Garo
Boy Wonder
Welcome one and all to the fifteenth round of the Zelda Dungeon Writing Community Competition! It's a multiple of five so clearly that is cause for celebration! 
We're finally back from our unannounced holiday hiatus (surprise gift?) with a winner to crown, an entry to show, and a theme to announce! Last round, waaaay back in 2012, the theme was Flight, and we had a near record of six entries. The runaway winner of the round was MadameMajora! Congratulations and thanks to everybody that entered!
For round 14, our theme was Fall, and we unfortunately had only one entry. So, it looks like we have TWO winners to crown - give it up for A Link In Time! His entry can be seen below, as always, in the spoiler tag.
This brings us to the announcement of the theme for this round of competition - we'll skip the pageantry and get right on to it.
Entries are due on Friday, February 1st, at 9:00 PM EST.
We're finally back from our unannounced holiday hiatus (surprise gift?) with a winner to crown, an entry to show, and a theme to announce! Last round, waaaay back in 2012, the theme was Flight, and we had a near record of six entries. The runaway winner of the round was MadameMajora! Congratulations and thanks to everybody that entered!For round 14, our theme was Fall, and we unfortunately had only one entry. So, it looks like we have TWO winners to crown - give it up for A Link In Time! His entry can be seen below, as always, in the spoiler tag.
A Link In Time
Shades of Misery
King Aegeus briskly strolled through the palace court ordering his servants to and fro. “I’ve received message from adjacent fishermen. They claim to have spotted my boy’s vessel. Theseus is finally coming home!”
Removing his crown, Aegues wiped the sweat from his brow. He had been worried that his son wouldn’t persevere but it had been for naught. Climbing the velvet carpeted staircase, Aegues entered his son’s room; it had been vacant for several weeks now. Everything was about to change. Thumbing a picture by the bed side, Aegues’s eyes glossed over his long deceased wife. It was the last image he would ever see of her. “If only you were here to experience this moment. Our son returns glorious, triumphant, a hero.” Stifling tears, he exited the room quietly closing the door behind him.
After receiving news from the king, the city was bustling with preparations. Athens had always been the capital of glamor; today its aesthetic beauty was compounded to an unprecedented degree. Vendors enticed passerby with the scent of fresh roasted fish; jesters juggled balls through spinning hula hoops; hunters advertised their hides to the fine gentlemen seeking to impress their wives.
The din arose as the royal procession proceeded to the Parthenon. A light breeze swept the air rustling the hairs of the king’s graying beard. He wasn’t the man he used to be with eyelids drooping and purple tinted but he was fitter than most men his age. Top honors in military school had paid off after all.
A beggar approached the imperial march. “Out of the way,” one of the king’s attendants snarled. But Aegues held up his hand greeting the stranger with an amiable smile.
“Bring this man food and water. Clothe him and provide shelter. Today is a joyous day for me and the entire city of Athens. Leave no one out of the revelries.”
“Yes, my lord,” the attendant murmured.
What had been a pale white dot at the start of the voyage now appeared in plain view. The Parthenon towered over the adjacent monuments, a testament to Greek architecture, a citadel dedicated to the Goddess Athena. It was in her honor that Aegeus would lay his blessing. The scheduled prayers never occurred.
“Your highness, the ship has arrived,” a civil servant proclaimed from the entrance to the temple. Without hesitance, Aegeus turned his back on the statue of the Goddess and rushed outside to witness the moment with his own eyes.
Ships at a distance carry every man’s wish onboard.
Today was different. Aegeus’ veins swelled and forehead reddened as his heart thumped harder and harder-a palpitation every second, now two for every second, three for every second. Soon his body could endure no more. Emitting a shrill cry, he darted from the Parthenon into the dense foliage below. Stumbling on a rock, Aegeus dismissed the blood flowing from the cut on his hand.
He had thought, hoped that his eyes had deceived him but this was not the case. A black sail perched on top of the vessel. “My son, my one and only son…why did you perish and leave your poor father behind? I’ve lost the final pearl in my life. What sense is there in existence?”
What crossed his mind was taboo and grounds for eternal damnation but he no longer cared. Tragedy had consumed him for nights when his fair maiden passed into the netherworld ten years prior. He wouldn’t put up with it once more. Extending his arms perpendicular to his trunk and palms facing up, the king closed his eyes, graying beard rustling in the wind. It was a serene moment with seagulls squawking overhead. The solid ground gave way beneath his feet as his lungs filled with liquid, the salt burning the open wound on his hand.
***
Theseus entered the Parthenon with muted delight. Foreboding glances were cast at him and when he saw the throne lying on the pedestal of the Goddess he understood. Aegeus was nowhere to be found. The patrol team had managed to obtain his crown from the unforgiving waves.
The hero of Athens placed the crown on his forehead. His hands were bloodied from the beast, heart broken by a lecherous women, mind tarnished with memories of his parents. Yet there was hope. A rise ensued from every fall. Fire and ice clouded his countenance. The blazing anger of his youth remained but it was matched with new introspection. Rising, he exited the building, head up, back straight. The next Golden Age had begun.
Shades of Misery
King Aegeus briskly strolled through the palace court ordering his servants to and fro. “I’ve received message from adjacent fishermen. They claim to have spotted my boy’s vessel. Theseus is finally coming home!”
Removing his crown, Aegues wiped the sweat from his brow. He had been worried that his son wouldn’t persevere but it had been for naught. Climbing the velvet carpeted staircase, Aegues entered his son’s room; it had been vacant for several weeks now. Everything was about to change. Thumbing a picture by the bed side, Aegues’s eyes glossed over his long deceased wife. It was the last image he would ever see of her. “If only you were here to experience this moment. Our son returns glorious, triumphant, a hero.” Stifling tears, he exited the room quietly closing the door behind him.
After receiving news from the king, the city was bustling with preparations. Athens had always been the capital of glamor; today its aesthetic beauty was compounded to an unprecedented degree. Vendors enticed passerby with the scent of fresh roasted fish; jesters juggled balls through spinning hula hoops; hunters advertised their hides to the fine gentlemen seeking to impress their wives.
The din arose as the royal procession proceeded to the Parthenon. A light breeze swept the air rustling the hairs of the king’s graying beard. He wasn’t the man he used to be with eyelids drooping and purple tinted but he was fitter than most men his age. Top honors in military school had paid off after all.
A beggar approached the imperial march. “Out of the way,” one of the king’s attendants snarled. But Aegues held up his hand greeting the stranger with an amiable smile.
“Bring this man food and water. Clothe him and provide shelter. Today is a joyous day for me and the entire city of Athens. Leave no one out of the revelries.”
“Yes, my lord,” the attendant murmured.
What had been a pale white dot at the start of the voyage now appeared in plain view. The Parthenon towered over the adjacent monuments, a testament to Greek architecture, a citadel dedicated to the Goddess Athena. It was in her honor that Aegeus would lay his blessing. The scheduled prayers never occurred.
“Your highness, the ship has arrived,” a civil servant proclaimed from the entrance to the temple. Without hesitance, Aegeus turned his back on the statue of the Goddess and rushed outside to witness the moment with his own eyes.
Ships at a distance carry every man’s wish onboard.
Today was different. Aegeus’ veins swelled and forehead reddened as his heart thumped harder and harder-a palpitation every second, now two for every second, three for every second. Soon his body could endure no more. Emitting a shrill cry, he darted from the Parthenon into the dense foliage below. Stumbling on a rock, Aegeus dismissed the blood flowing from the cut on his hand.
He had thought, hoped that his eyes had deceived him but this was not the case. A black sail perched on top of the vessel. “My son, my one and only son…why did you perish and leave your poor father behind? I’ve lost the final pearl in my life. What sense is there in existence?”
What crossed his mind was taboo and grounds for eternal damnation but he no longer cared. Tragedy had consumed him for nights when his fair maiden passed into the netherworld ten years prior. He wouldn’t put up with it once more. Extending his arms perpendicular to his trunk and palms facing up, the king closed his eyes, graying beard rustling in the wind. It was a serene moment with seagulls squawking overhead. The solid ground gave way beneath his feet as his lungs filled with liquid, the salt burning the open wound on his hand.
***
Theseus entered the Parthenon with muted delight. Foreboding glances were cast at him and when he saw the throne lying on the pedestal of the Goddess he understood. Aegeus was nowhere to be found. The patrol team had managed to obtain his crown from the unforgiving waves.
The hero of Athens placed the crown on his forehead. His hands were bloodied from the beast, heart broken by a lecherous women, mind tarnished with memories of his parents. Yet there was hope. A rise ensued from every fall. Fire and ice clouded his countenance. The blazing anger of his youth remained but it was matched with new introspection. Rising, he exited the building, head up, back straight. The next Golden Age had begun.
This brings us to the announcement of the theme for this round of competition - we'll skip the pageantry and get right on to it.
Return
Max. 1000 words
Max. 1000 words
Entries are due on Friday, February 1st, at 9:00 PM EST.
