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Chapter 2: Zelda

The next morning, Link awoke with a sore back. He moved and groaned as he felt his wounds once again. However he saw Amaterasu awake.

She looked up at him with a dead eye.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just feeling a little sore is all. How come my legs hurt so much?"

Amaterasu seemed to relax to his answer.

"Well, you galloped a lot yesterday. Galloping is very tiring."

Issun was the one who got up first, and Link, for the first time, saw the speck he was, as he was only an inch tall. He found that ironic, given the amount of times he had saved the world.

He patted Amaterasu's head as she suddenly nuzzled him. She was sweet to meet, and she helped last night, by healing his arm.

Link had to do something for this wolf.

"So...we need to help you today right?" Link asked with any chance to spend more time with this very mysterious wolf.

"Correct."

"Well, I asked before, what do you do for...um...well the tribe?"

Issun didn't answer for Amaterasu this time. He knew it wasn't his place to state her true role. She was a sun goddess. Her job was to make sure the sun brought light to the world every day in her world. Like this Twilight, it's her duty to stop darkness from hurting the world.

However Amaterasu knew this role had limits. She wasn't allowed to be truly close to anyone as she had a job to do. However... This random wolf felt a little special to her. She felt something but she couldn't put her paw on it. She couldn't ruin anything by being too hasty. She pawed the ground with a smile.

"I just have a special role in all this." She teased. She wagged her tail rapidly. "I'm... I'm sorry."

"Ah?"

Issun laughed. He actually was angry, but he couldn't tell Amaterasu that in front of a stranger.

"To me you're both furballs!" He taunted with heart.

"Are you two doing all right?" Amaterasu asked.

"Oh, yeah, I'm having fun!" Link panted. He didn't mean to blurt that out, but after the scare with Twilight, hanging out with a clearly magical wolf sounded like a blast. Amaterasu nodded.

"Then let's go on a very fun adventure then. You know where we should go first?" She asked. Issun saw that both Link and Amaterasu were wagging their tail so hard, Issun felt storm like wind for his size.

"Sure do. I happen to know someone who knows about the light and Twilight. Her name is Princess Zelda." Link informed.

"Who's that?" Amaterasu asked as she watched Link stand. Link walked forward. He felt wasn't wanting to spoil too much. He wanted to know more about Amaterasu as well.

"Princess of Hyrule." He answered.

It was a long track out of the forest and into Hyrule fields. The sun was shining, and so was Amaterasu.

As they ran, the two were having a great time. They ran out of the forest and onto the open plains of fields.

Link wanted to show off his speed so he ran faster then Amaterasu.

"Bet I'm faster!" He teased.

"Oh by candy apple island!" Amaterasu burst out laughing as she ran after him. "You dare mock the gods' speed?"

"Who me? Oh no, I'm just having fun."

However, after he said this, Amaterasu had gracefully hopped over Wolf Link, and she bolted off.

"Slow poke!" She taunted with giggles.

Link wasn't going to be out done. He bit his lip and bolted after her. He was quick to catch up or else he wouldn't have. There was a rock just by her and he jumped past her, forcing her to pass.

"Aha!"

She had caught up to him quickly however, and she pounced on him.

"Ha! You're getting it now furball!" Link giggled with her as he grabbed her and rolled safely down a hill. Amaterasu was struggling to get free from his grip.

They rolled down a hill and to a stop by a stream, laughing all the while. They both tread water as they enjoyed the other's company.

Link started to see why Minda liked Twilight. Link was loving Amaterasu's company. She was funny, kind and now he finally felt... comfortable around her. He had been dreading their next meeting ever since he found out her plan, but now he felt relief.

And maybe even a little happiness….

Link splashed at the water as he pondered what to say to her.

"You know... I had almost forgotten what it was like to have fun." He opened his eyes and looked at Amaterasu. Her ears twitched at the words.

Amaterasu turned to him and smiled.

"...Me too..." She admitted. She was always focused on being a goddess. Having fun was an afterthought. But now with all her tasks, she found herself having to do them almost unconsciously. She didn't even want to think about what would happen if Akuma won.

Link thought the same thing. Right now the world was being hurt by Twilight, and here he was just enjoying this wolf's company. They both were looking down, with want and worry.

"It's not worth it..." They thought.

"We should get back..." Amaterasu told him. She didn't want to leave, it had been so long since she had just enjoyed being with someone.

"...I know..." Link whined as well, knowing she was right. They both walked away back towards the trail where Issun was waiting. He was still mad at Amaterasu but when he saw the looks in their faces, he saw that they were upset about continuing the trail of their journey.

"Ready team?" He asked with eagerness. "We got a lot of ground still to cover today!"

"Yeah..." Amaterasu said under her breath. She was hoping that they would just leave her be for the rest of the day.

Link nodded and tried to be more cheerful for Amaterasu.

"Let's still have fun." He suggested. "Wanna go see the falls?"

"Sure..." Amaterasu said as she followed him. She went along with it for now. She hoped that he would get tired and leave her be.

Soon, they made it to the bride towards Hyrule. It was a huge bridge that was right over Lake Hylia. The falls were roaring and the water was blue. The wind was blowing from off the lake and felt nice against their fur.

"Wow..." Amaterasu said in an awed tone.

Link was glad she liked it.

"It also gets better as we get closer to Hyrule Castle." Link informed.

"I can't wait to see it." Amaterasu told him.

They walked across the bridge and got closer to the Castle.

Soon, the castle was in reach. Issun wanted to speak to Amaterasu real fast, so he whispered in her ear.

"What do you think of wolf boy?" Issun asked as he teased about Wolf Link.

"We'll discuss that later." Amaterasu said as she tried not to laugh.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll find something wrong with him."

"Stop."

"He could have fleas. Bad breath." He teased further, trying to get under her fur to reveal her true feelings for Link.

"I said stop!"

"Or, if none of those work, he could just be nice to you."

Amaterasu didn't even know what to say about that last one.

"Oh did you know he said you was cute?" Issun suddenly lied with hope of tricking her.

"I'll deal with you later." She didn't give in.

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go in."

They entered the castle and stood inside it's doors.

Link wasn't worried about getting caught by humans. Hyrule castle was still covered in Twilight, so everyone was in spirit form unable to see Wolf Link or Amaterasu.

The castle got brighter and darker as it went along. It was mainly dark, as to not energize the twilight any further.

Link decided to take the alleys instead of the market. He wanted to get to Zelda right away.

The three made their way to the front entrance of Hyrule castle, where it is as a grand staircase chamber. A chandelier hung above the ceiling.

There was no one in sight as they looked around. Link had no idea where the princess could be at the moment.

"So where do you think she could be?" Link asked

"The princess?" Amaterasu wanted to confirm.

"Yeah, you know her, right? The one driving us all nuts?" Issun joked.

"Oh, I'd say her room." Link finally answered

Soon all three slowly made their way to the stairs. It was probably the most quiet they had ever got around. Even the occasional breeze they felt earlier was gone. The silence made their footsteps louder than usual, but they were still light enough to not even make a sound.

They made it to a door, with a symbol of the Triforce on it. They heard movement from the other side. They opened it up and saw a girl lying on the bed.

She was around Link's age, but she was a little shorter.

She wore a royal dress and a small headpiece. She soon turned and saw Link with envy.

She had her expression fall as she stepped closer.

"... I'm sorry Link. I wished for peace to come but now you're once again affected by Twilight..." Zelda remarked as she got closer.

She then noticed the other two, and Amaterasu blushed.

Link nodded. Both Amaterasu and Link knew Zelda couldn't understand wolves. He was glad because he didn't want Amaterasu to figure out any clues to Link being a human.

Zelda turned around and stared at the Twilight outside. She signed in sorrow.

"Once again evil has taken a grasp in Hyrule's light ... However whoever is doing it this time has a grasp on the entirety of Hyrule as a whole... No light remains at this moment and we are at an everlasting Twilight..." Zelda spoke slowly.

Zelda grasped her hands together. "...Our first task has to be returning the light to the five major landmarks..." Zelda turned to Link.

"You know you can bring light back... Here..." Soon a huge light appeared from Zelda's hands and Link and Amaterasu stared in awe. Soon a branch with 5 crystal balls attached to it appeared.

"This is the Hyrule Light Vessel. You can fill this up with the 5 major light vessels... If we can do that, I can get rid of Twilight..." Zelda explained more thoroughly.

"So that's what this is for..." Amaterasu said taking one of the balls.

"AAAAAA!!" a voice yelled from outside.

It was loud and powerful enough to shake the room.

Link peered outside. He could see a giant shape slowly approaching, it was some type of bird.

"Ah! It's one of the minions of Darkness!" Zelda cried. Link frowned.

"It's huge..." He remarked.

"Yes, even by our standards. It's name is Dainn..." Zelda then looked at the three of them. "Get out here..." She ordered as she entered the royal chambers.

"Wha...?" Amaterasu was surprised by this reaction.

"She may be acting tough now, but she's really just seeking shelter..."

"We can't leave!" Amaterasu said.

"We have to!" Link stated firmly. Amaterasu wanted to argue more, but decided it would be best to listen to the royal princess.

Soon they ran out the door and down the stairs. There was a shriek, and it seemed like the walls shook.

"It won't be long before it discovers our hiding place." Amaterasu said.

"That's why we have to leave..."

"No, we're going to do what we came here to do."

Link turned to her with a frown.

"Our job here was to get the Light Vessels. Now we can go out and kill the Twilight from this world." Link reminded. Amaterasu gulped at this.

"Yes... You're right." They both looked at each other and nodded.

"Come on!" Link called as they ran into the chamber of the castle.

However, as Link made it to the middle, the entrance suddenly exploded as something crashed through it. There was Dainn, the flying darkness creature.

"Gah!" Amaterasu screamed.

Link had to jump hard out of the wayof debris and the flying creature.

"It would seem you have met your match...hero" He said zooming past Link.

Dainn looked similar to a giant bat, but much darker.

Link stood up, growling.

"Shut up, you slave." Link mocked. Dainn cackled.

"A slave? I am a being that has existed longer than you have breathed on this world."

Amaterasu stepped up by Link.

"You're a slave to the power of darkness." She hissed.

"You're also a slave to the power of a powerless princess!" Dainn shoots back.

Link and Amaterasu nod at one another.

"Let's get out of here!" They shot different directions, trying to get by Dainn.

Dainn stopped them dead in their tracks by firing a beam of pure darkness from his clawed fingers. It hit each of them in the chest.

They flew back and hit the wall. They slid down.

Link grunted as he shook the pain off.

"Well, that didn't work..." Link complained. Amaterasu just growled.

"He's too powerful."

"Can't we do anything?"

"We could try to strike a peace treaty...but I doubt that'll work." Issun joked. Link soon looked up. He saw a chandelier. It was then that it gave him an idea.

"Come on!" He said as he stood up and ran for it.

"By the gods, what are you doing?"

"My plan!"

Amaterasu and Issun followed close behind him.

Link was fast and ran up the staircase.

Amaterasu and Issun stayed behind him. Link soon caught the railings and jumped hard.

Soon he landed on the Chandler just as hard. With one swing, the whole thing snapped and it fell.

It crashed on top of Dainn.

Dainn sat up in pain. He groaned in a deep voice.

"You've made the wrong choice, hero..."

"Shut up and die!" Link yelled as he hopped off the light fixture. Amaterasu and Issun let Link pass before following him.

Link, Amaterasu, and Issun all made it outside into the courtyard, and into Hyrule Market. There, many citizens were running around in panic.

"What's going on?" Link asked.

"Demon sighting! Hurry, flee!" A guard shouted.

Link gestured to Amaterasu, and they ran out of the market as well.

Suddenly, the sky turned dark.

The birds stopped singing, and everything seemed to be in slow motion.

Then, a red haze came over the city.

It came over the entire kingdom.

Link and Amaterasu managed to jump right before the red haze could trap them in the force field it created. It was like being in a force field of darkness.

Link and Amaterasu stood up slowly, and stared at the wall of Twilight in slight horror.

They couldn't go back to Hyrule Castle now, not with this Twilight wall here now.

Link felt his breathing slow. He turned to Amaterasu.

"You okay?" He asked concerned.

Amaterasu looked up to the sky, the sun bright above. She let out a weary smile.

"I'll be fine" She said reassuringly.

"Well let's get through this, then."

They sat on a large rock nearby, and Amaterasu closed her eyes to rest.

"Do you think we made the right choice?" She asked sadly.

"I...think so." Link said. Link smiled at her as he stared at the Light Vessel branch on her back.

"We need to keep the Light Vessel safe.." Link suggested.

"The only thing we can do." They sat in silence for a while, before Link finally spoke again.

"We'll get through this." He said with confidence. "Together."

"I know..."