Chapter 50
Link and his friends were completely unaware of the invasion of Kakariko Village as they walked through the fields of Hyrule. Link walked at a steady pace, honestly excited to see Lake Hylia and take in the beautiful scenery. He turned to the zora captain.
"Ralis, are you sure Ruto knows anything about the spiritual stones?"
Ralis nodded eagerly.
"She definitely knows something. She's been obsessed with restoring the water level ever since it dropped very low a few years back."
Charlie cocked his head to one side
"What do you mean? The lake lost half of its water? How? Did the lake area get really humid or something?"
Ralios sighed.
"That's what we thought at first, but then the lake starting getting a lot of bad storms and that's when the monsters showed up. Ruto was obsessed with figuring out just what was happening. To make matters worse, whatever was happening to the lake started to affect the temperature and freeze our home. Me and Ruto were told to evacuate by her father, but I don't think anyone else got out. The king is still unaccounted for. "
Brad growled angrily.
"Then why are we going to the lake? Shouldn't we be heading to your home? I don't want to see someone else suffer if I can do something to help."
Ralis smiled.
"That's kind of you to say, Brad. However, going back to our home will accomplish nothing. No, we need to stop this thing at its source. The Water Temple at the bottom the lake is the source. It has to be."
Navi flexed her wings in thought.
"So, we think we might find something if we go to that lake temple. That sounds like a good idea, but there's one thing you aren't considering though. How are we all going to get there? If there's still water in the lake, won't that temple still be underwater? How are we going to get in?"
Ralis laughed softly as he reached into a pouch on his waist and brought forth odd looking white objects. His eyes gleamed with excitement.
"I will explain what these do once we get to the lake. Let's just say going underwater and checking that place out won't be a problem."
Impa and the members of the resistance looked around the secret base in awe. There were a lot of high tech devices scattered around the rectangular base and there was a tunnel at each corner of the base. Impa laughed heartily as she patted Talon on the back.
"I've got to hand it to you, commander. This base looks fantastic! It looks like you installed everything properly. Has Project Farore been a success?"
The commander shook his head sadly.
"I'm still working out the kinks on that one. When it works, it will change the way we get around Hyrule forever. It would most definitely give us an advantage right now wouldn't you say?"
Impa scoffed.
"In more ways than one. What does it need for completion?"
The commander led Impa around the device until he stopped at a big device covered with a sheet. There was an uncovered console beside it.. It had a triangle shaped indent. Impa looked puzzled.
"I don't understand. What would fit in that slot? It's not like I have the Triforce in my pocket."
Talon laughed heartly.
No no, Ma'am. The Triforce doesn't fit in there. I wouldn't even begin to think of how to get the Triforce. This requires a force gem."
Viscen gave Talon a puzzled look.
"Whoa slow down, commander. How does one even find or make a force gem?"
Upon hearing this, Talon turned around a walked over to the table in the center of the room and picked up a large book that was placed off to one side. He flipped through it quickly until he found the page he was looking for.
"Found it! It says here that force gems cannot be found in nature and it needs to be created by means of magic."
Impa was starting to get excited. She needed to find Shiek and try the spell.
"We are so close, commander. If we can pull this off, it'll make taking back the village a snap! Shiek! Are you in here right now?"
Within minutes, Shiek appeared from the crowd of nervous reistance members.
"What's going on, Impa? Are we going forward with Farore?"
Impa nodded eagerly.
"Yes we are. I need your help with a spell and if everything goes well, project farore will be complete!"
Shiek turned to Talon.
"Sounds good to me. What do we need to do?"
The commander wordlessly brought forth a green, blue and a red rupee and set them on the table. Impa shook her head.
"Commander, surely you can wait until later to go buy things."
Talon laughed.
"This isn't my spending money. These are the ingredients to make a force gem."
Viscin laughed.
"Cut it out, commander. We've had a long enough day with losing the village and everything. I'm not really in the mood for jokes right now."
Talon insisted.
"I'm being serious here. It not an easy spell, but what needs to be done is some combining. According to this book, they should combine together to form a force gem and it should look like this."
Talon held up the book and showed Viscin and Impa the picture of the giant green gem. It was triangular shaped and bright green. He set the book down and Shiek walked over and studied the spell written down and nodded.
"I think I might be able to cast that spell. I'm just going to need concentration."
He then started reading the spell in the book and he put his hands on the rupees. They started to glow white, faintly at first. Suddenly, the whole base was lit up in a white glow as the three jewels hovered in the air. Shiek started chanting faster as the gems moved in a circular pattern and then their shapes started to morph and change until it resembled one gem, still glowing brightly. Shiek continued chanting and there was a bright flash emitted form the gem and everyone covered their eyes.
Impa was caught off guard by how bright the gem was. When she opened her eyes, there was a large gem sitting on the table and Shiek was on the floor, exhausted from the spell. He looked at Impa weakly.
"That was a difficult spell. Did we succeed though?"
Impa chuckled softly.
"Take a look on the table and see for yourself!"
Shiek weakly got up off the floor and glanced at the large force gem laying on the table. He gasped in awe.
"I-I did it? I thought I mispronounced a couple words. That's amazing!"
Impa smiled broadly at Shiek.
"Well done. So, this should power Project Farore?"
Talon nodded.
"According to my notes, it should work perfectly once the gem is installed"
He proceeded to walk over to the gem. He picked it up and observed its bright green glow. He then carried it over to the console and laid it down in the indent. Suddenly, a blue glow and a bunch of whirring noises issued from beneath the sheet. Talon took the sheet and pulled it off. Underneath the sheet was a functioning teleporter. This was the commanders pride and joy, even when it was unfinished. He spent weeks looking over schematics and hoping it would work like a teleporter was supposed to. He shuffled nervously.
"Now that Project Farore is off the ground, we need to test it. I don't want anyone getting hurt from this."
Viscen stepped forward.
"It will be my honor to be a test subject, commander. Let's get this over with!"
Impa put a hand on his shoulder.
"Viscen, are you sure about this? You don't know where you'll end up. It might even send you far away."
Viscen scoffed
"I understand, ma'am. This is very risky and I realize that. If we want to perfect this teleporter, it needs a test subject first."
He took a deep breath as he mentally prepared himself. He walked towards the telporter and stopped in his tracks suddenly.
"Wait a second. If I go through this and it sends me somewhere far, like the Gerudo Desert for instance, how am I going to get back here? I can't exactly walk into Kakariko right now."
Impa nodded.
"I know. This comes with a lot of risk. If you find yourself far away, I trust in your abilities to find some help and make your way back here and help us liberate Kakariko. You've been a great comrade and friend over the years, Viscen. Please be careful and I'll see you when you get back."
Viscen smiled and nodded as he walked up to the telporter and walked through, completely unaware of where he would end up.
Link and his friends were nearing Lake Hylia. Ralis pointed towards some cliffs in the distance.
"See over that way? That leads to Gerudo Valley and eventually the desert. The lake is just a little further down the road."
Link nodded.
"Okay I see. With everything that's happened, I didn't get much of a chance to see the lake."
Ralis sighed.
"Well, prepare for disappointment. Like I said earlier, the water level is very low. Let's keep moving. We don't have far to go now."
Link and his friends kept marching onwards. It didn't take long for them to make their way past the Gerudo Valley entrance. Shortly after, they arrived at the entrance to the lake. Everyone gasped in shock at the condition of the lake. The water level was very low and there was a big storm happening over what was left of the lake. There was a bridge that connected to platforms that spanned a distance across the lake. Link turned to Ralis.
"Okay we're here. What were those things you showed us before and how will they help us?"
Ralis grinned as he brought out the strange white items, one for each person. He explained as Link and his friends examined them.
"These my friends are magical zora scales. If you eat one, they will began a transformation that will turn you into a zora."
Link and his friends gasped a awe. Brad stepped forward.
"So let me get this straight. These white things you handed us will transform us and we'll be zoras? How does that even work?"
Ralis shrugged.
"I don't know the details, but I did witness it happen to visiters to our domain years ago. As strange as it sounds, they became part of our tribe after the incident."
Charlie butted in.
"Wait a minute. If those people became zoras by eating these and then joined your tribe, does that mean….?"
Ralis nodded slowly.
"Yes it does im afraid. Listen, everyone. I know this carries a lot of risk because as it stands, I don't know how to reverse the procedure. In a worse case scenario, you might be stuck as a zora for a while."
Everyone stayed silent, weighing Ralis's words carefully. Link sighed and held up the scale in his hands.
"I know it's risky, but we have to do this, guys. We're stuck if we do nothing."
Brad objected.
"Listen, Link. Have you thought this through correctly? What if we cant find a way to reverse it? I don't want to be the zora chief of the kokiri, buddy. That wouldn't work too great."
Link walked over to Brad.
"Come on, Brad. I cant do this without all my friends on board. We'll find a way to reverse it, I promise. Just think, this will be a unique experience that everyone will enjoy."
Ralis pointed to the fairies.
"Everyone expect them. The scales won't work on fairies"
Link nodded as he padded his many pockets and brought forth a small bottle. He turned to the fairies.
Would this bottle hold you three until we get into the temple? That way you wont drown.
Navi winced but nodded
"We should be okay, but it's going to be cramped and we wont have much air. You guys are going to have to move fast."
Link nodded.
"Will do, Navi. Let's get this show on the road."
Link looked at the scale in his hands. Ralis nodded.
"Is everyone ready? You'll want to take off your shoes. Otherwise your feet will be in a lot of pain."
Link, Charlie and Brad took off their shoes and got ready for their upcoming transformation.
Link took the scale in his hand and ate it, as did everyone else. It tasted awful. Suddenly, Link started to get a wave of pain though his body. The air around them begins to shimmer and ripple, and their bodies start to contort and twist. Their skin turned a sleek blue-green color, and scales began to cover their arms and legs. Their faces elongated into Zora-like features, complete with fins and gills. Screams issued forth from Link and his friends as they all experienced the pain of becoming a zora. Link was noticing his head was feeling weird, mainly his hair. He reached is hands up, expecting to run his changing fingers through his hear. Instead, he felt no hair, only one big fin protruding from the back of his head. He was noticing his face was really hurting. He squeezed his eyes shut, waiting for the pain to finally ease off and when it finally did, he opened his huge, black eyes and looked around. There were three zoras standing in front of them. One was a black shade of a zora. He figured that had to be Charlie. He looked down at himself and he couldn't believe his eyes. He was a zora too! The magical scales worked. Ralis smiled broadly.
"Welcome to your new life as a zora. While we're like this, water is now no problem. We can breath underwater and swim very fast. Any questions?"
Navi, Izzy and Valerie gasped in awe at their comrades.
"Link, is that really you?. I hardly recognize you."
"Yes, Navi. It's me. I feel strange but otherwise , I'm ok."
"Heh don't worry if you don't get changed back, Brad. I wont give you too hard of a time back in the village."
"Very funny, Izzy. I don't want to be a weird zora that trains with staves and happens to be the chief."
Valerie laughed
"Haha you guys never change, even when you're another species."
When everything settled down between the friends, Brad stepped forward, a frown etched on his new face.
"That really hurt. Do you know where we're going to find your sister in there?"
Ralis shook his head.
"I don't. We should head for the main room and then go from there"
Charlie nodded
"Sounds good to me. Let's get in that temple"
Link and his friends made their way down to the shallow water and looked down. It was very far down, but they could faintly see a doorway. Link brought forth the empty bottle from earlier and the fairies carefully got inside. He then put the bottle away and looked at his friends
"Is everyone ready for this?"
Charlie, Ralis and Brad nodded as they jumped into the water and starting to swim towards the water temple.