Chapter 4: Part 2

Impa and Rauru watched the prow of the ship cruise toward Sarnilia, their first drop-off point. The ship would wait there for a few days, and then move on to Tanol, where Darunia and Nabooru would step off, and then to Velattiane, where the rest of them would be dropped off. Impa sighed and looked over at the other Sages, who seemed just as gloomy as she was. The pair continued to watch the waves. Meanwhile, Saria was looking down at her new Velattian dress, or mishkah, as they called it in Velattiane. Saria continued to think about all the Velattian words she had learned. They were all jumbled around in her head, she doubted she could even finish a sentence. Ruto leaned next to her. "Sad?" Saria asked. "Well, yes and no. I mean, I like being on this ship, and watching the water, and thinking of how nice the water is, and how I love Zora's Domain, and-" "Ruto!" Saria interrupted. Ruto blushed and continued on. "What I mean by no is that I'll stand out. I mean, no Zora could or want to live in Velattiane. I mean, it's got mountains, grassland, and desert. We'd die after a day or two! So they've probably never seen a Zora, and I'm worried I'll blow our cover," Ruto said. "Don't worry, watch this!" Saria said. She projected an image of herself as a normal Velattian girl. Then she switched back. "Hey, I never knew you could do that!" Ruto said, smiling. "Let me tell you a secret: none of the other Sages do either!" Saria whispered, giggling. Ruto laughed back. "Yeah, that's amazing! I've discovered a child prodigy!" she joked. Saria smiled, but her smile faded as she saw the big hulk of rock, Sarnilia, that was to be their first stop, and Ganon was rumored to have made a fortress there. "Wow, this is going to be heaven for Darunia! Look at those rocks!" Ruto said, pointing. Darunia overheard the comment and put his hand on Ruto's shoulder. "That's what you think," he said. And for the first time the true importance of the mission dawned on the trio.

"And a fine day this is!" Nabooru muttered, tripping on a limb and falling into the sand. "Oh, come off it! You don't need to be so grumpy!" Ruto said. "Yeah, water's washing up over your limbs! You won't be that happy when we get going!" Nabooru muttered, shivering. "You should have worn that tan jumpsuit of yours!" Impa chided. "Thanks, Mother," Nabooru said, glancing sidelong at Impa. Impa gave her a stern look. "Where's the nearest town? Not to complain or anything, but I am a little bit hungry," Saria said. "The only towns are inland. You think this place is desolate, about twenty miles in, there are many towns, huge wheat fields, fertile orchards, or so I've heard," Impa said. "What do you mean?" Darunia asked. "I mean, no one has ever gone past those mountains," Impa said. "What?" everyone else said. "You mean you're leading us on an impossible mission?" Darunia gasped, utterly dismayed. "Why don't you tell them, Rauru?" Impa asked. The Sage stepped up. "I will tell you all you need to know, for now. Sarnilia was once a place of great blessing, and all civilizations, no matter what kind, lived there together in harmony and peace. There was a population exceeding one million. Now, Sarnilia is only about thirty miles wide and long, so it is very difficult to pack that much in, but they did it. Now the only way out was through the Sarnilian Gap, a divide through the otherwise nearly impenetrable mountain range. Well, one day, a man came and devastated the island. This devastation destroyed most of the population, and now it is said only one thousand live there. This man was Ganon, just in a different form. Not his Gerudo form, he was reborn in that. He has had many different forms over the past three millennia, and many different powers. He was created out of some evil power that found it's way into Hyrule, and started to wreak havoc the moment he was created. This evil power.....may someday return, and see what is going on in this eternal war, and eventually fill Ganondorf and make him far stronger than anyone, even the Goddesses. For this power is greater than the Goddesses, and could easily destroy them. In fact, he may have already done this deed," Rauru finished, sighing heavily. "No! The Goddesses are in Hyrule, as we speak!" Impa said. "Excuse me, Impa, but that isn't possible! Why would the Goddesses come here?" Ruto flat out said. "Zelda knows this. You've all heard about her time with death?" Impa asked. The others nodded. "Well, it seems she's learned the Goddesses came to Hyrule eight years ago to study how we were doing. I don't know if we were doing bad or good, but if Zelda is saying this, I believe her!" Impa said. "I know what Aaron would have said: let's get going and move!" Saria said. "I know that firsthand!" Impa agreed, sighing because it looked like no one believed her. "Well, that should be our slogan! Doesn't that sound good, let's hurry up and move?" Ruto asked. "She's got a point! Troop morale, you know," Nabooru said, vaguely smiling. "Well, so it is!" Impa said. Rauru smiled. Impa was becoming the unofficial leader of the Sages. He was getting too old to be much good anymore. "One question before we go: how did this place become Hylian?" Darunia asked. "Oh, nobody thought it was that much use anyway, but times change, and our new ruler Harkinian saw Velattiane was becoming too dangerous after the revolution. Dalsona would have been endangered had Sarnilia been used as a Velattian base, so its ostensible ally Hyrule fortified it, the Isla de Hevan, which means Heaven's Island in ancient Hylian," Rauru said with a wink and a grin. Impa chuckled, as did the others. "Well, Hyrule is the leading power in the world, so it's only fitting that we own the ultimate embodiment of good," Darunia said, with a smile of his own. "You don't still believe that story, do you?" Nabooru gasped. "No, actually, I don't," Darunia said, his face suddenly turning grave. "Well, let's get moving!" Saria said. "All right, I'd say that area is a good place to start crossing the mountains," Impa said, pointing to a relatively flat area that gently sloped up to the top. "Why don't we go through the Sarnilian Gap?" Saria asked. "Rocks collasped into it and blocked it off," Rauru replied. Everyone shrugged and moved on. They started to climb the mountain, and the hard soil and rock felt good beneath their feet. There were mountains for miles around, and the beach behind. The fresh air felt good on their faces, and they began to think that there was nothing to worry about, that perhaps they should go back down to the ship and head for their separate missions. Suddenly they attacked. Four waves of Moblins and Stalfos pressed in on them from all sides, and they were especially strong and large, as well. "It's Ganon we're dealing with, all right!" Darunia yelled, fighting back with a vengeance, as he was accustomed to rocks and using them to his advantage, he wiped out twenty of them. "We're still the best!" Nabooru hooted as she slammed into the chest of one Moblin, sending him flying into a rock. "I love this job!" Saria grinned as she took out a Stalfos. "You notice we're all saying something?" Impa yelled. "Including you!" Ruto shot back. Soon they were dealing with only one particularly tenacious, and large, unit. No matter how hard they tried, one kept escaping. The two that were left taunted them and rolled out of the way. "These must be Ganon's favorites! Keln and Soman, right?" Saria yelled. "No, Ganon would keep them in Hyrule!" Impa yelled. "Are you totally sure about that?" Saria replied. "Positive!" Impa shouted. Suddenly a spear came flying in from the left. Another wave was moving in. "Sheesh, he's probably got like a thousand expendable troops he can put against us!" Ruto muttered. These troops were especially tough, and the Sages were again hard-pressed. Their magic was designed to pick off people one or two at a time, and for the huge spells that could wipe out hundreds at a time, the Sages were still not sure as to whether they were safe. They fought them off, and fortunately, no more came against them, but Darunia had been hit by a stray spear. "I'll be fine, don't worry about me!" he said, shrugging it off. Still, he seemed to be hurt, if only a little. Saria watched him closely as they continued their journey. "You know, what if Ganon isn't here and the Moblins and Stalfos are originally from here?" Nabooru asked. "How would they get to Hyrule, though?" Saria asked. "I've heard they were once intelligent creatures who did build ships and sail them around. One of them might have crashed here," Impa said. "That's a joke! How could they be intelligent?" Darunia said. "Time withers things, and if what Impa says is true, then time and Ganon have withered the minds of those poor creatures," Rauru said. "Hey, what's that?" Saria asked, pointing to the horizon. A dark cloud was billowing up into the sky, from a dark citadel about twenty miles away. Though it was far away, the tower was huge and commanded respect. And then the Sages also noticed that the cloud was starting to move towards them at a rather rapid pace. And then they noticed that dark shapes were moving in on either side of them. "What is that?" Nabooru gasped as a cold wind blew into their faces and an enormous beast reared up. It lumbered toward them. "All right, Impa, do you know anything about this, this, THING?" Rauru yelled. Impa shook her head and looked behind her, just in time to see the other monster sweeping a clawed hand toward her. The Sheikah barely jumped out of the way before the huge hand was upon her. "When did he learn manners?" she muttered, firing back. The Sages were forced into a protective circle. However, they were doing quite well, and they probably would have won, if the full force of Sarnilia's wrath hadn't broke upon them. Thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of soldiers swept down upon them and overwhelmed everyone. They had to break out and run for their lives. But it seemed that the ranks of the soldiers were neverending, and soon the Sages began to be tied down, one by one. Nabooru, then Rauru, then Impa, then Darunia, then Ruto, then Saria. "We got 'em!" they all yelled, hoisting their prize catches into an enclosed contraption with wheels and carting them off. As the Sages were moved away, they could feel the jolt of the rocks, and the rough ride was not very comforting. As they came lower, they could hear various whimpers and gasps from somewhere. Impa assumed that they were in the valley, and temporarily rejoiced, as they were the first outsiders to come into the valley in centuries. But that joy quickly turned to sorrow for the people that she knew must be subjected to the terror of whoever reigned over this island, most likely Ganon. She could hear the poor people, scared to death of the barbarians. They finally moved through the village and suddenly Impa could feel the cart going very steeply uphill. She started to tumble towards the other side of the cart, sliding into Saria and Ruto. "Ow!" all three exclaimed. They could hear roars of laughter from the Moblins and Stalfos. "I wish they'd just shut up!" Ruto muttered. "Don't we all," Impa muttered dryly. Suddenly they came to a complete and jolting halt. "What was that?" Nabooru muttered. The cage was opened up and the Sages were hoisted onto particularly burly Moblins, and then a door mysteriously formed and opened. The monsters walked in and then started to walk up a long, winding staircase. It almost made Impa sick, watching them go, floor after floor, after floor, after floor, after floor, after floor, after floor......

"What do you mean, captured?" Aaron yelled. Zelda had just recieved a message (telepathically, mind you) that told her that the Sages had been captured, Ganon indeed had taken control of the island, and that Sarnilia was dangerous every step of the way. Aaron was fuming over this news, and thought of poor Malon controlled by Ganon on the island. Of course, he had no idea how much trouble he would be getting himself into in the next week, and neither did anyone else. Link was making a miraculous recovery after only about three weeks. Now, the reason I'm saying three weeks is because Link was unconscious for about a week, and it takes time for wind-powered ships to get from one place to another. In this case, from Hyrule to Sarnilia would be about two weeks. So, Link was actually in fighting condition, helped by Zelda, of course, and three mysterious women that Zelda seemed to know. Among other things, Zelda's double had left the castle, as far as anyone could tell, and the "fighting duo" Lannod and Jardi were fully recovered. Zelda also seemed to be getting a little more plump, though no one really knew what it was, and furthermore, didn't care (especially Aaron). As Zelda and Aaron were sitting by Link's bed, and Link was reading a book called Encounters Zelda got this look in her eye. Link and Aaron saw it the moment it formed. "Oh, no, you aren't thinking of that?" Link and Aaron gasped. "I've decided that we're going to Sarnilia!" she said. Aaron winked at Link and then looked at Zelda. "What about your husband here?" he asked her. "Well, we can't just leave them hanging!" Zelda retorted. "Correction: we can't leave Impa hanging!" Aaron said. Zelda laughed. "All right, you got me. But will you bear with me, cause I'm going even if you aren't! And it's be nothing short to treason to the crown if you refused to protect me!" Zelda said. Aaron tried to grin and pulled his collar. Link pulled him down and whispered something in his ear. Aaron grinned. "Link and I will go. However, we'll be picking, shall we say, certain commodities to take with us?" he said. "There's something fishy about this!" Zelda smiled. Aaron and Link looked at each other knowingly. "Oh, you'll need something too!" Link said, tossing over a small prism Aaron had handed him. "Well, I've been wondering where my little friend was!" Zelda said, looking at the Triforce of Wisdom. She perfored a small spell and it slowly melted into her body. "Ooooooh, pretty!" Aaron gasped in mock wonder. "I'll go get Mallard and the rest...." Zelda muttered.

"Hey, the ocean, man, I like the ocean, ocean cool, man!" Jardi said. "Where the heck did you get that accent?" Lannod asked. "Some years back at the Academy. Caribbean accent," Jardi chuckled. "Not too sure about that...." Lannod replied. "Hey, this air is helping me! I feel better than I have in a long time!" Link said. "Well, that's good," Zelda said, leaning against her husband. Link smiled at her, and Zelda smiled back. "I love this ship!" Aaron laughed. "Yeah, the Hylian Charter, isn't it called?" Zelda smiled. "Charter? You mean this is a passenger ship?" Aaron said, mouth agape. "Uh-huh," Mallard said. "Well, you don't seem too enthused!" Lannod said. "Oh, I am, I'm just not showing it!" Mallard replied. Everyone looked at him doubtfully. But then Aaron got all excited for some reason. "You bet your bottom dollar we're going out to kick some tail!" he shouted. shouted. "And we're going to rescue your wife as well!" Jardi said, perhaps to shut him up. Aaron nodded. "How long have we been traveling? We should be there by now!" he grumbled, suddenly changing his mood. "Aaron, it takes two weeks to get to Sarnilia, we've been on the high seas since about two hours ago! Look, you can still see Hyrule!" Zelda said. "Oh no! Two weeks!" Aaron groaned, changing his mood again. "It's the mood swing man! Wonder what's up with him......" Mallard muttered. "Oh, he's just sad about Malon. Don't worry, we aren't leaving the island until we find her," Link said. "But what if she isn't on Sarnilia?" Zelda asked. "Oh, we know she is. Definitely," Link said.

"And here we are!" Aaron yelled, as the ship broke through the fog to reveal the island, with thin stretches of beach before a vast ring of mountains. "We're going to save that hulk of rock?" Jardi said. "Impa says it's the most beautiful place you've ever seen when you get into the valley," Zelda said. "Uh-huh," Aaron said, obviously out of touch with the known world at the moment. "Boy, you're obviously out of touch with the known world at the moment!" Link said. "You sure are out of touch with the known world at the moment," Zelda grinned. "I'd have to agree that you're out of touch with the known world at the moment!" Lannod chuckled. "Will you all stop hounding me like this? I'm trying to think!" Aaron shouted. "He's right. But he'll be out of touch with the known world for a while!" Mallard smiled. "Don't you have something better to do?" Aaron asked. "Yeah, get off the ship! We're docked!" Jardi said. Aaron looked at him. "What?" Jardi asked. They got off the boat. The boat driver looked at the mountains and sighed miserably, afraid they wouldn't come back. He was the one who had taken the Sages to the island, and he didn't really want to lose the others. "Wait!" he called to them, getting off the ship and running towards the heroes. "What do you need? An extra twenty rupees?" Mallard grumbled, eager to get on with the adventure. "Well, I thought that you might need all the help you can get, so I thought that I might be able to come along!" the kid, who was no more than fourteen, said. (don't worry, this guy was a natural at boat driving, and he had a license, so Link and Co. weren't on an illegal ship) Aaron stared at Zelda, who he knew had compassion for most everyone she could find. Zelda shrugged and smiled at the boy. "Are you sure? It's going to be quite dangerous," she said. The boy smiled. "That's all right, I've had my share of danger over the years! And I've heard my share about this place, and I know what might happen. But that's no problem!" he said. Link chuckled. "What's your name?" he asked. "Paul, sir. Paul Gorman," the boy said. "You can just call me Link. I think you're going to have your share of danger here, Paul, and a lot of excitement, too," he said. Paul nodded, looking up at the mountains. "Let's move!" Aaron shouted. So the company started to move. They started to climb the gently sloping hill, and then, with considerable surprise, the advance guard for Ganon's force swept in. Mallard and Aaron were knocked halfway down the hill, and Zelda wasn't exactly doing much good. Lannod and Jardi were the only ones making something out of it, until Paul joined the attack. He always carried a sword with him, and the sword was almost magical, sweeping through the Stalfos easily and cutting through Moblin armor. Link and the Master Sword then joined up and created an unstoppable force. Soon every one of the monsters was gone. "Take that! Never dreamed Ganon had so many useless soldiers!" Paul said. Link knew what Paul was thinking. "Ganon is way harder than this!" he said. "Well, we can all vouch for that!" Aaron chuckled. "You're only going to make the situation worse!" Zelda said suddenly. "What's so bad about it?" Mallard asked. "Well, I don't think anyone wants to be on this miserable old rock! Do you think so?" Zelda replied. "I want to!" Aaron said. "Always the dissenter!" Mallard said. "Well, someone has to be the minority!" Aaron retorted. "Come off it, that won't get you through life!" Paul said. "Useless nolige for rookies..." Lannod muttered. "Look, if we want to get going, we'd better move, cause it's nearng sunset!" Link said. They all looked sidelong at the sun. It was setting, and fast. "Come on!" Lannod said. Jardi nodded. The group started to move again. They sometimes thought they saw a flash of bone or of muscled skin dart between the rocks. Or a shadow block the light of the sun for a moment, and then melt away into the rocks. Everyone in that group was running scared, and they knew it. But they had to march on. Sarnilia was at stake, and if it was eventually captured by Velattiane and Tanol, Hyrule would begin to fall, and then, and then, well, nobody knew. But what they did know is that they had to save Sarnilia. They noticed it was growing dark, and they couldn't go any farther, for fear of losing their way. So they set up camp. Tents were put up, bedding was rolled out, and Lannod and Jardi were given the task of making a fire. Aaron and Mallard crawled into the tent they had been assigned. "This is sooooooooo cozy!" Aaron muttered, yelping in pain as a sharp rock jabbed him in the back. "Yeah, I like being in the great outdoors. Don't you?" Mallard grinned. "I was being sarcastic...." was the faint reply. "Oh," Mallard said. "Yeah, and I bet you can't guess WHY I'm being sarcastic," Aaron said. "No, I can't," Mallard said. "Because I feel like it, and that's all," Aaron said. "Was that supposed to be funny?" Mallard asked, shifting a little. "Ha ha ha," Aaron said, looking at Mallard and going to sleep. "Wow, what humor," Mallard chuckled, opening the tent flap and getting out. "I....heard that...." Aaron muttered dreamily. "What's up with Aaron?" Link asked, warming his hands over the fire. "Oh, nothing really, just not his old humorous self, I guess," Mallard said. "I think it's hard, with Malon gone and all. I think that wedding reception incident shook us both up, I mean, both our sweethearts get captured by this weird Gerudo, and then they turn evil, I don't even want to think about it happening again!" Link said. "That's sort of why I never married," Mallard said. "Why didn't you get married?" Jardi asked. "Dealing with all that heartbreak when they get captured by Ganon, and everything, being one of the top heroes, I know she would. And when she died, I mean, I can't cope with that," Mallard said. "Are you saying you're an insecure man? And one of the top heroes?" Lannod joked, but he got no other laughter. "This is serious, all right? Mallard is just in a little bit of a-" "Thanks, Link, but no thanks. It's all right, I shouldn't burden you with this. How far do you think it is to the valley?" Mallard asked, looking at the crest of the mountains that hid the valley that the Sarnilians lived in. "I'd say about a thousand more feet to the top and a mile down!" Link said, looking at Lannod and Jardi. They turned away from his gaze and suddenly saw the moon floating towards them, only it wasn't the moon, it was something else, something strange. It was....."Meryl?" Link gasped. "Meryl?" Zelda yelled from inside her tent. "Meryl?" Lannod and Jardi wondered. "Meryl?" Mallard said. "MERYL!" Aaron yelled from inside his tent, apparently woken up. "Yeah, it's me, Meryl!" the figure said. Aaron rushed out of the tent and tried to hug her for saving Link, but he passed right through her. "Listen up, I'm talking to you from Hyrule City, we're having a little bit of trouble at the moment," she said. "What? And how are you talking to us?" Link asked, but before Meryl could reply, Zelda stormed out of the tent. "You stay away from Link, you hear, cause he's mine, all mine, and he's my husband so there!" she said, seething in rage. Link rubbed his forehead. Meryl looked perplexed. "Zelda, I never had anything to do with your husband! I'm not in love with him! We met in Kakariko Village a year ago, honestly!" she said. Zelda still stood there. "Well, as I was saying, Link, there are riots going on cause they think all their protection is gone because you're gone! But the boys are there! And I'm talking to you by way of, uh, I really don't know what it's called, actually, but never mind, I'll be seeing you!" she said, disappearing. Zelda fumed. "I'll bet she will," she said. Link put his arm around her. "You can take my word for it that we are not in love, all right?" he said. Zelda reluctantly nodded her head. "See, she's very good-tempered! Not like other women I know!" Link said, winking at Aaron. "Hey, she's very good tempered! What in the world?" Aaron cried. Link chuckled. "I'm sure you've seen Zelda on a....." "Why, you little-" ".....bad day like this!" Aaron snickered. Zelda looked at Aaron disgustedly. "It's my job!" Aaron replied. "And of course, there'd be the bad moods, and the grumpiness, and the arguments, and all that stuff," Mallard grinned, yawning. "I can tell you're against marriage!" Lannod said. "That's pretty much it," Mallard said, yawning again. Suddenly they heard a noise, like a giant foot clomping towards them. Clomp! Clomp! it would go. They heard it coming closer, and closer, and closer, until Boom! it was right on top of them. Everyone rolled out of the way. Except for Paul. What was Paul doing? He broke out laughing. "Oh, man, I fooled you!" he said, showing everyone what he had used to imitate the sound of huge feet. It was a rather large woolly foot that he had picked up somewhere. Aaron slapped Paul on the back after he had gitten up. "I love this guy! Look at that big woolly foot! Where did you get that?" he asked. Paul told him. Aaron suddenly went white. "F-from w-where?" he asked. "From down there in the valley, yes," Paul said. Link frowned. "You've been down there?" he asked. "Yeah, once," Paul said. "Can you tell us anything about it?" Zelda asked. "Well, for starters, it's pretty much heaven. And Ganon has taken over this island. You see, they've been living under his rule for milennia! Way before he came to Hyrule! That valley is filled with monsters, and when I went down there, it was only to help an expedition that was going to free their leader, a year ago. Only me and the leader survived," Paul said. "Who was that leader?" Aaron asked. "John Morland was his name," Paul replied. Aaron and Mallard looked at each other. "Morland was HERE?" Mallard managed to get out. "Morland? Wasn't he the one who took Link back to the....castle?" Zelda squeaked, seeing Link looking at her. The poor man looked confused. Paul turned back to Mallard and Aaron. "What does Morland have to do with Hyrule? He's a Velattian!" Paul said. "Excuse me?" Link said. "Just what I mean, he's a Vel-" "We've got two Velattian soldiers in the army. Are we being invaded by foreigners? We're probably the proverbial melting pot for all the nations!" Aaron said. "You saying I'm not good enough to be in your Hylian 'army'?" Mallard said. "I am not implying anything of the sort, I'm just saying we need to crack down on this kind of illegal immigration!" Aaron said. "He's right, it is illegal to just walk into the country and proclaim your citizenship!" Zelda said. "But it was actually legal to do that!" Link said. Zelda stared at him. "It was?" she asked. "Oh, well, this is how it was: it was legal until after the Sosarian-Molderan incident in which a few thousand Sosarians, complaining of high tax rates and bad housing, ran off to Moldera with hopes of a better life. Moldera was swamped, and their leader, President Clint, really couldn't do anything about it, as he was also on trial for forgery, and for supposedly stealing a wagonload of meat from a poor family!" Link said. Aaron's eyes widened. "Where have I heard that before?" he muttered, rubbing his chin and thinking hard. "Lannod and Jardi would probably remember something like that, since you guys all came from the same place," Zelda said. "Oh, yes, I remember. Second one ever im-" Jardi tried to say but was cut off. "Oh, yeah, I remember. But Jardi, you probably should keep mum about it," Aaron said. Jardi nodded. "I cannot wait to get back home so I can kick Meryl Jacob's-" "Zelda, for the last time, I am not having an affair with her! We are only friends! Get it? And no language," Link said. "Yeah, Zelda!" Aaron admonished. Zelda nodded again and glared at Aaron. "Got it," she said. "Good. Promise?" Link said. Zelda wagged her head again. "Okay, I believe we all can-" Boom! "Paul, stop doing that!" Mallard said in a sort of whiny tone. "I'm not doing-" Boom! "Cut it out!" Lannod said. "I said, I'm not-" BOOM! Everyone looked up. A forty-foot monster towered over them. "Oh my....." Aaron muttered. The thing swung its hand at them. Everyone jumped out of the way, but unfortunately it nipped Paul. But "nipped" with this guy was almost like getting slashed by an Iron Knuckle, not quite, but almost. Paul clutched his shoulder. Luckily, Zelda ran over to him. Being a Sage, she knew a couple of things about healing that Impa had taught her, and thankfully that science kit she had got some years ago, that she had been experimenting with the day Ganon came back, had taught her a few things. She performed a few spells that didn't do much. Paul was hurting, and the wound was very bad. "Can't you do anything?" he moaned. Zelda tried some more, advanced ones that weren't very well known in common circles. They bubbled and fizzed, but only caused the wound to grow. A piercing cry rent the air. Zelda gritted her teeth and looked around for Link, trying to stay calm, but only causing herself more panic. "Aaron! Get Link over here!" she yelled. Aaron looked at her. "Link's hurt bad!" he called back, sounding agitated. Paul looked at Zelda. Zelda looked over at Link, then at Paul. Suddenly she saw Aaron apply something to Link. She looked over at Lannod, Jardi, and Mallard, who were giving Aaron and Zelda time to treat Link and Paul, and, if necessary, bring them back to the ship. Suddenly Aaron barreled over and started applying the same covering to Paul. "What is that?" Zelda asked, seeing the blood bottled up behind it. "Your Highness, it's a medical wonder! It's called a bandage!" Aaron said, sarcasm flowing in his voice. "I thought you said Link wasn't hurt bad!" Zelda said. "I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer!" he said for some unknown reason (as we all know, he sometimes acts rather bizarrely). Zelda glared at him as he walked away. "Wise guy, thinks he can outsmart me! Humph!" she muttered. Paul sighed in relief, still in pain, but not as much. Zelda had to smile. She looked over at Link again. Aaron seemed to be looking his chest over. He saw her and motioned for her to come over. Zelda ordered Mallard to watch over Paul and went over. She saw him with eyes closed. "Princess, Link shouldn't have come. He's got no ribs anymore. They've disintegrated! He got kicked and now he can't get kicked ever again or no more Link!" Aaron said. Zelda felt Link's chest. It was very soft to the touch. She tried to say something but couldn't. "I think this means we can't rescue Sarnilia," Aaron said. "Oh, we'll be...rescuing it all right," Zelda said. "What can we do? It's too late to turn back now," Aaron said. "I don't know!" Zelda said. She started sobbing, oblivious to the monster coming towards the back of them. Aaron saw it and charged toward it. He slammed his sword into it. Nothing. It kicked him out of the way. It saw Zelda. Grinning, it slowly walked toward her. Zelda could only watch in horror as a foot lifted up. Coming down, it......

"Link! Link! You awake? You in a coma? You alive?" Aaron asked, shoving Link hard. Link woke up, gasping. "Where am I? Zelda, where is she? Sarnilia's been captured! Sages are captured!" he cried. "What do you mean? No one has been captured in the last week. Sarnilia is Hylian. The Sages are not captured, so quit worrying," Aaron said. Link looked around and saw Zelda. "Zelda! Y-you're alive!" Link said. "Uh-huh. Link, how have you been?" she asked. "Where's Saria? I need to talk to her!" Link said. Zelda looked at Aaron. "Well, Link, we were going to tell you this later, but I guess we can say it now: the Sages are going on an intelligence mission to Velattiane and Tanol, but they're going to rescue Malon on Sarnilia first," Zelda said. Aaron turned away in horror, knowing what Link would do. Link did exactly that. He grabbed Zelda. "You let them go? To Sarnilia? They can't, it's too dangerous! They'll be killed, Zelda, killed! How could you let them go? How, how?" he cried, breaking down. Aaron stepped back. "What is going on here?" he asked. Zelda shrugged. "Medic!" he called. "Yeah!" Zelda yelled. The doctor ran over. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Oh, Link here is having a fit cause he thinks the Sages are going to be killed!" Aaron said, shifting uncomfortably. "Oh, I can take care of that right now!" the doctor said, slipping a needle in Link's arm. Link immediately calmed down, soon falling asleep. "Would you like some too?" the doctor asked Aaron. Aaron looked at him strangely. "Actually, no," he said, pulling Zelda out of the hospital. "What are you doing?" Zelda squealed. Aaron didn't reply. "What are you doing?" Zelda screamed. Aaron turned around. "I'll tell you what! I feel like throwing you out the window! You nearly killed Link in there! Saria is his sister, and-" "What did you say?" Zelda interrupted. "I said Saria is his sister and-" "Saria is his sister?" Zelda gasped. "Yeah, Saria is his sister!" Aaron said. "Aaron! What do you know that I don't?" Zelda asked, slamming Aaron against the wall. Aaron chuckled as the doctor eyed them. "Remember when Link told us about Nakil, his house being attacked, yada yada yada?" he said. "Yes.....why?" Zelda asked. "He told us that Saria was his sister! That's why he's so upset!" the temperamental redhead said. "Aaron! For once, I actually trust you!" Zelda said. "You do?" Aaron gasped. "Yes!" Zelda cried, kissing him on the cheek and rushing off. Aaron looked at her. "Hey, you wanna eat out?" he called. Zelda was too far away to hear. He chuckled. "What a gal! I wonder about Saria....." he said, looking towards Link again. He could see the resemblance. Resemblance to Ganon.

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