A few quick notes:

1. This story is rated T due to some very violent content.

2. I intend to update weekly. I don't write that fast, but the writing is all done. I don't like when a story I'm interested in dies without an ending, so I figured I would make sure this story was finished before I posted any part of it.

3. I don't own any Legend of Zelda character or setting. I'm just borrowing them and I hope Nintendo won't mind too much.

4. Thank you so much for reading!

5. Even more thanks go to everyone who has reviewed. It's really, really appreciated. Thanks!

Chapter 5: The Lost Woods

Link sat there for a while, staring into space and trembling. Zelda desperately wanted to talk to him, explain why she had done this to him, hear him say it was okay, that he remembered now and that she had done the right thing. Yet, she waited. She didn't know how to begin to explain herself, she didn't know how much explaining was necessary, and at any rate, she didn't think Link would hear a word she said just now, so she waited, barely aware of the tears filling her eyes.

After a while, Link turned towards her and slowly focused his gaze until they made real eye contact.

"Link, I... I'm sorry." Zelda babbled. "I had to. You understand, right? I didn't want to. I tried to get you not to come in here, but…!"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Link said. "Sorry I passed out. I'm okay now."

Zelda stared at him for a moment, at a loss for words. Was Link actually trying to pretend nothing had happened? She could see in his face that he was still shaken by the memories, and he was still trembling.

"Link, I'm talking about your reliving that battle. I know you did. You strangled yourself, you had a terrible fever, you started bleeding from everywhere..."

Link shrugged, but the blood had drained from his face and when he talked, his voice was trembling.

"I still don't know what you're talking about." He lied.

Zelda was quickly loosing her calm. They hadn't gone through all this for Link to decide to just ignore what he now knew to be true.

"There is no point pretending." She said. "You relived that battle. I'm sorry you did, I told you that already. You're still shaking, for Nayru's sake! Don't act like you don't remember what just happened, or what happened 15 centuries ago!"

Link got up and started for the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Zelda asked, getting up after him and holding his arm.

"You're crazy!" Link cried. "I've never been in a battle! I don't like skeletons and..." Link hesitated before continuing. "That one scared me so bad I passed out!"

"It's a FAKE skeleton, Link!" Zelda sighed. "I think you knew that, and a Stalfos didn't make you pass out, so even if this skeleton was real, I really don't think it would have terrified you THAT much, unless it reminded you of your defeat against Ganon!"

Link actually snarled at her.

"It's not fake!" He growled. "That bloody pig wouldn't even leave my bones alone!"

He slapped a hand to his mouth, looking horrified, and Zelda couldn't help smirking despite the disgust she felt at Ganon exposing the Hero's real skeleton for all those centuries, somehow preventing it from crumbling into dust, or burning with the rest of the museum 4 years earlier

Link shook her off his arm and took off running. Zelda, who had not expected this but now thought she should have, could only stare at his back in shock for a second, before she called out to him and started running in pursuit.

He shouted at her to leave him alone, without slowing down.

She followed him through and out of the museum, but she was so far behind that once outside, she couldn't see where he had gone. She shouted his name one more time, but this time, there was no answer. She wanted to curl up against the wall and cry, but instead, she just started walking back home. It was bad enough the whole town would know by tomorrow that Link had run away, and that she had run after him. There was no need to add to the gossip material: drawing more attention to Link's reaction to Ganon's museum was the last thing she wanted to do.

Link kept running, going towards the Lost Woods. He entered them without a second thought, slowing down just enough to avoid crashing into the trees or tripping on the uneven forest floor. He only finally stopped when he was completely out of breath. He sat down, leaning against one of the trees, and tried to catch his breath.

A quick look around confirmed that he was deep within the woods: there was no end in sight to the trees, which looked just as thick in every direction. Link sighed in relief: he wouldn't be found here: nobody ever went into the woods, and absolutely nobody ever went far into them.

Link wanted to think it was foolishness on everybody's part, like he used to. He wanted to go back to this morning, back when he thought Zelda was completely insane and the Lost Woods were just an old forest. He knew better now, and oh! Did he wish he didn't.

Zelda was not insane at all: she had been right all along, or at least, she had been right about who he had been. Obviously, she was still wrong about who he currently was. And the Lost Woods... they did feel different. Link could tell he was welcomed, but he also could tell that he was an exception. He had felt the Woods examining him, and something about them made it clear that if they had not liked what they had sensed about him, he would have been in great danger. It was nothing concrete, but he could certainly understand why for as long as anyone could remember, nobody had ever taken more than one step within the Woods before running back out, screaming in anguish.

He took another look around, and his eyes widened. He didn't remember seeing any of what he was seeing now. Everything looked completely foreign, even the ground right next to his feet. He shook his head and looked again. Everything looked completely new again, as if he had not seen any of it a few seconds earlier. Link gulped. It seemed there was a reason for this forest being called the "Lost" Woods specifically, instead of a more general name such as "Cursed Woods" or "Magical Forest".

Link got up and tried to retrace his steps and find his way out. He walked for about an hour without seeing anything familiar, and without finding an exit. He figured he should be terrified by now, but although he couldn't imagine finding a way out anytime soon, he found he didn't really mind all that much. Many of the trees had fruits and he kept coming across little streams, so he wouldn't starve, anyway. Also, compared to enduring Zelda's begging him to go fight Ganon until he finally accepted to go get himself killed just to shut her up, being hopelessly lost didn't sound all that bad.

He sat back down and let his thoughts wander: they quickly settled on how terrible his life was. He hated his job at the shop back when he was making shields, and he hated it even more now that he was making swords. He hated the dorm because even there, most people just made fun of him all the time. He hated not being in the dorm anymore, because he missed Kariko and Dekussay. He hated going to work before the sun got up because it meant being out in the streets while it was still night. He hated going back home in the dark as well. He couldn't stand to think of his past lives, and he was even more irritated with Zelda's certainty that he was the Hero reborn now that he knew she was right.

After a while of this, he got up and started pacing, staring at his feet. Even though he was only pacing a small space, turning around every few steps, the ground managed to look completely unfamiliar every time. This phenomenon kept him amused for a little while, but his thoughts soon deteriorated into self pity again. Eventually, he sat down against a tree, with no idea as to whether it was the same one as before or not.

He kept up this routine until the night, and then fell asleep. He was not worried about monsters: even they never came into the Lost Woods.

Unlike Link, Zelda did not sleep. She spent the night pacing her house, climbing up and down the stairs, cleaning things that did not need it, and mostly, panicking.

Word would get out about Link's running away from the museum, she thought. It was lucky they had been alone in the final exhibit room, lucky no one else had witnessed Link's reaction to said exhibit, but she didn't think it would be enough. If the President heard of it, he was bound to reassess his earlier conclusion about Link. Why would anyone run away like that from a museum, if not because something in it spooked them a lot more than an average guest?

Now that she thought of it, she wondered whether the whole museum might be a trap designed specifically to make the Hero react and thus reveal himself. Even though it was so old, having existed in different incarnations for well over a thousand year, it might indeed be a trap. She bit her lip. If it was, she had shoved Link right into it. And even if it wasn't, Link's behaviour would still seem suspicious to everyone, the President included. And if he also heard that Link now lived with a higher class girl called Zelda, who had insisted he learned to work with swords, what would he conclude? Would he realize it was the same Zelda who had pretended to be the exact opposite of the historical princesses and who had called attention to how Link was afraid of just about everything? He would surely see through the act and send Ganon after the two of them.

And where WAS Link? Was he out? It wasn't safe out. He could get himself killed tonight, and it would be her fault if he did. Like dragging him to the museum and making him enter that Nayru forsaken room hadn't been enough, she just had to push, to try and force him to admit who he was, despite the fact he obviously didn't want to; even though he was clearly not ready to face the truth. And if anything did happen to him...

Zelda shuddered. If something happened to Link, there would be no one to oppose Ganon, until a new hero was born. It had taken 15 centuries for this one to be found, how long would it take for the next one? How much longer could Hyrule stay under Ganon's paw before the monster crushed her completely? How many more would die? Ever since the President's visit, there were about 20 to 30 victims per night on average, so for 405 nights, there would be between 8,100 and 12,150 victims per year. Multiplying that by 1500 meant... too many.

Zelda rolled her eyes at herself for bothering to figure it out. One victim more was too many, although it was probably unavoidable: even if Link was back at the shop tomorrow morning, even if he came around and they started working on defeating Ganon, it would probably take them a while to actually succeed at doing so.

Her thoughts wandered on the shop. What would she do if Link wasn't there tomorrow? She would have to keep her cover, continue working there while trying to figure out a way to get Link back or to defeat Ganon by herself, while making sure not to draw the wrong kind of attention.

She hadn't been able to think of any course of action by morning. Each time she tried to think of the shop and how she should act, she pictured one of the managers telling Link's new station buddies that he was not coming back, that he was one of the previous night's victim, and she started panicking again. She was at least decided on going to the shop, so she cleaned up and left her house, setting down the road to the shop by herself. Although that is what she had been doing most of her life, she felt extremely alone.

Link was not at the shop, but at least, there had been no report of his death, either. Zelda ignored all questions, still unsure of how to answer them. Ejar finally provided her with a cover story that would launch the gossips in the wrong direction entirely.

"Link got tired of being your boy toy, did he?" He asked coldly, sitting down in front of her at lunch time.

Zelda would have choked on her cuckoo breast had she been eating it. That was the perfect story! It would ruin her reputation to 'admit' feelings for Link, but she knew she looked just as bad as she felt, and spurned love would be a very good excuse for her feeling miserable. In addition, it could explain why Link had run off from the museum, bolting out of a room where they had been alone.

She closed her eyes tight, pretending to be holding back tears.

"It's not funny, Ejar." She said bitterly.

"So you finally admit it, do you?" Ejar growled. "I don't get it! What do you see in HIM?"

Zelda thought for a second of revealing her ears to explain her supposed attraction to Link, but she quickly dismissed the idea: a Link and Zelda couple, both with pointed ears, would probably strike the President as very interesting.

"I don't know!" She said, letting her voice show all the despair she was feeling. She didn't know, all right. She had no idea what to do next, or how to get Link back. "I can't believe he just ran off!" She cried honestly. "After all I did for him!" She added for effect.

"And what would that be?" Ejar asked. "Set the President after him, make him work with swords, giving me an excuse to beat him up... what else?"

Zelda glared at him and said nothing. Even though he had made it following her pretending to be disappointed by Link's lack of gratitude towards her, Ejar had a point. The fact was, she had given Link so many reasons to hate her that it was surprising he had tolerated her that long. It didn't give him the right to run away from his responsibilities the moment he finally found out he really was the Hero reborn, though. She sighed and let herself look as miserable as she felt: it worked well with her story, anyway.

Link woke up around mid-morning. He had had nightmares, as usual, but they didn't seem that bad anymore, compared to what he remembered had really happened. It also helped that he felt like he was perfectly safe in the woods. He had heard some screams, but they were distant, as if from another world. He looked around and smiled at the completely unfamiliar surroundings. He closed his eyes, shook his head and looked around again, to find the woods looked completely different again. He laughed. He would never find his way out of here, and that suited him just fine, especially since it meant even if someone else found him, they would not be able to get him back out of the Lost Woods: they would just become completely lost themselves.

He got up and looked around for a fruit tree. There was a pear tree, with perfectly ripe fruits, just next to him. He tried to remember if he had seen any pear trees the day before, but could only remember he had seen some kind of fruits. He picked a pear, ate it, and started walking, towards nowhere in particular, enjoying his new found freedom.

When he got bored, he settled under a tree and had a nap.

Zelda was lying in bed, wide awake and glaring at the ceiling. She didn't know who she was most angry with: Link for running off, herself for making him run away, or Ganon. She tried to think of where Link might be hidden but couldn't think of anything. She had hoped he was back at his old dorm, but one of his dorm-mates had asked her about him in the afternoon, and had told her he hadn't been to the dorm at all, and that a couple of friends of his had been expecting him. Zelda stuck to her story and told him he had run away in a heartbroken voice.

If he wasn't at his dorm, where had he spent last night? Where would he spend this one? Link wouldn't sleep outside, he was much too afraid of monsters. He would have gone somewhere safe, somewhere where monsters wouldn't go: in other words, inside of a house or building.

She sighed. She had to find him: if he did not come back, Ganon had won again, this time without even having to fight at all. She couldn't let that happen; she had to get Link back. The only problem was, she had no idea how.

By the next evening, Link had to admit that as nice as it was to be free and outside during the day, especially since the weather had been perfect up to date, he was getting tired of fruits (despite the fact he could not remember from one meal to the next what kind of fruit he had eaten last). He was also bored and lonely: being a hermit was just as bad as he had always imagined it would be.

He settled for the night, wondering whether he'd get used to this new life. He wasn't asleep yet when the screams started to pierce the night. He took a long time to fall asleep, worrying that the victims might be people he knew.

Zelda tripped and fell on the swords she was carrying to the storage room. She got up and picked them back up absently, not even thinking that she had been lucky not to hurt herself. She did not see the stares directed at her, and did not hear any of the people asking her whether she was all right.

Link had been gone for 4 days, and nobody had heard anything from him. The increase in murders that had started the night following the President's visit at the shop, and which Zelda attributed to Ganon's disappointment with Link, had not abated at all. A dorm had actually been attacked the previous night, and all inside had been slaughtered. Zelda was torn between despair at the thought that Link was not coming back, that their fight against Ganon was over before it had even started, and a strong desire to find Link just so she could kill him herself.

How could he be so selfish? He now knew who he was, he knew it was his job to stop the monsters in general and Ganon in particular, and what was he doing? He was hiding somewhere, hiding from his own destiny! To think he was supposed to be courage incarnate! It was maddening.

And what if he stayed hidden, or died before she found him? Without Link, there was no hope of destroying Ganon. The murders would continue until there was nobody left in Hyrule. She shuddered, knowing that this scenario was more likely each day that Link stayed hidden.

Link woke up screaming and without thinking, reached behind his shoulder, only to find there was nothing there. He dropped his hand back and lay still, staring into the night and for the second time in as many nights, determined not to go back to sleep.

The nightmares had been growing steadily worse. Things were not worse for him, of course. How much worse for him could it be than being painfully killed repeatedly? The problem was that where it had once been a rarity to see anybody he knew in his dreams, Dekussay being attacked with him by thieves and then turning into a Deku Scrub having been an exceptional occurrence, it was now pretty well the rule.

Tonight, Link had seen Dekussay, not turned into anything this time, Kariko, some other dorm mates, a bunch of people from the shop and Zelda brutally murdered by various monsters. He was killed himself every time, as usual, but he was always the last.

He looked at the hand that had reached behind his shoulder and scowled at it.

"Stupid reflex." He muttered.

He vaguely remembered that he had carried the Master Sword on his back with the hilt just over that shoulder in some previous lives, but he was not about to do so again. He told his hand so and moaned upon realizing that he was talking to his own hand. He laid there for a while, wishing there was someone else around so that he wouldn't have to talk to himself.

Somewhere in the distance, screams pierced the night. Link tensed and screwed his eyes shut, wishing he could do the same with his ears. He couldn't, of course, and despite pressing his hands against said ears, he heard the screams continue for several minutes. There were several voices again. Link wondered how many victims there were this time and rolled into a ball.

There was nothing he could do, no matter what Zelda said. So why did he feel so guilty? None of this was his fault. It wasn't like he could just go and defeat Ganon: he had about as much chance of surviving as the last time.

He stopped fighting sleep, wanting to escape from his conscious thoughts even more than he wanted to escape his dreams. Sleep was quick to come, and so were the dreams. They were worse than ever and the following morning, he decided he was never sleeping again.

Two days later, this resolution was becoming impossible to keep. He had only been able to really stay fully awake for the first night. By the second night, he had been dozing on and off, shaking himself awake each time he realized he was asleep. He had managed to keep the dreams away, but he found he was dreaming awake more and more. It was getting pretty bad: his eyes couldn't keep focus, and it was a constant challenge keeping them opened. He couldn't think coherently, and half the time, wasn't quite sure why he didn't just lie down and go to sleep - he still knew it was important, but it usually took him a while to remember why. He was seeing things that weren't there and he walked into a few trees, not seeing them until colliding with them.

He was walking around, trying to keep himself awake in the growing darkness, dimly aware he wouldn't be able to keep this up for much longer and wondering if he'd be asleep in his dreams, so that he wouldn't see all these people being murdered.

He stumbled and fell. He tried to get up, but the ground was particularly comfortable in this spot, despite the root painfully poking at his chest. He tried to will his arms to push him up for a while, then gave up, figuring he should save his energy if he wanted to stay awake. He was asleep in seconds.

He was dreaming that the shop was being attacked by an army of moblins when screams woke him up. At first, he couldn't tell whether he was asleep or awake, but the pain in his chest soon convinced him he was awake. He got up, just as the screams started again. He tensed and looked at the ground, trying to concentrate on something else. His mind focused on the fact that something had actually managed to wake him up from his nightmares. It was the first time that had ever happened.

A new scream sounded, and Link clenched his fists. He was starting to wish the President had killed him on the spot, like Zelda said he was about to until she and the rest of the shop convinced him he couldn't possibly be the Hero. He was starting to wish monsters did venture into the Lost Woods so that one could find him and kill him: it's not like there was any chance he'd ever stop being miserable.

Another scream pierced the night, and died abruptly. Link clenched his teeth. He couldn't stand this any longer. He wasn't even worrying that it was someone he knew anymore: he was assuming it would be eventually, and he realized that it was always someone somebody knew. Each scream felt like an accusation, each one reminded him that he was the one who was supposed to put a stop to these murders.

"I can't!" He cried out into the night. "I can't do it! I don't even know WHAT to do! I can't fight! I can't even hold a sword! I can't win! LEAVE ME ALONE!"

He let himself fall to the ground and curled up in a ball, crying. Another scream, this one particularly long lasting, answered his cries.

"I don't even know what to do..." Link sobbed.

Zelda will know.

The thought flared in his head out of nowhere, and stayed there. Link tried to shake it off, but couldn't. He sat up and frowned.

"It doesn't matter." He said. "I still can't hold a sword."

But even as he said it, he knew that wasn't true. He didn't WANT to hold a sword; in fact, he was terrified of even coming close to a sword. Still, he could hold one. He had done so for a whole day at the shop.

"I can't..." He started.

He was interrupted by another scream. He clenched his fists. He was sure there never used to be that many victims every night, especially not in the same area several nights in a row. Was this going on all over Hyrule? He wanted to think not, that it was just a coincidence that there were so many around the Lost Woods, night after night, but he found it difficult to convince himself. He had to admit that it was likely the murders had increased everywhere, and he could almost hear Zelda saying it was because Ganon was getting tired of looking for the two of them.

He pounded the ground with his fists.

"I CAN'T DO THIS!" He yelled at the dying screams. "I CAN'T HELP YOU!"

Only silence answered. It still sounded like an accusation to Link.

"I WOULDN'T STAND A CHANCE!" He protested.

This was absolutely true. Even if he wanted to go after Ganon now, he thought, even if he found his hiding place and bravely went to confront him, he would just be getting himself killed. It was possible that Ganon would stop killing so many people after he had had the satisfaction of finishing his enemy off, but Link knew that the monster would not stop completely: nobody was safe as long as Ganon wasn't stopped, and nobody could stop him but the Hero.

Link frowned at his own thoughts and shook his head, trying to chase them away. This technique had not worked before and it failed just as spectacularly this time.

He didn't want to spend another night hearing the screams of the victims. He wanted Ganon stopped; he wanted the Din blasted beast gone forever. He knew that wouldn't happen unless the Hero defeated Ganon, but seeing as HE was the Hero, that scenario was pretty well out.

"I don't stand a chance." He repeated.

He sighed heavily. He didn't stand a chance, but nobody else did, either. Nobody else ever would, so unless he did something, Ganon would kill everyone sooner or later. At the rate he was going, sooner than later.

He hugged his knees, and thought harder than he ever had before. He raked his brains, trying to find a way to believe he didn't have to go after Ganon. He found none. Even though he could not possibly fight and defeat Ganon, there was just no denying that he had to. He sighed, wishing he was at least brave, like his past lives: he probably wouldn't even mind the idea of fighting Ganon, then.

He got up and set out straight ahead, figuring it was as good a direction as any. Unnoticed in the darkness, his clothes gradually changed colour as he walked.

He walked for the rest of the night and finally made it out of the Lost Woods just as the sun was rising. The frustration of walking without knowing whether he was going anywhere or just wandering in circles, coupled with his newly found resolve to stop Ganon, had worked him into a frenzy. He still didn't notice that his tunic and pants had turned green: his mind was too busy with more important things to register the colour his eyes were seeing.

Had he not been so tired, he would have started running as soon as he had cleared the dense forest. Instead, he just looked around, found that he was not far from his former dorm, and started walking faster, towards the shop and Zelda. The day was bright and sunny, and even though the reason for his being outside was that he had run away and that he was now going to start something which was likely going to get him painfully killed, Link was kind of glad he was not going to spend such a nice day inside the dark shop.

Link tried to open the door to the shop, intent on swinging it in violently and making an entrance. He wanted to let Zelda know without a doubt that he was going to do his best now, and it seemed like making a grand entrance was the heroic thing to do. The door, however, was locked, as usual.

Link cursed at it, than started pounding on it as hard as he could. He didn't think it was necessary to knock very hard to be heard, since he knew there was always someone right inside the door (the supervisors took turns), but pounding the blasted door was much more satisfying that a normal knock.

He heard the lock click within seconds, and the door opened on an angry looking supervisor, who stared at him without saying anything. Link squeezed past him. The supervisor stepped back with a yelp, as though Link was burning hot.

"No!" He yelled, backing away, looking horrified. "Get… get out! You don't work here anymore! STOP! Don't come in here wearing THAT!"

Although he was yelling, the shop was so noisy that Link could barely make out what the supervisor had said. Between the banging of the swords, the crackling of the fires, the noise of the axes cutting the wood, the various things dropped on tables or on the floor, the chatter of the employees and the supervisor barking orders, Link felt like he was drowning in noise.

The people inside were obviously used to the noise level – Link supposed he must have been too, having never even thought of the shop as noisy before - because the supervisor's yells were noticed and workers and supervisors glanced at the door and gasped. Most of the noise died as everyone stopped working, staring at him in shock.

Link stood his ground, but looked down at himself, wondering just how dirty he could be to be getting that kind of reaction. The blood drained from his face.

"What in the Dark World are you trying to do? Get us all killed?" Someone yelled.

"For Farore's sake!" Someone added.

"Get that Din-blasted freak out of here!"

"Get rid of that Nayru forsaken idiot!"

The supervisor, apparently one of the most superstitious ones, was now well away from him and was shaking too much to continue yelling at him. Link gulped. He had wanted an entrance, but this wasn't quite what he'd had in mind. And he certainly had not intended to cover himself in a cursed color right as he was setting out to repeat the very thing that had caused green to become so hated. He wondered whether the Lost Woods had anything to do with it, decided they did, and brushed the matter aside: the colour green was one of those few things he was not afraid of, so all in all, he didn't really mind wearing it. Even though last time he had…

He gulped again and took a step back, thinking his brains must have been asleep for the last little while to even think of seeking Zelda and setting out on a quest to defeat Ganon. What was wrong with him? He'd just get himself killed, again! He was still so close to the door that the single step back took him outside and the light of the sun hit his eyes.

He blinked. His eyes had not quite adjusted to the darkness of the shop yet, so he wasn't blinded, but the contrast was surprising. He looked back in the shop and clenched his teeth. It wasn't only dark and incredibly noisy, it stank, too. It was probably a good thing the workday started so early, he thought. People couldn't tell how nice and bright it was outside, and they were still too sleepy to fully notice the smell and the noise. It occurred to him that he never wanted to get back in there. He could never go back to being trapped in that hole all day: he'd rather go back to the Lost Woods and starve or freeze come winter time.

He went back in, just in time to avoid being locked out again by the supervisor, who was back at the door and almost closed it on Link. The supervisor bravely tried to push him back out once before scurrying away again, but he wasn't very strong and Link just stood there, looking around, searching for Zelda and for something to call out to her: he needed something heroic, but at the same time, he wanted it to serve as an apology for running off.

He finally spotted her at the back of the shop. She was looking right back at him, with an odd expression. He had expected her to be either angry with him for running away, or delighted that he was back, but instead, she just looked like she was about to cry.

No, he corrected himself as his eyes picked up more and more details in the darkness. She looked like she HAD cried, a lot. Link swallowed, and for a while, could think of nothing at all to say.

Some people in the shop started to shout out to him again, demanding that he go away and that the manager do something, and cursing his clothes. More people joined as they realized the supervisors were not trying to put a stop to it and were even joining in themselves. Link soon couldn't hear himself think, and Zelda was still just staring at him, looking miserable and without hope.

"Zelda!" He cried out. "I'm sorry, okay? But I can't beat Ganon by myself. I need your help, so come on, alright?"

The mention of Ganon shut everybody up for about two seconds. They then started to laugh, except for Zelda, who looked terrified. She dropped the swords she was holding on the nearest table and joined him at the door, walking very quickly. She grabbed his arm and dragged him out, closing the door behind them. The sound of laugher was shut out completely.

"We need to hide." She said quickly. "It won't take long for Ganon to hear about this, and when he does, he'll start looking for us. If anybody knows where we are, he'll find us. Why did you go and TELL everyone we were going after him? You know Ganon is looking for us!" She finished angrily.

"I..." Link paused. "Sorry." He said finally.

Zelda softened.

"Well, what's done is done." She sighed. She turned towards him and smiled. "I can't tell you what a relief it is that you came back."

Link sighed.

"I kept hearing screams." He said. "I... I don't want to go fight Ganon. He's just going to kill me again. Can you let go of my arm?"

Zelda looked down at her hand, clutched around Link's forearm, surprised to see it still there. She released him.

"Sorry." She said. "But you came back. And you said you wanted my help to fight Ganon. What do you mean you don't want to do it?"

"I mean I don't want to! But I know no one else can do it, and I don't want people to keep dying! I heard a lot of screaming… I didn't know that many people got killed every night!"

"It's been steadily getting worse ever since the President visited the shop. You couldn't hear them from inside my house, but it was bad even then. It's gone from none to 10 or so a night, for the whole of Hyrule, to 5 to 20 a night, per region. Last night was the worst yet... over two hundreds in all of Hyrule. Two dorms have been attacked up to date."

Link grabbed her and whirled her around so she'd face him.

"Dorms? What dorms?" He asked, panic in his voice.

"Not yours." She answered. "Neither was in this town."

He relaxed and let go of her. They resumed walking.

"Where are we going?" Link asked.

Zelda stopped. She had no idea.

"Er... where were you hiding?" She said.

"In the Lost Woods."

Zelda's expression was priceless. Link smirked.

"They're not THAT bad." He said. "You can't help getting lost, but the monsters don't go there, so it's safe."

Zelda said nothing for a moment, lost in thought. Unnoticed by her, Link changed the direction of their rapid walk to be heading towards the Woods. If she didn't want to go, they could always change direction again, but it seemed to him like the only safe place around.

"Why can't you help getting lost?" She asked.

"The woods keep changing. Each time you look up, everything looks totally different." Link answered.

"Have you seen it while it was changing? Do the trees just fade in and out, or jump around?" Zelda asked. She couldn't understand why Link hadn't been afraid of trees that are constantly moving around.

"No, they just do it when you're not looking." Link said. "I stared at some spots for a long time and nothing was changing. But, if I looked away just one second, everything was different again."

"That's strange..." Zelda mused. "Can you see things that don't change? Like, can you recognize that such and such tree is still in the same spot, or just a bit to the left or something?"

Link shook his head.

"I can't remember anything I see or do. I'm sure I ate some fruits, but it's only because I'm tired of eating them. I don't even know what kind I ate."

"Hmmm... if you can't remember how it was before you looked away, how can you be sure it changed at all?" She asked.

Link blinked at her.

"I know it LOOKS different." She said. "But it could be because you really don't remember it at all. Try to think. Can you remember anything of the Woods? One tree? One rock?"

Link tried to think of what had been hurting his chest when he had woken up. He couldn't remember whether it was a root, a rock, or something else. He tried to see himself eating a fruit, but he couldn't remember at all even picking any.

"Maybe you're right." He finally said. "But it doesn't matter. My point was that the Woods are safe, except you get lost."

"My point was we may not have to get lost." She said.

Link's eyebrows raised in interest. Zelda smirked.

"It's about time I have a GOOD idea, don't you think? I think I filled my quota of bad ones in the last couple of weeks."

Link sniggered. Zelda smiled back.