Gravel crunched beneath Zelda’s boots as she dismounted her horse, taking the reigns in her hands and leading him to the steam a few yards off the road. As the horse dropped his head to drink, Zelda lowered her hood. With it’s removal, her peripheral vision opened up once more, and she took a long look at her surroundings. nondescript forest stretched down either direction of the road. The trees all stood a comfortable distance from each other, allowing the sun to easily illuminate the underbrush. If there had been anything lurking in the trees, she likely would have spotted it.
As regent to the throne, she would like to say that she personally knew every inch of her kingdom. Under normal circumstances, however, that would be impractical, and she knew it. She allowed herself to briefly entertain the thought that this unfortunate situation had allowed her to work toward achieving this impossible desire.
Assuming she was still in Hyrule, that is. For weeks, she’d sensed disturbances in the air, and though she could never determine what exactly they were or what caused them, Zelda often truly felt she’d somehow left Hyrule.
Strange, it was, how this hapless shell had now found itself to be but a simple wanderer. The barriers that once bound him to his Temple prison had all but shattered, releasing the dark spirit freely unto the surface world. There was no rhyme or reason to his release, but the entity would gladly grasp any chance to leave the empty chamber in which it had resided. With no other purpose in life to pursue, the creature sought out the Hero whom it wished so desperately to face in combat, and refused to rest until it did. This goal had taken his travels far across the already unfamiliar land of Hyrule, to such an extent that it was impossible to tell what location he had roamed into. None of the few memories he’d gained from Link seemed to match up with what he was witnessing.
Still - something compelled this lost soul to pursue a particular pathway, for before him laid a familiar presence that refused to let itself be ignored. Footsteps halted amidst an area littered with trees and plant life, rose-tinted hues settling on a figure ahead… And their strange travelling companion. At first sight, this stranger appeared to be but a simple traveller, but a creature of Darkness such as him knew better. This one was special. Perhaps these strange happenings were not just a strange bout of luck, after all.
In spite of that, the shadow hung back amongst the trees, wanting to observe before making its presence known.