Since you came along

Intoxicating

"Again." My knees were bleeding, and the open cuts littering them were surely going to scar. I might as well be covered in blood. I had cuts on my arms, and legs, a couple on my cheeks, and my shirt and pants were ripped up in places. I was going to pass out from this exhaustion but I persisted. I was trying to escape. It had been a full month since I had been gone. Well, taken. I knew that thing was in no way releasing me so I had to get out. He had taken my sword from me claiming that until I knew what I held, I couldn't wield it correctly and so I didn't deserve to have it.

I had the bright idea of attempting to escape. Just outside the cell, there was a small, metal rod. It was thin enough to slip into the lock and possibly pick it. I was trying everything to reach out enough to get it over to me but the floor and cell bars aren't exactly clean and soft. My skin had been scraped from the floor and nicked from the rusting metal that had splintered open from years of wear and no maintenance. I had looked through everything in my bag, wrapping whatever fabric I had loose around small bundles of straw I put together from the floor and tying it. I needed it to be sturdy enough to drag the metal over. The problem now was reaching over. This was my last attempt at getting out, all my previous ideas were quick to disappoint me and injure me.

I held some will to try as I told myself over and over that I would get out and find Link. That I would get to see him again, the real him not some shadow or an imposter. That I would hold him again.

I pushed myself against the bars to the point where I thought my shoulder blade might break in between the bars to squeeze me out. I clenched my jaw shut and with a grunt, I managed to flick the metal over. I fumbled for it with my hands and retrieved it. I began attempting to pick the lock, my fingers were shaking as the fear of that shadow came back in this moment.

"Please, please...damn it." I couldn't figure out how to pick it and my heart was racing. As tears formed in my eyes, a click was heard and the door creaked open. I let out a surprised breath and grabbed my things. I ran out and started looking for a way out. I had never been down here so I wasn't sure how to leave.

Narrator POV

Link was making his way through the Castle as his head screamed at him she was there. If she was, Zelda had to know something.

"Link, I've been doing everything possible, I assure you. I do not, however, think she is in the Castle. I'd have been alerted if she was." Link tried to explain why he thought so. "If you feel she is, I encourage you to search. I grow more concerned with each hour she is still missing. I will alert the guards to not engage you in that form." Link left her and made his way to the library to look. He reverted to his wolf form and made use of his senses. The trail of her scent led out of the library. He followed mindlessly, her scent clouding his mind and judgment. Once he came back to reality, he realized he was reaching the stairwells leading down to the dungeons. He reverted to his human form and continued walking down, paying close attention to any noises. His concentration faltered, though, as he went down each step. He could sense her closer and closer and his head was muddled.

Y/n was finally making her way out, she pushed through the main gate and quietly walked up the stairs. Her stomach was turned inside out and her heart was racing. She heard a yell echo behind her and she began to run up the stairs. She could feel herself beginning to cry as she panted heavily. Her eyes shut for a second as she tried to steel her nerves to continue running. Before she could open her eyes, she ran into a wall and fell forward. "Hylia, would you watch it?" An annoyed voice rang through her ears and she felt her heart flutter. She snapped her eyes open and looked at the 'wall' she ran into. Underneath her, Link was groaning holding his head with his hand, his other hand was unconsciously around her waist.

"Link?"

"What?" It hadn't hit him, yet. The girl he searched for endlessly was in front of him. After a month of hopelessly searching, he managed to have her run him down on the stairs. With another huff of annoyance, he finally looked at the girl crushing him a bit. "You know, you should look-" His words left him and he felt he couldn't breathe. His face was in a permanent state of shock and his hand trembled slightly upon her waist as his mind processed what was in front of him. "Where is she?" The shadow's voice was growing closer as they still stayed in each other's touch. "Link, please, we need to get out of here." Her pleading broke through his haze and he stood them both up before they ran off.