Before Link could react, she pulled back and slapped him as hard as she could.

"Yes!" Link yelled. "More! I deserve it!" The fool in green was hysterical at this point.

Midna slapped him again, her palm leaving a harsh imprint on his cheek.

"Why do you bother…" Link started. Midna slapped him.

"I just…" Slap.

"Want to…" Slap.

"Okay, now you're…" Slap.

"Seriously, you can…" Slap.

"Would you…" Slap.

"Please…" Slap.

"STOP THAT!" Link bellowed, grabbing Midna's wrist as she pulled back to slap him again. She slapped him with her other hand.

With a wild growl, he let go of her wrist and punched a nearby tree. Stomping back over, he yelled "What the hell was that for, you bitch?"

"You were hysterical. Now you're just angry. In my book, that's an improvement." Midna responded calmly. However, she watched his eyes carefully in case he went battle-crazy again.

Link grunted, then stomped over to Epona. His horse shied away once again. "Oh, no," he moaned, panic flowering once again in his breast, "Even my horse knows I'm crazy! I'm better off staying a wolf! At least then nobody knows who I am!"

Once again, Midna floated over and slapped him.

"Ow!" he yelled. "Dammit!"

"Maybe you should try looking at yourself," Midna suggested.

Link obeyed, looking at his reflection in the stream. To his alarm, he noticed that he was covered in blood. Even his fair hair was stained red. "Aw, crap!" he said. "I'll never get these stains out!"

"Eh," Midna replied. "The tunic's magical, remember? I would be quite surprised if it stained. Now get cleaned up. You wanted to visit Ilia, remember?"

Link looked up from the stream. "I thought you were against that.," he said.

"Circumstances change," Midna replied.

In truth, she just wanted to get his mind off the wolf-thing while she tried to figure out what exactly it was.

Several hours later…

Link sat with his back to the fire, staring out over Kakariko Gorge. He had been that way for some time now. Ilia's memory was far from returning. In fact, when Link visited her, she said something that broke his heart.

"Ilia!" The girl turned, smiling as the boy in green came through the door. He stopped, conflict clearly visible on his face. He seemed to want to say something, but wasn't willing to. "Hello, Link," Ilia said. "It's nice to see you again."

"I…It's nice to see you too."

"What kind of trouble have you been getting into?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Fine. Don't tell me."

"Ilia?"

"Why do you visit me so much? Are you trying to take advantage of my…condition?"

"N-no, I'm just…"

"I'm grateful that you helped me, but this pursuit of yours must end. I can't be with you until I know who I am."

"What are you talking about?"

"I want you to leave, and not come back…"

Outside his hut, Renaldo knew from Link's expression what had transpired.

"I don't even understand why she wanted me to leave…" he said brokenly.

"Link, I know it may be difficult to accept, but until her memory returns, you must keep your distance from her." Renaldo said. "You…confuse her."

"I'll say," Link snorted. "That entire conversation was confused."

"No matter. You should stay away from her. I take her two steps forward, but you take her a step back. I'm sorry, but until we find a cure, do not visit her."

Sitting on the edge of a cliff overlooking the gorge, Link took something out of his pocket. It was a bracelet, cleverly made from woven sheep's wool. Each strand had been dyed a different colour, leading to a mesmerizing effect. For three months, he had laboured on the creation, painstakingly dying and weaving each strand of wool.

He had meant to give it to Ilia before journeying to Castle Town, but was unable because of the attack on the village. He sighed. It feels so long ago. Fist tightening on the bracelet, he closed his eyes, tears leaking from beneath the lids. "I want you to leave, and not come back." "Why do you do this to me?" he murmured. His feelings for Ilia were…confused. He loved her, but now Midna just kept sneaking in... His eyes widened. Again, thoughts of Midna pervaded his mind. What the hell was he thinking? Gods above, I'm in a fucking love triangle!

Midna watched as Link replaced the bracelet in his pocket, then hunched over. His shoulders began to shake. The sound of quiet sobbing reached Midna's ears. Her heart went out to him as she felt his pain. Yet at the same time, part of her was rejoicing. With Ilia out of the picture, he could focus on her! Shocked, she cursed herself for thinking this way. Link was her friend. Suddenly, he straightened up, strapping his sword to his back, and walked out of the firelight. Midna considered going with him, but decided it would be better to leave him alone.

While waiting for Link to return, Midna took some time to examine Zant's curse. She was fairly confident that Link could use it safely, but something about it still frightened her. She closed it in her fist and closed her eyes.

Fangs ripping through flesh, bones crunching under powerful jaws, claws slashing through skin and tissue like a well-oiled knife, kill, hunt, fight, kill, KILL, KILL!

Midna recoiled, dropping the curse as if it were a venomous snake. What the hell was this? Were these bombarding Link's mind the entire time? What had Zant done to it? Examining the curse, she noticed a few extra runes on it. As she watched them, they squirmed around on the object like wriggling maggots. Midna shuddered. She'd never seen those runes before, but they made her sick just looking at them.

A haunting chorus of howls echoed over the field.

With a jolt, she remembered Link. Swearing, she rushed after him, hoping that he didn't do anything rash. His mind must have been in an even more fragile state than she had realized. Following his trail, she could only hope that she wasn't too late.

Whoo! Cliffhanger!