Well, did I not say I would get over it as soon as I last posted? Yes, I did.And did I get over it? Yes I did! Are we all happy? I am!

But, seriouslyfor a sec. Thank you to all the people whotook their precious time to sit down and write areview. That's more than I can say for all you lazy people who just read it and leave! Come on! Review!

I AM STILL DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO USE GANONDORF IN MY STORY! THISIS YOUR CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR SAY!I AM HOLDING A READER'S POLL TO LET YOU VOTE! SHOULD GANONDORF MAKE AN APPEARANCE IN THIS STORY? ARE THERE ANY VILLAINS THAT YOU LIKE? AS LONG AS THEY ARE FROM LOZ, I MIGHT CONSIDER PUTTING THEM IN! VOTE IN YOUR REVIEWS! IT WILL RUN FOR EXACTLY ONE WEEK FROM THE FOURTEENTH OF JULY!

To find The Future, Find The Past

Chapter Seventeen

Three More

"We have to be quiet!" Zelda hissed at Impa, who had just slipped in a puddle of water.

"I'm sorry. I guess I'm losing my touch." Impa hissed back.

Zelda rolled her eyes, and made her way around the back of the house. It was the dead of night, and they were sneaking around to the back of Zelda's parent's house, in a effort to get to the room where Zelda's belongings were kept.

When they got to the window, Zelda peeked inside. She was relieved to find that nothing had been moved. In fact, it didn't look like anyone was in there at all. The knob was removed from the door, however, and was replaced by a piece of wood, blocking passage to the rest of the house.

Zelda quietly lifted the screen on the window, and climbed in. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see a light flicker on in the hallway, and a shadow, as someone stood next to the door. It appeared as if they had their ear pressed to the door, listening for intruders.

"Wh—" Impa stared, but Zelda's clamped a hand to the woman's mouth, effectively silencing her. As soon as the light disappeared and the footsteps retreated to the direction of her parent's bedroom, Zelda removed her hand. Turning around, Zelda shushed her, and motioned for her to wait behind.

Zelda felt around blindly. She knew she had left it out… Ah hah! She found it!

Zelda flicked the torch on, and began to raid her own bedroom. The first thing she retrieved was the backpack from under her bed. She then, torch in hand, began sifting through the drawers, until she found what she was looking for.

In complete silence, she placed the glittering jewels an jewelry in the bag, and proceeded to the box that was at the foot of her bed. She roughly stuffed the giant tomes in the bag but, again, the bag gained no weight. The next thing to go in were the statues, wrapped in Zelda's jacket. The diary was stuffed in as well. The last thing to go into the bag was the thing they had come for.

The hardwood box with six keyholes was placed in the bag carefully. Zelda took one more wistful look around the room, and noticed her own jewelry box sitting in her chest of drawers. She carefully made her way over to the tiny box, and opened it.

She gazed longinglyat the jewelry and closed the lid silently. She placed the boxsilently in the bag, and fastened the zipper.

She handed Impa the bag, and climbed out herself. Zelda made more noise than she would have liked as she replaced the screen over the window.

Lights flickered on in the house, and Zelda's father stuck his head out of his bedroom window. Zelda and Impa tried to sneak away, but it was no use. He had seen them.

"Stop!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, "Thief!"

"Run!" Zelda yelled, breaking out into a sprint, Impa close behind. They emerged onto the street, and ran for their lives. They neighbours heard their yells, and came out into the street, looking for the noises that had disturbed their rest. A few of the men decided to join Zelda's father in the chase.

Impa managed to escape their grasp, but Zelda didn't. One of the men from down the road grabbed her hair, and pulled her down to the ground, hard.

"Impa!" Zelda cried out of desperation, trying to fight the giant man.

Impa turned, and saw Zelda struggling with the man not ten feet away. She quickly devised a plan, and set it into motion.

"Hey, ugly!" She yelled, "Yeah, you!" the bulky guy looked up, to see Impa threatening him in a strange language. She threw down a smoke bomb, engulfing everything within a fifteen foot radius.

Zelda felt something drop heavily to the ground behind her. The next thing she knew, she was being carried out of the area, and felt a lightheaded sensation as whoever was carrying her jumped to an alarming height.

Zelda, upon opening her eyes, saw that it was Impa who was carrying her. Even more alarming, though, was the fact that they were on the roof of one of the houses.

"What…?" Zelda stammered, "How…?"

"Never mind." Impa said sternly, "The important thing is to get to Darunia's residence."

Impa carried Zelda as she jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Zelda was alarmed at the strength that she possessed. She made a mental note never to get on her bad side.

Impa couldjump off the edge of one house, and land right in the middle of the next one. It was certainly faster than walking.

Zelda lost track of how many houses they landed on, and felt relieved when her feet felt solid ground again. Impa rushed her up the stairs, and banged urgently on the door. A woman with bright red hair and tanned skin looked through the windows. Her face disappeared for a moment, before the door opened.

Impa shoved Zelda inside, and the door was snapped shut. Zelda let out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding.

"We… Got… It…" Impa panted, handing the strange woman the bag. The woman slung her arm around Impa, and motioned for Zelda to follow.

Zelda followed the woman into the kitchen. Darunia was there, no big surprise. The other person she saw there shocked her to no end.

"Ruto!" she squeaked, "What are you doing here!"

"Well, waiting for you, obviously." Ruto stated dryly. Zelda shot her a look of confusion.

"Since when do you have anything to do with me?" Zelda demanded, looking at the girl.

"Since before you were born." Zelda almost fell over with shock. She pinched herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming. She remembered reading something about a person named Ruto in one of the books of Hylian Lore…

It was like a switch clicked on in her head. She had met the Forest and Shadow Sages… But, no. It wasn't possible… Was it?

"You mean to tell me that you, the person who has made my life miserable for the last ten years, are one of the Sa—"

"Yup!" Ruto was chipper, "I'm the Sage of Water. I am hear to help you in your quest, Your Majesty—"

"Wait…" Zelda cut her off, "I thought the Sages were immortal?"

"No, not all of us." Impa answered her from her seat at the table, "Only three Sages were given the gift of immortality. Water, Fire and Spirit were all reincarnated to keep Hyrule cloaked. They did a pretty good job of it, too. The rest of us, Light, Forest, and Shadow, were given immortality, to keep Hyrule safe from any inside evil. That was difficult."

"All right…" Zelda thought for a moment, "So I've met Shadow, Forest, and Water. Who are the other three?"

"Well," Impa motioned behind Zelda, "Nabouru is Spirit, and Darunia is Fire. Light is still hidden in the Evil Realm."

"But…" Zelda frowned, strangely not surprised by these revelations,"Why would the Light Sage be in a place of darkness?"

"Never mind." Nabouru put a hand on Zelda's shoulder, "It's something you hopefully wont have to deal with."

"But—" Zelda was silenced by Nabouru.

"So, Impa," she attempted to change the topic, "How'd it go? Without any hitches, I assume?"

"Oh, hitches aplenty," Impa looked over at Zelda, laughter dancing in her eyes, "First, her parents are home, so we go exploring until dark. Second, I left her for half an hour, because she seemed safe enough, and she gets recognised by one of the local boys—"

"Hey!" Zelda called the injustice, "That wasn't my fault!"

"Yes, we know." Darunia patted her shoulder.

"Anyway," Impa gave them a look that silenced them, "When we got away from him, which wasn't easy mind you, we got back to the house. Me, not paying attention, slipped in a puddle of water. Zelda got in the house OK, but when she got out, she made too much noise. The man of the house saw us, so we ran for it. The entire neighbourhood chased us! Zelda got caught, so I had to waste valuable time and weapons rescuing her." Impa looked at Zelda, "I hope you wont be needing my help like that again any time soon?" Zelda shook her head in a hurry.

"Well…" Darunia spoke up, nervously, "You'll have to keep her safe for another year and a half… We've hit a hitch of our own."

"What?" Impa stood up so fast. It was like watching lightening.

"The venue we need wont be available for another six months, so that's when we booked it for. Sorry, but that's the way it's gonna have to be." Nabouru stood up, just as tall and every bit as fierce. Impa groaned and sat back in her seat.

"Very well…" She cupped her face in her hands, then looked up. She was just about to say something before Zelda burst out.

"What?" She practically screamed, "Another year and a half! I'll be eighteen by then!"

"When's your seventeenth birthday?" Nabouru asked.

"The thirteenth of October." Zelda looked at her, asking questions with her eyes.

"Just curious."

Well, I'm currently just finishing up chapter 18! It's a bit longer than this... I think.

I will say it again, for the people who skipped reading the notes at the top of the page;

I AM STILL DECIDING WHETHER OR NOT TO USE GANONDORF IN MY STORY! THISIS YOUR CHANCE TO HAVE YOUR SAY!I AM HOLDING A READER'S POLL TO LET YOU VOTE! SHOULD GANONDORF MAKE AN APPEARANCE IN THIS STORY? ARE THERE ANY VILLAINS THAT YOU LIKE? AS LONG AS THEY ARE FROM LOZ, I MIGHT CONSIDER PUTTING THEM IN! VOTE IN YOUR REVIEWS! IT WILL RUN FOR EXACTLY ONE WEEK FROM THE FOURTEENTH OF JULY!

Thanks! R&R, lazy bums! giggles