The castle was eerily silent and dark which was good and bad for Ramla. It was good because she could hear something coming and hide in a dark corner, but so can the dark creatures that were probably roaming the castle since Zant took over. Ramla had to be extremely quiet and alert if she wanted to get out of the castle in one piece.

When Ramla exited the room where she and Zelda were imprisoned, she noticed as she was sneaking down the stairs, a window that she could reach. She jumped up into the window sill and saw that she could walk on the roof and possibly make down and out of the castle with not much difficulty, save for a few giant birds flying around and the roof being slippery from the heavy rain.

Ramla started to slowly make her way from the window sill and across the roof. "You're not going to make it that way," A voice stated from behind Ramla. Ramla in surprise jumped and almost slipped off the roof. When she turned to see who had spoken to her it was none other than Zelda, standing in the window.

"I told you to stay put," Ramla snapped.

"I know, but I want to get out of here and help find the Chosen Hero too. I know this castle like the back of my beautiful hand. I can tell you know that you're not going to be able to get out of the castle this way without being spotted," Zelda pointed out. "There's some secret passageways and tunnels I know that lead out to Castle Town that no one knows about except the Royal Family and a few of the Royal Guard. We can go that way."

Ramla nodded and looked Zelda straight in the eye, "Alright, fine, we'll go that way. Are you sure that no one else would know this way or find it?"

Zelda thought for a moment thinking of whom else might know or could know the secret passageway. She couldn't think of anyone else besides the Royal Guards but they would never tell. Zelda nodded, "I'm positive."

"Alright, princess. Lead the way," said Ramla. Zelda hopped back into the castle and walked down the stairway with Ramla following close behind.

As Zelda lead Ramla to the secret passageway Ramla started to feel like they were going around in circles. She could have sworn they had passed that door with the chipped doorknob at least three times now. If they hadn't, Zelda really needed to consider fixing the castle up a bit.

"You sure you know where you're going?" Ramla softly asked. Zelda, having a small look of doubt on her face, looked back and silently nodded at Ramla.

"I hope so." Zelda said to herself. Ramla thought she heard something up ahead. She grabbed Zelda by the shoulder to stop her from walking. Ramla heard it again and this time Zelda did too. It sounded like quick and heavy footsteps coming towards them. Zelda quickly opened the nearest door and both of the women ran and hid inside. The room they ran into just happened to be broom closet that was dusty and only big enough for the two women to stand there cramped next to each other. Ramla was not enjoying this one bit. Of all the rooms Zelda could have opened, she had to open the broom closet.

Zelda was about to whisper something to Ramla, probably a comment about the broom closet, but Ramla put her hand over Zelda's mouth. Ramla put a finger over her lips, silently telling Zelda to shut up. There were at least two sets of footsteps walking in the hallway they had just left from.

Outside in the hallway, both of the women could hear the owners of the footsteps conversing with one another.

"King Zant was sure pissed off when he found out not only that Minda had somewhere managed to infiltrate the castle but the princess had escaped as well," a deep and growling voice commented.

"The king has been searching far and wide for Minda and she was right in the palm of his hand," the other voice with more of a slithery voice, like a snake, added.

"It shouldn't be too hard to find the princess. Once we pick up her scent we'll be able to find her. She can't teleport like Minda can," the growling voice stated as both footsteps kept going down the hallway.

Inside the cramped broom closet, Ramla and Zelda began to relax when the footsteps started to fade away. Zelda sighed a sigh of relief, but when she moved her arm to stretch it out a mop tipped over hit a metal bucket that made a clanking sound when the handle of the mop hit it. Both the women winced at the sound. The footsteps outside stopped.

Ramla mouthed silently to Zelda, "If they open the door, attack them with your magic and run like hell." Zelda nodded that she understood what Ramla instructed. Ramla and Zelda both faced the door. Ramla focused her energy down to her hand and a small purple light began to glow in her palm.

The footsteps came back up the hallway and in front of the broom closet. "Sounded like the noise came from in here," the slithery voice stated. The doorknob began to jiggle and in slow motion the door opened. Before the dark creature could open the door all the way, Ramla and Zelda both hit the creature with balls of energy knocking it down and away from the door. Ramla grabbed Zelda's arm and ran as fast as she could out of the broom closet and down the hallway. The other dark creature chased after them.

Zelda and Ramla ran through the labyrinth of hallways. Zelda lead the way while Ramla would look back and try to stop the dark creature from chasing them by shooting fire, ice, and energy at it. Soon the creature was joined by others like it and a pack of them was now chasing Ramla and Zelda. As luck would have it, Zelda, in a state of panic, took a wrong turn and the women ended up in a dead end.

Both women looked back to see if they could correct their mistake, but the creatures had the only way out of the hallway blocked. Ramla stood between Zelda and the slowly approaching pack of creatures with both hands glowing in a purple light. The creatures stopped their advance and clapping could be heard coming from behind the pack. The creatures moved aside to let Zant, who was the one clapping, come up to the front.

Zant wore no helmet and for the first time both women were able to see his face entirely. His narrow yellowish orange eyes glowed like fire and contrasted his blue skin, his nose was flat but jutted out weirdly from his forehead, and his sharp narrow features were accentuated by the snake-like hood that covered his head and neck. Ramla thought he looked like one of the cobras that she would sometimes come across back home in the desert.

"Bravo ladies, a very bold and daring feat you tried to accomplish. But you failed and even if you made it outside the castle, you wouldn't have gotten far," his eyes gleamed as he smirked at the women. Ramla stayed in front of Zelda with her hands still glowing with purple energy.

Zant examined the young Gerudo and laughed. "How quaint, the lady-in-waiting protecting her princess from the big bad Usurper King."

Out of frustration, Ramla threw one of the purple balls of energy she created at Zant, but he easily dodged it and laughed even more. "Aren't you a feisty creature? My master, once he is brought into this world, would have fun with you. Now be good girls, get back into the room you're supposed to be, and prepare for the very important ceremony. If you refuse to do so, I won't be so pleasant to deal with. Understand?"

Zelda touched Ramla's shoulder, "Just do what he says, Ramla." The young Gerudo sighed and the purple energy emitting from her hands faded away.

Two of the creatures in the pack grabbed the women and Zant smirked. "Good girls," he said to the girls. "Guard the door and have them in the throne room in an hour," he ordered the creatures that had a hold of the two women and he walked off. The creatures pushed Ramla and Zelda forward to the room they were imprisoned in before.

The creatures pushed the pair into the room, slammed the door shut, and with a click the door was locked. There was no escaping the room this time. Ramla and Zelda were trapped.

Hope everyone liked this chappy. More to come soon!