This is a collaboration idea from me and my buddy, it was written for fun so there's not a rigorous schedule but even so, please enjoy! We will finish it sometime. If you'd like to check out the comic go to foxtail-89's deviantart gallery and look for clink! She works on the comic while I write out the story.

The characters are owned by their respective game companies: Nintendo and Squee-nix

"Link! Wake up!"

Link hit the ground with a loud bang; his arm twisted awkwardly underneath him and his eyes still half closed from sleep. His legs were tangled in the sheets and he had a slight memory of having to run in his dream but he couldn't remember what for or from.

Murmuring something inaudible Link looked for the source of the noise only to see a small blue fairy hovering above his head. "Come on Navi! Every single morning." He groaned, "Let me sleep in, just one more hour is all I ask!" He rolled along the floor, sheets and all, until he arrived next to his wardrobe.

"It's not my fault you decided to make your own little delivery service Link, if you want to deliver all of your items on time you need to wake up early! In fact, I really should wake you up an hour earlier, so consider yourself lucky you have such a thoughtful and considerate fairy like me."

"Lucky, that's one word to describe me." Link muttered to himself, standing up in his cocoon of covers and snagging his customary green outfit. He heaved a sigh as he let the covers drop to the floor, the chill that fell upon him waking him up instantly and giving him shivers as he quickly dressed for the day.

He put on his hat as a finishing touch and grabbed his sword from the dresser before descending from the tree with an agile ease. When he reached the bottom he pulled out a list from his pack, he took a moment to consider it and then said, "Alright, first and foremost we need to drop by Castle Town to see Zelda."

"That's not on the list!"

"Yes it is, I wrote it there yesterday." Link smiled at her and then whistled for Epona, the song flowing through the woods on high crisp notes. A few seconds later he heard the familiar gallop of his horse and turned to the noise only to be bowled over by the large animal.

Epona's tongue dragged over Link's face several times, "Alright!" Link laughed, pushing at the horse's nose, "I love you too, now let me up!" After a couple more licks Epona relented.

"To Castle Town!" Link said, heading off cheerfully through the forest.

The wind flew past Cloud's ears as he and Tifa raced out of Midgar on Fenrir. Tifa's hands gripped Cloud tighter around the waist and he smiled, speeding up and flying into the forest of glowing trees. They were on their way to visit Vincent after receiving an amusing message regarding Yuffie and her antics in his house.

"She lost her luggage because she gambled it away for some special materia involving chocobos and then she insists on wearing my clothes even though I gave her money to go get new ones! I still haven't gotten that money back either too so I can only assume that she's spent it on something needless and/or stupid. She freeloads with everything and has already cleared out my fridge two times and refuses to go out and buy groceries and she doesn't clean up after herself and I swear if I find one more bra in the fridge I might snap, she claims that it keeps them 'fresh' what does that even mean?" Vincent's message was disrupted by a screaming yell and a clatter as the phone fell to the ground.

"Score five for the Great Ninja Yuffie, zero for Vinnie!" A higher pitched woman's voice yelled in the background.

"Get back here with my boots!" Vincent yelled at her as she laughed maniacally and ran away, presumably down one of his various hallways. Vincent muttered something about killing ninjas and picked up the phone once again. "Save me, please."

Cloud chuckled to himself; it was good that Yuffie was there since she was the only one that could make Vincent show so much emotion. Of course, sometimes she could go a little overboard.

They were nearing the end of the woods when out of nowhere a beam of light shot down, Cloud tried to press the brakes but they were nonresponsive. Tifa yelled something inaudible as the bike swerved and skidded, hitting a large boulder and sending them flying forwards. Cloud tried to grab at Tifa as he felt her slip but a sharp pain crashed into his mind and everything went black.

Link marveled at the tall towers, every time he past the gate into the city it always made him feel small and insignificant in comparison. Epona gave a slight toss of her head as they entered the throng of people that were milling about the market. Many heads turned his way, most of them the village girls who weren't used to his presence, but he only cared about one girl in particular.

Said girl was currently in the middle of the market haggling with a fruit vendor. She wore a cloak and hood to hide her identity but Link would know her anywhere. He scooped her up into his lap from his spot on Epona and hugged her close. "Good morning Zelda!" He said, snickering at her surprised, exasperated, and yet pleased face.

"Link!" She scolded, "How many times have I told you not to reveal my identity!" She smiled at him all the same though and kissed him on the nose. Her mighty hero.

"I can't help it, that cloak does you no justice, and the people should know how beautiful their leader is." Link smiled as a blush ran across her face, "But if you insist," He said, fixing the hood of her cloak around her face, "I'll let you go back to your work. A hero is only wanted when he's needed."

"Stop sulking, you know that's not true, I just need to finish collecting sales data and I'm not going to get anywhere if everyone knows that it's me talking to them." Zelda slid down from Epona and looked up at Link, she stood there for a moment and smiled, "Ride safe Link."

He nodded and then turned Epona around to make his way out of the town and on to Snowpeak. Zelda watched his retreating figure until she couldn't see him any longer and murmured to herself, "I'll always need you Link."

"Watch out!" Navi cried, Link jerked from his daydreaming of Zelda and stopped Epona just in time to keep from running over a strange man lying in the middle of the path. Link slid out of the saddle and ran forward with his sword drawn, stopping just before he reached him and nudging the guy with the blunt edge of the master sword.

When the stranger failed to move or make any reaction Link crept closer. The man was wearing a strange black outfit and his hair was spiked in a precarious and rebellious look. When Link turned his face he was surprised to see that the stranger seemed to be about the same age as him.

"Link, don't even think about it." Navi warned, swirling around his head.

"We can't just leave him here!"

"Who knows where he came from and who he's with? Not all of your enemies are gone you know!"

"I don't know, Navi, he doesn't seem that dangerous, and it wouldn't be very hero-like of me to distrust every new person I meet. We have to help him."

Navi flared up right in his face, "Don't say I didn't warn you." Before Link could reply she zoomed into his hat and lay there silently.

Link pressed his lips into a thin line and looked at the man one more time in thought. He really should be wary of strangers but there was something about this stranger that seemed good. Link grabbed one of the man's arms and threw it over his shoulder, hoisting him up with a grunt at the weight and dragging him over to Epona where he threw him over the horse and got back into the saddle.

He put one hand in back and grabbed onto the man's shirt to keep him from sliding off and then took off for the Zora's Domain.

Cloud felt a pounding in his head and groaned slightly. He heard something rustling and murmured, "Tifa?"

"He's awake!" He heard someone say excitedly and their footsteps ran away from the room and faded into the distance. Cloud opened his eyes confused and a feeling of horror gripped him as he realized that he wasn't anywhere in Midgar.

He sat up slowly and closed his eyes, trying to remember everything up until this point. He and Tifa had been riding to go and visit Vincent… there had been strange blue light… he lost control of Fenrir… the last thing he remembered was the feeling of Tifa's hands being ripped from his waist.

He opened his eyes when he felt a new presence enter the room. A young man stood in front of him and a fish-like boy was standing next to him.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked warily, his hand reflexively reaching for his sword before he realized that it wasn't there. He looked around until he spotted it propped up against a wall on the other side of the room. They weren't his enemies if his sword was still in the room.

"It would do you well to speak in a more respectful tone." The fishboy said, in a regal and yet childish voice, "You are in the presence of the Prince of Zora's and the Hero of Hyrule."

"It might be better if I just talk to him on my own." The man said to the fishboy, who in turn gave him a peeved look but left as requested.

Cloud felt even more confused than ever, what was a Zora? Was it a fish-person like the little kid? The hero gave him a sympathetic smile, "I'm Link. I found you lying on a path while I was on my way to Snowpeak. Who are you?"

"Was there anyone else with me? Did you see a girl anywhere?" Cloud asked Link, ignoring Link's question and swinging his feet out of bed and standing up.

"There wasn't anyone else there. It was only you." Link said quietly, stepping between Cloud and his sword, "And I know you probably want to go looking for her right away but judging from your looks and the way you speak you're not from here so looking for her would be a suicidal mission."

"Be that as it may I need to find her. I can handle myself." Cloud tried walking around him but Link blocked his path once more.

"And I'm saying that you'll be no help to your girl if you die."

"I don't need your advice."

"It's not advice, it's a fact."

They stood with their faces inches apart, both at the same eye level. Cloud clenched his fists in anger, "What do you expect me to do then, sit here and do nothing? Leave Tifa alone in a world that's as alien to her as it is to me?"

"Of course not, I'm going to help you." Link said this so nonchalantly that Cloud didn't register what he said at first.

"What?"

"I said I'm going to help you, got it? If she wasn't there when I got to you that means she was either taken or dead. For your sake we're going to assume it was the first option, in which case we're going to need to figure out who took her. I have several good guesses but just randomly running after one of them will get us no where, so sit tight and have some soup while we figure out who it was." Link gestured to the tray of food that was sitting on the bedside table.

When Link turned to leave Cloud called out, "Wait!" Link turned to him questioningly. "Why are you helping me? You don't even know me."

"Yeah, but I've been in your situation before, and I know that it's not easy to find your princess on your own. And sometimes it's just nice to have some one help you out, instead of you doing everything on your own." Link seemed a little sad when he said this last part, his eyes distracted a bit.

"Cloud."

"Hm?" Link looked back at him confused.

"You asked my name, it's Cloud."

Link smiled, "Welcome to Hyrule, Cloud."