This is a refinished version of my story, Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante." I'm
gonna chek over it and rewrite parts of it, and stuff. ie, I edited Yobi
the fairy from the story, so Link is alone and that makes writing this
story simpler. But, my editing at 1:00 in the morning means that i probably
did a crappy job of it, so ill check over it sometime later. Okay, on with
the show.
Extremely Quick Translations: Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante: Circus of the Black Diamonds Robyn: "Circus of the Black Diamonds. No....Circus of Black. Circus of the black and cold. Green one! Depart already! I understand Circus of the Black Diamonds! What will they do? What are they? Ah, I understand. Depart already. Quickly!" Link: "I don't understand the Circus of the Black Diamonds. I don't know the Circus of the Black Diamonds."
Chapter One: A Nightmare Come True
The red road. The white sky. The still, pale grass. The tall, red brick wall. There was something wrong.
The pad of boots sounded, though it was outside; the sky and distances and beyond echoed with the sound of footsteps. The road under the boots rippled angrily with each step they took. Two fists shook with anger, apprehension, and fear as they swung from side to side. Sweat dripped from the roots of golden hair, to the red road, rippling with anger at their contact. Blood slid from the corner of a thin mouth, to fall from the chin to the red road, which accepted their connection. Two eyes peered straight ahead. Link's eyes. Link. A piercing scream. A booming laugh. It wouldn't end. Link looked up at the brick wall. A black demon shadow, standing above the tall brick barrier twice as high, held a writhing little girl in his dark hand. A little girl, who looked to be no more than four or five and with dark brown hair, screamed horribly at the top of her lungs. She was held by her neck, high above the bricks and the demon itself. The demon laughed and looked from the little girl to Link. "Kill, think, don't want me to, her, Link. What, show me, power, your own, what power on so small of you like someone."
The demon laughed endlessly. The little girl screamed. Link, although not understanding any of this talk, had a concept ringing throughout his mind, and acted upon it. He pulled out his sword wordlessly. The demon stopped laughing and stared, wordlessly, as well. The little girl had stopped screaming and squirming. She simply hung in the black hand, staring at Link. And then she simply pushed the monster's fingers aside, and floated down to where he stood.
"Tshiko no da Diamante," she said. Link was surprised. The little girl knew another language. "Iie...Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante," she continued slowly, cruelly. "Tshiko, kuro de samui." She laughed loudly. "Ichi Midori! Shuppatsu shimasu mo! Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante yoku wakarimasu! Doshite, do suru? Nan desu ka?! A, wakarimashita. Kudasai, ikimasu. Shuppatsu shimasu! Hayaku!!!"
In his confusion, Link could hardly find his voice. But finding it just made things even more difficult. "Wakarimasu iie Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante," he responded. "Shirimasen Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante," The little girl started laughing again. Then what she said next sent shivers up his spine.
"You will now."
And then Link remembered what Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante was. And then Zelda appeared. The surrounding grey world turned to white smoke when she appeared. Link gasped. A tear coursed down her cheek. "How could you betray me, Link?" She asked. "How could you let me down seven years ago?"
"How could you do that, Link?" asked the little girl. After she asked him the question, she collapsed onto the ground. She stared at him, and then died, her eyes going blank, her mouth falling lifelessly open, her body still. Zelda still stared at him, her eyes unblinking, shining with tears. She gestured to the small body within the hand, not looking at where it had fallen.
"That young girl was named Robyn. She was about six years of age, and lived in Kakariko Village. She was loved by her parents and her sisters, her relatives and friends and neighbors," She paused. "And you killed her, Link. Yes, you. That was your doing, Link. You killed her, another Hylian, just like you killed so many people, so many Hylians. But does that matter to you? I am afraid that, for once, I cannot tell if it does. I don't know if you care any more, Link, and the pain of that very thought grieves me. "You are the legendary Hero of Time, or at least you were. But that day, seven years ago, you disappeared behind the folds of a dark cloth tower. You were forgotten there by most. But I never forgot you. I never lost hope that you would return. But still you remained there, becoming one of...one of them," Zelda emphasized the word. "Now you kill your fellow Hylians just to protect them, to feed them, to allow them to grow and gain power. You kill the people of Hyrule to let the Tskikans thrive, when you once protected the land you were born in, the land you once loved, the land of Hyrule! Not the people of evil, the people of the black mystiques, those damn circus monsters!" She almost screamed at him. But then her voice was quiet, woeful. "And then...you forgot me."
"Zelda!" Link wailed. He didn't know if he could bear any more of these truths. "Zelda, I didn't- I couldn't- if I had- please, let me explain!" But Zelda looked at him miserably, and then looked away.
"I can't be with you anymore, Link." she responded quietly. She started to back away from him.
"Zelda, no! Please! Wait!" Link grabbed for Zelda, but got only an unreliable grip. Zelda started to walk backward, at a fast pace, but her eyes never wavered away from his own. Link tried to keep up with her, his grip slipping and sliding. "Zelda, please!" And then Link finally lost his grip. He collapsed to the ground, the murky, liquid ground, and lay there. His eyes grew dark, and he felt thick tears run down his cheeks. Zelda had stopped walking. She looked upon Link with a feeling of sadness flickering upon her face. Link pushed himself half off of the ground and looked up at her. "Give me a second chance, Zelda..." "Link," she said quietly, "I did give you a second chance. But I know that in your heart you feel a need to join them again." "I won't though," Link said, quietly, smiling. "I won't join."
"Link, why must you lie to me? You lied to me when you said you wouldn't join, seven years ago. And I know you will again. You won't be able to help yourself. Too much of your heart has blackened with Tshikan evil; the flames rise too high, roar too loudly, burn too hot." She knelt by him, and picked up his hand. Carefully, she took his finger and rubbed it slowly across his cheek. Then she showed it to him. He gasped. The finger was covered in a liquid red. "Blood tears, Link. Bloodshed. This is from your own poisoned heart, Link. Unless you free your heart of Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante, you will bleed to death. Blood represents evil, pain is torturous, but passions of evil kill." And then she was gone. Link stood up and looked around, but there was no one. At least, no one alive. Except him. For now, at least.
More blood poured from Link's eyes. He wiped at them with his fingers, and his fingers were drenched. His heart started to pump faster, his pulse quickened. More blood leaked from his worried eyes, gushed through his pupils in a never ending torrent. He wiped them with his arms. His shirt and gauntlets were soaked. He started to scrape at his eyes and cheeks and face obsessively as though he were being attacked by fire ants, crawling all over his face. But in spite of his frantic worry, his poisoned heart pumped faster and faster and faster, and blood was now flooded from his eyes. It flowed off of his face, all over his body, so he was soaked from head to toe in his own blood. He screamed, and felt faint. Someone giggled. Link looked up. Robyn was more than alive now, standing and watching him with amusement upon her face.
"Goddesses, but you're stupid," she said happily, watching him suffer in his own blood and horror. Link choked. Blood was flowing down his throat and into his lungs. "Robyn..." he managed to mumble before collapsing back to the ground backward. Instead of seeming worried, Robyn seemed just the opposite. She trotted over, sat on his chest, and stared happily into his face. Link looked at her wearily. "Robyn...please...go get your mother...someone....anyone...." But Robyn only giggled. She blew on her fingers, one by one, and then stroked his hair. "Robyn, please....go get.....someone.....help....me..." Link begged the little girl, but then was silenced. He breathed uneasily for a second, and then closed his eyes. Blood swirled with the pearly liquid of the ground underneath him. His breathing stopped. Robyn laughed.
The sound of her giggles was what echoed throughout Link's mind when he woke again. But he was engulfed in lush grass, which was almost a perfect blanket, laying under an oak tree with particularly big branches and leaves, a perfect, thick barrier from anything in the sky. The sky was dark, and a steady rain was falling. Link quickly rubbed at his cheeks, but they were dry. He looked down on himself, but the only tears represented were the few raindrops that had made their way past the leaves of the tree. He sighed, and then sat up against the tree, listening the rain fall. The dark green grass and the smell of rainwater was refreshing.
"Goddesses...."
After muttering this word, Link stood and started out into the rain, toward's Hyrule Castle.
Link stood at the gate to Hyrule Town Market. Mopping his wet hair above his face, he peered in at what was usually a maze of bustling, busy streets. But as the dark grey clouds drifted slowly with their weight, and as black, shining droplets plummeted to the ground, there was not a soul to be seen within any part of the street. No shopkeepers. No children. No passers by. Even the dogs were gone, to go and hide under empty stands and stalls to hide from the softly whispering, softly cursing rain. But there was usually someone out in the streets at all times, even in rain and snow! At least one person...but not one. How odd. Link nevertheless walked into the town, towards the square. After about then minutes, he was there, taking in the pictures. Dark, cold, empty. It was silent. Except for the whispers of the rain. The whispers of the rain. Whisper...whisper.....whisper........ Funny how the rain.....the rain pulsed, almost. As if it were...... .....Alive? "Ah!" Something grabbed Link! He whipped out the Master Sword and swung it at whatever was on him- but the sword just swung right through, as though there was nothing. Link held up the blade to see that there was no blood or entrails- it sparkled as the sword looked when it was clean. But there was something there- he knew that something was still there! He looked down to see what held him in it's grip- but there was nothing! Nothing at all- not even an invisible or clear-skinned creature! But he was trapped- he couldn't move, couldn't escape. But as quickly as that hit him, so did the creature release him. He fell to the muddy ground. Pulling himself to his feet, twisting strands of hair from his face, he turned to look at his wretched opponent. But there was nothing there- no ghomas, no wallwalkers, no redeads, no nothing. Link fumbled to bring out his eye of truth, but there was still nothing that the lens could show. There was nothing- nothing hiding, nothing lurking, nothing growling. Just the darkened houses, the wet stones of the road, the empty stalls, the sky above. Yet Link could feel something there. He had felt a sensation like this before, it seemed so familiar, but- when? The thing- whatever it was- was there, he knew. It was evil and had an evil feel radiating from it. Yet a small speck of the light's power was there, within it, though deeply covered and almost hidden. Yet Link felt it- a sensation of light, Hylian light. He knew that it was there, deeply hidden in this evil, and it was farther inside this- this nothing that was there. The sensation reached forward and swirled around Link, enveloping him in trust. He felt lightheaded, but he did not move to stop the evil. His eyes closed. Someone called his name, but he did not answer. He dropped the Master Sword. It clattered to the grey stones, still mighty in itself but abandoned. Link fell. The thing caught him, resting him on its billowing dark skirts. Black surrounded him. It murmured in his ears. Strange languages of those who had been misplaced in a forbidden world...... And then someone spoke to him, someone who was so familiar, yet so new. "You'll find me again, won't you?" "I'll get you..." "We still need you, hero." "We'll swallow you again, you can't run." "You can't run this time, you traitor." "But you'll come back, right? We're friends." "You promised you would." "Right?" Link tried to open his eyes, but it was a near impossible task. He let them sink back down over his eyes and dropped his head once more. The black surrounded him again. The something washed over him. He could feel it leaving him, soaring, whispering- he knew it was of a Hylian tongue, but he couldn't decipher just what it was saying. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, followed by a liquid. Something cold was behind him. The crystal arrows fell through his head and crashed into his mind. The ground grew softer. He was falling, sinking. He couldn't move, had no control. Was this dying? No, it couldn't be. The whisperings of the thing became more audible, more under- standable. There was now a warmth- somewhere, in this dark labyrinth of black. It was all still now. The crystal arrows fled from him- or what was there, at least. He felt his mind come from hiding within him. He started to clear his head. And then he could see light. He opened his eyes. It was easy to do. But what he saw was blurry, agitated. Something moved. He pushed himself up from the ground's bricks and looked around. All was like it was when he arrived: cold, desolate, blank. His mind began to race. What- Where?- The creature!- But- What happened now? Where was it? Where was- But suddenly his train of thought crashed from the track. He was attacked with a splitting migraine that spread like a hatchet lodged into his skull. He grabbed his head and gritted his teeth.
He lay there for a while, letting cold rain clear his thoughts and of his pain, and thinking. And thinking brought about the rememberance of a long story that he so desperately wanted to be rid of.
"It all started after I came back from Termina, when I was about thirteen. Zelda and I were just running in the field, Hyrule Field....."
Extremely Quick Translations: Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante: Circus of the Black Diamonds Robyn: "Circus of the Black Diamonds. No....Circus of Black. Circus of the black and cold. Green one! Depart already! I understand Circus of the Black Diamonds! What will they do? What are they? Ah, I understand. Depart already. Quickly!" Link: "I don't understand the Circus of the Black Diamonds. I don't know the Circus of the Black Diamonds."
Chapter One: A Nightmare Come True
The red road. The white sky. The still, pale grass. The tall, red brick wall. There was something wrong.
The pad of boots sounded, though it was outside; the sky and distances and beyond echoed with the sound of footsteps. The road under the boots rippled angrily with each step they took. Two fists shook with anger, apprehension, and fear as they swung from side to side. Sweat dripped from the roots of golden hair, to the red road, rippling with anger at their contact. Blood slid from the corner of a thin mouth, to fall from the chin to the red road, which accepted their connection. Two eyes peered straight ahead. Link's eyes. Link. A piercing scream. A booming laugh. It wouldn't end. Link looked up at the brick wall. A black demon shadow, standing above the tall brick barrier twice as high, held a writhing little girl in his dark hand. A little girl, who looked to be no more than four or five and with dark brown hair, screamed horribly at the top of her lungs. She was held by her neck, high above the bricks and the demon itself. The demon laughed and looked from the little girl to Link. "Kill, think, don't want me to, her, Link. What, show me, power, your own, what power on so small of you like someone."
The demon laughed endlessly. The little girl screamed. Link, although not understanding any of this talk, had a concept ringing throughout his mind, and acted upon it. He pulled out his sword wordlessly. The demon stopped laughing and stared, wordlessly, as well. The little girl had stopped screaming and squirming. She simply hung in the black hand, staring at Link. And then she simply pushed the monster's fingers aside, and floated down to where he stood.
"Tshiko no da Diamante," she said. Link was surprised. The little girl knew another language. "Iie...Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante," she continued slowly, cruelly. "Tshiko, kuro de samui." She laughed loudly. "Ichi Midori! Shuppatsu shimasu mo! Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante yoku wakarimasu! Doshite, do suru? Nan desu ka?! A, wakarimashita. Kudasai, ikimasu. Shuppatsu shimasu! Hayaku!!!"
In his confusion, Link could hardly find his voice. But finding it just made things even more difficult. "Wakarimasu iie Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante," he responded. "Shirimasen Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante," The little girl started laughing again. Then what she said next sent shivers up his spine.
"You will now."
And then Link remembered what Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante was. And then Zelda appeared. The surrounding grey world turned to white smoke when she appeared. Link gasped. A tear coursed down her cheek. "How could you betray me, Link?" She asked. "How could you let me down seven years ago?"
"How could you do that, Link?" asked the little girl. After she asked him the question, she collapsed onto the ground. She stared at him, and then died, her eyes going blank, her mouth falling lifelessly open, her body still. Zelda still stared at him, her eyes unblinking, shining with tears. She gestured to the small body within the hand, not looking at where it had fallen.
"That young girl was named Robyn. She was about six years of age, and lived in Kakariko Village. She was loved by her parents and her sisters, her relatives and friends and neighbors," She paused. "And you killed her, Link. Yes, you. That was your doing, Link. You killed her, another Hylian, just like you killed so many people, so many Hylians. But does that matter to you? I am afraid that, for once, I cannot tell if it does. I don't know if you care any more, Link, and the pain of that very thought grieves me. "You are the legendary Hero of Time, or at least you were. But that day, seven years ago, you disappeared behind the folds of a dark cloth tower. You were forgotten there by most. But I never forgot you. I never lost hope that you would return. But still you remained there, becoming one of...one of them," Zelda emphasized the word. "Now you kill your fellow Hylians just to protect them, to feed them, to allow them to grow and gain power. You kill the people of Hyrule to let the Tskikans thrive, when you once protected the land you were born in, the land you once loved, the land of Hyrule! Not the people of evil, the people of the black mystiques, those damn circus monsters!" She almost screamed at him. But then her voice was quiet, woeful. "And then...you forgot me."
"Zelda!" Link wailed. He didn't know if he could bear any more of these truths. "Zelda, I didn't- I couldn't- if I had- please, let me explain!" But Zelda looked at him miserably, and then looked away.
"I can't be with you anymore, Link." she responded quietly. She started to back away from him.
"Zelda, no! Please! Wait!" Link grabbed for Zelda, but got only an unreliable grip. Zelda started to walk backward, at a fast pace, but her eyes never wavered away from his own. Link tried to keep up with her, his grip slipping and sliding. "Zelda, please!" And then Link finally lost his grip. He collapsed to the ground, the murky, liquid ground, and lay there. His eyes grew dark, and he felt thick tears run down his cheeks. Zelda had stopped walking. She looked upon Link with a feeling of sadness flickering upon her face. Link pushed himself half off of the ground and looked up at her. "Give me a second chance, Zelda..." "Link," she said quietly, "I did give you a second chance. But I know that in your heart you feel a need to join them again." "I won't though," Link said, quietly, smiling. "I won't join."
"Link, why must you lie to me? You lied to me when you said you wouldn't join, seven years ago. And I know you will again. You won't be able to help yourself. Too much of your heart has blackened with Tshikan evil; the flames rise too high, roar too loudly, burn too hot." She knelt by him, and picked up his hand. Carefully, she took his finger and rubbed it slowly across his cheek. Then she showed it to him. He gasped. The finger was covered in a liquid red. "Blood tears, Link. Bloodshed. This is from your own poisoned heart, Link. Unless you free your heart of Tshiko no da Kuro Diamante, you will bleed to death. Blood represents evil, pain is torturous, but passions of evil kill." And then she was gone. Link stood up and looked around, but there was no one. At least, no one alive. Except him. For now, at least.
More blood poured from Link's eyes. He wiped at them with his fingers, and his fingers were drenched. His heart started to pump faster, his pulse quickened. More blood leaked from his worried eyes, gushed through his pupils in a never ending torrent. He wiped them with his arms. His shirt and gauntlets were soaked. He started to scrape at his eyes and cheeks and face obsessively as though he were being attacked by fire ants, crawling all over his face. But in spite of his frantic worry, his poisoned heart pumped faster and faster and faster, and blood was now flooded from his eyes. It flowed off of his face, all over his body, so he was soaked from head to toe in his own blood. He screamed, and felt faint. Someone giggled. Link looked up. Robyn was more than alive now, standing and watching him with amusement upon her face.
"Goddesses, but you're stupid," she said happily, watching him suffer in his own blood and horror. Link choked. Blood was flowing down his throat and into his lungs. "Robyn..." he managed to mumble before collapsing back to the ground backward. Instead of seeming worried, Robyn seemed just the opposite. She trotted over, sat on his chest, and stared happily into his face. Link looked at her wearily. "Robyn...please...go get your mother...someone....anyone...." But Robyn only giggled. She blew on her fingers, one by one, and then stroked his hair. "Robyn, please....go get.....someone.....help....me..." Link begged the little girl, but then was silenced. He breathed uneasily for a second, and then closed his eyes. Blood swirled with the pearly liquid of the ground underneath him. His breathing stopped. Robyn laughed.
The sound of her giggles was what echoed throughout Link's mind when he woke again. But he was engulfed in lush grass, which was almost a perfect blanket, laying under an oak tree with particularly big branches and leaves, a perfect, thick barrier from anything in the sky. The sky was dark, and a steady rain was falling. Link quickly rubbed at his cheeks, but they were dry. He looked down on himself, but the only tears represented were the few raindrops that had made their way past the leaves of the tree. He sighed, and then sat up against the tree, listening the rain fall. The dark green grass and the smell of rainwater was refreshing.
"Goddesses...."
After muttering this word, Link stood and started out into the rain, toward's Hyrule Castle.
Link stood at the gate to Hyrule Town Market. Mopping his wet hair above his face, he peered in at what was usually a maze of bustling, busy streets. But as the dark grey clouds drifted slowly with their weight, and as black, shining droplets plummeted to the ground, there was not a soul to be seen within any part of the street. No shopkeepers. No children. No passers by. Even the dogs were gone, to go and hide under empty stands and stalls to hide from the softly whispering, softly cursing rain. But there was usually someone out in the streets at all times, even in rain and snow! At least one person...but not one. How odd. Link nevertheless walked into the town, towards the square. After about then minutes, he was there, taking in the pictures. Dark, cold, empty. It was silent. Except for the whispers of the rain. The whispers of the rain. Whisper...whisper.....whisper........ Funny how the rain.....the rain pulsed, almost. As if it were...... .....Alive? "Ah!" Something grabbed Link! He whipped out the Master Sword and swung it at whatever was on him- but the sword just swung right through, as though there was nothing. Link held up the blade to see that there was no blood or entrails- it sparkled as the sword looked when it was clean. But there was something there- he knew that something was still there! He looked down to see what held him in it's grip- but there was nothing! Nothing at all- not even an invisible or clear-skinned creature! But he was trapped- he couldn't move, couldn't escape. But as quickly as that hit him, so did the creature release him. He fell to the muddy ground. Pulling himself to his feet, twisting strands of hair from his face, he turned to look at his wretched opponent. But there was nothing there- no ghomas, no wallwalkers, no redeads, no nothing. Link fumbled to bring out his eye of truth, but there was still nothing that the lens could show. There was nothing- nothing hiding, nothing lurking, nothing growling. Just the darkened houses, the wet stones of the road, the empty stalls, the sky above. Yet Link could feel something there. He had felt a sensation like this before, it seemed so familiar, but- when? The thing- whatever it was- was there, he knew. It was evil and had an evil feel radiating from it. Yet a small speck of the light's power was there, within it, though deeply covered and almost hidden. Yet Link felt it- a sensation of light, Hylian light. He knew that it was there, deeply hidden in this evil, and it was farther inside this- this nothing that was there. The sensation reached forward and swirled around Link, enveloping him in trust. He felt lightheaded, but he did not move to stop the evil. His eyes closed. Someone called his name, but he did not answer. He dropped the Master Sword. It clattered to the grey stones, still mighty in itself but abandoned. Link fell. The thing caught him, resting him on its billowing dark skirts. Black surrounded him. It murmured in his ears. Strange languages of those who had been misplaced in a forbidden world...... And then someone spoke to him, someone who was so familiar, yet so new. "You'll find me again, won't you?" "I'll get you..." "We still need you, hero." "We'll swallow you again, you can't run." "You can't run this time, you traitor." "But you'll come back, right? We're friends." "You promised you would." "Right?" Link tried to open his eyes, but it was a near impossible task. He let them sink back down over his eyes and dropped his head once more. The black surrounded him again. The something washed over him. He could feel it leaving him, soaring, whispering- he knew it was of a Hylian tongue, but he couldn't decipher just what it was saying. He felt a sharp pain in the back of his head, followed by a liquid. Something cold was behind him. The crystal arrows fell through his head and crashed into his mind. The ground grew softer. He was falling, sinking. He couldn't move, had no control. Was this dying? No, it couldn't be. The whisperings of the thing became more audible, more under- standable. There was now a warmth- somewhere, in this dark labyrinth of black. It was all still now. The crystal arrows fled from him- or what was there, at least. He felt his mind come from hiding within him. He started to clear his head. And then he could see light. He opened his eyes. It was easy to do. But what he saw was blurry, agitated. Something moved. He pushed himself up from the ground's bricks and looked around. All was like it was when he arrived: cold, desolate, blank. His mind began to race. What- Where?- The creature!- But- What happened now? Where was it? Where was- But suddenly his train of thought crashed from the track. He was attacked with a splitting migraine that spread like a hatchet lodged into his skull. He grabbed his head and gritted his teeth.
He lay there for a while, letting cold rain clear his thoughts and of his pain, and thinking. And thinking brought about the rememberance of a long story that he so desperately wanted to be rid of.
"It all started after I came back from Termina, when I was about thirteen. Zelda and I were just running in the field, Hyrule Field....."
