(Is eating candy) All righty! I only requested two reviews for the last chapter, so here's mah replies!

Jana+Anthony: Yep, two reviews is all I asked. So here's the update!

Dragon-Charmer16: Well, I don't want to hurt Ruto (coughyesIdocough), but I'll do everything in my power to insult her! MWAHAHAHAHAHA! Now, onto Ice Cavern!

Jana: Hello and HOW IN THE WORLD DID YOU REVIEW A SECOND TIME FOR THE SAME CHAPTER, YOU STALKER!

That's all for the replies! Now let's get goin'!

Chapter 7: Change of Plans: Feed Ruto to the Dragon

"What in the name of all that is good, sweet, and pure is that monstrosity!" Hieke shouted as she pointed to the center of the fountain.

"That's Jabu Jabu, the Zoran god," Link explained.

"What, the fish? I'm talking about that naked, large-headed… thing!"

Link couldn't help himself. He laughed aloud until his stomach was sore. Unfortunately, all his laughter caught the attention of a certain naked, large-headed thing named Princess Ruto.

"Linky!" she exclaimed as she dashed over and latched onto Link's arm. "I thought you were never going to come back! But I should have known better! You'd never leave your bride behind, would you, Linky?" she drawled in a high-pitched voice that would easily be enough to break glass.

"Ooh, make it stop!" Hieke pleaded. "My ears are bleeding! And my eyes… goddesses, my eyes! I think they're oozing green pus! Oh, I'm nauseous!" Ruto scowled at the Hylian girl, contorting her revolting face all the more.

"Linky, sweetheart, why are you with this tramp?" Ruto asked in as sweet a voice as was possible for a fish girl. Her eyes were wide and shiny and her lower lip puckered out a bit. She looked as though she was ready to be gutted and filleted. Link smiled at the thought. He did have that Kokiri sword with him… And who would miss her anyway?

Hieke saw the murderous spark in his eyes and put a controlling hand on his shoulder. "The Fire Spirit," she reminded, her normally fervent amber eyes clouded with sorrow and concern for the small dragon. Link nodded.

"We'll have to ki-I mean, talk to you later, Ruto. We have business to take care of," he stated emotionlessly as he led Hieke towards a cave entrance. The Hylian girl, ignoring Ruto's shrill calls of protest, wondered if that cave was the Ice Cavern. It was a reasonable presumption, considering that the cave itself formed into a large iceberg. The stable ground cut away, leaving a lake of icy water with several floes dotting the surface. The assumed Ice Cavern was on the other side of this body of water.

"Now what?" Hieke asked. Link gave her a short smile, then went hopping across the sections of ice nimbly. He paused and waved for Hieke to do the same. "It's easy!" he called. "Just don't think about falling in!"

Hieke hesitated only slightly. She could jump fairly well, so she should be fine. The Gerudo warrior summoned up her courage and started leaping from floe to floe, trying to keep up with Link. She eventually reached the same chunk of ice where he had obviously paused to wait for his companion to catch up.

"This is the big jump," Link warned and gestured to the space between the ice they were standing on and the cave entrance. "You have to have really good judgment, else you may end up in that freezing water." He took a few steps back to get a running start and jumped to the ledge upon which the Ice Cavern rested. He grasped at the slippery ice with both hands and hauled his body out of the frigid waters. Hieke's confidence drained away. If the Hero of Time had this kind of trouble…

"Come on, you can do it!" Link encouraged. He held his arms outstretched to catch Hieke should she miss the ledge. She moved to get a running start like Link did, but when she was in midair, Ruto emerged from the water and blocked her. Hieke fell into the water with a shout.

"Linky! I got rid of that freeloader for you!" she squeaked boastfully. Link rolled his eyes and leaned over the ledge, reaching for Hieke. The Hylian girl took his hands gratefully and scrambled onto the ice, shivering. Ruto pouted angrily.

"Why are you being so mean to your future bride?" she huffed. Hieke finally gave way to her curiosity. "What in the world is she blithering on about?" she asked as she shot Ruto a glare. The Zoran scoffed in disgust and returned the scowl.

"She gave me the Spiritual Stone of Water a long time ago. No biggie. But because of that, she feels I owe her something other than having saved all of Hyrule from oblivion," he explained with a hint of annoyance. "Linky!" Ruto whined. "I told you that only the man I was to marry would get the Zoras' Sapphire! So why don't you just give in already? Besides, you know you find me irresistible!"

The small Zoran struck a pose, still half-submerged in the frigid waters. Link and Hieke burst with laughter. The Hylian hero stood and entered the Ice Cavern, still laughing. Hieke followed in a similar condition. Ruto stared after them with either a dumbfounded, or just plain dumb, look on her face.

"I think that was a little mean," Hieke commented when she finished with her laughing fit. Link shook his head. "It wasn't mean enough," he mumbled. Hieke giggled.

"So, what's the evil monster in this place? And how many are there?" the ex-Gerudo asked curiously. Link shrugged. "Last time it was a White Wolfos, but I think something stronger than that will be guarding the Fire Spirit," he replied simply. He had his arms folded behind his neck and was cradling his head on his intertwined fingers. Hieke sighed and glanced around the chamber.

"It's cold," she said after a long period of silence. Link stumbled, catching himself just before he fell onto the icy floor. "Of course it's cold!" he shouted. "It's called 'Ice Cavern' for a reason! That's why it's not called 'Sunny Meadows Cavern' or something!"

A few more moments of stillness befell the questing duo. "Well, of course not," Hieke eventually responded. "For one thing, a cavern can't be sunny because it's cut off from the sun by walls. That's what makes it a cavern. Also-"

Link groaned loudly in frustration. Hieke, embarrassed, studied the walls for a while longer. Absent-mindedly she wondered why Link was in such a foul mood. Soon enough she decided to ask. "Is something wrong?" she inquired submissively. Link shook his head.

"I just have some bad associations with this cavern, that's all."

"Like what?"

"Nothing that has any importance now..."

Hieke pondered the words with great interest. What was in the Ice Cavern that was enough to freak out Link? Ruto was outside the cavern, after all. They soon came upon a puzzling room with a few large bricks of ice and several mist-covered holes. Hieke gazed down one of the holes and threw a small hunk of ice into it. She never heard it collide with the bottom. Link shuddered when he laid eyes upon the puzzle at hand. He had hoped the first time that he'd never have to solve this puzzle again...

"Yeeheehee! We're surprised you made it this far! Isn't that right, Koume?"

"Yeeheehee! It most certainly is, Kotake!"

Link froze where he was. He would recognize that cackling laughter anywhere. "Twinrova," he growled. Hieke studied his expression for a moment or so. It appeared as though he had something personal against the new enemies.

"Oh my, Koume! Look who it is!"

"Why, if it isn't Little Tadaka, Nabooru's friend!"

Hieke formed her hands into fists, her shoulders tensed. Now she also had something against them. But who were they that knew her Gerudo name, as well as her relationship with Nabooru? A pair of witches appeared in a flash of blue and red, each upon an enchanted broomstick. They cackled more when they saw Hieke and Link. The Hylian hero unsheathed his sword and readied a shinier shield, despite the fact that it was nearly too big for him to carry.

Hieke reached for the pendant around her neck but found it gone. She cursed under her breath. She had forgotten that she used the pendant to turn Link's ocarina into the Pipe of Ages. That left the Gerudo warrior helpless!

No way! she shouted to herself. I'm not going to let Link do this alone!

"I call to the moon and stars! Grant me thy glory!" she called, extending her arms to the ceiling. A white light shimmered around her hands and a sword of soft luminescence formed in her clenched fists. She sliced the air in a testing blow and smirked, satisfied with the results of her summoning.

Twinrova stared, speechless. "Koume! She has the Celestial Gift!" the red witch exclaimed. "I'm not blind, Kotake!" the blue witch sneered. "Nor am I stupid. If we are to defeat these two as our orders demand, we'll have to combine!"

The two nodded at each other and started spinning around in swift circles. They soon became one witch with the power of fire in one hand and the power of ice in the other. Hieke twirled her new sword across her fingers and lunged. Link, not wanting to be the stand-by, joined her assault.

Twinrova dodged Hieke's attack and shot a blast of flame her way. Link canceled his own strike to cover his companion with the Mirror Shield. Hieke smiled in appreciation for the gesture and started a furious barrage of attacks. Twinrova was too occupied with blocking to make a counter-attack… or to notice that Link had slowly made his way across the floor until he was standing directly behind the combined witches.

"Boo!" he shouted triumphantly as his sword landed a powerful blow on Twinrova's back. She uttered a cry of pain and whipped around, knocking Link backwards and towards one of the infinitely-deep holes. He grabbed onto the ledge at the last moment and dangled there, slowly slipping with the very ice he held onto melting away at his touch.

"Link!" Hieke exclaimed and ran over to help him. Twinrova laughed loudly and threw a blast of ice at the girl. It hit in her in the back, causing her stumble forward. Her feet slipped on the slick floor and she fell just in front of one of the holes. She cautiously scampered across the floor and hauled Link out of the pit before he slipped.

"Ready, Hieke?"

"But of course!"

The remainder of the battle was comprised of a relentless teamwork effort that left Twinrova wondering what had happened. She split back into Koume and Kotake. The squawking witches began to squabble over the cause of their defeat.

"Koume! If you weren't so slow with your ice…!"

"Me and my ice? How about you and your fire!"

"You can't pin this on me! I had nothing to do with it!"

"Perhaps if you had helped a little, we would have won!"

"Perhaps if you'd both shut up!" Hieke commanded. She threw her light sword at them like a spear with deadly accuracy. The blade passed through them both completely. Koume and Kotake disappeared in a din of ear-splitting shrieks.

"Ooh, gruesome!" Link chuckled. "Wish I could do that to Ruto!"

They were interrupted by a gentle warmth that overcame them. Hieke turned around and stared joyously at the small serpentine dragon resting upon one of the ice blocks. "Lady Tadaka," he breathed weakly with a dragonly grin.

Hieke smiled in relief that the Fire Spirit was still alive and held the creature in her arms. "We must return him to the Fire Temple," she announced. Link nodded and moved to leave the chamber, but paused before he left the room. "Hieke, I want you to explain yourself once the dragon is safe," he said, facing away from his travel companion. "I want to know about this so-called 'Celestial Gift'. And… I want to know if I can trust you."

"You can trust me," Hieke promised. "But I do admit that I neglected to explain a lot of things…"

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Did I mix them up? Koume is the one with ice and Kotake is the one with fire, right? Umm... if you correct me, I probably won't change it since I'm such a lazy bum.

So? Do you like it? I like it. But, of course, I wrote it so... my opinion is pointless. If you are really, truly enjoying this fic, tell me so in your review. If you don't like, please either tell me why or don't review.

...wait, no! Please give me your reviews! I don't care what they say! Five reviews and I update! Only five! And there are only nine chapter left… That's only… ; That's a minimum of 40 reviews left, not counting the last chapter.