Greetings! This is my only second game based fanfiction, first on this site, and hopefully it meets with approval. Due to it being summer time my writing time is extremely slow because of work though it picks up quite a bit in winter time. For those who read this who also read my Ranm ½ story no it's not dead it's just summer and add in that my muse slapped me around about a Zelda story and I couldn't refuse writing this one. I'll get to writing Ranma stuff as well again hopefully soon.

I own nothing of legend of Zelda.

CHAPTER 1

She had known something was wrong ever since he had finished his grand adventure. Ilia had known when they had returned from Kakariko that something had been different about Link. Midna, a name that she didn't know, a name of a woman that Link seemed unable to talk about without gaining a soft, sad smile. Ilia realized that somehow she had lost the affections of the boy she cared greatly for to a woman that she had never even met. The Twilight Hero, as he had come to be known, spoke of Midna often but never explained how the woman had helped him or what the relationship between the two had been. And then a year after the events that had started within the Ordon Woods were finished Link had been called to Hyrule Castle and asked to investigate something for the crown. Link had promised Ilia and the others that he would return as swiftly as possible, instead Epona had appeared several weeks later stumbling into Ordon Village with a tattered coat and blood caked fur. Exhausted nearly to the point of death the horse had taken weeks to recover completely and everyone feared the worst when Link never appeared in any town or province of Hyrule.

With a mighty shriek of pain the massive lizard fell crashing into the two massive support pillars that held up the ceiling of the castle and shattering them off bringing the roof down with it. A figure in green rushed through the falling rubble towards the edge of the large dungeon area and fired a clawshot upwards into the vines growing across stone by the remains of what had been a staircase. Link was jerked upwards catching the edge of the stone he pulled himself into the hallway and began to run as rock broke apart around him. Behind the Twilight Hero the massive beast's corpse glowed and a sphere of red light lifted through the air to float within the room and began to pulse with a steady glow. Between one step and the next darkness swept around Link and then vanished leaving a large black and grey furred wolf rushing down the hallways and darting past fallen and falling rubble.

The paper fluttered on the bar as a small breeze wafted through alerting Telma that someone had come in. The woman turned to see Rusl walking across the bar and into the back room where the others sat staring at a map that wasn't showing them any answers to their questions. The man slumped heavily into a chair setting his helm onto the table and looking to where his prized golden cucco was pecking at a bowl of food left by Telma. "There was nothing there but a crater." Those simple words seemed to pull every once of hope from the room and people slumped in chairs and looked with sad eyes at the map. For the first time in his life Rusl heard the overly proud and strong Ashei cry.

Claws dug into soft sand as the wolf rushed down dark hallways past still living creatures rushing for exits and past undead creations still toiling at their posts even as rubble slammed down around them. Links enhanced senses picked up the sent of fresh air coming from the entrance to the ancient castle and he picked up speed outpacing several brown skinned Bulblin's as they scurried for the exit as well. With a thunderous crack a massive chunk of rock from the ceiling slammed down into the hallway blocking the passage and causing the Bulblin's to howl in despair. Link moved forwards examining the rock for a second then leapt to one section of sand and began to dig working his way under the rock and through loose sand before pulling himself out into open hallway beyond the rubble. Shaking sand from his fur he bolted down the passageway and towards what he hoped was still an open door to the outside. Far behind the fleeing wolf the red sphere began to pulse much faster.

It had been exactly six years since Link had vanished and people of the kingdom had honored the memory of his bravery every year. They had erected a large pedestal within the square of Castle Town which bore a sword driven into the stone on top and a simple plaque that read 'The bravery of one was all that was needed to save the many.' Auru had been the first to notice the strangeness that had seemed to begin flowing from the Gerudo desert. The investigators that had been sent to look through the remains of the old Hylian prison and then head on to where Link, and the ancient structure he had been sent to investigate, had vanished. The strange black mist had flowed across the desert and then poured down into Lake Hylia blackening the water and leaving a foul stench in the air. Less than two days later the remains of the investigation team had stumbled into Castle Town, insane and ranting about phantoms in the shadows and darkness approaching. The very same day the generals of the military had dispatched nearly seventy men to investigate the strange black mist that had entered Lake Hylia. None of the men returned.

The final sight of light shining from around the corner managed to get an excited bark from the wolf as he rushed around the last corner only to nearly be skewered by a large blade held in the metal hand of a massive Darknut. The wolf skidded to a stop then leapt back growling darkly at the large metal covered being as it began a clanking advance while bringing its shield into guard position. Link backed away cringing away from crashing rocks as debris rained down around him, the Darknut took one more clanking step forward and with a mighty heave swept its sword down towards the wolf's head. With a thump grey paws impacted armor as the wolf used the Darknut's shoulder as a leaping point to propel him towards the door. Far behind the armored warrior and the Twilight wolf the red sphere reached a point where it's flashing became a solid glow and the sphere went dark before loosing out a wave of red energy that blasted out through the castle. Where red energy touched things froze, the rubble froze in midair, the fleeing monsters froze in mid-step, even the rushing winds seemed to stop and not move again. Just as Link leapt for the entrance the red wave washed over him and the Darknut, and everything stopped.

Ilia drove the tip of her sword into the ground and leaned on the hilt panting for breath after the strenuous training. Soldiers moved around her settling crates of supplies against buildings and within barns while setting defenses near the cave that led into the hidden village. It had been ten years since the darkness appeared and began its assault on the world bringing with it the undead that had plagued the Hylian military for years. When Ilia had joined she had had no idea that she would end up in command of the shattered remnants of the military as they performed hit and run attacks against the forces of creatures that traveled with the darkness and served its master. They had first believed that it was somehow connected to the Twili and that they were being attacked by the Twilight again until they had really gotten the chance to examine the remains of several of the undead things and realized that they were being animated by magic far different from the Twilight powers of the Twili.

Darkness flowed through the shadows seeming to flit from place to place, a moving shadow within shadows as it darted along dark corridors and down deep within the ancient stone fortress. It reached the center of the castle and watched the red stone as, slowly, a pulse of red began deep within the stone and built up to a soft glow before fading out. After nearly a full day of waiting the shadow watched as another pulse began to slowly build up within the stone growing bright before fading out and then beginning to build once more. The shadow flitted from place to place back towards the entrance of the castle then stopped next to a wolf frozen in mid-leap and morphed into the shadowy image of a woman. Dark fingers trailed through silken fur as she looked into frozen blue eyes and with a smile she tapped the wolf on the nose "Don't give up kid, it's about time these high and mighty types learn that this world isn't their toy."

Colin stood on the top of the wall staring down into the twisted remains of Orden Woods while keeping an eye on Malo as well, the 23 year old wasn't nearly as careful as Colin was and he was worried that with the current depression that Malo had fallen into he might try something foolish, like attacking the water creature. Eleven years had passed since the entrance of the darkness into the world, and it had been seventeen years since Link had been seen last. Colin had tried to believe that Link was still out there somewhere, just unable to help them for some reason but that belief had faded and slowly he had come to the same conclusion others had come to long ago. He had mourned his friend and then moved on, he had promised Link that he would be as strong as Link was someday and he was desperately trying to reach that level of strength. Seventeen years, and Hyrule finally knew what it was like to be without a hero.

Deep within frozen shadows and air red light flashed swiftly along the walls in rapid pulses as it built to a brilliant blinding glare of red before everything went dark. Red energy exploded outwards in a bright wave of color that returned motion and life to a dead ruin as it washed through ancient hallways and rooms. Loud crashes followed the light as rubble slammed down behind the wave and the castle began to finish the collapse stated long ago. Shadows flashed to life near the frozen wolf and the shadow woman smiled as she sensed the approaching energy and turned to the suspended wolf brushing sand from the beasts fur before letting her fingers trail across the symbol done in white fur on the wolfs forehead. "It's time, time to go out and play." The woman looked back as red energy rushed forward "Now be a good little doggy and do what you do best…Live." Red washed over the area and the wolf burst free of the collapsing castle into the sand and bounded away into the desert as the ancient Hylian structure collapsed into ruin.

The sun was high in the sky and Link looked upwards at the cloudless expanse before looking back at the destroyed castle and wondering if any of the creatures within had escaped. Epona wasn't anywhere that Link could see or even smell causing the wolf some concern; as he moved around the strewn chunks of rubble that had once been the castle walls long ago he kept a close eye out for his horse. Paws sank into sand and waves of heat soaked into him heating up black fur enough to start the wolf panting, with a final decision Link concentrated on returning to human form.

It was like a spike of agony ripping through his chest and deep into him causing waves of pain to rush outwards through his whole body forcing the pained howl from him. Unseen by Link on his left paw the image of the tri-force gave a sporadic glow before the image lifted from the wolf's paw and vanished in a small sparkle of light. The pain Link was feeling vanished immediately and the hero was left shuddering on the ground wishing that the memory of the pain would go away as well. The hero slowly pushed himself up and with shaking steps began to move out into the desert in the direction of the pass that led back into the main section of the Gerudo desert. As the last vestiges of the pain had vanished the walk had turned into a steady loping run that had covered a large distance even though it was daytime. The swift run had turned into a slow run which had eventually turned into a walk and finally a slow stumbling stagger that had managed to get him into the shelter of trees at the oasis he had passed through on his way to the castle.

Shadows flitted through the night shrouded desert until they reached the oasis and settled onto a rock jutting out of the edge of the water while keeping an eye on the wolf's curled up form where he rested sleeping next to a tree trunk. The shadow woman sat quietly for a moment then flew to the wolf and settled kneeling next to him staying still for a moment before letting fingers slip down to the wolf's left paw and stroking the spot the tri-force of courage had previously occupied. The woman looked sadly upon the wolf even as shadows slipped from her hand and wrapped themselves around the paw and healed the internal damage done by the extraction of the tri-force. Shadows shifted and the woman laid back against the wolf's side letting her hand settle on Link's head and seconds later began to idly scratch the wolf behind one ear.

"It's somewhat sad don't you think?" The voice came from near the rock she had sat on before "He is supposed to be the great Hero isn't he? And yet he would never have been on his way to get involved in the current problems if you hadn't intervened."

The woman stiffened and immediately flew upwards glaring at the small black flame looking shadow that flitted around the rock. "This world has suffered enough! How many times must Ganon be allowed to return and wreak havoc? How many innocents have to suffer or die due to their inaction!"

"It is not our place to interfere daughter." The frown shown through in the other shadows voice "This world is of no consequence."

"And when Ganon is allowed to return and this world is washed away in flood?" The woman floated forward anger clearly showing on her face. "Will we be blameless then as well when we could do something about it?! The gods will happily drown the people of this world merely to stop a being they themselves could have stopped long ago." The woman turned and looked sadly at the wolf lying in the sand. "And eventually after millennia they would have awoken him and forced him to fight for them once again; again fighting Ganon! I will NOT allow this travesty to continue any longer!"

"As you wish daughter, it is your choice." The shadow turned and began to fade away "But understand that every choice has consequences, this one simply hasn't shown its downside yet."

The woman turned and floated back to the wolf settling to the sand next to the wolf and looking at him closely before sitting back and sighing. "I know you likely won't understand what's going on right away but I hope this will help in the end." Black eyes looked upwards at the starlit sky and she could feel the power of ancient and angered beings slipping across her shields as the goddesses searched for the one that had been the bearer of the tri-force of courage. "In the end it's a choice I had to make, both for this time and the future. It's time to end this cycle and time to make this world free of the petty manipulations that have driven it for so long." Shadows flowed down over the sleeping wolf's left paw then pulled back revealing a symbol of a winged sword glowing on the back of the paw before it faded out. "And that should keep you safe from prying eyes; this is all I can do for now so the rest is up to you little doggy."

With a wink of black the shadows vanished, blue eyes snapped open and Link stood examining the area but finding nothing except for a faint scent of roses that seemed to float strangely in a single area but nowhere else. Paws sank into sand as he moved forward and dunked his head into the pond drinking his fill before pulling his head out and shaking water from his fur. Wandering back to the tree he was about to lay down when he heard a strange echoing chittering sound that seemed to waft in on the breeze. Moving to the edge of the trees Link looked out at the desert but saw nothing moving even as the sound got closer and closer until he could see sand bursting outwards from indents that thumped down into it in multiple places. A slight concentration was all it took to activate his Senses and under the strange vision he could suddenly see a massive scorpion that seemed to be moving across the sand towards the pass that would lead it into the main sections of the Gerudo desert.

The scorpion didn't even seem to notice the wolf standing at the edge of the oasis and it passed by with legs nearly and thick around as Link's wolf form and its underside taller than him in human form. As he watched the giant scorpion moving away through the desert the thought of his human form and the desire to return to it was enough that he decided to attempt the shift. Bracing himself incase he was struck with the same pain as before he concentrated and tried to release the magic that he knew was there only to feel nothing at all. For a second irrational anger flashed through his mind and his wolf's instincts pushed forward enough for an enraged howl to echo over the desert until he got control of himself again. Pacing back and forth through the oasis the hero tried to think of what could have happened that could hold him in his wolf form but came up blank until he thought of the spirits and how they had known what to do to return him to human form the first time.

Blue eyes scanned the sky noting the time and Link decided to head out now instead of waiting for the heat of the day which would likely cause him trouble. Several hours after leaving the oasis he reached the bottom of the pass and glanced at the scorpions trail which lead directly for the Arbiter's Grounds, the ancient Hylian prison that had bore the Twilight Mirror. The wolf on the other hand headed straight through the center of the desert on a path directly for Lake Hylia in the hopes of reaching the spirit Lanaryu and receiving help. Paws sank into soft sand as Link struggled up the last incline before he reached solid rock and padded across it to the edge of the cliff that fell away into Lake Hylia. Below him black slime coated waters washed up against the rock and the shattered and rotted remains of Fyer's floating house/cannon were visible still resting on the lake's surface.

As Link looked upon the lake and heard the faint shrieks of unknown beasts he could tell that something had gone horribly wrong while he had been investigating the castle.