A/N: Ttaarwftr (XP)! Yeah, I'm like that too RoseWing. I think with longer chapters you can't really remember most of it unless its really good. So maybe it's a good thing that my chapter is short!

Also, I wouldn't worry about that guy, alwaysingirl. He's just a lonely troll. Ignore him and he'll go away :P

Read on!

Chapter 16 - Death

Zelda had finally made it to the entrance of Kakariko Village after about three hours of sprinting. To pass the time, she had counted how many stalchilds she had killed on the way, and the total came up to twenty-three. And not one scratch on her. Perhaps she could awaken those sages herself.

She sighed and put her dagger and needles away as she walked up to the staircase. Oddly, she said that she would be away for very long, yet she had only been gone a day. In actuality, she would try to avoid being seen by anyone, as she needed to get to Death Mountain quickly. Thank goodness it was night, then, the perfect cover for anyone wanting to sneak.

She crouched down and began to crawl up the stairs to the village. Unfortunately, by the time she got up to the top of the stairs, she saw the soldier that was always stationed at the gate.

'Damn, forgot about him,' she whispered to herself.

Improvising, she picked up a rock next to her, and threw it in the general direction of the soldier. He seemed to perk up at the slight scuffling sound the rock made, and looked in the complete opposite direction to where Zelda was. She took the opportunity and slid along the wall, using the thin line of shadow as a cover. As she got to the entrance, she slipped around and hid behind the pillar, looking out for the guard. He was standing in his original position, looking out toward the staircase. Apparently, he had not seen her enter.

She cheered silently and crouched again, quietly crabwalking to the seond staircase. Apparently still undetected, she slithered up the stairs and past the buildings, crouching lower whenever going past a window. It was only when she reached the last set of stairs that she remembered the second guard at the exit toward Death Mountain.

She swore out loud, and only ducked before the soldier looked her way. After a few seconds, she looked up from her hiding spot and saw the soldier looking in his original direction again. Trying the same approach, she picked up a rock, and threw it in the opposite direction of the guard. Like the other, he looked in the direction of the rock, and Zelda creeped past him in the darkness, fast yet silent. She went past the railings again, hiding behind the pillar. The soldier was looking in the same direction as before.

Smiling, she ran off up the trail, feet as light as feathers. If this was how the guards were in Hyrule, they would have been invaded long ago by something like Keese.

Running up the trail, she noticed some things. Firstly, there were new enemies up ahead that she had never seen before. They looked like Skulltulas, but more... streamlined, perhaps and more colourful. Also, as she crept up she noticed there were lots of holes in the walls, and empty chests in them. The holes looked like they were caused by an explosion of some sort. She guessed that Link ahd probably travelled here as a child as well.

She flicked out her dagger and some needles and crept up to the monsters. They looked pretty feeble, she figured. Perhaps one needle in the head would be enough.

She threw the needle with deadly accuracy right into the monster's eye. It screeched in pain as the needle made contact, but didn't drop dead as Zelda anticipated it would. On the contrary, it jumped up and began leaping in different directions erratically. Zelda had to jump back as the creature almost landed on her head with a few jumps. Its legs were covered in spikes, So if it made contact with her, the damage would be pretty severe.

After another backflip out of the way, she threw another couple of needles. The first one hit the monster in the 'abdomen', while the other hit one of its legs. It screeched as all it legs fell apart, and, mid-jump, it burst into flames. After the flames died down, Zelda spotted another in the distance. Doing the same to that one, she continued up the trail. When she reached a junction, she checked her map. After doing so, she headed right. Going left would mean entering Dodongo's Cavern, and she didn't want that.

As she ran up the steep slope, she felt the air beginning to warm. Also, she could hear a faint rumbling sound in the distance. She stopped for a second, trying to determine what the noise was. It was incredibly smoky, so she couldn't really see what was up ahead. However, she could see little indentations on the ground, as if lots of heavy things rained down and hit it at the same time.

Cautiously walking up, she could feel the air getting even warmer, and the smog seemed to get thicker with every step she took forward. The little indentations also seemed to get more frequent.

Suddenly, she heard a sound from overhead. Looking up, she saw a small meteorite falling toward her. It wasn't big enough to kill her, but because of the heat, it wouldn't be pretty if it landed either. She sidestepped just before it hit, and it shattered as it struck the ground. Almost after it broke, a louder sound filled her ears, signalling that even more were coming.

She cursed and sprinted up the slope, dodging falling meteorites as she ran. Because of the faint light given off by Dath Mountain, she could see the small shadows that the meteorites made before they hit. Using them, she dodged easily and kept running.

Eventually she came to a wall and the meteorites stopped falling. It had lots of handholds, so she could climb up easily. The only downside was the Skulltulas skittering around on it.

She flicked put some needles and expertly shot each one, causing them to drop to the ground. She winced as their legs folded inwards while they burst into flames. Not the most pleasant way to go, perhaps. She scaled the monster-free wall, easily grabbing the bricks which were jutting out and pulling herself. It only took a few seconds and she was at the top.

Here she could see two entrances. The sign next to the first entrance read 'Great Fairy's Fountain'. This wasn't her destination, so she entered the other entrance instead. The heat was unbearable, even with Rauru's charmed necklace on, and all she wanted to do was exit as soon as possible.

Hopefully Link won't take too long.

A/N: Ahh, much better and longer. Review!