Chapter 8
The lake was quite enjoyable after awhile. Even though there wasn't much to look at, there were lots to do. Everyday I went to the old man's laboratory to learn his potions and teach him tricks while Dmitri dove off the small waterfall where the river flowed in or talked with Pierre. I realized very early on that potion making was much more than mixing ingredients. Everything had to be carefully measured and heated, and even stirred certain ways at certain times, but I stuck with it.
Neither of us had gone to the fishing house yet but we kept planning to. There was a piece of land above the temple but we hadn't mustered the courage to go there either.
"Alright, now add a bit of that red liquid" The old man instructed
"What is it?"
"Frog's blood"
"Oh, I didn't want to know that"
"OK, let's see how it turned out"
The old man had an injured gerbil and the moment my potion hit the injury, it healed within seconds.
"Excellent" he said, "I couldn't have done it better myself"
"Thank you. Now its your turn"
The old man did the same trick as I had when I met him with a flaw here and there but otherwise just as well
"Great. You know, I'm really going to miss it here" I grabbed my bag and headed towards the door
"Saira, what do you mean? Are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow. I've been here for almost 3 months and I really must continue. I'll come back one day"
"Do be careful"
I smiled and walked out. Dmitri was playing in the small waterfall that dept the small pool at the bottom of the lake filled.
"Dmitri, get ready. We're leaving tomorrow"
"Bout' time. I still want to go to the fishing hole before we leave though."
"All right, we'll go tomorrow. Now, I want to go out there" I pointed to the land above the temple.
"You're kidding right?"
"No. You coming?"
Dmitri sighed before agreeing. The bridge was creaky and didn't look like it could hold much weight.
"I'll go first" I said but Dmitri pulled me back
"No, let me. I weight more than you and if it holds me we know it can hold you. Plus if I fall, you can keep me from dying"
I nodded then watched him make his way across. He stopped midway in a piece of land then motioned for me to come. I joined him then sat down on what I thought was a boulder
"Um, Saira, what are you sitting on?"
"A rock"
"No, I don't think rocks are usually shaped like tombstones" Dmitri said
I got up and looked down. There was an inscription that I read aloud. " 'Here lies the Sage of the Water Temple. One day she shall return through another and join with the other sages to once again help the Hero of Time free Hyrule from evil.' So this is where the old sage was buried."
"Okay, this is getting creepy. People being reincarnated and coming back." Dmitri started towards the roof of the temple. I followed this time seeing this bridge was sturdier.
"Wow, this is so great." Dmitri said sarcastically "A tree, and a stone. We came all the way out here for this"
"You make it sound like we walked a million miles"
"Lazy people tend to do that" he joked
" 'When the water fills the lake, shoot for the morning light'" I said
"Huh?"
"On the stone which is actually a plaque of some sort, that's what it says. It's almost like someone knew the lake would empty" I said
"Well they must have wrote it a long time ago"
"Why do you say that?" I asked
"C'mon my little scholar. Even I know why. It's written in old Hylian. Barely anyone knows it. Most people speak Elvish or modern Hylian nowadays. And the obvious is all the erosion on the plaque. The words are worn"
"I cant believe I didn't notice that. My guess it was the sage of water"
"CANNONBALL!!!" Dmitri yelled while I bent over examining the stone.
Dmitri jumped off and made a huge splash as he plummeted into the pool of water at the bottom near the temple.
I ran to the edge and stared down at him. He spit water out of his mouth and smiled up at me.
"C'mon my fishy friend. You know you want to"
I removed my cloak and shoes and placed them with his things. Then I dove gracefully into the water and came up right next to him. The water felt good. Dmitri and I kept trying to dunk each other until it was too dark to even see each other.
"Haha. You look like a prune" Dmitri joked
"Yeah, well maybe you should look in a mirror before you say anything"
"Your hair looks white in this light. Maybe you should go talk to your boyfriend and get a date"
"Ew that's just gross" I ran and tackled him
He quickly got the upper hand though. I was terrible at fighting of any kind and more quickly than I anticipated, Dmitri had me pinned. He was sitting on my stomach and his hands held my wrists to the ground.
I struggled but he didn't let up
"I hate you sometimes" I said
"But deep down you know you love me"
Dmitri bent down and kissed me on the cheek before he helped me up
"Sometimes I really don't get you" I said
All he did was smile then started walking towards the campsite we'd made when we first arrived. I used magic to get my stuff down then dragged them behind me as I followed him. I went into my tent and changed into dry clothes. I packed everything up and slept under the stars. Dmitri did the same
The next morning we headed straight for the fishing hole. I forced Dmitri to get up early, which he was not happy about.
When we walked in and saw a middle-aged man wearing a stupid looking fishing hat standing behind a wooden counter. There was a fish tank next to him with an enormous fish inside. I hate fish so I turned away while Dmitri marveled at its size. The man himself didn't look much better than the fish in my opinion. He was constantly scratching his armpits and breathed hard through his nose. His mustache was full of little white things and his shirt had stains all over it.
"Disgusting" I whispered to Dmitri
"Yeah, but I still want to fish"
Dmitri walked up to the counter where a smaller tank was where was smaller fish was. "Biggest fish ever caught: 6 lbs."
"Ah hello there. Admiring my catch" The man said proudly
"What are you talking about? I've caught bigger fish in the pools in the Lost Woods"
"Lost Woods, eh? You two some of them faery people?" he asked
"Do you see a faery?" Dmitri asked
"We're Hylian" I cut in
"Elves?"
"Yeah, anyway, we'd like to fish" Dmitri said
"10 rupees and you can fish as long as you like"
Dmitri opened his mouth, no doubt to say something stupid but I covered his mouth before he could get the chance.
The man gave us fishing poles and we walked around the pond looking for the best spot to fish
"I wasn't going to say anything bad" Dmitri said baiting my hook for me
"Sure" I sat down and cast my line. Dmitri sat in my lap "What are you doing?"
"Santa I want to catch the biggest fish in all the pond"
"That's great. Geroff! Don't act like a human child who actually believe in Santa."
After I threw him off a fish caught my reel.
"Geez, that's a big one" Dmitri said seeing it in the water
"Yeah? Don't have to tell me. I'm the one holding it"
I fought to catch the fish for at least half an hour. When I finally got it on land, it was half my size. It wriggled around helplessly. Dmitri got absolutely furious when I felt sorry for the ugly thing and let it go.
"Saira we could have gotten a prize"
"I don't care.. Are you ready to leave yet?"
"Ugh. Yeah I guess. I didn't catch a thing"
"Bigger fish in the ponds, eh?" I said
"Shut up"
We turned in our fishing rods but the man asked us to stay for a minute.
"I saw that lunker you pulled out. Take this as a reward"
He handed me a clear bottle with a gold thing inside
"What is it?" Dmitri asked
"A golden scale of the Zora's. It will give you the ability to hold you breath longer and allow you to dive deeper in the water without pressure"
"Cool. It fits a little fish like you Saira"
"Thank you" I said "So what prize did the person who caught that fish get?" I asked pointing to the large tank on the counter.
"Oh, him. He came here a lot. He also got a scale. Back then I used to give out prizes to people who only caught fish of 16 pounds or more but now I don't get enough business."
"What was his name?" I asked
"Um, oh let me think. Oh yeah. Name wos' Link."
"Link? Did he have a blue faery and dress in a green tunic?"
"Yeah, that's him on the button. How you know him?"
"Link's my brother" I said annoyed since I'd already told plenty of people this.
"Really? That's neat. Rumor has it he ventured to the Gerudo Desert before he went to the Zora's Domain"
Finally! I thought. Some good information.
"Thank you so much"
I ran out of there before he could stop me. I pulled out my map and saw that the Gerudo Desert was about a day's walk away from where we were. I headed in that direction with Dmitri by my side.
The Gerudos were a race of women thieves who dwelled in the desert. Only once every 100 years a man is born in the Gerudo race. He is automatically chosen as leader and Ganondorf is the leader now. That's why the Gerudos are the only race immune from his evil crusade to rule the worlds.
We stopped at nightfall about 3 miles away from the bridge that crosses over to Gerudo Valley. Oh, I should mention that the Gerudos hate all men except for Ganondorf.
"Saira?"
"Dmitri"
"I have a question"
"Cant it wait? It's late" I was lying on my back trying to sleep despite the hard ground. Dmitri was lying across my legs as he often did
"I'll make it quick if the Gerudos hate all men, what's going to happen to me?"
"Good question. I guess we'll find out when we get there"
"Funny Saira" he said
"Dmitri I'm sure nothing will happen. Anyway, I'm a girl and if I can convince them you're good, they just might believe me. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you from getting killed"
"Not very comforting. I could still be imprisoned or something"
But I had fallen asleep.
The lake was quite enjoyable after awhile. Even though there wasn't much to look at, there were lots to do. Everyday I went to the old man's laboratory to learn his potions and teach him tricks while Dmitri dove off the small waterfall where the river flowed in or talked with Pierre. I realized very early on that potion making was much more than mixing ingredients. Everything had to be carefully measured and heated, and even stirred certain ways at certain times, but I stuck with it.
Neither of us had gone to the fishing house yet but we kept planning to. There was a piece of land above the temple but we hadn't mustered the courage to go there either.
"Alright, now add a bit of that red liquid" The old man instructed
"What is it?"
"Frog's blood"
"Oh, I didn't want to know that"
"OK, let's see how it turned out"
The old man had an injured gerbil and the moment my potion hit the injury, it healed within seconds.
"Excellent" he said, "I couldn't have done it better myself"
"Thank you. Now its your turn"
The old man did the same trick as I had when I met him with a flaw here and there but otherwise just as well
"Great. You know, I'm really going to miss it here" I grabbed my bag and headed towards the door
"Saira, what do you mean? Are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow. I've been here for almost 3 months and I really must continue. I'll come back one day"
"Do be careful"
I smiled and walked out. Dmitri was playing in the small waterfall that dept the small pool at the bottom of the lake filled.
"Dmitri, get ready. We're leaving tomorrow"
"Bout' time. I still want to go to the fishing hole before we leave though."
"All right, we'll go tomorrow. Now, I want to go out there" I pointed to the land above the temple.
"You're kidding right?"
"No. You coming?"
Dmitri sighed before agreeing. The bridge was creaky and didn't look like it could hold much weight.
"I'll go first" I said but Dmitri pulled me back
"No, let me. I weight more than you and if it holds me we know it can hold you. Plus if I fall, you can keep me from dying"
I nodded then watched him make his way across. He stopped midway in a piece of land then motioned for me to come. I joined him then sat down on what I thought was a boulder
"Um, Saira, what are you sitting on?"
"A rock"
"No, I don't think rocks are usually shaped like tombstones" Dmitri said
I got up and looked down. There was an inscription that I read aloud. " 'Here lies the Sage of the Water Temple. One day she shall return through another and join with the other sages to once again help the Hero of Time free Hyrule from evil.' So this is where the old sage was buried."
"Okay, this is getting creepy. People being reincarnated and coming back." Dmitri started towards the roof of the temple. I followed this time seeing this bridge was sturdier.
"Wow, this is so great." Dmitri said sarcastically "A tree, and a stone. We came all the way out here for this"
"You make it sound like we walked a million miles"
"Lazy people tend to do that" he joked
" 'When the water fills the lake, shoot for the morning light'" I said
"Huh?"
"On the stone which is actually a plaque of some sort, that's what it says. It's almost like someone knew the lake would empty" I said
"Well they must have wrote it a long time ago"
"Why do you say that?" I asked
"C'mon my little scholar. Even I know why. It's written in old Hylian. Barely anyone knows it. Most people speak Elvish or modern Hylian nowadays. And the obvious is all the erosion on the plaque. The words are worn"
"I cant believe I didn't notice that. My guess it was the sage of water"
"CANNONBALL!!!" Dmitri yelled while I bent over examining the stone.
Dmitri jumped off and made a huge splash as he plummeted into the pool of water at the bottom near the temple.
I ran to the edge and stared down at him. He spit water out of his mouth and smiled up at me.
"C'mon my fishy friend. You know you want to"
I removed my cloak and shoes and placed them with his things. Then I dove gracefully into the water and came up right next to him. The water felt good. Dmitri and I kept trying to dunk each other until it was too dark to even see each other.
"Haha. You look like a prune" Dmitri joked
"Yeah, well maybe you should look in a mirror before you say anything"
"Your hair looks white in this light. Maybe you should go talk to your boyfriend and get a date"
"Ew that's just gross" I ran and tackled him
He quickly got the upper hand though. I was terrible at fighting of any kind and more quickly than I anticipated, Dmitri had me pinned. He was sitting on my stomach and his hands held my wrists to the ground.
I struggled but he didn't let up
"I hate you sometimes" I said
"But deep down you know you love me"
Dmitri bent down and kissed me on the cheek before he helped me up
"Sometimes I really don't get you" I said
All he did was smile then started walking towards the campsite we'd made when we first arrived. I used magic to get my stuff down then dragged them behind me as I followed him. I went into my tent and changed into dry clothes. I packed everything up and slept under the stars. Dmitri did the same
The next morning we headed straight for the fishing hole. I forced Dmitri to get up early, which he was not happy about.
When we walked in and saw a middle-aged man wearing a stupid looking fishing hat standing behind a wooden counter. There was a fish tank next to him with an enormous fish inside. I hate fish so I turned away while Dmitri marveled at its size. The man himself didn't look much better than the fish in my opinion. He was constantly scratching his armpits and breathed hard through his nose. His mustache was full of little white things and his shirt had stains all over it.
"Disgusting" I whispered to Dmitri
"Yeah, but I still want to fish"
Dmitri walked up to the counter where a smaller tank was where was smaller fish was. "Biggest fish ever caught: 6 lbs."
"Ah hello there. Admiring my catch" The man said proudly
"What are you talking about? I've caught bigger fish in the pools in the Lost Woods"
"Lost Woods, eh? You two some of them faery people?" he asked
"Do you see a faery?" Dmitri asked
"We're Hylian" I cut in
"Elves?"
"Yeah, anyway, we'd like to fish" Dmitri said
"10 rupees and you can fish as long as you like"
Dmitri opened his mouth, no doubt to say something stupid but I covered his mouth before he could get the chance.
The man gave us fishing poles and we walked around the pond looking for the best spot to fish
"I wasn't going to say anything bad" Dmitri said baiting my hook for me
"Sure" I sat down and cast my line. Dmitri sat in my lap "What are you doing?"
"Santa I want to catch the biggest fish in all the pond"
"That's great. Geroff! Don't act like a human child who actually believe in Santa."
After I threw him off a fish caught my reel.
"Geez, that's a big one" Dmitri said seeing it in the water
"Yeah? Don't have to tell me. I'm the one holding it"
I fought to catch the fish for at least half an hour. When I finally got it on land, it was half my size. It wriggled around helplessly. Dmitri got absolutely furious when I felt sorry for the ugly thing and let it go.
"Saira we could have gotten a prize"
"I don't care.. Are you ready to leave yet?"
"Ugh. Yeah I guess. I didn't catch a thing"
"Bigger fish in the ponds, eh?" I said
"Shut up"
We turned in our fishing rods but the man asked us to stay for a minute.
"I saw that lunker you pulled out. Take this as a reward"
He handed me a clear bottle with a gold thing inside
"What is it?" Dmitri asked
"A golden scale of the Zora's. It will give you the ability to hold you breath longer and allow you to dive deeper in the water without pressure"
"Cool. It fits a little fish like you Saira"
"Thank you" I said "So what prize did the person who caught that fish get?" I asked pointing to the large tank on the counter.
"Oh, him. He came here a lot. He also got a scale. Back then I used to give out prizes to people who only caught fish of 16 pounds or more but now I don't get enough business."
"What was his name?" I asked
"Um, oh let me think. Oh yeah. Name wos' Link."
"Link? Did he have a blue faery and dress in a green tunic?"
"Yeah, that's him on the button. How you know him?"
"Link's my brother" I said annoyed since I'd already told plenty of people this.
"Really? That's neat. Rumor has it he ventured to the Gerudo Desert before he went to the Zora's Domain"
Finally! I thought. Some good information.
"Thank you so much"
I ran out of there before he could stop me. I pulled out my map and saw that the Gerudo Desert was about a day's walk away from where we were. I headed in that direction with Dmitri by my side.
The Gerudos were a race of women thieves who dwelled in the desert. Only once every 100 years a man is born in the Gerudo race. He is automatically chosen as leader and Ganondorf is the leader now. That's why the Gerudos are the only race immune from his evil crusade to rule the worlds.
We stopped at nightfall about 3 miles away from the bridge that crosses over to Gerudo Valley. Oh, I should mention that the Gerudos hate all men except for Ganondorf.
"Saira?"
"Dmitri"
"I have a question"
"Cant it wait? It's late" I was lying on my back trying to sleep despite the hard ground. Dmitri was lying across my legs as he often did
"I'll make it quick if the Gerudos hate all men, what's going to happen to me?"
"Good question. I guess we'll find out when we get there"
"Funny Saira" he said
"Dmitri I'm sure nothing will happen. Anyway, I'm a girl and if I can convince them you're good, they just might believe me. I'll do whatever it takes to keep you from getting killed"
"Not very comforting. I could still be imprisoned or something"
But I had fallen asleep.