A/N: Greetings my most esteemed readers! A bit of a warning, this chapter is pretty much nonstop action all the way through, and I pray I made everything clear and easy to both picture and follow. Thank you all for everything :D

Generala: Zelda will be returning shortly, don't worry. You are indeed very close with your guess. Thanks!

Storm Dragon Wolf Princess: I agree with you completely about Ganondorf. Well it might not be the exact ice cave XP That is the plan… Thank you!

xXx skytale xXx: Thank you! I quite think so too. :D

Yami no Nokutan: Link is indeed very clever; he kind of has to be if you ask me. Link is growing on Aveil, and all the rest shall be revealed in good time XP Well then, I think you will probably like the new game. You have my gratitude Bigger-me.

silverheartlugia2000: I love sneaky Link too! :3 Oooh, you may indeed be very close with your guess. Thanks!

Scarlet Curls: Fangrils right? D:{ ( I have been having a hard time containing mine lately, what with the recent release and primers coming of lots of my favorite things, Ranger's Apprentice, Doctor Who, The Hobbit, another Zelda game) XP Thanks for the review! I hope it is not too late to wish you luck on all your assessments. It's true nobody would love a game like that :P Thank you!

Gojira Geek: Thank you! You are pretty close with your guess!

The Ploy

Link had trekked nearly all through the night, heading back up to the snowy ice caves of the mountains. The sleet had turned into a light snow as he climbed upwards. As the sun rose, the last of the snowflakes fell and the clouds began to disperse, leaving in their wake a pristine glittering world of white, which had yet to be disturbed by any trace of a living creature, aside from himself.

Though the world around him shone bright and pure with the sun's reflected light, it seemed almost to dim wherever he passed though, as if he brought the promise that evil would follow in his wake. Link shuddered silently as he forced himself onwards because he knew this knowledge was true. It would not take long for Ganondorf's fit troops to catch up to him. Since the snow had stopped and he lacked energy for creating decoy trails, it was a guarantee he would be found; it was only a matter of time. A dark smile crossed his features. He knew he would be ready for them when they did. His plan's success depended upon the fact that he would be tracked and followed.

Once he had reached the deeper snow, his weary pace has flagged still further into a slow shambling walk. He was absolutely exhausted. A week of exposure to the elements, nearly two nights without sleep, and several days without proper food, had taken their toll on his weary body. However; he felt that it was all worth it when his destination came within view. On his way down this side of the mountain's peak the day before with Ganon's men, he had noticed another ice cave in a clearing. A fairly steep hill led down to a little valley, and the cave was situated at the bottom in the cliff. It dark ice encrusted opening faced other side of the valley. The reason he had taken particular note of it the day before was because there was a massive amount of snow forming an overhang over the entrance of this cave.

He walked down into the valley and carefully and quietly entered the cave. He headed a fair distance inside before he stopped and backtracked out, back up the rise, and out of the valley into the pine woods. He made sure that every foot print he made going up went into the exact foot prints he had made going down. As soon as he reached the nearby tree fringe he leaped up and caught a tree's large bow and pulled himself up, whilst trying his best not to dislodge any snow.

The tree he climbed was a large strong ponderosa with an odd double top, and he chose it because it would be easy to remember and pick out from the rest of the conifers. It had probably started its life as two separate trees that had eventually grown together at their base over the years. He had just reached the safely of the middle, where the green needles of the tree were at its thickest, when he heard the approaching footfalls of many people. He was slightly surprised that the enemy was so close behind him. Another minute and all his plans would have been ruined and the future of this kingdom and his kingdom would've been doomed. He held his breath, staying completely still as nearly a third of Ganondorf's hoard passed directly under the tree, following his tracks to the cave. To his relief none of the men looked up. Even if they had, he was sure he would not easily have been spotted, so well did his cloths match the surrounding foliage. It appeared that his ploy to get Ganondorf to split his forces had worked.

He had once heard from Yeto, a resident of Hyrules' mountain Snowpeak, that it was possible to start an avalanche by yodeling, or yelling very loudly. He was not sure if this was true, but he was, however; positive that an explosion would be sufficient enough to start one. He inched far out on a large thick limb until he was clear of most of the clustering needles and small branches of the tree. He took out his last remaining bomb flower and stood poised and ready to throw. The last few soldiers to enter the cave started to cross the threshold. Link could tell that the Darknut in the rear of the procession was the leader by the way he carried himself.

He was about to throw his projectile, knowing that there would could not be a better chance, when he checked himself. Even though these were nothing more than heartless murdering monsters, he could not just kill them without a warning or offering them a chance. It was like stabbing someone in the back. If he lost his honor that made him the same as the monsters he had sworn to oppose. Making sure he was in full view of the Darknut leader, he shouted:

"Hey!"

The Darknut looked around for a while before he finally spotted him.

"I am here to offer you a choice," Link called down. "Surrender or I will destroy you all."

The Darknut let out a peal of its grating airy laughter before shouting a call to its men for backup.

"Well? What's your answer?" Link yelled.

The Darknut raised a fist in anger, ordering a charge- definitely not surrendering.

"Well I warned you," Link muttered as he readied his small bomb plant. It would have to be a very far and well aimed throw to be successful. He hoped yodeling, or rather yelling very loud, would help to cause the snow overhang to give way if his bomb was not enough. He had not a second to waist. Yelling as loud as he could, he threw the plant from his perch in the tree. It sailed over the valley in a near perfect arc. Both his throw and aim were true the once quiet stillness of the valley was disturbed by his battle cry and the explosion.

All the soldiers froze in their tracks for one terrifying heartbeat. The snowy overhang gave way with a sickening roar. The cave and the little valley were lost in a cover of countless tons of ice and snow. The entire troop of enemy soldiers was lost as the walls of the valley caved in on itself. Link clung to the tree like a leech as the entire area shook with the terrifying rumble. The noise echoed and reechoed through the thin mountain air.

When the reverberating noise and the mist-like powdery snow subsided, it was almost impossible to tell that there had once been a valley there at all. Link sat shocked for a moment; he had not expected the avalanche to be as powerful as it had turned out to be.

The quiet of the valley was once more disturbed, this time by a furious roar of anger and horror. It was Ganondorf. He had arrived with another third of his army just in time to see everything.

Ganon's yell was directed straight at Link and he ran forward, his sword drawn and his army following. Link heard his name echo across the valley in a thunderous cry for vengeance. He glanced at the crystal he still held in his hand. He scrambled along the bow and stuffed the power source deep inside a knothole of the tree.

Link looked back; Ganondorf and his army were almost upon him. He was treed like a raccoon during hunting season. If he climbed down, he would be caught and, if he stayed put, he would be caught. He had to do something and fast. Taking a deep breath, he acted. The trees that skirted the valley were tall, strong of limb and trunk, and had grown fairly close together. He leapt from his tree to the closest one nearby. He jumped and swung from one tree to another, adrenaline giving him a wild burst of energy. He would leap hanging in the air for a terrifying moment then catch a tree limb, mimicking the way that the forest monkeys and the fast agile squirrels traveled in his woods, back at home, but with a bit less grace. He was moving too fast and concentrating too hard to think of what would happen if her slipped or lost his footing. All that was in his mind was a single word: escape.

Ganondorf and his troops were gaining and soon he had run out of close enough trees. Panting, he saw that Ganon was almost upon him. The closest tree was just too far. He unwound the chain he had wrapped around his arm. What he was planning on doing was pure madness and he knew it, but he did not have the chance to think it completely through. He leaped out of the tree and used his chain like it was one of his grappling hooks and it wrapped around the nearest thickest bow of the next tree and he swung into its safety. He reached the next three trees in a similar manner. It was then that Ganondorf started shooting tiny but powerful balls of magic straight at him. Link was able to dodge Ganondorf's first attempts as he swung crazily from tree to tree. Then Ganon used the last of his energy to create a shot that would not miss.

Link felt the magic ball whiz by his head and heard the splinter of a branch. The ball of magic had shattered the branch his chain was wrapped around. He found himself plunging to the earth nearly twenty feet below him, a cry frozen in his mouth. In the breathtaking paralyzing milliseconds it took to fall, he swung his chain and caught a smallish branch. It stopped his fall for a couple of seconds before it splintered as well. He fell the last eight feet and landed in a deep snow drift. For a moment he was to shocked and dazed to move.

Ganondorf, who had run ahead of the others, had fallen out of exhaustion and was lying not more than three feet away, panting heavily. Their eyes met in a snap of a second before Link collected his started wits and tried to run. His limbs were shaking terribly from the overexertion of his mountain climb, his recent insane display of acrobatics, his recent lack of food, and probably from his nerves too. The world seemed to be as unsteady as if he were trying to walk on river rapids.

"Armogohma," he cursed in a mutter as his legs threatened to give out on him.

Ganon had gotten to his feet and was chasing after him in almost the same shaky manner. The Darknut soldiers, empowered by their revenge lust, soon outflanked the struggling pair and surrounded them, slowly closing in.

Link knew he would not be able to fight the fully armored Darknuts and Bulblins without a weapon but he tried to make a stand anyways. He was too weak to last very long and fists do not cause a lot of damage against metal. Soon, he was seized and held by his chains so tightly that he could not move. He stood panting and trembling as Ganon approached him. Ganondorf looked utterly spent and he swayed slightly as he walked, but a dark fury emanated from his yellow eyed stare. Link stared back defiantly despite his own weakened state. He knew that Ganon was furious at the loss of a third of his already diminished hoard and furious because he had shown a moment of weakness. The warlord grabbed him by the by the throat.

"Where is the power source," he wheezed between ragged breaths.

Link only smiled for an answer, and Ganondorf took it the way Link had intended. He assumed that the crystal was trapped under the measureless weight of ice and snow that had once been a cave. Link knew that if Ganon had his full power, tons of snow could be almost easily moved by him, but it was obvious he did not.

Ganondorf's roar of rage seemed to shake the trees before he collapsed in a heap. Some Darknuts broke formation to help but he pushed them away, got up and staggered towards his horse that he had left near the ridge of what had once been the meadow. "Take the prisoner back to camp," he called back weekly. "Make sure he does not escape again. When Xiphos returns he will know what to do. I will be in my tent."

~x~X~x~

When the exhausted Link and the troop of soldiers finally reached the camp, he saw much to his chagrin, that Aveil had been recaptured as well. The troop of Darknuts chained him back to his usual tree and five stayed behind to guard him. Xiphos had been the one to recapture Aveil and he was deep in conversation with Malver who had been with Ganondorf's raiding party. The light snow of the night had covered their once snow-free camp in a two inch powdery blanket. Link lay back against the tree he was chained to, trying to catch his breath.

"Is it safe?" Aveil whispered poking him, "What was all the yelling and earth quaking?"

He was about to reply when he was distracted by Xiphos's loud angry voice.

"The boy lost the power source?" It rose still further as he heard something else that Malver said. "We lost how many men?"Practically quivering with rage, he signaled two Darknuts who headed straight to where Link sat.

"I have gone and done it now," Link muttered to himself.

"What did you do?" Aveil asked him, eyes wide with fear.

"I kind of lost the power source and buried a third of Ganon's soldiers in an avalanche that I accidently vindictively started," he whispered back.

Aveil's brief grin soon turned fearful again as the two Darknuts drew their rapiers and circled around Link prodding him in the back and side with their sword tips.

"Stand up you scum," Xiphos glowered through gritted teeth, his voice shaking. "You vile maggot you murdered some of my best Darknuts."

The two rapiers pressed harder into him and he rose, standing to face the furious man.

"You murdered my men in cold blood; there is no lower form of life."

"Look at the dog calling the wolf a canine," Link snapped back. "Even if I had killed them in cold blood, how would that be different from what you do on a daily basses? I, however; gave them a chance to save themselves. I only buried them when they refused to surrender and attacked me." He met Xiphos's explosive glare without flinching.

Xiphos turned his back on Link as he spoke, "You should count your worthless hide fortunate that Ganondorf has ordered me not to harm you. For some reason he wants you alive and healthy. It has something to do with his scheme for gaining power, but if he ever decides that he no longer needs you, you had better hide like the worm you are. On that day I will hunt you down and you will suffer slowly for every soldier you killed." As he spoke, he moved with a rapid pace and whirled around and struck with savage ferocity.

Link saw his enemy's muscles tense ever so slightly before he whirled around, and he knew what was coming. Unfortunately; he had nowhere to dodge to with a Darknut on both sides, and a tree directly behind him. He grunted with pain as Xiphos's mailed gauntleted hand connected with his face, near his cheek and mouth. Link went flying to the left and crashed into the Darknut who stepped aside to leave him to sprawl in the snow. The chains kept him from rolling very far. He could not breathe. Through a momentary pain filled dizzy haze he saw Xiphos standing over him. Feeling slightly sick, he lifted his head with a grimace as he tried to focus on what his enemy was saying.

"Maybe I can't beat you senseless now, but there is a way to teach you a lesson. I think I will make your friend pay for your little rebellious act. My lord never forbade me from hurting her." He pointed to a guard and the soldier walked over to where Link was laying, placing his blade near his throat to keep him from moving as Xiphos stalked toward the hapless girl.

Link tried to speak but couldn't. He coughed and spat blood out into the snow, his lip had split and one of his teeth had made a cut on the inside of his mouth as well. Once his mouth was clear he managed to speak. "Please stop," he practically begged. "It was my fault, not hers. She knew nothing of my plan and had no hand in it."

"Hard lessons must be learnt the hard way." Xiphos laughed as he raised a fist and struck. Aveil fell with a cry and Xiphos pulled out his riding crop. He tore off her cloak and a good amount of her once fine, but now ragged sari underneath to expose her back.

"Who knows," The knight sneered, "when I'm done with this I might even try something different, it has been a while since a maiden shared my company."

Link winced as Aveil took another hit with a cry of pain. She tried her best to fight back, but with the chains it was practically impossible. Xiphos struck again as he drew nearer.

Shaking with fury, Link acted. With a swift movement he rolled away from the Darknut's sword and leaped to his hands in a handstand right in front of the Darknut. He spun with rapid grace kicking the sword out of the Darknut's hand with one foot and dealing him a glancing blow to the head with the other foot. Then he handspringed to his feet, throwing his body at the upmost limit of the reach of the chains. He stood in front of Aveil just a Xiphos prepared for another blow. Link caught Xiphos's crop wilding fist with his hand it and stopped it, glaring into Xiphos's cold black eyes.

"Coward! If you must display your mindless savagery, hit me!" the words were torn from Link's throat in an airy growl of rage, his voice bordering upon sounding not entirely human.

Xiphos was completely astonished. This skinny shrimp of a boy was strong enough to hold his fist a bay. He was half his size muscle wise, and yet he seemed to be able to match his strength if not best it. Xiphos stared in surprise as the teen slowly pushed his arm back. Something about Link was unnerving him, his unexpected strength, his almost barbaric look as blood tricked down the side of his face and mouth in the spider-webbing pattern the jagged edges of his metal gloves and bracers had torn into the flesh of his jaw, lower cheek and lip, but mostly it was because of his eyes. Their stare was cold, calculating, defiant, and unafraid. They seemed to burn with an icy fire, and like his voice they appeared not entirely human. They were feral. Then he caught himself. 'He, Xiphos, Ganon's second in command, afraid of a boy? No, never!' Furious, he swung his free fist, determined to give the insolent prisoner something worse than a bloody lip. With a small deft movement of his head, the teen dodged the blow and several more like it. He hardly moved at all and he never once released his crushing grip on Xiphos's fist. Xiphos tried kicking with much the same result.

Aveil could see that, despite his valiant effort, Link was tiring and would not be able to keep it up for long. She spied a perfect opening for some well deserved revenge. Xiphos was so busy concentrating on Link that he did not see the hefty piece of drift would that was headed for his head until it was too late. He was soon sprawled out cold in the snow near the other unconscious Darknut. The remaining one immediately went for backup.

With a shout of outrage, the five sentries came in to subdue the pair. It took them a while to decide what to do because their lord had shut himself in his tent, and their captain was unconscious. But, in the end, Aviel was knocked unconscious and Link was pressed tightly against the rough bark of the tree, completely under guard.

About an hour later, Ganondorf emerged from his tent and announced that, come the following morning, they were going to ride back down the mountain, through the day and the night in order to reach their destination more quickly. Xiphos had long since come around, but he failed to mention anything about the fight to Ganondorf in fear of losing face. But Ganondorf was neither stupid nor ignorant of the events in his own camp. As soon as he had finished relaying his orders, he strode purposefully over to where the prisoners were held.

~x~X~x~

Sometimes humiliation worked better than physical pain, the warlord thought as he surveyed his handiwork. He was not about to let Link get away with all that he had done and he felt the youth needed to be given a reminder of his place. He had ordered Link to be chained by his arms and neck to a high bow of a tree. In order to maintain a semblance of comfort in such a position, the boy was forced to stand on his tip toes to keep the leather color Ganodorf had fashioned for him from pulling on his neck. His arms, tied above his head, would keep him from choking if his legs gave out on him but, all in all, he was in for a very uncomfortable night. Ganondorf hoped this prelude would suffice to serve as the start of a lesson that needed to be taught. The sooner they reached his fortress, that happier he would be. He wanted nothing more than to prove himself the master, and he wanted to do it so everyone could see. He wished to prove his might, and prove it battle against his foe. That particular desire however, was not quite as strong as his desire to regain what he had lost and, in the end, the latter held more precedence. This was why he had been forced to take the option of patience, despite the extreme severity of Link's recent rebellion.

An almost irreparable rage began to build inside him and, for a moment, all he wanted to do was snap Link's neck. The power source had been a huge part of his plan and without it, it was almost impossible for his desire to reach fruition. Link had scored yet another huge victory in their ceaseless battle. Without it, almost everything was lost.

Unless… he felt a dark chuckle begin to rise within his throat. It would be harder yes, and he would have to do things a little more backwards and perhaps with slightly less success, but all was not lost. Link had lost the power source, that much was certain, but in the end, it would be Link who would be helping him to get it back. He needed his own power back to shift all that snow and as long as he had Link, that would happen. He would find a way to make it work, he would find a way to succeed. He could not afford to fail now, far too much was at stake.

Ganon smiled as he saw the slightest flick of humiliation flutter deep inside the boy's dark blue eyes before he buried his shame at being colored like an animal under that façade of nonchalant ease he had adopted as his cover. But it was just that, a façade and it could be shattered like glass, Ganon thought, as he watched Link's proud form. He was indeed proud; the warlord thought as he watched the boy. As proud as the wolf that he had once been forced to become; and he was now chained like the dog he was about to become.

Ganondorf could not decide in that moment whether he hated or admired that. He hated it because there was no room for pride in those lower than himself for it brought only rebellion in its wake. But, at the same time, he admired it. He admired it because he understood it. He was proud and had a right to be. He also understood how it felt to be chained and at the mercy of others; the Sages' sword at his waist stood testament to that. Therefore, he did not blame Link for trying to escape, for it would be something he would have done himself; and was in fact, something he had done before. But, at the same time again, he blamed and hated Link for his success in slowing him down so far. In the end though, it would amount to nothing more than a passing breeze. He and he alone would be victorious. He and he alone would stand. Everything else, and all who would defy him, would be little more than nothing in the end. He liked the word nothing when it applied to his enemies. Smiling at Link, Ganon tugged on his lead and leaned in to whisper something in the captive youth's ear and was satisfied to see the expression tighten ever so slightly on Link's face.

A/N: So, Link's curse since I do not know any actual Hylain curse words I simply used one that I have adopted for my own use (that and Moldarach, they are very satisfying to say when one is peeved) I mean why not, giant spiders (and scorpions) are disgusting creatures and probably would be swear words if they existed in our world, I think :P Rather odd/ fun fact, I have a habit of including my own personal experiences within much of my writing or rather, base some things I write off of things I have done. I am here to personally say that yes it is indeed quite possible (and rather fun) to leap from one tree to another, though I would not say that I have ever taken it quite to the extent that I made Link. Yeah, I tend to be a bit of an adrenaline junky in my free time, especially when I was younger XP I hope you enjoyed this chapter and wish to thank you all for reading! Next chapter returns to Zelda's point of view. I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving! And to my non American readers, I wish you all a fantastic rest of the week! Oh, I also just realized that Hanukkah starts on Thanksgiving also, so happy Hanukkah as well to those who celebrate it XP

Thanks to a holiday and a very sleepless night I managed to finish the new Zelda game (that I got for an early Christmas present.) I thought it was pretty good, but I really did not at all care for the bad-guy. He seemed a bit underdeveloped, and a rather cheap copy of Ghirahim, but other than that, It was pretty great. Have any of you played it yet?

Question: After the Hero of Time splits the timelines, which outcome do you enjoy the most? (either story wise or game wise; adult, child, defeated hero era.)

I think I like the child era, because I like both that story, the idea behind it, and I have a thing for the adventures that came after (Twilight Princess FTW!) but I quite enjoy the others as well.