Hey, everyone! :D I had been so busy I'd actually forgotten about typing up the next chapter of this. SO much has been going on lately. I really should get back to writing. I'll be gone for a week this month, though, and some pretty huge changes are going on in my life, so I'm getting my priorities straight. Updating is on the list of priorities, but it has some other super important stuff before it. Just don't lose hope. I am still writing, believe it or not. ;)

Anyway! I'd like to thank everyone who is still reading! :D Also, this story officially has THIRTY REVIEWS! That's so amazing. You guys really have no idea how incredible you all are. Thank you so much. ^_^ It means a lot to me that you guys would take the time to write a review and encourage me in more ways than one. I love all of you. 3 :) Also, thanks to everyone who followed and favorited (new word!) this story! You guys are simply amazing! ^_^

Demon Princess of Time: You're such a sweetheart! ^_^ Your reviews really made me smile and I enjoyed reading each and every one of them! :) I appreciate your kind words very much! And thank you so much for reading this story! :D

Chaos Wielder: Awww! Thank you so much! :D I love filling in personalities, especially for Zelda characters. xD Thank you very much for noticing. :) As usual, I appreciate your reviews and you're awesome! Thank you! ^_^

thespiritmaiden: xD I made you wait for a month on a cliffy. WHAT KIND OF AUTHOR AM I?! :P Anyway, thank you so, so much for your review! I really appreciate it! :) 3 You're so sweet!

Jane O'Callaghan: I couldn't remember if I ever PMed you to say thank you for the review, so I'll just say it again here. xD THANK YOU! ^_^ It's sweet, and yet hilarious, how you said you like how I write Fado. xD I think we've established that you are the best at writing Fado. ^_^ She was so amazing in your story! :D Still, though, it's an honor receiving a compliment from my favorite writer, so thank you, dear! ^_^ I appreciate your review very much. :)

Oh no! O_O LONG AUTHOR'S NOTES ARE BACK! THIS IS TERRIBLE! Well, maybe not. xD The next one will be shorter, I promise. 3 I love all of you and I hope y'all enjoy this chapter! ^_^

Chapter IX:

Trapped

There were two sides to all of this: A bright side and a not-so-bright side.

The bright side: Only one Stalfos was there - and that was the one who'd tackled Grog.

The not-so-bright side: Grog was pinned down on the ground and Cremia had no idea what to do at a time like this. Sure, she'd ran when her family was attacked in Castle Town, but that was when no one was being held down by a vicious beast.

She glanced over her shoulder, but Fado was no where in sight. She was on her own this time.

"I knew you were a traitor!" It was Takeo who'd tackled Grog. Grog was struggling beneath the stronger Stalfos, but he knew he was no match - especially not when he'd hurt his arm during the fall. "Just wait 'til Boss gets here! You'll be sorry you were ever born!"

Grog didn't reply. He was too busy watching Cremia bravely pull out her slingshot. "Run!" he shouted. "If you want to help me, leave!"

Cremia hesitated at first. Romani and her father needed her - she couldn't risk getting hurt. But, at the same time, she knew she couldn't leave Grog. He'd never make it out of this okay, not on his own. Besides, if Ganondorf was coming, this would be the perfect opportunity for revenge.

Pulling the slingshot back, she shot a deku seed directly at Takeo. It didn't hurt him much, maybe it stung a little, but it caught him off guard enough for him to loosen his grip on Grog.

Grog shoved Takeo off of him before quickly getting to his feet.

"Come on," he said to Cremia. "We have to go." He was about to head deeper into the woods, but she stopped him.

"No." She was clutching the slingshot so tightly in her hands that her knuckles were turning white. "I'm staying. I have to take care of Ganondorf - for good."

Clearly, she didn't know what the Gerudo man was capable of, but Grog decided not to mention that just yet. Takeo was already standing up and they only had seconds to get out of there.

Grabbing Cremia's hand with his good one, Grog raced past a bewildered Takeo, leaving Cremia no choice but to come with him. He was expecting her to jerk her hand away and run right back into the arms of danger, but she didn't. Maybe she wasn't entirely clueless.

She kept up with him well, both of them making quick turns, when necessary, to keep Takeo from catching up with them.

Cremia, although she would've never said so, was nearly quaking with fear. Every nightmare she'd had since her father was injured in Castle Town suddenly came rushing back into her mind, terrifying her all over again. She gripped Grog's hand tightly. Never in her life did she think she'd be running from a Stalfos with a Stalfos. Romani would never believe her, if she were to tell this story.

Glancing over her shoulder, she found that Takeo was still chasing after them and, now, another Stalfos had joined him. "They're getting closer," she told Grog, trying to pick up her pace.

"There!" He pointed a bony finger in the direction of a tree that had a huge hole in the bottom of the trunk - a hole big enough for two people to get through.

Cremia knew they were more or less setting themselves up for disaster, but she also knew they couldn't run forever.

They turned down a path to the right and reached the tree in a matter of seconds. Grog pushed Cremia in front of him. "You first." He glanced back at the other Stalfos, who were only yards away by now.

Cremia hesitated, but slowly started toward the trunk. She gasped when, suddenly, she fell down right in front of the tree. "There's a whole in the ground - a big one," she explained. "I think I twisted my ankle."

Grog's eyes went wide. Now was not the time for this. "Can you get into the tree, or are you stuck?"

"No. I can get in." She crawled clumsily into the large hole.

He bent down as well, careful not to trip the way she had, and followed. It was a small space, but at least they'd be safe.

Once he was inside, Grog pulled a large piece of wood over to block the entrance, engulfing them in complete darkness. As far as plans went, this was a terrible one. But it was better than nothing and they were safe for the time being.

Cremia could hear Takeo and the other Stalfos approaching the tree and tried not to smirk when one of them cried out in pain after he fell into the hole. It'd probably broken that bony leg of his. Pulling out the flashlight Romani had ordered her to take, she turned it on, the small light illuminating the trunk of the tree. Tiny bugs crawled around them, and the rough bark looked like it was at least one hundred years old, but she wasn't about to complain. They had light and they were safe. That was what mattered now.

"I guess this light should work for a while."

Grog nodded. "Is your leg okay?"

"Well, it's actually my ankle," she replied, glancing down at it. "I probably can't walk right now, but it doesn't look like I'll need to."

The two sat in silence for a little while. It wasn't an awkward silence, but it wasn't quite a scared silence, either. They were both relieved, even if only for a moment, that they were okay.

"Did you hurt your arm?" she questioned.

He shrugged, but she shined the light on it, anyway. It was definitely fractured - and pretty bad, at that. She had no idea what to do, though. He was a Stalfos and it wasn't like the trunks of trees just came with medical equipment. She sighed. "We'll have to work on this later. If we ever get out of here."

He shifted in his spot uncomfortably, trying to put at least a little bit of room between him and her. But that didn't help at all and it was awkward sitting so close to someone he barely knew. "Hopefully you're not claustrophobic."

She laughed, staring at the makeshift door. They could be trapped in that stupid tree for a long time. She nearly shuddered at the thought, but she was thankful for the fact that Grog wasn't trying to kill her. "No. Not yet, anyway." She tried to change the subject, because she could sense how awkward he was feeling about all of this. "So, what's your name?" It was strange to think that she'd yet to learn it, even though the two of them had been spending a lot of time together. She wanted to know, even though she couldn't imagine what one would name a Stalfos.

He didn't answer. If she knew who he really was, Anju could find him. And she would be put into danger as well. It was bad enough that Cremia had gotten dragged into this mess. The last thing he needed was for his own sister to get involved.

She shined the flashlight at his face, causing him to squint. "You don't talk much, do you?" She smirked. "Well, my name is Cremia. We might as well talk, since we're gonna be here for a while."

He watched as she sighed, looking about as hopeless as he felt. Yes, they were safe. But no, they couldn't last forever inside of a tree.

"I came here looking for some leaves that could heal my father," she began.

"What exactly happened to him?"

"When we first came to Hyrule, we were attacked by Stalfos and some other monsters. He was injured and didn't get help soon enough. His leg is infected and he needs a new potion, which we can't make until I find those leaves." She shook her head bitterly, her red hair shining in the simple light of the flashlight. "Then . . . Well, my friend, Anju, had a brother who ran off and went missing."

Grog's breath caught in his throat and he had to force himself to breathe. Anju. This girl knew Anju. She knew about him. Fado had been right - Cremia truly was searching for him.

He closed his eyes. Out of everyone in the whole forest, why did he have to be stuck in a tree with the one person who knew Anju?

"It's been over three months since he disappeared," she went on, seeming to be deep in thought. "I think about him a lot - which is crazy, considering I don't even know him. No one in the village really liked him."

Grog looked away, trying to swallow every pain that was welling up in his chest right then. If he didn't know better, he would've darted out of that tree trunk right then and put as much distance between him and the farm girl as possible. He was putting everyone in danger just by sitting next to her.

"I don't know why, though," she said. "He wasn't like everyone else, but there was something about him that made him . . . special."

His eyes widened and he couldn't speak for a few, long moments. ". . .What?"

Cremia smiled softly. "He was special."

"You don't even know m- him." He sighed without meaning to. "He could be a terrible person. For all you know, you'd hate him if you two really met."

She shook her head. "No. I don't even know his name, but I know everyone is wrong about him. He's not what they say he is."

They stayed quiet for several long moments, until he finally spoke up. "It's Grog."

Her head snapped up and she stared at him in surprise. "What?"

"My name . . . It's Grog."

She smiled. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Grog." She shook his good hand with her left one.

He stared into her beautiful, purple eyes. Astonished was an understatement. He'd made his first friend in his entire lifetime. He'd formally met her in the trunk of an ancient tree, in the middle of a forest haunted by the curse that had brought him to the woods in the first place. And, by chance, she had ended up there as well, trying to rescue the one person she cared most about in the world.

He wanted to smile, but didn't. His first friend. Wow. Maybe being a Stalfos wasn't such a bad thing.

FIVE DAYS LATER

Cremia slowly blinked herself awake, disappointed when she was greeted with the darkness of the tree trunk instead of her bright, warm room in Kakariko Village. She wished she would smell something cooking in the kitchen; she wished Romani would come running into the room to wake her up for the morning; and, most importantly, she wished she would quit itching.

She'd been bitten by a few bugs since they'd been stuck in that tree and she felt as though she'd never stop itching. She prayed she hadn't been bitten by anything poisonous.

Trying to be quiet, she sat up straighter. She and Grog had tried to escape a few times, but found it impossible to do so when they realized that Ganondorf had left an army of monsters waiting outside for them. Ganon was, for some odd reason, keeping them alive. He'd apparently ordered his minions to give them some water a few times, but no food.

Cremia realized that, even though they were hiding in the trunk of a tree for their safety, they were still very much Ganondorf's prisoners. And she hated him for it.

She was tired of being trapped there, but she was thankful she was trapped there with Grog. He was very nice and easy to talk to. When the flashlight had stopped working the day before, he'd been brave enough to steal some matches from Takeo, who'd been keeping watch in front of the hole. Thankfully, they hadn't set the tree on fire. Yet.

She was disappointed when Grog didn't want to open up about his past or even other, simple things about himself. But she'd decided to let him have his space - for now.

Her ankle was swollen since she'd twisted it the other day and she doubted Grog's arm was doing much better. They needed to get some help soon, but being imprisoned in a tree wasn't exactly a situation where one could easily get help.

She felt around for the matches, wanting to shine at least a little bit of light in the trunk, but couldn't find them anywhere. "Grog?" she whispered into the darkness, only vaguely noticing how cold she suddenly felt. "Are you awake? Where are the matches?"

Silence.

She smiled to herself. The poor guy was probably tired. He didn't sleep much - not with all those Stalfos outside.

She reached out to grab the matches, which she assumed were on the other side of Grog, and instead felt nothing at all where her friend was supposed to be.

Her heartbeat sped up, but she forced herself to remain calm, even when she realized that Grog truly wasn't there at all.

He was gone.

One of Ganondorf's Stalfos must have taken him away. They could have killed him - or worse, tortured him. They could've taken him to the castle. There was a chance she would never see him again. And they had just started to become friends.

Her hands clenched into fists. Ganondorf had taken so much from her already - a safe place to stay, a sense of security, her father's health, peace, and now Grog. This was the final straw. He wouldn't take anything more from her. He would pay this time.

She snatched the matches off the ground and moved the huge chunk of bark that posed as a door, allowing the blinding sunlight to flood into the dark tree trunk. The Stalfos who had been stationed outside were no where to be seen now.

This was it. She was going to find Ganon and, this time, she'd kill him - even if it cost her her life.

The sun had fallen far below the horizon when he saw her. He'd been afraid something like this would happen. It was all his fault.

The only reason he'd even left the safety of the tree trunk was to go check on his old, makeshift home, as well as the Kokiri Village. The Stalfos had been gone when he'd left. He just hadn't realized that Cremia would actually go searching for him in the woods.

She had apparently attempted to walk through the Lost Woods, even with her ankle in such terrible condition. She'd, presumably, tripped, causing her head to hit a tree stump, knocking her unconscious.

This was all his fault.

But at least he had a disguise now. No one would know he was a Stalfos unless they moved the many, many layers of clothes off of him. He'd found the clothes in a spare closet back at his old, forest home.

He slowly approached the red head, who, he guessed, had a semi-serious head injury. He bent down and carefully lifted her up with his good arm. If she stayed in the woods for too long, she could become a Stalfos, too. He had to get her out of there.

Which meant he was going home.

Thanks so much for reading! :)