Chapter 17: The Shadow Temple
When morning came, the first thing Link did upon waking up before even taking a breakfast was to go at the pedestal and shoot an arrow at the rising sun, right between two pillars further away. The next instant, an arrow with its tip in an orange crystal fell from the sky between the pillars, giving Link the ability to shoot fire arrows using a little quantity of his magic.
Something that will be very useful for Link. He will be able to light torches more easily and to put monsters on fire, which will be very effective against ice ones like Freezards, without having to use Din's Fire which used a lot of magic.
After breakfast, the heroes decided to return to the Temple of Time thinking that they may find Sheik who would give them at least a clue of where to go next. If not, they were thinking of going to Gerudo Valley, the only place that Link hadn't fully explored yet, not even as a child, because Gerudo guards blocked the way.
From what they knew, the Gerudos were a fierce people living in the desert, entirely made of women warriors thieves. Ganondorf had been apparently their king, being the only male who was born in a century. Outside of Ganondorf, it was very not recommended for men to go to the Gerudos.
Which may be a problem because Link was a man.
But right now, Link played the Prelude of Light to warp to the Temple of Time, followed by Sweetie Belle.
But Sheik wasn't here, to their disappointment.
"So I guess it's off to the desert," said Navi.
So they left the temple, killed the Redeads that were back everywhere, and left the town.
It was then that Navi saw smoke coming from Kakariko Village.
"Hey! Look!" she shouted, gaining the attention of the two heroes so they could see the smoke too. Having a bad feeling, they didn't even take time to call Epona, running instead across the bridge and up the stairs to the village.
Finding it partially on fire.
"What happened?" asked Sweetie Belle.
Before Link could answer, he spotted Sheik facing the well, and he ran toward him, followed by the filly.
"Sheik! What happened!" the Hylian shouted.
"Get back, Link!" replied the Sheikah who seemed nervous.
Suddenly, the wooden beam above the well was ejected by an invisible force that then caught Sheik and threw him down the stairs to the well. Link went to see if he was alright while Sweetie Belle prepared her weapons to defend from whatever invisible thing just got out of the well. The thing, however, seemed to turn into a shadow that began to move around on the surfaces. Seeing this, Sweetie Belle also turned into a shadow and followed it. When the two clashed, the thing was forced out of its shadow form, and Sweetie Belle immediately got out of her shadow form too before she managed to hit it with her sword.
There was a deep groan of pain before the thing turned back into a shadow and fled toward the graveyard. A white-haired woman in light armor then came and followed it, and Sweetie Belle followed them. In the graveyard, she saw the shadow-thing climb a cliff at the back of the graveyard, and the woman jumped on it. When Sweetie went to follow them, she saw them enter a small tunnel leading to a large door with the Sheikah symbol (the crying eye) that closed behind the woman, in front of many torches currently off.
"Drat..."
It seemed like she found their next destination.
She returned to Link and Sheik just as the Sheikah was getting up and told them what happened.
"That was Impa, the leader of Kakariko Village", informed Sheik.
"So that was her? I suppose that I should have guessed. Was that thing the evil spirit she had sealed in the well?" asked the filly.
Sheik nodded. "Yes. And now, he has fled into the Shadow Temple, and Impa has gone after it to seal it again. But the power of the spirit seems to have grown since last time. I'm not certain she will be able to best it this time."
"I think it's obvious. The spirit did just manage to break Impa's seal," stated Navi.
Sheik nodded again. "Impa is one of the six Sages. You must destroy the evil spirit and save her! Let me teach you the melody that will lead you to the Shadow Temple." He then took his lyre. "This is the melody that will draw you into the infinite darkness that absorbs even time... Listen to this, the Nocturne of Shadow!"
He then began to teach Link a sinister song. Once he was done, Sheik assured them that he will take care of the village while they go save Impa and deal with the spirit. He then used a Deku Nut to disappear.
The heroes didn't lose time and used the Nocturne of Shadow to warp on the cliff behind the graveyard. There, they traversed the small tunnel and reached the entrance of the Shadow Temple with all the torches. They easily guessed that they had to light all the torches. However, lighting them one by one wasn't the right method as the flames rapidly disappeared, meaning that they had to light all of them at once. Link understood how, warned Sweetie Belle to move away, walked on a platform in the middle, and used Din's Fire. This successfully lightened all the torches, opening the door.
And they entered the Shadow Temple.
Following the hallway entrance, they traversed a pit using the Longshot before reaching a dead end with a scary face carved in the back wall. When they approached, a mysterious voice coming from nowhere told them that they needed the "eye of truth", and Sweetie Belle immediately equipped the Lens (that Link had given her), seeing that the carved wall was an illusion. So they passed it and entered the first room.
The atmosphere was starting to feel like in the well, with blood on the walls and all, but the heroes didn't mind it as they walked in the room, which had a statue of a bird on a pillar in the center surrounded by several smaller pillars with skulls on them that served as torches (however the skulls reveled to be illusions thanks to the Lens of truth, excepted one). There was a normal lighted torch, and a large pit with the head of a huge statue on the back wall that had its mouth wide open and its tongue sticking out, a barred passage being inside. Link couldn't reach the tongue with a jump however.
There were several more of these 'face walls" around, but most of them were real. Only another one, at the left of the entrance, was fake.
When Link approached a part of the central pillar that could be pushed to make it and the statue spin, another voice said "Make my beak face the skull of truth. The alternative is descent into deep darkness." So, with the help of the Lens, Link turned the statue until it faced the only real skull on the pillars around, opening the passage inside the statue head. But Link still couldn't reach it.
So they went through the second fake wall and passed the door that was behind it, entering a room with skulls in small alcoves in the walls that seemed to talk to them.
"One who gains the eye of truth will be able to see what is hidden in the darkness."
"Shadow Temple... Here is gathered Hyrule's bloody history of greed and hatred..."
And other joyful stuff like that.
Some walls were fake, and behind one of them at the right, they found another door that led to a small dead end room that was like the one where they fought the Dead Hand, filled with skeletons. A ReDead was present as well as a couple of Keeses that, once killed, revealed a big chest containing the map of the temple.
The map revealed that the temple really was entirely underground, and that they were in the top floor. It will also be very useful in seeing where were the secret passages.
With the map, they returned in the previous room, listened the skulls say their dark stuff, destroyed the floating jars attempting to ram them, and eventually entered a second room like this one with more talking skulls. In this room, behind another fake wall, they found another door.
When they saw the long pale bloody hands coming out of the ground in the next room, they immediately understood that they were up against a Dead Hand.
This time, Sweetie Belle was the one who baited the monster into coming out. Once it was out, Link began to attack it when it lowered its head, and Sweetie Belle freed herself from the hand grabbing her by slicing it before joining her friend into killing the thing before it could escape back into the ground. Between the two of them, the Dead Hand was rapidly killed, revealing a new big chest that contained winged boots.
Thanks to these boots, Link could hover. However, they offered no traction, making him easily slide when he walked with them.
Link quickly used them to cross the pit in the room with the bird statue, entering the passage they opened earlier. In the following hallway, they walked down a slope to the second basement of the temple into a small circular room with a Beamos in the center. A bomb quickly destroyed it. With the Beamos gone and with the help of the map and the Lens, they could choose between three paths (one being behind a wall that they had to destroy with a bomb).
One of them was locked, so they needed to get a key.
They first chose the path leading to the smaller room where two Gibdos awaited them. Killing them revealed the big chest with the compass.
"We barely started the temple and we already got all the main items excepted the Big Key," Link said in astonishment.
"Good!" said Sweetie Belle. "With all these illusions, I feared to miss a chest."
Returning in the room where they destroyed the Beamos, they took the other path and entered a larger room that reminded of one of the rooms of the Ice Cavern: there were two giant blades-here, bloodied scythes held by two statue of reapers- spinning, and they had to get five silver rupees. At least, here, the ground wasn't slipping, and there were open cells where they could hide from the scythes, but there were wooden obstacles all over the room. The method to get the rupees was the same: Link simply had to duck to avoid the blades, and Sweetie was too small to fear them. Obtaining the five rupees opened the way to a small chest containing the key they needed.
With it, they unlocked the door in the third path and passed it, entering a S-shaped hallway that led to the third basement of the temple. Several Skulltulas attempted to block their path but were easily killed. Toward the end of the hallway, they also had to pass two guillotines before rounding a corner with a Wallmaster.
Sweetie Belle killed it like she killed all the others. "When will they understand that they won't have the drop on us?"
"Never," answered Link with a chuckle at her pun.
They then entered a large bottomless cavern where they had to jump on several floating platforms with more guillotines (and avoid a Red Bubble jumping out of nowhere). When they reached a platform without guillotine, they had to fight a Stalfos.
From there, they could choose between two paths, one leading to a platform hanging from the ceiling with chains that served as an elevator, and the other going through two invisible platforms. They took this second path first. They then entered a room with two more spinning scythes, invisible this time, with a Like Like that Sweetie killed with her beams. Killing it as well as some Keeses in the room opened the way to two chests (one of them invisible) containing a blue rupee and a lot of arrows.
They returned in the cavern to the platform where they fought the Stalfos and jumping this time on the platform elevator. There again, there were two paths for them, one with a Beamos and five silver rupees, and one with more invisible platforms. This time, they took the first, destroyed the Beamos, grabbed the silver rupees while avoiding the circling Blade Traps, and passed the opened passage.
The room it led to had two spikey platform smashing the ground in front of them. To help them avoid a gory fate, they found a cube thanks to the Lens that they pulled, then pushed under the platforms until it was right between the two so the two platforms with stopped from smashing the room by it. thanks to it, they were able to explore the room without risk.
There were several cells in the room, and inside one, in a chest, they found some more arrows. Another cell was empty. There was another cell in the upper level of the room, but they had to pull the block to the end of its path to use it as a platform. They jumped on a ledge, and then, jump on one of the smashing spikey platforms to reach another ledge with a switch that made a chest fall from the ceiling on a third ledge. While on the second ledge, they entered the third cell and opened another chest with another blue rupee. They then jumped on a spikey platform again to reach the third ledge and open the chest that fell from the ceiling, obtaining a key.
They returned in the big cavern and took the last path with the invisible platforms (passing another guillotine). The last invisible platform moving left and right, they had to be careful. After it was a locked door that they opened with the key they just got.
The room they entered had invisible sets of spikes and two ReDeads. Killing them revealed another chest with a blue rupee. A barred door was at the left, and a locked door was on a platform across the room. There was even an invisible platform in the back-left corner, and there were also several invisible Longshot targets (including one above the invisible platform). Finally, there were five silver rupees. To obtain some of them, Link had to use the Longshot on the targets. Sweetie Belle helped him to gain time. Getting the five rupees unlocked the barred door.
It led to a door with a giant skull torch between two staircases leading up. There were also four smaller skull torches in the four corners, suspended against the walls, and a slow Spike Trap was moving back and forth in front of the giant skull.
What they had to do here was pretty simple. The giant skull revealed to have a hole in the top, and there were Bomb Flowers in the upper level. After dealing with some Keeses (unlocking the door that had barred itself behind them), Link took one of the Bomb Flowers and threw it in the hole in the skull, destroying it and revealing a key that they immediately used in the previous room to unlock the door on the platform.
They entered a hallway filled with Spike Traps and giant fans that regularly blew strong winds. Link had to use the iron boots to not be pushed by them, and Sweetie Belle used her metal form. After dealing with a Skulltula, they reached a pit where they waited for the fan at the end to turn off so Link could take off the boots and use the Longshot on a beam to cross it.
Jumping down a ledge, they reached a room with a bottomless pit where they had to cross a stone bridge with fans at both sides, the air they blew threatening to push them beyond the edge into the pit. So, using iron boots and metal form, they crossed it and avoided the fireball sent by an eye-interrupter that was actually a trap, above a door. There was also a fake wall at the left.
They first passed the door and entered another small room filled with skeletons where they had to kill two ReDeads before opening an invisible chest that contained only a few arrows. Back on the bridge, Link then used the winged boots to reach the fake wall and pass the door behind.
Another room filled with skeletons, two Spike Traps, two Gibdos, and some floating jars attempting to ram them. However, killing the Gibdos only revealed a chest with a blue rupee. The exit being locked, they had to continue to search, Link eventually using a bomb on a cracked pile of dirt in a corner where the compass indicated that there was another chest. Destroying the pile did reveal an invisible chest containing the key they needed to unlock the door.
They entered probably the most particular room of the temple, and of all the temples they explored until now (without counting the illusion room with the dark doubles). They were at the entrance of a cavern with a river on which was a boat!
"I don't know why but a boat traversing an underground river gives me a strange sinister feeling," commented Sweetie Belle as she contemplated the boat. It wasn't helped that the 'river' seemed to be actually made of a supernatural fog instead of water, that ghostly winds with faces from beyond the grave could be seen in the cavern further, and that the figurehead looked like a zombie holding two bells and having a red clothe on its head.
"Some legends say that the dead are led to their final resting place by a boat such as this one," informed Navi. "Most of them state that said dead are actually the spirits of the damned led to where they would be tortured for eternity as punishment for their sins."
"Of course a temple full of undead that seemed to be some kind of dungeon where prisoners were tortured and executed would have something like that..." muttered Sweetie Belle.
There was a ladder to reach a ledge from which they could access the boat, but they first had to pull and push a cube to it to reach it. Once on the boat, Link went on a Triforce symbol and played Zelda's Lullaby (it seemed so out of place here...), and the boat began to move, floating up and down in the river.
Two Stalfos came one after another during the ride, but the heroes quickly got rid of them before they reached the end of the cavern, and so, of the ride. The boat hit the wall at the end and began to 'sink' in the 'river', and the heroes hurried to jump onto the platform at the left. There was another platform across a smaller 'river', but first, they went to a door at the end of the actual platform, after a broken bridge.
The new room had an invisible maze that turned visible thanks to the Lens. Floormasters were present, and there were three exits. They first went to the South one that led to the smallest room where there were two beams forming a cross with chains and a lot of blood below it.
Sweetie didn't want to know what horrors happened here.
There was an invisible Floormaster that was quickly killed, revealing a chest with a key and unlocking the door that had barred itself behind them.
Back in the invisible maze, they went this time to the West exit and entered a room like the one with the giant skull, only this time, there were three skulls on a round spinning platform. Like in the first giant skull room, they climbed the stairs and used the Bomb Flowers to blow them up one by one. However, in the end, they contained nothing of importance excepted some rupees and some ammunition for Link.
So this left the North exit, leading to a room with two wooden spike traps slowly closing on them. Sweetie Belle quickly put a shield around herself, allowing Link to use Din's Fire to destroy the spikes without burning her. When the spikes were gone, Sweetie then incinerated the two ReDeads that were behind them so Link could reach the two chests they guarded. A small one contained a blue rupee, and the other, a fancy chest, contained the Big Key.
Having finished exploring this part of the temple, they returned where they got off the boat, and Link fired an arrow at the group of Bomb Flowers next to a large damaged pillar at the other side of the small 'river'. The arrow created a chain reaction ending up in a huge explosion that made the pillar fall to become a bridge to cross the 'river'. Once on the other platform, the heroes used the key they got to unlock the door here.
The room after it seemed to just be a large bottomless pit between the entrance and the exit, which was the golden-locked door. However, thanks to the Lens, they could see that there were actually some invisible platform that Link could reach with the winged boots. Moving from platform to platform carefully, they reached the golden-locked door and opened it.
All there was behind was a small room with a pit. They had no choice but to jump in it.
They fell on what looked like a giant drum surrounded by some poisonous looking stuff.
Then, two giant disembodied hands appeared and began to play on the drum (a bongo?), making the two heroes bounce on it. The evil spirit then fully revealed itself. An upside-down beheaded torso with two handless arms and a red eye surrounded by flaps on the neck. While the eye looked at them, it was actually the torso's back that was facing them, and the heroes could see the backbone through the dark, bluish-greyish skin. The spirit then turned invisible, only letting its hands visible as they continued to play the bongo. It also began to sing with a deep voice.
Sweetie Belle immediately gave the Lens to Link so he could keep an eye on the body while she dealt with the hands. Already having enough of being bounced around, she flew up, and Link put the winged boots.
"The flaps are protecting its eye. I can't do anything to it," warned Link.
"Then let's each take on a hand, but keep an eye on the body. If it does anything, warn me," instructed Sweetie Belle.
Link nodded and took his bow.
Link's boots quickly revealed to be a hindrance however. Because of the lack of fraction, and so, of the sliding they caused, it was very hard for Link to avoid the spirit's hands when it decided to attack. So he eventually took them off, deciding that he preferred being bounced around than risking being killed. Sweetie Belle didn't have this problem however with her wings and quickly managed to injure the left hand, stopping it from playing. Link took his time targeting the other hand as it rapidly moved around while still playing and attacking, and was able to hit it with an arrow. With both its hands hurt, the spirit attempted to ram Link with its body, the flaps protecting its eye moving out of the way. Link took the occasion to quickly shoot an arrow at the eye, stopping the spirit in its charge and stunning it. The two heroes then repeatedly attacked the eye until it recovered and restarted to play the bongo again.
However, the spirit became more vicious. One of his hands violently hit the bongo, making Link bounce high in the air.The other hand then attempted to slap Link while he was in the air to send him flying toward the poisonous stuff. Sweetie Belle pushed him out of the way just in time.
It then targeted the filly, first clapping its hands to crush her, then attempting to hit her repeatedly while playing the bongo. The hands were fast and well-coordinated, so even her had to use a few teleportations to save herself until Link managed to hit the right hand. With one less hand to worry about, Sweetie Belle easily hit the other hand, then the eye when the flaps opened again, getting the spirit stunned.
When it recovered after several more hits, the spirit became more violent in its manner of playing the bongo, and Link was forced to put on the winged boots because of how he was now constantly bounced left and right. The hands were much more frantic, moving rapidly all around the bongo while playing it, becoming hard to hit. and the body itself began to randomly sweep the bongo or to smash it, and Link had to constantly warn Sweetie Belle. The spirit even had the idea of placing its hands between the heroes before moving them out of the way at the last seconds, causing the heroes to shoot at each other accidentally. The spirit laughed when this happened.
Having enough, Sweetie Belle boosted her own speed by accelerating her time and fired two beams with great precision at the hands, hitting the two of them, before she fired at the eye when the flaps moved out of the way. With the spirit stunned, Link immediately ran (or slid because of the boots) to it and finished the spirit.
Screeching in agony, the spirit frantically played the bongo before stopping, its body darkening. It then fell on the drum and disappeared in shadows, its soul going to the afterlife for a well-deserved boat-ride.
The blue light then appeared, and Sweetie Belle and Link entered it to be transported to the Chamber of the Sages.
There, the purple pedestal glowed, and out of it appeared the white-haired woman possessing a light armor,Sweetie Belle saw previously, Impa. The woman had such an aura... It was clear that she wasn't one to be messed with. She was a real warrior.
"The boy with the noble Zelda's ocarina... As I expected, you have come. I am Impa, one of the Sheikah. I am Princess Zelda's caretaker, and I am also the Sage who guards the Shadow Temple," Impa presented herself. Then, she began to reminisce. "We Sheikah have served the royalty of Hyrule from generation to generation as attendants. However... On that day seven years ago, Ganondorf suddenly attacked... and Hyrule Castle surrendered after a short time. Ganondorf's target was one of the keys to the Sacred Realm... the hidden treasure of the Royal Family... the Ocarina of Time! My duty bound me to take Zelda out of Ganondorf's reach. When I last saw you, as we made our escape from the castle, you were just a lad... Now I see that you have become a fine hero... with the help of that impressive little filly."
"I'm sure he could have become a hero without my help. He is very resourceful," Sweetie Belle said.
"I don't doubt," replied Impa before she looked back at Link, seeing the worry in his eyes. "There is nothing to worry about... The princess is safe now. Soon, you'll meet Princess Zelda face-to-face, and she will explain everything... That is when we, the six Sages, will seal up the Evil King and return peace to Hyrule. I have to stay here... You go to Princess Zelda's side and protect her on my behalf. Now I put my power, which should be helpful to you, into this Medallion!"
Impa raised her arms, and a purple medallion appeared above Link.
She then looked at Sweetie Belle. "I can see in your eyes, behind that fake innocence, that you went through a lot. I know that I can count on you too."
Sweetie Belle nodded, and the area was plunged in light.
"Please, look out for the princess!"
They then were back in the graveyard, on the pedestal on the cliff leading to the entrance of the Shadow Temple.
"That temple was certainly something," commented Sweetie Belle. "It was more straightforward than the others, but it had so many more traps and tricks, many of them mortal. I'm really glad to be out of it."
"Me too," said Link. "That place was just full of wrongs."
"I wonder how the last temple will be," wondered the filly.
"We will see soon enough. Time to go to the desert."
"Okay."
Sweetie Belle suddenly sent a beam at Link, and in a flash, he became a she! He... She looked down at her new body in horror.
"EEEEEHHH?!!! WHY DID YOU DO THAT?!!" she yelled at the filly who simply grinned.
"Didn't you say that men weren't welcomed at the Gerudos', Linkle?" Sweetie Belle then burst into laughter.
Link's face was entirely red by now. Whether it was by anger or embarrassment, she wasn't sure. "Turn me back! I will deal with it once we reach their fortress!" It was then that Navi cracked and began to laugh too, adding more red to Link's face.
"But it would make things so much easier!"
"I don't care! Turn me back!"
Sweetie Belle stopped laughing and pouted. "Spoilsport!" She then turned Link back to normal. "Don't complain when you end up fighting an army of warrior women. You're lucky I'm here to help you."
Link grumbled something unintelligible before he just walked beside Sweetie Belle and jumped down the cliff to the graveyard, followed by a snickering filly and fairy.
Linkle cameo, because she's my favorite character in Hyrule Warriors. 
Stats
Page generated in 0.036 seconds
Total duration
631 users online
689,471 hits today, 1,960,719 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
You forgot the k in smoke.
I don't know much about Hyrule Warriors. Can you explain who Linkle is?
Loved the end!
The Shadow Temple used to scare me as a kid to the point where I refused to do it.
10672697
Linkle is basically Link if he was a girl. In Hyrule Warrior, they gave her her own personality. Where Link is a sword prodigy, Linkle is a monster with crossbows. She's also very clumsy and doesn't know how to read a map correctly. And she loves cuccos. She thinks that she's the reincarnation of the legendary hero, so she doesn't hesitate to help anybody in need, and when she hears about Hyrule being attacked by an army of monsters, she immediately decides to present herself to Hyrule Castle to help them. Only to get lost in the way...
10672697
A female version of Link who wields a pair of crossbows.
10672708
That's pretty interesting. Is she your favorite character because she's the comic relief?
10672708
Why did link not agree to the perfect plan?
10672729
That, but also because I like her gameplay, and she uses freaking cuccos in her moves! At some points, she even commands armies of cuccos! And she's just so... lovable. She's a puff of fresh air in a generally dark and serious universe.
10672706
Yeah, the Shadow Temple is really one of the most scary dungeons of Zelda, and Bongo Bongo one of the hardest bosses.
10672738
It's psychological. For a guy to suddenly be a girl, it must be very shocking, embarrassing, horrifying, whatever... And so, he reacted like this. But if he had remained a girl a few more minutes, he probably would have calmed down enough to accept the plan.
10672755
... hmm I can expect changes in the twinrova fight.
I'm going to point out that Twilight claimed no such spell existed in Magic Duel... because that season's premiere involved a curse, and she claimed during Zecora's debut episode that curses didn't exist either. If we're going to pretend the show has any kind of continuity, we can absolutely ignore her on this.
10673959
And Sweetie Belle can totally do it thanks to the Void Energy, for the same reason that she can now shapeshift at will. She can become whatever she wants, and make others become whatever she wants.
10673980
Specific versus general, but they both end the same way.
Error spotted, Correction made in green, Original struck out.
11427763
Thanks.