Authors Notes: Thanks for reviewing everyone. Good to know people still want to read this. I still have a lot of love for this story. So don't worry, I am going to finish it. I already have it mapped out to the end, it's just a matter of getting it written. And then, it'll be on to the third part of the Trilogy. I think of this now as the second part, with Ocarina actually being the first. Maybe I'll actually write an Ocarina version sometime.

Ch. 8

Winds of Change, Pt. 3

Zelda's eyes snap back open to find both Khealdon and Nabooru in conversation in low voices on the other side of their room in the Shiekan camp outside the small village of Caerlon in the northern lands of Hyrule, lands long since forgotten. "There's trouble back home," Zelda speaks, drawing the attention of the other two.

"What kind of trouble?" Nabooru asks, turning to look at Zelda.

Zelda pauses, knowing there is no good way to impart the information she has. "Rauru is dead," she says plainly. "Murdered. Impa suspects Vaati."

"Dead," Nabooru whispers, sitting on the bed, clearly in shock.

Khealdon hangs his head, his eyes closed and his lips moving silently in prayer. He opens his eyes, and looks up at Zelda and Nabooru, his face lined and sad. "He was…a friend," he says, shaking his head. "We grew up together. I was so happy for him the day he became the Sage of Light." He shakes his head again, "I've lived a very long life. It never gets easy, watching those you care about die."

"I'm sorry," Zelda, rising from her chair and placing a hand on his shoulder. "He'll be mourned, everyone who's died because of Ganon will be mourned," she says, her voice growing tight at thoughts of her father, dead in her arms. "But we've more trouble. The Earth Temple has been freed, but Link was infected by Ganon's evil in the process. Saria and the rest believe I'm the only one who can get through to him. I have to try."

Khealdon nods his head, "We'll keep watch over you while you try. The Shiekah will just have to wait until we've helped Link."

"Come on Zel, lay down," Nabooru says, motioning Zelda towards the bed. "Who knows how long this'll take, and how much it'll take out of you."

Zelda lays on the bed, staring up at her friends, "No matter what, don't try and contact me. I don't know what I'm walking into, but I don't want you sucked into it. It might be dangerous even for me."

"We won't," Khealdon says. "And we won't leave your side."

"Good luck," Nabooru says as Zelda closes her eyes. She concentrates on the part of her mind where her bond with Link resides, feeling it and letting it fill her being. She then casts her mind along that bond, following it to the source, and, almost instantly she feels her mind touch Links. And as usual, there is a barrier there, a mental shield she's never been able to break through. "Why does he keep himself so closed," she says to herself. But there's a difference this time, the barrier feels different, thinner than it usually is. Concentrating she focuses the Power on the barrier and pushes, and is rewarded with a small opening. Small, but large enough for her to squeeze through. Wasting no time she quickly moves through the opening, feeling it close behind her. As she moves through her world goes white, and, moments later, she finds herself standing on the balcony of a large tower, high above a massive castle.

"Goddess," she whispers, her breath taken away by the view. The castle appears to be built high up on a mountain, and it overlooks a breathtaking lanscape, and, way off in the distance, the moutain range looks familiar, with one large mountain rising above the rest.

"You shouldn't have come Zelda," a voice says from behind her, and, out onto the balcony steps Link, dressed in the same green warriors garb he had on before they had both left on their separate journeys. "It's dangerous here."

"Then do something about it, it's your mind," Zelda says, turning to look at him. "Rauru is dead."

"I know," Link, his face a mask of stone as he gazes off into the distance. "I felt his death through the Power. Even here, trapped within my own mind, I felt it."

"What do you mean trapped?" Zelda asks.

"The darkness, it's taken hold," Link explains. "When I used the Power to heal Laruto, I left myself vunerable. It traveled back on the stream of Power I was using. It's…It's pushing me away Zelda. I've been fighting it ever since it infected me. But slowly it's forcing me into some dark corner of my own mind, and replacing me with something…like him," Link says, and they both know who he speaks of.

"You have to fight harder," Zelda implores him. "No one believed that a person could come back to the light from Ganon's taint, but Laruto is free. You did it, you have the power to do it. Only you can free yourself."

Link looks at her and shakes his head, then looks back out at the landscape. "Death Mountain," he says.

"What?"

"Death Mountain," he says again, pointing at the mountain Zelda had recognized only minutes earlier.

"Where are we?" Zelda asks.

"The North," Link replies. "The Castle in the Clouds, the place you're traveling to." His hand reaches into his tunic and pulls out the gold medallion chained around his neck. "The home of the High Kings, the seat of power for the Ancients."

"Your birthright," Zelda says, studying the medallion. "What does it say?" she asks of the Ancient script written on the medallion.

"Power, Wisdom and Courage…the three name him true. Born and reborn, he is the Phoenix," Link says, tracing a finger across the stylized bird in the center of the coin. "And this isn't a birthright I want. Hyrule is yours to rule…my Queen."

"Don't do that," Zelda says, her voice growing angry. She grips him by the shoulders and forces him to look into her eyes. "Don't push me away. Not again. You can't give up. We've gone through too much. If you give up now, think about what we're going to lose. Think of what we mean to each other."

Link smiles sadly, leaning his arms on the railing. "Sounds familiar."

"What do you…oh," Zelda says, remembering now the very words Link had spoken to her once. "You said much the same thing…before I sent everyone and everything back in time." She looks at him closely, watching the range of emotions flash across his eyes before they settle back to that unreadable gaze he shows to the world. "I'm sorry."

Link shrugs, "You did what you thought was right. You were trying to help me."

"But I had no right…," she pauses. "What was it like, being the only one?"

"I…the people, that's what started it for me," Link says quietly. "Seeing people happy, smiling. People who, only moments before had lain in graves. No one knew any differently. But when I visited you…you didn't remember a thing either. You had idea what we had gone through, what we had felt. After that, well, I really didn't feel like going through life, watching you grow up, live your life, fall in love. I couldn't do it. So I left."

"Where did you go?" Zelda asks.

"All over the world," Link says. "Holodrum, Termina, Calatia, Xeroth…I never stayed anywhere too long."

"Must have been lonely," Zelda observes.

"Better than the alternative," Link says. "I'm a wanderer Zelda. When this is all over, if I'm able to come out of this, I'll probably…"

"No, you won't," Zelda cuts him off. "You're not leaving again. I won't let you. I'm sorry for the last seven years. But we have a lifetime ahead of us."

Link smiles, and nods his head. But when he casts his eyes upwards, his smile disappears into a frown. "He's coming," he says, observing the black clouds approaching in the distance.

"So where should be bury him?" Ruto asks, wiping the tears from her eyes at the sight of Rauru's body.

"The garden behind the temple," Saria says, her voice distant. "He'd have liked that."

"I agree," Darunia says. "Though he was bound to the Sacred Realm this place was ever his home. He loved tending the garden and walking its paths."

"Very well then," Impa says, stepping forward. "Why don't the rest of you go out back and find a suitable spot. I'll prepare the…body."

"Come on," Laruto says, taking her cousins hand and leading the group from the Chamber of Time.

"How are we possibly going to find a new Light Sage?" Holden asks, walking alongside Darunia.

"I wish I knew," Darunia replies. "The Hero of Time can awaken Sages, but I 'm not sure how it used to be done. My first instinct is to consult with Rauru," the giant Goron says with a sad smile.

"What is that?" Saria remarks, pointing at a black speck in the distance.

"It's getting closer," Darunia observes.

"By the Tri-Force," Saria says in distress, her keen elfish eyes finally making out the object in the distance. "A black dragon."

"Impossible," Ruto says, trying hard to see what her fellow Sage can make out. "They're extinct."

"We thought the same of Al'Mob'lair," Darunia says. "Ganon's darkness is awakening the worst the world has ever seen."

"How in Nayru's name are we going to stop that thing?" Holden asks, and watches in horror along with the rest of them as the giant black creature swoops low over Castle Town, a torrent of fire erupting from it's mouth, raining fiery destruction down upon the great city.

"Like this," Darunia says with an angry growl and disappears in a flash of crimson orbs.

Impa runs out of the rear entrance of the temple, "What's happening…by Din," she curses, watching the dragon make another sweep of the city, only this time there is a flash of red light from atop the dragon's head. "That fool Goron," she mutters, and disappears in a flash of violet orbs. An instant later she materializes atop the dragon's head, next to Darunia, who is violently smashing his great warhammer, the Goron Hammer, into the skull of the creature. "Dammit Darunia," Impa yells over the wind, "you know as well as I do this creature can't be harmed that way."

"I…will…not…let…Ganon…win," Darunia roars, smashing the hammer over and over again into the dragon's head. Impa watches with stunned appraisal as the Goron Hammer begins to glow red, brighter and brighter with each fall of the mighty weapon.

A flash of bronze light appears next to them, and the figure of Kareena appears, staring with hatred at the two of them. "You will leave my baby alone."

Impa can't stop herself, she raises an eyebrow at the thought, "Baby?" She doesn't wait for an answer however, she leaps forward and tackles Darunia, knocking him off the great black creature. With a violet flash they disappear in midair, and reappear next to the others in the temple's garden.

"Why?" Darunia roars, his hand gripping his hammer tightly. "I was getting through, I could feel its scales cracking."

"Because Kareena appeared," Impa yells back, not shying away from getting in the face of the much larger Goron. "We both know she has a Sage's power, and more. She was chosen as Hera's vessel. Even we can't stand up to that kind of power."

Darunia breathes, pausing for a moment. "You're right, I know. But we must stop that beast."

"I have an idea," Impa says, watching the massive creature turning in the distance. "Everyone, gather around Saria." Impa grabs an arrow from Saria's quiver and places it in Holden's hands. "Hold it up in front of us. Darunia, your hammer started glowing, you were channeling your power into it. If we do the same, all of us, channel our power into this arrow, we might be able to pierce that things hide. Your aim will have to be perfect Saria."

"It will be," Saria says, her voice low.

Impa begins it, she closes her eyes, feeling the flows of power and letting them trickle into the arrow lying in the upturned palms of Holden's hands. Soon after Darunia, Ruto, Laruto and Saria all channel their own power into the arrow, which is now glowing bright white. When they finish the glow subsides and the once green tinged arrow is now silver in color, from end to end. "Move," Saria says, grabbing the arrow out of Holden's hands, getting clear of the group. The dragon draws closer, and Saria takes aim. She notches the arrow and pulls the bowstring taught, following the dragon's path. As the beast swoops low over the city, readying itself for another wave of fiery death Saria lets loose with the arrow. It flashes brilliant white as it streaks across the sky, piercing the dragon's head on one end, and streaking out the other side just as quickly. The large creature doesn't even have time to roar as its body plows into the city below, knocking over buildings and churning up ground.

"What do we do now?" Laruto asks.

"We prepare," Saria says, glancing back at the group. "This isn't over yet."

"Link, where are we going?" Zelda asks, walking alongside Link through the halls of the massive palace. "Who's coming?"

"You have to see before he gets here, you need to know where to look?" Link says, taking a quick right turn down a hall.

"Who, who is coming?"

"The Dark One," Link says as they approach a set of large wooden double dours.

"Ganon is coming," Zelda breathes.

"No, not Ganon…worse," Link says, his hands gripping the handles of the door.

"Who could be worse than Ganon?" Zelda asks

Link pauses and looks back at her, "Me." He pushes and the doors open wide. Inside is a stone pedestal, with a sword sticking up from it. At first glance the blade appears silver, when it reality it is more crystal in texture, flashing different colors with the changes of the light. "The White Sword…also called the Cystal Sword. It was made to use the Power, to channel energies…and to seal them. Use this to transfer Nabooru's powers back to her. It can also…trap Ganon. It won't last forever, but at least until all the Sages are awakened again."

"Link, please…"

"Too late," a disembodied voice says as a swirling cloud of black enters the chamber. It twists and swirls and shapes itself in the form of a young man, of Link, a true Shadow Link. "How many times am I going to have to push you down, before you stay down little boy," the hollow voice says.

"How is He here?" Zelda gasps.

"It's not Him," Link answers, his eyes never leaving the Shadow Link. "It's the darkness, Ganon's taint. It latches onto the darkness inside a person. It uses everything they are against them, it becomes them. He is the darkness that lives in my heart."

"Wrong boyscout," the shadow speaks. "I am you. Everything you are, I am. You are darkness, so I am darkness. I'm everything you want, power personified. I can help you destroy Ganon, to live the life you've always wanted. Why do you keep fighting me?"

"He's nothing like you. He's not a killer," Zelda says, her voice angry. "Why can't you leave us alone. You're just like that fool Azrael."

"Oh please Queenie, that moron doesn't have anything on me," the shadow answers. "None of you know true darkness, none of you can even fathom the depths I'm capable of. But I wouldn't worry, because you'll know soon enough. Did you know Zelda, that if you die here, in your boyfriend's mind, your body goes with you in the real world. I wonder, if I gut you here, will you bleed there as well?"

"No!" Link roars, and in the space of a heartbeat the Master Sword is singing through the air, only to be met equally as fast by its own shadowy double.

"You can't beat me Link, the darkness will consume," Shadow Link says with a sneer.

"No, the light beats back the darkness," Link says, his body starting to glow, a green aura surrounding him. With pulsating emerald power Link rears back and swings a might blow…

…and Zelda's world goes white once more. And as she slowly blinks her eyes open, two blurry figures come into focus, Nabooru and Khealdon. "Zelda, what happened?" Nabooru asks, her voice concerned. "You've been out for hours, and then suddenly you cried out."

"I don't know," Zelda says weakly. "I don't know," and she drops once more back into unconsciousness.