Giggling softly, Midna leaned casually against the rusty bars of his prison cell, a glint shimmering in the crimson iris that was not up skewered by her mask. Casually almost, she stuck one of her fingers in a pointed ear and gave it a scratch. "You know, I might be able to help you out of here.." Her lips widened into a grin that perfectly showed off her sharp canine teeth. Rolling her eye towards the ceiling of musty water stained stone, she kicked one of her small pixie feet against a bar, causing a resounding gong. She then floated in such a way that she became upside down, sitting crosslegged in the open air while her long Orange hair dangled almost to the floor beneath her. Stretching her small arms, she yawned expansively for a moment before suddenly folding her arms and looking quite serious. "Of course I would want something out of it. But go ahead, look around in the corners. You might find something interesting in one of them." With this, the bunch of hair that was tied off near the end suddenly looked strangely like a hand and gestured for the prisoner to explore his cell because of her fabulous clue. Her expression, However, didn't change. Though you might catch a hint of amusement in her eye if looking closely enough.

Narrowing his piercing blue eyes for a moment, Link turned his head to look towards one of the corners of the small room he was being kept in. The muscles of his neck felt strange, slightly watery and weak, As if waking from a very deep sleep. Shrugging his shoulders in an attempt to rid his body of the feeling, he noticed for the first time that is hands were on the floor and he seemed to be crouching down to do so. But when he looked down, he saw two paws in the place where his hands should have been. Turning his gaze to other parts of his body, he didn't seem surprised to discover he also had a tail. As if in a sort of trance, he simply accepted this discovery and moved on to the next item of business.

Turning his head and eyes back towards The corners of the room, he didn't notice much beyond the hard packed dirt floor of his cell and a few scattered pieces of straw that dotted the ground. Flicking one of his pointed ears, subconsciously noting the strangeness of the sensation, he then turned his head in the other direction. With some surprise, he discovered a figure sitting in the corner of his room, completely covered in a black cloak, their head bowed forward towards their folded legs. Instinctively, Link Took in a deep breath through his nose. Working around the Mustey smell of old straw and mildew, he caught the shark distinctive smell of lavender and roses. As if admitting to the discovery, the figure slowly lifted their head and looked out from beneath the cowl with bright intelligent gray green eyes. Princess Zelda stared at him for a seemingly infinite amount of time before a small smile turned up the corners of her lips. Without a word, she lifted one of her delicate white hands and gestured towards a spot on the floor beside her. Tearing his eyes away from her face, Link focused on the spot she was indicating. It seemed to be a weak spot in the dirt that, if moved aside by handy claws, could be used as a means of escaping his prison.

A light laugh wormed its way into his thoughts after a moment And his head instinctively swiveled In the direction of Midna. She had returned to an upright position and was leaning one of her elbows casually against a bar, Chin then resting on her hand. When their gazes met, she broke into a wide grin. "You found it! Brava. Unfortunately, I have some bad news...." As if drawn by her words, a dark figure began to slowly make their way down the hallway, Heavy boots thudding against the stone like hammer blows. Turning their head in Link's direction, fire suddenly seemed to ignite within their eyes. "... Link." The figure said in a deep gravelly voice, lifting one of their arms and stretching it out towards him even though there were several yards still between them.

Link knew from the cold sensation that emanated from his core that he didn't want to wait for that figure to get any closer. Tensing his muscles, He prepared his body to leap For the soft dirt and begin to scratch his way through to the other side. But it felt as if extra gravity was holding him down, Refusing to allow his limbs To lift even a fraction of an inch from the floor. His heart began Beating in a rapid tattoo Against the inside of his rib cage, his breathing coming in short gasps. A hot wind suddenly blew Against his face, causing the fur On his face to ruffle And sway into his eyes. Instinctively, he closed them to the sting, Blinking them Open only A few seconds later.

The pale Blue of the sky was tinged With the Equally pale gray of dawn, Halo of pink cresting the horizon. Of course, this was what he could see of the sky. The majority of his vision was blocked by a red and white nose With flaring nostrils. After a moment, they Snorted a wave of hot air across hiss face Again and he found himself provoked into a short burst of laughter.

"Epona, I find that your timing is quite perfect to rescue me from an unsettling nightmare." Link admitted as he reached up to rub lovingly on either side of the horse's nose, Earning a generous kiss of flapping lips that helped to chase The last of the chest tightening residue of the frightening dream away. Gently pushing her head away so that he could sit up, he quickly ran his fingers over his light brown hair, flattening the wild ruffle that had formed in his sleep and observing the newly dawning morning.

He had been out hunting in the forest the previous day, a startled doe his prize after he had followed the herd for several hours, shooting her cleanly through the neck just as the sun had begun to set. Of course this had meant that he had needed to find a safe spot to camp that would keep the predators away, But it had been worth it for the meat that he was providing to the village. So,, After carefully placing the wrapped body of the fallen deer securely onto Epona's back, Link carefully guided the mare down the short hillside that they had climbed together the day before to reach the small cave they had spent the night in. She seemed eager enough, prancing happily with her tail raised as they reached the bottom and entered The forest proper, Heading back towards Ordin Village.

Pulling her horse short, a young woman blew a dark bang from her face, looking at the crystal clear spring, leading her horse towards it. Her water-skin had been emptied many hours ago, the ride taking longer than she had expected. Hopping off the horse, who lowered it's head lapping up the water. Layla dug into one of the bags on the saddle, pulling her empty water-skin from it, a paper dropped to the ground. It was rolled tightly and was sealed with wax with the Hyrule Royal insignia. Leaning down, she scooped the paper back up, shoving it into the bag.

Turning away, she glanced around to make sure that no one was around her. She wore boots, leggings and a short knee length skirt, with a tunic and belt holding her twin short swords. She waded in the water, dipping the skin down to get some water, she gulped it down like her horse. Letting out a sigh, she glanced around her, "How much farther is this damn village?" She murmured to herself, as she finished taking her drink and turning back to her horse.

Layla replaced the water-skin into the bag, pulling a map from it's depths next. Tracing her finger over the path she followed, she was unfortunately terrible at map reading. She could tell which direction she was suppose to go but as for how far it was, that was something she had no idea. Taking a deep breath, she pulled herself back up onto her horse turning herself into the forest, at least it seemed like she only had a bit of forest left before the village was suppose to be.

It burned her up that the Princess wanted this man to do this, she understood that this man was the Hero of Hyrule but this was something she could have done by herself. And now she had to contend with this guy trying to do it without her like she knew that he would try and do because she was a woman. The only thing she could hope for was the Princess could put in a good word for her with the Hero in the letter. But she was not going to break the seal to look and make sure of that.

The young woman came upon a large wooden bridge, it was wide and spanned over several hundred feet. Pulling the map back out, she pulled it out in her lap, glancing over it over to make sure she was still heading in the right direction. "Maybe this stupid village is going to be close now."

Leading her horse over the bridge, she found another spring, and recognized some of the terrain one of the guards who had been down here explain to her. She was looking for the man's house, which if the man was too be believed was in a tree. Furrowing her brow, she pulled her horse to a stop in front of what she guessed was the man's house. But she could see no sight of him.

Granted the house was small, and there was no one outside. Pulling herself off the horse, she headed up to the ladder, after grabbing the scroll the Princess had sent her with. Pulling herself up on the ladder, she knocked on the door carved into the tree. It was a curious place. She stuck the scroll into her mouth as she pulled her dark hair out of her face, retying her pony-tail as she waited, trying to look at least semi-decent.

Taking the scroll from her mouth, she knocked again. "Hello!?"

Epona'ss hooves clattered loudly on the wooden slats of the bridge as Link urged the rusty mare into a quick trot, eager to be home with it just around the corner. Crouching in the saddle to ride with the motion fluidly, he guided his mount around the last corner that would take him on the stretch to his tree house. As the pair passed by the entrance of the sacred spring, he briefly bowed his head respectfully, Catching a m momentary bright flicker of light hovering just above the water's surface and was left with the impression of the light spirit's Image on his mind and the feeling of comfort warm within his chest. Wide smile brightening his face, the young Ordin man spurred his horse into a quicker pace, Breaking into a full gallop as he came to the clearing just on the edge of town.

"Woah girl!" Link cried out with surprise as they nearly crashed headlong into another horse, pulling hard on the reins to keep Epona from running into the other animal. She snorted with alarm at the sudden command, locking her knees and digging in her hooves as she skidded to a stop with only inches to spare. She whinnied softly with discomfort, dancing back a few steps as the other horse did likewise.. Instinctively, Link leapt off of her back, placing himself in front of her and between the two equines, Reaching up and placing his hands on either side of his Mount's face, Comforting noises escaping his lips.. after several tense seconds, and a a few more dancing steps, Epona calmed under his ministration, lowering her head to his level and blowing gently out of her nostrils.

With a soft huff of relief escaping from his mouth, Link turned A curious gaze on the unfamiliar horse, Lifting both of his eyebrows as he scrutinized it from nose to tail. He was fairly sure that someone outside of the village had ridden it here, the only horses being owned by the mayor and himself that he was aware of. By the tooling on the leather saddle, he would take a guess that it was somewhere close to the capital. Even more curious now, he stepped away from the animals, coming around the last of the forest trees and stopping as he stood in front of his house, Surprised by the sight of a young woman at the top of the ladder. From this distance, there was no mistaking her dark hair nor the pair of swords at her waist at either hip. She was carrying something pale in one hand, but couldn't quite make out what it was without a closer inspection.. Undoubtedly, she was here to see him.

"Hello up there." He chuckled, taking a few steps closer and tilting his head back to get a better look at her. I take it you're looking for me?"

Layla jumped, glancing down the tree at the man, she leaned forward slightly and squinted down at him. "If you are Link, then yes I am." She stepped out, to climb down the ladder, gripping the letter in her hands, she scaled the ladder easily. "She said you lived in a tree. I did not quite believe her." She laughed, when she landed on the bottom turning and looking at him. "Hello Hero of Hyrule." Turning and bowing towards him, she straightened and pulled the letter out towards him.

"Um. This is for you, Her Majesty sent me with this urgent letter for you. Took much longer to get here than I imagined from the capitol though." She waited for him to take it before lowering her arms. "I am also suppose to accompany you if you don't mind. They have little need for me up in the capitol and if what I heard through the -- " She paused, clamping her hand over her mouth. "I wasn't suppose to listen to it, but I couldn't help myself-- I was standing waiting for the letter and I want to help."

The letter in his hands read:

Dearest Link,

I hope this letter finds you well, unfortunately it will be the opposite for myself. I will just tell you the point of this without writing needless pleasantries. I need your help, my child is gone, kidnapped in the night. We do not know anything and cannot find him.

I would ask for your help in this dire strait. Come to the capitol with Layla, and you can help us I hope. I miss my son.

Sincerely yours,
Zelda

She? A slow blink saw a slightly confused expression blossoming on to Link's face. Her statement about someone that would send him a letter via messenger baffling him to their identity. He wasn't aware of very many people who would know of his residency within a tree. Curious now, he watched carefully as the young woman quickly descended from her perch on his ladder, her lithe form landing gracefully in front of him. As she then proceeded to reference him as the Hero and offered him a quick, but respectful, bow, he had his suspicions about who had sent him a message.

Taking the tightly rolled scroll gently from her outstretched hands, Link barely had time to run his gaze and fingertips over the seal of the royal family and process her statement about her Majesty sending her when the raven haired woman suddenly clapped to hand over her mouth, effectively cutting off what she had been about to say. What ever had been said in that meeting, what ever had been dictated into the letter he now held, it was quite obvious that it was very urgent, her plea to accompany him putting up his guard. Without a word, Link swiftly broke the wax seal, unrolling the paper and letting his eyes trail over the familiar and beautiful handwriting.

"Dearest Link,

I hope this letter finds you well, unfortunately it will be the opposite for myself. I will just tell you the point of this without writing needless pleasantries. I need your help, my child is gone, kidnapped in the night. We do not know anything and cannot find him.

I would ask for your help in this dire strait. Come to the capitol with Layla, and you can help us I hope. I miss my son.

Sincerely yours,
Zelda"

He wasn't entirely sure how long he stood there, staring down at the words, but when Link looked up again, his face had gone pale, his mouth turning into a frown. "...If I did not recognize this handwriting as the Queen's, I might not have believed the story." He managed to get out in a growl, fingers tightening on the parchment and causing it to crinkle. "But..." He faltered, before his eyes lit up with a blaze. "I welcome the company of a companion on this quest. Give me time to gather supplies and we can be off at once."