Edited 6/7/16

Chapter 02 – Bloodstains

Music Suggestion: Fatal Lullaby by Adrian Von Zielger

"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong. No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."

― Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

The shaman, Renado, heard it first. It was a scream that could make a Goron cringe, make fresh blood turn cold. He did not just hear it, no… he felt it. It felt like a cold, depressive darkness and it smothered every bit of hope that he held, and at that moment the light spirit, Eldin, spoke. The spirit whispered manically, screamed its heart out within his own mind.

"The Darkness, the darkness, oh the darkness! Run for thy soul for once it sets its sight, there is nothing… nothing to stop it. Encroaching, noisome darkness. It will end everyone and everything. Paint the dirt with blood. Not even light… not even light…"

The spirit's mad speech didn't make him any less afraid as he searched the village pathways for his daughter, knowing that she, as well as the rest of the villagers, had heard it. Yet as he pushed his way through the forming masses toward Elde Inn in a desperate search, did the doors of that very inn open.

The silence was deafening as all frantic eyes focused on the figure as it stalked out of the inn with the stride of a cat. Ruby eyes glowed as Link, with blood coated on his features, laughed ominously. In his hand he held a blade and in the other, a head. To the crowd, the first victim was a wonder. Who was it? They couldn't tell. It was hard to even recognize a feature on the head with the endless amount of gore that dripped from the neck.

"How dare you!" a Goron roared against the tragic silence, its voice made the ground beneath it shake. The denizens around it shuddered at the sudden interruption as it stalked toward the inn's ramp. With another roar it charged, rock arms flexed out before it, as it set to ram Link down with a simple blow.

He swung his beloved sword, its very touch brought a swarm of sparks as it grazed the skin of the Goron and then found a place to settle. Red blood appeared, at first too small to catch, but then it came as a waterfall. Then the wail of a Goron came. It was a cry that was rare to the ears. It was something sorrowful, soul wrenching, and scary. Something unnatural and bitterly sweet should not be reverberated by a man of rock, yet it came like the wind to echo against the dusty huts of Kakariko.

At the cry of the Goron, the denizens of Kakariko scattered like cockroaches in light. They ran, screaming and crying. They left those that stumbled to fall by Link's blade. Surely, if the cry of a Goron had not been heard then they would have stayed, insisted on seizing the murderer… something courageous.

Link walked steadily from the rampart, raised his blade with a flick of the wrist. Just as before, the blade settled in and tore. It cut through the rock as if the tough flesh was tissue paper. He moved like a ghost, wandered without any true desire or destination. Wherever a Kakariko fled to, he followed nonchalantly, his face taking on an expression of a disinterested child. The finesse of the blade made it appear as if he had done it a thousand times over, but with each swing, his thoughts muddled with bliss as his twisted conscience withered further.

Of course he found some humanity still bubbled inside, though weak, and it bothered him to the point that he paused at the moment where his blade rose to cut through a mother and child.

They did nothing. They are simple-minded. They are innocent. You are in the wrong. You should-

Shhhhlick

He drew the blade back, eyes looked over the blood that spilled from the child. If his thoughts were not so focused on what was happening around him, then he would have laughed at the petite voice that tried desperately to grab his attention. It had the gall to make him feel guilty, of all things!

They are selfish. They judge. They're disgusting. They are dirty. They are just as dark as I.

The shaman's daughter, Luda, ran with desperation, having escaped the black blade twice already. Her clothes were splattered with blood; her face burned from the hot substance. One of her best friends, who she'd followed closely behind, had been cut down right in front of her. It had happened so quickly yet time seemed to slow, and in that instance she'd seen the traveler turn, caught the look in his eyes as he recognized her, and saw his sword shift.

She'd slipped in the blood, stumbled over her friend's body, and had kept running. The guilt was suffocating. However, her mind bargained with her, reassured her that her friend's wound had been fatal. There had been nothing left to do except to run.

Luda slipped again but this time over soft dirt in the village's cemetery. The feeling was relief at first. Her ancestors, Eldin even, would surely protect her. However, when she heard the dying screams of her friends, her relief deteriorated.

The cemetery was as silent as ever, cold and eerie as she raced amidst weathered headstones. There was no help waiting for her here. Fear brought her to take refuge behind a forgotten headstone that stood far off to the side of the cemetery. Her fingers curled into the dry earth as her gaze wandered. Maybe if she prayed hard enough then Eldin would save her, would shroud her in light and protect her. The idea was much better than allowing herself to drown in fear. Perhaps… her heart stopped, ached terribly in her chest as if someone had impaled her, and she grasped at her chest with a tight fist. A single scream erupted and ascended over the chaos, and the scream itself drew her into a slobbering mess. Even if she had never heard it in her life, she knew.

Father.

Sword brushed against stone, the contact brought forth a shower of sparks, and the blade indulged itself in the crook of the Goron's neck. The man of rock reverberated with the sound of thunder as its fingers laced around the blade. Yet the sword was too quick for the Goron as it dug deeper and deeper, its dangerous edge caressing the collarbone. The Goron fell to the dusty ground, the earth shaking in response, and withdrew its fingers from the sharp edges only to wrap them around Link's ankle. When Link pulled the blade out and elicited a ground hiss from the Goron, his vigorous gaze searched for his next victim. A sudden amount of pressure against his ankle forced his attention back to the Goron and with a snarl and a flick of the wrist, the sword sliced at the man's throat.

The sharp edges tore through the Goron's rocky flesh and split the jugular vein. With every death, Link would pause to watch the gore and the last moments of his victims. It was something that he found fascinating, to watch life wither away into death. However, he didn't stay to watch the color in the Goron's eyes flicker like a candle and then evaporate into a cloud of black, but he did watch a familiar shaman run past him and the gore that oozed out of the Goron.

At the sight of the man, Renado, Link tightened his hold on the hilt. He judged. The words resonated with malice, repeated over and over in his mind until they became a mantra. The way that the shaman had spoken his name, the way he had looked at him, and the way he had judged encouraged Link's instability.

He will die.

Renado didn't see it coming. He was far too focused in searching for his daughter. Dear Eldin, he was frantic. He paced, unsure of where to look for her, but he knew that if he stayed in one place then he would be slain just as the others. Yet he was so fueled with worry that his thoughts never truly came. No, all he could think was of Luda's safety. He had promised her mother. He had promised…

"I won't be there to see her grow up Renado." Her voice was weak and tired as her hand clung limply to his own, the soft and warm skin felt rough and cold to the touch.

He called her name again, hopelessness made his voice crack.

"I won't be there to help her." She coughed and struggled for words.

A bone-chilling cold crowded around him as he continued his search. It seeped into his body and made his skin crawl with premonitions; nevertheless, he persisted and ignored the descending atmosphere that pressed at his back. He had promised.

"Promise me that you will always be there for her. No matter what. Promise me that you will-"

The point of a blade jabbed at his back, scraped at his spine before it impaled him between his left shoulder blade and spine. Its movement was slow at first, gentle, or maybe that was just time itself slowing down right at death. The pain didn't hit until he heard the blood-curdling laughter, felt the hot breath against his flesh.

"Always protect her."

"Good night," a voice whispered by his ear as the blade was harshly withdrawn. At its withdrawal he felt the pain, the void. It was something dreadful, something missing.

He tightened his hold on her hand in clear desperation. "Don't say that, please. You will make it. I will make sure of that. Eldin will surely listen to me this time."

His hands brushed over his robe until his fingers met the gaping wound left in his chest. For a moment, he stood in absolute shock, but when the blood soaked into his clothes and formed a puddle at his feet, he fell forward. As he fell, he turned his head just enough to catch sight of his killer. Red eyes and a wicked smile met him and filled him with regret. He should have followed his gut feeling.

Link watched the shaman for a moment, even sat beside him to see how fleeting life would be for him. Yet boredom drew Link back on his feet. His interest wavered. Didn't the shaman have a daughter? He scanned the destruction and pandemonium he had caused and he smiled inwardly, but he didn't catch the girl. Nonetheless, his gaze paused on a path that wrapped around the shaman's hut and up a steep hill that he had not taken yet.

The path would lead to the only place that Renado had not looked for…

The only place…

He held the infant in his arms, a smile on his lips even after having dealt with such a tragedy. "I will call you…" he paused and tickled the infant's chin as it played with his braids, "Luda, after your mother."

Luda.

Luda peeked over the headstone with bated breath only to duck her head back down at the sight of her friends' and father's murderer. Even from here she could spot those red eyes. They glowed brighter than the moon. Her heart hammered against her chest as she pressed herself closer to the headstone. She tried to make herself smaller and pulled her legs tightly against her, but nothing happened and the minutes ticked by. Despite her fear, she glanced around the stone and saw an empty cemetery. Relief washed over her for a second time, but when she turned, she was met with darkness.

Luda looked up, breath caught in her throat. The moon's light had died away, dulled by a shadow accented with crimson. The stench of gore was suffocating but manageable, but the look in those eyes ripped her stomach asunder. Link looked down on her like she was prey.

He crouched down until he was eye level, and she flinched back as his eyes met hers evenly. "You're the last." He smiled and leaned forward as he stabbed his sword into the earth beside her.

On the third day, Kakariko's death was discovered by a passing merchant. The blood was so much to where it tainted and overflowed Eldin's spring. Corpses were strewn about like trash, slammed against walls or rock, and there were a few that were too cut up to be recognizable. The scene was so grotesque and tragic that it reached Hyrule's Castletown in a heartbeat.

Kakariko Massacre!

Date 22-342-1111

Kakariko village is closed off to the public due to a tragic event. On the 341st the village was found covered in blood and corpses.

"I couldn't believe it," said soldier Bransen of the 22nd Royal Hyrule Armada, "when I was called in to clean up a 'mess,' I had no idea that it was something like this. I've never seen so much death. I'll never be able to get the scene out of my head."

Currently, no survivors have been found and there has been no evidence as to the identity of the murderer. Current death count is unknown. The list of the dead will be provided next week. A mass funeral has yet to be set.

She read it over and over, the devastating news that had made its home in the hearts of her people. It was unnerving, painful. She felt that it was her fault even though she had known nothing of it. She was tightened her fingers on the parchment remorsefully. Brown eyes trembled, turned glassy from tears that threatened to fall. Already her cheeks were puffy, and amber strands of hair plastered to her warmed cheeks.

Stay strong. Stay strong. Stay strong. She took a deep breath, dropped the bringer-of-bad-news and brushed hastily at her long braids and cheeks. She blinked away the tears and stood abruptly from her writing desk.

"Milady," she flinched, unaware that one of the servants had slipped into her chamber unannounced. Yet as she turned, white gown twirled at her knees, ready to scold the servant did she stop in mid-turn.

"Link," her eyes widened at the speaker.

The boy, no, the man smiled, "Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you. I wanted to surprise you. Is now a bad time? You look distraught... is your father fairing well?" Link tilted his head and his deep, blue eyes filled with concern.

She took a moment to reply, the emotions that the news had triggered hadn't settled down. Instead, she let her eyes roam. He was in casual clothes rather than his soldier armor and it reminded her of how he had declined the offer to stay in the castle so many years ago. She wanted to tell him that the clothes made him look younger, but withdrew as that wasn't entirely true. No, he was more muscular and tanned. His face was filled out more and his voice was deeper, stronger.

"Zel?"

He seemed ignorant about the massacre otherwise he would have acted quiet, angry, uncomfortable. He would have said how he should have done something about it because he was Hyrule's chosen Hero. He'd said it before when something terrible had happened within Hyrule. Of course, since he lived in the secluded outskirts of Faron, it was likely that he wouldn't hear of such tragic news.

"It's nothing. Just feeling a little stressed from my duties as of late. Nothing new," Zelda smiled with finality, and gave him a look that told him to not press the issue, "Now, what brings you here?"

"Even though I'm no longer affiliated with Ordon, I promised Rusl that I'd continue the job of giving the Royal Family Ordon's blessing." As he spoke, he turned to his side and withdrew a sheath embezzled with faux jewels. The sheath itself was impressive with its intricate detail of thread that retold the story of the Triforce and the Hero, but the blade would surely outshine it. Each blade, every year, was more amazing to look at than the one before it. It shimmered even in darkness and sung beautifully when it cut wind.

"How nice."

Luda's mother is not known in Twilight Princess.