Link was able to find his way around the woods very easily due to the many trips he had made to them with his father when he was just a young boy. Everything he knew about hunting boar, and paying attention to little details to ensure he could find his way back, he had learned it all from his father. However, this time he wasn't just sticking to the parts of the woods that he already knew. Instead he was heading for the Lost Woods, which he'd only ever visited once before and hadn't been back since. Not a single Hylian had ever set foot inside, other than himself. He never imagined that he would be back here.

"Link... Where are you leading us?" Midna asked, growing concerned as she took in their surroundings.

"Hush! I need to concentrate. You'll find out soon enough." He scolded, focusing extremely hard on remembering the route through this stranger set of woods.

As he turned his attention from Midna back to the strange woods ahead of them, he stopped in his tracks for the first time since leaving the castle. He felt his heart begin to thump harder and harder in his chest as though it were a prisoner getting frustrated and trying to break out. Every other movement from his body ceased as he stared blankly into the darkness. In the midst of the fog, he could only just make out different shapes that formed images moving around him.

"I never thought that you would be such a disappointment!"

Hearing those words, he stammered back, both confused and shocked by what he'd just heard. Turning to his companion, his eyes filled with hurt and fear, he did not understand what he'd just heard.

"Midna, what? Why would you...?" He questioned, slowly backing away from her.

"Why would I what?" She asked confused by what he was referring to.

"Say that to me?" He trembled, unable to keep the quiver out of his voice.

"Huh?... Link, I really don't get what you mean." Midna answered confused.

"You are no son of mine!"

As the realisation of who the voice belonged to dawned on Link, a scene began to play right in front of his eyes. A day of pain that he had worked hard to bury ever since. He never thought that he would be watching it play back to him. Being unable to stop the memory from forming, it became almost unbearable. Never in his life had he wanted to squint his eyes shut and scream for help as much as he did now.

"You're a weakling. I brought you out here to learn to shoot deer but it turns out that you are so faint of heart that you can't even handle a simple hunting trip!" His father scolded.

Hearing the man's words, Link's shoulders slumped and he lowered his crossbow in defeat. Avoiding meeting his father's eyes, he kept his own on the ground. He did not want to reveal the tears that were stinging his eyes as he held them back. It wasn't the hunting trip... that he could handle. But they weren't hunting for boar or anything, instead they were targeting innocent deers. Beautiful creatures that also happened to be Zelda's favourite. He just didn't have the strength to drive an arrow through their hearts for the sake of eating a bit of meat for once.

"Father please... give me another chance! I can do this... just not the deer, I'm begging you... anything but them." He pleaded, still unable to look him in the eyes.

"Do not beg me! You are not a dog, so do not act like one." His father boomed.

"I'm sorry." Link whispered.

His father had always been tough on him but never once had he been so harsh. Ashamed was too weak of a word to describe how he felt.

"Don't apologise either. It's simple. Just shoot the dumb deer, and then I will be happy with you for once in my life. All I ask of you is that you are not pathetic." The man sneered.

"O-Okay..." He stammered, raising his crossbow once again.

Clenching his teeth together, he focused as hard as he could on the oblivious doe that was chewing blades of grass only a few feet away from them. With his lip trembling, and his hands shaking, he made the shot. The arrow flew through the air and struck the deer in its side. The fragile creature let out an agonising shriek and fell to the ground. Link's heart just couldn't take it anymore after hearing its cry. A dangerous level of guilt filled him and the bow slipped from his hands, clattering on the ground below. Swallowing hard, trying to rid himself of the lump in his throat, breathing became harder and harder until eventually he was gasping for air. It wasn't until he heard his father screaming at him and felt the man's rough hands strike the back of his head, that he realised he'd fallen on his knees in the grass with unstoppable amounts of tears flooding down from his eyes like a waterfall.

"I warned you what would happen if you did not put aside your personal feelings Link! You're a mess. A disappointment. Until you man up I shall not see you as my son!" His father spat, swinging his foot with full force into his stomach before turning around and walking away.

"Father no! Father!" Link screamed.

Midna froze besides him, completely dumbfounded by his sudden outburst. She couldn't see anything ahead of then other than mist covered path and sky high trees that towered over them like a garden of giant beanstalks. It frightened her to see him like this since he was usually so calm and composed about everything. This was different. She'd never seen him completely lose himself this way before, and especially not crying out loud in such deep pain.

"Link!" She shrieked, growing alarmed.

For a moment, when his desperate cries had stopped, she thought that she had managed to get through to him. But he did not speak at all. He just stood next to her in complete silence, still staring ahead of them as though she hadn't even spoken.

"Link!" His father's voice bellowed from downstairs.

Rushing down the stairs, tripping over his feet multiple times as he went, Link was curious to see what had brought his father's interest back to him. The man had not spoken to him since that day in the woods and he hadn't been out of his room in at least a week. Once he reached the bottom, he hastily crossed the room to where his father was waiting by the entrance to the house. Eagerly, like a puppy in training, he waited for the man to speak. He was dying to know what had finally put an end to the silent treatment that he was getting.

"Link, the King has requested to see you. I am not sure why he would bother with you but I suggest that you go and find out before he changes his mind." His father informed him.

Afraid to say something that might anger his father, he gave a nod and turned to leave. He was excited about this meeting with the King and wanted to make a good impression. It was his dream was to one day become a Knight, like the ones he saw often around Castle Town. He looked up to them and had since the first time he'd ever seen them in combat.

"IT'S NOT REAL!" Midna cried at the top of her lungs.

For the first time, Link finally tore his eyes away from the mist that plagued the woods and turned his attention Midna. At first, relief washed through her as she began to think that she had finally managed to get him back down to earth, but the feeling soon faded as she noticed that his eyes were void of any emotion, and he was not looking at her, but rather behind her.

"Link! Please... help me! He's going to kill me!"

Alarm bells rang in his ears as he heard the Zelda's voice echo through the outdoors. Without a warning he changed directions and almost sprinted down the path to the right. He never had a doubt when he heard her voice. It was always a sign on what to do, and that was something he desperately prayed for right now. As he ran, the voices in his head grew louder. It wasn't just the voice of the Princess. He could hear his father as clear as day too, telling him that he'd be failing, the pleas of the King who had become a broken shell without his daughter safe and sound, and Ilia... the one he'd failed to save. Her death still haunted him, and it probably always would... but he wasn't about to fail Zelda the same way he'd failed her.

"Link... please slow down! We need to get through these woods to find the sword." Midna called, struggling to keep up with him.

"No! If I stop moving she will die!" He yelled breathlessly.

"STOP! Link, you're gonna hurt yourself!" The imp warned.

"I don't care! The Princess needs me... I have to find the sword and fast. I don't have time to get lost in these woods." He called back.

Struggling to breathe, Link still refused to stop moving. Hearing the pained cries of the Princess had hurt his heart more than he cared to admit, and asides from that, he just wanted to have her back by his side. He felt incredibly lonely without her. Despite Midna's presence, he was drowning in his thoughts and feelings. The only person he'd ever bared his soul to was Zelda, and without her to talk him through these painful memories, he was afraid that he might break completely. If that happened then Hyrule, Zelda, Midna and the Twilight folk were doomed. He was the only one who could save them, nothing could allow him to shake that responsibility.

After a while, he began to slow. Not because he wanted to, but because his legs just take anymore. Before he could fully stop, his knees buckled and he found himself on the ground, breathing rapidly and shallow. He hadn't quite realised just how far and long he'd gone for. He glanced over his shoulder to locate Midna, who seemed to have fallen very far behind, before returning his focus to what was ahead of him. There was no time to react to what he was confronted with as soon as he turned his head. Three Shadow Beings, as black as midnight towered over his kneeling form, closing in on him. Their hideous deformed bodies blocking any view he had beyond them. As he went to withdraw his sword from its sheath, the creature in the centre let out an ear piercing shriek before violently shaking it's head. Tentacle-like structures hung from its face and slapped the sword right out of his hands as it continued to shake.

"Link! No..." He heard Midna cry.

He had no strength left in him to fight though, and the second that they reached were laid hands on him, his whole body collapsed under pressure from exhaustion and his eyes fluttered closed, providing him with just a tiny shred of relief. The last thing he heard was Midna's horrified screams.


A/N: Hey, thank you for reading! I hope that you're still enjoying this story as much as I enjoy providing it.

I would like to inform you all that from now on I shall be working solo on this project, and providing Midna's lines by myself. Things did not work out exactly as I planned, but this story is going better than I expected.

I would also like to thank you all for continuing to support me and this story despite all the recent changes. It means a lot to me, so thank you all so much.