notaname: Oh dear Hylia above, this is a long review! Looks like you're the only guest reviewer this time around, though, so I can split up this review to my heart's content - all while combining the three reviews.

Holi? What- oh, huh. Interesting. I've never heard of it before (I live under a rock XD). My 3D-printed ocarina is... interesting to say the least. Looks like an ocarina, plays like an ocarina, sounds like a recorder. I don't play it very much, because it sounds horrifying XD

Ah. Oops. I get those two words mixed up sometimes. It happens. I LOVE THAT IMAGE OF DARK BEAST GANON, EVEN THOUGH I REALLY SHOULD BE TERRIFIED! Oh, cool! ..Whose Altaïr Ibn-LaʼAhad? *googles* OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHH.

I don't think people are actually capable of being harsher on others than they are on themselves. Wait, scratch that. I don't think GOOD people are. There are bad people out there that don't see a single flaw in themselves, but point out every flaw in other people. Well, they aren't necessarily BAD... they just really aren't very good either. After all... that's why we've had a lot of suicide issues. O_o

No. We do not speak of the CDI games... or the Zelda cartoon. "Well, excuse me, Princess." Turns out we may be getting a Zelda anime, soon, though. HYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYPPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Nu! You've seen my secrets! No one should know about my trying to make a metaphor work for my own devices! IT NEVER WORKS!

I've eaten these GIGANTIC cupcakes in one bite. People looked at me a bit weird, but it was totally worth the sugar overload. Maybe not eating for one hundred years makes her super hungry? Wait, shouldn't she be like, fifty pounds underweight? Actually... shouldn't Zelda be DEAD? How DID she survive for one hundred years with no nutrition, no sleep, no human interaction, no vitamin D, NOTHING! Zelda can defy PHYSICS, too?! WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?!

Same. Let's just pretend I never wrote that, eh? I thought that she would just snap and the entire cake would disintegrate, but I dunno. We don't really call cops "the po-po" where I live, either. We had some Canadian speaker come to our school and talk about social media safety, and he seemed to think that "po-po" was what the cool kids called police.

My friends say I teleport, too. I like to think that I've gotten very good at sneaking around. When I was younger, my insomnia would keep me up really late, so I would sneak downstairs and get a glass of milk. I was NEVER CAUGHT! Probably. Never mind, turns out my mom knew somehow. Mother figures know ALL!

I've never seen It (not a big fan of horror movies), but if you did that, I think that rather than wetting myself I would be laughing the whole time and be looked at like a lunatic (it's not a new image people have of me, though, so it's FINE).

Interesting idea! The sort of concept I have for the Sheikah makes them very secretive, but if Zelda voiced her doubts to Impa, then maybe.

Oh, yeah, I heard about that! I actually translated what it said on the closed doors of the shrines ("Off Dungeon). I used that in my old story and had Liari translate it, but it's not an event that is ever going to happen now. DON'T READ THE ORIGINAL.

All of my money is kept inside a microwave sized safe with a word key code. THAT safe is inside another, which is inside another, which is inside another. Each individual safe has it's own password. HAH, just kidding. I keep it in a duct tape wallet my cousin/best bud made for me.

I... I just have pencils and paper in my pockets that I doodle on when I'm bored in math class (XD). All that? Did you cut off your finger, too?

TAKE THE DARK CHOCOLATE FROZEN YOGURT, PLEASE! I HAVE ENOUGH EYES ON ME... *glances at the cat staring evilly towards me*

The cats are EVIL.

That's all, then! Have a wonderful week! XD

Sorry about the long review. ONWARD, TO VICTORY!

Chapter 13: Near Slip-Ups

Zelda had spent the whole of the previous day exploring and photographing Vah Medoh. For reasons unknown to her, Revali had decided against allowing Sir Link on board, though Zelda was quite alright with that. Any moment without the knight's eyes on her back was a good moment.

But now that day was over. She had slept in the inn of Rito Village, having a restful sleep, only to awaken to her knight standing stiffly outside the door, both horses packed and ready outside.

So off they rode through the plains, the knight riding a few paces behind her.

They were a few hours away from the stable when something popped into her head - A legend about the Master Sword. She wasn't sure why, but it made her curious.

For the first time in the long ride, she glanced towards the knight, who was riding with his eyes towards the saddle.

"Sir Link," she addressed, drawing the knight's eyes to her. Blank-faced as always, she thought, irritated. "I just recalled a tale I heard once about the sword that resides on your back. Something about a spirit that once lived within it?"

She thought she saw something spark in the hero's eyes, but it was gone too quick for her to be sure.

She turned back to face the path before her. "Apparently, long ago, there was a voice that spoke inside the sword. I was curious as to whether you could hear it or not."

At first, she heard nothing. This only made her more sure of the hero's muteness.

But then…

"I'm aware of the tale," said a quiet voice, shocking Zelda to the point that she stopped her steed to turn to the hero.

He looked as blank faced as usual, but there was something in his eyes… a secret?

"If I recall properly," he continued, "the spirit was put into a deep sleep many millennia ago in order to seal away an ancient evil."

Zelda was quite surprised. She had not expected the hero to know things about the story that she had not. He had studied. Not only that, but there was a quiet intelligence to his voice.

Perhaps he was not as stupid as she thought.

She shook off that thought. It's one story! How does knowing that make him intelligent?

"You did not answer my question," Zelda said. "Perhaps I should ask it more bluntly and dumb it down a bit for you. The sword's voice - if there is one. Can you hear it, Hero?"

Zelda received complete silence on the hero's part. Sighing, she turned forward and kicked her steed back into motion.

"It seems that my stay at Rito Village has come and gone. I write this from Tabantha stable after a long day of traveling.

"It is of no help that my Appointed Knight has not bothered to speak a word since arrogantly correcting my inaccurate viewpoint of a fairytale. However, the fact that he became defensive and did not reply to my question intrigues me… I believe that there is something he is hiding, but I can't put my finger on it. Can he hear the voice of the Master Sword? Can he not, but he knows a different version of the tale of the sword spirit, and feels inadequate because he secretly knows that he should?

"That boy is infuriating, the way he struts around with that sword on his back, making all those around him feel inferior - including myself.

"The slight idea that he had any sort of intelligence, which I mentioned in my previous entry, had faded completely. He's an arrogant boy, most likely some noble prodigy. He appears perfect in every way. In the early mornings, I've caught him training. Once I awoke hours before the sun rose, and there he was, training, training, training! I know precisely what my father would say if he saw. 'If only you were more like the hero. He doesn't bother with silly experiments.'

"I feel rage at being compared to the perfect hero, but guilty at the same time, for I know they speak the truth."

Zelda slammed her diary shut. She had never written so much in the little book, nor had she vented about a single topic. However, getting all of that jotted down had seemed to lift a weight off of her chest.

She noted that it was much later in the evening than it usually was when she turned in. She glanced over at the bed which her knight was to use.

Rather than the knight being sprawled out on the bed, drooling, she was surprised to see that he had curled up on himself, not unlike a puppy. The slight furrow of his brow as he slept showed more emotion than he ever did during his wakeful hours.

It was then that Zelda noticed she had never seen the knight actually sleep. He was always watching dutifully - awake when she went to sleep, awake when she arose.

It looked to her that he hadn't even meant to fall asleep, as his sword was still strapped to his back.

The Master Sword.

Well… to catch the knight sleeping when it seemed he hadn't meant to proved he wasn't completely perfect.

Or perhaps he meant to keep the gear on, and he's a light sleeper. Perhaps he's doing this so that no one can sneak in and murder me.

Well, she supposed that meant he was still perfect. Wonderful.

Just when Zelda had thought she had bested the hero, he proved her wrong again - and in his sleep.

"Link! No! Not my boy!"

Link sat up with a strangled gasp. Struggling to catch his breath, he breathed deeply and slowly, despite the hasty beat of his heart.

Once he was sure he was calm enough to not trip over a pot and awaken everyone in the stable, he stood on shaky legs, making his way out of the stable.

Once he was a decent distance from the entrance, he drew the Master Sword from his back.

Link had found that the training was a good way to vent his pent up thoughts. If I had woken just a bit later… if my breathing was just the slightest bit louder… He punctuated each thought with several skillful slashes.

If one variable had been different… it all would've been over for him- no, for Hyrule.

I need to be the controlled variable in this procedure. Stay calm, blank, and hide the truth - and I can't slip up the slightest bit.

It sounded simple enough. He saw Impa do it on a day to day basis, though she was far better at it. She could even manage to show rare emotion and teased sometimes, mainly because she was still intimidating.

Link couldn't risk it. Impa was skilled at it, but if he let his guard down the slightest bit, he might just screw up everything about the image he had worked so hard to maintain.

Scratch that. He knew he would screw up everything about the image he had worked so hard to maintain.

Life is complicated, ain't it? Fate seems to love messing with us mortals… doesn't it, Fi?

The sword in Link's grip glowed slightly. "I suppose you could say that, Master Link."

Link paused in his movements, shifting his stance to a neutral position. How was it that the goddesses chose the ones with these fates?

"I apologize, but I have not been informed," Fi said.

What you said earlier states otherwise. What was it that you said? 'It was a decision made years before I was given a consciousness?' You must know something.

"I was not aware that you were seeking the reasoning behind your own fate," Fi said, though the strange connection between the two of them made Link doubt that. "As I told you before, I am prohibited from giving more information on the subject than I already have."

"Why is my fate," Link found himself whispering softly, ignoring the slight cracks in his voice, "any different than anyone else's?"

"How it differs from, or why you were chosen?"

"You know very well what I mean."

There was a silence in the air.

Well, not completely silent. Crickets chirped and the wind whispered by, a constant presence out in the wild, and one that always seemed to lift a weight off of Link's shoulders.

He sighed, moving to continue training, when a voice met his ears and he froze in his tracks.

"Despite what you believe, your spirit is strong. Only one with an unbreakable spirit may wield the Master Sword to its fullest potential, and only one with the strength and courage to fight can succeed.

There was nothing. It was as if the whole of the world had gone silent, the only sound Link could hear being his own heartbeat, which was speeding up in pace.

The silence seemed to last forever, but deep in Link's mind he knew that it had only been a moment before he replied.

"Then we've already lost."

Hylia, Link pleaded, I beseech you. Save them. Save them all.

He couldn't help but wonder why, why, they had chosen a cowardly boy like himself to protect Hyrule from an incarnate of evil itself.

Please spare them. I beg of you - do not make them suffer because I'm not strong enough.

I apologize for the length of this chapter - this one was very difficult to write and fill, and I ended with six pages. Most chapters are seven or more, but as six was my minimum, that's what this one ended up as. At least it's better than the freaking TWO PAGE CHAPTERS in the old one! I was also feeling a lack of motivation on fixing this one (shows how much I didn't like it), so as per usual, if you catch any typos or errors, do tell me!

This week is Spring Break! For me at least. Hooray! I got really lazy last week, and by lazy, I mean that I got really into a new story I'm working on. I'm not sure how many chapters I should get to there before publishing alongside Before (it's a much longer story, not unlike this one), but I've written three chapters and a prologue... wow, I don't even write that much weekly for Before. ANYWAY, getting sidetracked. Hopefully I can get ahead on my writing schedule again this week. And maybe have time to draw or something.

As per usual, review! Reviews are my motivation juice - I'm going to be honest here and say that I've never done so much and gone to such lengths with a story before. I really think that the reviews are helping me, not only to improve, but to learn how to keep at it.

That's all, I believe. Have a wonderful week, everyone!

Sincerely (My cat is trying to kill me),

Ari