Link and Zelda looked on in shock. It felt like a mere few seconds ago when they were in pursuit of this masked figure. However, it seemed like the tables had radically turned, with them as the captured fugitives of the masked figure. But something seemed very different. The attire the masked figure was wearing appeared very different between both instances. In the forest, the attire resembled something that would be worn by a regular Kokiri, but here, the attire looked more Royal in nature, albeit not Royal in the sense of what Zelda or the King would be seen wearing. For starters, the colour was a dark purple with a scarlet red cape. The striking feature was still, however, the eerie and macabre mask the figure was sporting. Those giant yellow and green eyes felt like they could pierce one’s soul.
Suddenly, Zelda decided to break the silence. “Listen here. I don’t know who you are, what you’ve done and where you have brought us. Just tell us, what have you done with the forest dwellers”. In response, the masked figure turned their head towards the Princess, slightly levitated in the air and zoomed towards her. Once the figure landed on the ground, it brought out a purple sceptre and struck Zelda hard on the face. This caused Zelda to slide a few yards sideways on the ground. Before she could lift her head, the masked figure walked up and put her right foot forward onto Zelda’s head. At this point, both Link and Zelda could tell that by the attire, the figure was female. “Filthy wretch! You think you can talk down to me? You are no Princess. Know your true place, under the boot of Empress Ria!”. Zelda was audibly gasping in pain. Link could no longer tolerate it. “HEY, LET HER GO! I KNOW YOU ARE BEHIND ALL OF THIS! LET US GO AND TELL ME WHERE SARIA AND THE OTHERS ARE, OR I SWEAR, WHEN I BREAK FREE, I WILL PUT YOU TO MY SWORD!!”. The most surprising thing was the difference in Empress Ria’s reaction to Link’s speech. While she had been swift to deal Zelda a brutal blow, she slowly turned her head towards Link. Kicking Zelda to the side, she slowly walked towards Link. She knelt down to him and put her hand on his cheek. In an extremely mellow and friendly tone, she stated: “It’s… it’s OK… Hero of Hyrule. When the time comes, you will know everything”. Her tone then picked up it’s malevolence once again: “But first… I will have to kill this blonde-haired witch before your eyes to make you understand”. Frenzied, Link exclaimed: “DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH…”, but before he could finish, two Ritos grabbed him from behind. Empress Ria then turned around and pointed her sceptre at Zelda. This froze Zelda’s body, which then rose into midair. “I… I can’t move. Link… p… please help me!”. Ria’s mask eyes began to glow. Suddenly, a powerful bolt of dark red electricity shot out from Ria’s sceptre and engulfed Zelda, who screamed with blood curdling agony. Ria shouted: “YES, THIS IS THE AGONY I WANT YOU TO BE IN!! FOR THE AGONY YOU HAVE PUT ME THROUGH!!”. Trying his best to break free from the Rito who had him grabbed tight, Link shouted: “STOP, PLEASE STOP! WHATEVER YOU’RE DOING TO HER, DO IT TO ME, JUST PLEASE, PLEASE LET HER GO!!”. Stopping her attack, Ria turned to Link and replied: “Don’t worry Link, it will soon be over. And once it’s over, you and I will be side-by-side, for eternity!”. It was an extremely unusual comment, but Link had no time to dwell on it. He had to save Zelda somehow. Ria recommenced her electrical attack. The agonised screams of Zelda were shaking Link’s being. But no matter how hard he tried, the Rito didn’t let him go. Once Ria ceased her electrical attack, Zelda fell to the ground. She was barely conscious. “NO, ZELDA, ZELDAAAAAA!!!”, exclaimed Link. Ria then walked up to Zelda. “Ha ha ha. You lose, witch. Just one more blow, and my pain will forever be over”. Link could barely watch. Ria lifted up her sceptre, on the verge of stabbing it through Zelda’s heart. But just before she could complete the deed, an arrow came flying at her from the air. Although she had caught the arrow, it immediately exploded. “AAH!”, wailed Ria. Straight afterwards, arrows shot towards the two Rito holding Link, also exploding on impact. The smoke from the bomb arrows caused the Rito to lose their grip on Link, who immediately broke free and looked towards the sky. “Again, it’s me who has to save your butt, slacker!”. It was none other than Holu. He then immediately swooped down and grabbed Link and Zelda and flew out of the main entrance.
Once the smoke from the bomb arrows had cleared, Ria pointed her sceptre towards the main entrance. Looking towards the two Rito guards who had been subduing Link, she bellowed: “After them!”. With that, the Rito guards made haste and flew forward. Further forward, Holu was using every once of strength he had to fly whilst carrying Link and Zelda on each talon. Zelda looked completely dazed, her body trying to recover from the near-death experience inflicted upon her by Empress Ria. However, Link’s body was full of adrenaline. Whilst frantically panting, Link stated: “Boy, am I glad to see you! But where are we? And how did you know where to find us?”. Slightly confused himself, Holu replied: “I have no idea where we are, but once I stopped falling down that void in the Forest, I found myself here. Given that I was surrounded by a group of Rito, I believed I was back home in Rito Village. But then they began to attack me, calling me an intruder. Obviously, not realising my utter brilliance as a warrior, I made quick work of them. While I was still trying to figure out why my fellow Rito would attack me, I heard your usual whiny screaming, so I made my way into what looked like some kind of throne room and you know the rest”. At the end of the corridor they were flying, they could see daylight. Hearing the wings of Rito catching up to them from behind, Holu started flapping as fast as he could towards the light. When he flew through it, they were met with a shocking site. They found themselves in the middle of what looked like a long, vertical chamber. But what struck them the most was the endless amount of square-shaped holes all around them. Suddenly, hoards of Rito began flying out of these square holes to surround the three fugitives. One of them said: “The jig is up. Now, you shall return to Empress Ria this instant!”. Holu was all out of options. He was on the verge of putting up his wings when Link stated: “Holu, let me fall down”. Baffled, he replied: “I know you’re nuts, slacker, but this is going next level nuts!”. Link replied: “Just trust me with this”. Reluctantly, Holu obliged. While Link fell downwards, he clenched his fist, and the Triforce of Courage appeared on his wrist. He took out the Master Sword and when it glowed green, he started to repeatedly spin around. Green, circular energy blast began emanating from the Sword. This sent the hoards of Rito flying backwards. Link was fast falling towards the ground. Immediately, Holu began to descend towards the ground. Before Link could land, Holu grabbed him once again with his talon. Before them, they saw the exit to this chamber. Holu zoomed through.
The three fugitives had managed to escape from the building where they were being held. But electing not to turn around and admire, Holu kept flying forward. Whatever building it was, a spectacular-looking moat seemed to surround it. It was taking every ounce of energy Holu had to get to the other side of this moat and simply not fall in. However, he somehow managed to reach the other side of the moat, and once the three had made it across, Holu dropped both Link and Zelda and collapsed to the ground in a heap. Breathing heavily, Holu muttered: “Well Link… your madness never ceases to amaze me. You were a mere few seconds away from being a puddle of flesh, blood and bones”. Slightly laughing, Link replied: “Well, when an army of bird people are charging at you with blood in their eyes, a little bit of madness is needed”. He looked over to Zelda, who was now in an unconscious state. He continued: “We need to find somewhere to get her help and fast! That bloody Empress with the mask has badly injured her”. Both Link and Holu gave a glance behind and were startled with what they saw. The building was in the shape of what looked like a giant, golden brown cactus. But while looking at it, Holu remarked: “There’s something about this environment which sparks familiarity to me. But there’s nothing even remotely similar to this architecture in Hyrule. We can only assume that the masked freak warped us to some twisted land where she rules the roost. It’s the only explanation why my fellow species are acting like a bunch of maniacs. You ever heard of Rito behaving like this back in Hyrule?”. All Link could think about was what this demented Empress could have done with Saria and the rest. He turned to Holu and stated: “Whatever is going on, we need to take Zelda and get out of here”. He then picked up the Princess and held her in his arms. Both Link and Holu began running through what looked like an area of woodland. Link believed that the objective was to make it out of the woodland and then find some signs of civilisation. Suddenly, a bunch of arrows rained down upon the fugitives, stopping them in their tracks.
Link quickly dropped Zelda to the ground, crouched down and covered them both with his shield. Holu brought out his spear and quickly batted away the arrows. Once the arrows ceased to rain upon them, Link withdrew his shield. He found that both he and Holu were surrounded by a group of Rito. Sniggering, Holu boasted: “Well well, looks like you chumps have no idea who I am. Please give me some sort of challenge this time at least!”. The group of Rito obliged and all charged at him at once. Holu immediately jumped into the air and shot a host of bomb arrows around the area. This emanated a haze of smoke, completely compromising the visibility of the Rito. Smiling, Holu flew into the smoke. All Link could hear was the sound of Ritos sighing and moaning. Once the smoke cleared, he saw Holu standing with a proud smile over the unconscious Rito bodies. “He he. Whatever land this is, they sure produce some darn awful Rito warriors. An absolute bunch of weaklings”. Whilst Holu boasted, Link noticed one Rito who hadn’t been subjected to Holu’s onslaught readying an arrow. He was on the verge of shooting Holu, but in the nick of time, Link got out his sword and slashed the bow away from the Rito. He then dealt and almighty right hook at the Rito, knocking him out. “Try and make sure you’ve finished the job before boasting…”, Link stated whilst rolling his eyes. Link was walking towards an unconscious Zelda when suddenly, a strange melody could be heard playing. Once this melody began playing, Link felt his arms and legs give way. He then knelt to the ground. His body felt as if it was being treated to the most soothingly relaxing bath he could imagine. He could no longer move. He looked towards Holu, who clearly looked like he was being subjected to the same experience. Both of them were immobile. “What… what is this. My… my body is refusing to move. It’s as if I’ve entered a soothing bath after fighting in a long, drawn out battle”, stated Link. “Same here, what… what is going on?”, replied Holu. Suddenly, the melody changed. With that, the Ritos which Link and Holu had just defeated moments ago all stood up, completely recharged. The melody became louder, to the point where it sounded as if it could be heard right above them. Link and Holu gingerly looked up at a tree branch. On this branch stood a figure. It was another Rito. However, it was female. She was wearing a bluish-green dress and a red scarf. She had white and brown wings, yellow beak and talons, red and black eyes, but most distinctively, long and vibrant brownish red hair. In her hands, she held a harp, the obvious source of the melody. The restored Rito aimed their bows upon the three fugitives. The female Rito then jumped down to the ground. With a smile, she stated: “Naughty naughty, now that’s no way to treat such a nice and charitable host such as Her Lady!”.
Holu stared at this newcomer for several seconds. Gritting his teeth, he replied: “And who might you be?”. Giving a smile, the female Rito walked up to Holu and darted her head at his face. “Well handsome, Medli is the name. And I happen to be Her Lady, Empress Ria’s right hand girl, he he”. Holu tried to grip his spear, but was struggling to do so. Medli began to laugh. “Now now, there’s no need for that. My melody has ensured that your bodies are in a state of relaxation, so much so, that you just can’t move any longer”. With a cheeky smile, she continued: “But… even if you had the chance, I know you wouldn’t lay a finger on me, fearsome Rito warrior, he he”. For the first time, Holu’s face turned a tinge of pink. “Darn you… what makes you say that?! I dispatch your weakling cronies just a moment ago… you wouldn’t even be a challenge for me!”. Again, Medli smiled and replied: “Instead of debating who would be a challenge for who, I’m just going to take you all back to Empress Ria. Let’s see about the rest”. The recharged Rito all surrounded the fugitives. Like Holu, Link attempted to grip his weapon, but to no avail. Their pursuers were closing in when suddenly, they heard a loud voice.
“LIGHTNING SHOWER!!!”. With that, bolts of lightning started shooting towards the ground. Startled, the Rito all jumped backwards in an attempt to avoid the lightning blasts. Medli also took evasive action. Out of nowhere, a figure jumped out in front of them. It was a female. She was dressed in a white and blue attire with a dark blue cape. She turned around to glance at Link, Zelda and Holu. She had prominent purple eyes and shiny turquoise blue hair. But strikingly, she had a most friendly and fun-loving smile. Grimacing, Medli blurted: “You again? Back to ruin my plans I’m guessing?”. The newcomer giggled and replied: “What can I say? We’ve run into each other so much Medli, you feel like family now, he he”. Medli again brought out her harp. “Well, I’m going to try out my new melody. This time, you won’t get away from me!”. With that, she began to play another tune. The harp began to emanate a strong gust of wind. The blue-haired newcomer brought out a thick book. She opened it and quickly started reciting an incantation. Suddenly, a blue barrier materialised over her and Link, Holu and Zelda, protecting them from Medli’s gusts. Both Link and Holu were shocked. Who was this woman with blue hair and why was she protecting them? Once the gust ceased, two Rito charged at her. However, the blue-haired girl again shouted: “LIGHTNING SHOWER!!”. Both the Rito were zapped by her bolts of lightning. Medli quickly restored them with her harp melody. Angrily, she stated: “Curse you! You got lucky this time, but in future, I will take you down, once and for all!”. The other Rito began to fly away. Medli was about to follow suit, but before she left, she turned to Holu and with a smile, stated: “I’ll be seeing you again soon, count on it”. With that, she flew away. The blue-haired girl began waving at Medli, saying: “Tell your Empress I was saying Hi, he he!”. After this, she turned to the fugitives, who were now able to stand up. She looked at Holu and teased: “Well… your fellow bird people sure are a handful, he he. Must be glad I was here to help you”. With that, she gave Holu a smile and a wink. She suddenly turned to Link. However, when she looked at Link, her usual smiley expression became a little serious. Link stated: “Who whom do we owe the pleasure of saving us this time?”. The blue-haired girl looked lost in thought. A few seconds later, she snapped back to reality. Her smiley expression resurfacing, she replied: “How rude of me. My name is Sara. Sara the White Sorceress”. She then took a glance at Zelda and continued: “But let’s leave it at that for now. We need to get that sparkly-looking girl some help. We can discuss introductions later. All of you, stand next to me”. With that, Sara again got out her book. She recited another incantation which caused a blue sphere with weird markings to appear around them. The woodland around them disappeared and was replaced with what looked like the inside of a cave.
The blue sphere encasing the party suddenly disappeared. “OK then, where have you brought us, Sara, or whoever you claim to be?”. Jogging forward and turning around, Sara giggled and replied: “You just have to follow dear old me, he he”. She then led Link, who was carrying a yet unconscious Zelda, and Holu through a set of passageways. They then reached a chamber. Sara walked up to Link, but again, her cheery persona seemed to dampen a little when directly addressing the Champion. “I… I will take the Princess from your hands. She… she needs to rest in the other room for a while”. Link duly obliged and handed Zelda over to the Sorceress. She momentarily exited the main chamber into a side room, and after a few seconds, she reappeared. Smiling once again, Sara skipped into the centre of the main chamber and declared: “Now, I welcome you, to the hideout of the Resistance!”. Vexed, Holu replied: “And let me guess, the membership of this resistance sits at a grand total of one?”. Sara’s smile quickly turned into an annoyed frown. “Who said I’m the only one here?”. Looking around the chamber, Link stated: “All evidence to the contrary. There’s no one else here”. Suddenly, a voice was heard from further ahead. “Sara isn’t alone in here”. The chamber suddenly became a lot lighter. Near the front stood a figure. It portrayed an imposing persona. It wore a long, whitish-blue tunic, dark brown boots and a whitish-blue hood. However, the most baffling feature was that the figure wore a mask. The mask resembled the face of a yellow fox. Sara’s face lit up. As if her expressions weren’t cheery enough, her smile was brighter than before. Giggling, she exclaimed: “Now, I would like to present to you, the leader of the resistance, His Excellency Keaton!”.
Link and Holu walked up with the intention of greeting the leader of the resistance, however, he took a step backwards. “A simple bow would do as a greeting, I apologise for my impudence”, stated Keaton. Link replied: “Not to worry. All we need at this stage are answers. Where we are and what is going on”. At this, Keaton turned his head towards Sara and gestured. Sara stated: “I’ve already told you my name and how I am a Sorceress. But more importantly, I am from the same clan as the dictator of this Land, Empress Ria. So I understand the magnitude of her powers and the extent of her grip on this Land. As for where you are, this might come as a great shock to you…”, but before she could finish, another figure entered the chamber. In response, Sara smiled and exclaimed: “Yeah! You made it back in one piece, esteemed crossbow archer!”. The figure was a female who wore a green cloak and hood, brown boots and gauntlets and held two crossbows in her hands. She stated: “Well, what can I say, he he. It was indeed a long day”. The accent and way of talking were very familiar to Link. He looked in her direction. The figure in green then looked back at Link. Immediately, she gasped, took a few steps back and fell to her knees. Link gingerly walked towards her. He knelt down and removed her hood. The girl had long, blonde, pig-tailed hair and blue eyes. She also looked around the same age as Link. Confused, Link uttered: “You… who are you? And… why do you feel so familiar”. With tears streaming down her eyes, she barely let out two words which pierced Link’s heart. “B… big brother?”. Link replied: “Aryll?”. She tightly embraced Link. Hysterically crying, Aryll screamed: “WHERE DID YOU GO, BIG BROTHER LINK. YOU… YOU PROMISED YOU WOULD NEVER LEAVE ME!! AND NOW… YOU ALL LEFT ME!!”. Link was in a total state of shock. Being unable to process the things his sister was saying, he could only focus on the most obvious question. “But… but how… how did you get to this place… and… how have you grown up so quickly?”. Suddenly, Keaton spoke. “Link, you and your comrades were not sent to some other land. No, this was not a journey in space, but rather, a journey in time. You are still in Hyrule… but 10 years in the future”.
To be Continued