Ok, I know this story has been dead for about a year now, but could you believe I had a year-long writer's block? Not to mention a new website, new computer, new games, new membership to a clan...I wonder if I'm forgetting something...well, here you are: Chapter 4 of the ROTF saga. BTW: check out my blog, 365dt. you can remind me to write more. :D

Rise of The Flame –Chapter 4: The Quest for Bijou

Tomorrow Morning, in Kakariko

"Now, where the heck is everybody?"

"That's the third time you said that, Boss. Just follow me, and no more questions."

"And just who made you the leader here?"

"Considering that I actually know where I'm going, I just thought it was obvious. Seriously, we need to group up, quick. I don't know how much time we have to find Bijou. Hopefully they at the see—." Link froze when he realized what he had just said.

"...You know that something happened to Bijou, what happened, and where she is, don't you?" Boss said, unusually calm.

"Um...yeah...you see..." Link stuttered more and more while Boss stared at him like Boss had lasers in his eyes.

"...OUT WITH IT, OR I SWEAR I'LL PUT A DENT IN YOU THAT YOU CAN'T FIX WITH A FAIRY!"

"...She was kidnapped by Ganon's men."

After a long pause, Boss reached for his ax very slowly. "Hmmm...I wonder if I can do more than a permanent dent, eh, Link?" Muttered Boss with a face of pure death all over it.

Outside the Forest

"I'm finally here...I never knew a simple seed could become a map of a forest in my head...I'm not doubting anything in this world anymore."

"Is anyone here? Guys?"

"Hey, Panda! Is that you? It's Maxwell, where are you?"

"There you are. Up here."

Up here? There's a lot of up here, what with the trees and—" He was cut off by his own amazement, as Panda stood high above him on a vine.

"Is this cool, or what?"

"Cool? That's suicide! How in the world are you going to get down?"

Just as Maxwell finished his sentence, the vine began to grow from Panda's feet. It arced down as if it was a slide, which Panda surprisingly sprinted down. And through it all, Maxwell's mouth was wide open.

"...You ok, Max?"

"...Wa...What in the world...How did you...AGH! I have such a headache now!" shouted Maxwell, while rubbing his head in frustration.

"Calm down, Maxwell. It's one of those gem-things. I've got my own now; I think it's the Earth Stone."

"Earth Stone? So now you can control nature? That's so unbelievable...then again, I obviously saw you use it. I wonder if I can fi—" "AAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

"What the...?"

"Someone stop him! We tried Boss, I'm sorry...just please stop chasing me!"

Link suddenly dashed out of the woods, right between Panda and Maxwell. As if on queue, Link trips over a stone and falls flat on his face.

"AH HA!" Boss quickened his pace, only to run straight into a wall of dirt. "Ah! Ow, how did the...It wasn't...Oy, I must be getting delusional...or something."

"'Something' is correct, Boss. That something just happens to be Panda."

"Panda? That just doesn't make sense. How could Panda—"

"Earth Stone. I didn't know the stone could be found so easily."

"I think that seed you gave me didn't just tell me how to get out."

"Well, at least we got the stone. Three down, three to go. According to the map, we need to head over to...Goron Mountain." Link slowly rolled the map back up and set it in his pack.

"Ooooh no we're not. We're heading straight to Ganon! Bijou's been kidnapped, and no one's gonna stop me from saving her, and that means you, elf-boy."

"Bijou's been kidnapped?" exclaimed Panda and Maxwell in chorus.

"You see her around? I'd never let her out of my sight! We have to save'er—"

"And the only way is to get the stones and defeat Ganon himself." "Yeah, so...wait...was that..."

"You know that's what it's gonna come down to..." Hamtaro slowly emerged from Saira's home, dusted with soot.

"Hamtaro! You're ok!" shouted Panda.

"Yeah, I'm good. Saira's ok, too, Link. She's getting rest right now, but I told her you'd see her as soon as she wakes up."

"...Thanks, Hamtaro. And you're right. The faster we get those stones, the faster we can beat Ganon, and the faster we save Bijou."

"...Yeah...You're probably right..." Boss murmured with worry over the fact that he couldn't see Bijou for such a long time.

"That settles it then. We leave in the morning. The sun's already set, anyway. We're not going anywhere for a while...Oh wow! The stars here are beautiful! I've never seen such colors in the sky!" The group looked up to see hundreds of stars liter the sky, staring in awe at it's brightness. They slowly saw constellations of their owners, their family, friends, and each other...the ones they cared for flooded the night, as if floating there, almost in uncertainty. All of them knew that their lives, their fates laid in their small hands, as well as all of history...and their own.