Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ The Links Return ❯ Chapter one ( Chapter 1 )

Description: Hyrule is once again under attack. The hero is called upon, but Link finds that he can't take the new challenge with out the help of some old friends... and some new ones.
Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda. I am simply borrowing the characters to exploit for my own personal enjoyment.
AN: My muse likes me to write comedy but it's kind of hard to do. I prefer longer, semi-serious, angst, stories with mild comedy... which I guess is what this is. ^_^; I hope...
Warning: Um... blood, swearing... yaoi, but only on certain chapters, and I will warn if you want to skip over it or something. My muse isn't a yaoi fan either... umm... angst, death... under age alcohol use possibly... yeah if you don't like stuff like that don't read my story, or at least don't read it then yell at me because that's just weird... if you do enjoy any of that then we will get along just fine.
Four Swords
(AN note)

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The palace ground shook violently. Pottery smashed to the ground, furniture fell over, men and women ran scared through the halls. In her chamber, the sweet, wise princess Zelda was frantic. Some one was attacking the castle... or something... but she couldn't, for the life of her, find out what it was! 'I feel great evil...'

There was a banging on the door that startled her three feet in to the air. "Permission to enter!" Came the loud, urgent voice of her head knight.

She yanked open the door fiercely. The knight jumped. She was barely older than a child but she knew what she was doing. "Er..." she said weakly. Another 'quake' jerked the castle. Part of the ceiling fell, nearing hitting her. 'This place won't hold for much longer...' with a huff she squared her shoulder and stood to her full height, which didn't even reach his shoulder. "Get ever one out of here! Find some where safe to wait." She ran to her desk and quickly scrawled a note on a piece of paper. "Go! I'll catch up!"

He shook his head, and barked her orders out the door to some one. "My duty is to protect you princess, so I can not allow you out of my sight." He crossed his arms as though daring her to make something of it. And if she ordered him to go he sure as hell wasn't moving.

Finding a new respect for this knight, she nodded. "Fine. Come with me if you must. But make haste." she ran out the door, and towards the message tower. It was quite interesting to see a full grown man struggling to keep up with the light footed princess. Damn full body armor.

Bird cheeped, and squawked as they entered. She motioned the knight to stay back, while she approached the pleasant creatures. A gorgeous patient hawk streaked from his nap, while the blond haired princess tied the note to its leg with one of her hair ribbons. "Hurry..." She whispered to him gently. "Deliver this to the Hero Link. Fly as fast as you can." She held the bird out the window as the castle shook again. The hawk snapped proudly, raising his brown feathered head to the sky and took off in to the dark storming sky. "May the goddesses guide your way." She held her hands together in prayer. 'Please hurry...'

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"Epona!" Came a light cry across the field. "Epona! Oh where did you run off to now you silly horse." The young red headed Malon wondered out loud, putting her bucket of carrots on the fence and examining her father's ranch. 'I'll bet she's off playing with Link again. I might as well just give her to him.' she laughed and shook her head. 'Yeah right, when he pries her from my cold dead hands!'

The rumbling in the distance made her look towards the castle. The horizon was pitch black with storm cloud. She shivered, despite herself. 'That looks like a nasty storm. I hope it doesn't spread over here...'

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Not far from the ranch, a young boy lay sleeping on the hill. His yellow blond hair shifted in the light breeze. The green tunic made it nearly impossible to spot him unless you were right on top of him. His pointed ears, proof of his hylian blood, twitched as the long grass tickled him. Not far to his left was a long sword, which hadn't seen much use in a while, because of such peaceful times.

A hawk circled over head squawking noisily. The Hero yawned and stretched, momentarily annoyed that his nap had been disrupted, but the feeling left quickly. 'What is that...?' he squinted, trying to ignore the sun light. 'A messenger bird?' he realized quickly, having been sent dozens for one reason or another. "Who are you looking for?" he called out to it.

With a final screech, it descended gracefully to his out stretched arm. A small smirked tugged at Links lips. "Me huh?" He enjoyed getting mail. It could get pretty boring some times, and lonely... he noticed the pink ribbon with the royal family symbol on it. 'Its... from Zelda.' The hawk flew away the second he took the letter. Now that his job was done he was in a hurry to get out of there. Link opened the half crumpled letter.

Dear Link,           &nbs p;            & nbsp;           &nbs p;            & nbsp;     
The castle is under attack. I fear for
the kingdom. Evil is so thick in the air
I can barley breath. Once again the Hero's
help is needed! My knights have moved-

Before he could finish, a violent wind ripped the letter out of his hands, and blew it far away. His head snapped upward. The sky that had been clear seconds earlier, had turned gray to black. Thick heavy rain began to fall, drenching him instantly. 'I've got to get to Hyrule castle, right now!' he thought springing to his feet. "Epona!"

His voice was lost under the thunder, and wind. For a moment he doubted his call had reached. A neigh proved him wrong, as the rich brown colored horse galloped towards him. She didn't even slow her action a second, as Link preformed a perfectly executed running mount. With a soft tug on the rains he guided her towards Lon Lon Ranch.

They arrived in recorded time. Epona snorted as he dismounted. She was ready to run. Link patted her nose softly. "Just give me a minute." He opened the door of the small ranch house, and stepped inside. "Malon! Are you here!?"

She came down the stairs, quiet as always. "Link? Did you bring back Epona? I'm worried about her in this type of weather..." she looked out the window.

Link scratched his head kind of guiltily, earning him a suspicious look. "I brought her back, but... I need to borrow her."

"In this weather!?" She snapped pointing to the window in disbelief.

"I need to get the castle fast Malon." He argued, knowing he wouldn't have to push to hard.

Her eyes gazed sadly out past the glass. "This storm isn't natural is it?" she waved her hand to dismiss both him and the question. "Never mind. Take her... but remember your only barrowing her! And if she comes back with a single scratch, I will skin you alive!"

Link nodded, half serious, half fearfully. Why are there so many scary chicks in Hyrule? He dashed out side. "Ready to go?" She hoofed the ground eagerly. "Then let's go!"

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The rain was coming down even harder, and the frequent earthquakes, made it difficult to maintain a steady speed, but Epona was stubborn, and so was her rider. The castle came in to view, and Link leaned forward. Hooves pounded against the stone path. Tree's rushed by on either side, as barely blur's. They rushed past the front gates, with out meeting any resistance. Not a soul was around, human or other wise. 'The letter said they we're under attack but where is the enemy?'

The emptiness of the usually so lived in place was eerie. He trotted Epona to the front door, and stopped puzzled. "Go find shelter." He said hopping to his feet. He trusted Epona to understand his orders. "I'll be back soon." he promised, then he went in side.

'This place is in ruins...' Link observed sadly. 'This happened so quickly...' he walked down the empty hallways, and checked all the rooms still in tacked. "Where is every one?" He finally asked out loud.

"They left." came an all-to-familiar voice.

He spun around so fast he almost got dizzy. "Shadow!!!"

The black haired Link grinned pleasantly. "What's up Hero? Miss me?"

"Of course! Goddesses! It's been two years!" (For all of you who haven't read the manga, just played the game or something, Shadow in the end turns out to be good. He was just tiered of being looked down upon) He grinned back. "Jeez, how did you get here!? The shadow mirrors broken isn't it?"

He shrugged. Shadow looked just like him, except that his eyes, hair, and tunic were black. And their personalities we're pretty off. "Yeah it's broken, I know that for a fact." he took pride in the fact that he was the one who broke said mirror. "How I got here is easy. This new evil, that's attacking the castle, it's upset the balance of good and evil. The wall between the Light and Dark worlds is so thin; it's easy to slip through."

"Well... that is just great." Link muttered sarcastically. "I don't suppose you brought any good news?" Shadow laughed, bringing up Links mood. It really was great to see him. "So have you seen this new enemy, because..." he looked around. "...I sure can't. And where is Zelda and the others?"

"Don't worry, don't worry. I got the answers. The Princess had every one leave. They went to Death Mountain, because the evil hasn't reached there yet." The ground shook. "Argh. This is getting annoying, fallow me." he ran down the hall.

Surprised Link chased after him. 'I'm chasing my shadow, ha!' he chuckled. "So you have seen him?" It was easy to keep up since they we're almost each other.

"Yeah!" He yelled over his shoulder. "He's some kind of shape shifter, and he, like, leaks poison gases, but I think he does it on purpose. To freak people out. How ever he's got this aura that scares even me." he opened a door and every thing became quiet. "Link... you can't defeat him alone."

Link gasped. They we're in the Four Swords sanctuary (It's a mix of the manga and the game... and some of the other games but that's not till later). "Shadow... why are we here? You know I can't draw the sword again. Zelda and the maidens sealed it up." He looked at the sword with longingly. Goddesses he missed them...

"Listen to me. This guy is too strong for you. He's to strong for both of us."

"But Shadow-"

"Think about it." He interrupted rudely, but hey its Shadow. "How did Zelda and the maidens seal it up?"

Link huffed annoyed. "They... they prayed to the goddesses. Why?"

He ignored the question. "Exactly! So all you have to do... is pray to unseal it!" He grinned and motioned for him to step closer to the sword. "You're the Hero. That has to count for something, up there."

Link scowled, trying not to get his hopes up. "This isn't going to work..." he stepped right up to the triangular seal, and clasped his hands in front of him. 'Goddesses... I need to save Hyrule... but I don't believe that I can with out the Four Swords... please un-seal it so I may save this kingdom.' he blushed at the corniness of the prayer, especially when nothing happened. "Told you...”

Shadow frowned, unhappily. "Humm... try saying it out loud."

"What? No!" He sighed disappointed. "That didn't work so I'll just have to find some other way to-"

The seal cracked. The crack spread, branching out threw the yellow glass like structure, all the way to the bottom. Then... it shattered. The Four Sword was free. Shadow opened his mouth to make some smart-ass comment, but Links glare shut him up nicely. Slowly the Hero grabbed the hilt of the sword, and tugged. I slid from the stone easily in his hand.

 

 

 

 

 

Well... there ya go. Chapter one. Like it, hate it. Comment. This takes place two years after Four Swords.