Many thanks to I.K.A. Valian, la generala and booklover13 for your kind reviews. And thanks to everyone still reading this! I'm very pleased to be getting such positive feedback from you all! THANK YOU!

Anyway, on with the story! I don't own Link or Zelda or any LOZ characters, but I do own this plot!


Chapter Seven

"Why am I flat on my back?" Moaned Zelda as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Because you fainted in to my arms." A humorous voice responded.

She gazed around in some confusion. She was lying on a hard surface, possibly a table, it was cold and the room was dark. She looked up and saw a man's face very close to hers.

"EEEP!!" She yelped in surprise. She felt a strangle tingle in her right arm.

Suddenly the man disappeared. His disappearance was immediately followed by a thump on the floor. "Wow. What on earth was that?" She heard him demand.

Recognising the voice as the voice of her apparent rescuer, she turned her head to watch him. He was picking himself up from the floor, chuckling slightly. She blinked and tried to sit up, only to find that that horrible, sick feeling she had experienced just before passing out had returned with a vengeance. She lay back, trying to relax her breathing and glanced at her rescuer. Or at least, she hoped he was a rescuer. She had not yet had chance to assess him. She turned her head so she could see him and saw his glittering eyes and inane grin. 'Just as I thought, he's another escaped lunatic.' She sighed to herself, wondering how she always managed to attract life's losers. At least he had saved her from the Gerudo, she granted him that. Whether that reprieve was a temporary thing though, she didn't know.

"What was what?" She asked, attempting to sit up.

She saw his eye glitter with amusement as he looked at her. "You just zapped me. Don't you remember?"

"Zapped you? Don't be ridiculous." She scorned. "You must be imagining things." Clearly believing this conversation to be at an end before it had even started, Zelda turned away from his intense gaze and continued in her politest, "I must thank you for rescuing me. Who are you?"

This promising change of topic fell flat on its head. Links' grin grew wider and his eyes shone even more but he didn't reply. Rather, he unsheathed his sword and started to polish it.

'Great, now he's mute.' Decided Zelda. 'This is just what I need.' She frowned slightly and studied him. He didn't really look mad, she thought. Apart from the cheery grin he seemed quite normal. He was reasonably tall, and had darkish hair, half of which was tied roughly back. The remainder swept across his face, partially covering his mischievous eyes. In the lamplight she could not identify their colour. He was attractive but not precisely handsome, she decided. She sat up on her bed and watched him for a moment.

"Aw, you're so shiny and pretty, little swordy…" He murmured to his blade as he gave it a final rub with his sleeve. She saw his eyes flick in her direction for the briefest of second's before suddenly he swung the sword right at her.

"AIEEE!" She screamed and jumped. Even she saw the flash of light that sparked from her hand as her arm jerked forward involuntarily to protect her face. Her rescuer slumped to the floor again. "What in Hyrule was that?" She stammered as she gazed in horrified amazement at her perfectly normal looking hand.

"That's such an amazing trick." He laughed as he picked himself up from the floor for the second time. "I suspect it's a kind of defensive magic. I've not seen any like that before though. It doesn't hurt that badly, it just makes all my muscles crumple." He sheathed his sword and shook his zapped arm. He smiled and held his hand forward. "My name's Link. How do you do?"

Zelda was still gazing at her palm with a strange, incredulous look in her eyes but she gave his hand a suspicious glance as he spoke. She sighed and ran through the names of all the magic users she had ever met before and hoped one of them was still alive to explain to her why on earth she had just sparked. Link cleared his throat and waved his fingers slightly in her field of vision. She glanced up at him. She had never before had to confront lunatics and she wasn't entirely sure how to deal with them. Clearly he was expecting two things – to have her name revealed to him and to have his hand shook. Zelda weighed up the two options and took what she hoped was the safest route.

"My name is Zelda."

"I am Link."

"Yes. You've just said that."

"Did I? Oh, I apologise. I was mesmerised by your beauty." Link grinned and gave her an unashamedly ogling look. Then he winked. Having never had to deal with such open flirtation before in all her eighteen years, Zelda blushed. "Um, did you come here to rescue me?" She asked as she carefully and quickly shook his hand, thinking she had better err on the side of polite caution.

"Oh no, I came here to kill Ganondorf." He replied cheerfully.

"You came to do what?"

"Kill Ganondorf." He smiled sweetly at her. "Is there a problem with that?"

"But - you can't be an assassin!" She took stock of his scruffy hair, dilapidated clothes and worn out armour and shook her head.

"I'm not." He agreed with, what she was beginning to suspect was characteristic, glee. "You're not a soldier either."

She smiled politely and began to pray for a second rescue that night. He was clearly out of his mind.

Obviously unconscious to her thoughts about his mental stability, Link continued in the same vein, "I mean, I was hoping to capture a guard but I found I just could resist the urge to rescue a damsel in obvious distress. So I had to settle for you."

Zelda frowned over this statement for a long moment before picking up on the fact he was, under all his frivolity, serious. "You really did come to murder Ganondorf?" She asked. Even though she was trying to be polite, she couldn't quite hide the incredulous note seeping into her voice.

"Well not murder per se." He confessed. "I actually would consider it beneath me to do such a thing. I wanted to confront him and then kill him in battle. And that's why I needed a guard. A guard would capture me and bring me before the evil King and then I… Now what is it?"

"Do you have any idea of how many guards he has stationed here?"

"I would imagine about one hundred and fifty." He replied. "I counted as many in my travels around but then again, I might have missed a few. Those Gerudo Girls are quite…um…distracting, you know."

"You are mad." Came the involuntary response to this. Zelda shook her head and smiled slightly. "You cannot seriously expect to be able to waltz in there and demand to fight the King."

"I wasn't really planning on waltzing, you know. I prefer marching. It's a much more manly dance."

Zelda couldn't help a choke of laughter escaping her lips at this. Link's lips stretched into a grin as he saw this and decided that out of her pretty eyes trim physique, and tranquil manner; it was her giggle that appealed to him the most. "So where did you come from, obviously, despite from the castle. Have you always lived here?" He asked, in an obvious demonstration of the fact he could, on occasion, behave rationally.

"I was brought here about two weeks ago. One of King Ganondorf's guards captured me whilst I was on a walk with my servant."

"I didn't realise he was in the habit of kidnapping women." Said Link. "I mean - he's got enough girls here to last him a lifetime, surely he doesn't need any more!"

To her great surprise, Zelda found herself chuckling at this remark. The world had seemed so hopeless only a short while ago, and yet she had found a reason to smile again. Strange as her rescuer was, she began to think that he was more than capable of looking after her. He certainly had the ability to amuse her. And she had not laughed in such a long time. She smiled up at him and said, "I suppose you are right. However, he said he brought me here for a reason and then t-tonight, he threatened to marry me."

"That sounds like a wonderful prospect." Link noted the quivering in her voice as she recalled the images of a few moments ago and he felt sorry for her. He had never experienced capture personally, and he was rarely scared of anything but he could sympathise with her fear. "And obviously, you needed time to think about his proposition and decided to leave his glorious court to consider your verdict?"

"Something along those lines, yes." She admitted. "I didn't for a moment imagine I would be able to escape him. Thank you, Link."

"You've not escaped yet." He pointed out. "You've still got to get out of here."

"You are not going to help me?" She asked. Link couldn't determine whether the panic he detected in her voice was pretend or real. Either way, it appealed to his innate chivalry. She saw the indecision in his eyes and smiled sweetly up at him.

"To do so would ruin my plans." He complained in a humorous manner. "But can I abandon such a distressing damsel? Hmmm…" He looked her over again and smiled, "I wonder why Ganondorf want to-" Link mouth closed abruptly and he frowned.

"What is it?

"Shush. I can hear something…" He whispered. He crept over to the doorway and pressed his ear against the wood. She saw his eyes widen slightly and then he dashed back over to her. He was going to grab her hand when he remembered what had happened the last two times he had startled her so he grinned and held his hand out to her. She placed her hand in to his without hesitation. He glanced around the room, searching for a suitable hiding place. The drapes, under the table and nearby cupboard were all dismissed. He spied an old sofa at the back of the room and smiled. "Come on." He whispered to his fair lady and led her behind it.

He unclipped his worn out cloak and spread it lightly over her, making sure she was fully covered before crouching behind the musty furniture himself. Zelda wanted to know exactly what he had heard and was just going to voice her question when she heard the faint sound of footsteps. She shivered and hoped that their hiding place was adequate.

A minute or so later, the door creaked open. There was the sound of soft footfall. Zelda cringed, as it got closer to their position. There was a sigh and a creak as the intruder sat down. For a long moment, the room was very still. The silence only interrupted by the crackling of the two torches. Slowly, more footsteps were heard. This time the tread was firm and swift.

Link placed his hand lightly on Zelda's shoulder as if in a gesture of reassurance for he could feel her trembling. His hand slid to his sword hilt.

As the second intruder entered, the torchlight flickered. His step was purposeful and firm. The armour and sword he wore clinking together with every move he made. He slammed the door behind him and marched over to the sofa.

Zelda trembled even more and prayed to the gods that their cover would not be blown. As she cowered, she felt Link's hand touch hers briefly. She understood the message - he was urging her to remain calm and silent. It was easier said than done - Especially when one was stuck in a room with a lunatic, a gerudo warrior and a despotic King.

Zelda began to wish she could faint again.


Sorry the chapter is a little short. Hoped you like the Zelda / Link interaction. I'm not entirely sure whether it will end up as a Zelinker though. In my original story, there's not really such a romance between the lead characters. Anyway, tell me what you think. I'm quite open to suggestions!