A/N: Yeah, so... this turned into more than a oneshot.

Zelda filled him in on more details as they walked together: after she had escaped Ganon's fake, she had gone searching for her father, who had also been captured by Null and impersonated.

"I was a fugitive," she told him. "Null nearly had me executed. I only survived because Tri and my nursemaid helped me escape."

"Your father must be important, to be able to order your execution," Ganon said.

Zelda did not respond for a moment. "Yes," she said finally. "You could say that."

I'm sure you could, Princess, thought Ganon. Her father had to be Hyrule's king; it would explain the expensive clothing and the circlet around her head, the way she had not even appeared surprised when he had accepted her proposal, as though she was used to being obeyed, and most of all, it would explain the feeling of unease he had gotten when he had heard her name.

Well, she was at least a little intelligent, if she was keeping her identity hidden from him. He was tempted to call her Princess aloud, if only to see her reaction, but decided to let her have her secret for now. Instead, as they fell to silence again, he took stock of his memories.

They were scattered and faded, and most of them were fragments of things he could not truly recall: a princess trapped within a crystal, a boy in green watching him through a window, some great golden power that he thought had belonged to him. He did not have this power anymore.

He was only certain of three things:

First, he had not always been this creature with tusks and hooves and claws. Once, he had been human.

Next, there must have been someone – or multiple someones – with the name Zelda that he had truly hated, for her name to bother him so.

Finally, he had been a king, once. And his greatest desire was to be king again. King of Hyrule… Yes, those words had applied to him, for a time.

He would make them apply again.

"We'll pass by a church on the way to Mount Lanayru," Zelda said. "There is a graveyard next to it – I would like to stop there."

"Why?"

"My mother is buried there," she said simply.

"Hmph."

It occurred to him that this was likely not an acceptable response to what she had just said. He should say something sympathetic, something kind. Ugh, he thought.

Luckily, he did not have to say anything, because Zelda's creature – Tri – spoke first.

"She is underground? Do we need to rescue her, Zelda?"

At least his response had been better than that.

"No, Tri," Zelda said patiently. "She isn't trapped – She died many years ago."

Tri's body tilted in confusion. "What does 'died' mean?"

"It means…" Zelda sighed. "Well, it means that someone doesn't exist in this world anymore." Seeing Tri's confusion, she added, "It is like what happens to people who have been trapped in rifts for too long."

"Oh," said Tri. "Was your mother trapped in a rift?"

"That is not the only way that people can die. Most people die when they become very old. But sometimes, people get hurt very badly or, in the case of my mother, get very sick."

"Oh," said Tri, then, "What is 'old'?"

Great goddess, Ganon thought, and stopped listening to their discussion. He could see why Zelda had said she wanted better conversation.

It is like what happens to people who have been trapped in rifts for too long. She had claimed that she had rescued him, but he did not realise he had been at risk of dying. Interesting. Surely the Princess of Hyrule would be glad for his death. Unless… She had called him Demon King when she had woken him, but perhaps she was only repeating Null's words, and did not truly know what that meant. Perhaps she was not completely naïve, as he had assumed, but ignorant, thinking him some ordinary monster.

Very, very interesting.

Eventually, as Zelda had claimed, Ganon could see the walls of a large cemetery, though what was more striking was the giant deep purple… something… that was spreading across it. It was like a hole had been cut through the earth, and filled with some dark liquid.

"Not here, too!" Zelda cried.

"What is that?"

"You really don't remember?" she said. "That is what you were stuck in – that is a rift."

"We need to repair it, Zelda," Tri said, and the three of them quickly hurried towards the purple substance.

"Don't get too close," Zelda warned him, then grinned. "Unless you want me to save you again."

He glared at the rift, taking a step back. He was not sure his pride could take being rescued twice. Zelda giggled.

"You'll need to wait here," she said. "Only Tri and I can enter the rifts without getting trapped."

"Fine," he said. "Don't take too long."

She is taking too long.

Ganon sat by the side of the rift, waiting for Zelda to return. He used his trident to sketch images in the dirt beside him (trying to recall what he looked like as a human, though none of the faces he drew struck him as being quite right), an activity that he was quickly becoming tired of. He had already drunk the smoothie she had given him before entering the rift (mango again; Zelda had quickly caught on that he liked these ones the best), and then entertained himself by killing all the monsters he could find in his general location. Unfortunately, these had almost entirely consisted of zols and ropes, which posed absolutely no challenge to Ganon, who found that not only was he so comfortable with the trident that it felt nearly like an extension of his arm, he was also very good with combat magic. If only he could remember where he had learned any of this.

However, he had a significantly more pressing issue than his foggy memories at the moment: he was bored. And he hated being bored. He huffed, eyeing the edge of the rift. Tri had opened an entrance through which Zelda had disappeared; he crept closer so he could peer over it. It looked like a hole had been torn into the very fabric of reality; he could not see a bottom to the liquidous substance that made up the rift, or to the opening within it.

He stepped back – he did not want to get stuck in that again, which Zelda seemed certain would be his fate should he touch another rift.

She really was taking a long time. He wondered if something had gone wrong.

If it has, then good riddance.

Although… if she was telling the truth, then her demise would mean that this entire land would be consumed by Null. He would be dead – You have beaten death before, something whispered to him – and perhaps more importantly, there would be nothing left for him to rule.

He inched back towards the rift again.

He was strong, he remembered that much. Whatever was inside, he could overcome it. If Zelda was able to walk within the rifts unscathed, then surely he would be able to figure out how to do the same. He imagined the shocked expression she might make when he found her in the rift, then, hesitating only for a second, jumped into the opening.

He was not sure what he had been anticipating to find inside the rift – Zelda called it the Still World – but what he was seeing now was so bizarre he could not be certain it was real. He was standing on grass, not unlike where he had been sitting before he entered the rift, but this land was floating. In nothing. He crept to the edge of the small chunk of land – island might be an appropriate term – and peered over the edge, before quickly stepping back. There was no bottom, only endless sky, though instead of the bright blue he had just been under, this was a sickly violet. Looking to his sides, he saw more pieces of land floating in the nothingness, some of which had trees or bushes growing out of the sides, or even upside down. What is this?

He was pulled by his thoughts by the sound of a woman's shout. Zelda. It appeared to be coming from his right, across several scattered floating islands. He could jump – probably. He glanced again over the edge. If he fell, would he be here, falling through nothing for the rest of time? He'd agreed to help Zelda, but he was not sure he was willing to risk that. Though, if he did not find her, would he even be able to leave this place? Gritting his teeth, he braced himself, then leapt off the edge.

He landed on the next islet (clearing the jump easily, he thought with satisfaction), and continued on through the Still World, over the grassy islands and sideways trees. Coming to one particularly large island, he finally saw her.

She was clinging to the branches of a tree, surrounded by monsters. Moblins, by the look of it; many of them held spears in their hands. And by the tree's base… her staff.

She dropped it? He nearly laughed, but was quickly distracted by the sight of a Moblin throwing a spear at the tree branch Zelda was in. She flinched as it flew past her head. Ganon ran towards her, trident ready.

Like the rest of the Still World, the Moblins also appeared abnormal, with a sickly purple taint to them. Creations of Null? Whatever they were, they fell to him easily. Once he had cleared out the Moblins, he looked up to Zelda.

"Having fun up there?" he called.

Her face immediately reddened. "How are you here? And how are you not frozen?"

He had no idea. "Don't you worry about that," he said. "Why are you in a tree?"

"I need to get to the top – Tri's friends are stuck up there! But I was ambushed, and I…" He could not hear the remainder of what she said, as she became steadily quieter as she spoke.

"What was that?"

Her blush seemed to become even darker.

"I tried to summon an Echo to fight them, and I dropped the Tri Rod, and I couldn't get down without being attacked – Don't laugh!" she said angrily, for he had started snickering. "Just toss it to me, please!"

He considered, then grabbed the rod and threw it toward her. She grabbed it, then he watched her summon a small trampoline, which she carefully propped up at the thickest part of the branch she was on, against the trunk. She jumped up to a higher branch, and quickly disappeared within the tree's leaves, which became thicker as she continued climbing. Very quickly after, she appeared at the tree's top.

She gave him a wave. He rolled his eyes. Then she summoned a Keese and holding tightly to it, she glided down to land in front of him. He noticed she now had several creatures like Tri trailing behind her.

"Thanks," she said to him, face still slightly pink. "I swear I'm usually better at this."

"Really?" asked Ganon dryly.

"Yes!" she insisted. "I've repaired several rifts by now. Huge ones, too; much bigger than this!"

"If you say so."

"I have! I would have figured something out! But, well, I suppose I am rather new at this adventuring thing. My father never liked to let me leave Hyrule Castle Town. Anyway," she said, smiling at him, "Thank you, Ganon. Truly."

"Whatever," he muttered. Something about her genuine smile made him very uncomfortable. Harshly, he added, "We're even now."

She blinked. "I didn't rescue you to indebt you to me, Ganon. I just thought it would be wrong to leave you there."

You are a fool, then, he thought.

"But we don't need to talk about this here," she continued, turning to Tri. "Can your friends repair the rift?"

"Yes," said Tri, and the other Tri-creatures began glowing brighter and brighter.

"Thank you!" Zelda called out to them, and a moment later Ganon found himself back in the grass and dirt he had been in before; he quickly used a hoofed foot to erase the sketches he had done before Zelda could see them.

She was gazing to the side, a satisfied smile on her face. Looking in the same direction, he saw a giant cathedral where the rift's center had been, and the graveyard beside it had been repaired.

"It always feels good to get out of that place," she murmured.

Ganon nodded. She looked at him.

"I'd like to visit the graveyard now. Will you and Tri wait here?"

"What are you?" he demanded the moment Zelda was out of earshot. He had not yet been able to question the strange creature, and was not about to let the opportunity go to waste.

"I am Tri," they (He? She? Ganon could not tell, and did not think Tri would understand what he meant if he asked.) responded.

He huffed. "No, I meant – what are you and the others like you?"

Tri appeared puzzled. "We are Tri."

"You are all Tri?"

"I am Tri," they repeated. "And my friends are Tri."

"Alright," he said slowly, becoming increasingly frustrated. "What do you and your friends do?"

Tri seemed to understand this question more. "My friends repair rifts. And I help Zelda."

"Why do you help Zelda?"

"That is what the goddesses want me to do."

Now they were getting somewhere interesting. "The goddesses told you this?"

"They do not need to tell me," Tri said. "I know what they want because I am Tri, and they created me, just as they created the –" Tri cut off abruptly.

"What?" Ganon demanded.

"The goddesses do not want me to tell you about that."

"Tell me anyway," he said.

Of all that he had said, this was what confused Tri the most. "Tell you… anyway?"

"Yes," he said. "What does it matter what they want?"

"I don't understand," said Tri.

"Tell me what you were going to say," he growled.

"The goddesses do not want me to." This was said not as an argument, or an excuse, but a simple statement of fact. It was as though going against the goddesses' will was not only something Tri did not want to do, but something they were incapable of even comprehending. Ganon continued pushing for a moment, but this proved fruitless, and soon enough Zelda had returned.

"I hope you two were getting along," she said with a teasing smile.

"This creature is infuriating," Ganon complained.

Tri floated over to sit on her shoulder. "Ganon says strange things that I don't understand," they said to Zelda. "How can I do something the goddesses do not want me to?"

She raised an eyebrow, looking at him. "Sounds like an interesting conversation."

"It wasn't," said Ganon.

"Where are we going now, Zelda?" asked Tri.

"We'll keep going down this path – we are nearly at the base of Mount Lanayru now."

As they continued to walk, Zelda turned to him. "You haven't told me yet how you were able to go into the rift," she said.

"I went in the same hole you did."

"But how were you not trapped? When I found you in the other rift you were frozen."

He should lie, he thought; pretend he knew exactly how he got into the rift. But he found himself wanting to know her thoughts on the matter. "I don't know," he said honestly.

Zelda bit her lip. "You are special, somehow… like me. And Link."

Link. He felt a fury rise up from within him. This name disturbed him even more than her name, somehow. He pushed it down.

"Who?"

"He is a young man who was able to escape from a rift as a child – I've not met him," she said. "But I've heard the rift took his ability to speak." She put a hand to her chin. "And your memories were taken… but I am completely fine." She shook her head. "Why is it so inconsistent?"

Why indeed? "Perhaps Tri's goddesses are playing with us," he muttered.

This was meant to be sarcasm, but Zelda seemed to consider it seriously. "Hopefully as we mend the rifts, we will learn more," she said.

They walked in silence for a short time, before Zelda leaned in towards him, now with a small grin on her face. "So… you did not know you would be able to walk in the rift, and you came to rescue me anyway. That's very gallant of you, Ganon."

"What – I wasn't – You were taking too long." His face felt hot. "I got bored."

"I've never met a gentlemanly monster before," she mused.

"And you still haven't!" Ganon snarled.

She just laughed.