Chapter 10 - Hero's Haven

Drolerif stood atop the the Stone Tower with Vaati, Daemon was inside, on the floor just beneath them.

"I've been meaning to ask you," said Vaati, not taking his eyes off of Clock Town, visible in the distance, "why is it you serve Daemon? I serve him because the curse of the mask leaves me no choice in the matter, but you, what's in it for you?"

Drolerif shrugged a bit, "Daemon plans on ruling the earth itself, he promises to leave Hyrule to me after we overthrow Ganondorf."

Vaati nodded slightly, "I still don't quite understand, Daemon is only a child, you could best him if you wanted and take Hyrule for yourself without him."

Drolerif chuckled a bit, very much unlike him, "I could, if Daemon didn't have possession of that mask, anyways. And with all the powers it's given him, I'd be a fool to even think about trying to steal it away from him."

"That's right," Daemon was behind them, both of them wondered for how long, "but that's beside the point of why I came up here. That fairy is already causing Link trouble," a smile came across Daemon's face, "and to put icing on the cake, there's a whole pack of Wolfos headed his way. I honestly don't see Link getting out of this one, he's completely cornered."

Link cut through the last of the Wolfos, grateful that only one of them was a White Wolfos. He stretched his arms out over his head, twirling the Whistle Blade back into its sheath, "I honestly didn't see much of a challenge in that, too bad Skull Kid and Tael were asleep."

Without warning, Tatl charged from out of nowhere and flung her body against Link's chest. As quickly as he could, Link grabbed for the fairy, catching her by one wing and feeling it rip, she screamed out, "Ah! Don't! It's not me, it's not me, please!"

Link grabbed for the fairy again, getting a much firmer grip on it's round body, letting the injured wing rest on his wrist, "What? What do you mean it's not you, you've been attacking us since we fell into this pit."

"I don't have any control over my physical actions," Tatl explained, "Daemon and his Gerudo servant used a dark powder to possess me. The only way to turn me back is for me to be submerged in one of the pools of silver water in the deepest chamber of these mines." Tatl whimpered as her wing twitched, "I guess I should be thankful it also has healing capabilities."

Link let go of Tatl, her possessed body flapped its still functioning wing desperately, but she only flew around in circles.

"I think it's safe to let you free," said Link, raising an eyebrow at the fairy's rapid spinning, "here, I'll let you rest in my hat." He took Tatl, lifted up his hat and set her inside, then he placed the pointed hat into one of his several belt pouches.

From inside he heard the fairy's small voice, "Thank you."

Link sat and talked with Tatl until Skull Kid was the first to awaken. Skull Kid took the still unconscious Tael and placed him in one of his hidden pockets. After Link explained Tatl's predicament to Skull Kid, they both started looking for a way out of the deep pit.

"We're already pretty deep in the mines by now," Link called out to Tatl, "how much deeper should we be going."

"We're actually pretty close to the bottom," Tatl called back, "there should be a loose stone on the wall somewhere in this room that opens a passage way to the pools."

Link smiled at Skull Kid, "Is that convenient or what? Alright, let's get to looking for a loose stone.

After what seemed to be an eternity of searching, Link came across a piece of rock that protruded from the wall. He grabbed it and tried wiggling it around, then he pulled down on it. It turned downwards like a lever, fitting into the wall perfectly. Link, Skull Kid, and the now awake Tael watched as the wall sank into the ground, revealing yet another hallway, this one having stairs that led downwards.

Skull Kid stretched his arm out, "Shall we then?"

Link nodded, and started his way down the purple lit hallway, a yellow light visible shining through his belt pouch. They had only been walking a little ways when they heard a rumbling from the way they had come.

Link looked back, "What? What was that?"

He felt Tatl shaking inside his pouch, "It's that thing that brought me here! It's terrifying!"

Link quickly undid his pouch and handed his hat to Skull Kid, "You and Tael take Tatl down to the pools and heal her up, I'll see whatever that thing is."

Skull Kid nodded, "Okay, don't get yourself killed," he held up Link's hat, "I want to see you wearing this thing again sometime soon."

Link smiled, "Oh don't worry, I refuse to leave this life without that thing."

Link reentered the room where they had found Tatl, to find something entirely different. A huge white rabbit, possibly the size of a Goron, stood in the middle of the room. Link edged forward, feeling the rabbit's soft fur, "So, you were the one made to take Tatl here, huh?" Link smiled, "You're really not all that terrifying."

At the feel of Link's hand, the rabbit jumped away. It turned to Link and started hissing, extremely loudly, and revealed its sharp teeth. Its red eyes bulged, and the once soft white fur started to come together and harden, eventually making it look like the rabbit was encased in ice. Its small paws had grown razor sharp claws and by the end of it all rabbit had tripled in size.

"Okay, I'll admit," Link said, subconsciously keeping very quiet, "that's pretty scary."

Skull Kid, Tael, and a fully healed Tatl came into the room behind Link. Skull Kid looked up at the huge rabbit in awe, "The only rabbit we get to see in this region and it's gonna kill us, huh?"

"It really seems that way, doesn't it?" Link answered, taking out the bow and aiming a fire arrow at the rabbit.

The rabbit had just started jumping at them when it was knocked back by a fire arrow. The rabbit fell on its side, exposing a red underbelly behind all the ice. "There," Skull Kid cried out, "if we can get through its ice shell, that red bit on its belly looks like a potential weak spot."

Link ran at the rabbit again, sliding on his back right past the rabbit, firing another shot at its underbelly with a fire arrow. More ice melted away from the rabbit, and the glowing red underbelly became vulnerable. Link ran to the rabbit and got one slash in before the rabbit kicked him away with it's strong hind legs. He slid across the floor until he hit the wall. Looking up, he saw the rabbit charging at him, its sharp teeth bared. In desperation, Link grabbed the bow, strung a normal arrow, and shot into the rabbit's eye. The rabbit crashed forward onto its face and slid to Link's feet. Link ran around to the rabbit's exposed underbelly and unsheathed his sword.

Skull Kid looked to Tael, "I know how we can make this a super huge ego boost for him."

He tossed Link his hat, and in one swift dramatic motion, Link pulled that hat over the top of his head, put one foot up on the rabbit's main body, and used both hands to stab the Whistle Blade down into its red belly. The rabbit stopped moving, and the ice that was its body shattered to pieces, small slabs of ice melting away at their feet.

"And that," said Link, walking over to Skull Kid and the two fairies, "is how you do it 'Hero of Time' style." Skull Kid clapped his hands slowly and unenthusiastically.

Tatl flew up close to Link's face, "Hi! I'm sorry, I didn't really get to introduce myself earlier. I'm Tatl!"

Link smiled and held out his hand, "It's alright. Hello Tatl, my name is Link."

"Well, uh, hi Link." Tatl said staring at Link's hand, wondering how to respond to his offer considering she had none.

Skull Kid interrupted the silence, "So are we going to get out of this place, or what?"

"Not yet," Link said, "we still have to find out where all the monsters are coming from."

"Actually," Tatl piped up, "the monsters infested this place after the dark powder was scattered here, and Daemon's Gerudo servant blocked off the chamber to the silver water pools. The fumes from the water should start to come back up and dissolve the powder, and the monsters won't be attracted to this place anymore. I think it's safe for us to leave."

Link and Skull Kid pushed the boulder out of the cave entrance and the four of them entered the chamber with the Goron Elder once more.

The Elder leaned in, looking at Tatl, "Found a new friend in that cave, did you?"

"No," said Skull Kid, smiling at Tatl, "an old friend."

As Skull Kid lost himself in conversation with Tatl and Tael, Link walked with Darmani and the Elder, "The curse that had drawn monsters to your mine has been lifted. A few Chu-chu's might make their way to that entrance every now and then in the next few days, but other than that you've nothing to worry about."

The Elder bowed to Link, "Thank you, I apologize for putting you through such a trial simply for a place to stay, but you must understand that I have to look out for my people before anyone else."

Link returned the bow, "I understand. Are these two chambers all there is to the Goron Village?"

Darmani shook his head, "No, I'll show you the main hall, it leads to all the different chambers." Darmani lead Link, Skull Kid, and the two fairies through a few halls before coming to a dead end hall with ten doors on the right and ten on the left. "The last door on the right is empty, you are free to occupy it," said Darmani, pointing, "feel free to stay as long as you like."

Link and Skull Kid bowed good-bye to Darmani once again and walked to the room. The inside had three chambers, one large room, a small lavatory, and a small spare room. The main room had five beds on the far side, a huge mirror covering most of one wall, five chests on the opposite wall of the mirror, and a chandelier hanging about twelve feet above their heads.

Skull Kid threw his shield and blade carelessly to the side of the bed he chose and kicked back on it with Tatl and Tael. Link walked over to one of the chests, used the Whistle Blade to carve an M into the one he chose as his, and put his sword, shield, bow, arrows, and rupees into it.

He chose the bed next to Skull Kid's, "Ah, what I tell you, Skull Kid? Everything's going to turn out just fine."

Daemon sat on the edge of the Stone Tower, watching a single Gibdo walk in circles. Vaati had gone to Clock Town for supplies and Drolerif was on the bottom floor, sword training. He looked down at the mask, looked into its eyes, and felt his hatred for Link grow.