Zelda and Zoras are copyrighted Nintendo, and not by me. Saige, Sakura,
Ivan, Xieon, all monsters and any other character not copyrighted by Nintendo, is mine and mine ONLY! You may only use them if you e-mail me
and ask (politely!)
*~* Chapter 8 *~*
Zora Temple
"come ....on!" Ivan shouted behind him. The girls were slower swimmers than him, and were very far behind. He reached water he could stand in, and grabbed a foothold. He shuffled his feet to scare away stingrays, and instructed the girls to do the same. But they were still a good 12 yards behind him, talking. Ivan reached shore and lay down on the sand. The sand of West Ocean was known worldwide for it's softness. The waves of the beach were very strong, and ground the sand into very fine little rocks, that were as soft as silk. But the ocean floor was anything but smooth, it was rocky and perilous to swimmers who were alone. She girls reached waist high water and ran towards shore, Sakura complaining the whole time. "gosh Ivan, why are there so many darn rocks?" She whined Ivan rolled his eyes, how would he know? Suddenly Sakura shrieked. "wha-..?" Saige began, but she too leapt backwards screaming. The two were pointing into the water, and backing away furiously. A stingray was winding its way around their legs. Its flat body soared over the water, and it continued to circle the girls. "ITS GOOIE!" Sakura yelped, diving behind Saige. "What is it?!" Saige yelled at Ivan, dashing out of it's path and towards shore. "relax!" Ivan said coolly "Its just a stingray!" These girls really know nothing about the ocean.. he thought to himself. "relax?!" Saige yelled as she stepped onto the sand, slipped, and crawled the rest of the way to Ivan. "RELAX? It's name starts with 'sting'! Is it poisonous?" Sakura reached shore then, and flopped down next to Saige, thoroughly exhausted. She shoved her bare foot at Ivan, who could see it was pink and swelling. "not only have I got calluses all over my feet, but I got stung by a giant placemat!" She yelped Ivan couldn't help but smile at that one, the stingrays did look like placemats.. "don't worry" he said, shoving Sakura's foot out of the way "It'll feel better in a few hours" With that he stood up, briskly brushed the sand off of his robe, and offered his hand to Sakura. She took it and he helped her up. She leaned on Saige and gingerly put her foot down. It stung a little, but not that badly anymore. Saige stood up, and lifted her pack to her shoulders. "which way Iva-"she tried to walk, and fell on her face. "sorry.." she panted "my boot...it got stuck in the sand" she stood up again, yanked her foot out and continued walking. This went on for a while, Saige falling every two steps, before she gave up and took off her boots, and stuffed them in her pack. The sand, she noticed, was very hot, and the soles of her feet burned to touch it. So the group proceeded, looking quite odd, one girl limping and complaining, another hopping up and down like a nut, and the last boy walking a long ways ahead, yelling at them every now and then to move faster. The trio went like this for some time, until the sun was almost halfway behind the horizon, and the sky around it was a deep orange and red. The waves glittered back the same bright colors as they grew faster, larger, before breaking and smashing against the shoreline. Sakura couldn't help but notice how little life seemed to be here, not a sound could be heard except for the sound of the breaking waves, and Saige's almost constant 'eek!..ACK!...COOOOLD!' (the sand had turned ice cold once the sun began to set) "Lets camp here girls" Ivan instructed, throwing his pack onto a formation of large, gray rocks. Saige tossed herself onto the ground gratefully, her callused feet high in the air above her head, so as not to let them touch the freezing sand. She lazily rolled out her sleeping bag, and crawled into it. She was thoroughly exhausted, and couldn't WAIT to get to bed. She felt Ivan lay his bag down on one side of her, and Sakura on the other. It was mere minuets before the low sound of the crashing waves lulled her to sleep.
KABOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!! Ivan rolled over in his sleeping bag. Another long, loud roll of thunder called out, followed by a flash of lightning. A storm! And they were on the beach! Quick as a flash he was out of his bag, had it rolled up, and was jostling the girls awake. "come on, storm!" he yelled over the roaring of the winds. Saige peeled open her brown eyes and looked out at the ocean. It was a steel gray, and waves were thrashing madly against the side of the Pass which was still visible a little in the distance. The spray from the huge waves had already soaked her to the bone, and she scurried to pack up. A sudden flash of lightning tore across the sky, leaving a few seconds of piercing light before it grew dark again. "one....two.....three...four...five" Saige recited slowly. She had only reached seven before a quick clap of thunder made Sakura behind her jump and grab her shoulder. "come on Saige!" Sakura yelled. The ocean's roar and the wind's scream mixed with the claps of thunder and flashes of lightning made it nearly impossible to hear each other. It was then the rain started, like a billion gallon pail was being poured, rain drove down in foot-long sheets, freezing the trio to the core. Not only was it hard to hear now that the rain was added to the mess, but they could only see a good 3 feet in front of their faces. Another flash of lightning, Saige counted again, and only reached 4 before the thunder roared. "ITS GETTING CLOSER!" She screamed to her companions. A flash of lightning allowed her to see them scrambling up a nearby pile of rocks, and taking refuge under one. Sakura dove under a rock near Ivan, and pointed to one where Saige could stay. Then a thought hit Saige... Kyra. "SAKURA!" She yelled "WHERE'S KYRA?!" Sakura shook her head violently. "I HAVE NO IDEA! SHE SAID SHE'D MEET US!" Saige envisioned Kyra, alone in the pouring rain, but a hand grabbed her firmly by the shoulder and shoved her forward towards the rocks. It was Sakura "NO!" She yelled, but she was sure no one could hear here "I NEED TO FIND MY DOG!" She was shoved under the rocks. It was defiantly drier in there but she couldn't see a bit through the water that poured off the top of the rock and onto the ground. Sakura and Ivan made a run to under her ledge, and squeezed in. All of them were panting, and dripping wet. "S-S-Saige" Ivan gasped "I'm sure your dog is f- fine" "y-yeah" Sakura agreed, nodding "s-she's smart enough t-to find shelter" Saige nodded her head slowly. They were right, Kyra was smart... "Hey.." Ivan gasped "Look at this!" He pointed to a long, wood plank on the ground. "So?" Sakura snapped "It's a log, whoopty-diddle-doo" Ivan shook his head, sending sprays of water at the girls. "No, look" he lifted it, and they could see a small opening, with stairs leading down into darkness. "should we go in..?" He asked. Saige looked down it. "yeah! It's better than being stuck in this crud!" She pointed to the rain, which was still pouring incessantly. She clambered into the hole, and her friends soon followed. The ladder went down a ways, before dropping off onto a thin beam. Saige couldn't see a thing, and heard the sound of rushing water below her. "IVAN!" she yelled "toss me down that lamp will yah?" A small metal object came falling down the hole, and Saige just managed to catch it before loosing her balance. She took a step backwards, and screamed. There was no floor! She began to fall, and felt a hand grasp her shoulder. "second time I've saved your butt today Saige!" Sakura snapped jokingly, pulling Saige back onto the thin beam. Saige quickly struck a match from her pack, and the tunnel was flooded with light. She appeared to be standing on a thin red-ish beam, with murky black water flowing below her. She held the lamp further ahead of her, and took an uncertain step. She didn't want to fall, she had no idea what was in that water, but it didn't look clean. Ivan landed with a thud on the beam behind the girls. "Lets go" he panted "I don't like it here" he glanced nervously at the water, and the trio set off. Saige didn't know how long they walked, but it must have been a while, since she was totally dry, and her bare feet were automatically walking on the beam, without her having to place her feet carefully anymore. "Look!" Ivan pointed so suddenly Sakura had to grab Saige's backpack to keep from falling off. Directly in from of Saige was a long rope ladder. It went up a ways, and led to a round door. Saige climbed a few rungs up the ladder. "come on.." she murmured, pushing on the latch of the door. It swung open easily, and she climbed out. "OH MY GOSH GUYS!" She yelled down the stairs. She was in an oblong room, not much unlike the one that Zelda had showed her and the townsfolk at the announcement. The ceiling, walls and floor were made of a water like substance, but it was hard to the touch. The room was empty save for a few small chairs and a large horse trough against the wall. Ivan heaved himself up and gasped. "we're in the Zora Temple guys.." he said slowly and precisely. "this is where all the Zoras live- er I mean- lived" he frowned. "I never knew there was a passage..." Sakura yanked herself out of the hole and stood beside Saige. "gosh...Ivan, where exactly are we?" she asked. "It looks like the water processing room" he replied. The girls looked confused so he explained. "Most of the Town is water, that's the main transportation for Zoras. In fact, the entire Temple is water, save for a few small glass islands and the band shell. I think this is where they clean the water, and propel it back into the Temple. See, there's a trough with a net to catch all the dirt and germs." He said, pointing to the horse trough. "all water..?" Sakura asked slowly "then how are we going to get around..?"
Ivan turned around. "well, matters what you want to do here. You never exactly told me" "well..." Saige began "we were thinking of looking for any sign of a clue about what powers Xieon is using, and we'll tell that to all the other towns we encounter." Ivan contemplated this for a while. "so" he said "I guess your planning on being here for a while...Is 10 hours enough?" Saige glanced quizzically at him. "yeah, more than enough, why?" Ivan grinned. "I might have something that can turn you into a Zora for a short period of time. That way you can have complete accessibility to the Temple, since Zoras were not such friendly creatures, and the Temple is full of traps. If you transform into a Zora, the traps shouldn't affect you. Of course, this will be only temporary..." "are the dead bodies still here..?" Sakura asked slowly, staring at the ceiling. "were you even listening?" Saige yelled, knocking Sakura hard on the head. "Yes!" She snapped back "I'd turn into a Zora! I'm just not so keen on dead bodies everywhere!" She shivered visibly. "I don't think so Sakura.." Ivan added "I guess your Princess Zelda would have cleaned the place up a bit...how'd she find out about this anyway?" Sakura and Saige froze. How did Zelda know what had happened, if no human had been here for a long, long time. "I-I...we...don't...I" Sakura talked in circles for a second. Surely, Zelda had nothing to do with this! "so, maybe this Zelda of yours turned on you, hm? Can you prove it wasn't her?!" "Drop it Ivan!" Saige snapped, and Sakura was grateful for that "can you prove it was her?" She added irritably. "well...no" said Ivan flatly. "good, now what about this turning us into a Zora?" Saige asked firmly. Ivan nodded and extracted a long stick from his pocket, as well as some odd looking grass. "yeah" he said, suddenly regaining his composure "I have a bit of Gwarpweed right here" He held up the sickly looking grass "and I'll just need a few things. You'll just have to dash around the Temple finless for a while, but don't worry, it'll pay off." Saige smiled. "good, what do yah' need?" Ivan looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. "I'll need a Flordelagua petal...and some water from the temple, and a Zora scale" he said, ticking off the things on his fingers. Saige looked confused. "What's a Floriwhatsit thingy?" Saige asked Ivan smirked. "It's a rare flower that grows only down at the bottom of the Ocean." Sakura grimaced. "No way no how I'm swimming in that storm!" She sneered defiantly. Ivan smiled again. "no worries, we are at the bottom of the ocean. That's where the temple is! Now go find a flordelagua petal, water, and a Zora scale. Understand? Good? Now go!" Ivan said this all very quickly, and shoved the girls out the large blue door that they hadn't noticed and into the temple. Ivan was right, the place was almost entirely water. They were standing on a large glass island, and were surrounded by the clearest water they had ever seen. To their left, a waterfall glittered, flowing down and into the water below. About 12 yards away, lay another larger island, with dozens of little house- like huts. Way in the distance, was a large band shell. There was a big glass catwalk around the huge room, dotted with doors every few feet. "wow..." Sakura breathed "This place is magnificent!" She looked around in awe. "come on!" Saige said from above her. She was already perched comfortably on the catwalk, and reached her hand down to Sakura. She helped Sakura up, and the two carefully made their way across the walk. "watch your step" Sakura ordered "I am" Saige snapped back "Just checking....how much further do you think?" "Don't ask me! I've no idea where a dumb old flower would grow here anyway! And we'll need to find a zora scale too..." "Flowers are not dumb Saige, they're beautiful and a wonderful addition to our environment-" "Save me the herbology lesson Sakura..." The two ambled on like this for some time, popping their heads into random rooms, Most of which were almost exactly alike. Either a bedroom with a small kitchen, or a completely empty room. "Hey Saige!" Sakura called from a ways ahead of Saige. "It looks like this is the only room we haven't checked!" Saige trotted forward, and saw that they were almost back at the waterfall again, save for one door. "Open it then!" She ordered. Sakura did as she was told, and threw open the door. She shrieked and jumped back, pointing. Saige looked around the doorframe and saw hundreds of the Zora's bodies, still on the floor. "Well....we've found the Zora scales..." She grimaced. "EW! How long have they been here, a few weeks?" Sakura almost yelled. "They still look fine...like they're just dolls.." Saige pointed out. It was true, the things hadn't moved, but they weren't rotting or anything. Just...dead. Saige glanced around the room. It was the same empty room Zelda had shown them, nothing appeared to be touched. "Hey! Look!" Sakura was pointing to a solitary flower hung in one of the Zora's hair. She looked like she was a young teenage girl. Her body was entirely of scales, and long blue hair fell from her head onto her shoulders. Saige walked slowly up to her, followed closely by a cowering Sakura. She reached down, and took the blue flower gently from the Zora's head. It's sea-green eyes didn't move. She then gently grasped one of the girl's blue scales, and pulled. Behind her, Sakura whimpered. Suddenly, a loud hum rang through the air. Sakura yelped and jumped back, and Saige looked around wildly. The walls of the room were moving now, like fierce waves. And atop the large blue pillars, blue flames erupted. The entire Temple seemed to be jumping with life.
"what's going on?!" Sakura whined. "Like I know?" Saige sneered back. "Lets just am-scram!" She darted out the door. The water below the catwalk was alive now too, and many other waterfalls had sprouted from the tall ceiling and azure walls, and were now thundering down into the water. "come on!" Saige ducked into the room that she and Sakura had left Ivan. They found him in the middle of the room, staring openmouthed at the walls.
Saige shoved the ingredients into his hands. "What's going on?" Sakura repeated, desperately this time. "Someone started up the main water processing system" Ivan reported "Like they just switched the town back on. Of course, only someone alive can do that!" He added as he noticed Sakura's face getting paler. He looked at the ingredients in his hands. "did you get the water?" he demanded. Saige cursed to herself. "I'll get it.." she grabbed a bottle she had put her drinking water in, and dashed outside. The water in the town was spinning now, like a whirlpool. The low hum could still be heard, louder now that she was back in the main room. She grabbed a bottleful of water, and ran back inside. Ivan had already piled the items into the long trough, and tossed in the water. "there.." he mumbled. "Now be quiet for a second" He began to mumble, softly at first, then louder. "Flordelagua Flower, shows the beauty within, A Zora's deep blue scale, the power of the swim, Gwarpweed will alter and obscure, It's drinkers will be changed, But if they stay out past their ten, Transformed they will remain.." The thing began to bubble menacingly, and them simmered down until it looked basically normal, just a bit thick. "drink it" Ivan ordered, handing Saige back the bottle, now full of the liquid. "But remember" he warned as she took a big swig. It didn't taste too bad... "If you don't drink the potion again after 10 hours, you'll stay transformed" Sakura took a sip too, and managed to down the whole bottle. She returned it to Ivan, who placed it back in the trough. "Transformed? I don't feel a thin-" She stopped. Her eyes seemed to be covered by a blinding light, a white sheet. She screamed out. She could feel herself changing, a long tail sprouting from her backside, her back was growing long, streamlines scales. Her clothes were changing too, actually, it felt like she no longer had them. She remembered Zora's had almost 'built in' clothes, a long dress- like scale that hung from their chest down to their knees. As suddenly as it started though, it stopped. She looked down at her hands, and could do nothing but stare. They were covered in blue green scales! She turned her palms over curiously. Behind her, someone tapped her shoulder. She wheeled around and saw a long, fishlike creature. It had large, green eyes, and a mess of tangled blue hair. A long cloth hung like a sleeveless dress, and upon closer inspection, Sakura noticed it was a scale. "Its me!" It squealed. "Saige!" Sakura grinned numbly, and then turned to Ivan. To her surprise, Ivan was not changed. "You go" he urged "I'll wait here" She heard to door close, and saw Saige's long blue finned tail whisk out the door. She darted after her, waving goodbye to Ivan. The waterlevel in the main room had risen a good bit, and Saige was anxious to get into it. "Lets go..." Saige said slowly.
Ivan, Xieon, all monsters and any other character not copyrighted by Nintendo, is mine and mine ONLY! You may only use them if you e-mail me
and ask (politely!)
*~* Chapter 8 *~*
Zora Temple
"come ....on!" Ivan shouted behind him. The girls were slower swimmers than him, and were very far behind. He reached water he could stand in, and grabbed a foothold. He shuffled his feet to scare away stingrays, and instructed the girls to do the same. But they were still a good 12 yards behind him, talking. Ivan reached shore and lay down on the sand. The sand of West Ocean was known worldwide for it's softness. The waves of the beach were very strong, and ground the sand into very fine little rocks, that were as soft as silk. But the ocean floor was anything but smooth, it was rocky and perilous to swimmers who were alone. She girls reached waist high water and ran towards shore, Sakura complaining the whole time. "gosh Ivan, why are there so many darn rocks?" She whined Ivan rolled his eyes, how would he know? Suddenly Sakura shrieked. "wha-..?" Saige began, but she too leapt backwards screaming. The two were pointing into the water, and backing away furiously. A stingray was winding its way around their legs. Its flat body soared over the water, and it continued to circle the girls. "ITS GOOIE!" Sakura yelped, diving behind Saige. "What is it?!" Saige yelled at Ivan, dashing out of it's path and towards shore. "relax!" Ivan said coolly "Its just a stingray!" These girls really know nothing about the ocean.. he thought to himself. "relax?!" Saige yelled as she stepped onto the sand, slipped, and crawled the rest of the way to Ivan. "RELAX? It's name starts with 'sting'! Is it poisonous?" Sakura reached shore then, and flopped down next to Saige, thoroughly exhausted. She shoved her bare foot at Ivan, who could see it was pink and swelling. "not only have I got calluses all over my feet, but I got stung by a giant placemat!" She yelped Ivan couldn't help but smile at that one, the stingrays did look like placemats.. "don't worry" he said, shoving Sakura's foot out of the way "It'll feel better in a few hours" With that he stood up, briskly brushed the sand off of his robe, and offered his hand to Sakura. She took it and he helped her up. She leaned on Saige and gingerly put her foot down. It stung a little, but not that badly anymore. Saige stood up, and lifted her pack to her shoulders. "which way Iva-"she tried to walk, and fell on her face. "sorry.." she panted "my boot...it got stuck in the sand" she stood up again, yanked her foot out and continued walking. This went on for a while, Saige falling every two steps, before she gave up and took off her boots, and stuffed them in her pack. The sand, she noticed, was very hot, and the soles of her feet burned to touch it. So the group proceeded, looking quite odd, one girl limping and complaining, another hopping up and down like a nut, and the last boy walking a long ways ahead, yelling at them every now and then to move faster. The trio went like this for some time, until the sun was almost halfway behind the horizon, and the sky around it was a deep orange and red. The waves glittered back the same bright colors as they grew faster, larger, before breaking and smashing against the shoreline. Sakura couldn't help but notice how little life seemed to be here, not a sound could be heard except for the sound of the breaking waves, and Saige's almost constant 'eek!..ACK!...COOOOLD!' (the sand had turned ice cold once the sun began to set) "Lets camp here girls" Ivan instructed, throwing his pack onto a formation of large, gray rocks. Saige tossed herself onto the ground gratefully, her callused feet high in the air above her head, so as not to let them touch the freezing sand. She lazily rolled out her sleeping bag, and crawled into it. She was thoroughly exhausted, and couldn't WAIT to get to bed. She felt Ivan lay his bag down on one side of her, and Sakura on the other. It was mere minuets before the low sound of the crashing waves lulled her to sleep.
KABOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!! Ivan rolled over in his sleeping bag. Another long, loud roll of thunder called out, followed by a flash of lightning. A storm! And they were on the beach! Quick as a flash he was out of his bag, had it rolled up, and was jostling the girls awake. "come on, storm!" he yelled over the roaring of the winds. Saige peeled open her brown eyes and looked out at the ocean. It was a steel gray, and waves were thrashing madly against the side of the Pass which was still visible a little in the distance. The spray from the huge waves had already soaked her to the bone, and she scurried to pack up. A sudden flash of lightning tore across the sky, leaving a few seconds of piercing light before it grew dark again. "one....two.....three...four...five" Saige recited slowly. She had only reached seven before a quick clap of thunder made Sakura behind her jump and grab her shoulder. "come on Saige!" Sakura yelled. The ocean's roar and the wind's scream mixed with the claps of thunder and flashes of lightning made it nearly impossible to hear each other. It was then the rain started, like a billion gallon pail was being poured, rain drove down in foot-long sheets, freezing the trio to the core. Not only was it hard to hear now that the rain was added to the mess, but they could only see a good 3 feet in front of their faces. Another flash of lightning, Saige counted again, and only reached 4 before the thunder roared. "ITS GETTING CLOSER!" She screamed to her companions. A flash of lightning allowed her to see them scrambling up a nearby pile of rocks, and taking refuge under one. Sakura dove under a rock near Ivan, and pointed to one where Saige could stay. Then a thought hit Saige... Kyra. "SAKURA!" She yelled "WHERE'S KYRA?!" Sakura shook her head violently. "I HAVE NO IDEA! SHE SAID SHE'D MEET US!" Saige envisioned Kyra, alone in the pouring rain, but a hand grabbed her firmly by the shoulder and shoved her forward towards the rocks. It was Sakura "NO!" She yelled, but she was sure no one could hear here "I NEED TO FIND MY DOG!" She was shoved under the rocks. It was defiantly drier in there but she couldn't see a bit through the water that poured off the top of the rock and onto the ground. Sakura and Ivan made a run to under her ledge, and squeezed in. All of them were panting, and dripping wet. "S-S-Saige" Ivan gasped "I'm sure your dog is f- fine" "y-yeah" Sakura agreed, nodding "s-she's smart enough t-to find shelter" Saige nodded her head slowly. They were right, Kyra was smart... "Hey.." Ivan gasped "Look at this!" He pointed to a long, wood plank on the ground. "So?" Sakura snapped "It's a log, whoopty-diddle-doo" Ivan shook his head, sending sprays of water at the girls. "No, look" he lifted it, and they could see a small opening, with stairs leading down into darkness. "should we go in..?" He asked. Saige looked down it. "yeah! It's better than being stuck in this crud!" She pointed to the rain, which was still pouring incessantly. She clambered into the hole, and her friends soon followed. The ladder went down a ways, before dropping off onto a thin beam. Saige couldn't see a thing, and heard the sound of rushing water below her. "IVAN!" she yelled "toss me down that lamp will yah?" A small metal object came falling down the hole, and Saige just managed to catch it before loosing her balance. She took a step backwards, and screamed. There was no floor! She began to fall, and felt a hand grasp her shoulder. "second time I've saved your butt today Saige!" Sakura snapped jokingly, pulling Saige back onto the thin beam. Saige quickly struck a match from her pack, and the tunnel was flooded with light. She appeared to be standing on a thin red-ish beam, with murky black water flowing below her. She held the lamp further ahead of her, and took an uncertain step. She didn't want to fall, she had no idea what was in that water, but it didn't look clean. Ivan landed with a thud on the beam behind the girls. "Lets go" he panted "I don't like it here" he glanced nervously at the water, and the trio set off. Saige didn't know how long they walked, but it must have been a while, since she was totally dry, and her bare feet were automatically walking on the beam, without her having to place her feet carefully anymore. "Look!" Ivan pointed so suddenly Sakura had to grab Saige's backpack to keep from falling off. Directly in from of Saige was a long rope ladder. It went up a ways, and led to a round door. Saige climbed a few rungs up the ladder. "come on.." she murmured, pushing on the latch of the door. It swung open easily, and she climbed out. "OH MY GOSH GUYS!" She yelled down the stairs. She was in an oblong room, not much unlike the one that Zelda had showed her and the townsfolk at the announcement. The ceiling, walls and floor were made of a water like substance, but it was hard to the touch. The room was empty save for a few small chairs and a large horse trough against the wall. Ivan heaved himself up and gasped. "we're in the Zora Temple guys.." he said slowly and precisely. "this is where all the Zoras live- er I mean- lived" he frowned. "I never knew there was a passage..." Sakura yanked herself out of the hole and stood beside Saige. "gosh...Ivan, where exactly are we?" she asked. "It looks like the water processing room" he replied. The girls looked confused so he explained. "Most of the Town is water, that's the main transportation for Zoras. In fact, the entire Temple is water, save for a few small glass islands and the band shell. I think this is where they clean the water, and propel it back into the Temple. See, there's a trough with a net to catch all the dirt and germs." He said, pointing to the horse trough. "all water..?" Sakura asked slowly "then how are we going to get around..?"
Ivan turned around. "well, matters what you want to do here. You never exactly told me" "well..." Saige began "we were thinking of looking for any sign of a clue about what powers Xieon is using, and we'll tell that to all the other towns we encounter." Ivan contemplated this for a while. "so" he said "I guess your planning on being here for a while...Is 10 hours enough?" Saige glanced quizzically at him. "yeah, more than enough, why?" Ivan grinned. "I might have something that can turn you into a Zora for a short period of time. That way you can have complete accessibility to the Temple, since Zoras were not such friendly creatures, and the Temple is full of traps. If you transform into a Zora, the traps shouldn't affect you. Of course, this will be only temporary..." "are the dead bodies still here..?" Sakura asked slowly, staring at the ceiling. "were you even listening?" Saige yelled, knocking Sakura hard on the head. "Yes!" She snapped back "I'd turn into a Zora! I'm just not so keen on dead bodies everywhere!" She shivered visibly. "I don't think so Sakura.." Ivan added "I guess your Princess Zelda would have cleaned the place up a bit...how'd she find out about this anyway?" Sakura and Saige froze. How did Zelda know what had happened, if no human had been here for a long, long time. "I-I...we...don't...I" Sakura talked in circles for a second. Surely, Zelda had nothing to do with this! "so, maybe this Zelda of yours turned on you, hm? Can you prove it wasn't her?!" "Drop it Ivan!" Saige snapped, and Sakura was grateful for that "can you prove it was her?" She added irritably. "well...no" said Ivan flatly. "good, now what about this turning us into a Zora?" Saige asked firmly. Ivan nodded and extracted a long stick from his pocket, as well as some odd looking grass. "yeah" he said, suddenly regaining his composure "I have a bit of Gwarpweed right here" He held up the sickly looking grass "and I'll just need a few things. You'll just have to dash around the Temple finless for a while, but don't worry, it'll pay off." Saige smiled. "good, what do yah' need?" Ivan looked at the ceiling thoughtfully. "I'll need a Flordelagua petal...and some water from the temple, and a Zora scale" he said, ticking off the things on his fingers. Saige looked confused. "What's a Floriwhatsit thingy?" Saige asked Ivan smirked. "It's a rare flower that grows only down at the bottom of the Ocean." Sakura grimaced. "No way no how I'm swimming in that storm!" She sneered defiantly. Ivan smiled again. "no worries, we are at the bottom of the ocean. That's where the temple is! Now go find a flordelagua petal, water, and a Zora scale. Understand? Good? Now go!" Ivan said this all very quickly, and shoved the girls out the large blue door that they hadn't noticed and into the temple. Ivan was right, the place was almost entirely water. They were standing on a large glass island, and were surrounded by the clearest water they had ever seen. To their left, a waterfall glittered, flowing down and into the water below. About 12 yards away, lay another larger island, with dozens of little house- like huts. Way in the distance, was a large band shell. There was a big glass catwalk around the huge room, dotted with doors every few feet. "wow..." Sakura breathed "This place is magnificent!" She looked around in awe. "come on!" Saige said from above her. She was already perched comfortably on the catwalk, and reached her hand down to Sakura. She helped Sakura up, and the two carefully made their way across the walk. "watch your step" Sakura ordered "I am" Saige snapped back "Just checking....how much further do you think?" "Don't ask me! I've no idea where a dumb old flower would grow here anyway! And we'll need to find a zora scale too..." "Flowers are not dumb Saige, they're beautiful and a wonderful addition to our environment-" "Save me the herbology lesson Sakura..." The two ambled on like this for some time, popping their heads into random rooms, Most of which were almost exactly alike. Either a bedroom with a small kitchen, or a completely empty room. "Hey Saige!" Sakura called from a ways ahead of Saige. "It looks like this is the only room we haven't checked!" Saige trotted forward, and saw that they were almost back at the waterfall again, save for one door. "Open it then!" She ordered. Sakura did as she was told, and threw open the door. She shrieked and jumped back, pointing. Saige looked around the doorframe and saw hundreds of the Zora's bodies, still on the floor. "Well....we've found the Zora scales..." She grimaced. "EW! How long have they been here, a few weeks?" Sakura almost yelled. "They still look fine...like they're just dolls.." Saige pointed out. It was true, the things hadn't moved, but they weren't rotting or anything. Just...dead. Saige glanced around the room. It was the same empty room Zelda had shown them, nothing appeared to be touched. "Hey! Look!" Sakura was pointing to a solitary flower hung in one of the Zora's hair. She looked like she was a young teenage girl. Her body was entirely of scales, and long blue hair fell from her head onto her shoulders. Saige walked slowly up to her, followed closely by a cowering Sakura. She reached down, and took the blue flower gently from the Zora's head. It's sea-green eyes didn't move. She then gently grasped one of the girl's blue scales, and pulled. Behind her, Sakura whimpered. Suddenly, a loud hum rang through the air. Sakura yelped and jumped back, and Saige looked around wildly. The walls of the room were moving now, like fierce waves. And atop the large blue pillars, blue flames erupted. The entire Temple seemed to be jumping with life.
"what's going on?!" Sakura whined. "Like I know?" Saige sneered back. "Lets just am-scram!" She darted out the door. The water below the catwalk was alive now too, and many other waterfalls had sprouted from the tall ceiling and azure walls, and were now thundering down into the water. "come on!" Saige ducked into the room that she and Sakura had left Ivan. They found him in the middle of the room, staring openmouthed at the walls.
Saige shoved the ingredients into his hands. "What's going on?" Sakura repeated, desperately this time. "Someone started up the main water processing system" Ivan reported "Like they just switched the town back on. Of course, only someone alive can do that!" He added as he noticed Sakura's face getting paler. He looked at the ingredients in his hands. "did you get the water?" he demanded. Saige cursed to herself. "I'll get it.." she grabbed a bottle she had put her drinking water in, and dashed outside. The water in the town was spinning now, like a whirlpool. The low hum could still be heard, louder now that she was back in the main room. She grabbed a bottleful of water, and ran back inside. Ivan had already piled the items into the long trough, and tossed in the water. "there.." he mumbled. "Now be quiet for a second" He began to mumble, softly at first, then louder. "Flordelagua Flower, shows the beauty within, A Zora's deep blue scale, the power of the swim, Gwarpweed will alter and obscure, It's drinkers will be changed, But if they stay out past their ten, Transformed they will remain.." The thing began to bubble menacingly, and them simmered down until it looked basically normal, just a bit thick. "drink it" Ivan ordered, handing Saige back the bottle, now full of the liquid. "But remember" he warned as she took a big swig. It didn't taste too bad... "If you don't drink the potion again after 10 hours, you'll stay transformed" Sakura took a sip too, and managed to down the whole bottle. She returned it to Ivan, who placed it back in the trough. "Transformed? I don't feel a thin-" She stopped. Her eyes seemed to be covered by a blinding light, a white sheet. She screamed out. She could feel herself changing, a long tail sprouting from her backside, her back was growing long, streamlines scales. Her clothes were changing too, actually, it felt like she no longer had them. She remembered Zora's had almost 'built in' clothes, a long dress- like scale that hung from their chest down to their knees. As suddenly as it started though, it stopped. She looked down at her hands, and could do nothing but stare. They were covered in blue green scales! She turned her palms over curiously. Behind her, someone tapped her shoulder. She wheeled around and saw a long, fishlike creature. It had large, green eyes, and a mess of tangled blue hair. A long cloth hung like a sleeveless dress, and upon closer inspection, Sakura noticed it was a scale. "Its me!" It squealed. "Saige!" Sakura grinned numbly, and then turned to Ivan. To her surprise, Ivan was not changed. "You go" he urged "I'll wait here" She heard to door close, and saw Saige's long blue finned tail whisk out the door. She darted after her, waving goodbye to Ivan. The waterlevel in the main room had risen a good bit, and Saige was anxious to get into it. "Lets go..." Saige said slowly.