To T-Bone: Sniff only one review… anyway, I'm sure that this update has been far too late for everyone, including me because I now hate myself. I hope that you're still reading though, and if you are then I can say that the average word count for every chapter from now on will be about 4,000 to 5,000 words… (just right…)

Disclaimer: Judging by the fact that the new Zelda plot details shown at E3 are a bit too different from mine, I guess that I've still got no means of power over Nintendo… damn, oh well, maybe next time…

Chapter 9: Rescue

As the lone patrolling guard left the dungeon room for a small break, Malon got up from her phony coma and tried to wriggle her wrists out of the rope that had been tied very tightly. Having no success, she looked around and spotted a significantly jagged rock that was sticking out of the wall. Awkwardly hopping over to it and turning around, she tried cutting the rope with the sharp rock. After a few minutes, one of the bonds finally split, allowing the rest to fall off, freeing Malon's hands.

Now she had to free her legs. Since she had her hands free, Malon tried to properly untie the rope tied around her ankles, but it was very tight and it took her a while again until one of the knots loosened. Her escape plan was taking longer than expected already, but if Link really was going to be ambushed by those Gerudos, then he might get hurt, or worse! And she sure as hell wasn't going to wait here to find out.

The walls of Malon's prison were made of solid stone that had a dense color of gray as opposed to the normal tint of sandy orange that most of the temple's structure had. But one of the sides were made from rusty iron bars that seemed to had been eroded considerably, but they were still far too thick for Malon to damage and too close together for her to slip through. The locked door also was made of the same material, the lock was small, and it seemed that it would only be opened by a small key…

Or perhaps a hairpin…

Deciding to give it a try, Malon reached up and took out a pin that she had luckily not bothered to take out before going to bed. The pin fitted okay, but Malon hardly had any idea how to lock-pick, she just hoped that it was a simple lock. She tried to shift any of the metal components inside but they were too heavy and the feeble hairpin started to bend under the pressure and eventually snapped!

Letting out a fed-up sigh, Malon tried to find another pin…

A few moments later, Malon took out what she was sure was the last hair accessory that she had. This one was a little more flexible than the last one, so she bent it until the pin was folded upon itself to make it a little more durable and tried again.

More stressfully long minutes went by, and Malon was beginning to loose hope since the Gerudo jail guard was sure to be back soon from her time-ou...

Click!

Malon couldn't thank the Goddesses enough! She immediately sprung back up to her feet and pushed hard against the heavy gate. It didn't budge at first, but eventually, the loud screech of rusted iron hinges giving way rang all the way across the room and up the dark staircase. Malon froze, hoping that it would stop the dreadful noise from warning anyone nearby. But the sound of hurried footsteps echoing down the stairs was soon clearly heard.

Panicking, Malon squeezed through the tight opening that she had made, scurried across the large room, blindly grabbing a spear from a bunch on a wall rack, and dived into the shadows, right beside the foot of the stairs. The guard stopped running when she approached the entrance to the dungeon cells and quietly crept in, past Malon, who was now standing right behind the unsuspecting Gerudo and was holding the weapon above her head.

Taking the opportunity quickly, Malon brought the wooden spear crashing onto the back of the guard's head as hard as she could. The Gerudo was still in the shadows, so all that Malon could see was that her target had jarred on the moment on impact, and after a second of motionless standing, the guard fell to the ground. Malon couldn't believe that she had accomplished such a feat, but something was wrong. As the person hit the ground, her hair fell off! But on closer inspection, Malon noticed that it was not hair, but a long hat…

The Gerudo, who had a slightly more muscular figure than the others, groaned in a voice that was a bit deep for that of a woman as well. And if that wasn't weird enough, since when did Gerudos carry long swords on their backs while wearing blue tunics…

"OH NO!"

Malon dropped the spear right away and bent down to see if Link was still alive. But Navi had flown out of his hat, completely bewildered of what was going on, but when she saw the lifeless state of The Hero of Time, she went into hysterics!

"LINK!" she screeched before noticing Malon who was in a complete fluster and had no idea what to do. "WHAT HAPPENED!" The farm girl had rolled Link on his back but she could hardly tell if he was breathing since she was trying anything that came into her head, but with no success. "I-I thought he was a Gerudo!" said Malon as she picked up his hat and tried to fan some air at his face.

The Fairy spun around and saw the spear on the floor, and gasped when she suddenly came to a conclusion, "YOU KILLED LINK! HOW COULD YOU! HE WAS ONLY TRYING TO COME ALL THE WAY OVER HERE TO SAVE YOUR LIFE! AND THEN YOU KILLED HIM!" Navi continued to shout as loud as she could, possibly alerting every damn thief within the hideout.

Malon may have been in a panic, but she doubted that Link was dead, she only hit him with the handle end of the spear, and she finally noticed that he was indeed breathing. But the fairy was still making far too much noise, so Malon stood back up and grabbed Navi as she zoomed around the room and past her head, making the racket stop all of a sudden. Only Navi's muffled voice was heard, but it was only a few moments until the sound of many footsteps racing around the corridors from upstairs joined in. It seemed as though hundreds of Gerudos were making their way down to the dungeon to investigate what the problem was.

Malon let go of Navi and spoke quickly before the floating light could continue her acts of despair. "Link isn't dead! He's just unconscious, so help me wake him up before every guard in this place comes storming in here!"

Navi got the message, and flew over to Link's face just to check if Malon was telling the truth before she darted over to a corner of the room were there was a bucket that was half full of stale water.

"Over here!" said Navi, beckoning the girl to come over. Malon rushed over and picked up the leaky bucket. It was surprisingly heavy, so it took her a while before she could heave it all the way back to Link, who showed no signs of getting up anytime soon. Malon planned to pour the cold water over the elf's face, but before she tried to pick it up again, the footsteps were heard coming down the last staircase. Malon picked the bucket up too fast in her haste and instead of spilling the water on Link, she dropped the bucket and it landed on his head!

"OW!"

Link's hands clasped on his forehead in pain as he sat up immediately, the bucket rolled across the room, spilling water all over the stone floor, and Gerudos were now filing into the dungeon. Link didn't have any idea what was going on, but he soon felt double the pain when the back of his head started to really throb.

"Ouch, what happened?" Link wasn't asking anyone in particular, but he saw the group of enemies at the entrance, all armed with spears this time, not scimitars, since there was rarely a reason to use such offensive weapons inside their own hideout. But the great number of foes was dangerous enough for Link to consider running, if it were not for the fact that they were blocking what seemed to be the only exit.

Link was about to unsheathe his sword, suspecting that they were the ones who sneaked up behind him and tried to knock him out or something, when he also noticed that Malon was standing right beside him, looking very guilty. Link didn't notice though, he was very surprised that he had found her so easily. He would have asked if she had been hurt at all, but one of the Gerudos had lost patience from waiting for Link to ready himself and attacked both him and Malon with her spear.

Link reached out and grabbed the middle of the wooden stick, its sharp end held just short from his face. He quickly used his other hand to take out his sword and slice the wooden pole in half, rendering the Gerudo's half of the weapon useless. Malon thankfully ran over to the back of the room to get out of Link's way, but another three Gerudos came rushing forward while maneuvering around the first one to try and surround Link. He answered this threat with a spin attack, which forced most of them to back off, but one of the four decided to duck under the attack and trip link up. Link was about to hit the ground when he drove his extra weapon into a crack on the stone floor and used it to swing himself around and kick back at the Gerudo, causing her to crash straight into the large group that was now forming at the foot of the stairs.

One of the enemies raced over from behind to predictably grab Malon and take her hostage again, but Link took out a small boomerang that he had used many times as a kid and threw it at the unsuspecting Gerudo. It spun fast towards the space that was right beside Malon, and just as the Gerudo reached out a hand to grab her, the boomerang smacked right into the wall, pinning the Gerudo's wrist along with it and allowed Malon to get away. Link didn't have time to see if he was successful since another bunch of Ganon's followers rushed forward to attack, but he was confident in his aim so it didn't really matter.

Navi had also joined in, darting towards the Gerudos that she believed were the biggest threat in order, making it a little easier for Link to defend each lethal strike. But it was gradually getting more and more crowded as Gerudos continued to flow into the fight. It was getting to the point that they were simply filling the room to make it harder for the young warrior to maneuver. Link was finding it very hard to hold them back, and they had eventually forced him to retreat backwards until he had been cornered along with Malon. He couldn't use Din's Fire like he did in the woods because Malon would certainly get caught in the blast, and if he tried to play his ocarina to let them escape then they'd both get impaled by spears before he'd play a single note. Besides, it could only teleport one person at a time.

Link was about to give up on waiting for an idea and simply charge with his word when all of the female guards stopped their menacing advance, as if they had all suddenly frozen. Then they all stood at ease, as if they were under hypnosis. The entire band, which consisted of about fifty Gerudos by now, moved to either side of the room, forming a long gap across the middle.

Link found it difficult not to carefully watch the weird actions of this crowd, but he pried his eyes away from their blank stares long enough to notice that a short, old woman was standing… no, levitating over the ground at the dungeon entrance on the other side of the row of space. Link immediately took her for a witch due to her unusual appearance. And the supernatural powers to hover and presumably control minds of massive crowds kind of gave it away too.

She raised one hand and held it out in front of her face, towards Link, eyes fixed in concentration. He was taking a step forwards to ask what the hell was going on, but with a mere flick of her wrist, he was suddenly shot upwards.

"WOAH!"

He collided into the solid stone ceiling with his back with a crash as dust and small pieces of rubble scattered where he hit. It was a hard thump, but he didn't seem to be dead as he opened his eyes again to see that he still hadn't fallen from the high position. The same invisible force was still compressing him against the rock.

"Even with the my power to see and know every present action that you take…" said the witch who was stepping across the room to the spot that Link had been ejected from, "…I still found it hard to believe that you would be so foolish as to break into the most secure stronghold of warriors, that are all charged will the mission to annihilate you." She stopped pacing from underneath the helpless Hero and glanced upwards. "And yet here you are, throwing away whatever hope you had from saving the entire of Hyrule… no… the world, from the resurrection of Ganon."

Link was trying hard to focus on these words, but following a conversation was not so easy when one is being viciously pinned to the ceiling. Then it came to him that the witch was aware of what Ganondorf's intentions were, despite all of these other Gerudos stupidly believing that he would come here to help.

"Since it will be your own death that will bring back the Great King of Evil, I think that you may deserve to at least know what is going on…" she continued. Then Link felt the forces pushing him vanish, dropping him a long distance all the way down to the ground again. But just before he hit the ground, Link was saved by another invisible spell, smacking him into the wall where he was pinned again, at least twice as hard than before, hardly able to breathe. It seemed that the witch needed to recast the spell in order to increase its strength.

"ACK!"

"You see…" said the old hag, "Most of these faithful servants are not helping me on their own behalf. Or at least they wouldn't be if it were not for my unique abilities to bend their motives to my will." She looked around her, admiring her own work as her gaze followed upon each member of Ganon's 'followers', who were still eerily standing quiet. Link took this moment to painfully turn his head to the side to check if Malon was okay, but she too now had the same monotonous stare in her eyes.

Anger welled up inside him, causing him to struggle against the unseen bonds that were increasingly crushing his chest, but to no avail. Thinking a little more rationally, he decided that his own magic would give him more of a chance, but he would only get one try…

"The great Lord may not give a damn about any of us when he is free, but that doesn't concern me. All that I care is that I much preferred this place when he ruled the lands. Depriving power and wealth from all of those who never deserved it in the first place. Hylians are a disease on this land, and he aims to rid them of this world. And I, for one, will help him do just that, and the Gerudo will reign their righteous place once more!"

Link butted in, "You forgot one more thing," an enigmatic grin on his face, "You're a complete nutcase!"

And sure enough, just like the first time, the witch let go of him and prepared to hit him with a final smack that surely would have crushed very bone in his body, but Link was prepared and conjured his spell first whilst dodging to the side. The witch's spell wasn't so invisible anymore as her eyes burst into flames and she fired a huge silhouette of red towards Link with a raging howl. It was slowed down by the same bright blue barrier that Link had used against his dark half from before, allowing him to slip out of the way before the huge ramming spell smashed into the wall right behind him, causing a rumbling tremor throughout the entire Temple.

The huge masses of hypnotised women stumbled, some of them clumsily fell, but a few seemed to wake up from their zombified state, taking in their surroundings and wondering why they were here. The witch realised that she had momentarily lost concentration on her servants, but she soon spun around in mid-air with an evil glare causing all of the Gerudos and Malon to fall back into complete control.

Her concentration should have been focused on Link though, because he took out his hookshot, shot it right past the mad villain where it snagged into a wall before pulling him up and past her position, allowing him to deliver a harsh kick that sended the old bag flailing downwards and onto the stone floor. Link landed heavily nearby, "I've always been told to respect your elders, but in your case, I think I should make an exception."

A loud shriek was yelled out in turn, making everyone else in the room monotonously glare at Link as the Gerudos started to advance towards him. Link wondered why in Hyrule's name that the witch wasn't trying to take direct control of his mind instead, but Navi, who was floating around his head, seemed to be in deep concentration; blocking the evil curse that attempted to deprive him of his thoughts.

He was completely surrounded now, and there was no chance of him being able to fight all of these hostile aggressors; at least not without hurting Malon, and she was striving to strangle him anyway.

He saw the exit on the other side of the room again, and decided that it was the only way to get enough time for a plan. A Gerudo mindlessly threw her spear at Link's face, so he ducked while grabbing the spear that was zipping right above his head and swung it around the floor, making the bunch of Gerudos that had closed in on him fall and stumble into one another. Taking advantage of this diversion, Link legged it past the masses of brainwashed women who were unprepared and couldn't stop him in time. Reaching the foot of the stairway, the Hylian sprinted up its torrent of stairs, deciding to plough past the numerous doors at either side of him, hoping that it would give the Gerudos more area to search the further he ran.

Then a group of footsteps were heard further up ahead, so Link rammed sideways into the next frail wooden door that he passed. It thankfully burst out of its weak frame, allowing Link to clumsily fall into the room inside. Getting back up quickly, he noticed another door to the side, it looked much more sturdy since it was made out of iron, so Link decided not to try and break this one down.

He tried to open it, because its largely decorated design of the Gerudo insignia hinted that it was an entrance to an important area, but it was locked. Looking down, he noticed that a key decorated in the same design as the door was already fitted inside the keyhole. As he attempted to unlock the door with it, the noise of the group of Gerudo from upstairs was rushing quickly to the room he was in, making Link panic and fiddle with the rusty key that wasn't keen on working very smoothly. After a hefty nudge in the right direction, it clicked open loudly and let Link push the heavy door open with quite a bit of effort.

No sooner had he began to close it again when the hoards of mind slaved warriors broke into the room behind him. He saw one of them run over trying to stop him through the ajar position of the door, but he had shut it in time and fortunately locked it with less difficulty than before. He put the key in a pocket; perhaps it may come in handy again.

Good, this'll give me some time… thought Link as the door began to be pointlessly battered at from the other side. There was no chance of them getting through, so Link concentrated on what he was going to do.

I came here to get Malon out, but now she's under that freak's control, and now I think it would help everyone if I stopped this problem of brainwashed Gerudos before it gets any worse.
Then Link wondered why this magic wasn't noticeable from before. They seemed somewhat sane previously but now they hardly looked to be in their own right mind. Perhaps that witch is getting a bit desperate at this point.

Navi stopped her defensive spell against the mind control since the witch had stopped her attempts at an easy way to win, and called out for Link's attention.

"Hey Look! Over there!"

Link looked over in the direction that his fairy companion was flying in, and was only realizing the large alter at the other side of the room. A large blue chest was sitting at the top. The enormous female statues that were positioned on either side of it implied that the chest contained something valuable.

Forgetting about the struggles to intrude from the other side of the door behind him, Link rushed over to where Navi was hovering at the top of the fleet of steps. Reaching the large chest, Link tried to open it, but it was locked. Link took out the key again, hoping it would work. It took a bit of endeavor again, but the aged lock inside gave way. Link heaved it open as a white glow escaped out of the container, causing him to cover his eyes for a moment. He peered inside, and recognized the reflective shimmer from the item that he once had before…

A mirror shield!

Link thought that the mirror shield was one of a kind, but now it seems that these weapons were probably used more often by the Gerudo many years ago than suspected.
Not so long ago, Link's first mirror shield was unfortunately stolen by bandits who were attacking a family of travelers. He was able to fend them off, but somehow one of them sneaked up from behind and pinched the valuable shield. Link would have gone after them, but he needed to make sure that no one else was badly injured first…

The door from behind was being pummeled even harder than before, until a small pause let another group arrive with a barging pole. The once sturdy door began to shake violently as it was rammed continuously harder. Link had a slightly worried look on his face, "Ehh, maybe they can get through…" Deciding not to waste anymore time, he grabbed the shield with his right hand and looked for another exit, but there was no way out other than the way he came in.

Preparing himself for a fight to get out now that he had a shield, Link waited for them to break in, but before the Gerudos could finish it themselves, the witch was heard among them and exploded the door straight out of its hinges. The large object of metal shot straight at Link before he could barely raise his shield in front of him to prevent his head from being knocked off. With a painful thud, Link was propelled straight into the wall behind him, along with the door that crushed him against it. The rear of his shield whacked into his face thanks to the force of the door on it, and he limply fell onto the ground after the door, that landed with a clang upon the stone floor.
He was knocked out again…

End chapter

A/N: Ugh! I've been truly terrible this time! What, it was something like 2 months since I last updated? Probably the main reason was because I only got 1 review for last chapter. But it honestly wasn't on purpose. In 2 more weeks, I'll have finally finished my GCSE's, and then I'll be updating like there's no next Zelda game! Or no tomorrow…

While I'm on that, I should say that from the latest bunch of info on E3 that the new Zelda game's story line is certainly different from mine as expected, but not that different.

Since there may be people reading this that don't wanna know anything about it, I'll just say that it's called Twilight Princess, and that it's gonna be SOOOO AWSOME!
I've already started the next chap, so it'll be up soon…

P.S. Thanks for reading and please review; they're my own lifeblood, plus they'll make me update faster. As well as that, I'm thinking of changing the story's title, tell me what you think and if you've got any ideas, feel free to say.