Chapter 21

Ganson quietly snuck into the room Link was being held in that night while Ganondorf was asleep, keeping a candle lit to light his way without giving away his position. He held the light close to his brother's face. Link was unconscious, his head drooping, his bangs hiding his closed eyes. Ganson then frowned, looking over the rest of the young hero. His clothes looked burned close to the chains from the heat of the electricity in the metal. He was pretty sure his skin was burned as well. His body was starting to look frail from lack of food and water, his skin slightly pale. Ganson felt a few tears stream down his cheeks.

"Link, I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I didn't want this to happen to anybody. This is all my fault..."

"That it is," spoke a voice from behind Ganson. The young man quickly turned around and his eyes widened as he looked upon his father. "You wanted to find your real roots. You wanted to get revenge. YOU freed the greatest threat to Hyrule and the world: myself." Ganondorf smirked at his words. "And now you're going to lead Hyrule to its downfall and into my grasp. And I have you to thank for helping me with my dream of conquering Hyrule." Ganson lowered his head in shame. He had put the entire country in danger, mainly his brother and his new friends. Ganondorf looked at Link, smirked, then walked up to the unconscious Hylian. He cupped his hand under Link's chin and looked him over, then smirked. Ganson's head snapped in Ganondorf's direction and he glared at him hatefully.

"What are you doing," snapped Ganson.

"You two look a lot alike, don't you think," asked Ganondorf calmly, frowning. "Too much alike. It's like saying that my arch nemesis is my son..." Ganondorf's hand slowly went for a dagger on his belt. Ganson quickly grabbed his father's wrist and threw him away from Link, a hateful look in his eyes.

"Keep your hands OFF of him," shouted Ganson furiously. Ganondorf quickly got up, stormed over to Ganson, grabbed him by the neck, then slammed him against the wall, glaring up at him.

"Hold your tongue, boy! What you're doing is causing even more pain for your 'precious' brother! Now unless you want him killed, I suggest you stay in line and obey my orders! Do we have an understanding!?" Ganson just glared at his father. Ganondorf backhanded him, then drew his dagger and held it to Ganson's throat. His son's eyes widened in fear and he slowly nodded. Ganondorf slowly retracted his dagger and let go of the young man's neck, taking a couple steps backwards. "And just so we make sure you don't fall out of line again..." Ganondorf then raised his hand and bolts of electricity ran through Link's body once more, causing the hero to cry out in pain as Ganson watched helplessly, Ganondorf laughing wickedly. The candle that lit the room slowly snuffed out.

Chapter 22

The sages, unable to pinpoint Link's exact location, decided to split up and look for him in their respective regions for any clues to where Ganondorf might be holding him. Rauru, surprisingly, left the Chamber of the Sages to help Zelda search and to help guide her, since Impa was in Kakariko. Zelda had transformed into Sheik to help further protect herself. They searched in the town for any clues and outside of the castle walls in the field. It was pouring rain, which hindered their search efforts. As they were searching, Sheik and Rauru passed a cave and stepped into it to let the torrential rains die down a bit. Sheik started a bonfire as Rauru sat down on the ground, catching his breath.

"Have the others found anything yet," asked Sheik. Rauru frowned and shook his head.

"Unfortunately, no," he replied. "At this rate, we'll need a miracle to find him. All we can do now is keep searching and pray that he is okay." Sheik nodded slightly, then sat down by the fire, staring at it. Rauru kept quiet for a few moments, then looked at Sheik. "If I may ask you, Your Highness...why were you so angry the other day in the Chamber of the Sages?" Sheik looked at the old man, then sighed, staring at the fire again.

"I thought Ganson had betrayed us, that he was only acting so he could get to Link. But I realized how horribly wrong I was when Link told us the truth. And...I'm having a hard time believing this. I mean, Link's a hero--our hero. The Hero of Time."

"Even heroes need a hero." Sheik looked at Rauru, then nodded slightly after a few moments of staring. At that moment, he felt a hand clamp over his mouth, startling Sheik. Rauru quickly stood up as Sheik made an attempt at elbowing his attacker. The figure caught Sheik's elbow.

"Sheik, it's me! Calm down," whispered loudly the figure. Sheik stopped struggling. The young man removed his hand. Sheik turned around to look at him.

"Ganson? What are you doing here," asked the Sheikah. Ganson quickly put a finger in front of his mouth, signaling for the two to keep quiet.

"Ganondorf doesn't know I'm here. I'm being forced to do this agai--"

"We know. Link told us through telepathy when we were trying to find him." Ganson frowned sadly as his brother's name was mentioned.

"I can't do anything to help Link...I can give you his location and how to get past the guards. I need you to get him out of there. Once I know he's safe, I'll try to incapacitate Ganondorf for the time being while Link recovers. He's in bad shape, and needs to get to a doctor right away." Sheik's eyes widened slightly, then grew serious.

"Anything. Just tell us how to get to him." Ganson smiled slightly, mainly with hope, knowing that his brother's going to be okay.

"Okay, listen carefully..."