Ukyo sighed. "Another flooded room? I've just had it with all the water in here..."
"Well, duh, I guess that's why it's called the WATER Temple," Tatl remarked.
"Ah, it's just a little pool we have to cross, nothing else," Link said confidently. "At least we don't have to dive down a shaft... or run along an underwater tunnel. I don't even need the Iron Boots.
Ruto looked across the pool to the door on the other side. She then looked at Link. "Say... those Iron Boots... how can you carry them if they're so heavy? I mean, every time you wear them, every step you take is so slow... and now, when they're in your bag, they don't slow you down at all. And they don't even pull you down when you swim... how come?"
Link shrugged. "They only get heavy when I put them on my feet, that's all. Is that so surprising?"
"Well, of course it is," Ukyo remarked. "After all, they are Iron Boots... why would their weight change if they aren't on your feet?"
"Hey, I'm no schoemaker, okay?" Link shot back. "How am I supposed to know?"
Ranko sighed. "Look, can't we just go on already? We have no time to lose."
"All right, but it still bothers me how every time we enter one of these temples, common sense gets thrown overboard..." Ukyo grumbled.
She, along with Shampoo, climbed into the water and swum over to the other side. Ruto dove in as well and overtook them in the middle of the room. Ranko wanted to follow her sister, but hesitated when she noticed that Link was still standing at the edge of the water.
"Hey, aren't you coming?"
"Just a moment," Link winced. "I just realized that the wound those nasty Shell Blades gave me turned out to be worse than I thought... give me a second to cure it with a fairy, all right?"
"Okay, but hurry!" Ranko said before jumping in herself and swimming after her sister.
Link reached into his bag and took a bottle.
"Hey, you big brute, I demand that you let me out of here right this..."
Link ignored the constant nagging of the Poe girl and closed his bag. He opened the bottle, and the pink fairy fluttered out.
She smiled at him. "Hi! Thanks again for freeing me from that pot earlier. It was so dark in there, it was scary."
"Don't mention it," Link grinned. "As long as you help me by curing my wound..." And he gestured to his bandaged arm.
"Ah, I see," the fairy nodded. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it..." She flitted around the arm and sprinkled the wound with fairy dust. Within seconds, the wound was healed.
Navi sighed. "I wish I had learned how to use heal magic as well..." she said with envy.
"Well, what am I supposed to say?" the pink fairy asked her. "After all, you are the guardian fairy of a... well, not a Kokiri, but of a mighty handsome boy, if I may say so." She grinned.
Link blushed. "L-look, thank you for the help... but we still have to go on, so if you'd excuse me..." And he jumped into the water to follow his friends.
The pink fairy grinned. "Aw, he's shy. That's so cute..."
"He sure is," Navi giggled. "You can find the way out of here by yourself?"
"Hey, no problem! After all, no monster has ever attacked a fairy before. Good luck on your quest!" And she flew out of the room, closing the door behind her.
Navi flew after Link. On the other side of the pool, his friends were waiting impatiently.
"Hey, slowpoke! Get a move on!" Ukyo shouted.
"Hey, give me a break here!" Link shouted back. "How would you like to be injured by a Shell Blade?"
That's when it happened.
Link only felt a sudden pull on his legs, and all of a sudden, he was dragged underwater. He looked down and only saw that somehow, a hatch had opened at the bottom of the pool, and a powerful suction pulled him down.
"Link!" Ukyo shouted. "Dang, how did that happen?"
"I'll get him!" Ruto shouted and jumped into the pool. "Hang on, love! Help is on the way!"
"Sis, wait..." Ranko gasped.
But it was too late. Link and Navi got pulled into the shaft underneath the pool, and just before Ruto could reach her would-be fiance, the hatch closed in front of her.
"Oh, fishsticks!" she swore. "I was so close..."
Ranko came swimming up to her and took her hand. "C'mon, sis," she said, bubbles rising from her mouth. "Maybe if we're lucky, we'll find a way to catch up with him. He's a strong fighter, so I wouldn't worry too much about him. Let's go... maybe we'll soon find a way to help the other Zoras."
"Yeah..." Ruto murmured sadly. "Link... take care of yourself..."
Link was lucky that he was wearing his Zora Tunic, otherwise he would have drown for sure. While he was pulled through the twisted shaft he wished he could reach his bag to take out his Iron Boots, but he never got the chance. Next to him, he saw his guardian fairy twirling through the water. Her little body, even more than his own, wasn't strong enough to resist the powerful current, so he reached for her and carefully pulled her close so they wouldn't lose sight of each other.
Suddenly, the shaft made a sharp turn, and then, he and Navi were spouted out of the water, into a huge room. Link rolled over the floor and shielded Navi's body from the impact. Slowly, he stood up.
Navi blinked and raised her head. "We're not dead, aren't we?" she asked in a frightened voice.
"No..." Link replied. "But we got separated from the others.
He let go of his fairy friend, and Navi fluttered up into the air, where she looked around. "Where are we?"
Behind them, the water came shooting out of the shaft and created a powerful jet of water that was shooting upwards. The whole floor of the room was covered with it, so Link was wading through ankle-high water.
But the strangest thing was: This room didn't seem to have any walls. All around them, they could only see the shallow water, and nothing else but a small island of sand that was rising out of it. In the middle of the island, a single tree was standing.
"Do you... do you think we aren't even in the temple anymore?" Link wondered.
"Does this look like Lake Hylia to you?" Navi asked. "Look on the map, we're still in the temple. But something is strange... according to the map, this room shouldn't be endless..."
"So what do we do now?" Link asked and turned around. "I don't see any exit... and I don't think we can go back the way we came." He looked over to the huge water spout.
"I don't know for sure..." Navi murmured. "But somehow I have the feeling we need to go over to that island... maybe we can find some hint there."
Link sighed. "Fine, as long as there's nothing else we can do..."
He walked towards the small island, but just after he had taken a few steps, he felt that something was wrong.
He then realized something. "I'm the only one around here... except for Navi... so where are these other footsteps coming from?"
Indeed, while he was walking, he had heard the splashing of feet directly behind him, as if somebody was following him. He turned around... and saw nobody.
"There's no one here," he sighed and looked down at his mirror image in the water. "But I could have sworn I heard something..."
"Maybe you're just tired," Navi suggested.
Link was about to reply something, when all of the sudden, his mirror image grinned at him. And it wasn't just any grin... it was an evil sneer. And then, his mirror image slowly rose up... but when it came out of the water, it turned deep black, and its eyes were glowing red.
"Finally!" his dark double hissed as it pulled its black sword out of its sheath. "I've been waiting for this moment... murderer!"
"You!" Link shouted and drew the Master Sword. "You're the monster who did all of this! You froze the Zora..."
"Actually, that was Morpha," Dark Link pointed out with a grin. "But since I'm the one who's in charge of the creature, I guess that kind of makes me responsible."
"Kind of?" Link grumbled. "You bastard..."
"You have no right to talk back to me like that!" Dark Link hissed. "You are the one who killed me... without you, I would have never been forced to take on this vile image..."
"What are you talking about?" Link shouted. "I've never seen you before!"
"But you will!" his doppleganger shouted back. "I don't see how I have to explain myself to you... all I want is revenge!" And he raised his blade and charged at the Hero of Time. "Prepare yourself!"
"Oh great..." Link grumbled and welcomed his dark double with the Master Sword. The two blades met in a clash of steel, and the fencing duel between the two warriors began.
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(Posted Mon, 24 Mar 2008 11:54)
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