Author's Notes/Disclaimer: First things first, I do not own "Zelda" or any characters thereof. I also do not claim to writing all of this story. The "Anay" sections and parts labeled in some fashion were written by my friend, whom I will refer to as Anay101. I did most of the "Darkstar" sections and ones labeled "Darkstar". This story is written by both of us and she deserves equal (if not much, much more) credit than I do. It is posted with her consent, so don't worry. This story takes place during the seven dark years of the Ocarina of Time, spoilers galore, yada yada. Enjoy.
Prologue (Darkstar- flutist girl's part)
She supposed she should be terrified. Perhaps she should scream in terror or faint like the frail ladies of the Hyrulean Court, but she felt nothing but the blackness that she had so carefully hid her feelings in.
It wasn't the first battle she had been trapped in, and neither would it be the last.
She clung to a rail on the wall as the small ship lurched again. Above deck she could hear the captain bellowing orders and the crew pushing themselves to their limits to follow them. Lightning tore the sky into pieces and the girl's unnaturally keen ears were ringing from the thunder.
A second tremor shook the ship so fiercely that she was thrown to the opposite wall. She grimaced as she made out the sound of canons.
"You, Shekiah!"
A sailor stood in the doorway, his bulky frame taking up almost all of the entryway. "Captain wants you."
She rose to her feet, rubbing the spot where her arm had been slammed into a bunk. With speed unnatural even for a Shekiah she zipped past the sailor.
The captain waited for her at the top of the stairs. He was an intimidating man, standing a head taller than anyone on the ship and dressed in the red and gold linens of nobility. His ebony hair was plastered to his head with the rain, and she could make out a myriad of emotions in his gray eyes.
He placed a hand on her shoulder and guided her to an office at the back of the ship. It wasn't a far venture, but it was enough for the Shekiah to pick up mutinous glares pointed at both her and the captain.
The office was cozy and tight, holding only a desk, a comfortable chair, and shelves on the walls holding compasses, maps, and other navigational tools.
The captain massaged his temples as if entirely fatigued as he sat in his chair. "What is your name, girl?"
"Captain Nasir, I don't understand…"
"Yes you do!" he snapped at her. She recoiled, not expecting this from the cool tempered captain.
He sighed, as if apologizing for the outburst. "What is your real name? You are not called Ayami, are you?"
She lowered her head as if ashamed. "No," she whispered. "I am not Ayami."
"Then what is your name?"
The girl raised her head, her ruby eyes burning with concealed anger. "The name given to me is Darkstar of the Moon, although I am more commonly called Darkstar, and I am one of the few Shekian survivors."
The captain leaned back in his chair and put his head in his hands. "I have been harboring a fugitive…"
Darkstar averted her eyes. "Captain Nasir, I meant you no harm. If I knew that word of me had spread I would have taken another route, believe me!"
He eyed her curiously. "Whether you intended this to happen or not, it makes no difference to me now. Servants of the King are attacking us, wanting you in payment for their retreat! The crew has half a mind to hand you over here and now, do you see the position this puts me in?"
Darkstar nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
His voice was gentle now, full of sympathy and regret. "I have no grudge against you, and anyone who defies King Ganondorf is a friend of mine, but you must understand that I must return you to Hyrule."
Darkstar's breath became panicked and for a moment Nasir feared that she would pass out, but the lapse of emotion passed and she replaced her stoic expression. "You swore to take me safely to Calita."
"I know I did, but Dark—"
"No!" she screamed furiously. "I can't go back, you must understand!"
Nasir looked truly apologetic. "I'm sorry, Darkstar of the Moon, but I did what I must."
At this two of the King's guard entered. "Is this the one?" the tallest of the pair asked.
"Yes," Nasir said softly. "Take her away quickly."
The two men sprang foreword but Darkstar was too fast. She leapt for the doorway but a group of about twenty men was waiting for her. As strong and skilled of a fighter as she was, she was no match for the soldiers. Soon her hands were roughly chained behind her back and she was gagged.
"Can you hurry up?" Nasir asked. "I have a destination I must reach before the winds shift."
The soldiers did so, dragging the struggling girl to the adjacent ship. Nasir turned his back, not wanting to see the broken look on the Shekiah's face.
A glint in the corner of his office caught his eye and he went to investigate. He recognized the symbol immediately, an eye with a tear that reminded all who saw it how they had been oppressed from their very creation. Nasir clenched his hand on the pendant and let the chain dangle from his palm.
"I'm no better than the king himself…"
The time she spent on the ship was uneventful for Darkstar. She was locked in a dark and damp room below deck, roughly chained up in a cell crafted for prisoners. Soon she lost track of time entirely, it was impossible to tell if she had been there for days…weeks…months…
Still, she found herself cherishing these moments, much as a prisoner savors the little time before his execution.
Food was brought to her at random intervals, as if the sailors only fed her when they remembered that she actually existed. On the stale water and bread she went rapidly from slender to painfully thin…
But she would be content to live there forever if it meant freedom from Hyrule, the place she knew she must inevitably end up in.
She awoke from a dreamless sleep, aching from being curled up so tight against the cold. As she regained her night vision she found her rations laid out next to her, which she attacked vigorously. To her surprise, she tasted dried grapes in her bread, and it was a bit softer than usual. Instead of water, her jug was filled with a juice of crushed berries. She figured that these were the leftovers from the feast the sailors had to celebrate their nearing to land…
Hyrule…
Darkstar sighed despairingly, knowing that she had a day, if she was lucky, before she would find herself in the hands of Ganondorf and locked up in the land she so passionately despised.
Unexpectedly, the ship hit something, sending Darkstar flying into the wall of her prison. The crates around her had the same reaction, and one that had been perilously placed at the top of the stack launched toward her. The wooden box stood no chance against the iron bars, and it shattered upon impact, sending splinters everywhere and leaving the contents rolling on the floor.
Darkstar sat for a long while, fearing that someone would have heard the crash and come to investigate. After a while, she allowed herself to relax, but she waited a little longer just to be safe.
It was a bottle of some kind, about a hand span in diameter, which gracefully diminished to a point at the top that was about a sixth the size of the bottom. It was stopped with a cork, and Darkstar could see a label of sorts but couldn't quite make it out.
She extended her fingers as far as she could and crept foreword until the shackles on her ankles were taut. Her fingers barely grazed the bars, and it was disheartening to see the cargo on the ground only a few centimeters from her fingertips.
She stretched her body to its very limits, feeling the burn in her arms and legs increase with every move forward, and was rewarded with the feeling of cool glass against the very tip of her longest finger. She willed it to come to her as a child might coax a stray pet, and it seemed the waves finally heard her as the rocking of the ship sent the bottle rolling peacefully into her palm.
Darkstar recoiled into the corner, clutching her stolen prize close to her heart. She stroked the sides, feeling runes and symbols foreign to her carved into the thick glass. Not able to make out the writing even with her sensitive eyes, she moved her fingers slowly across the glass time and time again, memorizing the feel of the symbols. It seemed that a single phrase was repeated over and over again.
"Get the girl!" someone yelled, and instantly there was banging on the door. She curled up, trying to make herself as small as possible as she shoved the bottle into a pouch at her side, but in the end the soldiers were still at the door, one holding a large ring of keys.
The door swung open and Darkstar was lifted roughly to her feet as a soldier unlocked the chains on her legs. Her hands were tied tightly together with a length of rope and one of the men held the end as one would hold a leash. "Not a sound," he growled.
Darkstar shut her eyes and relied on the sailor to guide her as she stepped above deck for the first time in an eternity. The harsh light came as a shock to her, even with her eyes closed, and made her stumble. She picked herself up when one of the men jabbed her harshly with the blunt end of his spear and proceeded with her hands over her eyes.
"You do understand that she's worth quite a sum, sir. You can understand my caution. On one hand, if we give her to the king, we'll be living like emperors the rest of our lives. On the other, if she's found dead and the king tracks her back to us…"
"I can sympathize with your plight, but the girl is more trouble than she's worth," said a calm and assured voice. "I believe we understand this, at least. Take or leave my offer, I do not have all day."
Darkstar started at the familiarity of the voice. "Nasir?" she asked quietly, still not uncovering her eyes.
There was laughter from more than one man aboard. "Seems she hasn't forgotten you, Nasir."
"I would be surprised if she did."
For a while, she let this sink in. She heard footsteps approach her and the man holding her rope backed up a little. She could tell that Nasir was standing before her.
"You…" she said softly. She took her hands off her eyes slowly, and to her relief, she could stand the sunlight. Right ahead of her was Nasir, looking at her intently and sorrowfully.
For a while she appeared confused, but then her mood rapidly changed.
She leapt at Nasir, letting out a strangled cry of anger. The sailor who held her rope leapt on her and tackled her to the ground. She struggled against the hands that held her fast to the deck, hissing threats to everyone in sight.
Exasperated with his captive, the man who held her drew a knife and twirled it as if preparing to strike.
"Don't hurt her!" Nasir yelled as he ran toward her. "Leave her be."
The sailor looked at him as if were insane. In a heavy seaman's accent, he said, "What care ye?"
Nasir stepped forward and gestured for the man to give him her rope. "I am the cause of her pain and heartache, I would not harm her further."
"Seems she hasn't forgiven you as of yet, at any rate."
Darkstar lay on the ground, no longer restrained but unwilling to get up. Her entire being quivered with anger, and the look in her eyes was strong enough to kill.
The captain of the ship laughed. "This is quite a price you offer for so worthless a girl. I accept your offer. Take her to your ship, but one of my men will stay aboard to make sure your end of the bargain is upheld."
The man holding Darkstar's leash stepped forward. "This is Caspian, he will be the one to accompany you and the girl."
Nasir nodded. "Let us depart then."
It seemed that Darkstar's original anger had subsided a bit, but she still stared daggers at Nasir as she was taken aboard his ship.
She didn't complain when she was led to the same cabin she had been in on her previous venture, nor was she surprised when Caspian stood by the door like a statue after he tied her rope to a nearby post.
She curled up in the corner and slept.