Rebirth of a Shadow
Formerly titled; "When You Give Shadow Life"
By: OperationJonny
Mandated Disclaimer; I don't own LoZ period. Just the ideas I place into crafting this story, and the original characters involved.
Authors Note: This is a rewrite of my first and favorite well thought out story. For those of you who're reading this after getting an alert that an old completed story was updated, this is the same story, with additions and fixes to grammar, spelling, and patches to plot holes. For those who're reading this for the first time, I hope you enjoy it. It'll be updated on weekdays daily. I'll try to update during my busy weekends.
Another Author's Note: IMPORTANT! Since this is a rewrite, and I never deleted the story itself, but merely deleted and replaced the chapters,older readers of this story who submitted signed reviews won't be able to send in another signed review. So, just sign out and review. Sorry for the inconvenience.
I'll... kill him...he muttered to himself in a dark, evil tone, as a cloud of hot breath emanated from his mouth. He sat, knees pressed to his chest, at the base of a dead tree, which reflected him perfectly.
Lonely, withered... soulless.
He sifted through his conscious... and nothing more than images of killing him flowed through his mind. He had never known what happiness, joy, any pleasant feeling. Feelings? All he could feel was anger, rage, fury, hatred, pain and disdain.
All he knew, was why he was in this room, filled with water, and his name. Everything else had faded away as nothingness pervaded his mind and numbed it endlessly, eating away at anything in his mind.
Every day, he reminded himself of his purpose.
I exist solely... to kill the Hero of Time... I am... Dark Link... He said aloud as Ganondorf's voice echoed those words in his mind. He knew that he had been created for that sole purpose, on Link's birth...
Ganondorf foresaw his end at the hands of a boy in green as a prophet unveiled to him. He then decided to use his foul magics, when he sensed that the boy's power was beginning to grow and created him... Dark Link.
He lifted his head from between his knees and peered down into the water. He absolutely hated himself. He looked exactly like him, the Hero. The reason why he was forced into this slavery and to waste years of his life in this illusion of a room... his damnation.
Looking down into the mirrorlike water, he saw his reflection. Exactly the same as Link's, the picturesque handsome and angular face, with remarkable eyes. But Dark Link was different... he was borne of foul magic, and was filled with the run off of the evils that Link had cast off during his quest.
He was everything that Link wasn't. Every moral, every belief he opposed, every action he considered sinful... was Dark Link's pleasure. Dark Link's bloodstained eyes twinkled with a dull glow of anger as he ran a hand over his smooth tan skin, eventually grasping a lock of his ashen gray-white locks that mimicked Link's.
He let his leather gauntleted hand drop as he pressed his chin to his chest, staring at his black tunic, at the clothe wove and spun of evil thoughts and darkness. Such garb was evil and would cause fear in those who approached one wearing such clothes. Dark Link clutched his chest, tightly, creasing the breast of his tunic as he growled at himself, wishing he could pry his own heart from his chest.
Suddenly, Dark Link's long ears twitched slightly, picking up the sound of movement from the next room over. He was here... it was time... the incessant waiting would soon be at an end!
Dark walked silently backwards, to his tree where his dark replica of the Master Sword sat stabbed into the tree trunk, with his shield leaned against it. The Anti-Master Sword, he called it to himself. Its hilt and handle were carved of a black stone, the blade a dull gray, looking viciously sharp. Above the handleguard was not where a Triforce was inscribed, but a single downwards black triangle lay, trimmed in crimson.
He pulled it from the tree, twirling it effortlessly and holding it to his side. He then lifted up his light steel shield, the steel a dull gray like his sword, and hair, but the blue where it would've been on this Hylian Shield was black, and the gold was crimson, the eagle a dragon of darkness and the Triforce in the center black and outlined in red.
Hah hah hahahah... He laughed insidiously as his veins ached in his wrists as he were squeezing the handle and shield strap with insane tightness. Bloodlust was pumping freely through his veins and his vision was nearly clouded with crimson, he was so anxious to do battle with his nemesis. His reason why he had been put here, to be tortured with years of searing nothingness. Shadow washed over him and he faded away, and out of sight.
Link strode into the room, wet and looking unhappy in his cheery blue tunic. "I. Hate. This. Place." He said simply as he sloshed through this peculiar room while dragging his feet. As he walked towards the other side, he found the dark, misshapen tree.
Link looked at it worriedly, not liking the concept of this eerie room of which he couldn't see the boundaries. Dark Link began raising his blade in anticipation of preemptively striking, and dealing a devastating blow. Just as he were to swing his weapon, Link ran away as fear overcame him apparently.
He ran panicked in one direction, until he came to a barred door. "Damn!" He exclaimed, pulling on the bars, and Navi flew out of his hat. "You can't move that by yourself... there must be a switch around somewhere..." She said and Link rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever... shut up, and get back in my hat..." He said as he shoved her back into it, while she dinged in dissent.
He walked back past the tree and he thought he saw a shade stir besides it. "What's wrong with this temple?" Link muttered with an edge of fear, as he ran back to the door he had came through previously. As he neared it though, bars slammed down quickly and cruelly, caging Link. He violently shook the bars like he did with the other door, but to no avail.
He ran towards the only landmark in this room and once he got there, he was startled to see the black silhouette of a person who held a sword and shield. The shadow was non moving but seemed to be breathing, and more frighteningly, alive.
He inched closer, and looked intently at this shade. Once he did, from nowhere a chorus of dramatic and tense music erupted from the mist. Abruptly, the dark silhouette lunged at Link who did a backflip, narrowly avoiding a thrust from this shadow. "What the hell!? An attacking shadow?? And where did that music come from?!" He asked himself aloud, as he dodged another slash from the undefined black figure.
Link drew his sword and shield, and stared at this black creature, who's eyes were glowing red, as was his wide grin. "What... are you?" He asked and the blackened dark figure laughed.
"I'm you." He said as the darkness slid off of him like water against glass, revealing his true image. Link was taken aback and stepped backwards reproachfully in the face of this strange monster. Never had he fought a creature that seemed to be... intelligent. This one could talk, which was unheard of for monsters. What was twice as unsettling... was his visage. He looked exactly like an evil replica of Link himself.
Dark Link took pleasure in his dismay and confusion. "What, fairy-boy? Scared?" He asked tauntingly, poking Link's young and easily injured ego. "Am NOT!" Link yelled as he charged at Dark with a series of diagonal slashes, and then a volley of fast paced thrusts.
Dark parried the slashes easily, almost effortlessly. As the thrusts threatened to pierce his chest, he merely held up his shield, repelling the danger. "Is that all you have?" Dark asked gleefully. This was such fun. He was fighting with THE Hero. The one to kill Ganondorf.
He remembered why he was to kill Link, besides to serve Ganondorf's interests. It would ensure his freedom from this damned place. Dark Link backflipped from one strike and deflected another with his shield, slapping aside another stroke of Link's blade.
"I expected more of the Hero of Time." Dark Link said with a scoff. Link was panting. "Why don't you quit running, and fight me like a man!" Link exclaimed, trying to wound Dark's esteem. Dark smiled sweetly, in a twisted way. "Because if I were to, the fun would end so quickly. I've waited too long for this, Brother." He said, grinning wildly as he held his Anti-Master Sword out to his side, ready to charge.
As he rushed Link, he quickly switched his weapons from sword and shield to a large top-heavy looking hammer. Dark's blood pumped with new vigor. A new challenge! He had been specifically trained in swordplay so he might best Link, but this new, strange weapon... it made everything different. He had near to no practical knowledge on how to fight such a weapon. He could die.
Such a notion excited Dark.
As he rushed at Link, he swung the weapon at him, and Dark, not expecting the speed of the large hammer, was hit fully in the chest with an unimaginable amount of force. He hadn't expected such strength, either...
Dark, after being lifted off of his feet, landed on his hand, and flipped to his feet nimbly. Such pain... what a rush. Such ecstasy it was to be in front of a life threatening challenge, when the last seven years of his life had been sacrificed to sitting and waiting.
As he felt the throbbing, surging pain in his chest, a thought struck him rather hardly. What if... he were to actually kill the Hero of Time? He was the Goddess' chosen one to kill Ganondorf, and return peace to the land. If he were to actually kill Link... Ganondorf would take over, and he'd be sentenced to a life of toiling under the cruel ruler of Hyrule. Regardless of what he had done for the Dark Master.
So... what if he could cheat the system and break free, without having to die? Could he do such a thing? The enchantment of this room would not break until the life forces of the Hero and of the Damned were detected in the same room. Until one of them died, the enchantment would not break. Could he use his dark magic to pump a poison into his veins, to emulate his death? The enchantment in theory would break, seeing as the enchantment would recognize that he was dead by the hands of the Hero.
It was ingenious... but was Ganondorf's magic flimsy enough to sneak by like this?
It was worth a shot... either he died, or he lived an eternity of being Ganondorf's slave.
He charged at Link again raising his blade to swing, but forcing himself with great intensity to not delve the viciously sharp sword deep into the flesh of the Hero, but to slow down it's descent until the hammer collided with his chest again.
After a while of leaving himself open and taking hits to the chest repeatedly, Link got confident and began brutally assaulting his darker half. Slam, after slam, after slam of the hammer collided into him, sending him progressively backwards.
Eventually, Link grinned as he charged him, throwing his hands towards Dark Link while yelling a phrase. "DIN'S FIRE!" He yelled, and Dark looked nervous. The ball of fiery energy in his hands looked somewhat distressing. His kind, Shadowborns are incredibly resilient to physical damage as they are spirits, but in order to be corporeal in the Realm of the Living, they had to be sustained with powerful magics.
When magic was used against their magic sustained bodies, the magics interfered with one another, causing him intense pain, as the magic used against him could faze him out of this realm and back into the Shadow Realm. Such a fate would be worse then death, to live as an amorphous mass of dark spirits in the Shadow Realm, clawing at one another to gain a physical shape.
Just as a burst of flames filled with the rage of Din herself, he reared his head back as he threw himself backwards whilst uttering a bloodcurdling screech. Quickly, he enacted the spell that would course devilish poison that would entirely shut down his entire body just long enough to fool the enchantment and the Hero. As a final touch before he lost consciousness from the overpowering poison, he used magics to cause an elaborate explosion of flames to consume him.
Link looked satisfied with himself, as a chest appeared in front of him in a surge of light. Opening it, he claimed his prize as the illusion enchantment on the room faded, showing nothing but a small square room composed of slimy bricks. He walked through the next door, and continued on on his adventure.
A handful of minutes passed by as suddenly, Dark was thrusted from the darkness of death, gasping for air as he felt he was given life after dying... like being given breath after choking on a sea of water.
He was on all fours, coughing violently. "I...did it." He said, as he looked around at the true form of the watery prison he had been in for so long. He then walked over towards the door that lead to the exit of this hellhole. He tentatively reached for the knob of the door, slowly turning it.
The door clicked, and it swung open. That was it. It was this easy. He had bide his time, and he was now free. Truly free, not tethered to any cruel fates forced upon him. Dark began running, hurriedly through the temple to get to the exit. He didn't want to be here any longer than he had to be. He finally found the exit, a pool of water leading to the outside where some bright light was emanating from. He jumped into the pool of water, and began swimming through the tunnel, escaping to the outside, which was the bottom of a deep lake. Looking up through the water that distorted his sight, some curious light shone at the surface. Bright, and orange... it felt warm. What was it? Soon, his question would be answered, as he neared the surface of the water.