They were greeted inside Kakariko gates by Hierophant, seated in a cross-legged fashion with a gnarled walking stick in the crook of his arm. "Sabra said you would arrive sometime today." He stood stiffly, milky eyes just a little above Rayne's face. "I take it that your quest in the Forest Temple was successful?"

"Yes." Rayne followed the elder as he walked to Impa's home at a steady pace. "The Temple has been liberated and the sage is safely in the Sacred Realm."

"Good, good." He opened the door, an ambrosial smell wafting through the air and surrounding the hungry travelers. "Empress and Temperance have been cooking since early this morning, they assumed you would be starving upon your return."

The blind wizard stepped out of the warpath as the travelers rushed into the house, chuckling and hobbling in after them.

…………………………………………………………………………………

Rayne finished eating, letting the fresh bread absorb the remaining stew in her bowl, watching as the brown of it became tinted red and engorged. She had listened as Link explained to the assembled crowd the events that had passed within the temple of green and ghosts, adding her own comments whenever the blonde hero faltered in his rendition. He was particularly unsure what had occurred between Dumno and herself, but when the topic came up she begged a headache and fled to her room. She shut the door behind her, putting an ear to its cool surface to make sure that the conversation had continued in her absence. When she was certain no one was curious enough about her abrupt illness to intrude upon her room, Rayne fell upon her bed, clutching the quilts and burying her head into an inadequately stuffed pillow. Closing her eyes resulted in an immediate replay of the horrors provided in plenty by the Forest Temple and sleep was a distant sun covered by dark clouds of anguished uncertainty.

The only reason she had been able to defeat Dumno was because Chronos had convinced her that he was only a clever fake; she had frozen up in a most unhelpful manner, unable to do anything but gibber garbled words of fear when Ganondorf appeared, eyes full of bloody madness.

Rayne toyed with a frayed edge of her blanket, listening to the pleasant clinking of plates and soft conversation that filtered in through the crack between the floorboards and her door. Would she be able to stand against Ganondorf when the time came? Rayne didn't know, and it was the inability to answer such a pressing query that was eating away at her. She had accompanied Link only because she believed that her presence would provide decent support to the aspiring hero, but her latest actions were proving less than effectual.

She sat up quickly when a light tap sounded at her door, hesitant and soft. Her hair was messy and she finger-combed it in an impulsive attempt to make herself presentable. "Yes?" she called.

"Rayne?" It was Link's voice, made quieter by the wooden blockade. "Are you okay?"

Her mouth twisted in a grimace-smile as she lowered her hands back onto the coverlet. "I'm fine, Link, thank you for asking."

For a moment she thought he had left, so quiet was the space outside her door, but then a faint noise changed her mind. "Was there something else?" she asked tonelessly, despising and taking refuge in the emotionally void utterance. She stared at the door, wishing at once to see him and to make him go.

"No… no, I suppose not." His distinctive footfalls echoed as he walked away.

Rayne clenched a square of cloth on the quilt, intricate stitching displaying a field of dandelions weathering an oncoming storm. She was tired, sick of the anxious foreboding thoughts of falling apart permanently. She was frightened ... she could see the looming danger poised to attack. But first and foremost, she was disgusted at her own cowardice.

………………………………………………………………………………

Link sat down quietly, hands comforting one another in the safety of his lap. The crowd had thinned down to two but the warrior hardly noticed, his gaze was one of introversion and no one dared disturb him.

Impa watched him but also said nothing. She cleared the table in front of him, careful to keep the clinking to a minimum. When the plates and bowels were safely in the washing basin, the female took a seat across from Link and awaited his acknowledgement.

Temperance approached her from behind, tapping on her shoulder and whispering in the Sheikah's ear before setting a package wrapped in leather on the table and exiting. Link blinked into alertness, looking at the package and then at Impa in askance.

The female warrior smiled. "Preoccupied?" she questioned.

The young man nodded, expression sheepish. "I'm worried." He admitted. "The first Temple nearly killed us all."

"But it didn't." she reminded him. "Don't wrap yourself up in a world of could-have-beens, no matter how convenient it may seem."

"How is it convenient?" Link demanded without real heat, fingers tapping on the countertop in a gesture of restlessness.

"Would it not be convenient to claim your task too great a burden and hide here forever?" the Sheikah asked with an airy innocence, startling the blonde hero.

"I would never!" he began, but Impa held up a hand for silence.

"I am merely saying that it would be easier to claim that it was too hard and give up, would it not?"

Link rose and began to pace, the topic rankling to his ears. "Of course it would be easier," he admitted grudgingly. "But that isn't the point."

"Then what is the point, Link?" Impa cupped a cheek in her palm, her elbow on the table acting as a support. "Why fight?"

"I'm fighting to protect everyone!" he exploded, displaying rare temper as his face darkened. "I'm fighting for you and for Talon, for Saria and Haruko. I'm fighting for Time and the Goddesses."

"And Rayne?" Impa slipped in slyly, watching curiously as the fervor drained out of his face.

"And for Rayne." He whispered, reluctant to meet her face.

Impa casually leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms over her chest. "And what about Malon?"

Link's face fell and he crumpled in a boneless manner back into the solidity of his chair. "That wasn't fair Impa." He murmured, removing his hat and running a hand through his pale hair.

The Sheikah's indomitable countenance softened with the vaguest hints of sorrow and regret. "No, but it hasn't been as such in a long time, Link. Fairness has been bled out of Hyrule and all that is left is a shameful death."

The female warrior stood and walked over to the open window, studying the advent of twilight. "We're losing, Link." She closed the shutters and turned to face him in the dim candlelight, deep shadows thrown across her angular features. "We hate to admit it, but we are. Ganondorf grows more dangerous with each passing day, his influence spreading like a wildfire that leaves only blackened skeletons and ash in its wake; power is his single ally and it has served him hatefully well.

"The resistance grows small, Link, they are succumbing to his power one by one, or dying for their trouble. Arcana is the only significant rebellion still opposing him, but we aren't large enough to take him on alone. We will be defeated, Link. We will fight with all we possess, every magic, every weapon, every conceivable strategy and even some that are not, and we will still lose. It has become a matter of time rather than a question of it. He will infiltrate our stronghold soon and nothing short of the Goddesses Themselves will be able to stop the slaughter that will follow."

She was observing him, amethyst eyes like two chips of colored ice. "We are betting everything on you. If you fail, we fail. If you waver we will crumble. I know it doesn't seem right, we can only help you in limited ways, sparing small resources and a single teenage girl." Impa sat back, uncomfortable with long speeches. "We perform our own operations while you release the Temples, we are the only recognizable force that still stands against the Gerudo dictator and we will remain as such. We will continue to help you but Ganondorf must not know that you are the true threat."

Link's eyes widened with comprehension. "You're acting as a decoy, to distract him while Rayne and I disable his control in the Temples."

Impa smiled, a bestial gesture. "Yes, the only reason he did not appear himself to dissuade you from awakening the Forest Sage is because we were causing a small distraction in the Fire Temple. We were not able to locate the sage within before we were forced away, but many of the puzzles have been solved and a number of locked portals opened; passage through this Temple will be simpler for you than the previous one was."

"Ganondorf has had his hands full." Link remarked with a grim smile. "Any help you can give us is more welcome than you could possible realize, Impa."

The Sheikah bowed her head in acceptance of such a compliment. "I thought you would appreciate that." She pushed the hide-bound package across the table to Link. "And I believe you will appreciate this as well."

The young man accepted the packet with a bewildered glance, unwrapping it tentatively until a flash of crimson caught his eye. He gripped the textile with both hands and tugged it out, staring at the thick material with awe. The tunic was slightly heavier than the one he wore, a Goron print on the shoulder assuring him that it was of Death Mountain make. He laid it out on the table to examine it better.

"It's a mix of sewn bomb flower leaves and light metals, dipped in a well of dragon's blood." Impa stroked the rough tunic, tracing the veins of what had once been a leaf. "Temperance lined the inside with cotton so that the leaves do not rub your skin raw; Simri, or Tower as you were acquainted with him, had it tucked away in the odds and ends of things he rescued from Death Mountain before his escape.

"It is fire retardant and will repel most blunt blows. Don't assume you are invulnerable, knives and swords can still slip between the seams where the leaves meet. You can also be crushed or blown to bits, so be wary. It will only guard you from the Mountain's magma for so long if you become submerged, so keep that in mind.

"The only notable utility that will aid you is the fact that, even if it isn't covering the entirety of your body, the tunic will still protect you. The dragon's blood expels an aura that will guard you, if flame splashes your face, your hands, your feet, the blood will make certain there is no more harm done than to the parts of you that are unexposed."

Link began to nod, then his brow furrowed. "There's only one tunic." He remarked, staring at the empty leather vessel. "Won't Rayne need a tunic as well?"

Impa sighed, toying with the shorn edges of her silvery hair. "About that… Talon would prefer if she remained here."

Link's lips tightened and his fingers curled protectively around the scratchy tunic. "Is this about her wounds?" he questioned softly.

"Partly." The Sheikah admitted, "But it's also the fact that the Fire Temple is so perilous, more so perhaps than the Forest Temple. He's worried for her; he's worried for both of you. Talon believes that it might be easier on the two of you if she wasn't there."

"Talon thinks, but you disagree." The blonde man-child guessed, reading into her stoic expression.

Impa shrugged uneasily, and then leaned forward conspiratorially, eyes alight. "Even if he forbids it, she will follow you; it's instinct, gut and otherwise that guides her, and she knows that being with you is important, even if the reason is indistinct."

"I'm not so sure…" Link followed the contours of the Goron paw print burned into the red-dyed foliage. "I think something in the Forest Temple frightened her in some way, scared her until she… put up a mental wall to block it all out." The warrior frowned at his word choice but could think of no suitable synonym.

He felt an instant pang of compunction at Impa's concerned face. "What do you mean? When?"

Link thought back, pulling at memories made shoddier by Saria's goodbye. "The Ganondorf copy." He recalled, "She froze up completely because she thought he was the real one."

The Sheikah measured him in silence, purple eyes burning into his as though willing to see the past events through his eyes. "I hadn't considered that." She said finally, rising slowly. "Perhaps I should talk to her."

"I already tried." Link clasped her forearm gently when she attempted to pass, releasing her only when she ceased walking. "She didn't seem up to a conversation."

Impa glanced at him, hesitating. "What would you suggest?"

"Leave her for now." Link instructed, startling when Chronos jumped onto his lap, purring softly. "If she needs to work it out for herself, we'll just be interrupting her."

The silver-haired Sheikah was looking at the black cat, a small line drawn on her forehead. She met Link's gaze. "If you think that would be best."

"If she doesn't snap out of it alone, you can always step in." Link amended, rubbing a velveteen ear between index and thumb while Chronos pawed playfully at his wrist. "We don't want to lead her down the wrong road to recovery."

Impa smiled, an empty gesture. "Is there a wrong road to recovery?"

"I think the question here has become is there a right one?" Link picked the cat up off his legs, setting it on the ground and standing. "I'm going to ask Chariot to take a look at my shield and see if he can't improve it. Goodnight Impa."

Link opened the door and carefully shut it behind him, a trotting Chronos on his heels.

Impa didn't watch them leave; she was busy observing the sputtering candle on the table, shifting in an unsettling manner across the ruby tunic that Link had left spread over the top. For just an instant she saw an elongated snout covered in small, glinting scales with a single orange slit eye regarding her with an insatiable hunger. But when the female blinked the image was gone and only the memory, murky and primal, remained.

………………………………………………………………………………………

When they had exited the building, Link glanced around to make certain that there was no one around before looking down at the satisfied Chronos. "Why did you use my voice in there?" he asked indignantly.

The cat raised its shoulder blades in a shrug. "It needed to be said and I wasn't sure you could do it."

"You did the same thing to Rayne before." Link remarked, remembering the oddity of Chronos' masculine voice flitting from the young woman's lips.

"Yes." The cat jumped up on Link's shoulder when a Kokiri female and Hylian girl passed by, staring at the hero and giggling behind their hands before fleeing. "You have quite a few admirers."

"Don't change the subject." Link warned lowly.

Chronos sighed. "Rayne needs to overcome this obstacle alone. You can't help her by covering the trail with pretty, well-meant lies. She has built Ganondorf up in her mind to be some unconquerable beast, but she needs to correct that misconception; he is a fiend but he is not invincible. If she can't do so, then she will fall apart when you finally confront him."

Link frowned deeply. "She may not ever do so, Talon wants her to stay here."

"So I heard." The cat remarked amusedly, jumping down once more. "But I don't think she'll break her perfect streak for obstinacy now, do you?"

"I don't know…" the blonde warrior divulged, staring off into the looming darkness of the sky. "It's hard to tell. Too many things have been lost or ruined to assume that everything will work out in the end."

Chronos said nothing; it was quite possible that he hadn't needed to use Link's voice to make his point after all, the young warrior was getting wiser with each passing day. Such a shame, now who would he tease? Well, there was always Rayne…

…………………………………………………………………………………

Rayne opened one heavy eyelid, glancing around her room and recognizing that it was night. She pushed herself up, jumping when the figure beside her mumbled incoherently. Haruko had curled up under the blankets, which had gathered around her face and tiny middle, leaving her feet uncovered. Said appendages were at extremes from one another, one hanging off the edge of the mattress where it twitched occasionally while the other was thrown out over Rayne's stomach. She snickered quietly, gripping the soft sole of the young girl's foot and setting it on the bed next to her. She set her own feet down on the floor, fully prepared for the cold shock, and began to pick her way across the room to the exit. Rayne cracked her door open, peering out before opening it fully.

A candle, melting into a grey puddle on the table, provided enough light for her to see that she was the only person besides Haruko in Impa's home. Rayne pulled the door closed behind her, hoping that the inconstant light had not awakened the young girl slumbering in her quarters. When she was sure Haruko was still sleeping, she tiptoed to the kitchen to find something to chew on, the meal she had eaten when they had first arrived seeming like a distant memory.

She found some hard yellow cheese and fluffy brown bread, making little stacks out of them for herself and Haruko when she ceased dreaming. Rayne positioned them on a plate and set them down on the table before she noticed the red tunic. Frowning with a newly made sandwich caught between her teeth, she circled around the counter until it was in front of her.

Rayne took the food from her mouth, chewing slowly as she stared. There was something strangely off about the article of clothing, the way its image settled across her eyes, the smell that wafted up from it to her nose and touched the pink buds of her tongue.

The novice sorceress reached out, putting an index finger to the sleeve and running it sideways curiously. Little barbs caught, tearing through the first layer of skin and drawing no blood. She drew her hand back, examining the results closely before shifting her gaze back to the tunic.

It was obviously made to be a fire deterrent, that much she could hazard from a distant recall of Hierophant's brief lessons concerning specialized elemental clothing. The scent was faded but what remained was unquestionably musky with an odd tang that reminded her vaguely of heavy or fired copper. Blood of some kind, possibly from a fire salamander or a phoenix, although both were extremely nasty toward Hylians and notoriously hard to kill; if one were determined enough, a fire-based creature could be caught and utilized to make such a useful piece of magic.

The distinct pattern indicated that some sort of large foliage had been stitched together, along with some metal that she couldn't classify. All in all, it was an intriguing vestment, intended for the Fire Temple where heat sucked the moisture out of the skin so quickly that it peeled like bark on a dead tree.

Rayne had heard of people braving the depths of the volcano and falling unconscious from the heat; their bodies blackened beyond identification and stinking like charred meat. Those who managed to somehow avoid suffering the same fate could only bypass the smoking husks of faded humanity; dragging their bodies would have strained whatever magic kept the living from burning up and joining their more foolhardy fellow adventurers.

Rayne heard Haruko stirring in the next room, calling for her in a voice that implied sleep was still lying heavily against her eyes. The young sorceress stared at the tunic for a few seconds longer before turning on her heel and striding toward the door. She walked into the room, sitting on the bed and calming the confused girl by running a hand through her hair. Rayne whispered consoling words against nightmares until Haruko fell back into a soft sleep. Rayne watched her, wishing that her worries could be so easily assuaged and just as unreal.

There had been only one fire tunic, a single cloth pass into an aptly named volatile mountain of black obsidian and air-light pumice. Link was leaving her behind.

………………………………………………………………………………………..

Link hefted the shield onto his right arm and drew his sword, testing to see if it still threw him off balance.

"Well?" Chariot asked gruffly, wiping his face with a cottony sheet and ceasing to air the bellows.

"It is very well crafted." Link granted him, touching the slightly warm, blank face.

"Yes." The fire-darkened blacksmith said simply, taking it from Link and investigating it himself. "Is it light enough?"

"Yes," Link couldn't help but feel offended at the question; a child could have lifted the guard without much trouble. "But that's what worries me." He absolutely refused to shrink back from Chariot's disgruntled glare. "It's almost too light."

"Hmph." Chariot placed the shield flat on his worktable and grabbed a short sword from the display behind him. Before Link had realized what he was doing, the tanned man had already raised the sword above his head and brought the flat of the blade down upon the recently created shield. The weapon broke with a thundering snap, the tip flying through the air to bury itself into the hardwood of the floor near an unhappy black cat.

"I fired it differently." The blacksmith explained, handing the undamaged shield back to the startled young warrior. "It is strong but not cumbersome as shields typically are. You will take a beating unlike that of which you have ever experienced on Death Mountain."

Link nodded, recognizing the strained note in Chariot's voice as one of disuse, it was probably the most he had spoken in one period of time before. "That's amazing."

Chariot shrugged, opening a cabinet and taking out various canisters filled to the brim with different colored dyes. Then he took a small hammer a chisel down from the highest shelf. "I suppose now you'd like to ruin a perfectly good shield by decorating it."

Link smiled, accepting the tools with a nod. "Of course."

"I worry about this generation." Chariot sighed heavily, bending to retrieve the sword tip buried in the ground and missing Link's smirking expression.

…………………………………………………………………………………….

Rayne was patiently waiting for someone to walk through the door. She had the tunic next to her, evidence to present during her interrogation. The candle had died and darkness was a questionable companion, at once both suffocating and providing needed concealment. Numbness was wearing off and anger, dark red and fiery, was settling in her gut. Had Link agreed to leave her or had he been bulled into it? Who had given the order to leave her behind to rot like excess fruit in this stuffy little village? She wanted to pace, wanted to rend and tear and scream. Rayne felt betrayed, relieved of duty without even a chance to disagree. She was still the helpless child, the mulish mess-maker, the odd one out. Decisions pertaining to her were made without a thought to her feelings on the subject and she was utterly sick of it.

There was a soft hiss of air as the door opened, snapping her out of her thoughts. Talon stood in the gateway, a smaller, more petite figure behind him. He seemed surprised to see her, sitting in the dusky room, but he recovered quickly, smiling and gesturing for the person behind him to enter. Star, pale haired and frowning delicately at the visibility in the room, did as she was bid, strolling over to Rayne and leaning down to lift her shirt and examine her bandages.

"Do you mind if I remove these partially?" The healer asked, pointing to the gauze.

Rayne inclined her head in acquiescence, then realized that the young woman probably hadn't seen the gesture and backed up the movement with words. "Do what is required, Sitareh."

The healer began to work, unwinding the bandages and gasping at the state of the wounds underneath. "These are awfully nasty, they were cleaned well though."

Rayne did not respond, her gaze was only for Talon who stood uncertainly in the doorway, tempted to enter the room but feeling the growing hostility. Star, also sensing the tension in the air, wisely remained silent.

The sorceress stared daggers at Talon, fists clenched in rage. "How dare you." She growled, drawing his attention to her face rather than the healer's careful movements. "It was you, wasn't it? The one who gave the order?"

Talon's face went carefully blank as though he had been preparing himself for this moment. "When did ya find out?"

"There's only one tunic." She snarled, twitching when Star's magic enveloped her back, frustratingly tranquil. "It wasn't hard to figure out from there; you were against my accompanying him to the Temples and these wounds were the perfect excuse to confine me here."

For just an instant the mask fell and there was confusion followed by some strange mingling of relief and disappointment. Then the emotionless façade was back in place, swift and anger provoking. "It'd be best fer all parties involved if ya remained 'ere."

Those words, spoken in his peculiar accent, set her off. "It's my choice! If you expect me to sit here until I acquire bedsores like some useless defect, then you should seriously reconsider. I will not sit back in this conflict; I refuse to take the coward's way out!"

"Stayin' 'live is not cowardice." Talon yelled in return, startling both girls. "You'd throw yer Goddess damned life 'way ifin you thought it would benefit an'one!"

Rayne stood, shivering with fury in only a half wrapped binding to conceal herself. "At least you imply that I would be useful, here all I can do is sit like a child and wait for the adults to make the nightmares disappear!"

"Yer a mage, Rayne, we need all the magick we kin get."

"You have Bri and Nic, not to mention Gaea for that, I'm a novice in comparison."

He was becoming visibly perturbed; Talon was terrible at hiding his feelings for long. "Damn, Rayne can't ya jus' do as yer told for once in yer life?"

"No." the fire had filtered out of her voice and iciness ruled her tone and features. "I may be afraid and I will more than likely be hurt again, but you can not honestly sit there and tell me that Arcana needs me more than Link."

Talon quieted, Star had long since finished mending the wounds on Rayne's back and was considering fleeing the scene. She had the sneaking suspicion that this ugly exchange was just warming up.

The Emperor paced, shoes squeaking faintly when he turned on his heel. "I won't let ya go." He said finally, facing her.

Rayne stood, fully cured and just as stubborn. "And I won't let you stop me."

……………………………………………………………………………………………..

Link had spent the night finishing his shield but sleep had claimed him sometime during the process. He was breathing quietly, paint and metallic shavings decorating his face and hair. Chariot examined the portion of the shield that Link's head did not block, admiring the perfected lines and paint job. He wondered who the child had mastered under, he seemed well versed in metalwork.

There was a knock on the open-air room, polite and unhurried. "Come on in, as if I could stop you." Chariot remarked gruffly, returning to stringing a hilt with leather for better grip.

Impa stepped in, holding up a hand in greeting. "Hello, Episkopos."

He didn't bother to look at her. "Empress." He greeted in his usual monotone.

The Sheikah's brow furrowed, "I've told you a hundred times to use my real name when we're in the village. It's only when we're doing operations on the outside that our Arcane names become necessary."

"Tough habit to break." The man replied tersely, continuing to wrap.

Impa sighed inaudibly, then began looking around with interest. "You know, I've lived in this village for most of my life and I've never been in here."

"Good for you." He muttered, flinching when he caught sight of her hurt expression in his peripheral vision and quickly expanded to let out the venom. "It isn't much to look at, anyway."

"It's charming." Impa disagreed, touching the tip of a completed spear and admiring the guilt work on the shiny surface. "This is very intricate; I didn't know you were so artistic."

Chariot snorted contemptuously. "Useless, the spear would do its job just as well without being decorated. I merely fulfilled a request."

"I always took you for a hard-bitten warrior." She remarked, smiling slightly. "But it's always nice to find something new out about an old friend."

"Hmph." He put the sword down and faced her. "I assume you came here for more than stimulating conversation."

Impa grinned, the change making her face look undeniably girlish. "Artistic and bossy, what a curious mixture."

"Empress…" he was taller than she and able to look down upon her even through the honorific title.

Her beam melted away and she was somber once more. "Rayne lost the dagger you made for her during battle, apparently its still circumnavigating somewhere around the Forest Temple. Regardless, she needs a replacement for the Fire Temple."

Chariot raised a brow, turning to open a small cabinet filled with short swords and long knives. "I thought Emperor was against her going."

"He was," the Sheikah replied, peering into the metallic selection. "But you know Rayne. She has a mind of her own and she's determined to blaze a path with it."

Chariot chose a blade, short and sharp with a deadly point, examining it before shaking his head and returning it to its proper place. "She has always been stubborn."

"Indeed." Impa glanced at Link, still asleep on the shield's face. "He's going to wake up with a kink in his neck."

"Best way to wake up." Chariot spoke with a nearly dreamy quality to his tone. He ignored Impa's pleased expression and hefted out two daggers, identical except for overall length. Their hilts were lined with gleaming aqua colored metal and feathered tassels with bright beads dangled where the base split off into a blade. One was slightly longer than the Sheikah's forearm while the other was roughly the size of a sword.

"I thought you didn't like decoration." The female said slyly, admiring the beads.

"It isn't decoration." Episkopos replied quickly, gesturing to the beads. "These are magic enhancers, they will be able to not only modify Rayne's talents but also force her to reconsider losing them; they have small increments of intelligence instilled into them by World so that they cannot be mislaid."

"Very impressive." Impa congratulated him. "And what are the feathers used for?"

Chariot's face was impassive, but she could sense his hackles rising in challenge; Impa quickly changed the subject. "I'm not quite sure Rayne could wield something of that size." She said, pointing to the longer of the two weapons.

Episkopos shrugged, untroubled. "They come as a set, she'll use both or neither."

The female warrior sighed irritably, she had forgotten how difficult their resident blacksmith could be at the slightest provocation. "Very well, but do not be surprised when one comes back scathed and the other untouched."

Chariot ignored her, wrapping the blades separately in leather and passing them into her arms. "Don't assume too much, pointy, she may surprise you."

Impa frowned at him, annoyed at the nickname, though it was a little less reserved than his typical name for her. A near inaudible snicker caught her ear and she turned to observe Link trying to quiet himself by hiding his face in his shield.

"Oh great…" Impa muttered, glare switching between the two males. "Now I'll never hear the end of it."

……………………………………………………………………………………

Chronos tip-toed around town in the pale light of sunrise, avoiding those early awake; he passed on silent paws a half-asleep Fool, running an errand from Sabra's home to Impa's. The cat slipped from shadow to shady corner, listening. He found the selected target seated on a crate, dyeing blades with black paint. He stopped, meowing quizzically at the hooded man. Devil turned blue eyes on the cat, then did a quick scan of the area before proceeding as before. "What is it that you want?"

"A full report, if you please." Chronos replied quietly.

Devil chuckled, letting the blade drip excess darkness onto the crate. "You're terribly demanding for such a small creature."

"And you're terribly arrogant for a disciple. Proceed."

The hooded assassin flicked the last of the coating off of the blade, testing the top where it had dried. "Do you know why hired killers dip their tools into black paint?"

Chronos heaved an impatient sigh. "To match with the rest of your ensemble?"

Devil dropped the blackened dagger, its point burying in the ground near the cat, protruding upright. "Tell me, Temporis, what do you see in the blade?"

Chronos' tail twitched. "This is an old question, Nzame, and I am as ancient as they come. Do not bore me."

"Humor me, Temporis."

"Very well." The cat heaved a great sigh, full of well-worn patience. "I see nothing, all reflection is obscured."

"In the night, when the traitorous moon shines down upon me like a beacon, I can hide myself but not my weapons, and so I disguise them, black as the midnight they must blend into." He expertly flipped a dagger, watching the cat pointedly. "For it is only in this guise that they can truly perform their intended duty."

There was a smile in the cat's voice. "You never could just spit out what you wanted to say, Nzame."

"I'm afraid not, Temporis, that is why I am your disciple." He bowed, respect and mockery in the simple movement. "Arcana will perform diversions while your party reclaims the Fire Temple. Beware, Ancient One, for not all who enter those hazardous halls of molten rock come out… intact."

"I will keep that in mind." Chronos stood and trotted away, pausing and adding in a soft whisper. "I am sorry."

There was a hardening around the hooded man's eyes and the dagger he had been toying with slipped from his fingers as memories played havoc with his senses. "As am I, Temporis, as am I."

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Link put the shield on his back to accept the Master Sword from Impa. "Is Rayne ready?"

"Yes." There was a pronounced smoothness around her mouth, as though she were trying exceedingly hard not to smile. "She's waiting at the Death Mountain gate with the cat."

Link nodded. "Is Talon still upset?"

"Of course he is, she is expressly disobeying him and making no effort to conceal it." A small twitch appeared at the corner of her mouth, if she waited much longer to grin her head would crack in half. "But he isn't going to stop her."

"I don't want to drive the wedge between them any deeper." Link confessed, shouldering his traveling pack. "I'm not sure what to do."

"They'll work it out." Impa patted his head encouragingly, earning her a stiff glare from the young warrior. "What? Are you too old to be reassured?"

"How are you still taller than me…?" the hero asked sullenly, warranting a laugh.

"Good food, plenty of milk, that and people of my tribe are naturally tall." Impa winked at him. "Now go, before Rayne comes to decapitate me for making you dilly-dally."

Link did as he had been bid, stopping when Impa pressed something into his arms. "What is it?" he questioned, looking curiously at the wrapped parcel.

"It's from Simri, or the Tower as you came to know him. It's for Rayne, he was up all last night completing it."

Link peeked inside, eyes widening when he recognized a second fire tunic nearly identical to his own. "I thought he brought only one…"

"He did," Impa's gaze flickered toward the direction of the gate, anticipating an aggravated Rayne to fall upon her like divine hounds. "But he brought enough supplies to create a new one as well. The only difference is that he didn't quite have enough dragon's blood to fire-proof it."

"So it isn't as protective as mine?" Link asked worriedly.

"It's not as defunct as you may think." Impa pointed to the tunic, alerting Link to the slightly brighter splotches of red against the crimson-black majority. "When Tower ran out of wyrm blood, he used another type that is just as fire resistant: Goron blood."

Link stared at her, mouth half open in shock. "He used his own blood to augment the missing dragon portion?"

Impa shook her head affirmatively. "If Rayne enters the Temple with nothing but her magic to defend her she'll tire, quickly, Simri knows that well enough. His family and friends are trapped within the cells that line the walls of the Fire Temple, awaiting their fate. Rumor has it that Ganondorf has awakened a serpentine beast and plans on slaking its hunger with his prisoners. If you two do not make haste, many lives will be lost."

Link let loose a short, angry exhalation of breath. "We won't lose any of them."

Impa smiled weakly. "I hope you're right."

"Link, are we going or not?" Rayne's voice rang out, snapping him out of his raging state of mind.

"Be right there." He called, wrapping the tunic up and hurrying to the gate.

Impa chuckled into her palm, almost in awe of Rayne's ability to whip a man into shape, when she felt a shadow at her back. She turned quickly, eyes narrowed and hand on the hilt of her sword in warning. Chariot stared down at her sudden movement, a small smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. "Did I disturb you?"

Impa released her weapon, disgusted at her own paranoia. "Damn Episkopos, you need to make more noise when you walk, it's unnerving when you appear behind me with nary a sound when I should hear a mountain moving."

She glanced at the bundle in his arms and her expression immediately softened. The kid couldn't have been more than ten minutes old, its wooly exterior still sticky with birthing fluids and blood. "What happened? Is there something wrong with it?"

"Doe died." He shifted the small goat to give it more breathing room, his massive arms holding it as gently as Impa held glass; she had always had problems with anything more fragile than steel. "She wasn't supposed to birth today, otherwise I would have done something. By the time I knew something had gone bad and gone to the stables, she had already bled herself dry. I had to cut the kid out."

Impa stared at him, silently considering the guilt in his eyes. He could have done nothing more, but he seemed shaken still by the loss of a single female goat. She held out her hands and Chariot reluctantly placed the premature babe in the cradle of her arms. "Come to my house and I'll mix some milk and honey to feed it." She instructed quietly as not to upset the kid. She patted the little bundle of awkward limbs, a warm feeling rising in her chest when it responded by putting its slim muzzle in her hand. Why on earth had Chariot brought the little dear to her? Certainly anyone would have been better, Temperance instantly coming to mind, or perhaps even Moon. The kid bleated and stared at her with little golden eyes, she was glad that Episkopos trusted her so.

She led the way to her home, staring at the door and realizing that she couldn't open it without depositing the goat somewhere else. Then Chariot was there, opening the door and waiting for her to enter. "Such a gentleman." Impa murmured to the kid, eyes twinkling "It was probably mostly for you, but I like the benefits."

Chariot stiffened, making an impatient gesture for her to enter, inciting a giggle from Impa and what may have been an amused bleat from the kid.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Chronos eyed the two young people curiously, wondering if they could also sense that they were being followed. Rayne was simmering quietly, knuckles white against the new bundles of weapons and clothing that she was feeling too proud to place in the void. Link was also quiet, but his silence was more speculatively apprehensive than angry. Chronos imagined that it was due to the sudden constraint that had been placed on him; the Fire Temple required not only skill and precision but haste. Most young adults did not operate well when they discovered they had a limited span to complete a task; it made them jumpy and prone to error.

The black cat stole a peek out the side of his eye to see if the fairy had noticed, but quickly dismissed the idea; fairies were decidedly whimsical creatures, they took notice of something only when it was shoved in their face and was sparkly.

He stopped, sitting and waiting. Rayne and Link continued on, lost in their own thoughts. Amazingly, it was the fairy who realized first that they were leaving him behind. "Are you coming cat?" she asked, alerting Rayne and Link who stopped.

Chronos wondered if his fur had shone with sunlight in just such a way that it had caught the fairy's attention, then shook the rather mean-spirited thought away to answer the query with another one. "Has anyone else noticed that we are only two large enough to have noisy footsteps and yet there is an odd echo of three?"

Rayne blinked and Chronos felt a weak questing spell wash over and past him, exploring the trail. It snapped back after going only a few feet and the young woman hissed. "Reveal yourself."

The air near Chronos shimmered and darkened, taking on a shape.

"Haruko?" Link questioned, staring at the guilty little girl. "What are you doing here?"

"I don't want to be left behind." She said tremulously, "I don't know any of those people."

Link kneeled down beside her and nearly toppled when she rushed in to embrace him. "It's too dangerous, Haruko. Otherwise you could come."

"But I'll be really good!" the little girl promised tearfully into his chest. "Please let me come."

"No, Haruko." Rayne said gently, kneeling also. "We're sorry but it's much better this way. We don't want you to get hurt."

Chronos couldn't help but give a chortle; Rayne had managed to retrieve her matronly components from her psyche of teenage angst. The black cat had to admire that she could adapt so well to different situations.

"But you're going!" Haruko protested, taking her face away from the comfort of Link's warm torso.

"Only because Link needs my help." Rayne lied through her teeth to the cat's perceiving ears.

"Link-kun needs my help too!" Haruko gripped the warrior's shirt in one tiny hand. "I could help, remember? When Gandondwarf tried to track us?"

"That's Ganondorf, and yes, I remember." Link sighed, tilting her chin up in a paternal manner. "But do you remember when the Poes nearly hurt you? Or when Chronos had to protect you from the phantom's blood?"

The girl's face fell. "Yes." She mumbled.

"Well, that's why Haruko. We don't want you hurt."

"Rayne-chan got hurt." The little girl objected obstinately.

"But Rayne is old enough to continue functioning when wounded, you are not." Chronos snapped irritably, growing tired of waiting. "Link, have you forgotten the lives at stake in Death Mountain while you sit here trying to reason with a child? We need to hurry."

It was a low blow and Chronos knew it. Rayne turned a harsh glance upon the black cat when Link's kindly face changed into one of dread and shame. He quickly hugged the little girl only to swiftly release her. "Go back to the village, Haruko. Impa will look after you while we are gone."

"But—!" the girl's argument was cut off as she was lifted by a pair of strong arms.

Chariot had come up the path, quiet and stealthy as a creature less than half his size, and now held the stunned girl firmly without crushing her. He met Rayne's gaze. "Impa told me she may have slipped away to here. She sent me to retrieve her."

"Thank you." Rayne said gratefully, planting a kiss on the now squirming child's head. "Stay with Impa, Haruko." She instructed.

The young girl's eyes dropped. "Yes, Rayne-chan." She said quietly, ceasing to wriggle against the large man's grip.

Rayne hesitated and Chronos saw her indecision mirrored in Link's gaze. They obviously did not want to leave the child behind but they feared to take her. Chronos almost reminded them that they had no third fire-resistant tunic when they came to the verdict themselves.

"Goodbye Haruko." Link said, mussing the young girl's hair encouragingly. "We'll be back soon."

"We'll bring you a present." Rayne added, hoping to quell the tears that were swimming in Haruko's eyes.

"Parents." Navi said under her breath to Chronos who could only laugh at the pronouncement.

……………………………………………………………………………………

The halls of Death Mountain were eerily void of life. Any movement the group made stirred equal layers of dust and dirt, untouched by years of anything more animate than the wind. Their footsteps echoed in the hollows of the cavernous structure like ghosts of some ancient giants, ominous and sad.

"It's just like Kokiri Forest." Rayne remarked, touching a hand to the worn down etchings on the stone walls and staring at the utter emptiness of it all. "They left no one behind to tell what occurred."

Link's glance was darting around, searchingly. "There don't seem to be any monsters either."

"There are wards on the floor that repel those with evil intentions." Chronos swept his tail across the dirt to reveal etchings on the floor as well. "Ganondorf could place none of his minions here without causing them pain."

"That sounds right up his alley." Rayne said, leaning to scatter the debris and examine the wards closest to her.

"He probably would have forced them to stay." Chronos reported. "But it would have eventually either killed them or purified them, and even Ganondorf had to realize how nonsensical that would be. He had the creatures herd the Gorons into the Temple like cattle and then flee."

"The Temple has no wards?" Link asked, bending his knees to see what Rayne was looking at.

"The whole point of the Temple is that it keeps the balance. They are like scales, equal amounts of chaos and order, dark and light, life and void."

"Ganondorf pretty much disposed of the scales then." Link said bitterly, straightening and dusting off his hands.

"Yes, and it is part of the reason he must be stopped." Chronos trotted down the nearest set of stairs. "Every instance throughout history that they have been tipped in one direction, great disaster has followed."

Rayne and Link exchanged unnerved glances before proceeding, Navi's fairy light leading the way just above Chronos. "The Temple entrance is in the throne room, we must hurry."

…………………………………………………………………………………………

It was the first blast of heated air that threw them off balance, momentarily blinding them before the tunics galvanized completely and took the bulk of the fiery warmth.

Link inhaled, unnerved by the utter dryness in the oxygen but at least assured that the fire-retardants worked when his lungs did not shrivel or burst into flames.

He nodded to Rayne, stopping when he noticed that she was busy examining the environment rather than waiting to see if his flame tunic worked before stepping into the treacherous area herself. Link felt Chronos shifting uncomfortably against the inside of his tunic and sighed. "You don't have to come, Chronos." He informed the cat in a tone that implied this was not the first time he had suggested such an action.

"And leave you two to your own devices? I think not." The cat cautiously peeked his head out of Link's collar, causing the blonde hero's neck to twinge as the fur brushed against his skin.

Rayne saw that action and giggled, receiving a glare from both males. "You'd find it more comical from my standpoint." She assured them.

"I'm sure it will be; you get him when we've walked two-hundred paces." Link itched his neck, wondering if he was allergic to cats.

"We'll never get anywhere if we switch him so often." Rayne disagreed, her eyes sparkling. "Make it five-hundred."

"But—!" Link yelped when a claw found his unguarded pectoral. "Chronos!"

"Move." Chronos ordered, retracting his nail. "We'll work out the details later."

Link mumbled angry warnings, glancing about to see how they would proceed while resisting the urge to inspect his wounded chest. The door directly across from them was unreachable, too far for even the hookshot to reach.

"Over there." Rayne instructed, pointing to an open tunnel.

Link looked at it dubiously, staring at the stepping-stones that led the way. "Do you think they're stable enough?"

"Probably." Rayne worried at her lip, a gesture Link was beginning to associate with serious thought process. "I'll test it out."

Link shook his head negatively. "No, I'll—"

"Look, Link." She had her hands up on her hips, always a bad sign. "If the stones collapse then you could probably catch me. If you fall, I don't think I could save you."

Link's brow furrowed, the logic of it weighing down upon him. He felt Chronos adjust himself inside the tunic and heard the cat whisper. "She's right you know."

Link swore, removing his hookshot and preparing to break her fall. "Fine, but I'll be Goddess-damned before I like it."

Rayne smiled winsomely at him. "Of course."

Link rolled his eyes and straightened, ready as ever. He watched as Rayne's muscles bunched up and met her eyes as she sent him one last searching glance before she leapt onto the nearest stone. Link flinched as small pebbles crumbled from the top of the flat stone face to fall directly into the magma pit below. His throat worked fearfully when she floundered, her arms trying to do a balancing act to make up for the ill landing before standing perfectly still. Seconds ticked by and the rock remained steady beneath Rayne. She released the breath she had been holding, carefully wiping sweat beads from her brow, then she held out her hands. "Give me Chronos."

Link blinked in puzzlement and felt the cat immediately cease all squirming activities. "What?"

"With your armor, your weapons and a wriggling cat, you might end up losing your equilibrium and falling. Toss him here."

Link hesitated then reached up his shirt to grasp a yowling cat, wincing when Chronos' claws sank deep and left bloody grooves along his torso.

"I refuse to be tossed like so much baggage!" the cat snarled.

"Calm down." Link hissed in return. "If you keep fussing it may throw off my aim."

The cat went limp in his arms, but his stare remained venomous. "I will make you pay dearly for this."

"Well, until then—" Link didn't bother finishing his sentence, he merely threw the cat across the ravine and into Rayne's waiting arms.

"You okay, Chronos?" Link heard her ask, noting the bright blush of her complexion as the cat, overheated and shaken, crawled into her tunic without ceremony.

"I've had better days." Came the cat's muffled reply.

Link had been certain Rayne would have put up a more sincere fight when it came to Chronos taking up residence in her clothing; her face was scarlet but she was silent as she stepped across to the next platform.

Link jumped, hearing the unpleasant grind of metallic objects as they clashed against his shield. The stone platform remained steady, as did the next, but he was more focused on Rayne's form than he was on observing his own steps. If she fell he wasn't entirely certain he could make it in time to help her; the heat was blurring his vision and he had put the hookshot back into its holster, the steel too hot to hold for long without risking some melting. He rubbed his eyes in an effort to clear his sight-line, muttering when all that changed was the size of the spots before his eyes. He misjudged the distance between his stone step and the next, and found his foot meeting nothing more solid than a thermal breeze. Link fell forward, twisting to put his pack in a better position and gripping the ledge. His fingers convulsed when the sharp edge lacerated his fingers, blood from his own digits dripping onto his face. The heat was unbearable, it twined through his boots and the fire tunic's protective aura until he was certain that his skin was cracking and burning away.

"Link?" Rayne's voice was panicked when she spotted him, hanging precariously while blood welled from his fingers.

"I'm fine." He gritted out, feeling ridiculous. He really couldn't help Rayne if he was in such trouble. The blonde warrior hauled his body up, tunic scraping against the sharp stone and resisting punctures for which Link was grateful. He sat, gasping for breath and looking at his fingers apathetically.

"Can you make it?" Rayne's voice again, filled with concern.

"Yeah." Link stood unsteadily, shaking off the cobwebby feeling surrounding his mind. "The pack just threw me off."

He heard Chronos' snigger but ignored it as he jumped to the final platform and then on to safer ground. The instant he touched down Rayne grabbed his wrists and ordered him to uncurl his fingers.

Link considered refusing, they were on a time limit and low-level healing spells were a waste of energy that could be utilized later. But her determined face convinced him otherwise and he warily revealed the state of his hands. Rayne examined them carefully, pulling out a shard of broken rock in a ruthlessly kind manner, cooing sweet nonsense to him to keep his mind away from the hurt. His blood coated her fingers in moment, like battle dye, dark from severed veins and balmy wind.

He felt her focus, felt the creeping sensation of veins and miniscule muscles moving to conform to her will. He watched as the blood flow lessened and finally stopped, intrigued by the fashion in which his skin prickled as it stretched to meet its estranged side and meld. The white glow of magic faded and he clenched and relaxed to test the tightness of the skin, shiny where it was sealed.

"Does it hurt?" Rayne asked, tracing the scarring and watching his face for any signal of pain.

"No, its fine, thank you." Link spied Chronos peering at him from Rayne's collar, green eyes curious. The blonde hero laughed. "Comfy in there, cat?" he asked unthinkingly.

Chronos' ear twitched in his direction. "Oh yes, quite." There was a wicked grin in his purring tone. "You'd be amazed how accurate the comparison with fleshy pillows is."

Link and Rayne flushed accordingly. "One more remark like that cat, and you'll find yourself swimming with the fire salamanders."

"Such a temper, kitten, it hardly suits your cushy exterior."

Link accepted Chronos wordlessly, knowing full well that it was either that or watch him sink beneath the surface of the molten rock below.

Chronos sighed brokenly, pushing at Link's chest. "It just isn't the same." He mourned.

"I think the heat is driving you mad." Link joked, poking the cat gently in the head. "Don't tempt her."

"I only did that because I needed to speak with you." Chronos whispered, voice fierce with sudden purpose. "Darunia came through here recently, it seems as though he entered from where we did and then went directly through the lava flow to the door."

Link instantly knew what door the cat was referring to. "What lies behind it?" he asked worriedly.

"The dragon whose blood defends you now." Chronos said, huddling deeper into the tunic. "Volvagia, the wyrm of legend who was born for the purpose of destruction; he is a world devourer, a planet killer. When he arrived here, the Goddesses confined him to Death Mountain where he would sleep until the life of Hyrule petered out and died. 'When chaos reigns and Our Creation falls into ruin, may the wyrm Volvagia awaken once more to dispense of Our skeleton world.'"

"Great." Link put a hand over his face, then moved to scratch the back of his neck. "When Ganondorf corrupted the Temples, he threw off the balance and awakened Volvagia."

"Yes." Chronos said simply. "Darunia has gone to face him alone."

"Idiot." Link growled with feeling, drawing Rayne's attention. "Not you…"

"Who then?" she asked, opening her pack to retrieve a canteen. "Drink quickly, at this temperature it'll turn to steam before I can put it back."

Link accepted it and took a swig, feeling mildly better as the cool liquid coursed down his throat to settle with a slightly fizzing sensation in his stomach. "That's not water." He said with certainty as Rayne collected it and took a sip herself, smacking her lips for optimum taste factor.

"Hmm… seems to have herbs and juices mixed in, probably for water retention to avoid dehydration."

Link felt like he was sweating slightly less but it was hard to tell, had he noticed before or after Rayne's statement? He shrugged and continued to speak with Chronos. "Is there any way to get to the door without burning up in the lava?"

"If we could find a Goron to carry us across, or a rock large enough to push into the lava flow to cross over, perhaps." The cat tried to settle himself so that he could sit without falling out the bottom of the tunic. "The Gorons might not agree to help us, they've been trapped here for so long that the instinctual first action will be flight."

"We need to rescue them soon; there's something stirring in the Temple." Rayne's words caught Link's attention. Her lips were suddenly pale and trembling and her hands were clasped so tightly that she was drawing half-moons in her flesh with her nails.

"Volvagia?" Chronos asked, his head once again appearing out of Link's collar as he peered around and listened.

"No, its something else, an entity of purer flame." Rayne steadied her breathing by closing her eyes and inhaling, giving Link a feeble grin when he put a solid hand on her shoulder. "It's okay now; the feeling's not so overwhelming."

"Purer flame… I wonder." Chronos' paw poked out of the neckline and dangled. "I can't think straight; this heat is throwing the smoke from my frying brain across my thinking patterns."

"That almost made sense." Navi said, peeping out from under Link's hat. To the hero himself she entreated. "Could you stop sweating so profusely? It's so humid in here that I can hardly breathe, besides which my hair is frizzing up."

"You could always come out in the open and see if there's an improvement." Chronos said, tucking his paw back into the tunic. "I'm sure your hair would dry right out."

"Enough." Link said tiredly before the argument could break out in earnest. "We have to find the Gorons, defeat Volvagia and go on to the next Temple."

"How repetitive," the cat murmured. "This mission was obviously not meant for a party with a short attention span. Which reminds me, how did you manage to get caught in this, fairy?"

"I said enough, cat." Link discouraged, tapping the black feline on the nose.

Rayne gave a short laugh at Chronos' malicious glare in Link's direction. "Now, now, let's not do anything that would warrant an airborne descent into the lava pits."

"Here Rayne, take him, I don't trust those claws." Link removed Chronos from under his shirt and passed him to the dark-haired female; smirking when she wrinkled her nose, looking put out.

She took the offered cat unenthusiastically, carefully tucking him under her tunic. "Any more smart remarks cat, and I'll temporarily forget the suggestion I just made."

"Oh, very well, if it'll make you feel better, they're nothing like pillows… actually they are reminiscent of—"

"Chronos!" Rayne and Link's voices, one raised in warning the other in anger, ricocheted off the walls and down the network of tunnels; the sound plunged into magma and caused geyser bubbles to burst into burning fragments of malleable glop and continued on until the racket faded into the darkest depths of the Temple.

And it was answered.

Cries echoed back to them, rumbling calls for assistance in a variety of tones that melded and mashed and became indistinguishable to human ears. Chronos flinched under the assault and buried his face in the curve of Rayne's neck, ears lying flat. The wails were unique enough for Link to know that they came from the throats of Gorons, dozens of them entombed throughout the brimstone Temple. He exchanged a horrified glance with Rayne before rushing forward, her footsteps tapping on the hard rock just behind him.

…………………………………………………………………………………

The first Goron they came upon was young, not by Hylian standards but unquestionably by the rock-dwellers'. Its purple eyes were over-bright with joy when it spotted them, its nearsighted eyes straining to catch their facial features even as it waved them over.

"You're here to save me?" he asked without preamble, nearly bouncing around his cell.

"Yes." Link said, his eyes searching the door for a lock and finding none. "How on Hyrule are we supposed to open this?"

The excitement, barely contained, wavered slightly at the question. "There's a switch on the outside."

Link, Rayne, Chronos and Navi examined the floor, looking for a protruding stone or lever. When several minutes passed and no one reported a finding, Link questioned the Goron as to the switch's residence.

"There." The rock-eater said simply, pointing upward.

Link followed the Goron's chubby, chiseled finger, and saw it; a square that was slightly darker than the stone surrounding it. Link swore with feeling; it was at least eleven feet up from the ground.

"I could levitate one of us up." Rayne suggested.

"You could, but it would just be a waste of magic." Chronos said, green eyes taking into account the distance and then each of them. "But there's an easier, less extravagant way."

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Link didn't particularly mind kneeling on the ground, among the unforgiving rock and dirt, he didn't even care about Rayne climbing cautiously onto his shoulders, leaving dusty imprints on his tunic. What he did mind, however, was Chronos' incessant cackling.

"Quiet cat." He warned, gripping Rayne's ankles to stabilize her before rising.

"Oh come now, Link, where is your sense of humor?" the feline asked from Rayne's tunic.

"It burned up somewhere in the first room." The hero replied as he strained up with the new weight, slowly enough to avoid accidentally pitching the girl on his shoulders to the ground.

"I hate to interrupt your conversation boys, but we have a slight problem." Rayne's toes were digging into Link's shoulders even through his tunic and her shoes. "We aren't tall enough to reach it."

"So much for that idea." Link mumbled, starting to kneel down again to let Rayne off.

"Hold on now, kiddies." Chronos crawled out of Rayne's tunic and up to her shoulder, jumping lithely to her head. "Hold me up."

Rayne did as instructed, muttering about bossiness as she stretched her arms upward.

"A little higher." The cat said, paws extended and just barely touching the switch.

Rayne stretched higher, giving a slight screech of surprise when Link followed suit. Chronos pressed hard and felt the switch give. The cell door came open with a clang and Link was suddenly pressured to maintain balance and accept an eager Goron hug, holding tighter to Rayne's ankles as she wobbled.

"Thank you, thank you!" The Goron said, nearly lifting Link off the ground and spilling all he held. "Thank you, my friend!"

"You're… quite welcome." The hero managed to say, very little air in his lungs. "But… I need you… to… let go… now."

The Goron immediately did as asked, allowing Link to stoop down and let the panicking girl on his back hop off and dig her fingers into solid ground. He half anticipated her to kiss the dirt in thankfulness but she eventually regained her feet and shook her head to bring to order rampant thoughts. Link waited to make sure she and Chronos were squared away before turning to the animated Goron.

"Can you make it out of here on your own?" he asked, picking up the sword and shield he had laid on the ground. "Do you need to be led out?"

The Goron embraced Link in a bone-crushing hug once more, causing several joints to pop from the exerted pressure. The hero fervently hoped that nothing would dislocate permanently, he was going to need all limbs to endure not only the trials on the sacred grounds of flame, but also to evade the appreciation of the next few Death Mountain residents.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Rayne did not like her tunic; it was itchy even with the cotton lining and clung to her skin with a persistence that no amount of picking and resettling would resolve. She eyed Link to see if he was encountering the same problem but immediately averted her stare when he felt her gaze and smiled at her. Apparently he enjoyed clothing that felt like sandpaper.

There was also the flickering of unadulterated energy that flared at the corners of her mind every so often, testing, inquisitive and commonly occurring when she least expected it. Rayne wasn't quite sure what exactly was causing the odd flashes and she was becoming increasingly concerned with her mental health. Just when she began to doubt that the sensations and the glittering images were real, they would appear again. Curiosities, she dubbed them, similar to her visions but less personal with a force behind it that was of the living; they did not seem to want to overwhelm her with a different reality, merely poke at her like children tended to do to butterflies. She just hoped she would hold under the strain better than the fragile metamorphic insects characteristically did.

"Goddesses." She murmured, holding out a hand to catch a wall when a particularly aggressive curiosity overtook her. Her fingers scraped against the stone as she tried to catch herself, hoping not to fall and look foolish. Link was instantly at her side, snagging an arm before she tumbled. So much for not looking foolish, Rayne thought with an internal sigh.

"What happened?" he asked, adjusting his hold so that he could support her without bruising her arm. She was aware of his knee at her back, propping her up while his right hand went to the back of her head. His other leg was flat against the ground and, flushing, she realized that she was too close to sitting on his lap for her own good. This was very similar to the daydreams she had entertained in a dark corner of her mind where all impossibilities awoke at the smallest beckoning.

Rayne realized that she had been too quiet for too long when he leaned down closer to her, staring at her eyes and searching for any indication of illness that could be had. He touched his cheek to hers, obviously to see if her tunic was working as well as his. His cheek was cooler but not significantly, he pulled back, watching her quizzically when she began stuttering out something resembling an explanation for her behavior. She didn't care if the sentence was understandable; she just needed him to take a couple steps back before she closed the modest distance between their lips. Temptation hummed in her ears and stung her eyes with unfairness; Rayne felt a burning where he held her, a hormonal rush of desire.

She wanted to admit it, tell him her feelings outright and see if it would work out. But one look into his blue, oceanic eyes and the need died a slow and painful death in her throat.

He wouldn't understand, he couldn't. He was a ten-year-old mind in an adult's body, still trying to learn the ropes. Malon had been the closest thing to companionate love he had ever experienced and his grief for her still shone behind his determination to be a dependable hero. Rayne couldn't tell him, not without risking the camaraderie they shared and putting her feelings on the line with a boy not old enough to know if he squished them.

The knowledge caused an almost physical ache in her chest, a sad emptiness that increased with every hollow beat of her heart. No one else could have made her feel so terribly with nary a word, a gesture or an expression. He was nothing but kind to her, helpful and comprehending when she needed him to be, but she still felt isolated from him. There was a partition between them, built from time flow and grave dirt, her hateful lust for him and his battered innocence; it had been erected the second he had said her name.

She absolutely refused to cry, weep tears of frustration and frailty, but the pressure of not doing so was choking the remaining air from her lungs as surely as a Goron's strong arms would.

Rayne noticed for the first time that the room had slowly grown more heated as she had silently defeated herself. The curiosities were constantly on her now, responding to her own state of distress like some chivalrous knights falling all over themselves to make her feel better. She tried to push them away, but it was a half-hearted attempt at most, and they returned.

There was a noise and Link had his sword in hand without jostling her from where she huddled against him, prepared to protect and rend. Rayne shook her head and quickly drew a dagger, trying to blink away the aggressive curiosity that was overturning the others that had taken up residence at the edges of her mind.

She put her hand to the wall to push her body up, yelping and drawing it away when her nerves screamed at the contact. She stared at her reddened hand and the small, raised bumps on her skin, glancing at the wall and hissing between her teeth. The place where she had touched the stone was glowing and smoking, the orange spreading along the wall and causing the rock to begin to melt, dripping in chunky sections to the floor and revealing what lay beyond.

The creature was blindingly bright; a miniature sun in a humanoid shape that sifted through the rock like it was yielding dough. It was lean, almost spindly with long, thick legs and a thatch of flaming, bright hair. A gap opened in its face and a noise that nearly made her ears bleed erupted, shrieking and enraged.

"I have a feeling your weapons are going to fair about as well as that wall." Chronos said, staring at the creature as it stepped through the hole it had created.

"I agree." Rayne took a step back, looking to the place they had entered and gesturing for Link to flee in that direction. When he noticed the motion he shook his head and pointed to the door opposite it.

"Men." She muttered, wondering if he knew that whatever was on the other side of that door wasn't just as dangerous before breaking into a run.

She heard a rush of air and the crackling of flame and the creature was suddenly in front of her, blockading the door with its fiery presence. She skidded to a halt and jumped back to elude the blazing monster as it reached out to seize her. Link ducked down beside her and struck its legs with a rock he had retrieved, watching in dismay at the small, sharp stone fizzled and turned to ash before making contact.

The fire being reached out and grabbed Link by neck, raising him off of the ground so that his feet dangled helplessly. Rayne hesitated, sensing that one of the curiosities was emanating from the volatile creature before her then vaulting into action when she recognized the monster's aim: destroying the fire tunic's resistant material.

……………………………………………………………………………………………

Blisters were spreading under his chin and along his neck and chest even with the fire tunic's aura flaring to its brightest abilities. Link tried to make it release him but he couldn't bear to touch it without more blisters appearing.

He could feel the magics fighting against one another and he could keenly sense that his tunic was not winning the battle. The fire was singeing his eyelashes and clouding his vision, its flames sucking away any oxygen that might have found its way into his straining lungs. He was either going to die from asphyxiation or from being fried alive, it was not a pleasant ultimatum.

He vaguely heard Rayne screaming as the Master Sword slipped from his fingers, useless in this fight. Link saw red and struggled, but there was little he could accomplish, the grip of the fire creature was strong. The red tint darkened to grey and then to black, the pain dissipating as endorphins were distributed. The cacophony of noise faded away from his ears, filtering out until he could hear only the portentous crackling of flames.

Coldness washed over him like a wave, starting from his neck and circulating throughout his body. The numbness was the worst as it settled in to stay, indicating what was likely a fatal injury. He tried to tell Rayne to run but he wasn't sure if the order made it from his failing brain to his unfeeling lips.

Twilight mist twined through his consciousness and shut down the remaining thought processes. Mortality was a lingering sweet rot that coated his tongue, but his last thought was Impa's voice, warning him what would happen if he did not succeed, and the taste of death mingled with that of a sour defeat.

…………………………………………………………………………………….

Author's Notes: If my readers haven't realized it by now, I thrive on cliffhangers, they give me an obvious place to start in the next chapter, plus… well, they're damn fun.

All bow down to Ryu-sama for his editing job. He was great enough to get it done during the week of Easter even with real life issues running rampant. His best friend was sent out to naval boot camp on Monday, all of our hopes go with him. This chapter is dedicated to Scott who had to leave behind his family and friends, may he return swiftly and without complication to assuage any worries they may have.

Reviewers! -Hugs them-:

To Christa: -Giggles- No need to be so upset, it is just a fanfic after all. Rayne does have black hair while Malon's is an auburn shade. Just keep reading and all will be revealed (I hope…).

To eddy: Thanks for the compliment. As for the fairy ocarina, Link still carries it with him at all times as a reminder of what will happen if he fails to protect those around him (especially Rayne because she can't seem to leave him alone).

To Cuddly Bear: Thank you very much. Sorry this next chapter took so long, but its finally posted now. As for your other questions, you'll just have to wait and see.

To FrizzMedusa: Wow, this is a really common question… just keep reading. I appreciate the compliment as well.

To tiduslover2004: I laughed really hard when I read your review. Chronos is nearly as old as the Goddesses and about as picky when it comes to his love life. He's had tons of relationships throughout the centuries but none of them have ended well (mainly because he is immortal and his lovers are often not). He actually had a brief affair with an original character that I've already mentioned, but since I didn't want to take focus away from the main conflict, I left that part out. He loves Rayne but more in a paternal manner rather than an intimate fashion.

As for the Link/Rayne aspect, you'll just have to wait it out and see.

To Steve-Racer: Oh no, I'm a pretty shoddy last hope, I'll try not to let you down though.

Dumno pretty much appeared of his own volition, he had a story to tell and he wouldn't leave me alone until I put it down. He's a very multi-faceted character and he has such an intriguing past that he may get his own fanfic.

Brevity is not my strong suit. My English teacher has pointed this out a multitude of times and I've always agreed. I try really hard with the battle scenes but they always come out a bit flat, while my dialogue is incorrigible, but I thank you sincerely for the kind words anyway.

As for the Saria scene, I always wondered if there would have been something between her and Link had he really not been Hylian. She seemed to adore him and he looked up to her so sincerely that it was hard to overlook the affection between them. The kiss represented time lost and all the things left unsaid. She loved him but nothing could ever come of it and so, in the end, she dedicated herself to his cause while simultaneously letting him go.

Extras:

Alias: Chariot

Real Name: Episkopos

Origin of Name: Old Greek

Meaning of Name: Overseer/watcher

Pronounced: eh-PIH-skoh-poss

Race: Hylian

Runic Alignment: Cen

Eye color: Brown

Hair color: Brown

Age: 42

Description: Chariot worked at the Castle before Ganondorf took it over. He loves animals, and cares for all the creatures of Arcana with a steady hand but seems stiff when around people. He also doubles as a blacksmith and makes weapons.

"Reputation is what others know about you. Honor is what you know about yourself." – Lois McMaster Bujold

Alias: Star

Name: Sitareh

Origin of Name: Old Persian

Meaning of Name: Star

Pronounced: see-TAH-reh

Race: Hylian

Runic Alignment: Lagu

Eye color: Blue

Hair color: Brown

Age: 15

Description: An amazingly optimistic and easy going young girl who has the ability to heal. She has a crush on Link but is painfully shy about it. She is often overshadowed by the mages in the group, but is very dependable despite her deep-seated wish to shine.

"Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan 'press on' has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." – Calvin Coolidge

Keep in mind that Arcana is an original idea (as are most of the characters that compose it) and is not to be used without my explicit permission. Well I guess that's it, next chapter should be up whenever I finish it. Thanks for reading