Link awoke to a cool, trickling sensation. He sat up and realized it was water. Why was he in the spring?
Suddenly, everything came back, washing over him like a suffocating ocean.
Link leapt up and sped down the trail to Faron Woods. Where else could the monsters have come from?
As Link hurried along, he noticed it turning darker all around him, almost as though the sun were setting. He crossed the bridge, turned the corner, and...
A large, dark wall was blocking his path. He started to walk toward it, but a force caused him to recoil, like two magnets of the same pole. Ilia had to be beyond there, but how could he get past? The wall stretched as far as he could see.
Link didn't wonder for a moment where the wall had come from or why it was there. All he wanted to know was how to get past it.
He ran forward at it managing to touch it. He cried out and ran again, trying to pound his fists on it. "LET ME IN, YOU COWARDS!" he screamed. Damn, he didn't even have his sword...What did he expect to do? Yell at the monsters? "LET ME IN!"
Black. Pain. His stomach left him and he was in the air, unable to breath. Link reached to his neck, where something ice-cold held its grip on him. The world around him seemed to turn dark and his skin felt numb, heavy, and bursting with pain. It was like a cold fire burning away at his flesh, slowly freezing him. Link tried to gasp, but his lungs remained empty.
Suddenly Link was on the ground. He felt a burning heat on his hand and tried to open his eyes and look at it, but he couldn't manage it through the pain. Link did sense a light, a light that seemed out of place in this strange shadowed world.
Unspeakable pain grabbed at him, clawing at him and flaring up inside him. Link opened up his mouth to take in a breath and instead found himself screaming. Something pounded inside his bones and ripped at his limbs, and Link's scream became a strangled howl.
Was there a blanket over him? The pain receded and Link's chilled bones were warmed by an invisible force. He let his shaking legs collapse beneath him and Link felt sleepy, with heavy eyelids and aching bones, and his head spinning. Maybe just a few moments' rest before he found Ilia and Colin...
The ground beneath Link was cool and damp, and his slow breaths echoed against the walls around him. Link eased his eyes open and stretched, except...something seemed different, as if his arms wouldn't do exactly what he wanted them to. He tried sitting up, yet his legs seemed too short. They would not straighten.
Link looked down at his legs and realized something wasn't right. They were the legs of a wolf.
"Farore..."
Except, he didn't actually speak. A strange sound came out of his throat, like a whimper. Oh, Farore...
Link looked at the window in the room he was in. Rain pounded outside and the rumbling thunder made him shiver in fear. He forced his eyes to focus, and he recoiled at his reflection.
Farore, he was going crazy.
He was a wolf. A beast. A horrible furry monster. A despised, feared animal. Link tried screaming, but all that would come out was a high-pitched howl. He ran around in circles, tugging at the chain binding his foot when lightning lit up the room and something caught his eye.
A black and white figure - about the size of a toddler, but with a large head - stood - no, floated - outside the bars holding him in the room. Bright green tattoos snaked the creature, and something metal, like a helmet, covered its head. Link squinted to get a better look when it giggled and disappeared.
"I found you!"
Link tensed, trying to shout, "Who are you? Get away!" All he managed was a gurgling snarl. Without thinking, he triggered something in his throat and began growling.
"Ooh, aren't you scary!" Her voice was high, sweet, and seemed to have its own echo and depth. It was smooth yet broken at the same time. Link's growl faltered, but his glare didn't. "Eee hee! Are you sure you want to be doing that? Snarling and glaring like that?"
Link's growl deepened.
"Well, that's too bad. I was planning on helping you...if you were nice."
His growl faltered again, and this time his stare did as well. He stopped, saying - rather, trying to say - "Fine." A yip came out of his mouth instead, but the creature understood. He had no other choice. He couldn't stay here forever like this.
Another giggle. "That's much better. You humans are obedient to a fault, aren't you?" she said. "Oops, but you AREN'T a human anymore, are you? You're a beast!" She tapped her fingers under his chin.
The giggle was getting aggravating.
Link let a snarl escape, and he barked at her, baring his teeth. "There, there. You be a good boy and calm down. No need to bite!" she said with a smirk, floating away. Her eyes were large and round and playful. What was she?
She inched her hands together but they did not touch; some kind of spherical energy formed between them, then began floating as she took her hands away. Her eyes opened slightly and she wore a crooked grin. The spinning force suddenly lunged at him, and Link stumbled backward, trying to avoid it. He could feel its heat, closed his eyes...but pain did not come.
The creature laughed. "You look kind of surprised!" Another giggle. Link looked down and saw that the chain connecting him to the ground was broken. It dangled at his foot. "So! I bet you're wondering, where exactly are we?"
There's not a whole lot else he could be wondering at that point.
The short, stubby creature seemed to dematerialize in front of him and re-appear on the other side of the bars. The ominous way she floated flushed him with curiosity. "Well, I'll make you a deal. If you can get over here, maybe I'll tell you!" She giggled yet again and then yawned and stretched.
How was he to get over there?
"I can't get over there! Why can't you help me?"
Bark! Bark!
That's right. He was a beast. An ugly, good-for-nothing beast. He walked around and it was as though he was walking for the first time. New legs and arms. Make that four new legs. He wandered around, pawing at the ground by the bars and sniffing, trying to find a sign of anything.
He felt something soft underneath his hand-his paw-give, and that's when he remembered. He was a canine! He could dig.
He shoved his nose into the ground and tensed his paws, lifting dirt and kicking it behind him. After a few moments, he was able to slip under the metal and out the other end. He shook himself off.
Something hit his back, and Link jumped up, barking. He spun around and around, trying to see what was on him, when he felt a tug on his neck and for some reason calmed down. "Hmph! I guess you're not completely stupid after all!"
Another giggle.
"Listen, I like you, so I think I'll get you out of here."
Link got the feeling she was using him.
"Because MOST people trust weird little floating imps who come out of nowhere," Link shouted. Bark! Snarl! A deep growl came from his throat.
Something tugged at his ear and Link opened his mouth, ready to bite. "But in exchange for my help, you have to do EXACTLY as I say!"
Link closed his eyes. What choice did he have?
"Now, come on! Let's get moving!"
"Oh, well, well." Giggle. "Want to see something interesting?"
Link looked around and spotted something. A faint, glowing orb. He stared at it, baring his teeth, unsure of what to do.
"You're a beast! You should know what to do! Use your senses and poke around."
Link gazed around. A hidden passageway had led them into a sewer, and in a corner stood an orb barely moving up and down. He stared at it, then closed his eyes, and finally something clicked in his brain. When he opened his eyes again, his vision was dark, zeroing in on only the lightest objects around him, which included the orb.
Except that it was not an orb anymore. Where the orb once stood was now a strange, bright person. He looked almost like a soldier. Link could hear him muttering something, so he slowly inched closer, perking his ears. He could make out his high-pitched, quavering voice saying in between gasps, "Can't...run...any...farther...that's far...enough...right? I'll be safe here...I think..."
Safe from what?
He tried asking the creature what that was all about, but instead a bark came out and he stopped mid-sentence. He was a beast. He couldn't ask questions.
"What was that noise! Don't...don't anything come near me!" The man tensed and held a spear in front of him. Link quickly backed away, but the man didn't seem to be talking about him. He didn't even seem to notice him.
Link shook his head and closed his eyes, and suddenly things became light again. Well, lighter. Wherever he was, it was strangely dark. The man became an orb again, and Link felt an eerie pressure, a nervousness. He didn't know why.
"That was a soldier's spirit," the creature on Link's back explained. "Maybe it's someone from the other world." Giggle.
"What other world?"
Bark. Whimper.
The girl giggled again. "There are lots of other spirits roaming around here, you know. Hone your senses to see them. They might know things..."
Link refrained himself from trying to say, "Like what?" because he knew all that would come out was an animal sound.
"I doubt you're used to your new body yet, so I'll just tell you...Think about how you fought in your human form. Just because your shape has changed doesn't mean your instincts have as well!"
Did that mean...monsters were ahead?
Link cautiously moved on when something suddenly lunged at him. A dark little rat-like creature flopped around with a red design on its back. He felt pain prickle at his side where it had attacked him and Link jumped at it. His claws popped out of his paws and sank into the vermin's flesh. It made a sound like deflation and collapsed, limp.
It felt good.
He could kill.
A few more vermin scurried around nearby, and Link lunged at them, sinking his teeth and claws into them, tasting their blood, feeling them die.
Link continued forward, kicking water out from behind him and feeling cool stone on the pads of his feet. Suddenly, something caught his eye.
Another floating orb lay in his path, and once again Link closed his eyes, feeling something shift. He opened his eyes and once again, everything was dark and disoriented. The brightest things shined in his vision, and a man stood there.
"What are those black things...Where are they coming from..." Link cocked his head. The spirits could see them too? "And how do we get out of here!"
Where were they?
Link switched his senses off and stumbled away. Where in the world could he be? He couldn't help himself. He began barking, trying to ask the thing on his back. What was all of this? Why was he a beast? Where were Ilia and Colin?
"Hey! We're almost there..."
Link looked around and saw a large staircase spiraling up to a strange room with a door. Link began climbing, finding it quite decapitated and falling apart. Huge chunks were missing from the path, and finally one seemed simply too large for him to get across.
Link heard a giggle behind him. "I guess I have to do EVERYTHING for you..." she said with a fake yawn. "I'll guide you to sure footing, so just...follow your instinct."
She flew up to the next ledge which seemed so far away. The ponytail in the back of her head stuck out of the metal helmet, and it began flicking back and forth. Link found it odd, but after a moment it became tempting. He crouched down, then leaped at her and found himself on the other side of the ledge. He ran the rest of the way up the staircase and to the door.
"So, you know where we are yet?" Giggle. "Well, if you can find a way out, maybe you'll figure it out!"
Link growled at her. She was being no help, making him do all the work. He looked around the area, finally spotting a window. Link ran over to it and jumped at it, feeling the fragile glass shatter around him. He stumbled out and into the rain.
Large towers scattered the area, and Link found himself on a structure like a roof. Rain matted down his fur and thunder rattled his bones.
"So, we were finally able to get out," the girl said. Link leaned his head back to look at her as she talked. "And look at the sky! Isn't the black cloud of twilight beautiful today? Do you know where this is? You STILL don't know?" Giggle. "Look, there's someone I want to introduce you to...but I'll need you to get to that tower, the tallest one, to do it!"
Large birds soared across the sky, cawing ominously. There was yet another spirit up ahead, and Link flipped to his senses without thinking. The man, another soldier, seemed to be in despair. He heard the girl giggle, saying, "Even though these guys can see those monsters, they don't know a thing about you!"
The soldier was muttering to himself. Link leaned in closer and heard him say, "...What in the world is happening here? Ah...Our poor Hyrule Castle..."
Link froze. He was in Hyrule? The very Hyrule that he had been preparing to go to earlier today? What had happened to it? It was like a shadow had cloaked it. The darkness, the spirits, the monsters...What was happening?
And if this strange cloud of darkness made all the people living in Hyrule turn to spirits...why wasn't he one?
"Eee Hee! That wasn't the person I wanted you to meet, by the way," the girl said. "Well, let's just try and get to that tower."
He trudged on toward the tower, jumping across ledges and roofs. Finally, the window to the tower loomed into view, and Link dashed through it.
Inside the room was a hooded figure. Link instinctively began growling, not trusting the person. The creature on his back giggled, and Link filled with curiosity. The cloaked figure turned around and Link instantly stopped growling, seeing it was a sick-looking, young woman. Not a beast out for blood.
"...Midna?" the woman cried out, walking toward them.
The creature on Link's back-Midna-put a smug yet sarcastic look on her face. "You remembered my name? What an honor for me."
Link looked back at the woman. Something about her looked familiar...He had seen her before. Those sapphire eyes...
Midna seemed to be mocking her, as if they knew something he didn't. Then again, was there anything HE knew that THEY didn't?
The woman cut the tense silence, saying, "So this is the one for whom you were searching."
"Well, he's not exactly what I had in mind, but I guess he'll do," Midna said with a giggle, patting Link on the head. "You can call him Link."
How the hell did she know his name?
"Who, me? I'm right HERE!"
Bark! Snarl!
The woman leaned down and looked into Link's eyes. What about her looked so familiar? Just...everything. Where had he seen her before?
The woman noticed it too. Her eyes narrowed and she looked utterly confused for a moment, but then her eyes shifted to his foot, on which the remnants of the shackle remained. She said sadly, "You were imprisoned...?" She closed her eyes and tilted her head down. "I am sorry."
"Poor thing," Midna giggled, "he has no idea why he's here or what's happened! Don't you think you should explain to him what you've managed to do? You owe him that much." Midna paused and smirked. "...Twilight Princess! Eee hee!"
The girl stood up and looked out the window. "Listen carefully," she said, lowering her voice. "This was once the land where the power of the gods and goddesses was said to slumber. This was once Hyrule."
Where he'd been planning to go before...
"But this blessed kingdom has been transformed by the king who rules the twilight..." the girl took in a breath, as if remembering something horrific. "It has been transformed into a world of shadows ruled by creatures who shun the light...
"I'm sure you've heard of Ganondorf," the woman whispered, looking at him. He had. "His power was sealed away ages ago. But his evil re-awakened recently, and he sought a body to house his life in. He has a puppet...the king of Twilight...Zant.
"I was given the choice of life or death...I chose for Hyrule to live, and I surrendered to the king of shadows. Twilight covered Hyrule like a shroud, and without light, the people turned into spirits. Within the twilight they live on, unaware that they have passed on into spirit forms. All the people know now is fear...Fear of a nameless evil...The kingdom succumbed to twilight, but I remain it's princess."
The woman bent down her head and lifted the cloak off her head. Her blond hair flowed down her back and she straightened, her eyes shining with tears. A golden crown lay atop her head. "I am Zelda."
Link was speechless. The woman from his dreams! The one who said...What was it? 'It is coming.' But, while he recognized her on that standard, something else seemed familiar. He'd never seen the princess before, but...
A graceful woman with deep, sapphire eyes - much like his own - stopped in front of him. Atop her head was a shimmering crown. Blond hair tumbled flawlessly down her back, and she was cloaked in an intricate dress. Something about her looked familiar...
Link shook his head. More importantly...The princess of Hyrule...she now ruled this...twilight? And Hyrule, the Hyrule he had been hours away from visiting...It was reduced to some sort of strange home of twilight?
"You don't have to look so sad!" Midna cried. "We actually find it to be quite livable! I mean...Is perpetual twilight really all that bad?"
"Midna, this is no time for levity. The shadow beasts have been searching wide and far for you. Why is this?"
"Why indeed?" Midna flew off of Link and shrugged. "You tell me," she said with a nervous laugh.
"Time has grown short," Zelda whispered. "The guard will soon make his rounds. You must leave here quickly.
Link felt Midna hop on his back, and he hesitantly turned around and left.