Author's Note

Previously on Rivers Need Springs

Government workers come to Zelda's house to ask questions about Link's absence and the missing specimens. Although she makes up decent lies, there is reason to worry because they found black fur and something among the plants where Link, Aryll, and Zelda had hidden the specimens (what the workers found, however, is unknown). Before any more questioning could be done, Ganondorf called them and they had to go away due to a test subject being over doused.

As a wolf, Link meets with Kaepora again and the owl tells him that the escape will be delayed to tomorrow because he hasn't found a way out of the house yet for Link.

And that's all you need to know for Rivers Need Springs.

I loved every single review I got last time, I cannot thank you all enough! Even though I wasn't proud of myself with the last chapter, I still had many people give encouraging reviews that lifted my spirits. I also had some critique which, as always, I am extremely grateful for. I love those reviews to death, I just wish I could have updated faster for you all. Ugh, curse my slowness! But, in the meantime, thank you all very much: Kattheamazing, Callora, MythCreatorWriter, Rockenrolla, Canada Cowboy, Legend of Zelda 4 Life, Danielle, la generala, mature-yet-innocent, and Sparty the Bold. If you left an anonymous review, I am sorry that I couldn't respond to you. I just can't do that without knowing your username.

Sorry for rambling and thank you all once again! (And of course I am so sorry about the late update. I think that goes without saying.)

~~Wave~~

Chapter Eight – Zelda's Lacking Nerdy Comments


TUESDAY


Aryll wakes up late in comparison to the previous mornings, tired from last night that had left her feeling useless and empty. It's all she can think about as she gets dressed in jeans and an orange long sleeved shirt. She's only twenty-one, not old enough to deal with these stressful events. Her whole life Link has been the one who takes care of them, he was the one who stayed strong after their parents' death. To this day Aryll is amazed by her brother's self sacrifice. He can recall every detail of their parents' personality and appearance and all she can do is conjure images of them from his words and old photographs, but she was the one who cried more. She never had to take the lead of their small family, even after her grandmother died (who she actually remembers), Link did everything. He arranged the funeral, got her into a foster home, and switched to a new major in college while she wallowed for her grandmother's passing.

The regret is so much stronger now because, whenever they work in the basement's make shift laboratory, Aryll feels like the most pathetic person in the world. Of course Link knows the most about what he is doing, but even Zelda is more helpful than she. Zelda has an encyclopedia as her brain, each word sticking into her mind like her thoughts are made of glue, while Aryll struggles just to understand Mendel's Law of Independent Assortment.

She manages to keep the guilt down but last night it struck home. Zelda was the one lying flawlessly to the fake government workers while Link eavesdropped on their conversations. What did she do? Nothing. All she did was jump out of the window first when she really should have made Link go before her. At the time she hadn't thought about it, but looking back she curses Link's selflessness. He isn't stupid, she knows that he knew the danger of him being caught. If she was the one found then it would be easier for them to make up a lie about why she was there, but nothing could cover up Link's presence. He should have been the one to go first, not her.

So after almost having a panic attack at the loss of her brother's humanity and all the guilt that has been bottled up inside of her for a lifetime, she made a vow yesterday that she'd try everything in her power to contribute to the group. Even if it is something small and possibly not very significant, it can still be of help. After all, rivers need springs.

Now, as the young woman walks out of her bedroom and down the hall, she mentally slaps herself for waking up at nine in the morning when she should have been awake four hours ago. She passes the bathroom and hears the shower's gentle pitter-pattering hum, though she can't guess who is bathing right now.

She rubs her eyes to clear the sleep out as she strolls into the family room. Yawning, she notices that the house is at a normal temperature, not the usual freezing that it has been recently.

Confused now, Aryll moves from behind the leather couch and to the front. What she sees makes her stomach drop and nausea swim through her body like a ship sailing over choppy waves. Her knees go so weak that she thinks she might fall over any second.

Link lies on the couch, spread out with one leg and arm dangling off the side like he's dying of heat, yet his teeth are chattering and goose bumps cover his limbs. His head is rolled back on the couch's armrest and his eyes are squeezed tight, as if he's forcing himself to asleep. A blanket is draped across his thin body, covering his torso and under-the-belt area. A large glass of ice-cold water and a plate of bacon rest untouched on the coffee table beside him. His skin is a sickly white color, the kind of frailness and sourness on old people in their dying moments. She would know, after all, what death looks like.

With shaking fingers, she gently touches his cheek for a brief moment. His skin is clammy and she can feel his harsh, uneven breathing. His fingers twitch and his neck veins rise up and down, making her wonder if he was always this skinny. Thinking back on it, Aryll can't remember the last time her brother ate. Was it just because he was so swamped up in his work or was he hiding his lack of appetite?

"Why, Link?" She asks in a cross of a whisper and a snarl, whipping a bead of sweat dripping from his hairline. "Why can't you just let your pain show so we can help you?"

Through all this time Aryll hadn't noticed the shower turning off or Zelda's door opening and closing. She's so entranced by Link's lifeless and pale face that she doesn't sense the other woman walking closer to her until Zelda mumbles sadly,

"I found him like this in the morning. He didn't even wake when the sun came up and he turned human again. His pulse is at 112 beats per minute - 62 beats over his resting heart rate - and he has a fever of 101 degrees Fahrenheit (38.3 degrees Celsius)."

Aryll doesn't say anything, just stares at her companion in awe. She isn't amazed by how the woman remembered all the statistics (it doesn't surprise her anymore), but by how her face is as white as Link's with worry and her eyes seem empty. There is no witty gleam or joyful light in her ice blue eyes; her black pupils seem to be a void of despair and guilt. Her blonde hair is still wet and tangled from showering, and sweatpants and a black t-shirt cover her slim body. It is a startling change for Aryll to see, and she isn't even dressed differently to prove a point to Link. Is it really this bad?

Looking back down at her brother, she gets her response. His trembling hands, the sweat dripping down his neck, and his teeth chattering are all the answers she needs.


Link wakes around noon, the sky outside still dark and murky like polluted water. He snaps his eyes open, feeling totally fine for less than a second before he groans in agony and clenches his stomach. There's terrible torment squeezing his gut, as if somebody took it and tied it in a bow. He feels burning hot for one moment but then freezing cold until it's a mix of both. His chest radiates unbearable heat but his limbs are numb. He can feel sweat sliding down his chest, neck, and forehead and his heartbeat throbbing everywhere: throat, temples, chest, palms, and even his toes.

"Link?" Zelda's voice whispers from next to him and he turns his head slowly over to see her kneeling beside him. He doesn't say hello to her like he wants to, he's too startled by her appearance. It isn't like before when she dressed in an inappropriate manner in her own form of rebellion, but in a much more casual way. Her blonde hair is wet and slightly tangled. No makeup decorates her face (which he actually likes) and she wears baggy light gray sweatpants with a black shirt. Maybe she woke up today and said, "screw looks"?

"How are you feeling?" Zelda asks in a whisper, her voice calming Link's aching head as if she's rubbing it and her hand heals all injuries.

Even though the sound of her is pleasing, he grits his teeth as a wave of pain erupts from his chest, and he grumbles sarcastically, "I think I'm cured."

He takes a few moments for himself, breathing deeply and closing his eyes as he tries to fight of the ache. He's not sure when it happened, but during those minutes Zelda had taken his hand and, now that he's feeling a bit better, entwines his numb fingers into her warm ones.

She tries to hide her small amount of alarm when she feels his fingers slipping into hers. Concerned, she had snatched his hand because it was the only thing she could think of doing. However, now that he's grinning his goofy grin, she's happy that she did it.

"Link," Aryll manages to say softly, even though excitement is bubbling inside of her that her brother is awake from his death like state. Despite this, she's still fretting over him just as much as Zelda. "How are you?"

Link feels the hand in his trying to pull away on instinct when Aryll makes herself present, but the man keeps his gentle grip on her and Zelda can't help but let a small smile show. They both watch as Aryll kneels beside the woman and Link replies with sudden determination, "It doesn't matter. I'll get up in a second."

Instantly the two women burst into a soft assault of protests, stating how he's as pale and crippled looking as iceberg lettuce, but he cuts them off in a surprisingly strong voice.

"Look, I'm obviously not at the top of my game, but we can't just sit around here as the Crepusculumcytes continue to live in my body," he states, slipping his hand out of Zelda's and using it to slowly push himself off the couch. "I can figure it out if you just-"

"No, Link," Aryll snaps, cutting him off and staring at him with a numbing gaze. She softens up a bit when she has her companions' full attention and realizes Link stopped moving. "How about you tell us what to do and we send the information back to you?"

Her brother shakes his head and, planting his feet on the ground, opens his mouth to speak but Zelda stops him.

"Before we make a decision," she cuts in rapidly, placing a hand on his shoulder to hold him still. Reaching behind her, she pulls out a pair of nice khaki pants and a white shirt. "Put some pants on please."

Link manages to grin sheepishly at her but it doesn't help how terrifyingly ill he looks. The wide smile catches the light and shows how blue his lips are in comparison to his pasty skin.

Once the women are gone and the kitchen door closes, Link forces all of his weight on his feet and stands up, holding the blanket around him in hopes to help his freezing limbs. Instantly his world starts to spin and he blindly searches for support with his free hand but finds none. All he hears is his heart pounding in his head as he somehow manages to collect his bearings again.

He stands there feeling numb as his burning chest rises up and down with his heavy panting. There is a small, stinging pain coming from his heart, causing him to wince, but it disappears after a few seconds.

Part of him tells him to sit back down on the couch and rest, let himself be pampered by Zelda and Aryll in an attempt to heal himself but he knows that won't be any good. He'll only get worse with these Crepusculumcytes still inside of him.

With great difficulty, he dons his pants while his legs shake uncontrollably and clumsily slips on a white shirt. He doesn't head into the kitchen until he's positive that his legs have stopped shaking.

Aryll is at the counter, pouring steaming tea into three clay cups. Zelda hovers beside her, looking at Link the second he walks in with her hollow eyes.

Link's grateful for the tea - their grandmother used to make it for them whenever they were sick – and he feels a bit better after drinking half of it. Without a word he starts heading down the hallway, keeping his head held high to act like he's totally fine. He does it perfectly, even when there is another surge of burning hot pain shooting from his heart like a laser carving his name against his ribs.

He expects Zelda and Aryll to stop him, but is surprised when he gets to the basement door without either one of them saying a word. Hand resting on the doorknob, he looks back at them who wait anxiously a few feet away him.

They make eye contact and that's all they really need to do. A message passes between them, the women saying how they aren't stupid and know that the best thing for Link is to get rid of the Twilit blood cells. As to how they still aren't sure, all they know is that their time limit has shrunk down drastically from the original, whatever that was.

Feeling a bit more confident with their support, Link starts making his way down the stairs into the basement. The coolness relieves his burning chest but his fingers and toes hurt from being so cold. He wishes he got gloves or socks, but the fact that he's winded just going down stairs makes him conclude that he won't be moving again for a while.

Silent, the trio gathers around the center table. Aryll sits on one side and Link and Zelda on the other. The specimens and lab instruments are back, along with notepads and textbooks, and the piano is pushed up against a wall. Link notices that Zelda hasn't put it away yet and, more importantly, he can't find the box it was stored in anywhere. He bites his lip in thought, thinking that there must be some deeper meaning to this but pushes the idea away. He has more demanding things to worry about right now.

Looking at his notes, he remembers the discoveries he accomplished last session in the lab. He learned why he transforms into a wolf: basically because at night the Crepusculumcytes grow and overtake his DNA. He tells himself to focus later on the memory loss, his increase hearing from yesterday, and the ill state he is in right now. With a deep breath, he mumbles to himself. "One step at a time."

First Zelda takes a sample of his blood and the women watch anxiously as he observes the fluid under the microscope. He feels that what he finds should make his blood run cold or give him a heart attack, yet he's surprisingly calm about it. Not happy - definitely distraught - but not enough to die.

Well, by fear that is.

He frowns and, without a word, starts writing in his messy style on a pad of paper. The women wait in a tense silence, wondering if he's going to explain what has changed or not. After a few minutes, Zelda scotches a bit closer and, in a whisper, asks, "May I?"

He nods and she pulls the instrument closer to her. When she peers into the microscope and focuses on the image, she's amazed at how calm Link reacted to it. It's like somebody being told by a pimply zombie that they have severe brain cancer and the patient responds, "Okay…so is the cafeteria on this floor or the one below it?"

Anybody who knows what regular human blood looks like magnified would wonder if this really belonged to a human. Dark purple triangles – Crepusculumcytes – completely fill the screen, overlapping each other until it's a mere mold of plum color. The only sign of Erythrocytes are these pathetically tiny dots that are randomly scattered over the cluster of purple triangles. There aren't even that many, Zelda could probably count them if she felt like it.

The woman brings her head up and stares at Link with horrified ice blue eyes burning into the side of his head as he pretends not to notice. Curious and confused, Aryll slides the microscope to her and looks into it.

The sister, like Zelda, realizes the danger that her brother is in and, in a demanding tone, asks, "Link? What the heck is going on here?"

"Nothing," he mumbles, reaching for the microscope and bringing it back over to him. Zelda, not pleased with his answer, grabs his wrist and stops his movement of retrieving the instrument. Link gulps nervously as he gazes into her determined stare.

"There's something you aren't telling us," she says in a quiet yet fierce tone. Link shifts uncomfortably in his chair and does something that rings in Zelda's head like a siren. He looks down then to the right.

A sign of lying.

"It isn't a big deal, just that the Crepusculumcytes have reproduced a lot and they are attacking my blood cells. I'll be fine -,"

"No," Zelda cuts him off. "You are a terrible liar. There is something you are holding back."

Link continues to stare to the right, keeping his mouth shut.

The woman tries a different approach now. She inches closer to him and leans forward a bit more, trying to make eye contact with him. Link reluctantly looks into her imploring and worried eyes, the amount of concern in them making guilt fall onto his already aching heart.

"Please, Link," she begs. "Tell us what's going on…all of it."

Link glances uncertainly between her and his sister. Though he had been trying not to worry them, he feels it's already too late and might as well give up on the endeavor.

And who can say no to a face like that?

With sudden interest in his feet and Zelda's hand still resting on his, Link takes a deep breath and admits in a shaky voice, "You think that the Crepusculumcytes are reproducing rapidly…well, they are, just not as fast as you think. It only seems that way because my body isn't making new blood cells as fast as it should be…"

Silence falls between them and Zelda's eyes grow wide as her mouth falls open. Aryll's a bit confused for a moment, trying to recall something she read in one of the textbooks, when she remembers what it said.

"Some cells are made in the bone marrow…in adults they are made in the marrow of the vertebrae, ribs, pelvis, skull, sternum, and parts of the humorous and femur." She recites the list like she's answering a test question, but then her face pales and her hands start shaking by her side. Bewildered and wrought with fear, she stutters, "Link…w-what? Do you have…uh, cancer or something?"

At this Link brings his head up and raises an eyebrow at his sister. While now would be the perfect opportunity to tease her, he and nobody else is in the mood. "No, Aryll. I'm not entirely sure, but I do have a theory as to what may be happening to me."

"How long have you known about this?" Zelda cuts in, standing up and taking her hand off of Link's. Her mouth is in a thin line and her forehead creased, but the anger doesn't reach her eyes or her tone. The blue is dull, like the ocean on a cloudy day, and her voice is filled with worry.

"Since yesterday morning…" he responds cautiously.

"Why didn't you say anything? Do you realize how dangerous a bone marrow problem can be?" She questions, trying to sound angry but failing miserably.

"Of course I do," Link answers calmly under her glare, not offended by her mock anger. "I can't even be positive it is a bone marrow problem without doing the proper tests, but we don't have the materials."

"You have to go to a hospital," she says in a softer tone but keeps her head held high as both Oakwoods look at her like she just said, "I'm secretly your dead mother and I'm here to steal your carrots."

There is a very brief silence before Link replies in wonder, "Zelda…are you feeling alright?"

The woman before him loses the strong demeanor and falls back onto her stool, a wilting flower surrendering and crumbling to the ground. She sighs and stares straight ahead, keeping a blank face despite the emotions that shake around inside of her. She needs to be tough for them, to keep them focused, but should they even be focused on trying to cure Link right now? Things have gotten too out of hand.

She doesn't forget the fear of Ganondorf, though she starts to doubt herself. Maybe he isn't evil? Maybe their instincts are wrong? Besides, by the time Ganondorf hears about Link going to the hospital, Link will already be safe in a bed with doctors doing everything they can to help him.

"The stakes are too high, you need to go to a hospital," Zelda argues in a monotone voice, sending the man her demanding stare but he shakes his head.

"No, if I do then we'll have to tell them everything. You could get thrown in jail for stealing the specimens –"

"I don't care!" She snaps, the first sign of true, fierce determination and irritation. Zelda doesn't mind going to jail now forever if it means that Link's life will be saved. Sure, the hospital won't know what to do with him either, but they'll be able to keep him stabilized and provide the necessary tools for him to research properly. "Your life is on the line here, I'm not letting you waste it."

All of this arguing makes Link's vision blurry and his fingers shake uncontrollably. He hides it well, however, by sitting on his hands and shivering, pretending like he's just trying to warm them.

"Look, I appreciate your help," He begins to say but, during their discussion, had forgotten Aryll watching them from across the table. She's not stupid, she sees the bead of sweat dripping from his forehead and his fingers shaking just before he hid them.

"Enough!" The youngest woman jumps in, standing up to make her presence known. While shorter than Zelda, the power she suddenly emits radiates across the room and silences them both. She's tired of sitting in the background; it's time for her to act.

"I may know nothing about blood and bone marrow, but I'm going to use that to make a fair compromise," her dark cobalt eyes pass between the two, as if daring them to talk but they know they'd be fools to do so. Focusing her eyes on Link, she decides, "You will work as long as you can but you need to save your energy, so speak as little as possible and do nothing strenuous. If you show more severe symptoms then you must allow us to rush you to a hospital. Worry about the lawyers and junk later, okay?"

Knowing her best, Link has never really seen his sister take charge before. While he's used to being the one leading things, it's pleasant to be relieved of the burden for a bit, especially when the outcome results in his favor.

Frowning, Zelda nods reluctantly and asks Link, "What can we do to help?"

He sends both of them a small weak, grateful smile before answering politely, "There actually is something. Crepusculumcytes usually affect Erythrocytes and, due to our short amount of time, I wasn't focusing much on the Leukocytes (white blood cells). If we assume that my bone marrow is infected, then the white count should decrease. Do you think you can look back on old blood samples of mine and follow the Leukocytes progress?"

Zelda agrees and heads toward a box tucked in the corner where she kept the small tubes of Link's old tests. Aryll, however, is a bit confused.

"From what the book said, if you have a bone marrow problem that makes it so you have difficulty making new cells, it isn't really noticeable in the count. I mean, having just one bone infected won't alter much…so what's the real problem?"

Aryll trails off there, looking curiously at her brother who is shuffling around uncomfortably in his chair. He stares at his finger, which is moving back and forth against his knee, as he responds sheepishly, "Yes, an infection to the bone marrow cannot be confirmed without certain tests, so we can't completely be positive about it. We're going off a hunch here, for all I know the problem could be some place completely different…like my brain or arteries."

"You aren't answering my question," his sister notes suspiciously and he sighs in defeat.

"Let's pretend like we know that my cells aren't reproducing as they should and there is a huge drop in the amount of Erythrocytes, Leukocytes, and platelets," he starts to explain, looking up at this sister with grave eyes and he speaks in an informative yet respectful tone. "And let's pretend that we know this decrease is because of bone marrow problems. While one bone marrow not working is certainly troubling, it won't cause extreme obvious changes. Now let's say that lots more different bone marrows have been infected, causing them to cease cell reproduction. With that many dysfunctional marrows, the effect is certainly a bad one. Understand?"

From across the room, collecting the box in her arms, Zelda notices how Link doesn't fully say the truth. His explanation is correct, but he ends it with "the effect is certainly a bad one" instead of saying "people who have that many infections are as good as dead." As to why Link is still living (if it's assumed that this is his problem), Zelda doesn't have a clue. She just hopes that this isn't the cause of illness, because curing that won't be an easy task.

Thinking about it now, she wonders how will they cure Link. Sure, they find out what's wrong…but then what? She supposes they could break into a hospital for the necessary tools, but that doesn't sound like something she really wants to do.

"So, to sum it up," Aryll begins to clarify, mostly to herself. "Your blood cell reproduction count is only going to be noticeable if you have multiple bone marrows infected…which is pretty bad."

Link nods and sends his sister a small smile. To Zelda, he looks better than he did before. His fingers aren't shaking anymore, his teeth aren't chattering, and there is no sweat on his forehead. Besides his pallor, he seems relatively normal.

While the women start observing the Leukocytes in his previous blood samples, Link goes back to reflect on his notes from a long time ago when he first started the project. Everybody knows that when Twilit blood is injected into a Hylian body (and vice versa), the foreign cells travel to the heart and kill the cells there. Crepusculumcytes have a similar genetic make up as Hylian blood cells, so at first the Leukocytes don't realize that there are invaders in the body. By the time they do, however, it is already too late.

It's a highly complex subject, because getting the foreign cells into a body isn't like having an incorrect blood transfusion. These new cells act as viruses and the course is always the same: attack the heart and kill.

Link's main focus right now is to figure out what the Crepusculumcytes are doing if they aren't trying to kill him (even though, with the pain in his chest and feverish symptoms, it certainly seems like they are).

Without a word he begins his research, doing everything possible to hide his discomfort. It's as if the symptoms of his problems are the pulsing light on a sleeping computer; they are dormant for a moment and all seems quiet until it rapidly grows and the pain erupts again. He keeps his head bent, his blonde bangs sweeping in front of him to hide the sweat that forms on his brow and the involuntary winces he does when his heart feels like it's twisting itself in a spiral. Sometimes he starts to pant, so he loudly flips through the pages of his notebooks and taps his foot on the floor to cover the sound of his heavy breathing. He can't think of any other way to hide his trembling fingers other than shoving his hands in his pant's pockets and staring at his notes, waiting for the sensation to stop.

Aryll and Zelda may not notice everything, but they aren't stupid. The glow from the single light bulb highlights the sweat on his upper lip and forehead and his mouth hangs open just a tiny bit, his chest rising and falling with each painful breath. They take his constant foot tapping as a way to distract him from the pain or an involuntary function. But, just when they are ready to drag him to the hospital, he releases a calming sigh and seems to return to normal. He works with ease, his fingers steady as he adjusts the microscope and his expression one of relief. Yet the symptoms come back, sending dread through the woman's heart and fear gnawing at their spines all over again.

Sometime during their research, the women present Link with the information they find. They learn that the Leukocytes had at first increased slightly in number and then decreased drastically. While it doesn't seem like much, it is all Link needs to know to add more proof to his suspicions.

Link isn't sure what leads him to his break through, or even how he got there, he just knows that he's made a huge leap after finishing writing down the last line of his conclusion. Of course nothing is set in stone without the correct examinations, but his theory is backed up with enough evidence from the microscopes and previous knowledge on the subject that he's convinced he's correct. He only wishes that he weren't.

The Crepusculumcytes have done something that was thought to be a medical miracle…or a "dismiracle." He's not sure when, but some few days back the Twilit blood cells managed to invade one cell-creating bone marrow and changed the Deoxyribonucleic Acid so that the marrow was creating Crepusculumcytes rather than Erythrocytes. The Twilit blood cells did this with other bone marrows, making it so he's now creating Crepusculumcytes. His theory is that he's fifty percent Hylian and fifty percent Twilit (or, on a bit of a ridiculous thought, fifty percent wolf rather than Twilit). A war between the different cells must be taking place inside of him right now but that is still something he is unsure about. His biggest concern, though, is that the Crepusculumcytes might be preparing to strike his heart.

Link has stopped moving and he now sits on his stool staring out into space. His azure eyes are blank as his mind slams to a halt. He had been so hectic only seconds ago, fueling off of his last storage of strength, but now he feels ready to pass out. The room swims, Zelda's beautiful face becoming a blur and bile creeps up his throat only to be pushed back down. One hand grips the edge of the table while the other is limp at his side.

The women instantly notice how still he is, both of them looking up from the textbooks they are reading and sending him curious and concerned stares. At first the man does nothing, but after a few seconds his entire body starts trembling and his breathing becomes heavier. He's pale like the full moon and his eyes are just as wide.

"Link?" Aryll questions, something in his trembling lip making her feel like this situation is worse than the ones before. Standing up from the stool across him, she glides around the table and stands beside him. "What's wrong?"

He's silent for a second, the sound of his deep breathing the only noise before he pushes himself off the seat and stands on shaking legs.

Still looking completely dazed, he whispers in a deathly quiet voice, "I'm going to sleep" before shuffling towards the stairs. He takes no more than two tiny steps before his body sways to the right as if he is on a sailboat in the middle of a storm. He stumbles across the room, his feet tripping over each other, until his shoulder slams into the cold concrete wall. Aryll and Zelda instantly rush over and barely manage to catch him as his body sways again in the opposite direction.

Zelda grabs his shoulders and Aryll wraps her arms around his back. His face has the coldness of a statue, the skin white as snow and his glazed eyes staring straight ahead. No breath comes from his mouth and even his unruly blonde hair seems to remain still.

"Link!" Aryll cries, shaking her brother a bit and his head rocks with the motion. Her mouth is pulled into a deep frown and her eyebrows are furrowed together in determination. She can feel a weakness poking at the bottom of her heart, wanting to crawl it's way into her and make her the little girl she was who relied on everybody else so long ago.

She doesn't cry. She keeps that dependency down there.

"We need to get him to a hospital," Aryll decides while taking a deep breath, calming the overwhelming sense of horror ready to overpower her. By his face she would assume him dead if it weren't for the steady pulse she can feel underneath her fingertips.

In fact…the pulse is a little too strong and very rapid. Definitely over 100 beats per minute.

All Zelda can think as she starts lifting up his torso – Aryll going for his legs – is that they messed up big time. They should have taken him earlier, even if it meant dragging him all the way there. She should have never taken him home that Friday night. What was she thinking then? Leaving him in the lab would have been fine, surely Ganondorf would have taken care of him.

She grits her teeth, annoyed with herself for listening to her instincts about Ganondorf being evil. Maybe he isn't? You're supposed to listen to your head, not your heart.

Before she can correct herself on the saying, her attention is yanked back to carrying Link up the stairs. She doesn't even get the chance to place her foot on the first step when a terrible, heart wrenching shriek erupts from all around them. It sounds inhumane, like those blood curdling yet fake screams in a horror movie, but his is as real as can be.

The man starts thrashing around, continuing to let out those terrifying screams as he clutches the area around his heart. Veins pop out of his neck, hands, and temples, and his face is so scrunched up in the torment that he resembles a balled up piece of paper. He kicks out his legs, jabbing Aryll in the chest and pushing her away.

His lower body goes down and Zelda makes a desperate attempt to grab him, but he rolls away, still clenching his heart. Deathly cries continue to flow out of his mouth and reverberate off the cement walls, making it sound as if the screams are coming from all over.

The women have only seen him like this once before, when he first transformed into a wolf. He may have the same amount of pain, but the source appears different to them. The first time Link had been clutching his head and was scrunched up in a ball, now it seems his focus is on his heart.

Zelda's eyes widen at the terrible possibility of what might be happening. But, if this is true, then why are the Crepusculumcytes attacking now than before? What has changed inside of Link's body that is causing this?

"Help me, Zelda!" Aryll calls out from next to the thrashing man. The younger woman shoves all her weight on top of his legs, attempting to cease their movement. Zelda can barely hear the other woman over the incessant screams of torture. Link's head is thrown back against the ground, his mouth wide open with tears streaming down his face. The secretary rushes over and tries pulling his hands away from his heart, but he uses them like claws and scratches at her.

Zelda lets out a hiss of pain when one of his nails dig deep into her palm, the shallowness of the cut making it sting, and she feels a small drop of warm liquid running down it. However, she pushes it aside and focuses on trying to pick Link up to take him to a hospital.

She abandons his hands and hooks her arms around his back. He doesn't mind that, just twists his head back and forth as his fingers claw at his chest like he's trying to rip something out. Aryll's arms are circled around his jostling legs and, with a silent count to three, they lift him off the ground.

Almost as soon as they do that, Link's condition gets worse. He screeches so much louder than before that the women's ears start to ring and Aryll even becomes a little dizzy from her eardrums' suffering. He tries rolling away from them but the women keep their grip tight. Simultaneously, he jabs at Zelda's ribs with his elbow and sends a powerful kick to his sister's gut. Both of them hold their ground however, their only signs of torment small gasps and winces.

They start taking careful yet hurried steps to the staircase but they don't get far. Just as they're about to step up, a powerful howl sings from Link's mouth. They freeze, staring in wonder at the man's face as he keeps his head tilt back and his mouth pursed while he continues to release the perfect pitched howl. His blue irises are abnormally large, expanding across his eyes except for the white of the cornea in the corners. His pupils are mere slits and his gaze is empty.

Before either woman can even process what's happening, a bright white flash fills the room and pieces of fabric slap across their skin. They feel the weight of Link's body jump away from them in the blinding white and the howl dies with it.

Just as quick as it came, the light is gone and the women regain their senses after a few quick blinks. At their feet, crouched low to the ground with his teeth barred, is the wolf version of Link.

While they aren't surprised that he transformed because that's what normally follows the white flash, they are dumfounded as to why he changed before sundown. The light gleams off of his dagger teeth and claws. His black fur is slick and the white symbol on his head seems more prominent than ever. His cobalt eyes are electric with intensity.

The women take a few steps back, knowing the wolf will calm down once they have gotten out of his personal space, but he doesn't cease his growling. His ears lie flat on his head and the tip of his tail twitches.

A lump forms in Aryll's throat at the sight of that. She had recently researched how wolves communicate and everything right now points to aggression, but that twitch of the tail is a sign that he's about to attack.

"Run!" Aryll cries out at the last second, pushing Zelda out of the way as Link leaps towards her with a powerful snarl. His sister manages to lean backwards, avoiding his teeth that can break a femur, but one of his claws rakes across her arm. She lets out a pained cry and stumbles backwards until she crashes into the table behind her. The objects on it shake a bit though everything remains sound.

She clenches her teeth to hold back a pained groan, placing a hand on her cut and letting the blood seep through her fingers.

Link can't remember anything that happened to him in his human form. That doesn't matter though, what matters is that these women have trapped him in a prison. He can hear the Twilit people begging him to save them, so are these humans trying to keep him away from them? He doesn't care what it takes to get out of here. His people need him right now.

All he smells his blood, and not the fresh one oozing out of the woman. It comes from all around him, the scent so strong that it makes his mouth drool. Have these humans been torturing him? How could he have not seen this before! They are evil after all!

After attacking the first woman, he notices the confusion and fear in her eyes but he doesn't let the emotions make him doubt himself. It's their fault for trapping him. They should know better than to imprison a creature with the power that he has!

Wolf Link takes a few steps backwards, his piercing gaze never leaving their alarmed ones, and he tries to find a way out of this cell. With a glance to his right, he sees a jagged slope that seems to go upwards, perhaps away from this place?

And just as he is about to dash to the possibility of being free, the most annoying and high pitch beeping noise blares from everywhere. He hunches down, putting the front of his ears flat on his head to try to keep the sound out but to no avail. The women also wince underneath the obnoxious sound, covering their ears and gritting their teeth.

"It's the burglar alarm!" Zelda shouts to her companion, a newfound fear being born in her mind as she grabs her friend's hand. "We've got to go upstairs to check it out!"

Aryll, tears prickling at her eyes from the stinging pain from her cut, holds down a comment about how you're never supposed to run to the bad people and lets herself be dragged up the stairs. Link, fighting against all the sounds pounding in his head, follows the women, barking the entire way to get them to move faster. He can sense the fear the humans have and it had strengthened when that irritating sound started playing. It mustn't be good if they're terrified too.

They burst through the upstairs floor and Link leaps right around them, running blindly down a hallway. He gets some comfort from being out of the cramped room and the smell of blood gets weaker, though adrenaline is still pumping through his veins and he's confused, terrified, and aggressive in his current situation. He can hear the women's hearts pounding and them yelling out commands at each other. As he flings around a corner, listening to their footsteps rapidly getting closer, he picks up speed to find a way out.

Zelda and Aryll follow the wolf into the family room, both wondering how they can calm the animal down and find the source of what caused the alarm to go off. As soon as they enter the family room they see the tip of Link's tail flash around the threshold of the kitchen door.

They take three long strides forward before stopping in their tracks and letting out startled screams. A enormous brown owl soars through the doorway, letting out hoots similar to a barking noise, but his grace dies the second his talons get tangled in Zelda's long blonde hair.

The next few moments are one of the most frustration and horror that either woman has ever experienced. While Zelda isn't one to get fussy about an animal, she does become fretful when it's claws skim the top of her skull and tug painfully at her hair. She covers her face with her hands, protecting her eyes, as Aryll tries shoving the owl off with a nearby book she grabs. To both of them it's just a blur of brown and white feathers flapping around them, the only noise they hear the extremely aggravating beeping noise and the owl's horrified hoots.

"Quit moving you stupid bird!" Aryll snaps, throwing the book away and trying to untangle the owl's talons with bare hands but the creature keeps flapping its wings all around, making it impossible for the younger woman to see anything. Gritting her teeth, she uses one arm to push against his nearby wing, making it immobile and causing him to lean toward the side. In frustrated and blind fury, Aryll tugs at Zelda's hair, earning a tortured yelp from her, but the owl flaps away freely.

"What in the world is going on here!" Zelda cries as soon as the bird is gone and watches for a second as it flies around the room, screeching and turning its head back and forth.

"Zelda, look!" Aryll calls to her friend, pointing to the kitchen. The window above the sink is smashed (the reason for the burglar alarm) and a medium sized rock rests on the tabletop in a sea of shattered glass. A carton of milk is spilled across the counter in the middle of the room along with a few cups and a small container of salt. Link, with his heavily padded paws, moves effortlessly across the glass and hops up on the counter below the broken window.

While the thought of the owl purposely breaking her window with a rock and then knocking everything over in his panic is far fetched, the idea sticks with Zelda even when she starts running towards Link to stop him from escaping. However, she is too late. The wolf is already leaping from the destroyed window and the owl flies after him in a shower of feathers and barking hoots.


Ganondorf has never been one for desperate acts but recently things have changed. Everything had been going according to plan until Link became a missing person and took the one thing Ganondorf needs the most.

The synthetic blood. He wouldn't be in this mess if he had the darn thing! He wouldn't be cursing himself every time he reaches the end of Zelda Harkarian's road, turning back around to try finding her house once more. Right now he is just pissed. Pissed that Link ruined all of his experiment plans. Pissed that the fake government workers he hired abandoned their search to help on a dumb overdose. And pissed that everybody on this goddess forsaken street all decided not to put numbers on their pathetic little houses!

He clenches his teeth together and grips the wheel of the car in an attempt to control his anger issues. Calm, Ganondorf. He thinks to himself, breathing in deeply and closing his eyes for a moment. You'll show them. Just have patience.

The thought of them makes him even more determined to get what he needs. When he was a young and ignorant scientist he had refused to perform a dangerous test, scared of the high risks. While some were disappointed in him, he still held respect from all his co-workers…until that old rat face colleague of his decided to perform the test. The fool was lucky, he barely managed to do it without getting himself killed by the chemicals, but he was praised by what he found and was put in the history books.

Ganondorf's eyes fall into slits at the thought of the stupid man. He didn't deserve to get the praise; it was Ganondorf who slaved hour after hour over the research. But now, years later, he is ready to show them all how great a scientist he is. He's so close to proving to the world his skill…but his hopes are being crushed every minute Oakwood is missing with the blood and specimens. Time is running short and he needs them now. It's obvious that the blonde secretary knows more than she lets on, why else would she have a clump of black fur with the same DNA as the Blue Eyed Beast? Have they completed the experiment outside the lab? So many questions rush through his head but he knows that they will all be answered once he makes his personal visit to Zelda Harkarian's house.

That is, if he can find it.

It is during these thoughts that he hears the distant sound of a high pitch beeping alarm noise. It grows stronger as he travels down the road and, curious, Ganondorf slows his speed to find the source. He discovers it to be the blue bungalow on his right and he stops at the curb. Everything is still for a moment, the sound of the alarm muffled by his locked up tight car and his breathing is louder than the noise. He's debating on whether or not he should get out of the car to check if he can be of assistance, when his heart stops at the sight of a black dog dashing around the back of the house and heading towards the front. An enormous owl flies above it, his flapping so powerful that the grass sways with it.

At first Ganondorf doesn't notice anything special about the dog, until the animal is at a close enough range that he can clearly see the white mark on its forehead.

Yes.

A small smirk spreads across his face before he reacts in one fluid motion. He yanks out a small syringe of tranquilizer that he always keeps on him in his pocket (something necessary when working with unruly subjects), flings open the door, and steps out of the car.


Author's Note

With the end of the story coming along (though I'm sure it will be another two months or so), I decided that I really wanted more depth into certain characters: Aryll and Ganondorf. If there is anything you don't like about their characters (or anybody), please let me know and I will fix it. Of course, if there is anything in general you don't like about this chapter or previous ones, feel free to let me know because I take all suggestions from everybody.

There isn't much I can say more about this chapter, except man there was a lot of research I had to do! Gosh, it was like going into school early. However, Link's discovery is nowhere near realistic, (In fact, none of this is since I have Crepusculumcytes but I do the research to at least be semi accurate.) but if you do have multiple infections to your bone marrow then you're probably dead. That's what my dad (who's a radiologist) said.

And speaking of school, I'm back in session with it. So far, it sucks. I don't want to bore you with my rant but let me just say that all my free time is spent to homework and soccer. At least I get a half day with the hurricane tomorrow. :)

The next update will probably take a month because of good old school starting up again. I'm so thrilled. (sarcasm). Until then please, please, PLEASE review! Like anybody, I really appreciate and love them!

~~Wave~~

Works Cited

"Blood." KidsHealth - the Web's Most Visited Site about Children's Health. Web. 05 Aug. 2010.

"Bone Marrow Disorders." Lab Tests Online: Welcome! 18 June 2010. Web. 05 Aug. 2010.

"Fever in Adults: Causes, Treatment, Medications and Prevention by ." E Medicine Health. 03 Aug. 2010. Web. 03 Aug. 2010.

"Physical Exam." Welcome to . Web. 06 Aug. 2010.