So here's the second chapter! Please tell me what you think so that I can either improve or continue what I'm doing! :3 I don't own the Legend of Zelda.

~Age: 9~

Two years pass by and Link slowly got closer and closer to Zelda. She drew him in with kind words and a sweet, loving demeanor, but once he turned nine, she slowly became more and more hateful. Now she insults him whenever she sees him, causing his heart to break slightly every time.

Over the course of the two years, her eyes have darkened slightly. Occasionally, though, Link will see her with her original light blue eyes and she'll be nice to him while they're that color. However, the minute that they shift back to the darker blue, she's no longer nice to him and back to insulting him. He quickly figures out that he needs to avoid her whenever her eyes are this color, though it's more often now that they will be than two years ago.

He heads to the waterfall as it's a day without any lessons, wanting to be alone, or with Pipit if not completely alone. He smiles as he sees Pipit waiting for him, going to sit beside the older boy. They start talking quietly, both of them happy to see each other. But unbeknownst to Link, a certain blonde followed him, planning on causing trouble for him and his friend.

"Look who it is! The orphan and his protector~" A sickeningly sweet voice croons, causing Link to cringe at the sound. He looks up, not wanting to be anywhere near Zelda at this point.

"Hello, Zelda…" They both say quietly, not wanting to anger her.

She laughs softly, "Aw~ Are you uncomfortable with me being here? Well, too bad." She says, sitting down beside them.

Link scoots away slightly and she leans closer, whispering into his ear. "You can't hide from me, Linky~" He shudders at the nickname, knowing she only calls him that when she's annoyed at him.

He feels a tongue trace his ear and tries not to shudder completely away from her, though a shiver goes through him at the disgusting feeling. She laughs and pulls back slightly, "Well, I guess I better be going… Sad I'm going to have to leave you. However, my mother needs me to help her."

Link frowns when she says that, knowing she's taunting him for his parents dying two years ago. It's one of her favorite ways to taunt him, the fact that she has parents alive and he doesn't. She stands up and curtsies teasingly before skipping away, causing both boys to growl at her, allowed to show their hatred once she leaves.

"She really shouldn't treat you like that, Link." Pipit's voice rings in his ear, breaking him from his thoughts.

"I know...But I can't complain to the Headmaster, he's her dad... " Pipit nods, knowing the only one who's really in charge of dealing with troublemakers would be biased towards her.

Pipit wraps an arm around the smaller boy before announcing, "I'll protect you, don't worry." Link nods and leans into him, accepting the comfort that the other is offering him.

The rest of the day is spent together and, to their relief, Zelda doesn't bother them for the rest of the day. They split up when it's time for dinner, as Link has to go to the academy while Pipit gets to go home. He'll start the academy officially the next year, so then they won't have to separate anymore.

Link eats dinner, getting taunted by Zelda some more whenever no one's paying attention to them, his mood dropping. He returns to his room once dinner's over and sits on his bed, bringing his legs up to his chest. He closes his eyes, tears beginning to drop from them from the feeling of betrayal. A soft melody floats through the air and he opens his eyes to see Dark playing the flute for him.

He leans back on his bed and closes his eyes, allowing the melody to wash over him and comfort him. Dark is just like a brother at this point, one of the few people that he trusts implicitly. The other person is Pipit due to him always being there for him. The melody eventually fades away and he feels a familiar weight settle beside him, curling close to him. He snuggles into Dark's chest, drawing in the comfort that the shadow typically gives him.

~Age: 12~

Link has been an official student of the Knight Academy for about a little over a year and Zelda continues to get crueler and crueler by the day. He has no idea what happened to the best friend that she used to be, but he no longer views her as such. She belittles him consistently every day now, especially whenever Pipit isn't around to protect him, except for those rare days when her eyes are sky blue not dark blue like usual.

Pipit has held true to the promise in that whenever he's around, he returns insults to Zelda until she gets annoyed and leaves, making her not want to bother Link when he's around. However, he's a year older and so has a different class schedule than Link and Zelda, so he can't be around to protect the boy all the time.

Zelda smirks as she heads to where Link typically hides during the day when Pipit's not around, grinning evilly when she notices that he's alone. She enters the room quietly and approaches him, tapping him on the shoulder. He turns around and she grins, "Why are you hiding, Linky? I just want to play with you~" She makes her voice sound genuinely sad, but he scowls.

"Go away, Zelda. I don't want to deal with you today." She growls at that and he turns, worriedly, at the sound.

She slaps him immediately, a red hand-print on his face from the force. "How dare you treat me so rudely?! The next time you do that, it'll be more than a slap." She says, causing him to shake in fear.

He sees Pipit walk into the doorway before his eyes narrow, "Oh yeah? Well, why shouldn't I treat you like this? It's not like you don't treat me the same."

She narrows her eyes, and he could swear that her eyes flashed red before she punches him in the face. "Aagh! That does it, you miserable wimp!" He slumps to the floor, his hands up around his eyes, trying to protect them from any more injuries.

Pipit stalks over to them and grabs Zelda by the hair, causing her to yelp. He turns her to face him and growls at her, "Don't ever touch him like that again, or I will hurt you just as badly as you do to him." He threatens, his voice low and dangerous.

He drags her over to the door by her hair and tosses her outside the door, closing and locking the door behind her. He comes back to Link and kneels down beside his friend, practically brother, and removes his hands from his face. He hisses at the sight of the bruise that's already forming, lightly touching the bruise, causing Link to hiss in pain. "Come on, Link. I'll get you some bruise salve."

Link nods wearily, and Pipit throws him onto his back, feeling Link's arms and legs wrap around him. He reaches back and holds onto Link to prevent him from falling off and he makes his way through the academy, feeling Link bury his face into his neck. He makes it to the bazaar without any problems and he sits Link down in the seating area while he goes over to Luv to buy some bruise salve for Link. She looks at him confused but gives him a jar of the salve, telling him that he doesn't have to pay for it, it's on the house. Pipit thanks her and heads back over to Link.

He picks up the younger boy and carries him to the waterfall, knowing that no one will bother them there. They sit down and Pipit opens the salve, spreading it across the already purpling bruise. Link feels a comforting weight wrap around him and Pipit's eyes widen at seeing the shadow hugging Link. Link notices this shock and smiles softly, "Pipit, meet Dark. Dark, Pipit." He says, not wanting the only two people he trusts to be at odds with each other.

Pipit nods, though he looks at them curiously, obviously wondering who this person is. He continues to rub the salve on the bruise until it fades slightly, no longer looking nearly as bad. It'll be gone within the next few days instead of needing a week to heal due to the salve. He caps the salve and sits down beside Link and Dark, closing his eyes and relaxing.

Link snuggles closer to Dark, easily accepting the comforting presence. Dark starts humming softly, causing Link to relax even further into him. They remain there for the remainder of the day, Pipit having no more classes to attend and same with Link.