Disclaimer: I don't own Nintendo or anything involving Legend of Zelda, but I am attempting to write a story about things that involve them for entertainment purposes only. Not for the money thing. That's bad.

It Won't Stop Running Down My Hand

Thousands upon thousands of beasts and monsters stood before Link and a blood red sky, surrounding him with deadly looking weapons. Lizards, wolves, skeletons; all bipedal with expressions that showed they had some kind of intelligence. Link was naked, without even a sword, as they began to converge upon him and started to slash at him with their terrifying swords and spears. After attempting to dodge the fatal blows, Link was beginning to grow tired as he made his way out of the circle of death. Coming out of the circle, he only found himself surrounded by even larger creatures. The momentary look of hope on his face was destroyed, along with any hope of living. The larger creatures then began to grab his limbs and tear him apart, piece-by-piece.

"I don't want to die!" he cried out in agony, as his right arm was torn out of the socket.

"I said I don't want to die!" he screamed again, as both his legs were cleaved off.

"I want to live…!" he made one last scream as he looked down at his left hand. On the top of his hand, as his palm was pouring out blood, a shining symbol was digging into his skin like some kind of brand. Three golden triangles were there, but the bottom left triangle seemed to glow brighter then the others.

"I can't die yet! I have a promise to keep! I HAVE TO KEEP MOVING!!!" he shrieked as loud as he could as he reached with his left arm to pick up its twin. Using his right arm, he began to beat back the behemoths that tortured him.

"I must… Keep… MOVING!" he yelled out as his world seemed to shift into a haze and vanish.

Awaking with a start, Link grasped at his left hand as it pulsed with pain. Now that the leather gauntlet was removed for comfort as he slept, a series of triangles could be seen as in his dream. Burning pain was erupting out of his hand as he softly stroked the image on his hand in an attempt to make the pain go away.

"Why…?" he questioned out loud, "Why does it hurt so bad!? The longer I live, the more it hurts!"

"Is everything okay in there?" a soft female voice asked, probably either Dusk or Dawn.

"I'm fine," Link softly answered, just wanting to be left alone. Of course, things weren't always as easy as that. The door opened and in stepped one of the twins, maybe Dawn? It was morning outside…

"I heard screaming as I walked by your room, and I was wondering if you're alright? Were you having a nightmare?" she asked in an almost too happy voice. The smile on her face didn't exactly make Link feel any more comfortable.

"I'm alright, it's no big deal," Link lied, even as the pain increased.

"Well, breakfast is prepared, so whenever you're ready…" she trailed off, as she left the room.

"Seems the longer I stay in one place, the longer it takes to keep moving, the more it hurts…" Link mumbled as he stood and began cloth himself.

"Seems like the longer I live, the more those nightmares haunt me as well," he thought to himself, as he put on his green tunic and placed his long sword at his side. Stopping to think about it, this sword truly was a masterpiece. He had found it in some nameless wooded area, deep in the forest within a pedestal. Whether by fate or by coincidence, when he placed his hand on the handle of the blade, it loosened itself from its rocky prison and from then on was his to own. Link didn't feel it was a coincidence though, since the same stigmata that lie on his hand, was also on his sword. His other sword, his full blade that seemed to dwarf his long sword, was purchased from a blacksmith in a mountain far away by a species of rock like people. Link had been having problems with groups of people ganging up on him, since he was too strong to take one on one, so he needed a weapon, which could plow through many people at once. It's not as if he liked the idea of murder, but it was either them or him. The sword worked out so well, that he had affectionately named the sword 'Death,' after the mountain it had been forged at. He liked his long sword, but as of yet he hadn't had to use it too often, except when he fought against only one opponent, or if there wasn't enough space to wield Death in. At inns he would leave the large sword, which was nearly the size of him, in his room and carried around his long sword. Maybe he was a little too paranoid? Then again, he was still alive because of that very paranoia of destruction. Finally leaving warm room, he left to sit down in the dinning area to eat breakfast. Both Dawn and Dusk were awake and both looking the same, just as last night. Karlov was standing behind the bar, cleaning up the counter top. Link sighed as he glanced out the window, since he was hoping to leave that very day, but the rainy weather was still in the sky.

"Here you are Link," one of the sisters smirked as she placed food on the table he was going to sit at. Eggs, bacon, biscuits and a glass of milk sure looked good to his empty stomach.

"Thank you," came his soft-spoken reply as he sat down and began to eat. As he sat down to eat, he realized he really didn't like talking much, he'd much rather be silent. He also realized he was being started at, which made him awfully uncomfortable.

"So Link, how long will you be staying with us?" one of the two twins who were staring at him longingly from across the table asked him.

"Um," he stumbled on his words, not used to so much blatant attention, "I guess I'll leave when the weather gets better.

"But that will only be a day or so!" the other sister whined.

"Yeah, I suppose so…" Link trailed off as he turned his attention back to his food. It really was a good breakfast, but Link couldn't fully enjoy it, knowing that two pairs of eyes were fixed on him, staring into his very being. It was nerve wrecking to know that his soul could be opened up so easily and picked apart like carrion for vultures.

"So where are you traveling to?" one of them asked again.

"The castle town of Hyrule," he said, hoping that this would be the last of the questions.

"Castle town?" one of them said, as the other's mouth hung wide open.

"Why? What's wrong with that?" Link asked, almost afraid with the way they seemed so shocked.

"Northern Hyrule, where the castle is; it's been in war for the last year or so!" the one who Link thought was Dawn almost shouted.

"War? What nation would stand against Hyrule?" Link wondered aloud. It was common knowledge that in this world, Hyrule was the largest nation with the strongest army. What could possibly stand against that?

"About a year or so ago, a new nation appeared to the far north called Mandrag Ganon and their Emperor has legions of monsters under his control," Dawn(?) explained.

"I see…" Link began to stare intently at the table as Dawn took his used plate away. While she was gone, Dusk leaned forward and began to whisper into Link's ear.

"Please, just stay here with me…" she pleaded into his ear, as they were alone.

"What?" he pulled back with a look of surprise on his face.

"That's right, just stay here. Don't get rapped up in a war," she pouted to him as he began to move away from her further.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go," Link apologized as he turned his head away from her.

"Why? Why do you have to go?" she questioned with a look of annoyance on her face. Hearing her question, Link got the flash of an image in his head, an image of a beautiful young blonde girl in a brilliant dress smiling at him.

"I have a promise to keep," he sternly said as he walked towards the bar to get Karlov's attention. It wasn't as if he really wanted to talk with him, but it seemed that when their father was around they weren't as forward with him. Hours went by, and the sun began to drift away as the darkness crept forward. Looking out a window, Link actually had a small smile plastered on his face.

"Although I don't know why, I really enjoy looking up at that dark sky," Link thought to himself as he realized the rain passed away. He would finally be able to leave this place and not have to worry about Dusk. Dawn seemed to be a little bit better behaved, but Dusk, despite the fact she was sixteen years old while Link was twenty-two, had been rubbing against him every chance she got, attempting to make it look like they were all accidents. Link, having become fed up with it, decided it was time for bed after he had consumed a few drinks and a late dinner. As he got off his stool, to try and move to his room, something caught his attention. Dusk was smiling at him, with a look that reminded Link of the rabid wolf creatures that inhabited the world. Her look was a predatory one, which gave Link the creeps.

"Pleasant dreams Link," she smirked with a look that showed she had other ideas in store for him then just a nice night of sleep.

"Uh, you too…" Link trailed off, with a worried voice, as he walked into his room and immediately closed the door behind him. Deciding it would be safe to place his swords within arm reach, he prepared himself for another night of sleep and defense. Only, he lies in bed and couldn't exactly fall asleep so easily, since Dusk had given him such a strange expression.

"Maybe she was only teasing me, trying to get me to lose sleep and stay another day…" Link mumbled to himself as his eyelids began to grow heavy and he found himself asleep.

Link could feel his world shaking as he opened his eyes and found that he was no longer asleep. Sitting up and rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand, he now saw Dusk sitting on the bed with him. She wore with her an outfit probably made for traveling, with its light brown and green color scheme, along with the cloak on her back.

"What's wrong?" Link asked through his tired voice with a tone of near innocence due to his tired nature.

"You said you were leaving this morning, right?" she asked with a smile on her face.

"Yeah, that's right…" he trailed off, not understanding everything at the moment.

"Please, you must take me with you!" she near shouted, giving Link a shock.

"What?" was the only thing he could think to say?

"My family abuses me! They hate me and wish I were dead! You have to take me away from all this!" her tone was dramatic, but almost too dramatic.

"What? You want me to take you with me? I'm sure if we only talk to your father and sister…" Link trailed off as he stood and went for the door but Dusk stood in front of him.

"You mustn't speak with them about this!" she hissed in anger, only to make Link more confused then before. If she was truly afraid of them knowing, this could very well be a little more dangerous then he expected. Karlov was a pretty big man after all, so he could have some kind of tricks up his sleeves. Link then grabbed his long sword and pushed past her and out through the door.

"No! You can't!" she shrieked, but it was too late. Link had already barged through the door to Karlov's room. That's when realization struck Link and he finally pieced together what Dusk was trying to do. On a huge bed in the middle of the room, was the dead body of Karlov and Dawn. Stabbed repeatedly with some kind of dagger.

"They had to be removed so they wouldn't get in the way of our love, darling," came the almost terrifyingly seductive voice of Dusk behind him. Quickly turning around, Link saw her standing before him with a long dagger in her hand.

"Wait a second," Link attempted to continue but was silenced by Dusk.

"No, you listen! Our love cannot be extinguished so easily! Come! We can leave this trash behind us and continue on together, forever!" she triumphantly stated with a bold smile on her face. Link realized he was obviously in danger, since she was so unstable. He only needed a distraction and some time to think of a way out of this situation.

"Well, at least let us bury them in the back. It would be the respectable thing to do," he attempted to reason with a look of nervousness on him.

"Oh Link, you truly are noble…" she slid over to him and hungrily pressed her lips against his while her hands began to move across his body.

"This isn't right," Link thought as she tried to push him unto the bed with the corpses of Karlov and Dawn on it.

"This isn't right at all," Link continued in his thoughts, until the only thing he could think, over and over again was on how the situation wasn't right.

"This isn't right!" he finally screamed and pushed her back and away from him in fit of despair.

"Fine then," she began with a look of cold indifference on her face, "let's just be united by death then and stay together forever!"

"Huh?" Link uttered but it was too late, she had already begun to dive at him with her dagger. In the few moments that made up the second that it took to get from where Dusk stood to where Link was standing, Link had already glanced down to his left hand and saw the blood pouring from his palm.

"Some deaths are unavoidable though," he quickly thought, as he pulled out his sword and pushed it forward as Dusk darted into his range. The long sword was much longer then her dagger though, and the tip of his sword pierced right through her. As her momentum kept her moving along the sword, growing closer to Link, the last of her strength began to ebb away from her.

"I'm sorry, but I can't be the one for you…" Link apologized, as blood began to dribble out of her mouth and down her chin.

"I promised her though… Promised her I would do everything in my power to keep moving towards the castle," he explained but stopped himself as he realized Dusk was raising her dagger toward his face.

"I…" she mumbled as she stuck her dagger into his forehead with what little power she had left and slid it down his face, opening a large gash along his face. From his forehead toward his right eye and down to his chin the opening ran, dripping his blood down his face.

"I probably deserve that," he began "and I'm sure you deserve this…" he whispered as he leaned his face towards hers and pressed his bloodied lips against hers. Kissing her for a few moments, their blood and saliva mixed together while his tongue ran along her lips. After a couple seconds, she was dead with a content expression on her face. Saying no more words he pulled his sword out of her body and cleaned the blood off. Placing the sword back in the sheath and then walked outside and picked up a shovel. Then, next to an old oak tree, he began to dig. A single lone tear could be seen running down his face, mixing with the scratch along his face that would stay with him forever.

Author's Notes: Hello readers. I'd like to thank those of you who reviewed and gave me the motivation to keep going so soon on this fan fiction. It really means a lot to me, to know that some of you find it well done. I hope you guys continue to enjoy it for as long as I keep writing it.