Okay, here's the next chapter. Please people, send in those reviews! I need your encouragement and opinions.
Chapter Two: Darkness Spreads
Zelda and Valla rode with the Wind Temple messenger as fast as they could. The King needed to know of the dire circumstances immediately. But the sun had already set on them.
"What if we are waylaid, Princess?" Valla asked nervously.
"Then we shall have to fight any Re-Deads, Poes, or Stalfos that stand against us."
"Majesty! Look out!" cried the messenger. Zelda reined her horse just as a Stalfos popped form the ground, swinging it's mace. Zelda reached behind and drew the short sword she'd packed in just such a case. She swung, hit the Stalfos, then ducked as it swung at her. Then the princess gave her horse a command, and the nimble mare leaped over the monster. While it was confused, Zelda hit it several more times, until it's head came loose and flew into the air. With one hard swing, she cleaved the skull in two.
"Follow me! Hurry!" she ordered the servant and messenger. As they rode on they were nearly over come by a Re-Dead and another Stalfos, but Zelda managed to fend them off as well. Finally, they saw the castle in the distance. As Zelda peered ahead, she saw another company on horse back coming form the south. Immediately her heart sank, for she knew it meant something had happened to the sage form the Earth Temple. This distressed Zelda greatly because she had actually known Laruto, and the Zora had had another baby just last month.
The Guards recognized her even form the distance. The captain, Gonlo, called for the bridge to be lowered again.
"Highness," Gonlo said, "Thank goodness you're safe."
"Not now," she said to the overly devoted captain of the guard. "I must see my father, now," she ran past him, the northern messenger following close, and hurried to the throne room. They entered before the page boys could announce the fanfare that protocol ordered be done for a princess. Inside, two Zoras kneeled before King Daphnese. They hadn't even begun their sad tale.
"Zelda!" the king exclaimed, "Where have you been?"
"In the north," she answered. "We bring terrible tidings, father."
"Fado the Wind Sage is dead," the boy behind her said. "I was helping him attend to the evening prayer, when the main sanctuary turned ash gray, and the ground rumbled beneath our feet. He ordered me to leave the temple at once through the wind warp. Before I vanished, I saw the floor crack open, and a giant worm came up, and ATE him!" the boy erupted in tears, and Zelda put a comforting hand on his tiny shoulders.
"Much the same happened to madam Laruto." said one of the Zoras. "Highness, she was also praying to the gods when she and her eldest daughter, her apprentice, were suddenly surrounded in the same ash gray colors. Then, as the child escaped, she saw many Poes merge together, and her mother was strangled by the giant phantom the Poes became."
"This is indeed very troubling," the King said, sitting down again in his throne. But then more messengers came. More Zoras informed the King that their watery lands were being overtaken by the ash gray fogs that had invaded the Temples, and many Kokiri came with tidings that the same was happening to their forest.
"Is the Deku Tree safe?" the King asked.
"Yes, Sire," said a Kokiri. "But he is using all his powers to drive off the darkness."
"And Jabu-Jabu?" the king asked the Zoras.
"He fled to deeper waters, and is more than likely attempting the same thing." they replied.
"But what of our people, M'Lord?" asked another Kokiri.
"And ours?" said a Zora.
The king bowed his head. He uttered a prayer, and grasped the Triforce of Wisdom, which hung around his neck. Then, as it glowed bright yellow in his hands, he said, "Tell the Kokiri to split off. Some shall go to Windfall Mountain and take refuge there. Tell others to come here, to the castle, and we shall watch over them. Send a messenger to inquire of the Goron King to allow the Zora's to take refuge in their lands, under the great Valoo's protection. But I have no doubts that your people will be welcomed."
"Yes, Your Majesty." they all replied. As the larger group of messengers left, another came running in. It was a young soldier from the northern border post of Hyrule.
"Sire!" the young man exclaimed, running in and falling to kneel before his monarch, "It's terrible! A great darkness has spread!"
"I know this, soldier," said the king.
"But sire, it not only plagues Hyrule," he said, panting from his hard running. "It has creeped into the Toaru Lands."
"The Toaru?" Zelda whispered. They were an even more mysterious bunch of beings than the Kokiri. For though the Kokiri had fairies as guides in the wilderness, the Toaru didn't need them.
"How do you know this?" asked the King.
"I told him," said a man who was just entering. He seemed like any person, except that his clothes seemed like bits of leather and cloth slapped and tied together to look decent.
"And who are you?" asked the King.
"I am but a simple village mayor," said the man. "I and one of our promising young men were discussing coming to your upcoming tournament, Sire, when suddenly our village was attacked by a great beast riding a bore. It injured my daughter, and kidnapped a young boy from our village. The young man I had been speaking with immediately volunteered to find the child. I gave him permission, and set out immediately to seek your aid, Your Majesty. But, seeing that he has not arrived, I fear the young man may have fallen to an ill end."
"Thank you for informing me of this," the King said. "I am sorry that matters just as terrible are happening here in Hyrule. I want the remaining sages to be called here as soon as possible, for safety and to pray to the gods. "
"I suppose it goes without saying that your great tourney is cancelled, then?" asked the village mayor dourly. This made many of the attending royal advisors and knights grumble, for the knights had wanted to vie for Zelda's hand, and the advisors had spent nearly a year planning for the event, and now it all seemed for nothing.
"Father," Zelda interrupted, caring not for tourneys or other frivolities, "When I was gone, I spoke to the woman who was Sage before Fado- may his soul be avenged. The woman warned me of this evil, and I learned that there is a way for it to be stopped."
"Is this true?" her father asked.
"Yes," Zelda said, "He must-"
"Then the tournament shall continue," her father announced, not letting her finish. "The man who wins shall go in search of the ones making this dark plague, and vanquish them. Let it be announced to any who have the courage to try. Until then," he said, getting off his throne and approaching the mayor from Toaru. "Please, stay here in the castle tonight. And pray to the great goddesses that your young friend is safe."
"But father," Zelda called to them as they left the throne room. "Father!" sit was no use. When her father had made a decision or decree, it could not be stalled or stopped.
The servant Valla came in, timidly. "Highness?" she asked.
"Valla," Zelda said, "I thank you for taking me to see your grandmother. Even if my father won't listen to me, I know who we must look for to save our land." then she also left.
Transition
For many days afterward, reports came in from all over Hyrule of portals and vortexes from a dark world opening up and spreading the dark creeping mist all over the land. Everything it touched was drained of it's colors, and it was rumored that all people caught in the darkness became either monsters or animals. And the real monsters that emerged, those were horrifying. Black creatures that struck fear in all who were unfortunate enough to come across them.
Meanwhile, men of all ages came to the castle, seeking the honor of being Hyrule's champion. Many came to honestly fight for their land, and others came with hopes of riches, and still many others who thought the title would come with Zelda's hand in marriage. And as all the men gathered, others in the land said it was useless to have such a contest. These people believed that the Hero of Time would come back again and save the land as before, but they were ignored as dreamers and fools. And any time Zelda came out of her rooms at the castle, she would be seen not in her usual bright dresses of pink and lavender and cream, but cloaked and her head bowed as if in mourning.
She was in mourning. Every day brought more terrible news and every night brought the same nightmare she'd had for years, only now it was intensified, and new parts were added to it. Now, whenever the thing called Ganon laughed, the boy she held in her arms would disappear, and before her would be a ravenous wolf, reading itself to attack her. And more than once she would see an imp creature laughing as it rode astride the wolf's back.
Finally, a week passed, and her birthday came. The same day as the altered tournament. Zelda had refused to attend, but her father had looked so distressed when he nearly begged her to come.
"My dear, your sorrow and despair has spread to the people," he told her. "They look to you, their future Queen, for courage and hope."
"When this evil is so obviously a curse?" she asked him. "A curse that I am to be blamed for?"
"That's nonsense!" he exclaimed. "Who would tell you such a thing?"
"It's true!" she cried. "Because I caused Mother's death! Because I am named Zelda! Because I have had only one dream and it foretells our doom!"
"Dear, that is why so many men have come," he said, taking hold of her shoulders. "They want to defend their homes, our kingdom- you!"
"They only want the crown!" she shouted. Her father did not shout or argue. He simply drew her close and hugged her.
"That may be," he said softly, "But they must earn it. Someone will save us," he said to her. "Perhaps… perhaps the Hero of Time will actually come and save us."
This made her laugh a little. If only such could happen. But her hopes were on the person Nayaru had said would come. 'He will be clad in green, and be one with animals…'
"Perhaps," Zelda said at last.
"Then come and watch," her father asked again. "Maybe we will both see him, hidden in the contestants."
She grudgingly dressed in her old favorite gown and did as her father asked. She sat beside his seat in the royal box, and watched as the contestants lined up in their horses. Some were knights in armor, some were guardsmen (one was actually the Captain Gonlo, who'd secretly loved Zelda since she had turned thirteen), some the sons of noblemen and a few were farmers, wearing leaf mail and tough homade leather armor. The only one not in the tourney was the mayor from the Toaru village. He was standing with the spectators, since he had no desire to compete now that his friend was gone.
"The rules are as follows," announced the King, "First, in Jousting, you must unseat your opponent, then battle him till he surrenders, unless he is killed or to injured to battle. Then, in the duel, the first to cry mercy shall lose. Now, are all the contestants present?" he asked.
"Look!" cried someone from the crowd. Coming from the main gate into the courtyard, upon a brown stallion, was a young man.
"Link!" cried the Toaru mayor. He rushed out of the crowd and went right to the rider and horse. "Thank the gods! I was worried, boy."
"I didn't come alone, sir," said the young man. At that, a small child leaped off and ran to the mayor, crying, "Father!"
"Colin!" cried the mayor, picking up his son and crying with joy, "Oh, Colin, my son! I feared the worst."
"Link saved me, father," the boy said, "He rescued me from the monster! Him and Epona."
"Now, sir," the man called Link said, "I have another promise to keep." he rode right up to the royal box, and said to the king, "Your Highness, I wish to enter your tournament."
"Wait, Link-" the mayor tried to warn him.
"You said it was your dream that one of our people should prove his courage and compete, sir," Link said. "I will make that dream a reality. King Hyrule," he said, turning back to the king, "I wish to enter your tournament. If it isn't too late."
"Of course not," the king said joyfully, "Especially for a young man so brave as to fight a beast to rescue a child. You are welcome to compete!"
"Thank you, Your Highness," Link said. Then, he looked to the King's right, and gasped as he looked at Zelda. Everyone there saw his reaction to the great beauty of the princess, and all knew that he had obviously fallen in love with her. A lot nodded, for they thought the brave boy would make a good match for their wise princess, but a good many young ladies had their hearts broken immediately, because the young man was extremely handsome. And these people's suspicions were fueled further, seeing their princess's face, for she seemed to have had a similar reaction the handsome Toaru called Link.
But the truth was that Zelda was not mesmerized by how handsome he was. It was the fact that he was the boy from her dream that shocked away speech. There was no mistake, and the resemblance was not a coincidence; this was the same boy! And he was dressed in a green tunic and hat- which meant that he had to be the one Nayaru had spoken of. This was the boy who would save Hyrule!