Chapter Seventeen: The Coast: Part Two

The quartet carried on, finding plenty of Force Gems to power up their swords in the next clearing, especially after Patience tripped over a stray coconut. The coconut seemed to have been plugging up a hole, and Force Gems rained down on the four as soon as it was moved by Patience's foot. Needless to say, she quickly forgot about the pain of falling after a Force Gem landed in front of her.

The next scene made Faith scowl. A small lake had dared to position itself between the group and the shore they needed to reach to move on. A lone island with a large, square switch was the only decoration in the middle of the lake, and was probably the only thing to make the spikes on the opposite shore disappear so they could continue their quest.

"Look, a whirlpool!" Patience was in the water before the others could blink. Link waited for the other two to enter the water before he followed, and marveled at how differently the three swam. Faith was basically dog-paddling as fast as she could to get to the little island, with Hope right next to her, being a bit more advanced as a swimmer. Patience resembled a fish; she could probably complete a couple of laps around the lake before the other three reached the little island!

Faith paused to catch her breath as she sat on the island before saying, "You may want to see what's down there before we step on the switch."

"Oh, yeah, there's probably some nice treasure, right?" Patience said, peering into the dark water. Link stared at Faith.

"What makes you think that?" he asked the middle sister steadily.

She stared at him evenly. "One of my hunches," she said, her tone daring him to challenge her.

"There's no harm," Hope said before Link could speak again. "I suppose it would be stupid to ask if you were staying up here, Faith...?" Her sister didn't even respond. "Okay, come on, Link, Patience."

"I'm already gone!" With a splash, Patience dived under the water with the help of the whirlpool. Link and Hope hurriedly followed to hear Faith yell, "Be careful!"

"It seems like it's rare for Faith to say something like that," Link mentioned as soon as he and the others made it into an underwater cave. He admitted that Faith's 'hunches' usually worked, but he still was very curious as to where these 'hunches' came from.

"There's only one thing that freaks Faith out more than the idea of swimming," Hope said, her voice gentle as she watched Patience dash ahead. "It's the idea of her loved ones drowning."

Link remained silent, unsure how to respond to that fact. He was saved from having to think of something when Patience came into view, tapping her foot impatiently in front of a couple of door openings.

"There are extra slingshots in that room," she reported. "You're probably going to need one, Hope."

"What about Faith?" the eldest asked, pausing in the threshold of the slingshot room.

"It's probably a good idea for someone to have bombs, just in case," Link said. He was suddenly yanked into the other room by Patience.

"Come on, one of your girlfriends is in here!"

"My what--?"

Hope quickly claimed one of the slingshots for her own, abandoning the drenched bomb bag, and followed the other two. She shook her head in good-humor as she understood what Patience had said. There at the end of the room was a Great Fairy, floating above a small, sparkling pool of water.

The Fairy smiled graciously at the three. "Let me aid you on your way," she said. The three slingshots flew out of their grasps and dove into the sparkling water. After a few seconds, the weapons emerged, looking slightly bigger than before. The Fairy giggled. "Please, don't hesitate to come again."

"This thing is as big as my head," Patience claimed as they walked out of the cave, inspecting the weapon. She then made her voice deeper, doing her best impression of an announcer. "Introducing, the new and improved level-two slingshot! Now able to toss nuts more rapidly than ever before!"

Link rolled his eyes at Patience's antics before diving back into the water and being followed by the other two.

"It's about time," was what greeted them as they surfaced outside once again. Faith looked more than a bit irked at sitting on a small island being surrounded by water. "Did you all get what you needed?"

"Yep!" Patience showed off the slingshot. Imitating an announcer again, she added, "It can even shoot three nuts at once!"

"Wonderful." Faith didn't sound that impressed. "Well, c'mon, let's hit the switch."

As soon as the switch clicked down, about a dozen of water monsters appeared, poking their heads over the surface and spitting projectiles at the group. Immediately, the quartet went into the cross formation, with Link, Hope, and Patience using their slingshots to destroy the monsters while Faith watched their backs with her shield. It took a few minutes for every monster to be vanquished, and the spikes on the opposite shore disappeared with the last water creature.

"Well, that was fun," Hope said as the quartet entered the water once again to get to the other shore. Within a few seconds, they were continuing on land again.

There was a clearing filled with crabs that seemed as if they couldn't make up their minds whether to run away from or attack the quartet. Faith made up their minds for them by throwing a bomb in the middle of the group, which incited the rest to dart at them. They were quickly destroyed by the powered-up swords, and Force Gems rained from the sky as the quartet's reward. Link, Hope, and Faith didn't mind Patience diving toward the biggest gem as they collected the smaller ones.

That is, until she screamed.

"AHHH, HELP!" Hope stifled her own scream of horror as she saw her youngest sister from the shoulders down engulfed by a strange, hopping monster. Link and Faith didn't hesitate to dive toward the monster, swords drawn.

"Don't hit me!" Patience said, her eyes wide as she saw the blades about to come down on the monster. Neither Link nor Faith responded as they took turns darting in and out, slicing the creature's sides. Eventually, the creature spit out Patience at Link, and tried to hop toward the other end of the clearing. As Faith gave chase with her bombs, Hope hovered around Link holding the shaking Patience.

"Are you okay? You're not bleeding, are you?" Hope asked anxiously. "Broken bones, torn muscle--"

"I-I'm okay," Patience said, her eyes still wide as she huddled in Link's arms. She suddenly frowned and glared daggers at the direction of the creature trying in vain to get away from Faith. "KILL IT, FAITH! IT ATE MY FORCE GEMS!"

An explosion responded from the other side of the clearing, and Faith soon returned with a fat purple Force Gem. Link let Patience down so she could claim it.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Yeah," she said, her voice returning to its perky tone while pocketing the gem. "I'll be fine."

Link smiled as Faith shook her head fondly at her younger sister's obsession with the Force Gems, and the quartet continued on, with Hope staying right by Patience's side.

"Got all your Gems back?" Shadow Link sounded bored as he sat atop a palm tree in the next clearing. The clearing was full of a labyrinth of old fences and scattered bushes and plants.

"If you were the one who sent that thing--!"

Shadow Link's chuckle at Patience shaking her fist at him, and didn't let her finish her threat. "No, I have no control over that," he said. "I have no interest in stealing your Force Gems." A malicious grin swept over his face. "My job is to slow you down...Destroy you, if possible."

Before anyone else could speak, a massive shadow ball grew in front of the quartet, reaching the size of the tree before the darkness fell from the shape and revealed a giant bomb. Shadow Link laughed as the bomb started ticking down from ten seconds, and he whirled away.

"Underground!" Hope led the way down a rocky staircase that was by the giant bomb, and the quartet made it down as an explosion shook the walls of the cave.

"I told you he liked giant bombs," Faith muttered to no one in particular.

"C'mon," Link said, leading the way back up the staircase to the earth's surface. A huge cavity in the ground was what the giant bomb had left behind. The quartet quietly walked around, avoiding any burning bushes from the explosion, and soon realized that the old fences were blocking their path.

"What the--?!" Patience kicked one of the fences, not exactly expecting it to fall down to her might. "Who builds a bunch of fences in the middle of nowhere like here?"

Malevolent laughter resounded through the air, causing the group to simultaneously unsheathe their swords. Too soon the laughter faded out and another giant bomb fell from the air to cause an earthquake as it began to tick down from ten seconds.

"Back down!"

"Our path is blocked, Hope," Patience said, trying to find a way to squeeze around the new bomb to get to the rocky staircase.

"Then we use a new one," Faith spoke up, stomping on a small ember that was burning away a defenseless plant. She chopped up what was left of the plant, and then led the way down the rickety ladder that had been hidden underneath it. Her sisters followed, and as soon as Link joined them, the second bomb exploded above them.

"Hey, there's a path down here!" Link paused in going back up to the surface as he heard Patience's voice from below. Hope, who had been right behind him, gave him a quick glance before following Faith down to the youngest sister. Link wasn't too far behind.

Patience led the way as a second ladder came into view. The group scrambled up the rings and emerged behind one of the fences.

"Another puzzle," Hope mused.

"I'd call it an annoyance," Faith said.

The ground shook once more as a third bomb dropped from the sky, signaling the quartet that the race had begun. The four dashed around, chopping up plants to find more holes and underground passageways to enable them to get to the next area. Two bombs later, the group had managed to find the last pathway behind the farthest fence, and ran into the other clearing as the last explosion echoed around them.

The next few areas seemed easy enough. It was more hide-and-seek with holes and underground passageways while simultaneously attacking various monsters. For a while, the group had even believed that their trouble with giant bombs were over. However, as soon as another lake had appeared before them, one last bomb dropped from the sky onto the tiny island in the middle of the lake and began its countdown.

Faith grimaced as her sisters jumped into the water. Hope glanced back at Faith as Patience dove under the water whenever possible to collect stray Force Gems gathered at the bottom of the lake.

"Faith, it's not that deep," Hope said, half-turning to glance at the bomb. "Come on..." she pleaded.

The middle sister glanced at the bomb -- the countdown was at five seconds -- and waded into the water, noticing that Link was right behind her.

Three seconds...

Hope took a deep breath as she dove under while Patience resurfaced before quickly going back under after spotting the countdown.

Two seconds...

Faith glanced at Link. He was watching her, his eyes making it clear that he was waiting for her to go under, or he would drag her down. With a calming inhale of sweet air, the middle sister let herself sink beneath the liquid.

Powerful ripples ripped through the water as the bomb exploded, beating the group apart as they each spiraled in slow-motion through the lake. A loose stone from the island bolted into the water from the explosion, pummeling Faith in the stomach. Against her will, her mouth opened to suck in needed air, yet only liquid rushed into her lungs making her body weak. Her eyes shot open in a panic at the thought of her nightmare coming true. She spotted her sisters farther away in the water, Hope pulling Patience up to the surface. Faith suddenly felt calm for an instant; if her sisters were okay, then she'd be fine.

A pair of arms suddenly wrapped themselves firmly, yet gently, around Faith's waist, and she let her limp body get pulled to the surface of the water, her head not entirely sure what was happening. Although it seemed like hours had passed while being underwater, it had only been seconds.

"Faith, are you okay?!" an alarmed Hope, with Patience by her side, asked as soon as Faith felt wind caressing her face. The middle sister responded with coughs and gags, trying to get replace the water in her lungs with air.

"I think she will be." Link answered for Faith, and she realized that it was he who had helped her out of the water. In fact, one of his arms was still around her waist. "She just swallowed some water."

"That water...was disgusting!" Faith said when she was able to speak again. "Ugh...!"

Hope sighed, a faint smile on her lips showing relief. If Faith had the strength to give off a sarcastic complaint, then she'd be fine.

Patience apparently thought so too, for the youngest sister looked at the clearing in front of them. A steep, rocky wall enclosed the area, with a set of old stairs climbing up the north side. A barrier of darkness was set up right in front of the stairs. She spotted grass at the top of the plateau, and she craned her neck to see what else...

"Hey, guys, I think there's a village ahead...!"

"I hope there's an inn or something," Hope said immediately. What she wouldn't do for a real bed...

"There should be," Link said, standing up from previously sitting beside Faith on the beach. He glanced down at the middle sister. "Are you okay to continue on...?"

She paused a moment, stared at him as if trying to figure out his motives for being concerned about her, then stood up and casually brushed off the sand from her clothes. "Yeah," she said. "I'm not about to hold you guys up."

Link gave her a crooked-smile as she walked pass him to join her sisters further into the clearing. He figured that her slight nod to him as she passed was her way of expressing thanks, and took it in stride.

"OMIGOD, GIANT-HEADLESS-CLAW-THING!"

"Oof--!" Link was almost knocked the ground as Patience ran into him before scrambling to hide behind him. He blinked at her exclamation, then looked up as Hope and Faith backed up to be closer to them as well.

"How can it SEE?!" Patience asked, her tone a mixture of fear, awe, and disbelief. Link watched as the monster wandered the clearing aimlessly, staying clear from the walls, its four colored claws snapping mechanically. The claws were all the monster was made of, really; they were connected to each other by a small body the color of seaweed.

"It obviously can't hear," Faith said, casting Patience a glance. "Otherwise it'd be on top of us in an instant from your loud mouth." Patience turned her eyes away from the monster only for the second it took her to stick out her tongue at Faith.

"The claws are color-coded," Hope noted. "The same colors as our clothes."

Link gently pried Patience's fingers from the back of his tunic and drew his sword. "Okay, then," he began. "I'll try to destroy the green one first. Stay close to the walls."

"Aye, aye, sir!" Patience saluted and quickly found sanctuary in a niche in the wall. Faith just nodded, while Hope told him to be careful.

Link cautiously crept toward the monster, certain that it could not hear him. He kept moving to keep up with it, spinning around to always have the green claw in sight. The instant that the monster paused, Link struck.

A terrible screech reached the quartet's ears as the green claw shrunk with the painful sound of a rusty hinge trying to turn one last time.

"Link, move!" With poor judgment, Link had tried to block his ears along with instinctively closing his eyes when the screech erupted. Now, however, at Hope's voice, he saw the monster moving toward him with astonishing speed, and rolled out of the way to receive a cut on his upper arm.

Of course, it was better to have the gash on his arm than his head.

The monster whirled past him and toward the sisters. Hope and Patience dashed one way, while Faith went the other. The middle sister had brandished her sword, and leapt toward the monster, the blade glinting dangerously in the sunlight. With an accurate swing, another screech indicated that the red claw had shrunk like its green partner.

If Faith hadn't kept moving, the rapid monster would have gutted her with one of its remaining claws.

"Hope, Patience," she said, making her way toward Link by one of the walls. "You're up!"

The other two were across the clearing, and glanced at each other before Hope silently withdrew her sword. The monster was moving all around the clearing, resembling a ball in a pinball machine. The eldest sister moved away from the wall she had been leaning against and into the middle of the clearing. She stood her ground, seemingly waiting patiently for the monster to come roaring past her.

When it did, she let it have it.

Hope darted back to the side of the clearing as the monster screeched once more, finding herself near Link and Faith. Patience was alone, wide-eyed, across the clearing.

"Come on, Patience, you only need to hit it once!" Link called out to her, praying that the monster, moving faster than ever before, would not hit any of them, especially little Patience. If she just hit the purple claw first, they'd be home-free...

"How?!" the youngest asked, her sword limp in her hand as she tried to watch the monster whirling about. "It's almost a blur!"

"You're the quickest one out of us," Hope said, trying to boost her sister's confidence. "Just swing your sword!"

"Think of all the Force Gems you'll get when it's destroyed!"

Patience blinked at Faith's shout to her, and then turned her attention back to the monster, which seemed to be slowing slightly from not hitting anyone. The youngest of the quartet gulped down her nervousness and tightened her grip on her sword as she crept out from the wall, focusing on the Force Gems like Faith had said.

The monster twirled past her, and she instinctively closed her eyes as the buffeting wind almost knocked her over. Instantly, her sisters and Link all, practically in unison, yelled at her to keep her eyes open. Patience just nodded in their general direction and stared after the monster. With a deep breath, she steadied her sword and ran toward the monster, taking a chance on where the purple claw will be.

"Hiiiiii-YAH!" Slicing her sword in the air, Patience closed her eyes to brace herself for the impact, and paused a moment after her attack. Slowly opening her eyes, she blinked and looked around to notice that the monster was still functioning and moving around at the complete opposite end of the clearing where she was now.

"You've got to be kiddin' me!" The first wave of nervousness behind her, Patience doggedly pursued the monster's purple claw, occasionally yelling at it to stand still. After missing the claw twice more, Patience finally destroyed the monster with her sword. The monster exploded, showering the quartet with many Force Gems.

"You won't have them for that long," Faith said as Patience dashed around to gather the Gems up.

"What do you mean?" Patience asked, her previous cheerful mood starting to slip.

Faith jerked her thumb to gesture behind her shoulder at the barrier of darkness. "Remember those things?" she asked dryly.

Patience sighed, but continued to collect the Gems. "Yeah...but we could always use more Force Fairies, right?"

Faith couldn't argue with that, nor did she try to. Instead, she helped her younger sister gather the Gems before the two joined Link and Hope over by the barrier. They each destroyed one of the spheres and waited not-so-patiently for the Gems to change to Fairies before they eagerly ascended the staircase and toward the village. Each of them wanted the peace and quiet that a civilized village could offer.

However, none of them really believed that their luck would allow them to rest...

Krista: Thanks very much for reading, and review at your leisure to let me know how I'm doing.