Chapter Four
The First Fairy Fountain and Some New Boots
Aeolius blinked a few times and let his eyes adjust to the smiling faces standing over him. There was Link, Zelph, Zane, Cameo and on his lap Rown,
"He's been dipping in and out of consciousness for a while" Zane said,
Aeolis smiled,
"You...you made it"
"Thanks to Link" Cameo said,
"I had help" Link blushed, stroking Rown on the top of his little head,
"Where am I?" Aeolius asked, then to Zelph he said "Oh I found your arrows Zelda, or rather the Hyrule Guards did, my wing was hooked to a chest when they fished me out"
Zelph nearly burst into tears as a guard came in and handed them back to her,
Aeolius had crisp white banages on his arms and wings so found it difficult to move,
"You're in Old Hyrule Castle, remember?" Zane told him, "It is our fault you're lying there like that, you can stay as long as you like"
With this Zane lead Link and Zelph out of the room and down a long corridor to the Old King' study,
"Zane" Link began, then as Zane turned to look at him he handed him the crest, "Do you know, who this crest belonged to?"
"I am afraid I do not" Zane told him after taking a good look at it, "But I can find out for you if it's important"
"We encounted Bathilda in the temple and she taunted Link, she said she wasn't the only one out to hurt us and that crest dropped down from seemingly nowhere" Zelph said
Zane pulled a face,
"Zane" Link said, "I think there's a mole here in Old Hyrule, someone that knows about the door to each realm in the two time lines either side, created by Zelda when Shade Link destroyed Ganondolf"
"If they have a crest then that is a real possiblity" Zane told Link, "Now about the first Fairy, there's only one person that can get you to where she lives"
"Chestnut?" Link asked
"Skit" Zane grinned, "I've booked you on the next flight to New Zealand"
"Is Mya OK?" Link asked, suddenly worried, "Nanna?"
"Mya is fine, she has been made aware of the situation and so until further notice she will be living with the Kokiri in Kokiri village, Nanna' going too" Link gave his signiture laugh, "Before I forget" He added, handing Link a boomberang, "You're going to need that where you're going"
Link held it up and imagined the "You got a new item" music in his mind for a second, then he looked at Zane, who shook his head and smiled,
"The Fairy Fountain" He said,
"The Goron Mines" Zane corrected him, "We think that's where the Sheika minions are holding Borak, I should have the location of the next game by the time you get out of the mine...you will get out of that mine" Zane said, looking Link in the eye,
"Uh huh!" Link nodded
By late evening Link and Zelph were on a plane to New Zealand, where they would be met by Skit, and after an all too brief catch up with Mya, Nanna and the Kokiri they were venturing into the Lost Woods once more.
"Things are a little different this time" Skit said leading them a completely different route to the one that lead to the Forest Shrine, "What you seek is in the sacred ground to the West of the Lost Woods but we can cut out the springs and Ordon completely if we take my short cut"
There was a strange moving fog that Skit, Link and Zelph had to walk around,
"What is that?" Link asked Skit
"Twilight Fog, Zelph would be OK but you and I won't be if we venutre into it" Skit told them, "It's acting on behalf of the Shieka that came here looking for the Fairy Fountain within the sacred statue but they took a wrong turn, as long as this fog doesn't engulf you or I it won't be able to obtain the knowledge the lost Shieka needs" Carefully they dodged the fog until they reached a great canyon, Skit pointed across to a ledge and the mouth of a cave, "That is where we need to be"
"How do you know this is the way?" Zelph asked
Skit turned his nose up at her,
"My wife is the Great Forest Fairy" He said, "I can get across, I'm just worried about you two"
"How do you get across this?" Link asked
"We role play...I'm the prince and she's...never mind she's not just going to meet me half way with all this going on, look around Link, there are knotted ropes and platforms and fans you could move with the aid of a Korok Leaf or Boomerang, have you either of those?"
Link nodded,
"I have both"
Skit used a slingshot to hit the knotts in the rope of the tree branch nearest them. The the rope rolled down.
Swinging from the rope to the platform was a piece of cake for Skit and for Link but Zelph panicked half way and became suspended between the ledge and the platform where Skit and Link were waiting,
"I...I can't do this!" She screeched, hands getting clamy and starting to tingle,
"Zelph, you can!" Link called back
"That's not going to help" Skit remarked, Zelph cried "Neither is that. Stand back"
"What're you going to do?" Link asked
"Something very stupid" Came Skit' reply beforedoing a dangerous stunt to rescue her,
"That was amazing!" Link exclaimed,
"I'll teach you how to do that some day" Skit told him, "we're not in the Sacred Grounds yet"
"Thank you" Zelph said, "I'm sorry"
"You're only Hyilan, you're fabulous archers but when it comes to trees and ropes and snakes and ladders you're...oh never mind dear, you're safe now"
"We have to come back" Zelph said
"The Great Fairy can take you anywhere you need to go" Skit told her
With some effort and a little help from the boomerang and the Korok leaf Link, Zelph and Skit made it across to the ledge on the other side of the canyon and a cave entrance. Skit took a lit torch from his satchel. At this Link and Zelph frowned. Skit grinned and led the way,
"Magic" He said
Link and Zelph followed Skit through the cave and out the other side to a clearing, where beautiful music played all around them from seemingly nowhere. However Link could feel a test in his bones and he was proved right for the minute he stepped out ahead of Skit a floor of large squares rose up, along with two large stone guards,
"Oh my God!" Zelph exclaimed
"They're real too" Link said breathless
"We present to you two tests, one for the chosen hero and one for the Princess" A statue boomed
Link nodded,
"What about me?" Skit asked sounding disappointed
"The boss will break me if I let anything happen to you, you're sitting this one out" The second statue boomed before materialising a stone chair.
"Oh" Skit grinned,
Link giggled as he took his seat,
"What's the challenge?" Link asked the stone guards
"There are four pods placed somewhere on the board that must be broken two at a time, if you move forward, we'll move forward, if you knock us off you'll find yourself back at the beginning. If you break one or only one of us lands on a pod you'll lose a square to stand on and the game will start again" The first stone guard explained,
"That's a little harder than in the game...is there a time limit?" Link asked
"There is not" The first stone guard replied
"Where do I start?" Link asked
"There's a Triforce in the middle there" Skit said with a point
Link walked out to the Triforce on the centre and took in all the squares. It took Link a few frustrating goes and he cost himself four squares in the process until he was finally able to get two pods. Now he had to move the statues to stand on the remaining pods but this part wasn't as difficult because he knew what he was doing wrong now.
Once the last two pods were crushed the lost squares reappeared and Link sat on the ground, shaking his head,
"So much easier with a Wii Remote" Link said
"My turn" Zelph said as Link plonked himself on the arm of the chair Skit was sitting on,
Before Zelph could step on the board, as the statues called it, the floor sank and was then replaced by a giant Triforce and 9 giant triangle shaped stones,
"Build the Triforce" Came the first stone guard' voice
The stone guards were no longer there, it was just Zelph, a clearing and the giant puzzle pieces. She took her time, looked at everything and how each piece moved until she had a vague idea, after that it was trial and error until the Triforce puzzle was complete, the Triforce glowed and the ground beneath her feet rumbled,
The sacred statue rose up with her on it's crown and at present she had no way down, Link and Skit would have to see the Great Forest Fairy on their own,
"Bother!"
Link laughed his way into the statue after Skit placed the minnie one in it's place on the ivy covered double doors.
At the bottom of the stairs Skit had Link stand by some steps up to a round pool of sparkling water,
At the bottom of these steps was a Triforce symbol, which glowed, then the mark on Link' hand glowed and from seemingly everywhere came the laugh of the Great Forest Fairy before this giant of a woman with turquoise hair shot out of the water and scared Link,
Skit grinned,
"Hero of Time" The Great Forest Fairy began, "Allow me to bestow on you a gift, the gateway gil"
As the Great Forest Fairy materialised this gil Link was breathless,
"You now have the ability to move freely and without harm through all three time lines, something tells me that may come in very handy" Skit told him,
"It will take you to whichever realm you choose to go but heed my warning, only use this if you or Zelda are in danger, or you are in pursute of an enemy for miss-use of that gil will drain your life force, I have healed your wounds and thoes of the Princess, the stone medallion is activated, I will send a signal to Zane back in Hi-Range, safer there...if you grow weary find one of my sisters"
With one of her insane laughs the Great Forest Fairy disappeared back into the water,
"OK she's creepier in real life" Link told Skit as they left and looked up at Zelph on the crown of the statue that housed the fairy fountain, "Zelph, got any rope up there!?"
"Wouldn't I have used it before now if I did?" Zelph replied a little snarky
"A Goron would be really handy round about now" Link sighed,
"There's a Goron!" Zelph called down, "He's by some stone with an eye on it!" Then to the Goron on a ledge high above she called, "Hey! Goron!"
The Goron turned around to look in surpirse,
"I have some information about this stone, would you like to hear it?" He asked
"Sure just help us out first!" Zelph called back
The Goron made a noise and rolled out of view. The ground shook beneath Link and Skit until the Goron appeared at their feet,
"Hello brother!" The Goron exclaimed on seeing Link' smiling face, "I'll expect you're wondering why I'm here"
"Has it something to do with those Shieka Stones?" Link asked
"Link! I'd quite like to get down from here" Zelph called down,
"They are mimicking the Kakoriko made truth stones, they stare into your soul and ask you questions" The Goron told Link and Skit
"So they're spies!?" Zelph called down,
"Exactly, I have been sent to search all of Hyrule for them and I'm to report back to the King as and when I find one" The Goron said, "I have anti-blab potion I got from a witch in the swamp, she goes back and forth between here and Termina, if a stone wakes up I drink from the potion and give it false information, if it doesn't then I use one of our bombs to blast it back to the Twilight"
"Wonderful" Skit said
"Now, what appears to be the problem?" The Goron asked
"Oh my God!" Zelph exclaimed, "I'm stuck, Link needs a Goron lift so we can glide back down using the Korok leaf he has!"
"Oh!" The Goron exclaimed, then to Link he added, "Climb on brother!"
With that he curled up into a ball, Link climbed onto his back and he was fired up onto the crown of the statue.
Once he had climbed into the crown he had Zelph wrap her arms around him, tightly, just not so tight that he couldn't breathe, took out the the Korok leaf and glided with Zelph down to ground level,
Skit looked at Link with a twinkle in the eye,
"Can I have a go, please?" He asked Link.
Link gave Skit the Korok leaf, Skit whooped with joy, climbed the Goron' back, was fired up onto the crown and floated back down to the ground making Zelph laugh.
A few minutes later, after the Goron had blown up the Sheika Stone, Skit called back to the Great Forest Fairy and asked for a lift for himself, Link and Zane back to the entrance of Kokiri Village, where they had lunch and told Nanna, Mya and the Kokiri all about the trip through the Lost Woods and Skit' mini sky dive but all too soon the lunch was over it was time to head for the old Goron Mines, Link wouldn't need a fire proof tunic here but he would need to get past it's old Goron guards.
"The Iron Boots are hidden somewhere within Wolf Link' treehouse but only the Mayer has the key, so you'll have to get it from him" The Kokiri leader told him,
"Oh dear" Link sighed, "Where's Epona?"
Link took Epona from the child sized paddock and rode her past the Great Deku Tree and along the road to Ordon, but if he throught this task was going to be simple he had another thing coming. Upon entering the village he was stopped by a scared looking Korki, looking up at a bees nest under the ridge of his house,
"You look like a Link" He said,
"I am Link" Link told him, "I'm here to see the Mayer"
"Have you anything you can get that bees nest down with, I can't get in and my wife can't get out" The Korki said,
Link got down from Epona and groaned,
"I have a slingshot but you better get ready to run for it" Link said and he walked Epona over to a pumpkin patch, "Don't give me that look Epona"
"What look is she giving you?" The Korki asked
"This is a stupid idea" Link told him before using the slingshot to shoot down the bees nest, as Link expected, just like in the game, the bees came after him and the Korki, who both ran and jumped into the fishing lake and held their breath underwater until the bees gave up and flew away, "Hey, can I have some of that lava and some honey? Might come in useful down the line" Link asked after emerging from the water,
"You can take the whole thing I only wanted to go home" The Korki told him, "Thanks" He added with a shake of the hand,
Link was about to cross the bridge that lead to the Mayer' house when the owner of the pumpkin patch came out of his watermill house,
"Hey! You can't leave your horse there" He called
"It's OK she doesn't like pumpkins" Link called back. At that moment Epona sniffed the pumpkin and kicked it into the wall of the watermill house. Link bowed his head and got back up on Epona, "She's a good girl really"
"To you maybe. What's she called?" The man asked
"Epona" Link replied, affording him a look of shock, "I'm Link, guess I could leave her in the farmers paddock or shed for now" He added and with that he went across the bridge, passed the Mayer' house and made his way onto the farmland,
Here he found a stressed farmer trying to heard his goats,
"Hey!" He called,
"How did these people know this? Watch Epona, he's going to ask us to heard his goats in a minute" Link said to Epona,
Epona shook her main and he soothed her lovingly,
"My sheep dog has got himself stuck! Can you get him down for me!?" The farmer asked
"Oh...sure, where is he?" Link called, the farmer pointed to the roof above the barn, "How did he get up there!?" Epona got spooked, "Sorry Epona" He added and jumped down to take a look at the barn,
"Some Shieka Minions raided my farm last night, trapped him up there and let all the animals out, the goats are fine, I can heard them no problem but I can't do anything with my sheep without that dog, he won't come down and I can't climb up there and get him because I have a bad back, bad knees..."
"Should you really be farming at all?" Link asked, "I'm sorry, I have my father' lip"
"My son is on a trip with his school, won't be back until next week" The farmer told him,
"I'll get him down" Link reasured him and with that he found a route up to the roof of the barn where the dog shook, "Come here boy, I've got you"
Link held up his mark and it glowed, the dog calmed instantly, Link turned, bent down and waited for the dog to climb onto his back, then with a grip of steel he carefully made his way back down,
"Oh thank you! Thank you!" The farmer exclaimed, "He's my son' dog really...is there anything I can do to repay you?"
"Could you let me leave my horse in your barn while I see the Mayer?" Link asked
"Oh...oh sure"
Link got Epona settled and gave her some apples to eat before heading back down to the Mayer' house. The Mayer lead Link into his house and through to a Sumo Ring,
"That's real too?" Link asked, "I need the boots, I have a Goron in trouble"
"You can have the key and the wareabouts if you can get me out of the ring" The Mayer said, "If you're the Hero of Time you'll find a way"
Link frowned and stood in the ring with the Mayer, then before the Mayer could fire him across the room he side stepped, grabbed his sword and embedded it in the ground,
"Stasis!" He cried.
It worked, the Mayer was held in place, Link stood behind him and pushed his back three times so when the stasis wore off the Mayer went flying,
"Oh...ouch, didn't see that coming" He groaned as Link put his sword away, "The boots are in the basement of Wolf Link' tree house" He added, getting up and brushing himself down, "They might not work for just you. The Goron' won't let you use stasis on them either, the key is in a chest over there by the boxes"
Link nodded and took the key from the chest.
Link made his way over to the Wolf Link' tree house, climbed up the ladder, ventured into the house and found his way into the basement, he used a lit torch to see his way around and the first thing he found was a mirror with Wolf Link in the image,
"He needs to be careful" Wolf Link said,
"Who?" Link asked,
In the mirror Link saw Colin being grabbed at the wrist and asked for secrets regarding the Hi-Range Royal Family,
Link gasped and then glared.
Once he was over the shock he found the chest with the iron boots in it, took them out and held them up,
They didn't seem that heavy until he wore them.