Impa sighed. "Well, it is not as if I wanted to, but it was neccesary. I apologize."

"I guess I can forgive you." Nabooru rose to her feet. "Where do we go from here?'

"I'm not sure. I was afraid to enter any of the tunnels for fear it would take us back to the entrance. The Forest Temple is only a short distance from here. I thought that because of its great power it might call magical beings to it." Her gaze darkened. "Also, Ganondorf placed a phantom of himself there, and the magical residue would draw a Stalkid as well.

"Sounds like we should head for the Forest Temple."

"It's just beyond this maze."

"Great, a maze."

Impa smiled. "It is not really worthy of being called a maze. When the legendary race still walked this land, it was a garden."

"There's a legend among the Gerudo that the legendary race..." Nabooru abruptly stopped speaking, then pulled on her pack. "Let's get going."

Impa raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "Yes, we have wasted enough time already."

*****

Nabooru looked up into the darkend gloom of the Forest Temple, her face blank. She looked back at Impa, and said," I can't even see the ceiling. The legendary race must have been immense." She turned around in a circle, taking in the whole room. "I don't think they were all that great at design, though. Too many stairs."

"You disapprove of stairs?"

The Gerudo harrumphed. "You expecting someone?" She indicated Impa's sword belt, which was slung low over her hips.

"Some malevolence might still dwell here." She motioned towards Nabooru's bag. "You might want to arm yourself as well."

"I will if I have to."

"Quite a change from earlier."

"Earlier?" Nabooru looked at Impa questioningly. "Earlier when?"

"With her highness."

"Oh, with Zelda?"

"Her highness," Impa emphasized.

"Oh, do forgive me. Her *highness*."

The Sheikah closed her eyes and sighed. "Yes. Earlier you seemed quite ready to do violence whether or not the situation demanded it."

Nabooru answered her sigh with one of her one. "I should have known you'd bring that up. Just because you have grown soft during peace doesn't mean that I have."

"I am not soft."

"You're soft. When you refuse to kill the greatest enemy we've ever known because we might need to know what he's waiting for, I don't know what else to call it."

"We don't even know if it is Ganondorf."

Nabooru threw her hands up and walked out into the center of the room. "Impa, it's obviously Ganondorf. Zelda thinks so, Rauru thinks so, I think so...anyone who heard of the situation would know that it was him!"

Impa followed her. "Do you not see that assuming it's Ganondorf might blind us to another, possibly more lethal enemy? It could be someone from another dimension or a previously unknown force."

"It could be a deranged Deku Shrub! Or a rogue Goron! The possibilities are endless!"

Impa narrowed her eyes. "Being ridiculous will not help matters."

"Neither will being blind, Impa. Ganondorf is *the* enemy of Hyrule. There is no one beyond him or a greater danger than him."

"Do not accuse me of being blind!" Impa yelled, her voice echoing in the cavernous room. "I know that Ganondorf is dangerous. I was there when he invaded the castle! I saw him kill the king. I saved the princess while you were running around the desert thieving."

"Don't ever speak of me in that way. You know nothing of me or my people. To the Gerudo, thieving is an honorable profession."

"I must have forgotten that the Gerudo value stealing. I will endeavor not to forget that you are all *honorable* thieves in the future."

Nabooru moved towards Impa, her jaw clenched. At that moment, a loud boom sounded through the castle. The argument forgotten, Nabooru staggered back. "What in Din's name was that?"

Impa shook her head, her whole body tense. "I don't know." With a great creaking of gears, the floor fell out from under them. Both women were thrown to the ground as the elevator descended at a breakneck pace to the basement. It landed with a thud and the eerie silence was restored.

"Where are we?" Nabooru got to her feet shakily, one hand reaching into her bag of Deku Nuts. "This wasn't here before," she added lamely.

"There must be a hidden level to this temple." She paused, then spoke hesitantly. "Nabooru, what I said before..."

"Was insulting and wrong and you'll need to apologize a lot later, but forget about it right now." She jumped off the platform and began sizing up their new surroundings. "Looks like a dead end."

Impa jumped down as well and gave the room a visual sweep before she nodded agreement. "I hope we're not trapped." She began testing th walls of the round room, checking for hidden passageways. Nabooru joined her.

"This outcropping...it moves." She motioned the Sheikah over with a wave of her hand. "Help me to move it." Both women pushed against the wall until it shifted with a groan and clicked into place a few feet away. A previously unrevealed alcove appeared with a barred and chained door. Impa groaned in frustration, but Nabooru merely produced a hairpin from her bag and quickly picked the lock.

Impa smiled ruefully. "Already my statements are proved wrong."

Nabooru smiled back nastily. "You see?"

"Don't say it."

"Say what?"

"I told you so."

The Gerudo stuck her tongue out at Impa. "I can if I want to. I *told* you so!"

*****

"I don't like this."

Nabooru rolled her eyes. "The empty paintings or the scary, twisted room?"

She shook her head. "The complete and utter stillness."

"Oh, well there's that too. I would have gone with the twisted room, though. That's definitely scaring me the most."

Impa glared at her. "Could you be serious for a moment?"