A splash of glowing citrus orange was the sky of twilight, hued with dark lavender. Gently drifting, cream colored stratocumulus clouds hung glistening and mysterious in the darkening sky. A faint collection of stars peeked awake and burned coolly, twinkling and alive yet silent as the coming night. If you peered for long enough, you would distinguish the sprinkled clusters of stars beyond the golden sky, beginning their quiet existence until the brightest star returned in the east many hours later.

Many tiny, brightly colored splotches floated through the invisible air above. Even tinier figures were fastened and leaning against the feathered necks of the slender, majestic birds. The creatures swept and dived into the puffs in the air, dancing in and out of the moist clouds, touching the heavens above. Flapping to accelerate their speeds, the figures dipped and swept downwards with graceful expertise. The rider's faces were too far away to distinguish, but one look at the show would have left the audience knowing full well that it must have been a miracle to experience such a journey through the sky.

Well, a miracle for most. This was not a miracle for one of the riders.

Spiraling in confusing patterns was a lone rider, falling behind from the flock. Colored crimson contrasted from the amber sky as the bird swerved dangerously, nearly jostling its rider off and pummeling into the faraway earth. It was surely a miracle the poor boy was even hanging on... oh, wait... there he went. The shadow of a humanoid was falling from the heavens at a dangerous velocity, the mount unconcerned and flying elsewhere. Even though it was such a horrifying show to see the boy fall to his doom, not a person who was watching stirred. There was no need to panic.

It all happened too fast for one's mind to register. Faster than the boy's falling rate came two pursuing figures in the air, diving far and swiftly. The faster one plucked the figure from the sky, and slowed down as extra weight was added to the haul. The mount changed its route to the earth, now gently delivering the young one to the safe earth. Two pairs of judging eyes examined the whole event, one casting its glance down to scribble a note onto parchment. A faint, chilling breeze stirred.


"What do you mean, go home?!"

It was the question the boy had hoped to never ask. He glared in confusion towards the Captain. The boy had tried to work out his ability to look scary, but he was a small fry before the hulkish, intimidating man twice his height. Cold green eyes peered straight into his halcyon orbs.

"It is what it is. You failed your test. Go home, back to your countryside farm and family. We don't need to waste our time trying to teach you how to read, how to handle a bow, or ride Loftwings." The boy almost interrupted with a defense, but stopped himself as the Captain continued.

"In order to become one of us, you needed to at least consider learning the basics. We do not have time to teach simplistic farm boys the art of what every man should be capable of by default." The man with superiority somehow managed to crush every fiber of the boy's soul, hopes, and dreams. He lowered his head in bitter defeat, at a loss for words as his pride escaped him. His blonde cowlick shadowed his eyes, hiding a leak in his right eye. "It wasn't my fault... It wasn't! I don't know how my bow kept snapping... and that stupid Loftwing never..." His words were lined by faint sobbing.

"Excuses are not worth our time, kid. You need to know what youre capable of, and us experts cannot see anything within you. Look at yourself, kid. You're lying to yourself when you say that you're capable. Don't waste our time when others are ready to move on."

"Just give me another chance! Please..." He looked back up, his eyes begging like a puppy.

The man's gaze never softened, despite the need to comfort the shivering boy. "You shall leave before dawn. If my men see you loitering around the barracks or the palace by the risen sun, I shall have you arrested for unauthorized entry. Pack your bags, kid, and go. Dismissed." The Captain spun around, his fancy red cape to the boy's face, and marched towards the banquet hall for a toast to celebrate the new recruits. The boy remained frozen, the shock of his failure getting to him. His fest clenched in anger, softened in depression, and tightened in resolve.

"Uncle, I guess I'll have to see you soon, huh?" He had quite a story to tell his Uncle back at the cottage. Not only did he nearly die during the exam by being jostled out of a mad Loftwing's back, but every bow that was given to him for the archer trial snapped clean in half. It was like they didn't want him to pass, much to the young boy's dismay. He failed the test, and now he could never become a knight. The Captain's words were effective and stung like bee stings.

He shuffled his direction the opposite way, running his light green sleeve across his face to wipe away the tears of weakness. He was alone in the entrance hall, save for several maids gossiping and mopping the waxed floor of the grand marble room lined with expensive looking furniture. This would likely be the last time he would see a fancy room of this scale, the last time he would breathe palace air. He didn't know why, but he wanted to break everything in the room, or if not that, at least explore what he could of the castle with what time he had left. The thought, at least, interested him until a voice snapped to life beside him.

"You must be Leek, right?" An iron-clad soldier, a little taller than the country boy, seemingly appeared from nowhere. The boy was startled enough to jump and let out a surprised gasp. The soldier let out an amused chuckle, before slightly relaxing. "Uh, I've been given orders to escort you-"

"My name isn't Leek."

"Pardon? The description they issued me fit you perfectly." The middle aged man scratched his head.

"I'm guessing you misheard. My name is-"

"Hang on, lemme guess! Lin?"

"Um.. no? It's Li-"

"Hush! Ooh, is it Lincoln?" The sparkles in the unnamed man's eyes shone oddly, like it was out of place for his face.

"It's Link."

"Link?"

"Yeah."

"Link... what an odd name. Leek sounds better for you, cause you wear that strange green hat!"

"I'd prefer to be called by my name..." Already, Link was slightly annoyed by this guy. Silently, a vein twitched on his forehead.

"Leek, I've been given orders to escort you to the Chapel."

This sparked Link's curiosity. Who would have summoned this simple little farm boy, who barely had a name in the castle, to a location that was foreign to his vocabulary? What the heck was a Chapel? This seemed a little suspicious, but Link was not going to reject this offer if this was business for him. He decided to just go along with it. At least he could see more of the castle, and Link somehow found a hope that just screamed to him, 'You may not have failed after all!'

"Alright, thank you. Show me the way. What's your name?"

"It's Dain. This way, Leek."

"Link!"

Dain seemed to ignore Link's response before striding off down a hallway illuminated with newly placed candles, a curious glow wavering softly and warmly. Link followed closely behind, but secretly wanting to stray and explore the unknown. The duo passed by a couple sets of stairs, several crossroads in the hallway, and countless rooms. As interested as the wide-eyed blonde was at first, the idea slowly dawned upon him that a palace probably wasn't all that exciting. It was nothing like the outdoors. Sure, it was the roomiest building he's been in all his life, it got boring and repetitive quickly. He'd much rather be outside, having a strong dislike of being indoors for too long.

At least, it was boring for a while. As soon as Link and Dain turned into the final hallway, with big red doors at the far end of it, Link's attention was snagged once more. This hallway was chock full of gorgeous paintings, many displaying religious saints, sages, and figures that he couldn't recognize for the life of him. Oddly, some of the faces looked familiar. Maybe his uncle read books about them to him when he was little. Off to the side, a couple of soldiers nodded hello to Dain, and he swerved off to the side to exchange a few words. They looked like they were good friends.

"Oi, Dain! Who is this lad? A newbie?" The older looking one leaned on Dain's shoulder jokingly, pointing a thick finger in the green clothed boy's direction. Link shrugged and tried to smile at them, but the painful failure from earlier kept him from expressing anything happy.

"Oh, he's... you know, um.." Dain didn't want to say 'the kid who failed the exam miserably and was sent home' out loud. Somehow, his friends understood what he was getting at.

"Oh, my deepest apologies. There's always next time, huh?" The older one reassured. Dain nodded in agreement.

"Rowan!" The younger one chirped in, "After falling off of a crazed bird from that height, must'a scared the poor boy from ever ridin' one o' those creatures again!"

"I wasn't scared." Link stated coolly. He then questioned what he just said. He wasn't scared? Of death nearly at his fingertips?

Dain, Rowan, and the third guy stared at the boy questionably. "It's okay to be scared, kid. Every good man is every now an then. What matters is that you gotta be man enough to take your fears and face them, even if the odds are against you." Rowan said, as if he recited a famous quote. "If you were honest, you would have been scared."

Link stood dumbfounded at his words. "How...?"

Rowan laughed. "Every good man knows this. Just grow yourself a beard and you'll be fine! Ahahahahahahaha!" Dain snickered and Link puffed up his cheeks in a somewhat adorable angry expression. "What if I don't like beards?"

"Then you grow a-" The third guy shut himself up before he could blurt out the rest of that sentence. The other men burst out laughing. Link didn't join in, being the center of attention and not really liking it, especially for a topic he really would appreciate avoiding. At least his innocent mind thought they were talking about his height.

It took a few more minutes of quick, friendly chatter before Rowan and Thomas -Link figured out his name via conversation- bid goodnight to Dain as they headed off towards the Banquet Hall for the party. Dain waved goodbye,and Link bowed before resuming their trek down the hallway, one that wasn't long.

When the two came upon the huge doors that led to the Chapel, Dain looked around the area for something. Link was about to ask what was the matter, but held his tongue when his escort swiftly and silently opened the door, ushering Link inside the room. Link would have obliged regardless, but he knew something should have been off when the grand room, for all its worth, was empty. Dain silently walked towards the front of the room where a huge monument, made of gorgeous golden stained glass, glistened in the moonlight. It left the simple boy gaping in awe he hasn't seen anything so beautifully crafted before.

"Huh. There's nobod-" Dain cut his words short as a sickening piercing sound whipped Link's attention from the monument to what was going on. His eyes went wider and wider as something black as ink swirled around on the ground near the soldier. An unnatural spike materialized from the liquid and had stabbed through Dain's breastplate. It withdrew as if it were alive, and Dain's body slumped down into the black matter... and his own spilling blood.

"DAIN!" Link screamed, his voice bouncing off the distant walls. would have drawn his weapon, if he had it. The material, seeming to have heard his voice, slithered and completely covered Dain's dying corpse. Link could only stand in horror as what left of Dain was absorbed by the matter, and it grew in size. It rose up as if it wanted to stand on its own two legs, so it did just that. The inky darkness shifted and swirled eerily, forming into what could barely pass for a Hylian. Its form drooped and leaked a dark liquid, and two white orbs were slightly offset on its head as if it were trying to form a face.

"The irony. Oh, the irony!" It cackled, its voice eerily reminiscent of Dain's. Link's instinct was to somehow fight it, maybe he could save Dain if he were still alive. But with what weapon? He took all of two seconds to scan the room for something, anything, to defend himself. He didn't get the chance to do much else, because the matter was up in his face now, sharp black needles manifesting from the liquid and pointed threateningly at his chest. Link took a step back, ready to high tail it out of there. Was this really happening? This couldn't be! It's a nightmare. It's just another nightmare. But it wasn't. Why wasn't it just that?

"A sanctuary you scumlike beings of Hyrule deem this place. Yes... a sanctuary. Too bad those don't exist. No matter where you run... no matter where you hide... you are not safe from me or him!" It brought its head closer to Link's, examining him, and laughed once more. "At long last, I've found you! It's a shame you haven't awakened yet! If you had, you may have had a chance against me. But look at you.. weak and pathetic and all alone!" It taunted. Link wondered what it meant, if it meant anything for a moment, but his temper took over. This creature waltzed in the palace, murdered an innocent soldier, and threatened him! Link clenched his teeth, tightly closed his fist, and made the bold attempt to swing a punch at Dain's murderer. He hit, but the mass caught his fist like it was all foreseen. "You killed Dain! Give him back!"

"He's already dead." The part of Link's fist that was held by the black matter stung like fire, and he struggled to retrieve it, pulling on his arm but to no avail. "Ow!" Link screeched in pain. "Let me go! This isn't happening! Dain isn't dead! He can't be!"

"Oh, he is. It's all real. And you know what the best part is?" It leaned in to whisper, its offset white eyes staring right through the blonde boy. Link cried out in pain as it burned his skin, fighting against the grip on his fist. A grin manifested on the creature's dripping face, unaligned as it leaned in closer. Link was now off the ground and held by his throat, at the mercy of the monster. He began to choke as it rasped,"You could have stopped it."

Its chilling reply was sure to haunt Link for the rest of his life. Regardless, he mustered his courage and barked right in its face, "What will killing me accomplish?" Even though his voice was out of breath and his words fell flat, the creature paused a moment, its grin widening. At least, Link thought to himself, he could be buying more time for a passerby to hear the commotion and come to his rescue. He had observed earlier that sounds carry very well in this building, despite the walls being thick.

"Oh, my little bastard, it will accomplish a great deed for us all. As long as your bloodline survives, we are cursed forevermore!" The inky creature's pointed needles extended and poked the blonde's neck dangerously. Its words were ice. "But you will never know the pain and suffering your ancestors have put us shadows through! This is not just for me, but for all of the Realm of Darkness!" Link noticed that the creature was kind enough to barely loosen the grip around his neck, so he could respond, even though they both knew that his comeback was likely to be fluff and pointless.

"You know..." Link coughed, "I have no idea who my ancestors were, and I never really cared, either. You're putting a good lot of blame onto me, who hasn't done anything to you to deserve, agh, this! And besides," He coughed again, his voice dry, "How are you so sure that I am who you think I am?"

The creature's fury was enough to throw Link spinning and crashing into a nearby bench, the impact strong enough to snap the wood. Upside down, Link saw the monster approaching and wanted to get up, but the creature was already looming above him. An inky hand grabbed Link's collar, raised him up, and with the other deformed hand it mimicked what Link attempted earlier and socked the boy in the cheek, a spurt of blood trickling from the impact. Two more swings and the figure threw the Hylian far across the room, bruised and injured.

"I have the power to snap your wretched body in half, but granting you of all people a quick and painless death is too nice to be on my agenda." It sneered maliciously, its teeth sharp and white. "Not after what your bloodline had done to us. Here I stand, ready to end what should have never begun!"

"Answer my question! How do you know who I am?" Link rasped, trying to sit up and keep it talking. And even then, he was curious now. And, above all, WHAT was it that he was facing? It was like a moving shadow, slithering around the floor and manifesting, dripping, and everything gross. It seemed otherworldly to the simple farm boy, a monster like that knowing who he was and having the guts to murder.

"You really have no idea, then? Why should I bother educating you when you're about to go through hell and never come out?"

"You won't put him through hell. Not today, Shadow." A new voice, a new face. Materializing from the shadow of the night and in the center of the room came a ghostly cream-hooded figure, its voice deep and commanding. Its clawed, skinny black hands held tightly onto a charcoal colored lantern that glowed blue, and a scythe was pointed accusingly at "Shadow." It somehow reminded Link of a ghost.

The Chapel fell silent as the candles dotted around the room dimmed and shifted to the same blue hue as the newcomer's lantern. Link rubbed his swelling cheek and observed in awe, wondering who this was now, if they were in cahoots with this being (the odds were likely), what kind of magic was used to make the candles blue, wondering everything. A chilling wind stirred.

"I grant you a physical form, and already you're pushing my patience. You were not permitted to leave the temple, and yet out of sheer anger you disobey me and go as far as this realm. How so, it is unclear to me. I will see to it personally that you receive the maximum punishment and many of your liberties revoked." Link could only gape in awe as the monster, who he had assumed was a powerful threat, was bowing down submissively to this ghostly figure.

And then it started to walk towards the boy in green. Link froze up, every inch of his body paralyzed as it approached. Would it kill him for being a witness or victim? He had no clue and that scared him. Once it was a yard away from the kneeling boy, bleeding and bruised, it stared the boy down as if it were confirming his existence. Link remained still, uncertain of what was his fate.

It was a few moments before its dark voice reached his ears. As it spoke, it clasped its twiglike hands together and bowed its head. "On behalf of my people, I bid you the kindest of apologies for my... underling's trouble." In the back, Shadow hissed. "What trouble? I was doing everybody and you a favor!"

"It killed Dain." Link mustered a voice, his face darkening with anger. The robed figure drew back and imitated a gasp. Link wondered if this was news, and it likely was judging by this man's behavior. He swung around, marched straight to the black matter named Shadow, and held out the blue lantern it carried. It glowed softly, then brighter as it neared the creature. Shadow hissed in pain, and something white was extracted from its body. Afterwards, Shadow was reduced to the small pile of dark matter from before. Shadow was silent afterwards, Link wondered if it lost the ability to speak. The man held the glowing light to his face, and sighed.

"I'm afraid that your friend... It is too late to save them. Their soul would still retain their sense of identity otherwise. My deepest condolences and apologies."

"What?" Was all Link could say now. It was unbearable at this point, his head hurt. He stood all the way up, the sudden reaction sending heavy pulses through his head, and pounded terribly to his dismay. He held his head with his left hand, rubbing his temples in attempt to soothe the pain. It was when the man turned back around, and this time, something caught his eye.

"Boy, what is that, on your hand, by chance?" It's skinny finger pointed towards his left hand. Confused, Link examined it himself. All he saw was the odd birthmark on his hand. Triangular shaped and a few shades darker than his skin color.

"You mean this?" He held it up for the man. It only took a moment for the man to register the image in his mind. "Boy, you're..." His sentence dropped as the Chapel's doors, way back behind the scene, was opening slowly.

"We cannot stay any longer. Farewell, take care, see you, toodles, ta ta, ect." The ghostly man snapped his fingers, and the two oddballs were gone.

And just like that, everything returned to 'normal'. The candles resumed glowing yellow, swirling unsuspiciously. All that remained of the scene was the broken bench, an injured farm boy staring into space, and a drying bloodstain. In came an elderly woman with silver hair and crimson tattoos, taking in the odd and alerting sight. Beside her was a teenage girl with golden locks and a very royal getup, her blue eyes discerning everything.

"What in the name of Din happened here? Speak, child!" The elder commanded.