Disclaimer: I do not own the characters who originate from the Legend of Zelda games by Nintendo, the others are mine!
Chapter 7"They did what?!" Ganondorf yelled furiously at the whimpering guards in his chamber. He slammed his fist down on the table in front of him, breaking it in two as if it was a twig.
"S-Sir, we don't know that ourselves, sir. T-The execution was going as planned but suddenly a cloaked figure appeared and teleported the criminals away somehow. W-We c-couldn't d-do anything! P-please spare our p-pitiful lives, my lord!" the captain stuttered, kneeling on the stone floor.
Ganondorf muttered angrily, cursing their incompetence. He had thought the best move was just to get rid of them under some false accusations, but it had backfired fiercely. The damage was done, now he had to repair it.
"Send out search parties! I don't care how many men you send, just find them! If you haven't found them in three days, I will have your head next, captain!" he roared at the terrified guards. "Y-yes, s-sir!" the captain replied and hurried out of the room.
Ganondorf muttered to himself and went back to his studies, thinking about the possible consequenses.
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They materialized among the trees of the nearby woods and landed on the ground with a thud. Link scratched his head and inspected the surroundings. Zelda sat on the ground some distance from him and rubbed her forehead, groaning slightly. There was no sign of the hooded figure who saved them earlier. Who was he, anyway?
"You okay?" he asked her, kneeling beside her, helping her rise.
"Yes, I'm fine, just a little shaken." she replied. "Where is that man from earlier?" she asked, looking around.
"Talking about me?" a voice behind them said. They turned around to find the strange man, still hooded. "You two really know how to get into a mess. What did you do anyway?" he asked bluntly.
Link eyed him suspiciously, hesitating slightly. "Nothing. Ganondorf just wanted to get rid of us, I guess…" he muttered quietly. The man started laughing at the remark, turning around to them. "That would seem like him, yes. He's never been one to follow justice. You strange fellows must be a threat to him somehow, care to tell me how?" he asked.
"You're calling us strange?" Zelda responded dryly. "We're not the ones who suddenly stopped an execution and started laughing, bragging about his nice entrance." The man smirked, chuckling slightly.
"Well, at least I don't start making out while I'm being executed, after knowing the other part for a day." he mocked the youngsters, who blushed heavily. "Bloody teenagers…" he laughed, shaking his head.
Link raised an eyebrow. "Hey, how did you know we were imprisoned for a day? It's not like it was common knowledge." he asked sourly, eyeing the man suspiciously. The man froze for a moment, clearing his voice.
"I know a lot of things. Too much, really. I saw you," he pointed at Link, "get arrested in the village, does that answer your question? Oh, by the way, your little green haired friend is worried about you, kid." he responded calmly.
"Saria? Where is she? Is she alright?" Link asked with worry. The man chuckled and silenced him with a hand. "Don't worry, she's alright. She's in a small cottage in the village, staying with some new friend she found." He eyed the treetops and muttered something.
Zelda cleared her voice quickly. "Who are you, anyway? And why are you helping us? Why should we trust you?" she asked bitterly, keeping her eyes on his hood. The man sighed.
"A lot of questions at once. Kids are so impatient these days…" he chuckled. "Are you sure you want to know my name?" he smirked at them. Zelda nodded slowly. "Why shouldn't we?" she asked.
"Well, all the people who found out died before their time," he responded. Their eyes widened in shock. "And no, I didn't kill them." he added quickly. "Why I am helping you, you ask? Well…Let's just say I harbor no love for the crown. Besides, It was kind of fun, don't you think?" he replied, laughing. "And for the final question, it seems that you two don't have any choice but to trust me. You would be captured soon enough. There are search parties out for you now, you know. Besides, don't you think saving your lives makes me at least a little trustworthy, hmm?" he sneered at the youngsters, who just nodded slowly, sighing a bit.
Link's curiousity got the better of him. "At least show us your face." he said without thinking. The man looked at him and raised an eyebrow unknownst to them. "Very well…" he replied quietly and raised his hand to his hood. He pulled it back, revealing long silvery hair, reaching down to his shoulders. His eyes were slightly green with some crimson along the pupils. He looked no older than his mid-twenties, and he had a tatoo resembling some kind of vortex on his forehead. "Pleased? Now, let's go before the guards find us here." he said and began walking off into the woods. Link and Zelda didn't move, they just stared at the back of the walking stranger, who suddenly stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Hey, kids! Start walking already!" he yelled, and the two immediately obeyed, hurrying after him.
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After walking for a while they stumbled upon a grove, and the man motioned for them to stop. He made a motion with his hands and conjured up some food and drink. Two plates of rice and chicken were dropped on the ground, and two goblets along with them. "Rest for a bit, replenish your strength. I will be back shortly." he said and disappeared, leaving the two alone. They slowly sat down and ate, finding it very fresh and tasteful. Link eyed Zelda in the corner of his eye. "Zel?"
Her eyes shot up to meet his. She mentally snickered at the nickname. "Mm?"
"Did you mean what you said at the gallows?" he asked quietly. "Or was it just the stress of it all?"
Her head dropped and she looked at the ground. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I don't know…It just felt right. You make me feel safe, somehow." she replied, looking sad, "It's okay if you don't feel the same…I'm sorry if I offended you…" she whispered, not daring to look him in the eyes.
Link sighed and put an arm around her pulling her into his embrace. "It's okay. I didn't get offended. You're right…It felt right, somehow." he said quietly and a small smile grazed his face. She also smiled a little at his reply.
They both jumped as there was a sound in the bushes at the edge of the grove. They eyed the bushes and suddenly a dozen or so guards jumped out, brandishing their weapons at the pair. Link shoved Zelda behind him and stood before her defensively, despite being unarmed. "Kill them!" one of the guards yelled and the guards ran forth swinging their swords and axes wildly. The first strikes were clumsy, and Link managed to dodge them, all the time keeping an eye out for Zelda. He rolled under the axe of the nearest guard and kicked his leg, causing him to fall to the ground. A female cry reached his ears, and he looked back to see a guard standing over Zelda, axe raised high over his head. Link rushed and pushed Zelda out of the way, the axe biting deep into his right shoulder, causing him to cry out in pain, clutching his shoulder tightly. The guards surrounded them and pointed their swords at them. Link crouched over Zelda and breathed heavily, protecting her with his life. The nearest guard raised his axe high. Link closed his eyes and braced himself for death. The axe swung with great force, but hit solid air an inch away from Link's face. Confusion spread throughout the guards, and they all started attacking the pair on the ground, but no matter how hard they tried, the invisible shield surrounding the pair held true, preventing any harm. The guards cursed loudly.
"It isn't very nice nor honorable to attack two unarmed youths when you're that many, you know." a voice behind them spoke, and the guards turned around to face a silver-haired man with dark robes. The man raised both his hand and muttered in some trange tongue, and two flaming swords appeared in his hands. He smirked and rushed the guards with extreme speed, slashing through their armor as if they were air, shocking the remaining guards. They quickly stabbed him with their weapons, but quickly realized that he too was protected with a shield of some sort. Fear grazed their features and they defended themselves in panic. Guards quickly fell to the ground until there were only one left. The lone man, who seemed to be their leader, yelled loudly and dropped his weapon. He turned around and and ran for his life. The robed man made a 'tsk' sound and flames enveloped his hand. He threw the fire at the retreating man and and he screamed in pain as the flames enveloped him. He rolled around on the ground, trying to douse the flames, but soon enough he stopped moving. The man chuckled slightly and turned around to the youngsters on the ground. "Hell, I can't even leave for five minutes without you getting into more trouble." he mocked, laughing a bit.
Link was on the ground, breathing heavilly, dizzy from blood loss, with Zelda crouching over him and desperately trying to stop the bleeding. "Please, don't die. Don't die!" she cried desperately, tears flowing down her cheeks. She looked up at the robed man. "Can't you do anything?" she pleaded, sobbing heavilly.
The man walked up to the pair and motioned for her to stay back. He crouched down at Link's side and inspected the wounded shoulder. He placed his hand over the shoulder and muttered some strange words. An eerie green glow enveloped his hand and slowly spread down onto his shoulder. Link groaned in pain, shaking violently, and Zelda quickly grabbed his hand tightly. The man kept muttering words and lowered his index finger to the end of the cut, and slowly traced along the wound, closing it as if it was a zipper. When he was done he sighed and grabbed a piece of cloth to clean the blood. "That should do it." he said, rising.
Link grunted and Zelda helped him sit. She threw her arms around him and cried into his chest. "I thought you would die!" she sobbed and he placed his arms around her for comfort. He used his hand to tilt her chin up, and he gave her a small smile. "It's okay. I'm fine." he whispered, stroking her chin slowly, removing her tears.
She smiled through her sobs and put her arms around his neck and kissed him once again, tears flowing freely down her cheecks. Link returned the kiss gently and put his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.
"Not again…Get a room, you two." the man sighed, turning his head away. Zelda giggled slightly and helped Link to stand up. He muttered a 'thanks' to the robed figure and the latter nodded in response.
"We better get out of here before more of these guards come looking for their lost party." he said and motioned for the two to follow. They nodded and together they walked further into the woods.
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Any comments? I know, I might have rushed them a bit into their relationship. But you know, today's teenagers with their hormones, hehe. Reviews please!