Summary: After Dark Link finishes his journey and barely escapes death at the hands of Ganondorf, he settles down to what he thinks will be a quiet life with Malon. He changes his name to Damien, marries Malon, and moves into Lon Lon Ranch. His life seems perfect, but his dreams are haunted by nightmares, and they foretell of dark times. He thoughts his trials were over, but now, five years later, it seems they have only just begun…
(It would probably be a good idea to read my other fic, Dark Link's Legacy, before this one. Otherwise, things might get a bit confusing.)
Chapter 1: The Light of DayIt was a dream, that much was clear. But it felt so real to Damien. He stood in a small room, which was warm and dimly lit by a single candle sitting on a table near the opposite wall. He walked over and looked at the candle, watching the flame as it burned quietly, mesmerized.
Then the room began to grow cold, and Damien saw the flame flickering, as if about to blow out. He stared at it more intently, silently willing it to keep burning, to stay alive. It seemed to flare at his urging, and to grow brighter. Some of the cold in the room was eliminated by the flame's warmth, and he relaxed a little, relieved.
Then a hand reached out of the darkness behind the candle, a hand of pale complexion, wrapped in ragged clothing, and a pale thumb and forefinger closed on the flame. With a sizzle and a pop, it went out, leaving only a trail of smoke behind it. Damien's stomach dropped in terror as a cry of suffering rent the air, and then faded away.
Then the hand that had killed the flame reached out and grabbed a fistful of Damien's shirt, lifting him off the ground with incredible strength. Out of the now complete darkness leered two glowing red eyes, two blood-red orbs, that gave some illumination to the face beyond, and Damien was horrified to see that it was his own.
At least, it looked a great deal like him, how he used to look as a shadow of Link, Hero of Time, although there were some things that were off; this creature had silvery hair and a smile full of jagged teeth, and he had not. He knew it wasn't him; it couldn't be him. The creature snarled in his face, then breathed deep and roared. It was an unearthly sound that reverberated through Damien's very being, and something about it struck both dread and a deep-seated hatred within him. A fierce, fiery sensation burned in his very soul, and he reached out to attack the creature…
And found himself sitting bolt upright in his bed, wide awake and drenched in a cold sweat. His wife Malon stirred beside him and awoke, looking up at him. "What's wrong?" she asked, her voice groggy but concerned.
Damien looked around at her, recovering, and smiled reassuringly. "Nothing," he whispered. "Just… had a nightmare, I guess." He was glad for the darkness in the room; he didn't want her to see how badly he was shivering. "I'm going to go get some air." He kissed his wife, and then got out of bed and pulled on his day clothes, slipping out of the room with barely a sound and leaving the farmhouse.
Crossing the pasture of Lon Lon Ranch, he climbed up to the top of the outer wall and sat there, looking out over the field to the forest. There the first rays of the sun were creeping above the trees, turning the leaves to gold. The sight tugged at his heart, though he didn't know why. Something inside him wanted to go to the forest; a sixth sense told him he needed to be there.
There was a whinny from the stables, and the inpatient snort of an anxious horse. Damien turned and dropped down from the wall, striding towards the stables, even though he already knew who it was. Shadowmane was scraping against his stable door with a hoof, and he began to frisk about excitedly when he smelled his master coming. Shadowmane was Damien's horse, and had been his companion during his past adventure. Shadowmane had been Ganondorf's horse, and though nobody was sure how, he had lived a long time, and still was as powerful as the day Ganondorf bought him.
Now Damien let him out of his stall, and rode him bareback out of the stables. He let him trot around the corral a bit, but the horse seemed more anxious than usual. Damien relinquished his control, and Shadowmane started drifting east, towards the rising sun. The horse was feeling the same pull he was; go to the forest. Damien patted his steed's neck. "Alright, boy. We'll go there together, just as soon as I can tell Malon."
Damien hurried through breakfast that morning, trying to shake off the nervous glances Malon was giving him. "Are you sure you're ok?" she finally asked, concerned.
"I'm fine," he replied, through a mouthful of eggs. "I'm just going to have a look, then come back. I won't be able too focus if it's nagging at the back of my mind." He finished his breakfast, gave his wife a last, quick kiss on the cheek, and then dashed out with a pack full of supplies. "Bye!" He jumped up into the saddle on Shadowmane's back, and they rode off, invigorated by the cold of the morning and the mist against his face.
Hyrule Field, being a very large area of Hyrule, was not easy to cross quickly; fortunately, the ranch was close to the forest, and it was still morning when he finally reached it. The large, hollow log that lead to the Kokiri Forest was directly in front of him, but his instinct was pulling him away from it, towards the Lost Woods themselves. He urged Shadowmane past the line of the trees, and they made their way carefully along a small dirt path that was not used often, picking their way around large boulders and fallen trees in the quiet of the forest.
It seemed eerie to Damien, the silence; usually, there would be the joyful sound of Skullkid flutes floating on the air, or the distant echo of an ocarina, but today, not even the birds were chirping. "Something is wrong here," he said to himself, his voice hushed in the quiet. He noticed also that the path he was following did not branch out in different directions like the main path. Instead, it kept in a steady direction through the trees, going northeast, towards the Forest Temple.
Damien had been there twice before, to speak with Kaepora Gaebora, the wise owl. But now, upon entering the clearing where it stood, he found that owl was gone, and there was a feeling of tenseness in the air that had not been there before, as though the forest was reacting to some unwelcome presence. Some evil was at work here.
A breeze drifted over him, playing with his hair. He looked around, but the leaves on the trees around him were still. Then he realized that the breeze was coming from inside the temple. A chill ran down his spine, and he hesitated, not knowing what to do. Then the pitiful sound of a child crying reached his ears, drifting to him on the wind, and a nasty feeling grew in the pit of his stomach. Quickly, he dismounted Shadowmane and moved to climb the vines on the wall of the temple, to reach the entrance. It was no easy task, but he made it up with a struggle, and stood before the open entrance to the temple. The wind seemed to suddenly grow stronger, but going the opposite way, so that it seemed as though it were pulling him in. Bracing himself, he walked through the portal and entered.
Inside the temple, it was the same feeling as the forest had had, only on a larger scale. The very plants seemed to want to draw away from the walls and recede into the forest. Damien proceeded with caution, drawing his hunting knife from his pack as he walked. He doubted that it would be any use against a real threat, but he still felt more secure with it in his hand.
The sound of a child crying came to him again, louder this time, and he hurried forward into the main chamber of the temple. It was hard to see in the dim lighting, but Damien could barely make out a shape in the center of the floor. He moved over to it slowly, knife raised and ready, and saw that it was none other than Saria, Link's Kokiri friend. She looked at him fearfully, but he spoke to her reassuringly. "Don't worry, I'm not here to hurt you." He saw that her hands were bound, so he cut the ropes.
She rubbed her aching wrists, looking up at him in confusion. "Who are you?" she asked.
"I'll explain later," said Damien, holding out a hand to help her up. "Let's get you out of here."
"I can't move," she said, eyes brimming with tears. Damien looked behind and around himself, to make sure that there weren't any enemies nearby, and picked her up in his arms. She was surprisingly light for a child. He hurried out of the temple, getting back to his horse by using one hand to slide down the vines and the other to hold tight to Saria. After putting her on Shadowmane, he hopped on the back and rode full speed towards the Kokiri village to warn the others.
When he arrived, they were already in a panic; when they had found Saria missing and Mido unconscious on her doorstep, probably knocked out when trying to defend her, they had taken him into a house and all huddled there in fear. By the time Damien came, Mido had come around, and was keeping a lookout. When he saw Damien coming with Saria, he ran out of the house, Kokiri sword in hand, ready to fight to get her back.
"Mido, it's ok!" she called as they rode up. "He saved me." Damien slid out of the saddle, then lifted Saria off of Shadowmane and set her carefully next to Mido, where she stood unsteadily.
"You aren't safe here," he told them. "You need to leave the village. Is there anyplace nearby where you could hide?"
"The Great Deku Tree has plenty of places to hide," Mido said. "We planned to go there, but we couldn't go without Saria."
"Alright," said Damien. "Come on. Quickly." They hurried in the direction of the great tree in a group, and dashed inside. One by one, they climbed down the vines to the basement below, and Saria was obliged to hold onto Damien as he climbed down, since that was all she was strong enough to do. The Kokiri crawled through a small tunnel into the chamber beyond, but Damien was too large to follow. As Mido assisted Saria through the tunnel, Damien spoke urgently to him. "I'll go to the castle and see if I can get help. How long do you think you can stay in there?"
"As long as we have to," said Mido. "We live off the magic of the forest. Food won't be a problem, of that's what you're thinking."
"Good. Take care, Saria." Damien was about to leave, but then the Kokiri girl called out to him.
"Find Link," she said softly. "He tried to save me. He went into the forest…" She collapsed into a fit of sobbing and could say no more. Damien nodded, watching her disappear into the chamber, then stood and quickly made his way out of the Deku Tree and into the forest.
He moved through the ancient trees in haste, ignoring the path and running over the leave-strewn forest floor, following the same instinct that had brought him to Saria. Along the way, he saw branches broken off trees lying on the path, and strange black stains on the leaves. It looked as though there had been a struggle; but what sort of beast could have left these kinds of marks?
Reaching a clearing, he stopped suddenly as the subconscious pull disappeared. Looking around, he spotted a crumpled body on the ground. He approached it, and turned the body over so that he could see the face. His worst fears were confirmed; Link looked blankly up at the sky from where he lay, blonde hair matted with blood, crystal clear blue eyes glazed over in death.
Damien checked for a pulse, but he already knew he wouldn't find one. He knelt there next to the fallen hero, depressed, but unsure why. It wasn't like he and Link had been good friends, or even acquaintances. Even when he had become a Hylian, they almost never saw each other, and even then, they never had much to say. But now, seeing him lying there like that, Damien felt a deep sense of loss, like nothing he had ever felt before.
He heard a low rumbling behind him, and apprehension filled his mind. Not daring to look behind himself, he looked around the forest floor, and saw the sword Link had been fighting with lying close by. Slowly, careful not to make any sudden movements, Damien picked up the sword and looked into the blade.
Beyond his own reflection, he could see a monster standing a couple yards behind him, under the cover of the trees. It was huge, head and shoulders taller than Damien, and it was not unlike a Wolfos; only it was much more distorted-looking, and darker, as though carved from the very shadow itself. It was eyeing him with a hungry look, but he felt no fear, only anger. Noting that the beast had already been badly wounded in many places and would be worn out from loss of blood, he stood and felt thundering footsteps shake the ground as the beast charged.
The creature closed the ground between them in very little time, but before it could strike, Damien swung the sword around and up, plunging it into the creature's stomach. It howled as the blade ripped through bone and muscle and reached the spine, the beast's weak point. With a sickening crack, the spine broke in two, and the creature writhed to the ground and died, disappearing into the shadow it had come from.
Damien lifted the sword to eye level and saw that the blade was pitted and scorched, as though the thing's blood had worn away at it. Tossing the blade aside, he looked down at Link, still lifeless on the ground. The only wound on his body was a small gash on his forehead, and that would not have been enough to defeat him. "If that thing didn't kill you, then who…?"
"I did." Damien spun around at the sound of the voice, and his heart leapt into his throat. There, standing at the other end of the clearing, was the one from his nightmares, the shadow creature like him. But now that he could see him in broad daylight, he could guess with better clarity who it was.
"Fierce Deity!" he growled. Malon had told him stories of what Link became when he donned the Fierce Deity's mask, and now the manifestation of the evil in Link's heart stood before him, a smug sneer on his tattooed face.
"Some call me that, yes," the dark god said, beginning to make his way across the clearing. "Others, the less informed ones, call me 'Oni Link'. But for our purposes, you may call me Kain. That's the name you knew me by long ago." He stopped in front of the lifeless form of the former Hero of Time, and seemed to smirk even wider as confusion reeled in Damien's mind.
"What are you talking about?" the hero asked. "I've never even seen you before."
Fierce Deity chuckled mirthlessly, giving Damien his coldest glare. "You're an idiot. You don't even remember me? What did that foolish sorcerer do to your brain?"
Damien glared back. "You're just trying to throw me off, aren't you? I don't play mind games, buddy."
The god snorted. "Goddesses, boy! You're so stupid it's sickening. I should strike you down now, just trying to talk to you is making me angry." Still the other looked at him perplexedly, and the smirk returned to his face. "No. I know what would be much more fun." He turned and began to walk back into the forest. "Go warn your Princess about me. Tell her what has happened. We'll talk soon."
"Wha-? Get back here!" Damien drew his knife and ran at Fierce Deity, but the god disappeared into the shadows, and he sliced through empty air. An amused laugh echoed in the air around him, and the voice spoke to him, fading away with the last word.
"Don't worry, boy. You and I will fight, in time…"
To Be Continued
A/N: Yes, so… I edited this chapter quite a bit, since I was pretty unhappy with it. Now I like it a lot better. Hopefully others will too. Heh, nasty, mean cliffhanger, eh? What is Fierce Deity talking about? Where has Damien met him before? Or HAS he?
P.S. Yes, I'm giving everyone names in this story. Even though I like calling him Dark, my dear Dark Link needs a more normal name, and I can't just call FD his full name every time, so… yeah.
Please review! Praises and constructive criticism allowed, flames are impolite, so they are not. Thanks for reading!