Chapter three: Separate Battles

Link and Darunia walked along a long path that wound through snowy mountains on either side of them, Link with a bag slung across his back with food inside it for both of them. They were hours past the known border to Hyrule, and it was absolutely frigid. The snowy caps of the mountains loomed high overhead, and they were many times bigger than Death Mountain. The sky was still blue, but strangely tinted in this part of the land. The whole place had an ominous feel to it, and Link did not like it.

Darunia on the other hand, was looking up at the dark mountains with interest. He had never been outside of Hyrule before, and was quite curious about it. As they walked, Link noticed that he was walking slightly slower than Link, so he could look everything over. Link was sure that the goron did not feel the strange feeling that he did. It only made him feel more nervous rather than lighten the tension that had knotted inside him.

The sun was high overhead, and it should have shone blinding light, but, strangely, it didn't. It was dim, in fact, where they were. Link was beginning to feel that it wasn't such a good idea to leave Hyrule for answers. But he was not about to turn back now. No, they had to press on.

Link did not notice it, but large red eyes were peering out at them as they walked past, through crevices in the mountains. They withdrew when they walked past, but reappeared when they were at a safe distance.

Link could feel the hair on his neck standing up. Was it just his imagination? No, it couldn't be. There were other things here than just them. Almost casually, he drew his sword out. Darunia cast a sideways glance at the shining blade, and drew out his twin axes.

"There are things surrounding us," Link said as quietly as he could, "don't stop walking. They reek with an unfamiliar stench. If they attack, spare only one. They might have the answers we're looking for."

Darunia nodded. Link stared straight ahead, his entire body tensed up, ready for battle.

A flicker of movement caught his eye on his right. His head snapped around. Without warning, near ten moblins leapt out from behind a pile of rocks. They wore heavy armor, carried broadswords, and they were black skinned, instead of the traditional green. They landed in front of the pair, and swung their swords. A surge of adrenalin shot through Link as the familiar wave of battle came over him. He blocked two swords with his own, and pulled his shield out in front of him as a rain of black arrows from the surrounding mountains came down. Darunia dodged these as best he could as he fought off the attacking moblins, but some grazed his side leaving long gashes on his brown skin. He roared with pain, and suddenly lashed out, punching a moblin in the head. The blow cracked it's skull, and blood shot everywhere, splattering the fire sage. As he continued to fight, Link was busy trying to hold off the other moblins. He slashed a couple limbs off, but there were still three or four moblins still trying to cut him to pieces. He ducked a swing from a moblin to his right, rolled between their legs, and hopped up behind them. The moblins were dim-witted and were too slow to realize what had happened. Link snapped ones neck, cut the head off another, kicked one to the ground, and punched the other. He sank his blade into moblin that was on the ground. It bellowed an unearthly noise and black fog erupted from it. It flew around Link, blinding him. He fell over and blinked through the haze, trying to see.

The strange fog covered Darunia also, and the moblin he was about to kill tripped him. He hit the ground on his back, and saw a gleaming blade go shooting toward his throat. He was not able to get his hands up in time....

"YAAAAH!!!" bellowed Link, leaping blindly through the fog. He landed on the moblins back just in time to have it drop the sword and save Darunia's life. Link pulled the moblin to the ground, slit it's throat, and tore it's skull wide open with his gauntlets.

The black mist faded, and the two heroes, slightly stunned by this attack, looked at their handiwork.

Blood splattered the ground everywhere. Droplets were covering Darunia and Link, but they did not care much. The moblin that had just had it's head ripped open was lying motionless at Link's feet. Parts of it's brain were pouring out of it's bleeding skull, and bone was sticking out of the rotted flesh. The smell was incredible, and Link nearly threw up.

A finger tapped Link's shoulder. Link turned toward Darunia, and saw him pointing to a gasping, dying black moblin. It's throat was cut and blood was pouring all over the ground, but it was still alive. Link and Darunia rushed over.

"Where did you come from? Tell me and I will ease your passing." Link said menacingly, holding his bloodstained blade to the monsters heart.

It gasped, made a gurgling sound, and said "h.....he.......HE commands us..."

"Who?!" demanded Darunia.

"The.....the one who joined...he has returned to....the sapphires...home..."

The moblin was nearly dead. With one trembling finger it pointed eastward, through a small path where the moblins had leapt out from. It shuddered violently, let out a hoarse, strangled yell, and went limp.

As if all of this hadn't been a shock to them, a jet black arrow suddenly sank into the moblins skull, not an inch from Link's hand. The two stood up and looked up to see other black moblins with bows were shooting at them from ledges on the mountains. They looked grave, and pissed off that they had just killed what might have been an entire squad.

"THROUGH THE PASS!" Link shouted, and, seizing the gorons arm, he pulled him out of open ground as a rain of black arrows followed them. They ran through the pass where the black moblin had indicated, knowing not what they would find now.

Princess Zelda and Malon stood outside the entrance to Lon Lon Ranch.

"My father will want to know where I have gone," Malon noted to the Princess quietly.

"You will be back soon enough. He will have no need to worry," answered Zelda.

"Ok, but how are we going to find Ingo now?" questioned Malon.

"With this," Zelda said, and she drew out what looked to be a strange pair of goggles. They were completely black, and had words written in ancient Hylian on them.

"What are they?" asked Malon in wonder.

"These were found many years ago in the woods surrounding Hyrule," explained Zelda. "We don't know who made them or where they are from, but we know that they show us footprints that nobody else can see with the naked eye. When I put these on, I will be able to locate Ingo's footprints and we can follow him right up to where he is at this precise moment."

Malon stared at her as the Princess slipped the strange goggles on, then tied them off, and observed the ground.

"There," she pointed a finger at a patch of ground not far from where Malon was standing. "They lead from the ranch...to..."

Zelda's head moved upward. Malon guessed she was following the trail.

"Into the forest..." Zelda whispered, pointing to the forest just east of Kokiri Forest that were many miles away. Nobody had ever set foot in those woods.

Until now.

"We...we're going in there, are we?" said Malon tentatively, struggling to keep her voice even. "How w-will we find him?"

"We will follow the footsteps," answered Zelda simply.

"And what happens when we get to him?" questioned Malon loudly.

"We either kill him, or imprison him and find out what the hell is going on with the shadow and him, and that map, and the three sapphires that Malachai spoke of."

Malon's eyes widened. She didn't know what she had expected when she had agreed to go after Ingo, but, she had never killed a living thing in her life, unless you counted bugs. And that was when she was little. She was a fully grown woman now, and she was very nervous.

"But I c-can't fight!" Malon said, trembling.

"Here, take this," Zelda said. She took out a small dagger from a pouch on her waste and tossed it to Malon. She caught it by the hilt and stared at it. It was smooth and shiny and was flawless. This was a weapon made by the royal family, and she was amazed to be holding it.

"On the way, you will practice with that," Zelda ordered, as she started walking off, following the invisible footprints with her eyes, "and by the time we catch up with the bastard, you had better know how to use 'em."

The ranch girl decided not to point out the fact that the princess was being bossy, and went along with it. She knew that the reason for her bossiness was that she was stressed out. That was how it was for her. Shaking the thought out of her head, she looked down at the glittering blade she held delicately.

Wondering if she was up to it, she swung the blade around. It made a satisfying whisshh! As it passed through the air. She grinned, and did it again. Again, it made the same pleasant sound. Without really thinking, she began to swing it back and forth very fast, pretending to slash at Ingo's ugly face. She started to chuckle, but stopped abruptly when she heard "MALON! STOP HAVING FUN AND COME ON!"

Exceptionally embarrassed, she slipped the dagger into her belt and ran after Zelda, who was striding along toward the forest, still observing the footprints intently.

Link and Darunia sprinted down the thin valley that led to the eastern parts of the unknown mountains. They both spotted a small crevice to their right, and dove into it, the black arrows still flying after them. They collapsed into the crevice, and fell into a dark cave. Laying flat on their backs, all that was heard was the still soft thumping of the black arrows still shooting at them, and their heavy breathing.

Several minutes passed, until finally the arrows stopped hitting the ground. The pair lay there in the small cave, listening intently for any voices. None came.

Turning his head to the side, the Hero of Time looked at the shadowy face of his sworn brother.

"Alright?" Link said, patting the fire sage's arm, "how was that for some action, aye?"

Darunia stared at Link, and was surprised to see that Link was grinning.

"You enjoy this, don't you?" laughed Darunia.

"Why, don't you?" said Link, bewildered.

"Well, I'm not used to it as much as you, brother," he replied lightly, closing his eyes. "To tell you the truth, I'm completely drained."

"Don't blame you," muttered Link, looking up at the small sliver of light that was the entrance that they had dove through. It was quite a ways up, and Link was surprised they hadn't hurt themselves when they had landed. "They're camping out there, and as soon as we show our faces, they're going to shoot the living fuck out of us."

Darunia was surprised to hear Link curse. He barely ever said stuff like that. However, Darunia rarely saw Link so serious. The last time he had seen Link like this was in the Fire Temple right before his epic battle with the fire demon Volvagia. Link eased himself up off the dirty rock floor and crawled to the side of the cave. At this angle, Link could see right through the opening. Around twenty moblin archers were standing up on the ledges of the far mountains, theyr bows strung, aiming right at the mouth of the cave. So, Link had guessed correctly. They were just waiting.

"What do we do now?" Darunia whispered into the silence.

"We'll spend the night here. If they are still here in the morning, I'll open fire on them with my own bow."

Darunia nodded, and sat up, with a very animal-like groan.

"What's to eat?"

Link couldn't help but laugh out loud. Darunia did too. For a few minutes, the two shared a moment of laughter, before calming down. Link took the pack full of food they had brought with them off his back, and unzipped it. Taking two large chunks of rock out for Darunia, and some soft bread for himself, the two chowed down. When they were done eating, they both retreated to separate sides of the cave, and laid down. Darunia fell asleep, but he didn't snore, oddly enough. Link dozed for a while. The sky outside darkened, but the evil black moblin archers remained. When Link next awoke, the stars were out. He decided to contact Zelda with Zelda's Song and tell her all that had occured.

Zelda and Malon had entered the forest by now, and night had fallen. It was dark, but they continued to walk. Malon wanted to just lay down and rest for the night, but Zelda refused. But, they finally did stop after two more hours of walking. Even Zelda was tired, and the footprints were going nowhere. They laid down on the hard ground, and Malon fell asleep instantly, but just as Zelda was about to sleep, a voice erupted in her ear.

"Zelda? Can you hear me?"

Zelda sat bolt upright, but then realized that it was Link. He had contacted her from the ocarina.

"Hey, Link. Yes, I can hear you. Where are you?"

"Well," Link looked around at the cave, and up at the figures of the archers still watching them closely. "I'm in a big dark cave with Darunia sleeping ten feet away, and we're pinned down inside here with black moblin archers camping on us at the moment."

Zelda's eyes widened. "Oh Link, are you two alright?"

"We're a bit dirty and have a few cuts and bruises, but yeah, we're okay."

"What happened?"

Link hesitated for a second, still looking out at the night sky that looked so foreign, and told Zelda about all that had occurred since he left the castle that morning. When his narrative was finished, he fell silent, waiting for Zelda to reply.

"I can't believe this. Do you think the black moblin's have something to do with the shadow?"

"I would be surprised if they didn't. Tomorrow morning we're going to get out of here...somehow....and find the headquarters of those black moblin's."

"But how will you survive, Link?" cried Zelda. "Walking right into a fortress? Or whatever it might be. What if you're killed? I couldn't live with that!"

"We'll be alright, don't worry. By the way, what happened today with you?"

And so Zelda then told Link of her smaller adventure with Malon. When she had finished with how they had ended up in the forest, Link was silent, and worrisome.

"I have a feeling that many important things are going to be decided tomorrow."

"Me too," Zelda replied, "but I am anxious about what that might mean."

"Me too," Link also said, "though we must press on. You keep hunting Ingo. You find him and interrogate him. You train Malon, and we will find the fortress. We need to find out what these sapphires are. So many questions unanswered. But now, I must rest."

"So must I. I wish you the best of luck."

"Good night, Zelda. I love you."

Zelda smiled, and a tear fell down her cheek. She loved him too, though she did not know if he meant just as a friend, or more. She comprimised by saying "I love you too, Link."

Both elves love for each other swelled to something huge in that one moment. Their love for each other was beyond this world. Link and Zelda withdrew from contact, and both went to sleep, thinking about what was to happen the following day, and about their great love.