Chapter Eight
Two Races and Three more Link'
Link was anxious to catch up with Zelph and Zane and knocked on every door until he found them in Impa' old house on the other side of the farmland in Kakoriko Village.
"Hey" Link said as he was let into the house by a guard, Zelph stood up and the two ran to each other for a long hug, "He can let that slide, I'm so glad you're OK Zelda" Then looking at her he added, "I want to know everything but first" He looked at Zane, "Can we maybe stay here a day? The Goron Races are on tomorrow and I really want to watch"
"Sure, I need to have your white tunic sent for and arrange the flights to Switzerland anyway, can't do either at this hour" Zane told him
"Awe, I want to see that" Zelph sighed
"You can, if it's for an event they'll let you through, everyone at the Village is welcome and the tourests that know how to find us, as long as they're Hylian, Zora, Korki, Goron, Yeti or Garudo" Zane said
"Yeti!" Zelph and Link exclaimed
"Yeti'; they're cool...excuse the pun" Zane said with a cough
"How long is the flight?" Link asked, dreading the answer
"Only 1 hour and 50 minutes if that" Zane told him
"Oh!" Link said in surprise, then seriously he added, "You know, it felt like the taking over of the guardian of the minerals up on Death Mountain was a last minute thing, like if we hadn't gotten here when we had the guardian would have died and been replaced by some beast"
"You're right" Zane told him.
"So what became of the other two? The guardians of the Forest Shrine and the Hylian Shrine" Link asked
"They warped to the safety of the spiritual springs, leaving behind the mierals you'd need but locking them away until the anti-mineral' had been dealt with" Zane told him.
After a catch up with Zelph, a bath to ease his aching muscils and a change of clothes; his now preferred choice being that of the hero' outfit, Link and Zelph took a wonder around Kakoriko Village itself, they broused in the shops and Link bought some flowers for Zelph' mother' grave, which moved Zelph very much.
Upon leaving the graveyard they caught up with Borak.
"Oh, you're still here, good, I was worried I wouldn't get a chance to say goodbye after our guardian swept you away and then I had to deal with the shop keeper and fill in my parents about how it went" Borak said, "Anyway, the bottom line is I bought the outfit"
"What? I'll pay you back somehow, that's too much" Link said
"I won't hear of it Link, you saved my city, you saved this Village and Rome even, a heat proof tunic is the least I can offer you. Look, I'm sorry I couldn't tell you who I was, I get embarrassed about it really, how can I run a city? You could" Borak replied
"Don't sell yourself short Borak, you'll make a great leader" Link told him
"How long till you go?" Borak asked, "I'm heading back after the races tomorrow"
"We'll be here another day at least...could Zelph and I and Zane come to the races tomorrow?" Link asked
"Of course, everyone' invited to the Goron Races!" Borak grinned.
The following morning Link, Zelph, Zane and the people of Kakoriko Village, plus a whole load of Zoras and Hylian made their way up the now quiet and still Death Mountain, up to Goron City and then along a path that had been closed off yesterday. This lead to a massive auditorium that sat high above a maze like track that was on several levels. There was a start post at the top and a finish post at the bottom. To Link' surprise Borak had arranged for him, Zelph and Zane to sit with him, his parents and the current leader.
He wasn't sure how he managed it but Link found and made eye contact with the shop owner from Goron City. The shop owner made a gesture to say he was keeping his eye on Link. Link shifted uncomfortably,
"Who's that?" Zelph asked Link
"The grumpy shop owner from Goron City. He had me bring him some hot spring water before he'd give me tunic, then because we unblocked the larva streams heating up the water so everyone could get their hands on some he wanted the tunic back or payment for it in full. The Gaurdian snatched me up, told him he'd have to catch me first and flew me down to Kakoriko" Link told her
Zelph laughed.
After a speech by the current Goron leader the race began. It was unlike anything Link or Zelph had ever seen before. Zane was in his element. The multi-level maze that the Goron' were racing around could be tilted and altered by other Goron' and tricks were a must. Not only did the Goron' have to get to the finish post in an allotted time but they had to outsmart each other on the way.
It was one of the most exciting things Link and Zelf had ever seen, they only wished Nanna, Skit and Mya had been here to see it too. Zane secretly filmed the race and sent it to Nanna to show it to the Kokiri. Skit was hooked.
"That was amazing!" Link exclaimed to Borak as the race ended
"It is, I'm stoked, this is the first time I've seen this race live, I've always been in class and seen it on mum' phone later on" Borak told Link and Zelph as they all started to head down some stiars either side of the multi-layerd maze, "There'll be a chance now to meet the participents and then everyone moves on to Goron City for a party, everyone' invited"
To Link' great surprise the Goron' bowed at Link as well as Borak and Zelph and then Zane got a shock when Borak informed the Goron' that raced that it was thanks to Zane that he and Link were able to assist the Guardian and they bowed to him too. After some gushing from both sides Link, Zelph, Zane, Borak, his parent's and the current leader of the Goron tribe headed to Goron City.
Once at the city Borak acted as a tour guide for Link and Zelph, taking them to all his favourite places, the hot springs falls, and bar was their first port of call. Borak explained that there were two types of hot spring water, the kind you could drink to heal wounds and the kind you could bathe in, it was known to ease hindering emotion such as heartache and anger, to help you see things clearly or let things go. Hot spring falls had a sky light and two hot spring falls going down a curved wall, running into a shin deep pool, with benches built into it. Borak then took them to the five teer park, a mix of glass walls, perfect lawns and tiny falls of water flowing down from the fountain at the very top and flowers Zelph had never seen before,
"Oh be careful of those ones, they're bomb flowers, as long as we have spring water, hot or cold we'll have bombs" Borak told them.
They explored all three teers along with other Gororn, Zora, Hylian and Sheika before heading down to the adventure centre you could see behind a large glass wall. It was here, Borak explained that the Goron' practiced for the races throughout the year. They even ran a round before they finally went to join Zane, who was face timing Skit, who wanted Zane to grab a hold of a Goron Racer for him so he could ask him all about the races.
The music was a mix of drums and chanting joyful anthems and dancing and Link loved every second of it.
Once the party was dying down Borak offered to walk Link, Zelph and Zane back down to Kakoriko Village,
"Borak, I need to say this, you never gave me the time of day before. You're not like this at school. I feel like a friend today and I don't have many, so if you're going to ignore me when we get black let me know now so I don't take it to heart" Zelph said
"Zelph, no one is themselves in Highschool. It's because you're a Royal, thee Royal and it's intimidating. Do you think I'd have any real friends if they knew I was the next Goron leader? No, do I care, a little. Difference is this is real life, this right here, Highschool should be about learning, honing in on life skills that are going to help you achieve your goals in life or if those goals are hard to reach then honest ways of earing your bread, yo, half these people that mock you, you aint never going to see again after you graduate. We shouldn't be worried about what our neighbour in class assumes we're like away from school. We should be thinking about where we want to go, educating our forefathers about matters they spit hate about. After yesterday girl, I aint never going to ignore you again"
Zelph was moved to tears as Borak hugged her,
Link looked at Borak with the upmost respect.
They were now at the entrance to Kakoriko Village. They said their goodbyes and Link, Zelph and Zane headed back to Impa' old house, where the guard informed them that the white tunic' had arrived along with some gloves, white trousers and white boots. Link loved this outfit but he couldn't ware it here for long, it was way too hot.
The following morning Link, Zelph and Zane left Kakoriko village, travelled back to the main airport in Rome and caught a plane to Switzerland.
They weren't sure what to expect when they got there, they knew the mirror was close to where they were staying but they had no idea what direction to go in. Link and Zelph loved their new abode, it was a three roomed half wood half glass igloo with snow as far as the eye could see. It had underfloor heating and reminded Link of home with it's oriental appearance.
Link was in his white tunic now, Zane pointed out a feature to Link that would regulate the temperature of the garments he was waring so that he didn't overheat or get hypothermia. It was the same for his own outfit and Zelph'.
They were in the living area drinking tea when Link noticed some movement outside by the woodland, out of the corner of his eye. He stood up and walked across to the glass to pier out,
"What is it?" Zelph asked
"I thought I saw something...I did see something; it looks like a bear but it's got ski gear" Link said
"Ah! I was hoping word would get out to them" Zane said, getting up, "That'll be one of the yetis, the mirror must be through the woodland"
"Let's go" Link said.
Link, Zelph and Zane went out to the edge of the woodland with caution, so not to frighten the Yeti but they needn't have worried, the minute he saw Link' sword he came bounding over to him and gave him a bear hug, which nearly crushed his ribs.
"Everything will be OK now!" The Yeti gushed as he put Link down, "You have to come quick, he's been missing for two days now!"
"Uh, sorry, I'm confused, who' missing? I'm here to get the mineral update for the Master Sword and deal with anything else that waits for us in the Cavern of Frost"
"Master Sword?" The Yeti blinked, "You're Link?! I'm sorry I don't have my glasses on today, I followed my nose up here, see my brother went missing two days ago and we called for help but all the Hylian knights they sent from Hyrule castle either got eaten or lost, I thought you were one more, you're the only one with a sword"
The Yeti started crying,
"Don't cry, look, take me to your father or leader or whomever you need me to see, I may not me able to find your brother on my own but I know where I can get some help" Link told him
"Oh...thank you, we live at the bottom of the sled lines, there's a race on today so we'll have to find another route down" The Yeti sniffed
"Alright, then what are we waiting for? Let's go" Link smiled
With a lot of sniffling and shuffling of huge feet the Yeti found a slope for himself, Link, Zelph and Zane that they could go along, that wasn't being used for the race.
None of them, apart from the Yeti, had ski gear so Link used his sheild and Zelf and Zane used bits of bark the Yeti ripped off a tree to snowboard down. This path criss-crossed the race at times and even joined it at one point.
It was exciting and terrifying at the same time for Link, Zelph and Zane as there were some very high drops and Link knew that unlike the game if he fell down there he wasn't getting back up again.
Link, ducked, dived, swirved and jumped his way down the path, even competing with the Yeti unintentionally, who felt able purly for the fact that Link was going to help him and he could forget his sadness momentarily.
Zane was a pro at this but was a little behind. Something that he hid from Link and Zelf was he had wings so if he did fall he it didn't matter that much, he could just find a new piece of bark to snowboard with.
Zelph sreamed her way down and ended up in a tree, causing Link and the Yeti to double back to check on her,
"Are you OK Zelph?" Link asked
"Sorry, I guess I kind of got a little competative there for a second" The Yeti said, she laughed at this and they waited for Zane to catch up, "It's not much further"
"You know what? That last patch doesn't look as dangerous as the parts we've just run, why don't we have a little race of our own?" Link suggested
The Yeti, Zelph and Zane looked at each other and then smiled at this idea; they lined up and after the count of three they raced down the rest of the path. To their surprise they met the real race as they came off the bottom of the path they were on and ended up winning the whole thing.
"We have a new winner!" Cried the commentator, grabbing Link and Zelph and then Zane and the Yeti, "We don't usually have Hylian' enter our races but alright, what're your names?"
"Uh!" Link began
"Just take it" Zane grinned
Link laughed, embarrassed as he, Zelph, Zane and the Yeti were given medals and a chance to hold a gold cup that had a Yeti on it and the Tri-Force.
"This is Link" The Yeti told the commentator
"I know" The commentator said with a look at the Yeti as though he were going mad,
"No, you don't get it, look at the sword, he's here for the mineral update and he says he can help find my brother" Yeti told him,
The commentator looked at Link in surprise
"You are the Hero of Time? Our Link?" He asked, Link nodded and smiled, then to Zelph he said, "Then you must be Princess Zelda!"
Zelph smiled at him.
"We weren't trying to win the race Gramps, we were trying to get back to the manor" Yeti said
"Oh...oh well the crowd has gone now, I didn't like the one that would have won anyway, he always wins" Then to Zane he said, "I believe we've met before; Zane isn't it?"
"That's right" He said
After a photo for the Hyrule News report the commentator and the Yeti led Link, Zelph and Zane to the manor, which was the abode for the Mayer of town. He was in a meeting when they arrived and at first was less than pleased to be bothered by the Yeti. Link could hear him being told off and felt sorry for him. The Yeti they had met was a much smaller and sadder Yeti now as he came out of the office with his father, where Link, Zelph and Zane were waiting in the large but very cold lobby.
"This had better be good!" They Mayer yelled and then he saw Link, "Oh you're..."
"Link, really I'm here to ask for permitted access to the Cavern of Frost, my Master Sword is strong but not quite strong enough yet to deal with Shanklin and if he's successful, Cannon, however we had no idea how to get down here until your son found us, he thought we were more rescue workers, said your other son is missing, I can help you if you let me" Link said
"He..." The Mayer began and then looked at the Yeti, "You went out to find your brother on your own"
"I'd do it again and I believe this knight when he says he can help" The Yeti told him
The Mayer looked at Link,
"Look, things have taken a strange turn at the Cavern lately, there are monsters at every turn. I don't want anyone else going near that place, I appreciate your determination and your offer of help but I won't lose another Hylian to them, I'd sooner face the fact that my son is gone than deal with that"
"I have to get that mineral upgrade" Link said
There was a silence,
"If you can do what I say you can't I will give you the directions and access to the Cavern of Frost" The Mayer said,
They Yeti followed Link, Zelph and Zane outside to the front entrance of the manor.
There was a woodlands on the right side and a quarry on the left.
"Which way was your brother going the day he disappeared?" Link asked
"He said he was going into the woodlands, he said he was being drawn by a beautiful sound" The Yeti told Link
"What're you going to do Link?" Zelph asked
"I'm going to call on a little bit of the power from the Master Sword...Wolf Link! I need you!" Link said before he drove the sword into the snow covered ground and a purple light left it, transforming into Wolf Link "Meet, Wolf Link"
Everyone stared at him in shock,
"That's brilliant, he can use his doggy sences to locate my brother" The Yeti said
"Have you anything that belongs to him?" Link asked. The Yeti nodded and took out a book belonging to his brother, Wolf Link sniffed it for a couple of seconds, "Have you got it?" Link asked
Wolf Link barked and turned full circle one time before grinning and darting off after the scent.
Link, Zelph, Zane and the Yeti had to hurry to keep up with him.
Wolf Link took them right through the woodland and out into a clearing where they were suddenly trapped by barriers of fire,
"The woodland!" Yeti cried
"Bongo!" Called a frightened voice from high up
Everyone looked up to find the missing Yeti up in a tree house, scared out of his mind.
"Jerry!" Bongo called
"Look out!" Jerry called back
Suddenly there were more barriers and Wolf Link and Link were trapped in a different section to everyone else, having walked toward the cetre without realising it.
Three Skelfos and two shadow beasts appeared, from out of the ground and up above. Link and Wolf Link dealt with these by targeting and using a spin of the sword and tail before Wolf Link then called Minda to him. She appeared and sat on his back.
"Alright, alright I heard you the first time" She said tapping Wolf Link on the head and making him tell her off with a growl. Minda gave her trademark giggle "Looks like he might have use for you here eh boy?" She continued, tugging at Wolf Link' ears.
Jerry climbed down from the tree to Bongo, where the two talked at once about their experiences, which were completely different to one another,
"We should get back and hope the Mayer let's us have access to the Cavern of Frost" Zelph said
"The Cavern of Frost?" Minda said in question before whining, "Awe, Wolf Lik won't need his paws for that" Wolf Link looked up at Minda, "You want to help them don't you boy? Maybe you want to do what you came here to first though huh? We didn't jump out of that sword because he asked nicely now did we?" There was another giggle. Wolf Link got up on hind legs and put paws to palms with Link.
Link felt dizzy as he was transported elsewhere, Zelph worriedly calling his name, "Oh don't worry I'll get your prescious hero back in one piece"
Link found himself in the same space he had been when he met his father and three other Link' of the past, now here before him were Shade Link, Human Wolf Link and BOTW Link. Of the three Link felt this last one looked very serious.
"Thank you for calling me out of the sword Link, I needed to stretch my legs" He said to Link
Link laughed the thanks off.
"You're all here to teach me three more skills aren't you?" Link said in question
"These skills were always there, you inherited them from us" BOTW Link told him
They all stood around Link and like before the one teaching him stepped forward and the others stood back a little further.
"Jump attack" Shade Link said, "Come at me from two heights, the floor and that ledge behind you"
Link turned to see the ledge in question and nodded. Link and Shade Link bowed to one another before Link targeted him and did a jump attack, knocking him backwards, "Very good Link"
Shade came after Link and Link dodged him and got up onto the ledge; then when Shade Link turned away Link jumped off the ledge and drove his sword down Shade' back knocking off the armour and revealing his green tunic.
Shade Link stepped back and Human Wolf Link stepped forward,
"Side step" Human Wolf Link said
Link nodded and he and human Wolf Link stood before each other, ready for battle and when it looked like human Wolf Link was about to strike Link side stepped, got round and hit human Wolf Link in the back, knocking him to his knees.
Human Wolf Link smiled at Link as he turned around before stepping back.
Finally BOTW Link stepped forward,
"Reflective strike, you will learn stasis eventually but until it comes naturally, if you need it, call on my power" He said
BOTW Link threw a rock at Link and he reflected it back to hit him in the arm. Next BOTW Link threw a fire arrow and Link reflected this, lighting the grass on fire. Finally BOTW Link used the fire to create severl balls and threw these at Link. Link relfected them so they came for BOTW Link, forcing him to duck.
BOTW Link bowed and smiled before stepping back.
"If you have need for any of these in the future just focus on said skill and trust it will come to you" He said and just like that Link was back in the clearing with Bongo, Jerry, Zelph and Zane.
"Link! Are you OK?" Zelph almost screeched
"I am, let's get these directions and access to the Cavern" He said
"What about Wolf Link?" Zelph asked
"His spirit may be in the sword but his DNA is a part of me" He told her, "I know now why I had to be tested"