Dark in the Glow
I had landed on something rough and hard. After I opened my eyes, I realized that I was in a large, hollow tree. I tried to move, but found the effort painful and decided to turn my head toward the sound of water. Zelda was right next to me, still knocked out. She seemed to have landed in a large tuft of leaves. I tried to see if she could hear me.
"Zelda?" I said. Luckily, she sat up quickly, and tried to see where my voice had come from. When she saw me, she moved faster than I thought she could.
"Link, are you okay?" Zelda said as she helped me sit up.
"No, I can't move without hurting myself." I said honestly.
"Should I see if anyone's around?" Zelda asked.
"No need." A giant dragon said. She had the face of a woman, an extremely long neck, and was wearing a black and blue kimono. Her tail was so long, I couldn't see the end of it. She seemed to appear from the water, and it looked like she was glowing slightly. That could have been my vision since I can see people, creatures, and items differently, especially when they are close to immortals, enchanted, or blessed.
"Who're you?" Zelda asked the blue dragon.
"I am Lanaryu, one of the great protectors of this land. You both came from the sky, correct?" Lanaryu said.
"Yes, we fell from Skyloft." I said.
"But you are not from Skyloft, are you warrior?" Lanaryu said. It almost sounded like she was accusing me of something. Zelda looked confused.
"But this is my best friend, Link." Zelda said.
"I am afraid not. This here is a dark warrior from another world. He looks like your Link, but he is a darker and more dangerous being." Lanaryu said. Zelda, now shocked, let go of me in surprise. I stopped myself from hitting my head against the ground, grunting in pain as I did so.
"Who are you?" Zelda asked as she stood up and backed away. I tried to keep my cover.
"You would believe someone we just met?" I said confused.
"I believe her because I sensed something different about you before we fell. You seemed more devious." Zelda said. She stayed between me and the dragon.
"Okay, I guess I'm not in a place to argue. I am a darker version of Link, but-" I got cut off by an angry Zelda. She leaned close to my face.
"What did you do to Link? Where is he?!" Zelda said. I thought it would be best to tell the truth.
"I don't know what happened to him. That wasn't my job." I said honestly. Zelda frowned and looked up at the water dragon.
"He is telling the truth." She confirmed.
"Your job was to get me then?" Zelda fumed. I became annoyed with her assumption.
"My job was to get you out of Skyloft and to a temple, but as you can see it only half worked." I said. Zelda got so mad, I thought she would kick me. Before she could, I changed the subject.
"Lanaryu, why did you come here?" I asked.
"I felt two powerful beings arrive in my domain. I wanted to protect my forest." She explained.
"We don't want any trouble." I said quickly. I was sure she was going to banish me from this realm, but something seemed to hold her back. I could tell Lanaryu was angry for my presence, but Zelda protected me, to my surprise. Why would Zelda protect someone who was trying to take her prisoner?
"Don't hurt him, it was an accident that we landed here, right?" Zelda glanced back at me, half-expecting me to say "no, it was on purpose," I assume.
"Right. I don't know what hit your loftwing, but I owe them a little visit." I said darkly at the end. Lanaryu seemed less irritated and more emotionless.
"Very well. Dark warrior, promise me that you will protect this girl at all costs." Lanaryu said. I didn't respond. I know the power of a promise to a sacred being from experience.
"Promise me, or you will wish you had fallen from Skyloft a thousand times instead of what I'm about to do to you!" Lanaryu said furious. Her powerful voice rumbled the entire tree. Zelda flinched, and I pretended to swallow hard.
"I-I promise." I said, feigning fear. I've never feared another creature. It's in my nature.
"Good. I will give you two a map of the forest. Zelda, I cannot heal this dark warrior, so you must find a way." Lanaryu said, reading Zelda's concerned look.
"Is there a safe place I can put him while I try to figure this out?" Zelda asked.
"The safest place in this forest is right here, or in the heart of the forest temple." Lanaryu said. Zelda didn't have any other questions, so the dragon vanished through the opening of the tree. I sighed, glad the dragon left our presence.
"Are you really going to protect me?" Zelda asked. For a second, I thought she could tell I had faked being intimidated of the dragon.
"I have to." I answered. She didn't say anything for a little while.
"What do you really look like?" Zelda asked. I became annoyed of her questioning.
"Why does it matter?" I asked still laying down, staring at the opening at the top of the tree.
"I've never seen anyone from another area other than Skyloft, so I'm curious." Zelda said honestly.
"I think you'll find this form more subtle." I said. She knelt down next to me, and I looked up at her curiously.
"Please?" Zelda asked her eyes unwavering. I looked away from her gaze before answering.
"No." I said firmly.
"Not even for a second? I can't tell if you're injured if you look like Link." Zelda said. I sighed; what an obvious lie! I looked her directly in the eyes.
"Fine. I have a feeling you won't take no for an answer." I said. I closed my eyes to concentrate since transforming took magic.
I heard Zelda gasp as my hair turned gray and my clothes changed from Link's Skyloftian clothes to a jet black tunic and hat. My pants were light gray and I had dark brown belts and bronze chain mail. My boots were black leather as were my finger-less gloves. I knew this without even opening my eyes since I could sense the transformation. When I did open them, Zelda jumped back.
"Y-you're eyes are red! I've never seen red eyes on a person." Zelda said as her shock turned into admiration. Without thinking about it, I grinned. She was a funny one that's for sure. Zelda didn't seem afraid, but intensely curious.
"Am I going to stay here?" I asked her. Zelda frowned.
"Well it wouldn't be kind to just leave you here by yourself. Lanaryu said that the temple's core was safe, and there's something called 'sacred water' shown on this map. Maybe it'll help you." Zelda said.
"I don't like the idea of sacred anything. What if it hurts me?" I asked interested in the concept. Zelda thought about it for a second.
"What about 'cursed water?' The map shows that too." Zelda said.
"We could try it I guess." I said. After much convincing, Zelda got me to lean on her for support as we headed to the cursed water, which happened to be closest to us on the map. The mysterious water was deep in the Ancient Cistern.
Zelda had three bottles with her, and she found it difficult to get to the cursed water since there were puzzles, exploding puffer fish, and animated blobs of goo that followed her like a bad dream. What a strange place.
Zelda let me stay near a bizarre statue beside the entrance of the cistern. It resembled a loftwing looking up to the heavens on a tall pedestal. Amused, I watched as she climbed, fought, and solved her way to a different area.
Zelda came up out of nowhere from a rope behind another statue nearby. She looked tired, dirty, and covered in a strange scent. The scent reminded me of a cemetery in the cool of night.
"Remind me not to go back there..." Zelda said as she approached me with a bottle of oozing purple and black water. Now very interested in the cursed water, I tried to grab it, but Zelda moved the bottle up over her head.
"I'm not letting you have this until we get both kinds of water just in case." Zelda said. I frowned. I only wanted to look at it!
"Okay. Are we heading to the temple then?" I asked as we cooperatively walked out of the Ancient Cistern.
"Yes. Then we can try to figure out how to get back to Skyloft." Zelda said. She seemed exhausted.
"Maybe we should rest for a while. We can start again tomorrow." I said as we realized it had gotten dark when we left the cistern.
Zelda and I stayed in a small, cut-off area just outside the Sacred Grove. There were a couple of annoying bokoblins, so I threw a small, shiny rupee into the trees, and we never saw the goblins after that.
"How did you know that would work?" Zelda asked. I cringed from her, knowing that she was becoming suspicious of me. I thought fast, not wanting her to know that I can control the ugly creatures.
"I've been around bokoblins before, and I know that they like shiny things and food. Those creatures are probably one of the dumbest monsters you will meet." I said in a half-joking way. She laughed. I released a breath I didn't know I was holding.
"Well at least they're gone." Zelda said optimistically. I glanced up at the tiny tree we were under before responding.
"Yeah, they were obnoxious." I agreed. Suddenly, Zelda jumped up from sitting next to me. She was looking at another bird statue. I remembered seeing the strange statues in Skyloft also, but I had no idea what it was for. This statue looked like it hadn't been used in years. There were vines and cracks all over it, and the glowing purple lines that the other statues had were not present on this one.
"What's that?" I asked as I pointed at the old statue.
"It's a prayer statue. There are a few of these back at Skyloft, but this one looks broken." Zelda said as she approached it. When Zelda got near it, the statue's appearance drastically switched to an exact copy of the active statues. She gasped before getting closer.
"Did you see that?! It changed." I blurted out, surprised. Zelda laughed at my outburst.
"I have eyes too, Dark Link." Zelda joked. I hadn't realized I didn't tell her my name until later. She touched the statue and I had to shield my eyes since she was glowing as bright as the sun. When the glow dimmed, I became shocked to see Zelda was wearing the goddess' clothes. She even glowed a little. I felt a sharp pain in my chest. She was just like someone I once knew.
"What happened?" I said, trying not to let the pain come out in my voice. It seemed to work. Zelda grinned, but seemed a little surprised at her appearance too.
"I think I saw a vision from Hylia." Zelda said.
"You mean the goddess showed you something?" I asked, more serious than shocked.
"Yes. I need some sacred water as well." Zelda said.