A/N: Hello everyone, may I present chapter 10 Thanks for your support, it really means a lot! So this chapter will be in Link's point of view and it will probably stay there for about two more chapters after this, before we get back to Zelda. I love reading the answers to your questions, you guys are awesome!

Gojira Geek: that is a really interesting take, I had never thought about it that way. Thanks for the review!

Scarlet Curls: I am inclined to agree with you about that XP yes they do come with great responsibility don't they? Flink? That's hilarious, I must remember that one. Yes this story should be around the same length as my other one I am not planning to write an encyclopedia sized tale XD Yes I might get in to that later when I introduce the rest of them. I am not sure about that yet, maybe it's genetics or divine design? Thanks for catching that X) and thanks for the review!

Generala: that's a really good thought and point. I think he might be a bit confused at first too. I agree with a lot of what you said. I hope you don't mind that she is a mountain lion. :) Thanks!

silverheartlugia2000: don't you just love them? XP Thank you!

Storm Dragon Wolf Princess: I really like a lot of what you said and think that he might indeed think that way. That's cool, I left it open so it could be up to you. Yeah! You agree with me XP I'm glad you liked them, I quite enjoyed writing them. We shall see, are you thinking about Telma specifically? Thanks!

Yami no Nokutan: I'm glad you liked it, and yes the storm shall be coming. XP yes I got some rainbows :) I agree. Thank you.

Also, special thanks to Yami for her input and ideas concerning Aveil.

Partners in Crime

It was once again night and Link and Aveil were chained to a tree in the same manner they had been the day before. The procession had nearly reached the mountain's snowy top and was mere miles away. In the high forests near the crest, the breeze had already swept all the autumn leaves, which had fallen from the sparse number of deciduous trees, off into the frozen grip of winter, long before that season should have taken its hold. The sky overhead was a dark leaden grey that seemed almost to glow a forbidding frozen blue on the eastern horizon. As Link watched the muted world around him through stingingly cold and hooded eyes, the land seemed to grow suddenly still in expectant silence. Slowly, the first snow of the season began to fall. It drifted up against the sparse vegetation of the high mountains and caught upon the rough bark of the trees, staining them dark with moisture and fringing each jagged edge with white. The soft flakes, falling in a lighter color than the brooding clouds above, slowly began to smooth the jagged contours and gentle undulations of the ground with its cold embrace, building light canopies on the feathery needles of the evergreens. Gradually, a soft breeze began to blow, quietly whispering its menacing intention to gain in both speed and icy strength.

Both prisoners had been given tattered yet warm cloaks because, as Ganondorf said, "Dead slaves were of no use." Link huddled deeper into the folds of his as he watched the guards through veiled eyes. The three sentries that were guarding them were none other than Xiphos, Tirkon, and Malver. They were human guards and they were tired. Link had watched them all night, waiting. It was now, about two hours before dawn, when Link became sure that the guards were asleep. He sat up slowly and nudged Aveil. He needn't have bothered. She was as alert as he was. Silently, he slipped the gag from his mouth. The stupid thing had caused him to get a lot of dirt in his mouth on the ride up the dusty mountain trail. He took his tiny pen knife out from his belt and went to work picking the locks on his chains. When he was finished, he handed it to Aveil, who freed herself with almost practiced ease.

"Let's go," he mouthed as they silently backed out of the clearing into the surrounding forests after relocking the chains. The keening wind began to blow with greater force, flinging the small amount of snow in a leaping twirling dance as it turned over itself upon the ground. Link scented the air and smiled as he saw the gusting flakes begin to erase the existence of their escaping footprints.

Link and Aveil had been put on the same horse and had whispered about escape plans whenever they got the chance on their way up the mountain the day before. Aveil had also whispered snatches about the temple where the power was located, high in the mountains, in one of the many caves.

Link had an idea of the direction in which they were supposed to be headed, and slowly backed that way. The camp melted away into the darkness around them and the towering shadows of the ponderosa, fir and leafless aspen trees. As they walked, Aveil whispered urgently to him.

"I forgot to tell you, my family guards the knowledge of the cave's location, but it is rumored that there is something that guards the actual power, some sort of monster."

"Brilliant," Link said, "so we will probably be in for a fight then? You could have mentioned it a bit sooner." Through the darkness he thought he could make out her scowling at him. He could not keep himself from grinning, "Well, at least you mentioned it before we were actually there and were trying to fight of whatever it is with my pen knife," he amended in a whisper. "I'll be right back, wait here, just in case I get captured, then at least one of us will have a chance."

He crept noiselessly back to camp making straight for the dwindling campfire and the sleeping soldiers. He drifted towards the nearest Darknut as silently and as unnoticed as a shadow. Thievery was on his mind, for he needed a weapon. Although he normally considered steeling rather dishonorable, he saw nothing wrong with thieving from thieves and murderers.

Every Darknut carried two weapons, either a mace or a super weighty broad sword, and a long, thin, well-crafted rapier. It was the rapier he was after. The thin blades were not his favorite type of swords, but they were a far better option than any of the other weapons in his enemies' arsenal. The rusted hook-swords, bent knifes, and wooden maces of the Bulblins were not worth comparing to the fine and well kept blades of the Darknuts. Though Darknuts did not actually sleep, when they were idle and not on duty, which never happened when they were on guard, they went into an almost trance-like hibernation. He knew from experience that if he was slow, cautious, and used a feather-light touch he might be able to get away with what he was planning. He carefully and quietly reached out a hand to lift the sword; not bothering to unbuckle the scabbard as he only intended to take the blade itself. He had become rather adept at pick pocketing because he had been forced to practice the skill several times during the seven months he had been… he thrust the distasteful memory aside. There was no use in bringing up the unpleasant past. The Darknut never even flinched.

Once he had the sword, he slunk quietly out of camp to the spot where he had left Aveil. He was about to tell her that it was her turn when he saw the smug look on her face. Two bejeweled sai daggers rested carelessly in her hand. He had seen those two daggers before, they belonged to Tirkon.

"What took you so long? I've been waiting for what seemed like hours for you to show up. You are a pretty fair thief but you are a tad on the slow side," she teased arrogantly.

He shook his head smirking at her, "Why, thank you for the compliment. Ganon's lieutenant is going to be pretty furious when he finds you have stolen his best weapons, he will want revenge."

"Let him try," she snapped darkly, "I only wish I had time to slit all their miserable throats and take all their weapons, but even I am not that fast. My mother is a direct descendant of the Gerudo thieves of old; she taught me everything I know."

"So I have her to thank for my current headache," he jested with a grin.

'So she is a Gerudo,' he thought. He found himself understanding Aveil's attitude a bit more. The wind that had been aiding them was dying down again, he realized as he cocked his head to the side. He signaled for them to start moving again. "I hope she taught you how to evade capture by leaving no trail and making false ones."

"Well actually she…" Aveil began boldly before she paused and then finished in a quieter tone, "she didn't. I don't suppose your mother taught you?"

"No, she didn't, but thankfully, necessity is a great teacher and I have picked up a trick or two." 'But, if Ganon knows where the source is already, and sees that we are gone, would it even be worth trying to cover our tracks?' He thought to himself with a furrowed brow. 'On the other hand,' he decided, 'a lack of a trail at least at the start might indeed by them a few moments of time.' The thought of their inevitable pursuit made him shudder.

As they climbed ever upwards, the snow around them thickened from its light dusting into deeper and deeper drifts. They had long since stopped trying to hide their trail in favor of speed, at Link's direction. As they struggled through its hindering presence, the sun rose behind them. Aveil's breathing, like his, became heavier as they continued onwards. Link chanced a look at her face and she, sensing his eyes upon her, spoke.

"I have only been here twice before. In the summer mostly, but not all the snow is gone and the going is a bit easier," she panted as they hiked. "Look," she pointed towards an ice cave, just ahead of their current position in a clearing, imbedded in the cliff face. They had passed many caves just like it on their way up the mountain. "I have never been inside the actual cave but my parents had a map. Once you get inside, there is a long narrow passage that leads to a large chamber where the power is kept. The power source is rumored to be a remnant of some ancient magic from the Gerudo tribe. You wait here, there is a barrier that only a member of my family can lift."

Link was all too happy to brush the calf deep snow off a nearby rock and sit. It had been tough going ever since the snow got deep, about six miles ago. It had been especially hard for him because he had not eaten a proper meal for about three days now, except for edible roots plants and bark he had found on the way up, and a few supplies that Aveil had purloined from a Darknut. This was not his first time ice hiking, but last time he had been able to make a bit more preparations, and he had the shard that allowed him to turn into a wolf for easy travel. His short rest was brought to an abrupt end as Aveil called to him.

Inside the ice cave, the light of the rising sun from the entrance was magnified as it bounced off the sparkling icy walls to light the passage. The floor was thick with ice and their progress was slowed. Without warning, the narrow passage widened out to reveal a dark wide cavernous chamber. The ice stopped as it reached this darkened room to reveal rough hewn grey stones on the floors and what they could see of the walls. The air seemed to be slightly warmer.

Link halted in his tracks. His senses were abuzz with a warning feeling that something lay ahead of them, something large. He thought he could make out the sound of something breathing and he strained his ears to listen further. His nose picked up a strange scent that was vaguely familiar. It was like the smell of a stable yet strangely different. He couldn't seem to place the smell; he concentrated hard, trying to remember.

Aveil seemed not to notice anything amiss and she spoke excitedly, "The cave seems to be clear, no sign of any guardians. Look there is the power source," she rushed forward excitedly.

"Wait," Link called, but it was too late. She rushed forward to grab at something on a pedestal, a gleaming white crystal. It was then that Link's memory finally placed the smell. He recognized the scent to be similar to that of the fire breathing sky dragon he had fought in the sky city. "Dragon!" he cried.

Aveil stopped abruptly, startled. As she did so, something large dropped from the cave roof to land nearby. It was a massive creature with a huge blunt nose, rocky head, and a brown pimply body. Link had never seen anything quite like it before. It looked a little bit like the fire breathing lizards that lived in Death Mountain but it was wider and more bulky. It was about three times as large as a bull, and, Link noted in a rush, it was too large to fit into the narrow ice passage they had just come from.

"Make for the passage," he yelled, but he could tell that she was cut off. Heedless of the danger, he ran in to help, sword drawn. He slashed at the dragon's tail intending to divert its attention from Aveil to him, in the vain hope that, if it species was similar to that of the fire lizard, that this would be one of its weak points. For a moment it worked. The dragon roared with fury and tuned towards him. "Get the stone out of here!" he yelled, quickly backing towards the cave wall. The dragon followed him and a path was cleared for Aveil. Unfortunately, in so doing he unwittingly trapped himself. He wildly dodged the slashing claws and biting teeth, having nowhere else to back to.

Aveil, seeing that he was in danger stopped running and stabbed at is tail with one of her daggers. The dragon spun around furiously knocking the crystal from her grasp and sending her flying through the icy passage. It charged after her in a senseless fury, wedging its massive head in the opening. It lashed its tail around furiously, crashing it into a cluster of small bulbous plants that looked like tiny bomb flowers. Link felt his eyes widen in shock as his mind predicted what might happen in milliseconds. As soon as the tail made contact with the plants they exploded, causing a small cave in at the entrance to this stony chamber and burying the dragon's trapped head. The crushing rocks slew it on impact. Link threw himself to the ground covering his head with his arms.

When the dust cleared, Link picked himself up from the rough stones. There was a small glimmer of light shafting through the top of what was once the entrance. He knew that he was trapped on one side and Aveil was on the other. He headed cautiously over to the blockage to see if there was any way for him to shift a few rocks without causing another cave in. As he walked gingerly towards the blocked appendage, the scant amount of light glinted off of something shiny, giving it a faint glow. It was the power source crystal. He peered at it in the dimness. It looked to be similar in both its size and shape to the Twilight Shard, apart from the fact it was not jagged and completely clear. With the light shining upon it, the crystal almost looked as if flames were burning in its heart. When he went to retrieve it, he came across a patch of the weird little explosive plants. He inspected them closely. They looked to be in the same family as a bomb flower but they were much smaller about the size of an apricot. Based on what happened, he assumed that they worked the same way. They exploded with any hard impact.

He picked up the crystal and two of the plants and placed them in his waistband. He climbed up the back of this weird dragon-like creature. This was the first time he had defeated a dungeon guardian so quickly and by chance, no less. He treaded carefully along its back as he climbed, mistrustful and half expecting it to change form or rise again, but it did not. 'I almost pitied the bloodthirsty creature,' he realized with a grim smile. 'Obviously too much brains it had not been blessed with.'

When he reached the top, he began shifting pile of rubble rock that surrounded the small opening. With, calculated moves, a light hand, and bated breath, he was able to move a few rocks to make the opening wide enough for him to get through. A grating rumbling met his ears as soon as he had squirmed through. Looking swiftly behind him, he saw that the small opening he had made had collapsed, blocking the entrance completely. He breathed out in a relived hiss, shaking his head at his narrow escape.

He scrambled down in to the icy passage that led to the outside, his footsteps skidding as his boots failed to get a good grip upon the slick polished ground. He looked frantically around the tunnel for Aveil but she was nowhere in sight. He was positive that she had not been trapped under the dragons head or under the rock fall, but he did not know where she had disappeared to. He was about to shout her name, when he felt and odd sense of foreboding. He heard noises coming from outside the cave. One in particular was louder than all the others; it was a voice that sent a shiver down his spine. He knew Aveil was in danger. He drew his slender sword as he ran down the icy path as fast as he could.

When he reached the mouth of the tunnel, a dreaded sight met his eyes. Ganondorf was standing near the entrance with his horde amassed behind him. Xiphos stood casually at his Dark Master's side, holding Aveil with one hand and pointing a dagger at her throat with the other. Even with their swift victory they had been too slow, Link silently cursed.

A/N thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a review! I wish all of you blessed weeks! As for the guardian the idea I had for him was similar to the Dodongo from Oot, but without the use of fire breath.

Question: How do you think SS Zelda felt when she found out she was Hylia? How do you think she took the news?