(Seperation Line)
As Link continued riding, he continued thinking about the shadow so far ahead of him. It was moving fairly quickly, always the same distance ahead, but going side to side in order to stay in his field of vision. He didn't like the looks of it, but at the time there was nothing he could do. He continued to ride, trying his best to reach the desert before whatever the shadow signified began to attack.
Link was obviously not the luckiest man alive, and as such he wasn't really surprised when the shadow suddenly closed in on him with intense speed, causing him to stop Epona and send himself flying off to the side to make certain that it wouldn't attack the horse. He didn't see where the shadow went after tumbling to the ground and picking himself back up.
He drew his sword and put his shield at the ready, looking cautiously around at anything that seemed unnatural. He didn't know if the shadow had a certain shape, as it was too quick to get a good look at it. His eyes scanned the environment, his horse standing quite still to make a more silent environment. She truly was attuned to Link, knowing precisely what to do without actual communication.
As Link looked around, he thought of something. 'If it is a shadow, it should be obvious, right? Unless of course...It can hide itself among other shadows.' He then looked to Epona's shadow, edging himself closer. As he got within striking distance he thrusted his sword into the shadow as swiftly as he was able...Which turned out much faster than he thought he could do it, pushing the sword into the ground all the way to the hilt.
While he struggled to dislodge his blade from the soil, an inhuman grunt sounded as the shadow came up from beneath him. He felt a cold, seemingly metal surface slam into his chin and he was sent back a few feet, losing his grip on the sword which remained in the ground. He uttered a curse as he brought his shield up, getting a good look at the shadowy figure.
It looked like he did, although it was dressed differently. Its clothing and equipment were all made of shadow, just like his face...The only features that gave the being any sort of humanity were the glowing red eyes. He looked into them and narrowed his own orbs, noting the figure's inactivity. It simply stood with the shield and sword drawn, shifting its feet in a ready stance.
The clothing it wore appeared to be a tunic of some kind, along with a somewhat long hood. Somewhere in the legends of the past, he heard of this clothing as being the clothing of the Gods, which always seemed to find their way into the hands of heroes of the past. Perhaps this creature of shadow was a remnant of one of those heroes, or perhaps something designed to combat them.
Perhaps, also, it was created with knowledge of those legends in order to give it a more symbolic appearance. Regardless of its creation, Link looked at it unsteadily. He was unarmed, having nothing but a wooden shield against the shadowy blade the figure wielded in its left hand. It was longer than his own sword, with a distinctly curved handle much like something else described in legends.
The shadowy figure's sword was a replica of the Master Sword. Link had seen pictures of it, re-creations of the heroes past preserved for countless years for the purpose of spreading the legend to future generations. He never took much interest in them, but knew enough about them to recognize the shadowy blade's likeness. It was most certainly not the true sword, he knew, because it was fabled to be untouchable by evil.
Still, that the creator knew so much about the past appearances of the heroes to make a perfect replica disturbed Link. He was obviously being faced by a creation of the new evil, the one that he was to confront and defeat to save the entire world. Just the red eyes of this shadowy creation sent waves of fear down Link's spine, but he knew he could not cower from them. Whenever he fought, he somehow found a way to win...Even when he didn't know it.
The dark replica of Link stood patiently, anticipating the true one's first move. Link watched patiently as well, trying to analyze his opponent. He was by no means an experienced fighter; not that he knew of anyhow. He was trying in vain to think of a way to retrieve his sword, having no idea just what this shadow was capable of. He took a step, and the shadowy form mimiced him completely. 'Is it just a mirror image?' He thought to himself, waving his left hand. Sure enough, the opponent moved his sword hand to copy it.
'No, it wouldn't be so simple...' He looked once more into the creature's eyes, noting an almost human look to them, despite the unnatural color. This thing posessed intelligence, and plenty of it. What it was doing to imitate him must be a way to give Link false hopes that he could trick it into doing something it didn't mean to do. It would lure the young boy into a false sense of security, then strike.
Link wasn't about to fall for that, so he made a blind charge with his shield held out. He let out a battle cry as he neared the shadowy figure, which stood still with its sword and shield held casually to its sides. As Link came within inches, the figure acted, making a vertical slice with the shadowy blade which completely split the wooden shield in half, leaving Link with an empty handle and a deep sense of panic. He was within range for another strike, and so he leapt backward out of instinct.
Luckily enough for Link, the follow-up swing wasn't quite fast enough to catch him in the chest like it intended. It did, however, catch his simple shirt in its range and left a gash that was directly in front of his heart. Usually Link would have blacked out by now, and he wanted to, desperately wishing for the situation to be lifted from his hands.
This time, it seemed as if his miracles had run out, and he turned onto all fours to scramble away some distance before turning to face the shadowy figure completely unarmed. He had no sword and no shield, and as such he could not defend himself should the being decide to attack him. Link stood watching the shadow once more, watching it pace back and forth slowly in front of his horse, as if guarding the sword in the ground from Link's reach.
Link let out a whistle, a very sharp one, which he would use as a signal for Epona to kick when the children wanted to see a show. The horse understood his meaning, and thrust her back two legs in order to strike the unknowing shadow in the back. The figure didn't expect the force, and stumbled forward a bit off balance. Link saw his chance and sprinted for the sword, but wasn't near quick enough. As he came within inches of grasping the handle, he was knocked aside by the firm shadowy metal of the figure's shield, sending him stumbling into a roll.
'Why isn't he killing me? It would be ease itself to finish this.' Link worried that this may be more complicated than it appeared. He hadn't been injured, but his confidence took a hit when his attacks failed twice. The shadow took a step toward Link, then another, and then closed the distance between them to kick the youth in the side of his stomach, sending him rolling across the ground.
An inhuman chuckle arose from the shadowy figure, and as Link looked up to regard it, he saw a dark smile barely noticable against the shaded black face's features. The thing knew how easy it would be to kill him, but it wanted to toy with him first. Link felt a bit of anger run through him as he realized the foul thing's intentions. 'He means to make a fool of me. Why won't the darkness overtake me again? I know this foul being would die if I could only tap into that blessed unconsciousness.' But the blackness wouldn't come. Link's fear remained, and his sight continued to show the dark figure smiling at the pathetic boy.
The thing spoke, the smile evident in its tone, although its voice was deeper and of a darker quality than anything Link had ever heard. "You cannot always rely on the strength of others, child." It delivered another kick to his torso, sending him rolling a bit further away from his sword. "You should have learned to fight for yourself..." It lifted the sword and thrust it down into the ground right in front of Link's terrified face. He couldn't speak, much less rise to escape, the dark figure's kicks delivering too much force for him to recover from.
He felt a pressure on his chest each time he took a breath, wondering if a kick had fractured one of his ribs. The shadow continued to speak. "I know a great deal about you, Link. My Master has been watching you for some time. Each of the attacks before this one, you seemed to tap into a hidden power...But this time, it fails you, doesn't it?" He smirks as he picks his sword back up out of the ground, putting his foot on top of Link's neck. "Perhaps the Master made a mistake in worrying about you. It must have been luck that you were able to slay the first two beasts."
Link coughed, feeling something thick in his throat, tasting of copper. 'Blood. But now it is mine, like it should have been at the village. Something saved me then, but why hasn't it saved me now? Am I no longer worthy?' He coughed again and again, the foot on his neck putting very little pressure on it, just enough to agitate his breathing. He then resorted to instinct, putting his left hand on the shadow's solid foot, pushing it with all his might to give himself more room to breathe.
To the shadow's surprise, Link had a great deal of strength for one so easily tossed around. He pushed his foot against Link's hand to no avail, eventually losing his balance and leaping backward to gain distance. He thought it through and decided to wait for another attack. 'I will not get close to him again...I was careless. He is certainly unique.' The shadow's thoughts were taking on a bit caution, which he didn't think he would need.
Link blinked at his own hand, wondering where the strength to push his assailant away had come from. He looked off to his horse, which was still standing obediently. He brought himself to his feet, taking slow steps in a circle to try and make his way to the sword he buried in the ground in his attempt at a pre-emptive strike. The shadow watched him carefully, shield and sword at the ready. Link stepped gradually, making certain that he didn't startle his foe into action.
The pain in his chest made it a bit harder to concentrate, but he did his best to appear confident. The strength he managed to summon seemed to have caught the dark man off guard, but he didn't count on surprising the thing again. He had to be sure that he looked like he knew of his own power, although he was amazed at his own strength. 'Relying on the power of others. What others?' Link found himself thinking as he traced a wide circle, which did eventually lead him to the sword in the ground.
He knealt down to draw it from the dirt, easily lifting it where he had been unable to move it just moments earlier. 'What is this?' He wondered, looking at his own left hand which he had used to draw the sword. He thought for a moment that he saw a light on the back of his hand, but attributed it to the sun's glare behind him. With his sword, he still wouldn't approach the foul human-like creature of darkness. The two stared at each other, the shadow obviously wary of Link's next move.
'If I charge again, I may be able to surprise him...But he may be waiting for it.' Link gulped, feeling a burning sensation in his chest. His rib was most certainly cracked, if not completely split. He couldn't simply wait to be attacked, risking further damage to his body. 'He wouldn't expect me to charge again after last time,' Link concluded in his head, letting out a cry as he began to run forward, sword held out to his side in preperations for a strike.
The shadow put out his own sword, prepared to parry the attack and use his shield to bat Link away once more. Link would let him try, and duck when the shield came, perhaps managing to score a hit while the darkness was off-center. It was the best he could think of while charging, the pain in his chest becoming a more numbing distraction with each passing step. Things suddenly took on a sharp focus, and he brought his sword around in a horizontal arc to let his double knock it away, already beginning to duck with the shield came at the same time. He got just beneath the shield's assault, his sword coming back around and allowing him to thrust it forward with added momentum from the shadow's frantic parry.
If the sword had connected, it would have impaled Link's foe, but the being was faster than he thought. Before Link could even think, the shadowy figure had gotten behind him with a jump, causing Link to thrust into empty air. With a panicked gasp, Link turned and held his sword vertical to attempt a block of any counter-attack from behind. To his relief, his sword caught the shadowy form of his opponents, and a strange thing happened.
The light that once made Link think it was a trick of the eye, the one on the back of his hand, now began to take on an incredibly defined shape. It was the shape of three golden triangles, with only one of them fully defined. In the moments that followed, Link's world slowed down immeasurably, things seeming to move as if they were in a deep pool of molasses. The dark figure's eyes narrowed painfully slow, and Link felt a sudden indescribable power surge through his left arm and out into his sword.
He found his own eyes widening at the sight that now came into focus before him. His simple metal sword began to twist and reform even as the shadowy figure struggled to knock away Link's defense. The blade moved as if it had a life of its own, extending and widening a bit. The hilt began to curve and enlarge, forming a golden triangle much like that on the back of his hand in the center of the two wing-like extensions. As Link's world remained nearly frozen, he gulped in disbelief.
Instead of the sword he set out from his village with, he now held the legendary Master Sword.
(Ending Line)
Uh oh, seems like things are coming together .
Review please!
