Link and Tulin finish up and some old friends get reunited as we move on towards the vague direction of Zora's Domain.

"Link, you said the Secret Stone works by amplifying powers people already have, right?"

"Yeah." Link said. Tulin and Link both had taken a seat on the ground. The sage of Wind and Rauru were having a rather animated conversation and they didn't want to interrupt the two old friends. Link got out a couple baked fishes as Tulin looked at the magical rock thoughtfully.

"If you have a Secret Stone, I wonder what kind of powers you would get?"

"Good question. I mean, it seems like time slows down sometimes when fighting, but I also can see some spirits, like Rauru? Or maybe it's just my general resistance to not dying that would get amplified."

"Do you think they'll get mad if we try letting you use mine, just for five minutes?"

"Huh, we could try! It's probably some taboo thing, using another sage's Secret Stone."

"We should try it out now when they aren't looking."

Link and Tulin jumped as both ghosts turned around, said "No," in their best dad voices, then went right back to talking about old times.

Teba waited anxiously and could not help but feel unadulterated relief. Tulin was ecstatic. He showed off the secret stone, showed off his sage powers, and recounted the battle. It started innocently enough with Link using blessedly normal Rito-approved aerial archery.

"... but then, Link ran out of arrows! I was so worried, I was going to see if I needed to finish off the guy with only what was in my quiver. I don't know if Link heard me as I was showing him my quiver but he dropped a bit, maneuvered above the thing. I wasn't sure what he was waiting for so I assumed he was going to be a distraction. Then Link dove through the monster to kill it!"

"He did what?! How?"

"He dropped THROUGH the thing's back!"

Teba turned to Link's direction to glare accusingly. "I told you to be a good example!"

Link, flinching backwards, said, "Well, it needed to die before it ate us!"

"Why not build more of those machines?"

"While in freefall?!" Link considered this. "Hey that's not a bad idea..."

Teba glared at Link, "No, I refuse to take the blame for that irresponsible line of thinking."

Link eventually managed to escape the parental wrath of the bird parents. He'd somehow ended up promising to get at least eight hours of sleep before his next big mission under the combined forces of their concern. He got a bed at the inn and fell asleep with only one boot removed.

Link felt much better about the state of Hyrule when leaving the Rito without a massive blizzard above. Next stop was the Zora's Domain which also sounded equally distressed. Link considered if he should go the fastest route he could or gather more supplies on the way. The supply runs were becoming a constant thorn in his side.

Rauru mentioned something about Zonai mines and, come to think of it, Josha and Robbie had been talking about the chasms. He might pay them a visit. Rauru described what he remembered about the Depths mining operations from way back when he was alive while Link ate breakfast.

"Muzu," King Dorephan said, "While that looked like Zelda, I doubt she would have a reason to turn on us so suddenly. Such a drastic change in behaviour just does not make sense..."

"Well, I think we cannot trust her. Are we certain Link isn't plotting against us as well?"

The king gave the advisor a look that was almost disapproving. "Muzu, if Link were destroying our Domain, would any of it be standing? I will believe Link is against us when the lake itself is on fire."

Old Muzu had to concede the point. Link was odd, but reliable in certain ways. If Link decided to destroy a person, place, or thing and it had anything remotely resembling tangibility he would do it. (Unless Zelda said 'no.') Muzu looked outside the waterfall tentatively. The domain, while sludgy, was not on fire. This was proof enough, so Muzu ducked back in to attend to his King.

Link's various tasks on the way to the domain led him right back to the east. He popped out of a Sky tower, then found some old friends while passing a stable.

Kilton. Hyrule's resident monster research expert and fellow cat aficionado. Link broke into a grin and jogged to the man. Meeting Koltin was an experience too.

"...who knew a Bubbulfrog could gambol about like that? So nimbly-bimbly! Like one of those 'cats' my brother showed me!"

"Oh, Koltin! This is Link! He's the guy who told me about cats in the first place!"

"Really? Are they friends with the Satori?"

Link folded his arms. "Not sure, I never thought to check. I could try introducing one to a blupee and see what happens. Or take one to the mountain... That will have to wait until I find out where all the cats went during the Upheaval... Where did your kitten go, Kilton? Zelda and I went to a lot of trouble to import him for you."

Kilton grinned the grin of good tidings. "Oh, Moblin? He's right inside my stall! I'm taking her with me to Tarrey Town. He can be introduced to the neighbors."

Kotlin's despairing monologue about Bubbul gems caught Link's ear as was scooping up the kitten. Link sadly handed the kitty back to Kilton before going into the cave for the gem. Kilton and Link then caught up on things after Link forked over every Bubbul Gem he had. After this chat, Link decided he needed to head off again. "Hey, Kilton, it was nice to see you again! I have to go though, I need to get to Zora's Domain. I was going to go through Tarrey on the way."

"That's where I'm going!," said Kilton.

"Really? If you don't mind a bumpy ride, we could drive there together..."

Thirty minutes later, Kilton finished strapping his stuff to the machine Link built. Link was attaching a backpack of some kind to the rig, then a second cushion was placed next to it. "All done! Tie that rope down, okay? Got to have safety first. Oh shoot, almost forgot Buster." Link brought back a crate that snarled at everyone. Since it was nightfall, Link removed a panel.

"A... GIBDOS?! Can I have the seat next to him?! I can't wait to be friends with Buster!"

"Just, uh, don't try to shake hands with Buster the Eighth. The guy in front of you is Leif, sorry he's invisible!"

"Hey, do you want to have me take care of Buster for you while you are out doing stuff?!"

"I was hoping you would offer," said Link as he started up the car. "Just make sure to keep him entertained by flinging him around every now and then, okay?" He gave Kilton a full run down of how to care for a Gibdos.

The key points of Gibdos care were to keep them dry, store them in dark places, and not let them maul your face. Fruit juices had a high enough water content where they would also wreck a Gibdos' resistance to injury. This was how Buster the Seventh died, Link had the bright idea to use tomatoes as a way to gauge where injury was sustained. Buster the Seventh crumbled to dust in the crash of the wheelinator turtlenaught vehicle due to the tomatoes.

The ride was a loud one between the Gibdos snarling, the kitten mewling, Kilton's uncontrollable enthusiasm, and the Korok's demands to pet the kitten.

Normally the people of Hyrule are not going to put up with monster pets, but I think the racetrack will make an exception for the crash test dummy.

I should have spent more time proofreading, but I don't know when next I would get to this writing so here you all go.