Chapter 12: Snowhead Temple
Author's Note: This is close to the finale of the Snowhead story arc. Let's get this over with, shall we?
MORNING OF THE FIRST DAY
68 Hours Remain
Link entered Snowhead Temple.
It was cold. Very cold.
A swarm of White Boes began to attack him.
"It's a White Boe...Just calm down and attack it! Yeah, yeah, yeah...There are just a lot of them, OK?" informed Tatl.
Link easily dispatched them and came across a huge block preventing him from proceeding.
"You're a Goron, you should easily be able to push this," informed Tatl.
Link did just that, until it fell into a hole, therefore clearing the path.
There were three rooms before him, but only one was accessible.
Suddenly, two white-colored Wolfos rose up from the ground.
"It's a White Wolfos. Lure it in and watch its movements. It doesn't like its tail to be touched..." explained Tatl.
At that, Link removed his Goron Mask and sliced at the two White Wolfos' tails. They died instantly.
"That was just pathetic," remarked Link.
"Yeah," replied Tatl.
The doors on the left and in front of him were frozen solid, so he took the door on the right.
The room was rather large. Freezards were on both sides of the room, on the left and right. Link shot all three of them repeatedly with an arrow until they died.
"Don't tell me you don't know about the Freezard! Watch out for its icy breath! I hate the c-c-cold! Oh, you already killed them," said Tatl.
"Yeah…" replied Link.
"Nevermind then," Tatl sighed.
Link put on the Great Fairy's Mask and noticed a Stray Fairy floating inside the pillar near the middle of the room. He fired an arrow, freeing the Stray Fairy, which floated over to him.
Stray Fairies: 1/15
Link then spied a second Stray Fairy floating around in a bubble on the right side of the room. He shot another arrow at it, and it floated over to him as well.
Stray Fairies: 2/15
Link put on the Goron Mask and rolled across the gap to the other side of the room. He entered the next room by climbing up the stairs, and was confronted by a rather unusual foe. He removed his Goron Mask.
"That's a Real Bombchu! It runs at you with its pack of explosives, so protect yourself or else!" informed Tatl.
"I…honestly had never heard of this before. Thanks, Tatl," Link said.
"No problem," replied Tatl.
Link charged at it with his Shield. The Real Bombchu exploded. As in, actually blew up. A Stray Fairy was simply floating around, so Link put on the Great Fairy's Mask and it floated towards him.
Stray Fairies: 3/15
Link opened the large chest in the middle of the room to find the Dungeon Map. He then went back down the stairs and jumped across to the platform on the right and entered the blue door.
He was in an even bigger chamber. It circled upwards to the very top of the temple.
There was only one door open: A gold-colored one. He ran over to it and went inside.
There was a large pair of two blocks stacked on top of one another inside an alcove. He donned the Goron Mask and pulled it along until it locked into place in the center of the room. He noticed that the alcove contained a chest, and he obtained it to find a Small Key. Link realized that there was nothing more he could do in this room. Just then, a chest appeared on the raised ledge on the right. Link couldn't reach the ledge, but if he came back from the top and used that pillar…he might be able to. He went back into the main chamber, and ran over to the red door covered in ice. A torch was beside it. He removed the Goron Mask.
"Okay, this is obvious." Link pulled out his bow and shoot an arrow through the flame, thawing the ice. He entered the door.
He was back in the entrance room.
"Oh, a shortcut," he said to himself, then ran over to the door that was locked and did the obvious: He unlocked it with the Small Key. He entered the room and opened the chest in the middle to reveal the Compass. The wall on the other side of the room was cracked. He used the Blast Mask to blow open the wall, then went up the stairs.
He was in a room with platforms covered with ice. He spied a bunch of icicles conveniently situated above each ice block, and used the arrows to bring them crashing down and break each ice block. He noticed a suspicious wall, and donned the Lens of Truth to reveal it was in fact an alcove. He climbed onto a ledge and jumped into the alcove, opening the Chest to reveal another Stray Fairy.
Stray Fairies: 4/15
He made his way around the room to the raised ledge with a giant snowball, and donned the Goron Mask. He punched the snowball to reveal a chest, and opened it to find a Small Key. Link used said small key to unlock the door back on the ground, then entered it.
He jumped down and dispatched the White Boes, then removed his Goron Mask. He put on the Great Fairy's Mask and Lens of Truth and looked up to see a Stray Fairy in a bubble near the ceiling.
He fired an arrow and freed it, and it floated down to him.
Stray Fairies: 5/15
One Goron-pounding switch puzzle later, he entered the door on the other side and found himself higher up in the central chamber. He rolled down the snow canopy on the side and entered the door.
A hooded figure appeared from one of the four pads in the room.
"It's a Wizzrobe. You'll get your chance right when it starts to attack. Be on the lookout for it!" explained Tatl.
Link removed the Goron Mask and pulled out his bow. He fired an arrow at the Wizzrobe every time he appeared, and then the Wizzrobe began to use illusions. Link saw right through them each time, and soon the Wizzrobe was dead.
He left behind a large chest, which Link opened to find Fire Arrows within.
Link returned to the main chamber, and accidentally fell to the bottom. It was scorching hot on the bottom floor, so Link donned the Goron Tunic. He found a floor switch in one of the patches of lava and donned the Goron Mask and stepped on it to reveal another chest. He opened it to reveal another Stray Fairy.
Stray Fairies: 6/15
He removed the Goron Mask, then climbed back up the stairs nearby to the first floor, then shot a Fire Arrow at the green door covered in ice to the west. He also thawed out the other green door, but took the one on the west.
He was in a room filled with pillars. Three Freezards populated the room, which he took out with Fire Arrows. A chest appeared, which he opened to find a Stray Fairy.
Stray Fairies: 7/15
He lit all of the torches in the room with Fire Arrows, which unlocked the door in the middle of the room. He jumped over to the door and went inside. There was a huge switch in the middle of the room. Link donned the Goron Mask and pounded down on it, which raised a giant stone pillar up in the central chamber.
He returned to the entrance room, then entered the red door, then the cyan door.
He was in the room with the Compass from earlier, and threw a bomb at a crate to reveal a Stray Fairy.
Stray Fairies: 8/15
One block-pushing puzzle later, he had another Stray Fairy and was in the room with the two blocks from before, but on the raised ledge.
Stray Fairies: 9/15
He hopped across the blocks and opened the chest on the other side.
Stray Fairies: 10/15
He made his way back to the Freezard room and killed the three of them again with Fire Arrows, then hopped over to the ledge and thawed out the chest with Fire Arrows. He opened it to reveal another Small Key.
He returned to the room with the Real Bombchu and killed it again, then killed the Freezard with Fire Arrows. He fired a Fire Arrow at the frozen eye switch over the raised area, which caused the platform he was standing on to rise up. He jumped across to the upper area, then donned the Lens of Truth and hopped across a series of invisible platforms and opened another chest to find yet another Stray Fairty.
Stray Fairies: 11/15
He returned to the upper floor, then entered to find himself back in the room with the ramps. He made his way around, thawing a few ice blocks, and made his way to another room. He encountered living snowballs.
"That's an Eeno. It's persistent! ...And it's susceptible to heat!" explained Tatl, and Link killed them with Fire Arrows.
He put on the Great Fairy's Mask and the Lens of Truth and found an alcove with another Stray Fairy. He used an arrow to free it.
Stray Fairies: 12/15
He thawed the ice blocking the stairs and went up.
He was able to quickly dispatch the two Dinolfos in the room, who each left behind a Stray Fairy.
Stray Fairies: 13/15
Stray Fairies: 14/15
He exited through the door and then crossed the central platform in the pillar room. He entered the next room and killed another Wizzrobe and opened the chest it left behind to find the Boss Key.
One puzzle of punching out parts of the pillar later, the path to the boss was clear. He found another invisible alcove and fired an arrow to get the final Stray Fairy.
Stray Fairies: 15/15
He made his way to the boss chamber and entered.
He found a beast frozen in ice, and thawed him with a Fire Arrow. The beast took off around the area.
MASKED MECHANICAL MONSTER
GOHT
He put on the Goron Mask and pursued him, rolling into him several times, which knocked him down and caused an eye similar to that on Odolwa to appear. He removed the mask and fired a series of arrows into Goht.
He repeated this process several times. Goht became progressively more desperate, throwing bombs, stalactites, etc.
Finally, Link sent a final Fire Arrow into its eye.
Goht went berserk, running around. He finally ran into the wall, and exploded, leaving behind a Heart Container and his mask.
Link grabbed the Heart Container and Goht's Remains.
Link found himself back in the realm of the giants.
"W-What exactly are all of you?" asked Tatl.
The giant groaned, and Tatl translated.
"'Guardians.' Guardians? So...You're protective gods?" she asked.
The giant nodded.
"That's why you're in the temples... But...why are the protective gods...?"
The Giant turned and walked away.
"No, wait! Are you listening to me? Hey! Wait..."
But it was too late. The Giant vanished into the clouds, and Link and Tatl were transported to the Mountain Village.
One trip to the Goron Village to get a Rock Sirloin later, the shivering Goron in Mountain Village had food and Link had Don Gero's Mask.
Link spoke to the frog on the lilypad near the Mountain Smithy while wearing Don Gero's Mask.
"I have been waiting for you, Don Gero. Forgive me if I'm mistaken, but it looks like you've lost a little weight...As you can see, Don Gero, the long winter has ended and spring has finally come to these mountains. Let us begin our chorus," the frog said, then hesitated. "Unfortunately, it seems not all of our members have gathered. Perhaps it is because winter was too long? They must not have realized that spring has come to the mountains... And when the great Don Gero has come for us, too...What a pity. Where in the world could the other members be, and what could they be doing?" Link agreed to go find the other four frogs.
One Goron Race and Powder Keg test later, Link had Gold Dust and a Powder Keg license. He gave the Gold Dust to Zubora, and the next day, he retrieved the new Gilded Sword. He also returned the Stray Fairies, and received the Magic Spin Attack from the Great Fairy of Power. Restoring the Great Fairy of Magic once more, he received Farore's Wind as another gift from her for restoring the Great Fairy of Power.
He then headed back to Termina Field and attempted to enter Great Bay.
The only problem was, he had no horse.
"…How are we supposed to get over this wall?" Link asked.
Afternoon of the First Day
66 Hours Remain
Author's Note: So, next chapter will be Link helping Romani. Yes, I compressed the Gold Dust and Rock Sirloin quests, but those have little to them anyway. Hopefully, once Link helps Romani, he'll remember to go back to the Lone Peak Shrine…