This is the start of a moderately long journey. The M rating is for future chapters. I would like you all to tell me what you think of this, so that I may improve it (though I already have most of it planned out) Warning: the story will contain abuse and underage rape, so if you don't like, don't read. I don't own the Legend of Zelda :P

~Link's Age: 6~

Link's eyes fly open in excitement as he remembers what ceremony is going to happen tonight. He gets up and dresses quickly before running down to the kitchen, smiling when he sees his mother cooking breakfast. "Good morning, momma!"

She turns and smiles softly at her son, "Good morning, sweetheart. Are you excited for the ceremony?" He nods his head exuberantly, causing her to chuckle. "Would you go get your father? Breakfast is almost ready."

"Okay, momma!" He runs outside, knowing his father likes to carve statues outside on their porch early in the morning. "Papa!" He calls, his father looking up at the sound and smiling.

"Yes, son?" He asks, setting the statue and carving knife down before pulling his son into his lap.

"Momma says that breakfast is almost ready!" Link says excitedly, causing his father to chuckle.

"Well then, I guess we should go set the table." Link nods and Robin picks up his son, carrying him to the dining room. He hands Link the silverware while he places the plates and glasses on the table. Link gives each plate a certain amount of silverware and very quickly the table is fully set. Link giggles as his father gives him a high five, saying, "Good job, son!"

Feather comes to the room with the finished breakfast and serves the food before sitting down at eating with her family. The ceremony takes place around noon, so they need to be ready. After getting to talk with each other while they eat, Feather suggests, "Link, sweetheart, why don't you go spend time with Pipit while you wait for the ceremony. We'll come get you when it's time."

"Okay, momma!" Link says, a bright smile on his face at the thought of seeing one of his closest friends. He runs outside and over to Pipit's house, knocking on the door excitedly. Pipit's mom opens the door and smiles when she sees Link, calling Pipit over, telling him that Link's there.

"Hey, Pipit! Wanna hang out?" Pipit nods happily at this and they go to the waterfall, which is their favorite area of Skyloft to hang out together.

"So, you excited for the Loftwing Ceremony today, Link?" Pipit asks, remembering the ceremony from the previous year when he got his own forest green loftwing.

Link nods his head, "Yeah! I can't wait!" He is really excited and can't stop thinking about finally getting his own loftwing like his parents have. It's a really big deal for a young Skyloftian as it signifies that they're growing up.

The conversation dies quickly after that, both of them preferring to play instead of talk. They both find a large stick and start 'fighting' like they'll get to do if they're accepted into the Knight Academy when they're older. Any adults who see this just chuckle softly, knowing how excitable the two boys are when it comes to fighting.

They play the remaining hours away before Link's parents come to get him right as he wins one of the fights against Pipit. They chuckle as he starts to cheer for himself and at how happy he is. They tell him that it's time for the ceremony and he jumps up excitedly. Pipit says that he'll be there since he doesn't want to miss seeing his friend meet his loftwing. Link nods and leaves with his parents, heading to gather with the other children his age on the island. He smiles slightly when he sees his friend Zelda there, and she immediately approaches him, beginning to talk about how excited she is.

He just chuckles softly and they go stand in line at the base of the Goddess Statue with the other children, who are also excited about getting their loftwings. After a bit, the ceremony 'begins' and the loftwings fly circles around the top of the statue, causing the children below to ooh and aah at the sight. Everyone's eyes widen when they notice that there's a crimson loftwing in the group, as that breed of loftwing was thought to be extinct.

Then the time comes for the loftwings to fly to the ones that they're meant for. A royal blue loftwing lands in front of Zelda and nuzzles her softly, causing the young blonde to giggle. To everyone's shock, the crimson loftwing lands just in front of Link before cawing softly and nuzzling him. He tilts his head, feeling a bond form with the bird instantaneously. Normally, it takes some time for this bond to form, but for Link and his loftwing, it happened in an instant.

He smiles softly and jumps up on the back of the loftwing, despite everyone's protests that he doesn't know how to fly the bird. Crimson, which he decides to nickname the bird, flies away, the boy having easy control on the steering of the bird.

Everyone watches on in shock, and jealousy for most of the children, wanting to have that special connection with their own loftwings. Zelda's more jealous than most and she wonders why her own friend is so special that he gets the connection and she doesn't. After a bit of flying around lazily, Link has Crimson land and he jumps off his bird before stroking it softly on the neck.

Everyone applauds, happy to see the boy already so acquainted with his loftwing. He walks over to his parents and Pipit, who runs up and hugs Link, spouting praise and shocked words. Link turns a bit and nods at Crimson, who flies away at the signal. Link turns back to his parents, who congratulate him for finding such a good match in his loftwing.

Little did they know, jealousy had made a very horrible enemy out of a very dear friend of his. For she will never forget this incident, which may seem innocent at this time, but will cause darkness to spread in her heart.

~Age: 7~

Link wakes up in the middle of the night, hearing screams and cries of pain. He runs into his parents' room and takes a step back, his head reeling. 'No...They can't be…'

He runs out of the house and goes to find someone to help, quickly finding Gaepora. Gaepora takes one look at his face and enters the young boy's house, while his daughter tries to comfort the obviously distraught seven-year-old. Gaepora comes back outside, his smirk fading as he pronounces, "Dead. No doubt killed by demons…"

Link narrows his eyes, feeling an urge to gain vengeance for his parents' death on the demon race, though he has no way to do so at this age. Gaepora takes him to the Academy and gives him an empty room across from his own daughter's, one that'll stay his until he graduates from the academy. Zelda just looks at him sadly before heading to her own room, leaving the young Skyloftian to adjust to this on his own.

He curls up in the bed that's far too big for just him and begins to cry, the weight of losing his parents crashing around him. He feels a comforting presence curl around him and he relaxes into it, his grief not letting him do much else. "Shh. Link, everything will be okay. I'm here." He hears a soft voice, sounding like a slightly deeper version of his own, whisper into his ear. The voice continues to comfort him until he falls asleep, emotionally drained from the night's occurrences.

The shadow smiles at this, curling up against his lighter half. He stays awake as he's capable of sleeping in Link's shadow during the day, wanting to protect the boy.

Link wakes up the next morning to find that the comforting weight is still curled around him. He turns around slightly and takes in the sight of the boy with black hair and red eyes, who is looking at him sympathetically. "I'm sorry that had to happen to you, Link." He says, causing the memories to flood back into Link's mind.

He starts crying and the shadow pulls him closer, pressing him against his chest, telling him to let it all out. He's rocked comfortingly, allowed to cry as much as he needs to to recover from the event. Eventually, Link's tears dry up, though he feels that he should still be crying. The shadow pulls away slightly, "Now, why don't you go eat? You need it…"

"Where will you be?" Link asks, worried that he'll have to leave the person, only to return to find that he's gone as well.

"I'll be right with you." The shadow says and they both stand up. The shadow smiles slightly at him before vanishing right in front of his eyes.

Link panics immediately before he hears a soft chuckle, "I'm still here. I'm just in your shadow." Link looks around confused, "I can talk to you since I'm part of you. Only you can hear me when I'm in your shadow."

Link nods his head and heads down to the kitchen, where Henya immediately feeds him, professing how sorry she is for the young boy. He eats slowly and Gaepora arrives, saying that he wants to talk to Link in his office. He allows Link to finish eating before they walk to his office together.

"I must say, my boy, I'm so sorry for your loss. Robin and Feather were such wonderful people." Link nods his head sadly before Gaepora continues, "The funeral shall be held at sunset tonight. Afterward, I'll take you back to your house to get any belongings that you may want before we return to the academy. Okay, Link?"

Link nods and says, "Okay, sir."

Gaepora chuckles softly before saying, "Now why don't you go find that young friend of yours? Pipit, I believe his name was." Link nods and runs out of the room excitedly, Gaepora chuckling at his energy.

"I'm sorry that I had to do that to you, Link… But Hylia decreed it and I had to listen to her." He says, a sad smirk on his face before he goes back to doing the paperwork for the academy.

Link quickly meets up with Pipit and they head to the waterfall once again, but this time much more somber than before. "Link, I'm so sorry to hear about your parents."

"Yeah...But at least they can't be hurt anymore where they're at…" Link says sadly, causing Pipit to hug him tightly.

"If you ever need anything, my mom and I are here for you." Pipit promises, Link smiling as Pipit never breaks a promise if he can help it.

"Thank you, Pipit." Link says before looking at the boy, "Wanna fight?" Pipit nods and they both find sticks like they did when they were younger and they begin to play-fight again, both of them laughing and having fun.

Zelda approaches them quietly and sits down, watching them fight playfully. Once they're both drained of energy, they slump down and finally notice the blonde, who smiles at them. "Link, are you feeling okay?" She asks, scooting over to him and wrapping him in a hug.

He nods and leans into the embrace, feeling that he can trust her for some reason. "Yeah, Zelly, I'm fine." She smiles and starts humming a soft lullaby, causing him to smile and relax further into her.

After a bit, they're gathered up by Gaepora and taken to the Goddess Statue, which is where all funerals in Skyloft are held. The sun begins to set and Gaepora begins the funeral, saying a bunch of nice things about Link's parents. A few other residents of Skyloft speak as well, especially the ones who were close friends of his parents. The funeral ends with a prayer to the goddess and then they head to the graveyard to pray there as well.

Afterward, Gaepora takes Link to his old house as promised and gives him a bag that'll hold as many things as he wants to take with him. Link goes inside and heads to his room, taking his practice sword his parents bought him on his birthday and a few other items important to him. He then heads to his parents' room to see about any keepsakes. He finds a picture of his family all together and packs it, taking one of his mother's favorite necklaces as well as his father's woodcarving set as well as his collection of statues that he made. He grabs his mother's flute as well, glad that his mother had taught him how to play moderately well before she died.

He looks around and finds nothing else that means that much to him, though he takes a look around his house, trying to make sure he'll never forget what it looks like. He feels a comforting hand on his shoulder and turns, seeing his shadow looking at him sadly. He just nods and takes a deep breath before leaving the house, his darker half merging back into his shadow.

Gaepora takes him back to the academy and tells him that dinner's in an hour, Link nodding in response. Link takes the items that he brought and spreads them out in his room, trying to make the room more his own. He places the statues on a shelf above his desk, one that seemed to be there just for that purpose. He places the flute and wood-carving stuff on the desk itself. He takes the clothes that he packed and puts them in the wardrobe, the sword going in a stand close by.

He places his favorite blanket on the bed and the picture on the nightstand before smiling slightly, the room looking perfect to him. He takes his mother's necklace and puts it around his neck, slipping it under his shirt to hide it. One quick glance at the clock tells him that it's roughly time for dinner so he heads to the dining hall, sitting down beside Zelda as she's the only one he's familiar with.

They all eat together, no one really talking in memory of Link's parents. After dinner, everyone splits up and heads to their respective rooms, Zelda nodding at him before they go in their rooms.

Link picks up the flute and starts to play it softly, his shadow appearing beside him to listen to the music. He plays a few songs that his mother always loved before letting his fingers do as they wish, pouring his emotion into the music. His shadow leans against him and rests his head on the blond's shoulder, just letting him vent however he needs to.

Eventually, the song ends and Link puts the flute away before slipping into bed, snuggling into his shadow's chest. He smiles slightly as the other wraps his arms around him, humming comfortingly into his ear. He looks at the shadow curiously, asking, "What's your name?"

The shadow stops humming to think for a second before saying, "Call me Dark." Link smiles and nods, snuggling closer to Dark, resting his face in the crook of the other's neck. Dark continues to hum, the soft, lilting melody drawing the young Link into dreamland.