Shout outs: Thanks to Arison Nakaru for favoring Twilight Princess and for favoring Skyward Sword

Chapter 3: Something wicked is coming this way

"Come on girl." I urged Epona who in respond galloped faster.

Oh Talo…even though you have a sense of adventure, it could lead you to your downfall someday. Why did you even follow that monkey? Sure, it caused…"chaos" but you didn't had to follow it.

This reminded me when I went into the Woods; just to see how it looks like since Rusl had told me not to enter it unless I have some kind of a weapon I can defend myself. So, having the curiosity rising inside of me, I was stupid and went into the Woods without a sword.

Strange, unearthly creatures had infested the Woods—the one I had known for so long—and they spoke in their weird language that sounded like they were being strangled. They spotted me so of course, they attacked me and one of them had managed to slice its club at my left arm; the club had a loose wood so that's why I still have the scar to this day.

Of course, Rusl had heard this and he had gotten very angry which in return, I had an earful from him.

The horse suddenly neighed with fright, rearing up and that caused me to not grip the reins in time as I had fallen off the horse with a hard THUD on the firm ground. Spotting the enemy which was a deku baba (nasty plants if you had ever got bitten from one), I immediately did a jump attack on the plant and it was sent upward.

It shook itself from its state and tried to lunge at its foe. However, I was able to avoid it by moving to the side and with a quick spin attack, the deku baba laid dead, leaving its head to rot.

When that was done, I jogged back to Epona who snorted in response as she slowly walked away.

"Shh, it's okay girl. Nothing will harm you, I promise. Nothing." I whispered with comforting words. She seemed to be calmed.

After looking at the gate, I went to the left side since I saw a path and it led to a weird looking man who sat on a rock in front of the fire. Behind him was his house and to the side of it looked like it was a ramp.

This man was really odd as it had birds flocking around him.

"Whoa! An Ordonian! Hey, guy!" the man exclaimed as if it was his first time seeing an Ordonian.

"Yeah hi. Any—"

"Listen, I'm not sure you should be wandering around the woods without a lantern. Just because it's daylight doesn't mean it's safe." he interrupted me, making me to slightly scowl.

I'm in a hurry here.

"But uh…what happened to your shirt?" he asked.

I groaned mentally when I realized that my shirt was still laying on the sand.

"Yeah nevermind about that. But have you—"

"There are a ton of caves and dank spots around here that get pretty dark even in the middle of the day." he continued. "Here! Go on, guy. Take this!"

He handed me the lantern which I took it. After that, I went from the guy and back into the fork of the road. Epona neighed nervously as she trotted back from the gate. I jumped off her, whispering comforting words before I took off. Up ahead, I saw something lying on the ground so I walked towards it.

It was Talo's wooden sword. Drawing a breath in, I sprinted further into the cave and ignoring the enemies as I used my lantern to get out of the cave. I paid no attention to the sunlight when I came out of the cave; the only thing that was on my mind was Talo and if he was alright.

I defeated those pesky monsters though when I climbed up a hill, the gate was locked.

"No! No no no no no!" I shouted, rattling the gate as if that was going to make it open.

How can I find a key in these Woods?

Sighing, I trudged everywhere to search for the key even in the smallest places but I didn't found it until I saw a small cave-like entrance. I hadn't checked in there. It was a bit chilly when I entered in which caused me to shiver.

But I found the key from a small chest so I rushed towards the locked gate and opened it. Two more enemies greeted me when I came out of the cave and when I was at the entrance of the cave.

I grew annoyed with those purple monsters when I went further in.

"Woo! Hey! Woo! You're super!" the bird owner shouted. "Now just buy something! Hey!"

"Sorry! Maybe another time!" I called back as I ran up the path that led to the two creatures. After two strikes on each of them, they were dead.

"Ah! Link! Get us out of here!" Talo screamed.

"Don't worry I will. Just do as I say and you will be fine! Duck down!" I instructed them and the two did.

I did a spin attack nearly at the top of the cage which sent them free. We walked down the path exited out of the forest. I didn't see Epona so she probably went back to my house.

I crossed my arms, looking at Talo with angry as he bowed his head in shame.

"Link, I—"

"Don't. You knew that the Woods were dangerous. Your father even told you that! Did you not know just how worried I was? Even Colin was worried!"

He slightly scoffed. "Colin? Why would he care?" he mumbled.

I gave him a stern glare. "He cares because he actually cares about you too! You just didn't have the time to appreciate it."

He let out a sigh before an idea came into him like always. "Hey um Link. You're not gonna mention this to my dad, are you?"

"I might."

"Oh please Link!" he groaned. "I know that you told me the Woods are dangerous and things like that. But please! You have to promise!"

I stared at Talo's pleading eyes. There was a thick silence before I spoke. I could never seem to stay mad at these kids even if they do some stupid things.

I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. "Alright."

He lit his eyes happily. "Oh thank you! Thank you!"

He took off before I could even say anything.

How is it that I always cave in?

"Link!" a voice shouted.

I turned around and saw Rusl coming from a different path.

Well, Talo. Talk about lucky timing and luck for you.

"Rusl."

"I assume this is yours?" he tossed my shirt at me but I could tell he was mad.

I grinned sheepishly. "Um yeah. Thanks." I quickly pulled the shirt back on.

"My son told me Talo disappeared into the woods and had not returned. I came as soon as I heard. I'm also assuming he had told you as well."

I nodded. "Talo's safe and he has returned."

"Good though I apologize. Such a task should not fail to you. Tell me, have you noticed how strange this wood seems lately? I feel…uneasy about what may lie in wait…Anyway, Link…Tomorrow is finally the day. You will be departing for Hyrule. I think it is a good thing I have given this task to you…Good luck! And return safely!"

"Thanks. I promise I won't fail you."

He chuckled. "I know you won't. Maybe if you are lucky, you may even get to meet Princess Zelda! Ah ha ha!"

I had to give him that which was why I also chuckled with him. It seemed unreal for me, a commoner, to meet someone who had a high status.

Night had fallen when we reached my treehouse so we said good night to each other and well, you already know the rest.

Morning came and I actually came out early just to lay on the grass of Ordon Ranch as I gazed at the clear blue sky. Today was the day. Today was the day where I had to deliver the package.

The goats were spread out on the field, lazily eating the grass.

"Hey! Link!" Fado's voice made me to snap back into reality. "So, almost time for you to get goin', huh, Link?"

I nodded. "Yeah it is."

He smiled. "Don't worry. You will do great. You always seem to get things done on time so I'm sure you will deliver this package in no time with the help of Epona."

I cracked a smile. "Thanks."

He nodded. "So uh how about we finish up early today, bud?"

I smirked while laughing. "Sure!"

I called Epona pretty quickly from the Horsegrass. "Hey girl. You did great yesterday. I'm sorry for pushing you. Here." I took out an apple from my pouch and offered it to her.

She took it, crunching the apple. I grinned.

"So how about we round up the goats?" I asked. Epona snorted in response. I climbed on the saddle and rounded up the goats into its proper place.

"Hoo boy, but y'all can herd! That was 2:14 faster than usual!"

I grinned. "I'm getting better."

He nodded. "Right you are, there bud. Well, that about wraps' er up for today, so how's about y'all head on over to the mayor's place?"

"Alright. Thanks, Fado. See you soon."

"See ya bud."

With that, I jumped over the fence and then another one that got me out of the ranch. Epona slowly trotted on the path, allowing Ilia to come into the view. She gasped when she saw me as she called her father.

"Father!" Ilia called. "Link's here!" she exclaimed, excitedly before running towards me.

I smiled when she was beside me. "Hey, Ilia!"

"Link! Are you excited to go?" she asked, curiously.

I nodded without hesitation. "Of course! I think Rusl was right into giving me this task. I think it will be good for me. Too see what else lies ahead of the village. I had always been adventurous when I was kid."

"Oh…I see." her tone instantly changed but I paid no notice to it.

"Oh, done herdin' for the day, Link?" Mayor Bo asked.

I nodded.

"Well, nice work."

I climbed off Epona and talked to Bo.

"The royal gift Rusl told you about is ready so you should get ready for your trip to Hyrule Castle. Now, the royal family requested this gift specifically, so it's real special. It'd be…bad…if the representative of Ordon were to be late for such an occasion, you get me, lad?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"The path before you is a long one, my sweet horse…but please bear Link safely along it." Ilia whispered, petting Epona. Her eyes trailed off until it got widened. "Wait…What's this?"

Bo and I turned around and saw Ilia crouching down beside Epona's leg; her hand softly touching of what she had seen. Angry rose in her eyes as she got up and well…yelled at me.

"What happened? She's injured, isn't she?!" she exclaimed.

I gulped, looking at her sheepishly. "I…uh—"

"Link! How could you! You were pushing Epona too hard again! I bet you hurt her leg jumping fences, didn't you!" she screamed as she took a dangerous step towards me making me to go back.

"Ilia, you don't understand!" I shouted back.

"Don't understand?" she laughed, harshly. "Tell me, Link, what I don't understand?"

I froze when I remember the events from last night. I had forgotten to tell her.

"Now, now, Ilia. There's no need to get so hot with him…" Bo came to my rescue.

"FATHER!" she yelled, furiously as she faced him. "How can you be so easy on him? You're the Mayor! You should start acting like one!"

We both hung our heads down in shame, looking at the ground as if it was interesting. All we heard was Ilia's voice.

"You poor thing…" she cooed, leading Epona away with the reins. We then raised our heads to look at one another; a sheepish grin came across our features.

"It'll be alright, Epona. I'll take you to the forest spring right now." she responded, instantly making us to look at her as she walked away with Epona. "Once we soothe you in the spirit's spring, you'll feel better in no time!"

We stared at her as if she was some kind of an inhuman creature. Bo seemed to be snapped out as he called out for her.

"W-wait! Ilia! Why, without Epona...The gift won't get delivered in time! Oh this won't do."

"Don't worry. I'll try to coax her back." I replied, earning a nod then I sprinted out of the village only to be stopped by Talo and Malo who were acting like guards at the entrance of the path that led to the spring.

"Guys? What-?" I asked, curiously. What's going on?

"Oh I don't know. Why don't you ask Colin?" Talo sneered.

"Don't mind them. They got mad because I told my dad about it."

I frowned. "Talo." I scolded them. "He had every right to tell your dad. There's no need to be angry at Colin."

"Yes there is! We got scolded by our dad something awful! I thought it was never gonna end!" Malo exclaimed, glaring at Colin.

I sighed. Sometimes, there was just no way to reason with these kids. I never understood why they didn't like Colin. He's not bad at all.

"I bet you're trying to go see Ilia, aren't you? Well, there's no way I'm gonna let you pass!" Talo stated.

"You're not the owner of the entrance, Talo." I warned him. He merely scowled.

"You're on his side?" Talo asked.

I tried to not roll my eyes. "Look. We both need to get to Ilia because she took my horse. And without Epona, the gift won't be delivered on time. Do you understand? Just imagine if a representative is late for such an important occasion."

He finally caved in. "Fine! You can go but Colin can't. What's his reason?"

I slightly clenched my jaw before speaking. I know I am going to regret this but I will probably gonna get a much nicer one later on. Probably.

"What will happen if I tell you that if I give you my sword, you would let us pass?" I asked, automatically seeing the excitement in his eyes. Yeap. I'm regretting this.

Talo gasped. "You mean it?!"

I nodded, taking my sword out to prove I'm not lying.

Talo screamed, an excited one, as he snatched the sword. "Oh my! Yeah! Thank you, Link! With this, I will show them!"

The two "guards" ran off in attempt to hit the scarecrow.

"Link…thanks." Colin's voice made me to snap my gaze away from the two.

"No problem. I just don't like it when I see them teasing or hurting you. You're a kid like them and have so much to live up to."

Colin smiled, slightly. "Thanks Link but when I grow up, I'm going to be just like you Link!"

I was touched by the words that were spoken out of Colin's mouth. "I think you're going to be so much better than me. Just try to not be so…reckless I would say."

He nodded. "Oh but could you teach me how to ride a horse sometime? Can you?! You have to promise!"

I nodded. "I will."

Colin's eyes lit up with hope before thanking me again and scurried away to Ilia. Colin was always such a sweet kid. Sighing, I ran down the path and went to my right when I got a bit further of the path. There was an entrance in one of the small cliff's hill which I used to hide from the kids sometimes.

It was amusing to me, watching them to try and find me. I crawled through the hole and reached the pond where I saw Ilia and Colin talking.

"I had no idea…I hadn't heard the details about Talo's capture…But, Colin…" she trailed off, turning to her left to see me staring.

She walked up to Epona who snorted in response. Hurt, she gasped softly and stared at the water with sad eyes.

"I guess you still prefer your master over me, Epona." She responded. "Don't worry about your horse, Link." she reluctantly told me though I could tell she was slightly angry at me. "Fortunately, it looks like the injury isn't too serious. You two can go on together."

When I was about to reply, she interrupted me.

"But, Link…Can you at least promise me this? No matter what happens on your journey, don't try to do anything…out of your league. Please. Just come home safely."

I locked my gaze at her, making my heart to flutter.

"I will. I promise. Though about the 'don't try to do anything out of my league'…I'm not so sure about that." I smirked, earning a smile from her.

All of a sudden, Epona neighed with fright which caused me to look at her before feeling a sudden tremor. It was a bit hard to see until the green doors were smashed into pieces and both of us gasped at the sudden sight. Two green monsters were on what it looked like boars, stomping its way towards us.

I widened my eyes when I saw Colin frozen with fear and didn't move.

"Colin! Get out of the way!" I shouted, running up to him before they could grab him.

Unfortunately, I was a bit too late for that as they had knocked him unconsciousness with its club, picking him up.

"No!" I yelled.

Another scream came so I whirled around, seeing Ilia unconsciousness with an arrow sticking out of her forearm at the back.

"Ilia!" I started to go up to her but it wasn't a centimeter away when I had felt something hitting me at the back of my head, making my world to go black.

Unbeknownst to me, the two enemies looked around the spring as if it was searching for something that was important to them.

Just then, another one of them came into the view. This one seemed to be the leader as he was dressed heavily with armor. He searched the spring as well, only to find nothing. It was then that he raised his horn to call something.

Something appeared on the sky, looking like a portal but it seemed unwelcoming as it gave off evil vibes. The leader laughed at his accomplishment before they got of the spring on his command.

Groaning, I placed my palm on my forehead as if to stop the massive headache from hurting me but it didn't really work.

Damn, that really hurt. I looked around the spring blearily as I was trying to remember what had happened. A broken piece from the wooden gate instantly made the flashback to come back. Gasping, I scrambled up and went to the long bridge that led to Faron Woods.

However, I stopped when something blocked the very entrance that led to Faron Woods. The bridge was behind me but I paid no interest to it. Only this. What was this thing? Why is it here? It was black with strange markings on it and it swayed gently like a waterfall would do.

Abruptly, something came out of the wall from the opposite side, looking like a black hand. It creepily lunged towards me, harshly grabbing my neck and pulled me inside as if it was some kind of an invisible force.

I just realized that it was a hand and it was bringing me closer to the body. When I reached at the body, it looked hideous. Its head was an oval shaped head and the skin was nothing but black except the glowing marks that was imprinted on its body. It looked like the ones that were on the weird wall.

I struggled violently to get loose from its tight grasp. I gave a violent shiver when its eyeless head examined at me creepily. Apparently, my body didn't like to be choked to death since something unexpectedly glowed at my right hand. The beast harshly threw me, causing my knee to be slightly scratched.

Out of nowhere, a sudden unbearable pain came into my body. It felt like white hot knives piercing through my body. Actually, it felt like my heart was being ripped out of my body and was being slowly crushed into pieces. I gasped, wanting nothing more than to have this unbearable pain to be washed away.

Everything around me pulsed, making me to be nearly blinded.

I felt my muscles twitching itself as if it was forming itself into something else until I heard a sickening crack but my mind was too focused on this pain. Almost as if it was reading my mind, I gave a scream of agony before I went unconsciousness.

Unbeknownst to me, something in a corner was watching me, placing an evil smile as it watched the black creature dragging away its prey.

Author's Note: Would've posted this sooner but something went wrong with the login Fanfiction. So, Happy belated Christmas! I'm not exactly sure if the Triforce was on Link's right hand or left hand. Please correct me if I'm wrong.