Capuleta dos. Ok so I'm not too great at spanish. Anyways, please enjoy this very... emotional? chapter. I don't have a name for what it really is, cause it isn't emo, it's just... sad. anyways enjoy ^^
It was a beautiful day as two riders flew across Hyrule Field. The sun glistened on the new fallen snow, making it sparkle. The wind was cold, however; making the riders' eyes water at the high speed. The young man on the large chestnut mare was in lead of the young woman on the regal white stallion.
"Princess, you are going to lose if you keep trotting like that," the young man taunted from his great mare, chuckling at his easy, soon-to-be victory. The princess glowered at him, and slapped her horse right on the rump.
"Dul níos tapúla, Néal," Zelda said angrily. (A/N: Basically, this is means "Go faster," in ancient Irish Gaelic. I thought Gaelic sounded like a very… elf-ey language, so I used it ^^ and Néal means cloud in gaelic as well.) There would be no way that she would let the young knight proof himself a better horseman. Néal quickened his pace, quickly catching up to auburn mare in front of him. The knight looked behind him, knitting his eyebrows in frustration at the princess's gaining. He spurred his mare, making her go quicker across the now white plains; but it was to no avail. Verily, Zelda passed him up. The Bridge of Hylia was in sight; the finish line.
"Who's going to lose now, Link?" She asked, jeeringly, as she touched the mouth of the bridge a short moment before Link did. "I believe it was you." Link cursed under his breath.
"Epona was carrying more, it was harder for her," he retorted, patting his mare's muscular neck as he dismounted, as did Zelda. After an entire day of carrying their masters it was time to make camp and give their horses a rest.
"Well I told you to not take extra bacon at breakfast this morning," Zelda said, poking her friend in the stomach, expecting a little fat there to give; however, she was greeted by nothing more than a hard wall. She gawked at his abdomen for a very short moment, her finger still in place. "Or… not…" Link just laughed at the princess for a moment.
"Surprised?" He asked, still chuckling. He took Zelda's hand off his stomach. Zelda, on the other hand, suddenly found the ground quite interesting, her face feeling as though it were on fire. "What do you think that sword and shield are made of? Driftwood?" He continued, still laughing a little.
"No…" The princess replied. She looked at her hand, still being held in her protector's. Her face flushed even more. "Um… Sir, you are still holding my hand," Zelda mentioned shyly. Link looked over to his left hand, finding that he did indeed still have hold on hers.
"I-I am sorry, highness," he stammered, releasing her hand quickly. As he looked at the princess, he found it surprising that she seemed disappointed. She looked around for a moment, trying to see the position of the sun in the sky. Twilight. The princess began to shiver and walked over to her horse, patting him on the nose for a moment before going to the saddle bags to get her wool cloak. She reached her hand inside absently, only to find her cloak absent. She began to look around a little more frantically, but when she couldn't find it, she simply groaned and leaned her forehead against Néal in defeat. She heard a slight chuckle behind her.
"Lose something, princess?" Link asked, wrapping the black cloak around her shoulders gently. Zelda was suddenly glad she had her back turned to him, hoping he did not see her now rosy face. The last of the sun finally dipped behind the mountains as she turned around and relaxed a little. Link's face contained a concerned look as he saw this. "Are you alright?"
"Oh, I am fine," she replied, looking at the mountains where the sun was a moment ago, "Twilight… just makes me a little…" she trailed off.
"I understand, princess," Link replied darkly, "It frightens you." Zelda looked at him, confusion fiddling her features as she did.
"Does it not you?"
"No, it does not," he sighed, looking down at his shadow for a moment, "I feel quite at ease, actually."
"You miss her… don't you?" She asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Link's shoulders slumped a little and he nodded.
"Aye, I do." He replied sadly, his eyes still fixated on the ground. "She was my best friend, and now she will never walk my shadows again." Zelda felt a pang of sorrow in her own heart as well.
"You speak as if she has died."
"I feel as though she has," Link murmured. He saw the sympathy in Zelda's eyes and quickly changed the subject, taking the reins of the horses and leading them over to the bridge's mouth where they would make camp. "It's still almost a full day's ride to the Zora's domain. We need to set out early in the morning so that we can get there before nightfall." Zelda nodded as Link tied up the horses. He searched in the saddle bags and pulled out two bed rolls, but then groaned at the snowy ground. Zelda giggled slightly and walked over to her frustrated companion.
"Let me try something. Stand back." Link did as he was told and looked at the princess confusedly. Zelda took her place in the middle of the campsite and closed her eyes, breathing deeply. There were a few moments of silence, but then she suddenly punched the ground. A great fire erupted from around her, melting the snow. Link quickly dropped the bedrolls and ran over to her as she fell to her knees for a moment. Zelda held her hand up to stop him as she got up and dusted herself off. "Don't worry I'm fine. That was simply a spell." Link looked at her, astounded. Zelda simply giggled. "Surprised?"
"No, every day you find a new way to astound me, it's not much of a surprise anymore," he said honestly, grinning. Zelda's face flushed as she smiled back. She slowly raised her hand to his face.
"You're sweet, you know that?" Zelda could have sworn that his face was turning a little redder than before. The princess stepped a little closer and slowly tilted his head downward towards hers. Link was obliging gradually to her proposal, placing a rough hand on her cheek, careful not to touch her hair. (A/N: It was considered very inappropriate to touch a woman's hair in medieval times; especially one of high status. In fact, a woman would often give a man a lock of her hair as a token if she found favor with him, and it was to be held in VERY high regard.) Suddenly, something caught his eye and he froze. Link's eyes narrowed as he tried to make it out. A stocky body, a pair of horns, a bow and arrow… aimed right at Zelda.
"PRINCESS!" Link knocked the princess to the ground, shielding her body with his own. She gave a small, high pitched yelp as she hit the land, desperately trying to figure out what was going on.
"What is it? What's going on?" she asked frantically. It was then that Link felt a sharp pain in his left shoulder. Zelda stared at it wide eyed as Link groaned in pain. A long, jagged arrow now pierced his shoulder, protruding all the way to his front. A drip of a dark crimson liquid fell down onto Zelda and she screamed. "LINK!" His left arm was having trouble holding his weight, suddenly feeling heavy. "Get off me! You going to get killed!" the princess exclaimed. Link shook his head, his hair falling in his eyes.
"I… will not move." He replied shakily. Link's eyes clamped shut as he gave a short scream in pain again, his stance faltering a little. Zelda saw it this time, the arrow. She saw it go straight from the marksman to Link's shoulder blade, close to what seemed to be his heart. Zelda felt a warm series of droplets fall onto her lapel. She was getting covered in blood, what was worse was the fact that it was Link'sblood. Her eyes became moist as she looked upon his strained face and heard his stressed breathing.
"Link, move, I beg of you!" The princess pleaded. Link only responded with another unsteady reply.
"I will not… they'll kill yo-" His voice hitched.
"LINK!" Zelda screamed. His eyes widened in pain; he tried to scream but no voice would come to him. The gashing pain in his stomach began dripping with the dark crimson substance, his mind became foggy and time seemed to slow for a few moments. When his breath finally came back to him, it was unsteady and breathy. Link felt something warm leak from his mouth. Zelda covered her mouth in shock, tears flowing from her eyes into the cold night air, making them seem to freeze. She heard the knock of another arrow. "For goodness sake, will you not move?"
"N… No…" he murmured. He closed his eyes and took in a shaky breath, preparing for another blow.
"Alright, Narque, that be enough," a voice from afar grumbled, "He's not goin' anywhere." Zelda felt her protector be pulled off her, along with a small grunt in pain. She looked around and nearly screamed in fear. A group of goblins now surrounded them, two of which now held Link by the arms. Despite his wounds, Link fought to get free of his captors, strongly kicking and punching to no avail. A short bokoblin began to laugh as he came into view, his blue skin dull against his many scars. The goblin came closer, kneeling as to look the young knight in the face. Link did not give him the satisfaction as he looked down to the ground, his flaxen hair covering his eyes. The creature took out a dagger, placing it under his chin so he would look at him. "So this be all you got? T' think, all we needed t' beat ye was the girl." Link's azure eyes grew ferocious, blistering with fury. If looks could kill, the entire little squadron of goblins would be dead by now. This did not face the bokoblin however. He kept the small blade at his neck, making a small incision along his jawline.
"Don't… you dare touch her," he growled, keeping his voice low. The goblin simply laughed and looked at him incredulously.
"This… ha ha, this be priceless! I knew ye would protect her, but this... ha ha ha," he looked over to Zelda, who was still sitting upon the ground, afraid to move; not for her own sake but at the sake of her knight being gutted. "Ye… ha… ye fancy her, don't ye?" Link said nothing, but looked over to the princess, his gentle gaze telling the goblin all he wanted to know. "It's true, ha ha ha," The creature stood and looked at the two moblins holding the young, injured man, then over to a few more behind him. "Crul, grab the girl."
"NO," Link growled, thrashing around even more than before, ignoring the pain it gave him as the princess was simply picked up by the large pig-man. She screamed and resisted, but to no avail.
"Now, if ye don't want yer little girlfriend here to be chopped up and used for stew, ye be doin' what ye told," he lead goblin said simply. "We be needen' yer blood. So, I'm gonna take this little bottle," he held up a small vile, "and fill it. And yer not gonna say a word. Now," he went over to the hero's back, fingering the jagged arrows and making the hero cringe, "Which one will bleed the most?" He gripped the one on his left shoulder and yanked with all his fury. The young knight yelped in protest, feeling a little blood dribble down his back. However, the bokoblin was not satisfied. "No, that wasn't it. Maybe this one." The creature pulled hard on the arrow embedded in Link's stomach, making a painful ripping sound come from his abdomen. Not only did the blood flow from his wound, but a little dripped from his mouth as well. The goblin took a little that flowed from his stomach, but he still was not pleased. Zelda looked on in horror as they tortured the hero, tears flowing from her eyes. She struggled against Crul's muscle, flailing to no avail against her captor. She gazed at the blue goblin, her eyes blurry under the water flowing from them, as his fingers curled around the last arrow, the one closest to Link's heart.
"STOP!" the princess screamed, her yell reaching the mountains ahead, "Have you not done enough?" He bokoblin chuckled menacingly, then pulled full force. Zelda looked away, not able to look at the gruesome scene. Link tried to scream, but no voice came to him, only the sound of ripping flesh. A river of crimson flooded from his back, like a broken dam. The goblin smiled wildly as he filled the vile and corked it. He caressed the warm vile, walking away from the scene, only to be stopped by his followers.
"What do we do with 'im now?" one of the mobins asked, holding up by one arm like a rag doll. The boy was barely awake, now giving into the darkness that surrounded him. Zelda looked at the broken hero, a new wave of grief falling over her. The leader of the goblins looked over to the young man and gave a sly grin.
"He's of no use to us now. Throw him over the bridge."
"NO!" Zelda screamed, but it was to no benefit as the Moblin holding the hero shrugged and pitched him over the bridge into the dark, cold lake below. "Link…" she shuddered as the group of goblins took her out towards Hyrule Field.
Once again, hit the cute little review button! ^^ kthnx.
