The Legend of Midna: Shadow Falls

Chapter One

"Heeeeeeey!" shouted Fado from atop the hill. "Hurry it up, Link! These goats are getting' ornery and they ain't about to herd 'emselves!" Life had pretty much returned to normal since Hyrule had been liberated from the evil Ganondorf. Fourteen months had passed, and the kingdom had nearly recovered completely from the terror that had plagued it the past year. Castle Town had grown immensely, Kakariko village had boomed, several smaller settlements had been established in the south of Hyrule, and Link, the Hero of Light, had returned to his life as a farmhand in Ordon village.

"I'm on my way, Fado. Give it a rest, already." Link was not in any mood to be herding goats today, nor was he really any other day for that matter. Link hadn't been himself since he'd returned to Ordon. In the time before the Twilight, he was friends with everyone, and all the townspeople would stop and speak to him. Nowadays people generally tried to avoid him when they could because they said he'd "gone funny". It was true; Link was not the jovial spirit he used to be, instead replaced by a man with a storm cloud constantly over his head. Malo and Talo fought each other with wooden swords, and Beth had begun working at her mother's store. Only Rusl, Colin, and Ilia seemed to have not abandoned him.

"You feelin' alright, Link?" said Fado once they'd finished herding the goats. "You been actin' funny ever since you got back to Ordon. Somethin's gotta be wrong."

"I'm alright, Fado, really," said an agitated Link. "I'm just…getting back into the swing of things. And I'm tired, so I'll just head on home, I think."

"'Back into the swing of things?' Link, it's been over a year! Don't you think you ought to be 'back into the swing of things' by now?"

"I said I'm heading home," Link snapped, and without another word he led Epona back down the hill to head home.

Epona would never irritate me like that, Link thought to himself. Of course, she's also a horse…It really didn't bother him when people wanted to speak, what bothered him is that they always wanted to know what was wrong, and the honest truth was that he didn't want to tell anyone. I might tell Colin or Ilia, though, he thought. Then again, neither of them has asked, so why volunteer that kind of information? To Link's surprise, Ilia was there waiting at his house.

"Hello, Link…" said Ilia, hesitantly. She wasn't sure if Link would want to talk to her or not.

"Hey," was his response. He wasn't happy right now, but he wasn't about to brush her off the way he did everyone else. They had been friends for too long to start treating her like everyone else. "What are you doing here?" It came out harsher than he had meant it to.

"Well, I knew you'd be done with work by now so I thought, maybe we could take Epona to the spring, like we used to…"

"Yeah, that sounds alright." He really hadn't spent enough time with her or Colin, the only two people in Ordon who still seemed interested in his well-being. Epona could use a trip to the spring anyhow. "Let's go," he said.

Once at the spring, Link began to wash Epona. That's why we're here, right? He couldn't help but notice after a while that Ilia was watching him, nervously it seemed.

"What is it? You keep looking at me funny." Link immediately regretted saying this because it came off so harsh. Why did he keep acting like this to her? She didn't do anything to deserve this.

"Link, I'm worried about you," Ilia began. "We all are. Me, Colin, Rusl, even Malo and Talo. The rest of the village is too. I know you don't want to say anything to them but I thought, I don't know, I thought maybe you would tell me." It killed Link to her talk like that; it was like she was pleading. He really didn't want to tell anyone, but she made him feel so bad…

"Alright, you want to know what it is?" Link retorted.

"Yes, of course."

"Okay, well come here," he said, and then sat down on the sand at the edge of the water. Ilia followed and sat down next to him, curiosity and worry mixed on her face. "This," said Link. He reached a hand into his belt pouch and took out a small rolled up piece of cloth. He unrolled it and in his hand sat a small silvery something.

"Link, what is that? It looks like a piece of glass," said Ilia.

"That," Link said with a lump in his throat, "is a tear."