Ladies and Gentlemen, in all fairness, I must dedicate this wonderfully confusing and semi-gory chapter with absolutely NO relevance to the plot to my dearly departed hamster, Pan. She passed away this Saturday from old age. She was a very resilient, albeit rather stupid hamster, and we will miss her dearly (Guy in back: YEAH RIGHT!!! Me: SHUDDAP, YOU INSOLENT JERK ::sends chibis to attack guy with mallets::!!!). Without further ado, here is chapter six of The Legend of Zelda: Angel of Death.

Scroll XI:

Separation

~~~

The demon cackled and flew high through the clouds, the still bloody Triforce of Power clenched in her hand.

"Hahahaha!!" she laughed. "I've finally got it! The Triforce of Power! My lady will be so pleased…"

She broke the cloud barrier and flew towards the west-towards the setting moon. She flew over the desert, drawing the attention of a couple Gerudo guards, and soared past the Haunted Wasteland. As soon as she passes the Desert Colossus, everything turned dark, though the sun peeked over the edge of Death Mountain. The demon sensed the sunrise and put on a burst of speed.

She flew up a mountain and landed on a flat platform in front of a large, dark fortress. She entered, paying little attention to the Stalfos and Moblins at the gates. She walked past the many monsters, training, working, and preparing for war. She walked past the dungeons, pausing for a moment to relish the screams of terror coming from the tortured. She entered through a pair of double doors and climbed a spiral staircase. At the end of the staircase was a large, dimly lit room. There was an altar at the end flanked by two burning torches. Someone was standing in front of the altar with her back to the demon.

"I feel great power…" they said, "You have one of the Triforce pieces, don't you?"

"Yes, my lady…" the demon knelt and presented the Triforce of Power. The lady turned around, still veiled in shadows, and walked towards the demon. The demon looked down and flinched as the lady's soft hands took the Triforce piece.

"Aaaah…" the lady smiled, but stopped as she noticed. "How did this happen?" she asked the demon coldly. "It is stained with blood…"

"My-My lady…" the demon stammered, "It-It was not easy to obtain… I had to take it by force…"

"I see…" the lady smiled. "So, the great King of Evil is finally dead?"

The demon nodded. The lady began to laugh and walked back over to the altar. She placed the Triforce of Power in the second of three triangle-shaped hollows and the altar began glowing red.

"Ahhhhhh…" the lady sighed, a small smile playing on her lips. "Such power!"

After the red light subsided, the lady turned back to the demon.

"Come, my minion," she smirked, and left through a door behind the altar. The demon quickly followed.

~~~

The sun rose on a sad scene in the Hyrule courtyard. Still in shock from the events of the night before, the Sages, Link, and the others set fires, burning the corpses of the monsters and their limbs. Nearby was a pile of freshly upturned earth, which concealed the bodies of the guards. Impa had gone to the Chamber of Sages to tell the others what had happened.

"I'm sorry, everyone." Link said finally.

Everyone looked at him.

"I couldn't get the Triforce piece from the demon. If something bad happens… it's all my fault."

"Link…" Zelda began, but in a flash of light, Impa, Saria, Rauru, and Ruto were next to them.

"What's going on?!" Rauru looked around. "Ganondorf's… dead?!"

Everyone nodded, Saria looked disbelievingly at Link.

"Impa said the Angel of Death is coming…" Saria said, "Is that true?"

"From what Ganondorf told us, yes." Link answered.

"So what now?" Ralph crouched down, adding sticks to the fire. "What do we do?"

"Maybe…" Rauru began, "Maybe you should return to your homelands. Stay there until we call you again. Ambi… you can stay here… I think it will be safer if you remain in the castle instead of traversing all over Hyrule."

Ambi, Ralph, Din, Nayru, and the Skull Kid silently nodded, and turned to leave.

"Six Sages…" Zelda said quietly. "You should return to your temples, too."

Everyone but Impa and Link vanished.

"Princess, will you be all right?" Impa asked.

Zelda nodded, and the Sheikah disappeared.

"Link…" Zelda began, "Maybe you should go… too…"

Link nodded and walked into the castle. As he passed Zelda, he stopped. Gently, he put a hand on her shoulder, then left.

Zelda blinked. Everyone was gone now. Or so she thought…

As she turned to go back into the castle, she saw Din.

"Well, Din?" she asked, "Aren't you going?"

Din just looked at Zelda. "Amazing," she breathed.

"What's amazing?" Zelda asked.

"Why didn't I see it before?" Din said to herself, looking down with a mischievous expression on her face.

"See what before?" Zelda asked.

Din blinked. "You mean, you don't… know?"

"I would if you just told me!" Zelda exclaimed.

Din hesitated. Then:

"You're in love, Zelda. You're in love with Link."

"What…?" Zelda let out a small gasp.

Din took one look at the Princess's surprised face, and smiled. "That was it, wasn't it?" she grinned. "I guessed right!!"

"Wh… why do you think that?"

"The way you looked… just now," Din explained, "When Link left. I've seen it so many times before."

"Where?"

Din gave Zelda a disbelieving look. "It's the same look Ralph gives Nayru every time he's around her and she's not looking."

Zelda blushed. It took all of her dignity to hold herself back from becoming hysterical and admitting everything to Din. "When… after the dream I had, I'm afraid I'll never see Link again, that I'll never be able to…"

Din nodded. "Yep, that's exactly how Ralph feels. He said so when I asked him the same thing. He said after seeing Nayru possessed by Veran, he's afraid he'll never be able to tell her he loves her."

She left and followed the others. Zelda just stared after them.

'That's it…' she thought, ashamed of not figuring it out before. 'And what about Link? Does he feel the same way…?'

~~~

The lady with the dark hair climbed up another set of spiral stairs, the demon following behind her. She emerged at the top of the fortress, and stood for a moment, overseeing the land.

"Your orders, my lady?" the demon asked.

The lady nodded. "Send all the dark demons across Labrynna, Termina, and Holodrum. They must not leave Hyrule."

The demon didn't bother to ask who "they" were. She nodded and left. A few minutes later, the darkness inside the fortress seemed to leak out in all directions. After a few seconds, the flow stopped.

"Now let's see how long they can hide." The lady let out a roaring, loud laugh.

A few hundred miles away, in the Gerudo Fortress, the fierce, strong Amazon females heard this laugh and shuddered.

~~~

"You can find a way over the ocean from Great Bay," The Skull Kid said.

"Thank you," Nayru smiled. "I hope everything turned out all right…"

The four friends were walking through the Lost Woods en route to Termina. The Skull Kid, Tatl, Tael, and Nayru were walking ahead, while Din and Ralph walked behind.

"So……" Din stopped, folding her arms.

"……So what?" Ralph turned around and stopped as well.

Din smiled. "You still haven't told Nayru what you really want to, have you?"

"Uh……" Ralph blushed.

Din walked up to him and patted him on the back. "It's okay. But you should tell her. Soon."

"Dummy!" Ralph covered Din's mouth. Nayru and the Skull Kid had stopped and were listening.

"Tell me what?" Nayru asked.

"Uh…"

Din smiled. "You'll find out soon enough."

"…?" Nayru shrugged and kept walking.

Din hurried up to Nayru, put both hand on her shoulders, and whispered in her ear:

"You really should tell Ralph what you've been meaning to."

Nayru blushed.

"How… how did you…"

"Ohohohohohohoho!" Din laughed.

The Skull Kid whipped around, frantic. But when he only saw Din, he scowled. "Don't do that!!" he cried. "That scared me!!"

Din just smiled.

The Skull Kid gave her a wary look. "Why are you so cheerful?"

Din winked. "Nothing."

They walked for awhile more when someone jumped out onto the path in front of them. At first, Din thought it was Nabooru; the likeness was extremely similar. But, then she remembered: Weren't there Gerudo Pirates in Termina?

"Uh…" Nayru began, and turned around. "Look!" she gasped, "There's more of them!"

It was true. More Pirates had appeared behind them, blocking their escape.

"Guys…" the Skull Kid hissed, "Something's wrong. We should run."

"Huh?" Ralph stepped up. "Why?"

'Gerudo Pirates hardly ever leave Great Bay…' the Skull Kid thought, 'and they never come this far…'

Then, all at once, the Pirates drew their swords.

"Kill…" the lone Pirate hissed under her breath.

"Wh-Woah…" Ralph backed up, then whipped around like lightning, drawing his sword and cutting down a Pirate who had leapt at them. With a shriek, she collapsed, and black smoke rose out of her body.

"You wanna fight?" he beckoned with one hand, the other holding his sword ready.

"Ralph, stop it!" the Skull Kid yelled. "Something's wrong with them!"

"The Skull Kid's right!!" Nayru cried. "Look at their eyes!"

The Pirates all snapped their heads towards Nayru with an eerie synchronization. For the first time, Ralph saw what Nayru meant. Their eyes were all glazed over, making them look like fighting zombies.

"Our orders…" the Pirate spoke again. "Are to destroy anyone who would oppose the Angel of Death…"

"Uh-oh…" Din backed up.

"I knew it!" Nayru yelled.

The Skull Kid turned. "We can't fight all these Pirates!" he yelled. "Run!!"

"No way!" Ralph yelled and charged at the single Pirate. She easily flipped behind him and stuck out her sword. It hit Ralph in the back.

"RALPH!!!!!" Nayru shrieked.

Ralph turned around, clutching the wound "You-" He gritted his teeth, "Bitch!"

"Ralph, cut it out!!!!" The Skull Kid bellowed. "This isn't right! They're being controlled!!"

"Wha-" Ralph stopped. "What do you mean?"

Another Pirate took her chance. She rushed at Nayru, sword ready.

"Oh no you don't!!" Ralph swung at her, but another Pirate took at stab at him from behind.

"Damn it!!" Ralph jumped back.

"Skull Kid told you, we can't fight all of them!" Tatl shrieked.

"Well then how about you run," Ralph yelled. "And I'll hold 'em off?"

"No!" Nayru yelled. "You could get killed!"

"I'll be fine!" Ralph grimaced. "You guys'll only distract me!"

Din nodded, and looked at Nayru and the Skull Kid. The girls of them, Tatl, and Tael fled. But the Skull Kid stopped and turned around.

"Get!!" Ralph cried.

The Skull Kid just looked at Ralph for a few seconds, and ran after Din and Nayru, into the woods.

"Now…" Ralph stood to face the several or so Pirates. "Who's next?"

With a fierce battle cry, all the Pirates jumped at him. Ralph swung blindly, but every time he injured one, she would bounce right back and stab at him. Eventually, they overpowered him. One Pirate held him in an armlock, while another held her sword up high.

'Oh man…' Ralph closed his eyes. 'Maybe I should have run… I should have listened. Then… NAYRU!!'

The Pirate swung.

Wa-HOOOOOO!!! CLIFFHANGERS!!! I told ya I loved them!! ::does a dance, suddenly sees angry readers with pitchforks and torches:: What? I've got the next chapter up! It might not be posted for a week, though… ::runs from angry mob::