Walking, now that was a challenge.

Yes, the goddess had given his broken body the ability to stand without even a wince, but that didn't change the fact that his legs still felt as heavy as tree trunks. Not using your legs for four years tends to do that to you, he figured.

After accepting the blade that he had been presented to defeat evil with, the knight commander – who definitely appeared to be much older than what Link had once known him as – directed for a few of the knights to escort Link back to his house.

He walked slowly with a horrible limp, but Link was able to make it through the narrow doorway of the creaky shack. Once he was outside, he was blinded by awe.

The grass was a luscious green; waving majestically in the breeze of the fresh, clean air. He hadn't been able to breathe good air in ages, and he definitely appreciated it now. His attention was drawn to the clear blue sky, without a cloud in sight. The sun was beating down on him, which helped dry the sweat that had formed on his sensitive, pale skin while he was underground.

He looked straight ahead and saw the bright colors of the roofs of houses, which lined the road that he had to go on to reach his house. There were beautiful flowers, serving the purpose for landscaping the small yards, which held the smiling faces of children that were playing joyfully.

Well, they were smiling until they saw Link, anyways.

Their eyes became wide and filled with fear as they slowly backed away from the road, and the older children put their arms around the younger as a shield for protection, just in case. The sight of a prisoner bathed in sweat, blood and grime surrounded by four knights was definitely not the most pleasing sight.

Link felt bad for frightening them, but there was nothing he could do about it. Without staring for too long, he tried to look at some of them to see if he could recognize any of their faces.

Being a knight, he used to be friends with everyone, and the children always seemed to have a liking towards him. He himself was a bit frightened that none of them had recognized him, and that they seemed to be avoiding him at all costs. Sure, he must have aged a bit perhaps along with his foul stench as a result of his current hygiene, but it was strange how none of them wanted anything to do with him.

They walked through the seemingly empty town – except Link who limped, rather – until they came upon Link's house. It was small, but it was still larger than Link had remembered it being. The walls were made of stone, stuck together many years ago with cement, which now seemed to be chipping off a bit. The roof was made of wood, which his father had made by himself when he was still alive.

Fresh green grass and yellow flowers surrounded the base of the house. It was as if someone had been taking care of it. Link looked at it curiously, but ignored it after a few moments.

They were on the stone path that led to the front door when he heard a knight behind him say his name. He turned to face the man that had addressed him, and to no surprise, his face was unfamiliar.

"I am required to tell you that tomorrow the knight commander wishes to bring you to the castle to show you the current condition of our army and where we stand in this battle." he said with a flat tone. "You have until then to get settled into your house. Someone will be by to escort you there in the morning."

Link nodded his head and took a few steps towards the door. He slowly turned the knob with his bloodied hand, and the door swung open with the help of a strong breeze that caressed Link's skin.

He took a step on the wooden floor, and it made the same squeaking sound on the third panel just as it always had ever since he was little. He looked up and saw his old kitchen, which was surprisingly clean. Not that he often left it dirty, but it seemed to be lacking in the dust and webs he had been expecting. Someone was definitely cleaning his house for him, and he was grateful considering how weak he was.

He leaned on the round, light brown table in the middle of the kitchen, fearing he would lose his balance from the possible failure of whatever overcame him in the shack of where his prison was below. He was strong, but limping was all he could manage. He turned around and looked out the window next to the door to find a knight's back, which he supposed was guarding anyone from getting in. Or out.

They don't trust me yet, Link thought. But he understood. He himself wasn't too sure he'd trust a prisoner of four years who'd just found freedom again. Especially when he actually had a reason to turn against those around him, since they had turned against him in the first place.

To his left he saw his old bookshelf filled with various genres, and his chair with armrests, which is usually where he used to read at when he had the time. Beyond the bookshelf was his dresser filled with knight apparel, a nightstand with a lamp on it, and his bed.

Link wanted to sleep, but he remembered how hungry he was last night. He slowly walked over to his pantry, which to his surprise was full of food. He found that the only thing appetizing – at the moment, anyways – to be a box of saltine crackers. He sat at the table and ate a few, along with a glass of water that he had gotten from the old sink that had clearly rusted while he had been gone. Someone may have stocked him up on food and cleaned his house, but only just recently, it seemed like.

After eating, he went into his small bathroom to take a quick shower. He walked in and turned on the lights. He closed the door behind him and looked forward, and then slammed his back against the closed door, mortified by what he saw.

A man-like beast stood in front of him, and it seemed like it had the potential to be extremely vicious and violent. The hair on top of its head reached down to the top of his neck, and the hair on its face resembled a bush. Its face was stained with dirt, dry blood, sweat and grime, and was completely appalling. It took him a few moments to realize he was actually looking in a mirror; the horrific beast was his own reflection.

Startled, he took a step closer to the mirror, and brought his right hand to his chin to stroke his beard. He'd never even thought about shaving until this moment. Facial hair had never came to him easily, so he figured it'd be nothing to worry about. The hair on his head was curly and tangled, and it was the longest it had ever been.

Now he understood why all the children were afraid of him.

He was able to get into the hot shower, and clean off the dried blood and dirt that he had been collecting for years. He had no idea what a real shower felt like until now. Refreshing, relieving, and he actually felt stronger. But he thought he may have just been making that up in his corrupted mind, and that four years trapped underground just may make you a bit delusional.

After he dried off, he got a pair of scissors on a small rectangular table near the front door. He bent over the bathroom sink, looked into the mirror to decide what to cut first, and hair started falling. Left and right, Link's hair had covered the sink and even some of the floor. Then he shaved his face, to which he was surprised he didn't cut himself considering it had been a long time since he'd done it. He now approved of what he saw back as he stared at his reflection.

He set his dirty clothes in a basket for laundry, which he'd do later; he was far too exhausted to deal with it now. He put on a plain white shirt and sweats, and then swept up the hair that had made it to the floor.

Once everything was cleaned up, he finally decided that there was nothing else he had to do right now. He looked at his bed, decorated with soft blankets and feather pillows, and felt his eyes droop. He walked to his bed, got under the covers, and was dead to the world as soon as his head hit the pillow.

When Link woke up, he nearly broke the lamp on the nightstand next to his bed. He frantically tried to pull the switch to turn it on, without any regards to the damage he almost caused.

Once the room was filled with the lamplight, he felt his heartbeat start to slow down. It was the first night he was spending out of the dreadful prison he had been accustomed to for the past four years. He was used to the darkness, but he couldn't help but feel vulnerable and unprotected. He remembered the it well, but still couldn't stand the thought of the unknown; because that's all darkness was. The unknown.

He cursed himself. This is what only a little girl should be afraid of; The dark. He hated for being scared of something so harmless, and he hated everyone for putting him into such a situation. But he had to remind himself that it wasn't their fault; it was Dagianis's. And that's who he should be infuriated with right now, not his fellow knights that were under a spell in which they could not control.

He looked out the window, and it took until then for him to realize that it was pitch black outside, except for the faint moonlight that emitted from the sky. It must have been the early afternoon when he'd got to his house… Did he really sleep through the entire day?

He then remembered that someone was supposed to come by in the morning to take him to the castle. He hoped that it was someone he trusted… but then he thought, Who can I even trust anymore?

Suddenly becoming aware of his fatigue, despite the fact that he had rested all day, he decided to sleep until morning, since there was really nothing else to do anyways. It's not like he could leave with guards on his doorstep.

And for the rest of the night, he slept with the light on.

At the break of dawn, Link was wide awake. His eyes weren't fully adjusted to light, even though the lamp was on all night. The intensity of the sun's rays was colossal in comparison. After turning it off, he looked into the kitchen and saw a man sitting at his table, eating what had the aroma of what he remembered to be eggs.

Link rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up in his bed, still as weary as before. The man sitting turned around and, to Link's surprise, he gave him a smile. That was something he hadn't seen, or done, in years.

"Good morning!" he said, still smiling.

"Morning," Link mumbled.

The man came to Link's bedside, carrying the chair he had been sitting in before. A moment passed, and he looked at Link curiously. "Do you recognize me?" he asked. "Just curious…."

Did he recognize him? It was years since he'd seen anyone, so wouldn't anyone he had known have grown a lot, much like himself? He was only 18 when he was imprisoned, and being 22 was definitely a change physically. But it was hard for him to tell if his changes were due to his age or because he had been living underground in complete darkness and isolation.

Link looked at the man closely. He had dark brown hair, deep blue eyes, and his skin only a little more tan – most likely because of his exposure to sunlight – than Link's. He probably wouldn't have known who it was if it weren't for his gold tunic and blue shoulder guards.

"Ryker," Link breathed, relieved he finally knew someone, considering he couldn't even identify his own reflection. Finally, a familiar face.

"Good to see you, man!" Ryker said as he held out his hand for Link to clasp, and once he did he gave him a brief friendly hug. They pulled away from each other and Ryker started to speak again. "I'm actually kind of surprised you recognized me…."

"I didn't really," Link admitted. "Your uniform was what gave it away." They both laughed at the memory.

A long time ago, Ryker's girlfriend, Ginger, constantly bantered him for his choice in armor. He chose blue steel, which wasn't so much to her liking. She always told him how badly it matched with his gold tunic, but he never really cared what anyone else thought. Ginger didn't mind, though; the two of them always made fun of each other, and many of the knights were a bit jealous of how happy they were together.

But that didn't stop all the other knights from giving him a hard time about the armor. After everyone caught on to her disapproval, they pretended to do the same. Especially Link – who better than your best friend and your girlfriend to make fun of you?

Finally, once their laughing ceased, Ryker decided to return to his duty. "Alright," he said, looking at his watch. "We have to be at the castle in about an hour and a half, and I have to make sure you eat and wash up, which shouldn't take too long. But based on what the guards told me, it'll take a while to walk there." He paused to look at Link and then continued. "Do you think you can get up on your own?"

"Yeah," Link grunted as he attempted to move his stiff legs off of the side of the bed, which he was slowly able to do. His legs didn't hurt, but they were difficult to maneuver nonetheless.

Taking note of this, Ryker held out his hand to help Link stand up. Link accepted the gesture, and used all of his strength to get himself on two feet.

Ryker shook his head in disapproval. "We need to get you back in shape," he joked, patting his back.

Link dragged himself to his bathroom to get dressed, and even put his heavy, gold armor on. He knew he was probably too weak to do so, but he wanted to prove himself worthy of the task before him. If he could appear strong when he had every right not to, then he could defeat those of the dark realm, even if he was vastly outnumbered.

After eating leftover eggs that Ryker had made, they both set off for their slow walk to the castle. They both knew it would take awhile, so about half way to the castle Ryker decided to engage in conversation, but he didn't want to bring up their slow pace, for Link's sake.

"So," Ryker started, "were you surprised by all the food in your house?" It was the only thing he could think of that may not have made Link upset by making him think of his disconnection from the world.

Link didn't mind the silence prior to the sentence – he was never much of a talker, so quiet wasn't exactly awkward for him – but he answered his best friend with the truth. "Yeah. I just thought everyone forgot about me, you know?"

Guilt flashed across Ryker's face. After all, he'd been under the curse's influences too. "Yeah… I'm sorry about that…" he mumbled as he looked down, and Link could see the shamefulness he must have been feeling.

"Don't be. It's not like it was your fault."

"I know, but just the thought of being trapped underground when everyone is against you…" Ryker said, starting to get a bit choked up. "It's disturbing to think about."

"I don't want you to feel sympathy for me," Link started. "All that matters is that I'm here now, and not you or anyone else is against me. We can fight this battle together." Ryker looked at him in surprise for reassurance that he had actually said that. Link was so wise and powerful, even after being through four years of hell. It was evident to anyone with eyes: only Link was strong enough to defeat darkness, and only he had what it took to stop it in its tracks.

"Anyways," Link said, trying to change the subject, "What's new with you?"

"Hmm… nothing too big I don't think."

"How's Ginger?"

"Oh, yeah!" Ryker exclaimed, suddenly remembering something important. "We're engaged!" Ryker said with the biggest smile on his face that Link had ever seen. "I proposed about a month ago, and she said yes!"

Link raised his eyebrows. "And that's not 'too big'?" he joked with a smile. "Congrats!"

"Thanks. And that reminds me of something I've been meaning to ask you…." he said hesitantly.

"What is it?"

"Well… I was just wondering if maybe… you wanted to be my best man."

Link froze. He knew absolutely nothing about being a best man, but he was pleased nonetheless. "Ryker," he breathed. "Really, I'm honored, but I have no idea how to be a best man, or what he does. You really think I could do it?"

"Link I wouldn't want anyone else to do it!" he stated. "It's all right, later I'll stop by your place and tell you all about it. So do you want to do it?"

"Absolutely!" Link exclaimed.

"Thank goddess! Because I've been planning this for awhile and I couldn't figure out who else would-"

"Wait," Link interrupted, "You've been planning this for awhile? Like how long?"

"Well," Ryker started, "Just a few weeks before I proposed…."

"So, I was still in prison?" Link asked curiously, trying to grasp the thought for understanding.

"Well, yeah! I mean I was still under the darkness's influence, but I was holding onto the hope that maybe you would be out by the wedding. Really, if you think about it, the only reason you were locked up was because they thought you were crazy… not that you committed a mortiferous crime really. I mean, of course I thought that you were crazy too, but that didn't change the fact that you were my best friend." he said matter-of-factly.

Link fell completely silent. The thought of someone thinking about him with compassion, even when they were possessed by evil, astounded him. When all hope was lost, there was still someone out there that didn't despise him.

Even… liked him.

Link looked to the sky, trying to gather his thoughts together. Someone actually cared about me, he thought, astonished. Even when all the world was against him, the light, although dim, still shined through the darkness of eternity.

That thought alone gave him the hope and ambition to somehow, someway, win this battle in which the odds were not in his favor.

And he was so eager to be victorious that by the time they would reach the castle, Ryker would be out of breath from trying to keep up with Link.