[MUSIC]

Blinding light.

The echo of infinity.

The tug of the torrential winds of time.

The man saw and felt all of these things as he tumbled, head over heels, through the vortex of time, the shattered remains of the Time Essence crumbling away in his hand, scattering across all of history. Wherever he had been planning on going, he knew it didn't matter now. When the gem shattered, he lost all control of his jump. Wherever he landed was up to fate, or even the Goddesses themselves. And he didn't like his odds if the Goddesses had the final say.

He caught fleeting glimpses of moments in history as he flew past them. War. Corruption. Desolation. The Triforce of Power had left its mark and scarred history in ways he could not begin to recognize, the darkness of evil slowly growing stronger and choking out the light as he moved further and further along.

...Or perhaps the darkness was not as all-consuming as it first appeared. A sudden burst of light drove the darkness back, pushing it away from the ground it had gained, so the light and the dark were on even footing, in perfect balance. And it was in this moment, just as the man was trying to comprehend what had happened and what he was seeing, that he was pulled very suddenly and abruptly out of the ever-flowing stream of time and yanked into a very solid moment.

He hit the ground with a painful thud, landing on what felt like solid stone. His vision swam and went dark as pain racked his body. He passed out.



The man slowly blinked his eyes, his vision blurry and dark. How long had he been unconscious? He did not know. It was dark and cold, just as it had been when he lost consciousness. Perhaps minutes? Hours? It was hard to tell. He sat up with a groan and looked around, his vision slowly beginning to come together as pain hit him like a wave, his body screaming out against him in rebellion to the harsh landing it had just endured. It was the middle of the night, and he was sitting in an empty courtyard of a city he did not recognize. In fact, nothing looked familiar. The market stalls, the layout of the courtyard, the shade and feel of the stone, and even the taste of the air. It was all completely foreign to him. Nothing resembled the home he knew in the slightest. Just how far forward - or backwards - had he gone? What had happened? Had his plan been successful? He looked down at his hand, and groaned to see that not even a sliver of the Time Essence remained. Wherever he had landed, he was stuck. Sitting in a painful pile in the middle of the North Castle courtyard, his gaze passed around the courtyard, and he nearly jumped out of his skin when he turned to see a figure standing right next to him.

The figure was silhouetted against the moonlight, so its face was obscured, but he could see it had a large shell-like back - maybe a Goron? Wait... or was that a backpack? Before the man had a chance to speak, the figure bent over, and extended it's hand, it's face coming out of the shadow of its backpack - yes, that was a backpack after all, and "it" was a "he" - so the man could see the figure's face.

The figure was smiling broadly. A little too broadly, perhaps. The enormous grin was a little unnerving, his teeth too white, his eyes scrunched up too small, his happiness too overbearing. But he was offering to help, so the man took his hand and stood up.

The figure spoke.

"You've met with a terrible fate, haven't you?"



.................................................


~8 MONTHS TO THE TIMECRASH~





OoC: Just beginning to lay the groundwork for my master plan... No replies necessary. Just enjoy the story, and look forward to future installments as my plots play out