The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Ocarina of Time

by Ganondorf8

Chapter 33: Treasure of the Frozen Cave

The Legend of Sunset Shimmer: Ocarina of Time.
By Ganondorf8
January 18, 2015
Chapter 33: Treasure of the Frozen Cave.

There was no doubt in my mind that this was one of the most horrifying situations I've ever experienced. Being frozen in a block of ice wasn't pleasant by any stretch of the word, but being frozen within two layers of solid ice was even worse. Spike was trying his best to shatter the ice by ramming into it using his tiny little body, and while I commend him for being courageous, it was to no avail. My body continued to go numb because of how cold it was being frozen, and it felt like I was getting closer to death with every passing second.
If I hadn't been standing so close to that Blue Fire, my body wouldn't have cooled down as fast as it did, and I could have freed myself from this icy prison. Just when it looked as though this was it for me, something shiny flashed across the room before striking the block of ice right in the center, and shattering it to pieces setting me free in the process. As soon as I dropped to the ground, I immediately used Din's Fire to melt the Freezard that was nearby, yet the Keese had managed to fly away preventing me from taking care of it.
" Are you alright?" asked Spike.
" I've had better days, but right now let me warm myself up again," I replied. It took a little bit of effort on my part, but I just managed to use my own fire magic to warm myself up. Once I had established that I was warm enough, I walked away from the altar that contained the Blue Fire and jumped back to the platform where the first Freezard had been. " That was way too close for comfort Spike! What was up with that Keese which struck first? I don't recall ever seeing them being covered in blue flames."
" That was an Ice Keese that froze you Sunset Shimmer, and it happens to be the worst of the bunch. When they make contact with you, they will freeze you for a few moments, but unlike Fire Keese who lose their flames when they hit you or get deflected, Ice Keese don't lose their flames, so they can continue assaulting you until you either defeat them, or they end up freezing you to death," replied Spike.
" Sounds like they are an enemy to be feared," I said.
" If there was one positive from this, it would be that Ice Keese only exist in cold places like this, so the Ice Cavern would essentially be the only place where you can find them. The usual tactics when dealing with Keese can be applied, but since you can't use your Fairy Slingshot due to being "too big" for it, use the Fairy Bow instead, or you can even use the Hookshot, but that would mean needing them to get within range as the chain doesn't travel all that far," said Spike.
" I think I'll go with the Fairy Bow for this one," I began.
" Good choice," smiled Spike.
" Because I'm in the mood to want to deal with them in the most painful way possible. I know that sounds creepy coming from me of all people, but I just had a near-death experience for the second time in this frozen wasteland, and I am not about to have a third one. Sorry if I'm acting a little irrational, yet this is something I need just because I feel like giving them a taste of their own medicine," I said.
" Normally, I'd advise against the whole vendetta thing as that doesn't make for a good hero, but I'll let it slide this time because I agree that those Ice Keese deserve to be punished. In case you were wondering when you can take aim and let fly with an arrow, you're about to get your chance. It looks like they've decided to attack to you together in an attempt to finish you off," said Spike.
I looked up and saw all three monsters coming my way, so I took out the Fairy Bow and aimed straight up before firing as many arrows as I had on hand. Sure it looked like I was wasting arrows, but I figured I was bound to hit my targets eventually, and of course I was still trying to get used to using the bow. In the end, it only took about a dozen arrows to pick off all three Ice Keese where they burned away in a puff of their own icy smoke. Spike felt relieved knowing that I had taken care of all of the main monsters in the room aside from the transparent Freezard, but it wasn't a threat at this point.
" You're getting better at using the Fairy Bow as you didn't use quite as many arrows as before, but you could do with some more practice, and maybe a larger quiver so that you can carry more arrows around with you. In any case, we're now able to tackle this room at our own leisure, and not have to worry about being attacked by frozen monsters. You were just about to scoop up some of the Blue Fire into one of your empty bottles right?"
" Huh? Oh yeah," I said.
" Were you ignoring me just now?" asked Spike.
" A little bit, but that's because I was looking at this which I picked up when the block of ice shattered freeing me," I replied. Spike noticed that I was staring at some kind of sharp knife which looked foreign at best, and was beautifully forged as though it had been crafted by an expert. How could such a small object like this be able to shatter an ice block with only one strike against it? Unless, the blow was against the precision point of the ice which caused it to shatter in response.
" I know what that is! It's a Kunai," announced Spike.
" What's a Kunai?" I asked.
" It's a specialized dagger which can be used as a melee weapon, but it's true strength lies in that it can be thrown in order to strike a target at any distance. This weapon is one used by a ninja, and the only tribe that can be described as ninjas are the Sheikah. Also, you can see their symbol an eye with what looks like a tear drop falling from it, right there on the actual blade, but that's not how I figured out the connection. I'm just really smart when it comes to a huge list of subjects across a wide spectrum," replied Spike.
" Oh I don't doubt your knowledge, but what has me puzzled is where did this Kunai even come from?" I asked.
" Did you see anything or anyone throw it when you were on ice?" asked Spike.
" All I managed to see was a shiny flash streak across the room where it struck the ice which caused it to shatter. Someone must have thrown this from somewhere inside of this room as no way did it just come out of nowhere," I replied. The only place this weapon could have been thrown was by the entrance to the room, so I immediately looked in that direction to see if someone was standing there. No one was present although I did notice some odd footprints in the snow which were slightly raised with a heel.
" The only Sheikah I know of would be Impa, but why would she come all the way out here?" asked Spike.
" What about Sheik?" I asked.
" Right, I forgot about her, and now that you mention her, she sounds more plausible as Impa would never come here of her own free will as she is loyal to the princess assuming she's still alive," replied Spike. You'd think I would have throttled him for saying that Twilight was dead, but I had no proof to refute his claim, so I chose to ignore it to prevent an argument. " Anyway, we should focus on using that Blue Fire as it could be the means of melting the red ice which could open up all sorts of possibilities in this dungeon."
" I'm only going to go over to that altar for a few seconds and quickly scoop some up as I don't want to experience being frozen ever again," I said. I jumped back over to the platform where I took out an empty bottle and scooped up some Blue Fire before running up the walkway on the other side and jumping over to the large platform which contained the trapped treasure chest. " How do I go about melting this ice anyway? It's not like dealing with regular ice which can be melted in so many different ways through the use of fire."
" Try sprinkling the Blue Fire in front of the red ice," suggested Spike.
" I'll try it if you think that's the way to go," I said as I took out the bottle containing the Blue Fire. It actually looked pretty harmless as I stared deeply at the fire as it swirled about inside of my bottle, but I knew better than that seeing as this flame was the reason I almost froze myself to death. Uncorking the bottle and shaking the contents in front of the red ice caused it to dissolve giving me access to the treasure chest, and I promptly opened it which contained a Dungeon Map that I happily took.
" Hmmmm....this dungeon isn't as big as the two temples we've explored, so that makes for a nice change of pace. It also means that we don't have much left to explore aside from the rooms which we can't access because of the red ice."
" Except we can access them because we now have the means to melt the red ice," said Spike.
" Seeing as there were two passageways that were blocked, I'll need two bottles worth of Blue Fire in order to melt away the red ice, but then I need two additional bottles because of the Zora Shop and King Zora back in Zora's Domain. I only have three bottles on hand in order to do all of this, so no matter what happens, I'll have to backtrack to this location to be able to stock up on additional fire which means having to endure more frozen conditions," I moaned.
" Not necessarily true," began Spike.
" How do you figure that?" I asked.
" While the layout of the Ice Cavern is simple according to the map, I believe this room isn't the only one that has an altar where Blue Fire is burning as there is red ice all over this cavern if you recall what we witnessed earlier. One altar isn't going to be enough to handle all of that ice, so perhaps there are additional altars we can use so as to not backtrack to this room," replied Spike.
" That actually would make things easier for me if the Blue Fire existed in other rooms, for it would mean not having to spend any more time in here than necessary. In any case, let me just fill up two bottles worth of the fire so that I can melt the red ice back in the room with the spinning ice blades," I said. Two scoops later and I began to make my way back to the previous room, but I stopped at the entrance where the footprints were in order to confirm my original suspicion.
" Look! These footprints were made with a boot slightly raised with a heel which is what I originally believed them to be, so the one who used that Kunai must have been Sheik, yet why didn't she wait for us to be done in this room rather than simply disappear?"
" You can never tell what goes on in the mind of a Sheikah as they are the shadow folk for a reason," said Spike.
" How does that even relate to all of this?" I asked.
" The only person who ever knew their secrets and identities was the king himself for they served him as a spy organization who worked from the shadows in order to protect the royal family from harm. A Sheikah would never reveal any of their secrets unless they were on death's doorstep as they were trained to keep their knowledge close to their hearts, and anyone trying to learn their secrets would find it impossible," replied Spike.
" And this is going to help me out how?" I asked.
" Let me finish my explanation first, and then you can complain about it all you want. The Sheikah don't take the time to socialize unlike the other tribes for their mission is all that's important to them and nothing more. For Sheik, her mission appears to be helping you out, and that's why she shows up when she does for a brief period before making her exit.
She has no time to stick around and have a friendly conversation as that would go against the code of her people. Impa of course looks to be the one exception to the rule as she appears to have mellowed out probably due to being a mere attendant, but I suspect that years ago she was quite the fierce warrior for someone of her age," replied Spike.
" What do you mean her age?" I asked.
" Legend say that the Sheikah are able to live longer than any other tribe because it allowed them to serve the royal family and the goddesses more efficiently. In order to achieve such a long life, they say that they are given a special medicine forged from darkness itself, and the results enable them to become empowered with their impressive skills. A Sheikah's lifespan is said to be six times slower than that of a Hylian, so they are capable of living for centuries at a time. Impa may appear to be very young, but she is probably at least somewhere over 150 years old given how she is now just an attendant," replied Spike.
" Heh, she'd never hold a candle to Princess Celestia who has lived for 1,000 years," I said.
" I have no idea who that is," said Spike.
" Never mind....let's get back to the subject at hand here. I respect Sheik for wanting to stick to the traditions of her tribe, but it's sad that she can't take the time to make some friends and not have to be alone all the time. Believe me, I know what it's like to be alone, and it can make you do things that you'll end up regretting later on in life. Anyway, I've got a hunch that we'll be encountering her before too long, and I intend on giving this Kunai back to her," I said.
" Why not keep it?" asked Spike.
" I honestly have no use for it, so I might as well give it back to its rightful owner," I replied. With that conversation out of the way, I started to climb back up the stairs and walk all the way back to the room with the spinning ice blades, but I encountered the same Freezard as before which was flanked by the ancient traps and the icicle ridden ceiling. Just like in the previous dungeons, the monsters were now capable of re-spawning which was going to make things a bit more annoying.
I used Din's Fire to melt the Freezard, and I ran across the icy floor ignoring the fact that both traps ended up hitting me which was a bit painful. Once I was back in the previous room, there was a decision which needed to be made, and one that I wasn't prepared for. " Which direction should we take? The tunnel to the left or the tunnel to the right?"
" You mean you don't know?" asked Spike.
" I didn't take it into consideration until we got back here," I replied.
" I'd tell you that you need to prioritize more often than you do, but then you'll say that you'll put it onto your list of things to do. No need to say anything because I know you were going to say that. Let's just take a look at your map to see what lies beyond the red ice, and determine which way we should go first," said Spike. Secretly, I was going to say that I would add prioritizing to the list, but I wasn't about to tell Spike that as he'd get all annoyed with me.
I took out the Dungeon Map, and looked at it for a while before pinpointing our exact location which was the large room that was south of the other large room which had the chest containing the map. " Okay, according to the map, the passageway to the left goes to a single room which is a dead-end, and the one to the right goes to a series of rooms which end up doubling back to the first big room. I think we should go to the right as that appears to be the logical direction."
" No, I suggest that we take the left path," I said.
" Why would you want to explore a passageway that will only lead us to a dead-end?" asked Spike.
" If there's one thing I've learned on this adventure, it would be that you can find something very useful down a path that leads to a dead-end. I can't exactly explain it, but I feel that the left path will lead us to something good," I replied.
" So you want to go that way because of a feeling?" asked Spike.
" Pretty much," I replied.
" Then I guess we've reached an impasse although I am willing to follow whatever you decide as you are the hero," said Spike.
" By saying that, it isn't really much of an impasse as you should be more adamant over the way you think we should go. Why don't we decide this using the fairest system there is....using a rupee like a coin and flip it to determine which way we go," I said.
" How does that work?" asked Spike.
" I've done this once before although I forget when I actually did it. I'll flip a rupee into the air, and where it lands will be the direction that we take. If the rupee lands near the red ice to the left, then we go down that passageway which leads to the dead end, and if it lands near the red ice to the right, we'll travel down that path which leads to the remaining rooms," I replied.
" Are you sure that's a good idea considering there are those ice blades swinging around," said Spike.
" If the rupee ends up getting sliced up as a result of my toss, I'll be upset about it as every single rupee plays an important role, but I won't attempt to do anything stupid because of losing just a single rupee," I said. Fumbling through my wallet looking for a rupee was difficult as it was frozen due to being in such a cold place, but I managed to get it open and take out a rupee which I tossed into the air.
It flipped about many times until it landed near the red ice to the left which was what I hoped would be the result. " It landed near the left path, so we'll check that out first before heading back here and going the other way. First of all, I need to avoid the ice blades, so crawling comes to mind, and then it's on to melting the ice." Dropping down to the ground and crawling along allowed me to avoid getting sliced, and while Spike just remained silent, I made it to the red ice where I took out a bottle of Blue Fire and melted it.
Once that was done, I walked into the new passageway which turned to the right and then to the left which opened out into a large room where there was another altar of Blue Fire at the back. " You were right about there being more than one altar for Blue Fire, so this means we don't need to go back to the one in the room where we found the Dungeon Map."
" And I was only making a guess regarding that as I had no idea if there were going to be additional altars," said Spike.
" Then it looks like you guessed correctly," I smiled.
" I guess I can have a little bragging moment, but I'll do that later as right now we need to focus. There are some Keese near the altar, and I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to plunge into the Blue Fire and become Ice Keese in the process," said Spike.
" No! I refuse to be frozen by one of those again!" I shouted.
" I'm more concerned with the large number of icicles hanging from the ceiling, and they could very well be the other kind," said Spike.
" Other kind?" I asked.
" The other kind of icicles drop down and shatter just like the regular ones we've seen so far, but another one will immediately take its place a few seconds later, and the process repeats itself. Basically, as long as we remain in this room, we're going to be bombarded by an endless stream of icicles until we head back the other way. I hope your feelings about this room prove to be beneficial otherwise you'll be having more than just a cold chill to deal with," replied Spike.
" I'll worry about the icicles falling on me later as right now I have some Keese to deal with," I said whilst taking out the Fairy Bow, and realizing that I was almost out of arrows, so every shot was going to have to count. It didn't help the fact that my body was starting to get cold as the warmth from the Piece of Heart I picked up outside in Zora's Fountain was starting to wear off.
I then concentrated aiming for each Keese, and began to fire away at them which resulted in the first one being destroyed, and the other two still breathing as I missed them constantly until I was down to my last three arrows. I'm getting better at this, but not fast enough if I was getting awkward moments like this, but I had to keep going and fired what I had left where I destroyed the other two. " Well, that's it for my arrows until I can get my hands on some more."
" At least you have the Hookshot which you can use to hit things from a distance," said Spike.
" But the chain only stretches out so far," I moaned.
" Maybe some day you'll be able to get an extension for it. Anyway, enough complaining as you have icicles to avoid," said Spike, and he was right about that as they were starting to fall down like a frozen shower of rain, so I made a mad dash for the altar which wasn't under any icicles. " I noticed two more chunks of red ice along either side of the room, and inside one was a big treasure chest while the other contained a Piece of Heart."
" And you wanted to avoid coming this way," I said smugly.
" Because I assumed that this way would be pointless as it goes to a dead end," said Spike.
" If there's any solace, it would be that you were able to confirm that there are additional altars housing Blue Fire. Speaking of which, just let me scoop up another bottle's worth and move away from here as the fire is making me feel really cold right now, and I could do with some warming up courtesy of that Piece of Heart," I said.
Once the fire had been scooped up, I ran towards the red ice containing the Heart Piece with a shower of icicles falling behind me each step of the way, and once I used the fire to release the heart from its frozen prison, I picked it up and immediately started to feel much warmer. Hopefully, I won't have to wait as long when it comes to my body regaining its natural temperature through picking up one of these. " Ahhh! That feels so much better!"
" The more of those you pick up, the bigger your health meter will get which means you'll be able to last longer," said Spike.
" Really? I have a health meter? I've never seen anything like that show up anywhere," I said.
" It's one of those ominous presences that we can never see, but it exists to indicate how much life energy you possess. I'd say right now you have about....ten hearts altogether in your health meter as you started out with three, you gained five more through Heart Containers, and you've collected enough Pieces of Heart to give you at least two more hearts making ten in total. If you continue to collect these which I highly recommend, you'll become even stronger and take hits better," said Spike.
" And here I thought they were just making me feel warmer and giving me some kind of power," I said.
" That's one way of looking at it, but what I said would be the actual method behind it. I don't know if you'll be able to find all of the Pieces of Heart hidden across the kingdom as there are a lot of them, but you should strive for as many as you can find," said Spike.
" How many exist?" I asked.
" About 36 pieces," replied Spike. Did he just say 36 Pieces of Heart are scattered across Hyrule? I had a feeling there were going to be a lot of them, but I wasn't expecting it to be a number that high. I had a feeling that some of them can only be obtained during a certain time period which only adds to the confusion. I'll just try my best and see what I end up finding during the remainder of my journey.
Once I was starting to feel my inner warmth coming back, I ran across the room and used the Blue Fire to melt the red ice covering the treasure chest, and when I opened it up, I was in possession of the Compass which will show me where the remaining chests were. That's when something unexpected happened once the map was altered with the compass adding its information.
" One chest left!?!? There's only the one treasure chest left in here?" I asked.
" It does appear to be the case given that the Compass doesn't lie," replied Spike.
" Fluttershy mentioned that there wasn't going to be a powerful boss in here which the compass helps pinpoint, yet I was expecting there to be at least four or five additional chests for us to open up. Just having the one be revealed on the map, and this late in the exploration kind of makes the compass next to useless, so we could have just gotten the Piece of Heart and left it at that," I moaned.
" Let me put it to you another way. We now know the exact location of the hidden treasure we came all this way to get, so it's not like we're walking around in here without a clue as to what we're doing. According to the map, the remaining treasure chest can be reached if we take the other passageway which I originally suggested.
While it does look to be smooth sailing from here on out, this one big room over there that comes before the room with the treasure has got me worried. It wouldn't be a bad idea to get more than one scoop of Blue Fire as I have a feeling that you may need an extra amount," said Spike.
" Just let me run back to the altar and pick up what we need," I said as I ran towards it and scooped up the Blue Fire into two bottles before running back across the room and avoiding the falling icicles which crashed down behind me. Once I was back at the entrance to the room, I proceeded to make my way back to the room with the spinning ice blades, and like before I chose to drop to the ground as I didn't want to get sliced.
When I crawled my way over to the other side, I got back up to my feet, and took out one of the bottles containing Blue Fire, and I sprinkled it at the base of the red ice causing it to melt thus revealing the new passageway. There wasn't really much to this path, yet I did end up stopping due to icicles on the ground and ceiling blocking my path. I simply used Din's Fire to melt away the ones on the ground, and ran forward to avoid the ones falling from the ceiling.
" You're getting better at using Din's Fire," commented Spike.
" While my own natural magic is still my preference, I can't help but love how potent Din's Fire can be. It's a shame that I haven't needed to rely on that warp point I created when I used Farore's Wind earlier, and you have to agree that there is a huge difference between the spells in terms of usefulness," I said.
" I'll admit that Din's Fire has more practical uses because of the adventuring lifestyle that you have, but I wouldn't dismiss Farore's Wind as being situational that should just be forgotten about. You may end up discovering it to be even more useful than first appearances suggest, but we'll get to that bridge when we come to it, and speaking of bridges....look at what we have in front of us," said Spike.
The passageway opened up to yet another large room that featured a icy floor which had a lot of scratches over it, and in the distance was a ledge where stood another altar with Blue Fire. A large block was located in front of me, and I quickly figured out that it must be the reason why the ice was so scratched to begin with. Aside from some ice mounds situated across the room, there were five more silver rupees floating about which had me suspect another puzzle.
" Do you think I can push that block?" I asked.
" I don't see why not as the floor is made of ice which will allow the block to slide along. Those silver rupees should be able to remove the ice bars all the way up there to your left which appears to be the way forward, but I'm more concerned with the altar containing the Blue Fire all the way in the back. Aside from one chunk of red ice over there to the right, I don't see anymore of it anywhere," replied Spike.
" There could be some more beyond the ice bars," I suggested.
" A possibility that we shouldn't ignore. Hmmmm....you do need to take some Blue Fire out of the Ice Cavern in order to save King Zora, and gain access to the Zora Shop, so it looks like we may have to do some slight backtracking. Then there is the block in front of us which needs to be pushed. We need to make it over to where the red fire is on the right, yet it's on a ledge which looks to be slightly too high for you to attempt to climb up it.
By the way Sunset Shimmer, I can hear the sound of wings flapping above us which means that we have some Ice Keese flying around, so be careful not to get hit by them as they will freeze you," said Spike.
" With no arrows in my quiver, I'll have to rely on the Hookshot which means having to wait for them to get in close before picking them off. I'll deal with them when they decide to pose a threat, but I need to know how we go about solving this room. Is there a specific order we need to go to collect all five silver rupees?" I asked.
" Why not collect the silver rupees which you can access without the need of that block, and then push it forward to grab the silver rupee in front of you before you go and push it to the right where the red fire is. This is a theory mind you, but if you push the block off the edge and into the void below, it should re-spawn which will make things easier as you'll be able to afford to make as many mistakes as you like without any penalty.
If it doesn't then we're pretty much stuck as there is no other way those ice bars will lower," replied Spike. Everything was on riding on the chance that this block will reappear if pushed off the side, so I hoped that Spike was correct about it. I collected the two silver rupees which I could reach on my own, but then problem with the Ice Keese was an issue.
" The Ice Keese are too big of a threat to ignore them," I said.
" Then take out your Hookshot, and aim well if you wish to avoid a frozen fate," said Spike. That sounded really cheesy to me, but he did have the right idea, so I took it out and waited for the Ice Keese to dive down at me which is their way of letting prey know that they are under attack. There were only two of them to deal with, so I wasn't going to be distracted by anything else.
As soon as they started to dive down, I aimed with the Hookshot and fired with struck both at the exact same time causing them to burn away from their own flames. " That was a lucky shot you made there considering you got them both at the same time."
" I'll attribute it to that," I said.
" You should have more confidence in you than that despite what I say," said Spike.
" I've been gaining some of that in addition to some courage, but it pales in comparison to the inner demons which continue to haunt me. It's not easy being someone who has to deal with her troubled past all the time, and while I've been making excellent progress to move forward with my life, something keeps on bringing me back to those troubled times," I said.
" Sort of a two steps forward and one step back mentality?" asked Spike.
" I'd say more towards it being one step forward and two steps back, but to each their own," I replied. With the Ice Keese taken care of, I proceeded to collect the two silver rupees on their own before going back to the block and pushing it forward to collect the third rupee. Then I pushed it to the right which allowed to climb up onto the ledge with the red ice on it, and it turned out that a fourth silver rupee was trapped inside of it.
" Good thing you convinced me to take some Blue Fire from the previous room otherwise we would have wasted some time in this room picking it up from the ledge over there." Taking out a bottle of Blue Fire and applying it to the red ice caused it to melt which gave me the fourth silver rupee with one more to go, and this was where the moment of truth would take place.
I had to push the block over the edge, and when I gave it a strong push it fell into the abyss and a few moments later reappeared back where it started. " Well, your theory has proven itself to be true, so we can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that we can make as many mistakes as we want in order to solve this puzzle."
" If I know you and I certainly do, this is probably going to take you about an hour to figure out," said Spike.
" I was thinking it would take me about 30 minutes," I said. First of all, I had to take a few minutes to walk around the room in order to see exactly where I had to push the block in order to reach not only the Blue Fire and the silver rupee, but also the ledge where the way forward was. What became a few minutes ended up being a lot more as I walked around several times as I kept on double-backing on my own theories as to how this puzzle was meant to be solved.
Eventually, I began to envision in my head the way this was supposed to work, and I gave the block a push left. I then gave it a push forward where it missed the spot I had pegged it would go, so I pushed it into the abyss and started again. This would be a repeating trend for the next little while for I kept on messing up at certain points even though this was in reality a simple puzzle to figure out.
" Have you figured it out yet?" asked Spike.
" How long has it been since I started working on this?" I asked.
" You're up to 40 minutes now," replied Spike.
" Really? I thought it had been a lot longer than that, and yes I have come up with a solution," I said.
" Well, I hope it's better than the last two dozen attempts that you've made," said Spike.
" It's all a part of the learning curve where you have to make baby steps to be able to progress, but I will admit that I did botch this way too much as I figured out it was a really simple puzzle. I probably should have asked you for advice Spike, but then all you would be doing is coddling me and I would never have the incentive to try and solve something on my own without you," I said.
" As your fairy partner it is my job to help you out, but I do understand the need for you to accomplish things without my input. Be glad that you found that Piece of Heart otherwise you'd be freezing by now," said Spike. I should be glad about it although he was the one who didn't want to check out that room in the first place, but I digress for now I was going to solve this puzzle properly. I pushed the block forward where it stopped at one of the ice mounds.
Then I pushed it to the left and to the right after it stopped again, and this gave me access to the ledge that had the Blue Fire. As I made my way over and climbed up, I took out a bottle and was prepared to scoop up some fire when Spike interrupted me. " Why not fill up all three bottles this time instead of just two and ignoring the other? While you do need two bottles worth to take care of the red ice back in Zora's Domain, I have a suspicion that you could use a third bottle just in case. Also, you can reach the final silver rupee now."
" I can? Huh, I completely forgot about it as I was more concerned with solving this puzzle," I said. For me, the priority was scooping up the Blue Fire, and I took Spike's advice by filling up all three bottles before I turned my attention to the silver rupee which was on top on another mound. I timed my jump from the ledge to the mound and collected the rupee which caused the ice bars to drop into the ground.
" Okay, the way forward has been opened, so now I need to push this block over to the ledge where the passageway continues is located." Quickly thinking it through in my mind, I pushed the block to the left where it hit the mound the rupee was on top of, then I pushed it to the south before pushing it to the right where it stopped at the wall. I clasped my hands together and jumped for joy knowing that I was finally done with this room.
" We can finally continue on," said Spike.
" Then let's not delay any longer as I've had just about enough of this place," I said. Once I made my way over and up onto the ledge, I walked forward into the new passage where I ran into icicles on the ground as well as two Freezards and a large chunk of red ice behind them. The Freezards tried breathing their icy breath at me, but I wasn't having any of it as I used Din's Fire to melt them into puddles as well as the icicles leaving only the red ice to deal with. " Guess you were right in that I needed an extra bottle of Blue Fire."
" Better to be safe than sorry," said Spike.
" At least I still have two extra bottles worth for King Zora and the Zora Shop provided that there isn't anymore red ice," I said as I uncorked a bottle and sprinkled the fire onto the ice melting it away, and revealing a dead-end which made no sense. " How are we supposed to move on? All I see in front of us is a solid wall, yet the map says there is a room beyond where the treasure is located."
" It looks like there's a door hidden in the wall," said Spike.
" That's strange considering we haven't encountered any doors in the Ice Cavern," I said.
" Never underestimate a dungeon Sunset Shimmer as you can't tell what you'll end up encountering," said Spike. Choice words there which were true as each dungeon so far has given its share of things that made no sense. I walked up to the door where it suddenly opened, and I went into the next room where my jaw dropped because of how beautiful it looked. The walls and ceiling reminded me of an aurora borealis even though the walls also had huge icicles scattered about, yet the majestic feeling was unbelievable. There was also a grate of some kind near the back of the room which looked suspicious.
" Wow! This room is absolutely wonderful," I commented.
" Truly this is something completely unexpected," said Spike.
" The treasure must be epic in nature if it's located in a room like this, but why do I have a feeling that there is more to this than what we can see," I said. As I looked around the room, I turned my attention to the door to discover iron bars were blocking it which meant we were trapped in here. " The door has been sealed shut and since there is no puzzle in here....we have to deal with something strong....which is what Fluttershy warned us about."
" Be careful Sunset Shimmer as there's no telling what we're up against," warned Spike.
" As long as I stand right here, nothing happens and we can't progress with the quest, so I might as well move forward which should be enough for the monster in here to make its presence known to us," I said. When I took a single step forward, a howling sound suddenly echoed throughout the room, and a white beast popped up from the ground showing off its stature before proceeding to run around the room where it then immediately came at me.
I had no idea what was going on as the creature slashed me in the chest with its claws before performing a back-flip and resuming its running. " Yeow! That thing's claws are incredibly sharp, but what exactly is it?"
" That's a White Wolfos, a snowy cousin to the regular Wolfos which we have yet to see. This beast will run around before dashing forward in an attempt to strike you with its claws before jumping back and repeating the process. It's constant howling is going to get annoying, but don't let that distract you. Watch its movement carefully, and attack it when it drops its guard," replied Spike.
" When will I know when it does that?" I asked.
" After slashing at you twice, it will turn around and face away from you for about two seconds. While this is a weird thing for it to do, that is when it's vulnerable. If you try to attack it head on, its claws can be used as a shield which will protect it from any attack that you have including magic. The key to victory here is to wait for the right moment to strike, and not being reckless about it.
I would advise you use the Master Sword, but you haven't had enough practice with it yet, and White Wolfos is too fast for you to be able to hit it, so go with magic this time around," replied Spike. That sounded good to me, so I waited for the beast to come running at me which took a few moments as it looked like it was taunting me. Once it rushed forward, it started to swing with its claws which is when I used my magic that caused it to get hit and use its claws as a shield before jumping back.
" I was too soon," I sighed.
" That is another way to defeat it although it is the longer method. By attacking it when it's in the middle of its own attack, you disrupt its momentum which makes it jump back in an attempt to try again. You could say that you can trick it into repeating the same process until it finally falls," said Spike. White Wolfos then began to run at me again, but I decided to move away from the door so as to get some more breathing room between myself and it.
" Good idea moving out into the open as now you aren't in cramped quarters which will benefit you more than it does for it." Spike's words were a positive sign that I was getting the hang of fighting monsters, but I can't get cocky as that gets me into trouble. The beast then came at me again where it did manage to slash me with its claws, but I was quick to retaliate by hitting it before the second strike came, and it jumped back before running about again all while howling away which was really getting on my nerves.
" I'm okay Spike as those claws aren't as painful as they appear," I said.
" It doesn't deal much damage, but it's fast so it can easily pile up if you're not careful," said Spike.
" I don't intend on getting hit by those claws again as I think it's time to wrap this up," I said. White Wolfos came at me one more time where I jumped to the side when it slashed with its claws, and after the second swipe, it turned its back to me which is when I let it have it with my magic at full power. The resulting hit caused it to scream in pain as it burned away to nothing, and this opened up both the door and the grate in the floor. This was followed by a big treasure chest materializing in front of me which is when I dropped to the ground and breathed a sigh of relief.
" That certainly didn't take long," said Spike.
" I guess that White Wolfos was more about intimidation as opposed to being an actual challenge, but I will admit that it was difficult to keep track of it as it was moving about constantly. In any case, we'll finally get to see what this treasure is, and I hope that it was worth the constant life or death situations I had to endure," I said. Once I got back up onto my feet, I made my way over to the chest and opened it up to reveal a pair of boots which looked like they had some kind of metal soles on the bottom, and my expression was one of confusion.
" Huh? This is the treasure that we came here to collect? I was expecting something cooler than this, no pun intended, but this doesn't make sense as all these are just boots with metal soles."
" Those are Iron Boots!" exclaimed Spike.
" Please explain," I said.
" These boots are lined with metal soles as they are meant to allow someone who wears them to walk really slowly on land. Now you're probably thinking that it's just a pointless item that serves no purpose, but then if you were to wear these into a body of water, you'll end up sinking to the bottom where you can walk around. I'd say that we've found ourselves a pretty useful item," said Spike.
" It does mean we can get that Piece of Heart that lies at the bottom of Zora's Fountain....lies at the bottom....gasp! Didn't Sheik mention that the third Sage could be found "under a vast lake" when she described their locations back when we first met? The only lake that we know of is Lake Hylia! That must be where the third temple is located, and these Iron Boots are our means of accessing it," I said.
" Sunset Shimmer?" asked Spike in a nervous voice.
" What is it?" I asked.
" We've got company," replied Spike. I turned around to see what was getting him so worried, and standing there was Sheik who looked as though the cold temperature of the Ice Cavern wasn't affecting her. It made me feel a little jealous that I was the only one who has to suffer like this, but seeing her reminded me that I still had the Kunai which she used to free me earlier. I took it out from one of the pouches on my belt, and kept it behind my back just in case she suddenly got the idea that I intended to attack her.
" We meet again, Sunset Shimmer," said Twilight.
" I have something in my hand which I want to give back to you because I know you saved me earlier when I was frozen solid," I said as I held out my hand containing the Kunai. I walked forward a few steps before sliding it along the ground where it stopped in front of her feet. " Even though you decided to leave me once I was out of danger because of your duty, I do wish that you could have stuck around and chatted with me for a while as you look as though you could do with some company.
Being alone is an experience you don't want to have to go through as it can be quite sad and make you become something you'll regret in the future. I know this better than anyone as that's how I used to be before discovering friendship."
" Your words are wise, but my duty must come before any kind of pleasantries. I hope that you understand my position," said Twilight.
" I understand," I said.
" If you came here to meet the Zoras, you wasted your time. This is all there is....with one exception, the Zoras are now sealed under this thick ice sheet. I managed to rescue the Zora princess from under the ice, but she left to head for the Water Temple," said Twilight.
" I knew that was you who made the hole in the ice back in Zora's Domain, but I didn't realize Princess Ruto was the one who made those footprints in the snow. Huh? Did you just say that the Zoras are trapped underneath all of this ice?" I asked.
" That is correct. All of the Zoras with the exception of their king, and princess remain trapped in suspended animation which has been this way ever since the arctic winds first came to Zoras Domain. This ice is created by an evil curse....the monster in the Water Temple is the source of the curse. Unless you shut off the source, this ice will never melt. If you have courage enough to confront the danger and save the Zoras, I will teach you the melody that leads to the temple," replied Twilight.
" I suppose that I have no other choice seeing as I am the Hero of Time, and this is what's expected of me," I said.
" This is what your destiny has placed upon you, and you must rise to the challenge. Time passes, people move....like a river's flow, it never ends. A childish mind will turn to noble ambition....young friendship will become deep affection. The clear water's surface reflects growth. Now listen to the Serenade of Water to reflect upon yourself, as you undertake the next stage of your journey," said Twilight.
She then pulled out her golden harp like she had done in our previous encounters, and started to play only five notes which was the shortest length for a song that I've heard thus far. After playing the same notes twice, Sheik handed things over to me and said to take my time although I responded by saying that time wasn't really on my side due to how cold it was.
After memorizing the notes and practicing a little, I was able to play the Serenade of Water which had a beautiful melody to it which sounded so very soothing. Sheik then put the golden harp away before turning to face me again. " You must make your way to the Water Temple as soon as possible, but perhaps you should deal with the unfinished problems of Zora's Domain first."
" So you know about what happened to King Zora?" I asked.
" He has been trapped within that prison of red ice for many years," replied Twilight.
" I had a feeling that was the case, and that brings me to my next question. How do I even explore a place where there is going to be a lot of water? I'm not exactly able to breathe underwater in case you couldn't tell," said.
" You will need to acquire new cloth to explore the depths of the Water Temple for those Iron Boots will not be enough. Once you have obtained the means to be able to walk underwater without succumbing to it, you will be ready to aid the Zora princess. Sunset Shimmer....I will see you again," replied Twilight. She stepped back a few paces where she threw a Deku Nut which flashed when it hit the ground, and when my vision returned, she was gone once again.
" Now we know why we had to come all the way here," said Spike.
" I wonder what she meant when she said I'd need some new cloth before making my way there?" I asked.
" I'm not sure, but we should go back to Zora's Domain and see about using the rest of the Blue Fire," replied Spike. I proceeded to walk over to where the grate was, and it turns out that it had been covering a deep hole filled with water. " It looks like the only way out of here is to use the Iron Boots and sink down to the bottom, and see if you can find your way out. I suppose now is as good a time as any to try the boots out to see if they live up to expectations."
" How do I put them on?" I asked.
" It's a magical means where you just activate them by concentrating hard enough," replied Spike.
" Seriously?" I asked.
" I am," replied Spike. While it did sound rather convoluted at best, I took his word for it and concentrated, and before I knew it, the Iron Boots were on my feet. They were extremely heavy, and I struggled just to keep my balance, but I managed to start walking around which was sluggish due to the weight dragging me down. Once I was comfortable walking about in the Iron Boots, I dropped down into the hole where I found myself in a cramped space, and I couldn't see very well due to the walls making the water a lot darker than usual.
Not only that, but I was having some trouble finding a door which must be somewhere down here. " It looks like the Iron Boots are already living up to their expectations, so now all you need to do is find the door." I tried to say something in response, but all I could muster up was a gargle as I realized that I was starting to choke due to not being able to breathe underwater. Spike then noticed and immediately took action. " You can't breathe! Quickly! Open the door down here before you end up drowning."
" Mmph! Mmph!" This was all I could say as I couldn't open my mouth otherwise my lungs will burst with water. I then began to panic as I struggled to breathe, so I had to find the door before it was too late. And yet, my eyes were getting drowsy and I was beginning
to lose consciousness. No! I wasn't about to experience drowning a second time, so I shook my head to stay awake and placed my hands out in front where they connected with what turned out to be the door that I needed.
" Mmph!" That was the sound of excitement as the door opened up which lead into another room with water in it, but luckily there was a slope which I ran up as fast as I could, which was actually pretty slow due to the buoyancy of the water being against me, and the moment my head popped out of the water, I breathed a huge sigh of relief that I avoided drowning.
" Are you okay?" asked Spike.
" I'm alright although I need a moment to rest as that was too close for comfort. What I got from that experience was that I won't be going underwater wearing these boots without that cloth Sheik mentioned. Otherwise, it'll be too risky to go to the Water Temple as I'm likely to drown either outside of it, or in it depending on how long it takes to get inside," I replied.
Once I got myself completely out of the water, I sat down and magically switched the Iron Boots back with my regular ones....yeah, I've got nothing as to explain how that works, so I might as well just roll with it. That's when I noticed that the room below was the first big room we explored, and down there by the entrance was the warp point I created using Farore's Wind....which made me smack my head really hard. " I just remembered that I could have used Farore's Wind to warp from the previous room, and end up down there without having to use the path that almost killed me. Then again, why didn't you remind me that I could have warped?"
" You needed to learn how to use the Iron Boots otherwise if you tried them out where we need to go, you would have ended up freaking out," replied Spike.
" I suppose so, but I don't like the fact that I almost drowned again," I moaned.
" At least now you know how the boots work, so you won't ever experience the fear of drowning once you have the means of being able to breathe underwater. It also means that one Piece of Heart lying at the bottom of Zora's Fountain will have to remain there until you have that cloth," said Spike.
" What kind of cloth is it?" I asked.
" The Zoras refer to it, naturally, as the Zora Tunic, a diving suit of sorts which can only fit adults, yet wearing it will prevent you from drowning. You'll also be able to speak while underwater, so you won't to worry about your lungs bursting from too much water. Think of the tunic as transforming you into a fish even though you'll still look the same. There is only one drawback with the Zora Tunic, and that is the price one has to pay in order to purchase it," replied Spike.
" How much does it cost?" I asked.
" When it comes to quality in their products, the Zoras use the best materials as anything less is seen as being disrespectful. The Zora Tunic is an example of a product made with the best cotton, care, and mystical powers of the Zoras, and because of that it costs a staggering 300 rupees. Most people in the kingdom can't even afford it as the price is just way too steep," replied Spike.
" It costs 300 rupees? Yikes! No matter which way you choose to look at it, paying that amount will put a dent in anyone's wallet unless you happen to be extremely wealthy in which case paying that much means nothing. You know, when I talked to the other Sunset Shimmer, after she had calmed down and told me everything, she gave me the Goron Tunic for free, and I assume that it costs a hefty amount," I said.
" It costs 200 rupees at the Goron Shop, but what are you getting at?" asked Spike.
" If we save King Zora's life by melting the red ice that surrounds him, he may end up giving us the Zora Tunic," I replied.
" What are the chances of him being that gracious?" asked Spike.
" Pretty low I'd say," I replied. Just saying that made me feel distraught because if I can't get this special tunic without having to pay for it, I'd need to spend some time scavenging around for rupees as right now my wallet was close to empty. That was due to spending a great deal on arrows in order to catch all of those Big Poe souls for Sombra.
I'm hoping that King Zora will give me a Zora Tunic, or at the very least the means of buying it from the Zora Shop at a special discount. " Rather than jump all the way up here down to the ground which could cause some serious injury, I'll use Farore's Wind and warp down to where I cast it originally, and proceed to leave the Ice Cavern from there."
" That's not really how it's supposed to be used," said Spike.
" I know, but I don't want to fall such a great distance," I said. I cast Farore's Wind where I found myself disappearing into a ball of green light, and quickly appeared back down at the entrance to the room. The spell certainly was potent considering how fast it was, but I guess I do have to agree with Spike regarding the fact that I didn't use the spell as it was properly intended.
I suppose I'll be able to use it to its full potential within the Water Temple, so with that taken care of, I walked all the way back to the entrance of the Ice Cavern, and back outside to Zora's Fountain where it was still dark, and the cold weather was still evident, yet it was warmer out here than it was back inside of the dungeon.
With the two bottles of Blue Fire in my possession, I had to make my way back to King Zora in the hopes of earning what I need to be able to save his daughter, yet I had to take into consideration the fact of his surviving after being frozen for so long. His chances were slim at best, but I had to try otherwise my hopes of entering the Water Temple will be next to nothing as without the Zora Tunic, there would be no way I can survive in its watery depths....

To Be Continued....