Link:

Link stood frozen, the eyes staring into his soul. The mysterious creature let out another nightmarish, hair-raising howl. Link felt Iris' small warm hand slip into his.

"Come on." She whispered as Link began to feel a small tug on his hand.

"Going somewhere?" Said a voice in a low demonic hiss. Link could not pinpoint its location; it seemed to come from all around him, enveloping him. The tugging on Link's hand ceased.

The eyes were unwavering, their intensity piercing through him, as he stood frozen in terror. The voice began to laugh with an evil hiss. It made the hair on the back of Link's neck stand on end. He felt a chill seeping through his skin into his very soul. Anything beyond the clearing was black as if all light had been sucked away, leaving a deep void. A shadowy fog began to roll into the clearing. Link felt a strong tug on his arm as he turned to see Iris's hand grabbing his forearm, in an attempt to get him to move.

"Link! Let's get out of here!" Iris shouted at him. The demonic laughter continued as Link began to run alongside Iris. Suddenly, Link heard Iris cry out in pain, as he turned to see her falling over. A dark ribbon, as if made of blackest smoke, ran over Iris's body as she continued to writhe in pain, her body convulsing.

"Iris!" He shouted as he stopped and turned. He went over to her shaking body and bent over to pick her up. As soon as he touched her body, the shadowy ribbon ran up his arm. The pain was the most intense agony he had ever felt. He collapsed onto his knees, and his body began to feel like thousands of needles were inside his skin working his way out. His vision blurred as he fully collapsed onto the ground muttering "Iris…" losing consciousness from sheer pain.

Link awoke on a soft bed of grass. "What the-? Where am I?" He thought. He picked his head up and looked around. He was at the base of a hill covered in ankle high soft grass. Everywhere he looked was just a sea of green. The only land feature was the hill right in front of him. There was a soft glow coming from the top of the hill, which was too steep for Link to see the top. He began to walk up the hill, many thoughts racing through his head. When he reached the top, there was a glowing figure with its back turned to Link.

"Hero…" A silky, ethereal motherly voice said. Link looked around. He was not sure if he had heard the voice in his head or had physically heard it. "I am Lavina, a watcher sent by the goddesses long ago. A great evil is now contained within you."

"What?" Link thought.

The figure in front of Link turned to face him. She was the most beautiful being Link had ever seen. Lavina was a pure white glowing light in shape of a slender young woman. The front of her straight hair fell down her shoulders and across her chest. She was floating about knees height off the ground, though her face never moved as if she was standing on solid ground. Link felt safe and comfortable, as he felt an aura of purity and safety around her. Lavina continued,

"An evil so ancient, it was here when this world was created. It was here during the time of the great goddesses of light. You may know about the three who created this world, Din, Nayru, and Farore. However, there was a fourth. Freya, the fourth, was the goddess of love. She helped the others when they created this realm. Freya wanted her own inspirations put into this world, bending and twisting reality to her own wants. The other goddesses; however, would not have it. The three, forced by Freya's intentions, had to remove her influence by imprisoning her away from this world. Distraught and angered, she secretly made plans of her own to destroy the created works of the others. When the goddesses left Hyrule, leaving the Triforce, she poured her entire essence into a twisted, evil relic of her own. She corrupted a great being of this world as its protector. She herself has power matching the Triforce as her relic contained her entire being, her every aspect. You felt her touch begin to corrupt you, and you would have succumbed had it not been for the intervention of the goddesses. They brought you here, to the sacred realm to bestow upon you the only thing to withhold the great evil that now runs through your veins, the Triforce."

With that, she held up her hands and slowly appearing in front of Link's eyes was a golden triangle. The triangle gently flowed from her hands, moving in front of Link. Its shiny surface radiated a feeling so powerful; it seemed to vibrate the very aura around it.

"Is there not three parts?" Link said in his mind, knowing the being before him would hear.

"The Triforce has been split into its three parts: wisdom, power, and courage. When the first came seeking the Triforce, she did not possess a balance of the three, thus it has been split. Bestowed upon you is the Triforce of power, as you do not possess the impurity of envy, one part of the evil within the evil relic of Freya." Link reached out to the floating triangle in front of him. Before he could touch it, it condensed into a single ray, piercing through his chest. He felt hot as pure energy flowed through him.

"Go back now and rid the remaining evil within you. Only then can you defeat the evil that has come upon Hyrule." The ray of light faded, Link's vision faded as he felt weak, and collapsed onto the soft grass.

Link awoke to the sounds of insects chirping. He had so many questions, so many unanswered thoughts. He opened his eyes to pitch black. His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness as he became familiar with where he was. The familiar shape of the clearing and the large fallen tree came into shape. He looked around. There was no sign of the creature or its shadow. Link heard a soft, slow breathing. It was then he remembered "Iris!" He looked down and saw her crumpled shape on the ground. He kneeled next to her, reaching out his hand gently touching her shoulder. As soon as his fingers made contact with her shaking body, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He winced in pain, but it quickly subsided. He gently shook her as he said in almost a whisper,

"Iris? Iris are you ok?" When she did not respond Link began to think. He had to do something; he could not just leave her there. He had to get her back to the village. Link quickly moved his arms under her small, and to him, fragile body. He was surprised at how light she felt. He cradled her, her head resting against his chest. Link began to carry her out of the clearing back onto the road. It was no easy feat as it was hard to see to avoid hitting Iris with any of the twisted branches. He got back onto the main road, looking down the path. He saw the faint glow of the small village in the distance. It was an easy journey carrying Iris once he was back on the road. Link wondered how late it was as he got close to the village. He did not want anyone to see him carrying the limp Iris through the village, especially since he did not know what her current state was. Iris had stopped shaking, but he felt Iris twitch. He heard a weak, feeble voice.

"Link?"

"Iris!" He almost shouted. He looked around cautiously to see if anyone had heard him. Iris only moaned and used her hand to clench onto the tunic on Link's chest. Link carefully and quietly brought Iris to his house. He shut the door behind him carrying Iris through his dark house. He knew the way like the back of his hand, and he had no trouble carrying Iris to his bed laying her gently into it. She only moaned some more. He went over to his desk, lighting a candle allowing the soft glow to enter the room. He pulled up a chair next to his bed near Iris who was slowly becoming more conscious.

"Iris?" He asked in a soft voice.

"Link?" Iris replied in a confused voice.

"Are you ok?" He asked putting his hand on hers.

"Link…what happened?" She asked slowly rolling over to face him.

"I don't really know." He said truthfully.

"I had the strangest dream after the pain hit me." She said still seeming to be unaware of her surroundings.

"You too?" Link asked.

"Yea." She said shakily. "A lot of it I didn't understand. Something about this Triforce and an ancient evil." Link remembered Lavina's words:

"When the first came seeking the Triforce, she did not possess a balance of the three, thus it has been split."

"So, Iris was the first to get the Triforce." He thought. "But wait, Iris wasn't seeking the Triforce. So she wasn't the first." Link sat there deep in thought trying to piece together the puzzle.

"Did you receive a part of the Triforce?" He asked Iris.

"Yes." She said. "The Triforce of courage." Link worked it out in his head. That means one other had been seeking the Triforce, and they had gained the Triforce of wisdom. Link's shoulder began to burn again, making him give a small yelp, as the pain was a little too much. He heard Iris also give off a slight moan of pain. He got up and went over to his desk grabbing another candle and lighting it. He then walked out of his room and over to the washroom located directly across from his. He set the candle in his hand near a large bowl of water. The light of the candle filled the small room making Link's shadow dance on the walls. He took of his tunic throwing it on the floor. He turned looking at his reflection of his shoulder in the large bowl of water. A small gasp escaped his mouth. There on his shoulder was a golden triangle, with two points touch two similar triangles. However, these triangles were not golden. They were a deep jet black. He touched the markings on his shoulder, though he only felt skin, and his fingers rubbing his shoulder.

"Link?" Iris said in a loud surprised voice. He ran back into his room, back to Iris. He felt his face get hot as Iris slowly lifted her dress revealing her inner thigh. There, similar to his, Iris had the Triforce, once gold triangle two jet-black ones.

"What does this mean?" She looked up at him, lowering her dress again.

"Lavina did say I had to remove the evil inside of me first." Link said, deep in thought.

"Me too." She replied. Before Link could think much more, he heard a soft knock on the door downstairs. His stomach dropped.

"Somebody saw or heard us." He thought. Link looked at Iris, and she looked back at him. The knock came again this time only slightly louder.

"They know we are here." Iris said. Link reluctantly walked out of his room and down the steps. He reached the door not know who he would find on the other side. He slowly opened the door, feeling a cool breeze on his still bare chest. He had forgotten he did not have a shirt on. There standing on his porch was a slim figure, wrapped in a heavy cloak with a large hood. Looking down the stranger said in a distinct, female voice:

"Are you Link, swordsman from Ordon?"

"Yes." He replied, unsure of the stranger's intentions.

"We need to talk." The stranger said walking past Link into the house removing her hood as she did so. She turned to Link and said, "Come, I believe there is an Iris here too?" Link stood at the door in shock. Here in his home, was the princess of Hyrule, Zelda.