A/N: Hello Fans! Sorry to have kept you all waiting for this chapter, I have been busy and finding time to write is becoming diffcult. But this has not stopped me. I hope you enjoy this chapter. I will get to work on the next chapter and have it up soon so you don't have to wait any longer. Thanks again for sticking with me on this. Enjoy and Review!

Riyougi, out!

Chapter 26

The moon is setting… a new day is dawning, Link thought peacefully, watching from the rise in the forest as the sun was beginning to break over the top of the forest's canopy. Link stood still and calm; waiting for the sun to bathe him in its warmth and light. He felt the sun could rid him of the pain and grief he had suffered last night, but he knew in his mind it could only provide temporary relief. Still, Link stretched out his arms to the side and breathed in the morning dew; taking in what warmth and light he could. He had not slept yet, and his body was both batted and worn out. Not to mention starving. The battle with Nightmare and Soul Edge had took him well beyond his natural boundaries; both mentally and physically.

The knight and demon blade were both as powerful as he had heard from countless people in this new world, and he had the unlucky pleasure of finding out that fact the hard way. All the tales he had heard countless people speak of about battling Nightmare and somehow managing to survive the ordeal, were not even close to the real deal. Link now figured those stories to be false or else highly exaggerated. The only thing that held true in each story he heard, was that Nightmare was never defeated. The only battle that Link knew of where Nightmare and Soul Edge were defeated, was in that final battle against Soul Calibur; the holy sword. However, nobody knew of such a battle taking place – only a few did.

Link should have known that he couldn't have won that battle without the holy blade or without his Master Sword. He almost did; but like others that had tried, failed to follow through. Even when Link had the upper hand on Nightmare, and victory seemed well within reach, Link began to understand the painful truth of why nobody could ever defeat them, as the battle play through.

'It was the darkness…' Link whispered from a mere gap in his lips. 'I was not battling Nightmare and Soul Edge alone… but the darkness as well'

The darkness, Link believed, was what had given Nightmare the chance to turn the tables on the Hylain warrior. He believed it wasn't Soul Edge's quick use of the wounded samurai that caused the battle to tip the scales in the evil duo's favour, but was the darkness itself that had done it. Though without a physical being, the darkness had it own ways of changing the tides of battles. The darkness was what Link had underestimated. It was what had brought Nightmare and Soul Edge back together: the darkness. Link only began to grip this fact when he faced Nightmare; but it was when he saw Mitsurugi's battle aura turn into a blood red super aura, that Link began to understand what he was dealing with. It was not just the darkness of Soul Edge and Nightmare he was battling, but it was the darkness that lay hidden within everything.

Link didn't fully understand this fact, but it did make sense to him. Soul Edge could utilize anything that beared or contained any traces of darkness; like it had done with Mitsurugi. The turning point of last night's battle, which handed the advantage back to Nightmare, was when Soul Edge took control of the weaken samurai by feeding upon the darkness within the warrior's soul. It had used that darkness within Mitsurugi to gain control over the warrior, where he became nothing more than a puppet on a string.

Thinking about it, and then comparing it with every tale he had heard of Nightmare in battle, it actually made sense of how the knight was still able to walk away. Link had heard countless tales of whole armies marching against Nightmare; seeking to kill the knight or to claim Soul Edge as their own, only to get defeated. When he had first heard the tales, Link couldn't even comprehend how a single man could level whole armies asunder. Vast numbers of countless men, archers, siege weapons and horse riders all annihilated at the hands of Nightmare. The very idea of one man doing such a thing was beyond possible – expect when that man wields Soul Edge. With Soul Edge in hand, Nightmare could have made most of those men that stood against him turn against their brother-in-arms; if not all of them.

If Soul Edge feeds upon the darkness within a man's soul… how then, could anyone beat him? Link wondered, lowering his arms to his side. Link came to rub his chin softly as his mind was put to the test of figuring out an answer. His eyelids gently closed over his ocean blue eyes, in order to help him focus. It was a difficult process, and Link kept finding himself turning up with nothing. Since his knowledge of Nightmare and Soul Edge was almost non-existent, it was hard finalizing any answer for him.

The only thing Link knew for certain was that Soul Edge had a great hatred for the spirit sword, Soul Calibur. The spirit sword was responsible for Soul Edge's downfall in power, losing much of its former self after being defeated by the holy weapon. This was the only known fact Link had to act on. It was his only real clue he had as to defeating the demon sword for good.

However, the holy sword itself was no longer in this world. It existed now in a void outside the natural realm of this world.

Siegfried, the innocent soul within the dark knight, had mention that Soul Calibur was indeed locked away in the dark void that had collapsed after Soul Edge and Nightmare was defeated in their final battle. Even Rauru, the ancient Sage of Light, had confirmed what the knight had said to be true. Rauru also made mention, through a series of cryptic answers, that the sword could be reached if Link could locate a land soaked in evil.

'He said this land would be unique… that I would know it when I felt it' Link murmured, remembering what Rauru had told him.

Standing from where he stood, on the rise in the forest, the only darkness he could feel, at a close range, was the darkness that lay behind him; back in the open field where the small village once existed. But the darkness there was only centralized in a crater, and was not a whole land soaked in evil.

'I guess the darkness there, isn't enough' Link thought, peering in the direction of the crater from over his right shoulder. 'I will have to search elsewhere… there is nothing left for me here'

With that, Link fixed his gaze forward. He began to muttered a pray in his native language, for the souls that were lost in the village and for those taken by Soul Edge. Though he was not responsible for their deaths, he still felt guilt for their untimely ends.

Finishing his pray, Link took one last glance at the land he and Nightmare had done battle in, before fixing his gaze forward and continuing to walk down the trail that lay before him. He left that land with a heavy heart, but vowed he would seek his vengeance for the fallen. Since they could no longer do anything for themselves, he swore to make sure that Soul Edge was destroyed; for their good and for the good of all the other worlds.

Link travelled the forest's trail for five hours before the heavy clutter of ever greens trees began to recede from sight, to reveal open country. Just like the previous field Link had encountered, this one was pretty much the same, except for the breathtaking background.

In the distance to Link's left, stood tall a mighty mountain range. This mountain range was the same one that he saw before when he was following after Mitsurugi when he arrived in Japan. But now, standing much closer to the mighty mountains, the sight was much more than it was before. The white and grey slopes of the mountains were in clear focus to Link's eyes. Set against the clear blue sky, with a vast forest at their base and nothing but silence on the wind, those few moments standing there was like heaven to Link. The sight was so appealing and refreshing, Link decided to sit amongst the grass and just stare in complete serenity.

His mind was quiet and his body still. His eyes remained fixed on the mountains, watching the snow blow across each mountains' stone face to the next. He was so lost in the moment and so at ease that he didn't even notice the innocent looking smile drawn on his face. Even the grass that tickled his skin from under the hood didn't register to the warrior. He was totally lost. Link wanted this moment to never end. He wanted to stay in this serenity, where nothing else mattered to him; where his soul was free to soar.

But such moments never last.

From his relaxed state, the calm and peaceful serenity he was enveloped in was suddenly disturbed by the sound of an approaching wagon and loud voices. His ears twitched wildly as the wagon and the voices drew closer, causing the warrior to stir away from the beautiful mountains.

From his seated position within the field of grass, Link was able to see the wagon approach. Staring through the many blades of grass, Link was able to see two strong, pure bred horses pulling along a steady wagon, with two men sitting at the reins. The two men were laughing uncontrollably, bearing extremely happy smiles on their faces and speaking mumbled words to each other. One of the men was old and had a whitish-grey bread; while the other man was slightly younger looking and more clean-shaven then the older man next to him. Link didn't understand what dialect these men were using, or why they were acting so joyously, but decide to study them while being concealed in the grass.

'We should… try and best that…hiccup… buffoon again!' the old man shouted, whipping the reins of the horses as he spoke.

'For sure…Burp…we got to f-f-find him and beat him at our own game…hiccup! But… maybe… we should learn how to play cards better!'

'Aye, I'll drink to that!'

The younger man laughed hysterically before reaching into the wagon and revealing two big bottles from amongst the other items in their collection. The younger man handed one of the bottles to the older man and kept one in his own hand. In unison, the two men bit down on the chock that block the bottle's top and forcefully removed them with their teeth, and then spitting the chocks offside. The two then turned to each other and knocked the bottles together before shouting, 'CHEERS!'

Ah…now this makes sense…, Link thought as he sat back naturally, with a slight smile on his face. The two men were shouting and using slurred or words in the wrong order because they had been drinking, and heavily from the uncontrollable volume the two were using. They were totally drunk, yet still within their senses to steer a wagon. Link tuned out on what the pair was saying, but watched at the two steered their horses and wagon towards the forest Link had emerged from.

'My friend…Hiccup… in the village on the other side… has the best wine in the land!' the younger man declared, before taking down another mouthful of the alcohol in the bottle. 'You… being such an oldie… would fall on your butt just from…Hiccup… smelling the stuff'

'Ha! I've got a liquor proof liver…never let me down!'

After that, the pairs' voices became too slurred and mumbled that Link could no longer hear them as they past into the forest. But unfortunately, the part of the conversation he did manage to hear was enough to remind him and draw him back into darkness of last night.

In the village on the other side, he said… I'm sorry… there is nothing there anymore

Link sighed heavily as he let his head drop into his chest. He thought about chasing after the wagon and telling them what they were about to see, but decided he rather not disturb their joyous mood – even if it was alcohol induced.

Shaking the grief of the memories of the destroyed village from his mind, Link lifted his head up and stared back the mountains before him. It was still a sight to behold, but now, he wasn't feeling as peaceful as he did when he first saw them. The moment had gone.

Staring for only a few seconds more, Link stood up from the ground and made his way back onto the path he had travelled. He paused briefly to gather his bearings, upon stepping back onto the man made path, but then ventured down the dirt road where the wagon had come from. He followed the track made by the wagon and backtracked them all the way to a cross intersection. The intersection appeared over a slight raise in the ground and around a bend.

As he walked closer towards the intersection, Link noticed that part of the intersection had been made naturally and the other was man-made; cutting through the beauty, green countryside. Link could tell that the path heading directly before him and to the left of him was all natural; provided by nature and not by man. The paths behind him and to the right of him were both man-made; and by the looks of the heavy tracks upon them, they had seen a lot of travellers passing through them. Studying the countless prints left in the dirt of these man-made paths, Link gathered that there was a settlement nearby. The prints were fresh, with maybe some being only a few minutes old. A settlement was very close by.

Link's eyes shifted across the dirt road to his right, all the way up to a ridge that hid the rest of the road. This road had most of the fresh tracks in its dirt and the highest count of prints than the other three roads. Link kept his gaze focus on the ridge, while his ears tuned in and absorbed any and all sound he could from that direction. All at once, Link's ears where flooded with sounds. He could hear wagons being pulled along by horses, feet pounding against the earth and wooden floors, as well as people's conversations and the occasional bellowing of salesmen.

There is differently a town there Link concluded quickly from the many sounds that flooded his ears. The town seemed to be a really busy place, by the sound of it. Judging from what he could hear, there was a lot of people based in that town; more than he could keep track of.

This town presented Link with a perfect opportunity to gather much needed information for his travels, as well as a place to rest. All of Link's leads had run cold at this point and he was out of directions to follow. This was his chance to gain some new info and insight of his surroundings. Hopefully, someone in this town could provide Link with a hint or a trail he could follow; anything to point him in the right direction. But Link held his doubts about that. People seemed to only repeat what they or others had heard, while some made up tales and stories about their adventures across the globe, using mention of the demon sword to gain an audience.

Were they telling the truth or were they false? He could not tell. Link had no way to prove their stories, but could only take onboard what they said and see where it led him.

With that, Link decided to take his chance with this town. Be there new information or just recaps of what he had already heard, it didn't matter. At least, if there was nothing new for him there, he would at least gain some much needed rest.

Link started to walk towards the ridge and then towards the town he heard further ahead, before coming to a complete and sudden stop. Link felt suddenly strange, and not in the natural sense. Link felt a familiar sensation befall him; one of fire and of darkness. The familiar feeling came too quickly to his mind, reminding him of the cursed item he carried.

Oh great… what does it want? Link thought coldly as his eyes shifted towards his travel bag, that hung by his side within his cloak.

The travel bag began to radiate slightly in the shadows of Link's cloak, before emitting its fable and familiar aura. The aura shot forth from behind Link, instead of in front of him, and raced off into the opposite direction. It crossed the intersection and continued to the cross the open field, until it disappeared into the distance towards the mighty mountain range. Staring towards the mountains with the cursed fragment's aura pulsing in their direction, Link recalled that there was a fragment of Soul Edge somewhere on those mountains. Link remembered seeing his fragment pointing towards the mountains once before, when he was tracking down Mitsurugi. He had a choice of heading towards the forest or the mountains, but chose to take the forest, as it was much closer and held the possibility of crossing another path that could lead towards the mountains if his journey in the forest had proven to be wrong.

No…not this time Soul Edge. This time you can wait!

Link tore his eyes away from the mountains and forced his feet to continue down the road. Link heard the dark whispers of Soul Edge's fragment commanding him to take to the mountains and retrieve its missing piece. The whispers were most compelling over the weaken warrior's current state, but Link still resisted as he always did against its wants and travelled towards the town. Link could feel the fever upon his mind increase as the fragment detest to his actions. He ignored the pain on his min and continued to walk strongly towards the town, leaving the fragment on the mountain.

Continually denying doing what Soul Edge's fragment wanted of him, Link began feeling the cursed fragment's power beginning to falter. It strong dark whispers were weakening in strength and the ominous presence that had befallen him was beginning to lift. The fever in his mind began to die down and soon faded away into the breeze, leaving his mind slightly overheated, but still within normal working condition. He didn't know what was different about this time than the other time the fragment tried to get him to do something, but he had somehow bested Soul Edge's persuasive powers. Not fully understanding this, Link rubbed his forehead slightly, to feel the ease of his fingers pressing against his temple, with a pleased smile drawn on his face as he came to stand before the town he had heard at the cross roads.

The town was bustling with life. People and wagons flooded the main street into the town, leaving little room to roam freely without touching or hitting another person. Link's first assessment, based on what he could hear from the town, was way off. The town had more moving bodies passing through it then any town he had visited; from his world or in this world. People were pushing, shoving and almost climbing over top of others just to get by in the crowded street. The setup of stalls along a few of the buildings also added problems to the confined street's flow of traffic. Link sensed that the main street would be the hardest place to inquire about information, when everyone was busy moving along. If he did stop to inquire about Soul Edge, Nightmare or Soul Calibur, he sensed he would probably be swept away within the crowd.

I think this entrance is a bit inaccessible… maybe there is another way in, Link thought, shifting his gaze away from the crowded main entrance.

There wasn't much to see elsewhere from where he currently stood. The town had a wall built around it that stood just a bit taller above the building's roofs that blocked his view from the road. If there was another entrance, preferably a less cluttered one, then he would have to walk around the town to find it. Seeing as his only choice, Link strolled towards the beginning of the wall and then followed it off towards the right. As he strolled along the wall's base, Link noticed that there were a few bricks laid amidst the ground that had crumbled away from the main structure of the wall. Studying a few of these brick as he continued to walk, he saw that some had naturally given way from the wall, while others bared the scars of some kind of explosive damage. At first, there were only a few of these damage bricks, but he soon began to see more of them. Countless bricks littered the ground and huge holes began to appear along the wall's face. These holes had the signs of being hit by strong objects that either exploded on impact or lift the wall burning.

'Signs of a battle… I wonder if Soul Edge or Nightmare had anything to do with this'

Stopping at one of these gaps in the wall, Link came to see an opening before him that presented a small alleyway between buildings that he could slip into to reach one of the streets. Link firstly looked further down the wall to see if a more presentable entrance was close by, before slipping into the opening. This was his entrance, unless he wanted to continue to walk along the town's wall.

Slipping through the gap in the wall, Link found himself behind a set of buildings. Each building beared the similar design as the previous towns and also shared the same closeness. Each building was practically built next to each other, leaving no gap what so ever. However, the gap before Link was due to the house to his right being built on an angle to suit the curve of the wall. The gap before him was wide, but quickly narrows down as it continues to the front of the building. Examining the narrowing opening to the street, Link knew that his body's build would not let him pass through the gap, let alone with his shield and weapon upon his back.

It presented a small problem, but wasn't one that he couldn't overcome. Link eyes shifted from the narrow opening before him, up towards the roofs of the two buildings either side of him. Both buildings had similar blue, decorated roofs design, with craving of dragons in the woodwork and statues at each corner. Link moved slightly towards the building to his left and attempt to grab onto the roof. His fingers were able to touch the roof, but he could not grasp enough of the roof to support him or pull himself up. Link stepped back to the wall, where he paused and studied the roofs once more.

Jumping won't work… but my Hookshot will, Link thought, study the wooden statues.

Link reached deep into his tunic and felt around the items found on his left side. The Hookshot was easy to find in his tunic, because it constantly poked him in the side whenever his items shifted about suddenly, especially when he was fighting. His right hand founded the Hookshot's grappling hook easily enough, and quickly slid down its slim body to its handle, where he then pulled it forth from his tunic. The sliver and blue coloured Hookshot glistened in the afternoon's sunlight as Link aimed the Hookshot's grappling hook to the furthest statue on the building to his right. Link had to adjust himself slightly to avoid the light bouncing off his Hookshot into his eyes before firing the grappling hook.

Pulling the trigger on the Hookshot, Link heard the chains rattling inside the Hookshot's metal casing, as the pressure lock was release, allowing the grappling hook to fly at it target. The grappling hook shot forth from the Hookshot at great speed and impaled its target as Link had wanted. Having the grappling hook firmly within the statue, and allowing a bit of slack in the Hookshot's chain, Link pressed the trigger again to activate the retracting of the chain, before letting the Hookshot do it automatically when the chain had reached its end. Doing this caused a small grinding sound within the Hookshot, as the gears change within its metallic body to now retract the chain. Link tightened his grip on the Hookshot's handle greatly, before he was suddenly yanked from the ground towards the roofs.

The air rushed quickly against his face as he sped to the building's roof, and die down just as quick when he came to a sudden stop upon the rooftop. The trip from the ground to the roof was quick and short. Link peered over his shoulder to the ground he once stood on, and then peered forward to the view of the town before him. From what he could immediately see, there was row upon row of houses stretching out before him, which ended at a wall that divide this section of the town off from the rest. He guessed he had entered into the housing district. Each house shared similar treats and designs, but varied in size and shape, depending on the number of occupants living in the house. Link also noted that there was a singular road that entered this part of the town. The road was design in a spiral shape that had each house's front door open to it, and only had the one exit/entrance to get access to the other parts of the town.

Not the best choice of design for a road… Link thought, as his gaze began to shift elsewhere.

Staring just a bit off to his left, Link spotted the main entrance to the town. It was easy to tell because of the clutter of both humans and wagons.

'That must be the business district' Link whispered. It was only a guess, but he knew he was right. Why else would everyone gather in one spot? Unless there was some special event that was being held there, Link so no other reason for such a crowded place.

From there, Link's eyes trace along the main road. He followed the main road and any other road that branched off from it, in order to gain his knowledge of the town's layout and to also see what exactly was in this town, if he chose to buy or explore this town after resting. Link saw a blacksmith shop off in the distance. It was lifted higher than the other building at its base, maybe because it was built on a hill or had need of being built higher for some reason. Link also found a couple of Item Shops near the town's entrance that he could take a look at – when he could be bothered to take on the busy crowd.

After that, Link focused more on finding an inn to stay at. He started at the business district for his search, making sense that an inn would most likely be in that part of the town, but he had trouble finding one. The designs of the buildings were making his search difficult; as he was having trouble telling what was a house and what was a local business store. Link's eyes scanned every inch of the town, but he was still unable to find an Inn looking building amongst the other buildings.

'Argh… now what do I do?' Link mumbled to himself, as he began to scratch his golden hair. 'Do I go searching or should I ask for directions…'

'Hey, you! What you doing on my roof!'

Link quickly gazed down at the ground, towards at a man who was pointing and shouting at him.

'Get off of my roof now!' the man shouted, waving a pitchfork above his head. 'And look what you did to my Dragon! You better be paying for the repairs on that, you punk!'

Hearing the man's shouts, and seeing Link on the rooftops, people began to stare and gather. This had turned into quiet the scene. Link felt kind of embarrassed, and so he quickly compiled with the man's demand. Link yanked free the grappling hook for his Hookshot from the wooden dragon and then quickly jumps down as the man had ordered.

'What do you think you're doing standing on my roof, boy?' the man asked, walking up to Link with the pitchfork still in hand. The man stop about three feet away from Link, remaining still and steady there, but grasped both his hands upon the pitchfork that he kept slightly rise at his side. Link guessed that the man held some hostile intention towards him, by the way he held the pitchfork, but sense it was only for intimidation.

'I'm sorry sir; I was trying to get my bearings' Link began saying, while taking a slight step back. 'I've only just arrive here in this town, and I got lost. I was searching for a Inn to stay at for the night, but when I could not see one from the ground level, I decide to take to the rooftops to get a better view… though it did little to help'

The man said nothing, but kept studying Link with his sturdy green eyes.

'I'm sorry about the dragon statue too; I will pay for its repairs' Link said, reaching for his giant's wallet. Link opened the giant wallet and quickly grasped one of his few remaining green rupees and handed out to the man before him.

Revealing the rupee from his wallet, the crowd became suddenly silent and still. Study their faces in this strange and almost awkward moment, the same familiar sense of awe was present on each of the many faces that were now fixed upon the rupee within his hands. It was now coming apparent to him that his rupee was not a common item found in this world. The people stared at it like it was something rare and priceless, and that processing it would mean you held the world in your hands. Link could see the greed in the people's eyes begin to swell, as the crowd began to draw closer upon him.

Link couldn't understand their fascination for such a common placed item, but decide to get rid of it before the crowd, compelled by greed, attacked him. Link quickly shoved the rupee into the man's hand and with that same motion, swung his right arm around the man's neck and almost escorted him down the street through the crowd. Link used the extra length of his cloak to hide the man and his new procession from the eyes of others as not to draw too much attention. That was rather difficult when the man himself couldn't believe what he was holding in his hands. He was so fixed on the rupee that he was stiff when motionless, and then completely numb when he did move.

The crowd followed Link and the man for a bit, but soon lost the duo as they sped away from that part of the town.

Sensing he had indeed lost the crowd, Link directed the seemly ecstatic man into an empty area behind a stable, to ensure he could get some information, before the crowd relocated them. Link made sure the area was clear before he focused on his inquiry.

'Okay… now I have a few things I need to ask you, and I hopefully-'

Link stopped himself from continuing as the man before him was not even paying any attention. The man was totally lost in the green rupee, that he was totally oblivious to the fact that they had even moved from street. Link knew he wasn't going to get anywhere as long as the man was fixed with that rupee, so he quickly snatched it from the man's hand and hid it under his cloak.

'Hey! What are-?'

'I have a few questions that I want answered. Do this and I will give you the rupee back' Link said with a firm look upon his face. The man seemed like he was going to object to Link's condition, but fell silent and just nodded his head. Greed was a powerful ally, when used properly. Link smiled briefly before straighten up and beginning his questioning.
.
.
.

After nearly half an hour of questioning, Link finally got what he sought from the man.

'Thanks sir. Enjoy the rupee' Link said, bowing his head slightly before returning the rupee back to the man.

With that done and his questions answered, Link turned about and left the man alone with his treasure. Link continued to walk down the street per the man's directions, and then turned right at an intersection. Link's first question had been the location on an Inn. The man gave it easily with a set of direction Link had to follow to ensure he didn't get lost. As well with those directions, Link also inquired about the usual information regarding Soul Edge and Nightmare. The man's information about both sword and knight was nothing different from what he had already heard, and was just a complete recap. The man was, however, curious at why Link was inquiring about Soul Edge and Nightmare. Link didn't try to hide anything from him and just plainly said that he sought to do battle with the knight.

The man, hearing Link's answer, expressed concern and warned Link that people who went looking for Nightmare, never returned. Link smiled and thanked the man for his concern, but told him he had to find Nightmare and lay the knight to rest; to end his rampage once and for all. The man didn't try to talk Link out of it. He had made his warning and left it at that.

Link then asked if the man had heard any rumours or heard any story about the holy sword, Soul Calibur. The man paused to think upon the name Link had given, but soon shook his head. It seemed that the sword was very low-key. Link sighed at this, but continued to question the man further. The rest of the questions he had asked where in relations to the kinds of store that where in this town. Link wanted to know what he could buy within this town should he need to re-supply his stock before venturing forth into the world.

The only problem with that notion was Link's rapid depletion of his rupees was now becoming a growing concern. He had only a few remaining rupees left – about ten in total. He had a yellow one, three greens and five purples rupees left in his giant wallet. Thought, back in his world, that would be consider enough, but in this world, they had yet to exchange him any money. Link didn't take any notice of it at first, but now, seeing his limited supply of rupees, the importance of the situation was now dawning onto him.

I will have to find some way to gain some of this new world's currency, in order to save what little of my rupees I have left, Link thought as his left hand softly patted his giant wallet. But how does one acquire such things in this world? I don't think their kind of money is just lying about on the ground like my rupees do… so how do I go about getting some of this new world's money?

Link thought about it, but not for very long. As he began to think on it, the building he sought slowly rose before him. This building was a double story building and took up a fairly large portion of land than the surrounding buildings. It had a huge base level structure, with a very large open backyard that was blocked off by a fence, and the second story level was almost the same size as its base level, but just smaller. The building had two roof structures, one that attached the base to the second story level and then a natural design roof on top of the second story structure. The roofs were again painted blue, like the other buildings Link had seen, with Dragons statues on its corners.

The building had a huge sign on it face that rested on the second story wall, between two fairly large windows. The sign's text was written in some strange looking symbols that Link couldn't really understand, but because of his Triforce, he didn't have too. It translated the text into Hylain so he could understand it.

The sign read:

'Bathhouse'

Link stood before the building's wide open doors, where a steady moving queue of people were entering into the building. The people in the queue varied from ordinary villagers/townsfolk to those that look of high importance. The people were all talking about how 'busy and tiring' their day had been and how they were looking forward to this moment. Link wondered what exactly they were waiting for in this place – wasn't it just an inn?

'Hey buddy! What are you doing standing there like you're lost?'

The voice came suddenly, as did the arm around his neck. Link's eyes shot down at the arm that rested over his shoulder, and then shot up to the person's face that was beaming him a warm kind smile at him.

'Oh, it you' Link said, seeing the man's face. It was the man who Link had given the rupee too, after damaging his dragon statue and inquiring about information. 'I was just staring at this place… its large and beautiful looking'

'That it does. And it looks even better on the inside' the man exclaim, before pointing at a sign that stood on the right side of the bathhouse's entrance. 'And with this new outdoor hot spring they got outside, it sure to make an even better experience for us both!'

Link read the sign as the man had pointed to it. The sign told how they had finished the design of a man made hot spring in the backyard of the bathhouse. It said it could handle 50 bodies in one of its many springs. Down the bottom of the sign, it read, 'Now Open! Come on and Relax!'

'An outdoor hot spring… a man made hot spring?' Link murmured, rubbing the back of his head. I haven't been in a hot spring for a while… Link thought, remembering only being in a hot spring when he had followed the Goron Spirit of Darmani in Termina to his tombstone site that sat on a hole that blocked the water from flowing.

'What's wrong? You looked puzzled' the man asked, seeing Link's uneasy face.

Link looked at him quickly to clear his expression, before staring back at the building before him.

'This building… you said it was a place I could get a room to stay the night. But why would such a place have a hot spring for?' Link inquired, as he found the idea of a hot spring in an inn pointless. But then again, much in this world seemed pointless; and he had yet to see the whole world. Link then peered at the line of people slowly flowing through the bathhouse's front doors and sighed heavily as he spoke again. 'And all these people… this place would have no room to offer me when it comes to severing me. Is there any other place in this town?' Link asked, staring back the man.

The man laughed at the question. Link didn't understand what was so funny; the question was pretty much straight forward and had nothing humorous about it. Maybe he had misunderstood something about this place, but he didn't know much about this new world, so he couldn't be blamed if he didn't know anything.

The man's laughter soon died down as he saw Link was staring at him with a raised eyebrow. The man then coughed heavily to kill anymore chuckles that were left in his throat, before he tightened the grip around Link's shoulder.

'When you said you were a traveller, you weren't kidding' the man said with a slight smile on his face. 'What kind of traveller has never been into a bathhouse before? Where do you come from - must be a pretty undeveloped place, huh'

'Yeah… kind of'

'Well don't worry about that, I have a feeling you'll get a room' the man said, removing his arm from Link's shoulder and then patting his back softly. 'Just show them one of those crystal things you gave me and I'm sure they would give you their finest'

Crystal thing? He's talking about the rupee I gave him… I guess that proves it, they don't have rupees in this world. That definitely explains their faces and their generosity every time I reveal one of my rupees to them.

'Umm… I guess so. But I would like to… um, save what little of them I have left,' Link told him, as he revealed another green rupee from his giant wallet. The man's face again turned funny as his eyes fixed upon the rupee in Link's hand. Link saw this strange face on the man and slowly swayed the rupee back and forth, to see how fixed he was. With every slight motion Link made with the rupee, the man mimicked. He was totally entranced.

Link then sighed heavily with a slight chuckle, before wrapping his bold hand about the rupee to hide it from view. This broke the man's stare.

'Is there anywhere or anyplace I can go to get some money to help me in my travels?' Link asked.

The man thought about, rubbing his chin with his left hand and scratching the back of his head with his right.

'At this very moment in time, I can't think of anything. But I can find out for you' the man offered, resting his hands by his side.

Link smiled and bowed his head in appreciation for his kindness.

'Now come on and get in line!' the man exclaim, walking behind Link and pushing the warrior into the queue of people. 'Trust me on this! You're going to love this!'

I'm going to love this? How can I love going to an Inn? Link thought, as he was forcefully pushed into the line. Maybe they have some special rooms or something magical inside that make people relax better…

'You're coming in too?' Link asked, as the man stood behind him, bearing the same beaming smile.

'Of course! I wouldn't miss the chance to try out a hot spring. And beside, I could use the stress relief. Work has been very hard lately; builders and repair men always come here to relax and have their muscles massaged… relieves the tension, you know' the man explained, while rubbing his left shoulder and rotating it slightly.

This confused Link even more. What exactly was this place?

A hot spring, an Inn and a place to get a massage - what kind of place is this?

Guess I'm going to find out…