Author's Note: Thank you shenlon_99 for reviewing this story, my DBZ story, and for pointing out that I only had one chapter. Without further ado, here is chapter two.
The night came over Termina quickly. The trees on the beach seemed to become monsters; the boulders in the ocean were now impassable mountains. Humans, Zoras and Gorons all agreed; night was the worst time to be in the wild, even in these peaceful times.
One of the sailors of Hesra was had come out of his room. When he had stepped down from the ship the Zoras were frightened, for although he had never harmed their land, they knew what Ganondorf looked like. And this sailor was an exact replica except for his clothing. He had the same size as the giant evil, even the same hair and eyes. But his eyes did not burn with an evil flame and he was quiet and a pleasant man to be around. The Zoras fears were soon put to rest.
As Zora's Hall slept, the sailor crept towards his captain's room. She had asked to see him in the middle of the night for answers to questions that she wanted to keep secret. He reached the door, looked around and tapped lightly. The door opened and the large sailor bent in.
Teri closed the door behind him and turned to face her friend with a tired face.
"I'm sorry to have summoned ye at such a time." She said.
"It was no problem captain." He said, in a surprisingly high voice for his size.
"I wanted to ask ye about the human that was here today with these Zoras." She said, pacing the room.
"I did not see him captain." The sailor said, standing like a block in the center of the room.
"Yet ye knew it were a man and not a woman." Teri said, slowing her pace.
"I heard his voice, which had a different texture than everyone else's." the sailor replied, eyeing Teri.
"I understand what ye mean," Teri said, stopping, "I know of your ability to sense a person's strengths and weaknesses Gerud. Tell me, what are Link's strengths and weaknesses?" she sat down on her bed.
"He is a remarkably skilled warrior," he said, "very different from many other warriors I have sensed before. But like all warriors, he follows a code. His code is quite simple: defeat all evil that endangers his land or loved ones."
"Which does he value more?" Teri asked.
"His loved ones," Gerud answered, "But he's willing to sacrifice them if he sees no other option."
"Really?" Teri asked, surprised, "How do ye come to that conclusion?"
"It is my belief after having analyzed so many warriors similar to him."
"So ye could be wrong."
"The possibility is there."
"Can he be of use to us?" Teri asked, standing.
"In what way?"
"To free our land of course, what other way is there?" Teri was confused. Gerud gave her a sly look. The captain didn't understand for a moment, but soon caught on, "Don't analyze me."
"As ye wish." Gerud said, leaving the room. Teri stared at the door for a moment, then walked to her bed. Crumpled on the floor next to the bed was a bag. She picked it up and pulled out a gourd. It was light and black. She popped off the cap and poured some black powder into her hand.
"If he cannot defeat his shadow," she said, holding her palm with the powder leveled in front of her, "he will not be able to defend himself against the enemy that is bound to come." She whispered a phrase in an ancient tongue and blew the powder into the air. It swirled into the air, pausing for a moment in front of Teri, then left through the window.
"I hope I do not send death." She said and climbed into bed. She was soon asleep.
"Malon!" Link whined, "You're taking too long. We're going to be really late."
"I realize that," she said, "but I'm worried about the…" they heard a crack. Link caught the edge of the wagon as it dropped from beneath him. He looked behind to see the problem.
"Were you were worried about the wheel?" he asked.
"Not any more." Malon said, setting the reins down and jumping from the wagon. Link was already inspecting the fallen wheel.
"Well?" Malon asked.
"In a word," Link said, tossing the wheel aside, "busted." Malon stared at the ground.
"I'm sorry," Malon said in a small voice, "I only realized there was problem about ten minutes ago."
"Hey," Link said, giving her a hug, "don't worry about it. Nobody's hurt and now, I have an excuse to use the faster way." Malon gave him a puzzled look. Link just smiled, letting her go and pulling an oval shaped flute from his pocket.
"The ocarina." Malon said, understanding. She unhitched the horse and sent it home. She decided to leave the carriage there; it was of no use anymore. Malon rested a hand on Link's shoulder. He put the ocarina to his mouth and started playing a high-noted tune. But after only the first two notes, he stopped.
"What's wrong?" Malon asked, looking at his face. Link was looking out into the darkness. Malon followed his gaze and saw only night.
"What's wrong?" Malon asked again. This time, Link responded. He went to the wagon and came back with his sword and shield. His sword was the one he had forged in Termina long ago. As he grew older, he lengthened the blade in proportion to his height. The Gilded sword from long ago was now as long as the Master Sword. Link dared not pull that blade anymore. Doing so would release the Dark Lord.
His shield was the one he found in the Spirit Temple. It had a crescent moon on its face and a symbol of the Triforce underneath. Its highly polished surface was bordered by steel colored red. Link's mirror shield, when placed on the ground, reached up to Link's chest.
But as he pushed Malon out of the way and readied himself for battle, he saw that the evil approaching might be difficult to defeat. It glided silently in the night. It was hard to see it, for the evil was the night.
"What is it?" Malon cried.
"It's me!" Link yelled back as the shadow lifted his sword into the air. Link stabbed at it, but the shadow raised his shield, stopping the blow. He brought his sword down, but Link had already put his shield between them. He pushed the sword back and tried to cut across. The shadow jumped back. The blade grazed it. Link came at it again and again, always just slitting it, but not getting the desired result. The shadow's sword came from nowhere, gouging Link's arm. Link winced and jumped back. They continued charging, slicing, blocking, clashing for what seemed like an eternity. Malon watched from what she thought was a safe distance. The cut arm was hindering Link's shield. The battle was slowly turning in the shadow's favor. That's when Navi came.
"Link!" she cried, carrying a miniature bow, "Catch!" she dropped the bow, which grew to full size before landing in Link's hand. Navi flew to Link's back and with a little magic, attached a full size quiver full of arrows.
"Thanks Navi." Link said, drawing an arrow. The shadow raised his shield, ready to block the incoming arrow. Link smiled, but hid the grin just as quickly and focused some of his energy through the arrow. It crackled with a bright green light, engulfing the arrow. Little bolts of lightning danced across it.
"Hope this works." Link said out loud. He pulled the string to his ear and released. The arrow stuck into the shadow's shield and exploded. Link watched as little comets of light flew away from his enemy, but quickly came back, striking at the body. The shadow shook like a leaf, before falling onto one knee. Light was still dancing across its body, when Link came over and took its head. The shadow vanished in a puff of black smoke.
Link stood where he was, breathing heavily. Then he sat heavily on the ground, dropping shield and sword, clasping his arm. Malon rushed to his side and pried the hand off the wound.
"It's deep," Malon said after a moment of examination, "I can see the bone."
"Let's get to Hyrule Castle," Link said painfully, standing up, "One of the Great Fairies lives near by." He closed his eyes and slowed his breathing. He took the ocarina from his pocket and lifted it to his mouth. The movement of his arm sent a wave of pain to his brain, but he had experienced worse. He played the Prelude of Light and a bright yellow light engulfed Link, Malon and Navi. They were gone.
The shadow watched as the three beings changed into a bolt of light and flew high into the air, towards the castle. It then floated in the air and headed for Termina. It flew over the great trees of Kokiri forest. It descended below the canopy of leaves and flew deeper and deeper into the forest. It found the tunnel that connected Hyrule to Termina. The shadow rushed through it, arriving underneath the clock tower.
The shadow then followed the stream that moved the great gears. It went through a system of pipes, before arriving at a small man made lake. From there, it took to the air again and floated towards Zora's Hall. It was nearly dawn when it glided into Teri's gourd and pulled the cap closed behind it.
Teri did not wake up, but she knew that the shadow had returned. She knew that the shadow had nearly won, but an external force turned the tides. She knew that Link was capable of magic and was very strong. For very few had ever survived their shadow, even with another person's help or with powerful weapons. Link was one of the few warriors to survive his shadow.
When the rooster crowed, Teri got out of bed, put on some clothes that the Zoras had found for her and went to Gerud's room. The giant sailor was already up when Teri approached him. She stopped within his shadow.
"Link defeated Shadow Link." She said and continued on.
"For once, I truly forgive you for being late." Zelda said, standing in the doorway of Link's room. The young man was watching the sun rise, but upon hearing the princess' voice, he turned immediately.
"I'm still sorry for missing your birthday." He said apologetically.
"Don't worry," Zelda said while walking towards him, "at least you're here to eat what's left of the cake." Link chuckled softly, pulling Zelda close to him. She put her head on his chest. She closed her eyes, sighing.
"It's not Ganondorf." Link said suddenly. Zelda looked him in the eye.
"How so?" she asked.
"It's the feeling I have," Link said, not returning her gaze, "Or rather, the feeling I don't have. Whenever Ganondorf or one of his creations came close, I felt something. I can't explain what it is, but whatever it is, I didn't feel it with the shadow."
"What about Majora's Mask?" she asked.
"It no longer exists," Link said, staring at her now, "I burned it two years ago." Zelda pulled out of his grasp.
"You never told me this." Zelda said tensely.
"Didn't want you to worry," Link replied, "I had a dream that Majora's mask would regain its former power. It was probably a nightmare, but I didn't want to take the chance. I found it, burned it and threw its ashes into the ocean." Zelda was silent for a moment.
"There's something you're not telling me." Zelda said finally. Link sighed, glanced at the floor and began to reveal his fears.
"A few weeks ago, Saria spoke to me of a dream she had. She saw me fighting something but she couldn't see what because it was so dark. She saw only me in the center of darkness, swinging my sword around as if I was fighting to the death."
"The next night, she had another dream, this one very different. I was on a ship in the middle of an ocean. From what I could tell, something came out of the water. Something big. It sank the ship, but I somehow made it to land. The next thing Saria saw was me in a dungeon."
"That's not good," Zelda cut in.
"It gets better," Link said and here he paused. What he was about to say was the most disturbing of all. He summoned his courage and forced his thoughts to words, "The next night, Saria believes she had a continuation of that dream. All the armies of Hyrule and Termina were standing in front of the castle. Another army filled with demons and humans was charging at the castle," he stopped. Zelda put a hand on his cheek, silently urging him to continue. Link held Zelda's hand and went on, "And I was leading that army."
Zelda pulled her hand away, her eyes filling with horror. Her lips quivered as she tried to say something.
"You can't possibly believe this will happen?" she cried at last.
"I do," Link said on the verge of tears, "for I had similar dreams these past nights. And when I saw myself leading that army, I could tell that I felt no remorse for attacking my friends. That all I cared about was winning the battle."
"Link," Zelda was worried now, for his sake, "you must not believe this. First of all, I don't see why you would be on a ship."
"To help the sailors from Hesra maybe?" Link interrupted.
"What sailors?" Zelda asked, confused.
"A ship came from beyond the Great Bay Temple. It came from a land called Hesra." Link explained.
"When?"
"Yesterday," Link answered, "I'm actually supposed to meet them again today." Zelda was silent for a moment, then she looked at Link.
"Yes, you can come." He answered.