Gerudo Forest

Chapter 34

It looked as if no one had entered this section of the temple for ages. The underwater plants had completely taken over and seemed to thrive above the water just as well as they had under. It almost looked like they were entering a glowing jungle all contained within a passageway. They had to be careful of where they stepped so as not to trip on the tangled mess of flora and fauna.  

So far in this area they hadn't run into any more monsters but she was sure that wouldn't last for long. She was pretty sure Agahnim wasn't waiting for them at the bottom. At least that is what she hoped anyway. She couldn't feel him there so maybe that was a good sign. It felt as though they had walked farther down then they had up and Link stopped in front of them suddenly.  

"What's wrong?" Heather who had been silent most of the way down asked.  

She had seemed to be deep in thought and Melissa could only hope that was because she had shattered the girls perception of her and not because she had made her mad. It was odd that guardians seemed to be the opposite personality of the ones they were assigned to. Heather was definitely the opposite of Link. She was more outspoken than the hero. Melissa on the other hand had found more of a voice since she had been here but was still the more passive one of her relationship with Ganondorf even with her rebelling against his orders on occasion. She figured it was just him rubbing off on her. This made her wonder what Zelda's Guardian was like. Were they paired this way because it made them a more well rounded team or was this just that way by chance.  

"The tunnel is flooded." Link said bringing her back from her thoughts.  

"Why is that a problem? You are wearing the tunics." Rutulla said.  

Had the hero forgotten they had just been underwater? It was one of those head slapping moments and all they could do was laugh which relieved some of the tension they had been feeling. They entered the water carefully keeping an eye out for anything dangerous lurking in the depths. It was weird that they hadn't run into any monsters since getting in here and Melissa wondered where they had all gone. 

Swimming down the rest of the way took less time than walking. They could just float around the plants instead of climbing over them. The stairway finally ended in another massive cylindrical chamber and Melissa could see the same giant shells that the Zoras used to make homes on the bottom. Fish skittered around here and there and figured there were probably holes somewhere letting the fish from the outside in. Finally she spotted the statue in the middle of the room. This one was of a Zora holding the winged snake. The piece was there but how would they get it? She didn't want another of the statues to be destroyed just to claim it.  

Rutulla, Melissa, and Link approached it while Heather hung back exploring the shells which seemed to be empty. Shouldn't she be helping? Melissa thought to herself feeling like the girl was loafing around. Oh well let her.  

They floated around examining the stone zora and Melissa wondered if maybe the piece would be located in the snake like last time. She looked in the mouth of the snake and saw a hole big enough to stick her hand into. Could it be a trap? Something could be in there waiting to bite her hand off if the snake its self didn't.  

She showed it to her friends who began to examine it. Both Link and Rutulla tried sticking their hands down the hole but they ended up being too big. If she was lucky maybe hers would be to and they could make Heather do it.  

"Drat!" she thought when it was apparent that her hand would fit just fine.  

She needed to be brave so they could get the heck out of this place. Hesitantly she put her hand through the hole. It felt slimy inside and she couldn't help but feel disgusted. She had to resist the urge to pull her hand back out it felt so nasty. What the hell was in there?