Crediting, Thanks, Ect.

I'd like to extend a special thank you to for being one of the most informative and easy-to-use LoZ encyclopedia sites ever! It were my best reference and many of my ideas could not have been inspired without it!

Thanks to Ms. Pfeifer, my junior year English teacher who gave me that kick in the pants I needed so badly and finally got me writing more seriously.

Thanks to Nintendo and Shigeru Miyamoto of course! (Obviously!) They own the Legend of Zelda franchise and it's original characters.

Thanks to LuisaRafidi for the Midna pic that I used as a reference when describing Midna.

This story could not have been possible without any of the people mentioned above so many many thanks indeed to all of them!

And last but most certainly not least, a big thank you to any and everyone who takes the time to read this story! Hugs and Kisses for all of you!

(Ignore the Pg# at the bottom of each chapter)

After Twilight Comes Darkness

By

William J.C. West

Part 1: The Battle

Link shivered as the cold misty morning air chilled his skin.

Zelda chuckled at the sight said sarcastically, "Aww. Can't take a little cold? Here, why don't you use my cloak? It'll keep you warm, you poor baby."

"Hmph" Link grunted.

"Come on, you know I was just joking."

He gave her a soft smile. "Yeah, I know."

Link was a young man who wore a forest green tunic of an ancient hero and an odd cone-like cap that curved backward. Underneath, the tunic was a shirt of light chainmail. A simple blue earring hung from his left ear. A pair of plain light tan pants could be seen coming from under the tunic, covering his thighs and knees before disappearing into his brown boots.

He had a very soft complexion. With bright big blue eyes, soft brown hair and fair colored skin he was often hard pressed to preserve his 'manliness'. His voice didn't help either, being soft and young sounding. The numerous battles he had fought in the several maze-like temples and dungeons had taught him to be quiet, composed, and very thoughtful further adding to his delicate look.

Despite his appearance, he was actually an excellent, well-balanced fighter. On his back was the master sword, also known as the sword of evil's bane, and the legendary hylian shield. The sword was the only one of its kind. It had been forged by hylians, under the order and supervision of the goddesses, to serve as a counter-balance in the event of an evil force gaining the power of the triforce. Its title, the sword of evil's bane, came from this legend. The gleaming white sword was made of shining steel with a purple hilt shaped to somewhat resemble a bird's wings.

The hylian shield wasn't actually that legendary. It had been used by hylian royal guard for centuries and its design had changed little over time. It was a kite shield outlined by thick steel. A red eagle design that covered the lower half of the shield sat against a background of bold blue. Above it was an embossed triforce a pair of decorative grooves on each side. What made them legendary was their rarity and that, in turn, made them quite expensive, making the shield all that much more difficult to obtain.

Link held the power of the triforce of courage, a sacred magical relic that granted him incredible skills as a warrior. His title was the Hero of Twilight, earned by banishing the evil Usurper King, Zant and later the Dark Lord himself, Ganondorf.

And then there was Princess Zelda. As the sole ruler of the land of Hyrule, she retained her title as princess due to the fact that she hadn't married. "Besides," she had said "I like 'Princess' better, anyway. Queen Zelda just makes me feel old and it sounds funny."

She wore a pasty white dress with a hem decorated by intricate lines. A soft purple blouse served as a top. Her long brown hair was always tied back with the end in a short braid. Princess Zelda held the triforce of wisdom which granted her great magical power which she used as a weapon along side her trusty rapier. She knew wearing a dress to a battle was like bringing a knife to a sorcerer's duel but she hated pants. She felt they made her seem less like a princess and more like a prince.

They had been on the march for two weeks now with Link riding his horse, Epona and Zelda on her white mare, Snowfire. Behind them was an army of zoras, gorons, and hylian knights; all prepared for battle. After Ganondorf's defeat, the vast majority of his minions had continued to fight. That is, except the bulblins. True to his word, King Bulblin had joined their side which meant the bulblins also marched along side them.

Bulblins were small green-skinned goblin-like creatures. A pair of short horns grew from the sides of their head that curved forward. Despite their size, many of them fought with large clubs and axes but others use bows with arrows that were often alight with orange flames. They looked like bandits with leather caps and jerkins complete with a dark dull blue bandana that covered their faces save for their beady red eyes. Being a smaller, weaker type of creature, Bulblins rode large boars called bullbos as opposed to being foot soldiers. Bullbos were the size of a large bear with a mean temper to boot. Their short coarse fur was a uniform brown with beady red eyes like their masters'. A pair of ivory tusks grew from each side of their snout. Bulblins always worked in pairs with one steering the bulbos and the other firing arrows or bludgeoning foes with their clubs as they passed by. In the end bulblins served as very effective cavalry; deadly accurate with their bows and able to skillfully steer the wild and easily frenzied bullbos.

As for King Bulblin himself, he's a whole 'nother story. As a mutant by some sort of freak of nature, he had grown to be the goliath of his race. While most bulblins grew to be five to six feet high, King Bulblin easily stood a whooping nine. He wore thick plate armor with a metal cap for a helmet. A visor covered his beady red eyes and stubbed nose. The helmet wrapped around the sides of his head and came together at his chin. From each side of his head grew a pair of huge thick horns, rising up over the top of his head curving out and then in. They were colored with alternating bands of red and white. And King Bulblin's weapon of choice? A gargantuan single bladed ax.

He too rode a bullbo but not just any beast could serve as his battle companion. His steed was Lord Bullbo, the biggest, baddest, and most ill-tempered of them all. He was outfitted snout to tail with spiked armor making him a sight of pure terror in the eyes of his foes. His fur, for some unknown reason, was a dull gray-blue unlike the dark brown fur of normal bullbos. Lord Bullbo also had a pair of horns growing from the sides of his head that were almost exact replicas of his master's. Together, the Lord and the King were a pair made for each other and for devastation.

Gorons, as opposed to the average bulblin, were towering brutes of strength and formidable endurance. They were usually a good seven-feet tall. Their brown skin was incredibly durable and their back was covered in a hard rocky type of exoskeleton capable of withstanding the bite of even the sharpest of blades. With various tribal-like tattoos and only a loin cloth for clothing, they often struck others as a barbaric and uncivilized race but on the contrary, gorons were very organized and neighborly with strong ties to chivalrous morals such as honor, brotherhood, and proving one's self. Gorons had small beady eyes for their immense size but unlike the bulblins' red eyes, theirs was a strong dark blue. Despite their girth, gorons had the ability to curl into a ball and traverse vast distances at great speeds by rolling. They fought using their naturally rock-spiked knuckles and incredible strength.

Darbus, the patriarch of the gorons, was the largest of them all. He was almost bigger than King Bulblin. The natural rock-like growths on his forearms, back, and head were large and very thick. He even had a goatee of stone growing from his wide chin. The rock growing from his scalp had been cut and filed to look like a flattop haircut emphasizing his stern, rigid personality.

Zoras were an aquatic race complete with fins on their elbows and webbed feet and hands. Their fish-like scales were pasty white in front and faded to a dark aquamarine on their back. Their humanoid eyes were a strong but gentle green that always seemed to put people at peace in their hearts. A zora's head was something no less short of interesting. Two loose lobes of flesh grew from the top of their head and hung down to their chest ending in points looking very much like long hair parted in the middle. The back of their head extended into a fairly long, flexible structure that closely resembled the caudal fin of a fish only it was turned sideways like a whale's. Using gills located on each side of their chest, they could spend an infinite amount of time underwater. Their weapons were mainly spears made from the bones of giant sea creatures and elaborately decorated.

Zoras were to gorons like oil to water; they might mix for a while but before long they always separate. Like the gorons, zoras were large creatures being on average around seven to eight feet tall though they were much more slender and graceful than their husky opposites. Unlike gorons whose powerful muscles were often hidden by layers of fat, well-toned rippling muscles were clearly visible beneath the zoras' scales. Gorons were blunt, rowdy, and quite lazy at times. The zoras, on the other hand, were sleek, beautiful and very energetic. Their difference in climate preference made them even more opposite. Gorons lived on the slopes of Death Mountain, an active volcano and enjoyed the extreme heat given off by it. Zoras, on the other hand, lived in the northern part of Hyrule at the top of a giant waterfall and they enjoyed the cool moist air in the area.

Queen Rutela was the monarch of the zora race. Like the others rulers in the land, she was the tallest of her race and wore a form fitting dress of high elegance with a long slit down the side to keep from inhibiting her mobility. Her skin had a maroon tinge to it and her lobes of hair-like flesh look much more like coral that flowed across her shoulders. They started solid and dark red at the top of her head and then split into several thick strands and faded to a washed out yellow color. She was one of the few zoras who could use magic and it served as one of her main weapons in battle.

In spite of all their differences neither the zoras or the goron had ever shown any aggression toward each other and the zoras were even known to vacation in the hot springs of Death Mountain and the gorons did the same in the calm refreshing waters of Zora's Domain.

The hylians were very much like humans save for their pointed ears, sharp features, and some magical ability. Their ruler was Princess Zelda, but, since the incident with the Twilight, Link has become just as much their leader as their princess. The hylian knights were known throughout the land for their bravery and unstoppable determination. Countless stories were told and retold of the many courageous knights who had proudly given their lives for the greater good. They fought with a variety of light weaponry from long spears and polearms to the classic sword and shield combination. They each wore a thick tunic of leather armor or light chain mail with a full coverage helmet completed by a visor. Underneath was a simple long-sleeved shirt and a pair of cloth pants. Their standard footwear were simple brown marching boots and fingerless combat gloves covered their hands. The only color between the armor and clothing, both of which were dull gray, was some simple green lining on the shirt and pants and the blazing red hylian royal emblem on their chest.

Altogether, they numbered around two-thousand, with five-hundred soldiers of each race marching in their own separate ranks. But Link still felt they were over doing it. There could only be so many monsters left after hunting them down for three years. After all, they were here to finish a fight, not slaughter a few hundred, leaderless, discouraged monsters, but Princess Zelda had been firm in her judgment.

"Never take any chances with Ganondorf's handy work. What you see and hear is only half the truth." she had said knowing from personal experience.

He had to give her credit there. Ganondorf had always had more than just a few surprises up his sleeve. But, the Dark Lord was dead. Link knew it. He had been there. He was the one who had killed him.

FLASHBACK

Link stood back watching as Ganondorf unsteadily climbed to his feet. For a frightful moment Link thought he was going keep fighting even with the master sword penetrating through his chest but Ganondorf's weakly quivering voice proved otherwise.

"Do not think this ends here." He closed his eyes for a moment and clenched his jaws. Upon opening them he said spitting blood through his teeth, "The history of light and shadow will be written in blood!"

With that he looked down at the three golden glowing triangles on his left hand with the top one glowing most strongly and watched as they quickly faded simultaneously until they were gone. He let his hand drop and stared into the distance, releasing a long painful sigh as his eyelids slowly drooped lower and lower till...

"Ugh!" Ganondorf jerked his head backward as his eyes rolled back and his heart finally stopped. His shoulders slumped and his head bowed, but his body did not fall. Why it didn't, neither Link nor Zelda knew but what they did know was that Ganondorf, The Dark Lord, was dead.

As the vanquished villain's cape floated lazily up and down in the low-whistling wind, Link took a step forward and bowed his head. Zelda brought her hands to her bosom and did the same. Ganondorf may have been evil but he had still been a mighty adversary. Ruthless and vastly powerful, he had been a man willing to do whatever he needed to obtain his heart's desires. No matter how evil he had been in life, the holders of the triforce of wisdom and courage had to respect him in death.

END FLASHBACK

Link sighed. It was a bitter-sweet memory. Even though defeating Ganondorf had saved the kingdom from the Twilight Invasion, Link always sensed that a part of Ganondorf only wished to be left alone in peace. Just as Link sometimes wished for a normal life without being the holder of the triforce of courage, he could sometimes see the same desire in Ganondorf's eyes, the longing of freedom.

Link shook his head. He knew it could not be... at least, not yet. Even though Ganondorf was gone, he felt something pulling him. Telling him the fight wasn't over yet. What it was he couldn't tell but at least he knew it wasn't any of Ganondorf's handy work.

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