Chapter 5: Den of the Zora Eater

To Link:

Part of my mind wants to ask if you are insane for coming up with this plan. The Zoras are renown for being masters of combat in water and they can't handle these Zora Eaters. How can you expect to do any better when you have only just started? Especially if there's three of them. You're going right into their home territory, where they're going to be at their best. If I had the means to fight them, I'd certainly go for luring them out of the water instead.

And yet I can't help but admire the kind of bravery and tenacity it takes to take the fight to them. Our world is full of monsters born of magic, so one would think that most people would learn to fight back in order to make the best of their lives. But I am continually disappointed in how few will actually put aside fear and step up to the task. The most common monsters near towns aren't even that strong. Yet even the Zora, who don't mind driving off monsters in their rivers and lakes, won't come out of the water to fight most of the time.

You'd better write me back once you take care of those monsters; I'll be worried about you much too long otherwise. And I am worried about you doing this, even if I have a feeling that you might be able to pull this off. Especially if you inherited the legacy of the heroes. Again, I'm not sure if it's entirely possible. You don't have proof of this; a hero of legend would be marked by the Triforce of Courage, or be able to fully utilize the power of the Master Sword. But I've seen for myself that you have potential for this. Otherwise, you wouldn't be such a crack shot or be able to even consider pursuing the Zora Eaters underwater.

Whatever the truth ends up being, I'd still like to be considered your friend. As for myself, someone asked me a question that caused a lot of thought, so I've left off traveling around for a while to do some studying. It may end up helping you out too, plus the place I'm at is safe for the moment. That also means that I have a better chance of responding to you quickly, so write as often as you like.

From Gale

Link read back over the letter, feeling glad Gale decided to believe in him. He could understand how others would be worried; he couldn't say that he wasn't worried about this. However, anyone would be danger doing this and it had to be done. Link folded up the letter and put it in his bag with the others. He should find something better to put them in when he had some time.

Since this inn was made by the Zoras, there was a nautical theme to it. The blues, greens, and browns on everything along with the thin curtains made it seem like the building was underwater. The furniture was made of speckled driftwood decorated with various shells. It was quite nice, a good place to relax and focus his mind before heading out. According to the clock on the wall, it was almost one in the morning. That was the time he'd chosen. After a quick check that he had everything in place, he left the room and locked the door.

The town was still, only the water moving towards the falls. Many of the buildings were dark as well, allowing the stars to sparkle strongly. Without the moon showing, his vision was limited. But that could help. He did have to make sure he could be heard walking to the waterfall, as there was a group of five Zora guards there. They had a shield of metal spikes across the top of the waterfall, a barrier to the Zora Eater getting into the town.

"Oh, it's you," one of the Zora guards said, nodding to him. "The creature has come all the way up the river tonight. Come over, you can see it from up here."

At the edge, there was a drop off right over the surface of the pool below. The waterfall filled the air with pale mist and the darkness hid the bottom. The blue magic boosters that let the Zora go straight up the falls were gone as a precaution. But even in the misty darkness, red light could be seen moving about. A single large point moved in straight paths, then was surrounded by racing light patterns. As it was very bright even up here, that glow should be visible even across the depths of Lake Hylia.

"We shouldn't stay here at the edge too long," the guard said while Link was recalling the landscape below. "Last night, it fired lightning bolts up here, which is how it knocked the girl down to take her."

"What color was it?" Link asked.

"Huh? Well," he put a finned hand to his chin, trying to recall it.

"It was yellow," another guard answered.

This was a different one, then. Still quite strong to be able to send a spell that far and this one might be able to do other things. There had been some rock pillars standing out of the water, but he was pretty sure none of them were near this spot. Although he'd already checked, Link patted his hip where he was keeping the bomb bag. He only had underwater bombs, twenty of them. That should be plenty and he might be able to pick some up on the way to the den. If he did, it might be good proof that the Triforce of Courage was watching him.

"We didn't hear any reports of it shooting lightning before," the guard near him said. "We just hope they don't suddenly gain the ability to leap up the waterfall or something."

He thought for a moment of telling them that he meant to do away with them tonight, but better not get their hopes up. Something might pop up to complicate the situation. But he wanted this to be the time. Down below, the red light was close to base of the falls. It stayed there a moment, then zipped aside with a flash of its patterns. Before any of the guards there realized what he meant to do, Link dove right off the cliff into the waterfall pool before. He briefly heard a yell of surprise, but that didn't matter.

Knowing it was going to be to his right, Link got out a bomb as he fell and activated it. He hit the cool water, dropped the bomb, then darted over to the left. He had to rely on his memory of that afternoon to not hit the rock wall in doing so… he only touched a hand there to brace himself in stopping. There was a rumbling roar of pain close by, a thrashing of red glow. Just what he wanted, it to swallow the bomb. According to Rosso, their eyes had a glow too. Link didn't see anything like that, so he dashed towards the center of the pool.

The red glow of the Zora Eater rushed for him as he turned to check. Without much light, he could only see that and some motions in the darkness. Link activated the next bomb, lingering by it until the glow was some twenty paces from him. Taking off in the same direction it was going, he got the Zora Eater to grab the bomb and swallow it instead.

A panicky spread of fire exploded into the water, causing bubbles of steam to cloud upwards. Once the monster calmed down, it stayed in the center and sent strings of fire after him. The fire didn't last long and was slowed by the water; perhaps this was the weakest of the group for having that fire. This could be a problem when he met the yellow one and its electricity. For now, this Zora Eater wasn't coming after him anymore.

If he could stay still where he was, it might be worth it to see if it was sensing him by motions in the water. But he'd sink that way and the ground below was uneven. Instead, Link had to grab a bomb and swim towards the Zora Eater. It paused in its fire casting, giving him barely enough time to activate the bomb and let it go before a tentacle brushed by and nearly grabbed him instead. A few feet away, he heard the bomb's explosion. But it was chasing him now, so he dropped another bomb behind him.

This one worked, killing it and releasing a powerful burst of magic. For a moment, Link tumbled in the water and had to curl up in case he crashed into something. As the water calmed, he checked a loose band on his wrist. It was there to let non-Zoras like himself figure out which way was up while underwater. The small bobble on it was almost to his left, so he corrected his position to swim up.

As he surfaced, he heard three of the Zoras dive in the water close to the falls. Link had no way to tell where they were after that, but he was sure they could find him. He swam over to a pulsing red glow that had floated to the surface as well. This magical orb was all that was left of this Zora Eater. Could it revive itself? Maybe Gale would know.

The Zora guards surfaced near him. "You actually defeated it?" one of them asked. "That was amazing!"

"I thought you were crazy for going right after it," another said.

The third one had gone over to the orb. "It may be defeated, but this might revive it," she said. "If we had something like the Master Sword, its holy power could shatter the orb so it couldn't. But our queen should have the power to do the same."

"Can we get it over to her?"

"There's two more," Link said, not wanting to waste time. "I'm going to their den after them."

"Down the river in the dark?" one asked him, as if that was as shocking as his dive into battle.

Meanwhile, the female guard had cast a spell like a net around the orb. With that, she was able to tug it around. "If he can handle them, we may as well try to get rid of them all. These orbs should take some time to revive them, so as long as the underwater passageway gets cleared, we'll be able to bring the orbs of the other two back to the queen to take care of."

"I've got a lamp with me," another said, taking it from a pouch to attach to a loop on his armor. "We'll guide you down the river and to where the den's upper entrance is. I only have a few bombs, not sure if it's enough to clear the whole entrance."

"I'm stocked up with plenty," the other male said. He shook his head, nervous. "Well, I still think this is crazy, but now that we know we can defeat them, we'll go for it."

The female swam back a couple feet, the orb following her. "I'll find a place to secure this, then join you at the lake. Good luck, hero."

Link nodded, then moved towards the river. The two male guards went back underwater, leaving him to follow the lantern into the watery dark. As he didn't feel worried about the swimming, Link thought it was a thrilling trip down the rapids even though he couldn't see much of anything. The water rushed around him, sometimes speeding along his dashes, sometimes being an obstacle when the lantern went against the flow to get to another path in the river. It might even be better this night because he was focused more on his motions through the water rather than anything visual but the small light ahead.

When they got to the lake, more spots of light in a soft blue appeared. They were stationary, meant to guide swimmers out at night. As they passed by one, he saw that they were made of a glowing crystal that was secured to stone posts. There were even a few signs showing where the river mouth and three different docks were located. They didn't state where the den of the Zora Eater was; his guides went into a darkened area of the lake to get there.

He managed to spot the faint glow of a broken lamppost when the two guards surfaced near a rock wall. Link followed them up to an enormous cliff that he couldn't see the top of on this dark night. Close by, there was a cluster of rocks that jutted out into the water, enough for him to climb onto. Twenty feet over that, there were a few of those glowing crystals within an opening of the cliff.

"This is the place," one of the guards said. "There should be more of the crystals inside, so the lighting shouldn't be a problem."

"We'll be working on the underwater tunnel, so we might throw in a few more bombs if we have some left over," the other said.

Link nodded and waved to them while they dove back underwater. Then he took off the pants of the diving suit to get his boots back on. The gloves were fine, but the flippers on the feet would make it hard to climb. With that in his bag, he looked over the wall to find a few good points to grip. The rocks were pocked with good-sized indents. Since they were squid, was this the doing of the Zora Eaters when they clambered in and out of this entrance? Whatever it was, it made a good surface for him to climb up on his own.

Up in the entrance, he saw more of the glowering crystals scattered along the wall, in all kinds of colors and intensities. A soft chime momentarily startled him until he realized it was from his bag; apparently the magical compass detected this as a place of magic. There was a dark area deeper in, down a long slope. Perhaps he should find a way to get one of the crystals out of the wall to take with him. There was a bright yellow one ten feet in, so he walked carefully down the slope and put a hand on it. As the crystal was magic, it didn't seem any warmer than the surrounding area. There was no looseness to it, unfortunately.

There was a smooth sound ahead, a sliding slither. He checked the tunnel again, spotting a round yellow glow within the dark area. With another slither, it shot forward with a shimmer of yellow lines around it. What was the Zora Eater doing trying to come out this far into the night? Maybe it had sensed the death of the red one. Then what of the third? For a moment, a gold eye opened up, adding its glow to the darkness.

That was the one who'd kidnapped the Zora girl and reacted badly to getting its eye kicked. Without hesitation, Link got his bow and an arrow out of his bag. The Zora Eater had closed its eye again by the time he was ready, so he waited by the wall. It was not as quick in getting through this tunnel, only making a few feet before having to pause. After three slithers, he saw the crack of gold appear and fired straight at it.

In this enclosed tunnel, its screams of pain were grating on Link's ears. He winced and there was a flicker of white. His body automatically went into a dodge roll right before a jolt of lightning tore through the spot he'd been standing. Not having the time to think on it, he got back to his feet, getting another arrow from his bag while he ran down the slope and to the other wall. The Zora Eater's glows were flickering wildly as it used more lightning, still aiming for the other wall.

But it was even worse about trying to descend backwards through the tunnel; he could hear it thrashing against the walls, feel its struggle shaking the ground. The rocks and crystals cracked, tumbling down and scattering along the floor. Link had to dodge around them all by instinct while he kept the arrow ready in his bow. All he needed was a chance... there, a second crack of gold to fire at.

This scream was a death kneel, filling the tunnel with dust and magic as it turned to smoke. And a more powerful glow came from below, showing the ripples of a water shaft and a much larger magic crystal. When he made it down to where the yellow orb was floating, the area had mostly settled down from the shocks. There was a flicker of blue in a dark spot in the shaft, then it dove down rapidly, disturbing the water's surface again.

Since it was staying below, Link got his boots back off so he could have the full diving suit again. He went up to the water's edge, stopping there to check down before entering. The blue one moved about, its form dark within the crystal-lit water. Even with the illumination, he wasn't sure just how large this pit of water was. It must spread out further down as the Zora Eater briefly moved out of his vision. Perhaps it was even larger than the waterfall pool. Link waited until it was back in sight, then dove down after it.

The water here was different, warm and still at first. The Zora Eater spun about, then opened its tentacles up and pulled on the water powerfully. Link lost control of his swimming, but he was focused on getting this done. He got out a bomb and tried to dash away while the explosive was drawn in by the tide of the Zora Eater. As it screamed, he ended up drifting away as the tide ended. He turned himself so that he could catch himself with his legs rather than crashing into the wall.

The pained scream turned into a deafening rush of a whirlpool that ripped him away and smacked his back into another part of the shaft's wall before pulling him in. Gritting his teeth, Link tried to spot it again and ignore the dizzying swirl of lights around them. There were some blues in there, too light, too dark, too faint... he caught a quick flash of the unnatural blue against a muddled black surface, swimming against the whirlpool's currents. It slowed and reversed to keep pace while he got out another bomb. When one tentacle started a grab for him, just a blink, Link let go of the active bomb and dashed ahead alongside the whirlpool.

As it screamed again, his motions with the current managed to shoot him out of the whirlpool and towards the stunned Zora Eater. He could dive down further to keep safe. But he'd hit the wall hard and letting this go on for too long could be the end of him. So Link shifted his flippers and arms so that he went right for the Zora Eater's body and gabbed hold.

The giant monster squid panicked, increasing the ferocity of the whirlpool by zooming around it in an attempt to shake him off. Link held on to a ridge he found, his ears ringing and his head throbbing from all the noise and pressure around him. After nearly a minute of this, the Zora Eater crashed full force into the wall. Its golden eye opened up near him, as large as a wagon wheel. Link drew his sword quicker than ever, slashing it across the eye and cutting through its eyelid on the motion. And to make sure it died, he then stabbed it; the eye gave no more resistance than an overripe fruit.

The whirlpool had lost power upon the crash, now just a weak spin accompanied by the tremors of released magic. With the splitting headache he had, Link felt glad that the blue one was the last one. He checked around just in case there was some smaller enemy he'd missed up to now. The glowing crystals were huge here, especially the cluster right at the bottom. With all that light, it seemed the area was clear. Although in an open spot near the bottom, a flickering spot sent a ray of magic up like a beacon.

Putting aside his pains, Link swam down to check it out. He spotted a crumbled part of the wall on his way. Guessing it was the underwater entrance, he continued down. The beacon brought him to the sandy bottom. Crushed bits of crystal and rock made for a sparkling rainbow of colors down here. Among it all, there was a curved bit of metal sticking out. Link picked it up and looked over the small medal. It could fit in his palm easily. However long it had been down here, it was still whole and without rust. The back of it had a pin and a jagged starry shape, while the front held the symbol of Farore.

When he put a finger on the symbol, the medal flashed.

This wasn't even his homeland, but that made him no less determined to save it. Dancing in a volcanic underground, sailing with long-dead pirates out of a sea of sand to reach the sea of water, exploring with a rod that gave him control of the seasons themselves... after all that, here was this powerful shadowy figure in spiked armor, wielding a mace larger than Link with ease. He could lose his life here, but he couldn't let himself be afraid. To save these people from the evil they could not fight themselves, he had to put everything else out of mind and focus solely on the battle.

The vision briefly disoriented Link, leading him to wonder why he was in an underwater cave rather than an ominous castle. Holodrum, Subrosia... that was another legend, one of the tangents that didn't take place in Hyrule. In his hand, the Medal of Valor shimmered. Refreshing magic surrounded and filled him, easing his pains and healing him back to normal. He knew from that feeling that the medal had accepted him as worthy of it.

As he felt better, he swam over to the weak point in the wall to check it out. The Zoras must not have made it this far in yet. Link had plenty of bombs left, so he took a few and set them in the rubble, one at a time. After four of them, enough of the rocks had tumbled out that the glow of crystals beyond it could be seen. One of the Zoras waved him to keep back, then set the last bomb in place. With that way cleared, Link pointed them towards the orb in the water and the one back in the tunnel for them to be retrieved. They didn't get a chance to speak then or on the trip back up the river to get the orbs taken care of.

Once back at the waterfall pool, they came out onto a dock at the edge of the road upward; the ascent rings hadn't been put back in place yet. "I almost can't believe this, they're all gone now!" one of the men said excitedly.

"That was a wonderful job, thank you," the woman said, bowing and causing the other two to bow as well. "Go on back to your room at the inn, we'll take care of things from here. Oh, but please stick around, I'm sure everyone else will want to thank you too, especially the queen."

"I need to find a way to the Dust Devil Flats with them taken care of," Link said. With the healing he'd gotten, he didn't feel tired or worn out any more.

"That place?" the other man said. "It's a cursed region where no life can take hold, save for monsters which have no true life. They say the mountain range here that's west of Lake Hylia was raised by the gods to cut it off from Hyrule; you really don't want to go there."

"There's been treasure hunters and adventurers who try going out there from time to time," the first Zora man said. "We even made a waterway out there one time to try supporting an oasis base for them. But so many of them failed to find anything or died that it got gated shut."

"I have to go out there, for one of the keys to the Master Sword's shrine," Link explained.

"Did the princess say it was out there?" the woman asked. When he nodded, she said, "Huh, well, you'll have to wait for someone with the right keys to unlock the gate." That made her smile again. "So you'll have to stay around anyhow."

"All right," he said, although he didn't look forward to all the attention. "Thanks for your help."

"You don't have to be humble, we didn't do much," one of the men said.

After some thought on the walk back up, Link went back to the inn, mostly to drop off his diving suit and write a letter to Gale. He ended up writing a longer letter than he meant to in order to tell him how the battles went. It was still dark when he sent it off and he wasn't tired enough to sleep again. Instead, he went out to an upper part of town and practiced the quick draw move he'd done. It had come to his actions without thought when he was in battle. But now that he was in practice in a quiet place, Link wasn't sure how he'd done it.

But he had done it. Maybe if he just didn't let himself think. It would be nice to have a move that could damage as he was getting his sword out, in case he was surprised or needed to surprise. As he tried to go through that motion again, he recalled the howling of a wolf. A strange howling... wait, wasn't that a song? Link put his sword back in its scabbard and brought out his pan flute instead. That song had been howled, but he felt sure he could translate the notes.

When he got that song right, he felt a tingle in his skin. That was Zelda's Lullaby. Did this one know the song too? That question got blurred out of his mind as he remembered a spiritual place, a Stalfos that was his new sword master... and he was the Stalfos too, a wandering soul that kept trying to find home. Home... a child's treehouse where the wind held the scent of a magical forest, a cottage on a small rise where he lived with his uncle and then it got taken over by a strange traveler in a purple bunny hood (no wait, that was a different story), somewhere far away that he wondered about when looking up at the night sky...

Then the feeling was gone, leaving him in this spring night where the roar of Zora's Waterfall could be heard. Things seemed colder than before, or maybe it was just a lingering chill of those memories. There was something lonely about those images, a mix of restlessness and homesickness. A movement of white caught his eye, which turned out to be Gale's envelope. He'd already written back, well before dawn? Link took it out of the air, then found a rock to sit on to read through it.

To Link:

Are you seriously more worried about telling the Zoras what happened than actually going through with all that? That seems strange to me since the Zora Eaters could have outright killed you at any point of that. Surely there would be no threat from the Zoras with what you've done for them. Humility can be good, but not when it's too much.

At least you got through it all relatively unscathed. I wish I could be there in person to tell you to not worry so much about talking. I can tell you're telling the truth (sorry, I cast a detection spell on your letter since there was some doubt, but it came back with not a lie in it). Although, I also wish I could have seen all that in person. You're off to an incredible adventure already. It must have been so awe-inspiring to see you not hesitate in jumping right in, plus I already know your swordsplay is graceful and admirable. Well, there wasn't much of that, but if you can swim like you can swing a sword, I might be tempted to watch you more than the Zoras even if they're trying to show off.

Even if you don't sound the greatest, I'm sure no one will care if you keep going like this. Although I disagree with that sentiment, I thought your voice was very pleasant to listen to and it makes me want to come out and talk with you more.

From Gale

Did he really think all that? It looked like more than friendly admiration there. Was it just because it was only words? The letter was enough to make Link briefly forget about the emotional visions, mostly because it reminded him that he had thought Gale was a handsome stranger when he'd first come into the stable with his horse. He'd been a bit stern, dismissive of those he saw as cowards. But, he didn't seem so bad in the letters.

Although, he shouldn't let himself get carried away. Link put his hand to his chin, nodding to himself. He might be misinterpreting things. Or, maybe Gale hadn't been thinking clearly when writing. There was still at least an hour to dawn. Link managed to find some blank paper and a pencil in his bag to write out a response. Ask him what he was up to at this hour, what he meant by that letter... that worked.

Link sent it off, then went back to figuring out the quick draw move. When he put his hand on his sword, his thoughts briefly turned back to that Stalfos sword master. This had to be done when the enemy was very near. He then repeated the quick draw he had done against the blue Zora Eater in what looked like good form. To check it out, he went back out to the road briefly to find a Bokoblin for target practice.

To Gale:

That letter was a surprise. I wasn't expecting a response before dawn; the main reason I wrote when I did was because you wanted a letter as soon as I had completed that task. Did I wake you up? If so, I'm sorry about that. If not, then what are you doing up well before morning? The Medal of Valor gave me an energy boost, so I came out to do some practice while things are quiet.

And yes, it is more intimidating to me to be talking to a group of people (or someone as important as the Zora queen, who will want to talk to me today) than to be fighting something like the Zora Eaters. I had a plan for the latter and when I'm actually in battle, I'm not thinking enough to be afraid. Maybe you don't feel it as much because your magic allows you to keep at a distance until you can overwhelm them with your swords, but when I fight, I have to rely on split-second reactions to survive.

Especially with something like those Zora Eaters. Those monsters were powerful, able to crush bones and cast what must be difficult spells. After all, how else could that one make fireballs underwater? And when I faced the yellow one, there was a moment when just a single flicker was all the warning I had for a bolt of lightning coming right for me. When faced with that, I just kept moving, focused on my goal of defeating them.

But talking to people, no, that's far more nerve wracking. If I die in battle, well that's it, nothing more. If I flub in saying something, or say something I didn't mean to, then the person I'm talking to will think less of me and that could affect me whenever I have to deal with them. And I tend to remember my mistakes in talking and get embarrassed about it again later. I'm trying to have something prepared in mind for what questions they might have of me later this morning, and be careful with what I'm saying.

Also, were you half-asleep or did you really mean what you were writing? The letter came across rather strongly. While I appreciate that you're trying to encourage me, some of it seemed on the flirtatious side. I'm not bothered if that's what you meant, but I'd rather we ended up not confusing each other in that way.

From Link

Reading this made Ganon wonder if other heroes had this kind of quibble about speech. Nearly all stories said they'd been quiet, so he'd figured them to be silent stoic sorts who let their actions speak for them. Perhaps forcing them into a position of leading others would be more useful than letting them continue their work alone. If this Link found himself having to lead a group through some task, he'd more likely fail than if he had to go through it alone. Or if he had to get through something by talking to a lot of different people. Ganon started to have some inkling ideas of how he might make that happen.

As for the flirtations, it seemed like he'd gone too far with the last letter. It wasn't something Ganon was really knowledgeable about. Romance had been such a tiny factor in his own incarnations that he couldn't think of anyone he'd tried this with before. Maybe he didn't remember enough yet. Maybe it had happened in unimportant parts of his young days, before he really began seeking out power. At least Link wasn't shutting him off right away.

He gave it some serious thought, then wrote up a reply as if he was embarrassed but trying to keep his attention. Ganon then set it aside for a few hours while he continued his studies. With the help of the Triforce of Power, he didn't need as much sleep as others. Around mid-morning, he checked back on the letter, then sent it off.

To Link:

Now you have me all nervous again; what did I write last? I'm sorry, I just got worried about you and couldn't sleep, so I stayed up to do some studying instead. When I start reading, I find it really hard to stop and I didn't realize how late it was getting to be until your letter finally arrived. There's been plenty of times when I've fallen asleep in the middle of reading and I end up dreaming about whatever I read, no matter what the subject was.

There's a lot of banter in my mind over what to do, but I'll go ahead and tell you. After I wrote that letter, I did end up falling right asleep. And, I ended up dreaming about you. Maybe just because I couldn't stop worrying about you facing those monsters the way you were planning. Or it might have been a combination of the way you wrote about your battles and whatever I ended up writing back when I was worn out from a long day. So I'm sorry if I was strange in what I wrote then.

I didn't really think much over what I was feeling about you. I have so many people that I know only for business and intelligence reasons that making a friend separate of all that is a joy. But after how worried I got yesterday and that dream I have, and your questions, I realized that I do feel more strongly about you than I should for someone I only interacted with directly for one day. So I probably meant a lot of what I wrote even though my mind wasn't up to putting together a fully coherent letter.

While some part of me knows I should be more careful, I would like to be open and, yes, even a bit flirty with you. I hope you really don't mind that. I was only looking for a pen pal with this, but your spirit is more exciting than others. This could be a wonderful exchange.

From Gale

This was not what he had been expecting of this either, but Link agreed that this could be a wonderful thing. He wasn't sure how to respond even if he was happy about it. Maybe letting him know that was enough? But he'd have to wait on writing him back. He was hoping to get a guide to the Dust Devil Flats after the lunch he had to attend.

Putting the letter in his bag, he turned his attention back to this shopping trip. He needed to restock his healing supplies. The shop here had a special with a red potion in a reusable bottle. With his current stock, the smaller more specialized potions were in corked vials that needed to be traded in to get replaced. The bottled potions were general use and healed more, but couldn't take care of specific problems like poison. But the bottle could be used for a lot more than just potions and he'd gotten a good amount of reward money from the queen. He picked out the red potion special, just in case.

While he was paying for that and a few other extra supplies, a group of Zora kids came in. "Oh, here he is!" a boy said, coming over with the others. "Hey mister hero, are you going to tell everybody how you defeated the lake monsters?"

He didn't like being the one telling stories. But if it was a group of kids asking for them, it wasn't as bad. Link nodded. They cheered and even the shopkeeper smiled at it.

Even the girl he'd rescued was there. Sophie had to have the doctor near her as she was still sick, but she made herself stay awake long enough to listen to him. The other kids wanted to ask him lots of questions. Fortunately, their parents called them back because they had school lessons to get back to. Link was going to talk with Rosso about getting the passage opened up, but he went over to Sophie first. "How are you doing?" he asked her.

"I'm still tired and my legs are all itchy," she said, kicking her feet out. "But doctor says it's good cause I can feel that. I'll make myself get better cause I want to fight as good as you someday."

Link had to smile at that. "Practice every day once you get better and you could."

Sophie smiled back. "Yeah, I'll do that. Oh, but, I wanted to make you something cause you saved me, but I haven't had the time to make it. So, could you come back in a while to see if I've got it made? I'll give it to you when it's good and done."

"Sure, I'll do that," he promised.