Chapter 9: the sage of light, Rauru.
It was sun down by the time Link and co had reached castle town. Link guided the horse towards the stables and got off Epona. Link and co then headed into town and entered the closest inn. The inn they had entered was the same one they had stayed in during the tournament. When they entered, the lady looked up and smiled.
"Why if it isn't the little champion. What can I do for you hun?" The attendant asked. Link walked up to her and handed her 50 rupees.
"I would like to rent a room with two beds for two nights please." The attendant smiled at him.
"Of course, you can, hun." The lady put away the 50 rupees and handed Link a key. "Here you go." Link thanked her as he took the key and walked to his room with Kai, Sari and Cecily following him. Link and Kai unpacked their things and sat down.
"Whew, I sure am tired." Kai claimed as he laid down on the bed.
"Kai, did you figure out what new power you got?" Link asked. Kai shook his head.
"I think my magic went up a bit, but that's about it. It wasn't as much of a power up as the first time." Kai stated. He then stood up and grabbed his regular cloths from his bag. He walked to the wash room and shut the door before he changed his cloths. Kai then walked out in his regular cloths, it was Link's turn to change his cloths. Link and Kai got into their beds after Kai set up a basket with a blanket for Sari and Cecily. Everyone then fell asleep into a peaceful slumber, all but one Kitsune.
Kai saw flames engulf Hyrule's once green grass and saw monsters pillaging Hyrule castle. He turned around and saw a beast like monster with a trident in his hand. Kai summoned a power he had never seen before and shot it at the monster. Chains surrounded the beast and locked onto him. Kai then saw Link and as he stretched his hand towards him, Link disappeared.
"Link! No, please don't leave me alone!" Kai kept screaming Link's name, hoping that he would appear. He then heard his name being called.
"Kai, Kai"
"Kai!" Link yelled, causing Kai to snap his red eyes open as he fell off the bed. Kai sat up and rubbed his head.
"Ow." Kai muttered.
"Kai, are you alright?" Link asked in a worried tone. Kai looked at him in confusion.
"I'm fine, why do you ask?"
"Well, you were yelling out my name, but you seemed to be asleep." Link claimed with a frown on his face. He then helped Kai up. Kai looked at Link with a frown.
"I had this strange dream, last night." Kai then looked out of the window. "Hyrule was burning and you were there. I tried to grab your hand, but you disappeared." Link looked at Sari and Cecily for help, they shrugged. Kai grabbed his brush from his bag and started to brush his hair. "You don't need to worry, it was just a nightmare." Kai tied his hair into his usual hair style. He then stood up and walked over to the door. "Come on, we should make our way to the temple of time and speak to this Rauru guy." Link followed Kai out the door and left the inn. As Link and Kai were walking, they bumped into someone.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Link apologized, when he looked up, he saw Riku. "Riku!" Riku looked at Link and smiled.
"Link! What are you doing here?" Riku exclaimed as he hugged Link. Link returned the hug. Riku then looked at Kai and the two fairies. "Oh, I see you also have Kai, Sari and Cecily with you." Riku walked over to Kai and hugged him, Kai returned the hug.
"Long time no see, Riku!" Kai greeted.
"Yeah!" Riku then looked back at Link. "So, what are you guys doing here?"
"We came here to meet with someone." Link answered. Kai nodded his head.
"Oh, who are you meeting with?" Link and Kai looked at each other, then at Riku.
"We're meeting with, uh, my grandpa!" Kai lied. Riku obviously didn't believe him.
"You seriously think I'm going to believe that? Aren't you the last survivor of the Kitsune tribe?" Kai sighed in defeat. "Come on, tell me the truth. I already know you snuck into the temple of time." Kai and Link looked at Riku in shock.
"Well, I guess we'll tell you the truth. You see, we're really here to see a man called Rauru." Link stated. Riku nodded his head in understanding.
"I see, well I won't hold you up. Maybe after you've seen this Rauru, we can catch up." Riku suggested. Link and Kai nodded in agreement. They then left for the temple of time. When they arrived, there were no guards. A sign was next to the stairs leading to the temple. It read, the temple of time is now open to visitors.
"Hey, at least I don't need to use my magic to sneak us in." Kai said. He and Link then walked inside the temple. When they entered, it was empty, save for the old man standing on the pedestal with a weird symbol on it. The old man turned around and smiled.
"I have been waiting for you, young ones." The old man claimed. Link and Kai looked at the old man with a suspicious look.
"Are you the one known as Rauru?" Kai asked. The old man nodded his head.
"Yes, I am indeed the one known as Rauru o great sage of time." Link then walked up to Rauru.
"So, what did you call us here for?" Link asked. Rauru cleared his throat before he started to explain to them.
"I called you both here, concerning the future of Hyrule." Rauru stated. Link and Kai gulped. "Kai, did you have a dream last night of Hyrule covered in flames?" Kai nodded, Rauru then sighed. "Your powers as the sage of time are awakening, that dream you had last night was not a dream, but a vision." Kai and Link gasped in shock.
"H-hold on, are you saying that Hyrule will burn down to the ground!?" Kai asked urgently. When Rauru nodded, Kai fell to his knees. "But, that's impossible!"
"Wait, there's got to be a way to save Hyrule!" Link exclaimed. Rauru shook his head.
"You of all people should know that Hyrule is doomed, Hero of winds." When Rauru said this, Kai looked at Link in shock and confusion.
"Link, what does he mean you of all people should know this? Wait, did you know that Hyrule was going to be destroyed!?" Kai asked accusingly. Link tried to say something but when he didn't say anything, Kai narrowed his eyes at Link. "Link, who are you exactly?" Link hesitated, then sighed.
"I-I wanted to tell you this before, but I didn't know how." When Kai didn't say anything, Link continued. "I'm…actually from the future," Kai gasped at this, "and in that time, I'm known as the hero of winds and in my time, Hyrule was sealed under water." Link looked at Kai hesitantly and waited for him to say something. Kai looked at Link with a shocked and hurt look.
"Link, w-why didn't you tell me about this before?" Kai said in a hurtful tone. Link looked at Kai with a guilty look.
"I was worried that if I told you the truth, it might change the future!" Link exclaimed. Kai turned away from Link.
"So, you lied to me." Kai stated. Link tried to say something, but Kai interrupted him. "Was the battle with the helmarok king a lie, was the pirates a lie too?" Link shook his head.
"Of course not, everything I told you was the truth. I just left out some things is all." Kai glared at Link, then his eyes softened.
"I know that you coming from the future is a big deal and that you couldn't tell me anything at the time, but you could have at least told me something after I became the sage of time." Kai said sadly. Link looked down in shame. Kai then looked at Rauru. "Was that all you had to tell us?" Rauru shook his head.
"No, I wanted to give you this." Rauru handed Kai a blue ocarina with the triforce symbol on it. Kai looked at the ocarina with confusion.
"What's this for?" Kai asked.
"This ocarina once belonged to the royal family, King Daphness gave me the ocarina of time to give to the next sage of time." Kai then looked at the sage of light.
"What do I do with it?"
"You will need to play it in order for you to enter Zora's domain. You will know what to play when the time comes."
"I'll try my best!" Rauru nodded and started to dissolve.
"Looks like my time is up. I wish you both luck on your next journey, head to the water temple located in Hylia lake, but it would be wise to head to Zora's domain first." Rauru then disappeared. Kai stared at the place where Rauru once stood, then started to make his way towards the exit of the temple of time. Link hurriedly followed him. Link and Kai hadn't said a word to each other ever since living the temple of time. Sari and Cecily saw them and waved to them.
"Link, Kai!" Riku shouted, as he ran up to them. Kai waved back, but Link kept staring at Kai with a guilty look. Riku then looked at Link with a weirded expression. He leaned towards Kai. "What's got him so down in the dumps?" Kai shrugged.
"Dunno." Kai then waved his hand in front of Link's face. "Link? What's wrong?" Link looked up at Kai in shock.
"I-I thought you were mad at me!" Link claimed. Kai shook his head and raised his eye brow.
"Why would I be mad at you?"
"Because I lied to you." Kai looked at his feet.
"Link, we all have our secrets and you had a legit reason for not telling me the truth. Sure, I was upset that you didn't tell me anything, but you didn't have a choice. Besides, I could never stay mad at you." Kai stated as he looked at Link in the eye. Link looked at Kai in shock again, then sighed in relief.
"Thank goodness." Link cried in relief. Kai looked at him with his eyebrow raised.
"You're weird." Kai claimed. He then grabbed out his bag of rupees. "We should have fun while we're here."
"Yeah! I know some great places." Riku claimed and gestured to the shop with a mouse sign above it. "Let's go bombchu bowling." Link looked at Riku in confusion.
"What's bombchu bowling?" Link asked as he cocked his head to the side.
"Bombchu bowling is when you wind up a bombchu and put it down on the ground behind the line. You then let it go and wait for it to hit the designated target, understand?" Riku explained. Link and Kai nodded their heads. "You can also win prizes, including rupees." Kai's eyes gleamed.
"Prizes!? This sounds fun, let's go Link!" Kai urged as he tugged on Link's hand and started walking towards the bombchu bowling alley.
"You guys go on ahead, Cecily and I are going to look around town." Sari claimed as she and Cecily flew towards one of the stalls. Kai handed them some rupees in case they wanted to buy something. Link, Kai and Riku then walked into the bombchu bowling alley. When they walked in, a lady with blue hair wearing a striped shirt was fast asleep on the counter. Riku rolled his eyes.
"The attendant is always sleeping on the job." Riku then walked up to the lady and shook her awake. The lady stirred from her sleep.
"Zzzzz…zzzzz… Huh? Wha…! Uh-oh!" the lady cried and straitened. She then cleared her throat. "A customer! Welcome to our cutting-edge amusement centre: The Bombchu Bowling Alley!" the lady exclaimed. "Do you want to know what you can win?" Link and Kai nodded their heads.
"Yes!" Kai yelled enthusiastically. The lady put her finger to her lips.
"Well, it's a secret."
"What? Why?" Kai complained. The lady chuckled.
"I can't tell you until you've paid to play. It's 30 rupees per game. Do you want to play?" Link paid 30 rupees to the lady. "Ok. Aim for the hole in the centre, then let the Bombchu go! You get 10 tries. Ready…LET'S BOWL!" the lady yelled out. Link, Kai and Riku got into position. "Oh, I almost forgot! Here's what you can win!" the lady then pulled out a bomb bag. "Start!" Kai positioned his bombchu in the centre and let go. It hit dead centre and knocked the wall over, revealing the second wall with the target being on the right side.
"All right!" Kai jumped up and shouted. Riku then readied his bomb and stood next to the right side of the wall. Once in position, Riku then released his bombchu. The bombchu missed the intended target.
"Darn." Riku then changed his angle a bit and released another bombchu. This bombchu hit it's intended target, causing the wall to collapse and reveal another wall. Riku pumped his fist in the air. "Oh, yeah!" Link then positioned himself in the centre and waited for the perfect moment to release his bombchu. After waiting for a bit, he released his bombchu and hit dead centre. A bell rang and the clerk shouted out,
"Winner!" Link, Kai and Riku high fived each other and walked over to the clerk to retrieve their prize. "Here's your prize!" She said as she handed Link the bomb bag. Riku smiled.
"Are you sure it's okay for me to keep this?" Link asked, Riku nodded his head.
"What use would I have for a bomb bag?" Riku pointed out.
"You have a good point."
"Do you want to play again?" The lady asked. Link looked at Riku and Kai.
"Do you two want to play again?" Link asked. Riku and Kai nodded their heads. Link paid the clerk 30 rupees. The lady then pulled out the next prize, which was 50 rupees. Kai readied his bombchu and released it, but he missed.
"Aw, dammit." Kai readied his bombchu again and released it. This time he hit the target, causing the wall to fall. Riku then readied his bombchu and released it. He also missed, he tsked and tried again. this time, he hit it and the wall fell. Link then readied his bombchu. He then released his bombchu, but missed. He released it again and missed again. He tried again and still missed.
"Oh, come on!" Link yelled in frustration. Riku put his hand on Link's shoulder.
"Calm down dude, try adjusting your position." Riku suggested. Link sighed and nodded. He moved his position and realised he was down to his last bombchu. He breathed and released the bombchu. Link, Kai and Riku waited with anticipation as the bombchu was making its way to the target. The bombchu missed its target and Link groaned.
"It's okay Link. We'll play another game." Kai suggested. Link, Kai and Riku then left the Bombchu Bowling Alley. When they walked outside, Riku pointed to another building.
"Let's go to the shooting gallery." Kai smiled at this.
"Yeah, good idea! This'll help me practice with my bow!" Kai claimed. Link nodded. Link, Kai and Riku walked into the shooting gallery and saw a sign. 20 rupees for one play. There are 10 targets. You have 15 chances. Hit all 10 targets! Hit 10 targets: Perfect prize. Hit 8 or more: free retry. Hit less than 8: game over.
"20 rupees, huh? Let's play!" Link urged. He paid the man 20 rupees.
"Sling shot or bow?" The man asked.
"Sling shot please." Link answered. He then grabbed out his sling shot and waited for the targets to appear. A green glass rupee appeared and Link hit the target. Two blue ones then appeared, then another green one that was moving. Two more blue ones appeared, then four moving red ones. Link hit every target.
"Wonderful! Bravo! Fantastic!" the man praised. "Here's a fantastic present!" the man then gave Link the biggest deku seed bullet bag that could carry up to 50 sling shot bullets. Kai then paid the man 20 rupees. "Sling shot or bow?"
"Bow please." Kai said. Kai took out his bow and waited for the targets to appear. Just like Link, the same targets appeared, but in a different order. Kai hit 9 out of 10 and got a retry. Kai hit all of the targets on the second try.
"Wonderful! Bravo! Fantastic!" the man praised. "Here's a fantastic present!" the man gave Kai a larger quiver that allowed him to carry 40 arrows.
"All right!" Kai cheered as he grabbed the larger quiver. He and Link then walked over to Riku with their prizes.
"Riku, are you going to play?" Link asked. Riku shook his head.
"No way, I'm no good at shooting a bow or a sling shot." Riku claimed. He, Link and Kai then walked out of the shooting gallery.
"So, where to next?" Kai asked. Riku looked around, then pointed to a building with a weird mask above it.
"We could go to the happy mask shop!" Riku suggested. The three boys then walked to the happy mask shop and walked inside. Inside the mask shop was all kinds of masks. Link, Kai and Riku looked at all the different masks. Riku picked up a Gerudo mask and showed it to Kai. "Here Kai, I think this mask would really suite you." Link started snickering.
"B-but Riku, Kai doesn't need that mask. He already has the looks!" Link's snickering turned into a full-blown laughter. Riku joined him. Kai looked at Link and Riku in confusion, then frowned.
"What do you mean I already have the look? Are you insulting me?" Link and Riku kept laughing while Kai shook his head. "Oh, ha, ha." He then turned towards the shelf of masks. A certain mask caught his eye. The mask he picked up was white with red patterns and a weird yellow eye in the middle. Kai decided to buy that mask.
"Um, excuse me, how much for the mask?" Kai asked. The sales clerk smiled at him.
"For you, the mask is for free!" the happy masks salesman said. Kai looked at him in shock.
"Really!? Thank you!" the Salesman laughed creepily at Kai, but Kai didn't take notice. Link looked on the shelf and looked at a yellow mask with fox ears. He paid for the mask which was priced at 20 rupees and turned to Kai.
"Hey, Kai. We're the same now!" Link chuckled. Kai giggled.
"That's a Keaton mask. They're technically our cousins." Kai stated. Riku picked off a sad wooden mask.
"What do you think?" Riku asked as he turned to Link and Kai. Link and Kai shook their heads.
"Too scary!" they both claimed. Riku frowned, but put the mask back anyway. he then picked up a white skull mask.
"What about this one?" Link and Kai shook their heads again.
"That's just as bad as the last one!" Kai exclaimed. Link shrugged.
"It's not that bad, you could get it if you want to." Riku nodded and purchased the mask. When Link, Kai and Riku left the happy mask shop, the sun had set and the street lights were lit. all three boys looked at the sky.
"Woah, I didn't realize it had gotten so late!" Riku claimed. He then turned to Link and Kai. "I have one more place I want to show you guys." Riku then walked towards a building with a chest sign above it. Link and Kai followed Riku. "This place only opens at night." Link, Kai and Riku then walked into the treasure chest shop. Inside, sat a shirtless man with a tattoo on his left shoulder. Link walked up to the man and asked him how to play.
"Open the chest and…surprise! If you find a key inside, you'll be able to advance. Left or right-try your luck! 10 rupees to play. Do you want to try it?" Link, Kai and Riku nodded their heads. Riku paid the man 10 rupees and received a key. Link, Kai and Riku entered through the first door. In the first room, there were two chests situated on each side of the room.
"How do we know which chest to pick?" asked. Link shrugged. Riku smirked.
"You don't. it's all about luck!" Riku claimed. Link and Kai nodded. "We should all take turns picking a chest and whoever gets the wrong one has to pay for the next game!"
"But who goes first?" Link asked. Riku pointed to himself.
"I'll go first!" Riku then walked over to the chest on the left and opened it to find a key. Riku waved the key around and grinned. He unlocked the door and gestured to the next room. "Well, who's going next?" Kai raised his hand.
"I'll go next." He, Link and Riku then walked into the next room. Kai looked between the two chests and slowly went towards the right. He opened the chest slowly and sighed in relief when he found a key. He then walked over to the door and unlocked it. It was Link's turn. Link thought about the positioning of the keys and went to the chest on the left. When he opened it, he found 5 rupees.
"Wha-?" the chest on the right opened and revealed the key. Kai and Riku laughed.
"Guess you're paying, Link." Riku laughed.
"Aw man." Link sighed in defeat and went back to the man and paid for the next game. He then walked into the room. He looked at the chest on the left and opened it. Inside he found a key. Link cheered and walked to the next room. Riku walked over to the chest on the right and opened it to find the key. Riku smiled and unlocked the next door. In the next room, Kai looked at the chest on the left, but remembered what happened to Link and walked to the chest on the right and opened it to find a key. Kai grinned and unlocked the door. Link looked between the left chest and the right. He walked over to the chest on the left and slowly opened it. When he found a key, he smiled. Link unlocked the door and walked into the next room. Riku walked over to the chest on the right and opened it to find a key. Riku walked over to the door confidently and unlocked it. The next room had only one chest. Link, Riku and Kai opened the chest together and found 600 rupees.
"Holy! That's a lot of rupees!" Kai cried. He then picked up the two gold rupees. "How are we going to split it?" Link grabbed one gold rupee from Kai and handed it to Riku.
"Here Riku." Link said. Riku looked at him with a confused look. "Since me and Kai are travelling together, we can just share the money."
"Oh, okay." Kai then yawned.
"We should get going, it's getting late." Link said. Riku nodded.
"Yeah, so when are you leaving?" Riku asked.
"Tomorrow."
"Oh, well I'll see you off tomorrow then." Link nodded and the three boys left the treasure chest shop. Link and Kai walked to the inn after waving goodbye to Riku. When they walked into their rooms, they saw Sari and Cecily in their basket fast asleep. Link smiled and Kai collapsed onto his bed, falling asleep straight away. Link took off his boots and his hat and laid down on the bed and fell asleep.
AN: hello, I hope you liked this chapter. I thought that I would give our little heroes a break. I'm sorry if this chapter was a little shorter than the rest, but I promise to have another one up shortly. See ya!