Nagori, Saimon and Senkyoku
By achitka
Chapter 6:
Legend
A very long time ago, there lived on the fields of Hyrule a boy and his sister. Many said the children were almost identical of face, and being twins, they were all but inseparable. They lived happily with their parents, all was well, and good until the day the boy, while out exploring, discovered a cave. He stood outside the entrance and looked into the gloom. The boy almost ran away until his sister joined him; together they were unafraid and entered.
The way was dark, but a dim light shone in the distance. So, they stumbled on tripping over rocky outcrops, skinning knees and hands until they came to the source of the light. The light, it turned out, was not one but two. The sight mesmerized the children and holding out their hands the lights came to them. The children played with the lights believing them to be the fairies they'd been told about so many during their bedtime ritual.
When they returned home that evening, they determined not to tell their parents what happened that day. Adults they knew were distrustful of the fairies, thinking they would lead the children away from home and into the lost woods where they would be doomed to become skull kids. The children did not believe the stories they were so often told and returned to the cave every day for months and played with the lights in secret. The adults became suspicious when the two, gone from home for hours on end, no longer in the company of friends, followed the children and discovered the cave.
The adults admonished them and forbade them ever to return to that place. Unknown to their parents was, that it was already too late, for the children's hearts were taken by the lights and in stealthy fashion, the children began to call themselves by the names given them by the lights. The boy became Mei, his sister Kei, and together just as the lights told them; dark and light came together to become the perfect shadow. Still unknown to the children was the true nature of the lights that held them enthralled. Known to the Sages as tekuragari the lights symbolized the outward tendrils of a greater evil. An evil so old, that most no longer believed in the danger they embodied.
When the children were no longer able to hide their clandestine trips, their parents fearing the worst began to make plans to break up their family. Each was to take one child and move far away. In truth, the lights were with them almost continually. Now fearful of being separated, the children, lured by the promises of the tekuragari, ran from their home and their last source of protection from Shadow's influence - the love of their parents. Determined to stay together, Mei and Kei accepted the whispered lies, and set out on what they thought would be a grand adventure.
What followed was far from grand and being children, they did not realize the amount of care they required. Without their parents, survival inevitably became the singular focus of their lives. They learned to steal, cheat and hurt without regret to get the things they required. The tekuragari are beings without pity and they prodded the children onward. To keep them moving they always told them, that shelter was always just ahead, if only they could find the one child who could help them. This child the fairies said, held great compassion and would understand their plight. So the children searched from town to town, but to no avail, and Mei was soon convinced that no such child existed.
The children's parents, upon discovering they were gone, were distraught at the thought of their young ones being out in the world by themselves, and so set out to look for their children. Having no idea which way to look first, they told all they met of their troubles. The parents told their sad story to all who would listen and was heard by many, until it was overheard one day by young man. Remembering a pair of sickly and wayward children he'd cared for on the road several days earlier, he sought out the parents. Once found they told the young man about their children and the evil lights and asked if the children he'd seen had things traveling with them.
He told them honestly he'd not noticed any, but it had been an unusually sunny day and at night, the children slept almost from sundown until sunup, and he may have overlooked them. The parents asked which way they went and he took them to the crossroads and pointed them in the direction he'd last seen the children take. The grateful parents thanked the young man for his kindness, for they were sure the children were theirs and set off in the direction he indicated
As he watched the parents leave, something nagged at him about the lights the parents described. He sought out the village Elder and repeated the story told by the sad couple. The Elder immediately became concerned and told him the legend of the tekuragari, and what the old stories told of them. Noticing the young man possessed an ocarina, the Elder insisted he learn a special song. A song, that when played would remind the listener of better things. Not seeing how this would help the young man learned the song and set out to continue his journey. Soon it would be his youngest son's birthday and he needed to get home. The Elder was not surprised the ease with which the young man learned it. There was a gentle kindness about him but also an abiding sadness that he didn't understand. It made him wonder what the young man had lost.
After many days travel, the young man rested beside the river and practiced the song taught to him by the Elder. Eyes closed he did not see opening of the gate; he only knew that it was there when he opened his eyes. Curious he ventured through and came upon an empty garden with a small pond at its center. As he neared the water's edge, a figure appeared above the water. She greeted him, and told him the Goddesses had chosen him for a special task; one of great importance to all of Hyrule.
Drawn to the beautiful vision, he listened without comment to the Fairy Queen's words as thoughts of his family ran quickly through his mind. To aid him she gave him two small dolls, each resembling the other, though it was clear that one was a boy and the other a girl. Bound together with thick dark string and were so tightly wrapped, he could not find the end. He placed the dolls in his pocket and wondered how this was supposed to help him and the Fairy Queen told him when the time was right he would know what to do.
Filled with doubt, again he thought of his wife and children still waiting for him at home. He knew the Goddesses call was not something to be lightly set aside, for you could never truly escape it. One way or another you would answer. The Fairy Queen saw his melancholy and assured him there was surely time to return to his home and say goodbye to his family. Just by the way she said it, he felt in all likelihood not be returning, so it was with a heavy heart he accepted his fate.
Before he left her, the Fairy Queen gave him a most unusual gift. Though she'd always served the goddesses without question since her creation, she was not unfeeling and could not leave him without hope. Therefore, if, in his darkest hour, he needed that hope she would grant him one wish. When he left the garden, he was amazed to find himself in front of his house. He whispered a silent thank you to the Fairy Queen and walked quickly to his home.
The children, by this time, had gotten very thin and pale. Only shadows of their former selves they wandered ever onward and it was by chance that their parents discovered them sleeping and shivering in an abandon house. Before they could come to the aid of their children, the tekuragari intercepted them. The parents confronted the lights that had stolen their children from them and attempted to win them back. The tekuragari, having grown strong feeding off the life energy freely given by the children, attacked the parents. First, the father, he roared with pain as they rent him with their burning light. His wife screamed in horror as she watched her husband cooked alive.
Distracted, the tekuragari did not see that one of the children awakened and watched the scene through a broken window. He was cold, tired and hungry and almost without memory of his former life when he realized who the adults were that the tekuragari were tormenting. A single tear escaped his eye as he remembered the gentleness they'd always shown him and how that was lost to him now. It was then that Mei began to doubt his decision to follow the fairies.
He watched as the woman who was his mother ran from them. Mei knew though that she would not escape and not wanting to see the end of that chase, turned his back to the scene. He looked at his sister and thought that at least they would have food tomorrow. He never told her where the food came from he didn't want to think about it; for you see he convinced her to run away. However, he thought as he lay back down beside her, at least they could stop running. No one would be looking for them now.
At the castle, a child waited. As she looked out the window of the tallest tower, she could only watch as her country, so green and beautiful a month ago was withering away before her eyes. She watched the trail of darkness that slowly surrounded her, knowing that eventually it would find its way to her. She did not despair; for behind the darkness came a point of light. It followed the shadow's trail and she watched as the golden light slowly gained ground on the darkness's leading edge. So few believed these days, but the golden light was so strong and unwavering, she barely dared to hope that her prayers to the Goddesses had been heard.
She made her way from the tower down to the basement and sat and looked at the Master Sword and thought about the stories her mother told her of the sword of evil's bane. Its radiance diminished over time. She remembered it to be so much brighter when she was smaller. How could a boy younger than she was now have pulled the sword and opened the door to the sacred realm? That boy though was the Hero of Time; and she thought of the statue in the Great Hall. The child remembered her own ancestor's part and wondered at what it must be like to lose seven years in an instant? Was her light the new hero? Was he a boy again? As if to answer her, the sword began to hum dully and the chamber grew dark. Eyes locked on the sword, she shivered. Something evil had caused a drop in the weapon's radiance. The Master Sword glowed less intensely and the hilt looked somehow smaller.
Her mind raced with possibilities but only one made any sense; something must have happened to one of the remaining Sages. She raced as fast as she could back to the tower. Gasping for breath she looked out over Hyrule field, the shadow near the Lost Woods appeared blacker than she'd ever seen it. She felt a moment of desolation, but her eyes trailed back to pinpoint of golden light, still shining in the darkness, still moving forward. She wanted to push it along, make it move faster, but she was just a little girl so she cried until there was nothing left, and then went to find the King.
Mei worried about Kei, she seemed to be weakening a little more everyday, and becoming shadow only seemed to make it worse. Moving from village to village, they would visit the Elders, who would take them in out of pity, only to become ill with a mysterious sickness that seemed to drain the strength from their bodies. Most only lasted a few days after which the children would disappear. Forced to move on when she could barely stand, Mei for the first time openly questioned the lights and their commands, a choice he quickly regretted for it was not him they punished; it was Kei. Knowing his weakness, they exploited it without mercy and though he relented, they continued to hurt her as a reminder of what would happen if he questioned them again.
When they came to the outermost edge of the Lost Woods they stopped. The fairies told the children they'd almost reached their destination and soon they would be able to rest. The tekuragari told the children they must go forward alone, for this was a place that they could not enter. To go into this forest and survive they would have to become the shadow for a great evil inhabited the forest and protected the daemon child who lived there. He lived in a great fortress in the center of the woods and the children would have to destroy him if they were to complete their mission. Though they were frightened at the thought of taking on a daemon they were glad to think that soon they would be able to rest, for the child they sought must be close now.
The young man, not sure of where to start, decided it would be best to return to the town where he'd met the anxious parents. He recognized the dolls as the children he'd aided several weeks ago, but by now they could be just about anywhere. He stopped in town long enough to find out the village elder he'd spoken to, fell inexplicably ill and passed away. His apprentice had gone missing. This was troubling news, for in each of the towns he passed through recently, village elders were mysteriously falling ill. The people who were willing to speak to him were unnerved by his questions and not very helpful.
He heard the rumors of a shadow roaming the land killing the descendants of the Sages. With the sacred Temples abandon and in ruin, frightened people began to doubt. He pulled out the dolls given to him by the Fairy Queen. Still bound as tightly as ever, he noticed a snag in the string and pulled at it. The dolls loosened but did not come apart. The snag disappeared so he placed the dolls back in his pocket. He re-traced his path back to the crossroads and tried to pick up the trail. He stopped only long enough to speak to frightened villagers. As he followed behind the growing number of sick or dead people he realized whatever evil those two had themselves mixed up with, it was slowly draining the life from the land. He sent a silent prayer to Nayru to shelter his family as he continued to follow in their grim wake.
Returning to the edge of the Lost Woods, Mei and Kei separated and collapsed onto the dried up grass. It was becoming harder to hold on to the shadow. Expecting the fairies to guide them on they found, to their surprise, a young man in their place. At first, they were frightened of him but both were too tired to run away. Still Mei stood in front of his sister, ready to fight, for when he looked into the other's blood red eyes, he saw nothing but cold darkness. Mei decided immediately he did not like this new person. The young man spoke softly as he tried to ease their obvious anxiety and reassure them that he was there only help. He praised them and told them they'd done well by destroying the forest daemon. They'd earned a little rest, but they could not stay where they were for long, the evil that protected the daemon was now searching for them and they would need to move on.
He fed them and built a fire to keep them warm but Mei was still unconvinced by the young man's words. Now that the fairies were gone, maybe he and Kei could escape. The young man looked familiar to him but his overtired mind was unable to remember why and after the sparse care they received while in the company of the fairies he was content to stay put for the night. As Mei lay awake next to his sister, still unable to sleep he thought he could hear music. It drifted in on the soft breeze but was so far away he thought he must be hearing things, but it reminded him of something. Maybe it was the fire's warmth or his full stomach but when he closed his eyes that night all he could think of was home.
Coming to an abandoned house the young man was ready to set camp for the night, when he heard a soft moan he thought it the wind blowing through the trees. As he did every night, he practiced the song taught to him by the elder. He played it very well and in fact, embellished on it. Drawing from his own experience of family and home, the parts he added seemed right. Perhaps that is why, when he heard the moan again, it was followed by the sound of weeping. It came from behind a small storage building behind the house, having no weapons he made his way as quietly as possible around the house. He stopped and listened, the weeping had stopped and he was about to turn back when he heard it again. He followed the sounds and was greeted by two forlorn looking ghosts. One placed a shadowy arm around the other as if to comfort it.
When the spirits noticed him, they came forward and began to circle around him. Both spoke at once but he could not understand their words and pleaded with them to stop. The pair were so intent on getting their message to him they spun all the faster, and the faster they circled, the more he understood as their two voices became one. All he heard was; we have failed, please help our children and within the sound of those words he heard the children's names and accepted the ghost's pleas.
The young man promised to free them if he could and care for them as his own. The voices stopped their mantra and moved away from him and the tortured spirits of Dalkin and Delia's parents faded from view. He went back to the house and laid down for the night when he felt something move in his pocket. Reaching in he pulled out the still bound dolls, the black string that held them together seemed to be getting weaker, and everyday he pulled at the snags, which were appearing more frequently. Whatever was holding the children was losing its grip on at least one of them, maybe there was some hope after all. Putting them back in his pocket, he went to sleep.
The night after hearing his daughter's tale of the Master Sword, the King of Hyrule experienced a terrifying dream. In it, three voices called to him and told him his land was dying and he could hesitate no longer. More had been lost than could be replaced, and if he did not act soon he would lose all. Given a list of specific instructions he awoke filled with dread. He realized he should have listened closer to his youngest child, though only thirteen she was wise beyond her years.
Sitting up he found a neatly written list, it contained the names of several hundred of his people as well as three sealed letters with the names of the leaders of the Goron, Gerudo and Zora Peoples. As he read the names written on the letters, they faded from view. He wanted to weep for his loss though but could not say he was not warned. The Princess's efforts, since her mother's death, told him he needed go out and see for himself the darkness creeping into the land. It the same shadow that made her mother so sick, so quickly. He remembered he'd put her off, thinking it only a little girl's reaction to her mother's untimely death.
Seeking out the Princess, he found her atop the highest tower looking out over their dying kingdom. When he asked her what he should do, she told him he needed to send messages to all those named on the list as quickly as possible. All must pack their belongings and move to higher ground. The Princess pointed to the northwest boarder, a cloud of dust gave away the presence of an army crossing their borders.
Ganon had somehow slipped quietly out of his prison, and in time, the world would turn to shadow once more. She turned back to him with tears in her eyes and told him why his name did not appear on the list. As the King looked at the shadow surrounding his land, his eye caught on a point of golden light that followed the crest of the darkness. He did not need to ask the princess who that it was; he knew. Only one soul could burn so brightly in that darkness and the King knew he'd turned that man away less than a year and a half before. His eldest daughter's husband, a gentle hearted man with golden eyes.
Drawing him back the Princess handed him a small shiny object and promised that someday she would come back to him. The King held his daughter in his arms and knew his only choice was to accept the judgment of the Goddesses. Hyrule had been his to protect and he'd been careless.
As instructed he dispatched all the letters using the all magic he ever learned and the King sent away, with his brother and closest advisors, his youngest child into hiding. He readied his army and watched as they marched out to fight a hopeless battle. The King learned that part of his atonement for his sin, was to remain behind; for someone had to put the key in the lock. He spent tense days within the basement chamber and waited for the coming sign.
On the day the golden-eyed young man caught up with them, Mei and Kei were only just returning from the Zora Fountain. Drained and exhausted they were only vaguely aware of the firelight. They'd traveled from one end of the kingdom to the other and thinking their shadowy friend lit another fire for them, went to sleep with their heads in his lap. He set the ocarina aside and he could only guess that they must have heard his playing and followed it back to him. Anger grew in the young man's heart as he looked down at the pair. He wondered how anyone could use such small children to carry out such evil.
As shadow they appeared from the water and were a terrible daemon to behold. Seeing them, he feared he'd reached the end of his journey. When the children separated they lay down without a word, and he was astonished by his good luck. He traced the small scars that both gathered as untended cuts healed. He shifted them off his lap and covered them with his cloak. He picked up his staff and instrument and moved a short distance from them. He sat now with the staff across his knees and waited for the darkness to find them.
It arrived shortly before midnight, fire in its dark red eyes, it mocked the young man as he sat unmoving with his eyes closed.
Mei awoke to see not one but two men, one standing surrounded by shadow the other sitting and covered in light. They were the same of face and he realized why the shadow man looked so familiar. The other man is the one who cared for them when they'd fallen ill while with the fairies. He must be the only one they'd come across who did not fall ill after being with them. Mei knew this was their last chance to get away, for if this man failed there would be no more thoughts of escape. Kei had grown attached to their new keeper and would resist.
Mei searched frantically for some kind of weapon, but there were none to be found. He reached into the cloak and pulled out the dolls. Seeing the black string, he pulled on the newest snag and the dolls separated at last. Freed from their restraint they began to move freely. Mei dropped them and scooted away from them in fear. Kei, now awake, called to her brother. He looked back at the dolls and ran over to help her up. He whispered to her, trying to convince her that they should go now, before it was too late. She did not understand, why he would want to leave their only friend? She was doubly alarmed when the battle between the two men erupted without warning.
A mist rose around the abandon castle as monsters of all kinds were over running the town. The people left behind, those who refused to leave now tried to flee but the monsters trapped them there and set the town and surrounding villages on fire. Breaking into the castle, they searched to find the King who was not with his army.
The Shadow seeing the children were awake grew tired of waiting and attacked the other. Coming at him with a staff that was burned hot an unnatural light, he swung at the other. The seated man rolled out of the way, as he raised his walking staff to block the strike that would have caught him in the head. Each time the Shadow attacked the young man only defended, meeting each stroke with a counter stroke. This went on for quite a while the children watched in confusion. Kei thinking her shadowy protector in trouble begged Mei to become shadow; they must help their friend. Mei was torn, for he did not wish to become shadow anymore and knowing that if he did he may never be himself again. Still wanting to help his sister, he relented, as he felt he'd already put her through so much and they merged.
The young man looked at the daemon but did not run from it. It approached him with the obvious intent of striking him down. Seeing this the Shadow grinned, for he knew that none save the hero could resist its glowing stare. The young man still did not move and watched as the daemon raised a shadowy claw to strike him. He closed his eyes and sent his final prayer to the Goddesses and his last wish to the Fairy Queen.
Standing near the Master Sword the King listened to the voices of his fallen people. He lay his hands on the sword and began to pull their spirits toward him and focused them around the sword. It began to hum, and while it no longer sparkled as it should, the king knew that the time was almost here, the trap had been set and the key was in the lock, all he had to do was turn it.
As the daemon brought down its claw to strike him, it turned away at the last moment and struck the Shadow instead. The Shadow flew back and hit a nearby tree, his head smacked against the wood and he fell unconscious to the ground. An eerie light approached them from the sky, looking up the young man shielded his eyes. A loud roar, followed by a sheet of pure energy cut a swath down and around the Shadow man in a wide arc.
Still not believing his good fortune, the golden-eyed young man cautiously approached the wall. He stood next it and touched it lightly with his staff, it crackled with an unknown energy. The Daemon cried out and ran at the wall but was unable to pass through. The shadow awoke and neared the wall to test its strength. It cursed the young man and swore that when he and his shadow escaped no Hylian would survive.
The dolls unnoticed during the fight and free now from their bonds were caught with the Daemon on the shadow's side of the wall. They came to the child/daemon and each grasped a leg. They glowed and the Daemon began to walk awkwardly backwards. It stopped and ran clumsily at the wall of energy. When it hit, the Daemon stopped but the children flew from their daemon form to the other side and the Shadow screamed in disbelief and rage. He snarled as he looked through the walls of his crystal prison and shouted, "You can't stop me!"
Dalkin struggled to his feet and started to run to where his sister lay but he tripped over the now unmoving dolls. They saved them so he grabbed them and stuffed them into the man's cloak that was still lying on the ground nearby.
"You'll never destroy me!" the shadow screamed at his golden-eyed twin. The young man silent until now, smiled. "You misread my intent, brother. I never thought I could," he said quietly as he picked up Delia and wrapped his cloak around her. The little girl who had been Kei, slept peacefully and did not stir. "Hyrule will not die, nor will her people." The young man said as he turned from the shadow and walked away. "I only needed to slow you down."
The young man took Dalkin's hand, and the boy that had been Mei looked up at him in wonder, not believing his good fortune but he was still afraid to leave the clearing. Though he was himself again, Al could still feel a pull from the darkness and hesitated as he looked back at the shadow that raged behind the wall of energy.
"Don't worry Al," the young man said, "it will all work out in time." Al smiled, it was something he'd not done for a long time, so without a backward glance they left the Shadow and walked into the morning light.