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As promised, I have another chapter!

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Chapter 14

With the first item found, Link and the warriors headed back to the caves to present the necklace to the elders. Upon arriving back, he spotted Faale with Abrel in the crowd of women come to greet them. He gave Faale a smile, and she waved back so subtly, you would have had to be looking straight at her to have seen it. All of the other warriors were preoccupied, greeting their own loved ones. He even saw Finlaay showing off his new battle scar (a burn on his left forearm; he'd tripped over on the way back down the volcano and landed on a patch of hot rocks.) to his girlfriend, Joole. It was strange to see just how similar these people were to the Skyloftians, even though Link supposed they were still the enemy.

Link sighed, thinking about Zelda again. When did he not think about her? Seeing everyone else with their loved ones made him long for her in his arms. He hoped she was dealing well with his disappearance. He knew that the knights would not rest until he was found, so he wasn't really worried now about being rescued. Although, he wasn't sure that he would leave just yet if they came tomorrow; knowing that the Elders were under a spell was enough to make him want to see this whole mess out. If he left, bad things might happen, and he'd already made a friend in Faale and Finn. To turn his back on them would be unthinkable. He just hoped Zelda hadn't decided to come and find him herself. He hoped that she'd think about the twins before dropping everything. After all, they needed their mother more than she needed a husband. Zelda knew from the moment Link became a knight that him not coming home was a very real possibility. He wasn't too sure that she hadn't though; it would be a very Zelda thing to do.

Once the greetings were over, the warriors were rushed in before the elders. Only Link and Dariil were sent up to speak to them, and the other warriors stood silently behind.

"Well done, Link of the Skyloftians and Dariil of the Hylians. You have located the first item," the middle Elder spoke. "As a reward, please take these offerings."

A pair of women came out from the sides, handing Link and Dariil a sword each. They were heavy, yet perfectly weighted and the hilt was set with three small stones, one red, blue and green to represent the three women Link kept seeing.

"These swords were forged by the three Goddesses themselves," the Elder spoke again, "We hope that they will help you on your search to find the next item. You may leave."

Dariil bowed, and began to walk away. Link quickly followed suit, and the rest of the warriors followed them out.

"Cool sword!" Finn appeared at Link's side, making him jump just a bit.

"It is, isn't it?" Link replied, grasping it in his hand and giving a few test slashes as they walked. "Though, what can you tell me about the three Goddesses?"

"Oh!" Finn grinned. "Every single Hylian has had this story told to them from the day they are born. Basically, the three Goddesses, they're named Din, Nayru, and Farore, by the way, are the ones who really created the world. They chose the first Goddess the rule the land for them. But, when Hylia left us, the three Goddesses came back and helped us to rebuild on this land. Whilst Hylia did restore the land to be able to hold life on it again, it was the three Goddesses who helped to nurture the life. They allowed us to thrive here again," His grin widened "Some warn that they sent three dragons to guard the land, and when you're a child they say if you don't eat all your food, the dragons come and eat you in your sleep!"

Link laughed. He thought about the three dragons he had met on his travels, but didn't say anything. It would be difficult to explain, and he doubted Finn would believe him anyway.

It was decided that, although there was a push for the warriors to find the items, tonight they would be served a feast. Link had attempted to find Faale, but when he couldn't he assumed that she would be busy along with the other women preparing for the dinner. Instead, he returned (with help from Finlaay) to his room. Exhausted, he flopped down onto the bed and stared at the ceiling for a bit. He had wanted to have a read through the books (The one he had left out had been put back away, he noticed. He also noticed that his bed had been made.) but although Link could understand the language when spoken, reading it proved a lot more difficult.

Link must've fallen asleep, because the next thing he knew he was sharply awoken to a knock at the door. Rubbing his eyes, he stood up and opened the door.

"Link, hi!" Finn greeted him. "Did you fall asleep? I think a lot of the men did. Anyway, a few of us were going down to the baths, and I realized you probably didn't know where they were, so I came to ask if you wanted to come?"

"Oh, yes. Thank you," Link was no stranger to going long periods of time without washing, but he had been a little concerned about his smell the past few days. All the sweating from the heat had not helped. "I don't have anything with me, though."

"That's okay, you can ask at the desk and the lady there will give you some shampoo and a change of clothes."

"Alright then, let's go."

The baths here were different to the ones back home in the village. Instead of having two baths, with one for males and one for females, there was just one big bath both shared. Once they entered the baths (It was again a large cave room, and the bath suggested it was a natural hot spring and had been there for years.), Link took Finn's advice and asked the lady at the desk for some shampoo and a fresh set of clothes. She was happy to oblige, and asked for Link's dirty clothes once he was done so they could be washed and used again. That was one thing Link noticed pretty quickly; only a few people actually had possessions, and mostly everything was shared. Even though the bath was unisex, there were two separate changing rooms, with baskets for their clothes. Link felt a little awkward stripping down in front of strangers (the same strangers who, but three weeks ago, had kidnapped him and help him prisoner) but smelling bad was worse so he willed himself to get over it. After all, he was about to go and stand in a room, naked as the day he was born, with members of the fairer sex. This was nothing.

Once washed, dried and back into clothes, Link felt a lot better. There was something so cathartic about having a hot bath, it seemed to wash away both the physical grime and the mental grime all in one.

It was about time for the feast now, and Link followed Finn down the twists and turns in the corridors back to the main room. He didn't think he would ever understand how everyone seemed to know exactly where to go in this maze; every single journey seemed so much different from the last, the corridors shifting and changing, even though they ended up in the same place.

Link could smell the food before he saw it; laid out on each of the long tables was a staggering array of different dishes. Link could make out whole suckling pigs, roasted chickens, and sliced meats. He could see fruits that would have cost a fortune back home, and salads piled high. Roasted vegetables steamed in their bowls, the sweet fragrance of carrots and parsnips mixing with the salty meats. There were what looked like soups, with countless pieces of bread laid out to accompany. There were other dishes he did not recognize, but all looked and smelt equally good. Among the savoury was also sweet, cakes and pastries along with ice cream platters on ice. The whole feast was fit for a king.

Link wondered where all the food had come from. Every other meal had seemed so meagre in comparison. He probably didn't want to know. He glanced over to where the elders sat. They looked just as sinister and unsettling as the past few times, but this time they sat decked out in green.

Everyone sat down, and waited. Link wondered what they were waiting for, until he saw someone stand up in front of the crowd of people.

"Welcome, brothers and sisters," he called "We are gathered here to this feast to celebrate the finding of the first item that will lead us to liberation. Now, as the Elders allow it, let us eat and be merry!"

A cheer went up, and the man sat down. Everyone waited for the High Elder to pick up his fork and take a mouthful. Once he had done this, everyone began to tuck in, Link included. He was so hungry, and eager to try the new foods set about before him.

Everyone was so absorbed in their food, none saw that the High Elder then brought a napkin up to his mouth and spat the mouthful he had taken out again. Neither he, nor the four other Elders, touched another morsel the entire evening.

The very next day, it was back to the grind. The warriors met in the war room to discuss the location of the second item. The old maps from before were rolled out onto the table, and Link looked over them. As promised, with the necklace a clue had been found for where the second item would be.

"What's the clue for the second item?" He asked Dariil. Dariil looked at the writing.

"To find the second item," he read, "You must look for the seven sisters and take an arm from each. Lay them to rest and they will show you the way."

"Well that's… not macabre or anything." Link said sarcastically. Where did he sign up for cutting up sisters? He tried to think back over his travels for anything that might be useful.

The meeting was not very successful. No-one really knew what the riddle meant, and eventually Dariil became fed up and told everyone to go and do some research and meet back later.

"I'm going to go bother Joole." Finn said as the two left. He and Link were pretty much solid friends now. "She reads a lot in her spare time. Maybe she'll be able to come up with something."

"Do you mind if I come too?" Link asked. "Faale, she helped me out before. Maybe she might be down there too."

"She probably is. And, who knows," Finn paused. "Do you know about Abrel?"

"What about her?" Link asked. He knew he was being nosy, but he was curious.

"Oh, um," Finn paused again, thinking about whether he should tell Link or not. "actually, never mind. It's nothing important, anyway. Come on, let's go find them."

Down in the washing room, Finn and Link found the girls working.

"Finny!" Joole cried, instantly forgetting her work and running over to grab the boy in a hug.

"Hi Jo-jo, how are you?" he asked.

"I'm okay," Joole replied with a grin. She looked over at Link.

"Oh, you're the one from before, with Faale," She looked him up and down "She's over in the corner, if you need her."

Link was slightly taken aback at the coldness with which she spoke, but shrugged it off. Finn didn't seem to notice. Leaving them to talk, he went over to the corner to find the girl.

"Hey, Faale," He greeted her. She was sat with her back to him, scrubbing clothes. Abrel sat next to the tub the clothes were in, playing with a scrap of fabric. Faale jumped a little, and turned to look at Link.

"Oh, you scared me!" She said, "What are you doing down here?"

"I came down with Finn," He gestured to where Finn and Joole were, talking about something other than what they should be given the laughter they shared. "We couldn't figure out the riddle to find the next item, so I thought I'd ask you if you knew anything."

"I can try and help you," She wiped her hands off on her apron. "What's the riddle?"

"We need to find the seven sisters." Link started "And take an arm from each."

"Oh!" Faale understood immediately, "I read a book not too long ago that had about the Seven Sisters in it. It's a group of trees."

"A group… of trees?" Link repeated slowly.

"Yeah. Um, the were planted a long time ago by someone important, I can't remember who. But, he had seven daughters who all died in a great illness. To remember them, he planted the seven trees and named them the Seven Sisters. I think the Goddesses must have taken a great pity on the man, because the trees stand no matter what. As for taking an arm from each, the branches are said to contain the power to heal even the worst plague. You risk the Goddess's wrath if you try and take them though, so I'm not sure what you're going to do about that."

"Hmm." Link thought about it for a few seconds. Abrel let out a noise, and got up and waddled towards Link.

"Oh, hello?" he said, slightly confused. Abrel smiled up at him, and lifted her arms to him asking to be picked up. Link looked over to Faale, who had an unreadable look on her face. She nodded a yes to his silent question, and Link picked her up.

Holding the little one send a pang of grief though Link.

"How old is she?" Link asked.

"She's two. About, anyway." Faale answered. She reached out suddenly and took the girl.

"I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"It's okay," Faale dismissed him. "I think Finn is nearly done talking. Maybe you should head back and tell the rest of them about the Seven Sisters."

Link nodded, understanding Faale wanted him to go away. He couldn't quite figure out why though. A lot of strange things were happening today.

Link turned, and began to walk away. He grabbed Finn on the way out, much to his and Joole's dismay.

"Come on." He told the boy, "Let's call the warriors back to meeting."

An hour later, they had all the answers they needed.

As Faale had said, the Seven Sisters were a group of trees, hidden deep in the forest. To take a branch, the person had to wear the necklace. And once the branches were laid together, they would reveal the way to go. The warriors had a vague idea of where to go, and they would set off at daybreak tomorrow.

Thanks for reading! Some very strange things happened in this chapter... what do you think is going on? Leave a review if you have an idea!

See you soon!

Meiko x