Disclaimer: Zelda belongs to Nintendo.


Chapter 2 - Hurt

"Finally lunch!" Link exclaimed as he escaped his History class. He had barely made it through Biology and History without his stomach growling loudly.

Once he entered the lunch room, he searched for his green haired, blue eyed friend, Saria. Link spotted her sitting at one of the circular tables in the middle of the room and jogged over to her, dodging the groups of people.

"Hey," he said with a small smile.

"Hi!" Saria waved.

"I'm going to go grab some food."

"'Kay."

He walked over to the lunch line and joined in at the end. The wait wasn't that long until he got into the tiny lunch room with a refrigerator, trays of food, and all. He got to the front and ordered a sandwich and a pop, paying at the cash register to the side of the food line. Link left the room and then headed back into the cafeteria over to the table where Saria was sitting.

"So? What happened with you and Dark?" Saria asked, looking at her hands.

"I told him to piss off," he answered, grinning widely. Link settled his food on the table with a triumphant clatter.

"Really?" she asked, glancing up at Link with wide eyes.

"Yep, and he got really pissed so he pinned me up against the lockers."

"Did you try to do anything back?"

"Not really. I couldn't even budge, to be honest."

"Oh," Saria answered softly, unaware of what to say to that.

"Mhmm." Link nodded and took a big bite out of his sandwich.

"Hey, buddy! Hey, Saria!" A boy said from behind Link. Link turned around to see a blond haired boy with only one red eye showing from beneath his hair. Link grinned and Saria waved.

"Hey, Sheik," Link greeted. The boy sat down and put his tray on the table.

"So, what happened with 'O Popular One' and you?" Sheik asked with a questioning gaze.

"Wow. You've heard about it too, huh?" inquired Link, surprised word had already been making its way around school.

"Yup. From... sources..." He looked back and forth suspiciously, then elbowing Link playfully.

Link chuckled. "Ganondorf punched me and Dark kicked me in the gut."

"Oooh, harsh," Sheik answered, brow furrowed as he popped some fries into his mouth. "Want shum?" Sheik asked, mouth full. Link gladly took a couple and put them in his mouth.

"Yeah, it was bad," Saria said softly; she still looked as concerned as ever. "And you should see the damage." Sheik nodded. Saria and then Sheik continued to eat while Link just stared at his sandwich.

I should go look at it. Just to see the damage myself, Link thought.

"Link?" asked Saria softly. Link's train of thought broke and he looked over at Saria. She still looked extremely worried of her friend's well being.

"Y-yeah?" he answered.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," he replied hastily. He looked back down at his sandwich and he felt sick to his stomach, the smell of the food igniting sudden nausea. "I-I'm not so hungry after all though." Link pushed the tray across the table, and Sheik and Saria gave him puzzled looks. Link got up and walked away from his friends without another word.

Sheik turned to Saria and pointed his thumb back at Link. "What's wrong with him?"

0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Link stumbled out of the lunch room; he headed towards singular washroom a little ways down the long hallway. With careful fingers, he pushed on the heavy door and checked to see if anyone else was in there.

Thankfully, there was not, so he walked in. Link first went over to the sink and splashed some water on his face. He looked into the mirror and glared at his reflection. Link didn't like how he looked at this moment. His cerulean blue eyes were very dull and his skin was all pale and clammy. He gave his reflection a harsher glare and then his gut acted up again.

Link bent over into the sink to vomit, but nothing came up. He then assumed it must have been the pain from the wound acting up. Link cautiously pulled off his shirt and moaned in pain. He looked down at his midsection and it was certainly worse than before.

Both of the wounds were more swollen now. The marks themselves were a dark violet and around them it was a purple-yellow colour, which almost made Link wretch from the sight alone. He rubbed his fingers along the bruises and yelped in pain. He pulled his shirt back over his head and winced a couple times while doing so.

It needed some real medical attention, but Link didn't want to go to the nurse's office because if Link did go, Dark would just beat the crap out of him for telling. He decided that keeping it a secret would be for the best. And he left the bathroom for his next class.

0o0o0o0o0o0

Link was happy that today was Friday. That meant the weekend and no Dark for two whole days. Although that, Link still had to put up with the problems of today. The pain in his stomach was brutal and he had to make it through two more subjects. He also had to get through detention with Dark. Great.

After taking some ridiculously long notes on literary devices and examples in English class, the students in Link's next class, Gym, got a ten minute break to get ready to change into their uniforms. Link avoided Sheik and Saria as much as possible during the break because he felt guilty. He felt ashamed because he didn't go to the nurse's office like they wanted him to.

Link barely made it through Gym. Coach Darunia, his gym teacher, pushed the class really hard during volleyball. Link felt horrible every time he served or even jumped. He tried to keep his facial expressions to a minimum but even Darunia was able to catch on that Link was having troubles.

"Are you okay, Link?" Mr. Darunia asked worriedly, pulling Link to the side. "You didn't do as well today as you usually do."

"M'fine, Darunia," Link answered warily.

Darunia stared at him hard. Link covered his eyes with his hair and turned away to grab his things from the bench. Abruptly, the last bell rang for the end of the day and Link heaved a sigh of relief.

"Okay, kids! Have a nice weekend!" Darunia yelled and all the kids waved elatedly, exclaiming their good-byes. Darunia went by Link and gave him a reassuring slap on the back before exiting the room. The force almost knocked Link over, but he kept his balance and headed off towards the detention room.

0o0o0o0o0o0

"Come and sit down," called the detention teacher, offering Link a seat. He grabbed the seat from her and he pulled out his History homework. Dark came a couple minutes late and he sat in a chair across from Link. He crossed his arms and sneered at the blond. Link tried to ignore Dark and kept his mind on his homework.

"Gentlemen, I have to leave the room for a moment. Don't try anything smart!" The mousy detention teacher quickly scurried from the room and closed the door behind herself.

Link paused at doing his homework, tapping his pencil on his papers. He glanced up at Dark and chuckled softly.

"What's so funny?" Dark snapped back at the sound.

"Oh, it's just that a teacher as dumb as her would leave two enemies alone in the same room." Link smiled sarcastically.

Dark nodded and smirked. Soon, his expression fell and he looked quite offended. "We could be friends if you didn't start any shit," Dark shared gruffly, bringing his eyes elsewhere. He crossed his arms tightly.

"I don't," Link answered simply. He could have said more but he was honestly shocked that Dark was at all insinuating that they could be friends. As if.

The black haired boy glared at Link and rolled his eyes, keeping his arms crossed.

Fifteen minutes later the teacher was back by this point and relieved the boys of their detention. Link swiftly grabbed his stuff, messily pushing it all into his bag. He really didn't want to put up with Dark any longer, so he rushed out the door and kept up the quick pace as he headed down the long hallway. The moment he glimpsed over his shoulder, he caught Dark's eye and the teen then shouted,

"Ah, ah, ah! Not so fast!"

Link was roughly grabbed by the shoulder and was thrown into the small washroom.

"My head..." Link moaned softly, sitting up to rub his forehead.

"See, it's funny because you start shit and then think you can get away with it," explained Dark. The skinner teen leisurely crossed the room and proceeded to stand over Link.

"I didn't start anything!" Link hollered back, still rubbing his head.

The blond was extremely worried as he was seeing stars everywhere and that had never happened before when he had fallen in the past. Link shuffled onto his knees and scrambled to grab his book bag before anything else started. He shakily stood up and brushed by Dark to get to the door but the pale teen grasped onto his arm, twisting it around. He led the blond against the wall beside the door and once again, Link found his face pushed against the wall for the second time of today.

"First, you tell me to piss off..." Dark started twisting Link's arm even further, putting him through more pain. He gasped, and wiggled his arm madly to try and free himself. "Second, Zelda was worried about you," Dark whispered in Link's ear.

Link's ears perked up at Zelda's name.

"Zel—?" he moaned in pain.

"Yes, my Zelda! She was like, 'Oooh, I wonder if he's okay?'" At his own words, Dark began to grow more frustrated and he roughly brought the helpless teen across the room, then throwing Link at the mirror. On impact, the mirror shattered against Link's face; little glittering shards fell into the sink and the ground along with the weakened Link. "My girlfriend isn't supposed to care about other guys! Especially you!" Dark yelled and he kicked Link in the stomach, once again making the blond's stomach cry out in agony.

The frustrated boy fiercely pulled Link up. Dark made a fist and punched Link right on his left eye. Tears streamed down the blond haired boy's face as the pain in his arm, stomach, and eye grew larger.

"She's only supposed to care about me! And me only!" Dark threw another punch at Link's face. Blood now rushed out of his newly broken nose. Dark once again brought the blond to the tiled floor and shoved Link face first down in the glass. "I hate kids like you! You shouldn't be alive, you worthless piece of shit!" Dark kicked the helpless boy again. Link let out a loud yell and Dark just smiled. "You deserve it." Dark said sweetly, kneeling over the blond. "Also, you look wonderful." Link gasped madly for air, eyes fervently glancing along the pale teen's face, as Dark dragged his fingers along Link's horrific face. "This look really works on you."

With a satisfied look on his face, Dark stepped over Link's limp body and turned off the lights. He walked out, the sound of his footsteps soon disappearing.

Through the tears and mad gasps for air, Link had to convince himself to calm down. It was quite a feat as he knew he was in terrible shape. It took him a long while to relax and he hadn't a clue how long he had been laying there for.

What am I going to do? I can hardly move. At that thought, he gingerly raised his right hand, only for it to collapse back on the floor in the piles of glass beneath him. He groaned loudly as he fingered the glass below. He had to move sooner than later as he was growing numb.

I have to, he thought determinedly. Link went to move his entire arm first, but the pain was just unbearable. He let out a sigh that burned his stomach horribly. I have to do it! With all of his might, he flipped onto his belly and pushed himself up with his good arm, the glass stabbing into the palm of his right hand. He knelt on his knees and tears rushed from his eyes as his head lolled back. It hurt so much. It hurt more than anything before. Link unbelievably forced himself into a standing position.

He wobbled a bit and leaned against a wall. He tasted blood in his mouth and spat it out onto the floor.

Link used most of his energy to make it out of the school. He fumbled with his keys until he found the correct one. He unlocked the car and got into it slowly. It still hurt a lot, but he did successfully get in and start the engine.

This time he drove home slowly. Link didn't want to hurt his arm anymore. It took him twice as long to reach his home and by this time, his eyesight was not clear at all, bursts out stars receding in the back of his eyes.

Swallowing madly, he stumbled out of his car, not bothering to close the door behind himself. Once managing to get inside, he stopped in the main hallway in front of his mirror and gathered that he looked worse than he thought.

His nose was bent at an awkward angle and dry blood covered the bottom half of his face. Link's left eye was closed shut and it already started to bruise. Pieces of glass stuck out of his body from random places, especially all over his face. His arm was also bent awkwardly and it looked swollen and broken as well. And he shakily raised his shirt to further inspect that his stomach looked the worst it had today. It was bruised and bleeding brutally.

"I-I—" he uttered in disbelief and exhaustion.

Link suddenly felt himself weaker than ever and he fell limply to the ground. Many different events from today ran through Link's head as he slowly blacked out. He then lay there, unconscious, with no one knowing and no one there to help.


Please R&R. :D