So here it is! The Next Chapter.

Yes, that is what I call my chapters when I'm writing them. And for this story, I don't seem to be able to figure out any good chapter names, so yeah, unless I have strokes of brilliance occasionally the chapter names will stay thus. :P

Anyway, enjoy! Review replies are at the bottom.

Next Chapter

They immediately drew their weapons and angled them at each other.

No! Navi pleaded in his ears, making him wince, not in front of the Deku Tree! Please!

Link did as he was asked, staying his hand from actually swinging, which was very, very hard. His sword was only a hair's breadth from clashing with the newcomer's knife, a long, single edged weapon that was elegant in its simplicity. Instead Link studied the being with a monster's eye, and was generally happy with what he saw; a muscled figure in royal blue, sharp knives in hand (one pointing at Link, the other ready to follow at a moment's notice), face mostly hidden by cloth and fringe. Whoever this was, he was the one Link had been looking for.

He was the one who had the Ocarina.

Link carefully cocked his head, peering quizzically at the stranger. "You're a Sheikah."

"So?" was the testy reply.

"What's a Sheikah doing in the Lost Woods?"

"I could ask the same of you, Hylian."

Gods he really loved the way the Sheikah spoke. Ambidextrous, sharp as his weapon, yet blunt and to the point. "I'm visiting old friends, actually. The name's Navi." He gave the Deku sprout a sneaky wink to keep him quiet before adding, "What's your name?"

"I have no reason to tell you."

"Then how am I going to introduce you to this Sprout here?" Link teased, fully enjoying how he was winding the Sheikah up. "Sprout, this is threatening person. Threatening person, meet Guardian of the Forest and all who live in it, reborn to live a few more aeons. Now, shouldn't you lower your weapon? You are in the presence of a very peaceful deity."

The Sheikah looked as if he was about to argue, but said sprout piped up, enquiring excitedly, "Could you possibly be the one that cleansed the Temple?"

The red-eyed youth hesitated before nodding. His eye never left Link. "I did, yes."

"Does…" awe sung in the sprout's voice. "Does this mean that you are the Hero of Time?"

The Sheikah snorted. "No, not in a million years."

"What is going on, by the way, anyway?" Link butted in, earning another glare, "Hero of Time, Temples screaming, the Kokiri getting overrun by monsters… seriously. What is up with this country? Also, where in Din's name," he lashed his sword against the knife, making the Sheikah lunge backwards. Link quickly lowered his sword and angled it so that Ganondorf's engravings weren't visible, and to rest his arm from holding the weapon with his right hand for so long. "Is Saria?"

Knife still held up, ready to attack him, the Sheikah's gaze flicked between him and sprout, and he quietly asked, "Can this man be trusted?"

"He can," the Sprout replied at length, making Link nod in thanks. "I take it that you met with her?"

The Sheikah nodded, slowly, dangerously, uncurling from his battle-stance to stand upright. "A child named Saria spoke to me once Ganon's Shade was defeated. She's now with the Sages."

"So she's safe?" Link asked, unable to suppress his anxiety, "She's well? She hasn't lost a limb or something?"

An amused snort left the Sheikah. "No. Nothing of the sort."

"Okay. That's good." Link bit his lip, relief softening his expression. "So, can you lead me to her? I've missed her green hair, I have got to say. I can finally ask her how she gets that colour."

There was an uncomfortable pause on the stranger's side, and the Sprout gently cut into the conversation. "Clearly there needs to be some explaining. Stranger, I thank you for helping my people. I take it that you have some duties to attend to?"

A relieved nod and thanks drifted from the Sheikah before adding, "Is there a Gossip Stone nearby?"

The Sprout told him there should be one somewhere around his roots, so he went looking whilst Link was bidden to sit before the Deku Sprout, to listen to a story about the Sages.

The Sages were the Wise that looked after the Temples, and in each generation one capable of being a Wise One was born, until they took up the mantle. Once they accept the duties of a Sage, those bearing that title ceased to exist in the material world, away from mundane needs, to fully dedicate their being to the tasks of the Wise. Their souls lived on forever, attaining Wisdom beyond those of mortals, to help and support Balance within the world.

Link digested this slowly, rolling his tongue inside his mouth. "So, I can't visit her. She's pretty much dead to this world."

"She isn't dead, Link, merely-"

"I'll never speak to her, never hear from her, never see her, till I drop dead. She's gone. She can never come back. That's what you're saying, right?"

The Sprout hesitated before conceding, "Yes."

"Then she might as well be dead." A cold ache settled at the pit of his chest, and his eyes stung. He clenched his fists, sucking on his teeth. "Why did it have to be her? Why did it happen in the first place? Who's benefitting from her doing this? I just, I don't…"

There had to be some legitimate reason, surely. He'd lost Navi, now Saria, and he barely remembered either of them. "Just… why…?"

"She is needed because of the evil tearing at this land. Princess Zelda needs all the support she can-"

The rest of the sentence faded away. Princess. Zelda. Two words, a title and a name. That was all it was, but it kindled a powerful flame in Link's gut. Again, because of her, he was losing. Losing. Link had never liked losing, not even as child, even before Ganondorf had trained him to be as vindictive and vengeful as he was now.

Zelda was going to pay for this…

"Link… what happened to her? To Navi?"

Link jumped, and gave a brittle laugh that would've sent chills crawling down even the bravest of men's spines. "She died. She's dead, dead and gone, and I've been… coping."

"Where were you… coping… all these years?"

"Places. Not here. Anywhere but here."

You call forgetting me coping? Goodness, what a hoot.

Link winced, but centring himself he asked bluntly: "I need to find Zelda. Do you know where I can find her?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't know. I did just wake up, so to speak."

"Would Sheik tell me, do you think?"

"What makes you think that?" his voice called from the original Deku tree's form, clambering over the towering buttresses of his roots. He crossed his arms, leaning against the trunk. "I don't trust you. At all. Liar."

Each short sentence was like a stab, though Link barely felt it. "Liar?"

"I can see it on your face." He retorted, jumping down to the ground. "I'm leaving now. I'm glad I was of use to you, Great Tree."

"Sprout," it grinned and corrected, "I won't be a tree for another century."

"Then I hope to see you in another life, to see your magnificence in the flesh."

"At least introduce yourself before you leave, threatening person," Link called out, and the reply he got was smooth as iced glass.

"Sheik of the Sheikah. Good bye."

… … … … …

He was feeling particularly smug as he listened, standing with his eyes closed. In his mind he held the image of Sheik being dead, and the forest reacted intentions to thwart his hopes. So he always heard Sheik's footsteps slipping in and out of his hearing range, as if to haunt him.

He imagined Sheik walking away from him, never to return. Of course, he was rewarded with Sheik's surprised gasp.

Link heard him unsheathe his weapon(s), advancing on ghostly feet. "You've been following me."

Link stood perfectly still, eyes still closed, hand still resting firmly on his designated tree, his anchor in the unstable world. "No, you've been Lost. If I wasn't here you'd be dead right now."

"I don't think so."

"It feels like you've been walking for days, doesn't it. You're thirsty. You're tired. You want to sleep but paranoia won't let you. You want to eat but everything looks poisonous. That's the unfriendly side of the Lost Woods; you wither away without realising it."

"How do you know so much?"

"I got lost here as a child. Saria, the girl that became a Sage or whatever saved me. I still remember the skills of traversing this place, if you'll follow me." Link extended his hand, finally opening his eyes. Sheik glared at him, but he nodded and told him to lead the way.

"No. You have to hold me. Or else you'll be lost again and I don't think I'll be able to locate you anymore."

"Fine. I'll hold your shoulder."

Rolling his eyes, Link grabbed Sheik's arm and firmly placed his hand on the shoulder before closing his eyes again. His footsteps swept the ground, careful to avoid tripping on roots and the dens of rats and moles. He imagined Kokiri village, or at least the impressions of it. Overgrown bushes surrounding large trees, so hollow that it was a wonder that any of them were alive. He remembered the know-it-all brothers, the girls that liked high places.

Then he stopped. No. He had to think he was moving away from there. He had to think of the monsters that rampaged through it, had to think of it as a place of terror. He imagined walking away from it, to Anton, but then he got the sense that the hissing of insect-like jaws was following him, the rasping breath of serpentine creatures, the lumbering footsteps of moblins. It got closer and closer, until it felt as if Sheik's hand was a paw of some terrible creature, and Link grabbed it, snapped his other hand out, grabbing a tree and whirling round it, and when he opened his eyes they were there.

"Duck!" Link snapped, dragging Sheik down with him as the Deku baba snapped its jaws at where their heads had been. Sheik whipped his blade out and severed its bulbous head and Link hacked at its roots to ensure its demise. He straightened up and stomped on its head for the satisfying splat, and finally he looked at his childhood home, rage encasing his heart with a layer of ice.

It wasn't as bad as his imagination's conjurations, but still, the peace was gone, deku baba infested the once safe gardens, and opportunistic Deku scrubs had taken residence on once manicured lawns. From the roofs guays crowed, and on the eaves keese were dangling in their menacing sleep.

Around the corner a gohma larvae roamed into sight. That was the last straw.

"Stay in sight of the houses; you won't get lost as easily here."

And Link went on his murdering rampage. He left the scrubs alone, since as soon as they saw him they scampered away, terrified. The gohma found him in its territory and shrieked, instinctively charging to scare him away. Link cut it, and its body slipped in half and toppled into the grass. Link didn't bother beheading the deku baba; just stabbed at their roots and made them scream, twisting the blade in the earth to finally silence them. The guay crowed and flew off, leaving their nests at his mercy, which was limited at best.

Sheik finished off the keese with throwing knives before they could properly rouse themselves from their sleep.

Link sprinted round the village, making sure he took care of every single larvae around. He slew them without a second thought, their eyes reminding him of their mother, the creature that'd tormented his dreams for weeks, even when his memories had been wiped. He was never, ever, going to allow them to ruin the dreams of the Kokiri as well.

… … … … …

They tentatively peered out of their front doors as Link (and later Sheik, who reluctantly followed) picked up bits of monsters and threw them into the trees that marked the border between the Kokiri Forest and the Lost Woods. He saw flashes of wolfos' hides sprinting past, said pieces of vermin clutched in their jaws.

The Kokiri thanked them a little fearfully, offering them some fruit and water. Sheik thanked them; Link declined. After quick goodbyes Link led Sheik out of the forest, where Anton was impatiently waiting for him.

"So," Sheik drawled, "What was that about?"

"What was what?" Link drawled back, patting Anton's neck and feeding him a carrot.

"You didn't even blink as you hacked those creatures."

"So?" Anton nudged Link so he gave the horse a sugar cube, which the horse licked up with zeal. "Are you saying I did wrong?"

"No, I'm saying that one would usually hesitate at seeing bizarre creatures like man-eating plants and whatever else that was infesting that village," Sheik countered, and Link just knew that his hands were on the hilts of his knives, wary of Link and the mystery he presented. "You almost seemed to… enjoy it."

"The Kokiri took care of me, once," Link shrugged, checking his pack for his supplies, failing to find the red potion for his left arm. Gods be damned, fighting those things had been hard enough without his dominant hand, and it was beginning to ache like a nightmare. "So I owed them a debt to take care of and protect them in turn. Not to mention I hate gohma. One attacked me as a kid when I was lost in there."

"The time Saria saved you?"

"No. Another time."

"…Nobody from Hyrule ever, ever wanders in there. Unless they want to end their lives." Sheik circled the Hylian curiously, cocking his head to the side. "You're the only one I've heard claiming to go in there not once but twice, and surviving."

"Well thanks." Link smiled, glad that everything in his possession was in order, aside from the potion. His bottles always had the knack to creep into the most elusive of corners of his packs, anyway. "Now, how can I convince you to let me meet Princess Zelda?"

Sheik gave a thoughtful pause, crossing his arms as he stared at the Hylian. He cocked his head to the side before asking suspiciously, "Where are you from?"

Link scowled. "That question doesn't help at all."

"Oh yes it does. Where do you come from, Navi?"

"How does where I come from-"

"If you want to meet Zelda for reasons unknown, I'd like to know at least the bare essentials of who you are, and your homeland is part of that."

"This conversation is over," Link gritted out, heaving the saddle back onto the horse, suppressing a cry as the wound on his arm stretched and pounded with agony.

Just tell him you're from around here. That's not a lie is it?

"My homeland is really none of anyone's business." Especially when they can supposedly tell if I'm lying.

How do you know that he can tell whether he can tell I lie or not?

He didn't, but he remembered mini-Ganon conversing with the spy from Ganondorf's castle, touching his forehead and acting as if he could see through it. The fact that the spy had looked relieved made him worry that Link's little mind-trick had been erased, so his message for Zelda was never delivered.

So you're worried that Sheik can do the same? Well you're screwed. You whole identity is based on a lie, he might as well stab you and get it over with. At least you'll be free of all this torture and nonsense. I mean, your life is like one of those uncensored fairytales, might as well end it in a similar fashion.

Link was bordering on agreeing with her, but then he paused. He sighed, and, carefully shuffling his thoughts, he murmured against the saddle, "Termina."

…What? Seriously?

Sheik barely caught his word, but still he'd caught it. "What's Termina?"

"A country, like Hyrule. It's beyond the Lost Woods. Well, it's supposed to be, anyway." Link explained, finishing up with saddling Anton, nostalgia touching his voice. Then another pause dropped from him, clearing his thoughts again, "I was kicked out of my home for reasons beyond me. I don't like talking about it."

"I see…" Link felt that red gaze search his back, and Link couldn't help the small smirk pulling at his face. "Why were you kicked out?"

"Our, mayor, I guess you'd call him, had a fever. A curse more like." Link turned to face the Sheikah, cocking his head. "I tried killing it, and it worked but our mayor-type guy still died. I was blamed for it. I was forced to leave."

"I've never heard of Termina," Sheik told him bluntly, but it lacked the suspicion of one who doubted another's story.

"And I never really heard of Hyrule till I stepped onto these fields," Link shrugged, which was all true. As much as he hated to admit it, living under the bulbous, scrutinising eyes of Twin Rova was really helping right now. "Any other questions?"

"Why do you, a foreigner, have an interest in the affairs of this country?" he questioned further, and Link shrugged.

"I was sent here for business, so I'd like to get that done, for one. Another reason is, I'm not comfortable going home without this situation ending, considering the huge infestation of monsters. I think Zelda is the key to that."

Link's heart beat slowly with suspicion, his hand itching with the urge to grab his weapon and attack before Sheik could do the same to him. The red-eyed youth cocked his head, the visible orb narrowing in confusion. "Why enter the Lost Woods? Twice?"

"I lived on the border of it, and on a particularly miserable day I tried running away from home. Saria found me and returned me to safety."

"What made you go in the second time?"

"I wanted to see her again. And I was bored. Not to mention I was old enough to go travelling, and the Lost Woods were a challenge; she taught me how to traverse the woods, and that skills have been useful everywhere. Even at home."

Especially when Twin Rova wanted to make sure that he was as much of a puppet to them as he had been these last seven years, Link thought bitterly, muscles tensing, ready to spring if the other man decided to attack him. But Sheik lowered his hands from his knives, and nodded at what was clearly a testy expression. "I believe you."

Link sighed in relief, and then a sense of savage satisfaction broiled in his gut, because his bluff had worked. He couldn't believe it!

But Termina is a fairytale…

Clearly not a Hylian one, Link thought as he invited Sheik to ride his horse as well, to get back to Kakariko or wherever the closest village was. "So when do I get to see this elusive Princess?"

"Not for a while, if ever," Sheik scoffed, declining a seat behind Link in the saddle, opting to walk. "I only wanted to clarify whether I needed to kill you or not."

Link laughed, nudging Anton into a walking trot. "I love the way you think."

Sheik shrugged gruffly. "These are the times, after all."

… … … … …

Kakariko was far, so they settled for Lon lon Ranch, though Sheik was adamant in not wanting to meet with Ingo. Malon seemed to recognise him, so she quickly set them into the storage on the other side of the corral, for which Sheik paid reasonably. Link sighed, ignoring the look of glowering suspicion from the red-head, sinking into the hay stacked against some crates of cheese, feeling at ease again in the closed space.

"Where are we headed now?"

Sheik snorted mid-stretch, rolling his shoulders as he muttered, "I'm sorry, we?"

Link grinned back, reclining in the hay, "I literally have nothing to do except try to get home, and in order to do that I need safe borders. For safe borders, I need this insurgence over. Or civil war, whatever you're calling it. "

"Aren't you looking for a thief as well?" Sheik accused, making Link laugh.

"She talked to you about that." Link indicated at the door with his head, where Malon had left only seconds ago.

"I'm curious as to why you count tracking down a thief as nothing to do."

"We got burgled some time ago, and I was employed to search for the missing piece. It's an old relic, I don't even know what it's worth. My father's interested in it, however, so I'm hunting. But I might cut my losses and just go home, considering the state of this country."

Sheik nodded slowly as he too settled in the hay, and he continued to question Link with a cold sense of determination. Link, careful to not to be overconfident, or underestimate the Sheikah's lie-detecting skills, told half-truths all over the place.

He'd had a lot of practice is terms of lying, especially fibs like this. He spoke in context that suited him; Navi had mentioned fairy-tales, so he spoke of Termina; Sheik wanted his background, so he gave it, albeit sketchily. It was not his problem how Sheik interpreted the information given.

Sheik clearly took it all in with a pinch of salt and a good dollop of scepticism. Link mentally commended him for it before curling up in his cloak, a dagger in hand. He left his sword with Ganondorf's mark strapped tightly closed in its sheath, and his mask hidden deep in a secret pocket, to make sure his real identity stayed hidden away.

… … … … …

The one flaw Link had was his incurably heavy sleep; no matter how much he'd trained with his sisters and father, Link could never, ever, be woken unless drastic measures were taken. So as soon as he woke and saw that Sheik was missing, Link checked his gear to see if the man had rummaged through it. But no, just looking through the top half he could tell that everything was fine, so why wasn't Sheik…

He could've bailed on you. Maybe he saw through your lies.

"It's possible," Link conceded before picking up his things, strapping his sword and shield to his back. When he stepped out Link saw Sheik staring at the northern sky, and frowning, Link turned. His brows shot up.

Death Mountain had always been a nightmare incarnate, but now it was spectacularly worse, lava trailing down its sides, ash and acrid smoke billowing out of its maw. Link thought he saw something serpentine slither out of the pillar of poison; he was proved right when it let forth a stream of bright flame, quickly surging over the clear skies before diving back into the mountain.

Link mentally congratulated his father for outdoing himself.

"Did I sleep through that?" Link asked, pointing at the lava.

Sheik spared him a single glare before rushing towards the gates, and Link grinned as he loped after him. On reaching the barn Link saddled Anton, and Sheik took hold of a horse Malon recommended, hissing urgently at each other. Link kept his ears perked up, listening in as best he could. He didn't get much info, if at all.

He and Sheik thundered to Kakariko, Link enjoying the thrill and freedom of the ride more than anything. Link figured that one of the Temples needed to be freed was in the mountain, or else Ganondorf wouldn't have messed with it. He wondered what Sheik must be feeling as he headed straight into danger for an ideal that seemed too good to be true; to save a nation form the tyranny of one man so powerful he could do this to mountains.

They were forced to leave their steeds outside of Kakariko, too frightened to enter. As they unpacked Link glimpsed two things that made his blood cold, two things appearing and disappearing under Sheik's cloak and satchel, respectively.

A Sword with a magnificent purple hilt, and a pearly blue Ocarina.

So, yeah, a bit of a lie when I said they would FACE Volvagia, but I assure you, that will be happening in chapter 5. And it was very, very fun to write, so I hope you guys enjoy reading it just as much.

Anyway, review replies!

TwinSky72: Hahaha! Yayness. Link is definitely both insane and evil, so it works out great for you, eh? XD I've always wanted to do this utterly hate-able yet pitiable character for a while now, so here it is. I love Navi too, so she had to stay in his head. As for his role as Hero of Time, Link and Sheik will eventually work something out. Anyway, I'm glad you really like it! Can't wait to see how you like this!

DarkWolfLink1: Link's crazy comes in spurts. It's specially bad when he's not doing anything, like, when his thoughts can best plague him, or when he's done something that rankles his inner 'Navi'. And I have no idea whether Sheik is female or male in this story. I think he'll tell me later in the story. As for BP, I lost the USB stick with the next chapter in it. Why in all hell does this happen to me all the time? Anyway, plenty of craziness will be coming from Link, so be prepared! Obviously not much happened in front of the Deku Tree, but things will get more interesting, I promise you! And thank you for spreading the word with this story! Thank you very much, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

CatsGotTongue: Thank you! I hope you enjoyed this chapter too, and that you leave another review too.

Havoc's Tears: Yeah, I used to update like a horrible zombie, just taking forever. But now I write chapters ahead so the update pace isn't so horrible. Yes, Link is in a very bad place. He has, in fact, been in a bad place for a very, very long time. And he's only JUST realisinghow bad it's been. Thank you very much for the update, and I hope you leave another review!

Teriyaki Chicken Woot! So many reviews from one person, not to mention, haven't you read my other stories? Thanks for catching up with this one! Thank you for your support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter too.

TwilightWakerOfTime: Yes, Mini was Sheik. Unless Mini and Sheik are just working together. ;) Ooh, the mystery! XD Thank you for reading Masked Dreams as well, and I'm just glad that you left a review just to say you enjoyed this. It's really nice to know!

Insane Certifiably: Thank you for the reviews! It's not often that people leave so many reviews at once! Thank you very much for your praise, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as you enjoyed the rest. :)

Arayllin: Thank you for your praise, and I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter. I hope you continue to enjoy, and that you leave more reviews!

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Anyway, that's it for reviews, and this chapter too. Next there's Volvagia, and more craziness from Link! Please leave a review? It makes updates faster. :3