Link looked up to the cave, then back to the paper William had given him, "Yup, this is it."

Robert was breathing through his mouth. He had made it evidently clear that he wasn't enjoying this punishment. When Link had told him 'Then I guess it's working as one' Robert had given an exhasperated shrug and had remained silent.

Link looked back. Robert had both hands on his back and he was looking at a couple of birds flying around. "Come on, let's go in."

Robert smirked a little, "Yeah, sure."

Link looked confused a second, but decided not to ask. He had gotten used to Midna with time, he had forgotten how annoying it was to have someone who spoke too much.

Link started to walk to the entrance of the cave.

"Wait, are you serious?"

Link half-turned, "Robert, really. It's barely afternoon, we had a good rest yesterday. I see no reason why we should postpone-"

Robert moved his hands in front of him, "Are we really going in?"

Link frowned, "That's the plan, isn't it?"

Robert tried to assess whether Link was being facetious or not. By Link's frown, he was not. Robert looked up to the cave, it was dark, moist, and dangerous-looking. "Yeah, no, I know, but-"

Link gave a tired sigh, "You can stay outside if you want."

Robert made a horrified face, "And be alone for who knows how long?" He then pointed to a faraway keese, "Surrounded by monsters?"

Link scanned the area around them, "It looks safe enough. It will be at most two days, and," Link motioned with a fancy hand movement, "should you happen to face monsters you can always use the reliable climb a tree technique."

"I thought you asked to come with me to protect me."

"Yeah, having second thoughts about that."

Robert felt a knot forming in his stomach. Maybe Link was a vengeful person. 'Oops, yeah, that guy who was with me? He got killed by a couple of babas, not my fault at all.'

Link backtracked immediatly, "It was a joke," Robert had his head tilted, "Yeah, a bad one." Robert's face regained its color and Link breathed in once. His bad temper was getting the better of him. "You know what? We can take a breather before going in, we are under no hurry, whatsoever," Link looked around, searching for a place to camp.

And Robert was having trouble understanding life. "Uh, Link," honesty was the way, Robert remembered. Honesty. "The thing is... I thought you had talked with Princess Zelda to kind of," Link looked so righteous that Robert felt his words jumble, "like, make believe we came?"

Link cocked his head, "Why would we do that?"

Right. Good question. Why would they do that, Robert? Why would you lie, Robrob? Really awful of you, Robbie. "It's kind of," how we do things, keep it quiet, keep it nice, "how nobles handle their stuff?" Robert's voice was barely a whisper at the end.

Link was slaw-jacked, he looked at Robert, then the cave, and then the piece of paper he had been given. "Are you saying you thought this was all fake?"

Robert was beginning to think that Link was way more serious and way more responsible than Robert had given him credit for. "No?" Robert tried, but Link looked offended enough. Honesty, Robert reminded himself. Come on. "Well yes, I did."

Link blew a raspberry and looked away.

"The thing is, I don't think they'll come check. And even if they do come, at most they'll check around the cave so it really-"

Link was eyeing the piece of paper with scorn, "Is this fake, then?"

"Uh, I don't know," but he did know people who were prone to doing those kinds of things, "Do you know who issued it?"

Link shook his head, "I just got the note and left as soon as I could."

Fair, thought Robert. There was no reason for Link to be amicable with them. "Well, then I don't know."

Link folded the paper in four and looked to the distance, "Well there's two ways this can go: Either we go in and find nothing, which, fine; or we go in, we find a nest of monsters and we take care of them, helping the nearby may-be-fictional towns who issued the help orders, which, better." Link stomped his right foot, "And I'm going in now."

Robert didn't find it in him to keep on fighting, especially because his reasons sounded ridiculous once he said them out loud.

The cave, to no one's surprise, was humid and dark.

"You get uncomfortable in the dark?"

Robert was still near the entrance. He had one hand on the still dry cave wall, the sun was touching his hand, and he was worried the fear was showing too much on his face, "Yeah."

"You'll carry the lantern, then."

Robert took the shining lantern and the darkness was now swift and more terrifying.

"Don't worry, I've gone to a bunch of these, stick with me and you'll be all right."

"Please don't leave me in the middle of it."

Link looked back, his hair caught the light of the lantern and Robert felt his body relaxing immediatly because there was no way someone that looked like that could say anything but, "I won't. I promise."

Robert nodded and stepped inside.

The walk inside the cave was slow and filled by Robert's remarks about unsafe places and gross-looking things.

"Careful there," Link motioned with his head.

Robert was going in depth about why caves were in the top ten of his 'fuck no' list when Link grabbed his arm. "I said careful there."

Robert blinked and looked around, he had thought Link was calling out to him because of the slippery stone back there. "I don't see anything," Robert whispered.

Link let go of his arm, "Stay there," he walked to a dark, moist and water-dripping spot when he pointed with his finger, "See that?"

Robert saw moss and what looked like gross algae, "Nope."

"Don't get scared," said Link, and gave a step more. A baba grew out of the ground, mouth filled with sharp white teeth. Link killed it with a sharp movement of his sword.

Robert couldn't control the shiver that ran down his spine and the gag reflex he had to stop, but even then he still caught a glimpse of the ethereal shine on Link's sword.

Link cleaned the sword and Robert couldn't help but ask, "Is your sword shining?" As in, a magical sword that shone in the dark?

Link shrugged, "Maybe."

Robert repeated Link's 'maybe' with a mocking face. "I saw it, Hero."

Link pointed to the baba, "Pick up the stick of the baba, will you?"

"Just because you want me to make a horrified face or is there a better reason?"

"They make good torches."

"We have a lantern, though."

"Rule number one of being out in the wild: Always be prepared for things getting worse."

Robert looked at the baba stick, "You have a way of making me scared it's not even funny."

Link smirked, "Weeell," he drawled.

"Just shut up."

Link laughed.

Robert let himself fall to the ground.

"Yeah, yeah, we'll rest now." Link lowered the flame of the lantern and sat near Robert, "You really have to train more, you know? You are in bad shape."

Robert wheezed once, with a dramatic raspy sound, "You are a beast, that's all."

"I mean it."

"Okay, fine. Get me out of here alive and I will."

Link snorted and got confortable. He closed his eyes, travelling with Robert meant he couldn't really sleep. What kinds of rumors would he hear back in Castle Town if Robert heard him scream in his sleep? Better not risk it.

"You can sleep if you're tired." Robert was preparing himself to catch a short nap.

"I'm not."

"... You didn't sleep anything last night, though."

Link cracked open an eye, "How would you know that?"

"I'm a light sleeper, moreso when I'm nervous."

Link shook his head no, "I did sleep last night. Just a few hours."

Robert looked at Link. This was a fine line he was treading. But he owed it to this man. "I won't tell anyone about the nightmares."

Link felt his body tense, but his voice was even, "I don't know where you heard tha-"

"The maids are a great source of information, Link."

Link frowned and looked at Robert with a question on his face.

"Yes, I asked the maids about you. Yes, there are maids who go to your room to hear what you're doing."

Link kept silent but said nothing.

"Just... I don't want you to go without sleep because you're with me."

"I won't."

And that was final. Robert swallowed the lump on his throat and nested his head on his arm. "Well, uhh, feel free to wake me whenever you need."

Link hummed in agreement.

When Robert awoke, a little bit groggy and feeling he had slept more than he should, Link had his eyes closed and was leaning comfortably against a wall. His breathing was even and Robert could feel the relief of thinking Link had actually heeded his advice. Robert got up on his four and neared Link with the intention of lowering even more the flame of the lantern.

Link had his knee pressed to the ground the next moment and was grabbing the hilt of his sword with strenght. Link focused his vision on Robert and breathed out, "You startled me."

Robert was still holding his breath. Link sat back as if nothing had happened and Robert let out a shaky whine, "I startled you?"

Link had the nerve to smirk. "Sorry," he mumbled, but Robert could see he found it funny.

"How much did I sleep?" Robert felt his eyes tired and his head heavy, "Five hours?"

"You wish. Two hours and that's stretching it."

Link waited for Robert to grab the lantern and stand beside him, "We've found nothing and the next stretch is the last one. Maybe you were right."

Robert kept silent. Being right on this wouldn't feel nice. Sure, they had faced a fair share of babas and keese but those wouldn't get out of a cave to disturb nearby villages. If someone had faked this...

"You know," maybe the dark was making Robert feel more guilty than he should. Maybe the fact that Link was so fucking nice had to do with the shame he was starting to feel. Like Robert owed Link something... Well, he did, but more than what he already owed Link. "You should just give it time, you know?"

Link - as it had started to be expected of him - just hummed in agreement. Robert couldn't be sure Link heard everything Robert was saying, but the couple of times he had tried to catch Link by asking him his opinion, Link had answered with a monotone bored voice, but right on the spot. But this was important so Robert pressed on it, "You do know what I'm talking about, right?"

Link pointed to a spot and Robert walked around it. The cave was filled with babas as they got deeper into it and Link had found it daunting to keep on killing them if they could walk by them. "Eh, the monsters?"

Yeah, but no. "About your situation with Princess Zelda."

Robert had to stop dead on his tracks. Link was still and he was looking no different than before, "Careful there," and Robert felt a shiver run down his spine.

"Yeah, no," Backtrack? If so now was the time. But, really? "You know why the nobles hate you, right?"

"Why you hate me, you mean."

Uh, oh. Okay, okay, okay, breathe in, you've got this. "Yes, well. The reason behind it is, you know, when the Queen died and left the King with no other heir but a girl, and when everyone realized the King had no intention of remarrying, every boy the princess' age was groomed for her."

"You?" Link asked, and know his voice was less acrid and more curious.

"No, my brother." Fucker, he wanted Robert to shut up, "So they all thought they had the same chances of attaining Royal status, right?"

"Till a no one came and they all lost their minds." Link's voice was bored again, as if he had heard this a thousand times over.

"Till a no one came and the Princess started to fight back for him."

"Get to the point."

"As soon as they all realize that Her Highness won't throw you away and just won't let you go, they'll start to understand that their best shot is to befriend you-"

"Yeah, not happening."

"But it will."

"Okay, see, the thing is you and all of your people think that Zelda- Princess Zelda is thinking of maybe marrying me, but she's not-"

"Are you certain?"

Link looked tired and ready to punch Robert on the face, "The question should be, why are you so certain? She just needs a real friend inside that soul-eating pla-"

"Are you telling me that if she asked, you wouldn't marry her?"

"Shut up."

"Also, she has friends in there, you know? They aren't overly friendly and, sure, they can't show it in front of everyone, but she has very good friends in the Castle."

Link made a face of disgust. They were sucky friends if they left her to face everything on her own.

"And they haven't left her alone, if that's what you're thinking. They just have learned that to help here they have better chances of succeeding if they do it surrepticiously."

Link looked away.

Robert was having trouble understanding Link's obliviousness on the matter and Link's obvious discomfort with being one of the best candidates for becoming King. The latter Robert could attribute almost without thinking to the fact that Link was genuinely a better person than all of Robert's friends combined - not that hard to overcome, if Robert was being honest with himself - and to the fact that Link was a really humble individual. But Link's obliviousness to Her Highness fondness was baffling, especially because she had never shown it so openly before. And then it dawned on him. "You don't know." Of course he wouldn't know, he lived in fucking Ordon.

"I know a fair amount so you can stop with the-"

"You don't know, of course you don't. Link, a few years back we had the same thing happening. A nobody was close with Her Highness and hell broke loose. Her answer? She threw him away."

Link froze. Zelda?

"And I'm sure it broke her heart, and I'm sure there were people pressuring her, just like with you, but she gave up on him."

"And not me, right?"

"Yes."

Link sighed, "Robert it could well mean that she just matured. That she is now tired of following others' orders. It means nothing, really."

Robert shut his mouth.

"Come on, let's keep going." Link kept on going, his back got lost in the dark. And Robert followed.