Chapter 10: Snowhead, Part 3: The Shrine
Author's Note: So, the rest of this three-day cycle is devoted to the shrine. The shrine in this fic is like a maze. Bosses serve as minibosses, etc. Each "miniboss" guards an item that might help Link, i.e. the Hawkeye. Nothing that would break the sequence of the game, of course. Bear in mind that the Clawshot, which will appear, is not the same as the Hookshot. It's vastly inferior, and doesn't sequence break.
Morning of the Third Day
20 Hours Remain
Link was promptly ambushed by a rather large Octorok.
"Huh?" questioned Link.
"What?" replied Tatl.
Suddenly, something fell from the ceiling and ate the Octorok. It was massive.
It was a horrifying slimy creature, like a toad. It had a long tongue.
"A Deku Toad…Link, run!" exclaimed Tatl.
"No."
Link grabbed a Bomb and threw it into the Deku Toad's mouth.
It exploded, exposing the Deku Toad's tongue. Link slashed away at the sword, and it finally gave out. It died, leaving behind a chest.
Link opened the chest to find a Clawshot.
"What is this?" he asked.
"A Clawshot," explained Tatl.
Link noticed a wooden overhang covering a room across and above from him. He attempted to latch to it, but the Clawshot failed.
"Huh?"
"Clawshots can only hook onto metal grating!" explained Tatl.
Link noticed some metal grating to the right and below the wooden overhang. He latched onto it and climbed up onto the raised path. Tatl joined him.
They made their way across the hallway and through a door, which sealed shut behind him.
The room was filled with sand around him. There appeared to be no way to cross the quicksand blocking him from the door across the way.
"Let the one with the rod of sand create a new way forward," stated a ghostly voice.
Link looked around.
"What does he mean?" he asked.
"…I don't know, but look!" exclaimed Link. Link turned and looked directly up. There was metal grating above and in front of him leading to another room. He used the Clawshot to get up, then headed through the door. He was now above the room he had gotten the Clawshot in. The room was enclosed by quicksand. The door barred shut behind him, and three Stalfos ambushed him.
"Link! Watch out!" warned Tatl.
"I know!" He drew the Razor Sword and miraculously managed to kill all three of them while making it out in one piece.
A chest appeared when the last one fell, and the door unbarred. Link opened the chest to find a small rod, gold in color. A dazzling golden light was emanating from within the rod's tip. "What is this?" he asked.
"A Sand Rod! You can use it to create walls and bridges of sand!" explained Tatl.
"Oh!" Link exclaimed, rushing back the way he came in and jumping back down to the room with the quicksand blocking his path through the door. He waved the Sand Rod and a path rose up made out of lighter sand. Link used this path as a bridge to the other side, and opened the door.
The next room was filled with water. There was a platform deep underwater that Link could not reach. He wished he still had his Iron Boots and Zora Tunic from when he was an adult.
There was a giant rusted switch in front of him. Link decided to do the obvious: Smash it with the Megaton Hammer. The water drained enough to allow Link to jump down to the platform. There was a chest at the very bottom of the room, but it was still submerged.
There was an inscription on the wall in front of him. It was an upside-down Triforce. Link gasped at how offensive the image was. Below it, the words "The song associated with water in Hyrule will lead the way to the bottom of this chamber" were inscribed.
"Hmm….The Serenade of Water?" Link thought, and played it on the Ocarina of Time. Luckily, this was exactly what he was meant to do.
The water drained completely, and Link hopped down and opened the chest. Inside was a red cane.
"It's the Cane of Somaria! It lets you create a block to place on switches or use as a path, or even deflect enemy projectiles," explained Tatl.
"Let the one with the arrows of flame proceed further through this shrine. Otherwise, you must turn back, as there is nothing more here for you," said the voice, and Link was promptly transported out of the shrine. Kaepora Gaebora sat on the tree outside.
"So…what did you find?" he inquired.
"A lot of things," explained Link.
"Excellent…I trust my advice helped you?"
"That was you?"
Kaepora nodded.
"Well, your time is almost up. It is about 11 at night…."
"Already?"
"Yes."
"Will you remember our meetings?"
The sage nodded. "I am the Sage of Light, of course I shall remember what has transpired over the past three days."
Link whipped out his Ocarina of Time and played the Song of Time
Once again, everything rewound.
Author's Note: This chapter was interesting , as it is completely original to this fic. The main reason why Link can't just use Din's Fire is because there are torches up high in that room. He can't reach it with Din's Fire. Sorry to give Link so many items in this little mini-dungeon, but this is going to be like the Gerudo Training Ground, only with a lot more items. Mostly puzzles related to items he finds in the mini-dungeon. Anyway, next chapter should be longer, and we'll get back on track with Snowhead next cycle. Until then, see ya!