[ZGen] [Act, Rom, Hor] LoZ: The Lost Sages (M)

Chapter One – The Storm

-Hyrule Castle-

The sun and skies that the gods created were buried in an ominous, cascading thicket of rainclouds. The underside was deep gray with careless splatters of light gray here and there. The dark blanket smothered Hyrule as far as the two blue eyes who gazed out to the field could see. But the clouds had more to offer than their presence alone…

Thunder blasted deep from within the clouds. Every three or four seconds, bouts of lightning would burst forth from the electrically charged storm. The bolts were thick, violet rays that spanned across the sky horizontally in segments that crackled and cried out to the civilians.

The lightning and thunder were unstoppable. This occurrence had been persistent since the morning time. It was now noon. The sun should have greeted Hyrule Castletown. It should have wrapped its warm rays around the paved streets, fruit stands and curious little children. But such was null, and Hyrule suffered the wrath of fate’s design.

The blue eyes were wide and alert as the mirrored images of lightning shone within them. They focused in on the clouds; they moved slowly…much too slowly for a storm such as this. There was no wind at all, which confused and astounded the owner of the blue eyes. Never had she witnessed such an event in her twenty one years of life.

Just as she thought this, a fierce gale burst forth, booming into her ears and immediately making them ache. The chestnut hood draped over her head was blown off, carrying her with it. Her frail voice cried out to no one in particular. The gale shoved her back angrily. Her dainty hands flailed. Her feet, covered only in light sandals meant for the warm days, tripped over one another. She lost her balance. Before she could plummet onto the concrete of the castle walls, a guard quickly ran to her aid and caught her in his gauntlet-covered arms.

For a moment, all air had been vanquished from her lungs. By the time she caught her breath and was helped back up to her feet by the generous guard, she noticed a small droplet of water fall from the end of her braid on the left of her, dangling past her cheek. The droplet of water fell silently to the ground…only to be joined by the splashing of the massive drops that suddenly and unexpectedly fell from the skies. The concrete instantly became drenched, as did her golden hair and deep, brown cloak.

Her eyes widened as she turned her pale face back toward the heavens. These…were not the heavens she knew. They were dark, dank, threatening and vicious. The gales and screeching rains, along with more crisp lighting and deafening thunder, replaced the silence from before. Now, the clouds began to move very quickly, as though some sort of indefinite mechanism were cranking the clouds faster and faster, the hands of someone evil grasping the crank.

A light gasp came from the back of her throat in fear. Her face froze. Time seemed to stop for Princess Zelda. Something was happening…and she had a good idea of what that something was. Storms like this were not conjured by the gods…they were conjured by something malevolent and evil; they were conjured by sorcerers, by the most contemptuous and powerful beings…usually, not of this world.


-Ordon Village-

Rusl finally got the fire going. He had traveled to the forest and hauled in wood as soon as the lightning could be seen in the distance at nearly seven in the morning. Rusl was not prepared, and hesitated not to pull the axe off of the wall, borrow Epona from Ilia and lead her into South Faron Woods.

To his disadvantage, he got caught up talking to Mayor Bo, leaving his stack of wood, along with Epona, outdoors. Rusl and Bo watched out the window of Bo’s massive house for the rain. A sip of tea here, a sentence there, and the rain had practically caused a flood before either of them knew it was present. Rusl scurried out the door and went straight for the wood…until he noticed Epona grazing on the lawn of his house by the stream amongst the frogs and crickets that inhabited it.

Abandoning the stack of wood and soaking his layered, earth-toned clothing, Rusl made way for Epona and led her toward Fado’s place as quickly as his legs could carry him. By the time Fado had assisted him, a very angry Ilia, standing beneath the roof of the barn with a dusty-colored rain cloak over her head, had plenty to say to Rusl about leaving Epona out in the rain.

Averting the subject away from Ilia’s lecture regarding her precious horse, Rusl inquired the whereabouts of the ranch hand and his dear friend, Link. Ilia pointed across Fado’s field into a mass of frantic Ordonian goats and pouring rain.

Link struggled to pin the goats as best he could while roping two at a time. It was as though the storm had converted itself into strength, which the goats possessed. They ruthlessly yanked Link in every direction until they broke free from the ropes. Since Rusl had taken Epona earlier that day, Link was left to fend for himself. Rusl asked Ilia to lend Epona to Link to aid his struggle, but Ilia simply refused; there was no possibility of feeding the risk that Epona may fall ill in such weather. Ilia’s passion toward Epona frustrated Rusl at times; he was fond of the blossoming, young heiress to Ordon, but only wished that he possessed Epona so that he could make more wise decisions.

Faint cursing could be heard from Link’s standpoint. The warrior, the ranch owner, and the young lady were shocked to hear anything come from such distance. They practically had to yell to hear one another; the rain beating on the wooden roof, the lightning, thunder and harsh winds were far too loud to speak normally over.

The three of them, standing beneath the stable’s shelter, watched as the man clad in blue and off-white ran through the mud puddles and mounds of wet grass. His breathing was loud, as his wet clothing held him back. Alas, he reached the stables, soaking and out of breath. Ilia began to remove her cloak to offer to Link, but he held his hand up in protest and shook his head. A humble man, Ilia knew that Link would never accept the gesture.

An amplified bolt of lightning cracked in the sky. The horizontal bolt could be seen for only a split second. It was followed by a light that ignited every last cloud. Rusl, Fado, Ilia and Link watched the sky for a good five seconds. It was as though they had been staring into broad daylight. This phenomenon was both frightening and beautiful, fear-provoking and stunning.

Rusl’s deep, gray-blue eyes, lined with navy, met the faces of the remaining three. Link had placed a friendly hand upon Ilia’s shoulder to console her. Ilia’s eyes were wide and her mouth agape. The flashing in the sky reflected off of her pale cheeks. The lightning could also be seen within Link’s eyes. They were fixated upon what lied above, while his lips remained in a thin line. His wet bangs flapped against the side of his face in the breeze.

Fado, standing behind Ilia and Link, clutched the wooden fencing of the stables with his right hand. He hovered over the rest of them, standing nearly six feet and three inches. He was clad in a sleeveless shirt, and did not seem to be phased by the cruel conditions. The flashing finally returned to normal bouts of lightning every few seconds. Fado shook his head.

“I’m gonna have to leave the stables open for’em. There ain’t no way we’re gonna be able to wragle ‘em all up like this. It’s far too dangerous to let Epona do all the work. I’ll keep her tied up here in the stables tonight.”

Ilia whipped around suddenly, utterly horror-stricken. Turning her attention to Fado, she exclaimed, “I…I’ll stay with her then!”

Fado shook his head. “Aw, no, Little Lady. This ain’t no place for you to be right now.”

“I’ll come visit later then!” she peeped, a large, false grin spreading across her face. She tried her best to look hopeful, but Rusl could tell that Ilia knew what Fado’s consensus would be.

“Ah, look, Ilia…” began Fado. A strong anxiousness and sympathy was excreted with his words. He was, however, interrupted by Link.

Link leaned down so that his lips were leveled to Ilia’s ear. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, consoling her. Link understood how much Epona meant to Ilia. After all, she’d owned Epona ever since she was a little foal. Ilia had been a child herself when Epona was given to her by her father. Even though the mayor had allowed Link to become Epona’s master, Ilia was still the horse’s true owner at heart.

“Epona will be fine,” explained Link. His voice was very endearing. He spoke smoothly in order to calm the frantic girl. “Fado will take care of her up here while you stay at home with your father. I think that that’s where you need to be right now, okay?”

Ilia began to choke down her tears. The rims of her eyes began to water as she looked up toward Link, then Fado, in order to ensure her horse’s safety, exactly how Link had described it to be. The hopefulness and apprehension could be seen in her dewy, mint, green eyes.

Immediately, in order to please the lass, Fado nodded. “I’ll take real good care of the old girl.”

Rusl watched as Ilia’s upturned head focused back on Link and his eyes. Beads of rain dripped from the hair plastered to his forehead and cheeks, down his face. The droplets collected at the base of his chin before falling onto the scattered bits of hay below his feet. His head was cocked to the side, arm still wrapped securely around the young woman.

“Promise?” whispered Ilia, so softly that the rain nearly blotted her voice out. While Link could hear her slightly, Rusl found it necessary to read her lips to understand her words. “Do you promise that my horse will be alright, here?”

Link’s lips twitched and formed into a humble, upturned smile. “I promise.”

“I don’t want her to run away,” clarified Ilia. “Something like this had already happened before…I don’t want such a thing to happen again. A part of this village has already been lost.”

The group fell unusually silent. All eyes met Rusl. He had turned his head downward. His weary eyes stared blankly at the floor of the stables. All words were lost, not that he had felt the urge or the obligation to speak on such a matter. He did not bother to watch as Link escorted Ilia out of the stables and back toward the village. The younger two of the group left Rusl to stand alone with Fado.

At first, Fado did not speak. He simply stared. When he felt his staring was too much, he turned his head to the goats. The brainless animals scurried to and fro, pacing upon every last inch of the pasture while somehow, not understanding how to reach the stables where they would be safe. The rain soaked into their blue coats as their hooves trotted across the grass.

Fado looked back to Rusl. Rusl fidgeted with the rusty lock on the goat pin in which he stood next to. He unlocked it, and locked it again, repeating the process until Fado decided to speak.

“I don’t think she meant any harm…” vindicated Fado, his voice wavering unsurely. Since the incident with Rusl had happened, his reactions were fickle. The last thing Fado wanted to do was provoke him, especially in such weather when misery shrouded all of the villagers.

Rusl had grown to resemble the sea: He possessed the same traits, some falling deeper into the waters than before, harder to salvage, and what bigger and rare catches they were. Sometimes, he was calm and silent. Sometimes, he would beach things onto the shore for all to see. But by the time people would make way for the shoreline, all that Rusl imparted would be sucked back in before anyone could inquire upon them. And then there were storms, similar to the one that raged above Hyrule; unfamiliar, savage and unpleasant for its witnesses.

On a whim, Rusl brought his head up to face Fado directly. He smiled generously…falsely. “I’m sure she meant nothing of it…the girl obviously just cares for her horse.”

Fado and Rusl had said their goodbyes. Finally, Rusl had gotten an ember to spark and ignite the fireplace. The orange flames danced in the fireplace, crackling, consuming all that was offered. Some of the wood leaked onto the wooden floorboards of the house. Since Rusl had joined Fado and the others at the stables, the firewood that he had collected earlier had drunk up all the rain that crossed it.

A creak came from the floorboards just behind Rusl. On his knees, he craned his neck around to stare at the beautiful woman in the lacey, pink gown. Her hair was the color of honey, and dripped from her head and onto her shoulders. Her eyes were like an oak tree: deep in color, rich, so superb to see amongst other trees. Her body was tall, broad with curves, but remained slender and petite.

Her cleavage modestly showed through the lace atop her gown. Rusl then averted his eyes to her lips. Her top lip was very thin and arch-like, while the bottom remained plump and luscious. There was no need for her to paint them; they were pink, like a primrose blooming in early spring. Her cheeks were slightly flushed, probably because of the fire.

She folded her arms across her chest and put the majority of her weight onto one leg, tapping her foot. She arched a brow and shot Rusl a cunning half-smile. “And just what do you think you’re doing?” she asked. Her voice was very sweet and eloquent, with the tiniest, slightest accent coming deep within her Sheikah roots…of course, only Rusl knew that she was a third of this particular heritage.

Rusl shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Uli” he declared innocently.

She shook her head and released a long sigh. Striding over to the stack of wood, she knelt down between the logs and her husband. “This.” She pointed to the water upon the floor, index finger barely brushing up against the wetness. “Do you see this, Dear?”

“Yeah,” he smiled, knowing that a petty lecture was going to be sent his way. Of course, he didn’t mind. These things were always resolved as soon as he could reach for the strap on her nightgown.

“Rusl,” she complained, putting a slight accent on the ‘R’ and extending the ‘U.’ “The floor is going to mold. Next time, put a towel down, okay?”

She beamed at him. Her eyes were brighter than the flames in the wood stove. They were brighter than the lightning ravaging the clouds. She leaned in slowly. Rusl, still on his knees, reached his hands out even more slowly than his wife moved. Her motion was more unhurried than the clouds before the gales and rains had come. Her soft, succulent skin brushed against Rusl’s hands sensually. Her eyes began to close…and he closed his as well.

Just as he closed his eyes, he reached his hands out to consume her body and console her; to press himself against her and indulge himself in such bliss; to forget all else in the world and devote himself to this single entity. He sucked away her passion and love and took it for himself so that he could drape her emotions around his soul and submit himself entirely to her. She was his world, his life…his reason to love.

His hands struck the wooden floor brutally, into the puddle of rainwater from the wood stack. He opened his eyes and stared up toward his wife. He was alone; she was no longer there. Just as quickly as the rain had come, she was gone.

All that was left of Uli’s presence hung crookedly from a nail in the wall. Fawn was gone. She would have been just over the age of three by now. As Rusl stared at the photograph, he felt such pain that he could not breath. He let the throbbing in his chest consume him, as he was now left alone with his only son, Colin, without a daughter, without a mother of two…and wife.


-Telma’s Bar-

“How’s Colin been acting?” asked Ashei. Her hand grasped the handle of the mug. The foam from the beer topped the rim, little trickles rolling slowly down the sides. Her deep voice was calm, relaxed, even a little lazy.

“Fine,” answered the woman across from her. She smiled. Her lips were thick and lush, dusty rose in color. Her nose was upturned, not snobbishly, but delicately. This woman’s eyes were her most intricate facial feature, as they resembled a lightning storm at sea; calm with mixed tones of blue and green, ravaged by bouts of yellow bolts. They were nearly as bright as the lightning of the storm outside.

This woman wore a black, turtleneck sweater, which highlighted her ghostly pale skin. Her pointy ears twitched now and again. They were pierced four times on each side…and a fifth on her left side, counting her cartilage. Little, silver hoops dangled from them, and rattled with her movement.

She drank not alcohol, but steaming hot chocolate, one of Telma’s less-popular, but equally as delicious specialties amongst the patrons. The cool, whipped cream tickled Siren’s pierced tongue as she brought it to the tip. A bit of frothy whiteness remained on her tongue as she pulled the cup away. She closed her lips and suckled on the sweet taste. “Mm…”

Shad pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, as they constantly fell forward. He chuckled wholeheartedly. “Gods forbid you should ever enter the Goron Mines!” he exclaimed.

Siren tilted her head. Her brunette and blond streaked bangs bounced. The rest of her hair was held back in a large clip. She quirked a full but nicely cropped brow at the accuser and upturned the corner of her lip. “Why’s that?” she asked.

“Well,” explained Shad through a series of hand gestures and upward inflections, “the Mines are riddled with magnetically charged platforms. With all of that metal in your body, you’d be sucked right up onto one of those platforms! You’d never be able to get down, let alone see the light of day again!”

Ashei and Auru got a good chuckle out of this. It was unusual for Shad’s humor to be in their taste. While they appreciated him and adored his company and knowledge, his humor what somewhat…offset most of the time. On the contrary, there were moments, such as this, when she shined.

“Not if the heat got to her first,” added Ashei jokingly. “Ain’t no Sheikah ever supposed to visit them mines!”

Siren turned her head toward the table and covered up a smile with her dainty hand. Her eyes squeezed shut, and she tried her best not to laugh loudly. She truly enjoyed being part of the Resistance ever since she came into Colin’s life as his personal teacher. She left the swordplay up to Link. Siren trained Colin in the basics that a warrior should know: politics, economics, geography, dungeon and weapon basics, etc. Rusl had been happy to know Colin wanted to learn the ways of the sword as he grew older, and immediately hired Siren, friend of the Royal Family. Rusl himself suggested Siren meet the others at the bar. She fit right in.

“Where is the old dog?” asked Auru in his deep, soothing voice.

Siren expelled a long, drawn-out sigh. She looked up to the wall. There was a picture of Rusl tacked to it, along with the other members and friends of the Resistance. He smiled in the picture. The picture was taken before everything happened with the family, and before Siren entered his life. It was a happy picture.

Whenever she studied that particular picture, her eyes filled with sadness. Ashei, being half a Sheikah herself, could sense this in Siren easily. Of course, she had caught her best friend staring at this picture on many occasions, and learned to just leave Siren to feel on her own. Ashei waited for Siren to break from her trance, patiently and quietly.

Siren’s eyes snapped back toward Auru. “I don’t know. Most likely hiding away from the storm. I didn’t teach Colin today, so he’s probably in Ordon, tending to everyone’s home but his own.”

“That’s so Rusl,” smiled Ashei.

“And Link?” asked Shad.

“I haven’t heard from him either,” explained Siren. “Last I heard, he went to deliver something to Kakariko. But I didn’t see him there. Of course, I haven’t been home in Kakariko for days. I’ve been staying in Ordon to train-


-Ordon Village-

“Colin,” sighed Link, his head in his hands. His hair was still soaked from the rain; he hadn’t bothered to dry himself off. Right now, he had priorities to deal with. The locks of dark, blond hair were plastered to his pale cheeks. He stood in front of the thirteen year old with no shirt, revealing his lean, muscular figure. His pants were clean, at least, but were a hideous brown. They were the only pants that he had not left on the line to dry the day before.

Colin sat Indian-style on the floor, right in the middle of Link’s large, earth-toned spiral rug. His face was cross, and although he was a young adult, he pouted. His lower lip pursed forward and his arms were behind him, straight up, supporting his body weight. Much conceit and sadness swirled about, composing two violet eyes.

Link’s eyes narrowed and his brows arched a bit sternly. “You’re going to have to go home soon.”

“Why?” asked Colin, knowing the answer before hand.

And Link knew that Colin knew. “You know exactly why.”

Colin groaned and lied upon Link’s carpet. His back ached slightly from running away earlier. He ran and ran into Faron Woods, fought a couple of Deku plants with his sword and headed back only when it began to rain. Link offered what little clothing he had, forcing himself into brown pants. Now, Colin was comfortable, in dry clothing. But he still felt heavy from the long trek.

“Look,” muttered Colin, half-angrily and half-lazily. “My dad already knows I’m here; I’m pretty sure he’s figured out this is where I go. He hasn’t found me anywhere else all forty-six times I’ve ran away before. In fact-“ he sat back up to face Link “-the last three times, he didn’t even come to get me. He let me go home, remember?”

Link folded his arms across his chest and glared at Colin. “Yes…Colin. I remember.”

“So let me stay!” demanded Colin, plopping his body back down against Link’s rug. “If Dad were as worried as you made him out to be, I’d go home and fake an apology just to make him feel better. It’s not like I don’t care about him. He’s my dad. We just don’t…see eye to eye.”

“No kidding,” whispered Link under his breath, so quietly that Colin could not hear his words.

Pulling all his weight over to the right, Colin rolled over onto his side turning his head toward Link’s door. He groaned as he did this, back, neck and head all aching from his pervious journey. He blinked his eyes. Strands of champagne blond hair fell into his heart-shaped face. The cleft in his chin accented his face, along with his high cheek-bones and slightly pointed ears.

“Just let me stay for a while…” spoke Colin a little more softly. “I promise I’ll go home by tomorrow morning if Dad doesn’t come over to get me. Besides, I don’t feel good.”

Link rolled his eyes. “Well, you were running around in the rain. I’ll go get you a blanket.” He shifted his body and began walking toward his basement where all extra items including bedding was kept. Link was used to this happening ever since the incident; Colin came over constantly, staying the night, hiding away from Rusl.

Rusl was strictly paternal in nature. There was no counterbalance in his life for a long while. This was crucial to Colin’s development as a teenager and young adult. Link understood that Rusl felt hopeless in raising his son at times. After all, he was a single parent.

Ordon was a very conservative place. It was tradition to have a family and home. Rusl was once one of the most respected people in the village. He no longer held that title. The others showed little or no sympathy for Rusl, and their expectations lowered and lowered with each one of Colin’s faults, intentional or not. They all looked at Colin and chose to see Rusl’s reflection instead of the lost little boy that had grown up partially without a mother. Had Colin not chose to become a warrior like Link and his father, the villagers most likely would not have had anything to do with him. It seemed as though Mayor Bo, being a single parent himself, and Fado, were the only others aside from Link who showed support.

Link did what he could to help them get by. Though he did not fully understand what it was like to be raised by a single parent, or be a single parent himself, he attempted wholeheartedly to assist Rusl and Colin. After all, the two were the closest things to family Link had ever had. It was as though Rusl were his older brother, and Colin his younger. He learned from Rusl, and taught to Colin. That’s how it always had been.

It was times like this when Link wished Siren to be present. Her maternal, nurturing and rational demeanor often times brought peace between the father and son…and to Link. He simply sighed and climbed down the ladder in his basemen into the darkness. He held his hands out in front of himself to navigate. When his hand brushed against the kerosene lamp hanging on the wall, he knew his position. He took down the lamp, found the right ingredients for light upon the shelves, and got the lamp going easily.

He pulled the blanket off the shelf, along with a pillow, blew out the lamp and headed up the ladder toward Colin. But…there was no Colin.

The room was dead silent. Link stood in the center of the room. There was not a sound. No lightning. No thunder. No rain. No voice from Colin’s throat. Nothing. All of the possessions in the room were still. Even the walls no longer creaked from the storm. This silence was the type of silence that made Link’s ears ache. He shook his head and closed his eyes. Opening them, he found nothing to have changed. Had he fallen and hit his head in the basement? Or was this real?

Slowly, he bent down and released the bedding onto the rug. He rose back up, postured correctly. Perhaps Colin had came to his senses and left. Had he done so, Link would surely see him leaving the premises. Link motioned cautiously toward the door, expecting to see gray skies, maybe even little trinklets of rain. He reached for the old, wooden handle and pulled the door open slowly. It groaned in protest.

He craned his neck to see out of the door. As he moved densely and carefully toward his front porch…the door slammed open suddenly. The edge of the door smashed against Link’s face, sending him flying right back into the room. His body hit the floor, a quick jolt of pain being sent up his spine. His nose ached. Bringing both of his bare hands up to touch his nose, he was relieved to feel that it was not broken. However, his hands instantaneously became stained with blood.

What had just happened? Link’s mind had no time to process this. The only thoughts he had were: this hurts, there must be an explanation. He looked from his bloody hands back up toward the door. As he did so, the large, kerosene lantern dangling from the ceiling began to rattle. Link watched it briefly, until something else caught his eyes:

Outside of the door, a black, spiraling entity zoomed through the air, making way for Link’s home. As it grew closer by the millisecond, Link’s eyes widened with fear and uncertainty. It moved so fast that Link knew instinctively he would have no time at all to run away. He did the best he could, and brought his naked arm up to shield his face.

A huge, ferocious gale pounded into the room, not only blowing out the lantern, but knocking it clear off its rope and into the wall. Link heard it shatter, chunks of metal clanking against the floorboards. The blackness entered with the gale and submerged the room instantly. By the time Link opened his eyes and the noise had again settled into nothingness, Link found that he could not see.

Everything was black…blacker than black. Though Link’s eyes twitched back and forth, he saw nothing. Had he gone blind? He brought his hands up to his face. He could touch himself and feel his own two hands…but could not catch even the slightest glimpse of them.

He began to panic. This was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. Everything was so new and scary to him. He wondered if he had lost all senses other than feeling. Testing it out, he opened his mouth and yelled, “Hello!” His voice rang back into his ears without an echo. So, he had not lost his senses.

Quickly, he attempted to scurry to his feet. When he felt as though her were standing, he turned around to see if it were possible to discover any clues leading up to this strange occurrence. As he whipped around, vertigo set in without delay. He stumbled and lost his balance. However, when he fell, he did not feel pain. It felt as though he were still standing, maybe sideways, or upside down. It may have even been straight. Link couldn’t figure it out. He did not know that dizziness could be felt in blackness.

And then, a small light appeared, and with it, a figure. Link found himself standing straight up, a relief. But this figured carried danger with it. Instinctively, Link reached for his sword. He grasped the hilt and unsheathed the Master Sword’s blade. Holding it in front of him, his attention was drawn away from the unknown figure and to his blade…the blade that he was not equipped with previously.

He looked down toward his chest: chainmail. Green tunic. Belt. All there. His mouth hung slightly agape in awe and shock. He could hear footsteps, now. Clutching his blade, he turned upward toward the creature moving his way. It paced slowly and nonchalantly, as though it had all the time in the world to spend walking and keeping Link’s mental questions unanswered.

Link soon found it to be female, judging by its walk. Her hips popped back and forth. She was not tall, not short. While she had a normal figure, things protruded from it. Spines, all up and down her arms. They were also upon her shoulders, tall and brown, sticking out sharply at odd angles. Link assumed this to be armor, but began to question his logic very quickly. Two long feelers, resembling those of an insect, jutted forth from her back. Upon the tips of the feelers were long stingers.

Her skin was black, nearly as black as the atmosphere had been seconds ago. Her tight shirt and skirt were also black, but her skin was so defined and dark that her clothing looked gray. She placed one high-heel in front of the other. Her hips…Link could not take his eyes off them. This is because they were bound in metal plates…red, metal plates.

The way she walked, her pitch black body, her red plating…all Link saw coming was a big, nasty black widow.

She smiled wickedly. She had two, large fangs. They were ivory, stained with red that had been there so long it appeared to be brown; crusted, rotten and dried up on her teeth from previous….engagements. Her eyes pierced through Link’s. They were sickeningly yellow. Old yellow. Flakey yellow. Evil yellow.

Alas, she stopped, leaning upon one leg, a hand resting femininely upon her waist…right on top of the metal, widow’s marking. Link felt a dangerous, sinking feeling in his chest. The feeling worked its way up his spine and back down the rest of his body, all the way to his toes. It was uncomfortably tingly. His fingers twitched upon his blade. He was ready to go in for the kill.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Link,” she said. “I’ve heard so much about you!” Her voice was not at all as Link expected it to be. He presumed it to be as frightening as her looks. Her voice was, on the contrary, very womanly and soft…not that it lacked any sort of manipulative tone. She giggled. Her voice was very seductive when she did this. Had Link not seen this woman beforehand, he would have guessed her to be as cute as a button.

His lips quivered in fear. “H-how…how do you kn-know about me? What is all this?” He choked upon his words unintentionally. Trying to carry himself well, he failed.

The woman made vague hand gestures as she spoke, and tilted her head from side to side. “I’m sure you have a lot of questions, don’t you? It’s alright, I’ll explain. My name is Arachna.” Link thought this name to be more than suitable. “I hail from the Twilight Realm. I’m sure you’re familiar to its whereabouts?”

Link’s eyes narrowed. “Yes…” He clenched his teeth. From his hairline, he began to sweat feebly.

“Very good,” she giggled again before continuing. “My master told me all about you, Link. He told me of your heroic deeds, and that you serve your country of Hyrule. In fact, he told me…that you’re so brave, you serve the entire world of Light! And a little birdy also told me that you even helped saved the Twilight Realm.”

A lump formed in his throat. This ‘birdy’ she spoke of. Could it be…? “Who…is this you speak of? Who told you about me and the Twilight Realm?

“The Twilight Princess!” exclaimed Arachna. “Princess Midna!”

“Midna!” cried out Link suddenly. His felt his heart beating, pounding against his ribcage, wanting to break free. “Midna, where is she? You did something with her! What did you do?” His speaking became very quick and loud.

Arachna chuckled and shook her head. “Oh, no!” she defended herself. “I’ve nothing to do with Midna. I just overheard these things. I’ve never laid a hand on the poor woman, not once. I promise you that, Link.”

She cocked her head to the side, a faint light illuminating the area between the two of them. It was like embers beneath the ground, a very thin, see-through ground. Her thin lips turned upward even further as she beamed at Link. She did not speak, causing Link to feel threatened…like she was holding back on purpose.

“Your master,” approached Link. “Who is he?”

“Oh, Link,” she sighed. “Now, I know you aren’t a stupid boy. You’ve been through this all before. You know the answer to that question.”

Link’s head felt light and heavy at the same time. His vision faded, and his eyes stared off into space as though his body were forcing him to leave this realm and hide away in his own shell of a mind. His hands shook and trembled rapidly. Every last inch of his insides melted into liquid, as though he had drank hot candle wax; it dripped down, and then hardened into stone. It made his throat dry and sore.

“What’s wrong? You can say it,” beckoned the spider woman. Link lacked response, like an empty corpse. She sighed again, a little impatiently. “Must I do everything for you? Fine, I’ll say it. His…name…is…”

“Stop.”

She quirked a brow. She sucked in her lower lip, fangs biting down on it as though she were playing ‘innocent’ with Link. She smiled and brought both her hands up to place across her chest. Arachna fluttered her long, dark, clumpy eyelashes. “You asked, though,” she spoke alas. “It’s just a name, and that name is-“

“Stop!” snarled Link. His nose became ridged with wrinkles, scrunched up by anger. His shaking hands evolved into shaking fists. His neck craned forward as if he would charge her. A very small, almost unheard growling came from the very pit of Link’s insides and held itself inside his throat as he grinded his teeth together.

The smile of the spider faded but half way, remaining on one side, cunning and contemptuous. Her hips bounced again and she moved forth toward the anxious and fuming warrior clad in the green of the Hero. Her heels clicked against the ground…whatever it be composed of. The ground’s composition was the last thing on Link’s mind.

Arachna stopped about a foot away from Link. His sword hung limply at his side. As to why he had not yet swung at her, she did not know. She wondered if this was the man her master spoke of, the one who banished all evil. But, she knew, because… “You still possess the eyes of a beast, even in your human form, Link. They’re so electrified. So blue. So feral.” Her voice lowered and she pouted. “Why can’t I say his name? It’s just a name. Yours is Link, and mine is Arachna.”

“Don’t you say it.” Link’s voice was a mere whisper, and yet, held more scorn than times when he shouted.

“Gan-”

“I’ll be sick…”

Arachna frowned. “Oh…” As though something in her eyes had withered away, she looked to the ground. She slowly moved her arms across her chest, hands brushing up against her opposite arms. The spikes upon her arms –which Link now recognized as armor- were so long that they nearly pricked Link from where she stood. “I apologize. You see, Link, I have this problem…

“I like to play with my food. I’m sure you’ve already discovered that I’m here to eliminate you. But I like to keep my victims spinning helplessly in my web before I sink my fangs into them. I like to see my victims suffer. Because I suffered too, Link. I just want everyone else to understand. I never wanted to go to the Twilight Realm. I was banished there for a few crimes I committed. They weren’t anything big. But I had no choice. So now, I choose to share my pain with the rest of the world so that they will suffer as I did.

“And with Gan- Oh! I’m sorry, Link. With my master’s soul flowing through my veins…well at least half of it…he can roam around this world in my body. He lends me his strength. He’s in my mind as we speak, Link. It’s like he’s standing right here before you!”

Link felt ill.

“But,” sighed Arachna once more, placing on arm on her red hip and the other in the air, free to gesture. “There are still some things I need you to know in the meantime…

“Number one: half of my master’s life flows within me. Before he can transfer to the Light World, he needs to build up enough mental strength to be released. Also, I need to build up my own strength, mostly in the art of sorcery, so that I can summon him back. It’s a difficult process, because if the half of his soul that resides in me isn’t met up with his body and the half of the soul that still inhabits it, he could die, Link. In the Light World, you need a whole soul to live…unlike in the Twilit purgatory I hail from.

“Number two: I hate to inform you, but your last plan for saving Hyrule is history now, Link. I could tell you myself, but I think you’d be better off hearing from someone who can explain it a little better…”

The lights went black again. But before Link could panic, he was staring at a vision right in front of his face. It was as though he were really standing at the top of Arbiter’s Grounds, right in front of the mirror. The mirror was all he could see. It was shattered and broken. Standing right in front of it, all of the intricate details were provided for his eyes to feast upon. The cracks in the mirror, the shards lying hopelessly upon the ground, everything was so vivid. Even the sweltering desert heat pinched at his cheeks and made them feel warm.

But then, he watched a familiar woman emerge from the backboard of the mirror and back out onto the platform in which he stood before, the platform where he said his goodbyes. It was Midna, adorned in the same garb he last saw her in. She held a hand just above her brows to block out the light of day. She smiled, tears still in her eyes.

His vision changed. He now saw an aerial glimpse of himself alongside Princess Zelda tromping through the desert sands, away from Arbiter’s Grounds and back toward their homes. They looked like ants from that view. It must have been Midna’s exact view.

Focusing back on Midna frontally, shards in every which direction levitated in the air. Piece by piece, they stuck themselves back onto the mirror where they belonged. Like solving a puzzle, it took only seconds before all the shards fit right back into their original places. The mirror completed itself once more. The entire time, Midna had cause a mere illusion.

Now, Midna bowed her head toward the two walking away, wished them a happy life, and admitted that in her heart, she hoped they’d meet once again. And just like that, she retreated back into her own world.

Link had no time to absorb this, as the scene changed just as quickly as the last time. Now, he witnessed the same woman kneeling upon the floor. Her lip trembled and tears rolled down her cheeks. Not once had Link seen her cry in the past. And before he could wonder why, everything began to unfold…

Black clumps were scattered about. They were on the floor, across Midna’s lap, and in her hands. In a fit of pure rage, she jolted to her feet and took a few, quick-paced steps forward. With all of the strength she could muster, she hurled the pieces of blackness into the abyss, where Link presumed a wall to be due to the faint shattering noise that accompanied Midna’s gesture.

“Damn her!” she shouted. She grabbed strands of fiery hair and pulled. Loud, scratchy groans and gasps escaped her lips and rang in the air again and again. She might as well have yanked her heart from her chest and threw it carelessly upon the ground, stomping out the last of its blood. “We’re all going to die! We’ll die! My people! The people of Light! Link! We’ll perish, all of us!” She ranted to herself about this matter.

Her high pitched voice burned like flames. They crackled. They spewed lava. They burned Link’s ears. Midna turned her head toward the heavens. She built up a heavy moan and released it into an amplified howl of resentment. The scream made Link’s ears ring. It made him flinch and shield his face with his own sword, even though Midna was not really there…

“Arachna!” she cried out. Now, more tears slithered down her hot cheeks. “Ganondorf!” Another quick scream was released from her lungs before she cursed the both of them. “You won’t win! You can destroy the Fused Shadows ten times over, and I’ll find a way! Link will find a way! We will see to it that you suffer a million brutal deaths before you die your final, painful time!”

Again, the scene blackened, and Link was left to stand alone with the dim lights illuminating whatever grounds he stood upon. He was speechless, despite the fact that there was no one to speak to, anyway. He found it very difficult to breath. It was like Midna’s lungs had extracted Link’s air, along with her own. He shook his head. His mind could not process the fact that the Fused Shadows were destroyed. The Fused Shadows helped a great deal before. They assisted in Midna’s full strength. Now…he felt useless.

Arachna’s voice rang in the air again, though her body was not visible. “I think you can find a way, Link. But you’re going to have to search high and low. And you know you can’t do this by yourself. Once my master has his mind set on something, he carries out his plans until he dies. I’m the same way, Link. When I have my sights set on something succulent and delicious, I capture it and place it in my web to squirm. And once its pleading and suffering has worked me up enough…I swallow it whole.

“Just remember, time is ticking. As my web spins, the less likely you are to save yourself and your loved ones. I like you, Link. That’s why I made these things for you. I made this storm just for you. And I made the blackness, too…all for you. I made these visions of Midna with my mind, because I felt you should see them. And Link…

“I made one more little vision, especially for you. It was like dusting off an old photograph. This one is old. But it’s one of my favorites. And I think you’ll like it as well. It was a pleasure to meet you. I’ll leave you and Midna alone now. Goodbye, Link, and the best of luck on your journey.”

Arachna’s sadistic behavior confused Link. It made him fear her. It made him angry. It made him want to run away. But this next vision was ‘especially for him,’ and he felt that if he did not see it, he would be missing something that could lead to the salvation of Hyrule; he may be missing the biggest piece in the puzzle. But this piece fit into a different puzzle, and Link soon realized that…

His limp body lie on the forest floor atop a thin sheet of burlap. His eyes were closed peacefully. The sword and shield he had stolen in Ordon in wolf form lied at his side. He slept in only a white shirt and pants. The flames of the makeshift torches flickered against his pale skin. A hand lie across his chest, and the other was sprawled out with his arm in the grass. The chirping crickets and whispering gales of Faron always helped Link sleep.

A small shadow began to emerge from behind one of the torches. It took form as a familiar imp with yellow and red eyes. The shadow-like imp floated next to Link’s body, hovering just above the ground. She lifted the sword’s hilt with her tiny hands and held it into the air. Turning her levitating body, she stared Link down.

Her conceited eyes narrowed. Lowering the sword, she held the blade not an inch away from the man’s throat. Bringing it ever more closely, she held the blade steadily under his skin. It touched his flesh just barely. She remained in that position long enough to study Link. His chest motioned up and down with his light breathing. Small gasps of air escaped his lips, chapped from the night air.

She retracted the blade and tossed the sword carelessly onto the ground. Midna brought her body closer to Link. She nearly sat on top of the young man. She lowered her face so that their noses came a centimeter away from touching. She bore her teeth maliciously. Her eyes became hungry with hatred.

“My little puppet!” she whispered. “So gullible, aren’t you? You do every little thing I say, just to save those stupid kids! Well I have something to tell you…” She leaned in toward the left side of Link’s face, her left cheek brushing against his. Her voice faded into a lower but more sinister whisper. “You serve me no purpose other than obtaining the Fused Shadows. I don’t need you for anything else. And once you’ve fulfilled my wishes…” Her smile widened. It was disgusting.

Her tiny, minuscule voice murmured more faintly that the breeze. “…I’ll slice your throat right open in your sleep. That’s right…I’ll spill all of your foul, Hylian blood onto this forsaken world of Light for all to see before they perish. I’ll…I’ll kill you, Link!”

__________________________________________________ ______

Author’s Note (Ch. 1): Hello hello. You may have read my last ficcy, The Great Hylian War. I noticed from feedback that one of the most complicated things was the “jumping around” from place to place, character to character. So I’ve made an effort to reveal characters immediately to avoid confusion. As you can see, I’ve also labeled the places. I feel that this brings back a certain nostalgia to the game (when you enter a place and it reads the name), and it makes things more understandable.

Also, in TGHW, I introduced many new characters at once. Here, I’ve kept the originals, and am choosing to introduce new characters one by one, slowly, and give them enough detail to where you can understand them and they aren’t as vague.

Thank you all from your previous feedback from my other ficcies. Let me know if there is anything I can do, here. This is a developing story. While all characters are waiting to be revealed, there are still some major plotholes. I usually don’t do this: let me know if you have any ideas. Try not to make them too drastic because I do have a GENERAL storyline. I’m only looking for detail. I can’t guarantee I’ll use everyone’s ideas, but I appreciate them nonetheless. Comments & Questions appreciated. Thanks. ^^