Caranril: Well, I was gonna wait a week before settin' out chapter 2, but I figured it to be like this: sometimes when stories have just one chapter, people don't tend to read them because it often means the author isn't really serious about the story and doesn't plan on continuing. Believe me when I say that I have every intention of finishing Dark B4 Dawn, mostly 'cause I'm obsessive-compulsive and have to finish everything I start. Also, it doesn't hurt that I have up to chapter thirteen written and am still far from the end.
Legolas: You know, for someone who raves about logic, you're rather illogical.
Caranril: Yeah...what's that called again?
Legolas: Schizophrenia.
Caranril: No...that can't be it...wait a minute!
Legolas: (hides very effectively)
Caranril: Damn! Oh well! All right, I'm gonna thank my whole TWO reviewers for chapter 1, since they deserve it. Arctic Wolf 18...
Legolas: (appears and aims bow at Bantan) Ha! Take that evil...wha...? Okay, who replaced my arrowheads with suction cups?
Caranril: (runs away giggling) And also the other person who didn't let me know who you were!
Legolas: Come back here you fell creature!
The Dark Before The Dawn - Chapter 2: Lost Kingdom of Hyrule
Link reached the solid rock wall as promised by Genicca. He looked back at the long flight of stairs he had somehow managed to climb in his tired state. He may have been dreaming, but his body was exhausted from struggling against the things that had haunted his mind. He placed his hand on the cool stone, the hairs on is neck rising as a magic sort of feeling tickled his senses. He'd experienced this magic before, though he couldn't quite place it...
With the silence of a shadow, the wall slowly rose into a crevice, setting a blast of cool night air loose on Link's face. It refreshed and encouraged him as he emerged from the dank caverns. He looked to the stars, recalling the times when he would lie in the fields of Hyrule, after Ganondorf's evil had been sealed away, and fall asleep, awaking in the morning to Epona's impatient whinnies to get underway.
"Hm, I wonder..." Link said aloud, pulling the Ocarina of Time out his belt. Placing the instrument to his lips, he was once again surprised by the warmth that always pulsed from it. A sort of magic warmth. His fingers covered the holes and nimbly released the notes that called Epona from any distance. He listened for the answering cry from his beloved horse, but none came.
Disappointed, Link returned the ocarina to his belt and observed his surroundings. Jeric and Genicca had failed to give him directions to the castle or even Kakariko Village. He would have to rely on the stars...
Link groaned as overhead rain clouds had formed in the two minutes since he had last looked. Lost without a horse in a land that had free-roaming dead...sounded just like every other adventure he'd been on.
Pulling the cloak tighter around his body, Link pressed on, hoping that any direction he took would eventually lead to shelter. He noticed that to his left there was a barren wasteland of sand. If that was the desert, then he was heading straight for Hyrule castle.
The wind picked up and gave Link a shove from behind, then a push from the front, making each step a stagger against the howling storm. Praying to the goddesses that the rain would hold off, Link forewent his attempt to brace against the weather and broke into a run. Stumbling here and there, he shook it off and kept going, every step murder on his aching legs.
After an eternity of running and finding no shelter when the rain started pattering on his face, and Link felt he could go no further, his foot stepped into a spot void of earth or grass and head-first he tumbled into a hole.
"That's it, just keep drinkin'. It'll put ya back on yer feet in no time," a soft drawl came to Link's ears. He opened his eyes, only to close them as all colour swam into a spinning pool. A hand on his back helped him sit up slowly. A bottle was placed into his hands.
"Go 'head and drink up," the voice came again.
"What is it?" Link asked suspiciously.
The calm voice laughed. "You've had it before. It's Lon Lon milk."
Link tipped the bottle and the delightful taste of the milk splashed into his mouth, a little dribbling down his chin. Indeed feeling much better, Link wiped his mouth on in his cloak. This time when he opened his eyes, he did so slowly so as to not have another dizzy fit. He looked at the bottle in his hands and made to give it back to the girl.
"Oh you can keep it. We've got lots of them."
Link corked the bottle and tucked it into his bag. He looked up at his hostess. She had auburn hair, big blue eyes, and a gentle smile.
"M-malon?"
Her eyes widened. "Why I didn't think you'd recognized me!"
Link smiled back. "I'd recognize you anywhere. Especially with your shoes. After eight years you still haven't changed the style?"
Malon blushed and looked at her clog-like foot wear. "I find them to be rather comfortable, and they're easy to clean. Bein' on a ranch an' all..."
"Of course." Link looked around, noticing that they were in a cave of some sort, and the thick scent of fresh hay filled the air. On the far wall was a post to which several horses were picketed. There were also cows, Cuccos, and two ranch hands. A few feet away from Link and Malon was none other than her father, Talon, happily snoring on a pile of hay.
"What are you doing down here? What happened to the ranch?" Link asked.
"Oh, well, ya see...ever since the...fall of Hyrule castle to...something, creatures have swarmed the fields and any place unprotected. We had a sturdy wall around the ranch, but too many of the things wanted to get in...and they did. We've also had a lot of these rampant storms lately, and in between them, I've snuck out to the ranch. There's practically nothin' left. Whatever the creatures of the fields didn't destroy, the storms did."
"The...the fall of the castle? What's happened?"
Malon shook her head. "I'm 'fraid I don't know. One of the ranch hands, Renny with the hat there, had been the last at the castle. He'd been droppin' off a delivery of milk, an' he was comin' back, when he heard screams and horrible noises, an' like any decent person he turned around to see what was happenin'. He wasn't able to get very close though 'cause there was a wall of blackness."
Link blinked. "Blackness?"
"Yeah, like a shadow or somethin'. That's why there are so many dead creatures wand'rin' around, most of them came from the Market and castle."
"There were really that many people there? Last time I visited the Market..."
"It was failing, I know. But the Princess Zelda took matters into her own little hands and brought the economy up to the height it was at the time of the attack. Lon Lon Ranch was doin' so well too, exportin' milk products and our own purebred horses. Some place called Clock Town was where Zelda had been doin' business."
"H-hold on," Link pressed two fingers to his temple, his head aching from his fall onto it and trying to absorb all the information that Malon was giving him. "I thought Zelda had disappeared after I had."
"What, no. After you left four years ago, not disappeared, she set about to makin' a name for herself. About two weeks after you left, a couple came here for their anniversary. They visited the castle and the Princess listened to their story of a lad in green clothing with a fairy who had foiled the evil plans of a mask and brought them together. They wanted to visit his homeland and perhaps meet him again."
Link smiled. "Kafei and Anju..."
Malon looked at him. "You were the kid, weren't you? I might have known! Anyway, she didn't disappear until a few hours before the attack. Renny saw her ride out in a hurry, all dressed up for a long journey of some sorts."
"Miz Malon! The storms passed!" announced the other ranch hand. "Should we get the 'orses into the fresh air?"
"Oh, yes! One moment, Eli." Malon turned to Link. "This is the part where we rebuild. We have tents that we stay in during the pleasant weather, and then it's back into the hole."
"How do you get the animals in and..." Link trailed off as he watched the ranch hands set up a pulley system where they heaved the horses and cows up through the hole. Malon smiled and proceeded to climb out of the cave. Link shook his head. It wasn't magic or technology like he'd seen, but it was ingenious and effective.
He followed Malon out and up. He shivered slightly at the cool morning air, but he forgot his discomfort as he gaped at the wreckage. There was debris everywhere, even half a house not too far away.
"Somehow, after all these storms, the winds still find something to pick up and toss around." Malon looked to the east. She sighed, obviously recalling Lon Lon Ranch's better days, then set to work at lifting the horses and cows out of the storm shelter. Link aided them in their efforts, and in half an hour the animals were enjoying the fresh air. Another half an hour and the tents were set up and the supplies restocked. Malon invited Link to stay for breakfast, but he politely declined and firmly reminded her that he had to find Princess Zelda. Malon was kind enough to give him some provisionals and draw a rough map of Hyrule. She also gave him a compass, just in case he was caught in another storm.
"I hope you find her, because I don't think this land needs to suffer anymore than it already has," Malon said wistfully. "May the goddesses be with you."
Link had yet to encounter any dead beings in Hyrule field, but he knew that after nightfall would probably be the time to expect them. Malon had said that they were scarcer out in the field after storms, so he might not meet any at all. Which suited him just fine.
He had come across Lon Lon Ranch's ruins, and just like Malon had said, there was pretty much nothing left. The walls had crumbled to a few large boulders, and nothing remained of the buildings except for the shell of the windmill.
Only slightly discouraged, Link pressed on, stopping only to replenish his water in as fresh stream that hadn't been there ten years ago. Actually, it technically wasn't there four years ago, for he still recalled being locked up for seven years, and then defeating Ganondorf...He shook his head to rid it of the confusing thoughts. He crossed the stream, following the map and compass, until he reached the castle. At least, what was left of it.
Link swallowed hard as he looked at the bridge. He had seen the waste of the castle after Ganondorf had finished with it, but that was an amusement park compared to this. Right outside, where the torches used to be, hung two bodies, decayed far more than possible in less than four years. Link approached carefully, eyeing the bodies, then quickly passed through the broken gate. As he went under the arch, he felt his magic sense tingle again, only this time it wasn't a familiar sensation. He looked at the bodies, whose eyes had lit up red, then faded as he had passed. Link swallowed hard once more, then continued into the Market.
The vast space, though it lacked buildings and other structures, was evident of the prosperity of the Hyrule Market. Instead of vendors and their booths and people willing to barter, however, there were more bodies, all decayed, but all it strange positions, almost like they were frozen images of what they had been doing before they died. Link was confused at this, for Malon had said that all the people had become the dead that roamed the fields. So why were they here?
Link slunk past the bodies, shivering, for as he passed by each one, the empty sockets lit up with red and then faded. Breaking into a run, Link dashed through the palace grounds and into the gate, where guards had once stood. Sweating much more than he should have, Link realized he was feverish. He tried to still his shaking hands, but to no avail. He wasn't normally apt to having fairies at his side, for he had gotten quite irritated with both Navi and Tatl, but right now he would give anything to have some company. Living, preferably.
Link folded his cape and stuck it into his bag. "Don't need that if there's no one to see me," he muttered, then fell silent as he voice sounded strange. Almost muffled in the infinite silence. The silence of the dead.
Link tried to enter the castle, but as he placed his hand on the doors, he was thrown back by a bone-chilling force. He stood and shook it off, but his hand throbbed painfully, and the feverish feeling returned. Link paled, finding that he couldn't take much more of the sickness, and turned and staggered back to the Market.
It chilled his heart even more when he noticed that the bodies had moved since he had last been there. At first, he tried to convince himself that it was his imagination, but then he noticed that instead of random poses, each body was now turned and facing towards him. They looked like they were coming for him. Holding back a scream of frustration, Link ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He nearly vomited as he threw himself out of the Market and through a barrier that felt like the magic activated by the red eyes. He was practically crawling away from the castle, he eyes blurry with nausea, his limbs weak from fighting the strange magic.
A gallop of hooves caught his sharp ears, and with one last force of effort, Link looked up with his failing vision to see a white horse stopping in front of him, then blue leggings dismounting, before he lost consciousness.
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Caranril: (lights more fireworks) Huzzah! Man, I don't even know where I get these babies.
One of the fireworks blasts free and magically, like Gandalf's fireworks, turns into a frightening form.
Caranril: Hey that's cool! Look, Lego-blocks, it's a demon thingy.
Legolas: Oh, no! (runs away) Ai! A Balrog! A Balrog is come!
Caranril: o.O Wow, never knew he could run so fast...Well, my muse is gone for the moment. I'll have to say please review myself. So...please review! .