The door opened. Ganondorf entered with several guards behind him. "Creator!" The shadow bowed low and respectfully.
His creator pushed past him and he stumbled into the water. "Finally!" He said, taking the double by his hand. "The Triforce of Courage! It's mine!" He glanced carelessly over at the shadow. "I have no more use for him." He waved his hand at the moblins. "Kill him."
"Creator!" The shadow tried backing away when one of the guards grabbed him and restrained his arms. "Creator, no! What have I done? What have I done?"
His creator left the room without even a glance back as the two other moblins started to encroach upon the shadow. His mind raced. In a quick "fight of flight" burst of energy he ripped himself out of the grip of the moblin holding him. He drew his sword and stabbed the first moblin in the face before he could do anything to retaliate. The other two were more quick to react and the shadow found himself fighting for his life again.
Things had been looking up since Link had left. Malon and Ingo had worked together to try and earn enough to keep the ranch. They might be able to offer a small payment towards Ingo's debts by the end of the week. They had never worked harder together in their lives. They called it early one day as they could see storm clouds rolling across the sky from the lake. She climbed into her loft that night sore and tired. She curled up in her bed and listened to the sound of the horses shuffling around restlessly. She hoped the storm wouldn't be too loud and make them panic.
He stumbled towards the shore of the lake, covered in blood and soaking wet. His hair dripped into his face and he had to wipe it from his eyes in order to see. A heavy rain had broken out over the lake and storm clouds were growing dark and heavy above.
A red horse was dancing nervously around the lake shore, someone had left her sitting there. He looked around for the owner before grabbing her reigns. The horse reared back and almost struck him but he stepped back. He tightened his grip on the reigns and tried to stroke her face and calm her. For whatever reason the song he had heard from his double's memories came to mind and he began to hum it. The horse became somewhat calmer and he was able to mount her. He didn't know where to go but he headed towards the field, with the need to hide.
He let the horse carry him across the field. She stopped outside a farm and he led her inside. He thought first to knock on the door but then thought against it. He could just lead the horse into the barn and hide there.
She woke up as the barn door flew open. She couldn't see very well in the dark but she curled up a little tighter when she saw a dark figure lead a horse into the barn. He closed the door quietly and led the horse to an empty stall. "Good girl." He whispered and he stroked her nose. The voice sounded familiar, but also deeper, and gravelly. He turned and went to leave her and Malon couldn't stop herself. "She's all wet." She said. "You can't just leave her like that, she'll get sick." She climbed down the ladder and in the dark she could faintly make out the features of the intruder. "Link?" She tried to get a better look and he ducked backwards into a shadow.
"Yes." he answered "But don't look at me."
"What happened to you?" She asked and tried to step closer. "You sound different."
"I am different." He said ominously. "Malon?" He tested.
"I'll need to light a lantern to get Epona ready for bed. Whatever the matter is I promise it can't be that bad." She began lighting the lantern before he could effectively protest, but when she got a look at the figure before her she almost dropped it onto the straw covered floor. Once she'd recovered she reached out to brush his wet hair away from his face. His skin was dark grey and his hair was black. His arms were covered in scars and his black tunic was ripped in several places. He had been bleeding, and she was surprised Epona had even let her on him while he carried the scent of it so heavily. She tried to get a good look at his face but he was keeping his head down.
"I told you not to look." He said grimly and swatted her hand away.
"What happened?" She asked, trying to hide the faltering of her voice. "You're bleeding."
"I'll be fine, if you could take care of the horse." He shrank back further into the corner.
She was grateful to turn away and removed the saddle from Epona's back before she started brushing her down. She hummed her mother's song to the horse while she groomed. A shadow grew from behind her. She turned around and recoiled reflexively. It was just him, but something about his demeanor frightened her. "That song," He said quietly, "It's nice." He sat down in the corner of the stall and rested his forehead on his knees. "Please keep singing." Malon relaxed and realized she had been holding her breath when she exhaled. She returned to brushing out Epona and kept glancing at him, though less and less frequently, to see if he would move. When she headed over to the other side of the horse, she lost sight of him. She began to hear a choked, throaty sound and peered around the horse to see him in the same position, but his shoulders were shaking heavily. He was crying.