(Well thanks for reading another chapter guys, if you have any questions I'll be happy to answer them. My contact info is in my Bio. And sorry for all the errors, I don't exactly have anyone to proofread these. Hopefully someone will catch the Ocarina of Time reference I hid in this chapter.)
Midna looked on in horror as he vanished within the waterfall's mist. She wanted to jump after him, but that would be foolish. His last words were running through her mind, what could he have meant when he said that. She stood frozen in place with horror and panic. She tried to move but her body was frozen in that spot. A nearby Zora had noticed something was the matter.
"Hello," the Zora said while waving. When he didn't see a response he approached her.
"Link…" was Midna was able to say.
"Miss, are you alright?" The Zora asked again. Midna still stood frozen. The Zora placed his hand on her shoulder. "Miss, are you alright?" Midna seemingly came to her senses.
"Everything is not alright, Link just jumped off the waterfall!" Midna was still panicking.
"Miss you do realize that there is nothing but water beneath the waterfall." The Zora explained to her. The look of panic briefly left her face, but soon the panic returned.
"But what if he was hurt during the fall!?" She asked him franticly.
"Madam I assure you, there is nothing but water beneath here." Just as he spoke a thud was heard. Midna rushed over to the edge and looked down. She saw Link was clambering up the ivy.
"Did you miss me?" Was the only thing he. Midna looked as if she was about to jump to him. Link heaved himself up the cliff. Midna embraced Link in a hug.
"Yes I missed you idiot." Midna said through held back tears.
"Midna are you serious, you do realize that there is nothing but water beneath here." Midna released him. He grabbed her arm and brought to the edge of the waterfall. She looked over the edge and looked.
"I guess you're right." All Midna could see was water no stones or rocks.
"See Midna you had nothing to fear, it was actually pretty funny to see you panic over me so much." Link chuckled while rubbing the back of his head. Midna was half tempted to slap him, but she was too over joyed to see him. Midna was about to embrace him in another hug when Ralis reappeared. He was strolling out of the small tunnel flanked by two Zora warriors.
"Link I come bearing good news, we have seen a key of this variety." Ralis spoke while handing Link back to drawing. Link nodded in thanks.
"Where did you see it?" Midna asked.
"Well my council says they saw a young man, who looked a lot like you swimming to the bottom of the lake." Ralis explained.
"Let me guess he was wearing a black tunic right?" Link let out a loud sigh of frustration.
"Yes he was actually, how did you know that?" Ralis asked a puzzled look on his face.
"He's been bothering us for quite a while now." Link told Ralis.
"Does any of your council see where he was headed?" Link asked.
"It looked as if he was heading towards the lakebed temple." Ralis told Link. Link let out another sigh when he heard this. Link hated wearing the iron boots. Midna placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Link its going to be okay." He heard her whisper to him.
"Yeah I'm sure it will be…" Link didn't sound convinced. Midna sighed, Link was not going to be convinced.
"My council says that he didn't go into the temple though." Ralis continued to speak.
"Well then were did he go?" Link asked.
"They said he swam into a large crevice near the temple." Ralis explained.
"Strange… I don't remember there being a crevice near the temple." Link though out loud. Midna confirmed his suspicions.
"It may have been caused by the recent seismic activity." Ralis hypothesized.
"What seismic activity?" Midna asked.
"Yes there a small quake shook Lake Hylia not too long ago; it may have been what created the crevice." Ralis was explaining to the two of them.
"Do you have any idea were the crevice will lead?" Link asked Ralis.
"No one has noticed it, so we have no idea where it might lead." Ralis shrugged his shoulders.
"So I need to dive headfirst into an unknown crevice and potentially my death." Link spoke flatly.
"I can send in a group of scouts to examine it for you." Ralis offered to Link.
"Nah that's no fun, don't worry I'll check it out." Link said while turning around.
"Link, wait." Ralis spoke up before Link left.
"Is something the matter Ralis?" Link asked.
"Yes, I want to accompany you." Ralis said.
"Alright I have no qualms with that, if you're coming you better get a move on." Link said while walking towards the waterfall's edge.
"No Prince I can't allow you to put yourself into danger like this." One of the councilors opposed Ralis plans.
"You don't have a say in this!" Ralis snapped at the councilor. "This man saved my life, the least I can do to repay him is to help him." Link was watching Ralis argue with the councilors when he felt Midna tug his sleeve.
"Is something the matter Midna?" Link asked her.
"Are you sure he should come with us, doesn't he seem a little young." Midna explained to him.
"Look I wasn't much older than he is now when I helped you last time." Link told her. Midna was a little surprised by the edge in his tone, but she still agreed with him. Link approached Ralis and placed his hand on his shoulder. "Okay now you all need to calm down, Ralis is coming with us this will be a good learning experience for him." Link was staring directly at the councilors while speaking. The councilors paused for a brief second and thought.
"Very well Link if you can assure that the prince will be safe, you may take the prince with you." The councilors finally agreed.
"No injury will befall the prince in my care." Link spoke with confidence.
"Link how can you be so sure he'll be safe; we have no idea what we could find down there." Midna was feeling uneasy by Link's boasts.
"Isn't that half the fun Midna?" Link wore a smile while he told her.
"Alright Link let's get a move on." Ralis approached the waterfall. Ralis stood at the edge and leapt off.
"Guess we should try and catch up to him." Link said as he turned and bolted towards the waterfall. Link approached the edge and he catapulted himself into the air. He felt the air rushing past him as the water grew closer. He put his hands in front of him to part the water. He splashed down into the water and started swimming. He could vaguely see Ralis swimming in front of him. Ralis was a surprisingly good swimmer for his size and age. Link followed him down the waterfall cavern and into Lake Hylia. Link finally caught up to Ralis at the temple.
"This is what my council was referring to." Ralis motioned to the large crevice. Link looked down into the darkness that filled it.
"Pretty dark in there, any idea how we might be able to get some light?" Link asked. Ralis pulled out a pair of small necklaces.
"These should help." Ralis handed one to Link.
"What is it?" Link asked while tapping it.
"It's a jewel of light, it lights up when it's dark." Ralis explained to Link while putting it on. Link followed suit and put his on. Ralis swam into the dark crevice. Link could see him vanish into darkness. Then Link saw the princes jewel light up. Link followed him closely, making sure to keep an eye on him. Link's jewel lit up as well. Link could see, but not very far ahead of him. The two of them swam deeper into the crevice. The two of them arrived at a dead end.
"End of the line I guess?" Link said. Link swam around for a bit. Link noticed a small crack. He pulled out a water bomb and placed it on the crack. Link motioned for Ralis to stand back. The bomb exploded. There must have been an empty space beyond as they were pulled in by the water flow. They both surfaced. They were sitting in a large stone pit, now filled with water. They swam to the edge and climbed up. Link walked around looking for something to light. Link pulled the bow from his back and lit a torch in the cavern.
"Is that a door over there?" Ralis asked while making his way over to it. Link followed closely behind him. Ralis tried to push the door upwards.
"Here Ralis, let me have a go at it." Link placed his hands on the door and pushed upwards. Link was barely able to open it. Dust showered them when the door finally budged. Link lit another torch.
"Link don't you think it's strange, a previously unknown area that has torches in it." He asked Link who was lighting some other torches in the room. Midna finally reappeared from the shadows.
"Thank goodness we are finally out of the water." Midna quickly glanced around. "Are we in some sort of cavern or cave?" Midna asked.
"We must be." Link responded.
"Link I can see funny little drawings on the walls, and look there is a door over there." Midna pointed towards the darkness.
"Wait… Midna you can see?" Link asked her.
"Yeah, you guys can't?" She asked back to the two of them.
"No we can't, all I see in that direction is darkness." Link explained to her.
"Wait Link, your companion can see in the dark?" Ralis sounded a little bewildered.
"Yes she can Ralis, not sure how but she can." Link told him.
"I don't know how either, must be something Twili are naturally able to do." Midna shrugged her shoulders.
"We have one major issue though." Link sounded concerned.
"And what is that Link?" Ralis asked.
"My clone, he can use the shadows as well." Link saw Midna cringe as he said that. "Don't worry Midna at least you will be able to see him." Link attempted to calm her. She didn't seem very convinced.
"And just who is this clone that I hear you talking about?" Ralis asked.
"We're not quite sure ourselves; he seems to have a grudge against Midna and myself." Link explained.
"Yeah he always shows up and attempts to kill us, luckily we both have been able to repel him every time." Midna followed up Link's explanation.
"He sounds like quite the problem…" Ralis's voice trailed off.
''Ralis are you alright?" Link asked.
"Yes I was just thinking, do you think he might be pursuing you for a reason?" Ralis asked.
"If he is I wouldn't know why." Link answered.
"Maybe there is something he wants from you?" Ralis hypothesized.
"I wouldn't know what he wants from us." Link answered.
"Maybe he is working for someone, may they want you dead?" Ralis was still asking questions.
"Ralis I would be glad to answer these later, right now we need to figure out where we are." Link tried to not sounding agitated. Ralis looked at Link and nodded.
"Now Midna if you wouldn't mind showing us the door?" Ralis asked Midna.
"No I wouldn't mind at all." She pointed towards the darkness. The three of them made their way deeper into the darkness. Link finally was able to see the door. He placed his hands on it and pushed. It finally budged and slid up. The party was showered with dust again. Link coughed and waved the dust away. He saw smoldering embers and aimed a fire arrow at it. The torch blazed back to life. The orange glow cut through the darkness of the room.
"This room also has the markings on the wall." Link mentioned while looking around. Ralis was staring intently at them.
"I feel as if I have seen this somewhere else." Link heard Ralis mumble.
"Is something on your mind Ralis?" Link asked the prince.
"Yes actually, I could have sworn I have seen these marking somewhere before." Ralis responded to Link.
"Well we need to move on, the answer might come to you while we are moving." Link told him. Ralis nodded. And with one last look at the marking, Ralis turned and followed Link and Midna deeper into the darkness. They continued deeper into the darkness with Midna leading the way. The trio was walking through another door when Midna froze.
"Is something bothering the fair lady?" Ralis asked.
"Link… Don't make any sudden loud noises." Midna told Link.
"What's going on Midna?" Link asked her quietly.
"There are some sleeping bokoblin in here." Midna was pointing towards the inky depths.
"Well, only one way to deal with this." Link nocked another fire arrow. He aimed at where Midna was pointing. The arrow hissed as it flew. It struck one of the two bokoblin. It screeched as it was ignited. The room was now bathed in orange light. Link could clearly see the other bokoblin. He drew his sword and knocked it onto the ground. It twitched briefly before Link lunged onto it. Link's blade stuck into its skull. It ceased twitching and Link dispatched the burning one. Link sheathed his blade and nodded at Midna. Link could see her briefly relax before the light died. The trio was now submerged in the darkness. Midna led them to the next door. It opened into a large tunnel. The trio started walking up the tunnel.
"Why didn't you bring your lantern with you Link?" Midna asked while they were walking.
"Well I didn't think a lantern would be very useful underwater." Link told Midna. Link heard her giggle when he said this. "Plus I wasn't expecting there to be a cave, I was expecting another water temple." Link shuddered at the mention of "Water Temple."
"Something bothering you Link?" Midna asked him after seeing him shudder.
"No, I'm not quite sure what happened there." Link said wondering what happened himself.
"Maybe it's the chilly wind that is blowing from the end of this tunnel." Ralis pointed out.
"Ralis is right; there is a cold winding blowing through here." Midna also pointed out. They continued down the tunnel when they arrived at a large metal door.
"No way I'm I lifting that." Link said while looking at the imposing metal door in front of them. Ralis agreed with him.
"But how can we get past it?" Midna asked Link.
"Well there must be a way through…" Link though out loud while looking over the door.
"Over here Link!" Link heard Ralis call his name. Link made his way over to him. Ralis was shining the light onto a hole in the ground.
"It looks like a very small tunnel; maybe we put something in it?" Ralis asked Link. Link produced a water bomb and lit it. The bomb fell through the hole and the hissing of the fuse grew fainter. An explosion was faintly heard. A small port hole opened. Through it Midna could see an eye switch. Link nocked an arrow and shot the eye. It shut and the massive metal door began to slowly shift. The great metal door slid to the side and allowed them to pass. They passed through the great metal gate. The air had a frigid chill to it. The trio could see their every breath.
"Wow… it got really cold, really quickly." Link was shivering a little as he stood in the frigid air. Link could see Midna shivering as well. Ralis didn't seem to be affected by the cold at all.
"Ralis are you not cold?" Midna asked Ralis.
"No not really, though I can tell that it is very cold." Ralis let out a small chuckle.
"Are Zora's naturally resistant to cold?" Link asked Ralis as well.
"We spend our entire life in the waters that border the Snowpeak Mountains, so I guess you could say we have become immune to the cold." Ralis rubbed the back of his head and chuckled again.
'Lucky…" Link could hear Midna mumble under her breath.
"I wonder where we are right now." Link asked the prince.
"We must be underneath Snowpeak Mountain, which would explain the low temperature and ice." Ralis guessed.
"That would make sense." Link thought out loud. The trio looked over the room they were standing in. It was a large open area with large ice formations beneath the balcony they were standing on. There was a small metal bridge leading across to another door. Link and Midna headed across the bridge. Ralis was still standing on the balcony and thinking.
"Ralis you okay?" Midna shouted back to Ralis as they arrived at the door. They could Ralis snap out of a daze.
"Yes I'm fine, I was just thinking." Ralis said while making his way over to them.
"What do you keep thinking about Ralis?" Link asked Ralis.
"The words we saw on the cave walls, I could swear I've seen them before…" Ralis's comment tailed off. Link could tell that he was deep in thought again.
"Might as well try and open the door, maybe he will come to after you open it." Midna told him. Link placed his hands on the door. His hands slid off the door's icy surface. Link stepped back and aimed a fire arrow at it. It struck the door and bounced off. Link could see that the ice had melted. He pushed the door open with ease. Link went over and tapped Ralis on the shoulder.
"That's it!" Ralis exclaimed as Link tapped his shoulder. Link fell backwards onto the cold metal walkway in surprise. "That's where I've seen that writing before; the same writing is in the ancient Zoran tomes." Ralis looked down at Link. "What happened to Link?" Ralis seemed confused after his outburst.
"You knocked me over, your eureka moment surprised the daylights out of me." Link said while standing up.
"Well I'm very sorry Link; I never intended to surprise you." Ralis sounded a little disheartened.
"But please continue, about the writing that is." Link told him.
"Alright, the markings on the walls are ancient Zoran text." Ralis explained to him.
"Alright, and what did the writing on the walls say?" Midna asked.
"From what I could make out… It said something about this place being called the Ice Caverns."
"Well that was a little obvious." Link mumbled under his breath. Midna punched his arm.
"Please Ralis continue." Midna told him.
"They also said that this place is the source of all the water in Zora's Domain." Ralis continued to explain.
"And how does that work?" Link asked before resting his hand on his chin to think.
"Wouldn't something have to melt the ice to create water?" Midna also asked Ralis.
"Yes, and I was getting to that." Ralis sounded clam despite being interrupted.
"We're sorry, please continue." Link and Midna said in unison.
"Very well, I will finish quickly so that we can move on." Ralis said quickly before launching back into his speech. Ralis went on to explain that the ice in this cavern is melted by the heat of underground magma. The resulting water is channeled up to Zora's Domain.
"So all this ice is what is used to power Zora's Domain?" Link finally asked after Ralis finished his speech.
"Yes, that is how it would seem." Ralis answered quickly.
"But why ice, couldn't they just have a massive pool of water?" Midna asked.
"Well ice can be moved easily, and ice is much more versatile then water." Ralis answered Midna question.
"Well I guess all of that does make sense." Link finally chimed in.
"Very well, with that all sorted let be moving onwards." Ralis said while passing though the doorway. Link and Midna followed him. They walked out onto another balcony. They looked down and saw a sloped mass of land. Masses of ice were sliding down. They were sliding through a passage that was emitting an orange glow. They saw two bridges, one leading to left and the other leading straight ahead. Link decided they should head forwards. The door felt warm as Link placed his hands on it. It pushed it up and the trio proceeded into the small tunnel. As the trio traveled down the tunnel they began to feel the air heating up. The tunnel was starting to be bathed in an orange light. They finally exited the tunnel. It opened into a massive room. They arrived on another balcony. The room had cascades of magma going down the walls. They saw a metal tube suspended above the magma.
"That must have the ice inside it." Midna pointed out. Link nodded his head I agreement.
"Yes, this must be the room where the ice is melted." Ralis replied to Midna. The magma chamber was also had two bridges. One led downwards slightly, and the other bridge led slightly upwards.
"Huh, at least something about this place is changing." Link said while letting out a soft chuckle. The trio decided to take the lower path. The bridge did scrape uncomfortably close to the magma flows. The path led to another door. Link placed his hands on the door and lifted it up. They passed through the small tunnel. The tunnel exited into a circular room. The room was ringed by a moat of magma. The magma lit the room up with an ominous orange glow. The middle of the room housed a small chest. The trio approached the chest. As they neared it the sound of scraping stone filled the room. Soon the orange glow was extinguished. The room was now draped in darkness.
"Midna can you see what is happening?" Link asked her.
"It looks like some stone plates have covered up the moat." She answered him.
"Can you see anything else?" Link asked her again.
"Wait, I think I can see something else…" Link could hear Midna gasp.
"Midna is something the matter!" He shouted over to her.
"Link I can see a pair of red eyes…" Her voice trailed off. Link could a hear a voice fill the room.
"Hello again Hero…"
(Okay, I'm really sorry about how long this took to upload. I haven't had access to a computer to type on. I'm building one soon so hopefully I would have more regularity with my post's then. Again I'm sorry to all my fans, and hope this chapter makes up for it. Now did anyone catch the OoT water temple refrence.)