A/N: Thanks for the reviews. First, Redleef, I'll do my best to lengthen the chapters. And beamers, thanks for the compliment and as for whether the Master Sword will be in here or not is undecided. I'm also going to try to be a bit more descriptive so as to add more to the story.
Chapter Seven – Ruo
In the morning, Link opened his eyes and jumped up, trying to remember where he was. As it dawned on him, he quickly started to get dressed, when he realized his outfit was gone! It had been replaced with a forest green one. Grumbling, he put it on. And, wow, it was comfortable! Having no idea what fabric it was, he silently hoped it wouldn't kill him. Walking out of the tiny room, he immediately encountered the old man.
"Good morning! Did you have a nice rest?"
Link grunted and went to find Sarah and, hopefully, Zelda. After arriving at Sarah's 'room,' the two started out the door and were stopped by the old man.
"Sarah, wait. I want you have this." The man handed her a small bag. Upon opening it, she pulled out a green stone. "The Earthstone has been mine since the legends were told of it. I believe you will need it soon. Have fun, you two. Have fun while you can."
Link exited and instantly ran into Zelda, who was obviously steaming mad. She had obviously had a rough night, with leaves and twigs all in her hair, her clothes all dirt-ridden, and such as it is, she didn't like it.
"Link! How dare you! Do you realize what I've been through? I've had a rock cave in on me, buried in a pile of dirt, thrown around through branches, and then lost in pine needles! Then I had to find some sleeping place, seeing as how my tent got stuck on that ledge! Meanwhile you come waltzing in, get a good night's rest and even get new clothes! I've tried to be nice, believe me. But this is the last straw! You didn't even give a second thought about me, did you? Did you?"
"But-" Link tried to say, but she threw her hands up, huffed, and stormed off. Link, still not sure what exactly happened, followed her out.
-
Outside, the three packed their stuff up and Sarah showed the Earthstone off to Zelda. Big mistake. Having newfound reasons, she started yelling about how he thought a rock was more important than her. Link, stunned, just stood there as she again stormed off, this time toward the east, toward the next tone's location as marked on a map Sarah produced.
"You know, I'm glad we did find that one. That's one less stone that I'll have to 'adventure' with Link to get," Zelda remarked. Link kept quiet, not wanting to incite the great beast he referred to as Zelda. He shook his head and promptly fell off a small cliff.
Sarah jumped down after him, then saw that they had stumbled upon a mysterious area. The clear blue sky seemed to melt away in a large lake in front of them. Link slowly crept up to the crystalline water and ran his fingers through it. Excited, he plunged in. As he swam, the strange water rushed past him, sliding against his skin. He jumped from the water to a small rock a second before he smashed his head into a door-like rock.
"Sarah! Zelda! You might want to get over here!" he shouted as they dove in and swam over, examining the rock. The three pushed it aside slowly and climbed in.
-
Link pulled on a third door with no success. "You know, if we ever hope to get out of the main room, we're gonna have to figure out something." Link stepped to a fourth door and tugged.
Sarah laughed and dug through her bag. Removing from it a key, she handed it to Link. "Would this help?" He grumbled and shoved the key in the lock and smiled at the resounding click!
"Couldn't you have gave me that sooner?" Link asked as they stepped through the door into a labyrinth of mazes. Groaning, they wound their way around. After a few dead ends, Link got frustrated and pulled out the Windstone. Remembering what it had supposedly done in his bedroom, he aimed it at the wall and closed his eyes, trying to make the stone do something. With a BANG! The stone wall crumbled and a door was revealed. Smiling, he opened it and walked inside. Instantly, he spotted a person near the other side of the room.
Cautiously, the person walked toward the light. As the light hit the stranger, Link gasped. The person smiled and introduced herself as Ruo. Standing around five feet tall, she was beautiful. So much so that it had Link awed. Her hair, an almost blue color, gently swayed about her shoulders as she walked toward them. She had a nice gait and-
"Link! Stop gawking and let's go! We got to find the stone," Zelda remarked as Ruo laughed.
"Stone? You came all the way here for a stone? Would it happen to be blue?" Ruo asked. Link nodded as she opened her left hand to reveal a polished sapphire-looking rock. "This it?"
"Yes!" Link shouted excitedly. "That's the one! Wait, why do you have it?"
"Long story short," Ruo replied, "this is a stone passed down through my family and my dad didn't want my mom to give it to me so he hid it here and I came to get it."
"Quite a story. I assume then, that you wouldn't want to let us use the stone for a while?" Zelda asked.
"Not a chance. Sorry. What do you need it for anyway?" Link and Sarah pulled out their Stones and Ruo gasped. "The Stones of Knowledge! Air and Earth, yes? You are the ones who are collecting these. I take it you are seeking an answer to the Puzzle upon the Rock?"
Sarah nodded. "I guess. It was a rock, and a mighty good puzzle to boot. So, knowing our cause, what can we do to get the Stone, not to sound rude or anything?"
Ruo's face lit up. "I know! I'll come with you! It'll be an adventure! A perilous journey fraught with danger and, um..."
"Peril at every turn!" Link jumped in. "One you hope to come back alive from and wish for death halfway through!" he shouted.
"Yeah!" Ruo responded.
Sarah laughed as she realized their speech matched word for word what Link had said at the lake. She nodded. "So let's get going then! We got two more to go!"
The new group of four excitedly exited the place and turned south, as Ruo instructed.
