#tfoah AU

[justakidicarus]

A little ficlet based on the recent Zelda reveal

I was suddenly inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom game trailer. While this probably can't be considered spoilers on accounts of the game and its story not actually being out, viewer discretion is advised. This is likely not canon to the actual events of the game and is just my initial lore prediction. I was heavily inspired by the trailer and it got words flowing.

Assumptions:

Set in the Downfall timeline post Link's Awakening due to similar art styles and the presence of Deku scrubs.

Characterisations are unique

Also, I know nothing about the Downfall timeline besides vague hints from Linked Universe content as I haven't played any of their games. Creative liberties have been taken.

Fic under the break. Tags of ficlet contain spoilers. Also additional notes for the fic are under the fic itself, including explanations of concepts and background for the scene not included in the Assumptions.

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Zelda threw herself to the ground as the Void Rift finally stopped eating at her steps, the halls of Ganon's new lair shrouded in shadows that Tri could barely pierce with their gleam. She groaned, hand still gripping the Tri-staff with a white-knuckled grip, as she refused to let go of her one saving grace in her journey for her kingdom. She didn't know how Link made each of his quests look so effortless. If the kingdom itself wasn't resting on her shoulders she didn't think she could have made it half as far as she has.

"Well, well, well. I didn't expect to see you in the Lord's Lair so soon. Quite far from the light aren't you, Princess?"

Zelda scrambled to her feet, Tri flying to her side to steady her hasty rise as she brandished her staff before her, summoning an echo torch before her to light the room.

The torch lasted mere moments before it was snuffed out, seemingly consumed by the ravenous Darkness surrounding her. If it wasn't for Tri and her staff, the wayward Princess wouldn't have been able to see the ground at all.

Tri zipped beside her ear to whisper advice, likely wary of whatever was in the room. The sheer fact that Tri didn't already know was worrying in and of itself. "Zelda this isn't normal Darkness, whatever is in here is dangerous, maybe even Ganon's most dangerous creation yet! This Darkness feels relentless." her companion murmured, their button-like eyes creased with barely concealed fear. Zelda felt her own heart jump. Tri couldn't even tell what was hidden in the shadows?

Zelda lifted a hand for her fairy to rest on as she replied with an equally as quiet "We can't turn back, not with the rift in the way. We'll make it through together," Before looking back into the Darkness for even a hint of movement. "Show yourself, servant of the Demon King!" She shouted, swinging her staff forward as an entire swath of torches was lit, fans behind them pushing the fire forward to clear out a path through the Darkness.

With a loud snarl more befitting of its master, the Darkness surged forward and attacked the fans directly, shattering the echoes before consuming the flames in turn. The hidden monster's voice had a loud echo as it spoke. Whatever room they were in must be big. "Do you think you can beat my Master? Your oh-so-pathetic knight couldn't, what makes you think you stand a chance?" it taunted, voice moving lazily across the room, uncaring of the impact of its words.

"Where is he? Answer me you monster!" Zelda cried out into the moving shadows surrounding her, twisting as she tried to track the monster, refusing to let it get behind her.

"Oh Princess, didn't you see those cursed souls outside?" it seemed to whisper, voice dripping with mocking pity as her heart clenched. The cursed souls, the Hylians that Ganon had kidnapped through the Dark Rifts doomed to serve their captor as slaves to the monsters. Only the Tri-staff's power could free them from Ganon's thrall, and return them home. Link would never succumb to the Darkness; he was too strong for that, but even the thought of him befalling such a fate sent a spike of fear through her bones.

"He would never have succumbed to your Master and his powers. Link is far too strong to ever fall," she hissed at the voice's general direction.

"I'll admit, he put up a fight. Not even a thousand monsters could weaken his resolve and put out that fool's damned faith." Despite the way the voice spat insults at her hero as if the words were poisoned, she almost felt relief at its words. Of course, Link would fight an entire army of monsters to reach her again, it was such a Link thing to do.

"but there's more than one way to snuff out a light," it chuckled, the voice whispering into her ear as her heart lept to her throat. She swung around and summoned an echoed lizalfos in front of her, but it barely lasted a second before the Darkness surrounded it and she could hear its death throes. Tri hovered over her shoulder, shaking with the weight of Zelda's fear for her knight. What are these monsters doing to him?!

"What have you done to my knight!" She screamed out, equal parts fury, mania, and fear giving her power enough of a boost that the Tri-staff glowed brighter, reacting to her will. The voice only laughed at her, its horrid amusement staining the air as the shadows pooled lazily at the edges of her light, unconcerned with her strengthened power.

"Where there is light, there must always be Darkness. Darkness is the natural state of the world, a state my Master will return it to once he rips that little triangle from your hand. From Darkness everything has come from-" it spoke with a madness that outshone its master's own, the monster's manic tone betraying barely a depth of its own insanity. Zelda's foot almost slipped into the Void Rift before she pulled herself back from the edge. Whatever creature Ganon had in this room, it was unlike anything she had ever faced before. It terrified her.

"-and to Darkness I have returned," it purred as torches of Dark fire lit upon the walls, bringing vision through the room while the space remained covered in its darkness. The ceiling was high and decorated with Ganon propaganda, images of the boar-faced brute staring down from all angles. The walls were leaking more of that Darkness, pooling down into grooves on the floor as they made their way to the circle of the cylindrical room. At its centre were multiple sets of shackles, prepared as if to contain a single person despite the sheer number of chains. Standing in the centre of the room was the source of the voice, the servant of Ganon whose darkness was so absolute that it didn't care at all for the power of the Tri-staff.

Distantly, Zelda could feel Tri slam into her chest, trembling so violently with both horror and fear that the little fairy could barely breathe. She could hear blood roaring in her ears as silently, desperately, she begged her eyes to be lying. This couldn't be real. Yet even as her free hand's nails dug hard enough into her palm to leave red marks on her skin, nothing in the room changed. The Hylian in front of her didn't morph into something else, or disappear as a trick of the shadows. This was real. This was real and she didn't know how to handle it as her world was shattered and laid to rest at the feet of the one she had journeyed so far to save.

"You've been searching my Master's kingdom for your hero? Well, here I am Princess." Link grinned at her, not an ounce of kindness in his eyes as he stared at her as if she were nothing but a Bokoblin he needed to kill.

---///---

Notes!

So to start there are two kinds of Rifts. Dark rifts lead to Ganon's evil Realm and Void Rifts, lead from Ganon's Realm into the Void. Nothing survives a Void rift.

Darkness is the main evil force in this. It's sort of an omnipresent force as a vapour in Ganon's realm but also exists as both a liquid and a solid. it is essentially evil given tangible form.

And to get to the meat of the concept Link has been corrupted by Darkness!

Dark Link's appearance isn't brought up, but you can assume it's evil-looking and menacing, perhaps even the classic Dark Link fit (Black skin, Red eyes, Silver hair, Black hero outfit). Just make his eyes red.

The room is indeed a boss room, but Zelda will escape due to Tri-staff BS without finishing the fight with Link because I need to get at least two encounters out of this guy.

Ganon also stole Link's part of the Triforce when he captured him the first time. Yes, Link has escaped Ganon, but the only way in and out of the realm without Ganon's power is the Tri-staff. Link does not have the Tri-staff

The chains in the room + Ganon's Propaganda might not have been entirely obvious but this is also where Ganon imprisoned Link to corrupt him. I could write another ficlet for it but he was essentially chained down and smothered with darkness completely, with nothing but pure evil and propaganda for company. This would have been going on for at least two weeks to a month before Link was fully corrupted.

Zelda will eventually purge him of the Darkness don't worry, but first, the Tri-staff and her own power will need a serious upgrade. The Darkness infesting Link is supercharged, coming directly and purposefully from Ganon himself and is also attracted to him as the past holder of the Triforce of Courage. At her current strength, Zelda would be hard-pressed to beat him in combat, let alone purge hm of his Darkness.

I have a few ideas on how to build off of this idea, including the aforementioned Link's corruption ficlet, but also one where Zelda seeks aid, a Dark Link POV ficlet, and even Link's Purging. Feel free to suggest more ideas if you've got them, I wanna see where this idea could go!

[justakidicarus]

Dark Link - The Fall of a Hero (3/?) Part 2 - The Hatching's Interlude

This one has a lot of world-building. Assumptions can be found in the Prologue. This part does not actually include Link at all, but it does discuss him and builds a bit more on Drakeon as a character.

More notes for parts of the story mentioned and different pieces of worldbuilding I haven't been able to integrate into the fic are beneath the fic. Spoilers for the trailer of Echoes of Wisdom. This fic should be considered Non-canon to the events of Echoes of Wisdom and is heavily canon-divergent. Fic below the cut.

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“You failed to break in the Hero. Worse, you allowed him to escape.” The demon king growled from atop his throne as the silver Lizalfos strolled into the room with an air of nonchalance. Drakeon paid little mind to Ganon’s building rage, instead busying herself with checking over her staff. The little brat gave as good as he got, she could give him that. Still, it was only a matter of time before the scouting parties found his location. Once she knew where he was, it would be whelp’s play to bring him back.

Ganon’s growl deepened and the Lizalfos winced as she heard the boar slam his staff into the ground, an echo of’ Warning’ ringing through the room. The demon king hissed “Do not ignore me Hatchling. I am your King, and you will respect me as such.” The Darkness thickened and writhed, responding to its master’s fury.

“Ah get ya the results ya want better than any o’ your stuffy Fallen-born Monster ever could an’ you know it.” Drakeon pointed out, reminding him of why her insolence is excused. The Monsters of the Fallen were weak, used to gorging on Darkness so much that they became lazy and inefficient. Her kind never got that luxury. Drakeon herself didn’t even hail from the lands of Hyrule, far removed from its dark powers. Her people worked for every bit of strength they had and earned every bit of respect they received from both the land and her spirits. No fallen-born monster had the drive to bring the best out of a Monster. Only her kind, Whelp-born with enough grit and determination to make it to adulthood, had enough drive to get things done. Drakeon was the only Whelp-born to get on this side of the veil anyway. She was irreplaceable and they both knew it.

“You failed to get results this time. I do not tolerate mistakes.” Ganon said, eyes narrowing dangerously from what she could see out of the corner of her eye.

“An ah don’t tolerate them neither,” Drakeon shrugged, rolling and unrolling her tail. It had begun to grow past her comfortable length. She’d have to see if she could cut it down soon to something more manageable.

“And yet you deign to make one.” The Demon King rumbled, like the thunder warning of an incoming storm. Drakeon took a deep breath, looking to the sky where the veil between realms was at its thinnest.

“Tha Hero’s spirit is that of ah sublime beast.” She quoted from memory. The Divine Beast of Twilight’s words wore heavily on her shoulders, alongside his canine stare and sharp fangs. She turned to look directly at Ganon himself, not hesitating to make direct eye contact with the yellow-eyed boar. She tilted her head to the side as she asked: “Do ya ‘ave any idea what that means?”

She didn’t let the demon king get a word out before standing, swinging her staff in a ‘Listen’ motion as the room quieted to let her speak. “It means tha out there is a beast that ‘as a master, you if we wanna be technical. If ya chain up ah wolf, it’ll bite ya back real hard. If ya put a horse in lock up, it’ll kick ya whenever ya get near. If ya cage a bird, it’ll fly away first chance it gets.” She drawled, strolling around the room as her staff made barely audible clicks as she moved. “Ya don’t wanna piss off ah wild animal ya hear? Mah tribe an’ I lived among them, we know how they work. Ah won’t lie, Ah’ve met tha Hero type before too. Ah know how tha’ brat works better than ‘he does. Tame at first glance, feral as all hell the next.”

Ganon moved to speak. She slammed her staff down with her next step, ‘Warning’ roaring through the silent chamber. “Tha Hero’s spirit is that of ah sublime beast.” She repeated, the shadows of the room responding with her words, her lineage, as the veil thinned imperceptibly. “An treat a beast right, let it run free on tha wind, an’ feed it when it comes tah heel, and it’ll be loyal ferever more. Ah, don’t make mistakes Ganon.” She spat, tail swaying behind her as she twisted around toward the entryway, letting her words and their meaning sink in. She had her plan, and while the hero running didn’t make it easy, she knew what she had to do to bring him in.

As she made it to the grand doors, she glared over her shoulder at the demon king who remained on his throne, seemingly considering her words and what it would mean for his future strength. She remembered his earlier words. She wouldn’t let them go uncorrected. “An yer not mah King.” She hissed, slamming the doors of the throne room behind her on her way out.

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First (Prologue) -> Previous (Part 1: Recruiter's Call) -> Current (Part 2: The Hatchling's Interlude) -> Next

This is all the pre-written parts I have since Part 3 is what I hit my writer's block on. It's mostly finished too I'm just trying to get past the final bit of the part and then I could post it.

Lots of notes this time sorry for the chunks of text:

Drakeon hails from the Ordona Provence. Her tribe were reclusive and lived off the land, not encountering the Hero of Twilight until well after the events of Twilight Princess. As the tribe was considered citizens of Orodona Provenance by the Light Spirit due to a truce, Twilight was instructed by the spirit not to attack the Lizalfos. The tribe and Twilight had good albeit uneasy relations from Twilight’s side until the hero passed when his soul moved to the Twili realm post-mortem and he became the realm's divine protector. Drakeon’s tribe were gifted the ability to move through the veil between realms, which allowed them to travel to the Twili realm, where Drakeon met Twilight. Drakeon later travelled through the veil again but with different intentions, discovering the Downfall Timeline. She travelled it, met the Demon king's army, and enlisted for the fuck of it (and because she was disgusted with the attitude of the army and wanted to whip them into shape). Her strangeness made its way to Ganon and they met, Ganon promoted her to General and placed her in charge of all military training. She refuses to tell Ganon anything about her timeline, to his chagrin, but he would be a fool to kill such a valuable and irreplaceable asset.

While monsters are aware of the other timelines, they couldn’t travel to them. The Downfall Timeline calls their monsters Fallen-born (As the Hero of Time was killed), the Child Timeline Whelp-born (As the Hero of Time was a Child (a Whelp) when he thwarted Ganon), and the Adult Timeline Hero-born (as the Hero of Time was fully fledged in their timeline). Hatchling is an insult meant to poke at Drakeon’s Lineage as a Lizalfos hailing from the Child timeline, yes, Ganon is racist.

Ganon is in fact, not Drakeon’s demon king. TP Ganondorf technically is, but he never called the Ordonian Lizalfos to arms so they never caused trouble at the behest of darkness. If anything, the only being that could claim rulership of the tribe is Ordona xemself. And yes, Drakeon has an Ordonian accent and also identifies as Ordonian

Yes by locking up Link Ganon kinda fucked himself in the long run. Yes, Dark Link has obsessive loyalty to the demon king but that loyalty is magic-induced and as soon as Link is free from it he gives Ganon the mother of all wallops. Meanwhile, Drakeon gets to go free and unharmed because she was never overly cruel to Link. She treats him as she would treat a wolf pup that wandered into camp. Her more violent acts were corrections, not done out of cruelty and wanting to cause pain but more to correct his behaviour. Don’t misbehave, don’t get hurt. Drakeon gave Ganon the tools to keep Link permanently at his side. Ironically those tools are care, trust, and understanding of limits. Ganon disregarded this and paid the price while Drakeon got out of it with a free ally.

Anyway any sort of feedback is welcome within reason and if there are any questions, feedback, or suggestions feel free to comment or send an ask and I'll try to answer them.

I don't have a set time for when I'll be able to send the next part though so we'll see how it goes!

[justakidicarus]

Dark Link - The Fall of a Hero (2/?) Part 1 - Recruiter's Call

The second instalment of the Dark Link series. This part is much longer. Assumptions are in the Prologue, and I don't have much else to say.

More notes for parts of the story mentioned and different pieces of worldbuilding I haven't been able to integrate into the fic are beneath the fic. Spoilers for the trailer of Echoes of Wisdom. This fic should be considered Non-canon to the events of Echoes of Wisdom and is heavily canon-divergent. Fic below the cut.

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When Link awoke, it was to loud pacing. He silently whined as he twisted, trying to find a way to stand so he could move from his current resting place. Whatever he was lying on was coarse and a bit moist. He didn’t like it.

“Oh, finally tha brat’s awake.”

A three-fingered talon grabbed onto Link’s tunic so suddenly that he yelped, dragged up onto his feet by an unknown creature as he quickly got his footing, twisting around and reaching for his sword as he took in his surroundings. The sky was midnight black, split with purple fractures as if the sky were a broken mirror. Various islands and bodies of water floated aimlessly around the land, ignorant of the laws of nature such as gravity. Behind him were the walls of a Blackstone castle, each brick oozing waves of dark liquid into the moat at his heel. Underneath his feet was grass a strange shade of dark blue. Wherever he was, it wasn’t Hyrule. Currently, that was the least of his worries.

Before him stood an army of monsters, possibly thousands strong. Each creature from Bokoblins to Gleock’s was armed to the teeth and staring at him as if he were their next meal. In the front of the line, a silver Lizalfos stood, armed with a Hylian sage staff. The Lizalfos didn’t look like the rest that he could see in the army. While those Lizalfos had a flat snout, short legs, and long, thick tails, this one had a blockier muzzle, longer legs and a shorter, thinner, tail. It also wore a canine skull over its head, obscuring most of its face besides its golden eyes and mouth. Other bone and strangely leather ornaments decorated its body and staff, swinging in the soft breeze.

“Now, tha Bossman wants ya whipped inta shape by the next full moon. Ah reckon we can get it done in half the time. All you Hylians are the same after all. Easy tah break in. ‘Not sure why the King wants ya in tha army instead of serving in tha mines but hey, I’m just here to follow orders. Besides, we’ll make due, won't we?” The silver-coloured Lizalfos monologued, twirling its staff as it paced down the line of monsters. Link was more concerned with the fact it could speak in the first place.

“Welcome to tha Demon King’s army Hero. We’re gonna ‘ave a lot o’ fun together.” The Lizalfos grinned as it gestured almost lazily with its spear. ‘Charge’ the signal read, as the entire army of monsters descended on Link.

He wasn’t about to give them the chance to beat him.

He drew his sword and charged back, his blade slashing through the first line with ease born of a Hero who journeyed over 7 times in the past.

The battlefield was a blur as Link cut down monster after monster, taking out Lynel’s and Moblin’s left and right as anything lesser fell before he could blink. That Silver Lizalfos remained out of reach, hanging off the side of a Gleock’s flank as it seemed to record whatever was happening

Link lost track of time as he fought. The sky didn’t change, he never felt fatigued, and his enemies didn’t stop coming. Over time, his sword whittled away, and he was forced to rip the blade from a charging Lynel to continue his fight, repeating whenever his latest weapons broke. Over time, the overseeing Lizalfos became more and more irate. Link could barely spare a thought, focused on his eternal battle. If he could make it through the horde, he could find a way to escape. If he managed to escape, he would be able to get back to Zelda. Then she could make a plan so they could get the Triforce of Courage back and beat Ganon for good. He just needed to defeat the horde first.

“Alrigh’, this ain’t working.” A voice shouted out before a pair of talons slammed into his back and drove him to the ground. Link yelped as he went down. He tried to swing his stolen blade into the new threat, but a staff quickly hooked around the cross guard and threw his only weapon to the side.

“Ah can see why tha Bossman wants you on the frontline Brat. Ya know yer way with tha blade, can’t deny that, and you’se got a viciousness tha’ puts mah best Lynel’s tah shame. Still, if ah don’t figure out how to kill that blasted Light o’ yours it’s mah head on the chopping block. The bastard is making her way through her lil kingdom and if she gets out here with tha’ blasted staff then we’re all toast.” The Silver Lizalfos that had been watching everything rattled on, shifting its weight from side to side as it kept Link pinned to the ground. He listened with vague confusion. What did it mean, ‘the frontline’? ‘Kill the light’? He wasn’t daft, he knew the Lizalfos was acting under orders from Ganon, but what was the demon king’s goal? What light was it talking about? Ganon already had the Triforce of Courage, what more could he want?!

“New plan. Ah can tell yer listen’n to me, Brat, so tha’ means at least the Darkness is doing something to ya. Le’s see if we can get it to do my job for me. Pheon!” The Lizalfos called out as it lept off his back. Immediately, Link jumped to his feet and whirled around, searching for a leftover weapon he could grab. Before he could move towards the nearest Bokoblin, holding its sword lax with the blade practically on the ground, he was ripped from the ground by a large talon around his body. The Gleock the Lizalfos had been riding earlier had grabbed him in its claws.

The Lizalfos twirled its staff, ‘Obey’ in its movements as the silver-scaled monster spoke “Take the brat for ah dip in the moat, will ya? Le’s see how he deals with tha Bossman’s darkness in its most concentrated form.” Link paled as he tried to pry the Gleock’s talons apart. He did not like the sound of that. The winged monster took off, heedless of his struggle, as it immediately dove for the black waters surrounding the dark castle. Link thrashed harder in its hold, but its claws never relented. He would rather land on the hard ground than in the Onyx River.

He was very suddenly freefalling.

SPLASH!

Link sunk through the liquid like a stone as it rushed over him, dark claws tearing at his skin. He lunged for the surface but could barely tell which way was up. His breathing came panicked as his body warred with his logic. He shouldn’t be able to breathe here, he was underwater! Voices whispered in his ears, mocking him, screaming at him, laughing at him. The Hylian grit his teeth as his fingers brushed hard rock.

He felt like growling as he looked up, spying on the shimmer of the sky above him. He swam the wrong way. He hissed as he leapt from the rock bottom of the moat, kicking upwards towards the surface as he breached the surface tension of the river, swallowing down the liquid Darkness in his throat as he paddled towards the shore, intent on getting out of this stupid dark water.

A long staff was lowered down in front of him, and he grasped it without hesitation, being dragged across his front up the slope and onto flat and dry land.

“Now tha’s what ah like to see! No more o’ that stupid gold on ya. I’ve gotta say, Silver and Onyx is a good look on ya Brat.” The Lizalfos chirped, seemingly nonchalant as she inspected her claws while leaning on her staff. Behind her, the army fussed about, ignoring the General and Hylian in favour of their gossip.

Link growled and got to his feet. “Don’t call me Brat,” he huffed before he froze. His voice isn’t supposed to be that deep. Come to think of it, why did he talk in the first place? Usually, it was a fight to get his words to work properly, especially among enemy forces.

“Ah’ll gonna call ya what ah want Brat. Don’t know yer name and ah don’t care tah learn it.” The General dismissed, waving her staff in a ‘Stay put’ motion. Link felt himself freeze against his will before scowling. What was going on with that staff? Was it some kind of magic artifact of its own? Link forced himself to move, taking a shaky step forward before almost stumbling as the force holding him in place left. The General didn’t seem to know she had no more power over him, even as the nearest pack of Bokoblins startled and started chattering and pointing. “Ah’ll call it into tha Bossman tha’ we got through and we can start the evaluations and see where you’ll be placed,” She said, waving a claw lazily through the air to articulate her thoughts.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” Link snapped; hands clenched into fists at his side. The General froze at her pace, looking back over her shoulder before groaning loudly

“Oh, Ordona ‘ave mercy! Why can’ ya jus give in?” The General roared, the surrounding monsters screeching in surprise and fear as they backed away.

“I’m not going to follow some- monster around!” Link shouted back, eyes darting to the crowd, as he tried to ignore his stutter. This wasn’t normal.

“Brat look at yerself! Yer just as much ah monster as the rest o’ us!” She growled, jabbing at him with her staff as his own eyes widened. What did she mean by that?! Link yanked his tunic into sight and his breath hitched. The normal forest green tunic was now a dark Onyx black. His tan skirt was a sharp silver colour. What he could see of his skin was this pale grey colour that looked almost sickly. The strands of his hair that dangled in the corners of his vision were a rich purple, not a hint of blond in sight. “Ya think a Hylian can see in tha Dark realm? Ya think a Hylian can breathe its air? Hero or not, yer one of us now Brat. Start actin’ like it or ah’ll bring yer insubordination to tha’ King.” The Lizalfos spat, slamming the blunt end of her staff into the ground in a ‘Warning’ motion. A jolt of fear zapped through Link at the staff’s motion, but what made it stick was her words.

He took a step back, much more mindful of the drop into the moat as his blood pumped in his ears. “No, you’re wrong. I’m not a monster,” he growled, glancing at the army before him. There was a path through, he just had to take it. The General seemed to notice what he was scheming, and her eyes narrowed under her mask. She raised her staff but Link didn’t intend on giving her the chance to thwart his escape again. He charged for the gap in the lines, monsters screaming in surprise at his sudden dash and leaping out of the way as if he were a raging Lynel, before realising that they were supposed to be stopping him.

Link dodged a Lynel Crusher bearing down on his head and leapt over a pack of Bokoblins making a dead sprint through the much thinner crowd. Behind him, he could hear the Lizalfos shouting orders as Aeralfos swooped at him and Keese shrieked in his ear. Still, he kept pace, darting for the woods surrounding the plains the army had gathered on. A couple of Chu’s sprung up in his path but his pace never relented, instead, he growled and shot forward, dashing through the Chu’s as if they were never there.

He didn’t quite notice when the attacks had stopped, but by the time he disappeared into the tree line no more monsters were chasing after him. He was free. For now.

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Previous (Prologue) -> Current (Part 1: Recruiter's Call) -> Next (Part 2: (The Hatchling's Interlude)

I'm sorry if the accented writing is a bit much. The Lizalfos speaks with a country accent and I wanted to include that in the writing without having to say 'southern drawl' every so often.

Notes

Link has been unconscious for two weeks since the events of the Prologue. This has given his body time to adjust to the Darkness in the realm and adopt it for itself. In case it wasn't clear, this is the reason he can understand the monsters.

The Silver Lizalfos' name is Drakeon. Yes, she is a recurring character. She wasn't going to be but then she kept showing up and I wanted to write more on her and now we're here.

The ways Drakeon moves her staff correspond with how Ganon moves his own to command the army. The Darkness within the monsters responds to these movements. Drakeon’s training helps reinforce the commands, so they don’t fail when Ganon needs to use them. Warning (used to threaten higher-level monsters) is slamming the staff into the ground. Charge is a forward thrust. Obey (used for complex vocal commands) is a twirl. Waving side to side means Stay. Follow is swinging the staff downwards.

Note: Darkness can take any three forms without issue, often transitioning between them freely. The Darkness in Link’s lungs just became Vapor, which at this point is breathable for him

Yes, Drakeon swore to Ordona from Twilight Princess. No this isn’t set in the Child timeline. This will be elaborated on in the next part, which is set in Drakeon's POV.

When Link dashed through the Chu’s he summoned a suede weapon from Darkness and cut through them, but he didn’t realise it. I don't think I could have written it in any further so I just put it here.

Onyx is the word the monsters use for black-tier monsters.

Dark Link's appearance is sort of a mix between Shadow from the Four Sword Manga and Dark Link in BotW/TotK.

That's about it for my notes. Any questions feel free to ask them in the comments or ask me directly. See you in Part 2: The Hatchling's Interlude.

[justakidicarus]

Dark Link - The Fall of a Hero (1/?) Prologue

So I've been writing the sort of prequel/continuation of my one-shot here and since I've gotten writer's block with it I've decided to start posting the parts I have gotten written. So far I have three finished parts including this one with at least two needed to finish the set.

Assumptions:

Set in the Downfall timeline post A Link Between Worlds. I looked up the timeline on the Legend of Zelda Wiki for this as I thought Link's awakening was after aLBW. Turns out I was wrong. I do not know much about the Downfall Timeline.

I'm trying my best to keep the characterisations of characters from the actual games unique but I'm an LU fan and it's hard. It's not even Link that's giving me problems (you'll see what I mean in part 3).

More notes of for parts of the story mentioned and different pieces of worldbuilding I haven't been able to integrate into the fic are beneath the fic. Spoilers for the trailer of Echoes of Wisdom. This fic should be considered Non-canon to the events of Echoes of Wisdom and is heavily canon-divergent. Fic below the cut. This is the prologue and is quite short, so I'll post the next two parts straight after as well.

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Link slammed into the hard stone with a groan, dazed by his impromptu fall. His groan quickly turned into desperate coughing as the normally clean air of Hyrule was replaced with something cloying and thick, painting his throat and lungs, attempting to choke him to death. He hacked loudly, trying to clear his lungs and breathe in some usable air as he rose to his knees, one hand supporting him while the other clutched at his throat. He could barely see the bricks under his hand and what parts of him weren’t occupied with coughing were occupied with shivering in the sudden cold.

“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.”

Heavy footsteps echoed through the room as a large hand slammed into Link’s side, throwing him aside and away from the sword that had fallen beside him. Stupid! Why did he let his sword out of his hand? He could barely stand under the pressure from the air around him and still, his breathing didn’t ease up, leaving him completely at the demon king’s mercy.

Ganon picked him up effortlessly, all the wounds Link and his blade had left on its hands vanishing before the Hero’s eyes due to the dark energy of the room. The Hylian wheezed as the boar-faced beast squeezed his ribcage, Link’s arms pinned to his sides, regardless of his struggles. The sound of clattering metal echoed in the chamber as the beast moved, placing its blade down as its other hand came out of the shadows to grab his right hand. Link’s breath picked up as the gentle feeling of the triforce of Courage, constantly in the back of his mind, suddenly flared with urgency and pain.

A scream tore itself out of his throat, the pain ripping across his body as if he had been set alight. He thrashed within Ganon’s grip, trying to rip his hand away from the monster to no avail. He was completely trapped.

“Your time as a thorn in my side is over, Hero.”

Link whined low and long, his words not working as the pain began to crescendo, Ganon’s grip tightening on both his body and his hand while his breathing remained laboured and harsh.

“I have won.”

There was a sudden flash of Light in the otherwise pitch-black room as the golden power snapped, twisting out of Link’s hand and into Ganon’s palm. The golden triangle was twisting around, leaning more in favour of returning to the one it was ripped from than remaining with the one who had stolen it. Link was promptly tossed aside, slamming into the opposite wall with a harsh cry of pain, falling to the ground with limbs suddenly sore and weak to a level he had never felt in his life. Still, he couldn’t take his eyes off the simple triangle that had been his to protect. The one he just lost.

“The Triforce of Courage…” Ganon murmured, looking for all the world as if he had forgotten Link’s presence in the room as he marvelled at the prize he had coveted for so long.

“Mine at Last.”

Ganon closed his fist, the triangle's presence extinguished and removed all Light from the room. Darkness rose eagerly to its master’s call and swarmed the room, dousing all within in its shadows. Link’s eyes burned and his lungs screamed in pain

The last thought Link had before his consciousness gave out was a prayer to Zelda. She couldn’t let the triforce fall into Ganon’s hands, not when he had already failed.

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Current (Prologue) -> Next (Part 1: Recruiter's Call)

So yeah! That is the prologue. Very short I know, but I was planning on posting everything as one fic before the writer's block struck. The only reason I'm posting in parts is because I want to get this fic out there in the first place and didn't want my writer's block to stop that.

Notes:

Since turning this into an actual series the Worldbuilding is coming as I write so things might not be consistent with the original one-shot. This is because I start writing and a scene doesn't match with the direction I initially planned and I just go with the flow. This is a common problem of mine even when I plan out the scene.

Darkness is Ganon's magical power. It can only be directly countered by a force of light (essentially Zelda has to use the tri-staff to hurt Ganon. The Master Sword would work too). Darkness exists in all states of matter (Solid, Liquid, Gas).

Ganon now has both the Triforce of Power and the Triforce of Courage!

Link's breathing problems are caused by the Darkness in the air attacking his body. It grows worse without the Triforce of Courage counteracting its effects.

There are not many notes for this part so right into the first full part, Part 1: Recruiter's call.