A/n: Thank you very much for reviewing. I'm very grateful to have multiple persons reading the story. And it's so cute that Hyperfoxchild blushed… okay back to the story. I promise that in the next chapter, they will all five be united together in a funny convenient way. This chapter should be slightly less confusing. If you have any questions about it, just post them and I'll answer them asap… and sorry I took so long to post this one, but we were camping, and I made pie, cherry pie, it was good... anywayI hope you enjoy this chapter and continue reading.

Chapter 5: The Beast

Arian had fiddled with the gunpowder during the entire afternoon, hiding his new secret weapon whenever the Gerudos were to walk by. Link glanced over every now and again. He seemed impressed by the boy's knowledge of bombs. It hadn't exploded like the Hylian had expected it to.

It wasn't until the evening began to come to a close that Arian set his invention down. The boy came near Link and after scanning the room for Gerudo guards he began to speak quietly.

"Do the creatures of the night scare you?" Arian asked. This was a very peculiar question at a very peculiar time. Link arched an eyebrow and reluctantly answered the question.

"No…"

"And you aren't just saying that to sound tough, are you?" Arian asked, becoming slightly worried. Before Link answered, Arian had gotten up and walked over to their barred window.

"Don't worry." Link said as he rolled his eyes and turned back to the bars. "Navi and I have faced the most terrifying of beasts, no one can even imagine the horrors we've seen. Not even a dragon could cause us to flinch, let alone these creatures of the—." Links words were interrupted by a lot of raucous and low growls followed by a shrill cry from Navi.

"Oh my GOSH! You are hideous! You have fangs! The Hair! IT just Grew!!! HOW!? WHY???!!!" The little fairy yelled.

"I spoke too soon…" Link said monotonously. He turned around reluctantly to see what Navi was yelling about. Sure enough the boy had been somehow transformed into a strange beast. Although he was still very human in appearance, large fangs could be seen in his mouth and there was much longer hair coming down his back and neck. To top off this strange transformation there was a long tail that hung to his knees. The boy currently had this tail tucked between his legs as he stared with puppy-dog eyes at the shouting fairy.

Link got up quickly as he heard the footsteps from of the Gerudos above them, and placed a hand around Navi to silence her. After a short time it was quiet again.

"So…" Link began to say as he stared at Arian. "Have you gotten the bomb finished?" Arian stared at Link in wonder.

"Are you not at all afraid? I just turned into a beast?" Arian said as his ears cocked foreword.

"No. I see that makes you happy… or hopeful." Link said with a little grin.

"Yea, how'd you know?"

"You're tail's wagging." Link said with a bigger grin. Arian turned his head to see his furry tail swinging back and forth and blushed.

"Well now that we have this out of the way, you wanna get out of here?" Arian said with a smile. Link smirked.

"Let's get started…" He said.

Aura and Naomi had found the little inn in the back alley. Castle town was the busiest city that either of them had ever seen, or in Aura's case, remembered seeing. The innkeeper had graciously welcomed them, and as the guard had said, there was a discount. Of course Naomi didn't have enough money for two rooms if they wanted to eat a few good meals, but Aura decided that she wouldn't mind sharing a room. They now decided to get something to eat in the restaurant portion of the inn.

"You know, if we had known that this restaurant was part of the inn, then we wouldn't have had to hunt it down in the back alley." Naomi said as she saw how it emptied out onto the center of the marketplace.

"I'll remember that for next time…" Aura said with a grin. Naomi didn't seem to pick up on her little joke but Aura wasn't at all disappointed by that.

"What do you want to eat? Pick whatever you feel like getting, you look like you had a rough day." Naomi said with a cheerful smile. Aura began to smile too, for the first time that she could remember. Although she tried to pick something inexpensive, her stomach made her choose a large amount of food. Naomi ate scantily and denied that she needed anymore. It was near the end of their meal that they decided to discuss their plans.

"So what are you looking for in Hyrule?" Aura asked to make light conversation.

"Actually, it's more of a 'who.'" Naomi replied, "I'm in search of someone who is titled the 'Hero of Time'."

"He sounds rather vain." Aura said with a laugh.

"I know, but I promised the Zora's I would find princess Ruto, and I think that her fiancé, the 'Hero of Time', should know of her whereabouts. I came here because there was a guard at the entrance to Death Mountain that said he often hung out around the castle, but he comes and goes, mostly running errands for the princess."

A man at another table perked up and abandoned his beer to join the girl's conversation.

"I know who yer talkin' about." He said with a thick voice. "He came here just this mornin', then left after talkin' to the princess. They say he was goin' to fight the Gerudos. I hear he's a better thief than they are, and that's sayin' a lot." The man explained. His words struck the interest of another young woman who sat alone at a table. An aura of mystery radiated around her.

The strange girl waited patiently until the girls finished talking to the man. Finally he left the girls alone to finish their meals.

"Did you say you were looking for the um… 'Hero of Time'?" She said, awkwardly finding the words.

"Yes, are you looking for him too?" Asked the naive Naomi.

"Well yes, did that man say he was a thief?" The girl asked. Naomi looked at her inquisitively.

"Yes he did, is he?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, I was just wondering… Say, do you mind if we look for him together? I'm fairly new to this town and I don't quite know where I'm going."

"Of course, the more the merrier. My name is Naomi and this is Aura. Are you staying at the Inn?" Naomi asked, Aura remained silent. There was something about this girl that aroused her suspicion.

"No, actually I have no rupees… I was… robbed…. by the… J-…Jeridos on my way here." She replied.

"Well then you can stay with us." Naomi said to the surprise of Aura.

"Naomi, are you sure…" Aura began to say, until she realized what she was saying. Naomi hadn't denied her, Aura, from accompanying her even though they were strangers to each other, why should this girl be any different? Naomi was a very trusting person, but Aura decided that she should go along with her new companion and just keep a watchful eye on this stranger. "Are you sure… we shouldn't ask for her name?" She recovered.

"Oh of course, silly me. What is your name?" Naomi asked.

"Huh?" She asked, obviously distracted. "Oh! Yeah. My name is… Amy. Heh…" Suddenly, the room became silent for no reason whatsoever. It was a rather awkward situation. But then, somebody sneezed and another somebody said 'bless you', and everybody started talking again.

"So are we ready yet?" Link asked for the thirty some odd time. Arian didn't acknowledge Link's question. The beast's clumsy claws attempted to slowly finish placing the explosives into the lock. He led a string out of the iron bars back to them.

"I magnified its power by removing the compounds that were there to lessen the might of the explosion, that's why these bombs were only good for blowing up cracked walls." Arian explained. Link bent down to see what Arian was doing. He couldn't see in the dim light. Barely any starlight could shine through the little window, but it was apparently enough for Arian to see in.

"One minute and we'll be ready to light this baby. Say, I really don't know how powerful this is going to be so do you happen to have a spare shield or anything in those pouches of yours?" Arian asked in a joking manner, but he stared mouth gaping as Link drew out another shield from seemingly out of no where. He handed Arian the smaller one with the royal seal while Link kept the shiny one with the red rim. Arian slowly took his shield with a befuddled expression across his face.

"Okay," He said, shaking off his puzzled demeanor. "I think it's ready, all we need to do is set fire to this rope and then, brace yourself."

The two boys positioned themselves near the opposite wall and raised the shields in front of them. Soon there was a little fire running down the string and up into the lock.

The magnified explosion shook every wall of their cell. The blast forced Link and Arian against the wall as debris from the bars hit Link's shields. Pieces of the ceiling began falling down, surprising them both, but the greater surprise came when the wall behind them collapsed, forcing them both outside.

"Not quite as I had it planned, but let's go with it." Arian said as he hopped up and began searching for a way out. While the Gerudos frantically searched the remains of their cell, Link and Arian made their escape and began their journey to Hyrule castle.

A/n: Please R&R!