Hey guys! I'm sooooooooooo sorry my update took so long! I've had this written for quite awhile, but I only just got an opportunity to actually type it up...lol. Fail.

Anyway, yeah, here's chapter 2 of my awesome Legend of Zelda fanfic! Which reminds me, I'm so sad now. After skimming the LoZ stories on here, I found out that my title wasn't as awesomely creative as I thought, but rather one of the most common ones in existence. Fail. Ah well, too late to change it now!

CnC is appreciated! Thanks for the support!

Chapter 2: Discovery

"This isn't happening," Zelda kept repeating, "It's impossible. It's not real."

Link sat in silent shock for a moment. How could he be back? The Sages had sealed him away forever - isn't that what they had said?

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. "The castle..." He gasped, then jumped to his feet and began dragging Zelda along behind him. "Oh gods, no!"

"Link!" Zelda struggled to keep up with his quick pace. "Link, what's wrong?"

"The guard said Ganondorf is looking for you," he responded between breaths, "Think about it! Where would he go to look?"

Zelda gasped, just as Link had, at the realization. "Oh no! Everyone is in danger!" With this thought in mind, she quickened her own pace, no longer finding it difficult to keep up with Link's.

When the path to the castle was within their sight, the two stared in awe at the scene before them. Using all of their self-control, they forced themselves to continue at the same pace, through the destroyed gate, over the shattered bridge, into the chaos of the halls. Different voices filled the air, but they all seemed to be coming from the same place - the throne room.

Gradually, the voices grew quieter, as though their owners were being silenced one by one. "We're too late..." Link growled, gritting his teeth in anger.

However, when they actually looked into the room, they saw that two men were left standing. Ganondorf, and...

"Father!" Zelda wrenched her hand from Link's grip and started to run.

"Zelda, no!"Link ran to catch her, then spun around so that he was between her and the other two. She squirmed in desperation, yelling "What do you think you're doi-"

She was cut off by a cry of pain from Link, who immediately grabbed his left shoulder. Turning, he glared at Ganondorf. "You bastard..."

The desert man simply laughed. "You should be thankful, Princess! The injury on your dear friend's shoulder could easily have been your head!"

"Stay behind me," Link whispered, drawing his sword. "I'll take care of this."

Smirking, Ganondorf glanced at the king. "Well, I've found what I was looking for. No point in keeping you around to have to see your poor little daughter killed." And before anyone could react, he drew his sword and pierced him, further dying the carpet crimson.

"NO!" Zelda fought to run to her father, but Link struggled to keep her back. Her eyes filling with tears, she let out a cry in despair.

Ganondorf slowly turned and took a few steps toward the two. "I've been waiting for you, Hero of Time," he said with a sadistic smile. "And you as well, Princess Zelda."

"You'll never get the last two pieces of the Triforce," Link told him. But his thoughts didn't hold the same confidence as his words. I can't move my arm... Can I hold him off? Can I even fight like this?

He chuckled again. "That's just fine," he replied, "The Triforce isn't my main goal this time. My lust is no longer for power. It's for revenge!" With that, he leapt forward, his sword ready to strike, at a frightening speed. Link raised his own blade in time to stop the attack, but it wasn't enough. The metal broke, and Ganondorf's weapon continued along its path. Never slowing, he continued to strike, leaving the Hero with no choice but to dodge as he tried to reach for his shield.

"Zelda!" he yelled, "Get out of here!"

"You're going to run again, Princess?" his opponent taunted, smirking as he continued to strike again and again. "Your little Sheikah costume won't fool me again, you know!"

Link finally pulled out his shield, lucky to have one strong enough to handle the force of Ganondorf's attacks. As he continued to dodge and block, he began to see the hopelessness of his situation. I can't fight him without the Master Sword, he thought, And I certainly can't keep dodging forever. He glanced behind him long enough to see Zelda out of the corner of his eye. Why is she still here?

Zelda watched in horror as Link tried to fend off the onslaught of attacks. The strikes were wild and unpredictable. Periodically, the tip of the blade would tear the green cloth of his tunic - or worse, his skin. Soon enough, the red bloodstains were too numerous to count. If I don't do something, Link will..!

And then came the flash of light.

"What is this?" Ganondorf bellowed, blinded. "What sort of magic have you pulled now, Princess?"

The light disappeared, and the three regained their sight. Impa stood crouched in a fighting stance between the revenge-hungry desert man and his targets. "Run," she commanded, "Now. I'll take care of things here."

Ganondorf laughed. "Well, if it isn't the Sage of Shadow! Do you really think you can defeat me all by yourself?"

Impa just smirked. "If these two can escape your clutches, then I will have won."

Link stared, a mixture of shock and fear on his face. "Impa . . ." He glanced back at Zelda, realizing what he had to do.

"Thank you," he said quietly before grabbing Zelda's hand and running, once again dragging her behind him, out the door and into the hallway.

"Not a problem," she replied softly.

"You won't escape!" Ganondorf yelled.

Before he could chase after them, however, another flash of light blinded him. "They will."

Even the bridge to the marketplace had been ruined.

Zelda looked back at the castle, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Link," she murmured, her voice broken, "Impa isn't going to die, is she?"

"Of course not," he replied. Link suddenly began to sway and lost his balance, falling into the tree next to him. He winced in pain, but continued through gritted teeth: "She'll distract him for a few minutes, then make a break for it. She's not stupid enough to try and defeat him. She knows as well as we do that the Master Sword is needed to-" The world began to spin again. He raised his hand to his head and closed his eyes before he got too dizzy.

Zelda turned to him with a gasp. "Are you alright? Oh, hold on, I'll go find a doctor!"

"Wait, don't." With difficulty, he pushed himself to stand on his own. "We don't have time. We've got to hide, or Ganondorf will find us again."

"But where can we go? Before, he was content with controlling Hyrule, but now..."

"Now that won't be enough. He won't rest until we're dead." He thought for a moment before pulling out the ocarina Saria had given him so long ago to play a few notes.

"What are you doing?" Zelda asked.

"Calling Epona," he replied as the horse appeared over the horizon. "We're going to Termina."

When Epona trotted up to the two, Link climbed onto her back. He winced in pain again, frowning. I can't do this...

Zelda pulled herself up behind him, reaching around to take the reins. "Just tell me where to go. You need to rest as much as possible."

"I'm fine," he tried to object, "I've been through much more than this."

"You don't look fine," she responded, a disapproving frown overtaking her expression. "So give me directions. Now."

Link sighed in defeat. "The forest."

"Kokiri Forest? Are you sure?"

He nodded. "Just go that way. I'll tell you when to deviate from the path."

And so they went. Zelda tried to keep Epona moving slowly, to lessen the jerky motions that seemed to cause Link more pain than necessary. The horse seemed to have an understanding of what had happened, and when Link pointed and told her to leave the path and go into the maze of trees, she seemed to know where to go without even being steered in any direction.

Soon enough, Link found himself recognizing his surroundings. He seemed to have skipped the strange area where he had chased the Skull Kid who stole the Ocarina of Time and Epona, but that was fine - those were things he would rather not remember anyway. Soon enough, they were outside of Clock Town.

"Ah, good, we're at the East Gate..." Link got off of Epona (moreso like falling off and being caught by Zelda) and started toward the gate. "Come on. She'll be fine out here." Nodding, Zelda followed very closely, both to keep from getting lost and to catch Link if he were to get dizzy again.

He walked toward a door, with the words "Stock Pot Inn" written on a sign outside. He pushed the door open and stepped inside, smiling at the girl behind the counter. "Hey Anju..." he said, "Do you think you can help an old friend out?"