Light Lost In The Dark

<---Index

Shadow turned to the group and said, “Now we're in for it. That must be the Dark Four Sword. That means those things know how we fight!” Link, with an air of confidence, replied, “Then we'll just have to be unpredictable.” Without another word, he charged at the doppelgangers. One of the Link clones charged and did a spinning slash, knocking the elf to the ground. With a groan, he muttered, “Well, that backfired...” He rolled out of the way as the copy brought the sword down towards his chest and scrambled to his feet.

“Any ideas?” the green garbed elf shouted. Shadow watched as Link was put completely on the defensive. Thinking, he said, “Hold on!” He ran towards his lighter version of himself and was blocked by the other Link clone. With a powerful blow, the dark elf was sent flying. Picking himself off the ground, he yelled, “Hey! No fair!” Saria ans Sheik charged and were intercepted by their clones.

As the four battled their opposites, Link shouted, “Is it just me, or is this a really unfair, fair fight?!?”
“Your aptitude for contradiction is astounding,” Shadow shouted in reply. The group backed towards the spring, trying to find a way to defeat this new enemy. Link grabbed his bow and fired an arrow at one of the clones. As expected, they knew this plan and did the same, firing an arrow at the one just launched. The two projectiles collided and fell harmlessly to the ground.

Realizing that another attempt would be futile, Link said, “If anyone has any ideas, now would be the time to say it.” Sheik examined the four enemies and smiled. The change in expression confused his teammates. Without a word, he ran at one of the enemy Links. His teammates yelled, “Sheik! What are you...” They fell silent as the warrior evaded his clone and landed a devastating kick to his intended target, causing it to go flying. Sheik let out a slight chuckle and turned to the others. The copies appeared to share the pain that the one was dealt.

After a moment, Shadow yelled, “What are we standing around for? Let's get them!” Sheik dodged his copy, but only barely and pulled out his grappling hook. Spinning it around like a whip, he sent the other stumbling back, where he was met with a devastating backhand from Shadow. Link went after the Saria clone and jumped over her. The copy attempted to run him through with her spear, but was stopped by a brutal pelting from the real Saria's slingshot. Landing on her shoulders, Link bashed her in the top of the head with his shield and then swatted her with the flat of his blade. He was then hit by a Deku seed. Rubbing his head, he yelled, “What was that for?” The female elf simply shook her head with a smile and went after the other Link clone.

As she neared the enemy, he charged and and swiped his blade at her. Spinning the spear in quick, graceful motions, she parried the attack and landed a devastating combo to her foe. The Link copy stood there dazed and she smiled. “Night night,” she said with a grin. With that, she spun around and smashed the enemy with the iron spear, sending him to the ground. Standing over the injured enemy, she took her spear and drove it through it's ink black heart.”

Link continued to attack the Saria clone and stumbled back as she continually thrust her weapon at him. Tripping over a stone, he managed to avoid being run through by the foe. She flipped the spear so the tip was aimed at the elf and readied it for the final blow when the other Link copy flew into her, knocking her to the ground. Smiling, Sheik yelled, “Yeah! Two Points!!!” Shadow yelled back, “Nobody's keeping score, you idiot!”
“What?” Link replied. “Why not?” getting to his feet, he realized he had a slight problem. Now he had both the Saria and a Link clone to worry about.

Sheik yelled, “Hey Green! How about the Falling Star Combo?” Smiling, Link replied, “Sounds like fun.” Sheik ran at the elf and jumped at him. Link readied his hands, clasped together and his friend landed an iron foot in the grip. With a mighty heave, the fist-cuff specialist was sent into the air. The two clones stood there confused, then readied their weapons. Link readied his blade to preform his cyclone slash.  The two enemies charged and Link preformed his rotating attack. The power in the strike this time, caused a green barrier of energy to surround him. At that exact moment, Sheik smashed into the aura field and it generated a shock wave that sent the Clones flying.

Link and Sheik ran and leaped into the air. He brought the blade through the Saria clone's heart, and Sheik landed on the Link clone's chest with so much force, you could hear the bones breaking from thirty paces. With only the Sheik clone remaining, the four surrounded it to finish it off. To their surprise, the creature said, “You found our weakness and exploited it to gain victory.” The group paused.

“In doing so,” the enigma continued, “You have shown us that perhaps there may be even so much as the slightest chance that you can succeed where we have ultimately failed.” The creature started turning into a white mist that was blowing away in the wind. “Perhaps, the time has finally arrived when our race may once again grow and flourish, as it once did, so many lifetimes ago.” As the last of the creature vanished, it said in closing, “Live, you four warriors, so that one day, we may once again return to this land...”

The group stood there confused. Finally, Sheik turned to the sword encased in stone and looked at it carefully. Link walked up to his and said, “What's wrong?” Running his hands along the engraved, ancient words, he said, “This isn't a weapon.” The group looked at him stunned. “It's a grave stone,” he continued. “It says: “This once ancient land that was beauty like gold, an ancient race as I was told,
Lived and played amongst the trees, as it has been for eternity. The race they call the Kokiri was quite the sight for me to see. But that was long in times that past, and such a thing can't surely last. I raise this grave to this fair race, who are lost to this once grand place. May once again the come and play, The spirits willing, they shall, some day”.”

Shadow looked at the blowing sands just outside the oasis and said, “So this is where the legendary Kokiri forest was in this world. It was destroyed eons ago during the Fall of Darkness. The Fairy Queen that resided here was killed in that time. The Deku Tree somehow lasted this long, just to see us, His final hope for his people.” Clenching his fist, he said, “There's only one proper thing to do in this case.” The others, knowing what he was thinking, readied their weapons. Link smiled and said, “Then why are we standing around? Let grab some fresh water, find that monster, and get Sprit back. Then we can continue our quest to end this chaos.”

Shadow smiled and said, “I'm up for that.” With renewed determination, the group gathered what they needed and headed into the blowing sands to find the lost fairy.