This takes place after the events of "Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" and before "Time of the Doctor" (but still the 11th Doctor). All characters belong to their respective companies.

Spoilers ahead for both franchises (though Wikipedia is recommend if you don't care about spoilers and/or don't want to be completely lost on who everyone is).

Part 1: The creature in the Sacred Grove

"Link...I...See you later."

Link woke up. He hated that dream. Not just because it kept coming back, but because he didn't like the memory it was from. He sat up in his bed and gazed out the window. It was still very dark, likely hours before dawn, not that it mattered that much to him. He'd gotten far too used to lack of sleep during his past journey than was probably good for him anyway.

Rubbing his face with his hands, he fell back into his bed and gazed up at the ceiling, remembering said journey. It had been months now since it had ended, though only a few weeks since he finally returned to Ordon village. So many big things that had happened. So many that had directly affected him or that he had tossed himself headfirst into. His village was attacked. Another dimension crossing over into theirs. Getting turned into a wolf. Becoming the hero of legend. Fighting impossibly large monsters. Killing the king of evil. Saving a princess, all of Hyrule and the Twilight realm.

Gaining someone important to him and then losing her forever.

He understood why Midna had done it, of course. She told him right before she did: light and shadow cannot mix. In order for both the light world and Twilight realm to be safe from evil such as Ganondorf and Zant, the Mirror of Twilight, the only connection between the two worlds, had to be destroyed.

When it was all over, Link had gotten on Epona and searched. He checked every spot where they'd marked on his map that the Twilight portals had been, to see if any had remained. Those portals had allowed Link and Midna to travel nearly anywhere in all of Hyrule in seconds, and due to being formed by the two dimensions crossing, there was a chance that they could be used to lead back to the Twilight realm. If any would have asked, he'd have claimed he was just being cautious. Zant's attack on the light world had nearly killed so many, it would have been foolish to leave anything to chance.

This was the truth for why to do it. It was also a lie for why he had done it. He didn't want anyone to still be in danger, but if even one remained, then that would mean the two dimensions were still somehow connected, that somehow he and Midna would be able to meet again.

But regardless of truth or lies, the fact was that none remained. All the portals had closed when Midna destroyed the mirror. The Light world and Twilight realm were now forever separate from each other. The power of one realm could never again be abused by or used against any being of the other.

And Link would never see Midna again.

...

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"LINK!"

Link awoke with a start to the banging on his door. Slightly amazed he had actually drifted off to sleep, he leaped from his bed and ran to the door, opening it to reveal Colin, one of the kids from the village. He was trembling terribly.

"Colin, what's the matter?" Link asked.

"It's my dad." Colin said, fear sputtering from his voice. "One of his friends who went with him to the Sacred Grove a few days ago arrived minutes ago really badly wounded. He said that something there attacked them. He couldn't tell what it was, but it made the ground explode when it found them and it had this terrible voice. They got separated so he ran back here as fast as he could. Link, my dad's still there! That thing could have...could have..." Colin was on the verge of tears.

Link got down on one knee and placed his hands on Colin's shoulders. "Colin, don't think like that." He said. "Your dad survived being attacked by those dark Twilight creatures and protected the village when the invasion was happening. He's going to be alright."

Colin started to calm down. "I'll go to the Sacred Grove to bring him back, ok?" Link said.

Colin sniffed. "Thank you, Link. I'm sorry I'm placing all this on you. I wish I could do something to help."

"You're doing plenty to help." Link said. "You're protecting the village while we're gone and you're building yourself up so that one day you can keep this village safe from anything that might hurt it. That's more than anyone could ever ask for."

Link smiled at the kid and he couldn't help but smile back. Link always made everything seem like it was going to be ok.

Colin left to go get the Golden Cucco while Link went inside to gear up for his trip. He packed a few bombs and arrows, a bottle of blue potion, his bow, the Hylian shield, and a sword Rusl had made for him. He briefly considered wearing the Hero's clothes again, but decided that it would be overkill, given that they were only ever worn by the Hero when all of Hyrule was in greatest danger. Something he hoped was not the case or Rusl may already be dead. After receiving the Golden Cucco from Colin, Link left for the Grove.

...

After finally reaching the cliff where he'd jump off and glide using the Golden Cucco (a bird with the heart of a poet which actually made Link glad he could no longer understand animals), Link looked off into the distance to were the Sacred Grove would be. And seeing smoke rise from it! Some of the Grove was on fire! Worrying somehow more for Rusl's safety, Link leapt off and glided towards the forest.

...

Link finally landed in the Grove. He had not been here since he put the Master Sword back to rest. Things had changed considerably in the forest since then. Many branches as well as much of the ground was either singed or destroyed. He could even make out a few of the Skull Kid's puppets among the wreckage. Link walked along carefully through the forest, searching for any signs of Rusl's group. After a while of searching did he find some of them, though not how he wanted them to be. Body upon body laid dead on the ground. Some had very bad burns and wounds, as though they'd been hit by a bomb. But even stranger were those Link had found who had no injuries whatsoever, yet were just as dead as the others. After inspecting each one of them, Link could at least take comfort in one small thing. Rusl's body was not among them, so there was still a chance he was alive.

Noting to himself to properly bury them later when this was all over, Link continued on through the Grove. After some time he finally noticed something. It was far too quiet in the Grove. He heard no sound from any of the animals that lived there. Looking around for more than just Rusl, Link found many dead animals with the same injuries, or mysterious lack of injury, likely being what killed them.

Link snapped out of his sickening horror when he heard the movement of leaves ahead of him. Quickly pulling out his shield and sword, he put up his guard and advanced toward the noise. Only to then have the Skull Kid running out of the bushes a few feet ahead right towards him. Link lessened his guard, remembering that the Skull Kid, while having a strange and annoying sense of playing, tended to not have any malice intent towards anyone. But then Link saw, on the Skull Kid's always smiling face, a look of pure fear. Before Link could say something to it, a thin beam of light struck the Skull Kid from behind and for a terrible brief second, Link could actually see through the Skull Kid down to its skeleton. With that second over, it fell down dead. Link would have stared for who knows how long at the now dead body, shocked over what he'd just seen happen. But the figure that now came into view, it was like nothing Link had ever seen before.

Seemingly gliding across the Grove floor, the creature was almost as tall as he was and had a body that he could only describe as like a giant metal spice jar. It had two small appendages, one with some kind of cup on the end of it. The bottom half of its body was cover in large bumps and the top half had some kind of poll sticking out of its front with a bright blue circle on it. It also had two points on the top of its head that lit up when it spoke. And no wonder Rusl's friend had to mention its voice, because when it spoke to Link, in its high, shrilly, almost echoing voice, Link knew instantly only one thing about this 'thing'.

It wanted to kill him.

It was going to kill him.

And Link feared for his life when the creature cried out only one word.

"EXTERMINATE!"

The creature fire a beam of light out of its smaller appendage. Instinct saved Link's life as he threw up his Hylian shield to protect himself. The creature fired again, only this time when the beam hit his shield it hit with the force of an explosion and Link was sent flying back.

Falling flat on his back, Link quickly rolled out of the creature's targeting and back to his feet. He pulled out his sword and charged at the creature, ducking and rolling whenever he thought it would fire again. Finally Link managed to get behind the creature. He swung his sword at its body, but the blow was deflected just before contact! Ducking and rolling around the creature whenever it tried to face him, Link attacked it with his sword again and again, but to no avail. The creature had some kind of energy barrier around it that prevented his sword from directly contacting its body.

He had to get away. To put some distance between the two of them so that he could see if his bomb arrows could do anything against it. As soon as he got behind the creature again, Link dove through the bushes and ran, hoping to find a spot out of the creature's range. But more of the creature's beams came from behind, nearly hitting him. Link looked and saw the creature was quickly approaching ("How could something that looks like that move so easily through a forest?!" Link couldn't help but think). It continued to advance on him and fire, with Link doing everything he could to get away. He could run or he could dodge, but he couldn't do both effectively enough to survive.

Suddenly something grabbed Link's arm and yanked him to the side, pulling him along as it ran as well. Link looked up and it was Rusl.

"Link! What are you doing here?!" Rusl yelled at between breaths.

"One of your friends made it back to the village." Link said, running to keep up with him. "He said that you'd been attacked by something he'd never seen before. Colin asked me to help find you!"

They finally stopped running when they'd reached some of the ruins of the Sacred Grove. "You should not have come here, Link." Rusl said, his hands on his knees and panting from exhaustion. "That thing killed the others already. We don't need you to die here too."

Before Link could retort, both heard the distant rustling of leaves.

"It's still following us." Rusl said in disbelief. He stood there for a moment think, then turned to Link. "Link, you have to run. I'll distract it and lead it away, but you have to get back to the village and warn everyone about this thing."

"No!" Link said. "I'm not just going to leave you here to get killed by that thing! I can help you!"

"Don't argue with me, Link!" Rusl yelled at him. "I know that you have fought and killed plenty of monsters that no one else could have stood a chance against, but both of us and the others have tried everything we could to destroy this thing and none of it worked. We need help and preparation. We have a far greater chance of killing this thing if you're the one who goes back to the village than if I do."

Without letting Link say another word, Rusl ran off towards the noise. When he finally found the creature, Rusl pulled out his sword and continuously tried attacking the creature. He knew it wouldn't hurt it, but at least he managed to get its full attention. Rusl then ran, making sure to keep himself just within range of where the creature could see him.

He had no idea how long he ran for. His exhaustion and the strain on his muscles made it feel like he ran for hours, though in all likelihood it was just a couple of minutes. He knew he couldn't keep it up forever and he was soon proved right. For one of the creature's beam, though it missed him, hit the ground directly in front of him, causing him to run directly at exploding ground. He was knocked straight into the air before landing hard on his side. He tried to get up but the pain said otherwise. Rusl looked at his leg, his now bloody, burned, and mangled leg. The creature advanced upon him, the glimmer of the flames reflecting off its body, making it look like something directly out of a child's worst nightmare.

Rusl couldn't get up. He couldn't run. And there was no way he'd survive the creature's weapon. This was his end.

Rusl closed his eyes tightly, facing away from the creature, now only able to think of his family. His son, his wife, his new baby. He'd never see them again.

The creature stopped and took aim...

...And was then hit by a bomb arrow.

Rusl snapped his head up at the sound of it. The arrow had exploded the instant it hit the creature's energy barrier, creating great amounts of smoke that prevented the creature from seeing anything around it. Rusl looked around but couldn't see where it had come from. Then he heard "Rusl! Run!"

Rusl looked towards where the noise had come from and saw Link off in the distance. He had managed to climb to the top of the walls of the old ruins and was preparing to fire another arrow.

"Link, I told you to get out of here!" yelled Rusl. "You need to protect the village!"

"You're family needs YOU there to protect them!" Link yelled back. "It doesn't matter how strong anyone else is who protects them because they won't be you. They need YOU! Now GO!"

The domed head of the creature rotated towards Link, its metal eyestalk locking onto him. Link fired off the next bomb arrow he had prepared, refilling the air with the smoke that had cleared while they'd been yelling at each other.

Rusl could have stayed. He could have continued to insist that the village would need Link more than it would him. And he'd be right. But Link was right too. Regardless of what happened with this creature, his family would still need him. He couldn't die yet.

He had to trust in Link.

Rusl couldn't run but he could still roll, and that he did, rolling away from the creature as fast as he could, into and through numerous bushes and grasses. Rusl thought it must be a hilarious sight, a man rolling for his life. He'd laugh too if it weren't so painful.

Link continued firing at the creature to cover Rusl's escape. Not that it would go after him at that moment anyway. Link had its full, undivided attention, likely, Link guessed, because he'd succeeded in pissing it off.

The creature moved towards Link's location, Link relieved to see it wasn't firing at him. "I must be out of its range." Link thought to himself. The creature's beams may be powerful, but he doubted it could destroy the wall he was on. The ruins had existed longer than anything else in Hyrule and wouldn't crumble easily.

The creature got to the ruins, its eyestalk still fixed on Link. It fired at him, but the ledge prevented Link from being hit. Link felt slightly more relief. It couldn't get him. Its appendages may be able to kill in one shot, but he doubted they could be used to climb.

The creature stopped firing and just look right up at him. Link placed his next arrow on the string, thinking maybe he could at least use it to knock out the creature's eye. But then the creature spoke again, the lights on its head flashing as it did.

"ELEVATE."

Link couldn't believe what he was seeing. The creature started floating slowly above the ground, getting higher and closer to him. The thing could fly!

Link fired arrow after arrow at it, hoping to somehow stop the creature before it got to him. When it got to eye level with him, it fired its beam at the same moment Link shot his arrow. The two collided, the resulting explosion knocking Link off the other side of the wall and several feet down.

His body nearly went into shock from the impact. He fumbled around for his shield, pulling it out just in time to catch another of the creature's beams. The creature was flying towards him, beam after beam of the explosive energy pushing Link back. The Hylian shield was indestructible but Link was not. Each beam was like a bomb against his shield and he could feel his arms almost breaking from the pressure of the assault. But even over the impacts, Link could still hear the creature's screams of "EXTERMINATE! YOU WILL BE EXTERMINATED!"

The blasts continued, on and on, each worse than the last due to the increasing lack of distance between the two. Finally Link was pushed against something. Fearing for a second that he'd just been cornered against a wall, Link glanced behind him and saw it was the Master Sword, stuck in its resting place where he'd left it.

"If there was ever anything that could..." thought Link.

Timing it for the second after one the creature's beams finished hitting his shield, Link leaped back, pulling the Master Sword from its pedestal, then sprang forward and drove the sword directly through the creature's eyestalk into its domed head, the energy barrier bouncing wildly off the sword. The creature screamed in a voice that was a mix of both pain and rage. It took aim to fire at Link again, but Link, pulling the sword out, rolled around the creature so they were back to back, and thrust the sword as hard as he could behind him into the creature's body.

The screaming grew louder. The creature now feared for its life. It flailed around wildly, shooting everything around it to try and get him. But Link managed to avoid being hit and finally, after managing to pull the sword out once more, Link leaped up and dove the sword straight down into the creature's head. Sparks and purple blood sprayed out from the metal, the screaming reaching its highest pitch, until it finally stopped.

Battle over, Link collapsed backwards onto the ground, completely exhausted. He laid there for a few minutes, finally able to catch his breath. It was only for a few, though, because as much as his body was against it, he still needed to get up, find Rusl, and make the hike back to the village.

So Link moved to get up, but as he was doing so, he noticed some etchings on the floor. Link brushed them off, seeing that they were Hylian writing. Oddly though, even though the markings looked hundreds of years old, they were written in modern Hylian.

"How is that even possible?" thought Link. Cleaning off the writing some more, Link read what they said.

"To you who just defeated the Dalek (you know, that big metal thing that kept yelling Exterminate), take the Master Sword with you. Trust me, you're gonna need it."

Link was now utterly baffled. A message had been left for him. A message written hundreds of years ago yet somehow in modern Hylian. And whoever wrote the message somehow knew he wouldn't see it until after he'd just killed the creature ("...which apparently is called a Dalek."). Not knowing what to make of the message, Link decided it would be best to follow its instructions, at least until he got more information on what was going on.

Link went over to the Dalek and pulled the sword out, the purple blood dripping from it. Feeling curious, Link looked into the hole the sword had made. Inside was some kind of deformed tentacled creature with one eye (at least Link thought it had been an eye. The sword went through it so it was hard to tell.). The metal was not the Dalek, just the armor being used by the creature that had been living inside.

Had been.

Wiping the blood off the sword, Link sheathed it and went looking for Rusl. He found him hidden in some bushes, tying splints to his damaged leg. Both were relieved to see the other still alive. Helping Rusl to his feet, both limped out of the grove.