The Legend of Zelda: Rings of Dualty

by FerreTrip

The Master Sword has -always- been carried by just Link. But when a threat so large, one alone is too little, comes, it's time to initiate a Plan B the goddesses made in three rings. Link must now share the legendary blade with...a lizalfos! This is gonna be different...A tale with dungeons original ones and other game mechanics woven into the plot. Please review if read!

12. Clamor Plant: Andante Duet

Link and Samba ran back into the pouring room. Samba thought he heard something as the clatter roared into his ears once more, but dismissed it as said clatter. The enemies they had defeated before were back, but they were ready to fight. They beat the mannequin enemy nearby, then made their way over to the lefthand ladder. Link started climbing, and Samba hid in his ring partway up. He was let out as Link stepped onto the catwalk on the second floor. They turned and looked around with a new perspective.

They saw the hanging track was differently-shaped than the first floor's, which shall be explained later (when the time comes) to avoid information overload. The catwalk was made of both flat metal bottoms and thick-wire mesh on the top, the latter rust red-orange. There were basic railings that had only one horizontal bar apart from the top, and they could easily swing around and hang from them. It went around the entire room--well, it used to--with breaks where three rivers of molten metal, flowing in metal troughs, came from the far end of the rectangular room. (The rivers on the first floor shared their source with the ones above.) However, unnatural breaks were there, as well, probably the work of the monsters. Thankfully, there was enough to get to the near end of the room, the side the foyer's attatched to. They also noted a few round, horizontal support bars for the track with exposed wiring wrapped about, electrifying them. They were a short jump upwards for either young man (and, in fact, either one would likely bump their head if they did an edge hop or at least get hit by the electricity arcing from it) and thin enough to grip all the way around. They went straight from the wall to the tracks. One was near them, and another was a swinging jump away from it over a break in the catwalk, below which was a beamos statue on the first floor. Across this break was some more gadgetry like the kind they'd found in the second floor of the room with the conveyers and gorons. One such machine blocked the path, live wires dangling from the ceiling down and preventing a safe Samba jump. In front and at the corner of that and half another (this one on the outside and on a part that was farther into the room than the rest of the catwalk) was a crystal switch. A barred door was in the wall of this little dead end.

The bokoblins of the room were also found along the catwalk, so Link and Samba took the chance to cut them down as they went along. They made their way around for the chest's location. When they got there, they found it was absent. "We've got to hit a switch or something before it appears," Link reasoned.

"Or we could go through that door and explore," Samba suggested, pointing to a door that was a bit away from the chest's spot. They went inside.

They found themselves on the rust mesh above the foyer. Below, they could see the top sides of the goron emblems. In front, they saw a conveyer belt spanning the distance between the two rooms where the transportation machine snaked around and around. Overhead, they sighted the ceiling crystal switch that Link had glimpsed soon after entering the foundry. "Yes!" Link hissed, shooting an arrow at it. It clanged and changed from grey to blue, and a moment later, the other barred door opened. "Hang on," Link said, and they ducked out.

Again, Samba heard something, and this time he was certain of it. Before he could tell his partner, he was off. Vaulting over the top railing bar, Link made to jump off entirely. He stopped himself from falling, to Samba's slight surprise, and instead swung his heels to the open edge of the catwalk, gripping the railing with both hands behind him. He looked out, estimating his chances of survival, before deciding to drop, turn, and catch and hang from the catwalk, then fall from there. The landing wasn't pleasent, but it wasn't too painful. Samba followed, but instead of hanging and falling, he jumped down and forwards from the catwalk and rolled after landing.

Link reentered the foyer, forgetting Samba, and breathed a sigh of relief. Samba, grumbling that his partner left him behind, opened the door when he saw this. "What's the relief for?" he asked.

"The switch's permanent," he answered, pointing up at the switch and left at the still-unblocked door with a smile. "Anything that makes this place easier, huh?"

"Huh." Samba nodded. "Well, wanna go in?" he asked.

"I don't see any chests in that room," Link said, looking at his minimap.

"Alright, since I heard something coming into the the pouring room," Samba said, and beckoned with an arm. "Listen carefully this time for anything out of the ordinary."

Link, interested, trotted back over and led them back into the room. As soon as the door closed behind them, he and Samba strained to hear. Sure enough, barely audible above the din, they heard four ascending notes: Boop-boop-boop-boop! "What was that?" Link asked, turning to Samba.

"I dunno," Samba replied. "I think...I think it has something to do with the compass," he said.

"Mm." Link took it out, looked at it, then held it in his right hand and to his pointed ear, holding his rings to the other. "Hold your ring to your ear, then open the door," he instructed. "It's either from them or the compass."

Popping in and out of the foyer again, they discovered it was, indeed, their rings which had made the sound. In fact, they all flashed with each note: Green-blue-red-all. "Wonder what it means?" Samba asked. Link shrugged. They then faced the room again.

"Think it's that big puzzle over there?" asked Link, pointing to the tiled-floor puzzle directly ahead of them.

"I don't know," Samba said. "Maybe." He growled and, drawing his sword, slashed at an annoying fire keese that had strayed over. "Let's take care of all these enemies, first."

They agreed, then went to eliminating the enemies that hadn't been taken care of since their last visit. (They had gathered by then that the monsters had a chance to regroup if they go two rooms away. Since the foyer, though split in two floors, was one room, the mannequin and bokoblins they defeated before were still gone.) After they took care of all of the enemies, they looked around. They noticed, turning towards the foyer door, a light on the catwalk above it. The light dimmed a second later. "What on...?" Link and Samba muttered. They went up the ladder onto the catwalk again and turned to look. Link gasped as he found a chest was in the spot the compass said it should be.

"We had to defeat all of the enemies?" Samba asked as Link trotted off. He joined him as he got to the chest. Link opened it and reached in to get the item. He turned and both smiled as they beheld their prize, Link holding it and Samba crossing his arms and looking from his position a bit to the side.

"A small key!" said Link. "We can use this to get to the other gorons."

"Good," Samba said. "Maybe THEY can give us a map."

"Let's hope they can," Link agreed, putting the key in his pocket.

They both leaped off the edge of the catwalk and rolled on the first floor before they dashed off through the stairwell door. They rolled in unison at the last second to avoid the Blade Trap entirely and skidded to a halt soon after before hitting the door. Link got the key out and turned the lock in front of them. As expected, it stuck fast, but the lock clicked open. The lock was different in working because of the straight locking bar. So, instead of the lock itself dropping a bit and exposing an end of the obstructing bar, like for the common U-bar padlocks, a rod with a cupped end attached to the left end of the horizontal bar and the padlock was allowed to swing free and down to the left side of the lock, the cup freeing the horizontal bar. This led the lock, now unbalanced and given a little push from the rod, to slide out right and clang to the floor. The door was unlocked. Link pressed the button and came in, Samba following, and raised his eyebrows in surprise at the room before him.

The noise had gone down to a minimum, the quietest room yet. Instead of metal all over the place, stone was the material of choice. Some streamers like those found in Goron City were spread along the wall. Spaced around the room were six forges. Each had by it an anvil, a stack of sheet metal, a rack of tools, and a goron. All of them were standing around, clanging away with hammers at different objects. The one closest to them, in front and to their left against the wall, was working on a sword, holding it with tongs and banging it out with his back turned to them. To the left of the two was a barred door. To the right and above them was a hole in the wall with skinny, stalactite-like bars of rock that served as a small window. They couldn't see what was on the other side, though, since it was too far. Looking at a diagonal to their right, a bit of minecart track was visible, complete with brace.

At the sound of them entering, most of the gorons they could see stopped what they were doing and looked at them in surprise. The one working on the sword stopped after looking at everyone else, then followed suit. "Goro? O-Outsiders?" he asked in surprise.

Immediately, the other gorons walked over to Link and Samba, making various motions and asking different things all at once. "Is it safe to leave?" "How did you get here, Brothers?" "A human and a lizalfos?" "What're you doing here?" "Do you have any good rocks to eat, goro?"

Link and Samba paled and backed up against the door, each on either side of the button, at a loss for words from the onslaught of questions.

"ENOUGH, BROTHERS!" commanded a deeper voice.

Everyone stopped and turned. The goron whose forge was the most directly across from the door, going flush against the wall, came walking forwards. The five others parted to let Link and Samba see him. He was a little bigger than the other gorons, colored more deeply orange, and covered with metallic bronze paint instead of the plain, pale beige paint covering the other gorons. His crossed arms were more bulky than other gorons'. A short scar was visible on his large stomach, splitting horizontally across his navel. He was scowling. His eyes struck a nostalgic chord in Samba, since they bore the toughness that the eyes of the foreman of the fishermen bore. Link and Samba walked away from the door a bit after they were given space and met the hefty creature, gorons forming a tunnel on either side.

The taller goron looked down at them, frowning a bit. "-I- shall ask the questions," he announced, voice deep and gravely. It sounded harsher than the easy speech of most other gorons. "I am the foreman of Death Canyon Foundry and Smithy. My name is Sarbog. Who are you two, first of all?" He tilted his head and raised a thick eyebrow.

"This is Link, and I'm Samba," Samba introduced, nodding. "We are--"

"Why are you here?" interrupted Sarbog, raising his voice a little.

Samba cringed at the unsaid rebuke, so Link answered, "To rescue you gorons."

At this, Sarbog's eyebrows raised and his head straightened. "RESCUE us? HAH!" He shook his head to one side, eyes shutting. His massive shoulders and sizable back muscles prevented him from turning it all the way to the side. "It is indeed impressive you've managed to get this far without dying, but to truly rescue us would be beyond the abilities of a mere hylian and lizalfos." He opened his eyes and looked sideways at them, still scowling. "LEAVE," he commanded firmly, but not hostilly. "You will die, otherwise. The army of metal and electricity, as well as the organic monsters here, will crush your weak bodies as they have threatened ours. Thank you for unlocking the door--now leave through it and us be. Take any COWARDS with you," he added, looking at the other smiths, who cringed a little.

"But--" Link and Samba began to protest.

"LEAVE."

They blinked and looked at him, disbelieving what they heard. They looked at each other, then the other gorons, who looked back at them with faces of sorriness. With a sigh, Link and Samba turned around. Link raised his hand to press the button as he turned when the doors opened on their own. The two quickly parted to let whoever was coming enter, eyebrows/-ridges raised. They pressed against the gorons around them. Their fronts were rough and hard--even their characteristic round bellies felt hard from how tightly compressed their body fat was against thier abdominals. Of course, that may have been because of how flat they seemed compared to normal gorons.

"WAIT, SIR!!" cried the goron who jogged in, holding his big hands up.

Link and Samba started and, together with Sarbog, said, "Boroy??" in surprise. "What are you--" began Link.

"What did I say?" asked Sarbog as the door closed, glaring at the human. He looked at Boroy. "What are you doing here, Boroy? Have you come to convince us to run from our foundry like roaches from a sudden light?" He sounded a little peeved, now.

Boroy shook his head. "No, sir," he replied.

"Why, then?"

Boroy motioned to Link and Samba. "I am the one who sent these two here to stop this madness before you all starve to death," he answered. "I'm here because I was worried about them and wanted to lend my aid somehow. I waited until I was certain that the way was clear for me to reach this room and, if I had to, destroy the lock with my bare fists." He clenched them and brought them up in a sort of boxing position.

"Which would have landed you into MORE trouble for destroying a piece of hard-worked-on goron ware," reminded the foreman sternly. "Why did you send them to rescue us?" he asked him.

Boroy spread his big hands out. "Because I couldn't do it and was sure they could," he answered. "Sir! You've all been here for a long time with no food! I didn't want to abandon my fellow goron Brothers!"

"OH, so fleeing from the factory was NOT abandoning?!" Sarbog asked through gritted teeth and lowered brow.

Boroy took a step back, frowning a little nervously. "N-No, sir, I was not abandoning my Brothers--I was only leaving to get help somehow. But Daigorno won't let anyone travel down the direct passage from home to the storage room entrance, and I was unsure if I could sneak off and successfully liberate everyone alone..."

Sarbog scoffed. "Then why trust two weak swordsmen?" he asked, teeth ungritted.

"Because I KNOW they can do it," Boroy answered, shaking his fists in front of him resolutely. "Don't send them away. Trust that they can help us. I do. They wanted to come here, anyway," he added, looking back at them. "They insisted they come. They said they want to see what they could do--and that includes more than just saving everyone."

Sarbog raised an eyebrow, then made a deep, almost growling "Hmmmmmmm..." before looking at Link and Samba, who had moved to be on one side of Boroy. "Link and Samba, was it?" he asked. Nods. "Why do you want to help us? What's in it for you?"

"Nothing," Link replied, but Samba had put a paw on his shoulder as soon as he'd begun to say something to support. Link looked and Samba shook his head.

"Trust me, Link," he said flatly, "keeping the truth from a foreman is a VERY BAD THING." He turned to look at Sarbog. "We're here to see if we can straighten this hellhole out and hopefully get your chief to stop acting like a tailhole," he answered.

Sarbog raised his eyebrows, then chuckled and shook his head, eyes closed. "Well, at least it is more noble than I thought, from the sounds of it...unless you seek a reward from him?"

Samba started to shake his head before stopping, thinking, then tilting his paw. "Not really, at least not the reward you're thinking of," he replied.

"The reward we seek from him is a decrease in the chances of him helping the side of evil, since dark days are coming to Hyrule unless they're stopped, and we need to talk with him. To do that, we need to get on his good side," Link explained. Samba nodded. "That, and I'll feel a LOT better knowing that people are safe," he added.

Sarbog raised an eyebrow at this. "Eh? What, you expect me to believe that slag?" he asked, grumbling. He shook his head. "Bah. How do you think you can convince him of anything? Why should he?"

"We've connections," Samba replied.

"Really? Peh...Whatever the reasons are," Sarbog said, adjusting his grip on his crossed arms, "you seem really dead-set on helping. If you are, go and reactivate our drinking water for this room. Go and shut off our haywire beamos statues. Go and destroy that horrible beast that has called and established control over the mechanoids. You want to go and save us? Go and save the Clamor Plant." He leaned closer and closer down to Link and Samba as he listed the tasks.

"Then we will," nodded Link. Samba grimaced, then nodded, too.

"You make it sound so simple," sneered the foreman. "Why should I believe you'll do this? Why should I believe you CAN do this? Why should I or ANYONE believe anything you say, fickle human and distrustful lizalfos? And what makes you SO sure that you CAN do this, if you are?"

Link answered all of this simply by drawing the Master Sword and holding it, point down, up to them.

The gorons gasped and started back, except for Sarbog, who remained standing (if again raising his eyebrows). Boroy gaped. "I THOUGHT that hilt was familiar, but I thought it was merely a replica," he said as the others gibbered. "But that brilliance!"

"That craftsmanship!"

"That air!"

"That steel!"

"That shape!"

"That edge!"

"That proves NOTHING!" Sarbog shouted, waving a hand. "There is no way that you can be the weilder of the finest sword in the history of weaponry!"

Link tossed the Master Sword straight up and carefully caught the blade with one hand, pinching it on the flat. With the same hand, he tilted it to Sarbog, offering the hilt. "Then, experienced smith..." he said.

Sarbog glared and grasped the hilt. Almost as soon as he did, he yelped, released it, and stepped back, holding his hand and looking at it. It sizzled faintly for a split second. He looked at it, standing still for a moment. Then, he dropped his head and began shaking. Link quickly spun the sword around, catching the hilt and sheathing the weapon again as he reached for his sheild, ready for an attack. Samba raised his buckler, like-minded. However, the foreman didn't explode as expected.

Instead, he emitted a low chuckle. It grew louder and louder until he was laughing boisterously, whipping his head up to reveal a happily grinning face, eyes shut. He rested his hands on his stomach while he laughed. Then, after a short calming, he sighed, smirking as he crossed his arms again. He looked at them with narrowed eyes, still, but ones of approval. He stepped forwards once more. "So I see, hylian. Only an honest, strong, and utmostly brave man may grip that hilt. You have my respect, Brother."

Link and Samba looked at each other, then sighed in relief. "Thank you, sir," Link said, bowing a bit.

Sarbog held a hand up. His eyes flicked to the rings. "And those are the Rings of Dualty, are they not?" he asked.

Link and Samba switched leaders.

Sarbog chuckled again. "So I see. Then you, too, lizalfos, have my respect."

Samba bowed a bit, as well. "Thank you, sir."

"I will not apologize for my behavior, however," Sarbog said, shaking his head and dropping the smirk. "I acted how I acted, and I am glad I did, for I believe that you two might have needed a new kind of test of courage." He nodded, smiling now. "I believe you, and I thank you, that you will help us. If there is anything we can do to help, just speak to me."

"I request permission to ask a question, sir," stated Boroy.

"Granted." Sarbog looked at him, smile fading again.

Boroy nodded. "How can we get to the beast when the key to its lair was lost during the attack?" he asked.

Sarbog smirked and answered, "Simple." He turned to the others and barked, "Back to work!" To Link and Samba, he said, "I must attend to my work. I wish to speak to you later, for I have much to tell you about here and the task you must now face." With that, he spun on his heel and returned to his forge.

Link and Samba looked at each other, sharing looks of relief. "That was close," said Boroy, whom they turned to. He looked relieved, too, hand on chest. "That was some clever thinking, Link! If you didn't prove that's the Master Sword like that, he'd've kicked you out, Brothers!"

"Well, let's get to him and see what he wants," Samba said. "Link? You want the sword?"

"You can keep it for a while," he answered, smiling.

"Thanks!" Samba led Link, Boroy following after Link, to Sarbog. As they went, they noticed a pair of large chains with handles going into the wall with the barred door (the left while they went to the foreman). They were between the two forges on that wall. When they reached Sarbog, who was working on a shield, they noticed a large, deep, wooden trough nestled between the second forge on the left wall and the wall Sarbog's forge was against. Knobs and faucets stuck from the wall. The sink, as it were, was empty. Samba looked at Sarbog after looking at that.

"Ah, are you ready for the task already?" Sarbog asked, turning from his work, crossing his arms again. Link and Samba nodded. "Then let me tell you what you must do." He pointed to the far wall, where the sink was. "First, as I had listed, we would appreciate you getting the water running again. The only water we have here is used to cool the metal." He motioned to a deep, square bucket by the steel at his forge. "We cannot drink it, and even that is going fast from all our forging. We gorons may subsist on rock, but we are living things like any other--we require water as much as any hylian or lizalfos. The switches for it are in the room beyond that barred door."

"SwitchES?" Link repeated. 'Why would they have to turn on TWO to turn the water on? Is it one for hot and one for cold?'

Sarbog nodded, a smirk appearing on his visage. "Yes. You see, we gorons working here in the foundry find it a necessity to work together. If the time is ripe for the birth of the Knights of Dualty, then the time for teamwork is at hand. You must learn to work together, even if separate from each other."

Link and Samba looked a bit surprised. "How will we do that, sir?" Samba asked.

The foreman nodded at their rings. "I have researched artifacts such as your rings and the Master Sword. Your rings are able to be used to communicate like no machine any can think of yet, thanks to their magic. Simply hold up your ring and focus some of your thoughts to it and on your partner. If it begins to pulse with light, then you have done it--you may now speak with each other as if you are a touch away even if you are on opposite sides of the land...or even farther. Try it."

"Eh?" Link went.

"Samba, since you are leader, holding the Master Sword, you will have to tell Link to stay whenever you need to go alone," instructed the goron, looking at him. "And vice-versa if Link is leader. I know it may seem silly, but do so now. Then, get across the room and try to contact Link through your ring."

Samba smiled sheepishly at Link, who shrugged with the same look. "Link, stay here," Samba instructed.

"Right," Link said, and stayed in front of Sarbog while Samba trotted past him to loop around to the other side of the room alone, going away from the trough and chains wall.

Samba discovered that half of the forges were against walls, and the other half was free-standing. Around the one ahead of him and right were new discoveries. The minecart track went straight into two large double doors. A bar went across its handles. Across from the side of the forge he'd just gone around was an eye switch with a bit of difference--its iris was brown. Samba tilted his head in curiosity, but went on until he was at the far corner of the room. Once there, he lifted his ring paw and looked at the rings. 'Ring of Dualty, contact Link,' he thought with all his might. The ring began to glow.

Link noticed his ring begin to glow and emit a soft, unearthly, shimmering hum that faded in and out. He raised his ring. The sound stopped.

Both rings began to pulse. Samba grinned in success. "It worked!" he said.

Link raised his eyebrows as he heard Samba's voice from the ring quite clearly. It wasn't loud, but it was clear and he could hear it above the other sounds around him. "That it did!" he replied.

"! It really DOES work!" Samba chuckled.

"Good," came Sarbog's voice. "You can hear the voice of anyone else who directs their words to you, Samba, and stands near Link's ring," he explained. "Now, Samba, Link, focus on the image of your partner and on the desire to know where he is."

Samba and Link did so, eyes open, and were amazed when, clear as day, each got the mental impression of the other standing at Sarbog's forge or near the eye switch, wearing the same impressed expression. They saw their partner just in their mind, and were both able to see normally, although focusing on both at once was a little difficult. The image even remained when they were not thinking about it directly. "Woah," Samba whispered.

"Yes," Sarbog said. "Impressive, is it not? I wish I could see, as well, but I can only speak. Now, whenever you need to know which of you is doing what, call each other on the rings and think about the other together. Seeing as the rings work like a well-oiled machine for many of their functions, I have given it a term I would perhaps apply to a machine. I call this ability to view each other simultaneously as if you were hiding within your rings...Sync Mode."

"'Sync Mode'?" repeated Link, looking at Sarbog and raising an eyebrow.

"Yes. Through this function of the Rings of Dualty, you can easily see what each is doing and, also, transport the Master Sword INSTANTLY to one another to switch leaders," informed Sarbog, nodding. "The one with the Master Sword can activate Sync Mode on their own if need be, but the other must be ready for it. You can also perform the eponymous Synchronize function of the rings. Without a word, without a problem, you will be able to perform actions in perfect synchronization, your minds linked but separate at the same time. This is a frightening concept, indeed, but it works spectacularly. The real beauty of it, though, is that while one can slash with his sword, the other can fire an arrow, both being executed at the same time--you can syncronize actions that are the same or different. This is, in essence, an alternate, more exact method to counting off, but sometimes, that is the better option, for your sakes. However, there will be times when you will want to move and act at the EXACT same time.

"BE CAREFUL, though, since your movements will be PRECISELY like the other's from the way you are viewing one another. This means that if you're careless, you can end up walking one of you into a trap or worse. Now, Samba, come back here and go to one of the heavy chains that were to your left when walking to me before."

After this lengthy lecture, Samba nodded and turned to trot back. Link remained where he was, watching Samba move in his mind between the forges. Samba reached the first of the chains and stopped.

"Alright, now what?" Link asked for Samba.

"You have to pull them out as far as they can go and have both be kept that way for a short moment at the same time," Sarbog instructed. "You don't need to synchronize your movements, but just be sure to stay put where you are, still pulling the chain, when you switch leaders. This is a good idea in general--stay put in a safe spot so that your partner can focus on himself more. Pull on your chain, Samba, then make Link the leader. He'll then come and pull the other chain. After that, enter the door you will open, find a way to the switches, one on each floor, that must be struck in unison to reactivate our water, and take my bidding of good luck with you." Sarbog nodded when he was finished. "If you want to review anything, ask me. I must return to my work, now, since, while we are here, we have the best chance to catch up on the work we need."

Samba and Link nodded once more before Samba clapped and rubbed his paws together. "Alright, let's get this started!" he said. He bent down, grabbed a D-shaped handle at the end of the chain he stood before, and began backing up with the iron in his paws. The chain gradually straightened and became taut between Samba and the wall. He grunted and tugged until he could get nothing farther--he got only a half a foot, about, before a dull thump was heard. That, and another forge's wall was about a foot behind him, so he wasn't that far from being stopped, anyway. He then willed Link to be the leader.

Before Samba could lift his paw to send it normally, Link recieved the Master Sword. It had gone as soon as Samba had willed it! 'THAT'S what he means by instantly,' the lizalfos thought, eyes narrowing from the strain. "Hurry, this isn't fun," he grunted to Link.

Link nodded and ran over. He did the same thing as Samba. When his was fully extended, both of theirs let the other half foot out suddenly, making them stumble back and let go. They heard another sound and looked to the door beyond the forge on their left. It unbarred itself.

"That must be it," Link said to Samba. "Come on."

"Let's quit Sync Mode for now, then, if we don't need it," Samba suggested as he followed Link. "It's a little annoying and confusing to see both views moving, not to mention it's a little strange."

"Agreed," Link said, and they willed that they view life as normal. With a flash from the rings, the mental feed faded out, and they could see only what their eyes saw.

"Wait," Boroy called before they left. They turned to him as he came over. "I'm here to help you guys, and I'm gonna figure out how here for a bit. If there's anything I can help with now, though, tell me."

Samba thought for a second. "Do you know what those mechanical things are called?" he asked. "I remember hearing about them a while ago, but I forgot a lot..."

"Oh, the XT23 models?" Boroy asked, tilting his head.

"XT...!" Samba snapped his claws. "That's it! They're these metal things that all are officially called 'XT23-' then a number and a letter depending on what kind they are, right?" he checked.

Boroy nodded. "That's right," he confirmed. "I have a little cheat sheet that you can use to refresh your memory, if you want."

"That'd be great! I'll just copy down what I have already and then look at it when we see newer foes," Samba smiled. Boroy handed him a piece of parchment and Samba excused himself to dash to a corner, crouch down, and scribble in his book of monsters for a few minutes. When he came back, Link led them into the door and looked at their new surroundings.

In front of them was a hanging track like the kind they saw before in the pouring room. It went across the center of the room horizontally and was attatched to three large, square machines lined up in a row in the general far-right corner of the room. They touched no walls. They went high up into the wire mesh-floored second floor, and there were openings all around each of them, covered by metal panels with handles to slide them open. They saw that forms made of what appeared to be sand came from a large opening the hanging tracks went from. They looked like the things which the metal was poured into in the pouring room. Above, from the direction of those objects, they heard the sound of something sliding off of a flat surface with a SSSS that wasn't very unpleasant for once. In the far left corner, they saw another door and mine cart track that came from the room ahead. It went across the front of the door and down into an opening in the floor, where carts would traverse an underground maze the swordsmen dared not brave, for fear they could be lost for eternity. "This must be where they make the molds for the metal," Link muttered.

"And there are the workers," Samba added, pointing to some more mannequin-like mechanoids. They were a bit different, however, since their limbs were scrawnier and merely joints, and their "hands" were actually tools that appeared more for gripping, and they went in and out of their arms on little pushers Boroy's cheat sheet called pistons. They had no real face except for a pair of small things that Boroy's cheat sheet identified as cameras when it talked about one of the enemies they had met before. There were four on this floor and four above them on the mesh floor. (They noticed the upper floor wasn't entirely reaching to the walls.) "Let's see..." He paused a moment to think, remembering his recent quick review. "...Those things are XT23-4O's, nicknamed 'Drones'. They're more durable than those things we saw before in the pouring room and are armed, although minimally. However, avoid those things they've got on their 'hands', which Boroy tells me are called pistons. They can punch at high speed. We should try and push them off an edge or into something destructive until we can inflict heavier hits."

Link nodded. "Right. This means we should probably skeddadle, now," he said, gesturing to the door ahead.

The Drones caught sight of them with their cameras, which twisted and focused in place of eyes widening. They turned and marched over, step by step. Link and Samba were WAAAAY ahead of them, however, across the tracks and through the door within five metal footfalls. Once through, they encountered a very different sight compared to the rest of the facility.

They were in a corner of the room and facing the hugest pile of sand they'd ever seen in their lives. On their right was a set of thick bars spaced just enough that neither could squeeze through comfortably or effectively. They were parallel with another set about two feet away from them further right. To be comfortable for both thrower and lander, tossing the rings would be ineffective. Wondering why they were there, the two looked up to find a catwalk supported by it that went into the sand hill. It also separated them from a minecart track that had the same sort of pushing robots that they'd seen in the room with the compass. They were pulling a cart to the sand pile, tilting it down towards them, and then continuing on into the sand pile, burying themselves while filling the cart with sand. They would right it and push it out again, sand falling back to replace where they had scooped.

"Those cute little things, by the way," pointed Samba at the one going past, "are XT23-5C's, or 'Auto Carts'. They're just little robots that push carts along tracks--getting in the way of one by accident is the only way that they can hurt you. You can actually hop on and ride them, which gives you a good chance to stab through their thin armor and destroy them in one hit, though I don't know why you'd do that if they're not going to hurt you..."

Link nodded and looked at his minimap. "There are a couple chests around here!" he announced. "Come on, they're both at the other end of the room." They went forwards.

It didn't take long for them to be assaulted by some of those things they found before. "THESE are the robotic cousins of our favorite cave-dwellers," Samba identified, smacking one aside with his tail, "'Camera Keese', XT23-0B's. They hang from metal ceilings, using magnets, Boroy says, then drop and hover on those blades of theirs and observe intruders, attacking with something Boroy says is an electric prod. They're fragile, though, and, as we already know, we can take care of them as easily as the organic creatures we know and hate." So easily, in fact, they were continuing along again midway through the last sentence.

Link found a chest halfway buried in the sand, thankfully with its front visible enough to access. He kicked it open and frowned at the measly yellow rupee inside. "Oh, come on," he grumped, putting his hands on his hips like a displeased child. He shook his head and got the money, though.

"There's another one over east," Samba said, looking at the back of his paw, then pointing when he noticed he had his partner's attention. He looked and squinted past the barriars that were in front of their vision now (they saw the room was much bigger than they may have thought, full of more catwalks that separated it into rectangular sections). "I don't see it, though..."

"Then let's get the one we CAN see," Link pointed, looking at the crest of the hill (well, the highest part; the sand went down from the walls and corners, no seperate mounds to have real crests). With some difficulty, they managed to climb up the tricky terrain to the second floor.

Samba almost rolled off of the hill in laughter at Link's expression when he found nothing but a mere blue rupee in the chest on top there.

When they were both calmed down, they scanned their new environment. They saw that the catwalks also had reinforced, diamond print (I think that's the name of the pattern) metal pieces that formed much wider bridges across the catwalks. On the one nearest to them was a beamos, which was not very happy news. They noticed that there was a small, very thin ledge of the stuff against the wall, above where they came in, connected to the first catwalk. Link saw a door at one end and bet that he could probably sidle his way along to it to see what's inside. They also saw, looking at the southern wall, sloped minecart tracks going through openings that had none of the barriar needles Link had seen before in the pouring room.

They went along the top of the hill there, hugging the wall. Samba found himself moving noticably easier than Link, thanks to his footpaws providing more area. "Say, if we ever have to go to the Gerudo Desert, it'd be faster if I'm in charge," he said after noticing this.

"But wouldn't your scales get sand beneath them?" Link asked, smirking over his shoulder.

Samba frowned. "Well, yes, but this isn't exactly a vacation we're on, is it?" he asked back.

Link chuckled, looking forwards again. He then stopped, noticing something below. They were where the first track they'd seen was, which was on a little peninsula of sand hill. The part that was high enough for the second floor was awful near the beamos, but he didn't walk along it that far. He went far enough to see down below in an enclosed area. (He couldn't see it going farther and looking directly down because of a catwalk forming a right angle. At the vertex of this angle was another beamos, one he knew had a vantage at some distance below.) "Woah."

In a place that was as big as a floor switch, a metal pyramid stuck from the ground. In front of that in the little arena were two helmasaurs, three bokoblins, and one armored bokoblin. "Samba, let's get them from here, before they notice us," Link called in a hoarse whisper.

"Good plan," Samba nodded, reaching into his pebble pouch. "I'll handle the bokoblins, you get the armored one, and then we'll get the helmasaurs on our own."

"Then wait for me to..." Link trailed off and pointed his bow, holding steady. After confident his aim was true, he let fly. THWACK! Right between the armored bokoblin's eyes!

Immediately, Samba let fly his three pebbles held in his paw, one after another as he headshot the other three 'blins. Afterwards, they drew their swords and ran down the slope. This made them yelp and stop as they began sliding down the sand. They got in control and managed to use this to their advantage. "HYAH!" Link cried as he jumped off before hitting the floor, going over the helmasaur in front of him. He landed, spun around, and gave a strong stab with the Master Sword at the creature, defeating it with a follow-up slash. He then yelped in agony, flying away as the beamos struck him from its sniping point.

Samba's had its back facing him, but he jumped over it, too, since he saw the beamos above. This wasted a little time, but they got it done. Link trotted over as Samba set his footpaw down, fresh from a punt. (He ended combos against helmasaurs with a punt when he knew that it would finish them.) "You have any idea what--" he began as he approached, pointing his sword at the metal pyramid.

Samba looked over at the sound of Link's voice, then growled, turning around entirely. "Link, get back, NOW," he ordered through gritted teeth. "We've big trouble."

Link turned his head, then retreated backwards to the catwalk wall. A large form was coming out of the sand hill. Sand poured off its sides until it was finally exposed entirely. It was about eight feet tall and widely cylindrical in shape. On its bottom part were two treads. On its top were three inflated fins in a "W" (think about the Machop/-oke/-amp family from the Pokémon series, but more three-dimentional). A few strip lights near its bottom formed something that looked unnervingly like a simple teeth-gritted frown. Two large cameras, as Samba knew, served as "eyes", with bolted-on strips of metal making them angry. The cameras were currently covered with eyelid-like plates. On either side, close to it, was a giant, five-fingered fist of metal almost as big as itself. It didn't appear friendly at all.

"Link, this is a very dangerous creature called the XT23-3V, the 'Metal Ramrock'," Samba said in an urgent voice quickly while it came out still. "It has a pair of weird wheel-feet things that Boroy calls treads, and it can rotate them and its body independently. Get your bow out, because only arrows are powerful enough to harm it. How? When it's about to harm us. It opens one of its 'eyes' less than a second before launching the same-side fist at us. It's so powerful, blocking will be nearly useless. Until the fist comes back, though, the eye stays open!"

Link nodded, nocking an arrow right as the creature began to minutely reorient itself to look at them. He aimed between the "eyes" and waited for one to open. Both fighters were ready to jump aside. Then, one shot open. With quick reflexes, Link jerked his right arm to the right before letting go with his left hand. He then jumped to the side with Samba as its left fist blasted terrifyingly quickly out to them. It appeared to be propelled by a jet. Its launchpad appeared to be just a big, rounded tab sticking out of the side of its body. A CRUNCH was heard before a loud CLANG, the former sound being Link's arrow hitting the camera and the latter being the fist colliding with the metal wall.

Link got up near the west catwalk wall and brought up his bow again. However, he had time only to gasp before he was CREAMED by a big metal fist. It got him right in the chest and blew him back against the wall, eliciting a terrific cry from him.

"LINK!!" Samba cried in horror, looking over. The fist, meanwhile, proved that it wasn't just a jet-propelled nuisance; a thick chain quickly yanked it straight back inside to its body. "It can fire the other while one fist is out still!"

"As...*Gasp*...I can see," Link replied, stumbling to get up. He felt his chest and chuckled wryly. "No broken bones...that's a shame..."

"Link, the monster!"

Link shook his head and looked up again. He grimaced and jumped to the right. The left fist missed Samba, slamming into the wall after flying past Link's ear when the hylian landed. At the same time as the jump, Link's bow was up and he was aiming. He quickly let fly, going slightly after it withdrew its right fist. 'Get there first!' he willed.

CRUNCH!

The Metal Ramrock stopped, "mouth" flickering a bit as twigs of electricity blinked around its head. After the second shot Link gave it, the speed at which it pulled back its left fist dropped dramatically, making the chunk of steel fly over and bounce off its "arm" to the floor, chain trailing behind it. It made a deepening, slowing grinding sound, it stopped reeling in the left fist, its held fist dropped to the floor with a clang, and it dimmed. Samba warned Link to step back and raise his shield seconds before, after flashing red, the monster exploded like a bomb, sending bits of metal shrapnel out. They were out of range for the blast, but both had to block a metal scrap.

Link lowered his shield with a relieved breath. Before he could run to collect the three recovery hearts the mechanoid had mercifully left behind, the sides of the metal pyramid revealed themselves to be heavy sheet metal triangles that slid into the floor, opening the switch to the air and to them. Link smiled triumphantly. "Thank goodness." He put his bow away and got his boomerang instead. He got the three hearts in one go, absorbing them all at once when he caught his amazing boomerang. Once that was done and he was alright again, he stepped onto the floor switch.

A heavy THUD was heard, and both twitched and froze as a loud sound emitted from a section of the sand hill falling down, they could see through the bars. They looked at each other and gulped. "Um...I hope we didn't do anything too bad," Link went slowly.

"Uh-huh," was all Samba replied in nodding agreement. Both were trying not to imagine what the foreman would do to them if they DID do something destructive.

They ran up the hill again to investigate (avoiding the beamos). They found nothing until continuing along. The fourth catwalk (two walled the first track and the third was the angle previously described) was accessable from the sand on the second floor as it went right into it. It was VERY tightly next to another catwalk, having a little under a foot between them. What they found after going onto it was that they must have lowered a solid wall that kept some sand at bay; it now spilled onto the tracks around them below.

These tracks both went up into the second floor and the last room and carried an Auto Cart. It started down there, going around the angled catwalk into sand. It went down and branched from either going up or going around a turn, depending on how some movable track was oriented, it appeared. It appeared to be, to us, a classic track switch spot in train tracks. It was made to either go straight up the slope and not turn, or turn, go across east, then meet another intersection. It didn't look like it would work right now if only the first were made to turn, though, since another turn would be needed. It didn't appear to be active, as another Auto Cart went straight down from the second slope and across the intersection to straight ahead.

Now, Link assumed that it would continue past another intersection to recieve some sand from a slot that would open in the raised, sand-keeping wall, then go back. Now, however, it just went to the intersection and stopped. It whirred a few times, then followed along to the right. It then ignored another intersection and went down another turn and eventually made the farthest slope, which went up to the south wall while being next to the eastern one. Another catwalk divided it from the last of the slopes, where it would have gone had it turned last intersection. Link couldn't see this track's first-floor layout well because of second-floor bridge pieces.

Speaking of, one piece went off of each of the parallel catwalks they were on (sure to be far from the beamos nearby that could probably get them if they stood too close). One connected the western catwalk (the one they climbed onto) to the angle/beamos catwalk (which connected to the other by a bridge above the floor switch), and the eastern catwalk was connected by one to another one that was sharply angled to a full 180-degree turn. If they continued east on it, they would meet the catwalk dividing the final two sloped tracks. This one was oddly shaped, being more like a backwards "F" than anything.

However, right now, more important than complicated room design to Samba was the Piece of Heart he saw lodged between the catwalks below. "Link, can you use the boomerang to get that?" he asked, crouching and pointing.

Link turned, followed his gaze, and gasped. He immediately tried. Regardless of whatever place he stood when throwing, or how well his aim was, the boomerang smacked against the sides and came back to his hand. He gave up after a couple minutes, shaking his head in sad defeat and putting his item away. "No use, it's too narrow," he decided.

Samba sighed, shaking his head. He looked over at his tail, flicking it. "If we had, like, a long tail or arm--heck, leg, in my case--we could go get it directly," he grumbled. He consulted his minimap, then looked over. His face brightened. "But we've got some consolation to get," he chimed, trotting over.

"Hm?" Link followed. He stopped and smiled at the sight below. "YES!"

The big chest they had thought hidden before was now sitting in the sand, in line with the crack in the catwalks.

"The gate opening must have made enough sand recede that it revealed it," Link realized. They went to it and nodded. Turning to the chest, they each took one end and lifted. A light shone from inside, making Samba wince momentarily, and they opened it fully. They looked down inside, smiled, and nodded to each other before, Samba on the right and Link on the left, reaching in and taking the item out together. They then turned, holding the item up in front of them, victorious looks on their faces.

"The map!" Samba crowed. "Now we can finally find our way in this mess!" [Tip: You may wish to refer to link in the author's comments because this room is horribly described here.]

"About time, too," Link added, nodding. They stood close together while he took it and spread it open, examining it.

Indeed, it was a two-level foundry. The map even had lines for the sand, which spread irregularly across the room. Not surprisingly, it still read that the sand was where it was before Link released the gate and let some loose. They saw it had lines for the catwalks and that one "fenced in" some sand. Samba looked behind him and saw a strange sight. "Hey, I think it's a weird floor switch behind that bit of sand," he said to Link. He hopped over and walked across the catwalk like he had to with his big feet--like on a balance beam. (Link could go normally.) He went around and saw he was right. "But it's all rusty-looking," he reported, returning to him. "You'd need to either be as heavy as a goron or use the same amount of downwards force to use it."

Link nodded, filing that into the back of his mind as he looked again at the map. Handily, each room, since it was a foundry owned by the gorons (as their symbol in one corner said), was labeled with symbols and a corresponding legend. They were in the one labeled "Sand". The one south of them, with the Drones and strange machines, was "Molds". "Goron-powered Refining" was where the smithy was. There were two "Ready for Transport" rooms, one in each southern corner of the rectangular building.

The map was surprisingly up to date. It had the ravine with dull red molten metal that was certainly not there before in the room marked, indeed, "Pouring". It had single lines with dashes to signify hanging track and parallel lines with dashes to signify mine cart track. Strips with arrows indicated conveyer belts. "X"'s with dots in the center were marked "Sentry Beamos". The compass said that the Leviathan, or so they assumed, was in some unmarked room at the center, northernmost part of the place.

"Link," addressed Samba. He looked over at the nearest mine cart track slopes. "We should hitch a ride up into the second floor of that other room's second floor and see what we can do there. I have a feeling we'll be returning, so let's not worry."

Link nodded and put the map away. "Okay, those guys are single-capacitiy, so in the ring," he told him. Samba solemnly nodded and hid in his ring. Link then slid down the slope on the western side and waited for the Auto Cart to arrive. It came and he jumped on and held tight while it carried its load of sand. It didn't appear to have any problems with the extra weight as it climbed up the slope.

Link reentered the Molds room. Judging by the name of the room, he assumed the three machines were used to make sand molds for the metal to pour into. The mold-making machines indeed extended up to this floor, as well. The cart he was on turned right, then went to the western machine. In the middle of the back of each machine was a hole for pouring sand into. More panels existed, including one on top that was attatched to a jutting chimney-like part. Three Drones worked around it. Link got off before he was potentially hurt by the sand dumping (besides, he had to hold the sides of the cart to stay on). He had to do so at the left turn right before the Auto Cart reached its destination, rolling from the speed. He grunted as he unpleasently slammed into the wall. After standing up, he looked around and then at his minimap, which now had, finally, the map.

There were circles inside wall lines around part of the floor up there, and he gathered that they represented the bar walls. He noticed the second floor was almost entirely taken up by the actual floor, with an "L" of greyed space that meant a floor was below them, but it was a gap as far as this floor was concerned. The "L" didn't make this part an island, however, as there was essentially a shorter strip on the southern part, leaving the "L"'s bottom to stop when in line with the eastern side of the machine he stood near at the moment. The bar wall continued on a bit past this boundary, though, but didn't branch to enclose the second floor, leaving the short boundary an edge wide enough for gorons to comfortably fit through. "That's strange," Link mumbled, looking up and trotting around to see for himself.

This then brought him to the attention of the Drones. Link grumbled and quickly threw Samba, shifting gears to battle once more.

Samba appeared and drew his sword, looking at the edge behind the wall. He also saw, in the southeastern corner of the room, a pair of switches--one eye, one crystal switch. This crystal switch was different, however, upon closer examination: instead of being a globe, it was actually a polyhedron with (although they didn't and couldn't count them all) 100 sides, and looked just SLIGHTLY bigger than normal. "The other switch for the water must be downstairs," he muttered, remembering Sarbog's instructions. "Which kind is it, though?" He glanced again at the edge. "But, Link, let me push these guys off that edge for the moment, alright?" he requested.

"Okay!" Link agreed. The hylian defended himself while Samba handled the Drones, leading them to the edge and punting them off. Samba wondered how far they had to fall for them to be damaged to destruction. He wondered this because he noticed hinges in the flooring he stood on and a few mechanisms in the south wall. When the three drones were destroyed, he also noticed that each left behind a metal object. He filed this away in memory before turning to the switches. "Alright, think we need to hit these two at the same time?" he asked Link as he came, pointing between the crystal and eye switches.

"Hmmm..." Link looked down below Samba's footpaws. He smiled. "Well, that or two crystal switches at the same time," he answered. He then noticed the hinges and mechanisms.

"Think it's a ramp?" Samba asked.

"We'll see," Link replied, pulling his bow out. He aimed and fired at the eye switch. A dull clunk was heard behind them, and they turned to see the part of flooring lower, bending at the hinge with a squeak.

"Yyyyyup."

"Right, we've got to do this fast," Link said, noticing the drones down there working about. He pointed down the ramp. "How about you go down there, since you can kick them away and stun them for a moment if you have to, and we'll use Sync Mode to hit these switches."

"...Well, alright, but you should REALLY learn how to kick or something," Samba shrugged. "Can't you shove your shield at them?"

"I tried when you were tangling with one, and it worked--only when I did it RIGHT as they tried to use that piston to punch me," Link explained. "It didn't do much, though. Your kicks are the better blunt attacks."

Samba smirked, raising a footpaw and clenching his talons. "And HOW many times was I told that these were a hindrance when I was little?" he mused aloud.

"Right, let's go," Link said. They focused together and soon activated Sync Mode. Link stayed put by the switch while Samba became leader and trotted down the ramp. He was only spotted by one drone, which he took care of breifly with a couple kicks. Then, he stood in front of the crystal globe.

"Get ready!" Samba cried up, and they joined minds, if only as halves of hinges are joined. As one, they slashed at the switches.

A groan emitted from the wall they faced. After a moment, a subtle hissing began. Behind the wall in the smithy, the faucet twitched as a WHUMP was heard. Sarbog looked around at the sound of it, raising his eyebrows. The goron nearest it looked, too, and set down his work to go over and investigate. He turned one of the faucet handles and jumped when water flowed out of it. He made a happy goron sound. The other gorons looked up, making the goron grunts of curiosity, before walking over to investigate. Upon seeing the water, they began cheering in their language happily. Sarbog crossed his arms and smiled. Boroy walked up next to him and, after getting a nod from a word, said something in Goron, smiling broadly. Sarbog nodded again, much more vigorously this time.

Samba raised his eyeridges. "Hey, Link," he called.

"Hey, Link," called Link at the same time.

Samba and Link jumped, putting their hands/paws to their mouthes before ending the Synchronization.

Link laughed. "I guess that's what he meant by working in sync," he mused aloud.

"Heh, yeah," Samba agreed. He beckoned. "C'mon, let's end Sync Mode and have you come down. I heard some goron sounds in there."

So, ending Sync Mode, Link came down to join Samba, who he said could be leader some more, he didn't mind. Samba happily accepted the offer and wasted no more time in returning to the smithy before more Drones could get to them.

The gorons were crowded around the sink, save for Sarbog and Boroy. (Sarbog must have slaked his thirst already since he was foreman and had authority to cut in line; Boroy probably had some water before coming into the foundry.) Samba walked over to Boroy, who smiled and shook his fists enthusiastically. "FanTAStic work, brothers!!" he praised. "I knew you could do it! Now we can survive a bit longer!" He bowed. "On behalf of everyone, thank you for helping turn on the water again."

Samba raised a paw, smiling. "Kra sorii," he returned. This wasn't translated to Link through the rings, and Samba turned before he could say so. "'Kra sorii' is a Lizalfos phrase that has multiple translations," he clarified. "It's because it basically is a way to reply good-heartedly to thanks--like, 'No problem,' or, 'Don't mention it,' and things like that. It's different from, 'You're welcome,' since that's basically same between languages--you'd know when I'd say it."

They walked over to Sarbog and greeted him. Sarbog grinned and spread his crossed arms. "Water! A blessing to our parched throats! Thank you very much, brothers!!" he boomed, patting Samba's shoulder (and making his knees buckle).

Samba chuckled uneasily before replying, "Kra sorii," again.

Sarbog smiled and nodded, arms to his sides for a bit while he continued, "I had some faith you could do it. Good work. But..." His face sobered as he crossed his arms once more. "Surely, you saw the Drones in the Molds room, correct?" They nodded. "They are working to maintain the work the horrible beast is forcing upon them. It has taken over the entire factory. We cannot hope to leave with it alive."

"Well, we'll just go and take care of it, then," Samba shrugged.

"Samba? Should you know there's always a catch?" Link asked, raising an eyebrow with a wry smile as he slouched, hand on hip.

"He has truth in his words, blue lizalfos," Sarbog nodded. "We sealed it away...and made sure it remained sealed."

"You locked it up and threw away the key," translated Link, hiding a groan.

"Not threw away--melted away."

Samba and Link resisted putting their faces in their paw/hand. 'Don't people know that's rarely the greatest of ideas?' they wondered.

Sarbog saw it in their eyes and frowned. "We had no choice. It would have taken it through the XT23's and released itself...though..." he trailed off, furrowing his brow as he held his chin. "Now that I think about what plan I have, I wonder why it has not freed itself already..." he muttered.

"May I speak, sir?" Boroy asked, coming over.

Sarbog looked up and nodded, returning his hands to normal. "Permission granted."

"What exactly is this plan you talk about?" Boroy wondered, tilting his head.

Sarbog nodded and looked at the three. "We have the means to recreate the key to its chamber," he informed. "However, it is a long, difficult, and now-dangerous process that has many steps that MUST be all followed--missing one could result in restarting the process almost entirely. Before these steps are taken, however, we must regain some control of this foundry, and to do so we need to recapture one important room. Have you the map for me to show you?"

"Yes," Link said, coming forwards with the map.

Sarbog raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. Boroy noticed. Sarbog marked it and returned it to them. "The room I indicated is the Power room," he told them, crossing his arms again. "You must regain control of the factory's power system. Do not worry, it is not that complex," he assured them, noticing a hint of panic in Samba's eyes. (Link was more confident in his puzzle-solving abilities.) "However, you may need to obtain some tools to help you..." He shrugged. "Well, you need to reach the rest of the foundry. Because of that, you will require a code to bypass a keypad--a panel with numbered buttons on it that must be pressed in sequence before pressing a green one to enter it," he quickly explained at their looks of confusion. "Make sure to remember this number:"

Samba and Link listened intently as Sarbog said slowly and clearly, "2-0-9-7-1-9-9-8." They repeated the sequence to themselves, putting it into a set of four numbers (20, 97, 19, 98--like most people probably would), and then nodded once they were sure it was memorized. Sarbog nodded. "Right. This code is used to access the barred northwestern door in Pouring. Come back when the power is in our favor." He nodded again. "Good luck, brothers."

They nodded back and turned to run to the door. Boroy bade them good luck, as well, and they exited the smithy. Again, without entering Sync Mode, they rolled in unison to avoid the Spike Trap before reentering the eardrum torture of Pouring.

- - -

AUTHOR'S COMMENTS -- OPTIONAL READING

Sand map: ferretrip(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)art(slash)Clamor-Plant-Sand-Room-Detail-132388457

I should be reading Antigone, not working on this...Sorry this is taking so much longer than other dungeons, folks. Trust me, doing it in parts like this will help instead of being in one big chapter (that might be too big for ff(dot)net...). I promise this is the last super-complex and -detailed dungeon in a while. I made it WAY too big X_X; But I kinda had to because it's the first experience I've had with a co-op dungeon. We're getting things more on the ball next time, trust me. And forgive me times a thousand for the bad detailing *sweatdrop/nervous smile*! I -MUST- redraw the map and put it up online for folks to see what the fark's going on in each room--at least as the map shows. (Well, with extras I'll put in for us, like where important enemies are.)

Oh, and mondo points for those who can catch the SSX Tricky reference!

I won't blame you for hating this dungeon...but bear with me. I predict one or two more parts are left. And think of it like this: Did major dungeons take only half an hour to do if you wanted to be thorough? Bleh, okay, no excuse for making such a complicated dungeon...At least each room is labeled in this dungeon for ease of reference. I hope I get to include all the cool enemies I made up for this place, though!

And expect dungeon itemage soon!