Moonlight poured down upon the world, gentle and silver, by the time Link finally decided to take a break. With a wide yawn, he sheathed the sword at his hip, and turned toward the tool shed in which he always stored the weapon. But it was so far away, and his house was closer, and he was so tired...

So he turned toward his house, and shuffled through the emerald grass, yawning again. The thought of his bed filled him with warmth and comfort, and brought the hint of a smile to his lips. It had been enjoyable to practice swordplay again, though he'd forgotten how tiring it was.

His hand reached toward the door, turned the handle slowly. He crept inside, booted feet quiet, in an attempt not to wake his parents -

But only then did he notice a figure sitting at the table, silhouetted before the light of the moon streaming in through the open window behind. "Link." His mother's voice.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" he whispered.

She stood, and by the light of night he thought he could see a faint frown etched into her face. "Where have you been all day? Laik told me you left him to tend to the stall. And he mentioned a Twili woman."

Link stared, eyes wide, and swallowed. "Well, I - I..."

"Link," she whispered a sigh, and wrapped her arms around him. Furrowing his brow in confusion, he hesitated for a moment, hands hovering awkwardly in the air - then he returned the hug. "I wish you wouldn't. Twili are dangerous creatures."

"Mother -"

"I know what you'll say. She isn't like the rest. And... I can't stop you from seeing her if you really want to. But just know that I love you, and I'm worried for you, that's all."

He smiled; shut his eyes and leaned into his mother's embrace. "I know. I love you, too. I'll be careful, I promise."

"Good night, Link."

"Night, mother."

She released him, though not entirely, hands still pressed lightly against his arms. Her eyes swept him up and down, and she gave a nod of approval. "Yes... good night," she repeated. Her voice seemed oddly distant.

Link nodded in response, one brow slightly raised. "Yes, mother. See you in the morning."

Her hands dropped, loose, to her sides.

"Are you all right?" Link asked, concerned about her strange, detached behavior.

"Yes. I just... feel a little wary, but I'm not sure why." Shaking her head, she said nothing more, only turned and left, heading to her room. Link could hear his father snoring from within. Sighing to himself, he headed in the opposite direction.

The door to his room creaked open beneath his palm. Silent as a whisper, he crept inside, boots padding against packed dirt floors. He unstrapped his sword from around his hip and slipped it beneath his bed, then removed his boots. Laik slept on the opposite side of the room, breath quiet and even in sleep.

And, with yet another yawn, Link climbed into bed without even bothering to change his clothes, pulling the blankets over his shoulders and shutting his eyes. Sleep sang a silent lullaby to him, shrouded him in darkness, and swept him away.

And he slept. Slept quiet and peaceful and -

Thud.

Link's eyes shot open, and he stared unseeing at the ceiling, long ears listening intently to a sound - the sound of heavy footsteps -

"Laik?" he wondered aloud, turning his head to see if his brother was responsible for the noise.

But he still laid in bed, eyes closed - though they fluttered open, glinting in the moonlight, upon hearing his name. "Huh?" he mumbled groggily.

"Don't you hear that?" Link hissed in return.

Another footstep.

For a moment silence fell like a stifling cloak over the house, and the two brothers exchanged worried glances amidst the darkness. It could have been their mother, or their father, awake to collect a late-night drink of water - but something told them that wasn't the case.

And then their bedroom door crashed open, screaming, and slammed against the wall.

Link and his brother shot up, blankets falling off their shoulders and drifting to the bed below. In the doorframe stood a tall figure, silhouetted by moonlight. "Who are you?" Laik demanded, voice trembling.

The figure, female in form, did not respond.

Swallowing heavily, Link reached slowly beneath his bed, fingers scrabbling at the dirt floor for his weapon.

Moonlight peered in through the window above Laik's bed, casting a faint blue square on the ground. The silhouette took a single step forward, into the square of light, and it illuminated her face.

Skin, white as fresh fallen snow - eyes, yellow and terrible as the scorching sun, undisturbed by pupil or iris. Intricate black patterns crawled up her face, surrounding her eyes, her thin nose, and retreating into her hairline like a skittering spider.

"W-who..." Laik stuttered, quiet, shaking.

Still the woman did not speak. Pale lips pressed together, unmoving, and her chest did not rise with breath. She only stood in the light, a horrible living statute. If even living at all.

And then without warning she lunged.

"No!" Laik screamed, and leaped out of bed. His brother watched, eyes wide in horror, and realized too late that the woman had been lunging to attack him. And Laik, Laik protected him, hands reaching for the intruder's throat -

She batted him away with an arm, as easily as if he were a pesky insect. Laik flew across the room, crashed into the wooden wall with a groan, and sank to the floor.

Link's fingers grazed leather, the leather of his scabbard, and he heaved a sigh of relief. Without hesitation he grasped the weapon and pulled it out from beneath his bed, shaking hands unsheathing the blade. The woman showed her first sign of emotion then - narrowing her terrible yellow eyes. And then she lunged again.

Link met her attack, both hands curled round the hilt of his sword. Her arm slammed right into the edge of the blade, and he expected it to slice it right off - but it didn't. It didn't, and he could only sit there on his bed, mouth agape in shock, as she crashed into him, completely unharmed, and the two of them fell onto the bed in a struggling heap.

Left hand still firmly clutching the sword's hilt, Link rolled out of bed and collapsed on the floor with an oof. The woman landed behind him with a heavy thud. He scrambled to his feet, wasting precious seconds slipping on the dirt floor in his utter panic.

"Laik!" he called desperately, rushing to his brother's side.

The man did not stir.

Heavy feet fell behind him, walking slow and deliberate, and Link desperately shook his brother's shoulder. "Get up, Laik," he hissed, but to no avail.

A hand, cold as ice, clamped onto Link's shoulder.

Instinct took over then, and he whirled, sword a silver blur. The edge of it crashed hard into the woman's arm. And even then - even then, he saw, it left only a tiny cut in her skin. But instead of red blood, a strange black substance festered beneath the surface, and leaked out onto the steel blade.

The woman screeched, reeled back, clutching the tiny gash as if it was a life-threatening injury. Then she bared her teeth at him, and he waited, waited for the inevitable attack -

But she turned, and strode away.

What? Link stared in confusion. Where is she going...?

His parents.

Heart, once hammering, now froze. And he told his legs to move, told himself to get up, run, run, please -

But he couldn't move.

He curled his fingers tight around the hilt of his sword, knuckles white, and gritted his teeth. He stumbled to his feet, and ran out of his room, ran for his parents' lives, even when he tripped over nothing at all and flew forward with a shout of surprise. His arms flailed wildly, and the weapon soared away from his grip, through the open window nearby. He reached out, grasping the edge of the table to right himself before he could fall face-first onto the floor.

"Sweet Nayru above!" he cursed, staring in horror out the window, as if doing so would bring his sword back to him.

There wasn't any time to reclaim the sword. If he did, his parents - his parents would die to that thing. But if he didn't fetch the sword, then how would he ever defend them?

No time to think. He dashed into his parents' room -

- and watched the monster curl her fingers tight around his father's neck.

The man shot awake, thrashed, and tried to scream, but had no breath to make any kind of noise at all. All the commotion caused his wife to wake, and she gasped upon seeing a stranger standing over her husband, strangling him.

"No!" Link shouted, stumbling into the room and crashing into the monster. She barely flinched, only kept her grip tight on the struggling man's throat. His eyes bulged, and rolled back in his head - and then he fell limp.

Impossible.

No, it couldn't be happening. Couldn't.

"Get off him!" Link screeched, voice cracking in a rather undignified manner - but he didn't care, didn't have time to care about something so petty. Hands scrabbled at the monster's arm, trying to pry it away, desperately clawing at skin cold like stone. And, just like stone, the arm did not move.

"What's happening?" his mother demanded, voice shrill and terrified. Her eyes stared - wide, unblinking, as the intruder finally removed her hand from the limp man's throat and turned. Toward Link's mother.

A single second passed. A single second that stretched for an eternity. A single second, in which silence and terror reigned supreme.

Swords could barely damage this beast. Bare hands could do nothing at all.

He had nothing. Nothing to protect his mother. Nothing to slay the monster. Nothing, nothing...

But he leaped at her nonetheless. She whirled to face him, inhuman eyes devoid of any emotion at all. And she reached - reached out to attack him, just like she had thrown his brother across the room...

Link ducked, a split second before her arm would have slammed into his abdomen. It passed harmlessly over his head instead, by only a few inches. Now in a kneeling position, head level with her knees, he grabbed them without a second's hesitation, and attempted to throw her to the ground. But she stood, stiff as a statue, and gripped his arms with heavy hands.

Din, no, he thought in horror as she peeled his arms away from her legs, as easily as if he were an insect.

Then she lifted her foot - Farore, no, help me! - and before he could do a single thing, smashed it into his stomach. He slammed to the floor with eyes wide in pain, the breath knocked out of him, and wheezed for air he couldn't get.

Curling her lip - perhaps in anger, or impatience - she whirled, long black hair flying around her face at the sudden movement. Her hand stretched forward, palm facing Link's mother -

Run! he tried to scream, Run for your life, please! But no words came. No breath to speak. He could only lie there with mouth agape, begging for air. Could only stare with horrified eyes as the monster stepped toward his mother, and curled a hand around her neck. She shoved the woman, gasping and screaming, against the wall, and lifted her far above the floor, feet dangling and kicking wildly in the air.

Link gasped; a loud, deep gasp, filling his desperate lungs with air once more - and cringed when the movement sent agony arcing up and down his side. "Mother!" he cried. Her fingers clawed, desperate, at her captor's hand. But the beast remained unfazed. Of course it did, the accursed thing.

Link scrambled to his feet despite the pain in his side, tripping over himself in his hurry. Hurry to stop the monster, hurry to save his mother -

But she fell limp. And her eyes drifted shut.

Link stopped, mid-step, and only stared, mouth agape in disbelief, at his mother's unmoving body. The terrible demon's grip loosened, and the body slipped to the floor with a quiet thump.

Then it turned to look at him, yellow eyes blazing.

He fled, fled like a coward, because he could do nothing else.

What if his parents were still alive? He couldn't help wondering if they had simply been knocked unconscious. But they couldn't be dead. Impossible. It was impossible.

"Laik!" he shouted, stumbling into his room, only to see his brother stirring, groaning as he pressed a hand to his head and slumped forward. "We have to get out, now!"

"Whhhh...at?" Laik slurred, dull eyes slowly rising to meet his brother's. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean, 'what's going on'? We have to escape! Can you stand?" Link stumbled over his own words, desperate to get them out of his mouth. They had to flee from the demon, before it killed them...

The other Hylian only stared blankly, and took a while to respond. "Stand? Why? I'm dizzy..."

"Sweet Golden Goddesses, Laik," Link hissed. "Are you okay?"

A heavy footstep, from outside their room. And then another.

"Din! Laik, hurry!" Link wrapped an arm around his brother and hauled him to his feet, even though the movement forced him to bite his lip to stop from crying out in pain. Laik swayed and muttered some kind of protest. "Try to walk, all right?"

"Huh? Why? What's happening?"

"Don't you remember?"

"I... I remember sleeping... why'd you wake me up?"

Teeth gritted, Link dragged his brother toward the door - and stopped short when he saw the awful woman standing there, just outside the room, demonic eyes ever unblinking.

For a moment he could only stand, frozen in fear. Upon seeing her, Laik squinted, and groaned. "Who..."

She's slow, Link thought. Never once had he seen her run. And so maybe, just maybe -

Arm still wrapped tightly around his brother's near-limp body, he hauled him outside of the room, and stumbled past the demon as quickly as he possibly could. Just as he had thought, she only walked toward them, but made no attempt to move any faster.

Link stumbled across the threshold, agony still screaming within him, and he bit his lip until it bled to stop the wail in his throat from escaping. "Can't you walk, at all?" he whispered to his brother, voice strained.

His response came delayed. "Huh... yeah, of course."

"Then walk."

"...Yeah."

He didn't.

Clenching his jaw, Link pulled his brother outside of the house, risking a quick glance over his shoulder. The beast stopped, stared after them, as if she knew she couldn't catch up, and wasn't even going to try.

Maybe, if he could leave Laik somewhere safe, he could return and check on his parents, see if they were still alive, just unconscious...

A loud snap rang through the air, and, still walking, Link cast a glance over his shoulder to see what it was. The demon, of course - she had snapped her fingers, it appeared. And a tiny flame ignited in her palm.

What?

She leaned forward, pressing the flame to the wooden walls of the house. They caught fire immediately.

Link's eyes widened. "No!" he shouted, nearly dropping his limp brother when he spun to face the monster. "You can't do this!"

She snapped her fingers again, ignited another tiny flame, and pressed it to a different wall. This one caught fire too.

"What's happening, Link?" his brother slurred, and his tone held a hint of tired, confused fear. "Where are mother and father?"

Grinding his teeth together, Link turned again, as the monster created yet a third flame and touched it to an unscathed portion of the wall. The fire grew, licking hungrily at wood, stretching flaming fingers all along the house.

This can't be happening. Link continued forward, refused to give up - even when his brother blinked in confusion and, with finally the smallest measure of lucidity, glanced over his shoulder and cried out at the sight of the fire. He squeezed his eyes shut to block the light and groaned. "No, go back, mother and father are still in there!"

"I know they are." His voice cracked, against his will.

"Then go back!"

Tears gathered in Link's eyes, stung them, blurred his vision, but he refused to let them fall. The fire roared behind him, cast cruel flickering orange shadows across the dark fields, and the moon's gentle light could not swallow it.

"Let's... let's get you to a healer, Laik," Link whispered, voice hoarse.

"H...huh? Wait, mother and father... what about them? What are you doing, you can't just abandon them!"

Link did not respond. He didn't have the strength to.

Fire cackled around the demon, licked at her, and left her entirely untouched. She stood, a dark silhouette against angry flames. An entire section of the roof snapped, groaned in pain as fire devoured it, and fell with a crash to the ground. And she watched. Only watched with cold yellow eyes, as the two brothers fled.

"Your highness. Your highness! Midna!"

"Shut up!" she called reflexively, not even fully awake or aware of the words that had just slipped off her tongue. "I'm tryina sleep!"

"You'll be late!"

This feels familiar, Midna thought with a groan as she covered her head with her thick, warm, perfect silken blankets. Hadn't she been in the same situation naught more than a couple days ago, Salaas calling through the door that she'd be late for something?

"Curses," she muttered aloud, heaving a deep sigh and crawling like a wounded dog out of bed. She flopped onto the carpeted floor, and very nearly fell right back to sleep there.

"Your highness," came the irritated voice, and Midna huffed.

"What?" she snapped.

"You're supposed to meet with the king in the dining hall for breakfast."

Of course. Nobody wanted to meet her for dinner, or even lunch. They all wanted to have breakfast with her. Why so early? Didn't they understand that the early hours of morning were for sleeping?

Stupid Hyrulians, she thought with a moan as she stumbled to her feet, swaying groggily and pressing a hand to her head. Well, technically, the king's a Gerudo. And his son is half-Gerudo. Do they still count as Hyrulians?

To think the king was Gerudo! A surprise, indeed. From the moment she had met Eldren, she had known he was like no other Hylian she had ever seen or studied about. Now, she supposed, she understood why.

Tired, heavy feet shuffled toward the drawers that held her clothes, and Salaas refused to give her a single moment of peace - "Are you up yet?"

"What do you think?" she hissed, tearing open the drawer and fishing through it for a suitable dress. This time she chose an orange-red dress that matched her hair and complemented her figure. An intricate bodice made of black lace swept around the top of the dress, and the skirt of it boasted beautiful, complex black embroidery. One of her fanciest dresses, and appropriate for the situation, too. After all, who knew how strict the king was? Eldren might have been patient about her sharp tongue and penchant for sarcasm, but what about his father?

With a heavy sigh, she sloppily peeled off her nightdress and donned the fancy orange one instead. Then she shuffled, yawning, over to her vanity, and plopped unceremoniously into the chair before it.

"Are you almost done?" Salaas grunted.

"I haven't even brushed my hair yet. Be quiet and just - let me get ready, won't you?"

"You're already late..."

Curling her lip in irritation, Midna rolled her eyes and elected not to respond. She tore a brush through her tangled hair as quickly as she could. Then she hurriedly applied mascara, and lipstick to turn her lilac lips deep purple, complementing the natural amethyst markings above her eyes.

Usually she didn't care much for makeup, but she had to admit to herself - she feared the king. Feared the way he towered above her with scorching yellow eyes. And feared that, if she didn't look just perfect, he would...

Would what? Admittedly, she wasn't quite sure, but she brushed through her hair one more time just to be safe, then tied two locks of it in front of her so that they cascaded down her chest.

"Your highness -"

"Yeah, yeah, Salaas, I get it. And stop worrying, because I'm ready! Sweet Din above..." Smoothing out a few nonexistent wrinkles in her dress, she made her way to the door and pried it open, heaving a tired sigh.

Salaas smiled upon seeing her. "You look beautiful."

She blinked in surprise at his comment. Salaas had been angry at her for a long while, and had given her a seemingly endless lecture when she'd returned from her latest visit with Link, some nonsense about safety and not going anywhere without bodyguards. "Thanks."

"Don't ruin it by treating the king rudely."

Of course. Midna narrowed her eyes. "I'm not that stupid. Just because Eldren said I could act however I wanted around him doesn't mean the king feels the same way."

"You certainly acted brash around Princess Zelda without her permission."

"She isn't half as scary as the king." She brushed past him. Shaking his head, Salaas followed after her, and they entered into the long white corridors of Castle Hyrule.

And almost immediately, someone crashed into the Twili princess, nearly knocking her to the ground. "Watch where you're going!" she snapped as the person who had run into her - a young boy with frenzied brown eyes - stumbled backward with an undignified yelp. Something fell to the floor and rolled for a bit, glinting in the morning sun streaming through tall windows.

He looked up into her face - and upon seeing red, and blue, and fiery orange, his eyes grew wide and afraid. The poor young boy stumbled back a step, stuttering, "S-s-s-sor...sorry."

Midna relaxed, shoulders drooping, and glanced down to the floor. There, a glass vial lay on the carpet, still rocking back and forth from its fall. "I'm sorry too, that was partly my fault." She knelt to the ground, long fingers curling round the vial and offering it to the boy. "You dropped this?"

He swallowed, and hesitantly accepted it, careful not to touch her strange blue hands.

"Why are you in such a hurry?" she asked as she straightened herself again, smoothing out her slightly-rumpled skirts.

"I - I..." He shook his head, and gulped, unable to look away from her face that he, no doubt, found terrifying.

She planted her hands on her hips and cocked a brow. "Well?"

"Um, um, I... The, the head physician told me to hurry and give him this." He showed her the vial, filled with a viscous red liquid. "We have so many injured people in the infirmary that we ran out..."

Midna's brow furrowed, and she let her hands drop to her sides. "Injured people? Why?"

"I don't..." He gulped, again, and finally managed to tear his eyes away from hers. "I have to go." Without another word, he sped off down the hall again.

And without skipping a beat, Midna turned to follow him.

"Where are you going?!" Salaas demanded. "You're going to be late to breakfast!"

"I don't think it's normal for their infirmary to be so full of injured people!" she called over her shoulder as she ran. "I need to check it out!"

"But the king -"

"He can wait!" She skidded to a stop for only a second to glance over her shoulder at her bodyguard. "For all we know, they might not be having breakfast anymore because of this influx of injured people."

"What if this is just normal for them?"

"I doubt it."

"Do you have proof?"

"Don't you trust my intuition?"

"No."

Midna rolled her eyes and turned away again. No time to argue with Salaas. Only time to run down the halls, feet ever bare, pounding against deep carpet. She heard him following close behind, gait heavy.

For a moment she had lost the boy, but now she saw him again, rounding a bend. She hurried after him, dashing around the same corner, and watched as he scurried down a flight of stairs. "Midna!" Salaas called behind her, but she did not stop to listen, only hurried down the steps, feet slapping against stone. The boy turned no more corners. Instead he sprinted through a set of open doors at the end of the stairs.

Midna slowed, dress once fluttering falling to rest, loose, around her ankles. Hand pressed against the cold marble wall, she hesitantly peered into the room with curious eyes.

And utter chaos greeted her.

Nurses scurried back and forth, bandages and bedsheets and vials of salves and medicines burdening their arms. Whispers drifted around the room, occasionally a shriek or groan of pain, and the quiet, reassuring words of a healer. Injured men, women, and even wailing children lay scattered across the room, and there were so many that some of them had to lie on blankets on the floor because there were not enough beds.

Salaas finally caught up to her, slowing to a stop, panting, behind her. She turned her head to meet his eyes, lips pressed into a thin line. "Does this look normal?" she muttered to him.

Furrowing his brow, the Twili man peered inside, and his eyes widened. "No, it doesn't," he admitted after a long pause. He shook his head. "What's happened here?"

Midna's eyes narrowed, and she straightened her posture. "I'll find out."

"Wait -"

She didn't. Determination in her step, she strode into the room in all intimidating, Twili glory. Nurses cast wary glances to her as she stopped one in particular and asked, "What's going on?"

"I - y-you," the nurse stuttered, "you should ask the head physician." She pointed with a finger trembling lightly. "He's over there."

"Thank you." Midna gave the woman a single nod. Small, delicate feet carefully navigated the injured bodies strewn across the floor, and she felt the wary eyes of Hyrulians boring into her back as she went. Salaas followed her, his movements a clumsy imitation of hers. For a moment the room fell utterly silent, broken only by the occasional tired cough or whimper of pain.

The head physician glanced up from his work of mixing various herbs together. Thick gray brows furrowing, he froze, hunched over his large wooden bowl - then he straightened, and cleared his throat. "You must be the Twili princess."

"I am." She stopped before him, and cast a glance at the infirmary surrounding her. "I just wanted to know what in the world happened here."

"We're..." The man lowered his eyes and sighed. "Nobody is quite sure. People were blabbering incoherently about 'demons' for a while. The only person who could speak clearly passed out as soon as we laid him in a bed."

Midna folded her arms loosely across her chest. "Is he awake now? I'd like to ask him what he knows." Demons. If Hyrule was in danger, then she wanted to know what to do to protect it. If she would someday sit on the Hyrulian throne as its queen, then she wanted to be a worthy one.

The physician raised his head and scanned the room, craning his neck to see above the scurrying nurses. "Yes, he is. He's right there -" And he pointed to a bed in a far corner of the room - "in the corner."

Midna's gaze followed his finger, and landed upon the figure in the bed.

And she cussed, loud.

"Your highness!" Salaas hissed. "A princess should not speak like that!"

She ignored him, not caring about what a princess should do. Or even the fact that she was a princess at all. She scrambled desperately across the room, eyes wide, nearly tripping over a dozen bodies in her path. The head physician called, frenzied, behind her - "He still doesn't feel well, please don't aggravate him!"

Upon hearing all the racket, the young man lying in the corner bed cast a confused glance in the direction of the noise, and his eyes met Midna's -

"Link!" she gasped, any grace gone from her step as she nearly tripped over the foot of his bed and collapsed right atop him. She barely caught herself on the edge of his bed before she could, and drew in a deep, shuddering breath as she looked down at him in shock. No blood. Her shoulders relaxed. "What happened to you?"

"M...?" But he never finished speaking her name, only stared at her with eyes wide in confusion. His gaze swept her figure up and down, bewildered at her unusually fancy dress, her makeup, her meticulously-brushed hair. He tried to sit up, and immediately cringed, gritting his teeth in pain.

"What happened?" she repeated, gently grasping his shoulder and pushing him back down.

He did not respond, and only then did she notice - his eyes, dull, clouded, gray rather than brilliant blue. Her lips parted, some sort of question lingering on her tongue that she never voiced. Link looked at the wall, and the ceiling, anywhere but at her. "A demon," he finally whispered.

"What?" She carefully sat at the edge of his bed and studied his face in concern.

"This... demon attacked, during the middle of the night. She had yellow eyes and strange black markings." He swallowed, and squeezed his eyes shut. "I think she came in through the window. It was open. I can't..." He raised his arm to cover his eyes, even if the movement caused him to clench his jaw in pain. "I can't believe I was so stupid. I saw the window was open, why didn't I shut it?"

"What did she do, Link?" Midna whispered to him, afraid of upsetting him.

"She..."

Silence.

Link bared his teeth, ground them together, and she thought she saw something glint on his cheek for a split second. And there, again -

She blinked in surprise, and her mouth hung agape. Crying, he was crying, and she had no idea what to do for him. Tears streamed down his cheeks, and though he uttered not a sound, his shoulders heaved and his face turned red. "Link? Link..." Midna reached for his face, to wipe the tears away - but decided against it, and let her hand drop uselessly to her side once more.

Then a heavy hand clamped onto her shoulder. She jumped a little in surprise, and her head spun to face... Salaas. Of course Salaas, why couldn't he ever leave her alone? Especially at a time like this!

"Your highness," he whispered, probably thinking Link couldn't hear, completely missing the fact that he was Hylian and possessed sensitive long ears. "Who is this?"

"Leave, Salaas," she commanded, lip curling.

He grimaced. "Princess. I can't do that, as you very well know. And I..." He trailed off, studying Link with a furrowed brow. The young Hylian man had already regained control of himself, and laid silent and eerily still on the bed, arm still draped over his eyes. "Is this... He looks familiar."

"Leave."

"I can't -"

"Just - go!" Midna snapped, and heads turned to investigate the sudden outburst. She looked around the room with wide eyes for a moment, then dropped her head in shame. "At least a few feet away, please. Some space. You don't have to leave the room entirely, just... Salaas, please..."

He studied her face, brow raised in suspicion, and did not respond for a long while. Then, finally, he turned to obey.

Once he walked out of earshot, she turned back to Link, still clenching his teeth in pain. With gentle fingers she removed his arm from his face and placed it carefully on the soft bedsheets, breathing a quiet sigh. "Where did you get hurt?"

"My ribs." His voice trembled, but he managed to speak nonetheless, and she admired him for it. "I think one is broken, or maybe two, I don't... I don't know, I forgot what the physician said..." He swallowed heavily, and shut his dull eyes again.

"Do you mind telling me how you broke your ribs?" Her voice carried soft, gentle, afraid she would push him to tears again. She didn't want to. But she needed to know, and then maybe, maybe she could help.

"She - the demon. She kicked me to the ground, and slammed her foot onto my stomach... She was stronger than any normal human. She was like a living statue, and felt kind of like cold stone. She... k-killed them before I could do anything."

Killed.

Who?

For a moment she feared tears would pour down his cheeks again, but none did. He remained quiet, and when he opened his eyes again, half-lidded, they were not the eyes she knew.

"Killed..." And uttering the word sent a chill dancing down her spine.

"My parents," he specified. "I managed to save Laik. I brought him to the healer at the edge of Castle Town, but apparently there were other attacks too... The healer was too busy, and anyone she couldn't take care of, she sent to the castle."

His tone almost matched his eyes - it held no emotion at all. And that alone chilled her. She only stared at him, breath quickening ever-so-slightly, worried for him, and for Hyrule. He closed his eyes again, and it amazed her, how grief could swallow him one moment - and then the next, he was calm and collected. So calm that it almost felt unnatural.

Midna swallowed, and tried to distract herself from such thoughts.

"There must have been a lot of attacks in order to injure so many people," she murmured, mostly to herself. "And a lot of commotion in the castle. Why didn't it wake me...?" Clearly she was far too heavy of a sleeper.

Her eyes flicked to him again, the sight of his pale, clammy skin and terribly disheveled hair sending a stab of pain through her heart. "Link?"

His response came delayed, and tired - "Hmm?"

Unsure of why she had even spoken his name in the first place, she said nothing, only gave a nervous shrug. A silence passed between them, heavy and cold, like fingers of ice. Somewhere in the room a child wailed for her mother. Midna stared absently at the floor, unsure of what to say or do.

"Why are you here in the castle?" Link asked, words slurred with exhaustion.

"Uh - well, I -" Nervously chewing her lip, she looked down at her hands pressed tightly into her lap. "I..."

She cast a glance to him again, only to see his eyes closed peacefully, his breathing even. Asleep.

A smile tilted the corners of her lips, and she only looked at him for a while, breathing a quiet sigh through her nose. "I'm just glad you're safe," she murmured to him.

And she found the courage to place her hand over his, and brush his messy golden hair away from his eyes, because he'd never know.

A/N: And that's the most fluff you're going to get for a while. ;P As of now, I feel like Link and Midna might have a bit of a crush on each other, and that isn't love. Not yet.

Also? I'm not even sorry for updating so often.

Haha, in all seriousness, updates will slow down soon. I have other stories I should really be working on; I'm just procrastinating them by writing this instead. Whoops. The only reason this one came out so fast is because I wrote it immediately after posting the last chapter; I didn't release it then because I was obsessively proofreading it. Even then, it might have typos/mistakes. If so, I'm sorry. I tried my best.

If any of you are screaming at me in confusion at the first scene - don't fret. I have a plan. It will all make sense eventually.