Chapter 7: Another cavern?
Nabooru, Saria and Ruto heaved a sigh of relief when they saw Link and Zelda finally waking up.
"Thank goodness, you're awake!" Ruto exclaimed.
"How long were we out?" Link asked.
"Almost a day for sure, we were so worried." Saria said, hugging Link.
"A day?" Zelda asked, blinking before she noticed it was once again dusk as the sun was setting outside.
"Wow…" Link said as he returned the hug Saria gave him.
"What exactly happened to you? We tried to find you earlier in your subconsciousness, but Majora's magic prevented us from pinpointing your location…" Nabooru said.
"It turned out that Majora wanted to try and make us face our worst fears or nightmares by pitting us in a cavern with the monsters we hate the most." Link said.
"We were saved by Impa in the nick of time; one Dead Hand almost succeeded in eating us." Zelda said, shuddering.
Saria and Ruto blinked at this, while Nabooru herself shuddered.
"What else did you see?" Ruto asked.
"Well, despite the area being dark, we saw plenty of ReDeads, Floormasters and Wallmasters. On top of that, we also first had a vision of that could be their new fortress, or it could be an exaggerated view, I don't really know." Link said.
"Oh? How was it like?" Saria asked.
"Well, that fortress rivals the Stone Tower in height, but due to it being set at a greater distance away from where Hyrule Castle originally stood, we couldn't pinpoint its exact size, but we expect it to be frigging HUGE." Link said.
"On top of that, that castle is now separated from the mainland area by what we believe is a lake filled with blood. It was incredibly nasty!" Zelda said.
"In a way it sounds logical for them to have it though, Majora has always been a sick bastard, so he could very well have made that lake." Link said.
"Is it that bad?" Ruto asked.
"Well, we are not exactly sure if this is true, but if it is, it will make Ikana Canyon look much more pleasant, despite being actively haunted by the dead. And where Zelda and I have traveled through makes the Bottom of the Kakariko Village's well and the Shadow Temple combined a much more pleasant place to hang around, if you get what I mean." Link replied.
"Oh dear…" Saria said, shuddering.
"In any case, Sakon did this to us, so it's evident that we will have a score to settle with that coward." Zelda said.
"How is Epona?" Link asked.
"She's still slightly shaken up, but recovering. That blast also made her run off into Termina Field. I had to use Epona's Song in order to lure her back to the ranch, while Saria and Ruto treated your injuries." Nabooru said.
"Nothing serious I hope?" Zelda asked.
"Just a heavy concussion from having hit your head against each other, but if you'll just take it easy for a few hours, you'll be back in action before you know it." Cremia said as she came in, overhearing the last bits of the conversation, carrying a tray with cups containing warm milk.
Entering the room as well was Romani, whom also wanted to check up on her friend.
"Hey, 'Grasshopper'." Romani said.
Link chuckled at this, as did the others around him.
"Hey Romani. Still working on your archery skills I presume?" Link asked.
"Yep. Romani's a lot better now." Romani said with pride, while Link nodded with a smile.
"I honestly have never heard of this Majora character… I overheard you talking about him…" Cremia then said, seeing that Ruto and Saria kept Romani occupied, not wanting to disturb the younger sister of the pair.
"Well, I haven't heard much about Majora himself, except that the eponymous mask of his contained a vast, evil power that was used in hexing rituals, but when the uses began to fear its power became too great to control, they sealed the mask away for a long time… until that Happy Mask Salesman came across it. He in turn was attacked by the Skull Kid, whom sadly enough didn't know any better, and partially because of his own misery, he fell under the influence of Majora's Mask, leading the Mask to use the Skull Kid as a vessel for his actions, the main one being to drop the moon down on Clock Town at the Eve of Carnival." Link said, recalling his own experience with the mask.
"So the Skull Kid was in effect innocent since instead of him controlling the mask, the mask was controlling him, right?" Zelda asked.
"That's right. And due to the Skull Kid's own misery, Majora's Mask practically took over this mindset and memories, leading to the demented state he was in all the time." Link said.
"So Majora did all this to Termina…" Cremia said, shuddering.
"Yes, and now that he has formed an alliance with our own arch nemesis, a dark lord named Ganondorf…" Link said.
Zelda shuddered visibly, obviously terrified at what has yet to come. Link put a hand on her shoulder to comfort her, much was like she did with him back in their trip on the subconscious level. Zelda smiled at this, mouthing a silent 'thank you' to Link, to which he responded with a smile and a nod.
"You think they'll try to do something to Termina again?" Cremia then asked.
"Well, their primary objective is to have me and my dearest friends removed from the equation since they know that we have the power to stop them. However, by separating us into two groups and trapping three of us somewhere else and sending us all the way here, we're forced to travel all the way back to Hyrule before we can try to save the others and in turn find a way to properly fight them. Which is why we're trying to get stronger ourselves along the way." Link said, to which the others nodded, confirming his story.
"Wow, looks like you've got quite some work ahead for you." Cremia said.
"We have indeed. It won't be easy at all, but I feel certain that we'll pull through." Link said.
"Your courage keeps surprising me." Zelda said, smiling.
"For now, you two should rest for a bit more to ensure a full recovery," Nabooru said, "we'll keep watch to ensure no outsider tries anything funny."
"Thank you." Both Link and Zelda said in unison, causing them and the others to giggle at how it sounded.
In the meantime, Sakon was still brooding, not paying attention to the items he had stolen before. While he did manage to prevent capture, to say that he was quite annoyed was an understatement. It was after all the THIRD time that the boy in green managed to foil his plans, this time having friends with him. He would need to find a way to get rid of those meddling kids if he wanted them not to interfere in his business anymore, but the question was more as to how he would do that. Perhaps he could use some outside help for this one, this time not from the Gorman Brothers or anyone else wanting to pay him to steal whatever goods they have for money, but perhaps he needed to look in a different direction. Sakon grinned as he had an idea, which he would execute after a bit of a rest…
Ganondorf and Majora in the meantime have been working together to finish up their fortress and spreading their influence out once more over Hyrule and inching closer to Termina. So far, only the Gerudo Fortress, the Kokiri Forest, Goron City, Lon Lon Ranch and Zora's Domain have remained free of their influence, but this was also partially due to the two evil beings focusing more on reinforcing their primary stronghold, while scouting areas in the woods between Hyrule and Termina to find suitable places to set up outposts that would in turn become a form of supply center for the troops whom were going to be sent into Termina itself, at which the hunt for the missing people, but Link and Zelda in particular, would begin. It was as if the King of Evil was taking his sweet time with spreading his influence, instead preferring to oversee the task of reinforcing existing defenses and build new ones. The renewed occupation of both the Shadow Temple and the bottom of Kakariko Village's Well served as the first outposts that served as a major supplier for Ganondorf's more undead forces, the village being mostly abandoned now that the villages have sought a safe haven elsewhere, primarily due to Death Mountain posing a serious threat to them in the first place. All in all, it was a dark era for Hyrule, something that would take some time to recover from… if the crisis would be ever resolved that is…
During the night, Link laid in bed, still being awake. Having carefully propped his hands behind his head, he stared at the ceiling and sighed, the only light shining in the room being from the moon and stars, whom were fortunately high in the sky, where they belonged. Truth be told, he did have some nightmares the few days after his return to Hyrule after defeating Majora, in particular where he was dozing off for a bit, finding himself playing with his friends, Saria, Zelda, Ruto and Nabooru among them, before the group would witness the moon crashing on Clock Town, incinerating them all in the following shockwave of destruction. Luckily, those nightmares stopped for a long time now, the support of his friends have helped him greatly on that note, but now Link felt as if other nightmares or even sleepless nights were on the rise again, knowing that those were only a forecast of things that had yet to come. Hearing some soft whimpering, Link looked to the left, seeing Zelda sleeping next to him, although she as apparently having a nightmare, something he noticed from her shivering and the occasional tossing a little. Seeing her getting more uncomfortable, Link decided to wake Zelda up.
"Hey Zelda, are you alright?" He whispered as Zelda shot up with a gasp after he gently touched her arm.
Looking around frantically, she saw that she was in the guest bedroom, sighing of relief afterwards.
"Zel?" Link then asked.
That got her attention as she turned to her right, seeing Link looking at her with concern on his face.
"Oh, dear Goddesses, I just had a terrible dream." Zelda said, shuddering as Link put an arm around her, causing Zelda to relax a little.
"I take it was about that 'adventure' we had while we were unconscious?" Link asked, guessing what has caused it.
"Yes, it was simply where that Dead Hand succeeded in swallowing the both of us whole, or a ReDead ending us…" Zelda said, shuddering as she sought comfort.
Usually her attendant Impa would provide the comfort needed in the times of where Zelda has her nightmares, especially when she had the prophecy of Ganondorf attempting to take over Hyrule, symbolized as the dark clouds, but now that they were separated, Link did his best to fulfill the role of providing comfort to the distraught princess, something which she herself appreciated.
"Good thing Impa saved us back there. I'm only curious how she was able to reach us." Link said.
"Well, the Seven Sages can call each other using the connection they have with each other and the Hero of Time, usually this contact can be done telepathically in times of emergency, when one of the Sages requests the aid of the others." Zelda said.
Link nodded.
"The Sacred Realm did call out to them after all, so it sounds logical that this connection is present ever since they were awakened." He said, to which Zelda nodded in confirmation.
Both Link and Zelda sighed, remaining silent for a while.
"What are we going to do tomorrow? I mean, our blades are still being worked on, except for yours…" Zelda said.
"I was thinking to venture further into Snowhead to either get some training exercise in or otherwise explore the area as a whole again. Now that spring has come back there, there could be some things present which I have not seen before during my first stay here." Link said.
"Just trying to get your mind elsewhere than recent events, huh?" Zelda asked with a smile.
"Heh, I can keep brooding in regards to my traumatic experiences in the past with all the monsters and everything, but that would do me much more harm; our nemeses may exploit this and it could lead all of us in mortal danger anyhow." Link said.
"That makes sense." Zelda said.
"We should rest up as much as we can. The sooner we're on our feet, the better." Link said, making Zelda nod again.
Both then dozed off together, this time no nightmares came to bother them.
The next day, Link, Saria, Zelda, Ruto and Nabooru went on their way again, thanking Romani and Cremia for their kindness and care, making the two sisters smile, with Cremia giving the group a new horse to travel with next to Epona, as promised, waving a good-bye before the group left. From a local Business Scrub in the Southern Swamp, the group obtained some magic beans, while Nabooru has bought a few Bombchus from the Bomb Shop in Clock Town to use as a new item. The group was aware that horses couldn't go just anywhere due to some geographical conditions of both Hyrule and Termina, but nevertheless did save a huge amount of travel time overall as it did travel faster than going on foot. Carefully moving the horses to the north to let them enter the Road to Snowhead, the group let the horses rest in a more grassy area of the path, before dismounting and moving along on foot. From what they could see in regards to the smoke bellowing from the Mountain Smith's chimney indicated that they were still busy, given the promise that the swords would be done in a couple of hours upon inquiring the progress of the business by Zubora. Satisfied, the group went onward in the direction of the Snowhead Temple.
While on their way, Link blinked as he spotted several makeshift bridges having been laid out along the path to fill the gaps and he also spotted a second cavern in a mountain wall to his right, which he had not seen before. On top of that, the giant snowballs that could provide a hazard during his trip were also absent, but he mused that this was because of spring.
"This is weird; I haven't seen this cave before. On top of that, I don't recognize the bridges laid over the abysses which only allowed me in Goron body to cross over harmlessly." Link said, scratching his head.
"Hmmm, this looks like another hidden cavern, perhaps the time spent in the sun during Spring and Summer must have melted the ice and exposed the cave…" Zelda said.
"Possibly, but that still makes no sense to me; it wasn't here the last time I visited. Something must have excavated this cavern rather rapidly in the time that I went back to see you lot in Hyrule…" Link said.
"Well, a lot of things can happen over time…" Saria said.
"That's true, I must be getting paranoid." Link said.
"I suggest we investigate anyhow. Who knows it could offer us some clues as to what has happened. Besides, the cavern in Ikana Canyon we have been dumped in by Majora also seemed out of place to me.
"I agree." Link said, nodding.
"Anything that can help us to counter this new threat of old enemies can be of use after all." Ruto reasoned.
"So I think it's settled, let's go and investigate." Zelda said, the group used one of the newly-laid bridges to reach the cave and entering it...
As the five enter the cavern, they enter an area which is lit by several torches here and there, but is overall dark, warm and moist... there was an eerie sound that was probably caused by the atmosphere, while on occasion the sound of water drops falling on the ground were heard.
"This area's having a musty smell over here, geez." Ruto said, just as Link slashed a total of three Withered Deku Babas, obtaining a Deku Stick each time from their remains.
"That was easy." Link said, lighting up one Deku Stick on a nearby torch.
"There are plenty of rooms up ahead, but it's quite dark..." Saria said.
"Let's see what we can find here, perhaps we can use the Deku Sticks for as long as they can last…" Link said.
"Alright, let's go." Zelda said.
The group moves on across the hallway carefully, looking around the place with care, seeing numerous discarded rubble here and there as well as some crates, only to get startled when the lit Deku Stick brushes against something at the entrance of one of the rooms they wanted to investigate. Looking in that direction, the burning fragments of nature's oldest catching net were visible before vanishing.
"One of these days those frigging webs will give me a heart attack!" Link said as he gripped his chest to calm his heart down.
"I second that." Zelda said, sighing of relief.
As they explored the room, they heard the evident metallic scraping noise left behind by a Gold Skulltula. Using her fins, Ruto easily defeated it and collected its token.
"Looks like the Skulltulas must have taken this place over once the creators of this cave have left." Saria mused.
"That sounds like it. Perhaps this must have become some kind of spider house like the ones I've seen back in the Swamp and Great Bay areas, although the Great Bay area's too had webs around." Link said.
Gathering whatever items they could find on arrows and bombs, the group moved back towards the main hallway, moving on. As they ventured on, they came across another dark room. Thankfully, this one was not blocked by a spider web, but it did contain several regular Skulltulas. Link and Zelda easily dealt with them using one shot each of their respective bows, decimating the six Skulltulas total, while Ruto and Saria demolished several Black Boes that tried to be a bother.
Upon moving into the third room however, its door instantly closed shut using iron bars, indicating that the group had run into a trap!
"What the-?!" Link asked, blinking as he looked at the bars, while Zelda looked on ahead, seeing a few mummified beings standing in the room. Instantly Zelda recognized them as relatives of the ReDead!
"Gibdos?! What are THEY doing here in a place like this?!" Zelda exclaimed, getting ready to cast Din's Fire to deal with them.
"They must have been here for some time then, although they do seem out of place…" Link said as he got out his sword, getting ready to attack. Nabooru used a Deku Nut to stun the Gibdos, allowing Link, Saria, Zelda and Ruto to slay the mummified beasts with any of their convenient attacks, with Ruto and Saria helping with stunning. Once the Gibdos were taken care of, the iron bars lifted, unlocking the door in the process.
"I think we should get in more firepower in if we are to face our worst enemies quicker." Saria said, while Link opened a big chest he discovered.
"Well, you're getting your wish to a degree; I found the Fire Arrows here. And there's a couple of smaller chests around here too, perhaps they may contain ammo." Link said, handing a set of Fire Arrows to Zelda while he kept the rest.
As the others opened the smaller chests, they discovered some additional Deku Seeds, Deku Nuts and Deku Sticks as well as another bundle of arrows.
"We can still use the Deku Sticks, right?" Saria then asked.
"Of course. Zelda and I would still need them if we run out of magic power or arrows for that matter." Link said, nodding as he and Zelda both decide to switch to the newly acquired Fire Arrows on their bows, allowing them to burn things that could not be reached by either a Deku Stick or is out of the reach of Din's Fire.
After returning to the hallway, Link and Zelda then nodded to each other, before firing one Fire Arrow each through the hallway... with effect, as two giant webs blocking the door ahead were immediately burned away.
"Whoa." Saria said, impressed.
"I have a feeling we'll be needing those Fire Arrows more anytime soon. They've been quite useful in the Snowhead Temple…" Link commented.
Moving on to the next room, Link and Zelda used their Fire Arrows once more to burn two webs at the ceiling, while Saria and Ruto used a Deku Stick to burn a few hanging at ground level, releasing a few crates and exposing a total of two more Gold Skulltulas to the group, which were defeated by Nabooru and in turn collected their tokens collected.
"I wonder what these tokens are for." Nabooru said.
"From my experience, each token is linked to someone being inflicted with the curse of the spider, caused by greed. Each of these gold colored spiders destroyed and its token collected weakens the curse in succession until after a certain amount is enough to have that curse fully lifted." Link replied.
"Ah, I understand." Nabooru said, nodding as the group went on, moving on to the next hallway and venturing down a stairway, filled with crawling sounds of Skulltulas. Using a Deku Nut, Ruto disabled a group of three Skullwalltulas, while stunning a regular Skulltula, whom was shot at by Saria using her Slingshot. Taking Damage, the Skulltula tried to block the group again, but a second shot against its weak abdomen made it fall to the ground. Ruto then used a Deku Stick to burn several webs on ground level, while Link and Zelda burned four more webs which were at a higher level using their Fire Arrows.
"I believe spring has gotten into our heads with this kind of cleaning action." Link said.
"I'll say. I'm surprised the burning remnants of the webs aren't setting other things on fire…" Saria said.
"Don't jinx it, Saria, but if it does happen, I can extinguish the fires…" Princess Ruto said, smiling.
As the group went into the next room, they noticed that lower parts of the cavern had a large puddle of water, with steam coming off of it. Gently touching it, Link discovered that the water itself was pleasantly warm.
"This must be Hot Spring Water; it's the only explanation to this water being so nice and warm." Link said, blinking.
"That's interesting." Zelda said, while Ruto went in the water herself, standing next to Link.
"Check out those five silver eye switches close to the ceiling… is this another puzzle?" Saria asked.
"Possibly, or some kind of security system that requires us to find the correct one to progress." Link said.
"You think we may have stumbled on another hideout by accident?" Zelda asked as she got a regular arrow out.
"I consider that a decent possibility, but I still am uncertain why someone would actually make and settle in an environment such as this." Link said, waiting as Zelda took aim at the left most switch.
The eye closed upon being hit, but there was nothing happening... until Link heard the eerie sound of something approaching from above. Spotting his shadow merging with the group as they stood close together, Link instantly went wide-eyed.
"JUMP ASIDE! WALLMASTER INCOMING!" Link suddenly shouted, startling the group and spreading out in a star-like pattern. Just as Nabooru wanted to see why Link shouted, the disembodied hand known as the fearsome Wallmaster came down in the middle of the group, catching nothing. Link instantly responded by slashing the hand with his blade, instantly killing it, leaving Saria to collect the two blue and the one red rupee which the creature left behind.
"KYA! What in the name of the goddesses was THAT?!" Saria exclaimed.
"That was a Wallmaster, capable of taking us back to the entrance of the dungeon we were in." Link said.
"How did you know about this?" Nabooru asked.
"When you have had multiple experiences and encounters with it, you'll know its approach when you hear it. I've seen them in the Forest, Shadow and Spirit Temples, the Kakariko Well, Ganon's Tower, the Ikana Well and the Gerudo Training Ground. On top of that, Zelda and I were actually caught by one during our subconscious adventure." Link said, both he and Zelda shuddering at the memory of that.
As they venture in the next room, they are shocked to see the door shutting with again locking itself with the Iron Bars, but as they looked forward, they were horrified to find one of the LAST enemies they wanted to encounter... standing in the center of the room stood a behemoth of a knight, just a bit taller than Nabooru is, being heavily armored and wielding a double-sided axe that could cleave through nearly anything… the Iron Knuckle! The sight of it alone was enough for the group to utter two words, which were more than enough to describe the magnitude of trouble they were in.
"Oh crap!"
Despite the Iron Knuckle being still as a statue now, the group could see that there was no way out of this. Link however regained his composure rapidly.
"It appears we don't have a choice in fighting this behemoth, but we have the advantage of being in numbers, so we should be able to defeat him together." Link said, drawing his sword.
"Right. However, we should not get in each other's way or harm each other with our own weapons, so caution is required too." Zelda said, nodding.
Nabooru then grabbed something from the bag she had with her… a Bombchu. Activating it, she circled a bit around the Iron Knuckle until behind him, before unleashing the Bombchu, which exploded on contact with the Iron Knuckle. Instantly the Iron Knuckle was disturbed from his slumber and began to move towards Nabooru, although it walked slow due to its heavy armor. This in turn allowed Zelda to strike it with a few arrows and a bomb, while Ruto used her Sage powers to summon Water Spouts from underneath it. Saria on her turn attempted to summon vines to constrict the Iron Knuckle's movements, while Link resorted to jump attacking it from behind. Nabooru on her turn used another Bombchu, using the explosions to inflict as much damage as possible. For a moment, the battle went on in favor of the five… until another explosion from one of the bombs Zelda threw destroyed the Iron Knuckle's outer armor… in rage, the Iron Knuckle swung his huge axe around to cut the vines constricting him, now aiming for Saria. The Forest Sage on her turn tried to get away to get some distance in to renew her attack, but the Iron Knuckle's movements made it much harder. Nabooru aided her by tackling him with two more Bombchus, while Zelda pelted it with two Fire Arrows. Ruto swung her Boomerang Fins in an attempt to stun it, allowing Link to get another strike in on his turn. Saria tripped over her own feet while dodging a mad swing of the axe, causing her to stumble to the ground. She got up quickly thanks to Zelda, but spotted the Iron Knuckle charging at them. It was then that they were pushed aside by Link, who then turned around in time to receive, but not in time to dodge, an incoming axe strike. The girls all heard then Link's agonizing howl as one swing managed to cut across his torso diagonally, sending him flying across the room and causing him to drop his sword and shield in turn. The cut wasn't deep to hit any vital parts, but was still enough to bleed. Horrified, Nabooru went over to check on him, only to hear Saria screaming as a second swing hit her in the back, knocking her against the wall close to where Link was. In retaliation, Ruto attempted to strike at the Iron Knuckle from above with an Ice-punch, but the Iron Knuckle clocked her and swung his axe at her, striking Ruto across the chest and nearly severing her right arm in the process, the momentum of his second swing struck Nabooru in her right leg, causing her to let out a shriek of agony. On her turn, Zelda grabbed the sword and shield that Link had dropped and attempted to strike at the Iron Knuckle, only to receive a slice across her chest as well, only for Ruto and Nabooru to toss a few more bombs at the behemoth, the final explosions finally ending it as the Iron Knuckle collapsed, before disintegrating in sheets of blue flame until it was completely gone, not a single trace left.
While the group had defeated the Iron Knuckle, they were unable to celebrate properly as they did suffer some serious injuries. Nabooru was limping to the children, Ruto at her side whom was clutching her right arm. Saria was crying due to the slash wound on her back, while both Link and Zelda had a slash wound on their front areas, having ripped their current outfits or otherwise stained with their blood. But so far, each of them was alive. Nabooru then helped out by stitching and bandaging the wounds for as good as bad as it could be done with whatever she took with her on medical supplies that Cremia had given to her, ensuring that the group would still pull through.
"Owww… " Saria said, whimpering as Nabooru tended to her wounds.
"Shhh, relax Saria." Nabooru said in a soothing voice, almost like a mother calming their child.
"Link?" Zelda asked, seeing Link trying to get up.
"I… I'm okay, it's not as bad as it looks," He said, wincing yet able to stand, "how are you holding up?"
"About the same as yours…" Zelda said as Link gently helped her getting up.
"Now what do we do? We can't go out like this!" Ruto said, although wincing again.
"There's a Great Fairy living… at the side of the tower containing the Snowhead Temple. She'll fix us up for sure." Link said, smiling.
"How far is she away from us?" Nabooru asked.
"We just need to… go further north, following the trail to the Snowhead Temple. Once there, we'll go through the right to see a cavern inside the large wall. She lives there." Link said, seeing Nabooru was done with patching Saria up, moving now to nurse Ruto's arm.
Link and Zelda both tried to help Saria up.
"I'll carry you if you want…" Link said to Saria.
"Th… th…thank you…" She replied, as Zelda helped Saria on Link's back.
"Zelda, you can borrow my sword and shield for the moment until we've reached the Great Fairy of Wisdom, Ruto, you can try out my Bow and Arrows." Link said.
Zelda and Ruto both smiled at this and accepted it, ready to help out Link and Saria while Nabooru also got ready to continue, despite limping due to her leg injury.
Zelda tossed a bomb towards a fake wall, which broke apart with a loud explosion. This revealed a new door, which the group forced themselves to go through. The room ahead seemed empty, but there was a hallway going through. After stepping through, they came across a very different room.
"Weird, this looks like some kind of office room like I've seen in the Mayor's office back in Clock Town…" Link said.
"But this place is a mess; check out all the rubble here!" Zelda said.
"I can see different sheets of paper around here, there are things written on it…" Nabooru said.
"What does it say?" Ruto asked.
"I don't know for sure, but it could be like plans or something, which I strongly doubt are from Ganondorf or Majora as a whole." She replied.
"That leaves a bit of a conflict; we don't know what their plans are, nor if they're going to interfere with ours…" Link said, whom felt Saria holding him closer, not wanting to fall off of him.
"True, should we take the plans with us so we can study them under better conditions?" Zelda asked.
"That's only for the best. We need to get our injuries healed too." Link said, nodding.
"Right, we should get going then."
"But how do we get out of here?" Ruto asked.
"I'm seeing a door to our left. Perhaps that will lead to the way out." Nabooru said.
"It's worth a shot. Just watch our backs, please." Link said.
"Don't worry, we will." Zelda said as the group went on their way.
Walking through the opened door, they soon came across the exit after walking through what appeared to be a tunnel... which was quite high in the mountain as they got out, standing on a platform close to one of the newer bridges. Walking down the bridge, the group went back onto the Road to Snowhead, according to the directions Link gave them. Walking along the way, the group remained unbothered by enemies, although Princess Ruto did take down a Guay or two for being an annoyance as they came too close for comfort.
"Hang in there, Saria, once we'll reach the Great Fairy of Wisdom, we all will be fixed up." Link said to his childhood friend in a soothing voice, feeling her whimpering as she was still on his back being carried by him.
She did give a signal of that she understood, but the pain from her injury didn't allow her to speak properly. Then again, having the spinal column nearly cleaved in two isn't something to recover from so easily, this Link knew for sure, especially considering what he has gone through over the past year or so. And even though Link was being bothered by the injury he received on his chest, he still showed the determination to move on and reach their goals, regardless of what it would take. This also showed the dedication he had in wanting to have their lives saved and furthermore wanting to stay alive long enough to beat both Ganondorf and Majora.
"I have a distinct feeling that what happened just then was just the tip of the iceberg of what has yet to come. After this, we'll need a vacation." Link then said.
"I couldn't agree with you more." Zelda said.
After a few minutes, the group carefully climbed up the steep hill leading to the structure that led to the Snowhead Temple, where Zelda took care of a single Wolfos that tried to stop them.
"Where to now?" Nabooru asked.
"We'll head to the right, otherwise it's the path headed for the Snowhead Temple itself. The cavern containing the Great Fairy's fountain can be found there…" Link said, leading the way for the rest.
Upon arriving in the cavern, the group could see the fountain up ahead. Although they managed to get into the cavern safely, their injuries began to take their toll on them. Despite her best efforts, the bandages that Nabooru had placed were now beginning to color a crimson red from the blood seeping out through the wounds.
"Looks like we… we've made it…" Link said, feeling his legs buckling.
Saria just let out a painful moan, feeling herself getting weaker, while Zelda weakly smiled.
"We… did it indeed." She said, nodding.
The five struggled to get close to the Fairy's Fountain, but before they could get close enough, Link finally collapsed with Saria on top of him, causing the both of them to grunt. Several second later, the pain in her chest made Zelda unable to continue any longer, leaving Nabooru and Ruto to summon the Great Fairy. As the two did so, the Great Fairy appeared right away, the simple approach allowing the summoning.
"Oh dear! What happened to you?!" The Great Fairy of Wisdom asked as she laid her gaze on the wounded quintet.
"We had to fight one of those Iron Knuckles in an area we were exploring. We won, although he nailed us quite hard." Princess Ruto, forcing a smile despite the pain.
The Great Fairy nodded.
"Speak no further and relax. I will soothe your weariness." She said, before spreading her arms as a green aura appeared around the five.
In a matter of seconds, the group could feel the pain washing away like it was nothing, while their injuries were closing up, everything resetting as if nothing happened to them. This process took only about a minute or two due to it being a delicate process, but in the end the five were back on their feet as if nothing had happened to them.
"Oh wow! I feel a lot better than I did before!" Link said as he and Saria stood up, stretching.
"I'll say, it's as if I have never been hit at all!" Saria herself said, smiling as she saw Ruto flexing her healed right arm, Nabooru was rubbing her right thigh with a smile, and Zelda also felt relief. The only thing that didn't exactly heal were their clothes as they still sported the battle damage as well as being soiled from before, but they took it for granted. All's better than nothing after all. The Great Fairy herself smiled at the now rejuvenated group, whom felt relieved at the sights of being completely healed.
"At least that's behind us now." Nabooru said.
"True. Hopefully this won't happen again anytime soon; we need our strength to fight our true enemies after all." Ruto said.
"Indeed, but we still have no idea what they are capable of now…" Saria said.
"Perhaps we should look around and prepare ourselves to get to the others in time. We need to power them up as well if we are to stand a chance against them." Link said.
"True that. Hopefully we'll get the chance to get to Darunia, Rauru and Impa without much interference…" Zelda said, knowing that the trip ahead will be dangerous.
"So it would be best to first gear up and get as much supplies as we can take with us: Food, drinks and ammunition. It's better to be safe than sorry." Link said.
"Right. We should also get some food for the horses too; they'll be in for quite a trip." Zelda added.
"True." Link said.
"I take it the five of you are on quite a mission?" The Great Fairy inquired, raising an eyebrow.
"That we are; about a week ago, Ganondorf, the King of Evil whom we had sealed into the Evil Realm not too long ago for threatening to take over Hyrule and all, has returned and is in an alliance with another malevolent being known as Majora. We need to get the three remaining Sages whom are trapped in the Chamber of the Sages after the destruction of the Temple of Time and find a way to defeat those two before the whole world suffers because of them." Zelda said.
"I see. The name Majora does sound familiar; he was in the shape of a masked imp when I confronted him and he shattered my body into Stray Fairies back then… I strongly recommend to seek out my fellow Great Fairies who will certainly aid you in this new quest. They should be able to give you what you need to counter the threat they pose." The Great Fairy said.
"Thank you." Zelda said as the group went on their way.
With their wounds healed and their stamina refreshed, the group thanked the Great Fairy for her service, before leaving the cavern and moving out of Snowhead, going back all the way down the mountain. Even though the trip was long, they took it for granted as they saw it also as a workout. Couple that with the children having some fun in the safer part of the mountain, allowing them to burn some of the energy they had to spend, before arriving at the Mountain Smith's home again, enjoying the scenery of green grass and flowers growing in the area. They decided to make the best of it, now that they were on quite a mission.