The Broken Bond

by Norkix

Chapter 1

The night air was cool against my skin as I walked among the trees of the Lost Woods, the soft steps of my boots and the quiet clinking of my gear the only sounds that accompanied me. The light of the moon shone through gaps in the canopy, dappling the forest floor with silvery-white light. It was quiet this deep in the forest; I hadn’t seen nor heard any sign of wildlife since late afternoon. A niggling thought in the back of my mind told me I should turn back soon or risk becoming a Stalfos, as the old stories said.

I yawned, stretching my arms over my head as I did so. Just a few more miles tonight, I thought. I’ll turn back in the morning.

My yawn ended at last and I brought my arms to rest behind my head, cradling it as I tilted it back to look up at the sky through the trees. The stars twinkled at me through the leaves as they moved across the clear night sky. The last time I had wandered off into these woods I’d ended up getting mugged and chasing the thief through a portal into a parallel dimension. Fun times. I doubted it would happen again, but all the same, I’d brought less things of value with me this time. I was starting to regret leaving Epona at Lon Lon Ranch, though. I could’ve used the company.

Thinking about what I had brought with me made me realize I hadn’t eaten yet. As if on cue, my stomach grumbled loudly. I sighed, opting to stop for the night in order to sate my suddenly rampant hunger. Looking around for a suitable place to make camp, my eyes located a large, rather oddly shaped boulder in a clearing a couple of bowshots away. It looked like part of it formed enough of an overhang to provide shelter from any rain that might start up during the night. I altered my course, heading for the clearing.

Half an hour later, with some bread and a handful of Deku Berries sitting in my stomach, I laid down on my bedroll underneath the overhang of the massive rock and sighed. Another day, and still no sign of her...

“Navi,” I said aloud, closing my eyes. “Where are you?”

My fairy partner and best friend had abandoned me in the Temple of Time after our first, and only, adventure together. The memory was still vivid in my mind, as though it had happened yesterday. In Hyrule’s time, I gathered it had been about a week ago, but for me, it had been longer. Just over a month I supposed. It was hard to keep track of time when you had to keep reliving the same three days over and over again.

I shuddered as I remembered my time in the alternate dimension known as Termina, and more specifically, the adversary I had faced there. Majora’s Mask had been… something else. I still felt a twinge of unease whenever I remembered its unnerving orange eyes. But I digress…

Navi was my first companion. We shared an adventure through time, cast down an evil tyrant, and at the end of it all… she left me without so much as a farewell or even a glance back. She left me, standing by the Master Sword, crying and calling her name.

Deprived of my closure, I set out to look for her and fell into Termina. There, I met another fairy by the name of Tatl, and while our relationship was rocky at first, we eventually grew almost as close as I had been with Navi. I actually got to say goodbye to Tatl when I left Termina, and while I was sad to leave her behind, at least I had a sense of closure. That was something I hadn’t been able to get from Navi.

Navi… I knew why she had left. I wasn’t a Kokiri. I was a Hylian. When our quest was complete, she no longer needed to be my guardian fairy. But that didn’t give her the right to just leave like that. We’d been friends. Really, really close friends. I think she knew me better than I know myself. And yet… not even a goodbye. Not even a single glance back at me as she flew away into the blinding light of the sun.

“Help!”

The distant cry jolted me from my thoughts and I sat bolt upright, looking around wildly. Where had it come from? And… had that been a child? A little girl? What would a little girl be doing in the Lost Woods in the middle of the night?!

A monstrous roar came next, followed by a chorus of high-pitched screams that made me leap to my feet. Not just one, but three voices crying out in terror. My pointed ears twitched as I tried to pinpoint the direction the voices were coming from. That roar hadn’t sounded like anything I had encountered before.

Another cry… There! Through a log tunnel…

I hesitated. Log tunnels in the Lost Woods were fickle. They’re linked together by some ancient enchantment. Basically, the one you go in isn’t necessarily the same one you’ll come out of. If you didn’t know exactly what you were doing, you could end up miles away from where you started. Still...

Ugh… I really need to work out this hero complex…

“Hold on!” I shouted, drawing the Gilded Sword from its sheathe across my back and running for the tunnel. My heart thudded in my ears as another roar sounded, almost like a response to my call. Whatever that thing was, it was big, and definitely wouldn’t be happy to see me. Pulse pounding, I entered the darkness of the log tunnel at full tilt.

There’s normally a tingle when you go through the warping enchantment. This time, though, it was more like a powerful shock of static electricity. I winced in pain, wondering exactly how far I had just gone.

I looked around and my face fell in dismay as nothing looked familiar. It didn’t even look like the Lost Woods anymore! With vines hanging from the trees and large patches of untamed brush and grass, this looked more like a wild jungle. I darted between the trees towards the sound of another chorus of screams.

“Hold on!” I shouted again, slashing through a thicket of large leaves.

“Help!” one of the voices called back. “We’re over here! HELP!” The cry was followed immediately by a staccato shriek and the snarl of whatever beast was terrorizing the trio. Following the voice, I slashed through more underbrush until at last I emerged into a small, oblong clearing and stopped in my tracks.

A massive and hideous creature stood before me, advancing slowly on a large rock behind which a large red bow was visible, trembling as its unseen owner trembled in fright. The creature’s body was largely that of a lion, but with an oversized, gaping maw, bat wings, and a scorpion tail. It let out a low growl as it advanced on the rock.

“Cover your eyes!” I called, reaching into my pocket for a Deku Nut. The creature whirled at the sound of my voice, snarling as strands of saliva ran down between its many sharp teeth. With a single fluid motion, I threw the Deku Nut at the ground as hard as I could and shielded my eyes. There was a loud crack! and my eyelids glowed red for an instant as the nut exploded in a flash of blinding light.

The beast roared as it was deprived of its sight. Flourishing my sword, I charged forward, a wordless cry escaping my lips. Too late, I realized my error; there was a swish and I cried out as the scorpion tail embedded itself deep in my upper right arm. Almost immediately I felt a burning sensation begin to spread from the wound.

Letting out a growl of my own, I brought my other arm around and sliced off the end of the creature’s tail. It howled in pain and staggered away from me as I pulled the barbed tip out of my flesh. The burning sensation was spreading quickly. I had to finish this.

I lunged at the beast, scoring a long scratch across its chest as it reared to swing its massive claws blindly at the air. Darting to the side to avoid a stomp of retribution, I plunged the Gilded Sword into its side, fitting in neatly between its ribs. Crimson droplets fell from it as I withdrew the sword with a sickening squelch.

The beast let out a roar of pain and collapsed, limbs and tail swinging at the air fruitlessly. Its throes grew slower and slower until at last it lay still on the forest floor. I poked it with my blade, just to make sure. There was no response.

I staggered away from the corpse, panting and clutching my wound. My knees gave out beneath me as the burning venom spread still farther. Was my vision getting darker?

“Apple Bloom!” called a new voice, strong and feminine and with an odd, unfamiliar accent. “Apple Bloom, where are ya?”

“Applejack, come quick!” called one of the young girls in the same alien accent. “We need help! I think the manticore stung him! We need… what is that?”

I collapsed completely onto the ground as my vision continued to fade. The last thing I heard before I blacked out completely was the sound of hooves.

They have horses, I thought. Maybe they’ll be able to get me to a healer before…

And with that, I knew no more.

Author's Note:

This will probably be revised later once I have more of the main plot planned out. I apologize for the short length, but this was more just to get me started than anything else.

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[butterfield pancake]

More please