Chapter Twenty !! WOOHOO!!! When this story was first beginning I never thought I get it this far! So and just wanna give a HUGE 'THANK YOU!!' to all of my readers and reviewers, who, without, I would never have bothered getting this far.

Chapter Twenty

Zara, grabbing Miroku by the legs, dunked him into the lake again and Miroku kept yelling for her to let him go.

"Well, you won't let me bathe you properly, so this is the only way I'm gonna get you clean. Hold your breath again."

"No!"

"Fine."

She dunked him in again anyway. He came up, coughing and trying to snort water from his nose.

"You're gonna drown me!"

"If you'd cooperate I wouldn't need to do this! Now, hold your nose."

Miroku obeyed this time.

Sheik had gone off to hunt for some breakfast and Isuke was trying building a fire, and failing miserably. Rittowa laughed after watching his first dozen failed attempts and then hopped from her perch on top of the shop building's awning and went to help him.

A few minutes later Sheik returned with a few wild cuccos he had hunted in the forest. By the time they had been plucked, cooked, and eaten, it was noon. And still no sign of Link.

"I don't like it..." Isuke said, using a stick to poke the fire out of boredom.

"You know, this place isn't the closest thing in Hyrule to that ranch," Zelda mentioned. "And he has to walk here too. That is, assuming he's headed this way."

And that, in turn, assuming he's alive, Zara thought sadly.

Zelda stood up. "Well, I see no reason for me to stay here. I wish to go back to the castle see my family. They're all probably very worried about me."

Sheik, who was leaning against a tree with his arms folded, looked over and Zelda and asked, "What became of Impa?"

"Impa...I don't know...She disappeared about an hour before I was kidnapped."

"I see."

"W-why? What do you know?"

"Just wondering." He moved from his position and walked off into the woods.

Isuke and Zara blinked. "Who's Impa?"

Later that day, when Link still hadn't come back, they decided to just leave and bring Zelda back to the castle, looking for Link on the way there of course. Zelda, bring royal, rode Epona, Malon walked beside the horse, guiding her. They were just following the river back once again, so Isuke swam ahead of everyone in it, Rittowa walked up in front of Malon with Miroku on her shoulders, Zara walked next to Malon, and Sheik stayed behind them all, always watchful and alert, though he looked as if he was bored and annoyed at having to travel with these Hylians. Who knows? Maybe he really did feel that way, but he would spring into action and protect those he traveled with at the first sign of danger.

Isuke finally came out of the water when Lon Lon Ranch appeared on the horizon. It was hard to tell exactly the state it was in, and Isuke was curious to see.

"Guys, I'm going to go check out the ranch," Isuke stated, and started running in its direction.

"It wouldn't be wise to go off by yourself," Sheik said.

"Oh puh-lease, I can take care of myself," Isuke snorted.

"You're a skilled fighter, Zora, but you lack the skill to defeat the Sheikah if they come after you."

"What? I beat them back at that village didn't I? Besides, I've killed many before I met you or the others." Isuke blinked. Wait, Sheik had just been standing there...

He felt his arms held back behind him and a sharp blade touch his neck.

"They are the Sheikah," Sheik whispered into the Zora's ear. "We slay without the victim ever knowing anyone was behind them. We can creep around unseen in broad daylight. It was us that kept the royal family safe from many assassination attempts and from all out war. Do not take any of them lightly."

He released Isuke, who backed away slightly from the Sheikah.

Sheik looked at the girls. "I will accompany him to the ranch. I don't expect any Sheikah to attack this close to Hyrule Castle though. If their base is indeed destroyed, then they'll have moved farther to the south or west."

"Why do you think Isuke will get attacked then?" Zara asked.

"Because it still is possibly their base. Doubtful, but still possible."

Sheik began running swiftly towards the ranch, and Isuke took off behind him.

Zelda, Malon, and the others had safely made it to the gates of Hyrule Castle four hours after Isuke and Sheik had left for the ranch. The guard hurriedly opened the gates and let the women and child in. They walked up to the path to the castle, and Zelda told a guard to show Malon to the royal stables so she could put Epona away. Rittowa had stayed back, saying that she didn't think she should be seen in the castle, and Malon noticed her following some young man into a local tavern.

Zara accompanied Zelda into the throne room, holding Miroku's hand. The King was overjoyed to see his daughter, but did not show it. He simply smiled and said, "So you have returned safely."

Zelda, after hugging her tearful mother, addressed the King. "Yes, your highness. A young lad named Link rescued me from the Sheikah's headquarters at Lon Lon Ranch, along with the stable girl there."

"I shall have to give this Link my thanks. Where is the boy?"

"I...do not know, M'lord. He destroyed the ranch, and we haven't seen him since.

She then said firmly, "My King, I must ask why you have been dismissing the matter at hand about the Sheikah."

"Finding you was most important. However, you say that they have been using the ranch as their base. Now that it is destroyed, has this 'Link' taken care of them all?"

"That's not very likely, M'lord," Zara spoke up.

"And who are you?" The King asked.

"She is Zara, a fairy of the Sanctuary," Zelda introduced.

The King raised an eyebrow. "A fairy? Outside the Sanctuary?"

"Forgive me, your Highness, but I cannot explain now."

"Very well. Continue."

"The Sheikah are many, and I find it hard to believe that they all were packed into that ranch. They have spies everywhere. There perhaps could be some even in this very castle." She looked around at everyone. "Your own personal guards even."

The King glanced at the two guards standing by his side then back at Zara.

"Perhaps. Now, you must be tired. The maids will show you to a room and were to clean up."

Zelda was slightly shocked, but mostly annoyed that her father would hear this fairy's words and not heed them. She excused herself and left the room.

Isuke collapsed from exhaustion. He had started running, yeah, but after running two miles, he couldn't run any longer. Sheik forced him to keep walking, and when he had somewhat recovered, they started running again.

Sheik seemed unaffected by the run, and immediately started looking around. The place had been blown up all right. The whole place was littered with pieces of wood and rock, and not much was left were the buildings used to stand. Sheik could still smell the sent of blood in the air, and noticed the dried blood on the ground and on some of the wood. Continuing, he found body parts everywhere, rotting in the sun that shone high above them. Sheik made it a point not to breathe from his nostrils as he made his way around the destroyed ranch. There wasn't much else to see. No sign of Link either.

When Isuke had finally caught his breathe he began to wander about the area himself and stepped into what was left of the residential building. He saw pieces of things littered about, things he knew that the rancher wouldn't have owned. Strange-looking statues, masks, and weird swords and other types of weapons. One mask caught Isuke's eye. Why? The wall it hung from still stood, untouched. And the mask itself was unscathed.

What in Hyrule...?

Isuke stepped closer, not too close though, because the closer he stepped, the more foreboding a feeling he got. The strange mask seemed to stare at him through its piercing red eyes, as if it was really someone's face. For a second there Isuke thought he saw the spikes that lined the mask wiggle a little. There was definitely something wrong with this mask. Though still, the Zora warrior felt compelled to reach out and touch it...

Malon smiled at herself in the mirror. She was dressed in an graceful red and white gown, her hair had been brushed neatly and done in two long braids. She looked like a beautiful princess. So much that Zelda herself would have cause to be jealous.

If only Link could see me now... Malon said to herself. She knew palace life wasn't for her, but she did like this for a change.

She still worried about Link, and voiced her concerns at the table where the King provided them a 'snack' as he put it, for surely they were famished after walking all that way. This 'snack' of sorts was laid out before them and all Zara could do was hope that Isuke would get here to stuff that bottomless pit he called a stomach.

"You worry too much," the fairy said after listening to Malon. "I'm sure Link is fine. Perhaps even now Isuke and Sheik are on their way here with him."

"Maybe, but still...Hmm? Hey, where is Miroku?"

"Out playing with my little brother. He said he wasn't hungry," Zelda replied. "Anyway, I don't think Link died. If he did I am certain I would feel the power of the Triforce failing."

"Why would the Triforce's power fail if Link died?" Malon asked.

Zara, always eager to share her knowledge, spoke up before the Princess could answer. "That's the way it works after the Triforce gets separated. Back in the alternate timeline, when Ganondorf touched the Triforce, the three parts of it were given to Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf. Now the Triforce is bound to them all. They are in control of its power. If one of them dies, they can no longer control that power; therefore it would split up and become useless. And with one part of the Triforce useless, the scared power as a whole would be weakened."

Malon nodded, taking it all in. "Okay...I understand, but, what did you mean by alternate time?"

Zara and Zelda exchanged looks. She had forgotten that any normal Hylian didn't remember any of it. What was the harm in her knowing though? Zara and Zelda both told Malon of the events that happened in the seven years Ganon ruled Hyrule. Even after they had eaten, they stayed at the table and continued talking, with Malon listening intently. When they wrapped the story up by saying that Zelda had simply used the Ocarina of Time to change everything back to normal, Malon sat back in her plush chair and thought through it all.

"Wow...just...wow. I can't believe that this all happened and I can't remember it. But what about Ganondorf? If we went back in time then he must be...!"

"No," Zelda interrupted. "He was banished to the sacred realm. That place doesn't follow the same river of time as Hyrule does. And the Triforce, though it's in the same world as us, doesn't either."

"Amazing..."

A certain servant stared strait ahead, looking like a very life-like statue just like the guards and other servants, pretending he had heard nothing.

The mask shot from the wall and spun around, as if trying to slap itself onto the face of the Zora. Isuke would never have been able to dodge in time if Sheik hadn't come blazing up out of no-where and knocked the thing away with his short katana.

Isuke's fins instantly grew in size and the edges sharpened into blades.

"What the heck is that thing?" Isuke said, trying not to yell.

"A great evil," Sheik muttered. "I should have warned you about it."

The mask just lay there in the path to the exit. Isuke started backing up. "C'mon, let's go. There's nothing here."

"Too late," Sheik said, getting into a defensive stance. "It has awoken. We now must fight it."

Isuke cursed under his breath and got in a defensive stance himself, waiting for the mask to attack. "What is it really, Sheik?"

"A mask with great evil inside of it. I'm not sure where it came from or anything, but I know it's powerful, even without a host."

"A...host?"

"Yes, what you were about to become."

Isuke kept staring at the mask. "It isn't moving, let's just leave." He took one step back. That's when it lunged. Sheik watched in horror as the mask, before he could stop it, spun violently through Isuke, its spikes cutting him up and spreading blood and insides everywhere. Enraged by the death of his companion inside, but on the outside still keeping his cool and calm appearance, Sheik tore at the mask with his blade.

Malon, now dressed in a silk nightgown, had decided to turn in for the night and was sitting on her bed, reading a book. She soon found it hard to keep her eyes open and closed the book, blew-out the light and snuggled into the fluffy pillow. She kept praying and praying for Link, and soon she was asleep.

A servant watched from another wing of the castle as he saw the light go out in the room. He grinned slightly and faded into the shadows using them to get him into the King's chamber. Hanging from the wall was a dagger. It had a jeweled scabbard and a hilt of gold; one of the King's prized possessions. The servant snickered evilly and went back out, clutching the dagger in his hands.

Isuke yelled a great battle cry as he continued to throw attacks at that evil mask with his fists, feet, and fins. This mask that flew through the air was very agile though and was able to dodge every one of his attacks. Sheik's torn-up body lay a few feet from where the Zora was fighting. Isuke and Sheik hadn't really been friends, but they were on the same side, and Isuke had fought along side him, and now he was extremely angered at the death of his comrade.

Annoyed that his attacks weren't hitting, he picked up a broken plank of wood and tossed it at the mask. His eyes opened wide as the mask dodged, and the plank came back around and hit it in the back.

"The heck?!"

Sheik blinked when he saw a piece of wood being raised from the ground. "What? Telepathy?"

But it didn't go for Sheik, it headed right for the mask. It dodged it and Sheik grabbed the wood as it came towards him and then threw it back. The wood slammed right into the mask and sent it spinning to the ground. For a split second the world went fuzzy, and in that split second Sheik saw a Zora. Then he understood.

"Heh," he grinned. "Not bad. Not good enough though."

Sheik grabbed a plank of wood that still seemed in 'okay' condition. Cutting wasn't gonna do much good against this guy, and his sword wasn't strong enough to deal some hard blows. With a few sharp cuts of his katana he carved it a handle that would probably be killer on his hands, and cut the 'blade' part down and gave it an edge so it would swing faster.

"Let's see if I can't break this illusion."

Isuke dove to the side, dodging white hot beams of light that the mask shot from its eyes. He rolled, jumped, tumbled, and dove again to get away from the beam. He then found himself under the mask and took the chance, powering a little zora magic into his right fin, then leaping up and slamming his fin into the bottom of the mask. It flew high up from the attack, shaking from all the electric magic flowing through it.

The world fuzzed out, and Isuke saw someone clad in a Sheikan outfit jumping up.

The mask shot up through the air from unseen force. Now or never. Sheik took a flying leap into the air to reach the mask's altitude. With a crushing blow he swung his makeshift sword down onto the face of the mask.

Isuke leapt into the air, and, powering up his fin with more magic this time, and slammed it into the back of the mask.

Sheik felt another force behind the mask and smiled, brought his sword up again and slammed it so hard into the mask that it broke in two.

Isuke's other fin was practically frying with all the magic was pouring into it. With one quick sweep, it all emptied into the mask, enough to kill a Giant Dodongo. The eyes on the mask dimmed in brightness, and then it fell to the ground. Isuke dropped with it, and watched as the bloody mass that was Sheik's dead body disappeared.

"Nice work," came Sheik's voice.

Isuke spun around. There was Sheik, looking very not-dead.

"You're alive!"

"For the most part, yes. Now, let's leave before that mask wakes up."

Isuke didn't have to be told twice.

The servant opened the door slowly. The girl's red hair was visible over the sheets, and the servant grinned evilly, pulling out the dagger. Raising it high, he brought it down violently on the maiden in the bed. Then again. And again. With every stab the servant looked more and more like he was enjoying it. He kept stabbing, over and over, butchering the body, the covers now coming bathed in blood.

With one last hard stab, he shoved the knife into the head of his victim – the cracking of the skull was very audible.

His job was done. Perhaps what he did was over-kill, but taking the life of the Hero of Time's woman was a joy and he wanted to make sure she was good and dead. Hoo...He couldn't wait until Link saw her like this. Oh how he wished he could be there at that moment!

What was that noise? He listened closely.

Footsteps. Headed this way.

The servant's appearance clothes changed, and he was now a hansom young blond-haired man, wearing a regal outfit. Why not have a little more fun before he left, eh?

He stepped out of Malon's room and in front of the maid walking down the hall.

"You, there."

The maid stopped and looked up at him. "Yes, M'lord?"

"I need you for something, would you accompany me to my room?"

She nodded and followed him down the hall.

It was nighttime by the time Isuke and Sheik reached Hyrule Castle Town. The drawbridge was raised, but they easily climbed over the walls and made it into the marketplace. The first thing that got their attention was all the noise coming from the tavern. Isuke's eyes glowed. "Awesome! A fight!"

Sheik rolled his eyes. "We've just been in a fight, wasn't that enough?"

"Yeah, but that was hard. I wanna go wipe the floor with someone's buttocks."

Sheik raised an eyebrow, going over that last sentence in his mind while Isuke raced over to the tavern. A bottle met with his head as soon as he opened the door. He growled and rubbed his head then dove into the fray at the person that had thrown the bottle.

Sheik watched silently from outside, wondering why the guards weren't doing anything about it. Wait a minute...where were those guards? After looking around a bit, he decided that something was wrong and went into the tavern to get Isuke. However, the first person he noticed was a Gerudo, Rittowa to be exact, beating every guy that came near her into a bloody pulp with some kind of eastern fighting style Sheik hadn't seen before.

He grabbed Isuke by his head-fin, then grabbed Rittowa by her long ponytail and dragged them both out into the street. "Stop messing around!" Sheik said in an annoyed tone. "We need to get up to the castle."

Isuke stood up, yeah-yeahed, and they started up the path towards the castle.

"So, what was Lon Lon Ranch like?" Rittowa asked.

"I'll explain later," Isuke said. "How did that bar fight get started?"

"I'll explain later."

They reached the castle gates and a guard looked at them, saying, "We can't let anyone in, sorry."

"Why? What's wrong?" Isuke asked.

"There's been two murders."