Hello folks, this week we continued the story of Ocarina of Time. Link only has two more temples to go, but who or what will he encounter in these places?

Link and Navi's journey took them to Kakariko Village to meet with Sheik, only to see him near the center of the village near the windmill, staring down at a well Link had past by many times before.

"Sheik?"

"Hero... get away!"

Suddenly out from the well came a shadowy creature that grabbed the two and hurled them around like rag-dolls. Eventually Link was thrown into a building and landed down on his rump, he weakly looked over and saw the shadowy creature moving across the ground towards the Kakariko Graveyard in the back of town. He turned and saw Sheik laying on the ground in a daze, and went over to help him up.

"You alright there?" Link asked, feeling a strange sensation again like before, though this was even more confusing compared to past times...

"Yes, thank you." gasped Sheik.

Sheik explained the situation to Link and Navi. An evil being was sealed away inside the well many decades ago by the remaining members of the Sheikah clan. Zelda's nanny Impa, who was also Sheik's mentor, had been tasked with watching over the seal since their passing, but upon finding out Link's recent victories at the other temples, Ganondorf decided to release the being and use it to curse the Shadow Temple, so Impa had gone off to put a stop to it.

The ninja then told Link the words he was dreading to hear, that Impa was the one to become the Shadow Sage, and he pleaded with Link to save her.

The Shadow Temple turned out to be a truly horrifying place. It reminded Link more of a torture chamber than a sacred temple. The giant guillotines and pitfalls were scary enough, but seeing the bones and blood everywhere, as well as the ghastly decorations, chilled him even further.

At one point, Link found himself huddled in a small room with a treasure chest he found a map to the temple at in order to have a safe rest. He was hugging his legs and shivering at the horrific images and things he had experienced there so far, including a horrible monster called a Dead Hand that tried to grab and devour him. Navi couldn't fight at all, so she just did whatever she could to comfort him through the horrifying ordeal.

Soon Link arrived at the end of the temple where he found himself in a black void on top of a giant drum, and saw Impa also standing atop it staring down the true form of the shadowy creature that attacked him and Sheik earlier; a giant ghostly creature with large dismembered hands and single yellow eye know as Bongo-Bongo.

"It's time I put an end to you." Impa spoke with a kunai out, "You've been a blight on the Sheikah for long enough!"

"Impa, do you need a hand?!" Link asked, running up alongside her.

"Little Hero?" exclaimed Impa at the sight of the green-clad hero with his fairy friend, she saw the Master Sword in his hand and smirked, "Glad to have you here."

The two of them both charged in against the monster. They found damaging the eyes on the hand palms stunned it long enough for them to wail away at the eye of the monster itself. It didn't take long after that before Link and Impa dealt the final blow to the creature and it was finally destroyed.

Shortly after, the two were engulfed in bright light and stood in the Chamber of Sages, and Link sadly looked over at Impa now standing on the purple symbol of shadows.

"You did well Hero. You helped me destroy that fiend that's caused my people so much trouble in the past." Impa spoke.

"Listen, is what Ruto told me true?" Link asked, "Is Zelda still alive?"

"Indeed she is." nodded Impa, then said with a bit of regret in her tone, "We Sheikah devoted ourselves to protecting the royal family of Hyrule, and I aimed to see it through to the end... Unfortunately I can't do anything to protect Zelda anymore as I am now, thanks to my destiny as a sage..."

"But seeing you with that sword, you've become far stronger then I could have imagined, so I'll leave her in your capable hands."

Before Link could even respond, he and Navi were transported back to Kakariko Village.

Link looked around Kakariko Village and saw the darkness that had been lingering around the place caused by Bongo-Bongo to be gone now, and then saw Sheik standing beside a nearby house.

"Well done Hero, that's four temples down, one to go." Sheik spoke.

"Listen... I'm sorry about Impa having to leave you." Link said walking up to him, "You said she was a mentor to you right?"

"...yes indeed." spoke Sheik, "She was strict but patient, and I owe so much to her. I don't know where I would had been without her."

"But, aren't you sad you might not ever see her again?" Link asked.

"... ...the last temple you should find is the Spirit Temple out in Gerudo Valley." Sheik ignored his question, "I'll do some investigating into that place myself, good luck Hero of Time."

With that Sheik disappeared with a flash, leaving Link and Navi little choice to go off on their way.

Link and Navi soon arrived at the desert canyon of Gerudo Valley, where they came across a giant stronghold known fittingly as Gerudo Fortress. The place was populated with tan-skinned desert women known as Gerudo. From what he was told, this was the tribe Ganondorf was born from, and he was the rare male born once every one hundred years, so by their laws he became their king.

Link had never seen women like the Gerudo before, what with their tan bodies, golden eyes and round ears. They were rather pretty, but also incredibly strong. They also had a zero-tolerance policy about men invading their territory, as they had imprisoned some carpenters who tried to meet them. Link decided to free the carpenters and plan out a way to get to the desert. The Gerudo proved to be powerful, but Link was able to win against them in combat and free the prisoners.

The carpenters told Link about the rumors they've heard about the Gerudo, namely one of their greatest warriors known as the Grand Colonel Nabooru. They said she was second-in-command of the Gerudo army, that she was a dangerous killer, she had a knack for manipulating people through hypnotism, and that she used the Spirit Temple as her hideout. Whoever this woman was, it seemed she was going to be a difficult opponent for Link if it came down to it...

After his accomplishment of freeing the carpenters, the Gerudo recognized his feat of strength and cunning, and made him an honorably member of their people. Before they were hostile, but after freeing the prisoners, the Gerudo treated him quite well. He even got a chance to try out their training ground, as well as Gerudo Horseback Archery and managed to land a perfect score which surprised and delighted them.

One day as he was resting to prepare for his journey to the Spirit Temple, a Gerudo woman approached Link and gave him a flirtatious smile.

"Hey there, I heard about your success in the archery game, nice work." the Gerudo said.

"Oh thanks..." Link said, looking a little embarrassed at the silk outfit the woman wore and how much skin it showed off.

"You're not a bad looker either, much better than the fat carpenters we captured before." she spoke with a lustful voice as she knowingly pressed her breasts against Link's body, "How'd you like to ride something other than a horse for once?"

Link's face turned bright red as he looked eye-to-eye at the woman. Her golden eyes seemed to be piercing into him, and was experiencing a warm feeling from her chest pressed against him...

"E-Excuse me I gotta go!" he pulled himself away and ran off, leaving the woman confused. When he went into his sleeping quarters the Gerudo gave him he locked the door and gasped out.

"Wow, those girls are pretty shameless, aren't they?" Navi asked.

"Ugh... it hurts again..." Link said trembling, as he clenched at the spot between his legs as before.

"Oh no, why did it happen this time?" Navi asked, not being well versed on humans and their anatomy, she was genuinely confused about what was causing that part of Link to react like it was.

"I don't know... that lady was getting all close like Malon did before... and something about her is making me feel weird..." Link groaned, "I hope this isn't some kind of curse..."

'Poor Link... he's been through so much...' Navi thought to herself as she watched Link get under his bed covers in some attempt to relieve himself.

After a long journey across the desert, Link and Navi soon found themselves at the Desert Colossus, the area where the Spirit Temple laid. Link looked up at the towering statue engraved on the impressive-looking temple. According to the Gerudo, the statue was that of the Gerudo Desert Goddess Aifet.

When Link and Navi attempted to look in though, compared to how big it was outside, they saw very little to it inside. There was one small hole that Link couldn't even come close to fitting inside, and other route blocked off by a strange silver block with a crescent moon engraved on it.

"Huh, kinda cozy isn't it?" Navi asked.

"Yeah, cozy enough that someone was staying here." Link said noticing a sleeping bag, some books, some eating utensils, and a lot of empty liquor bottles... though none of it looked like it had been used in years, "Maybe it was that Nabooru person?"

"Wonder what we can even do here?" Navi asked looking around.

"When the present brings mystery, sometimes it's best to look back into the past." spoke a voice, as Link and Navi both turned to see Sheik standing before them.

The ninja gestured to a snake statue with some writing on it, and pointed out a musical note score engraved on it. He told Link it was the Requiem of Spirit, and he could use the Ocarina of Time's magical power to transport himself from anywhere in Hyrule to the Spirit Temple by playing it. He suggested Link go to the Temple of Time and put the Master Sword back in the Pedestal of Time to return to the past.

Link was baffled at the aspect of returning to the past, but went ahead and did as he said.

Going out into the world of the past and seeing it back to the relatively peaceful time before Ganondorf conquered it felt a bit uplifting, but it still hurt knowing that this peace wouldn't last for too much longer. Rauru advised him not to say or do anything that could drastically change what has already happened, as it could lead to great damage to what Link had already done.

There was a part of Link that wanted to go see Saria, Darunia and Ruto while he was still here, since they hadn't yet become sages. But he knew if he did he would only feel sad about it, now knowing what was to come of them. He just went ahead and used the Requiem of Spirit to travel to the Desert Colossus right away to get into the temple. This time when Link ran in, he saw a new person standing before the small passage on the left.

It was a tall and beautiful Gerudo woman. Like most of them she had flaming red hair and shining golden eyes. She was dressed in a pink silk outfit, and had a top-down ponytail held together by a jewel. She had curves to her body, but also plenty of muscle. She also had twin scimitars attached to her belt.

Link found himself awe-struck by her beauty. It was a similar feeling to how he felt when he met Zelda for the first time, but in this case it was something... far different. Zelda was sweet and cute, but this woman was on a whole other level.

"Hey Link?" Navi whispered, "You doing okay there?"

"Uh, yeah." Link shook his head and went up to the woman to greet her, "E-Excuse me!"

"Hm, and who might you be?" spoke the woman, "What's a child like you doing all the way out in a dangerous place like this?"

"Hi... um... my name is Link, and this my fairy Navi." he said.

"... ...Link? What kind of name is that?" spoke the woman, leaning down and squeezing his face in her hand.

"Hey, leggo!" Link exclaimed, as Navi laughed out.

"Well whatever, you must be pretty tough to make it all the way out here! I gotta admire that!" she said with a smirk, "Pleased to meet you, the name's Nabooru. Now what brings you out here?"

'This is the Nabooru I heard about?!' Link thought, she seemed so much different than the rumors he had heard about her. Regardless, he sucked up his nerve and stated, "I'm... I'm here to stop Ganondorf from taking over Hyrule!"

"Wait Link, remember what those guys before said? If she's part of their army then maybe you shouldn't tell her-!" Navi whispered, but Nabooru spoke up.

"Taking on Ganondorf huh? That's pretty reckless and dangerous... but I can admire that!" Nabooru said with a big smile.

"Really? Don't you work for him or something?" Navi asked.

"Well I may be considered the Grand Colonel of the Gerudo army, but I've grown fed up with that fiend. He has no qualms about hurting or killing innocent women and children, he has a blatant disregard for his own people... and I can never forgive him for what he's done..."

Nabooru turned away with a sad stare in her eyes, but then looked back to Link and grinned, "For you to stand up to a bastard like that... I think I like you, kid!"

"I'm not a kid!" the child protested, prompting Nabooru to laugh out.

"So here's the thing kid, I've been investigating this temple to find the power I need to stop Ganondorf, and I think it's deeper inside this place. I've discovered a hidden door on this wall, but the switch to open it is under this little passage. I think a shorty like you can get inside!" Nabooru stated.

"Shorty?!" Link exclaimed, making Navi giggle, "Don't you talk too, you're even shorter!"

The two came to an agreement, they work together to find the treasure Nabooru was seeking, and she promised a great thing for him in the future. Link crawled into the passage and sure enough found a switch to open a secret door. This gave Nabooru the chance to follow him in and search the temple.

There was numerous monsters and traps like Link was used to from the previous temples, but they were far more daunting for him as a child. Thankfully he wasn't alone, he had Nabooru by his side helping him avoid the traps and fight off the monsters.

"Look out kid!" Nabooru shouted, grabbing Link and dodging to the side to avoid a rolling boulder. They looked up to see some flaming bats known as Fire Keese coming at them, so Link puled out his slingshot and shot them all down.

"Nice shootin' there." grinned Nabooru.

"Learned it from a fiend of mine!" Link nodded, thinking about the times he would play Berry-Blitz with Saria in the forest. He dwelled on those memories, remembering the last time he saw his friend in the Chamber of Sages...

"Woah, watch yourself!" Nabooru shouted, using her scimitars to cut down a bandaged undead monster known as a Gibdo down. She looked to see the pained look in Link's eyes, wondering just what he had gone through, but called out to him, "Snap out of it kid, there's a lot more coming!"

"O-Oh, right. Sorry." Link said, following after Nabooru.

Soon the two came to a stop in an empty octagonal room. It appeared to be a dead end, but they found a gap for someone as small as Link to crawl through.

"Let's stop and take a break for a bit." Nabooru said, she pulled out her canteen and drank some water down, letting out a gasp. He looked over at Link drinking from his own, "I knew you were pretty tough already, but you pulled through back there!"

"Thanks, I've been doing this for a while now." Link gasped, savoring the water, "So what exactly are we trying to find here anyway?"

"I spoke with a Gerudo mystic who sides with me, she told me if I came out here to the temple, I might find a great power that could help me defeat Ganondorf." Nabooru explained, "I've read about a pair of Silver Gauntlets that are said to give the wearer great strength, so they must be it!"

"So that's what you're after." Link nodded, "And you said a mystic from your tribe is helping you?"

"That's right, most of our people pledge their loyalty to Ganondorf, and they see me as sort of an outcast these days, but I do have a few allies that share my views."

"Wow, I didn't know that there were Gerudo fighting the demon king too, and you're the one leading them?" Link said in astonishment, "You're a really neat lady!"

"Heh, you're a pretty amazing little brat yourself!" Nabooru grinned, giving him noogies on his head with her fist, "You remind me of myself when I was a kid. I'm sure we'll make a great team!"

Link smiled at those words, but then stared up at the beautiful desert woman sitting beside him, as she took another gulp of water. He squeezed at his canteen as he thought about Ruto saying something similar back when they defeated Morpha...

"I really hope it's not you..." Link whispered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing."

Once they had rested up, Link crawled under the passage to try and find a way to let Nabooru in with him like they did back at the entrance, but found there was no such switch.

"Ugh, I don't even see a hint of a door. Looks like this is as far as I go." Nabooru called out, "You sure you don't want to double back?"

"It's okay, I'll go get the gauntlets and be right back for you!" Link called back.

"Okay, look for a way outside, that's where the gauntlets should be, good luck kid!" Nabooru said.

"Hey Navi, I see some light, I think we're almost outside!" Link said going down a hall after doing some more exploring of the temple.

"Alright, just like Nabooru said!" Navi exclaimed.

"We just need to get the treasure to her and hopefully it'll help us get to the other side of the temple." Link said.

"Sounds good!" nodded Navi, "She's a lot cooler than I thought, and you two do work great together!"

"You think so too?" Link asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Definitely!" Navi nodded, as Link ran ahead, she stopped for a second thinking about how Darunia, Ruto, Impa and Nabooru all fought alongside him against the monsters before, and whispered to herself, "I wish I could do more to help you like that..."

"Navi?" Link called out.

"Coming!"

Link ran outside into the hot desert air seeing the path led to the open palm of one of the Goddess Aifet statues' hands, and saw a treasure chest on it. He opened it up and sure enough found a pair of silver gauntlets. They were too big for a kid like him to wear, but they were exactly what Nabooru wanted.

"Got em!" grinned Link.

"Hey kid!" shouted out a voice, as Link looked down from the statue's palm to see Nabooru had made it outside, "Nice work! Come on down and we'll figure out our next plan of action!"

"Okay, I'll just slide down real quick!" Link nodded.

"Eeeeehehehehe! Not likely!" spoke out a cackling voice.

Link and Nabooru looked around in confusion for the mysterious voice before they saw two witches, one blue and one orange, fly down at the Gerudo woman. They were Koume and Kotake, the surrogate mothers of Ganondorf, and were also known as the dark sorceress Twinrova.

"Hello again Grand Colonel!" cackled Koume of the twin witches.

"You two..." Nabooru said narrowing her eyes, unsheathing her scimitars, "Ganondorf must have sent you didn't he?"

"Keheheheh, indeed! You defiant little worm, you've gotten in King Ganondorf's way long enough!" said the other witch Kotake, "Time to deal with you!"

Before Nabooru could attack them, she felt the ground open up underneath her, and she started getting sucked into a strange purple void. Try as she might, she couldn't break free.

"Nabooru!" Link shouted out.

"K-Kid! Help me!" Nabooru shouted out, reaching out at Link, only to sink inside the void. The two witches then flew inside the temple.

Link clenched his fists, shaking slightly, "No... not her too... I'm not going to lose someone else...!"

"Link, we gotta help her!" Navi exclaimed. He quickly climbed down the statue and ran into the temple to confront the witches. There he saw them floating in the center of the room.

"Well well, who's this little runt?" Kotake asked.

"Dunno, but we got more important things to deal with." Koume said, "Namely the traitorous Grand Colonel!"

"Get go of Nabooru now!" Link shouted, pulling out his Kokiri Knife. He charged at the witches but Koume easily blasted him away with fire.

The witch looked to Link with a big grin and a creepy round eye, "You weak little fool, it's going to be years before you could ever hope to challenge us!"

The two flew off and disappeared through a wall on the right side of the temple where the giant block was. Link tried pushing on it but it didn't move, he desperately tried putting on his gauntlets in some hope of getting the strength to move the block, but found his arms couldn't even hold them properly.

"Poor Nabooru... what are we gonna do?" Navi asked.

"You weak little fool, it's going to be years before you could ever hope to challenge us!"

"..." Link looked up at the block, try as he might, he couldn't move it., and even if he did, could he even fight the witches as he was...?

"Link?" Navi asked.

"... ...I think there's one way we can get in here. I have to get the Master Sword and become an adult again..." Link spoke, "Then I can wear these gauntlets."

"I guess that makes sense..." Navi admitted.

"Yeah, but Nabooru..." Link whispered, he looked back up at the block. He brought his hand up and stroked the block, thinking about the smile she gave him as they worked together, "Hold on Nabooru, I'm coming to help you... no matter how long it takes."

Link traveled back to the Temple of Time and pulled out the Master Sword, transporting him back to the dark future ruled by Ganondorf, and he used the Requiem of Spirit to transport himself to the Spirit Temple once again. He ran inside and put on the Silver Gauntlets, while as it turned out they didn't literally give him superhuman strength, they did offer him the power to specifically push the silver blocks, which was all he could ask for, and he and Navi ventured deep into the temple...

Eventually Link made his way to one room with an armored knight called an Ironknuckle blocking off a door, the knight wielded a powerful battleaxe as it's weapon, but Link was able to go toe-to-toe against it. He found it's battle ability to be pretty impressive, far greater than any other Ironknuckle he fought before. Regardless of it's skill, he was able to break off it's armor piece by piece whenever he had an opening.

When Link managed to knock off the helmet, the armor disintegrated off of the strange knight who then fell to their knees, and he was shocked at who it was underneath.

"Nabooru?!" Link exclaimed.

Nabooru groaned out in a daze, "Ugh... who are...?" she gazed up at the young man before her, she saw the fairy flying around him, the blonde hair, the green clothes, and his blue eyes...

"Nabooru are you okay?" Link asked kneeling down to her.

"Kid...?" Nabooru whispered, looking into his gentle blue eyes.

"Oh dear, looks like she's snapped out of the mind control we had on her. Such a stubborn one." spoke a voice, as Link saw Koume and Kotake appear before them.

"You damn witches... I'll cut you both down!" Nabooru shouted, taking her scimitars and swinging them out at them, but Koume and Kotake quickly teleported away behind a door.

Nabooru took a breath, and turned to Link, impressed at seeing the Silver Gauntlets on his wrists, the Gerudo Mirror Shield on one hand and the Master Sword in the other hand. She gazed at his strong body and young handsome face...

"Hey kid, there's a lot we should probably talk about later, but first let's deal with those two hags!" Nabooru said.

"Definitely." Link nodded, but asked with some concern, "You sure you can still fight though?"

"Of course I can." grinned Nabooru, "Now let's do it!"

Link, Navi and Nabooru burst into the room of the temple's grand sanctum. They saw Koume and Kotake flying around, seeming to be in a heated argument over what to do about Nabooru being freed and the strange man that had interfered with them. Link pulled out his bow and arrow and fired a shot at one of the sisters, making them turn and leer at him and Nabooru.

"So they followed us after all!" said Koume, igniting with flames.

"Let's freeze and fry them both then!" cackled Kotake, engulfing herself in ice.

"Bring it you hunched-over old farts!" Link shouted, Nabooru snorted in amusement at his choice of words as the witches got angrier from it..

"Yes, I'm going to make you both pay for the last seven years, with interest!" Nabooru shouted, as they charged into battle.

The two witches fought back against Link and Nabooru with their fire and ice magic. Nabooru did her best to evade and distract the witches, while Link used the Mirror Shield as an effective weapon against the two. He was able to repel the elemental magic of one to strike the other. Eventually the two witches decided to step up their battle strategy and fuse together into the mighty sorceress Twinrova. Her power was far greater combined, but that in turn made the attacks Link reflected back at her much more powerful. With a final mighty swing of Link with his Master Sword and Nabooru using her scimitars, the sorceress was destroyed and the two witches departed to the would of spirits, nagging back and forth at each other the whole time.

With Twinrova gone, Link let out a deep breath as he sheathed his sword. He looked over to see Nabooru smiling softly at him, and he sadly braced himself for the bright light to send him to the Chamber of Sages, prepared to see the one he guessed would be next to be a part of that place...

Sure enough, standing before him in the fountain room chamber was Nabooru. She had a hand to her hip and staring out at Link with a small smirk on her lips.

"Hey kid, nice work saving me from those witches." Nabooru said, "They used their hypnotism to make me do some horrible things over the past years that I'm not proud of..."

"Yeah, I'm sorry it took so long for me to save you..." Link spoke sadly, wondering what she went through the past seven years, "I had no idea what to do for you back then... cause I was too small and weak..."

"Heh, don't worry about it kid, I know you didn't have much of a choice." Nabooru shook her head, "Besides, sometimes life can just surprise you. I mean, who would have thought someone like me would end up becoming a sage?"

Despite her attempts to hide it behind her smile, Link could see even she was trying to force it. Unlike Saria, Darunia, Ruto and Impa though he didn't know much about Nabooru and her life, so he wasn't sure what regrets she had about being put into this position. Link wished he could have talked more with her before all this happened...

"Listen kid, no..." Nabooru shook her head, "Link, the Hero of Time, you did good freeing me. Now I'm going to use this opportunity to make Ganondorf pay for what he's done to me and my people, heh heh heh..."

"So, what about that promise we made before...?" Link asked.

Nabooru looked somewhat distantly, "...unfortunately we don't have time anymore for that promise. Instead, I'm going to fulfill this destiny I've been given, and lend you my aide for taking down Ganondorf now that the six of us are all assembled."

She sighed out, and played with her ponytail, "It's too bad, I loved working with you, and I would had loved to help you fight Ganondorf side-by-side... but I'm not going to be able to do that, or much of anything else besides being a sage from now on..." she sighed a bit, and spoke quietly, "I'm going to miss the taste of booze..."

"Nabooru..." Link spoke softly, seeing the sadness in her eyes.

"And if I had known you would have grown up to be such a fine, handsome man..." Nabooru spoke, as Link started to become engulfed in the bright light to be transported away, he briefly saw a tear start to roll down her cheek,

"I wish I could have been able to keep that promise I made to you... ..."

Link and Navi found themselves standing out in front of the Spirit Temple. Another monster destroyed, another temple freed of Ganondorf's curse...

…and another good friend of his gone from his life.

"Link..." spoke Navi.

"... ...I'm going to bring peace to Hyrule and save everyone..." Link simply spoke, taking a look up at the Spirit Temple, remembering the smile of Nabooru, as he remembered his resolve,

"Everyone..."

And that ends this week's chapter. With Impa and Nabooru in their positions as sages, all that's left is the showdown with Ganondorf. While we all know how this will turn out, just what lead to Link going back in time...? Tune in next Friday and find out!

You may have noticed I added some extended scenes with Link and Nabooru, since his interaction with her was a bit limited in the original game. I also wanted to emphasize that Link felt guilty about Nabooru having to wait for seven years to be freed. After having Darunia, Ruto and Impa all help Link fight the boss monsters, I decided to let Nabooru help Link in the fight against Twinrova. It felt pretty good to let her get back at them, and it was a nice callback to Chapter 1 (can't believe it's been a little over two years now since I stated this story!).

Anyway, leave a like, follow, comment, or just send me a PM at your leisure. Your feedback is always encouraged!