A.N.: Fourth one rewritten! I'm planning to if not properly rewrite, to at least fix the grammar mistakes in all chapters up to the sixth, which was the last one I updated before my long, long break, since I have improved a lot in English this year.

Buuuut however, hope you guys enjoy my rewritten ones ^^

This chapter is going to partly clear up some happenings in the future ones since before they had no explanation behind and some of you might have wondered what was going on.

Italics are thinking or spirit's talking. Also possibilities of some swearing in this one.

Chapter 4

In the mountains it was pouring. Heavy droplets whipped the windows of an old castle, carved in the rocky hills the place was full of. Gusts of wind whistled in the casements and broken chutes where water was running down in small waterfalls.
A pair of black eyes stared all of this from a shawody room, despairing yet furious. A hood was pulled up over the figure's head, robe covering the body which was still clearly a female's. The woman cursed under her breath.

This is nowhere near how I planned...

Her steps echoed from the cold stonewalls as she left the window and reached for an old-looking scroll on one of the shelves clinging on the wall, rolling it open with one swift movement. Small cloud of dust rose from the table as she laid the paper on it, now viewing a map under her eyes.
On it, four coloured dots were moving, from each of them emerging a column of their colour; white, golden, silver and very light, almost ghostly blue. Three of them were halted, one moving.

The woman gnarled, one dark, red ringlet escaping from the hood and falling on her forehead. With an angry swipe of her hand, she shoved it back. Her long fingers drew invisible lines on the embroidered surface of the map, narrow smirk growing on her lips.

Good... Very good...

A loud knocking distracted her from the map and brought her attention to the door. Knowing who it was to come, she straightened her back and pulled the hood to overshadow her pitch black eyes.
He couldn't know.

"Come in!"

The command let in a soaked man, wearing a hood and a robe as well. Dissatisfaction and exhaustion shone from his pale face as he wearily bowed to her, removing his hood. The man was clearly a kind of subordinate of hers.

"I've been waiting for you." she stated coldly, glancing the map from behind her hood.

"My biggest apologies for being late, ma'am. There have been some issues rising up among the lower rank lately."

"Again? What do they want now?"

"They are demanding better rights, ma'am. Also, some of them would like to live more freely." All this time the man had been kneeled down, fixedly staring the floor.

The woman sighed in frustration, clenching her right fist. "How I am supposed to lead my people if they'd be roaming all around the land! Those needy little brats..."

"Ma'am, they are not – "

"Shush, you! Go already and tell them that as long as they want to keep their lives, they will obey me and approve what they have. Understood?" A nod from the man. "Good. From now on, you shall kill every and each of those who even try to disagree."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And oh, one thing left."

The man halted at the door and turned his head just enough to respect her. "Yes?"

"You need to get a few bulblins to Ordon Spring in an hour, containing their king. Use the southern portal in Faron."

"Sure, ma'am."

A beam of sallow light flooded into the room as the man left, hurrying down the stairs to fill his tasks.

A knowing grin grew on her face as the map got her attention once again.
Her king will be pleased.

Instead of returning to the main village, Colin had decided to visit the spring since he knew Link would be there, along with Ilia and Epona. He hadn't said anything to his father, but of course he would understand when he'd say he wanted to wish her good luck on her journey, right?
He saw the gates to the spring were closed, probably by Ilia who had wanted to wash Epona without interruption, so he turned back and crawled through the small passageway.
At the spring he met the trio as expected. Link saw him first, the sudden change of her attention getting Ilia spun around. The short-haired girl smiled to him.

"Hi Colin! Where did you leave Rusl?" Link chuckled a bit as the mare nuzzled Colin in the arm.

"I guess he went home already. I just wanted to come and say goodbye before you leave."

At the point, Ilia turned to Link.

"So... You are leaving, then?" she asked in a low tone.

"I've planned so. I thought you knew?" Link raised her brow at the other girl.

"Of course I knew, the whole village has been talking about it these few days, but I just... your injuries and all..." she sighed, clearly not stopping there. "Are you sure you're all right, Link? I... don't want you to get hurt out there."

Link smiled at Ilia's over worried gaze.

"Don't worry, Ilia. I'll be fine."

The other smiled sadly.

"I... Just be sure to come home safely."

She only received a nod from Link as Colin come to her with pleading eyes.

"What is it now, Colin?"

"Link... Could I ride on Epona back to the village? Before you leave?"

"Sure you can, I still have to get that gift sword from Rusl."
With that, Colin was lifted up and safely placed on Epona's saddle.

"Okay, we are ready to go." Link informed and took Epona's reins. It would be the best for both her and Colin if she didn't let him ride alone. Before they get any further, Epona let out a startled whine, lifting her copper brown head high. The mare shivered as her ears were shot forwards, eyes firmly staring the closed gate.
Link raised her hand to keep everyone quiet, and for a while Epona's heavy breaths were the only thing filling the tensed atmosphere.

Then everything happened so quickly.

Loud thundering of various hooves in the distance, a flash of fear and hesitation in Link's eyes. Something big was coming.
And it was coming fast.

"Colin..." she started, but was forced to stop by an ear-ripping crash and a victorious scream coming from a mouth which owner Link couldn't recognise.

"...get the hell down from there!"

But it was already too late. An enormous, brown boar stormed through the gate, a dirty-green, slightly armoured monster guiding it and another one sitting behind the other, a wooden club in hand. The first one was followed with two similar, the monsters on those equipped with bows.
Link was harshly pulled out of trance as Epona yanked the reins out of her hand and leaped out of way just in time, Colin grabbing the pommel and holding on for his dear life.
Link was thrown off of her balance by the boar, and with a spun she fell on her knees. As she got her head cleared after the slight impact her hand flew over her shoulder to grab something which wasn't there. A cold wave washed over her as she harder than ever regretted leaving the sword in her house. Now she had no chance against the monsters.

This time, she couldn't help but only watch as Epona flounced past one boar and out of the spring, Colin still in her saddle. She couldn't even protect her best friend.

Wait.

Link's gaze roamed the place, trying to get a clue of the other girl, unsuccessfully.

Where is Ilia?

She spun around a couple of times, trying her best to avoid the monster at the same time. Panic flushed over her and everything seemed to slow down, screeches of the monsters, loud thumps of hooves, all faded into nothingness.
All she heard was her own heart beating, own heavy, fragmented breaths.
A desperate yell echoed in the air as she called for her best friend.

I am not forgiving myself if she'll get hurt.

She partly ignored as she felt something hard colliding with her head. She didn't even recognise as the hit send her on her knees once again.

I am...

Her arms went weak, letting her fall in the shallow water on her side.

...not...

Painfully throbs in her head, following the beating of her heart.
Black shadows creeping from the corners of her eyes, reaching their long limbs over her vision to cover it.

...forgiving...

Finally, the blackness took over, welcoming her into its comfortable embrace.

Ilia watched all this from the spot she has been standing, being conscious enough to recognise everything that happened around her, enough to question why weren't any of those monsters paying attention to her. Somehow, she felt... off, like she wasn't there, everything in front of her being just a vision. She didn't hear, didn't feel as a boar ran straight through her.

All she could do was to watch.

Watch as Link seemed to cry out for something. For her? For Colin who had just escaped with Epona? Even her thoughts seemed to come outside her head, as if she wasn't able to think at all.

She watched as Link fell on the ground right after a monster hit her head.

Unable to move, she felt the urge to cry, and without a single tear she did. What is happening to me? Why can't I do anything?

Suddenly, she had a strong feeling she wasn't alone. Someone, or something was there with her, watching her internal struggle.
And she didn't mean the spring.
It didn't speak, but its presence was strong, as if someone's eyes were glued to her back. If she could, she would've shivered. The feeling was oppressive but somehow comfortable, threatening but calming at the same time, as if higher powers were with her. After a few seconds, the feeling faded away and she was able to pay attention to the scene again, though the confusing, frightening thought of someone visiting her mind didn't let her alone. She also realised that something had pulled her out of the scene, but she didn't know what is was, or why it had. Maybe to protect her? But why would someone want to protect me? There is nothing important in me...

If the brown boars had been enormous, the next one was absolutely monstrous.
Through the broken gate rode a fat, green monster on a blueish, heavily armoured boar with two long, curved horns poking out from its forehead. Its heavy hooves seemed shake the whole spring as it stomped just next to Link's unconscious form. The monster on it pulled out a long horn, and soon after a hollow noise filled the space, air trembling around the horn.

Ilia couldn't hear, but she swore that the air was filled with screeches and low grunting as the monsters left and were gone as fast as they had come. As the sound of hooves faded off, Link seemed to jerk awake. The girl bounced up so fast she almost fell back down as her vision momentarily blurred. She took off as soon as she could see again, her childhood friend watching helpless as she ran towards the bridge.

A few seconds, and Ilia felt her physical form returning, the sudden feel of having a body taking her off guard and sending her on her knees. Her whole existence feeling dizzy she couldn't stand up, so she decided to sit there holding her head and trying to get her thoughts together after what had just happened to her.

After a good five minutes she finally got her limbs under control and stood up, faltering a bit and trying to find her balance. Before she could run after Link, she was frozen by the feel she knew too well.

Someone was watching her, its presence strong.
She gulped and slowly turned around just to be welcomed by nothing. She frowned a bit, taking a step backwards. Did the spring look a bit brighter?
She was again about to leave, as a warm breeze gently swiped her short hair. To her, though, it wasn't an innocent breeze.

T-that... felt like...

Another one, humming past her ear, being way too warm for a late-afternoon wind.

...a breath.

She spun around, her heart beating so loudly she was sure that whoever there was, could hear it.

Again, she was met by nothing.

The warm humming, sighing, continued and didn't seem to stop anywhere soon. The fact that there probably was something Ilia couldn't see drove her on the edge of panic.

"W-who's there?" she stuttered, her voice coming out trembling and a lot more quieter than she had meant. For a good ten seconds everything went quiet, until the hollow breathing started again.

Ilia gulped audibly, her legs taking a few shaky steps towards the gateway.

"Don't be afraid, O brave youth..."

Ilia almost fell backwards as she actually heard someone speaking, the voice humming all around her, soft but powerful. She felt a sudden calming wave flushing through her; there was no way this... voice... would somehow harm her.

"... You have been chosen by the forest spirits, to fulfill this task." the voice spoke, the air around her carrying it like swirling wind. Ilia wore a blank face, but inside her head was a hurricane of questions she could never ask and hesitant thoughts about what was going on. She had never wanted to spin on her heels and escape the situation, yet something was telling her to stay and listen.
The words took a moment to sink in to Ilia's consciousness, but actually understanding them took her too long for the voice to wait.

"The darkness has taken over this land. The link between shadow and light has been used to seal the light..."

Ilia had no clue about what the voice was telling her of.

"However, a hero is soon to be awakened... The hero with the power same with yours, will free the land from shadows..."

P-power? But I don't have any powers, d-do I? The girl was startled in her mind, in her greenish eyes flashing hesitation.

"I, the light spirit of Ordon, am set to awaken the power in you..."

L-light spirit?

A short silence embraced Ilia as the voice, no, spirit, inhaled slowly, almost painfully slowly.

"...and with it... you will remember..."

Link hadn't really paid attention to the dirty, orange light surrounding her until she was forced to halt by its source. Various gasps escaping from her mouth, she stared at the black, foggy wall rising from the ground and reaching towards the darkened sky as far as Link could see. Threatening, it towered between the two rocky walls, blocking the path to Faron and causing Link to grab her head from the strange pressure it emerged. Dirty-orange designs swirled and pulsated on its surface. Shivering, she took a step back, but wasn't allowed to do anything more as a large, black hand appeared through the wall, reached down to grab her from the neck, and harshly pulled her through the wall.

She was watching as the black beast pulled in a human girl, her sky-blue eyes immediately getting her attention. She hid in shadows as the beast pulled the girl closer to its shield-face, frowning as she struggled to breathe.
She threw her arm to save her eyes as there was a flash of light, the monster doing the same and throwing the girl to the ground. She saw how the girl fought against the pressure of twilight as she tried to breathe, tried to get up. She frowned, weren't humans supposed to be mere spirits in twilight?
The girl struggled, trying to push herself upwards with a scream. Halfway through, the scream changed, turning into an howl of agony, just after the girl fell unconscious.

A wide grin shone through the darkness as the black beast started dragging the girl towards the centre of Hyrule.

Finally.