I have decided something about this story. From now on, I will be doing two things. First, each chapter I write will be shorter than I would like them to be on the grounds of I don't have the time to write longer chapters and I really want to finish this story. Second, no more author notes at the end of the chapter as I believe it takes away from the story. Ok, that's it, and now onto the next chapter.

Another soft whump echoed down the lonely halls of the cavern as a man toppled to the ground, a silly grin plastered on his face as he connected with the ground. The man behind him sighed as he began searching the man's pockets, delving into each one on a rampant search for one thing.

"Fifteen guards and not one of them has a map to this place," he muttered softly, as he finally finished his search. He glanced around the room he was in at the moment, noticing how it looked like all the rest; cold, dreary and dark. He gave the empty cavern one last glance before he got off his knees and headed back up the tunnel from where he had come. It had been the fifth tunnel he had tried and just as the last four had ended with nothing, so had this one.

"Could this place be any more confusing?" he pondered as he made his way up the rocky path towards what he deemed as the main lobby of the cavern system. His boots make a soft plunking sound as he marched his way back up the meandering pathway as it sloped up towards the rest of the rooms he had so far explored. Slowing down as he neared a sharp turn in the cave, several voices, hushed and muffled could be heard from around the bend. Link snuck forward quietly, avoiding any loose rocks or pebbles under his feet that would give him away and thanking the dim light of the caves, as he poked his head around the corner. He groaned inwardly as he saw two guards talking to each other just on the other side of the room, holding a single torch and wearing more armor than any of the previous guards had.

He pulled his head back around the corner, leaning against the wall as he tried to figure out how to distract the guards. As he pondered the situation, he fingers twisted the heavy maple-wood torch he had been using as a club throughout the tunnels. He fingers wound around the knots and grooves in the heavy wood as he again poked his head around the edge of the tunnel.

"Yep, still there…" he grumbled softly as he again returned to his spot behind the bend in the rock. Creating a mental image of the room, Link went through all of the different situations he could try to get them to leave. He had done everything with the seven other guards he had met; from throwing his torch at the back of one man's head, to even trying to call out to one in a girl's voice to lure him done a different hallway.

I hope Zelda never hears about that one…his mind murmured as he watched the scene replay in his mind. His mind fumbled for a solution, something that could distract both guards while trying not to hurt them in any way. In the forest, when he was fighting for his life, he felt it reasonable to take a man's life, but not when he was simply sneaking around. It was the reason he hadn't taken any of the swords from any of the guards. Besides it being suspicious for a guard to be found sword less knocked out and splayed on the floor in awkward positions, not that it wasn't weird anyways, he didn't want the temptation of using a sword in the caverns. Link again peered around the corner as he heard the guards start conversing again, the dim light of the guard's torch flickering softly in the darkness.

"So why are we here again?"

"I don't know. Boss simply said to guard this tunnel, so we are guarding this tunnel."

The first guard cast a dubious look towards the other, more larger guard.

"Yeah, but, why does the boss want us to guard this tunnel?"

"Because he said so," the second responded with a gruff hacking sound as he spit a large wad of mucas to the floor of the cavern.

"That is disgusting," the other guard said as he stared at the large pile of goo on the floor. "You know we walk on that right?"

"Yeah , who cares. I don't."

"But, that could end up on your boots though."

"For pete's sake, Pete, I don't care about your overdeveloped queasiness about germs. Get over it, unless you want to go clean it up."

Link groaned as the two guards started arguing about if it is disgusting or not to spit anywhere you wanted to.

This is going to be a long day….he finally decided as he moved around the corner and out of sight, the guards bickering echoing in the backgroun. It was definitely going to be a long day.

A warm breeze swept through the small valley they were riding through, whipping the tall grass on either side of them back and forth by the invisible breeze. In a way, it almost reminded the young woman of Hyrule field, with its gently sloping hills and grassy meadows as far as the eye could see…with the faint outline of the Kokiri forest at the very edge of the horizon. She stretched, letting out a huge yawn as her muscles strained at the sudden movement.

"As beautiful as this place here, I really hope that we can catch up with Link before too long. This saddle isn't the best seat to be sitting in 12 hours a day."

Zelda turned towards her friend with a smile on her face. "I never supposed that I would hear a statement like that from you, Malon."

"What," Malon laughed in response. "I just get tired of sitting in a saddle just as much as the next woman." Zelda stared back towards the plains before them as her friend began to laugh.

"It is just good to know that you are human too," Zelda giggled, as the two rode down the windy pathway under the beaming sun above. Just ahead of them was a large signpost, neatly sliced down the center causing both sides to bend outwards, an awkward sight as the two approached it.

"Well, we know Link wasn't here," Malon mused as she glanced at one side of the split post.

"Why's that?" Zelda asked curiously.

The red head turned towards her friend with a sly smile. "Because there would be a nice stretchy piece of bowstring in between those two posts creating a slingshot if he had been."

Zelda sat puzzled for a moment, then began to giggle loudly. "You are so right on that Malon," She replied, trying to stifle her giggling fit. "I can see him doing something like that." The two woman nudged their horses onward as the wind tugged against them, growing steadily stronger as another hour passed by.

"Hey Zelda."

The blonde woman gave a soft hmm, as she turned towards her friend, apparently lost in thought about something.

"Yes, what's up?"

"Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" Zelda murmured, set a bit at unease by the tone of Malon's voice.

"The wind…it feels, almost like it is trying to force us to turn around."

Zelda turned her head back towards the path ahead, instantly feeling the wind pounding against her face, not that it suddenly had happened, it was just the first time she had really noticed it.

"Yeah…I think the wind has been acting a bit strange lately. I know it is usually windy over plains, but…never a constant wind like this one has been."

Malon nodded as Hyrule's princess turned to face her. "That's what I mean," Malon responded as she brought her horse to a stop. "This doesn't feel like a natural wind. It almost feels…eerie. Like something is causing it." Malon's eyes turned towards the a large field of wildflowers beginning to bloom to their right. Some of the smaller, lighter flowers were nearly horizontal, while the majority were almost parallel to the ground.

"Now that you mention that…I have been noticing a tiny bit of magic in the air for the past several hours," Zelda added. "It is very faint, but a strong, steady pulse. Almost like someone is trying to hide them using magic from anyone."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that someone is currently using a lot of magic to do something, but is trying to cover it as well, so it is creating a kind of magical pulse that travels through the air, just like wind does. In this case, I'm guessing this must be someone who possess a lot of magical prowess, although I'm not sure who it could be, if that is what is causing this strange wind."

Malon sat back in her saddle, chewing over the princesses words, all the while trying to focus on the air around them. She did notice that the wind did seem a bit weird…almost….

"Tingly?"

Zelda turned back towards her friend. "What was that?"

Malon popped her head up. "Does the magic feel a bit, like a tingling sensation?" For a moment Zelda looked perplexed.

"Yes…it does kind of feel like that, but only people who are attuned to magic, or have magical blood flowing in their veins can feel it. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing, nothing," Malon laughed as she straigtened her hair that had fallen across her eyes. "I was just wondering."

In truth, Malon was feeling something different about the wind, something that made her a bit on edge about traveling across the wide open field. It felt like they were too open, too exposed…too…

"Visible?"

Both women halted as the voice rang out over the lonely hills and vales, its sound piercing and chilling their souls. Their eyes scanned the hills surrounding them, yet found nothing but swaying grass and small shrubs here and there.

"Who's there?" Zelda yelled out over the expanse of green.

"Zelda," Malon whispered, "the wind has stopped."

The monarch of Hyrule paused for a moment as she finally noticed it as well.

"Looks like it was a magical wind after all," Malon said as she continued glancing around for the mysterious voice. That is, until she felt a slight tapping on her shoulder. She turned around slowly as the air around her began to grow chilly and cold. As she turned, her eyes finally focused on a behemoth of a man in the darkest black armor she had ever seen in her life. Her eyes widened as it felt like all the remaining joy in her slid away from her, leaving her full of fear and anxiety.

"Hello."

"Finally, I found it."

Link wiped the trickle of sweat sliding down his forehead as he fiddled with the keys in his hands, trying to find the one that most matched the door in front of him. It had taken him several hours of searching and a really ingenious trick involving a stalagmite, chainmail and a candle to get theses keys from the last two guards but he had finally done it.

This has almost been worse than the water temple, sheesh…He heard a click as the key slipped into the lock, causing the door to slowly creak open. The key in the lock suddenly began to melt, causing a pool of liquid to form on the ground before even that evaporated.A smile spread on Link's face as he opened the door as quietly as he could. Why do keys always do that? He wondered as he slowly closed the door behind him.

The room, he noticed, was immense by all measures of being in a huge cave system.

This makes that cavern in the fire temple look tiny he thought as he wandered around the edges of the room, glancing at the rows of pikes, swords, armor and bows that were lining the walls. He passed through a small ray of light and glanced up. Above him, the ceiling had several holes in it, allowing sunlight to pass through, lighting the room without the need of candles or lanterns.

At least now I know about what time it is.

Link continued making his way down the lines of weapons, searching them for his particular sword and shield that were given to him by the King of Hyrule himself. After searching all of the racks of weapons, he finally came across a large chest, big enough to probably hide in if he really wanted to, not that it would be too comfortable of a fit.

"You have got to be kidding me," he laughed as he put his hands on the chest. "Not even a boss to get my stuff back." He pushed on the lid of the chest, opening it quickly as he smiled at the contents inside.

"Da da da da!"

Link spun around while grabbing his sword from the box at the odd sound coming from somewhere in the room.

"Looks like you have found the Hero's Weapons," came the voice from across the room.

"Who's there?"

The sound of footsteps drawing closer rang in Link's ears as he saw a figure appear from the edge of the shadows and into one of the beams of sunlight streaming from the ceiling. When Link finally saw the figure, his mind began reeling at the face of who he was looking at. The person laughed when he saw Link's confusion.

"Surprised? You should definitely know who I am, Link."

"But, how, I thought…what happened…" Link was stumbling over his words as the figure again laughed lightly, his voice echoing in the empty chamber.

"How are you here?" Link finally managed to blurt out as the figure strode towards him, the man's crystal blue eyes and dark tunic glittering as he walked through one of the sunbeams.

"What do you mean?" the man asked as he finally stood in front of Link, a slight smirk on his face.

"You died."