Chapter Six

Link

His arms ached like nothing he had ever felt before in his life. He was not entirely sure how long he had been in the cell, if it had been days, or even weeks. His wrist throbbed, and his head felt like it might explode. None of that had been as bad as he had imagined, though. No, the sleep deprivation had been far, far worse. And without any clues from the light, he felt as though he was slowly losing his mind. His thoughts were fuzzy, and his memory untrustworthy at best. Ganondorf had not returned since breaking his wrist, something he did not know if he should be grateful for or terrified by.

"Hush," he tensed when he heard a soft, female voice speak, when he felt a calloused hand grasp his injured one. "No sounds." He detected an accent, though he was not certain he could place from where. He lifted his head, despite the agony the motion caused, to look at the woman in the cell with him. He had never seen anyone quite like her. She was tall, easily taller than him, with a muscular build and tanned skin. Her bright red hair was tied back into a ponytail, tied with a ruby. "No one must know," she pulled a flask from her hip. Link could not help but notice her clothing, or rather lack thereof. The woman dressed in a tight-fitting top, barely covering her breasts, and covering nothing of her midsection. On her lower half, she wore loose-fitting pants, something Link felt odd for a woman. "Drink," she held the flask to his lips.

He hesitated, but doubted he would get the chance to drink anything in the near future, given the circumstances, and drank, coughing almost immediately at the taste. He had expected water, not sour wine. Still, he drank though, grateful for some relief from the thirst that had been slowly eating away at him. "How?" he managed to choke out, his blue eyes meeting her pale, green ones.

"You mean to ask how I entered?" the woman pushed his hair from his face and set the flask to his side. He nodded, wincing at the pain the motion caused his head. "That is not for you to worry about." Link sighed in defeat and hung his head once again. He had been foolish, truly foolish, to believe he would be told anything. "Now," she placed a hand under his chin. "There is no need for sadness." He frowned in confusion and reluctantly met her gaze once more. "I am here to help," she smiled and smoothed his hair back once more with her spare hand.

He frowned in confusion once more, unsure of whether to trust her or not. "Why?" he asked, trying to study her face closely. Everything was so foggy, though, so unclear. His head was swimming, and could not make sense of anything going on around him.

"There are others," he felt her hands move to his hips. "They cannot hide forever, but we can protect them."

Link nodded. It made sense. Surely the woman was impersonating one of Ganondorf's people to help the Resistance. Telma must have heard of what had happened by then. She must have sent the woman to him. He tensed though, when the woman began to unlace his shirt. "What are you...?" he started to ask, but was cut off by her.

"Hush," she whispered into his ear. "No words." She rested her hands on his chest and traced his muscles, and he moaned against his will. It was not the time nor the place. He needed to focus on escaping, on figuring out why the woman was there, not on anything else. "I can protect them," she trailed a hand down his chest, causing him to moan once more. "But not if I do not know who they are."

Link gasped softly when she bit a sensitive point on his neck. Surely there was no harm in giving her the names of his friends... She had come to help him. She had risked sneaking into his cell to bring him something to drink, to tell him he had friends remaining. She had brought the exact opposite of the pain Ganondorf carried with him. "Just their names," she kissed near his throat. "And I can keep them and you safe." He doubted she would do much herself. Women were not meant to fight as men did. Still, it was possible she knew people who could help, people who could end the Demon King's reign. Still, though, he hesitated. "Even one little name," the woman rested a hand on his inner thigh. "Their leader, perhaps."

He shut his eyes. The wine had gone to his head faster than he ever would have imagined, the woman's actions making it hard to focus. "Ashei," he spoke, an almost dream-like quality to his voice.

The woman smiled and kissed along his jaw. Instinctively, he tilted his head back. "Good," she spoke softly against his skin. "And where has she gone?" He thought he saw the hand that had been on his hip move to her side, but he was certain it must have been a trick of the light. "South," he answered, willing to take the chance that she would save them, that she would keep them safe. She had risked everything to come to him... Yet her actions made no sense. They had never met, and she had gone straight to this...

"To your home?" she asked. He frowned, wondering how she would have known that, but did not question it. Already, he felt better than he had since his defeat. He nodded slightly, and frowned once more when the woman stepped back.

"You did well to tell me these things," she said. Link could have sworn he saw a smirk on her face. "Until we meet again," she kissed his forehead and left the cell, the Hero still chained to the wall, half-clothed.

It was not until long after she had gone that he had realized she had left through the open cell door, or that she had locked it behind her.