Chapter 6

Link's POV

I blinked open my eyes and the first thing I heard was a splash a short distance away. I leaned over the side of the… Boat? I looked to the side and fell off the boat in surprise. When I resurfaced its head was turned to face me and said, "This isn't the time to take a swim!"

When I looked up, though, a circle of seagulls was spinning around a short distance away. I ignored the boat and swam off to see what the seagulls were fighting over. When I got there I couldn't recognize the person though they seemed very familiar. I dragged the body to shore and tried to wake them up. I tried to think of who it reminded me of, and then it snapped. "Shadow! Shadow! Wake up!"

She was very still and she wasn't breathing. This was definitely a bad sign. The odd thing was she had no apparent wounds other than ones she had had before. Then I looked to her sword, held tightly in hand. I noticed something odd. A dark-colored ball of light hovered and span around the blade before seemingly turning towards me. Then I really got scared. It talked!

"Help! Help my friend! She's been hurt!"

I rubbed my eyes and asked, "First, who are you?"

The little light flew over and hovered inches from my face. She said, "I'm Nieka, Shadow's fairy partner. And who are you?"

I looked at Nieka for a while longer before making out the shape of a small, dragonfly-winged person. Her skin was just like any normal human's and she pretty much looked like a miniature Shadow, except for the dress. Shadow would never wear a dress.

Then the little thing punched me on the top of my head. "Yep," I mumbled. "Definitely a mini Shadow!"

Nieka folded her arms and growled, "I asked you a question!"

"Link. Shadow's friend," I answered, bowing in mock respect.

"Ow!" I laughed, rubbing my head. Nieka yelled, "Just help Shadow!"

"How?"

"Simple as kill stuff," the fey replied. "When you kill enough then the dark aura inside the creatures you had killed should heal Shadow."

I looked at the fairy for a second then asked, "What is Shadow? She's obviously not human."

Nieka glanced back at me and said, "Follow me."

I let myself be guided by the orb of light until we ended up on the other side of the island, Shadow's sword in my hand. Many people had asked what kind of sword it was, but I had just kept following Shadow's fairy. Now that I could stop in this secluded area I could study it thoroughly. The blade was made of obviously-fine-quality black steel and the hilt was dark gray. When I looked at the gem that I had felt on the hilt while walking here, I was surprised at what I had found. I had expected it to be black or dark gray like the rest of her equipment, but instead it gleamed pure white. The fairy flew over and she looked at the gem from all angles to make sure it wasn't a trick of the light. As she examined it I glanced at the base of the hilt where a smaller gem the same pure white lay ingrained into the hilt.

"This is really bad," Nieka whined after looking over the second gem.

I glanced at her in question and asked, "Why?" and she said, "Both those gems should be black. The one at the base of the hilt represents Shadow and the one at the bottom of the sword shows the dark aura inside the blade. When the one showing the aura inside the blade is white it means it has nothing. When Shadow's is white…"

I didn't even bother pushing her anymore. I could guess what it meant, and it turned out I was right. Nieka finished, "It means she's dead…"

"But what is she!"

Nieka glanced at me and said, "It's a really long story, just to warn you."

I replied, "I just wanna know."

"Of course," the fairy sighed. "Well, if you haven't guessed, Shadow isn't from around here. She is from a completely different time of Hyrule, what you now know as the Great Sea. But Shadow was created for one reason only- to kill the Link of her time. Fortunately she didn't succeed but right before Link killed her the three Sages of Hyrule that Link had already released summoned her to the Chamber of the Sages. They debated what to do for a short time and decided on sending her here. When we reached Outset Island, though, I was captured by one of your Ganondorf's minions. That's how she got here and you've never seen me before."

"But I had asked what she is, not why she's here."

Nieka rolled her eyes at me and mumbled, "Fine." Then she raised her voice and said simply, "She's your descendant's shadow." She continued to explain more about her friend. "The Ganondorf that created her made her from Link's shadow. She's the exact opposite of him except her determination to complete her task and her strength. She also has an insane amount of courage like you and your relatives. There are a few other similarities, but there are even more differences."

I glanced at Shadow's sword and thought of what I now knew she was. Simply and utterly a shadow. "What killed her?"

"Ganondorf. He used what little light magic he knew to cast a ball of light energy around her, destroying her spirit. Unless you bring it back with her sword."

I tightened my grip on Shadow's sword and set off to find something to fight to save my friend. Anything.

Half an hour of fighting. Who knew it could be so hard! Nieka kept yelling at me about how Shadow could've done three times as much in half the time until I grabbed her by one of her wings and said, "Because, as you said, Shadow was made to kill."

The fairy finally shut up, and I eventually fell asleep, entirely worn from my fighting. I knew I'd finish eventually. But would it be soon enough for Shadow?