Hey, guys! No, you aren't imagining things, I'm actually uploading another chapter of this story. Shocking, isn't it? Yeah, sorry about my apparent neglect. I've been trying to rest my hands a bit since I just learned that the car wreck I got into last year may have resulting in a torn ligament in my left thumb. I'm an idiot for waiting this long to get it checked out, I admit it.
In other news, there has been some exciting Pokémon-related news lately. In honor of their 20th anniversary, Nintendo is giving away all of the Gen 1-5 Mythical Pokémon this year for XY and ORAS versions. Mew's already kicked it off, and it will be going on until February 24th. So, if you're reading this after the 24th of February, I apologize, but it's too late for you now.
I don't own Legend of Zelda or associated characters. Enjoy!
Trilby Highlands
As Link stepped out into the Trilby Highlands, he had to stop for a moment. Partly, it was because this was a part of Hyrule he had never seen much of, but the main reason was that an orange fox-like creature intent on stabbing him with a knife raced by. On instinct, the boy took his sword and plunged it into the Keaton's back. The monster cried out once before disappearing in a puff of smoke.
Link grimaced, then said, "You know, that doesn't feel honorable at all, stabbing a creature in the back."
"You'd better steel yourself then, boy," admonished Ezlo. "Most of the monsters here won't be so easy, and it will get harder as we go. Honor doesn't fit into their thinking capacity. Besides, some will have to be defeated in this same way. You can't lower your guard just because you want to preserve your honor."
"Yeah, I get what you're saying. Honor won't do me any good if I'm dead." Link sighed, then checked his surroundings. Two choices presented themselves to him. The main path to the Crenel Mountains ran north, but ahead of him were stairs leading into a cavern. Ezlo made a noise of protest as he approached the cave. "Boy, what are you doing?"
"Trust me on this, Ezlo," Link said, his footsteps echoing in the cave. "I've got a feeling that this is important."
As Link stepped off the final stair into the surprisingly well-lit cave, three things caught his interest: a large rock too big for him to move on his own, a few glowing spots on the floor, and two lit torches in front of a wall. Between the torches, the wall looked as if a cave-in had collapsed an entrance to another part of the cave.
Acting on a hunch, Link pulled out one of Belari's bombs and placed it in front of the pile of rocks. He pulled the loop and ran to a safe distance. The bomb detonated with a loud "BOOM!" that echoed through the cave. As the dust cleared, the young hero could see that there was indeed an entrance to a secret room.
He strolled into the room but had to roll out of the way of a nut spit at him by a Deku Scrub. Just like the first one he met with Zelda, he put his shield out in front of him. The next projectile hit the shield and was sent flying back to the source. "Ow! Okay, ya got me!" the Scrub wailed. "Let me make it up to ya!"
Link put his shield away and approached the Deku Scrub. "How?"
The creature ruffled through the leaves on its head and pulled out a fantastic, amazing, spectacular- glass bottle. "You can have this most deluxe of bottles for twenty Rupees! What do ya say, huh?"
Seeing how Link was reaching for his bag of money, Ezlo hissed in his ear, "Boy, are you sure you should do this? It's just a big scam! There's plenty of bottles around Hyrule!"
"Good sir, this is no ordinary bottle! It can clean itself, and has many uses! The price is well worth it! Heck, I should be charging extra, but I'm a nice Scrub, and I did spit nuts at you. Twenty Rupees!" the Scrub insisted.
Link shrugged and gave the creature a red Rupee. It gladly gave the bottle to him, saying, "Thanks a lot!"
Link smiled. "No problem." He waved goodbye to the Scrub. "Hope you get more business now that the entrance is open again. How did you get in here, anyway?"
It shrugged in a very humanlike fashion. "You know, there are some details that aren't important."
As Link walked out, Ezlo started bouncing on his head. "Link, you fool! Why did you waste our valuable money on a bottle?!" he screeched. "That's probably the most useless thing possible!"
Link sighed. "It occurred to me that the Fire Element is in Mount Crenel. Because it's a volcano, having some water close by would be useful." He paused as he killed an Octorok. "Besides, I heard about a witch in the east that sells potions. I can't transport potions in a regular canteen, so a glass bottle is perfect."
Ezlo rolled his eyes but said nothing more as Link crossed over a bridge and into Mt. Crenel's Base. The area was vastly different from the Trilby Highlands. The grass faded away to dirt, the gentle hills became steep cliffs, and a little smoke could be seen at the top of the mountain.
Right away, Link spotted a part of the cliff that had a collapsed tunnel, just like in the cave in the Trilby Highlands. He set off a bomb, clearing the rubble away. Entering the cave, he dodged yet another nut spit at him by a Deku Scrub.
He deflected it in the usual way back to the source, and the Scrub bowed low. "So sorry! I'll make it up to ya by telling you something good! A friend of mine in a cave just east of here, in the Trilby Highlands, has an item. If you plan on going up Mount Crenel, I think you might need it. It won't get you all the way to the top of the mountain, but it might give you a start!"
Link pulled out his recent purchase. "You mean this glass bottle?"
The Scrub jumped a few times excitedly. "Yes, exactly that! There are some bean sprouts, like the one just outside, that grow rapidly if you sprinkle water on them!"
"What's wrong with a normal container, like this one?" Ezlo fished out Link's canteen and held it in his mouth.
The creature shook its head. "No, those won't do at all! Those don't have the volume required at all!"
Link glanced up at Ezlo. "And you said that the bottle would be useless?"
The funny creature bounced on Link's head. "I still stand by my words!"
"Alright, let's see what's better." Link strolled outside, his canteen in one hand and the empty bottle in the other. He went up to the river and filled them both with fresh water. Turning around, he spotted a bean sprout next to the Deku Scrub's cave. He sprinkled the sprout with the water from the canteen and waited for the growth to happen.
Several minutes passed with no results, and Link tried sprinkling water from the bottle. The result was instantaneous as the sprout jiggled a few times, then vines shot out, attaching themselves to the cliff. "Well…" Ezlo said in a dumbstruck tone of voice, "I guess there really is something that makes bottles better."
Link tested the vines, and they seemed to hold his weight. After filling his canteen again, he climbed up the vines onto the cliff. He then saw a ladder and climbed that, then almost got hit by a monster jumping around in front of a cliff. Link slayed the Tektites, then glanced at the sign in front of the cliff, which said, "Danger, no climbing."
"No climbing? But we need to get up there!" he exclaimed in frustration.
Ezlo sighed. "I know… but there's a good reason for it." He looked to the south. "Perhaps we'll find an alternative route elsewhere."
After going south for a little bit, he came to a fork in the road. He went left and saw that he was overlooking the entrance to the foothills. He turned his eyes to a spot in the wall between two wooden posts. "Hm…." the boy hummed aloud, thinking about the mysterious spot. He pulled out his sword and tapped the wall, and was surprised to hear a hollow sound. Once more, he placed a bomb at the spot and ran away. The bomb blew up, and he walked through the hidden passage revealed by the explosion.
"Chuchus!" Ezlo cried out as three red blobs of goo jumped at them. Link rolled out of the way and went to slice them, but the sword cut through the air as the Chuchus dissolved into the ground. He waited until they all appeared again, then killed them with a well-timed Spin Attack.
Link climbed the ladder at the back of the room, which led back outside. He saw a large rock with a hole in the center and a cracked block that looked like it was blocking a small path to a hot spring. The boy couldn't get to the spring as he was now, but maybe if he was smaller…
"Boy, you'd better keep track of those bombs. Who knows when you'll be able to resupply," said Ezlo as Link placed yet another bomb near the cracked block, which crumbled away from the force of the blast.
Link turned his attention to the rock with the hole. "I feel some sort of energy coming from this rock," he said, placing a hand on it. "It almost feels like the tree stumps in the Minish Woods."
"The ones that were portals to the world of the Minish?" the strange hat asked. "Well, get on the stump, and I'll see if we can shrink!"
Link got on top of the stump and stood still as Ezlo spoke the incantation. He felt his body get smaller, and he fell through the hole, bouncing on a few crystals before he hit the ground. After he dusted himself off, he exited the rock, Minish-sized once again.
"So this perfectly normal-looking stone was another portal to the Minish world!" Ezlo exclaimed, pleased with himself. "There may be other rock portals. Keep your eyes peeled, boy…"
Link nodded and strolled to the place where he had blown up the block. He dodged the small monsters in his way until he came across the hot spring he saw earlier. He placed his hand in the water, the temperature pleasantly warm. "Should we take some of this water with us?" he asked Ezlo.
"Hm… that's a good question, lad. Normally, I wouldn't say so, but I was proven wrong about the bottled water before," the hat responded. "I'd say go for it."
Link took out his bottle and dipped into the green water, putting a cork on the top when it was full. He retraced his steps to the rock portal, growing back to normal size. He hiked over to the west and found an entrance into the mountain, but when he walked in, all that was in the room was a Deku Scrub. He deflected the nut back in the usual way and talked to the Scrub, finding out that it was selling bombs of all things.
He deflected the nut back in the usual way and talked to the Scrub, finding out that it was selling bombs of all things. "Ten for just thirty Rupees!" Link paid the funny creature, replenishing his bomb supply. "Is there a way up the mountain?" he asked.
The Scrub tilted its head in thought. "There's a collapsed wall just to the left of me. Maybe if you use those bombs?"
Link nodded and gave the Scrub a tip before leaving. He placed a bomb at the indicated spot and entered the cave after it went off. Right away, he had to fend off attacks from bat-like monsters called Keese. After they were dealt with, he noticed a chasm he couldn't cross. Looking around, he saw a large mushroom similar to the ones he saw in the Deepwood Shrine. He pulled it back and vaulted across the chasm, landing perfectly on the other side.
He saw a flight of stairs and went up the steps, but jumped quickly out of the way of a monster wearing a large mask. He tried to use his sword on the monster, but it just bounced off of the mask. "What the heck?!" Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another one of the monsters. Fortunately, it had not seen him yet.
"Your sword won't do a thing against those Helmasaurs," Ezlo warned. "But once you take their iron masks off, they're no trouble whatsoever."
"How do I take the masks off?"
"I shouldn't have to tell you everything, boy! Figure it out yourself, but do it quickly! You're carrying me, after all!"
Link quickly went through his options in his head. The best ones he came up with were slicing their backs or sucking up the masks with the Gust Jar. As the Helmasaur sped towards him, he rolled out of the way and sliced his sword across its back, killing it.
Seeing that it was out of commission, he quickly took out the Gust Jar and pointed the hole towards the other Helmasaur. The monster stopped in mid charge as its mask suddenly flew off of it and into the jar. Link stabbed it, then put his sword away with a flourish as the monster disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Well done, lad. Well done," complimented Ezlo.
Link smiled at the compliment and went outside, dispatching a red Chuchu before it got the jump on them. There was no obvious path forward, just a couple of twisters levitating near the ledges.
"Hm?! Hmmmnnn... Ah, of course! How silly of me!" Ezlo proclaimed after taking in Link's predicament. "Hey, boy! Jump into that whirlwind over there for me!" As Link lined up his jump, Ezlo laughed nervously. "Heh heh heh... I wonder, is this a good idea, or a terrible one?"
"Only one way to find out!" shouted Link as he jumped into the whirlwind. He felt Ezlo slipping off of his head, so he held on to him tightly. Ezlo suddenly grew to a huge size, and Link used this improvised parachute to safely drift to the other ledge. "Wow. That worked better than I expected."
"Speak for yourself..." the hat groaned. "I feel bloated..."
Link chuckled as he continued hiking, climbing a ladder when he found it. Looking at the new area, he saw another bean sprout that was just out of reach. "Now how do I get that?" he wondered as he saw a hole where the bean sprout could go.
Ezlo's head twitched slightly as he looked south. "Try using the Gust Jar to get rid of this dust." He motioned his beak to an area where a lot of dust had gathered. Link nodded and pulled it out, and was surprised to see that it had been covering a rock portal.
He jumped onto the rock and had Ezlo shrink him, then he strolled to a small path that led straight to the bean sprout. He stood in front of it, wondering how he could lift it up.
"My boy, even though you're smaller, you still have the same strength as you did when you were normal-sized," said Ezlo. "You can lift this bean easily!"
The boy put his hands under the bean, a dubious expression on his face. Nevertheless, he pulled up on it. The results were more than he could have hoped for, and he was soon carrying the bean down the path like it was nothing.
He dumped the bean in the hole and grew back to normal, then went back to it. "Hm... If this bean works on the same principles of the first one, it should grow when you sprinkle water on it," said Ezlo. "But since the pod for this one is green, maybe normal water won't cut it."
"Well, good thing I didn't bring normal water," said Link as he pulled out the bottle containing the Spring Water. He sprinkled it on the bean, and just like the first one, the vines grew all the way to the top of the cliff.
"Good job, boy!" Ezlo cheered. "But we shouldn't celebrate yet. This is only the first part. It'll only get more difficult as we get closer to Melari. Keep your wits about you..."
Link nodded as he climbed the vines. The foothills were behind him, but there was still a mountain in front of him, and he would need all his strength for the new trials to come...
I am aware that this chapter may come across as boring, and I apologize. But I tried to make it entertaining where I could.
Anyways, thanks for reading, and don't forget to leave a review! Bye!