Link made his way out of the castle and went down to the inn where he had slept the night before. "I'm sorry, but I'm getting pretty tired," Link reasoned to Samba under his breath. (Samba was, right now, hiding in his ring, seeing as some people and guards were still outside.) The streets at night were interesting--not so many people, as well as this air of mystery.
Incedentially, the inn was located past the old cathedral. When Link passed by it, he stopped and looked at it, wide-eyed. 'Woah...'
Seeing as nobody else was around, Samba came out. "You...You feel that?" he asked quietly.
Link nodded. "Yeah," he replied. "It's like...some sort of deep trouble is resonating from that place..."
Samba "nodded", or bobbed up and down slightly while rolling up and down (though this wasn't very noticible; unlike fairies, Samba and Link in their ball-of-light forms have nothing that stays on them to indicate facing, like wings). "It feels like...like the feeling I had in front of the Empty Cavern, except worse," he described.
Link jerked in the way that people do when they finally get something that's been bothering them. He held up a finger. "THAT'S the feeling I had earlier today!" he exclaimed quietly. "The same feeling I had before the Forest of Peril...interesting..." He moved away, however, since his energy level wasn't up to the amount he would have liked to explore the cathedral.
Link's inn was actually closeby the Broken Rupee. So, feeling hungry, he decided to go and grab a bite to eat. "What, I get nothing?" asked Samba from behind him as he approached the tavern. He'd figured out that he could always just hide behind Link's shield if he was inside an inhabited area.
"No, I'll figure out a way to carry some food back to the inn for you," he whispered back as he opened the door. "Now hush, else I seem to be talking to myself..."
He went in and first asked if people were allowed to carry out any unfinished food somehow. The bartender smiled warmly and nodded. "Why, of course," he said. "You just say the word, and we'll have the plate wrapped in some nice, clean paper. We'd like it if you brought the plate back, of course," he added. "It'll be free of charge, don't worry; the Broken Rupee has to cater to its customers to the fullest if it wants to continue business!" (Paper was known about in Hyrule, but parchment was used a fair amount. One reason was because the parchment made there was sturdier than paper and could withstand being rolled up and such a lot more--thus, it was much better-suited for maps.)
Link smiled and thanked him for the information before ordering a fair amount of food for one person. He later wished he had asked Samba to pay for the food he got him, since his wallet was quite light after purchasing the meal. One reason it was so expensive was because he ordered some good, medium-done steak for Samba, who wondered if he could drool in his ball of light form. (If he could, he would have apologized to Link later for drenching his entire back; he's rarely had steak and he's always jumped at the chance to have some.) He also ordered a bit of poultry, some bread, a slice of cheese, and a glass of ice-cold milk for himself.
After paying the entire 90-rupee sum that this all came to (he'd been able to gather quite a few rupees from the money that the guards had given up upon defeat--'Hey, spoils, eh?' he reasoned), Link sat down in the spot he had before. The tavern was in a buzz around him.
"Did you see those fireworks?"
"Yeah! And I hear that the castle was attacked!"
"Wow, I wonder what happened?"
Link gulped as he heard all of this around him. 'Nobody said anything about us, right?' he hoped.
"I wanna thank whoever set those fireworks off," said a young voice. Link looked and noticed the same four people from before sitting at the same table in the same spots. 'Must be a popular meeting place for them,' he reasoned. The youngest one there was grinning from ear to ear. "Those were really cool!"
"I'll admit, they were a heck of an extravagent diversion," said the burly man, crossing his arms and nodding.
"Like, why did they do it, though?" asked the blonde, tilting her head and putting a finger to her mouth.
"Like he said, a diversion," the gerudo answered, arms behind her head while she rested her feet on the edge of the table.
"I wasn't talking about a diversion for some ploy," the man said a little defensively.
"I know, but it sure diverted the guards for a bit while some folks went in and attacked," the gerudo said, sighing. Link instantly looked away from the group. Thankfully, his food was carried in then, the steak on one plate and the rest on another, so he had something to divert his attention. He couldn't help eavesdropping, though, while he ate.
"So, like, there WAS an attack on the castle?" the blonde asked in wonder.
The gerudo tilted her hand. "Kinda-sorta," she answered. "It wasn't a real attack to take the castle--there were only...what, I think it was five or six people total."
"And you had a front-row seat, didn't you?" asked the burly man, crossing his arms.
"Ooooh, you were there?" the boy asked excitedly.
The gerudo smirked and held her hands up, palms forward, eyes closed. "Alright, I give; I was sitting in the shadows of the back wall, I'll admit. But I was only there because I was bored, I promise," she said, opening her eyes and pointing at them all. "I wasn't part of the whole scheme there at all. I mean, seriously, when's the last time us desert folks have associated with a bunch of lizalfos?" She held her hands (and palms) up with a defensively skeptical (I guess) look on her face.
Samba gulped this time after hearing this. 'Meep.'
"So, what else happened?" the boy asked eagerly.
"Nothin' much," she replied, shrugging calmly with an uniterested eyes-closed look on her face. "All I could see through the windows was a bunch of guards chickening out as the monsters plowed on through. It looks like they were after the ring that the Royal Family's been keeping under guard and wanted to get to it the only way their tiny brains knew how: brute force."
Samba growled, but before he could retort, Link purposefully shrugged in a way that his sheild bopped down on Samba, which actually squished him a little bit (attacks flew through him, but that didn't mean he wasn't somewhat solid) and was enough of a warning to make him roar back only in his mind. 'HEY! For your information, we had to plan that whole thing, from the selection of people to the place we started from to the acting like normal monsters looking for prey before the signal that WE sent up!!' He made sure to remember all that if he ever had the chance to yell at her in private.
The table nodded in agreement. "Like, yeah, those guys aren't very smart," the blonde said. "Though...wait, maybe...naw, that can't be," she muttered to herself.
"So, anything else?" asked the man.
"Well, I think I caught a glimpse of some other guy coming up the other way," the gerudo said, looking up in thought. "Didn't get a good look at him, though. He was wicked good with the sword, though it's not that hard to defeat the guards the castle has these days," she chuckled.
Link tried his best not to freeze or do anything when he heard this, and he calmed down when he heard her not say anything about his description that could point him out. 'I've got a sword with me, but that means pretty much nothing...'
"Not only that," she continued, holding up a finger, "but a while afterwards, when the fireworks had ended and I was about to move, I saw the strangest thing." She put her feet on the floor and smirked as she rested her chin on her hand and her elbow on the table. "You wouldn't believe it, but I saw a few guards ESCORTING, like, five of the lizalfos back out to the wall. Their grappling hooks were still there, so they just climbed back up--leaving one of them there, since I guess one of them got killed or something--and hopped back over the other side from whence they came, the escorts telling the others not to do anything to them. I couldn't see over the other side of the wall very well without potentially getting caught, but I guess they made it back alright." She chuckled. "I'm not making any of this up, honest," she said, "but I don't think the folks at the castle would appreciate it if word gets out about this, so major hush-hush."
The people at the table nodded. The man and the gerudo didn't look too sure about the kid and the blonde, though; they both looked ready to blab. They must have decided it was alright after a moment, though, since they seemed to calm down. 'Nobody'd believe a little kid,' Link thought, 'and that blonde's a total airhead.'
Samba breathed a sigh of relief. "Good, they're safe," he wispered.
Link finished his food and asked for the steak to be wrapped up. "I guess my eyes were bigger than my stomach," he chuckled, grinning sheepishly, to the bartender as he came with some paper to wrap around the dish.
"That's alright; it WAS quite a tempting-looking steak," the bartender told Link, smiling. He handed it to him. "Here you go! Thank you for eating here!"
Link smiled and nodded, saying it wasn't a problem, before getting up with the steak and walking out the door.
The gerudo kept an eye on him as he left.
Link set the plate on an endtable while he sat on the single bed there. He had closed the door and window curtains already. He held his rings up. "Alright, you want out?" he asked quietly.
Samba zipped out from behind him. "Please, I can't wait a second more...!" he whined. "Steeeeak..."
Link chuckled and took off the ring. He lobbed it into the air in front of him. Before long, a red light flashed in the form of Samba from the ring, which righted itself to fit on his right ring claw as he quickly solidified. He looked at himself a bit. "Still trying to get used to that," he muttered. He then turned to the plate and licked his lips, drool starting from his mouth already like a sink starting to overflow. "Thank you very much!" he said before he grabbed it, tore the paper off, and--asked if there was a fork or anything. Link chuckled and brought out some (washed) utensils he actually carried around with him just in case he had to hunt for his own food on his long outing.
Link was honestly surprised that Samba used utensils at all. He ate ravenously, practically taking the whole hunk of meat with the fork and sticking it halfway in his mouth, but he was still sensible enough to use some of the paper to mop his mouth before he dribbled down much. Midway through chewing his first bite, he took off his helm, revealing his blue face entirely. "Oh, so the horns are just decoration?" Link asked, looking at the head armor.
Samba nodded and swallowed. "Yes, they are," he answered. "I don't mind the helm much, but I guess it does get in the way a bit, sometimes. I don't like how it has to be strapped on like it is. You're lucky that your cap fits your head so nicely," he told him before taking another bite. "...Will anyone object to there being two voices from a room where only one is supposed to be staying?" he asked through his food after a second.
Link shrugged. "If we're quiet, that shouldn't be much of a problem," he answered. He sighed and took his cap off, revealing his hair. He ran a hand through it. "Whoo, this all really gets sweaty after a while," he muttered. "It's the most durable clothing I've got, though."
Samba smirked after swallowing. "Heh! Try being sent off with a piece of full plate front torso armor and running around with it on!" he said. "I actually let a soldier get the straps with his sword when he was attacking me on the stairs up to the place we met so I could get rid of it. I hope the chief won't kill me, but seriously, I just can't be weighed down by so much armor." He sighed and shook his head before taking another bite.
Link smiled a bit and leaned back on the bed, propping himself with his arms. "You know, your Hylian is very good," he commented.
"Thank you very much!" Samba smiled at him at this. "I've been working on it for quite a while--two years, actually, and practically every day. I like it, no matter how difficult it is to learn for someone who makes hisses and growls for much of his main language." He turned back to his food and continued chewing. A few moments later, and he was starting to swallow.
"My, but those are pretty rings for a man to wear," the gerudo said, hands behind her back as she leaned and looked over Link's shoulder from the other side of the bed.
Link gasped and turned and Samba started to choke, thumping his chest. "Y-You!" Link breathed.
Samba wheezed as he got the food out of his airway, swallowed, and turned to her and asked, "How the hell...did YOU get in here...?!"
The gerudo stood up and held a hand to her mouth while she chuckled. "Mm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hm! I'm sorry for surprising you, boys, but I couldn't help myself. I'm surprised neither of you noticed me." She stretched and sighed. "I've actually been hiding under the bed this whole time. Just glad I got it right." She walked over to the end of the bed and sat down.
Link gulped and Samba growled. "What do you want?" asked the lizalfos.
"Oh, nothing, nothing," the gerudo said, holding out her hand as if examining her fingernails. "Just wanted to talk a little bit. I'm not enemy of yours, trust me on this one." She sighed and hugged a leg up onto the bed with her. "Name's Aradia. Seeing as calling you Greenie and Blue Boy wouldn't be nice, what're YOUR names?" she chuckled.
Link and Samba blinked a moment before looking at each other, a little unsure. Then Link looked at Aradia and nodded. "I'm Link," he introduced.
"Samba," Samba gave.
Aradia nodded. "Well met, Link and Samba," she said. "As I'm sure you both heard from me talking at the tavern, you know I was there, watching. I'll bet you betted that I actually found a way to watch the entire thing, too," she added, closing her eyes in that "Oh, well" way.
Link shook his head, but Samba went, "Heh!" He pointed at her. "I've heard about you gerudo girls. I just never thought you were that sneaky."
Araida chuckled and held her hands up. "Well, sorry for having it in my blood," she mock apologized. "My father actually has a heck of a knack for that kinda stuff. I guess I can pull it off better than most. Not blowing my own horn, of course," she added, resting on a hand on the bed while winking and shaking a finger back at them, the arm it was on resting on the knee of the leg she had on the bed.
Link frowned a little bit as he sat a bit farther back on the bed, crossing his arms while he looked at her. "What do you want to talk about?" he asked.
Aradia sighed, shaking her head while drooping it. "What, no small talk? Ugh, oh, well," she said. She looked up again and brought her other leg up on the bed while turning to them. "I just wanted to say that I'm on your side in this little quest of yours that the princess talked about," she told them. "I'm not going to be able to join you, though I bet it'd be pretty fun, but I'll be sure to put a good word in for you two if you decide to pay us a visit," she winked.
Samba raised an eyeridge, munching his last bite of steak. "No offence, but I'd rather not get sand in my scales more than I have to, thanks," he said through the food.
Aradia raised an eyebrow right back. "Well, why not just hide in your ruby like you were and make your hylian friend here go through it?" she suggested, then joked, "That is, if you remember to do so!"
Samba growled after he swallowed and said, "I have as good a memory as you guys!! I don't think I'd forget something like that in a week or so or however long this ordeal's going to last." He then recalled what she had said before and added, "Oh, and for your information, we had to plan that whole thing, from the selection of people to the place we started from to the acting like normal monsters looking for prey before the signal that WE sent up!!"
Aradia raised her eyebrows in surprise that he remembered that remark and hadn't said anything at the time and laughed, "I'm sorry! I was joking! I take it, from your intelligence and calmer nature, you're one of those Jgk'hry monsties, right?" she asked, pointing at him.
Samba nodded. "Yes. I wonder what'll happen to the others, actually," he added, looking down and away a little as he worried about the others in the group. "What'll our nutjob chief do...?"
At this, Aradia narrowed her eyebrows. "That's another thing, by the way," she went on, leaning over to them a bit more. "I wanted to tell you guys to watch out for folks and monsters that seem a bit more...evil than normal. I'm actually being plauged by the same case..." She softened her expression into a hint of worry as she looked away as she said this. She looked back like she had before, though, after a second. "I'm warning you to be careful about those people. I've yet to find out a way to assist them, but I know that it's something not natural. I dunno about you, but I've been seeing the clouds of hate slowly, ever so slowly, coming on the horizon ever since I heard about these abnormalities."
Link and Samba exchanged raised eyebrows before they looked at her again. "Actually, I had to fight a giant pig that had a weird, pulating red crystal stuck up her rear," said Link. "I destroyed it, and she was normal and peaceful again afterwards."
Aradia put a hand to her chin in thought. "I see," she said. "I guess that you've already experienced a case of that, then." She looked up at them and nodded, smirking and looking wiley again. "Well, I guess I'd better get out of here before I get caught and to let you two do some good old fashioned male bonding," she said, getting off the bed. "I can't believe I got to see that those Rings of Dualty you've got are the real deal...you guys are pretty lucky, you know. I'd give anything to be able to go out and do some traveling..."
Link and Samba shrugged at this. "We're doing this because we have to," Samba said. "I've got to do this to help ultimately defend my home, and Link's basically doing the same."
Aradia chuckled and stretched her arms. "Mmmm...Well, before I go, I wanted to ask you two something: You know about those Heart Container things you probably got from those Leviathans, right?" she asked. They nodded. "Well, you know about Pieces of Heart?"
Link raised his eyebrows. "Oh! I remember that I got a couple in the Forest of Peril and one from the farmer who owned the pig I was talking about," he described. "He said the name, but I don't think he said anything about what they do."
Aradia slouched and smirked. "Well, if you guys collect five of those puppies, you'll assemble a full Heart Container and further enhance your body's ability to take damage before it gives out," she explained. "And I dunno if Zeldy said anything about it, but your guys' life force is somewhat shared, now. If one of you falls, the other does, too. Also, if one ever collects a Heart Container, the other reaps the benefits as well. The same with your Pieces of Heart."
They raised their eyebrows/eyeridges at this, looking alarmedly at each other. "So if one of us is killed, even if the other's taken no hits, then both of us die?" asked Link with the sound of someone who might have a dry throat.
Aradia nodded. "However," she added, holding up a finger, "this doesn't mean that you can't extend your defenses further. Just because if one dies, the other does, too, it doesn't mean that if one's health drops, the other's will, as well. If one of you finds yourself in a critical state, I'd advise letting the other have all three rings and hide. Sure, the one wearing them will take about half more damage as long as long as the one hiding is below half of his limits, but it's enough to get you guys out of danger. Oh, and collecting those hearts that help us rough-and-tumbles out so much in dealing with boo-boos will only count for each of you individually, even when wearing all three rings."
Samba looked at his ring, brow furrowed. "So...let's see...If I'm more than halfway towards dying and I hide in my ring, Link will take more damage to himself but I'll be fine?" he reviewed. "And if I collect a heart, it will only restore my body and not his?"
Aradia nodded. "Correct. Also, if you guys are smart enough to pack a fairy with you, it will rescue the other guy if you fall--but for half the amount of health it restores normally if it's going for you. This makes life a lot easier for you, but I suspect that if you have to use the rings in the first place, you've got some tough battles ahead of you. I just hope you both know how to handle yourselves and how to handle each other," she chuckled.
The two nodded. Link asked, raising an eyebrow, "Why do you know so much about the Rings of Dualty?"
"Oh, they've been passed down in story form for generations for us gerudos hanging around the temple," she explained. "I don't hang around there much, but I'm a Jill of All Trades, I guess you could say." She went to the window and opened it. "Well, I've got to get going," she said, looking back at them while putting a foot out on the sill and smiling mischievously. "I'll tell Head Granny about you guys; she'll be thrilled. Don't worry, we're the good girls; we won't tell anyone," she assured them. She sighed and smirked at them, winking, "Well, see you soon, guys! Bye!" And Aradia was gone.
Link and Samba looked at each other, blinking. "That was interesting," Samba said.
"Very." Link got up and shut the window before he turned and began to take his tunic off, starting with his belt full of bags. (He had tights and other underwear on, don't worry.) "So, what instrument you going to get?" he asked.
Samba shrugged. "I'll see what they've got when you get there," he answered. He began to get ready for sleep, as well, taking his sword and buckler off. He got to his pebble bag and tilted his head in thought. "Hey, could I see that boomerang you got?" he asked.
Link smiled proudly and produced it before he took his "utility belt" off. He gave it to Samba, who took it amd looked at it, impressed look on his face. "It's become my favorite weapon apart from my sword," he described. "It's great--I can throw it at a wall, even and it'll come right back every time. It can also defeat small enemies, like keese, and stun larger ones, like moblins. What's most useful, though, is the fact I can sort of 'target' up to five, I think, things and it'll go in the order I chose. It can even go in water!" he added, grinning widely. "It transforms when it hits water and reverts a little while after it's out of it. It's also got so many other uses...Who knows what it could do next?" Link shrugged with a smile.
"Wow," Samba said with a wry smile, giving it back. "Knocks the snot out of my measly little spell that makes a spark fly whenever a rock I throw hits something. It lights dry tinder, causes extra damage, and causes certain red stones to blow up after a second."
Link raised his eyebrows. "Not a bad spell, sounds like," he commented. He took off his shirt and stretched his arms. "Oooh, much better..." He sat on the bed and, with all the talk about dungeons, pulled out the map from that dungeon from his pack. "Wow...I can't believe that night," he said. "I know, it wasn't completely fun, and shouldn't have been, but...I did have a little fun, I'll admit it."
"What, fighting monsters and trying to figure out what the heck is up with the place?" scoffed Samba, who, shirtless himself, brought out his own map. He narrowed his eyes as he looked at a spot on it. "What is...?"
"No, not that," Link said. "The place that will probably make me never look at vines the same way again actually had inside of it a great deal of puzzles for me to solve. Just about every single room had one or two. I got one of my Pieces of Heart from there after figuring out a two-room puzzle that had the clues in one room and the puzzle in the other." He chuckled. "Now that I think of it, I bet that guy who had a study in there made the cute little story clues for them," he muttered.
"You LIKED those puzzles?" Samba asked, raising an eyeridge at him. "I tell you, they weren't all that fun for me. Well...okay, I guess I DID have a little fun. If it weren't for the fact I was afraid my sister was going to die every second I wasted in there, I might have, indeed, had more fun." Curious, he leaned over and peeked at Link's map. "Wow. Lot different than the Empty Cavern."
Link looked at the Empty Cavern map. "Yeah, yours uses floors a lot more," he commented. He looked at the labrynth room where Samba had found his Piece of Heart. "Why is only that room on all the floors?"
"OH," Samba said, rolling his eyes. "THAT room. Ugh...I think that's one of those fun-but-not-fun things you were talking about...I put that one off until the end because of how complicated it looks. It's all a big, convoluted gahetaq...er, sorry, I mean...l...something..." He blushed as he struggled for the word. "Sorry, I don't remember that one well," he said.
"'Labyrinth'?"
"Yeah, thanks..."
Link smiled. "Hey, language is hard." He looked interestedly at his partner's map and noticed something. "You missed a chest."
Samba nodded. "Yeah, I just noticed," he said, looking at it. It appeared to be behind the cave-in he had seen in the first hallway. "It's behind a cave-in...I doubt I'd be able to get through by taking the stones out one by one." He thought a little bit. "If I could just blow them all away with a great blast...like if I could grab a bunch of those red stones and blow them up there...but there weren't any..."
Link tilted his head as he looked at the map. "You know, I think I've heard about bombs being sold places," he said. "They could probably blow it up."
Samba nodded. "If we ever want to go back in there," he added. "I dunno if you could make it through some spots without a lizalfos's superior legs." He grinned and slapped his great, firm thigh. "No offence, of course."
"None taken." Link looked at his own map and smiled a little wistfully. "There were some really great puzzles in the Forest of Peril," he said. "I guess they were what made it perilous."
"Well, I don't get why the Empty Cavern got its name," Samba laughed, giving a sarcastic smile as he did. "It was full of so many monsters and artificially made things like chain-hung platforms."
Link raised an eyebrow. "Really?" he asked. He lay on the bed and looked at Samba. "Say, what kind of puzzles were there that you had to figure out?"
Samba leaned back on his chair as he spoke, putting a big foot up on it. "You're into puzzles, aren't you?" he asked, raising an eyeridge. "Well, let's see...There was one room that had this confusing arrangement with some of those platforms I was talking about, all hung over a bed of stalagmites." He took out a piece of charcoal he had with him and drew a circle around some platforms and a square around others, then put a 1 or 2 on them. "The circled ones were down when I came in and the squared ones were up. When I hit an eye-shaped switch that was on the basement floor, the ones with the 1's changed positions, switching floors. If I hit a switch on the second floor, the 2's moved."
Link raised his eyebrows and nodded. "Interesting," he said. "Sounds like an aggrivating puzzle."
"It was," Samba said, growling at the memory. "That's not all, either. This room, this room, and this room all had a special keystone that I had to carry all the way back into the chain platform chamber to this spot on the first floor in order for a chest with a gear that let the door to the Leviathan's chamber open to appear," he continued, pointing to the spiraling room, the stepping stone room, and the labyrinth room. "I had to go up a few spiraling ledges in this room and defeat, of all things in that place, deku babas--yeah, I was surprised when I found out plants like that grew in caves, too--before I got this map and the first keystone." He put his claw on the spiral room.
"I then went and hopped across these stepping stones--things I bet you couldn't cross no matter how hard you tried, no offence--all the way to this middle platform in this room, grabbing the compass for the dungeon and the next keystone, which I had to carry back while fending off swarms of keese." He pointed to the stepping stone room.
"I saved the maze room for last. I had to go up and down and all around the room, facing nothing, as I searched for the final keystone. I found it at the end of the path and triggered a giant boulder chasing after me. I had to haul tail back all the way down before it crushed me." He pointed to the maze room and looked up thoughtfully. "I dunno why, but something about that hazard seems...cliché..." He shrugged and pointed to the spot the Heart Piece was found. "I found my own Piece of Heart here--which knocks our count up to four total, now, right?--after I went and stepped on a switch here to bring up a wall to protect me from the boulder." He pointed to the spot the switch was in.
"Sounds fun," Link said. "Dangerous, but fun."
"I guess that's the main puzzle there," Samba said. "A couple rooms needed to be cleared of enemies and one puzzle, after I grabbed my Fire Pebble spell, brought up some more stepping stones that opened a door across to here. Then I had to find both the key and the gear for the Leviathan's door, so...yeah. Pretty much it." (Now that I think about it, the Empty Cavern might have been a better choice for a starting dungeon...)
Link nodded. "Sounds challenging nonetheless," he said. "As for me, I think I had a bit more to deal with." He laid his map down and pointed to the first room, then to each room and spot as he went. "First was the foyer. I had to kill all the keese to get a key that appeared here. Then I got into this main room, where I saw the thief--my friend, Betta--go through the big door here, where I fought Ruedekul. I used the small key on this door, found a few moblins and had to take care of them before I could push a block I found here that opened the next door."
"What's with the blue and teal?"
"Water. The teal is water that goes under the floor. The floor's just about one hundred percent branch-thick vines grown together into a twisted, solid mass." Samba raised his eyeridges. "You have to see it to believe it. I don't know if it's all there anymore, since I defeated Ruedekul, and he said I was in him, so..." He shrugged.
"I think he just became part of the dungeon, not the dungeon is part of him," said Samba. "I'm pretty sure the Empty Cavern's still there even though I beat Krungratrg."
Link nodded and moved on. "Next, I visited a room that had two puzzles in one. The one I dealt with then was to defeat all the enemies--moblins and keese, I think--to open this door and get the chest with this very map to appear here. Next, in this room here, I killed everything and pushed a block here to this spot here. Now, you can't see it on the map, but there's a study under this big northern part here." He indicated the area. "I found an empty map of Hyrule there that I'm going to fill in by posting on map parts of the reigions. Anyway, after that, all I had to do was kill the big, axe-toting moblin in here, grab his key, and get my boomerang. I used it to reopen the door by hitting three switches above it."
"Handy little thing," commented Samba.
"Quite. It let me get to the compass, which appeared on a hanging platform here in the island room. I had to beat everyone first, then target the main vine connected to some corner vines supporting it. I found that out the hard way--the chest slid right into the water and vanished when I cut one of the corner vines." Samba snorted at this and covered his mouth. Link bobbed his head like, "Yeah, well..." and continued. "Anyway, so I got that, then another key when I hit a switch here and here in the map chest room. I used it on this door after I hit five switches in one go on the east wall. However, first I got my first Heart Piece on a wide stump under the center of the paths by accidentially falling in, getting attacked by keese-sized sharklike fish, and using my boomerang to kill them all. By the way, have you ever stood in the spot where a chest will appear before?" he asked. Samba shook his head. Link chuckled. "I found out with this one. You get pushed up from below and end up standing on top of the chest when it's finished appearing!"
Samba laughed. "That's helpful! At least you don't have it appear right where you are and become one with the chest..."
Link and Samba shuddered at the thought of that (while not knowing they'd be telefragged instead) before the former continued. "Well, I got that, climbed up and went into this room. I had to get wet AGAIN after clearing the vines blocking my way all along here by hitting these switches. You see this little zig-zag river? It would be blocked by the vines if I hadn't cleared them away with the switches. The doors would both shut and trap you inside. Probably the most annoying room except for the one with the boss key."
"'Boss key'?" Samba blinked at him.
"What I decided to call the big key that unlocks the Leviathan's chamber," Link explained. "I mean, hey, the Leviathan's the boss of the whole place, so why not?" Samba shrugged and Link went on. "Well, anyway, I ended up in this room. After stunning two javelin-throwing moblins, one each here and here, and consequencially having them fall into the water and defeating them instantly, I got up and solved the little puzzle here." He grinned as he pointed at the five switch islands. "There was a switch in these spots with a matching story snippet. I had to figure out the order by reading the story. It was very cute. But I went in a bit of a triple-triangle shape," he described, tracing the path the boomerang took. "I had to hit all of them in order and then the first in one go with the boomerang to make a vine bridge grow across to here. There were thorny vine fences blocking the ways across via jumping, so that's why I had to solve the puzzle. That room's my favorite. I love logic puzzles."
"What, you mean riddles?" Samba asked, raising a nostril and an eyeridge. "I hate those. I'm never very good at them. Good, now I know that I can let you handle them if we ever face any more." He chuckled a little at this.
"Heh, thanks for giving me all the fun. Here was an easy one: These ledges were of different heights and I had to chop off the vines holding a wood slat bridge out over nothing connected to the ledges to make them into ladders. It brought me to the second floor of this place, which was made up of this room and this next one."
Samba raised his eyeridges. "Now THAT is a maze room," he commented.
"You think that's bad?" Link asked. "These walls, except the ones making the walls of the room itself, are thorn-covered fences. Not just that, most of the room was overgrown with tall grass that obscured my vision. I had to go and wander around to hit five switches to make vines blocking my way to the boss key, here, and get it. At each switch was another sign, and if you can see, I marked the switches' spots. See a similarity to another room?"
Samba looked at that room and then the others. He looked at the islet switch room and pointed. "There. There's a vauge resemblance between the placement of switches of the two rooms," he said. Link nodded, and Samba pumped his fist in victory, hissing, "Yesss!" He then looked at the numbers by the marked switches in the maze room. "Hmmm...So you had to figure out the order using a riddle like before, eh? Clever."
Link nodded. "That got me my second Piece of Heart," he said. "Now that I know what they do, I'd say it was worth it." Link sighed and sat back. "That's basically it. I went in and whupped Ruedekul's...well, I dunno if he has a butt--he was basically a giant tree...made of twisted vines..."
Samba was attent at this. "Hey, could you tell me how your Leviathan fight was?" he asked. "C'mon, it's only fair--you wanted puzzles, I want the Leviathan fight."
Link nodded. "Fair enough," he accepted. "Well, there were five trees over here, as you can see. I had the opportunity to climb up them and jump onto him from the branches. His teeth were sensitive and full of some strange fluid. I dunno why, but when I hit them with my boomerang, he got stunned and I was able to climb up and slash at his weak point, a sack of...I think it was his brain." He shuddered. "Not pretty. He got back up and would grow more teeth each time, so I had to repeat the process. The last time through, however, he grabbed me and I had to distract him to grab my boomerang and target his teeth in time. I pretended I'd seen a huge swarm of locusts coming at him...and it worked." Samba smacked his forehead. "I know, but, wow, was I glad I could do that. I wonder what else could have happened for me to win, since he grabbed me after destroying the trees. He also destroyed trees I'd used to get to him with. And, on the ground, he would lash me with vines that I would have to roll underneath through a little arch they made."
"But, after you got him the last time with the boomerang, you were able to finish him?" asked Samba, and Link nodded. Samba nodded. "Sounds like an exciting battle. I hope you understand, though, that I think mine was better. Let me tell you, Krungratrg was an absolute freak..." He shuddered. "I'm glad I was able to defeat him. The whole fight mostly took place inside a network of tunnels with stalactites practically carpeting the ceiling. First, he was a giant face in a wall with two...well, walls, I guess, shooting boulders at me. He wasn't very smart--he did the same thing over and over, firing a couple boulders and then spitting a bunch of rocks at me. Some of these rocks were red, so I took the liberty to fill in a red scar on his forehead and blow it to bits."
Link blinked. "Why would he spit red rocks if he knew they would hurt him?" he asked.
Samba shrugged. "After that," he continued, "he turned into a giant armadillo of rocks and started running me down. He couldn't change direction after he began to roll into a ball, though, and I could dodge by pressing against the walls. What I did was cause a cave-in by using Fire Pebble to blow up a few stalactites before he slammed into the resulting pile, then take a few hits while he's stunned as a pile of rubble, himself. His weakpoint, similar to the one Ruedekul had, by the sounds of it, was open at that time. The problem was that he got bigger each time I did this, using rocks from the cave-in to grow. I got to the point where I could barely press against the walls of the tunnel to avoid becoming a lizalfos pancake. He also attacked from a distance when he wasn't there to run me over by causing stalactites to try and spear me. These actually sometimes gave me things like hearts and magic jars, which were small jars full of green potion to replenish my magic reserves, so he really helped me more than hurt me. Still one tough cookie, though."
Link nodded. "Sounds like a tough battle, indeed," he said.
"But that's not all," Samba said, holding a claw up. He gazed off into space as he remembered. "I almost DIED. Thank goodness I had grabbed a fairy before I went into the chamber. What he did for his last hurrah was cast some spell that made the arena some infinite space to hold him. What happened was all the walls of the tunnels had broken and fused into him, making him HUGE. Not to mention fat," he added, chuckling. "This roundness only made him better suited for squishing me, though. I was a bug to him. He threw me far away after taking the tunnels into himself before he began rolling at me. Thankfully, there were still some red stones in the stalactites left--in fact, tons of stalactites could be blown up in a way that they showered a LOT of red stones on the ground that didn't blow up. I baited him to roll into three such showers before he was entirely covered." He grin-smirked. "You can guess what happened next."
Link was the one to snort and cover his mouth this time. "He turned into a living bomb, didn't he?" he asked.
Samba nodded with a smug look on his face. "Never in my life was it so satisfying to watch rocks fly out everywhere. I dealt the finishing blow, and the tunnels soon faded back in after he gave one last explosion. It was amazing."
Link laughed, shaking his head. "Got me beat, for sure," he said. "You were very clever to figure out the way to beat him," he complemented.
Samba shrugged. "I just figured out what I had to do and did it to save Vardi," he said. At the name of his sister, he fell silent and soon looked out the window, parting the curtains.
Link sighed. "Don't worry," he said softly, getting up and putting a hand on the scaly shoulder. "She'll be fine."
Samba stepped away from the curtains and nodded. "I'll save you, Vardi," he growled softly. "I promise."
Link nodded, smiling a bit, before getting to the bed again and getting under the covers. He looked at himself and at Samba. "Erm, the bed only fits one..."
Samba nodded. "I'll sleep on the floor, then," he said. "I'm fine, had to do it last night." He grabbed his bag as a pillow and slept beside the bed, out of sight to anyone just entering the room. "See you in the morning, then, Link," he bade, yawning.
"Yup. Good night, Samba." Link turned and blew out the candle before the two went to sleep.
-
Link and Samba awoke the next morning and did their best to go about their morning alblutions without anyone noticing the monster in the inn. Afterwards, Samba gave Link the contents of his wallet and asked if he could get some fish for him for breakfast. Link went and, wondering if the barkeep was getting suspicious, got the cooked fish for Samba and some food for himself at The Broken Rupee. After Samba had eaten his breakfast, he hid in his ring and Link took the dishes back to the tavern. After that, their first mission began.
South Castle Town was the place where Link found Sound of MuZach. He held the freebie voucher in his hand, looking at it to see if it was the right place before going inside. It was small and quaint, but was still impressive. Instruments, from alto flutes to zithers, lined the walls. A rack held paper sheet music. And behind the counter came a familiar voice.
"OH! Well, now, lookie here!" Link turned and smiled as he saw the singer minstril from before. He was now dressed in a more-simple outfit, a white shirt and brown pants and boots. The minstril smiled and bowed. "Welcome to Sound of MuZach, the place for all your musical needs!" he greeted. "I never thought I'd see YOU again, of all people, to be quite honest. Is that ocarina coming along?" he asked.
Link nodded, smiling. "Like you'd never believe," he said. "I see what you meant in saying music has magic."
The minstril/shopkeep chuckled and nodded. "That's great! I'm very glad I've been able to help someone discover the joy of music," he said. He cleared his throat. "But, nonetheless, this is a business we've got here. So, then..." He bowed again. "My name is Zach. How may I help you?"
Link produced the voucher and watched as Zach's expression went from a polite smile to a flabbergasted jawdrop. "I'd like to use this," Link said. "For a friend of mine."
"Wh-wh-wh-where'd you GET that?!" Zach demanded, taking the voucher. "How...But...Wow...Damn...I thought I only...Hmmmmm..." He looked left and right before leaning over to Link. "You do realize that I actually gave this specific voucher to a very kind, believe it, lizalfos I met when I was part of the Wanderers, a band of nomadic entertainers, right?" he asked in a hushed voice, cupping his hand beside his mouth. "I know it's that one; the date issued on it is a day where only this voucher was handed out."
Samba, despite himself, couldn't help but come right out and ask, "Ko plays instruments?"
Zach squeaked and jumped a bit. "EEP!...Oh! Magic!" He chuckled and put a hand to his chest. "Warn me next time, please!" he asked. He didn't sound negative.
Samba put a paw behind his head, though his ball-of-light form never showed it. "Sorry," he apologized. "But, yeah, we believe you," he said. "After all, I got it as a gift from him."
Zack raised an eyebrow and leaned in to get a close look at the red light in front of him. "Interesting," he muttered before leaning back and smiling slyly. "First time I've ever seen a lizalfos turn himself into a ball of light." He chuckled and nodded. "Well, I'll leave the details to yourselves, but while you're out, why not pick your instrument yourself?" he asked.
Samba bobbed up and down in an exaggerated nod. "Alright," he said. As Zach came from behind the counter, Samba flew over to him while Link, a bit nervous about this, walked after him. "I don't know what I'd like, though," Samba said.
"It'd be easier if you were actually, well, here," Zach said, shrugging. "Don't worry, nobody ever comes into the store this early. And besides, anyone who would probably knows that musicians come in so many shapes and sizes, they wouldn't think much of a monster--no offence to you, of course--getting a string instrument." He smiled at this.
"Hrrmm..." Samba flew to Link. "You think it's safe?" he asked.
Link nodded. "I can trust Zach," he said. "But be ready for a worst case scenario." He removed Samba's ring and motioned for Zack to move before he chucked it out. In the same flash of light, Samba was again solid.
Zach jumped a bit again, but recovered quicker. "Interesting indeed!" he laughed. He tilted his head, furrowing his brow. "First I've ever heard of a blue lizalfos, too," he observed. He shrugged. "Ah, well. Anyway, do you have some idea what you want, at least?" he asked.
Samba shrugged. "Something like a lute or a mandolin," he described.
Zach nodded. "Alright, over here, then," he said, leading them to the far end of the shop. He looked at Samba. "Fancy spell to speak and understand Hylian you've got," he commented.
Samba shook his head. "Nope. This is all experience I'm going on," he said proudly.
Zach pouted his lips impressedly with raised eyebrows, clapping a bit. "And you're doing astoundingly well!" he complimented. "Sorry I mistook it for magic as well!" He stopped at the rack of like instruments and took a lute down. "Anywho, here's a lute," he said, and played a little on it.
Samba tilted his head as he listened. "What about a mandolin?" he asked. Zach kindly got that down (putting the lute back up) and played that as well. Samba growled in thought. "Oh, sorry, I do that when thinking, sometimes," he said hastilly, waving his hands when Zach had descritely taken a step back. Samba sighed and looked at the wall. "Is that--" he began before locking his eyes onto an instrument.
It was a necked and soundbox-bodied instrument, like the mandolin, but its soundbox was shaped somewhat like a wide-bottomed "8". It had a whopping six different strings on it. Samba pointed to it. "What's that?"
"Oh, that? Just a guitar," said Zach, shrugging and getting it down. He strummed it once, producing a mellow, E-A-D-G-B-e (sic) chord that resonated nicely in Link's and Samba's ears. Samba smiled and pointed at it. "You want this one?" Zach asked, slightly surprised. "But it's so complicated...You're sure?" Samba nodded. "Alright..." Zach took the guitar and went to the counter again, the other two following. "Alright, let's record the cashing in of this voucher...get you a pick...and a strap...and your case..." Zach fussied around behind the counter for a moment before smiling at Samba and bringing up the encased instrument. "And here you go! You want a shot at playing it in one of our practice rooms? There's a lesson book included with the case that's very easy to figure out."
Samba, taking the case, nodded, and he and Link went into a back room and shut the door. Link found a lock on it and turned it. "Alright, let's get you used to that guitar," he said, stepping back a moment.
Samba nodded and got it out of its case, hanging it over his shoulder. He took the thin wood pick and put his claws (the pads of them, not the claw parts) on the strings. "I hope my claws don't break this thing," he muttered as he fished out the book and looked at it. "Okay..." He fingered and played some notes, smiling at the sound. "I like this thing!"
After a bit, Link nodded. "Alright, I think you've got it," he said. "You want to play around a bit more?" he asked. Samba shook his head. "Okay, then..." He got out his ocarina. "I'm going to do what Zach did yesterday and play a few notes. I want you to copy me when I say so, alright?" he asked.
Samba nodded and got ready. "Try me," he said, and Link played a few simple quarter notes. Samba tried to copy, but failed a couple times before he got it. As they continued, however, Samba gradually got better and better, and soon, he had memorized the sound that each string makes, then what each first fret makes, then second, then third, and so on until he had memorized five frets each. By then, he had also figured out how to play a scale. Link then tested him by playing a more complicated series of notes. Samba played them all perfectly, even the rhythm. He grinned and looked at his instrument. "I just learned how to play basic guitar!" he realized in joy.
Link clapped for him, smiling. "Very good! It took me all day yesterday to get used to playing my ocarina, and you took only an hour," he complimented. "Okay..." He put his ocarina to his lips. "You ready to learn Zelda's Lullaby?" he asked softly.
Samba nodded, and listened carefully, since Link played quite softly. Like Zelda, he played the first notes twice, then waited for Samba to copy him. Samba did so, note by note, and gasped as he suddenly felt something click. Closing his eyes, he played them again, continuing to finish the eight measures without learning the rest, just like Link had.
Link raised his eyebrows as he noticed this. "Behold the power of music," he muttered in surprise.
Samba looked at his guitar in amazement, looking it up and down, head to body. "Wow," he mouthed. "That was intense..." He had an idea and looked at Link. "Why don't we play together for King Zora?" he asked him.
Link nodded. "Alright..." He put his ocarina to his mouth. "...One, two, three--" They played it together in tempo, starting the first six notes before suddenly stopping as they both felt something click all of a sudden. Then, while Link played the melody, Samba, somehow, played a perfect harmony along with. It was simple, playing a chord at the start of each measure while playing the melody as well.
Link and Samba opened their eyes and looked in amazement at each other before blinking at their instruments. "Woah," they both said. They grinned. "I think we're starting to become more than just warriors," said Link.
"Who would have ever thought that two swordsmen--one of them a monster--had some talent in music?" Samba chuckled.
The two tried it again, starting right away with the full eight measures. Then, sure they had it down, they put their instruments away, unlocked the door, and went outside. Zach smiled at them friendilly. "So, have a good practice session?" he asked.
"You don't know the half of it," grinned Samba before he raised his ring and hid within it. Link, now standing alone with a surprised Zach, looked at his left hand for a moment to make sure Samba was there before he left, waving good-bye to Zach.
"Come again anytime, you two!" Zach called, waving. "If we find a way to costume Samba, maybe both of you could join our show sometime!"
Link, with Samba, walked out of the shop and took a breath while he stretched. "Well," he said, flopping them down again, "let's get going to Zora's Domain." And with that, he was out of Hyrule Castle Town. As soon as they were outside the city on the northern side, Link threw Samba. Samba rematerialized and the two nodded to each other before they began jogging off along the river. They noticed that as long as they had a goal in mind with the rings on, they didn't mind it if they went on and on and on and on--in fact, they felt like they might be able to go on forever, with nary a bit of food, water, or even sleep. Their stamina was limited only by their wounds.
"I think it's the power of the Rings of Dualty," Samba said. He was going a fair bit slower than he normally ran, which could actually match a horse in speed. Instead, he sort of jog-hopped along.
"Yeah," Link agreed. "I bet that's to speed up the process of saving Hyrule." He ran forwards nearly as fast as he could, very surprised he felt no fatigue at all. "You have to admit, it's amazingly handy and one heck of a feeling to know you could run forever."
The two young swordsmen also had to deal with the monsters around the field. When they found a monster that Link had never met or had no real experience with, Samba helped out. One case included a roc. "Hey," Link called after the two had drawn their swords and Link had drawn his shield. "I've dealt with these before, but what are they?"
"That's just a roc," Samba answered. "Despite its name, it rarely if ever spends time on the ground when hunting. You might want to use a ranged weapon to fight them--" He crouched for a second before taking an enourmous leap, clearing the level of his full standing height, and slashing at the squawking monster with a jump attack. He landed on the ground, left paw touching the dirt as well, and stood slowly while sheathing his blade and continuing, "--but I can handle them without wasting any ammo if I really want to, not to brag."
Link gawked. "How the HELL can you jump so high?!" he asked.
Samba chuckled. "I have big, strong quads and footpaws," he answered as he walked over. He looked at his feet in interest. "Though, I could have sworn, my footpaws were just a LITTLE smaller than they are now before I went into the Empty Cavern," he observed.
"Maybe you bulked them with muscle when you were going through it somehow?" Link suggested as he sheathed his sword and walked along with Samba.
Samba shook his head. "That doesn't make sense," he said. "My footpaws would only get bigger with muscle were I working my talons more. Remember, the muscle that moves a part of you is one step further into your body than that part. Your upper arm moves your lower, and so on. I wasn't working my talons that much, though they ARE always pretty strong, for some reason," he said, stopping by a medium-small, flat rock and easily picking it up with his talons as if grasping with only his four main claws and lifting his leg up. He held it there for a second before he tossed the rock up straight with his leg, spun, and batted the stone away with his tail. The rock soared right off to the wide Hylia river and skipped across it a few times before almost making it to the other side. "Hey, that was pretty well-aimed," Samba said in surprise while hooding his eyes with a paw and watched.
Link raised an eyebrow at all this. "Are all lizalfos like that?" he asked.
Samba shook his head as he continued to walk along, Link following. "No," he answered. "I'm a bit different from them. My footpaws look a little different from theirs, but I can't be anything BUT a lizalfos. Just a weird-looking one." He shrugged and beckoned with his arm. "C'mon, let's get going to Zora's Domain!" he called and started jogging along. Link followed and the journey continued.
They faced more adversaries as they went, and curious Link desired to know about them as much as he could.
"C'mon, you've fought moblins before, Link! That's a Hylian Moblin, specifically. They're a bit stupider than most of us lizalfos, but they're smart enough to weild a spear and pack of javelins pretty well. Fight 'em anyway you want, but keep that shield up for the javelins!"
"Hey, it's a bokoblin. They're in the same famly as moblins and are a fair bit weaker, though they're a smidge smarter. They prefer attacking in small groups with clubs and arrows. The melee ones are easy to deal with--it's the annoying archers you need to watch out for. They try and stay at a distance, so beat them at their own game! By the way, did you know that you can take any arrows that miss you and stick in some other surface?"
"Hold on...(Translation: Hey, you leave us be and we'll leave you be!)...Dang, not listening, as I thought. Making up the majority of the lizalfos population, nomadic lizalfos are, sadly, a little stupider than we are, but just as good at swordfighting. Block their sword attacks and have at them, but don't expect my kind to go down without a fight!"
They even went on through the night. The feeling they got as they jogged onwards through the darkness, defending themselves as they had to, was that of both eerie calm and unsettling trouble. The sound of the river flowing along calmed them a fair bit. They had to face enemies throughout the night, and even more, too.
"There really isn't much else to keese apart from them being annoying," Samba replied when Link asked for any detailed information on the common enemy of dungeons. "They mostly hide in dark places and like to harry people. Just give them a nice spin attack if they're close or use your boomerang. Just MAKE SURE they're not on fire, or you'll burn your wooden shield!"
"HUH?" Link looked at Samba in surprise. "They can survive being caught on fire?" he asked.
"Us monsters are strange and mysterious little beasties," Samba said with a smirk before he jumped and kicked a keese away.
At midnight, they reached the fork of the river that goes towards Lake Hylia. "You wanna try swimming across?" asked Link. "It looks like a strong current..."
"Let's look for a bridge, then," suggested Samba, and they went along the river for a ways. Twenty minutes later, they found one right before the river fell off a cliff and went into Lake Hylia--a broken one.
Link grumbled. "We're gonna have to go around the lake or take a dip," he said.
"I can swim, but I can't swim for very long," Samba said, frowning annoyedly. "I bet I could jump across this, though--those support posts that are still there in the middle of the river should be enough for me to make it. I can't piggyback you, though."
"I'll hide, then," Link said. He held his hand up, and in a flash of green, he was in his ring. A blue flash came from his hand and flew to Samba's. In blue and green flashes, Samba was made the "leader," as they decided to call whoever had Nayru's Ring of Dualty. Link appeared out of his ring and looked up at Samba as a ball of green light. "Hurry up, I don't wanna look at your ugly mug all night," he chuckled.
Samba frowned. "Hey, I'm not exactly popular with the ladies, but still!" he joked back. He looked at the posts ahead of him (Link hiding away again) and took a few steps back. He ran and jumped across, using the posts as stepping stones. He made it across fine. After he did, he threw both Link and Nayru's Ring as he had practiced. Link reappeared and saw Nayru's Ring reappear on his finger. "Alright, let's keep going," Samba said, and the two continued.
Finally, after another day, the two made it to the source of the river. "Zora's Domain lies right ahead," Link said as the two looked over at the cove naturally and artifically carved out at the foot of a mountain range that was at the very northern end of Hyrule that had no relation to Death Mountain, which was west of it. "Want to wait until everyone's up before we step in?" he asked. "We don't want to cause a ruccus. Besides, there's some gates ahead and some guards. They might not want to let folks in before daylight."
Samba nodded. "Sure," he said. He sat down on the shore of the river. "Thanks to the rings, I don't have to sleep if I don't want to, and I don't feel like it." He brought out his fishing rod and assembled it before he flicked it out into the river. "I'll just practice some fishing to pass the time. You do whatever."
Link nodded and sat under a tree nearby and got out his ocarina. He played it for a while, just tuning around. Samba ended up catching a few fish. Since it was his normal job to do so, he recorded any new fish he caught in the fishing log he always had with him, as well as any new records. "I want you guys to show me how you've improved," explained the foreman when he gave the new recruits, which included Samba, the logs a couple years ago. "When you can, go ahead and show me your new records. If I like the progress, you'll get a reward."
Samba also kept the fish in a special bag he also carried with that was made to keep fish fresh and ready for cooking. Just because they didn't need to eat didn't mean he wanted some food now and then. He didn't cook any now, but he decided to go ahead and practice his guitar a little more. His claws still weren't used to chords, so he practiced whatever chords sounded good, occasionally reading the lesson book by the moonlight.
In fact, an hour or so before dawn, Samba walked over to Link and sat down next to him, resting his guitar on his knee. Together, the two began just tuning along, Link going first before Samba went. Then, somehow locking into a groove, they began playing some made-up song, Samba playing chords and harmony as the two let their love of music combine with the magic their instruments unlocked. In Hyrule, this could happen a lot if people tried it, actually--the latent magic of the land enhanced the magic already within music and channeled through the performers and helped them bring out their talent.
They saw the sun come up and they went along and played along with a song that they could practically hear. It was a light and happy tune that described the feeling of dawn and the new day perfectly, and the melody sounded perfect on the ocarina. Afterwards, they smiled and stood up, stretched, put their instruments away, and set off to the entrance of Zora's Domain.