FicWad

The Switch of Fate

By: USA Tiger

Disclaimer: The characters of The Legend of Zelda series belong to Nintendo.

Chapter 12

The next chamber Link entered was another room with lava on the floor and a grated floor suspended over it.

"Man... I can't believe this," A voice said from somewhere in the room. Link jumped down onto the grate to get a better look. There, above the middle of the room hung a Mogma, who had slicked back black hair, from a crane.

"Are you ok?" Link asked, getting the Mogma's attention. The Mogma gave a yelp of surprise and turned his head to look at Link.

"Ahh! Another one of those crazy chick’s henchmen," He said, his legs swinging wildly. "Well you ain't gonna get nufin out of me, you hear me!"

"I'm not working for Zelda," Link said with a shake of his head. "Here, let me get you down." As he stepped forward, Link heard a crackle behind him.

"Look out!" Navi said in alarm. Link looked over his shoulder; a wall of fire had sprung up and was coming right at him. The Mogma screamed in fear, he was down low enough that he was right in the path of the fire wall.

"Get me down get me down get me down!" The Mogma screamed. Link took off at a run, going past the Mogma who yelled "Hey! Where are you going?!" The blond spotted a pillar sticking out of the lava, jumping up so he could push off with his feet to a nearby ledge. The Hylain youth grab the edge and pulled himself up with a grunt.

"Oh Din! I'm gonna die!" The Mogma yelled as the fire wall came closer to him. Link ran over and grabbed the crank handle of the crane. As he turned the crank, the crane swung around, taking the Mogma out of harm's way and over to the ledge. "You-you saved me!"

"It's ok," Link said as he ran over and started to untie the Mogma.

"Whew, I thought I was a goner," The Mogma said, whipping his forehead. "Thanks guy."

"It's nothing. You need to get out of here, I already set free your friend," Link said.

"Thanks for that," The Mogma said. "How do I get out of here? That fire wall might come back."

"I'll draw the fire to me and you can escape through the door. You should find a place to tunnel out nearby I think," Link said.

"Alright, I'll give it a try," The Mogma said. "I won't ever forget this guy." Link smiled and nodded then jumped back down onto the grate. Once again a wall of fire appeared and headed toward Link. The blond ran the length of the room toward a door on the other end, once the fire passed, the Mogma quickly high tailed it out of there.

**

Link had found himself back in the previous chamber after that, this time on the platforms above the rolling boulders. He had let free two Gorons from their cells, one inside the room and another he had found earlier in another room but hadn't been able to rescue at the time as there hadn't been any switches to open the cell he could see.

After that Link and Navi found themselves in a large room with a pillar in the middle that was surrounded by a couple of rolling boulders and two totems that spat fire. Link found that he couldn't just walk straight forward, when he approached an area with many posts that were a little taller than him, a wall of fire would spring up blocking his way. It was like a maze that he had to carefully walk until he found his way out.

At the moment he was on the other side of the room read to step on a switch that would lower a wall of fire that was blocking his way out.

"Ok... now!" Navi said. Link stomped on the switch then took off at a dead run toward raised area the door was located. Just as he reached the edge, he jumped up onto the raised area and tumbled into a roll just as the fire started again. "Whew, you almost didn't make it."

"It was close," Link agreed as he stood up and dusted the dirt off of his tunic. They had tired that several times, the fire had always sprung back up right before Link made it past. He had a couple of burns on his legs, the leggings he wore blackened in some areas, from those tries. Link turned to the door he had tried so hard to get too, frowning at it. "This door looks a little weird," He said as he stepped closer to it. The door looked different from the others he had seen already in the temple. It looked... well it looked like it was fake to be honest. Still he reached forward, brushing his fingers against the knob. He just had enough time to snatch his hands back and roll to the side as the door wiggled then came crashing down.

"It's a trap door!" Navi said. "It's easy to get rid of, just blow it up."

"With pleasure," Link said as he took out a bomb from his pouch, the wick lighting as soon as it was free. He placed the bomb at the base of the trap door then moved to stand several feet away. The bomb went off, seemed to shake the ground under Link's feet, and blew the trap door to pieces. The pieces laid scattered around and behind the space laid a small hall way with a second door at the end, this one real. The blond opened it and stepped into the next room. There was a large square platform in the middle of the room that had a large raging fire on top of it. Link started to look around for a switch to douse the fire, as he stepped away from the door a set of bars slid down in front of it, locking the Hylian hero and his fairy partner in the room.

"We're locked in!" Navi yelled.

"I can see that Navi," Link said, turning as something laughed behind him. Leaping out of the fire was a fire creature that looked only vaguely humanoid with a large black orb in the middle. It reminded Link of a scarecrow but on fire. "What is that?"

"It's a Flare Dancer," Navi informed him as the Flare Dancer started to spin in place, several fire balls flying from its body. "Extinguish its flaming clothing first to get to the core."

Link nodded and drew The Master Sword as he stepped close to the Flare Dancer. The Dancer cackled as it stopped spinning and started to glide around the room away from Link. He frowned; he couldn't get close so he withdrew the Fairy bow and notched an arrow along the string. The arrow flew true toward the Dancer but burn to ash before it could reach it.

"Try the Hookshot," Navi suggested. Link switched the two items and inched forward the Flare Dancer as it stopped to spin in place again. The Hookshot caught hold of its black core and dragged it out of its protective flame clothing. As soon as it hit the floor, the Dancer started to run away, running in a circle around the platform. Link waited by the wall kneeling in wait then hit it with a spin attack when it was close enough. The Dancer yelled in pain then jumped back into the flames on top of the platform.

This time with the Flare Dancer jumped out, its 'clothing' was blue and purple. Link grinned and aimed his Hookshot at the Dancer again before it could glide off, dragging the core out again. After Link hit the core again, the Dancer jumped back in the fire again and jumped out wearing flames that was two shades of green this time around. This time, after Link dragged the core out and sliced it in half, the Flame Dancer seemed to expand which was Link's only warning to get out of the way as the Dancer's core exploded. The shockwave from the blast caught Link in the back as he ran away from it, sending him to the ground with a grunt.

"Ow," He said as he sat up, rubbing his jaw. He saw a bit of blood onto the floor having bit his tongue when he landed. He looked toward the door as he heard the bars slid up out of the way.

"Link, the fire is going out on the platform," Navi said. Link stood up and turned toward the platform, watching as the fire died. He looked up above it, seeing a hole in the ceiling.

"Guess that is where we leave," He said as he walked up the small set of stairs onto the platform. The blond stumbled a bit as the platform jerked before rising in the air to the next level of the temple. The room above was a small room with only one door out. As Link stepped off the platform it sunk back down to the room below. Link looked back at the hole at the floor for a second then exited through the door.

The next room was a large tall chamber that hand a winding dirt path with dips and slopes all along the path. The middle of the room was a large hole that led down to chambers below. Link looked over the edge but couldn't make out anything below. Along the edge of the path was a set of stairs that were very narrow and if one wasn't careful could easily fall off of. At the top of the path Link spied some sort of fire.

As he headed for the small set of stairs to head up and get a closer took, two small mounds of dirt started to build up. Two Mogmas, the one with the swept back blue hair and the slick back black hair one, popped out of the dirt.

"Hey!" The black hair one greeted.

"Whoa," Link said as he stood a step back. "What are you two still doing here? I though you would have escaped."

"Well yeah but we felt that we owed ya for helping us out," The blue hair one said. "You wantin’ what's up there?" He asked, pointing at the fire above.

"Yes. Do you know what it is?" Link asked.

"It's some sorta shrine. Some related to those Gorons," The black hair one said. "And it's got this really shiny hammer sitting on top of it."

"That must be the Goron hammer they used to defeat Volvagia in the past... do you know of any way I can get that hammer?" Link asked.

"There's a switch over there," The black hair Mogma said as he pointed.

"You can head up to the shrine and we'll hit the switch for ya," His companion offered. "We'll be even then."

"That would be great, thank you," Link said.

"Hey, you saved our bacon so we save you some hardship," The blue hair Mogma said with a shrug. Link nodded and head up, careful not to fall off the stairs. Once at the top, he waved his hand for the Mogmas to trigger the switch. Both Mogmas put their weight on the switch, triggering it and lowering the flames around the shrine. Link took a good look at the shrine. It was large, decorated with carvings of the same story Goron-Link had told him. Hanging on a pair of hooks was a large shiny hammer. Link lifted it off the shrine, grunting under the weight but was able to hold it up. As he stepped back, the protective flames sprung back up around the shrine.

"We can go help Darunia beat Volvagia now," Navi said as she bounced in excitement.

"Let’s free the rest of the Gorons then we can go help him," Link agreed. They headed back down the path, Link smiling as he approached the Mogmas. "Thank you for your help"

"Hey, glad we could help," The blue hair Mogma said.

"We're out of here now," The black hair one said. Both Mogmas waved then popped back underground. Link watched them leave then looked down at the giant hammer in his hands.

"Where to now?" He asked as he walked toward the door he had entered before. He stepped up on a strange block that was on the floor, stopping as he felt it sink under his feet.

"What's wrong?" Navi asked when she noticed Link had stopped.

"There's something strange about this block," He said, bouncing on his heels. The block shifted under his weight as he moved. "It's like it’s loose."

"Hmm... try hitting it with the hammer," Navi suggested. Link hopped off the block and swung the hammer down. It struck the block with a mighty blow, sending a small shockwave out in all directions as the block fell through the floor. Navi followed the block to see where it led. "There's a door down here! Come on!" She called up through the hole. Link grinned and jumped down, his knees bending to absorb the impact as he landed below. Holding the hammer with one hand, he opened the door to the next room. Around the corner was a long chamber that had several Fire Keese flying around. Link set the hammer down and took out his bow, shooting each fire bat down. "You’re getting better," Navi said impressed. Link smiled as he put the bow away and picked up the Megaton Hammer.

The blond looked at the room again, the floor was long and looked like it was sectioned off. In the middle of the floor was a small column, with the same carving on the top as the block he had knocked down earlier. He hummed to himself and hit the column with the hammer. The ground shook as the floor started fall down, each section turning into a step. As the last one fell, down below was another door.

"I guess that's where we exit," Link said. He looked at the hammer he was holding, he didn't want to just carry the thing around as it was very heavy. He glanced at the pouch on his belt, wondering if the magic would work on it as well. He placed the handle of the hammer into the top of the pouch and watched amazed as it shrunk to fit inside. "Wow... That's the largest thing I've ever tried to fit in there, I can't believed it fit."

"Hmm," Navi glanced at the pouch. "It's Minish made, the pouch has their magic all over it. I'm not surprised that it could hold the hammer, the Minish's magic is very powerful." Link nodded in agreement then jumped down the large steps one by one to the door below.

***

Link and Navi were back in the room with the large column in the middle with the fire maze, but this time on the other side.

"Link look," Navi said. "There's a room down there." She flew down to the grate in the floor, looking below. "It looks like the room Darunia went into." She had caught a glimpse of the room when the large Goron leader had opened the door. She turned and looked at the pillar hanging above the room, part of the pillar hanging through the grate. "Try knocking this into the room," She suggested.

Link jumped onto the platform holding the pillar up and took out the Megaton Hammer. With a yell he hit the pillar, sending it to the room below.

"Yes!" Navi said as the pillar fell. "Let's go."

"I'm not jumping down that, I could break my neck," Link said, looking at Navi like she was crazy. "I'll backtrack," He said as he jumped to the ledge attached to the column in the middle of the large chamber. He opened the door and inside he could hear the frightened whimpers of a Goron. Across the room was a switch on top of the cage holding the Goron captive. When Navi mentioned she sensed the same magic form the temple of time in a section of the room, he played the Song of Time which summoned a large blue block and let him climb on top of the prison.

"Hmm... it's not moving," Link said as he stepped on the switch. It looked different than the other switches and wouldn't move at all when he stomped on the top of it.

"It's rusted over," Navi said as she looked it over. "You're going to have to use something heavier to get it to move." Link gave it a thought then took out the Megaton hammer again, figuring that it wouldn't hurt to try.

"Hey!" Link swung the hammer down, the heavy hammer landing right in the middle of the rusted switch. The switch groaned and gave way under the hammer's weight, opening the cage door.

"Err?" The Goron stood as the door opened, smiling widely as Link jumped down in front of him. "Brother Link?"

"Yeah, it's me," Link said with a smile, setting the head of the hammer on the ground.

"I am so happy to see you Brother," The Goron said with a smile then eyed the hammer. "That's Megaton's hammer! Where did you find it?"

"At this shrine in another room," Link said. "Darunia said he needed it to battle that dragon, I thought I should take it to him."

"Megaton was the hero Goron that defeated Volvagia years ago," The Gorgon said. "He is Big Brother's ancestor... take good care of that hammer Brother." (1)

"I will," Link promised. The Goron patted Link's shoulder, nearly sending him to the floor and then ran out of the room. Link followed the Goron out, finding his way back to the rooms from before.

**

Link found himself back in the first room of the temple where he had seen Darunia. He went through the door the Goron leader had entered hours before. He looked around the new chamber, in the middle of the room in the lava was the pillar he knocked down before, giving him a perfect place to jump across so he could get to the door.

"Oh no," Navi said. "The door is locked." The large door on the other side of the chamber had a large lock, shaped like a flame, in the middle with red tinted gold chains covering the door. (2)

"How did Darunia get through?" Link asked as he jumped over to look at the lock.

"Hey!" Someone called from the side of the room. Link turned his head, seeing yet another Goron in a cell. "Can you get me out?"

"Yeah, give me a moment," Link called back. He made his way around the room using the hookshot to the platform in the corner of the room. The Goron smiled widely as the cell door opened and he exited.

"Thank you." The Goron said. "Big Brother said someone was coming to save me."

"Did you see where Darunia went?" Link asked.

"He unlocked the door with a key he had and entered the room. Afterward the lock and chains sprung back into place," The Goron said. Link sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

"How are we suppose to get in there if he had the key?" Link wondered.

"There's a spare key somewhere in the temple," The Goron said. "The original one was lost so a key smith had to make a new key for the door. I think it was lost somewhere in the rooms under the alter in the next room. I'll show you." The Goron motioned for Link to follow him, the large rock man using a path in the lava that Link couldn't use to get to the door out of the room.

"There, if you can move the stones blocking the door you can find the key somewhere in there," The Goron said, pointing at a door behind three blocks that had Gorons etched into the stone to the right of the stairs. "Good luck Brother."

Link watched the Goron leave then turned to the stones blocking the door. He went to one side and pushed at them, grunting under his breath.

"Oh, try using the hammer," Navi said. "I bet you can just smash them to pieces with it."

"Good idea," Link said as he took out the Megaton Hammer from his pouch and swung it at the stones. The one in the middle cracked as the hammer hit it, making Link smile and quickly destroy all three stones. Soon the floor in front of the door was littered with smaller stone pieces which Link kicked out of the way and opened the door. The next room after a short hall way was filled with Torch Slugs and Fire Keese. Link took out the Fire Keese with a few well place arrows then used the hammer to send the slugs onto their backs so Link could attack the soft underbelly.

As soon as the last Torch Slug was dead, a door in the corner of the room opened to let Link and Navi through. After searching the room for any trace of the key they needed, Link sighed.

"Not here," he said.

"Well, let’s try the next room then," Navi said, flying toward the door. Link followed the blue fairy, opening the door. In the middle of the room stood a large stone platform with a roaring fire going in the middle, just like the one they encountered before.

"Flare dancer!" Navi said as with a laugh a Flare Dancer like the one before jumped out of the fire. Link smirked; he knew how to take out the Dancer now and aimed his Hook shot at the core. It was a repeat of the battle with the first Dancer, Link dragging the core out of the 'clothing' and hitting the core as it ran around the room. After the third hit, Link ran to the other side of the platform so he wouldn't be hit by the blast as the Flare Dancer blew up. A quick search showed once again there was no key to be found in the room.

"Where is this thing?" Link asked with a frown.

"I don't know, but I'm sure the key is somewhere," Navi said. They went through the door which lead to a short hallway, a double sided Cell in the middle. Link sighed and stepped on the switch to let the Goron inside go, who thanked him and quickly left. "Well that has to be the last one," Navi said.

"Yeah... but where is that key?" Link asked with a sigh as he ran his hand through his hair, knocking his stocking cap off.

"It has got to be somewhere, maybe we should search the other two rooms again," The fairy suggested. Link sighed again and leaned over to get his hat. In the process he knocked some of the loose dirt away, something shining in the light under the dirt.

"What's this?" Link muttered as he dug into the dirt to see what it was. He grinned bright as he stood up, a large key that matched the design on the lock in the other room. "Found it!"

"Great! Let's go help Darunia and beat that dragon!" Navi cheered.

**

Link panted slightly from the heat in the final chamber, it was as hot in here as it was in the volcano crater.

"I don't see Darunia," Navi said as she looked around. "I don't see Volvagia either."

"Well a dragon can't be that hard to hide," Link said as he looked around. "Maybe Volvagia is in the lava?" he suggested as he looked down at the lake of lava that surrounded the round island in the middle. The island was covered in smaller puddles of lava, heat rising from each hole. "I'm more worried that I don't see Darunia."

"Well... I'm not sure where he could be," Navi admitted, having no clue. "I hope he's ok." Link jumped onto a smaller out cropping of rock between the platform and the island in the middle of the cavern.

"Whoa!" Link yelled as the rock crumbled under his feet, quickly jumping on the island to avoid falling into the lava.

"Well we're not getting out that way," Navi said as she watched the rocks melt in the lava. Link walked further onto the island, the hair on the back of his neck was rising... something was going to happen soon. He reached up and wrapped his left hand around the hilt of the Master Sword, only drawing it slightly.

The ground under Link's feet started to shake while one of the lava puddles started to spit out sparks and globs of molten lava in front of Link. Then with a loud hissing roar, a long slender dragon burst out of the lava and flew into the air.

"It's Volvagia!" Navi yelled. Link drew the Master Sword out of reflex and struck out at Volvagia's head as the dragon flew straight at him. The blade glanced off the black mask the dragon wore. Volvagia stopped and roared, drawing in a large breath before breathing a stream of fire at Link. The blond yelped and brought his shield up in front of him to block the fire. The metal on the shield began to heat up under the hot flames. The leather gauntlets Link wore protected most of his hand from the hot metal but his fingers were seared, causing Link to give a pain cry and drop his shield to the ground. Luckily for him Volvagia ran out of breath by this time. (3)

'Ok, the Master Sword didn't work,' Link thought to himself as he quickly returned his blade to its place on his back. 'Let's see what the Megaton Hammer does.' He withdrew the giant silver hammer from his magic pouch quickly, waiting for his chance to strike again as Volvagia flew around above him.

"RAAAWWSSS!" Volvagia dove down at Link, his mouth open wide to sweep elf up and eat him. Link swung the hammer down as Volvagia got close, knocking the dragon's head to the ground with the force of the swing. The rest of the dragon's long body hit the ground as well. Stunned by the hit, Volvagia was unable to move as Link brought the Megaton Hammer down again. A crack started to form in the mask that covered Volvagia's head and Link could see some sort of green gem underneath.

"That must be the weak point!" Navi said as she noticed as well. "Get that mask off!" Volvagia didn't give the teen the chance to hit him again, roaring as he pushed up off the ground and back into the air, knocking Link over in the process.

"AHH!" Link yelled as his elbow landed on the edge of one of the lave puddles. The Goron made tunic he wore helped protect him from the heat produced by the lava inside the volcano but wasn't stop him from being injured with direct contact. Link sat up, clutching his brunt elbow with a hiss.

"Link! Look out!" Navi yelled. Link yelped a boulder landed near him, quickly standing up and getting out of the way as another rock landed where he had been sitting a second before. Volvagia had landed on the roof of the cavern and was ripping chunks of rock out to throw at Link. The blond started to dodge and weave around to keep from being hit. He grabbed the Megaton Hammer as he passed it, using it to smash rocks that had fallen into his path so he could keep moving around on the limited space he had. Finally the dragon above him gave up trying to squish Link with the rocks when Volvagia saw that it wasn't working.

With a roar the dragon dropped front the ceiling of the cavern down to the island in the lava, making the floor shake under Link's feet. The dragon started to draw in air, filling the fire sacks in his lungs. Link didn't give Volvagia a chance to breathe any fire in his direction, taking the hammer and bringing it down on the dragon's head. The mask cracked in half under the force of the blow, each half fall off the dazed dragon's head. The glowing green gym on the dragon's head was fully exposed, beaming like a beacon. Link quickly put up the Goron's treasured hammer and drew the Master Sword. Volvagia meanwhile shook off the dazed look on his face then snapped at Link as the blond lunged forward to attack the dragon's head gem.

Link cursed as he twisted and rolled out of the way to avoid being bitten by the dragon's sharp fangs. Volvagia chased after the elfin hero, pinning Link with on clawed hand and snapping his fangs around Link's right shoulder.

"ARRGG!" Link yelled loudly in pain as his whole shoulder was trapped within the dragon's mouth. He grunted as he used his free arm to swing the Master Sword up and around to strike the glowing gem. Volvagia roared loudly as he let go of Link and reared back in pain. Link quickly jumped up, ignoring the pain his shoulder was in, and attacked again. A crack started at the tip of the gem before quickly running down the length to the base of the glowing jewel before shattering into pieces.

Volvagia paused for a moment then roared loudly, his forepaws wrapped around his scattered gem as he trashed around. He then took to the air, withering in pain as the spell that Zelda cast to bring him back to life ended. Volvagia's body caught fire, burning the dragon's body until only the bones were left. The dragon's roars died off and bit by bit the dragon's bones fall to the ground and into the lava lake surrounding the island. The dragon's skull was the last to fall at Link's feet.

Link sighed in relief as the skull burst into a flame and was destroyed once and for all. The Master Sword was returned to its place on his back and as was the shield that Link had dropped earlier.

"Farore that was painful," Link said as he pulled his tunic back to peer at his shoulder. It was a bloody mess where Volvagia's fangs had dug in.

"You better heal that before it becomes infected," Navi said in worry. Link took out a bottom with a fairy and let it out. The pink light fairy took one look at Link's shoulder and gave a scream before pouring its magic into the wound. The bite marks started to close up until only his blood and a scar in the shape of a bite mark was left. The healing fairy also healed Link's burns that he gained throughout the temple with the last of its magic before fading away.

While the fairy worked on healing Link, a blue light sprung up in the middle lava puddle just like the one in the Forest Temple.

"That's our way out," Navi said as she noticed it. Link flexed his arm test his healed shoulder and elbow, the fairy had done a good job of fixing him up, then said a quick prayer to Farore for the life of little healing fairy. He stepped into the circle of blue light, a crystal surrounding the blond and whisking him away to the Chamber of the Sages. Link landed lightly on his feet as the crystal faded away, facing the symbol of the Fire Sage. A red light shone from the symbol and a large muscled figure rose up into view.

"Thank you, Brother!" Darunia said with a large grin.

"Darunia! I was worried, we didn't see you in the chamber with Volvagia," Link said, relieved to see his sworn brother safe and alive.

"I entered the chamber to challenge Volvagia before he could eat my people. Before I could get very far the door locked behind me and those two witches that cursed the Dodongo Cavern seven years ago appeared," Darunia said with a scowl as he crossed his arms over his chest. "They teleported me out of the temple to some dark prison. But then I awakened as a Sage and was able to teleport myself out to the chamber. Did you help my people as I asked Link?"

"Yes, I let all the Gorons and the Mogmas out of their cells and they escaped," Link assured him. Darunia sagged in relief, sighing happily.

"I really appreciate what you did. I thank you on the behalf of the entire Goron race!" Darunia said, looking at Link proudly. "You turned out to be a real man, just as I thought you would. And to think, I, the wild Darunia, turned out to be the great Sage of Fire," Darunia laughed heartedly while Link grinned. "Well, this must be what they call destiny."

"I guess it is," Link said with another smile.

"Nothing has made me happier than helping you seal that evil wench here," Darunia said with a booming laugh. "Hey Brother, take this!" The Goron held out one large hand, a red glowing light appearing over it. With a flash, a red medallion with the Triforce on one side and the Fire sage symbol on the other appeared and dropped into Darunia's palm. "This medallion contains the power of the fire spirits... and my friendship."

Darunia handed the medallion over to Link and patted the blond's shoulder. Link grunted slightly as Darunia patted the shoulder that just had been healed from Volvagia's bite and place the medallion in his pouch.

"Just do me one more favor Brother," Darunia said as he stepped back again. "Tell Link that I am proud of him and to watch over our Brothers until I can return."

"I'll tell him" Link promised with a nod. Darunia smiled and watched as Link was surrounded once again by the teleport crystal that would take him out of the Chamber of Sages.

"Don't forget- now you and I are true Brothers!" Darunia called just as Link disappeared.

***

Sheik sighed as he waited for Link outside the Fire temple. His hair was plastered to his face and neck with sweat, all he wanted was a cool bath right now. He had watched as one by one the Gorons had exited the Fire Temple. The wooden bridge was now fixed, two of the first Gorons that had escaped the temple had rolled and jumped across the gap then later returned with the tools needed to fix the bridge. The Mogmas had tunneled their way out through the loose dirt.

Sheik wondered how much longer it would be when he felt the ground tremble under his feet. He yelped then quickly teleported out of the volcano center down to Kakariko Village, watching in amazement as Death Mountain spat out rocks and lava from its center. The ground shook again, sending Sheik tumbling onto his back. He quickly sat up and watched as the volcano gave one quick eruption, spitting fire high into the sky. Sheik could see the evil leaving the air above the mountain, leaving behind a blue sky. The ring of fire had disappeared from around the top of Death Mountain as well, leaving behind the normal ring of smoke that had always been there before. The volcano calmed quickly, letting Sheik teleport himself back to the center.

"Link you did it!" Sheik called happily as Link appeared.

"Sheik!" Link greeted with a grin. "Darunia is the Sage of Fire."

"People are talking down in the village, they saw the evil leave the mountain," Sheik said. "It's giving them hope."

"That's good," Navi said. "That hope gives them what they need to fight against Zelda."

"Let's get out of here, I've had enough of this heat," Link said. Sheik was quick to agreed, following Link back to the Goron City.

"Brother Link! Brother Link!" Goron-Link yelled as he saw the two blonds exit the tunnel in his and his dad's rooms. "Everybody has come back! Dad and you destroyed the dragon together didn't you?"

"Yes, we did," Link said with a smile. "He also asked me to tell you that he's proud of you and to watch over the other Gorons until he can come back. Your Dad is a sage; he's got to stay behind until Zelda is defeated."

"I'll do my Dad proud," Goron-Link said, puffing out his chest. "When I grow up, I want to be a strong man like you and my Dad, Link!"

"I think you are well on your way" Link said with a smile. Goron-Link grinned then ran out of the rooms to tell the others that his dad was ok.

"Ready to head back to the village Link?" Sheik asked. Link smiled and nodded, letting Sheik wrap his arms around him and teleport them back to the forest near the Sheikah village.

****

Zelda screamed in rage as she felt the death of Volvagia, the spell she cast on the dragon's bones breaking apart.

"Damn that boy!" The evil queen raged. She walked over to the window and looked out toward Death Mountain as she felt the ground tremble. The active volcano was back to normal and she had no doubt that the Gorons were once again free by now as her minion had no time to eat the blasted rock people.

Even more worrying, she knew from her spies that people in Kakariko Village were starting to talk. The events of Link's actions so far were starting to stir the rebellious air of the people.

"This cannot be allowed to continue," Zelda hissed as she turned from the window and headed toward a door behind her throne. The door lead to a room filled with spell books and bottles of different potions. In the middle of the room was a table which a figure laid upon.

The figure was an Elvin male who looked just like Link, except the boy on the table had black hair and if his eyes were open people would notice they were blood red. He was Zelda creation, a clone/doppelganger that would have all of Link's abilities. She could have used a Shadow-doppelganger spell, a spell that would bring the target of the spell’s shadow to life and would be equal in strength and abilities, but Zelda planed on using the boy on the table to crush the hopes of the people once Link was dead by making people think this dark version of Link was their hero gone bad.

"Your time is limited boy," Zelda said as she placed her hand on her puppet's chest, a smirk crossing her coldly beautiful face.

**

Link, Sheik and Navi appeared in the woods close to the Sheikah village.

"Why here?" Link asked as he saw where they were.

"I don't know about you but I need a dip after stewing in that volcano all day," Sheik said as he started to undress. Link's eyes lit up as he quickly agreed with the other boy and started pulling off his Goron tunic. Navi sighed and left them to go talk to some healing fairies nearby. As soon as Link kicked off his pants he quickly ran to the cool waters of the nearby pond. Sheik laughed as he watched his friend gleefully splash.

"Hmmm, this feels so good," Link said with a grin as Sheik joined him in the waters.

"It does," Sheik said as he dunked under the water, letting it soak his blond hair and wash out the sweat that had clung to him. When the red eye Sheikah came back up for hair, he chuckled as he watched Link play in the water like a child.

"We have a pond in the village that we use for swimming and fishing," Link said. "It's not as big as this pond. And it doesn't have a waterfall like the one in front of the Deku Tree grove does."

"What about for bathing?" Sheik asked, Link only mentioned swimming and fishing after all.

"Nah, there are some hot springs close to the village," Link said. "We use those for bathing." The blond dove under the water, scattering a small school of fish that had been swimming nearby. When he came back up, Sheik noticed the new scar the other blond was sporting.

"What happen to your shoulder?" He asked as he swam closer and touched the scar that looked like something had taken a bite out of Link. While it had been healed over with fairy magic, the wound had been so bad that it let a scar behind.

"Volvagia bit me," Link said as he reached up to touch the scar as well, his hand laying over Sheik's. "Right before I killed him."

"Does it hurt?" Sheik asked as he looked so he could see how large the bite scar was.

"When it happen it did," Link said, shivering as Sheik's fingers traced a path over the mark. "But not now, a fairy healed most of the damage."

"Well let the healer look at it anyway," Sheik suggested. "Just in case." Link agreed, his shoulder didn't hurt but it wouldn't hurt to make sure.

**

"Rotate your shoulder," The Sheikah village healer said as she examined Link. Link easily rolled the shoulder where Volvagia bit him. "No stiffness or pain?"

"No," Link said with a shake of his head.

"Not surprising, when a Healing Fairy uses their magic, they do a complete job," The elderly Sheikah woman said. "You're fine, just get a bit of rest before you go out adventuring again."

Link slid off the table and pulled his green Kokiri style tunic on. He grabbed his sword and shield on the way out the door where Prince Llyr was waiting for him.

"Can I do something for you your majesty?" Link asked when he saw the other blond. "Where's Sheik?"

"You don't need to call me 'your majesty' Link," Llyr said with a smile. "At least not until I'm crowned king. Sheik was sent off to check on something in Zora's domain. They have been having a bit of... well more than a bit I guess, of trouble."

"What's wrong in Zora's domain?" Link asked.

"It's frozen over, a spell from the witch Kotake," Llyr said. "I hoped once you feel up to it you would join Sheik there, you should get a clue to the next temple from there."

"It's in Lake Hylia" Link said.

"How..." Llyr asked surprised.

"It was one of the clues Sheik already gave me. The temples rest in a deep forest, on a high mountain and one under a vast lake," Link explained. "It could mean Lake Floria but Zelda attacked the Zora which means the temple has a connection to them right? Well Lake Hylia has more meaning for the Zora than Lake Floria. It could be the lake in Zora's domain but Sheik once told me it's where the Zora live so the Temple couldn't be there."

"I suppose that is the logical way to look at it," Llyr said with a chuckle. "Yes, the Water Temple is within Lake Hylia, Zora's Waterfalls as the lake is call is too small for a temple. But I still ask you to journey to Zora's domain, they have items you will need for the next temple."

"We'll go, don't worry," Link assured the prince. Llyr smiled and reached up to place his hand on Link's shoulder.

"Thank you Link," The blond said then left.

**

Sheik slowly walked as he looked over the frozen inner caverns of Zora's domain. He had already gone to Zora's Waterfalls to check the Zora village but the lake was frozen over solid. The rest of Zora's domain was much the same.

He had already seen the Zora King, the large fish man was incased in red ice, a type of ice that was so cold that a normal fire couldn't melt it and it was dangerous to touch it. It could only be melted by blue fire and if Kind Zora wasn't let out soon, the king could die. So could the rest of the Zora who were trapped under the ice if they weren't let out soon. Sheik wondered where Princess Ruto was, hoping she wasn't trapped as well.

The blond Sheikah walked past the frozen King Zora to the Fountain beyond the tunnel. Unlike the rest of the domain, this place wasn't frozen over completely. Sheik could see mini ice bergs floating around in the water; he could also see that the giant whale like god that the Zora worshiped wasn't there.

'How do you hide a giant fish?' Sheik wondered with a frown. He spied a cavern on the other side of the Zora Fountain, jumping from ice berg to ice berg to reach it. As Sheik walked further into the icy cavern he heard voices echo off the walls. Jumping to a perch high above, Sheik entered the cavern the voices were coming from. Below him were Princess Ruto and the two witchy sisters Koume and Kotake who were flying around just above the Zora princess on their brooms.

"Hee hee hee! I think we found the missing princess Koume," Kotake said as she hovered close to Ruto who was back up against the wall.

"Ho ho ho! You're right Kotake," Koume agreed as she hovered on the other side. "You thought you could hide from us."

"I'll get you for what you did to my people!" Ruto yelled up at the two witches.

"This one has spunk!" Koume said as she chuckled.

"I think she needs to cool off," Kotake agreed as she held out her right hand, an icy blue glyph appearing midair in front of her hand. "HA!" the ice witch flipped in the air, the bristles of her broom turning into a block of red tinted ice. She pointed it at Ruto who looked around wildly for an escape route. The Zora princess had avoided the same fate as her father and their subjects by hiding in the Ice Cavern, looking for a way to leave her kingdom. Ruto had a gut feeling she needed to get to the Water Temple in Lake Hyila but the water way to the lake was frozen over.

"AHH!" Ruto screamed loudly as Kotake's ice spell hit her, starting at her feet as the ice spell climbed up her form incasing her in powerful red ice. Kotake and Koume laughed loudly and disappeared in twin puffs of smoke. Sheik quickly jumped down to the ground and ran over to Ruto. "Get me out of here!" Ruto yelled as soon as she saw Sheik, recognizing the Sheikah symbol on the boy's chest and knew that the blond was one of the good guys. "Quick before the ice full covers me! There is a well of blue fire in the next room if you don't have any on you!"

Blue fire was a magical type of fire that was the only thing hot enough to melt red ice. The blue flames were only found in the Ice Cavern inside of Hyrule and were often harvested by the Zora who sold the flames to the shops throughout the kingdom as the fire never went out once inside of any sort of container or if on top of an enchanted candle. Not only was the flame good for melting red ice but also as a light inside of dark caves if one did not have a normal lantern.

"I will return quickly," Sheik said to Ruto then ran out of the room and down a tunnel.

"Hurry!" Ruto called behind him, her body was starting to numb as the super cold red ice climbed up her body. On the other end of the tunnel was another cave with a blue flame well in the middle of the room. Sheik threw several of his throwing needles at Ice Keese as they swooped down at him then took out a bottle from a inside pocket on his suit. He quickly scooped up a bottle full of the blue fire then ran back to the other cave room. The red ice had by this point incased most of Ruto's body, leaving one her head free.

"Please..." Ruto whispered as she saw Sheik before the ice covered her face. The shadow elf quickly dumped the blue flame out of the bottle onto the red ice, instantly melting the enchanted ice. Ruto fell to the ground coughing loudly as she landed on her hands and knees. "Thank you," the Zora princess said as her coughing fit died away as she stood. "Who are you?"

"My name is Sheik," Sheik said, bowing in front of the Zora princess. "I am to see if there were any way I can help."

"I need to get to Lake Hylia... to the temple," Ruto said. "I... I feel I need to be there. I don't think this everlasting winter on my kingdom will end until the source of the curse is destroyed. It's in the temple, I know it is!"

"I can take you as far as the river," Sheik offered. "I need to stay here to wait for my friend Link so I cannot take you further than that."

"Link?" Ruto asked with a gasp. "You know my fiancé?"

"Fiancé?" Sheik asked, his frown hidden by his face mask. He didn't like the sound of that for some reason.

"The river is fine," Ruto said with a wave of her hand, ignoring the question. "I can take it to the lake and make it to the temple from there. Make sure to send Link there as soon as you see him."

"Alright," Sheik agreed as he knew Link needed to awaken the sage in the Water Temple. "Hold tight your majesty" he said as he gently grabbed the Zora girl's arm with one hand and tossed a Deku nut to the ground with the other, teleporting them both outside. They reappeared by the river within Zora's domain. Ruto stumbled slightly, not really liking the feeling of teleporting.

"I can make it from here," Ruto said to Sheik before diving into the water, swimming with the current toward Lake Hylia.

"Gee, you're welcome," Sheik said to himself as Ruto swam off. He teleported back to the Ice Cavern to wait for Link once the Zora princess was out of sight.

**

Author note: (1) Megaton Hammer is a very odd name for a hammer so I figured that Megaton maybe the Goron hero's name.

(2) One thing I liked about Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword was that the keys and locks to the boss doors were different in each dungeon/temple. In Ocarina of Time, all the boss keys and locks looked the same in the game so I'm trying to give each one their own flare.

(3) In the game art, Volvagia looks like he's wearing a mask. Of course he's not, but a popular thing in the Zelda games is destroying the boss's mask (example: Helmasaur King - Link to the Past and Helmarco King - Wind Waker) to get to a weak point under the mask. As a reviewer pointed out, the boss battle with Volvagia is nothing more than a demented gave of whack-a-mole. In an attempt to making the boss battle different and more... realistic as a fantasy game can get, I went with this route of making Volvagia's weak point under a mask that has to be destroyed.

Also I'm still looking for a beta since the guy who was going to do it seemed to have changed his mind.

Edit 7-30-14: Nothing much changed here, just the little mistakes I caught.