For some reason, Link couldn't stop screaming. It was as if all those years of silence that had pooled up within him over the years were finally set free in the form of a wild, unrestrained howl. Without mercy or patience, the hero bludgeoned at Ganondorf with his blade. There was no technique or elegance to the Master Sword's movements; it was as if the legendary blade had been reduced to nothing but a primal club filled with the Hylian's sheer rage.

Ganondorf held the blade of the Seven Sages in his giant fist, and it glowed with a warm, eternal light. A savage grin stretched across his features as he artfully deflected each of Link's reckless blows, not even bothering to counterattack. Since they had entered their one on one duel, not a single attack had so much as grazed the Dark Lord. The orange gloom of twilight oozed across the sky, and thunder rumbled in the distance.

A barrier of glowing light left the two swordsmen enclosed in an arena, and after knocking aside yet another strike from his opponent, Ganondorf suddenly lashed out with a savage kick, not even bothering to use his blade. Link barely managed to react in time to pull his shield up and block the attack, narrowly avoiding having his ribcage crushed. The force of the kick sent the swordsman sprawling back into the dirt, falling gracelessly onto his face.

Princess Zelda clutched the folds of her dress tightly on the other side of the magic wall, terrified. This wasn't how things were supposed to happen! Good was supposed to triumph over evil! The hero was supposed to be winning this fight!

Instead, it just looked like he was being played with like a chew toy.

A gust of wind sent Ganondorf's cloak twirling in motion and brought a wave of water droplets with it. The dull glow of twilight was squeezed out by the stormclouds as a thick rainfall rippled across the landscape of rolling hills and mountains. The Dark Lord released a low chuckle as water began to pour down his face and cascade through the grooves and curves of his armor. Water streamed down his glowing blade and reflected its light as it fell, illuminating the side of the huge man against the rest of the hill's shadows.

"I was hoping you'd be stronger than this, boy," Ganondorf rumbled as he took a few casual, slow steps towards Link's fallen form. The hero weakly tried to stand to his feet, only to find the hulking Gerudo man towering over him before he was ready. With a casual flick of his leg, Ganondorf delivered a kick to Link's side that broke a rib and sent him rolling across the ground to the other side of their arena. The young Hylian hissed in pain as he slammed up against the magical wall- it burned him at the touch.

Link clutched his side in agony, a pool of his own saliva forming at the ground and mixing with the downpour of rain in thick grey puddles. With a groan, he stood, wavering in pain and exhaustion from wasting so much of his energy on his earlier reckless attacks. He felt like a knife had been lodged between his ribs, and his sword might as well have been made of lead.

Ganondorf walked forward, a smile never leaving his lips, as his long cloak billowed wildly behind him. "Is this really all the strength you can muster to fight me?" he rumbled. His voice was confident and deep against the din of the pouring rain. "The fate of this world rests in your hands, you know- do you really care so little about it?" The Dark Lord's tone was almost conversational, as if he were asking what the Hero wanted to eat for dinner instead of inquiring about the end of the world.

He couldn't help himself. He screamed again.

With a sudden burst of fury, the Hero ignored the protests of his body and made a wild dash towards his enemy. Ganondorf's eyes widened ever so slightly, and then settled on the swordsman's movements. He calmly blocked each attack, not allowing himself to fall into Link's intensity, until finally, his nostrils flared.

"Enough!" he boomed. With a single sweep of his oversized blade, he brought down a blow so devastatingly powerful against the Master Sword that the crackling of Link's arm breaking could be heard. The blade of legend fell to the mud, glowing faintly. Link howled in pain, stepping back and clutching his left forearm. Rain fell into his face, obscuring his vision.

"Link! Look out!" Zelda screamed in horror from the other side of the barrier. She was helpless to do anything but watch as a wickedly grinning Ganondorf walked towards the staggering Hero, rolling one shoulder in front of the other with a confident, powerful stride. The Dark Lord casually threw his sword into the mud, and Link glanced up just a second too late to react as Ganondorf's enormous fist collided with his face with the force of a falling building. Link's body was flung against the barrier with such speed that it rebounded against the wall of magic.

Ganon continued to walk slowly towards the crumpled form of his enemy. Even now, Link tried weakly to stand. "I see it in your eyes," he said, his dark voice rippling with amusement. "You aren't fighting for this world. You aren't some valiant, humble hero with nothing but good in your heart. We aren't two pure forces of good and evil; you are no hero, and I am no god. We are simple people, flesh and blood. We are the same in that way- imperfect."

The Dark Lord casually bent over and picked up Link by the hair, lifting him off the ground as if he were nothing more than a wet puppy. The green hat Midna loved so much was gathering mud somewhere on the ground. "You're fighting for hatred. You're fighting because I killed your little friend, aren't you?"

Link's nostrils flared and he screamed louder than ever, even though his throat was ruined. He screamed and screamed and screamed, kicking and thrashing against Ganondorf's iron grip with all of his strength. The Gerudo man simply laughed and flung Link into another side of the barrier, his powerful muscles flexing with the pleasurable sensation of releasing force.

Zelda watched from the sidelines, her jaw tightening as she forced herself to watch. I will not cry. Ganondorf's grin grew bestial as he walked over to Link's curled, trembling body. I will not cry. Her shaking hands slowly rose to cover her eyes as Ganondorf squatted over the Hero, delivering one punch after the next with savage laughter, pummeling the very hope of any future Hyrule had into the mud with each blow. It was only hot rain rolling down her cheeks. I will not cry. It was only rain.

Ganondorf stood, not done playing with his food yet. He grabbed the broken Hero by the tunic and flung him across the battlefield yet again. "Pathetic!" Ganondorf roared over the rain as he walked towards him ever slowly. His voice had suddenly shifted from amused to enraged without a moment's notice. "In my homeland, I have watched too many of my people die of thirst because we had no water. I have held too many loved ones as they died of hunger because we had no food. All the while the people of Hyrule scorned and hated us for becoming thieves, when we had no other choice to survive! A world like that, where people suffer eternally while others bask in prosperity without a clue… a world like that doesn't need to exist!"

Thunder crackled in the distance, and the wind howled and screeched as it tore at the Dark Lord's cape. Ganondorf gripped his foe by the front of his tunic, lifting him high in the air. Link's blue eyes opened weakly, caked with mud, matted hair and bloody bruises. His eyes bore into Ganondorf's, full of a feral hatred that looked like it belonged more to a wolf than a human. Ganondorf stared back with a calm, level yellow gaze.

"Now, I ask you again…" Ganondorf said, his voice low. "What are you fighting for, hero? For this world that you have so much faith in? Or for something even smaller than that? For a petty little emotion. For a little friend that doesn't even exist anymore? Can't you see that while you fight for something so temporary, the rest of the world around you is destined to rot? You have no ambition. You have no cause. You want to use hatred to fuel your fight against me, but that hate is but one candle held to my own wildfire, and you are too disgustingly weak and vapid to do anything but add to my flames."

With a twisted frown, Ganondorf flung Link to the mud and reached down to pick up his blade. He turned and placed its tip against the center of Link's chest. "Now, die easily so I can finish cleansing this disgusting world."

Link stared listlessly up into the murky sky, raindrops falling against his eyelashes. Ah. So this was how he was going to die. He thought heard Zelda screaming in the distance, but it was too far away to feel real. Midna had told him that once, Hylians had believed that the Twilight Realm was a place for souls to go once they left their bodies. If that was true, did that mean that he could see her again? He made no sound as Ganondorf's glowing blade slowly pierced his chest and blood began to pour into the ground. He was beyond feeling pain at this point. It really was a beautiful sword. He could see Midna again. He would like that.