[EDITING] The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Dungeon Chapter 60 - Drowned Memories

...into the pool below. He and Hack landed with the softest splash he could manage. He kept himself straight, only Hack's added weight there to increase their splash radius.

Link was grateful Hack had been quick enough to take the breath, but he knew he had a short window to get her out of the water. He sunk as far as he could risk, dropping behind debris as the eye swept its gaze overhead. He let the nerves guide him as he kicked off through the water, aiming further away to the back of the hill around the side of the tunnel entrance, and away from the current danger.

Seconds later, he and Hack resurface. Hack covered her mouth as she sputtered on water, but when Link looked back, she only nodded, that eager look in her eyes again. She let go of Link and began paddling towards the hill, louder than Link would have hoped.

The eye's gaze remained fixed on where they had dropped into the water, ignoring them for now. Link watched Hack climb up the hill, her daggers out as she inched up to the top. The eye's watch began to drift back to its normal focus, none the wiser of the bokoblin behind it or Link beneath the water.

Diving back beneath the surface, Link began to make his approach back to the front of the cave. He hung back further than necessary, telling himself it was so he could keep an eye on Hack. He knew it was because of the anxiety chasing him. What drove him closer was knowing that delaying getting into the tunnel would only put Hack at risk.

The bottom of the pool was as foul as it smelled above water. The source of that was the clots of rot root poison that came floating out of the tunnel. Much like the cluster Link had seen in the other tunnel, these pulsing with an unnerving heartbeat to them. Link shifted in the water as one floated by, the light of the eye overhead illuminating its insides for a moment.

Inside was the outline of a creature, of what kind, Link couldn't be sure. Smoke swirled with it, shifting enough for Link to see the claws before it drifted out of the way on the weak current that remained.

Before Link had time to follow the clot, there was a shout overhead. While muffled by the water, Link recognized Hack's frenzy, followed by the orange-red bokoblin splashing down in the water overhead. The cluster's eye stalk was still well within Hack's grip as her frantic stabbing turned it to dust, though its eye saw no more.

When the stalk finally vanished, Hack began swimming for the surface. It was a loud splashing doggy paddle, but it would get her back to shore. Link on the other hand began to push down towards the source of the clots even as his gut told him not to.

The tunnel was poorly lit. Unlike the previous tunnel, there was no room for light to get into this one. Link could only see a few spans in front of him as he swam deeper. The rot root was thick along the walls here, though it had less of its vibrancy than it did on the surface, the reds a mute maroon and the black shades of washed out gray.

Still the tunnel went down, until Link began to wonder how a water wheel could be effective this deep. Not long after, he found the water getting lower again, and he risked swimming up to the surface.

Breaking the surface, Link found himself in a small cave. The ceiling was covered in rot root, but the blue lichen from the greater part of the cavern was also still fighting for its place on a few ledges along the cave walls. There was a stone ledge built along the side, and the choked water wheel attached.

With the ledge too high for him to climb out, Link dove back under the water. While still dark, the view from the cave guided him along the wall to where the water wheel was suspended until it was close enough he could make it out.