Chapter Four: Nightmare

The moon shined bright overhead. He heard the screams of terror from his prey, and his blood rushed through his veins lustfully…he could smell blood in the air, and heard the pumping of rushing hearts in his ears like thunder. The air soon began to fill with the almost-sweet stench of death as he ended lives, one after another. Pouncing, biting, clawing at his prey, he just couldn't stop until everyone in sight was dead…

Link woke up, gasping. Sweat drenched his body and the sheets of the bed, and he found he had tears in his eyes. He sat up and held his head in his hands, trying to breathe.

After a few moments of trying to steady himself, he climbed out of bed, trembling. He turned to his left and picked up a small glass of water that a nursemaid had prepared for him the night before, and drank it down. It did not satisfy his thirst. Sudden waves of nausea came to him, so he sat down on the side of his bed. He put his head in his hands again.

He shivered as chills ran up and down his bare back, so he reluctantly stood again. Trying to ignore his aching head, he searched for something to keep him warm in the darkness. He bent over on his hands and knees, and wondered where the hell that stupid nursemaid had put his shirt…

Suddenly, a strange warmness and calming sensation came to him. He slowly stood, and tried to look around in the darkness. He turned to the window that was near his bed, wondering if the window had opened. It wasn't, and he shook his head, not understanding.

A soft, warm hand touched his own, and he turned to see the princess looking at him with sympathy.

"Bad dream?" she asked quietly. Link turned away, a little bit embarrassed. Zelda's other hand gently touched his face, turning him to her.

"Look at me," she said. "You don't need to be ashamed. You've just been through a scary experience. You don't need to be ashamed at all…" She paused, looking into his eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern when she noticed his reddened eyes.

"You've been crying?" she asked. Link turned his face again, his cheeks burning with fire.

"No! I-I mean...I've just b-been…having trouble…sleeping," he finished lamely, even though it was true. Zelda rolled her eyes, smiling good-naturedly. She gripped his hands comfortingly.

"Here, Link…let's sit down. You can tell me about your dream. It's usually good to talk about it anyway…to get it out of your system." She led him back to the bed and they both sat down on the edge. Link held on to Zelda's hand, and rested his head in his other hand. The princess noticed this, and she touched his head. The headache slowly faded away, and Link lifted his head and looked at her.

"You didn't have to do that," he told her.

"I know. I had a choice, and my choice was to ease your pain," she replied.

"So? Sometimes I need to get through things myself."

The last comment set Zelda off. She yanked her hand out of his grasp, and immediately arose from the bed.

"You don't want my help? Is that it, Link!? Because I know this isn't something you can do alone, even if you just happen to be the chosen hero and everything. There are still things that you just can't do by yourself!" She stopped speaking, breathing a little bit harder. Link sighed, and stood up.

"I'm sorry, Zelda. You know that I didn't mean anything by that." He tried putting his hands around her waist, but she backed away slightly. She looked at him challengingly.

"Prove it." She whispered.

Link pulled her closer to him, and he looked down at her blue eyes.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I need you, you know I do. I just feel that maybe if I try to get by without too much help, then it will make me stronger. Just please try to understand. I love you, and I guess I do need you to help me, even if there will be times where I feel I won't."

Zelda, thankfully, accepted this. They sat down again. The princess slowly ran her fingers over the deep scars on Link's neck and his chest. She shook her head, wondering why all the worst things happen to the best people in the world. She looked up at him and smiled sadly, stroking his face.

"You can tell me anything, Link. How about this dream?"

Link returned her gaze, but he looked…sad. He said nothing, and slowly shook his head. Zelda's eyes widened slightly, and she gasped, feeling hurt. She slowly stood up, and backed away. She shook her head in disbelief. She walked out of the room, closing the door the little room.

Link looked back at her sadly as she had left. He wanted to beat himself up for not telling her about his dream. It was almost like…he wanted to suffer from the nightmare and the terror of it all, and he didn't know why. The realization of what he had just done came back in waves, and he felt the tears building up in his eyes again. He tried to control it, tried to fight it, but he failed. He fell apart and sobbed, trying to console someone, not knowing if he was wishing he could say it to Zelda, or if he was trying to console himself with the empty words…I'm sorry…I'm sorry…

Sorry this is so short, people! I've been gone since forever ago, so just ignore the fact that this chap was so short and boring...I'm just trying to get my whole writer's thing going again so I can start putting some "quality chapters" up in the future for this story. Please, just bear with me (or is it "bare"???? lol) and be patient...I'm too young to die! REVIEW!!!

Oh yeah, to you insane fan-girls...yes, Link was SHIRTLESS!! XD