Link, Keith, and Zelda sped over the plain of Hyrule Field. On the way to the water treatment plant, Link asked a very important question (at least in his mind) to Keith. "Why do we have to take her along?" "We can't exactly tell her to go home after she came all this way." "I know, but she'll just get in the way." Keith didn't have a reply to that. The rest of the ride continued in silence.
Around one, the three teens reached the plant. After parking their mopeds behind some bushes, they walked inside. The Zora secretary was a little surprised to find them walk in on a weekend, as most kids only went there on field trips. "May I help you?" He asked. "Yeah, do you have any important looking stones around here?" Link said. "Nope, the only stones we have here are ones that are on display for geological purposes." "Thanks anyways."
Outside, Zelda turned to Link. "Well, what do we do now?" He shrugged. "I don't know. Do you have an idea Keith?" Keith was silent for a moment as he tried to think of something. "I got an idea. How about we take the tour and slip away when no one's looking?" Link and Zelda shook their heads in agreement. "Sure, then we can look around for ourselves."
The tour was extremely boring, as all the guide did was drone on and one about the cleansing process. While they were looking at the filters, the trio took that moment to sneak away. "Man, I never want to do THAT again." Link said as they walked away. Zelda agreed. "Yeah, that guy has no people skills." They followed the metal walkways upstream, eventually reaching a waterfall.
"Great, a dead end." Zelda commented as they looked all around. 'The stone HAS to be here somewhere. This is the only place it can be.' Keith thought as he looked around. 'Hello, what's this?' He had spotted a stone imbedded in the ground. Kneeling down, he could see that it was written in ancient Hylian. After examining it for a few seconds, Keith stood up. "Link, play the song of the royal family." Link turned his head in confusion. "Why?" Keith pointed to the inscription on the floor. "That says to."
Link glanced down at the writing. "Okay, if you say so." He opened up the knapsack that had his ocarina as well as the Kokiri's stone and took out the ocarina. Putting the mouthpiece to his lips, he played the song. The rumbling of the falls stopped to become just a light trickle of water. "Look, a hidden cave!" Zelda pointed out. "Jump over before the waterfall starts up again." Link jumped over, followed closely by Zelda and Keith. Almost as soon as they were all inside, the water fall started up again.
"Wheewwww." Keith whistled. "This cave is deep." Link rolled his eyes. "Thanks for pointing out the obvious. I only wish we brought our maglites." The trio started walking deeper into the darkness, their hands against the wall their only guide. After walking for about five minutes, Keith and Zelda were suddenly thrown back. "What the hell?" Zelda exclaimed, as she got back up. Walking forward, she was once again repelled. "Hey, what's the hold up?" Link asked, at least three feet ahead of them.
"I don't know, something's blocking our way." Zelda replied. "What? That's crazy." "It's true. Keith and I can't go on." Link was extremely confused by this. "Look, maybe only you're meant to go on Link. Zelda and I will wait here for you here." "Well, okay. If you say so." Link left his two friends behind as he ventured even deeper into the cave. 'Great. Now am I practically blind, but now I'm all alone.' He thought sarcastically.
After a few minutes, Link heard a voice. "Do not deviate from the path, no matter what." It said. Link was a little skeptic, but decided to follow its advice. Eventually, he came upon a fork in the road. One way continued forward, the other went to his left. 'Well, the voice said "go forward.' Just then, Link heard someone scream from his left. He immediately wanted to help, but remembered the voice. After a few moments of indecision, he reached a choice. "Fuck it."
Link took off to his left, sneakers pounding the ground beneath him. The screams were getting louder as he drew nearer. Eventually, his way started to get lighter. 'Figures. There's another way in.' The light was getting much brighter as he rounded a corner. Up a flight of stairs was the source of the light, as well as the screams. "Hang on! I'm coming!" Link shouted out.
Running up the stairs, he looked around quickly. To his right he found a female Zora sitting in the corner, a monster leaning over, ready to kill her. With a cry, Link ran over and tackled the creature. It was stunned only for a second and quickly grabbed hold of him. Link and the monster wrestled on the ground, each one trying to get the advantage of being on top. Link's teeth were bared, as was the monsters, its teeth glistening in the light from its saliva.
An idea coming to his head, Link suddenly pushed the monster off of him. He quickly got on his feet, as did the monster. Faster and stronger then even he thought possible, Link did a roundhouse kick to creature's chest, his foot connecting solidly. The creature fell to the ground and disappeared. Just like that, it was all over.
Link stood there, his breathing heavy. After a few seconds he looked up from were the monster had evaporated. "Are you okay?" He asked to the Zora. She simply smiled, and then vanished. Link spun around, trying to find out where she had gone. 'Talk about ingratitude.' Shaking his head, he was about to leave when his foot hit something. Looking down, he felt his heart skip a beat.
Lying on the ground was a sparkling blue sapphire. Link reached down and quickly grabbed it. It was flawless in his eyes, just like the Kokiri's emerald. Running his hand over it, he unzipped his knapsack and placed it inside. Smiling, Link was about to leave when he remembered the Zora. "Thank you, whoever you are." Jogging down the stairs, he started to make his way back to the entrance.
Zelda and Keith were sitting on the floor, waiting for Link to come back. 'How much longer his he going to take?' Keith thought. 'I really hope he's not lost.' Was what Zelda was thinking. A few seconds later, they heard Link's footsteps come from within the cave. "Well, did you find it?" Keith asked as he got up. "Yep, I got it!" Link replied with pride in his voice. "Great! Now let's get out of here."
The kids made their way back to the entrance of the cave. Standing by the entrance, they realized that they had a very big problem. "Uh, how do we get back over?" Zelda asked as she looked at the waterfall. "I can't stop it from this side, so I guess we'll have to jump." Keith was the first one over, followed quickly by Link. When Zelda jumped however, her feet slipped and she started to fall.
"AAHHHH!" Link was instantly on his belly, his outstretched hands gripping Zelda's left hand. "Hang on Zel, I'll pull you up!" Frightened, Zelda reached up with her right hand and gripped Link's hands. Link grunted as he steadily pulled her up onto the ground. A few moments later, Zelda was safely standing on the ground. "Are you okay Zelda?" Link asked. "Yes, thank you Link." Zelda said, rewarding him with a quick peck on the cheek.
Link was at first stunned, and then he felt his face blush slightly. Zelda giggled and started walking away. Link saw Keith grinning widely at him. "What?" Link asked. Keith shook his head and started catching up to Zelda. Link stared into space for another second before following. The three teens managed to make it back to their mopeds without being spotted.
At three, they pulled onto the road leading up to the Death Mountain Mines. Keith pulled his moped over and stopped. Taking off his helmet, he looked over all of Kakariko Heights. Link and Zelda then stopped, with Link being the only one outside of Keith's family to know why. "Hey man, it wasn't your fault. You were too young to even remember it." Keith sighed. "I know, I know." He put his helmet back on and off they went.
Death Mountain Mines supplied Hyrule with one-sixth of its resources. Being mined were various materials, iron, copper, rupees, and the like. Despite having many other opportunities, the Gorons were still the primary miners. The shift supervisor was a Goron, and he was currently working on the new tunnel blasting plans that were due tomorrow. The last thing he expected to see is three teens drive up on mopeds.
Link, Keith, and Zelda dismounted their bikes and took their helmets off. "Do you kids have the proper authorization to be up here?" The shift supervisor asked. "No." Link replied. The Goron was a little stunned. "I've never seen a bunch of kids admit that they don't have permission to be here." Link shrugged. "We just want to ask a few questions, that's all." The shift supervisor saw no harm in that.
"Okay, go ahead." "I'm curious, wasn't the Gorons ancient capital on this mountain?" The shift supervisor nodded. "Yep, that's correct. Unfortunately it's no longer accessible." Link looked puzzled. "Why not?" "You see, about a hundred years ago, during the last eruption of Death Mountain, the main entrance to the city caved in and we've been unable to reopen it." "Isn't there another way in?" "Yeah, through the pit. If you follow the rim, you'll eventually come across a hidden entrance, but no one's ever gone in that way."
Link shook his head. "Will that be all?" The Goron asked. "Yeah, thanks." Link said, right before bolting to the crater entrance in front of him. The Goron quickly turned around. "Are you crazy?!? The heat's so intense that you'll be dead in five minutes!" Link ignored him however, and continued into the mountain. The Goron shook his head and turned to Keith and Zelda. "You know, your friend is not going to come out of there alive." Keith told him that Link would be alright. Zelda, however, was worried.
Link threw his hands in front of his face in a futile attempt to protect it from the intense heat. 'This is nuts! What on earth was I thinking?' He looked around for a way down to the hidden entrance that the shift supervisor spoke of. Jogging, he kept his eyes on the ground I front of him so he wouldn't look at the boiling pit of magma. Link felt himself starting to get weaker from the intense heat. Wiping sweat from his brow, he continued onward.
Half near death, Link's eye's somehow spotted a cave to his left. His mind operating on instinct alone, thought of any kind having left his it long ago, he started jogging to the cave. 'Come… on… almost… there…' Exhausted, he stumbled into the cave, cool air brushing his face. After the pit was out of sight, Link collapsed against the nearest wall. He couldn't see any source of light, but right now that didn't matter. He just rested.
After a few minutes, Link opened his eyes and looked around. 'Great, not darkness again.' Getting up, he once again used his hands as guidance. As soon as he walked through the nearest door however, his eyes were met with a strong red light. "What the…?" Looking up, Link saw that the source of the light was coming from a platform above him. Looking around, he spotted what looked like a passageway leading up. Casting a quick look back towards the light, he ran to the passage.
After a few minutes, Link reached the top floor of the ancient capital. Then was when he spotted the source of the light. Set in a stone piece suspended by ropes, was a shining ruby which could only be the Spiritual Stone of Fire. He smiled and started walking to it. Looking down the pit in the center of the room, Link took a deep breath and carefully walked across the ropes. "Whoa!" After a few close calls, he reached the center. 'This reminds me of Indiana Jones.' Rubbing his hands together, he reached down and grabbed the stone.
Holding it carefully in his hands, Link was ready for any sign of a bobby trap. Nothing happened however, the room as silent as can be. Grinning, he made his way back to solid ground, using the stone as a flashlight of sorts. When he reached the bottom floor again, Link put the stone in his knapsack and made for the crater. Outside, Keith was starting to get a little concerned. Zelda however, was extremely worried.
Watching her pace back and forth, Keith laughed. "Come one Zelda, Link's fine." "I don't think so. He's been gone almost half an hour." Keith laughed again. "Zelda, you're acting like a worried mother. You don't have feelings for Link, do you?" Zelda stopped in her tracks immediately. "No, I'm just worried as a friend. That's all." Keith was positive that there was more that however.
A minute later, Link stumbled out of the entrance. The shift supervisor was the first one next to him. "Jeez kid! You're a lot tougher than I thought!" Link smiled. "I got to the back door of the ancient capital. It's still all there." He got himself free of the Gorons grasp and made his way to Keith and Zelda. "I got it!" Link said, patting his knapsack. Keith was relieved that his best friend was alright. Zelda expressed her concern in a more physical way.
She ran up and hugged him. "You're safe! I was getting so worried." Link was stunned at Zelda's sudden show of emotion. "Of course I'm fine! A little heat can't stop me." Zelda let go and immediately went to her moped. "Listen, it's getting late. How about you both spend the night at my place?" Link and Keith didn't even have to think on that one. "Hell yeah!" Jumping on their bikes, Link, Zelda, and Keith sped off down the mountain to Kakariko.
That night, after a dinner that could feed ten people with plenty of leftovers, the three kids were each in a private room. Lying in their beds, Link and Zelda found themselves wondering what life would be like if they were married to each other. With that thought in mind, both of them drifted off to sleep with a smile on their faces. Keith however, was unable to sleep. He stood at his bedroom window looking over all of Kakariko. Zelda's butler, noticing that his light was on, opened the door. "Is everything all right sir?" "Yeah, everything's fine. I just can't sleep. Thanks anyways." "You're welcome sir."
Keith spent a long time just looking out that window. 'I could've had so much.' Sighing, he turned off his light and went to sleep. Link, Zelda, and Keith had the dream again, as always. After eating a large breakfast of pancakes, sausages, eggs, hash browns, and waffles, the trio was on their bikes and at the Temple of Time at eight o' clock.
"Today, we find out what's behind that door. Keith, if you would." Link said. Keith nodded and picked the lock. After a few seconds, he gave the all clear and they went in. This time however, a passing person, who just happened to work there, noticed them. 'Hmmmm. What are those kids up to?' The old man wondered. Looking around, he quietly followed them.
Link, Keith and Zelda opened the back room door and saw the altar. "Last chance everyone. Do we go through with this?" Keith asked as they stood before the altar. They nodded. "Let's do it." Link walked over, unzipped his knapsack, and placed the stones in the appropriate slot. Taking out the Ocarina of Time, Link put it to his lips and played the Song of Time. The song once again echoed throughout the room.
When he had finished, Link looked to see what would happen. A bright light came from the symbol of Triforce engraved over the door. They watched as the pale gray stone turned a bright golden color. Grinding was then heard as the two massive stone slabs slid into the wall, revealing a path forward. "YYYEEEEESSSSSSS!" A collective cheer of triumph came from the group as they saw the fruits of their labor.
"We did it Link! We really did it!" Keith said to his best friend. "I know! I know! I can hardly believe it!" Link laughed in return. Keith climbed over the altar and ran through the opened Door of Time, Link following quickly. Running, the path blackened only for a moment. As he looked upon the room beyond, Keith came to a sudden halt. "No…" Link stopped next to him as he saw the same thing. "It can't be…"
Oooohhhh. A cliffhanger! What do they see? Find that out in the next chapter.