Disclaimer: I do not own the legend of Zelda game series or the characters.

Hi folks! Thanks again for reading my story! :DDDDD

I'd like to give shoutouts to those who have favorited/followed my story! I'd also like to give shoutouts to TwiliCuckoo and Madlink007 for reviewing! You're awesome! I hope you all enjoy this next one!

Where we last left off, Marcus died because of his injuries. Poor Sally! Meanwhile, Link had some choice words with Eleanor, just like he had wanted to do! XD What will happen next? Read on to find out!

Chapter 10: Moving Forward

About an hour later things had begun to settle down a little. Sally was still in the bedroom, but it was hard to hear her cry now. I didn't know what else to do at this point, so I decided that I'd leave the house. I didn't want to disturb Sally any further, she was having a tough time as it was. She needed to have time alone…I know that it's never easy to lose someone. I picked up my bag and got ready to head out the front door. "Where are you going?" I heard a voice say.

I turned around and saw Sally standing there, looking bewildered. "I was just going to leave…" I scratched my head. "…I didn't want to bother you, since you're going through a lot right now..."

"Who said that you were being a bother?" She questioned. I looked at her with confusion. "You're not being a bother at all." She motioned towards the couch. "Would you like to sit?" I nodded and sat down, trying to keep as quiet as possible. She went over to the kitchen and poured some tea. She glanced at me. "Would you like some?"

"Sure…" I said.

She brought the two cups of tea over to the couch and sat down next to me. "I guess I just…I want to know what happened…" She looked down.

"A monster attacked him, giving him a deadly blow to the side of his stomach..." I said, taking a sip from the teacup.

"Oh. Is it still alive? Or were you able to take care of it?"

"It's unfortunately still alive…" I said sadly.

"Oh…" It was quiet for a moment, and she took the opportunity to take a sip from her teacup, holding the cup in both hands. "…I…" She looked at me. "…I want to avenge him…"

"I understand where you're coming from…" I said. "But it would be too dangerous for you to search it out. I will tell you; it is the same monster that gave me the broken paw and stomach wound."

She frowned. "Oh." She shook her head. "But I don't care. I'm willing to take the risk."

I looked at her with shock. "You're sure?"

She nodded once while closing her eyes briefly. "Yes." She looked at me once more as I took another drink of tea. "You're planning on going after it, aren't you?"

I set my cup down on the end table next to the couch and replied, "Yes." I looked at her, and then in front of me. "Hyrule has been fairly peaceful since I defeated Gannon, but now the land is beginning to plague of monsters again. I want to find out why, and who or what is causing it." I looked at her again. "But I also want to get revenge because of the injuries it gave Marcus and me."

"I don't blame you." She said in agreement.

Just then Curtis came inside of the house. "Hello, Link." He said as he looked at the two of us.

"Hello, Curtis." I replied.

"That's your name?" Sally asked me. I nodded. She didn't utter another word.

Curtis went over to Sally and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. It isn't easy to lose someone close to you."

Her eyes started to tear up. "No…it isn't…"

He patted her on the back. "As soon as I heard about Marcus, I went to do your chores for you. I wanted you to have time with him."

"Thanks, papa…" She sniffled. He stopped hugging her.

"What are you two talking about?" He asked as he sat down in a chair nearby.

"We were talking about the monster that had attacked Marcus." I answered. "It was the same one that attacked me in my wolf form."

"Hmmm…" He said. "That's quite peculiar…" He looked at Sally and then back at me. "Are you going after it?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I won't let this monster get away with this. I don't want any more lives affected by it."

"You're brave, Link. You're always fighting valiantly for the sake of others. It's inspiring." He walked over and patted me on the shoulder.

"Thanks, Curtis." I said, taking another sip of tea.

Sally looked me right in the eye. "Link, let me come with you." I spat out my tea while Curtis laughed, feeling absolutely floored by her request. Curtis threw me a towel. Sally looked back at me as I was cleaning up the splattered tea from the coffee table in front of me with the towel. "I won't take no for an answer."

I glanced at her. "You're bound and determined, aren't you?"

She smiled slightly, but the pain of losing Marcus was still there. "You bet I am!"

"Well, I guess that'd be okay…" I looked at Curtis. "What do you think?" I honestly expected him to say no out of concern for Sally's safety.

"I'm perfectly fine with it." He said plainly. "When do you plan on leaving?"

My eyes widened. I didn't expect that! I sat there with my mouth open while trying to think of what to say next. Curtis and Sally laughed together over my stupid expression. "Well…um…" I turned towards Curtis. "But aren't you concerned about your daughter's safety?"

"Of course I am." He said. "But I have confidence in her ability to protect herself…and I have confidence in you stepping in if it gets too dangerous." He gazed at Sally and grinned. "She's 20 now, I can't stop her from doing what she feels is right, especially if she feels it'll give her closure."

Wait a second…since she's 20 that would make her my age! "You have a point." I said, feeling stupid for not answering the question he had asked. "Going back to your question," I glanced at Curtis. "I can leave anytime. When do you want to leave?" I looked at Sally.

"I can pack up my things and be ready within an hour or two." She replied as she set her cup down on the coffee table and then gazed at Curtis. "Like you've always told me, papa; one of the best ways to get over grief is to move forward, because the one you're grieving over wouldn't want you to spend your time sad, they'd want you to spend your time on earth happily."

"That's exactly right." He nodded in acquiesce.

She had her hands resting on her lap, squeezing them into fists. "I do believe that this will help me move on." Her eyes began to fill with tears, but she blinked them away and shook her head. "Some may think that it is too soon because I have just witnessed Marcus' death, but I want to do this for him now rather than waiting..."

"We should have a proper funeral for Marcus first." Curtis said.

Sally and I nodded.

"How about we have a funeral for him this afternoon, and then the two of you can leave on your mission tomorrow?" He suggested.

"That sounds good to me." Sally said.

"Same here." I said.

Later that day we had Marcus' funeral. His family and friends all came and shared memories of him and mourned the loss of his life. We then buried him in the woods with a stone grave marker a couple of hours later. After the funeral I had noticed that Sally was still struggling, as expected, but she did her best to stay strong…smiling as much as possible around family and friends.

I was invited to stay at the house for the night and sleep on the couch in the living room. I decided to take the offer, since Sally and I would be leaving in the morning, anyway. I'm surprised that Eleanor and Sally's stepmother haven't intervened. I mean, to them, Sally is essentially their servant, and if they lose their servant they have to do the work.

That next morning I woke up at about 5am. No one else was up yet, so I decided to begin planning out where Sally and I would go on my map. A couple of minutes later Sally came out of her bedroom, already dressed and ready to go. She yawned as she walked to the bathroom, not even noticing me. She came out a minute later and finally noticed me. "Oh. You're up too?"

"Yeah." I said. "I was just planning where we'd go." I looked once again at the map.

She nodded and went into the kitchen and grabbed two apples. "Breakfast?" I looked up and saw an apple in her outstretched hand.

"Sure. Thanks." I said as I grabbed the apple and took a bite.

She sat next to me and began eating from her apple. "I've never been anywhere else besides Castle town, Hyrule Field, and Eldinaire Village." She said as she pointed to the locations. "I'm looking forward to seeing other places. I think it'll be interesting."

"It should be." I said to her. "I've been all over the place. One of my favorite places is Lake Hylia." I pointed to it on the map. "We may end up going everywhere in search of the monster and signs of its origins."

"That's alright." She said. "I hope we can find out why monsters are showing up again."
"I hope we can too." I said, making a mark on Eldinaire Village on my map. "I was attacked in your village by that monster…maybe it'll come back to the scene of the crime?"

"Maybe…" She pondered, taking another bite of her apple. She stood up. "My bags aren't completely packed. I'll go finish that real quick." She stepped into her bedroom for a few minutes and then came out with two bags, setting them down on the kitchen table. Sally sat back down next to me, looking at some of the other markings I made on the map.

"What have we here?" Sally's stepmother said from the doorway to her bedroom. "What are you two discussing at such an early hour?" She looked at me with suspicion.

"I'm leaving, mother." Sally said.

She looked at Sally with shock. "What?!"

"Papa has given me permission to go with Link to find the monster that wounded Marcus." She said calmly. "So I am leaving this morning. My bags are packed." She pointed towards the kitchen table.

"I don't believe you!" She hissed. "Why would your father approve of you traveling alone with a young man?" She glared at me, her cold stare seeming like daggers being thrown in my direction.

Suddenly Curtis' hand was on Sally's stepmother's shoulder. "I'd trust this young man with my life." He smiled. "Trust me, he won't be a problem. Sally will be safe. And yes, I did give her permission."

Her mouth flew open. "B-but…t-then s-she will be gone…s-she won't be h-here to do c-chores…" She looked at Curtis.

"So?" Curtis questioned. "You couldn't possibly think that her life should consist of nothing but chores?" He looked at Sally. "She has to explore, learn new things…"

"But s-she could die." Sally's stepmother attempted to argue, very bothered by the news she was hearing.

"She feels that she needs to do this for Marcus. I can't stop her in doing what she feels is right." He shook his head. "I care about her happiness, and if that means that she needs to find this monster and defeat it, then so be it."

"But why is she going with Link?" She asked, smirking because she apparently thought she found a loophole.

"That same monster injured Link…and Link wants to find it and avenge Marcus too." He retorted. "So it seems fitting that they go together to help each other achieve that goal." He looked back at me. "What time are you two leaving?"

"In about 10 minutes." I said, looking at Sally. She nodded.

A few minutes later Sally said goodbye to her father. When she went to say goodbye to her stepmother, Curtis was talking to me and had his back turned from the two of them. I could see them from where I was standing. I saw Sally try to hug her stepmother, but her stepmother pushed her away quickly, and then glared at me again. When Curtis turned around, her look softened into a forced smile. From then on, I truly believed that there was something wrong with that woman, but I didn't know what. Sally and I left the house a minute later, and Eleanor hadn't even bothered to come out of her bedroom to speak to us.

I took a deep breath of the crisp morning air as Sally attached her bags to her horse's saddle. He licked her face and she gently stroked the bridge of his nose. I called Epona with my horse call and she came running. I put my bags onto her saddle and then we both mounted our horses. I looked at Sally. "Before we go too far, we need to stop by my house first."

"Okay." She said as we began trotting away. We came up to my house around 15 minutes later.

I dismounted and she did the same. I took out my bow and arrow. "Do you have weapons with you?"

She took out a bow and a dagger. "What do you think?" She grinned.

I smiled. "Let's see how well you can use that bow."

She nodded and prepared a bow to shoot. Taking a deep breath she drew back the arrow, held it for a second, and then released the arrow, which hit the target with ease. She hummed out of pride. "Looky there, it hit the target!" She shot a few more, hitting each target with impressive accuracy.

"Good." I said. I'll admit, even though she had told Marcus that she knew how to shoot with a bow, I didn't expect her to be that good at it. Then again, she learned from a skilled man; her father. She and I mounted our horses again and left for Hyrule Field.

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