Shadowess: Okay! I managed to get this one finished. I changed a few things from what I originally had but hey, its better now. I would like to say a big thank you to my first reviewer to this story, Blue Fire Lily! Thank you so much and you know what? This is what happens next!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything about the Twilight Princess or anything of the Legend of Zelda series
Chapter 2: Shadows
Slowly coming to, Nyx forced open her eyes, only to shut them again at sudden disorientation. Pushing herself up in to a seating position, she found her ground and opened her eyes again. With a quick look around, she was struck confused. She was awake, but not on the floor in her room. She was in a castle-like prison cell.
Everything around her was dark, but light; devoid of color. The door to her cell was black bars from ceiling to floor, though it was open, so she wasn't taken here. Getting to her feet, Nyx moved cautiously, seeing strange black particles emerge up from the ground only to vanish. There were some noises. Nyx hid herself in the darker corner.
Strange dark being were dragging an unconscious wolf to the cell next to hers. They hissed and give off inhumane noises. Heck, they didn't even look human. They almost dragged themselves, from the weight of their slithery arms or their stone-shield faces… They would be something that you would see in the shadows of an ancient statue…
The wolf though, was a beautiful creature form what she could see. Dark fur with a unique patter on its forehead with a light tan fur. Why were they bringing a wolf down to this place…? Unless those things were going to eat it…
Hell no!
Getting out from the shadows when they passed the open door, she ran out and snuck up behind one of them. Pushing herself against the wall, her arm stung for a while before she swung her leg out and kicked the one not holding the wolf.
It turned around and gave a horrid screech. The other creature chained the wolf up fast and the both swung their giant arms at Nyx. She dodged and started to run where they came from. To her relief, they chased after her, leaving the wolf alone.
A blur of orange and dark black-green rushed past her as she found herself in a large bare room with a stair case of the far end. Nyx didn't stop as she jumped over black vermin that ran at her as well. Up the stairs, she pushed herself harder, to jump over the large gaps that she could see ahead of her.
Behind her, the two shadow creatures tripped over each other, causing the vermin to nip at them and get swatted away. Nyx ran up and after jumping over a third gap, only to find the stone steps start to crumble beneath her feet. She grabbed the edge and pulled herself up.
Looking down, the rocks broke through many steps and also crushed the creatures after her. Nyx kept going up the steps until the tower got narrower.
She couldn't figure out why she was here, or even how she got to this strange place. The game made that tone… just thinking about it gave her a major head ache… and she fell over.
"I hope that wolf is alright." She muttered aloud as she entered the top of the tower, where a door was half open. She walked in.
A figure stood at the window wearing a dark cloak. Something about this person told Nyx not to be wary of them… They turned around.
"Who…?" the figure spoke, feminine and struck confused.
"Who are you first?" Nyx looked through the shadows of the person.
A pause between them stood before the figure lowered the hood. She had dark golden hair, soft jewel blue eyes, a crown over her brow with a blue crystal… Elvish ears stood out from her hair.
"I am Princess Zelda…"
"Zelda?" Nyx was confused. She couldn't be 'that' Zelda…
"Yes… I am Zelda. Can you tell me who you are?"
"…Nyx Shade."
"Nyx… May I ask you how you came to be in the realm of twilight without taking a spirit form?"
She shrugged. "I'm just as confused as you are. One minute, I'm knocked out by a noise in my home, next I wake up in the prison cell running from strange shadow things up to here."
Zelda lowered her head in thought. "Those shadow beasts have taken over my kingdom, as their king has kept me prison here retaining my form."
"I can see that. But… where the hell is here?"
"This is Hyrule. I am sorry but you must hide, one of the creatures are about to return to check on me." Zelda watched the door.
Nyx rolled under the bed just in time to see the creature of shadow. It gave a look around with unseen eyes before leaving. Nyx emerged and sat on the bed.
"No offence Zelda, by why haven't the shadow things killed you?"
"Because I possess a power that their king wants… I possess the power of the Triforce of Wisdom." This was getting weird…
"One more thing… What did you mean by 'spirit' form?"
"Everyone who is surrounded by this twilight is rendered unaware of all that dwells within it. They are ghosts to their own home, though they are very much alive." Zelda explained. "I did not change due to my power… you must possess a great power as well…"
"Right… like I have power…" Nyx scoffed a bit.
"Can you hold out your hand?"
Nyx held out her hand. Zelda held out her own hand bearing a white glove. A golden outline appeared, showing three triangles in a larger one. Her eyes widened at a similar outline appearing on her own hand. The difference was the glow forming three triangles for Zelda, while Nyx had the center one filled instead.
"…The missing piece…" Zelda whispered.
"What…?" Nyx looked at her with confusion.
"You're the…" Zelda's head shot to the door. "Hide!"
Nyx dove under the bed again. It was a rather silly place to hide but it was effective. The door opened just after Zelda put her hood back up and looked out the window. Four paws walked in…
Zelda turned. She looked surprised. "Minda?!"
Nyx looked out from under the bed and came face to face… or rather to snout… with the same wolf she saw in the dudgeon. The creature had gorgeous blue eyes… the last pair of eyes she saw like that had belonged to Darren…
He sniffed her as a figure with fangs and a strange helm with orange hair looked over his shoulder.
"Oh, so that's who you smelt earlier. A girl not changed by this beautiful twilight."
"If beautiful you mean all these strange creatures about trying to kill you, ya. Just gorgeous…" Nyx said sarcastically.
"Please, Nyx… Minda is a resident of the Twilight." Zelda said. She lowered her hood. "I am Zelda. This land is Hyrule…" she told the wolf.
"Why don't you explain what happened… Twilight Princess!" Minda spoke with an impish look on her face. She appeared strange with that strange head-gear and neon orange hair.
Zelda looked down and nodded. She explained to them how it began; of how her soldiers fought valiantly against the creatures of shadow, defending the throne. Of how a figure strode in to the room, dressed in shadow armor with his true face concealed in a kind of mask, with two minions following in tow.
'Surrender or die!' Was what he said to the princess.
Princess Zelda told them how she could not allow innocent lives of her kingdom to be lost to this man, therefore dropping her sword to the ground… signaling the darkness to overcome the Triforce emblem over the throne and cast the castle in to shadows.
"As the castle burnt, the citizens engulfed in the Twilight became spirits. I am banished in this castle in the exchange that the lives of the townspeople remain unharmed." Zelda finished.
"That's rough…" Nyx whispered, amazed. The wolf nodded in agreement.
"Now, I ask you both, and you as well Minda, to save Hyrule. I do not know why are you being looked for, Minda, but… you must help. Now, please leave quickly before the guard returns!" She urged them.
The wolf nodded and went out the door with Minda riding on his back. Nyx looked to Zelda, waiting to see if she had anything else to say.
"Go…" Zelda nodded to her.
She nodded in return and ran after the wolf, only to find it gone. A window was above her so she leaped up, pulling herself through before the shield-faced guard came around the bend. It was raining… the stone roof was slick wet. Across the roof, Nyx saw Minda and the wolf. The small imp was talking to the wolf. Nyx gradually made her way over to them, careful with her footing and watching for killer birds.
Hey, since the place had killer rats, why not killer birds?
Minda transformed in to two figures, one being a small boy and the other a young woman, both with frightened expressions.
"I suppose you'll want to help them. Okay. I will help as long as you do exactly as I say" Minda turned back to her regular form. She glanced over at Nyx when she was close enough. "I suppose you'll want to come too."
"I guess…" Nyx rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure if the wolf could talk, he'd inform you that you are really rude."
"Hmph!"
Minda sat on the wolf's back and transported the three of them with a disintegration of shadows.
Nyx felt her feet contact solid ground, though she realized she was shin deep in a spring. There was not any 'twilight' around them.
"Oh my! Looks like you'll have to go around in the shape of a wolf." Minda's giggle sounded in the air around them. She appeared as a transparent shadow in front of the two of them. "Try not to get spotted, teehee! I'll need a sword and shield that suit me. So you two go get it for me." Minda disappeared in to the wolf's shadow.
"I am not your servant, Minda." Nyx mumbled and sighed. "Well… I don't know what your name is, but I could call you something besides 'wolf'." Nyx knelt down in front of him. "You have the exact eyes of a friend of mine… Everyone called him… Link."
He barked in what she thought was approval.
"I guess that name works then. Let's go, Link."
Wolf Link padded at her side as they walked down the path towards a tree house with scarecrows and targets scattered amongst the surrounding trees. It seemed like a calm, relaxing place to live.
From behind a scarecrow came out an ogre creature with a club, charging towards them. Link growled, his fur standing on end. He barked and leaped, latching his strong jaws on the creature's neck. Green blood squirted out, making the creature gurgle and fall to the ground.
Nyx watched in awe as the ogre slowly dissolved in to the ground, leaving but only a green stain slightly different from the grass.
"Okay, I was just expecting a corpse, but that is weird…"
Link turned toward the tree house, looking at a squirrel. Nyx continued down the darkened path towards a village with Link in tow. The village was quiet, illuminated by a full large bright moon and a few torches scattered around. There were a few men spread out, one on an earth pillar scouting, and two others talking quietly by one of the houses.
They walked toward the two men first. "Maybe we can overhear what's going on… They don't seem to like strangers too much…""
Link nodded as they both stayed within the shadows the closer they got to them. Nyx tried to hear them but only caught something about missing children, Ilia, and a hidden shield. Link crept closer to hear them. After a while, they spotted Link and ran inside the house in fear.
"So there is a shield around here… That's good." Nyx said mostly to herself. What troubled her was the 'missing children' part… She cared about kids, even those twins from earlier, Adam and Ava… Were they okay?
Link seemed to notice the change in her expression. He nudged his head against her hand. She looked down at him to see his eyes stare up to hers… they looked so much like Darren's…
She shook her head. "Okay, let's gkeep going."
They went towards the look-out guy. Link stepped out of the shadows, sounding a scream. The man saw him.
"AH! A beast!" he cried out. He grabbed some odd shaped grass and blew a tune with it. A large hawk came from the sky, landing on his shoulder. "Get it!" he ordered the bird.
It cried out and flew down to Link at an alarming speed, with sharp talons sticking out.
"Hey! Get that bird away from my wolf!" Nyx jumped in front of Link with her arms outstretched, halting the hawk.
"Your wolf?! You mean that thing belongs to you?" He seemed shocked.
"Yes. This is my companion. Call off your hawk!"
"Prove it first!"
Nyx turned to Link and winked. "Okay boy, shake paw." He put his paw in her hand and shook it. "Roll over, boy." He rolled on his back. "Good boy! Who's a good wolf? Yes, you are!" Nyx rubbed his tummy. She looked back to the man. "Call off your hawk now please!"
He thought for a moment, watching Link, but he did. "Alright. Now who are you and why are you here?"
Oh boy… "I am a traveler from the north called Shade. I seek supplies for my journey since my pack was stolen." She lied, making up on the spot. "My companion here is called Darren." She bit her tongue. Ow.
Link looked up at her from the strange name. Why that name?
"Ah… well, the shop will not be open until morning, and I would not advise travel with monsters about."
"Thank you, sir." She turned away to a shaded part with Link. "Sorry… you okay?" Link nodded. "I don't do the 'treat the pet' thing so I won't do it again, to treat you like a dog… unless little kids are around." Link let off an odd noise but Nyx shook it off. She turned to start walking but stopped at seeing a cat sit in front of her.
A calico… She looked at the dried blood cuts on her arm then back to the cat, her expression in shock.
"You're… you're the same cat that scratched me before!"
It tilted its head to the side and looked at the wolf, completely ignoring Nyx. They seemed to be communicating.
She went off towards a giant water wheel and looked at a hole that was at the peak of the wheel. It looked like a possible entrance for her or Link but… Neither could get in with that man on the look-out. Nyx turned to the man and immediately saw Link was sneaking up behind the man… most likely to scare him away from his spot.
If the shield was in there, great. Nyx looked around the village and walked towards a house where two people talked. The couple seemed distraught, and the male appeared injured. Did this have to do with the missing children she overheard?
A scream and a call of terror later, the scouting man was gone. Link jumped in to the house with the water wheel. Nyx waited for a only a few moments before Link came back out with a wooden shield on his back. He jumped to reach the ground but… instead he landed in the water with a splash. Nyx suppressed a laugh at the fur that lay flat against him, and drooped underneath him.
"What was that?!" the injured man called out, holding a torch and sword.
"Are the monsters back?" the woman asked in fear, holding her swelled pregnant stomach.
"Get inside, Uli. I'll check the area for beasts." He said to her.
Nyx moved close to the entrance, trying to scout a way to get the sword from the man. The hawk would work… but it seemed obedient to the villagers. She didn't want to injure the man any more than he already was either.
Link stayed in the water and went up on the back in the shadows close to the back of the house. He sniffed around and dug in to the earth, then vanished from sight.
An electric flash caught her eye from behind her. She spun around and saw a really large insect leaving the village. Before she could comment or even think on what the hell it was…
"Foul beast!"
Link as running towards Nyx with the shield and newfound sword on his back. They both ran past the tree house and towards the bridge. They both froze at hearing an ominous voice call out to them from the spring by the bridge. Link ran in to the spring area. Nyx was about to step in to the water as well when giant stone pillars slammed down from the sky, surrounding Link.
"A shadow being approaches…" the voice echoed in the air.
Indeed, a show being did appear. It fell from a dark portal in the sky. Nyx recognized it from the jail cell at he castle. She tried pounding on the transparent red wall, but was hit back with a strong force. She watched helpless as Link engaged the battle.
Growling, Link leaped and latched on to the creature's neck, tearing a vein or two since ink-like blood spewed out, dissolving in to the water. This lasted for three agonizing minutes of Link attacking the flailing creature.
Finally, it cried out and collapsed to the valiant wolf's feet. It dematerialized and was sucked back up through the portal above, changing its appearance from a red and black swirl to green and black. The walls disappeared as the water glowed.
An orb of light flew out, and an embodiment of a giant goat formed with it, its horns encircling around the orb.
To Nyx, she could hear speech but… she couldn't understand. Link seemed to though. If only she could understand what either them were saying…
The creature turned and gazed upon her with its gold white eyes.
'You are disconnected from this world, chosen child…' the words echoed I her mind. 'You are the Missing Piece…'
Zelda had said that too, but what did it mean?
'Go forth to Faron Province to learn more…' The goat dispersed in to the water.
Link and Nyx left the spring and crossed the rickety bridge towards the woods, supposedly called Faron Woods from what Nyx could understand. They came up to a giant wall of darkness. What was that and what was beyond it?
Minda came out from Link's shadow and approached the darkness. "So you need to get in to the Twilight, huh? I suppose I can get you two in…" she said with a toothed grin. She passed through the wall, making it ripple.
A giant orange hand came out and grabbed the two, pulling them in. Nyx gasped in surprise and shock. As soon as she passed through the wall, she blacked out.
Nyx came to and stood up. She convulsed, feeling her bones and flesh tearing. She fell to her knees as Link stood up on his paws. The pain was unbearable! It was like a each one of your bones rapidly breaking and moving without your will.
Nyx cried out and fell in to darkness.
Link nudged her and barked in concern. Before his eyes, she changed in to a wolf. All white with dark pattersn, similar to his own.
Minda looked at her. "So she changes as well. Probably didn't change before sine she didn't enter the Twilight the same as you the first time."
Link looked around then started getting her unconscious wolf form on to his back.
"I'd wait to do that…" Minda giggled.
Link's head shot up as he heard the familiar sound of falling rocks. He looked down at Nyx before turning to do battle with the creature.
Only one problem… or… three.
Instead of being just one Twilit Messenger, as Minda quickly informed him their name, there were three of them! He couldn't let them win.
He charged at the first two, spinning out violently, hitting them with his claws, teeth, and tail. The two fell! Only one left… It screeched out, making Link stop from the pain ringing in his ears. To his shock, the two that fell rose up, approaching him again.
Minda came out. "You know, you have to kill all of them at once. If one remains, he'll bring back the others." She felt him stare at her. "Use your senses and focus on them all. When they're all in range, unleash your energy to attack all three at once!"
With that in mind, Link made the approach to the monsters, concentrating. All three snarled, about to strike when he unleashed his fury. One, two, three! They all dropped and disintegrated; their particles shooting to the green-lined portal in the sky.
Minda came back out and inspected the sword and shield Link had on his back. She put the shield over her face, and held the sword upside down by the handle.
"How am I supposed to use these 'weapons' from your kind? They're really strange… Oh well. I guess I'll hold on to them for you to use later…" she clicked her small fingers, making the weapons disappear in to a small shadow.
Link went over to the unharmed, unmoving Nyx and get her on to his back. When he was sure that she would not fall , he made his way deeper in to Faron Woods.
Passing around a bend, he came to a spring shrouded with darkness and a faint pale light.
"Chosen… one… changed… by shadows…" a weary mystic voice came from the spring water. "My light… was… scattered by darkness… Retrieve my… tears of… light… in this… vessel… then return… here…" an object floated through the water towards Link, looking like a glass grape vine. He picked it up with his mouth then brought Nyx close to the small pool off to the side.
He nudged her, but no response came from her. He reluctantly left her there, but he had to work fast. Minda came out.
"She'll be fine here. If a monster comes then… I don't know." She shrugged. "Work fast then."
Link stepped back, then dashed away, searching for the tears of light to cut away the darkness.
Shadowess: Yes! And now I'm working on ch3. I'll try to get it out within the next week. This story is working out better than I thought. I'm actually getting a plot going in my head! Reviews are love but not forced. Arigato!