Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Zelda: The Sword of the Winds ❯ The Mountain of Two Hammers ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I'm poor, I own nothing, blah blah blah, don't sue me…….

Well, here's another chapter up, dunno how much sense this is going to make though….inspiration hasn't been hitting me any earlier than midnight lately. *yawn* enjoy….

Link yawned loudly as he stretched in bed. "Come on you," Zelda said as she poked him, "It's almost dawn, you're going to be late for your own mission if you don't get out of bed!!!" She had been up for hours already, who could sleep at a time like this? Of course, she had fallen asleep long before Link crept into their room after interrogating Rauru on everything he knew about these fabled weapons. To think, she was supposed to actually wield one of them! The Bow of the Waters…, she mused to herself, It certainly sounds interesting, I just hope I can manage to use it to help Link. "Hurry up, sleepyhead!" she pestered, giving the edge of their bed a light kick.

"One of these days," Link tried to glare sleepily, "I swear you're going to turn into Navi." Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, he continued, "Which reminds me, have you had any more visions involving our old blue friend?"

"None that are any different," Zelda frowned, "Anyway, you get dressed, I've gotten everything packed already. I'm going to go find Nabooru and Darunia. Hopefully they'll be ready on time, unlike others I know of," she smiled playfully and added, "You know, if you actually woke up early once in awhile, we might have time for other things in the morning besides me working to get you out of bed."

Grinning, Link asked, "Such as?"

Laughing lightly, Zelda bent down to give him a not so light kiss. "Things we simply don't have time for right now. I'll be in the Grand Hall with the others when you're ready."

Ganondorf smiled at the sight of the sun rising from his vantage point on a hill. It was amazing how such a simple thing could hold this much splendor. Perhaps he should make the rising sun his emblem…then again, it seemed a bit, bright. His current rearing snake suited him much better. "Tranz," he summoned in a cool voice, not taking his eyes from the view.

"Yes, Master?" the short wizard asked as he fuzzily appeared next to the Gerudo.

"Report," he commanded in the same monotone, still gazing across the lake.

"Of course, Master," the wizard droned, "As you well know, I've been working to recruit your old forces. The majority of the appear to be…deceased, however. Evidently young Link has been keeping busy."

Hissing at the mention of the Hero of Time's name, Ganondorf turned and grabbed his minion by the collar, roaring, "HOW DARE YOU SPEAK THAT BASTARD'S NAME!?" Getting a hold of himself, he continued icily, "Soon that brat will die, and the only place anyone will find his name is in the histories, as a pathetic fool who tried to oppose the Great King Ganondorf.

"Yes, Master, so it shall be," Tranz stated calmly. "Now, would you like me to report on what I've heard from my spies in the castle?" Ganondorf nodded, half to himself it seemed, and set the aged wizard down. "My sources tell me that…the boy, the princess, and the sages Nabooru and Darunia are leaving this morning. Apparently on some sort of secret mission, not even my highest placed spies know where they're heading."

"They couldn't have found out about me yet..." Ganondorf muttered to himself. "Then again, Zelda could have had one of her damnable prophecies again, she has a bad habit of doing that. We need to prepare as though they're heading straight for us, Tranz. It's past time we did something here other than hiding in the hills."

"So, kid," Nabooru smiled, "Where are we off to first?" The group had gathered in the Grand Hall, just as Zelda said, and were ready to be on their way. Even though the sun was barely up, everyone was anxious to get going.

Looking at the others, Link answered, "According to Rauru, the closest would be your weapon-to-be, Nabooru. Supposedly, the Hammer of Earth is in a cave underneath Death Mountain. So now that we know where to go first, let's do it!" As the four left the castle, they saw their horses tied outside. Nabooru would ride a dark brown mare, Zelda a white mare, Link would have Epona, and there was a stocky black gelding for Darunia. However, when Link's sworn brother saw the supposed mode of transportation for him, he quickly made excuses about how, "Gorons really aren't meant to ride horses…" and chose to walk/ roll during the journey.

As the group left Hyrule, Link thought back to after Zelda left the room. There were a few things Zelda hadn't packed that he was bringing along as a "surprise." She couldn't have packed them, he'd never told anyone that he brought back some of the masks he'd accumulated as he helped save the parallel world centered around Clock Town. Deku, Goron, Zora, and Fierce Deity, he'd saved them all. It would have been nice to keep some of the more useful masks such as the bunny hood and stone mask, but it was worth sacrificing them to get the Fierce Deity. If all else failed, he could use that to fight Ganondorf. As for the others, he was sure he could find a use for them at some point considering all the different terrains they were about to face. And we need all the help we can get.

The ride to Kakariko didn't take too long. Arriving around noon, they decided just to go to Death Mountain right away. "You did find out where the entrance to the temple is, right Link?" Zelda asked, gazing around at the barren landscape. "I can't see anything that looks like it would lead to a magical hammer."

Laughing, Darunia told her, "That's the way things go on this mountain. We're too busy surviving and finding time to enjoy ourselves a little to make everything all pretty like your castle, Princess. Granted, the Megaton Hammer had a more impressive doorway than whatever we're looking for here, but this thing is supposed to be kept a secret. Which reminds me, Brother," he continued, turning towards a frowning and slowly walking Link, "What exactly do we plan to do with these things once we've pounded Ganondorf into oblivion with them?"

Still walking heel to toe, Link said to him, "Not now, Darunia! You'll throw off my count. Rauru's directions were to go `123 heroic feet from the Goron's Kitchen.' So I get to pace out 123 of my feet away from Dodongo's Cavern. Crap, I lost count!" Turning around, he exasperatedly stomped back to the entrance of the cave.

Staring at the blank wall confusedly, Nabooru questioned, "So what exactly are we supposed to do to the wall to get it open?" Walking over to lean against the mountain, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms saying, "It's not like the wall will just dissa-WAAH!" The others quickly looked up just in time to see Nabooru fall backwards into a vacant space in the wall disguised by magic.

Grinning impishly, Link laughed, "Well that saves me a little work, let's get going." When they tried to walk through the space Nabooru fell through, however, Darunia wound up walking smack into solid rock. Frowning, Link mused, "It looks like only the person who is going to use the weapon is allowed in. Must be a type of test to prove them worthy or whatever…the Goddesses know I've had to do enough of that!"

"So what are we supposed to do?!?" demanded Darunia. "We have to just sit around and wait here for her to get the hammer? Great," he muttered to himself, "Just great. Nabooru gets to go off and fight monsters, and I'm stuck here with the lovebirds. Well, at least it'll be night soon, we can all just curl up…ehhh………."

Giggling, Zelda asked, "What's wrong Darunia? Are you afraid to spend the night outdoors? Surely a big, tough Goron such as yourself isn't afraid of the dark."

"No," he replied, rolling his eyes, "Gorons are more courageous than that. The only thing we fear are two newlywed Hylians."

Shaking her head to make the room stop spinning, Nabooru stood up and looked around the tiny room she'd fallen into. It was dark, and there didn't seem to be anything there except for the large slab of carved stone in the middle of the room. Oddly enough, a light shone on it from no apparent opening. Walking over to examine it, she saw it read:

Thou who seeks the strength of Earth

Shall not find thy task so simple

But to prove thy worth

Use cunning to open the temple

"Well isn't this just great," Nabooru muttered. "I don't even have my weapon, I have no clue how to get out of here, none of my friends are able to help me, and now I'm talking to myself!" Taking another look around the small room, she mulled over the riddle on the stone. Cunning, huh? Well, no Gerudo I know has ever lacked for that. What the heck kinda puzzle is this, though? Only one thing in the room…maybe I can move it.

Throwing her weight into the stone, she found that it wouldn't budge an inch. So much for that plan…Looking up from her crouching position, Nabooru was blinded by the light coming down from above. Of course…the light! Sheesh, I'm the Sage of Spirit, I should have realized to use the light before. The question is where, however. Pulling out a small mirror, she began to randomly aim the light along the walls. After a few minutes with no result, she felt ready to give up. Leaning herself over the slab to rest, she felt something along the top. Pulling away, she saw there was a small indent in the stone. Curiously, Nabooru placed her mirror on top of it, and a reflective beam of light shot back towards its invisible source. Instantly, a small patch in the ceiling dissolved.

"Yes!" she shouted in victory. Climbing onto the stone, she pulled herself up to the next level, and found a much more complex scene. Stone blocks scattered around in the room in strange patterns blocked her way to the ladder on the other side of the room. Close to her on the wall was another riddle:

Alas, Earth's Chosen, thy task is far from done

However, should thou reach the sun

Thy journey shall truly begin

"Ah…why can't they give the `cunning' crap a rest?" she bemoaned. "Alright, time to get to work."

"YAAAAWWN!!!" let out the huge Goron. "Link, Zelda," Darunia stretched sleepily, "If you two don't come up with anything interesting in the next five minutes, I'm going to fall asleep right here." Night had fallen, and the trio was still waiting for Nabooru to emerge from the temple.

"Patience, Darunia," Zelda said calmly, staring at their campfire. "Nabooru will take only as long as she needs to, so you might as well just make yourself comfortable and wait."

"We Gorons can be as patient as a stone. Of course," he continued in a miffed tone, "I wouldn't expect either of you to understand the feelings of a Goron."

"I might understand how it feels to be Goron better than you think, Darunia," Link smiled as he added more wood to the fire. Seeing a good opening for sharing his masks, Link walked over to his pack and pulled out the Goron mask. "Darunia, Zelda, I'd like you to both meet Darmani," he said, slipping on the mask.

Alright, so this wasn't the greatest place to end the chapter, but it was getting so loooooooong!! I was going nuts!! Still am, but oh well. Ahhh!!!! It's done!! *leaps about happily* Now I just have…well, I have no clue how many more chapters this will be….maybe 1 or 2 for each temple…then fighting Ganondorf…I'm going to make it my goal to keep this thing under 15! So anyway…PLEASE REVIEW! I'm begging you all!!! C'mon, just one liddle review? Fine, enough of this. I'm going to stop before this gets too pathetic. It does feel good to read reviews though!!!