Alrighty, here's the deal. I do not own Legend of Zelda, nor do I own any of its characters. I'm glad I don't, because so many people OoC Link all the time. This fic is NOT going to revolve around Link. It is written from the point of view of an original character. That I own. Get over it. Oh. I also dislike how dark this fic is. It starts out this way, anyway. I don't usually write this... weird. But, I don't want to turn it into a comedy. So, it's a bit of a challenge. Enjoy. Or... whatever.

Chapter 1: The Web is Woven. (Spider pun... sorry...)

The valiant hero had returned. Filled with pride, the young man in green held out a small, plain sack. Dokuro's family gasped. His father slid down towards the ground on his web line, almost hesitantly. Every member of the family held their breath. They didn't want to be disappointed again.

The triumphant young man held out the sack to the head of the house, knowing that he would wish to see for himself. Reaching a striped, frail appendage out, Dokuro's father managed to take the sack. He then opened it, quickly, like he expected it to be empty.

It wasn't. Golden tokens, tiny, poured out, expanding as they fell through the air and onto the wooden floor. Instantly, the men fell from their perches in the rafters of their home, falling to the ground. But for the first time in years, they fell on backs without a skull-like shell to protect them. They felt the pain of the fall, enough to shock them for a few seconds, and leave a mighty bruise.

But they loved it. They got to their feet when they could, rising up and looking at each other in disbelief. Link left while Navi lingered. It was only when Dokuro's father threw two hundred rupees out the door when Navi left. Greedy little fairy, but then, they all were.

Somehow during all the excitement, for his brothers had already broken out the sparkling cider, Dokuro had been forgotten.

The youngest brother, he headed out, through the dusty window, and onto his roof. He looked around, looking at his now human legs, arms, and feet, trying to feel some gratitude.

But being half-skulltula would bring anyone down.

Dokuro couldn't figure it out. His brothers had all changed back. Even his father, the man who had been the greediest of all, was no longer a monster.

Dokuro, however, still kept the shell of the monster, and his face was nearly as grotesque. His hands were still useful, but hardly human. And he was alone.

He crawled back into his house, not revealing himself to his brothers until the party was over. He didn't want to intrude and ruin their mood so quickly. Finally, his father spoke.

He announced that this didn't change anything. Dokuro would live as normal a life as he could until the Hero found another way to lift the curse. The brothers were all reassured, but their youngest brother knew the truth.

He knew that Link would not find the way to break the curse even if he had the time to. While the rest of his family had wasted away in the rafters, Dokuro had spent his time outside, scaring a small boy into telling him the news.

The boy, whose father was captain of the guards in Kakariko, knew much about the recent events unfolding in town. Dokuro knew of Ganondorf's newfound power. It would be more than enough for Link to handle.

Still, his father sent away for The Hero, who wrote back with the reply Dokuro knew would come. While his brothers enjoyed the town, Dokuro was only allowed out at night. And he had to wear a hooded cloak. A "Gift" from the rest of the town.

They had tried to put the fact that they'd like his face covered as kindly as possible. And failed. He had gotten the message though; choosing to wear the hood down when he decided the town was too quiet.

Or too content. No one had the nerve to call him bitter, however. He still had the reflexes of a Skulltula, after all. He also had the cloak fitted so it didn't cover his shell.

He liked to scare the children, no matter how cruel it seemed. They liked to be scared, too. The kids he didn't mind. They listened to his scary stories, his disfigured face adding to the effect. They loved it.

But children understood that he was a person. Adults didn't. Adults smiled nervously and tried to compliment how he used to look. He played along, though. But he knew how they spoke behind his back. He could talk to spiders.

Any skulltula could, he learned from them. More importantly, they were bound by the Queen to serve any skulltula. He was assured that he qualified for this aid. He wasn't sure how happy that made him, however.

When questioned about the Queen, however, he was told that he was not Skulltula enough to hear that information. Not a single spider would tell. None, however, except Sohcahtoa.

"Sohcahtoa?" Dokuro questioned him about his name.

"I named myself. I did not take her name. Not her's." The spider mumbled. He was an unordinary spider, in most aspects. He did, however, have a supreme hatred for any mention of the Queen.

The Skulltula Queen, to be exact. She disgusted Sohcahtoa, it seemed. He knew the restrictions on releasing information to the "Bone-hiding". Dokuro figured this name referred to the lack of an exo-skeleton in humans.

However, Sohcahtoa was easy to confuse. Most days, Dokuro could pass as a very large Skulltula if he crawled on his stomach. That was one way to get information.

The other way, Dokuro discovered, was by assuring Toe that he wished to kill the queen. Toe immediately raved on and on about the queen at that.

After an agonizingly long wait, Dokuro finally managed to catch where the queen's hive was located.

"Thinks she's safe in that little hole of hers. Thinks the sand'll keep her safe. They won't like it. The Fire-heads'll dig her up."

The next event to occur still shocked Dokuro when he looked back on it. Other spiders had been listening, this time. They began pouring out of a small hole in the ground.

Dozens of spiders, over a hundred, gathered, surrounding Toe, who still raved on about the queen.

"You will leave." Was the only warning Dokuro got before a spider nearly three feet long jumped on him, aiming for his throat. Skulltula reflexes let him dodge, but he hobbled away as quickly as he could, finally giving up and crawling back home. He wasn't about to take on more poisonous spiders than he could count, and crawling was much faster for him.

He tried his hardest, but still found himself feeling sorry for Toe. He had forced the information out of him. He was responsible for his death.

But he couldn't worry about that now. Dokuro knew the queen could help him. He was going to head find her. Toe had let out too much information. The Queen was located near where all evil originates. The Gerudo Fortress.