Link wiped the tears away from his eyes with the back of his hand. He reached down and cradled the corpse of his now departed friend Eidermand, and picked him up. He fumbled the dagger into his mouth, biting the blade. Slowly, he made his way out of Kakariko Village, body in arms. He knew that his friend had been murdered, and that the king should know about it. It was the second murder in as many nights at the same place. Something, he thought, had to done about this. Link stopped at a tree right near a stream going through Hyrule Field. He gently laid Eidermand down on the cool night grass, spat the dagger out on the ground, and put his back up against the tree. He had to take a breather, carrying a full grown man was tiresome.

"I'll only lay down for a minute," he thought. Soon the minute passed, but Link did not get up. He was too tired to carry on, and fell asleep as a result. After what seemed like a minute to Link, he opened his eyes to see a guard standing above him with the sun at the back of the guard.

"Link, you have a lot of explaining to do," began the guard in an authoritative voice.

"Gah..." Link muttered as he squinted, eyes adjusting to the light. "What time is it?"

"That is not of importance.," he replied, even more full of a sense of authority. "What is of importance is the fact you right now are lying next to the corpse of Eidermand, and you are bloodied as well, dare I say his blood? You weren't scheduled for a shift, so there's no reason for you to be out of your house, especially after what the king said last night. Yes, I was there as well, and I saw YOU there as well, so I know you heard his advice."

Link was in a position he did not want to be in. "Damn my stupid body," he thought. He had to think quick. Any hesitaiton would not be received well.

"You want the plain honest truth?" Link asked, stalling for time to think up a good explanation.

"No, I'd like a big fat lie. OFCOURSE I want the truth, Link."

"Well then. Well, I, heard a faint scream last night on my way home from the dinner coming from Kakariko Village. I sprinted there as fast as I could, knowing full well my friend Eidermand was on duty. I arrived at the village to find Eidermand laying down with that dagger in his throat. I immediately picked him up and made an effort to bring his corpse to the castle. I got tired along the way, and made a quick rest at this tree. Apparently I fell asleep, and other than that, I got nothing else to say because, well, it would be speculation. And all you want is truth." Link gulped. He said that with confidence, as though it were true. He only hoped that the guard would believe him.

"Interesting little story," he began. Link gulped. He distinctly heard the word "story". "I find it interesting that no one else heard the scream from Eidermand. I find it interesting that you wouldn't get help from the village. Could you explain these, Link?"

"Well, I don't exactly have a choice, now do I? I mean, you don't even trust your fellow guard here. Anyhow, Kakariko Village was asleep. While the scream may have woken someone up, that person or persons more than likely fell back asleep relatively quickly. As for me not getting help from the village, why needlessly cause a panic, maybe even a riot? They took their advice from the king and locked their doors, so the murder couldn't break in. Also, I saw it in my best judgement to alert the royal family to this, so as to dispatch more guards next time to catch this murderer."

"How do you know they locked all their doors? Did you check?"

"Again, I used judgement. I made a split second decision."

"Ha, your judgement? That's pathetic. You may hide behind your so called judgement as an excuse for something you're hiding, but I know better. I'm paid to use MY judgement. Right now I know there's something more to this. There's something you're not telling me. In fact, it is in MY best judgement to interrogate you with the king present.."

"Did I hear someone say the king?" came a voice off in the distance. It was the king, being escorted to Kakariko Village.

"Yes, you did," replied the guard. "Link here has something he wants to tell you."

Link gulped. Lying to the guard was one thing, but to the king was a completely different story. The king could see right through a lie. He had to inorder to do his job effectively.

"Well," came the regal voice. "What is it?"

"You see, your majesty, whilst on my way home from dinner last night, I heard a faint scream from Kakariko Village. I ran to it, and found Eidermand dead with a dagger in his throat. I tried to bring him to you so as to alert you, but I got tired from carrying him. I rested, but fell asleep. Thankfully nothing happened to me or Eidermand's corpse."

"Well, that is a terrible turn of events. Does Kakariko know?"

"No," replied Link.

"Good," said the king quickly. "Let's keep it that way, atleast for now."

"But your highness," the guard interrupted. "The people have a right to know".

"Thanks for your consult, but I pay you to guard, not to help me make decisions like this."

"Yes, your highness."

"Link, go on and get ready for your guard duty. We'll take care of things here".

"Yes, your majesty".

Link walked off to his house to get dressed for guard's duty. All the while he thought about his dream last night, and how he ended up in Kakariko Village. He had no memory of going there, and no one has ever sleepwalked a great distance. There was something more to what was going on, he thought. He pounded a fist against an outside wall of his house and leaned against it, grieving over the loss of his friend, and frustrated over his lack of an explanation for being in Kakariko. He fooled the king, but that was not that important to him. He couldn't convince himself as to his presence in Kakariko Village, which concerned him greatly. His greatest concern that his ability to make a sane explanation for himself of the dealings of the past two nights, and his involvement, if any, in those occurances was slowly slipping away.