The Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ Gerudo Forest ❯ Chapter 34 ( Chapter 34 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

It looked as if no one had entered this section of the temple for ages. The underwater plants had completely taken over and seemed to thrive above the water just as well as they had under. It almost looked like they were entering a glowing jungle all contained within a passageway. They had to be careful of where they stepped so as not to trip on the tangled mess of flora and fauna. So far in this area they hadn't run into any more monsters but she was sure that wouldn't last for long. She was pretty sure Agahnim wasn't waiting for them at the bottom. At least that is what she hoped anyway. She couldn't feel him there so maybe that was a good sign. It felt as though they had walked farther down then they had up and Link stopped in front of them suddenly. “What's wrong?” Heather who had been silent most of the way down asked. She had seemed to be deep in thought and Melissa could only hope that was because she had shattered the girls perception of her and not because she had made her mad. It was odd that guardians seemed to be the opposite personality of the ones they were assigned to. Heather was definitely the opposite of Link. She was more outspoken than the hero. Melissa on the other hand had found more of a voice since she had been here but was still the more passive one of her relationship with Ganondorf even with her rebelling against his orders on occasion. She figured it was just him rubbing off on her. This made her wonder what Zelda's Guardian was like. Were they paired this way because it made them a more well rounded team or was this just that way by chance. “The tunnel is flooded.” Link said bringing her back from her thoughts. “Why is that a problem? You are wearing the tunics.” Rutulla said. Had the hero forgotten they had just been underwater? It was one of those head slapping moments and all they could do was laugh which relieved some of the tension they had been feeling. They entered the water carefully keeping an eye out for anything dangerous lurking in the depths. It was weird that they hadn't run into any monsters since getting in here and Melissa wondered where they had all gone. Swimming down the rest of the way took less time than walking. They could just float around the plants instead of climbing over them. The stairway finally ended in another massive cylindrical chamber and Melissa could see the same giant shells that the Zoras used to make homes on the bottom. Fish skittered around here and there and figured there were probably holes somewhere letting the fish from the outside in. Finally she spotted the statue in the middle of the room. This one was of a Zora holding the winged snake. The piece was there but how would they get it? She didn't want another of the statues to be destroyed just to claim it. Rutulla, Melissa, and Link approached it while Heather hung back exploring the shells which seemed to be empty. Shouldn't she be helping? Melissa thought to herself feeling like the girl was loafing around. Oh well let her. They floated around examining the stone zora and Melissa wondered if maybe the piece would be located in the snake like last time. She looked in the mouth of the snake and saw a hole big enough to stick her hand into. Could it be a trap? Something could be in there waiting to bite her hand off if the snake its self didn't. She showed it to her friends who began to examine it. Both Link and Rutulla tried sticking their hands down the hole but they ended up being too big. If she was lucky maybe hers would be to and they could make Heather do it. “Drat!” she thought when it was apparent that her hand would fit just fine. She needed to be brave so they could get the heck out of this place. Hesitantly she put her hand through the hole. It felt slimy inside and she couldn't help but feel disgusted. She had to resist the urge to pull her hand back out it felt so nasty. What the hell was in there? She shoved her arm through as far as she could reaching for anything. She could feel something smooth just at the tip of her fingertips. Just a few more inches and she could grab it. Trying to pull it out she felt some resistance. It took The help of Rutulla and Link pulling her backwards for it to come loose. Strands of something black and nasty came out with the object she now held. It looked to be some kind of moldy like seaweed that had been clinging to the piece of triforce she now held. She cleaned it off so that the others could look. Holding the piece made her feel at ease like the last one had. “Let me see it?” Rutulla asked her but before Melissa could the water began to drain from the room. They looked around surprised. Heather got washed out of one of the shells she had been inspecting. “Ouch!” Heather said landing on her backside hard. “Served her right for not helping.” Melissa thought trying not to laugh at her pain. Heather's voice echoed around the room and a screech promptly followed it. “What was that?” Heather said running behind Link like a damsel in distress. They looked around the room to spot one of the huge shells beginning to move. Pincers and legs of what looked like a giant hermit crab emerged from the shell first followed by the crabs head. It's stalk eyes twitched this way and that watching them. “No sudden movements.” Rutulla whispered a warning to them. “Slowly back up to the stairs.” They kept their eyes on the monstrous crustacean at all times as they inched backwards. The farther away they got the faster the crab clicked it's claws irritated. Not noticing a divot in the floor Melissa tripped backwards. “Crap!” She thought and the crab let out a shriek and charged them. Of course she would have to be clutsy now of all times. Link pulled out a boomerang and threw it at the crab. The boomerang hit and severed the stalks holding up it's eyes which made it even worse. Blinded the crab rushed around the room smashing into the walls and striking out randomly with it's claws. They had to rush out of the way multiple times and Link was having to push them out of the way a lot as well. Link couldn't do anything if he was constantly having save them so Melissa decided to change so she could fly out of the way on her own. Heather seemed to have the same idea. Having finished the change Heather took to the air drawing the attention of the crab. It could hear her flapping as she seemed to struggle to gain altitude making Melissa wondered if Heather hadn't had time to practice. Heather landed on top of the statue probably thinking she would be safe there but she was wrong. The crab hurtled to where it had heard her land crashing into the statue shattering it to pieces. NO!!!! She had wanted to ask it questions. They statues had seemed to know about what was going on and now that this one was destroyed she would have to wait till the next temple now. The crab seemed to have knocked its self senseless for the moment. A roar echo around the room drawing attention to the fact that Heather had been thrown and had gotten trapped under a large piece that looked like the torso of the statue. By herself Heather couldn't budge it but with Melissa's help they were able to roll it off of her. Holding onto the triforce piece made it difficult but they managed. Heather gave her a look of thanks. Rolling the statue had given Melissa an idea. If they could roll the crab over it might give them enough time to escape. She just hoped Heather would follow her lead. Flying to the top so she could have as much speed as possible she dived at the crabs shell. That knocked it off balance but the crab steadied its self before it fell. She looked at Heather who seemed to get what she was doing. It took Heather a bit to fly to the top but once there she dive bombed the monster like a pro. As it teetered Melissa gave it one last push avoiding it's claw as it snapped at her. It shrieked legs kicking at air trying to get up. “Let's go.” Rutulla shouted at them. Melissa grabbed her clothes and let the Zora climb on as Heather did the same for Link. The stair way was just wide enough to let them through and small enough to block the monster. Melissa had a little more room to maneuver than Heather and could gracefully jump over the plants they had climbed on the way down. Heather on the other hand was having problems and eventually got tired of trying to squeeze around the plants resorting to slashing through them. Poor plants. Did she have to ruin such beauty? But as bad as Melissa felt about it she had to admit their progress was a little faster. Melissa let out a sigh relieved when they finally made it back to the main room. Her arm where the dexihand had cut her was starting to throb and her head was starting to hurt. Letting Rutulla down Melissa leapt around the tower to change. She returned with triforce in hand. “So that's a piece of the triforce?” Link asked looking at what she held. “Let me see?” Heather said coming back from her turn. Melissa held it out to her but just as the last time it dissolved to a white mist floating around them before disappearing. “What just happened? Where did it go?” Heather said alarmed. “What did you do?” Heather said narrowing her eyes at her. Why did she always accuse her of wrong doings? “This is what happened before. The statue at the Fire Temple said that the last one had returned to it's bearer. So I'm guessing this is the same.” Melissa explained just a little upset that the girl still thought she was trying to sabotage the quest. “How can a statue talk? The one here didn't say anything.” Heather said pointing the way they had just came. “That's because you led the crab to it and let it be destroyed. I had questions I needed to ask it. Now I have to wait till the next temple.” Melissa yelled back at her. Her arm had begun to ache and she started to feel light headed from her little outburst. She needed to sit down. “Stop it you two.” Rutulla ordered. Melissa let herself down to the floor feeling a little sick now. “ Are you alright?” She heard Link ask as she lowered her head. She was unsure what was going on. She had been fine a second ago. She didn't feel like she could even answer or she might puke. “What's this?” She heard Rutulla speaking above her. Someone held up her arm. “When did this happen?” The zora asked and she could hear worry in her voice. “Well a dexihand grabbed her earlier but I didn't realize that it had cut her.” Link explained. “Shit! Why didn't you tell me sooner.” She heard the zora say but her voice faded out.