Part of Your Realm: A Twilight Princess Fanfic

How a Hero Reacts

* Arbiter's Grounds *

Link was convinced that the Arbiter's Grounds had been frozen in time. Not a single grain of sand looked displaced from his first visit. Even the same areas managed to bubble with the familiar threat of quicksand. And where there was quicksand, it was certain there were Moldorms. Link surveyed his surroundings, making sure no threats lay concealed within the silence of the sand. He eyed a clawshot target suspended in a cleft in the wall. It made him reminisce about the excitement he felt the first time he entered the grounds. This time around, he felt pathetic. Each temple he had traversed had a special code waiting to be cracked. They also had a boss at the end, waiting to test his skills.

Now the only challenge Link had where he could test his skills was the herding of Fado's surly goats.

He secretly hoped there would be some type of enemy roaming about. It had been too long since he felt the weight of his sword in his hands. He missed the adrenaline coursing through him as he thought on his feet through rigorous combat.

He also had a certain Twili snug beneath his chin. Whom he would like to show off for. She had heard so many tales of him in the Twilight. Link was beginning to doubt whether he could measure up to the legend of him that had been generated. In fact, it was a great fear that weighed heavy on his shoulders.

Was the fate of a hero simply to be a tale passed down through generations and eventually forgotten? He knew one hero who had suffered that very fate. 

"Link?" Y/N mumbled into Link's collar. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Link's ears seemed to perk up, adjusting to the room around them. All Link could hear was the faint rolling of the sand that swirled around them in the slight, dewy breeze.

We stopped moving. Why is there a breeze?   Another gentle slap of air met Link's face, rustling through his bangs.

Y/N gasped in alarm. "There it is again!"

What astute hearing she has. Link felt caution circulate through the air and nip at his skin. The wind only seemed to roll past the spot where they resided. The noise was focused precisely where they stood on the spinner. He also didn't favor that the room ahead was completely dark. Luckily, he had some spare lamp oil he never discarded when he visited with Midna. Link tended to hold onto things. He never knew when they would come in handy; this being one of those times.

"Y/N, I'm going to investigate. I want you to stay on the spinner. There's a lot of treacherous quicksand areas."

"Do you think there's still monsters here? Even after you and Midna crushed Stallord?" He could hear the slightest rattle of fear within her question.

"There shouldn't be. But you can never be too sure." Link fished in his tunic for the small vial of lamp oil. The lantern he had attached to him felt liberating to remove. He handed it to Y/N. "Put a bit of lamp oil in this lantern while I look around. We'll need it for the darker areas of the dungeon. A little goes a long way."

"Like with smelling cinnamon?" She pulled her head away from Link and met his eyes. A goofy smirk graced her face. How could he keep avoiding her after that? Link found himself imitating the same grin. Until he realized that once again, they were a hair's length away from each other's lips. Only this time, there would be no one to interrupt them. Aside from the distasteful eyes of the sages, who most likely were watching their every move.