Who We Are; Zelink, Modern (The Legend Of Zelda)

Dreams and Apologies (4)

Zelda stared at her reflection in the calm, clear pond. She could see the blue sky above her and birds flying free in the expanse of the heavens. It was peaceful, like her memories of her early childhood.

The blue skies above her then changed in an instant, turning gray as stone. She stepped back as the water churned. A dark shape crawled out of the pool and onto the bank. It's red eyes, the only thing she could make out in the darkness of its shape, fixed upon her. The grass underneath its feet curled black as the life fled away.

Her limbs moved in their own instinctual rhythm, a deadly dance. Her legs bowing to a familiar stance, her hands drawing together. A ball of fire appeared between her palms, and she moved with fluid grace to cast it towards the black shape.

Nothing happened as the fire exploded on it; the darkness did not cease.

Zelda turned to flee, but her feet and knees were overcome by black liquid that held her frozen; helpless. She watched as the darkness stalked closer to her and reached a dark claw towards her unprotected form.

A flash of green caught her attention and she spotted a boy in green running towards her. He ran unhindered, his brown boots immune to what had caught her. Standing in front of her, he held his sword at the ready.

She looked up at him and met his blue eyes. He looked sad as she studied his face. Then he turned away from her and ran towards the darkness. A flash of silver was all she saw before everything disappeared.

-_-_-

Her eyes flew open as she searched the room with a frantic gaze. Her heart beat faster than when she had fought Groose the other day.

Coming back down to earth, she pressed her hands to her sweaty face. "Just another dream..." she told herself. Just another stupid dream... the nightmares had been plaguing her ever since she could remember.

When she looked at her alarm clock she wasn't surprised to see that it was only five minutes until her alarm would go off. She hardly felt like she had slept through the night, but that was how it had always been. They had the uncanny ability to wake her up just before her alarm... and make her feel like she had not slept in a week.

Thankfully she did not have them every night... not even every week, but they had become more and more common as she grew up. I swear if I get them every night I'll... she couldn't finish the thought, because really... she couldn't do anything to stop her dreams... nothing to end the nightmares.

Forcing her tiredness to the back of her mind, she took to her feet and stumbled like a zombie into her bathroom to get ready for the day.

At least it's Friday, she thought. I can spend more time in town today; oh and I don't even have to worry about my parents asking where I am... and the rest of the weekend I can curl up with my new book.

After breakfast, she grabbed her backpack and trailed slowly to the front gate. Zelda pressed her lips together and stared through it. Once she went through she knew that her new stalker of a bodyguard would follow her all the way to school. Sheesh, why would my parents hire me a stalker... he's literally done nothing but annoy me. Sure he helped with Groose, but I could have handled it on my own.

So she was forced to walk to school that day with the uncomfortable knowledge that Link was following her. It actually made her feel self-conscious; something she rarely felt.

Zelda dropped her backpack beside her desk, then watched the door out of the corner of her eye.

Link strode into the classroom a few minutes later and walked past her desk to the back of the classroom.