Link and Fluttershy walked down the third passage. Long, dark vines hung down from the ceiling. Link and Fluttershy pushed away the vines that came across the path. As they navigated across the vines, a large gap sprawled across the floor.
“This is unfortunate. I could fly us over, but I don’t really trust myself with dropping my grip.” Fluttershy stated in concern. Link looked towards the vines hanging along the ceiling. He squinted his eyes until he opened his eyes in realization.
“These vines are hung in a pattern. If I time these jumps right, then I can reach the other side of the gap.” Link said. He dashed towards the nearest vine towards his side of the gap and jumped. His hands grasped the vine successfully. He swung his body back and forth until the momentum transferred into the vine. As it peaked in energy, Link jumped off of his vine and swung onto the next vine. Maintaining the momentum, he jumped towards the other vine. He jumped onto the next vine and still carried over the energy. He jumped and jumped until he made it across the gap. Fluttershy smiled.
“Wow Link, you carried yourself over those vines like a master.” she said as she hovered over the gap. Link smirked.
“Well, if you lived how I lived, then you learn to see the world in a different way.” he said. As Fluttershy landed on the other side, Link turned towards the rest of the path. Fluttershy followed close by. The two of them continued down the corridor. The two of them made it towards the end of the path and into a room where a brown ladder led to the bottom floor. A purple gas condensed on the bottom floor. The room smelled of rotted wood and flesh, a combination that would remind anyone of death.
“I don’t know about you Link, but I don’t think it is a good idea to fall down there.” Fluttershy said with a gulp.
“Agreed.” Link said. He looked around and saw that there were raised pillars along with graspable vines along the wall. He took out his crossbow and placed a bolt on the bow. He put the rope attachment onto the bolt and aimed it towards the nearest cluster of vines. He fired the crossbow bolt and released the trigger. When the bolt connected with the vine, Link flew into the air along the trigger. He made it onto the vine path and dropped down onto the platform safely. Fluttershy jumped and hovered over to where Link was.
“Ummm, Link, I don’t see any doors on this floor that we can advance through. Maybe we are missing something?” she asked. Link looked down into the fumes and saw the crevices crawling with enemies. He also noticed some pockets hidden away with chests and large buttons. Link frowned unamusedly.
“We have to go down into that miasma and step on some switches. This is not going to be a pleasant experience for either of us.” he said. He took a deep breath and pinched his nose. He jumped down into the fog. Fluttershy flew down with Link, but just above the haze. Link navigated the maze of corridors, careful of not breathing in the fumes. The fumes themselves caused Link’s skin to turn a slight red. He slowly navigated around the walls until his eyes caught the sight of large, brown, bipedal manbearpig-like creatures. As one of the creatures turned around, Link quickly grabbed Fluttershy and the two of them ran into a pocket along the wall, which did not contain any of the fog. He covered Fluttershy’s mouth as the manbearpig-like creature with a large spear walked down the hallway.
“W-what was that horrible creature?” Fluttershy asked.
“That’s a Moblin. They’re large creatures that serve as guards for dark forces. The fact that they’re down here along with this miasma is no coincidence. The evil tainting this temple is greater than what I previously believed.” Link said. As the moblin passed by them, Link and Fluttershy ran down the corridor. They rounded past a corner until Link saw another pocket in the walls with a chained door inside of it. “Hey Fluttershy, can you fly around and see if you can find any small treasure chests? I think that it would be sounder if you gave me a bird’s eye scan of the entire room rather than just blindly look for them myself.” Link said. Fluttershy nodded as she unfolded her wings and flew up into the air. As she flew around, her keen eyes saw a discoloration among the walls of the higher area. She flew near the wall and softly touched it. Rather than a solid area, her hoof went through the wall as if it was some sort of illusion. Behind it, there was a hidden square yard chamber with a vine patch and a small chest. Fluttershy flew over to the chest and put her hooves onto the lock, but they could not be undone. She flew back down to where Link was.
“Ummm, Link? I found a small chest up on the top floor of this room. It was in a hidden area, so nopony could have seen it unless if they were actively looking for it.” she said.
“I guess this means that we’ll just have to go back onto the top floor again.” Link said. He saw a large button on the floor within the pocket of the wall. Link dashed his way through the corridor, but accidently inhaled the fog. His lungs became severely irritated from the gas, and he gagged on air. The Moblin turned around to where Link was. It let out a loud cry and stomped in place as it pointed its spear towards Link. The Moblin charged towards Link and impaled him with the spear. Link opened his eyes in sheer pain and screamed as he was taken away by the spear. The Moblin kept running until Link and the Moblin’s spear hit the wall. Fluttershy gasped at the horror that fell before her eyes. A sudden sense of rage filled her heart as she flew over to the Moblin and kicked its back as hard as she could. The Moblin fell down in a shrill, pain-filled cry as it died within the blue fires. Fluttershy grasped Link’s tunic with her mouth and dragged his body over to a pocket in the wall. She panicked.
“Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Please be okay…” Fluttershy said to herself. She stomped out the grass and found several hearts and bolts within them. She held Link’s body over those hearts and allowed him to restore his health. Link came around as he took in the healing effects of the heart. Fluttershy smiled happily.
“I guess I rushed in too soon. Thanks for your help.” Link gratefully said. He stood up from the ground and walked over to the button. As he did, the vents releasing the fog closed. With no feeding, the fog eventually disappeared. “Now that the fog has disappeared, we can navigate this floor without hassle.” Link said. The two of them carefully walked along the corridors. As they rounded against a corner, they noticed a blue and yellow chest in one of the pockets. Link smiled and ran towards it. Just as he did, a wall of fire erupted from the line between the corridor and the pocket, and Link was sent back. Link stared into the pocket and got close to it. But, the fire raged as soon as he went near it. Fluttershy flew over to him.
“Ummm, Link? I don’t think you should get this chest yet, I mean if you don’t mind.” she said.
“This chest is much more important than you would believe actually. I’ve seen chests ornately designed like this, and they house special keys that allow access into the deepest part of any temple.” Link responded. “If we want to find the Element, then we need to get this chest.”
“I wonder how we will do that.” Fluttershy asked. Link looked around and saw a patch of vines on the wall behind him. He looked back forward and saw the treasure chest. He smiled in realization. He took out his crossbow and aimed it towards the chest. He pulled out a bolt, placed it onto the bow and attached the rope onto the back of the bolt. He aimed towards the treasure chest.
“Let’s hope that this rope can handle fire.” he thought as he pressed the trigger. The bolt flew through the fire and into the chest. He grinned as he saw that the flames of the fire were not nearly enough to burn the rope. He released the trigger and flew past the flames into the pocket. As the bolt was released from the chest, he opened the chest. A lime-green light erupted from within the chest as he dove in there. He reached around until he found a large, golden key with a red eye on the handle and three spikes on it. He held it out over his hands and smiled.
“You got the Boss Key! Now you can get inside the chamber where the boss lurks.”
“Umm, Link? Is everything alright there?” Fluttershy asked.
“I’m alright. I just got to-” Link pulled out his crossbow and aimed towards the cluster of vines on the wall adjacent to him. He fired a bolt and rope through the fire and into the vines. He released the trigger and flew over to where the bolt fired. As he dropped onto the ground, he dusted soot off of him. “-get through that fire. Now we just need to find the last Treeger and we can get the Element in this dungeon.” As he said this, a Moblin shifted a corner and saw him. It held its spear out towards him and uttered a loud cry. Link swiftly turned around and fired a crossbow bolt into its forehead. The Moblin died in a blue flame. “We should probably get to the top floor as quickly as we can.”
“I agree.” Fluttershy said. The both of them navigated through the corridors. The two of them walked until they found the ladder that they first encountered. Link climbed up the ladder until he made it to the top. Fluttershy flew up to where he was.
“Alright Fluttershy, so where is this chest at?” Link asked. Fluttershy pointed over to the middle of the farthest wall. Link looked over and saw that there were six vine clusters on walls and eight vine clusters on the ceiling. He took out his Crossbow and aimed towards the central pillar’s vine cluster. As he flew over to the bolt’s location, he dropped onto the pillar. Fluttershy followed nearby. Link looked over to the center of the wall and squinted his eyes. “This would be much easier if I still had the Eye of Truth on me.”
“Ummm, if you don’t mind Link, I can help you aim.” Fluttershy said. Link looked over to Fluttershy with one eye raised in puzzlement. “You’ll just have to aim your crossbow to where I am. When you fire, I’ll just fly out of the way. With that, you would be able to shoot the target in the pocket.” Fluttershy said.
“Are you sure you want to do this Fluttershy? I mean, I could hurt you if you don’t dodge in time.” Link said.
“I’m positive Link. I believe that I can help you out here.” Fluttershy responded. Link shrugged his shoulders.
“Alright. Just let me know when you are ready, okay?” Link said as he readied his crossbow. Fluttershy flew into position and looked towards Link. She smiled nervously as she saw the crossbow aimed directly towards her.
“Alright Fluttershy, you can do this. If you fail, then there is a good chance that you will die. If you succeed, then we can meet another Treeger and make it deeper into the temple.” Fluttershy thought to herself. “Alright Link, I’m ready.” Fluttershy said. Without any hesitation, the bolt and rope flew from Link’s crossbow. Fluttershy’s eyes opened widely as she ducked underneath the bolt’s trajectory. The bolt went into the wall and snagged onto something. Link smiled and released the trigger. He flew along the rope and through the illusion. He fell in front of the chest and kicked it. Within it was a small, silver key. He looked back and jumped into the corridors. Luckily for him, the locked door was behind him.
“You know Fluttershy, you are more courageous than you seem. It’s not every day where a person volunteers to be shot at with a dangerous weapon.” Link said.
“You think I’m courageous? Well, that does mean a lot to me. Thank you Link.” Fluttershy said happily. She flew down to where Link was. As Link put the key in the lock, the chains undid themselves and he opened the door. As the two of them entered the new room, Link looked up at the canopy of barbed branches above them. Within the branches, he saw a blue, large Treeger in them. The Treeger spotted them and pounced down towards them. Link and Fluttershy backed away in shock as the Treeger growled at them. Then, the Treeger’s growl turned into a fit of laughter. Fluttershy looked curiously over to the Treeger before her.
“The looks on your faces, priceless. I’m sorry, but I wanted to do that for a very long time now.” The Treeger said.
“Oh, well… I’m sorry if you did that.” Fluttershy said. The Treeger smelled Fluttershy and grinned.
“You smell just like master! No, I must apologize to you. I have been here so long that I’ve grown very bored. It’s weird, because all this time being bored made me forget my name. It’s been very long since I had to use it.” The Treeger said.
“Oh, well do you want me to give you a name?” Fluttershy asked.
“I would, but first thing is first; I want you to find Orb of Kindness in the branches above. It’s been so long since I hid it that I lost focus of where it was.” The Treeger said. He then turned to Link. “You. I smell the scent of other Treegers on you. Since you are accompanying new master, I guess you are the bearer of Courage? Doesn't matter now. What does matter is if you get the Orb of Kindness from the branches above. Can you handle it?” The Treeger said. Link smiled and nodded his head. He set a bolt into his Crossbow and attached a rope to the end of it. He fired the bolt into the top branch and released the trigger. He flew up to the branch and dropped down on a branch beneath him.
“Now, if I were a key, where would I be?” Link asked himself. He ran across the branches until he noticed an inconspicuous pile of leaves on the ground. He dug around in there until he found a pink light brightening the pile. He smiled as he picked it up.
“You got the Orb of Kindness! You now have all three orbs, so you can now access the depths of the Temple where the Element resides!”
Link ran off the branch and fell onto the ground. He winced, but he stood strongly. The Treeger ran towards Link and hugged him.
“You found the Orb of Kindness! Thank you for looking for it!” he shouted. Link clenched his teeth from the strong hug, but ended up accepting it. The Treeger dropped Link and hugged Fluttershy. “You can name me now new master! I’m just so happy!” he said.
“Hmmm, if you are happy, then why don't I call you Onnellinen?” Fluttershy asked.
“Onnellinen sounds like very good name for me. Me Onnellinen!” Onnellinen said. He embraced Fluttershy further. He put her down after a while.
“I’m glad you are happy with your new name Onnellinen. But we have to go down into the depths now. I hope that I can see you later.” Fluttershy said. Onnellinen waved happily as the duo left the room.
Link and Fluttershy made it back to the room with the large platform. The two of them embarked onto the platform while Fluttershy smiled greatly. Link inserted the last Orb of Kindness into the final slot in the mound. As he did, the platform shook a bit. He and Fluttershy stood at the center of the platform. As they did, the platform slowly descended like an elevator. Fluttershy looked towards her surroundings and saw that there were many luminescent root ends within the soil surrounding her. She smiled keenly as she saw green beetles chew on the roots ends and become luminescent as well. The beetles dug back into the soil and the roots slowly grew.
“Nature is so fascinating, don’t you agree Link?” Fluttershy asked.
“Nature is astounding, and this place does seem like it’s worth a visit after everything is done.” Link stated. Finally, the platform descended onto the lowest level of the temple, where two rows of lit torches lined a path towards a large, brown door decorated with etchings of various butterflies. On the door itself, there was a golden chain with a golden, upside-down triangular lock that had two horns at the top. “Fluttershy, are you ready for what lies beyond this door?” Link asked. Fluttershy nodded.
“In here should be the source of the evil that’s plaguing the temple. I feel that it is now a duty to protect this temple from the forces of evil, so I will stand ready when you are ready.” she said resolutely. Link pulled out the boss key and inserted it into the lock. The lock was undone and the giant door lifted itself. Link and Fluttershy entered the doorway. As they did, the door dropped behind them.