Thanks to all who critiqued and commented. This was originally with Part II, however, I decided to break it up so it would't be so long. Enjoy!


Part III

As Link walked into the Council Room, he noticed that two chairs sat empty; Zelda's and Rutora's.

"Where's Rutora?" he asked.

An awkward silence fell over the room. He looked over at Sa'Ria; having been friends since the very beginning, he knew she would tell him. She looked at her hands folded on the table.

"When she heard you called the meeting, she decided not to come," she muttered quietly.

"Are you serious?" he asked in disbelief.

The others in the room nodded, and he let out an exasperated sigh.

"I'll be right back," he said, pushing the door open and pulling out his phone. He quickly dialed her phone number and waited. After several rings, Rutora's voice came over the phone.

"Hello?"

"Rutora, warp your ass over here now!" he grumbled.

"Oh. Hello, Link."

"Why aren't you here? What could possibly make you miss a Council meeting?"

Nothing but angry silence came over the phone. After a moment, a thought suddenly hit him.

"Are seriously still mad at me?"

"Of course I'm still mad at you!" she screeched over the phone.

He let out a growl. "We went on two dates. We were never engaged!"

"You got down on one knee and had a ring!" she cried.

"The hoop fell out of my ear and I knelt down to pick it up," Link explained, his hand curling into a fast in anger. "Get over it!"

No reply came from the other line. He breathed in deeply and said, "This isn't about us. It's about Zelda. She's gone missing."

After a moment of silence, she said, "I'll be there in a minute," then a click of her hanging up.

Link pushed his phone back into his pocket and walked back inside the Council Room. Judging by the looks on the Council's faces, they had heard his side of the argument. As he passed by, Sa'Ria, grinning ear to ear, put her hand out for a high-five. He slapped it quietly and pulled up an extra chair beside her.

After a few minutes, the door opened and Rutora quietly slipped in and went to her seat. Avoiding eye contact with her, Link stood up.

"As some of you may have heard, Princess Zelda has gone missing," he announced. A low murmur filled the room, and he held up his hand. "We know who took her but we don't know where he took her or why."

"Who took over beloved Princess?" Darun asked sadly. For being such an intimidating man, he had a surprising soft side.

"Onox."

Loud shouting erupted in the room. Everyone was standing, pointing fingers at each other. The only person who sat silently was Impah.

"Hey!" Link shouted. "Shut up and sit down!"

Stunned, the Council members silenced their shouting and slowly sat down. Link looked around at them, anger sparking in his eyes.

"While you're all too busy blaming each other, Onox is getting further away with Zelda. You're giving him exactly what he wants!" he yelled. The Council members looked around guiltily, muttering apologies to the members next to them.

Impah stood up to address them. "If it's anybody's fault, it's mine. Her protection detail is my responsibility, and I will take the blame."

"We're not here to place blame," Link said, "We're here because we need to find her."

"What would you have us do?" Naboora asked.

Link sighed. "All the men I can spare are already out looking for her. It would help if each of you contributed some scouts. And if you can put of some patrols on every single road, it would help."

"Every road?" Rutora scoffed.

He glared at her. "Yes, every road. Onox won't take a main road; he's not smart, but he's not that dumb."

She looked angry, but she sat in compliant silence.

"Alright," Impah said, "The sooner we get out there, the sooner we'll have her back."

The rest of the Council stood up and one by one, they trickled out of the room. Impah stayed in the room, waiting for everyone else to leave. Link turned to her and sighed.

"I'm supposed to protect her too," he said understandingly. "It's not your fault."

She said nothing, but walked out of the room.