Distant footsteps. Still at the scene of the crime. Painful broken leg. All three thoughts woke the boy up. The two men-at-arms that were guarding the smith were out cold. Link was the first to wake up. And now he needed to disappear.
A grunt escaped from his lungs as Link tried to move his body. Disappearing was easier said than done. Try as he might, he could not contain the burning pain coming from inside his leg. By now, the blood rush had subsided, and all that was left was the excruciating hell that prevented any sort of movement in his leg or the rest of his body for that matter. That did not change the urgency of his situation, it only changed how he was going to get moving. "You... promised..." he painfully uttered to himself.
His head swiveled, looking for something to help him get up. The spear lying next to its unconscious owner would have to suffice. Link reached over with his hand and pulled himself across the stony pavement to the body. His rapid breathing was more or less the result of his shrunken lung capacity. Once his fingers firmly wrapped around the wooden shaft, he reached around with his other arm, but pain restricted any potential movement. Link recognized this pain before: his right shoulder was dislocated. He planted his knee onto the ground, then the foot, and finally the spear uprightly before helping himself up. The pain did not lessen one bit, but he finally stood up on his good leg.
It was hard to concentrate on leaving the area when a fire was blazing fiercely in front of him. The entire first floor had caught on fire, and smoke was escaping through the second and third floor windows. He heard panicked and frightened screaming from inside. It was not in Link's nature to mount a rescue, and he could also begin to hear the sound of multiple footsteps getting louder and louder. The fire blasted its way into the alley with the scaffolding, but he decided to brave the flames anyway. It was his best chance of escaping unseen.
And yet somehow, he knew his promise would dogmatically get him through and keep him alive.
Between the suffocating, dark smoke, the intense heat, and the painful leg, laying down and dying sounded like a very tempting idea. With each step taken, Link's consciousness slowly dwindled, although this helped to numb the pain in his leg and his arm. He coughed heavily, and soon he had to grip his walking stick with two hands just to keep his body upright. The end was in sight, but would he make it?
A loud crash behind him startled him awake. The scaffolding had come down, making pursuit, and retreat for that matter, impossible now. It was either move or die now. Still, Link's body struggled to obey each command. Endure the pain or die. The story of Link's wretched life.
Smoke had been entering his lungs, but as he strained through injuries, his breathing became heavier, until finally his lungs autonomously decided to have uncontrollable coughing fit, and Link soon fell hard onto the stony road. Upon landing, every misplaced piece in his body could be felt. Come on! he rallied himself through the coughs, Not much farther!
It was easier to use his healthy limbs to crawl the rest of the way. No need to worry about falling over and breaking his fragile body any more, the smoke was not as thick, and it was his best chance of survival. Pushing himself forth meant antagonizing the friction between his broken bones and the ground, but he could also feel the less heat and breathe easier. He could finally see the end of the alley just up ahead.
When he finally reached the corner, Link immediately relaxed and released a deep breath, but he also began looking for a place to hide for the night, using only the distant light that blazing fire provided. The sour, pungent odor of dung punched into his nose. Perfect. A pile of human waste is the last place anyone wants to check. He scooted towards the smell along a dirt pavement, towards the fenced enclosure of the dung pile.
In his mind, Link was still gradually getting closer to the foul smell. But in reality, his consciousness had given in before he had even crossed the fence.