Link swung hard, and missed the target. He ran after as the wind helped it along. I will get you! Link thought. The wind blew the tumbleweed into a dirt wall and the tumbleweed disintegrated. Link cursed. He put his bug net away and started toward the mining facility, which he was putting off.

The place on the inside of his lip where Ghirahim had busted it open with his teeth was sore. Link felt it with his tongue. He shivered despite the intense desert heat.

He fought his way through the facility, taking only one bathroom break, and then battled for the master key. He shoved it in the door, went all through the area that was left, and emerged again into the stiff air. He was confused- only a wall of blue was visible and Ghirahim's insane laughter filled his ears. He sprinted toward the wall of blue only to bounce back, scraping his elbows.

"Zelda!" he shrieked. They were gone. He let his chin touch his chest as he cried. Link couldn't force himself to run away when he heard Ghirahim's maniacal laughter die down to chuckling as he approached him from behind. "Link," he said coldly. Link brushed the tears off his face and gritted his teeth- he couldn't let Ghirahim see him be weak. He stood up and drew his sword while Ghirahim glared. "Ah," Ghirahim said sarcastically, "no warmth for old lovers? Fine. Be that way. I hope it was-" he pursed his lips and brought his hand to focus on his nails, "important, whatever you had to run off to do."

Link waited silently while Ghirahim vented to him. "Was it the spirit maiden that you were running to? Oh, wait," he clapped his hands gleefully, "you can't seem to get to her." Link glared and spit at the ground near Ghirahim's feet. He bristled and raised his fingers to snap. Link twirled his sword once by the hilt and returned to ready position, but his eyes widened when Ghirahim brought his fingers together. Link's sword fell from his hands just as the hilt started glowing blue. Fi's faint beeping was the last thing he heard.

XOXOXO

One eye opened. Link immediately tried pulling his arms in to cover himself, but they were chained above his head. His hat was missing, and his shirt was gone, too. Fear removed all tiredness from his eyes and he struggled against the chains. They had the diamond pattern in them, and Link immediately knew Ghirahim was his captor.

Link slumped as Ghirahim yawned behind him. "Sorry about that, Link," he said, making a claw with his fingers on Link's back, then slowly dragging it around to his chest. He didn't break skin- only left white trails as evidence of his nails scratching him. "Using the amount of energy it takes to knock you out cold tires me." He smiled pleasantly and then admired Link's chest shamelessly. He closed his eyes and flicked his head once. With a devillish grin he looked Link in the eye and said, "Yum."

Link jumped forward, screaming without words. The chains kept him captive, however, so he tried to kick him. When he looked down he was grateful to see he still had pants on but not so pleased that his ankles were chained to the same posts his arms were. "Why are you doing this? Where's Zelda?" Link yelled. Ghirahim rolled his eyes distastefully and seethed. "That goddess-serving dog escaped with the girl!" He punched a hole in the stone wall beside Link's head. Dust and crumbles fell to the floor. The room was deathly quiet and Link kept his eyes on the floor. Ghirahim's dark eyes, rimmed in purple, were wide and he was panting, his fists curled by his sides. He took a few shaking breaths and then let his fists unclench, finger by finger.

Link gasped and then let the breath out in a woosh, gasped then wooshed, and kept doing this until it occured to him he would probably hyperventilate. He clamped his mouth shut and focused on his breathing while Ghirahim watched him. Ghirahim crouched down and braced his hands on his knees, looking up into Link's face. "But now that the spirit maiden is gone," he said softly, fingering a strand of Link's golden hair, "I have you all to myself!"

He leaned back and shouted in glee, clapping his hands together once. He spread his arms wide, leaning back with a floursh, then straightened up. His voice echoed off the huge walls and church-like ceilings as he said, "And now that we're alone, we're going to play a game!" Link watched him carefully. He said nothing in response, and Ghirahim frowned. "Since I'm being so nice and playing with you, the least you could do is talk to me. But, wait," he said, smirking at him, "you're not a man of words, are you? Fine. That'll make finally hearing your screams so much better!"

Link's mouth dropped open in horror. Ghirahim smiled in a motherly way and gently pushed his jaw up. "But enough talk of that," Ghirahim said lovingly. He snapped his fingers. The chains disappeared and Link rubbed his wrists, trying to get the feeling back in them. He glared at Ghirahim, who held his hand out for Link's wrist. Ghirahim pushed his hands toward him again and demanded in a much less patient tone, "Give me your hand, boy."

Link was more afraid of what would happen to his arm if he didn't give it to Ghirahim, so he slowly held his hand out. Ghirahim's long fingers were cold and, no matter how much he tried to deny it, felt good on his raw skin. Ghirahim rubbed it soothingly and purred, "I'm sorry about that." He released Link's wrist and he immediately was disappointed by the coolness that left it. Ghirahim grinned. He looked straight at Link, who had by now started looking around for his things, and chuckled. "They're spread all throughout the castle. Whatever you can find, you can keep. But I've taken your sword. That's just a bit too dangerous." Link's eyes widened and his mouth fell open in outrage. Ghirahim sighed. "Don't worry; I've placed her somewhere safe."

Link didn't know whether or not to trust him, but decided that he could do nothing about it for now, and was going to focus on just surviving Ghirahim's 'game'.

Ghirahim held his hands together and leaned in. He whispered conspiratorily, "We- are going- to play- hide and seek!" He jumed back and covered his mouth, squealing like Peatrice whenever Link smiled at her. Link stared at him like he was stupid, which he kinda thought he was, and then squinted. Ghirahim had clapped his hands over his eyes and was whispering numbers to himself. "You've got until 100, Link," Ghirahim said through a smile. "Go."

Linkbroke into a run and bursted through the first door he saw. Ghirahim laughed behind him and continued counting. Link stopped in the middle of the room and kicked open a small wooden chest. His slingshot! The seeds were all gone, but he was sure he could find something to replace them.

He ran directly across into a door and bursted in another room. This was empty. He went to the right and almost fell down some stairs that started out of nowhere. He jumped down the stairs case. Ghirahimwas probably somewhere by 25 now. He had plenty of time. Right?

He opened the next door on the left and kicked the lock off another chest. His bow! Again, the ammunition was missing, but it was better than nothing. Maybe I could strangle Ghirahim with the string, he thought. He didn't give this another thought as he continued through the castle, trying to hear any footsteps that would tip off Ghirahim's prescence.

Well? I thought that was a pretty good cliffhanger, didn't you? You guys probably didn't like it, but... Lol. Okay. Not much to say here. I hope you enjoyed. Today's song is "1, 2 Step" by Ciara. It's really good. Lol. Love you all! Review!