I am Legion

[Illidan Stormrage]

"Please don't forget this song. Do you promise?"

The wind stroked the tall grass blades, making them sway to the beautiful, crisp notes that haunted the meadow. The sun beamed down, settling on his skin and warming away the cold bite of the morning. A flock of small birds shot overhead like little blue darts, riding the breeze.

"When you want to hear my voice, play Saria's Song. You can talk with me anytime..."

Link stopped mid-note and lowered the ocarina. "Not anytime, Saria. Not anytime."

He wrapped his lips about the instrument again and blew. Saria's Song was so high spirited and energetic. It made Link reminisce about the tall, mighty oaks that lived in the Lost Woods, and the devilishly twisted path through to the glade. He recalled the Skull Kids in his mind's eye, dancing and puffing on their flutes, the motes of light that flittered about the forest, and the way the sunlight patterns on the ground shifted as the impossibly high canopy shook and rustled in the breeze.

It had been hours. Link played one final, lingering note and pocketed the ocarina. Sitting on a sawn tree trunk, Link lifted the water sack slung around his neck and drank. The water streaked down his throat and offered cool relief, replenishing what he lost in his protracted musical session. He finished his swig and gazed out over the grassy field. He had so much to ponder, but he was doing his best to avoid it for as long as he could. Perhaps it was time. He couldn't ignore it all forever.

The most pressing topic burrowed out into the light. Ganondorf.

What was he to think now? The Gerudo king was his only companion in a death tournament, of which Link didn't even want to enter. Nonetheless, Ganondorf was there every step of the way. Every confrontation, they attacked together with unrestrained ferocity, as if innately trusting the other not to withhold strength to backstab them later. It never came to that; indeed, Link had even found common ground with the great tyrant, the man who killed hundreds, maybe thousands, in another world. Maybe he had manipulated Link, but he didn't think so. Some of it was likely posturing and for show, no doubt, but the Hylian warrior knew that at least a few of their bonding sessions were genuine. No doubt Ganondorf had difficulty processing some of this, too.

So where did that leave them? Did Link retain the duty to slay the evil sorcerer, the man who would take up the Triforce to conquer and enslave? Or should such a concept be discarded in the Omniverse, where the goddesses didn't exist, where a divine law held no weight? Or had it been the holy triumvirate's will to chase the Dark Lord into the Omniverse? Or muddying the waters further, had Ganondorf truly repented from his old ways, and no longer posed a threat?

Or was it all an act to fool Link into taking over the Omniverse from right underneath him?

This is why I didn't want to think about this. Constant, never ending circles. Trains of thought that skirted the same rails over and over again. How could he make a decision when, no matter how much he contemplated, neither choice seemed like the right one? Maybe it wasn't a logical decision he made from pondering on it. Maybe the next time he saw Ganondorf, he would just ... know the right course of action.

How Link wished he had guidance now. He wished he knew what happened to the Hero's Shade. All he remembered was how his skeletal hand rested on him and Link felt a sudden surge of vitality and warmth. Had Shade transferred the omnilium he had siphoned from Link back into him in order to give Link the energy he needed to keep fighting? Was that why he faded away and hadn't returned?

Link had tried playing the Song of Time again, hoping his future ghost would seize upon the enchanted notes again and re-establish himself in the Omniverse, but to no avail. He sighed. Another fruitless topic of consternation.

He still had to reclaim the Triforce of Courage. No matter what, it was given to him. It belonged to the Hero of the era, and no one else. Syla had to be somewhere in Camelot, but she could be hiding up any old tree, and Link couldn't remember where her little canopy village was anyway.

Link hopped off the tree stump and withdrew both of his blades. The Master Sword shone with the reflected light of the sun and some of its own power. The Phantom Sword felt different, as if the light and reflections glossing over its steel blade quivered and slowed. His tenacity and skill helped him secure the full power of his divine weapon again, but the Phantom Sword wasn't even from his own era. He carved it from omnilium while he was Syla's prisoner, spiritually visiting a timeline completely alien to his own.

The Hero of Winds' era, as Shade had put it. A world where the Hyrule he knew had been devoured by a mighty ocean. Link remembered slipping into the skin of his spiritually linked kin, seeing the tumultuous waters churning, thunderclouds spurting jagged bolts of lightning, and the monstrous Bellum rising up before him.

What great reserves of knowledge and skill must be untapped in those other eras. If only Link could travel there on purpose, maybe he'd gain new insight, or at least enough to get him through his tough thoughts. There must be countless evil foes who rose up, both past and future, whom the chosen Heroes had slain with their might and artefacts. Bellum in the Hero of Winds' era, Ganondorf in his own ...

Link knelt down and impaled both blades into the ground, holding onto their hilts. Why was he assuming he was so helpless? Shade helped him the first time, but obviously the power lay dormant in his soul. He just had to figure out a way to coax it out. Surely it couldn't be that difficult.

The Hero of Time closed his eyes and focused. He remembered that painful tingle that coursed through his core during his first trip. That pain that burned into a white hot agony as it multiplied, much like when he was ripped out of the space between time by Omni, when he first made the connections to the Hero's line. He relived the uncanny way that information poured into his mind as if he'd known it all along ...

... and the Phantom Sword quivered.

Link broke his concentration to look at the weapon. What happened? He shrugged and went back to his meditation, digging about his memories for the keys to the doors, and the Phantom Sword shook again. Link was sure he didn't imagine it this time. But why was the weapon vibrating? Was it reacting to his memories?

Anything's possible in this realm. Link ran through the vault of his spiritual journey to the great ocean again, and on queue the blade hummed and tingled in his fingers. Instead of breaking focus, Link buried himself deeper into the sensation. The summoned sword brimmed with a new energy, and inexplicably, the Hylian warrior felt an identical power welling in his chest.

It burned.

This is it! Link reached out with ethereal hands and dug in tightly, pulling himself closer to the blazing energy. It grew hotter and hotter, moving from a warm glass of milk to a cooling stove to a dying fire to a smithy's furnace to a pool of magma to ...

Link clenched his teeth as the pain became white hot agony and pushed further. Flickers of thin white tendrils flashed on the edge of his vision. Tiny milky sparks leapt up and down before him, chewing away at the black behind his eyelids, filling it in until all he saw was white. The ground shook, but whether it was an earthquake or part of the hallucination, he couldn't tell anymore.

Link screamed at the molten fire that consumed his chest and everything went numb.

[Illidan Stormrage]

Through a gossamer curtain, Link's eyes opened. The veil faded, the overwhelming fire within himself having extinguished. He looked up. A valley of thick, grey clouds covered the sky, torrential rain shooting down from them. A fork of lightning streaked downwards, igniting the scene. Waves rose and rolled in small peaks, swishing the wooden platform up and down over their curved surface. A familiar weight rested in both hands; sword and shield. Unfortunately, a familiar demon floated before him as well, though familiar in a remote, murky way, like he was imagined or part of a fairy tale.

Panic seized Link's mind. Where was he? What was going on? He fought against it, struggling to suppress the deluge of frantic questions, fighting to silence his mind. Slowly, gradually, he ended the endless enquiries and a gentle peace soothed him. Unfurling from within himself, he took stock of his surroundings again, and things didn't seem so blurry this time.

In mere moments he knew where he was. The squid like beast before him, black tentacles waving like the ocean, eyeballs set at the ends, its teeth snapping and revealing an eyeball staring out within the mouth - it was Bellum. He was back in the Hero of Winds's era, at the precise moment that he began the battle with the evil god.

The Phantom Sword in the young Link's hand pulsed with power and warmth, penetrating even into the Hero of Time's mist like presence. It sang in the young hero's fingers, as if it sensed its arch nemesis nearby and wanted to carve its flesh even without a guiding wielder.

A fairy flitted above them, something Link hadn't noticed on his first time travelling journey. Was it Navi? No, of course not ... different era. Yet the name rushed at him and embedded itself into his brain, even though a second ago he had never known it - Ciela. Ciela had been there for the Hero of Winds, guiding his journey much like Navi had done for Link, and her utility hadn't run out yet.

Time started again, and a yellow orb floated from her and into the Hero of Winds's possession. It thrummed with a mighty power, something that rekindled a memory in Link, but what was it? He thought back, remembering the Master Sword slipping free of its pedestal in the Temple of Time, and column of shimmering blue energy engulfed the entire dais, spiriting Link away through the gap between his young and teenage self. That same tingling, that same light headed and airy sensation ... that golden ball was pure time energy.

How was that even possible? Link may be gliding between history's thin layers, but it was through a process he barely understood, let alone controlled. How could a fairy pluck an orb of time energy out of thin air and hand it to someone else? What kind of secrets did she know?

The Hero of Winds didn't seem the least bit fazed. It was like he knew exactly what to do with it. The Phantom Sword rattled in his descendant's fingers, and a lazy light emitted from the hourglass design on the cross guard. Was the sword reacting to the orb?

Young Link took the glistening bauble and smashed it against the hourglass. The symbol shone with a bright yellow light, and everything blanched, drained of colour, except the Hero. Link fast realised that Bellum had not moved an inch; indeed, he was frozen solid. The Hero of Winds charged forward and swung the Phantom Sword wildly at the exposed eye, and for each slash Bellum failed to react, staying statue still while he was cut in what appeared to be a very vulnerable organ.

Young Link hopped back and colours swarmed back into the blacks and whites. Bellum roared and recoiled backwards, having copped the full force of the Hero's multiple attacks in one agonising second.

That's brilliant. I wonder if I can utilise that power? Link detached himself from his ancestor's body and hovered invisibly above him, a ghostly spectre surveying a legendary clash. I summoned the clawshots of the Hero of Legend. Surely I could bring those time spheres into existence with omnilium? I have the Phantom Sword, after all. I'm sure I could do it.

As Link floated into the sky, he felt a twinge in his shoulder. At first he ignored it, but it grew into a pinch, then a tug, and then almost a rip. Whatever the phenomenon was, it was persistent. The rip abruptly flared into a burn, and Link screamed silently. The pain was exactly like his time travelling sensation, except this time it was happening of its own accord. Link wanted to resist at first, but the heat simply climbed in intensity, feeling like fire was eating away at his skin. The only way he'd been able to stop it in the past was to throw himself heartily into it, and that's what he did.

The searing inferno lasted a fraction of a second, much shorter than his normal time based excursions. Blinking, he found himself in another diminutive, green garbed body, although his surroundings were decidedly nicer. He stood upon a flat stone plateau, a coolness suffusing the air. A circular waterfall cascaded around the plateau like a barrier, its spray delightful on his skin, mixing with the sweat on his brow. He didn't wield the Phantom Sword this time; instead, his well known Master Sword took its place.

Across the way from him stood a blonde girl, determination etched on her face. Her outfit was very reminiscent of Princess Zelda's, though even when Link knew her at ten years old, it was unlikely she would have fit into such a small dress. Link faced forward -

- and his heart missed a beat. Ganondorf.

The Gerudo king towered over this incarnation of Link, a regal robe draping over a body that had lost its form and vigour from the days that Link had known him. Yet even with his new portly appearance, his upper body was the width of a tree trunk, and great power lived in his arms. Ganondorf smirked as he flashed two, thin bladed swords in the air.

The Hero of Time settled into the body of his descendant to watch the battle. Ganondorf struck out first with amazing speed, but ... the Hero of Winds? The same Hero fought two major threats to Hyrule? Impressive. In any case, his descendant rolled out of the way, Ganondorf's blade cleaving air. The Gerudo turned and instantly fell upon the young Link, swords whirling in the air. The Hero of Winds caught the slashes against his ... Mirror Shield, Link found as he probed the ever flowing information into his mind, sparks dashing off the impact.

On the battle continued, Ganondorf proving to be an unexpectedly agile opponent. Often when Link thought he saw an opening, as did his descendant, Ganondorf met the incoming attack with his swords. Yet as the interplay grew on, Link felt as if he was learning. If not that, then understanding the art of swordplay even more than before. He could see the strands of time, weaving in and around them as they shuffled and rolled and slashed, and Link somehow absorbed those strands, like winding up a loose yarn ball.

Eventually, the Princess Zelda of this era pitched in with her own Light Arrows, something Link knew about intimately. The Hero took out his Mirror Shield, and Zelda's arrow reflected off its glossy surface and straight into Ganondorf. In the middle of a swing and caught unprepared, the arrow detonated with holy yellow light, and he stood there stunned. Young Link rolled in, performed what the Hero of Time could best describe as a sword uppercut, then fell upon Ganondorf -

and impaled Ganondorf through the forehead.

Link wanted so desperately to watch what happened next, but he felt that familiar burning pull again, and this time it was more than an insistence. It was an order.

Link awoke to warm sunlight splashing on his face instead of the spray of the waterfall. He jolted up into a sitting position, grass tickling his skin. He was back in the field.

The burning in his chest had weakened to a tingle, and even that was fast vanishing. The Hero of Winds was quite an impressive fighter, especially for such a young kid. Link hadn't even fought Ganondorf until he was seventeen, and his island living descendant fought both the Gerudo and Bellum before even reaching puberty. A lot of moxy in that kid too, he sensed.

The light sparkled off the Phantom Sword's steel, catching Link's eye. A dim glow nestled in the hourglass symbol, although it was the first time the Hylian warrior had noticed that it was more of a depression. He probed it with his fingers, and a memory rose up; in the Hero of Winds's blade, there had been an object slotted into the gap. Judging by the space available, it must be some sort of hourglass.

And like a wind that blows away an object hidden in a pile of leaves, Link discovered the answer. The Phantom Hourglass. A relic of his descendant's era that possessed the power to freeze time in short bursts. Combined with the Phantom Sword, it was a potent and convenient ability during the heat of combat.

Now that he could picture it, Link sat down between his two swords impaled in the ground and focused on the image. He glided over the smooth glass contours, the tiny but powerful grains of sand that fell in a stream from one chamber to the other, and soon a white light pooled in his hands. He focused intently, the wind tossing his hair and cap. Link lost himself in the moment, and when he opened his eyes, he wasn't sure how much time had passed.

But the Phantom Hourglass was in his hands.

Link knelt and pressed the item into the Phantom Sword's depression. It accepted it smoothly and clicked into place. A shimmer ran down the blade, and Link felt compelled to grab it. He heaved it out of the soil, and the steel smoked, like a fog was ebbing out of it. The mist spread out in a thin sheet, and before Link's eyes, something began to form within it.

A breeze whipped the mist into a tangible whole.

The Hero of Winds.

"What is this?" Link said.

The young Hylian looked about him with big, gleaming eyes. Even though his entire body was composed of ethereal fog, he seemed altogether real. His face was placid and calm, and obviously didn't feel the same alarm as Link did. HIs gaze finally settled on the Hero of Time.

"Hi," he said. "Strange place."

"You're the Hero of Winds, right?" Link asked.

The ghostly apparition chewed on that for a moment. "I think someone called me that once. But you can call me Link."

What now? Had Link summoned another of his spiritual kin to the Omniverse, much like he did to the Hero's Shade?

"Hey, you're dressed like me!" young Link said, grinning widely. "Member of the fan club, huh?" He put his arms behind his head and grinned wider. "Yeah, I've been getting all sorts of attention. I'm pretty heroic, you know?"

"Do you know who I am?" Link asked. How many timelines was he going to interfere with?

The Hero of Winds giggled. "Of course I do! You're Link!"

"So you share the same bond that I do with you? You can just pull information out of my mind, like we are one?"

"Oh no, nothing like that!" young Link said. "I'm just a copy."

"What?"

"Omnilium, right?" he said. "I'm made of it. I'm just a copy of the Hero of Winds's spirit floating in omnilium, with your knowledge in my head. I'm not actually him. But with that - " he pointed at the Phantom Sword, "- it's helped you open the path to the other timelines. It's strengthened your bond. You can use it to summon me, but it won't last long."

"So ... I'm not interfering with your time? I'm not changing the future?" Link asked.

Young Link shook his head. "Nope. I know what I am. I'm pretty handy in a fight though! I won't be able to fight for long, but I can still be helpful."

"Incredible." Link stared at the apparition. What other feats could he achieve in the Omniverse? "Do you think I can summon other Links as well?"

Winds shrugged. "Beats me. Maybe? I mean, you're basically talking to yourself with a different personality. I don't know much more than you do."

The young Link's form started sifting away, as if a breeze were blowing away the sands that composed him. "Oops, gotta go! But remember me if you're in a fight!"

Moments later, he was gone.

Link thrust the Phantom Sword back into the ground and sat between his two weapons. He knew it would hurt, but he wanted to go back into the time vortex. He had to master this power. He could only imagine the strengths he could gain by visiting each Link, seeing their struggles and conflicts, memorising their unique equipment, and then bringing it all back to the Omniverse.

Link wrapped fingers around the hilts of both swords and made that terrible burn welcome again in his soul.

[Illidan Stormrage]

Link soon embraced the fire that came with his spirit shifting. He kindled it willingly as he sped through the veil of time, silently observing the worlds of his spiritual kin. The more he shifted, the more he grew accustomed to it. After a few jumps, it felt more like the burn of an aching muscle, pulsing and warm with fatigue than with pain.

And the more he travelled, the more he learned. He soon mastered the technique he stumbled upon when residing in the Hero of Winds's body; time string, he named it. Whenever he found a pivotal battle in a Link's life, he slipped into his skin and witnessed the entire encounter from his point of view. As he watched, he noticed a faint white collection of lines that both Link and his enemy followed unwittingly, as if they were pulled along by the mischievous whims of fate. And as the action took place, Link absorbed those movements, attacks, parries, dodges and tactics. This time string seemed to make him more aware of battle, of the small nuances that afforded both combatants a better chance of victory that the Hylian warrior had never noticed on his own.

Once he started, Link found it hard to stop. A hunger took over him. He knew if he kept sailing the currents of time, he would return a stronger and more capable warrior, perhaps strong enough to finally best Ganondorf and any other threat that the Omniverse might face.

And a small part of him hoped he might find the Hero's Shade again.

Link slinked into the realm of the Hero of Twilight, and discovered the eerie world of the Twili. He watched as that Link battled Ganondorf, this time roaring into combat right off the bat as his giant, demonic boar form. As the Hero of Time settled into his descendant's skin, slowly reeling in the strands of fate that guided the two in their eternal conflict, he wondered how many other timelines the Gerudo king had infiltrated. He had made an appearance in Link's own time, but then he was sealed by the power of the Sages. Yet the Hero of Winds clashed with him, and the Hero of Twilight was doing so right before his eyes.

Indeed, when Link pressed through the boundaries that separated the drowned world of young Link and the world where Twilight invaded, he felt something different. At first he just put it down to the inexperience of a teenager, barely a man, forcing his way through time. Now he wondered. It was like a shiver cut through his celestial form, like a cold wind chilled his spirit. It was over as quickly as it began, and time travelling wasn't exactly something he was familiar with, but the more he focused on it, the more it tugged at his curiosity.

Were the two points related? Probably not. But the fact that Ganondorf, or someone that looked strikingly similar to him, threatened Hyrule in different eras couldn't be a coincidence. Yet even if it wasn't, how could a man live that long? Link couldn't know for sure, but he estimated that each of his descendants and ancestors were separated by hundreds of years, far beyond the lifespan of any mortal man.

Perhaps there was a clue to this mystery earlier in the timeline. Link thought back to the earliest time after his own era, but the first thing to come to mind was the Hero of Winds. There was something that irked him about his story though; when Ganondorf somehow broke his seal, no Hero arose to confront him. Why? In that specific timeline, why did the goddesses have to intervene to stop him when in every other instance they didn't?

Link left the Hero of Twilight and melded into the stream of time, flowing backwards. He shot past hundreds of years at a time, probing outwards for a spiritual resonance identical to his own. He felt the dull presence of his kin, growing stronger as he continued backwards. He was almost there.

"What?"

Link floated in a white void, being somehow squeezed back into his ghostly state. He didn't want to stop. He didn't want to reform yet. What was going on here?

<Link.>

The Hero of Time spun. Shade stared back at him, his golden fur shimmering with its own light, his single red eye glaring, unblinking.

"Shade!" Link shouted in surprise. "You're ... you're here! What happened to you?"

<I should've expected you would eventually decipher this skill on your own,> Shade said without moving his muzzle. <I - you - were always resourceful.>

"What are you doing here?"

Shade titled his head for a moment, then straightened it. <You survived the dragon, didn't you? I am glad to see it. I worried for you, but there was nothing I could do.>

Link furrowed his brow. "Shade? What's going on here?"

<I'm sorry. You cannot go any further.>

"Why not?" Link said. "Whatever it is, I can handle it."

<That assurance ...> Shade said. <You cannot. I forbid it.>

"You forbid it?" Link said.

<I am your future self. Please accept that I know better than you, and I know what's best for you. Here is an opportunity for a future instance to help his younger self.>

Link didn't know what to make of this. Why would Shade prevent him from travelling further back in time? Was he trying to hide something from him?

Link's heart dropped like a stone into his stomach. No. Surely he wasn't protecting ... Ganondorf?

<No,> Shade said wordlessly. <I would never protect the Dark Lord.> His red eye narrowed. <Unlike you, it seems.>

"How...? Oh, of course. You can see my memories."

<As clear as a summer sky, unfortunately. And it's precisely for that reason that you must turn back.>

Link shook his head. "No, I'm not allied with him! He was-"

<A means to an end. Yes I can see that. But you are not revealing the whole truth, are you? You feel conflicted. He helped you survive. He displayed hints of decency. You feel a loyalty, an obligation, no matter how flimsy or weak the foundation may be. You know - know - that you may abandon your holy quest. You are leaving it up to fate to see how you react when you next meet.>

Link wanted to rebut, but it was pointless. No secrets were safe from his future self. And the worst part was that it was all true.

"And that's the reason why you won't let me pass? Do you think I'm going to use this knowledge to benefit Ganondorf?" Link yelled. He waited for Shade to read his thoughts and see the truth.

<You may say that now, but you may change your mind. Your sympathies are too easily manipulated.>

Link's eyes rounded. He was getting pretty mad with himself. "You're speculating. I haven't forgotten my destiny. Ganondorf needs to be stopped." The Ganondorf that ruled Hyrule, anyway.

<And you doubt that the same Ganondorf who conquered your - our - world is the same one in the Omniverse!> Shade returned. <Your convictions are weakening, Link. Perhaps the goddesses were wrong to choose you as the Hero.>

Link's ethereal fists balled. He had risked his life to save Hyrule! He sacrificed his childhood for the sake of everyone else! How could his future self talk to him like that, to doubt his sincerity? He was him, after all! How could he question what was essentially himself? He should know that -

It hit Link like a tonne of bricks.

Shade lowered his snout. <I had hoped your anger would overtake your reasoning.>

"No, no, no," Link muttered, shaking his head. "You didn't ..."

Shade's face snapped back up. <No. I never allied with Ganondorf. Never.>

"But you did something, didn't you?" Link said, following the train of thought. "Something happened after I - er, you - returned to our childhood. Something I don't know about. It's why you question me now. It's because I'm you, before you made your mistake. You think I will make the same choice as you, but in a different world." Link narrowed his eyes. "What ... what did you do, Shade?"

<Enough, Link. Return to the Omniverse and never return to the time stream.>

"Oh no," Link returned. "I'm not leaving here until you tell me what you did." Then it dawned on him. "Wait ... that's it. What you did ... it's beyond this veil, isn't it? I was heading to your life, the era of my time when I was a kid. Before you stopped me."

Shade's red eye burned with a horrible intensity. <Go, Link. Do not return.>

Link stood his ground. Shade was hiding something big, and he had to know what it was. Maybe it would unravel the mystery of Ganondorf.

<It won't. There is nothing for you in my time. Now, leave!>

His last word boomed in Link's head like an avalanche. "No! Let me through! We are one and the same, and you will let me see your past!"

Shade stood on all fours and snarled, baring his teeth. The golden fur on his back arched. He grew, slowly at first but in a few seconds he towered over Link. When he spoke, his voice grated and echoed with the ferocity of a wolf. <Leave! And never return!>

Link's head flung backwards as a powerful shockwave slammed into him and hurled him backwards. Shade's erratic growling and shouting consumed his ears. He felt his body dissolve against his will back into the time stream; he fought it, but his mental strength bled away beneath Shade's furious assault. He drew thinner as he was forced through the river of time, feeling as though his consciousness would disperse into particles and detach forever.

Link's eyes shot open.

He thrust himself to his feet and stumbled backwards, tripping over the tree trunk behind him and landing flat on his back.

What just happened? He hauled himself atop the shorn trunk and stared at his hands. His own future self wouldn't let him see his past? Why not? What did he do? And how could it be so terrible that it caused him to accuse Link of something he hadn't even done yet?

Link curled his fingers around his swords' hilts. He wheezed in breath into hungry lungs. His eyes burned, as if he'd been staring at a campfire for hours without end. Muscles pulled and strained as he shifted his weight on the trunk. Time travelling may have affected him worse than he first realised.

The Hylian warrior looked to the sky. The sun had long since fled, having been relieved by the moon and a concert of twinkling stars.

Grabbing his sleeping bag rolled up against the tree trunk, Link unfurled it, unbuckled his equipment and slipped in. There was simply too much to consider, and his fatigued body and mind couldn't handle the herculean task right now. He closed his eyes and set the questions aside for tomorrow.

Link stared at the back of his eyelids in darkness, but sleep wouldn't come.