Another chap to add to my beautiful collection. Hah, lol.

The above sentence was so funny I decided not to edit it. HA HA. (I'm making fun of myself??)

Chapter 9 - Dream

Zelda let the other folk off first, since they were fighting like mad to get off. She looked to her left and saw Jaw. He was sitting in an old creaky chair smoking a fat brown cigar and glared at her. She smirked and he jumped from his chair, but two of his men grabbed him and pulled him back. They whispered to him and shook their thick heads. A hand placed around Zelda's arm and gave her a light push. She turned to see Rais, who smiled at her and motioned for her to go first. He looked back at Jaw as Zelda hopped off the ship and down onto the dock.

She left Rais only because she wanted to be as far away from the ship as possible. She made it out of the dock, but ran too fast through the crowd. She ran into someone on the way through, crushing her face against their chest and making the bruises on her face hurt.

She fell back, holding her eye. "Ow! I'm sorry…" She looked up at the person and was surprised to see Link standing above her with his hands on his hips. She looked up at his light colored eyes and hair, noticing that his face seemed flushed. He looked exhausted and sad, but she knew he had to have seen her bruises by now.

"What happened?" He held his hand out to her, and she took it and was lifted to her feet. He didn't pull her in any farther towards them, for this wasn't a good time seeing all the people around them. She let go of his hand and turned away, hiding her reddening face.

"Well… see the captain… well, it doesn't matter, Rais-" She turned to look at Rais who she left on the boat. He was gone now and she looked around, but didn't see him anywhere. She turned to Link, who's expression hadn't changed at all. He watched her as she found the courage to look him in the face. She wondered what his thoughts were on all of her blushing. He had to have noticed her excessive embarrassment.

"Rais?" He seemed a little surprised to her, but he was good at hiding his feelings. He watched her awaiting the answer. She paused for a moment blanking out.

"Um…" She shook her head and tried to stay focused. "Um… yes! Rais saved me. Even though it was a little extreme… he cut his leg off." She couldn't concentrate and knew she was just saying whatever was on her mind to break the awkward silence. She saw Link's eyebrows raise once he heard about the leg.

"Wow…" She could tell he found it amusing but he didn't tell her that. She thought of Rais again and wondered how much Link knew about him. She remembered what Rais and said to her, and although it didn't bother her too much she still wanted to know the truth or not. Or maybe it did bother her a little bit.

"So um… about Rais, can he really read minds." Link looked at her again, and her face reddened. She saw him grin; he must of liked all of the blushing. "Um… I mean, he told me he could and he actually told me what I was thinking about." He watched her and she had to look away again.

"Yeah… he can. He's been teaching me how to do it. Or, he was anyways." Link looked at the ground, feeling his body get heavier. Thinking of it only made him feel like he was dragging weights at his feet.

Zelda jumped and turned completely around, holding her hand over her mouth. Oh my god! He can READ my mind! He knows!

Link watched her in curiosity. Her abrupt response had confused him, until it hit him. He grinned while he stared at her back. She actually thought he could read her mind.

She felt him wrap his hands around her shoulders and pull her a little too close to himself. She blinked as she felt his chest press against her back. She could remember laying on top of his rough and strong body, kissing him. She swallowed, hoping that no one from the castle could see them right now.

"Yes, princess, I know all of your secrets and have been reading your mind all the time." He paused. "I also know how attracted you are to me…" He said it quietly, wondering what her reaction would be. Zelda's heart pounded for only a few seconds before she turned around to face him. The way he had been talking he sounded like he was joking. She had made it pretty obvious on the canoe that she liked him, so he didn't need to mind read for that.

He took his hands off her shoulders and put them on his hips. "No…" He smiled as she watched him. "I can't read minds yet. Rais disowned me and refuses to teach me now." Zelda stared in disbelief.

"He… disowned you? But why?" Link watched her and took a breath. It was because of her, but he didn't want it to sound like her fault. It was his fault. He's the one who went with her.

"Because I… I didn't listen to him. I never listen to him." He looked at the ground and this time Zelda could see the sadness in his eyes. She looked away. How was she supposed to respond? She didn't know Rais well enough; he obviously knew more about him than she did. "He can't really read your mind, you know." She looked at him, seeing him smile again.

"No? But you said he could." She smiled back this time without realizing it. She didn't want him to feel sad.

"He's really could at reading you by looking at your face and the way you act." Zelda watched him, feeling reassured. Now she knew why Link hid his facial expressions and watched her so much. He was mimicking what Rais had done to him for years. It was an unspoken training method Rais had taught him without him realizing. "And actually… I think he can sense emotions too… you know, I don't really know what he is, exactly. I wonder if he's really human. Who has hair and eyes like that?"

Zelda laughed. She had thought the same thing before too, but in the end just came to the conclusion he was incredibly smart. But then there was also the fact that he could heal people and he lived in a very weird chamber. Was Euru a real horse?

"Zelda!" They both reacted immediately by taking a step back from each other. Zelda's guardian came after her and grabbed her arm. She looked a Link and sent him a glare, to which Link ignored. He watched her drag Zelda away. Zelda turned her head to look at Link. He gave her a small wave, and she gave him a sad smile. As if to apologize.

Link looked around the market. He knew Rais was still angry and didn't want to talk to him. But a small part of him wished he could turn around and see his former guardian walking over to him and forgiving him. He continued to look, but it never happened. Rais wasn't anywhere in the market. He had wandered off somewhere else, Link believing it was because he didn't want to see him.

-

He wandered around the market alone with Epona, looking for someone he might recognize. He wanted to ask if his aunt still lived on the farm. If she did, this would be the perfect time to go and visit her. She hadn't talked to him in years and he had only ended up writing a few letters to her. Rais's training had always kept his mind busy. It got to the point where Link began forgetting completely.

He walked up to a small food market that stayed open for a little while longer. A familiar looking man leaned back in his chair, relaxing in the night. Only a few lights were on and he had no customers, so like every other night he had he laid back and rested.

Link walked up to him, watching him. The man noticed someone standing and sat up, looking down at the tall boy. The boy's face looked familiar, but the man could never remember seeing him before. He waved and motioned to his selection of food.

"Hello, there. Take a look, if you may." He held his hands out to the food, watching Link look around. Link turned back to him and shook his head no. The man raised an eyebrow.

"Hey, Raggy. Long time no see." Raggy squinted and looked harder at the boy's face. He had to have known this boy from somewhere. His face and eyes looked very familiar, but he could never remember them being so tall and… healthy. He studied him for a little longer before finally recognizing him.

"Ah… Link?" Raggy jumped up out of his seat, landing next to Link and startling Epona. Link grinned at him as he slapped his hand behind his back. "Wow, boy… you really have grown, eh?" Link placed his hands on his hips and smiled.

"Of course. It's been five years Raggy… but I came here to ask you something." Raggy took his hand away and sat back in his chair, listening to Link. Link kicked a rock that was by his shoe before looking back at Raggy. "You know… Aunt Tia… I was wondering if she still lived on the farm."

Raggy sat still while frowning momentarily. Link felt his breathing get a little harder. His frown was definitely not a good sign. Epona rested her muzzle on Link's shoulder, telling him that she was sleepy.

"Well, you see Link…" He looked like he was trying to figure out how to put what he wanted to say in words, but shrugged and continued on. "She past away a few years ago…" He watched Link stare at the ground. He heaved a sigh.

"Thanks Raggy… it was good talking to you." Link walked away and Raggy didn't stop him. He watched him vanish into the dark night, and decided to close up his shop for the night. He knew he wouldn't be getting any customers that night, anyways.

Link led Epona behind the town to where an old tree sat. He tied her reins around the old trunk and she laid down, while he leaned against her side. He laid back, thinking about his old aunt. She had always been there for him the first eleven years of his life… and he couldn't even write her a few measly letters once in awhile.

He felt as if he had been screwing up a lot of things. First he disobeys Rais for the final time and gets abandoned and then he doesn't he even find the time to write to his aunt, who now he could never make it up to. She was gone. There was nothing left now; he wouldn't ever see her again.

He laid his head against Epona, who wrapped her neck around him and closed her eyes. He watched the stars above him glitter for awhile before he drifted off into a deep sleep.

-

He could tell he was in a large area, but it was hard to move through considering all the crowdedness. But it wasn't crowded with people, something else. Something alive, but unable to move or talk.

Centered in the middle of it all was a giant tree form that thousands of fairies created with their own bodies. The fairies positioned themselves in correct filing to form it's shape, leaving some parts open. Link was walking towards it, because... it told him to? Or did the fairies tell him to? He couldn't tell, all he knew was it could help him.

From what?, he asked himself. The wind blew hard; it sounded like the whispering from the 'tree'. The fairies pushed out of his way when he came to the front of the tree. It wanted him to enter.

But something stopped him, he felt a strong blow knock him back. Something was blocking him. Something wasn't letting him inside, regardless of how badly he felt the need to get inside of it. He asked no one why they wouldn't let him in, yelling through the dark place.

It told him it wanted him to die. It would follow him until he died. It wanted Hyrule to die. Orma to die. The world to die.

He told it no. He didn't want anyone to die. He had lost enough and he wouldn't let this thing, whatever it was, kill anyone.

It hissed at him and said it wasn't up to him.

He said it was afraid. He threatened it and it was scared of him the day he was born. It was afraid of him. He knew it was. He felt like he knew it's mind so well, knew every thought it had. It was terrified at him. It wanted him dead; he threatened it's very existence.

It only growled and whined at him.

YOU MUST DIE…

His head started to hurt. The thought was echoing all around him.

YOU WILL DIE…

I WILL KILL YOU…

It hurt his head so bad. He leaned over and held it, wondering what the thing wanted.

But he knew what it wanted. It wanted to hurt him and it wanted to finish it's deed.

Link said it couldn't finish the deed.

But it believed it could. It knew that the only thing stopping it was him. He was the only one in it's way. It believed it could complete the task, and release itself so it could return home.

So they could return home.

-

Link lunged forward holding his aching head. He was sweating and his skin was red and felt hard. He massaged his arms and breathed in and out deeply. Epona woke and shook the dirt off her mane. He pet her and continued to breath. She rested her head in his lap.

"But I knew everything! All of it and it's all gone now!" He yanked his hair. "What was it!" He asked himself. Epona lifted her ears. He let his hands drop to the dirt. He pet Epona and laid back down. "It isn't fair..." He wrapped his arm around his eyes. "Rais would know what to do..." He mumbled.

Rais would know exactly what to do… But he wasn't Rais. He could never be anything close to what Rais was. He was a failure and he didn't deserve to have Rais as a trainer. He knew he didn't. That's why Rais abandoned him. He didn't deserve it… he never did.

-

Townsfolk were once again rushing on the boats. A bug was spotted a town away from Orma. Link opened his eyes and turned his head towards the dock. The sun could have only come up a few hours ago, and already people were rushing like mad back on to the ships. A few guards and Zelda's guardian were frantically running around the small village. Zelda wasn't with them.

"Zelda!" Her guardian cupped her hand around her mouth and yelled it through the town. She had disappeared, right when they found out about the giant insect.

"Where's she?!" A few guards ran to her, breathing hard. They had been running around Orma searching like mad dogs.

"We have to find her!" The guardian shoved them out of the way, continuing the search. The two guards followed her, yelling Zelda's name.

"Zelda…" He told himself. He had a disturbing dream and now Zelda was missing. The dream couldn't have been real, could it.

He remembered when he first got his room at Rais's chamber. The book that laid on the table…

He had fairies in his dream, dancing in the shape of a giant tree. The book had talked about fairies… fairies lived in the forest.

He looked to his left, towards Orma Forest. His aunt had never let him go near the woods, it had been her number one rule when they would go into town. Was he going to disobey the rules once again?

The trees stood tall and high towards the sky. He felt an urge to go inside. If Zelda wasn't in town, this was the only place where she could be.

He jumped on Epona and rode along the edge of the forest, searching for it's entrance. He only rode for a few minutes before coming across a white sign.

The sign sat next to the dirt path, chipped and broken from sitting there for so long.

'Welcome' Read across it.

-

I really love my little Silent Hill feeling ending right there. XD

Getting interesting, isn't it?