Chapter 24!

To the rescue?

It had been hours since Zelda had been locked up in the old, dirty dungeon. Marth had finally stopped taunting her, unlocked the chains that had kept her to the wall, and then left. This, however, did not contribute to an escape. There was still no way, whatsoever, that she'd be getting out soon. That is, unless, Link was on his way.

The sun was beginning to set as a chill swept over Hyrule, making Zelda shiver from within the chamber. Winter was on its way here. Termina still seemed to be in fall.

Zelda huddled in the corner of the dungeon, hoping to keep warm. Link will come, she thought. Just wait Marth, you will see.

Link sprang up from bed, breathing deeply, recalling the vision he had experienced. His eyes were wide, and his mouth hung open. A lot of things that were odd to him once, were all of a sudden starting to make some sense. Like how he knew the way to Termina the first time, well first time after the incident, he traveled there. And the fact that he knew Zelda looked oddly familiar when they first met. Everything was explainable, which felt so creepy in a way.

But none of that was really important now. Gaining back these memories only pushed him more to go back to Hyrule.

He noticed now, that he was alone in the room, and a good amount of time had passed. Link began to freak out, noticing this had wasted time. Without another thought, he jumped out of bed and headed to the inn, where Cremia and Romani were waiting.

Link flew in the room, quickly gathering some important things, paying little attention to the two sisters watching him.

"What are you going to do?", asked Cremia, looking nervous.

"Leave.", Link said flatly, gathering a bag and throwing it over his shoulder.

Cremia glanced at her sister, who was probably thinking the same thing. "And do you have a plan? You can't just barge in there.", said Cremia.

"Not yet.", said Link. "I'll figure it out. Goodbye." Link walked quickly out of the room and down the stairs, followed by Cremia.

"Wait!", she called, making Link stop and turn to her. "I'm coming with you."

"What?", Link asked, brows furrowed. "No."

"You can't do this alone.", argued Cremia, grasping the railing of the stairs. "I mean, look what happened last time."

Link began to walk towards the door. "Cremia, this is a job for me. You can't come."

Cremia was now outraged. Catching up to Link, she slammed her hand on the door before he could open it. "This is not a light matter. You need all the help you can get. It's not the time to be stubborn."

Link paused, taking a deep breath, and said, "Fine. You can ride Anne, now c'mon." With that, the two hurried out of town, mounting on their horses, making their way to Hyrule.

The two rode through the Lost Woods in silence until Link decided to speak.

"Do you know anything about that girl Jesamay?", Link asked, curious to what she knew.

Cremia shrugged. "She didn't tell us much. Just said that she was there when all that stuff happened and for some reason, she was banished from Hyrule around that time."

"So you have no idea that she was actually involved in this whole thing.", Link said.

Cremia looked at him, unbelieving. "What?", she said. "What do you mean?"

Link gazed forward into the endless woods. "She gave Zel and I that potion. Not the king, nor the prince. It was her."

Cremia's eyes went wide at what he had said. "What? But why would she do such a thing?", she exclaimed.

"Because she knew that it would cause trouble if I stayed.", Link said quietly. "She knew that it would only be best if neither of us met."

"But how did she get both of you to drink it?", Cremia wanted to know.

"Zelda didn't know. I drank it willingly.", answered Link.

"Why?", Cremia asked quietly. She saw that Link's eyes held grief.

"She was right.", Link said. "I would've been executed if I didn't leave."

"So in a way she helped you out. I mean, look what happened. You guys found each other all over again.", said Cremia.

Link sighed. "Yeah, well that's not what she had intended to happen… She planned it that we'd never see each other again. I was supposed to never come up in her life."

"Oh.", she said sadly. "Well, now that you know the truth, it doesn't change what you thought about her, did it?"

Link's hands clenched tightly on Epona's reins. "Never. Just gives more of a reason to come back for her. She isn't just the love of my life. She was a childhood friend. "

"Isn't it so funny how fate turns out?", gushed Cremia. "You leave each other, yet later on, it brings you together to fall in love again."

"Yeah.", breathed Link.

Out of nowhere, he felt the sudden drop in temperature. The forest was completely dark by now, and his breaths came out in visible puffs. Cremia seemed to notice also.

"Burr.", she exclaimed, lighting a lantern from the pack on Anne's back. "Why is it so cold?"

"We must be getting close to Hyrule.", said Link. "It's winter here." Link reached behind him to light his own lantern.

"No kidding.", Cremia breathed, pointing to the frosted ground.

The two rode in silence for a minute or two until Cremia said, "Link, did you hear that?"

Link fixed his gaze on her. "Hear what?", he asked.

Cremia turned her head frantically looking for a noise. Something in the near bushes rushed across the brush. "That!", Cremia cried.

"Don't freak out.", he said, trying to calm her. "It's probably just a skull kid."

The noise came again, followed by a crack of a branch.

Cremia gave an panicky cry. "What's a skull kid?!" Cremia quickly lifted her legs onto the horses back and hugged around Anne's neck. "That thing that almost squashed Termina!?"

"It would be best not to tell you.", Link replied. "They won't bother you if you don't bother them."

Cremia sucked in all her breath, closing her eyes, trying to remain calm. "Just tell me Link."

Link sighed, seeing as he had no choice but to tell her. "They are people who became lost in these woods and turned into creatures of the forest. They can't escape.", he said, lifting the lantern across the path to make sure they were still on it.

Cremia looked over at him, holding a serous expression. "That can't happen to us can it?", she whispered.

"Not unless we get lost.", Link assured. "Which is not likely because I was raised around here, and I've been traveling these woods since I was a kid."

The noise came again. It was closer now. Cremia jumped upon hearing it, hiking higher on Anne, looking like a scared little cat. "Link, I'm scared!", she cried.

Zelda shivered in the freezing temperatures of the night, trying desperately to get her mind off the cold. Her lips were beginning to turn purple and her toes went numb.

Rising to the barred window, she looked outside. Far off to the entrance of the castle, was a flame burning, where a guard and an armored woman stood. She recognized the far off woman as Impa.

Impa looked grief stricken. She must think that Zelda was dead by now.

Zelda wanted to shout out to her, but it was no use. They were way out of earshot. She walked away from the window, slumping herself down. "What can I do?", she said out loud, feeling helpless. She couldn't use powers in the castle, the bars were unbreakable, and the ground was too hard to try and dig.

Thinking of no escape plans, she got very irritated. "I hate you!", she screamed angrily. "Damn you to hell Marth!"

All there was left to do for her was wait.

It was about the tenth time they had heard rustling in the bushes. This was definitely not a skull kid, and Link knew that very well. It was getting louder and closer now. Cremia could feel her heart pulsing as if to break away from her chest.

"Cremia.", Link whispered, reaching himself over so only she could hear him. "What?", she asked nervously.

"I need you to go ahead. Listen carefully.", he said, making sure anyone that might be around could not hear his instructions. "Do you understand?"

Cremia nodded hesitantly, not really wanting to leave the only security she had at the moment.

"Go as fast as you can. Just keep going straight. No matter what happens, keep going. You'll end up in Hyrule field", he said, ignoring the fear in her eyes. "Whatever you do, don't get lost."

Cremia's eyes widened, realizing what would happen if she did. "Link.", she cried weakly.

"Do it.", he said sternly. "When I say go."

Cremia gathered up her courage and nodded, understanding. "Alright.", she said, sticking her chin up, and breathing deeply.

Another noise from the bushes was heard. Link turned Epona around, taking out his sword. "Show yourself.", he commanded.

With no time to spare, two, awesomely large, doglike creatures holding spears, most likely working for Marth, emerged from the darkness, lunging towards Link.

"Go!", he yelled to Cremia.

Cremia screamed, horrified at the creatures, kicking the horse to move as fast as it could, leaving Link alone with the monsters. She did what Link had told her. Go strait and not to look back.

She prayed to the goddesses that she not get lost, for she would be bound to the forest, and hope for Zelda's rescue would dwindle down to a million to one.

Oh no! trouble happening…find out what happens in the next chapter!

Sorry if I let down anyone. Its another one of those filling chapters I must do. But the next one will be good. : ) to keep you entertained until then, go visit my deviant art page. (link is in my profile) it has pics of grown up Adah! (from my other story) and sort of Toby. Just look for em in my gallery…Have fun! : )…. Soon to be more!

As for reviewers:

dan heron: thanx for the comments! : ) No Jesamay, is on the good side, nothing to worry about. Yeah, I guess you could say she kept a watchful eye on them to make sure nothing would happen… not a very good job tho :P

Moonbeam : well, can't please em all…what don't you understand?

Snowyflakes ) : lol…no they didn't make it smell like that. Haha…I read your new fic. Great start! Keep going!

LadyAkki45: thanx for the reviews! I don't know why Marth is always bad…I guess its just that way. Lol

LinkyGurl88 ) : thanx : ) hehe…you will see whats going to happen in the next chapter.

cali girl : thanx! : )

Hyrule Master: than you! I'm so happy! : D

Potter29Vo: yay! You understand. I knew that day would come. lol

Hylian Princess: thanx, glad u think so

Hikashi Suzuki: well now he does. :D… o yes, bout Navi, hmmm…not sure whats in store for her yet. ;)

EVILkrazyMONKEYS: lol thanx

jade2824: thanx

Eva-Freak015: haha…me too I guess, :D

Forlorn Rain: glad you understand. Thanx, I like her name too. :D

Robinson : just to regain some hope. It didn't mean like that. He also said "or anyone else for that matter"… so yeah, sry for the misunderstanding. ; ..

SwordWoman : lol…sry…didn't get much of this chapter either

dragon purity : yup…sry if u were confused. Thanx!

Bvv: lol. Thanx! :D…happy late holidays to u!

zeldaisthebest: y thank you :D

Kat: sry ur not here to read it. :P see ya when ya get back. Oh…and I have made my character if you want to use her. Her name is Melina. .she's posted on deviant art. Oh or u could use Jesamay since she always has inside information. Well anyway see ya!

Vampiress24: thanx! :D

ArizonaGoddess89: yup. Ill make sure he does. :D thanx!

Ria the Shiekah: if ur crying now, wait till later. (evil laugh) …then the rivalry is on!…lol jp. :D …naw…I love my reviewers!