Day Two

[Illidan Stormrage]

Water splattered incessantly on Link's skin, cooling the skin where it was intact and stinging where it wasn't. The pain wasn't receding, but at least the bleeding had reduced. Light headed and weak, he forced himself into a sitting position, flinging one of his backpacks to his lap with his good arm, being mindful to dodge the arrow wound. Ganondorf lay on the muddied ground beside him, throwing his anger at the Dante's Abyss organiser. How the Gerudo king thought that he could actually speak with Karl Jak was beyond Link, but he hadn't a mind to ponder it.

His working arm dived into his satchel and scurried about for sustenance. Finding the container, he yanked it out and tossed it to Ganondorf before finding another for himself.

"Eat," Link said. "And stop being so angry. We've got to conserve energy. Yelling into the sky isn't going to help that."

Ganondorf seethed at his companion, but must have seen the logic in his statement. He struggled onto his arse, and still with a furrowed brow and an upturned lip, dug into his meal.

The rain made the food less palatable than it already was. Link was used to fresh, steaming food, not this prepackaged imitation. Still it calmed the stomach and gave him energy. In this situation, he had to look for every and any silver lining he could find, because there was one hell of a storm cloud looming overhead.

"This is ridiculous!" Ganondorf suddenly shouted. "How can we be reduced to this? I am Ganondorf, and I am broken and sitting in the rain!"

Link finished chewing his last bite and threw away the container. After everything they'd been through together and even just himself mentally, he was surprised to find how much clarity he had. He grabbed the arrow still sticking through his thigh, twisted it and pulled. The projectile came whizzing out, a fresh oozing of blood in its wake. The pain sizzled inside his limb, but he ignored it, throwing the arrow away.

"Ganondorf," Link said. The dark lord turned to face him, his face tortured by fury and embarrassment. When the lighting crashed, it lit up his face in just the right way as to remind Link of when he defeated him in his castle, his self righteous rage bringing him to collapse his entire fortress just to have a chance at killing the Hylian. "Calm down. This isn't over yet."

Ganondorf's anger simmered down, but he still clutched it tightly. "What are we to do now, boy? Between us, we barely have a functional body."

Link gazed into the sky, droplets of rain slinking down his long blonde hair and dripping onto the ground. "Do you have any idea how many times I could've given up when I walked out of Kokiri Forest? I was punched, kicked, slashed, thrown, hit with arrows, burned with fire, frozen, electrocuted ... there were even times where I fell and couldn't get back up. But you know what? I never gave up. I had Navi, I had the help of the Great Fairies, and I had my courage. That's all I needed, and that's what I brought with me when we finally squared off in your tower."

"Nice pep talk kid, but I don't see how -"

"Just shut up and listen to me, will you?" Link said. "My point is ... we aren't done yet. I might have a broken arm and a wounded leg, you in a similar state ... but we are powerful. We are the two who decided the fate of Hyrule. We are the two who have defeated opponent after opponent, our strength and determination unbreakable. As long as we still have breath in our bodies ... we are not done. Our wills are stronger than any injury. Do you hear me? We are not done!"

Ganondorf opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. A faint grin spread over his lips, though the sharpness didn't leave his eyes. "Impressive, boy. Hard to fathom such a saccharine speech would have a modicum of merit to it."

Link laughed despite the throbbing heat in his thigh. "Like you said, you've got your skills ... I've got mine."