DISCLAIMER: SEE CH 1

AN: Sorry it took so long… anyway, this chapter starts kinda slow, but bear with me.

Review Responses:

Anime Wildfire: I'm glad to know you could tell what was happening, I thought it was sort of jumbled. Thanks for the review!

ZombieDragon: Thanks for the review!

UltimaGoldDragon: All I can say is, thanks and I'm glad you like it.

Link strode quickly up the path. He didn't think any guards would recognize him, but they would be on the lookout for any escapees. He only passed one patrol, and they were rushing for the gates. It took them that long. Unbelievable. Maybe conquering the Jarmanians wasn't such an unreachable goal.

Once he got a good distance away, he stopped to think. She was a princess, so she would most likely be tried at the castle. Link cursed himself for not forcing her to go. Did she actually think she could get away with it? She clearly was unaware of how big of a crime treason is. Link sighed. He realized this could take a while. He suddenly hoped Agraros would leave. If they were caught because he was here… He shook these thoughts from his head. If he was to do this, he had to focus. He could see a castle way off in the distance. He headed that way, making sure his hood was still up.

After about a half hour, he was near the gate leading to the castle. Link remembered how easy it had been to sneak into Hyrule castle nine years ago. This was going to be tougher. He stayed at a distance walking along, not wanting to arouse the suspicions of the guards. He paced along the outer wall, which was made of grey stone. The castle, however, looked like nothing Link had ever seen. It was all white, with pillars everywhere, and decorative marble statues. The walls didn't even seem to be cemented together, but rather cut to fit, like a puzzle. There was one big entrance, blocked by a large door that was swung open by three guards by hand, as opposed to the metal gate that was opened by a winch at the main entrance. It stood on top of a hill, which began just inside the wall.

He made a quick plan. He would see if there was a way over the outer wall anywhere. If not… he would think of something. If so, he would search for an alternate route into the castle. If there was one, perfect. If not, he would take out the guards carefully, and use the main door. That would probably mean lots of fighting, which he hoped to avoid.

He searched around the wall. It wasn't that tall, about 3 meters. He couldn't jump to the top though. No wood either. Around back, he found a way in. There was a small gap, just big enough for him to crawl through, where water entered for use in the castle. It was blocked by bars, but the bars had been there a while, and weren't secured very well. The gold gauntlets should do the trick. He slid them on, wishing Navi was around to scout out the castle grounds for him. He knelt in the water, and grabbed the first bar with both hands. He wrenched as hard as he could. The bar came free. He set it aside, and grabbed the next. It came out with no effort at all. He continued until all of the bars were removed. He crawled through, and set the bars loosely back in place. At a glance, it looked the same as before.

Inside, the water flowed along and went into a cavern dug into the hill, which lead under the castle. It sloped downward, so the water filled it. No problem, with the Zora Tunic crawling/swimming through that wouldn't be hard. He found the tunic in his pack, and threw it on overtop of his green one. A bit bulky, but Ok for a short trip. He slid head first into the cavern. He crawled a bit, but as it sloped down he became submerged, and began an awkward little stroke. It was a tight squeeze. He began to feel a bit claustrophobic. He shook himself. He would have taken a deep breath, but the tunic only gave oxygen directly into his body, he was holding his breath. Breathing in would be… bad.

He hadn't realized just how far it was. He felt as though he couldn't breathe, and he began to panic. He forced himself to calm down. He had dealt with much worse before. He continued along, not thinking about where he was. Finally he came into a larger area. He swam up, and broke the surface, looking around. He was in a pit of water, about 10 meters in diameter. Several pipes came down from the ceiling and into the water, and seemed to be sucking it up. He briefly wondered how it worked, but of course it didn't really matter. He swam to the edge of the pit, where there was some stone floor and a door. He slipped off his Zora Tunic, and put his ear to the door. He couldn't hear anything, so he opened it carefully. He was in a short, narrow hall with a staircase at the end. He walked down and headed up the stairs into a small, round room, with four doors out. He picked one at random, and peeked out. There was a hallway that stretched way off to the left and right. A guard was walking down. Link closed the door quietly. He listened carefully, and as soon as the guard was gone he opened it and stepped out. He made sure his hood was on. It wouldn't be that important, but if glimpsed from behind he may avoid suspicion.

He began wondering how to find the princess. It was a big castle. What if she wasn't even here? He was only assuming she would be here, but what did he know about Jarmanian law? He had waked to the end of the hall, and he had a choice to keep going straight, or turn left. He was about to turn when he heard a couple of guards coming up the hall. He shrank back down the hall, and found a statue to hide behind. Two guards began walking down the hall he was in.

"Hear about the princess?" The first guard asked the other.

"Which part? Her getting tried for treason?" The second responded.

"Among other charges. I think she thought the king would defend her. If anything, he was the harshest on her. Did you here how it turned out?" The first said.

"No. I guessed execution though. By hanging, maybe." The second said casually.

"Worse. She's being thrown unarmed to an Anukal, in front of a crowd. Looks like the coliseum will be used again for something, at least. Only two people ever survived being caged up with one of those, and they were armed. Matter of fact, one of them was that gladiator who busted out the others, and trashed the coliseum. Anyway…" Was all Link could hear from the first guard before he was out of earshot.

Link pounded his fist angrily on the statue. The coliseum. All this was useless. What was an Anukal? It was either the bull creature, or the flying jackal headed one. Either way, an unarmed princess would be torn apart. He needed to leave, fast. He didn't know when the execution was, but he had a place. He headed back down the hall, into the round room, and down the stairs. Back in the water storage room he slipped his still wet Zora Tunic on, and plunged back in. He found the little tunnel, and swam up against the current. He didn't feel any claustrophobia; he was too busy thinking about what he had heard to even notice where he was.

As soon as he emerged from the tunnel, he took off the Zora Tunic and ran back along to where he had broken in. He tossed the bars away, and didn't bother replacing them this time. It wouldn't matter. He ran as fast as he could up the almost empty street. He attracted a few odd glances from people walking along, but he didn't stop. He turned and ran out into the open area that housed the coliseum. There was a pile of junk outside, all stuff they had used to barricade the entrance. He ran inside. A couple guards looked up. They clearly assumed he was just here to watch, and didn't pay attention to him. He headed up the stairs to the stands. He came out in the aisle. People were filling the seats, all gathering to watch the murder of their former princess. Sickening. Link strode to the front, and though there were no seats there, he sat in the aisle. In the middle of the pit was an anukal, which was the winged, jackal-headed creature. It had the chain keeping it in the pit as before, but for the moment there was a second chain around its neck, leading to a stake deep in the ground. It was keeping it restrained in the very middle.

In the box which held the gamesmaster before, was the king. He was quite different then the king of Hyrule. He was slim, with short cropped black hair. He was well dressed in red silk. His eyes were a piercing blue, so light they were almost white. There was something wrong with his eyes, as if something was glowing behind them. As everyone sat down, he stood to give a speech.

"We have gathered here, in our sacred coliseum, to witness the execution of the traitorous Elisa Gordian." The king began, "She has been sentenced to death for treason, assisting a dangerous criminal, and aiding in the murder of many guards. She is to be executed in the coliseum's pit, by an anukal."

As he said this, Elisa was brought out through the door Link had traveled through many times. She was escorted by three guards. Two of them stood with her, untying her hands, while the other approached the anukal. He placed a bomb near the chain fastening it in place, and ran away quickly. He left through the door, and the other two guards followed, kicking Elisa to the ground before they left. Link looked at the king. There was no remorse, or emotion of any kind in those eyes.

The bomb went off with a loud bang, and it weakened the part of the chain near the explosion. As if sensing this, the monster pulled sharply, and the chain snapped. The anukal took flight, the remainder of the chain failing out behind it. The crowd gasped and leaned back, but the other chain kept it from leaving the pit. Elisa had stood up, and was trying to open the door. Obviously it was fastened shut, and she turned to face the beast, which had spotted her and was soaring down quickly. There was fear in her eyes, but she hid it well. Link drew his bow, the crowd around him gasped. Some seemed to recognize him. The arrowhead turned white, and an icy mist gathered. He let fly straight at the anukal's neck. The monster froze, and Elisa dove to the side. The anukal, covered in ice, slammed into the door. The ice shattered, and the anukal picked itself up, roaring in anger. Link vaulted over the low guardrail, and dropped into the sandy pit. He ran over to where Elisa had just stood up. She looked sort of surprised.

"What are you doing here!?" She shouted.

Link shrugged. "I said I'd be back." He said simply.

She smiled. This heartwarming reunion was ended by another earsplitting shriek from the anukal. It had taken flight again, and was circling around for another go. Link drew his sword and shield, and stood in front of Elisa. When the monster drew close, Link leapt at it, sword ready. He brought it down and left a gash along the anukal's shoulder, but the monster slammed into him as well. He flew back, but managed to roll along the ground instead of slamming into a wall. He got to his feet. The anukal had landed, and was approaching Elisa. Link ran after it, and tried to plunge his sword into its back. Suddenly it flared its wings, and Link was knocked back. The monster rounded on him. It lashed out with its lizard-like, clawed hands. Link batted one away with his sword, but the other grabbed him around the neck. It lifted him up into the air, and shook him. His sword was sent flying. The monster held him still. Link struggled, but the hand holding him was far too powerful. He had an idea. He didn't want to, but this qualified as an emergency. He reached back into his pouch, and drew out the Fierce Deity's mask. He slid it onto his face, and the familiar process began.

The entity in the mask fought harder this time, but again he was able to subdue it. The monster was looking at him curiously. The crowd, who had been booing, cheering, and talking, was silent. Link reached up and grabbed the monster's hand. He wrenched it off, and dropped to the ground. He slashed at the anukal's stomach, and left a deep gash. Black blood flowed freely. The monster roared, and pounced at him. Link leapt into the air, and fired three blades of energy into the monster's head. It roared in pain, and turned to Elisa. She turned and ran, but it raked its claws down her back, leaving three deep gashes. She fell to the ground with a cry.

Link jumped at the monster, uttering a deep, guttural battle cry. He swung his sword, and severed the monster's head. It fell to the floor, twitching, and then lay still. Link removed the mask, and shrunk back down. He again felt rather drained. He hobbled over to Elisa. She was lying on the ground, but she still breathed. He fumbled in his pouch. Two of his bottles were empty, one had some green potion, and the one with the red potion had apparently leaked. He got her to drink the precious bit that was left, and she was able to stand. He knew it wouldn't last long, those gashes were deep. He turned to a door, but guards were coming from both sides. He suddenly remembered the warp point he had set up near the forest. He didn't know if he could take someone else through, but he had to try. He grabbed Elisa's arm, and focused all of his remaining magic power. The green light covered him, and flowed over Elisa. There was a sudden flash of bright green light, and they were both gone.

AN: That was one of the longest yet. Anyway, what do you think? please review.