Rusl took a couple shaky steps towards Link, cautiously.

"Link?" He said again, carefully. He could still see Link's shoulders shaking but the muffled sobs had stopped. Rusl stood behind Link. He was still unsure if Link had control of himself or it was still Ganondorf; could be a trick. He placed one hand on the hilt of his sword and bent over, placing his free hand on Link's shoulder gently. Link flinched away and another muffled sob escaped. His hands moved up his face into his long dark hair, grasping the red strands.

Link was no longer recognizable; if Rusl didn't know him so well he would seriously doubt if this was Link.

"I killed them." Came a muffled broken voice. Rusl closed his eyes. He didn't know what to say to that. There wasn't anything to say to that; there was no way that Rusl could possibly bring comfort to Link. Not after what he had done.

Rusl tried not to look at the corpses of his friends; he needed to keep himself composed and strong for Link. He reached down and hooked his hands under Link's arms and pulled him to his feet.

"It wasn't your fault." Rusl said softly. Link made no reply nor did he make any attempt to help get to his feet or pull away from Rusl.

The action of pulling Link to his feet like that took Rusl back to another place and another time. Rusl remembered it as well as if it was only yesterday. The day that Link's father was killed. Rusl was the one, who had to break the news to young Link; who was only 5 years old. Much too young to become an orphan. Link had collapsed to his knees when he was told and started to cry. Not like that was abnormal but Rusl still remembered being confused of why Link sobbed so quietly. At a distance you wouldn't even be able to tell if he was really crying. Rusl had expected the child to wail or scream; but it was just quiet. Rusl then pulled Link to his feet. Link brushed his tiny hand across his eyes, wiping away the tears. Gently, Rusl turned him around and walked him towards Rusl's home. Link didn't cry again nor did he speak for months.

"It was my fault." Link mumbled, bringing Rusl back to the future. Rusl sighed.

"Link, it was all Ganondorf."

Link didn't answer for a long time. Eventually, he looked up, his back still to Rusl, and spotted a bag that Asar had left behind.

Rusl turned when he heard someone open the door. It was Aiden. His eyes widened at the bloody sight. He saw the back of Link; he noted his blood stained hands.

"Rusl…" Aiden warned, stepping closer. "Back away."

"It's alright, Aiden," Rusl confirmed quietly, "He's composed now…the medicine didn't work." Aiden looked at the bag of medicine. Neither man knew what to say next, or what to do. The two just stood, staring at the corpse or at Link in silence. Link didn't move, his head hung.

"There is only one option." Aiden spoke, breaking the silent spell. Rusl looked over at Aiden. "…we shall bind him."

"Aiden!"

"Rusl! Look around you! Look at your friends! They're dead! They're all dead now! You want more innocent people to die because of-"

"That's enough, Aiden!" Rusl yelled, angrily.

"Stop being so soft hearted, Rusl! Action needs to be done to stop further murder!" Aiden yelled back, just as angrily; his eyes glaring under his black bangs. He reached out and grabbed Link's arm roughly. Link barely responded and stumbled. Rusl grabbed the arm that held onto Link and pried it off of. The two men glowered at each other, ready to strike out. Link was stuck in the middle, still unresponsive. His eyes rose and landed on Asar's bag again.

"Maybe we should have never came," Aiden spat. "We should have just let you all be doomed."

"It would have eventually spread to your lands." Rusl growled. "Don't you dare believe that Ganondorf only wanted to take over Hyrule."

Link moved out from between the two men and walked to the other side of the room. Both men stopped their bickering and watched as Link picked up the bag. Inside there were 3 needles, all wrapped individually in cloth.

"Link?..." Link turned and looked at them. Both men were taken back by Link's appearance. His face was smeared and caked with blood along with his clothes, arms, and hands. It was such a gruesome sight. "Link, what are you doing?" Rusl asked, cautiously, watching Link's expression.

"…I'm sorry." Link said, his eyes meeting Rusl's. "I cannot…be around…you." Rusl took a step closer to Link, alarmed.

"Link, look, it wasn't your fault! It was Ganondorf. The medicine didn't work."

"No…it does…it wasn't Ganondorf who killed Shad and Renado…" Rusl frowned. Aiden very silently withdrew his dagger, keeping it hidden behind Rusl.

"Link…we can help you." Rusl said softly, taking another step closer. Link pulled the bag around his shoulder and head.

"No…you can't…" Suddenly Link took off across the room.

"LINK!" Rusl yelled as Link jumped out of the open window. Link landed hard on the ground below and quickly got to his feet, taking off across the town. He was already passed the springs when Aiden and Rusl ran out of the hotel.

"RUSL! Get the horses!" He yelled and Rusl disappeared around the corner. Couple minutes later Rusl came back, both horses in hand. The men mounted up and took off in pursuit of Link.


As soon as Link was out of the Kakariko Village, he spun to his left and ran for the trees as fast as he could. He could hear the pounding hooves getting louder and louder. He was almost there. He skidded to a stop and ducked behind a tree, flattening himself as much as he could; the darkness of the night helped him blend in. He heard the horses neigh as the riders pulled on the reigns.

Rusl scanned the land. Where could he have gone? He couldn't have gotten that far.

"You go straight and across the bridge, I'll go up the hill." Aiden said. Rusl nodded and nudged his horse into gallop across the bridge as Aiden went up the hill. Link let out a breath as the sounds of the horses slowly got quieter and quieter. Link slowly slid down the tree into sitting position. This was going to be extremely difficult for him to get to Ordon.

He watched as the sun began to rise over the mountains.