"What if I told you, Link, that the Mask of Truth was not the only mask the Sheikah gave power to?"
The Mask of Darkness has been found, and manifested into physical form. Although the Hero of Time changed the fate of Hyrule, he did not have the power to change his own destiny.
The Hero of Time slid off his roan horse, turning around to stroke her mane fondly, patting her neck.
"Who's a good girl? Who's a good girl? You're a good girl. Yes you are! Yes you are!" Epona turned her head to look at him curiously and whinnied, scuffing the ground with her hoof.
"Oh puh-lease," cut in Navi the fairy, shooting out from under his hat and hovering above the water before taking a deep breath and extending her arms in a teepee above her head, skimming through the water. Link smiled and watched her go, her blue aura attracting the fish nearby.
"That fairy's going to get eaten one day…" he muttered to his steed, smiling as he sighed and reclined in the grass of Lake Hylia.
It had been an easy day in the fields, hunting without success. It was a little too hot to really try to catch anything. The aim of the game was not to find dinner- they had all too much of that in the castle- but to take a break from a royal life. Staying at a palace wasn't all it was cracked up to be. Sure there was a room with a view, and anything you wanted, but the trouble was Link didn't really want anything anymore. Since he had defeated Ganondorf, his life had suddenly seemed a whole lot more empty. His spirit was restless. No more running, no more fighting, no more skeletons to fight or sages to free, just a normal life. It was murder.
Link spent his days causing a healthy dose of mischief here and there, but generally looking for ways to improve his skills at, well, anything. He could easily smash all 10 ruppees in the target game, bombchus skidded effortlessly across walls to impossible targets, and as he grew older, he found himself a master swordsman. With all the extra years to practice, it was hardly surprising. Even the Gerudo had trouble keeping up with him, and it took three of them at once to take him down. He and Epona, having been reunited as quickly as the Princess would allow, became the best of friends in a week, and he could swear the horse could read his mind. She seemed to know exactly when to turn, without him giving any indication, and how fast to travel for his arrows to hit their mark. They were an unstoppable team.
Link sighed and crawled to the water's edge, away from Epona who was swallowing great gulps of water after galloping under the harsh sun for the past few hours. Peering down into his reflection critically, he noticed he was forever changing. His face seemed a little firmer than it had been the day before, his figure remaining lithe, but firm. He still donned his familiar green tuke and tunic, despite the odd looks he got from everyone. Goddess how Zelda had pleaded with him to dress regally, but how could he surrender the only clothes he had ever known to wear? Green was a pretty colour, after all!
He sighed to himself, brushing his golden bangs behind his slender, pointed ears to examine his eyes. They were sapphire blue and majestic in their own way. Not quite royalty, but… something seemed to resonate from them. An honesty that distinguished him from the Hyrulians. Those eyes could spot a keese fifty metres away, (and peg it with an arrow, too), or find the largest fish in the pond with ease. But the longer he looked into his reflection, the more something seemed to trouble him. There was something else in his eyes… something unfamiliar. A sadness… a pain… something stirring in the water.
He leaned closer to it, until his breath cast tiny ripples on the lake's surface, searching for whatever it was that haunted him. The longer he looked, the longer his features seemed to blend together into a shade of inky darkness. A shadow began to creep across his skin until every party of him was coal black. His eyes flashed crimson, like flames, and his black lips pulled into a vicious smile.
"What the…"
His reflection leapt out of the water, grabbing his throat and throwing him to the grass. Link gasped for breath in vain as Dark Link gripped him tighter still, slowly choking the life out of him. He grabbed the black arms that pinned him down and struggled to break the lethal grip, but his hands were slowly going numb as ice seemed to ripple from the shade's body.
"Link? Link!" Navi, having apparently finished her dip with the fishes suddenly realised the urgency of the situation and shot through the air towards Epona in order to get a weapon of some sort. She wasn't strong enough to lift his sword from the saddle. Hell, she wasn't even big enough for the stallion to notice her. Panicking, she burned a fierce shade of yellow, sparks streaming from her body. The horse looked up from its grass and suddenly noticed what appeared to be an angry shooting star flying around her head.
"Get to Link! Help him Epona, help him!" she shot towards the battle, illuminating it in a cascade of yellow, and in slightly more than a second, the steed had started a canter. Moments later, she charged down Dark Link, sending the demon flying with her powerful hooves. As his horse galloped past, Link swung himself onto her back and drew his sword with a painful gasp, rubbing his raw throat gingerly. He spared himself the strength to focus on one conscious thought;
"What was going on?"
The rider and stallion galloped around in a wide arc to return to the nightmare. With a hiss of anguish, Dark Link staggered to his feet, looking up just in time to see the flash of a blade and feel a streak of searing pain across his torso. Falling back to the ground with what could have been a gasp, it glared loathingly at Link, who had turned once more.
"Jeez, this guy doesn't die easily, does he?" he thought to himself, almost absent mindedly as he reared Epona, climbing off her back and advancing on his fallen assailant. He paused for a moment, wondering if it was worth the risk to ask it what the hell it was doing alive when he had already killed him in the water temple, but then reversed the grip on his hilt, raising it above his head to deliver the coup de grace. Dark Link spoke before the sword could fall though, and said six words that made his blood freeze.
"I'll see you again soon kid," it hissed at him, vanishing in a cloud of black smoke just as Link's sword impaled the grass.
He stood, blinking for a moment before freeing his sword with a vicious tug. As he sheathed it, Navi floated onto the saddle and looked at him intently, before blurting
"What the hell was that about?"
Short, I know, but it's a start isn't it? I'll be taking quite a while if I do manage to update, because of a holiday to Singapore 3
At any rate, this is the first segment of The Mask of Darkness. Ooo, questions questions questions. We'll be finding some answers with the next chapter, and please, please leave a review. Even if it's to tell me it sucks, I would appreciate it a great deal. Please? )
Link of the Hylians