Shining Hope

by Aster_oidtheraccoon

Summary:

Dedicated to the countless times I spent on the Den of Trials in the Baneful area, special thanks to my teammates Hellfire, Likmuh (or was it Limkuh? Can’t quite remember) and Rage for helping me get through this!

Chapter 1: Hytopia Castle

A young boy called Link, otherwise known as Sapphire (who was nicknamed for the unusual highlight of blue in his bright blonde hair) trotted down the halls of Hytopia castle, humming a tune to himself as he did so. “I wonder what that so called ‘Den of Trials’ is about..” He said to himself as he adjusted his gear, which consisted of a navy tunic, a brown belt with a Triforce symbol on the golden clasp, a pair of brown boots and a navy hat with a small gold decoration on top of it. The Sword Suit was very helpful for attacking enemies at long ranges if he hadn’t picked up an item that could do hits from a distance.

He momentarily thought about changing his outfit to the ‘Queen of Hearts’ outfit that Madame Courture made for him (alongside many others including the Serpent’s Toga, Timeless Tunic and the Light Armor) but he shook his head as he approached the Match Master. The Match Master was an old wizard who was dressed in a regal yellow cloak, he was responsible for (true to his name) matching Sapphire with his teammates from other realities who also wanted to go to the Drablands, but didn’t have any allies to partner up with much like himself.

The boy explained the situation about wanting to go to the new Den of Trials area that had been mentioned in one of the rumours that the mysterious clown talked about. (Although Sapphire wasn’t sure the rumour was 100% true as The Great Tripini also mentioned ‘Miiverse stamps’.. What even was a Miiverse?!)

The old man waved his wand as he chanted his magic spell, activating the Triforce symbol on the ground, summoning Sapphire’s teammates for the newest adventure into the hall and changing their hair colour all at once. His teammate to the right of Sapphire was a boy who had on… what he could only describe as a crime against fashion.

Where the Fire Blazer outfit’s flame-like fur neckpiece stopped, the scarlet red fabric of the Tri-Suit began. The two golden pauldrons of the Sword Master Suit on his arms were paired with the Lucky Loungewear’s gloves. The crimson mask of the Fire Blazer costume rested on the boy’s currently pastel red hair, styled as if he was wearing the Energy Gear. The clashing attire ended with fire-patterned boots.

‘Madame Courture would be horrified if she saw this outfit…’ Sapphire thought, staring at the newly summoned Hylian in disbelief.

His other teammate was a much more tame-looking blue haired boy. Sapphire peered closely at the young adult’s short, curly hair and noticed strands of black poking out within the magically dyed deep blue. The teen wore an intricately patterned dress with a golden circlet on his head. His right arm was odd looking, even for magic curses. It was dark grey with sharp claws and had strange brown symbols etched into it.

Sapphire waved at his new team members as he noted the names on the badges they wore. The grouchy-looking boy’s name tag had the nickname ‘Starfire’ in all capital letters, but it was hidden under scratches and was crossed out with a pen. Under the barely legible letters was instead the name ‘Hellfire’. The other juniper-green eyed Link’s tag was a lot more simple, just having the word ‘Rage’ on their badge.

Sapphire took a deep breath and walked forward onto the glowing Triforce symbol that acted as a teleporter to The Drablands, Rage did the same, but they both had to wait for Hellfire who was carrying a pot over his head and looked like a madman. (To normal people anyway, but to Sapphire and Rage this was just a normal day for the two of them, fellow Links did this all the time. Pots usually hid goodies like rupees or regeneration hearts.)

The trio were whisked away in a golden light as they held their swords up high.

It was time for another adventure!

Chapter 2: The first Trial, Pt. 1

Summary:

The trio of adventurers enter the Grassland trial.

Notes:

So anyways I’ve decided to continue this :D

As soon as the blinding light from the teleportation spell cleared, Hellfire sped off while Rage peered down into the cavernous ravine that the area was built upon.

The red haired Link waved from where he was stood on the bottom left glowing Triforce-shaped teleport spot. “Come on, you slowpokes! Ugh… didn’t I say to the old man that the guys I matched up with were supposed to be faster than this?” He huffed and crossed his arms as Rage scoffed and rolled his eyes at Hellfire.

“Coming, your highness.” The blue Link gave a sarcastic jab through gritted teeth as the other boy glared at him.

Sapphire followed behind Rage as they both stepped onto the teleport pad and were whisked away to a large grassy platform.

“I hope this’ll be easy…” Sapphire whimpered.

“Pshh, what sort of Hero are you if you’re scared of a couple’a monsters?” The red Link gave a cocky grin.

“Hellfire, don’t be rude.” Rage reprimanded him with a look. “Don’t worry Sapphire, from what I’ve read from other accounts of people who took on the Den, the enemies only get stronger each level we advance. This place is the Grasslands Trial, so it should be alright.” He comforted his cowering teammate.

“…Okay.” The green Link swallowed his nerves and put on a courageous face, grabbing a wooden bow from a nearby podium that drifted off into sparkles once he’d collected the item that laid atop it.

The other two Links collected their items, a Boomerang for Rage and a pair of Fire Gloves for Hellfire in which the rowdy boy chuckled with a bloodthirsty smile.

a quartet of gelatinous Blobs burst out from the dirt as Hellfire launched Spin Attack Beam at one of them, making it disappear into purple smoke.

Rage ran forward, swiping his silver sword wildly at another of the slime creatures. Sapphire then followed suit with a lunge impaling his weapon straight through another Blob’s middle.

Sapphire gave a wobbly smile to Rage. “Huh, that… wasn’t so bad actually.” He was suddenly spooked by the last Blob reaching out to attack him. Thankfully, Rage intercepted with his Boomerang.

Four Buzz Blobs formed out of the remains of the other Blobs and Sapphire yelped in pain as he got stung by the charged electricity coursing through them.

Rage swiftly threw his Boomerang that arced into two of the enemy Buzz Blobs.

“Look alive, greenie!” Hellfire barked at the now sniffling Sapphire as he threw a few fireballs in the way of both his and Sapphire’s enemies. As Hellfire did so, another Triforce pad emerged up from the ground, grey pedestal and all.

“C’mon, let’s get going you two!” The pushy boy tapped his feet, already on the magical pressure plate.

Rage frowned with a sigh and got on, Sapphire walking behind as they were transported to an exact copy of where they were previously, just with slightly darker grass.

“Don’t let him get to you, just stay vigilant.” The blue-haired Link whispered to the skittish teenager who answered with a nod.

Hellfire easily slay the two big rats that were waiting for them when they arrived, so two angry black and yellow crows swooped in to replace the defeated animals.

“Ow, what the heck! Get off’a me, ya darn birds!” Hellfire let out a string of curses as the two birds pecked at his head.

The boisterous Link got his wish as the pink beaked crows were taken down by Rage’s Boomerang and an arrow from Sapphire’s Bow.

Four snake-like Skullropes suddenly pounced on the three worn-down Links.

Sapphire launched two arrows in surprise at one of the Skullropes and sighed in relief as it faded away.

Hellfire hurled and re-formed fireballs rapidly, letting out a growl. “Why won’t these things die!”

As if Hellfire willed it, the two Skullropes that faced him dissipated into dark smoke. He then glanced at Rage, wondering what was taking him so long.

One of the snake enemies had bitten Rage’s Boomerang in half, meaning that the blue Link’s only weapon was his sword. Rage slashed and Spin-Attacked at the Skullrope’s tough… well, skulls and was finally able to take it down, with Sapphire shooting a barrage of arrows at the single remaining snake creature.

“Thanks for the assist!” Rage gave a thumbs up at Sapphire, who grinned bashfully.

“No worries, seemed like you needed the help.” The other Link responded as he sprinted over to the teleport spot, meeting up with both Hellfire and Rage.

Two Life Likes awaited them on the next floor of the Forest Zone. Sapphire got captured by one of them, so Rage ran to help his team member. His sword drove deep into the yellow-orange coloured flesh of the life-sucking beast, making it croon in pain as it spat out Rage’s fellow Link now covered in saliva.

Sapphire fiercely retaliated on the Life Like with a Spin-Attack that killed one of the serpentine beings.

The other Life Like was locked in a battle with a sweating Hellfire, who casted fireball after fireball at it, eventually running out of magic reserves and finishing it off with a simple stab.

After the last Life Like was defeated, a swarm of seven Totem Dekus surrounded the trio all at once, not leaving them any chance to take a break.

Notes:

Two and a half floors in the Forest Zone to go! Hope you enjoyed. Sorry I’m not great at fight scenes 😢

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of The Heroes of Hytopia!