Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the Zelda Franchise... I wish I did.

AU: If you're reading this before the end of the year, which will be impressive considering the date of upload, I wish you a very happy and peaceful holidays. If you're reading this already in 2021, then I wish you a great start of the year.

Chapter 7 - A Beacon in the Dusk

"Go on. The Princess is waiting for you." Sheik raised his voice after watching the hero stand still for a couple of silent minutes in front of the Princess' royal quarters.

Steering his gaze to the blond Sheikah at his left side, Link gave him a slow and slightly uncertain nod. "I've not thought about this until now, but…" He pressed one hand against the purple curtain hanging as the door in front of him. "This feels like I'm starting my journey all over again. Meeting the Princess so she can send me to fight evil and whatnot. But… It doesn't feel as cool anymore."

"Why not?" Sheik asked before the other blond could pull the curtains open.

Clutching his hold on the dark fabric, Link sighed deeply, shifting his eyes forward and away from his companion. "It feels too real now. Dangers. Suffering. People… Everything."

Letting this lingering thought in the air, Link pulled at the belt of his sword's sheath. Mustering his courage, the young hero pulled the curtains away and stepped inside the spacious and beautiful tent. Leaving a dumbstruck Sheik to watch him go, the red-eyed blond dazed out of any witty remarks.

"Link!" As soon as he stepped into the hard floor at the entrance, the Princess called out to him. Rushing in hurried steps the beautiful royal leader of Hyrule's rebellion came to meet their hero.

A blond Hylian woman of fair skin, sparkling blue eyes full of hope, and a glint of heavy darkness deep inside of them. As much as Zelda changed from a frail and small girl to a strong and tall woman, she looks just like the young princess that Link had met before; for him, a few months ago, for the rest of Hyrule an eternity of times past.

"Oh, Link. Look at you." Surprising him with a very forthcoming demeanor, Zelda grabbed both of Link's hands and raised them in her firm and caring hold. "You've become so tall and handsome, a far cry from the chubby little boy I met so long ago."

Link quirked an eyebrow at her comment, but seeing her giggle so carefreely made him ignore it as just friendly banter. "I was not chubby. Maybe a little full in the cheeks, but that's all."

"Oh, I beg to differ." A third voice came from behind the hero, making both him and the princess glance at the Sheikah standing at the doorway. "You were chubby and fluffy. Like a little puppy running around in the garden." Sheik said in teasing, far too determined in his endeavor of making the hero blush to notice the look he got from his sister.

"Says mister 'hides my face'." Link growled quietly. "Maybe you're the chubby one behind that mask and all those bandages."

"Now you're just being childish, Hero." Sheik replied and then chuckled. His calm response only pushing the other blond to frown even harder, his cheek now flaring up red.

Watching the small exchange between them, Zelda could not help herself but let her voice escape in loud laughter. "You two have become such good friends so quickly. That's a relief, really." She leaned closer to Link, giving him a playful grin. "Sheik is not the easiest person to get along with most people."

This time it was the red-eyed blond that blushed ever so slightly at the princess' words. Even if Link failed to notice this because of the Sheikah's mask, Zelda was very quick to notice her little brother's reaction, something that made her giggle again.

"Please, come inside. There's so much we need to talk about, the front door is scarcely the appropriate place for it." She stepped back, waving to both of them to follow her into another room.

As Link poised himself to wander inside the spacious room, a firm but gentle hand pressed at his right shoulder.

"Take out your shoes," Sheik said almost in a commanding tone, the way he normally speaks to the ground soldier. Seeing the confused look he received, the Sheikah raised his other hand to point at the row of footwears resting at the wooden floor at their side. "We walked on dirt and mud; your boots are unclean at best. Take them out least you ruin the proper carpet floor of her highness' quarters."

"Aye, aye, mom…" Tossing his backside on the floor, Link complied to Sheik's words, taking his boots and leaving them next to a pair of sandals at the back of the wooden floor.

Puffing air from his nostrils, he jumped back to his feet and followed right after the princess, leaving Sheik behind once more to shake his head at the boyish behavior of the prophesized Hero of Time.

Despite the initial wonder of the main room of this tent, Link was not prepared for the sight that welcomed him in the dining area. As much glint and rich furniture decors this place, his gaze fell and never left the main table resting right in the middle of the room.

"After I learned that Sheik was bringing you here. I asked the chef to make a proper dinner for us." Zelda said proudly, presenting the royal banquet to Link. "Please, feel free to chose whatever you like. I hope everything is to your taste."

Nodding quietly to her, Link wandered from chair to chair, his big blue eyes going from dish to dish. "I… never seen so much food before." He said shyly, stopping by the opposite end of the table to where Zelda is standing.

"Well, then it is my honor to present you to a feast like this." She proclaimed with a warm smile. Sitting at the helm of the table, the young Princess watches and waits with bated breath to the blonde's further reactions.

Moments, seconds, even a full minute passes but Link does nothing but stare at a basket full of golden-brown loaves of bread fresh out of the oven.

"Something amiss?" Zelda asks, slightly worried at his lack of words or response.

Coming from the main room, Sheik's steps in just to catch Link staring mind-absently at the mostly plain food resting on the basket, at least plain compared to everything else. "You are free to eat anything you like." He suggested with a small smile tugging his lips. "This was made especially for you."

"This is too much…" Link finally said something. His voice dried with a slight hint of disgust in them. "This is way too much food."

Both Sheik and Zelda's smiles faded away.

"Hero…" Sheik called out to him, then those blue eyes turned to look at him with a frown.

"The people at Kakariko. They had barely anything to eat. Only that awful stale and tasteless bread." Link pressed his hand into tight fists, his eyes turning down to the table again just to make his frown worsen. "I can't eat this… Not when I know that people are going to sleep with nothing inside of their bellies."

Zelda and Sheik traded a heavy glance between one another, with the former clenching his fists in anger and shame of his lack of power to save his home town.

"Link…" Zelda called out to him, gone the easygoing look of her eyes. "Not even one day goes by that I don't anguish over the woes of my people. I know how much they do suffer. How many innocents have perished or worse at the hands of Ganondorf…"

"Then?!" Link raised his voice, looking directly at the Princess.

"What you expect us to do, Hero?" Growling his response to the other blond, Sheik walked right up to Link and stared directly at his blue eyes. "What should we do, huh? Throw ourselves against that horde of fiends that is HIS army?!"

"Sheik, please…" Zelda raised her hand, giving a stern look at her brother. Much to his annoyance, Sheik obliged to her order, snorting away as he walked back to the other side of the dining room. "As I said before, Link. We understand how you feel, more than anyone else… I understand. But Ganondorf is too powerful, more than anyone had anticipated."

At the mention of the Dark Lord who conquered Hyrule, the blazing fire of Link's frown disappeared. 'Everything comes back to him…' He thought silently.

"On the first three months of the war, our army was almost three times the size it is now," Sheik added with a grim tone. "Foolishly, we thought we could withstand their advance, that we would split Hyrule fields in two, slowly but surely gain ground against the invading force coming from the Gerudo Valley."

"What… What happened?" Link asked.

"Ganondorf happened," Sheik replied with a sparkling glint of ire in his red eyes.

"At the first moment, we thought we could win this war." Zelda chimed in. "Right after we lost the Castle City, Ganondorf vanished from the front lines. Without his direct command, his army of mercenaries was sloppy and barely organized. However, we were only fooling ourselves with false hope. For when victory was so close at hand, Ganondorf himself came back from the Sacred Realm with the Triforce of Power in hands."

"The battle of Zora's Domain," Sheik said with a growl of distaste. "That was not a battle. It was a massacre."

Nodding weakly at the comment, Zelda continued. "Wielding the power of the Goddesses, Ganondorf utterly destroyed our vanguard. Many brave women and men lost their lives that day so we could escape." She then brought both hands to her face and sighed. "However, our brothers Zoras had not such a kind fate as the rest of us. Ever since that battle, they have been missing… every single one of them."

"I… I didn't…" Link stuttered, his gaze trailing down to the table in front of him. "Sorry…"

"You have nothing to apologize for, Hero." Sheik replied; his tone back to the gentle way of speaking, a tone that he only uses with Zelda, now with Link too. "There is only one creature responsible for all this misery."

"We had no hope of facing against Ganondorf… until now," Zelda said with a friendly and warm voice, her blue eyes shining brightly at the sight of their fabled hero. "You are our hope of a better tomorrow, Link. Just let us spoil you a little bit." She pointed down to the delicious looking feast, a sincere smile on her lips.

"To throw food away would not help anybody," Sheik said his piece, taking a seat on a chair at the left side of the table. "But you will be able to help a lot more people if you recover faster from your injury." With that said, the red-eyed blond took a piece of bread and placed it in his place as he reached for a jug of juice. "So, eat."

As peer summons of the Sheikah's words, a long growling sound echoed from the hero's belly, making the poor blond blush. Ignoring the subtle giggles from the other two, Link brought his attention to the tasty looking soup resting next to the tray of boiled potato.

Carefully but with hungry haste, he filled his plate with a rich variety of food. However just as he reached for a fork and knife, his eyes casually glanced up towards his company. Right then, the fork slipped from his fingers, and feel with a ringing sound on the table.

Sheik drifts his eyes to the hero, quirking an eyebrow at the sudden noise. "Something amiss?" He asked after noticing the petrified stare he is receiving.

There, casually holding a piece of bread against his soft and thin lips, Sheik is showing his face fully as his mask is resting below his chin and only his fringe rides a portion of his left eye. Link stared and observed every little detail of the blonde's face.

Skin pale but fair like a glistering pearl, a pretty small nose, one very alluring mole right above the left corner of his lips. From the little bits Link had seen before when interacting with Sheik, he could piece a blurred look to the Sheikah's face, an image which never did justice to the real deal.

"You know… that's not really how I imagined you would look." He said unconsciously, his cheeks turning slightly reddened at the weird look he got from Sheik.

"How so?" Inquired the mildly annoyed Sheikah, a faint pang hurting in his chest.

"Hah… You hide your face all the time. I thought…" Link brought a hand to the back of his head, messing with his hair and hat. "I thought… Look, I just didn't think you would be pretty like that. I mean, why hide it?"

Instantly Sheik's fair complexion turned a lot redder as if someone had lightened a bonfire under his seat. It felt impossible to hold his gaze fixed on Link's face, but as he turned to the side and noticed the giant grin on the Princess's face, he had to turn and face the hero again.

Resting the bread on the plate once more, Sheik cleared his throat, pressing one hand against his lips. "My garment is meant for secrecy and stealth, hero… I-It has nothing to do with my appearance."

"Oh, I get it." Link bopped his right fist on his left hand. "You wouldn't be very scary if people could see your face." He sounds and looks way too proud of this statement for Sheik's taste.

Zelda then giggled a bit louder on her seat. "Be careful, Link. Sheik can be quite scary when he wants to." Her expression then grew softer and somber. "As you know, appearance can be quite deceiving."

A concerned frown took hold of the hero's once playful expression. "You told her…" He stated firmly, looking at calm looking Sheikah.

"There are no secrets between the Princess and I." Sheik replied, taking his bread back in his hand.

One of Link's 'angry' pouts came to his face, his hands promptly going down to fiddle with the food on his plate. "You didn't need to tell her that…" He grumbled quietly, barely audible for the other two.

"Link, there's nothing to be ashamed about your incident in the Forest Temple." Zelda's words sounding very understanding and caring. "In fact, I am very proud of you. In these awful times when people scarcely rise to protect others, you went further and beyond. You tried to help someone that you thought was in need." She smiled, almost a motherly smile. "You proved to have the heart of a real hero."

Link smiled shyly at the Princess's words, then a glint of playfulness crossed the light of his blue eyes. He shifted his gaze to the quiet Sheikah and smirked. "See, she didn't call me a dumbo idiot."

"Neither did I, Hero." Sheik replied calmly, much to Link's chagrin. "I only called you naïve and innocently minded. Words that I still stand by." He smiled at the hero, the first-time showing Link his own cheerful expression in whole.

Divided between being intrigued by that beautiful smile and equally annoyed by that stupid smile, Link reserved himself to puff air angrily from his nostrils and to dig furiously with a fork at his food.

Watching the two blonds interacting with one another gives Zelda a very fluffy feeling in her heart, as well as hard-driving ammunition against her little brother when they speak in private again sometime in the future. "Please boys, behave for now." She said with a hearty smile. "There will be plenty of times for teasing and flirting later on."

"I utterly condemn and disavowal such commentary." Sheik protested very firmly, his red eyes staring in a fierce frown at his sister.

Not understanding quite well what she meant by that or why Sheik felt so offended by it, Link just continued to eat his food. Despite the still gloomy sensation of enjoying such a rich feast while thinking of the people of Kakariko, Link has to admit, he was in desperate need of a proper meal.

After their mostly uneventful dinner, the group of three moved back to the main living room of her royal quarters, where they are sitting around the small coffee table, enjoying a warm cup of green-leaf tea.

Curious about the Hero's awakening and the situation of the Sacred Realm, the Princess asked him about the ancient Sage who was supposed to instruct and guide Link on his first steps on this different new world.

"That's quite unusual…." Zelda said in worry. "There should be a reasonable explanation of why the Sage of Light was not present in your awakening… Are you sure no one spoke to you in the Sacred Realm?"

Link nodded, pulling the cup away from his lips. "Pretty sure. I remember pulling the sword from the pedestal, then next thing I know Sheik is standing behind me and my body is all big."

"I can vouch for that." Sheik raised his voice right after. "The Hero popped out from thin air, as clueless as a newborn cub."

"Could've said that without the newborn cub part." Link chirped with a faint frown. And the Sheikah just chuckled at the reaction he always gets when teasing the other blond.

"Rauru was supposed to watch over you… What of the Forest Sage?" The Princess eyed Link with big startled eyes. "You said that you vanquished a phantom of Ganondorf in the Temple, right? It was most likely your trial, but what happened next?"

Taking her question in stride, Link glanced down and shook his head. "I… don't remember much. That phantom thing was very hard to beat, he jumped from painting to painting; he then began to hurl some magic balls at me, just like the ones Ganondorf used at me in front of Castle City. When it died, I walked back to the entrance and then… nothing. The next time I woke up, Sheik was taking care of my wounds."

"There was something," Sheik added in, taking the attention of the other two on him. "Hero, when you fell from the Temple's entrance, your right hand was glowing." He leaned on his seat and tapped the back of Link's hand. "Right here, a golden triangle was shining like a beacon of light."

Raising his hand in front of him, Link gazed at his ungloved hand, trying to imagine a golden mark glowing on his skin.

"May I?" Zelda moved to the edge of her seat, leaning in closer to Link sitting across from her on the other side of the small table. She waited for his consenting nod and then took his hand upon hers.

As their hands touched in a firm but gentle grasp, the shining symbol of Triforce came back to life. One shining very brightly at the back of the Princess's hand and the other resting with a dimmer glow on the Hero's hand.

"Can you feel it?" Zelda asked with a small smile. "This is the boon the Goddesses bestowed upon you. The Triforce of Courage."

Link stared at the golden mark, his eyes reflecting the golden glow. "It… tingles."

"Does it?" Zelda said with a small giggle. Then her expression grows a bit colder as her eyes returned to the Hero's Triforce. 'His hold on the Triforce… it feels so weak, so faint.' She then raised her blue eyes to look at the distracted boy's face. 'What happened to you in the Sacred Realm, Link?'

"Ganondorf has one of those, right?" Link asked, pulling his hand back as he raised it higher in the air. "Shouldn't we just go to Castle City and kick his butt? We have two, he has only one."

His bold question earned him a funny look from the other two. Zelda tapped one finger at the palm of his raised hand and spoke. "Courage…" Then she turned the back of her hand to him. "Wisdom… Ganondorf holds the Triforce of Power. We can't match him in raw strength, not even you, Link."

"Then?!" Link growled in exasperation.

"With the blessing of the six ancient sages, you will hold the power to face against the King of Evil. We need your Courage to dive inside the five Ancient Temples to awaken the sages, and I will use my Wisdom to guide you forward." She explained patiently. "I can feel it, deep within you. The blessing of the Forest Sage. Something happened inside the Sacred Realm, something that blocks all of us out. Yet when you freed the Temple from its curse, the resident ancient Sage was able to bless you with her strength."

"The forest maiden who guides the wild spirits," Sheik spoke again after a few minutes of silence. "Without knowing, you freed an old friend of yours from the evil curse of the tyrant. It's a shame you two couldn't meet each other one last time."

Looking back at the other blond, Link got a pensive frown on his face. "S-Saria?"

Sheik just nodded in reply.

"She's dead?!" Link almost jumped from his chair, his trembling hands quivering in front of him. As both Sheik and Zelda looked to the side, he fell back to his seat, a glistering glow appearing in the corner of his eyes. "T-That can't be… she…. She was fine. I remember, we spoke right before I walked away from our Kokiri Village."

"That was seven years ago, Hero." Sheik said with a somber tone, his red eyes avoiding the burning gaze of the other boy.

"Every Sage is burdened with something greater than life, Link." The Princess raised her voice with care and a tingle of sadness in her tone. "When they ascend to their rightful place within the Sacred Realm, they must leave our world behind."

"Saria… this is not fair." A soft sniffle escaped the young hero even as he did his best to not cry in front of them. "She was the source of joy for all of us. Even me… when no one else wanted to be my friend, she always stayed with me. We sung together… she taught me so much. Saria didn't deserve to die."

"Sorry, Link." Zelda got up and pulled him into a tight embrace. "I am so sorry…"

They remained close and hugging each other with Link pressing his face against her small shoulder, using her warmth and touch to soothe his aching heart. Right next to them, Sheik is watching his brave hero with a throbbing heart of his own. The young Sheikah has witnessed much grief and pain in this world, but seeing his sunshine and smiles of a person in so much emotional distress; feels almost too much to bear.

Suddenly from the hard earth beneath their feet, a storming quake shook the entire tent. The ground rocked in a violent burst of sound and vibration.

Zelda, Link, and Sheik, all jumped startled at the sudden earthquake, they traded startled glances between one another, surprised and most of all alerted to the emerging sense of danger.

"Y-YOUR HIGHNESS!" One very startled and terrified soldier bursted inside the tent. The poor man so lost in his despair that he forgot the unspoken rule of never stepping inside her quarters with his boots on. "T-TROUBLE! We're under attack!"

A collective gasp escaped all three of them. After years of complete isolation and peace, their haven has been befallen under siege by the forces of evil.

Leaving in a hurry from the royal quarters, the trio followed after the running soldier. In their haste to assert the ongoing damage in their camp, they didn't even question or asked about the current attack on them. Something a certain Sheikah was quickly to correct as soon as they began to rush to the ongoing commotion.

"Soldier, report!" He commanded with a firm voice, making the armored man stiff in his pose.

"S-Sir! A giant monster came from within the forest." The soldier said back, never once looking back to the red-eyed gaze fixated on him. "Captain Briar's squadron, we were patrolling the area when the creature appears rampaging through. With his orders, the troops managed to prevent any civilian casualty…"

"But?" Zelda asked, making the man jump again.

"I-It's a massacre, your highness." He said with a trembling voice. "That… thing is too big for us. The captain ordered me to run and alert the Princess as soon as it all started. But, by the time I left the area, most of our boys had been wiped out by that monster's giant spear."

Running quietly beside his two companions, Link stared forward to the rising smoke at the other side of camp. He glanced to the trembling man sprinting ahead of them. Slowly a fierce frown took over his expression. From deep within his chest a long-lost pain throbbed at a familiar place. This pain, this familiar sensation longing for attention, demanding for a reaction, urging him to beacon its existence again.

Like the last time this feeling stormed his chest, Link feels the urge to ignore it. To push it aside, to push it back from the dark corner of his being that this thing came from. But a lingering thought flashed in his mind. One name, one person, someone he loved as a dear friend from even his tender age.

'Saria...' As he thought of the smiling green-haired girl, his eyes clenched in painful sorrow. 'She never did anything wrong… she never harmed anyone… Why did she have to die…?'

'It's his fault.'

Link's eyes jolted open. The once fading pain in his heart now flaring up in a blazing rage, the once quiet sensation becoming stronger than ever, now this feeling gaining so much free win that it gained a voice; his own voice echoing inside his head.

'He took everything from you again. He destroys. He hurts… Hurt him back.'

Where once it felt hard to ignore this urge, it is now impossible. Clenching his teeth and fists, Link glared at the raising smoke, an awful taste crawling from his stomach to his throat.

'Ganondorf…'

Taking his right hand to the handle of the Master Sword, Link pulled the blade from its sheath. Gaining a newfound burst of power, speed, and focus; Link sprinted ahead three times faster than everyone else, quickly disappearing ahead of them.

"Wait, Link!" Sheik called out to the hero, surprised at the sudden reaction of the other blond. However, deep, deep down, he feels slightly afraid of the look of pure anger he saw in a glance in their hero's face.

Gasping heavily for air, Briar glanced at the scene in front of him. Wounded soldiers, broken trees, and squished tents. The metallic smell of blood floods his nostrils, making him cringe at the notion of his long-time companions and friends have perished at the hands of such a monstrous creature.

Pushing his knee out of the ground, the tired captain pulled himself up again. Raising his weapon forward, he glared at the stomping menace coming his way.

"I know not from where you came, you dark spawn. But I will never allow you to harm the good people of Hyrule. NOT EVEN OVER MY CORPSE." Letting out a fierce battle cry, Briar ignored his best judgment and charged right towards the colossal looking Moblin raising hell in their refuge.

The brown-skinned creature with a pig-face is of impressive stature. Taller than the towering trees surrounding the camp and larger than the bulky towers of Hyrule City Castle. With its sheer size and strength alone, this gigantic Moblin would be able to spread enough chaos and destruction to desolate the place. But with the gargantuan spear in his hand, a weapon with a pole wide enough to look like a tree, it made quick work of the brave soldiers who tried to stop it from destroying this safe haven.

Staring down at the puny Hylian marching at him, the Moblin let out a burst of monstrous laughter. The ghastly sound of his oppressive voice echoing all through the Kokiri Wilds. As in a mocking manner, the giant monster turned his spear upside down and met the brave captain's blade with the wooden part of its spear.

Briar cried in pain as the massive wooden pole clashed against his sword, instantly bashing him back in a harsh way. Crashing in a furious roll against the muddy floor, the Captain coughed blood as his back crashed against a rock formation at the edge of the camp wall.

"We…. will never surrender…" With a burning ache crossing his entire body, Briar reached for his fallen weapon, and slowly began to rise back from the ground. "T-The good people of Hyrule… WILL NEVER SURRENDER TO YOUR MASTER!"

His eyes widen in shock and fear, a sharp breath sucking in from his mouth. Before Briar could gather his bearing and regain even a smaller portion of his strength, the wounded soldier saw the cruel spear flying hungrily towards him.

'I-I… am sorry… Princess.' Closing his eyes, Briar prepared himself for the last painful sensation to crash against his body.

But right then, a heavy sound of metal clashing against metal exploded right in front of Briar, startling his eyes wide open. The young captain could not believe his eyes, right before him between his death by the hand of that monster, stands a blond man with nursing robes.

"H-Hero?!" An unspontaneous smile spread over the Captain's lips. With the reprise the Hero of Time bought him, the raven-haired man safely wobbled away from the monster's range. "Sir, I would be care-"

Before Briar's word could as much reach the blonde's ear, his savior jumped to the side letting the spear pierce the brown ground. The impact of this strike pushing anyone but Link far back away from the Moblin.

Shielding his eyes with one hand, Captain Briar tried to follow the Hero's footsteps but between the rising dust and the wounded men crying in pain beside him; the young officer had to pick his battle and turn to aid his fallen brethren.

Unaware of anyone or anything other than the creature in front of him, Link pushed forward in a feverous zeal. Quickly examining the enormous size of his foe, he proceeded to charge with a sporadic stream of jumps.

Each time the Moblin tried to thrust his weapon at the way smaller fighter in front of him, the blond dodged away to the side in a hurried skip.

There is no grace or calm in Link's movement. He prowls like a wild animal, dodging in a hair distance from the massive metal head raining down upon him at each strike. Yet, in this chaotic movement of his, Link managed to land right next to the giant's leg.

His right arm came swinging down hard and fast, with no thought or consideration, only a pure aggressive sweep of his blade.

One startling and monstrous cry of pain echoed through the entire camp. The Moblin trashed and roared, one hand letting go of the giant pole of his spear, and going down to gushing wound at his exposed brown tight.

This daze, however, was quickly subdued by its ranging fury. Stomping and roaring, the Moblin swung his spear in a half-moon sweep. It raged even further as the blond leaped back and away from the strike.

Growing ever more impatient and hungrier for that warrior's blood, the Moblin jumped forward in a ground smashing leap.

Link successfully jumped back and away from the brunt of the Moblin's dive, but the ground below him quickly gave in to the massive shockwave that spread all around them. Losing his footing and stance, the hero tumbled forward with bare enough reaction to stop his full descent with one free hand.

Beads of sweat drops from his blond locks, a gasp of air he didn't even know he was holding escaping his lips. Then from the corner of his eyes, he saw the mountainous spear-tip flying his way.

His reaction pure instinct, as the monstrous-pig's attack was so close to hitting him square in the chest, Link only had time to raise his sword with both hands and impossibly enough stopped the attack in a clean exchange of strength.

Instantly his right knee fell to the ground, both of his arms trembling against the gargantuan raw power of his opponent's arm.

With a wild growl, the Moblin forced both arms down, pressing the tip of the spear even more against the hero's weapon.

So preoccupied with their battle, neither Link nor the Moblin noticed the ever-increasing gathering of people watching their fight. At each inch the Hero lost in the exchange the more and more gasps and worried whispers flew out in the air.

One arm burning deeply in pain, the other practically numb, the only thing keeping Link from being pierced in two by this spear is the raging fire at the wound in his abdomen. It gives him focus and keeps his mind from wandering into the lullaby of darkness trying to claw his senses into unconsciousness.

'Weak. Pathetic. Failure.' Another voice sounded in his mind, this one carrying as much hatred as the one before, but not remotely using his one tone of voice. This voice, this mockery, is the same as the one he heard in the Forest Temple. 'Your destiny is to fall. My rule will never end.'

"Gh…. I… will…" Growling quietly in anguish and anger, Link tried to raise his shoulder and push his blade forward, but this only forced his other knee down on the floor; making him lose way more ground in their exchange of strength.

'Destroy it. DESTROY IT ALL!' The first voice from before shouting its presence back to existence.

'Die!' The second one retaliating with the same intensity.

Between the rage and evil of the two conflicting voices inside his head, Link feels the weight of the entire world pulling him down. As much as he tries to focus, to think of anything other than the ache in his chest, the two voices bring him back. Locking him in place in a spiral of darkening thoughts.

"HERO!" Two thin flying knives swoop the air like a flash, poking and striking at the Moblin's face, making the monster cry loudly in pain yet again.

As small and mild as the knives' wounds proved to be, it forced the monster to relent ever so slightly in its push. This small freckle moment was enough for Link to free some of the weight pushing him down, enough for him to glance towards the voice calling out to him.

There, amid hundreds of conflicted and terrified eyes, he found a pretty red eye looking down at him. In that gaze, he saw worry, anger, but most of all he saw hope.

At this point, it may be his mind playing yet another trick on him as those two voices continue to hammer at his thoughts. Yet, in this small singular moment, he heard a sound coming from behind the Sheikah's mask.

"Link…"

"Egh… Aaarrhhh!" As if he could have done this at any moment at all. Link raised his sword far high and forward, winning their struggle in a single push. Free of the oppression of the Moblin's strength, the Hero pulled himself up and swung his sword at his side.

Exploding to life with a shining golden light, the Master Sword answered its champion's call. Wrapping itself in magic power, the blade sings in a mellow melody of destruction.

Holding the ornate handle of his sword with both hands, Link arched his arms upwards just to then push them down in one fell swoop.

It all ended in one moment. A wave of golden light washed through the Moblin's giant body, cleaving the beast cleanly in half. The evil creature had time only to growl in surprise before the sparkle of life was slashed away from him.

As the beast fell, there was no cheer, nor cries or whispers. Only the echoing sound of two halves of a gigantic body crashing down onto the ground. The stream of gazes who followed the monster's fate slowly changed to the lone figure who still stands in the midst of broken rocks and dirt.

Under the orange-dusk light of the sky, that one young man shines ever so brightly, his face hidden by the casting glow of the setting sun. For this particular moment, he looks like no person at all, no mortal man in eyes of so many. At this exact moment, the refugees of Hyrule could only see a symbol of hope.

In front of their eyes stands the Hero of Time.

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James Birdsong chapter 6 . Dec 19 – Glad you enjoyed the start of this story. Here hoping that moving forward you will come to enjoy it even more.