The Hero's shade sat above the clouds in wolf form. His glowing fur the brightest star in the sky above Hyrule. His sad howl reached to the heavens, his spirit longing to join those he lost so many years ago.
Completing his song, he returned to his normal form. He had started to hate the way he looked but he couldn't stay as a wolf forever. He had half rotted and his bones were weak and brittle. Tiny tooth marks were embedded in his skeleton from the many hungry rats that had littered the forest floor before he had come to be here, on the doorstep of the next life but never being able to reach it. He had given up trying to die decades ago, he had been able to make one eye bleed, giving it the blood red look permanently. But that wasn't long after his death and his body had still been fresh. No, it was his spirit that had to pass on, his body couldn't.
But the spirit of the Hero will never die.
He was doomed to stay here for eternity, longing to be with his lost love that was Princess Zelda. Longing to be surrounded by his friends, to feel the soft grass beneath feet that had flesh attached. He was The Hero of Time so why was he doomed to this fate?
A tiny whistle like noise sounded behind him. Turning, he scanned the cloud floor and sighed (a sort of dead sigh considering he doesn't have any breath). Nothing interesting had happened since his descendant (also called Link) had trained with him to fulfil his destiny. He had treasured those moments so much but Link had learnt to quickly for Shade's liking and their training had soon ceased.
The whistle broke the silence again. Shade turned and scanned the cloud bed again, a little more carefully this time. His eyes held surprise and curiosity as he looked down to a spot on the floor about 3 meters ahead of him. Framed perfectly against the fluffy white, was a sky blue ocarina, emblazoned with the Royal crest that was the triforce. His bones rattled as he stepped forward and looked down at the little instrument, afraid to pick it up. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen it and chuckled at the thought of what Saria would think if she knew he had lost another ocarina. He stretched out his skeletal hand and picked it up.
And suddenly he felt new breath in him. He felt refreshed and alive again even though he was still the vine-covered skeleton. Bringing the ocarina to his skull, he blew into it… a crystal clear note pierced the silence once again. Shade smiled a brought it to his face once more and positioned his fingers over some of the holes… and blew. He played the ocarina over and over. The notes danced on a previously unnoticed wind as he played the tunes he had scoured the land for in life. The songs that had helped him win his title as Hero.
Until he came to the last song, Saria's song. It was enough to make him tremble all over, to play his best friends' song after so long. He still remembered the notes. Adjusting his fingers, he listened to the song play out from the magical artefact.
And then it was over. Silence took over as he remembered his child hood and his home, now called Ordon village. Looking up, he gasped (again, a dead gasp). A bright light shone into his eyes but he didn't dare close them, this had never happened before. He watched as a figure appeared, a bit small, like a child and dressed in green. The girl tucked a strand of short, emerald green hair behind her ear and smiled at Shade.
"You found it then." Saria chuckled at the shocked look on Shade's face.
"You've been here too long Link. Shade is a stupid name by the way. Don't you want to go home? Don't you want to see your friends again? See Zelda again?" she smiled at him again.
"I… I. Of course but I'm stuck here aren't I?" he stuttered. Saria chuckled again, her wise eyes pitying him.
"Not any more. Hyrule is safe for now and your descendant will live happily. It's time to move on Link, come with me."
Shade looked at her and then at the kingdom of Hyrule. For so long, he had daydreamed about this, to be able to pass on. But now that he had the chance, could he? He worried for his descendant and everyone else in Hyrule. But he couldn't be shade any more, he had to be Link again.
"Shade is a stupid name isn't it?"
Saria nodded and held out her hand to him.
"Let's go home." she whispered. Link stood up, the ocarina still clutched in one hand and his weapons strapped to his back. He reached out with his other hand and grasped Saria's. And in one moment, he had his body back again, his skin healthier than it had ever been in life. His blue eyes as clear as the sky on a bright summers day. His hair restored to its flowing, golden locks. Saria led him into the light, smiling. Link felt warmth on his skin and the smell of the Hyrule he had known. All at once, he allowed the light to envelope him and smiled as he heard the birds tweeting and felt the breeze ruffle his hair.
Finally, he was at peace.
So I recently became very interested in the hero's shade's story. Both him and the Skull kid interest me quite a lot and I think I'm going to be doing a lot of one-shots about them. If this gets 10 reviews then I'll do a scene after this where Link meets everyone, especially Zelda so please review. I've also written another one-shot on how Link from Oot died (Hero's shade) so check that out if you want and I'm currently writing a Zelda TP fanfic called The Force of the Twilight so check that out too if you want. Oh and please review if you do read them, reviews make me happy! Thanks for reading! ;) :)
