Destined to Fight (GhiraLink)

Promise

"We found it," Zelda responded simply, backing up a little more, her hand sliding under her shirt to land on the handle of a dagger. She wished that Link was with her. "Why are you hiding?"

A low chuckle came from the hidden demon lord, then more sounds of movement. "To recover from what your friend was kind enough to do to me." Apparently sensing Zelda's uneasiness, he said, "And I do hope you are aware that I did everything for the sake of my former master, and now he is dead."

"Doesn't mean you're not still angry at me. Or him."

"Oh, no. Of course not. You know who I'm angry at?" Ghirahim's voice raised slightly at the question. "That piece of shit I called my master! I did everything for HIM!! And you know what? He was too weak to defeat a fucking teenager!"

Zelda flinched, her hands held up, acting as a shield in case he decided to attack her. She heard his heavy breathing slow as he calmed down. But he didn't attack her. She was still afraid, but she relaxed somewhat. "So you don't serve Demise anymore? Or anything like him?" she asked, her voice quiet.

"No. I don't."

"Then who do you serve?"

"I serve no one."

She took a step closer, her eyes struggling to find the male in the dark. She still had that feeling, that fear that made her want to vomit, but she was sure now it wasn't him. "No one?"

"No one. Although I need to." His voice sounded close, like he was right in front of her. She looked up, expecting to see him, but her eyes only met darkness.

"Why do you need to?" She had a small hope flowering in her gut. Maybe she could get them to cooperate, so that she could be at least relatively sure that, when this bad thing rolled around, everything would be okay.

"I'm a sword spirit. Without a master, I am left unused...so over time, I lose strength as my sword begins to rust and, when it breaks, die."

Zelda nodded, though Ghirahim couldn't see. Neither of them could see anything. She decided to take the risk. "Can you do something for me? If it all goes well...you might wind up with a master."

"Hm?" He responded almost immediately.

"Well..." Zelda rubbed her arms nervously. She didn't like the idea, but now she was almost sure that he wasn't going to harm either her nor Link. "I've had this feeling that something's coming for a while now, about a year. And I was wondering if you could stay with Link and make sure he was safe... Give me some peace of mind, you know. And make sure you tell him why I sent you."

There was a moment of silence in which Zelda guessed that Ghirahim was considering the offer. That moment ended when Ghirahim said, "Is there any particular reason why you're trusting me?"

This put the cave in silence. Zelda bit her lip, stumped, but only for a minute.

"You have yet to attack me."

There was a moment of silence before Ghirahim spoke again.

"At any moment I could decide that this talk is over and impale you with this rapier." Cool metal gently touched the back of her hand, lingering there. The rapier. Zelda gulped. "This is an odd amount of trust you're putting into the demon that tried to kill your hero." The sword began to move, sliding up her arm and moving up to her neck. Zelda held her breath, shaking.