Bowels Of Hell

<---Index

The group came to a stop in the entrance to the Mountain, which was a large and majestic hall, filled with mighty statues and and valuable metals that were excavated from deep within the forbidding stone. Sheik looked around and let out a low whistle. “Whoa. Jackpot.” Saria pointed to one of the stone statues and said, “Look! A stone replica of the Tri-Force! Amazing!” Shadow smiled and said, “Nice artwork, but we'll have to put the sightseeing off until later. We have a job to do.” Link came to a stop and said, “Uh, do the Gorons usually make statues of themselves?”

The group looked at him confused, then turned their heads to follow his gaze. Sure enough, there were dozens of statues of Gorons all over the hall. Shadow dismounted and took a closer look at one of them. “This isn't a statue.”
Saria said in a frightened voice, “It's not? Then That's a real Goron? Turned to stone?” Shadow shrugged. “That about sums it up. I mean, I don't think the people of this land are big in fear art.” Link looked at the terrified expression and said, “If they are, this chunk of rock certainly got caught off guard. Any idea what could have caused this disaster?”

The group thought hard for several minutes, before Sheik said, “I ran across something in the Sheikah village about a creature that could turn living creatures to stone. It was called a...” thinking for a moment, he finished, “I think the term is Basilisk, but don't quote me on that one.” Shadow suddenly became terrified. Everyone looked at him confused. “We have to leave!” he said in a panic. “Now!” Link looked at him and said, “Calm down. They don't exist in this world.” Saria now began to look worried. “Link! The worlds are overlapped! That means one really could be here!”

Sheik snapped, “Everyone, CHILL! We can't go back because we have to get to the Idol! If we don't, everything is done for! There will be Nothing left!” Link nodded. “I agree. I think we stand a better chance against the Basilisk that we do the Apocalypse. Anyone else agree?” A moment of silence followed before he said, “Then it's agreed. We go find that Basilisk thing, kill it, get the statue and get out of here. Any questions?” Shadow nodded. “How do we fight something that will turn you to stone from a glance?”

Sheik walked towards the entrance of the mines, saying, “We'll cross that bridge when we get there. Let's go.” The group seemed a little uneasy about how calm he was acting. It was fairly eerie. Dilt turned to Link and said, “Has anyone else noticed that he's been acting a little weird ever since we left the Sheikah village?” Saria nodded. “Come to think of it, you're right. Since he had that private talk with Impa, he's been acting really weird.”

Shadow nodded. “I have to agree. Something's up.”
"We'll figure that out later.” Link said as he headed after the warrior. “We don't want to get separated in this place. We don't have a map to find our way out if we get lost.” The group walked to the large doors that lead into the mines. Looking at the heavy slabs of steel, Link asked, “Okay, how do we open this thing?” The group, save for Sheik, attempted to push the mighty doors aside, but despite their efforts , had not even the slightest affect.

After a while, Link, Shadow and Saria fell into a seated position and said, “It's no use. It wont budge.” He then turned to Sheik and said, “What are you doing? It's locked!”
"There's writing on the door. It has instructions.” Sighing, Shadow said, “What kind of instructions can a door like that have? A way to disengage the lock? A secret incantation? A combination?” Sheik casually gripped one of the nooks on the massive door and gave a gentle tug, causing the massive obstruction to swing open. He turned to them and said casually, “Pull.”

The group looked at each other with a very embarrassed expression on their faces. Shadow muttered, “I'm surprised none of us even considered that.” The others nodded and got to their feet. Sheik looked at them and said, “From now on, I handle the doors, Okay?” Shadow let out a snort and muttered, “Just because you can Read, doesn't make you a hotshot or anything.” Sheik let out a grin and replied, “Nope. Just the one who can tell which doors to push and which to pull.” The dark elf opened his mouth to retaliate to the comment, but fell short of anything that could be used as a decent rebuttal. In a voice of surrender, he muttered, “You win...”

Link turned to the others and said, “We should wait before we go in.” Shadow, still irritable from the door fiasco, snapped, “Why should we do that?” Link casually pulled the bow off his shoulder and said, as he crooked an arrow, “Because we're not alone.” He turned sharply and let the arrow loose, just barely missing a strange enigma. As he rested another in the nook, he looked at the dizzying pattern that this creature was moving about. Keeping an eye on the target, he checked the entire room.

党There!” he yelled, letting another arrow fly. The shot was far off it's mark as it bounced off one of the golden statues. The creature let out an impish little laugh as he thought he was in the clear. The arrow bounced of the Tri-Force replica and a large gold plate as the creature let out a sound of confusion. It watched the arrow continue ricocheting off the various items before finally flying over it's head, cutting the chains to a cloth overhang directly above it. The creature muttered, “Oh, crud.” as the item draped over it and brought the creature to the ground. Shadow let out an impressed whistle, saying, “Nice shot. You must be popular at the festivals.” Link rubbed the back of his head with an embarrassed look on his face. “No... Not really...”

Sheik pulled the cloth off the creature and it yelled in panic, “Please! Please! Don't Hurt Me!!!” Shadow looked at the creature and said, “A juvenile Skull Kid? Why aren't you Skull mountain?” The Skull Kid whimpered, “I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I got trapped here when the fire fell from the sky! I know where there's a portal to get home, but a giant stone snake is blocking the path!”
"The Basilisk,” Shadow mused. Turning back to the creature, he said, “Get in my bag. We're here for a mission, and the basilisk is nothing more than a nuisance that's just going to be knocked down.

The Skull Kid looked at him and said, “You're going to fight the stone snake? Be careful. There are monsters more vile than anything a nightmare could conceive. I'll help you, yes. Go to the bottom of the mines and kill the living shadow. You need to do that before fighting the stone snake. Rocks block the way. These metal rocks in the mine will clear the path. You'll need it, you'll need it.” Shadow scratched  his head confused. “A metal rock? Isn't that just common metal?”

Link shrugged and looked at the mines. The path to the lower level was obstructed, but not too high up that jumping would be dangerous. Saria looked at him and said, “Can we actually trust that thing? It sound's about as trustworthy as a rat on a sugar rush.” Sheik chuckled and said, “Careful what you say. That just might be for dinner tonight.” Letting out a groan, Link said, “Well, I'm going to check it out.” Jumping down, he said, “Next stop, bottom of the mines.” Shadow laughed. “Good place to start.” and jumped. Sheik followed next. Finally, Saria muttered, “I don't know who's more crazy? Link for leading, the others for following...” She stood there blankly, noticing no one was there, and said, “Or me for talking to myself. HEY! WAIT UP!!!”