The Hero, the Princess, and the Cursed King

Chapter 10: Runaways

[Zelda]

The crackling of burning wood and the smell of smoke pulled Zelda from her rest. Well, she wouldn't call it a rest. It was more like a forced sleep—she had been knocked out after all.

Zelda sat up, wincing. Her whole body ached, especially her head. In front of her, Link sat by a small campfire, gazing into the flames, the Master Sword resting across his lap. His brow was furrowed, and his eyes were red from either recent tears or the smoke. She couldn't tell.

"Link?"

He swiveled around and was at her side in a second. "Thank Hylia. You're awake. Are you okay? Are you hurt? That's a dumb question. Of course, you're hurt. Where does it hurt?'

"Slow down." Zelda rubbed her temples, trying to recall what had happened. "I think I'm fine, but my head kills."

Link placed his hand on her forehead, feeling for her temperature. "It feels like you're running a fever. Here I'll go get you some water."

"Wait." Zelda grabbed his hand. Something was wrong; she glanced around the campsite one more time. "Where's Ganondorf?"

Link looked down. "He's. . . gone."

"Gone? He's not—" Zelda's breath caught. Dread filled her stomach.

"No, he's not dead, but he may as well be." Link clenched his fists, and Zelda understood. Ganondorf must have finally lost his battle against the Triforce. "It would be better if he was dead."

"You don't mean that." Zelda reached out to Link, but he pulled away.

"I do!" Link stood up. "Because either way, the brother I knew—the brother I loved—is dead, but now. . . now, whatever that thing is that corrupted him is using him."

"Link—"

"And now I'm the Hero of Time!" Link laughed insanely. "My very purpose is to defeat him, kill him—my older brother. How can I do that? How could the Goddesses do this to me?"

Zelda stood up, ignoring the sudden nausea that hit her, and crossed over to Link. "Who says that's your purpose?"

"All the legends tell of how the Hero of Time defeats the King of Darkness, so how could it not be?"

"There has to be another way."

"What if there's not?"

"But what if there is?" Zelda grabbed Link's hands and looked into his eyes. "What if there is another way? What if we can somehow break whatever curse is attached to the Triforce of Power? The Triforce itself isn't evil. Its Demise's curse that is."

"Do we even know exactly what the curse is?"

Zelda paused. "Well, no. My knowledge of that is limited, but someone has to know."

"I don't know. I feel like we're grasping at straws."

"No, Link." She smiled at him. "We're grasping at hope."

Link's eyes filled with tears. "I just. . . I can't believe that he's gone."

Zelda wrapped Link in a hug, and he broke down, sobbing into her shoulder. She held him tighter as he cried, her own tears flowing. "I'm so sorry, Link."

"I c-couldn't. . . I couldn't save him." Link held onto Zelda as if she was the only thing anchoring him to the world. "When he needed me, I f-failed him."

"You didn't fail anyone." Zelda closed her eyes. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"I lost him."

"I know, I know you did." Zelda sobbed too. "But you'll never lose me, okay? You'll never lose me."