††††

Chapter XII

Captive of the Land

"Die, dammit...!" I shouted as I swung my fist for the umpteenth time at the most annoying keese of them all.

Navi had rejoined Link and I as we headed up to Death Mountain to investigate the mysterious cloud of fire above the peak. Word had reached our ears that a dragon of sorts had been terrorizing the Gorons, and Darunia needed quite a bit of assistance in taking care of their newest scaly problem. Deep within the lava mountain was another hidden temple. But it was, of course, hot as blazes down in there, and Link had to purchase a crimson tunic made of special heat-resistant material. I, on the other hand, refused to wear such a thing, and used my chi combined with sweat to keep me cool.

But anyways, back to my original crisis...

As we were exploring the Fire Temple, working our way through merciless blazes to find the dragon, a single flaming keese randomly decided to swoop down and bite my arm. And we're not talking just a nip. We're talking like…if I hadn't knocked it away, a nice Oreo-sized chunk would now be missing from my left arm.

Thanks to my already bitchy mood, I was in no way about to simply escape the bat's jaws and leave it at that. Oh, no. Mercy was beyond me at that point.

Leaping into the air time and time again, I tried to simply punch the thing to relieve at least a little stress, but it wouldn't hold still. And, as you can guess, that only further provoked my temper.

"That's it! I can't take this anymore!" Taking flight completely, I fired a whole whopping Pulsar Blade at the creature and finally succeeded in slicing it in half.

Not a moment later, I heard an obnoxious noise below me. Link and Navi had uncontrollably doubled over with laughter at my struggles. And if I had been seven years younger, I'd have completely lost it. All sanity would have been but a thing of the past.

However, not wanting to get into another dangerous argument with the Hylian, I simply yelled for them to 'shut up' and moved on to the next chamber.

"You know, I could have gotten it with an arrow! At least I'm more skilled with those than you are with your fists!" Link called after me, much to my annoyance.

"Yeah, yeah, you just keep telling yourself that, asshole!" I yelled.

††††

A little later into the dragon hunt, Link absentmindedly tripped over a lone deku stick randomly lying out on the ground.

"Hey, you don't see these things around very much anymore," he stated, picking it up.

"So? Not like you need it anyway," I retorted.

Link shrugged dropped the stick before he continued moving ahead.

Somehow, I'd ended up behind Link somewhere along the way, and for some blasted reason, at my very first step towards following him again, I accidentally stepped on the tip of the stick, which flipped it into the air. No sooner had I looked up to see where it had gone, did it come crashing back down and smacked me clear on the forehead.

A large sweatdrop formed on my then aching head, and I quickly grabbed my forehead to try and soothe the sting. "Damn it, where is my luck in this temple?!" I cried, pitying myself.

"Woah, hey let me see that… Dang…is it just me, or is that a bump on the 'all-powerful' Autumn's forehead?" Link asked, a grin daring to re-form on his features.

"Back off and mind your own business! You hear me?!" I growled.

"Okay, jeez! Don't have a cow," he chuckled.

With a slight 'hmph' I proceeded in storming past the blonde once again with clenched fists at both sides.

"Hold it," he ordered all of a sudden. His voice had changed from teasing to serious for some reason.

"What…?" I glared back at him, warnings were written all over my expression.

Abruptly, his hand shot out, grabbed my left wrist, and brought it up to eye level. It looked just like my right hand, tightly balled into a fist. But he took a certain interest in the left for a reason that caused beads of sweat to drip off my chin. After much struggling, he managed to pry open my clenched fingers, and, to his triumph, found his assumptions to be correct. A lone energy orb sat in my palm, ready to fire.

"Ha! I knew it! You were going to shoot me weren't you? You can't hide anything from me anymore!" he exclaimed, voice going back to teasing.

"Leave…me…alone!" I hissed dangerously.

"No-can-do, Partner."

I could tell what he was trying to do. These were all his sorry attempts to make things better between us from that morning. But, needless to say, it most certainly wasn't working. If he knew that, he wasn't showing any signs.

I groaned soundly, getting very fed up with our ongoing dispute.

When is it going to end…? I mentally cried. Part of me said 'when you lighten up.' The other, stubborn half, snapped 'not until he minds his own damn business.'

††††

"Oh…okay…that's a big dragon…" I mused tiredly. The energy I'd been using to keep myself cool had started to take its toll on my body. I still had just enough to fight, but I'd need one heck of a nap afterwards.

"I heard its name was Volvagia," Link stated, staring up at the beast before us. "...Not quite sure where its mother went, though..."

"Lovely," I mumbled, and treaded forward without any consent from the Hylian at all.

We were standing on an unstable rock platform in the middle of a lava pit with smaller pools of molten rock flecked all around us. I was careful to not stupidly step into one as I made my way to meet the said offense.

Looking up to the reptilian monstrosity, I quickly leapt out of the way just in time to dodge its massive claws as they swooped to smite me. "He's gonna be tough…!" I called down to Link as I hovered just out of the enemy's reach. "Mind if I experiment a bit before you step in…?!"

"Fine, whatever, just don't get yourself killed in the process!" he hollered back.

Rolling my eyes at his either lack of faith or teasing attitude, I continued to circle the dragon, pondering how I should go about my task. The beast whipped about wildly in attempt to catch me, but I made certain I was always one step ahead of it. Then, my strategy came to mind. I'll just distract it. Then he can attack while I've got my hands full. That'll give him a chance to test out his new abilities, I thought, temporarily reverting to my 'gracious' instructor's attitude.

Finally, finding an opening to the dragon's head, I quickly took hold of the long horns and pulled with all the strength I could gather. Volvagia jerked back and roared loudly as I struggled to restrain him. His tail came up to lash at me, but I was alert enough to move from its path.

"Hey, Blondie, feel free to step in at any time!" I called.

"Blondie? Couldn't you come up with something more suitable, like 'Hero' or even 'Sexy'? I mean, c'mon, even you could admit that suits me," Link chuckled at his own amusement.

I inwardly flipped after hearing that. Beyond doubt, he was still trying to lighten the mood, but that last attempt had triggered a new kind of rage within me. At that point, it felt like he was just trying to get me to confess something to him that I clearly didn't want to. I grit my teeth in utter frustration.

It was never dusted off the cobweb corners of my mind that this kind of bullshit would burden me when I left Earth!

Not another second was wasted before Link took flight and headed up to Volvagia. With his newfound abilities, he unleashed his self-taught rapid energy fire on the dragon until burn marks were visible even over the rock-hard tough scales.

Took him long enough, I mentally growled.

Then, pulling out the legendary blade, Link lunged forward and sliced his energy-infused sword in a clean, horizontal line all the way through the evil dragon's neck, causing me to release it from my grasp and escape the shooting spurts of blood.

All at once, there was a massive explosion as the enemy's powerful life force dispersed into the open and a substantial amount of kinetic energy was released in all directions. I was ruthlessly thrown back against the inner wall of the volcano as though I were a mere rag doll.

Several moments passed before it was even safe to open my eyes again. My body was more or less engraved into the rocks of the chamber by time I gathered the courage to look around at the aftermath.

As everything cleared and the dust settled, my gaze made its way to the body lying in a heap back atop the center platform. My breath quickened. I began squirming my way out of the rough walls, and hovered out into open air. Nervously, I flew down to him, but it only took a few seconds of standing over the Hylian before realizing what was going on. I turned my back to him and watched as another warp pad appeared before me.

"Get up. You shouldn't lie down on the job," I told him in a low tone.

"Heh…so how'd you know I was faking it?" Link asked, raising himself up on one elbow.

"Get a clue would you? I have eyes! And I can see that you don't have one bloody scratch on your sorry carcass!" I yelled. It was getting way too difficult to deal with all the crap. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why I was so uncontrollably angry, but I needed release…and soon. My voice only betrayed my true feelings slightly by wavering as I spoke. His taunting words still stuck to me like a tough adhesive.

That was actually…really cruel of him. I shouldn't think of him in that way…at all. Those feelings are out of place here.

I silently wondered when it had been that I decided to try and fall out of love with the Hylian. Perhaps it was the fact that I was primarily on a mission in the name of Sailor Universe, and any other goal was a frivolous distraction. It could have been that I knew I couldn't stay in Hyrule, and admitting selfish desire would only make leaving difficult. Or perhaps it was when I realized I was only a replacement for someone else. Or maybe...maybe there was no rational explanation, and I was just scared. I had no experience with the opposite sex. I honestly didn't know what it was. All I knew was that I didn't want to succumb to the weak feeling he instilled in me whenever I looked at him.

I quickly headed for the warp pad, not even bothering to help Link up to his feet. I had to get out of there before…before anyone saw the pent up tears start to fill my eyes.

"What the hell is wrong with her…?" Link whispered as he stood, mostly to himself.

But Navi heard. "Autumn's right. You do need to get a clue. And not just about the fact that she has eyes…" her voice trailed off as she went to follow me.

Link released a heavy, desperate sigh before replacing his sword into its sheath and slowly tagging along behind us.

††††

Darunia had, not surprisingly, appeared in the Chamber of Sages as the Sage of Fire and given Link his own crimson-colored medallion to aid the Hylian in opposing Ganondorf's reign.

When the old Goron had finally stopped talking about Link's awesome-ness and brotherhood and manliness and power and other testosterone-overload-driven antics and we'd gotten back outside, I immediately took flight and began mindlessly flying away to somewhere, not wanting to be anywhere near the Hero of Time.

The Hylian stood in a crevice of the mountainside, changing back into his favorite forest green his tunic when he glanced at Navi. "Should I go after her?" he asked, obviously lost on how to deal with me just then.

Navi sighed and slowly shook her head. "Not unless you want to get mauled by a nervous wreck of a girl," she mumbled.

††††

I had almost reached Lake Hylia again when I decided to change course and vectored up further into the sky. Speed became a sudden need for me and I steadily picked up the pace.

That's it…I'll just leave. He doesn't need me here anyway. I've helped and taught him more than enough…and besides…I can awaken Universe on my own now. I want to go home and sleep in my own bed, hang out with my own friends, and get on with my own life. I'm tired of being a sidekick already...just let me be at peace!

'You fool, you're kidding yourself!'

A voice echoed through my mind. I recognized it to be my own and figured my alter ego had tampered with my brain waves yet again.

No! Get me out of here! Now!

The world below me was not but a blur, yet still I flew faster and faster.

Finally, my salvation appeared. A beautiful swirling vortex of neon and black came into view only meters ahead of me. Sudden lightning cracked as time and space ripped apart before my eyes, signaling the way out.

But then, right before I entered into another dream come true, I ran into something…hard.

It was like an invisible glass shield keeping me from getting to the portal that was already collapsing.

No…no, please!

I tried getting past the obstacle, but it was no use. I slammed my arms against it time and time again only to be refused with agonizing force. My only way out of the world closed up again, and I was left in the dim abyss of the atmosphere. The sun was already on its way down, and the full moon had begun its ascent.

A splitting pain surged throughout my entire being from running into that godforsaken…whatever it was. My body hurt all over, and I clung to myself as I felt strength leeching from my core.

I watched a single tear detach itself from my cheek, and fall back down to the surface below. And, as I watched it, I, too, began to fall, slowly at first, but then, I dropped into an all out free-fall as I completely left all control behind.

Faster and faster I fell, tumbling and twirling wherever the wind's direction threw me. My hair danced wildly and whipped about my face, stinging my skin with every movement. But I neither tried to brush it aside, nor did I care.

I just…wanted to go home…

If I had known I'd be trapped there in Hyrule…would I have still gone? Who knew...

Suddenly, my head swam with the voice again,

'You're forbidden to leave until the soldier permits...!'

I let out a sorrowful scream that was lost in the passing wind.

Then, in the very next moment, I plunged head first into the then frigid waters of the downsized Lake Hylia. Sinking into the merciless depths, I didn't even bother to gather oxygen for myself. I registered the odd iciness of the liquid that encased me as I shut my eyes.

Din…must be…angry… I mentally whispered before slipping off into unconsciousness.

††††

Link harshly threw a pebble at the side of the cliff before entering Kakariko Village on his way down the Mountain Trail. He'd been incoherently mumbling to himself ever since I'd flown off.

Navi had remained silent, knowing that he was distressed and could possibly snap at any given moment. But secretly, she wanted to give him the 'what for' for acting so childish back in the temple. To her, it was obvious I had been struggling with private emotions. And Link...well...he was certainly a guy.

The Hylian drearily looked up at the village. It was the second time he'd been there since childhood. The first being when we arrived to go kick the dragon's ass. He'd only just come back down from the mountain, and was merely planning on passing through when a big, white sign caught his eye. Though it was well into the evening, he could still read the bolded lettering which read 'Kakariko Bar'. The sign was hung over a newly built tavern adjacent to the shooting gallery. Strange how they put those two together...didn't seem like the best mix. Link took in a deep breath before letting it out in a weary sigh and heading off in said direction.

Navi couldn't keep her mouth shut that time around. "Link! You aren't seriously going to…"

"Why not, Navi…I hear it makes you feel better after being stressed out, much like I have been," he muttered in reply.

"Psh…yeah, until you wake up sick the next day, and everything comes rushing back ten fold!"

He didn't answer her as he made his way up the steps to the door. Placing a hand on the knob, he easily turned it to the right, and casually stepped into the dimly lit pub.

Navi halted at the doorway and cringed at the smell of all the alcoholic beverages that came rushing out at her. They tingled her senses in a way she didn't like at all. "Link…I'm staying out here…I don't like the atmosphere," she stated and flew off to go await his return in some nearby tree.

The blonde made his way slowly over to the counter, and pulled up one of the stools for himself. He didn't have to look around to know men and women alike were staring at him. He figured it was due to his sword and shield and left it at that.

Link identified the big man on the other side of the counter as the so-called 'bartender.' He'd read about such things in books back in the forest when he was a child. Those books were some of the only ways the Kokiri knew about the outside world, and he'd taken all the information to heart.

"Hey, kid," he suddenly heard the man say.

Link glanced up to see the bartender already standing in front of him, and raised his brow to let the guy know he was listening.

"How old is ya…?" The man's Hylian speaking skills were less than decent, but really…Link couldn't give a damn right then.

The blonde shrugged, "How old does one have to be to drink here?" he asked stupidly. He caught the sound of slurred laughter coming from the drunken man a few stools down from him. Link chose to ignore it.

"I'll ask ya 'gain…how old is ya?"

Link took his chances by saying he was older than he really was, "Just turned twenty about a season ago."

The bartender leaned back, and looked at Link through a skeptical eye. "Well, looks like yer in luck, bud. What can I do fer ya?"

Link mentally sighed in relief. "Well…I'm a wanderer, so-"

"I can see dat…" the big guy bellowed, nodding at Link's attire.

Link brushed off the statement and continued, "…so I've never been here and have no idea what you serve." His tone held a 'then-you're-an-idiot-for-asking' tone, but his expression remained calm.

The man put up a finger, signaling for Link to wait a moment, and went off to mix some obscure beverage. A few moments later, the bartender returned, and slid a tall drink into the view of Link's downturned gaze.

The young Hylian stared at the colorful mix for a moment before asking the question that the bartender had totally seen coming, "What is it?"

"It's called Fairy's Scandal. It's sweet mixed with some o' the hard stuff – might do well for yer young taste. If ye like it, the cost's fifteen rupees."

Link lightly grabbed hold of the straw that stuck out of the glass and carefully observed all the colors that were swirled into the drink first. Then, placing his lips around the edge of the straw, he drew a portion into his mouth, and let it settle on his tongue for a taste. Then, he soundly swallowed.

"It's good," he nodded and reached to take out his wallet. He withdrew three blue rupees and slid them across the counter to the bartender who gratefully took them. Then, replacing the money sack, Link settled himself further on the stool and continued to sip the beverage that would be his night's escape.

††††

My body felt warm all of a sudden. I felt sweat begin to slide across my skin, and then I heard faint voices exchanging slurred conversation.

My eyes shot open, and I found myself lying next to a fair-sized campfire in the dead of night. Judging by my surroundings, I figured I was on the island of the lake for some reason. When I looked down at myself, I found that my clothes had been discarded, and I had been covered with a thick, black woolen blanket.

What's going on?

"Ah, you're awake, I see," said a croaky old voice.

I sat up and turned towards the direction I'd heard it come from, holding the blanket tightly to my chest. There, sitting on the other side of the fire was the Lake Laboratory professor. He housed in the small cabin on the edge of the lake and preformed research on various specimens related to the body of water. I'd never really thought much of the old man back when I played the game. He was always just kind of…there...and kind of creepy, too. But there I was, in a way, being forced to hold conversation with him. Being covered in nothing but a blanket made things a bit awkward.

Before I could say anything, however, I felt my body start to ache all over. I doubled over and started coughing up what I made out to be blood, and then began panting to catch my breath.

"Take it easy, alright? You were just rescued from the bottom of the lake. This young man over here found you and came to get me to help nurse you back to health," the old geezer beamed.

Young…man…?

Slowly, my head turned in the direction the professor had pointed. I felt my breath leave me again as I caught sight of familiar, red eyes. He was sitting up against the lone tree, one leg outstretched, the other pulled up so his knee almost touched his chin.

"Falling from the sky is dangerous. You shouldn't do it anymore," the blonde spoke up sarcastically.

I huffed and crossed my arms over the blanket. All thoughts of awkwardness were erased completely, especially knowing that person was the one who'd handled me. "What are you doing here…" I mumbled, staring at the Sheikah out of the corner of my eye.

He chuckled, "That was a bit cold, considering I just saved you."

Like I wanted to be saved… I mentally scoffed.

A bowl was suddenly shoved in front of me, and I could smell something of strong flavor under my nose. Looking down, I saw the old man had brewed a delicious looking soup, most likely while I was still out cold. I quickly took it from him, making sure the blanket was still secure around my body, and then picked up the awkward looking spoon that rested in the broth.

"Careful now - it's still hot. I figured you could use some replenishment," he said with another one of his crooked grins.

I nodded to him before turning back to the meal. I whispered a brief prayer of thanks before lifting a spoonful to my mouth. I slightly blew on the runny substance before hungrily slipping it passed my lips.

Either I just hadn't eaten in a while, or that was the soup I'd ever eaten in my life. After a few more spoonfuls, I resorted to sipping the rest straight from the bowl. I finished it off rather quickly and then gave a sigh of relief. I definitely felt better after that. Even my strength had begun to return. Whatever he put in that stuff was legit. I handed the bowl and spoon back to the lake professor.

"Well, did you like it? It's been a while since I cooked for anyone other than myself," he chuckled.

I shot a sweet smile his way, causing the old man to blush in surprise. "It was perfect, thank you very much."

With a nod of his head, the professor stood to his feet. "Well, I'll let this boy take care of you for now. There's an experiment in the lab just waiting to be finished before I go to bed. I wish you well."

And with that, he was gone, walking off along the bridge to the mainland.

"Well, now that we've got that out of the way…" Sheik started, "maybe you can tell me why you and the hero aren't getting along very well."

He…I mean…she noticed? Well duh, Sheik practically sees everything…But fuck, I don't need crap from her…er…him too! Oy, this is confusing… I let out a distraught sigh and hugged the blanket tighter to my body. "I have no idea. It just kind of…got that way…" I moaned into the fluff.

The intensity of Sheik's stare made my insides melt. Not in the good way.

"Then find a way to fix the problem. I don't want Hyrule's savior under any kind of stress because his partner won't cooperate."

"I do cooperate! I told him to just let me assist on his mission and leave everything else about me alone."

"Well, then let's hope he listens."

"Heh…he's such an ass. Surely you saw how he was acting in the Fire Temple when you came to teach him that second warping song…thing."

Sheik was silent. I could tell he didn't want to admit something by the way he quickly averted his gaze. "In any case," he spoke after a few moments, "do not let him get distracted. Do anything you have to." He stood up and slightly nodded to me before walking away.

"Hey, hold up a second!" I called after him. When he turned back to face me I asked, "Where the heck did you put my clothes?"

He pointed a slender, wrapped finger up the tree to the single branch at the very top.

"I hung them up to dry. Oh, and I also changed the bandaging on your arm. No 'thanks' is necessary. But I do have a favor to ask of you."

My ears perked up. The almighty Hyrulean ninja princess has a favor to ask of ME?

"When you see Link again," he started, tossing me a tiny scroll, "tell him that's the Serenade of Water. It'll warp him to this spot."

I nodded and then shielded my eyes as the Sheikah disappeared in a sudden burst of light. I then had a few moments to think to myself.

She seems different when she's in that form. I can definitely tell she's working for two sides here…but…there's also something comforting about her presence. I guess…she's…he's…confident, and that gives me reassurance? I don't know… Should I really have told him off upon our first meeting? Ugh…so complicated…

††††

A slightly tipsy guy with shaggy brown hair and baggy clothes pulled up a stool next to Link and plopped himself down. "Yo, boy, think you've had enough yet?" he asked while fixing his blurred gaze on the blonde's third Fairy's Scandal.

Link raised his head off the counter and chuckled. "It's really good…" he sighed and then let a single hiccup escape his throat.

"Clearly, you're not used to drinkin'. If I were you, I'd just go home now."

Link's eyes moved to glance at the man next to him. He looked in his mid thirties, and though he was a little smashed, he obviously knew when it was best to stop.

Even so, Link spoke up in a high, mocking tone of voice, "Clearly, you have no idea what I've been through, and clearly you didn't hear me when I said I'm a wanderer. I don't just 'go home'."

The man attempted to muffle a little laugh, but it didn't work for the most part. "Just, please, tell me this has nothing to do whatsoever with a female."

The amount of liquid that had just entered Link's mouth through the straw quickly made its escape when he coughed it back up over the counter, choking and hacking as he purged it from his lungs. His sudden intake of breath was solely the older man's fault, the blonde reasoned. There's no way he'd be that stupid otherwise.

"Female? You mean like…a girl?" Link finally managed to say in between gasps.

The man's eyes narrowed. "No, a tree."

Link caught on to the sarcasm despite his slurred state. He propped his elbow up on the soaked counter that the bartender was already cleaning up, and rested his forehead in his hand. "As if something like that would bother me," he so utterly lied.

The older man took note of Link's weaponry and sighed. "No, I suppose not. So you're a wanderer, huh? Have you, by chance, heard the rumors about the lake on your travels?" he asked, trying to start a decent conversation with the intoxicated Hylian.

That, in fact, did catch Link's attention, drunk though he was. "No…what of it?" he asked, spinning his stool towards the guy.

"Ah…interesting thing happened a few years ago. I've not seen it for myself, but…they say the lake suddenly got drained of water. Lot of it, too. Say it has somethin' to do with a curse…I dunno. But it's pretty creepy if you ask me...what with everything else goin' awry around Hyrule."

Link felt his stomach tie itself into a tight knot. "…Curse…lake…" His thoughts shifted to what I'd said before when we went swimming the previous day. "Shit. Autumn…"

The next moment, he was off his stool and wobbling towards the door as fast as his legs would carry him…which…wasn't very fast.

"Son, where do you think you're goin'? What the heck's an Autumn?"

Link didn't hear the man as he stumbled right into the heavy, wooden door. Somehow, his hand managed to turn the knob, and the exit flung open, sending Link flying down the steps outside. The door slammed shut behind him, leaving the hero in the dark, lying on the cold ground.

"Link!" a familiar little voice called out.

"What, Navi…"

The little fairy flew over to his fallen figure, and hovered above his head.

"What's wrong with you? Can't you stand up? Link?! Come on, answer me!"

Right then, he wanted nothing more than to shove the pixie into a nice, little bottle, and toss it into a dark abyss. He needed quiet. He was exhausted.

"Oh, Din, have mercy…!" another voice sounded from a distance.

A few moments passed, and then Link found himself being hauled into the arms of another being.

"I find the girl at the bottom of the lake unconscious, and then I find you at the bottom of the pub steps almost unconscious. What's wrong with you people? Can't you take care of yourselves?!" The voice was harsh and irritated, but Link only found that he couldn't care, much less keep his eyes open.

††††

I had just finished redressing when Sheik reappeared behind me with a bundle in his arms.

"Lose something?" he asked and literally dropped the sleeping boy next to the fire.

Despite being carelessly dumped, Link only stirred slightly and didn't wake up.

Subconsciously, I'd gone back to referring to him as a boy, rather than a young man. His display in the Fire Temple was what decided it. Staring at his form on the ground, I gave a little sigh and looked back up at Sheik. Though half his face was covered by a cloth, the look in his eyes said everything. He was irritated, and at me no doubt.

"Yeah, yeah, I get it. I'll take care of him…the little jacka-"

Sheik cleared his throat, and I immediately ceased my insult.

I watched as the Sheikah knelt down next to Link and removed his sword and shield.

"Must be uncomfortable," he said, tossing them to the side.

The look in Sheik's eyes as he gazed upon the sleeping Hylian sent shivers down my spine. You… I mentally growled. But then shook my head to rid myself of any unethical thoughts.

The ninja returned to a standing position, and looked back over at me. "I leave him to you, now. I trust you won't do anything stupid." In another sudden flash, Sheik was gone again.

Bitch.