Link and Samba came down the conveyer belt and landed on a short-walled cart with no Auto Cart, for once, on a track going straight east. They gazed about the smallish, quiet, rectangular room.
The walls weren't covered in metal, but were plain stone. The lights and bounty of steel made the room look cooler in color than many other rooms in the dungeon. Cart tracks covered the majority of the floor. The room was wide enough to have four tracks side by side with space between to be safe if between two moving carts. In the center of the room was a roundabout (or whatever they're called) with a track on it, currently lined up with their own track. They could go across it and then go to the other side, where an elevator with a track on it and a floor covered with ball bearings stuck inside every couple inches would meet them. This was the second of the Ready for Shipping rooms, and it appeared to be the main one; two giant double doors took up half the real estate on the south wall, but they were bent and dented and blocked, and appeared to be inaccessable for a good long time. A track going south from the roundabout went to it. A track went northwest from it, then turned west before going all the way to the wall and doubling back to another elevator near the middle of the north wall, near the double doors that they knew led to Sarbog. They remembered it was barred on his side--the fact it was barred on this side, too, made things a little interesting. A mine cart symbol was painted on the heavy brass.
Two tracks from the center were broken...and both were ones that would have directly led to the door! The most direct, north, broke JUST as it would have met the track going up to the double doors. The second route went southeast. It broke midway to the turn east that went along the south wall/door. This followed the wall until it turned north to the door. Right when it began was the third elevator. Midway along this track sat an empty cart. Above them was a chain link fence that was almost unbroken as it surrounded a somewhat wide catwalk, it appeared, that went around much of the walls of the room. One spot above them was missing a fence. On the ceiling above it was a red plate with an N on it.
On the wall behind the northernmost elevator, they could see an eye switch with a brown iris. To the south from the first track was a stretch of uncovered flooring, where a crystal switch sat, unlit. A beamos stood in the place where a southwestern track might have started from the middle.
And, finally, they saw a couple Armos Cirkitts ambling around the crystal switch. Link was on them immediately. He gave two hits with the Thunderforge before spin attacking with it, busting them both apart within seconds. When he spin attacked, he struck the crystal switch, which didn't break to their surprise.
The roundabout rotated fourty-five degrees clockwise, then stopped. The crystal switch went out again.
Link and Samba looked at each other after observing this. "Well, we've got one last little puzzle on our hands," Link said.
"At least there aren't any more enemies," Samba shrugged, holding his paws up.
They looked up at the second level they figured they would need to go to. The "catwalk", which appeared to be almost thick as the four-inch-high (two-inch-high ties and rails) tracks--three inches, about, which was strange for the catwalks they'd seen so far--had holes for the elevators. It went around the perimeter of the room except for two places: One was a spot west of the northeastern corner, and the other was a hole above the spot the southeastern track turned. A ladder on the wall led up to a relatively thin (it was as wide as the tracks, but was really, really short) piece of normal catwalk that hung alone, apparantly there to help push the cart from the track on the elevator if it came up. Stretching across that gap like a bridge if lateral south was the ground (in other words, if the map was like a side-scroller) was another part, which the other elevator came up to. It was broken right behind the elevator on the eastern side.
Link went over to the ball bearings area and inspected it. "I think that this is here for rolling the carts along and having space for them to sit and be movable storage," he theorized. "We could probably roll the cart along this, even sideways."
"What if there's a bald patch? Could the cart roll, you think?" Samba asked, pushing the cart until it almost got to the roundabout.
Link shook his head, turning. "Not if the balls are missing instead of being pure flat metal," he answered. He pointed. "There's some sloped ring around them that I suspect keeps them in place while letting them roll. If the balls only are taken out, then they'd stick up and stop the cart's bottom, or at least obstruct the wheels."
"Ah." Samba looked over at the crystal switch. "Well, hit that so we can get up on that elevator over across from us," he said.
Link went and struck the crystal switch until Samba could get across. He got to the elevator and found another lever on the southern side. He pulled it up. As he rose, he thought he saw something different about the elevator ahead. It got too far, though, and he got up on top. He then saw his question in action to his right (on the west side).
First, though, he noticed all of the floor up there was roller floor. They could walk about between the rollers safely...well, Link could, for sure, but he'd probably have a slight amount of trouble since his footpaws were, like for some ledges, too darn big. He probably could manage if he placed them right, though. The platforms were wide enough that two carts could sit side by side between the fence and wall. There were low walls that would stop the carts from falling out if there were no fence, like in the spot they'd seen before. Then, he saw some high walls were set up across the paths, and in each one was a very heavy-looking door that went into the ceiling. Two handles existed on both sides. "I bet a goron could lift that up from one side, but...we'd have to have one on each side..." he murmured, looking about, but he saw that there was a little problem.
A shutter was on each side of the part where the chain link fence was missing. Then, one was between the part he was on and the part west of the southern break. Another shutter made a corner with that one. And all of them, it appeared, were inaccessable from both sides at once.
"Greeeaaat..." Samba muttered. He looked around. No other eye switch existed in the room. A floor switch was on the end of the platform he was on, an island in a sea of ball bearings that began after the bald patch. He stood on it.
Nothing happened. The switch didn't depress as much as it should have. It also had four smaller mini-floor switches around it, and a picture of a mine cart was on the main one. 'The cart has to be on it...' He then realized what they needed to do and groaned.
"What's with the growling up there?" Link asked from below.
"We've got to start from that northern elevator, then go around, and..." Samba began before growling and shaking his head. "Just get up here!"
After Link used the rings to come up, he looked around and analyzed the situation they were in. "I see..."
"We have to start over there, at the northern elevator," pointed Samba, and he continued, turning as he indicated the path, "then go around, putting the cart on the switch and hoping it isn't constant-pressure before finding a way to get it that southern elevator, which I think is broken because I didn't notice a lever on it when I was going up." He ended almost turning a full circle, pointing at the switch.
"Then, we've probably got to find that second eye switch and, since they look different, do a Synchronized shot and presumably open that door," Link went on. He crossed his arms and furrowed his brow. "But the main problem lies in those huge shutters..."
"Well, we can at least open that first one we'll meet if you get on the north elevator and I pull myself using that plate on the ceiling," Samba shrugged.
So, getting down on the elevator (Link operated it this time, and Samba stood on the other side), they pushed the cart onto the ball bearing floor on 1F and split up to do their jobs. Samba stood and waited after making sure he had a good angle to fly up while Link went up the other elevator.
When Link, careful not to slip on the ball bearings, trotted off on 2F again, he noticed something in the corner of the room there, on the north wall. It was a small hole with bars of stone. The swordsman remembered seeing something like it when they first entered the smithing room. He came over and looked through. 'Yup,' he confirmed when he saw the room. Sarbog was strolling around, making sure everyone was doing their work. He was coming towards Link, so he noticed something sticking from the window. He looked up sharply, ready for an enemy, but when he saw Link, he smirked and nodded. Link smiled and nodded back, then watched as Sarbog continued along.
'I suppose one of us could throw the other's ring through this and then that one could see if there's another eye switch or something,' he mused before turning around and continuing. He got to the shutter and gripped the handles. "Let's see how heavy this is," he said to himself, bracing his legs apart with hands down and ready to pull up. He crouched and then stood, pulling. He almost got red in the face before he knew he was too weak alone to do it. "Yeah, we need to try this together," he said to Samba. "If all else fails, we can recruit Boroy."
Samba nodded and looked at the N plate. He held out the appropriate paw and used Volt Claw. He gasped shortly at the suddenness of being yanked forth, but he was expecting it this time. (The fact there wasn't deadly lava below helped a lot.) He didn't need to do his conservation trick, so he kept going until he was there before letting go. He squeaked, realizing that he was going to--
"RaauAAUhhAAAAUUGH!!" WHAM!! "--NGH!"
--slip and fall on the rollers once he landed. He thankfully managed to catch himself before his head hit the metal painfully. Link saw this from around the shutter and put a hand over his mouth to stop the laugh. "Careful, Samba," he squeaked. "You okay?"
"Could be better," Samba grunted, carefully getting up. 'Okay, maybe they're a LITTLE bit of a hindrance...' He faced the shutter and cracked his knuckles. "Alright, let's do this," he said, and he crouched to grab the handles and get in position.
They could have used Sync Mode and Synchronized themselves, but they just counted off. They had to keep at it, lifting it, but they managed to get it up and, with one last effort, push it into the ceiling, a loud click sounding with the slam it made when it got up almost all the way. The handles kept it from going all the way up, and they noticed the bottoms were lipped--the gorons probably pulled them down by jumping up and letting their great weight bring them down again. They stood back in case it decided to come crashing down, then decided that click they heard meant it was locked in place. They breathed a sigh of relief and looked around.
"What next?" Link asked.
"We see if we can break through the fence, that's what," replied Samba.
Link furrowed his brow before turning to a fence and bringing out his Thunderforge. "I hope they don't hate me for this," he muttered before striking it.
To their amazement, IT HELD.
The shiny metal wires were strung up taught, making a wall. Not even a dent. "But something tells me that some older metal might give," Link commented to Samba. "I can't see how something like that could hold up to this thing without being very strong metal and recently made. Rustier...we have to look for rustier stuff...THAT should break like I expected, with a couple strikes."
They looked around and couldn't see any from there. "Maybe that ladder will show us," Samba suggested. Link brought the elevator down while Samba went up the actual ladder, for once. (It was attatched to the wall above the door at the top, curving up to it like pool ladders, except it attatched halfway through the curve.)
Link joined him and shared his look of relief. Standing on the little catwalk bit and facing west, they found an old fence with rusty wires. Link prepared for some pain before backing up, bringing out the Thunderforge, and jumping off. He jump attacked midway through and SMASHED the fence apart spectacularly. He had to keep going, though, and landed on the tracks with an unpleasant roll over the hard, jutting objects. His shield on his back helped reduce the pain a little. (What amazed Samba was how he could roll so well with that hammer.)
"Well, that's great," called Samba, "but looks like all that lets us do is the shutter at the end that lets us use the mine cart switch."
"Wait," Link called up. He had been looking up at Samba when he spoke, standing on the track they'd started on since he'd gotten up and stumbled over from the akward roll. He noticed, out of the corner of his eye, something about the fence around the part they still had no way of accessing. He slowly turned and squinted at it. He could swear he saw hinges on the bottom and locks on the sides of a part about four feet across in the middle of that fence. These locks looked old and very rusty. There was nothing but a bar of metal the wires went into on top; the other fences went into the ceiling. "I think I see a door of some sort..." He needed to get rid of those locks, though.
He took aim and fired with his arrow at the first lock. It pinged and jostled, much rust flying off. He frowned, but, since it was their only chance, fired again. This time, he could barely see some cracks on it, making him smile. So, he fired again and it broke entirely. Three shots on the other one and, with a wailing groan, the fence fell forwards to the outside. It banged noisily on the low wall of the ball bearing flooring, bouncing a couple times, but it held. It was long enough that Link could jump up to it and climb it. "Hop over, we'll get this finished, now," Link called, smiling to himself and putting away his bow.
He jumped up and climbed the fence, then, with Samba, lifted the shutter that would now let the cart fall off the track if they weren't careful. "Ready to get this done with?" Link asked, smiling.
"Well, until we find a way to open the door we need," Samba chuckled.
Samba stayed on the bearings floor he was on while Link went around to the elevators and got to the places he needed to go. They lifted the last-in-line shutter, then the final shutter (the other one by the N plate). After that, they pushed the cart back onto the roundabout, hit the crystal switch once, and pushed it onto the northwestern track. From there, they pushed it around until they got to the cart switch. When they pushed it on, the switch depressed entirely.
THUMP. Click-click-click-click!
The southern elevator rose up. It stopped at the top floor for about ten seconds before lowering again, where it stopped for ten before repeating.
They saw this and smiled. "Alright, that's good, I guess," Link said. "Now, let's get this thing off."
Samba nodded and tried to pull the cart. It didn't budge. "Oh, no!" he gasped, tugging the sides. "Those four clicks must have been the switch locking the wheels!"
"Then we'll have to take it out and roll it along these balls," Link said unfazedly.
Samba raised an eyeridge, then frowned. "Oh. I feel stupid."
"We're just tense," Link shook his head.
"Alright, then, let's go," Samba grunted, lifting the chest and gently setting it on the rollers. "We can't push this across the tracks, though..."
"Wait, that other cart!" Link snapped his fingers, eyebrows up. "I'll get it, go on the elevator, and then we can pull the chest over magnetically and put it on."
"...I just thought of something," Samba said before Link turned.
Link stopped. "What?"
"Can't we just carry it to the door directly? I mean...it's not that hard, right?" he asked.
"...Ummmm..." Link frowned, looking out through the fence at the doors. He then noticed a symbol on it. "Nope, I see a mine cart design on it, and I bet that means we have to cart it through. Besides, this is more fun, isn't it?" he asked, smiling brightly over his shoulder at Samba.
Samba sighed, shaking his head. "We've come this far, if that's what you mean," he said.
Link chuckled and went off. He got down on the first floor, grabbed the empty cart, and pushed it (hunkering down low because of how low the sides were) to the elevator, waiting for it to go up and down again to make sure it doesn't go up when it's not all the way on, which would be hazardous. (Besides, he didn't want to miss his ride.) Once on the top, he pulled it out again and beckoned Samba over.
Samba pushed the chest carefully into place before carefully jumping over and turning to the chest. He held his two paws out and pulled it over with Volt Claw. When it came close enough, he stopped and caught it. He walked over when the elevator was up because he didn't want to set it down on anything but the rollers, since it was, really, kind of heavy and he had to walk, anyway. He was thankful the elevator stayed up so long. When he finally was on the rollers, he set it down and mopped his brow. "Okay, that's why we can't bring it over the old-fashioned way," he breathed. "It'll take forever and kill our arms when we're gonna need them the most."
After a long while more, they finally got it, in its new cart, to the door. Link then looked up at the window he'd seen before. "Samba, let's go up there, quick," he said, pointing in its direction.
Samba, knowing they still had to get the doors open, nodded and went up the middle elevator. They made it across the floor and got to the window, which Samba realized was what Link was pointing to. "I remember this!" he murmured. "Hey...I think I know what to do."
Link made him leader and hid in his ring, then came out as a ball of light. "Then do it."
Samba got over to the window and looked below, making sure he had clearance. Then, he tossed Link through it. He watched him reappear in the air on the other side a few feet down and land, somewhat hard, on the floor below. "Look around," he instructed.
Link nodded and looked right and left. This made him stop and turn, smiling. "Found it!" On the east side of the south wall, in line with a forge, was another brown-irised eye switch. "Okay, Sync time." They initiated Sync Mode and, because they might get confused from the two different environments moving about (the room Link inhabited was warm in color scheme and Samba was in a cool color scheme), they did it like they thought might be safer and had only the leader move. Link was the leader, and he moved to the eye switch, brought his bow out, and readied an arrow before switching and holding still.
Samba was about to come down the elevator when he remembered he could only get to it when it was up, so he went out the low wall and grunted in pain from the hard tracks below. Then he turned and readied a pebble at the same distance Link was at and said, "Ready!"
"Then let's do this," Link said.
They Synchronized to make double sure before firing together. The switches closed at the same time. Then, both looked right and saw the bar lift from the doors. "Great!" they both said, forgetting how in sync they were again. They ended Synchronization and Sync Mode, then Link stood to wait while Samba pushed the cart through the doors. They opened and he was allowed into the forge-filled room. Once the cart bumped against the brace, the doors shut again.
Link and Samba both jumped for joy, whooping at the fact they finally got the boss key safely back to the smithy.
"Do not celebrate just yet," Sarbog admonished, coming over and taking out the chest. He knew his strength well--he probably could crush it lengthwise if he wanted, but he simply lifted it out and brought it over to his forge. He opened it and, after a moment, smiled satisfiedly. "NOW you may celebrate," he said, turning his head to the two.
They had already celebrated, so all Link and Samba did was give each other a double high-five.
"Now, then, you should find a place to rest, since this will take about half an hour," Sarbog instructed, pointing out the door. "Return here after that time and it shall be ready."
"Yessir," Samba nodded. He left the room, Link following, and they both stood outside in the stairwell. "Now, then, where's the quietest place in the factory?" he asked, paw to chin.
"Hmmm...I think we should go in a place that's quiet, but still noisy, so we don't experience the same aural torture we did coming into Pouring the first time," Link answered, holding a hand up.
So, they decided to go into the door on their left, the second conveyer room. The belt was shut off, but the sound of machinery was still apparant from behind the other walls. The gorons were now all outside the belt, though Boroy remained on the balcony. All but a couple were curled up, though they came up when approached.
"Thank you for helping us, Brothers! I thought I would be standing for the rest of my life! Oh, my aching legs...But what aches the most is my soul...Clanging and clanking all around for ages, but nothing but noise...I cannot even hear that clamorous symphony I hear some describe since I am not close enough to Pouring..."
"I knew you two could do it. Thank you very much for going through this place for us. You must be as tired as we are. Take a rest here if you have time!"
"You know, I love my job, but not THIS much. I cannot wait until I get home to my family! That is...if you can defeat that monster. We refuse to leave until this factory is back under our control! I wish you luck, Brothers!"
"With all of the machines taking control, most of the factory's products have been built purely by machine, leaving us to do nothing but stand here all day. I was very glad to work on that chest, though I was afraid I could not do it right, since I feel so weak. Thank you for making my day and for helping us all out, Brothers! I know you can destroy that beast!"
Then came the goron who had spoken to them when they first entered the room. He was pacing along the eastern wall. "Oh, hello, Brothers!" he greeted, stopping and turning to them. "I had faith in you two. Again, I'm sorry I couldn't do anything to help you. But now, thanks to you, we can walk about again with lighter hearts! Oh, if feels so good to stretch my legs!"
"I'm surprised my legs aren't giving out," Samba grumbled. "I've been running around all day." 'All week, more like.'
"Oh, I bet you have," the goron nodded, crossing his arms. "But there is more to this adventure you're in. You've come this far...do you believe you can beat the beast?"
Link and Samba looked at each other, one of the reasons for coming returning to them. They nodded resolutely and looked back. "We have to," Link replied. "To help you, and possibly ourselves."
"Thank you," the goron nodded again. "But while Sarbog works on the key, wait here awhile. There's about 25 minutes left in the half-hour he gave you. Do you have anything you can while away the time with, like a book?" He left them with that question unanswered.
They found that the conveyer belt was actually more comfortable than the hard floor. So, the two swordsmen sat for a few minutes. Samba got out his beastiary and updated it while Link spent the time looking at their key items. When he got out the Skulltula Tokens, he found something interesting. In the back of each large medal-sized gold token was a normal-sized medal. The one they got from the mountain was a strange, naturally green beautiful metal and bore the picture of a stone that had lines around it suggesting it glowed. Link was reminded of Fire Pebble and titled it thus to himself. The one he got from the room in there had a medal made of copper with a picture of a simple mallet on it. Link titled it the Hammer medal.
Then, true boredom set in and they both ended up taking out their instruments and idly playing a bit. Samba just played a few notes before remembering what he did when playing in the compass room. He listened hard, closing his eyes, before beginning to strum chordings quietly, doing straight eighth note rhythms.
Link looked over at him doing this, and he raised an eyebrow before shrugging. 'Must be playing something from within,' he thought. He set the ocarina to his lips again before he heard an accented chord that struck him as familiar. He listened to him for a moment before realizing, himself, the song one only heard when they listened. He closed his eyes, listened to the chording and the noise from the wall behind them (they were in the western part of the room, and the wall they went against was shared with Pouring). He began to softly play the melody.
As they played together, they began to feel the song more. They began to hear the instruments, no longer muffled from the walls. The different sounds. The different notes. The different rhythms. The different ranges.
The longer they played, the more intense the music became, until finally, after a series of random, akward notes that went on just a little longer than one might expect, the music began again, a simple repeating eighth note, like the clanking of gears. While somewhat slow, it was still fairly intense, giving the feel of the factory quite well. The notes swelled and they played louder, imagining their instruments had become the ones they heard behind and around them.
The gorons listened as they described the intensity of the foundry's inner workings. The music picked up gradually, growing more and more intense as it went. Then, it became treacherous, banging accents coming at nearly random times before it came to a climax, powerful chording and melody work before it seamlessly went into another series of random notes, getting louder, louder, louder, sounding cacaphonous, they couldn't bear i--
Back to the single note, quiet as a mouse.
Link and Samba ended the song, shifting to a i chord (minor first) and letting it ring. They opened their eyes and blushed when the gorons applauded.
-
Link and Samba returned to Sarbog after the goron who they spoke with last told them it was ready. Sarbog stood at his forge, back to them. "It is time," he announced. "The time to confront that vile creature that has taken hold of our fair foundry. He boomed, " He turned to face them, face serious and arms crossed. "Link! Samba! The Knights of Dualty! Take this key that all in the Clamor Plant have prepared and defeat the evil beast with your combined strength!!" He stood aside to reveal the chest.
It was magnificent. Burnished gold, silver, and bronze patches shone between proud red metal stripes in a grid on the sides, corners on the front that allowed a black goron emblem in a violet diamond. The top was made with sides of the patches and stripes and the violet on top. Handles of brass hung at the sides, and a simple steel pair of latches hung.
Inside was a key that matched. The places where the welding had occured were covered in the red metal stripes. The barrel was brass and the bit steel, while gold, silver, and bronze formed concentric rings around the handle, which was shaped in a circle with the black goron emblem inside a field of violet.
Link and Samba took it with jaws agape, astounded at the beauty of it all.
"Was it worth all the work, Brothers?" chuckled Sarbog, showing some humor.
Link and Samba merely nodded, and Sarbog let out a brief laugh. "Can we keep it after we're done?" Samba asked.
Sarbog shook his head solemnly. "I am unsure if it will stay fast in the lock or not," he replied sadly. "If it does not, go ahead. You worked for it. Now, go. It is impolite to keep anyone waiting for too long."
Short and sweet, that was it. They looked at their map and found the room with the large skull was connected to Melting on the second floor. So, they got there. After going across the first bridge, they went up the steps right there. This led them nowhere, though. They saw places where the metal came out and were able to find a pit that they assumed metal went INto. They went down and across the second, then third bridges, fighting anything in their way with sword, talon, and hammer. Finally, they went up a shallower set of steps that went up, back, and to the central melting machine on top.
There, they found another place for metal. On the right, they found some pots sitting there. They stepped around the top part of the machine and saw two beamos behind the corners. Beyond, they found a place for the metal made in the furnace to pour into the machine, but it was filled literally solid. The metal solidified on the feeding trough partway into the room. But the main thing came from the northern wall.
A giant door stood with an X of gold, silver, and bronze chains, each link a different metal. The main padlock was in the center over the intersection of the chains. Round, it was red-rimmed and violet inside, with a black goron emblem inside. The big keyhole was inside this emblem. Link and Samba looked at each other and nodded. They went and broke the pots, collected their contents (which included a fairy) and refilled their ammo, both physical and magical. Then, they stood side by side, Samba on the left and Link on the right, and raised the key. They jumped, put it in, and turned before landing. The lock THUNKED open before falling, the chains retracting and the door shimmering from the spell being broken. When the lock crashed down to the ground, they examined the key. To their pleasent surprise, it came out. As a memento of their hard work, they kept it.
But they sobered up, nodded, and proceeded through the lifting door. It shut behind them tight, and there was no turning back.
-
After a corridor, they stepped into a circular room of immense size. The color scheme was goldish, brassish yellow. Behind patches of grating in the wall, pistons pumped, gears ground, and belts bound. They currently stood high up on a square platform with semi-steep stairs leading down from either side. These went down to a platform of equal width to the one they were on each way. The platform didn't last very long and soon had a gap. The gaps were a bit longer than the platforms. When it ended, another platform began. Not counting the one they stood on now, there were six of these platforms around. Also, the platforms were sort of connected, since a thick, covered cable or large pipe (it was hard to tell) went around the gaps, tops level with the platforms. The part they could potentially walk on safely without slipping was only a few inches wide--Link was the only one who could sidle along them. Looking below the gaps, they saw that another platform was there at a distance that wasn't painful if either fell. As well, there were ladders going back up to either side. The walls went straight up above them into black nothingness. A giant steel fan rotated from above, attatched by three spokes, but they felt no breeze; it was removing air upwards. They noticed, as well, many covered vents on the wall in places. Indeed, their map labeled the room Ventilation. They wondered why Boroy had said nobody entered this room, even before the foundry was upgraded, if they obviously worked on it so much.
Looking down, they found that the room was actually flask-shaped, wider at the bottom than the top. The walls began to push outwards at the point the first platforms described were--the lower ones, edges matching the ones above, were wider to compensate. One could go down or up from these lower platforms via thick, covered cables or large pipes (it was hard to tell) that went straight down then in. (There seemed to be some elevators below the nearest platforms, but they were apparently out of service, if sparking, smoking controls meant anything.) On the floor, they saw when leaning over the railing of the first platform, was a giant, densely-wound brass grating, below which was an even larger steel fan. This one was not moving very much at all. (One might wonder how the workers felt and how the machines fared without any sort of air conditioning if all that was done was the removal of heat.) Around it was a wide expanse of plain, smooth metal that served as a perimeter to walk on if the grating was hazardous; the pipes from above came down to here. Across the grating underneath it went steel support beams that formed a triangle. Going out at an angle one way from the center of each was another beam, each going the same way radially. Along the wall were three steel, round, top-hinged hatches, each one at the point of the triangle. Some places along the beams (which might also have had wires or cables inside), a circle of metal went on the grating, interrupting it. Some beams had fallen in places to form sort of cages or lean-tos. Strewn about the floor were massive chunks of iron machine parts. They appeared to be part of a container for gas or something, given their rounded shapes.
Among the moving machinery and yellow-toned metal on the wall and the noise about them, Link and Samba could neither see nor hear the Gold Skulltula a ways above one of the ledge-cables/-pipes.
They both looked around, finding the room empty otherwise. They looked at each other with puzzled faces, shrugging. They turned to report to Sarbog the room was empty.
A deep creak of metal coming from the bottom of the room stopped them in mid-step. It was long and loud, rising up in pitch as they slowly turned their heads back. A deep clang accompanied a shaking of the room. The groan came again. This time, they heard it distinctly...it was a growl of sorts. Clunks and clanks were heard as they saw the grey metal parts suddenly join together and begin to assemble into something.
Then, in a grinding voice like the groans of stressing steel girders and rumbles of resonating iron walls, a voice spoke to them. "You are the human and lizard who have brashly marched through this beautiful foundry...You have crumpled the many workers under my control, even after I went and upgraded them...displeasing."
They saw the pieces combine slowly around a central cylinder, forming feet and bent legs attatching to the bottom. "You have wrested control of the power and machines from my grasp...annoying."
Hands and arms built up to the upper part of the cylinder. "You have ALL struck out at me for taking control of this place and using it as it should--to make whatever one wishes, whenever one wishes...maddening."
A round head came up to the top. "And now you desire to destroy this body I have had made for me, a body I had made with hard work by machines, a body most mighty and magnificent compared to that weak, pitiful form I had before..."
It slowly stood up, towering to the top floor, eyes level. It opened its mouth, though it did not move it with its words (similar to Krungratrg), and roared its descriptor of their actions, "INFURIATING!!" Link and Samba gazed at it, nearly deafened by the roar, but admittedly impressed by its body.
It was grey and cold iron, mostly. While basic--cylinders and spherical shapes--its parts were thick and strong and HUGE. The head looked like that of a mountain lion's, bearing two eyes of red cameras the size of large round shields. Its muzzle had the details of the nose and wire whiskers, fangs and tongue. In its throat were two things: One was a black mesh on the back of the throat and, below it, a hole of some sort. Two ears of layered sheet metal sat on top. Its torso was covered with lights and etched decorative lines. Most of it, presumably its "belly", was on a part that appeared to be cut in instead of merely etched in a rounded rectangle that wrapped halfway around about 3/5 of the torso (from the bottom).
Balls of shiny steel formed its shoulders and hips, where the arms and legs came out. The first parts of the limbs were rather basic, and they each had cups for elbows or kneecaps. These cups were split with lines in strange, somewhat comblike designs, being V's with four lines raining down. The second parts were different, but all had balls visible in the crooks and knees. The forearms were plain cylinders mostly, but they saw some red lights poking out near the backside of the elbow (well, if you hold your arm out in a punch, it's the bony bottom side of that part of your arm). They ended in hands, made of squares for the palm and skeletal-looking clawlike things for the fingers, that began on the top as the wrist, leaving the bottom to look like a loose cuff. As for the legs, they couldn't see behind it, only the balls of the joint itself peeking around the large kneecaps. Around each shin and calf spiraled up a line of small, ball-ended bright copper rods that came out at sharp angles. They ended behind it, somewhere, but began at the start of the basic-looking shoe-like foot. It was all basic, but the etchings and lights on each inch of its body made it astounding.
The mechanical monster raised both fists, about to smash them. "You shall not interfere with me!" it asserted as it wound up, mouth closed with bared teeth (as they were all the time).
Link and Samba yelped and ran to different sides. It followed them before coming down to hammer them. Link rolled, and Samba dove, using his powerful legs. Both fists smashed the stairways to bits. Link stopped and stood on a platform, but Samba had dived to the side, going a little too far. He yelped and sailed down to the floor until he thankfully managed to catch one of the hanging pipes with his tail. He swung down around it a couple times before he grabbed it with his arms and came sliding down.
The two looked up at the behemoth in front of them. "Now, you weak, poverted hicks," it spat, "DIE!! Die by the claw of the marvelous Anjoltvrya, the final product number: XT23-2E!!" And it began.
('About time,' thought the swordsmen.)
After it roared, its eyes turned from red to green as it focused on Link. Samba took this time to hide below. Neither knew what to do, so they only hoped to play it by ear. So, the first thing they assumed was that if it was green-eyed, it would be looking at Link. Link didn't know what to do, so he just ran. Anjoltvrya (an-JOLT-vree-ya) opened its mouth and the back of its throat glowed a moment before it fired a stream of what appeared to be molten steel. How it did, they didn't know, but Link didn't care. He kept running and dove down to the platform below, hoping it would run out. It stopped, at least, and turned its focus down to Samba, eyes turning blue, while Link climbed up a ladder.
Samba was a sitting duck for the molten steel if he was just in the beams, so he decided to just come out when the mouth glowed again. When he did, it closed the maw and lifted a leg back, intending to give a mighty soccer kick to the lizalfos. Samba could see this coming a mile away, and he saw that the legs' ornamentation looked almost invitingly like a hopping stairway up. So, he took a chance and waited to dash. As soon as the leg (left) began to come falling down at him like a pendulum, he dashed to its right foot. He jumped up onto it just as it swooshed through the spot he was in. Then, to their humor, its foot got stuck as a dent was made in the wall. It had to take the time to tug it out.
Samba took this advantage. He noticed, as he went, the Master Sword appear on his belt. 'He must know I'm probably the one to do things, now...smart kid.' He saw that the rods were indeed good for hopping, so he began. He hopped up the spiraling leg, covering about twenty-five before he found the back of the knee. Here, like a tendon, was a thick set of cords and cables, exposed for all the world to slice. The ball joint was, like on the Silicon Knight, hollow. To help, he found that a larger ball stuck out before it, so he could hop back and forth on one footpaw to the other while slashing, and he attacked with the Master Sword in rhythm to them. Slice-hop-slice-hop...He launched a full four-attack combo before the cords broke and the beast roared in agony. Samba jumped down bravely and rolled, amazingly safe on landing. 'Cut the limbs off! Great plan!' he mused, running back to the saftey of the "cages".
Link was up on top again and was targeted again. He wondered if he could dodge better if he waited first, so he stood, shield up in an effort to defend himself. Instead of firing the stream, Anjoltvrya reeled back a fist, eyes glowing. Link recalled the hammer blow and knew he could only dodge at the last second--he couldn't run and not have it follow him. So, he waited until the fist came and ran and rolled. He BARELY made it. He noticed it was stopped from denting the wall by the astoundingly strong platform coming up against the "cuff". (The vibration and bell-like BONNNGG took his footing for a moment, though.) The fist ended an inch before the wall, though, so it made no difference. It quickly drew it back and readied another punch.
Link then recalled the lights he'd seen before. He looked at the ledge-like cable/pipe and nodded. He dashed to it and began to sidle across it. He wasn't able to quite clear the platforms, though, and he had to drop early. He did, however, manage to quickly get a glimpse of what he was aiming for. Head just below the thing's arm, he could see three red, giant, lit balls that served to help connect the iron cords acting as tendons for the thing's arms; they connected other cords to the centers of them. 'If I shoot them, maybe it'll be harmed, like below,' he thought.
Since he'd gone below again, the creature shifted its attention back to Samba. They noticed that whenever one was out of range for a good melee attack it was comfortable with, it switched--when Link dropped down and when Samba hid behind the beams. It only did this AFTER it attacked at least once, though.
So, Samba came out and waved his rump at it. "C'mon, perfect lizard booty right here!" he taunted. It tried to kick him again, using the same foot. 'Wrong one,' he thought, holding still (he predicted dashing all the time will make it anticipate, and this was a valid idea just in case of that). He dashed aside when it began and waited, dropping to his entire left footpaw to tap it. When it came out of the wall, it tried the other leg. This time, Samba dashed to the left, standing leg and went up it, going around it the other way. He was able to slash it four times, too. Another roar signalled successful slitting, and he dove to roll to a safe spot.
Link's turn. He recieved the Master Sword, which Samba forgot to send last time, and took advantage of the fact that, he noticed, it had to take a moment to adjust its camera eyes. He trotted to the beginning of a sidling spot. When it began winding up, he sidled at top speed. He was around the center when it launched. He let himself drop down, avoiding the punch entirely. Not only did it make a dent, it hit the sidling spot and grunted, frozen as electricity swam across its arm, brightening the spots Link had seen. They sat around the arm in a curve. He took his chance and fired at them with his bow, able to hit the well-lit, reasonably-sized balls easily. They shattered like crystal, and each time one did, the cord it was connected to dropped from the crook, the tendon it kept together falling, as well. He got all three and made it roar like Samba did.
After it shifted back to Samba, Link started up again and Samba came out from his hiding place. In the time it took him to bait a hit, dodge, and get back to safety, Link was able to get to the start of another ledge-cable. He successfully baited another punch and shot the other arm's red orbs.
The roar was enormous. Anjoltvrya stumbled back a bit, about to fall back, when it stumbled forwards a step. It tried to shift back again, but it went too far and stumbled back more to fall against the wall. The shock tore off the forearms and lower legs, making the former fall and the latter have the beast slide down to the floor (thankfully not above Samba). Then, it fell forwards, moving its stubby stumps to catch it. The shock forced the cut middle section to fall off and to the floor with a great multitude of snaps from cables. The inside part revealed its purpose to be a container of the molten steel from a dripping nozzle at the chest and something else, connecting itself to the belly and the chest by steel cables that broke off. Another similar cable stretched from the same place and went to the same place, too. The main body was different, too--more spartan but still curvy. The cable mentioned hung, and there was a definite thinning of the middle, curving in from a large chest like an animal's stomach and flaring out at the hips smoothly. In fact, it appeared more like a female shape. A small (to them right now) plate covered its navel, a little below the cable. Also, a few lights were visible in a line on the side of her body.
Something else happened when its parts fell. They, themselves, fell apart as they hit the ground, the middle section falling apart more slowly as the steel poured out. Samba screeched and raced to jump on top of a pile of beams since he wasn't near a pipe to climb up. The limbs fell apart, breaking in half and the other moving parts flying off, and were taken by the flood of steel, melting with it. The upper limbs appeared to be impervious to the flow. Anjoltvrya panted as this happened.
Finally, the metal drained away down the grating. Amazingly, nothing around the room was harmed--only the parts of the enemy. Link came down a pipe and joined Samba as they looked at the beast.
"So..." came a MUCH different voice--a deep, feminine, more-natural voice that was affected by the amplifier it came from. The head turned to face them, eyes red and mouth open. "You have proved more mettle in this land of metal...but you shall pay for destroying my body..." It jumped up somehow as suddenly, around them, they heard the sounds of the factory return...but faster and more intense than ever. It began immediately with the series of random notes.
Suddenly, its joints at the shoulders and hips flew out, pushing the remaining cylinders with them, thick girders following and coming out of the body. Only the arms ended with the balls as the main limb's joints. In back, there was a second girder that came from the ball--no, the leg--that ended in a hole in the middle of what they understood to be the foot. As well, the former elbows and kneecaps came apart, becoming paws (and pad and toes in the back). These came down fast and hit the ground at the apex of the jump, stopping it. An electrical plug with three prongs in familiar style (this sentence being for sake of describing clearly to you, of course) with a metal cord came out of the rear, and the mechanical creation, as the random notes switched back to the dinging of a metal bar with something like a spoon, was complete. It looked down with brighter eyes, one very angry cat.
"...Pay and regret forcing me to my emergency form!" it finished before lunging and making them roll aside.
The real fight finally began as the song of Clamor Plant proved to be a farce--THIS was Clamor Plant. Banging, scraping, clanging, thundering, dinging, with the sounds of the main melody pumping their blood with its ferocious, relentless fervorous playing of intense SIXTEENTH notes, even, banging on pipes, bars, everything with the metal drumsticks, and the harmony and accompinament complimenting with appropriate sounds. Anjoltvrya fought them relentlessly, never giving a chance to be hit. It swiped at them with its claws for a full heart of damage, which was hard to avoid because of how fast and big it was. (Rolling forwards or back when facing it was the key.) It tried leaning down and biting them, which was easy to get away from, so they didn't know it would have been a heart and a half. It tried to spin and slap them with the cord tail, which was only avoidable by backflipping for Link and jumping for Samba--this was three quarters of a heart. Finally, it spat out a ball of elecricity at one of them. It hit Link once, despite his shield, and it not only knocked him back and half a heart off of him, but it spread a five-foot-radius web of lightning on the ground that remained for a few seconds and took a quarter heart away every one of them once Link got on his feet again (doing a potential of a heart and three quarters of more damage, but they weren't stupid enough to remain for all seven seconds; Link, having to involuntarily stop each hit, got out in two when rolling). Samba actually caught one with Volt Claw, he got the idea, and it almost overloaded him by filling three quarters of his limit (he was about a tenth there from the initial charge he made to catch it safely).
After a little while in the barrage, Anjoltvrya stopped, jaw hanging open, then bounded over to one of the hatches, which it kicked open before sitting like the cat it was and plugging in its tail to the oversized socket in the wall. They noticed that before, the light row had only two lights left, with the second-to-last one pretty dim. Now, they slowly brightened again, one by one, going up. It was recharging its batteries, apparently. When it did this, a number of the circles on the floor, which Link saw were contact circuits, lit up. Link didn't need to be a genius to know that meant he had to Thunderforge either kind. He tried the glowing kind.
Instantly, Anjoltvrya yowled and spasmed a few times as the flow of electricity proved too much--it was overloaded. Then, it dropped to the ground, immobile for a few moments while it tried to handle the overload. Its stomach hung close to the floor, yet was well-exposed to the comparatively small swordsmen. The line of lights on it all lit up and began sort of counting down, one light of the eight going out every four seconds. They had thirty-two seconds.
And they'd better use it, since this was their chance, they saw. Strangely, the panel on the stomach started glowing red. Samba raised his eyeridges. "North!" he cried before charging over and using his still-live paws to cast Volt Claw for free. He began pulling it off. It groaned, but it started to come off slowly, he could feel it. After three and a half seconds, the glow suddenly changed, and he quickly switched paws to pull off the south-polarized plate. Three-point-five seconds more, and it sprang open.
Inside the navel, which was level to the ground to them, they saw a long, slim, cream-furred stomach. A light tan pelt was visible beyond the stomach part. All they saw was the middle--the arms and legs were inside metal parts, as were the tail and head. It was sort of like those three-panel sawing cabinets magicians use, and they could only see the middle while the person inside raised up their arms.
"The metal mountain lion's controlled by a REAL mountain lion?!" exclaimed Link, eyes wide and eyebrows narrowed in a "major HUUUH?" face.
"EIGHTSECONDSSLASHNOW!!" Samba ordered, drawing his sword. Link did, too, and both launched a four-slash combo on it, hearing pained roars from behind the steel and the music suddenly change to a more heroic theme--they could almost hear a few normal, if all-metal, instruments--from the factory around them before backing up. Good idea, too--"rebooted", it slammed the panel shut and got to its paws, roaring. It roared amplifedly again before attacking once more. The music returned to its definition of "normal".
This time, they noticed that stomped them sometimes if near it. This would have taken three quarters of a heart, but they were able to escape it--but not always the small shockwave that it made, sapping a quarter heart away. However, the battle wore on, and it ran out of juice again and had to recharge. Samba went towards it, half a charge left in his Volt Claw after another catch, while Link ran to Thunderforge a glowing spot. There were a couple fewer ones this time.
As soon as Anjoltvrya was jolted about, Samba set to work. It changed polarity twice before he finally got it off. Then, they set to work on it, getting in two full combos before time was up. It snapped the door shut and roared wilder than ever. The music picked up tempo to blistering speed and the BIG cat moved faster. They knew it was on its last legs.
Instead of firing one attack at a time, its swipes and stomps came in pairs while its electric attack came in dangerous threesomes. The bite was still solo. And it appeared to go on longer than ever.
Samba got overloaded, this time. When he accidentally caught a second blast of lightning, his claws made a sound like rain falling extremely hard, they crackled so. It came up his arms and around his body, making him stop and shake uncontrollably, bellowing in agony from the powerful shock. He had to kiss a whole heart's worth of strength goodbye. ("Screw it," he muttered after, grabbing his bottled fairy and using it then. "Link has one...")
However, all good and bad things have to come to an end. It went and plugged itself into the wall once again. Link dashed to find a spot to Thunderforge while Samba got to his position. "Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Link muttered feverishly, then yelled, "THERE!" as he jump attacked the spot.
After the convulsions, Samba, ready with Volt Claw almost fully charged, got to work. Almost each second, it switched, and it gave a quick switch near the end so he had to squawk and switch paws again, wasting precious time. But he got it off, and they went to town. One, two, three, FOUR! One, two, three--!
They stopped and looked at each other, then at the bloody, cut-up stomach. They knew.
This was it.
Switching sides to be proper, Link (who was leader) and Samba both grasped the Master Sword (Link finding Volt Claw didn't affect him by mere touch) with their dominant hand/paw and, with a roar, drove it into Anjoltvrya's chest together, the Rings of Dualty shining brightly.
Anjoltvrya, the music culminating in now-noteless noise of banging and ruckus, roared in agony, rearing its mechanical head. It stood feebly up on its feet, roaring again but weaker. It shook, then fell to its side. The eyes slowly dimmed. When they were out, the music stopped.
Then, the body of the lion came out weakly from the mobile suit, more flumping out then walking. It hit the floor to an accent all around. Its body was normal except for some metal-rimmed holes on its neck, arms, legs, and tail, thin cables sticking from a couple. It struggled to get up, a slow fanfare starting on the same metal bar instrument from before. It looked up at Link and Samba with paper-thin pupils in its bright red eyes. It reached a big, clawed paw up at them, almost standing, before, to another accent, it flopped down again, wheezing. A deep creaking was heard and all heads turned to the suit. Anjoltvrya let out a horrified, grating yowl as the suit rolled over and came down. Link and Samba ran back to avoid its fate.
Then, as the machine was about to hit the animal, it exploded twice at once--once as a real explosion and once as an explosion of defeat. As it fell and burst, the music came slowly, until they heard a full symphonic band accent the blast with a cymbal crash, complete with non-metal instruments, playing along with the metal group that had been playing the entire time, it sounded like. From the debris came a flying red object that jingled on the floor...which had changed.
Instead of the three lines supporting the triangle having lines sticking out, the sticking-out lines had slid into the center. A Triforce supported the mesh above the now-slowly-turning fan.
Link and Samba looked at all of this, then at each other with gaping smiles, and then grinned. Together, they faced away from the direction of the body and did their flourishing sheathings. The music flourished itself, then ended nicely. Only normal factory sounds were heard then.
Link turned and ran to the item that had fallen. Samba did, too, and they smiled broadly at it. Another Heart Container was in their grasp. "We came, we saw..." Link muttered.
"We heard," Samba finished with a chuckle.
Both let the item flow into them. They looked about. The remains of the XT23 were gone. They were alone. The circle of light both had seen after each's first Leviathan battle appeared in the center of the Triforce. "Well," Link said, stretching with laced fingers above his head and looking at his partner, "let's get going."
"Since there's no way back since those steps--" began Samba, looking up, before his ears caught something. "Shh," he shushed, grabbing Link's shoulder. A moment passed before he whispered, "I hear something faintly from up there."
"Another enemy? Gorons?" Link asked, whispering.
"The former; it's definitely too quiet for gorons." Samba raced up one of the pipes, climbing it like a pole with a little difficulty. Link followed, going up it considerably faster, giving him another point over Samba for physical abilities. 'They ARE said to be extremely distant descendents of monkeys,' mused the lizalfos. He made his way up a ladder and stood on the platform, looking around and listening. He heard it louder this time. Barely above the clunking of machinery...
Screeetch-screeetch-screeetch screeetch-screeetch.
"THERE!" Samba cried, pointing across the room.
Link squinted. He could barely see the small thing. "It's a gear," he said.
"On a solid wall and stopping every now and then, on its own," Samba detailed sarcastically, crossing his arms and raising an eyeridge at Link.
Link raised his eyebrows. "You're kidding!" he said hushedly. "In here, of all places?" He got out his bow and fired at the distant, moving object across from them and above them. From the distance, he heard a distant noise when his arrow hit a half-second later. He fired again and then definitely heard the squealing death cry. Blue flames lit up that spot he was looking at and he laughed in surprise. "Of all places!" he answered himself, chuckling.
"C'mon, let's go get it," Samba said, running around the perimeter of the room. They found it faster to just go down the gaps and up the ladders. A couple of these later and Link was in boomerange.
This time, he showed the medal on the back to Samba when they got the Skulltula Token. "They've got medals in back, too," he told him. "I wonder what for?"
"Hmmm...new to me," Samba shrugged after thinking a moment. He examined the medal. This time, it was red, shaped like a flower and had a picture of a pair of gloves. The back of the left had an S while the right had an N. "Wonder what these are?" he muttered.
"Well, since they're similar to the magnetic powers of your Volt Claw and they're gloves," Link reasoned, "I'd call them Magnet Gloves." And so they titled the medal.
"I wonder if someone in a town somewhere could tell us about these," Samba mumbled.
"Alright, shall we?" Link asked, pointing to the exit ring.
The two made it down there. Link got there first, and Samba came to stand next to him, both finding that they had to be together on it before it started to lift them up slowly. They rose slowly, starting to rotate gently as, after they lifted high enough, the world around the pair went black and a crystal formed about them, spinning the other way to them. Then, as they spun faster, everything faded to white around them--vision, sound, touch.
-
"...aa! Hey! What's going on!? We just...won--huh?" Samba blinked and looked around. They were somewhere new. A purple, cloudy, stormy sky stretched overhead. Grass went as far as the eye could see. A hill rose in the distance. Behind them was a white marble building--it was somewhat Roman in architecture in our terms--that was half-overgrown with foliage. It had no roof. Fountains worked in front of it. Mosaiclike stones were set around it, petering out until only a few sat around their feet. Looking around, they determined this was on the top of a cliff overlooking an ocean behind the building.
"Where ARE we?" Samba whispered.
"Here," came the answer from a female behind them. A giggle. "Where else?"
Link, then Samba turned and gasped.
Anjoltvrya, revealing herself to be female, stood in front of them, alive and well.
She was different, however. For one, her body's frame was changed to be bipedal--humanoid, standing her to be about two inches taller than Samba. This included her middle, which gained the hourglass shape that women have. She was well filled-out muscularly, and actually was on the chubby side of lean. Also, she had gotten some long, golden hair, with great bangs fluttering in the wind and the rest tied in a ponytail behind her. She wore clothing, as well--of all things, she had on a pair of grey denim (a foreign fabric to them) overalls with the legs rolled up to shorts and a red button-up shirt with rolled sleeves, as well.
The biggest difference was in her face. She looked much different from the hateful face before. Her eyes were calmer, her brows were not brought together, her mouth was smiling slightly. She seemed...not mean. In fact, she looked sad despite her upturned line.
She held a wrench in her right paw while the left stayed on her hip, slouching. She giggled again and waved when she saw their faces. "Surprised?" she asked. Her voice was deep for a female's, and a little rough, but still had a bit of calm, mellowness that made her sound nonthreatening, yet not exactly the kind of woman you'd expect.
"A little more than that, I'm afraid," Link replied, frowning and knitting his brow. He crossed his arms. "Try 'surprised and confused'."
Anjoltvrya shook her head, chuckling, before holding her paw up, two claws around the wrench. "I don't blame you," she sympathized. "I was a little like that, too, at first, before I remembered something..." She looked away, smile fading. The wind blew her hair across her face. "...this was sort of how I was a long time ago."
The boys exchanged glances.
Anjoltvrya shook her head, smiling faintly. "Now is not the time to talk of impertinent things," she said. "There is little time left." She nodded and looked back solemnly at Link and Samba for a moment, then stood straight, putting her free paw over her sternum. "As you probably have guessed, I am Anjoltvrya, Leviathan of Metal," she finally formally introduced herself. "Like all Leviathans of Material, I have been transformed by my own faults and an item I had not the right to own. You are the Knights of Dualty, and I not only thank you for defeating me, but I am honored to be defeated by the two brave souls who wield the Master Sword as one." She bowed deeply. They even saw that a pink bandanna with white polka dots and black smudges stuck halfway out of a rear pocket. She came up again and continued. "Metal is an astounding material--strong, yet malleable, it can be made into a great deal of things, even things that it needs to become a liquid to form. It is the key ingredient in weapons that tear people down--yet also the key ingredient in tools that hold houses up. Its potential is nearly limitless...which makes it valuable and dangerous.
"Knights of Dualty, you have braved a storm of metal and come back alive. You are responsible enough to endure such a hardship and assist others through it, as well as to share that enchanted piece of this material as equals." She raised her free paw up above her head, looking up. "I trust you, and believe you deserving to hold this more than I am deserving to guard it. Please...accept this Tool of Nations as apology for my foolishness, my abuse of metal, and my actions..."
A bright ball of red light formed above her head a moment before it burst in a flash. When it was over, Link and Samba saw something floating down from the sky above them and both reached up to catch it with their dominant hand/paw. A beautiful, hooked hammer with a leather-wrapped handle and a grand, ornate, vibrant crimson head came to hover between and a bit above their hand and paw.
Link and Samba received the Rose Hammer, a Tool of Nations! This red hammer represents the intense power of metal, from which come both swords to destroy and nails to create. It is Anjoltvrya's charge and apology to the gorons and to everyone for her misdeeds.
The Rose Hammer faded in a ball of red light that split into three, each light going into a Ring of Dualty. The two watched this and looked at Anjoltvrya.
"Now, then," she said, lowering her paw again and looking at them. She brought her paw to the wrench she held, pressed the palms together, then brought it away, spreading out a set of flat wrenches of differing size across the air in front of her. They went from largest to smallest from her left to her right. When she had spread out two rows, one row slightly above and between the other and holding much fewer, she stopped and flipped up two thin, wide-headed wrenches in her two paws. She bowed her head a bit, keeping her powerful eyes on Link and Samba.
Link's eyebrows shot up when he realized what she was doing before he elbowed Samba in his right arm and pulled out his ocarina to his lips. Samba grunted angrily at the hit, rubbing the arm and about to ask what the deal was when he saw his instrument up. This made him get it that Anjoltvrya had just spread out what resembled a xylophone, which he'd seen in his village before. He reached behind him with his left paw, into his bag with his right, and pulled out his guitar by the neck, putting his other arm up as the strap came down with his pick in paw. Both looked at the lioness, silent and waiting.
Anjoltvrya lowered her eyes to her instrument. "Remember this well," she said quietly, the wind blowing gently towards them, "for I do not have the time to explain any longer." She began to play.
At a moderate, solemn, 4/4 time tempo, she played a D in two octaves, waiting a half note's length before continuing with her right paw to a third octave D and back down to an F, each one a quarter note. She played a G with her left as she hit an A with her right before moving it over to the second D. While it moved, she continued the eighth note passage with her right and going down to the F again. Her left hit the D, her right hit the F again, and her left crossed over to hit the A, letting that ring as another half note. This strange melody she played twice (she played the low notes for Samba's sake):
D...D, F, A F D F A...
Dum...ding, dung, bing dung dum dung bing...
Link and Samba tried it together. Samba didn't do the chording right away since he was learning the song, so both merely played the melody. After getting it right, they both felt the rush of understanding they felt when learning Zelda's Lullaby before closing their eyes and playing, Samba playing along. The d minor melody repeated twice, but the second time, it went up to a C instead of an A. They stopped there for a moment.
Anjoltvrya played with them, taking a gently embellished accompaniment part, as they played through the somber, eight-bar melody with simple first-fourth-fifth-first (D-G-A-D) chording. After the part they'd played, it went not to the D the C wanted to move up to, but the E above it for a half note before going down. Two quarter notes, then two half notes, and the motive returned, going to the down D at the end instead of the A.
Link and Samba opened their eyes slowly, feeling somber, when it was over. They had learned a new melody.
Anjoltvrya gathered up the wrenches into her paws, clapping them slowly together. They were gone back to her normal wrench in her right paw after she opened them again. She looked up at them and simply said, "Play the Song of Penitence to return at any time to this place."
"Where ARE we, anyway?" asked Samba, raising an eyeridge.
She smiled faintly. "Here, of course," she replied. The world began to turn white again. After she and the strange world faded away and blank was all they saw, they heard her voice: "Worry not...the cacophony symphony has finished. I wish thee luck."
- - -
AUTHOR'S COMMENTS -- OPTIONAL READING
YES! DONEDONEDONEDONEDONE WITH THIS PLACE!! And Link and Samba learned a new song from the boss! Yes, I took a page from Majora for that, as well as for the song that I spent my practice time and some time after my shower last night composing it. I'm not sure about the last four measures, so that's why I left it partially unexact. Besides, it was taking up space, anyway XP But at last, we're done with this dungeon. I'm sorry it was so...well, excessive, but...*shrugs* I wish I could call that song more than a Song, but...I dunno what else to say. I couldn't decide. Requiem was already taken, it's not churchy enough for a Prayer, and I'm pretty sure there's already a real-life Psalm of Penitence. Also, sorry if the boss fight seemed pretty bad. And I'm planning on fixing a plot hole when I do the wrap-up for this...but not for this update. I've got WAY too much stuff to do!! I've been writing on this for four days STRAIGHT and I'm DONE!! (For now.)
Liberties taken:
- They really shouldn't be able to hear the BGM, but for Clamor Plant, I'm making an exception. (I can't WAIT until I finally get that thing together...it's hard to compose, since it's got a lot of notes and I'm just not skilled enough. I can't get a good grasp of it, either--it's just a crazy, hypnotic, noisy melody in my head that's like Stomp but crazier. Spoons on prison bars, that's all I'll say. It's in my heart and head, but...!)
I'm doing something different with the Skulltula Tokens, yeah. Points if you can figure out the theme for the medals! :) (Of course, because Zelda is just TOO DAMN BIG, I don't think I'm gonna be doing EVERY token (I may do some repeat sorta thing...). Hell, minigames are gonna be a bitch, and I'll have to include at LEAST one.) And, no, I have no clue who they're gonna go to for the Tokens yet. Now, for my final question, did any of you forget Link's wearing a different tunic at any time? :D
Oh, and don't worry, I'll try to move things along from now on. No other dungeon's gonna be this complicated, I assure you! Too much description here! Shutting up!