1: In Light, Darkness

Prologue...

Lightning crackled across the sky and lit up the darkness as rain began to fall on the world below. Revealed by the flash, a temple floating on a small island lay nestled in the storm clouds. The building seemed as if it had been forgotten, the pillars and foundation crumbling onto the grass, vines grasping at the structures that remained. But from within, a light beckoned.

In the deepest part of the temple stood a circular room with seven pillars. Torches that blazed with blue fire were affixed to these pillars, brightening the room. In the middle of the room stood three women, their eyes trained on a large crystal formation.

All three were beautiful, but in an otherworldly way, composed of a quiet dignity that no mere mortal could ever possess. To look upon them was to know them for who and what they were: the three goddesses of the world, keepers of the Triforce.

Nayru, Din, and Farore.

Each wore an expression of concern as they eyed the crystal. Two young men slept entrapped within its depths, one with black hair and the other brown. Both were ethereally beautiful, much like the goddesses. They lay like lovers, with one holding the other from behind, though the gesture came across as much more sinister to the goddesses three, who knew the circumstances regarding their imprisonment.

With a sound akin to a sob, Nayru placed her hand on the crystal near the black-haired man's face. Her shoulders shook with barefly repressed grief. Her sisters looked on with sadness, but didn't move to console her.

Another bout of lightning crossed the sky and suddenly Nayru jumped back, her eyes growing wide as she stared at the crystal. The brown-haired man stared back at her, his golden eyes glittering with laughter as his hands tightened around the other man. He formed one word with his mouth before his eyes closed, but it was enough. Nayru screamed in rage and fear, dropping to her knees as her sisters ran to her side.

She could hear his voice in her head, taunting them all. And somewhere in the realm of mortals, a child came into the world screaming. And the imprisoned man laughed and laughed.

"Soon."

-0-0-0-0-

Several years later...

A small breeze blew through the trees surrounding the meadow, flinging strands of silver hair into Ayane's eyes. The seven-year-old closed his light blue orbs, glad to feel the wind on his face. It had been at least a week since he'd been able to come out here by himself and enjoy the weather, what with the ongoing war between his people and the demons.

Blue eyes opened as he pondered that last thought. War was all he'd ever known since the moment he'd been born. And it had been the same for his parents and their parents before them. They said that it had been ongoing since the creation of the world. His grandmother, however, thought differently.

"It was the creation of the Triforce that brought the demons," she had said, "and when the goddesses left it to mankind, it doomed us. It was intended as a gift, yet it has become our curse."

He had, of course, asked her what the Triforce was and what it looked like, but she had shaken her head. "No one has ever seen the Triforce, though many have searched for it. Maybe it is best left alone." She had refused to say anything else on the matter after that and, seeing how the topic upset her, Ayane had left it alone.

A sound to his right made Ayane sit up and turn, his body tensing in fear. Oh goddesses, he should have listened to his mother and not wandered off by himself. Now he was gonna be eaten by a Deku Baba like all the other bad children and... wait a minute. He blinked and squinted his eyes.

Since when did Deku Baba look like children? (Not that he actually KNEW what a Deku Baba looked like, but he was pretty sure it didn't look like a child...)

Said child stood about forty feet away from him. He was a little bit older than Ayane and darker in color. Golden eyes filled with suspicion and distrust studied Ayane from underneath shaggy brown hair.

Ayane cocked his head to the side, studying the other child. He'd never seen him in the village before. Was he part of their clan? He had such odd coloring though... Ayane slowly got to his feet and moved closer to the other boy.

The brunette eyed him warily, but didn't run. He tensed as Ayane got closer, his golden eyes glittering with indecision. Ayane was confused at what he saw, but he pushed past it and took a deep breath.

"I'm Ayane. What's your name?" He was honestly curious. The child looked away from Ayane and down at his feet, scuffing his shoes together. He muttered something that Ayane didn't hear.

"What?"

"... Majora."

Ayane stared at the brunette, a thoughtful expression on his face. Then he smiled and held out his hands. "Do you want to play with me?"

The shy smile that slowly formed on Majora's face was answer enough as he took Ayane's outstretched hand.

-0-0-0-0-

The sun was setting by the time the two boys tired of playing 'Seek the Goddess (1).' They lay collapsed in the field trying to catch their breath. Ayane looked over at Majora, whose eyes were closed. Who was this boy? And if he was from their clan, how come he'd never seen him before?

"Majora...?"

"Ayane!"

His questions were interrupted by a very gruff voice. He winced in recognition and hurriedly got to his feet. Coming from the east was a slender man with short silver hair and lilac colored eyes. He looked to be about 5'10 and in his late thirties, his body honed to a warrior's perfection underneath his unremarkable clothes. His face, which had been dark with worry, lightened upon seeing the nine-year-old.

Tyr, Ayane's father.

"Thank the goddesses. When it got dark and you hadn't returned, your mother and I thought..." His voice trailed off as he took in the sight of Majora standing next to Ayane. Almost immediately a cloud of fury descended upon his visage. He grabbed Ayane and yanked him away from Majora's side, shielding his son from the other child.

"How dare you come near my family, you... you... abomination." He spat out, making Majora flinch and avert his eyes. Ayane blinked in confusion and looked up at his father's back. He could feel the malevolence rolling off of his father.

"Dad...?"

"Ayane. You stay away from this... thing, you hear me?" Tyr's growled, staring at Majora in disgust. "He's nothing but a blight upon our community. You will have NOTHING to do with him, do you understand me? Nothing!"

Tyr didn't wait for his son to answer. Giving Majora one final glare, he turned, dragging Ayane behind him. Ayane turned to look at Majora, still confused. The brunette was still looking at his feet... and then he turned and ran, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Away from the village.

Ayane wanted to call out to him, but knew that his father would hit him if he did so. With one more sad glance back, Ayane meekly followed his father.

-0-0-0-0-

Once he got home, Ayane was beaten and sent up to his room with no dinner. He was told to never go near Majora again. Normally that would be enough, no questions asked. But for some reason, this time was different.

Why?

The question burned inside him until he couldn't bear it anymore. He waited until he was sure that his parents were asleep and then climbed out of his bedroom window. Checking to make sure no lights came on after his escape, Ayane quickly made his way to the meadow.

He didn't know why, but he just had this feeling...

There! Near the rock they'd used as a base for Seek the Goddess was a small, trembling lump. Ayane approached slowly, reaching out to the person's shoulder. "Majora?" He whispered questioningly. The lump froze and its head turned, golden orbs fixating on the silvette.

"... Why are you here?" Majora's voice was tremulous, though his gaze never once strayed from Ayane's face. "You heard your father – I'm nothing but a monster."

Ayane's hand stopped a few inches from the brunette's shoulder as he contemplated that. His father had said that, but...

With all the logic of a seven-year-old, Ayane looked at Majora and answered, "Monsters don't laugh. And they sure as heck don't cry."

Majora stared at Ayane in stunned silence. Then he started laughing. And oh goddesses did he laugh! He couldn't even stop long enough to allay the worried look on the silvette's face.

So simple! The answer had been so simple! If he really was the incarnate of evil as so many thought him to be, then why, WHY, was he able to shed tears? Speaking of which, he could feel tears streaming down his cheeks now, a mix of laughter and bitterness welling in his chest.

A child – a younger one at that! - had seen what so many adults couldn't. And yet, he knew, it didn't matter. Adults like Tyr would continue to think as they did and nothing – nothing! - Majora did would change that.

He stopped laughing and fixed his gaze on Ayane once more. But this one child knew the truth. Shaking his head, Majora got to his feet and embraced the silvette.

"Thank you." He muttered, tears stinging his eyes. "Thank you."

Ayane, not knowing what he'd done, just quietly patted his back. "You're welcome... I guess?"

The brunette just laughed and pulled back, drying his eyes with his sleeve. "Come on." He chuckled. "Better get you back home before you get whooped again." Ayane winced and rubbed his backside at the reminder, then grinned and held out his hand.

"Let's go, Majora."

Hand in hand in the darkness, the two walked back to the village. Their friendship began that night.

-0-0-0-0-

The two boys continued to hang out after that, avoiding Tyr as much as possible. Over the next couple of days, Ayane learned that Majora did indeed live in the village with his mother, but they were isolated from the rest of the clan.

"Why?"

Ayane was laying on the huge rock in the meadow, his neck craned back so that he could look at Majora. The brunette was sitting across from the rock, his fingers deftly picking at the grass and shredding the plant to pieces. He looked up at Ayane's question, then shrugged and rolled his eyes.

"Cause she slept with the wrong man and I was born as a result." Majora's voice was nonchalant, but he couldn't quite hide the hurt shining there. Ayane pursed his lips in thought, his head feeling a little light, then rolled over on his stomach and braced his elbows on the rock. He leaned his face against his upturned hand and looked up at the clouds, which were scarce today.

"That's stupid." He finally said, kicking his feet. "You can't change who your father was, so how is that your fault?"

Majora threw back his head and gave a short bark of laughter. "My thoughts exactly." He chuckled. "But, doesn't matter what I think, so who gives a damn? Might as well just live with it and move on."

Ayane stopped kicking his feet and looked at Majora, who was grabbing at the grass a bit more harshly now. His voice was sad as he spoke to his friend. "You say that, but it bothers you what people who know nothing about you think."

His words made the brunette freeze and then sigh. He turned his head to the side, golden eyes averted as a sad smile crossed his lips. "I both hate and love when you do that, Ayane." He muttered, just loud enough for the silvette to hear him. Then he turned to look at him, his eyebrows furrowed in suspicion. "Are you sure you're seven? You sound older."

The younger boy shrugged, then giggled. "Pretty sure."

Majora grumbled. "What's the world coming to... younger kids giving me advice... jeez." He tried to sound mad, but he was smiling too much. Both boys flew into a fit of giggles.

When the laughter subsided, Ayane smiled at Majora. "I'm glad I met you. You're my best friend, Majora."

Emotion welled in Majora's chest as he tried to fight the tears those words caused. He ruffled his hair and averted his eyes, a smile caressing his face. "Yeah, you're pretty cool yourself, brat."

"Hey!"

"Just calling it like it is!" Majora dodged as Ayane threw a handful of grass at him, then returned fire. Their fun was interrupted by a disdainful sneer.

"Well, well, what do we have here?"

Both of them turned to see a group of four kids standing off to the side. The speaker was an older boy with shoulder-length red hair, a big nose, and blue eyes. To his right was a much younger girl with a heart-shaped face, short, curly pink hair, a button nose, and golden eyes, who just looked absolutely delighted. To his left was a white-haired boy with red eyes, who looked extremely displeased about something. And to this boy's left was a girl with long blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, her pale gray-blue eyes going back and forth between Ayane and the white-haired boy.

"Sunnan." Ayane glared at the speaker, his tone saying everything. He had never gotten along with the older boy. They just instinctively hated each other. His gaze travelled to the pink-haired girl, who gave him a big wave which forced him to grin despite the situation. "Monan."

His gaze travelled to the other two. The girl met his gaze and gave a small smile. "Leothe." And then... "Eoroan." He muttered, a little disappointed. He hadn't expected to see Eoroan and Sunnan together. After all, Eoroan shared his dislike of Sunnan...

"What are you guys doing here?" He finally asked, his attention drifting back to said redhead. He noticed then that Majora had stepped back, putting more distance between him and the others. That didn't bode well.

"Oh, just came to see how you've been. You know, since you don't hang out with us anymore." Sunnan sneered, then pointed at Eoroan. "Broke this guy's heart, you did."

Eoroan slapped at the hand and glared at Sunnan. "You're such a liar." He growled, but he was blushing. Ayane immediately felt bad, but he was still wary. Sunnan liked to cause problems and he had a feeling that the redhead was just winding up. And poor Majora was probably going to be right in the middle of it.

"I've been busy." Ayane muttered, glancing back at the brunette, who was now standing frozen, his gaze fixated on the floor. He looked like he wanted to run and, honestly, Ayane couldn't blame him. Monan and Leothe weren't bad, and neither was Eoroan when he had his wits about him, but Sunnan...

Sunnan was just a jerk on principal.

"So we've heared." He drawled, his blue eyes going to Majora. "Hanging out with the traveler's bastard, I see. How... quaint."

Ayane grew cold all over as he saw Majora tense out of the corner of his eyes. He tried to shake his head, tried to tell Majora no silently, but the brunette was already moving. His golden eyes were trained on Sunnan, who was chuckling now

"You've always had a knack for unusual things, Ayane. Taking in all sorts of odd creatures. Guess this isn't all that different from usual-" He was cut off at the last second as Majora's fist connected with his face. Sunnan dropped, landing right on his butt, and looked stunned as he looked up at Majora.

"I can handle you talking shit about me." Majora growled, squatting in front of the downed redhead. "But him? That's my best friend you're talking about. So if you don't want to get popped again, I'd shut the hell up if I were you."

Eoroan watched this all with his usual stoic expression, his eyes narrowed as he looked Majora up and down. He seemed to come to a conclusion and let out a little sigh. "Let it go, Sunnan. You can't take him."

An ugly expression crossed Sunnan's face as he looked up and over at Eoroan. "Don't tell me what I am and am not capable, ys'ra. (2)" He hissed, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. Eoroan froze, hearing the insult, and his hands clenched at his sides, but he did nothing.

"And you." He growled, getting in Majora's face. "This is far from over, halfbreed." He spit on the ground near the brunette's feet, then turned and stomped off, Monan following after him with an apologetic look back at Ayane. Leothe started to turn, but stopped when she saw Eoroan still standing there. Hesitance showed on her face as she looked between him and Majora, then she gritted her teeth and followed after the other two.

Ayane glanced over at Eoroan, who seemed to have calmed down and was now looking at him as well. The white-haired boy gave a little shrug, a sad smile on his face. "You know Sunnan. Always looking to start a fight." Then his face grew serious as he looked at Majora. "You're either really brave or really stupid. Sunnan's not known to back down and you've only fueled his rage."

Majora crossed his arms over his chest as he looked at Eoroan. "Why's he so damn pissy, anyway? We didn't do anything to him."

Eoroan snorted, a sound so rare from him that it had Ayane staring. "Sunnan was born pissy. He doesn't need a reason. But I think... it's because you guys are similar, though I'm not sure in what way." He shrugged then and looked over at Ayane. "Be careful, Ayane. Sunnan's a regular pain in the arse, but he will try to make your life difficult because of this. He may even go to your father, though I think his pride wouldn't permit it..."

"I'm not scared of Sunnan." Ayane said after a minute, his eyes darting to Majora. "But... I will take your words to heart. Just in case."

Eoroan nodded, then reached out and tossled Ayane's hair. "I know you're out here having fun, but don't forget about your other friends, kay? We miss you too." Ayane nodded, a small blush coming to his face. He had always respected Eoroan and looked up to him.

"I will..."

"That's all I wanted to hear." The older boy said with a grin. He waved to Ayane as he turned to leave, giving Majora a head nod. Majora returned the action and waited until Eoroan was out of hearing range before he turned to Ayane.

"What the hell was that all about?"

Ayane sighed and looked at the ground. "Sunnan... Sunnan has always been difficult. We've been fighting since the day we met, competing to see who's better, etc. He thinks that I think that I'm better than him because of who my father is, when really..." He trailed off, his eyes closing.

"When really you could care less." Majora muttered, patting Ayane on the back. "So, basically, he's just a jerk."

"Basically."

"Well, that's all there is to it then." Ayane glanced up at the brunette, who was grinning. "Let's not let him ruin our day, shall we?"

To be continued...

A/N: (1) A mix of Marco Polo and Hide'n'Seek. The person who counts and seeks is the 'demon,' who calls out "One, two," and so on, until the count of twenty is reached. They then go in search of hider, or 'goddess,' calling out one of the names of the goddesses (Din, Nayru, Farore).

In response, the hider must reply with the correct attribute associated with said goddess (Power, Wisdom, Courage). Once the hider has been found, the seeker chases the hider. It is then the hider's job to reach base without getting 'eaten' by the demon. Recommened for two to five players.

Unlike Hide'N'Seek, the hider cannot run UNTIL they are found by the seeker. And unlike in Marco Polo, the seeker's eyes are not closed.

(2) Ys'ra is the equivalant of calling someone a coward and telling them that they have no honor. It is a particularly painful insult to warriors or those training to be warriors.