As the three made their way to the cave's exit, Link couldn't help but wonder what he was getting himself into. This cult wasn't the only thing. Those two; if he lived to be an old man, he would remind his descendants to never free someone who threatens to kill them.

Soon enough, they made it to the exit. Link was glad to finally be out of the cave, and smiled as he heard a familiar voice up ahead.

"Link. Brother!" Darunia shouted, running up to his 'brother', wearing a large smile. "It is good to see you are okay."

"I can say the same thing," Link replied. It was nice to see that the Goron Chieftain was unharmed. Looking past Darunia, Link saw that many other gorons were there as well. Link noted that they were standing around one goron in particular; Nibun. Darunia, noticing Link was looking past him, frowned.

"We aren't sure what is wrong with him. He seems sick," Darunia said, his voice much more sober than his usual cheery one. "That Cult! They must have done something to him."

"We should take him to Zelda. If anyone will be able to figure out what's wrong with him, it will be her," Link suggested, looking to his wounded shoulder. "I could take him, but I'll need to be bandaged up first. I'm not bleeding anymore, but my wound could open up."

Darunia looked a bit worried, now, as he looked back at Nibun, but as he turned to Link, he put on a grin as he spoke, as if to say he knew whatever was wrong, could be fixed by the queen, "Sure."


A knight bursted into Hyrule Castle's Audience room, sweat beginning to drip from his face, as he tried to catch his breath. "You highness..." He tried to speak, but was unable to as he was breathless. "Urgent news..."

Zelda sat atop her throne, but stood as the knight spoke. "Yes," she inquired, curious as to why he had barged into the room.

"You highness... a message was received from... one of the Royal Knights just minutes ago. He said that... he and several of his fellow knights... Had discovered something eerie... a town, far into the mountains... townsfolk... slaughtered. All of them. No one was spared. It looked as if some tried to resist, but..."

The messenger stopped and took deep breath, "It looked as if the bodies were torn apart, from some kind of weapon. They had never seen anything like it. The gashes were... colossal. Whatever weapon was used, it was inhuman. And they said they felt a presence as the investigated. Something, they said, that was evil."

An eyebrow rose as Zelda listened to the messenger. "It is possible," She began, putting a hand to her chin, "That the Fygul Cestemus are involved in this. If so, Link is taking care of them, but... well, this crime seems different from the others. Any bodies we've found that were taken from the cult were killed in barbaric rituals, with organs being taken out, not being torn apart."

"We are waiting for more news from the Royal knight..." The messenger began, before Zelda interrupted.

"We don't have time to wait. We must act. Send reinforcements, and have them check the surrounding area. If whomever slaughtered the village is found, have this person captured, and brought here. And if the murderer is related to the cult, we have all the more reason to capture them," Zelda commanded, frowning as the messenger bowed and left.

The queen sat back on her throne, and rested her head on her hand. "Thank Nayru for my wisdom..." She muttered, looking up to the ceiling.


Siegfried sat atop a small rock, on the bottom level of the Goron City, as Link was being bandaged in Goron's infirmary. They had only just arrived in the city, and walking up the steep mountain had taken a lot out of him. He had fought with Soul Edge, killed a dragon, and was the cause of the Evil Seed, yet somehow, walking up a steep mountain with a sword as large as he, in full armor, tired him out. It stumped him.

Tira was leaning against the wall opposite oh him, looking up at the large vase-like structure in the middle of the city. It was an oddity to both of them. The most odd part was the fact it had a face on it, similar to the expression most Goron's seemed to have. A happy, almost blissfully ignorant, smile. Tira groaned, tossing her ringblade in the air, and catching it as it fell. As she did so, she periodically looked over to the room where Link was. The city had no doors to separate any housings, so they could clearly see into the room. But all patients had curtains hanging around them, to give them some privacy.

They had only been there for a few minutes, and Tira was bored. She was close to just ripping out someone's throat. Not sure if I could with those Gorons, She thought to herself, glaring at Siegfried, And, knowing high-and-mighty over there, I won't get the chance. Elf boy better hurry the hell up.

Siegfried caught Tira's glare with his own, but looked to the city's ceiling, which felt odd to him, that a city would have a ceiling. He could wait a while for Link to get out of there. Of course, he was wondering what he was doing staying here in the first place. It seemed almost random. He was mostly doing so because of Tira, as he knew her as a crazed maniac who would kill without the slightest provocation. There were other reasons of course. If Nightmare and Soul Edge hadn't been destroyed, they would undoubtedly look for their little soul gatherer, Tira. He almost pitied her. She was psychotic, loved killing, and served a sword.

Looking over to the room where Link was, Siegfried pondered on why there were no doors in the city. It couldn't be hard for them to open them, but maybe it was manufacturing them that was troubling. Rock doors didn't seem all too stylish, and wooden doors would easily brake after being used. As he thought, he noticed Link coming out of the room, smiling, as he scratched the back of his head, the large gash that was once on his shoulder unable to be seen under his tunic, even with the rip on the shoulder. Tira wondered how her little piece of art was, but had one question to ask before feeling that she needed to see it.

"What took ya?" Tira questioned, crossing her arms.

Link replied hesitantly, not entirely sure how a few minutes got him a 'what took ya'. "Well... it often takes the red potion a few seconds to start taking affect."

Tira let her mouth drop for a moment, going to reply, then stopped herself for a moment. Did she really want to ask a question about the Elf Boy's world? Only a little. And not about the potions.

"Anyway, we should go and get Nibun. The longer we wait, the worse he'll get," as Link spoke, he moved his right shoulder in a few small circles, checking to see if it was 100 percent okay.

Tira's right eye twitched at the sight of him being fully healed. When he said 'bandaged' she thought he meant actual bandages. He seemed entirely healed. She had justcut his shoulder, and he was able to regain full mobility. "H-how in hell are you moving you arm!" She bursted, pointing at Link, "I cut through your shoulder! You shouldn't be able to move it!"

"Guess they don't have potions where you came from, either," muttered Link as he gave Tira a blank stare, "But I can explain it, with a few other things, once we're on the road. It can take a few hours to get to Castle Town, so I'll have time to explain."

"And what makes you think I'm coming with you?" Tira asked, grabbing her ringblade and raising it. Siegfried already was gripping his own sword, ready for anything.

"Well, first off, you attacked me, so you're lucky you aren't being imprisoned, also, you've been following me so far, so why wouldn't you be?"

The shades of green of Tira's makeup went nicely with the new shades of red beginning to form on her face, naturally, of course, as she began to clench her teeth and tried to speak through them. Having trouble, she simply turned to the wall, and took her free hand, and punched it.

"Well, I didn't expect you to be so angered by that..." Link trailed off as he looked over to Siegfried, "you know her. Mind explaining?"

"I wish I could, but she's a nutcase, and you can't explain nutcases like her," was the Knight's response as he stood. "I'll tell you this, though, as long as she's here, I'll need to stay."

Link nodded as he walked over to the girl in green, and put a hand on her shoulder. "Well, if you don't want to come, you don't have to, but, mind you, he'll probably go with you, and then I can't stop him from attacking you, and, to tell the truth, I'd find it kinda hard to fight a guy with a sword that big. Puts my blade to shame."

To Link's surprise, and even Siegfried's, when Tira looked over to Link, she didn't seem as mad as they had expected. In fact, she was quite the opposite, seeming almost jovial. "I think I will," She stated, gleefully, as she grabbed Link's hand, and moved it away from her shoulder. Then, she began walking towards the stairs. "Bye-bye," was all she said as began waving goodbye, reaching the stairs.

As he said he would, Siegfried began following. Tira didn't even seem to notice, or care, as she strode for the City's exit.

Link put his hands up for a moment before letting them fall to his side, as he sighed. And he was hoping for some traveling companions. There was one thing, though. The carriage that was needed to carry Nibun to the Castle Town was at the base of the mountain, and there was only one exit, or, at least one that the other two knew of, in the city, which was the one he would be using. That meant they were going the same way, for now.

Link headed for the steps as well, trying to catch up with the two, which, being they were walking up the stairs, wasn't hard. Link caught up quickly, and, as he got close, Siegfried looked over at him, but paid little heed. He had already figured they were going the same way. Tira was still ignoring the two, glancing around the caverns as the finally made it to the top of the steps.

It wasn't long until they were at the exit of the city. By then, Link was already trying to withhold himself from trying to give them reasons to come with him to the castle. They were foreigners, after all. They should, at least, see some of Hyrule's greatest treasures. The Castle, the Queen. He just kept his yapper shut as they descended down the hill...

...Only to be stopped halfway when Tira turned around. "Will you two stop following me!" she yelled, enraged, although the other two found it odd that she would be angry just now, when she had been perfectly fine just before.

"Well, we have to go the same way," Link explained, walking past her. "Anyway. Nibun's still waiting, so I have to go."

Tira frowned, following. She would have to get rid of this guy soon, he was becoming a pain.

They made it all the way down the mountain in mere minutes, stepping past the gates into Kakariko village. It was peaceful as usual, as a slight breeze turned the windmill. It was truly tranquil, the townsfolk doing their jobs, whether it was carpentry, or watching the Cuckoo nests. Link always liked the small village.

Link looked around, before spotting Darunia near the western entrance of the village, next to a wooden sign that read 'Kakariko Village'.

Link sped up towards his brother. "So, is Nibun ready?" he asked, hoping that he would't hear anything along the lines of 'yes, but he has gotten worse'.

"Yes. Thankfully, his sickness, whatever it is ailing him, doesn't seem to be progressing. He's unconscious, and there's this vibe about him. I don't like it. It feels... wrong. Evil, even," Darunia elucidated as he turned to the stairway that led to Hyrule Field. "Come on. We have no time to waste."

Link nodded as he followed, the other two not far behind, although they knew it would be time to part ways. Tira, was humming gleefully as they headed down the steps, thinking of lyrics to go with her tune as she walked.

As the four made it down to Hyrule fields, they heard a low moaning sound, something ghostly. Darunia, already knowing what it was, showed little emotion. Link was curious, and had a guess as to what it was, while Tira and Siegfried cared little about the sound. Tira, in fact, was too busy looking at a nearby river to care. She had thought she had seen something. I must be going crazy, she told herself.

Darunia stopped at the side of a large caravan, with two horse's at the front, eating some grass. Link looked into the caravan, and saw Nibun, laying on a mat with a tan blanket over him. He was moaning as he writhed around, in unbearable pain, as he twisted and turned, asleep. Link frowned as he looked to the other two. "Well, I guess this is goodbye," He stated.

Link's statement was responded with silence. Siegfried didn't peak, and Tira... she was staring into the caravan. She took a step towards it, as she mumbled something inaudible. She seemed mesmerized by something, as she jumped in the caravan, crawling towards Nibun. "That... presence..." She whispered as she put a hand on the still writhing goron. Suddenly, Nibun stopped tossing and turning, as f calmed down. "Yes," Tira began, "That is it." Turning the goron onto his stomach she put his hand on his back. "It's stuck!" She yelled, annoyed.

Link scratched his face, wearing a dumbfounded look, as he witnessed this. "Um, mind explaining?" He asked Siegfried, hoping he would have an answer.

"I don't have one," He answered, "But I can guess." Siegfried put a hand on the caravan's floor, before jumping in. For a second, he was surprised he hadn't broken the floor, with all his armor, but then remembered that this thing had a goron in it, so it had to be strong enough to carry him. Making his way towards Tira, he looked down at the goron, scowling as he felt a familiar presence. It can't be...He didn't believe what he was feeling as he saw something on the goron's back. Tira was pulling on it, in vain, to take it out. It was a small, red, stone.

Siegfried quickly looked back to Link, and called, "You might want to see this!"

Link's dumbfounded look didn't go away as he heard this, climbing into the caravan. "What?" he asked, looking over Siegfried's shoulder, and seeing the red stone. He didn't need to ask why this thing was so important, he could figure it out, himself. This was what had caused Nibun to be ill, he was sure. He didn't know what it was, but he already had instant dislike of it.

"It's a fragment of Soul Edge," Tira said quietly as she kept trying to pull it out.

"Soul Edge?" Link asked, looking over at Tira. "What's a Soul Edge?"

Siegfried sighed, putting a hand to his head as he began to realize what this meant. Muttering curses, he made his way to the edge of the caravan. "Soul Edge... is a weapon. An evil weapon."

Link turned to Siegfried, biting his tongue lightly as he heard that. He didn't like the idea of 'evil' anything. "A weapon? Well, if that's a piece of soul edge, than I take it, it's broken."

"Yeah, but even when broken, it's still powerful. And that's a shard right there." Siegfried looked over his shoulder, "You can stop trying to pull it out, Tira. You of all people should know how hard it is to take it out. We'll need someone who's powerful to take it out."

"Good thing we're going to the castle," Link said, beginning to grin, "If anyone can take it out, it's Zelda."

Chapter six: On towards the castle!

Can Zelda really take out the fragment?


Okay, first off, I am VERY sorry for the wait. A month! Yikes. I'm not going to bother with excuses, but I do hope this never happens again...

And, yeah, this chapter is a bit on the slow side. The plot wasn't furthered too much in this chapter, except the end, which I was hoping was ogoing to be a bit longer... but... well, I didn't want another 5,000 word long chapter. 3,00 is good enough for me.