A/N: This is the first LoZ fic I ever wrote seriously. It actually was started about three years ago and has been finished on and off after having survived through three hiatuses and a serious consideration of scrapping. But I decided to give it another chance, and am actually quite pleased with the results. Rated PG-13 for violence and Link's surprisingly dirty mouth; warnings include angst, sadness, violence, Link/Zelda pairing (no citrus), and alternate realities. The timeline I'm basing things on is a quasi-alternate-reality of my own creation: I base most if not all of my Zelda fanfiction on the idea that all the deeds done and chronicled in the Zelda games (with the exception of the Wind Waker for obvious reasons) were the deeds of one brave young lad chosen by Destiny and the three Goddesses as the Hero of Time, the Legendary Hero. Oh. And I don't own Linky (more's the pity) or Zelda or any of the game's other characters. They are copyrighted to Miyamoto Shigeru-san and Nintendo, the lucky bastards. I own, however, sole copyright of each and every one of my original characters. Steal them and I will hunt you down and break your elbows. Remember: A vague threat is no one's friend.
-Act IV-
Convergence
15
The trek to Ganondorf's tower seemed to be taking forever. Kate looked around at the shadows, convinced that they were going to leap out at her any moment and drag her screaming down into the darkness with them laughing in her ears the whole way.
Link, for his part, was surprised that they hadn't been attacked by one of Ganondorf's unsavory creations yet. But even so, his eyes were peeled. His strides were those of a man on a dreadful mission, and there was a bleak sense of purpose about him, even as his catlike movements remained subtle and swift, eyes darting around to every shadow and nook in the long, cathedral-like hall.
And then he stopped. There was a change in the air that Kate could almost feel, a sudden darkness even beyond that of the dimly lit hall pressing down on her shoulders like a physical weight. "Link," she whispered.
"Quiet," he said abruptly, waving her off as kindly as possible in the circumstance.
In response, knowing that danger was most likely very close by, Kate reached up to the quiver on her back and drew one arrow free, steeling herself for whatever might happen.
Instead of the sudden onslaught she had expected, though, there was a dry, mirthless laugh, a sound that made the already chilly hallway's temperature drop by about ten degrees. It was an evil, black sound, and Kate knew then and there that she wanted no part of it.
She readied her bow.
Link scowled bleakly. "Get out here where I can see you," he demanded. It was obvious he knew who he was talking to.
"I see you haven't forgotten me, have you, brother?" a malevolent voice asked from the darkness of a nearby shadowed pillar.
"How could I? You've been going around this country for the past month doing everything you can to make me look like a common reprobate. Now get out here so I can run you through before I take your head off."
"Now, is that any way to talk to your own shadow?" the voice asked acidly. "I am you. I'm more you than you can ever hope to be. Everything that I am…exists because part of you was taken to create me."
Link scowled. "I still have to thank Pigface for that, too," he growled.
"Oh, you won't be getting anywhere near Lord Ganondorf, Hero," the voice spat the word out like poison.
There was a movement in the shadow, and a figure dressed in a black tunic and hose just like Link's-with the exception of a hood that covered his face and two crimson eyes that burned like flame the only distinguished feature underneath the cowl-stepped forward, carrying a sword of black iron. The figure took another step forward. "Is this the little band you brought to challenge the King of Evil?" There was a snort of disdain from underneath the black cowl. "Pity. I was hoping for a rather larger bloodbath." He gave the iron sword a few experimental swings. "If you're so determined to die here, then please, by all means, try and attack me. You know we're too evenly matched for you to defeat me."
Link's scowl deepened, dark and dangerous. "That remains to be seen," he said coolly, and then leapt into battle.
The skirmish was not nearly the nice, ethic-bound duel that Kate had thought she would see in a place like Hyrule, but more a grim, gruesome argument, swords whistling in the air as the two sides of one coin hacked and slashed at each other's bodies. Blood soon made a slick on the floor, the two warriors slipping and sliding on the grotesque slick as they endeavored to end each others' lives. Link clearly had the upper hand, the Triforce of Courage lending him its strength, and soon the demon reflection retreated to the shadows with a laugh and a whispered challenge. "I'll be back…you can't kill me…without killing yourself…as long as you exist, there I'll be…just waiting."
It wasn't a threat; it was a promise.
Link gritted his teeth, bleeding from many a wound. Kiron whistled. "You got anything to fix that, boy?" he asked, voice hushed.
The adopted Kokiri nodded, and pulled the Ocarina of Time from a concealed pocket, and played a few short notes of Saria's Song, the tune she'd taught him so long ago when he had first left the forest. It was a direct line to her.
"…Who is this?" Saria asked. "Who's calling me?"
"Saria, it's me," Link said, leaning heavily on his sword. "Can you send Nera with a couple of her Healer cousins? I'm in bad shape."
"Of course," she said, though her voice registered surprise at a presence she had most likely never expected to hear from again. "How many?"
"Four. I'd like a few of them to accompany us, my friends and I have a ways to go yet."
"She'll be there soon, Link. And Link?"
"Yes, Saria?"
"Welcome home."
A smile spread over the wounded man's face. He looked into the air and tossed off a wave. "It's good to be back," he said, "I think."
There was a laugh as farewell and then the connection closed. Several long, silent minutes passed, the only sounds that of Kate's own heart pounding nervously in her ears, and the occasional drip of blood onto the floor from one of the many wounds the Hero of Time had received. By the time Nera came, he was seated on the floor, head in his hands to block out the dizzying whirl of the corridor around him. "Link!" chirped a tiny voice, a globe of winged green light phasing right through the palace wall, followed by four similar orbs of fluttering, pastel pink. "We're here!"
The little tiny Healers went to work, sealing the wounds and repairing damage already done. Soon Link was revitalized; good as new. He stood, sheathing his sword and wishing he wasn't smeared head to toe in blood both his own and his shade's, but passed it off quickly as a hazard of his involuntary career. "Thank you for coming so quickly, Nera," he said gratefully. "I would have been a goner if you hadn't come with them."
The tiny faerie waved it off. "Nonsense. How could I not help a friend of Navi's?" She smiled. "Speaking of which, she says hi…and that she would have come, but it was only recently that we got her out of the little bottle that someone corked her in about a month ago, and the Deku Tree told her to stay in the forest for some reason."
Link nodded, frowning. Yet another piece of the trap that had worked so well against him fell into place. "Ah. Send her my best," he replied, smiling. The orb of green bobbed in reply.
"I'll tell Saria you sent a hug," Nera offered.
"Thanks," he said, and waved as she flittered out the way she'd came. The Healers all flitted around him for a moment, concealing themselves inside his pack and clothing for protection. They knew they would be needed later. And with a look to his companions that clearly stated his intention to press forward, he turned silently to the staircase before them and stepped upward, headed toward a confrontation that would make or break the entire world.
-Act IV-
Convergence
15
The trek to Ganondorf's tower seemed to be taking forever. Kate looked around at the shadows, convinced that they were going to leap out at her any moment and drag her screaming down into the darkness with them laughing in her ears the whole way.
Link, for his part, was surprised that they hadn't been attacked by one of Ganondorf's unsavory creations yet. But even so, his eyes were peeled. His strides were those of a man on a dreadful mission, and there was a bleak sense of purpose about him, even as his catlike movements remained subtle and swift, eyes darting around to every shadow and nook in the long, cathedral-like hall.
And then he stopped. There was a change in the air that Kate could almost feel, a sudden darkness even beyond that of the dimly lit hall pressing down on her shoulders like a physical weight. "Link," she whispered.
"Quiet," he said abruptly, waving her off as kindly as possible in the circumstance.
In response, knowing that danger was most likely very close by, Kate reached up to the quiver on her back and drew one arrow free, steeling herself for whatever might happen.
Instead of the sudden onslaught she had expected, though, there was a dry, mirthless laugh, a sound that made the already chilly hallway's temperature drop by about ten degrees. It was an evil, black sound, and Kate knew then and there that she wanted no part of it.
She readied her bow.
Link scowled bleakly. "Get out here where I can see you," he demanded. It was obvious he knew who he was talking to.
"I see you haven't forgotten me, have you, brother?" a malevolent voice asked from the darkness of a nearby shadowed pillar.
"How could I? You've been going around this country for the past month doing everything you can to make me look like a common reprobate. Now get out here so I can run you through before I take your head off."
"Now, is that any way to talk to your own shadow?" the voice asked acidly. "I am you. I'm more you than you can ever hope to be. Everything that I am…exists because part of you was taken to create me."
Link scowled. "I still have to thank Pigface for that, too," he growled.
"Oh, you won't be getting anywhere near Lord Ganondorf, Hero," the voice spat the word out like poison.
There was a movement in the shadow, and a figure dressed in a black tunic and hose just like Link's-with the exception of a hood that covered his face and two crimson eyes that burned like flame the only distinguished feature underneath the cowl-stepped forward, carrying a sword of black iron. The figure took another step forward. "Is this the little band you brought to challenge the King of Evil?" There was a snort of disdain from underneath the black cowl. "Pity. I was hoping for a rather larger bloodbath." He gave the iron sword a few experimental swings. "If you're so determined to die here, then please, by all means, try and attack me. You know we're too evenly matched for you to defeat me."
Link's scowl deepened, dark and dangerous. "That remains to be seen," he said coolly, and then leapt into battle.
The skirmish was not nearly the nice, ethic-bound duel that Kate had thought she would see in a place like Hyrule, but more a grim, gruesome argument, swords whistling in the air as the two sides of one coin hacked and slashed at each other's bodies. Blood soon made a slick on the floor, the two warriors slipping and sliding on the grotesque slick as they endeavored to end each others' lives. Link clearly had the upper hand, the Triforce of Courage lending him its strength, and soon the demon reflection retreated to the shadows with a laugh and a whispered challenge. "I'll be back…you can't kill me…without killing yourself…as long as you exist, there I'll be…just waiting."
It wasn't a threat; it was a promise.
Link gritted his teeth, bleeding from many a wound. Kiron whistled. "You got anything to fix that, boy?" he asked, voice hushed.
The adopted Kokiri nodded, and pulled the Ocarina of Time from a concealed pocket, and played a few short notes of Saria's Song, the tune she'd taught him so long ago when he had first left the forest. It was a direct line to her.
"…Who is this?" Saria asked. "Who's calling me?"
"Saria, it's me," Link said, leaning heavily on his sword. "Can you send Nera with a couple of her Healer cousins? I'm in bad shape."
"Of course," she said, though her voice registered surprise at a presence she had most likely never expected to hear from again. "How many?"
"Four. I'd like a few of them to accompany us, my friends and I have a ways to go yet."
"She'll be there soon, Link. And Link?"
"Yes, Saria?"
"Welcome home."
A smile spread over the wounded man's face. He looked into the air and tossed off a wave. "It's good to be back," he said, "I think."
There was a laugh as farewell and then the connection closed. Several long, silent minutes passed, the only sounds that of Kate's own heart pounding nervously in her ears, and the occasional drip of blood onto the floor from one of the many wounds the Hero of Time had received. By the time Nera came, he was seated on the floor, head in his hands to block out the dizzying whirl of the corridor around him. "Link!" chirped a tiny voice, a globe of winged green light phasing right through the palace wall, followed by four similar orbs of fluttering, pastel pink. "We're here!"
The little tiny Healers went to work, sealing the wounds and repairing damage already done. Soon Link was revitalized; good as new. He stood, sheathing his sword and wishing he wasn't smeared head to toe in blood both his own and his shade's, but passed it off quickly as a hazard of his involuntary career. "Thank you for coming so quickly, Nera," he said gratefully. "I would have been a goner if you hadn't come with them."
The tiny faerie waved it off. "Nonsense. How could I not help a friend of Navi's?" She smiled. "Speaking of which, she says hi…and that she would have come, but it was only recently that we got her out of the little bottle that someone corked her in about a month ago, and the Deku Tree told her to stay in the forest for some reason."
Link nodded, frowning. Yet another piece of the trap that had worked so well against him fell into place. "Ah. Send her my best," he replied, smiling. The orb of green bobbed in reply.
"I'll tell Saria you sent a hug," Nera offered.
"Thanks," he said, and waved as she flittered out the way she'd came. The Healers all flitted around him for a moment, concealing themselves inside his pack and clothing for protection. They knew they would be needed later. And with a look to his companions that clearly stated his intention to press forward, he turned silently to the staircase before them and stepped upward, headed toward a confrontation that would make or break the entire world.