*Claps hands together eagerly* Friends! Firstly, I'd like to thank my first reviewers for taking the time to do dat ting (reviews are like chocolates to me; I get way too excited over them and they bring me great joy), so thank you!

Secondly, just to clear something up: I promise ( and pledge life and limb;) ) to finish the fics I have started on here. I have no idea how many people are still engaged in my amateurish attempts at storytelling on this site, but I know that whenever I find out that one of the stories I'm following will never be finished, I die a little inside, and I don't want to do that to anyone here *sends love*

Now that I'm on my break for the holidays, I'll hopefully be updating all my current fics. Downward Sword actually has a bunch of chapters waiting to be published and I'm just stuck on rewriting one part of the upcoming chapter, which is why it's been so quiet on here. I'm sorry for the delays!

But now, without further ado, anothertypicallyshortchapterfromsoupchan

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This wasn't the first time Link had faced a sword. Stars, it wasn't the first time he'd been stabbed. He was familiar with the pain, was able to tune it out temporarily while he fought off whatever danger he was facing, but this feeling was new to him. Because now, he couldn't feel a thing.

Ghirahim stared back at him, eyes narrowed and inches from Link's as he stayed bent in front of him, sabre still in his hand, but by this point clearly not embedded in the Hylian's flesh. Link blinked, wide-eyed, and peered down at his chest - the blade had slid under his arm to stab into the tree behind him. Ghirahim let go of the hilt but the sword didn't shift at all, buried deep into the bark at Link's back.

He'd missed.

Link looked back up at Ghirahim, alarmed and confused, and wondered if they were both going mad. Or if this could all still be a dream, or he could be dead at this point - his heart was right there, how had he missed -

Ghirahim tutted.

"You have no idea what you've gotten yourself into, have you, gadfly?" He said, and Link could've sworn he almost sounded insulted. "You'll have to try harder than this if you want to eradicate me. You've just made things worse on yourself."

Link had no idea what was going on.

Ghirahim seemed to understand this, because next thing he was sighing exasperatedly, placing his hands on his hips.

"You do realise that if you kill me under this bond, you die too." He knew that Link hadn't realised it and it was clear in his tone. Link tried not to blanch.

He couldn't kill Ghirahim, because of the spell he cast? Then what was with...

He looked pointedly down to the sabre under his arm, then back up to Ghirahim, eyebrow raised.

The demon scowled. "I'm quite positive you're not mute, so I don't see why you can't simply voice your concerns rather than waggle those bulky things at me," he said, turning his nose up, and Link tried not to blush from the insult. Ghirahim ignored him and continued, "that was my revenge for your attempt at stabbing me."

Link eyed the sword again, and slipped a hand around the hilt, but before he could tug it out of its hold in the tree it dematerialised in his hand. He registered the faint snap of the Demon Lord's fingers as it happened.

"I might let you off with just that, as well," Ghirahim said, smugness bubbling to the surface of his voice. "The look in your eyes was delightful."

Link refused to look at the demon now, focusing on standing up and dusting himself off. He could feel the eyes on him as he did, and he wasn't sure what to do to stop the faint flush of embarrassment that threatened to creep up past his collar. He quickly ran over in his head what Ghirahim had just said: Link's spell was the reason a demon was now stood here insulting him, and neither of them seemed to be able to kill each other.

"This is such a waste of my time," Ghirahim said suddenly, and brushed his cloak back over one shoulder in order to pivot away on his heel sharply, stopping with his back to Link to look out at the Sealed Grounds. "Given a couple more of those mortal years and the redhead probably would have summoned me instead, he seemed like a more power hungry type."

Link's eyes widened again. "Groose?" He said, disbelief raising his voice. Groose was probably the most helpful friend he'd ever had. Although, he supposed the last year had changed a lot of things... The other man hadn't even been his friend a year ago.

Ghirahim was staring at him. What was with that look?

"Pardon you?" He said. And Link realised his mistake.

"I..." He started. Shoot. He reinstated his glare. "His name is Groose."

Ghirahim considered him for a moment. Link fought the urge to close his eyes and cringe. He'd never been much of a talker, and he was quite sure that this was the first thing he'd ever said to Ghirahim, but a year of setting up the village had brought him out of his shell a little bit. He supposed holding his tongue wasn't as easy as it used to be.

"Hello to you too." Ghirahim completely ignored Link's point and continued, enthusiasm returning slightly at Link's slip up. "Listen, as much as I'd love to kill you - and I'm sure the feeling is mutual - neither of us can, so how about we find something constructive to do?"

Link was about to retort with a silent scowl, when his enemy's words finished processing in his head.

Neither of them could actually kill each other?

"What do you mean?" Link asked, the incredulity obvious in his voice. He tried not to feel embarrassed as he noted how shocked he sounded, how naive that made him feel. Not that he should care if it was Ghirahim belittling him.

Ghirahim regarded him for a moment, and then put a hand on his hip. He smirked joylessly, mockingly, and Link couldn't tell if he was smug that he knew something the Hylian didn't or if he couldn't believe it and was just looking down on him.

"You think that your pathetic, fragile race would still be alive if the rule didn't exist?" Ghirahim spat. "Demons and spirits are far more powerful than creatures like you, that are bound to the physical realm. If your half-able forebears hadn't ensured the law of Eandem Mortis when tearing open the fabric of your world to welcome us in, then you and your people would all be dead by now," he said, and he suddenly flashed an intimidating grin. "Or worse, our slaves."

Link tried not to shiver as the words sank in. The pair regarded each other for a moment as an awkward silence followed. The air felt thick with tension but it was clear that Ghirahim had been hoping for more of a response. The demon in question folded his arms, and started eyeing Link up and down, which made the Hylian shift uncomfortably.

"I would say your body was decent slave material, but considering the mess you've locked us into, I can only be insulted by this." Ghirahim said, gesturing to Link.

Link, trying to ignore the last comment, focused on the first. He still wasn't sure what had happened.

"So... I've let you into this world," he checked, watching Ghirahim's face to check if he lied at any point, "and now there's some magical block that stops us from killing each other?" At that, Ghirahim's eyes widened, and he cursed.

"By the three Forces," he scoffed, eyes flitting around as if looking for some proof that this was all real. "Did you even read that book?!" And now he was glaring at Link, finger pointing to the tome on the ground. "We're bound together, sky child. Master-servant. The whole caboodle." He spat it bitterly, clearly frustrated by having to explain a situation he'd (just like Link,) rather not be in. "And you're not going to have any idea what to do with this, are you?"

Link's heart plummeted. He'd made himself become Ghirahim's master?

And on top of that, he was beginning to hear something akin to Zelda's voice echoing faintly through the trees, not too far off.

Everything was about to be much more difficult than before.