The Legend of Zelda: Light and Shadow

Chapter 10: Cursed Once More

Dark clouds were billowing over the land of Hyrule, quickly overtaking the light of the land and covering it with inescapable darkness. It was already late on into the night, but those who were still awake quickly took notice of the sudden shift in the sky. The clouds filled with snow still poured down their white flakes, but they soon became obscured by a shroud of dark shadows. Nature itself seemed to know that darkness was filling the land as all of the animals that were not currently hibernating for the winter quickly fled away, leaving any natural areas strangely still and silent. The already chilly air of the night grew even colder as the snow turned from a gentle fall to the beginnings of a blizzard, covering the ground in an even thicker blanket of white. Somehow, even though none of its people knew it yet, it was as though the entire land of Hyrule itself knew that it was being conquered by shadows yet again, and already it was starting to cry out for salvation, and a revival of the light.

It was as this quiet veil of darkness was beginning to cover the kingdom that Link and Midna suddenly appeared in the middle of the snowy Hyrule Field, specifically in the area right before the southern gate to Castle Town. Though the hero was still largely unconscious as he landed in the snow, the Twilight Princess was fully cognizant as she floated above it, completely shocked that how, but seconds ago, the two of them were in the ballroom, but now they had been cast out into the cold so quickly. In fact, Verona's invasion as a whole had taken them all by storm, including Zelda. For the most part, everything had been fine and well until the Queen of Shadows' sudden appearance; the ball had been a bright, festive, happy occasion, and, up until right before it, even the queen and the hero had been reveling in each other's company. And yet, like a sudden storm, Verona had swept in and ruined everything. She had single-handedly claimed Hyrule as her own, and she had cursed both Link and Midna before sending them away so they could not oppose her. The Twilight Princess scowled as she glanced down at her small, impish hands, hating her cousin for everything she had done. Now more than ever, Midna burned with the desire to take Verona down and make her pay for this, and most of all, for hurting Link.

The Twilight Princess gasped in realization upon remembering that the hero was lying in the cold snow right behind her. She quickly spun around, trying her best to ignore how the bitter cold was adversely affecting her as she glided in close to Link, taking solace in the fact that, even though Verona had apparently cursed him into the form of a wolf once more, at least he had a thick fur coat to keep him significantly warmer. For a moment, Midna took a brief glance at the hero's chest, where the Queen of Shadows had struck him with that mysterious shard, but not even a scar remained there, as if she had never done it in the first place, though the Twilight Princess knew better. That shard had eerily reminded her of another kind of shard, namely the Shadow Crystal, that Zant had used to curse Link in quite a similar way to this during his and Midna's first journey together. However, knowing Verona and her dangerous magic, the Twilight Princess had a feeling that this new shard was most likely far worse, though she knew next to nothing about it.

"Hey," Midna said with concern as she gave the hero a light tug on the hero, hoping to rouse him awake. "Wake up…" Obviously not as sassy or upbeat as she usually was, the Twilight Princess let out a small sigh as she considered their shared condition of being cursed into untrue forms as she called him by her old nickname for him solemnly. "My little wolf…"

With a little more urging from Midna, Link finally began to stir, much to the Twilight Princess's relief. "Well, at least you're not dead…" she muttered to herself with a still-anxious sigh, knowing that things could have gone much worse back at the castle for all of them. The Twilight Princess gave the hero some space to get up, easily noticing that his movements were slow, most likely still labored by the pain from the shard Verona had stabbed him with. Of course, Link had known that he had been forcibly turned into a wolf once more from the moment it had happened, even though he had fallen unconscious mere seconds after, but that didn't mean it was happy about it. At the close of the Twilight Invasion, he had hoped that he would never have to go through this shift again, but that wasn't the only issue. Even though being a beast certainly did have its advantages, the hero knew that he wouldn't be able to rescue the queen from Verona, who could be doing anything to Zelda at that very moment. Upon remembering this, Link didn't hesitate to push away the dull haze of pain that was still filling his body as he got up on all fours completely, looking towards the still glowing towers of the castle with burning resolve in his eyes. However, as Midna watched him, she was quick to notice something else about his eyes as well, something that took her aback quite a bit.