A/N: Mwahahahaha! The time has come to completely freak out the unsuspecting readers! Dea, Wish, you probably knew this was coming anyway, though... Tee hee hee~ Told you the kitten and Ruto/Rutela scenes weren't filler... XDDD Enjoy~! By the way, I decided that Zoras talk normally underwater, too, since that idea makes sense to me... If I'm wrong, feel free to tell me in a review.

Disclaimer: I wish I owned LoZ, but I don't. Nintendo does, and whoever makes the manga... I just own my plot, made-up monsters and items, and OCs...

Many Thanks To: Dea Letum, i-wish-a7x, and LittlePidgey~!

The Links' personal Weapons (other than their swords and shields, of course!)

-Red has an ice rod, a fire rod, and a slingshot!

-Green has a boomerang, and he's pretty good with it. At the moment, he also has his weird half-dragon-ness, including a tail, wings that he can use to fly, very strong legs, and a clawed right arm with the strength of a dragon...

-Blue has a hammer, of course, which suits his personality perfectly!

-Vio has a bow and a quiver full of arrows, and of course, his ever-present book.

-Shadow has... well, his weird shadow abilities, I guess? mimicking? Also has the Dark Mirror Shield, and that dagger of his. And bombs!!

Chapter 19: Next Stop, Lake Hylia!

"(Shadow) ...ugh... What... happened...?"

'Oh yeah... Green turned into a huge dragon and made my own bomb blow up in my face... My head feels like Blue's in there whacking the inside of my skull with that hammer of his over and over again... And I think my bruises have bruises. ...I'd better get up now...'

Shadow is the first one to come to, slowly pulling himself up out of his previous position of being slumped against the boulder he crashed into. He manages to stand up, but the world swirls dizzyingly around him as soon as he does so and he collapses back into a sitting position in a matter of moments.

"(Shadow) Damn... Hope I don't have a concussion..."

He waits for his vision to clear, then slowly, carefully raises his head and looks around. It's late morning now, so he has been unconscious for several hours. His ears twitch at a faint sound coming from nearby as someone groans, also waking up.

"(Vio) Nnnn... ...? *wakes up* ............ *still in a bit of shock*"

"(Shadow) Vi...o...? That... you...?"

Shadow's weak call snaps the purple-clad boy back to reality as the red-eyed hero squeezes his eyes shut and puts a hand to his head, his headache having worsened from this small effort.

"(Vio) ...! Shadow!"

Vio picks himself up off the ground and slowly hobbles over to his battered friend. Vaati is passed out nearby, lying near Green, who is in his half-Hylian, half-dragon form again.

"(Shadow) Vio... What happened... after I passed out...?"

"(Vio) ..."

"Worry not, I am actually here to HELP for once, though IN SECRET."

"(Shadow) Vio?"

Vio looks up sheepishly.

"(Vio) Sorry, still a bit out of it, I guess. ...I... I'm not sure. It's all a blur up to the point where I lost consciousness as well. Looks like something stopped Green, though."

"(Shadow) Huh?"

Shadow looks over towards where Vio is pointing and sees the unconscious dragon boy and Wind Sorcerer.

"(Shadow) ...Huh. Weird... Guess we got lucky or something."

'Vio's hiding something, I can tell. ...Meh, what am I worrying over? This is Vio. He'll spill when he's good and ready, and no sooner. And he wouldn't keep anything seriously important a secret... ...Goddesses, my head hurts...'

"(Vio) ..."

Vio bursts out laughing suddenly.

"(Shadow) What?"

"(Vio) Y-you... You call this lucky...?! Ahaha, Shadow, you're crazy!"

Shadow flashes an impish grin at his friend, closing one eye in a mischievious wink.

"(Shadow) Never said I wasn't, now did I?"

Vio laughs even harder.

"(Vio) Definitely crazy...! *laughing*"

~Meanwhile~

Ruto arrives at the shore of Lake Hylia, an elegant-looking spear held comfortably in her hands. The morning air is comfortably warm, and the sky is clear with a few cottonball clouds cheerfully scudding along through the upper atmosphere. A light breeze ruffles the leaves of nearby plants and grasses, giving the morning a fresh, springtime atmosphere. The mysterious flame-furred kitten peeks out of the rucksack looped over her shoulder and meows urgently.

"(Ruto) Haha, you want down, huh, zora?"

She places the kitten on the ground and it immediately heads straight for the water.

*Splash-whump-thud!*

"(kitten) Mewww!!"

The kitten is instantly knocked head-over-heels by an abnormally large wave, revealing its underside. A tiny, strange crystal-like growth comes into view, located right between the split in its tail. Its gender also becomes evident.

"(Ruto) Ah, so you're a girl-kitten, zora! You seem so determined, I thought you were a boy at first, but I guess I was wrong, eh? Wait, why am I talking to a cat like it's a person...? ^.^; Anyway, I guess I can't just leave you here to get battered by the waves, zora. I'll take you swimming with me! Guess I won't be able to do any searching underwater just yet, but the witnesses of this mysterious monster said that strange things were happening out at that weird island in the middle of the lake that showed up out of nowhere one day anyway, so I'll just go there first, zora."

Ruto calmly picks up the kitten and puts her back in the rucksack, carefully positioning the bag so that it will be above the water while she's swimming. She then happily dives into the lake, swimming effortlessly towards a mist-shrouded island off in the distance. Dense fog surrounds the mysterious landmass in an odd and slightly unsettling contrast to the otherwise clear weather, obviously out of place. The currents surrounding this island are very strong, surprising Ruto and sending her tumbling through the water, sucking her in towards the island.

"(kitten) Mewww!"

The hapless little feline falls out of Ruto's rucksack and is immediately swept away from her. Ruto tries to catch the kitten, but it's being carried too quickly by the current and she's having a hard time keeping control of her own position in the water. The kitten is sucked underwater, and the Zora princess dives after it.

"(Ruto) What the-?!"

An absolutely colossal silhouette stares up at her from deep underwater, and the kitten is suddenly knocked into the startled Zora girl's grip. It struggles, seemingly trying to get to whatever this mysterious creature is, but passes out from oxygen depravation before getting anywhere.

'...B...l...u...e...! ...B...l...u...e...! ...H...a...v...e... ...t...o... ...f...i...n...d... ..."B...l...u...e"...! ..........'

A somewhat disturbed Ruto swims back up to the water's surface and quickly makes her way ashore. She has now arrived at the beach of the mysterious island and prepares to investigate, but stops when she hears a sound coming from somewhere in the water several feet out from shore. The unnoficial Zora Warrior tightens her grip on her weapon and warily turns towards the source of the noise. An odd circular ripple disrupts the pattern of the waves, rapidly getting larger and bubbling upwards as something approaches the surface. A dark silhouette almost a third as big as the island comes into view, and Ruto's eyes widen in shock and fear as the mysterious creature surfaces, towering over the Zora princess and covering her with its immense shadow. Ruto's terrified scream rips through the air...

~Back at Death Mountain~

Green and Vaati are awake now, and the four have exchanged information and caught each other up on the situation, as well as treating each other's wounds. Shadow still leans against the boulder he was knocked into previously, looking slightly bored. His hands are behind his head in a relaxed pose.

"(Shadow) So there's this woman named Veran who's loose in Hyrule now, and she's the one that turned Vio into a monster? Ugh, first Gufuu and Ganondorf-"

"(Green) And you..."

"(Shadow) Yeah, and me. Anyway, now this brat and a crazy female sadist who apparently wants revenge against someone who looked like Green from the ancient past have shown up, too!"

"(Green) Yeah... She called us... "his descendants..." But what... does that mean?"

Green's face is pale and drawn, and he looks almost as bad as Vaati does except without the countless cuts and bruises. All four boys have bandaged and treated each other's wounds by now and are resting. The only wound that hasn't been treated is a thin, shallow cut across Vaati's forehead because he vehemently refused to remove his cap and said that under no circumstances would he ever do so even if they tried to force him. Most of the rest of the half-dead Wind Sorcerer's telltale purple skin is covered by bandages. Shadow doesn't seem to have a concussion, though he does have a large bump on the back of his head and is bruised all over. Vio's legs still freeze up on him at times and he can't wield a weapon yet, but he didn't get any injuries from when Green went berserk other than a few small scratches from falling. Green is in the best shape out of the four of them other than the fact that he's currently half dragon and suffering from a serious case of exhaustion. Basically, they're all bruised and battered and should be resting as much as possible, but instead they're exchanging information with each other and the like.

"(Vaati) You "Links"... appear throughout... Hyrule's history... Each one... always named... "Link"... And bearing... the Triforce of... Courage..."

"(Vio) Huh? How do you know they're always named Link? The names of heroes from the past weren't mentioned in any of the books I've read."

"(Vaati) I... knew one... I think... Can't... remember clearly..."

About two hours pass as the four boys continue to talk. They decide that they'll ask the Triforce of Courage where Blue and Red are, then all rest until the next morning rather than risk the trip down Death Mountain in the dark and/or in their battered states. Vaati's palm pulses gently with a weak stinging sensation as the three "Links" close their eyes and ask the Triforce of Courage to show them where to go. He doesn't really notice this though because he's fast asleep. In their eagerness to get some sleep, they forget to focus on either just Red or just Blue...

"(Green) Lake... Hylia...? ...Hey...! That island... That... wasn't there... before...!"

"(Shadow) Don't ask me; I don't think I've ever been there..."

"(Vio) Green's right. That island is new, just like the cave system here on Death Mountain. ...Hey, wait... Who were we focusing on? Red or Blue?"

"(Shadow) Huh? I forgot to focus on just one of 'em, actually..."

"(Green) Me neither..."

"(Vio) Then that means..."

"(all three) They're both at Lake Hylia!"

A/N: Tee hee hee... Did you enjoy this chapter? I hope so... Anyway, I've enabled anonymous reviews now, too, so now you readers have one less excuse to not review. So... Please review!!!! I don't even care if it's flames or not any more, just review!!!! Pleeeeaaaase?????? *puppy dog eyes* I'm begging you, just review... T.T