Chapter 7 Island of Darkness and Fog

Hello, I think I know pretty much how this story will turn out in the end now, but I am still open to suggestions. And I think many of you are overlooking the fact that everytime Link dreams about the Nightmare telling him why the Wind Fish is evil and why he is good, he then dreams of the Nightmare destroying Hyrule, or something like that. Itsn't that kind of creepy, that one minute the Nightmare tells him that he is good, and the next, he sees the Nightmare destroy Hyrule. What do these dreams mean? Whoever guesses right gets a great and wonderful gift... uh... you can uh... well, you will feel good about yourself.

The silent fog drifted across the hull of the ship as it cut through it, a needle on a straight course through the gray fabric. Slipping in, and out, it was not a part of the fog, but it helped join it with the sea. It sewed them together, the water and the water vapor, and they became one once again. What once was a part of a flowing wave became a part of the sullen mist, and what once was a piece of the moist air became a moving current. But fog is so easily disturbed. So easily is the symbiosis of the air, the water, and the boat which connected the two broken. So easily does something appear to block the path of the ship. So easily was the steady relationship disturbed. A rising storm could knock the ship off course, send the sea into torment, and cause the air to move much to quickly. Then the gentle mutualism between the three became a deadly parasitism, where the water and the air preyed upon the boat which aided them. Storms turned allies into enemies faster than anyone could understand. Such is the way of human nature. Friends become enemies when it is found that some dark storm within one has caused him to drive the others down a path of evil.

"Land ahead!" Rohan shouted as an island came in sight.

"Land?" Jesse said, looking up from the book he was reading.

"See?" Massa'an said, pointing at the island. "There is piece of dirt sticking out of sea!"

"Wonderful language skills Massan," Rohan said with a grin.

"Its Massa'an!" Massa'an corrected Rohan.

Captain Samir walked over to the front of the boat.

"We'll land there," he said. "We will fill up our water and food stockpiles, and just stay here for a couple of days and relax."

This was met by many cheers from the crew members. Link walked out on deck, and looked out at the island they were approaching. It was shrouded in the fog which had formed from the joining of the sea and the sky, but it still managed to penetrate through the murky blanket. The rocky head stretching up from the sea, breathing in the air and the dark mist. The shadows seemed to sway as the mist moved across the horizon, a friend that could become an enemy.

'You feel it too, don't you?'

Link jumped, and turned around. But no one was behind him.

'It is me. I can only speak to you through your mind unless your mind is at a quieter state.'

"Who are you?"

'I am the fighter. The warrior. I do what is necessary and right!'

"You are the Nightmare!"

'Yes, it is me.'

"I never said that I would help you!"

'You didn't say it, but you were thinking it.'

"No I wasn't!"

'You can feel it, can't you? The need to fight is within you. The need to fight what is evil. We share a common enemy. The only thing which pits the two of us against each other is you.'

"You were the one who fought me!"

'We've been through this already. I fought you because you were coming to do something evil.'

"I have always fought for what is right!"

'So have I. I guess that's another thing we have in common.'

"We have nothing in common!"

'You know Link, as much as you hate me, I do not hate you. That's something we do not have in common. You are the one who hates, I am the one who doesn't.'

"What do you want uh..." Link stopped, trying to think of what to call the creature. "Shade."

Link thought that name truly described this creature. It was dark, and was ghost like, for Shade also referred to a disembodied spirit, or a ghost.

'If that's what you will call me, then so be it. I will call you Storm.'

"Okay then."

'Now, answer my question, do you feel it?'

"Feel what?"

'This island, don't you feel the evil?'

"I feel..." Link looked at the island, and felt something hanging over it. Something dark, something evil. "...something isn't right on that island."

'Something is there. Something familiar. I think you just may find what you are looking for there.'

"And what am I looking for?"

'Only you can know that.' Link thought about this.

The Nightmare must be referring to the Wind Fish.

"I will go there," Link said. "And I will find what I am looking for."

'I will go with you. I am helping you, so you must help me.'

"Deal," Link said. "But if you cross me I will bring you down!"

'Boldly spoken for a mortal, Thunderstorm. Your rage speaks like the sky after lightning falls.'

"So now you're a demon gone poet?"

'Your insults are like rain. They cause some to go into depression, but one can learn to ignore them. I asked you for your help, and I agreed to help you in exchange. It would be easier for us to help each other if you calmed your tongue.'

"Fine."

'I must warn you before you set foot on this island, sometimes you must turn away from what you seek.'

"Why would I run from what I seek?"

'Evil comes in the guise of an Angel of Light. If you meet a demon, he will most likely appear as something pleasant.'

"Link," Captain Samir suddenly said, snapping him out of his trance. "We will lower anchor here, and go to the island. Do you wish to join us?"

Link turned, and looked at the island again. It was covered in the fog which had lead them there. It was shrouded in a blanket of mystery. And in the mystery was a touch of darkness.

"Link?" the Captain said.

"I'm coming," Link said, walking to the lifeboat.

"Good," the Captain said, before climbing aboard the small boat as well.

The boat reached the shores of the island rather quickly, it was almost like the currents in the ocean had shifted course so as to bring the ship to the island quickly. It was like there was something on the island which wanted the boat to get there. Something waiting for them. When the boat touched on shore the crew did not jump up and shout in happiness, or run up onto the beach like they usually did. The island had a strange feeling around it. Maybe it was the gray mist, or the dark atmosphere which seemed to permeate the air. But whatever the reason the people on the boat were silent.

"Strange beach," the Captain said quietly. "Like the graves of the dead."

Link just looked around at the dark rocks which loomed above them. Then he turned and saw the ruins of a cottage, and a pile of human bones. He beckoned to the captain, and pointed out the bones.

"Oh my gosh," the Captain muttered. "Everyone keep your weapons close. We don't know what may live on this island."

None of the crew dared set foot on the island first. Something was very wrong here.

"We can't go back," the Captain said. "We need to refill our food and water stockpiles. Then we can return."

Link was the first to set foot on the island. His brown boot gently set upon the sandy shore, crushing a shell beneath it. An eerie noise rose up from somewhere off in the distance. Every hand was immediately resting on their sword hilts.

"Easy," the Captain said. "Its just a raven singing its mournful song."

"I've heard that ravens are a sign of death," one of the crew members said.

"If you put your faith in crows I suppose," the Captain said. "But I do not follow crows. They will not determine my fate."

Link drew his sword, and took another step onto the island. Somehow this beach looked vaguely familiar.

'Do you know what island this is?'

"Of course not," Link said under his breath.

"Look at this," the Captain said, gesturing at a broken piece of wood which lay on the ground.

Link stepped over to the piece of wood, and examined it quietly. He then turned it over with his foot. Link's eyes flashed open, and he took a step backwards from the piece of wood. It was sign. It said in faded letters: "Toronbo Shores of Koholint Island."

So in case you guys are wondering, the names that Link and the Nightmare chose to refer to each other with have double meanings, and the person who guesses the double meanings will get an internet high five from me (hint, use And yes, the Nightmare, when he said Thunderstorm, he was referring to Link. He will sometimes alter the name Storm so that it fits the way Link is acting, or feeling at the time. Did the last line freak you guys out?