The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Dungeon Chapter 56 - Burdens

When the strike hit, Link jumped. He had the height, no doubt, but not the distance. When he was level with the bridge, he was still ten feet out from behind able to reach it. With nothing to grab onto, he started to pitch down, free falling through the open space between the central platform and the bridges.

The clawshot's hand barely had time to grab onto the base of the bridge before Link was yanked at the full length of its chain. As it grabbed on, Link immediately began swinging forward. There wasn't enough momentum though, he was slowing as he was passing under the bridge, and would swing back to a stop if he didn't get swinging. Link looked up at the glowing clouds above him. They were going to spot him before he could retracted the chain. And hitting that bridge would just send all the shock right down the clawshot into his arm. If the shock didn't kill him, the fall would.

The Roc's Feather ruffled against the palm of his hand. Link squeezed the plume and realized that this plan might kill him. Or not. Shade was down there somewhere. At least this was a better gambit that getting electrocuted and then falling. The falling still didn't seem pleasant though.

A gust of wind burst from the feather as Link snapped it behind him. The gust sailed backwards towards the platform, and launched Link forward. The claw of the clawshot kept Link tied to the bottom of the bridge, swinging him up in an arch, but there was a problem with that arch. It was going to yank him back around once he got to the top of it.

So he let go of the claw, the chain immediately retracting back in. Link continued to swing up, reaching the absolute height from the momentum of the gale. He had seconds before he would just start falling though, in what direction, he wasn't sure. Likely not at the bridge.

Just as he began to pitch down, the clawshot clicked back into place. Link barely aimed, thanking whatever Goddess was listening when it connected with the bridge's topside. From there, he just held on for dear life as he was rocketed down towards the bridge on the retracting clawshot.

Link rolled towards the door, clawshot still over his arm like a gauntlet and Roc's Feather clutched tightly in the other. Two bolts had hit the open air while he was swinging, and the third strike was going to hit something metal. He didn't have time to stow items.

He didn't have time for the door in front of him either. Ten steps away, Link latched the clawshot onto the handle and pulled. The door swung open and he dove through the opening, tumbling over himself in the process as he rolled to a halt into the room. Safe.

"What happened?" Zelda asked, bending over Link as he heaved for breath.

"Stay-- hah-- stayed out-- too-- long-- hou--," he answered, huffing out a breath after each word. Link set his head back on the floor, and placed his non-clawshot wrapped hand on his chest.

"Did you try to outrun a storm?" Sagi inquired, closing the door to the tower. The storm went still seconds later.

Taka gestured a wing in Link's direction. "It seems he succeeded since he's here and not dead."

Sagi held his two wings together in front of his beak and let out a long, drawn breath. "Taka, the entire temple is wrapped in this storm. We are directly in the middle of it."

"He still did it, didn't he?"

The crane Rito shook his head. "This whole place doesn't make sense. I don't understand how you're putting up with this." When Taka just shrugged, Sagi put up his wings in defeat. "I'm going to stop trying to barter with logic and focus on keeping us alive. You can solve the puzzles."

Zelda turned back towards Link, resting her hand over top of his. "Are you alright?"

Nodding, Link leaned up on one hand. "Yeah, just winded."

"Did you find anything out?" she pressed.

"It's heavy. The key. I couldn't jump with it, but I think I can push it up into reach, onto one of these bridges. I just need to get under it," Link answered, his chest no longer beating like a drum. "I would need to be able to jump across that gap though to the armory. We'll need to move another piece of the bridges down so I can make it."

"We've got spare middle pieces on the left and right of us," Taka pointed out. "Which one do we move first?"

"I vote to the left," Zelda said, "If we get the key up here, we want to make sure we can carrying it over to the Mist Tower and cutting out the bridge between us would cut us off from being able to carry it over."

"You think more of those wizzrobes are going to show up when we move it? They showed up the last time we moved one of those pieces," Sagi asked, unhooking his bow from his back. His partner did the same a moment later. "Or when we went hunting for it."

"We should count on it." Zelda grimaced before turning to Link again. "You up to carrying it down there? Or do you need another minute to catch your breath?"

Link nodded, swallowing. Zelda held out her hand, helping him get back on his feet. Link staggered a step before righting himself and nodding his thanks to the princess. "Alright, let's go. Watch my back."

With his three archer guards close behind, Link made his way out to the bridge between the Wind and Rain Towers. When he reached the halfway point, he bent over and gripped the sides of the bridge, and steadily began to pull. Slowly but surely, the middle wedge began to come out.

As the piece came completely unseated, Link stumbled back before balancing himself out. Almost immediately after he had steadied himself, wizzrobes began to appear. Zelda and the two Ritos though were more than prepared for them though. The enemies had barely appeared before they were shot down, plummeting through the sky before vanishing into smoke. The second thing that happened when Link pulled the wedge free was that a gust of wind pushed its way through the gap, off over the side of the temple. If Link hadn't discovered his new clawshot-Roc's Feather combination, he wouldn't have attempted the jump from that gale. He guessed this was the risk of activating the Wind Tower. Not that they had had a choice in that one.

Then began the long trek down to the basement levels again. Link was hardly straining himself though with his power bracelets, and his companions more than handled their attackers, even as the waves grew more and more intense. When at last Link dropped the bridge piece into place at the end of the already growing bridge, Taka and Sagi were only then starting to search for any lost arrows.

"We're going to need to move more bridge pieces," Zelda commented as she looked up at the walkways they still had open. She had taken Link up on his offer finally for his aided jump over the gap.

Nodding, Link positioned himself beneath the key he had found. At least the storm wasn't chasing them down here. Not that that stopped the rain from slipping through, dripping down on his face as he looked up at the gray mass over them. "We'll get this key secured inside one of the towers, and then work on figuring out how it's supposed to get down here."

"Is it as heavy as the bridge pieces?"

"Heavier."

Zelda sighed and stepped a pace away as Link pulled his magic plume back out. "One step at a time, I guess." He smiled back at her, before taking a moment long to aim the gust. When he was finally satisfied with his positioning...