It had been exactly a week.

Each day dragged by in slow-motion, Link following a rapidly developing routine. Wake up, dress, check on Epona, pick up on whatever odd job was available to him, then return dead tired at the end of the day to sleep, only to repeat it again the following morning. Ganondorf, to Link's bitter surprise, had been correct about the money problem. It wasn't hard to scrape enough to get by in the city, Link managing to continue paying the innkeeper the due amount for his stay and to feed himself. It wasn't the temporary lifestyle that perturbed Link so greatly, though. Even as he sat at the edge of his messy bed, blankets drooping off the sides from his restless tossing and turning during the night, his brow was furrowed in concentration, deep blue eyes glossy with thought. It was that proposition of Ganondorf's that bothered him so.

With no one but himself to muse with as to whether or not he should accept, it was troublesome trying to come to a conclusion. The Princess would certainly know what to do. With her great wisdom, despite her youth, she would know what answer to give. At the remembrance of Zelda, Link felt his heart twist. He, for not the first time during his travels, felt home-sick. He missed his friends and he missed Zelda, the people he had been surrounded by since his initial journey to save Hyrule. But at the idea of facing Zelda after his failure, after losing so terribly to Ganondorf and allowing him to set up fortress elsewhere to begin his plotting again, Link stiffened. He couldn't face her. He felt too shameful for his defeat; he had been so foolish to just rush in expecting all the pieces to fall into place. No, they had done the opposite; shattering into tinier fragments and shooting off everywhere where they could never be found.

His hand, bare of its gauntlet, gripped the soft blankets angrily as he gritted his teeth. Frustration was unsightly of a Hero such as him. It was not proper for him to lose his temper like an agitated toddler, but he was precariously teetering on the edge of going crazy!

With a snarl, he suddenly flew to his feet, throwing the first solid thing he could grab onto at the wall. The Master Sword, the closest object that his fingers curled around, luckily only hit the wall hilt-first, rattling onto the ground, its racket the only thing filling the thick silence of the room now. Lost in sudden quiet, Link quivered faintly with anger, both on the bridge of tears and rage as his emotions roiled in his chest, too baffled to know what to do with himself.

Finally, the clarity he had been pining for cleared the fog in his mind as he sagged back onto the bed, leaving the sword where it was as his face was buried into the palms of his hands.

A murmur left his lips, so low it could nearly not be heard.

"I shall destroy the Evil King from the inside. I shall redeem myself."

-x—

Storm clouds brewed and churned over the citadel mounted up in the desert highlands, surrounded by jagged peaks once covered in snow, now by sand. While the thunderheads rumbled ominously, they set loose no rains, rather watching angrily from the heavens. The air thrummed with electricity and tension, thick with humidity.

Within the castle it was dark, once lit torches put out, leaving servants and ghouls alike to slip quietly through the shadows, trying to keep hidden from the greater beast deep within. As the storm mulled incessantly outside, meeting no conclusion, one man was bold enough to walk through the empty corridors unafraid.

But why be scared when you are the very monster everyone is afraid of?

Cape flickering behind him, Ganondorf paced the length of the hallway, feeling time tick slower and slower. It was an hour until he would return to Ambergates to see what Link's answer was, whether or not he would destroy the blonde right there depending on the Hero's response to the question he had asked a week prior. During the time he had been left to his own thoughts, it had become unwise for any of his creations or forced servants to get near him. Ganondorf had surprisingly found himself in a state of anxiety, a rare display of feeling that was usually kept hidden behind a composed persona. From cool and calculated, he had been quick to anger and his temper was short. Igniting his rage was like lighting a fuse, and the explosion tended to be worse than the fright of knowing what was coming next.

The castle had become a ghostly citadel with its lack of evident life forms, but Ganondorf knew it was brimming with his servants. His mind detected many of them hiding in their quarters or being quick to get their chores done as to avoid him, never staying in the same place for longer than a minute.

They were smart about how to keep their throats intact.

Unrealizing of the time, so deeply immersed in his thoughts, the deep, resounding chime of a clock within the bowels of the castle caused the plush, carpeted floors to quake faintly. Its bell recounted the time with each loud crash of golden-painted metal; midnight.

Witch hour.

Surely the Hero had waited long enough.

Anxiety quelling with the satisfaction of finally being able to leave the castle, Ganondorf turned his head towards the wall parallel to him. His golden cat-eyes narrowed, a hand lifting, fingertips pointed loosely to the wall. A purple abyss suddenly broke away the thick granite, the edges frayed strands of twisting, aggravated magic. In the far distance in the portal flickered an image of Ambergates, looking as though the sleepy, night-covered city was underwater with the image's wavering, rippling form. Smirking, Ganondorf slowly walked into the portal of his creation, the hole closing up sluggishly until he was entirely in, sealing itself to leave behind the smooth black wall untouched.

-x—

Sleep was a hard thing for Link, especially on this day.

Or, rather, night.

Tossing and turning in his bed, sheets crumpled around his slim, albeit muscled, legs, Link looked out from the messy blonde locks that were splayed across his face as he peered out through the neighboring window. The crescent moon was mounted high in the sky, bathing the city in partial moonlight, leaving behind a breathtaking view that was something most would treasure. Link, on the other hand, found himself unable to appreciate its beauty when so restless. Why had Ganondorf not shown up today? Had he forgotten about him, or was he purposefully being so late in order to aggravate him?

If it was the latter, it was most certainly working.

Giving up on the concept of sleep, Link laid fully on his back as he stared blankly up at the ceiling. It was marked with wear, displaying the age of the inn. It was old and weary, no longer as youthful and strong as it had once been.

And despite his plentiful rest, that was how Link felt.

Tired and exhausted, desperately in need of a break from life. He was so young, nearing his eighteenth birthday, and yet he felt beyond his years.

Sighing, Link closed his eyes, only to pause.

He heard frantic, anxious whinnying outside, and while on any other occasion he might have ignored it, he listened close. It sounded much like Epona's calls, though instead of the soft, gentle whickers and playful neighs, each cry was shrill and panicked.

In a moment he had flown out of bed, tugging on his legs and putting on his undershirt, its sleeves enough protection against the nightly chill. Quietly, as to not disturb the other occupants of the inn, he slipped out of his room and eased down the stairs. Once outside of the inn, he raced for the horse stalls.

Finding it vacant of anyone to care for the animals, he was reassured, at least, by the lit lanterns that drove the shadows away.

Entering, quietly closing the door behind him, Link walked down the central aisle as he searched for Epona. It wasn't hard, for she had been reduced to a fit of snorts and anxious nickering when she saw him, no longer screaming for his attention. Glad to see she wasn't hurt, at least, Link immediately reached out, cupping her muzzle in his hands as he soothingly stroked down her face.

"What is wrong, girl?" implored Link quietly, meeting her wild brown eyes with his own blue ones in confusion, the mare unable to hold contact for long as her eyes rolled.

She ground her teeth together and stamped her hooves, her entire body quaking. About to try and calm the seemingly unreasonably panicked horse down, Link froze, a sharp wind suddenly rushing through the stable.

All the doors were closed, the source of the wind unknown as it blew out the lanterns, Epona going berserk; the mare screaming as she reeled back on her hindlegs, forelegs lashing in a frenzy.

Too close, Link realized his mistake when Epona's hoof came flying for his head, the Hylian throwing up his arms to protect himself all too slowly and—

An arm suddenly hooked itself around his waist, jerking him out of harm's way as Epona's legs instead crashed into the stall door, splintering the wood even though it otherwise held. The other horses stirred and began to make a fuss, the chaos rousing them to action as they shifted nervously in their stalls. Beyond that, it was only Epona that twisted and turned in her stall, the mare unknowing of her master's shock at nearly being given brain damage by his beloved steed.

And who was the one that had saved him?

While hoping it was just a stable boy that had popped on in to check on the horses, Link recognized that this was most likely untrue. As he slowly looked up to see who was the one holding him, keeping him from falling to the ground as he gathered his burdens, he saw this definitely was not an option.

Brilliantly white teeth flashed against a darkly tanned face, yellow eyes gleaming devilishly as Ganondorf looked at the boy he had saved from a good concussion, and maybe even death.

"Hello, Hero," purred the Gerudo, Link realizing their position seconds later.

Ganondorf had him cradled partially in his arms like he was some damsel in distress, this sending a particular fury rushing through him as Link tore away. Nonetheless, this anger did not prevent an embarrassed flush to highlight his cheeks.

"A little late, aren't you?" snapped Link, huffing as he went back to Epona to stroke her muzzle soothingly, the mare reduced to slight shaking but otherwise calming.

"My apologies, Hero. I hadn't realized you had anticipated me so I had let you have the day to yourself," Ganondorf consoled him, voice sugary and sending an unwanted chill down Link's spine as his face cooled from its blush.

"You seemed like you didn't want to see me for much longer than just a week, not as though you wanted me to come the next day."

Link grunted, giving no other reply beyond that.

Ganondorf merely carried on speaking, behaving quite casually in comparison to how uptight the blonde had become, Epona seeing this as she nuzzled the hero's hand.

"So, have you come to a decision, Hero? Or are you just going to stand there and soothe your horse all night long?"

Link flinched, having not wanted to decide so immediately. Couldn't they chat over a couple cups of tea, talk about how lovely the weather had been lately?

Then again, he didn't know if he could stand being in the man's presence for so long.

With Ganondorf behaving so politely, almost bordering on friendly, Link didn't know what to do with himself anymore.

Should he hate this man, or begrudgingly respect him?

Silent for a long moment, he resigned himself to patting Epona on her well-muscled neck one last time before slowly turning to the Gerudo. He was leaning back against the stable wall, arms folded over his broad, armor-clad chest and his lips quirked in a smirk.

His eyes were crinkled in a laughing smile, causing Link to grit his teeth.

How dare he mock his indecisiveness!

Humiliation once more rose to the forefront of his mind, but just as quickly Link brushed it away. Not wanting to look so uncertain, Link straightened up even more so.

"Yes, I have."

He paused for a moment for added effect, though it didn't look like Ganondorf cared much. Either way he would be getting his answer.

Finding the words harder than he had initially expected to choke out, Link finally found himself capable of spitting them out.

But when he spoke them, he could not meet Ganondorf's eyes, feeling guilty about what he was doing to Zelda, even if he knew it was all in the name of sabotaging Ganondorf from the inside. It was all for Hyrule and only for Hyrule.

"I will join you."

It was a whisper, hardly able to be heard over the horses' low chatter, but Ganondorf's keen ears picked up on it.

A wide grin spread those lips of the Gerudo's, a deep chuckle rumbling in his chest.

"I knew you had a good head on those shoulders of yours, Hero. Or should I just call you by your name now… Link?"

Link twitched when Ganondorf spoke his name, finding it to be surprisingly condescending when coming out of that foul mouth. But at the same time, there was almost an affectionate connotation with it, baffling him as blue eyes turned up to meet gold.

What was truly going on in that villainous mind?

There was no time to ask, Ganondorf already turning away, Link confused as the man opened the stable door to leave.

"Wait, where are you going?"

Ganondorf looked back, finding Link bearing the appearance of a lost child, wondering why their parent was leaving for work rather than staying home with them.

Was that loneliness he saw in those eyes?
He could not tell, but the Gerudo smiled nonetheless.

"I am a busy man, Link. I will return to you at the morning's light."

And with that he was gone, Link left standing alone with Epona gently rubbing her muzzle against his shoulder, the hero no more left to his own thoughts.

For once, he wished for Ganondorf's company to fill the empty silence.