Response time!

Jana+Anthony: NO! I do not! I don't even know how the theme song goes! And… it's "Uh-CAR-sis." Here's your update.

Dragon-Charmer16: AAAAAAH! PLUSHIES! (huggles plushies) I should seriously make some plushies! And… I'm working on my own little website that's companion to this fiction right now. I'm making it for the explicit purpose of posting pictures of Hieke and the other Spirits. And you hurry up with your updates, too! But not too quickly, otherwise they'll have a rushed feel to them. YAY, PLUSHIES!

Gina: Yes, dancing monkey indeed…

Gina: No, the dragon can't die. He's a Spirit! However, there is kind of a sad ending…

Gina: Few people really like Ruto, I think. Even less like King Zora!

Lil-dragon-blue: Uh… heh. You see, my original summary included the phrase "rated for morbidness and words with more than three syllables." XP Sorry, I'm just a total nerd! And yes, I really am fourteen. I just happen to… (coughreadthethesauruscough) If you liked the humor in that chapter… hoo boy, will you like this one…

That's the replies! Now onto Chapter 9, my personal favorite!

Chapter 9: Da Footcher!

"Oh… man, my head hurts. Link…? Where are you?"

Hieke opened her eyes and looked around for her young companion, but instead found a much older version of him. "Dude!" she exclaimed. "Look at you! Before it was all like pasty elf-boy flesh! Now it's like mondo-gorilla guy!"

The older Link grumbled in embarrassment. "And I could say a few things about your body structure as well, namely an area between your neck and your stomach," he threatened. Hieke pressed her lips together and held her tongue. She stood up from the cold marble floor and brushed herself off. She took a moment to study her older self. Her leather boots were still in place, as well as her shirt, jacket, and skirt. Now she had pale orange leggings that halted at mid-thigh, the same place where her skirt (now considerably shorter) stopped. Her jacket terminated halfway down her torso. Her white shirt still fit well, though. And her hair, as long as it was before, now touched the floor.

Link smiled at her. "Acarsis, remember?" he reminded, then turned and made for the door. Hieke followed, wondering what the Guardian Spirit of Water would be like. Sear had made her out to be too stubborn for her own good.

"Oh, crap!" Hieke shouted when they were in the market. "We forgot to ask where Acarsis is!"

Link was more preoccupied with the fact that there were no ReDeads wandering around. All the people were normal and happy. It's because Ganon is still locked away, he told himself. Then Hieke's shouting, jumping, and thrashing about caught his attention. "Hmm?" he said airily. His companion repeated her inquiry in frustration.

"Oh… I'm sure someone in Zora Realm will know," he replied with a shrug. Link hadn't really wondered what the future was like since the Seven Sages banished Ganondorf to the Evil Realm. It was actually a very beautiful place with Ganon out of the picture, but should they fail in preventing the Evil King's rise…

He clenched his hands into fists. Now that he'd seen the future that waited for him, Link would not allow himself to fail. As Hieke once said, it was a quest 'for the sake of Hyrule and all who inhabit it'. Failure was most certainly not an option. "Let's look in the Zora Fountain," Link suggested, suppressing the anger from his voice. Hieke nodded, though she could feel the fury behind his words.

The trip to Zora Domain was a relatively lengthy one, though Link's mahogany mare Epona made the journey all the shorter. Inside the sparkling Zora Domain, everyone was in a fuss over something. Link pulled one of the Zoras aside in an attempt to get some information out of him. "What's the uproar all about?" he asked in a soothing tone.

"I-it's… Th-there's this little girl in the Zora Fountain, and she keeps threatening the King! Not only that, she says that she won't leave until we win a contest of wits against her!" the frightened Zora stuttered. Link released him and made for the king's chamber. "Looks like we found our Spirit," he muttered with a smirk.

They reached the Zora Fountain in no time. Where Jabu Jabu had once rested, there was now a large iceberg. And sitting atop the iceberg was a small child with white skin which was mottled with blue smears. A fin protruded from either arm like flowing sleeves. Her cerulean hair was ear-length and her eyes were gray with what appeared to be depression. She wore a simple blue dress, sleeveless and halting at her knees. Apart from that, no other clothing was evident.

"Acarsis, it is I, Lady Hieke, formerly known as Lady Tadaka," Hieke introduced with a bow. "I have come to ask for you assistance in a war against the revival of the ultimate manifestation of evil and darkness. We would be honored if you could-"

"You will play a game with me," Acarsis interrupted. Hieke raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" she asked. The small Water Spirit took a few steps toward Link and pointed an accusing finger at him. "No, you will play with me," she said. Link stared at the girl skeptically. Hieke shrugged.

"You heard the girl," she said as she sat down to watch. Link looked horrified.

"What game?"

"How much wood would a wood-chuck chuck if a wood-chuck would chuck wood?"

"What…?"

"Now it's your turn."

"Uh, umm… She sells seashells by the seashore?"

"Amateur. If you stick a stock of liquor in your locker, it is slick to stick a lock upon your stock, or some joker who is slicker's going to trick you out of your liquor, if you fail to lock your liquor with a lock."

"T-toy boat, toy boat, toy boat, toy boat, toy boat, toy boat."

"If a three-month truce is a truce in truth, is the truth of a truce in a truth a three-month truce?"

"Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers…?"

"You aren't even trying! The skunk sat on a stump; the skunk thunk the stump stunk, but the stump thunk the skunk stunk."

"But… 'thunk' isn't a word…"

"…blast you! Fine, you win," Acarsis said with a sore glare. Hieke tried her very hardest to control her laughter. A bunch of Zorans couldn't defeat this little girl in a word game?

"What do you want?" Acarsis asked, turning to Hieke with the blue flame of defeat still lingering in her eyes. Hieke took a deep breath and hoped that the little nerd wouldn't challenge her to a game as well.

"We've been told that you are the keeper of-"

"-the song used to combine the powers of the Guardian Spirits as a result of a Rock, Paper, Scissors game," Acarsis finished. Hieke and Link nodded in awe. "You really can read minds, can't you?" Link breathed. Acarsis scoffed. "Hardly. That's just what Sear tells everyone who brings it up. He's a sore loser," she explained.

"Oh… then, can you tell us the song?" Hieke repeated. Acarsis paced around on the surface of the ice for a while. Link couldn't see how she could stand it since she was bare-footed. "I suppose I could… Okay, here it is:

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!

(Acarsis clapped twice.)

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!

(She clapped twice once again.)

If you're happy and you know it and you really wanna show it;

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands!

(Acarsis clapped her hands twice for the last time.)"

Link fell to his knees with his hands clasped to ears and rocked back and forth, screaming bloody-murder. "NOOOOO!" he wailed. "Not that song! Nooooo…!" Hieke and Acarsis stared at the convulsing Hylian legend partially with concern and partially with amusement.

"Jeez, man. Get over yourself. I was only kidding," Acarsis admitted, taking a few steps back. Link's shrieks of terror were replaced by his panting for breath. He stood up and brushed ice from his tunic. "Sorry about that," he apologized formally. "Please continue."

Acarsis cleared her throat. "This is how the song goes. It's called the Song of the Celestials." She began to move her hands about like a conductor. A sweet, flowing melody began playing softly. It took Hieke and Link a while to realize that the sound was a result of Acarsis moving the water and ice beneath them in a certain pattern. Hieke took out her Pipe and put it to her lips. Carefully she listened to the song that the Water Spirit was playing, then she joined. Link closed his eyes and felt the symphony flow through him like a stream.

"Congratulations," Acarsis said, lowering her hands. "You learned the Oath to Order."

"The what?" Link and Hieke asked in unison. Acarsis waved her hands excitedly. "No, no! That was wrong! You learned the Song of the Celestials, not the Oath to Order! We don't need giant walking trees composed of nothing but legs and a head, not to mention a leafy mustache, come running ever so slowly from the four corners of the world to keep the moon from crashing into the town!" The Water Spirit slumped over, out of breath. The traveling duo merely nodded in feigned understanding.

"So… now that you've done that, I guess it's time you go meet with Klikkity-klikkity Wong-wong," Acarsis said with a smirk. "No, what in the frikkin' world is wrong with you spirits!" Hieke blurted as she thrashed her arms about wildly. Link nudged her with his elbow. "You're one to talk, playing the Teletubbies theme song," he reminded. Hieke shot him a murderous glare and turned back to Acarsis.

"I'm sorry," the watery little girl said innocently. "The real name of the Guardian Spirit of Shadow is Frederick."

"Frederick?" Link and Hieke repeated simultaneously. Acarsis nodded. "I'm not kidding…"

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XD Acarsis is mah favorite Spirit... She's too weird! The scary part is that I think she's more based on me than anyone else in this whole fanfiction, Hieke included. Next is a really short chapter, but I still want five reviews if you are to read it! FIVE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER! Why, you ask? Because five times three is fifteen! R&R please!

Note: Due to me being constantly hyped over reviews and updates, from now on I'm going to update once daily. The updates will be up relatively early in the morning so you'll have all day to review. However, the limit is still five! If I wake up and I don't have five reviews, I'm not posting the next chapter until I see FIVE!