- the ancient sheikah civilization disappeared 10,000 yesrs ago because they were deemed a threat and were attacked on the king’s orders, forcing them to retreat underground

- zelda, purah, and robbie are the only people who believe the ancient civilization still exists. the extent of their research isnt much more than tinkering with decayed and barely functioning guardian scouts. they have a sheikah slate, but it doesnt work

- (also zelda is half sheikah for reasons)

- impa is also there but doesnt really care for the research stuff. shes their cool ninja friend

- zelda is extremely interested in the legends about the magical power source that was used by the ancient sheikah: timeshift stones and the mysterious blue flame. she thinks power like that can be used for good in hyrule

- they miraculously get the sheikah slate to work, and its sheikah sensor tries to lead them to a source of timeshift energy (which at this point could only be found in the underground sheikah civilization)

- after this, theyre approached by a mysterious Kohga, who agrees to sponsor an expedition to find the lost sheikah civlization. zelda and the gang dont know that kohga and the rest of the crew are actually all yiga clan members

- the yiga clan wants the timeshift energy so they can use it to destroy hyrule

- they find the ancient sheikah civilization deep underneath hyrule. as expected, it’s leaps and bounds ahead of hyrule’s current tech

- link is a young warrior serving in the ancient sheikah guard. hes sick and tired of life underground and he thinks the sheikah should try to reconnect with people on the surface (very unpopular opinion)

- link meets with zelda+friends and they try to figure out sheikah tech together and its good. link n zelda are major crushing on each other and link takes her for rides on the master cycle uwu

- idk the yiga attack and then link and zelda+friends beat up kohga and the ancient sheikah can return to the surface after 10,000 years

- link and zelda move in together and have a dog. thats not specific to this au i just think thats how all zelink aus should end

- except link has been living underground his whole life and doesnt know what a dog is. idiot.

idk what happens after this i was thinking about it but tbh i just want sheikah zelink to happen