[Fanfiction] Guardian (Revised)

Author's note: I recently re-wrote this one and I'm going to try something a little different with delivery.

Hopefully I can get more readers this time around.

Chapter 1: News

Link's consciousness fuzzily droned back to normal, or at least what he was used to. He sat up in bed and took in a large breath of air; the beginning of a yawn.

He balanced himself in a sitting position, to where his back rested against the headboard of his bed, and rubbed the back of his neck subconsciously, massaging it.

His eyes glazed over his dark, empty house, the light of a full moon being the only thing making it possible for him to see. His Hyrulian clock, his wardrobe, and on the other side of the room, past the door, the washroom, and his very quaint kitchen.

He stood and walked around the perimeter of his house, lighting lanterns that hung along the wall. Open, strike match, close. He did this until the entire house was lit.

Link yawned and stretched as he saw himself in the mirror. His disheveled hair, now dulled eyes, and drawn, angular face made for an exhausted portrait. He did not really have the energy to think about anything, so he just groggily slipped on his guard uniform, and left to return to his post as a Hyrule Castle guard.

He wasn’t entirely sure how tired he was until he stepped outside. The thick fog that had fell of Hyrule the following night left him slowly and light-headedly dancing through the streets of Hyrule Castle Town. He thanked the gods that no one was awake at this hour today, so nobody could see him.

He was unbelievably bushed, and because of which, he had a very strange sense of humor. Thus, as he stumbled into the market, he found accidentally stepping on a dog’s tail, as well as its high-pitched yelp, hilarious, and exploded in laughter.

“What’s your problem?” an older woman asked, she was leaning against a building behind one of the empty kiosks, so Link didn’t see her at first.

He carefully bowed to her, making sure not to fall, saying “Sorry, Ma’am, I’m just really tired today.” Link spun back around and continued stumbling, and consistently tripping, up the path that led to Hyrule Castle.

The gate guard, who was already standing there, caught sight of him, through the corner of his eye, coming up the path. The guard just assumed that he was going to take his place, so the guard non-caringly walked past him as Link continued to fumble over his own feet towards the gate.

Link fell and sat against a wall, waiting for the princess to arrive.



It was another early start. She sat up in her queen-sized bed and lazily looked around as if she would find anything new in her room, obviously not finding anything, and then crawled out of bed.

She looked at herself in the mirror, and realized that her hair was entangled in complete array. She quickly grabbed her brush and frantically combed back her bright blonde hair.

“I guess that’s the best I can get it,” Zelda thought. She stepped over to her wardrobe, and searched for something to wear. After several moments passing, she finally picked a long purple dress that had gold tracings running down the trims. After she slipped the dress on, she slid her golden royal headband onto her forehead and left her room.

She then turned and left to the Hyrule castle garden because she knew that Link was waiting for her.


A sound resonated in his ears. At first, he couldn’t recognize it, but, as his brain booted back up, he identified it as a girl’s voice.

“Link!” the somewhat familiar voice called.

He had, unwillingly, fallen back asleep at his post. He wobbled his way back up the wall and walked over to the gate, unlocking it only to walk through then turned around to lock it back behind him.

He walked upwards on the path to the castle until the area opened up to reveal a gorgeous garden. Along with a medium sized girl in the middle of the garden, screaming for him.

It was Zelda, or Princess Zelda, to be formal.

“Hey, Link!” She yelled to him, “Come on,” She commanded, turned back to face the castle and speeding away.

Link immediately broke off into a headlong run, chasing her. He ran up multiple hills and across several beaten paths when he finally reached the drawbridge that led into the castle. He only paused for a moment, to take in the breathtaking view of the castle at sunrise, before he continued his sprint into the majestic corridors.

This was one of the few times that he had been inside of the castle, so the sights were still relatively new to him, and were as beautiful as he could possible remember. He, unfortunately, had lost Zelda.
He began to dart his head around each corner he came across, wondering where she went, until Zelda ran back around a corner just in time for him to see her, and motioned for him to follow her, and disappeared around the corner again.

Link, exasperated by the constant chasing, let off a large sigh, and then he continued. He wasn’t sure where she was leading him, but Link was already get somewhat winded as he turned the corner to a wide corridor. Just beyond the corner was Princess Zelda, stopped in the middle of the doorway. Link frantically tried to skid to a stop before he ran into her, but his feet slipped out from under him, and he hit the floor with a loud thud.

“Clumsy,” Zelda teased, smirking at him.

“Well…” Link responded picking his body up off the floor and patting his back down of dust, “Excuse me, Princess, but running then suddenly stopping isn’t exactly the easiest thing to do.”

“Oh, stop making excuses for yourself,” Zelda retorted jokingly, and then she spun around to walk into the room behind her. “Good morning,” She spoke. It took Link a minute to realize who, exactly, she was talking to. It was the King; Daphnes Nohansen Hyrule.

He was a relatively tall man, though he often looked as thought he had a bit too much to eat. Gray hairs littered his hair and his now slowly growing beard. Today, he was wearing a long, thick red robe, which, strangely, came down only to his knees.

“Morning, Zelda,” The king greeted her. Link slowly walked in and bowed to the king. This was, apparently, an informal meeting, so Link wouldn’t have to kneel to the king as he usually did. “Good morning, Link,” King greeted him.

“Good morning, your highness. I trust the day finds you well?” Link asked him.

“Well…I can’t complain,” The king chuckled then he turned to Zelda, who was now sitting next to him in a chair, staring at Link for some reason, “I have some interesting news for you, Princess.”

“What is it?” Zelda inquired, jolting her head around to him.

“We, the royal officials and I, may have found a suitor for you,” the King stated, as if he were proud of his accomplishment.

“Oh, really,” Zelda responded him, surprised and intrigued, “Who is it?”

“He’s a prince from the country of Oun, beyond the Gerudo desert, and his name is Tarn. He should be here within the next few hours, so you should go put on your best dress.”

Zelda suddenly sprung from her seat and dashed out of the room, presumably to her bedroom. Link followed her with his eyes until she turned a corner.

“Link,” The king spoke, making Link spin around towards him. He was now standing directly behing Link, a stern look on his face. “As Zelda’s personal bodyguard, I expect you to protect her from this boy, if need be.”

“Yes, your highness.” Link accepted.

CHAPTER 2: The Suitor

The golden carriage arrived at roughly 1:00, at least that’s what the guard told them, seeing as they were all in the throne room waiting for the “suitor” to arrive and couldn’t personally tell.

They were patiently waiting for him. Link was sitting on the king’s left side, while Zelda was sitting on his right.

Several unrecognized guards filed into the room, all in matching uniforms, in a V formation. The first guard stepped forward. He unraveled a medium-sized scroll, of which he pull from his side like a sword, and spoke.

“His Majesty, Tarn, Prince of the kingdom of Oun, resides,” he proclaimed then moved back into his original position.

“Not even Zelda’s father demands this much attention,” Link thought, making a crooked smile cross his face.

Then the guards slowly split to reveal a boy. The first features noticeable were his dark brown hair and, as he looked to them, his green eyes. He seemed about the same age as Zelda or Link.

He was wearing a strange white robe. Gold design ran along it, but the strangest part was that the sleeves were non-existent.

The boy quickly knelt before all three of them, and the King stood from his throne and spoke, “Welcome, Prince Tarn, to Hyrule.” Tarn looked up and saw Zelda standing next to her father; he apparently hadn’t taken notice of Link yet.

Zelda solemnly strode over to Tarn, feeling the tension of the moment. “Hello, Tarn of Oun, pleasure to meet you,” Zelda greeted him, giving him as slight bow.

“Of what I’ve seen of Hyrule thus far; it is a beautiful country. But, none of it is more beautiful than you, Princess,” Tarn responded while kissing the back of her gloved hand, between the two inner knuckles.

“Oh brother,” Link thought to himself. The sappy speech, along with the situation, felt sickening to him.

The King stood and began to walk over to where Zelda and Tarn were standing. Link followed.

“I see you two are getting along quite well,” the King believed, “so to commemorate your bond, and Hyrule opening relations with Oun, we shall throw a ball tonight in largest ballroom.”

Link silently stepped out from behind the King. Tarn seemed startled by Link sudden appearance, much to Link’s pleasure. “I’m sorry to ask, but just who are you?” Tarn asked, staring at Link awkwardly.

“I am Link, Princess Zelda’s personal bodyguard, so you should expect to see me just as often as you see her, if not more,” Link responded with a blank expression on his face, and he then grabbed the hilt of his sword, which was hooked at his waist. Tarn’s eyes grew wide at, what Link could only guess a slight shock.

Link felt something strange about this boy, some odd inclination that told him that they should all keep away from this boy; some inner sense that he was bad news for all of them. However, he shrugged it off and just stared at Tarn, intimidating him.

“Alright,” Tarn responded, his gaze returning to the rest of the group.

The King inconspicuously nodded and a Hyrule castle guard stepped out from the line behind Tarn. “We have a room prepared for you, your highness,” The guard told Tarn then turned and gestured Tarn to follow him.

Tarn quickly turned to Zelda. “I will see you at the ball,” Tarn said, kissing her hand again and then bowing out of the room. Tarn’s royal guards formally left the room, following him.

The king, Zelda, and Link kept their eyes on the now empty doorway.

The King suddenly exploded with rumbling laughter, much to both Link and Zelda’s surprise.

“You scared the royalty out of him, Link,” the King erupted, bits of the sentence breaking with his laughter.

Link smiled. “You think so, your highness?” Link inquired as tears came to the king’s eyes.

The King slowly calmed his bellowing and said, “No doubt, my boy, keep up the good work,” he told him as he patted Link on the back.

Zelda suddenly jumped out in front of both of them with a furious expression on her face.

“You two are so mean!” She yelled, beginning half-laugh herself, “I really like this guy, so could you calm the threatening down a little?”

“As you wish, Princess,” Link told her, calming himself down and stepping a little closer to her, “But as your bodyguard, I still have to watch out for you,” Link assured her.

“I can live with that,” She responded as she quickly turned and ran away to her bedroom.

“Go on back home, Link,” The king told him, returning to his throne, “Go, and get prepared for the ball tonight.”

“Yes, your highness,” Link understood as he, too, turned to run through the doorway.

“Ah…that was funny,” The King said to himself, finally calmed down from the whole affair.

This shows promise, can't wait to see what happens with Tarn.

Subscribed.

CHAPTER 3: The Hidden Regret

It was already almost time for the ball to start, the time had passed rather quickly. Link had done just as the King requested and gotten dressed in one of his best outfits. It was a mostly black button-down shirt with red trimmings and black pants to match. It almost looked oriental, foreign.

He looked around and loved what he saw. Arguably, Hyrule castle, on the inside, looked best at night because of the multitude of torches and lanterns lit throughout the corridors made the various rocks and gemstones built into the bricks shine with the greatest brilliance.

Link looked up and a great crowd forming in the doorway to largest ballroom as, perhaps, hundreds of people filed into the gigantic room.

Link noticed Zelda suddenly dash between one corridor and into the ballroom, seemingly in an incredible hurry for something. She didn’t even notice him.

He unhurriedly strode into the room to see Zelda standing near the arch of the doorway, her head bouncing back and forth between the two walls of the ballroom; Link had come to recognize this as a nervous habit of hers.

“Zelda,” She suddenly spun around to see him, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” She quickly responded, seeming hurried, “I’m just really anxious about this whole dancing thing…” She trailed off into her own worry.

“Perhaps it’s this new guy worrying you,” Link shrugged.

“Perhaps…” She looked away from him for a moment and began tapping her chin with her finger.

“Don’t worry; you’ll have a great time tonight. There’s nothing stopping you, have fun,” Link assured and encouraged her.

“Thank you, Link,” She swiftly hugged him and scampered over to a table to get a glass of wine.

Link fell into a chair and set his sword beside him, against it, and just randomly scanned the ballroom.

The band slowly started to play a slow, yet exuberant, melody as Tarn’s royal guards filed into the room in the same strange V-shape from when he had arrived here.

The front guards broke off to the side and left an opening for Tarn to speed forward towards the crowd. Everyone in the room started clapping, for exactly what reason, Link had no idea.

“I may not like him, but the boy sure knows how to start a party,” Link whispered to himself.

Tarn walked up to Zelda, who was still standing next to the wine table. And, as the band started playing a slightly more upbeat tune, he bowed to her and asked, “May I have this dance, Princess?”

“You may,” Zelda said as she gracefully took his hand and let him lead her out to the middle of the dance floor. They both started to swirl around the dance floor. Link could see them talking to each other as they were dance but, with both the loud music and other people dancing, he couldn’t hear them.

Several minutes passed as Link did nothing but follow Tarn and Zelda with his eyes. The band finally came to the end of their song, and Zelda and Tarn split and bowed to each other. Once they were done, they shared their first kiss.

Link subconsciously looked away. He would’ve thought that he would be happy for her, but it seemed that indifference had gotten the better of him.

Without him even realizing that they were finished, Zelda dropped into the chair beside Link, startling him. She was out of breath.

“Whew, he is a great dancer,” She stated trying to start some form of conversation with him.

“Where is he now?” Link asked.

“He went to go get me some more wine,” She said, still trying to catch her breath.

Link looked a bit somber, as if this entire event were just something to tolerate.

“What’s wrong, Link, not having fun?”

“Not really,” Link told her with a sigh, and dropping his head back onto the backing of his chair.

She suddenly jumped up from her seat, grabbed his wrist and pulled him towards the dance floor.

“What are you doing?” Link asked her, quizzically stunned.

“‘There’s nothing stopping you, have fun’ isn’t that what you told me? Perhaps you should take your own advice, Link!” Zelda responded, moving him backwards. In his attempts to not step on her, or otherwise her step on him, he found that he was dancing with her.

It was incredible to dance with her; she was now leading the dance. The moments flew by, and before he knew it, the song was over and he, like Tarn, had to bow to the Princess.

After he bowed to her, he looked up to see Tarn standing near where Link and Zelda where sitting, holding two wine glasses. Tarn looked utterly stunned, so stunned; in fact, he dropped the two wine glasses that broke as they hit the ground, spilling a generous amount of wine onto the floor. He angrily paraded over to where they were.

“You mind if I cut back in?” Tarn growled through his teeth. “Not at all,” Link responded as he returned to his seat.

He resumed his following of their dancing. Once again, they talked to each other as they danced and he still couldn’t hear them. The same thing happened as last time; they danced then bowed to each other.

This time, however, they both ran out of the ballroom and scurried off to somewhere unknown. He declined to follow them and just sat there, waiting for them to return. He supposed that he could trust Tarn; he seemed a nice enough person, despite his constant feeling of dread against him.

Why was he feeling said dread against him? Usually Link wouldn’t let his hunches affect him like this. Despite himself, however, something constantly warned him about Tarn.

Several minutes later, they both ran back into the ballroom, but there was something different.

There was a ring on Zelda’s finger. Its single diamond struck the light and partially blinded him.

“Oh goddesses, Zelda, what have you done?” Link whispered as if expecting an answer, suddenly sitting up in his chair in shock. She and Tarn continued to run until they got back to the wine table. Tarn grabbed a wine glass, and some form of silverware, maybe a fork, and knocked the two together notifying the band to stop playing.

“I have an announcement to make…” Tarn yelled over the crowd, making Link’s fears grow. Tarn threw his hands into the air. “Princess Zelda has accepted to marry me!” Everyone in the ballroom gave them a standing ovation, all except Link, whose entire body flushed as the news came rushing to him.

Link saw the King, who was just standing there, staring blankly ahead, quizzically stunned.

A crowd had already formed around Zelda and Tarn, so Link stood up, with sheathed sword in hand, and casually slipped behind the crowd. He walked up behind Zelda and whispered, trying to keep a monotone voice, “What have you done?”

Zelda slowly turned her head to look at him, with a pitiful, apologetic look dawning onto her face. “Don’t be mad, please?” She whimpered.

“It’s somewhat hard not to be. What are you thinking, Zelda? You just met Tarn today!” He growled.

“I know…” She said quickly averting her gaze from him, “But he is a really nice guy, and I do really like him…” She, again, trailed off. Link could already tell that she wasn’t completely sure of her decision. A thought came to him; what if he pressured her into a hasty decision?

“For the goddesses’ sake, Zelda, I hope you know what you’re doing,” Link said blankly, “Just remember this; to only like someone is not enough to marry them.” He then turned back to return to his seat.

He overheard Tarn tell one of his officials that they would be married in a month; this only pushed Link’s worries further, ever closer to the cliff, he thought. The rest of the played through without anything else big happening, thankfully.


“Well, that was an interesting evening,” the King spoke, starting a conversation, that they all knew was inevitable, as the last few people left the castle.

Zelda slowly and gingerly turned to face him. She could hear the anger that lay underneath his seemingly calm voice. “You’re not happy with me, are you?” she asked him, pitiful face dawning again.”

“Not entirely,” The King responded, “But this is your decision; if this boy is the man you want to spend the rest of your life with, I can’t stop you. He looked from Zelda to Link, then back to Zelda. “Go on to bed, Princess. You need to think about this,” He told her sending her off to her room.

“That’s what I told her,” Link spoke as Zelda stepped past him, her head down. He slung his sheathed sword over his shoulder and dipped his head, bowing to the king. “Good night, Sir.”

“Good night, Link,” The King dismissed as Link left the ballroom and eventually continued out the castle.

CHAPTER 4: First Date

Zelda hadn’t slept much last night; she even tried commanding herself to sleep, as if she had power over that as well. When she did finally fall asleep, she only slept for about two hours or so. She knew she shouldn’t be questioning her decision, but she was, mainly because of what Link and her dad had said. She couldn’t help but hear a nagging voice in her head. But, Tarn is a really nice person and she really liked him.

She was already out of bed, so she continued on with her usual morning routine. She decided to wear a pink dress today, but truthfully, that was the least of her worries. She left after quickly combing her hair and went to go get Link. She continued to walk until she came to the beautiful garden on the outside of Hyrule Castle. She started to yell, as she usually does, “Link, come on,” and after a few moments waiting, Link’s head began to dawn over the hillside as he walked towards her.

“Good morning, Princess,” Link greeted her. “Morning,” She said, smiling at him then turning around to once again face the castle, “Come on, we have to wake my father,” she explained then began to run off towards the castle. He, like yesterday, began to chase after her. He chased her through the halls of the castle, eventually stopping just before the throne room. Zelda tried to surprise him enough to fall again, but he was smarter than that and stopped just as he turned the corner to see her again standing there.

“Ah…” Zelda realized, “You’re getting smarter.”

“It’s somewhat hard to get tricked twice by the same trick,” Link told her with a smirk rising on his face.

“We’ll see,” Zelda teased, flinging her body around to, again, enter the throne room.

Unlike yesterday, however, the King was not already sitting on his throne. Zelda turned down a hallway, and then knocked on a door to her left, to which the inhabitant of the room only moaned to, making Link quite puzzled. Zelda rolled her eyes and pushed the door open to reveal that this particular room was the King’s bedroom. Zelda walked in, followed by Link, and strode over to the side of the King’s bed and grabbed the top part of the King’s body and shook it, attempting to awaken him.

“Get up, Father,” she exclaimed trying to audibly shock him awake.

“Alright, alright, I’m awake,” The King mumbled as he sat up in his bed.

He saw Link leaning on the doorway, “Ah, Good morning, Link,” The King greeted him.

“Good morning, your highness,” Link said dropping his head to make an very casual bow. The King then swung his feet around to rest in a sitting position.

“Hurry up and get dressed,” Zelda said striding back over to Link. She looked at him for a moment then spun back. “We’ll be waiting for you,” she told the King, going through the doorway and back to the throne room. Link followed her, closing the door behind him. She had gotten further ahead of him than he expected, and she was now sniffing at some flowers that were planted near a windowsill. She stopped and looked at Link, who was coming closer to her. “I love the smell of these flowers,” She told him, “Can you smell it?”

“No, I can’t.”

She quickly plucked one from the windowsill and handed to Link, who, as masculine as he could, took a whiff of the pink rose.

“Ok…I can’t smell much, but it wasn’t bad,” Link told her handing it back to her. They were both unaware that Tarn had walked into the room.

“Ah, there you are, Princess,” Tarn said walking over to the both of them.

Link felt a vibe coming from him, some inclination that he was already particularly furious. It seemed he had a knack for that.

“I have planned a date for us, my love,” Tarn said stopping in front of Zelda.

“Oh, really, where are we going?” She asked.

“We are going to share a day together at Lake Hylia,” Tarn explained.

“Sounds like fun,” She agreed.

“It will be.”

Link shifted, and Tarn shot a look at Link, that looked suspiciously mad, almost insane, and then Tarn’s gaze returned to Zelda, “We should probably go soon, so you should go get yourself together.”

“Okay,” She agreed and ran off to her bedroom.

“Ah, Tarn, good to see you, my boy,” The King exclaimed, stepping out of his bedroom and into the throne room. He saw Zelda running out of the room.

“I trust you have something planned for the two of you?” The King assumed.

“Yes, I do,” Tarn told him. “Where are you two going today?” The King asked dropping into his throne. “We are going to Lake Hylia,” Tarn explained.

“Sounds like fun,” The King responded, making Link chuckle.

“That’s what Zelda said, your highness, word for word,” Link told him.

Tarn then shot him another look, again angry.

“Really,” The King asked, “What an odd coincidence.”

Zelda ran back into the room, completely changed into a different, slightly more weathered, dress. “Ok, I’m ready to go,” She gleefully told Tarn.

“Good,” Tarn responded then he turned to the King and said “We’ll be off then, your highness.”

“Have fun, you two,” The King responded as they both left the throne room.

“So, Link,” The King began to ask as he flicked open today’s newspaper, “What will you be doing today?”

“I honestly, have no idea, your highness. It’s a little uninteresting around here without Zelda around.” Link responded trying to think of what to do.

“I know the feeling,” The King chuckled.

“I’m going to go see what I can do; I’ll be back once Zelda and Tarn return, your highness,” Link stated as he turned to leave the room.

“See you around, Link,” The King exclaimed as Link strode off through the castle.

CHAPTER 5: Waning

He never found anything truly interesting to do, so he decided to lie on the grass and let come what will. Whether that is sleep or Zelda, he didn’t care. The problem was, both came. First sleep came to him, unintentional sleep. Then, seemingly hours later, Zelda and Tarn returned from Lake Hylia.

Zelda woke him up, as she’s prone to do.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” she greeted him when his eyes finally opened; “Well…it’s not exactly morning, is it?” she asked herself, looking into the sky to see the sun was a good deal beyond the noon position.

“Did you have fun at the lake?” Link asked her, pushing his own body off the ground and resting himself in a seated position.

“Yes, it was rather fun,” she responded.

“Where is Tarn now?” Link asked while rapidly turning his body partially hoping to see Tarn standing somewhere near.

“He’s in the castle,” she stated dropping down onto the ground next to Link. Zelda seemed worried about something, seeing as she suddenly dropped her chin into her hand and let out a sigh.

“What’s wrong,” Link started to worry about her.

“Well… you’re not going to like to hear this, but… Tarn wants me to stop talking with you,” she said with an apologetic look on her face.

“What? Why would he ask that of you?” Link’s eyebrow rose. He felt his body flush at the idea.

“He thinks that you’re out to jeopardize our relationship, I’m willing to bet he thinks that because of the dance we had,” she explained staring out into space.

“But, we’re just friends,” Link quickly responded with an annoyingly whiny voice.
“I know, but he doesn’t seem to want to believe me…” she trailed off.



“Zelda!” Tarn boomed from across the garden. She turned and saw him standing on the drawbridge leading in.

“I have to go, I’ll see you later, Link,” she whispered to him as she stood up and walked back over to Tarn.

“I told you to stay away from him, Zelda,” Tarn said as she inched closer to him.

“He is my friend and bodyguard, I’m going to be around him whether you like it or not,” Zelda barked.

I’m beginning to wonder if you’re the kind of person that he should be protecting me from

Link stood and followed them both, from a distance, into the castle.


“Ah, you two have returned,” The King realized as Zelda and Tarn came through the door to the throne room, “Did you both have fun at Lake Hylia?”

“Yes, it was rather fun,” She repeated.

“What all did you do there?” The King continued to ask.

“The usual…fishing, had a picnic…” She trailed off.

“Oh...ok,” The King responded, immediately assuming that Zelda didn’t really want to talk about it anymore, “Well… dinner is to be served in a short while, so you should get ready.”

“Okay,” she murmured, turning around to walk towards her bedroom.

“I should prepare for dinner as well,” Tarn told the King as he bowed himself out of the room.

Link strode in. Tarn, again, shot daggers out of his eyes at him.

“Ah, Link, good to see you, did you ever find anything interesting to do around here?” The King asked joyfully.

“Not really…” he shrugged, “I just wound up laying on the grass outside and waiting for,” Link pointed backwards with his thumb, “Them to get back.”

“Ah…Well, as I’ve told them, dinner is bound to be served soon. Would you like to stay for it?”

“Sure, I’ll stay,” Link responded, he then turned to walk leisurely walk around the castle. He mindlessly strode through the halls, waiting for dinner to arrive, if nothing else.


Link found himself in front of the door to Zelda’s bedroom. He stopped for a moment, just staring at the dark brown wooden door. His hand flew up, knocking on it. A moment passed.

“Come in.”

Link twisted the knob and slowly pressed on the door to see Zelda gently brushing her hair in her mirror.

“Oh, hey Link,” she greeted him.

“I almost hate to ask this, but…” Link said dropping onto her bed and looking at her reflection in the mirror, “Are you still sure about your decision to marry Tarn?”

“Actually, Link…” Zelda admitted, “I’m not as sure as I was before, I still like him, but he seems too controlling of me…I don’t want to marry him as much as I did anymore.”

Link sat there for a moment, “Then, don’t marry him.”

“If I don’t marry him then I’ll be breaking a royal promise!” She exclaimed. Link tried his hardest to find as solution, realizing that she was right. He couldn’t think of anything.

“My dad would be so disappointed in me…” she murmured.

Several moments passed. “I’ve been thinking about wearing my hair different…” She trailed off, trying to change the subject, “But I don’t know how I should put it.”

“Here, I’ll help,” Link told her as he walked between her and the mirror.

“Close your eyes,” Link commanded and Zelda snapped her eyes shut. Several minutes passed and all she could hear was various items shifting in her dresser drawers.

“Go ahead, open your eyes,” Link told her. She opened them to see herself in the mirror. The side-front parts of her hair were wrapped in pink and green ribbons, and rested in the front, while the rest of her hair was combed to the back.

“Wow, that looks really good, thanks Link,” she thanked him. The door slowly came open and Tarn walked into the room. His eyes grew wide then began to dart between Link and Zelda.

He quickly grabbed Zelda’s wrist, cuffing it with his fingers, and pulled her out of the room, away from Link. Link jogged behind them, trying to keep out of sight. They came to rest at the main courtyard inside the castle, and Link hid behind a neighboring wall.

“I thought I told you to stay away from him!” Tarn yelled.

“I’m not going to stay away from him, because he is my friend and bodyguard!” Zelda yelled. She yanked her hand from his.

“Then what was that display back in your bedroom?” Tarn gritted his teeth.

“I asked him to help me with my hair!” Zelda explained, still yelling.

“You love him and you don’t even realize it!”

“No, I… I don’t, he and I are just friends.” Zelda yelled. Tarn dropped his head into his hands and breathed a large sigh.

Tarn lifted his head slowly. “Wait…you two have had sex, haven’t you?” he wiggled his finger at her.

“What? No! We haven’t even kissed!” Zelda said, shocked.

“Don’t lie to me. You two have had sex and you weren’t going to tell me until we got married, so that you could cover up your dirty little mistake!” Tarn yelled.

“No, I haven’t had sex with him! Why won’t you believe me?” Zelda asked. Tears began to pool in her eyes.

“Don’t you dare lie to me, you little slut!” Tarn screamed. Contact. Link’s fingers bore into a side of a brick.

A few moments passed and Zelda just held her face, tears streaming down it.

“You’d better stay away from Link,” Tarn commanded, shoving his finger in her face, he then turned and stormed off. Zelda stood there, still holding her face. Link quietly slipped out from behind the wall and walked towards her. Her knees buckled. Link caught her and set her down on the grass.

“That tears it; I’m going to tell your dad about this.” Link said, dropping beside her.
“Don’t; I shouldn’t have provoked him,” Zelda told him. She slid her palm against her cheek and looked away.

“Don’t you dare blame yourself, Zelda. He had no reason to hurt you. Your father will hear of this.” Link told her. Her head fell onto his shoulder.

Why can’t Tarn be more like you, Link?

This is a pretty good start you've got here and I'm curious to see where you go with this.

IMO, there are a couple things that are disruptive to the story (and it won't hurt my feelings if you disagree):

1) Formal vs Informal - it seems a bit odd to me that Zelda and (especially) the King are so informal with Link. Now, perhaps an argument can be made that since Link has been around for so long, both the King and Princess are comfortable enough to be casual with him in private; but I have a hard time believing that they would ever treat Link so informally in public. And honestly, I would think that Link would be all but invisible to their eyes when other Royal guests are present. But perhaps there is a reason for this that has yet to be explained.

2) Bodyguard and Friend? - at this point in the story I can easily see the friendship Zelda feels for Link, but I am very confused as to how Link ever managed to get the job of Bodyguard. In Ch. 3 he deliberately chooses to let Zelda wander off in the castle with a person he doesn't know and doesn't trust while he lounges in a chair; Ch. 4 he allows Zelda to leave the caste with the same unknown and untrusted guy to a place where she could've easily been killed or kidnapped (and Link would've literally been sleeping on the job), and finally in Ch. 5 Link hides nearby while Zelda is struck by the guy Link doesn't trust and Link doesn't do anything until Zelda nearly faints and hits the floor. So based on all of this it doesn't seem like Link takes his job very seriously and his actions so far don't seem to indicate that he has any strong feelings for Zelda.

Originally Posted by Zeldafreak83

IMO, there are a couple things that are disruptive to the story (and it won't hurt my feelings if you disagree):

1) Formal vs Informal - it seems a bit odd to me that Zelda and (especially) the King are so informal with Link. Now, perhaps an argument can be made that since Link has been around for so long, both the King and Princess are comfortable enough to be casual with him in private; but I have a hard time believing that they would ever treat Link so informally in public. And honestly, I would think that Link would be all but invisible to their eyes when other Royal guests are present. But perhaps there is a reason for this that has yet to be explained.

I've always imagined Zelda to be the "I don't really care what people think of me" kinda girl. 'She's Link's friend and that's the way it's going to be.'

Now I do think that royal guests should be paid more attention too, and in a way, that could apply to my most recent story (possible spoilers!)

Originally Posted by Zeldafreak83

2) Bodyguard and Friend? - at this point in the story I can easily see the friendship Zelda feels for Link, but I am very confused as to how Link ever managed to get the job of Bodyguard. In Ch. 3 he deliberately chooses to let Zelda wander off in the castle with a person he doesn't know and doesn't trust while he lounges in a chair; Ch. 4 he allows Zelda to leave the caste with the same unknown and untrusted guy to a place where she could've easily been killed or kidnapped (and Link would've literally been sleeping on the job), and finally in Ch. 5 Link hides nearby while Zelda is struck by the guy Link doesn't trust and Link doesn't do anything until Zelda nearly faints and hits the floor. So based on all of this it doesn't seem like Link takes his job very seriously and his actions so far don't seem to indicate that he has any strong feelings for Zelda.

You're honestly kind of right. He should be taking his job a little more seriously.

I was thinking about doing a a short story as to how she and Tarn actually get engaged, but revising that part of the story(again!) would fit better.


BTW... 115 views in a little over two weeks! That's better than most of my other ones!

Last Chapter! After this, I' m going to go back to the first few chapters and revise them slightly, so be watching out for that.

CHAPTER 6: Possessive

Link had gotten another guard to inform the King of his request to meet. He was on his way there now. He walked into the throne room and kneeled in the center of the room.

“Good morning, Link. I heard you wanted to speak with me.” The King spoke.

“Yes, your highness, I wanted to speak to you about Princess Zelda’s new ‘fiancé’,” Link responded standing to face him.

“Oh? What about him?” The King questioned. He sat back in his throne.

“Her royal suitor, Tarn, has physically abused Zelda. He is under the impression that I’m trying to destroy their relationship,” Link explained.

“As a personal friend of both mine and Zelda’s, I am inclined to believe you first. However, Tarn has told me that you have been acting inappropriately towards my daughter.

“I can see no reason for him to say that.” Link stated, shaking his head.

“Instead of arguing amongst ourselves, we should go see Zelda about the matter,” The King supposed as he stood from his throne and strode over to Link.

“You’re right,” Link agreed turning to the doorway and following him to Zelda’s room.



“Tarn, what are you doing?” Zelda screamed as she and Tarn ran into her bedroom and he slammed her into the wall. The door latched behind them.

“I want you…,” Tarn whispered in her ear, a crazed look in his eyes. Tarn had pinned her to the wall so she couldn’t move.

“I want you to stop screwing with me, and messing around with Link…you’re supposed to be marrying me, but some unknown reason, you constantly want to spend more time with Link than me.”

“I’m not going to marry you if you’re going act like this!” Zelda yelled, “I may spend a lot of time with Link, but that’s because he’s my friend.”

“NO!” Tarn yelled, slapping her again, “It’s more than that, you little tramp, but you just don’t seem to recognize it.”

Zelda was now bleeding from her lip, wincing with every throb. Tarn threw Zelda against her mirror table, breaking the mirror, and he wrapped his hand around her throat so she couldn’t breathe.

Tarn whispered through his teeth “I’ll teach you to cheat on me, you little slut.”



They both leisurely strode to Zelda’s bedroom door. There was a loud crash from inside, making Link’s body suddenly jump awake. He bolted to the door and twisted the knob. Locked.

“Zelda, are you okay?” Link yelled, trying to communicate to her through the door. There was a sudden breaking of glass on the other side. Link stepped back from the door. He felt his heartbeat accelerating.

His foot flew upwards toward the door, knocking the wood off its hinges.

Time slowed dramatically. Splinters of wood hit the floor. Zelda grappling at Tarn’s hand, trying to pull it off her throat and her now bleeding lip. He saw Tarn raise his other fist to strike her. Link ran over to them and, before Tarn made contact, Link dug his nails into the back of Tarn’s neck and threw him across the room to the far wall.

“Don’t you dare touch her!” Link automatically yelled, running to where had thrown Tarn. He quickly punched Tarn in the gut, making him bend over in pain. This left an opening and Link used it by kneeing Tarn hard in the head, knocking him backwards. Link suddenly grasped Tarn’s throat and slid him up the wall, choking him in pure anger.

“How dare you hurt Princess Zelda!” Link yelled through his teeth.

Time seemed to last forever as Tarn continued to attempt to struggle out of Link’s grasp. Link’s nails continued to bear into Tarn’s neck and a few drops of blood slid down Link’s arm. Tarn’s eyes began to roll into the back of his head.
Zelda ran up behind Link. “Stop, Link, You’re killing him.” She told him, and pushed Link on his arm. She was right. Link reluctantly released Tarn, making him drop to the floor and leaving him gasping for air.

The king called for some guards. Link picked Tarn up again by the front of his shirt.

“You disgust me. Any man that would physically abuse a woman is a waste of flesh,” Link whispered to him.

Tarn spat in his face, a mixture of spit and blood. Link’s anger rose again and he threw Tarn against the right wall, hopefully breaking a bone or two.

Two guards ran into the room. “Arrest him,” Link commanded them, “and throw him into the dungeon.” The two guards quickly placed Tarn in handcuffs and escorted him out of the room.

“Are you alright, Princess?” Link asked, finally calmed down and turning to look at her.

“Yes, I’m fine,” Zelda responded.

She turned to the King, who was still standing in the doorway. “I don’t want to marry him.”

“I would expect not,” The King responded, “Tarn will be banished from the Kingdom of Hyrule. I and the others of the royal council will resume our search for you a husband.” Zelda simply nodded, and the King turned and left.

Zelda jumped at Link, hugging him. “I can’t tell you how grateful I am, Link.”

“Trust me, I know.”

Wow! I definitely see a lot of improvement in this chapter.

Your characterization has improved a great deal and it was nice to see Link step up to his role as bodyguard.

However, be careful when switching perspectives. The first time you did it I managed to follow what you were doing, but the second time I got confused for a few lines. So just always be sure you're making it clear to the reader that they are now seeing the story through a different pair of eyes.

Keep up the good work!

Okay, as my last comment wasn't really very useful (or even useful at all) I've scraped through your last chapter in an attempt to find something to criticize...

Originally Posted by Devoid

“As a personal friend of both mine and Zelda’s, I am inclined to believe you first. However, Tarn has told me that you have been acting inappropriately towards my daughter.

This seems like a bit of shoehorned information, added to meet previous critiques after the section was written. Flow improvement is needed here, perhaps.

Originally Posted by Devoid

“I want you…,” Tarn whispered in her ear, a crazed look in his eyes. Tarn had pinned her to the wall so she couldn’t move.

Is this meant to make Tarn seem a bit rape-y? Because it does. Even if it was deliberate, I'd remove it, as it just seems wrong somehow.

Apart from that... I have no criticisms. I'm a bit sad it's already over, and I would love to see some more.

Originally Posted by Mister Blak

Is this meant to make Tarn seem a bit rape-y? Because it does. Even if it was deliberate, I'd remove it, as it just seems wrong somehow.

Yes that's the kind of guy he has turned into.

Let me give you a bit of background info:

During the time I was writing this story, my ex-girlfriend was dating a guy a lot like Tarn. He yelled at her, called the worst of names. He really made her the worst her that I've ever seen. I told her to break up with him, which she did, but only for a week or two, then they got back together.

That's the way women work; They love ***holes.

I based Tarn off of him, and yeah, that's the kind of character that Tarn has evolved into. I don't want to give too much away, but the subject of Tarn is not irrelevant. Almost none of this story is irrelevant.