In the Shadows Beyond This World: Chapter 1: Return from Exile

Kay. Chapter 1. If you check the writing page, you’ll see that I’ve got the chapters all planned out, though some of the chapter titles might change. So I’m hoping this goes pretty quick. Having realized that writing characters interact is most fun for me, this story is probably going to be less action-packed, despite its subject matter, than I would normally do, because I’m not forcing myself to write action scenes everywhere. However, hopefully when there are action scenes, they’ll be boss, because Link deserves it. : D

I have discovered I can roast marshmallows on a fork over a candle. :3 This pleases me.

I think there’s a quote from Castle in the Sky in the Twilight Princess soundtrack. Not sure if it’s on purpose, or even who the quotation is connected to in the TP soundtrack. I think it’s vaguely associated with one or two tracks that are about either Ilia or Midna. I wasn’t really paying attention. EDIT: I mean a musical quote. Not a text quote. That wouldn’t make sense.

 

Chapter 1: Return From Exile

Link opened his eyes. He felt heavy. His gaze swirled around woozily, coming to rest on a large man on a golden platform.

Only then did Link realize that he himself was on a grey platform, an island in a vast darkness. Light and beautiful patterned waterfalls came from above.

Directly in front of him, there was a golden platform. Standing on the pedestal was a man; a rather stout man; a man with rich red and gold robes and white hair and beard.

“Greetings, Hero of Time.”

Link, still partly asleep, blinked before he realized the man was speaking to him.

“I am Rauru, the Sage of Light.”

“Where are we?” asked Navi. Thank goodness, thought Link, she’s still with me.

“We are in the Temple of Light, in the Sacred Realm.”

What? Link thought to himself. I’ve been here before. What was going on?

 

As Link curled up on his old bed, he looked at Navi.

“Do you think the king would know of my father?”

“I don’t know if the king is alive,” Navi answered hopelessly. “Go to sleep. We need to save the Gorons in the morning.”

Link smiled slightly and rolled over, breathing gently.

 

…And woke up, staring at the ceiling of an inn. He lay there for a moment, remembering where he really was.

He was in an inn, a tiny little building on a road from nowhere to the unknown, far from Hyrule. He was wandering again, as he had been for the last seven years. Aimlessly, now, but with the vague idea that he should start heading for Hyrule again soon. He missed it.

Demon had left their group a long time before, taking Tatl and Tael with him. Link often wondered if the mysterious spirit would be a force for good or evil, or only an observer. Whatever the mask was, Link was sure Demon could take care of himself.

He sighed, glancing at the window. It was not yet dawn, and it was early summer. Navi slumbered on his chest on top of the blanket, her glow soft in the faint light filtering through the curtains. Disturbed by his breath, she twitched and glanced up. “Link?”

“Hi, Navi. How are you?”

She yawned. “I’m awake. Why are you awake?”

“I had a dream.”

When he didn’t elaborate, staring off into space instead, she fluttered up in concern. “It’s not a bad dream, is it?”

He raised his left hand so she could perch on it where he could see her without folding his neck. “Well… I dreamed of the day we came through time to… I guess it’s now.” He finally focussed on her. “Navi, I’m going to relive everything.”

“Oh dear,” Navi answered, stretching, but her voice was concerned. “A lot of good things happened… er… now, but some bad things are going to happen.”

“Yes.”

She studied him. He was staring off into space again. “And you’ve been recovered so well!”

He chuckled a little at that. “I guess I have. I’ll just try to remember that… I mean, there’s nothing I can do about it…”

“No, don’t remember that. Just remember it happened seven years ago for us. They’re just dreams. They can’t hurt you if you don’t want them to. And there’s so much exciting stuff that we did!”

“That’s true. And you’re still with me. We’ll get through this.”

“We will. Just hang in there. …Are we going to get up, or laze about in bed?”

Link laughed again. “What would I do without you, Navi?”

“I wonder why I didn’t have the dream?”

“I couldn’t say…”

“Oh well. Please tell me what happens! Like a story?”

“I guess I can do that!”

 

A year later, Link woke up thrashing and screaming. Rana was dead, she was dead in his arms, and there was nothing he could do about it… helpless in spite of the power of Farore that inflamed his spirit with his indomitable determination…

No. That was over. It had been months since the days had counted down to that one terrible day. He flung the sheets off, soaked in cold sweat, as Navi fluttered anxiously around his head. “Link?”

He didn’t answer. He didn’t have to. She knew it had happened again. As it always did.

After the first vision of the time he had lived when he was nineteen, the visions had kept coming, day after day. Epona was in them, and Malon and Saria and Darunia and all his former friends. He rejoiced to see them again, but braced himself for meeting Rana.

And she was there, as real as anything felt in the dreams, as beautiful and messed-up and kind and brave as he remembered. He loved her. She loved him. And then she died.

And she died again and again every night since.

 

Nearly two years later, surrounded by spring blossoms, he solemnly made his way down the side of a pleasant valley on the edge of Hyrule. At least, he thought it was the edge of Hyrule. The land he loved was larger than he’d ever been able to explore, and he’d never gone all the way to the edges in any direction. But he guessed that he was close enough.

Epona snorted beneath him as a low-hanging branch of forsythia brushed her nose. One day he had woken up to find her standing over him, and Navi’s glow bright in a smile. Had his horse been looking for him? He wouldn’t put it past her. She was the best horse in Hyrule, and that included intelligence.

He was no longer dressed in green, but in a farmer’s shirt and trousers and wrap.

“Are you sure about this?” Navi asked yet again from his shoulder.

“Yes. I don’t want anyone to know it’s me. They’ll fuss and I’m not… not ready for that.”

“No, you aren’t, but shouldn’t you at least let Zelda know you’re back?”

“No… not yet. Have patience with me a little longer.”

“And I can’t stay with you while you’re settling in to this village. Because that will give you away.”

“Well, you can stay in my house. I know you’re good at hiding.”

She relaxed. “You know, for the longest time, I thought you were going to send me away completely. That would have been bad! I can’t help you if I’m not around! And you need help!”

He sighed and looked away from her, bobbing up and down in front of him over Epona’s neck. “I… yes. I do.”

“You don’t scream at night anymore, but you’re still thrashing, so I know the nightmares are still there, and you haven’t smiled properly in months. You better make a friend or two in this village.”

“I will. I’ll try. I promise.”

She bumped his cheek in the fairy equivalent of a kiss, and then burrowed into his saddlebag.

He passed through pale green fields full of blue goats, and a burly man gawked at him. The village itself was tiny, only a half dozen houses at most, and people were beginning to stare from the windows. He looked behind him and saw three curious round faces peering at him from behind a fencepost. He nodded politely at them, and they giggled and disappeared.

A young woman strolled breezily up to him. “Hello, stranger! What brings you here?”

“I’m looking for a place to settle,” he told her. “My name is Green.” He hoped she wouldn’t hear the tiny hesitation before he gave her his pseudonym. Navi had told him it was unimaginative, but he didn’t like any of her suggestions either. “Would you have need of a horseman at all?”

“Absolutely,” she answered. “Fado could always use help with the goats. Let me just tell Daddy.” She turned to the large house on Link’s right and bellowed into the door. “DADDY! SOMEONE TO SEE YOU!”

Green dismounted and waited while the man he presumed to be the mayor of the town emerged blinking from the house.

“Ah, hello!” The man bobbed his head and offered a hearty handshake to Link. “My name is Bo. I’m the mayor of this village. Who might you be?”

“His name is Green, and he wants to live here and help with the goats,” the girl said.

Bo blinked again. “Is that so?”

“Yes, sir,” Green answered. “I’m from Hyrule, but I’ve been wandering… a long time.”

“You have a sword, there. You know how to use it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“You should talk to Rusl, then. He’s our swordsman, a former Hyrulian Guard, from Kakariko. We don’t have a monster problem at all, not since we settled here, but it’s good to know we’ll be well defended if we do. But yes, please go talk to Fado. He’s been looking for help for ages, and Talo and Colin aren’t old enough to help yet…”

Green withstood the onslaught of names quietly. “I’ll do that. Thank you.”

“Hey!” the girl said again. “I’ll show you where you can live. We have a place… It’s not the greatest place, but it’s a roof over your head, and we’ll help you fix it up.”

“That sounds good to me,” he answered. “What was your name?”

She flashed a brilliant smile. “I’m Ilia.”

“Pleased to meet you both.”

 

He settled there in Ordon Village, his green tunic and other gear hidden in the basement of his house, his sword lying idle by the door. Navi hid in his kitchen. He rarely had guests into his house, so she was fairly safe from discovery, but she was still careful.

The dreams did not abate. So much for his hope that just returning from Hyrule would help him.

So he helped Fado the goatherd with the blue ring-horned goats, and sparred in the evenings with Rusl while Ilia and the children of the village – Talo, Malo, Beth, and Rusl’s son Colin watched. Green usually got the better of Rusl, but not always. And even though he was the better swordsman, he was unsure about ‘teaching’ a man older than him. But as the weeks passed, he became more comfortable with that idea and he found himself challenged more and more to defeat his opponent as Rusl began to catch up to him.

The children were drawn to him for some reason. Talo was always strutting around, obviously hoping his antics would impress Green. Malo, his baby brother, was barely old enough to walk but had already mastered not only speech but apparently philosophy and business as well. Beth was the oldest of the four children, and showed it by trying to boss the others around, often fighting with Talo. Colin was the most shy of the whole lot, but Green liked him perhaps the best. Colin was kind-hearted and gentle, disciplined, and he practically worshipped Green, who tried to be a mentor to Colin as best he could.

Such was the situation when one day he was disturbed by Talo shouting outside his house. “Hey! Green! Come show us some more swordfighting! Pleeeaaase??”

Link glanced out the window and saw all the children lined up there, equal puppy-eyes on each one. He sighed in acquiescence, put down the dishcloth, took up his practice sword, and went outside to them.

“Yay!” Talo cheered. “When can I learn to use a sword, huh? Huh, Green?”

“When you can be trusted to use it only for good, and not to get in trouble,” Green told him solemnly, and Talo giggled.

“I promise I’d only use it for good! So when you gonna teach me, huh?”

“Well, let’s look at those skinny arms of yours. You think you can hold a sword without some upper body muscle?”

Beth and Colin laughed at Talo trying to flex his arms. Talo growled in what he hoped was a masculine fashion, but sounded more like a large puppy.

Green nodded. “That’s a good start but you need more than that. Have you been doing push-ups?”

“No… what’s that?”

So Green showed them his warm-up routine, and Talo tried it before giving up after only eight push-ups and four sit-ups. Green had the idea that Beth would have tried too, but she thought it was unladylike, and Beth wanted to be a lady. And Colin would have tried it, but he didn’t want Talo and Beth to laugh at him.

“Well, if you do those every day, you’ll be able to do more with time,” Green told Talo.

“But it’s hard,” Talo whined. “I think I’ll wait until I’m grown-up and then it’ll be easy.”

“It really doesn’t work that way,” Malo said to his brother. “You have to invest time and energy in order to get any return on your ambitions.”

Green snorted. “Anyway, you wanted to see some form?”

“Yeah!” Talo picked up a stick. Green frowned at him until he put it down again, pouting.

He turned to the practice dummy and began to shower it with an onslaught of attacks, dodging back as if it would attack him back. Sweat began to gather on his forehead and his back. It was a warm day, and he wondered how he would fare if he had his tunic and chainmail on on top of everything.

Talo’s attention had evidently been wandering again. “Hey! There’s a monkey over there!”

Green paused and looked around. There was a small monkey with a red flower watching them curiously from the bushes on the edge of the forest.

“Go away, monkey!” Talo cried, picking up the stick again and running towards it. It fled.

“Hey!” Green shouted as Talo disappeared into the undergrowth. “Come back! It’s not hurting anyone.”

“Well, the monkeys have been stealing things…” Beth said. “They stole Colin’s mom’s baby cradle! So… yeah. But he’ll probably come back in a minute.”

Green frowned at the forest. “I don’t like Talo running off like that. What if the monkey leads him into the deep woods? There might not be monsters but it’s still dangerous for him to be out there alone. Wait here.”

He climbed the ladder to his house swiftly and traded his wooden practice sword for his real sword. “Talo’s run into the forest,” he whispered. “I’m going to go get him back before he gets into trouble.”

“Be safe,” Navi whispered back from wherever she was hiding.

He re-emerged from his house and whistled for Epona. She came trotting out of the pasture behind his house and he mounted her bareback. “Stay here and stay out of trouble.”

“We don’t cause trouble,” Beth sniffed.

Malo grumbled. “Not like that brat. Though he can’t have gone far on those short little legs.”

Colin trotted over to Green, looking up with worried blue eyes. “Should I get my dad?” he asked.

“If I’m not back in ten minutes, then yes, go ahead. But I’ll be back in ten minutes.” He turned Epona for the forest and urged her forward.

He passed the Spirit’s Spring on his left. Talo’s bare footprints showed clearly in the soft soil at this point.

The Spirit’s Spring was a small waterfall that splashed into a sandy pool; the water had healing powers. The villagers said the pool was supposed to be home a spirit that protected Ordon Village. There was another one like it in the woods, and Green wondered if there were others in Hyrule. He hadn’t seen them when he had saved the land three years before, but Rusl had hinted that in the aftermath of Ganondorf, the whole country had changed substantially in geography as well as other ways. Green didn’t know what to make of that. But according to the maps Rusl had shown him of Ordon and the surrounding area, changes were evident even in the forest.

Ordon was a small province on the edge of Faron province, the southern third of Hyrule. Faron Woods stood between Ordon Province and Hyrule Field, where Kokiri Forest and the Lost Woods had been. But it was not Kokiri Forest, because the Deku Tree would not have let non-Kokiri through, and it was not the Lost Woods, because there was a regular and unshifting road through it, though he had not yet travelled it.

Talo’s footsteps disappeared at the bridge across the ravine between Ordon Province and the Faron Woods. But they pointed straight to it.

Epona trotted across the bridge, where Talo’s footsteps picked up again on the soft edge of the road.

Then there were other footprints Green halted Epona and looked carefully at them. They looked like Bokoblin footprints. He loosened his sword in his sheath as he came across a point where the footprints were all mangled together, and urged Epona on faster.

A gate across the road barred his way, a crude gate, with creatures standing around it. Alerted by Epona’s hoofbeats, they jabbered at Green, brandishing rough weapons. But they scattered at Epona’s charge, and she leapt the fence with no trouble.

The forest was full of Bokoblins. That was wrong. What had they done with Talo?

Green urged Epona even faster, wishing Navi were there to help him track Talo’s passage at speed. The boy couldn’t have been more than a minute or two ahead of him, even if the Bokoblins who captured him were running as fast as they could.

There, there was a great tree rising out of a hill, and at its base was Talo… and the monkey, both in cages. Green unsheathed his sword, prayed that the Bokoblins didn’t have ranged weapons at all, and charged them.

The Bokoblins scattered. Two of them fell to his sword and one to Epona’s flailing hooves, but they disappeared swiftly, leaving the cages to him.

“Talo! Are you all right?” Green jumped off Epona and ran to him.

Talo was shaking, his face pale, but he nodded. “Th-they didn’t hurt me. Or the monkey. She’s actually kind of nice. She tried to help me.”

Green sighed in relief as he opened both cages. “Thank you, Miss Monkey.” He thought he heard a chittering noise that sounded like “You’re welcome,” before the monkey bounded off into the trees.

He boosted Talo onto Epona and then got on behind him. The Bokoblins were still nowhere in sight. “Let’s get back before any of those creatures come back. It’s been way more than ten minutes; Rusl is probably getting worried.”

“You told him?” Talo sounded really worried. “I’m going to be in so much trouble!”

“I had Colin tell him. I came straight for you. Talo, even if there aren’t Bokoblins around, it’s still dangerous in the forest. You know you’re not supposed to be out here alone.”

Talo pouted, but he knew Green was right. “I wasn’t going to go far…”

“Ah! Green! There you are!” There was Rusl, hurring towards them on foot. “You found him, I see. Thank goodness.”

“Yes, but I have worrying news. There was a band of Bokoblins.” Green let the implications of that sink in for a minute.

“There haven’t been monsters here since the fall of Ganondorf.”

“I know. I don’t know what it means yet.”

“Well the first thing that means is we’ll have to lock the bridge gate.”

“Am I going to get spanked?” Talo quavered.

“Probably,” Rusl said. “But I’m not your father. We’d rather learn about the monsters without having a heart attack over your disappearance, lad.”

Talo hung his head.

Green dropped Talo off at home while Rusl inspected the bridge gate to make sure it was secure and would stand up to Bokoblins. Then he rode straight to Bo’s house. The mayor was sitting on the porch, reading a book.

“Bo,” Green said, dismounting as the older man looked up. “We have a problem. Talo ran into the forest just now, and there were Bokoblins there. I saved him, don’t worry. But… I don’t know what that means yet.” He took off his sword and leaned it against the porch.

Bo frowned. “You’ll have to find out where they’re coming from. Or… there’s another possibility.”

“Hi, Green!” Ilia chirped from the doorway before Green could answer. “Hi, Epona!”

“What’s the other possibility?” Green asked, waving at Ilia.

“Well… it’s the Princess’s birthday in a week or so. We were going to send a representative with a present for Princess Zelda, for the celebration. But you could go a bit early and see if she’ll grant you an audience. Warn her about the monsters, ask for help, find out if there are monsters anywhere else in Hyrule.”

Ilia wasn’t listening. “Green, what’s this?”

“Huh?”

“This… this gash! What happened? You were going too fast through the trees, weren’t you? How could you be so careless?” There was a deep and bloody gash in Epona’s left shoulder.

“Ilia, but…” Bo began.

“Father! Don’t defend him! He can’t be so irresponsible with his poor horse! Come on, Epona, we’ll go heal your shoulder in the Spirit’s Spring.”

“But… Ilia! We need to…”

“It’s all right,” Green said as Ilia’s figure dwindled up the road, his horse in tow. “The water will heal Epona. I didn’t even notice. It must have come when we charged the Bokoblins at the gate.”

“I’m amazed she had the nerve to do that.”

“Epona’s no stranger to charging into a fight,” Green said. “We did it many times when we were wandering. She’s more of a warhorse than a farmhorse.”

“I guess she is,” Bo said. “But… your journey to Hyrule Castle…”

“Can wait until tomorrow,” Green answered. “I can start in the morning.”

“That’s a good idea. Then you can get to the edge of the forest by sundown and stay at the ranch.”

Green turned to him curiously. “Lon Lon Ranch?”

“Yes, it’s not in the middle of the field anymore, closer to the edge. Run by Miss Malon and her husband.”

Green smiled involuntarily.

“Look at that, you can smile!” Bo said. “I take it you know Miss Malon?”

“She raised Epona, of course. It’s good to know she’s married. That sounds like a good plan. I’ll go talk to Ilia and make sure she understands what really happened.”

Green picked up his sword and left in the direction of the Spring, missing the pondering look that Bo gave him.

 

Ilia had locked the gate to the Spring by the time Green arrived there, having put his sword back in his house.

“You! You can stay out!” Ilia snapped, not even turning to look at him. But Green saw Colin in there too.

“Green, I’m trying to explain what happened. Just hang on.”

The gate to the Spring was sturdy enough, but it was also climbable if you happened to be tall-ish and reasonably light and strong. Green waited a few minutes, then softly clambered over and dropped gently to the sand.

Ilia didn’t notice his approach. “I… wow, Colin, I had no idea. I just saw the wound and… I guess I panicked. I should apologize.”

“You don’t have to,” Green said. “I understand.”

She jumped, and scrambled to her feet. “Oh, you got in… Um… Hi.”

“Hi.”

“She’s all better now. She’ll be fine for tomorrow. You’re not leaving until tomorrow, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am. Thanks, Ilia. I wouldn’t have noticed it until I got home again.”

“She’s a very patient horse.”

“And thanks, Colin, for getting your dad.”

“Talo’s mad at me now,” Colin said. “I think he’s grounded. But I don’t think he’ll stay put…”

“Not if I know Talo,” Ilia snorted. “He can’t stay still for two minutes together. Green…”

Green waited.

“I guess your journey might be dangerous. And… I don’t know what will happen at the end of it.” She hesitated. “I guess what I’m trying to say is… come back safe. Don’t be a hero.”

Green almost smiled. “I don’t know if I can promise that. But I promise to come back safe.”

Ilia did smile. “Yeah, I guess you were a hero today. Thanks.”

Green’s ears twitched and he looked around. “Do you hear… like… a rumble?”

Ilia barely had time to scream as a giant boar crashed through the gate to the Spring.

“Get behind me!” Green shouted, dropping into a fighting crouch. His sword was still at his house…

A Bokoblin on the back of the boar fired an arrow. He tried to catch it but he wasn’t fast enough… He heard Ilia shriek again and growled. Colin had fainted… Epona was rearing in panic…

The boar swept by him and one of the Bokoblins swung a club at him. He didn’t dodge in time…

 

When he came to, he was lying on his back in the pool. His forehead felt fine. He guessed the water of the Spring had healed whatever head injury he had sustained.

But why was he still alive in the first place? Wouldn’t the Bokoblins have killed him?

Taken out by a bunch of Bokoblins. He sat up slowly and shook his head in shame. That was pathetic.

He was alone. Where were the others? He jumped up and saw only the destruction of the gate. There was no blood in the pool, so perhaps the others were still alive. Perhaps Ilia hadn’t been injured too badly by that arrow.

He sprang to his feet and ran. The trail of the boars wasn’t too hard to follow. There was definitely more than one. It led him in the direction of the bridge, but before he even got close he was stopped by a wall of oily blackness covered in glowing orange designs.

He stared at it in disbelief and angry incomprehension. What was this thing, and how dare it block his path at this of all times? What would happen if he touched it? Could he get through…?

Before he could touch it with his hand, a giant black hand reached through, seized him around the throat, and hauled him roughly into the darkness.

Everything hurt. Stars flashed in front of his eyes, but he got an impression of a black, disk-shaped face fringed with tentacles, and a pair of giant claw-like hands. He couldn’t breath the air, and not because it was choking him particularly hard. The Triforce on the back of his left hand, covered with fingerless workgloves to hide it from the villagers, was searing hot.

The creature seemed to feel the Triforce, because it flung him away abruptly. He fell roughly to the forest floor. Even the forest was changed. The sky was purple. The trees were black. The grass was grey. And everything glowed strangely in green and gold…

The pain in his body overwhelmed him, and he felt a scream bursting out of his throat – a scream that halfway through changed to an animalistic roar as he felt his body changing. It felt like it did when he used the transformation masks in Termina. But different, strange, wrong.

He fainted.

 

Chapter 2: Reunions

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