The dark prison cell was as eerie and still as it had always been. With nothing to hear except the sound of his own breathing, Link had almost become accustomed to the stifling silence. Hours and days passed by, but he could not even begin to accurately keep track of the passage of time. The prisoner supposed that unless something drastic happened, it might become his home for the rest of his life.

He thought of Malon more than anyone or anything else. But as time dragged on, he found it more and more difficult to remember what she looked like before her capture. The image of her struggling to hold onto life before his very eyes had been burned into his mind. Whenever he managed to catch even a little bit of rest, it had haunted his dreams.

Though he supposed that freeing his wife was possible, Link didn't count on the Order of the Desert ever releasing him. Their hatred of him was deep- no matter what he did for them, they would never let him return home. He scowled towards the metal door. To them, he was detestable for having slain that foul monster that they admired, but they saw Malon as little more than a pawn. She would have been an absolute nobody to them if she had not accepted his marriage proposal. In their view, she would have been just a girl on a ranch, and nothing more.

A small part of him wished that she had said no to his marriage proposal. He would have been devastated, and perhaps they would have drifted apart until they were little more than distant friends. But if that were so, perhaps she would be safe and sound back on her ranch, enjoying the warm glow of the sun on her face as she happily took care of the cows and horses.

"She'd never have to fear for her life again. If only I had-"

Link paused his pessimistic thought and scolded himself for thinking such a thing. Nothing made either of them happier than to be with one another, and he couldn't allow these lowlifes to challenge that. They would be thrilled to see him become so miserable.

The silver lining, if there even was one, was that even if he was never freed, they might simply grow bored of Malon and let her walk out one day. He exhaled deeply and tried to convince himself that it was possible. It didn't really matter to him if he spent the rest of his life there as long as she could return home. Nobody deserved what she was going through.

"Whatever it takes."

In thinking this, he was reminded of the numerous stores he had taken money from. The images of the men and women that he had stolen from flashed in his mind. He frowned and lowered his head, knowing that he had deprived them and their families of what they needed to get by. All of them had been of modest means, and it made him sick to think of how much they would suffer before he could return the money to them, if he was able to at all.

"I just hope they'll forgive me. Can't blame them if they won't."

He glared towards the metal door again. Unable to know where his captors were beyond it, it was the only thing that he could associate with them in the dim cell. He pounded his fist into the cold wall. He ignored the brief pain- it was the only way to unleash any of his frustration.

At the same time, he questioned why they had not just killed him. It would be easy for them to do so- even if he somehow escaped his cell, he was constantly exhausted and he was heavily outnumbered with little to defend himself with other than his fists.

Just as he began to wonder what his next task would be, the cell door unlocked once more. Link stood up with his arms crossed as the guards entered. Once again, they restrained him and dragged him through the hallways to the large room. It was beginning to become more annoying than frightening to him.

"And so the Hero of Time returns," a voice called from the darkness.

Link stood stone-faced as Avalsen emerged from the shadows. The leader's demeanor was grating to him, and he only wished to hear of his next task and get it over with. He desperately wished that whatever they asked of him could somehow be undone.

"What am I doing this time?" he asked impatiently. "Spying on Hylian officials? Kidnapping someone? Sweeping your floors?"

Avalsen smirked at Link's irritation. "I love the enthusiasm, Link. Thank you for the suggestions, though."

The leader's dull armor clanked about as he circled around Link. "No, this time, your task will be much the same as last time. You'll be stealing something... in a manner of speaking. Your first task was easy- a warm up, if you will."

Link rolled his eyes and released a breath. Every word from Avalsen's mouth was insufferable, and he wanted him to just hurry up. The longer he spoke, the less interested he became.

"You see, we have had many people join our ranks over the years. Many of them have gone on to do great things to advance our cause. Others have been... less successful. One of our lieutenants had the misfortune of getting himself captured."

Link narrowed his vision and his face twitched- he already knew where he was going with this.

"You will be breaking into a prison, Link. You will free him, and you will bring him back to a designated spot. Simple."

"And how do you propose I do that?" He assumed that they would give him the knife from before, but beyond that, he expected them to leave him with nothing.

Avalsen shrugged his shoulders. "That's your problem, Link. I trust you'll figure something out."

"You really expect me to break into a highly secure prison with nothing but the clothes on my back?"

"Pretty much, yes. But if you really love your wife, you'll find a way," Avalsen replied with a sickening grin. Link clenched his fists and suppressed the urge to deliver a swift hook to his jaw.

"Don't worry, I have confidence in you, Link." Avalsen continued on as Link seethed quietly. "He is to return to us unscathed, and as before, you are to tell nobody what is going on. Understood?"

"Yes," Link said through his teeth. He already regretted what he was about to do, but he supposed that whoever it was could be recaptured at some point in the future. If it brought Malon one step closer to safety, it had to be done.

"Very good. I had a feeling that you'd agree to do this. My men will give you a picture of him when you've arrived at the prison complex. Have fun."

With those words, Link was promptly knocked out once more and dragged out of the main room.


Link's senses returned to him slowly as he lied down in some tall grass. As before, when his sight came back to him, his head began to ache from the strike he had taken not long ago. Rising to his feet, he glared at the men around him, who were both amused and impatient with his struggle.

Looking around him, Link was not entirely sure where he was. It appeared to be a far off corner of Hyrule, far removed from Castle Town, Kakariko Village, or any other familiar locales. The prison in the distance was the only building around for miles, with large, open meadows all around it.

"Do you really have to do that every time?" Link asked as he rubbed his temples.

"Stop complaining," one of them replied.

He handed Link the same knife as before, along with a small photo of their lieutenant. Link studied it carefully, noting whatever distinguishing features he could find. Not only would he need to free him, but he would need to remember him well if he was to capture him in the future.

"Tall build... roughly in his mid forties... scar under the left eye, probably still wearing that beard."

Link looked off towards the large building in the distance. It had a tall outer wall surrounding the main structure, which was comprised of several stories. The gates were well-defended, so Link knew that he would have to rely on the guard's trust. With any luck, they would not be aware of his thievery from several days ago.

"Any idea where he is in the complex?"

"No. That's for you to figure out. You have your assignment. You have one day to bring him to us alive." The man was clearly annoyed at the fact that he had to be the one to speak to Link.

Link rolled his eyes and made his way towards the prison. Rather than sprint at it and alarm the guards along the perimeter, he moved casually, ensuring that they could see him at all times. If it appeared that he was hiding or sneaking about for any reason, they would be far less welcoming to him.

His eyes scanned the outer wall- several guards walked atop it, glancing into the lower prison yards and out beyond the walls in his general direction. The nearest guard clearly spotted him, as he stopped his patrol and tried to focus on the approaching man in green.

The guard turned his head slightly towards the nearest gate but kept his eyes trained on Link. "Heads up, someone's approaching from the south," he spoke loudly. The other guards nearby snapped to attention. It was so rare that anyone came this way voluntarily, so they were surprised to see someone now.

"Is he armed?" one of them returned.

"Doesn't look like it. Stay sharp." The men kept their spears ready, still not certain of who was approaching. The men atop the walls prepared their bows as well.

Link closed the gap between himself and the gate. The guards were almost stupefied to see the Hero of Time before them. He offered them an easy grin and returned their salutes.

"General Link? What in the world are you doing here?" the leading guard asked, lowering his weapon.

Link had already prepared an excuse, though he wasn't sure if it would work. "Well, I was hoping that I could take a tour of your prison." The fact that they had not already alerted the others was a major relief- apparently they had not yet heard of what happened in Castle Town.

"Sir, if you don't mind me asking... why?"

"I believe that an impromptu inspection is in order. I trust that this building is up to Queen Zelda's standards of security?" Link looked aimlessly at the building, pretending to focus on points of interest.

The guard remained confused. "Well, I'm sure it is sir, but-"

"Then there shouldn't be an issue. Now, may I please see the prison?"

The soldier could sense some impatience in the general's voice and stepped aside. "Yes sir. Of course, my apologies."

"No harm done," Link replied.

The officer turned to one of the other men and spoke hastily. "Sergeant, please give General Link a tour, if you would." The guard complied and walked alongside Link past the outer wall and into the main building. He was clearly unnerved by being in the presence of Hyrule's most famous warrior.

"A-as you can see sir, we are quite well-defended," he began, gesturing to the dozens of guards that patrolled the inside of the facility.

"I see," Link responded, carefully noting the position of each guard, along with the layout of the building. The main room was circular in design, with each cell on the outer perimeter and multiple guards standing at various locations.

"Over here... we have the common area," he said, passing by a gate. It was a large open area on the bottom floor, where several of the prisoners roamed when they weren't required to be in their cells. Judging by the size of the space and by the number of cells, Link supposed that the prison held roughly one hundred men.

Link stopped in his tracks and looked into the area. There weren't very many prisoners walking about, but he could tell that none of them were the man in his photo. A few of them glared back at him, but they couldn't hope to do anything to Link. Not only were they secured behind several layers of iron bars, but none of them were half the fighter that Link was.

"Something wrong, general?"

"...No. Please continue," he replied as they walked away. Part of his attention was still on the common area.

The guard showed Link to a few uninteresting locations in the prison. He gave the swordsman a tour of the administrative rooms, armories, and the like. They did not begin to interest Link. He feigned interest and occasionally asked an aimless question, but was mostly focused on how he would release the prisoner and somehow escape with him.

"I can't believe I'm doing this..." he thought to himself. He had to remind himself why he was there- his wife was counting on him.

"...And here, sir, we have the prison cells."

Link perked up as they began to walk past the small rooms. Each one was scarcely furnished, with no luxuries of any kind. Every room contained no more than two inmates, and several of them were just as bewildered to see Link as the guards had been. Most of them respected the Hero of Time on some level, but a few were only content to glare at him. Link ignored their dirty looks.

The sergeant showed Link into an unused room and pointed out what few features it had. As before, it failed to keep Link's attention. Little time had passed since he had arrived at the building, but he did not want to waste any more time than he needed to.

After showing Link through the cell, the sergeant tried to walk quickly past the other rooms, figuring that there was little point in staying around them. The prisoners were noisy and the cells themselves were not notable enough to give any more special attention to. Link slowed his pace and observed every prisoner that they passed. The guard was confused at first, but slowed his own pace as well.

"Is there a problem, sir?"

"No, sergeant. Keep going, please." He kept his eyes trained on each prisoner, but none of them resembled the man he was sent there for.

Minutes passed by as they walked past dozens of cells. Link became increasingly unnerved the longer he stayed in the building. The more time he spent there, the more likely he was to slip up and doing something to alarm the guards.

At long last, he found himself in front of the man that he had been looking for. He stopped moving and stood before the cell, staring directly at the Order of the Desert's lieutenant. The prisoner raised his head and returned Link's glare with a subtle smile. He had not been told what would happen, but he knew that Link's presence before him was more than a coincidence.

"Oh, that's one of our more... troublesome inmates. His name is Paran," the sergeant whispered. "Regularly gets into fights with the guards. Been here for almost 10 years." The soldier began to walk away from the cell, figuring that there was little else to add.

"Sergeant, give me your keys."

"What?" he exclaimed, stopping abruptly. "Sir, why would-"

"Sergeant, please... give me your keys. That's an order," Link interrupted, his voice uneven. "I need to speak with him." The prisoner inside began to chuckle to himself.

The guard hesitated but was unprepared to disobey an order from Hyrule's most famous general. He let out a deep breath and handed a key over to Link. He prepared his spear and stood outside the door as Link entered the room.

Link stood in front of the prisoner and crossed him arms. He was disgusted by what he saw before him. He wasn't sure what Paran's specific crimes were, but he knew that he was unfit to rejoin polite society.

"Link, is it? Pleasure to meet you," he said with a laugh.

"I'm here to release you," Link muttered, ensuring that the guard could not hear them. The words felt like a burning poison in his mouth.

"Oh? You're not here to scold me or something? How peculiar." Paran continued to laugh. "I would have thought that you would have just punched me in the face and-"

"Stop talking. I need you to start some chaos in the common area. When the guards are distracted, I will open the gate and release you. Can you do that?"

"No problem, my friend."

Link clenched his fists and turned to the guard, struggling to keep his expression calm. "Sergeant, please take this man to the common area. He needs some exercise."

"Sir, he's not scheduled to leave his cell for another hour."

"Sergeant, please. That's an order."

The guard stood silent for a second, struggling to figure out why Link was making such odd demands. Rather than argue with someone who vastly outranked him, he stepped aside, allowing the prisoner to enter the larger main room past another security fence.

The guard watched the prisoner closely, still unsure of what to make of all of this. For his part, Paran acted perfectly casual, making his way to the center of the room as he had done every time before. A series of iron bars separated Link and the guard from the rest of the prisoners in the common area. Paran took a seat at one of the tables next to some of his fellow inmates.

Link eyed the keys on the soldier's belt and quietly took them, stowing them in his pocket. The guard was so distracted by the inmate that he was completely unaware that he had been stolen from. His hands were shaking and he could feel himself begin to sweat. He desperately wanted to turn back now, to abandon the entire task, but he couldn't.

"I have to do it. She needs me," he thought, turning his head downward.

As he looked back up slowly, Paran had turned his stare towards Link, obviously waiting for a signal. Hesitating for a few moments, Link finally nodded for him to proceed.

The inmate flashed a smile before he stood up and delivered a fierce punch to the prisoner across from him. The man reeled backwards and fell over before yelling at his friends to assist him. Paran wasted no time in calling on his own allies to help him in the fight. The guards sat stunned for a second before they whistled for help in breaking up the chaos.

Before anyone knew what had happened, the entire common area was a frenzy of punches and kicks, with several prisoners throwing everything that had not been bolted to the floor. Soldiers struggled to separate the fighting prisoners but failed to notice that one man had slipped away from the conflict towards one of the gates, right where Link was standing.

"How'd I do?" Paran asked with a smug grin.

"Be quiet," Link replied, unlocking the door. "You don't deserve this. I'm only doing this to help someone else."

Paran joined him on the other side of the fence. "Whatever, let's just get out of here."

Link and the prisoner dashed away from the common area as the commotion continued. As they neared the front gate, they had to evade several guards, who were mostly focused on running to the chaos that had just unfolded. Given the size of the fight, they would need dozens of soldiers to restore normality.

Fortunately for Link, the guards were in such a rush to get to the ongoing fight that they had become very loud- yelling orders at one another and clanking about in heavy armor. It was easy to evade them so long as Link kept his ears open and waited patiently for a chance to slip by.

With the guard's set of keys, Link was able to slip through the security gates with little effort- most of them were unmanned or had been abandoned by their guards moments ago.

Peering behind a corner, Link could see the final obstacle- the outer wall. Only three guards remained there to defend the approach into the prison. It would be practically impossible to sneak through the narrow gate in broad daylight.

"Might be able to scale that wall out of their sight. Or-"

Before Link could consider another option, Paran had sprinted straight towards the guards. Naturally, he was unconcerned with evading the guards anymore as Link was. As a matter of fact, he relished the idea of attacking them.

"No!" Link shouted in his mind as he pursued the prisoner. It was too late, however. Paran had already started throwing punches at the nearest guard before Link could reach them. Though he was able to bring one down, Paran had been pinned to the ground by the two other guards.

Link approached them with a sad look. They did not know why either of them were there, but supposed that Link had been trying to catch Paran.

"Thank goodness you're here, sir. You can help us-"

Link looked at the soldier with a vacant expression. "Release him," he said with a shaking voice. As before, he could barely believe what he was saying.

Paran chuckled as the two guards exchanged incredulous looks. "General Link, what are you talking about? This man-"

"I said release him, soldier. Please... just do it."

The guard shook his head. It didn't matter if such an order came from Link- he couldn't follow it. "Sir, I don't understand why you would ask such a thing, but-"

Link clenched his fists and leaped at the guards, shoving one of them away from the prisoner. The guard fell on his back and stared up at Link in astonishment. This wasn't just their general- it was the Hero of Time.

Stupefied at this, the other guard stood still for a moment before Paran delivered an elbow to his stomach and leaped to his feet. Free of of their restraint, the prisoner socked the guard in the gut and in the jaw before he dashed away from the injured soldiers, laughing the whole time.

Hesitating for a second, Link looked at the soldiers who were staring at him in disbelief. "Sir... why are you doing this?"

The swordsman wished that he could give them an answer. "I'm sorry," was all he could offer before he sprinted towards the rendezvous point. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes already. The shame was overwhelming.


Link had been returned to his empty cell after his "successful" task. The gray stone walls were cold and gave him no comfort as he seethed with rage. He told himself over and over that he would be able to fix this- that he would be able to recapture Paran and place him back in prison where he belonged.

But part of him knew that that would likely not happen. Paran was enjoying the company of the Order of the Desert, and Link was likely to spend the vast majority of the rest of his life in his cell. Escape was out of the question if his wife was still their captor. All he could hope to do was secure her release. Even so, he knew that he could not trust them, but it was the only chance he saw.

"I'm so sorry..." he murmured. Tears streaked down his face as he thought of the fight back at the prison. The people he had stolen from days earlier- the injured guards- the chaos that Paran would surely create upon his release- he felt ill.

He considered what Avalsen would ask of him next. Just thinking of that name made him shake with frustration. Whatever he demanded next would undoubtedly be more harsh than what he had done before. He leaned back against one of the cold walls and tried to ignore the awful possibilities that ran through his mind.

Instead, he shut his eyes and felt the stillness of his surroundings. He let his thoughts return to happier times- without bloodshed or war. Carefully, he focused on his wife. He could practically see her beautiful face in his memory as they sat together in the sunshine on some spring afternoon, lying down in the tall grass of Hyrule Field.

Her joyous laughter was infectious as they chatted about nothing in particular. The soothing look in her eyes sent a chill down his spine, no matter how many times he gazed into them. He wished that he could embrace her one more time.

For a brief moment, he had forgotten all about his prison cell.

Tucked away in the inner part of the building, a group of men sat down at a large table, which had been covered in some of the finest foods that the land had to offer. Unlike most of the other rooms, this one was well-lit and quite warm. Avalsen sat at the head of the table and sipped a particularly expensive tea. He grinned as the men before him laughed and joked around with their newly-freed ally.

"You have to tell us how you escaped!" one of them exclaimed.

"How many guards did you sucker punch?" asked another.

"Not now!" Paran returned. "This is the first good meal I've had in years!" he said, picking up a piece of meat with his hands.

Their leader was almost annoyed by the noise, but decided to let it continue. He was too content at a time like this to let a loud conversation bother him. Link had done everything he had asked thus far, and he was eager to see how far he could push the young man.

One of the individuals closest to Avalsen turned away from the ongoing conversation and looked to him. "Hard to believe he actually went through with it."

Another man chimed in. "I have my doubts. He may be imprisoned, but he's very clever... very dangerous. Shouldn't we just kill him and be done with it?"

Avalsen shook his head at the man's suggestion. "No. Not yet. We're going to see how far he goes. It should be quite interesting," he said with a sick grin.

One of them waved his hand dismissively. "With all due respect, sir... he's not going to do much more. I don't think he has it in him. There's certainly no way he'll agree to your next demand."

The men began to squabble among themselves. Some of them were convinced that Link would refuse to listen to them much longer and that they should just do away with him now. Others were far too interested in seeing what they could bring him to do.

Avalsen watched on and continued to sip his tea. "That's enough," he said firmly but calmly. The others complied and became silent, focusing all of their attention on him. He slowly set his tea down on the table and stood up.

"You will all get your wish. Link will continue to do our bidding for the time being... he will be a shattered man before he finally faces death."