Author's note: Okay peeps, here we go. Here's a bit more action. I hope that you like this chapter!

Arctic Wolf 18: Thank you. And about Gage, you'll just have to see. Maybe he is Link. Maybe he's Dark Link. Or, maybe he's just a guy who looks like Link. Who knows. ;-D So, I hope that you like this chapter, and thanks for reviewing!

Disclaimer: Is this necessary?

…

The dark forest loomed in the moonlight, and each sound echoed eerily around the empty branches. And it was here that Skye had decided to run to. She was exhausted and hungry, because she had forced herself to walk for the most part of two days.

"I have to keep moving," she said wearily to herself, "I'm sure that they've missed me by now."

She fought through one final hedge and found herself staring at a beautifully clear lake that reflected the moonlight. It was shaped in a perfect oval, and the surface looked like a mirror. Skye didn't hesitate. She dropped to the ground and fell asleep.

…

In his cell, Bishop stirred and came awake. He glanced around and saw that his candle had gone out. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and planted his feet firmly on the ground. He stood up, staggered over to the waterspout, and splashed his face with the cold water. Spluttering water, his senses immediately came clear.

A few more minutes passed, and then Bishop stooped over to the door. He placed his ear against the door and heard faint breathing. He tapped the door six times, and, to his satisfaction, he heard a key grate in the lock and the door swung open.

"Morning," Gage cheerlessly greeted, "Getting an early start?"

"Yeah," Bishop replied, noticing that Gage's hood was back up.

"Here," Gage handed Bishop a small pack, "This will be enough for you and her for at least four days."

Gage glanced around and said in a low tone, "You should find her by nightfall."

A confused look covered Bishop's face. "If I'll find her that quickly, why do I need four days rations?"

"You'll see," Gage icily replied.

"Okay…" Bishop still looked a bit confused.

"Follow me," Gage quickly led Bishop through more winding corridors, and when he finally stopped, Bishop had to swallow a sigh of relief. Gage pulled out a ring of keys and, after sifting through for a few seconds, found one and fitted it to the lock. The door swung open, and Bishop saw a dark sky and the forest.

"Call your wolf," Gage commanded.

Bishop whistled his note, and almost immediately Jarek loped up to Bishop and carefully avoided Gage.

"Good luck. Don't forget to meet me behind the fortress," Gage said as he closed the door. Bishop heard the key grate in the lock.

"I guess that that's our cue to be going," Bishop said in a sarcastic tone and quickly spun on his heel and strode into the forest. Bishop had beaten the sun by two hours. The blank sky covered the forest. Bishop was on his way.

…

A day before, Zelda almost fainted again after she had received news of Skye's departure.

"What else can go wrong?" she moaned and hid her face in her hands.

She was sitting in the dining hall with Kolin and already five different servants had appeared and had given five different directions as to where the princess had gone.

"Kolin, how many units can the infantry spare to go after Skye?" Zelda asked through her hands.

"I'm sure as many as you need," Kolin said with his mouth somewhat full. He was viscously attacking dinner.

After a second passed, Kolin called a servant over. "Ask the Captain of the Guard to send a unit in each direction. There's no way that they'll miss her."

"Also, send out a notice of a reward for her return. Any hunters or trackers will gladly be hired," Zelda added.

After the servant had gone, Kolin reached over and placed his hand on Zelda's hand.

"Don't worry. They'll find her. Now, why don't you eat some dinner?"

…

Once Jarek found the princess's trail, the rest of the tracking was simple. All that Bishop had to do was walk through the broken brush, leaving no trail of his own.

After night had fallen, Bishop came across the lake. Instead of breaking through the brush, he crouched down and peered through his prickly shield. A pile of clothes was further down the shore, and something silver was in the middle of the lake. It took him a second to realize that he princess was swimming. He rolled his eyes and motioned for Jarek.

"All right, this is what we're going to do. You, go get her clothes and hide them in that thicket. I'll sneak around behind her and, after you're done, casually trot up to the water as if to take a drink. I'm sure that she'll be afraid of you, and she'll probably back up, right into my waiting arms. After I have her, I'll carry her over to that thicket and tie her up or something like that. I would do it out in the open, but I believe that someone else is looking for her, because I heard something a few hours ago that sounded like armor. So, can you do that?" Bishop whispered to his wolf.

Jarek bared his fangs and slipped through the brush. Bishop smiled and slid the other way.

Jarek resembled a shadow as he slipped up and gently sunk his fangs into the pile of clothing. He carried his prize over to the designated thicket and dropped the clothes behind the shield of thorns. Then, he slipped back and carried the rest of the clothes into the thicket. After he successfully hid all of the clothing, he casually trotted over to the water's edge and took a long and grateful drink.

Skye was gracefully floating on her back, absorbing the moonlight. The moonlight shone on her pale body, and she gracefully kicked her legs to stay afloat. Suddenly, she bolted upright in the water; she heard a lapping noise. Her eyes frantically searched to shore, and she spotted the large, black wolf. She slowly paddled backward, and, just as Bishop had predicted, she swam right into his waiting arms. He quickly clamped his free hand over her mouth as she started to scream, and he wrapped his other arm around her waist. He waded out of the water and suddenly paused. He heard muffled talking and clanking armor. Bishop sprinted the last remaining feet to the thicket and ducked inside.

"Quiet, princess!" he hissed angrily in her ear.

Surprisingly enough, she stopped screaming into his hand, and Bishop released her mouth and quickly tugged his cloak from around his neck. He threw it on the ground and pushed her onto it. To cover her pale body, he quickly laid down on top of her, and he covered her head with his arms.

"Jarek!" he hissed.

The wolf appeared and laid on his master's white hair. The talking got louder, and a group of infantry appeared. They were all swapping jokes and stories. When they saw the lake, they glanced around and, after they didn't see anyone, they broke for the lake, shedding armor and weapons on their way.

"Fools. I can't believe that they call themselves soldiers," Bishop growled deeply in his throat. He felt the princess squirm underneath him.

"Stay here, princess. If you try to get away while I'm gone, Jarek will snap your neck," Bishop hissed as he pushed himself off of her and slipped away.

Skye lifted her head to watch, and she observed her captor slip to the water's edge and release some long ropes. He began to flick the ropes out toward the soldiers, and one by one, they were all killed. Their blood stained the clear water. Skye glanced up at the wolf, and the wolf snarled at her. She stayed where she was until Bishop returned.

"I'm assuming that that was one of the groups of infantry of the castle. If they're all like that, your castle is in trouble," Bishop sounded disgusted.

"It's not my castle," Skye answered, pushing herself off of the ground.

"Really, princess," Bishop said in an amused tone.

Skye was suddenly aware of her nakedness. "Would you stop calling me princess?"

"No," an amused smile twitched across his lips.

An irritated look covered Skye's face, and she glanced around helplessly.

"Dress yourself, princess," Bishop commanded, slowly winding up his whips while facing her.

As she opened her mouth, he stopped her. "No, I will not leave."

"Men," she grumbled and walked over to her clothes. Jarek had stretched out on them, and he made no move to get up.

"Um," she mumbled, pointing at the wolf.

Without replying, Bishop bent over, picked up his cloak, and wrapped it around her shoulders. It was much too large for her, so it easily covered her whole body.

"Jarek. Come," Bishop commanded.

Jarek rose obediently and loped over to his master. Bishop walked over and picked up her clothes. After he carefully sifted through them, he found her boots, and he tossed them to her, shoving the rest of the clothes into her small pack that had been hiding in the pile of clothing.

"Nothing else?" Skye asked in an irritated tone.

"Put your boots on," Bishop ordered, standing up.

She obediently slipped her feet into her boots and wrapped the cloak closer around her.

"Walk," Bishop commanded, pointing her out of the thicket. She started walking, and they kept walking until the next morning.

…

A slow malice began to spread across Hyrule. Some ancient danger had awoken. Cloudy skies plagued the day, and hardly any rain fell. All of the inhabitants of Hyrule were slowly cast into a light depression. Everything was restless. Every breath of nature prophesied that something was going to happen. The wind roared it. The water whispered it. The mountains rumbled it. The rain pelted it. The sun baked it. The stars winked it.

A deep breath had been taken. Now, everything waited for its release. And nothing will survive the exhale.

…

Dawn slowly peered over the shade of black, and the eager sun slowly rose to take dominion over the dark sky. Everything was washed anew with its refreshing rays. Through this beautiful morning, Bishop drove Skye on.

Gasping for breath, Skye said, "I must rest."

Bishop looked irritated. "Five minutes."

Skye crumpled to the ground under the shade of a tree. Jarek came over and nosed Bishop's hand, and Bishop realized that Jarek was asking for food.

"Go catch something," he laughed, and Skye's head jolted up when she heard him laugh, "The food I have will not satisfy you."

Suddenly, Bishop realized his own hunger. So, he sank down on the grass and let the pack slip from his back.

"Get up, princess," Bishop called.

She wearily lifted her head and stared at him with slightly glazed eyes.

"Come eat something," Bishop said, sifting through the food in the pack.

"I'm not hungry," she said stubbornly, and she crossed one leg over the other and sat with a stubborn look on her face.

"Okay," Bishop casually replied.

Bishop stood up and walked over to her. As he towered over her, she gave him a surprised look. He reached down, grabbed her arm, and yanked her up.

"Let go of me!" she shrieked, and she began to batter him with her remaining fist.

"Princess!" he said sharply.

He slapped her across the face, and she recoiled from the force of the blow.

"You hit me," she whispered.

Bishop looked disgusted. "Oh, I forgot. Castle brats can't take blows."

"I am not a castle brat!" she spat.

"Really," Bishop said in an amused tone.

"If you'll give me my bag of clothes, I'll eat," Skye said hopefully.

"Here," he sighed, tossing her the bag.

"Thank you," she said curtly and moved off into the forest.

"Don't try to escape. If you do, I'll know," Bishop called after her.

After she was far enough away, Skye mimicked, "Don't try to escape."

She sighed and pulled her pants on. After she did so, she shed Bishop's cloak and pulled her tunic over her head. Feeling refreshed, she glanced around for a possible escape route. Suddenly, something crashed in the forest next to her.

"He wasn't kidding," Skye smiled a bemused smile, "Even if I think about escape, he'll appear."

Suddenly, Skye realized that her captor never made a noise when he walked. The wolf didn't make a noise when he loped along either. Skye realized that she was afraid.

"Help?" she whispered.

Suddenly, a huge monster crashed from the forest. The monster's skin was leathery and its feet were large. Its skin color was a mixed brown and green, but no hair spilled from any part of its body. Four terrible fingers were attached to each hand, and the fingers had long, jagged nails attached to the end of them. Above all, its eyes were blood red with anger, lust, and hunger.

Skye stared up at it in fear, and she frantically searched her belt and clothing for a dagger or something. Finding nothing, Skye shrieked, spun around, and fled. The monster roared and pursued her, its claws outstretched.

A/n: So, what did you readers think? Am I taking too long? Or are these chapters just right? Are they suspenseful enough? Please review and tell me.