Wang: Present time! It's a long one!

Shadow: We don't own a thing.

Chapter 12: Goht

When they woke up, the snow had melted and it was mid-morning. The ground below them was slightly wet, but it wasn't enough to create mud. As a Goron, Link awoke rather well rested for sleeping on the damp ground. Nadai woke up colder and irritable in the wake of their sleeping conditions, but put a determined grin on her face. She had faced worse before, and she would face worse again.

"About time you two woke." Tatl hovered above them. "You've been asleep for about four hours."

"That's nothing." Link yawned. "I could do with another four, or more." He stretched his arms and shoulders.

"At least you were nice and comfortable," Nadai muttered.

She did the same, warming up her body. The cloak that she had worn had done wonders, keeping her from freezing during their nap. In fact, it hardly had a stain or anything of the like on it. And as she stretched and warmed her cold and weary bones, she appreciated the garment more and more.

She peered at the mountain ahead of her. "Do you know where the entrance is?" She asked.

Tatl shrugged. "Vaguely. When Skull Kid visited here before, I had seen a Goron towards the middle of the mountain. We could check there."

Nadai nodded, and pointed with her finger to a small glinting that shined at them from the sun. "There's some kind of bridge, or something like that, rising to the middle of the mountain."

Link nodded. "Must be a way to the entrance." He said. "Let's go."

There was still a wind, and it was still cold; though the temperature felt almost warm from their time in the cold and snow. Link led the way, letting the breeze roll off of him. Nadia followed right behind. Her cloak was wide open, and she gripped her twin daggers. If anything would come and get them, it would have happened before then. But one couldn't be too wary.

They reached the ramp to the middle of the mountain. It was made of clear ice, and it rose heavenward in a large, steep spiral. They could see it rise and rise until it evened out and headed toward the entrance of the temple. Nadai took a few steps up the ice bridge, but slid down quickly. She looked at Link, whom in his Goron form was far heavier than her.

"There's no way you're going to make it up there like that." She said.

Link shrugged. "It doesn't look easier for you." He said in the rolling deep sound of the Gorons. "And quite frankly I don't think that in my original body I would make it up there."

Tatl nodded sagely. "Try rolling up there."

"Rolling?" Link asked credulously. "I'll end up breaking the bridge on my way up."

"Listen, if the other Gorons could go up there, you can too. And Nadai could get on up there if she runs on your back."

Nadai shrugged. "She does have a point."

Link sighed. "Alright then, don't slip."

He crouched, and Nadai got onto his back. He began to move forward, and Nadai ran to keep up. Link went up the ramp, before rocketing forward in speed as the ice was so slick. But while the ice gave him a slight boost, Link's body notched into the ice to give him traction. As a result, he could control his speed better than anything else he had done to that point.

They reached the top of the bridge in no time. Nadai glanced up. They weren't as high up as they thought. The mountain towered over them, and below them stood it's base. She glanced at the entrance before them. Her spine tingled, and she gripped her daggers as she ran. There was something in there, and it wasn't pretty.

They broke through the icicles that guarded the entrance. Link's body rolled them down like bowling pins, and they shattered into pieces that rose and fell through the air. He subsequently crashed into the wall, and Nadai jumped into the air. She rolled on the ground, hitting the wall a moment or so after Link. After a moment or two they got up from the ground. Link steadied himself against the wall, but it gave slightly to his touch.

"That's not supposed to happen." He said. He stepped back.

"What is it?" Nadai asked, moving to stand by his side.

"There's a block here, like a stone block the side of a wall."

Nadai peered about. "And there's no other way forward. Someone knows we're onto them."

Link nodded. "Stand back, I'll move it."

He braced himself, and pushed. The block moved forward. While it wasn't obscenely heavy, it was rather large. So bit by bit Link moved the block, until the block fell into a hole. Conventionally, the hole was large enough for the block, and deep enough for them to continue forward. It was as if someone had scooped out a portion of the ground and moved it in their path.

Someone had definitely noticed they were after them. This demon, or whatever it was, wasn't going to go down without a fight.

A chilling howl greeted them as the block fell down. Before them stood a large, terrible looking wolf with white fur. It stood on its hind legs, and bared its long as dagger teeth at them. It was a Wolfos, an Ice Wolfos in particular.

Tatl panicked, rising to the ceiling. Of all things, Wolfos was a natural enemy of the fairies. Yes, while Navi had some bad dealings with them in the past, but it was a monster that all fairies preferred to avoid at all costs. And because of such, Tatl retreated as Link and Nadai attacked.

Link bore no weapons as to speak of, the only items he possessed included the Bomb Bag and the Steel Drum that had once been his Ocarina. But he had his huge fists. He swung, and while they weren't as fast as say, his Hylian body, he could see the Wolfos' hair move as he missed. But as the Wolfos backed off from Link, Nadai darted in from the side and attacked with her daggers.

She stabbed and stabbed, drawing blood in a half-dozen places. She backed off as the Ice Wolfos came at her, only to retreat as Link's presence threatened its existence. When it dodged Link, Nadai came back in to draw more blood.

In less than a minute, the monster was on the ground dead. Amid the icicles, Tatl watched stunned as the monster lay unmoving. Slowly, hesitantly, she flew back down to rest on Nadai's shoulder.

Silent, she watched the two kids examine the room. There were three doors: one covered in ice, one locked, and one unlocked. Link looked at the unlocked door, then at his body.

"I should be able to fit in there," he said.

He opened the door, and ducked. He squeezed his body into the door. He pushed through, and into the next room. Nadai followed, closing the door behind her. Before them was stood a bridge, half gone, over a chasm. Nadai took a peek down below

"Uh, lava?"

"Snowhead Temple is a dormant volcano." Tatl explained. "But the lava shouldn't be this high up."

Link nodded. "Majora's doing?"

Tatl shook her head. "I doubt that. I think it may be geological."

He shrugged. "Perhaps." He looked across the way. "There's a door over there, to the left."

Nadai looked where he pointed. "I don't see it."

"You need to be taller." He said. "Can you jump that gap?"

"Can you?"

Without waiting for a reply, Nadai ran across the bridge and jumped over the gap. She crossed the gap, and landed in a roll, coming up before the edge of the landing. There was a hole in the wall, large enough and close enough for even a Goron to jump across. However, her attention was dominated by the Freezards that grew up out of the ground.

She rolled between them, and cut at them. The ice blew over her, missing her by mere inches. Her daggers did little to damage the monsters. She came up by the door. The Freezards were already moving. Due to how their body is, Freezards can only turn in wide arcs. In order to get at Nadai, they first had to go forward, to where Nadai landed to get enough room for them to turn.

Then Link bowled into them, and the ice monsters shattered. He stopped right before the edge of the landing, his momentum stopped from the monsters. He got up, shaking his head to clear the cobwebs from his head.

"You rolled across?"

"Little else I could do," Link answered in his deep voice. "I couldn't jump in my normal body, and I can't make it across as a Deku without a flower. Rolling across is the only way. So I bunny-hopped over."

"Nice."

Link pointed over her shoulder to the door. "Through the door?"

Tatl nodded. "I think that'll be best. You'll need to see this."

"See what?"

"How big this place is."

Nadai opened the door and Link followed her through. Her eyes went wide with the scope of the temple. It had to be over five stories tall, not including the floors below. This had to be the main room. It was circular, with doors and bridges and broken wooden paths that went from floor to floor to floors between floors.

Compared to the previous temple, this looked far harder. Not even that, but the scope of this place was close to the size of the Water Temple back in Hyrule.

"It's smaller than you'd think." Tatl said in the quiet. "The Great Fairy had schematics for all of the temples. I saw them once years ago. The rooms off to the side aren't that complicated."

"So you say." Link said. He looked at the different doors. He pointed to one to their left. "The ice there, we can melt it with the torches."

"That ice just won't melt with torches." Tatl argued. "Look, the torches are right next to the ice, it would've melted by now."

Nadai shook her head, unslinging her bow. "Or, we could do this."

She got into position. In order to do so, she had to cross a stone bridge to a center island, and back across another stone bridge. That stone bridge went to a different landing that stuck to the wall and led to three doors. She took aim. She fired her arrow through the flame to the ice.

Instantly the ice melted.

"How? That's not possible!"

Link shrugged, opening the door. "No idea how, it just does." He stuck his head inside. He brought it back a moment later. "That's the first room."

"Figures." Nadai pointed to the next door on the left. "Wanna try that one?"

Tatl hovered by it. "And not this one?" The last door on this landing was also covered in ice.

"Unless I could bend the arrow, I can't." Nadai holstered her bow and followed Link to the next room.

Inside was a cul-de-sac, with no way out. However, the ground was covered in ice and there was two large blocks stacked on top of each other.

"We can turn back." Tatl made to turn back, while Link shook his head.

"There's a lot you still have to learn, Tatl." He said. He pushed on the blocks, and they moved to the edge of the room. "There's something we need in this room."

Nadai put the spectacles onto her nose. "I don't see any invisible chests." She said.

"What about switches?" Link asked.

"Hold a second." Nadai jumped up and caught hold of the top block. She scrambled upon it, and used her spectacles. "There's a switch in the middle of the room."

"That's it?" Link looked about. "Do you see a path?"

"Yea, push to the north."

Together, they pushed the blocks and solved the puzzle within a few short minutes. When the block fell onto the switch, it dropped slightly, embedding itself into the ground. At the far end of the room a chest appeared.

Nadai jumped down from the bock, skid across the ice, and opened the chest. She brought out a key. "Got it."

"So we can use it back in the first room." Tatl reasoned.

"Yeah. Dungeons tend to have some backtracking in them." Nadai explained as they returned to the first room. "You just never got to see that as we skipped the majority of the other temple."

She opened the door. Inside was situated much like the other one, with ice all over the floor and no way out. Instead of two blocks, however, there were two Ice Wolfos. Tatl instantly rushed up to the ceiling. Link blocked a swipe with his tough skin, and the claws couldn't penetrate. Nadai jumped back, and used the ice on the floor to get out of the way.

With the ice on the floor, Nadai could escape the swipes from the Wolfos against her with ease. She slid in, dealt a few quick blows, and slid on out before the monster could do much to her. However, the Ice Wolfos could do the same. As a result, the two combatants slid past each other over and over again.

Link had a much harder time. With his slower body, he couldn't move as fast as he was used to. On the plus side, he didn't have to worry much about the Wolfos dealing damage to him. He was nigh invincible. Every time the Wolfos would attack, he would block with his arm, before punching as fast he could. So he couldn't hit it, and it couldn't hurt him. The two stood still, attacking each other and doing nothing at all.

Nadai beat her monster first. It collapsed from its wounds, falling to the ground and being unable to move. She was there in an instant, slitting its throat and ending its misery. The other monster continued to attack Link. Then he got a lucky hit in as he landed a wicked uppercut. It broke the Woflos' guard, and knocked it up into the air. Unable to dodge, Link cocked his fist back and slammed it into the monster's chest.

The Ice Wolfos flew through the air, crashing into the far wall before slumping to the ground. The wall spider webbed, and the cracks formed against the stone. Breathing hard, the two kids slowed down their heart rates and walked to the dead Wolfos against the wall.

"Secret passage?" Tatl asked, as she came down from the ceiling.

"Secret passage." Link answered.

His fist dug into the Bomb Bag at his hip, and brought out a bomb. It grew in his hand and lit on fire. He set it down against the wall and stepped back. A second later, the bomb exploded and the wall crumbled. When the smoke cleared, a path leading up was opened up to them.

They went up the stairs to the next room. A door was there, halfway up the wall. But, there was no way up to it. Nadai scanned the room with her spectacles, but nothing came up. Tatl flew up to the ceiling, staring at the large icicles.

"Hey!" She called to get their attention. "Break the icicles!"

Nadai took out her bow. "To drop a platform?" She asked. From her angle, she couldn't see the ceiling that well.

"Something like that."

Nadai notched an arrow, drew back, and let loose. The arrow flew and hit the large icicle by Tatl. The icicle wavered, but didn't fall. Nadai fired another arrow, hitting again. The icicle wobbled then fell.

It was far larger than what Link had expected. It plummeted and landed in front of them, the point of it digging far into the ground. When it stopped, it stood just high enough for a Goron to step onto. In fact, the icicle's top was flatter than it should have been.

Nadai eyed the next icicle that Tatl was next to. She smiled, and notched another arrow. Within another dozen shots, they had dropped another five icicles. When all the icicles were down, it made a path straight up to the door.

They climbed up and went through the door.

The next room looked rather difficult. There was an indented section in the floor, deep enough with the walls slick enough so that no one could climb up. There was, however, a ramp up on their side of the indent. It was also far enough across that Link wouldn't be able to jump across it, even in his regular Hylian form.

There were two switches in this room. One on other side and on the ground. There were two pillars in this room as well. On was situated in front of the way out, and the other was in the indent just far enough so that Link could jump as a Hylian across. The far pillar was up, and the middle pillar was down.

Link nodded slowly after a bit. "Alright, I got this."

He went down to the lower switch, and stood on it. His heavy Goron body worked, and the switch activated. The pillar in the middle shot up while the pillar on the far end went up halfway. He took off the mask, and jumped across. He stood on the other switch and put the mask back on. The middle pillar went down, and the far pillar went all the way up.

"Okay, maybe I don't got this."

Tatl hovered by the pillar. "This doesn't look that sturdy."

"So what, blow it up?" Nadai asked.

"Maybe. Perhaps Link could just push it out of the way."

"Push it?" Link asked. He eyed the pillar. "Not that easy."

"It is easy, it'll move, I know it."

"No, it won't." Link came over to stare at the fairy. "It won't work that easily."

"Trust me."

"I don't. Want to. Trust you!" Link exploded in anger, his fist flying out at Tatl.

Thankfully, with Link being in the body he was in the punch was rather slow. She dodged out of the way. Off to the side, Nadai's eyes were wide in disbelief. Mostly at Link, but partly because the whole freakin' pillar flew out of the way and crumbled against the far wall.

Nadai's heart broke a little. Attacking the Mask Salesman was one thing, as he wouldn't remember anything since they went back in time. But Tatl would remember, because she was helping them. What was Link thinking? What was going on?

Tatl panted hard, staring at Link. Her eyes were wide as she watched him for any sudden movements. In the short time she had seen him, she knew that he was strong and powerful. However, he was also odd in character. Sometimes he acted like an older, far more tired man. Other times, he acted like this: a rash, angry boy. She just didn't know what to make of him anymore. On the more important note, she wondered why she was being targeted by Link over and over again. Was it because she was the new girl in the group? Or was it something else? Did it have to do with that person they were looking for?

Link was ashamed. He had tried to avoid it for so long, but the past life he lived in was haunting him more and more. That was why he needed to find Navi. Not because he was missed his friend; (because he did, he missed her almost more than anything else in life,) but because Navi knew about his past life. He could differentiate between the life he lived then and the life he lived now. And even being focused on the quest wasn't enough now. The lines were blurring. He couldn't tell between things now. He needed to get it off his chest, but Navi wasn't around.

A small part of him blamed her for it all. A smaller part knew that that was a stupid idea. The biggest part of him knew that he couldn't hold on no matter how hard he tried. He was becoming someone different. Who was he anymore? Was he Link, part of the Heroes of Time? Was he Link, the monsterous human? Was he a mixture of both? Who was he?

No one moved. Link released all of the tension in him at once. His shoulders dropped and his face sunk. Without a word, he went through the door. Tatl and Nadai exchanged glances. Words weren't said. But, the two women knew that something was troubling Link, and that things might be coming to a head. They followed him after a moment.

When they went through the door, they found themselves back in the main room. There was an x-bridge styled path. But the middle was gone, and it was broken away. Link was already across the other side, coming up from his crouched position. He must have rolled and hopped across.

There was a snow bank, caught against the side of the wall, and it banked its way to the landing on the right. The way ahead was blocked with ice. Going right must be the way to go.

"He's all right, right?" Tatl asked softly.

Nadai nodded, unsure herself. "Yeah, he has to be." She replied, more to herself than to Tatl.

Nadai ran and jumped across the gap. She landed and followed Link's rolling body across the bank to the other door. She reached out her hand to touch Link, but she held back. Something told her that right then and there would be a bad time to talk to him. With the time limit that they had, it would be easier to confront him after they reset the clock, instead of lose the valuable time that they had left.

Link opened the door, half lost in his own thoughts. He peered around. A Freezard hadn't seen them yet, as it faced the other direction. There was something scurrying around the ground on the bottom floor. There were two levels to this room. There was the upper level where they were, and a good fifteen twenty foot drop to where the scurrying monster was, hidden in the shadows. An iced over eye was on the wall, in easy sight of everything.

He shook his head. This was the wrong time to be going back down a level. The monster had to be up and up. In order to get there, they had to climb. So, instead of this room, it had to be a different room.

He almost bowled over Nadai by accident as he backed up. He didn't speak as he dropped and rolled across to the next door across the gap. Yes, he was ashamed. But, he also couldn't talk about it now. Maybe once this was all over. Maybe when Navi was back. But now? No, he couldn't.

Nadai and Tatl followed Link into the next room. The door closed behind them. Little platforms dotted the room, one in each corner. Link stepped out warily. A blue light flashed, and it blinded Nadai. When the light cleared and she could see again Link was covered in ice. He was frozen in place.

On one of the platforms an old man stood, holding a staff and wearing blue robes. The crystal on the staff glowed, and shot a blue light at Nadai. She rolled to the side, avoiding the ice. Taking out her bow, she shot the wizard and hit him in the chest.

The wizard roared in pain, and disappeared, being sucked into the platform below his feet. Nadai crouched low, spinning about in place. Tatl hovered above her, rotating as well. Nadai spotted the wizard as he came out of the platform. She fired the arrow at him, scoring another hit.

The wizard retreated. He came up a moment later just to a repeat of what had just happened. Then he came up again and it went through him.

Nadai had enough sense to dodge an ice blast from behind, landing on Link's body when she was done. She brought the spectacles to her nose, and peered through them. She saw through the illusions this time, and found the right wizard as he was preparing his spell. She shot him in the neck.

The wizard went into the platform below him. Nadai waited a moment, keeping all of her sense open. Nothing reappeared. A chest appeared on the side. She got off Link and looked inside. Nothing was there. She frowned, normally something would be there for a little mini boss.

She opened her eyes wide, and her mouth opened a little. Power coursed through her and it sent shivers up and down her spine. She slumped to the ground when it was over.

"You okay?" Tatl asked, her voice breaking the silence in the room.

"Yeah." Nadai got up to her feet and swayed a bit. "I'm fine."

Notching her bow, she took aim and concentrated. The end of the arrow went on fire, and she sent it flying. It hit Link, and the ice around him melted. He fell to his hands and knees in a loud crash.

"That was cold." He panted.

"No duh," Nadai smirked. "I've got fire arrows now."

"Fire arrows?" Link repeated. "I've got an idea or two on where to use those."

Nadai smirk went wider. "So do I."

They returned across the gap, and through the door the Link had looked through earlier. The iced over eye was thawed out and activated when the fire arrow hit it. A rising came up from the floor below, and it was suddenly easier to get from the first floor to the third floor. They went across the snow embankment and used the fire arrow on the other path. It melted to reveal a locked door.

"Backtrack?"

"Backtrack." Nadai agreed.

They went across the embankment and went down using the shortcut to the first level. They came across the scurrying monster, which turned out to be a rat with a bomb tail. It bit Link, before exploding. However, the explosion didn't do anything to him, and he left unscathed.

The two kids looked at each other and shrugged, before heading back down the temple. They stopped back at the first level. They turned to the door that was covered in ice. Using the fire arrows, Nadai melted the ice and they went through the door.

Inside the door the stopped before a chasm. Below them they could see lava, bubbling gently. Here and there were large stone pillars, close enough for a Goron to jump across, but just far enough so that one couldn't walk across. Unlit torches marked a few of the pillars, making even less room on them than what was already there. Two doors stood across the expanse; one of which curved back to the main room, and another leading further away. The door further away was covered in ice.

"I'll go to the further door, meet you there?"

Nadai nodded, notching an arrow into her bow. She took aim and fired. Flame arrows flew through the air, hitting the unlit torches and the ice. As she did so, Link had taken off his mask to become Hylian once more. He jumped across to get to the ice. He opened the door, and looked down. Far below him was lava. It was bubbling steadily. Wherever this path led to, it was inaccessible now.

Nadai joined him just as he closed the door. "Not that way."

"Lava?" She asked.

"Lots of it. There's no going that way."

"So the other door then."

They jumped across to the other door. Link tested it, and it swung open easily. The room on the other side was a cordoned section off of the main room. It was separated by iron bars. The floor had a switch, and nothing else. He walked in and stood on it. The switch gave a little but it didn't activate. Nadai joined him, and the switch dipped lower but nothing happened.

"Try being a Goron, Link." Tatl suggested.

Link nodded. "You might need to back outta the room, Nadai. It's going to be tight if I'm that big."

Indeed the room was quite tiny. Nadai stepped back to the other side of the door. He stood on top of the switch and pressed the mask to his face. Instantly his body grew and stretched out. The switch was pressed flush to the floor. Behind Link, in the main room, the large circular platform in the middle of the room shot up all the way to the top of the temple. At the same time, the ground gave way beneath Link's feet and he fell to the lava below.

"Link!" Nadai rushed to the edge, reaching out to grab his hand. A pang came wrenching from her chest, next to where her heart was.

He didn't even have time to react. His mind was far away, to when he had fallen to the lava the first time. He had been a far more horrible person then. And it was only through the sacrifices of his allies that he survived. He had never hit lava before, not even with the Goron Tunic on. So when he hit the lava flat with his back, he barely registered that he had connected with the molten rock.

He bobbed on the surface, the lava feeling more akin to a hot bath or laying down on warm grass. He looked up. Nadai was reaching still out to him, but shock and awe dominated her face.

"Link, swim for the second room we were at!" Tatl shouted down at him. "The walls there should be rough enough for a Goron to climb out."

Still processing what had happened to him, Link complied. He swam under them and out of sight. Nadai looked up at Tatl. "What? Just how?"

"Gorons are immune to extreme heat and fire." Tatl answered matter-of-factly. "The explosions earlier didn't even affect him, remember?"

Nadai nodded slowly. "True. I hadn't thought about that." She began the trek back through the temple to the second room to meet up with Link. "I thought had lost him," she said quietly. "I thought that he was gone forever."

"Sorry?" Tatl asked, flying closer.

"I had almost lost Link what feels like too many times to count." Nadai opened up, talking quickly and quietly. "I almost lost him to Malon. I almost lost him to his demons. I almost lost him to Gannondorf. Each time it's hard. Each time he has come back stronger and different. Each time he comes back I fall more and more in love with him."

Tatl hesitated before speaking. Malon? Demons? Gannondorf? Of all those, perhaps demons was the closest she had to an actual answer. Whatever these kids had done in their past, it wasn't anywhere close to what normal kids had to deal with. Heroes of Time or not, this was just plain weird.

"Falling in lava won't necessarily change him." She said gently.

"Or is it?" Nadai asked softly. "Link is my other half. I love him. My heart breaks when I just think about it. And something else breaks too. Something more important to us than I think even ourselves." She trailed off. "Sorry, I shouldn't talking about this." She smiled. "We've got a job to do, and we can talk all we want after the fact."

Tatl nodded quickly. "Right. Let's meet up with Link."

They made it to the second room. To the left, below a thin ledge, Link was climbing back up. On that thin ledge was a block of ice, and within that block was a key. Link finished climbing up the wall to Nadai, as she fired an arrow to the ice block and melted it.

"Miss me?"

Nadai smirked. "Maybe." She pointed to the far wall, across the gaped bridge. "There's a way up, want to take it?"

Link nodded. "Fine with me. You'll grab the key?"

"Meet ya over there."

Link rolled, bunny-hopped, and crashed on the other side. He jumped across the gap to the hole in the wall. Meanwhile Nadai jumped from the bridge to the key, scooping it up. She ran along the ledge before jumping to the platform and subsequently the hole in the wall.

Together they climbed up a floor. They came out in the main room, close to the shortcut room to the third floor. Before they went to the shortcut room, they came close to the central pillar.

"Some of this is ice." Tatl hovered close to the pillar's side. "That shouldn't be."

"Ice that was deep in lava?" Link frowned. "That's normally not a good thing."

He leaned against it, and to all of their surprise the pillar shifted. A large chunk of the pillar had moved from where it had been, and all of the pillar on top of it did as well.

"Wasn't me, I swear." Link defended. "I'm not that heavy."

Tatl shook her head. "I think this is meant to be knocked aside." She looked up and down. "Link, could you punch it?"

"Punch it? If I did, I'd just move it more."

"I think it works like the tablecloth trick. Take away this piece, and the whole top bit of it will fall straight back down."

"And if it doesn't?"

Tatl shrugged. "It will, I'm sure of it."

The image of himself hitting the ice block and sending it flying came to mind. He shook his head, and took up a stance. It was true, he did have a powerful punch. Just how strong could it be if he really focused it?

He punched, and a large chunk of ice popped out of the pillar. The rest of the pillar fell straight down, and wobbled slightly before settling.

"Well, that's a thing that just happened." Nadai said. "Go up higher?"

Link shook his head. "One more slab."

With another punch, another slab of ice flew out and the pillar fell and settled itself. With that done, the three of them traveled back to the third floor, and around the snow drift to the locked door. They opened the door and moved on.

They climbed up a level, and came up on the fourth floor. The pillar blocked the way across, but there was a snowy embankment that allowed them to get to the room on the right, with another embankment to lead to the other side.

They made it to the next door and went inside. The door locked behind them. All around the room, small platforms jutted slightly from the floor. Nadai had her bow out instantly, glancing through her spectacles.

"Ice Wizard, he uses illusions." She warned.

"He won't pop up towards me," Link said. "He'll try to appear from afar."

Nadai scrambled on top of Link. "Don't move." She said softly. "I need the height."

The Ice Wizard tried attacking from the side. However, she was far too fast for him. Using the Fire Arrows, the wizard was sent aflame. When he appeared again, the fire was out but his clothes were singed. When he appeared for the third time he looked like he was at Death's Door. He didn't appear for a fourth time.

"That was too easy." Link said.

"That's 'cause he didn't get the drop on us this time." Nadai answered. "I was ready."

A chest appeared to the side. Opening it, Link brought out a large, ornate key. "Boss Key." He said.

Tatl looked over his shoulder to the door. "That thing that gored the Goron, it should be up on the highest level."

"Then we go up." Nadai stated simply.

They left the room and headed to the other, remaining fourth floor door. Inside it was a snowy, winter wonderland, complete with giant, anthropomorphic snow mounds that threw giant ice balls at them. One hit from Link's fist was enough to scatter them. A single Fire Arrow was enough to melt them.

They climbed the stairs and came up against a pair of Lizalfos. Each Lizalfos bore a single sword. However, these Lizalfos could also blow fire at them from their mouths; which they promptly did at Link.

Link ignored the heat, and sent both of them flying in a single punch. He was really starting to get used to this body. When the lizards hit the wall, Nadai was right there with her daggers to finish the job. Within moments they were dead and the kids were moving onto the next room.

They came out, the stalactites almost brushing Link's head. They were at the top level. And the only thing in their path was the damnable pillar. Tatl flew around to the side.

"Hey, there's the boss door!" She called out. "On the other side!"

Link clenched his fists. "Give me a second and I'll move these outta the way."

With a mighty crash, the ice slab in front of him had knocked into the wall. The stalactites above him wobbled, then began to freefall. The pillar was low enough o become an impromptu bridge to the boss room. Running across, Link and Nadai and Tatl avoided the icicles as they fell.

They unlocked the door and entered and slammed it shut behind them. However, the damage was done. Link's ice slab had not only moved the icicles and cause them to fall, but it had also awakened the demon.

It was gigantic, with a bull-like body and three giant horns. It stood over Link as if he was a man and not a Goron. It roared at them, and the mechanical, throaty noise hurt both of their ears.

"How do we beat that?" Nadai shouted.

Link shrugged. "No clue!"

Then the monster began to charge at them. Link dived to the side, and Nadai did the same. The monster bull missed, and it whirled about slowly to get back at them.

"Up there!" Tatl pointed to the mask the bull was wearing. "Get it to its knees and we can attack the mask!"

"How?" Link took a full blow from the monster's shoulder, not being fast enough to dodge out of the way. He flew back and landed on his back. He rolled to his feet, and prepared for another round.

Nadai had her hands full dodging the monster, as it ran after her unceasingly. She held her bow tentatively. How could she take aim at the thing if she couldn't possibly turn to shoot?

Then Link had an idea. He took out a bomb and threw it at the monster. Faster than they thought possible, the bull shot to the side and the bomb exploded harmlessly. Nadai and Link glanced at each other as the bull whirled about again.

"Hit it with bombs?" Nadai asked

"It moves too fast," Link shook his head. "I wouldn't be able to predict that fast, not with my aim."

"Then bring the bomb to it!" Tatl shouted. "Link, you are immune to the bomb's explosion. Why don't you bring the bomb to it?"

"I'm not fast enough!" He shot back.

"Not if you roll!" Tatl smiled as Link looked at her with newfound…respect? "Didn't I tell you I'd help you guys out? Listen to me!"

Link nodded his head, ignoring the images in his mind. Not now, not with one of Majora's Generals right in front of him. He took out a bomb, curled up, and began to roll.

Meanwhile, Nadai was still running away from the bull. If Link was going to bomb the demon, he better do it soon, before she lost her footing. The floor was all icy, and only had a few rough spots for her to regain her footing.

Then Link slammed into the bull. The bomb went off, and the bull fell on its side like a dead weight. Nadai spun on her heels, her daggers flying into her hands. She attacked, scoring hit after hit. Link slowly got his feet. While the bomb did not real damage to him, it did knock him of his senses.

Then the mechanical monster got up, and resumed its rampage. Link and Nadai exchanged smiles. They knew how to beat the monster now. It was only a matter of time before it fell.

Link slammed into the monster once, twice, three more times. Nadai attacked, scoring hit after hit after hit. But the demon was stubborn, it wasn't moving. It didn't give in, even as it bled blood and oil from almost a hundred wounds.

Then the bull succeeded in stabbing Nadai, piercing her shoulder with a horn. She was raised into the air, and flung to the side. Link rolled on top of her, and the bomb he held went off. Tatl watched as the two kids were enveloped in smoke, and could only hear the pain-filled cries of Nadai.

Time Stop: Please Review!

Static: Just an FYI, we will be on hiatus until February or March. We got some stuff to take care of which prevents us from writing for a bit. Sorry guys.