A/N: Happy Halloween everyone! Here's chapter three. Disclaimer: I do not own anything Legend of Zelda. Most times I wish I did, but you can't have everything in life, now can you?

Read, Review and Enjoy!

~Shard of Freedom

Legend of Zelda: Shadow Reign

Chapter Three: The Legacy of Link

"Like I had said, Link was a changed man when he came back to Ordon Province. But that didn't mean that he wasn't the same in some ways. He played with the children. He taught Colin how to fight and Talo how to use a bow. He herded the goats in his free time. He had the softest look on his face when he played with the newborn Kana and teased Colin about a messed up form. He would smile and laugh and joke around. That's why I had such a problem believing his warnings."

Ilia touched a hand to the side of her face, the one that didn't have the scar, as she took a sip of her tea. Captain Falnoff's mug lay forgotten, as he was too wrapped up in the tale to even care about the drink.

"You see, when Link came back to Ordon, he had told the entire village that he had been through a lot—he was unsurprising unspecific—and that there were certain rules that we all needed to follow so that nothing happened. They were pretty basic—don't wake him up while he was sleeping, don't sneak up on him, announce your presence if you walked into his house, don't touch him if he was unprepared.

"Link told us that he was different than he was before, and that we should be careful around him. And we were. We trusted Link, and if he said that we should follow those rules, then we did. But as time went by and he returned more and more to the person that he had been before he left the village, they slowly slipped our minds. He returned slowly to the farm boy that he once was. Because he was becoming the man that I had once known, I disregarded his warnings.

"Things were simple in the village before then. He taught Colin better swordsmanship than Rusl ever could have, he showed Talo how to use a bow and make the hawks come. He helped the village plant the pumpkins for the new harvest. He taught Fado how to ride Epona and herd goats. But certain things were different. He would disappear for days on end. No one knew where he went. He would occasionally stare mournfully at his shadow. He was battle-ready at the slightest unanticipated noise. They were small changes, and barely noticeable as the weeks went on.

"Link stayed for a total of two months in Ordon Province after his adventure. He affected our lives so much during those two months. He taught Colin how to be strong. He taught Talo how to play to his strengths. When he was here, life returned to normal. But then things went bad.

"It was early in the morning. I wanted to ask Link if I could borrow Epona for the day. I used to just take the horse, but I figured that that I would be immature, and I didn't want to look like a child. Now, I wish that I had just taken Epona. But I climbed the ladder to his house and forgot all the rules that Link had told us. I went into his house and found Link sleeping. Natural instinct: wake him up. So I did."

Ilia sighed. "I was so foolish. Link had never explained why he had those rules. Well, now we know. They weren't to protect him. They were to protect us."

"No." Captian Falnoff's eye widened as they glued onto the scar on Ilia's face.

"Yes. I woke Link up. I should have paid attention. But how was I supposed to know that he slept with a dagger in his hand? How was I supposed to know that Link would attack me when I woke him up? How was I supposed to know? And how was Link supposed to know that I didn't know?"

Ilia fingers traced her scar as she spoke. "Link gave me this, but I don't blame him for it. No one in the village blames him for the scar. As soon as Link came to his senses and saw what he had done, he carried me to the Ordon Spring and saved my life. He even made sure that the scar wasn't too bad. I'm not sure how he did it, considering that not even the spring's healing powers could have healed me to that extent. I guess that I'll just add that to the list of things that no one knows about Link.

"If anyone was to blame for what happened that day, it was me. Link told us that we shouldn't go near him while he was sleeping. He never elaborated, but that was because he didn't want to scare us. No one blamed him for what happened—no one but himself. He disappeared the next day, feeling that he couldn't control his actions. He stayed for a total of two months in Ordon Village. He's been gone three years. No one's seen him or heard from him. Link has friends from all over who are looking for him. By this point, we're convinced that he's no longer alive."

Ilia sat down her empty mug after draining the last of her tea. "Colin blames me for what happened to Link. I can tell. I can see it in his eyes. Colin hero-worshipped Link, especially after Link started teaching him the way of the sword. Link left because of my carelessness. I can't blame Colin for thinking that it was my fault. After all, in a way, it was."

For a moment, the two of them sat there in silence, Ilia staring at her empty mug, Falnoff thinking that he should comfort the girl but unable to find the words. Then Ilia got up abruptly and took her glass to a bucket that was full of soapy water and other glass dishes. She glanced over at the captain.

"Are you finished with your tea, Captain?"

Falnoff looked down at his nearly-full cup of lukewarm jasmine tea. The captain laughed good-naturedly. "Well, I guess that I was so intrigued that I forgot why I had entered the home in the first place."

Ilia smiled. "Well, then, I'm glad to offer you some Ordon hospitality. I . . . I figured that it would be wise to tell you the story of Link, since he's so prominent in this village. There's not one person in this village who hasn't been touched in every way by Link. If you're going to live here for the next few months with us, you should know about the biggest part of our lives."

Captain Falnoff nodded. "I'm glad that you told me. I'll keep it in confidence."

Ilia started shuffling the dishes in the bucket. "That would be wise. Saying Link's name in this village only leads to tears and anger here." Ilia paused. "I usually don't let myself hope about such things, but Link's made so much of a mess of this village that, if he ever did come back, we'd all punch him." Ilia gave a short chuckle at her joke, but the laughter faded quickly.

Captain Falnoff gave the girl a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Thanks for the tea, Ilia. I'll remember what you told me."

Ilia hummed noncommittally as she pulled out a lantern to set on the table. Captain Falnoff couldn't help but notice how terribly sad she looked as she lit the candle with a broken match.

Tomorrow rose quickly over Ordon Province. Colin pretended that he wasn't bothered about how cheerful things were, because he wasn't feeling cheerful at all. Link was still gone. Link still wasn't there in his house like he should have been, yawning and getting ready to herd the goats or give Colin another sword lesson.

The worst part was knowing that every single day meant one more day that Colin lost hope that Link was still alive. It meant one more day that Ilia was more right. It meant that it was one more day that Link wasn't there.

Ilia was right when she told him to stay with his family. He had moved into Link's house a few months after he had left, as soon as the cobwebs had started forming. His excuse was that he wanted to branch out as his own man, but everyone knew that he went to make sure that the house was still clean and solid for Link if he ever returned. The three year mark had passed a few weeks ago. How much longer was he going to wait?

Colin woke up before the rest of his family. It wasn't odd. When he had been a child, he had always been the morning bird. He would go outside and whittle away on his fishing rod in the cool morning breeze until his parents woke up. Then he would show it to his father. Rusl would sit down next to him and tell him everything that was wrong with the rod, but then he would show him how to fix it and make a better one next time. Well, Rusl wasn't going to fix things this time, and there would be no next time. There was only one Link.

Colin gripped the hilt of the Ordon Sword like it was second nature to him. He drew it out of its sheath. He had to admire his father's craftsmanship. While Colin had surpassed his father in swordplay around a year ago, he had never had his father's skill with metalwork. Link had given him the sword before he had started their training, saying that a real man needed a real sword. It was Colin's most prized possession.

Colin twirled the sword back into its sheath and sighed. He wasn't sure how much longer he was going to stay in Ordon. He would stay with his family for a few more nights before he ventured out once more. Kana would cry and give him the pouty lip, which made him want to stay for as long as the little girl wanted him to. His little sister had that much sway over him. But Colin felt like he had to keep going. Colin had a feeling that if he kept dungeon hopping, he would find Link in one of them, acting as if time had never passed. Although Link had mentioned more dungeons, Colin only knew of two of them—the Forest Temple and Goron Mines.

Goron Mines was just beyond the village of Kakariko—which was still rebuilding from the Twilight War, when they had taken heavy losses. Most of the population of the town had been lost. Colin had witnessed the death of some of the villagers himself. He would never un-see the vision of the inky black creatures attacking poor innocents in the street. He wouldn't go to the Goron Mines. His wooden shield would burn like paper in there, and he wasn't equipped to deal with the fire creatures within. For now, Colin had to limit his adventuring to the Forest Temple.

For a moment, Colin had wondered why Link had known so much about the dungeons. Then he had placed it out of mind as Link had gone on to show him how to use the shield as more than just a defense. But now that he had more than enough time to ponder, he realized that there were so many things that he had wished he had asked Link, now that he didn't have chance anymore.

"How much longer are you going to make me wait, Link?" Colin murmured to the open air. He ran his hand through his sandy hair. There was no use. Link wasn't going to answer him.

Colin sighed and stared out to the village, which was foggy in the morning sun.

He saw Ilia come out of her house and pulled out a laundry line. Colin watched as she began to place Fado's shirts on the wire, to be ready by the time that he woke up. She was careful not to wake any of the soldiers, who were snoring loudly in their tents.

Ilia didn't know that he had been sitting outside the door while she had explained Link's story to the captain. She didn't know that Colin had heard every single word that she had said.

Something that Ilia had said last night bothered him. Did Colin actually blame Ilia for Link's disappearance? He certainly didn't like her opinion that Link was dead. He especially didn't like the thought that he was getting closer and closer each passing day to believing her. He hated that she could be right.

Somehow, it just didn't seem right to blame Ilia for Link's disappearance. Colin didn't think that he would be able to look at Ilia's face if he blamed her. That would be like blaming Ilia for her scar. Link had made his own decision. Colin had a feeling that neither Ilia nor Link were at fault. Ilia had been hurt, Link had disappeared. Ilia still had the scar, Link was still gone. Neither of them was to blame. The situation had caused the outcomes.

Colin sighed. No matter how he rationalized it, he still had a deep ache in his chest when he thought that Link was gone. Link was his role-model, his goal. It was too hard to think about it with issues of blame. It didn't matter who was at fault. All that mattered was that Link was gone and still hadn't returned.

When he thought about it, he realized that the Ilia issue probably hadn't been Link's only incentive for leaving. There were probably other factors, other issues. Just trying to puzzle them out gave Colin a headache. There was simply too little that was known about Link. Link was a man of mystery.

He is, Colin thought. He's still alive. No need for past tense.

"Hey, kid."

Colin looked up to see Rusl standing over him with a smile on his face. Colin nodded and gave a small grin to his father.

"Hey, Dad. Why are you up so early?"

Rusl shrugged. "Just had my mind on things. What about you? What are you so worried about?"

Colin sighed. "Just the usual stuff."

"So, it's Link, isn't it?" Colin nodded. "He's been gone for a long time, son. I'm not sure if he'll return to Ordon Village. He's always been a bit of a free spirit that one. Went all over Hyrule. According Ashei, he even went to Snowpeak Mountain, past the point where humans should be able to survive."

Colin smiled. "Do you think that he really did? Ilia says that no one knows of Link's adventures other than Link himself."

Rusl raised a hand to his goatee. "Well, I suppose that's true as well. No one knows what Link did all those times that he disappeared. But we can assume that he did something great. But we'll probably never understand, even if he did tell us. I mean, Fyer, the man who runs the cannon shop on Lake Hylia says that Link rigged up a cannon so powerful that it can shoot people to the sky. Now, there's no way that that could be true now, could it? And some of the Goron say that Link can beat all of the elders—including Darbus—in wrestling. That one I know isn't true. Link's good at wrestling, but not that good. When it comes to Link, fantasy mixes in with the fact. If you ever go to Castle Town, just mention Link's name in Telma's Bar. Everyone will put in their two cents, whether they knew him or not. There's no way to be certain what happened to him. If he ever returns, I suppose you'll have to ask him that yourself. Or maybe, you'll leave Ordon Village behind and find him."

Colin pulled a single knee close to his chest. "Do you really think that he's still alive? I mean, even my hope's running thin. It's been three years. Nearly everyone is out looking for him. I heard that even Princess Zelda tried to find him."

Rusl ruffled with Colin's hair while Colin winced at the childish action. "Are you kidding? I know Link. He's faced nearly everything that Hyrule has to offer and come out without a scratch. There's no way that he would fall to some odd-ball creature in the backwoods of Hyrule. He can handle anything that this world can throw at him. He's out there, Colin. He's just not here."

Colin sighed. "If he is out there, I'm going to go give him a piece of my mind. Why didn't he ever come back?"

"Guilt for one. Perhaps he's dealing with more problems than just his scars from the Twilight War. Perhaps somewhere else needs him more than Ordon Village. There are a hundred different reasons why he hasn't returned. Don't lose hope, Colin. Try to give him a little more time, but don't wait up for him. He wouldn't want you to waste your life waiting for him. You know that."

Colin nodded after a moment of hesitation and yawned. He stretched his arms. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Dad."

Rusl looked over at him kindly, and the silence stretched for a moment before Rusl spoke again. "Hey, Colin, what happened to that scarf that you're so fond of?"

Colin's hand went to his throat, which was usually covered in a bright red scarf that Ilia had made him two years ago, but was now bare. Colin smiled wirily. "Yeah. I lost in the Forest Temple the last time. I would go back in and find it, but I think that the monsters have gotten it by now."

Rusl clapped his son on the back. "Well, that's too bad, son. Anyway, get some more sleep. I'm sure that Kana's kept the bed warm for you."

Colin rolled his blue eyes. "More like she's rolled over onto my side and left me no room." Colin yawned again. "But some more sleep might be a good thing. It's been a long couple of days."

"Get some more sleep. A few more hours won't kill you."

Colin nodded and headed back to the door when he sensed something. Colin turned around immediately and grabbed the Ordon Sword, preparing to draw it out of its sheath. Rusl turned to his son.

"What's wrong?"

Colin touched one finger to his lips and stalked the perimeter of the house, which didn't yield anything specific. Colin relaxed a moment of tense waiting. Rusl came up to his son.

"What was that all about, Colin?"

The boy shook his head, as if ridding himself of the eerie feeling that he had gotten. "It's nothing. I could have sworn that I had sensed something though. I guess that all the dungeon-crawling has fried my nerves. Link said that it could do it to you."

Rusl nodded, but didn't seem to be entirely convinced. "Are you sure that it's nothing?"

"Probably. When I'm in the Forest Temple, surrounded by nothing but monsters, I get to the point where, if it moves, I'll attack it. I guess that I've still in the monster frame of mind." Colin dropped his hand from the Ordon Sword, once he was certain that he was safe.

"I guess that's why I don't dungeon-crawl," Rusl said, laughing.

"Yeah," Colin said teasingly, "and the fact that you're so old."

"This old man can kick your butt any time of the day, you whipper-snapper!" Rusl caught Colin around the waist, and he was still light enough to be thrown over his father's shoulder. Or maybe Rusl was just that strong. But Colin was pretty slight for a fifteen-year old.

"Ah! Dad, let me down! Come on, it's not funny! It's way too early for you to be doing this! Oh, come on, Dad! Please! Okay, okay, I give! You're not old! Now let me down! I'm serious, I promise!"

Rusl laughed as he sat down his son once more. "That'll teach you!"

Colin yawned once more and Rusl pushed him into the house, saying that Colin needed rest. While Colin opened the door that led inside, Rusl picked up Uli's water can and headed for the pumpkin fields. Colin yawned once more before something red caught his vision. Colin turned to catch sight of a cloth stuck on the bushes near his house.

With a raised eyebrow and curiosity in his eyes, Colin reached over and grabbed it.

It was the scarf that he had lost in Forest Temple.

Colin looked around for the person that could have returned it to him. He was certain that he had dropped it in the temple. None of the villagers went into the temple, in fear of getting hurt. Not even Rusl, with Uli to think about, went there. Colin was the only person who went there now.

Then how did the scarf come back to him?

Colin decided not to give the matter any more thought as he headed back to the house, but he was unaware of the feral eyes that watched him in the trees.