"Midna, would you shut up for a minute?"
"But you're wasting time! You slept all day long already."
"I was catching up on sleep! Besides, can't you see that the door is locked? How do you expect me to get past?"
"I don't! Why can't you go through the other door?"
Link kicked the ground. "You know what? FINE!" He stormed toward the other side of the room and pushed the door aside. Instantly, his eyes flew up to his face to hide his eyes from the stinging sun. After a moment, his eyes had adjusted, and he was able to see a large stone bridge above a long descent. The problem was...the bridge was sideways.
No sooner had he thought that than a powerful gust of wind nearly took his hat off. He heard a low, rumbling noise and saw the bridge rotating.
What in the name of Nayru...?
The bridge now connected the platform he was on to another platform with a door leading to a new area. He winced. So...Midna had been right. The locked door was probably locked for a reason. No getting past it.
He sighed and stepped onto the bridge. Considering the fact that it was only supported by a thin pole in the center, he stepped carefully across it.
Once he was across, he hurried to the door and walked through. Midna popped up next to him and smirked. "Told y-" She trailed off as they gazed at what was in the dark room.
The same type of sideways bridge was in the room, except there was no wind to move it. In the darkness, there was seemingly nothing else.
It was Link's turn to smirk. "See?"
Midna crossed her arms. "Okay, genius. You're right. Now what?" He rose an eyebrow. "The only other place you can go is locked up. You're stuck." She giggled.
Link opened his mouth to say something, but he stopped. She was right...There was nowhere else to go.
"I guess there's no point staying here," he said. He opened up the door and sunlight poured through into the room. But he was stopped as something glinted in the light that caught his eye, and Link turned back around, the door rolling in place behind him.
It was small. It was heavy and metal in his hand, and was rough to the touch. He couldn't quite see what it was in the darkness, but as he stepped outside his heart skipped a beat.
A key!
Maybe it could unlock the locked door...
But Link turned away from the dark room with unease. He took in a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, feeling a small pulse of...of life.
He wasn't sure how he knew it, but he didn't doubt it for a minute. He was certain.
Something powerful lurked nearby.
Something evil.
-
Midna couldn't resist a giggle. Finally, finally she'd found someone to help her regain her power. And the fact that he was an awakening "chosen hero" was even better. The only problem was...he was sort of dumb.
Of course, he was better than a little toddler or something, but seriously. It had taken him hours to figure out that he was supposed to use the bomblings to kill those man-eating plants blocking his path. Not to mention he'd been in this room for twenty minutes and still hadn't noticed the third door over there.
At this rate, it could take months, or even years to get the Fused Shadows she so longed for. But, she thought with a sigh, it'll be worth it.
It has to be.
-
"A third monkey? How many are there?"
The locked door had led him to an outside area where he'd found a second monkey in a cage on a little tower, which he'd rammed into to knock the cage off. In the central room of the temple, with doors leading every which way, but he hadn't been able to get to the east side until the monkey had helped him swing across by hanging upside-down from a rope.
He'd been having a very strange day.
After going through that room with the dumb plant-monsters (even worse than the Deku Babas, even if they couldn't move), he'd come to this room.
It was eerily quiet and empty. There was a broken-down pathway that led to a ledge with a monkey. On the sides of the path were pools of water.
Nothing else.
Yet Link didn't sense any danger. Well - any danger beyond his normal enemies, like Bokoblins and Deku Babas and those giant spiders, which the bird-cuckoo-thing had called Stalfos.
He hurried onto the pathway and toward the monkey, but as he stepped onto one of the tiles, he suddenly felt himself in mid-air. Full of pain.
He landed on the ground with a thud and a moan. "What in the world was that?"
Out of the corner of his eye he saw the tile he'd stepped on fall onto the ground back in place. He sat up with a groan, then looked around. He picked up a stone and threw it at the tile, which suddenly shot up in the air above a now extended...worm.
A giant worm, that is.
How could he get across if all the tiles had worms under them?
He sighed and backed up. If he could run fast enough...
He took off, but his feet had barely touched the tile when he was in the air again, pain rocketing through him, and hard ground slammed beneath him. He pulled himself up, but realized he had landed on more tiles. His first instinct was panic, but the tile he was on didn't seem to be reacting. So, not all the tiles had worms? It was just...guessing?
Wonderful.
Just...
Peachy.
"Dammit!" He ran a finger through his hair.
Midna popped up. "What?"
"This just got, like, ten times more complicated! Some of these tiles have worms under them, but some don't!"
She blinked. "Okay, if you're scared of a few little bugs, we have a problem."
"No! They're giant! They..."
She rose an eyebrow.
"Ugh! Just...Just watch!" He stomped on the tile next to him, and suddenly he was flying through the air in pain.
Him and his damn temper. One of these days, it was going to get him killed.
He heard Midna laughing as he got up, and his face turned red. "See?" he shouted. "They're huge! I can't get past!"
She stifled her laughs to say, "Then go around the tiles!"
He sighed. "It's not that simple! I mean..." He ran a finger through his hair again. Midna was right. He could just swim around the tiles to the monkey.
"Unless, of course, you can't swim." She burst into laughter again, and his face grew warmer.
"Be quiet! I can swim!" He laid down his sword and shield, then pulled off his boots and slipped out of his tunic. He was warily aware of Midna's presence, and decided to keep his pants on. He nearly jumped in the water when he remembered his hat. He yanked it off and dove into the disturbingly warm water.
He hadn't gone swimming for a while, so he wasn't surprised when he needed to come up for air so soon. After a few more moments of swimming, he finally arrived at the ledge with the monkey. He pulled himself up, breathing heavily, and Midna giggled. "So you can swim. You're a little out of shape, though. You're panting like a dog!"
Link glared at her. "You know I AM a dog, right?"
"Yeah. Not one of your best traits." She giggled. "Oh well...THAT sort of makes up for it," she said, gesturing to his bare chest, then disappeared. He felt his face grow slightly warm. Did she just say she thought his...bare...er...torso...looked...good? She just...complimented him? Was she flirting with him? Or was he misinterpreting it, and she was making fun of him?
Probably making fun of him.
Still, though, it wasn't really an insult...
Goddesses, why did he even care? Muttering, he hurried over to the monkey and kicked the cage a couple of times, causing it to collapse around the thing. It screeched, then hopped up and looked up at Link expectantly. So it was going to follow him...Of course. He jumped back into the water, the monkey right behind him.
After he'd pulled himself back out, he spent the next ten minutes just pulling his clothes back on. He made a mental note to keep his clothes on should he ever have to swim again in his "adventure."
Speaking of which, how long was this thing going to last? He rolled the door out of the way and hurried past Deku Babas. How long was he going to be gone? He still had to find Ilia. And the kids. Plus, what was everyone else going to think? They probably thought he'd been taken with the others. Which he really should have been...
Why didn't the Boblins take him? Why did they leave him in the spring? He'd never really wondered about it until now. Why him? Why was he spared? Why did they want Ilia and Colin? They just as easily could have taken him. And everyone seemed to think he was some kind of hero, which would have made him even more valuable to take. Why didn't they take him?
Before he knew it, he was back in the central room with a door leading every direction. He found himself standing on a pillar watching the monkey convincing him to go back they way he'd come.
"Stupid monkey."
Midna jumped out of his shadow. "No. He's actually right. You're just too thick-headed to have noticed the third door in the room we were just in."
He reached for her ponytail and yanked it. It didn't feel like anything was in his hand, but she cried out all the same. She glared at him, then kicked him in the stomach. "You're such an idiot, Link." She fused back into his shadow with a giggle.
He hated her.
-
"I swear to the gods. Another one?"
A monkey screech echoed across the room behind a locked door, but his attention was soon directed elsewhere. A giant plant - a GIANT plant - suddenly sprouted in the center of the empty, circular room. It was like a Deku Baba connected to one of the man-eating plants, but about three times as big. It leaned down and swallowed a key that he hadn't even noticed before.
"Dammit! What the hell?"
It lunged at him and knocked him down with its long, pointed teeth. He quickly sprung back up and sliced his sword at it, stunning it. It jeered back to attack again, but he managed to hit it again. It swung at him, but as its head flew past him, he hit it once, then twice, then three times, and it shriveled up into a small, black...thing.
He sighed. That wasn't quite as hard as he expected. There was one slight problem he noticed, though. He still didn't have the key.
It must be in the other plant thing! But how did he kill it? Were there bomblings in the room anywhere? He sighed and walked over to a patch of grass, cutting it down with his sword. He was pretty beat down...he could use a fairy right about now.
Everyone in Ordon knew about fairies' magical properties. They completely healed a wounded person, and could also be stored in bottles. Which, he thought with a smile, I have now. He was lucky enough to spot something shimmering in a nearby pot, which he smashed to reveal a small, eyeball-sized, glowing fairy. Its wings fluttered wildly and it sped toward him, flying around him and then disappearing.
Warmth shot throughout his body and his cuts and bruises disappeared, as well as every sore spot in his body. Even the sharp pang of hunger in his stomach - which he'd barely noticed before - was gone, as well as the slight thirst on his tongue.
He probably should have saved the fairy in his bottle for another time - a more necessary time - but he shrugged. He should be able to find another somewhere in this temple.
Link suddenly heard something behind him...a hissing sound.
Crap...
He broke into a run, and just in time, too...a loud explosion burst behind him and the ground rumbled slightly. A bombling! Perfect. He spun around and ran toward its "nest", picking it up as a new one sprouted. He then eyed the distance he was from the plant and chucked it.
Bullseye! Perfect shot! It landed dead in the center of its mouth, and seconds after it swallowed the bomb, it expanded and blew up with a bang, leaving a shimmering, metallic key.
Link hurried over to it and scooped it up in his hand, continuing toward the newest monkey.
"You know," Link said with a grin, "I should name these things. To help me keep track of them."
Midna was suddenly beside him. "That's the dumbest idea I've ever heard. Name monkeys? How long do you think you're going to be here?"
"Long enough to have to name the monkeys."
She rolled her eyes and disappeared.
Link stepped outside with the four monkeys and stopped in place.
A bridge.
But it was broken.
It was hanging down from the ledge opposite him, flopping in the wind, where he needed to be. Figures it was broken.
Dammit.
Why did things have to be so difficult?
But the monkeys knew what to do. They all hurried forward, and one by one jumped up on the rope above where the bridge should have been, hanging from their feet, reaching out their hands.
Oh, no.
They didn't want him to...
He glanced down at what was below him. An endless fall into nothing. Perfect.
He couldn't stay here forever. But it was extremely dangerous to swing across a rope using monkeys...wasn't it?
Maybe Midna would catch him if he fell...
He shook his head. Fat chance.
He knew it was stupid, and he shouldn't do it. Fear flooded him, but before he knew what he was doing, he was jumping off the edge of the pillar he was on and reaching out, barely grasping onto the first monkey's hands. He used his legs to swing and create momentum, then let go before he could convince himself not to, and managed to grab onto the second monkey.
Farore, what was he doing?
He should be paralyzed with fear by now. Most people would be. Yet he felt himself grab onto the third monkey's hands and try not to look down. His heart thudded in his chest, so loudly he was surprised it wasn't echoing across the entire canyon.
And he numbly remembered his hands slipping, and his stomach leaving him as he plummeted through the air, and his feet landing on hard, reassuring ground.
He'd done it.
For the love of the goddesses, what was wrong with him?
He could have died for Din's sake! He tried standing up, but his legs were shaking too badly.
Midna was suddenly next to him, looking steaming and angry, but also a tad bit concerned. "LINK! What is WRONG with you? You almost died! You might be trying to act all courageous or whatever, but there's a FINE LINE between being BRAVE and being STUPID."
"I-I...I don't...I d-don't know w-what...what c-came over m-me..." He took in a deep, shaky breath, trying to calm down. "I just...I d-don't know..."
She winced, seeming to look a little apologetic. She slowly placed her hand on his back and patted it awkwardly, trying to soothe him or something. After a few minutes, he had calmed down and was ready to go.
He pushed the door aside, feeling a bit uneasy. But as Link stepped in the room, he felt downright afraid. Something evil was in here...
"Geez, Link, what's wrong? You're all...tense and alert..."
It was screaming in his ears. Something was watching him. He shouldn't be here. He wasn't welcome.
"There's something in here."
"Not really. Just a bunch of tikis."
Link rubbed the back of his head. "No. Something evil is in here. We have to leave." He turned around, but felt his heart sink as he saw a gate blocking the way. It must have fallen there when he closed the door. He was stuck.
He was stuck...
"How would you even know?"
Hairs stood up on the back of his neck. "I...I don't know. But I can feel it. I can...sense it."
"Oh, duh. I keep forgetting." He rose an eyebrow. "What, you haven't figured it out yet? You're a wolf! You have keen senses!"
"Makes sense, I guess," he said. He felt his ears perk - yeah, he definitely was a wolf - as the feeling suddenly grew stronger.
It was right behind him.
His suspicions were proved correct as he turned around to come face-to-face with a monkey. Not like the ones that he'd already found...Those were nice. This one...this one had evil in its eyes.
The monkey pulled out a weapon of some sort, flaunting it in the air. It looked almost like a...a boomerang. But it had a dark aura. The boomerang was evil...
Or was it?
Either way, he was screwed.
As the monkey chucked the boomerang at him yet again, missing him by inches, a memory flashed across Link's mind.
"What do you think is up there?" Shad asked, throwing the stone and then pointing up.
"Clouds. The sun. What else would there be?" Link caught the stone and tossed it from hand to hand.
Shad adjusted his shirt timidly, then caught the stone as Link threw it. "I think there might be something up in the sky...maybe something lives up there...there could be a whole civilization."
"Civi...lay...what?" Link wasn't really good with his schoolwork. He caught the stone, then tossed it back.
"It's like a town or community." Shad caught the stone and looked up. "I don't think all the places on earth have been discovered yet."
"I dunno...Then again, I never know. Knowing you, you're probly right."
Shad laughed. "I wish I was braver. Then I could find out for myself."
"Maybe I can help you," Link suggested.
"But I have to leave soon, remember? My parents are moving to Hyrule Castle Town in a week." He threw the stone. "That's not nearly enough time."
"Hmm..." Link caught the stone and stared up. Maybe something did live up there... How could he let them know he and Shad were down here? He swung his arm around and threw the stone up as hard as he could. It was going pretty high when it hit a tree branch. The stone hit the ground between them, but the branch was a little slower. Link watched with horror as it whizzed by and landed inches away from Shad.
"Oh no! Shad, I'm sorry!" But Shad was laughing too hard to hear him. Seeing Shad's happy face made Link laugh too.
"I wish you never had to leave."
Link rolled away from yet another attack from the monkey. Damn, he missed Shad. His flaming ginger hair, his timid smile, the way he'd always moon over Ilia but explain to Link that he had no chance...and Ilia would always ask Link if he thought she had a chance with Shad... and Link just sat by watching, thinking the whole predicament was hilarious...That is, until he began to get feelings for Ilia, and the jealously kicked in...
Ilia...
Link had to do something. That monkey had to have some sort of weakness. He noticed as the monkey jumped, that the pillar it landed on rattled a bit before it threw the boomerang. The next time the monkey jumped on a pillar, Link immediately ran toward in and rammed into the tower. The monkey lost its balance and fell on the ground.
Link hurried toward it - now was his chance. He drew his sword and hit it once, then twice, then three times. The monkey soon jumped back up and on another pillar, but now Link knew exactly what to do.
He repeated his actions two more times, until finally the monkey seemed to lose it. It hopped around on the floor crazily, then ran into one of the pillars. As it collapsed on the ground, Link noticed something next to it that he hadn't seen before. It was a little...bug. But hatred and evil burned from it. Link was half tempted to bend down and sniff it thoroughly, but...
That was gross.
He'd been a wolf too long.
The bug was dead by now, though. The monkey got up, shook its head, and began to panic. As it jumped through a small opening high on the wall it looked back at Link, and seemed to look apologetic.
Midna flew next to him. "I bet even the monkeys should be satisfied now. OK, let's continue combing this place. We already found something good, so let's keep searching places we haven't looked yet."
"Aye aye, cap'n." Link turned around. Dammit - the door was still barred! He pulled on the wooden gate but it wouldn't budge.
"Need help there?"
"I can figure it out on my own, Midna. I'm not a little kid!"
"Well, you sure act like one," she retorted, crossing her arms.
"Well, Mom, how about you tell me what I should do?"
"You're supposed to...um...you just have to..." She bit her lip.
He smirked. "Exactly."
They both cried out in surprise as a sound like wind blowing suddenly rushed past their ears. "What is that?"
Link glanced over to the source and saw that the boomerang was...well, it was glowing. But it didn't seem to be evil...
He cautiously approached it, and it rose into the air, spinning around. "I am the Fairy of Winds who resides in this boomerang," someone spoke. The...the boomerang could talk? "You have freed me from evil, and I now have my true power back."
"Er...you're...welcome?"
"Please...Take it with you, use it to aid your quest, and may both my power and my blessing go with you. If you focus power in your boomerang before releasing it, it will unleash the power of the wind, aiding you in unforeseen ways."
"...Thank you..."
It suddenly took off, spinning around the room. It was headed toward Link and he caught it swiftly in his hand. He held it up and fingered it. It was light and curved, with golden accents around the bottom tip and the center of the bend. He crouched, his arm poised back, and chucked it. White dazzling light and leaf-like things protruded around it as it circled around the room and then flew back to him.
He felt powerful with it in his hand.
He glanced back at the door. He was still stuck...He stared hard at the door, then decided to look around the room for clues. It took half a second for him to notice something above the door...Little spokes on a wheel or fan stuck out. It must be able to rotate...But how could he move them when he wasn't tall enough...?
Duh.
Duh.
Link quickly pulled out his boomerang, took aim, and threw it. It sped toward the fan, barely brushing it as it turned back around and threw itself in his hand. The fan was spinning, and the gate barring the door rattled. It moved up an inch, then stopped.
It didn't work...
Wait...
Maybe if he did it again...
He shot the boomerang at the fan again, and the gate rattled and moved up another inch.
Dammit, it was going to take forever!
He threw the boomerang in anger, then the second it was back in his hand he chucked it again, and again, and finally the gate rattled one last time and was out of sight.
"Oh, thank the gods. Finally."
Link settled the boomerang behind his shield, where it fit perfectly in the straps without falling out. He hurried to the door and pushed it out of the way reluctantly. He wasn't sure he wanted to leave.
Because he could tell something much worse was waiting for him.
It was only a matter of time before he had to face it.
-
Link laughed out loud. "Another one?"
"Well, I guess there are still some monkeys you haven't freed yet!"
"I guess so."
He held his hand to his forehead to keep sunlight out of his eyes as he looked up at the swinging cage. "How am I supposed to get that thing down?"
Midna giggled.
"Don't."
He pulled out his boomerang from behind his back and swung it at the string supporting the cage. It broke in a second and the cage collapsed on the ground. The monkey hopped up and jumped around Link, urging him to follow it.
"At this point, you should just save them all and see what you can get for it!"
"Well, I have nothing to lose." The monkey, impatient, jumped onto Link's shoulders and screeched in his ear, coating it in saliva. "Except my dignity," he muttered as Midna stifled her giggles.
"Alright, alright, I'll follow you," Link said, pulling the monkey off of him. "Show me the way."
It scampered off in the direction he'd come, but instead of going back into the room he'd come from, he headed back into the rest of the temple. After a little ways of walking, he entered the room with those worm-things under the tiles.
"Great, not again." He really didn't feel like undressing in front of Midna again. But he was suddenly struck with inspiration. Maybe, if he could somehow rip the tiles out...
He yanked out his boomerang and watched as it cut through the air and lifted the tiles out of their places. Quite a few had worms under them, but not all. They shriveled and died as soon as they were taken out of the ground.
"Thanks," he muttered, gripping the boomerang.
As Link passed the area he'd seen before in the room he slept in, he noticed something. Those pillars...they had propellers on the top. They could spin! His boomerang could spin them!
"How about that," he said, pulling it out. He flung it at one, and it circled around, hitting the other three. But the gate that blocked him from a chest of some sort didn't budge. He stared up at them and at the gate, when it occurred to him that there might be hints around somewhere, on the walls or the floor.
He glanced at the floor and immediately got his answer. There was a zig-zag pathway between each of the towers. How could he make his boomerang do that?
Wait. The Great Fairy or whatever that was in his boomerang could control the boomerang on its own, right? Maybe he just had to...summon her.
Twenty minutes later proved it seemingly impossible.
"Maybe..."
He pointed the boomerang at the first tower, one eye closed for accuracy. Then he quickly turned it and pointed it toward the second tower for a few seconds. He then aimed it at the third, and then the fourth. He then chucked it hopefully. Maybe she would understand...
His eyes were closed, but he heard rattling. He opened his eyes and saw the gate was open! He threw his fist in the air and laughed. See, Midna, he thought, I'm not so stupid after all. He proceeded to the chest and shoved it open. Inside was a key...but not like some of the others he'd found in this temple. This key was much larger and much more decorative. It must open something important.
Like the room with the evil shard of forbidden power.
Link shivered at the thought. He really didn't want to fight anything to get it, but his instincts told him he was going to have to. And if he was a wolf, there was only a slim chance his instincts were wrong.
But his fear receded quickly. He was still afraid, but his drive to defeat it was more powerful.
With the key in his hand he took off in search of more monkeys, who would hopefully lead him to wherever he needed to be.
After a few minutes, he found himself in that room he'd found earlier. It was dark, with a bridge that could not rotate because there was no wind.
Except now he had wind.
Right in his hand.
Link pulled out his boomerang. "This thing is really useful."
He chucked it, and the bridge slowly turned toward him. After he headed across and into the room it led to, his mind clicked.
There was a door opposite him on far side of this room. On a large tree to his left, there were eight platforms. Five of them had monkeys on them. So he to find three monkeys somewhere in this temple to help him get to the room with the evil shard of magic that this shadow-imp person wanted, so that she would take him back into the spreading twilight to find his kidnapped friends.
...Sweet merciful Din...
...His life was messed up.
"Okay, that's the last monkey," he said, entering the darkened room once again. "What now?"
"Watch, dummy," Midna hissed, pointing to the monkeys. They were one by one jumping of their pillars. Link watched in horror as he saw them jumping onto a rope leading across two poles, one on his platform, and one on the other side with the room.
The monkeys held onto each other and formed one long line, like a rope. The first monkey began rocking back and forth, causing them all to swing, and Link knew instantly what he was supposed to do.
He had to swing across.
It was just like getting to the evil monkey...
But on a much larger scale.
Midna looked at him. "Are you ready to do this? You're looking for something evil, after all.
Which means you'll probably have to fight."
Link fingered the bottle with a fairy in it, sheathed his sword and nodded.
"I'm ready."
He took off running and leapt off the edge, firmly grabbing onto the monkey's hands. He tried not to look down as his stomach left him and he was in the air. Raw fear struck through him, and he felt light headed as his situation struck him. His fingers slipped from the orangutan's, and he plummeted through the air.
Did he miss the ledge?
His feet should have hit the ground by now.
Sweet merciful Din, he -
His feet struck ground.
Through his closed eyes and numb mind, Link came to a conclusion - he was terrified of heights.