Hey, people! I'm baaaack! The HORROR! Oh, by the way... I tried to make a cliffhanger at the end. Heck! It's my story, and if I wanna make stupid little cliffhangers like that, I will.

Chapter 5

A Night At Camp

Link woke up in a moving cart. Looking around him, he noticed two men and two women riding in the same cart. One of the women was young, around his age, and the other was probably twice his age. In other words, Princess Zelda of Hyrule, and Impa, who was her nursemaid and bodyguard.

Link gingerly sat up, trying not to move too much. His efforts were in vain, however, because every time he tried to move, the cart hit a pothole in the trail, or ran over a fairly large rock, thus resulting in the cart giving a violent jolt. Eventually, one of the men noticed that he was conscious, and gave a shrill whistle.

All eleven carts slowed to a stop, and Link heard the unmistakable sounds of someone making a camp for the night. He refused to show any pain in the presence of Prince Starger, who seemed to find it his duty to make sure Zelda got back to Hyrule in one piece. He was rescued, much to his relief, by Impa, who asked Starger for a private word.

Once the two were out of sight, Zelda came over and sat next to Link in front of the fire. She had to make her presence known to Link, who was staring absently into the fire.

"Link?" Zelda's voice cut into his thoughts, startling him. He slowly, painfully, turned his head towards the Princess. She was smiling sadly at him. It was something he never thought he would see again during his inprisionment in Starger's dungeons. He nodded to her to show he was listening.

"Link... I've been thinking." It was now her turn to gaze into the fire, "Is it some sort of malady that renders you unable to use your tongue?" She looked at him hopefully. Link shook his head.

"Was it... a trauma?" Link shook hs head again, and her face fell in remorse.

"Was it..." she looked as if she couldn't really believe what she was about to say, "A curse?" Link nodded. Zelda gasped

"Do you know who did it?" Another nod. Zelda's eyes began to water.

"Was it Starger?" Zelda asked, her voice wavering, disbelieving. Link's eyes immeadiately closed.

He made several violent, and quite vulgar, hand gestures at the mention of Starger's name. Zelda stared, shocked, at the once-gentle boy that she had known. But, then again, she reasoned, they were now twenty one years old, and Link had most likely endured the last eighteen moons in a dank dungeon cell, fighting with the other inmates to survive.

"Was it?" Zelda pressed, not being able to draw an answer from the gestures. Link brought hands to his mouth, and sweeped them in a down and outwards motion. It was a gesture that stated clearly, 'I will not speak of this. I will not share it with you, nor anyone else'. Zelda looked down, defeated.

"I was only trying to help you..." she mumbelled, and stood up, "But if you don't want to be helped, then I won't concern myself with it." She retreated into the shadows, outside the ring of light supplied by the fire. Link sighed, and hung his head. He couldn't tell her. He didn't want her to get caught up any more than she already was.

Shortly after Zelda's departure, a meal of rabbit stew and hard bread was served. Link eyed the soup warily, not entirely sure if he should eat it. After he spotted Zelda, laughing and flirting with Starger, he turned back to his food, and began to violently shovel it into his mouth, not caring anymore. He detested Starger with every fibre of his being. And seeing him with his best friend, Zelda, didn't help matters any. He wanted someone better for Zelda. Someone who wasn't evil, at least.

Impa startled him by taking a seat next to him, and watching Zelda intently for a few minutes. She startled Link when she spoke to him.

"I want you to come and see me later tonight." Impa told him in a no-nonsense sort of voice, making it clear on no uncertain terms that what she said was law, "After the Prince and Princess have retired. There is much we need to talk about." And with that, Impa left him.

LATER THAT NIGHT

Link stood by Impa and Zelda's tent, awaiting Impa. He had been standing there for several minutes, and was almost shivering from the cold. He was taken by suprise when Impa appeared behind him. He had been watching the tent since he got there, and she had most definately not emerged from inside it.

"Follow me, Link." Was all that Impa said. Link followed her obediently, trusting her explicitly. That surprised him. He didn't trust anyone anymore. No, that was a lie. He trusted Nabouru, didn't he?

Now that he was thinking about Nabouru, he found it impossible to stop thinking about her. Where was she? Was she alright? Did she even survive the onslaught? Link became so preoccupied with these thoughts that he didn't even notice when Impa stopped walking.

"Link!" She hissed, physically reaching out and pulling him to a stop. Link stumbled a few paces, and almost fell over. Looking around, he noticed that they had stopped in a large clearing in the woods. He raised his eyebrows at her, with an expression that screamed 'Alright, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?'.

"You can talk, you know." Impa stated offhandedly, though Link could read the excited tones in her voice. He somberly shook his head, and indicated that he could not.

"Yes, you can." She pressed, slightly amused, "Try it. Humour me."

Link stared incredulously at the woman. She was deranged, believing he could talk. Rolling his eyes, he decided to prove, once and for all, that he could not talk. Link took a deep breath and, sure enough...

I want you to guess. Can he talk, or can't he? I FEEL SO SPECIAL! I'M THE ONLY ONE THAT KNOWS! YAY!

Have fun! And! Don't forget to read the fanfictions of my good friend, Kariah!