Fight for Survival

/\/\/\

"Link!" Zelda screeched, slipping from Jackpine's back and diving to his side.

His eyelashes fluttered and he looked at her blearily, a cough rattling in his lungs. "S-stable," he muttered. With a hoarse shout he rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself first to his knees and then to his feet, ignoring Zelda's breathless protests.

"Link, stop it - please; you'll just make it worse," she whimpered, draping his arm around her shoulder. He shook his head slowly, sliding his good leg across the ground. Zelda moved with him, fighting the tears stinging her eyes. "Help!" she shouted. A large paddock inhabited by several sheep and a few cuccos lay between them and the stable, but beyond that she could see people gathered around a cooking fire by a tall tree.

She adjusted her grip on Link's sweaty, bloodied skin. Nearly all of his weight hung from her shoulders and she struggled to take another step forward; practically all of his body mass consisted of toned muscle. "Help!" she cried out again, her breath quickening from the exertion of holding him upright.

At last she could see someone getting to their feet and peering curiously at them. A muffled shout - the traveller ran into the stable while the others stood, craning their necks.

Jackpine trotted the small distance between him and his master and kept pace with them as they shuffled forward. He whinnied loudly, ears twitching forwards, and Zelda could hear an answering whinny in response from the long row of stalls attached to the side of the stable. She all but dragged Link forwards, wishing that she had the strength to lift him back onto his horse's back.

There was more shouting from the stable ahead of them. More of the people gathered by the cooking fire fled inside, while two others dashed towards the blood-soaked travellers approaching.

"Here, lad. You'll be alright," a heavily bearded man said with a forced smile, slipping Link's other arm across his shoulders and slowly helping him move forward. "I think Khini went to fetch Borville."

The heavily-tanned Gerudo joining him scowled. "He shouldn't be moving with his foot all twisted like that," she pointed out. "Lay him down; we'll carry him. It'll be faster."

"N-no…" Link mumbled with a hoarse groan, but Zelda ignored his protest and helped the other two set him back down. The Gerudo carefully lifted his calves as the bearded man took his shoulders, and at a much swifter pace they took him towards the stable.

Zelda heaved the unwilling Master Sword into her arms and walked after them as fast as she could. Jackpine followed obediently, ears erect and alert. When they reached the cooking fire, a woman Zelda remembered tending to Aspen hurried up to them and took Jackpine's bridle, leading him to the other horses. Aspen was already eagerly stretching her head over the door to her stall.

"Clear the door!" a familiar voice called out from within the stable as they neared, straining over the excited, panicked conversation of the crowd hovering just within the stables. Zelda could see the conical hat of Rudi, the stable master, hovering over the heads of the others. "Let them through - we've got an emergency here! Make way!"

As the two carrying Link hurried forwards, the gaggle of travellers was quick to step aside, staring with wide eyes as they passed. Zelda hurried behind them, keeping as close as she could. Strains of conversation fluttered all around her, worried, intrigued, curious.

"How old is that guy, anyway?"

"What in Din's name could've happened to them?"

"He looks kind of like that kid we saw in Tarrey Town a few months ago…"

"Who's that girl following behind him? She's covered in blood -"

"...must've run into some monsters…"

Rudi led them down a small corridor away from the major sleeping quarters, into a small, clean room with a large window and very few furnishings - several cupboards, a long, uncomfortable-looking cot, and a small fireplace with flames crackling away beneath a steaming black kettle. "Ah, good - Borville's got water on already," the stable master murmured anxiously, wringing his hands. "Set him down on the bed, there - careful!"

As the two travellers put Link on the cot, Zelda slid the Master Sword beneath it and straightened, only to find Rudi's anxious gaze resting on her.

"What happened?" he asked, twisting his hands. "When you left yesterday morning, I - and you didn't come back in the evening like you said… Blessed Goddesses, what happened?"

Zelda swallowed tightly. "We were attacked by lynels… and lizalfos," she answered softly. "I treated his wounds as best I could. We only just barely managed to escape."

The bearded man turned to stare at her with disbelief written across his face. "Y'mean to say that you survived a lynel attack? Those things -"

"Halfway survived," the Gerudo interrupted, her stern gaze softening as she studied Link's bloodied form. "What were you thinking, going after something like that? It's a wonder you both weren't killed!"

Zelda shivered, curling her arms around herself. "We weren't trying to fight it. It caught us off guard; we had no idea we'd entered its territory."

An uncomfortable silence fell. Then Link coughed, his back arching and his face twisting in a grimace of pain. Rudi winced. "I'll go find Borville," he decided, nodding as if to reassure himself. "He said he'd only be a moment, but… well, he's not the best..." Shaking his head, the stable master left the little room, offering Zelda one last sympathetic look.

The bearded traveller sighed heavily. "Well… it's a small room; I wouldn't want to get in old Borville's way. Will you be alright, miss?" He looked at Zelda with genuine concern.

Hesitantly she dipped her chin in a nod. I will be as long as Link lives.

The Gerudo placed a comforting hand on Zelda's shoulder. "We'll be by the cooking fire if you need anything. Food, someone to talk to… anything at all."

"Thank you," Zelda murmured, and the two of them walked out of the room, leaving behind a last sad smile. Zelda turned to Link, who was gazing at her through half-closed eyes, looking every inch the exhausted, battered hero he was.

"Jackpine?" he croaked, and she could see blood pooling in his mouth. Forcing her features to remain calm, she knelt beside the cot and took his good hand in hers.

"He's taken care of," she assured him. "Aspen's there, too… She looked quite happy, from what I could see."

Guilt flashed across his features, and he looked utterly miserable. "Sorry," he murmured, taking in a shuddering breath. "M'sorry for… what happened t'her…"

Zelda tried to smile. "She's fine, Link. The people at the stable took great care of her - I could tell, even though it's only been a day. And… and they'll take care of you, too…" Her voice wavered, and she shut her mouth, unable to say more without losing the fragile control she had gained over her fear for him.

Only moments later, Rudi returned with a strange looking old man vaguely similar in appearance to Robbie. Two long tufts of gray hair sprouted backwards from his skull behind his two exceptionally long ears. Thick round glasses magnified his eyes above a long, crooked nose. He was dressed in an elegant cream-colored overcoat with gold embroidery over a tunic an ugly shade of brown. His back was hunched, emphasizing the girth of his belly, and he was painfully short - almost as short as Robbie.

"This is Borville," Rudi explained. "He's our physician."

Borville grumbled, squinting at Link. "Well, they weren't exaggerating, kid," he sighed, waddling closer. "Let's see… Rudi, I'll need some rope. I think… I think everything else is already in here."

"I'm on it," Rudi promised, dipping his head respectfully to Zelda before leaving the little room.

"Wait," she called out, and he turned back in surprise. Zelda clasped her hands together anxiously. "We… I have friends here," she explained quietly. "They live in the old lighthouse at the top of Tumlea Heights. Robbie? Do you know him?"

Rudi squinted at her. "Unusual old man, but… yes, I do."

"Can you let him know what happened?" Zelda asked. I could really use a friend right now - I don't know how much longer I can last on my own with Link d… with Link like this.

Rudi studied her a moment longer before nodding. "Of course. I'll send one of my stable hands up there right now." Offering her a grim, consoling smile, he walked out of the room again.

"Can you hear me, boy?" Borville asked, bending over the cot. Link nodded slowly, his breath rattling within him. "Well… some of what I'm going to do is going to hurt. But if you struggle, it'll hurt worse, so you need to try to hold still and stay calm. Got it?"

"Yeah…" Link rasped, blinking sluggishly. His eyes rolled to meet Zelda's gaze, and she took his hand, not trusting herself to speak. Borville shuffled to one of the cupboards and pulled down several thick cloths, bringing them back to the cot and pressing them firmly against the most recent wound from the lynel, where the bleeding was the heaviest. Link's eyes snapped closed, a slight shudder wracking his body.

"Ma'am, I'm going to ask you to press down right here," he murmured, lifting his bespectacled gaze to look at Zelda. "My assistants quit a couple weeks ago - some sort of disagreement with my methods. So you're going to have to help me on this."

Zelda nodded, reluctantly releasing her grip on Link's hand and walking around to the other side of the cot, hesitating only a moment before pushing down firmly on the deep gash in his side.

Borville nodded approvingly. "Good. let me know when they're soaked through; I'll give you more." He scanned Link's torso again before starting to unwind the blood-soaked bandages over the arrow wounds.

Link coughed again, convulsing on the bed, blood spilling from his lips in a sickening stream. His chest heaved and his hands curled into fists; he threw his head back, jaws parted desperately in a nearly silent cry of pain.

"Internal bleeding," Borville muttered gruffly. "Din curse it - I dunno about this..."

Zelda gulped, meeting Link's dizzy gaze as he coughed again, his head flopping to the side as blood splattered to the thin mattress beneath him. "It'll be alright," she murmured, reaching her free hand up to his head and lightly stroking his hair, wishing she truly believed it.

"Mmmh," he moaned, blinking sluggishly.

Borville finished removing the bandages over the arrow wounds and took a step back. "Infection."

Zelda's head snapped up. "Wh-what? But I cleaned them nearly the moment I could get the bleeding to stop -"

"And did whatever you used as a disinfectant get to every part of these wounds?" He shook his head. "These go all the way through his body, miss. And they seem quite jagged as well…"

"Caused by shock arrows," she whispered, her heart beginning to pound with unquenchable fear once more.

Borville snorted. "Shock arrows," he echoed in disbelief. "I am not equipped to deal with those kinds of wounds - and you'd be hard pressed to find someone who is!"

Link groaned, his body twisting on the bed in agony. Zelda stared at the physician desperately. "Won't you even try? Please?"

Borville stroked his tiny chin, eyes narrowed upon the two ugly wounds. "Rudi!" he yelled, causing Zelda to jump with surprise. "Get a thin metal rod while you're at it; have it sterilized and heated!"

"Right!" Rudi called distantly from somewhere in another room.

Borville turned his gaze to Zelda. "I'll do my best, but these are gruesome wounds. You… you should be prepared for the worst."

Zelda's eyes watered. Not again, Link… not again!

/\/\/\

Link facedown on the ground after taking yet another direct hit from a guardian. His body twitching, convulsing as he attempted to stand, pushing at the ground with battered, bloodied limbs. Each agonized groan bubbling in his throat as blood trickled past his lips. Rapid, shallow breaths, followed by a heart-wrenching half-sob, half whimper of agony as he finally managed to lurch to his feet. His blood - and more - gushing onto her hands as she tried to steady him, to help in some way.

His chin trembling as he, the greatest warrior in the kingdom, sobbed from the unbearable pain of it all.

The Hero of Hyrule - quite literally torn apart.

But his eyes, dull and filled with tears, somehow burned with strength and determination as he looked at her, and then with a short scream he pulled himself away from her to face the next guardian -

/\/\/\

No!

Her eyes flashed open, tears trickling down her cheeks. He's alive, he's alive, he's alive, she told herself over and over again. And it's going to stay that way. This isn't what happened before -

"Don't…" a ragged voice murmured, and she lifted her head to see Link gazing at her through half-closed eyes, a mixture of pain and concern etched on his weary face. "Don't cry…"

"Save your strength, boy," Borville snapped. "You want to live? Then be quiet. And… try to relax."

Zelda looked fearfully at the swollen flesh around the two newly reopened arrow wounds. "Wh-what will you do?"

Borville went to her side and carefully pulled back the cloths she had been using to slow the flow of blood. Bending over the wound, he prodded it carefully. Link tensed, a strangled cry of pain ripping from his throat through tightly clenched teeth. "Din curse it… this one's struck his stomach… can't tell if it's just grazed, or..."

Zelda winced. "Borville, how are you going to treat this?" she asked again, more firmly.

"First off," he growled, not sparing her a glance, "a method to safely sew shut lacerated innards doesn't exist, s'far as I know. So what I'm going to attempt is undoubtedly more help than you'd get from anyone else. Second, from the looks of things, your boy here is stronger than many other people I've treated. Which means he might survive what I'll try."

Zelda gulped, dread curdling in her gut. That doesn't sound good...

He paused, taking two more cloths and placing them on top of the first several, which were now soaked through with blood. "The best I can do is kill the infection and seal off the edges. Cauterizing gets both of those done - the issue is that the wounds go right through him, so everything that got punctured probably won't work right ever again. And that could also kill him."

Zelda gulped. She looked at Link's tense face, frighteningly pale and twisted with pain. Will it be enough? Will you be strong enough?

Borville added another cloth to the bloodied pile on Link's chest. "I need more hands," he mumbled under his breath. "Alright, miss. I need you to start cleaning these other wounds. Apply pressure until the bleeding -"

"I know; I've done it before," Zelda interrupted, taking down several more cloths from the cupboard and turning to study her hero's body. The shallowest of the wounds from the lizalfos had long since stopped bleeding, but would still need to be cleaned. Priorities first, though - stop the bleeding where it's worst.

Besides the one Borville was working on, she identified six others that were still bleeding and seemed deeper than the others. She started with the one that had reached bone on his shoulder, murmuring quiet apologies as his shallow breathing quickened and soft groans rushed past his bloodied lips. You'll be alright, she told herself, wishing she truly believed it.

Working so close to his neck, she took a moment to feel his pulse while her other hand pressed down hard on his shoulder. His heartbeat throbbed rapidly against her two fingers beneath ice-cold skin. Zelda gulped, removing her hand. How much blood has he lost? How much more can he afford to lose?

She didn't want to have to find out.

When the bleeding had slowed enough, she carefully dipped a fresh cloth into the boiling water over the fire - saltwater, she realized as it dripped into a small cut on her thumb - and dabbed gently at the wound. Link hissed in pain, teeth clenched tightly, eyelids fluttering.

"You won't clean anything at that rate," Borville warned, finally removing the mass of bloodied cloths from the large wound in Link's side. "Press harder. Rub at it. Clean it!"

"I - I don't want to hurt him worse -"

"Slowly dying of infection would hurt worse," Borville shook his head in exasperation. "I thought you wanted him to live?"

Zelda's brow creased. Murmuring another apology, she patted the wound more vigorously, wincing when she felt the solid bone and Link yelled breathlessly, a weak spasm jerking his frame.

Borville cursed. "Rudi!" he called out, pausing his work on the deep wound cutting through Link's side.

The stable master returned looking frustrated. "So sorry - the ferrier's working on getting that rod ready. And I have rope, but it's not exactly… sanitary. This is a stable, after all…"

"Bring it anyway," the old man insisted crossly. "We need to tie this kid down so he won't struggle. I'm about to start stitching these shut - and then there's the whole cauterization to think about. We can't have him flopping about like a fish!"

Rudi cast an anxious glance at the barely conscious hero on the bed. "Well… you know better than I do, at any rate," he muttered. "Then… I'll go and get that now."

Borville inhaled deeply. "Thanks." Waddling to another cupboard, he fetched a long, curved needle and a spool of thread; although his features were calm, uncertainty was clear in his magnified eyes. "Can you still hear me, boy? What's your name?"

"Link," he whispered raspily through bloodied lips, eyelids hardly parted at all.

"Well, Link, you seem like a tough kid, so I'm going to be honest with you." Borville threaded the needle carefully. "This big cut here got your stomach. That means I can't give you anything to numb the pain - you won't be able to eat or drink anything for a while - so this is going to hurt. I'm going to clean it, and then I'll sew it closed. You need to focus on your breathing and try to hold still until Rudi comes back, okay? Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Link drew in a shallow, bubbling breath and gave a nearly imperceptible nod. Borville turned his gaze to Zelda. "Hold his hand or something," he advised. "I mean… I need you to keep working on his wounds, but… I think he could use some support."

Zelda nodded. For some reason, those words from the ancient physician came the closest to unhinging her than anything else that had happened. Nayru, Din, Farore… please help him!

She had, as far as she could tell, done all she could for the wound on his shoulder - all that remained was to stitch it shut, but it seemed that Borville only had one needle. She wrapped his shoulder tightly in white cloth from a roll Borville had taken down before moving to the other side of the cot. The next worse cut, as far as she could tell, was one the lizalfos had dealt to his thigh - a very large bloodstain soaked the upper part of his trousers.

"Oh - hang on a moment," Borville said, noticing her hesitation as her hands hovered over his right leg. The physician went again to one of the cupboards, after carefully setting down his needle, and pulled out a large pair of scissors. "Here. Cut off the pant leg beneath the wound."

Zelda took the scissors from him but waited a moment more before using them. I… I think we had a spare set of clothes with us… didn't we? She couldn't remember - Link had been the one to pack everything.

Shaking away her hesitation, she slid the scissors into the blood-soaked hole in his trousers and cut all the way around his leg before rolling the cloth down away from the wound. She didn't pull the pant leg completely off; the bottom was still tucked into his boot, which enclosed his swollen - possibly broken - ankle. It would only cause needless pain.

Borville pressed a cloth damp with hot saltwater to the wound he had been working on and Link groaned, a weak shudder passing through him. Zelda winced; with her own saltwater cloth in hand, she began to clean the wound in his thigh while her free hand gently curled around his fingers. Hold on - please.

Link's breaths swiftly grew more labored as Borville continued to clean his gashed side. His pale face gleamed with sweat in the afternoon light filtering in through the window; his eyes were tightly closed and his teeth bared in a grimace of anguish and determination. At one point, the physician must have come into contact with something especially sensitive - Zelda tried not to think about it too much - and Link screamed in agony, convulsing on the cot, his fingers tightening around Zelda's with strength she didn't think he was capable of. The next instant, he went abruptly limp, his chest heaving with hoarse, ragged breaths.

Footsteps thudding against the wooden floorboards announced Rudi's return. "I've brought the rope," he announced quietly.

"Bring it here," Borville muttered, looking up from his work and retrieving the scissors from where Zelda had left them on the cot. He measured out three long strips of rope and handed one to Rudi and the other to Zelda. "I've got his shoulders. Rudi, do his ankles - tie one end of the rope around one ankle, bring it under the table and wrap it around the other ankle, and then tie the end around the first ankle again. You, girl - same thing, but with his wrists."

Rudi nodded, lifting Link's left foot and tying the rope around it. Zelda swallowed thickly. "Wh-what about - the broken bones?"

"It's more important that we get everything else cleaned and sealed," Borville sighed. "Bones can wait, but enough blood loss will kill him."

Shivering on the cot, Link coughed again before whimpering faintly. Zelda inhaled shakily. "Alright," she whispered, taking her segment of rope and binding it around his uninjured wrist before passing it beneath the cot and looping it around his bruised, misshapen one, wincing at his weak cries of pain. I'm sorry…

When they finished and Rudi left the room to check with the ferrier, there were ropes around Link's triceps as well. It seemed that he was no longer truly coherent; his eyes were barely open and didn't seem to focus on anything in particular, and the only sounds to leave his mouth were pained groans that were swiftly growing weaker and weaker.

"That should do it," Borville murmured, nodding slowly. "Let's get back to work."

Zelda bit back a sigh, returning to the wound on Link's thigh. Borville finally began to sew the wound in his side closed entirely; the battered hero's breaths quickened and soft whimpers of agony escaped his bloodied lips. She didn't want to continue cleaning his wounds - she wanted to hold him, comfort him, tell him it would be over soon - But I'm not a healer. I know only the basics of medicine. So this… this must be what's best for him right now.

And yet… Borville's assistants had quit because of his methods, and it was clear that Rudi doubted him as well. Uncertainty twisted in her soul, and she offered up another prayer for Link's survival. She ran her thumb over his knuckles with her free hand, hoping to convey as much comfort as she could through that simple touch. I wish I could do more.

Borville exhaled slowly, straightening as much as his hunched back would allow. He took the bandage roll and wrapped the deep gash in Link's side, the stitches finally complete. "There. One down… too many to go." He looked up at her, frowning. "I… didn't try to do anything with his stomach. Too little is known about… about that kind of injury. His body will just have to heal that on its own, if that's possible."

His words struck a familiar chord within her, but she couldn't think of why. "It's possible," she assured him with conviction she wasn't so sure she actually felt.

Borville merely sighed.


/\/\/\