Authors Note- Hello everyone! So I planned for this to be a one chapter song fiction, based on Skillets song Monster, but it dragged on too long, so I decided to split it up into chapters! Disclaimer, I do not own Legend of Zelda, or any of its characters, or the song Monster. They are the property of their respective owners.

Monster

Link walked through the forest, where the spirit of Faron resides. Three months have passed since the twilight mirror was shattered, and his friend Midna was forever lost to him. The princess had kindly offered a room at the castle for him to stay in, "For an indefinite amount of time." She had said with a small smile. He hadn't asked any questions to this statement, but instead immediately collapsed on the bed once she had left.

Miraculously, the one fairy he had left had somehow been able to heal his many wounds; wounds that he was sure would never heal. The fairy had been exhausted, understandably so, and it was a while until it had the energy to fly off to the nearest fairy spring. After his wounds and the fairy had been tended to he had set off to find her highness. He had found her in the garden, spending a few precious moments in the serenity and peace that she had so longed for in the times of what was being called the Twilight War. He had given her the time of peace she craved, and waited outside the entrance door for the sake of her privacy.

While he was waiting, he confronted the true dilemma inside of him- The beast, no, the monster inside him. It was constantly scratching, clawing for a chance to be released. He had fought it as long as he could, but he was growing tired. He had come to inform the princess of this dilemma, and to seek her advice, given that she held the Triforce of Wisdom.

When she had finished, he was sitting just outside the door, staring at the wall. She hadn't seemed surprised to see him; in fact, she had appeared to be expecting him. "What is it you need, Hero?"

"Your Highness-"he had begun, but she had interrupted him, with a tone of exasperated annoyance. "Please, Link. Forgive my formal greeting. Please call me Zelda, I grow tired of the formalities of "Your Majesty." And "Your Highness."

Slightly taken aback, he had pressed forward nonetheless. "Of course Zelda. I-"He hesitated. Would she understand? How would she react to knowing that a very real threat resided within him? He looked back to her, and noticed she had picked up on his hesitation.

"Please Link; there is no reason to keep secrets from me. If you have a concern, or simply need someone to talk to, I will always be willing to help."

He weighed my options, he didn't have very many. Finally he relented. "Very well. Zelda, I am sorry, but I cannot stay here at the castle."

She reacted well. She invited him to come follow her, and she then led him into the garden, where she sat next to me on a bench. "Ok, why can you not stay here? Do you have a girl waiting for you back home?" She said with a good natured smile. He found himself liking her when she wasn't bogged down by her status as a monarch.

Ignoring the last comment, he answered. "Do you remember when we first met?"

She nodded. "Yes, of course. Well, I don't know if that counted. You weren't quite yourself then, were you?"

"Yes. I mean no. No, I wasn't quite myself." he tripped painfully over my words. What was the matter with him? He normally spoke very clearly. "Honestly, that is why I cannot stay. I don't believe I am myself." He broke eye contact with her, suddenly becoming intensely interested in a blue Hylian Violet. It didn't help when he noticed the flower was the same shade as her eyes. "Whoa," he thought "Did I just compare her eyes to a flower? Why did I even remember the color of her eyes?"

Luckily for him, Zelda didn't pick up on his thoughts. She did, however, pick up on the last phrase he uttered. Her eyes narrowed slightly. "What do you mean, not yourself?" When he didn't answer, she grabbed his chin and made him look back at her. "What do you mean, not yourself?" She repeated.

Panicking a little when she grabbed his chin, he responded perhaps too quickly. "I can't control it!" When he realized how panicked that had sounded, he slowed down, and said quietly "The thing I turn into, I can't control it." Zelda watched him with wide eyes. "I feel it, deeper than- well, I don't know. It's just beneath the skin, scratching, trying to get out. Zelda, I must confess, I feel like-" he hesitated, but not for long. "I feel like a monster."

He closed my eyes, remembering the look on her face once he had said what he needed to. She had given that same small smile she had the day before, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "Ok then." She had said. "Take some time to yourself. Go spend some time in the forest, or the mountains. But promise me that you will stay in touch, Link. Promise me that you will come back." Her eyes implored that he answer yes.

Grateful she had both reacted well, and that she had given him what I needed, he agreed. The next day he left the castle, but not before Zelda had given him a small gift. It was a small, blue flute-like thing. The Royal Family's crest adorned the mouthpiece, and it was dotted with many small holes. "It's an ocarina," Zelda had explained. "Much like the one that the Hero of Time, your ancestor, used. His was called the Ocarina of Time, a powerful relic that had the ability to alter, well, time. Sadly, I was unable to get the actual Ocarina."

Link looked up from the curious trinket. "Why not?"

"It's been lost. There are many places it could be. Some say it's inside the Temple of Time. Others say it was buried with either the Hero or the monarch of the time, which would be in Old Kakariko. Others still say it remains inside the castle. Nobody truly knows where it is." A small look of sadness crossed her face. "Not only was the ocarina a powerful treasure, it was also a Royal Family heirloom. I am deeply sorry it was lost.

After she had shown him how to use it, she played a small tune on it, which she called Zelda's Lullaby. "It's a song that was known to represent the Royal Family. Play it anytime you wish to converse with me." Once he had learned the tune, we had bid farewell.

Three months of wandering through Hyrule had followed. He had occasionally taken the ocarina out, but he had never played the song she taught him. He had traveled to Kakariko Village about a week after he had left the castle, and he had asked the shaman about Old Kakariko. According to him, it was an old relic of the past. He hadn't known where it was; apparently it was lost as much as the Ocarina of Time, with just as many legends and theories surrounding it.

He had wasted about a month chasing the most likely of the stories, but he had finally given up. Another month had been spent in seclusion in the mountains. For two months he had been in solitary, except for the day he spent in Kakariko.

Eventually he was drawn to Faron Woods. Whether it was a natural urge to be back in a familiar area, the call of the beast within him, or the love of wooded areas that comes from the ever-present Hero's spirit, he did not know. Regardless, he found himself sitting in the spirit Faron's spring, and finally releasing the feelings he had kept inside of him since Midna had left him. The feelings of loneliness, from the loss of his companion, of rejection, where could he go now? Not Ordon Village, he couldn't face them after seeing their reaction to his wolf form, and he couldn't live in Kakariko Village, they already had enough strain rebuilding to be able to accommodate a new member to their village.

The Castle?

Where did that come from? Sure, Zelda had offered me a room, but I couldn't live there, there had to be some law against commoners living in the castle. No he couldn't live in the castle.

Then… Where could he go? Was he doomed to wander the land for the rest of his life? Suddenly the reality of his situation came crashing down on him, causing him to choke on the sudden tightness he felt in his throat and chest. He no longer had a home, or a purpose. He had been the Hero of Twilight, but there was no place for a Hero in peace, as there was no place for a beast in civilization. For the first time in many a week, perhaps since he had begun his adventure, he felt nothing but despair and loss, bringing long absent, but long due tears to his eyes.

He felt a stirring in the pool he rested in, the stirring he did not know represented the concern in the residing spirit. Faron had been interested when the young hero had come to her spring with obviously negative feelings. Seeing him go from disheartened to despair in such a small amount of time wasn't a good omen of his mental state. The pressure of housing both his and the Hero's spirit, along with the effects of his beast form alone would have severe repercussions; one would have to have a very strong mind and soul to withstand such influence. Factor in the experience of his adventure, and the effects it could have had on his mind, she was genuinely concerned of the state of the hero.

Link knew nothing of the concerned spirit watching him. He didn't know that Faron fed positive energy into the pool, bringing a feeling of sleep upon him, giving him respite from his struggles, if only for a short while.

AN- I'll get another chapter up as soon as possible. Reviews very helpful, and appreciated!