The Legend of Zelda: Reign of Shadow

by anonymous1222

Ages after the legendary Hero of Time, a young man named Link sets out on a quest to save his friend from the evil Ganondorf. On his way will find that the similarities he and his friend's have with the people spoken of in legend is no mere coincidence.

"Do not think this ends here… The history of light and shadow will be written in blood!" –Ganondorf. Date: Unknown

"The Heroes of Legend have all been forced to forfeit the companionships they forge while on their quests. Be it by choice or by destiny they have been forced to walk alone…"

Darkness…pure, impenetrable darkness surrounded the young man, lying on the ground. He forced himself to his feet and scanned the area. Nothing, the darkness spread to the end of the land.

He stepped forward—the unfamiliar shuffle of chainmail echoed as he looked down at his strange garb. Green tunic, chainmail, gauntlets…he didn't recognize any of it. Yet, out of all the unfamiliar attire, what most grasped his attention most was the weight on his back. He reached over his shoulder and felt the handle of a sword. Grasping it tightly, he pulled the sword out of its scabbard. It was light…lighter than he thought it would, and it radiated a faint glow in the darkness that surrounded him. He turned and inspected the blade when a gold, triangle seal on the blade just above the ricaso caught his attention. He squinted, inspecting the seal when suddenly a woman's cry rang through the darkness…

"Link!" he snapped to attention, scanning the darkness for the source, but saw nothing. "Link," she repeated. The voice sounded familiar, like that of a long lost friend.

"Who is it?" He yelled back, his voice echoing all around him.

"Link, help me…" She sounded like she was getting further away, so he ran…as fast as he could in the direction he thought the voice came from.

As he ran, the darkness started opening and he saw the outline of a woman being held by a large man, hidden in the shadows.

"You never learn," the man said, a malice in his voice as he raised a hand.

Link held the sword, ready to fight, "Let her go," he ordered, only to hear laughter in response.

"I won't be defeated so easily this time Hero," the man spat out the last word as a strange, purple glow formed in his hand. Link, from some mixture of fear and curiosity, found himself unable to move when suddenly the energy ball was fired at him. His eyes widened in fear as the woman shrieked, "LINK!"

"Link…Link, wake up."

Link groaned as he stirred awake as the sun blazed down on him in his favorite clearing, "Saria, why are you waking me up?" He sat up and stretched.

"Because, the harvest is starting soon. And you need to prepare for our coming of age ceremony."

"Alright, alright." Link was a very hard worker once you got him on his feet. The only problem was actually convincing him to get up. Saria, however was one of the few who seemed to master this talent.

Link stood up slowly and brushed the dirt off of his pants and shirt. "Hey, Saria," he said, "have you seen this symbol before," he picked up a stick and drew the triangular seal from his dream on the ground.

Saria looked at it for a moment, "It looks familiar, but I'm not sure. Why not ask the Great Deku Tree? I'm sure he could tell you."

"Nah," Link tossed the stick aside and yawned, "it's not that big of a deal."

The two walked in silence out of the clearing and through the woods toward the small Kokiri settlement. As they reached the edge of the woods Saria asked, "Hey, Link, do you remember the stories that the Great Deku Tree always told us when we were kids?"
"What? The ones about our ancestors?"
"Yeah. I was just wondering what it must have been like to be like that. You know, a kid forever. What about you?"
"I don't know. I don't really think too much about the past."

"That's too bad," Saria said, locking her fingers behind her head, "I hear that the Great Deku Tree plans on bringing back an old tradition tonight—something that hasn't been done in ages."
"What is it?"
"I don't know," Saria said with a smile, "but I'm sure it will be fun." She lowered her arms and inched closer to Link. "So, are you taking anyone to the ceremony?"

"No, I haven's asked anyone yet. I'm probably just going to go alone."

"What? You mean you're not going to have a partner?"

"It's not a big deal. Besides, who would I ask to go with me?"

Saria paused for a minute and leaned against a tree, "Why not ask Fado? She's pretty cute."
"I don't know," Link said as he leaned against a tree opposite his friend, "I don't really know her too well…and she kinda creeps me out. But what about you? Are you going with anyone?"
"Nah. I'm not really interested in the other guys." Saria looked down at her feet and tapped the toe of her boot to the ground.

"Well, then why don't you and me go together," Saria blushed and her heart started racing.

"Link I would love to." She walked toward him and hugged him.

"Yeah," Link said as he hugged her back, "I mean, it's okay if we go as friends. It's not like the couples have to be in a relationship or anything."

Saria felt like a thousand pound stone had just been dropped on her chest. "Y-yeah," she said, "of course."

"That's great then," Link said with a smile as he broke the embrace, "Well, I have to go get ready for the ceremony." He ran the short distance out of the woods, leaving Saria alone.

She leaned up against the tree and sighed, "Link," she said, shaking her head at his friends naivety, "how can you be so dense."

She closed her eyes and hummed her favorite tune when, from above, a deep, soft voice said, "There isn't much time left, Saria."
She stopped hummng and looked up to see Kaepora Gaebora perched on a branch, "I know," she told the owl.

"You are turning seventeen tonight. You know what that means for you two."

Saria reached into her pant pocket and pulled out the ocarina that she had carved herself when she was ten years old and held it to her chest as a tear rolled down her cheek.

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That night, while the other Kokiri danced and cheered at the annual Ceremony, Link and Saria prepared for their coming of age rites. As per tradition, these rites were performed by all Kokiri children who turned seventeen that year, marking their transition to adulthood. The Ceremony also honored the birth of the new children of the forest who, on this night every year, blossomed from the roots of the Great Deku Tree at the stroke of midnight.

Saria rubbed the pointed tip of her ear—a habit she had had since her youth- and stared at her reflection in a reflective surface against the wall. The Great Deku Tree had told them that he was bringing back a new tradition and Saria thought to herself, "Did our ancestors really dress like this?"

The Great Deku tree had always told the Kokiri stories of their ancestors: Their accomplishments, their traditions, how their ears became pointed. But Saria just couldn't see how her ancestors wore those green tunics every day of their lives. Being so used to pants, she felt exposed in the tunic, "I'll bet the boys aren't too pleased about this," she chuckled.

"Actually, I find it quite liberating," a nasally voice said from the doorway and Saria quickly turned to see Mido leaning against the door with his signature smug smile on his face. "Everything just feels so much more…free down there."

"Mido, what the hell are you doing in here? This hut is reserved for the girls."

"I know, but I wanted to give you the honor of being my date for the ceremony."

Saria rolled her eyes, "Look, Mido, I'm going with Link. Now I'd appreciate it if you'd leave."

"Come on, you're going with that loser? I don't know what you see in him, he's such a loner. Why don't you just drop him and take the biggest stud in the forest instead?" Suddenly, the door opened and Mido fell backward out of the hut at Link's feet.

"Saria," he said as he stepped over the fallen Mido, "are you ready?"

"Yes, let's go."

Mido grew furious as the two left the hut together. "One day of these days, Link….you'll regret ever looking down on me."

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That night Saria and Link stood together before the Great Deku tree between a very angry Mido and a very bored Fado. All the other Kokiri were sitting several yards back, waiting for the ceremony to start.

Saria looked over at Link—his demeanor as stoic as ever as he looked up at the face of the Great Deku Tree. And just as she was getting lost in her own thoughts about what Kaepora has said, the Great Deku Tree's leaves rustled in the still night air, snapping her back into focus and drawing the attention of every being in the clearing.

"My children," the Great Deku Tree's slow, booming voice echoed through the quiet night, "Every year we gather as a family to this spot to honor those who have come of age by bringing forth those who have just entered life." The very ground that the four stood on seemed to shake beneath their feet. "In the past, your ancestors lived eternally young. But as time passed the world began to change, and not even the eternity that this forest granted its children could prevent it. The magic that makes its home in this forest had transformed over the ages, which in turn changed the Kokiri forever. The Kokiri lost their eternal youth, but this loss brought an amazing gift, something that your ancestors had been denied—adulthood."

"In the past, the Kokiri children were told that they would die should they ever leave the forest. It was a lie meant to protect the children from the corruption of the world. But with the loss of eternal youth came the desire to venture beyond the trees of this forest. So it became tradition that when Kokiri come of age when they turn seventeen, they bring forth the Kokiri children from my roots and then leave the forest to live the rest of their days among the other races of the land."

It was a story that the Kokiri had heard every year during the Ceremony, but what came next was something that every Kokiri only got to experience once. The ground shook more violently as four roots with large pods on their tips sprang from the ground. Once the shaking stopped, the Great Deku Tree announced, "Step forward my children Mido, Fado, Saria, and Link and bring into life the newest Children of the Forest to commence your journey into life."

The four each walked up to a pod and carefully removed it from their respective roots. They each cradled the pod in one arm while they slowly peeled the layers away with their free hand. One by one, crying erupted from the pods as the infant Kokiri were revealed. The four held the infants carefully in their arms and turned around to face the crowd behind them.

On cue, the Kokiri stood up and separated into two groups, forming a small gap between them to allow the now-of-age Kokiri to pass through to the town.

The four led the other Kokiri to a small hut reserved for the infants of the ceremony. The four filed in one by one with Mido in the lead and, once inside, placed the infants on a large bed of ferns. They silently walked out and everyone walked silently back to the Great Deku Tree where everyone took their original positions.

"My Children," it said, "tonight is a celebration of life— both for those that are just beginning," it pulled its roots back below the surface, "and those that are about to take new paths. Tonight is not a night to be saddened by the departure of members of our family…. It is meant to send off our brothers and sisters with the happiest memento that we can provide."

Suddenly the Kokiri behind the four broke into cheer…The celebration had only just begun….

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The residents of Kokiri Forest were cheering and dancing to the music of the Know-It-All brothers—a trio of brothers who inherited the title from a long line of descendants spreading throughout the history of the Kokiri. Even the normally grumpy and arrogant Mido could be found celebrating with his kinsmen. Everywhere, Kokiri were celebrating; their new emerald tunics standing out beautifully in the dim light from the moon and torches. But Link, who always had difficulty in group settings, sat near the entrance to the Lost Woods atop the moss-covered Gossip Stone, watching the tiny figures moving around the flickering lights of the torches. He rested his elbows on his knees, placed his head in his hands, and sighed.

"Is something wrong, Link?" Link looked behind him and saw Saria walking out of the Lost Woods.

"No," he said after a short pause, "I just can't believe it's time for us to leave the forest."

"I know," Saria walked a short ways ahead of him and leaned on the fence, "for seventeen years this has been our home. It's heartbreaking to leave all of our friends behind." She took a deep breath and looked back at Link, "But at least we'll still have each other, right?"

Even Link wasn't so dense as to miss the hint of sorrow in her voice or the sadness in her eyes, "Saria, what's wrong?" Link hopped off the Gossip Stone and stood next to his friend.

Saria did not respond right away. She simply looked down and took a deep breath before looking up at Link with a sad smile and saying, "Come with me."

Without a word Link followed her into the Lost Woods. She led him through the many passes and clearings until they finally reached the Sacred Meadow.

Saria stopped at the vine covered wall that the Kokiri children had used to reach the ruins of an old temple until the Great Deku Tree told them that, for their safety, the must stay away. Considering the amount of time she'd spent in the Lost woods, Link often wondered if Saria still visited the ruins despite the warning.

"Link," she said softly, "do you remember when we became friends?" Link stayed silent. "It was right here, almost thirteen years ago. You had run into the Lost Woods crying after Mido teased you, and ended up finding your way here because you heard me playing my ocarina." Saria turned around to face Link and held her hands to her chest, "Until then I was always afraid of you. You were always by yourself and you never talked to anyone. But at that moment I saw a boy who just needed someone to call a friend. And ever since then, we've been together. You've been a great friend, but…" tears started forming in her eyes and she couldn't get the words out.

"Saria, I…" Link took a step forward to embrace his friend, when she ran straight to him and burst into tears. Unsure of what to say, he put his arms around her and held her tightly to his chest.

"For so long I've cared for you…but you've always been so thick…I always just wanted you to….to…"

"Saria," Link lifted her chin with one hand and looked into her eyes, "please, tell me what's wrong?"
Suddenly, she stood up on her toes and kissed him. Link's eyes shot open and he stood there, shocked until Saria broke the kiss. "I don't know why, but whenever I come here I feel as if there's something important about this place that somehow involves us." As she broke from his arms and held his hand in both of hers, he felt Saria pressing something into his palm. "Link," she whispered in his ear, "goodbye," and she ran back to Kokiri Forest leaving Link standing alone in the middle of the Sacred Meadow.

After a few seconds he looked down at his hand and was shocked to see Saria's ocarina. He wrapped his fingers around it and started making his way back to Kokiri Forest when something on the ground a few feet away caught his attention. He walked toward the object—a large grey stone, too smooth to be natural, knelt down, and inspected it. It had a rounded side that leveled off perfectly at the top, and extended about two feet to the jagged edge on the other side. But what struck him as odd was the dark grey marking that looked like the edge of the triangle that appeared on the flat surface of the stone. He stared at it for a moment when the leaves of a tree behind him rustled and he quickly stood up. Perched on the tree was a large, brown owl. "Owls never enter these woods," Link thought to himself as he slowly backed out of the Sacred Meadow and made his way back home.

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Link had been staring at the ocarina on his entire trek back. He couldn't figure out why Saria had said "goodbye." The Kokiri who leave the forest tend to stay together to make the transition easier. So why, he thought, would this be a goodbye? He clutched the ocarina tightly and made his way to the final clearing before the exit when suddenly he heard a faint scream. "Huh," he stopped walking and listened when the scream got louder and he recognized, in horror, who's it was. "SARIA!" he screamed and he sprinted as fast as he could out of the Lost Woods and looked upon the scene with horror.

The hut that housed the newborns had burst into flames and Kokiri were desperately trying to rescue the infants. Link jumped over the fence and landed on the ground several feet below. He got to his feet and ran to the hut where he saw many Kokiri crying over the lifeless bodies of the infants. "Mido," he called when he saw the boy leaning against a tree with fear in his eyes, "where's Saria?" Mido didn't respond, so Link shook him and screamed, "Mido, where is Saria?"

"He took her?" Mido started trembling and couldn't look Link in the eye, "the man with red hair on the black horse took her. He used dark magic and we couldn't put out the fire. And when Saria tried to stop him, he knocked her out and took her."

"Where, where did he take her?"

Mido didn't respond. He simply looked toward the entrance to the bridge that separate Hyrule field and Kokiri Forest. Link stood up and was about ready to run to the bridge when someone grabbed his hand. He turned around and saw Fado standing there. "Let go," Link said as he tried to free his hand from the girl's grasp, "I have to save Saria."

"The Great Deku Tree wishes to see you Link," Fado said.

"I don't have time. If I don't go now, Saria will—"

"If you don't see the Great Deku Tree first, you will die." The flat tone with which Fado delivered this line sent chills down Link's spine and he reluctantly made his way, with haste, to the Great Deku Tree.

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"Great Deku Tree," Link shouted as he ran up to the mighty tree, "I must—"

"Link," the Great Deku Tree cut the young man short with his slow, powerful voice, "do not be hasty. The man who took Saria away is a Dark and Cursed man who, for age after age, has sought only power."

"So am I just supposed to sit back and do nothing?"

"That is for you to decide, my child. But tell me, are you willing to face great peril, even in the face of death, to save your friend?"

"Of course."

"Very well. Link, if that is your decision, then I cannot deny your wish. But before you go, take this."

The ground beneath Link shook as a root sprung from the ground. Link took the pod attached to the end and opened it to reveal a sheathed short sword with a white gemstone set in the pommel. Link carefully lifted it and drew the blade from its sheath.

"That is a blade passed down from a legendary hero who once came to this forest. It has not seen the light of day in nigh four hundred years, but if you wish to partake in this quest, you will need a blade for protection."

"I cannot thank you enough," Link said as he sheathed the sword.

"Do not thank me, my son," the Great Deku Tree said, "Now you must go. Go to the land of Hyrule and find the Princess named Zelda. She is the key to finding a way to defeat That Man." With a nod Link turned and ran from the clearing.

"Are you sure it was wise to withhold so much information from him?" Kaepora Gaebora said as he hopped out of the cover of the canopy of the Great Deku Tree.

"He is not yet ready," the Great Deku Tree said, "I have kept the story of the Legendary Hero from them should something like this ever happen. He needs to prove himself as a hero…"

"And what of Saria?"

The Great Deku Tree waited a moment before speaking, "When he finds out…let us pray he is ready."

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When Link reached the bridge to Hyrule field he was shocked to see Fado standing at the other end. "You're going to try and find her, aren't you?" Fado looked at the sword strapped to Link's back.

"Yes." Link said sternly as he walked across the bridge.

"You seem awfully angry."

Link did not respond and simply walked past the girl.

"Vengeance clouds the mind, Link. Be careful, or before you know it, you may find that it takes you over." Link turned around, only to see the Fado had disappeared. Unsure of what he was experiencing, Link slowly backed off of the bridge and into Hyrule field.

The Quest has only just begun…

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Hope you enjoyed chapter 1. Please review…