Chapter 1
Puffs of steam blew from Link's nostrils into the crisp, cold morning air. He looked up into the treetops above, searching for a change in the endless gray mist. There was still no sign of Navi, his old guardian fairy. It had been almost a year since he last saw her, and he was beginning to think about giving up his search. Epona snorted and shifted her position. Link looked over at his horse and sighed.
"Well, it's about time we get moving again," he said, standing up and brushing off the dirt on his tunic. "Sitting around here won't do any good."
During his search for Navi, he had been transported to the world of Termina, a world parallel to Hyrule. When he had arrived, he had found a skullkid wearing a strange, powerful mask, putting a dangerous spell on the moon. His journey was interrupted as he hurried across the country to get the help of the four giants; otherwise the moon would collide and destroy everything.
Luckily, with the aid of time travel, he was able to find them all, and they successfully held back the moon while he battled the skullkid. He then locked the evil powers of Majora back into the mask, releasing its prisoner. This skullkid, who was actually just an innocent person who had fallen under the mask's spell, had two fairies as friends, Tatl and Tael, who were sister and brother, respectively. Tatl had accompanied Link in the adventure. After saving Termina from its fate, Link was on his way again, and he left all three behind.
Link hopped up onto Epona and they resumed the journey. The forest looked exactly the same as it had the whole morning. A slight fog covered the ground. The leaves were still; there was no wind.
Suddenly he heard a quiet tinkling sound behind him. It took him a few seconds to realize that it was getting louder. He turned around and spotted a small purple glow off to the side, ducking in and out of the thick tree trunks. A purple ball of light with wings flew into view. It was Tael, the fairy brother of Tatl. Tael seemed to be out of breath, and made dinging sounds every once in a while.
"Link! Link! I found you! You've got to help me!"
"What's going on?" Link asked, confused.
"It's Tatl! She's gone!"
"Slow down there!" Link said, wrinkling his brow. "Did she just leave? Did someone take her?"
Tael gasped for breath. "We were playing hide-and-seek with skullkid in the bushes, and then I heard something that sounded almost like someone dropping a torch into a puddle of water. I looked over the tops of the bushes and saw her being sucked into this weird hole!"
"So then you're saying she was kidnapped?" Link asked.
"I think so. I'm not sure how something like that could happen otherwise. But I did see a glimpse of jagged black mountains inside the portal before it disappeared. I'm pretty sure it was Myrennia, a place to the east of Termina, past Ikana Canyon. Please! You have to help me look!"
Link glanced back at the section of the forest he would have explored next. He was having no luck in his search for Navi. Besides, there was a chance she was taken to the same place Tatl was, however that had happened. He looked back at Tael, sighed, and then nodded, hopping back on Epona.
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Link followed Tael up the dark, winding staircase in Ikana Castle. The staircase came out onto a crooked, cracked patio near the top of the canyon. Luckily, the castle was built right against the wall of the canyon. The canyon wall was jagged and easy to climb from the patio.
"Hurry up," Tael urged. "I hate this place."
"I'm not too fond of it either," Link replied, shuddering. The whole desert-like canyon was thick with a deathly feeling. Earlier in his adventure, he had had several encounters with the dead here. He had helped a cursed king break free and finally rest in peace. That was what freaked him out the most. He felt so jumpy around the place, as if that crazy king and his soldiers were still watching him.
Link was able to grasp the top of the brown, crusted dirt that made up the canyon. After a few tries, he was able to pull himself over the top of the canyon. He looked down the hill of reddish-brown dirt to find that it led down into an endless forest. The tops of the trees formed a dark green ocean stretching into the horizon.
Link looked back over Ikana Canyon toward Termina Field. Epona couldn't come with them; she wouldn't be able to get out on top of the canyon. Link had left her with Romani and her older sister, Cremia, at the ranch. He trusted she would be fine until he got back, assuming he did get back.
"How far is it to the mountains?" Link asked.
"Far enough. Hurry up." Tael flew ahead impatiently, and Link turned to follow him down into the forest. It was going to be a long walk.
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Finally emerging from the forest at night, Link found himself standing in a large clearing of the forest. Groups of stone houses with thatched rooftops stood nearby, with reddish brick paths connecting each to a central road. A few houses had strange white lights set on posts at the end of their walkway.
"Hayen village," Tael said sleepily. "We've entered Myrennia." As he was drifting about aimlessly above, Link looked around. Something didn't feel right. The breeze shifted, and his hat swung in the opposite direction. The shadows seemed to be moving...whispering...calling his name...
"So you've finally come?" He whirled around at the sound of the raspy voice. In front of Link was an exact copy of himself, only black. It was just like his shadow, but three-dimensional. Link backed away in horror.
"Who – w-who are you?" He stammered. Wisps of the shadow whirled around him.
"Why, I'm Dark Link. Exactly the same as you, and at the same time, exactly the opposite." He unsheathed his shadowy sword, letting forth a puff of black mist.
"But...who...how...I don't get it!" Tael stuttered, looking back and forth.
"Master Ganon created me as an evil copy of you. He ordered me to kill you. Well, here we are." Link took the opportunity to swiftly unsheathe his sword and swing it at the shadow. In the blink of an eye, Dark Link ducked, then shot his arm out and grabbed Link's wrist, twisting it around. There was a sharp snapping sound.
"AAAGH!" Link yelled in pain. His eyes watered, blurring his vision, and his arm burned, throbbing with the warm blood rushing through it. He slumped to his knees. Tael watched in shock as Dark Link strolled away into the night, disappearing into the shadows of the forest. Link wavered back and forth for a few moments and then fell sideways to the ground.
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"He looks all right...it's just a minor fracture..." Link slowly opened his eyes to find a bright light shining in his face. He squinted, closing his eyes again. "Look! I told you he's okay! Hey, Link! Can you open your eyes for a minute?"
How does he know my name? Link wondered. As he tried to lift his arm to shield his eyes from the light, he winced in pain. It started to burn again.
"Whoa, careful now! You need to keep that up in a sling for a while so it can heal. Are you left handed, or what?"
Link's hope dropped to the floor, smacking right through it and continuing on into the ground. Being left handed, the only thing he used his right hand for was his shield. He lifted his right arm to shield his eyes, then slowly opened them to adjust to the light, and saw Tael flying above, along with a few people standing around him. The bright light shining in his eyes hurt, and he sat up carefully. He found himself sitting on a table in a small room.
"Who are you?" Link asked.
"I'm doctor Pedanski," said a short, middle-aged man with brown hair and a moustache. "Your fairy here was telling us all about you, and that's how I know your name."
"I hope you don't mind," Tael said, laughing nervously. "And I forgot to tell you, Link, but these people use these really cool stones as a power source. They have really bright lights," Tael said. "Now, are you okay? That shadowy guy left toward the mountains. Do you think he's the one who took Tatl?"
"I don't know," Link said, rubbing his head. Maybe Tael should learn to keep his mouth shut. The people crowded around the table even closer, eager to get all the information they could.
"You saw the shadow kid?"
"He took someone? I knew that guy was up to no good!"
"You know of him?" Link asked nobody in particular.
"I hear he has a hideout in those haunted mountains, to the east," replied the short old man who had spoken first. "I've seen him, standing on a ledge, just staring at nothing." He shuddered. "Lately I've been hearing strange sounds from way up there. Almost like a little bell. It was very odd."
"Tatl!" Link whispered to Tael. Both fairies made sounds like a bell sometimes, especially when they were excited or angry.
"Unfortunately, nobody can go see what he's up to, because the mountains are inaccessible from the light world. There are legends of a secret dark world, much like the light, only darker of course, and there are evil things everywhere. I hear there are ancient catacombs up there in the light world. Nobody knows what the dark world holds."
"Stop it, Garod! I hate hearing those dark world tales! It's best if we just leave that dark child alone! I don't want anything to do with him!" Argued a woman in the room.
"Oh come on! It can't hurt to talk!"
"Well, you're just going to encourage young Link or scare him away! You don't need to bring him into this!"
"Then you can leave! I'm telling the stories, whether you want it or not!"
"Why, you grumpy old-" The room filled with shouts and some of the Hayens charged at each other, shouting, while others tried to hold them back. Link slipped off the table and struggled to push through the mob. They didn't seem to notice him as he ducked through the door into a hallway. Spotting an exit at the end, he dashed out of the building to find it was morning.
"Tael, do you think Dark Link has Tatl up in the mountains?"
"I can't think of anything else that could be making a dinging sound in that place."
"Well, let's go!" Link started off toward the forest between Hayen and the mountains. Tael flew in front of him.
"You heard him! He said the mountains are inaccessible from the light world! We have to find a way into the dark world first! Besides, you can't go with that fractured wrist! Face it, your right hand is near useless with a sword!"
"You're partly right," Link sighed, "we'll have to find some way into the dark world...but we're not waiting around here! What will Dark Link do to Tatl? We'll wait for the Hayens to stop arguing, and we can go ask that one old guy to tell us more later. What was his name...Garod!"
Tael sighed and gave in. "All right...we'll go talk with him. As for you leaving, it's your choice. I think it'd be better if you stayed and rested a while to let the wrist heal, though."
"If you don't want to come, don't. I'm going as soon as I find out what I need to know," Link said.
Inside, Tael knew he wasn't going to get along with Link very well.
5
