Chapter 63: Desert Ruins
When Link came to, he found himself back in Nabooru Village just as the sun was coming up and the menacing moon was further away.
"What am I doing here?" Link asked.
From the hilt Fi appeared and said plainly, "The Song of Time allowed you to go back to three days' prior to the moon crashing down on Skyloft."
Link sighed in irritation. "Great, now I have to find the Wind Sages all over again."
"I would strongly advise against that, Master," Fi replied.
"Why?"
"Because there's a high probability that the events which transpired might occur again if you attempt to follow the same path."
"You mean if I try to awaken the Sages, they'll just get turned into statues by Skull Kid again and Skyloft will be destroyed?"
"Correct."
"Then we must stop Skull Kid from causing the moon to fall onto Skyloft in the first place."
"Yes, and the only way to do that is by assembling the Gate of Time."
"But what about the Ocarina of Time? Can't I just use it to send me back?"
"To prevent the one known as Skull Kid from destroying Skyloft, you must go back seven years and save Zelda from Ganon's clutches before she becomes the tyrannical Mayor of the present. Now you could use Ocarina to Time to do this, but where you'll end up in the past location-wise is unknown. The fact that you appeared here is a miracle in of itself, which I was unable to predict beforehand. But with the Gate of Time, you can chose how far to go back and which place to end up in the past. That way, you'll have a better chance at saving Zelda then relying on luck alone."
"Why would saving Zelda prevent Skull Kid from destroying Skyloft?"
"It is my understanding that the Zelda you know is not the same as the one who is currently Mayor. Therefore, something must've happened seven years ago that caused Zelda to change. If we can prevent this change from occurring, then neither Hyrule or Termina would be in danger and Skull Kid would have no reason to put on the mask he hides behind, which is the source of his power. Without it, he would have no control over the moon and thus Skyloft would be safe. The choice is yours, but I would strongly recommend that you use the next three days to assemble the Gate of Time rather than attempt to awaken the Sages again."
So Link went back to the oasis he slept at when he first arrived and went into a thoughtful sleep. A child's voice eventually woke him up. It was Naru, and she seemed particularly happy.
"Welcome back, Link," Naru said excitedly. "Did you manage to find the author of Commander Clamp and get his autograph?"
"Uh, yeah," Link said as he reached into his tunic and pulled out the autographed magazine. "Here it is."
"Thank you so much!" Naru replied as she took the magazine happily.
Then when she looked at the autograph, her face suddenly went from happy to surprised.
"What is it?" Link wondered.
"Oh, nothing," Naru said as she tucked the magazine underneath her dress. "Now let's go to the Desert Ruins. That's where the Gate Fragments are located."
###
Without hesitation, Link followed the little Gerudo girl south of the village and into an area filled with sand-dunes and constant storms. Fortunately, there were several wooden poles with bright red flags which Link and Naru followed in a zigzag pattern that eventually brought them out of the storm. Before them stood a series of buildings partially buried by sand with facades depicting scenes of a boy and a slender Gerudo woman standing side-by-side, the boy fighting a metal knight, then a grown-up version of the boy being cornered by two elderly Gerudo women on broomsticks who reminded Link of Kasai and Kouri.
"This used to be where the Gerudo people of Skyloft lived, before someone assassinated the male Gerudo Leader which was then followed by a violent sandstorm. Fearing that the Goddesses were angry, the Gerudo women left this place and established Nabooru Village north of here."
"Only the women survived? What about the men?"
"The Gerudo Leader was the only male at the time, and he died in the sandstorm."
"Then this happened before Ganon showed up."
"Right, and so when Ganon appeared many of the elderly women thought it was odd considering that one Gerudo male is born every 100 years."
"So how were you born if the previous Gerudo male died, unless your Ganon's—
"No, I'm not his offspring. My mom confirmed this by telling me that my father was Hylian, but she wouldn't say anything more than that."
"I see," Link replied, now realizing why Professor Scarab seemed to know Naru's mother and why she in turn was so bitter.
"But enough about me! Let's go find those Gate Fragments!"
Link nodded and followed Naru down a sloped sand-dune which stopped at a stone bridge below. Across the bridge which hung over a deep chasm, Link and Naru entered a large chamber with obelisks containing images of Gerudo men. To Link's surprise, many of them resembled Ganon. Further down the chamber Link and Naru came to four doors that stood in a row with different disk-shaped symbols over each one. The first one was a purple swirl, the second a blue wave, the third a green cloud, and the fourth was a white snowflake.
"These symbols must represent the Wind Sages," Link guessed. Then he turned to Naru. "Are the Gate Fragments behind any of these doors?"
Naru closed her eyes for a moment and then said, "There is one behind each door."
Satisfied, Link attempted to open one door, but it wouldn't budge. Then he noticed a series of carvings above the symbols.
"What are those?" Link said pointing to them.
"Gerudo letters," Naru said. "They say, 'Beyond these Doors lie the Wind Trials which Upon Completion will Reward the Participant with the Fragments of the Gate. But to Open the Doors one must play a Song for Each Sage.'"
"Now why would those letters be here if Ganon didn't want anyone to find the Gate Fragments?"
"Maybe they were written by someone else," Naru suggested.
From that, Link was able to gather that Lana must've written the message because she knew that he would come there eventually. Now determined more than ever, Link stood before the door with the purple swirl and played the Bolero of the Western Gale on the Ocarina of Time from memory. Once the tune was played, the door opened allowing Link to step inside.
To be continued…