If you like reading fan fiction, you'll love this Legend of Zelda story.

Back at the beginning of September, I started my 5th Zelda fan fiction story, called Maximum Quest: Escape From Hyrule. This story chronicles six young (about maybe 15-16 years old) Nintendo gamers/fans of the Legend of Zelda series as they are invited to Nintendo of America for a special play session of LoZ: Ocarina of Time, months before the game came out in November of 1998. The 6 are invited by NOA_Shaun himself, and get to meet the Ocarina development team and the brains behind the series, but when it comes time to play the game, something strange happens during the final boss fight. Due to a bug in the game's programming, the six are drawn inside the land of Hyrule. Once there, they learn of a horrifying plot to seize and essentially destroy the land of Hyrule involving one of the guardian spirits of Hyrule, the Hylian Bird. Flung into a medieval world far different from their own, the group of gamers-turned-adventurers must work together to collect the medallion relics of the Hylian Bird both as a means of stopping this evil plot, and as a means of returning home to their own world.

Now that I've gone through the introduction, I will post two chapters of this story every day until this thing is either completed or until I reach the limit of what I've currently written. If you have any questions or comments about this story, please post them here. Thanks, and enjoy.

MAXIMUM QUEST: ESCAPE FROM HYRULE

Chapter 1: The Invitation

“No, no, no, that’s not how you swing the sword. You have to be in control of the enemy and strike him from the frontside.”

“Arthur, you have to understand, I’m not the champion Zelda player that you are, give me a break!”

Arthur Miller backed off of his little sister. What a dunce, he thought, unable to beat a mere soldier in the middle of the southern swamp. He would have crushed that maggot quicker than a knife cutting through butter. But then again, he was a very accomplished Zelda gamer. In the case of the game they were playing, “The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past,” he had mastered the game through and through, playing through the game in less than 3 hours without dying. Maybe someday, he thought, he would try to break Mike Damiani’s world record time and bring some notoriety to himself. He thought about it, and then looked back at his sister as she killed himself by striking a chu with her sword and getting electrocuted.

“Wow, what an idiot.” Arthur thought to himself as the game over screen came up…

Across the Applachians, Stephen Bischoff was preparing to go to sleep. Or, at least that’s what his parents wanted him to do. He knew better than that. He shut the door to his room and turned out the lights as he nuzzled into bed. Five minutes later, when he knew his parents were retired to their room for the night, he reached for his Game Boy. It was only a few weeks ago that he had started playing “The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening,” but he was learning very quickly. Earlier in the night he had reached the North Face Shrine dungeon, and was extremely eager to earn the triangle, the sixth musical instrument of eight needed to beat the game. As he battled against wizzrobes in the dungeon’s second room, he thought to himself of how far he had really come in this game. From the first death not far from Toronbo Shores, through the misery of the Tail Cave, to the unique boss fight in Catfish Maw, he was becoming quite the fan of the Legend of Zelda. Within weeks he had the urge to play all the games in the series, and wait, wasn’t there another game coming out soon on Nintendo’s newest system? Taking a hit from a wizzrobe, he refocused on the task at hand…

Way down the Atlantic coastline, it was an oppressively hot night, perhaps the hottest of the year. Emily Perkins thought it was wonderful. After all she had spent the day at the beach soaking up the sun, making sand castles, and wading in the Atlantic Ocean. Now she was spending the night playing her old Nintendo Entertainment System. For months she had heard the stories about just how difficult “The Legend of Zelda” Adventure of Link,” was, and seeing as she had become quite the Zelda fan, defeating “A Link to the Past” and “Link’s Awakening” many times, she felt it was time to give the game a try. Her room was evidence of her standing as a Zelda fan, as her dresser area was pretty much a monument to Princess Zelda. She was Emily’s favorite character, and she had drawings, pictures, action figures, and other items of the princess there. She even had a replica of Princess Zelda’s dress that she had worn for Halloween the previous year. Reading the text boxes of the game, Emily came to realize that Princess Zelda had been placed under a spell by a mysterious evildoer. Now she was upset, and was immersed into a quest of whacking that evildoer into submission to save her favorite character. “But man!” she thought, this game is tough. My brother probably couldn’t beat this game…

“Why do I always have to walk the dog? It’s hotter than the dickens on here.”

This was the thought going through Ashley Messner’s mind on this early evening. After all, it was another extremely hot day in the desert southwest and she was not one to like excessive heat. Sweat was pouring from her face and armpits. The sunlight was shining brightly onto the crystal pendant she wore around her neck. She tried not to think about the dog or the heat, but rather about the party she would be going to tonight. As she made the turn around the bend for home she noticed that the mail truck was pulling down the street having dropped her family’s mail for the day. Already outside, she figured she would get it.

Rummaging quickly through the mail as she let her dog inside, she noticed that one of the letters was addressed to her, and it was from Nintendo of America.

“It’s probably Nintendo Power, mailing to confirm my new subscription I opened last week.” She thought to herself. After all, she was an avid fan of virtually all things Nintendo. She was an especially big fan of the Mario, Zelda, and Kirby franchises. Ashley played virtually all of the great games of the middle 1990’s, like Donkey Kong Country 2 and 3, Super Mario RPG, Super Mario 64, Starfox 64, and many more. She had finished both Goldeneye 007 and Banjo-Kazooie within the past month and was now waiting on the new Legend of Zelda game to come out.

But the letter had nothing to do with the subscription. In fact, it was about something totally different, a potential once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The letter read:

August 2, 1998

Dear Ms. Messner,

We would like to thank you for being one of our most loyal subscribers over the past few years and for being an avid consumer of our products and games. We would also like to bring to your attention something that will almost certainly interest you. About a week ago, the Japan-based design team for the newest adventure in the Legend of Zelda series, “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time,” came to me with a plan to let our subscribers in on something that has never been done before in the history of NOA. We are inviting 8 of our most loyal subscribers to our headquarters in Redmond, Washington for a special gaming session with the design team of Ocarina of Time. You, Ms. Messner, have been invited to take an expenses-paid trip to our Redmond headquarters to meet the design team (including Zelda masterminds Shigeru Miyamoto and Masuro Iwata) and to play and own the game months before anybody else, along with several other goodies that we will save for later mention. The date of this special session is August 16, 1998. We hope that you will join us for what will certainly be a groundbreaking and massively fun experience.

Sincerely,

NOA_Shaun
Vice President of Marketing and Publicity
Nintendo of America

“Oh…my…gosh. I’m going to…Nintendo?!” Ashley thought to herself before bursting out with cheer. Never in her whole life did she feel more excited than she did now. Yet little did she know what she and her new friends-to-be from the east were getting themselves into.



Chapter 2: Disaster in the Treehouse

“I cannot believe I just got to meet Shigeru Miyamoto!” Arthur Miller said as he walked out of the screening room. “He is such a cool guy. Even though he hardly speaks our language it was so great to talk with the mastermind of the Zelda franchise.”

“Yeah Arthur, that was pretty darn sweet!” said Eric Echols, another of the invitees. “This trip has just been awesome. We’ve gotten to see virtually everything there is to see at Nintendo, and we’ve gotten some awesome stuff. This Game Boy Color they gave me is pimpin!”

“Eric,” Arthur asked. “Exactly where are you from?”

Eric answered. “I’m from Minneapolis, Minnesota. We live in a residential neighborhood not far from the city. What about you?”

“Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Or actually, about 10 miles southwest of Philadelphia.” Arthur answered. I love it there, its such a great city.”

“So you’re from Philadelphia huh?” said Stephen Bischoff. “We’ve got a bit of a rivalry between each other then because I’m from Pittsburgh.”

“Pittsburgh?” Arthur answered. “Heck no, Pennsylvania Power baby!”

Arthur and Stephen pumped fists as another invitee came out of the screening room.

“Hey Arthur, I suppose cheesesteaks are your favorite food then right?” the invitee said.

“Yeah, actually that’s true, I love cheesesteak sandwiches. How did you know? By the way, who are you and where are you from.”

The girl walked toward Arthur with the other two girls (Ashley and Emily) on her flank. “My name is Melanie Schulteis. I lived in Philadelphia for 9 years before I moved to my current home in Denver, Colorado. Everybody in Philly loves cheesesteaks, we don’t have them in Denver.”

“Or in Phoenix,” added Ashley Messner.

“Or in Miami” added Emily Perkins.

“That’s too bad.” Arthur said. “I think they are the best food on earth.”

“Not better than pickles.”

Everybody assembled turned around to see NOA_Shaun behind them holding a bunch of pickle jars along with the keys to the testing room. “Pickles make the world go round. They’ve especially good when you eat them with ketchup and mustard. Andy! Make sure these people go home with plenty of Seattle pickles!”

“Shaun, consider it done” NOA_Andy said. “Just don’t forget that you answer to me. Think about that before you demand that I do anything again.”

Shaun has a flustered look as some of invitees chuckled in the background. Shaun shook it off and led the 6 invitees (two obviously didn’t show up) into the Nintendo of America Treehouse.

“This is what we call the Treehouse, it is our elite game testing facility here at Nintendo of America.” Shaun said. “5 days a week, our game testers and developers work in this area testing our games for bugs. Their work is fairly integral to what we do as a company. Obviously, now that normal working hours have ceased, this place is mostly empty, and this is where our secret gaming session will take place. I am sure that all of you have heard of the new Zelda game, Ocarina of Time, have you not?”

All assembled nodded their heads in assurance. Shaun went on to explain the multi-vision TV’s in the room and the 6 game consoles with the games playing. Each of them was in a different phase of the game, one in the Deku Tree, another in Lord Jabu-Jabu’s Belly, another in the Ice Cavern, etc.

“I have to warn you, our testers and developers have worked on the game extensively, but there might still be some programming bugs in the game. If you encounter any, just be sure to tell me, Andy, or Taylor about it.”
With that Shaun told the 6 to have at it, and the invitees took to the floor of the Treehouse like the proverbial kids in the candy store. The warrior pickle did not know it yet, but his last sentence echoed more futility than the Seattle Seahawks.

What seemed like hours passed, and the evening began to pass into nighttime in the Emerald City.

“Taylor.” Shaun said. “We’re going to need more pizza and pickles up in the Treehouse. Make it snappy!”

Finally, a shout came from Ashley’s vicinity. “I’m on the final battle!”

All of the other invitees crowded around Ashley’s console and television. They didn’t want to miss this. Ashley thought this was incredible, she was the first non-Nintendo employee in the entire world to fight Ganondorf in 3D. Behind her several of the others, especially Arthur, were jealous. Being the expert Nintendo gamer that she was, Ashley quickly found Ganondorf’s weak point with the energy and the light arrows. She took a few hits here and there, but for the most part, Ganondorf was failing and was about to go down for the count. But that’s when Ganondorf changed tactics and went with his black balls of energy as opposed to his normal yellow ones. Within seconds, lightning bolts of energy filled the chamber, and Ashley struggled to hang on. She figured if he did that again she would jump down to get some hearts.

Then something strange happened. Ganondorf took his focus of off Link, looking straight at the front of the screen. It as if he was looking straight at Ashley, right at the crystal pendant dangling from her neck. He charged up another back ball of energy, and Ashley made Link jump down as planned. However, the screen didn’t follow Link, he jumped off screen while the focus remained on Ganondorf. The invitees were bewildered by the game’s sudden change of screens.

Arthur shouted to Shaun, “I think we may have found a bug. The screen isn’t changing.”

Ganondorf fired the black energy forward, not at Link, but right at the front of the screen. Without warning, Ashley, Arthur, and the others felt a strong suction force tugging on them, and before they knew it, they were pulled off their feet. All felt a nasty blow to the backs of their heads as they blacked out.

When the 6 woke up, they were laying in the middle of a vast field next to a wide river. Wondering what the heck happened, they noticed some fish-like people swimming in the river. When Arthur and Melanie recognized them as those of the Zora race, the truth fell on them like a 10-ton boulder. They were inside the game, and the land of Hyrule lay in front of them…

Chapter 3: The Road to Hyrule Castle Town

All 6 of the former invitees-turned sudden inhabitants of Hyrule looked out on Hyrule Field. The grasslands spread out in all directions around them, with only a wide river on the right of them and a large walled structure way out in the distance to the west. And aside from the Zoras in the river, there was not a soul in the area. Worse yet, none of them had any idea of how the heck they got into Hyrule, or how in the world they were going to get out.

Arthur took the lead and decided to talk to the Zoras in the river.

“Uhh, hello.” Arthur said to the Zora.

The Zora turned around, somewhat bewildered by the presence of another person in the remote stretch of East Hyrule Field. “Hello, and who might you be?” the Zora asked.

“My name is Arthur Miller. Me and my traveling companions ended up here by mistake.” He extended his hand to the Zora, who looked somewhat confused.

“ I would say so.” The Zora said. “There isn’t anything of note out here, and you all look very lost. Are you from the city?”

Arthur was about to respond to the Zora but Ashley moved in front of him to speak. “Excuse me,” Ashley asked. “but who exactly are you?”

“My name is Niku. I am one of the Zora race, from the Zora’s Domain to the far east of here. I serve the royal family of Hyrule as an agent to protect the sacred waterway known as Zora’s River.” Studying the physical characteristics of the adventurers, Niku noticed something alarming, their ears were not long and pointy like that of Hylians. In addition, the guys in the group were wearing tighter-fitting and more elaborate clothing than normal hylians, while the girls were clad in pants. They certainly weren’t hylians because hylian girls only wore skirts and dresses. But if they weren’t hylians, who could they be?

“You guys aren’t from this world are you?” Niku asked.

“No we are not.” Ashley answered.

“Where did you come from if you aren’t from Hyrule?”

Emily Perkins stepped forward from the back. “Something really weird happened. We were playing a game, and somehow we got sucked inside the game into this world. A vile sorcerer was behind it. He looked straight at my friend Ashley and then sent out some electrical charge at us. Before we knew what happened, we were laying in the field here.”

Suddenly, Niku’s facial expression turned somewhat bleak. “Was it a tall man dressed in black garb with a gray cape that hailed from the Gerudo Valley?”

“Yes.” About 4 of the adventurers replied at once.

“I knew it!” Niku shouted. “ I knew the princess was right! For weeks people have been calling her names because of her prophecies about that man.”

“The princess?” Emily asked.

“Princess Zelda, the daughter of the King of Hyrule, has been saying for weeks that Ganondorf would turn his back on the King and attempt to take over the land of Hyrule. And now, he has dragged all of you here from the outside world! But for what? I really have no idea what he could be seeking from all of you. Whatever it is, it isn’t good, it must be part of his plan. All of you need to see the Princess at once. She probably knows more about why you have been drawn into this realm. She resides inside Hyrule Castle, which lies well to the northwest of here. I’ll send word on the waterway to Impa that you are coming.”

“Impa?” Melanie asked.

“Impa is the Hyrulian Sage of Shadow, as well as Princess Zelda’s attendant. She will meet you in the center of Hyrule Castle Town to get you past the Knights guarding the front of the center. Do not fear the knights, they are only there to protect the castle and will do you no harm.”

“Uhh, Niku,” Arthur said, “How exactly do we reach Hyrule Castle Town?”

“If you travel just a little bit away from the river, you’ll reach a wide dirt path. That dirt path is one of Hyrule’s biggest land highways. It runs between Kokiri Forest in the south and Hyrule Castle Town in the north. If you turn right onto that dirt path you’ll be in the city in no time.”

Before Arthur could ask any more questions, Niku had dived back into the river and was gone. The 6 adventurers were stuck once again. Seeing as they still had no idea why they had been taken to Hyrule or how to get out, they figured that following Niku’s advice and seeing the Princess was their best option. Hopefully, Zelda would know something that could help get them out.

“We’re going to see the Princess!” Emily shouted. “I can’t believe it, I’m actually going to meet the Princess of Hyrule! This is too cool. Aren’t you excited Stephen?”

Stephen Bischoff just stared at Emily incredulously.

It was a swelteringly hot day in northeastern Hyrule Field, hot enough that the group had begun to complain about the heat. Worse yet, the zora hadn’t told them where to find Impa, or even what she looked like. Only Eric Echols had played the section of Ocarina of Time where Link crossed paths with Impa, and her image was only on the fringes of his mind at the present time. The dirt got into their shoes and infiltrated the air as the group walked on the dirt path.

“It’s like the dust bowl.” Eric Echols said.

“A few more days like this and it could be.” Melanie Schulteis concurred.

What was worse is that the afternoon began to turn into night, and the group still wasn’t anywhere near the city. Their legs were beginning to hurt from the freakishly long walk across Hyrule Field. Finally, just as the sun was about to drop below the horizon, the city came into view across the field. Only a few miles away from the city, the group began to feel relief, only to find out one of Hyrule Field’s well documented treacheries firsthand.

Stalchildren.

Three stalchildren popped out from the ground in front of them. Instantly they swung their bony arms to attack those in the group. Arthur and Eric, being the oldest and strongest in the group, worked to isolate the stalchildren from the rest of the group. Emily in particular was scared by their sudden appearance and began to cry. Before long, the group was in a full run across the field toward the outskirts of Hyrule Castle Town. More stalchildren popped up as they made their way across the field, and Arthur resorted to ripping a bone off of one of the stalchildren just to gain an attack weapon. Once he had this, it was much easier for him to fend off the stalchildren. Ashley, who was the only one in the group who had formal training in how to fight, began to use her strong punching and kicking tactics against the stalchildren, who collapsed fairly easily upon impact.

Finally, they reached the drawbridge at the south end of Hyrule Castle Town. After a tightrope-like walk across the chains on the sides of the drawbridge, the members of the group jumped down into the south end of Hyrule Castle Town. Just as a small spritz of rain began to fall on the cobblestone streets, a solitary figure approached them from the north.

“Welcome to Hyrule Castle Town, children of the opposite realm. The royal family awaits you.”



Chapter 4: Trading Prophecies

Impa led the group across the moat of Hyrule Castle, and into the castle courtyard. A few of the Hylian Knights were there, and at the end of the courtyard were two children, one dressed in a white and purple dress, the other in a green tunic. The group members instantly recognized them as Zelda and Link. Not only would they get to meet Zelda, they would also get to see Link in person too!

Impa beckoned to them. “It appears that the princess is meeting with the boy from the forest. If you all could go back into the other room for a few minutes that would be splendid.”

From the other chamber of the courtyard, the members of the group could see that Zelda and Link were discussing something very important. Their facial expressions showed concern. Both of them took turns looking inside the window at the end of the courtyard that led into the throne room. Finally, Zelda gave a letter of sorts to Link and he went over to Impa, where she played some sort of Ocarina melody for Link. Then Link and Impa departed the courtyard, leaving only Zelda in the courtyard.

Emily Perkins had waited long enough. She practically ran across the courtyard toward Zelda and just about jumped on her. “Oh my gosh! I can’t believe I’m actually seeing you in person. I’m like your number one fan of all-time! I don’t know how I got here but I don’t really care!”

Zelda was flattered and yet, confused at the same time. “I’m sorry, but who exactly are you?”

Arthur quickly noticed that Emily was about to blow their cover with the Knights, so he quickly moved behind Emily and pulled her away from Zelda and gave her a scolding for her sudden actions. Emily was upset with Arthur, her moment was being ruined.

“I’m truly sorry your majesty, we must have embarrassed you.” Arthur said to Zelda. “I don’t know if you have heard of us or our story yet, but we are the group from the outside world. All six of us. Through a mistake of sorts, we ended up in Hyrule.”

“I got that feeling when this one over here (Zelda motions in Emily’s direction) started jumping up and down that you were the ones. I have heard much about your arrival, and in all seriousness, I don’t think I have ever had anybody greet me in such a manner before. Most people in this land of Hyrule think I am either spoiled or mean and do not hold me in such high regard. But enough about me, I’ve forgotten to formally introduce myself. As I am sure you know already, I am Zelda, Princess of Hyrule. What are your names?”

They went around in a circular fashion starting with Emily.

“Emily Perkins.”

“Stephen Bischoff.”

“Melanie Schulteis”

“Ashley Messner.”

“Eric Echols.”
“And what about you, the strong one who I’d say is the leader of your group?”

“My name is Arthur Miller.”

“Arthur,” Zelda said, “Tell me exactly how it is that you traveled to the land of Hyrule.”

Arthur started, “Your majesty, we were inside the testing room of the Nintendo of America Treehouse. Nintendo is the video game company that was the brains behind the creation of the land of Hyrule and the adventures of the people that inhabit it. We were invited to a special screening of the newest Hyrulian adventure game, called Ocarina of Time.”

“Ocarina of Time?” Zelda asked confused. “Do you mean, this?” Zelda reaches under the hem of her dress, then pulls out a blue ocarina with a triforce insignia on it.

“Yes, I think that is it.” Arthur said. “According to the adventure, that Ocarina is a key treasure of the Hyrulian royal family is it not?”

“Indeed it is.” Zelda said. “Continue, I’m intrigued by your story.”

Arthur continued, “We were playing the game for what seemed like hours, journeying through the very land where we now stand. Finally, Ashley over here reached the final battle of the game, pitting Link against Ganondorf inside the top of a giant tower.”

Ashley continued, “I was playing as Link, attempting to defeat Ganondorf. I was winning the battle for most of the way, until he blasted me with an energy blast. I then jumped down to the lower level to replenish my life, when Link just jumped off the screen. It was a big mistake in the game, as that should never happen. When this happened, Ganondorf just stared at me through the screen, then shot one of his black energy blasts at the front of the screen. We were engulfed by it, and the next thing we knew, we were in the land of Hyrule.”

Eric spoke next, “We ended up somewhere in Hyrule Field, between Hyrule Route 1 and Zora’s River. A Zora by the name of Niku directed us to your attendant Impa, who brought us here.”

Zelda looked very bewildered by all of this information. She attempted to separate the important from the superfluous. “So it was Ganondorf that brought all of you here. I just knew there was something about that man. I was just telling the boy from the forest a few minutes before you came that he is plotting to take over the land of Hyrule, and now he’s dragged all of you here! But why would he use his power to take people from the outside wor-“

Zelda suddenly notices something on Ashley’s neck. A white medallion hung from her neck. Zelda’s face started beaming with almost incredible radiance.

“I’m sorry, but may I see your medallion?” Zelda said.

“Sure.” Ashley said, a bit puzzled at Zelda’s request.

Zelda studied the whitish medallion and continued to look at it with increasing vigor. “What is this?” Zelda asked Ashley.

“That, that’s the American eagle.” Ashley responded.

“No, on the other side.”

“I’m not exactly sure. It’s some kind of cool inscription of lines.”

Zelda looked Ashley straight in the face. “Do you know anything about the power of the Hylian bird?” Ashley looked puzzled as Zelda continued. “This medallion that you wear, it has the inscription of the Hylian bird on it. This mythical creature only appears when one who possesses the Triforce is combined with the one who bears its medallion, the one that you currently wear. The bird has been known to carry out the wishes of the one who possesses the Triforce. If what you say about your arrival in Hyrule is true, this means that Ganondorf must desire control of the Hylian bird. Why he desires this, I have no idea, and I do not wish to know.”

“So,” Arthur said, “Ganondorf desires to obtain the Triforce, and then take control of the reborn Hylian bird for his evil plans?! And he brought us here for that very reason?!”

“Precisely.” Zelda said. “But there is more to the myth of the Hylian bird. It has been said that when the white bird medallion is combined with the other bird medallions that lie in the land of Hyrule, the powers of the bird can be used to open up passages through the void of the realm. This is how I suspect we can return all of you to your world, by combining your medallion with those of this world to open the passageway through the Sacred Realm.”

Everybody looked completely exasperated by what Zelda had just said to them. There was silence for quite a while. Finally, Melanie spoke.

“So, where is it that these medallions lie?”

“The bird medallions, there are 6 in all, one for each race that inhabits the land of Hyrule. You’ll find them in the homelands of the different races.

One in a bustling city…
One in a deep forest…
One on a tall mountain…
One in a cavernous waterworld…
One in a sandy desert…
One in a village of shadows…

Together, with the power of the hylian bird, they can allow anybody to transit the Sacred Realm to wherever they desire. Follow your heart, and your knowledge of the land of Hyrule to seek out the peoples of this land and find what you are looking for. When you have found your targeted keepsakes, I will be waiting for you.” Zelda signaled to Impa, and Impa came over to her. They discussed something privately for a brief minute before Zelda said farewell to the group.

Impa took the group out in front of Hyrule Castle, where she spoke with a stern voice. “You might be reeling by what the princess had to say earlier, but the fact of the matter is, you have all been brought to the land of Hyrule by a despicable man who aims to destroy the land of Hyrule. He has dragged all of you into the middle of a terrible plot to capture the triforce and unleash the wrath of the Hyrulean bird. I am truly sorry, none of you deserve the hardships that are to come. The least I can do is prepare you for what is ahead. The land of Hyrule is a dangerous place. You must keep your wits about you at all times, for you never know what is lurking ahead. I understand that you had a run in with the stalchildren last night in Hyrule Field. Those kind of ambushes are frequent in many areas of Hyrule, so make sure you stay together, and if the need arises, fight together as a unit. The medallions you are seeking lie in various areas of this land, all connected by the vast Hyrule Field. The first one you should seek is the Hylian Medallion, and you can obtain it by going to see the Great Fairy of Hyrule Castle.”

Impa presented those in the group with some more advanced weaponry, then showed them the way to the Great Fairy. One by one, they ventured into the fountain…

Chapter 5: Food and Fun

“This just keeps getting weirder,” Stephen Bischoff said as he brushed the dirt off of his clothes. “Now we are on some wild goose chase around the land of Hyrule looking for these bird medallions. How are we supposed to pull this off?”

“Look at the bright side,” Melanie Schulteis replied back, “We are getting the chance of a lifetime. How many people have played Zelda games and killed for the chance to explore the land of Hyrule themselves? Now we are doing just that. I can’t wait to see what else there is to see in this vast country, it’s so cool! And Impa gave us all these neat weapons. I’m actually going to fight with a sword!”

“I hear you Melanie.” Arthur Miller said firmly. “However, we have to keep our eyes on the goal. With any luck, to find these bird medallions we will end up seeing all ends of Hyrule anyway. And yes, the swords and other weapons granted to us by the royal family will help us immensely.”

“So, do we play the melody Impa taught us?”

“Yes.”

Melanie took out her brownish colored ocarina, newly granted to her by Impa. Remembering the song that Impa had played for them, she played the notes of Zelda’s Lullaby. A few seconds later, the Great Fairy of Hyrule Castle appeared from underneath the waters of the fountains with her trademark scream.

“Uh, is that…the Great Fairy?” Stephen said with puzzlement.

“Man is she hideous.” Melanie mumbled under her breath.

“Welcome. I am the Great Fairy of Magic,” bellowed the Great Fairy. “I understand that you have come from the outside realm and are seeking the medallions of the Hylian bird. Such as you are, new messengers of the Royal Family of Hyrule, I will assist you all in your quest.”

The Great Fairy opened her arms and some mist-like particles sprayed out from her, engulfing those in the group. Wooziness began to set in, especially for Stephen and Melanie, the two shorter and smaller members of the group. This soon passed, and a few seconds later, everybody raised their hands into the air, as if in exultation. It was as if an incredible feeling of sorts had come over them.

The Great Fairy beckoned to them. “You now have the ability to possess and use magical techniques. Each of you, for the duration of your time in the land of Hyrule can now perform feats that were impossible in your previous world. Although all of you will be able to utilize Hyrulian magic, the magic spell I just gave to you works differently for each person. Some of you may find that you can walk across lava, while others of you could possess the ability to stay underwater without having to breathe. You will find these abilities much to your benefit in your quest. You will find the Hylian Medallion somewhere in Hyrule Castle Town Market, in a place where treasure chests are plentiful. A place where a few rupees and the right path could turn into a fortune.”

“When your are weary, please come back to see me.” With that, the great fairy plunged back beneath the waves of the fountain.

“Arthur,” Stephen said. “Do you think we can actually use magic?”

“If it happened to Link, why not us?” Arthur took out his sword and charged up a swinging swordspin. He noticed that his sword started glowing blue, then red. He released it and spun, and the sword released a large circle of energy.

“Cool!!” Yelled Melanie and Ashley.

“I guess it works.” Arthur said in awe of what he just did.

By the time the group left the fairy fountain, it was getting close to sunset. Nobody in the group had anything to eat all day, and they were starving. On the west end of Hyrule Castle Town, they found a nice spot near the Bombchu Bowling Alley that served large helpings of Hyrulian cucco. Plunking down a few rupees they had found in the bushes near Hyrule Castle, they chowed down in the square of the city while watching the sunset. The cucco was undercooked and not as good as the chicken they were used to, but was darn good for the medieval world they now called home.

“I wonder how Link goes without eating all the time.” Emily said to Arthur.

“I…don’t have any idea how he pulls that off,” Arthur said. “He’s a superhuman freak of nature. I don’t think he ever goes to the bathroom either.”

“Ewww…gross,” echoed Stephen and Melanie.

Arthur ignored them. “So, how about we find that medallion?” he asked to the group.

Ashley responded first. “The Great Fairy mentioned something about a place where a few rupees can turn into a bunch, and something about treasure chests.”

“Hmmm, treasure chests. Does that mean that we should go over there?” Arthur said as he pointed at the Treasure Chest Shop.

The group headed over to the treasure chest shop, which had just opened for business. The man at the desk asked for 10 rupees, and Ashley paid. She was given a key and headed into the next room. Two treasure chests were in the room, one on the right and one on the left. Intuitively, she picked the left one, and a key was inside. Delighted at he correct pick, she went into the next room, where she again correctly picked the left chest. Upon entering the next room, she noticed that the room walls were no longer green, but rather blue, signifying that a loss would net her a blue rupee (5 rupees) as opposed to a green one (1 rupee). She remembered what the Great Fairy had said, and knew she was in the right place. Luckily for Ashley, she was on a roll, as she correctly picked the right chest in the 3rd room, then the left chest in the 4th room. Walking into the 5th room, she noticed the walls were red, signifying that she was one room away from the big prize. Praying that she would find the final key, she opened the right side chest.

A red rupee sat in the chest. She cursed and screamed at how close she came, only to miss.

Regrettably, when Arthur and Eric took their turns, they did not even get past the first room finding green rupees in the chests they opened. Melanie then tried, but she lost in the third room. With their rupees running out, those in the group knew they had to win on one of the next two tries. Stephen Bischoff plunked down ten rupees and took his turn.

Once in the first room, he noticed his vision becoming a bit blurry thanks to the colors all over the wall. He pulled out his lenses to help him see. That’s when he noticed something really strange. When he put them on, he was able to see through the treasure chests to reveal their contents without opening them. Stunned at this sudden capability, he rushed over the chest on the left and took the key inside. The rest of the way through, he smartly tried not to make it obvious that he could see through the chests, mulling over the chests in each room before correctly picking each one. Before long, he was in the gold painted room at the end of the shop. There was a large treasure chest in the middle of the room. Stephen opened it, and inside was a yellow bird-shaped medallion. Slowly, he slipped the Hylian Medallion around his neck.

Everybody in the group cheered when Stephen returned with the medallion. The man behind the desk congratulated Stephen on his victory, and hurried back into the gold room to replenish the victory chest with a purple rupee. Everybody in the group walked out onto the dark streets with their chests out and their spirits high. The first bird medallion was theirs, and by all accounts, their first day in Hyrule was pretty darn cool. They had seen Hyrule Castle, talked to Princess Zelda, come within a room of meeting Link, seen most of Hyrule Castle Town while dining on prominent Hyrulian cuisine, and had some fun while earning the first medallion. It couldn’t have gone any better.

The group crashed that night at the Magic Jar Inn. At the crack of dawn, they would be headed southbound for the desert.


Chapter 6: Loyal Steeds and Female Thieves

Day 2 in Hyrule started at 06:00 in the morning, when the group pushed out of Hyrule Castle Town. Everybody was in extremely good spirits after how they had taken the Hylian Medallion by essentially playing a game and having fun. Just before daybreak, they took the main dirt path southward out of Hyrule Castle Town. The information signs at the split just south of town indicated that it was about fifteen miles to Lon Lon Ranch, a long distance to walk. There had been some bickering as to whether they would do all of their traveling on foot, but realizing that the land of Hyrule was considerably more vast in person than in the game, Arthur and Ashley decided that they would head to Lon Lon in the hopes that Malon would have some horses to spare.

It was another sunny day in Hyrule Field, the temperature increasing at a fairly rapid pace throughout the morning. Around 10:00, the group reached Lon Lon Ranch’s northern entranceway. They walked into the ranch, and noticed Talon’s residence on the left and the cow/horse stables on the right. Ingo was the first person they saw. He looked all messy and was in a bad mood, in fact, he walked right past them without even acknowledging them. A few minutes later, they found Malon as she was carrying jugs of milk out of the cow stables. Arthur immediately approached her.

“Hello, and who might you be?” asked Malon.

“My name is Arthur. My friends and I were wondering if you could spare us any of your horses.”

“Hmm. You’ll have to talk with my father Talon. He’s in the house training his super cuccos. The horses belong to him, plus you’ll have to prove your talents in riding them before we can loan one to you.”

It was a short walk into Talon’s residence.

“So you want to take a few of our horses for a trip across Hyrule huh?” asked Talon. “Where is it that you want to go?”

Arthur explained the whole situation of the group, about how they had came from the outside world and were brought into Hyrule by mistake. He went on to reveal that they had gone straight to Princess Zelda and how she told them about the Hylian bird and the bird medallions.

“It is the bird medallions that we seek. It is our only chance of returning to our world.”

“That sounds grave.” Talon said. “Ganondorf can be such a vile man sometimes, and it is terrible that he has dragged you here. We have several horses that are strong and can be of great assistance to you if you are going to traveling all over Hyrule. Malon will show them to you and if you are competent enough then we will let you have them for as long as you are here.”

“Thank you so much Mr. Talon.” Said Arthur.

“One more thing. If it is bird medallions you are looking for, you might want to check the desert to the west. The people out there have another of the medallions.”

“Really?” asked Arthur.

“Yeah, but just be careful crossing into Gerudo Valley. The gerudos are a race of thieves, and they don’t take kindly to men.”

Malon took them to the back and administered a riding test to some in the group. Hailing from horse country in Colorado, Melanie Schulteis was an absolute pro. Before long, her steed was galloping at a fierce pace around the ranch. When she had the horse come to a stop in front of Malon, Malon was impressed.

“You are very accomplished at riding young lady.” Malon said. “I only wish I could ride like that.” Melanie thanked Malon for her comment, after which she continued. “Who else is looking to ride?”

A few others in the group failed miserably. Emily Perkins and Stephen Bischoff struggled just getting on the horse, and Eric Echols had a bigger problem, he couldn’t get the horse to slow down. Ingo had to grab the horse’s saddle as it ran by in order to slow it down and stop. Needless to say, he was not certified to ride. Luckily the two leaders of the group, Arthur Miller and Ashley Messner, performed very well and passed with flying colors. Remembering his training from the camp he once went through at Pimlico Racetrack in Baltimore, Arthur and the horse worked beautifully together. Despite limited experience, Ashley was a quick learner, and knew how hard to push the horse.

In the end, horses were granted to Ashley, Arthur, and Melanie, and the rest would have to ride behind at Malon and Talon’s decree. Arthur was amazed that they just let them borrow the three horses. He was sure that they would have to pay a great deal of rupees for them, rupees that they simply did not have.

“What a loser that old guy was,” Arthur told Ashley while on horseback. “He just let us walk off with his property as if it was nothing. Did you notice how lazy that guy was?”

Ashley replied, “Yeah, he wasn’t the swiftest mover or worker. The daughter had things more in order than he did, and she can’t be more than 10 or 11 years old.”

Arthur and Ashley continued to chat at the front of the group as Emily and Eric rode shotgun behind them. According to the wooden information signs, they were now on Hyrule Route 4, a wide dirt path connecting Lon Lon Ranch with Gerudo Valley. By this time, it was early afternoon, and the heat was growing ever more oppressive. For that reason, they took it easy on their newfound animals. As they continued westward down the path, the grasslands began to turn into dry scrub, then into sandy terrain. By the time they reached the canyon at Zora’s River, it was a desert wasteland of sorts.

“What a deep canyon!” Melanie shouted. Her voice echoed off of the canyon and came back at her.

“Yeah, I suppose we have to cross this bridge. Just don’t look down.” Said Ashley.

There were several gerudos at the other side of the bridge. Presumably they were guards, but none of them seemed to care about the group as they came across the bridge. That is, until they saw Arthur leading his horse at the front of the group. Then some of the guards started grabbing their weapons. Remembering what Talon had said about the gerudo, Arthur began to get nervous. His nervousness turned into panic when several gerudo guards mounted their horses and persued them.

“Ashley! Melanie!” Arthur yelled. “Get your horses moving! We’ve got people right on us!”

The gerudos persued the group westward along the route, eventually leading them into the Gerudo Fortress. Eventually, they ran into a blockade of gerudos on horseback near the gate leading into the Haunted Wasteland and were surrounded. Arthur and Ashley both knew that they were in trouble, as did everybody else in the group.

“Take them away, all of them!” said one of the gerudos.

The gerudos swarmed around them and detained their horses, and once they got close to the fortress, Arthur noticed that they were being separated by gender. Ashley, Melanie, and Emily were taken away and led toward the upper level of the fortress. Meanwhile, Arthur, Eric, and Stephen were…the details are foggy. The next thing Arthur knew he was in a dark, dank room, tied by chain to the wall.

Chapter 7: Triple Threat Warfare

“Well, this is just great!” Arthur Miller yelled. He was visibly ticked off at the predicament he was in. He had no idea where any of the others were taken, and he was in a dark room inside a rock fortress in the desert. Just great, he thought to himself.

Time passed very slowly. Minutes seemed like hours as the day just wasted away. Finally, about five gerudos walked into his quarters and unlatched him from the wall. At their urging, he was taken back outside the fortress, then back down another passageway to the inside of the Gerudo Training Ground facility. They nudged him inside a large circular room with lots of weapons inside lying on the floor. Stephen and Eric were standing across the room, while Ashley, Melanie, and Emily were on a hanging balcony in the upper reaches of the room. Gerudos surrounded the exits of the room, and there were many of the fearsome female warriors present.

“What’s going on here?!” yelled Arthur. He wanted answers, and soon.

From out of the door on the right emerged a gerudo dressed in purple cloths. She had big, long hair and an excessive amount of makeup covered her face.

“Let the battle begin!” yelled the gerudo.

Stephen, Arthur, and Eric were pushed into the middle of the room by the other gerudos. They are started chanting and acting as if they wanted the three to start fighting each other.

Arthur was angry at their treatment. “If you want us to fight, we aren’t going to provide any entertainment, you sick freaks!”

The gerudo in charge put her hands in the air, and the other gerudos quieted down. She approached the three teenage boys. “Oh yes you will,” the gerudo said. “If you don’t, you are all going to regret it.”

“In what way?” asked Stephen.

“Here’s the deal. We are the gerudo, a race of female warriors and thieves. We hate men, and we do not allow them to traverse the reaches of our fortress. Men are useless pigs! Thus when you three walked into our domain, we had no choice but to detain all of you. However, one of your female companions suggested to me that one of you might actually possess good thieving skills. I do not believe it, but I appeased her ridiculous request. To find out, you three are going to fight each other right here, right now. If you don’t, it will prove your complete and utter uselessness and all three of you will be thrown over the cliff into Zora’s River.”

The three guys looked at each other incredulously.

“That’s what I thought. Get the battle going.”

Stephen took a deku stick on the floor and smashed it into Arthur’s knee before he could move, a great preemptive strike. Arthur crumpled to the floor as Eric came over to engage Stephen. Stephen picked up a blunted Gerudo Blade as did Eric, and the two began to swordfight. Eventually, the stronger and bigger Eric gained the upper hand and threw Stephen across the room into the fiery wall of the room. Stephen felt the burn all along his back, and it stung horribly. Eric got back up and put Stephen into a full nelson hold. Stephen yelped in pain as Eric put pressure onto his neck. He felt as if his neck was going to snap. Out of desperation, he swung his left leg backward right into Eric’s groin. Eric went down grabbing his crotch. Stephen slumped to the ground, grabbed a bomb off of the floor and lit it. Eric just barely moved in time to avoid the explosion.

Eric was mad. He overpowered Stephen quickly once again and got him into a nasty submission hold on the sandy ground floor. This time there was no escape, and Stephen was thinking about submitting. Before he could, Arthur came up from behind Eric and smashed an empty bottle into the back of his skull, shattering it. Eric went down as if he had been shot. Arthur turned back toward Stephen and threw a deku nut at him. The flash from the deku nut froze Stephen right in his tracks. Arthur picked Stephen up and press slammed him right into the hard floor on top of several bombs. Even worse, that caused the bombs to ignite, exploding all around Stephen. Arthur instantly felt remorse for what he had done to Stephen, but that thought quickly changed to that of pain as Eric smashed his left leg with a stick. Arthur fell down to his knees, and Eric got behind him for a bearhug hold. Arthur couldn’t get out of the hold, and before long, he felt the life seeping out of him. He could hardly breathe. Instinctively, he brought his head forward and bit Eric’s hand. Eric let out a vicious scream as he quickly released the hold. Arthur quickly seized control again, throwing a bottle right into Eric’s knee. The crack of the bottle hitting the kneecap was downright sickening to those that heard it, and the gerudos let out a fierce yell as it happened.

Arthur was determined to finish the battle. He lept up onto the table in the middle of the room and grabbed a hammer. He jumped at Eric, who barely avoided his swing. Eric punched Arthur right in the face on the reversal. Eric picked up a gerudo blade and swung it right at Arthur’s neck, but Arthur rolled around and executed a parry attack to the back of Eric’s head, wiping him out with the hammer. Eric crumpled to the ground within seconds, and Arthur was the winner of the battle. The last thing he remembered before wooziness hit him was drinking some red potion immediately after the battle. He blacked out as the other boys were carried out of the room.

The next thing Arthur knew, he was lying on a stone bed in front of the Spirit Temple. He immediately noticed Ashley, Melanie, and Emily surrounding him. They were all wearing gerudo clothing, which he thought was unusual, at least until he noticed that his own clothes had changed as well. His clothes closely matched that of Ganondorf’s.

“You look just like Ganondorf.” Said Ashley.

“And you…look just like Nabooru.” Said Arthur, still feeling a bit woozy. “What happened to everyone else.”

“The gerudos led us across the desert to the Desert Colossus,” Melanie said. “We explained our situation to the gerudos, and one of them mentioned that the Gerudo Medallion was out here somewhere, somewhere inside the Spirit Temple. They are allowing us to take it in return for all the fun they have had with us, particularly you Arthur. You were pretty cool during the whole clothing change.”

Arthur began to put two and two together, and suddenly felt violated.

The 4 in the group entered the Spirit Temple, only to have several pots rise up from the ground and hurl straight at them. Emily took one right on the kisser, knocking her back to the floor. Arthur helped her up, and before long, they stood in front of the Sage of Spirit, Nabooru.

Nabooru asked them, “Where do you think you are going?”

Ashley explained their situation to Nabooru, and explained that they were searching for the Gerudo medallion.

“You’ll find the medallion somewhere on the 2nd floor of the dungeon. What’s more is, if you look around in here, you’ll find lots more treasure somewhere within the temple, so be sure to look everywhere. I have a feeling our leader, Ganondorf, might be hiding valuables inside the temple.”

“Ganondorf is your leader?” Emily asked. He’s the one who made us come here in the first place. He sucked us into Hyrule.”

“Wait,” Nabooru said. “Are you all followers of Ganondorf?”

Arthur said, “No. We aren’t even from Hyrule. He trapped us in this world because he wants to harness the power of the Hylian bird. We are seeking out the bird medallions as they are our only means of escape. As for my clothing, it has been brought to my attention that your fellow gerudo friends had some…fun with me.” Ashley and Melanie giggle.

Ganondorf is a vile man. Even though we are both thieves and both of the same race, I will never trust that man. He has hurt many of his own subjects and inflicted pain on women and children for his own personal gain. Good. I’m glad to have met some people eager to get back at that man. I wish you luck finding the medallion, and when you come back down here, I will help you return through the wasteland.”

With that, the three girls one by one crawled through the small opening on the left side of the foyer (there was a heavy block sealing off the right side hallway), and then Arthur took his turn. He was almost too big to get through, he even got stuck at one point. Through some tough maneuvering, he was able to get through and the group was deep inside the temple. Two more hallways branched off on the sides, and a key door stood in front of them. Arthur and Ashley went to the left fork, Melanie and Emily went to the right. On the left, Arthur and Ashley saw a pit in the middle of the room, with a steel cage standing across the chasm. Melanie and Emily saw the same thing in their room. After thinking they were stuck for a minute, Arthur noticed a diamond-shaped switch on the floor behind the cage. Arthur took a bomb and hurled it hard across the gap. It exploded near the switch, causing the cage to fall and make a bridge across the chasm. Arthur crossed and grabbed the key out of a treasure chest on the other side. They went back and opened the key door.

Unfortunately for Arthur, behind the key door was another small passage that you had to crawl through. This time Arthur went first, and whenever he got stuck or found it hard to move, the smaller girls helped push him through. On the other side were several more rooms, but all were fairly simplistic in their puzzles. Before long, they reached a climbing wall leading them up to the 2nd floor. After solving another riddle using a bombchu, the four adventurers entered the main room of the temple.

The main room of the spirit temple was a room of gorgeous architecture. There were passages leading out in three directions via ramps, and an awesome two-story high statue of a gerudo with her hands out, almost as if to be meditating. Ashley and Emily were particularly awestruck at the greatness of the statue, and of the people that created it. Meanwhile, Arthur noticed something else. At the front of the statue laid a treasure chest with an information sign next to it. Arthur jumped down from the small ledge upon which they were standing and went to the sign, which read, “Gerudo Medallion, the treasure lies here.” Arthur excitedly opened the chest, and indeed, an orange medallion of the hylian bird lay inside. Arthur took the medallion and slid it around his neck just as he heard the girls scream to him.

“LOOK OUT!!!”

Arthur jumped behind the treasure chest in the nick of time. An explosion of fire and ice hit the ground right behind him.

“What in the heck was that?!” Arthur thought to himself. He would soon learn that the four of them were in for the fight of their lives.



Chapter 8: Hags Attack, Ducks Rescue

Arthur turned around and noticed two sorceress creatures on his periphery. They were both of short stature, and they looked to be extremely old. He ran back toward the three girls in the group as the two witches wound up another shot at him. These missed as he started to climb up the wall toward the rest of the group. He never made it up the wall because one of the witches flew right into him with her broomstick, knocking him hard to the rock floor. It was lucky that he was wearing the armored Ganondorf suit, otherwise the shot would have likely broken a few of his ribs.

The witch laughed. “Looks like we have ourselves some thieves Koume.”

The other witch chuckled. “Looks like it Kotake.”

Kotake approached the four in the group. “What a bold bunch of people to so brazenly infiltrate our temple and take our relic of the Hylian bird. And to have disguised themselves as Gerudos too, these people must think highly of themselves.”

Koume was upset. “And this young man, the leader. He choose to dress in the garb of the Great Ganondorf. Perhaps he idolizes him, but Ganondorf he is certainly not. We need to show these people that not just anybody can steal from us.”

Realizing that they had a battle on their hands, the three girls in the group quickly made a plan. Melanie and Emily would help out Arthur on the ground floor, while Ashley would go up to the top floor and attack with pots and anything else that was sitting up there. However, the battle got off to a bad start, as Emily got her head bashed by a shot from Koume’s broom. She fell down hard and her head migrained in the area where she was hit. Arthur saw this and was incensed. Arthur tried to attack with his sword, but Koume flew high outside his range. She shot a blast of fire at Arthur, which he dodged. He then tried to attack again, but the hags were simply out of range. After evading an ice blast from Kotake, he changed strategies and attempted to use his deku nuts. These were unsuccessful in stunning the witches, much to his chagrin.

While the battle inside the Spirit Temple was going on, on the other end of Gerudo Valley, Stephen and Eric were in a BIG predicament. They were tied up back to back and were surrounded by many gerudos on the bridge over Zora’s River Canyon. By this time, it was getting close to sunset.

“You two have truly proven the incompetence and ignorance displayed by men every minute of every day,” one of the gerudos said. “You are both worthless creatures existing only on leaching off of your female counterparts. As such, when women turn on you, what can you do? Nothing. It’s time to put an end to your worthlessness!”

Stephen shrieked, “Don’t throw us off! We aren’t even from here, we don’t have any gripe with you or anybody else!”

“Silence!” the gerudo yelled. “We’ve let you two exist in our valley domain long enough. Let the Zoras deal with you when you sink to the bottom of their precious river!”

The gerudo clapped her hands. Three gerudos stepped forward and pushed Eric and Stephen off of the bridge. Both let out a horrifying scream as they plummeted downward toward Zora’s River. But just then, something happened that had to be a miracle of the greatest kind. A large bird, no, actually a duck swooped down from the waterfall in the distance and flew fast along the water surface. Just as Eric and Stephen were about to plummet into the watery abyss, the duck caught them out of midair! Stunned by the impact, the two boys did not know where they were or what had happened as the duck continued to fly south down the river toward Lake Hylia. The gerudos on the bridge were in a state of shock, left gasping for air by what they had just witnessed.

“What…on earth…was that?!” the gerudos said, almost simultaneously.

Meanwhile, the battle in the Spirit Temple raged on. Emily was in really bad shape, having not only been hit in the head, but had also taken a shot of fire from Koume and had burns on her arms and chest. Melanie was exclusively protecting her by this point, hounding over while Arthur fought on the ground level. Arthur had tried every item he had, and nothing was working. Finally, he got an opening when Ashley dropped a bomb from above on top of Koume. Arthur rushed in to slash the hag, only to find that his adversary was impervious to sword attacks. Koume quickly recovered and punched Arthur hard, knocking him off of her. He was scared now, and both members of Twinrova knew it. They ganged up on him in the corner.

“Time to take him out, Koume.” Kotake said.

Kotake charged up a blast of ice and threw it at Arthur. He had nowhere to go, so he just threw his hands out in a pathetic attempt to stop the blast. A chilling cold engulfed him, but something felt weird. He was holding the ice in his hands, and although his frontward visibility was somewhat blurred from the blast he could see ice jumping backward toward Koume. She got drilled right in the face by the unexpected blast of ice and let out a scream upon getting hit.

“How, in the heck, did I do that?” Arthur thought to himself. Before he could answer his question, a furious Koume unleashed a blast of fire at him, which he once again was able to contain and shoot back at them, this time blasting right into Kotake’s midsection. She yelped in pain.

Just then, Ashley jumped down from above. “Arthur, I just tripped a switch up above. We should be able to escape!”

Indeed, the switch Ashley had tripped opened the door that had been locked on the ground level of the room opposite the giant Gerudo statue. With Koume and Kotake both still stunned by what Arthur had done to them, the four adventurers moved quickly through the door and down the subsequent hallway. Unfortunately, the hallway led to a dead end. There was a switch on the floor, but it was rusted. Arthur took out his hammer and started hammering away, but the switch would not budge. The girls started using their swords in a vain attempt to remove the rust. Nothing was working, and worse yet, the two witches were closing in on them fast. Seeing this, Arthur took a good look back at them, then swung his hammer as hard as he could. The switch finally tripped upon impact, and the floor gave way beneath the group. They descended into the room where they entered the temple, and Nabooru was still standing near the entrance of the temple.

“Run!” Ashley shouted to Nabooru. The Sage of Spirit was bewildered, but when she saw the witches descending from the upper floor, she spurred into action quickly. What ensued next was a desperate sprint out of the Spirit Temple and across the Desert Colossus. Arthur hung back and continued to block Twinrova’s ice and fire attacks while the rest of the group hurried across the sand with Nabooru. Eventually, a vicious sandstorm kicked up, and the hags decided they had enough. They failed to pursue the group into the winds and sand of the Haunted Wasteland. The Gerudo Medallion was at last safe.

Nabooru led the group back through the dangerous wasteland, an even tougher passage than earlier in the day because nightfall was descending upon the desert. But they got across fine, and emerged back at Gerudo Fortress, where they would crash that night.

“Kid, who were those witches?” Nabooru asked Arthur. “Why were they attacking us?”

“I don’t know who they were, probably some guardians of the temple. They attacked after I took this from the temple.” He shows Nabooru the Gerudo Medallion.

“So they went after you because you took their treasure. Great job. I am truly sorry for the way my people have treated you today. You are one of the greatest thieves I have seen in these parts for quite some time. Kid, you’ll have a field day in the rest of Hyrule, that’s for sure.”

Nabooru’s words circled his brain as he crashed. Day 2 in Hyrule was complete.

Chapter 9: The Beaches of Lake Hylia

“What…what are you?” asked Stephen.

The duck did not answer Stephen, it just went to work on the chains the had trapped Stephen and Eric. Within seconds, the two boys were able to break free. Upon rescuing the boys, the duck took the Hylian medallion around Stephen’s neck into its beak and bended its head down. The duck then gave the medallion back to Stephen, quacked loudly into the night, and left without another sound.

“Do you suppose the medallion I wear, the bird medallion of the Hylians…”

Eric cut Stephen off. “Absolutely.”

While the leaders of the group and the other girls stayed within the cozy environs of Gerudo Fortress on night 2, Stephen and Eric spent that night washed up and banged up on the delta of Zora’s River. Both of them were horribly sore and feeling pain from the vicious battle inside the Gerudo Training Ground. They collapsed in a heap right in the grass on the Zora’s River delta.

Back in Gerudo Valley, Arthur and Ashley both couldn’t sleep. They both had the same thing on their minds.

“Arthur, where are Stephen and Eric?” Ashley asked as she walked into Arthur’s quarters.

“I don’t have any idea Ashley, but I’m wondering the same thing. And I’m going to find out.”

In fact, it didn’t take Arthur long to realize that Stephen and Eric had been mistreated by the gerudos in some way. He remembered back to what the gerudo had said to the boys before their fight in the Gerudo Training Ground. A sudden burst of anger engulfed him as he ran outside the fortress. Without thinking, he jumped a random gerudo guarding the entrance to the Training Ground and threatened her at swordpoint.

“Where are the two boys?! What did you people do with them?!” Arthur yelled loudly in the dark, causing quite a commotion seeing as it was still 04:30, well before sunrise.

“Uhh, they’ve been tossed over into the river.” The gerudo said hurriedly.

“You swear you aren’t lying to me?”

“I swear, please let me go!”

Arthur shouted to Ashley. “Get the other girls up. Now! We’re outta here.

Within minutes, the group of four was riding horseback out of Gerudo Valley into Hyrule Field. Not long after leaving the desert they found an information sign next to a dirt path leading southbound, an information sign for Hyrule Route 7, the road connecting Gerudo Valley and Lake Hylia. The four in the group took off to the south down Route 7 with all speed. A few hours later at sunrise, they arrived on the northeastern beaches of Lake Hylia, the massive lake in the southwest of Hyrule. It also didn’t take them very long to find Stephen and Eric, who were about a half mile away sleeping in the grass near where Zora’s River emptied into the lake.

Arthur pinched Eric in the shoulder. He awoke with a groan as did Stephen when a few of the girls jumped on them. Happy to be reunited, the group decided that they would explore the lake area, but spend the majority of the day relaxing and letting their wounds heal. Heck, they already had the Hylian and Gerudo medallions in their possession after only two days.

“Why don’t we head into this building over here?” Ashley asked.

“Lake Hylia Lakeside Laboratory” read Stephen. Looks boring and mundane.

“Oh stop it Stephen, its probably a haven for fishes and sealife of all sorts, my specialty.” Said Emily. “I study the fish on many of my days back on the beaches of South Florida. I’m really interested to see what this place has got.”

With that, the group headed inside the Lakeside Laboratory. The old man in charge of the lab showed them around. He showed them the various sealife that the lab contained, and in doing so, probably learned more from Emily than she or anybody else learned from him. He even taught them the process of making Hyrulian eye drops from frogs. Near the end of the tour, Stephen was getting restless.

“So is there anything fun to do in this place, mister lab master?”

“Well” the old man said, “You could always check out the fishing pond on the other side of the lake. You’ll find all these fish over there, and some of them are quite fun to try and catch.”

Eric, being from the land of the ten thousand lakes, Minnesota, was quite intrigued. “Where exactly is this place?” he asked.

Arthur interrupted, “There’s a bridge behind this lab. Where does it lead?”

“That bridge leads out into the middle of the lake, to a secluded island. Beneath the island lies the Water Temple. It’s a really peaceful spot to go and just relax the day.”

“Water Temple?” Arthur asked. “You mean like one of the main temples of Hyrule?”

“Precisely,” the old man said. “The Zoras use it as a watery sanctuary. But its so far under the water’s surface, that only Zoras have been able to dive to the temple entrance.”

Remembering what the old man had said, Arthur and the rest of the group headed out on the wooden rope bridge over Lake Hylia to the island. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, perfectly sunny without a cloud in the sky.

“Do you suppose the Zora Medallion could be inside the Water Temple?” Arthur asked.

Emily answered him. “It’s likely, seeing as only they can get inside it supposedly, and it would be good protection for the medallion.”

Ashley interjected, “If I remember correctly, Princess Zelda mentioned something about a cavernous waterworld as the resting place of the medallion. And that might indeed be what she was talking about.”

As they reached the island, they noticed an opening at the base of the island well beneath the water surface. It looked to be about sixty feet under the water surface. Then the fun began. One by one, the six in the group attempted to dive underneath the water surface to reach the temple, but none were mildly successful. Arthur and Eric both struggled with the water pressure once underwater, while Melanie and Stephen had trouble with not breathing underwater. Ashley, the daredevil of the group, even tried to do what Sheik pulled off in Ocarina of Time and jumped from the top of the giant tree on the island into the water, hoping the momentum would carry her quickly to the bottom. But she hit the water at a poor angle, almost like a bellyflop. Everyone laughed as she slowly paddled back to the island in pain. Only Emily, by far the most aquatic member of the group, was yet to take her shot. A zora swimming out in the lake near the group noticed what they were trying to do. He approached them just as Emily dived underneath the water.

“What do you people think you’re doing?” the zora asked them.

“We’re seeing if any of us can get down into the Water Temple.” Arthur responded.

“You won’t get very far down under the lake without gills,” the zora said. “No hylian has ever gone down there and made it out again alive on their own.”

However, as the zora was finishing his sentence, he noticed bubbles coming up to the surface below him. He looked down and noticed Emily beneath the surface. She continued to descend, and eventually, she reached the bottom. The zora was in awe as she walked up the entranceway, which was locked by a steel cage. Emily fumbled with the cage for a while before the Zora swam underneath the surface toward her. Emily saw the Zora as he swam toward her.

“What are you doing? You need to get back to the surface!” the zora said.

Emily turned around to talk. “I’m sorry. It’s weird but, I can talk underwater, and, I can breathe under here too.” The Zora looked quite flustered at this knowledge. “If only this cage wasn’t here I’d get that bird medallion for sure.”

“Bird medallion?” the zora asked. “Oh you mean the Zora medallion? We don’t keep that here. It’s underneath Zora’s Fountain.”

“Zora’s Fountain?” Emily asked. “Where’s that?”

“It’s at the far east end of the Zora’s Domain, in east-central Hyrule. It’s quite a trip from here though, you’d have to take a long walk across Hyrule Field.” The Zora stopped, then spoke again.

“That is…, unless we take the shortcut.”

A few minutes later, the zora led Emily along the bottom of Lake Hylia northward toward the northern beaches of the lake. By now, Emily had been underwater for about five minutes, and the rest of the group was getting freaked out about her seemingly endless lung capacity, not to mention her resistance to pressure while underwater. They swam along the top of the freshwater lake as the zora led Emily to a hole in the bedrock beneath the north end of the lake. Within seconds, Emily and the zora had walked through the hole and were out of sight.

When she emerged on the other side, Emily noticed that she was swimming inside a flooded cavern that looked like a natural waterpark.



Chapter 10: The Dive

“So let me get this straight,” said King Zora, the supreme ruler of the Zoras, “You say you are one of a group of people from outside this realm. You also say that you are looking for the Hylian Bird medallions in an effort to escape this land of Hyrule? And now you desire the one that we Zoras keep in this Domain?”

“Yes.” Emily replied. “In order to return to our world, it is necessary for us to collect these medallions. I must have the Zora Medallion.”

“Well,” King Zora said, “I’m not sure you or any of your kind will be able to collect the Zora Medallion. After all, only Zoras are able to reach the bottom of Zora’s Fountain where the Zora Medallion resides. One that does not possess the aquatic attributes of our people will find themselves unable to reach the depth necessary to reach the medallion.”

The zora that Emily talked to at Lake Hylia concurred. “Even though your intentions may be good, I doubt you would be able to dive down that far without having to breathe. Nobody possesses such capability.”

Emily was incensed at the zora for talking up to his leader and denying what she had done back at Lake Hylia. “Okay then, I’ll dive off the waterfall.” She said. “I’ll then stay submerged until you people give me the chance to collect the medallion.” Shocked and upset, Emily sprinted toward the waterfall’s edge.

The rest of the group followed Emily and the Zora through the tunnel beneath the water of Lake Hylia. It was dark, so dark that none of them could see anything for a while. Finally, the light in the water came back, and they swam out the other side into Zora’s Domain. The domain, a cavern carved out by water erosion of the inside rock formation, had a giant waterfall in the foreground. From what Arthur could see, Emily was standing near the top of the waterfall talking with one of the Zoras, the fish-like race of people that inhabited Hyrule. Then without warning, she dived off of the waterfall, a drop of about sixty or seventy feet. She somersaulted twice on the way down and hit the water feet first, hardly even making much of a splash. What ensued next was a long and drawn out scene where Emily stayed submerged beneath the water surface for what seemed like forever. Many zoras who watched Emily’s dive were now swimming closer towards her, amazed by her not coming up to breathe. After several more minutes, Emily came back up to the surface. She had been underneath the waters of the domain for almost ten minutes, and several of the Zoras were hounding her, wondering how in the world she had pulled it off. They had never seen anything like it.

It was now obvious to King Zora that he did not know whom he was dealing with. He was visibly freaked out upon hearing news of Emily’s dive from his advisor Zora. His very Zora-centered view on life was getting the better of him as he confronted Emily.

“Okay, you’ve proven your point,” he said to Emily. “I’ll allow you to dive for the medallion now.” King Zora whispered something to his advisor Zora before he left the room for the fountain.

Emily and the rest of the group was led back behind King Zora’s throne room to Zora’s Fountain. Located at the far eastern end of Hyrule, Zora’s Fountain was the source of Zora’s River. It was over a mile wide in spots and was very deep, perhaps a hundred feet deep at its lowest point. At the bottom of the fountain latched down by a chain, was the Zora Medallion.

“What’s with the giant whale?” Eric asked, pointing at Lord Jabu-Jabu, the guardian deity of the Zoras.

Arthur just shrugged his shoulders as Emily took her dive. She got about halfway down before she got speared by a Zora underneath the surface.

“What do you think you’re doing?!” yelled Ruto, the Princess of the Zoras. “You’re not getting our medallion that easily.”

“Get off me you little twit!” Emily shouted.

“Do you know who you are talking to?” Princess Ruto asked Emily. “You’re talking to the Princess of the Zoras miss. I won’t have you talk to me like this. Now you’re not getting the medallion.”

“So you’re the Princess?” Emily asked. “I just talked to your father, and he told me to dive.”

“And he told me to stop you.” Ruto answered. “Your underwater prowess is cool, just a little. But that doesn’t entitle you to take our sacred treasures.” Two other Zoras joined Ruto and the three of them helped push Emily back up to the surface.

Arthur was angry at the Zoras’ interference with Emily, the smallest and most fragile person in the group. He went over to Emily and pulled her away from the Zoras that had just gone after her. Then he came up with a plan.
“Guys, we are going to protect Emily as far down as we can. If you need to, go up for air, but we need to have at least two of us down there at all times. We’re all going down together. Block, pull, push on the Zoras however you can to get them off of Emily. Eric, think of this like an underwater game of football. You’re the biggest person we have, you have to be Emily’s strong offensive lineman, particularly at the intermediate depths. If these people are going to mess with us like this, then we are going to mess with them back. Ashley, you and I are going to be the deep divers, let’s teach these people just who we are and why you don’t mess with us!”

The six of them broke the huddle and took a deep breath, then dived beneath the surface. Almost immediately three Zoras came after them, but Eric took care of two of them, while Melanie fought hard against the other. The rest of the group continued to descend as Eric and Melanie went up for air after fighting the oncoming attackers. Two more Zoras came after them, Arthur and Ashley engaged them directly. Stephen and Emily continued to dive, and they were not far from the medallion now. Stephen hung about thirty feet above the surface providing surface, but his air was running low. He had no choice but to surface, leaving Emily all alone. Emily reached the bottom and quickly rummaged through the chain at the bottom. She barely had time to slip the blue bird medallion around her neck before Princess Ruto knocked her from behind. The two fought each other beneath the water as Emily made an effort to ascend. They were vicious, scratching and clawing at each other underneath the water. Eventually Emily began to get the upper hand due to her greater physical strength. Before long she was back within range of the others in the group, who were doing an excellent job blocking the Zora attackers.

Emily reached the surface and starting running back toward Zora’s Domain. Ruto ran after her. A blur of red came over Arthur as he saw Ruto. He ran forward and laid a vicious block on Ruto, knocking her right to the ground in front of Lord Jabu-Jabu. From this point forward, the rest of the group started running out of Zora’s Fountain right past an oblivious King Zora. They reached the main pool of the cavern before long, and found their way back through the hole through which they arrived from Lake Hylia.

Emerging back onto the beaches of Lake Hylia with the Zora Medallion safely around Emily’s neck, the group headed over to the Lake Hylia fishing pond for some late afternoon recreation and a much needed bite to eat.

Chapter 11: Stormy Conditions Ahead

“I may know a lot about fish, but I’m awful at catching them. They never seem to bite for me.”

“Don’t worry about it Emily,” said Ashley. “You’ve done really good today, plus Arthur and Eric caught two fish big enough to feed us for a week.”

“Cmon and get it guys!” yelled Arthur. “Fish is ready.”

Everybody dug in to the cooked fish that Arthur and Eric had snuck out of the fishing pond after catching them. Arthur as usual showed his leadership prowess, catching a ten pound whopper, while Eric’s fish registered somewhere around six pounds. Arthur’s catch won him a Golden Scale from the owner of the pond. Using a nearby torch to light a fire on the north beach of Lake Hylia, the group had one of their best meals of the journey. Although the day had started way back in Gerudo Valley for some of them, the sun was only now beginning to sink low on the horizon. Melanie tripped a nearby gossip stone to find that it was close to 19:00.

At the conclusion of their meal, Arthur and Ashley decided that since there was no place for them to stay the night on the Lake Hylia coast, they would move out immediately in an effort to reach the forest before it got too late at night. However, for the first time in the adventure, there was dissention in the ranks.

“Aw come on Arthur, we’ve been running around all day.” Said Eric. “Three of us are hurting from our battles, we should just crash here tonight.”

“I think Eric is right,” concurred Emily. “We’re tired. I had to fight a schizophrenic fish today, and I’m scratched and bruised.”

“People.” Arthur said sternly. “There’s no place for us to take refuge here. There’s no place for us to stay for miles of here. We have no choice but to leave for the forest.”

“We could just sleep on the beach.” Emily said. “That’d be good enough for me.”

“I second that opinion.” Said Stephen.

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Said Ashley. “We’re not letting ourselves out in the open for the night like that. You two should know by now that this world isn’t safe, we could get our stuff stolen, or even be killed in our sleep.”

“You don’t want ME to be ridiculous? That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard since this adventure began.” Eric said.

“Eric, are you kidding me?” Ashley asked excitedly. “You got thrown off of that cliff by some militant thieves and you are trying to tell me that we’re safe out here?! Where is your brain? We can’t afford to be taking chances like that out here.”

“Just imagine if we lost one of the medallions or had one of them stolen.” Arthur interjected. “We’d be completely screwed. I know that you think of this journey as some kind of joyride through a virtual world, but we are in great danger here. Just imagine if Ganondorf attempted to capture us tonight, he could kill us all. Now just how useful are we to Hyrule dead?”

Point taken. Ashley didn’t even have to wait for an answer before saddling up her horse.

Riding out of Lake Hylia, they hopped over a few gates on horseback. Before long, the group came to a three-headed fork of dirt paths, one leading to Gerudo Valley, one leading to Lon Lon Ranch, and one leading to Kokiri Forest. They headed on the road leading to Kokiri Forest, Hyrule Route 8, which like all the other Hyrule routes was simply a two lane-wide dirt path. Arthur and Ashley pushed their horses hard early on, hoping to reach the forest prior to nightfall. However, the two leaders greatly misjudged the distance of the journey, which was about sixty miles in length over some of the hilliest terrain in Southern Hyrule. All the while, the sun continued to set. Looking back at the sunset, Arthur noticed something else. Storm clouds were beginning to gather to the north and west. Lightning lit up the sky behind them and the thunder crackled across the skies of Hyrule Field. Without as much as a word between the leaders, they started pushing their steeds even harder in an effort to evade the storms. However, due to the brisk pace early on, their horses were beginning to tire out.

The stiff downdraft winds of the oncoming storms began to push down on the group as they approached Kokiri Forest. By this time it was the dead of night, and the clouds would have been difficult to see if not for the lightning that lit up the darkness. The skies opened, and a torrential rainfall fell upon southeastern Hyrule Field. Before long the dirt path was nothing but a muddy creek, creating a slick and slippery trip the rest of the way into Kokiri Forest. Luckily for those in the group the storm subsided as quickly as it emerged, and the lightning strikes never got close enough to be much of a danger. However, the six adventurers were soaking wet as they reached the bridge leading into Kokiri Forest late in the night.

Leaving their horses at the bridge, the adventurers found that there wasn’t much going on in Kokiri Forest at this hour of the night. There wasn’t so much as any noise being made. Everything was deathly silent, the trees never stirred, and the grass bristled gently in the wind. They walked forward along the route toward the Kokiri village.

Suddenly, a child dressed in green jumped out of the bushes and attacked Arthur. He got in a few shots before Arthur flipped him over and gained the upper hand on him. Arthur got a few good hits in before the others in the group eventually separated the two.

“What do you think you’re doing jumping me in the dark?” Arthur angrily asked.

“What do you all think you’re doing intruding into our forest at this time of night?!” yelled Mido, a boy Kokiri. “You probably had it in mind to rob all of us and burn down our village. That’s it. You’re nothing but a bunch of sorry bottom-feeding outsiders looking for a quick buck!”

Before Arthur could yell back at Mido, another child dressed in green approached them from the near hillside.

“Gee Mido, why do you have to make such a racket?” asked Saria, a girl Kokiri. “You didn’t have to attack these people either, I’m sure they have a good reason for inhabiting our forest late at night.” Saria walked up to the group of adventurers. “Where do you come from and what is your purpose here?”

“We are seeking the medallions of the Hylian Bird.” Said Arthur. “We came from Lake Hylia in search of a place to crash for the night and found nothing until we arrived here.”

Saria walked up to Arthur and looked at the orange medallion around his neck. “This came from the western desert did it not?”

“It did. We went through many hardships to obtain this medallion that I wear. The same can be said for the yellow and blue medallions worn by my good friends.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, why exactly are you bent on obtaining the power of the Hylian Bird?” asked Mido. “Sounds power-hungry to me.”

“According to the words of Zelda, the Princess of Hyrule, the only way we can safely return to our world is by harnessing the powers secreted by the medallions of the Hylian Bird. That is our ultimate goal, to return to the world from which we came.” Said Ashley

“So,” Saria said, “You six are not of this land of Hyrule. Where did you come from exactly? Please, come to my house in the village. I am interested in hearing your story. It appears that you could all use a place to stay and some dry clothes too. It’s not much, but it is the least I can do for all of you.”



Chapter 12: The Talking Trees

It was a rough night for the six adventurers as they crashed on the wood floors of Saria’s house. Most of them tossed and turned throughout the night, a night made worse by the steady rain that fell and permeated through the tree trunk house in spots. When morning did come, they were sore and did not feel refreshed in the least. Day 4 in Hyrule would undoubtedly be tough compared to days past.

“Arthur,” Saria said, “You say that the six of you saw the Great Fairy? And that she gave all of you the ability to utilize magic?”

“Yes. In fact, I don’t know how this happened, but in addition to that it appears that all of us have had special powers bestowed upon all of us.”

“Really?” said Mido. “Sounds like a bunch of hogwash to me.”

“Mido, will you stop?! I’m sorry Arthur, please continue.” Saria was embarrassed.

“We were in a desert temple, and I got into a battle with these two witches. They threw fire and ice at me, and yet, I was able to repel their attacks with my bare hands. It was the weirdest thing, and it saved my life.” Arthur walks over to Emily. “This lovely woman over here has been given the ability to stay underwater as long as she desires. Stayed under the fountain of the Zoras for, what, was it nine minutes?”

“Ten.” Emily said with assurance.

“Ten, whatever. Either way, it was something that I never thought possible.” Arthur walks over toward Stephen. “And this brave gentleman straight from the state of Pennsylvania like myself, whenever he wears his glasses he is able to see through things. He used his power to see right through some thick treasure chests to obtain the Hylian medallion from its perch in Hyrule Castle Town. Isn’t that right Stephen?”

“You better believe it.” Stephen said, holding up the Hylian Medallion for all to see.

“Arthur,” Saria said, “It appears to me that all of you were given powers that allowed you to collect your respective medallions. It would be safe for me to reason that all of you have likely been given some power that makes collecting the different medallions possible. I think all of you have been given different powers corresponding to each of the bird medallions. Although the others in your group; Ashley, Melanie, and Eric, have not utilized their special powers yet, I have a feeling that the time for them will come very soon.”

“Saria,” Ashley said, “Each of the bird medallions corresponds to each of the races in Hyrule. Therefore, the Kokiri Medallion must be somewhere in this forest. Do you know where we can find it.”

“The Kokiri Medallion is indeed somewhere within this forest,” said Saria. “It can be…

Mido interrupted Saria. “But, they won’t be able to reach it with the way things are right now, will they?”

“Gee, I’m not really sure.” Saria had a puzzled look on her face. She called Mido into her house and the two went to talk privately.

A long time passed, and nobody emerged from the house. Arthur was getting quite impatient. “Alright, she knows where it is, what is taking her so long?” he said. “I’m going in there and forcing the truth out of her.”

“No!” yelled Emily. “We can’t just intrude on her like that. She helped us out for goodness sakes. Besides, she probably has a good reason for not telling us right now.”

“Yeah.” Said Eric. “We aren’t exactly doing well in our dealings with these races of people now are we? The Gerudo nearly killed Stephen and I, Emily almost had her body cut up and lacerated by the Zora Princess, and now you want to rub the Kokiri the wrong way too? This is where I draw the line. You’re NOT going in there and messing this up.”

Even Ashley was beginning to agree with the opposition. “Maybe Eric is right Arthur, we shouldn’t be so abrasive around these people, look where it has gotten us.”

Arthur was fuming. “Fine!” he shouted. “If you two just want to let those two Kokiri sit on their thumbs with the information we need to find the medallion, that’s just swell. Everybody, take the rest of the morning off. Do whatever the heck you want! When you are all ready to take some action, I’ll be sitting on the bridge.” Arthur climbed Saria’s house and sat down on the bridge overlooking the village.

Surprised at Arthur’s sudden meltdown, the rest of the group just stood around for a few minutes before breaking apart. Stephen and Eric found some deku nuts in the bushes and started throwing them at each other. Emily and Ashley went down to the creek in the center of Kokiri Village and started splashing each other incessantly. Melanie took out her sword and started making drawings on the outsides of the wooden houses in the village. Everybody with the exception of Arthur was having a merry time with themselves on a hazy and warm day in Kokiri Forest. Ashley and Emily eventually left the creek to check out what kind of items the Kokiri Shop had in stock, while Melanie went behind the shop to check out a hole in the dirt. As she began to write her name in the hard sand, a voice called out to her.

“Don’t put your sword into my bark.” The voice said.

“Huh? What was that.” Melanie thought to herself as she pulled herself up from the sand.

“Listen to me.” The voice said to her. “I am the spirit of the trees. You have no reason to be frightened by my talking to you, for I am a spirit of good intentions.”

“You, you’re the trees, talking to me?” Melanie asked.

“If it is the Kokiri Medallion that you desire, come to the meadow of the Great Deku Tree. We will be waiting for you there.” The voice then faded out. Melanie was uncertain over whether to tell any of the others about the voice she had heard. Was it really the trees of the forest talking to her? She would find out soon enough.

Melanie went to the Deku Tree’s meadow by herself, taking time to slash down a pair of Deku Babas with her sword as she entered the meadow. The meadow of the Great Deku Tree was perhaps bigger than the area of Kokiri Village itself, comprised of the Great Deku Tree in the center, a small plain surrounding it, and then many other large trees surrounding the outside of the meadow. Upon walking forward toward the Great Deku Tree, she heard the voice again.

“Welcome, inhabitant of the outside realm. Please listen to our instructions. We trees will help you climb to the top of Kokiri Forest. If you walk to the right to the end of the meadow, spread out our branches will become. The Kokiri Medallion lies at the top of the Great Deku Tree, and by traversing our trail of branches, you will be able to reach it.”

“At the top, of the Great Deku Tree?” Melanie asked. “But, that’s really high up there, I’m afraid of heights.”

Do not worry, child of the outside realm. We will protect you. The Great Fairy has declared it to be so.”

Upon hearing this, Melanie knew that being able to converse with the trees of the forest must be her special power from the Great Fairy. She walked to the right, and the trees creaked and crackled as their branches came down to ground level, forming a branch path that led in a circle upward around the Great Deku Tree’s meadow. As she continued to climb, Melanie had to continue to tell herself to not look down, lest she get dizzy from looking at how high off the ground she was. Eventually she reached the treetop canopy, about 50 yards away from the top of the Great Deku Tree.

“Now listen well.” The Voice said again. “You’ll need to take the giant leaf underneath your feet and hold onto it tightly. Using the leaf as a parachute above your head, you will jump off of my branch toward the Great Deku Tree, and this leaf will carry you across the gap to the medallion.”

“You want me to what?” Melanie asked. “That’s crazy, I’m not jumping across here. I’ll plummet to my death!”

“Melanie Schulteis, do not fear this leap of faith.” The Voice faded out.

Melanie spent the next twenty minutes at least, maybe more like half an hour wondering whether she was actually going to attempt the ridiculous jump. It was clearly too far a jump from where she was to reach the top of the Deku Tree, she would never make it.

“Hyrulian magic, wash over me now, or forever will I lie in your midst.”

Melanie ran up and jumped. She initially dropped a few feet, but the leaf held her up strongly, and she flew straight across the gap. Within seconds she was across and standing on top of the Great Deku Tree. Melanie was absolutely giddy with amazement over what she had just done. She walked forward a few steps, and sure enough, there was a treasure chest at the top of the tree. Melanie’s face beamed as she opened the chest, and as the tree spirit had told her, a green bird medallion laid in the bottom of the chest. She let out a loud scream of exultation as she slipped the Kokiri Medallion around her neck.

Chapter 13: Tornado Warning

Thinking she had heard somebody screaming, Saria came running into the Deku Tree’s meadow. Ashley and Emily followed closely behind her. They were shocked to see Melanie standing at the top of the Great Deku Tree.

“Hey everybody!, look what I found!” Melanie shouted as she held up the Kokiri Medallion. Joy had just overcome her ever since her “flight” across the forest skies.

“Melanie?!” Ashley shouted in a somewhat confused fashion. “How on earth did you get up there?”

“The trees did it.” Melanie shouted. “They helped me up to the top of here, and the Kokiri Medallion was here, right where I’m standing now!”

In somewhat delirious fashion, Melanie leaped off of the Great Deku Tree and unfurled her leaf parachute. As she floated downward from the skies above Kokiri Forest, Ashley and Emily just stood there with their mouths open. Eventually, Melanie ended up back on the ground, falling into the creek in the center of Kokiri Forest. She landed right on top of an unsuspecting Arthur, who had just climbed down from the bridge for a drink.

“What the heck! Melanie? Will you watch where you’re going please.” Arthur said.

“Pardon me if I can’t control where I fly.” Melanie said in a condescending tone.

“Fly?” asked Arthur. “What are you talking about—hey, where did you get this?!” Arthur shouted as he noticed the green bird medallion around Melanie’s neck.

“Arthur! Stephen!” yelled Ashley as she came toward the creek. “Did you see Melanie flying across the sky?”

“What in the heck is going on?” asked Arthur.

Melanie was so full of excitement she could barely keep her words together. “When I was behind the shop, the trees spoke to me. They told me to come to the Deku Tree’s meadow. They told me about where the Kokiri Medallion was and how to get there. I climbed way high up into the forest, and with the use of this giant leaf, I flew across to the top of the Deku Tree to where the medallion was, it was in a chest atop the tree. Now we have 4 of the medallions! Isn’t that awesome?!”

“Melanie.” Saria said in a somewhat stern tone. “How exactly did the trees talk to you?”

“I…I don’t know. I just overheard a voice when I was carving pictures in the trees in the village. It said that it was the spirits of the trees, and that it would help me.”

“That is quite unusual. The only tree in Kokiri Forest with the ability to talk was the Great Deku Tree. But it passed away tragically due to a curse only a few days ago, so I don’t know why these ones…”

Mido interrupted Saria, “That’s because your fairy boy friend killed the Great Deku Tree. I told you he was worthless.”

Saria gave Mido a look so mean Arthur thought she was going to kill him. Mido slunk away into the bushes.

“I’m sorry to hear that news.” Arthur said to Saria.

Saria didn’t answer immediately. She looked very sad. “There, there have been a lot of strange things happening in this forest recently. The death of the Deku Tree, trees conversing with people, the disappearance of Link, its all too much for me right now. I think I’m going to go back to my secret place now.”

Saria left for the Lost Woods. Eric and Stephen, acting on a tip they had heard earlier in the day about a warp path leading into the northern mountains of Hyrule, followed her. However, once they got up to the upper ledges on the north side of Kokiri Village, the two boys got stopped near the entrance of the Lost Woods by several Kokiris.

“You two stop! Though you may be wearing Kokirish clothing, you’re way too tall and big to possibly be from the forest. We’re not letting you into the Lost Woods.”

Eric laughed. After all, he was big enough to squash both of the Kokiris standing in their way. “And who’s going to stop us?”

The Kokiri got a serious look on his face. “You obviously haven’t heard of what happens to Hylians entering the Lost Woods have you?”

“No we haven’t.” Stephen said.

“Everybody who passes through here that is not of Kokiri blood will meet a terrible fate. Everybody who passes through will turn into a Stalfos. Everybody, Stalfos!”

Eric thought for a second of whom the Stalfos were, then remembered them as the skeleton knights he had fought in the Forest Temple. Suddenly he put two and two together and realized what the Kokiri was talking about.

“Uh, okay, no problem then.” Eric said as he backed away from the Kokiris.

Arthur and Ashley were back chatting with Mido and the Know-it-all Brothers when Eric and Stephen emerged in the creek area. It was about an hour past noon.

“So are we going on that shortcut way you talked about earlier?” Arthur asked Stephen.

“Well, we were going to, but…”

“But what?”

Eric responded. “Arthur, you see, this path through the Lost Woods, there were several Kokiris standing in our way. They told us of some curse that prevents travel through there, something about us turning into Stalfos knights if we went in there.”

“And you believed them?”

“Uhh, yeah, that’s serious stuff dude.” Eric said.

One of the Know-it-all Brothers showed concurrence. “What that Kokiri told you is indeed true. Many times I have seen people from the outside regions of Hyrule enter the Lost Woods, only to find their way and go the way of the Stalfos. There are a large amount of them sealed away in the depths of the Forest Temple, out in the meadow just north of the Lost Woods.”

“Mido, how come you didn’t tell us about this?” Ashley asked. “This is pretty serious.”

“I…I didn’t actually think you guys were serious about taking the shortcut to Goron City. I thought you were joking. Gosh, give me a break, if I had any idea…”

Arthur grabbed Mido with furious anger. “That’s a lie, nothing but a cold blooded lie! You’ve been nothing but trouble for us ever since we’ve set foot in this forest. You tried to jump us and attack last night, now you almost led us into a trap that would doom us to lives of infinite suffering in your perverted playhouse of a forest! I’m sick of your lies, you’re nothing but a treacherous little snit!” Arthur turned around to Ashley and motioned for her to ready the horses for the trip out of the forest, then turned back to Mido. “We’re going to do two things with you. First, we are going to tie you up to that tree over there by your britches, then we’re stealing every last rupee and piece of food out of your house and getting the heck out of this forest!”

The other five members of the group minus Ashley immediately went to work. The girls plundered the house with all the precision of ancient hunter-gatherers, while Eric, Arthur, and Stephen took care of Mido. Then they lugged their provisions across Kokiri Village westward, back out to the entrance of Hyrule Field where Ashley waited with the horses. Within seconds they were riding across the northward on the widest dirt path in Hyrule, Hyrule Route 1, the road on which they started the journey. Their destination was Goron City, nestled way in the northern mountains of Hyrule. It was a sunny afternoon, but it was very humid.

Ashley was hot and was sweating quite a bit. She turned to Arthur on horseback. “Hey do you suppose since we have all this good food on us, we could have a picnic out in the field?”

“That sounds like a great idea.” Arthur said. “How about we stop when we reach the spot where we first entered Hyrule?”

“Sounds good to me. That should be in a few miles once we get up these hills.”

They had been riding for about two hours, and had traveled maybe thirty miles when they reached the spot where they had entered Hyrule, right between the road and Zora’s River. Melanie took her giant leaf and spread it down on ground, upon which Arthur and Ashley laid down a whole bunch of food from Mido’s house. It was an assortment of forest vegetables, nuts, and some deku fruits. Everybody in the group pigged out on the Kokirian cuisine. Near the end of the picnic though, Arthur and the others noticed something oddly familiar, the sight of storm clouds building to the south and west of them. Ashley, Arthur, and Melanie quickly readied the horses, and they were riding to the northeast once again. Unfortunately the skies started turning somewhat green in color, something that the storm yesterday never did. They continued to billow and grow as they crossed northeastern Hyrule Field.

“Hey Stephen.” Arthur said from horseback, “You know more about the weather than anybody here, if storm clouds turn greenish, what does that mean?”

“Arthur,” Stephen replied, “It’s not good. It means that the storm has intensified to severe status, and that we could be looking at hail and strong winds.”

“Not only that,” said Eric with a stern voice, “But we could also be looking at a tornadic supercell. I remember a tornado hitting near my home in Minneapolis late last year, and the skies looked exactly like this.”

Arthur took that into consideration as they continued to ride to the northeast. With the storms fast on their tail, they reached the small stone bridge over Zora’s River that stood at the intersections of Hyrule Routes 1 and 2. All they had to do was take route 2 the last 7 miles east or so to reach Kakariko Village, but they were out of time. The rain started falling hard, and lightning lit up the sky. With no buildings or any sort of shelter for miles around them, Arthur told everybody to hold up and take refuge on the banks of Zora’s River beneath the bridge. The problem with this was that the horses could not get down the steep banks of the river and had nowhere to go. When the lightning started getting close, they got scared and ran away. Hail started falling on the bridge and on the river. The lightning strikes were very near them, with thunder coming less than two seconds after the flash. As bad as the situation was, it was about to get much worse.

“Arthur!” Eric shouted. “We have a tornado touchdown! It’s about 5 miles to our southwest.”

“Alright, we’ll just have to watch and see if it comes our direction. We’re already in a nice ditch with some protection already.”

Indeed, the whirling funnel did come their direction, and within a few minutes it was bearing down on them. With the lightning in the area, Arthur cautioned the group not to dive into the river, but the three girls, having never seen a tornado before much less at this close a range, were overcome by fear. They would rather take a chance with a lightning strike killing them than getting blown away to their death.

“Get under the bridge! Get down and hold onto each other!! NOW!!!”

The three boys held onto each other as a huge burst of wind swept over them. They struggled to stay on the ground as the winds threatened to pick them up off the ground. Then the wind suddenly reversed direction and pushed them the opposite direction. Not expecting the change, Arthur nearly got blown away. He clung onto the bottom of the bridge with all his might as the other two boys held his feet. After a few more tense seconds, the winds finally died down, and Arthur fell back to the sands of the river bank.

The tornado had carved out a quarter-mile wide path of dirt through northeast Hyrule Field. The group had survived its passing, but they had lost their horses and most of their non-weapon supplies. It would be a tough road up into the mountains…



Chapter 14: Into the Mountains

The group fled through the Stalchild-infested fields into Kakariko Village, where they spent the night in the center of the village. Each member stayed up for one hour during the night while the others slept, and then switched off each hour until morning to prevent against bandits and thieves taking their stuff. Finally morning came, and the adventurers were ready to embark on their latest journey, a 7 mile trek up the treacherous Death Mountain Trail to Goron City. At dawn, they headed out on what was their fifth day in Hyrule.

About half an hour in, they passed Dodongo’s Cavern, site of Link’s great victory over King Dodongo. They learned from a nearby Goron that this had happened just a day earlier, meaning that Link was already well in the process of collecting the spiritual stones. Arthur stressed to the group of the importance of getting out of the mountains with the Goron Medallion quickly, otherwise Link would move closer to the Zora Sapphire and presumably to the Temple of Time. If Link reached the Temple of Time before they got back to Zelda, there was no telling what the time change from Link pulling the Master Sword would do to them. They might be impacted by it. Worse still, if the final two medallions were not claimed by the time Ganondorf invaded Hyrule Castle, Zelda and Impa would be forced out of Hyrule Castle before they could return to the city. That was perhaps an even worse scenario because then they would have to track down the one person who knew how to get them out of Hyrule.

With each passing step, the group members went higher up in elevation. Being from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, Melanie took the lead in the group. She was very knowledgeable about climbing mountain trails and about how to avoid elevation sickness, and helped the group get up the mountain without incident. Many gorons were descending the trail as they climbed, rolling by them at high speeds. The group members took care to avoid them. Finally after 3 ½ tough hours of climbing, they reached Goron City.

The Gorons in the city were in a celebratory mood. After all, the great famine caused by the blockage of Dodongo’s Cavern was over, and rocks of all sorts were funneling into the city. Some of them had piles of rocks surrounding them with which to stuff their faces. It wasn’t very hard for the group to find Darunia, the leader of the Gorons and sage of Fire. He was standing with some other gorons on the second level of the city, interestingly enough near the warp to the Lost Woods.
“Bring em all down!” Darunia said with a shout. “Get these rocks down here so we can eat, eat EAT!!” Several other gorons noticed the group members approaching and turned toward them while Darunia was busy shouting. Eventually Darunia noticed them too, and rolled over.

“Hello. You must not be from around here. Who are you and what are your names?” Darunia asked.

“Mr. Goron, sir,” Ashley said. “We are people from the outside world. We may look like Hylians, but Hylians we are not.”

“That’s right. We’ve been brought to Hyrule by Ganondorf.” Arthur said. “Allow me to introduce myself. I am Arthur Miller, leader of this traveling group. As I was saying, he brought us here through an accidental warphole linking our world to Hyrule. He wants a secret relic of ours, some medallion of the Hylian bird. He needs it to harness the powers of the mythical creature along with the powers of the triforce.”

“Is that so?” Darunia asked. “If that is the case, why is it that you’ve come to Goron City? Are you running from Ganondorf?”

Arthur didn’t respond immediately, so Stephen took over. “Actually, that might be the case, but we don’t know if chasing us is his true intention. Our reason for coming to Goron City is that we are seeking a relic of your people.”

Darunia and the other gorons laughed. “Man, first fairy boy wanted our Spiritual Stone, now these people from who knows where want something else of ours. Tell me, what exactly do you want?”

Ashley responded. “Take a look at these medallions that we have around our necks.” She pointed to Stephen, “See this yellow one. This is the Hylian Medallion, we found this one in downtown Hyrule Castle Town. This one,” she pointed to Emily, “is the Zora Medallion, straight from the bottom of Zora’s Fountain. And the green and orange ones that Melanie and Arthur wear, they emerged from the forest of the Kokiri and the desert of the Gerudo respectively. As you have just heard, we have traveled long and hard around this land of Hyrule for these medallions of the Hylian bird. The reason for that is that by collecting the six bird medallions, we can transit the sacred realm and return to our world, and in doing so preventing Ganondorf from taking control of the Hylian bird.”

Arthur spoke again. “We have a feeling that the remaining medallions are being held by the remaining races of people in Hyrule, one of whom is your people, the Gorons. If my intuition is correct, it is a red medallion that can be found somewhere on this mountain. I am asking if you can help us obtain it.”

“Very well then.” Darunia said. It seems that you have gone all over the world in search of your goal. Now of course, I know where the medallion is, and since I’m in such a good mood today with the end of the famine, I’ll tell you what I’ll do. I won’t even make you do anything for us like how I did with Link. However, there will be a few tough trials ahead.”

“What do you mean by tough trials?” Arthur asked.

“Here.” Darunia tossed Arthur a medium sized rock. “You might need a snack.” Several gorons surrounded Arthur, postering for him to eat it.

“You’ve got to be kidding.” Arthur thought to himself.

Chapter 15: Rocks, Rocks, and More Rocks!

“I bet I can eat more rocks than you.” Ashley said to Arthur, almost flirting with him.

“Prove it then.” Arthur said sternly. He seemed annoyed.

Arthur and Ashley stood next to each other with a pile of rocks in front of them. The rocks were all different sizes, some big, some small, some greenish colored, some with sharp edges, some smooth, some containing mineral deposits in them. Both of them had incredulous looks on their faces as they thought about what they were about to do. Ashley laughed hysterically at thought of eating a pile of rocks as the goron spoke. There were other gorons surrounding them in a circle on the bottom level of Goron City.

“Here are the rules.” Said a goron. “When I say go, each of you will dig into your pile of rocks and attempt to eat as many of them as you can within the time allotted. Whomever eats the most rocks by the end of the time wins the challenge. Arthur, Ashley, since both of you are not well versed in rock consumption I’ve made a variance in the rules for you two. Ff either of you defeat any of us Gorons then you will gain a valuable prize. Eaters to your positions please. Gorons and Hylians, on your marks…GO!”

Within seconds each of the gorons was grabbing the rocks furiously and chomping down on them. Ashley and Arthur grimaced as they attempted to put the rocks into their mouths. Chewing or grinding them up were impossible, so swallowing them was really the only possible option for eating them, which was downright crazy. Eventually they got up onto their knees and looked incredulously at one another. How were they to possibly eat rocks?!

Then Ashley noticed something. From her earth science class, she knew that igneous volcanic rocks, such as those found on death mountain were some of the softest rocks on earth. It just so happened that she saw a few pieces of volcanic pumice in the rock pile of the Goron next to her. In one swift motion, she ducked beneath her rock pile and swiped the pieces of pumice and put them into her pile. Then she went nuts starting to chow down on the pumice rock. Suddenly, the others in the group, who had previously been laughing their buts off watching them try to eat the rocks were now on their feet cheering Ashley on. Little by little she grinded the rock down with her teeth until it was small enough to swallow whole. Then she went to the next one. By now Arthur was a mere spectator, watching in awe as Ashley went through the rocks. She was probably on her fourth one, maybe fifth by the time the goron shouted, “Drop your rocks!” Ashley immediately started spitting out rock fragments from her mouth and called for some Lon Lon Milk.

“Told you I could eat more rocks.” Ashley told Arthur.

“You’re a crazy woman!” Arthur shouted at her. “Why don’t you just stay here, you’d be a great Goron!”

The goron who proctored the competition signaled to another goron, who went rolling off into the Goron Shop. Then he approached Ashley.

“Wow, that was quite a display there. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Hylian eat so many rocks before. It turns out that since one of the goron competitors fell asleep during the competition, you ate more rocks than him. By rule, that means you’ve won one of our precious articles. Hey you over there, get it out here now!”

Ashley was presented with a Goron Tunic by the goron. Ashley was confused at first that the prize was a piece of clothing, but did not mind anyway as she was avidly interested in fashion. However, when trying it on she noticed that the garment extended quite far down her legs, just like a dress. It was far enough to somewhat restrict her movement.

“What is this tunic used for anyway?” Ashley asked.

“That is a good question.” Darunia said as he approached her from behind. “Whenever you wear this tunic, you are invincible to extreme heat and impervious to any gases created by sources of heat, such as the inside of Death Mountain. In fact, you could be virtually immersed in liquid magma and you wouldn’t feel a thing wearing this.”

“No way!” Ashley shouted.

Just as Darunia was about to speak again, Eric came up to Ashley and asked her to speak with him in private. Ashley followed him into another room on the second level of the city.

“What is it?” Ashley asked.

“I found this underneath one of the rocks in Arthur’s pile.” Eric showed Ashley a piece of parchment. On it was an outline of the inside of Death Mountain, essentially the middle of the active volcano itself. It showed a chamber hollowed out of the rock about 90 degrees to the right of the entrance to Goron City, or directly across from the Fire Temple. There was a dotted line from the tunnel pointing to a picture of a Hylian bird.

“Eric, do you realize what you’ve found. It’s a map to the Goron Medallion!”

“No really, I didn’t know that. What else could it be for gosh sakes?” Eric replied.

“You know what, this is great, we’ve found our way to the fifth medallion, and we have the means of which to get to it with this red tunic. The perfect means for you to reach it that is.” Ashley took off the Goron Tunic and handed it to Eric. “Put this on.”

“What?! No, I’m not going out there. That’s crazy! That’s a darn volcano!”

“What? You expected me to go out there? The tunic doesn’t even fit me anyway, nor anybody in our group without a little size to them. That leaves you and Arthur, and Arthur already took on two witches by himself while you were getting thrown off a cliff to gain the Gerudo Medallion. Plus he’s been our leader since day one…”

“Co-leader with you.” Eric quickly pointed out.

“Whatever. He shouldn’t have to do everything in this group. It’s your turn. You haven’t collected a medallion yet. The others in the group have. It’s your time now.” Ashley said.

“You haven’t collected any medallion either. You call yourself a leader and call me out for not having courage when you haven’t collected a bird medallion yet? Hypocrite!”

“Look Eric, we wouldn’t be in this position if I hadn’t swallowed five pieces of volcanic pumice rock.” Ashley was exasperated, her face showed mental anguish. “I’ll tell you what. If you go into the volcano and get the Goron Medallion, that would mean that everybody except me will have collected one of the Hylian bird medallions. If you do this, I solemnly swear that I will collect the final medallion, wherever the heck it might be, no matter what the situation. Eric, do we have a deal?”

Eric thought for a minute, then shook Ashley’s hand. He went ahead putting the Goron Tunic on. Unlike Ashley, who had just slid it on over her green Kokiri outfit, Eric had to take off his green garb to get the red tunic on.

“There.” Ashley said. “You look absolutely stunning.”

“Haha. Don’t even try to flatter me.” Eric said.

Stephen entered the room. “I wouldn’t let Darunia or any of the Gorons know where you are going. They might get worried about your passage in the volcano. Worse yet, they might get suspicious that you are going after the medallion, and that could wipe out our chance to claim it. Eric, Arthur and I will follow you into the crater, and we will stay out there as long as the temperatures and atmosphere in the volcano will allow.”

“Well then, let’s get going. Ashley, I’ll need the map.” Eric said. “Stephen, tell the girls that you and them have to hold the Gorons off by talking to them for a while.”

While Ashley, Emily, and Melanie attempted to distract the Gorons with stories of their adventures, Arthur, Eric, and Stephen went into Darunia’s quarters. They pulled back the giant boulder blocking the entrance to the inside of Death Mountain. Once inside the volcano, Eric followed the map across a jump over a cliff while the other boys followed. Eventually the heat inside the volcano got the better of Arthur and Stephen, and they turned back. Eric continued on, climbing up a ledge to the top of the inside crater. According to the map, he now had to climb down the side of the crater toward the liquid magma surface. Reaching over the edge of the canyon cliff, he noticed that the side of the canyon was sticky and had many holes in it, easy to climb.

“Well, at least this thing won’t erupt while I’m in here.” Eric thought to himself. He was still very much scared of the thought of climbing down.

The temperature continued to rise as he climbed down toward the tunnel entrance. He was sweating hard, but the red tunic he was wearing continued to protect his body from the extreme heat. Eventually, he reached the tunnel entrance, which was only about twenty or so feet above the surface of the magma. The tunnel went beneath the mountain further, and started getting darker and darker. Eric took out one of his deku sticks and lit it. The tunnel winded around to the left and began to dive even deeper. Finally, Eric saw the end of the tunnel across a chasm of solid, yet amorphous magma. On the other side of the chasm was a treasure chest. Eric got about two steps onto the surface before the resulting heat conducted through his boots and burned his feet. With a loud yelp, he leaped backward.

His thoughts immediately changed to how he was to get to the treasure chest without turning into fried cucco. Then he remembered his tunic. With care, he got down on his knees and tucked his hands inside the tunic. Eric slowly began to crawl across the hot amorphous surface. His plan worked, he barely felt the heat from the ground as he crawled toward the chest. Unfortunately, since he had to leave his deku stick behind, he almost lost his way going to the chest. Eric had to fumble around with it a bit to open it up. Indeed, there was a medallion in the chest, although he had to wait until emerging back in the crater to find out that it truly was the red bird medallion of the Gorons. Just for kicks, Eric ran up to the summit of Death Mountain before sliding the medallion around his neck beneath a high-noon Hylian sun. He had claimed his piece of Hyrule.

Back in Goron City, Eric kept a low profile while the leaders Arthur and Ashley dealt with Darunia and the other gorons on the lowest level of the city. Fortunately, it was not long until the group was headed out of the city and toward the downhill Death Mountain Trail. Unfortunately, almost as soon as they were out of the city on the narrow path down the mountain, a goron rolled by them at high speed, oblivious to the fact that the group was on the trail. He smacked into Arthur, who fell down into Melanie. Arthur’s momentum caused Melanie to fall over the side of the mountain. She screamed as she rocketed downward at high speed while the other group members watched in horror.

“MELANIE!!!” They all yelled in unison as their hearts wedged into their throats.

Out of nowhere, a large duck flew out from behind a mountaintop and caught Melanie as she was falling down toward her death. The duck took the blow from Melanie’s fall and kept flying southward, toward Kakariko Village. Everybody in the group was stunned and massively relieved over what they had witnessed. Eric and Stephen in particular watched what happened, and the same thought popped into their heads.

“That was it!” Eric yelled. “That duck saved us in Gerudo Valley!”

“It was, I think that was it.” Yelled Stephen. “First it saved us, now it just saved Melanie from a horrible fall, thank god.”

“I am truly grateful for what that duck has done for us. Come on, let’s get down this mountain safely and into Kakariko.” Arthur said. These Gorons can be such morons.”



Chapter 16: Ambush of the Cuccos

Without Melanie, Ashley and Arthur led the group as quickly as possible down the Death Mountain Trail into Kakariko Village. Their objective was to find Melanie and then figure out where to find the sixth and final bird medallion. It was still only middle afternoon, so if the medallion was somewhere around Kakariko, then it was possible they could claim it before the end of the day.

Unfortunately, when they entered the city, they were horrified to see Ganondorf standing near the center of the village. Worse yet, he had Melanie pinned against the side of a building.

“Where did you get this?” Ganondorf asked Melanie. “Answer me.”

“On the ground somewhere.” Melanie replied. “It was kind of shiny.”

Ganondorf reached out and slapped Melanie hard. “You lie! I know what you have been up to ever since I brought you into this realm. If you and your merry band think that you can harness the powers of the Hylian bird by yourselves you are sorely mistaken. Once I get my hands on the sacred triforce of the sacred realm this land will experience my wrath to the fullest thanks to it and the combined powers of the bird. I will be the true ruler of this realm, and you’re going to help me.”

Before Ganondorf could lay his hands on Melanie again or grab her medallion, Arthur threw a Deku Nut and flashed it into Ganondorf’s face. He rushed in and grabbed Melanie away while Eric smashed a deku stick into the back of his knee. Stephen and Ashley drew their swords as did Arthur as Ganondorf came back to consciousness.

“You aren’t going to get away with that. I won’t let you!” Arthur shouted.

Ganondorf laughed. “Arthur Miller, it has been a while. Seems like you and your company have done some sightseeing since our encounter. You’ve even collected some mighty fine souvenirs but let me tell you now that I will not let you leave this village with them. These medallions are too much for you all to handle. I order you to return them to me.”

“Over my dead body!” Arthur yelled, clutching the Gerudo Medallion.

“And mine too! I’d die before letting you do that!” yelled Melanie, holding her Kokiri Medallion while giving Ganondorf the meanest look possible.

The group stood in a row across the village green from Ganondorf, holding hands with each other. By this time, almost everybody in Kakariko was aware of what was happening and began to surround the periphery of the village to watch the preceedings. Now remember that at this point in the Ocarina legend, Ganondorf had sworn allegiance to the King of Hyrule, so his actions were a bit frightening and bewildering for the people of Kakariko. But what he did next sent the village into an absolute frenzy.

Ganondorf powered up one of his yellow energy blasts with his right hand and shot it at the center of the group, where Arthur and Melanie were standing. Eric and Stephen rushed in from the side to take the blow. There was a brief energy explosion, but everybody in the group was still standing afterward, with only Eric and Melanie visibly hurt. Ganondorf was surprised at the way the teenage kids were able to take the blow.

“That’s it!” Arthur yelled while running at Ganondorf. “We’re taking you down!”

A fierce melee erupted between the group and Ganondorf. Arthur was thrown off by Ganondorf, but Stephen and Ashley swept in with their swords and slashed him in the leg and on the hand. Although he was hurt, Eric got in on the attack as well, spreading out his wide arms to engage Ganondorf up close. He got in a few good punches before Ganondorf hit him in the stomach with an energy blast. He flew backward, and seeing his comrade fall, Arthur got even more angry. He ran after Ganondorf and smacked him with a Deku Stick in the knee. His head came down enough for Ashley to nail him with a roundhouse kick to the face. Ganondorf slouched over for a second, just long enough for Stephen to run up from behind and knock down the Gerudo King with a vicious chop block to the back of the knee. With Ganondorf falling, all the adventurers except for Emily rushed in on Ganondorf with their blades and started flailing with them. Unfortunately, they were only able to get in a few glancing blows before Ganondorf threw them all off with a massive burst of energy.

“Alright, playtime is over!” Ganondorf shouted. He reached under his cape to reveal a giant blade. The sword was huge, probably about 4 or 5 feet long and black colored. Despite it’s size, Ganondorf was able to wield it with relative ease, swinging it back and forth with all speed.

Arthur did the Hyrulian of equivalent of peeing his pants. “Fall back! Now!” he shouted to the other members of the group. By now, the people on the periphery of Kakariko were shouting and screaming. Some were even throwing things at Ganondorf to slow him down as he persued the group toward Kakariko graveyard. Arthur thought everything would be fine as everybody in the group except for maybe Eric was faster than Ganondorf was on foot. Unfortunately, Emily tripped and fell down on the stairs between Kakariko Well and Kakariko Windmill. Ganondorf caught up with her and held his giant sword to her head.

“Well now, it appears that the little one will be paying for the sins of her peers.” Ganondorf said as he took the sword backward for the slash.

Arthur swooped in and spear-tackled Ganondorf. Ganondorf attempted to slash him but Arthur evaded the blade just as a loud quack was heard in the village area. The duck that had saved Melanie from her fall off of Death Mountain (and Eric and Stephen from their fate in Gerudo Valley) flew down from the windmill overlooking Kakariko Village. It landed in front of Ganondorf and quacked at him, looking backward toward the windmill. Suddenly, tens, possibly hundreds of cuccos (Hyrulian chickens) appeared from behind and above Kakariko Windmill. On the duck’s signal, they flew down en masse toward the center of Kakariko Village. Instantly, the group, Ganondorf, and the people in the green were surrounded by the Hyrulian birds of prey. Luckily for everybody in the village, the cuccos went right after Ganondorf.

They pecked, they pecked, and they pecked some more. Ganondorf tried to use his sword and his energy attacks to fend the cuccos off, but they were simply too numerous. Even the ones he attacked with his sword weren’t dying, it was as if they were invincible to damage! Shocked by this realization, Ganondorf started running across Kakariko back toward Hyrule Field as fast as he could. He was persued by the cuccos, the duck, and the members of the group. Eventually, he reached his horse on the far end of the village and was able to outride the cuccos out of the village. From what the group members could see, his clothing was tattered and he was visibly injured on his arms and legs.

About half an hour later, the group members were back in the village square with the duck and the cuccos standing across from them.

“So you birds are aligned together with the Hylian bird?” Ashley asked. “You are called out to help those who possess the power of the Hylian bird itself?”

The duck quacked.

“And every single bird species in Hyrule lives under the power of the Hylian bird, who is the guardian diety of all avian species in the realm?”

The duck quacked again, while several cuccos crowed.

“Arthur. Do you know what this means. Whenever we are in trouble, the birds of Hyrule will help us as they are all aligned with the Hylian bird, whose powers we now possess. All we need to do now is find the last medallion to garner the true power of the Hylian bird and then these birds can help us dispose of Ganondorf and get us back to our world.”
“Yes, but where is the last medallion, the Medallion of the Sheikah?” Arthur asked.

“I don’t have any idea where it would be, Zelda said something about a village of shadows. But we’ve been everywhere in the land of Hyrule and we haven’t found…”

“Look!” Stephen interrupted. “The birds are trying to tell us something.”

The duck stood on the rim of Kakariko Well and the cuccos made a formation of sorts around the top of it. They then crowed and quacked.

“I think they are trying to tell us that the Sheikah Medallion can be found in the bottom of this well.” Stephen said.

Ashley got up to where the duck was and looked down into the abyss that was Kakariko Well, no doubt wondering if something sinister lurked beneath the surface. If it was true that Kakariko was the village of shadows that Princess Zelda has mentioned to them, there was no telling what could lie underneath…

Chapter 17: The Bottom of Kakariko Well

In accordance with the deal she made with Eric in Goron City, Eric did not have to climb down into the well with the rest of the group. Because of her fear of dark and cramped places, Emily did not go down either. The two, complete opposites in their physical features, Eric being a big and burly guy and Emily a small and slender female, were left together to stand guard in case of any trouble. The other four climbed down into the well one by one by way of the steel spikes in the rock on the side of the well. It was late afternoon in Kakariko Village.

Ashley in particular was geared up for the trip into the well. A year after she had moved to Phoenix, she had traveled to the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and explored the caves there. She felt very much at home in dark and dreary locations, not unlike the one that they were heading into. This was a good thing, because the entrance of the well was fairly small, small enough that Arthur was not able to fit through it. It would be Ashley leading Stephen and Melanie into the heart of Hyrulian darkness.

And darkness it would indeed be. Within seconds of entering the well, Melanie was struck backward by an invisible object. Melanie screamed as she fell down, grabbing her forehead. She had a nice scrape on her head and the impact freaked her out.

“Stephen.” Ashley commanded. “Put on your glasses. Maybe we can see what’s going on here.”

Stephen put on his glasses, but as soon as he did he got struck by another invisible object, a pot flying through the air. It struck him in the face and shattered his glasses. Stephen was injured by the glass shattering, there was a piece stuck in his face just above his eye. Melanie had to hold Stephen down as Ashley removed the glass shard. He was bleeding a bit above his right eye.

“Well great, now what do we do? We’re screwed if there are invisible objects down here that we can’t see! What the heck is this place?!”

“I’m pushing ahead. I’m gonna find out what’s down here.” Ashley said.

With Melanie and Stephen scared to death to even move, Ashley inched forward along the dead and decomposing floor of the well. She heard a bunch of legs flailing in the air and , and surmised that there was a multi-legged animal standing in front her, even though she couldn’t see anything. She took a deku stick and swung it hard. With a smashing sound, a giant skulltula fell from the ceiling and died on the ground.

“This is going to be a tough trip.” Ashley said. “Keep your wits about you.”

“Actually, this isn’t going to be much of a trip at all.” Stephen said. “Look in front of you.”

There was a wall standing in front of the three teenage adventurers. It was a dead end.

“Stephen, I haven’t gotten to know you like Arthur or Melanie, but I do know that you can be somewhat gullible and shortsighted.” Ashley said.

“What the heck do you mean by that?” Stephen said, somewhat upset.

“I would bet you any money that this isn’t a dead end.” Ashley said.

“I bet you all my rupees. That’s a solid wall, and you’re out of your mind if you think its not.” Stephen said.

Ashley literally sprinted over to Stephen to shake his hand. Then she walked up to the wall and stuck her hand out. When her hand went through the wall, she got somewhat excited at her prediction coming true. She walked through the wall and poked her head back through the other side.

“Come on guys, its so cool on this side! You really oughta see this!”

Stephen was stupefied. He was out 75 rupees too.

The main room of the well was essentially a big square, with a smaller square room in the middle and then horizontal passages all along the periphery of the square. The square room was walled, but of course, some of the walls were mirages, which Ashley and the others walked right through. In the middle of the room stood a giant X formed by wooden logs. There was blood on the floor and chains hanging from the X. In the corners of the room were cages.

They had only been in the room for a short while when a falling noise was heard above them. A shadow grew bigger and bigger around Melanie’s feet, and she did not notice it. Sensing the impending danger, Ashley ran over and tackled Melanie out of the way of a falling wallmaster (falling hand). The big hand had just missed both of them. It moved along the floor as if to attack the two with its nasty fingers, but Stephen crept up behind it and swiped it repeatedly with his sword. It died immediately.

“Phew, that was a close one.” Ashley said. “That hand almost got you, and me.”

“Man, this room is creeping me out.” Melanie said.

“Yeah, let’s just hope there aren’t any more of those things.” Stephen said. “At least we’ll know how to avoid them if any more do come after us.”

“So anyway, where do you suppose the medallion could be?” Melanie asked.

“This room must be some sort of torcher chamber.” Stephen said. He pointed to the cages, and then to the X as he spoke. “Those must be jail cells, while this X in the middle must have been a crucifix of some kind. The blood on the floor, there must have been people getting flogged to death on here.

“Well, I don’t like the looks of things here.” Ashley said. We need to find the medallion and get the heck out before somebody comes to get us…Stephen! Don’t get too close!” She yelled.

Stephen took one step closer to the crucifix before the floor gave way beneath him. Amazingly, he reacted quick enough to the fall and was able to grab the right leg of the crucifix. Melanie and Ashley dared not approach him for fear that they fall through the floor as well. After some struggling with the wet wood, Stephen was able to bring himself back to solid ground.

“Stephen, Melanie, you both need to get directly behind me and not move an inch off of my course.” Ashley said. “If there are mirages in the floors too, this will be even more dangerous.”

“What good is that going to do?” Stephen asked.

“Stephen, you know how you had the power to see through things with your glasses as your power from the Great Fairy?” Ashley asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m telling you right now, my power has to do with seeking out invisible objects and objects that happen to be mirages. It’s how we have gotten this far, and it is how we are going to find the medallion and get the heck out of here before something kills us.”

Ashley led the other two carefully out of the square room, to the left of the crucifix. They entered an even darker passageway that lead to a door. Very carefully, Ashley opened the door and snuck into the room with the others behind her. Inside the room were six coffins. To make matters worse, there were sounds coming from the inside of the room, even though the room was devoid of life. That meant that there were demons inside the coffins. Stephen and Melanie were absolutely scared to death. Truth be told, Ashley’s heart was caught her throat as well, yet she emitted calm.

“Wait here.” Ashley said to the others.

Ashley walked into the lane in between the columns of coffins. She looked at each one, really taking time to get a feel for what could be inside. This process took what seemed like hours, all the while Stephen and Melanie were simply overcome with anxiety and fearful anticipation. They had seen the enemies of the Hyrulian dead, the redeads and the gibdos, while playing the game in the NOA treehouse. They sure as heck did not want to see one now.

Finally, Ashley made her way quietly to the coffin in the back left of the room, the back left corner coffin of the 3x2 matrix. She made a sign of the cross, then threw her hands down on the coffin lid. The lid slid off quickly and Ashley drew her sword. No enemy emerged from the coffin, instead, there was a dark purplish medallion in the bottom of the coffin. Ashley’s face lit up when she recognized the shape of the Hylian bird, it was the Sheikah Medallion! Ashley took care to pick the medallion out of the coffin and slide it around her neck. Purple, her favorite color, that was almost too symbolic.

She was about to leave the room quietly when there was a sudden rumble in the room. The other coffins began to move and their lids came off quickly. Within seconds, redeads and gibdos emerged from the coffins, and they were out for blood. They moved slowly, as if to stalk the adventurous ones.

“Get to the door!” Ashley yelled as she buried her face into her hands and blindly ran toward the room exit, so as to avoid looking into the eyes of the redead. Unfortunately, she tripped on a redead’s foot and fell down, allowing one of them to grab and strangle her. Ashley struggled with the redead and eventually killed it by planting her sword into its head. But as she did so, she looked into the eyes of another redead and got stopped dead in her tracks. That redead grabbed her as well. By this time, Stephen made his way over to Ashley and slashed the redead holding her in the back, freeing her from its grasp. Melanie began tossing Deku Nuts all over the room in an effort to slow down and stun the redeads as Stephen and Ashley made their way toward her. A few seconds later, the three escaped out the door and was headed back toward the center of the well.

Taking care to avoid any potential holes in the floor, Ashley led the others back the way they came through the well and then back up the spiked ladder to the surface. Once there, all three were ecstatic just to be back on the solid ground again. The rest of the group cheered wildly when they saw Ashley with the Sheikah Medallion.

“You found the medallion! Now we have all 6!” Arthur yelled with seeming glee.

“Hey Ashley, how did that trade work out for you?” Eric asked.

“Terrible.” Ashley responded. “You got the better end of the deal for sure.”

“Are you just saying that?” Eric said smugly.

Ashley, Stephen, and Melanie all looked at each other with grim looks on their faces. Eric could tell that he indeed made a great deal. The Kakariko Well was nasty.



Chapter 18: Triforcemaster Encounter

Inside the Kakariko House of Cucco, the giant cucco-preparing facility on the southeast side of Kakariko, the group ate well and celebrated a bit over their success. They had found all six of the Hylian bird medallions, the last two coming on a day in which the last thing any of them had to eat was rocks! Understandably, they were starving, and what better place to fill up than at one of the preeminent food stops in all of Hyrule? Designed a lot like Clock Town’s Milk Bar, the Kakariko House of Cucco had tables on the whole left side of the building, a bar area in the center that included a stage for live entertainment, with the kitchen and preparation area on the right.

Each member of the group showed off their medallions to the people passing by. For the first time in the entire voyage, the group members felt like true Hyrulians, and acted accordingly. They talked about whose medallion was the coolest looking, and which one was the toughest to obtain as they chowed down on large portions of hot cucco and Lon Lon Milk. The consensus was that the medallion worn proudly by Emily, the Zora Medallion, was the coolest thanks to its deep blue hue. The question of toughest to obtain was a bit tougher. With the exception of Stephen, everybody had a case. From Emily’s show of aerobic endurance, to Arthur’s one on two fight against the witches, to Ashley’s display of cool wit in the depths of Kakariko Well, it had been quite a journey.

A few minutes after they had finished up eating, the group members walked outside, continuing to flaunt their bird-shaped jewelry as they made their way to the western wall of the village. The wall separated the village from Hyrule Field.

“Hey you guys, have you heard the news?” the guard at the wall asked Arthur as he walked by.

“No, I don’t think we have, unless it’s the time of day. Trust us, we don’t need to hear the time from you again.” Arthur said.

“No, no, no, its not the time. Big news! Apparently Princess Zelda was telling the truth about that kid from the forest, the one who came through town a day or two ago and was under orders to save Hyrule. We Knights all thought that was good for a few laughs, but in the wake of Ganondorf’s attack on the six of you this afternoon, it’s obvious that Ganondorf’s intentions are not that of continued loyalty to the King of Hyrule.”

“No really, you don’t say?” Stephen said, almost as if to say “duh”.

The Knight snapped at Stephen for his rude comment. Arthur told Stephen to shut his mouth, apologized, and asked the Knight to continue.

“We have sent word to Hyrule Castle Town that Ganondorf might be plotting an attack there. The Knights there are organizing a defense against a possible attack. But there’s another part to this story as well. We are sure that Ganondorf’s target is the triforce of the sacred realm. The odd thing is that it appears Princess Zelda knew this long before any of us, and sent the fairy boy from the forest on a quest to obtain the three Spiritual Stones; the Kokiri Emerald, Goron Ruby, and Zora Sapphire.”

Suddenly Arthur and Ashley’s faces both got very tense. “Has he obtained the three stones?” Arthur asked with concern.

“Yes. News came up Zora’s River late this afternoon that he has acquired the Zora Sapphire from Princess Ruto of the Zoras. He has now acquired the three stones, and there is rumor that he will be attempting to acquire the triforce.”

Arthur turned quickly around to the group members. “There’s no time to lose. We must get to Hyrule Castle before Link does!”

“Oh, something wrong?” The Knight asked.

“Sorry sir, no time to explain!” Ashley shouted as the six ran down the stairs out of Kakariko toward Hyrule Castle.

“What about our horses?” Stephen asked Arthur while running. “They’re gone!”

“Darnit, that’s right, they ran away from the tornado! Crud! What are we going to do now. We’ve got over ten miles to go, its getting dark, and it looks like rain possibly up ahead!”

“Arthur, you’re one of the leaders.” Eric said. “You should have answers to these things.”

“Eric, how the heck do you think we’re gonna get to Hyrule Castle before Link without our horses? Huh. The only way there is by foot, and he’s got a few hours head start on us! Granted he started in Zora’s Domain but he probably rode the river down quite a ways and that way is fast.”

“That’s it!” Emily shouted. “We need to ride the river! Zora’s River runs downstream from Kakariko to Hyrule Castle Town. The water will push us downstream quicker than we can run!”

Arthur turned to Emily and nodded in agreement. Quickly, the six of them jumped straight into Zora’s River and formed a V formation with Emily at the front. This allowed them to swim quickly down the river at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour in the strong current. Before long, they were getting close to Hyrule Castle Town. However, crackles of thunder and lightning off in the not so distant west forced them out of the water about 2 ½ miles east of the city.

“Hey, at least now if it rains on us, it won’t be a big deal since we’re already drenched.” Emily said to Ashley.

“True, true. Darn Hyrulian weather.” Ashley muttered.

Arthur and Emily, being well rehearsed in endurance sports, attempted to get the other group members to run the rest of the way into Hyrule Castle Town, but there was no getting Eric, Melanie, or Ashley to quicken their stride. They gave up on the idea, and privately hoped that they would beat the storms to the city. They would not. The storm began to engulf the adventurers about ¾ mile from the city just as sunset was reached. The skies grew dark quickly as the rain began to fall and the thunder picked up. It was in this type of atmosphere that the adventurers would take in a scene they would never forget.

Ashley was the first to notice the drawbridge dropping above Zora’s River a few hundred yards away. “Hey Arthur,” she asked, “Why do you suppose that the drawbridge would drop down during nighttime?”

Arthur could hardly answer the question before a pair of individuals riding a white horse streaked across the bridge. Upon closer inspection, Arthur recognized them as Princess Zelda and her attendant Impa. Instantly, his heart sank. Why were Zelda and Impa leaving the city at the exact moment that they needed to rendezvous with them for their journey home? Had the attack on Hyrule Castle already begun? Had Ganondorf rallied up his troops so quickly from the early afternoon encounter in Kakariko?

“Wow, did you see that?! Princess Zelda has a cannon!” Eric said to Arthur and Stephen. “She just threw that ocarina (the Ocarina of Time) from a backward position all the way into the river! That’s got to be a 50 or 60 yard throw from there! She could quarterback for my team, that’s for sure!”

Arthur, completely ignoring Eric, now noticed Link standing in the grass next to the path leading into the city. Out from the inside of the city emerged a second figure on a black horse. It was Ganondorf. From what they could see in the horrible conditions, Ganondorf and Link conversed for a minute before Link drew his sword, perhaps looking to attack Ganondorf. Threatened, Ganondorf calmly powered up one of his yellow energy blasts and shot it at Link, nailing him right in the chest. Link went flying backward about ten feet. Ganondorf yelled a few more things at Link before riding away into Hyrule Field chasing after Zelda and Impa.

Strangely, the weather conditions cleared up as soon as Ganondorf left the area, and the night turned back into daytime. Link immediately turned around and jumped into Zora’s River, collecting the Ocarina of Time from the bottom.

“We need to rush into the city and get in there before Link does!” Ashley yelled.

“No!” Arthur said. “We don’t want Link to know that we are pursuing him. If we threaten him, we could have problems. Just follow him at a safe distance. Zelda already left the city anyway, so our objective is blown. We didn’t reach the city in time.”

“Why do you say that?” Melanie asked.

“We need to find Zelda.” Arthur said. She is the only one who knows how to get us out of Hyrule and back to our world! We need to figure out where she and Impa went, and the only way to do that is to go into town and see if we can learn anything about her course. We MUST find Zelda. Somebody in town must have information on her whereabouts, and we must get this information as quickly as possible.”

“Agreed.” Said Ashley. “Zelda is our first priority. By the way Arthur, did I ever mention that you look cute in a Kokiri outfit? It suits you quite well, it’s your type.”

“Why…why thanks.” Arthur said, not really knowing what to say at Ashley’s seemingly ill-placed flirtation. Link climbed out of the river and headed into the city at a full sprint. “Follow behind Link into the city, move now.” Arthur said.

The group had barely gotten into the center of Hyrule Castle Town before a blinding white light surrounded the group in all directions. A sort of vortex opened up in front of them as they were made devoid of ability to move in any direction for several minutes. Every member of the group wondered what exactly had happened, and why they had been blinded by light. Finally, the light subsided and their mobility came back to them.

When the light subsided, Hyrule Castle Town was not the same. It was rotten, dank, and torn down. All the buildings had been destroyed. Not only that, but there were spirits of dead people roaming the streets.

A redead grabbed Arthur hard from behind. He struggled to breathe as it strangled him.

Chapter 19: Struggling to Survive

Arthur flipped the redead over his head and slashed it hard several times with his sword. Somewhat dazed by the sudden attack, he quickly rushed over to Emily, who was getting the life sucked out of her by another redead. He snuck up behind it and severed its neck with his sword. Emily fell to the ground, struggling to breathe.

Across the other side of the fountain, Eric and Stephen struggled with another redead. It slowly advanced toward Eric as it gazed into his eyes. But before it could reach him, Stephen stabbed it in the stomach. Unfortunately, his sword got stuck in between several of the redead’s rib bones and he could not remove it before looking into its eyes, causing him to freeze. The redead grabbed Stephen hard. Stephen screamed, and Eric attempted to help him, but was grabbed from behind by yet another redead. Forced into a decision of whom to help, Ashley picked a giant rock off of the ground and slugged the redead holding Stephen in the back of the head. It crumpled to the ground dead. In one motion, Ashley pulled Stephen’s sword out of the redead’s flesh, wielded her own sword, spun around twice, and backstabbed the redead strangling Eric with both arms.

Back on the other side, Arthur and Melanie worked against the other two redeads. Since neither of them made the mistake of gazing into their faces, Arthur and Melanie were able to destroy both of them in one-on-one swordfighting. Melanie, one of the least effective fighters earlier in the journey, used a sweet roll and backside parry attack to take out her attacker. With this move by Melanie and the one made by Ashley earlier, it was obvious to Arthur that if he had to fight another one of those Gerudo-style swordfights, he would be just as fearful of the girls as he would the other guys Eric and Stephen. They had become excellent fighters. Little did he know just how important this would be in the coming days.

“Have we eliminated them all?” asked a nervous Stephen.

“Is anybody injured?” asked Ashley. “Emily, are you hurt over there?” Emily was having trouble as her throat was hurting a bit from getting strangled by the redead.

“What in the world happened?” asked Eric. “We walked into the city here, and then everything went white. Next thing we know, the city is ruined and we’re fighting a bunch of dead people.”

“Not just dead people.” Ashley said as she gave Emily some red potion (Hyrulian life medicine). “Those are the spirits of the dead of Hyrule. They were all over the bottom of the well in Kakariko Village. They are usually confined to the underworld reaches of Hyrule where their bodies had been buried, and I’m not really sure why they are here.”

“Everybody be quiet a minute.” Arthur said. “What just happened, I’m almost positive of this. That flash that consumed us represented the time change. We are now forward in time seven years. Look at the ground, look how the streets are all eroded. Look how the fountain is eroded. These things haven’t been maintained in years. When we walked into the city, Link pulled the master sword, and we got engulfed in the forward change of time. Not only that, look behind you, all of you.”

Everybody turns around to look to the north where Arthur had been facing. A massive citadel of sorts was situated out in the distance on the spot where Hyrule Castle had stood before the blinding light struck. Immediately, several in the group ran to the north to get a better vantage point.

“Stop!” Arthur shouted. “Don’t get any closer to there. That fortress is Ganondorf’s central base of operations. He could be looking for us, and if we get any closer we’ll be sticking our heads into the lion’s mouth.”

As Arthur said this, he saw Link running through the center of the ruined city, master sword in hand. He ran quickly to the south and out of the city toward Hyrule Field.

“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Ashley asked. “Let’s get the heck out of this horrible place.”

Upon leaving Hyrule Castle Town and entering Hyrule Field, the group was immediately ambushed by a pair of big poes. They menacingly swung their lanterns at Emily and Eric as they flew by. Without thinking, Ashley took out her arrows and started shooting as the poes from long range. While she did this, Arthur and Eric worked hard to protect the others with their swords, making sure that neither of the poes got too close to anyone. Their swords clanged and clashed with the lanterns of the poes. Eventually, Ashley was able to bring one down, its lantern broke and it left behind a ghostly specter. The other poe seemed to run away, fading into the background of the grasslands.

“Well, that was…interesting.” Ashley said.

“Were those ghosts we just fought against?” Eric asked.

“Looks quite the situation Eric.” Arthur said. “Attention everybody, listen up! There appears to be enemies in all corners of this land now. We are officially living under the reign of the evil Ganondorf as long as we are in Hyrule. As you all know full well, he is the one after us, and he may be looking for us right now. All of you must be even more careful and make sure to keep your wits about you at all times. And for the love of God, do not separate yourself from the group at any time! We saw in Kakariko Village just how important our strength in numbers is! You never know when some half-dead zombie or follower of Ganondorf will jump out and try to attack you or anybody else in our group. Our objective is still to find Zelda, although that may be difficult now as her identity may be compromised. We might just have to wait out the time until Link defeats the temples and attacks Ganondorf at Ganon’s Castle.”

“How are we going to do that if we are getting attacked from all sides like this?” Melanie asked.

“Yeah, how are we going to do that? I’m practically fearing for my life after those attacks by the redeads and now those ghost-like things.”

“We need to find some kind of semi-permanent hiding spot, one that all of us can comfortably live in for some time. Perhaps a hole in the ground would work.”

“A hole in the ground?” Asked Ashley.

“Yes, a hole in the ground. There are many of them in Hyrule, and most of them are sandy and soft in the bottom, yet somewhat spacious. I know that there is one just to the east of here near Zora’s River, I remember seeing it while playing in the game. We should hang out there while we wait for Link, because quite frankly, I don’t know how we are going back to our own world until Link does his business.”

The members of the group thought about it for a while, then Ashley spoke.

“Yeah, Arthur’s right. We’re caught between a rock and a hard place. Zelda is running from Ganondorf, in a sense Link is too, and we cannot get back to our own world without them. The one thing that would really screw us over is if Ganondorf found us and took my white medallion, allowing him to summon the Hylian bird. We cannot allow that, so we might as well go on the defensive and hide out below ground for a while, as disgusting as it sounds.”

The group members were all in agreement except for Emily.

“I thought life in Hyrule would be fun,” said Emily. “This stinks.”

Later that evening, the group was in a below ground hole in northwestern Hyrule Field near Zora’s River. It was approximately 10 feet by 45 feet in dimension, quite a small area to fit 6 people. With plenty of fish, nuts, and other food in the area, they would be okay on food for a while, but this was hardly what they were hoping for. They were now marked men and women, and everybody knew it.




Chapter 20: Contact in the Water

It was now officially a week since they had been sent to Hyrule. Several days had passed since the group members moved to their underground hideout beneath Hyrule Field. Several days of being cramped, turning the reservoir or water in the corner into a latrine, and noticing how long it had been since any of them had a shower had passed. Their supply of food was already beginning to run low as well. Anytime anybody had gone above the surface, they were immediately attacked by either poes or stalchildren, or both. After several days of this, Emily and Melanie were fed up with their situation, and threatened to mutiny. They went to Arthur after their second straight sleepless night.

“Arthur!” Emily shouted. “This is ridiculous! We can’t keep living like this. Our wastes are stinking up the place, it smells like a terrible blend of locker room and skunk in here. I can’t sleep at night on this sand, the stench keeps me up, and the water keeps seeping in here at all hours whenever it rains. I can’t take this. If we don’t leave here soon, I will.”

“What in blazes are you talking about Emily? Arthur asked incredulously. “You can’t leave.”

“Who says I can’t?” Emily asked.

“Agreed, who says we can’t?” said Melanie.

Emily added, “I go up that passageway to the surface right now and I swim down Zora’s River, that’s the last you’ll ever see of me. And I’ll be glad I did it.”

“Now Emily, please be reasonable. We need all of the medallions to summon the Hylian bird, its our only way out of this land.” Arthur said.

Well then, that’s something you’ll have to consider, because I’m leaving in two minutes whether you are or not.” Emily said. “Then what will you do?”

“Arthur, you act as if its your constant mission to keep us out of harm’s way,” Melanie said, “but as a result we aren’t enjoying the journey we’re on at all. What happened to your spirit for the land of Hyrule? Surely you’ve played the Zelda games hoping that somehow you could visit the land of Hyrule. Well now we have that opportunity, and we aren’t seizing it and living our chance to the fullest. We’ve been involved in this willy-nilly quest to acquire these medallions, and that’s all fine and good because we’ve gotten to see so much of this land as a result. But now we aren’t doing anything, we’re just languishing in this hel1hole of a place. I’m with Emily, if we don’t leave here now, we’re gonna leave by ourselves.”

“Ashley, do you believe this?” Arthur asked. “It’s much too dangerous out there.”

Ashley responded, “Arthur babe, perhaps Melanie is right. I think…”

“Oh no, don’t tell me…” Arthur responded quickly.

“Look Arthur, perhaps part of the problem is that we are so close to Ganondorf’s citadel headquarters. To be honest, I like Emily’s plan of going down to Lake Hylia. If we do that, that puts us as far away as possible from danger. Since we are running low on food, and this place stinks to high heaven, why shouldn’t we give it a shot?” Ashley finished.

“We’ll have to get through Gerudo Valley.” Said Arthur.

“No problem.” Emily said. “We’ll be going so fast through that canyon they won’t even see us, and wouldn’t be able to do anything even if they did.”

Arthur thought for another few seconds before calling to the back of the cave. “Eric, Stephen, gather your belongings, we’re blowing this popsicle stand! Everybody, make extra sure not to lose your medallions in the river!”

The swim down Zora’s river was similar to that of their swim from Kakariko Village to Hyrule Castle two days and seven years earlier. With her woman-fish qualities, Emily took the lead and the others followed in a V formation with the heavier Arthur and Eric at the back of the V. It was a picture perfect sunny day, perfect for a swim. Within a few hours they passed the Gerudo Valley canyon, and by early afternoon, they were getting close to the mouth of Zora’s River. But upon reaching the mouth of the river, they all noticed that the depth of the river was decreasing. It decreased to the point where they could not swim without scraping themselves against the bottom of the river. They would slosh the remaining quarter mile to the point where the river emptied into Lake Hylia. Or, at least the point where it used to empty into Lake Hylia, because now their stood a solid wall of sediment blocking the end of the river. Even weirder, the lake appeared to be about a quarter of its former area and depth.

“What in blazes happened to Lake Hylia?!” Stephen wondered aloud.

“Yeah really, what’s with the river diverting and getting shallow, and then the water level in the lake being so low?” Melanie asked.

Emily remember back to when she was playing the game. “I remember the Ice dungeon near Zora’s Domain, that Sheik person mentioned something about a creature inflicting a curse on the watery domains of Hyrule. It’s possible that this creature is the reason for why Zora’s River doesn’t flow into Lake Hylia anymore, and why the lake’s water level is so low.”

“Wasn’t it that blob like thing in the Water Temple, Morpha, I think it’s name was?” Ashley asked.

“The Water Temple isn’t too far from here, it’s about a mile walk out on the bridge to that island where the temple lies.” Arthur said. “Should we attempt to get inside?”

“Well, there may be more of Ganondorf’s troops inside.” Eric said.

“I don’t care anymore. We came here to explore and have fun, so let’s go!” Emily said.

With that, the group was out on their way across the bridge to the Water Temple. But before they could cross the bridge entirely, they noticed something strange. The water level started to inexplicably rise. All over the place, water poured into Lake Hylia’s dried up mass. As this was going on, Ashley noticed Sheik. She was standing at the edge of the main island. Meanwhile, Link dropped out of the sky behind Sheik shrouded by a greenish-blue light. He ran up to Sheik and appeared to converse with her. They talked for several minutes before Sheik disappeared on Link. She used a deku nut to transport to the top of the tree at the center of the island. While Link was looking for her, Sheik jumped off of the tree and dived headfirst into the newly refilled Lake Hylia.

Realizing that her chance was there, Emily dived from the bridge into Lake Hylia. She started swimming as fast as she could toward the point where Shiek landed in the lake. Surprised by Emily’s sudden impulse to separate herself from the group Ashley jumped in after her. Arthur, Eric, and Stephen all hurried toward the island, where Link was. At this juncture, Link had turned to the east. By the time the men of the group reached the island, he had shot off an arrow toward the sun. He swam toward an island to the near east. Arthur pursued Link into the lake, but Link was a far faster swimmer than Arthur was and pulled away. Shortly after Link reached the island and picked up a reddish item of sorts, he played an Ocarina melody and warped out of Lake Hylia. A yellowish streak took him through the air.

“Crap!” Arthur yelled as loud as he could over the crystal clear water.

“Who are you really? You’re Princess Zelda aren’t you?”

Sheik did not acknowledge this question. Emily tried again.

“I know you. We met at Hyrule Castle. I am one of the travelers from the human world. I am your biggest fan of all. Don’t you remember me?” Emily shows Zelda her Zora Medallion as she says this.

Sheik nodded her head at Emily, then flashed a deku nut between her and Emily. Emily was forced to cover her eyes in the blinding flash, and when she uncovered them, Sheik was gone.

“What was that about?” Emily wondered, shocked by Sheik’s actions toward her.

Two legendary masters of the triforce gone, without a word, as if into the wind…

*Revives thread*

*Insert plot twist here about Ganondorf having the relics of the Hylian Bird*

I'm sorry DKX, did you want to see how I really finished this? I didn't realize that you had been reading this story.