Yo! Finally, here's a chapter! I haven't updated in forever, I know, and I apologize. I've been ultra busy with school and things, and today, I actually decided to do my homework, so I had some free time on my hands... This chapter got finished. Also, I was looking at the page count- this chapter is 15 pages long! That's amazing to me; I've never written a 15 page chapter before. :D So... a longer chapter for a longer wait, I guess.

This chapter does include some Zelda bashing, so if you're a huge fan of her, don't get too mad... I warned you in advance. I'm just not a fan of OoT Zelda; I like SS Zelda more. :D

Disclaimer:
I don't own Legend of Zelda in any way, shape, or form.

Chapter 4: Equip Yourselves

Malon walked back into the house and up a set of stairs. She opened a door at the top, which led to a long hallway. She turned to us and smiled. "Well, the first door on the left is the bathroom. We only have two guest rooms, so y'all will have to share. That's okay, right?" She asked.

Link immediately replied, "It's good enough that you're letting us stay here at all. I wouldn't mind sharing a room."

"Neither would I." I said, agreeing with Link.

Just as Shane nodded, Malon grinned. "Well, since you all don't seem to mind, we have a room with three beds, you can use that one."

My eyes widened. "Three beds? How big is this room?!"

Malon tilted her head to the side. "Not that big, why?"

I furrowed my eyebrows and said, "Nevermind..."

Malon didn't say anything, and instead showed us our room. "Well, here you guys go! I'm a bit tired, and it's rather late, so I suggest getting in some sleep. Well... goodnight!" Malon waved and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.

I was awe-struck as I looked at the room. It was HUGE. Three beds were lined up neatly against the wall, all about a yard and a half away from each other. In between each bed, there was a small ebony table. On the tables, there was either a picture of Malon and the horses or a small flower pot. The flowers were a vibrant purple in one pot and a soft pink in a different pot. To the far left of the room, there was a small door, probably a closet. The walls were painted a light yellow and there were light brown wood floors. I grinned. "I'm loving this room already."

Shane nodded in agreement. "Yeah... it's too bad we'll only be staying here for tonight."

Just then, Link's hat went flying off his head as Navi flitted around crazily. "You... you picking a fight? ...Dylan... I'll... fight you..."

Link stared at his forest green hat that was currently floating in the air. "Navi?" He asked.

"I'll... fight you..." Navi muttered.

I giggled. "Navi's a sleep-flier!"

Shane sighed and walked up to the hat, grabbing it out of the air and shaking it. There was a sort of jingling noise before a small blue light emerged from Link's hat.

"Ngggh... Whazgoinon?" Navi asked sleepily.

I giggled and walked over to Shane. I tapped Navi's head with the tip of my finger and cooed, "Go back to sleep, little fairy."

Navi gave me a weird look and mumbled something that sounded a lot like "Creepy" before crawling back into Link's hat.

I giggled again and flopped onto the bed in the middle. I curled up into a ball and said, "Goodnight, guys. I just realized how tired I was."

Link laughed. "Karei, you've got to get under the covers."

I scoffed. "Pssh, who needs covers?"

"If you say so." Link said, sitting on the bed to the left of me.

Shane sighed again, taking the last empty bed. "Ugh... Karei, I see where you're coming from. I feel like... like a lot of pressure I didn't even know was there just got lifted off of me."

I nodded. "Yeah, today's been a pretty crazy day, hasn't it?"

"Yeah." Shane said, yawning.

"Well," Link said, "You guys look very tired. We should probably go to sleep now."

I nodded lazily. "Yep. Night."

"Night." Shane and Link said at the same time.

~OoT: AFW~

"Karei..." I heard someone calling out my name. I opened my eyes, and saw Link hovering directly above my face.

I just looked at him for a moment, because on any other occasion I might have screamed. "Morning." I said instead.

"Morning." He moved away from me and I sat up.

I stretched and asked, "How long was I out?"

"Um..." Link glanced at a clock on the wall. "About six or seven hours."

I smiled and hopped out of bed. "Alright! Is everyone else up?"

"Everyone but Dylan." Clarissa said, walking into the room.

Shane followed after her. "Yeah, he's sleeping like a rock. I don't know what it would take to wake him up."

I grinned evilly. "Just leave it to me."

Clarissa took a step back. "I know that look. What are you planning?"

With the grin still on my face, I laughed and said, "Don't tell Dylan I told you this, or else he'll flip out on me. Okay so, one day I walked in on Dylan while he was playing Super Smash Bros Brawl. And he was practicing with Samus in her Zero Suit form... He was literally sitting there, with the zoom on her, staring at her." I laughed. "I took the chance and snuck up on his and he screamed like a little girl. It was hilarious! I asked him, 'What are you doing?' And he said, 'I'm staring at Samus. She is FINE!' I don't think he realized he said that until a few minutes later, because he flipped out on me and made me promise not to tell anyone."

"..." Shane was silent for a moment before he said, "So... blackmail?"

I nodded and laughed evilly. "Precisely!" I then ran off and into Dylan's room. I had to suppress another fit of laughter and I walked up to Dylan's bed.

"Samus..." He muttered in his sleep. "Your hair... is so pretty... it's gold... like the sun..." He smiled and rolled over.

I suppressed yet another fit of laughter and got in close to whisper in his ear. "Hey Dylan," I said, trying to keep the evil glee out of my voice. "Samus is sitting in the bathroom waiting for you in nothing but a towel."

His eyes instantly snapped open. "Where?!" He asked, looking around. When I burst into laughter, he narrowed his eyes and glared at me. "That was a dirty trick. DIRTY TRICK."

I couldn't help but keep laughing. "And... and what about that dream you were having, eh?"

He blushed and said, "That's none of your business."

"Pssh," I laughed harder. "Alright then, lover boy!"

He blushed deeper and threw a pillow at me. "Get out, Karei!"

I caught the pillow and threw it back at him before running out of the room in a giggling fit. I ran back into my room and collapsed on the bed, laughing evilly. Shane, Clarissa, and Link, who were still in the room, all took a few steps away from the bed. When I was finally able to stop laughing, I looked up at them and smiled. "So, Dylan is awake now."

Just as I said this, a still sleepy Dylan walked by the doorway, grumbling something about 'being woken up from an awesome dream'. I laughed a little again, before turning to Link and asking, "So Link, are we gonna head to the castle or what?"

Link was silent for a moment before he smiled and said, "Yep."

There was a squealing noise before Navi flew out of Link's hat in a frenzy. "Finally, we're leaving! And Link, lookit!" She held out a magazine for him to see.

"Navi, that's too small, I can't read it." Link replied, amused.

"Darn it!" Navi stomped her foot in the air then said, "Well, since you can't read it, I'll tell you what happened." She pointed dramatically at the front cover of the magazine, even though she knew Link still couldn't see it. "My ex-boyfriend is on the FRONT COVER of Triforce Weekly! He was a lazy bum when we were dating! How did this happen?!" She flitted around his head in a frenzy.

"Um," Link said slowly, "Maybe he tried to change his ways to get you back...?"

Navi huffed. "Well, it didn't work. He's still a LAZY BUM!" With that, she flew back into Link's hat.

"Okaaaaay..." Shane said. "That was... strange."

"Don't call me strange!" Navi yelled from Link's hat.

"Don't yell in my ear." Link said flatly.

"ANYWAYS." Clarissa said loudly. "Let's hurry up and go to the castle before it gets too late."

I nodded. "Yes, let's." I stood and walked out of the room, down the hallway, down the stairs, and through the front door. I walked out into the corral to see Dylan and Malon already standing there, talking. I giggled to myself, then silently snuck up behind Dylan. I poked his shoulder and he jumped.

He turned and frowned at me. "Hey, Karei."

I smiled. "Hey nii-san!"

Malon laughed. "You guys must be related! You look alike!"

I looked at Dylan, and he looked back at me. We both turned to Malon and asked together, "How?"

Malon laughed again just as Link, Shane, and Clarissa walked up to us.

"Malon," Link started, "Thank you for letting us stay here, but we have to leave. We're going to the castle."

Malon grinned. "You're going to see the princess? Cool! And since you're going to the castle anyways, fairy boy, would you mind finding my dad? He must have fallen asleep somewhere around the castle. What a thing for an adult to do! Tee hee! Oh, yeah-if you look for him, I'll give this to you. I've been incubating this egg very carefully... Tee hee!" Malon handed Link a small, white egg sitting in a sort of nest. When she pulled it out, or where she pulled it out from, I don't know. "My dad is really troublesome, for an adult, isn't he?! Hee hee!" Malon giggled and grinned.

Link, holding the egg very carefully, said, "Thanks, Malon. We'll find your dad for you."

"Thanks!" Malon said, then gave each of us a hug. "Since you guys are leaving, I don't know when I'll see you again, so I'm saying now, stay safe, and good luck getting to the castle!"

"Thanks Malon! Bye!" We all called as we left the ranch.

When we got out into the field, another Stalchild rose up from the ground. Link instantly pulled out his sword as it started towards us, claws raised, but Navi flew out of his hat and said, "No, Link, don't waste your time on it."

Link gave her an disbelieving look. "Navi, I don't want Karei to get attacked again."

Navi shook her tiny head and pointed at the sky. "That's not what I meant. It's sunrise."

We all looked up at the sky to find that it was indeed sunrise. The sky was painted with orange, yellow, purple and pink as the sun rose from the hilly field. We looked back to the stalchild to see it paused in its assault and sank back into the ground.

"...Cool!" Clarissa cheered. "Now, let's get to the castle!"

"Right." Shane replied, and we started towards the castle again.

~OoT: AFW~

A few hours later, we finally reached the drawbridge that led to the castle. We had managed to walk the distance without incident, unless someone would call Dylan tripping over his feet (or "the rocks in the grass" as Dylan had said) and falling every few minutes eventful.

The sun was beating down on us the whole time, which left us hot, sweaty, and a little more than irritable. I sighed. "Ugh." I groaned, walking over the drawbridge and onto the cobblestones it connected to. "Thank the goddesses, we're finally here."

We walked past a guard, probably seeing to everyone that comes in and out, and he nodded at us. I waved back. Dylan sighed. "It's still... just as hot."

"You guys are such babies." Navi scolded, flying out of Link's hat. "It's not that hot."

Clarissa glared at her as she wiped some sweat off her head. "Says the fairy who lazed around in Link's hat the whole time."

"Ooh!" Navi fumed, flying into Clarissa's face. "You're just as annoying as Dylan!"

Link sighed. "You guys, we need to get to the castle. Standing around here and fighting won't get us anywhere."

Shane nodded. "Link's right. So let's get going." They started off towards the town again, leaving the rest of us struggling to catch up.

When we finally did, I was shocked by how the town opened up. This must be the town square. I did what I normally did when I was bored, I took in every detail. On either side of the path we had come from, there was a small booth that was crowded with people. Skipping between each booth was a tall, skinny, bald man holding a large red sack. When we walked by, I heard him muttering something about being late. He seemed to go to each booth, then disappear for a few moments before emerging once again and going to the other booth.

Next to the booth on the left, I saw a door with a lantern hanging out front. I wonder what it's for? I wanted to investigate, but then again, I don't want to be left behind either. I shrugged and kept looking. I looked up and saw another tall man, but with red hair this time, standing on top of the booth and looking out into the square. I wondered how he got up there, then noticed the set of stairs off to the side. When I looked back down, I saw two more tall men, both with red hair, laughing for no reason in particular. They were standing under a quite random tree in the square. In the center, probably as some sort of direction point, was a large fountain. The water inside was a sparkling ocean blue.

I sighed. I wish I had a coin, I could make a wish on the fountain. I sighed again and looked at the fountain longingly.

"...rei?" I heard someone say. "Karei? Karei!"

I blinked and looked towards the sound. "Wha?" I asked, confused.

The voice had belonged to Shane. "You had all of sudden stopped walking and you had this distant look on your face."

"Oh yeah. I was taking in the details of the town, but..." I trailed.

"Too many details?" Shane asked with a small smile.

"Way too many." I sighed. I looked to Link, Clarissa, and Dylan, who seemed to be waiting on us. "Well, let's go. The princess won't meet herself." I walked by them, wanting to hurry up and get to the castle. I walked down a long stretch of cobblestones before they suddenly ended and turned into a dirt road.

I kept walking and saw another set of cliff-like walls. I noticed the vines along the side of the wall to my right. They looked dangerous, but climbable. I peeked around a corner and saw a guard standing at a gate. I was about to approach him when a familiar voice stopped me. I froze and looked up at the tree nearby, and saw the same owl from yesterday sitting there.

"Hey Link! This way!" The owl said, and I correctly assumed that Link was standing behind me, along with everyone else. "The princess is inside the castle just ahead. Be careful not to get caught by the guards! Ho ho ho hoot! On this ground, time flows normally. But time stands still when you are in Lon Lon Ranch or in a town. If you want time to pass normally, you'll need to leave town. Well, well-which way are you going to go now? Hoo hoo hoot! Do you want to hear what I said again?" The owl asked. But I had zoned out at "Be careful".

I heard Dylan say up to the large bird, "No, man! You talk too much!"

The owl seemed unfazed by Dylan. "Hoooo. You're some smart kids. Good luck, then. Hoo hoo." The owl then spread his great wings and flew away to only-Din-knows-where.

I sighed as everyone caught up to me. I was about to start walking towards the guard when I felt someone grab my shoulder and spin me around.

"Karei." It was Dylan. "You can't just run off like that!"

I sighed. "Nothing happened."

"Nothing happened?" Dylan repeated incredulously. "Something horrible could have happened! You... you could have gotten attacked!"

I rolled my eyes. "By what? A three-headed mutant dog with fangs?"

"Maybe!" Dylan yelled. "Or... we passed a lot of alleyways on the way here, some creeper could have taken you!" He motioned to the guard. "Or that guard could be a rapist!" He said a little too loudly.

The guard, who had overheard, yelled, "I'm not a rapist, man!"

The very next moment, there was a spear embedded in the ground next to us. Dylan, eyeing the spear, pointed to it and said, "See?! He could have stabbed you with that and killed you after he was finished!"

I sighed. "Dylan please, stop. That guard is doing nothing wrong... Plus, he threw the spear at you because you called him a rapist." I pointed out.

Dylan still wasn't convinced. "Karei, you just don't understand... How'm I supposed to protect you when you run off like that?" He asked softly.

My gaze softened. "Dylan..." I pulled him into a hug. "Dylan, I know you'll always be there... I'm sorry for worrying you like that." I let go and smiled at him. "Now... can we please go meet the princess?"

Dylan nodded. "Yeah. You guys all ready?"

Clarissa nodded overdramatically. "Yeah, we've been ready for a while now!"

Dylan huffed as Link said slowly, "Well, it seems like that guard won't let us by after... that..." He turned to look at Dylan pointedly. "So I guess we'll have to find another way in."

"I saw some vines on the way here. We could climb those and get over the gates." I volunteered.

"Alright." Shane said, "Let's go."

We walked back the way we came until we came across the vines. I took a deep breath and asked, "So... who's going first?" When no one responded, I sighed. "I guess I will."

I took a deep breath, then grabbed the vines and started to pull myself up. I hooked a foot into one of the lower vines, and continued climbing up. I was about halfway up when I heard Link yell to me, "How's it going so far?"

I grunted. "Semi-good." I looked up to see how much farther I had to go, and I paused. It just so happened that, right there, a spider decided to lay her eggs... and they were starting to hatch. I frantically yelled down, "Correction, not good, not good!"

I tried to quickly climb past the spiders, but my strength decided that it was okay to fail right now. I tightened my grip on the vines, frozen. I saw a baby spider crawl out of its egg and blindly crawl onto my arm. I gasped, and suddenly my body went into overdrive. The next thing I knew, I was at the top of the wall, slowly backing away from the vines.

"What happened?" Shane called up.

I looked over the edge, shaking slightly. "Sp-spider babies... halfway up..." I shuddered.

"Oh," Clarissa muttered. "That must have been terrible."

I nodded slowly. "Yep." I then laid back on the ground, the blades of grass tickling my ears as I sighed. "Well, come on up, guys." I said loud enough for them to hear.

It only took a few minutes before everyone was up. When the last person, Link, climbed up, I jumped up from my place sprawled out on the grass and exclaimed, "Ah, you guys took forever!"

My comment went ignored as everyone headed off towards the top of the gate. I sighed and followed them.

We had no trouble sneaking past the guards. I sighed internally. One would think that it would be harder to sneak into a castle, but it was all too easy. We were on a great roll until we hopped out of the moat and found the only way of getting into the castle blocked by a portly sleeping man.

"What about the door over there?" Dylan asked, motioning to said door to the right of us, sitting to the side of two large crates of milk.

"It probably locked." I told him, sighing. I turned toward the sleeping man. "We'll have to wake this guy up."

Clarissa groaned. "Well... how should we go about doing this?"

"I don't know." Link said.

Just then, there was a loud clucking noise coming from Link's pouch. He opened the pouch, alebeit hesitantly, and his eyes widened. He reached inside, and when his hand surfaced again, in it was sitting a small, fluffy white chicken. It shifted around in Link's hand and started to gently peck at his fingers.

He quickly put the bird down, and it spread its wings in slight alarm, but settling moments afterwards. We all watched in silence as the small bird plodded over to the sleeping man, settled itself right next to his ear, and went, "CUCKOOOOO!"

The man instantly jumped up, again startling the bird, and looked around, disgruntled. "What in tarnation? Can't a person get a little shut-eye around here?" The man rubbed the back of his head before looking up and seeing us. "Oh, hello, who might you folks be?"

We all just looked at him until Navi flew out of Link's hat. "Well," She explained, turning and pointing to each of us. "That's Dylan, Shane, Karei, Clarissa, Link, and I'm Navi." She turned back to the man and asked, "Do you know why these crates are here?"

The man nodded and smiled. "Yep. I'm Talon, the owner of Lon Lon Ranch. I went to the castle to deliver some milk, but I sat down here to rest, and I guess I fell asleep..."

"Oh," Clarissa said, snapping her fingers. "Malon was looking for you!"

Talon's eyes widened. "What?! Malon was looking for me? I'm gonna catch it from her now! I messed up bad, leaving Malon behind to wait for me! She's really gonna let me have it!" And with that, he ran off, his arms flailing around.

"How come he gets Pegasus boots?" Dylan muttered, crossing his arms.

"Pegasus boots?" Link asked, confused.

Dylan shook his head, holding a hand up. "Ha, nope. Ignore what I just said."

Before Link could reply, Shane walked over to a crate and got into a position to move it, saying, "We have to push these crates somewhere."

"How do you know?" Link asked, still a little confused.

"I'm just smart like that." Shane replied, grinning. He then planted his feet and pushed on the crate, grunting. When it didn't budge, he pushed again, and again, and again... The crate still didn't move. "Ugh... This thing is heavier than it looks!"

Link walked over to the crate and stood beside Shane, putting his hands on the large wooden side. "Here, let me help you out."

When they both pushed, and the crate still didn't move, Dylan walked over and put his hands against the side, leaving Clarissa and I standing there to cheerlead on the sidelines.

When all three of them pushed on the crate, it shifted, and then slid easily the rest of the way.

"Alright," Clarissa said, "Now that we know you guys can push the crate, where do we push it?"

I looked around, and then noticed a hole in the side of the castle. Water was flowing through it. "Hey, how about that hole right there?" I pointed to the hole. "Maybe, if we put the crates on top of each other, we can reach that and get inside."

"Alright." Shane, Dylan, and Link all said in unison, then pushed the crates around until they were stacked neatly in front of the hole.

Shane, taking a deep breath, pulled himself up onto the top crate, and when he was up there, he jumped to where the hole was, then crawled through it. The rest of us followed him, and after some sneaking around guards, we were standing in a sort of clearing.

The walls around us made the area circular, some windows here and there. There were two flowerbeds on either side of the archway we had come in through. In front of one lower and ornate window, stood a young girl in a white and purple dress. When she heard our footsteps crunching on the grass, she turned around, her blue eyes wide with shock. "What?! Who?! Who are you people? How did you get past the guards?" It was then that Navi had flown out of Link's hat to see what the commotion was. The girl's blue eyes widened even more, if possible. "Oh, what's that? Is that... a fairy?! Then are you... Are you from the forest? Then... then... you wouldn't happen to have... the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, would you?! That green and shining stone... Do you have it?"

Link raised an eyebrow, but nodded and pulled the stone out.

The girl smiled and clapped her delicate hands together. "Just as I thought! I had a dream... In the dream, dark storm clouds were billowing over the land of Hyrule... But suddenly, a ray of light shot out of the forest, parted the clouds, and lit up the ground... The light turned into a figure holding a green and shining stone, followed by a fairy... I knew this was a prophecy that someone would come from the forest... Yes, I thought you might be the one..." A look of realization dawned on the girl's face. "Oh, I'm sorry! I got carried away with my story and didn't even properly introduce myself! I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule. What is your name?"

Link turned around and looked at us. I shrugged and said, "I'm Karei."

"I'm Clarissa." Said person added.

"My name is Shane." He said.

"The name's Dylan." My older brother responded.

"I'm Navi!" The blue fairy chimed.

"And I'm Link." Link finished, looking back at the princess.

She acted like the rest of us hadn't spoken, her attention focused solely on Link. "Link... Strange... It sounds somehow... familiar. Okay then, Link... I'm going to tell you the secret of the Sacred Realm that has been passed down by the Royal Family of Hyrule. Please keep this a secret from everyone..." She looked up at us, and her smile faded... "Alone."

I raised an irritated eyebrow. I was about to say something when Shane put a hand on my shoulder and shook his head. I frowned and crossed my arms, but stepped out of hearing range of Zelda and Link. Dylan, Clarissa and Shane followed me, and I noticed there was a sort of moat right around the platform we were standing on. I looked back to the entrance and noticed a bridge. I sighed.

"The legend goes like this..." And that was the last thing I heard - even though we were standing pretty far away - before I zoned out. It's decided, I don't like this 'Zelda'.

After a few minutes, I turned my head to look over my shoulder, and saw Link waving us back over. I, along with everyone else, walked back over to him.

"That's right..." Zelda continued, "The Temple of Time is the entrance through which you can enter the Sacred Realm from our world. But the entrance is sealed with a stone wall called the Door of Time. And in order to open the door, it is said that you need to collect three Spiritual Stones. Another thing you need... is the treasure that the Royal Family keeps along with this legend... The Ocarina of Time! Did you understand the story I just told you?" She asked Link.

He nodded, sighing.

So Zelda kept blabbing on. "That's great! I forgot to tell you... I was spying through this window just now... The other element from my dream... the dark clouds... I believe they symbolize... that man in there! Will you look through the window at him?"

Link nodded tiredly and walked up to the window, putting his hands on the windowsill and leaning in to peer inside.

"Can you see the man with the evil eyes?" Zelda asked, looking over his shoulder. "That is Ganondorf, the leader of the Gerudo. They hail from the desert far to the west. Though he swears allegiance to my father, I am sure he is not sincere. The dark clouds that covered Hyrule in my dream... They must symbolize that man!"

Suddenly, Link jumped back from the window, a startled expression on his face.

Zelda adopted a concerned look on her face. "What happened? Did he see you? Don't worry. He doesn't have any idea what we're planning... yet! ...Yes. I told my father about my dream... However, he didn't believe it was a prophecy... But... I can sense that man's evil intentions! What Ganondorf is after must be nothing less than the Triforce of the Sacred Realm. He must have come to Hyrule to obtain it! And he wants to conquer Hyrule... No, the entire world! Link... Now we are the only ones who can protect Hyrule! Please!"

Again, Link nodded.

"Thank you! I... I am afraid... I have a feeling that man is going to destroy Hyrule. He has such terrifying power! But it's fortunate that you have come... We must not let Ganondorf get the Triforce! I will protect the Ocarina of Time with all my power! He shall not have it! You go find the other two Spiritual Stones! Let's get the Triforce before Ganondorf does... and then defeat him!" Zelda looked to us again, and her eyes narrowed.

"As for you guys, you should go home. Link does not need any distractions on his adventure." She said, bite in her tone.

And that was the last straw for me. Before common sense could talk me out of it, I rolled my eyes, crossed my arms, and set the princess with a glare. "Look, princess," I said, acid seeping through my tone. "I may have only known Link for a day, but he's my friend now. I stick with my friends unless they send me away. I've known you for, let's see, ten minutes. Ten unfriendly minutes. You're way too early to be giving me suggestions."

Her eyes narrowed to tiny slits. "Then, I demand you go home."

I simply smirked. "You may be the princess of Hyrule, but you don't write the rules. You don't write my rules. And my number one rules states:" I held up one finger. "Don't abandon your friends."

Zelda's face got red as she stormed over to me. She glared at me with those bright blue eyes, but the look had no effect from below. She only went to about my nose, even in the heels I saw when she walked up to me. "As the princess of Hyrule," She said lowly, "With the power vested in me, I demand you go home."

And the smirk still stayed on my face. "And, with the power vested in me, I disobey you, and stay with Link. No matter what you do, you won't change my mind."

Zelda huffed. "Why you..."

I sighed and shook my head, taking a step back. "Oh, is the princess losing her cool?" I shook a finger at her. "No no, princess, you're supposed to remain elegant at all times."

The corner of Zelda's lips tilted up a little. "Don't try to act to high and mighty. You just stepped back, therefore you surrender."

I shook my head and gagged. "No, I took a step back because your perfume is suffocating me. How much do you use, a bottle a day? Geez."

Zelda looked like she was about to say something, but then she closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "Very well. You all may stay with Link, but I advise you obtain weapons and learn how to use them." She turned to Link, pulling a card and a pen out of nowhere. "One more thing... Take this letter... I'm sure it will be helpful to you." When Zelda was finished, she handed the letter to Link and said, motioning to the archway we entered through. "My attendant will guide you out of the castle. Do not be afraid to talk to her." She then folded her hands in front of her and stared at us, simply waiting for us to leave.

And, since we were no longer needed, we did leave. We walked over to the woman near the entrance of the circular area. Her silvery-gray hair was pinned up in a tight bun, although some shorter strands of hair stuck out in the front. Her arms were crossed, blocking much of her outfit from view. From what I could see, the woman had on armor- black gauntlets, purple tight-fitting shorts, black and purple boots that came just below her knees. On her front, I could tell she wore a large silver chest plate. I looked to her face. She had on bright red lipstick that contrasted somewhat with her tanned skin. She had tattoos the same color as her hair under her eyes, which were also a blazing red, nearly the same color as her lipstick. She had an overall intimidating presence... Even though everyone else approached her calmly, I walked over slowly, reluctant.

Her inquiring gaze crossed us all as she said, "I am Impa of the Sheikah. I am responsible for protecting Princess Zelda. Everything is exactly as the princess foretold. You are a courageous group... You are heading out on a big, new adventure, aren't you? My role in the princess' dream was to teach a melody to the one from the forest. This is an ancient melody passed down by the Royal Family. I have played this song for Princess Zelda as a lullaby ever since she was a baby... There is mysterious power in these notes. Now listen carefully..." At that, she uncrossed her arms. Link pulled out his ocarina just as Impa held up a hand to her mouth. She began to whistle the soft notes of Zelda's lullaby. After she whistled the tune twice, Link copied the notes on his ocarina perfectly.

The ocarina began to glow, the song Link had just learned having some sort of magical effect on it. Link held it out and stared at it for a moment before putting it away.

"If the castle soldiers find you," Impa continued, putting a hand on her hip. "there will be trouble. Let me lead you out of the castle." With that, she started to walk out of the circular area, with us following closely behind.

After a few minutes, we were off the castle grounds and in castle town, watching everyone bustle around, minding their own business.

"You brave kids..." Impa said, looking at us. "We must protect this beautiful land of Hyrule! Take a good look at that mountain." She pointed up, above the roof of a weapon shop. I followed her finger and saw a giant mountain. There was a white ring of clouds that hovered just below the top of the mountain. "That is Death Mountain, home of the Gorons. They hold the Spiritual Stone of Fire. At the foot of Death Mountain, you will find my village, Kakariko. That is where I was born and raised. You should talk to some of the villagers there before you go up Death Mountain." She lowered her hand and continued. "The song I just taught you has some mysterious power. Only Royal Family members are allowed to learn this song. Remember, it will help to prove your connection with the Royal Family. The princess is waiting for you to return to the castle with the stones. All right. We're counting on you!" Impa then paused. She pulled out a small sack and handed it to Link. "This is a sack full of rupees. Use the money in there to better equip yourselves for the journey ahead of you. Good luck." Link took the sack, then got a surprised look on his face. He held the sack in both hands as Impa took a step back, then suddenly threw something at the ground.

There was bright flash of light, forcing us to cover our eyes. When the light faded, Impa was gone. "How...?" I heard Clarissa mutter.

"Well, Link," Navi said, flying out of his hat. "What now?"

Link held up the bag of rupees and said, "Impa said to go equip ourselves with the money in this... I wonder how much it is. It's really heavy..."

"Well, let's open it!" Shane said.

Link shrugged and opened the bag. He reached in, still looking in it. "Oh! There's a bunch of purple rupees in here! Let's see... five, six, seven..." Link continued counting. "For Din's sake, how did they get this much money?! There's twenty-five purple rupees in this thing!"

"But... how much money is a purple rupee worth?" Asked Dylan, who was probably more than slightly confused.

"A purple rupee is worth fifty rupees..." I answered, feeling professional as I did the math in my head. "Which means we have 1250 rupees-worth of spending money... That is a lot."

"Well... Let's get spending. We don't have a lot of time before nightfall." Clarissa said, walking off towards the weapon shop. We all followed her, and in a matter of seconds, we stood in the large shop.

We looked around, but Link simply stood to the side, having already been armed with a sword.

I lost track of everyone else as I wandered into the whip section, wondering what I would find here. Since none of them really caught my eye, I was about to leave the section and look somewhere else when I saw it.

Sitting there, on the shelf, was a single whip. It had a handle that was colored a dark navy blue. The length of the whip was a bright sky blue with silver streaks here and there. The bottom of the handle was like that of a sword, a sparkling blue sapphire gem embedded into it. There was another similar gem at the very tip of the whip. The light hit it perfectly from where I was standing. As if it were a magnet, I was drawn to it instantly.

As soon as I was in range, my hand wrapped itself around the handle, and it felt so... right. I carefully picked it up, searching for the price tag. I found it, but was disappointed to find that it was written in Hylian.

I returned to Link just as everyone else was. We were all holding a variety of weapons and Link looked at each in surprise. "So, I'm presuming you've all found your weapons?" He said, gripping the rupee sack tightly in his hands.

Clarissa nodded at the same time I did. "Yep," She said.

I took the time to examine everyone's chosen weapons more closely, and slowly figured out why Link looked surprised. We each had very different weapons in our hands - Shane had a katana, Clarissa held a bow and a quiver of arrows, and Dylan... I didn't know what Dylan had.

His weapon came in a pair. It looked like a deadly wheel. There were three places to grip the weapon, the sections covered in what looked like black rubber, which is a pretty good gripping material. The rest of the wheel was covered in blades, in three sections, like the rubber. In each section, the blades were seemingly arranged by size - the first blade was about four inches long, with a vicious curve near the top. The second blade, very close to that one, was about half the size of the first blade. The third blade was about half the size of the second. If Dylan learned how to use those, he could be a very deadly opponent... wow.

I looked at Clarissa's weapon next. Her bow was made of wood that had been painted white. The tips of the bow had gold engravings. The bow itself was a little less than three feet long, which was just the size for her. I got a peek in her quiver and noticed that the arrows were made of regular wood- except the arrowhead was made with polished, blood-red metal. I shivered internally. She would have picked out the arrows, if anything, with the bow... I guess she likes those.

Finally, I looked at Shane's weapon, and was awestruck. He held a long katana in his hands. The hilt was a sparkling gold, yet the blade was a deep black. There were rubies along the rain guard above the hilt, and a deadly curve to the top of the blade.

I sighed and looked back at my weapon just as Link said, "Well, let's get all of this paid for."

And so, we went to the register. The man standing there gave us strange looks and said, "Aren't you kids a little young to be buying weapons?"

"So what if we are? We're still customers." Dylan grumbled, putting his "deadly wheels" on the counter.

The cashier laughed. "You want to buy the chakrams, kid? Those are had to master, you know."

Dylan's expression hardened as we all put our weapons on the counter. "I can do it. Anyways," He said, turning away, "How much will this cost?"

The cashier laughed again and looked at the price tags of all our items, adding up the totals in his head. "Let's see... 935 rupees. You guys have expensive taste - can you afford all that?"

This time Link stepped forward, smiling and putting 19 purple rupees on the counter. "Yes, sir. You can keep the change."

The cashier looked surprised before he grabbed the rupees and put them in a register on the far side of the counter. "Have a nice day, kids." He said slowly, unsure of how to react to us.

"You too!" I said, grabbing my new whip off the counter.

We then exited the weapon shop, weapons in hand. We slowly walked out of castle town. When we got out and stepped on the grass of Hyrule Field, Clarissa grinned. "Wow... It's still around noon. I guess we weren't at the castle for as long as I thought we were." She said cheerfully, looking up at the sky.

Link smiled. "Well," He said, looking to his left and up at Death Mountain. "Kakariko should be right over there, and it shouldn't take long to get there."

"Alright, then," I said, coiling my whip and holding it in one hand. "Let's go!"

Sooorry about the cliffhanger- I just really wanted to update and didn't want to make this chapter any longer... *sighs* Gomenasai.

Well, review! :D