Responses:

Simbiot2.0: Oh, you're punny. And thanks for the… information on Chuck Norris there. I'll keep that in mind.

Outofstategrl: Don't get me started on redeads… they scarred me for life back when I played OOT in grade 4. And you're right about the mirror shield; I just rearrange the temples to throw in some variety and make them more interesting in story form.

HerofTimes: Dark Link… yeah, I like him too just because he's so mysterious, you can make him whatever you want in stories. I might have him show up sooner or later, I'm not really sure if or when I'll put him in. Pretty good idea though, maybe you should try writing something about Dark Link in Majora's Mask… I'd read it.

Naito watched the redead ensnare Link from the ledge above.

"Move! I can't get a clear shot!" He yelled uselessly. He gave up, and put his bow away. He carefully slid over the edge, bent his knees as he landed, and sprung himself forward. He landed on the redead's shoulders, and slammed his sword through its head sideways to avoid getting Link. It pierced through with sickening ease, but the redead didn't stop.

He drew the sword out and flipped off backward before he lost his balance. The redead was almost three times as tall as him… he wished he wasn't so small. He slashed the redead's back once, twice, again and again, leaving countless large gashes. Still the redead didn't even flinch.

"Close your eyes!" Medli shrieked. Naito spun and looked up just in time. There was a loud, sudden and brief crackle noise behind him. There was a flash of light, and even with his face turned away it hurt his eyes. He spun around again, squinting his eyes against the residual light. The redead was flailing around, its prey forgotten. He got his hammer out, twirled it around his head with both hands and brought it down full force on the redead's skull. Its head bent at an unnaturally angle and the entire body was driven down to the ground. Naito didn't let up; instead he hit it again and again, grinding it into the dirt. It decomposed quickly, eventually gone from sight.

He ran over to Link, who was collapsed on the ground ahead. He examined his neck, and found where the redead had been draining his energy. The skin there was pale, unnaturally pale. It looked dead to Naito, and he shuddered as the thought crossed his mind.

Medli had jumped down now too, and was looking at Link over Naito's shoulder. Naito asked her if she knew anything about healing, and she told him she didn't.

Naito tried to remember what little he had learned on his island. He put a finger over Link's neck, and felt a weak pulse. His chest was also rising shallowly. He was alive, then.

He tried to shake Link awake, but it didn't work. He sat back, deciding to just wait it out and hope for the best.

Link suddenly began twitching. Naito hopped to his feet, unsure what to do. Link began muttering something, twisting his head from side to side. Link began to step forward when Link hopped to his feet with a cry of rage, and thrust his sword into a nearby wall. He stood frozen like that, coming to his senses. He wrenched his sword out of the wall, and sheathed it. He turned around to face Naito and Medli.

"Sorry about that… not a good dream." He said casually, forcing a smile onto his face. He stepped forward weakly, and then closed his eyes and used some magic to compensate for his weakness. With a quick shake of his head he was able to walk more steadily.

He thanked Naito and Medli quickly before leading both of them to the other door, which was straight across from the ledge. Just before they left there was a sudden flash of light from behind them, and a chest appeared. Naito jogged over to it, opening it carefully. There was a glint of light inside, and he reached toward it before drawing out the most intricate shield he had ever seen.

It had a round bottom, and the top had three points. The border was a bright, shiny cobalt blue. The surface was the shiniest mirror he had ever seen, with a gold Triforce design dead center. Around it was a strange pattern carved out of the mirror, only visible as the light hit it in certain ways. It seemed to draw in the light around him, as it shined way to brightly considering how dim the room was.

He put his old shield away, and replaced it with the new one. He quickly ran back and joined Link and Medli, and together the three of them stepped into the next room.

It was a long hallway; that was all. There were arches lining the walls on each side, leading into tombs. The air seemed very oppressive here, so thick it seemed hard to breathe. They examined each tomb, and as they left each tomb they thought they heard whispering and sighing from behind them.

They were about halfway down the hall when Link saw it. A black hole in the ground sliding toward them. He shoved Medli back and spun Naito around to face it. A dark purple arm burst out of the hole, and the hand at the end darted forward. Link and Naito both hopped to the side and it grabbed a tiny rock that was between them. It dragged it back into the hole, and it fell away into the infinite blackness.

The arm came out again. It struck, grabbing at Link. Link raised his shield and it grabbed the edge of the shield. It pulled, but Link held his ground, and Naito moved in. He hacked at the arm again and again, and it eventually released Link's shield. He took the opportunity and moved in with a huge swing, separating the hand from the arm. The entire thing instantly imploded into the hole, which sealed up afterward.

Link started to sheathe his sword when a large crash sounded from each tomb along the hall.

"What now?" Naito asked with a sigh.

He and Link stood in the center of the hall, each looking down one way. Medli stood between them with her bag of Deku nuts ready. There was a moment of silence, and then stalfos came running from each tomb and crowding each side of the hallway. They stumbled into walls, each of them wielding spiked clubs. They weren't the organized stalfos Link was used to, which was a good thing.

They rushed toward the trio from both sides; several of them fell and broke apart, but more stomped over them. Link twirled his sword, and leaped forward into the fray. He swung left and right, then jumped into the air and landed with his sword planted, creating a small shockwave. A few fell, and more took their place. Several swung, but he rolled and they smashed each other into bits.

He rose to his feet with a spin attack, clearing out more. On the other side Naito was protecting Medli from another wave. He used his small size to get lost among the waves of stalfos, rolling and jumping and swinging. Medli threw a nut at the ground if any got to close, and they would stumble around blindly.

Link cleared out his side quickly by creating as much chaos as possible; by the end he hardly needed to fight. That done, he ran back to join Naito. This side was more careful, sending three at a time. Link charged by Naito and leaped at one, slamming it to the ground and stabbing its skull. He whirled and slashed two more, then spun the other way again and blocked a club swing. He overpowered it, tossing its weapon to the side and performing two quick slashes that smashed it to pieces.

Naito joined the fray, this time with his hammer held high. He swung in a strong, downward arc, tossing bits of rock and dirt. Any bones his hammer met crumbled to dust, and the two were able to clear out this side quickly. They sheathed their weapons in unison.

"You fight very well together." Medli commented nervously.

Naito looked somewhat proud. Link urged them both to continue, leading them into the next room.

They were on a ledge again. This room did not seem at all like a crypt though; the walls and floor and roof were all white or light grey stone. They stepped to the edge, and gasped. The room was an extremely elaborate set up of mirrors set into intricately carved statues. Each mirror was set into a track, some with several choices of where to put it. Rows of pillars divided the room into three distinct sections. At the end closest to them there was a beam of light coming down from the ceiling in each section onto an area that was sunk below most of the floor. There was a mirror perched beside each of these, just waiting to be pushed into the beam of light.

"Who built this?" Medli asked in awe.

Link was fairly used to seeing elaborately designed rooms built by the sages for the single purpose of keeping people out, but he was still impressed by all the work that would have to go into designing and building something like this. He looked to the other side of the room, trying to see the purpose of the mirror puzzle. At the other end there were three small sun statues on the wall, one in each section. So you had to get a beam of light on each of those… elaborate as it was, this wouldn't be hard. It was really just a test of patience.

They all climbed down the ladder down from the ledge. Link sent Naito to the right section, and Medli to the middle one. He made sure they could move the mirrors, but they were oddly light… nothing you could lift up, but light enough to push. Naito pushed the first one into the beam of light, and Medli did the same. He told them to begin, but the other mirrors were too heavy to move. Even the golden gauntlets had no success.

"What the hell?" Naito asked the room at large.

"I'll push mine in. Maybe you can't begin until all mirrors are ready." Link suggested, jogging over to his side. He gave his mirror a quick shove, and it slid into place.

As soon as he did so, the room began to rumble. The word "trap" went through Link's mind over and over again, and all the hair on his neck seemed to stand up. His instincts never lied. He spun to warn Naito or Medli, but the pillars sunk into the ground with impossible speed, and walls slammed down from above, leaving them unable to communicate. Link spun to run back to the ledge, but a huge wall of fire was blocking the way out, and it was moving toward him.

As Link assumed, the same thing was happening to Medli and Naito. Medli watched in fear in the middle section, and Naito watched with what looked like mild annoyance.

"Who the hell goes to all this trouble when they could just put another monster here?" He casually asked no one in particular before beginning the puzzle with sudden speed.

Medli and Link were already doing the same in their respective areas, working with feverish intensity. Link worked his way down fairly easily; he had experience with this sort of thing. He was able to finish before the wall of fire was even halfway down, and looked back to admire the thread of light that zigzagged down the room onto a mirror on the far wall that reflected it back. He put on the finishing touch by standing in the final beam and using his mirror shield to aim the light up onto the sun statue. It glowed and smiled, and stayed that way even when he removed the light. The whole puzzle had been to get a beam of light in position to reflect onto that little statue. But the fire continued to advance, so all three must have to be activated. He sat back calmly, reflecting on how screwed he'd be if he came alone.

In the middle, Medli worked calmly but quickly. She'd never done anything like this, but she was exceptionally intelligent for her age and was able to look at it logically. She pictured what each move would do before she did it, and while she wasn't moving very quickly she didn't make a single mistake. She finished when the fire was almost three quarters of the way toward her, and then stood in confusion for a moment. It clicked suddenly, and she got her harp from its spot on her back. The shiny surface reflected the light onto the sun statue, and it smiled and glowed. The wall didn't stop, so she just sunk to her knees and buried her head in her hands, hoping for the best.

Meanwhile, at the exact same time, Naito was barely ahead of the wall of fire.

"Damn it damn it damn it damn it damn it damn it!" He repeated over and over again, frantically moving a statue until it reflected the light. He moved on, sweating from the heat of the fire behind him. He was about three quarters of the way there.

He continued frantically. He had been doing well at the start, but made on mistake that forced him to backtrack. Luckily the wall hadn't gotten to the point where he screwed up yet, but since then he had been barely ahead of it. He moved another mirror, and moved on again, still cursing. Two minutes later, he slid the last mirror in place. The wall was about five steps from him, and he looked around, trying to figure out the next step.

He slapped his head. Obviously. He quickly drew the mirror shield and reflected the light up at the sun. It began to glow, and for a moment nothing happened…

Link had his back to the wall, with the fire two paces away. "If this is Naito's fault, I'm killing him again in the afterlife." He swore solemnly, pressing into the cool stone. He held his breath and tensed, when suddenly the fire just… vanished. He stood there hardly able to move as the familiar, cheerful chime rang out. The walls rose away and the pillars replaced them, and the mirrors all vanished and reappeared in their original position. The room sat there, looking innocent all over again.

"YYYYEEEEESSS!!" Naito screamed from the other side. Medli was jumping for joy and Naito ran over and hugged her briefly before letting go and joining her in the jumping around. Link walked calmly over to the two of them.

"One of you was cutting it a bit close… but good job." He said, walking to the door that had been revealed. It was a big door, dark against the grey stone. It seemed to have appeared out of thin air, it certainly hadn't been there before they did the puzzle.

Link opened it. Medli began to run in, but both Link and Naito grabbed her shoulders and flung her back. They told her to stay, and the two tentatively stepped into the large chamber beyond.

AN: Please review!