Rowan lifted Link up and placed him upon Spirit's back, gently. "Take it easy, my boy. Your Mother is watching and we would hate to give her a scare."

Lincoln scratched the old mount and smirked, feeling much better than he had in the last two weeks of recovery. "We would." The eight year old Lordling shifted ontop of the saddle and could not help the grand smile that cracked wide on his face. He missed riding with a passion and hated being confined to his bed... which Evangeline had forced upon him even after Darion promised he was fit enough to go fight another pack of Wolfos.

"Navi, go ride with our boy, would you?" Evie spoke, softly, and managed a half hearted smile when her son glanced her way. "I am very worried and it would do my heart good to know you are with him." The Lady of White Tower wrapped her arms about her self and leaned against the stable's doorframe as a breeze picked up. Her dresses whipped about her legs and enveloped her as if Farore had heard her prayers to keep Lincoln safe.

Navi was perched atop Evangeline's shoulders and the wind had pushed her off so that she had to catch herself. "I'll go... but, really, Milady, you shouldn't worry so much."

"He is my only child and I will not regain him only to have him die on some old horse's back!" Evie immeadiatly regretted the fury in her voice and held out her hands for the Fae to land upon. "I am so sorry, Little One."

"It's okay. I'll go with him." Navi placed her hand on Evangeline's thumb and squeezed it. "We'll just go around the trail and come back." The Faerie dived from the Lady's hand and flew, gracefully, to where Link was. "Ready?"

The boy grinned, flexed his fingers, rotated his shoulders, and then gripped the reins. "Yes!"

"Go around the trail and no further, Sweetling!"

Raven turned and gave a reassuring smile to his young wife as Link called to her. "Of course, Mother!" Lincoln urged Spirit out the back of the stable and grinned at one of the Hands that greeted him. Navi nestled herself between Spirit's ears and turned back to see her partner's beaming face.

"Take it easy, Link."

He urged his horse into an even trot and turned the mount out of the large wooden gates. "I feel great! I'm fine. I don't understand what all the fuss is about."

"You almost died." The girl frowned and crossed her blue arms. "If you haven't noticed, everyone cares about you. A lot."

A short dirt path opened up into the wide expanse of forest that surround the gleaming White Tower and it diverged into two after a several minutes of transversing it. One curved out toward Kakariko Village and Myra's home Oakhale which was a wood and stone manor built when she married Henrick. Henrick governed Kakariko with gentle hand with Myra next to his side but had recently allowed his wife to station sanctioned guards about it's perimeters due to the troubles about the infamous Gerudo Treaty. The other path slipped, quietly, into the lush growth. The hunting trails of White Tower was rich with various species of birds and beasts that supplied White Tower and Kakariko Village with its meat.

Link halted Spirit and stared down into the green path, feeling a quickening of his heart which he did not like. He swallowed his blooming cowardice and clicked the reins with less enthusiasm then when he set out with. "I know." He had remembered Navi's previous statment and replied though silence had overcome them several minutes ago.

"Daydreaming, again?" The Fae smirked, noticing the signs of fear tracing her charge's face.

"Maybe." The boy answered in monotone for his mind was now conjuring up the shadows of yellow eyed beasts where he knew none lurked. Link gripped the reins, tightly, and gritted his teeth together as terror seized him.

Navi's eyes grew wide and she shot up to look him in the eye. "Link, Link, listen to me." She spoke with ferocity that demanded his attention. Navi could feel his anxiety radiating off of him and, as his bright blue eyes focused at her, she could see it. "I will never let anything hurt you, again." Navi's tiny hand looked odd against Link's larger cheek but it quelled some of his fears. "Never."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." The boy mumured, stopping Spirit before the horse descended any further into the forest's shadows.

"Fine, then." Navi spoke without losing the seriousness in her voice. "You will never have to fight alone again as long as I am by your side. I will never abandon you."

Link bowed his forehead and smiled. "Thank you." The two sat for a long moment as Link calmed down and allowed the weight of his partner's words to set in.

"Are you ready to continue?"

"I..." Lincoln shifted and bit his lip, shrugging. "I don't know if I can, Navi..."

"We'll go slowly, then." Navi slipped the reins away from his hands and flicked them to start Spirit forward. "We'll take our time."

A soft rustle was heard as the pair rounded a bend and a Deku Nut was, swiftly, retrieved from the pouch that Thomas had given the boy. Navi rocketed out toward the noise and gasped, flipping to a stop, before she crashed into a black breastplate with White Tower's grey, howling wolf painted on it. "Goddesses, Thomas!" The Faerie screamed, kicking at the metal with her foot though she dared not actually hit it. "You scared me!"

The twenty-eight year old laughed. "Sorry, Little Fae, I did not mean to scare you." His brown eyes lifted to Lincoln where they seemed to narrow with slight annoyance. "Dear Little Brother, why do you enjoy scaring us so much?"

Link frowned. "Excuse me?"

"You have been gone for nearly an hour!" The man laughed. "I have just arrived for another visit and, as soon as I pass through the door, Evie came flying at me like some crazed Poe screaming about how you've gone missing." Thomas strod over and leaned against the old horse with a broad grin. "I was sent on a mission to retrieve you, Little Link, and here I come upon you not a ten minute gallop away!

"I..." Shame washed over the child and he hung his head to hid it.

Thomas' face lost all mirth as he gazed at his young brother. "Hey, now." He titled Link's chin up and stared into those bright blue orbs... finding a scared, shameful boy that he was not used to seeing there. "Lincoln, what is wrong? You can tell your Brother, can't you?" Thomas smiled, softly, when no reply came. "Come now, what secret has you so worked over? You have never not told me before so why stop now?"

Navi landed on Lincoln's shoulder and whispered words of comfort into the boy's pointed ear. Link's shoulders sagged and he stifled a sob. "I-I... I am..." His voiced faltered and his body shuttered as tears flowed forth from his blue eyes. "Afraid." The word came out as soft as a light breeze and Thomas was not sure he heard it though not because of how quiet it was.

Lincoln, even at such a young age, had never shown an ounce of cowardice and would run headlong at obstacles. The eight year old had not been afraid when he learned to ride Spirit at four whom had been a much more alive four years prior. Link was out hunting with his brothers at the tender age of five, killed his first beast at six, and was a prodigy with the sword for he could hold his own with Vicktor though the twenty year old always won.

Thomas brushed away the boy's tears, quickly, and grabbed his shoulders, giving Link a small shake. "Hey, hey, calm down." His voice hardened when the tears continued to shed. "Lincoln Amadeus Hudson, you stop this weeping!"

Link hiccuped and stopped.

Thomas smiled but allowed an edge to remain. "You have no reason, no cause, to be afraid because you are a strong lad and you are a brave one. You fought two starving, desperate wolfos and there is no man that I know who could have done that at your age... let alone live through it." A breath. "And this shame? " Thomas spat the word like a curse. "Lord Lincoln Hudson, you should never feel shame-"

"But-"

"There are none." Thomas said, forcefully. "You feel this way because you are afraid, yes?" Link nodded. "You are only eight, Little Link! Do you know what I was afraid of at eight?" Thomas' demeanor had gradually softened as he smiled. "I was afraid the dark. My mother had to stay with me until I was asleep so that the candle that had to stay lit wouldn't burn down White Tower!"

Link grinned at this and both Navi and Thomas was glad for it.

"See, now, Little Brother?" Thomas pulled the boy down and embraced him. "Do not be afraid, Lincoln, but do not be ashamed if you are." The two squeezed each other hard and, after a moment, the Knight helped the Lordling back up onto Spirit. "I am so proud of you. We are all so proud of you. So, come, Brother, let us beat this fear of yours. We will ride back to White Tower with the wind at our backs, yes?"

Link grasped his brother's hand and beamed. "Yes."

Thomas disappeared around the bend to retrieve his own horse and during that time Navi glanced at the boy. "What exactly are you afraid of?"

Link turned to her feeling better than before but he knew she could see that Thomas' words had not fixed all his problems. His cobalt eyes flickered to Navi's face before he took a shaky breath and mumured. "Death... I... I could feel it, Navi... I could feel it clawing at me before I passed out. I-I never felt so helpless... so weak."

Navi wished she was bigger for the first time in her life so that she could embrace her friend. "Link, we'll never let that happen to you. Your family and I will protect you without our own lives."

The boy shifted. "I know... but-"

Thomas returned and cut the boy's sentence off with a call. "Ready, Brother?"

"Yes!" Link beamed, ignoring his Faerie's inquiring look and the feeling that the previous thought gave him. He knew his family would protect him and give their lives if it came down to it... but something inside of him was sending out a warning... it churned and brewed inside... Link knew something dangerous was stirring in the depths of his heart but he couldn't pin point it.

Not yet.

Several minutes passed in amiable silence while the Brother and Navi made their way through the trail at an easy gallop before Link charged forward at a blinding speed. Thomas, catching wind of his brother's idea, raced after the boy with a devil's grin.

"You and that old thing cannot beat me!" Thomas laughed as his horse, Ostar "Ozzie", danced around Spirit with ease.

Link pulled up on his reins, causing Spirit to rear, and held steady as the horse's hooves slammed into the earth as he watched his brother disappear from view behind the trunk of a large tree. "Navi... before Thomas cut in... I-" He stopped, clicked his reins, and situated his thoughts as Navi followed behind, waiting patiently for him to continue. "I wanted to ask if... I really don't know how to word this without sounding crazy."

"You're already crazy." Navi poked her friend's cheek and twirled around him. "Spit it out."

"Have you ever..." Link sighed, dropping his face into his hand and running said hand through his hair. "F-Felt like the world was... wrong?"

Navi stopped and gave him a bewilderlook. "Uh, what?"

"I meant," He groaned and rolled his eyes. "Just...when I was dying... I... felt something."

Navi gave him the same look and raised her hands up. "I don't understand."

Link frowned, again, and huffed, the breath from it sending his bangs everywhere. "Gods! Okay, what I am trying to say is that when I was...dying... I could feel something." He unconciously touched his heart. "It was calling to me, sort of, and warning me about something... I can't explain it. It..." His face contorted into one of frustration and he threw his arms up. "Nevermind."

"Maybe you should talk to your Father about this."

Link laughed. "And have him think I'm crazy?"

Navi rose a brow. "You are."

"Still, hearing voices is not normal." Lincoln shifted, plucked at a loose string on his tunic. "Even if one is dying... maybe the Deku Tree will talk to me about it."

"Why the Great Deku Tree and not Lord Raven?"

Link plucked Navi out of the air, gently, and placed her on his shoulder. "The Great Deku Tree has been around for hundreds of years... I've heard he has even know a few Heroes... so, he might know something about this where my Father might just go ahead and send me off to the Temple of Time like everyone else does with their Fourth Sons." Navi had no time to reply to that statement for Link had dug his heels into Spirit and set them off at a frenzied gallop.

- A short time later -

"Brother, wait."

Link and Thomas had led their steeds into the stables with little attention drawn across the yard though the lad was sure his mother would appear any minute to embrace or kill him for worrying her. The eight year old turned to the twenty-eight year old knight and stopped unbuckling Spirit's saddle. "Yes, Tom, what is it?" Navi glanced from the Knight to her friend but didn't stop brushing through the horse's coat.

"Anju wrote me a letter a week ago and informed me of Rowan's little... outburst and its cause." Thomas shut the Ozzie's stall and thanked a Hand as he went behind him to wash the steed. "She mentioned something about the Gerudo King... have you heard anything about it?"

Lincoln frowned and shook his head. "Jason and Father do not allow me knowledge of such things... but what I have heard hasn't been comforting." A stable Hand slipped around the Lordling and tells the boy that he will tend to Spirit for Evangaline awaits him.

Thomas walked side by side with his brother with a similar frown on his own face. They leave the stable behind them and journey toward the open door into the Grand Hall of White Tower. "And what has that been?"

"It is rumoured he has aquired dark magick."

"Rumored or is that what you heard?" Thomas smirked, knowing the youth had a penchant for eaves dropping or dragging the information out of Adele during his sword lessons with her.

Link blushed. "Heard."

"And what has Father said about this?"

The boy shrugged and felt his stomache tie up into knots at his brother's continued interest. "He, Rowan, and Jason had a lengthy talk about if they should mention this to King Edric but I never recieved word on the final say."

"Ah." The Knight sighed and scratched at the stubble growing on his chin. "Well, I thank you for the information... I am going to go strip this armor. I shall see you later, Little Link!"

Lincoln stopped and watched his brother descend down the hall toward his quarters but knew his mother was waiting so he did not stay long. The eight year old turned to Navi with a pensive expression. "Why do you think-"

"I don't know and nor do I think we need to dwell on it." Navi replied with worried lines traced on her Fae features. "Come on, let's go find your mother."