Chapter 6

The rest of the celebration went very well that night. Just about everyone had gone home for the night. All that remained were Link, Zelda, Nick, Charles, Aaron, Ian, and the remaining Sages. All of them were sitting at one of the large tables.

"We can't seem to find Rauru or Ruto anywhere, Princess," Impa informed Zelda.

"Well they can't have just disappeared, can they?" Zelda asked.

Oh, Princess, you don't know how right you are, Ian thought to himself. He looked around and noticed that Nick was looking right at him. Does he know something? No, he couldn't. Could he? Ian felt like he was going to panic, but he was able to hold still. His thoughts were interrupted by Link.

"We need to find them as soon as we can. I suggest that we split up into groups and take a look around the castle. I felt an evil presence tonight. It wasn't much, but it could still be dangerous."

Impa nodded. "Yes, I believe that would be the best way to go about this. We should split up into pairs."

Soon, they were all paired up. The groups were: Link and Zelda, Nick and Saria, Aaron and Impa, Charles and Darunia, and Ian and Nabooru.

"Everyone meet back here in 2 hours no matter what," Link instructed.

"What do we do if we find something?" Aaron asked.

"Scream?" Charles joked, with a little smile across his face.

"The Sages and I can communicate with each other, so that is all that should be needed," Zelda replied.

"What if one of the Sages is attacked next and can't call out to the rest?" Nick asked.

"Then scream," Link answered. Charles smiled.

"At least someone was taking me seriously!"

"Let's just find Rauru and Ruto." Saria was getting impatient.

"Calm down, little one. We'll find them," Darunia reassured her.

"Ok, let's go!" Link said.

The groups each went a different way. Ian and Nabooru headed for the hidden dungeons. It would be a perfect hiding place for someone to mess with the Royal Family. As they walked, Ian tried to remember everything that they walked by. He intended to know the entire castle from top to bottom. Nabooru interrupted his gazing.

"Do you have any fighting experience?"

"No, not really. The only violence I ever dealt with was hunting for food. And even that wasn't too easy."

Nabooru nodded. "Well, let's just hope that we don't get into any danger, then."

"Agreed."

They walked by Ian's room. He needed to get the gem to capture Nabooru, but he couldn't let her know that. Obviously, he thought to himself. He needed an excuse.

"I'm going to grab another shirt. Don't want to get this one dirty."

"Alright, I'll wait out here for you."

Ian walked into his room and took out the case from underneath the bed. He reached inside and took out the gem that represented Nabooru: the orange Fire Opal. He quickly got another shirt and placed the gem into the front pocket before going back to Nabooru. They then continued walking.

They had reached the passageway down to the dungeons and Nabooru insisted that she go first. After all, she was a great Gerudo warrior, she had nothing to fear. Ian was delighted to let her go first. This would give him the chance he needed. Nabooru had just made a big mistake. All of a sudden, Nabooru could hear Ian chanting something. She then noticed that the room was alight with an eerie orange glow. She didn't even need to turn around to realize that Ian was trapping her somehow. When she did turn, she noticed the gem in the air and cursed herself for being so easily caught. Then, the light pulled her into the Fire Opal.

Ian thrust the gem into his pocket. Now he had to make something up so that the others wouldn't suspect him. He quickly devised a plan, then turned back up the stairs to the main floor of the castle. Once he got to the top of the stairs, he ran to his room to ditch the gem. Once that was done, he ran back to the stairs of the dungeon to make it seem like he just came from there. Then, he screamed.

Link and Zelda were searching the tower that contained their room and Evan's room.

"Zel, did you feel anything strange tonight?"

"Yes, I felt an evil presence as well, but that just can't be right. We got rid of Ganon ten years ago. I don't know what else could leave such an evil feel in the air."

"Hopefully, Ganon hasn't found a way out of the Evil Realm. I really don't feel like fighting him again. I just want to live in peace and grow old with you."

"Oh, Link, you're so cheesy."

Link smiled. "Yeah, but it always works on you." He leaned in for a kiss.

"That it does," Zelda said softly as they began to kiss. Their moment together was cut short by a loud scream coming from downstairs. Zelda immediately started to run down the stairs. Link hesitated for a moment.

"Damn. Something always happens when I'm in the middle of something good." He then took off down the stairs.

"Help! Someone help!" Ian yelled at the top of his lungs. Almost instantly, all the groups came running to the dungeon entrance.

"What happened?" shouted Link.

"Something... came and... got Nabooru... I... couldn't do anything... she just disappeared in front of me..."

"Lock down the dungeons!" ordered Zelda. "We must keep whatever is doing this confined!"

Impa and Darunia quickly shut the dungeon door and secured it in place. The remaining four Sages put a lock spell on the door. There was no way anything would get through it. Ian was delighted. They had fallen for it. Four more to go, my loyal servant.

"So what do we do now?" Charles asked.

"For now, I say we all get some rest and decide what to do in the morning," Aaron suggested. Impa nodded.

"Good idea. That thing isn't going anywhere anyway, so we should be fine."

"We'll meet right after breakfast to discuss what actions we will take," Zelda told everyone. "Until then, goodnight everyone."

They all said their goodnights and headed off to bed. Can't stop now, my friend. Ian nodded. He could easily get another one tonight. He would just have to wait until everyone was sleeping. Just before entering his room, he looked around to see which one of the Sages was in the closest room to his. He noticed Darunia stepping into a room only two doors down from his. He's next.

A few hours later, Ian decided to make his move. When he opened the case, he had to squint his eyes. The light of the three glowing gems lit up the room very well. He grabbed the red Ruby and slipped it into his pocket. He quietly opened his door and walked slowly down the hall to Darunia's room. He tried the knob. It turned quietly and slowly. Good, it's not locked. Too bad for you, big guy. He tiptoed over to Darunia's bed, amazed at how quiet he was. I'd be a good thief, he thought. The Goron was still sleeping, his chest moving up and down ever so slightly in rhythm with his breathing. Ian slowly pulled the Ruby out of his pocket and chanted the spell quietly.