Shadow of the Fallen Lands

~Warriors~

I was in a war council with Queen Zelda and some of  my troops when the sky was bathed in red light. Black lightning flickered and forked through the room, as well as outside, but it seemed to be harmless. I could see Zelda's surprise written all over her pretty face. She glanced at me, a silent message between a Queen and her Captain. So, I decided I'd better investigate. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I left the picturesque castle behind, the crimson light only grew stronger. A sense of unease burrowed into my heart. I knew something out of the ordinary was happening, but I couldn't admit it to anyone. I tracked the light along a path through a small copse of trees, and found three people. A man, and two young men. The man was wearing thick plated armour, and had a full head of golden hair. A large sword was strapped to his back, bearing the Goron crest on the hilt. Both the young men had brown hair, though one wore a dark green tunic with chainmail underneath. He had an average looking, sharp sword buckled to a leather strap. He also had , for some reason, a black pelt of wolf fur on his shoulders. The third boy wore a slightly lighter tunic, with a white cloth around his neck. A familiar blade was strapped to his back. The man looked up at me as I approached, then stood up and faced me. A single eye stared deep into my soul, and I began to think I'd made a mistake. Until he smiled, and I realised I recognised his face, but I couldn't pinpoint where from. "Well, well" He said in a cheerful tone. "I never thought I'd see you again! I'd ask your name, but I already know it!"  I - I knew that voice.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I knew that voice, albeit the man's  was a bit deeper, but, I knew it. That voice belonged to a Kokiri boy, not a battle hardened warrior with neat... Face paint? Scars? Whatever. And, that Kokiri boy had a blue fairy and wore a silly green tunic much like my own. This man had no fairy, nor did he wear green. Yet, I was sure this was my Kokiri from those years ago. How he grew from a nine year old to an adult man in just five years, I'll never know, but he was definitely one and the same. That little piece of bokoblin dung is taller than me! The cheek! "Well? Do you remember me? Well, if not, perhaps you'd remember my companion. She was a-"                                 "A fairy! An annoying blue fairy!" I exclaimed. "Well, now. She wasn't annoying! Maybe some of her advice was unwanted, but she was one of my best friends!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We were rudely interrupted by the boy with the white cloth waking up, which made my old friend lose interest in me and kneel by the kid's head . "W-which Hyrule?" He croaked, before descending into a coughing fit. Which Hyrule? There's only one Hyrule! Was this boy mad? "I think your friend has a concussion" I noted. My kokiri glanced at me. "Link, this is Sky. He's not usually unable to talk. He also happens to be Hylia's Chosen Hero, so maybe show a little respect." Was my kokiri mad? This was a boy, he looked a few years younger than me, to be honest. Said 'Chosen Hero' got to his feet, and, to my immense surprise, felt around on his shoulder, and drew the one and only Master Sword. He looked over it, and sighed in relief when he knew the was nothing wrong with the blade. "How did you get that?" I asked him. "I forged her, she's rightfully mine, I was her first master!" He replied, smiling.]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 My Kokiri then moved over to the one with a fur pelt on his shoulders. He ducked down, and poked the young man in his ribs sharply, causing him to jump up, growling. I leapt back, that boy reminded me of a wolf, a wild beast, a hungry wolf. He was scary, terrifying even. It wouldn't be a stretch to say he could take on Ganondorf and even Ganon with his bare hands! I didn't expect that level of animal related terror from a boy who was obviously Hylian. Until he growled at me. "Hey, whoa there, Pup! He's a friend!" My kokiri said, raising his hands. "You poked me!" 'Pup' said, snarling, before seemingly remembering himself and standing up. "Did not. Anyway..." My kokiri said. "Link, you need to join us. Hylia has decided it, and , as much as I hate Hylia, we should probably do what she wants. She seems to have a reason for it." There was something in his tone that made me believe him instantly. Especially when his shadow rippled on the ground, before tearing itself free of its hylian. 'Chosen Hero' noticed it first. "Uh, Time... There's something up with your shadow!" 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh Goddesses, no! Not again!" My old friend cursed. He drew his chunky sword, and motioned for us to do the same. "Quick introduction, I'm Time , that's Twilight, and that's Sky. That's Dark Link. I had to face him on my journey." I nodded, and Sky and Twilight unsheathed their blades. Dark Link opened his ethereal mouth, and a watery sounding voice emanated from lips that didn't exist. "You have grown careless, Hero of Time... Now I see fit to remove you from existence, along with your foolish companions... Goodbye!...." He licked his sharp teeth, and leapt at us. His blade barely missed my neck, and that set us off. Sky yelled, and together we began to take on the spectral copy of Time. We clashed blades and dodged attacks, which we did, until something very unforeseeable happened. Sky aimed the Master Sword at the.. well... sky. He was, however, too slow, and Dark Link's shadow sword swept him off his feet into a nearby tree. He shuddered, then lay there unmoving. Twilight yelled in frustration while deflecting sharp swings by Dark Link. "We're getting beaten by a shadow!" I declared. Time was trying to fight too, but the seemingly unkillable shadow was too quick. "It's taking my form as I was during my adventure!" He shouted over the din of clashing swords. "Die, hero scum... Why do you cling to life still?...." I was caught off guard, and I fell to my knees before being knocked over by Twilight barrelling past me, and he managed to trip over my arm and fall over. Time was the only one left, and he was trying to defend Sky, who was unconscious. Dark Link melted into shadow, before reappearing behind him and stabbing him in the shoulder. Time fell forwards, and broke his fall by landing on his hand. "Hopeless... Hylia has chosen foolishly... She will pay dearly for this poor judgement" Dark Link said, before dissolving into tiny particles of shadow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that evening, Sky woke up. "We lost, didn't we?" He muttered. Time nodded, watching Twilight stir what looked like a maybe-soup? It smelt better than my food though. After we ate, Sky and Twilight began to spar. Chosen Hero borrowed my sword but refused to tell me why, and then demonstrated that he could fight really well, even against another hero. While we were watching them spar, Time briefed me on what the hell was going on with everything. The fact that all the Links were being brought together made me wonder if I'd see my little Sailor again, but I kept my thought to myself. Since Fi (I think that's her name...) was still strapped to Sky's back so we couldn't determine my Hero nickname. Go figure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Once Sky and Twi had stopped clashing blades, Time begged the Master Sword from Sky, he held her out to me, gesturing for me to take it. I hesitated, would taking this blade bring back all the monsters I defeated on my journey? Even though it had been over two years? I was thinking too deep into this. I took the blade, and I felt a pulse go through the handle. Sky stiffened and then smiled kindly. "Welcome, Hero of Warriors." I should have known I'd get a silly title. All the others have sensible nicknames that make sense. But mine, Warriors?! Seriously?! Ugh, its ridiculous. However, the sword decided my name, and you can't argue with a sharp weapon.