Kakariko's Requiem
I was playing Twilight Princess today and ended up caught by the trap with the black shadow monsters that appear in threes or fours—Gods, do I hate them—and I thought of the story Barnes told in Kakariko Village when the land was engulfed in twilight. This is the result.
Please enjoy this one-shot and excuse anything that doesn't make sense as I try to weasel my way out of a writing slump.
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight Princess… but damn is it entertaining. And the General Store lady is randomly named.
Dusting off the shelves of the only General Store in Kakariko Village, a middle-aged woman, looking proudly at her stock with small round glasses, hummed contently to herself as she chased off the layer of dust that had settled on the merchandise of her shop. Recently, she had returned from an extended trip to Castle Town and was anxious to get back to work.
Quite suddenly, a rumble passed through the shop, causing the shelves to creak and tremble and the jar containing a red liquid crashed onto the floor.
Frowning slightly at the spilt potion at her sandaled feet, the woman knew what caused that tremor and who was responsible for it. Muttering softly under her breath, she headed downstairs to the storage room to retrieve the broom and dust bin, and grabbing a rag on the way back up.
"Honestly, that man is playing with fire at such an age! The children will try to copy him and learn from his bad influence. Renado simply should do something about his horrible past time!"
The door creaked open, alerting the shop keeper of a customer and she turned around, grinning widely but the grin faltered slightly at the sight.
Barnes, covered head to foot in filth and soot, unabashedly brushed off his clothes and his protective metal hood was still over his face.
"Mornin', Amy." He said casually as he tapped the toe of his boot onto the floor, littering the wooden planks with more filth.
Eyes momentarily falling to the dirty boots and footprints led from outside, the grin slowly melted into a slight frown. She had just swept the floor merely moments ago!
"Good morning, Barnes." Amy said all too sweetly through slightly clenched teeth as she mustered up her best grin once again. "I guess your bombs backfired on you again, huh?"
Making a disgruntled noise, Barnes took half a step back and regarded the shop keeper with a hidden glare through the visor. Dismissing the stab at his bomb-making skills, he stepped forward into the shop and raised the hood off of his face… which was equally covered in filth.
"I'll have you know I was trying to finish another invention of mine. I know it's gonna be a hit. You ready for this? It's a bomb that works, even in water! I call it a Water Bomb, ain't it great?"
"Yes, I'm sure it is. It was so great that I heard the explosion clearly from inside my store and a jar of Red Potion fell off the shelf. Shall I be adding that to your increasing tab too?"
Looking taken aback again, Barnes openly glared at the shop keep who's grin seemed more smug. "You know I'm good for the money, business has been a bit slow… But you may as well add another bottle-full of it to my tab, I ran out at the shop."
"I do hope you intend on paying your tab, Barnes. As much as I love this village and its people, I do have a dark side, you know."
Scoffing, Barnes rested a hand against the countertop and leaned on it. "Oh please, I'd like to see you try, you're as harmless as—OW!"
Wrenching his hand back, he cradled his now sore fingers that had a very unpleasant meeting with the bottom of the potion-filled bottle.
"Oh, pardon me! I didn't see your hand there. I think my glasses got dirty from that earthquake." Smiling sweetly once again, Amy offered the bottle of potion properly to the other. "Please give Renado my regards if you see him."
Looking absolutely miffed, Barnes all but snatched the bottle out of the other's hand and turned on his heel and left the store. Now it was Amy's turn to look disgruntled as her eyes trailed across the soot hand print on the counter and the boot prints leading in and out of her shop on her formally… clean floor.
"Ugh, I'll never understand men and their obsession to destroy and dirty up things!"
Days had passed and Barnes' progress with the Water Bombs had not gotten any better. He was missing something but he couldn't put his finger on it, which was starting to really grate on his nerves. Deciding to step outside for some air in the darkening evening, the bomb-maker grudgingly made his way outside of his own shop and looked around miserably.
"Damned bombs not wanting to work right..." Scowling, he took to walking a bit across the dusty path, the torches already lit for the night. "Damned Gorons being greedy and not sharing their materials with me… What's got them so huffy?!"
Barnes' muttered curses were halted slightly when he noticed a few shadows crawling across the ground; or at least he thought he saw them. Squinting slightly, they seemed a little too large to be human… and with such slouching posture, it was almost animal-like. They were moving so slowly, feeling across the ground almost… as if searching.
Barnes stopped his walk, having a dreadful feeling that if what was over there was a monster, he shouldn't be seen.
The shadows crawled further into the village at the same slow and deliberate pace towards the spring where the rumored Eldin, Spirit of Light, watched over them. As they drew closer to the spring, Barnes could see distinct bright markings and safely concluded that monsters had invaded the village… all the while edging back to his shop.
A shutting door down the road caught his attention and he saw the General Store owner lock up for the night, seemingly unaware of the monsters skulking about. His first reaction was to shout out a warning but bit his tongue. Maybe Amy could sneak back home before the horrible creatures spotted her.
An awful and unearthly screech, unlike anything the living world had ever heard, broke the silence, causing the crows on a rooftop to take flight in a panic. Barnes held his breath looking between the shop keeper and the creature that decided to take an interest in Amy; who now screamed at the sight of the charging behemoth.
"M-Monster! MONSTER!" Barnes yelled out at the top of his lungs. "There are monsters in the village!"
After that moment, it seemed that all hell had broke loose as some villagers threw open their doors to find out what that awful noise was and the warning of monsters. Amy, now in a right state of panic, abandoned her shop and ran as quickly as she could, her eyes wide as she looked over her shoulder.
The creature, as black as night and covered in bright designs, galloped after her on all fours with its masked face unseeing but just as frightening. And it was gaining.
There were shouts as men raced from their houses with whatever they could grab; swords, rakes, even planks of wood.
Another ethereal shriek broke out as the creature swiped one of its huge hands at its prey and Amy squealed as she was thrown face first into the dirt ground.
"Help me! Please!" She screamed as she scrambled to get back up, only to be violently hit again across the road.
When the village men grew closer, much to Barnes' horror, the other identical creature abandoned the spirit spring and quickly covered ground to charge into the thick of angered and frightened village men.
One man was thrown back from the force of a purposely swinging arm and crashed into the fencing of a small chicken pen with a sickening crunch as a jagged piece of wood protruded from his chest.
Another was grabbed by his skull and lifted clear off the ground, his legs kicking wildly a few feet off of the ground.
"Kill it!"
"It's not working!"
"You four help Amy; we'll take care of this one!"
The shop keeper's frightful cries were getting worse, nearing the point of hysteria as she tried with all her might to get away from the monster that seemed to play with her life. Steeling himself despite the fear that was eating away at him, Barnes hurried back into his shop, grabbed a bag of his new batch of regular bombs and ran back outside to help.
With the bag slung over his shoulder, and a bomb ready, Barnes shouted a battle cry and ran into the fray.
"Eat this, you filthy beasts!" He yelled as he pulled his arm back and threw the explosive at the creature clawing at Amy.
The bomb hit the creature and exploded, sending dust and smoke everywhere.
"Ha HA! How'd you like that?!"
Barnes' smirk disappeared within an instant as the smoke cleared and the creature was still standing further back, almost unharmed by the attack and looking more furious despite the lack of a visible face.
Grinding his teeth slightly, Barnes refused to believe that the monster was unharmed and threw more bombs at the creatures, hoping to drive them back, at least.
Now sobbing pitifully, Amy was huddled on the ground, covered in various scratches and blood staining her clothes and the ground.
"H-Help me! P-P-Puhlease!"
The tone of her voice caught the attention of those nearest to her and earned the wounded woman some nearly frightened stares. Something had changed dramatically in her voice and it was starting to sound less human by the moment as she cried.
"H-H-Help!"
One of the angered shadow monsters charged through the crowd of villagers and slammed its hand upon Amy's throat, wrenching her up from the ground, her body like a rag doll, and all she could do was scream.
The other resumed killing the villagers that got in its way, throwing them left right in centre, crushing their limbs with its powerful strikes and all the while screeching and hissing.
It was a massacre as Barnes watched numbly with horrified eyes. Nothing seemed to work against these terrible beings as they tore through the bodies of the struggling villagers.
A wailing howl, much more frightening than the sounds the shadow creatures made, came from Amy's throat as her body started to change. Her skin, once tanned from the sun, grew darker and darker until it was black, her hair also darkening and becoming longer. Her limbs, now having brightly coloured zigzag patterns of some unknown origin, lengthened, becoming more powerful and stalkier, accompanied by the sickening sounds of her bones protesting the change and popping from the reconstruction.
"Help me!" She shrieked; the words almost incomprehensible as the otherworldly screech took over her words.
Not long after, the creature dropped what was once the beloved General Store keeper onto the ground and the two shadow monsters turned upon the dying villagers.
She was gone.
She was one of them and looking right at Barnes.
"BARNES!"
The small girl named Beth started to cry from the story that the bomb-maker retold, earning him a sharp warning from the village Shaman. Exchanging a glare with the other, Barnes pulled the metal hood back over his face and slid down the wall to sit on the floor.
Laughing to himself a bit sulkily, he made a silent promise to himself never to walk outside near the twilight hour ever again.
That is, if they lived.