And so it begins...

And so it continues...

Here is a merging of timelines that, though long veiled, has always been in store.

Truthfully, this has always been the goal, Circle. I wrote Until I Remember and What I Forgot as prologues. Those were only to provide characters. I wrote The Inkspot as a building block, to clarify my intent before stepping into this. I've had Circle through various stages of planning since I began writing fanfiction nearly two years ago. It's taken that long to lay grounds for it, but finally Circle is here.

Though many stories came before, and many will come after, my intention has always been for Circle to be my fanfiction masterwork. I can only hope that I translate it well enough from what has roamed my head these past two years.

Link looked around at the festivities and smiled. The milling about of people cast a throng of smiling voices into the air. Link didn't know many of the people here. In fact, most of them were people he didn't know. That didn't matter to Link, though. It didn't matter at all.

All he cared about were the people who he did know. There was Talon, standing with a pair of relatives. They chattered at him, but Link could tell from this distance that the man was preoccupied. Ingo wore fine clothes, and wandered about the area. Link couldn't tell if he was glad of anything, for this was Ingo, but at least the man seemed without grievance.

Malon was somewhere inside the house, getting ready.

Just the thought of her brought a smile to Link's face. The weather wasn't what they'd hoped for, but nothing could ruin this. For all the sky's clouds, Link saw only the sun beyond and his beautiful bride hiding somewhere in the removed building.

This day had been coming for a long time, but it had taken that long to arrange it all. There were cousins and uncles who had traveled from rather far away to see this. Her uncle Harris had even come. As so many others, the man congratulated them. What set him apart from most of the relatives was the fact that he'd actually met Link before. There was remembrance in his face for that time they'd stayed in his home.

Harris was the exception, as many of the people had no clue about Link and were, in general, very curious. Where had he come from, the city? What did his parents do? What did he do?

Link told them with a smile that he worked on the farm. That was the whole of it, really. There were things he had done a long time ago, but those were past. He had come from the forest, yes, but what did his origin matter? All Link cared about was what the future held for him and Malon.

That answer hardly placated, but they tended to leave him alone after realizing he wasn't interested in saying any more.

A few torches had already been lit around the field, to hold off the growing twilight. It was an old tradition to be wed by sunset. From his place near the edge of everything, Link could see the orange sun near to touching the horizon. People were beginning to converge in the center and Link headed over to join them.

There were just a few minutes left until it would all begin. Even as Link approached, somebody leaned out from the crowd and congratulated him. Link thanked the person, who had disappeared immediately after the sentiment, and joined the group himself.

That proved easier attempted than done, as the attendants developed a tendency to part around him. It was such a fascinating thing to have the mysterious groom in their midst! In truth, Link had begun to feel sick of all that attention, but he knew that these were Malon's relatives and every awkward question or inspection would be worth it in the end.

Taking a glance back toward the house, Link found himself thinking how any hell would be worth Malon's hand, and that he could brave anything for her.

There was some movement around the house, and Link could see people heading out of it. Surely Malon was among those, but Link began his forward march once more before being sure. Bad luck and such.

It didn't take long for Link to reach his place at the front. The crowd thinned with each yard until it allowed an empty space. The only person there was an old priest from the city. Link remembered him vaguely but, somehow, was unrecognized in turn. This was probably for the best, he thought.

The air's bustle began to slip away and subside. As Link looked out at the milling bodies, he saw that many toward the rear were disappearing downward. There were benches scattered around the field. As more people sat, Link was made able to notice the parted place filled with a shock of white and red.

It took only moments for the crowd to grow short and for Malon to reach the front, but it seemed like centuries to Link. And then, as if time skipped, she was up there next to him. They stood still and stared at each other, smiling and unable to do anything else. The old priest said something, but these words bounced around in Link's head so that he could only understand the final prompt.

"I do."

The air felt like a furnace, or else full of wind as Link waited that half moment for Malon's response. Blood hummed in his ears and slowed to a near-stop. Where there had once been a cloud of the crowd's white noise, everything was empty now, and focused.

The priest spoke and she spoke in turn.

"I do."

With these words the world rushed back into reality. It was all complete again. No, not again. Everything was now suddenly complete as it never had been. They kissed like something momentous. Link was numbed and struck with too much feeling. Gaps began appearing. For a lifetime he kissed Malon, and then there were voices in the air, all unintelligible. They were walking through that crowd, and it was dark. The sun was down, mysteriously disappeared. Link couldn't remember anything, couldn't understand anything except for the dream in his hand.

Blue pill or red pill? This is where you make a choice. Step back and take it as a pretty oneshot, or read on to find an ugly epic. I leave this to you.

The house was dark, as all occupants had departed before nightfall. The door had just shut behind them, leaving no light but that from windows. Malon's hand remained in his own, and Link's other began searching out for a candle, a lantern, or something.

A certain stink of the darkness began pressing on Link's mind as he pulled the matches into his hand. There was something inexplicably sick about this obscurity. It had to be lit. It had to be lit.

"Here, I'll get a candle," Malon said, disappearing from his grasp for a moment. The match had just leapt into life and, but did not illuminate much beyond Link's own hand. It was a short shock as Malon slipped off into the dark room beyond his sight, but she returned quickly.

Pressing match to wick, Link held it high and looked around the room. He looked at Malon, and wondered if she felt this. That itching like ants on skin seemed to crawl out of this darkness, but it seemed only to be so for him. She smiled, but was that crooked falsity to it? Could it be that Malon knew the strange feeling here, but pressed the thought away?

Maybe it was only imagination?

Hand in hand, with the candle held to illuminate, they headed together into the next room.

If there had been any way to scream at that sight, Malon would have.

If there had been any breath left in his lungs, Link would have joined her.

There as a smudge in the darkness, crouched some kind of sinister creature. With each movement its ethereal body faded and was reborn like the dancing tongues of some awful flame. Under its body was another smudge, but one that they recognized. Link did first, and pulled Malon back into the other room. That was an aunt, one which Link had only briefly met the day before. It had seemed she didn't like Link much, but…

He wanted to throw up.

"Link," Malon said, voice like her shivering skin, "you sword…"

"That's upstairs," he said, "Hurry."

He gripped her hand tightly and they headed for the stairs. Their steps were slow, but felt hurried. Link's heart raced, pounding in a steady, lightning circuit. He didn't, couldn't, take his mind away from that nightmarish thing below.

Slow steps do not prevent the creaking of old steps which have always done so.

The sound of some reactionary movement below sent them into a rush upward. Link climbed the stairs two at a time three at a time, towing his panicking bride behind. They'd reached the second floor in moments, but something was already at the base of the stairs.

When they entered Link's room, the door was slammed shut and Malon set herself against it. Link dove to the floor and frantically stuffed his hand under the bed. His old equipment was here, long hidden away. Link's hand grasped about and found the familiar hilt.

With one, desperate swipe, the old white sword leapt into his grasp and out from under the bed. Link flew to his feet with it and turned back to the door. Malon was shoving herself against it, trying to hold the wood back against that darkness's advances.

Aside from the contact on wood, its only noise was a low, constant voice of whispering.

"Get back Malon," Link said, holding his sword toward the bulging door, "Let it in."

She stared at him for a moment then obeyed. The door flew open as she stepped aside and, Link noticed with fury, it even clipped her on the arm and knocked her to the wall. That darkness burst in through the opening but Link was there and ready. He struck out with the white sword as it leapt for him, already watching for whatever it might do.

To Link's icy surprise, the blade slipped through it like nothing and the darkness kept on toward him. It was Link's reflexes that saved him, as he was able to drop aside from its darkly vaporous body.

"Get out!" Link said, throwing one arm toward Malon. She was still, seeming not to comprehend.

Momentum carried the darkness over the bed and Link could hear it scrambling over there.

In one frantic movement, Link grabbed Malon by the arm and was pulling her out the door. As they went, Malon managed to get ahold of the door and slam it shut behind them. Even as she did this, the darkness began to pound on the far side. The two of them stumbled back away from the door and watched for a long, slow moment.

The heavy door shuddered beneath each blow. A thin stream of smoke began to float off its aged surface. Link wasn't sure that he'd seen it, but that had been enough time wasted. Wordlessly he led Malon away and down the stairs. That pounding noise seemed to grow with each step until they were running back out the front door.

People were all about. They'd been in the house for less than a minute before the terror began.

"Back so soon?" Talon said and, noticing the sword in Link's hand, "What happened?"

"You need to get everyone out of here," Link said, glancing back toward the house, "There's something in there."

"What's in there?"

"I…" Link tried to think but there was nothing, "I don't know. It's dangerous, and you need to make people leave."

"But where…"

Before another word could be spoken, the snapping sound of glass fell from above. Link turned in time to see the black smudge sailing through the air. He was not able to move quickly enough to keep it off Ingo.

The darkness collided with the man's chest and squirmed there for a moment. Ingo screamed and fell backward. This impact jostled the thing slightly and gave Link enough time to take hold and throw it away. He reached into the sickly mass with both hands and grasped whatever substance he could find.

Pain erupted throughout Link as his flesh began to burn. It was all he could do to toss the darkness aside and not to drop it back onto Ingo. Link stepped back with short breath and stared down at his raw hands. A glance at Ingo showed that he was even worse off, covered in the same dark burns all across his face and chest.

There was silence. Terrible, fearful silence before the screaming began. The glad crowd from before became one of agonized terror. They stumbled over each other in flight from the darkness. The whole mass moved so quickly that they dropped the things they'd been transporting, chiefly food, drinks, and benches.

A discarded torch fell near Link and he snatched it up. He had left his sword on the floor in his dive, and did not go after it now. It could not help with this beast.

Link held the torch of and jabbed it toward the darkness, trying to drive its hovering presence away. The thing was like a slug now, crawling across the ground. Link could not let himself be fooled, though. He needed only to think of Ingo or remember the scrawled pain across his hands.

In a flash of movement, the darkness leapt up and through the nearby window. It was inside the house once more, but at least away from everyone. He could not leave it there, in their home.

Link held tight to the torch as he climbed through after it. The window's ragged edges pulled at his clothes, but Link forced himself on. The room was dark as before, and ominous. Red fingers of fire lay submerged in the wood. They ran all across the walls and reached upstairs in strength. For a moment he stared down at his hands and thought of Ingo's awful burns.

Somehow, Link knew just where the darkness had gone. He followed that taut, invisible string and found it huddled in the same room as before. Malon's aunt was gone, but the darkness remained there in its awful threat.

He growled and thrust the torch forward, hoping to scorch the whole of it away. However, the darkness dodged his attack and slithered a few feet away. Link was on it again, though, and pushed it back toward a corner. Here he attacked in ferocity but was met by an aggressive lunge. Link flinched back from the charge but was struck by that horrid, acidic body.

Link stumbled backward and fell, his body scrambling with sick, burning pain. The darkness moved away into some unknown location as the fire crawled across Link's skin. It seemed that his bones were crumbling, but Link tried to climb up.

He fell across the hot wood floor and tumbled. Link opened his scalded eyes to see dancing flames all about. They jabbed at his eyes and his skin and climbed down inside his body. Link heard something gurgle out of himself and he clambered across the floor.

Each movement was hell but he somehow left that room. He could see something ahead, something dark and shifting. Was that the… no it was the window. Link did all he could to reach that place. They were out there, but where was… He fell across the window and spilled outside.

Nearly an hour later, the four of them stood on a nearby hill, staring at the wrecked farmhouse. The fire had grown and, for all the damage done by the darkness, nobody could put it out. Ingo was unconscious, Link was unconscious, and everyone else had fled. The whole structure was not gone. The fire had lost strength after some time of hungry spreading.

Maybe there was something left in there? With night all about and the darkness roaming, they could not stay to find out.

Link stood holding Malon, doing all he could to ignore the screaming pain across his body. Those burns were deep, and widespread. Talon was holding an unconscious Ingo. The man had worse burns than Link, and had not awoken since the attack.

Malon shook in his arms as they all stared. The whole scene seemed surreal as it glowed from deep, residual embers. In the night that was the only strong landmark. They were going to go to Kakariko for the night, but could not quite bring themselves to leave.

Malon was crying and, Link noticed, Talon had silently joined her. This was home that had become ruin. Link wanted to join them in tears, but he could not. All Link could think of was the dark creature which could not be touched by his sword, and which was still around.

Link could not mourn for the fear which coursed through him.

Link lay sprawled across the cave floor. Flickering light from the torch played shadows all over its looming walls. Strange, but the air here seemed to be frozen as it touched Link's body. It stung in his wounds just as the dripping sweat did.

It was out there: that nameless thing, that darkness. Nameless, but it must have been ageless. Nameless, but it knew Link's name. Surely it had known that forever. Ever since the birth of darkness, Link's name had gone slicking through its foul mind. Surely it had known his name, because that shadow had been tracking him from the day he was born. And Link didn't know if he could run any longer.