09-20-2014, 07:21 PM
Link cradled his knees against the curved hollow of his prison. It had been hours since he had been thrown in there, but the night remained. His throat pulsed, raw from his impassioned pleas to the guards, and when they ignored him, the happy revellers all the way back at the start of Tralor, the tree garrison. His jaw throbbed from a second punch received when he wouldn't shut up. His fingers itched for a weapon but all his equipment had been confiscated. He watched the fireflies float, trails of orange following their lazy circuits, wondering why he was wasting his night in a tree cell.
The rough bark itched his back. Link's fingers quested back, placating the irritation, and bumped something forgotten in his tunic. He lifted it free. It was the Zora mask given to him by his future self. The firelight struck the white paint, etching a delicate silver pattern of scales across it. Link traced them with his finger, and they seemed to glow at his touch. He stared into the inky black eyes, and the firelight shimmered faintly in its depths. What did his shade say about this mask? There was obviously more to it than met the eye.
Link flipped it over. The dark lining of the mask glimmered without light. An unsteady beat in his heart, he drew his face closer. He was out of options, and he was told to use it when he needed it, and that was now. He brought it closer by degrees, dreading what was to come, but seeing no other way out of his jail cell. Finally he grit his teeth and thrust his face into the mould.
He waited. Nothing happened. He breathed out slowly, taking the mask off and inspecting it. What was supposed to happen? Did it already? Did some sort of new power transfer into him? Link didn't feel any different. He got to his feet, crackled his knuckles and threw himself at the wooden bars. They shook but stood firm, like always.
<Link.>
The golden wolf shone outside the prison, his one red eye gleaming.
"Where have you been?" Link asked. "I've been locked in here for hours."
<I was investigating these tree dwellers. But we have little time. You have to get out of there.>
Link sighed. "And how do you think I can do that, huh? All of my stuff is hidden away somewhere. I can't exactly tear wooden bars apart with my bare hands." He lifted the Zora mask. "Plus this thing didn't even work."
The wolf looked around impatiently. <Do you still have your Ocarina on you?>
Link fumbled about his belt and withdrew the mystical instrument. "Yes. I guess they didn't see how this could be helpful to me."
<Play the Song of Time.>
Link raised an eyebrow. "But you can't physically manifest here. Your sword won't-"
<That's not why I want you to play it. Just do it. Now.>
Link pressed the instrument into his mouth and played the slow, mournful tone. In the distance he saw the guards turn but they didn't respond otherwise to it. They had no idea the power the Ocarina of Time possessed.
Time froze once again, but it was almost impossible to discern in the dark. Link looked over at a burning torch; the flame no longer raged in passionate movements, but suspended in jagged orange shards. The wolf vanished from sight, and the skeletal knight took its place.
The Hero's Shade thrust his sword into the walkway and slipped his hand through the wooden bars as if they weren't there.
<Take my hand, Link. I've discovered something extraordinary about you, and the easiest way to describe it is to show it to you.>
His future self hadn't been wrong before. He slapped his hand into the skeleton's palm.
<Fair warning. This is not going to be pleasant.>
A scalding heat brimmed in Link's chest, sapping the breath from him. He fell to his knees, trying to let go, but his hand felt welded to the Hero Shade's bone. He gritted his teeth and endured, but every passing 'moment', as moments go in frozen time, amplified the burn.
"S-stop this!" Link yelled.
He opened his eyes, and white light saturated everything. The walkway shook, as if a minor earthquake struck the forest, and both of the Hero's Shade's eyes pulsed red.
<It's time to awaken your true power, Hero of Time.>
The rough bark itched his back. Link's fingers quested back, placating the irritation, and bumped something forgotten in his tunic. He lifted it free. It was the Zora mask given to him by his future self. The firelight struck the white paint, etching a delicate silver pattern of scales across it. Link traced them with his finger, and they seemed to glow at his touch. He stared into the inky black eyes, and the firelight shimmered faintly in its depths. What did his shade say about this mask? There was obviously more to it than met the eye.
Link flipped it over. The dark lining of the mask glimmered without light. An unsteady beat in his heart, he drew his face closer. He was out of options, and he was told to use it when he needed it, and that was now. He brought it closer by degrees, dreading what was to come, but seeing no other way out of his jail cell. Finally he grit his teeth and thrust his face into the mould.
He waited. Nothing happened. He breathed out slowly, taking the mask off and inspecting it. What was supposed to happen? Did it already? Did some sort of new power transfer into him? Link didn't feel any different. He got to his feet, crackled his knuckles and threw himself at the wooden bars. They shook but stood firm, like always.
<Link.>
The golden wolf shone outside the prison, his one red eye gleaming.
"Where have you been?" Link asked. "I've been locked in here for hours."
<I was investigating these tree dwellers. But we have little time. You have to get out of there.>
Link sighed. "And how do you think I can do that, huh? All of my stuff is hidden away somewhere. I can't exactly tear wooden bars apart with my bare hands." He lifted the Zora mask. "Plus this thing didn't even work."
The wolf looked around impatiently. <Do you still have your Ocarina on you?>
Link fumbled about his belt and withdrew the mystical instrument. "Yes. I guess they didn't see how this could be helpful to me."
<Play the Song of Time.>
Link raised an eyebrow. "But you can't physically manifest here. Your sword won't-"
<That's not why I want you to play it. Just do it. Now.>
Link pressed the instrument into his mouth and played the slow, mournful tone. In the distance he saw the guards turn but they didn't respond otherwise to it. They had no idea the power the Ocarina of Time possessed.
Time froze once again, but it was almost impossible to discern in the dark. Link looked over at a burning torch; the flame no longer raged in passionate movements, but suspended in jagged orange shards. The wolf vanished from sight, and the skeletal knight took its place.
The Hero's Shade thrust his sword into the walkway and slipped his hand through the wooden bars as if they weren't there.
<Take my hand, Link. I've discovered something extraordinary about you, and the easiest way to describe it is to show it to you.>
His future self hadn't been wrong before. He slapped his hand into the skeleton's palm.
<Fair warning. This is not going to be pleasant.>
A scalding heat brimmed in Link's chest, sapping the breath from him. He fell to his knees, trying to let go, but his hand felt welded to the Hero Shade's bone. He gritted his teeth and endured, but every passing 'moment', as moments go in frozen time, amplified the burn.
"S-stop this!" Link yelled.
He opened his eyes, and white light saturated everything. The walkway shook, as if a minor earthquake struck the forest, and both of the Hero's Shade's eyes pulsed red.
<It's time to awaken your true power, Hero of Time.>
![[Image: illidansig2.jpg]](http://www.cytokineindustries.com/chevereto/images/2017/07/07/illidansig2.jpg)