Metroid Interface Ch. 3

Metroid Interface Ch. 3

3. A Hero’s Purpose

The man’s eyes peeked out from behind his shield.

There was a humongous plant twitching and moving in the ground, searching for the tiny movements made by the hero. Link breathed in heavily as he reached for his sword, jumping from his hiding place and falling down on the plant, only to bounce off from its hard exterior. The plant, thoroughly annoyed, burst forth from the ground, using its roots to spin like a fan. This caused it to hover in the air, using the spinning blades to slice and dice its enemy. Very few were able to defeat it. Link’s small fairy Navi buzzed around to try and pin-point the monster’s weakness. Link blocked and saw the ricocheting points throw back his shield with extreme force.
“There, at the base!” Navi sounded, shivering in her excitement. Link nodded and let out a loud battle sound, bouncing the monster back on the next impact, swinging his sword horizontal and slicing the monster’s weakness. The fiend, letting out a piercing cry of agony, fell instantly to the ground and made to reach for the hero, who, intent on finishing the job fell down on the monster, straight into its toothed mouth, where the demon screamed and died. Link retrieved the sword with some difficulty, and as the demon’s body began to instantly decompose, a small sphere of energy danced up from its form, circling just above the plant and glowing in the figure of a red, pulsing heart. This was the monster’s energy, the source of its life. Link bent down and took hold of this, studying it as it slowly healed the small wounds and gashes he felt on his body. He saw as it disappeared into his own shadow, and soon, there was nothing left to signal he had been in a struggle hours before. Navi sighed. “When are you going to be more careful?” she nagged within her sapphire glow, watching him with her wide eyes. Link looked to her and stood up, replacing his shield and Master sword without a word.

It had been five years since he had saved his land. Five years since the defeat of Ganondorf, and three years since the disappearance of Midna, Princess of Twilight. The land around him was now peaceful and quiet, sending a deep restless beast to fester inside the hero’s chest. He was a quiet man, not prone to show his uneasiness, but now, he couldn’t help it. He intentionally went looking for trouble to quench his thirst. For the past year in a half he had wandered the farthest regions of Hyrule, only to be disappointed in his expectancy for some adventure. The town was unaware of his coming and going, only blissful in their tranquil lives. He was known throughout the land as a hero, but now, in his serene life, he was more edgy than ever.

Link turned to Navi and looked at her with such aggravation it caused the small sprite’s heart to ache. The tiny female outreached her hand and stroked his face in comfort. Navi had been with Link since the beginning, since the first fall of Hyrule.
She was with him in the early morning hours, peeking out from his long hat to watch as he repeated slashed at the air, watching his warm breath show in the crisp cold, attempting to keep his swordsmanship intact. She felt his frustration when he thought back on the past, looking into the deep sunset near Death Mountain, when the twilight extended its reach on the region. She felt the agony of her one-sided love as she saw the hurt in his eyes when he held Zelda’s Ocarina in his grip.
“Link, don’t get down. You’re still needed,” whispered the dear friend as she stroked his cheek, “heroes are always needed.” She saw as a small smile appeared on his face and he quietly nodded. These small comforts had become more frequent over the past few months, and Navi was unsure how to help her friend.

Abruptly Link jerked his hand, causing Navi to dance near his left ear.
“What,” she inquired. She was still however when she noticed that the hero was looking up at the bright sky with a dangerous gleam. Instantly pulling out his sword and shield, he turned and strolled his way back to his familiar forest of foliage. Navi, curious as to what was going on, hesitated a few minutes and peered up into the sky, seeing a large fiery object as it twisted and maneuvered its way near the trees of Kokiri Forest. Navi zoomed to catch up to him, her heart racing as her wings hummed with her speed.
“Link, Link, wait!” Link stopped and waited patiently as Navi disappeared into the safety of his hat.

The male entered the trees, hiding as he saw a large blue craft hover to a halt in front of him. His eyes flashed in deep concern as the top of the machine opened to reveal a monster within. As the being leapt with incredible strength from the newly arrived device, it hit the grasses with small bits of green torn from their homes and thrust on either side of its feet. Link watched at the outline bent down and then rose, it’s back turned to him as he wondered what it was doing.
Attempting to get closer, Link crouched and moved with stealth, only to find that he wasn’t stealthy enough, as the tan and red figure in front of him shifted suddenly and blasted an orb of sunlight in his direction. Link, with reflexes brought on by intense training, gripped his sword’s hilt and thrust in front of him, playing baseball as the sphere hit his weapon and bounced back towards the strange individual. Link’s eyes widened as he saw the figure dodge almost instantly, rolling and standing. It seemed to be studying him, and Link, feeling his heart race in sudden exhilaration, stood up and quietly stepped into view.
“Link,” hissed Navi in earnest whispers, “Link, I’ve never seen anything like this, we need to get away.” Link’s eyes locked onto the figure in front of him, feeling his Master sword’s weight in his hand and readying his shield.
“Who are you?” Spoke the Hyrulian with straightforward words. He waited to see if the figure would answer. The hero watched with deep attentiveness, and suddenly prepared his weapons to battle as the shadow moved and released something on its head, little wisps of wind escaping into the air around it. Link heard a ‘click’ with his keen senses. To his utter astonishment, a woman’s face appeared with cheeks pink and rosy. Her long blonde hair cascaded down the suit she wore, and her eyes, deep blue, stared into his with equal bravery. She held the helmet in the crook of her right arm that was only a large machine.
“I’m Samus Aran, galactic bounty hunter. Who’re you?” called her pretty voice. Link swallowed in uneasiness.
“Link, Hero of Time.” He replied, unsure of himself as Navi disappeared into his hat.
“Hero of Time?” asked the figure, taking easy strides towards him, studying him with inquiry. She stopped in front of him; her large metal clothes making her look at least a full foot taller. She took a quick glimpse to her surroundings. “Where am I, Link?” She questioned seriously.
“Hyrule,” managed Link, not taking his gaze away from the female. He was determined to be fearless. This woman seemed to be friendly, so he was cooperative.
“Hyrule huh,” The hunter named Samus smiled and looked down to her helmet. Returning her attention back to the hero she gestured to the object in her grasp. “Mind if I put this back on?” Link felt his stomach do a back flip as the encasing was put back on and a lock heard. He watched as the female turned and took a few steps away from him, putting her hand to the side of her head, glancing around. Link’s eyes followed her as she did a quick walk around the clearing before she returned to her position in front of him. “Pretty simple map Link,” said the voice of Aran within her suit. “I need you to tell me something,” Her eyes were visible behind the painted glass of her view, staring down at the hero with complete somberness. “Just a few moments ago, dangerous creatures crash-landed on this planet in a very large ship.” Link appeared skeptical. “Listen to me. Did you see a large object in the sky?”
The hero, trying to keep up with the obviously otherworldly information and terms, took a peek at Samus’ own gunship and pointed. Samus followed his gaze and then looked to him. “Yes, something like that, did you see something like that?” The man shook his head.
“Monsters,” he said, knowing the meaning very well. Samus nodded.
“Yes, monsters, there are new monsters on your planet, unlike anything you’ve encountered, and I’m here to destroy them.”

Over the next few hours, Samus attempted to teach the man what she already knew by heart. She even got him into her ship, which made him very weary and uncomfortable. She showed him numerous pictures collected from her visor, told him her purpose for invading his territory, and asked him to help her find the ship.
Link, being very clever himself, soon took to the knowledge like some vacuum –
Understanding with nods and even having Navi listen in. It was all so interesting and to some extent, unbelievable, but after Link saw the inside of Aran’s ship, all of her strange items, and even took note of her appearance, her words sent chills of excitement through his body. He had been wishing for some adventure for so long, that now, faced with the undoubted evidence of life beyond his little world, he was curious to see it himself.
“You can’t believe this Link!” Navi chimed in after Samus smiled with satisfaction. The woman moved to the back of her craft, explaining to Link the controls of the simple elevator and asked him to step on the platform. Link, realizing that the people of his land would never comprehend Samus’ bizarre technology, stopped her before she pressed the button.
“Samus, my people thrive on magic. They believe in legends and will never understand your strange…’technology’.” Link said with a low tone. Samus, not really believing in ‘magic’ was still a minute, watching Link’s expression with contemplation. Then again, she had been everywhere on the galaxy, and even though she had never encountered any beings possessing ‘fairies’ until now, couldn’t exactly rule out the concept.
“What’re you suggesting,” she replied. Link’s eyes glanced around a minute, his mind pulsing with all the information he had just received. To him, it was like any data he had needed in the past, information passed to him to save Hyrule. But the people he had protected all these years, they had never seen the things he had, and while he found what Samus was saying believable, he knew they never would. They had never fought a dragon or been turned into a wolf.
“You’re going to need to hide this ‘ship’.” The man said that last word with an unnatural taste. “And take off that strange armor. You’re going to need to try and blend in.” Samus’ lips twitched as she looked to him with questioning eyes.

Being a bounty hunter, and having to deal with many types of life forms, Aran thought she was a very good judge of character. And as she studied this ‘non-human’ man before her, she found him very sincere in his want to help. While he did have weapons, he was taking the whole ‘monsters in your land’ thing extremely well and being very cooperative. The title Hero of Time also said something to his accomplishments, and Samus found it very impressive. Judging by the one earring in his ear, his obvious feature for risk-taking also told the hunter that this man was dependable and would do anything he could to complete his assigned tasks, or save someone he found valuable. Looking at him, Aran found him charming, and seeing the deep honesty in his eyes, she knew she could trust him. The hunter nodded to Link.

Shifting her body and turning, the female went back to her controls, pressing numerous buttons that caused something strange to pop up. The hero watched as Samus periodically glanced to the screen, input data, and soon, the gunship was humming in activation. Link looked around in confusion as Samus began taking her suit off, astonished to find that the female indeed did have two hands. Soon, she was standing in nothing but a blue ensemble. Aran noticed Link’s childlike expression; she put a hand on her hip.
“If you’re wondering, the ship is under lockdown and cloaked. No one will know where it is but us.” She came back to the elevator and hung her finger over the button. “As of now, it’s doing a complete scan of the whole region. It’ll be awhile before it locks onto anything, until then, I’ll have to blend in and see what the locals have to say.” Link tilted his head and felt Navi quiver inside his hat. As he rose up with the platform, the fairy voiced her uncertainties.
“Link, you idiot, how can we trust all this?” The man jumped from the machine and hit the grass, watching as Samus came into view behind him. As soon as both individuals left the ship’s surface, it disappeared with sudden invisibility.
“Navi, she says these pirates could kill and destroy Hyrule. I promised Zelda I’d protect this land, what choice do I have?” Pulling a sapphire tunic from within his shield, he turned. Handing her the clothes, he shifted and began walking while she changed. “Besides,” he continued, pulling out the light blue ocarina, “this is a hero’s purpose.” Playing Epona’s song, he waited, watching as Navi emerged and danced in front of him. The sun was setting in the sky and Samus marshaled with the fairy and man just as a large, beautiful auburn, white-mane steed nuzzled up to her master. Link reached up and stroked the long face, peering up into the tender brown eyes. Samus glanced to the horse and then to Link.

As Link saw her, dressed in his Zora’s tunic, she looked very different, at least, after seeing her in the bizarre metal armor. The hunter had tightened the belt around her slender waist, and her shapely body was unlike anything Link had expected. She wore the long hat over her ears to disguise her otherworldliness. Everything seemed a little baggy on her, from the boots to the tights, but they suited for their purpose just fine and guised the female, who seemed much smaller and more fragile in normal attire. Both the figures mounted with Link at the rein and Samus behind. As the animal reared and let out an excited cry, it was the first time the hero had felt alive after so long.
After all, searching for a shattered mirror was nothing compared to being a hero.