Wow, I actually got a few reviews on that last chapter, thank you, thank you.

-O-

The sun did not go down quickly enough for Link, but it was a relief from the direct heat when it finally did. The sprinkling rain cooled off the air, but the humidity rose, along with the aching pains in Link's muscles. He had gotten fully dressed again when the rain started falling, and about that time Artos had retired to work in the stables, but Dorobis had demanded that Link remain chopping wood, and Minhan had kept an eye on his general's new slave until he saw that the latter would continue to work without putting up a fight.

Link knew that Dorobis was testing him, so he would defiantly chop all night long just to show that he could. He swung the axe harder and thus hurt more, but he ignored it all to show that he was stubborn and that work would not get him down. At twilight, Dorobis had come outside and had his men move the entire chopping block farther down the trail, around the curve and out of sight of the house, as if the man was uncomfortable with the Hylian boy too close to his family.

Now alone in the darkness, Link automatically brought the axe down after laying out each block of wood without much thought, and his mind wandered back to his home village for a moment. A wave of frustration and anger surged through him, and his tired hands trembled slightly on the axe handle with the effort of his swings, and his throat was dry from lack of water, but he refused to stop working until he was dismissed by Dorobis. He was doing it out of respect for the man, but just to show that he could work hard and that it was doing nothing to hurt him.

Link wanted badly to get away from this place, and he had already formed an escape plan in his head, but he did not know what had been done with his sword and shield, and he did not want to leave without them. They went way back with him, especially the sword, so he would go as soon as he found out where they were.

He was very used to being alone in general, but after working all day in silence alongside Artos, it was strange to be now so alone in the dark. It would be a relief to get a drink of water and maybe a few hours of sleep, but that would come later. Right now he just had to concentrate on his repetitive and tiring work.

Link did not know if it was possible to go to sleep and work at the same time, but apparently he dozed while standing up, for something suddenly jarred him awake. He still gripped the axe at his side, and he shook the sleep from his head. It was obvious that it was not a physical touch that had awakened him, he was still alone, but it had to have been something. If it was not, he would have laid down on the ground and went to sleep completely. He pushed his hair out of his eyes, and in mid-move, a shrill sound caught his attentive ears. And it took a moment to register that it was a feminine scream.

-O-

Jennan tried to bite the pale hand that had fastened around her mouth, but it jerked away from her mouth and clutched the back of her neck. She attempted to shake free of the vice-like grip on her arm, but her attacker was strong, apparenty male, and held tight. She kicked him in the ankle with all her might, his shin, knee, and was aiming higher until she was swept up off her feet and into the man's arms. She struggled hard and screamed again, and his hand somehow managaed to slap over her mouth. She bit his fingers as hard as her jaws would allow before she hurt her teeh, and he let out a quick groan and used that hand to hold her tight to him. She could not see him very well, for he was wearing all black and his face was mostly covered by a low hood. She pounded her small fists on his chest, and when that did not phase him and he started to walk away with her, raked her fingernails across his face.

He let go of her completely, and Jennan fell hard to the ground and bruised her shoulder. Everything was happening so quickly. She tried to get up but got tangled up in her skirts, and the heels of her shoes did not give her enough traction to rise exactly at high speeds. The man, or whatever he was, hit his knees, one on each side of her, and seized her by the wrists, sending her quickly down on her back. She jabbed both knees in his stomach as he tried to wrestle her back up.

"Get off of me!" she cried out with anger and fear as the rain fell on her face, struggling to get her wrists free. He may be able to take her, but it would not happen without a fight. Right now she almost regretted being so lightweight; she barely weighed anything and he could move her around too easily. She tried to be as heavy as possible, digging herself back down into the ground, but then she realized that this might be just as bad as getting up, or worse. She tried to get something to use as a weapon, but her wrists were held tight and she could not see anything even if they were not. She howled again, and this time was slapped in the side of the head. She was jarred slightly, but realized that one of her wrists was free, and she reached up and grabbed the man by the throat in an attempted choke-hold.

He did not push her hand off, but instead seemed to say "Two can play at this game", though he was completely silent, and clutched her throat with a hand in return.

It was not hard enough to really hurt her, but there was pressure, and it scared her. She quickly let go of him and moved her hand to try and pull his off her neck, but it was almost as easy as swinging her father's heavy sledgehammer, which she had tried before and failed to even lift it from the ground. It had probaby looked comical as she was doing it, but she had sworn she would do it one day, though the whole thing was pointless. Now Jennan did not know why she was thinking this at such a strange time, but was suddenly frozen stiff with fear. She had heard that people had flashbacks of their lives before they died, or when they came close to death, and it put a new fight in her. She did not want to die, especially like this.

She summoned all of her strength and tried to push him off of her, but he only tightened his grip on her throat. She did not think he would choke her to death, but what if he decided to? If she let herself be pulled up to her feet, something terrible might end up happening, or she could end up dying. If she stayed here and fought him, she might die here as well. It was only natural to fight back, so she decided on that.

As she tried in vain to remove his hand from her throat, she suddenly thought she heard something coming in their direction through the trees and weeds. Whoever it was was moving quickly their way, and Jennan was unsure of whether it was a savior or another attacker. If it was the latter, she knew she was more than likely done for.

They were very close now, and a gruff and demanding voice suddenly rang out. "Let go of her!" it yelled. Link's voice! On a more savage note that usual, but nevertheless Link. "Let go!" Jennan felt the grip on her throat loosen. Link's silhouette sprang forward, seemingly out of nowhere, and Jennan covered her head as the the man was hit hard from the side by Link's shoulder. Not only was the man overthrown, but after Link latched onto him on impact, and two of them sailed over Jennan's head and hit the ground, he was sent flipping and reeling in the dirt. Jennan quickly crawled to her knees and out of the way, and she could hear the sounds of a hard scuffle, the impact of punching fists, quick moans and growls, and all the sounds of a vicious one-on-one. She sat with her back pressed against a tree to stay out of the way, and struggled to catch her breath.

-O-

Link threw strong punches with his right hand at the man's hidden face, swinging in quick, tight circles and hitting his mark every time. His left hand was clutching the man's rough cloak and keeping himself steady. After four hard blows directly to the face, the man surely should have been knocked out, but he was fighting back with just as much force. He grabbed Link by the collar of his tunic and the tables were turned. Link was thrown underneath, but the man on top of him threw no punch. Instead, the little bit of moonlight that was present reflected off something thin and silver, and the fight was on. Link did not want to battle against a dagger, but there was no choice now as the man took a quick stab at Link's chest. His reflexes quick, Link backhanded the man's fist, and the dagger went whistling through the air and stuck hard into a tree with metallic sound, and the knife was out of the fight almost as quickly as it had been brought in.

Link managed to flip over on his hands and knees, and he pushed himself up just in time to escape an oncoming blow. Now that both he and his opponent were on their feet, Link had the upperhand. He was heavy, yet somehow managed to be quick as well. And now he was really wishing he had his sword.

The two of them met again with flying fists and quick blocks, and the man seized Link by the forearm and manipulated his weight to where the blond boy went flipping nearly over his back. Link had no choice but to go over, but he twisted in the air and landed cat-like on the ground, his hand returning the grip on the other's arm, and with a quick contortion of muscles, Link performed the same move he had just received, and the man had a taste of his own medicine as he flipped over Link's back and landed on his back on the ground.

Link fell down on his knees, one jabbing hard into the man's chest, and he grabbed the hood with his left hand. But before he could pull it off, the man rolled over onto his side and slapped Link's hand away violently. They wrestled on the ground again for a few moments, throwing and dodging punches, before the man managed to gain his balance, suddenly changing his mind about taking on this lightning-flash of a fighter, and he took off through the trees. He obviously had not expected Link to give chase, who did for a few strides, and nearly tripped all over himself in an effort to get away. Link stopped going after him when the man picked up speed and vanished into the darkness, and stood ready to fight again if need be, but after a few moments the man's quick rustle through the weeds could not even be heard.

Convinced that the fight was over, Link spit a stream of blood from his mouth, which looked almost black when it hit the dirt. He was not sure how long the fight had lasted, but with the speed of it it could not have been more than two minutes. He had not really felt the blows he had received until now, and he could feel a painful bruise forming at above his temple at the hairline, and he still saw stars. Finally remembering the reason for the fight, he turned to Jennan and bent down on one knee to be at eye-level with her.

Panting, he managed to say, "You okay?"

Jennan was sucking in breath herself, and with her hands planted on the ground on each side of her, nodded quickly. Link took her hand and moved to stand up, but was suddenly grabbed from behind by the back of his tunic and was hauled upright. He let go of Jennan's hand and whirled to tear into whoever had him with everything he had, but quickly stopped when he saw that it was Dorobis and Minhan. The latter held a lantern which lit up the area somewhat.

Link and Jennan opened their mouths in unison to explain what was going on, but Dorobis brought back a heavy fist and cut them both off as he smashed Link in the mouth and sent him hard down to the ground.

"Father!" Jennan cried out as Dorobis made another move at the boy, but Minhan reached out and stopped him with a hand and a shake of the head. Link lay on his back with his mouth open in surprise, propped up on his elbows and with his knees up, ready to jump away if another attack was headed his way. But instead of anything physical, Dorobis exploded in verbal anger at Link.

"What is the matter with you! How dare you lay a hand on my daughter! I heard her screaming all the way from my dwelling! What did you do to her? How dare you even touch her! I'll scourge you blind, you-"

Jennan sprang to her feet. "Father-"

"Hush, Jennan!"

"Father, he didn't do anything to me!" Jennan grabbed Dorobis' arm with both hands. "In fact, he saved me. There was a man here, and Link fought him off for me." Her eyes snapped to Link, then back to her father's face. "Don't hurt him."

Dorobis glared at Link with hate and distrust burning in his eyes, but he had never known his daughter to lie about things that were as serious as this. Would not Jennan just say if Link had tried to do something to her? There was no reason for her to cover for the slave, was there, especially if he had hurt her. And if Jennan had fought back to him, he would not be bruised and bleeding in the way that he was. Young ladies did not punch, and it was obvious that Link had been punched with force.

"I'm not lying," Jennan said softly, loosening her grip on her father's arm.

Dorobis stood still for a moment, as if deciding whether to beat Link into the ground or not, then put an arm around Jennan's shoulder protectively and swept her off back towards the house. She was looking back over her shoulder as Link was left still lying silently in the dirt.

-O-

The next morning was warm and wet, humid from the rain that had finally dumped from the sky in the middle of the night, but the sun was shining brightly. By now the whole plantation was aware of the situation of the night before, and Jennan was already tired of being the object of conversation. She and Memnet were in the back of the house, on the hill that overlooked the horse pasture below. They could see their father's dwelling from here, on the other side of the field, but no one was there, for Dorobis had rode off earlier with a few of his men to go trading.

Jennan pulled herself up onto the wodden fence that outlined the backyard and sat down with her hand grasping the post beside her. She smoothed her long skirts with her free hand as Memnet stood beside her on the ground, looking very lady-like. Artos and Henry came walking from around the house, on their way from the stables, and joined the girls at the fence.

"It's actually a nice day today," Artos said, lazily resting his arms on the fence. "How are you, Miss Jennan?"

"I'm fine." She smiled. "I told everyone that last night, but apparently no one believed me."

"Well, you had quite the scare last night," Henry said. His accent seemed to be thick today. "We just want to make sure that you're well."

"That's right," Memnet said. "Everyone was scared for you when they found out what happened. And I feel terrible, because I let you walk out in the dark woods by yourself..."

"Oh, Memnet, please don't start with that again. You can't be with me all the time, you know."

"I still shouldn't have let you go alone," Memnet said stubbornly.

"All right ladies, let's not turn this into an arguement," Artos scolded good-naturedly, grinning. "The main thing is that everyone is all right."

"Well, I am all right." A smile spread across Jennan's face. "Thanks to Link."

Artos laughed. "I would not want to be your attacker after Link came along to rescue you! That boy fights like lightning; look at Henry, he's still bruised from the scuffle the two of them had in the woods!"

Henry scoffed, a little too loudly for the response of the comment. "It means nothing what he did. He just wants to play hero."

"Means nothing?" Jennan exclaimed. "He very possibly saved my life last night. People don't do that kind of thing just to say that they did."

"Well, I don't trust him one bit," Henry said, stroking his beard. "And I know that Dorobis doesn't either."

Memnet jumped into the arguement. "Henry, you just don't like him because Father doesn't, and because he got the best of you the other day."

Henry did not reply. It was not wise not to back-talk a stubborn girl like Memnet. She could argue for hours, and always win.

"Well," Artos spoke up after the moment of silence, "I believe I have a new respect for Link."

Memnet traced the line of a crack in the wooden fence with her finger. "I have to admit that I badly misjudged him at first. He saved my sister last night, and I think he deserves an apology."

"You all don't get it," Henry said with impatience. "He just wants to gain your trust, you know..."

"Quit being so paranoid," Memnet snapped at him, and he shrank back slightly. She stopped glaring at him and turned back to the crack in the fence. Her voice was at a normal note again as she said, "Even Father should admit that what Link did was worthy of at least a word of praise."

"But Father's too proud for something like that," Jennan said.

Artos tapped his fingers along the top of the fence, as if something was on his mind. When Memnet asked him about it, he shrugged. "I don't know, I was just thinking. When we were chopping wood yesterday, Link took off his gloves and I noticed some sort of strange mark on the back of his left hand. I didn't say anything about it, and it probably means nothing."

"What did it look like?' Memnet asked with interest.

"Well, it's hard to describe. I would say like a triangle, but it was made up of three smaller trangles. And depending on how I looked at it, it also had just one space in the very middle where there wasn't anything, and that looked like a triangle too, with its bottom up. Very strange, I know."

"That is strange. Could be anything, though," Memnet said.

Jennan did not seem to be listening to the conversation; she was staring off down at the horses in the field, and her eyes suddenly widened. "I didn't even get to thank Link last night. Where is he now?"

"In the stables," Memnet replied, startled at the sudden change of topic. Then she laughed and rolled her eyes. "Father's put him in there because he finally figured out that Link's good with horses."

Jennan slid off the fence and pushed between her sister and Henry. "I'll be back."

-O-

Link stood bent over in a stall in the stables, shoeing the forefoot of one of Dorobis' stallions, and luckily without struggle. Pure white from head to tail, the horse was usually unruly when it came to having nails driven into its hooves, but it was strangely calm with Link, who had fed it sugar cubes and rubbed it down affectionately with his hands to gain its trust before he picked up the hammer, and it had obviously worked. But perhaps it was because the horse could sense that Link cared for all horses, and it sniffed the back of Link's neck playfully as the nails were beat in to secure the metal shoe.

Link talked softly to the horse in the Hylian language as he checked over his work to make sure the shoe had been applied correctly. Satisfied, he released his grip around the horse's ankle and stood upright, patting the animal's neck firmly. The two of them had reached an understanding that Link only wanted to be friendly, and the horse seemed to understand without question.

Link wished that he could give Epona a quick pat as well, but Artos had taken her out to the pasture to graze with a few other horses earlier that morning. Without reason, Link very suddenly found himself thinking of Princess Zelda, and the memories surprised him with their quickness of all of the sudden dawning on him, and he thought it better to push them out of his mind so he could concentrate on his work.

He exited the stall and let the door swing shut behind, and the horse leaned its head over the door, its ears pricked forward, almost as if it knew of Link's sudden wave of depression that had entered his head at the thought of home. Link picked up a pitchfork that had fallen onto the floor sometime ago, and with his back to the open stable doors, leaned it against the wall with the rest of the tools. A movement behind him caught his ears, and he turned quickly to see what was there.

Jennan stood in the doorway of the structure, her skirts swaying in the wind. She held something in her upturned hands, wrapped lightly in a thin purple cloth. It was thin and horizontal, and she cradled it close to her stomach to help balance it, looking at Link with a smile on her face. "I didn't mean to startle you; I'm sorry."

Link quickly switched his language back to English. "Miss Jennan," he said, feeling awkward. "I just didn't hear you come in."

She took a few steps forward into the stable. "Don't tell... but I brought you something."

Now Link was curious. He couldn't see through the cloth that was over what she held, and he wondered why she would bring him anything. She walked right up to him and held out her hands, offering what she held to him. He slowly pulled off the purple cloth and draped it over the door of an empty stall, startled and surprised by what he saw in Jennan's hands. The Master Sword, in its sheath, sat there in all its glory, reflecting the sunlight. Link did not know what to say, but he could tell that it was heavy for Jennan, so he took it from her hands and ran a hand along the embroiderey on the sheath, still speechless.

"It belongs to you, and I know you wanted it," Jennan said, clasping her hands behind her back. "My Father shouldn't have taken it. After all, it's really yours, not his."

"Well... thanks," Link said. Other than that, he did not know what to say. He leaned the sword against the wall. What he had managed to say was short, as everything else he said, but he truly meant it.

"No," Jenna said, "it's my way of thanking you." She looked bashful, her head down, yet her eyes up to meeting his. Link thought she again look beautiful. "You saved me last night, and I wish I could do more to thank you. My father may not trust you, but I do, and you deserve it." Now she looked down at the floor and lowered her voice. "What you don't deserve is to be slave to my father, and to repay you for what you've done, I promise I will one day free you from him, if you haven't already done it yourself."

Link opened his mouth to reply, but her words caught him off guard and he could not think of anything to say. As he stood there with his silent stammering, she continued on.

"But for now all I can do is give you back your sword," she said. She raised her head and smiled. "So, thank you." She suddenly stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his neck in a quick hug, the sound of her clothes rustling against his. The hug could not have lasted for more than one second, she made it so quick, but it was still a hug and it still made Link even more speechless than he had been. Jennan pulled back with a smile, grabbed her skirts, and was out the door.

-O-

I really appreciated the reviews I got last chapter, so all of you all make sure you keep up all that good reviewing. D