Shadow of Another Hero
is a Zelda II: The Adventure of Link oneshot by Fox in the Stars. It's a 1000 word story that deconstructs and darkens the ending of the game.
The fic starts just before Zelda is awaken from her slumber. Upon Link awakening her, she reacts in joy and gives Link a kiss in gratitude. However, suddenly she becomes agitated and wary of Link. Link doesn't have green eyes— or at least her Link doesn't.
Shadow of Another Hero provides examples of:
- Ambiguously Related: Link looks near identical to Zelda's Link, though whether he's an Identical Grandson or it's a quirk of reincarnation is left unsaid.
- Ambiguous Situation: Link wonders if Dark Link is his shadow or whether he's the remains of a previous Link.
- Dark Fic: The game's ending isn't a Happily Ever After. Zelda has a fit upon realizing she's been asleep for hundreds of years, while Link has an existential crisis after his journey.
- Deconstruction Fic: Awakening hundreds of years into the future is a shock to Zelda. She doesn't take it well.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Zelda goes into crying fit after learning that she has been asleep for roughly 700 years.
- Identical Stranger: Link looks identical to a boy that Zelda once knew, except that the current Link has green eyes.
- Platonic Kissing: The kiss that Zelda gave Link was intended for her close friend.
- One-Steve Limit: "Link" is always the name of the Hero. Zelda had her own "Link" and she mistook the current one for him.
