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!

18. Two Days, Two Jgk'hry Dawns

"First off, the obligatory sob story," Krungratrg began. He sighed and looked bored as he looked up with his eyes and slowly bobbed his head from side to side as he spoke. "I was an everyday armadillo when I found my way into some guard's bag, and woke up in the Empty Cavern...I got scared, started running around, found my way to the center, and saw the shiny ring, so I put it on..." He leaned to the side, put his elbow against a large crystal, and rested his face in it, smooshing it a bit, and looked half-eyed down at them. "*sigh* Yeah, long, sorry, trying to curtail it, I think's the word...ANYway, turned into that rock monster thing, felt the power welling inside me take hold, lost my mind (yay!), got really hungry, found that I ate rock now, and just went for it and became a wall." He gesticulated with the other paw while he talked this way (he spun a fist as if waving a flag when he gave a tiny, squeaky cheer that startled them).

He yawned. "Shit, this is boring..." he exaggerated, mumbling. He scratched his chest before continuing. "So, yeah, I was connected to the entire cavern, and I could suck people up if they leaned against the walls while so scared they'd probably pee on themselves, emotional thing or whatever...But yyeaaaaaahh, did that boring gig for a few decades. I kinda got bored and ordered people to build some pointless stuff in the place, like those platforms...Those actually tickled a little when they were used, made me giggle," he smirked, raising an eyebrow in remembrance and holding his chin. "AS I WAS saying...I let them all try and explore the place and stuff until I got hungry and made tiny stalagmites rise up and poke some monsters in the butt enough that they'd run off of a ledge and into my belly. Yeah, those bottomless pits in dungeons with Leviathans?" He raised an eyebrow, then twisted a planed paw to emphasize. "TOTALLY orifices leading to the mouth. Tasty. You probably didn't notice, but I think I had some helmasaur helmet stuck in my teeth when you fought me, Blue Boy."

"It's 'Samba', please," Samba grunted, nonplussed.

"Samba. Gotcha, amigo," Krungratrg pistol-pointed at him, smirking. He leaned over, resting his arms on his stomach (pushing up Anjoltvrya) and resting his head on both of those, looking at Samba with a relaxed, grinning face. "SO, speaking of you, somethin' to tell ya 'bout your chief:" He hissed, "He's more nuts than I am," then spoke normally again. "And that's saying somethin'."

"Correction: He was nuts," Samba said, holding a claw up, smiling faintly. "I...kinda made sure of that..."

Krungratrg looked stunned. "...You offed your own leader?" he asked, impressed. He grinned evilly and clapped. "Bravo! Didn't think you had it in ya, Blue B—Samba!"

Samba quickly stood up, went to him, reached over and activated Volt Claw as he rapped a claw on Krungratrg's muzzle, which caused a loud SNAP of a large spark that made him yelp and whip back, whining like a dog as he covered his snout, looking pitiful. Samba looked very unamused as he crossed his arms. "I thought I had for a bit, which was one of the biggest scares of my life, but thankfully, he survived," he said flatly. "Don't kid around with me like that, and don't say it anyway if you're serious."

Krungratrg crossed his eyes and uncovered his nose to examine the damage (just a few singed hairs), then raised an eyebrow warily at Samba. "Alright, alright, sorry...sheesh..." He shook his head and smiled again, leaning back and resting his arms on either side on crystals while Samba sat back down. "(Love these gorgeous lil' things!) Anyway, the guy came in and called out to me directly, and so I make my mug in the floor and snap at his footpaw (which misses, plucky jerk) and ask what he wants, and he says he wants me to take control of this guy who sounds like a total roider when he finally gets here. A couple weeks later, in he comes, the hugest lizalfos I'd ever seen—'Ya, TOTAL roider,' I said to myself—and he doesn't even make it past the foyer before turning chicken and leaning against the wall, then I grab 'im and do what the guy says, control 'im. It was fun at the time, but...um..."

He suddenly faltered, looking carefully at Samba (sucking in his stomach, which made Anjoltvrya nearly fall off before she grabbed onto his pectoral, so he was out of immediate reach of Volt Claw), and frowned, actually apologetic for once. He spoke in a small voice. "Truth be told, now that I'm actually sane enough to actually think clearly when I want to—which isn't often because thinking clearly isn't that fun—looking back on how much pain I caused sticking those stones on him and trapping him in that room, I feel bad."

The others blinked for a moment before smiling, Samba more than Link, Anjoltvrya more than Samba. "And here I was thinking you weren't gonna be very penitent," Anjoltvrya said.

Krungratrg chuckled. "Hey, I'm crazy and willful, not stupid," he told Anjoltvrya, putting a paw on his hip and tilting his head, giving an eyebrow raise. He sighed and looked back at Samba. "DIGRESSION OVER, the next day or something, or really the next night, his family and your little sister came in," he continued, voice normal (for him) again as he rested his arms on the crystals once more. "I played a trick on 'em and called 'em into my lair, saying that's where he was. They didn't buy it, though, so I had to pull somethin' fancy, so I vibrated the stones the same way the roider's voice went and made it sound like he was saying he was there, and in a world of pain. I blocked the entrance with those stalagmites so they couldn't escape, and I even opened the doors for 'em. Squeezing stone to keep those things in place like I had to ain't easy, either. They came, though, and I was about to eat 'em when your little sister, cute girl, started putting up a fight, and the other girls started to, too." He scoffed a laugh and raised an eyebrow, palms opening. "Honest! Girls are scary-crazy! I was bombardin' 'em with all I had, stuck in that wall, there, and they weren't budging! I was getting annoyed by them feeding me my own spit...rocks, of course...and so I just used my power and made a wave of rock shove 'em in, where I imprisoned 'em to have later when they'd finally dropped from exhaustion.

"You weren't too far away from 'em, actually; you came in only a couple hours after they did, and that was after their fifteen minutes' waiting in the foyer, fifteen minutes' fighting for their lives. It really was actually fun to see you going through me. Especially the boulder!" He laughed boisterously, sending Anjoltvrya for a ride (she hugged his chest for dear life while her body was bounced up by his shaking belly). "OH, that was FUNNY! Best part is, I could show my prisoners what was going on when I wanted, and I heard a teeny-tiny stifled laugh from your sister when she saw your face after the boulder started rolling down the stairs again." He grinned at Samba. "So it wasn't THAT bad for everyone. Just, um, tip: If you're running from a boulder, YOU DON'T STOP UNTIL YOU CAN GET OUT OF THE WAY." He gave this advice flatly with a broad smile on his lips.

At this, Samba blushed while Link and Anjoltvrya snickered at him behind hand and paw. "Sorry, Samba, but...it's kinda common sense," Link apologized.

"It's the way he said it," corrected Anjoltvrya.

Samba still blushed and muttered, "Well, I thought it had stopped, and I was getting tired, so..."

Krungratrg chuckled, leaned over, and slapped Samba on the back with just the right amount of force to send him flailing, balancing on his footpaws at the point of falling onto his muzzle and falling back. "Sorry, Samba, I couldn't resist," he apologized, leaning back to his resting position, smirking. "ANYHOW, you kicked my rocky ass, true, but do you realize how GOOD that battle felt?" he asked. He looked up in memory as he described it. "It was like...like each time I reformed with that pile, I felt like I'd just eaten the best food in the world...but I was getting hungrier...and then I couldn't take it, so I ate the whole damn room and all around, using my power to remodel the whole dungeon so that all of the stone within was my body...It felt soooo gooooooooood..." He sighed. "Of course, I did this in the past many times when my hunger just got too much...then I would get so big, I'd collapse onto myself and the spell'd break and all'd go back to normal. But I was full, more than I'd ever felt in my life of scrounging for bugs and scraps and groaning in agony as it felt like my stomach was crumpling in on itself, whithering..." He looked quietly thoughtful for a moment. "...I...I guess...I suppose I was just having revenge on the world for starving me..." he mumbled so quietly, they felt it more than heard it.

He shrugged and looked back down after a moment of silent contemplation. His smile was back on his face, though it soon broke into a grin. "THAT ASIDE, it was a really fun fight, and I loved and hated every minute of it, Samba!" he declared happily. "I've never wanted to hug and crush someone at the same time so much in my life!" He chuckled and shook his head. "After that, I came here. After an agonizingly long ten minutes where Ruedekul tried to teach me the Song of Penitence, that chick the Great Fairy told me some stuff about this place that apparently only I got told. I suppose you guys want in?"

"That'd be great, at least," Anjoltvrya nodded, smiling hopefully. "I got told, like, nuttin'."

Krungratrg went, "Awwww!" before laughing. "Heh, you're not special enough...YYYYIPE! I KID, I KID!" He started to squeak and duck behind his arms when Anjoltvrya, seething, stood and extended her wrench to an absurdly long and thick one that she swung down at him. He caught it barely, grunting at the strain of the tool's weight and Leviathan's applied pressure. "DAMN, kitten, how the HELL aren't you a roider if you can swing this thing like nothing?" he asked shakily, the fact that someone as strong as him was struggling to bear the weight shaking him.

"Because I'm special," hissed Anjoltvrya, giving him a withering look.

"OKAY! I WAS JUST JOKING! YOU CAN STOP NOW!" he squeaked. The wrench suddenly grew thicker and heavier, and he squawked at the sudden increase in weight before he pushed with all his might, veins bulging on his arms as he strained. "Goddesses, please...I'm sorry...!"

And it was gone.

He blinked and looked down to see Anjoltvrya, tail still wildly lashing with anger, reseating herself, looking at him with her eyes. Link and Samba watched with wide eyes before they joined Krungratrg in blinking stupidly. Then, the Leviathan of Stone said quietly, "You know, women are the scariest things on the face of the planet—you know that, right?"

Anjoltvrya just gave a feline smile. "Please continue, Krungratrg," she said kindly.

Krungratrg started before nodding vigorously, leaning back and clearing his throat. "*AHEM!* YES, yes, um—*er-HEM!*—ah, were was I? OH! YES! The stuff Great Lady told me! *'HERM!*" He took a breath before nodding briskly and going on (moving his arms back to their crystals). "She told me a couple things about Here. One, she said something kinda vague that, after I looked around a bit, I decided to interpret as being 'Here is a purgatory for the Leviathans of Material'. She, more-clearly, told me that Here is really nowhere. Like that makes sense..." He looked to the side.

"Tell me about it," Samba rolled his eyes, making Anjoltvrya laugh.

Krungratrg smiled proudly and thumbed his chest on the fur tuft. "I've actually taken to looking around here, since ol' Woody prefers to stick around in his forest," he said proudly, "so I found out some stuff about the place on my own. It's really just stuff pertaining to living here, but it's still important." He lowered his paw again, but kept smiling. "The ocean's got as much delicious, huge fish as we could want if you'd just go out on a raft (I had to ask Ruedekul to make one for me, which took a while, given my weight) with a long tail that looks like a big, juicy worm." He rippled his tail. "For drinking water, I found it's not a good idea to drink seawater, which tastes terrible, anyway, and so there's a few gushing springs underground. The main tunnel system starts on the cliff opposite this one," he pointed in the general direction. "We should probably dig a well or something to make life easier. Now that we've got wood, metal, and stone together, all we'd need to do is dig, then make a well. We'll use a chain for a rope—besides, chains are cooler," he added, shrugging nonchalantly.

"YOU BET THEY ARE!" whooped Anjoltvrya enthusiastically, pumping a fist up. Link and Samba chuckled.

"(Well, now we know what some—Er, nevermind...) And the best thing about life here is..." Krungratrg paused, smiling mischievously, and waited a few seconds before announcing, "Absolutely NOTHING! That's right, there's jack diddly squat to do around here!" He sighed, smiling sadly. "Only thing there is to do is eat, drink, and talk to each other. And, boy, is Ruedekul boring to talk to."

Link and Samba looked sympathetically at him, smiling back. "I was kind of afraid of that," Link said. "From the way he talked, I mean..."

Krungratrg shrugged. "Meh." He smiled teasingly and eyed the swordsmen. "But with all this boredom, one can only go back to memories and exploring themselves and what their bodies—particularly new ones—can do," he said a bit quieter, holding a finger and shaking it a little. "For instance for the body thing, it took a while for me to figure out that flip-kick-fancy-thingy-thing, but it was worth it. For instance for the memories thing, though, I thought back to the dungeon, and I realized there was still stuff left to do. Plus, I realized I can connect back with Hyrule's stone, kinda. Or at least it tells me stuff. And I care about what I find out, and it bothers me a bit. Since I'm sure Ruedy's done some of the same stuff I have, and I'm sure Anjy-kitten here's gonna, too—trust me, you can't spend all your life thinking about what you've done wrong and pledging to live better when there's no real opportunity to show it to people—you guys might wanna stop by once in a while and talk to us. We might just have a few things we can reward you for."

"Reward?" Link repeated, tilting his head.

"What do you mean?" Samba asked.

Krungratrg chuckled knowingly and leaned back, eyes closed and arms crossed. "Oh-ho-ho, just that one can explore these caves and stuff WAAAAY far underground and find all sorts of little goodies that you guys can make better use of than we could," he replied toyingly. "I don't have anything yet, nor does Ruedy, probably, but come back soon. And remember you can play that song to talk to us in dungeons and when you're in public. Ain't sayin' NUTTIN' more on it. Just come back once in a while."

"One of the things I was also told was that we can sort of alert you guys with something new through the Rings of Dualty," Anjoltvrya added thoughtfully, brow furrowed a bit. "I wonder if that's why she told me..."

"Oh, yeah, kitten, that place over there opened up when you got here," Krungratrg added, thumbing to the hole in the wall. "I can't get in there, probably, but you could. I think I smell a bit of iron..."

Anjoltvrya leaned over, then stood and leaned, sniffing. She gasped happily. "Yes! That IS iron!" she declared breathlessly. "I love that smell!"

"Well, my guess is that that's your bunk, then," Krungratrg shrugged, smirking. He looked at Link and Samba. "You guys wanna know anything else? I'm pretty much dry as a boooone."

They looked at each other, talking, before looking back and shaking their heads. "Then you guys should leave," Anjoltvrya suggested, jumping down onto the floor in front of them and standing. "If you can, find someone to tell you about the Tools of Nations. We don't know a thing about them, so we can't help. You can just go back into Entrance Hall and stand on the Triforce mark for a few moments. You'll be warped out like before. Playing the Song of Penitence will whisk you back to the front of the hall if you want."

"Alright, thanks," Link nodded, getting up and smiling gratefully. "We'll get going, then."

"See you guys later," Samba said, waving. "Don't kill each other!"

"We'll try not to," Anjoltvrya muttered, looking over her shoulder. Krungratrg grinned nervously back at her, wiggling his claws. She looked back at them and bowed. "Thank you. I'll tell the others how to contact you with the Rings, then one of us can do that when we've got a job for you. Right now, I've got quarters to inspect..." And with that, she jogged to the large crystals forming steps to her hole and jumped up them with as much ease as Samba, maybe even more. Definitely more grace, at least. She turned and waved once before trotting down the tunnel.

"See ya, merry men!" bade Krungratrg, waving and smirking.

They said goodbye and went out the tunnel they came in. Once outside, Link pulled out his ocarina. "Now, then, let's make use of that warp thing," he said.

Samba grabbed his arm when the instrument was but an inch from his lips. He was smirking. "Hold it," he said. "I wanna see just how big those fish are."

Link blinked, then realized what he meant and smiled helplessly. "Sam-ba..."

However, twenty minutes of sitting on a protruding, relatively very low cliff edge later, and Samba, nearly breaking his precious rod in the process (he would need to replace his line before fishing again), caught a 3-foot-long black sea bass that had deep blue where it usually had black. "YAS! The one and only sea-blue bass!" he crowed, panting and holding up the huge, flopping fish. "Oh, the foreman is gonna croak when he sees this sucker! These things are said to be extinct, but they're not—just really, really, really rare around Hyrule," he explained to Link after putting the fish in his fish bag. "I hear that Labrynna's ocean-dwelling zora population has been keeping a close eye on 'em, since they appear to like their waters better."

"May we go now?" Link asked, smiling but still not exactly happy.

"Yas. Sorry." They pulled out their instruments and played the Song of Penitence. "They are delicious, prolly why..." he muttered while strumming.

After a brief flash of light, the duo was back on the steps of Entrance Hall. "Let's get outta Here," joked Link, which earned a light punch in the shoulder. They went inside and stood on the Triforce. Soon enough, after about three seconds, the air rushed upwards around them and they became the balls of light again, spiraling up into the clouds once more.

( )

Link and Samba's balls of light came down from a point in the air, the point the balls had disappeared, and swirled down, replacing them as they had when they arrived in Here. They looked around to re-orient themselves before getting out of the storage room and coming back into the main chamber of Goron City. "Well, we've finally helped these guys out and gotten onto Daigorno's good side," Link stated, stretching his arms above his head with laced fingers. "We should get down to see him. He might be back already."

"Or not, since we didn't spend as much time Here as we thought," Samba reminded.

They asked one of the goron guards from before. He shook his head. "Big Brother? He has not returned yet, sorry. Why not walk around our city for a bit and take in the sights until he returns?"

'Because there's not much to see,' Samba thought.

"...Say, Brothers, I swear your clothes look a little damp...but there's not really anywhere near enough where you could have gotten wet in as little time as you took..." the other muttered.

They decided to go around and talk to people. Many of them expressed their gratitude and amazement; news had traveled very fast about their exploits. When they went up to get some Hyrulean surface air, they saw it was now early night; the sun had just fully set, and the stars were beginning to sparkle down at them. If they stood and watched long enough, they could see them blink in, one at a time, every few seconds, the rate very gradually increasing.

Link found a child goron sitting on the ground and watching the stars wink in. "Oh, hello, Brothers!" he greeted happily, getting up. "Everyone says that you two defeated that monster in Clamor Plant! Thanks! ...Huh? Oh, yeah, I should be getting inside, but I'm out watching the stars come in. The air's a bit clearer than down below, except when the wind blows Death Mountain's smoke here."

"Say, are you the one who told me about bombs?" Link asked curiously.

The goron child nodded. "Yup! But remember, we don't make 'em in Clamor Plant. That place is a seeeecreeet! We should be selling more soon, though. Get a bomb bag and come back, Brother, and we'll be glad to help you!"

They found Boroy sitting up where they had first spotted him a few long hours ago. He looked tired as he gazed at the stars. "Oh! Brothers!" he greeted when they approached. He stood up. "I can never thank you enough for helping us out there! You saved our economy and so many of our people!"

Link smiled and said it was nothing. Samba just shrugged. "Well, everyone benefited from the whole thing, so I'm happy," he said.

"Yes, we all benefited a lot." Boroy looked over his shoulder, in the direction of the foundry far away. "Looking at the mess the place is in, I realized something...we really don't need all of that stuff," he said quietly. "I mean...some of it's nice, and helps a lot, but...some of it we could do without. It's so...too much, sometimes." He looked back and smiled. "We're all in your debt, though. You'll always be welcome here. Well..." He looked down, the others following his gaze, as if they could all see through the rock to the city below. "...if you don't manage to anger Big Brother even more..." He looked up again and smiled, nodding. "Don't worry, Brothers," he told them. "Just go down and speak with him. He should be back by now."

They nodded and thanked him before going off back down the city. On the way there, Samba remembered to remind Link to talk about Zelda's kidnapping when they were down there. They saw that Daigorno's door was open (it was closed when they had looked before), so they went in. Daigorno was pacing, deep in thought. When he spotted Link and Samba, he stopped and smiled, crossing his great arms. "Ah, the two Metal Tamers!" he addressed. "That's what I've heard some of my people call you. The whole city's abuzz!" He laughed. "Please, Brothers, if there is something I can help you with, tell me," he insisted.

Link and Samba looked at each other before nodding resolutely. They looked back at him. "Chief Daigorno, the zoras are in as much of a predicament as you were, since they cannot traverse their own city's surface areas without extreme effort due to rockslides," Link stated confidently and somewhat passionately. "Without the strength of your people, there is no way they can healthily live their lives. Their friends and family living on the surface areas—they can't get to them without risking themselves by trying to climb their city. And those very friends and family cannot return home without the same amount of risk!"

"They have a waterfall—they can just swim up it," Daigorno pointed out, raising an eyebrow, unmoved. "I've seen it before."

"But...well, not every one of them can do that," Link reasoned. 'Unless they're as scary as these guys...'

Daigorno shook his head. "There is no reason they cannot just come and purchase a few powder kegs from us and help out," he said. "We have them and are willing to sell. Sure, it takes a goron's strength to carry it, but they could just do what you humans do and carry it in teams."

"But the zoras can't survive in this hot air for very long, you know that," Link protested, waving his arm around the room. He then decided to put in a little more of his salesman's convincing experience. "You gorons, though, are tough, and can survive in almost any environment. You don't even have to get wet—the levels are all connected by the dry tunnels, and you could work your way up them. Simple, quick, easy—you'd have your men leaving the day they arrive."

Daigorno shook his head again, frowning. "We need our people now to help repair the factory after all it has gone through," he told him. "We have no time or manpower to send anyone out."

Link faltered a moment, caught between the fact that Daigorno was right—they were in need of people to help repair Clamor Plant—and the fact that he was being stubborn and silly and, moreover, selfish. He knew that pointing this out would be a bad idea, though, and was at a loss as to what to say.

Samba, then, narrowed his gaze. "Chief, you do know that we speak about the zoras themselves, and not King Zora in particular, right?" he checked, temper flaring a little.

Daigorno looked a bit shocked, eyes wide. "What, you think I'm letting my anger at that smelly smelt cloud my reasoning?" he asked, disgusted.

"And you consider yourself a compassionate man, right?" Samba asked immediately after. Link gritted his teeth nervously, but Samba's eyes made him hesitate, as did his desire to trust his partner. (Slight (at least) lack of social skills aside, of course.)

Daigorno looked downright appalled, opening his jaw a moment and pausing. "What are you—"

"Right?"

Daigorno closed his mouth, frowning angrily, but he nodded. "I do," he replied.

He had just begun opening his mouth again when Samba got there first, raising his voice and snarling a little. "Then why are you not having pity on these people and sending just four or five of your people out for just a day or two, which I know you can, indeed, spare, to do something as small and charitable as clearing their roads? Why are you not imagining how life might be if your own people were stopped from doing something that is a given part of everyday life?" He paused just a very slight moment, twitching his eyeridges, before continuing, "For instance, if the pipes connecting the foundry's water, essential in the smithy, suddenly ran dry because something occurred upstream to the water source they connect to that you cannot access because it is underwater—in which case you would need to rely on the zoras to help you? Have you not considered what you would want if you were in their position?"

Daigorno blinked at this scolding, and he opened his mouth—then stopped himself. He paused a moment, then frowned, fury welling in his eyes as he unfolded his arms, clenching his giant fists. Link thought Samba had overdone it when, suddenly, Daigorno stopped and took a breath. A broad smile slowly curled on his face. "You are right, lizalfos," he said calmly, crossing his arms again. He nodded. "I suppose I have allowed my feud with King Zora to get the better of me. I should listen more to my heart and not my mind, sometimes." He nodded. "Yes, I can spare a few gorons. They can go out and help the zoras and their situation. In the meantime, we can get on without them." He nodded again, chuckling. "Thank you for knocking some sense into this rock I call my brain," he thanked.

Samba, calming, nodded, smiling. "Thank you for listening," he replied.

Daigorno nodded. "Now, then, is that all?" he asked, looking briskly at them.

Link glanced at Samba, checking his face for support in his choice of risking further anger, especially after such a close shave, and looked back to the chief, shaking his head. "One other thing, sir," he said. "Have you caught word that Princess Zelda has gone missing?"

Daigorno's face registered mild shock, then annoyance as he narrowed his gaze. "I have now—but why care about it? What can we do?" he asked.

"You know the mountain better than anyone else," Samba pointed out. "Maybe you could spare a minute amount more to search?"

Daigorno scowled. "It's help the zoras with something we know we can fix, or help the hylians with something we don't know if we can fix—in other words, spend our time or potentially waste it," he said firmly. "I think you know my answer. And, no, there really isn't anyone here better suited to a search party than construction—our hands are much more nimble than our eyes."

The two swordsmen met eyes again before sighing in defeat. "I guess," Link admitted. "It's enough you're sparing men to help the zoras when you need to restore your foundry, which I know is very important to you and your people."

"Right. Now, then, is there anything else?" Daigorno requested. Link and Samba looked at each other once more, then shook their heads. "Then I am busy planning how best to resolve this situation we are in now with the foundry," Daigorno told them. "Thank you for helping us, Metal Tamers, and good luck on your travels." He gave a bemused smirk, tilting his head as he looked at Link. "You know, a young hylian man of your same description and name is mentioned in our legends as the great Dodongo Buster. I wonder if it was fate to be helped by you." He nodded once more. "Farewell, Link and Samba."

They nodded and said good-bye before leaving. Once out into the main city again, they both released their pent-up breath, wiping their brows. "I let my emotions get ahead of me," Samba chuckled weakly at Link. "Wasn't sure I'd pull it off."

"But at least we were able to help King Zora and his people a bit," Link pointed out optimistically. Then he furrowed his brow. "But something didn't seem right about that smile..."

"Let's just get outta here and head back home," Samba said, smiling exasperatedly and thumbing to the ramp leading to the exit beside them. "Ko's got to have figured out that old Hylian script by now. Anjoltvrya did say we should find out about 'em."

Link nodded, smiling. "Yeah...Truth be told, your village is pretty relaxing once you get used to it," he commented thoughtfully. "Or, at least, it seems that way, now, since you guys said you were recovering from that incident..."

"Yeah, better make me leader, just in case," Samba advised before he laughed. To his half surprise, he was, indeed, made leader. He smiled and jerked his head. "C'mon, let's move our no-sleep-needed selves outta here."

Actually, they had no sooner left the gates of the town when a voice called out from the path that most people took to get to Goron City. "HELLOOOOOO THEERRE!" Link and Samba stopped and looked off into the night. A strange-looking, squint-eyed man in a red hat and matching white short-sleeve shirt and shorts carrying a bag came trotting up to them, panting a bit as he ran. He stopped fearlessly in front of Samba. "Greetings there!" he said energetically. "I don't believe me or any of the others before or with me have met you, sir, or you, other sir," he added, looking at Link. He bowed briefly to the both of them. "I am known humbly as the postman," he introduced. "There will be times when you see me coming and running, and when you hear me calling out for you—be not alarmed, be not afraid! For I come in peace as but the hard-working, devoted message-bearer, doing my job to deliver mail to the citizens of Hyrule, regardless of who or what they may be." He looked Samba up and down curtly. "You are a Mr. Samba, correct?" he asked.

Samba, blinking in surprise at this rare occasion where a normal hylian is speaking directly to him—and the once-in-a-lifetime occasion where they have not expressed fear or disgust at all—was speechless for a moment, simply nodding.

The postman reached into his bag. "Well, then, I have a letter for you from a one Vardi," he informed, pulling out a parchment envelope sealed with a simple dab of wax and holding it out to Samba, who took it. "But, sir, this is indeed an interesting occasion," the postman couldn't help but comment, standing attentively again. "As per protocol, the first time one sends a letter to somebody, they are to go to a post office—there is one in Castle Town and one in Ybayba, as well as just outside of Lake Hylia for your convenience whether you are in the northern, southern, or central region of Hyrule—and drop it off. If the recipient has never been delivered to before, a description must be given. Blue, white cloth and brown leather clothing, metal helmet, large feet, possibly traveling with a young man in green clothes—We discriminate not about the looks of who is to receive the letter." He put a hand to his chin. "The cloaked figure I met on my rounds at Death Mountain is suspicious, yes, but the letter was paid for fully and without incident. But more suspicious is the return address...we have never heard of this 'Jgk'hry', you see."

"Not surprised," Samba shrugged, looking at the letter. Its return address read "Vardi", but the paw-writing was someone else's entirely. 'Not Ko's, not Mom's...whose?' He wondered if someone would want to write him a letter bomb or something in Vardi's name, but who would do that without even trying to imitate her penmanship? (And, yes, letter bombs existed in Hyrule, at least in this current time for it. One might give a possible example of how it might work, but it would be wise not to write it in something anyone can read.)

"It is of the greatest interest to the Hyrule Post Office to be available to everyone, everywhere, at any time!" the postman continued proudly, thumping his chest. "If there is a settlement not yet known to us, then we do our best to find it or someone from it. Therefore, it is my duty to ask you—do you live in that place?"

Samba blinked, raising an eyeridge. "Well, I'm out and about, nowadays, but that's where I was raised, yes," he replied.

"Then shall we include the town in our rounds?"

Samba started in surprise, stepping back. "REH? You...You mean, have a human actually come and collect mail?" he asked incredulously. "From a village of lizalfos?"

"Why not? We've delivered mail originally from and sometimes to moblins living in Labrynna and Holodrum, often interacting with them ourselves," the postman shrugged. "I know it is a lot to ask of a citizen, so we have something prepared for this—" he rummaged in his bag again before bringing out a white paper envelope with a seal of a long-eared bunny (which appeared on his hat as the symbol of the post office, apparently), "—a letter to the leader of your village asking if it would be desirable to expand our rounds to there." Samba took it, too, raising an eyeridge. "We treat things like this entirely as professionals, unbiased and bound by our creed to simply deliver the mail and no other information unless required or requested," he said persuasively.

Samba raised his other eyeridge before sighing and shrugging, putting the letters in his side bag. "I'll deliver it to the chief right away," he nodded.

"You have our thanks, sir!" the postman saluted. He turned to Link. "And you are a Mr. Link, no?" Link nodded. He rummaged again. "Then I have a letter for you, too, from a Bardin." He held out another paper envelope, this one green with a white ink seal with the symbol of Kochyrae (a leaf behind the Hylian symbol starting their town name). Link took it, as well. The postman saluted. "Please read them at your leisure, gentlemen! I must return to my rounds now, but I am confident we shall meet again! Farewell!" And with that, he turned on his heel and trotted off down the path again.

Link and Samba looked at each other, exchanging eyebrow/-ridge raises, before shrugging and, Link putting away his letter from his grandfather, continuing back to the trail leading to Jgk'hry. "We should wait until we've got good enough light to read by," Link advised. "It's bad for your eyes to read in dim light."

"Yeah, Ko's living proof," Samba chuckled. "He said he read deep into the night by the light of a single, small candle as a youth, and after a few years, his vision began to go bad, so he smartened up and stopped reading so late into the night. Mostly. But that's why he's got those reading glasses. Most of us are able to read without them." He thought for a moment, helping Link up a ledge, before adding, "Well, most meaning just most; pretty close to half of the ones who read regularly actually need reading glasses, no matter what we've done to our eyes. My mother needs them, too, though she tries to get by without them."

"You know how to make glasses, then?" Link asked curiously. "Stupid question, but..."

"Actually, that's another thing we trade with the gorons," Samba answered, raising his eyeridges and a claw. "Truth be told, we probably could learn, but..." He looked away, perhaps embarrassed in his race. "...we might end up with more broken glass than any other race on the floors of the shops..."

They reached Jgk'hry an bit before dawn (the enemies from last time returned, slowing their progress). "Ko gets up early, but we should wait until he's eaten before we talk to him," Samba told Link after letting him out outside the gates. "There are a couple benches by the water with a torch nearby that we could read our letters by. Let's get there before day breaks over the crevice, which should be in a few minutes."

The two went in, the guards greeting Samba sleepily. They found one of the benches, sitting by the lake on the edge of the path so that their feet dangled a couple inches above the water (for most, including Link; the tips of Samba's tough talons traced across the surface in a way that he said always relaxed him) and sat down. The bench had a back to it, but of only one plank, situated about shoulder blade-height to allow room for the creatures' long, thick tails. A torch burned nearby, providing enough light for them. Samba sat on the far side of it since his eyes could read in dim light better, allowing Link to read easier.

Link opened his letter and read silently:

"Dear Link,

How's the journey coming along? Betta's told me that his friend Ko saw you in his hometown. You were seen helping out the villagers when some crazy happening occurred. You really are having an adventure, aren't you? Heh...I remember you always talking about going on one someday when you were younger. Isn't that why you became so fit and well-rounded?

Things here are fine. Betta's arm is healing, the villagers are living life alright without you, though the children miss you, and the shop's doing fine, as well as it always does being so out of the way compared to the rest of Hyrule...Next time you're here, I'd like it if you could take a moment to help me out a little bit. Me and Betta are considering telling the villagers about how there are friendly lizalfos, but we're scared they'll think we're crazy. We'd like it if your lizalfos friend could come into the village with you, because everyone should experience a peaceful, forest-side village at least once in their lives.

Well, I'd better go. I hope my gifts are helping out.

Love, your grandfather,

Bardin"

Link raised an eyebrow when he noticed a wider-than-usual space between "are" and "fine" in the second paragraph's first sentence. 'If I didn't know any better, I'd say that was a pause where he thought of something better to say...'

Samba opened his letter, which revealed an extra scrap of paper that came floating out and he grabbed before it hit the water, then he looked at the parchment letter and read it (feeling stupid that he was there and Vardi would be awake in a short while, though), also silently, until he widened his eyes and turned to Link. "Well, I'll be! Get a load of this!" he said. He read aloud in a low voice:

"Samba,

I can't believe I'm doing this, but I felt I had to tell you right away, and I'm not sure you're coming back anytime soon. First, though, we're doing fine; the chief's recovering well, Mom's taking care of me, Ko's been reading away as normal. But something happened the other night. I was just about to put out the light in the living room when I heard a soft knock at the door. So I opened it and saw, of all things, A POLS VOICE!" Link's eyes widened, raising an eyebrow at Samba, who glanced up briefly before continuing.

"Thing is, it was friendly. It sniffed me a few times, and around, and it hopped right in and hugged up to me. I was about to shout for Mom when I remembered that loud noises aggravate them, and we can't have a Pols Voice hopping mad(ly) around all over the house, so I knocked on her door. She gasped and was about to grab me when it went over, sniffing her, and hugged against her, too. Then it hopped over to your bed, sniffed it, and then turned to us, frantically hopping up and down and indicating the bed. I think it was trying to tell us something...Does it know you, Samba?

"Anyway, we're going to keep it, because it's really nice, quiet, and I hear they don't eat that often. We fed it a fish and it looked reeeally full. It was funny. It went to sleep on your bed, hope you don't mind. Before it went, though, it gave me some weird piece of paper, which I'm sending, too. It also left a purple rupee by your bed before it went to sleep, which I'm gonna leave be if it's not for me or you. I dunno what to name it yet...

Visit us again sometime soon!

Vardi"

Samba blinked at Link, who blinked at him, then they looked at the scrap that had almost fallen into the water. It was a dirty, rough-edged fragment of map, it appeared to be. It had lines and arrows on it and what appeared to be some bits of words that they couldn't make out. They shrugged, then Samba gave it to Link to put with the map. "Well, I think we'll head there, first," Samba said, "after breakfast." The sky through the crevice above them lightened more as the sun began peeking higher above the edge of the world, shedding a little light into the cave. A lizalfos came by and used a bell-like tool to snuff out the torch before silently walking off again, putting out the torches along the path around the lake.

Link and Samba got off the bench and started walking around. Link watched the town as it woke up. A few lizalfos started to sleepily come out of houses, and he saw one lizalfos go to the place he remembered was the store in the village. He mused how a village with almost no contact with the outside world had a general store. 'It's probably very lucrative,' he chuckled in his head.

Samba looked down the dock. He saw the platform in the middle of the lake wasn't attended to yet—but, of course, it had only been a day, though it felt much longer. But closer, he saw the fishing foreman pulling up in his large fishing boat. In an hour, his co-workers would push off and go fishing. Samba grinned and trotted over. Link, of course, followed.

The foreman, who always trailed his long, skinny tail in the water whenever he was near it, looked up from tying off the mooring line on a dock post and smiled as Samba approached. "Well, well, Samba's early," he stated. "The world is going crazy."

Samba chuckled and shook his head, stopping by him. "You have no idea, sir," he said. "Has the fishing been good? I never got around to talking to you last time."

The foreman nodded, arms crossed as he stood in the boat. "Yes, we've been able to get by without you," he answered. "It'd be nice to have another line in the water, however. If you have the time, feel free to join the loners, or us if you're here on time."

"Loners?" Link couldn't help but ask, curious.

"Oh, sorry, forgot about you—Sir, this is my teammate and friend, Link," Samba introduced. "He and I are currently trying to...well, save Hyrule."

The foreman raised an eyeridge, tilting his head as he inspected Link. "Really, now? I see he can understand me, but I can't him. Interesting." He made eye contact with Link. "The way our fishing business works revolves around two kinds of ships. One is my ship, the 'school ship', where the mass of lures simulates a school of fish as we gently go around in a circle in the lake. Samba here was part of that group. We also have random 'loners', one-man boats that float in place separately from the school ship. If a school ship fisherman is late, they have to be alone in that boat for a while. While everyone has to remain silent, we understand the value of companionship, and it is better to fish with others than it is alone, for us." Link nodded in understanding.

Samba grinned and got out his fish bag. "Sir, I caught some fish while out and about," he said proudly. "Including one that'll make you nearly capsize."

The foreman scoffed. "Oh, really? If you're wrong, you're not going ANYWHERE until you've given me twenty push-ups," he warned before taking the bag. Samba gave him his fishing log, as well, smiling nervously.

"What's so bad about doing push-ups?" Link asked, raising an eyebrow. "I'd rather not do them, but by now, they should be nothing..."

"Nothing, true, but he sits on us whenever he metes that punishment out," Samba replied wryly.

The foreman suddenly gasped, and they turned to see him holding the sea-blue bass, jaw dropped wide open. "There's no mistaking this color or this smell," he said after a moment. He laughed and looked up at Samba, smirking. "Well-done, Samba! You know as well as I do how unbelievably rare this fish is!" he praised. "I've only seen this thing in front of my face only once before in my life." He grinned and put it into a compartment in the boat. "We'll preserve this guy and put him up in the fishing center. If the world does turn upside-down and we see other people coming, well, won't they be surprised. OH!" He snapped his claws and reached into another compartment. He came out holding a box with a big lens on it. "Get your fishing rod out—Link, move aside, we gotta take his pictograph so that we all know who it was that caught this guy..."

A moment later, Samba's grinning, fishing rod-holding image was preserved onto film forever.

The foreman put the pictobox back into its compartment before chuckling and getting something from yet one more compartment, one which was locked. "And I'd say you've made impressive progress, Samba," he added. "I don't know why you said 'Here' for that sea-blue bass, but I'll take your word for it. You've earned this, methinks." He rose and held out, to their pleasant surprise, a Piece of Heart!

Samba gasped in a grin, taking it. "THANK you, sir!" he bowed deeply. He held the Piece of Heart, looking at it a moment and relishing his victory before letting it absorb. It broke and went into him, as normal. His Ring pulsed with red-pink light briefly, then Link's Ring pulsed the same way.

"Next time we assemble a Heart Container, don't do that overly-dramatic thing again, please," Link asked wryly, crossing his arms.

Samba frowned at him, but laughed.

"Anyway, you gonna come and work with us today, Samba?" the foreman asked, getting back to business as his face turned serious again and his arms crossed. Samba said they didn't really have time right now and the foreman nodded. "Well, then, quit wasting my time. Just remember to keep fishing in your spare time. Even people saving the world have some, you know. Thanks for stopping by, of course." He gave the shooing motion, and went back to his work (which really was just jumping onto the dock and standing, waiting).

Samba walked back to shore. He looked at Link smugly. "See? Knew taking the time to fish for that thing was worth it," he said knowingly. Link sighed and held his hands up.

By now, the early morning had come in the village. Link observed that it was an early bird community, since a lot more lizalfos were out and about. He was regarded with wariness, but nobody said anything meanly about him.

Samba led them to his house. He opened the door, calling. "Hey, we're ba—AACK!" Suddenly, he was tackled to the ground, almost a la Calvin and Hobbes, by a Pols Voice, Link glad he wasn't directly behind him at the time. Samba blinked at the fluffy, beach ball-sized creature on top of him that was almost crushing him under its weight as it nuzzled up against his body affectionately. He then chuckled and hugged it gently, smiling broadly and sighing. "OH, I missed how this feels!" he said quietly.

"Samba!" Vardi came running to the door, looking unsure. "You...You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Samba replied, lifting the Pols Voice up with an effort and putting it on the ground before getting up. 'Lost a heart, but...' "I just read your letter," he told her, smiling.

Vardi, who'd opened her mouth, closed it in a smile. "I was just about to ask. What do you think we should name it?" she asked.

Samba frowned in thought for a moment. "Well...um..." He blinked his eyes open, mouth limp as a totally unexpected idea entered his head, feeling almost as if someone had placed it in there. "...'Lullaby'," he whispered.

"'Lullaby'?" Vardi repeated, raising an eyeridge. "Why that?"

"We played a special lullaby to calm it," Samba answered, looking down at it. "It's a nice pet name." He smiled and bent down. "Whatcha think? You wanna be called 'Lullaby'?" he asked cheerfully. The Pols Voice bobbed forwards and back, like it had in the dungeon. Samba chuckled and grinned. "Then that's what we'll call you! Be a good little blubberball, Lullaby!" Lullaby jumped up and down happily.

"Oh, so this is what all this noise is about," Ybir said. They turned to see her stop at the door frame, leaning on one side and crossing her arms, raising an eyeridge and smirking. "Morning, Samba, Link."

"Morning, Ybir," Link waved pleasantly.

"Hey, Mom," Samba smiled. He looked at the Pols Voice. "Can we...really keep it?" he asked hopefully.

Ybir chuckled. "Well, of course," she said. "We haven't had one of those guys since—" She paused. "—since before Vardi could remember." She beckoned. "Come on, tell us all what happened. You look like you've just come from quite the ordeal—Link, dear, your skin looks a little bit redder than normal, as does your hide, Samba..."

They came in and Samba was instantly tugged by Lullaby to his bedroom. There, he saw the purple rupee on the floor. The Pols Voice lifted it up with its dextrous ears before turning and offering it to Samba, who looked touched and surprised. "Oh! Um...Thanks, Lullaby!" He knelt and accepted the 50-rupee reward. "Well, looks like we got a little refund from getting that tunic, sorta," he mused while he beheld the beautiful currency before walleting it.

"Before we begin, think we should call in Ko?" asked Ybir as they sat around the table. "I met him before coming home for bed last night and he said he was finished translating. He probably would like to hear about this, too."

Samba looked at Link. "He'll wanna hear it, trust me," he chuckled sorrily. "You know where he is—right across from the dock, up a stairway path that starts by the billboard. Could you run over and grab him?"

"Why not go with?" Ybir asked flatly, crossing her arms and looking unamusedly at him.

"Because there's some...lizalfos stuff I wanna talk about with you guys," Samba replied. "Everyone's got their own private matters in their families."

Ybir frowned, but nodded. "Alright. Link, you can just hide in your Ring if people start beating up on you or anything, but I'm sure you can handle yourself fine," she said. "I'll send my son after you if you're not back in ten minutes, alright?"

Link blushed and smiled sheepishly. "You're...um, your concern is really appreciated," he changed mid-sentence. 'Saying, "You're treating me like I'm one of your kids," wouldn't be the best thing to say...Thank you, homophones!' He then nodded and left.

"Now, then, what's this that's so important as to use your own partner as a fetching boy?" Ybir asked darkly once Link was out of earshot, glaring at her son.

Samba removed his helmet, running a paw over his slick head, and sighed. He looked down at Lullaby, bouncing cutely. It looked at the helmet he held, and Samba lowered it down a bit. Lullaby sniffed at it, then jumped up so that the helm landed on its head, holding it with its ears on the way down. It looked very cute as it wore the armor piece happily. "I...kinda don't want Link to hear...Seeing the Pols Voice reminds me..." He looked at her distantly. "...It's not-so-kinda about...him..."

Ybir raised her eyeridges in slight surprise. "What do you want to talk about behind his back?" she asked in a bit of disappointed shock.

"Mom?" Ybir looked at Vardi. Vardi looked at Samba, who was looking down at Lullaby with a sad frown. "He means him."

Ybir's features slowly softened, melting into one that looked like Samba's when he came up with his new pet's name. "...Oh..."

Samba moved his tail and gently stroked Lullaby's pelt.

Link arrived a few minutes later, Ko in tow. He hadn't received more than a few harsh glances from the lake walkers. 'For a village, this place has a lot of people,' he mused as he walked. 'I think I've only seen 4 or 5 people I swear I saw earlier today that I don't know the name of, and I've seen at least 10 already...'

"Really, did you spend too much time out in the sun?" asked Ko, concerned and tilting his head, brow knit. "Your skin seems redder than I saw it last..."

"I think our story'll explain," Link said over his shoulder before turning to knock on the door.

"Saw you coming through the window," Samba said as he opened the door, smiling. Lullaby stayed by his leg, looking up a little timidly at Ko.

Ko raised his eyeridges at the little monster. "Oh! A Pols Voice! This is new!" he said in surprise. "Where'd it come from?"

"Again, our story'll explain," Link said again, chuckling.

"Oh? Then it'll be an interesting tale," Ybir mused from the table, leaning on it and smiling wryly.

"...Goddesses, pinch me, this is too unreal, I've gotta be dreaming," Ko muttered after they finished.

Samba, who was petting Lullaby in his lap (though he was beginning to lose feeling in his legs), smirked at him. "Alright," he said, and he reached over. Ko pulled his arm away quickly, and they laughed.

They'd told them about the gorons' situation all the way up to when they left from Here. During the story, they'd determined that Lullaby must have decided to go where this friendly lizalfos came from and followed Samba's scent to his home after leaving the foundry. As for the slip of paper, Ko said keep it—it looks most similar to a treasure map, and even in a fragment, you never knew. They'd also determined that Link had gotten the sunless equivalent of a sunburn by staying around the super-hot areas of the foundry. The tunic couldn't protect his face, sadly, but Link said he'd be alright.

Ko sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, but this IS quite unbelievable," he apologized. "I feel like I've walked into one of the tales I devoured when I was younger and read fiction far more than I do now. I should fix that sometime..."

"This is interesting," Ybir agreed, holding her head in her palms as she rested her elbows on the table. "You're going on quite the quest, Samba."

"Yeah, I'm almost jealous," Vardi said. She was leaning on her crossed arms on the table, kicking her little legs. "'Almost' because I don't like the high-chance-of-getting-killed part."

"GOOD," Ybir approved firmly, making them chuckle.

"Anyway, Ko, Anjoltvrya told us that we should find out about the Tools of Nations," Link said, leaning an arm on the table as he turned to him. "You're done with the translating—what can you tell us?"

Ko nodded and took out his book and reading glasses, then opened it up to a bookmarked page. Some pieces of parchment with writing in Hylian on them fell out, and he took those up. "Alright, according to what I could make out of the old Hylian, the Tools of Nations are a powerful group of eight objects," he began. "It doesn't say how they were made, though they say that when they are found, it will be unsurprising what shape they are and what material they are associated with. They represent the ingenuity and tenacity of all civilizations—the inventiveness of its people and the determination to survive as a society amidst a dangerous natural and inner world. Each of them represents a material, a virtue, and an important invention that allowed civilization to advance significantly."

"Hmmmm..." Link hummed before looking at Samba. Samba reached over and shuttered the window. They then cupped their dominant hands together, and a light emitted from the Rings, appearing above their palms. A second later, the Rose Hammer flashed into existence, surprising everyone and almost scaring away Lullaby. After summoning it, they looked at each other in surprise. "It worked," Link muttered.

"Well, that's helpful," Samba muttered back. He grabbed the hammer and held it up, showing it to Ko, whose jaw was dropped. "What's the Rose Hammer represent, then?" he asked.

Ko just gaped, half in horror, half in utter disbelief. It took him a moment (and a swat on the head by Ybir) before he cleared his throat, swallowed, and answered, "Th-The Rose Hammer, this Tool, is obviously a hammer, quite important to human and lizalfos civilization, as well as many other cultures, since it allows the binding of the frames of structures made from wood, mostly, though it also allows nails to be driven into things such as stone to allow things to hang from them. It's also handy when wedging things together. The hammer is also useful as a weapon, able to crush skulls with ease. As the Rose Hammer, it represents the material of metal, which it appears Anjoltvrya has described enough. Finally, it represents the virtue of Simplicity."

'Simplicity?' Link raised an eyebrow. 'Tell that to the people who made the place where we got it...Well, okay, where the one holding it was...'

Samba tried to put it back into magical storage himself, but couldn't, so he and Link placed their hands together again and dismissed it. "Anything else about the Tools?" he asked.

Ko nodded, looking back at the rewrite he had made. "Each Tool is excruciatingly powerful," he said. "While, 'when the sky gathers dust' as it says, the Rings of Dualty are able to harness the power of the Tools of Nations, with the right spells, anyone can unleash or even absorb their immense magical power...This will, without exception, eventually transform the wielder into a terrible monster. You had best keep any Tools you get hidden from anyone you don't trust with your life," he advised sternly, pointing at them. "There's also a footnote talking about how if an animal happens to come across a Tool, they will be given a new body similar to that which they had before; such is Anjoltvrya's case. With the increased intelligence, the animal has the choice of using or discarding the Tool, keeping their form regardless." He shook his head. "It says, as well, that certain creatures and people who possess the sufficient magical power are able to harness them without being transformed...which is probably why the chief said you should collect them—keep them out of the hands of whoever is trying to doom Hyrule."

"What about Ruedekul and Krungratrg?" asked Vardi. "They transformed just by wearing the Rings of Dualty..."

"That's about the Rings themselves," Ko replied, pointing at her. "The Rings are closely related to the Tools of Nations. They, too, represent a material. Obviously, Link's represents wood while Samba's represents stone, but I don't know what the third represents. Since the Rings are more important, they will almost instantly transform the wrong wearers into the respective Leviathans of Material."

"Do you know what any of the others are?" Ybir asked.

Ko shook his head. "The book doesn't say. It just says what I just said."

"Nothing about Here?" Samba asked. Ko shook his head. Samba frowned. "But surely other Leviathans have been defeated before..."

"Maybe, maybe not," Ko said. "And maybe Here is special, since it appears the time has come for the Leviathans to help pay for their wrongdoings that they did before or after becoming Leviathans...The best I can guess is that they lend their power at some point."

"Hmm..." everyone went, thoughtful.

Ko sighed and put his glasses away. "You should go see the chief, now, I think," he said. "I'll continue researching all I can about this situation. There's always a ton of prophesies and such about these threats to Hyrule."

"Alright, then," Samba said, nodding. He looked at Lullaby and smiled. "Okay, I can't feel my legs anymore, and I need my helmet back, now," he told it. "Time to get off." He lifted his helmet off from it (to its disappointment) and placed it off of him and onto the floor.

"You'll be back sometime, right?" asked Vardi, frowning, as they got up, Samba putting his helmet back on.

"Yeah, we'll stop in once in a while," Samba nodded, smiling. "Don't worry."

"Okay," Vardi replied, doing the same as her brother.

"Be safe," bade Ybir. "Both of you."

"Oh! Link," Ko suddenly said, pointing at him. "Betta left me another message. He said you might want to visit back soon..."

Link frowned. "I knew there was something fishy about how Grandpa said everything was fine," he murmured. "Thanks. I'll take him up on that suggestion," he said louder.

Everyone said good-bye, and Link and Samba left. Samba led them to the medical cavern and found his leader still in bed, albeit sitting up and reading a book in Hylian. (He had reading glasses on, as well.) Kargaro looked up when Samba and Link walked in and smiled. "Oh! Back from Goron City?" he asked, marking his place securely with a cord-and-clasp bookmark.

After they gave a brief summary of what they'd learned and done, Kargaro thought for a moment. "Hmmm...Well, the only thing I can think of to tell you is keep going," he said. "And check back with King Zora—I'm not exactly sure Daigorno would listen that easily."

"What if Daigorno ends up being as angered as I'd made you?" Samba asked, frightened at the thought.

"He'll probably use whatever abilities he has, become a bit more monstrous, and try to kill someone," Kargaro answered simply. He then realized why they looked frightened at that thought and laughed. "Oh, relax! Gorons can grow to immense sizes, but not instantly, like I can. That's just my own special power. I doubt he'd grow as big as a mountain."

They breathed sighs of relief.

"However, if you're worried you might face things a bit too much for you," Kargaro went on thoughtfully, "you might want to keep an eye out for fairy fountains. They're well-hidden fountains where lots of those fairies you can put into bottles are. Some are even better, being Great Fairy Fountains."

"Who and what are they?" Link asked curiously. Samba looked equally curious.

"They're the leaders of the fairies," he answered. "Each one excels in a certain area or represents a certain thing. For example, legends say that the leader of the Great Fairies is the Great Fairy of Kindness...or Happiness...something like that. There is also the Great Fairy of Magic, and one of Power. Finding them will most likely land some useful fish in your nets—they grant special abilities to those they see fit to accept them, such as special spells, one legend says. They're well-hidden...you'll probably need to break down stone walls to discover them. Don't be afraid to search suspicious-looking areas."

They nodded and thanked him for the information, wished him to get well soon, and left.

Link and Samba (the latter still leading) got to Zora's Domain that evening. The gates were, thus, shut. They groaned. "Sure, we have a place to go when we need a little more time," Link said, "but what about when we have too much time?..."

Samba shook his head. "Well, I'd say we should go to sleep, but we can't with the Rings on, so..." He sighed, shaking his head again. He looked up at the wrought metal gate, frowning in impatient thought. "...I wonder if we could climb it..." He reached up.

"Don't," Link said firmly, grabbing his arm before it touched the metal. "We don't want to get in trouble."

Samba looked unhappy, but didn't try to argue. "Well, why don't we just look around for a bit?" he suggested. "We've got all night."

Link nodded, and Samba looked around a bit before shrugging and running toward a tree. This tree was near the entrance to Zora's Domain, but wasn't the same one from the last time they came in the middle of the night. So, hearing a familiar, dreadful screetching sound from its branches was entirely new. "Reh?" Samba looked up into it when they got close. The screetching had stopped when they had gotten within a four-yard radius of the trunk, but they had heard it loud enough before getting there to know where it was. The fact this tree wasn't alone, though, made it a little more difficult, but not really that much. "You know how to get stuff outta trees, right?" Samba asked Link.

"Shake the tree," Link replied plainly.

"Precisely," Samba said before running and rolling into the trunk. He grunted and bounced back, but...nothing shook out but a few leaves. He got up and looked to the other tree. "It's over there," he said.

"Got it." Link rolled into that tree, and with a loud rustle, a Gold Skulltula came falling out nearby. It tried to get away, but Link and Samba were too fast for it. In moments, they had collected another Skulltula Token and medal. This one was of a very reflective metal—chrome, Link remembered, and displayed a picture of a pair of boots that appeared to have metal partially encasing the feet. Link decided to call them Iron Boots.

They continued to explore the immediate area. They fought with numerous foes, but eventually, they did find a rocky area with one very large boulder lying against the rock wall that went around Zora's Domain's outside. Link stopped, blinking, when an inexplicable urge came over him. He ran over to the boulder. Samba noticed this and ran after him once he didn't respond to his call.

"What's the deal?" Samba asked when he stopped by Link. The hylian was standing, holding his chin thoughtfully.

"I don't know," Link replied slowly. "I just have the strangest urge to break this."

Samba laughed. "It's called 'being a guy'," he joked. He then looked around. There were a few other boulders, but they were really just very large rocks. They could probably lift them with some effort. This one seemed abnormally large compared to the rest. "...Or your subconscious noting this boulder looks a bit out of place..." he muttered.

Link frowned. "But without the power of a bomb, this thing's going nowhere," he said. He suddenly raised his eyebrows. "...Unless I apply the same sudden force..." he murmured. He looked at Samba. "Get back," he warned before producing the Thunderforge. He faced the boulder and took the mightiest swing he could. His arms yelped with the jarring pain he received, and the slam was unpleasantly loud in the quiet night, but the boulder had grown a large amount of cracks. Many small bits had come off. "Hey..." Link tried again, and the boulder remained, though more cracks appeared and more chunks fell off. He gave it one more whack, and the whole thing shattered with a BRRRAAAMM!. He panted, arms hurting from the recoil, but he smiled.

He'd revealed a cave in the wall behind the boulder.

Once inside, they saw it was pitch-dark. Link was glad Samba was leader now, since he could use his night vision to see a little bit, and thus was able to stop each other from falling down a deep, very wide hole. The wall closer to them was relatively rough and stony, however, so they could climb up and down. They climbed down, suddenly feeling a very slight, strange sensation that was familiar but unknown, and found themselves beginning to enter water, which they didn't want to do if they couldn't see where they were. From what Samba could see from the wall, it wasn't entirely untouched; he saw an old torch on the wall to either side of them. The water, as far as he could see, went on and on below. It was quiet; it was probably a pond or just moved very slowly.

Samba hoped there was dry tinder before tossing his Fire Pebble spell at one. It lit, thankfully, and so he lit both of them. The grotto revealed itself to be mostly fairly deep water with some stone "islands" along the edges. They were at one end of it. The water was clear, but had stalag—no, wait, those were reflections of the stalactites above. They dropped into the water and swam to an island before Samba saw more torches and lit them, too.

A few lit torches later, and the place revealed itself to be pretty long, in a bit of a curve, and around 20 feet wide. They were about a fifth from the right end (coming in from the wall and facing away from it). The islands, soon becoming thick, broad rock protrusions, rose in a series of seemingly randomly-placed platforms that were about 3 feet by 5. Some were level to each other, but not necessarily adjacent. At the far end of the room was a platform that had a rusty floor switch on it. Below this, the water entered through a metal portcullis.

"Think this is another dungeon?" Samba asked.

"No, this looks like it's just someone's old hideout," Link shook his head. "You think you can jump across these platforms?"

Samba looked around, then shrugged before starting. Going back over to old areas (horizontally) sometimes, he was able to jump a few, finding that it branched once, until he found himself stuck, too far to reach any of the others. The whole time, it wasn't always very obvious where he had to go next, and he more often than he liked found himself wondering if he was stuck before finding the next platform. He went back to the branch and tried the other way, but found that that was instantly a bust; he was in a corner and could reach nowhere else except back. He did, however, find a hole directly above him where something shiny glimmered at him. Shrugging again, he fired a normal pebble at it. Well, he wanted to, but he instead realized he'd just cast another Fire Pebble when it hit the object. His intuition paid off; the switch lit up red, showing itself to be like the flame-shaped switch from the Empty Cavern that only his Fire Pebble activated, and he heard a rumbling. He looked around as some stones he'd seen sticking out of the wall flipped around to reveal plates of metal that had faded red or blue colors to them. He heard some mechanism clicking slowly in the walls, and knew this was a limited-time offer and he had to act now.

What made it harder was he had to go all the way back to the end of the first branch in the platforms first to get to one of them because he was just too far away for the Volt Claws' magnetic powers to take effect—or the magnetic plates were too weak, which was what he assumed was the case, instead. (He'd gone farther in Clamor Plant using magnet-pulling, and those plates looked newer.)

He dashed around, jumping as fast as he could and hoping he wouldn't slip, until he made it to the spot and aimed the opposite-colored Volt Claw at the nearest plate, where he stuck and rested his footpaws against the wall to look around, the other paw free. He knew there was no way he could try and repel himself to the other side, where he could just get to the rusty switch, without having to break to use his built-up electricity before he overloaded or use magic again. That didn't mean he didn't try. So, waiting until his electricity limit was nearly reached, he repelled himself.

When he had gotten a third the way across, he broke and retried...to find himself still falling. He had gone too far! With a cry, he continued until he fell into the water, upon which his Volt Claw instantaneously dispelled. He got a nasty shock coming into the water, costing him a heart, as it did, though. He grumbled and swam to a nearby platform he could get up on (these platforms offered no way to start the jumping) and broke the rocks there to scrounge for magic bottles. He got one and continued going back to the start with Link. By then, a buzzer had sounded and the plates rotated back into rocks.

"Someone's very well-locked hideout," Link added with a raised eyebrow when Samba, grumpy, got back to his platform. "I'll come with and wait to activate the switch again if you don't get across this time," he offered.

"No, it's a kind that only Fire Pebble flips," Samba shook his head. "Thank you very much, though..."

So, Samba tried again and, on the way to the switch, he realized he'd discovered a new mechanic of Volt Claw: He could stick to the single plate in the wall and then look around, the other paw free to reach for another plate so he could pull himself again! He realized he could do this fine thanks to the way the spell worked, feeding off of his magic before his built-up electricity, and that before his magic again. He hoped that switching mid-pull would work better than mid-push as he pulled toward the first plate a bit later. He looked around quickly and aimed for the nearest-looking plate the opposite color as the one he clung to and aimed. He got there and ran out of electricity while looking for another plate, but he was smart and didn't break his looking pace while he mentally stopped and started the spell once again. He decided that, whenever he was sticking to a magnetic plate like this, he would do that to keep on without falling.

Samba went across the plates, thankfully never having to try and get to one on the same wall that he couldn't drop to or pull towards from his current position. 'I'd have to be able to run across a sheer, vertical wall for quite a ways without accidentally kicking off or falling,' he thought later, 'and that defies the laws of nature. And I don't know any spells that could help right now, either. Maybe enchanted boots...' He discovered that switching while pulling meant, yes, he was still in range, and thus it worked. He made it to the final plate, above the platform with the rusty switch, with only a couple seconds to spare (he'd spent a bit more time looking for close-enough plates than he'd liked) and no magic (only electricity) left. Once there, he told Link to hide, then brought him out again, and Link used the Thunderforge on the floor switch.

The portcullis lifted, and no ticking sounded. Samba made Link lead and hid, saying he can't swim as well as Link, ironically (he suspected his body being heavier than Link's, even without his tail, as the culprit). Link went through and found a moat around another island with bioluminescent mushrooms on the walls to provide some light. The island contained a chest, which had inside...

"A Piece of Heart!" Link cheered as he obtained the item, smiling happily.

"That makes all that worth it," Samba commented with a relieved sigh.

After absorbing the Heart Piece, Link swam back to the climbing wall and made his way up. Once outside, he let Samba out again and asked if he wanted to be leader again. Samba said that'd be nice, but he didn't have to. He got to be leader again, anyway.

They didn't find much else around, though, so they went across the river (the current was fairly strong, but they could swim across before being swept too far away) and hunted around the other side. They didn't find anything they could make use of, but they found one thing to make note of.

After crossing a small stream, they found themselves looking at a vast, dark shape they'd seen before, but was closer than ever now. The ground had begun rising in a few foothills around them. "You know, I've heard of this place," Samba said as they jogged toward it on their hunt for anything. "While there's the solitary Death Mountain that I call home, there is a grand mountain range that begins here and, together with the treacherous Verdart Swamp and Death Canyon, forms the northern border of Hyrule."

"It's this," Link nodded. "What's it called?"

"A path exists because people once tried getting past it, but it ends because the cold winds and steep terrain stopped them. They wanted to go across and see if there were nations with which they could trade, but since they couldn't complete the pass, they gave it a fitting name: Embargo Ridge."

"Wow..." Link looked at its looming shape. "It does look imposing."

They continued toward it and saw the beginning of the trail going up it. It looked alright from there, and looked as if people used it (probably hikers) thanks to the presence of a sign in an arch over the place where the slope changed the sharpest. Once they got closer, they saw it read, predictably, "Embargo Pass". A sign by the right-hand leg of the arch further read, "Pass is incomplete and dangerous. Take at your own risk."

"I almost want to go up it," Link muttered, looking up at the trail and crossing his arms. "But we should get back so it isn't too late when we return to Zora's Domain."

Samba agreed. "I have the feeling we'll be going there sometime rather soon, though," he added.

"Why? We've already defeated the Leviathan of Stone," Link shrugged as they turned and started running back. "Or, well, you have."

"True, but still...something tells me, that's all," Samba said half to himself.

The two made it back to the entrance of Zora's Domain as the sun finally poked over the horizon. The gate was opened already when they came in. The guards greeted them. "By the way, some gorons have recently come to help out with our problem," one of them added happily.

"But...Well, we're grateful that the goron chief finally decided to help us out," the other said, sounding mixed. "It's just...well, um...I can't help but feel...oh, nevermind."

The swordsmen exchanged glances before going again into the zoras' home.

Inside, they instantly discovered a goron standing by the cave-in by the entrance and hammering away, punch by punch, at the rock wall. He looked a bit scrawny for a goron, however, and he was panting when they spoke to him. "Oh! If it isn't the great Metal Tamers!" he greeted, smiling as he turned to them. He mopped his brow. "Phew, this is tough work...Oh, Big Brother sent some of us here to take care of the zoras' problem accessing their tunnels," he explained. "We're all doing our best, spread out evenly, but things are going really slow. I wonder how mad Big Brother would get if we came back way later than he wanted us to...I really hate leaving a job unfinished. Don't you, Brothers?"

They nodded, looking at each other in concern. Then an idea occurred to them as they made their way along, going back to King Zora. They would ask the next goron about it. (The zoras they passed didn't say much, mostly commenting on the gorons being there and how they were worried about their slow work.) They saw him working away at the entrance facing the center of the river entrance. "Hello, Brothers! I hear that you two were the ones to convince Big Brother to send some relief to these poor zoras," he greeted happily. "If so, thank you! I have always wanted to experience a change in scenery, and the zoras are very hospitable. But..." He looked over to the wall he was working on. "...we're all having a bit of trouble helping them..." (They noticed that he, too, was pretty lacking in the muscle department.)

"Why not work together on one at a time?" suggested Link.

The goron frowned at this. "Work together on one at a time? But then we won't get finished all at the same time!" he gently protested. "We're working pretty efficiently as-is, anyway..."

They left him be, unsure, but unable to really do anything without risking worsening their relationship with the gorons. So, they just made their way up the rock ledges until they were finally at the top. As Samba was going along the crevice by his paws, he noticed that his (actual) claws didn't feel as uncomfortable when they pressed hard against the stone. It didn't feel a bit as if they were being pulled off his fingertips like flaps...now, it just felt like mild pressure. He kept this in the back of his mind as he pulled himself up (noticing his paws' gripping power had seemingly increased, as well).

On the way, they spoke to other gorons, who talked about how hard the work was, and how they were honored to see the two who helped save the foundry and the people stuck inside. All of them looked sub-par on the goron strength meters. Link and Samba frowned at this suspiciously. "You don't think he found a loophole, did you?" Link asked Samba on their way up.

"By sending gorons of any choice because we didn't tell him to SPECIFICALLY send strong ones?" Samba asked back. "Naw, ya think?..." He growled, crossing his arms and frowning. He mumbled through gritted teeth in Lizalfos. "Why in Hyrule..."

"Well, it's still better than nothing," Link muttered.

…

omake

…

*Anjoltvrya is inspecting her new place. It's a large, square chamber with piles of iron ore lying about. It's dark, though she can see thanks to her night vision. She picks out a spot for her to sleep (marking it with a wrench-drawn circle that she would later put hay onto) and then looks around again.*

Krungratrg: *calling from entrance* Hey, hey, kitten, how d'you like your new digs?

Anjoltvrya: *calls back* They're good! A bit dark, though...I'm going to need some braziers...And it's a pretty big space. I dunno what I'm gonna do with all of it. It's a good place to have some quiet contemplation, though...

Krungratrg: You shouldn't have too many torchies, though, or it'll get hard to breathe in here. Plus, I ain't a big fan of smoke, personally.

Anjoltvrya: *thinks a moment* ...Oh! I can just get some metal plates and polish 'em up and have them act like mirrors! *looks around* I wonder where I can GET metal plates, or if I'll have to extract 'em...I'll need a lot...and I'll probably have extra...Oooh! *grins and rubs paws together, wrench staying between* I can make this a garage and start building stuff! Yeah! I can just get some coal from around here to make fuel, and some water to boil to make the steam for dynamos, and...

Krungratrg: *sweatdrops, frowning* Um...What about that "quiet contemplation" stuff...?

…

Not a great omake, not really feeling it...like I ever am...but hey. LOTS of inter-dungeon filler ahead, folks, but I hope I don't get hung up too much on details...