A/N: This oneshot takes place in Hyrule Warriors if you haven't played it. There aren't really any spoilers of the plot, but you may be just a little confused if you read it without playing a little bit of the game.

I'm sorry I've been gone so long, to those of you who are waiting for updates from Tears of Twilight and Shadow's Overture. I promise I will write new chapters as soon as I can. I'm just busy with all of my other stories on other websites as well as ideas that came from Hyrule Warriors. I beat that game and now the fanfiction urge has crept up on me.

Review? Follow or fav? Thank you.

Sucking in sharp, painful breaths, Link darted down the path. The sky was growing darker; it was as though the Goddesses were showing him some terrible omen. Wind ghosted over him. The ground was light beneath his feet. Din forbid he be a hero who doesn't know how to save his energy in a run, not that he had much left.

His destination lay ahead: the Lizalfos that also knew how to run—and held one who was both ally and friend in its scaled arms.

He tried to even his breathing as he continued his sprint, drawing the Master Sword mid-stride. The Lizalfos had reached the edge of the bridge, which spanned a great gap over a channel of water leading from Lake Hylia. It turned and stuck its snakelike tongue out at him. That was all the time he needed.

Link reached it and plunged his sword into the creature, wrenching it out and swinging to attack again. It tossed its captive and picked up its shield quickly, baring its sharp claws and teeth as it moved into a battling position.

Link struck again, and again, and again. The Lizalfos fought well, but not well enough. He swung out at it, driving the Master Sword up under its shield and managing to knock it from the Lizalfos' grasp, making his attacks much easier to perform.

They had moved out onto the bridge and Link shifted his footing to assure his safety before starting to swing the sword again in the finishing blow.

And it struck, his aim true, but not before the lizard swung both its arms out, destroyed part of the bridge, and sliced Link's abdomen through his chainmail. It vanished in the customary puff of dust, but its damage was done. He cried out and backed away, analyzing his danger, and started walking backwards slowly.

The boards at the center of the bridge, he saw, were weak and wobbling. He didn't have time to make a slow escape.

Muscles burning, his breathing even shallower than before, he turned around and raced back as the bridge started to break and fall apart. When he felt it start to go slack he gained speed and occasionally grasped the rope rungs for support as pain tore up through his torso.

He hit the cliffside painfully, but managed to make it off of the bridge and ended up beside his rescued ally.

He let out a soft whimper of pain and rolled over onto his back, searching his bag for the potion he knew he didn't have.

When he found the nothing he expected, he shakily rose to his feet and tried to get Midna up off of the ground. He failed, however, and just dropped heavily to his knees, gritting his teeth and sucking in his breath through them.

"Link?"

She groggily held her head in petite hands as she sat up, letting out a frustrated groan.

"Hey, are you alright?"

He forced a brief laugh that didn't even sound natural and shook his head, then rose to his feet again. Midna rose with him, hovering at his height and catching a glimpse of his wound. She, too, searched for and lacked a potion.

Link started walking back to where he knew the others were, amidst a sea of monsters. He staggered and winced, and Midna provided the support she could.

Then there was a low growl. It could be mistaken for the wind rushing in the canyon below, but it sounded almost demonic. The duo whipped around, Link reaching for his sword despite his pain, as another growl sounded. Midna carefully hovered to the edge of the cliff and peeked over. In a rush, a tail whipped at her and flung her off to the side, into a boulder.

She mumbled something under her breath and got up, summoning a fireball to fling at the beast.

Link moved off to the side as it focused its attention on Midna. He was careful not to make too much noise, though his breaths still came in ragged.

The demon climbed up from the edge of the cliff and rose onto its hind legs, flashing its lean back muscles and wings at Link unknowingly.

It looked similar to a dragon, though not as large as Argorok and slightly less muscular. It was, however, leaner, and looked to be rather fast. The scarlet wings planted above a crimson body spread wide, and long claws struck at the air in a sign of intimidation. A long tail swept and furled to its side. Link got the impression he should attack that or the back legs first.

It landed on all fours and Midna went to work, summoning her Twilight hound to help her attack it. She made sure to keep its attention on her and keep from moving too far to its side, fearful of it focusing too intently on Link in his injured state. He was glad of her forethought—usually they would dart into battle beside each other, tossing the focusing baton.

As the tail swept out, Link took his chance and performed an elegant, yet slightly off-balance, jump attack, landing with his sword plunged into the base. The tail snapped off and dark red blood spurted from the wound, splattering onto his tunic. The demon howled and whipped around just as Link backed away—then Midna's hound struck the wound with teeth and claw, and again the dragon turned.

Here they were, now, passing the baton.

Then its wings swiped at both of them. Midna simply dodged, but Link tripped over it and fell hard on his wound, letting out a sharp cry.

Immediately, the dragon was facing him, but the Twili was also at his side, holding up a shield marked with Twilian runes when it breathed white-hot fire.

"Link, are you okay?" Through the heat and his pain he couldn't answer. "Link! Can you still fight?"

He was hesitant, and at Midna's fierce urging, he finally shook his head. He shut his eyes and bit his lip. It hurt him internally, but he had to admit that he couldn't take this battle.

The arm that supported him trembled and went slack. The ground beneath him shook. Unintelligible sound erupted. Something slithered around his torso, and he lost consciousness.

When he woke, he felt fine. There was light tingling where the Lizalfos' claws had struck him, but other than that he felt nothing but warmth.

His eyes flickered open and were greeted with piercing sunlight. He groaned and shut them again, then heard voices.

"Get out."

"I just wanted to—"

"I said get out. He never had patience for you, and he surely won't now."

"Impa! I demand that you—"

"Being the princess' assistant and nursemaid, I am of higher rank than you, Ruto. Silence yourself and go."

There was grumbling, but Link could tell by the light sigh that whoever Impa had been conversing with was gone. She then approached him, her footsteps light, and asked:

"How are you feeling?"

"Better." He opened his eyes again and shielded them from the sun initially, looking over at her. "Is Midna okay?"

Impa nodded, a smile tugging at her lips. "Yeah. She just needed a little bit of potion for her head injury. She did a fine job protecting you. I think a 'thank you' is in order."

"What happened with the—"

"She killed it, or it fled before we got there." Impa ended the conversation with a prompt, "She's in the Western Keep if you need her. The princess requires my assistance."

The Sheikah dipped her head and vanished from sight. Link smirked, then checked his map and got up. He buckled on his sword, tossed his shield over his back, and started his jog. From what he saw on the map, there was an enemy army to the far northwest. Impa was headed north, to the keep where Zelda was located. Midna was, indeed, in the Western Keep, which was currently being swarmed by enemies.

Link nodded to himself and gained speed, arriving at the Western Keep beside her and knocking out a group of Bokoblins in the process. She turned in his direction and their eyes met. Her singular amber one glinted in the approaching twilight, wide and innocent, yet somehow sharp and fierce at the same time.

"Thanks," was all Link said before stabbing through another group with a flourish, breaking eye contact.

"No problem," she replied as she summoned a glowing green and black orb of destruction, tossing it at the enemy forces and shoving them back. There was something soft in her voice, but he decided not to address it.

They continued the battle without further event, knocking out the swarm attacking them before cutting off their source—a couple of Moblins—and defeating the stragglers as they headed back to the base, side by side.

It was just how Midna remembered things, but she was painfully aware that Link had forgotten.

She just smiled and nudged him in the shoulder in a small sign of affection, and he smiled back over at her. That was all she really needed—to see his brilliant blue eyes shining at her, his lips turn up at the corners. Just for her.