Chapter 9: The Next Destination
As Link and company exited the Woodfall Temple, they saw that less monsters were milling about the swamp therefore making it easier for them to escort the Deku Princess back to the palace.
"Man it feels good to see some sunlight again," commented Ken.
"Agreed, it feels good to feel the heat of the sun as well," added Chun-Li.
"And there's not as many monsters around anymore so getting the princess back to the palace shouldn't be much of a chore," remarked Link.
"Then let's get a move on, my father shouldn't be kept waiting to much longer!" exclaimed the Deku Princess.
Without any more hesitance, the group headed back towards the palace remembering the route the Deku Butler initially took to get them to the Woodfall Temple in the first place. Within a few minutes, the heroes soon found themselves overlooking the Deku Palace once more. Zelda used magic once again to safely get everyone down from the cliff and levitated them over to the entrance of the palace.
"Whoa, hey Jimmy, this place is huge!" gasped Dan to Blanka.
"Who is this Jimmy you speak of?" inquired Zelda.
"That's Blanka's real name, the villagers in Jimmy's home in Brazil gave him the name Blanka," answered Dan.
"Ok, that's an odd tale," stated Link.
The Deku Scrubs cleared a path for Link and his band of warriors allowing them to enter the throne room, where they saw the Deku King sitting at his throne whose face immediately lit up upon seeing his daughter alive and well.
"My dear daughter, I'm so happy that you're alive and unhurt!" cried out the Deku King.
"It's thanks to these fine folks that I was able to come home safely," responded the Deku Princess.
"Yes, that is correct, I thank you all for keeping my daughter from falling to the clutches of those foul monsters," said the Deku King.
"Are you sure the two of us deserve such thanks, we got captured along with your daughter," chimed in Dan pointing to Blanka and himself.
"Of course you are, you agreed to help me out when I first noticed the strange happenings in the swamp. It does not matter if you were abducted as well, you two fought valiantly to protect me nevertheless," answered the Deku Princess.
"Your words are so kind, we thank you humbly," replied Blanka.
"As do we, unfortunately as much as we'd love to stay, we have a quest to resume," piped up Link.
"So Dan, Blanka, what about you two, where will you go?" inquired Alex.
"I've been thinking, I kinda like it here, so for as long as the worlds remain fused I'm going to stay here and help protect the Deku Scrubs," answered Blanka.
"You know Jimmy, if that's your plan, then I'll do so as well. But I hope there's a town nearby to where I can get some supplies," added Dan.
"There is a town not too far away, they should have everything you may need," chimed in the Deku Butler.
"Do you know if they accept rupees or one of our world's forms of currency?" asked Ryu.
"I am uncertain of that," answered the Deku Butler.
"Exploring the town may lead to some clues as to where to go next to find another Secret Text," remarked Link.
"That's true, I say we go over to that town as well," suggested Zelda.
"Take care on your journey we all wish you well!" called out the Deku tribe as well as Dan and Blanka as Link and company departed the Deku Palace and hopped back on the boat that would take them back to the cruise station.
"Took you guys long enough, I take it you had fun," commented the tour captain.
"Yeah you could say that, we're ready to head back," said Chun-Li.
Without hesitance, the tour captain took them back to near the entrance of the swamp where Epona was patiently waiting for the six heroes. They all stepped off the boat after thanking the captain and giving him a tip. Link promptly petted his rust colored mare who was happy to see that everyone was okay.
"I wonder where this town the Deku Butler spoke of is," commented Ken.
"It's just a few minutes east of here," answered the tour captain before entering the building.
"Thank you again," replied Link as the sextet took off towards the east to reach the nearby town. During the trek to that town Link and company where attacked by red gelatinous monsters with big yellow eyes that he referred to as Chu-Chus. However they were easy to defeat as one powerful attack was enough to send the monsters into oblivion.
"At least these guys are easy compared to the Woodfall Temple creatures," stated Alex.
"Agreed, not to mention they do drop rupees sometimes which can help us should this town accept rupees for payment," added Link.
"Why would a monster need money though?" asked Ken.
"I never questioned that, never saw a need to," answered Link.
"Whatever, it bodes well for us," said Chun-Li as the six heroes continued their trek striking down every Chu-Chu that dared to approach them. After a few minutes of walking they soon found themselves at the entrance to the town.
"Whew, we're finally here," said Zelda with a sigh of relief.
The town had a distinct European look and feel to it. Many vendors and performers milled about in the streets as some people stopped to watch for a few seconds before going about their routines. Some people rode around on bicycles to get where they were going, Link and company began to gaze around the town and see if anything of interest would come to their attention.
"We should get some supplies while we're here too, don't know what we may run across in searching for the next Secret Text," suggested Ken.
"I think so too, let's go look for a shop," added Ryu.
"We don't even know what currency they accept though," commented Zelda.
"If it's something from our world though, we can cover it," said Alex.
"If that's the case, then we should be fine then," stated Link.
The others nodded and started to traverse through the town. After a few minutes of walking they soon came across a building that a sign that said "Shop" hanging on it. Link and company promptly entered the shop and started to gaze at the supplies that the store was selling to interested customers.
"May I help you with something?" asked the shopkeeper.
"Yes, what type of currency do you accept here?" inquired Chun-Li.
"Ah, we've been getting a lot of customers from both worlds here, so I'll accept both Rupees and US dollars," answered the shopkeeper.
"Awesome, so we should be set on getting what we need!" exclaimed Ken.
Link and company bought some arrows for the Hero's Bow, some Deku Nuts, and another empty bottle that the shopkeeper was selling and decided to fill it with red potion. The heroes promptly paid the shopkeeper and thanked him before leaving the shop.
"Now that we're stocked on supplies, I think we should see if anyone knows where we should go from here," commented Alex.
"While that would be a good start, how do we know if anyone would know a thing about the Secret Texts?" asked Ryu as he leaned up against a wall.
At that moment, a gaggle of birds began hovering above the quaint town and began swooping down at townspeople trying to attack them causing them to run off in fear.
"What the, more Kargarocs!" exclaimed Link.
"Where are they coming from this time?" mused Zelda.
"Matters not, we must protect the townspeople though, let's take care of them!" ordered Link to his companions who all nodded in agreement and ran into the fray. Zelda charged up her Din's Fire and let it fly towards a flock of the Kargarocs and effectively fried the gaggle. As another one of the foul feathered foes dove down towards Zelda, Alex grabbed the bird by the neck and slammed it down on the ground before stomping on it making the Karagaroc disappear in a puff of smoke. Chun-Li then ran in and leapt off of Alex's shoulders and did her Spinning Bird Kick in mid-air downing more of the Kargarocs. Ken taunted a flock of the Kargaraocs to come at him and as they took a dive down towards the red clad warrior, he leapt into the air with a flaming Shoryuken sending all of them up in smoke right as Ryu also went airborne taking out more of the birds with a Tatsumakisenpuukyaku. Another group of Kargarocs tried to circle around Link to confuse, but the Hylian hero swiftly responded with a Spin Attack effectively taking out the last of the foul creatures and calming down the townspeople.
"Thanks for ridding us of those despicable birds," said one of the villagers.
"Where did they all come from, we didn't see any of these on the way here?" inquired Ryu.
"I think they came from a nearby island that got located near us when the worlds fused together," answered another one of the townspeople.
"I wonder if that island might hold a Secret Text on it," whispered Zelda to Link.
"It is worth a look," replied Link.
"Yes, you will want to go there," spoke out a voice from out of nowhere as time froze for everyone but the heroes once again.
"That voice sounds so familiar," stated Chun-Li.
At that moment, a female figure with an ethereal glow surrounding her body appeared before Link and company. She had long purple hair done in a wild style and soft bluish-purple eyes. She was clothed in a dark pink dress with a yellow scarf, purple leggings, and dark pink heels.
"Rose, what brings you here?" asked Ken.
"I've come from the afterlife to give you guidance at the request of Hyrule's sages," answered Rose.
"It's well appreciated. But anyways, you're saying that the island where those Karagarocs came from may hold another one of the Secret Texts that we are searching for?" questioned Alex.
"Yes, I feel those creatures and many others may have been drawn there to retrieve it for Urien and Ganondorf, you must head over there and make sure it does not land into their sinister clutches," responded Rose.
"If that's the case then we will head over there immediately," said Link.
"I knew that you would, I've also been told to give you this as well, it should help you out on your quest," commented Rose to heroes handing them a glowing bluish-green orb.
"What is this supposed to do for us?" inquired Zelda.
"It will allow you to freely go anywhere you have previously travelled to in Tokeau without having to summon Sahasrala to take you there," answered Rose.
"Thank you much, this will be of great help to us Rose," chimed in Ryu.
"You're welcome, and good luck on your quest," replied Rose before disappearing. Time resumed for everyone right as she disappeared from sight.
"I assume you are going to go to that island and see what's going on over there," said the shopkeeper to the sextet.
"You assume correctly," responded Alex.
"Then take this, I've even taken the liberty of filling it up with bombs for you, it'll hold 20 of them," answered the shopkeeper handing the heroes a Bomb Bag.
"Thank you very much friend," remarked Ken as he took the Bomb Bag from the shopkeeper just before they all left the town and headed back out into the fields.
"You know, I just thought of something," said Link.
"What might that be?" asked Chun-Li.
"There's six of us, and Epona can only hold two at most, we shouldn't drag her around any longer," commented Link.
"Then what do you suggest we do?" inquired Ken.
"I'd like to take her back home to Ordon Village before we go to that island to find the second Secret Text, my friend at Ordon Ranch can take care of her and if we ever need Epona, we can always go back now that we got the Teleport Orb from Rose," stated Link.
"Ok, then let's go to your hometown, I agree since we can't take Epona into dungeons with us," said Alex.
"Sahasrala!" called out Link. Upon hearing his name, the elderly looking spirit appeared before Link and company.
"So Rose told you where the next Secret Text is yes?" asked Sahasrala.
"Yes, but before we go, I'd like to take Epona back to Ordon Village," answered Link.
"Very well, I shall get you there. But do not spend too much time on this detour, we cannot allow Urien and Ganondorf to obtain any of those Secret Texts," commented Sahasrala.
Link and the others nodded in agreement as Sahasrala promptly teleported them over to Link's hometown of Ordon Village so they could leave Epona at the ranch to be taken care of.
Author's Note: Another chapter finally. Well since my old laptop died on me, I had to wait until I got a new one before I could provide you all with a new chapter. Anyways, next chapter, after a brief detour in Ordon, the hunt for the second Secret Text will begin. On a side note, I am eagerly awaiting Zelda: Spirit Tracks and will also incorporate characters and monsters from that game as well once I play it. Also with Super Street Fighter IV coming out too, I'm even more excited. I'm off to go work on the next chapter now, until then, please read and review.