Linked to the Malice (TotK AU)

Short Journey

???'s POV

Hyrule Field (???)

"Sheik."

That's the name he called me.

The great Demon King, Ganondorf...

He has chosen me.

It is time to let go of my past. I do not need it. It will only weigh me down, hurting my mind. I cannot show any signs of weakness. Gone is my old self.

I am Sheik, servant of the Demon King.

~~~

Purah's POV

Lookout Landing (After seeing the Travel Medallion)

I had just been showing Link and Zelda my new Rune when suddenly we heard a scream outside. I opened the door to ask what happened, and I saw-

Oh...

Oh no.

Link's Travel Medallion was being slowly destroyed by small strands of Malice. They flew in from the north, carefully entering the Medallion and eating away at the Runidor. The glowing blue travel point that the ancient device made was flickering, almost gone.

 Link just stood there, unable to do anything. No one can risk making contact with Malice. Not even Link. No, especially not Link! We can't afford to lose him of all people...

Zelda tried to run up to it, but I stopped her. "Princess! It's too dangerous. This new type of Malice is far worse than the kind you know. I recognize this. It's the same stuff that's been taking the shrines. Please, we have to just wait for it to leave," I pleaded. Thankfully, she listened to reason and stayed away until the Malice cleared away.

"Th...the Travel Medallion..."

Link held Zelda's hand in an attempt to reassure her. "It's okay, Zelda, we-we can just, um...we can go to Outskirt stable and get the horses, and then..." Link trailed off. Zelda tried her best to smile and pretend that nothing was bothering her. "And we can ride back to Hateno Village," she finished.

"Princess...will you be alright?" I asked. She nodded. "Thank you for your concern, but I am sure we can take a few days to ride home. 

"Okay," I said, still unsure if I should let them leave while everyone was so on edge. "Well then, I wish you luck on your short journey!" I smiled and posed, and they left Lookout Landing.

As soon as they left, I went back into my research room. I set down the Purah Pad and lay down on the hard floor, sighing. 

I don't know why I'm so unsure about this, but I just...

I feel like...

Something's going to happen soon...

~~~

Link's POV

Outskirt stable (After walking there)

After a quick walk to the nearest stable, we decided to test some things.

On the walk to Outskirt stable, Zelda discussed the new Malice. She suggested naming it "Gloom," which was something I could go along with. But then she also suggested testing how bad the Gloom-infected shrines were. 

Our current hypothesis is that if we wear thick enough shoes or boots, we could stand on the corrupted Runedor travel point without being infected ourselves. Since I hadn't been infected by the shrine floor when I first stood on it yesterday, we assumed that we would have at least a few seconds before we would actually be infected. We picked up a small wooden board at the stable and carried it up the hill to Rota Ooh shrine (which was corrupted) to test.