Link fell in a pool of both his blood and the Bokoblin blood, his shield dropping with a clash. Clearly the adrenaline had worn off, leaving him in extreme pain. The shard was still deep into his arm, and though he didn't know the full extent of the damage, he had a feeling that it had landed somewhere between his ulna and radius, narrowly missing his bones, and instead piercing his muscle.

It could be worse, he thought.

With shaky hands, he reached to it and held onto it, flinching violently when he accidentally knocked it. It had definitely hit something bad for it to be bleeding this much. Just as he was about to pull it it, he felt a hand wrap around his good wrist. He looked up and saw Princess Zelda staring worriedly at him. 

She winced when she saw the pool of blood he was sat in, knowing that a lot of it was also his. She didn't know what to do.

"W-what do I d-do? I..." She trailed off, staring at his ashen face. His eyes were puffy and his lips white, he saw a tear squeeze out of the corner of his eye. This was the most emotion she had ever seen him show.

"P-pull it out," he whispered. She just about heard it, and her eyes widened. He could speak?

"What? I don't want you to bleed out!"

"Please, I need to s-stop the bleeding. S'not like I c-can lose much more any-anyway." 

She hesitantly removed his hand from the shard and placed her own upon it. She was about to pull it, but looked at Link, making sure that he really wanted her to. She saw the pain in his eyes as he gave a sharp jerk of his head. 

Taking a deep breath, she tugged on it, and it came loose, dripping the red liquid of Link's onto her hand. He gritted his teeth, letting out a strangled scream, and Zelda felt close to crying. In fact, she was surprised she hadn't already. More tears leaked out of his clenched shut eyes, as he pressed his hand onto the wound, trying to staunch the blood flow.

Zelda noticed this and ripped the corner of her cloak off, scrunching it up and applying it to Link's arm. She put pressure on it, whilst Link battled to stay conscious. 

Running options through her head, she ran over to the horses and untied them, bringing them next to the injured Hero. Tearing another strip off of her cloak, she tied his arm into a makeshift sling as she had seen the doctors in the castle do before.

"We need to get to the stables, they should be able to help. Can...can you stand?"

Opening his eyes, he began to stand up, Zelda steadying him when he began to wobble. He was becoming light headed from the pain. The wound was bleeding through the material. 

Zelda helped him onto Epona, quickly gathering up their stuff, and climbed onto her own horse, and led them both out of the forest, galloping as fast as the horses possibly could. Soon the Dueling Peaks Stable was insight, lights dancing across the path and trees around it. She rushed them to the entrance. 

"Help! Help us please! He is injured and needs help!" She screamed, watching as several people came rushing out of the stable, helping to lift him off of Epona, and carry him towards one of the beds in a spare room round the back, where they kept their supplies. This obviously wasn't the first time someone had come to them injured. in the back of her mind she wondered if he had ended up here in this state before, and if so, how many times?

"Link? Is 'at you?" Zelda heard a tall man say, as he gathered some bandages and water.

They gently placed his limp body onto the bed and a woman began unraveling the fabric from his arm. The blood was leaking sluggishly from the wound, but considerably less than it had earlier. 

The lady began shouting orders to the others. 

"I need a hearty elixir, bandages, needle and thread."

As the people of the stable helped Link, Zelda went back outside to see a young man leading their horses in with the others, a bucket of water and a bucket of carrots already next to him. 

He caught sight of Zelda and bowed. 

"Your Highness, I have already tended to your horses. It is an honor to have you here at this inn."

Seeing her panicked face, he quickly added, "The inn is currently closed to travelers, so you don't need to worry about anyone running off and telling people you're here. We all know Link well, and everyone here owes him their lives, including me. We promise to take great care of him."

She saw the sincerity on his face and smiled, thanking him.