The morning light slowly stretched into Link's room through the single window, casting the shadow of Saria's hanging skeleton across his wall. He groaned, rolling out of bed and ignoring the jarring pain when he hit the floor. Reaching underneath the bed he pulled out the rough wooden stick that vaguely resembled a sword. But it was heavy enough to make him work hard and wasn't too horribly off balance.
"Good morning Navi." He stood up, not seeming to realize the small skeleton that hung from his ceiling would never answer. "I know, I know. I should have trained last night. I was just too tired. I know, I know. Excuses, excuses. Yeah, well I don't see you training."
Link went through the motions of his sword forms half hearted for two hours, lazily cutting at the air around him and tiredly blocking imagined attacks.
"Maybe I'll skip the next form. I'm thirsty and my side hurts." Link traced his finger along the large pink scar running up his right side. "When do you think they'll bring me up some food? I'm getting hungry. Hey, I do too think about more than food! I train, don't I? Saria, you don't think I'm spoiled, do you? See Navi? Not so smart after all, are you? Yeah, that's what I thought. Be quiet for a change; I'm going back to sleep."
As soon as he had buried himself under the covers the same nightmare that had haunted him the last three years came back. Only he knew it wasn't a nightmare; it was just a retelling of the past.
He looked on from above as he waited a moment too long to roll between Ganon's legs, saw himself impaled on one of those swords and tossed to the side. He could still hear Zelda's piercing scream as his body flew through the air. A moment after he'd hit the ground he heard Zelda scream again, this time in pain with what he could only assume was her last breath.
But the nightmare wouldn't end there. It would go on, to the speech Ganon had given; that death would be delivered to those who didn't submit to him. The dream continued to when Ganon had taken him to the forest on the back of a black dragon. The trees erupted in flame spontaneously, and the screams of birds and the shrieks of children burning still echoed in his head. From the back of the dragon he almost though he'd seen a few minute figures dragging themselves from the forest, and further down three dim specks of light were on the ground. A small thread of hope to hold onto amongst the slaughter of innocent children.
And still the dream would go on. The dragon flew to Lon Lon ranch, where complete pandemonium had broken loose. Stalfos were hacking at anything that moved, the bodies of horse's piling up steadily as he was forced to watch. A few Hylians had escaped on horseback, one with wild red hair. Another thread of hope to hold onto; that perhaps he hadn't caused Malon's death as well.
He relived the boiling of Lake Hylia, the screams of the Zora's as they slowly died filling the valley. He could still smell their burning flesh and see the horror as they were pulled out and eaten by Ganon's creatures. Then the dragon had flown up to the Goron's domain, spilling the lava throughout the mountains as the Goron's melted. Link knew none of them had made it. There was no way. And he would think of Link, the goron named after him. After the Hero of Time, who had failed everyone.
Only one of the six sages made it out alive when Ganon attacked, princess Ruto. Ganon had kept Impa alive long enough to bring her out beyond Hyrule, to where her husband was in hiding with their children. The sheikah's had been underestimated; the three children managed to run away while their parents fought side by side for the last time. Three more lives he hadn't blighted, one more thread of hope to cling to desperately.
Just as his dream got to the storm that overtook kakiriko village, he was woken abruptly by a thump on the shoulder. Link briskly wiped the tears from his face and forced his eyes to focus.
"Good afternoon Link. Sleeping the time away I see." Ganon's red eyes looked down at him with amusement.
"It beats conversing with you."
"Aw, I'm hurt. The little boy doesn't want to talk." He offered Link the customary tray of food. Next he brought forth the chess board. "Best two out of three?"
Link nodded tiredly, bringing the cup of milk to his face while Ganon set up the pieces. Link moved his pawn forward.
"Still practicing around with that stick?" Ganon mimicked Link's move.
"Every now and then. It keeps me from getting as fat as you at least. Not too much good for anything else."
"How true."
"So how 'bout you? Still tinkering with the Orcarina?"
Ganon nodded. "It's frustrating." he paused to think over his next move. "You sure you don't want to give me a few hints? Maybe a song or two?"
"Torturing didn't work, yet you think asking politely will? And now that I think of it, you didn't even ask all that politely."
Ganon shrugged and countered Link's last move. "It's always worth a shot."
"I suppose. Hey, how's it going with Tioora? Is she coming around at all after that last fight?"
Ganon chuckled. "I managed to persuade her to sit in the same room with me, but she's still feisty. That's the last time I throw her in the dungeon for holding out on me."
"I could have told you that wouldn't work."
"Sorry. I'll be sure to check in before I make any relationship related decisions."
"It could only help. This Tioora, is what, the fifth chick this year? Not exactly sending out the necessary gal vibes."
"And you think you could do better?"
Link scoffed, taking one of Ganon's knights. "Are you kidding? You're the only male of their kind and you can't even maintain a serious relationship with one of them. As for myself, half the population is my competition, yet I could list four people who've made suggestions that they'd go for me. And considering I've only been out and about for eleven years of my life, that's not too shabby. Especially considering of those eleven years I wasn't known for being a social animal."
Ganon moved his rook out of danger, leaving an attack on his last bishop wide open. As Link's knight came in for the capture the gerudo asked, "Any of those four girls still alive?"
Link shrugged, setting the black bishop by the edge of the board. "Probably not. Check."
"Oh, I do hate to see you so down."
"Ganon, there are many things you're good at. Lying to me – and playing me in chess, check mate – are not things you're good at however."
Ganon sighed, and started resetting the board. "I suppose you're right about that. Hey, can I have a grape?"
"Go get your own. And move. I haven't got all day." They both chuckled at that, and continued their game.
Cort dove down, his wings pumping. He dove into a group of vine leaves, quickly checking behind him to see if the Skultula had seen him. Letting loose a breath of relief, the fairy slowly worked his way up the vines, staying out of the sight of the spider's guarding Link's prison. The setting sun, making it's rare appearance out from behind ever-ominous black clouds, illuminated everything a soft orange, letting Cort blend in perfectly with the air. Holding his breath, he raced out from the vines and through Link's window, dropping to the floor with shock at still being alive. His two friends and himself had been trying to make it to Link ever since they'd discovered which room he was being kept in.
~*~
Cort surveyed the room, surprised at how spacious it was. And despite being barren of furniture a few carpets littered the wooden floor and one of the walls was lined with books. For a moment Cort thought that Link was getting treated fairly well here, until he glanced up. Sickened, the fairy quickly looked away again. Navi's fragile skeleton hung from the ceiling, and when he looked out he realized that the other skeleton was Saria's.
Shaking away the shudders, he turned to the south wall and saw Link thrashing in his bed, apparently in the middle of a nightmare. Cort was about to wake him when he stopped to read words scratched into a patch of wooden floor by the foot of Link's bed. There were dozens of names, all with an line crossing them out. At the head of the list was Zelda's name, followed by Darunia, Navi, Saria, Ingo, Talon, Mido, King Zora, Goron Link, Nabooru, and the list went on and on. Cort was surprised to see Volvagia, Dark Link, Twinrova, Dogondo, and many other enemies included at the end. Then Cort realized what the list was, deaths Link thought were his fault. Underneath the long list of names Link had scrawled "I am the sage of death".
Quickly Cort flew up to Link's bedpost, hoping it wouldn't be too late to get through to Link and make him feel better. "Link! Wake up Link!"
He only thrashed further, and started to shout, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." His tears flew as wildly as his arms did. The fairy avoiding flailing limbs to light on Link's face. "Link, wake up!" Glancing out the window Cort realized he only had a few more moments before the sunset's colors would change and give him no escape. He had mapped the last parts of the castle, and had to get back to Zelda.
"Link, please wake up!" The fairy bit him, but it brought no response except to be tossed aside. Now he could hear footsteps approaching, and blackness began creeping into the room as the sun set further and further beyond the horizon.
Just as the door began to open Cort darted underneath the bed, holding his breath. So little orange light was left . . .
Ganon's voice startled the fairy, rumbling from deep in the man's throat so that Cort thought he felt the floor vibrate from the power in it. "Still having nightmares little boy?" The meaty sound of a fist connecting with flesh sent a chill up his spine.
"I'm awake. There's no need to be so violent." Link's voice was quivering and he was shaking so much the bed moved.
"As promised, I'm stopping in before taking any drastic actions with my new girl."
"I wasn't being serious, but suit yourself. What were you planning on doing?"
Ganon started pacing along the bed, taking three long strides, turning, then walking three steps back. Hope washed over the fairy; while Ganon paced one way his back would be turned to the window and there'd be a chance of escape. "I was going to hold a feast." Step, step. "And invite everyone of course." Step, turn. "And then I'd hang over this cute Hylian all night." Step, step, step. "To make Tioora jealous, of course." Turn. Cort took in a deep breath, and flew away as fast as his wings could carry him. As soon as he cleared the window he dropped straight down, out of the last remaining golden sunlight and into a vine leaf.
The skulltulla's rustled from where they clung to the vines, but nothing came after him, nothing attacked him. With a heavy heart, Cort worked his way down, hoping Zelda would weight the news of the completed map heavier than that of Link's state of mind.
~*~
"He called himself the sage of death?" Zelda whispered, surprise and despair on her face. "And he thinks that I'm dead?"
"Along with almost everyone else. I don't know old that was though, remember. It could be he wrote those things when he first was imprisoned. And you can't blame him." Cort had been startled when Zelda brushed off the news of the map to hear about Link. If only he'd been able to tell her something more uplifting than their hero going insane with guilt. "And I did see a wooden sword under his bed, with no dust on it. He probably practices a lot. And Ganon did look pretty fat, from what I saw of him. I don't think he's ever expecting a rescue."
"But either is Link. He thinks we're all dead." She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, and Cort was worried that Zelda may cry in front of someone for a change, but when she opened her eyes they were dry and she looked like her normal emotionless self. "Thank you for the report and for completing the maps."
"Zelda, are you sure you're okay? I mean, Link-"
"The only thing that matters anymore is killing Ganon. All Link has to do is use the Master Sword to deliver the last blow. We'll all use the light arrows against Ganon, we'll all be able to chase him and attack him. This time the outcome won't rest on Link's shoulder's alone, the burden will be shared by us all. It never should have been his in the first place."
Cort paused, and added softly, "Remember that. How we're going to share the burden. You've taken up too much of it yourself. You look horrible. Try to get some sleep."
Maybe they think if they suggest sleep enough I'll take their advice. Zelda mused. She had to stifle a yawn as Cort left the room, then she lit another candle and set to work making copies of the map for everyone. It would be another long night.