Prologue: Hisotria

Years had passed since the Hero of Light had ended his adventure, returning home to Ordon to live the rest of his long life. Living to be at least a hundred years, Link passed. A hundred years of peace gave people time to relax and live their lives as the world intended it.

Young nobles had given birth to new children, becoming part of the government as it was. Some were a bit more interested in people long before their years. There were little things that bubbled up with the people once in a while, but otherwise, everyone was happy to have such a wonderful peaceful time.

Hyrulian royals had come into full power of the senate, and all were in good health. Namely King Ezra and his Queen, Agnes. Both loved by their people, they brought in equality for both men and women of the kingdom and patched the bridge between all races. The Hyrulians, Zoras, and the people of the ones trying to rebuild the Sky Palace with the help of the Occoo.

More time passed and a young and valiant noble boy by the name of Micera was rivaled by Princess Hyrule, fittingly named Zelda, after the princesses before her. Both the births were celebrated with festivals for children and adults alike.

It was when new faces emerged in the state's senate when horrors started to appear out of thin air.

Beasts wrought from darkness started appearing, killing innocent people for no reason other than blood lust. The House Senate suggested that the King propose a training school for knights in the Snowpeak Mountains, ensuring that everyone would have a knight to watch over their towns and homes. King Ezra, out of fear, put the school into motion, and within years, the Hylia Knight Academy was born. Young men and women were brought in to train and become fearless warriors to try and defeat these beasts.

Though this worked for a while, but the attacks on humans became a daily occurrence until the creatures breached the castle walls. King Ezra fought with valiant skills, sending the Princess' nursemaid to take Princess Zelda to a far off place where she would be safe.

When dawn came, the attack was gone, and the castle looked like a battleground. Soldiers wounded and strewn about, some dead, others dying. Among the dead were the king and queen, both mutilated beyond recognition.

Without the king and queen, power went to the senate and the funerals of the king, queen, and assumed dead Princess Zelda. For many years, everyone blamed the senate for the attack. Their 'bad luck' and shady characters brought in the shadows, but even then, the beasts didn't have any hesitation to attack the castle again. One brought order back into place, using an old magic to seal off the castle walls with a spell that kept the shadows from coming in. The method worked, buying back the trust of Hyrule, and said spell was used in every town to keep everyone safe. Senator Milov became ruler of Hyrule, and all worries and fears were forgotten in the golden haze that was Senator Milov's reign.

Chapter 1: Snow

The great rolling foothills of the Snowpeak Mountains were all Link ever knew. He couldn't remember a father, or a mother, and he certainly didn't have any siblings to count. All he had were a few knick-knacks—namely a slingshot worn from use, a few Deku seeds, a protection charm from long ago, and a blotch on his hand that looked like a triangle. He figured it was just a rash or a birthmark that happened to be geometric in shape, so it didn't bother him much.

Hylia Knight Academy was his home since he was a child. Brought by parents, dropped off, then probably killed by shadows on the way down the mountain. Seventeen years passed, bringing Link to adulthood. Almost ready to go out in the world and protect people everywhere. And to be honest, he was excited to leave. Though he was a bit shorter than anyone in the academy, he was one of the eldest to many brother and sister figures.

So when 'graduation day' came in the East Wing Ward, he got questions all the time. 'Where do you think you'll be stationed?' 'Do you think you'll make it back?' ' Do you ever think you'll see a fairy?' 'What kind of weapon are you going to choose?' 'Do you think you'll protect the princess?' Ah, the princess bit was new news. Just recently, someone said they had found Princess Zelda and she was coming in from the far South near the Ordon. She claimed to have been hiding in the Lost Woods, but nobody had come or gone from the woods for so long, everyone accepted this fact. Everyone was craving some sort of lighthearted feeling of security and peace that they took her in and adopted her with open arms.

As far Link knew, he was probably going to be in Castletown for the rest of his life. Or maybe an outpost in the Faron Woods. It seemed pretty...boring, to be honest. But, it was a life, no less. And he could be living with the government supporting him.

It was just one of those boring snowy days in the mountains. There wasn't any training to do since Link was graduating soon. He and a select few didn't have to do classes for the whole week before the final. That just meant Link could finally sleep in for a little bit.

The air was quiet. All around was a black mist. Nothing could be seen, and the only light was from a tipped over lantern at his feet. How long had he been here? Why was he here? Making a complete turn around, Link took in his surroundings, seeing nothing.

Picking up the lantern, the Hyrulian found the ground below him was solid and as long as he kept the lamp light on it. Wandering around against his better judgment, there came the persistent realization: There was nothing here. Just darkness.

'Come to me...'

Link made a full turn around, staring into the murky dark. The voice...it sounded familiar. Somehow. It was one of those voices that was soothing, but there was an edge of danger with a hint of venom laced between the calming tones.

'Come here, boy'. Walking towards the sound wasn't a good idea, but Link's feet obeyed. Slowly, shuffling became cautious and uneven footsteps. Something churned in the pit of his stomach, leading one hand to fold over his abdomen, pursing his lips into a fine line so that he wouldn't retch. 'Come here, I won't bite...Now stop.'

On command, Link's paces halted, and he was faced with a giant gorge. There was no end in sight, orange and red embers glowered in the distance. Dread filled any spot for emotion in his body, the hair on his neck bristled. 'Don't be so afraid. Jump.' It chuckled, trying to will himself to not jump into the gorge. 'Jump, boy. Jump!' It raised its voice and Link's joints buckled, dropping the lantern into the abyss. 'JUMP!' The ground beneath him shuddered and crumbled below him, dumping him into where the lantern had fallen.

Heat billowed up around him, singing his clothing the farther down he went. Then, burning. Skin charred and hair burning away, filling his nose with the awful odor. Screams filled the gorge, along with laughter and someone else's voice.

… …

W...e...p!

Wa...ku...

Wake up.

Wake up, you lazy boy!

Blue eyes snapped open and body jolting forward. A collision of foreheads and the loud groaning of a colleague. "Ah, dammit! That's the last time I wake you up for finals! You hit me in the nose!" The voice belonged to a brown-eyed boy with spiky bronze hair and a tanned complexion to match. "Is it bleeding? Oh holy Hylia, I think it's bleeding."

"Rori, it's not bleeding. Woman up, for goodness sake." The second voice was from the beautiful and stubborn Kori, Rori's twin sister. She had unruly curly hair compared to her brother, who kept his own hair short and ragged. "You were having a weird dream there, blondie."

"Yeah, you were twitching and flailing and it was weird to watch." Rori sat on the end of the bed while rubbing his nose while Kori rocked back and forth on her heels. They were both wearing the training armor that they all wore during lessons. Was it that time already? Sitting up for the second time in bed, Link groaned, rubbing his shoulder. "Woah...You've got a bad rash there..." Rash? It wasn't really a rash...it was just an irritated spot around a freckle. A really dark freckle. It itched terribly whenever he moved it, and the freckle was just as bad. "Might want to get some ointment on that."

"Anyway, it's the big day, so you might want to get armored up and out to the courtyard. From what I hear, the final to get out of here is a tiered battle system. Like I beat Kori, you beat me so we fight other people who won or lost. In theory, it'll get us where we should be."

Well, that was simple enough. Better get out of bed, though. "We'll just leave ya to get dressed. But then again, Kori might wanna wa—oi!"

"Don't say stupid things, idiot! No offense to you, Link, but I wouldn't want to watch some skinny blond boy undress!" Her face was a bit red, but she was serious. As soon as the two left the dorm room, Link sighed and held his head in his hands. What was that dream all about?

Like any other morning, Link stripped his clothes, put on his other clothes and rolled all the bed sheets down to the bottom where he picked them up and threw them in the hamper. Every morning, sheets and clothes would be washed to keep down bug infestations and all those wonderful things. Heading down to the armory, Link listened to some of the conversations going on down the hall. 'Did you hear that Thalia is at the top of the class? She's so tough! She looks like a Goron she's so strong, and she even hurls around a ball and chain!' Link hoped he wouldn't have to fight Thalia. 'Did you see that they had Hyrule Sweets down in the store? My goodness, I could really go for one of the chocolates right now! But all this stress is making me break out...' Some of the girls must really want to look their best on a day like today. 'Did you hear about that nobleman getting a place in the senate? Did you hear that he's got the brightest red hair! It's like he's got flames on his scalp, he's so gorgeous!' Link had heard a bit of the new, very young, very attractive senator in Hyrule. From what he had seen and heard from the occasional news that got up to Snowpeak, his lineage was quite clear. He was very Gerudo on his mother's side and his father was from up North around Snowpeak. Because of this, he must have gotten all the fair features. Sleek red hair, hazel eyes and pale skin. But with the delicate features, he was quite strong, he heard. He won last year's fencing tournament in the Goddess Festival, and also topped in the Best Four of the horseback archery course they had made. All in all...he was a really nice face with a kind personality to match. Link was sure they'd vote him to throne sooner or later.

"Mornin, Link! Here for your usual gear?" Joha was the arm skeeper. He had all the armor and weapons anyone could think of, save for the one slingshot that Link had. Bows and arrows, one or two crossbows, axes, lances, maces...you name it. But, Link was starting to tire of the lance he usually had. He needed to stand out a bit. He had no idea why, but he pointed up to the sword and picked that for the day. "Hunh. Well, it's the last day of your training and you still won't say anything."

"Nope." The voice caught Joha off guard, yet Link just smiled on as he took his gear from the arms keeper. "Thanks Joha."

"...Well I be damned." Joha whispered, blinking a few times and cleaned out his ear quickly to try and see if he had actually heard the usually quiet boy speak.

"Alright, ladies and gents! If you look up here, here's the bracket board. We've got a small class, so this will go pretty fast and we'll send you to where we assume you'd be able to go. Top of the class goes to tougher places, and then people at the bottom of the class go to places like Orodon and Kakariko. Understand, everyone? Good. We'll start off with Kori and Lyss in the arena, then we'll go on down the brackets."

"Aww man, I get Lyss? She's just this much ahead of me!" Kori groaned, dragging his hands down his face. "And plus it's embarrassing to get beat by a girl."

"You would know, your own sister beat you on the entrance exams!" One of the other students yelled at Kori, who held up his pinkies in retort. It was one of those jokes between the students, and since good conduct was supposed to be used between the students, they came up with their own little gestures.

"Do you see your name up on the board, Link?" Rori asked. The indoor arena was spacious, set up like a Colosseum with wide unbarred seats. Leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees, Rori softened up and sighed.

To be honest, the board was too far away and Links eyes were still blurry from sleep. So, with a shrug, he leaned back and sighed as well.

"You think that you, me and Kori will be far away from each other? I mean, I don't think I'd want to be stuck with a pasty kid like you, but I think it'd be nice to keep an eye on each other." Rori wasn't one to share emotion like this, so the little sentimental bits alarmed the blond. When the cheering in the stands grew louder, the two looked to the arena just as Kori was turned over and slammed on the ground. "What the—She doesn't even have a weapon out! She must have took a lot of time in the martial arts! ...Where's Kori's sword?" It only took a moment to find it, and the upward finger Link held up explained it all. How had they missed Lyss, a small figured girl with long raven-colored hair, throw Kori's sword into the ceiling rafters? "Geez, that girl's a beast."

In the time it took them all to get through half the brackets and to Link's battle, he and Rori had gone through ten sheets of paper, making little paper stars. The little scraps sat at their feet, barely stirred. "...I'm gonna have to go up against that weird goggles kid. I don't even know how he got to the top of the class, but eh. I'm not even sure how you got there, either." Rori teased. She was nervous. It showed in her face and voice. "Wish me luck. Maybe I'll see you at Castletown!" She grinned wider, brushing the paper scraps off her lap and dashed down to the rink just as Kori came up and plopped himself down next to Link.

"Man, I got stuck in dusty old Kakariko. What luck is that?" He groaned, looking down to watch his sibling's battle.

As the battle commenced, Link found himself watching intently. She was a talented ax wielder, and a few blows from the weapon would probably put her opponent out. Something was weird, though. This 'goggles kid' was top of his bracket. He had demolished all the kids below him, and now, Rori was next.

"She's gonna win, right?" Already things looked odd as they circled around. He was rolling up his sleeves when he drew his weapon, trying to get a good slash at her. Of course, she used the giant ax to hide and block his move, followed by a few slashing hits. He was startled of course by her quick movement even if she was carrying something that was easily one third her weight. "C'mon, Rori! You can beat him!" Kori cheered, waving his fist around. People around him started chanting, creating a blur of names.

Rori was overwhelming him. The anxiety of the match and the overall cheering was starting to crack him down and his ballsy strikes were becoming more defensive than offensive. Dripping sweat and some scratches and dirt, Rori gave a mighty cry and hit him with the flat of her ax, sending him flying to the far right. The judges gave their scores, marked down a few names and then continued on. "Rori versus Thalia!" They must had thought it was a game. Putting impossible matches to the test.

Rori paled considerably, almost dropping her ax at the sheer mention of the buff girl. She was tanned like a Goron, hair pulled back into a short and messily cut ponytail, and she stood like a giant. "Oh Gods have mercy on me."

"Thalia's farther up the bracket, though!" Kori yelled, shaking his fist at the judges. "Come on, have some mercy!" Link pulled him back down, wincing at the fight already starting. Thalia was on her windup. Rori was being smart by getting in close as she threw the ball and chain, but that was also her fatal flaw. When the ball and chain came back, Rori faced the iron surface just as it knocked her back into the wall, knocking the air out of her. Dropping her weapon, she gasped and coughed, soliciting a few curses from Kori, who threatened to stand up again.

Thalia grinned widely and smoothed her hair back, going again for a windup as Rori got up. Disoriented, Rori barely noticed the blunt weapon fly past her and come back to throw her to the other side of the arena. The ax went flying as Rori rolled in the dust. Two hits, and she struggled to get up. As Thalia came closer, she dropped to the ground, giving a sigh of defeat, but it wasn't enough. Thalia was about to drop the ball and chain on top of her, sending Link out of his seat, along with Kori right in front of him. "Don't you DARE!" Kori screamed, dashing out in front of Thalia to tend to his sister. Link stood in front of them both, trying to act as a shield. "Why didn't you stop when she stopped?! Hunh!? You could have killed her with that thing!"

"Tch! The headmaster would have stopped me, you know!" Thalia growled, curling her lip up in a sneer. "It's not like she would have made much of a splat anyways. She's made outta muscle. That isn't very satisfying."

Even Link crinkled his nose in disgust while Kori tried to wake Rori up with a potion and some medicine. "Fight me. Fight me in her place, you giant cheater!"

"I'm no cheater! They wrote my name in! See, right where Paulo was and Zander dropped down, they wrote me in!" Thalia argued. "Plus, you're already out of the running! You're not worth a thing to fight!" She smirked widely, looking down at Kori like a triumphant toad.

"I'll fight."

The solo voice took a few by surprise. Thalia arched a brow and cocked her head. "Excuse me?"

Link stood in front of her, sword drawn. "I'll fight for him. The fight was unfair, so I'll make it even." He nodded, gripping the sword handle as she threw her head back and laughed.

"Oh, listen to you! You're gonna sound real stupid when you end up flattened like her!" She chortled loudly. A few students came around to help Rori and Kori out of the rink, keeping a close eye on Link and Thalia. "Ready when you are, Dink!"

Slowly, his plan started to come together. Rori got caught on the backswing. So, he'd avoid the backswing. But how? As the silver chains went flying past his head, Link rushed in just like Rori had done, getting a few hits that didn't even seem to faze Thalia. He noticed the twitch of her muscles and the strain in her face when she started pulling back, until the last moment, Link ducked out of the way and rolled right past her. The ball came flying at her, and the momentum from it sent her stumbling. "You little—!" She yelled, going again to try and hit him. Again, the same happened, and she was starting to slowly wear down. "Come here so I can squish you like a bug!" As Link avoided, the air in the Colosseum grew tense and bright, like popcorn over a fire. She was getting angry and careless. At the end of it all, she threw her weapon aside and started grabbing for the blond, only for him to duck around and push her over just like she was going to do to him.

Thalia pounded the ground and rolled over to face him, making another go to try and at least pin him down and take his weapon. Again and again, he avoided and made small attacks until she went to charge him again...and all her armor fell off. It clanked on the floor in a pile, leaving her clothing and soft spots exposed.

The auditorium was speechless. Seconds went by. A minute.

"All Hail! Link!"

All Hail Link! Giant Slayer! Destroyer! Hero! Link marveled at the cheering and grinned, looking around at all the students that had gathered. Thalia growled and stormed off, leaving Link to wave and listen for his score. There was a sudden ringing in his ear. Probably from the noise, but it was slowly getting louder and it spread to the other ear. It dimmed out the yelling and cheering until it was unbearable, and the crowd of people that had surged from the seats seemed like nothing.

Burn with me.

The pain in his arm was so sudden and unbearable that he lost sensation in his knees and fell forward, holding the one arm in agony as he cried out. It hurt so badly! The fabric just made it worse, and it needed to go! He tore at the seam and ripped it away, taking off half of his armor with it. The crowd around him gasped and the pain stopped, the ringing ceased.

"He's got it—he's got the Marks! He's one of them!"

What was a rash and a suspicious freckle had turned into a zig-zagging lightning-like veiny mess on his skin that mingled with the real blue-green veins that ran on his underarm. His whole elbow area was blotchy now, and the inky threads followed the vein's path.

The cheering was now quiet chattering amongst the other students, and a few teachers and guards started to cautiously come closer. "Link, are you feeling okay?" One of them asked, looking him over a couple times before coming to a stop not far from him.

"It's not too bad, it's only on his arm." The Head Nurse of the academy sighed and shook her head. "Come now, let's get you to the infirmary." She mumbled something about 'it' not being contagious just yet, but Link had become exceedingly fatigued. His feet dragged, his body ached and his head spun like a top. And surely, that top stopped spinning and fell forward with a mighty 'THUD'.

"I don't think we should do this. We shouldn't kick him out just because he's got a little bit of the curse on his arm. I know we can't amputate it, but blessing it would be a better option."

"We have to, otherwise the students will rally and try to kill him themselves. We should have given better teaching about the shadows and the shadow sickness."

The voices mumbled on and on as the blond awoke, reaching up to rub his face tiredly. His left arm was really stiff and it hurt to move it at all. In the distance, there was the Head Nurse and the Academy Officials, along with an unfamiliar face. Probably the head of Snowpeak's Guard System. "We could at least give him enough supplies and warm boots to head down to Castletown or down to the Lanayru Prefecture. The Zoras are all bleeding hearts when it comes to these things. If it's still alive, talking and in need of help, they'll try and mend it."

So they were going to throw him out? They started talking even quieter as Nurse Iliana came over, sighing heavily. She was quite fair with sparkling green eyes, but her mandatory scarf on her head hid most of her hair. She was a bit older, and with that more like a mother to most the students. "Oh Link...today wasn't easy for you at all, was it?" She said softly, almost mother like. The only times he had actually been in the Nurse's Office was when he brought Kori or Rori up after they had gotten in fights over the littlest things. Occasionally he'd come in with a bloody nose or a cold, but nothing more than that. "Could you sit up on the cot for me?" Slowly but surely, she helped Link to an upright position. It nearly drained him to do so, and the exhaustion showed on his face. "You poor thing..."

As far as this went, he regained a bit of his energy when he wasn't moving around, and the elders told him what was going to happen. "Link, we can't keep you here. As long as your arm has the markings it has, you are a danger to the school and its staffing. We never thought something like this would happen, but we did know that the threat was coming farther North." The Headmaster paused for a moment, pursing his lips. "We can give you supplies to get down to the Lanayru District where the Zoras may help you from there. If not, Castletown has a refugee center where people are being taken care of...so I hear."

"You're willing to make him walk all the way down to Lanayru on a hunch?" Iliana asked sternly, idly picking up a glass of water for the young Hylian. "I thought you cared about your students. I wouldn't have thought you'd make them do their death walk just for the security of the school." Slowly watching him drink, Iliana sighed wistfully. "...At least have someone who is going that way escort him." After he was finished, she smoothed the young blond's hair back ever so slightly.

The headmasters conversed for a moment, then looked back to Iliana. "Alright, if you're so in love with the idea, why don't you do it? After all, you did graduate paladin of your graduating class, so why not?"

"That's not what I'm—" She stopped short, being hushed by the headmaster.

"You'll do it, and then you'll come back when he's in Lanaryu. If you can make it down and back on your own time, I think you'll be fine." He smirked slightly, waving for the rest of the council to move. All she could do was stare, her usually kind expression turning quite sour and distasteful.

"It looks like you and I are going to Lanaryu."