A/N Hello, anyone still here? It's been awhile, I know. I'm starting to regret not working on this more in the summer. Especially now that spring semester midterms are on the horizon and I'm neck deep in assignments that need to be finished and should have been finished forever ago.

I apologize, again. Over the past month I've come to realize how much I miss this site. I've been reading Lucifer fanfiction on here and I really do miss how much I used to read in general. I started with Zelda fanfictions like 6-7 years ago and holy crap I miss the feeling of this all. It helps that I've been obsessed with Majora's Mask lately. I'm back, mostly to procrastinate my work, but I'm back for I'm not sure how long. Any upcoming chapters are likely to be rushed and unedited, I'm sorry. Anything is better than nothing, right?

EDIT: 3/8/19. I was originally going to make this longer and more hearty, but yeah. Same old health stuff keeps popping up and exams are on the horizon or busting down the door. This chapter is about a week and a half old. It's kinda just filler, sorry. I'm already workin on the next bit with more substantial content. I know it's still confusing, it'll make sense, and those that have stayed have been more than patient.

WARNING: I may change the rating to M instead of T due to dark themes, future excessive gore, and intense emotions and scenes. Let me know what you think concerning this, thank you.

XXVIII ["Truth," said a traveller]

Stephen Crane, 1871 - 1900

"Truth," said a traveller,

"Is a rock, a mighty fortress;

"Often have I been to it,

"Even to its highest tower,

"From whence the world looks black."

"Truth," said a traveller,

"Is a breath, a wind,

"A shadow, a phantom;

"Long have I pursued it,

"But never have I touched

"The hem of its garment."

And I believed the second traveller;

For truth was to me

A breath, a wind,

A shadow, a phantom,

And never had I touched

The hem of its garment.

Chapter 3

Oncoming evening chills crept their way through warm metal; ruffling thin, dirtied fabric against walls of rust. Shuddering and creaking, the metal wagon groaned to a stop, the sounds accompanied by the exhausted huffing of a great horned beast and the pained gasps of a worn hero. Link spent most of the day drifting in and out of lucidity, having remained in great discomfort the entire journey. Dusk had yet to fall, but the day was already blessedly cooler and far less suffocating than the dust filled afternoon air had been.

Now somewhat coherent, Link coughed to clear his lungs and dry throat of dirt, rust, and Goddesses know what else. With difficulty and a splitting headache, he pushed himself as best he could into what resembled a haphazard sitting position. Blinking his eyes clear, Link tried to get a better grasp of his surroundings now that the wagon wasn't moving anymore. Thin spaces between the flat, metal bars barely allotted any room to see out of. The back of the wagon was solid metal, only two sliding slits remained the solitary openings on the door itself. The higher slit was at eye level, while the lower was at the very bottom, he could barely comprehend many uses for them in his frazzled state. There wasn't very much space at all in the wagon, barely enough for two people at max to lay overlapping each other. As he looked around, he slowly but surely wormed his legs free of the rope. Giving a sigh of relief, he held onto the thick rope tightly as he readjusted himself into a more comfortable position.

After studiously looking over the interior, Link attempted to peer outside once again. It was difficult to piece anything together and the strain did little to help his aching head, but from what he could see, trees lined the dusty road and quickly turned into thick, dark foliage that hid the forest's contents. He could hear heavy voices speaking in an unfamiliar language from the front of the wagon. As they drew closer, Link struggled to make himself more upright. The gag he worked off earlier that day hung loose around his neck so he quickly pulled it off and shoved it into his pocket the best he could with his hands tied.

By the time he grabbed the rope that had been around his legs and repositioned himself by the door, a deep click resounded through the wagon and light flooded the area. Immediately, Link leapt to his feet, much to his body's protest, and launched himself out the back. Both he and the tall, stocky man he crashed into hit the road, hard. Dust rose up in a great, blinding cloud as the Hero of Twilight quickly pushed himself back up and dead sprinted to the treeline. Even with his arms bound and body sore and hurt, he managed to move swiftly. Behind him, loud shouts rang out, following him even as he stumbled and panted into the dark forest.

Fear and pain lanced through him and seconds felt like an eternity with the amount of adrenaline coursing through his body. Pain quickly dissolved and became numb despite how often he crashed into trees and tripped over the thick shrubbery. His perception was wildly off, making it extremely difficult to navigate his surroundings. He didn't get far before a thundering silhouette raced towards him from the corner of his eye, tackling him heavily onto the unforgiving forest floor.

Winded and frantic, Link fought back fiercely while gasping for breath. The man who tackled him fought back with just as much ferocity, trying to force Hyrule's Hero to remain flat on the ground. Sharp foliage scratched and stabbed at the both of them as they scuffled. Link was at a great disadvantage with his arms tied and his painful disorientation throwing him off. Somehow, Link managed to wrestle the man off of him. Taking the rope that was once tied around his legs, he pulled it taught against the man's throat with his knee against the foreigner's back, forcing him to the ground. Intending to simply scare and disorient the man, Link almost immediately let go after a few seconds before attempting to run again. Much to his surprise, the man managed to trip him up, delaying him just long enough to be caught by the others once again.

Link fought vainly in utter desperation against the four or so other bulky men that caught up with him. In no time at all, he found himself pressed painfully into the cold, wet, leaf covered forest floor. His legs were retied much tighter and the strong, unkind hands roughly dragged him back to the road. The men held malice and cruelty in their voices as they shoved and handled him. Link yelled back angrily several times only to be struck as he wormed and struggled and snapped at them. He earned himself a harsh kick when he spat the mud from his tussle into one of their faces.

Link felt his dignity become stripped away as he was slung over the shoulder of one of the hulking men to be carried back. Even while fighting back with all his might, the man's grasp held and the other's jeered at the small Hylian. He let his anger and frustration be known the entire humiliating walk back to the road. Pain and dizziness were quickly grasping at Link, but he refused to let weakness show.

Back on the road, it became evident that several other metal prisoner carts had joined them at some point, all pulled by large oxen he had never seen in Hyrule before. He thought he could catch a glimpse of several broken eyes staring back at him as he passed the wagons, but the golden sun made the rusty metals glow as evening came upon them and he could no longer trust his throbbing head. The guardsmen around him taunted Link with their unfamiliar words and cocky, piercing looks, but also with their deceptively familiar, round ears that reminded him of his home. His heart ached at the sight and memory, but his sore body helped keep his fire burning. Whatever happened in the castle, whatever made his sovereign and friend betray him didn't matter. All that mattered was that he knew he had been captured, and he knew he somehow needed to get home.

The next two days were excruciatingly similar and the journey felt like it was never going to end. Link was left with minimal privacy every few hours, but never enough time or space to break through his bonds. A guard began travelling in his wagon with him, never taking his cold, round eyes off of the bound Hylian. As he slept, Link remained vaguely aware of the motion around him. The harsh, shaking motions were emphasized by the hard surface underneath his unconscious form. Every shake and quiver dug into his mind, overlaying itself across the memory of how he came to be there. The memory of betrayal and pain. Sharp scents of filthy metal and aged rust ingrained themselves in his mind with the cold look of his sovereign and the shameful bow of a friend's head. It hurt. Goddesses it all hurt. Not just the bruises or chaffed skin, but his heart hurt. Every throbbing beat dug a spike into his aching head, and another stone pounded his being down.

The Hero of Twilight never quit struggling the entire journey, even if he paid through it with pain and an empty stomach rarely satisfied with any more than chunks of moldy bread. He was not a man easily broken or beat down and he was determined to prove so.