Cari: ...Yey... -throws confetti-
The Legend of Zelda: The Orb of Bannon Ch. 12
"One Kingdom, five races, each with it's own domain. Gerudo, the deserts; Goron, the mountains; Zora, the rivers and lakes; Kokiri, the forests; and Hyrulean, everything else. They all lived in peace… for a time, and then the Great War began. Race against race, the casualties were horrendous. Then came peace once more. Soon after, a great evil in the form of the Gerudo King came to negotiate with the King of Hyrule. But the King was fooled and the evil seized control and plunged the land into darkness. When there seemed to be no hope left the Hero appeared and vanquished the King of Evil, and peace reigned once more. Afterwards the Hero seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth. Years later, the evil returned and the people of Hyrule prayed and waited for the Hero to return. But he never did. The goddesses sent the floodwater to cleanse Hyrule of the evil, turning the once grand Kingdom into scattered islands. This did not stop the evil, for he returned once more. In his conquest to find the chosen princess he awakened the new Hero, who vanquished him once again. Eventually the waters receded and people populated the land that it revealed. They called the land Hyrule. They did not know it, but the land they had claimed was the ancient land, seemingly untouched and unchanged. Everything was as it was before, the races were reestablished, cities rebuilt in the exact same spots in the exact same ways…."
The group was walking across the large plains that spread out before them. It was perfect weather, only a few cotton candy clouds in the sky. Dark Link sighed.
"It was as if the goddesses willed for Hyrule to be this way, in this form. Heh, I wouldn't doubt it… But I would've preferred a slightly different world… maybe one that didn't continuously give me deja vú because every goddamn tree, flower, and blade of grass was in the same place it was hundreds of years ago!"
Link yawned, "Whoopie…–Ow!"
Adlez smacked him on the back of the head. Ruto was staring up at the clouds as she walked.
"Wow…" She said, "What happened to you during the great flood?"
Dark smiled, "I was actually put into a dormant state by Ganondorf before the floodwaters came. I was awoken just after the waters began receding. Everything I know about that time I learned from stories and historical documents."
Ruto blinked, "Oh."
"That doesn't mean I didn't meet my fair share of the races that had developed during that period. It was quite a surprise when I went to see Saria and found a whole tribe of strange creatures with leaves for faces, yeesh… I'm so glad they changed back. And those bird folk were amazing… it's too bad they died off… Though I have heard some still survive in other parts of the world, but I don't travel much…."
He managed to keep talking all the way until sundown. The travelers set up camp with Aldez making a quick fire with her newfound magic. Each member went off to do their own thing: Ranik wandered off down a hill, Ruto and Link sat near the fire talking, and Adlez found herself seeking out Dark, who had disappeared during setup. It took her a while to find him, it was well after nightfall and Dark blended well in the gloom, but after her eyes adjusted she found him sitting out away from the firelight staring out into space.
"You sure did talk a lot today," She said, making the shadow jump.
He flashed her an apologetic smile, "Sorry, I must have been making up for my 800 years of nearly absolute silence."
"No, no, don't be! It was very interesting."
"Don't lie to me, I know I can be very boring."
Adlez rolled her eyes and sat down next to him, "I happen to like history, thankyouverymuch."
Dark chuckled and shook his head; "You would be… It's in your blood."
The girl watched as his expression fell, sadness filling his eyes. She blinked.
"You okay?"
It was a few moments before he answered.
"I wish you would have stayed behind…."
"What!" She said indignantly.
"You would have been safe…."
"I'm sure staying back there would have been just as dangerous!"
"No…" Dark said, "Safe from me."
"Huh? That's ridiculous! Why would–"
He glared at her with his glowing ruby eyes; "I have KILLED princesses with my own hands before."
Adlez stared at him, speechless. He sighed and turned his face to the stars above.
"You've seen the creature I was made to be, it was a miracle that the only injuries you obtained were emotional and a single bleeding wrist. I believe that's the least damage I've ever done… I can't control it Adlez. I'm programmed to hurt you."
In the long silence that followed the shadow was sure she had left. His eyes widened when her felt a hand land on his shoulder.
"Don't worry. I can take care of myself."
Dark Link looked at her and she flashed him a reassuring smile. He stared, watching how the minimal moonlight danced on her features.
"… This may sound odd…" he began, "But could you… let down your hair?"
Adlez blinked, "Uh… okay, sure."
Reaching behind her head she undid the band that held her hair in a bun. It tumbled down about her shoulders, reaching down to her waist. A smile danced on Dark's lips.
"Is that good?" She asked.
"Yeah…."
He turned away, absentmindedly biting the tip of his thumb. Something in his eyes had caught Adlez's attention. She breathed in sharply as she realized what she saw.
"You… you loved her… you loved one of the princesses."
His eyes closed, "Long ago…"
There was sadness in his voice.
"What happened to her?"
"I…" He rubbed his eyelids, "I ended up murdering her in front of Link…"
Pity filled the girl's eyes.
"I'm sorry for your loss."
"Don't be," Dark stood up and looked at her sternly, "Get some sleep, you'll need it for tomorrow's walk."
Adlez nodded and got up, brushing the dirt off her bottom. She walked towards the warmth of the fire but paused for a moment outside its ring of light and looked back at the shadow. He was gazing at the moon as it sunk lower in the sky, looking isolated in the sea of dark grass. Sighing, she continued on to find a comfortable place to sleep.
Opia: Just a side note. I am most familiar with the map of Ocarina o' Time (though if I wanted, I could study the maps of my sister's strategy guide which has The Legend of Zelda, Link's Adventure, Ocarina, and Majora's Mask on it) so as you probably can tell by now I'm being a bit of a cheater-pants in that regard. XD
Cari: You're just lazy.
Opia: Am not! TT.TT