Chapter One

Dragged from the Shadows

Darkness. Darkness was so…comforting to me. So…luxurious. I was used to the darkness, as if was to me. I belonged in the darkness. Well, technically it wasn't the darkness. You see, shadows cannot exist without light. I learned that quickly. One can easily lose himself, if melded in with all other shadows. First you lose yourself, and then you begin to question the fact of whether or not you actually exist. Of whether…you are yourself, or only a remnant of yourself. Well, to be honest, and completely truthful, I was never born. I was not created in the womb, and birthed out into a world of light. I was not held in a mother warm arms, or thrown into the air by a chortling father. I had no flesh. I had no blood.

I had…nothing.

I slid all over the abyss, fearful of the light touching me, and never allowing it to do so. I was nothing. I became nothing. I simply was. I knew I existed, but for what? I had no one to teach me, so I simply floated wherever the current of the dark touch brought me. I could not see anything, for I had no eyes to open. The world was dark, comforting. I went through ages, countless ages, not being myself, nor being anyone else. I was simply there, and yet…I wasn't. I did not cry. No scream had torn itself from my lips. No anguish torn from my lungs, even if I had any. I was content where I was. Very much so. I was left to myself, as other shadow beings crammed themselves against me. I never understood where one would begin, and I would end. We were one.

There was no such thing as individuality. No such thing as being yourself, or being another. I was simply one tiny part in a mass of black fog.

And then, it had happened.

The first thing that I had felt was nothing but a mere tug. Like a gentle grab. I had been curious. This feeling was new. This feeling was different. It was different than being dragged along with thousands of your kind. No. I felt myself being pulled. By what, though, I had no understanding of this. But, in my curiosity, I followed the pull. I couldn't see anything, for my lack of eyes, but I felt the pull get harder as I continued to follow it. Finally, after what seemed like perhaps minutes, or hours, or perhaps even years, I felt a hand grab a…part of me, and suddenly, I felt myself hit cold, stone ground. What? What was this feeling? It was dull. I shivered once, as I scraped my hands against the new texture under me. Wait…hands? What hands? I Absentmindly flexed my fingers, feeling them drag lightly on the rough texture of the ground. What else did I have? I would have taken longer to discover more parts, but a voice startled me.

"Shadow. You have been born of my power. I am now your commander."

The voice was chilling. It prickled my flesh, but only a dull reaction swept itself over my body. I soon realized, that perhaps I didn't have as much feeling inside of me as most…what were those creatures called, humans? As most humans did. And from what the voice said, I was only but a shadow. But what was a shadow? I didn't understand a word he had spoken. Sure, I understood the language. But I only heard it, didn't understand it. Shadow? Born? Power? Commander? These were all foreign things. And suddenly, I felt a rough pair of hands flip me from my stomach onto my back, and lightly touch my face.

"Open your eyes, dark one."

Eyes…eyes…I knew what those were. I had seen them once, on a human. Eyes…he wanted me to open them. Ok…I tried. I believe that I had missed just so nearly, and opened my mouth instead. A cool rush of air traveled into the open cavern, but that was it. I closed my newly found lips, and decided to try again. I had believed that I had succeeded when I could see. Although, it was entirely…foggy. I could not see clearly, but once I had managed to open them in small slits, they popped open, and I began to examine the room. What were all these…colors? All I knew was the blackness of the night, the darkness of the abyss. But even in a cold stone room as this, so many colors popped out to me, beckoning me. I used my newly found hands to slowly sit up, finding my legs, as well as my feet, and I attempted to stand. Of course, as a small child learning how to walk, I almost nearly toppled over, but that same rough hand caught me around my middle, and held me. I moved my gaze upward, and saw the face of a man with swarthy greenish skin, and fiery red hair that went ablaze across his scalp. I didn't have many words to describe his being, but from the strange expression he was giving me, it made me shudder lightly, but I still gazed at him with wide eyes.

"Shadow…" He cooed to me, and then he dragged me to a strange thing in his room, or whatever room it had been. When he stood me before it, letting going hesitantly, in case I might have fallen again. I stared into the strange thing, and I saw a young man staring back, just as perplexed as I felt. I frowned and looked back to the man whom had touched me. My…Commander. He nodded his head once, and I took that as something saying 'go on'. I turned back to the thing, the other boy, and he did as well. We stared at each other blatantly in the eyes, and then we both traveled downwards, searching each other's bodies. The other boy, had a dark tanned skin, a light brown. Unlike the other man in the room, this boy wore no garments, being completely nude. He had muscles that looked as if they had been worked hard on. And once our eyes met again, I noted the deep crimson his eyes were. Like the color of blood. Two elongated ears stood out of the straight blackened hair, and each had a red loop attached to the bottom of them. The hair fell across his forehead swaying gently to the left side, and then elongated at both his ears, touching his shoulders neatly. Frowning, I took a step forward, and he did the same, while reached out his left hand to touch mine. Both of our efforts seemed wobbled, but I was already getting used to it. But when our fingertips were about to clash together, they both hit a solid surface. What? Frowning even deeper, I flattened my hand against the solid feature, confused. Was this a trick? Was the boy stuck in there or something?

"Shadow, that is you."

My eyes widened at the other mans words, and I looked to gaze at him questioningly. He gave me a smirk, crossing his arms over his chest, and walked up to me.

"That is a mirror. It reflects your image, so you can see yourself. The beautiful boy in there with tanned skin and red eyes, that is you." I started to understand his words a little more, as he was speaking to me like a child. It helped for in reality, I hardly knew anything of this world, and I felt like I had to reason, no purpose. He turned from me, and walked to a large chair from the center of the room, and gestured me forward with his fingers. I slowly turned from the mirror, quickly losing interest in the person that was me. But this man, he held my interest. I needed him…to say something. To speak more. All of a sudden, it was what I longed for. For him to tell me something, anything!

"Shadow. I have birthed you. You will now bow down before me, and do my bidding." I simply stood before him, my expression unwavering, my gaze still wide as a wondering child. He laughed, a deep, throaty sound. "I am your lord. And that is what you will call me, understand?" He asked. I slowly nodded, eyeing him. I opened my mouth softly, dark lips straining to find the sounds. "M-my…Lord."

He smiled, glad with my efforts. He picked up something from the ground, and handed it to me. Clothing. Black leggings with a black tunic. Black boots, gloves, and the same colored hat. I was little put off by it all, having come from the darkness, but I did not question him, and started to pull on the clothes like I somehow already knew how to do. Once I was done, he eyed me over, satisfaction dancing upon his gaze. I liked that look. It made me feel as though I had accomplished something.

"Now. There was a reason that I pulled you from the Dark World. I have found one boy to be quite…elusive to me. Everything I tend to send his way, he defies natural reasons, and stands out heroically. It disgusts me," And to prove his disgust, he spit upon the ground, his face swirling into a grimace.

"I want you to kill the boy with blond hair. He is your only obstacle."

I widened my eyes and nodded, understanding fully. I had been given an objective, a goal. If I fulfilled this goal, then my Lord would be happy with me. I would have done well. I smiled, and he stood, nodding as he grabbed my arm. In a flash, we were in a different room. It looked to me like it lasted forever, hidden by fog, a swirling mist hiding everything. The only few things left in the room, which had a thin layer of wet stuff on it's ground, was a single tree in the middle. It was dead, but it was still a tree. Almost forgetting my Lord standing behind me, I stepped forward, and placed a tanned hand against it's surface, feeling it's decaying bark.

"Shadow."

I swirled around at the title I had been given not too long ago. My master grinned at me, and then lifted his hand. I watched in awe as a swirling black cloud of dust gathered above his dark flesh, and soon, it began to take shape. It was a sword, with black steel as dark as onyx. He smirked, as the finished sword floated towards me. I reached up, let it gently fall into my hands, and once it did, I felt powerful. I took a couple swings, finding that I was instantly fully capable with a sword. A black shield appeared at my feet, and I bent down to pick it up, strapping it to my back. My master wanted me ready to kill this boy with blond hair. Without another word, I turned to see my Lord gone. Frowning, I dropped my sword and walked to where he had been moments ago, feeling for him. I felt…lost without him near, like a small child without a parent. I felt special to the other man. I felt his. I belonged. I belonged to somebody. I was a somebody. No longer were I but a piece of patch worked darkness. I was myself. Yes, I was still learning, but I would grow…hopefully.

But at the moment, all I knew was a simply sentence.

Kill the boy with blond hair…

I turned, hearing a loud, scraping sound, and rushed to the tree, my feet not even touching the water, and quickly picked up the sword as well. I felt like I was floating, suddenly full of grace. I merely thought about it, and then I saw myself slowly rise into the branches of the tree, squeezing my body tight to the hard wood, as I waited and watched with my dark crimson eyes.

First, a small bubble of light whizzed in the room. It's glow was cast upon everything, which only helped to hide me more, to hide me against the bark of the deadened tree. I jumped lightly as a shrill voice was sounded from the tiny light. "Hey! Link! I think it's safe! C'mon!"

I watched in awe as a boy, clothes in a blue tunic, stepped into the room. He jumped lightly from the sound of the door slamming shut behind him, and the bars sliding down, keeping him from escaping. And then it flashed before my eyes. A swaying of lightly dampened blond hair, as yellow as the sun. He was wearing a hat just like mine, which I found slightly odd, but I cancelled it out, and watched silently, choosing when my time was to strike. He walked carefully to the other side of the room, to the second door. I heard a low sigh slip from his lips, and he reached up to slip off his hat, scratching his scalp lightly in thought.

"Where there has to be something in here, does there not?" His voice was low, quiet even. But it had a ring to it. Something that my Lord did not have. What was that ring? I couldn't place it. But as he had started to backtrack to my tree, I knew he'd notice me sooner or later, so I floated down from my branches, and took out my sword. The sound of metal sliding against metal caught his attention, and he swirled in my direction, sword and shield already in hand. I was very close to him at the point, and also had my shield out, keeping up the same stance as he did.

But something made me falter, as it did to him.

He looked almost exactly like me. We were almost as though we were…opposites, but also reflections. I felt myself trapped in these amazing deep blue eyes, as if they were calling out to me. They sparkled with life, boldness, and courage. His hair was straight and wispy, as mine was, but a beautiful golden yellow. His skin was pale, as mine was tan. But we still looked like each other. Did I…did I not have my own identity?

"Link! Do you think this has anything to do with-"

"Navi! Not now…"

I frowned, my sword falling a bit, but my master's orders rang clear in my head, and I made a decision. I lunged forward, charging at him without hesitation.

"What the hell…?"

"LINK!"

A/N: Well, thank you guys for reading my first chapter! Yes, I know that I've already written a Link and Dark Link story, but I wanted a new one, a better one.

I really like reviews, so please give give give!!