Ok, so this chapter kinda took a little while and its a little shorter than my usual fare, but that's cause my writer's block is starting to return to me unfortunately, so bear with me for like the next several chapters, ok? But with that said, allow me to thank Yuuten Keidy and Zelinkworlf for following/favoriting! Now onto the reviews!
Vivi-ntvg-Yeah, Link is pretty much the most awesome person ever, and the latter half of this chapter is going to show that in a rather subtle way :D and yeah, I think I might have Sheik tell Zelda something along the lines of "so I kinda have this thing for your husband... soooooo..." sometime later on in the story and believe me, it will be intentionally awkward... hahaha...
Yuuten Keidy-Please don't hate me! I try my hardest! lol XD And I wouldn't want Veress to hunt me down... she's pretty scary in case you haven't noticed (and if you haven't this chapter will enforce that!) And yeah, it was kinda tearing me to shreds when I wrote the wedding cause I have a major crush on Link too... sigh...
anon-YES SHE DID! AND IT WAS AWESOME! :D lol, ur review totally made me laugh btw ;D
And with that out of the way, let's get started!
Chapter 23: Selfless Resolves
"I'll carry the weight,
I'll do anything for you.
My bones may break,
But I'll never be untrue."
-What I Wouldn't Do, Serena Ryder
Dawn rose over Kakariko Village, but the sun did not rise with it as it normally did. Instead of the skies being bright and clear as they were most every day, they were dark, cloudy and grey, a sight that was rare to see upon the surface, where the sun almost always shined bright. But nonetheless, the pale light of day woke Zelda up as it filtered in through the bedroom window. However, from the moment she opened her eyes, she knew something was wrong, for the very first thing she saw as she awakened was the sight of the side of the bed that Link normally slept on, cold and empty.
The girl gasped as she bolted into an upright position and quickly scanned the room, only to find that the hero was nowhere to be found. Her eyes widened and her heartbeat began to pick up in anxiety. Never in all their long years of friendship had Zelda ever known Link to wake up before her. And though that thought alone bothered her, she would have not thought that much of it if she hadn't spotted his sword and shield resting beside the bed, completely untouched. The hero would certainly never go anywhere without his blade, especially in such dangerous times as these. And as the girl slipped out of bed and hurried to go search the rest of their little home for him, she couldn't shake the feeling of dread that had gripped her upon seeing that he was missing.
In a hurried panic, Zelda rushed through the house and called out for Link several times, but she received no answer. An unspeakable fear filled her as she began to imagine every worst case scenario she could think of. What if the Interlopers had managed to silently infiltrate their house late last night and stole him away from right under the girl's nose? What if another spell of corruption had overtaken him and instead of trying to force him to kill her, it forced him away from her to some unknown location for some unknown purpose? Zelda could only hope that she was simply thinking the worst, as she prayed that her hero was safe and not too far away.
The girl burst out of the house to start checking the rest of the village for him, but the moment she stepped outside of the door, she turned to find that the Sheikah leader had been standing just outside the home for quite some time, leaning against the side of the dwelling with her arms crossed and her expression somber. The two girls glanced at each other for a moment, as Sheik realized that Zelda knew that something had happened to Link by now, and would be expecting answers. And though she had made a promise to the hero, this was a promise that she had no intention of keeping.
"Sheik," Zelda began breathlessly, her words rushed and tense. "I can't find Link anywhere. Do you know where he is?"
The Sheikah leader was silent for a long moment as she saw the fear in the girl's eyes and understood it well. That same fear, fear of losing the one she loved, had gripped her own heart as she watched the hero disappear into that darkened valley just hours ago to meet his end. With a sigh, Sheik pushed off of the wall and stood before the girl, closing her eyes and shaking her head sadly before she began. "Your grace…" she said solemnly, hating that she had to be the one to bear such awful news. "I… I'm so sorry…"
Zelda hated those words with a passion. Those were the same words that Terminus had said to her when she told her of the corruption that was ultimately going to destroy Link. Those were the words that Fi had said right before she delivered the news of the hero's death. Those were the same words that Link himself had said to her many times over the past few weeks. Those three simple words: "I'm so sorry", were always what came before a hard blow, as if they could ever hope to soften the pain of it. And upon hearing them once more, the girl simply clenched her fists at her sides and braced herself for the worst, wondering with dread what new horrible revelation she was about to be faced with this time. "For what?" she said with little emotion, despite the fact that her emotions were already stirring inside of her.
Sheik bowed her head and closed her eyes once more before looking the girl straight in the eyes and explaining what had happened, her tone as calm and level as she could possibly manage. "There's no easy way to say this, so I'll say it in the simplest way I can," she said, taking in a deep breath. "Yesterday, after you left Skyloft but before Link and I returned to the surface, Veress appeared to him and made him a deal: he could either sacrifice his freedom to the Interlopers, or they would destroy everything, including you. I suppose you can imagine what he chose to do."
Zelda's mouth hung agape as she tried to comprehend what Sheik had just told her, though she had a hard time grasping the implications since her mind was thrown into such a frenzy by it. "W-what?" she asked shakily, her body starting to tremble from the oncoming sobs that she was trying hard to suppress.
The Sheikah leader gave the girl a sad, pitied look as she laid everything out in the open. "Late last night, Link surrendered to the Veress and the Interlopers and he's now in their custody," she said morosely. "He knew exactly what he was walking into, but he said that he had to do it to keep you safe."
The girl felt as though she had been hit hard in the chest by this news. It was just too much for her to take. Her beloved hero, in the very same position that she had been in weeks ago, now at the mercy of the merciless Dark Interlopers. Involuntary tears streamed down her face, and yet she felt numb, completely incapable of feeling the pain that she should have been experiencing. In truth, she didn't really know how to feel about this. Scared? Heartbroken? Angry? All she could manage to do in light of this information was glance over at Sheik, who hid her own flow of heavy emotions well behind a mask of formality. "What else did he say before he… left…?" she asked softly and hesitantly, not entirely sure if she wanted to hear the hero's final statements or not.
"He said that he wanted me to tell you that he loves you," Sheik said, ignoring the personal sting that those words left on her own heart. "And that he didn't want to leave you."
"He… he didn't want to…" the words that Zelda were trying to repeat faded off into a miserable silence. She knew that those had been the last words that Link had left behind for her, and though they meant less coming from the Sheikah leader instead of him, they left the girl with a feeling of bitter cold on the inside. She wanted so much to experience some kind of emotion towards the situation, but found that the only thing she could feel was shock. Her breathing was tense and heavy, and her eyes were trained on the ground at her feet as she tried to make sense of all of this but found that she couldn't. What the hero had done made no sense to her. Confusion finally started to mingle with her shock and before she could stop herself, she raised that confusion to Sheik. "I… I don't understand," she said quietly, shaking her head slowly. "Why would he do something like this? Doesn't he know that they're just going to kill him again?"
The Sheikah leader bit her lip anxiously, remembering what Link had told her the previous night. "Actually," she began, trying to figure out the best way to word this. "They can't. That corruption he's facing is going to keep him alive, no matter how many times they kill him. He said he's basically immortal now, but I think he can still feel the full pain of dying each time."
Zelda looked up, meeting eye contact with Sheik immediately. "He's… immortal?" she asked in awe. "Why didn't he tell me that?"
The Sheikah leader sighed. "Maybe he didn't want you to see him any differently because of it," she said quietly as she glanced away from the girl sadly, silently wondering why she was seemingly having a lack of a true reaction at this earth-shattering news.
Upon hearing Sheik's words, Zelda finally felt other emotions start to spring forth inside of her: the first of these was anger aimed towards her own hero for lying to her once more, finding his reasoning to be preposterous. She knew full well that Link giving himself up would not stop the Interlopers from hurting her or anyone else. They had him fooled and Zelda hated them even more for toying with his loyalties and emotions like that. But once the wave of anger had washed over her, a new wave of grief came, and it hit her hard. She choked out a sob as she realized that there was a good chance she could never see her hero again. She knew that their love was bound to be torn apart by his corruption either way, but this separation had come too soon and it was made even more painful by the fact that the girl had almost lost him to death the previous day. She soon found herself becoming overwhelmed by all of the many new emotions that were starting to flood her: frustration with herself for being unable to do anything about the situation, fear for what could possibly happen to the hero so long as he remained in the grasp of their greatest foes, longing to be at his side once more, and love for him, despite what he had done.
As these emotions were starting to overcome her, she knew that she would not be able to hold them back forever. And so, without saying another word to Sheik, Zelda rushed back into the house and threw herself onto the bed, letting her held-back cries of anguish and grief burst forth. She felt as though her very heart was being torn asunder and she wanted nothing more than for Link to somehow appear and comfort her by holding her in his steady arms and kissing her lovingly. But she knew that she would never get to experience that ever again. He was gone, simply because he felt that it was his duty to do anything to keep the girl safe, including giving up everything for her. With a heavy heart, Zelda remembered what Link had said to her during some of their last few moments together: "I just want you to know that everything I've done has been to protect you…" When he had said them to her last night, she hadn't thought much of them, but now, they began to take on a whole new meaning. He had said them as a subtle goodbye, as a way of telling her of his resolve, of what he was about to go do was for her sake, even if it was ultimately going to destroy him. And because of his great devotion to her, he was probably going through untold pain and torture at that very moment, and bearing it all willingly for her sake.
And Zelda hated it. Never before had she begrudged Link's strong desire to protect her, but now she absolutely abhorred it. A part of her wished that he didn't love her so much that he was willing to put himself through this for her, but another part of her was starting to understand why he was. It was because of that strong, enduring love that he had made this selfless sacrifice on her behalf. And the more the girl thought about it, the more she knew that she could not let this sacrifice be in vain. She knew that there was little she could do to save him from the corruption plaguing him, but she could, at the very least, prove her own love to him before she lost him forever. She was not going to sit by and let her husband suffer endlessly at the hands of such great evil. Just as he had done everything in his power to save her before, this time she was going to do everything in her power to save him, even if she lost her own life in the process. It was the very least she could do for him in return for all he had done.
As Zelda had been pouring out her emotions however, she had not noticed as Fi silently emerged from the Master Sword and, after stealing a brief glance at the distraught girl, made her way outside. The Sheikah leader still stood out there, her mind swimming in worries of Link and what could possibly be happening to him at the moment. But as the sword spirit exited the house, Sheik barely had time to think before Fi shoved her hard into the wall of the house, pinning her down firmly as she glared at her relentlessly.
"What?!" Sheik exclaimed in surprise as she struggled to free herself from the sword spirit's strong hold. "What are you doing?!"
Fi disregarded her question as she raised one of her own. "How could you possibly let Master Link surrender himself into the hands of the Dark Interlopers?" she asked harshly, her tone full of bitter hatred for the Sheikah leader. "You knew of the situation and yet you sat by and let him relinquish himself into their grasp. Why did you not try to stop him?"
"I did!" Sheik protested firmly in her own behalf as she finally broke free of Fi's strong hold and backed away hastily, drawing her knife out as she watched the sword spirit summon her own two blades. "And he wouldn't listen to me. You should know how headstrong and stubborn he is if you traveled across the surface with him before! Why didn't you try to stop him?"
"I have learned that it is not my place to try to argue against my master's will and intentions," the sword spirit stated eloquently, though she still held her burning gaze on Sheik. "But you have no such reservations. I had hoped that, if her grace did not find out about the unfolding situation, that you would have at least attempted to change his mind. But now I see that was never you intent. Clearly, you let him slip by into the hands of your brethren and allies, the Dark Interlopers, without even trying to convince him otherwise. Perhaps you even expedited his fall into Veress's hands. It is hard to say since you Sheikah are so crafty, elusive and distrustful."
"Allies?!" the Sheikah leader exclaimed in completely and utter disbelief. "I can't believe you would even think that I would ally myself with those who betrayed my own people, much less hand Link over to them! What is your problem with me that you have to resort to such ridiculous accusations?"
"My 'problem', as you say, does not lie with just you, but with your entire tribe," Fi said bitingly. "Your people hide themselves amongst the shadows, and while you claim to be 'servants of the goddess', it is clear that the only one among you who was truly loyal to her grace was Impa. So far, none amongst your ranks, other than her, has proven your loyalty to the goddess. And so one can only assume that if you are not loyal to both the goddess and her chosen hero, then you plot against them, just as the Dark Interlopers do."
"How dare you say that my people are anything but loyal to her grace!?" Sheik growled angrily, gripping her knife tighter as she anticipated the oncoming skirmish. "Have we not stood by her and the hero's side in the midst of this entire war? Have we not given them a place of refuge and safety, especially after their former home in the sky was destroyed? I'd say we've been very loyal to both of them. You know what? I think you're just jealous."
"Jealous of you? That is highly unlikely," Fi said in her usual calculating tone, though she finally broke eye contact with the Sheikah leader.
"You are," Sheik said, her eyes narrowing at the sword spirit as she said her next words both harshly and deliberately. "You're jealous because Link, your 'master' or whatever you call him, trusts me more than he trusts you. And that drives you crazy."
The sword spirit said nothing else, but the look of sheer rage on her face said it all. With a cry of fury, she raced towards the Sheikah leader, her twin rapiers raised to attack. Sheik countered them as they came down with her knife and held her own as Fi pressed down, hoping to overpower her. However, as they held up this stance of opposition, both of them failed to notice Zelda exiting the house to see them just as they began to battle.
"Both of you, stop it!" she commanded firmly, knowing that they would both obey her because of her position. The girl moved to stand between them and glared at them both, her expression harsh and admonishing. "You both ought to be ashamed of yourselves. Fighting like petty little girls while Din only knows what could be happening to Link right now."
"Your grace, I-" Sheik tried to begin, but Zelda was quick to cut her off.
"I won't hear it," she said rigidly, her unyielding, authoritative manner so different from her usual bright, playful one. Clearly, the loss of her hero had given the girl a colder, grimmer worldview, one that was filled with both determination and resolve. "We don't have time to stand around here arguing over whose fault this is. Or at least I don't."
It was at this moment that Fi noticed the Bow of Light that Zelda grasped her hand and she immediately called her out on it. "Your grace," she began in a respectful tone. "I hope that you are not doing what I think you are."
The girl turned away from both the sword spirit and the Sheikah leader and gazed up into the gray skies above, her expression still hard yet contemplative. "I am," she said firmly and resolutely. "I have to. I owe him too much."
"Your grace-I mean, Zelda," Sheik spoke up as she caught on to the girl's intentions. "You can't possibly think… The Interlopers… They…" She sighed, unable to come up with a convincing argument to combat her reasoning, save for one. "This is much too dangerous and you are much too important to lose."
Zelda smiled grimly as cast a glance behind her at the two of them. "So is Link," was all she said as she began to head towards the village exit. Fi and Sheik were quick to follow after her, knowing that they couldn't let her go through with such a dangerous mission alone.
"Your grace, please, reconsider," Sheik begged. "We can send some of my braves to go searching for him. It'd be much safer than you-"
"No," the girl said with hardened resolve. "I have to go do this on my own. He'd do the same for me. And besides, I've been inside of their stronghold. I know what it's like down there and I know how to get there. So the two of you can either come with me and help me save him, or you can stay here and keep arguing. It's your choice."
Sheik and Fi exchanged hostile glares with each other, but ultimately, they were both thinking the same thing. The girl was every bit as headstrong as her husband, and she would not be stopped by any of their protests. Their respective loyalties to the goddess were too strong to let her go do this on her own, so the both simply nodded in relenting agreement as they followed her out of the village to find the hero and bring him home.
The hero awakened to the sound of a nearby heavy door opening and closing, followed by the sound of hastened footsteps. He sat up with a quiet groan, his body sore from the fitful night's sleep he had on the hard stone floor of the cell that he had been thrown into last night by the Interloper leader. It was a very small, confined, sealed off square room, its walls all made of thick stone and its only view outside of the cell was through the small, barred off window of the lone, locked door, which was the only exit.
The previous night, after Veress led Link down a maze of the stronghold's hallways, she had brought him to this small room, which was only one in a corridor lined with similar, empty cells. The Interloper leader then put him through something she had called "processing", which was basically stripping the hero of anything he could use as a weapon or a defense. In a quite undignified manner, Link was robbed of his chainmail, gloves and belt, but by far the worst part of it was when Veress, completely without warning, forcefully ripped his earrings out of his ears, claiming that there was a chance they could be used as weapons. This caused the hero considerable pain, but other than that, no other harm had come to him at that time, much to his initial confusion.
"I'd get some rest if I were you, hero," Veress had said as she left him alone, locking the cell door tight behind her. "The real fun begins tomorrow." She had left with area with a cold laugh that echoed throughout the hollow chambers, one that chilled the hero's bones and filled him with dread about what was to become of him in these dark, hopeless halls.
Link wasn't sure of how many hours of sleep he had actually managed to get, since his mind had been so preoccupied with many different concerns. Half of those concerns focused on Zelda and how she would react to his disappearance, but at least he no longer had any reason to worry for her personal safety and protection. And in light of this, the hero had begrudgingly let the other half of his concerns lie with his own wellbeing. He hated that he knew next to nothing about the Interlopers plans for him, but knowing that he would find out soon enough only made him worry more. He was no stranger to pain; after all, he had gone through quite a bit of it during his initial journey to find Zelda when they both first came down to the surface. But aside from the corruption he was suffering, he had never been outright tortured before. The fact that he had to willingly suffer through some type of unknown agony, unable to stop it because of his own resolve, gave Link the idea that, since he had vowed to show any resistance, the Interlopers planned on not showing any restraint on him.
Wanting to maintain his dignity before his captors, the hero stood as the Interloper leader opened the door to his cell and entered it, grinning at him with superiority. "Good morning, hero," Veress greeted him brightly, holding her hands behind her back as she flashed him a wide smile. "I trust that your accommodations are to your liking?"
Link smiled as well, knowing that this was all part of the game that he played with the Interloper leader. He knew that if he kept up a calm, confident front, then he wouldn't appear as weak to her. And if he appeared to be weak, even for a moment, that would only make things harder for him. "They could be better," he shrugged casually, casting a brief glance around the cell.
Veress's grin did not fade, though on the inside she was growing quite irritated with his relaxed manner, despite the bleak situation he was now in. "Well, in that case, allow me to show you to your other room right next door," she said, motioning for him to follow her out of the cell. "Perhaps you'll like it a bit more. After all, I had it prepared especially for you, hero…"
Link frowned as he entered into the next chamber after Veress, immediately knowing the purpose of this room. It was much larger than any of the cells, thought it was made of the same heavy stone material on every side. The only sources of light in the entire room came from a set of two torches near the door, though they somehow filled the area with a strange, shadowy light. The room itself was relatively barren, save for two distinguishing features: a set of strong metal chains dangling from the relatively low ceiling in the center of the room, and the southern wall, which was lined with almost every weapon imaginable. There were knifes, swords, daggers, bows, whips, and weapons that the hero had never even seen nor heard of before, all hanging from the wall in an organized manner. It didn't take Link long to figure out that all of those weapons were there for one reason and one reason alone: to cause him immense amounts of pain.
Two of Veress's followers who had been standing by in the room gripped the hero by the shoulders and forced him over to where the chains were, securing the manacles tightly around his wrists. The chains were just long enough that he could still stand fully, but just short enough that they forced him to raise his arms above his head a bit in a rather uncomfortable position. They were strong and heavy and prevented Link from moving too far in any one direction, much to his discouragement. This entire setup was specifically meant to confine him, so that he wouldn't be able to resist or evade any method of torture the Interlopers planned on inflicting upon him.
Once the hero was fully secured, Veress came to stand before him, a triumphant grin showing on her features. "Comfortable?" she asked cruelly, taking great pleasure in seeing him look so undignified and vulnerable.
Link glanced up at the chains that bound him, giving them a small tug as he did so. "Not really," he answered truthfully, with a casual frown. "But I guess it doesn't matter much to you."
"You're right," the Interloper leader said as her smile widened. "It doesn't. Because you're only going to get more uncomfortable from here." With her hands held behind her back, she sauntered over to the wall of weapons and looked over them carefully, before reaching up and taking one of the many whips that hung from the wall, a rather simple looking one made of a single, thick rope. She continued speaking as she made her way back over to the hero, holding the whip out in front of her so he could see it. "But first, there's a bit of business that we simply must take care of…"
"What kind of business?" Link asked, eyeing the whip warily and knowing that Veress was just dying to use it on him.
"Oh, not much…" she said, uncoiling the whip as she began circling him, though surprisingly, she did not so much as lash it out at him once. "I just want a little… information…" She leaned in close towards the hero and gave him a broad smile, which he returned with a resolute expression.
"If you think I'm going to tell you anything about Zelda, then you can just forget it right now," he said firmly, already starting to brace himself for the first lash that would certainly come because of his insubordination. But he didn't care how much pain he'd have to go through; there was no way that he would ever reveal anything about his wife that the Interlopers could use against her.
"Oh, don't worry, hero," Veress said, rolling her eyes at him. "I could hardly care less about your dear little goddess right now. After all, there was a very specific reason I wanted you, instead of her…"
"And that is?" Link asked hesitantly, watching her movements carefully so he would be prepared just in case she planned on striking.
"Well, there are actually quite a few reasons, but the first lies in my own curiosity about you, Link…" the Interloper leader said smoothly as she moved to stand in front of him, placing a gentle hand on his chest. "First of all, I want to know more about that 'corruption' that your little sword spirit mentioned back in the Sealed Temple… It certainly sounded serious and I know just from watching you that you haven't been quite yourself since it started, hm? So why not let me in on the secret that you tried so hard to keep from your beloved wife… I promise I won't tell anyone…"
The hero glared at her, distrustful of the sickeningly sweet tone she had taken on. "I know you're lying," he said calmly.
"So what if I am? You're still going to tell me what I want to know either way, whether you want to or not," she said as she slipped her hand off his chest.
"What makes you think that?" Link challenged stubbornly, resolved against telling her anything about his corruption. He knew that the only reason Veress would want such information would be to use it to her advantage against him and possibly even Zelda, despite the deal that they had made.
"Let's just say I have many ways of making you talk…" Veress said darkly as she motioned to the wall of weapons behind her. "So… You can either make this easy or hard on yourself. It's your choice, hero."
Link glanced at the whip in the Interloper leader's hands, but he said nothing. The Interlopers may have had him completely in their grasp, and he may have promised not to resist them, but he didn't have to tell them anything.
"So, you want to be stubborn, do you?" Veress asked as her grin disappeared, replacing it with a look of violence and aggression. "That's quite alright. If you wish to remain silent, then you should hope that you have a strong threshold for pain."
The Interloper leader smiled wickedly once more as she reached forward and tore the hero's tunic and undershirt off of him harshly, tossing the clothes to the wayside as she moved to stand behind him. "Have you ever been whipped before, hero?" she asked twistedly, watching with cruel delight as Link's bare muscles tensed up in anticipation for the first strike. "In case you haven't, let me just tell you: it's even more painful then you're expecting it to be!"
Veress laughed triumphantly as she raised the whip and brought it down quickly, sending a brutal pain across the hero's exposed back. Link barely managed to suppress a cry of agony, instead clenching his firsts tightly and gritting his teeth as she struck him once more, doubling the already intense pain. The Interloper continued to throw the whip down at him, each lash more and more painful than the last. As she did so, Veress quickly noticed something that only made her more amused as she continued her wicked work. "Your blood is… white?!" she asked with a heartless laugh as she noticed the pearl-colored liquid start to pour from the deep cuts she had made in his back. "Let me guess: it's because of that 'corruption' of yours, isn't it?"
Link remained silent as he took another heavy lash, closing his eyes tightly to try and chase the burning agony away. He had felt pain many times before, but this was an all new kind of pain. The only pain that could possibly be compared to this was the anguish he experienced every time he was dragged into another spell of corruption, only that was worse as it brought on mental suffering as well as physical. This was solely external, and yet it was not only exceedingly painful, but also humiliating as well. No doubt he looked weak to the Interloper leader at the moment, but he was not going to relinquish any information to her, much less beg for mercy. He just had to remind himself that he could take any amount of pain she could inflict on him. He had no intention of being broken by something as minor as physical agony.
After what seemed like ages of nothing but sheer torture, Veress finally stilled her hand, but only for a moment as she moved to look into the hero's face, examining him carefully. His forehead was coated with beads of sweat, and, much to her amusement, his cheeks were red in embarrassment and humiliation. Slowly, he lifted his lowered head and looked up at her, his breathing heavy as he tried to ignore the lingering sting of his torn-up back. However, much to her anger, no tears of misery came from his crimson eyes, which were still determined and resilient as he glared at her unrelentingly.
"You stubborn fool!" she growled in fury as her grip tightened on the whip handle. "Tell me what I want to know, or else!"
Despite the intense pain he was feeling, Link simply smirked triumphantly at her, glad to see that he was finally unraveling the icy Interloper leader. "Never," he said quietly but firmly, his tone rigid and courageous.
Veress took in a deep breath as she glared daggers at him. She held her whip up for a long moment, preparing to bring it down upon his bare chest before stopping herself and lowering it with a cold, foreboding smile. "Very well then," she said calmly, turning away from him to head back to the wall of weapons. "There's more than one way to go get you talking. And besides… I also want to know… Just how much pain does a supposedly 'unbreakable' hero has to go through before he bends and breaks from the inside out?"
Oh my gosh... I'm already feeling hard for Link and we've barely even begun this heavy part of the story yet... That's not a good sign... Anyway, who's looking forward to more of the same (only more depressing) in the next few chapters, as well as some girl-powery action moments from Zelda, Sheik, and Fi? I know I am! So, let me just say REVIEW! PRETTY PLEASE! :D until next time!