Nintendo created all the characters and places and stuff. I just made the story up. The cover was done by Karda4124 of DeviantART
Part Two - Contemplating Right And Wrong
I managed to stop Ciela before she sawed through my wrist by grabbing her own; rather hard but it was enough to signal to stop. She replaced the blades in her hair to hide them and her ears flicked a couple of times. She pushed me down on the pillows and covered the cut rope with the blanket and my face, I would like to add, so that my red eyes shone through the fabric like torches. The barn door hit the frame with a crash so hard that the horses whinnied in their pens; stamping their great hooves on the hay covered floor.
"I told you to stay away from him!" Neri barked, his heavy footsteps coming closer to the stall I sat in.
"He's done nothing to harm us! I think we should give him the spare room till he is better; it's a lot better than sleeping in this damp, cold place!" Ciela argued I saw her fold her arms. "It's bad for his health."
"We shouldn't care for such a monster like him! Ciela, I know you can't see but listen to me." Neri complained putting his hands on her shoulders "He's evil, he's got red eyes!"
Ciela lowered her gaze; her eyes half closed as if she was going to faint, but then she looked up at her brother's hopeful face, which underneath the blanket was being scowled at; I made fists.
"I don't know what red is. How can I know if that is a sign of evil?" Ciela spoke softly taking a sharp intake of breath. I raised an eyebrow when I saw her head tilt in my direction as if she was unsure of herself.
"It just is Ciela. We have to get him out before he attacks us!" Neri whispered cupping his hands around hers.
"I can hear you know." I said, pulling the blankets from over my face while rolling my eyes. "I understand that you fear me, but there really is no need to." Was there? I still felt like I could reach for Neri's neck and strangle it
"Ah, it finally speaks!" Neri roared throwing his arms up into the air.
"It?!" Ciela and I squeal, I was offended, I know I had been called things much worse to my face and behind my back, but at least people knew what gender I was! Maybe I didn't understand what they meant.
"He is no, 'It'! He's a person just like you and me who's down on his luck!" Ciela grunted prodding Neri in the chest with a finger. "And I think he should stay in the house."
"Well I don't! It's my house and you should be grateful that he's allowed in here. You're getting to close to him! He's taking over your mind!" Neri snarled.
"If I wanted to take over her mind, I would just have to click my fingers." I sniggered, I knew that laugh, it was the familiar laugh I roared out to the world when I had my prey in my clutches, often begging for their lives. I shook my head, no, that wasn't how I meant it!
"You see! He wants you to become his servant!" Neri shouted pulling Ciela behind him.
"Stop it!" Ciela cried hanging onto her brother's shoulder "Both of you!"
I nod, though she couldn't have seen me do so. "Ciela's right." Was she? "We shouldn't fight."
Ciela gave me a weak smile "He doesn't want to argue. You should act more like him!"
"I would never act like him." Neri snarled marching away and slamming the doors on the doorframe hard. Ciela sighed and sat down next to the water trough with her knees up, I crawled over to her, sitting beside her and taking her hand so she knew I was there. She looked like she was going to cry. I had seen that too, a man morning the loss of his partner, a woman from losing her child, it must have been painful, even more so when they were holding what was left of them. I watch as a few more hairs turn black with a sigh, I didn't understand, what were all these feelings? Why had I not felt this way before?
"What is your name?" Ciela asked rubbing her temples with her free hand.
"Uh…" I choked, I knew my name, it was one that had been thrown on me like a ball, but I didn't want to say it; why? Normally it would be the first words to slither off my tongue; the first words to be screamed if they saw my shadowless silhouette coming over the hill but I couldn't bring myself to utter it like it was a shame. It was really.
"I want to trust you." Ciela sighed touching my face with her hands, stopping just before my eyes. "I can't see evil and can't feel it till it strikes. What is your name?"
"Zauz." I muttered chewing my lip, Ciela's hands covered my eyes, I willed her to let me shame myself in peace, but I was used to this; my world was always darkness, it was all I had ever known, the ocean I swam in, the air I breathed, the grass I trod on. Her hands parted as if a door were being opened, throwing light back into my face. I gasped; my hair continued to change colour this time a lighter shade.
"Zauz." she repeated "I'm sorry. I thought you were him."
"Him? No. I wouldn't let him come near you. You're too beautiful and kind for him to take your life." I spoke brushing some hair out of her eyes, but I was him, wasn't I?
"He took many other kind hearted people off this world. I don't understand why." Ciela mumbled holding my hand, my skin dissolved away at her touch
"I don't even think he knows." I whisper, a true statement.
She left me for a little while, I stood up and wandered around in the barn, listening to the wind blow through the holes in the walls between the wood, the tiles on the roof clatter against each other like a brass band and the rustle of the hay rolling across the floor. I looked over at the pile of blankets and pillows that made up my bed, though it was on a heap of hay, it was comfortable. I took a breath in and rubbed my forehead with my fingers, I was deceiving the only one that trusted me and for what? Why did I pause before speaking my name? Why was my skin and hair turning in such a tone? Why had my personality become more complex than the normal senses of an animal? Was I not an animal? I sighed and leaned on the window sill, confident that the barn doors were locked from the outside due to the lack of the familiar screech across the ground; it would be dark soon, but I did not have the strength to vault out of the window, not that it was very high but my stomach warned me that walking was painful, never mind jumping. I heard the mare in the stall across from me snort and scrape her hooves across the floor, an animal could see evil and smell the intentions of one near them. Perhaps I should consult the animal world for some sort of explanation; I was no expert at talking and listening to animals, but I had hardly been out of that mare's sight, perhaps some sort of action would lean in my favour?
"Alright, I don't know if you understand me, but I'm trying to work out what's going on." I spoke, lifting my arm to show that most if not all of the skin was not grey anymore and it was spreading, I could feel it. "If animals can show humans what evil is, point it out on me."
The mare snorted again and flapped her ears. I lowered my arm in defeat.
"I thought as much." I sunk down, hiding my face in my raised knees; the mare came out of her stall and nudged my shoulder, nibbling the collar of my shirt. I looked up and began to stroke her beautiful mane, she trusted me. That counted as something, right? "You're far too trusting."
I smiled, maybe I was changing, last week I could barely say a word to a human, now I was speaking a dictionary, had I known these words and put them to the back of my mind to become the senseless murderer I used to be? Why did I do it?! I stood up sharp, causing the pain from my stomach to scream, why did I spend day in and day out killing countless innocents?! Was it programmed?! Impulse?! What?! I punched a stall wall so my hand went straight through the wood, why did I have super-human strength?! Why did I have swordsmanship skills that were not taught?! Why did I crave blood and bone from my own kind?! WHY?!
I gave up, taking my rage on a solid beam that stood in the centre of the barn, a support pillar, punching it and kicking it till my knuckles bled and my wounds tore open. I felt a hand hold my shoulder; I had not even heard the doors open.
"Zauz?" Ciela's voice echoed from within my ears, her free hand touched the blood on my hands "What have you been doing?"
"I-I don't know." I swallowed hard and took a step back, watching the blood from my hands trickle down my black tunic, my blood was…red…I was used to it being black as tar. "I…"
Ciela heard me crumble on the floor, I was tired, confused and frightened, without an understanding of comfort, violence was the only let out I knew, I had never confided in someone when I was upset or hurt. She knelt down by my side, holding my hands in hers before holding my shoulders, rubbing my head under my cap and rocking me slightly as I cried into her shoulder; I put my arms around her waist, raising my arms as if there was a dagger in my fist but my palms were open and had no interest in her blood.
"I'm worried." I spluttered, my words muffled.
"I know. You're not well, Zauz. I know." she whispered holding me tight, more hair transformed in colour; almost every hair except the back was dark brown or black "I'm really sorry that I couldn't get you a bed in the house."
"It's not that." I sniffed, "I'm just-"
"You miss your family?" Ciela asked leaning back slightly to dab my cheeks dry, I opened my eyes wide, family? Family?! I didn't know who my family were or if I was even born or just created for someone else's need! My eyes stung and more water flowed from them.
"I don't have anyone." I sobbed "I've never had anyone!"
"Zauz…I'm sorry, I didn't know." Ciela squeaked "From now on Zauz, I'm your family. Neri and I are your family."
"What?" I quizzed lifting my head higher, only to spot a peculiar looking bruise around her eye that I had never noticed until now, did I do that by accident? "You're eye…?"
She covered it almost immediately "Oh, it's nothing; I bumped into the banister on the stairs. But I mean it, Zauz, I'm always going to be there for you now. You don't need to worry about being alone again."
I was concerned; I knew the sound of a lie when I heard it. The way the bruise was shaped, the bloodshot eye; that was no accident, had Neri…hit her? No, he wouldn't, would he? I shook my head "You don't have to, I'm just some stranger."
"Nonsense, I may not know much about you, but you're still in no fit state to go off on your own. I'll make up a bed in the house while Neri's out and move you in. Your sword is there too."
I decided not to argue but I wasn't sure if I wanted to be reunited with my blade, not after how it had served me, allowing my senseless, unforgiving wrath to continue these many years.
Ciela put me up in the spare room, the bed was reasonably small in the tiny room and the only other thing there was a chest of draws covered in a lace mat and small mirror. My sword, scabbard and shield were lying in the corner, the dark symbols staring at my changing form with almost disgust, I could still see many a blood stain I had left on them like a war trophy, I turned my head away but I could still hear the almost whisper of my blade, willing my hand to draw it once more and show it the darkness I had once lived by, it was tormenting me, telling me what I had learned and who I should be. I pulled the sheets off the bed and covered the blade in an effort to stop looking at it. I could hear my heart rate increasing and my breathing loudening almost in fear; I turned to the mirror on the chest of draws and sighed, placing my shaking hands on the rim of it. My face, a good portion of it, was lost of its grey cover and had been replaced with human skin, a few shades darker than the Hero's but it had spread this far. My eyes remained unchanged. Would they change? What colour would they be if they did?
Ciela didn't notice the sheets on the floor as she walked in carrying a tray with a pot of tea and two cups on, along with a vial of red potion and some bandages. She set the tray down on the bed and poured them out. I took it with a muttered 'thank you' as I drunk it down with one hand, she rubbed the red potion and bandaged up the other.
"How can I thank you for what you've done for me?" I asked through sips, she paused for a moment.
"Get better for a start." she said with a laugh.
"I'm serious!" I choked nearly spilling tea down my front "I was dying when you helped me and you've nursed me back to-"
"Hey!" Neri's shout came from the doorway, I saw Ciela tense up "What is it doing in here?!"
"I let him in. He'll recover much better this way than in the barn and cold." Ciela argued standing up; I managed to catch the crockery before it smashed on the floor. "This is my house to!"
"I told you not to allow it in here! Get him out!" Neri snarled, I stood up quite calmly "Neri, Answer me one question: Why do you hate me?" "You are an evil being that should not be on this earth; you've murdered thousands of innocent people for no reason and have not been brought to justice. I intend to fix that before you leave." Neri snapped, spitting in my face. "I am not who you say I am." I sighed; my blade fell down under the sheets, showing the hilt as if it were waiting for its moment to leap into my hand "I understand that you think I would be this 'great evil' to be afraid of, but I would never do anything to harm you or Ciela." I took a bow in respect, not really sure why. "Link is a swordsman just like I. Just as he does, I do not intend to harm you." I barely had any time to react. Neri's knee aimed to hit me in the jaw, but I dived back, something I shouldn't have done as it hurt so much! I crashed onto my sword with a yelp of pain holding my stomach; my hand weaved over it, the fingers ready to grip it but I brought my hand back, turning my head away to block out its begging. "Violence… is not the answer here." I grimaced trying to slide back up the wall. "Zauz!" Ciela roared coming to my side her hands feeling for my shoulders. "I want that monster out of here by the time I get back." Neri growled marching away, slamming the doors as he went, Ciela flinched as she tried to help me up. I was not done with that man.