

After a moment of silence, Link once again turned to the castle as he nodded with a determined glint in his eyes. "I do..."

What?!

"Link, what the heck!" I turned to him abruptly, mouth agape "This has absolutely nothing to do with me, but you'll get yourself killed if you go there! You'd never survive as you are now!"

The boy turned to me with furrowed brows. Surprisingly, he didn't seem irritated by my statement, but rather they seemed to fuel the fire in his eyes even more. I felt as if he was doing this for more than just the kingdom... Before I could say anything more, the boy turned his back to me to address the old man "How do I get there?"

The man chuckled "I thought you may ask that... This isolated plateau we stand on is surrounded by steep cliffs, with no way up nor down. If you tried to jump, well no death could be more certain. Or more foolish."

I chuckled nervously, beginning to back away "Well, that's a dream that died quickly, right Link? So just forget about it and--"

Link grabbed my wrist and pulled me forward, only tightening his hold when I tried prying his grip off me. He sent me a side glare, but focussed on the old man once again "There has to be another way."

"Hmm. Well, if you had a paraglider like my own, that would be a different story."

"Paraglider?" I repeated, nose scrunching up slightly.

"Yes, I didn't just come soaring down with a pair of feathery wings, you know!"

I blushed, embarrassed. Link still seemed determined, which the old man seemed to notice.

"Fret not-- I will happily hand over my paraglider. Not for free, of course." He smirked under his beard "Let's see now... How about I trade it for a little bit of treasure that slumbers nearby?"

I placed a hand on my hip, as my other was still concealed by Link's "What treasure?"

The old man beckoned us to follow him, before making his way up a small hill. Link let go of my wrist as he followed him, with me close behind. I didn't know why I was sticking around, maybe it was partially because I thought this little quest would help me find my way home... ant partly because I was just curious. As soon as we were at the top, a strange glowing structure came into view.

"Do you see that building over there?" The man questioned as he pointed over to the strange place "It began glowing the exact moment those towers rose from the ground. I suspect a place such as that may hold some sort of treasure, don't you think? That, for my paraglider... a fair exchange, I'd say."

"That's not--" I was cut off as Link began dragging me down the hill, causing me to hiss out insults while clawing at his hand tugging my arm "Oi, Goldilocks! If you want to waste your time with this unfair errand, fine. But this ain't my business, let me go!"

He didn't listen.

"Link, I said--"

He suddenly turned around and grasped my shoulders, looking me directly in the eye as he spoke seriously "Y/N, I know I may seem kinda crazy right now."

"Understatement."

"But I'm honestly going with my gut feeling. I don't know why, but I feel like I'm supposed to do this, like I'm finishing unfinished business. And... I feel like you fit into all this too! Didn't you hear that voice. We were caught up in something 100 years ago, and were brought here today at pretty much the same time. Don't you think that means something?"

"I-" I paused "I don't know... Honestly, today has just confused the hell outta me... I don't know whether to trust that voice, or this old man or even you for that matter. I mean, is the paraglider really worth it?"

"I mean, unless you want to live here all your life with those pigmen."

I flinched.

"Besides, there's clearly nothing for us here." He continued "We have to look for answers elsewhere, if you want any chance of finding your way home."

.

.

.

Dammit, blondie!!!!

"Alright, fine! I'll help you get that stupid paraglider!" I groaned out "But if this is a trap, I'm throwing you at whatever awaits us."

"Yeah because you'll totally be able to shove hard enough."

"Try me bi--"

He quickly shushed me "No time, we have a quest! Come on!"

And with that I was tugged forward once again by the boy, my legs barely keeping up with his strides as we neared the structure.

What had I gotten myself into?