Author: Uhh…For now I'm holding off on Intro/Exit convos...Sorry. I will re-add them sometime. Just not for now.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fire Emblem or LoZ.
Marth awoke the next morning still feeling slightly drained due to the events of the previous day. He made his way to the assembly hall to assign the day's tasks. Some of the soldiers were already in the assembly hall, awaiting Marth's arrival and upon his entrance into the room, they snapped to attention.
"At ease…Please go gather everyone else so that I may give out the assignments for the day," Marth stated to them.
"At once, sire!" they replied before going into the soldier's quarters and waking them and having everyone gather in the assembly hall.
Once everyone was in the assembly hall and in formation, Marth looked the usual 6 formations over before setting them at ease.
"Alright everyone, as many of you know, I was gone for a good length of time last night and this could become a common occurrence. My father knows of this and I just want to let all of you know the same so that you do not worry too much about my absence." He looked them over once more, deciding how to distribute the tasks before continuing. "So, with that out of the way, here are today's assignments. Formations 1 and 2 will take care of town patrol. Formation 3 will take care of castle ground control. Formation 4 will split amongst themselves the guard positions. Now as for Formations 5 and 6, normally I would send you both to do training exercises…however, today, only Formation 5 will go to training exercises, Formation 6 I need to have you come with me, I wish to show you something for I have a new task to assign related to yesterday's occurrences. So, with that said…Dismissed!" All the soldiers snapped to attention, saluted and moved to their respective positions while Formation 6 waited for Marth's instructions.
"Alright men…First I'm going to split you into 2 groups." He signals for the formation to split into groups. "Ok…Now, I want group 1 to assist in security of the Fire Emblem. When I was in the forest yesterday I encountered 2 creatures from a far away kingdom named Hyrule that had come here in search of the Fire Emblem…So I want security tightened just incase they come and try again with increased forces."
The soldiers in group 1 saluted, "Yes sire!" and departed to the Fire Emblem's resting place. "The rest of you, please follow me, we are headed to the Altean forest." Marth said and motioned for the soldiers to follow. They quickly made their way out of the castle and to the main gates. The gate guards spotted Marth and his team headed toward the gate and stood at attention as they made their way to the gate.
"Good morning, sire! Will you be heading out this morning?" one of the guards asked.
"Yes, we are headed to the forest…Please open the gate!" Marth called back up.
"At once!" the guard replied and signaled the other guard as they opened the gates.
Marth and the soldiers exited the town and headed toward the forest as the guards closed the gates behind them. They quickly made their way toward the forest as Marth told them of their duty. "As you heard, I encountered strange creatures in the forest, so your new duty is for most of you to patrol the outskirts of the forest…And those of you who have a fair grasp of the layout of this forest I would like you to patrol within the forest. I also want one of you to come with me. Hmm…Barose, I think you are the best choice for the job today, so please follow me."
An older soldier, clearly with much more experience in fighting than the others due to many visible battle scars, stepped forward, "Yes, your majesty. I will do as you order!"
"Good, please, this way." Marth instructed and began walking in the direction of the portal. After a few minutes of walking, Marth and Barose reached the portal. "This will be your duty for today and any other days that your team is on forest patrol. You will be guarding this portal…This is how the creature managed to get here from Hyrule…If anyone other than myself comes through this portal, stop them at any cost, if they somehow manage to get past you, do whatever you must to alert the others patrolling the forest of the breach. Do not however try to hold them off if there are too many. Instead, alert the others to begin regrouping near the castle and quickly tell the gate guard to sound the alarm if there numbers are too great for your team alone to handle. Do you understand your duties?"
"Of course, your majesty. On my honor, I shall not let you down!" Barose quickly responded.
Marth nodded. "Now, I am going to Hyrule to investigate some things. I shall return later." And with that, Marth entered the portal.
On the other side, Marth had forgotten about how close the water was to the portal and fell into the water. He quickly made his way to the nearby island. He wrung out his cape and allowed for the rest of his clothes and armor to drip dry as he looked out over the lake. Due to the time difference it was still dark at the time so he made sure to take that into account when making his way around. "Hmm…Maybe I should have waited until a little later…Oh well, no matter. I think I'll head to Kokiri forest and see if I can find Link and Asil…" He began to turn to the bridge to get to the mainland, but out of the corner of his eye he spotted movement in the area. Not wanting to take any chances he quickly ducked behind the tree and peered around to see if he could tell who it was. The distance and darkness kept his form hidden; however, something else clearly stuck out about him…Red piercing eyes.
"Dark Link!?" he muttered. Soon after entering the area and looking around a bit, Dark Link left. "Hmm…I would assume he's looking for Link…I think it would be wise to follow him just in case." Marth swiftly made his way to the other side of the lake and made his way to Hyrule Field. He managed to make out Dark Link in the distance moving quickly to an unknown destination. Marth took a hold of the hilt of his sword and began to follow Dark Link, making sure to keep his presence unknown. They soon arrived at the other side of the field as Dark Link crossed a small bridge over a stream and climbed up some stairs into what appeared to be a village. Marth gripped tighter on his sword, expecting to hear screams of fear from the townspeople, but nothing came forth.
"Nothing…Either everyone's inside or he's planning something…And if he is, it's all the more reason to keep an eye on him," Marth thought to himself as he crossed the bridge and entered the village. He saw a sign nearby and looked at it.
"Welcome to Kakariko Village."
Marth looked around again but didn't see Dark Link anywhere. He walked a little further into the village and looked around, it appeared that everyone was inside but he did see a man sitting down by a nearby tree and decided to question him. "Excuse me sir, did you happen to see anyone pass by here a moment ago?"
The old man slowly looked up to Marth, "I'm sorry…These old eyes have gotten bad over the years…I'm afraid I didn't see anyone. However, though my sight has worsened, my hearing is still strong as ever. I did hear someone go by here…It sounded like he was headed toward the graveyard behind the windmill. He was muttering something about a prince as well, I think."
"Hmm…I see, thank you very much," Marth stated and gave a solemn bow of gratitude before turning toward the back of the village. "A prince, eh…I assume he saw me earlier. This could very well be a trap…I must be on my guard." Marth thought and headed toward the graveyard the old man spoke of.
Marth entered the graveyard and drew his sword in preparation for a possible surprise attack from Dark Link. He slowly moved into view of the graveyard and saw Dark Link's figure in the back. He was clearly visible due to a couple of lantern holding ghosts beside him. He looked back in Marth's direction and Marth quickly ducked out of sight and watched from around the corner as Dark Link gave a small hop before disappearing into the ground. The ghosts stayed motionless for a moment before vanishing. Marth slowly came out of his hiding spot and began to make his way toward where Dark Link had been. Before he could reach the area however, a lantern appeared out of no where and floated a short ways in front of him. Soon after, a ghostly figure like the ones before appeared holding the lantern. The ghost gave a little laugh before beginning to spin swinging it's lantern at Marth. Marth quickly jumped back, easily avoiding the lantern. The ghost slowly came to a stop and Marth took this opportunity to swing at the ghost; however, before he could connect, the ghost disappeared, leaving only the lantern visible. Again the ghost gave a little laugh and began to swing the lantern. Unable to jump back in time this time, the lantern strikes Marth in the arm and catches his sleeve on fire. Marth quickly pats it with his hand to put it out and watches as the ghost laughs and appears again. Marth again threw an attack at the ghost. This time the ghost was unable to disappear in time and flew back, disappearing in a puff as its lantern fell to the ground.
"Well, that was a bother…" Marth stated, holding the small burn on his arm from where he had been struck by the lantern. He quickly shrugged it off and began to head toward the area where Dark Link had been. Along the way, he encountered 2 more ghosts, but having learned their pattern from the one before, he easily defeated them and arrived at the area he had seen Dark Link. Nearby, he saw a sign that looked fairly new and read it.
"Beware of Poes at night. (Poes are ghosts with lanterns for those that don't know.)"
"How obnoxious. Place this warning at the back of the graveyard where people will be attacked before actually reading it…" Marth sighed and shook his head. He decided to ignore the strangeness of the placement of the sign and turned back to where Dark Link had been and saw a hole in the ground. "Dark Link must have gone in there…I'd best to be prepared for anything." Marth took a good grip on his sword and leapt into the hole.
He landed at the bottom with a small stumble but easily recovered and looked around. There were some skeletons laying about on the ground as well as a few bats flying about. A short distance in front of him he saw the red eyes of Dark Link staring right at him.
"So, you have returned to Hyrule. And you came alone…How foolish." Dark Link hissed. "My quarrel is with Link, not with you…However, I cannot find Link at the moment. And since you have decided to follow me all this way, I guess I should at least have a warm up before I face Link. And if I get rid of you, I won't have to worry about you interfering next time. And what more fitting a place for you to meet your end than a graveyard." Dark Link drew his sword and shield and glared at Marth. "YOU SHALL MEET YOUR DEATH AND ROT HERE WITH THE REST OF THESE SKELETONS!" He exclaimed and charged at Marth.
Marth quickly jumped into the air over Dark Link and threw a swipe of his sword at Dark Link but narrowly missed since Dark Link was still moving rather quickly. Dark Link stopped and immediately backflipped at Marth and slashed his sword at Marth. Not foreseeing Dark Link's ability to stop so quickly and move into a back flip, Marth was unable to defend in time and took the full force of the blow to his side and slammed into the wall on the side of the room. He slowly made his way to his feet, holding the wound as the blood trickled down his side.
"Hahaha, that was almost too easy. Should have expected it from a dainty little prince," Dark Link mocked.
"I may be down…But I'm far from out!" Marth retorted.
"I can fix that!" Dark Link shouted before thrusting his sword at Marth. Marth quickly rolled to the side from the attack and Dark Link's sword stuck into the wall. "Dammit!"
Marth took this opportunity to its fullest and landed a quick hard strike into Dark Link's back. Dark Link hissed in pain and fell forward to the ground. He however quickly struggled to his feet and grabbed his sword and pulled it from the wall. He smirked and looked at Marth.
"Ahh…Pain…What a nice feeling it is," he said as his sword started to burn with a dim purple light. As it did, the wound on Marth's side began to do the same as Marth grabbed his side tighter and fell to his knees in pain.
"See…Isn't it so nice?" he laughed. "Did you forget that my sword can drain your strength? Now, where was I? Oh yes, getting rid of you."
Dark Link drew back his sword to strike again but before he could, Marth shot a small blast of lightning at Dark Link, knocking him back
"Ahhh! Blasted magic…" Dark Link growled.
"I told you before…I may be down, but I'm far from out…" Marth stated, getting to his feet once more.
Dark Link easily shook of the shock from the lightning and got to his feet and glared at Marth. Without a second's wait, he charged Marth again and threw a kick at Marth. Marth quickly dodged the kick and moved to the side of Dark Link and threw a kick of his own and landed it in Dark Link's side. Dark Link hit the ground hard and decided it was time to use his ability to sink into the ground. Marth was expecting this and had been concentrating light magic, waiting for the proper time to use it. Marth placed his hand on the ground and the room light up brightly as light magic began to flow all over the room. Dark Link quickly returned from the ground, shrieking in agony from the light magic coursing through his body. As soon as he took form he fell to the ground, spasming a little but otherwise unmoving. Marth slowly walked over to Dark Link and looked down at him, pointing his sword at him to as a way to make sure Dark Link didn't try to move suddenly. Just before Marth made it to Dark Link, however, a bright flash filled the room as Dark Link threw a Dark Deku Nut to the ground and blinded him.
"Ah! Drat, I should have seen that coming!" Marth grumbled to himself.
"Farewell, prince. You may have been able to defeat me today, but next we meet, you shall not be so lucky. And with you gone, Link will be next!" Marth heard Dark Link's voice say as he escaped.
Marth looked around as his eyes began to focus again. He saw a trail of blood along the floor of the room leading to the exit. He held his side again, as the pain began to return once again. He slowly made his way to the exit and climbed up out of the room. Upon reaching the top, he could see that the sun was beginning to rise and gave a little sigh of relief t hat he wouldn't have to deal with any Poes in his injured state. He quickly made his way out of the graveyard and saw that there was still no one awake yet and started walking around for a while to see if he could find a good place to rest and heal his wounds. As he made his way around, he started to feel light headed and a little woozy and after only a minute, he fell to the ground unconscious from the blood loss.
Later that day, he slowly began to wake up and opened his eyes slowly as he was slightly blinded by the light of the room. After his eyes adjusted he attempted to sit up and look around.
"Hey look! He's waking up!" a familiar voice stated. "Hey Marth, you alright!?"
Marth looked to where the voice was coming from and saw that Link was in the room with him.
"You gave us quite a scare there. Any normal man probably wouldn't have survived the blood loss from a cut like that." A man in a medical uniform stated.
"Wh-Where am I?" Marth questioned.
"You're at the Kakariko Inn. One of the villagers found you early this morning and brought you to the inn and then sent for one of the doctors in Castle Town." Link replied. "I just happened to be in Castle Town at the time and when someone said they need a doctor because a man with blue hair and armor had been injured, I could only assume it was you so I came to check and sure enough, it was you. When I saw what had happened, you had me pretty worried there."
"Oh I see…Sorry to worry you." Marth apologized.
"Ah, don't worry about it too much. At least you're ok. What happened to you, anyway?"
"I decided to come back to Hyrule to do a little investigating, but I forgot the time difference, and it was still dark when I arrived so I was going to go to Kokiri Forest to look for you and Asil before the sun rose. But when I got here, I caught a glimpse Dark Link and followed him here. When I arrived here at the village, he went to the graveyard and went into some hole in the back. I followed him in, but when I got there he was waiting for me and attacked. I managed to fight him off but still ended up wounded in the process."
"Ah. You shouldn't have faced him alone…Dark Link is really tough. He gave me quite a battle when we first met in the Water Temple so many years ago."
"Heh, I'll have to remember that next time then." Marth joked a bit to try and lighten the mood a bit.
"Well it seems you made it out of there ok. You should just stay here and rest for a while."
"Yes…"
Meanwhile, in the original room where Link and Dark Link first fought.
"Your failure to kill Link is beginning to annoy me," a dark voice stated.
"I am sorry, master Necrosan…" Dark Link said.
"Stop apologizing weakling and just take care of him!" the voice, Necrosan, commanded.
"I am trying, master, but that damn prince just keeps getting in the way now."
"Prince? What prince?"
"That prince from Altea…Marth."
"So Marth is here!? Those blasted moblins must have led him to the portal. Damn it…I did not foresee his interference. Fine…I will augment your power to combat this issue. Do not let it go to waste…If you do not kill Marth and Link within the next week, then I will kill you and take care of them myself."
"Do not worry master. I will kill them and finally get my revenge on Link and that damn prince!"
"You had better." Necrosan stated before beginning to change a dark spell. As he did so, a dark light surrounded Dark Link as his power increased drastically.
Dark Link smirked as he felt the power flow through him. "Marth and Link won't stand a chance against me now."
Author: Uh oh…The mastermind, Necrosan, has increased Dark Link's power and now Dark Link has his sights set on Link and Marth. How will this increase in power affect things? You'll just have to wait and see. Don't forget to review!