Born a Weapon

A Twilight Princess Fan story

Chapter 6

Into the Twilight

"I guess having this place is really useful, huh?" Link said as Rusl held a wet cloth to the wound on Link's head. Rusl had taken Link to the spring outside Ordon Village to treat the wounds he received from a bokoblin while attempting to save Talo.

"I suppose so, though we were unsure if it would work before you showed up," Rusl responded as he waited patiently for the bleeding to stop on Link's head.

"I would think something like this would be common knowledge and used often. I mean, it's magical healing water. That sounds pretty important." Stated Link

"Perhaps, but no one in Ordon has ever suffered any great injuries, only small things, so we had no use for this place's healing abilities until recently," Rusl said

"I guess that makes sense. But why did you bother to bring all the bandages and stuff up here instead of just putting some of the water in a bottle and bringing it to where the equipment was? It would probably have been easier." Link asked

"While visiting the spring is allowed and even common for some, I do not believe anyone should ever remove the water from the spring. It is sacred, and to do so would likely be an insult to Ordona."

"Ordona?"

"Ordona is the light spirit that resides in this spring and has blessed these waters. The light spirits are the guardians of light."

"Guardians of light? What do you have to protect light from?"

"I do not believe it is meant in a literal sense, though I would not doubt it if I were told otherwise. I believe the "light" refers to the good in the world and kind people. The light spirits protect us from evil. I suppose everyone had thought Ordona such common knowledge that nobody remembered you are suffering from amnesia and bothered to explain Ordona to you. Forgive us. That was very insensitive," Rusl apologized.

"Insensitive?" Link began, "Everyone has been everything but insensitive to me. When I was hurt, you allowed me to rest in your sacred water to heal, and when I had nowhere to go, you offered to let me stay in your village as long as I need to find my home. Everyone has been incredibly kind, and there are no words that can express my thanks to you all. I don't know how I can make it up to everyone."

"You already have," Rusl informed Link as he began to wrap bandages around Link's head. "You risked your life to bring Talo back to us from the forest even though no one asked such a task of you, and you have demanded nothing in return."

"How could I ask for a reward? He was in danger, so I had to do something. I don't mind that I was hurt along the way. I am just glad I was there to help him. Besides, knowing a family has been reunited is more than enough of a reward for me."

Rusl smiled at Link's words as he finished tying off the bandages on Link's head. "You really are something special Link, very few people would have been willing to put themselves in that position and even less for free. I have finished with your head. You were also injured in the back, correct?"

"Yeah, that bokoblin got me pretty good."

"You had better let me tend to those wounds as well."

As Link pulled the back of his shirt over his head to allow the man to mend them, a question formed in his head. "Hey Rusl, you seem to know a lot about injuries."

"I am no healer," the man replied, "I simply know how to bandage wounds and nothing else. Luckily we have the spring's water to help more than just my skills."

"Do you know what hurt me when I stumbled in here?"

Rusl paused in his efforts to heal Link as he remembered what he had seen that day. Yes, Rusl was a trained swordsman, but he had never seen any actual combat, and therefore no serious injuries. He did not show it, but the sight of Link in a pool of his own blood covered in holes had nearly made him throw up, and he was sure everyone else felt the same way. "I believe they were caused by… weapons."

"Weapons?" Link asked as he turned to face the warrior.

"They certainly seemed like injured one could only acquire from armed opponents. In your case, you were either hurt by one merciless opponent or several from all sides."

Rusl's explanation had caused another concern in Link to arise. "If I was attacked, do you think whoever did it will come after me to finish me off? And if they do, would the village be at risk? Maybe I should leave before I put everyone in- "

"Link"

Rusl silenced the boy as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "There is no reason to assume what happened to you was anything more than a mugging. And even if it was something more, we will not sit idly by while someone tries to end your life."

Link shook his head, "but if someone comes after me and you try to help, they might just kill anyone in their way."

"If someone truly that dangerous were after you, don't you think you would already be dead?"

Link remained silent as he thought about the man's words. Link was definitely not a skilled fighter, so he likely wouldn't have been the target of anyone dangerous. "You're right. I guess I just had to consider the possibility. You've all been kind to me. I don't want anything bad to happen to anyone."

"Things will find a way to work out, you'll see. Now, it is very late. Let us finish up here so we can both get some rest." Rusl said as he resumed work on Link's injuries.

Once Link's bleeding had stopped and all his wounds were bandaged, Rusl gave Link a warning before allowing him to depart. "Now, the bleeding has stopped, but I'm not sure if the wound is fully healed, be careful not to injure yourself further."

"I will," Link said before departing after thanking Rusl for his help. When Link arrived at the ladder to his house, he climbed it slightly slower than last time to avoid putting strain on his injuries so soon after they were tended to. Once Link was inside the building, he immediately crashed onto his makeshift bed and quickly fell asleep.

Link panted with exhaustion.

There were so many.

They wouldn't stop coming.

Link quickly spun around to strike down one that had almost snuck up on him while he tried to catch his breath. As he continued to strike down enemy after enemy, his body began to fail him.

"Keep your blade up! Show no weakness!"

That same voice that always pestered Link rang out in the room, always demanding he do better. Link tried his best to heed the voice's advice, but he just couldn't take anymore. Before Link knew what happened, he was on the cold metal floor after a strike to his left side.

"End Training"

Link's senses left him, but he could hear footsteps approach him and stop a few feet from his head.

"Very Impressive Link, you are indeed promising. I have faith you may be the one."

Link shot up, drenched in sweat, and quickly looked around himself. He was in the treehouse in Ordon village. He took a moment to just breathe as he tried to contemplate what had happened.

Just a nightmare, Link thought, but why did it feel so real, so familiar?

Link pushed the dream out of his mind as he realized the sun was shining through the window on the third floor, platform, thing, into the building. Link tried his best to wipe the sweat off his face, but his clothes were soaked in the liquid. Link opened the door to the storehouse and descended the ladder to find Beth standing next to it.

"Link! Hello again!" the girl said.

"Hi, Beth." Link responded before looking around the area to see Colin standing in the middle of the clearing and Talo and Malo at the path to the spring, but someone was missing.

"Where's Epona?"

"You mean the horse?" Beth asked, "Ilia took her to the spring."

"She just took my horse without my permission?" Link asked as he looked to Beth.

"I guess," the girl replied.

Link gave a sigh as he headed to the path leading to the spring before Colin stopped him.

"Link?"

Link turned to look at the boy, signifying he had his attention.

"Are you going to see Ilia?"

"Yes, I need to have a talk with her."

"Maybe it's just me," Colin said as he turned his head to Talo and Malo, "but those guys don't normally let people through…" Colin returned his gaze to Link as he asked, "Um, Link, you think… You think we can go see Ilia together?"

"Ok, let's go," Link said as he headed over to the two boys blocking the path.

"Hey, Link!" Talo shouted when he spotted Link. "Yesterday was soooo much fun! Yeah, chasing after that monkey was great!"

Fun? Link thought I thought you were scared.

Before Link could ask why Talo had changed his attitude of his endeavor into the woods, he spoke again, "I was just telling Malo about how we wanted to show it to him, but we let it go instead!"

"Oh, YOU didn't get caught, Talo?" Malo sarcastically mumbled, "and you WEREN'T scared?"

Ah, so that's why Talo said it was fun, he was lying about what really happened, but Malo didn't seem fooled at all.

"Oh! Colin!" Talo's eyes landed on the young boy next to Link, who shuffled his feet nervously. "Way to spoil everything by telling your dad. Nice job."

"Yeah, thanks a lot! We got scolding by our dad something awful. I thought it was never gonna end…"

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

"All right, I'm going to interrupt your verbal bombardment to ask, what if he didn't tell his dad, and I either wasn't there to help, or I failed," Link asked.

"Link!" Talo cried out before placing a hand to his mouth to try to block Malo from hearing and whispering, "Malo's right there!"

"And? Do you really think I believe your story? It's obvious you were captured, and Link saved you."

"Ok, back to my point." Link interjected, "If I couldn't save you, and Colin didn't tell anyone what happened, who would come to help you?"

Talo fumbled for an answer for a few minutes before blurting out, "but you did come! So that doesn't matter! And I'm not letting Colin pass!"

Link shifted as he held his palm to his face and sighed, allowing Talo to see the wooden object on his back.

"Oh, hey, neat! Link! Lemme borrow that wooden sword! If I'd had that wooden sword yesterday, I could've handled it all alone, definitely!"

Link hadn't even realized it, but he still had the wooden sword on his back, held by the same strap that held his half sleeve on his left arm. The thought then occurred to Link that he slept with the thing digging into his back and didn't even notice.

"C'mon! Let me borrow that wooden sword right now!"

Link could just barge through them with Colin or just pass through on his own, but he'd rather not leave Colin behind or barge through children. Maybe if he gave them the wooden sword, it would distract them and allow Colin to slip past.

What the hell, it's just a big stick anyway, Link thought as he removed the object from his back and handed it to Talo.

"Whoa!" Talo exclaimed as he examined the blunt weapon in his hands. "YESSS! With this thing… I'll show 'em!"

Link was slightly worried Talo would go charging into the woods and try to attack a bokoblin or deku baba, but he ran over to the scarecrow near Beth with Malo in tow and began swinging the large stick at the dummy.

"Link." Colin brought Link's attention back to him with his name, "thanks… Those guys are always teasing me…" Colin directed his gaze to the other children playing with the object by the scarecrow. "What's so fun about swinging something like that around, anyway? I hate it… it's scary… But thanks for helping me get through that, Link" Colin then turned and headed on the path to the spring. Link took one more glance at the children as Talo swung the wooden weapon with all his might and stumbled to the right before regaining his balance, then followed Colin to the spring.

When he entered the placed Rusl informed him was blessed by a light spirit, he saw Ilia talking to Colin next to Epona. The girl looked up to see Link walking towards him, looking annoyed.

"Link-" she began but was cut off before she could say anything more,

"Ilia, you can't just take Epona while I'm sleeping. That's very illegal."

"I was just making sure her injury was healed. I brought her here because of the water's special power."

Link placed his hand on his horse's neck as he shook his head. "Look, I appreciate that you care enough to do this for her, but you can't just take her without asking. She's all I have left of whatever life I led before I came here."

"I know," Ilia said as she hung her head.

Link noticed how much he brought down the girl's spirits. Link knew he was completely justified in his reaction, but still didn't want to see her upset. "Well," he said, causing Ilia to raise her head, "Now that that's out of the way, thank you for healing Epona."

Ilia was slightly confused at his statement but couldn't stop a smile from spreading on her face when she laid eyes on Link's own contagious smile.

Link and Epona's heads quickly turned towards the spring's entrance as they heard approaching hoofbeats before Ilia or Colin did.

"What is i-"

"Back away from the entrance!" Link demanded. Colin and Epona quickly ran to the back of the spring.

"Where's that coming from?" Ilia asked, as she didn't move away as Link instructed. Before Link could yell at her to listen, a giant boar came rounding the corner ridden by two troll creatures with masks covering their faces aside from their red eyes. Link somehow knew the things were called bulbins, but he was more concerned about the bow one of them was holding than their names.

Link quickly pushed Ilia out of the creature's way and rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding being run over. He looked up to see an arrow strike Ilia in the back and her collapse to the ground. Link was relieved when he noticed the water was mending the arrow wound, but was quickly sent to the floor by a strike to the back of his head, in the same spot the bokoblin hit him the day before.

Link landed on his back, stunned, and felt the water wash over his head, and more hoof beats and Colin scream. Soon all was silent aside from two splashes as the attackers dismounted their ride. The two green-skinned creatures grabbed Ilia and Colin as a second boar rode in with a large, armored green troll riding atop it. The boar was standing only inches from Link, putting him almost directly underneath it, preventing the sizeable green being from seeing him. He glanced around the spring before mumbling to himself.

"He's not here."

The creature atop the boar then held a horn to his lips and blew into it, releasing a loud sound. Above the spring, a mass of black squares flickered before eventually forming a large formation with a spiraling red hole in it and red lines scattered about in a deliberate pattern.

"Take those two back through the forest," the green beast demanded before turning his boar and riding back towards the location he just mentioned with his two lackeys in tow.

Link slowly opened his eyes as his senses returned to him and saw the strange black formation in the sky.

"What the heck was that?" Link asked no one as he held his hand to his throbbing head. He quickly shot to his feet as he remembered what he had heard while lying on the ground.

"Take those two back through the forest,"

The hit he received should have knocked him out, but the spring water had kept him conscious and mended his injury, allowing him to overhear the words spoken by the creature. Link quickly looked around to confirm he was the only one in the spring and saw nobody. He quickly took off toward the forest, hoping to catch the beasts that kidnapped Ilia and Colin.

As Link crossed the bridge leading to the forest, he noticed the sky was turning orange around him. In the time it took Link to cross the bridge, the sun had gone from high in the sky to twilight. Link would have thought about how strange the sudden shift in the sun's position was, but he was focused on what was before him as he skidded to a stop.

Right before Link was a giant black wall that stretched as high as Link could see. Where the wall touched the ground and rock was a line of glowing gold, and right in front of Link on the wall was several a strange design etched in glowing gold.

"What the heck is that?!" Link asked as he examined the mysterious wall.

Before Link could back away, a large black hand shot out from the wall and closed around Link's chest and neck. Link let out a scream as the hand pulled him through the strange wall into what lay beyond.

Link was lifted to a strange design on what seemed to be a slab of stone. Link quickly realized that this was actually the face of some large, pitch-black creature, with strange red markings on its chest and back.

Link struggled to free himself from the thing's grasp as a strange glow began to shine from his left hand. The creature let out a cry and tossed Link away from him. Link screamed before his face met dirt, and he lay there for a second. The world around Link seemed to be the woods he had seen before, but it seemed to be bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun despite it being the middle of the day a few minutes ago, and small black squares floated up from the ground into the sky every few seconds. Link tried to stand, but the world seemed to flash red as pain shot through his body, and his heart pounded in his ears, preventing him from doing any more than getting to his hands and knees. He looked over to his left hand to see why it felt like it was on fire and saw three triangles coming together to make one larger one, but the one in the bottom right was glowing brightly while the others seemed to be a faint glow. Link tried to get to his feet again but was unsuccessful. As the pain shooting through Link's body intensified, he saw in the distance a small black and white creature with markings that seemed to resemble those on the strange mess of black squares above the spring, but rather than red, the marking on the creature were blue. On its head was a strange helmet that was covering the being's left eye. Its visible red right eye widened upon realizing Link spotted it.

For some reason, Link was able to identify the creature as an imp, but before Link could wonder who it was or why they were watching him, the pain in his body quadrupled as he felt like his body was being pulled apart and rearranged. His scream changed into a howl as he felt his bones snap and rearrange, his blood vessels twist themselves into new positions and his body being enveloped in fur. Once the shifting in his body stopped he collapsed to the ground, and his consciousness left him.

The strange black creature dragged the boy turned wolf away as the imp smiled from the hidden vantage point.