"CUUU-CUUUU!"

The cucco was screaming bloody murder in my ear. In the dark night over Kakariko Village its shrill cries echoed across the buildings.

"Shut up!" I hissed. "Shut up, you stupid bird!"

"Who's out there?"

I turned as a yellow light threw itself upon me. The silhouette of a young girl stood at the door. Her features were entirely shadowed by the light behind her.

I quickly sifted through my options. I could kill her now, but in order to draw my sword I'd have to drop the bird and thus risk losing it. I could take her with me, though I hadn't the foggiest idea as to how to do that and keep the cucco. I chose the third option; I ran.

Clutching the screeching bird to my chest, I dashed toward the graveyard. The girl followed.

"Stop! Theif! Bring back my cucco!"

I plunged into the graveyard, leaping over tombstones and dashing past bewildered poes. The grave-keeper hadn't yet been replaced, so I hadn't any worries of anyone finding my home.

I paused to catch my breath, then tossed the flailing cucco over the fence that separated the Shadow Temple from the graves. I began to climb up, when I was yanked back down. I landed hard on my back, and looked up into the still shaded face of the girl from the village.

I wondered briefly how she managed to see me in the dark before I regained my senses and leapt up. She stepped back. We stood facing each other for a few moments. Her bravery slipped away, and she turned to flee.

I watched her go. One of the Graveyard poes leapt out, cackaling maniacally and swinging it's lantern. The girl screamed, then fainted.

I snorted. Pathetic. I leapt over to the poe, who hovered confused over it's "defeated" enemy. "Get lost." I growled.

The poe obliged. I lifted the body of the unconscious girl and carried her toward the Shadow Temple. With some difficulty I managed to bring her into it's darkened embrace.

Two days later a disheveled and forlorne Anju stumbled into Kakariko Village. Her dress was dirty, and her eyes were red from crying.

"Anju!" Marco raced toward her.

Anju looked up at her visiting cousin. He was dressed simply, with brown pants, a white, long-sleeved shirt, a green vest and sandals. He had come in from Hyrule Market when the Re-Deads took over, and had been staying with Anju for some time now. He remembered the lifeless gaze of the zombies as though they had been staring him in the eye just yesterday. He could compare that gaze to his cousin's now.

"By the Goddesses, Anju, what happened?" He grabbed his cousin's arms. "Where have you been?"

Anju sobbed. "He… he…" she dissolved into tears and pressed her face against her cousin's chest.

"Nayru's Love, Anju, what did that bastard do?!"

"I was in the graveyard… and you know the cave? The cave above it? I was in there. And there were torches, scores of torches, and the fire…" she choked down a sob, and Marco patted her head, soothing her. "I don't know what he did, but then my shadow… my shadow, it was alive, and it had red eyes…"

Marco listened patiently, though his mind was raging. Torches? Shadows? Living shadows? He knew Anju to be a sensible woman, but this… this was beyond sensible. This was the thing of nightmares. His insides trembled. Would what happened at Hyrule Market happen here?

He gently guided Anju back to the house. "Shh, shh, it'll be all right. It's okay. Everything will be fine."

I had released the girl, and now stood alone with her Shadow and her cucco's shadow. Both Shadows were becoming accustomed to life, as the girl's shadow took tentative steps around the temple and the cucco flapped and made quite, self conscious crows to itself.

"Do you have a name?" I broke the silence.

Her head snapped toward me so quickly I thought it would pop off. She stared at me.

I had always known my name. Link. Just as my counterpart had been called. Though in truth, I had always been called Shadow Link, Dark Link, Shadow, it. I wondered whether I had been told my name at first, when she finally spoke.

"Juna."

I continued to watch her. "Juna." I said. She watched me. "Juna." I said again, extending my hand. "Welcome to life."