AN: Cheerio. It's another chapter. this one's got some interesting things in it. possibly.

once again (no really really lame pun intended) I must ask that anybody who reads a signifigant amount of this story give me a review. I accept with eagerness constructive criticisms, so don't be afraid to be honest. enjoy this chapter, I really can't wait to write the next one so it won't be too long. unless I'm lazy.

Chapter 5 : Obedience Aside

A couple minutes of thinking after waking up, and Glaibert had made up his mind. He had to call a town meeting. Ty's leadership must come to an end. The robbery was all Ty's fault.

That man hasn't done anything profitable or worthy of note since he was elected. This town would be better off without him. In fact, this world would be better off without him.

Glaibert immediately stopped himself. He had never thought this way before. He wasn't that kind of person.

No. I'm not like that.

But it felt so good.

Then and there, Glaibert made up his mind to bring his proposal for the deposition of Ty to the Lakeland community today. As he decidedly strode out of his house, he thought,

I can't let my rotten feelings toward Ty influence the good of this community. Even though I believe, putting my feelings aside, that Ty is a terrible leader, and should never have been elected. I've always thought Helen would be a better leader than him. She ends up dealing with most of the-

His thought was interrupted as he turned a corner and ran into the woman he was just thinking of.

"Oh hello Ma'am." he mumbled, surprised and apologetic. Helen nodded, but barely seemed to notice. Glaibert suddenly felt that feeling arise in his mind again. The feeling that he was surperior. The notion that he Glaibert, should own this town. He could fix it up a bit.

Where are these thoughts coming from? Glaibert wondered to himself. He'd always had a natural tendency to be an onlooker, a follower, but never an opposer. He just never had the courage.

That Helen is in the way. If I proposed that Ty step down, Helen would be the rightful leader.

That is something I must stop from happening. Thoughts started pouring into Glaibert's slowly distorting mind. Methods, plans...ways to carry it out...

NO! Glaibert came back to his senses. Helen was a friend, and she would work wonders at the head of this community. He vowed never to think that way again about a fellow Lakelander. Murder was completely out of the question. He would be punished, and probably executed.

That is, if I got caught...

XXXXX

After a fairly uneventful day yesterday, Helen was once again confused as to what to do today, besides her obvious daily care of the children and checking the new fish traps her daughter had made last night. Helen was frustrated, because she felt that by volunteering to investigate the day after the robbery, she had promised to provide a solution to this mess, and that everyone was looking to her to make the next move. The problem was, there wasn't a good way to go about making the next move. There weren't any more people to question. There wasn't any more evidence to analyze. She wasn't a detective, she was just a woman. A mother. Her thoughts wandered to her children.

Miriam had always been like her mother. Resourceful, bright, friendly, and overall they were both strong-willed women who were polite, but wouldn't be bossed around.

"Speaking of Miriam, where is she anyway?" Helen wondered out loud, and Joseph, who was standing at her feet, shook his head and shrugged.

XXXXX

Standing in a patch of knee deep grass at the outskirts of the forest south of Lakeland, Miriam turned to face Saphra, who had volunteered to escort her. A sight the did not expect met her eyes. The young man was a lot closer than she remembered, and in his hand he grasped a knife.

Miriam gasped and jumped back, confused and startled. Saphra looked surprised, then realized why she had been frightened. He smiled kindly, and said,

"Oh I'm sorry Miriam, just wanted to provide you a way to find your way back. You're a very capable girl, I know, but Annas and I decided it would be for the best if you took this."

Miriam was puzzled at first as she took the blade from Saphra, not knowing exactly how this would help her find her way back out of the deep woods. Saphra saw the look on her face, and immediately knew that she was wondering how this knife would be of use to her. Before she could open her mouth to speak, he remarked calmly,

"Make a mark in a tree every so often, so you'll have..." Saphra paused, as if at a loss for words. "A way to come home." There was something odd about the way he said it, Miriam thought, but she disregarded it.

"Remind me again what I should be looking for?" she said, surprisingly business-like.

"Anything out of the ordinary. We don't know anything about the fauna of this place, so even if you don't find anything specific, it'll be in the interest of science." Saphra was proud of himself for justifying this escapade on other grounds than his and Annas' curiosity.

"Allright, I'll see you soon. Again, if my mother asks, I've been really stressed out and I'm just out taking a vacation of sorts from the hustle and bustle of late."

Saphra nodded, and waved as he turned to go back to his newly accquired daily duties. Miriam hated lying to her mother, and even though it wouldn't be her lying directly, she still felt considerable guilt.

However, it has to be done. I mean, she would only be more worried if I told her the truth. It's much better this way.

She took a resolute breath, and plunged into the ominous, and yet somehow inviting woods. Instantly, she felt concealed, and almost safe, but for her anxiousness. The treetops let in just enough light to see, almost the effect of being under a blanket. She took in her surroundings as she made her first mark on the tree to her right. There weren't any real landmarks that she could refer to later, so she was thankful that Saphra had thought to give her his knife. She decided head forward, for she remebered that Ty had taken a group around the outside edge, and if he hadn't found anything, that probably meant if there were animals of any kind in this forest, they would have to be dwelling somewhere closer to the center.

After a considerable while, Miriam figured she must be fairly deep into the forest by now. She made another mark on the tree, as she had done every couple trees she passed, and sat down against a thick tree behind her to take what she thought would be a short rest.

A few hours later, Miriam awoke with a start. She was a little hazy at first, feeling rested and relaxed, and then realized she had been asleep for longer than she planned, as the forest was growing dark.

How did I end up sleeping so long? she wondered, for she had gotten a good amount of sleep last night, and shouldn't have been as tired as she was. Somehow this forest was doing things to her. She didn't really get it, but somehow the peaceful enclosed atmosphere made her feel safe and warm.

I wonder what time it is? I really hope it isn't very late, for they'd be looking for me by now. It's probably safest to head out of here, and continue this search some other time. Besides, something about the woods at night doesn't sound very appealing.

She started to make her way back, following the marks she had strategically placed on numerous trees. Confidently, she started walking a little faster, when she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye. Stopping in her tracks, she peered into the darkening forest, pondering whether or not to say anything. After all, it could have been a trick of the light. She decided to keep forward, however her quickened pace this time was not of confidence but of anxiety. Her imagination started to run wild, something it had been known to do, but never in this kind of a situation. For some reason, an unknown creature or person with her in the forest seemed quite frightening, even though she wasn't sure if there was anything there. Suddenly, she had an idea. She immediately stopped walking, and simultaneously listened closely. Sure enough, there was a sound of something following alongside her, a ways away, but most definately there. The steps stopped, as if waiting for Miriam to make the next move. She started walking, slowly again, not sure what to expect, but ready for most anything.

Then as she was looking to her right, she heard something that sounded like it was coming from behind and to her left. She whipped around, to see a shape some distance away dart behind a tree. Whatever was following her had great agility, which wasn't a comforting fact. Besides being scared, Miriam was also curious. Not curious enough, however, to approach the area where she had seen the animal race behind a tree. Not that curious. She decided to put these things our of her mind, and focus on getting home, as she had to pay attention to her markings. This strategy worked for a while, until she heard a signifigant rustle to her left, and couldn't curb her curiousity any longer.

She cried out, "Hello? Is anybody there?"

Silence. Then a figure that couldn't have been more than twenty feet away from her dashed across the beaten down path miriam had created on her way into the forest. From what Miriam could tell, it appeared to be a person, or at least something that resembled a person. A wave of fear crept up her spine, as she was becoming seriously afraid. These things were playing a game with her. A kind of demented dance. She was their game, and what easy prey she was.

Miriam made up her mind that if these creatures were hostile, she wouldn't give in to them as easily as they might infer. She pulled out the blade that Saphra had given to her, brandishing it in her right hand, and called out,

"Whoever you are, come and get me!" Immediately after she had spoken, she wished she hadn't, as an immense fear of death swept over her. She had never thought of her own death, and hadn't ever experienced any other person dying. I want to live. I don't-

Her thoughts were cut off as she heard some methodical rustling behind her, and she whipped around. These things were definately not trying to hide from her anymore. Miriam drew in a sharp breath as one of the creatures stepped out from behind a tree. This sharp breath, however, was not caused by Miriam's first sighting of her supposed enemies. This sharp breath resulted from Miriam feeling a hand on the back of her neck. She started losing conciousness, and as she fell to the forest floor, her thoughts went to her mother.

Her heart felt like crying as she sank into a deep sleep for the second time today.

This sleep was different. Miriam didn't know if she would wake.

XXXXX

Juran stood at Ka'monotan's outer gate. a little unsure of himself, which was an odd feeling to the captain. These creatures that were escorting them to the fortress weren't anything like the monsters and deformities from the same army that they had done battle with not two days ago. These folk, he wasn't sure what they were, but they seemed more civilized, at least when it came to social conduct. They acted much like enemies they had faced other times, but there was something about them. Something...dark. Something inhuman. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, and decided to dismiss the thoughts for now, as they were beckoned forward by one of the shadowy creatures.

"Sir, come you must. Meet our leader you will, soon."

Goldhelm could tell that they weren't quite used to the common speech's phrasing yet, but he understood them well enough to nod and motion for his men to follow him as he entered. He was in a courtyard of sorts, a place where in any normal castle there would have been fountains or gardens, something pleasing to the eye. Here, Juran found, wasn't necessarily the opposite, but any castle architecht would have been perplexed. He saw numerous large pits, all glowing from the metalwork that was being done underground. Here, Juran saw lots of monstrosities like the ones he and his men had done battle with, and these beings didn't seem especially happy to see him. In fact, most of them growled, and from what Juran could tell, spoke to each other, but he couldn't be sure. The place was a mess, a majestic sight to see, but nonetheless very dirty and out of order. There were lots of tents, it seemed they housed merchants, selling crude weaponry, clothing, and here and there he saw scraps of food being sold for ridiculously high prices. He figured this was used as a marketplace, and realized that whoever was part of the immense dark force must live here, or in the shambles of Kakariko Village. He tried to take his mind off the destruction these "people" had caused, so as they were walking through this courtyard, he turned to their escort, still not able to really make out any distinct facial features.

"I am grateful for your courteous behavior, I did not expect as much." Juran realized after he said this that it might offend the creature, so he tried to think of something else to say. It was hard to make small talk with an unknown species who happened to be your unpredictable enemy.

The creature didn't reply to this remark by Goldhelm, and continued leading them through the market, and into two large double doors. Juran was taken by surprise, for the inside of this fortress was remarkably well crafted and beautiful. It wasn't the same beauty that Hyrule castle possesed, it inspired more of a frightened awe. The messenger led them through a couple hallways, all having numerous doors on either side. Juran didn't want to imagine what was behind those doors, and as they kept walking, a growing desire to turn the other way and head back to Hyrule was growing in his heart. However, he kept it up, for Mortimas said they didn't know anything about their enemy. Juran was inside their fortress, and he would learn.

"The next room houses leader ours, ask you I must to enter having respect."

Juran got the general message, removed his helmet, and motioned for one man, his favorite archer, Behlor, to accompany him. The nameless creature stayed outside with the rest of Juran's men, and the captain of the king's armies took a breath and entered.

He didn't know what to expect, so the sight that met his eyes didn't exactly catch him off guard. The room was fairly large, also very plain, not decorated or fancy as the throne room at Hyrule castle was. Still, this room was artistic in it's own way, ominous in fact. There wasn't much that your eyes could wander to, save the good sized throne on the far side of the room. It was only common sense to assume that this was where the Dark Army's head was to be found. Sure enough, as they approached, what Juran saw amazed and frightened him.

In the throne sat a man. A man clothed in armor, much like his own, in fact extremely simliar. Juran expected that this leader wore this armor as a trophy of a Hylian captain he had killed. Still, something about it frightened him, and he didn't know why. Juran knelt respectively at the feet of this man, or at least what he assumed to be a man. He couldn't be certain, for the helmet that this being was wearing was a full helm, completely covering his face.

After waiting for some time, Juran decided that he should speak. It could be their custom for the messenger to speak first.

"Sire, I come before you today," He suddenly realized he hadn't the slightest clue what he was going to say. "I come before you today, to speak peacefully as an ambassador from Hyrule Castle." Expecting a respone, Goldhelm waited. The figure in the throne stayed perfectly still, sitting in an alert, noble position, but acted as it hadn't even heard Juran's statement.

"Sire?" Juran inquired, and still got no response. He suspected something wasn't right, and walked up to figure on the throne. It still showed no acknowledgement of Juran's presence. Becoming frustrated, Juran was tempted to raise his voice. Not wanting to incur the enemies wrath, he kept his voice calm. "Very well."

He turned to leave, but frustration overcame him, and he turned quickly back around, pulling the helmet off the man. What he saw made both he and Behlor reel back in horror.

The man seated on the throne was Juran Goldhelm.