The Destiny Stone

by Snowsilver

A sequel to 'An Act to Follow.' What if the Heroes of Time were forgotten? New Chapter - A long awaited battle, the return of Evil's Bane - and a foreshadowing of tragedy.

13. Chapter 12: Into the Shadows

"The Destiny Stone"

Disclaimer: (I'm gonna leave this one up for a bit) I don't own Zelda or any characters, places, or events thereof, so there! Of the original characters, I came up with Timbre, Kat, Aka, Benz, Vulcan and some various bit characters here and there. Chiron is © to himself. Sond owns most of the rest. Thanks Sond! Rej is © FogFrontier, now go read The Kindred, King of Pawns, and Grifter and Snatch!

*****

Author's Note: Christmas is now over. I got those speakers I wanted, and the Two Towers soundtrack, so I'm all set. Man, Gollum's Song just rules. Heck, Gollum rules. ^_^ Sorry if this chapter took a while. I had to think out a few things first, like how the heck to portray a certain King of Evil. I think I got a good idea, though. The next chapters won't be so long in the writingit all depends. This one was a bit late because of the holidays, vacation, and because a certain person got re-addicted to Seiken Densetsu 3. It is a very cool game.

*****

"The Destiny Stone" – Chapter 12: Into the Shadows

"We're headed towards the swamp." Timbre said quietly, looking down the length of Termina Field. A stiff wind blew through his hair.

"I know that," Link snapped. "I don't really want to have to go there any more than you do, whether or not it's poisoned anymore."

Timbre shuffled a little. "Yeah, well"

"What?"

Timbre stared upwards at a few crows that seemed to be circling Clock Town. "I dunno. I just have this funny gut feeling-"

Link raised an eyebrow. "We're headed that way because that's the way the shard is," he said.

"Well, that's just it, you know" Timbre chewed his lip. "Don't you think this is all a little too easy? What if it's a trap?"

"Timbe," Link said condescendingly, "Nobody even knows about us here."

"How do you know that?" Timbre snapped back. "Those Goriyas all saw usor didn't you notice those weird looks? And Boss Blind certainly gave us his scrutiny. How do you know he doesn't tell his master Ganondorf what goes on, and who he sees around town?"

Link just grumbled, and nothing was said for a few minutes. They just kept walking.

Finally, Timbre fidgeted in midstride. He fumbled around in one trenchcoat pocket, and pulled out what appeared to be-

"A biscuit?" Link looked confused as they both still headed in the southern direction.

"Ship's biscuit," Timbre clarified, chewing on it daintily.

"Uhwhere-"

"You don't think Nick had just chili on his ship, do you? They had to get carbohydrates from somewhere, and besides, I'm hungry."

"You're always hungry."

"Pretty much. You want one?"

Link was about to reply when a loud cry cut him off.

"Hello?!" It was a young voice, raised an octave in alarm.

Timbre blinked and peered. "It's coming from that old log," he said, pointing to the weather-beaten structure that still lay hollow next to the entrance to Milk Road.

"I can't believe that thing's still around after all these years," Link murmured to himself.

A little figure was clearly seen, back to the grayed and weather-carved trunk, back curved slightly in the concavity of the log. Curled up in a miserable ball, hugging his knees, was a small boy with familiar reddish hair.

"Daray!" both of them exclaimed at the same moment.

The blind boy lifted his head. "H-hello? I heard voices, and thought it might be help coming"

"Daray? What are you doing outside of Clock Town?" Timbre said, kneeling down in front of the boy. He was a bit scratched and bruised, and his walking stick was snapped in two, but otherwise didn't seem overly injured.

Daray sniffled. "Yyou were at th' Inn las' nightI remember your voice," Daray mumbled, instinctively passing a small hand over Timbre's face.

"Yes," Timbre agreed patiently. "But what are you doing out here?"

The boy took a deep breath. "I wanted to try and see something, but" Daray sniffled. "I can't! My goggles're gone!"

"You lost them?" Link looked oddly concerned.

"No," Daray said, turning his head towards Link's voice. "They were stolensomething attacked me, but all they wanted was th' goggles, cause otherwise, well" He continued. "An' then th' fairy came an' sat on my knee an' told me to stay here and she'd find helpare you the help?"

"Erwe're here to help, yes," Timbre said. "You know your Mom and Dad are probably worried about youwhat was so important that you had to see?"

Daray's brow furrowed seriously. "I wanted to see the Keaton."

Link and Timbre exchanged a quizzical look that the blind boy of course couldn't see. "Maybe we'd better bring you back to Clock Town," Link said firmly.

But Daray shook his head. "Th' fairy told me to stay here until she came back."

"She?"

"Well, it sounded like a girl, anyway. I told her I'd stay here, and I don't want to worry anyone."

"Fair enough." Timbre leaned against the log, next to Daray. He fumbled in his pocket again and pulled out another ship's biscuit. "You hungry?"

"Timbe!" Link hissed as Daray slowly accepted the food. "We're kind of busy, you know"

Timbre raised an eyebrow. "Uh, you do realize that he's by himself in the middle of Termina Field, right?"

Link blinked. "Well, help's coming soon, right?"

Timbre just furrowed his brow. "Well, you weren't thinking about just leaving him, were you?"

Daray swallowed. "Er"

Link looked down at the little kid. "Er, n-no"

Timbre smirked. "Didn't think so. Sit down."

Link sighed, and slid down the smooth trunk. Timbre handed him a biscuit. "Er, thanks," the Hylian mumbled. He knew Timbre was right, but his hand was still tingling, which made him a bit antsy. "I didn't know you were so protective," he remarked idly.

Timbre smirked. "Call it a paternal instinct, or whatever. So, Daraywhy'd you want to meet a Keaton so badly?"

"WellKafei always said it was good luck, an' my Dad needs a lot of that right now," Daray said seriously.

"Wait, so this is younger Kafei, right?" Link's head jerked up.

"Yep. Hey, how did you know Dad had a younger brother?"

Link gulped. Had?! "Er, we knew him a few years back."

"Oh." Daray's brow furrowed. "He never mentioned you. He's gone now."

Both Link and Timbre's hearts sank at these words. "Sorry"

Daray sniffled a little. "He was nice, he protected me. We used t'go out into the Field together"

"What happened?" Link blurted, gaining himself a rather nasty look from Timbre.

"Hey"

"No, no, it's okay," Daray murmured. "I don't remember everything xactly, I was only six years old at th' time. We were out in this very Field, looking for Keatons, and the big Goriya attacked us with some of his cronies."

"You mean Boss Blind?"

Daray nodded. "He's the one with the deeper voice. Yeah, well, Kafei picked me up and started running, but I could hear them chasing after us. Kafei managed to get me to the entrance of Clock Town, then he put me down and yelled for me to stay down. I think he tried to hold em off or something. I started to cry and Captain Viscen found me a little while later. I told him to go find Kafei, butwhen Captain Viscen went to look, he said he was gone."

"Everyone?"

"Well, Kafei wasthe Goriyas were there, an' they said they'd done away with himthis was right before they took overthey were led by Boss Blind and the big scary man"

"Ganondorf." Link said darkly.

Daray nodded. "I don't need to see him to know he's bad. It's likeyou can feel his bad thoughts when he walks bythough Mom never let me out of the house when he came around, I could always tell when he was around."

"Captain Viscen?" Timbre looked curious. Link, he and his other friends had recently (at least for him) made the Captain's acquaintance. "Is he still around?"

"No, he's gone toohe wouldn't want to be around Clock Town anymore anyway. He once said it wasn't worth living if Clock Town wasn't free."

"Wow" Link murmured.

"Er, how long ago did the fairy come by?" Timbre tried to change the subject.

"Dunno, maybe an hour or so," Daray said.

Link sighed. Nick had said he would be back in a few daysbut would he wait around for them if they hadn't yet recovered the sword shard? The Hylian idly felt the tug, it was still coming from a southwesterly direction. The fact that it kept getting stronger and stronger was sometimes very distracting. When it had been far away, at least it had been consistent. This is so frustrating, he thought to himself, and depressing, finding all these people we knew were dead. And KafeiThe Hylian swallowed, turning his blond-haired head in the southwestern direction of the pull.

*****

In that general direction lay a gate to an area known throughout Termina as Milk Road.' It had gained this name from the fact that two dairy ranches stemmed from it: Romani Ranch, and Gorman Ranch. It was no real secret that the two ranches were always in constant competition, however at the moment the Gorman Brothers had one apparent advantage over the Romani Sisters: royalty.

The King of the Gerudos had chosen Gorman Ranch to stable his black stallion for the duration of his stay in Termina. Certainly that was worth something, right?

Ganondorf, the self-proclaimed King of Hyrule, and now also of Termina, examined the small goggles looped carelessly around his right forefinger as he leaned against the paddock where his stallion was currently grazing. The man was a mountain of a Gerudo, his red-haired brows furrowed with slight interest. The black-armored King looked very much out of place, but he nodded slowly, glancing far down at the blue Goriya that hovered nervously at his ankles.

Boss Blind peered up at his master through the shaded lenses of his glasses. "Youlike it?" He asked hesitantly. Unlike his underlings, the giant of a Goriya had a deeper, more human-sounding voice, and an almost fluent sentence structure.

"Hmm," was all Boss Blind got as an initial response.

The Goriya shuffled awkwardly, unconsciously glancing down at his boomerang. It was special, metal where his underlings' weapons were wooden. And he'd never missed a target with his metal boomerang, as if it were magical. He figured it was the Triforce charm' Ganondorf had once ordered put in it.

Ganondorf's knitted brows furrowed deeply.

Boss Blind looked back up at his master pensively. One could never tell what kind of mood Ganondorf was in. Often he would be grimly silent and scowling, but the Gerudo King could become a tempest of rage at the merest flicker of an eyelid. And Blind had not come with very good news for his King today. Not only had his Goriyas failed to find the rebels, the fairy he'd managed to capture for his master the day before had been apparently stolen or liberated.

"Hmm, very interesting," Ganondorf murmured finally. "Where did you get this?"

"Off the Mayor's sightless grand-brat, sah." The blue Goriya smirked. "He were wand'ring by imself out in the Field."

Ganondorf raised an eyebrow. "And so you just left him out there, alone?"

Boss Blind nodded.

The Gerudo King just smirked and shook his head as if the thought amused him. "Well, this is quite an interesting device." Ganondorf's mind was currently on the goggles, and not on his minion's shortcomings. At least for the moment. "Have you ever heard of a Lens of Truth, Blind?"

Boss Blind scratched his chin with a claw. "Sounds kind of familiar, sah."

Despite everything, the King of the Gerudos was apparently in a somewhat amiable mood at the moment, so he replied calmly, "A Lens of Truth is a device that allows one to see things that are normally unseen, whether they are hidden or just invisible. These goggles appear to be of similar make. I wonder where the Mayor got something like this. I shall have to ask him later. But that is not important at the moment. These may prove useful. Do you know how, Blind?"

The Goriya shivered slightly under the hawk-like gaze of his King. Normally, the Goriya was snobbish and rather professional, at least around those lower than him. Only Ganondorf ever saw the cringing, eager-to please side for him. And at the moment, Ganondorf was testing him. Blink chewed his moustache thoughtfully, trying to appear smart for his master. Then again, who knew what Ganondorf was planning? "Maybe" Boss Blind started hopefully.

Ganondorf sighed in exasperation. "Don't bother hurting yourself, Blind. I shall have to explain: what are we looking for?"

"Erm, the rebels?"

"And their base, Blind" Ganondorf prompted darkly.

"Yes, sah." The Goriya cringed, and the shaded glasses nearly fell off his nose. Even he could see Ganondorf's patience was slowly wearing out. Best not to annoy him.

"Yourhave been searching the land for a week, and haven't found anything."

Boss Blind nodded slowly.

"Thereforebesides the primary difficulty, in this case their total incompetence, this must mean that the base is very well hidden."

"Oh, so you can use the goggles to find the hidden base!" Boss Blind exclaimed with a flash of unusual brilliance for his kind.

"Very good, Blind," Ganondorf grumbled condescendingly. "Only it is you that will find it."

Blind stared as the Gerudo King as he lazily dropped the goggles into the Goriya's quivering claws. "M-me?"

Ganondorf's eyes narrowed. "I'm glad we have an understanding, Blind. I was tempted to simply eliminate you, as you've arrived here with nothing but bad news. However, since you have delivered me a means to redeem yourself, I have decided to spare you for the moment. Don't displease me with your ineptitude a second time."

Blind swallowed with difficulty. "Y-yes, sah! Shall I alert you when the base is found?"

"Do that, Blind. I would be very pleased to pay them a visit personally. Anything else to report?"

Here was the other thing Blind was dreading. "We ad someodd travelers in Clock Town, sah"

"Explain."

"Well, there were these two menI've never seen them before."

"Were they travelers? What did they look like?" Ganondorf cracked his powerful knuckles, looking slightly interested.

"One of them was Hylian, and wore green, and had a funny stone about his neck on a chain. The other wasn't Hylian, he wore a long coat and foreign clothing. They were also armed."

"Armed? Did you relieve them of their weapons?"

"Well, I didn't have time, and I didn't think they would case trouble-"

Ganondorf rubbed his temples impatiently. "I suppose I shall have to investigate this. Go now."

"Yes sah!" The blue Goriya scampered away, relieved that he had been so fortunate today.

*****

A lazy blue sky, bedecked slightly with puffy white clouds, passed high overhead, throwing shadows about like insubstantial lawn darts. Except for the wind blowing into the log from time to time, however, it was like the world had stopped spinning. And it was slowly driving one certain blonde Hylian to distraction.

Link groaned, and it echoed loudly through the log. "How much longer can that fairy be?"

Timbre shrugged. "Maybe she can't find help." Daray had since dozed off. They'd been waiting what seemed like hours and hours, and still there was no sign of any help arriving for the boy.

"Feh, sounds like one of ours," Link said sarcastically. "Probably is"

Timbre shrugged. He did miss Obol. For all the mute fairy and he hadn't gotten along, he was still company.

Link fidgeted. He'd removed his sword and shield, and they lay at his side so he could rest more comfortably. "You know, what if it gets dark out and nobody comes by?"

"Then, I suppose we'll have to stay the night," Timbre said. "If nobody's here by this time tomorrow, I say we just bring Daray back."

"A whole day?" Link was coming incredibly close to whining. "Usually you're the impatient one. What's happened?"

"Well, responsibility, for one," Timbre murmured. "I'm not just about to leave him here, you know. You can go on, if you like."

Link looked halfway willing to, but then the Destiny Stone turned an angry red. "Er, guess the Almighty Rock won't let me go," he grumbled, and the Stone turned an indignant orange. "The Triforce is bugging me to move on, the Stone wants me to sit still, and I wish these relics would make up their minds!"

"Sorry," Timbre said. "Maybe we should just bring him back-"

"No," Link waved a hand wearily. "I'm just blowing off steam, I think. It's just been a frustrating time so far"

Timbre just kind of shrugged. "Yeah, nothing's been very easyand it hasn't even been that long, eitherI mean, we were in Kokiri Forest for two nightsthen at Vulcan's a night, then at the beach a night, and then on Nick's ship for two nights, or three daysand we've been here one night. So just barely a week, we've been back."

"A week? Felt more like two years." Link sighed and changed the subject. "So, you really think this fairy is one of ours?"

"Well, we know it isn't Cyrus, cause he's with Sond and it can't be Obol since he wouldn't be able to talk" Timbre shrugged. "Then again, I'm learning not to be too surprised by anything."

As if on cue, a very fast, winged, golden glowing light careened into the log, speaking before it took the time to have a look around.

"He was in he-EEEEK!!!"

"AAAH!" Link, Timbre and Daray (who had been jolted awake by the scream) yelped, as startled as the fairy was. Then the Hylian blinked and stared.

"TATL?!" He practically squeaked.

"EEEEK!!!" The fairy screeched again, unfortunately in Link's face. "Pamela!!! There's a couple of guys in here and this one knows my name!!!"

"Tatl, calm down!" Link hissed. "It's alright, really!"

"You stay away from the kid, you, youaaah!" The fairy suddenly yelled at him, bopping him sharply on the nose.

Link had had enough. Grabbing his hat off his head, he swung it like a butterfly net, and managed to catch the enraged fairy in it. His hat jingled and loud curses flew from its interior.

"Nice to see you too," Link rolled his eyes, staring down at the hat.

"Well, guess we have the answer to our question, don't we?" Timbre smirked.

A new, feminine voice sounded suddenly from the entrance to the hollow log. The tone had a clear, no-nonsense ring to it. "Drop her!"

"Huh?" Timbre and Link stared at the figure in the entrance.

There was a woman peering into the log, dressed in a black hooded tunic and breeches. Held in her hands was what appeared to be a long hollow stick, a blowgun. The woman, apparently the Pamela' Tatl had been yelling for, was calmly loading a dart into the hollowed shaft. "I said, drop her. Now."

Link grudgingly upturned his hat, and Tatl flew out, slightly dazed and quite angry. Bopping Link on the nose again, she huffed and hovered near Pamela's ear.

"Now then," the black-clothed woman said. Her hair was a lighter brown than Sond's, and was very short, a few inches less than shoulder length. Her eyes were small, either a very dark brown or black, it was hard to tell from the distance. A small smattering of freckles dotted across her nose and both cheeks. "Step away from the kid, or I'll deaden your hand for a week."

"Look, we're not-" Link started.

"Just do what she says," Timbre murmured, edging away. Link followed his example.

"W-what's going on?" Daray said, sounding slightly scared and confused at the same time. Then again, nobody could really blame him.

"Who are those two, Tatl?" Pamela raised an eyebrow at the two strangers.

"That's Timbre and Link," Daray said innocently. "What's going on? Who're you?"

"Shh, kid, s'okay, I was sent to help," said Pamela, still brandishing her dartgun.

Tatl piped up. "The kid-that's his nephew, aren't I right, Pamela?"

The woman squinted at Daray. "Kid, you're name is Daray, grandson of the Mayor of Clock Town, is it not?"

"Yeah," Daray said in a confused affirmative. "But how do you know that? I don't believe I've ever heard your voice before."

"Let's just say I know one of your close relatives," said Pamela mysteriously. "Now then, Tatl told me that your goggles were stolen by Boss Blind-"

"We've got a beef with that guy too!" Link blurted suddenly.

Pamela's dark-colored eyes turned on the Hylian and his companion. "Just who are you two, anyway?"

"Timbre and Link, like I said. They were staying at Mom's Inn," Daray piped up suddenly. "I think they're alright, they were trying to help too."

"Hmm," Pamela said, as if not totally trusting the two youths. "Well, what do we do with you now, DarayI suppose we might bring him back to Clock Town, Tatl, if we just snuck him to the gate-"

"But I wanted to find a Keaton first!" Daray protested loudly.

Tatl and Pamela exchanged a meaningful glance.

The fairy bobbed up and down. "It'll be dangerous, trying to get him back into town with all those Goriyas aboutI mean, last time I did get caught, and I'm a lot smaller-"

Pamela sighed and nodded in agreement.

"Very well thenI suppose we'll have to take him back with us."

"Will you take me to the Keaton?" Daray asked hopefully.

Pamela smiled, but didn't reply.

Tatl turned towards Link and Timbre. "What about these two?"

Pamela's dark eyes turned on them again. "I don't knowthey might be spies."

"Then you'd better take us prisoner," Timbre said suddenly.

"T-timbe!" Link said, nudging his companion in the ribs with gritted teeth. "What are you doing-"

"We're not spies, but if you don't trust us, take us back with you as prisoners, and we'll prove we're on the same side," Timbre challenged.

Tatl appeared to squint. "Now, see, he might be tricking us"

Pamela, however, furrowed her brow. "No, there are ways of seeing if they're telling the truth or not. If they are, then great, the more the merrier. If not, well, we can always do away with them later."

Link swallowed heavily.

*****

Impa sighed wearily as she stood in front of the lit fireplace in her own home, the orange glow of the flames playing across her worried frown.

"Vulcan"

Vulcan looked up from his seat. "Mmm?"

"I hate to admit it, but things aren't going well lately."

"Aye," Vulcan nodded. "Chiron-"

"I'm almost positive that he was after you. You're the only new arrival we've had here since the Skull Kid and the Deku, and I seriously doubt the top Gerudo assassin was after them, no offense meant. It's justwith you, he'd have a reason."

"So, you think they know about the Sword?"

Impa shrugged. "I don't know thatI'm not completely knowledgeable, after all."

"No one is," Vulcan said comfortingly. "Still, we should feel fortunate that they underestimated your protégée like that. I wasn't aware that Kat knew Din's Fire. Not many have that particular talent, after all."

"It is a rare gift," Impa agreed. "I'd been watching heraround ten years ago, the ability suddenly cropped upright before Ganondorf came, actually. After the orphanage failed, wellI couldn't allow her to be discovered by the Gerudos. And she had a bit of a problem, she tended to misfire. She needed to learn to control it." The Sheikah inclined her head slightly. "As it was, she nearly burned my house down twice. Still, I feel fortunate now that she learned the skill. Not many could take on a baker's dozen of those thieves."

"And the effort cost her dearly," Vulcan added. "Has she recovered?"

"Mostly," Impa agreed, "though she still feels weak."

"And you're worried that Chiron will return before she can regain her strength?"

"I don't worry, Vulcan. I know he'll be back for you. And he won't be so easily detained this time. We cannot depend on the same defense working again." The woman sighed. "Perhaps you should find a more secure hiding place," she suggested.

The former knight's brow furrowed. "I'm not running anymore, Impa. And it's not only this leg, I've been ducking the tyrant's fist for too long, besides, where would I go? To the Zoras? To Death Mountain? The Lost Woods? Wherever I go, he'll find me eventually. I'm tired of running."

Impa looked admonished. "Still, the safety of the village-"

"I also made a promise, Impa. When those two get back, I need a forge to repair the Master Sword."

Impa sighed. "If you really believe in themvery well, Vulcan. But there may come a time when the safety of the village outweighs that promise."

Vulcan just bowed his head in response.

There was a polite noise behind them.

Impa and Vulcan turned their heads towards Aka, whose head was peering shyly around the doorway. "Er, hello," he stammered.

Much to the Skull Kid's surprise, Impa smiled and beckoned him over. "Hello there young one. Come on and have a seat a moment."

"Er, alright," Aka hopped onto the couch alongside Vulcan, bouncing a few times.

"How are you enjoying Kakariko Village?" Impa asked, glad to have something else to talk about.

"I like it a lot," Aka replied honestly. "I dunnothings just seem sosafe here, even though it is the outside worldI mean, I liked the ranch and all, but-" Aka trailed off, aware that he was babbling slightly. "I'm, er, hoping it'll stay that way, marm."

"Me too," Impa replied, sitting down in the armchair. Her brow furrowed curiously over crimson eyes. "Tell me, Aka, what are you doing inside? It is a nice day out, I thought you would be enjoying it."

"Er, I was out earlier, ma'am" Aka stammered, looking at his feet, "but I dunno, I just got this funny feeling."

"Do tell."

"Well, I was there when that mean guy and the mean women cameI don't think that they're gonna give up so easyand I just wanted to talk to someone about it, and wellI came insideand I'm afraid I overheard some stuff-"

Vulcan raised an eyebrow. "You did?"

Aka nodded, looking guilty. "I heard something bout a sword, and something about the bad people coming backyou think that too, dontcha?"

Impa nodded sagely. "I do. I would appreciate it if anything said or overheard doesn't leave this house," she added.

Aka nodded. "Oh, of course, ma'am. My lips are sealed."

Vulcan leaned back with a groan. "So, what this leaves us with one reality, and more questions. They are coming back, no mistake about that. It is just a matter ofwhen. And with whom."

Aka swallowed. "I guesswe'll just have to be ready for whatever comes, right?"

Impa nodded seriously. "That's about all we can do: be ready."

*****

It had been a very uncomfortable trip indeed for Link and Timbre. First of all, Pamela had insisted that the prisoners be bound, so both found their hands tied behind them with Pamela's spare climbing rope. Second, she had insisted on them being blindfolded, so that they would not recognize the way she was taking. That, and so they would be totally helpless, and unable to surprise her.

"Keep your mouths shut, both of you," she advised strongly. "There's monsters about that will attack anyone."

"How are we getting back, then?" Link replied towards the sound of the woman's voice, unable to see anything due to the rag tied across his face. "Termina Field's got monsters. Won't they see us?"

"I have a Stone Mask," she replied curtly. "It'll work for all of us as long as I hold the rope. Remember that. If you sass me or try anything, I'll drop the rope and you'll be dead."

"And trust me, she will," said the voice of Tatl into his ear.

Daray was apparently being carried by Pamela, piggyback style. He piped up suddenly. "Don't say stuff like that. They're not bad."

Pamela sighed, though not unkindly. "It is hard for one to trust others, sometimes. You'll understand some day."

The remainder of that afternoon was not a very pleasant one. Having one's hands tied behind one's back tends to offset balance, and make it slightly awkward to move quickly. That, coupled with the fact that neither youth could see anything made them stumble a lot. Pamela was slightly frustrated, and yanked the rope from time to time. Once, this caused a mess as Link was pulled off balance, and fell down. Timbre, being unable to see in front of him of course tripped over the fallen Hylian, adding to the problem.

Pamela pulled them both roughly upright, hissing angrily. "Be careful! Next person who trips gets left there, you hear?"

"Timbe," Link grumbled in an aside. "You'd better start running the moment my hands are free, or I just might strangle you."

Timbre didn't comment. The whole prisoner' thing had been his idea, after all. However, it was the only thing he'd been able to think of at the time to get Pamela to bring them along.

Although he was blindfolded, Link still had his sense of direction, thanks to the inherent pull on his left hand. If it was still pointing to the same area, then that meant logically that Pamela was taking them in the direction of Ikana Canyon. That made sense, as last time they'd visited Termina, they'd met a little girl named Pamela' in Ikana. She'd lived with her father, who'd been under a mummy's curse, until Link and his friends had come along, of course.

As the small group pressed on, the sound of wind against grass slowly faded, replaced instead by a kind of hollow grating whistle, as the stiff wind squeezed itself in between bare stony outcrops that had replaced the vegetation of the plains. The air was a lot dustier too, and staler, as Timbre sneezed a few times. Definitely Ikana. No other place in Termina had so desolate an environment.

Timbre's third sneeze echoed hollowly about, and Pamela's voice came again in a hiss as she tugged the rope. "Stow that," she warned. "Unless you want to be eaten alive, that is"

Link could almost imagine the Redeads and other living dead, circling them on all sides, skinless, muscle-tightened faces pressing in, emaciated and worm eaten, with black hollow eye sockets that stared eternally forwards. And their screams – being in Ikana was one thing, but being totally helpless in Ikana was another thing. Link shook all the fearful thoughts away and his bravery returned, but he had a feeling that this, had not been just his own nerves returning. A slight twinge in his left hand confirmed that.

The Triforce won't let me be afraid, he thought suddenly. But that usually means things are alright. He silently was relieved by this small comfort, though it didn't relieve the ache in his side from when he'd fallen.

It was hard to place how long they'd been led, but by the time Pamela told them quietly to stop, both Timbre and Link were both aching all over. It hadn't been an easy day, to say the least.

There was the sound of a door opening, and the two of them were led indoors. As the sound of wind was blocked by walls, another, somewhat unexpected sound came to the two prisoners' ears. It was a kind of tinny, almost merry-go-round like tinkling of a melody, almost as if they'd stepped inside-

"M-music box?" Link blurted suddenly. "The Music Box House?"

From the sound of it, Pamela drew herself suddenly with a small gasp. "You, youI'm not going to ask how you know about this place. Guess you really are a spy."

Link would have punched himself had he not been unable. Stupid idiot, he admonished himself.

A snort from behind him told Link that Timbre agreed fully with that thought. Another door creaked open, and they found themselves led down some stairs. Timbre wrinkled his nose as it became considerably more dank and humid. It was probably darker down here as well. The whir of Tatl's wings clipped by Timbre's ear, and he turned his head this way and that as the sounds of several people standing caught his ears.

The door above them shut with an ominous clang, and Timbre and Link took deep breaths, feeling more vulnerable than they had during this entire adventure.

"Pam?" said a male voice directly in front of them. "What's this?"

"Prisoners," they heard the woman answer, and she groaned as if putting something down. "And a refugee. Everyone, meet Daray."

There were several more low-toned murmurs, at least four, maybe five, Link calculated.

"NotKafei's nephew Daray?"

"The same," Pamela agreed.

"Y-you knew" Daray's voice came, haltingly. "But he's"

"Daray," came a quieter male voice, and Timbre swallowed. He'd heard that voice before, maybe slightly younger-sounding. Always slightly pensive, and not as adventuresome as the rest, butthat voice was unmistakable. There was the sound of footsteps. "You've grown."

They heard Daray gasp. "Uncle Kafei?! Butthe Goriyasyou were ki-"

"If you're going to murder someone," they heard Kafei's voice murmur, "You should at least finish what you start." There was an awkward pause, then his voice came again. "Who are the prisoners?"

"Two travelers, Daray says they were staying at the Inn. I found him and them holed up in that old hollow log near Milk Road. I didn't know if they were spies or not-"

"We're not," Timbre spoke for the first time in hours.

"We'll be the judges of that," snapped the first male voice they'd heard.

"Quiet, Jim," Kafei's voice came. It was hoarser than they'd remembered, but still pensive. Then he addressed them both. "What are your names?"

"Link," said Link.

"Timbre," said Timbre.

"Very well," Kafei's voice replied. "Are you spies for Ganondorf?"

"No, we're against him," Link replied evenly. He suddenly became aware of a presence somewhere down near his left foot. "Er"

"There is a Keaton taking your scent," Kafei said evenly. "He can tell the truth from lies, so you'd best to be very honest."

Daray's voice piped up. "A real, live Keaton?"

"Yeah," Kafei said, and there was a hint of a smile in his voice. "I'll introduce you later."

Link smiled, and then became serious as he addressed everyone. "We're against Ganondorf. We're here to repair the Master Sword and defeat him. We were on our way to find a missing shard of the Sword when we found Daray alone in Termina Field."

The apparent Keaton shuffled away from Link. A wheezy, vulpine voice uttered from the ground. "He tells the truth."

"Very wellthe other one, then."

Timbre felt himself tense up as the Keaton drew close. "Erm"

The Keaton spoke again almost immediately. "This one is not human, I see"

"What?" Pamela sounded confused.

Timbre sighed. "No, nohe's right. I'm notI'm-"

"A wolf," the Keaton finished for the youth. "Odd," it murmured. "I had thought them gone from the land"

"But that doesn't make me immediately bad," Timbre protested, as several murmurs echoed through the room. "I'm with Link, against Ganondorf. And you are as well, Kafei."

The Keaton paused dramatically. Then, with an air of finality, it said, "He speaks the truth."

They heard Kafei sigh. "Very wellremove the blindfolds and untie them. I believe it is time for our guests to see where they are."

Timbre and Link's blindfolds were removed by Pamela, and they looked around the small, darkened room they found themselves in. It was little better than an unfurnished basement, as the mortared stone walls surrounded them, dank, and looking cold to the touch. Sitting around a small, slightly weather-beaten wooden table, were five brown-haired youths, wearing all black save for their heads, which were clothed in pirate like colored scarf-caps. Four wore blue caps that matched their eyes. The fifth, which they recognized as a teenage Jim wore a red one. Pamela leaned off to one side, next to her lay their weapons. Tatl and two other fairies hovered near one of her pointed ears. The Keaton sat on its haunches before them, its bright yellow fur cheery despite its darkened surroundings. Daray was in the arms of a young man whom both Timbre and Link recognized immediately.

However, Kafei had changed a lot, more so than anybody they'd met so far. His wide crimson eyes were set into a face that appeared to be heavily tattooed. Dark, grayish marks ran under Kafei's eyes, and onto his cheeks in an intricate, pointed pattern. Link was reminded suddenly of the tattoo-like markings around Impa's eyes. Kafei's violet hair fell about his face in slightly messy locks, and retained the same general style that it retained during his childhood. Kafei glanced at them both and nodded.

"Welcome to the hideout of the Bomber's Society of Justice."

Link and Timbre both stared.

*****

Rej swung his lantern at the Wolfos's nose in annoyance. "Shoo! We're not edible! Go away!"

The Wolfos and its five fellows stared hungrily upwards at the twenty Poes hovering just out of reach of their jaws, even if they reared up on hind legs to snap. The group of violet-cloaked ghosts had been uneventfully traveling towards Hyrule Castle Town. Although the sunlight was surely irritating and slowed down their progress somewhat, they had been making good time.

It was now very nearly dusk, as the sky was reddening, and the shadows lengthening. Wolfos, being mostly nocturnal hunters, were starting to roam the fields.

Rej had heard that the Wolfos were becoming more and more ravenous and desperate, but this was just plain ludicrous. The squad had been on its way when this small pack of the ravening gray beasts had charged. One Poe had nearly been brought down in the small scuffle, as it was the unlucky Poe had now a large bite-shaped hole in the hem of its garment.

The Poes could easily outmaneuver the Wolfos by hovering out of reach. However, the stubborn and hungry animals simply refused to let them alone, following them along the ground as the squadron began its trek towards the Castle Town.

And Rej was sure that Chiron would not be pleased if he brought a half-dozen Wolfos to his front door.

"Get out of here!" he yelled again at the largest Wolfos, a skinny but muscular male with a sizable limp in his right foreleg. If the creature had understood him, it was pointedly ignoring everything. It reared onto its sinewy hind legs and snapped sizable knifelike teeth up at Rej.

The Poe had had enough. He swung his lantern again, the heavy metal frame of the structure connecting solidly with the big black nose.

With a yelp, the Wolfos sunk down onto all fours, and glared balefully up at Rej.

"Well, that's what you get," the Poe scolded. He carried on as the squad moved out towards the spires that were slowly rising in the distance. "Ignore them," he muttered to the other Poes. They murmured assent. If Twinrova's promotion' had done one good thing to Rej, it had garnered him a little more respect from his fellows. And there was never anything wrong with that.

The twenty ghosts arrived in Castle Town just as the drawbridge was being pulled up. The Poes didn't care if the bridge was up or down of course, they could just fly over the wall whenever they chose. However, with the town locked, that meant that the Wolfos who had insisted on following them the entire way there were locked out. They stopped at the locked gate, and howled angrily after the ghosts.

Rej wasn't very fluent in Wolfos, but he was pretty certain those were not friendly parting words. The ghost, however, had more to contend with than what rude predators had to say. The squadron swooped down, closing in on the castle that gave Castle Town its name. Around them, townsfolk headed home. A few looked up curiously, but most shuffled on their bland ways. Ganondorf's rule had numbed them to such occurrences.

The gates to the former Hyrule Castle were guarded by a pair of Gerudo women, who scowled and looked up at the score of ghosts currently hovering at eye level.

"Yes?" One of them finally spoke up.

"We're here on Twinrova's business. We're the..emreinforcements." Rej said.

The one who had spoken exchanged a glance with her companion, who nodded. "Very well. Enter."

The door opened, and unexpectedly, a small orange fairy virtually shot out, nearly colliding with Rej. The fairy glared, puffing himself up like a miniature balloon.

"Hey! Who're you?" he squeaked haughtily.

Rej rolled his eyes. "We don't have time for thiswe're supposed to report to Chiron."

Although it was hard to see, the fairy raised an eyebrow. "Prove it."

Rej was about to prove the effectiveness of a Poe lantern as a flyswatter when a spiky haired young man's head appeared in the doorway. "Pedro, stand down."

"But-" the fairy protested.

"Now, Pedro"

"Aww, fine." Pedro retreated grumpily to the young man's shoulder. Chiron just rolled his eyes and looked up and down the line of Poes.

"She sent Poes as reinforcements? I was expecting something more"

"Alive?" Pedro squeaked.

Rej, slightly offended, rolled his eyes. "Yes, we're the reinforcementssir." He added that one as an grudging afterthought.

Chiron retreated into the castle, with a lazy beckon welcoming the Poes in. The twenty ghosts glided noiselessly past the guards and through the cold stone doorway.

"I suppose you're aware that I have a mission to complete," Chiron said without turning his head. His voice echoed through the hall drearily. "That mission resides in Kakariko Village. At least, I suspect it doesif the coward hasn't fled again"

Pedro grumbled to himself.

Chiron halted in the high hall that had once held the King of Hyrule's throne and court. Now, it served as a seat for the Gerudo King. A tall, ornately carved obsidian black chair had taken the old throne's place. Rej snorted a little. Looks like someone's a bit vain, he thought cynically.

Chiron spoke again. "We'll be moving out presently, as per Twinrova's instructions. She wants us in Kakariko village by tomorrow morning."

Rej and the other Poes exchanged glances. Finally, Rej spoke up.

"Great," he said, not feeling that way at all. "What do we have to do?"

*****

I'm not dead! Really! It's taken me almost a month to get this one chapter done. Part of that's just vacation, and business. Another might be location. At school, I can bottle myself up in my room for a few hours, pretend I'm not there, and just write out a half-dozen pages no problem. At home, I've got interruptions, chores, plus, no place to bottle myself up with the computer. Well, I'm going back the 13th, so I have a feeling I'll have the next chapter up a few days after that. I know what's going to happensort oferp. Well, until next time, anyhowI'll have pictures done by then.