A/N: Moar thanks to alwaysingirl. Yesterday was pretty rough, but today was much better. Thanks for the concern!

Zelda has escaped, but where will she go now? Read on!

Chapter 5 - Lost

Zelda sprinted across the grass, getting further and further away from her latest nightmare. Thankfully, the Sheikah outfit made running much much easier. If she had still been wearing her long dress, she would have fallen over at least seven times by this point.

After running for a full five minutes, she slowed and stopped, confident that they weren't following her. After a few seconds of heavy breathing, her back throbbed painfully, and she cried out, sitting down on the spot. Rauru must have put a spell on her to help escape Drazzil easier, but it apparently had worn off. The pain was immensely worse than when she had first experienced it. Not only this, but her side ached a bit as well from when she jumped out of the wagon.

She writhed around on the floor moaning, clutching her side and rubbing her back, alternating hands every few seconds. Luckily, when she dug in Rauru's bag, she found a red potion. She didn't know whether to cry or laugh with gratitude.

'Thank you, Rauru!' she shouted out, and downed the entire bottle in one go. The pain eased immediately, and she was able to stand once again. She stretched out, and felt her back click. She worried that it would have gotten worse, but the pain eased even more. She was happy about this, but only temporarily. It took a while, but she finally realized a daunting new problem.

Where am I?

Frantically looking around, all she could see was endless space. That run-in with Drazzil must have took her way off course. She started to panic, her breathing speeding up with every second. It was still night, and judging by how high in the sky the moon was, there was still at least three more hours left until sunrise. What she didn't need was a wave of stalchilds chasing her down.

She decided the best option was to run, somewhere. Hoping to find a beacon and follow it like a siren's call. Whether it was for better or worse, she would have to find out on her own.

Running through her options, she ran left from where she was, and stayed on the path. Luckily, no stalchilds bothered her as she ran, but she didn't stop to marvel. She ran as fast as she could, which was pretty fast, especially in the Sheikah outfit. After thirty minutes of sprinting, she stopped and started to breathe heavily. Thirty minutes was a pretty long time to be sprinting, but she figured that it was the adrenaline that was pulsing through her vessels. Now the effect started to wear off, and her legs felt like blocks of lead, joined by a kneecap of jelly. All she wanted to do was sleep. The very word seemed enticing.

She panted for another five minutes before she spotted a glint in the distance, about half a mile away. For a second, she was confused at what to do. But once she realised what that glint meant, she ignored her metal legs and started to sprint once more, her hope once again renewed.

Yes! I'm going to make it!

She had run at least 200 metres before a hand broke through the ground in front of her. Taken by surprise, she tripped over the hand, and landed on the ground about three metres away from it.

'Ah!' She grasped her side where she landed, a new pain rising in it. The stalchild slowly rose out of the ground and slunk towards her, slowly. But she didn't feel any fear towards the monster. She felt something comepletely different, something she hadn't felt in a while.

Anger.

She expertly flicked out a dagger from her belt and held it tightly in her hand. Then, she let out a roar not unlike a warrior going into battle, and jumped at the stalchild.

It seemed taken aback, like Drazzil had been. She brought down her arm with all her might onto the stalchild's head, cleanly slicing through it's brittle bone. She had struck it so hard that its jawbone shattered upon impact. The stalchild screeched, flailing its arms at its attacker. Unfortunately, one of its hands struck Zelda in the head, its sharp claws clawing through her scalp.

Zelda screamed in pain, clutching at her head. Blood dripped from her scalp to the ground, and she staggered backwards in shock. That shock quickly wore off though, as a new hatred for her attacker was born. She raised her leg, the skintight Sheikah suit perfectly stretching as she prepared her attack. She then kicked at the stalchild's ribcage with huge force. Two of its vertebrae shattered into pieces, and it fell backwards onto the floor. Zelda wasted no time as she jumped upwards into the air, graceful as a swift. At her maximum height, she descended on her fallen foe, foot aimed at its face. It screeched out a moment before her foot connected with its skull. It exploded into literally thousands of pieces. As a sign it was defeated, the rest of its body burst into flames, and it slowly sank back into the ground.

Zelda was exhausted. Her foot ached, and her head stung intensely. She clutched at it, now worried that she was bleeding a lot. Digging through her bag, she took out the bandages and wrapped them round and round her head. For all she knew, her head could have looked the top half of a mummy, but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was carry out her objective of getting to the light jst ahead.

She ran, a lot slower than before, but still quite fast. Only another five minutes and she will find out what the light belonged to.

XxX

The five minutes passed fairly quickly. Her legs started to harden once again, and for a second, she thought she would just collapse onto the floor, legs smoking stumps behind her. But when she walked on another couple of metres, her vision adjusted, and she could faintly make out a stairwell. She gasped. She knew what it was immediately and she gasped out in surprise and happiness. The place where she was meant to be all this time. For 'safety'.

The village of Kakariko.

She ran again, ignoring the pain in her legs. She reached the stairwell without any further interruptions, and ran up two stairs at a almost stumbled, but she didn't care. She was almost there, the safety she longed for firmly in her grasp.

She reached the top of the stairs, gasping for breath. A soldier at the gate spotted her in the torchlight.

'Hey, are you OK?'

As she got closer, he saw she had blood all over her, and was covered in cuts.

'Someone get Daisy!' he cried out.

Zelda just smiled, and fell at his feet, her well earned rest finally happening. As more voices joined the soldiers, she closed her eyes. She felt hands grab her arms and legs, and lift her up. The gentle rocking of their walking was enough to make her fall asleep, a final sigh of satisfaction escaping her lips before she breathed out her last conscious breath.