457 words

It's late. The sky has long since faded from the beautiful sunset to black. I stare up at the mountains, tracing their outlines with my eyes, when a blue dot sails towards me. Link! He lands on the smoothly tiled bridge with a loud tap, then pauses, catching his bearings.

"Link! Oh my gosh," I say, eyeing him full-on. I'm sure it's an illusion... but the blood all over his clothes looks horrible. Red stains his neck and chest, knees and hands. Without a word, he walks over to me and buries his head in my chest. I wrap my arms around him. "What... where did you go?!"

"I'm sorry," he mumbles, the tone of his voice hitting me like a brick. That's the problem — he said something. With his mouth. My chest feels wet where his face is and I pull away.

It's not tears. It's blood.

"Clearly you need help, just... just come with me..." We walk to my room as I try to coax an explanation from him, but he keeps his mouth shut and expression as blank as he can. At least he isn't resisting, which is all I can ask for right now.

I wet a cloth and drag it across his face and neck, still looking for an answer, not recieving one, getting more and more impatient. "Link, please, tell me what happened," he opens his mouth to speak, but blood comes out in place of words, dark, thick blood. It's scary to me, I can't imagine how horrible he must feel, having this happen to him.

Blood from the throat means internal bleeding.

Shit. I need answers—fast, by the looks of it. "Alright. Link, you're probably dying."

"No," he says, and soon after the blood flow recommences. "N-no."

"Every time you speak, you start bleeding!"

"It's my fault," he looks down, his voice turning into a mumble. "I wanted my voice back... they said—they said it'd come with a price."

I bring the cloth up to his face again, and he leans into my touch. It's scary to see him like this — a warrior, so broken and fragile. So helpless. So vulnerable. It's terrifying. If something of this degree can happen to him, of all people... what about weaker ones? Feeble children? Mothers? Simple folk?

I can only wonder.

"Alright, don't talk, but tell me what happened." I look down at the previously light-blue cloth in my hand, now black with blood. Goddammit, Link. Fucking take care of yourself. Although, in this tired and lethargic state, any information will probably be twisted and broken. "Actually n-nevermind, just... go to sleep."

For once, he obliges.