Dark Sages: Zelda's Tale

Author's Note: Edited under some advice from my coworkers, after it's initial posting. The content is the same, but there were some minor reworkings that should make this easier to follow. Also, a soundtrack has been added as a test... cookie goes to the first to accurately guess where this song comes from and why I chose it.

I've had some inquiries as to when this story is. It's about six months after the epilogue for Saria's Tale, which means it's about six and a half years after the beginning of Dark Sages, or nine and a half years after the beginning of OoT. I'll think about posting my timeline document (though the document gets changed pretty often, in the grand scheme of things). So now, without further ado, brace your nerves, fire up your imaginations, and enjoy the story.



The full moon bathed Hyrule Market in cold silver light. It made some areas glisten brightly, like new steel, while other areas where so darkly shadowed they seemed to be holes into the realm of death itself. The large square area was curiously silent, adding to the otherworldly effect. Stalls around the edges cast jagged shadows across the grey cobblestone that had paved the Market for the past hundred years. To the northwest, the Temple of Time loomed, glaring down at the Hylian city. A terrible sense of judgment emanated from the sacred structure, mixing with the unfeeling light.

Link was crouched near the center of the square, clutching his chest and leaning over a Hylian woman,. Zelda. The one person the Pact hated as much as the King of Hyrule. It was odd how much Link looked like the mistress of nightmares, their faces intended to be symmetrically perfect, though years of battle had scarred Link's face substantially. Zelda seemed very pristine by comparison, a vision of tranquility and beauty next to Link's fallen visage. But it made sense that she was beautiful.

Or she used to be beautiful. At the moment she seemed frail and very plebeian. She did not seem like an heir to the throne, nor did she seem like the kind of woman who could capture Link's heart and fill him with regret. She was so far from being the mistress of the Shiekah that it was laughable. There was none but Link and Zelda in the square, no Iron Knuckles or Darknuts or King's Hands to watch over her like they did around the clock otherwise. She wore armor that would have been a work of art in another age, crafted from the most regal of alloys with care befitting the heir to the throne. But all that was swept away and trivialized, and Zelda seemed to be no more than a common woman in fancy clothes.

The sword in her chest was probably to blame.

Link's face was carved in stone as he grasped the handle of his sword afresh. With one great swing he pulled the sword free, throwing Zelda in the air as he did so. Iron-grey eyes followed her as she arched into the air, and a resolute hand caught her by the neck as she came back to earth. In his travels Link had grown tall, now standing well over six feet, and his outstretched arm kept Zelda's feet dangling above the Market ground.

Turning his gaze up to the temple beyond the city, Link flicked the blood off his sword and returned it to his sheath. His eyes paused on the corpses of Zelda's Darknut guard, as if he had forgotten he had slaughtered the dozen warriors shortly before. It was vaguely amazing that he could sheath his blade right-handed, given how the sheath was oriented for his left hand, but Link had just recently shown his incredible prowess with the sword. Regardless of such distractions, Zelda was still being held in the air by that relentless hand; his grip was hard enough to keep her from slipping, but not enough to strangle her.

"Why did you do it?" Link asked quietly, not looking as Zelda. She gurgled unintelligibly, so he intoned a spell that magnified and clarified her words. The spell itself was composed of Ancient Hylian, the chosen language of the Goddesses. Depending on the power and intent of a command spoken in Ancient Hylian, it change radically affect anything that heard it, person, plant, object, or element.

"I... I did what... you have done. You are just... as monstrous as I..." Zelda tried to utter a phrase in Ancient Hylian that would release her, but the command was barely strong enough to rustle Link's hair. The backlash from trying to use such magic slammed into Zelda and dilated her eyes, and she began to gasp harder.

Link's voice remained deadpan, though his blood was beginning to drip from his tunic. "I did not ask whether I am a monster- we both know what we are. I asked why."

"You rebelled against your King! You... killed hundreds of innocents." Fury rippled across Zelda's face as she struggled to speak. Blood leaked from the corner of her mouth as she cast her words into Link's face. "Thousands of Hylians have lost family to the Left Hand!"

"You killed an entire pack of Wolfos with a lightning storm. You sent the Shiekah after the Skull Children. I watched an Iron Knuckle kill a Gerudo healer who was simply trying to help me stay alive." Link didn't even turn his head as he spoke. "I feel no pity for either of us."

"You are acting in revenge! Y-grhh!" Whatever she had tried to say was beyond the scope of Link's spell, so he intoned another small spell, causing golden lines to flow across her neck where her veins were. She gurgled a bit and then began again, with surprising force. "You are... defending mindless wolves that kill for pleasure! The Skull Children delight in leading innocent travelers to their deaths! The Gerudo women are bloody thieves!"

"You have yet to tell me why you did it first. And I do not take your accusations against my friends kindly." Link twisted his waist slightly, clenching a deep cut in his side closed. "One of the best conversations I've ever had was with a Wolfos. They are a proud, noble race- not unlike your own species."

Zelda opened her mouth for second to defend her race, but Link cut her off by tightening his grip. She reconsidered visibly, and then answered, "I did what I did because I thought I was in the right."

"Don't lie again or I will stop letting you breath."

Her eyes darted about as she looked for an answer that would please him. Link showed no signs of impatience or hurry, though his wounds were probably screaming at him to get help immediately. A small pool of blood began to form around his feet as he waited. Finally, her eyes paused as she came to the answer.

"Because he's my father. And I love him, enough to do horrible things for him."

Link finally faced her. "Do you know what this means?" She shook her face slightly, indicating no. "It means that despite all of this, all that you have done, you are still a person beneath. Somewhere in you is a heart capable of love, and that is the part of you which will live this night."

Link set Zelda on the ground, placing his bare knee on her chest. With careful, measured motions, he took off his cap, his armor, and his tunic. Placing his hand back on her neck, Link skillfully kicked off his boots and leggings, until he was totally nude. Zelda was visibly panicking, though she was doing a good job not lashing out. Such an action would be more than futile given her current position.

But Link seemed utterly at easy with his nudity, and not at all aroused. As he kicked his clothes to the side, he spoke levelly. "Zelda, did you know that the King of the Red Lions is named so because he can turn into a lion? In fact, all descendants of the Knights of Hyrule can... But there is a lot that goes with that particular magic, and terrible consequences for improper application."

With a casual punch into her largest wound, Link soaked his hand in Zelda's blood. He slowly raised his clenched fist above his head, and said something in Ancient Hylian that made the tiles of the market square crack. A single drop of blood fell down onto Link's bare forehead. It sizzled on his skin for a second before being absorbed into his body, leaving a golden scar on his forehead. With obvious difficulty he kept his eyes open and continued to speak as evenly as he still could.

"Fortunately for me, I am... intimately familiar with how the magic was... hrk... invented." Link flexed in pain, his muscles standing out in the moonlight. With a roar he threw Zelda across the Market, and arched his spine backwards.

Golden fur grew down from the drop of blood on Link's forehead. The blood-drenched hand tightened and bent, and with a sickening cutting sound, long black claws grew from his fingertips, ripping the nails out as they curved forward. The short bristly fur continued to grow down and then across Link's face, until it reached his neck and ordinary hair. His hair lengthened and new hair grew until he had a full mane, sprawling across his shoulders.

Zelda struggled to her feet, leaning on the wall she had crashed into. She drew a potion out of some hidden pocket and gulped it down weakly, all the while gazing at Link with renewed hatred. He roared again as the unkempt fur washed across his bare skin and his bones grew longer. In moments he was over eight feet tall, standing upright. A long tail grew from Link's lower back, lashing angrily as it developed. As it finalized Link's haunches reshaped, forcing him to lean forward and use his arms for balance.

A third roar erupted from his throat, far deeper and more bestial than the previous two. His jaw squared outwards and his cheekbones extended, growing forwards into a lion's muzzle. His teeth sharpened and extended, and his nose grew flat. Finally, his eyes shut for a second, and opened in a new shape and with a new, golden hue. His slitted pupils flexed once and a rush of blood flowed though the whites of his eyes.

Link stood upright as best he was able and spoke a word in Ancient Hylian, stopping his continuing growth. His voice was impossibly deep and had a frightening growl beneath it. Another word, longer and more complicated this time, rumbled out of Link's throat and his bones shifted a bit, this time more fluidly, allowing him to stand upright.

"We always suspected you had Knightly blood in you, but this... this never happened in our grimmest plans." Zelda spoke clearly and calmly, her throat healed from the potion she had drunk. The cut in her chest was still very deep, but seemed to be substantially better already. "I thought there was a whole lot more to the initiation ceremony you have to do before becoming a lion."

"I skipped most of it through your blood and my knowledge. The Book of Mudora was thorough." Link seemed to have difficulty pronouncing the more complicated words, and limited his sentences accordingly.

"Then you know what this will do to you." As Zelda spoke a sword sparkled into existence in her hand. At first it looked like an illusion, but Zelda's preparatory swipe proved otherwise.

"It matters not. You will die before that comes into effect." Link took a menacing step forward. "Are you ready to die for love and loyalty?"

"Always." And with that, they flew towards each other, weapons ready.

The fight was fast. In just a few minutes Link had managed to disarm Zelda by dismembering her. She still fought him with spells, but the outcome was inevitable from that point- a sweeping backhand that took her off her feet, and then a swift bite to her throat as soon as she hit the ground. And as Link stood their, mourning for the Princess he had just killed, the sages finally arrived to take him home.

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