"Spiritual Stones?"

"Yeah. We think we can defeat Ganondorf if we can get the Triforce. We need the three Spiritual Stones to accomplish that."

"Why?"

"They’re a vital key to opening the Door of Time."

"How many do we have?"

"Two. The Kokori’s Emerald – the Spiritual Stone of the Forest, and the Goron’s Ruby – the Spiritual Stone of Fire. I still need to get the Zora’s Sapphire, which is the Spiritual Stone of Water."

Link was busy backing up Zelda’s explanation by adding comments of his own, and Gordon was busy asking him questions.

Lydia finally spoke up. "What if this Ganondorf guy attacks before you get it? Then what?"

"That’s why we brought you here," Zelda replied. "Your powers can help us if he attacks before we can claim the power of the Triforce."

"Oh, I see. Well, how do we use this power Gordon and I supposedly have?"

"That...I’m not sure of yet."

"That sure is a great way to start our adventure – at a dead end."

"Don’t worry," Link said, "we’ll figure something out, I’m sure."

"While we wait," Lydia added, "we’d better work on getting that third stone."

"I agree." Gordon concurred.

"I also agree," Zelda said. "We need to get the Triforce as soon as possible. These two are good back up for a just-in-case situation."

"Not without our so-called ‘powers’ we’re not," Lydia muttered.

"Well," Link said as he got up, "I guess I’ll head to Zora’s Domain and try to get the stone."

Gordon and Lydia jumped up, too. "We’re coming!" they said in unison.

Link and Zelda looked at them with surprised looks on their faces.

"Look," Lydia said, "you brought us all the way here, the least we can do is try to help. If you go off on your own and leave us here I know I’ll go crazy. So we’re coming with you. Besides, you promised me the grand tour!"

"Are you sure?" Zelda asked. "It’ll probably be dangerous. Ganondorf is probably on to us by now and will most likely try to stop you from getting the third stone."

"That’s all the more reason we should go and give Link some help." Gordon said.

Link looked at Zelda and shrugged his shoulders.

Zelda sighed. "All right," she agreed, "but let me at least give you weapons. You can’t go there defenseless. Lydia, what kind of weapon do you want?"

"Umm....," Lydia thought, "I want...a sword! I think I’d be best with a sword. I want one of those thin, lightweight ones that are easy to swing."

Zelda looked at Gordon. "And you?"

"Why give him a weapon?" Lydia asked quickly. "Do you have any idea how much damage he can do with that head of his? He almost put a hole through my bedroom wall once.  He broke my dresser drawer!"

Gordon sneered at her. "Very funny. Could I have a flail? You know, the spikey ball and chain?"

Zelda snickered and said, "Maybe one of the soldiers have one small enough for you."

"And I’ll take my usual gear," Link said. "We’ll have to make a pit-stop at the forest so I can pick up my sword and shield."

"All right," Zelda said, "but first, the weapons. Please follow me."

Zelda had lead them out of the courtyard and into the castle. Link looked around, admiring the scenery. He’d never actually been inside the castle before. The ceilings were quite high and the walls were decorated. It wasn’t long before they reached a room full of various weapons. Zelda wandered away from the group, looking at the various swords.

"I’d love to live in a place like this," Lydia said. "It’s so roomy and pretty!"

"Sure beats my treehouse," Link replied.

"Still, there’s always something about your home that feels cozy and right."

"Yeah, as small as it may be, there is something kinda cozy about my little treehouse."

Lydia looked over to see Zelda heading back to them. She carried a sword with her.

"Here," she said, "this is what you wanted, right?" She handed the sword to Lydia.

Lydia looked it over. It was just what she wanted. A thin, lightweight sword that looked about three or four feet long. She thought that she could easily do some damage with this thing. She looked up in time to see Zelda hand her brother a flail, like he wanted. She thought about the damage he could do with something like that and a shudder went down her spine and up again. "Yikes. Scary thought."

"Are we ready then?" Link asked.

"Ready as we’ll ever be, I guess," Gordon replied as he swung his new toy around a little bit.

"Off to the woods then. I’ll tour you two around a little bit on the way."

"And that’s the entrance to Zora’s River, where we need to go to get the third stone," Link said, "but the forest is farther south. That’s where I grew up. We need to go there first to get my gear."

"Is it a pretty forest?" Lydia asked.

"Yeah, it is. But before we go there, I want to warn you of something. Don’t go into the Lost Woods by yourself unless you really know it. I learned that the hard way a while back."

"Got it."

The group took a sharp left after walking south a little ways past Zora’s River. They soon came to a tunnel that looked like it was made of wood. They went through it and crossed a wooden bridge which led to another tunnel. When that tunnel opened up, they found themselves standing in a "cute little treehouse town", as Lydia would probably describe it. It was inhabited by little kids that looked a lot like Link.

"My house is over there," Link said, pointing toward the east side.

"It’s cute." Gordon said.

"It’s my cozy little place." Link replied as he reached the ladder. "You can wait here if you want. Really nothing to see up there."

"Okay, we’ll wait."

They watched Link climb the ladder and go inside the house. While they waited, they glanced around the town. Every house was like Link’s. It looked like a very peaceful place to grow up.

"I’m ready!" they heard Link say. "We can go to the river now."

They looked up to see Link coming out of the house, strapping on a sheath around his shoulder as he walked. Over that he hung his wooden shield. In his left hand was a little sword, only a couple feet long, but it looked sturdy enough to really hurt somebody. Lydia watched him slide it in the sheath before climbing back down the ladder.

"Are we ready to go now?" Navi asked.

"I’m ready." Lydia said.

"Me, too." Gordon said.

"Okay, then," Link said, "let’s head for the river."

Lydia loved the river immediately. It was so blue and pretty! Sure not like the almighty Flint River back home, where three-headed fish probably dwelled. There was a path heading up the twisty river, with a couple monsters along the way, but nothing too bad. The three of them got a little practice with their weapons as they traveled along.

At one point they ran into a monster skimming the water.

"Oh, my God," Lydia said "Just look at that giant spider!"

"Cool!!" Gordon shouted.

"It’s called a Tektite. Don’t worry, they’re not too hard to kill. A couple blows the head will take care of him." Link said as he edged toward it, his sword at the ready. Lydia and Gordon got their weapons ready, just in case. This looked like a very easy situation.

Wrong. Just then the most unusual thing happened. Dozens of Tektites suddenly began jumping out from various places. Gordon could’ve sworn he saw a couple come out of the walls. Link backed off as more and more appeared. Soon, there were at least fifty of them blocking the path.

"Wh...what the...?" Link stammered. "What’s this? I’ve never seen so many!"

"Do you think it’s...." Lydia began.

"...Ganondorf?" Gordon finished.

"It must be," Link replied. "Zelda’s right. He’s on to us. He probably sent these things as little assassins."

Lydia raised her sword. "Can we handle them, or should we run?"

As she finished her sentence, even more Tektites appeared behind them.

"Looks like running is out of the question," Gordon said. "Looks like we have to fight them. Can we really kill this many?"

"I really don’t know," Link replied, "but what choice do we have? Let’s watch each other’s backs, okay?" And with that, Link suddenly charged forward with his sword drawn. "Yaaaaahhhh!!"

"We’d better fight, too," Lydia said, trying to swallow the huge lump in her throat.

"Right," Gordon replied.

They split up and began slashing wildly at the closest Tektite. Lydia sliced one, and Gordon smashed another’s head. Link had already killed several. But the Tektites kept coming. The three were knocked back quickly against one of the walls and were quickly surrounded. Link stood near Gordon and Lydia stood several feet away.

Link winced as he held a wound on his upper arm. "There’s too many!"

"We can’t give up!" Gordon shouted. "We’ll definitely be killed if we give up now!"

"You’re right, but –"

Suddenly, one of the Tektites jumped at Lydia. He was moving too fast for her to react.

"Look out!!" Link shouted as he ran in toward her.

Lydia screamed in terror as the Tektite closed in.