Chapter Ten: Tears of the Soul As before, when he and Link arrived, Kage placed the Sword of Reflections back into its place on the pedestal and felt time ripple around him. "Now, let’s get back to Gerudo Valley." Link said, as he pulled out his ocarina and started playing Requiem of Spirit. Kage followed the example and did the same. When they arrived at the Colossus, they took a left and found themselves at the base of the Spirit Temple. "Link, there’s an opening over here we can crawl through. I think it leads inside." Kage said, as he looked into a small crawlspace that led inside. "Let’s go through one at a time." Link said, as he started through first. Nabooru, Leader of the Gerudo Thieves, paused in what she was doing when she heard sounds coming from the wall of the temple. "Strange, I don’t remember there being a case of temples having mouse problems!" Nabooru thought, as she located the source of the sound and waited. After a few moments, a child crawled out of the small opening, cautiously looked around, then motioned for someone else to come up after him. "Ouch. This space is smaller than I thought it was!" Kage said, as he came out of the small tunnel, holding a hand to his head where he’d bumped it on the way through. "I can agree with you on that." Link said, as he stretched his sore back. Once again they were on their own, so they didn’t realize that a Gerudo was standing behind them until she grabbed them by the collars of their tunics. "Hey!" Link yelped, flailing madly through the air as he was lifted off the ground. "Put me down!" Kage shouted, angrily, twisting his body this way and that in a mad attempt to get away. Their captor merely laughed. "You’ve got spunk, I like that in children. But why are you so far from home? Hmm?" the captor said, as she put the two children back on their feet before her. "What’s it to you?" Kage asked, testily. "Because I want to know. I am Nabooru, Leader of the Gerudo Thieves. I have a favor to ask of you." The captor said, as she led them to a chamber she had set up as a conference room of sorts. "What kind of favor?" Link asked. Nabooru’s statement darkened. "Your kind is suspicious of all Gerudo, since Ganondorf took over that castle in Hyrule. I want to make sure that my reputation doesn’t get tarnished. You see, I am the guardian of this temple. If the treasures from here get plundered, I in turn will be contaminated with evil. There are at least two sets of Silver Gauntlets hidden in this temple. Since you two are small, you be able to fit easily through the crawl spaces, since I am too big to fit through them. Retrieve them for me before Ganondorf decides that he wants them. "Okay, we’ll do it." Link said, getting a look of exasperation from Kage. "It seems as though your friend is not very pleased about that decision." Nabooru said, with a chuckle. "Seems like it. Let’s go, Kage. Those gauntlets are waiting!" Link said, as he headed for a crawl space and went through. Kage followed him, but not before giving Nabooru an odd look. Once inside the temple proper, Link and Kage looked around. This temple was unlike any they had ever seen before. "This place hasn’t been seen in a while." Kage said, sneezing as dust was kicked up as they walked. Link said nothing, but he had to agree with Kage. After running into a few Stalfos and a living Anubis statue, they ran into a creature known as the Iron Knuckle. After battling the creature for a few moments, they arrived in the place that held the Silver Gauntlets. "Now, let’s get back to Nabooru." Link said, as they placed the gauntlets in the packs and went back the way they had come. Before they were even halfway back, they heard a hair-raising scream. "Nabooru!" Link and Kage yelped, as they quickened their pace to get back to where the Gerudo Leader had set up her base of operations. They arrived only to see Nabooru disappear into thin air. "What do we do now?" Kage asked, looking to Link for the answer. "We must go back to the Temple of Time, return to adulthood, then see if we can rescue Nabooru!" Link said, as he whipped out his ocarina and played Prelude of Light. Kage did the same and within seconds, they were back in the Temple of Time. Malon looked up as Link and Kage walked down the stairs. "Did you manage to find out who the Sage of Spirit is?" Malon asked. "Not yet, but I have a hunch of who it is. C’mon, we’re going back to the Spirit Temple." Link said, as he and Kage mounted and waited for Sheik and Malon to do the same. Within moments, the four riders were moving quickly to the Gerudo Valley. The bridge carpenters looked up in surprise as the four riders galloped past. The Gerudo Thieves let them through without hassle. When they arrived at the temple, Sheik prevented Malon from entering with the two heroes. "Why are you stopping me from going in with them?! They can use all the help they can get!" Malon said, angrily. Sheik shook his head. "We can’t go in there. This is the final temple and the conclusion to their second quest. They must do this alone, for they are the Legendary Heroes." Sheik explained, as the heavy stone doors slammed shut behind Link and Kage. Malon looked like she was at a loss; she had heard the legends of the two heroes, but she didn’t want to admit that every time Link and Kage went in to fight something alone, they were running a very great risk. "If they don’t come out alive, I will never forgive you, Sheik." Malon said, angrily. "We must have faith in them. They will come out of there alive." Sheik said, as he looked at the closed doors, his eyes filled with grim certainty. Kage looked warily around as he and Link walked through the first set of rooms. They remembered the Stalfos that had been there when they had last entered the sacred place. "This place is even creepier now than it was in the past!" Kage said, as Mizuu fluttered near his left ear. "It made be because we have these Silver Gauntlets. I believe their magical aura was what kept this place pure. Let’s go this way, I think this leads to where the monster and medallion will turn up." Link said, as he led the way into one of the passageways. Along the way, they saw a wall with two shields hanging on it. "Mirror Shields! Each of you take one, for you going to need them later!" Navi instructed, speaking up for the first time since they had entered the temple. Then an eerie cackling filled the air around them. "Well, well! Look at who decided to visit us! Koume! Let’s help them feel welcome, shall we?" one witch said, as she descended from somewhere in the ceiling. "Let’s! But I’ve got dibs on the dark one!" the witch called Koume said, leering at the two heroes. "Wait just a moment! I wanted to do the dark one in! He’s mine!" the other witch, the one known as Kotake. "He is not! I’ve got first dibs on him!" Koume argued. "You do not!" Kotake retaliated. "Do too!" "Do not!" "Do too!!" "You do not!" "Oh yes I do!" "You do not, wart face!" Kotake shrieked. While this was going on, Link and Kage looked at one and exchanged looks of confusion and amusement. "I didn’t know I was that popular among the ladies!" Kage muttered from the corner of his mouth to a skeptical Link. "You only wish that were the reason they are arguing!" Link replied, getting an indignant look from Kage. The two heroes merely watched as the witches started duking it out. "I’d hate to get between them when they fight. They fight worse than you and Mizuu do, Kage." Navi said, giggling as one witch shrieked an expletive and bounced around, her butt burning. "Let’s get out of here while they are busy destroying each other." Kage said, ignoring Navi’s comment, completely. The whole group agreed and left the bickering witches to themselves. Before they had gotten very far, there was a huge explosion behind them. "I guess they finally destroyed each other, ne, Link?" Kage asked, with a grin. Link laughed and nodded. "I do believe they have!" Link said, as light surrounded them and they were transported to the Chamber of Sages. "Hello again, you two! You’ve grown up since I last saw you!" Nabooru said, as she greeted them. "Nabooru!" Kage and Link yelped, in unison. Nabooru smiled. "Good to see that you have become ready for the final battle. I guess you now know that I am the Sage of Spirit. This is for you." Nabooru said, as she handed the last medallion to Link. Right when Link touched the smooth metal of the final medallion other five Sages appeared; Rauru, Saria, Darunia, Ruto, and Impa. "You have done well in your quest, young heroes. Soon your real battle will begin. Go back to the Temple of Time. There is someone waiting for you there." Rauru said, knowingly. "But what about Malon and Sheik? Aren’t they still waiting for us outside of the Spirit Temple?" Kage asked. Rauru shook his head. "When you and Link were transported here, Malon was automatically back at Lon Lon Ranch with the horses. Sheik is waiting for you at the Temple of Time, along with someone else." Rauru said, not dropping any hints as to who this mysterious other person was. "Okay. Let’s go, Kage. We are about to fulfill our destiny." Link said, as they pulled out their ocarinas and played Prelude of Light, thinking deep in their hearts that this would be the last time they did this.