Legend!

The Forgotten Hero and the Eternal Swordsman

By I.K.A. Valian


Chapter Two: Interweaving Two Lands


A Living Nightmare

He tossed and turned frequently that night. His dreams, though at first all about heroes, fighting dragons, and saving damsels in distress, suddenly and violently shifted into high gear nightmares about being tortured and chased all around a nameless, endless city. Monstrous creatures with the heads of the other kids tried to grab him everywhere he went. When one of those monsters caught him and was about to devour him, he woke up.

It was after the sixth time that happened that he decided to stay awake. A few minutes later a rooster crowed , rudely alerting everyone in town that it was time to wake up. Morning light found its way to his feet through the small boarded up window in his room. He was happy in his room, where it was so peaceful and quite. Nothing like outside.

Outside... The time was quickly approaching when he would have to face Lanieu again. He dreaded leaving the house. He wished he could stay home and hide in his room forever. At least then he wouldn't have to deal with the inexplicable fear that gripped him every time he saw the big brute. But he knew that wouldn't work because every time he tried, his mother panicked and forced him out of the house. Not soon after that the other kids in town found him and started their games again, which always got ten times worse when Lanieu showed up some minutes later.

Help me!

Yeah, help, that's what he needed. But who could help him? Who would help him? He'd already made a fair good deal of the population of Castle Town hate his guts, or Lanieu set him up as the fall guy. No. No one would willingly to help him.

Please! Help me!

He froze. There it was again. Did he just hear what he thought he did? A girl speaking in his head?! He'd heard of telepathy before, obviously, all Hylians knew what it was. A girl in his class during the winter school season claimed to be able to read people's minds, but no one ever paid attention to her. And here he was hearing voices. But who's?

Please, I'm in ter…ble troub….

Whoever it was, she sounded desperate. But why would she want him to help her. He couldn't even help himself, let alone someone in actual danger. What good would he be able to do?

Please! He… me, I… tured an… …n the dungeon. My na… Pri…ess Zelda.

The Princess! What? How? He couldn't save her. Princess Zelda! He just couldn't. It was impossible. He should go find a guard and tell him what he was hearing. The moment that thought passed through his mind, reality slammed into him like a loaded horse-drawn dung cart.

The guards wouldn't believe him. He was just a kid. They'd be less likely to believe he was hearing the Princess through telepathy than if he told them an anvil was going to randomly fall on their heads. Now he felt a wave of uselessness wash over him, adding to the shivering fear he already felt. This was far from normal.

I'm beg… I …an… I… … You… kill… m… …ing. I… …xt …lp.

Whatever she was saying was making less and less sense, more gibberish than a viable language. He wanted to help her, he really did. But just like when he was facing Lanieu, his courage seemed to be sucked right out of him.

A… guards …he castle …ind contro… Ganondorf!

Ganondorf! He couldn't stop him! No! There's no way he's going to face his death, even if it were to save the princess. The closest he would get to that… What was he thinking, he would never get close to that! Ganondorf?! No way!

Help………

His mind went blank for a full minute before a single thought fluttered into his mind. It was more of an emotion than a thought. Something he was well associated with. Pure terror. Her final plea was so heart wrenching, so desperate and frail that even he found himself moving from his safety bed toward the door with the intention of doing something.

Maybe he could save her…

Wait, what was he thinking?! Here he was, getting all worked up over a voice in his head. Princess or not, he must be going crazy. For a moment he nearly let that shield down, dared to believe, but it wasn't real. It couldn't be real. Things like this just didn't happen to him. Those legends about heroes and villains were just that, legends. There was probably only one thing true about them and it wasn't anything fantastic like a damsel in distress.

The door unlocked and his mother swung it open. By the look on her face, she was going to be shoving him out the door a little bit faster than normal today. She was shaking as she ushered him out the door. It always seemed like she was afraid of him. Before he ran down the street to find a place to hide, he took pause next to his door. He could swear he heard crying.

"Hey!" Link spun around, preparing to run as fast as he could only seconds after he was out the door. The girl who'd called to him shrank a little at his expression but he didn't really care if she was scared of him. He still remembered her kicking him the day before, it still sort of hurt too.

"What... do you want?" he asked cautiously.

"I… I just wanted to know why you don't fight back?" she asked. "Yesterday, I mean. When we were all chasing you."

For a moment, he just stared at her, wondering if this was some kind of a trap. She'd never cared about him before. She certainly didn't yesterday.

Finally he said, "I can't... I just can't." She watched him, genuine curiosity playing out behind her eyes. It was starting to freak him out so he said something else to fill the silence. "I try to fight back, but... Every time I see Lanieu... I just can't do anything."

Help………

He shuddered and closed his eyes as he had the same emotional response to the cry for help as in his room. When he opened them again, the girl was still staring at him, strangely now, confused by his behavior. Then her eyes widened and she turned away.

"I'm sorry," she said over her shoulder before she took off down the street. He watched her leave and slowly loosened his limbs from their tense position. Why did she apologize? Was she sorry about hurting him?

"Oh look who I found." He jumped as a large rough hand slammed down onto his shoulder. "If it isn't Link. I've been looking for you." He felt his legs do that thing where they freeze up and turn into Jell-O at the same time. "Guess what we're playing today, Wimpy Linky?" Lanieu asked as he leaned forward and stuck his head right next to his.

After swallowing several times to loosen his constricted throat, he whispered, "The hero game?"

"No..." Lanieu said, drawing the word out. The boy's tone making his skin crawl. "Today we're going to fight a dragon! A big, scary dragon that's living inside of a dark and smelly cave."

"A dragon?" he whimpered shrilly, a sense of dread settling over him. He suddenly felt sick as well, wishing he had a way of escaping Lanieu.

"Yep. And you're going to play the dragon while the rest of us play the Hero," Lanieu explained cheekily. "It's not quite fair that you get to play the hero all the time so we want to take a crack at it for once. We can't be any worse at it than you are." The older boy laughed loudly, joined in his deranged mirth by a gang of kids standing behind him.

Lanieu started walking, directing him with his powerful grip on his shoulder toward a hole in the wall. A hole that everyone who lived in the area knew was an entrance into the sewers. He could feel hot tears streaming down his face as dread filled him from his toes to the highest hair follicle on his head.

Lanieu stopped in front of the gaping hole. "Well, here we are," he said, shoving him forward. "You're right at home Wimpy Linky." Lanieu gestured at the surrounding sewage. "A dragon amongst his minions of rats, snakes, and royal poop."

He opened his lips, about to stutter out some kind of excuse about not wanting to play today or being too injured from yesterday. But the instant he locked eyes with the steely gaze of Lanieu and saw his balled up fist pounding into the other, he knew there was no way he was getting out of this, at least, not the same way he was forced in.

Come… This wa…

Her again?! How did she even know where he was anyway?

"Come on, everyone," Lanieu suddenly shouted to the group behind him. "Let's go get us a poopy dragon!"

"Yeah!"

Deciding that staying put wasn't an option, he legs quickly trudged into the sewers. He felt a subtle pull, as if he was being led by an invisible hand; of being drawn towards the source of the pull. He quickly forgot about that feeling when he heard the kids behind him shouting loudly.

The sewage system was hidden beneath the rich people's homes and the castle. It smelled as bad as they were filthy rich. Smelly liquid that might have been water at one point gurgled along to his left and a slimy wall passed by his right. It wasn't long before he came to two paths that split.

"Now what?" he asked miserably. He was really pathetic. To allow Lanieu to force him in here and now he was following a voice that wanted him to head deep into the sewers, and he wasn't even sure if the voice was even really there. Why couldn't he ever think of fighting back when he was in that terrifying presence.

Hu-y………

He started down the left path and slowed to a stop when he was swallowed by the darkness. He heard several scratching noises above the gurgling of the sewage and was sure that any second now the rats would drop down on top of him and start gnawing through his eyes to eat his brain. What was he doing? He couldn't save the princess! He shuddered and turned around, determined to head back and get beaten up. At least he wouldn't be eaten.

STOP!

He stopped at the junction where the paths split, holding his chest with his hand and waiting for his racing heart to calm down. There was a lantern hanging above his head. Slime dripped from its base onto the grimy floor, making a repetitive splat that a clock smith would envy.

When he turned around to look back into the darkness he felt the pull again. It was definitely coming from the darkened tunnel. He leaned over and looked down the other tunnel; it was completely lit with brightly shining lanterns, also covered in slime to one degree or another.

He much preferred that route and was about to head down there when he heard the clapping footfalls of the posse of kids coming up behind him.

-s way…

Why?! Why was he the one being tortured by voices? Now he had to choose between his daily beating and following a voice into darkness where there were many creepy crawlies ready to kill and eat him. Which one, which one!

Please… …urry…

"I don't want to do this!" he moaned. He grabbed the lantern above his head. Carefully, as it was covered with goo and likely to slip from his hands, he held the lantern in front of him and delved back into the darkness.

What was wrong with him? He knew that he could survive the beating, so why was he taking this chance? What could possibly drive him into a situation with rats and bugs as tall as his knees? He repeated these questions several times to himself, but it was useless asking. He already knew the answer. That tortured voice...

He stopped in front of another split in the tunnels and held the lantern as high as he dared to. The goo was slowly running down the underside of his arm and into his armpit, making his skin crawl. He nearly jumped out of his skin when a rat fell from its perch on the wall into the sewage running past his feet.

"How much longer is it," he asked his telepathic partner. He hoped she would tell him to head on home, this was all a bad joke, she had her kicks now, he was done.

This way…

He felt the pull taking him to the left again. He hopped over the gurgling stream, doing his best to stay away from a large rodent. It glared at him as he quickly moved into the new, smaller tunnel.

Several minutes later, he was surrounded by rats. Hundreds of creepy, crawly, ropey-tailed sewer rats squeaking this way and that. This tunnel didn't have a running stream going through it, but it did have a pool of sludge that he was going to have to wade through. He certainly wasn't going to sidle along thin path that hugged the wall where all the rats were.

Holding his nose and his breath, he held the lantern up high as he stepped into the dark brownish sludge. He didn't know how bad it smelled because by now his sense of smell was burned out by all the other things he'd smelled since entering this place. The stuff got into his shoes first, his pants, and finally the bottom part of his shirt. The feeling was a mixture between greasy goo and sticky slime, a feeling he strongly associated with Lanieu. If he thought only the older boy was capable of dealing out such a thing, he was now soundly proven wrong.

The sludge pool didn't take long to pass through and when he was safely on the other side he released a deep sigh of relief. The rats along the wall seemed to be thinning out as he continued deeper into the tunnel. Eventually, he could put the slime laden lantern down because the hall had its own lanterns lining the wall.

He shuddered as he felt the slime in his clothes and shoes slosh around. His stomach did a Zora line dance in response. Then his eyes bulged.

He bent over and excavated the meager breakfast that he'd eaten before he left home. On the up-side, he figured the sewer was the best place for that small mess to be. Very small.

A little bit farther down the tunnel he came to a large wooden door that was left slightly open. When he poked his head through, his eyes widened from the difference in atmosphere. He immediately wished his nose was clogged up again because now he could smell himself. His parents wouldn't like this. And the others would laugh at him and call him a smelly pile of horse dung.

above me. Find… way down.

A way down? Sure. So easy to find after mucking about in… stuff he didn't want to think about. Nevertheless, he started looking. Maybe he could find someplace with a guards uniforms so he could change clothes.

Where were the guards anyway? He grinned when he pictured a guard finding him and then keeling over from the smell. But that grin immediately flew from his face when he realized that the guard would then become angry at him and either hit him or throw him in jail… or kill him.

The sewer door opened up into a large room. On the far side was a stair case going up and next to it a door. The door, upon inspection, was found to be locked. When he turned around to check the rest of the room, he saw it, a set of stairs heading down.

As he descended, he heard a loud and deep laughter emanating from below. He slowed, his arms trembling as he halted and started backing up. As he stepped back his slime laden foot slipped. He fell onto his bottom and then the grease and grime he'd picked up in the sewer decided to send him on a ride, causing him to slide all the way down the curved staircase.

He tumbled into the room and slammed into something hard. His movement, abruptly halted, was transferred to the lone, drunk-off-his-ass soldier in the room. The man flew across the room and down another descending staircase. The soldier's armor clinked and clanged all the way until the whole thing ended in a distant, but very loud crash.

He decided to remain on the floor. His legs spread apart unconsciously. He could feel the muscles in his backside pulsing painfully. Thoughts of movement were the last thing on his mind as Zelda approached the bars of her cell.

She was impressed by his entrance, never having anticipated the big and burly soldier going down so easily. Down being the operative word. But now that she was getting a better look at her supposed savior, she was having second thoughts.

This boy was a mess! She could smell his stench from across the room. He looked like a Dodongo swallowed him and then spit him back up after it decided that he was too bitter. She looked down at her wrist, at the seal burned into her skin. It was a devious device indeed if it restricted her communication to the smelliest and youngest of her subjects.

"Hey!" she hollered. The boy stopped groaning on the floor long enough to glance up at her. For a moment her heart softened, he looked so very pathetic. "Would you find the key to this prison cell so I can get out of here?" she asked, quickly growing impatient with the pitiful look he was giving her. When he didn't move, she added "If you don't hurry Ganondorf will come back and kill us both."

That got him moving, and move he did. He jumped up, realizing the mess he was in now. He really should have stayed with the others and gotten beaten up. He internally bemoaned his current situation as he quickly searched high and low for a key.

When he found it on top of the table, he shouted in triumph and dashed toward her cell. It was, of course, the first place he should have looked and the last place he did. She had to give him credit where it was due; he was very quick on his feet. Unfortunately, his stench grew the closer he got. She covered her mouth and nose as he fiddled with the lock until it popped open several minutes later.

She was counting her blessings as she rushed from her cell and toward the upward slanted stairs when a golden barrier appeared in her way. She almost shouted out in frustration but instead settled with leaning against the barrier with both hands. So close.

"Now, now, Princess. Did you really think that I would let you both escape so easily?"

She slowly turned around and scrunched up her face in quite an unladylike fashion. "It was a trap all along then." The mongrel of a boy she summoned dashed behind her dress and remained crouched there, shivering violently. She would have to reprimand him later for getting her dress dirty and smelly.

Ganondorf stepped from the descending stair well on the other side of the room, projecting a commanding presence as he literally scraped the ceiling with his wild red hair. His eyes were lit up with a malice that could be mistaken for pure joy. The Gerudo man brought his right fist up in front of him, the image of the Triforce glowing brightly on the back of his hand.

Link suddenly felt a pain unlike anything he'd ever felt before burning from within his left hand. His legs jerked uncontrollably and launched him away from the protection he'd found behind the Princess. He landed hard on the stone dungeon floor with a sludgy splat. He would have cried out in fear or panic, but his mind was too focused on the burning triangle of pain searing from his hand. So horrendous was the pain that he was unable to see the Triforce symbol that illuminated his face like he was facing the morning sun.

"Behold," Ganondorf said mockingly, "when two or more pieces of the Triforce are brought near to each other, they resonate. This... smelly retch is your Hero, Princess Zelda."

She backpedaled into the barrier, subconsciously bringing her hand to her mouth to stifle the loud gasp she gave off. This pathetic boy was the holder of the Triforce of Courage?! How was that even possible?!

"And now," said Ganondorf, "I bid you both a joyous and long coming goodbye!"

The searing pain began to spread from his hand. It slowly grew up his arm as if he were dipping it in a vat of molten lead. It felt like his flesh was melting off, but when he managed to force his eyes open, he found that nothing was actually happening to his arm except for the glowing symbol on the back of his hand.

Wait, his hand was glowing? What symbol was that? What did it mean? Why was it on his hand?

Ganondorf held up his fist, the Golden power of the Triforce flowing through him as he cast the spell his master gave to him. As more and more energy was sucked up from the space around him into the growing sun-like ball of energy in his fist the other lights in the room seemed to grow in insignificance, the walls appeared to bend out of shape, the very air became like glue. When it felt as if the universe itself would rip apart if something else didn't give first, Ganondorf reared back and then rushed forward, driving his magic laden fist into the ground just in front of Link and Zelda.

The ball of golden light did not explode and did not extend toward the boy and the Princess to fry them into smoldering piles of ash. Rather, it imploded and sucked the Princess and the boy in to it, as well as a portion of the stone floor and wall they were standing on. Once the dust settled, it appeared as if a perfect sphere of space was suddenly removed from the room, the Princess and the boy gone with it.

The evil man felt a wide grin stretch his face. An unfamiliar feeling filled him and it took him almost a full minute to realize that he was experiencing happiness. After a moment's examination, he threw the emotion out, considering it a vile and toxic substance that should be stricken from anyone who felt it. A sense of vertigo filled his evil heart just as quickly as the happiness had with the realization that he'd won. His master had finally won. The hindrance to their plans was finally and forever more removed.

With that thought playing through his head, he walked confidently from the dungeons of Hyrule Castle. He sauntered from the castle itself toward the town a short distance away. And through the town he walked, indiscriminately backhanding civilians and soldiers into buildings as he went, enjoying their screams, and laughing at their helplessness.


A Touch of Destiny in a Dying World

His master wasn't the brightest of people, though he did make up for it by having a big heart. Still, his master proclaimed that he was a dog when in fact he was a highly intelligent, highly evolved, long lived creature. It didn't help matters that he could only speak like a dog at the moment. Perhaps some things are better left unsaid though. His master would likely be really embarrassed if he found out that he knew and understood every single thing he was saying.

"Hey Noishe," his master said as he stopped to stare at a display of colorfully exploding lights in the sky. "What do you think that is?"

He could only whine and bark in response, which he did, but he believed that his master got the message. He had no clue. After all, the only thing that he knew of that could create lights like that in the sky were Exsphere enhanced beings or students of Magic. But he didn't see any such being in proximity to them, and thank goodness too. He didn't feel like hightailing it out of there when they were surrounded by monsters already. He'd have to dodge and weave his way out onto the plains and that option really did not appeal to him at the moment.

It was precisely because of that reason that he was following his master through the Iselia woods. His master long ago learned to defend himself from monsters, and so he took advantage of that by letting him do all the hard work of clearing a safe path through the monsters. His master didn't appear to mind that much. In fact, it was his impression that his master secretly enjoyed the battles. Clearly something he inherited from his father, who was another can of nuts altogether.

"Oh well," his master said, "let's go Noishe. If I'm late for class again, Professor Sage said she'd force me to stay after school for catch up lessons."

He rolled his eyes and whined softly, knowing quite well his master's disdain for mental labor. He'd once had such an aversion, but it was a long time ago during another phase of his life. He eventually got over it and learned the benefit of knowledge and the wonders it produced. The Sage woman that his master mentioned seemed to understand the principle, but her execution of it was a bit off balance.

The trip along the pathway through the woods started up again, several times pausing so that his master could defeat a random wild animal that attacked, mostly rabbits. He knew their kind. Always looking so cute and cuddly until they suddenly ripped your face off in a furry flurry of furiousness.

His master stopped, as he often did, when the path they were on diverged. One headed toward the town of Iselia while the other led to the local Human Ranch. It smelled bad to his sensitive nose, but he was sure his master could not smell it. Human noses were not all that powerful.

"I wonder what those lights were," his master wondered aloud as he started down the path toward Iselia once more. "It couldn't have been magic, I've seen Genis and that traveling mage from a while back cast magic and it looked nothing like those lights. I'll have to ask Genis and the Professor about it when I get to-*bonk*"

He looked up quickly when he heard the dull thud and found his master rammed face first into the trunk of a tree. He quickly trotted toward his master and started licking the wound to head off any kind of infection. Honestly, this boy was more likely to get damaged than a well used archery target.

"N-Noishe! Stop that!" His charge continued to sputter and try to push him away, so he whined and continued to lick. "Stop Noishe, I'll be fine. You don't have to lick me anymore alright! Sheesh."

His master pushed himself onto his feet and brushed the dust from the red dwarven outfit that he wore. Though it did look rather odd on a human, it did its job well and protected him from many of the scrapes and wounds he otherwise would have acquired over the years. His master's foster father surely knew well the art of crafting to have created such an outfit, though the white ribbons were rather tacky in his opinion.

"Ouch, that hurt," his master said while holding his forehead. His master grimaced when he pulled his hand away and found it covered with his saliva. "Ah, Noishe, now I'm covered in your drool."

With an indignant whine, he sat down and swooshed his tail back and forth in the dusty path. It wasn't his fault that humans were so concerned about their cleanliness. Though, his master wasn't nearly as bad as some others he'd met.

While Lloyd rubbed his face with his sleeve to get as much of the slimy slobber off, he noticed something move in the woods. At first he thought it was a monster, moving through the woods in an attempt to capture food or something. Monsters often did that in this forest. But when he saw a flash of dirty hair and a pale face attached to the being, his curiosity got the better of him.

"Stay here Noishe," he told his dog, getting a belligerent woof in response. He knew of course that his big dog wouldn't leave the path because he was afraid of the monsters. Not the most dependable in a fight, but Noishe could run faster than the wind.

He unsheathed his twin swords as he approached the spot where he saw something moving. Just as he entered a clearing his foot caught on a root or something and sent him into a free fall. To save himself from being impaled on his blades he tossed the two wooden sabers away and landed heavily on the ground.

Reacting quickly incase it was a monster, he rolled over twice and quickly pushed himself up onto his knees, dragging one of the swords he dropped as he went, to end up on his knees with the blade against another boy's throat. The boy's skin was too pale and the whites of his eyes stood in contrast to the small dots of his irises as he stared wildly back at him. He was shaking as well, his body wiggling slightly every half second.

"Who are you," he asked. He lowered his sword, though he kept it between the two of them. There was no knowing if this kid was some kind of thief.

The younger boy swallowed and said, "M-my n-name is Link."

He could clearly see that this boy was no threat, so he sheathed his sword. The boy took this as an opportunity to escape and bolted into the forest before he could react. A part of him wanted to chase him, but he had to get into town before the Professor skinned him alive. But who was he? Why was he dressed so oddly? Where did he come from?

After collecting his other sword, he returned to Noishe on the path that led into town. He was going to consider it an easy trip through the forest that day, since he'd only run into monster five times when he heard shouts of pain and the sound of a monster attacking someone. Thinking that some innocent traveler might be in trouble, he rushed forward while in the back of his mind he wished Noishe would stop running away from monsters like he'd done just now.

He did not find a traveler, but instead found the boy, Link, from earlier. Link was literally hiding in the branches of a tree as three rabbits clawed at the base of its trunk, trying rabidly to climb up after the boy. The tree trunk already sported several gouges due to the beast's attempts to climb up.

He unsheathed his swords and ran in to engage the monsters. It wasn't long before they were all fading into the Ether, something he didn't quite understand, but the Professor said that it was something called the Mana Cycle where the Mana in the bodies of the defeated monsters is purified and released back into the air. Or something to that effect. He really didn't understand all that stuff.

When he was sure that there were no more monsters in the vicinity, he sheathed his swords and looked up the tree at Link. The boy clutched tightly to the branch he was on with his eyes screwed shut. He could understand being afraid of monsters, but they were just rabbit monsters. The way he ran he could have easily outpaced them. And it wasn't like they were scary looking. So why was he acting this way?

"Hey," he shouted, "the monsters are gone, you can come down now."

Link cracked open his eyes and peeked down at Lloyd. After a few seconds he asked, "Did you kill those monsters?"

"Yeah," Lloyd responded.

"Why?" Link said. "Why would you help me? Everyone else would have stood back and laughed at me."

Lloyd shrugged. "Why would I stand here and laugh at you? I don't think it's funny." Lloyd glanced down from Link at the tree again. "Are you going to stay up there all day?"

Link looked around the area. He wasn't sure if he could trust Lloyd, but he wasn't acting like the other kids. And there weren't any monsters left. He quickly dismounted the tree. He was prepared to run as soon as he landed in case Lloyd decided to change his mind. But that scenario never occurred.

"I'm Lloyd Irving, by the way," he was told once his feet touched ground. "Why did you think I'd laugh at you anyway?

"I…" Link slowly stood up straight. The younger boy looked torn between what he knew should be happening and what was happening. "I'm just not used to someone like you," Link said at last. "You're not like anyone else I know. You're… nice."

"Really," Lloyd asked. He seemed genuinely surprised. "I did what anyone else would do. What are you doing out here in the middle of the Iselia Forest anyway?"

Link paused as he contemplated how much to tell Lloyd. He was already much nicer than anyone he'd ever met in his entire life. He was strong, he was kind, and he was totally oblivious to how much he was shaking. Speaking of which, his body wasn't wobbling as much as it usually did.

But could he really tell him where he came from? Or how he got here? He guessed that he was taking too long to decide what to say because Lloyd started looking off into the distance, not really paying attention to anything.

"I don't think I can explain it," he said finally. In truth, he had no clue how he went from lying in pain on a hard stone floor inside the Hyrule Castle Dungeon to lying in the relative luxury of a flower bed. He knew it had something to do with Ganondorf and Zelda. They were talking to each other when he appeared here.

Maybe she knew how to get back. They were right next to each other when they arrived, so she shouldn't be too far away. Maybe there was hope of returning home… But what home would he have to return to. If Ganondorf was there then Castle Town was probably destroyed by now and so there wasn't anything to go back to.

"It's okay," said Lloyd. He felt a calm hand touch his shoulder. He found the gesture alarming and calming at the same time. No, Lloyd was definitely not like anyone he'd ever met. "I'm not sure I'd understand what you'd have to say anyway." He looked into Lloyd's face and found a warm, friendly grin. It was at that moment that he realized that he was not shaking anymore. He wasn't afraid anymore. He grinned himself, though perhaps he let too much of his euphoria into the gesture.

Lloyd was looking at him strangely, he realized. "Like I was saying," the elder boy said, "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it. Either way, you should come with me to Iselia. It's not far from here and you'll be safe from monsters there. So… what do you say? Will you come?"

"Okay," he said. Lloyd's face lit up, as if he'd been given a surprise birthday cake. Excited now, he grabbed Link's hand and, over the younger boy's surprised shout, dragged him from the forest at a break neck speed. The two sped off into the distance, Link's frantic cry floating on the wind.

Noishe perked his ears as he watched the two of them go, wondering what his master was up to when he heard the new boy cry for his master to slow down. He was about to follow them when he caught the scent he thought he'd never smell again on the wind. It was faint, a few days old. He'd been here for a while now, waiting and moving about. He decided to find the man he smelled, it'd been far too long since they'd talked.


This chapter took so long to post simply because it took so long to finish Chapter Four. Over two months. It's not a regular habit of mine to take so long, but apparently I had that common writers ailment called lack of motivation. I think I'm getting better though, because I revised and edited this chapter in one day. Still... Chapter Four is 20 pages long. Anyway, now that the winter break is coming up, I hope to have more time to devote to writing, after finals of course. Thanks for reading and to all you who reviewed way back in October, thank you to you too!

I.K.A. Valian

Namco Bandai owns the Tales of series. Nintendo owns the Legend of Zelda series. I own the plot and any original characters you may happen upon in this original work.


Update 12/2/08: Changed some formatting.

Update 12/15/08: Not changing anything, just letting all who read this know that TOS is Alternate Universe. Characters will be OOC.

Update 1/19/09: Revised the whole chapter.