Anyone who is reading this, new or old, thanks. Haven't written anything because of...well, personal and shitty reasons. No excuse. This is a rewrite of Link's Biggest Challenge, so heads up. It should turn out better than it did the first time.
The Twilight Realm.
The world that the greedy, power hungry people of the past were banished to long ago. Trapped in eternal twilight, the beautiful yet gloomy prison changes for no one. But not all is bad. The people of the Twilight Realm, the Twili, have long since abandoned all hatred of the Light World, the place of the sun and moon. They have erected a castle, reminiscent of their old home, and started a town. Generations of rulers have watched over the land that held wonders of it's own.
The current head of the Twili was named Midna.
She was celebrated as a hero by her people, stopping the crazed Usurper Zant from destroying their world along with the Light World. But Midna didn't do it alone, and she made sure everyone knew it. The tale of the Hero of Time was carved forever into the halls of Castle Twili.
The legend of the Twilight Princess.
Murals were being built. Of the celebrated Princess and of her savior, Link. Even, to the shock of the people when Midna told them, statues of Midna's Imp form atop of Wolf Link. The cursed forms Zant had placed onto each.
When Midna had first witnessed the statue of Link being built, tears sprang to her eyes. Tears of light. The people took this differently from their friends and neighbors until the opinions of the people were split into three groups. One third of them believed she was glad this was over, while the other believed they had made a perfect rendition that had caused the Princess pain. But there was another side of the people that knew the true reason for their ruler's tears.
Sadness and longing.
Midna now stood atop of her balcony, watching her people bustling in the streets below. The statues were progressing well, and the town itself had grown immensely.
"It has been three years, after all," she somberly thought.
She didn't quite understand her own feelings for the Hero of Time, her friend and savior. The lone Hylian warrior who was burdened with so much, risked everything and much more for not just his people but hers too. The man who had carried the weight of two worlds upon his shoulders.
Link.
Just the brief moment of his name floating across her mind jabbed at her heart with pain, like how he had done to the enemies that faced him in battle so many times. She tried not to think about him. But how could she not? All it took was to look outside to prove that she didn't want to forget about him, even for a moment. She even had the tale of their adventure recorded in her castle as well as the town. In the square, at the feet of the statues. At her castle gate, the giant mural of Midna and Link held the tale as well. Documents, books, paintings, songs. The ears of her people had listened intently to her tale, and their hearts and minds were engraved with the journey their Princess had undergone for them.
Her heart was engraved with the quest she was apart of. Engraved with memories of Link.
"Link," Midna whispered silently to herself, clasping her hands together over her heart.
"Are you happy? Are you okay?"
The questions she dared to ask, and ones she didn't dare let escape from her heart, were left unanswered. How could they be? She herself had destroyed the Mirror of Twilight with her own power. Had left Link behind of her own free will.
A gust of wind carried her silent questions away. Fighting back her tears, Midna turned around and strode back into her castle.
Not for the first time in a while, Link felt a strange sensation. The sudden gust of wind caused him to shudder, yet he didn't understand why. It was a pleasant spring breeze, the setting sun warm against his skin. Epona was underneath him, breathing steadily. The sound of the goats bleating could be heard from the barn as the last one shuffled inside.
"Done already, Link?!" Fado called. The man owned the ranch and the goats, but Link found it slightly strange that he couldn't even handle the job.
Link merely nodded. He was exhausted today. He didn't tell Fado anything about it, or anyone else, but he secretly wrestled with the goats when they charged at him. He didn't understand how or why, but he just knew how to stand, where to place his hands and how much strength to put into his pushes and throws. Something in the back of his head told him he knew the reason, but whenever he tried to access the itch it would disappear. He had given up plenty of times, but it was always the strongest when the sun was setting and the land was pitched into twilight. Like right now.
"Thanks again for all your hard work," Fado said. He continued to speak, but Link had tuned him out. He seemed to be doing so a lot recently. He mechanically went through the day from time to time and surprised himself at what he ended up doing. Once he picked up a stick and looked at the training dummy he had set up in front of his house for himself and the kids and, the next thing he knew, the dummy was laying on the ground in tatters and the stick in his hands was broken. Yet he wasn't even sweating or breathing hard, even though he just destroyed something so sturdy.
This sudden change wasn't the only one. Link found himself staring intently at certain objects for long periods of time, something in his head nagging him to remember. But the question was, what did he have to remember? What did he forget? He wasn't the only one acting strange, however. He noticed the villagers glance at him sadly or with worry. But the fleeting emotion in their eyes disappeared just as soon as it appeared, masked with smiles and laughter. Even the children seemed to be acting strange. Colin either avoided him or was exceptionally nice to him. Once he even had tears in his eyes and ran away, then acted as if nothing had happened.
Illia was showing him an unusual amount of affection. This made Link uncomfortable, since she was younger than him. Before the two of them got along well enough but now it seemed that what she wanted was much more than friendship. These were just some of the things that seemed to have changed in the village after...after what? What had happened? Malo seemed to open up a store in Castle Town almost overnight, an amazing feat for someone so young. But that was the only thing he seemed to notice that was out of place. And yet...
Link snapped out of his thoughts as his feet splashed in water. He was only slightly surprised to find himself at Ordon Spring.
"Again, huh?" he mumbled to himself.
Epona, standing behind him, neighed. He seemed to be drawn here during twilight. While he did remember he had come here before on numerous occasions, he had never stayed as long as he had or come as early as he did now. He stayed well into the night and, if his work was done, came here at the earliest possible moment when twilight started to paint the land.
Link sighed and sat down unto the soft sand beneath him. Taking off his boots, he splashed his feet in the cool water and let the day's fatigue seep out of him. He realized he never did stop wrestling the goats ever since he found out he seemed to be stronger and faster. In fact, he had gotten more work for himself. He trained daily, running around Fado's farm constantly on top of wrestling with his entire herd. It seemed like just yesterday when all he could do was stop just one of Fado's goats from rampaging into the village, now he could stop the whole herd! He didn't tell anyone about it, although he didn't understand why. He even kept his new sword training regimen a secret from the kids, choosing to train deeper in the woods using some trees.
"Three years, huh?" Link spoke to no one in particular as he gazed up into the sky. Epona nickered in response, but Link was already wandering in his mind. Time seemed so strange to him. It didn't seem like too long ago when he was traveling across the land with M...
Link's eyes widened and he sat straight up. The thought seemed to have been plucked from his mind as suddenly as it appeared. He tried to finish the sentence, but all he was left with was more question and anger.
"Dammit..." Link gritted his teeth and punched the ground once. He steadied his breathing and thought this through.
Okay, he told himself, I gained some new information. That's good. Something stopped me from getting all of it. That's bad. But it gave me a clue to why I can't remember. Also good.
Link placed his boots back onto his feet and jumped onto Epona's back. He nudged her forward, then urged her to go faster after a brief moment.
Better write this down before I'm forced to forget
The thought surprised him. Forced. The realization that it wasn't his fault caused feelings of relief to wash over him, although he didn't understand why. Will he ever understand?
Shaking his head to clear it, Link climber the ladder and ran into his humble house. He searched vigorously until he found an empty journal, then began to jot down everything he knew and learned.
1. I'm stronger and faster than I was before.
2. The villagers are acting strangely. (Some more than others, but everyone is apart of it)
3. Not my fault. I was forced to forget (Why? And whom is forcing me?)
4. I was traveling the land with M.
Link scratched out the last one and re-wrote it.
4. I was traveling the land with a person whose name begins with the letter "M" (Who is he/she? What is her/his name? Is "M" the beginning of their name, or their title?)
Finally, Link wrote down the last part for the night.
5. Why was I traveling? To where was I traveling to? Was it for "M" or was "M" traveling with me for another reason? Did I accomplish what I set out to do?
Closing the book, he walked toward his closet. This was something else he never told anyone, something he found the very same morning as his powers.
Inside the closed he parted the multiple simple white tunics until he reached the back. There, folded neatly, he picked up the green clothes and put the book beneath them. Returning everything to how it was before, Link made sure nothing seemed out of the ordinary before he nodded to himself and closed the doors.
Link didn't want to take any risks, at least not yet.