"Don't worry!" Link exclaimed reassuringly, "We'll find a way out in no time, but in the meantime, we might as well do a little exploring…" Malon was taken aback by this and instantly spoke up, "Exploring! Link, we're trapped in a cave. Under a lake! It's dark, and cold, and we're wet! Who knows how long we've been down here or how worried Ingo is! I want to go home!" Link looked back at her from his place in the lead with a disappointed frown and said sullenly, "Fine, home… Yeah, that sounds good…" After that they walked in silence for a while, accompanied only by the echoing sounds of their footsteps and the distant flowing of water. After a long time of walking the tunnels all seemed to look the same to Malon. Long corridors of shapeless stone, lit only by sparse placed torches and the yellow lantern that Link carried in his off hand. However, one thing seemed to change. The footsteps were very distinctly those of two children, but after an indeterminable time, Malon began to hear another set of footsteps. Something heavy, something nearby. "Umm… Link," Malon whimpered, afraid to turn around, afraid of what she might find. Hearing her voice, Link turned around and his jaw dropped. Malon was petrified as she watched Link's eyes go wide. Then a wide grin crossed his face and he raised his sword.


Ingo trudged through the tunnels, trying vainly to rub the pain out of his back. The fall had jarred him a little, but years of working a farm almost singlehandedly had made him tough. It would take more than a few rocks to break him. However, something else could very easily destroy him. If Ingo didn't find Malon, his boss's daughter, then Ingo would most certainly be fired. That idea was the stuff of nightmares to Ingo, and he tried hard to think of something else. Of finding the two kids and getting back to the ranch before anything bad happened to him in these caves. As Ingo looked around, he knew deeply thatanything that happened to him in these caves would be bad. Ingo hurried ahead, searching for a way out.


Link laughed out loud as he swung his sword one-handed at the Stalfos. The monster turned his strike aside with its shield, but Link spun around and struck at its legs. Once again the Stalfos caught his sword, with its own blade this time, but Link noticed gleefully that he had it off balance. One more spin and he plunged his blade into the monster's invisible heart. The Stalfos seized up suddenly and Link pulled back to watch it crumble into dust. Link leapt back from the pile and turned toward Malon. She was standing a few feet away, well, as far away as she could stand without leaving the lantern's pool of yellow light. Link walked back to her with a wide grin and she slapped him. Link had just killed a monster that was almost five times his size, but this trumped that. He was left speechless and confused. "What was that for?" he demanded, rubbing his face where it still burned. "Stop smiling!" she squealed, "That thing was terrifying! This is terrifying! Why are you smiling? How aren't you terrified?" Link could see from his place a few feet away that her eyes were about as wide as they would go. "It's fine, Malon." Link said, "I do this all the time, I'm like an expert." He sheathed his sword gave her a reassuring pat on the back. "We'll get out of this, I promise." Malon looked at him and sighed, "If you say so… I'm sorry for hitting you." Link grinned, "It's okay, not the worst thing that's happened to me." Malon grinned at that, "What is the worst thing?" "Well…" Link began, "It was in the…" Something stepped into the pool of light. With strong arms it grabbed the two of them by the shoulders and pulled them away.


A little suspense in this one, I hope you liked it. I'll try to post the final chapter this weekend.