Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda. If I did, I would sneak up and scare Keapora Geabora while he's sleeping and make him fall out of his tree.

K'ger: Welp, I really don't have a lot to say about this chapter, except for the fact that this chapter is kinda dark, talks about some inappropriate things, and has some blood to it. Beware.


A hero gets confused


Malon sighed and leaned back, resting her head on Epona's withers, watching as the sun slowly began to set, to disappear beyond the sandy horizon in a blaze of reds, oranges, purples and blues. She settled herself in the crook between the mare's front leg and side, and absentmindedly rested a hand on her stomach, her mind still refused to totally believe that she was pregnant. Sure, if she thought about it, it made sense, but it was all so surreal.

A few months ago, she'd been nothing but a farm girl, dreaming of how her knight in shining armor would come along a sweep her off her feet, not believing that love would ever actually come her way. And then Epona had shown up after months of being missing, a dirty, thin, wounded man slung over her back. She didn't regret anything, although she wasn't sure how she was going to explain any of this to her father, and this definitely wasn't the way she had pictured her "perfect romance".

Hell, she'd never seen this coming, pregnant, lying in a desert, and waiting for her fiancé to save her niece from the Gerudo, people she had a particular distaste for. She rubbed a hand across her stomach, wondering what it looked like. It can't be very old, I remember when we…well…I remember the night in question. She could feel a large knot of fear resting in the pit of her stomach, she was afraid for Link, she was afraid for Romani, and now she was afraid for the baby.

Malon began to hum a tune, soft and slow and so familiar to her that it soothed her nerves, Epona whickered softly, remembering the song as her own. Malon's father had taught her the song when she was a little girl, he said that her mother had composed the song specifically as a lullaby for their child while she herself had been pregnant. She had later used the song when Epona had been born, for the filly had been born extremely weak, and Malon, stubborn as she was, refused the let her go down without a fight, and had kept her awake throughout the night.

"Malon." A strange, almost ethereal voice called, she jolted upright, looking around for where the voice had come from.

"Hello?" She called, looking around the desert landscape. A desert hare, with enormous back feet digging into the sand, was bolting toward her, moving so quickly she could barely make out any details, but what she could see didn't make her feel safe at all. A dark, bloody wound stretched from neck to tail on it's left side, leaving a trail of blood as it ran. Malon jumped to her feet, startling Epona and Jack's stallion.

"Malon, you have to run!" The voice called again, more urgently.

The hare sped past her, leaping over the dunes as if being pursued. Malon screamed the sand beneath her feet shifted against her will and her feet sunk beneath her, Epona whinnied in fright and scrambled over to her, reaching out so that Malon could grab a hold as she continued to sink. She gripped Epona's mane, eyes wide as she sunk even lower.

With a sudden ferocity, the ground beneath her opened up completely, and she lost her grip on Epona's mane, falling into the darkness below…


Link dashed after the witches' cackling voices, thundering down dark, narrow hallways that stank of death. Soon after, he came to a crossroad, three paths were set before him, one straight, one to the left, and one to the right. The path ahead of him went only ten feet before reaching a closed door that resembled the doors he had entered the temple through, leaving only the two paths as options.

Jack came up to stand nearby, and glanced down each path, Link noticed that he was absently wringing his hands, which were still stained black from the Poe's blood. Jack seemed to realize he was being watched and quickly stopped, straightening himself to recreate his normal "aloof" attitude.

"So, Blondie, which way?" He asked, his voice giving a slight quiver, revealing his forced calm. Link shrugged unsurely, truthfully not having any clue as to which way the witches had fled. He took a step forward and was met with a loud cracking sound at his feet, he jumped back to find that had had stepped on a bone, shattering it with his weight. Kneeling down to get a closer look, he could tell that the bone was from a human.

"Don't tell me you're afraid," Jack scoffed, putting his hands on his hips in an assertive manner. "It's just a bone, nothing to worry about there. It's not like you'll end up as a skeleton."

Link looked up from the bone, shocked that Jack was actually trying to reassure him. He stood from his crouch and nodded an approving thanks before starting down the left path. The floor was covered in sand, but ahead he could see that the sand was thinning, and that the floor ahead was a rusty colored tile with embossed pictures of snakes and dragons and lizards and anything else that was scaly and aggressive. The Gerudo obviously had a "thing" for reptiles.

"Nah, you won't end up as a skeleton, you'll just get burned to a crisp anyway, or maybe frozen solid, or maybe you'll fall in a hole, never to be seen again."

Link let his shoulders droop and shook his head as he continued down the hallway, he had been stupid for thinking that Jack would ever be nice about anything. He walked down the path, carefully rounding a bend and entering a widened area. Sunlight glinted through narrow windows near the tops of the dusty walls, illuminating the room with a dry heat. The walls were covered in elaborate hieroglyphics. One picture stood out amongst the rest.

It was of a tall, green-skinned man sitting on a throne in a dark chamber. Two hunched old women were kneeling at his side, one held a spear made of ice, while the other had a bright red flame flickering in her palm. An army of ReDeads and Skulltula and Stalfos gathered behind the trio, eyes depicted as red and soul-less, piercing the otherwise black background.

Are those the two witches who kidnapped Romani? He wondered, putting a hand on the wall, near the foot of the throne. I know that's Ganondorf, just how old is he, anyway?

"Legend says that only one male is born every hundred years." Jack said behind him, crossing his arms and leaning against the opposite wall. Link turned and looked at him with a strange look. Jack chuckled softly.

"What? I'm related to the Gerudo, remember? I was taught how to read the old hieroglyphs."

Link turned back to the wall again, gesturing at it with a hand. He could hear Jack scoff behind him, and a minute later, he was standing beside him, looking at the wall with narrowed eyes.

"Like I said, legend tells that once every hundred years, a single male is born to one of the Gerudo, and that male is destined to ascend the throne. It is said that the male is always related to the last king directly, most often being his son, and that when said male is born, it is a signal that the current king will soon die or be slain. However, some kings were said to have actually lengthened their reigns' by taking their own sons' lives and scattering their blood on the stones of the sacred temple." Jack said, his eyes moving over the wall, stopping on key pictures before darting to the next one as if he was reading a book.

Link looked at him, disgust written on his face. The thought of killing an innocent baby would have been disgusting to him even before the events of the past few months, but now, as a father-to-be, the thought made his stomach churn, making him feel slightly nauseous. Jack laughed at his expression.

"Look, the Gerudo are savage people, why do you think my ancestors left? They couldn't stand the beliefs of their own kin, so they escaped, most who tried to leave died in the effort, but those who survived went on to build my home village."

Link turned back to the wall again, staring the pictures, not understanding how anyone could actually read them. He reached out and touched the hieroglyph of a baby, it was lain on the surface of a stone alter, a wicked knife poised above it. Jack rolled his eyes and turned to walk nonchalantly toward the continuing hallway, peaking down to see what was in store. It was too dark, he couldn't see anything at all.

"What's with you Blondie? You've been weird lately, well, weirder than normal," Jack started, standing at the edge of the hallway and looking at Link, who traced the baby's outline with his index finger. Reaching down, he grabbed a handful of sand from the floor, and, by wetting his thumb, covered the picture of the knife with sand, blotting it out so that only the baby remained. "And what's with the sudden…sentiment toward babies?"

Link swore he could practically hear the cogs grinding in Jack's mind as he frantically searched for an answer. He was startled, however, by the righteous fit of laughter that followed, and turning, saw that Jack was the cause, holding his sides and doubling over as he guffawed, his voice echoing throughout the room and down the hallways. Slowly collecting himself, he straightened and smiled deviously at Link.

"Oh, you're in big trouble aren't you, Blondie?" He managed to say between gasps. Link merely looked at him, his face unreadable as his forced companion broke into another fit of laughter, this one even stronger than the last.

"Your girlfriend's expecting, isn't she?"

Link gave him an acknowledging nod, shrugging off his laughs as he strode past him and into the hallway, re-entering the dark and wrinkling his nose at the rank stench of death. This passage made several turns, completely throwing off his sense of direction in the faint light. The temperature actually seemed to go down a few degrees as he continued, there weren't any hieroglyphs on the walls, nor were there any windows, making the hall even darker, and causing Link to squint just to see.

Ahead, Link could see a thick iron door blocking all but a few inches of their path, it had been left open just a crack. He could see firelight flicker through the last inches, and stopped as someone began to talk.

"Get away from me, you monster!" A feminine voice cried, he stepped a few feet closer to the door, trying to sneak a peek through the crack. There was a loud smack, followed by a yelp as someone fell to the ground.

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of hurting you." A cold male voice said in a sarcastic tone, Link couldn't help but think that the voice sounded familiar. He crept toward the door, and peering inside, could see four figures, three standing between the door and the fourth person. The fourth person was a woman, laying on the sandy ground and glaring up at the other three. She had startling white hair and a soft, caring face, with eyes that shone like rubies. Her dress was simple and black, flaring out around her knees.

Two of the figures' were the Twinrova, cackling as the white-haired woman shrunk back in fear. The other figure was male, tall, with broad shoulders and black hair pulled into a wispy ponytail. Link stiffened when he recognized him, it was Byrne, the one who had stolen the stones from him and Princess Zelda. He was garbed in black from head-to-toe, and he had an iron glove on his right hand, blades jutting out from the fingertips.

"Whoa, pretty woman at twelve o'clock!" Jack breathed, leaning over Link to peer inside as well and noticing the woman. Link jabbed him in the ribs, urging him to be quiet as Byrne approached the woman and hefted her up by the arm. It was then that Link saw a small, rumpled shape lying behind her. Romani.

"We should kill her and get it over with, it's not like she's doing us any good," Byrne growled, bringing his face to be only inches from the woman's, his mouth curling into a devious grin, lips nearly brushing against hers. "Of course, we could have some fun with her before we do."

Link could hear the woman sniffle, she was crying, and he could see the tears drip from her cheeks as the man brought himself even closer to her.

"Byrne, stop. Lord Ganondorf wants her alive." One of the witches said, her voice cracking with age. The other one nodded in agreement as Byrne growled and let go of the woman, letting her fall to the ground, where she stayed, sobbing to herself.

"You may thirst for blood, but you wouldn't want to disobey you master, would you?" One of the witches cackled as Byrne turned to glare, frustrated, at them.

"You may yet be able to quench your thirst for blood, Byrne." A different voice said, another woman sauntered over to him, she was tall, with her red hair pulled into a highly set ponytail and wore a red variation of the traditional Gerudo garb. She patted the man's shoulder as she made it to his side.

"What are you talking about Naboru?" He asked, his voice growling. She chuckled softly before turning her gaze to the iron door. Link could feel every muscle in his body stiffen as their eyes met. She smirked as his eyes widened.

"We have guests."

Link stood up abruptly, his head knocking painfully into Jack's as he turned to bolt, he could hear the iron door open, and seconds later, he was grabbed by the shoulder and pulled back, Byrne growling in his ear. Glancing over, he could see that Jack had been caught as well, Naboru grinned evilly at her him, her pray.

"OOOH! It's the one from before!" The two witches shrieked, dancing about the room crazily as he and Jack were paraded into the room. The white-haired girl looked at him strangely, eyes scanning every inch of his face. Byrne pushed Link forward, sending him tumbling into the sand, and laughing as he fell on top of the girl. Jack landed not too far away.

Link quickly scrambled off of the girl and back to his feet, baring his teeth in a defiant snarl . Byrne only laughed harder and, grabbing him with his left hand, held the bladed fingertips of his right to Link's throat. Link glared into Byrne's soul-less black eyes, his heartbeat quickening as the blades pressed harder against his neck, to the point of making it hard to breath.

"Byrne, you can kill those two later, Lord Ganondorf requests your presence." The Twinrova cackled behind him. But Byrne still held tight to Link's throat, and threatened to jab with the knives at any second.

"Now!" The witches shouted when Byrne still refused to let go. With a frustrated roar, Byrne released Link, pushing him down to the ground as he turned on his heel to stride toward the door. He stopped in the doorway, clenching and unclenching his fists.

"You're free for now, but when I return, I'll bathe the stones in your blood." He hissed cruelly over his shoulder before slamming the iron door shut. Link could hear a clicking sound as they locked the door from the outside. He turned, and took a quick survey of the room. There was no furniture, and only a single narrow window allowed in any natural light, although a torch flickered in one of the corners.

The white-haired girl pulled herself up to kneel beside Romani, and she glared at him and Jack. Link, looking at her carefully, thought she looked quite familiar, although he couldn't place why she was.

"Who are you?" She asked, looking at Link with her ruby eyes narrow in suspicion. He readjusted his seat so that he was sitting directly across from her, and boxed Jack's ear when he merely sat there, staring at the girl as a raven did a jewel.

"Ow! Hey, what was that for?!" He demanded, rubbing a hand over his ear and squinting angrily at him. Link gestured at his throat, and then at the girl, it took Jack a moment to realize what he was trying to convey.

"Oh, right, you can't talk, can you?" he smirked, glaring at him with an evil glint in his eyes. "I believe this one is called Link, he can't talk, and he's taken. I'm Jack, and unlike Blondie over there, I'm open."

The girl never once looked at Jack, even while he talked, instead, she stared at Link intently, making him feel slightly unnerved. She leaned forward to squint into his eyes, her expression was one Link had never seen before and, feeling strange, he stood up and approached Romani, who was still unconscious. The girl shifted as he walked past her, and seemed almost protective as he scooped her up and took her back to where he had been sitting before.

"Is she…yours?" The woman asked, looking at the little girl with a concerned expression. Link settled back down on the ground and leaned Romani on his hip, examining her for wounds, the only one he could find was a small lump on her forehead, probably the result of a harsh whap to her head, which was most likely what had rendered her unconscious. He looked up and met her ruby eyes, shaking his head no.

"I think that's his girlfriend's niece." Jack said, leaning back to lie flat on the ground, arms folded behind his head and resting one leg on the opposite knee. The woman shifted again, still watching Romani with a careful eye. Link looked down as the young girl whimpered, she was waking up, and Link shifted his grip on her as she reached up to rub her big blue eyes awake with a hand, the woman leaned forward to see her up close.

Romani looked up at Link, confused for a second, before an enormous smile spread across her lips, making Link smile in return. She reached up and touched his nose with a small finger.

"Uncle Link," she said, a tired quiver to her voice. "You found me."

Link nodded softly, and a look of concern crossed his face as she closed her eyes and gave a tiny moan, holding both small hands to her head.

"Owwie!" Romani whined, threatening to cry. Link picked her up so that she was on his lap and held her close as the woman walked on her knees to come up next to them. He didn't trust her at all, and couldn't stop himself from baring his teeth in a cautioning snarl. She held up her palms and met his eyes again.

"Just let me see her. I won't hurt her, I promise." She said coaxingly, her eyes pleading. Link reluctantly loosened his grip on Romani, and the woman reached forward, touching the lump with delicate fingers. Romani yelped in pain at her touch, pulling away.

"It's ok, sweetheart, I'm not trying to hurt you." She said soothingly, moving her fingers to brush the little girl's red hair out from in front of her eyes, Romani looked at her skeptically, confusion playing across her face.

"Auntie Malon?" She asked, startling Link and making the woman look up suddenly, glancing toward him.

"No, my name's Nola. But I do know Malon, she's your aunt?" She asked, rubbing her thumb and two fingers together in a strange manner, Link looked at her, she knew Malon? And then a realization hit him with the force of a small explosion. That's where I've seen her! She's a shadow!

He looked at her more closely, she looked remarkably like Malon, with the only differences being her eyes, hair, and a slight amount more weight around her midsection. She wasn't paying any attention to him though, she kept rubbing her thumb and forefingers together, which actually started to glitter slightly gold. She touched her fingers to the lump on Romani's forehead and this time, Romani didn't yelp. To Link's amazement, the lump actually started to disappear, to fade and recede, until her forehead was flat and unblemished.

Romani yawned softly and soon fell asleep as Nola continued to rub small circles on her head with the three glittering fingers. Noticing the awed look he was giving her, she laughed softly and stopped.

"All shadows posses magic. Mine happens to be healing." She explained, leaning back to sit on her heels.

"Hey, Miss, what are you doing here? You don't seem like the criminal type." Jack asked, not even sitting up to make eye contact. Nola seemed to become somber upon his question.

"I believe that man called 'Ganondorf' wanted the little girl and I as sacrifices. Said something about 'empowering his reign with the blood of pure-hearted maidens," she answered, a small smirk made it's way onto her lips. "But he wouldn't have won. What he doesn't know, is I'm not a maiden."

Jack sat up, looking at her with wide eyes.

"What you do mean, you're not a maiden?"

Nola smirked almost evilly, and coyly looked down at her stomach, a light blush creeping onto her cheeks. Jack fell back with a groan.

"Don't tell me, you're expecting too, aren't you?"

Nola nodded, and leaned back further to make herself more comfortable.

"Oh come on! I finally find another good-looking girl on this adventure, and she's taken! Two girls! Two of 'em, and they both turn out pregnant!"

A quiet overtook the room, the only sound came from the torch as it flickered and cracked. Link couldn't think of a way to get out, the door was locked, the walls were solid, and what's more, he had two more people to try and protect. He hoped that Malon was ok, there was no sunlight coming in from the windows now, meaning that the sun must have set, leaving Malon to fend for herself against the cold.

Nola snapped him back to attention with a gentle poke to his shoulder.

"You have something magical on you." She said, looking down at his upper thigh. He shifted underneath her gaze, unsure of what she meant.

"Something that could get us out of here, it's in your pocket." She pointed to the pocket of his pants. He leaned to the side and reached inside, fingers groping around for something, anything. his fingertips brushed against something small, leathery and shriveled. Pulling it out, he found a small dry bean pod. Whoa, I totally forgot about those. He thought fingering the beans that the frumpy old man had given him at the Zora's River.

Nola squealed in delight upon seeing the beans, baffling Link, he held the pod out to her, and she took them with deft fingers and looked at them closely. She looked overjoyed as her ruby eyes scanned the pod, she stood without a word, and, carefully sweeping past him with an amazing grace, knelt beside the iron door. Jack watched her as she carefully dug a small hole in the sand, she gently broke the pod open, revealing three shriveled beans, one red, one green, and one blue.

She placed each bean in the hole, making sure they were far enough apart before covering them with the sand.

"I can't believe this! Where did you get these?" She asked Link over her shoulder, not remembering that he couldn't speak. She watched the ground carefully, stepping away from the planting area, she gave a small yip, causing both Link and Jack to start and turn to see what she was so excited about. In the ground, where she had planted the beans, was a single, green sprout.

Jack himself gave a shocked cry as the sprout quickly began to grow, it stretched upward and outward, getting bigger and bigger. Link was forced to jump to his feet, Romani still in his arms as he dodged out of the way as the bean sprout had a growth spurt. There was a deafening clang, and the iron door was wrenched from its hinges by the rapidly growing beanstalk.

Without a word, they all dodged into the hallway, Link carrying Romani and dragging Nola by the wrist while Jack followed behind. They sped through the room with the hieroglyphics and made it to the foyer within minutes, before they had to stop dead in their tracks. Standing between them and the door was an enormous suit of armor, the sun setting the metal aglow, it brandished a gigantic axe on it shoulder before making a few shuddering steps, metal-on-metal as the Iron Knuckle attacked…


Malon opened her eyes and rubbed her head, aching as she sat up, somehow, she was sitting on the bank of a spring. It was cool wherever she was, and a soft breeze rustled her hair as she drug herself to her feet. The spring seemed to glow with an unnatural blue light, whilst the area around her was pitch black. Where was she?

Her head ached, and she was stiff, but she couldn't find any substantial wounds other than a cut on her cheek. She stepped forward into the pool, the water was cool as it soaked through her thin shoes and swirled gently around her ankles. There was a soft golden glow in the middle of the spring, and Malon couldn't help but feel drawn to it. She sloshed toward the glow, cocking her head slightly to one side as she approached.

But the pit of her stomach seemed to drop out from underneath her as she neared the glow, the figure of a tall, lithe woman could be made out as she approached, the woman was sitting on top of a small stone placard, legs crossed primly. She resembled a Gerudo, but there was something different about her, something familiar.

Malon stopped about ten feet away, clasping her hands in front of her. The woman smiled gently at her, looking her over from head-to-toe.

"Hello Malon." The woman said, Malon took a few steps back. It was the same voice that had spoken to her in the desert. The woman slid gracefully from the placard to stand before her, and it was then that Malon understood why she seemed different. It was her eyes, which glimmered blue like the spring they were standing in, unlike the traditional amber that most Gerudo possessed.

The woman reached forward, offering a hand to Malon. She reluctantly released her hands from the tight clasp she had been using for comfort and allowed the woman to grip her right hand. For some reason, this seemed to please the woman immensely, as a serene smile spread across her face, making her eyes crinkle at the corners. The woman's hand felt like ice, and was so smooth she couldn't make out defining features of her bones.

"You've grown so much." She said with a light waiver to her voice, like she either wanted to laugh or to cry. Malon couldn't tell which as the woman gripped her hand tighter. What was she talking about?

"Wh-who are you?" She stammered, looking at the woman's face. She seemed so familiar, like she had met her before in some distant past.

"You don't recognize me," she said, pulling away and holding both her hands to her chest. She looked like she wanted to cry. "I suppose you wouldn't remember me, would you?"

Malon shook her head, still suffering from a headache, and now the confusion that was swirling in her mind, unable to process what was going on.

"I'm your mother, Malon."


K'ger: Woo, that was a long chapter, wasn't it? But there it is.

Shout out to Link'sLily, her story, According to Legend, needs more followers! And it deserves more attention than it gets! So read it if you get the chance!

You know the drill, read and review.