Veil of Twilight

Chapter VII
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The Castle stared with hollow windows upon Hyrule. The twilight had spread, and now the rest of the castle town was engulfed in the golden black plague.

Zelda watched helplessly from her window, wrapped in her black robe of mourning; the twilight was chilly, if one had nothing to keep them warm.

“It’s all my fault…” she whispered softly to nobody. She knew, somewhere within her, that the thought was irrational, that she had had no choice but to surrender, yet she felt the guilt of her deeds upon her shoulders like armor. Her kingdom was dying, withering in the mist of gold. She had always thought that the twilight was beautiful, something that held a serene, wistful attraction.

But they were two separate worlds, and were never meant to come together. And, she, the near-queen of Hyrule, had been helpless to stop it.

It seemed to be the fate of her lineage. She was a clever girl, had always very smart. She knew she had Nayru and Her Triforce to thank for that, but Zelda liked to believe that some of it was just her. She had studied hard all through her childhood, practicing magic of all sorts and delving deep into her country’s history.

And near every legend and myth was the same: Every Princess Zelda before her, almost without fail, had been captured by some evil force or another, waiting helplessly for the hero to vanquish the darkness and save her.

Zelda despised it. How could any matriarch play the silly role of a damsel in distress? It seemed almost disrespectful to the people, in her opinion. There was one legend, she was fond to remember, where the princess before her had not sat idly by. When the Evil King of the myth had taken Hyrule, the Zelda of that age had disguised herself, operating directly under the villain’s nose.

This particular princess was Zelda’s inspiration. After discovering this cunning princess, Zelda had devoted much of her time to combat training, practicing her fencing right alongside her own royal guard. She had also become quite an adept archer, the best she knew of. It made her proud to know she could hold her own, to know that if something ever happened, she could help protect her kingdom.

A lot of good that did me, she thought to herself as her eyes found the window once more. She was still the damsel in distress, still helpless to help the outside world. Zelda left the window and collapsed onto her four poster bed, loathe to stare at the twilight any longer.

There was a silver lining, to her situation, though, one that helped her not to feel completely useless. Zant had confronted her of it, as if she could have possibly been responsible.

The twilight was disappearing. Throughout the provinces of the land, little by little. Who else could it be, but the hero they had found? He did have the Triforce, after all. Saving Hyrule was in his blood.

Zelda smiled. She had been right to trust Midna. The two princesses had met a few times before Zant’s invasion. They were royalty, after all, and had been on more than one ambassadorial visit. Zelda never would have imagined that the two of them would ever actually be working alongside one another. But Midna had helped without question, as driven and eager to prove herself as Zelda. The Twilight Princess had lost her parents in Zant’s uprising, as well, and had also had her body taken from her. She didn’t even resemble a human anymore.

Zelda closed her eyes and tried to sleep, something she did more often than was probably healthy, now that she was captive. There was nothing she could do, except hope that Midna and the hero could get them through this.

…

Link descended the mountain beyond Kakariko two days after he ascended, the sun almost completely set. The children were waiting outside their temporary home when he arrived. Renado sat him down at a wooden dinner table and treated his wounds, using both medicine and magic, while the children eagerly prodded him for his story.

“What happened?”

“Were there monsters?”

“What were the Gorons like?”

He answered all of their questions with a practiced patience, one he had acquired over years of being around these children. Yes, there were monsters. The Gorons were nice. Their chief had had any evil spell put over him, and they asked to Link to break it. The children ooohed and aaahed as he described his adventure to them.

“Well,” Renado said, finishing with his injuries. “Nothing major. You should rest here for the night. You’ll be ready for travel by tomorrow morning, if you don’t mind being sore.”

Link nodded happily. “How long can the children stay here?” he asked.

“As long as need be,” the shaman replied. “I’m aware of how dangerous travel has become, in these dark times. Me and Barnes have been tending to them since they arrived here. It won’t be any trouble.”

“Good,” Link said. “Thank you for you help.”

Renado nodded, smiling. “It’s the least I can do,” he said. “People had cleared out of town when the Gorons became hostile. And then that strange golden haze… but, now that it’s all over, hopefully the townsfolk will return.” He got up from the table.

“You should sleep,” he said. “This may be the last time I see you, so I thank you again. And good luck finding your friend.”

…

He left before sunrise the next day, mounting Epona and riding away from Kakariko. Colin was the only one awake, and gave him a fierce hug before he left.

“From now on, I’m gonna be brave, like you.” he said. “I’ll protect everyone else, so you can go and find Ilia.”

It had touched his heart to hear Colin sound so optimistic. Even though Ilia hadn’t been among them, he felt more than relieved to find all the children alive and well.

He rode north through the field at a steady pace, avoiding monsters whenever he could. They looked so much like the raiders that had attacked Ordon. They may well have been. He would have them all, before his quest was through, he thought to himself angrily.

But first, he had to find Ilia.

The sun was setting by the time the castle appeared on the horizon. As expected, it was shrouded in a veil of twilight. Still, it was the first time Link had seen Hyrule Castle, and he was filled with a sense of wonder.

He stopped Epona and gathered wood for a fire. In the distance, he could see other shimmering orange dots of campfires, most likely the raiders. He didn’t know if making his own would draw attention, but he would rather have one than not.

The flames crackled pleasantly as the sun fully set, it’s light challenged only by the haze of twilight in the distance. Epona was down on her haunches to sleep, with Link leaned up against her, watching the flames dance. Midna, finally unhindered by either the sun or any onlookers, was finally able to free herself from Link’s shadow, and sat beside him, uncharacteristically silent.

“So,,,” Midna finally broke the silence. “That’s what all this tenacity has been about?”

Link eyed her suspiciously. She was grinning that grin of hers, the one that meant she intended to annoy.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean,” Midna continued. “You’re chasing a girl. Ilia is a girl’s name, isn’t it? Or is there something else you haven’t told me?”

“Oh, shut up,” Link replied. “Yes, Ilia is a girl.” Midna, apparently, wasn’t satisfied.

“Are you two in love?” She asked mockingly, using an overly cutesy voice. “Are you going to the ends of the earth to rescue your one and only?”

Link tired his best to ignore her teasing tone of voice.

“No,” he replied curtly. “I don’t know, I mean. I’m not sure if it’s quite like that.”

“So you just really want to get laid, or what?”

“Ugh!” Link turned away from her and stared back at the fire. “What is your problem?! Why do you always have to be so irritating?”

Midna shrugged, smiling. “In my nature, I suppose.”

“In your nature?” Link turned back to her. “So all you little Twili imps are this annoying?”

“Hey!” Midna cried angrily, so much so that Link was caught off guard. “That’s a stupid thing to say! And for your information, I didn’t always look like this!”

This time Midna turned towards the fire. Link watched the dancing flames reflect in her eyes, and for a moment he thought he saw the welling of tears. Then her eyes turned and saw him staring. Her teeth bared, and she rose up off the ground to stare at him eye level..

“What are you STARING AT!?!?”

Link flinched at her shouts, but inside he was seething. She was mad at him? He was standing now, fists clenched and shaking. Behind the two of them, Epona had woke, and was looking back and forth between the two.

“Don’t you yell at me!” He cried. “You were the one giving me a headache a second ago!”

“So I’m not allowed to be angry if you imply my entire race are a bunch of annoying little ugly monsters?!?”

“Well, you’re not setting a very good example! Maybe if you weren’t so annoying, I wouldn’t have thought that!”

“Well, maybe if you weren’t such an incompetent little baby, you could take a joke or two!”

Incompetent! In case you forgot, I’m in the process of saving the whole kingdom!”

“Yeah! With my help! You’d be belly up as a mangy dog if it wasn’t for me!”

“I don’t even need your help, you ugly little demon!”

“Good, cause you won’t get anymore, you stupid, pasty moron!”

“Oh, your so annoying!!!” The last, they cried in unison. The two turned away from each other and laid back down, still muttering to themselves. Epona nestled her head back, down, whinnying to herself.

The three of them eventually fell asleep, Midna’s tears continuing to fall even as slumber fell upon her.

…

Link crossed over into the twilight, his body immediately beginning to burn. It hurt less than the previous times, but was still uncomfortable. He felt the weight of Midna on his back. He didn’t turn to look at her. He instead turned to Epona. She was able to understand him, now that he was an animal.

“Find somewhere safe to stay, until I’m finished,” he thought. Epona said nothing, but snorted and trotted away.

Link looked to the castle. Ilia was in there. He knew it. He could smell it, with his heightened senses. Her scent; hay, flowers, water from the stream. He put his snout to the ground and began following it.

Beneath Ilia’s smell was the other scent; the scent the insects left behind, the dirty, corrupted smell. He hoped she was alright.

As he came close to the castle, something happened. Ilia’s scent was there, but the insect smell was fading. Link retraced his steps confusedly, until he could smell them both again. He followed it, and found the problem.

The scents forked in two different directions; One was strong, so near, just within the walls of the castle.

Ilia.

The other scent, however, was fainter, and led away from her, away from the castle. Link felt his heart sink. So close… she was right there.

But he knew he couldn’t save her until the twilight was lifted. She wouldn’t even see him.

Reluctantly, Link put his nose to the ground, following the stomach churning scent of the insects. It led him far from the castle and further into the field of Lanayru Province. After a while, Link and Midna felt a chill as an arctic wind began to blow.

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Here's another chapter. A lot of character development/interaction, I guess. Hope you like it.

"mikey" and "Anton," thank you for the reviews. The chapters have been a bit short lately. I'll do my best to take care of that.

Until next time. Read, Rate, Review, and Enjoy!!!