The Magic of the Moment

Song of Storms

Trunks and Link soon found that, while the sun had been beating down on the Desert Colossus and Haunted Wasteland, dark storm clouds had gathered over the rest of Hyrule. By the time they had made it back to the Ranch, rain was falling heavily. Fortunately, for both of them, the energy that Trunks radiated was keeping the both very dry.

Talon opened the door to let them inside. "Welcome back, boys. We were starting to worry."

Malon ran over and embraced them both. "Thank goodness you're safe." She looked at them in confusion. "But you're dry…how? It's pouring down out there."

Trunks shrugged. "I flew back, and my energy evaporated the rain I suppose."

"Well, sit down and have some soup anyway. I don't want you to catch a cold." She glared at Sheik and Link. "Any of you."

Looking sheepish, the three young men sat at the table with Talon, while Malon served them helping after helping of steaming soup.

"So, where's the next destination?" Link asked Sheik.

"The Shadow Temple. My people were the guardians once, and now only two remain," Sheik replied, somewhat morbidly. "We must go to Kakariko Village, and find Impa."

"You aren't going anywhere until this rain eases off," Malon ordered.

"We cannot wait! The fate of Hyrule lies in our hands. Rain is of no concern."

Trunks smirked to himself. Malon reminded him of ChiChi sometimes. She was more concerned about them catching colds than the entire world being destroyed.

"You are welcome to leave, Sheik," Malon said, stubbornly. "But neither Trunks nor Link should leave so soon. They need to rest."

Sheik sighed and mumbled something inaudible. Then he gave in. "Fine, we will not leave until the rain has lessened."

"That's better. You should probably stay in the barn tonight – the Tower is too far from this building. You'd be drenched before you got there."

"Good thing Ingo has the night off," Talon commented. "I'm sure he would not be too impressed about having to share the barn."

After their meal, Trunks, Link and Sheik were practically thrown out of the house, and forced to run to the barn. Though it may have seemed that Malon was in a vile mood, Trunks knew that she was simply concerned about them. She didn't want them to rush straight back into the danger that they had only just escaped from.

Once inside the barn, Link shook his hair dry, and scoffed, "Women!"

Trunks smiled, and powered up to dry himself. "When you've lived with one for most of your life, you really get used to the way they act."

"Malon is simply worried about the two of you," Sheik stated.

"Wow, Sheik. I didn't realise you knew how women worked too. So, where does your knowledge come from?"

Sheik blushed ever so slightly. "Umm…I was brought up by a woman for most of my life also."

"Was it this Impa woman you keep talking about?"

"Yes."

Link suddenly became excited. "Does Impa know where we can find Zelda?"

There was a sparkle in Sheik's eyes that only Trunks noticed. "No. Though I have not seen Impa for many years, I can tell you honestly that she does not know the whereabouts of the Princess. No one does."

"I hope she's okay."

"Do not fear, Link. You are closer to finding her than you think."

"Hang on a minute," Trunks said. "Didn't you just say no one knows where Princess Zelda is? How can you know that Link is close to finding her?"

"I don't know how to explain it – I just know." Sheik abruptly stopped talking, making it obvious that he would discuss no more of the subject.

Link picked out a stack of hay, and flopped down on to it. "Well, gentlemen. Make yourselves at home. Let's hope the horses won't be as noisy as the cows tend to be."

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

"It's still raining," Link stated, as he peaked out of the barn door the next morning. "I don't think Malon will let us go anywhere."

Sheik frowned. "We can delay no longer. I have a bad feeling about Kakariko Village. I fear that Impa may be in danger."

"Trunks, why don't you talk to Malon? Maybe you can sweet-talk her into letting us go," Link suggested.

"Me!?" Trunks cried. "But you're the ladies' man, why don't you go?"

"Because she likes you."

Trunks blushed furiously. "She doesn't like me! I mean, she likes me, but she doesn't like me. We…we're just friends!"

"Sure, Trunks. That's why you've been staying here all this time, and why she worries about you every time danger gets mentioned. Believe me, she likes you, you lucky dog."

"Well…I…uh…suppose I could talk to her."

"Great!" Link cried, pushing Trunks out the door. "Go get her, tiger!"

Trunks felt like the world's biggest idiot as he tramped from the barn to the house, running possible conversations through his mind.

"Hi, Malon! Great day, isn't it? Say, the boys and I were thinking of making a quick trip to some place called Kakariko Village. Be a sweetie and let us go." Pathetic.

The truth was even worse. "Oh, hey Malon! Link and Sheik want to leave, so they asked me to sweet-talk you into letting us go. And by the way, are you busy later this week? I thought we might go on a date or something.

"I am such a loser," Trunks groaned, stepping into the house.

"Oh, good morning Trunks," Malon greeted. "Are the other two on their way? Breakfast will be ready very soon."

"Uh…actually Malon, I wanted to talk to you," Trunks stammered. "Sheik is really worried about that Impa woman. He thinks she might be in danger, so he wants to head for Kakariko Village as soon as possible."

"Oh, no! It's still pouring! You'll all get sick!"

"Malon, you don't understand. If we don't go, it could mean the end of your whole world. That includes you, and I couldn't live with myself if anything ever happened to you."

Malon blushed, and her eyes sparkled. "Trunks…"

He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Now, don't you worry about a thing. We're going to be fine. I promise you."

"But…"

"Shhh." Trunks held his finger to Malon's lips. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "I promise that I'll come back, and when I do, Hyrule is going to be the beautiful land of your childhood." He turned to walk out, but stopped for just a moment. "You should probably have a big feast prepared for when I do come back. Saving the world tends to make me hungry."

Link and Sheik were already waiting for Trunks outside. Link's tunic was a darker green than it had been, making it obvious that he was soaked to the bone. But the raindrops seemed to simply bead on Sheik's clothing.

"About time," Link laughed. "So did you convince her?"

"Took some work, but I did," Trunks replied. "Let's head towards this village. I just hope it's in better condition than the last town I visited."

"If we delay any longer, in may not be," said Sheik. "Let us go!"

Link and Sheik were sharing Epona, and Trunks flew nearby. He didn't understand why they hadn't just let him carry the both of them, but Epona was setting a fairly fast pace.

She pulled to a halt at the bottom of a staircase. Trunks thought he could smell smoke on the air, but dismissed it. It's raining. How could there be a fire? He realised that Link and Sheik were already halfway up the stairs, and he ran to catch up.

Trunks should not have been so quick to disregard his sensitive sense of smell. The moment they entered the village, the three young men saw that several roofs were well alight, and spewing dark smoke into the air.

"It is as I feared," Sheik mumbled.

"How can the houses be burning?" Link asked. "Shouldn't the rain have put the fires out?"

"That is not a natural flame. Evil is at work here." Sheik's eyes were focussed on the well that was directly in front of them. "Stay here."

Trunks and Link stayed put as Sheik slowly stalked towards the well. Before he was even near it, the ground shuddered, and the wooden frame above the well exploded. Sheik was lucky that none of the pieces of wooden shrapnel hit him. But his luck was soon to run out. An invisible force caused him to rise into the air.

"Sheik!" Link cried, running forward. Trunks followed.

Sheik was thrown around from side to side, without being let go by whatever was holding him. All of a sudden, Sheik was set free, and propelled through the air, directly towards a solid wall. Trunks flew in front on the wall, and caught Sheik before the young man was used to redecorate the town.

A random thought entered Trunks' mind at that moment. Sheik was incredibly light. Trunks had always thought the mysterious young man to be small in build, but this was the first time he had actually realised how slight Sheik really was. Trunks was sure that his mother weighed more.

The thought was gone almost as quickly as it had come, for Link was about to face the same horror that Sheik had. But this time, at least he could see it. The invisible foe that had grabbed Sheik had taken the form of a large dark mass, a moving shadow.

"Link! Watch out!" Sheik called out, as the beast approached Link. The young man had his shield in front of him and his sword unsheathed. However, the weapons proved to be no use against the mass of darkness. Several tentacles wrapped around Link's limbs, and both his sword and shield clattered to the ground.

"Hang on Link, I'm coming!" Trunks cried, leaving Sheik on the ground.

Link screamed in pain as the shadow tightened its grip. Before Trunks had the chance to get close enough, it had tired of its new toy, and tossed Link aside violently. Trunks jumped and caught Link as he had Sheik. The shadow slithered away, but Trunks payed it no mind, as Link seemed to be unconscious.

"Wake up, Link!" Trunks growled, gently shaking his blonde twin.

Sheik limped over to them. "Stay with him. I shall be back in a moment."

Trunks nodded, and focussed his attention back to Link. He could see that the other young man was still breathing – a good sign. Trunks cursed himself for not thinking of bringing along some milk.

"Will he be okay?" Navi asked.

She had startled Trunks, since he had forgotten about Link's tiny fairy companion. "He should be fine. I can sense his life force, and it's still very strong."

True to his word, Sheik returned quickly, just as Link was starting to come to. Link sat up and blinked several times. "What happened? What was that thing?"

"The Shadow Beast," Sheik explained. "It was sealed at the bottom of the well, but it seems to have escaped."

"Where did it go?"

"To the Shadow Temple, to go after Impa."

"Impa's in the Shadow Temple?"

Sheik nodded sadly. "As the last Sheikah, it is her duty to guard the temple and expel the evil there. She is the Sage of Shadow, but she cannot defeat this evil alone. She will need your help, just as Saria, Darunia, Ruto and Nabooru did."

Trunks noticed that Sheik had called Impa the last Sheikah, when he had always referred to them both being the last, but Link hadn't said anything, so he kept his mouth shut.

Link nodded. "Impa has helped me in the past, so I owe her that much. Besides, she's the closest person to Zelda I'll find. I know you said she doesn't know where to find the Princess, but things might have changed since you last saw her."

"The entry to the Shadow Temple is in the graveyard of this town," Sheik stated. "It is not easy to get to…"

"It is with our friend who can fly around." Link grinned and pointed to Trunks.

"Oh, accepting my help are we now?" Trunks joked.

"Only because you saved my life."

"Well, that's good to hear, since I promised Malon that I was going to help save Hyrule, and I had breaking promises."

Sheik's eyes let them know that he was smiling. "Go, save Impa. I will look after the town."

Trunks and Link nodded simultaneously, and Link led the way to the graveyard. In the storm, the graveyard was one of the eeriest places Trunks had ever seen. He could see several lights, floating just above the ground.

"What are those lights?" he asked.

"Poes," Navi hissed in reply. "Ghosts. They'll delay us!"

"Not if I can help it. Where's the entry?"

"My guess is at the very back of the graveyard," Link suggested. "I've seen a ledge there, but I've never been able to get up."

With a nod, Trunks picked up Link and flew to the back of the graveyard. Sure enough, there was a ledge, with a gaping cave. Trunks set Link down just outside, and together they entered the darkness.

Trunks' Saiya-jin eyes adjusted to the dark before Link's did. In front of them was a ring of unlit torches, and beyond that a huge door embossed with the same symbol that Sheik wore.

"Check that out!" he yelled. "It's the same symbol that's on Sheik's clothes."

"That's the sign of the Sheikah," Navi explained. "I don't know what it means, but it is the sign of the Shadow folk. And since this is the Shadow Temple, I'm not surprised to see it here."

"How do we open the door?"

"There's usually some sort of trigger," Link answered, glancing around. "And I don't think those unlit torches are just for decoration."

"Ah, good thinking. Stand aside." Trunks held both his hands in front of him and sent a ki blast towards the torches. They erupted in flame immediately, and as they did, the door began to rise slowly.

"I could have done that myself, you know," Link scoffed.

"Really? How?"

"Spell I learnt, called Din's Fire. It's very useful."

Trunks nodded, and looked to what the door had opened to. If they had thought the room they had been in was dark, the new doorway was ten times as worse. "Well, that looks inviting. After you, Link."

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

A/N: Filler chapters. I hate them, but they're essential. Next chapter: The entry to Shadow Temple is open. Now Link and Trunks must face the horrors that lie within the eternal darkness.