The cursed water was thoroughly unpleasant to swim through.
It felt like the small group was wading through some sort of slime or mild sludge rather than simple water. Despite how it felt, it still visually looked like regular lake water, to the point they could see ahead of them with ease. Speaking of which, the quartet saw there was only one path ahead, going diagonally upward into the small island at the center of Lake Hylia.
Luckily, the trip was short, taking less than a minute, but with how disgusting it felt, it seemed almost twice as long as it truly was. Either way, the group surfaced, sputtering lightly and spitting out any water that got in their mouths. Climbing the nearby ledge, Link let Navi out of the bottle as they all gained their bearings.
For a Temple that was cursed with a powerful darkness, the surroundings didn't look nefarious at all. If anything, the room they found themselves in was very serene. Beautiful, tiled flooring, walls, and ceilings were a wonder for the eyes, with there being three doors to other rooms, each one having two statues of dragon-like beings on either side. A last thing of note was that each corner of the room lacked a tile, allowing the group to see that water run under the floor to some other part of the Temple.
Despite the gorgeous looks of the Temple's interior, though, the stench and oppressive feeling of darkness was heavier than it had ever been. "Everything looks nice, but hardly like a Temple!" Donald commented, looking at each of the three doors. "Which way are we supposed to even go?"
"That's part of Ganondorf's magic." Navi explained, seeming a bit tired from the dark energy in the air. "He corrupts these Temples so much that they twist and change. Chances were the Water Temple didn't look like this in the past…I wouldn't know the correct path either way."
"Where do we go, then? Just wander around until we find the monster we have to kill?" Sora asked, wondering what the dragon statues were about. He supposed it was a Temple, so something had to be worshiped. Destiny Islands wasn't a very religious community, but he knew about things like religion…
Goofy scratched his head, also looking at the very identical exits. "Gawrsh, I guess we just gotta pick a random door, huh? It's kind of weird to think we'll be hopin' to run into a monster!"
"Don't forget Ruto." Link interjected. "She's in here somewhere, and we have to make sure she's okay." His tone was more determined than he had sounded before, showing just how much this meant to him. "That's our first priority, finding her and keeping her safe." For once, he was taking over as the group's leader, no longer relying on Navi to speak for him.
"We'll find her, don't worry!" Sora assured, a bit surprised at Link's sudden new attitude, not that he minded it at all. "Goofy's right though, we have to just go in a random door and hope for the best."
Wordlessly, that's exactly what Link did as he moved to the head of the group. He went in the door on the left, the others following behind. To their surprise, the next room was exactly the same! The tiles, the statues, the three new doors, and even the missing corners. They were all the same!
"This place is gonna turn into a maze, isn't it?" Donald bemoaned. "How will we know where we've been?!"
Before such a question could be answered, the room grew colder as a group of Heartless appeared! A new type that looked like fish men wielding spears made of bone, Spear Lizards, were part of the attacking monsters. There were half a dozen of them along with a number of Soldiers and Shadows.
Link attacked first, holding his sword behind him as he crouched down. As the Heartless closed in on him, an energy built around his sword. When the assaulting pawns of darkness got too close, the swordsman let out a cry and spun around at a high speed, a circle of energy surrounding him! This energy, and the blade itself, sliced the Heartless near Link clean in half without effort!
This prompted the other three fighters to charge in, Goofy and Donald taking out the heaps of Shadows that kept appearing while Sora went for the Spear Lizards. As he fought them spear-to-Keyblade, their numbers quickly proved a nuisance. When he defeated one of them, another rammed its weapon into the teen's side, eliciting a gasp of pain. However, the barrier Dr. Orpheus provided still proved useful. The attack should've pierced his clothes and flesh but cut through neither. It still hurt, and was sure to leave a nasty bruise, but that was it.
Gritting his teeth, Sora called upon a Thunder spell and zapped the stabbing Spear Lizard into a dark mist before destroying the last one with a Fire attack. He then rushed over to help Donald and Goofy while Link fought a number of Soldiers on his own. Like before, the older teen's sword seemed to be pure poison to the Heartless, cutting through them like a knife with hot butter. In a sense, it seemed more effective than the Keyblade!
Before long, the room was cleared, and the group moved forward. No use lingering about and discussing the repeating room, after all. Yet as they went on, they saw the rooms would continue to repeat. They went through five doors, periodically being jumped by new waves of Heartless, yet the rooms themselves never changed.
One thing worth noting was that the small island that housed the Water Temple wasn't particularly large. If they had gone on top of it, it would've taken them only a few seconds to walk from one end of the island to the other. Yet each of the rooms they found themselves in were seemingly larger than the island itself, and there were apparently dozens of them! It seemed Ganondorf's warping of the structure was more severe than the group thought at first. This was also worrying because, for all they knew, the Temple could go on forever! Just endless copies of the same room over and over again!
Something else that Sora noticed was how Link fought. He moved in such an expert manner, but the brunette could just feel that the older teen disliked having to do it at all. Just a look in the blonde's eyes and a sort of feeling that Sora got. During combat, Link didn't seem like the unusually immature older teen that Sora saw him as. It was as if Link was in his element during battle, yet hated it at the same time…
As Sora was pondering this, there was a drastic change in the Temple. Entering yet another random door, the group entered one that was actually different. The tiles were the same, but there were no other doors than the one they entered. Instead, there was just one square of space missing from the floor, water running beneath it. Standing in front of that water was a creature unlike what Sora, Donald, and Goofy had seen before.
She looked like a hybrid between a human and a fish, but not in a grotesque way like the Spear Lizards. Instead, she was more human than fish. Most of her body, though covered in blue-white scales than flesh, was remarkably humanlike. There were fins coming from her elbows and hips along with an unusually wide, hairless head with fins at the sides of her face. Aside from that, she was mostly human. It was to the point that it was very obvious she was a human due to her…proportions. A figure that left no doubt of her being a woman, even with a large chest that Sora and Link both took a double take at.
"Ruto…? Is that you?" Navi asked, flying between Link and the fishlike woman. "Weren't you supposed to wait outside for us? Why are you in here?"
The woman, Ruto, smiled as she looked Link over. She did glance at Sora, Donald, and Goofy, but the Hylian was much more important to her. "I did wait outside, but I grew so restless that I had to come inside and try to cleanse the Temple myself! It's so good to see you, Link! You even made new friends!"
Sora, Donald, and Goofy weren't sure what to expect, but a fish woman wasn't on the list. The brunette took it upon himself to step up and give introductions. He just focused on staring at her face, of course. "I'm Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy. We just sort of ran into Link on the way here and decided to help him."
"How very selfless." Ruto praised with a small grin before looking back at Link, whose cheeks were a bit red. "I am a bit annoyed you left me waiting seven years, though! Is that any way to treat your fiancé?"
The outsider trio nearly choked on their breath on that. "Fiancé?!" Donald exclaimed, looking between Ruto and Link. "You're gonna marry her, Link?!"
Link seemed startled at the reaction, but gave a slow nod, almost like he was unsure. "I told her I would." He answered, notably not seeming exactly excited for it, nor did he seem to dislike the idea.
"Well anyway, you should wait outside!" Navi interjected, getting back to business. "There are those monsters, the Heartless, all over the place! You should head back!"
"I can't do that." Ruto said with a shake of the head. "I realized I can't just wait and do nothing while Zora's Domain is frozen over and my people are in peril! So, I decided to hunt down Morpha myself, she's a dark water spirit that our people spoke of in myths. I thought it was only a legend, but Sheik told me it was truly real, and Ganondorf brought it back from wherever he found it."
"Wait, Ruto, we can handle it, so you can just wait!" Link argued, gesturing to the door the group had just entered from. "You don't have to put yourself in danger too!"
That got a small, appreciative laugh from Ruto. "You're just as kind as you were back then. It's no wonder you have more friends helping you. But I can't listen. My heart tells me I have to try and save my own people. But once this is all over, we can relax, get married, and everything will be okay, Link."
Without waiting for any sort of argument, Ruto dove into the water. In the blink of an eye, she shot off past where the tiles covered the water and out of sight. The group just stared at the water for a second, the outsiders glancing over at Link.
"Well, gawrsh, I guess her mind was made up…" Goofy remarked. "But uh, congrats on the engagement! That seems so sweet!" The knight praised, but had to stop and wonder how old Link was. He didn't seem like he was even twenty yet, and Ruto mentioned they haven't met in seven years, so…
"Oh. Thank you." Link replied, again not seeming exactly happy about it. Though, again, he didn't seem like he disliked it either. In fact, he just seemed…confused, like he had no idea what to think about something like marriage. "I think she just let her heart be her guiding key, she'd have gone ahead no matter what…"
That phrase seemed so familiar to Goofy. Where had he heard it before, though…? As he pondered that, Donald spoke up. "Where'd you hear that?"
"A friend that helped me before." Link replied. "He told me it meant to do what your heart tells you, not what other people tell you. I guess Ruto was doing that here."
"We should still go after her, she might need our help!" Sora exclaimed, looking at where Ruto darted off to. "But uh…hey Link, how old are you?" He didn't mean to change the subject, he was just so curious, and he was thinking the same thing Goofy was. The swordsman didn't look like he was past his teens yet but got engaged seven years ago. Didn't seem to add up.
"I'm…seventeen." Link replied, having to pause, as though needing to think about it. "I'm seventeen." He repeated, with a bit more confidence. "Why?"
"Wait, you got engaged at ten?!" Donald blurted out, unable to help himself. Different worlds had different rules, but that still seemed pretty crazy!
Link blinked a few times in confusion, even tilting his head very slightly. "Is that bad?" He bluntly asked, not seeming sure of much himself, it seemed. At least not when it came to marriage.
"Hey, we can talk about this later!" Navi interjected. "We have to go after Ruto! Zoras swim too fast for us to catch, but if we go in her general direction…"
Getting serious again, the outsider trio waited as Link bottled Navi up again and they all leapt into the water. To little surprise, the water within the Temple had the same slimy texture that the water outside did. The current wasn't as strong as it may have seemed, and it took little effort to swim against it as they went after Ruto. There wasn't much to the underbelly of the Temple, lovely tiled submerged hallways that snaked through the rest of the structure like veins in some slumbering giant.
The quartet held their breath as they went, unsure of how far to go or when they should surface. As they went on, however, they saw nowhere to surface, though pale blue light somehow reached through the underwater corridors from some unknown source. After a minute, they all started to panic, each silently wondering if they should turn back to the room where they met up with Ruto.
Yet just as things seemed bleak, a hole in the ceiling appeared just up ahead, the swimmers scrambling over to it. They each breached the surface, taking in a deep lungful of air as they climbed out onto the floor. It took only a moment to realize the room was exactly the same as the one they were just in with a large hole in the middle of the floor and a single door leading elsewhere.
"I can't tell if we were just here or not!" Donald exclaimed, looking around and trying to find any sort of difference to let him know they were somewhere new.
"We swam in one direction, so we have to be somewhere else, right?" Link asked, letting Navi out of her bottle. "Should we go through the door, Navi?"
As the fairy hovered out of the bottle, she let out a small wince. "It feels so much worse in here…" She complained, a sensation going through her the others couldn't feel. Being a fairy made the Temple's condition a lot harder on her. "Morpha has to be nearby. That door has to be the right way!" Trusting the fairy, the group went through the door, their weapons at the ready. They instantly stopped as soon as they entered the next room, however.
Rather than the gorgeous tiles that they had grown used to, the group found themselves outside! Not at Lake Hylia, though, but somewhere else. As far as the eye could see was water, only puddle-deep, stretching to the horizons. Not that they could see that far, as a strange fog hid what was truly out there. In the center of the room, if it could be called that, was a small island that was little more than a mound of sand. Out of this sand grew a single, dead tree with a blackened bark and a lack of leaves. Looking past this, they saw a door and the frame around it just sitting in the middle of the shallow water, no walls or ceiling present.
"Gawrsh, I don't like the look of this place…" Goofy bemoaned. "I feel like we're bein' watched. Anyone else feel that?"
Everyone else had the same sensation that unseen eyes were upon them. Yet there was nowhere for some sort of prowler or watcher to hide. "Let's just get out of here fast. This place is too creepy!" Sora blurted out, being the first to briskly walk across the strange room. The shallow water splashed with each footfall and was the only sound in the room.
The others swiftly followed suit, each looking around for danger, yet saw nothing. When they all moved past the tree, they started to think they were just being paranoid and marched towards the exit.
Navi, however, felt something sinister and turned around. "Hey! Guys, behind you!" She screamed, flying high up to avoid the incoming battle.
"What?!" Link exclaimed, startled at how frantic Navi sounded. He and the others whipped around and saw a bizarre sight. Standing by the tree were four figures, each one almost entirely black, as dark as the spaces between the stars at night. The only exception to this darkness were the eyes, each one having round, glowing yellow eyes that stared blankly ahead, the eyes of Heartless. That wasn't the disturbing part, though.
All the figures looked just like a member of the group! Sora, Donald, Goofy, and Link were all looking at doppelgangers of themselves! Aside from the coloration and the eyes, the imposters looked exactly like them down to the weapons they wielded! If they were to look down, the group would see that their reflections in the water had vanished as well, but they were too focused on the eerie Heartless to do so.
Before anyone could comment on how strange the situation was, the Heartless sprang forward. Each one of the copies went towards the person they were copying. Link and Dark Link clashed swords, the teen's blade not being nearly as effective as it usually was. Sora leapt over Dark Sora, trying to attack it from the back, but it turned around and blocked the attack. Donald and Dark Donald stayed at a distance, circling each other as they cast spells at each other. However, whatever spell Donald used, his mirror image silently used the exact same one, and the attacks cancelled each other out! Finally, Goofy and Dark Goofy charged each other, slamming their shields into a clash with no clear winner, both fighters pushing for some sort of dominance.
Navi watched as the quartet fought opponents that were exactly as powerful as they were. The melee fighters constantly getting into clashes, their speed and strength so equal that neither party could get the upper hand over the other. The sound of clashing blades and slamming shields filled the normally quiet area, as Donald shouted spell after spell which his doppelganger cast at the exact same time. It didn't look like there was much that could be done! For Link and Sora, their doubles seemed to love copying the moves of the real selves, as though the two were fighting mirrors. Goofy just kept slamming his shield into that of his foe, as if in hopes of wearing it out.
But then the fairy realized something, and it seemed so obvious! "Guys! Hurry and switch opponents!" She yelled out, loud enough to be heard over the battle, but just barely. "They won't be able to mimic you so easily!"
In that moment, however brief, the four fighters felt foolish! Quickly, they switched opponents without a word to each other. Sora and Link swapped foes, the former lunging at Dark Link as the latter shot an arrow at Dark Sora from afar. Donald and Goofy did the same thing and changed who they fought. The mage shot a small barrage of fireballs at Dark Goofy as the knight threw his shield like a discus at Dark Donald.
Things became a lot easier for the group at this point. Although they were still fighting opponents as strong as their friends, the Heartless didn't seem equipped to fight those that they couldn't easily mirror. The fighting styles between Sora and Link were drastically different, so the Dark versions of their companions seemed almost confused as the attacks came and were only able to block at the last moment, but only barely. Meanwhile, Dark Goofy didn't seem to know what to do when Donald kept his distance and just lobbied spells. Dark Donald likewise almost appeared to be in a panic whenever Goofy closed the distance.
Before long, one by one, the shadowy figures all fell. When Dark Sora swung at Link, the swordsman slammed his shield forward, which threw the Heartless off guard. Taking that chance, the older teen slashed Dark Sora across the chest, destroying it instantly. Sora used some magic to mix things up, sending a flurry of fireballs at Dark Link, who tried to block, but couldn't cover his whole body, and one of the fireballs hit its legs. This caused the Heartless to quickly smolder and get destroyed.
Dark Goofy was better at blocking projectile attacks than Dark Link, so Donald tried something different. With a boastful cry, the mage raised his staff and a bolt of Thunder struck Dark Goofy on its unprotected head, destroying it. Goofy sprinted at Dark Donald, leaping over a Blizzard spell it unleashed. Curling up, Goofy placed his shield underneath him, landing right on top of Dark Donald and reducing it to a dark mist.
Catching their breath, the fighters watched as the outside area around them started to fade away. It was revealed in a few moments that they were standing in yet another one of those tiled rooms, the same size as all the others despite how vast it had seemed just seconds ago. "So, it was just an illusion?" Donald asked, rubbing his eyes as if to make sure, yet the room really was like just about all the others they came across. The only thing that stayed from the mirage were the two doors.
"What's a loosion?" Link asked, butchering the word entirely. The way he phrased it was like a small child asking his mom something, and even looked at Navi as he spoke, rather than at Donald who said the word to begin with.
"An illusion." Navi clarified. "Something…fake. We were seeing something that wasn't here. So, it was an illusion." The way she so casually explained the term showed it was hardly the first time she had to answer Link's questions. "Anyway, are you four okay?"
Trying to put aside Link's unusual behavior, Sora nodded. "Yeah, I think we're all fine. Never thought all those things would go down in just one hit!" Apparently they were all tactic but with no durability…
"Anyway, we have to keep going. Ruto might have gone this way!" Link exclaimed, making his way to the door ahead. He hadn't even fully caught his breath yet but was desperate to keep going.
"I feel a nasty energy from that room…it could be Morpha's!" Navi warned, yet still flew by her companion as the outsider trio followed. This did nothing to slow Link down at all. If anything, he sped up until he got to the door and quickly opened it.
Right away, the non-fairies of the group felt a change. The oppressive atmosphere that had followed them throughout the Temple was at its strongest, all of them breaking into a cold sweat. Yet, as they looked around the room, they didn't see anything! The room itself was different, but there was no actual danger to be seen. As usual, gorgeous tiles lined the room, but this one was a lot larger than the others. In the center of the room was a large pit with four pillars in it, the pit filled with a sludgy, gross looking water. Aside from that, though, there was nothing of note. No other doors, no evil spirit, and no Ruto.
"Are ya sure ya felt things out right?" Goofy asked, not unkindly. "I sure don't see nothin' in here that'd be dangerous…" There weren't even any Heartless that spawned to greet the group. It was just them and the water. Goofy even started to walk around the room, looking to see if anything was lurking in the water…but there was nothing.
"I know I feel a dark presence here!" Navi insisted, looking around as well. "This has to be where Morpha is, or at least something particularly nasty! Don't let your guard down!"
Keyblade at the ready, Sora glanced around too, but there was just nothing there! As he walked around the room in the opposite direction as Goofy, he spotted something in the water! "Hey! There's something in there!" The brunette yelled out, pointing to what he saw.
It was understandable that Goofy had missed it, as the object wasn't too large, and the water's visibility wasn't too great. The thing was only about the size of Sora's head and was partially transparent as well. It looked like some sort of eye, or a fleshy nucleus of some sort, not that anyone in the group knew what one looked like. It shifted around the water, going towards the surface. When this happened, a segment of the water rose up, forming a tentacle that the nucleus nestled into. Several more liquid appendages formed around the main one, curling in on themselves as if in anticipation for a fight.
"That has to be Morpha! There's nothing else in here!" Navi exclaimed as the group spread out. Unfortunately, there were half a dozen tentacles, so even when separated, the creature could attack them all at once.
"But where's Ruto?!" Link practically demanded, there having been zero sign of the Zora anywhere in the room. "Did she make it here?!"
Before anyone could answer, Morpha began is attack. With its numerous tentacles, it targeted everyone at the same time, lunging each appendage at the four fighters. Thinking that water couldn't be that strong, Goofy stood his ground and raised his shield, but the impact was stronger than he anticipated and sent him slamming into the wall behind him. Donald took a different approach in the form of a counterattack, raising his staff and casting a powerful Blizzard spell, freezing the watery tentacle as it approached. The ice from this magic went all the way to the main body of water, allowing Donald to move to a better vantage point.
Not sure if the water was actually part of Morpha's body or not, Sora decided to attack it anyway. As the tentacle drew near, he swung at it with the Keyblade, sending a bucketful of water off the appendage. However, the tentacle kept coming, new water reforming so the injury, if it could even be called that, meant nothing. Too late to dodge, Sora was grabbed by the tentacle, which somehow seemed far more solid when it wrapped around his torso and lifted him up in the air. Despite the appendage being made of water, it still somehow managed to squeeze at him, making it difficult for the brunette to breath as he tried to hit at the tentacle with his Keyblade. However, the angle was just too awkward, and he couldn't get a good hit in!
Link instantly noticed Sora's peril and rolled out of the way as the tentacle going after him slammed into the wall and was reduced to a puddle. With a cry of effort, the swordsman swiftly spun in a circle as a miniature tornado sprang forth and went towards the tentacle grabbing Sora. When the wind spell hit, the appendage was scattered about, and Sora was able to drop to the floor, mostly unharmed.
"Thanks for the save, but how do we fight this thing?!" Sora exclaimed as more tentacles rose from the main body of water. The nucleus had to be the weak spot, but reaching it was an entirely different issue. There were the pillars, but Morpha could probably just make as many tentacles as it needed. Even the Blizzard spell didn't prove very effective, as the frozen tentacle shattered and the ice just fell into the water, ready to melt and be reabsorbed into the main body.
"I've got an idea! Stand back, everyone!" Donald yelled out, everyone following his instructions as he raised his staff. "How about some Thunder?!" Water was a good conductor of electricity, right? The mage let loose his spell, aiming at the main body with the attacking hitting easily! Sparks of electricity spread a bit throughout the liquid, but Morpha didn't seem injured in any way! "What?! That didn't do anything?!"
Sora knew better than Donald. He remembered asking his dad about a time where lightning struck the ocean and killed a lot of fish. His dad explained how water didn't conduct electricity that well on its own, but minerals like salt, which helped the currents flow. Clearly, Morpha was lacking salt or anything else to help the Thunder spell go through! So, the brunette opted for a Blizzard spell, aiming at the tentacle that housed Morpha itself.
To everyone's dismay, Morpha shifted to dodge the attack! The tentacle itself got hit and was frozen solid, but the nucleus moved to the main body of water and remained unharmed. As if in retaliation, the dark spirit spouted several more tentacles, thrashing them all about and trying to grab its opponents.
The quartet ran, jumped, and rolled about what little parts of the room were safe. Jumping on the pillars would've just gotten them closer to the assaulting limbs while falling in the water itself was blatantly a horrible mistake to make. As she watched her companions struggling, Navi flew over to Link, yelling to be heard over the commotion. "Your Hookshot! Link, try using that!" She insisted, especially as Morpha moved to another tentacle.
Eyes widening like he had an epiphany, Link nodded and put his sword away. He took out an unusual item, a blue cylinder with a handle and a large hook at the opposite end. After dodging another tentacle, the older teen aimed the Hookshot at Morpha's true body and squeezed the handle. To the shock of Sora, Donald, and Goofy, the hook shot out, attached by a chain, at Morpha! They quickly realized just how descriptive the Hookshot's name really was!
Through a mixture of luck and skill, the hook hit the nucleus. It seemed for a moment that Morpha struggled against the device, but ultimately lost out in the end. The chain retracted, pulling the spirit out of the tentacle it was hiding in, causing all the appendages to fall to the floor and becoming ordinary water! With a cry, Link slashed at Morpha as it drew near, slicing it horribly and sending it flying!
However, it wasn't quite destroyed, and it was soaring back towards the water! Thinking quickly, Sora leapt onto the nearest platform and jumped up at Morpha. He sliced at the creature, cutting it cleanly in half as he landed onto another one of the pillars and destroying the horrid monster!
The group watched as Morpha's remnants simply disintegrated after they landed in the water. It was as if a small army of invisible insects was eating the pieces! Once the last scrap of the dark spirit vanished, the water in the room started to seemingly drain away, despite there being no place for it to drain to. This had an immediate effect, as the air became cleaner the second all the water was gone. Despite being inside, everyone felt like they were now taking in lungful of fresh air from outside after being stuck in a stuffy building.
"That was some good teamwork!" Goofy praised, beaming at both Link and Sora. "It sure was a tricky thing, that Morpha, huh?"
Link didn't seem as happy, looking around the room yet again despite the lack of any hiding places. "But where's Ruto? She came this way, right? There weren't any alternate paths, were there?!" As he spoke, he sounded increasingly desperate, clearly fearing the worse.
"If something happened to her, she'd be here, right?" Donald asked, not sure how a monster made of water could get rid of a dead body.
As the group pondered, they were all met with a blinding flash of white light! Instantly, they found themselves in a far different environment. To Link and Navi, it was very familiar. The quintet was now on a large blue platform in the middle of a mostly empty black void, with the only other things to see were other platforms with a mysterious blue liquid falling down on them from some unknown source.
At the platform's edges were smaller platforms, each with an assorted color. Yellow, green, red, blue, purple, and orange. Each of these spaces had patterns on them such as a sort of spiral etching with another one holding a flame design. They were all facing the blue platform, which started to glow.
"Oh no, no, no…" Link murmured, face going pale. "Not again…" He spoke so quietly that the rest of the group barely heard him, but the panic was more than evident.
"What's going on, Link? Where are we?" Sora asked, noting how distressed his new friend was. "Are we in danger? What's wrong?!" Yet despite his attempts to get the older teen's attention, Sora was ignored.
On the blue platform, a figure appeared as its glow started to fade. To the shock of everyone, especially Sora, Donald, and Goofy, the figure was none other than Ruto! She looked at the small group before her, a small smile on her face, but a sad, regretful look in her eyes. "It looks like I got carried away." The Zora said, trying to sound happy, but still having a melancholy tone.
"Ruto, I'm sorry, I should've been faster!" Link exclaimed, taking a hesitant step towards his friend. "If I had beaten Morpha quicker…"
"We were helping too! It'd be out fault, not just yours!" Sora interrupted, not wanting Link to feel solely responsible. He had no idea what was going on or where they were, but this seemed to have been something that happened to the older teen before…
"It's none of your faults." Ruto corrected kindly, yet sternly. "I followed my heart, and that unfortunately took me to my end. But I've awakened as the Sage of Water, so I can still aid you, Link." Her smile faded, just barely present. "But it means we can't meet again, and we can never be married."
Link closed the gap, and he hugged Ruto tight, his frame shaking as if he were about to cry. "I'm so sorry…" He insisted, clearly feeling obligated to blame himself for what happened.
"No need for that, Link. I don't blame you for anything and I still love you! No matter what, I would have ended up here anyway. Now please, go and keep fighting against Ganondorf." She looked over Link's shoulder at Sora, Donald, and Goofy. "I can tell you three are from far away, and I'm sorry you've ended up in our affairs. I have to ask you still help Link with his quest."
"We promised we would! But uh…what exactly's goin' on? Sage of Water…?" Goofy scratched the side of his head as he asked. Things were getting more complicated, it seemed…
At this point, Link let go, taking a step away from Ruto. "It means she has to stay here." Navi said in the swordsman's place. "We have to find six Sages to help us reach Ganondorf. Ruto here is the fourth."
"Two of the others were also my friends…" Link miserably added. "And thanks for wanting to still help me." He said to Sora, Donald, and Goofy before turning back to Ruto.
"Everything will be okay! Now, go, and remember I'll be thinking of you the entire time, and my heart goes out to you, Link!" Ruto said, her smile coming back just as the bright white light did. Everyone else was blinded as they were whisked away from the unusual location…
When their eyes adjusted, the quintet found they were on the island in the middle of Lake Hylia. And it truly was a lake this time, as the water had swiftly and miraculously came back, the near-empty hole now filled with glittering, clear water! Another thing of note was that it was the break of dawn, the sun just starting to peek over the horizon. This was odd, as it was just becoming nightfall when the group entered the Temple. It didn't feel nearly so long…but maybe time had been distorted along with space…? The air smelled crisp and clean too, the oppressive atmosphere only as intense as it was in Hyrule Field.
There was a moment where everyone just looked at the lake, astonished at the difference. Then Link broke the peace as he started to practically march to the bridge leading to the mainland, Navi at his side like usual.
"Hey, are you okay? I'm sorry about Ruto…" Sora said as he, Donald, and Goofy went after Link. "But you remember what she said, you shouldn't blame yourself!" He just felt that was what was going through the older teen's mind. Something in his own heart just said so…
"I don't want to talk about it." Link bluntly replied, not even looking back at the others. Instead, he glanced up at Navi, who was floating right by his head. "Where do we go next, Navi?"
The fairy hesitated, clearly concerned for Link too, but chose not to voice it. "Sheik told us the last two Temples are in the house of the dead and a goddess of the sand. I think I know where the second one is, but the first one has me stumped…"
Sora, Donald, and Goofy decided it was best to just leave Link alone when it came to Ruto, needing to focus on the quest ahead. "House of the dead sounds pretty serious. Where would you find something like that?" Donald asked.
"Only thing I can think to do is ask around Kakariko Village. We've been just about everywhere else in Hyrule…" Navi pondered, letting out a mildly aggravated sigh. "Sheik's been helpful to us, but I wish he could be more direct sometimes…"
"Well, gawrsh, what if that one Temple is in Kakariko Village. Maybe it's hidden like the Water one was." Goofy suggested as the group approached the mainland. "What would a house of the dead even be anyway?"
"No idea." Navi admitted. "You might be right, though. Maybe it's hidden somewhere in Kakariko Village…maybe connected to its graveyard somehow! It's the largest one in Hyrule, after all. That's gotta be our best bet!" The fairy let out a hum. "We'll have to stop for the night on the way, though. The village is too far away from here…and I don't know if our usual mode of transportation would work with us all…"
They had some other way of getting around? "What do you mean by that? What wouldn't work?" Sora asked, not seeing anything on Link's person that could be used to travel faster.
"Sheik's been helping us by teaching us songs." Navi explained, starting to be the sole voice between her and Link, the swordsman seeming too upset to say much. "They have a strange power that lets us travel to very specific places in Hyrule. I can travel along with Link when he plays them on his Ocarina, but three additional people…I just don't know. Wait, hey! We could try it out now! One of these songs was meant to take us here! How about it, Link?"
Stopping in his tracks, Link unclipped the blue instrument from his belt. "I guess we could try." He said, his tone entirely flat, and his face lacking any real expression. "Just place a hand on me, I guess." Once Sora, Donald, and Goofy did as asked, and Navi on his shoulder, Link played a song. It was a short, beautiful tune that was calming and smooth like the flow of water itself.
In an instant, Link and Navi vanished in a flash of blue light! Sora, Donald, and Goofy remained where they were, letting out startled noises. Another flash of blue light appeared atop the small island housing the Water Temple, with the older teen and his fairy companion appearing in it. Even from a distance, it seemed Link let out a sigh as he and Navi made their way back to the others.
"Why didn't that work? Is it because we're from another world?" Sora asked, crossing his arms in thought. "But Zamansis was able to teleport us around no problem…"
"Maybe Navi can do it because she's a fairy!" Goofy blindly suggested.
Donald squinted up at his friend. "What does that have to do with anything?" She was still traveling along with Link while the rest of them couldn't!
"Um…well, I dunno, fairies are magical creatures, right?" Goofy said after a moment of thought. "Maybe that lets her zip around with Link!"
Sora and Donald just shrugged, figuring they'd never know the answer. A few seconds later, Link and Navi caught back up. "Well, that's weird!" The fairy said, a bit annoyed. "I don't know why that wouldn't work! I guess it's a good thing I didn't suggest it when we were traveling here. I was thinking then it may not work…"
"That means we'll take the long way." Link commented, starting to move towards Hyrule Field once more.
"Yeah…but at least we can see Malon again. Lon Lon Ranch is right around the halfway point between here and Kakariko Village." Navi explained. "I know she'll be very happy to see you!" She went on with a teasing tone, and Sora swore he saw Link's cheeks go a bit red…
"Uh…but hey, Link was engaged, right?" Goofy couldn't help but ask. Seemed a bit odd to tease the teen about what sounded like some sort of crush if he had a wife-to-be.
The blonde teen sighed. "I don't even know what that means. What does that have to do with anything?"
"Huh?! You were engaged and didn't even know what it meant?!" Donald exclaimed, stopping to ponder how much that actually made sense.
Link finally turned to look at the others, confusion, and a bit of annoyance on his face. "No one told me. It seemed important, though."
Sora, Donald, and Goofy glanced at each other, struggling to hold back laughter despite how tense things were just a minute ago. Things made way more sense now! It was some sort of one-sided crush that Ruto held onto for seven years with Link being totally clueless. It was tragic how things ended up, but the situation's beginning was pretty amusing!
Navi cleared her throat, getting everyone's attention. She had a certain way of getting all eyes on her despite her size. "We can talk about that sort of thing later! For now, we need to rush to the ranch, okay? Every second counts!"
Leaving the subject of Link's obliviousness to marriage, everyone did as Navi said and moved to Hyrule Field. Their pace was faster that yesterday's, everyone eager to tackle the next Temple, especially with Ruto's sacrifice present in all their minds. The outsiders still didn't fully understand the business with the Sages, but that hardly mattered at the end of the day.
Heartless spawned at a few points during the journey, quickly disposed of by the group. Once more, Sora couldn't help but notice Link seeming almost miserable as he fought, the unusual sword of his slicing through the creatures of darkness with almost zero effort on the older teen's part…
As the sun was nearing the horizon, the quintet arrived at the large stone formation that opened into the ranch. When they entered, the outsiders saw that there wasn't much to the ranch, just a house, a small barn, and an area for the horses to roam. This center area had a large fence where the horses were able to roam, and as they all laid eyes on it this part of the ranch, they stared to hear singing!
It was a young woman's voice, the song a mere melody with no words. Looking closer, the group saw that the source was a redheaded woman around Link's age, singing to a mare about as red as the singer's own hair. Link made a beeline toward her, so Sora, Donald, and Goofy did the same.
When he group got close, the redhead stopped singing, looking at Link with wide, excited blue eyes. She was very pretty and wore an outfit befitting a rancher girl. "Fairy Boy!" She exclaimed, beaming at Link and Navi before her gaze wandered to the others. "You brought friends, too!"
Sora understood pretty quickly why Link seemed flustered being teased about Malon, who he assumed this person was. She was beautiful! He always was pretty partial to red hair on girls, and it was no different on the ranch girl. As he though about this, he couldn't help but think about Kairi, and there was a soft pain in his heart…
"I'm Sora, and this is Donald and Goofy." The brunette introduced as per usual, trying to shake off the ache in his chest. "We just met Link yesterday. You're Malon, right?" He couldn't help but be amused by the nickname she gave…
"New friends, huh? Well, any friend of his is a friend of mine! And I'm Malon, I'm guessing Fairy Boy mentioned me?" She asked, grinning at Link who seemed to have some trouble making eye contact.
Goofy did his best not to chuckle at Link's expense. "It was somethin' like that! Good to meet another friend of his!"
"I see! I didn't expect you back so soon, Fairy Boy. Epona still missed you, you know." Malon said, gesturing to the horse she was singing to, who indeed went over to nuzzle affectionately at Link. "Did everything go okay at the lake?" She pressed and, like Ruto, had eyes for the swordsman more than anyone else, it seemed.
That snapped Link out of his flustered silence and cleared his throat, patting Epona gently. "I don't want to talk about it." He replied bluntly. "We're going to Kakariko Village. Can we stay the night, please?"
This put a small damper on Malon's mood at what was clearly sad news being suppressed. "You know you're always welcome, Link." She said, both in a friendly way and also sternly, like she was trying to press he thought into the blonde's head. Malon even used his actual name for the firs time, which surely meant something. "And your friends too, of course."
"Is there even a place for us all to sleep?" Donald asked, looking around the ranch again. There was no way that house had enough space for all the adults and teenagers, Navi of course taking up next to no room.
"Talon's back, so there wouldn't be a lot of space, huh?" Navi asked before looking to the outsider trio. "That's her father, he owns the ranch."
Malon hummed, looking between the group. "Well, if you don't mind it, Fairy Boy, you can take Ingo's old bed. That traitor won't be needing it. Dad's got his own bed and I've got mine. One of you can take the couch, and the others will have to take the barn."
"I'll take the couch!" Donald immediately called out with a satisfied tone in his voice.
"What?! But I'm the youngest, I should take the couch, right?" Didn't seem fair to Sora that one of the adults got a couch over him.
"So? What does that have to do with anything?" The mage shot back, crossing his arms in defiance. "You can sleep in some hay just fine!"
Goofy once more had to act as the tiebreaker between the two. Sora and Donald were getting along better than before, but they still squabbled over unimportant things! "He's right, Donald, we can bunker in the barn! It'll be fun!"
"He's right! Sora's the youngest, so he gets the couch." Malon insisted. By that logic, it'd mean he'd get the bed over Link, but the redhead was perhaps a bit biased. She did, however, place a hand on Sora's head, almost like protecting him from Donald's greed.
When Sora gave the mage a cheeky smile that Malon couldn't see, Donald gave a glare in response. "Fine! You can have the couch!" He harrumphed.
And so, it was settled. Even though it wasn't late, the journeying group was exhausted, and insisted on going to bed, even without dinner. Talon was already in bed, which prompted Malon to mention how much he slept during the day, so the group didn't encounter him. Donald and Goofy went into the barn, which was a bit warm and stuffy, and they only had hay to lie on with the cows keeping them company. Link and Navi went into Ingo's room, whoever he was, as Malon went to her own room.
So, Sora took the couch, a thin blanket and a pillow being the only things Malon had to offer him. The inside of the house was pretty nice, with a family room, a kitchen, and an upstairs area. Small, yet cozy. Despite this, he had a rough time getting to sleep, thinking about the world they found themselves in.
The entire land was covered in darkness, and Heartless could pop up just about anywhere, though the ranch seemed oddly safe. Surely this Ganondorf couldn't be as strong as Lucien was, but Sora was still concerned. On top of that, he couldn't help but feel worried about Link. There was just something up with him. He seemed to be bottling his emotions up, even pressing forward and seeming to do his best to ignore losing all contact with Ruto. It was clear he was hurting, at least to Sora, but apparently the swordsman felt it best not to blatantly show such feelings. Sora decided he was going to pry, just a bit, and try to figure out what Link's deal was tomorrow…
For the time being, exhaustion caught up with the brunette, and he slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep…