The first door and hallway we hit at the bottom of the stairs looked pretty much the same as beneath the Nayru Fountain. It even had some way too big flying insect things that I quickly tore apart. Luckily, once I cut their wings off, they were pretty helpless. Their legs seemed to be for standing on, not walking. It was the next room that started to change things up.
"What is all this?" Zelda asked as the door slammed to the floor behind us. The room was mostly square, but two of the walls looked to be made out of wood. Not cut wood though, they looked like they were made of tree bark. They were uneven; bulging at places, recessed at others. The ground was also somewhat uneven, and what few bricks there were beyond the door we had just come though were broken and space far apart. The whole room looked like vegetation and growth had completely taken over what had once been a man-made structure.
Three large masses of plant were spread throughout the room, twitching lightly from time to time. I cautiously approached, not wanting to spring some trap. I shouldn't have worried though, because as soon as I stepped on a larger patch of grass, one of the piles shifted rapidly, allowing a bulbous blue head to rise up on a single thick vine. The bulb split apart, revealing sharp mandibles, and lunged towards me.
Fortunately, I had my sword at the ready and was able to deflect the massive pair of jaws to the side. It quickly retreated and swayed lightly. I took a step to the side, hoping to move around it when I heard a rustling from behind me, quickly followed by a flash of fire from Zelda. Trusting her to deal with what was likely another pair of plant jaws, I taunted the one I was facing into lunging at me again. I sidestepped and swung my blade at the main vine, severing the head. It immediately fell limp and rotted away like the other monsters we had killed. A quick glance behind me revealed the darkened ash of what used to be another one of the creatures. Almost too late, I remembered the third vine pile on the floor and spun around.
I barely had time to get my sword up to block the monster's lunge. I happened to angle my blade so that the creature's jaws went around it and its momentum propelled itself onto the edge. One spray of monster gunk across my shirt and two heavy thumps later, the plant thing had cut itself in half and was decaying away. Fortunately, it took its blood with it, but I still didn't feel clean, even once all the bits had dissolved.
"That. Was disgusting." I barely repressed a shudder while trying to get rid of the itchy feeling the monster blood had left on my skin.
"At least it didn't stick around," Zelda said as she moved towards me. "I bet it would have smelled horrible too. You're welcome, by the way." She nodded towards the burnt pile of plant matter.
"Trust me, it did smell. And I hope you don't expect me to thank you every time you help me out, or else I'm going to spend more time thanking you than killing things." Zelda gave me a sidelong smirk.
"No, not every time. Most of them though." With one last look, she turned and moved towards a mess of vines that had crawled up one of the bark walls. I felt a twinge of something in my chest, but I figured it was just lingering revulsion. I walked up behind Zelda as she aimed the Fire Rod at the plants and let loose a large burst of flames.
When the fire died down, I was surprised to see that the vines were still there, completely unharmed. Zelda seemed irritated and let loose another blast, more focused and hotter than the last. Again, the vines remained unharmed and indifferent to her now heavy breathing. She looked like she was prepared to try again when I put my hand on the Rod, forcing her to lower it.
"Stop, it's not working. Whatever these vines are, they don't seem to mind the heat. Besides, look how green they are. If they burned, we'd probably just choke to death on the smoke." Zelda's shoulders slumped.
"Fine. I just thought we might have an advantage with the Fire Rod this time. That door's clear, let's try that one." Of the three doors in the room, only one was clear of the thick vines. Leaving us few options as to where to go.
Going through the door, we found ourselves in another long hallway with a door about halfway down and one at the very end. The entire right-hand wall looked like the same wood/bark stuff we had seen in the last room. Upon closer inspection (and a few swings of my sword), we found that the wall was indeed wood. Very old, very thick wood. The door at the end of the hallways was also barred, leaving us with the side door as our only path forward.
In typical fashion, we were bombarded by enemies as soon as the door closed behind us, leaving us exposed in the middle of a large room. "Go right!" I yelled to Zelda, who quickly pivoted to face the three more of the way too big bugs hovering in the air. I spun to face two insects approaching us from the other side. One was the same size as its compatriots, but the other was easily three times their size, probably about the size of a Doberman.
I managed to deal with the small bug easily enough, ending its futile struggle with a quick slice at its wings and impaling it when I had the chance. The Doberbug was not so easily dealt with. It had larger legs and a thick carapace covering its whole body. The only soft spot I could see was under its shell on its back, where its wings were concealed. It was easy enough to get it to drop to the ground: just stand under it until it gets frustrated and tried to squish you, no doubt with every bit of irony intended. But it was much more mobile on the ground than its fellows, having fully functional legs that it was perfectly capable of chasing me around on.
Eventually, I found a way to beat it. Stand under it, wait for it to drop, run underneath it so you are directly behind it. Massive blind spot. You have to make sure to stay behind it, because it's going to look for you. Eventually, it gives up and opens up its back shell to take off again. It is at this point that you stab, hack, and slice the ever-loving shit out of it, at which point it will die.
Having perfected my technique and proving its effectiveness, I turned back to Zelda to see her facing off against the last of her opponents. She had erected a wall of fire in front of herself, which appeared to be the end of at least one of the bugs, and was shooting small fireballs at the bug, which was surprisingly adept at dodging. Seeing an opportunity, I jumped at the bug from behind and sliced it in two. Zelda put out her fire wall and scowled at me.
"That was my kill. I don't mess with your monsters when you've clearly got them under control, I expect the same courtesy from you." Man, she was cute when she was snippy at me.
"Yes, Your Highness and Gloriousness, I'll be sure to remember that in the future," I said with a roll of my eyes. As expected, Zelda swatted at my arm a moment later.
"Ass," she said as she moved towards the center of the room. Finding nothing incorrect about the statement, I simply followed. Wouldn't want to upset a royal goddess, now would we?
Upon closer inspection, the room we were in revealed a few curiosities. First of all was the oddly curved wall across from the door we had entered the room from. Inlaid into that wall was a massive carved door with a large intricate lock on it like the one we had seen on the final room of the Nayru Fountain trial thing. We surmised that that was likely the treasure room and the last one we would explore. To the right was a door up on a ledge that we couldn't reach, effectively ruling out that path. The only option left to us was a door inlaid into another wood wall on our left.
The next room was rather uneventful. Nothing tried to eat us immediately, divebomb us from the air, and no massive threat appeared in front of us. Pretty boring, honestly. The odd curved wood wall continued along one side of the room. Wall of vines covering a door to the left, accessible door to the right, and a chest sitting nestled against the opposite wall. Naturally, we both made a beeline for the chest, because treasure. Which proceeded to go horribly, as should be expected.
I only barely caught a glimpse of movement from above us, but thankfully, on behalf of Zelda's head, that was enough to make me throw myself forward and tackle Zelda to the ground. Whatever had been above us swooped down and raked across my back. My shield was across most of my back, saving me from the brunt of the damage, but I still felt something sharp run across my shoulders. The following stinging told me that I was bleeding at least a little. Hopefully only a little.
I pushed Zelda towards the chest, hoping that would be far enough away from whatever was attacking it, forced myself upwards, and held my sword up to ward off any further attacks. Our attacker was another fanged plant creature, but this time the roots were in the ceiling. Two more of the beasts hung to the right and left of the central one. I swatted away the one on the left, took a hasty step back, and sliced through the main vine of the right monster. It dropped immediately, leaving me one less thing to worry about. The middle monster rotated its mouth opening thing to make it vertical and trapping my sword it its jaw. The left plant took this opportunity to bite at my outstretched arm, but I spun so that it smashed its face on the shield that was still on my back. That gave me enough time to slash the insides of the one holding my sword, killing it, before cutting into the last vine.
As soon as I took a breath of relief, burning pain seared through my shoulders, which made my breath hitch. Which then made me cough, straining my torn back. I had almost forgotten about the initial attack that had wounded me. How thoughtful of my body to remind me. Groaning in pain, I slumped back against the chest that had been our original goal.
"Link are you okay?" Zelda asked from behind the chest where she had crawled to once I got off her. I heard her gasp quietly when she saw my back. She touched my torn flesh lightly, making me instinctively flinch away. "I'm sorry," she muttered, digging through the bag she had brought for our first aid supplies.
"It's alright, it just hurts," I said as she smeared something on my back that alleviated a lot of the burning. I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. "That's a lot better though."
"Good, but I can only do so much," she said as she smeared some sort of cream on my lacerated flesh. "We only have so much of this, so try not to get horribly injured too often."
"I'll do my best," I said as Zelda pulled me to my feet. My back still hurt like a bitch, but it didn't seem like it would be too bad. I could still move my sword arm without much pain, which was certainly a goddess-send. Zelda opened the chest to find another red Rupee and we moved on. The door to the right of where we had come in turned out to be guarded by two more of the plants, which Zelda told me were called Deku Babas. A moment later, they only thing they could be called was ash, courtesy of Zelda.
Of course, because more of the same monsters was just too easy, a new creature waited for us on the other side of the door. It looked like another Deku Baba, but it had a bright red head instead of the usual green/brown. It was also quite a bit larger. Not wanting to be caught off guard, I pulled my shield onto my right arm and let it bash its head on it before swiping at its stalk. As predicted, the head popped off. But, because what's life without a few surprises, instead of dying like I expected, the head started bouncing towards us, snapping frantically. Fortunately, the room we were in had plenty of space to move, which I promptly took advantage of.
"Zelda, burn it!" I yelled over my shoulder as the head chased me. For a pile of plant matter, it was actually pretty fast. I felt the heat of the Fire Rod from behind me and slowed down, expecting to see the charter remains of the plant. I had to jump back and start moving again quickly though, because apparently the thing was fireproof.
"Great, now what?" I shouted as I continued to jog around the room.
"Cut it! Or do you just carry that sword for decoration?" Zelda had a point, loath as I was to admit it. Luckily for me (kind of), the monster started hopping towards Zelda, giving me a second to take a quick breath and jump in front of the creature and slice into its mouth. The thing flailed for another moment before collapsing and decomposing.
"Thank you," Zelda said. I couldn't tell if she was being sincere or sarcastic. On one hand, I did just save her (probably), but on the other, I did do exactly what she said to. It was probably a losing battle either way, so I just let it drop.
The room we were in was somewhat strange. The curved wall continued on our right, clearly curving around to make a giant circle. With the wood walls, all the vegetation, and the general smell of plants, I figured the trial had been built into the remains of an enormous tree that had once stood here. The trunk of the tree got close to the wall, but didn't quite touch it, leaving us a way forward there. There was also a chest in that gap between the tree and the wall, one that looked to be both surrounded by and covered in creepers. There was another door to our left as well.
"Want to try the chest first?" I asked, figuring a moment of thought was a good idea after how well our last dash for treasure went.
"Might as well," Zelda said, looking around for any form of ambush. There was nothing in the ceiling or walls, but the thick nest of creepers made it hard to find any Deku Babas or bugs hiding in the tangle. "Just be careful. Last thing we need is a repeat of last time." I nodded, and we stepped onto the outermost reaches of the creepers.
Naturally, everything went to shit immediately. Three steps in the tendrils beneath us came alive and surged up to grab us. They were quick to entrap our feet before working their way up our legs. I raised my arm to hack at the attacking creepers, but a cluster of vines shot up and wrapped around my arm and wrist, pulling them back down before I could swing. Zelda did the same but managed to get a shot off with the Fire Rod before being restrained. The fire blast slammed into the creepers and fizzled out, leaving the plants unaffected.
"Why do we even have this thing if it doesn't do anything?" Zelda yelled, clearly frustrated with how useful the magic stick had been of late. "Hang on, I'm going to try something."
"Not a lot of other options here," I said as the tendrils crept up my chest. If we didn't get out of this quickly, we weren't going to be able to breathe as the vines crushed us. I turned myself as best I could to face Zelda, who had her eyes squeezed shut. It was only a moment before I saw golden light streaming from her unrestrained hand. Her eyes and hand burst open at the same time, radiant light streaming from both.
She turned her open palm down and the creepers immediately started smoking and writhing, trying their best to get away from the divine power. They unraveled from Zelda's body faster than they had originally snared her. She stepped towards me and seared my captors until they relinquished their hold on me too. I saw that Zelda was sweating and her hand was trembling too. I threw my sword back into its sheath, grabbed Zelda, and jumped towards safe ground. It wasn't a second after we were safe that Zelda's light flickered and went out and she collapsed into my arms, panting with exhaustion.
I dropped to the ground, cradling Zelda in my arms, letting her rest her head on my shoulder as she caught her breath.
"Can we…take…a little while?" she said between panting breaths. "That took a lot…out of me."
"Of course. Let's just get away from these vines first. I don't want to suddenly be suffocating." I pulled us both upright, Zelda leaning heavily on me. I managed to drag her over to the next door we would need to go through. I lowered both of us to the floor, and Zelda immediately curled up in my lap.
"Can I just stay like this?" she asked timidly, peering up at me. I didn't have the heart to say no (and I'm also not an idiot), so I gave her a nod. After a cute smile, she snuggled closer against me and rested her head on my chest, one arm sneaking around my waist. I couldn't tell if she fell asleep or if she was just lying there, but I decided to leave her to is. As much as I could when she was using me as a literal body pillow.
With very little else to do, I pulled out a notebook I had brought and sketched out a rough map of the dungeon so far. Sure, would have been convenient if someone had already made one and left it lying around, but I guess we can't be handed everything. The only problem with my distraction was that it didn't take very long to finish, at which point I was stuck with letting my mind wander, which inevitably led to thinking about the girl curled up against my chest.
My first thought was how in Hyrule I managed to have this happen to me. Sure, everyone gets lucky, but having a beautiful girl sleeping on me, by choice I might add, was pushing it a little. Not to mention she was brave, kind, ferocious, adorable, brilliant, and witty. Also single, let's not forget that. The only thing I could compare her to was either royalty or divinity, both of which were actually spot on. Which lead me to my real predicament.
I wanted her. Wanted to be with her, wanted to comfort her, wanted to kiss her, wanted to encourage her, wanted to support her, wanted to run my hands over her lithe body, wanted to stare into her perfect eyes for the rest of eternity. But how could I say that? Sure, it was becoming clearer and clearer that she liked me too, but I wasn't thinking saying, 'hey, I like you.' My mind was going along the lines of 'I would give my life to see you happy one more time.' And that's not really something I could drop on anyone.
Plus, how could I be sure I really felt that way? I was apparently hard-wired to protect this girl, of course I'd die for her. I'd die for anyone. Hell, I might die and save the world. Hopefully not, but who knows? My whole infatuation could just be me rebounding from Cremia. I didn't want to admit it, but I wasn't entirely over her. We had dated for years, that doesn't just disappear overnight. Gosh, my head was a mess.
As I sat there, head whirling in who knows how many directions, Zelda shifted and pushed herself upright. She blinked a few times and seemed to shake herself awake before realizing exactly where she was, at which point she practically jumped out of my lap.
"Sorry," she mumbled, blushing furiously. "I don't know what came over me. I was really tired from the magic and I needed to rest and you where there and safe and warm and I knew you'd protect me and augh!" She buried her face in her hands, trying to look anywhere but at me. I stood up and tried to brush off all my musings.
"Zelda, it's fine. You needed to rest, nothing wrong with that." She nodded her head absently, still not looking directly at me. "Besides, I should hope you feel safe around me. What with me being your destined protector and all that." I was really trying to lighten the conversation. In the middle of a trial labyrinth was not the place to sort out our feelings. "If you're ready, let's just move on. Who knows how much of this place we have left to explore." Zelda nodded again, and we moved through the next door.
The next room we entered was more of a long corridor that looked like it had been carved out of a tree root. Which, considering where we were, was likely the case. There wasn't much in the corridor itself except for a bunch of Deku Babas stuck to the floor, walls, and ceiling. They were spaced so I never had to deal with more than two at a time, but they were still annoying. I would have blasted them with fire, but I figured unleashing a fiery hell inside a giant wooden tube was a really bad idea, leaving me to deal with them the old-fashioned way. By stabbing the shit out of them.
When we finally reached the end of the tunnel, we found two doors on the left and right. Zelda figured the one on the right led back to the big tree trunk, which was likely the center of the maze, so we decided to check out the left door first. The room didn't look like much at first. Just a room with a chest on the other side of a small lake. It looked too easy. And when I poked my sword in the water, I found out I was right. The water's surface immediately went from tranquil to frothing. The same creeper tentacles that had grabbed us earlier lashed out of the water, trying to entrap my sword and whatever else they could get their feelers on.
"Good thing we didn't go for a quick swim," I muttered. Zelda snorted beside me. I took an experimental swipe at one vine that was too close for comfort and was relieved to see my sword slice straight through it. At least we could cut them if we needed to. "Well, no way we're getting through that. Might as well try the other door and hope nothing else tries to eat us."
The other door put us out in another small corridor that quickly ended in another door. I was ready to hurry through to the next area when Zelda grabbed my arm, holding me still.
"Wha-" I was cut off as Zelda clamped her hand to my mouth. I gave her a wondering look, at which point she pointed to a massive lump attached to the wall and ceiling.
At first, I thought it was just part of the dirt ceiling, but then something crawled out of a part of the lump. It was another one of the bugs we had killed earlier. It crawled around on the lump for a moment before going back in through a different hole. It wasn't a moment before I noticed another one crawling around. And another. And another. I quickly realized what it was I was looking at and pressed myself and Zelda as far against the wall as I could. Something about a massive monster hive just put me off I guess.
Once I was sure the insects weren't going to swarm us, I gestured for Zelda to give me the Fire Rod. She handed it over to me and I felt the now familiar tingle of magic through my veins. Summoning all my will, I poured as much fire as I could onto the hive. The thing instantly ignited, crackling away. I didn't let up though, determined to see the whole thing reduced to ash. I could hear screeches coming from the burning hive as its occupants were consumed by my onslaught. I kept up the flame for almost twenty seconds before I stopped. Fortunately, at that point the whole thing was mostly gone anyway.
"There," I said, handing the Fire Rod back to Zelda. "That should take care of them. I hope to the Goddesses we don't have to deal with any more of those."
"Why so determined to get rid of that?" Zelda asked. It made sense, I usually didn't ensure a threat like that was destroyed so thoroughly.
"When I was, oh, probably about eight, I was playing around outside when I accidentally stepped on a buried wasp nest. Let's just say they didn't appreciate it very much." I couldn't help but shudder in revulsion at the mere memory of the incident. "Anyways, no more threat means we can move on."
The door led us to a very familiar sight. The curving side of the tree trunk made up one wall of the room. More creeping vines covered the floor to our right and we could see a chest sitting in the middle of it. "Probably the same one as before. We're just on the other side of the vines," Zelda mused, to which I nodded. There wasn't anything else in the room except another door on our left, leaving us with very few options. And since neither one of us was much for sitting around twiddling our thumbs, we decided to keep moving.
The next room was very similar to some of the others, though with more of the larger flying bugs instead of Deku Babas. There were only a few though, so they were easily dispatched. A large entanglement of vines covered one of the doors in the room, effectively sealing that portal for now. Again, we only had one other option for our way forward. But once we went through it, I quickly wished there was a different way forward.
The room was another long passageway. Again, it was full of plants. But they weren't Deku Babas. The whole floor and parts of the walls were covered in creeping tendrils. Every once in a while, a patch of them would shift slightly, dashing any hope that they were dead or immobile. A dozen or so of the smaller bugs hummed overhead all down the tunnel, flitting from one spot to the next.
"Oh shit," was all I could really say.
"Basically," Zelda said under her breath. I considered our options quickly. Fire didn't work, I could slice through the vines, but not when they were wrapped around me like a vise. Zelda's magic worked against them, but the last time had taken a lot of energy out of her, and that only stopped the things for a minute before they recovered.
How in the world were we going to get through this?
Hot shit guys, this is a long one. Hope you appreciate that. I slaved away at this for you. I've got school and stuff to do now, so its not like I can just take the time I have between classes to write in frantic hope that someone will still be here to read this thing by the time I finish coming up with it all. You damn well better appreciate it.
Honestly, not much to say other than that and the reviews. I am really sorry about the wait, but next time you're desperate for a new chapter, ask yourself if you would rather have a shit chapter that I come up quickly or something that I took far too long to write at much higher quality. Just know this kind of perfection and awesomeness doesn't come easily.
Okay then, now that you've all been suitably reprimanded, time to say thank you. ...I feel like something doesn't line up there, but that's not the point. Shadowlord, not quite sure why you're in a closet, though I suppose it's fitting for a lord of shadow such as yourself. Pissing off a Zora is indeed a bad idea, them guys are not to be trifled with. I hear Darmitos are really close to some snack food we have hear, but I just can't put my finger on what it is. Ultimate, good and bad news for you. Good news, you just got to read a new chapter! Huzzah! Bad news, you now have to wait more for me to write the next one. Oops. Sand Seal, I feel like that "maybe exaggerating" is not the case, but I'll just leave you to it. If you want to obsessively reread this story, who am I to judge? No idea why you think this is the water dungeon, because it most certainly is not. Farore Fountain, remember? You'll have your water dungeon, just not yet. Don't know why you hate them so much though. I never found them that bad. A little annoying because Link is so slow in water, but other than that, they're not bad. And no, you're clearly no sorry about the crossbow since you're threatening me with a trebuchet. Got to get those violent tendencies under control, man. Just remember I can't write from underneath a three-ton boulder. Foopuff, of course I came back. Did you doubt me? For shame. I too laughed at the whole chip thing, it was one of those things I thought of and had to put in the story. I think it really makes it better and adds character. Both to the story and the actual characters, so double win. You'll have to wait to see if Ruto turns up again and what the boss is. No spoilers for you.
Now, to all those worried I am going to leave this story dead and unfinished, I hereby swear to the almighty force that is our communal love of Zelink I shall not abandon this story. That was a decision I made when I decided to start posting this. Besides, if I never finish it, I will never know how the story ends, and I just hate that. So don't worry guys and gals, I'm right there with you hoping I pull my head out of my ass and finish this thing. Just know it's a long one, so strap in.
But.
If you do want to make sure I keep writing and update more often, how about a little motivation? And no, I don't mean threatening me with various forms of torture and death. I already have people for that. But if you wanted to take a minute and let me know how much you're enjoying the story and how excited you are to see what happens next, that would probably be the most effective method. Don't really care how you do that, but, just so you know, the best way would probably be to just leave a quick review. The text box and 'submit' button is right there. Only has to take a minute. Of course, you can take as long as you want if that's what you feel like doing, don't let me stop you. Plus, everyone who gives some feedback gets a portion of the massive bloody review paragraph dedicated specifically to them. So there, now you know. Do what you wish with this knowledge. I'll just be over here.
Waiting.
Okay, that's definitely long enough. Hopefully I won't make you all wait so long for another chapter, I honestly have had a lot of time and motivation lately, so let's hope that doesn't change. I'm going to get to that and you guys all keep being awesome. Second half of the dungeon next time, woot! Until then.
-Aro