Chapter 32: Premonition

They rode on to the stable, stayed the night, and then Zelda insisted that they went up Death Mountain.

"It's only a little bit out of our way," She had said to brush off any arguments Link may have had. But he hadn't seemed to have any. Zelda wondered why, remembering how he had insisted to go straight to their destination. But then she remembered what he had quoted to her in what now appeared to be hidden desperation.

"'You are to go to Goron City, Sir Link, and return immediately. If there is one scratch on the princess, or you are to go one step off track, then-'"

He had quickly cut himself off. Zelda wondered what threat the fake Fuer had used. Perhaps a beating?

Zelda felt a twinge of guilt, at that. She wondered what other pains she had caused him with her stubbornness.

But why had the Captain Fuer beat Link for doing something "wrong?" Wasn't he supposed to lower the defenses of the Royal Guard? Or perhaps the defenses of Link?

"Princess, you've been awfully quiet."

Zelda jolted her eyes to her side, to see Link looking at her with blankness.

"You called me 'Princess.' Again," She added with a sigh.

"I have given up on changing my habits," Link said calmly. "It's too much work."

"Ah." Zelda nodded. "So our hero is lazy? How are you going to beat the calamity, then?" She teased. Her joking demeanor quickly shifted to one of regret. I shouldn't have said that.

Link looked away from her and focused once again on the trail before him. Zelda frowned.

"Link, I didn't mean anything like that…" She said carefully. "I was simply jesting."

"I know," Link mumbled quietly, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.

Now Zelda felt even worse. Why was she a failure at everything? She couldn't even go about a simple conversation with her knight without killing the mood.

It stayed silent for a long while on the trail, Zelda occasionally stopping to collect some sort of plant or mineral. Link didn't speak again, even when she spoke to him.

Then, when she was gathering some amber ("I heard that this can have good capabilities under the proper circumstances. It aids with defense, I believe, due to some magical property it has." But of course, Link wasn't speaking to her at the moment), She heard something whistle from behind her, and a small yelp.

She turned and gasped to see Link, an arrow in the front of his right shoulder.

He turned to her and spoke for the first time in at least a few hours. "Run, Zelda." Link's voice was soft and calm. She looked forward and gasped at what she saw.

Just behind them on the path were an least fifteen bokoblins of various colors - and two black lynels.

Zelda took a few steps backward, unsure of what to do. She could run towards Goron City, but that was quite the distance away. That, and she didn't want to leave Link. The odds weren't in his favor.

...Or were they?

Zelda watched with awe as Link nimbly dodged the lynels' attacks, occasionally slicing at one of their sides, like a wolf darting in and nipping, before dancing away and dodging another blow.

It wasn't long before every beast was dead, dying, or had run off in the midst of the chaos. She hadn't seen Link get injured, but when he walked towards her she could already see scratches on his face.

"And I thought you were invincible," She teased.

Link shrugged, seeming to have been drained of energy. He wiped the Master Sword on a cloth that seemed to have been stored in his pouch, before sheathing it with ease.

That's when she noticed something on his right arm. A cut in his undershirt, and she could see crimson seeping through the cloth. "You're bleeding."

Link paused in movement before looking at his arm. He seemed calm- far too calm, in her opinion.

He looked at it like it was some sort of interesting creature he had discovered, before lowering his arm. "I'll be fine, Princess." His voice sounded surprisingly tired.

"I'm not quite so sure about that," Zelda argued, sitting down on a nearby rock. "At least let me look at it."

Link looked at her for a moment, before sighing and moving to sit beside her.

She was surprised at how he didn't even argue with her. He offered his arm to her, and she rolled up the sleeve, careful not to let it touch the wound.

At first, she nearly gagged at it. Actually, she probably did gag at it, considering-

"Is it really that bad?" Link asked, an eyebrow quirked.

After a closer look, she sighed. "It doesn't look too bad, actually. You're fine- for now."

"Ah. So you're going to chop off my arm later," Link said, nodding. "Delaying the inevitable is quite unbecoming of you, Princess."

Zelda stared at him for a moment, before laughing. "And I thought I wasn't to see that side of you again."

"I'm not one to hold grudges, Zelda."

"Are you implying something about me, Link?" Zelda looked up at his eyes inquiringly.

There was a small twitch at the corner of his lips. "You didn't talk to Purah for a month after she showed that picture of the champions to everyone in the court."

Zelda laughed. "You noticed?"

"I notice everything, Princess." Link said with a deadpan look. He truly was good at hiding emotions. "Liari considers me quite paranoid because of it."

Zelda chuckled slightly. "Anyway, you do realize there's a fine line between courage and recklessness, right?"

Link was completely blank, though Zelda had the sneaking suspicion that he was resisting to roll his eyes.

"As brave as you are, that does not make you immortal." Zelda chastised.

Link shrugged slightly. Zelda rolled her eyes and turned her gaze forward, looking over the trail-made-battlefield. "It seems that, not only the frequency of these types of attacks are on the rise…" Zelda observed, remembering what she had overheard in the halls of the castle. "...But the scale of beasts we are facing is intensifying as well.

"I fear that…" Zelda held a hand to her chest. "I fear that this is an omen, which portends the return of Calamity Ganon." She shivered at the mere sound of the name, but stood nonetheless, turning to Link. "And, if that's the case, I'm ready to expect the worst."

Link did not reply, his gaze blank and his blue eyes piercing hers.

"We'll need to make preparations as soon as possible." Zelda continued. She watched Link stand slowly, before turning back to the trail.

She wished that they could complete all of the said preparations.

I am so mad at this website, right now. First, it screwed up the entire chapter. Then I re-pasted it, and it erased all of my formatting. Then I went through and fixed all the italics. Then I wrote the Author's Note, and replied to all the reviews. And then I went to save, only for the site to tell me an error occurred, and I had to start the formatting and Author's Note ALL. OVER. AGAIN.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

What a great gift to give me on the day before my birthday, dearest FanFiction website.

...Enough of my ranting. So, I'm probably not going to give the most in depth replies, and there may be some formatting errors in the chapter. So if you find an error or something, feel free to tell me!

Sorry this chapter was rushed. This one is just kind of boring to me, I guess. If you want a better fight scene, do ask, and you shall receive.

Replies!

MeaninglessMayhem: Confusion is one of the greatest weapons in an author's arsenal.

RainyMirror: Congrats on the new account! I hate it when the name I want is taken. But I always get over it... after setting their house on fire. ANYWAY, I look back and see that I was sending a lot of mixed signals as to Link's age. But I'm too lazy to go back and fix them. So whatever. How long 'til the calamity? There are six memories... plus the springs... so that adds up to... I have no idea. Salty friends! YAY!

Catseye: Wait one second. Your heart BROKE?! CALL THE MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR SERVICES! QUICK! WHAT DO YOU MEAN, "CALL 911?!" I'VE NEVER HEARD OF IT BEFORE! Well, that's good. I still think it's a bit confusing, but I don't know what else to do with it, so it'll just have to stay the way it is. I'll reply about Link's birthday in the second review.

Catseye (2.0): Stupid technology. Always ruins EVERYTHING. Just like my friends... no... dog? Yes, dog. I cannot answer your question about what he meant... but I can confuse you even further! Maybe it's because he made himself forget! Maybe it's because he was brainwashed by the Yiga! Maybe he does remember, but he doesn't want to! And he might not want to tell Zelda because he doesn't want her to celebrate it, because he's too humble! But maybe... MAYBE a POTATO hit him in the FACE. Eh, you'll find out eventually. RIP Link's childhood. Salty Link is obviously the best one. Questions... brewing? In a storm cloud or a cauldron? Or inside of a potato?! Or maybe I'm overthinking it!

Well, there you go. Sorry it took a while! Remember the days when I posted DAILY? I was CRAZY!

Sincerely ("Knowing her, that's probably a lie." -Everyone to have ever met me),

Ari~