A/N: Thank you Alter Ego Bob, Moon ninja Luna, Mokki Takashi, Lunar Loon, Walavouchey, Guest, PokemonTrainer4700, Ramori, Bluebadger, and Guest for your advice, encouragement, and reviews. I hope you find this chapter satisfactory.

Chapter 10

I brandish a blade dropped by one of the Bokoblins. It is nothing special; merely a cleaver with chips and dirty scruffs in what should be smooth and sharp, shiny and silver.

"It's better than nothing," Link concedes.

I turn the blade, scrutinizing it with shrewd eyes. Far from perfect, but at least it will cut. "Yes, it'll do. Now quit worrying about me and worry about Zelda."

The mention of the spirit maiden narrows his attention, focuses it on the one goal he strives for above all others, and on we go. I do not cringe at the deaths he brings about anymore. Not outwardly at least. Though my heart pricks with every fell swoop of his blade, my face remains impassive, a grim but resolute expression set in stone. My eyes cloud over. I try to look past the killing, try to go back to that mentality when all of this was just a game and I was nothing more than a passive player sitting on a couch. Faceless enemies in my way. They're on the wrong side. They're against me. I'm the hero and they're the monsters. I must defeat them if I am to move forward. I must if I am to save Zelda, and the world. I am justified.

But they did not bleed when it was just a game. They did not cry out or contort in twisted pain. They did not writhe on the ground before the finishing blow was dealt.

I am unable to return to the gamer mind frame, and so I resort to begging the she-wolf in me to stand guard over the ewe, to unleash its viciousness, its gleeful acceptance of violence. But I am quick to learn my frenzy does not work that way.

Why? I ask, teeth and fists clenched.

The she-wolf only stares back with cold indifference.

Only when it is her own life in jeopardy does the wolf show her teeth in manic delight, only when it is her own survival on the line does she bask in the struggle. She fights for her own blood, not for others'. The wolf guards the ewe, keeps her mournful baes quiet so I may wear my mask of indifference, but retains her teeth.

I can be thankful for my mask at least. I do not want to slow Link down—I will not. He is doing what he has to do, with no other choice. The enemy will not back down, though heaven knows I would make them step aside if I could. They will not listen; I do not speak their tongue. Screaming at them in Hylian is about as effective as screaming in English: they don't get it. It's nothing but incoherent vowels and noises, much like their words are to Link and me.

I force myself to stare straight ahead as he cuts through another one, and will my stomach to stop its churning. Link doesn't bat an eye. The spraying blood doesn't bother him, I suppose. Or maybe it does, and he steels himself so well not a sign of it shows through. He's far stronger than me if that's the case. Here I am. Though with a weapon in my hand, it hangs limp and useless at my side. Did I not say I was going to be of help? Did I not promise we would tear through the surface world?

And I can't bear to make a single cut. Hah.

I try to spite myself. I rush forward at a Bokoblin Link has yet to see, make to slash at it across the throat for a quick death. But my heart betrays me at the last second, and I turn the blade, hitting the creature with the flat edge instead of the sharp. It makes a gurgled 'Hrk!' and I ram my shoulder into it, knocking it over before coming down on its head with the cleaver's flat side. I stand and stare at its limp form, shaking, because for a second I think it is dead. But then I catch sight of its shrunken chest rising and falling.

Quickly I skitter back to Link, feeling foolish. His stare does not judge me, yet I feel that it does anyway. Those blue eyes, resolute as steel, take their search from my face to my hands, and it is then I realize they are still shaking. I clamp them to my sides, gripping the fabric of my pants with my free hand and the handle of the cleaver with my other.

"This way," I say, willing my voice to keep steady. I won't bring guilt down on his head. I won't distract him with my petty feelings. I won't let him see how much it bothers me. Though I may have failed on that last part. He still glances at me periodically, and I can't miss the worry sparking in those blue depths no matter how hard I try to. Every time I catch him doing it, I remind him of Zelda. I remind him, as much as myself, what's at stake here.

"She's waiting," I keep saying, and lead him where he must go. "We're almost there."

The stone wall I build around myself is littered with cracks, but it holds, and it conceals.

Or at least I thought it did.

Another enemy fallen. With a concerted look on his face, Link wipes the blood off his blade, sheathes it, and walks up behind me, because I've already pushed ahead, eager to get away from the sight of carnage. When he calls to me there is something off about his voice. It is thinned, and almost…pained. I stop, I listen, unsure if what I heard was really there.

Then he squeezes my shoulder and quietly says two simple words. "I know."

Two little words. That's all it took. Panic fills me at the breach, and I stand ramrod straight, but it does nothing to stop the trembling of my lips or the overflow of my eyes. The shrill, sobbing gasps that rise and echo are strange and foreign, distant in a way, linked to me only by the constriction in my throat and the contraction of my lungs. I am distracted from them by two arms encircling me. I sag against him, shiver at the feel of his palm rubbing circles on my back. I'm not used to these gentle touches, not used to comfort or coddling.

"I know it's hard," he consoles. "And you might never get used to it, but…just focus on putting one foot in front of the other. One step at a time. That's what I do."

I curl inward, wanting to get away.

"I d-didn't want to have a moment, d-dammit," I say between hiccups, "don't b-bother with me. I'm fine. I'm f-fine…!" My voice goes high and breaks pitch and I can speak no more.

He holds me closer, squeezes tighter, a rock amongst the turbulent emotions threatening to drown me. And, oh I, I would have fallen for him in that moment if I could have. His strength barred up my weakness. His unshakable kindness broke through my cold reticence. I wanted that strength, I wanted that courage. I almost wanted him. I wanted a hero. I wanted a Link.

But I am not his any more than he is mine. He belongs to another. And I belong…nowhere, I guess. Not anymore. Maybe I never did.

Besides, a hero won't do for me. I won't do for him, either. I cannot accept straightforward kindness any more than I can give it. I would dance around him, skirt the edges, throwing sarcastic jibes to hide any selfless deed I may have wrought behind his back. I don't want to be thanked; it makes me uncomfortable. I don't want to be praised; it makes me uneasy. If my bar is set low, I can't possibly fail to reach it. I won't say I love you, but if you happen to find the niceties I did in secret perhaps you will smile and know.

That's not enough for someone like Link. Not enough. The secretive kindness of a coward could never hope to meet his standard. And he would be far too overbearing for me anyway. I would wilt in the intensity of his light.

But as I lean against him, I allow myself to think, if just for a moment, that it is a lover's embrace I'm in. I delude myself, siphon the strength I need from the hold of his warm arms, let my shortcomings and fears and weaknesses melt away.

It is then I think of the friend I left behind in the Knowing Realm. I talk to her in my thoughts, the only way I can.

You'd laugh at me, if you could see me from where you are, wouldn't you? You'd point and laugh and say, "As if!" Because you know me. Because you know our friendship was built on sarcastic footholds and laughing insults and playful swats. "You stupid hussy," you'd say with a smile. "You'd never get out a confession of love through those clenched teeth!"

My jaw loosens, the grinding of my teeth stops. I drag my weight off of Link, stand on my own two feet. Furiously I scrub at my eyes. "Sorry, I— That wasn't supposed to— You weren't supposed to— Gah! Let's just go! We're late, we're going to be late and it's all my stupid fault! I'm dragging you down."

"Hey." Link's tone is firm and he grips my arm to keep me from stomping off. "We're not late and you're not dragging me down. I can't begin to tell you how helpful you've been. I don't know how long it would've taken me to find that fissure, or know which path to take. To tell you the truth, I… I've been…"

He looks down for a moment, and I see something glimmer in his eyes. A waver in the steel, a bend in what's supposed to be unbendable. It is gone like a fish in the sea, swimming up only briefly. The resolution returns.

"We'll get to Zelda in no time now—thanks to you. Stop beating yourself up."

I lower my head, beg the praise to fly over it. I focus instead on the command, as commands I can take. And, in the back of my mind, I think of his sudden hesitance. What was he just about to tell me? I look for that waver one more time. "Link…?"

Those blue eyes show no sign of weakness. It must have been my imagination.

He squeezes my shoulder. "Just stay behind me and look away. I won't let anything hurt you."

My gut lurches, my eyes sting. Dang it, Link, you've already made me cry once today. Are you trying to go for a record?

I do as he says anyway. I look away.

Except for the Spumes. I don't give a crap about the Spumes.

Cracked jewels and shattered stone paths adorned with ornate statues of marble elephants and jade snakes guide our way, give whispering testimony of an ancient civilization that used to rule this realm.

"Careful," I warn once we make it to the great inclines. "Boulders will drop from that catch up there. There's an indent in the wall we can dodge into. Come on."

The oven-like conditions wear on me, and the sprint up the inclines grind me down until I'm nothing but an aching, sweating mess of human flesh. Link's in better shape, of course. But then he would be.

At least…that's what I think at first.

Right until his leg gives out, and he slips.

"Link!" I shriek as he goes tumbling down the incline, dust and bits of rock left by the boulders scrabbling after him. He curls in on himself to reduce the damage, but he is not able to stop. He slides in a crumpled heap at the bottom.

I skitter at the top, boots scraping over stone as I start the treacherous decline, legs wobbling in struggle to keep me from falling too.

"No!" Link stumbles to his feet, waving an arm out to stop me. "Stay up there! I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" I call down, voice echoing dully amidst the hissing and bubbling rivers of magma.

"Yeah, I'm…I'm fine."

I don't like the hesitance in his voice, but do as I'm told. After backpedaling to the top, I watch him. I don't take my eyes off him for a second, not even to blink. As if I have psychic powers reliant on eye contact, as if I could actually stop him from falling. Now there's a power that would actually be helpful. Too bad I don't really have it.

But then, there, as I watch him struggling up the laborious incline, I see something I haven't before. For a moment, those strong shoulders shake and slump in weariness, those legs I thought could support anything wobble as mine did, and those blue eyes, ever with a sheen of fortitude, squint in pain. His green cap is askew from the fall, and the dark blond hair that isn't plastered down with sweat is fritzed in all directions.

For a moment, the image of the legendary hero wavers, and in its place is a boy from Skyloft. A boy who spent his time with his head in the clouds. A boy whose sleepy smile could melt anyone's heart. A boy who breezed through life without a care or trouble beyond a bit of bullying. A boy who is now suddenly in over his head.

Something of the image stirs my memory and in a flash I see my brother in his place. Messy, fritzed hair. Narrowed, pained eyes. A boy who was once free-spirited, now sucked up into the grind.

It is then I am reminded I am physically Link's senior by three years, and far more by my soul. I shouldn't be leaning on him—he should be leaning on me.

My heart twists with an instinct long dormant and I can't help myself. I meet Link down a few feet, help him a little ways to the top. It's the least I can do.

Though it is not all I can do.

I am proficient with the bombs. He gets to wait and rest while I scout and decipher puzzles I already know the answers to, while I pinch fuses and carry deadly delicates with light feet. I clear paths for Link to surge ahead on. I catch up, wheezing gasps.

A wave of heat blazes me, and I look up into the stone face of a dragon, molten hot magma spilling from its carven maw.

"All right," I say once I capture my breath. "We need to talk about some things."

Link furrows his brow. "I'm going to fight a giant lava spider. It's going to burst out of a rock and breathe fire at me."

"Yes."

"When it sucks in air, I should throw a bomb in its mouth. That will stun it, and I'll be able to stab it in the eye."

I nod. "Yes."

"…Anything else I should know about?"

"Ghirahim will be laughing at you the entire time."

"…Of course," Link deadpans.

"Okay, not the entire time," I reiterate. "But he will be the one to sic it on you. Happily. And then he'll flounce away in the gayest shower of diamonds you've ever seen."

Link screws up his face, probably not liking the metal picture I just painted for him. "Of…course."

"Don't sound so enthusiastic, you're making my lazy ass look bad. Now let's go get that weird key thing."

There is another stone dragon waiting for us at the top of the incline. Its jaws are shut, but its claws are held up, bent like crimson-soaked hooks, in a viscous show of menace. When the key to the final door rests in Link's hands, there is a rumbling, a slight tremor foreboding the subsequent ones to follow.

"The boulder's coming," I say, voice high and insistent. "The boulder's coming, the boulder's—"

"What?"

"I told you, don't act surprised—"

A great trembling is heard, is felt, and then the stone dragon's mouth drops open, and I swear Indiana Jones music starts playing.

I shove Link as hard as I can before starting down the twisting incline. "Run, Link, run! Don't be a hero! Ruuun!"

The rolling stone chases us all the way down the winding path. When the option for another path shows, we take it, leaping to the side and out of the rolling catastrophe's way. The boulder continues on until it rams right up into the lava-vomiting dragon's mouth.

"That was the boss by the way," I say between pants as I lay beside Link.

He lifts his head groggily. "What…?"

"The fire spider. That was the rock."

"That?" He slumps, an exasperated expression melding into his face. "Great, just great."

"Yep."

Link sighs before hefting himself up. "Well, I guess I…better go deal with it."

"Yep." I hop to my feet.

Link levels me with an unwavering stare.

"I'm not gonna cry over this one! Geez!" I huff and snort in anger, ears coloring in embarrassment. "Let's just go! Heaven forbid. If we have another sentimental moment, I will stab myself!"

"Maybe it would be better if you waited—"

"Nope. Let's go."

Link halts me with a hand to my shoulder. He doesn't say anything, but when he catches my eye, his gaze is hard. I squirm under the look, cast my own stare to the ground to avoid it.

"What?" I finally grind out.

"Ghirahim will be in there."

"I know."

A pause. And then, "I don't want you in there."

"If you left me here, he'd come get me. He can sense auras and dowse just like Fi can. It wouldn't matter if you buried me under a ton of rocks—he'd know where I was."

Link says nothing, but his frown hardens. "Like Fi can…" he mutters after a while.

His hand flexes. He squeezes me too hard. Unintentionally, I'm sure, but I still flinch. Neither of us move for a while, and it is after the extended silence that I glance at him. He isn't looking at me anymore, but at the ground with knitted brow, sharp frown, and searching eyes. As if a solution will pop up out of the dirt for him.

I struggle to break the quiet, though know I must if we are to continue forward. "…I can't—I can't promise everything will go as it should once we get in there. But… I want to stay with you. I know the monster's attacks; I can dodge. And the fire spider—what's it called?—Scaldera isn't human enough for me to freeze up over. And, maybe, if I stay behind you Ghirahim will forget me again…"

He still doesn't say anything to me. He doesn't budge either.

I shift uncomfortably, bite my lip.

"Stay right by me."

The words are sudden, make me jump. I tentatively look up into his steely eyes, nodding dumbly when I realize he is waiting for a response. He holds my eyes for a moment longer, as if his strength can be transferred through stare alone. He firmly nods once, accepting my silent pledge and perhaps making one of his own.

My nervousness flitters to life, and I reach out to grab his sleeve.

"Ghirahim is," I say, and then pause, stumbling for the right way to explain. "He's…he's really weird. And he acts weird, and he dresses like a—never mind. The point is he's a lot stronger than he looks. Way stronger. You haven't seen the full extent of what he can do, and right now…" I touch fingers to my throat, hunch my back. "Right now, if he went all out, you…you wouldn't be able to…"

I am unable to say it, shudder just to think it.

"Just—just don't make him any madder than you have to, Link," I whisper, wishing I could say something encouraging instead of demoralizing. "Don't do anything rash. Just fight Scaldera, and…stay safe. I can take care of myself."

Link stands unmoving, a strange look on his face. His hands have fallen to his sides, balled into fists, and his mouth is drawn in a grim line, but…

Something flickers in those too-wide blue eyes.

"Link…?" I whisper, stepping forward lightly. There it is. That waver in the steel again.

"What's going to happen?"

I freeze. My eyes and ears open wide. The voice which he speaks to me is quiet. Breathy. Almost shaky. For a moment those steel blue eyes are as transparent as water. The fists at his sides barely contain the slight trembling running down his arms.

Once again, I do not see a legendary hero. I see a boy from Skyloft who, before his best friend fell from the sky, had nothing to worry about. And now he's bewildered, in over his head, doing what he must because he has to. Because there is no one else who will.

My own hands tighten, nails cutting into my palms. "I won't let anything happen to y—"

"What about Zelda?" he interjects. "What about you?"

My mouth opens and closes. Is he not worried for himself?

"…Zelda will be fine," I say, choosing my words carefully. "You'll get to her."

"And you?"

"I—I'm…" I pause, because I am the one subject whose fate I know nothing about. "I'm staying with you. Right by you, like you said."

"What about Ghirahim's true strength?"

Brain stuttering, I struggle to answer. "He's proud. His pride is… beyond huge, to say the least. The chance of him going all out against a tiny, insignificant human—or what he thinks is tiny and insignificant—is…well, it's very low. Unless we somehow piss him right the hell off. And I mean really piss him off. If we just do as we're supposed to, it won't happen. And if it does…if it does…"

Link's beseeching expression slowly shifts into one of mounting anger. "I'll fight him. I'll have to."

"No," I snap. "No, you won't."

"Then who will? You?"

I fidget restlessly, shifting foot to foot, squeezing the handle of the cleaver. If Ghirahim went all out, I don't know how long I'd last. Probably not as long as Link. Or maybe I would, depending on how long I could dodge. I wouldn't be able to land a hit, though, not with this beat up blade.

Link throws a glance to the final door. "Listen, I've been floundering around ever since I set foot on this…surface, but…right now there's nowhere to go except forward." His resolution flickers again, for the briefest moment. "I don't know…if I'll be able to keep you or Zelda safe. But I'm going to try. Even if it kills me, I will try."

His conviction floods back full force. The hero reflects off the glassy surface, while the watery reflection of the boy wavers beneath the shield of destiny.

"It's not going to kill you," I say, eyes narrowed. "I won't let it!"

Link follows after me after I snatch the puzzle key from his grasp and run to push it into the door. As the intricately painted red and gold doors part, I cast a sideways look at him, wonder if I should expand on my explanations. If I should tell him of pale skin that turns black, of dark eyes that turn white, of flesh tougher than any armor. Of a being not even the Goddess Sword—as it is now—could hope to wound.

The doors open fully with a creaking boom. Before we enter, I whisper it. "You are the only hope Zelda has. If you die it's all over. She'll be safe behind her barrier, so if for whatever reason pale skin turns dark, you run."

Link turns his head to look at me, and this time I do not shy from locking eyes. My stare is stone, as unbending as his steel.

"I won't just leave you," he hisses in offense, as if the very suggestion was a blow to his integrity.

"Oh, I'll be right behind you, no doubt about that." My candid reply seems to soothe him, and he lets it drop.

Side by side, we walk into the final room, a room of rock and bone and fire. Stone columns and banisters with golden designs of suns flank us on either side, shepherd us up a winding ramp. When we get to the top, the ominous boulder rolls above us, through the ribcage of a long dead dragon. I briefly marvel at the dragon's size, wonder what kind of monstrosity it must have been, wonder if it could be an ancestor to Volvagia.

Contemplations on how the creature died are cut short, as I must keep pace as Link rushes ahead. Fi materializes from the Goddess Sword, and as I come up behind them I catch the tail end of her calculations on the broken chain that held Zelda prisoner.

"…probability that Zelda was bound by it recently at ninety-five percent. I surmise Zelda was able to escape and proceed along this path. I suggest we continue with all possible speed." The flat, technologic voice disperses as the blue sword spirit jumps back into the blade.

"Calculations aren't my thing, but make that one hundred percent. She's here, make no mistake." My eyes do not leave the sluggish boulder traversing the boney cage above, not until it rolls out of sight. When it does I look back to Link. "…And so is he."

Link's jaw sets, and he nods. "Stay right by me," he reminds.

I side-step closer in affirmation. And then we continue.

When we jump from the platform and race up the dragon ramp, I wait for it, and then I hear it. Link and I skid to a stop.

A dark laugh echoes throughout the chamber. Our gazes track the sound upward and come to rest on the tall white figure perched atop another stone dragon's head.

I grit my teeth and lower my head. Here we go.

A/N: I attempted to implement the advice I was given and expand the characters. I'm not sure how it turned out.

Reviews are always appreciated, and thank you for reading.

P.S. (potential spoiler?) ...I am currently stuck inside a camel on BotW. Hurray for progress!