A/N: Hey, guys! I'm back with my first Legend of Zelda story! Of course, I've got a few Slayers/Zelda crossovers, but you get what I mean. This story will take a lot longer to update than the others since the chapters are so long and need so much editing. Other than that, it's mainly because I'd like to just do this in my free time. So, like the summary and this first section state, this takes place after the events of Twilight Princess, so if you haven't played that game you won't understand much of this, but I try to be as descriptive as possible to those of you who haven't.

Thank you for taking the time to read this new fanfiction!

Disclaimer: I don't own the Legend of Zelda, otherwise it wouldn't be as good. Lol.

PLEASE REVIEW, FOLLOW, FAVORITE, AND EVEN READING IT MAKES ME HAPPY!

The Legend of Zelda: Shadow's Overture, Chapter One.

No way. Midna can't leave...I think desperately.

But now I know that she has to. Midna is the queen of the Twilight Realm, ruler of all Twili. She has to head back in order to protect and reestablish her land.

After a long moment of silence between Zelda, Midna and I, I ask, "But...you'll come back, right?"

She doesn't reply at first, looking down at me (because now she's taller. Embarrassing). Finally she looks over at Zelda and says, "Princess...take care of him for me, okay?"

I take offense at first, but then I realize the meaning behind these words. "Midna...you can't..."

A single tear slides down her face, and she whispers, "Link, I..." She reaches a hand out to me, falters, and then brushes her golden tear towards the Mirror, which it begins to float towards. She turns and stand on the platform, attempting cheer. "See you later!"

She disappears into the Twilight Realm, and before I can do anything, her tear floats straight into the Mirror...and it breaks into millions upon millions of pieces.

"Only the true ruler of Twilight can destroy the Mirror completely."

She destroyed the one thing binding light and shadow together...in order to protect our world. And me.

"Midna," I whisper, eyes wide. "No, Midna!" I close my eyes tightly and collapse onto my knees. "You can't leave us, please! Midna...I..."

Buckling my sword to my back, I open the door to my house and leap down from the ledge, not bothering to use the ladder. I roll to soften the fall, and when I stand I find myself face-to-face with Talo.

"Oh, hey, Talo. What do you need?"

The kid is definitely growing up. He now carries my old slingshot around with him wherever he goes (because he wouldn't stop bugging me about it), and he can hit a bulls-eye every single time. In truth, he now acts a bit like I did when I was growing up; brave, excitable, and intelligent (hey, I'm not kidding! I was a pretty smart kid!).

"Hey, Link! One of Malo's employees sent me to get you for something. I think they need you to deliver something to the castle," the brunette tells me. As he's speaking, I pull my horse-grass necklace out of my pocket and place it around my neck. It seems I'll have another adventure after all. Bad things tend to happen when the castle and I go together.

"M'kay, Talo. Ride with me?" I offer after blowing the whistle-like grass. Epona trots over to my house from the town.

"Yeah!" he exclaims. "First, though, I'll have to visit my parents."

I laugh. "You do that," I say happily, tousling his hair and shooing him off. As he runs towards the village, I call, "I'll be waiting at Ordona's spring!"

"Okay, Link!" he replies, turning the corner and disappearing from view.

I smirk as I pat Epona, take her by the reins, and lead her towards the spring. Talo is as excitable as he was just a couple months ago, before monsters appeared and Ganondorf came into our lives. My smile fades as I remember all the fear and pain in everyone's eyes whenever I was in the Twilight. Perhaps what made it worse was that they couldn't see me.

But then, after I restored light to the region, when I walked past someone and said hello, they looked back at me with bright, hopeful eyes. I just couldn't help but feel tense. Everyone thought of me as a hero, the one who would save all of Hyrule. I didn't want to be that hero. I just wanted to be 'that guy from Ordon.'

I shrug and begin to brush down Epona's coat and hair. She whinnies and nuzzles her head against my shoulder. I give her a smile and continue brushing. When all the tangles are brushed out of her creamy mane, I tuck my hat into a pocket and splash water onto my face. Shaking my head like a dog (maybe an aftereffect of when I was in the Twilight), I close my eyes and breath in the crisp morning air, smelling of freshly fallen leaves and clear water. I then put my hat back on my head and guide Epona to the entrance of the spring just as Talo arrives. Instinct, you could call it, but you'd be wrong. My senses seem to have heightened ever since I first transformed into a beast.

"Are you ready to go, Talo?" I ask the kid as he approaches.

"Yeah, Link!" he replies cheerfully. Then, staring at my mare, he exclaims, "Whoa! I get to ride Epona with you?!"

I laugh and help Talo mount my horse. "Did you think I was going to make you run the whole way back?" Climbing up behind him, I slip my feet into the stirrups and wrap my hands around him, taking hold of the reins. Taking great care with Epona (as I'm sure Ilia will get mad if she gets hurt), I snap the leather ropes, and we head out of the Ordona Province.

After hours on the road to Kakariko Village, we run into our first monster. Naturally, the child sitting in front of me reacts in terror, shrieking, "Link!"

Now, this wouldn't be a big deal if it weren't for the disappearance of all monsters after Ganondorf's fall. My eyes narrow and I pull my bow from around my shoulder, drawing an arrow from the quiver strapped to my back and taking aim.

It turns out to be a simple Bokoblin, but still, just the fact that it's a monster surprises me. After shooting it straight through the heart, I clap my hand over Talo's mouth before he can cheer about how heroic I just was.

"Bokoblins are never alone," I whisper, looking around with eyes narrowed. I can feel the wolf inside of me beginning to stir; there are definitely a lot more around.

Removing my hand from his mouth, I draw another arrow, hearing another bow's string pull back. Yelling for Epona to go, I turn myself completely around without losing my balance and release my projectile, hitting another Bokoblin and destroying it.

It wasn't the one with the bow, however, as I find out when a flaming arrow digs into the ground just beside us. As more arrows follow quickly, I shout for Talo to get as close to Epona's flank as he can. He shrinks down, and an arrow whizzes over his head. I lean to the side before one can impale me in the chest and turn back around, slapping Epona hard to get her to run faster.

Talo cries, "Link, what's happening?"

"I don't know!" I yell back, pointing my bow at yet another Bokoblin and shooting. I miss, though, and curse under my breath. When I turn back, I see a locked gate in front of us and call over the rush of the wind, "Come on, Epona! You can make it!"

She does make it, but barely. I wince when I hear one of her legs smack against the metal gate, and for a moment she loses her balance, but then runs steady.

I calm down just enough for them to catch me off guard.

A line of arrows launches over the gates, and I feel one dig painfully into my sword arm. Another reaches its mark, sinking deep into my left side. I try to urge Epona to run faster, but she's tuckered out, and only starts to slow down. Maybe this can work to our advantage; they're expecting us to race on ahead.

So, without using the energy to explain, I tug on Epona's reins to force her to stop. Talo looks at me like I'm crazy. He doesn't seem to spot my wounds, though, and then the arrows whiz far over our heads. When they all land, I say, "Okay, good girl, Epona. Now go!"

Epona charges down the path as fast as she can go at the moment, and when we finally reach Kakariko Village, she slows to a trot and heads as close as she can to the spring, standing shakily until both Talo and I get off. She then slumps onto one side and lets out a pained whinny. I notice that her right leg is bleeding and wonder if I could look even worse.

I, too, drop to the ground. I pat Epona's flank and force myself to wrench the arrow out of my forearm, letting out a pained cry and biting my lip when a pain like fire replaces the cold metal shaft. Talo gasps and hurries over, asking if I'm alright.

"P-pull that one out," I whisper, gasping when the brunette gives it a light tug. He immediately lets go, and I shake my head. "No, Talo, pull it out. If you don't, it'll seal in there when I go to the spring, and it'll hurt worse."

Hesitantly, Talo reaches out both of his small hands and grips the shaft again. He slips it slowly out, and I restrain myself. It hurts...it stings worse than anything I've ever experienced, even Ganondorf's magic. What is this?

The second he gets the arrow out, Talo shrieks, "Ilia! Help me!"

I clench my jaw and glance down at the long shaft that Talo pulled out. Everything else blurs when I see that it's coated almost completely in blood. I risk a pained glance down at the front of my tunic and see almost the entire front coated in a bloody stain.

It's not that I'm afraid of blood; otherwise I would never make it as Hyrule's Hero. It's seeing my own blood that scares me. It's the one thing that can actually scare me. The thought of death, the possibility that I could die.

As a child, I wasn't afraid of anything at all, not my friends teasing me about being an orphan, not someone getting angry at me, not even of climbing up the vines to get some honey from that hornet nest in Ordon. Maybe that's why I was blessed with the Triforce of Courage. As I grew older, however, I became more wary and cautious, and slowly began to fear it.

Even so, death is something that's feared by each and every one of us...

I can feel Ilia as she crouches next to me and shakes me urgently, calling my name. When did I get on the ground? And...why is everything growing so dark?

The last thing that I can hear is, "Get him to Eldin's spring!"

...Do you think...that might've been a dangerous wound?

The first thing I register is crying. Crying from all kinds of different voices. I can identify each and every one of those voices. Ilia, Colin, Talo, Malo, Beth...why are they crying...?

The next thing I register is how dark it is, and then I realize that my eyes are closed. I open them as far as I can manage, and the first face I see is Ilia's, scared and worried.

She sees my eyelids flicker slightly as I try to keep them open...but...this pain is unbearable...

"Link!" she whispers. "You're awake!"

Immediately everyone else's crying stops, and they wait for me to say something. So I do.

"The...castle...I need to...tell...the princess..."

Ilia chokes back another sob. I can tell that this time she's more worried about me than Epona. "Link, you can't. It's too dangerous, and...and you..." She closes her eyes and turns her head away. I see Telma place a gentle hand on her shoulder. When did Telma get here? Why are they all so worried about me?

I force myself to sit up and manage to keep consciousness in my grasp. "What do you mean? What's wrong?" I summon strength into my voice and hope it passes off. Truly, my insides are boiling and my head aches worse than anything. When will it stop...?

"L-Link, please don't try to...you can't go, okay?!" Colin cries.

Why are they all talking like I'm on my deathbed?

"Colin, Ilia, what's wrong? What's so bad that you won't let me visit Princess Zelda and tell her exactly what happened?" I demand as my vision begins to swim again.

Telma heaves a great sigh and says, "Listen, honey, it's a lot more serious than you think. These monsters have just appeared, right? Talo, here, told me that you didn't come across any monsters until you were almost here. Is that right?"

I frown, but nod anyway.

"Link, honey, they just showed up out of nowhere, and as far as we can tell, only around Kakariko Village. They must have come here for a reason. We think that they wanted to trap you here, sweetheart," the bartender continues with an uncharacteristic frown on her face.

I lean back on the bed with a sigh and mutter, "That could be true, but since when are monsters so smart?"

"Maybe they've got a new leader," Beth offers up as quietly as she can. Her attempt fails, however, as all eyes turn to her, following my own gaze.

"Yeah..." Malo whispers contemplatively.

Ilia tilts her head to the side and asks, "Link, are you sure Ganondorf is dead?"

I blink and glance at her as my headache subsides and the pain diminishes. "Ilia, I'm absolutely positive that Ganondorf is gone forever. Don't tell me you're doubting me." I can hear exasperation and fatigue in my voice.

"Forever...no, I don't think that's quite right."

The voice sounds so familiar, but I can't quite place it. For some reason it has this muffled touch to it, as though they're speaking from underwater.

That's when it hits me that I do know this voice. I know this voice all too well.

Zant.

As the house begins to fade to Twilight, and the first couple people turn into spirits, I can feel my heart begin to race, and I whisper to Ilia, "Please remember that I'm here when you least expect it."

She looks like she's going to ask a question, probably something about Zant or what's going on, or maybe what I mean, but then she turns into a spirit. I can tell she's looking around even without being able to see anything other than a floating blue light.

Before I can assume my wolf form, I whip around and demand answers out of Zant. "Why are you here? I thought you were dead!"

It's then that I realize he isn't the same man he once was. His snakelike mask is cracked and broken on one side, and I can see almost half of his horrid face. His once elegant robes are torn. The final thing I notice is that his cruel, cold look is gone.

I feel a pounding headache, and when I'm on the ground I can feel my body reshaping itself, morphing into a wolf's form. Letting out a huff that comes out as a growl, I watch Zant as he begins to reply to me.

"Listen, Hero, I am on your side this time. Wasn't it I who helped you defeat Ganondorf? Wasn't it I who sacrificed what little I had left, to weaken him?" Zant asks softly, crouching down to lay a hand on top of my head, where I know there's a crest symboling the goddesses. I growl and back away, out of his reach.

He shakes his head. "No, Hero, please, don't fight me. I swear that I am on your side. Midna is in trouble."

At Midna's name I feel my ears perk and I relax my stance. I tilt my head with my gaze locked onto Zant's. He lets out a breath and continues to speak, giving me what I think may be a smile. "The Sages brought me back to life so I could warn you and your world. Midna gave me this, the object I used against you so long ago. But I doubt you'll need it."

He holds up the sharp piece of black and orange metal which he used to trap me in my wolf form after we had obtained the three Fused Shadows. I snarl and back away carefully. Zant chuckles. "I didn't know you kept it. Frankly, it makes me feel honored. Tell me, Link, Hero of Twilight..." He pauses just long enough for me to calm down and approach again. "...if I work with you and help you, will you do the same?"

It takes me some time to consider this, and he lets out a sigh. "I understand your hesitancy to trust me, especially after all that I have done to you and Midna. She was hesitant, too. But I swear, by everything that I have, that I really do want to help you. If I break this vow and harm you in any way, I will restrain myself and allow you to kill me. Do we have a deal?"

My brow furrows. Should I trust him? Can I trust him?

Apparently I think I can, because I take the few steps forward that allow him to rest his hand on my head again. He gives an amused smile and scratches me behind the ears. Okay, so maybe I can understand why animals like that so much...

Zant gives a short laugh and asks, "Would you mind if I hid in your shadow on occasion? I believe you allowed Midna to do so..."

I puff out a breath and roll my eyes, trying to say, 'Yeah, right. I didn't let her; she did it anyway.'

Zant smirks again. "Right, I forgot about that. I'll do that now, so your friends can return to their physical forms. I'm afraid, however, that you wouldn't be able to return to your human form because of my, ahem, dark presence. Your friends should be able to understand if you show them somehow, correct?"

My ears flatten, and I attempt to tell him that I'm not sure. I think he gets it, because he sighs yet again, pats the top of my head, and disappears into my shadow. The Twilight immediately disperses, and I leap onto the bed, settling down on it and resting my head on my paws.

Ilia appears and starts to look around, muttering, "That was weird..."

When she spots me, her first reaction is a scream. Apparently, this starts a chain reaction, because multiple screams follow.

Telma seems to be the only one who doesn't freak out. She puts her hands at her hips and looks down at me, staring into my eyes, searching for something. I remember the first thing she used to describe me with. "Look at those eyes; proud, like a feral beast."

She recognizes those eyes now, but she doesn't seem to want to say anything. So I step carefully off the bed, standing half Ilia's height. I gently nudge her with my nose, guiding her gaze to the outline of a triangle on my right paw and a scar farther up, but not past the joint.

Her eyes widen, and I nuzzle her again. Finally, she crouches beside me and whispers, "Link? Is that you?"

I lift my head up and lock gazes with her. Tears well in her eyes. "What's happened to you?" Ilia whispers.

I once again rest my head on my paws with a discontented huff.

"It's him," Telma says at last. "I'd recognize those eyes anywhere."

I tilt my head towards her and dip my head slightly, once again standing. Finally, I turn sadly around and head towards the door, glancing back at all of them just once before standing on my hind paws and using both my front paws to twist the knob, simultaneously leaning back. The door swings open, and I hear a collective gasp come from all of the people.

I hear footsteps and turn around just as multiple children's arms give me hugs and squeezes and exclamations of, "Come back soon, okay?" I feel Colin scratch me behind the ears and can't stop my tail from wagging.

Finally I turn completely back around and nuzzle each of them before looking around for an exit other than the front door. I find two boxes stacked near an open window in the hallway, and I pad over, leaping up and out of the window. As I'm landing, I hear Barnes say, "Um, he does know that window leads fifteen feet down, right?"

"Wolf, Barnes. He's not human right now," Telma's voice replies.

I feel a twang of sorrow at those words, and then I land on all four paws, snarling slightly when my front right paw buckles and burns with pain again.

Shaking my head, I dash away, towards the spring, and rest there for a while. Zant mutters from my shadow, "You must love those children. I'm surprised you didn't lick their faces, like any ordinary dog."

I roll my eyes once again, and Zant says, "Anyway, I bet you're wondering where we're supposed to go and how I got here."

Nodding as much as I can, I begin to head over to the little cavern that holds a Cucco and leads to the back of Eldin's spring, looking for information.

I ask the Cucco, "Do you know what's happening outside Kakariko Village?"

It turns its head from one side to the other before clucking, "Well, I haven't had much information leak through, but that horse told me about the Bokoblins and how they attacked the green-clad hero. You smell like him. I like you."

I huff and thank it, turning away. Then it calls, "But one of my friends told me about more and more monsters gathering around each town. No traveler is safe anymore."

Pricking my ears, I head back out of the cavern, and Zant clears his throat. "As I was saying, we're supposed to be going to Castle Town in order to warn Princess Zelda, although I'm sure you knew that." I nod again, and he continues. "Other than that, the Sages also allowed both you and I to travel from this world to the Twilight Realm."

I glare down at my shadow as if to say, 'Why you?'

"Because this time, I'm here in replacement of Midna," he replies. "Now, hurry up. We need to get going before dark; that's when the monsters are most dangerous, and hardest to control." I can almost feel him shudder.

Nodding yet again, I dash off to the gate, wishing we had time to talk to Epona and ask what she knows.

I sniff around the gate and sense a soft spot in the ground that I can dig under. Reaching the other side of the gate, I glance quickly around to count the monsters. There are around thirty, and, lucky me, they're all asleep. Trying to make as little sound as possible, I sneak around the first one and curse the chain on my paw.

As soon as I'm far away enough to flee without being heard, I dart northeast, following the white spire that I know is the castle.

"We're almost there," Zant says, as if I don't know. "How do you want to do this?"

The path is being guarded by all kinds of monsters, even some of the Shadow Beasts that Zant used to put everywhere. I growl. The Shadow Beasts being here must mean that they'll stick us inside one of those force-fields until we kill them, and how am I going to do that without Midna's little trick?

I mentally count them. Six. There are six Shadow Beasts, which means I could defeat four of them and then use my spin attack, maybe?

"I could come out of your shadow and the extra monsters would probably turn into the darker ones, but that wouldn't help, would it?" Zant asks himself idly. "Oh, here's an idea. We could run around the first ones and attack the Shadow Beasts, then dodge around the rest of them as much as we can."

That's along the lines of what I'm thinking, so I nod and prepare myself for a risky run.

Really, it goes pretty well, and my idea of using a spin attack against the last two Shadow Beasts works like a charm. It's just the last monsters that alarm me. The six Shadow Beasts have tired me out a little more than I expected, and these last monsters look pretty aggressive. Not to mention fast.

So guess what I do?

I run around them.

I think a few see me, because I hear some screeching behind me, but I keep running and dash up the stairs, of which the monsters don't seem to be able to climb up. They all gather by the stairs and shriek at me, yelling, getting angry in general. I turn and bark at them before hurrying over to the giant doors leading into Castle Town and racing immediately inside.

I see the doctor's office, but other than that, the west side of Castle Town is virtually abandoned. There isn't much here, but since it's nearly dusk, there are the two men with the big hats, wondering what the other is saying. When I walk past the one in red, however, he screams and ducks, with his hands covering his head. I roll my eyes and continue walking towards the castle.

Other than the men with the hats, everyone else seems to recognize me as I pass by (as the wolf that helped Zelda, of course), and simply shrink away. The guards actually salute me as I head towards the castle, and one of them follows to open the doors for me (I really don't need them, but it's best to appear as dog-like as possible).

They knock on the elegant door leading into Zelda's bedroom and call, "Princess? It's the wolf."

I hear her gasp and whisper, "Come in!"

I push open the door with my head, paws working frantically, and see Zelda look down at me in surprise. She's not wearing the black cloak that she wore whenever I went to her before, and her room is a lot brighter.

After the guard leaves, she rushes over to me, crouches down, and exclaims, "Link?! What happened? How are you like this if we're not in Twilight?"

I flick my tail and give Zelda a look-over, to make sure she's ready. Then I bark loudly, calling for Zant to come out.

Her room is immediately enveloped in Twilight, but she remains in her human form when Zant passes out of my shadow. Zelda's eyes narrow, but after a warning growl from me, the two look at each other with a mutual respect.

"Link, is this why you're stuck in your wolf form? Is it because he's been there the whole time?" she asks.

I dip my head in a nod, and Zant begins to explain. "Princess, I know you don't trust me, but I'm the only one that can speak for Link right now, so you'll just have to take my word for it."

"Or," she says, "I could have you leave the castle, and he could take his human form."

Zant flinches. "I hadn't thought of that." Giving me a nod and bowing to Zelda, he disappears, and that headache comes back again.

I assume my human form, and when I'm standing again, Zelda says, "Okay, Link, since I trust you more, let's hear it from you."

So I explain Talo telling me about Malo's request, heading to Kakariko Village, and Zant's arrival. Zelda breathes, "So he could have easily killed you right then, but he didn't?"

I nod. "I was in a weak enough position that he could have killed me even without going himself, but he offered his assistance anyway. I don't know what's going on, Zelda, but I know that whatever it is isn't good. Zant thought that you would know what to do."

She lets out an exasperated sigh. "Well, he's right. I do know what to do. You'll need to visit the Twilight Realm and see what you can of there, then come and report back to me. But I don't think I quite trust Zant yet, Link. I'm sure you would understand if you were there when he attacked. I want Zant to stay here while you visit the Twilight Realm."

I nod again and start to head out.

"Link?"

"Yes, princess?"

"Good luck."

I chuckle. "Let's hope so." Leaving the room, I call to Zant. Before my Twilight form takes over, I explain quickly what Zelda wants to happen.

"Very well," he relents as I re-assume my wolf form. Crouching down beside me, he says, "To enter the Twilight Realm, you'll just have to walk through a mirror. It's quite simple, really."

I cock my head at him as if to say, 'So walking through mirrors is easy now?'

"Is that a hint of sarcasm I detect?" Zant asks with a touch of humor in his smile.

I bark affirmation and start to dash down the stairs, gaining speed until I jump onto a windowsill and exit the castle.

"Impressive. I take it you learned how to break in and out of the castle from Midna?"

I glance reproachfully at him, clearly saying with my eyes, 'Maybe.'

Zant smirks and continues to float after me, turning everything within a ten-foot radius into Twilight. Getting an idea, I flick my tail at him and bark, telling him to wait. Then I run a bit ahead and change back into a human.

"Could we just walk like this?" I call.

The Twili shrugs. "Be my guest."

"So where do you think the nearest mirror is?" I joke, drawing my sword and killing a couple Bokoblins.

"Are you just playing for time? We could have gone through one in the castle."

I give him a smirk and shoot an arrow at a Boblin stationed on a post not too far away. I then put on my Hawk-eye mask and aim at the other Boblins. Finally, I reply, "Maybe I am. I want to hear what Epona knows about the monsters' reappearance. Horses tend to know things." I then put a hand to my chin. "Then again, the only thing she would say to me whenever I was in wolf form last time was, 'Link, please return to your normal self.' Apparently she likes me better as a human."

Zant chuckles, following me carefully with his torn robes trailing.

"By the way," I begin, "you never told me why you're so beat-up."

He looks skeptical. "That's because I didn't want to. But now that you ask, I guess I could..."

"Please do."

"When I came back, my Shadow Beasts and Assassins tried to...well, assassinate me. I figured that they were being controlled by another source, someone more dangerous and commanding than me. They all worked together, unlike when you fought them and they fought separately. I could never get them to do that."

Now that I think about it, the Shadow Beasts earlier were a bit harder to defeat than they should have been.

"Okay, so that's a new bit of information. We know that whoever is in control of the monsters now is scarier than you are. That's actually saying something. Do you know how scared I was when you just appeared right behind me? I mean, who does that?"

"Me."

"Aside from you."

"Midna."

"...right..."