Chapter 5

Saria looked at Impa as they cruised toward Sarnilia. "I don't think we should have come," she said. "Why not?" Impa asked. "There's something wrong with Link, I know it!" she said. "It's just the water making you sick. Why don't you get your mind off Link and think about the....hum, big hulk of rock?" Impa said. "I'll try. But I've been feeling like I've been related to him, in a way. Somehow...." Saria muttered. Impa turned away. She looked at the other Sages. Ruto walked up to Saria. "Having feelings about Link again?" she asked. Saria smiled. She had developed a friendship with Ruto over the past year, even though they had their differences. "Yeah. But, Ruto, I just feel like we're related in some way," Saria said. "You and me?" Ruto gasped. "Ruto! Link and myself!" Saria giggled. Ruto smiled. "You know, I used to really, really, really, love Link, and I really hated Zelda, because she married him. But then I entered the process known as maturing, and then I realized that I could still be friends with Link, even if I couldn't marry him! I hope you realize that, which I'm sure you do," Ruto said. Saria nodded. "I do. But I mean, when I'm around him, it always feels like.......Ruto!" she suddenly yelled, clutching Ruto by the arm. Ruto fumbled away. "Have you gone nuts?" she yelled. "No! I just realized something! Link is my brother!" Saria yelled. Impa turned around. "What is this?" she asked, walking across the ship. "Impa! I just realized! Link is my brother! We've got to go back!" Saria cried. "Saria, we can't! We're very close to Sarnilia, and we need to help Aaron out!" Ruto said. Suddenly a white flash of light bloomed on the ship. Zelda stood there. "Have you forgotten you could transport just like that?" she smiled. Saria ran up to Zelda. "You don't need to tell me, you're my sister-in-law!" the princess said. "In transportation chambers," someone said. They exchanged hugs. "Just a minute, here. Saria is Link's sister?" Impa asked. Both of them nodded. "And how do you know?" Impa said. "Link told me a while back. You remember-oh, never mind! Saria, I don't think you need to go back to Hyrule. Link is fine, and we'd better complete this mission first. Say, isn't that Sarnilia over there?" Zelda asked. Saria nodded and sighed, realizing this was the best course. "Sorry, Zelda, I just felt like Link was going to be hurt or something," she said. "Can I talk with Impa in private?" Zelda asked. The rest nodded. Zelda and Impa went down to the lower decks. "Impa, Link was yelling at me for sending Saria and the rest of you to Sarnilia," Zelda began. Impa cut her off. "What? Now why would that be?" she asked. "I'm thinking when he fell back into unconsciousness he had some sort of a prophetic dream," Zelda replied. "He had a prophecy?" Impa said, arching her eyebrows. "I'm not saying he did! I'm saying that he had some sort dream that was sort of prophetic," Zelda said. "Oh, I get it. So what do you think the dream was about?" Impa asked. "Well, I don't know, but I think it has something to do with Sarnilia, because he said something about the Sages getting killed," Zelda said. "A prophecy of our own doom is all we need," Impa sighed. The two looked at each other intently. Zelda broke the ice. "Impa?" she asked. "Yes, Zelda?" Impa replied. "Why are we looking at each other?" Zelda smiled. The two of them laughed. "I don't know, Zelda, I don't know," Impa chuckled. The two women got up. "Impa, I don't know what I'd do without you," Zelda smiled. Impa smiled back. "Zelda, I don't know what I'd do without you," she said. "Thanks, Impa," Zelda said, walking back up to the deck. Impa watched her. "I actually don't know what I'd do without her!" she chuckled, feeling a slight lurch. That meant the ship was docking. She walked up to the deck. The other Sages were up on deck as well. The boat driver, who, I might add, was no more than fourteen, stepped in front of Zelda. "Excuse me, Your Highness? Would you mind if I, uh, went along with you? My boat isn't due for about three days, so would you mind?" he asked. "You good with a sword?" Zelda asked. The kid nodded. "Are you agile enough to the point where you might have to undergo strenuous physical activity?" Zelda asked. Saria and the rest laughed. She had sounded perfectly serious. "Come again?" the boy said. "Are you half as fit as the Hero of Time?" Zelda asked. "Sure!" the boy grinned. "You're on. Let's get moving!" Zelda said. "Just a minute. What's your name?" Saria asked. "Oh, it's Paul Gorman!" the kid said, running back onto his ship to get his sword. It was a surprisingly lightweight one, very sleek-looking and, well, almost magical. "Hey, that looks surprisingly lightweight, very sleek-looking, and, well, almost magical!" Saria gasped. "Didn't someone just say that?" Zelda asked, looking around. She shrugged when everyone shook their heads. "Well, now should we get going?" Impa asked. Everyone agreed. They started to trek toward the top of the Sarnilian hills. (for the benefit of the reader, I will fill you in on a couple of things: first, this is not the Isle De Hevan that was seen in Link's dream; it is a well-known tourist attraction, and it is not usually inhabitated by evil kings. Second, there are no mountains, only rolling hills, and a cliff in between) All the Sages seemed to be coming along quite well, except for one: Nabooru. Being accustomed to a desert environment, she was not very comfortable walking on the hilly terrain, and said so in no uncertain terms. So heatedly, in fact, that you really don't want to know. On the other hand, Darunia wasn't either, and Ruto, uh, need we say more? By now they were half up the hill, and despite the complaints of some of the Sages, all of them agreed they were making good time. It had only been two hours since they had left the ship. Paul, true to his word, was not only half as agile and fit as Link, he was as agile and fit as Link. Impa nudged Zelda and said her instincts on that boy were right on the money. Zelda smiled back and rubbed her head, wishing they could get this stupid quest over with so she and Saria could go back and nurse Link back to health. However, this wasn't for some lost cause, as Malon really was at stake here, and someone really had taken over Sarnilia, though they hadn't cared to show themselves in public. The most obvious answer was Ganon, though they didn't know if it was him or some other villianous person (or thing). "Hey, it's getting late, why don't we break camp and get some rest?" Nabooru asked. "If you haven't noticed, it's the middle of the day!" Impa replied. "There's no reason why we couldn't!" Ruto panted. "Well, if we want to save the ultimate concentration of sarcasm's wife, then we'd better keep moving!" Impa muttered. Nabooru sighed in annoyance and trudged on. The fog around the island had broken away to reveal a beautiful blue sky, and a hot, burning, sun as well. "Isn't this sun hot?" Saria panted. Apparently another Sage was starting to wear down. Rauru, who had said very little, now spoke: "I think, for the benefit of our health and sanity, we should stop for a rest," he said, showing he could still make a sly remark at the age of 3000-odd-or-even years (note: I'm including a timeline at the end of my final Z5 story, so that'll explain it, then I start on my Z1 stories). Anyway, the Sages smiled and agreed, and they all sat down on whatever they could find. "Thank you very kindly, now we've only got another twenty miles until we get to a town," Nabooru groaned. Everyone glared. They looked around. Suddenly a dark shape blotted out the sun. "Ho boy, this doesn't look too good!" Darunia muttered. Apparently it was a forty-foot monster. Saria fired off a couple magic beams, that didn't do anything. "Great, what are we going to do?" she said, trying to keep the panic in her voice from reaching the others. Paul leapt out and attacked it as it came closer. The monster roared and charged. Paul held his ground, and readied himself for the coming fury. He watched as the roaring embodiment of evil stopped in front of him and started to swing a claw. Paul somehow blocked it and ran towards the monster. The monster stepped back, seemingly hesitating because of this exceptional adversary. He retreated. Paul charged. The monster stepped aside and swung. Paul ducked and hit the monster on the hand. The monster was stopped long enough for Paul to bring his sword down upon the monster's leg, and then as the thing toppled over, he ended that menace to the group. "Hey, that was pretty good! You're a natural at this sort of thing!" Darunia smiled. Paul grinned. "Yeah, I've always been pretty good with a sword, I suppose," he said modestly. Saria nudged Impa. Impa leaned down. "He's got all the qualities of a hero. I think we've hit the jackpot!" she said. Impa smiled and nodded. They looked around for any more of those monsters, and as there were none, they walked on. "You know, it's amazing that we couldn't hurt that thing, but Paul could," Nabooru said. The others nodded. All of a sudden, Impa noticed something about the sword Paul was carrying. "Paul, let me see that," she said. Paul gave it to her. She inspected it carefully, fondling it in her hands. She saw the Triforce on it, and some other marking. "Paul, this sword has a Phoenix on it. Zelda, didn't you wear a Phoenix on your dress when you were young?" Impa asked. Zelda thought back a little and nodded. "I think this has something to do with-wait a minute, there's some sort of ancient Hylian writing on it. I think I can translate it," Impa said. Everyone looked at each other. "It says something about the Phoenix's descendants, and how the one who hold this sword shall never die in battle except for the Spirit Rune," Impa said. Everyone looked at Paul, who looked at the sword, then at Zelda, then at Impa. "So what this is saying is that I'm a descendant of a Hylian myth? And I'm immortal?" Paul gasped. "Never said anything about being immortal!" Impa said. "I was being sarcastic!" Paul said, looking back at Impa. Impa looked at him. Paul was the first to look away. Suddenly every one of them burst out laughing. Ruto, surprisingly, was the first to stop. "Why did we just all do that?" she asked. "I don't know. Didn't you all of a sudden get a really good feeling inside?" Saria asked, still giggling. (I'm listening to the Zelda theme song, on my MIDI player, that's why this part is in here) "Yeah....I did. Well, I think we need to be going," Impa said, smiling. They started to walk on. Well, no one could ever explain why that happened. But it happened. And they would be better off for it, as the next part of this quest was still to come.

Aaron watched as Michael started to walk over to him. He had just learned, and Aaron was mad that the Sages (i.e. Zelda) hadn't got his wife back home in time. "And you said he could walk! More like a horse on his last leg," Mallard said casually. Aaron looked at him strangely. "You don't say," he said. "Actually, I did say. Okay, bad joke. I must admit, he's getting better on his legs, wouldn't you say?" Mallard replied. Aaron grinned. "Yeah, he's getting better. Really good," he said. "Hey, I was about to tell you, Link's in pretty good shape, except for the fact that he's worrying his brains out over Saria. I wonder where Zelda went? I haven't seen her for a couple days. And by the way, would you like to go out to dinner with a couple of the guys (Hylian Soldiers) tonight?" Mallard said, covering all the bases of chat. Aaron looked at him again and nodded. "Yeah, I can get Impa to babysit Michael," he said, looking at his son. "Well, I'd better be leaving. Going to go check on Link again," Mallard said. "Hey, could I come too? Michael hasn't been out lately," Aaron suggested. Mallard nodded, and so the three went to the castle hospital. They found Link semi-conscious. He struggled to speak to them. "Where's......Zelda?" he asked. "Well, she hasn't been around for a couple of days, but on Tuesday I saw her going towards her trans-something room. When, uh, I pulled her out of the hospital. She's got some sort of area in the castle where she practices that Sagely-" "Aaron.....she's gone to Sarnilia.....that's her....transpor...sation shannel...." Link muttered, speech starting to slur before falling into merciful sleep. Aaron looked at Mallard. They did high-fives jokingly. "Well, we've got all the women on that piece of rock. What are we going to do?" Mallard asked.

"I feel sorta bad about leaving Michael in the care of ZELDA'S nanny, but I really do want to find Malon," Aaron said, looking at the island that now loomed before them. "Hey, do you know what happened to those kids?" Mallard asked. "Oh, they're off on some crazy, loony, weird, adventure. But honestly, I don't know," Aaron said. Mallard sighed. "Yeah. Do you think we'll find Malon?" he asked. "We will. We definitely will," Aaron vowed. Mallard smiled at him. "Do you think?" he asked. "Why not?" Aaron replied. "Well, I never said we wouldn't!" Mallard said, just a tad defensively. "Ahahaha! That's funny," Aaron said. "Ah, cheer up, kid! We'll find her!" Mallard chuckled, grabbing Aaron in a bear hug. Aaron choked, and tried to get air. "Oh, sorry, kid," Mallard smiled. "Don't <cough> do that!" his friend shouted. "Whatever you say, kid," Mallard said. "You really think this is a good idea?" Aaron asked. "Nothing better, kid," Mallard said. "Are you trying to immortalize me as Aaron the Kid?" Aaron said, laughing in spite of himself. "Am I? Let's think about that," Mallard said. Suddenly the boat hit the dock, a little shakily. Aaron tossed the driver a couple of red rupee's and they stepped off. "So this is where she is. Doesn't seem too hard, but looks can be decieving," he said, looking at the sun. A dark shape seemed to pass over it for a second, then it shone as it always had, and always would. The Sages saw it too. And then black shapes, small, but still formidable looking, scurried across the hill, barking. And then, Aaron saw, although they were far away, yellow, green, red, blue, purple, tan, and white beams of light started exploding around. Then a huge cyan-colored beam fired back and the duo could see it blew a huge hole in the hill. There was nothing in reply.

As it turned out, the Sages were fine, just a little bit hurt, that's all. "Who is that?" Ruto yelled, seeing this person was rather Hylian-like. "If you don't know me-" it attempted to say but was cut off by Zelda. "Of course we don't know you!" she screamed. "As I was saying, I am Kelgoran, and I rule Sarnilia! And I've captured your little boat driver!" he shouted. The Sages gasped. "He's been captured? How? We've only been down for ten seconds!" Nabooru asked. "You were down for five minutes, not ten seconds! I made sure of that!" Kelgoran laughed. They all gasped again. "Quiet! I'll bet he isn't really forty feet tall, he's just projecting an image of himself!" Saria whispered. The others nodded and decided to prove this point. They fired. The magic went right through the figure. Saria nodded in approval of her own suggestion. "Aim between the legs!" she said. They fired again. The man suddenly fluctuated and disappeared. Kelgoran really was nothing more than a regular Hylian. But he suddenly charged up another one of those magic beams. "You found my little secret, eh? I bet you couldn't even do that. In fact, I know you couldn't. You're too weak and-" he wasn't much of a fighter, it seemed to the group as they fired. That ball of magic unfortunately went off and exploded, much to the discomfort of everyone in the area. "What will they come up with next? A Hylian Ganon-wannabe, that's strange," Zelda said. "Very," Darunia agreed, warily looking around. What he saw were hundreds of black shapes, large or small, and all were vicious-looking. "Uh, guys, we've got a slight problem here. Hundreds of vicious-looking black things are rushing towards us, and we've got almost no hope of survival. What do we do?" he asked. "Wait and hope the civilians hear us," Zelda remarked wryly. "There's no time for that! Run!" Impa shouted. But the things were too quick. They were overtaken, and Kelgoran smiled evilly. "So, how do you like my Cybors?" he asked. Impa looked at the face of one. It had one eye, as did the rest of them. "I can see why you call them that," she muttered, looking away quickly. Kelgoran chuckled. "There's no one to save you. Absolutely no one at all," Kelgoran said. Suddenly a yell resounded from somewhere around the hill. Red hair was seen coming over the hill, and then a mustache. Aaron and Mallard were riding on one of the dog-like creatures. "All right, outta the way, outta the way, trained dogcatchers, coming through!" Aaron yelled. At this the Cybor slowed and looked up fearfully. "That doesn't include you, boy. Keep going," Aaron chuckled. The Cybor barked and ran on. Kelgoran stood dumbfounded. The other dogs looked at the loner. Somehow, Aaron had gotten hold of the leader, and was now riding it back toward the others. The dogs looked at each other, then growled at Kelgoran. Zelda shook her head and looked smugly at Kelgoran, who gaped even more. Aaron skidded into the pack. "Hey, you guys, have you seen a woman with red hair?" he asked. The dogs bounded up and down and barked. "Really? Did she have on some sort of farm dress?" Aaron asked. The dogs seemed to pause for a minute, then did the dog equivelent of shrugging shoulders. "Where is she?" Aaron shouted, really getting excited. The dogs barked and started to run. "I think they're trying to show us the way!" Aaron yelled. The dog started to move. A few dogs picked up the Sages, sensing the connection with Aaron. They galloped off on the narrow rim of the island. "I wonder if this is how Link feels when he rides Epona?" Zelda laughed. "Don't count on it. Horses are bred to carry people. These dogs are something special," Aaron said. Zelda nodded in assent. The dogs soon came to a part of the island that was not very pleasant. Grass, trees, and life were not to be seen. And the smell.... "Sheesh, this guy has got bad taste," Aaron muttered to himself. The dogs crept low to the ground, apparently fearful of the area. The dog that Aaron and Mallard rode on seemed to be just a little less afraid, but not much. Mallard wrinkled his nose. "You're telling me, Aaron. Is that something up ahead?" he asked. The others looked ahead. There was a small, modest shack in front of them, a few hundred yards away. They got closer. "I wonder if there's any food there," Aaron muttered again. Suddenly there was no longer a shack. A huge castle stood before them. An exact replica of Hyrule Castle. "This is not good......for Kelgoran," Zelda said. The Cybor she was riding on barked in assent. Impa nodded. "Well, I think it's on foot from here," Darunia said, noting a bubbling pool of acid with no path whatsoever. "Oh lawsey," Aaron groaned. The Cybors barked and started to run straight toward it. "What are they doing?" Aaron yelled as the Cybor he was riding on started to run toward it as well. "Jump!" Saria yelled as the Cybors ran into it. But they didn't fall in. They simply walked straight over it. "What in the world?" Mallard gaped. "I'm trying this out!" Aaron said, waving his foot over it, and then feeling for a platform. His foot hit an invisible bridge. "Come on!" he yelled, running across. The Sages and Mallard stepped across. Suddenly, a huge wail came from the castle. The first line of defense had been broken.

At the castle doors the group stood. "Here we stand, with no way to get in," Aaron said. The Cybors barked again. One of them barked something and the door opened. "Either this dog knows magic or someone doesn't know they've-" "SHHHHHHHHHHH!" came the reply. Aaron rolled his eyes. They stepped into the castle. The dogs crowded into a corner and stood there, as if waiting for their masters to come back. Everyone shrugged. "This, needless to say, will probably end in Aaron getting captured and us saving him," Zelda muttered. "Right as always," Aaron said. "Yeah, of course-what?" Zelda gasped. "Quiet! I'll throw both of you in the dungeon if you don't quiet down," Impa whispered tersely. Aaron and Zelda both wondered how. However, it was a good thing she got their attention, because an Iron Knuckle barreled down a hallway, followed by two Moblins and Stalfos. The Sages took care of the Iron Knuckle, and Aaron and Mallard took care of the other four. "That was easy. I meant to say right as always," Aaron said. Zelda stared at him. "Too easy," Mallard replied uneasily. "Suddenly they heard-" Help! "Oh dear, I'm starting to be a mind-reader!" Zelda fidgeted. "I wouldn't call that mind-reading, I'd call that a comrade in trouble! This way," Aaron said, leading them down a hall. The cries grew louder, and they started to recognize the voice. "Yeah, this is Paul all right. I wonder what's up," Mallard whispered. They came into a giant prison complex, guarded by a bunch of monsters, including Hylians. A few seemed to have been crossed with Moblins, which, needless to say, is very strange-looking. "Take a look at that long-lost branch of the Hylian evolutionary tree!" Aaron chuckled. "You actually believe that?" Zelda asked. "Oh, some guy back where I came from set it up, so I figured I'd better be his contact," Aaron said. "I do not follow you," Zelda replied. "Uh, I think that Hylian evolutionary tree branch is attacking!" Saria said. They had been spotted. Darunia tried a new tactic, hurling himself into them and knocking them all out of the way. "So we're playing bowling, eh? Okay!" Aaron shouted, throwing his full weight into the other unit. "The kid got a strike!" Mallard chuckled as he went out to help (having some nolige of bowling from Aaron). Aaron raised his arms victoriously in the air. Suddenly his legs were pulled out from under him. The Hylian-Moblin raised his sword, but Aaron kicked upwards and drew his own sword, which was knocked away. The two were both swordless. The monster threw a punch suddenly. Aaron ducked and counterattacked with a left hook, then a right cross, then an uppercut. The Hylian-Moblin fell to the floor. "Hey, look, look, look! I knocked him out!" Aaron shouted. "I think he's dead," Impa said. Aaron chuckled in delight. "What an arm! Mr. Foreman and Mr. Tyson should watch their backs," he said. Suddenly Zelda started bawling out instructions. "Okay, we'll split up to search for Paul! Saria, myself, and Impa will go to the left, Darunia, Ruto, and Rauru will go to the right, and Nabooru, Mallard, and Aaron will go straight!" she said. Everyone nodded, rather surprised at this sudden explanation. "Uh, so we split up into groups," Nabooru said, joining up with Aaron and Mallard. The others got into their respective groups. "Okay, everyone, let's go!" Zelda said. They all went off, not knowing what awaited.

Darunia, Ruto, and Rauru looked around. "Um, should we even be here?" Ruto asked. "Quiet down! Something or other will hear us and we'll be captured!" Darunia muttered. Ruto nodded and looked around again. "Let's hope that Paul is down this way, or we'll be in trouble," Rauru said. "Yeah, real big trouble," Ruto fidgeted. She was not very fond of dark places, even at her age. They edged down the hallway. Spiders crawled up and down the wall, cobwebs hung down from the ceiling. Even the occasional horrid painting, reminding the three of the better days at this castle. Suddenly they heard wailing from the end of the hall, however long that might be. "W-what was that?" Ruto stuttered, now throughly afraid of the castle. "They've got Paul, I'll warrant, and they're torturing him! Fiends!" Darunia shouted. His voice echoed through the cavernous passage. "Quiet. They must not hear us, or we will be in the same predicament as Paul. Our objective should be finding Paul, not being like Paul!" Rauru whispered. Darunia nodded, realizing his mistake. The loud wail came again. They quickened their step, hoping it wasn't too late. The wail guided them on, louder and louder, closer and closer. Suddenly they rounded the last corner. The wail was in front of them. Darunia could not hold back his annoyance. "IT'S A BLASTED POE!" he shouted. The poe laughed it's evil giggle. Darunia charged up a spell called Exorcist, appropriately, and fired. The Poe exploded into tiny little ghostly flames, like when you use a normal way of killing a Poe, only there were tiny little flames all over. Ruto simply created a bucket of water and extinguished the flames. "Blasted little....oh no!" Darunia moaned. "What?" Ruto asked. "We're back where we started," Rauru said. Even he couldn't conceal the disappointment in his voice as he saw the central chamber.

Saria, Impa, and Zelda watched the other two groups, then went into their respective halls. A dark but short little corridor exited into a huge ballroom. Saria was the first to step into it. "Zelda, is this what it's like in real castles?" she asked. She had never been inside a real castle, and this, even if it was Kelgoran's, was.....beautiful. The forest never had anything like this. The forest....who needed the forest? This was better. And then.....him. "Hello, Saria," the Kokiri said. Saria looked up. Morend took her hand. Morend was a Kokiri that Saria had a very, very, deep love for, and she had meant to tell him this, until Ganondorf. When Link had lost Mora, Saria had lost Morend to Ganondorf. Now there was no one that she really could talk to in the forest, except maybe......well, no one. "Morend....how are you, I mean, why are you, I mean, you're back!" Saria said, choking back a sob. "I'm here now, and that's all that matters. Here, do you know how to dance?" Morend asked. Saria shook her head. So Morend taught her a step or two, quickly, mind you. Then music started playing from nowhere. Saria and Morend started dancing. "HOLD IT!!!" Zelda screamed. Saria and Morend took no notice until the music went flat. "All right, who the heck is this Morend fellow? Huh? Saria, we're on a mission here! And it's not like you to just suddenly fall in love with someone!" she said. Saria shrank into Morend's arms. "Zelda, you don't understand! I-" "You love him. Okay, I get your point, Saria, I'd feel the same way if this were Link standing here (at this point Saria began to weaken; Zelda was taking another approach), but we've got to save Malon. And you've got to remember Link, and the fact that Morend here might not be who he seems," Zelda said. Saria looked at Morend. "Morend, thanks, but.....oh, Morend!" Saria cried, putting her head on his shoulder. Morend nodded his head. "Saria, I realize where the Princess is coming from. I think you'd better go and save Malon. I'll be waiting outside the castle for you," he said, suddenly disappearing. Saria fell over. Zelda helped her up. "Saria, did you see how he disappeared in that flash of light?" she said. Saria nodded. "That's not Morend, Saria," Impa said, stepping out of the shadows. Saria nodded, then burst into tears. They continued on. Zelda seemed to know the way (this is a replica of Hyrule Castle after all), so that was all right. Saria however was still shaken with her being torn away from Morend, but she realized it probably wasn't him after all. They were walking through a courtyard-like place, a lot like the courtyard-like place that her guards guarded when she was a child. They started walking through a tunnel. They walked into a real courtyard. In the middle, playing an ocarina, was....Zelda. The older and real Zelda knew this wasn't real, so she suddenly fired of a magic ball. The girl, completely unprepared for the attack, fell to the ground. Impa walked up to make sure she was down. "No pulse," she announced. Zelda suddenly looked at the body. "I've killed myself..." she muttered. Saria looked at her and tried to suppress a laugh. "That was just a trick of Kelgoran's!" she said. Zelda knelt down by her own image. "Impa, look! That's me......" she said. "Zelda, it's an illusion. I think you're old enough to know that by now," Impa said. Zelda shook her head in disbelief. "Impa, LOOK! I mean-" "Zelda! Snap out of it! You told Saria to (in a subtle way, mind you), so I'm telling you to! We need to save Malon, and now! So stop looking at THAT and let's help Aaron!" Impa hissed, wrenching Zelda's head away from it and pulling her up. Zelda shook with fear. Saria held her hand, hoping it'd make her feel better. They continued. They hadn't gone much further when suddenly five of those Hylian-Moblins jumped down in front of them. All three were pinned to the ground. "This is what we get for killing my own image..." Zelda muttered, as if in a trance. "Oh shut up," Impa grumbled. Some days were just rotten.

Aaron and his two companions were looking around as they went straight forward. "Hope we can get through all right. Never know what might be lurking," he said in a faraway voice. Nabooru and Mallard looked at him. "I don't think there's much hope for you as long as you're in the army, kid," Mallard said. "Well.....uh...." Aaron tried to think of a good comeback, but couldn't. "Look, we need to be quiet, you know, because you never know-" "I just said that!" Aaron said. "Whatever. I hear something, shhhhh!" Nabooru muttered. Some sort of muffled sound that not many could hear was coming from down the hall. "I don't hear anything," Mallard said. "I don't blame you. It's sort of a....scream, a muffled scream. There's a good chance it may be Paul," the Gerudo said. The other two nodded. They walked through the hall, so long that the couldn't see the end of it. But suddenly they saw a bat rush past them, emitting a scream-like sound. "Scared ourselves over nothing," Aaron sighed. But suddenly the scream came back again. And this time they knew it was no bat. "That's definitely Paul," Mallard said. Aaron hesitantly nodded. The other two looked at him. "Anything on your mind, Aaron?" Nabooru asked. "Well, you see, I'm wondering how Kelgoran got himself a Gerudo to capture Malon and Zelda at the reception. It'd be more likely he's just Ganon's servant, which would explain the Gerudo," Aaron replied. "No, Gerudo are known all over the world, but not as much by some. It's no surprise to me that Kelgoran was able to get hold of a Gerudo. And he's a Hylian as well, so really he should know about the Gerudo," Nabooru countered. "Well, yes....." Aaron said defeatedly. He was not feeling himself lately, and he knew it. Why hadn't he been able to come up with good comebacks lately? Proof he was suffering from a big illness (actually, it was heartbreak. Malon being gone was taking it's toll on him). "That screaming is getting louder by the minute, and I don't like-what in the world?" Mallard gasped as he suddenly stopped at the edge of a precipice. He saw three regular Hylians sneering at a woman tied down at the bottom. She looked at him, but quickly looked away for fear of giving them away. But Mallard knew what she had said: Help me, Mallard.

"Friends, it is time for this lady to be freed. Do not interfere with my chance of glory, for this is my chance to rescue a damsel in distress. And hey! who knows what may come of it?" Mallard chuckled. "And I thought he didn't want marriage!" Aaron said to Nabooru. "I'm not sure that's what he meant," Nabooru replied. He grabbed his hookshot, only issued to select and elite soldiers, and fired. It sunk into the wooden hearth just above the fireplace. And now it seemed to Aaron, Nabooru, and of course, Mallard, that this was turning into a large building, abandoned, but a perfect place for kidnappers to hide their kidnapped victims. When Aaron looked back, he saw only a door, wooden and rotting, not much shelter from the cold winter night. "Winter? Heck, now I've seen everything! Medieval countries, annoying princesses, fat pig-like creatures, and now a holodeck!" he said to himself. Suddenly the door blew into fragments. Several men came through the door. "Halt, kidnappers! We are the royal police of Calornarn! There has been a kidnapping here, eh? And I suppose you might be two of the kidnappers? Get them, men, and clap them in irons until the maggots grow tired of feeding on-" "Now look here chap! This is downright bloody ingrateful and we are not the kidnappers! Rather, we are other civilians captured by these fiends!" Aaron said, turning on his British charm (or what he thought was his British charm) and hoping it would work. It didn't. The men started to close in. "No, no, stay back! I'm warning you, uh, my friend here will, eh-" "That's enough talk! Now get them!" the commander yelled. Aaron and Nabooru looked at each other, wondering how the heck was this happening and why. The police closed in on them. Meanwhile, Mallard had swung down via hookshot into the chest of one of the men. He was knocked into a wall and stayed down. The other two drew their swords. "Who are you?" they asked. "None of your business. Now free the lady or face the consequences," Mallard muttered. The two men chuckled. "You haven't answered our question," they said. "I said that's none of your business!" Mallard shouted, thrusting his sword forward. One of them toppled over. The other one looked at Mallard, who readied his sword. The man lunged forward with a jump attack. Mallard blocked it. The man jumped back, eyes darting around like he was hunted prey. "That's good, but not good enough," he said, running forward. Mallard blocked a stab, chop, another jump attack, cut, and slice. The man jumped back again. "You go on the offense, old man," he said. Mallard suddenly whipped into overdrive, sweeping towards the man. The man saw that there was no escape from this sudden attack. Mallard suddenly stopped short. The man was about to run but Mallard picked him up by the collar. "No, you don't! Why have you taken this lady? What did you want from her?" he hissed. The man kept his mouth shut. "What did you want? I'm warning you..." Mallard muttered. The man was defiant. Mallard held his sword up to the man, who suddenly looked very uncomfortable with a sword to his neck. "I don't want to hurt you, but if I must, then I shall," he said. He held the sword tighter. "All right! All right!" the man croaked. "Now we are getting results!" Mallard said. "This voman....vas the daughter of the richest man in Calornarn," the man began. "Calornarn? Where's that?" Mallard gruffly asked. "I assume you being a Welattian by your accent you have heard of Sarnilia?" the man said. Mallard realized that his Velattian heritage might come in handy, and this man had not been outside Velattiane for too long. Mallard had been away from it long enough to drop the tendency to switch the V's and W's. "Yes, I have," he said, thoughts moving around his head at warp speed. "Calornarn is Sarnilia. Calornarn is the city that covers Sarnilia," the man said. "Where does the lady come into all of this?" Mallard said. "As I said, she was the daughter of the richest man in Calornarn, Drake the Great," he said. Sounds like some long-lost cousin, Mallard thought to himself. "More," he prodded. The man gulped. "Our leader.......vanted to capture her for ransom...ve have never been a criminal group, until now," he said, straining to get his words out. Mallard nodded and relaxed his grip a little bit. A little. "Why did you suddenly go into the business?" he asked. The man scowled as best he could. "Our leader is the leader-type, and he had other men totally loyal to him. Ve could not refuse. However, his second-in-command, the one you see on the floor before you, spread lies through his command, and promoted enough discontent to start a mutiny. The commander was killed, and then the second-in-command became commander. That's vhen he decided to capture the lady. I vas an accomplice, and I vanted no part of this," he said. "What was your group doing before this?" Mallard asked. "Vorking for a man named Kelgoran," the man said. Mallard suddenly saw the wooden mansion start to dissolve. A cold wind blew around both of them. The man looked around, and suddenly realized what was happening. "It is Kelgoran!" he screamed. Mallard looked at him, who suddenly disappeared in his grip. He turned around, looking for something behind him that may have been sneaking up on him. The woman was out of her bonds, dissolving slowly. "Mallard....come here," she said. Mallard tried not to move forward, but his legs automatically did what she said. The woman's dress whipped around her. She reached out for his hand, and Mallard couldn't stop his from holding it. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Even Zelda paled in comparison (and we know that she can be very beautiful at times). "I warn you......Mallard, weak as Kelgoran may be against I or even Ganon, he has many trials for you. Nabooru shall not experience any personal trial, as you have-" "Miss, please tell me what this is about. This was not a personal experience," Mallard interrupted. The woman seemed taken aback for a moment. "But Mallard, this experience is personal. You know that....." she trailed off. And then Mallard remembered. He looked at her with new respect. "Mallard.....you and your friends have my blessing. Good-bye," the woman said. Mallard looked at her and then in a flash of green light was gone. He stared at where she had been. "Whoa, what was that? I've never seen a green fluorescent light talk to a person before!" Aaron said, striking the ground feet-first. Nabooru did the same. "Must've been the weather," she said. Aaron looked at Mallard. He cleared his throat. "Well, I can say that Ganon is not exactly going to kill Link anytime soon," he said. Aaron looked at him. "Are you feeling all right?" he asked. Mallard smiled. "Better than I have in a long time,"

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