The street that ran outside of the STAR Game Pavilion was quieter than usual, a faint thrum of voices drifted along the quiet street from the always busy center of Hyrule Town. Sitting in front of the pavilion in an old ragged chair, the owner of the STAR Game sat puffing on a dark brown pipe and contemplating on whether he should design a game more challenging to those who wished to snare its prize. Across the street from the pavilion, a young puppy wagged its tail happily and pressed his wet nose against the man sleeping peacefully against the wall. It glanced down at the slobbery stick it had been chewing on a few moments earlier and attempted to wake the sleeping man again in hopes that he will wake up and throw the stick for it. Nearby, hidden in the shadows forming as the sun slowly sank into a horizon blocked by the castle walls, the sounds of girls' giggling to themselves interrupted the silence that lay over the street.
The old man stood at the side of the street, looking forlornly down at the box he held with donations from the citizens that passed by him. He was collecting money for those who had no money to buy food or clothing to protect themselves, but few people had the heart to give rupees for the poor or patience to even listen to him talk about the conditions of the hungry children in the streets or the poor unable to find work due to injuries or illnesses. He wondered at the greed of the world as he looked at the small green, blue, and yellow rupees laying forlornly at the bottom of the box. He shook the wooden box and listened to the clinks of the coins, wondering how the few coins could be put to greater use.
Then, he heard a low angry buzz. It was one of those buzzes that made your head ache and your ears throb. The old man looked around, certain it was another stupid kid playing a trick on him. To his horror, a black warp formed in the center of the road. From the swirling vortex, a young man with a black hat, silver hair, black skin, black tunic, and boots erupted from it. Once his whole body was free of the warp, it dissolved away, leaving the demon standing on the street.
The first thing Shadow Link comprehended as he materialized into the light world was the soft caress of the wind on his face. He reveled in the soft touch, the dark realm was rarely blessed with weather or wind to puncture the stifling cold. Unfortunately, that little delight was shattered when he suddenly heard someone start screaming like a little girl. He opened his ruby eyes to see an old frightened man cowering on the sidewalk, staring at him in utter horror. He grinned, taking one step towards the cowering figure. The man yelled again in terror and took off, abandoning his little wooden box in his haste to escape. The box broke as it struck the floor, scattering small green, blue, and yellow rupees across the stone street. He grinned as he watched the man flee and stifled a laugh; the stench of fear from the man was delicious. He could have easily run down the man, but he was weak from the effort it took to breach the wall confining the denizens of the shadow realm from the realm of Twilight and into the Light Realm.
"Now, to find the wretched hero's descendent," He hissed and stalked into the nearby alley.
He had barely begun walking by the pavilion when there was a yell and a thunk sound. He glared to the right only to see a man go rushing inside the pavilion and pulling down a flimsy flap saying CLOSED. Nearby, a chair was toppled over and a pipe lay smoking on the road.
"What the hell was that for?" He hissed. Then, he heard the sound of laughter, the soft tinkling laughter that sounded vaguely like one he had heard the last time he was in the Light Realm.
'Shit, it's that damn fairy!' He almost yelled before he realized that it was not coming from a fairy. The noise was coming from three girls that were standing nearby. The girls came crowding around him; they wore worn dresses of red, green, and blue and smiling serenely at him. Their faces made it appear that they were sisters.
"It's been awhile since you last visited, hasn't it?" The red girl giggled.
"You've changed," The green girl mentioned as soon as the other girl's mouth had closed.
"Tell us of your travels," The blue girl demanded in a sweet soft voice.
"Still shy, Link?" The red girl giggled. Shadow Link twitched when he heard his nemesis's name. The bloodlust returned, the insatiable drive to find and murder the hero even in his weakened state.
"Where is he?" he asked furiously. The three girls slid away from him in shock.
"What do you mean?
"You're not Link?
"But, you look so much like him…" They whispered, dark looks of suspicion and anger began to cloud their faces. Shadow Link stared at the girls' faces before an idea came to mind.
"I am not him. I am his twin brother and I have been looking for him for a long time." Shadow Link smoothly lied, hoping the girls could hint his whereabouts. Just a hint, a tiny rumor, could lead to the bloody conclusion that he ached for terribly. The girls' eyes sparkled again and they grinned as they pressed against him. Shadow Link felt slightly vulnerable, so closely surrounded by the girls. But it was only slight, what can these flimsy looking girls do to him, even in the state he was in?
"He never said he had a brother,"
"You are just as good-looking as he is,"
"What's your name?"
"Are you as skilled as he is?"
"Do you go on fantastic adventures?"
"Are you single?" The questions began flowing together as the girls interrogated him. Shadow Link felt an angry buzz erupt at the back of his thoughts as he decided the girls were going to be no help. He tried to break free of the girls' grips, twisting away from them in hopes of driving them away. The girls looped their skinny arms around his arms instead, giggling practically in his ears.
"Where are you going?" They asked simultaneously. The scent of trouble and excitement hovered in the air. Shadow Link had a bad feeling about the three girls. The bloodlust that had filled him evaporated as he assessed the sticky situation that was forming.
"You seem tired, why not come over to our house? We have a nice warm bed set up for guests," The girls whispered giddily, they began walking off and pulling him along.
"If you don't let me go, I'll kill you!" Shadow Link hissed as he pulled his arms free, although the girl wearing the blue dress remained holding his forearm.
"Oh, not so nice as Link, are you?" The red girl giggled, Shadow Link almost shivered at the looks she and the other girls were giving him. Something was wrong here.
"I don't think you can do much, sweetie," The green girl continued. Shadow Link growled and swiped at the nearest girl, the one in blue. She avoided it, grinning almost winningly. He felt one of the other girls grab his other wrist and something wet slap onto his face.
'What the hell is going on! Why can't I kill them like I killed the hero, before that damn red fairy came out of his pack and healed him,' He berated himself as he struggled to throw the girls off him. They refused to let go, clinging to him and restricting his movements. Then, his limbs slowly began to lose their tension, his already weakened state only weakened further.
"You don't know how hard it was to sneak this from the doctor. For a fool, he kept a close eye on his medicine," The red girl giggled as they took away the rag and carefully cradled him between the three. Shadow Link growled furiosuly, his limbs refusing to move.
"Don't worry, it only a small dose. Wouldn't want you to faint on us, now would we?" The blue haired girl said serenely.
"Lets go, before anyone happens to come along," The other girl said. The two girls nodded and hurried off before anyone were to walk down and notice them.
"Hey, those wierd girls are not here today," Midna pointed out as Link walked down the alley. He usually avoided it, but he had to use it to take a short cut to Telma's Bar. He had to battle his way to the city; he was not in the mood to push his way through the crowds that always lurked in the center of the city. A puppy raced out to meet him, tail waving happily as it approached Link and began sniffing his boots. Link smiled down at the puppy.
"Good, it's annoying to have them following us all the way around town," Link replied to his shadow before walking on.
"Hm, why do I have a feeling it's a good thing they aren't here?" Midna whispered from his shadow, glancing along the street warily. She always had a bad feeling from those girls, the looks they gave Link when he was looking away were so full of desire and lust it almost made Midna sick. They were more like ravenous animals than young women.
"It doesn't matter. Let's just keep on walking before they do come," He said as he continued.
'Hey, you!" A rough voice stopped him. He turned; the man that usually stood at the corner was standing beside him. The puppy trotted away from Link to greet the man with a bark for attention.
"Yes?" Link asked.
"Your brother was here a little while ago and was carted off by those girls, in case you were looking for him," The man whispered.
"I don't have a brother," Link replied in confusion. The man stared before he began quietly laughing.
"What's so funny?" Link asked, annoyed at the man's laughter.
"Oh, its just that those girls thought he was your brother, you two do look similar. Don't worry about it, it might be better on your behalf you avoid this area for a while," He said stooping down to pet the puppy. The puppy barked excitedly as the man began petting, its small tail wagging happily back and forth.
"Link, let's go," Midna whispered.
"Why?" He asked, glaring down at his shadow.
"Must you question everything? Let's go to that woman's bar," Midna asked in annoyance. He stared at the ground before he began walking away, still not understanding what was going on and who the man was talking about. Midna stayed quiet, lost in her thoughts.