Hello everyone! Sorry it took me a bit longer than I thought to post a new chapter but here it is! Thank you for my reviews, they made me want to write more. Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda. So here it is, Chapter Two: the Messenger
'Here's your money for your crops sir, and I hope that we can do business in the future,' said the salesman in the Market, smiling at Link. Link smiled back, and left the shop, walking out into the busy market. He sighed, and looked around him at everyone else, and thought to himself how he was now like any other person in Hyrule. He was no hero anymore.
Link watched the sun sitting on the horizon as he sat on Epona, riding to his home.
'Not far now Epona, almost home,' he patted her neck, and looked at the house appearing in the distance. Link was happy with the house he had made, a quaint, white, straw-thatched house, which was cosy on cold, dark nights. The house was located near the entrance to Lake Hylia, yet hidden somewhat in the woods surrounding the lake, giving Link some of the privacy that he had always liked. Plus Link had plenty of land, which he used to grow all the crops that he needed for money, and for his own stomach.
Link put Epona in her stable, gave her some hay, and stumbled into his house. It had been a long day; he was glad that he only needed to go a few times a year to the Market. Link sipped on a bottle of milk from Malon's farm, enjoying this time to relax, and he thought about the last few months. Everything that he had wanted for some time he now had, he was able to live peacefully, and not have to worry about any dark encounters, or quests that were on the brink of suicide for him. He had a peaceful life now; nobody can do the job of hero forever. Link, lost in his thoughts, jumped when he saw that it was now midnight, and he needed to be up early for some more harvesting tomorrow. Link walked to the little bedroom that was adjacent to the sitting room and kitchen, and after changing, lay down in his bed, and looked at the ceiling through the darkness of night. He was happy, of course he was, and he would be even more when he got more used to this sort of life. It was a big change for him. Link was worried for a couple months that he would have Sages coming to his house, telling him of how Ganondorf has returned, and that he would have to set off again. But luckily, he guessed that what Zelda had felt before was just a false alarm. Closing his eyes, Link felt more at ease, and let sleep take over him…
Darkness. That was all that Link saw around him. Dark brooding storms brawled above him, lightning striking at the ground. This world seemed to personify evil. He looked around what seemed like a completely different Hyrule to the one that he knew; everything was dead, the grass, the trees. It seemed that all life had been taken from this beautiful land. What had happened for this to occur?
Suddenly Link got a feeling in his gut that always meant that there was more to this than he had previously thought. It seemed that his thoughts, and body, without his control, were urging him on to Hyrule castle in the distance, to the Market. Link ran as fast as he could in the direction, but as he levelled up to the bridge, he saw that something else lay before them, and it was not until he was closer to them, that his blood ran cold at what he saw.
Bodies. Bodies of Hyrulians, Zora, Kokiri, Goron…They were all piled among each other, all with looks of pain and fear etched upon their cold, dead faces. The smell that wafted through Link's nose made him gag. Friend's faces stood out like a sore thumb among the bodies; Darunia, Ruto, and (making him nearly cry out) Saria. Link fell to his knees in front of the pile of dead bodies, and he looked up at the top of the hundreds of bodies. On the top of the pile stood someone Link never thought he would see again. Ganondofr, in full fighting armour, stood on the bodies, looking at Link with a look of pure joy at what he had done. He chuckled darkly, and kicked a head of a Kokiri child that lay dead near his feet.
'Do you like what I've done with the place, Hero of Time?' Ganondorf asked, smiling his most wicked smile, 'This is all because you tried to foil my plans; you tried to stop the inevitable. But you were too late, Hero, you were too late for your friends. I now have all the pieces of the Triforce, and now no one can ever stop me.' Showing his hand to Link, the three pieces of the Triforce gleamed, but were also somewhat dimmed. 'You've stopped me countless times before this one, and you have destroyed my plans so many times. It was time I partially returned the favour to you.'
From behind him, Ganondorf, pulled out a girl that Link had never met before, in fact, he had never met anyone like her. She had feathered wings growing out of her back as if she was partially mixed with a bird. She had brown flowing hair, which was tied back, and bright blue eyes, that at this moment, were full of defeat. She had seemed to have donned the clothing of the Gerudos, yet she was not one herself. She was beautiful. And yet, though Link had never met this woman, his heart felt like it was being squeezed by Ganondorf himself when he saw Ganondorf holding her. Ganondorf, pulled out a black sword from a sheath at his side, and put it to the girl's neck, who showed no feelings of fear on her face; she just stared at Link. Ganondorf looked up at Link and smiled, 'You have taken many precious things from me in the past, and now, I will take something precious from you,' while smiling at Link, he brought the sword deeply across the girl's neck. As blood gushed from her neck, Ganondorf let go of her, and she seemed to be still watching Link as she fell forward, dead.
'NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!' Link screamed and shot up in bed. It took Link a minute to realise where he was. He was taking quick, short breaths, and he tried to calm himself down. It was just a dream, nothing more. Drenched in sweat, he thought back to the dream he just had. It couldn't mean anything, he was just overreacting. He had had dreams like this before, dreams that seemed so real to him. Before they had just been dreams too. Link laughed to himself at this point, he was lying to himself. He thought back to his dreams about seeing Ganondorf before, and nearly that exact event he had dreamt had occurred. This was different, he told himself, Ganondorf was safely locked into the Sacred Realm, so there was no need to worry. Yet as he lied back down, feeling much calmer now, he could not get the blue eyes of that girl out of his head.
Link wiped the sweat off his brow, and looked proudly at his fine creation. That was the fifth batch of hay that he had rolled together today. If he kept up at this rate, he would be going to market again much quicker than he thought. Link rolled the hay into the stables where he stored it, and thought about what his next job was. He had not fed his chickens today. Link questioned whether he should just let the damn things starve; he fed them, spent his money on them, yet they never seemed to produce any eggs for him. He collected the chicken feed and walked to the pen, and started scattering the seeds on the floor, to the chicken's delight. While throwing the seed, he looked up at the sky. The dark clouds he saw reminded him so much of the dream last night. He wondered why he was still thinking about that silly dream, and laughed. A minute or too later though, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, as if someone was watching him. Turning around, he spotted, on the hill near his house, a figure, shrouded in a dark cloak that even covered their face. The ominous feeling from the figure put link on edge, and felt on his side for his trusty blade. It was nothing compared to the Master Sword, but it was good for any normal tasks.
'Can I help you?' Asked Link, as the figure moved down the hill towards him at a frighteningly quick pace. The figure did not answer, and Link assumed the worst. This person was going to attack him. Link jumped over the chicken fence and faced his enemy, holding the blade for battle, but just as he was about to lunge at the enemy, the figure stopped, and pulled down its hood. Link stopped in mid-motion, nearly falling over, as he saw the face of Zelda emerge from the hood. Her face was gaunt with worry, she had dark circles under her eyes, and this did nothing to calm Link's nerves. 'What's wrong?' He asked, putting his blade away.
'Keep that blade out, you do not know when you might be using it,' said Zelda, looking over her shoulder, 'I came to you as soon as I could. I thought I had more time, but I was so wrong. We have been deceived this whole time, it was right under our noses, yet me, and the other Sages; we did not see or sense a thing! We were so foolish…'
'Wait, wait wait. Start from the beginning, I am confused, what has happened?' asked Link. Zelda paused and looked at his face,
'Do you not feel it? The presence in the air? Evil is upon us, much sooner than all of us thought possible. It's Ganondorf, Link, he has fooled us all. All this time we thought he could do nothing where he was trapped, but it seems the Triforce of Power is even more powerful than we previously thought. It seems like he can send out his spirit, even though he is in the dark realm, to come to our world, to do the deeds that he needs doing. He has been using his spirit to gain power over this world, and none of us noticed it. I have been talking to all the Sages, and none of them noticed a thing.
'With his spirit, and some dark magic, that I know nothing about, he has gained even more power than before, and with what seems like no tools, he has created himself a sword, a sword of pure malice, the blade is black like his soul-'Link's stomach lurched at this description, and in his mind flashed the sword that Ganondorf bore in his dream, matching the exact description of the one mentioned now. '-Link, he's escaped from his prison with this sword, he has slashed his way through the way guarding him. I just managed to escape from the castle, before…before he got there. It is just like last time, he walks a free man, but I know that he has more ambition than ever before.
'I told you about the Demi-Goddesses, and how I thought that Ganondorf somehow also knew about their power. This sword that he bears now, with it, he will be able to do anything, he will take over this land! Link you must help us, don again your battle gear, and work with the Goddesses that are in this world, and destroy Ganondorf for good. He deserves no prison this time, just full out-right execution. The Goddesses have heard my pleas, and will lend you their power, so that you can go defeat the dark King.'
From within her cloak, Zelda pulled out the sword that Link had missed so much. The gleaming Master Sword, sat with all its glory in Zelda's hands, and she put her hands out to Link, waiting for him to take the sword. 'Go to him now Link, and finish the job that was started so long ago. I will come with you and help as much as I can. We do not have a minute to lose. You must put on your gear, and we must go.'
Link looked at the sword that Zelda was holding out towards him, waiting for him to accept. He could not go back to his days of a hero; he had told himself that he would put them behind him. But as he thought back to his dream last night, he knew that even if he was unwilling to do the task, he must do it to save the people of Hyrule. He regretfully picked up the sword, and ran inside, and put on the gear he had not worn for quite a while, yet it still fit perfectly. Running back outside to Zelda, he noticed that she had once again, pulled up the hood of her clock to hide her face. 'Good, let's go.'
Together they ran to the direction of the castle. And what he saw nearly made Link stop in his tracks. In the distance he could see the once pearl-white castle up in flames, and a dark miasma had seemed to surround the entire area. They were getting closer now, closer to finally being able to live a normal life, without this bastard disrupting him anymore.
Yet just as he had said this, Zelda stopped abruptly, and clutched her head, in agony.
'What's wrong!?' Asked Link, going over to her. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and suddenly her sage mark was glowing pink on forehead.
'Ganondorf…it…cannot be…' Suddenly to their left, from an area deep within the woods, a yellow beam seemingly shot out from nowhere in the ground, and as though this had a chain reaction, beams of different colours shot out from different areas of Hyrule. Green from the Kokiri forest, red from the mountains, purple from the East, blue from near the Zoras, black from Kakariko village, and orange from the West. 'Ganondorf, he has captured the Goddesses,' said Zelda, looking up in anguish, 'he has taken their powers, and sealed them so that they cannot help you. We cannot fight now, it is fight or flight, and he is too powerful for even you now. We must hide. Quick, before he finds you! We must not be seen! Look, there's a grotto hole over there, jump in.
The two ran over to the hole, and shot down, falling onto a bed of flowers. Sitting down in the dark dungeon, Zelda sat on a log and put her face in her hands. 'We were too late,' she said, 'he beat us to the Goddesses, and now we cannot gain their help. Even time is against us now, as he captured the Goddess of Time too.' Zelda's symbol on her head continued to gleam brightly. 'I cannot stay here, it is too dangerous, and being a sage, I must help try to fix this world in ways that you cannot. I must go to the sacred realms, with Rauru, and help in spiritual ways.'
'Well, what am I supposed to do?' Link asked, staring at her, 'I can defeat Ganondorf, but I cannot defeat him with the power of Goddesses on his side…'
'You already know what I am going to ask of you Hero of Time,' said Zelda, 'you must do what you have to. You must go to the temples of the Goddesses, not the Sage's temples, and you must free the Goddesses from the prison that Ganondorf has put them in. With that freedom, Ganondorf will lose their power, and once they are all free, they will put their power in you to defeat him. I am sorry but it is the only way.' Link looked down, feeling once again the dread of the impossible sounding quest that stood in his future. 'Link…' said Zelda hesitating, 'you will do this, won't you? For the good of Hyrule?' Link looked at her, and saw the anticipation on her face.
'…Of course I will,' said Link, regretfully, 'where should I start?' Zelda gained a look of relief on her face, and said,
'Start with the Goddess of the Wind, who resides with the winged fairies I told you about, past the Kokiri woods, in the great, ancient depths of the forest. There you will find the fairies, and the temple. You will know from there what to do next. But now Link, I must leave you, and deal with the problems I bear with being a sage. I am sorry I cannot travel with you, I'm sure you understand. Make sure you stay hidden as you travel in the open Hyrule field, you do not want to be seen by spies. Goodbye Link, and good luck. May the Goddesses still be on your side.' And with that she walked up to Link and placed a kiss on his cheek, and Link felt like his face was on fire. Zelda smiled, and faded away right in front of him. Then she was gone.
Link climbed out of the grotto hole, and looked at Hyrule, which seemed to him, was starting to look more like it did in his dream. Link stood straight, and faced the direction of the Kokiri Forest, and started walking. Walking to a new challenge, and a new Quest, which seemed more impossible than any other challenge he had faced.
Coming in the next chapter… Link Travels to the land of the feathered beings new to the land of Hyrule, and finds that it's not only the missing Goddess that the fairies have to deal with…They have problems of their own! It seems like they will not lead Link to the temple unless they get his help first! See all this and more in Chapter 3 of Legend of Zelda: Trials with Time: War.
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