Description: Hyrule is once again under attack. The hero is called upon to save it, but Link finds that he can't take the new challenge without the help of some old friends... and some new ones.

The Legend of Zelda: The Links Return

Prolog

The Spreading Storm

The palace ground shook violently as the earth trembled beneath it. Lightning flashed overhead so bright, it illuminated every shadow across the castle grounds. Wind howled as it whipped through the trees and rubbed against the stonewalls. Inside the castle, pottery smashed to the ground and furniture toppled over. The men and women ran scared through the halls looking for protection; half of them convinced the end of the world had come.

In her chamber Zelda, the Princess of the prosperous kingdom of Hyrule, was frantic. She looked as innocent as any other girl, looking simply to be frightened by the events transpiring. However, her thoughts were turning with possibilities, strategies, and solutions. Someone or something was attacking the castle. Her kingdom was in trouble and she didn't even know by what. The only thing she knew was that whatever it was emitted a dark and powerful aura. She could feel it all around her, coming in with the wind.

'What is this great evil?' She wondered, risking her safety by standing near the window to again search for the source of the attack.

A banging on the door made her jump and she spun around startled. "Permission to enter!" Came the loud, urgent voice of her head knight through the wood.

The Princess composed herself, brushing down her hair, which had fallen out of place. That was no time for her to be panicking. As long as her father was still away the kingdom would look to her for strength and wisdom. She had to be able to face whatever they were dealing with. She hurried forward and open the door firmly, holding her head high, displaying confidence.

The much older man stood at attention. "Your orders Princess?" He asked.

Another quake rocked the castle and nearly knocked them both off their feet. The Knight reached forward to steady her. Not far from where they stood part of the ceiling collapsed.

'The castle cant take much more of this...' She thought, standing up to her full height and squaring her shoulders, not at all bothered that she didn't even reach his chin.

"Get everyone out of here." She ordered, her voice strong despite her doubts. "Find someplace safe. I don't want anyone to get caught in this." A plan formed in her mind and she turned back to her desk. "Death Mountain! This storm came from the other direction; we'll be safe there." She pulled out a piece of paper a scrawled something down quickly, before noticing the other hadn't left. "Go! I'll catch up!"

He shook his head and barked her orders out the door to some one out of sight. "My duty is to protect you Princess. I will keep you safe." He crossed his arms as though daring her to make something of it. Even if she ordered him to go, he sure as hell wasn't moving.

She almost took the time to laugh at herself. Of course he wasn't going to leave her. She expected nothing less from her head knight.

"Then follow me to the tower." She told him. "I need to send a message. Make haste." She ran passed him towards the message tower. It was quite a sight to see the fully-grown man struggling to keep up with the light-footed princess. Damn full body armor.

Bird cheeped and squawked as they opened the tower door. Zelda motioned the knight to stay back while she approached the pleasant creatures. A gorgeous hawk stretched from his nap, the only one still clam in the tower despite the disturbance around them. He cocked his head at her as she approached him. The bird was her most trusted messenger and she had been the one to train him.

"Hurry..." She whispered to him gently, tying the note to his leg with one of her hair ribbons. "Deliver this to the Hero Link. You can find him. Fly fast." She held the bird out the window as the castle shook again. The hawk snapped proudly, raising his brown-feathered head and taking off into the dark stormy sky. Zelda turned and rushed back to her knight to escape the castle, saying a prayer as she went.

"May the goddesses guide your way."

...

"Epona!" Came a light cry across the field. Strands of bright orange hair shifted in the wind.

"Epona! Oh, where did you run off to now, you silly horse?" The young Malon putting her bucket of carrots on the fence and examining her fathers ranch. The thick grass shimmered like water as it waved, and she shook her head with a laugh. 'I'll bet she's off playing with Link again. I might as well just give her to him'.

She laughed again, speaking out loud. "That is: After he pries her from my cold, dead hands!"

The rumbling in the distance caught her attention and looked off towards the castle. The horizon was pitch black with storm clouds. A cold feeling ran up her spine and she shivered despite herself.

"What a nasty looking storm. I sure hope it doesn't spread over here..." She took her bucket and hurried to the house.

Not far from the ranch, a young Hylian man was stretched out on a hill, fast asleep. The soft breeze shifted his yellow blond hair and the tall grass brushed against his pointed ears, making them twitch. The young adult was dressed in a traditional green tunic and hat that made him near invisible to anyone not looking for him, among the blades of green. Not far to his left was a long sword and shield. Neither had seen much use in a while. A time of peace had finally reached Hyrule. After years of eradication, they seemed to have seen the last of those foul beasts that had been left from the reign of the Wind Sorcerer Vaati. The youth was, of course, the Hero who had saved the kingdom in the first place: The left-handed Hero Link.

A hawk's cry pierced the air, awaking the young Hero with a start. Alarmed, Link sat straight up, his body tensing instantly as he searched out the cause of his disturbance. The hawk spotted him and circled overhead, crying again to catching his attention.

'A messenger bird.' Link realized relaxing, leaning back on his hands. He had received enough of them during his adventures for one reason of another. Yawning, a little annoyed that his nap had been interrupted, Link held out his arm and whistled to it.

"Who are you looking for?" He called out.

With a final screech, the hawk descended gracefully landing on his out stretched arm. A small smirked tugged at Links lips. "Me huh?" He enjoyed getting mail. It could get lonely at times since he took his mission. He scratched the bird's chest gently in a way he knew the creature would like. "What training you must have to find me out here." He muttered, examining it over. "Actually you look familiar…" The symbol of the royal family hung from its neck and the pink ribbon caught his eye.

'It's from the Princess!' He thought excitedly, quickly untied the letter. He took no notice of how fast the hawk took off after. He was thrilled to get word from his childhood friend, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.

However as he read the words scrawled out, he found himself becoming tense again. The text trembled. Something was happening at the castle. He made it about halfway through the explanation that they were under attack by some unseen force, when 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 blue seconds earlier, had turned to gray, then black. Thick heavy rain began to fall, drenching him almost instantly.

'I've got to get to the castle!' He thought springing to his feet. "Epona!" He called out, cupping his hands around his mouth to sound farther. His voice was lost under the thunder and for a moment he doubted his call had reached.

A flash in the distance and a neighing seconds later proved him wrong. The flash developed into a rich red-brown mare that came galloping towards him. She didn't slow her action even a second as she raced by and Link ran along her, mounting with practiced precession. With a soft tug on the rains he headed her back 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 promised. Not bothering to knock he opened the door of the small ranch house and stepped inside. "Malon! Are you here?"

The girl came down the stairs. "Link? Did you bring Epona back?" She asked, looking out the window then back at him. "I'm worried about her in this type of weather..."

Link scratched his head kind of guiltily, earning him a suspicious look. "Well, I did bring her. But I need to borrow her again."

His good friend fumed instantly, her face matching the fury of her hair. "In this weather!" She snapped, pointing to the window in disbelief. The wind howled, the rain hitting the glass like arrows. It was insane for any living thing to be caught in such a storm.

"Didn't Nayru give you any sense! Look at you! You're soaked to the bone! And you want to take my horse out in this, when she could be resting safe and dry in the barn?"

He didn't respond, but stood firm. She was right and he didn't want to risk Epona's health anymore than his own. But he was a knight and a Hero. When his Princess and his kingdom was in trouble, nothing was going to stand in his way.

Her expression faltered as she found herself face-to-face with his determination yet again. That same stubborn expression that he had given her when they first met, and convinced her to let them borrow her horses for their mission (1). The same way he'd gotten the mare from her for those past years he been running around Hyrule.

'And I finally got her back too…' She sighed, looking back out the window. "This storm isn't natural is it?" She asked, and then waved her hand to dismiss both him and the question. "Never mind. Take her. Go. But remember! If she comes back with a single scratch: I will skin you alive!"

Link nodded, not sure whether he should take her threat to heart or not. Quickly telling her goodbye, he dashed outside and mounted. "Ready to go?" Epona tossed her head and hoofed the ground eagerly. "Then let's go!"

...

The rain was coming down even harder, flooding the streets of Castle Town. The water and 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. They rushed past the front gates without meeting any resistance. Not a soul seemed to be around, human or other wise. The letter had said they were under attack, but where was the enemy?

Castle Town was usually so lively, even during bad weather, so the emptiness of the place was disturbing. He didn't slow Epona until they reached the large front doors of the castle. "You did a good job, girl." He said gently as he dismounted. She was breathing heavily and he rubbed her nose tenderly. "Go find shelter." He told her, trusting Epona to understand his order and as she trotted off towards the stables he pushed open the familiar doors.

'This place is in ruins...' Link observed sadly. The quakes were farther apart and less intense then they had been, but the damage was already done. The proud building had been all but demolished. Only the centre structure had survived.

'This is going to take forever to repair…' Link thought calmly, as he made his way over piles of collapsed stone and under leaning pillars, careful not to disturbed them. 'The castle should have been able to stand against earthquakes. There must have been something else involved.'

He worked through the undestroyed parts of the castle, checked all the rooms and was relived when he didn't find any bodies. "Zelda must have moved everyone." He muttered to himself, finding himself in a hall that was still mostly intact, a ceiling still in place to protect him from the rain. He took the break to ring out his hat and the bottom of his tunic. "The question is where did they go…?"

"Why don't you ask?" Came a voice behind him.

Link spun around drawing his sword in the process. He hadn't noticed someone was following him. A fierceness came to his expression as he readied for an attack, but at the same time he found himself filled with a calmness. Part of him recognized that strangely-echoed voice right away and the second his eyes had adjusted to the lack of light he almost dropped the weapon in surprise.

"Shadow!" He called.

The being that emerged out of the darkness, laughed smugly, stepping forward and holding out his arms in greeting. "What's up, Hero? Miss me?"

Link felt a huge smile come to his face and he almost gave in to the sudden urge to embrace his old friend. "Shadow! Goddesses! Of course I've missed you! It's been five years!" (2)

Shadow Link, as his name implied, was Link's shadow, straight out of the realm of darkness: the Dark World. Physically they looked almost identical, minus the coloring. Link found himself surprised by the change Shadow seemed to have gone through since he'd last seen him. Shadow had always been incredibly pale, since the suns light was deadly to him, but his skin had become even lighter. His eyes, which had been almost the same color as his, had darkened to a demonic black-blue. His hair had only had a ting of purple left, having become almost completely black as well. His tunic was a black mirror of the blonde's adult garb, instead of the simple one they had worn in their youth.

At the time of their original meeting Shadow had been aligned with evil. He had been the one to kidnap the Princess and wreak havoc on the citizens of Hyrule, setting monsters after his light-world counterparts and causing them no end of trouble. He had been tired of being ignored and having no choice but to follow Link without any acknowledgement.

Link remembered tricking the shadow into thinking he had switched sides in order to find out his weakness (3). That was when they had become friends. When Shadow found out about the trick, he'd tried to kill him by dropping him into a volcanic pit. Afterwards Shadow had been to one to destroy the Dark Mirror, the only thing keeping him and the evil Vaati in the world of Light.

Link sheathed his sword. It was only because of Shadow that they had been able to win and Shadow had given up his chance at life there to do so. After Shadows sacrifice, Link would trust him regardless.

"How did you get here now?" He asked. "I thought the Dark Mirror was destroyed."

Shadow's smirk only grew. "Oh it is, but that's an easy one. The wall between our worlds is so thin right now that I can slip through with ease. There is a disturbance between the powers of light and dark. It seems you have trouble brewing." He laughed. 'Good guy' or not, Shadow loved disarray.

Link felt his spirit sink drastically. A disturbance between light and dark? He thought back to the rein of Vaati and Ganondorf. Was the king of evil back for revenge? Was it a repeat of five years prier?

"Well, that's just perfect." Link said sarcastically. "I don't suppose you brought anymore good news?" Shadow laughed again, lightening his spirit. It really was great to see him. "So you know where the Princess is?"

Shadow nodded. "Of course. I've been hanging around here for a while now, waiting for the right opportunity to make my dramatic entrance." He strolled forward as the ground shook again. Link stumbled, but Shadow didn't have any difficulty. "Is there a problem, Hero?" He asked, still smirking. Link glared, but stopped when Shadow moved away.

"You're right, as usual. Zelda had everyone flee the castle. They went to Death Mountain, because this evil hasn't reached there. Yet. But before you go rushing off to save her, I think there's something you need to get. Follow me."

Link followed after him obediently. "So do you know what was attacking the castle? What could have done all of this so quickly?"

Shadow looked back. "Well, it's not Lord Vaati, if that's what you think. He's long gone. And it's not that Gerudo king, but I've seen it. I was to interested in returning here, so I didn't really take the time to get anything good. It's powerful though." He turned around a corner and Link looked around surprised as he suddenly realized where they were headed. "It's not like anything else you've faced, and I don't think you can deal with it alone."

Shadow pushed open the doors to the Four Swords sanctuary.

The rain was starting to lessen. There was a blanket of grass before them and a slightly worn path, leading to an inner garden, surrounded by stonewalls. The shrine had been added to keep the magic sword closer to home, incase of emergencies. It was amazing that the shrine had managed to survive. The Four Sword was a sword with the power to split its wielder into four separate entities. Link had welded the weapon once before. It had separated him into Green, Blue, Red and Vio, giving him enough strength to face the danger and save Hyrule. The sword that taught him how important teamwork was, but it had also made him realize how lonely traveling alone could be.

"Shadow... why are we here?" Link asked, his eyes landing on the golden pyramid surrounding the sword, with a sort of longing. "You know I can't draw the sword again. Zelda and the maidens sealed it up."

The dark being nodded, obviously not caring. "Well, it's too strong for you as you are now and isn't that what this thing is for? It's too strong for you, and it's too strong for the both of us together. The four of you however..."

Link shook his head. "Shadow, I can't-"

"Think about it!" He interrupted rudely, grabbing a hold of Links shoulder. "How did they seal it?"

Link huffed annoyed, having been present at the sealing. "They... they prayed to the goddesses. Why?"

Shadow ignored the question. "Exactly! So all you have to do is pray to unseal it!" He stepped around him with a grinned and pushed him closer to the sword. "You're a Hero. That has to count for something up there."

Link scowled, trying not to get his hopes up. "What are you talking about? There is no way that would work!"

Shadow pushed harder. "Well, look! You haven't even drawn the sword and your back to sounding like Blue. Let's get some more of optimistic Red out here: How are you going to know, unless you try."

Link gave him a look but after a minute he knelt in front of the sword. He was already soaked from the rain so it didn't really matter if he knelt in the wet grass. Shadow was right and he certainly wouldn't protest having his team again. He clasped his hands before him and sighed.

'Nayru, Din, Farore…'

"Say it out loud." Shadow encouraged teasingly.

Link glared again. "Knock it off." Shadow snickered eagerly.

Link closed his eyes. 'Goddesses…' He prayed. 'Hyrule is in danger again. I think I need the Four Sword. If I do then please, unseal it, so that I can save my kingdom.'

He waited a moment, for an indication The Three had accepted his proposal. When he heard nothing, he opened one eye and saw no change. He felt the disappointment fill his chest. Of course. The time to use the Four Sword had passed. Whatever he was up against was something he would defeat himself.

"See?" He muttered, getting off the ground and pointlessly brushing off the dirt. "Nothing."

Shadow looked as disappointed as he felt. "Try again." He encouraged.

"There's no point." Link argued sharply. "It didn't work. I'll find a way to defeat it on my own. It won't-"

There was a sharp, clear snap as the seal cracked.

Two heads whipped towards the yellow glass-like structure. There was a crack that spread from the apex to about halfway down. There was another pop as the crack splintered, branching out all the way to the bottom. Then the glass shattered.

The Four Sword was free.

Shadow grinned making a smart-ass comment, which Link missed as he just stood there shocked. It wasn't until Shadow motioned him forward again, that the young Hero approached slowly and grabbed the hilt of the sword. Tossing a hesitant look at his companion he pulled the blade, still half expecting it not to work.

His hand easily pulled the sword from the stone.

Well there you go. This makes version three. This is likely that last revision that I'll make. I worry I made this version to dramatic. But it definitely LOOKS nicer. Tell me what you think!

(1) This is important for the ending.

(2) I had originally started this story thinking that they had been 15 during Four Swords Plus, but after research I've decided that I actually think that they were 12. Either way, in this story they are supposed to be about 16 to 18. Vaguely stated: whatever you prefer.

(3) This sentence is based on my belief that Green is not the 'original' so when they returned to one, Link remembered doing everything as himself. So it should be… at least I think so.

Comment please!

LoZ © Not me.