I don't own LoZ or Okami. I make no profit, except perhaps a critique or two on my writing style.

Falling...

He was surrounded by white, wind, and cold, and...

He was falling... but...

Why?

Link awoke with a start. Everything was still, the melody of crickets and Epona's snorting had long since surrendered to the stillness that was night.

Despite the overrunning calm, he was uneasy. This had been the third time he had had the dream, and this time it had been unnervingly real. Tomorrow, he decided, he would ride to Mount Doom and ask the Goron shaman what they meant. He turned onto his other side, and tried to escape the feeling of impending trouble.

"Milady? We just received word on the recent uprising. I-it... it is somewhat shocking, what the report contains." The guard held himself straight, and attempted to keep himself steady. Zelda turned, and took the message the guard held out to her. Seconds passed as she scanned it; suddenly, she froze. One description, that of the leader of the rebellion, stunned her.

'It couldn't be... He cares about this land to much... or... does he want the throne? No, he swore allegiance to the kingdom...'

'But vows are sometimes made to be broken.'

'NO! Link went through too much to free this land, he wouldn't betray us now...'

'Or would he?'

"Milady?" The soldier's voice cut through Zelda's mental argument, making her pessimism win. Her face took on the set of carved stone, and her voice turned to ice as she looked at the guard.

"Link is to be brought here, in chains. If you must knock him unconscious, then do so. I want him in the prisons by dawn tomorrow." She said. The guard saluted, and strode out.

"Link... I will have answers. You will not live to regret this betrayal." Zelda hissed. She paid no heed to the shriek of pain in her mind, swatting it away like a fly. Nor did she notice the mark of the Triforce begin to fade from her hand; her gaze was elsewhere, and her mind was clouded with anger.

As Link left the mountain, his heart was still uneasy. The elders had said the dreams meant great change coming, nothing more.

"...But there is more..." he muttered, pausing in Eldin only long enough to bid the residents hello. On the ride back, he focused on the details he could remember. He had been falling, surrounded by snapping winds and white, cold...

"Snow, perhaps?" He asked himself, then shook his head. "If I start talking to myself, people will think I'm crazy." He spurred Epona onward.

That evening, as Link bade good-night to his friends, his family, he caught sight of... something, watching him from the shadows; when he turned for a second look, however, the presence was gone.

"Alright. You have your orders, make sure he does not see you until it is too late, and don't let him cry out."

"Yes, sir!"

"Quiet! D'you want someone to hear us?"

The commander shook his head, watching as his squad as they moved about restlessly. He hated the idea of what they were about to do, but orders were orders, and this one had come straight from the queen. They were to arrest Link, the eighteen-year-old warrior who had saved Hyrule not a year ago, for treason. The commander had been ordered to use all force necessary, though he was not to kill or mortally wound the boy. Link had supposedly been spotted leading the rebellion a week ago, but the descriptions were very hazy and unreliable, in his opinion.

The commander quickly turned his attention to footsteps returning from the main village. His heart quickened, and his grip on his club tightened.

Link had that feeling of being watched once again, as he returned to his home. His senses were sharper since he had gained and lost his wolf form, but they told him nothing was wrong. Still, his gaze shifted among the many trees surrounding the village as his body tensed.

"Show yourself, whoever you are." He called, his hand rising to his sword hilt. A rustle behind him caught his attention, and he turned to see a small chipmunk. Link laughed, and relaxed.

"Sorry, little one. I thought you might be a goblin or some other such beast." He said, drawing out one of the nuts he always kept on hand. He crouched to offer it to the little creature, not seeing the shadow loom behind him.

"Forgive me, Hero." A deep voice startled Link, who jerked around to see a club bearing down on him. After that, everything went dark.

"...I'm only saying, Milady... He would never betray us. Why would he, after everything he went through to protect and save us?"

"I don't know why, but I intend to find out. The raids stopped as soon as we detained him, so he must be the one who has been leading them."

"B-but milady..."

Link awoke to voices, one low and rough, the other harsh, yet eerily familiar. He opened his eyes, and was immediately assailed by the harsh light of the torches. The smell (musty hay, blood, sweat, and fear) was familiar as well. Link nearly panicked when the sight and smells reached him mind, stirring up memories.

...He was in the Hyrule Castle dungeon!

"Hey! What is going on?" he yelled, hoping the jailer would come and release him. Instead, silence oppressed his ears. He waited, the minutes growing longer, until he gave up and curled up near the door, conserving what little heat was left in him and clutching his pounding head.

What seemed like hours later, footsteps pulled him from his semiconscious state. He looked up at the stairs, and who entered the lower dungeon but Zelda herself. Link pulled himself to his feet, and stepped to the central bars of his cell. He felt dozens of questions in his head, all screaming for answers, but waited for the princess to speak first.

And speak she did.

"Bastard! How dare you rip my kingdom apart, then have the nerve to look me in the eye!" Zelda screeched, backhanding Link and forcing him away from the bars. He stared at her, confused.

"...what? Zelda, I-" he began, only to be silenced by her snarl.

"Don't you DARE call me so familiarly, you wretched traitor!" She hissed, causing him to back away further.

"T-traitor? Z- Milady, I have done nothing to deserve such an insult, nor this treatment!" He yelped.

"Oh? How is the leader of the rebellion undeserving of such a title and such accommodations?" Zelda said, her voice icy.

"L-leader? W-what rebellion!" Link had not even heard of this event, not until that moment.

Zelda's eyes narrowed into slits. "Oh, don't even try the innocent act. Every description we've had of the rebel leader matches you. And when you were brought here, the raids stopped. So, you must be the leader, else they would still be attacking, am I wrong?"

"You've got the wrong man, Lady Zelda." Link insisted, looking her straight in the eye.

"Oh? Then you'll be able to hold to your truth under the tests of the whip." Zelda had a gleam in her eye, one that seemed demonic and impossibly wrong. "Guards! Take him to the chamber, and do not bring him back to his cell still conscious." she turned on her heel and stalked away; four guards approached once she was gone.

"W-we apologize for her behavior, hero. A-and... we also apologize for what we must do, but orders are orders and we cannot disobey." the leader said, his head bowed. One of his comrades stepped forward and bound Link's hands together in front of him, tight enough that he could not struggle free. Then they escorted him down a long flight of stairs, down to a rusted, grisly-looking room. There, the guards handed him over to two hooded figures, one shaped like a great brute, the other thin and wiry, almost like a snake. Link felt a chill run down his spine at the sight of these two; he could not name the reason, but an ominous feeling was coursing through him, setting him on edge. The guards left, taking the torches with them and leaving the shepherd in oppressive darkness once again.

Then, a sudden force lifted him off of his feet and held his bound hands, left over right, against what felt like a post. He was held by the force -The big one's hand- for a few moments, then a sharp, burning pain accompanied by the sound of metal on metal caused him to hiss and struggle. The brute's grip tightened, and the pain grew stronger.

"They're driving something through my hands!" thought Link. He struggled more, until the sound of the hammer stopped and the brute let go. Then, the pain worsened even further, like someone was trying to cut his hands in half. A curved piece of cold metal was placed tightly against his arms, and was nailed to the pole. A grunt and a hiss whispered through the darkness, and all was quiet. Link struggled again, but the metal spike rendered his hands useless, and the curved bar immobilized his arms. He was at the mercy of the two creatures. Link stilled, and focused on what he heard, trying to translate what was going on. The sound of a cabinet being opened, and the thin one's hiss... the brute grunted, and the cabinet closed again. There was a dull thud as something hit the floor, followed by a similar sound. A whistling, and pain exploded across Link's back. He howled, writhing in agony. The whip whistled again, and a second wave of pain overcame him. A third lash, then a fourth, then the whistling ceased. The hiss of the smaller creature sounded in Link's ear.

"Are you the one who rebelled againssst our kingdom, ssshepherd boy?"

"N-no! I w-would never-!" Link somehow managed to spit the words out, somehow managed to think past the agony.

"Then you would not be here with usss. You would be above, in the sssunssshine. You are guilty, ssshepherd boy!" the torturer hissed. Then, the whips began to sing again, the agony worsened, and Link's screams cut through the darkness, ringing even to the distant Twilight halls.

Link knew nothing of how long he had been in the darkened torture chamber, only that the darkness softened after an eternity, and gave him a refuge from the agony. Oh, it was still there, but it was less sharp, less real. Eventually, he was even able to drift away into his dreams. When he awoke, the pain returned, but with less force than before. Link opened his eyes, squinting into the torchlight, and saw Zelda standing before him. She glared at him, accusing and relentless, but he refused to look away. After a moment, she turned and left. The jailor approached, and slid a steaming bowl through the tiny food door.

"Not all o' us 're against ye, Link. Yer mayor, he were trying to convince th' queen t' let ye go free, bu' she be refusin' fer now. No worries, tho'. Yeh've got more 'n jes' Ordon behind ye. Lady Midna 'erd yer cries, an' will be 'ere 'fore ye know it, s' jest 'old out a bi' longer." the thin man said, winking a suddenly blue and yellow eye at the hylian prisoner. Link, noticing it, started to question the man, but hunger overrode his questions, and he quickly took up the bowl, moving gingerly as he drank the stew. When he looked up again, the jailor was gone.

"Milady, we all know Link would never and could not have done this. It's simply impossible! He has not left the village, save one time to visit the Goron tribe and seek advice from the elders. We would have known, had he gone! Please, see reason!" Bo pleaded, retaining as much respect as he could for the young queen. Zelda turned, and looked at him coldly.

"Link shall not leave our custody until we have solid proof that he is innocent. 'Solid' meaning more than the words of a father and daughter! Now be gone!" She hissed, glaring at the Ordon mayor. Bo lowered his hands, then his head, and sighed.

"May Ilia and I at least see him?" he asked, his voice low. Zelda said nothing, only shook her head. Bo, defeated, turned to leave, pausing only at the doorway.

"Link said you were the wisest person in all of Hyrule. Either he lied, or you've grown foolish, because only a fool could hear every bit of evidence for a man's innocence and still hold him as guilty." he said, leaving the room to reunite with his daughter. Zelda whirled, then froze. A sharp pain was in the back of her head, and the shrill keening was finally coming to the forefront of her thoughts. A pain pierced her hand, and, before her eyes, the mark of the Triforce, the source of her wisdom, vanished.

"Wh-What!"

Link had only just gotten to sleep when Zelda came flying down the stair and into his cell. She dragged him up off of the makeshift prison bed, and backhanded him. He shook his head, wincing from the pain coursing over his entire body.

"What did you do, you blasted no-good waste hylian bastard?" Zelda shrieked, furious.

"I would say I've done nothing wrong, but you would never believe me over that higher wisdom of yours, Your Highness." Link muttered, not bothering to disguise his anger and pain. Zelda shrieked, and slapped him again.

"Guards!" she cried, "Take him to the chamber!"

That made Link wake up.

"What? Milady, please, no! Not that! Anything else, please!" He yelped. The guards, regretful yet unyielding, tied his hands and dragged him, screaming, down the step to the bowels of the castle, where the brute and the serpent waited with their spikes and bars and whips and clubs.

Eventually, one day melded into the next, with Link spending two or three days recuperating from his previous injuries, only to have fresh stripes and bruises laid over the scabs when he showed that his current pain was bearable. Weeks became months, as his imprisonment continued. His hair was growing longer, and the traces of a beard were visible, from what he could see in his reflection. He knew his life could end any day, but death was seen as a welcome relief. He would finally be able to rest, his pain would be over. The only thing he regretted was that he would never see Ilia, never see the springtime, never again... see...

The cell grew brighter, and the light drew Link out of his half-aware, insomniatic state. He pulled himself to a sitting position, wincing as old scabs cracked and bled. Six months... he had spent six months spent trapped in this dungeon. Link squinted as the lamp shone in his eyes, and a cloaked figure came forward.

"Come. You have no more time to sleep here, we must go before Zelda changes her mind. The guards will not hinder us, unless we go the wrong direction. We can guide you to a point, but after that, one of the guards who does not favor you will guide you." A white hand extended into Link's view, and red-and-yellow eyes held his deep blue ones.

"M..Midna? H-how-?" He whispered, his voice cracking from misuse. Midna 'shush'-ed him, and helped him up, to the extent of giving him her staff to lean on when his own two feet could not hold him steady.

"We must go, before Zelda does something even worse to you out of spite. Before-" Midna grew silent when Zelda met them at the head of the stairs.

"Before he leaves, I'll be making sure he can tell no more of his lies." She hissed, summoning a ball of magic. Things blurred, and darkness overtook Link. A scream of rage, distant, yet familiar, sounded; pain encompassed him, yet when he woke up, Link felt nothing but cold. He turned, finding himself in a cart, and tried to ask where he was. The words wouldn't form. No sound left his mouth, no matter what he tried. Midna's companion turned, apparently to check on him, and drew Midna's attention.

"Oh... good, you're awake. We're about to enter Zora territory, and your... guide... is waiting for you at the next town. I... I am sorry about what happened with Zelda... that was not supposed to be. Don't even bother to try talking... it won't work. Whatever her spell was, I don't know how to reverse it, and I'm afraid to try and experiment." Midna looked away, saddened. Link nodded, and hunkered down against the wind and cold. The cart continued for another hour, then two, before they stopped. Midna's companion helped Link down to the ground, and led them to where a cloaked figure stood, waiting, under the trees.

"Tha' w'l be close enough. Th' boy is t' come wiv me, an' you'll stay here. Tha's m' orders." A gruff voice sounded. Midna nodded, and turned to calm the horse.

"Be careful, Link. I don't trust him, but this is out of my hands. I can't do anything more for you, other than wish you well and encourage you. F...farewell..." she murmured, hiding her sorrow. Link nodded, and bowed to both Twili. He turned, and followed the guard.

They had been traveling against the storm for what felt like hours. Link was freezing, and fell more often that not. The guard wasn't faring much better. He pressed on, however, and Link was forced to do the same. When Link felt that no amount of pain could make him move further, the guard called to stop. He reached back and pulled Link forward, onto what felt distinctly like ice.

"This be where yeh would normally go down an ice path, boy. However, since there isn't a path, you'll jest have to take th' hard way. So long, Exile..." The guard rumbled, pushing Link further onto the ice. Link panicked, suddenly feeling the edge beneath his heels. It was too late, though; the ice gave way, and he was falling... just like in his dream. He felt a sudden pain between his shoulders, and everything went black.