A/N: Hey, it's been a while! I haven't update since last year! XD that's weird. Anyway, I don't know if this chapter is all that splendid, but here you go anyway.

"Goddesses," remarked Malon, holding the torch out in front of her. "I am starting to believe that this passageway isn't going to end!"

"It's got to," Link said, feeling rather stupid. "I mean, there's no such thing as an endless passageway; it's impossible."

"Leave it to Link to save us with his technicalities," Zelda joked.

"Ha, ha, shut it."

"Shh," Malon said suddenly. The others were silent as she looked slowly about. "Did you hear that?"

"All I can hear is our ragged breathing," Zelda whispered.

"No, it was more of a…hissing sound," Malon said quietly. She held her torch out as far as it would go, extending the light as much as possible. Her eyes shrank. "I swear, I saw something move back."

Saria took the torch and stepped forward cautiously. She did not see anything, but felt the presence of something ominous before them. Her heart beats nearly drowned out the sound of her own voice when she said, "Come out from the shadows. Don't attack like a coward… where are—"

In a flash, a humongous creature lunged from the darkness and pounced upon Saria. The small elf was immediately on her back with this unbelievably gigantic animal on top of her, thrashing its claws at her. Had she not been in such a state of terror, she'd have realized that she was getting attacked by an abnormally sized panther.

Link reached for his sword and slashed at one of the animal's front legs. The panther reared back, emitting a howl, and stared at its disembodied limb. Its surprise allowed Saria to crawl out from underneath its stand, and the panther now turned to face Link, looking rather angry.

Ears plastered to its skull, the black cat roared and lunged at the warrior. Link held up his shield and the animal crashed into it. The panther spat in anger, growling as it limped in a circle around Link.

"Just kill it, it'll bleed to death anyway!" Malon said, trying her best to bandage up her sister.

Link thrusted his sword once more at the beast, but this time the panther dodged him. "Hmmm, I don't think he's going to be shrugged off that easily," Link said to her. "He'll need to be taken by surprise."

Righ on cue, Zelda leapt into the air and gave a frighteningly powerful kick to the animal's head. Her three comrades blinked, wondering if that had really been electricity they had seen come out of her foot when she hit her target…

The panther was sent soaring to the other side of the passageway, where he collided with the stone wall and fell the floor. It let out a depressed moan as blood began to seep out from under it. One or two times the panther tried to stand again, only to fall back down into a pool of its own blood. Eventually it fell silent and did not move.

"Holy Din," Malon said. "Where on earth did Ganon dig up one of those!"

"A formidable foe," Link said, walking over to the carcass and examining it. He ran his hand across the soft, black fur. "It's a shame, really, to kill such an attractive creature as a cat."

"Saria, are you all right!" Zelda asked worriedly. "That was awful—it came right out of no where and just leapt right on top of you!"

"I think the surprise was worse than the injury," Saria assured her. "Link got him just in time… thanks, Link."

"Don't even mention it," Link muttered, standing up and wiping his hands together. "I didn't think Ganon would've gone so far as to have enlisted wild animals such as this… he truly is a wicked man!"

"Something is telling me that that panther wasn't alone," Zelda said uncomfortably. She rubbed the back of her neck and said, "I mean, who's to say there aren't more of those right ahead, waiting for us?"

Link took out his boomerang and hurled it forward. "If it comes back, the path before us is clear."

"Right, because we all know that cats can't dodge boomerangs," Zelda said with sarcasm. "I've got a better idea." She struck a very unique pose, her eyes shut, and she held her arms out in front of her. The Princess appeared to be concentrating very hard, but this didn't exactly register with her friends.

"Um…what's….she doing?" Malon asked.

"YAH!" Zelda ejaculated, flicking her wrist. Way further down the passageway, a burst of light suddenly appeared. It bobbed in midair for a moment, then vanished.

"Did you see anything?" the Princess asked, panting a little.

"Nope," Link asked, failing in his attempt to mask how much he was impressed. "Not one single cat."

"Wow, that was incredible," Saria said, slowly getting to her feet with Malon's steady aide.

"Wasn't it that what you did before to light the torches?" Malon queried. "Only this time it went a lot farther?"

"Precisely," Zelda answered nonchalantly.

"But…mightn't there still be cats down that corridor, your majesty?" Saria asked as politely as she could. "I mean, ones that your magic might have passed by whilst it traveled down the passageway? We wouldn't have seen them…"

"Whilst?" Malon repeated under her breath.

"I'd have known they were there," Zelda said, taking the torch and ignoring Malon's crude statement. "I'd have sensed it as the magic went by it… I'm not sure exactly how to explain."

"Well, let's keep moving then," Link said, slightly shaken. He let out a groan when his boomerang came out of no where and bashed him on the head. "Ah…"

His companions laughed at this; the unexpected force had sent him to the ground. Giggling ruefully, Zelda offered him a hand to stand up. "A nice idea, but maybe you shouldn't throw that thing around if you can't see it coming back to you."

"Ha, ha, yeah, I'll keep it in mind," Link said, rolling his eyes. He took Zelda's hand and got to his feet. "As I was saying, let's go." He gave the Princess's hand a squeeze before letting go.

They walked relatively slowly, as if afraid that they'd get ambushed by a tiger or something each time they turned a corner. Then Zelda saw something that made them all gasp with horror: a fork in the road.

"Ugh, I wonder how old this is," Malon said, picking up the piece of silverware and staring at it.

"That must mean that we're getting close to where Ganondorf stays," Link deduced. "Either that, or we're near his dungeons."

"Does it say on that map of yours?" Saria asked.

Link got out the map and looked carefully. "No, but we should be coming upon a fork somewhere up here."

"Yeah, we did," Malon said, holding up the fork. "Wow, that map is a genius!"

"He means a fork in the road, Malon," Saria sighed. "As in there are two different pathways that can be taken…?"

"Oh!"

"I think some of that potion she took may have lingering effects," Zelda muttered to Link. He managed a smile and put away the map.

"There's a fork right in front of us," Saria pointed out. There was silence as each of the four thought to themselves which path should be taken. Finally, Saria said, "I think we should split up. Two and two."

"I don't know," Link said. "If the group without Zelda were to find the Triforce, they wouldn't be able to use it."

"Yeah, but we don't necessarily need to use it right away," Zelda said. "If… the people without me found it, we could meet up later—look." She took the map out of Link's bag and put her finger at the spot where they were. "You see? The two different passageways meet up later?"

"How far is that?" Saria asked. She took an empty torch off the wall and held it to the one they'd been using, making it catch fire. She scanned the map with it.

"There's no distance chart on this map," Link answered for her. "So…it's kind of hard to say how long the pathways are. But that doesn't matter, because I don't think we should split up."

"Link, do you still have your ocarina?" Zelda asked.

"Yeah, here," Link said, taking the instrument out from his bag.

"Keep it," she said. "Saria and I will go down the left passageway; you and Malon go down the right. If you two find the Triforce, play Saria's song. We'll be able to speak with you, then. Walk back to the beginning of the pathway and meet us there." The Princess paused, as if thinking about something else. "Play the song every ten minutes—that way, if you get attacked or captured, we'll know if something is the matter."

The three commoners stared at her.

There's a flaw somewhere in this plan, I know there is, Link said. Or maybe I just don't want to leave her…

"With all due respect, your highness, is that a good plan?" Malon asked timidly.

"It's more than what you lot are suggesting," Zelda said back. "Or would you rather be with your sister?"

"Um…yes, I think so," Malon said, shifting her gaze towards the weak Saria.

"But then, if you two found the Triforce, you wouldn't be able to contact us," Link said. "And isn't that the point of using the ocarina?"

"YOU KNOW WHAT?" Saria said loudly. The group stared at her, not quite used to her speaking at such a high a volume. She cleared her throat. "I don't think it makes quite a difference. As it has already been pointed out, the tunnels will come back together in the end. I don't know how much that map is in proportion, but if one of us finds the Trifroce, couldn't we just meet up later on? Chances are that if two of us are captured, Ganon's men will enter the other path as well. We're in the same boat either way."

"Um…I think she has a point," Malon said.

"Oh, and I wanted to use my ocarina," Link lamented, frowning.

"There'll be time for that later," Zelda said distractedly. "Kudos, Saria. You and Malon take that way—" She jerked her thumb to the left—"And Link and I will go here."

Without another word, the pairs turned and went their separate ways.

"Are you sure you're okay to walk?" Malon asked, as Saria limped along behind her (at a considerably slower rate).

"Uh, yeah," Saria panted. "I'm fine."

"Of course you are," Malon said sarcastically when her sister fell flat on her face. She sighed. "Drop your pride for a minute and let me carry you. At least for a little while. Just a little… bit?"

"Aw, fine," Saria huffed from her position on the dirty ground.

Malon walked over and picked up Saria. She put one arm underneath Saria's back and the other under her legs. "C'mon…oof."

"Geez, am I that heavy?"

"Ha, no."

There was quietness between them for a few moments as they (or rather Malon) trudged along. "This reminds me of that time when I was six and I fell from the roof… you carried me just like this all the way to a doctor. Do you remember that?"

"Of course I do," Malon answered. "Although your legs were in a much worse fix then than they are now."

"Thanks, Malon," Saria said after a long pause.

"Always there for you, sis." Malon's eyes suddenly widened. "Whoa! Saria, move the torch to the left?"

"What is it?"

"Good Goddesses!" Malon exclaimed, dropping her sister by accident in the shock of her discovery.

"OUCH! Malon!"

"Oh, sorry," Malon apologized, taking Saria's outstretched hand and helping her back up. "I kind of forgot I was holding you."

"Gee. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

"What is it that got your attention, anyway?" Saria asked, rubbing her backside.

"Look," Malon said. She took the torch and walked over to what appeared to be a large bookshelf. "Look at all this."

"Wow," Saria breathed, limping over. "…what is it?"

"I have no idea," Malon replied indifferently. "But c'mon, let's look." She picked up a large book and had a coughing fit the second it left the shelf. Dust was everywhere.

"Oh, nice job," Saria coughed, backing away from the shelf and her sister.

"Quiet," Malon muttered, cautiously opening the book. She turned the pages, and her brow furrowed in confusion. "It's in another language…"

"Looks like Ancient Hylian to me," Saria said, looking over Malon's shoulder. "You wouldn't happen to know how to read it, would you?"

"Saria, did I ever go to school?" Malon asked in a falsely sweet voice.

"No."

"Do I know any Ancient Hylians?"

"I don't think so."

"Exactly. I have no idea what in Hyrule this means!"

"Um, why is it here?" Saria wondered, running the torch's light across the rest of the shelves. "I don't see any other books."

"Neither do I," Malon said. "Wait, look—there's something there."

Saria picked up the single piece of parchment. "The ink is very faded … it looks like a diagram or something."

"Keep that," Malon said. "It could be important."

"Do you think that the Princess knows how to read Ancient Hylian?" Saria questioned, carefully folding the paper and sticking it underneath her belt.

"Maybe…but this book is really fat and heavy," Malon said. She skimmed through it. "We can't lug it around with us forever … hmm, these pictures indicate that it's some kind of potion book—"

"Potions could come in handy," Saria said.

"What are the chances of us having ingredients, though?" Malon asked, putting the book back in its place. "Come on…"

Meanwhile…

For once it seemed that Link and Zelda were having trouble talking. Neither could think of a suitable conversation topic, and each was waiting awkwardly for the other to bring something up.

A couple of times, Zelda swore she could hear Link saying something, and each time she would glance briefly at him. The third time she did this, Link looked over at her with a confused look.

"Is…there something you want to say?" he asked uncomfortably.

"I keep thinking that I hear you talking," Zelda sighed. "Are you muttering under your breath to yourself, or something?"

"No," he answered, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure you're hearing right?"

His answer came when the Princess came to a dead halt. He stopped and noticed that her eyes were clamped shut, her teeth bared and her hands clutching either side of her head. "Zelda?"

"Someone's talking to me!" she exclaimed, sinking to her knees. "Where's that voice coming from!"

Stop…

"Why?"

There's danger ahead…there's danger here…

"No…can…escape…"

Let me inside your head…show me where that Triforce is!

The Princess could no longer speak; her head felt as if it had been split in two. I don't know where the Triforce is, she thought.

You're lying!

I'm not, I'm not…

Then you are going to suffer at my hands. I'm going to kill you!

Link jumped when Zelda suddenly let out a loud scream and sank completely to the dirt ground. He was instantly down beside her and she turned to rest her face on his shoulder. Link put an arm comfortingly around her and they were soon in a very tight embrace (once he had laid the torch down beside them). Her body was heaving slightly with small sobs.

"Zelda, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Ganondorf…he was talking t-to me," she said, shivering. "Telepathically—he said he wants to kill me…but that shouldn't have worried me, I know he wants me dead… it must be that I've never heard him say that to me in person before…"

Link was at a loss for words, so he merely massaged her back gently. "I'm … sorry about that, Zel."

"I'll be okay," she said, though her tears might've implied otherwise. She closed her eyes and laid a light kiss on his ear. "Come on, let's…let's get going."

"We can stop for a minute," Link said with concern as they slowly stood up.

"No," Zelda muttered, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand. "No, we've wasted enough time." She continued to walk , but she was stopped when Link took hold of her elbow. The Princess looked back at him questioningly.

Link pulled himself closer to her and kissed her on the mouth. She sighed, closing her eyes again and hugging him tightly. Briefly her tongue penetrated his open mouth and they stood there loving each other, while the torch threw light on them from where it lay on the ground.

The Princess drew back first, casting her look downwards. "Let's go, Link," she said in a firm voice.

The warrior silently acquiesced and bent down to pick up the torch. As they continued on, he took Zelda's hand and did not let go. A smile played briefly on her lips before her expression became serious again.

A/N: You like? At all? Did this suck horribly? Please review and let me know!