White hot pain from the centre of his chest. He remembered the feeling of collapsing to the ground, seeing Master Hand's monstrous form, and then... nothing. Was he dead? No, this didn't feel like death. Not that he knew what death felt like, but it probably didn't feel like lying in a somewhat uncomfortable bed with a rough blanket over him, where the bed was too small and making his feet hang over the edge.

  So he was alive then.

  Captain Falcon opened his eyes. He was in a hut - and not a particularly well-kept one either, if the holes in the roof were anything to go by. Though those holes he could see the branches of trees, and beyond them dark grey clouds that looked like they were bulging with rain.

  He lifted his head up and turned it so that he could see the rest of the room. It was small here, with only an old table with a single chair, and a fire pit in the centre of the room. There was a man sitting in the chair, poking at a pot over the fire from which he could smell something foul.

  "I'm glad to see that you're awake," the man said. "You seemed quite close to death when I found you." He turned so that Falcon could get a clear look at his face. He looked to be somewhere in his sixties, with a thick beard of orange hair that was greyed in more than a few places. His skin was a dark olive colour, almost green really, and worn by lines that ran deep alongside the eyes and mouth. Physically, he looked like he might once have been quite a specimen, but now appeared that age had claimed a lot of the muscle that had once been there, giving him a lean look. He wore a simple torn black cloak, whose make felt familiar to Falcon in a way that he couldn't place.

  "Where are we?" Captain Falcon asked.

  The stranger's face twisted into a frown. "I was hoping that you might be able to answer that one for me. In truth I'm not sure - I suddenly appeared in this forest with no idea how I might have gotten here. I was wandering around looking for help, when I found you on the ground with a terrible wound in your chest. Luckily I have some healing capability that I used to stabilise you, and I was able to find this cabin as a place of shelter. That was two days ago - you've been unconscious since then."

  "I... was hurt?" Falcon looked down at his chest, and saw it hidden from view by thick bandages whose matched the man's cloak. "How bad was it?"

  "Not good," the stranger confirmed. "But if you take it easy, you should make a full recovery. Now, you must be hungry."

  He dipped a ladle into the pot and spooned some of its contents into a bowl, before handing it over. It smelled even worse up close, and he remembered the dishes they had eaten the last few days prepared by Mario and Luigi and the other fighters. Wait, the other fighters. Were they okay?

  "Was there anyone else around?" he asked. "Near me, I mean."

  The stranger shook his head. "I'm sorry, my friend. I saw none but you. I've been out to look for food in the last couple of days, and I found no-one in any of those searches either. Are there people you were expecting to find?"

  "Yes." Captain Falcon smiled. "A few people. And a gorilla. And some things that are even harder to describe." He spooned a small amount of the broth into his mouth. It was as bad as it smelled, but taking that first mouthful made him realise how hungry he was so he kept eating.

  "Perhaps you could tell me what you know of the situation," the man prompted. "Oh, but first, I realise that I never asked your name."

  "Falcon," he replied. "Captain Falcon, technically, but we're far enough away from my ship that I don't think it matters."

  "Ah, you're a seafarer," the man smiled. "Good, hardy men are sailors."

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "Not quite..." Falcon realised that this man must be from a world without much technology, and decided against explaining to him the intricacies of space travel. "Anyway, I should thank you for saving me. You have my gratitude, Mr..."

  "Oh, no need for Mr," the stranger said. "Just called me Ganondorf."

  "Nice to meet you," Captain Falcon said. "Ganondorf... it feels like a strong name."

  "Well, I give you my thanks for that compliment," Ganondorf said. "But I hardly think I still carry the strength that it once implied."

  Captain Falcon finished his bowl of broth. Without him even asking Ganondorf spooned another ladleful into the bowl.

  "As for the situation," he said. "It began a short time ago, when I received a letter."

  He explained to Ganondorf everything that had happened in the last few days, from Master Hand's invitation to the tournament to their eventual fight against the hand. He skipped over some of the details of the other fighters, preparing to focus for now on the existence of this world that was called Smash and why they had challenged the hand.

  As he told his story, Ganondorf stood and walked slowly to the door of the cabin. He leant against its frame and stared out of the forest as he listened, interrupting only to ask small questions clarifying certain details. When Captain Falcon finished, he turned back to face him and sighed.

  "So, I suppose that means I must be in this world of Smash," he said. "Though I'm not sure how to proceed from here based on that information. It's unfortunate that we don't know the outcome of the battle - if we did then searching for your friends might have at least given us a course of action. As it is, I suppose it might be some time before I see Hyrule again."

  Falcon's eyes widened. "Did you say Hyrule?"

  "Yes," Ganondorf said, with a small chuckle. "It's my home. A beautiful land, with rolling fields as far as the eye can see, mountains that pierce the heavens, seas of the bluest water. It is a place where anyone would love to call home."

  "But I've heard of it," Captain Falcon said. "One of the other fighters was from there."

  Ganondorf's eyes widened. "What was their name, if I may be so bold as to ask?"

  "Link."

  His eyes widened further and he muttered some curse under his breath. "Ah, cursed be I that I must exist in the same world as him once again."

  Falcon frowned. "Is he your enemy?"

  "My greatest enemy," Ganondorf confirmed. "I understand this might be difficult for you to hear, as I am sure that he will have presented himself to you as a virtuous hero, but listen well. He is a demon, taken the form of man. He and I are destined and cursed to live innumerable lives, and in every one he chooses to follow the path of evil."

  "What?" Captain Falcon tried to stand, but the pain in his chest was too great. "No, you're lying. Link is a good guy."

  "It is his way to deceive people in such a manner," Ganondorf said. "And yet the heart that beats within his chest is comprised only of malice and wickedness, if such a fiend as he carries a heart at all. I have seen him tear through towns and cities, destroying all in his path and striking down those too terrified to flee." He shook his head. "It is my divine task to oppose him, and yet I hardly rival him in combat."

  Falcon shook his head. "No. This can't be right. The Master Hand called him the Hero of Hyrule."

  "Ha! An ironic title given to him by his patron, the Princess Zelda. She calls him hero when he conquers the land for her, and they laugh together on the ruins of the kingdom." He leant forwards, fear in his eyes. "I say this only for your own good, Captain. This man can only be your enemy, for he is enemy to all but his dark bride. I don't know what his motives are for this world, or how he expected for you and his friends to play into them, but I can promise that the only way knowing him will end is with you once again looking down at a wound in your chest, only to find his sword was the one that caused it."

  "No!" Falcon said, more forcefully. "I won't believe this! I can't! Link fought the Master Hand alongside us. He cooked with us, ate with us! I won't believe that was all lies!" He glared at Ganondorf. "Why should I trust you more than him?"

  "You have no reason to," Ganondorf agreed. "And I understand that you see him as a friend. I only ask that you listen to my words and do not dismiss them out of hand. Can you truly tell me that, had the positions been reversed and I was the first to come to your world, you would not be more inclined to believe myself over anything he might have told you?"

  Captain Falcon swallowed hard. He didn't have an answer to that question.

  "By all means, do not trust me out of hand," Ganondorf said. "I do not know your own morality, after all. Perhaps, then, trust completely only those from your own world. For they are the only ones who you can truly know."

  Before Captain Falcon could answer, he felt a wave of exhaustion pass over him.

  "Ah," Ganondorf said. "You must rest. Here, onto the bed. I will watch over you as you sleep."

  He wanted to talk more, but he agreed that he needed rest. He pulled himself back onto the bed and let the darkness of sleep take him.