Fear

"Now why would you do that?" the dark outline of Link asked him." You killed all of those kids. You're a murderer. What a waste..."

Link shot awake. His heart was pumping, his breaths were heavy and frantic, and sweat trickled down the sides of his head. Looking out of a small window in the hut, he could see it was barely dawn, the sky still a dark blue; the horizon lined with silver. The soldiers inside still slept.

Link took a moment to think over his dream. It had been terrible. He had been sitting on the cool grass in Kakariko, taking his time to enjoy the scenery.

Then, something had caught his eye. He saw himself with his father's sword drawn, attacking his friends. He heard their screams, and he saw the blood that he had spilt. He tried to look away, but he couldn't, The slaughter just went on and on, with no end in sight. He couldn't scream, he couldn't move, he could only watch as the killing repeated itself over and over.

Then the shadow appeared.

Link shuddered and stood up. The bed wasn't comfortable, so his neck felt stiff. He picked up the sword he had slept with and stared at it with regret. It was still stained with the dry blood of all the kids. A once honorable blade that had protected Hyrule years ago, had just taken innocent lives.

Something had to have taken him over when he killed them. There was no way he would do that, himself. That turned his mind back to the shadow. He tried to flag the image of that... thing off, but it wouldn't work. The images of the contour trying to stab him flashed in his mind, and he could almost hear it's faraway voice.

He was close to the shadow. He could just feel it's presence in the forest. The monsters, mystery, and a looming danger; all hung in the air. Though Link did not know what he was doing. How fast everything had happened. One moment, he was a normal kid, then he was a depressed outcast, and now he was here, looking for a shadow.

As that last thought, Aer sat up from his bed in the far corner of the cramped room. Link gasped in surprise, turning to face the officer.

"Awake already?" Aer asked him in a tired voice.

"Yes." Link responded, placing the sword he held into his belt.

"Good. Are you ready for what's to come?" he asked him, as if the situation was casual; normal.

"I hope so... I'm not really used to this kind of thing. And, Just asking - why can't the soldiers do it?"

Aer stood there a moment, probably thinking, and then responded slowly," Because they are too scared."

Link stood still in disbelief. Soldiers too scared to fight?! He looked straight at Aer in horror.

"Yes, I know." he said sadly, responding to Link's looks," But you have to understand, this is not just any old hollow tree. No one's been inside of it for centuries upon centuries! And it's very-" he stopped, looking around him and the snoring men. He took a few steps towards the door before turning back to Link, talking more quietly," Lets go outside to finish."

Link nodded and slipped on his dirty, brown boots and briskly followed after the man. Outside, the sun was still just barely coming up. The sky to the east was still dark. An eerie silence was over the forest. It wasn't loud like it had been that night, booming with activity. The soldiers running around, the run, the insects buzzing, crickets, birds. And now just Link and this man and the occasional owl's hoot.

Aer didn't seem to notice. He was waiting for Link by a dead tree, arms crossed over his chest. Link jogged over to him and looked ready for more listening.

"I'm here." he announced.

"Good, good... Alright, so as I said, this temple has not been entered by us in centuries. Some are even going as far as to claim not since out eternal children ancestors. But either way, the last time one of us went in, it was to investigate the mysteriously burning fire, which told us as long as it burned, we'd be safe from the monsters of the forest. The men believe that since the tree is so large, even though the top half is missing, it's an entire dungeon! But I'm not so sure."

Link nodded, taking it all in. So he was going to be the first to enter for quite some time. He looked up at the sun, It had gotten a bit higher, but that was just barely noticeable.

"Alright, and what about the fire and what I'm doing?" Link asked him.

"Oh yes, how could I forget?" he silently asked himself," Well, several weeks ago, this one soldier says while on duty, the fire stopped burning. He had the northwest wing, which meant he was closest to the fire. He and his partner went to investigate, and were attacked by a monster. The funny thing was, they were attacked while in a clearing! So that confirmed the fire was out. His partner was killed, and he barely got away. Since that night, we have improved security and built these walls to keep safe. But the monsters attack us anyway. Some have even been spotted trying to climb the walls. The man you're going to be working with - Anar - was the guard who discovered it. You two will go in and see what you can do about the monsters infesting the tree and see what you can do about the fire. You two seem like you'd both be driven by revenge."

"You with your shadow and friends problem, and him with his monster and friend problem. You and Anar are the only people willing to go in. So, are you still up to it?" he finished.

Link hesitated. The whole job seemed a lot more risky, now. Why hadn't they told him about this? Still, there was no turning back now. He had agreed to help, and he was going to help. Besides, maybe the shadow was doing all of this? There was only one way to find out, and it was through the danger.

"Alright. I'll go." Link answered, trying to sound as brave as possible.

Aer laughed," Good, good! Thank goodness you're still willing! In a few minutes, when people start waking up, I'll take you to Anar. He'll get you all set up. By sunhigh you may embark."

Link gave a feeble nod in response. What had he gotten himself into?

Aer looked up at the sun, and so did Link. It was more higher, and the land to the east was now a pale blue, and the west was now red and golden. A few birds were chirping, and a few insects started to buzz and make different noises. It seemed as when their conversation ended, life began.

Then, coming from the hut behind them, their came a few voices and a few different noises. A soldier came out the door, still putting on his helmet, and ran around to the back of the house, returning a second later with a few logs of firewood. There was a few more voices, and then a light flickered on.

Aer smiled," Looks like the men and our housekeeper are up. Lets go inside, shall we?" he gestured, walking towards the worn, wooden building.

Link hurried after him and through the door. The soldiers were getting dressed and talking nosily amongst each other. The same old woman from the night before was cooking something over the oven. She looked over her shoulder as they entered.

"Welcome back, you two!"

Aer nodded and went back to his bed, starting to equip himself with his normal attire. A few men looked up at Link for a moment to study him, but it wasn't for long each time.

"Food's almost ready you guys!" the woman told them all cheerfully.

Link found the cheerfulness almost fake. No way someone could be that happy with each sentence.

~0~

"Hi, you must be... Link." a man greeted, standing up and straightening his back. He was dressed in the regular brown tunic, sandals, wooden shield, sword, shiny bronze helmet. He had a large sack strapped to his back.

Link nodded politely," Yes, I am. Aer sent me for a person named Anar. Are you him?"

"I am." he replied, taking a step towards him.

"Oh.. okay. My bad. Um, aren't we supposed to, um..." Link stammered, not sure what he was supposed to say.

"We go into the tree and fight. I have some things for you, but before you can receive them, you must answer my question."

"And what would that be?" Link asked curiously.

"Tell me, outsider, are you ready to face the unknown dangers beyond this point?" he questioned in a very serious tone of voice, motioning towards the gate he stood before," Monsters, curses, magic, you name it. I do not even have a clue what horrors await. To enter, you must be ready and willing. No one's forcing anything on you, kid."

The word 'kid' made Link feel so small and insignificant, making him realize most boys weren't supposed to be doing things like these. He hesistated especially long this time, really unsure. What if he died and was turned into a monster that ended up killing more people? What if he was cursed by some-

No! What was he thinking? He said he was going to help. He wasn't going to let these people down and make himself look like a fool. Two, he needed to do this. That shadow was near, and he could almost feel it. He had to go on. He had to do it for his now dead friends. Despite how mean and completely rude they were to him, no one deserved that. No one.

"I'll go." Link finally stated.

"Good. I think you're ready, outsider. Now, take these."

He took off the large sack and handed it to Link. Link took it, somewhat eager to see was was inside.

He untied the knot at the top and reached in. He felt abound and grabbed something hard and wooden. He yanked it out to reveal a shield, just perfect for someone his size! It looked old, but just by feeling it, Link knew it could hold up to a lot. It was marked with a strange, curly red emblem on the front. Like a swirl with a triangle protruding from it's side.

He thanked the man and slid his arm into the straps on the back. He reached back in and grabbed something that felt round and a lot like leather. He pulled out a sword, which was, once again, perfect for someone his age. It was a bit more than two feet long, and looked razor sharp. It was very light-weight. A red gem was positioned at the base of the wooden and leather hilt. The sword even had a case that hooked to his back! Link smiled, looking up at Anar.

"Thank you very much. But what about my fathers sword?"

"You may keep it, but these monsters are powerful. You stand a better chance using a weapon built for someone your age, blessed by the forest. You'll do better in a fight, now." he explained quickly.

"Alright... good! So, when do we go?" Link asked eagerly, yet afraid.

Anar looked up. The sun wasn't yet right over head, but it was getting closer by the minute.

"I say now would be a good time." he replied, turning to the gate. He took a stone from his pocket and placed it in what looked light an over-sized lock. He muttered a few words in a language Link had never heard before, and the gates swung open. Link and the Kokiri soldier took one last look at the village behind them. Soldiers and people who had previously been doing their chores and wandering had now stopped at the sound of the gate opening. They turned to see the two setting off down the dark path.

Anar muttered a single, foreign word under his breath and the gate swung shut behind them. The two walked in silence down the winding path through the woods.

"A bit further up, we will find the tree. Monsters will come, I promise. Are you ready?" he warned.

Link nodded, his heart starting to pump faster. He felt a bit jumpy and afraid. He clutched his new Kokiri sword tightly, trying to mentally prepare himself. With each step, he felt more uneasy. Part of it was fear, the other was anticipation, and the other was that odd feeling the shadow left behind. His eyes scanned everywhere along the path.

Then, they left the path and found it. It was a massive half of a tree, at least five stories high. The clearing around it was cold, and the grass looked brown and dead. A strange log was laying off near the trail, with smelly mushrooms growing from them. Link tried to wave away the terrible odor coming from the mushrooms.

"That's what's left of my friend who was killed by a Skullkid. Be careful, we are in grave danger." he warned.

Link shuddered, looking away from the log, and turning his attention back to the tree. The bad feeling was strong as... Din, Link didn't even know what! There was an opening at the base of the tree.

"Well, lets go..." Link said in a meek voice, taking a few more small steps towards the tree.

Bam! A heavy blast sent Link flying back to the base of the trail. His stomach, where the blast had landed, now burned like crazy. Link was frightened more than ever.

He was dazed, the world swayed and blurred around him. He was about to loose consciousness when a few shouts scared him out of his daze. He sat up and rubbed his head, looking over to see Anar, sword drawn, ferociously attacking what looked to be like a giant, walking sprout. It was colored an ugly brown, and had a large snout. Leaves stuck up from it's head. It was a few heads taller than Anar, who was slicing it over and over, jumping to the side when it fired weird-looking, large nuts down at him.

Link rubbed his sore stomach before running at the monster and swinging at it. If it wasn't for some of his father's training, he would have just chipped some wood off of it's body. But he did a more powerful swing, which left a long mark across it's side. It looked down at him and shot out a nut from it's sprout.

He barely had time to roll out of the way as it did so. The nut exploded right where he had been. Link looked back up at the monster, who was ready to fire at him again. Just as the monster was going to do so, Anar charged forward and stabbed it swiftly two times.

The monster let out a strange bellow and turned it's attention to Anar, preparing to fire another nut.

Link took the small window of opportunity to stab the beast... in the snout!

The thing roared and shook about, shaking so hard that Link had his sword were sent flying towards the base of the tree. Link hit the ground hard and moaned in pain. He looked up to see the thing fall over, twitch, and then stop moving. He took a few heavy breaths along with Anar before standing up. His legs were shaking under him, and so were his arms.

"W-what was that?" Link voiced.

"A deku scrub. They usually are a lot smaller." he replied normally, as if the fight had not occured.

Then, tearing from the ground, more large scrubs appeared and started to shoot nuts at the two fighters. Link ducked, rolled, and dodged, trying to avoid the flying projectiles at all costs.

He looked over to see Anar charge at one of the beasts, deflecting nuts with his sword as he ran. He roared and jumped up, landing his blade of the top of the scrub. The scrub screamed and fell over before dying. Anar looked over to meet Link's gaze.

"Get into the tree! I'll hold the scrubs off for you!" he ordered.

Link nodded and raised his sword up, mimicking Anar as a nut was shot at him, trying to deflect it. It hit the sword with an amazing force and combusted. Link was thrown back nearer to the entrance.

Taking no more time, he stood back to his feet and charged into the darkness ahead.