Guest reviews! These were replied to when all else was done and I got some sleep, so hopefully I reply like an ordinary being.

notaname: To be fair, it was more like five minutes. I exaggerated a little bit. But I did set three paper towels on fire. I'M NOT A PYROMANIAC. I can imagine a dislocating jaw would do that to people. I was freaked out about my brother and sister's double-jointed thumbs for a while, but I guess I got used to it. Zelda can use the force, now? Hmm... then why didn't she just mind control Ganon? "You will not ravage the land and shall be sealed away in peace." But I'm no expert on Jedi mind tricks, so... maybe that's not possible? I am NOT a pyromaniac! Alaska's got nothing on what? Bisqmas? Sorry, Studio C reference. No one gets it. Pewds LOST? I didn't know that! STUPID T SERIES! I'm not even subbed to Pewdiepie, though, so... Imma do that right now. Looks like there's a 600,000 sub difference right now... that's rough. I once sold these cherry jelly hearts I got at Walmart for 25 cents per individual candy. I got the entire box for $2. MOVING ON, hey! Math is cool! Except for when your teacher does nothing but tell you what pages to do out of the text book and never actually teaches you anything themselves, and gives you a crap load of homework (well... exaggeration, but whatever - it's HOMEWORK). Have a good we- oh, there's still the P.S. review. I'll say that there.

notaname (2.0): I was actually thinking about doing something similar, but I thought that it would risk giving too much away. In fact, I was originally going to have a meeting between the Yiga Clan in chapter 2 of them reacting to Link's retrieving of the Master Sword. But that didn't end up happening, because I couldn't fit it in. And it would have given away major things right away (probably). Ah, yes, I remember seeing that. The Arbiter's Grounds have such an interesting backstory. It's probably a good thing that it was destroyed, though. Some bad things are better left unremembered. Have a nice week!

ROLL THE CLIP!

Chapter 16: Spilling From the Corners

Zelda decided that she was sick of Sir Link's arrogant eyes burning into her back, his silent judgement clouding her mind at every turn.

That's why she awoke at such an hour - so that she could ride to the castle without him.

She tiptoed silently out of the stable, her saddle bag slung over her shoulder, the sky still lit by nothing but the stars and the moonlight. The few other times she had tried to escape she had awoken a mere half an hour or so before sunrise, but the Hylian Champion would already be wide awake by then, packing bags and preparing for the journey.

This time she had gotten smarter. She had awoken with hours left before the sun would grace the skies with its light. There was no way the knight could possibly be awake by then.

When she exited the stable, however, she was proved wrong.

There, training fiercely, was Sir Link. He didn't seem to have noticed her, far too absorbed in his practice.

It was quite the sight to see, Zelda had to admit. His slashes were quick and precise, each one deadly to his imaginary opponent. She had seen other knights train - though it was harder to tell without a real opponent, it was easily seen that Sir Link was a better warrior than they - and they were already great warriors in their own rights.

But Zelda had expected such a thing from the knight. After all, he was perfect. She had seen him training before, anyway (though it still impressed her each time she saw it). What was… strange this time around was his expression.

His brow was furrowed, frustration showing clearly on his face. There was also a slight anger that slipped into his normally expressionless gaze. At what? She did not know. But she was somewhat fascinated that the knight was actually capable of feeling and showing emotion.

How do I get past him? She glanced around, seeing a stack of crates that could hide her from the view of the knight.

Perhaps I can sneak by him? If she rode fast enough, she may be able to evade him for the whole ride to the castle.

She snuck quietly around the knight and towards the stalls. Whenever she did things like this, it was quite exhilarating. She had snuck away from her other guards before, but this was the most stealth-necessary of them all. She was excited to tell Purah of her success.

However, she had barely gotten behind a few crates when a twig snapped beneath her feet. The grunts that had accompanied the knight's training stopped.

"Who goes there?" came a voice from behind the crates. It was harsh and cold, sending shivers down Zelda's spine. That's Sir Link? She had never thought his voice to strike fear in her - every time that he had spoken before his voice had been soft and quiet.

She heard the quiet shing of a sword being drawn, and not seconds later, there was a sword pointed towards her, a fierce and deadly gaze trained on her own.

The sword was lowered. "Princess?" The knight's face once again became a void of emotion. "My apologies. I thought you were…" he trailed off and shook his head. "Why are you out here?"

"I am not obligated to answer any of your questions, Hero," Zelda huffed. Normally she wouldn't abuse her title like this, but her frustration took over. "What are you doing out here?"

The knight stiffened and averted his gaze. "I was unable to sleep, so I decided to do something productive. I apologize if I came off as disrespectful, Your Highness." She saw his eyes meet the saddle bag over her shoulder, but he acted as if he had not noticed it. "You should go back to sleep. It will be a long journey tomor-"

Ignoring the fact that this was the most the knight had ever spoken to her, Zelda straightened up, making herself look taller than she really was. "I am not in need of your coddling, Sir," Zelda began coldly. "There has not been one moment on this trip in which you have been of use. I am not in need of an escort!"

The knight that stood before her did not change in his blankness of expression. "I apologize again, Your Highness," he droned. "Whether you are in need of an escort or not, the king has assigned this to me as my duty-"

"Duty!" Zelda all but yelled. "'The king has assigned this to you.' You're such a mindless dog. You run about, doing whatever those that outrank you tell you to do! Have you ever had a thought of your own in your entire life?"

The knight bowed his head, silent. There was still not a hint of emotion on his face.

"I'm going to leave for the castle now," she said firmly. "It is clear that I cannot order you to stop following me. However, I do not wish to have to look you in the eye a single time on the journey back.

The knight nodded silently, turning walking towards the stall that housed his horse. Good. Now she didn't have to look at his arrogant face anymore… for the length of the journey, of course.

Zelda shoved down the guilt that began to bubble from inside. Sir Link had deserved every word he had gotten! He had "unlocked" the power to defeat the calamity with ease! He had done nothing to prove himself! Had that boy spent years of pleading to the goddesses for something that was supposed to be his? Something that would save the whole of the realm? No! They handed it to him the moment he asked!

What made Zelda any different?

After strapping the saddle bags onto her horse, she dragged the stubborn stallion out of his stall. She placed her foot in the stirrup and swung her leg over…

...only for the stupid horse to rear and attempt to throw her off.

"Calm down, Storm!" she hissed, clinging to the horse.

Then he started to buck. Zelda held more tightly, more desperately. Even the horse hates me!

After what felt like a lifetime, but she knew was only a mere few seconds, Storm calmed, turning towards something she couldn't see. Curious to see what had stopped him, she followed his gaze.

There, standing beside the horse, was none other than the 'hero.' He was offering the beast an apple, rubbing its neck and whispering something incoherent, but soothing. It was so gentle that it even made Zelda herself feel calmer.

"Mounting a horse when feeling such negative emotions can be dangerous." The knight's voice was so quiet that Zelda's ears strained to hear it. "Horses can feel the emotions of those around them. Someone that is calm naturally spreads that calm to the horse. But when someone feels rage..." he trailed off, not needing to complete his sentence. Despite not finishing his thought, he was speaking an awful lot tonight.

So now he's a horse expert. Zelda huffed in annoyance, but immediately smashed down her rage when the horse beneath her snorted.

Slowly, she sat up on the horse, drawing in a calming breath. "Are you calm now?"

The horse nickered softly. I'll take that as a yes?

She glanced at the knight out of the corner of her eye, who had made his way to his own horse while she had been distracted. Guilt crept up again, but she swatted it away. He deserved every word, she repeated to herself.

And with that, Zelda spurred her stormy steed away, all too aware of the hoof beats that echoed from behind.

On the ride back to the castle, Link kept his distance. Though he knew that the princess was going through troubled times, and that she clearly despised him, her words had cut deep.

"You're such a mindless dog!"

Link drew in a shuddering breath, knowing that the princess was far too angry at him to care to look behind and catch his moment of weakness. All his life, he had been told to be completely obedient to the orders of his superiors. He tried his best to do so to the best of his ability… but he always disappointed someone.

But the princess thought him dull and unintelligent because of his obedience? This confused him. He knew that she hated that he followed him… perhaps she was taking her anger out on him?

He recalled what Impa had said once when Liari had begun to take her own anger out on those around her. It was for a reason he could not remember, but the words were clear in his mind, even now.

"This is not the way to take out your frustrations, Liari. You must pause, think, and breath. Think about what is the true root of your anger. I assure you that it is not the fact that the innocent passerby 'looked at you funny.' Decide whether the true reason behind your anger is justified, or simply ridiculous and should be swatted away. If it is not ridiculous, do what you must to fix it."

But the princess didn't have Sheikah training… as far as Link knew, anyway. She was not taught meditation and how to properly disguise emotion, and rare few besides the Sheikah ever bothered with learning to properly control their rage.

So her words were fine. She was going through troubled times, what with her failure to unlock her sealing powers and such. Though she definitely hated him, she probably did not hate him as much as her words suggested. She was merely… venting.

Deep down, Link didn't believe that she really was. But Link shoved down the side that was pitying himself and killed it with fire. His feelings did not matter. He was a knight - a weapon. Nothing more.

When he saw the outline of the castle in the distance, Link quickly cleared his face of any and all emotion. He was a weapon, after all, and he had to act the part. Cold, lifeless, and ready to kill.

When an angry knock came at Impa's door, she assumed that it was Liari, back to rant about something ridiculous.

"Enter," Impa said, allowing the slightest bit of irritation to slip into her voice.

The door swung open, not to reveal a dark blonde Sheikah, but rather a golden haired princess, a cross aura dancing around her like flames.

"Princess Zelda," Impa greeted. "What brings you to my office?"

The princess's teeth were clenched. "I would like a new appointed knight, please - or better yet, no appointed knight."

Impa raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And where would your appointed knight be?"

"I have ordered his to leave my sight for the rest of the day," Princess Zelda said heatedly.

"What exactly did my finest apprentice do to upset you?" Impa asked coolly.

"Your finest- ugh!" the princess groaned. "That arrogant, stuck up little knight is so condescending that I can't take it!"

"Are you sure that we're speaking of the same person?" Impa questioned. "That sounds the exact opposite of the Sir Link I have come to know."

"Really, now?" the princess huffed. "Are you joking? That knight could not be understanding and humble for his life!"

Impa found this conversation amusing. "My apologies if I cause offense, but I don't believe that you have bothered to look further than the surface, Princess."

"What do you mean?" the princess asked, clearly irritated. "There's nothing more to see. He's arrogant, a know-it-all, and a spoiled brat!"

"Princess," Impa began, thinking her wording carefully so that she would suggest anything about knowing the princess's thoughts, "What do people see you as?"

"What does this have to do with that foolish knight?"

"Everything," Impa replied before continuing. "They see you as a failure of a princess, due to your inability to unlock your sealing powers. They believe that you have done nothing to solve this problem, merely adventuring around and avoiding your duties as a princess. But you and I both know that you have done, and continue to do, all you can. Correct?"

The princess nodded slowly, her angry aura ebbing away to show confusion.

"Now tell me why you think the way you do about Link," Impa demanded gently.

The angry aura grew back. "He's silent because he does not feel it necessary to speak to me. He thinks that he is above me, all because of his ease at releasing the Master Sword. At Rudania, when they didn't know I was listening, he spoke uninhibitedly to Daruk. Then, last night, he corrected the way I mounted my horse. He's always looking down on me!"

Impa waited for the princess to continue, but nothing more came. "Well, Princess," Impa said calmly, "I do not see how any of that means that Sir Link is lacking in respect towards you."

"Wha-?!"

"Nothing you have stated shows that Sir Link has any ill will towards you," Impa interrupted. "Nor does it show that he feels above you, or anything of the like. You are judging him just as many others have judged you. It is a common mistake, of course, but one that needs to be corrected."

A slight guilt crept up inside the princess, but it seemed that she decided to replace it with more anger. "You don't know him. You haven't seen the way he has acted around me!"

"I do know him - better than you, I'd imagine," Impa said calmly. "If the events you have described are the worst extent of it, then I would say that Sir Link has done nothing to cause you to feel this way."

"I- you- he- ugh!" the princess groaned to end her sputtering of incoherency. "You are simply trying to justify his actions!"

And with that, Princess Zelda turned on her heel and marched out of Impa's office, her rage hanging over her head like a storm cloud.

"Well," Impa said to herself when the princess left, "I suppose there was a better way to handle that." If Dame Rala were still here, she would've had a few choice words to say to Impa. The Sheikah elder would've known exactly how to deal with the situation.

Impa slouched in her chair. Though she would never live up to the power and wisdom of her late mentor, she had always strived to live up to her expectations. It seemed that Impa had failed to do so.

What would Rala have done?

Edit: We're at 99 reviews?! It took at LEAST twenty five chapters for the old one to get to that point (probably)! NEXT PERSON TO REVIEW GETS 100th REVIEW AND A PRIZE (May or may not be the satisfaction of being the 100th reply). -end of edit-

I'm actually writing the author's note the day before for once instead of 4-6 in the morning! Not that anyone will notice. I'll probably just seem less sleep-deprived and insane.

I haven't gone through the chapter yet, so I don't know how thoroughly I'll be checking it, but if you find any mistakes, review or PM! This is a rewrite - it must be better than the original! The original was riddled with silly errors.

I've been working on a few projects lately. I've made... two or three ideas for the cover of Before. I just need to learn how to color stuff well with colored pencils (not that I suck at that or anything... but I do). I've also been writing a post OoT/MM story. It still needs some work before it's worthy of being published at all, but it's a thing. But... it has eight chapters so far and most likely more to come, so it might have to wait for the spotlight until Before is done having its time to shine.

Secret review phrase: spoiled milk (NO QUESTIONS AS TO WHY. I JUST FELT LIKE IT.)

Sincerely (Eh, I'm tired, so who knows?),

Ari