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This was it. This had to be it. Her life of adventure, her new friends, it was all gone. All because of her own stupidity. Zelda had dried her tears hours ago. Of course she would have been by Link's side trying to nurse him back to health, but the guards would have soon found her and taken her away from him.

Looking down at her hand she remembered something. His mark! The Triforce! It had…it had to have something to keep Link alive! He was of pure royal blood just like she was! That's when the princess shot up from her bed and ran to the library. That's it. That must be it. Zelda searched over their book of the meaning of the Triforce.

"Over generations, the quality of man's heart soon began to fade, as did the power of the goddesses. Soon, only a rare few bear the mark of courage, wisdom, and power. These people are the direct descendants from the ancestry line of Hyrule."

A list of names came to be as Zelda read on. It was…just names of her past ancestors. Blast it all! She skipped ahead more to see a very large family tree. How tedious. It ended up to…well. It stopped at her grandfather because the book was outdated. Sighing she was about to close it when something caught her eye.

"The neighboring kingdom family tree?" That kingdom was long brought down long before she was born. Now it was just her father who ruled Hyrule. She looked on and what she saw caused her eyes to widen. Why…these people looked just like Link! Her fingertips brushed against the picture of the last women on the family tree. Was this his mother? Link was not on this family tree but the mark of the Triforce was the last to be seen…and a wolf paw.

Could this have been Link? She read a passage next to the picture.

"No one knows the condition of the Prince that was to rule Hyrule, nor the cure. Soon after the castle was ransacked, women raped and murdered, men killed in battle, he disappeared. His body was not found. Assumed dead, the new leaders now rule and the second kingdom of Hyrule was soon out of the way.

Zelda slammed the book in defeat and threw it across the room. No no no! None of this helped her! Running her fingers through her hair she saw small slip of paper coming from the cover of the book. Raising a brow, Zelda looked closer. It was sewn in with the leather, meant to be there but also not wanted to be found. She took the slip of paper and unfolded it.

"By law, those with the Triforce are to be treated with the upmost respect. They are direct ancestors to the goddesses, they are pure of heart and they will stop the darkness"

Stop the darkness? A prophecy? Wait who cares! She had proof to let Link go! She ran. There was still time left. Zelda pushed past anyone in her way back to the accursed place that started everything wrong.

"For kidnapping the princess and for the act of treason this young man will be sentenced to death!"

There Link was, his bruised and broken body all mangled. His head was positioned in the guillotine and the blade raised above him.

"Stop!" Zelda cried as she pushed the man away and propped the lever up so it would come crashing down on Link.

"I….I pardon all acts committed by this man!" she said in a strong tone. The King rose up in fury.

"Zelda! Stop this madness!" Link was not even in good shape to even speak. Think quick Zelda…his life is on the line. A small whinie from a nearby horse distracted her. She was such a familiar mare. Could it be? Zelda began to hum the simple tune that belonged to Link's old horse. The chestnut mare stood lifted her head from grazing abruptly and stared at her.

Rearing up in a loud neigh the horse sprang into action and raced to Zelda, taking out anything or anyone in her path. No time! Epona set her body down low so Zelda can push Link over it and hop on herself. The wolves… where were they?! They didn't come with Link here.

There wasn't anytime left anyway. Epona ran away, far away before anyone could react to her.

"Stop her!" the guard said. Hundreds of arrows rained over them but they had already escaped, using the forest as their cover. Link was out cold as his forehead was against Zelda's shoulder. Zelda guided Epona to a stream where she dragged Link's body over to a boulder to prop him up against.

She ripped pieces of her clothing and began to wash and clean out the wounds carefully. She came prepared if she had succeeded in the escape. Strapped to her right leg was a small pouch of medical supplies and to her left was a wallet of money. Using the medical kit she bandaged his body up quite nicely then left him to rest. Her thoughts kept wandering back to the kiss. No feelings rose with it though. Had she acted on impulse only?

Sighing she chose a nice place that wasn't too dirty to rest. After all, she had just committed treason to the crown even if she was the princess. That's when sleep consumed her troubled mind and put it at ease.

There was something prowling around at night. The sound of claws shuffling. Zelda's eyes shot open and she sat up. Epona didn't seem bothered by it. She turned her head to the boulder. Deserted, Link wasn't there. That's when she began to panic.

"Link? LINK!" she frantically began to search for him and then froze in place. There was…a gigantic black and white wolf. It wasn't normal, it was standing on two feet! It had thumbs! It was…it was a werewolf. She hid behind a tree hoping not to get noticed. Fortunately the wind was on her side as it was blowing against her face so the monster wouldn't catch her scent.

The beast sat down by a lake and stared into the reflection. It growled and smacked the water with its mighty paw. The size of its claws made Zelda shudder. It had a mark on its hand, a mark she couldn't distinguish. Trying to peer over the tree to see its hand she snapped a twig. The beast instantly turned its head around. Zelda squeaked and stared into the beast's…blue eyes.

"Hey…" she said, trying to coo it over. She took a step closer but the beast stood up and ran away faster than any horse.

"Hey wait!" she said as she tried chasing it. Zelda made a big circle until she ended up by the boulder again. Sighing in defeat she sat down.

"What's with all the yelling?" Link said as he took a seat next to her.

"Link!" she said as she hugged him with all her might. Link chuckled.

"Ow" Zelda looked at his legs.

"Your legs are healed already!?"

Link hesitated for a millisecond. "Um, he didn't break my legs they were ah…just fractured and needed time to heal. It hurts but I'm fine"

Zelda tried reading his emotions through those….eyes!

"Link! There's a werewolf in the forest! I swear he looked almost like you! His eyes…your eyes are exactly the same!"

Link scoffed at her "Haha very funny but I'm not that hairy"

Zelda rolled her eyes and leaned back against the boulder.

"Where's Dyraati and Renaden?" Link looked around.

"Somewhere, they were set free since it was no use to waste money on killing 'dogs' so they should meet with us in a few minutes."

Zelda nodded her head and a smile came to her face. "I'm so glad you're okay" she whispered as a tear streamed down her face.

Link blinked at her reaction, confused. He just wiped the tear away with his thumb.

"Thank you for rescuing me"

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