Yet another chapter…Hopefully it isn't boring or anything, hehe…

I haven't done this in a while...Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own any of Zelda's characters

Chapter 6 – Link: Reunion

The trip to Gerudo Valley didn't take long; I knew my way through these fields. When I approached the still-broken bridge, I sensed that something was wrong. I looked around to see if I could find someone who might know where Malon went.

Then I saw a young Gerudo girl, about Malon's age, leaning over the cliff over the river. It looked like she was going to jump.

"Wait! No!" I ran over to her. She slowly turned her head to look up at me. She looked a bit shaken.

"Something wrong?"

"I was just about to ask you that. What are you doing?"

"Watching the girl go down the hole."

I just stared, confused. Hearing about a girl falling down a hole…and this girl watching it, was a little…nerve-wracking.

But wait…maybe it was Malon. "What did this girl look like? How tall was she? Did she have an annoying fairy with her!"

"Shhhh! Calm down." She stood up and brushed the dirt off her pants. "She was just a little taller than me, had long red hair, and…if I recall, she did have a fairy…" She chuckled. "…Whom she stuffed into her bag when it wouldn't stop yelling."

"That's her! Where is she!"

She sighed. "She went down there." She pointed down at the river. "By that crate, there's a hole…I presume you'll be going after her?"

I nodded. "Yeah." Her face was sad again. "I appreciate your concern, but I know how to take care of myself. Besides…" I approached the edge and prepared for a dive. "…I know someone from there. If I find them, it should make it easier on me."

Her eyes grew wide. That startled image of her face was the last expression I saw of hers, for I jumped down into the water before she could protest. The dive was long, and the entry was clean…clean into the ground.

I floated back up, gasping for air. I put my hand on my head and rubbed it. "Oww…"

Then I looked around and was the crate. I dove, and sure enough, there was the hole. I swam over and dove down in.

I started falling once I was through the hole. My clothes were dry, and the water was gone. It was like I was falling through a dark night sky.

Pretty soon I could see a speck of light at the end of the tunnel, or whatever it was. I got closer, and once I was right in the light, it engulfed me. I covered my eyes to protect them.

A chill breeze hit me, and a chill went down my spine. But I was still falling. I opened my eyes and saw I was in a dark, creepy swamp. But my fall was suddenly stopped when something tugged at the back of my tunic. I was just hanging there. I turned around to see that a tree had caught me. I tried to bounce myself free, and I fell to the ground. Unfortunately, and chunk of my tunic was left behind, and my back was now colder than before.

"Dang it!" I yelled in frustration, standing up. "That was my green tunic, too!"

Cursing lightly under my breath, I quickly changed into my red tunic, hoping it would keep me a little warmer. Then I looked around.

The fog was dense, and the ground below my feet was squishy and wet. I looked around and saw no signs of life…Figures…Who would want to live here, anyway?

Grrrrr

I turned and saw nothing. But I knew that I had heard something.

Grrrr

There is was again…I turned quickly, drawing my sword and shield. "Who's there! Better yet, what's there!"

A dark, slouched figure started to come out from the shadows. I tightened my grip on my sword. As it got closer, I could make out what it was a bit easier. It looked like a dog…a huge dog.

It crouched down, ready to pounce. I held my shield up, my sword behind my, ready to strike a hard, swift blow. The dog pounced, and I hid my face behind my shield to protect it. But I made sure I could see the figure with at least one eye.

As it flew through the air toward him, it began to change shape. Its body grew longer and slimmer, with fewer muscles. Its nose shrunk back and became shorter, and all of its fur disappeared.

I smirked behind my shield. The figure was still flying toward my, but it was now losing altitude and speed. Pretty soon it was an inch away…and at that moment, I stood straight up and put my sword away.

The figure landed on its front limbs and did a front flip, landing on its hind limbs again. It turned to face me, grinning.

"Show-off," I teased. "I see you've been practicing."

The figure nodded, coming closer. Now I could make out its features easier. It had dark black hair with silver tips. It had more muscles than Link remembered.

"I see you've been working out."

"Well, it takes muscles to do a flip like that!"

I laughed. Then, remembering my situation, my smile faded. "Look, Kyle, have you seen a girl, about…a head shorter than me, long read hair…"

Kyle nodded. "Yeah, she at my house, resting."

I nodded. "But what about that law thing? And that…council whatchamacallit?"

Kyle laughed at my choice of words. I laughed a little, too. "I don't think those laws are right…I mean, what was in the past is in the past. We should forget our differences and become friends."

I put an arm over Kyle's shoulders. "Like we did!" I yelled proudly.

Kyle nodded. "Yep, like we did." He lifted my arm off of him and started walking away. "Now, you wanna go see your girlfriend or not?"

I ran after him. "Hey! She's not my girlfriend!"

"Psh. You seem to care about her a lot…"

"Whatever, man!"

We walked through a dark, dense forest. It was extremely chilly, even with my red tunic on. The trees looked…purple…and the grass was a sickly-looking green. A couple of times, I stepped in something squishy, and I didn't dare ask what it was.

Kyle laughed at me.

"What?" I asked between shivers. "What did I do?"

"Now I see why we live in two different worlds. You can't handle the climate here."

"Haha. Well, I seem to recall a certain someone lying on the ground due to overheating when he was stuck in my world."

He laughed again. "True, true." There was a brief pause. "Maybe that's why no one tries to mend the feud between our races…Because there's no point, seeing as we can't all live in one place. We're too adapted to our own climates."

"Maybe," I said. "Or maybe it's just that my people are afraid that you'll eat them!"

"We don't eat people," he said, smirking. "…Unless we're starving and a person is the closest source of food."

I took a step away from him. "You…ate this morning…right?"

He laughed. "Yes, I ate, but I wouldn't eat you!"

I smiled. "Good." I looked up. We were so busy talking that I hadn't realized we were out of the forest.

"Umm…are you sure no one will see me?"

Kyle nodded. "Everyone is in town shopping this time of day."

"Okay, then what is the large group of people doing right there?" I pointed in front of us.

He looked, and his eyes grew wide. There was a large mob of people heading into the forest…the normal-looking, livable one.

"That's not good," he said.

"Why? There not looking at me."

"But they'll be looking at Malon when they see her inside my home."

"WHAT!"

"Stay here, hide behind that bush."

"But…"

"Just do it!" He ran over to the mob.

Sighing, I did as I was told. Last time I checked, I wasn't the creature here. He went over and had one member of the mob stop as the rest went on. It seems that that's all he could stop. The man he stopped had an angry look on his face. They talked for a few moments, and the man got tired of it and joined the others. With a worried look on his face, Kyle ran back to me.

"Someone saw Malon in my living room through the window and reported her. If they find her, both her and I, maybe my sister, will be killed."

I stood up. "Well, I don't know about you, but I can't stand here while Malon is a sitting duck for a pack of ravenous wolves." I started to run after the mob, but Kyle held me back.

"Don't! If they see you, you'll be joining Malon. You won't be able to save her." He ran back into the forest the mob was in, down a ways, so we couldn't be seen. "Follow me. We can beat them to my house."

He shape-shifted and started running. "Hey! That's not fair! I can't do that!"

He stopped and returned to his human form. "Go deep into the forest. Really deep…I'll go get Malon and return with her."

"How will you find me?"

"Are you kidding? I'll sniff you out."

Hearing a man in front of me say that was a little weird, and I suppressed a laugh. "Right." He turned to go, but before he could leave, I said, "For your own sake, you better not come back without Malon."

He nodded and ran off, shifting once more.

I took a deep breath, and started running aimlessly into the forest.

I don't know how long I ran, but I knew I ran far…and a little too fast to see where I was going. I ran into branches a few times, as if the trees were trying to keep me from going deeper. I also tripped over a few tree roots and rocks. The forest was definitely not my friend…

Both my legs and my overly-slapped face had had enough, and I decided to stop. I sat down on a flat rock that worked as a chair. I looked around, and the sight behind me was surprising.

I had run all the way through the forest. Well, almost. There were a few yards worth of trees before there was no forest. Outside of the forest, I saw a clear, flowing river. Beyond the river were just green plains that stretched so far that I couldn't see an end to them.

"Hm, good job Link," I said to myself. "You ran so far that you almost left your hiding place."

A while later, (I didn't know exactly how long) there was a rustling in the bushes. I looked toward it. Whatever was coming, it was getting closer. I stood up and put my hand on my sword tightly, ready to draw it if need be.

A wolf came out…Big surprise, this place was full of them. It had silver fur with a black line around its neck.

It growled at me, showing its teeth. I drew my sword as, in my mind, I prayed that this thing had already eaten.

"Umm…good puppy…nice puppy…stay, puppy…"

It growled even louder. But then it seemed to smile at me. I started at it, confused. "Umm…hi…I'm Link…"

The wolf started to shift. Its bones cracked as they changed shapein a way that I never wanted to hear again. It was gross. They became a thin figure. I looked up and saw that it was a girl. She had silver hair with a black streak that reached right below her shoulders. She wore tight black pants and a black belly shirt.

"Hello, Link," she said quietly. "What brings you here?"

I put my sword away. "Felicia, don't hate me."

"Why on earth would I hate you?"

"B-Because last time we met you sorta…creeped me out…and then when I explained that…you're a wolf…and I'm…not…You threatened to bite my head of, literally, if you ever saw me again." She went to sit down on the rock, and I moved away. If I could protect my head from being torn off, I would.

"Oh, that was a long time ago. Please," she said, patting the rock next to her. "…sit."

"Um, no, that's okay. I'll stay over here…" I moved behind a tree. "Waaay over here. It's cooler over here."

She stood up and walked toward me. "Link, you have a few scratches on your face. Here, let me help."

"No thanks," I said, walking around the tree to avoid her. Then I walked backwards so I could see where she was. "I – I'll do it myself later."

"But it could get infected if you wait." She continued to advance toward me, I continued to back away.

"It's okay, I have medicine, and I can heal an infection…" I tripped over the big rock behind me and did a flip back wards. I landed on my front side, my chin now propped up on the rock.

"Ow…" I mumbled.

Felicia ran over to me and kneeled down. I was in too much pain to move. "Oh, are you okay?" He put an arm over my back to comfort me. Honestly, it creeped me out.

"Go…away…" I said with what strength I had left.

"But then you could get hurt again, and then who'd take care of you?"

"His girlfriend would."

Felicia looked up. I just sat there, seeing as moving my head would scrape my chin on the rock. I just listened.

"Why is she here? Why are YOU here?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Felicia."

Felicia made a "Hmph" noise.

"She was almost discovered, so I had to hide her and I brought her here." There was a pause."Where's Link?"

"Behind the rock," I mumbled. "And in pain."

Someone ran over and picked me up. By now, almost my whole body was bruised and it hurt to move.

"Link, what happened?" Kyle asked me as he laid me down on the ground.

"I tripped," I said.

"I see…" he said. "Well, in case you're in too much pain to look, I brought Malon."

I turned my head to see her laying on the ground next me.

"What'd you do to her?"

"Sorry, I had to knock her out. I don't think she's ready to know my race's secret, and I had to shift in order to find you. Why'd you run this far anyway?"

"I just ran," I said. "Without looking where I was going, I ran…and I ran into branches and tripped over stuff, too."

He laughed. "I see that. Well, Felicia and I will find a place for us to sleep nearby."

"What? We're staying here?" Felicia yelled.

"Well, the whole town is searching for you, me, and Malon. If they find any of us then they'll likely find the rest. Plus, there's Link they don't know about yet, and we should keep it that way. Now let's go."

"Fine." They both shifted and left. I took the quiet time to relax, and, despite the throbbing pain throughout my body, I fell asleep.

When I woke up, my face felt wet and cold, and I opened my eyes.

Malon was over me, wiping my face with a wet rag.

"Morning, sleepyhead," she said quietly.

"It's morning already?"

"Yeah, you slept for almost a whole day!" She wrung out the cloth in the dirt next to my head and placed in on a nearby rock. "So what are you doing here? What about Hyrule?"

"I came for you. When our connection with the ocarinas was cut off, I had to make sure you were okay." My eyes went to the bandage on her shoulder. "What happened!"

She put a hand on her shoulder. "Oh, that…A tree cut me as I fell into the swamp…place."

"I see. I guess that was the same tree that killed my green tunic."

"Aww, your green one? That was your favorite!" She smiled.

"Yeah, it was, but I'll live. I can always get a new one."

"Or I could fix it." She grinned.

"I left the cloth that's supposed to be in the hole back on the tree."

"I'll use something else."

I smiled. "Okay. Thanks."

"Your welcome!"

There was a long silence, and I decided to break it. "Nice top," I said, eyeing her new tube-top made of a ragged cloth…which had a few holes in it.

She held her hand on my eyes. "Link!"

"Hey, come on," I said, grabbing her hand and holding it away from my eyes so I could see. "I was just picking."

She stood up and walked away. "Sure you were!"

"Hey!" I tried to stand up, but I still ached a little bit. "That's not fair, I can't move!"

"Oh well!" she called behind her.

"Hey! Malon!"

I decided to give up trying to get up and I laid there and closed my eyes. Then I opened my eyes to see big blue eyes staring down at me. I gasped.

"Don't you dare go to sleep again!"

"I'm not, I'm not." I managed to sit myself up and lean back on a rock. Malon sat next to me.

"Hey, I hear Felicia likes you!"

I coughed. "Yeah, I…heard…too…"

She leaned forward to look at my face. "What's wrong? Don't you like her?"

"Well, no…"

"Why not? Well…I don't like her because she hates me more than she did before…I don't know why…but why don't you like her?"

"She's a stalker and a…" I stopped myself before breaking my promise to Kyle to keep it a secret. "She just creeps me out."

She laughed. "Is that all, or do you just like someone else?"

I looked over at her. She was watching me with those big blue eyes, waiting for my answer. Maybe I did like someone else. I didn't know…

Then I remembered Zelda.

"Malon…there's something I have to tell you…"

Her happy, cheerful look faded when she sensed that something was wrong. "Link, what is it?"

"It's Zelda…she's dead."

Malon just stared, speechless. She managed to say a few words…"W-why? What happened?"

"I don't know, but I intend to find out."

"I'm sorry Link. I know she was…special…to you…" she mumbled

I looked at her again. There was a sad look in her eyes, but I couldn't make out exactly what it meant. A tear trickled down her face. I wiped it away.

"Malon, what is it?"

She shook her head and wiped her eyes. "It's nothing." She stood up. "I'm going to go see how Felicia and Kyle are doing." She walked away. As she walked away, I heard her coughing. Hopefully she wasn't getting sick...

Malon seemed to do that a lot…She'd be sad, start crying, and for no apparent reason…Or at least, no reason that I could figure out.

There was a rustling in the bushes. Please be a bunny, I yelled in my head. I stood up and reached for my sword…but it was gone. Kyle must have taken it off when I was sleeping. The idiot. What was I supposed to use to defend myself, my hat?

It turned out that it was a bunny…With a sigh of relief, I sat down.

I looked up as Kyle ran over to me. "Link, we have a problem!"

I stood up. "What, what is it?"

"Malon didn't get cut by a tree," he said.

"Umm...that's bad?"

"Yes, it's bad because of what she DID get cut with!"

He ran back deeper into the forest. I followed.

Soon we could see Felicia.

"She's right here," she said, pointing to the ground next to her feet.

I ran over. Malon was on the ground. I kneeled down next to her. Her breathing was shallow. She was a cold sweat, and she was extremely pale. It was as if she was different person from the one I had seenaminute ago.

"What happened?" I yelled, looking up a Kyle.

Kyle picked up Malon's bag and dumped it out. The ocarina, the bow, the arrows, the Kokiri Sword, the red potions, and Navi all fell out. What caught my eye was an additional arrow. I picked it up.

The wood was rough and damp. It was a dark brown color with a red tint in it. I assumed that the red tint was blood. The point was grey and made of rock. But what was interesting about it was that the tip was a bright green color. I touched the green tip, and some of the green color was now on my finger. It was a gooey substance. I wiped it off on the ground.

"What does this mean?"

"Malon was shot with this arrow, and it went into her bag instead of her shoulder." He held up the bag to reveal a hole. "Someone tried to hit her shoulder, but all they did was scratch it. Luckily for them, that's all they needed. That arrow is poisoned."

"But doesn't that mean…?"

He nodded. "If we don't find the cure, Malon will die in a matter of hours."

I feel like my story's getting less interesting by each chapter…but I have to come up with a new twist to the plot. Don't worry, I'm working on it. Anyway, please review this chapter. Thanks! Byes!