Before Link can even start up the mountain to visit the fairy Darunia tells him about, there are a couple points of interest to visit. Firstly, right by the entrance to Dodongo’s Cavern is a patch of soil reminiscent of the one in the Kakariko Village graveyard where bugs lured out a skulltula, and sure enough, it works here too. There’s another one hiding behind a bombable wall. Then it’s off to Goron City for some fun there. Using a bomb to stop the Hot Rodder Goron gives an increase to bomb capacity, and there’s an area blocked off by boulders that hides another gold skulltula. With 20 claimed, another of the cursed family is free, but there’s no hurry there, and we’ll pass back through Kakariko on the way down from the mountain.
Going further up the mountain to the fairy requires blowing up a few rocks, then as Link gets closer to the mountain’s summit, the mountain starts shaking and rocks fall on him, so it’s time to turtle under the Hylian shield, which is probably the real reason he was told to get one before tackling the mountain. Waiting out each rockfall and running forward when the opportunity presents itself means it takes about four cycles to reach the end of the trench, then it’s time to climb, knocking some skullwalltulas out of the way as he goes. At the top of the mountain, Link finds the owl, who offers to make the descent easier.
There are two caves on the mountaintop. One has to be opened with a bomb, and contains the great fairy, who seems to be wearing some kind of leopard skin bodypaint, boots, and not much else. Anyway, she teaches Link how to do a spin attack, which now gives him a magic meter. She encourages Link to visit another fairy near Hyrule Castle, and to come back for healing when needed, which… she’s not exactly near anything, and there’s a cow on the way up to her that Link can milk repeatedly to heal up, so it’s not exactly a likely prospect. The second cave is really hot, and Link can only stand the heat for a short time. Long enough to kill another skulltula and pick up a heart piece (on separate trips), though. Now finished with his business here, Link talks to the owl, who gives him a ride back to Kakariko Village. From the landing point, Link’s able to get another heart piece, and the uncursed skulltula gives him a Stone of Agony, which is useless to me because my controller doesn’t
rumble.
At this point, Navi starts suggesting Link visit Saria again, so he calls her on his ocarinaphone [1], and she says the third spiritual stone is the Stone of Water, and it belongs to the zoras, so that’s the next destination, but first Link has business in Hyrule Castle. Behind a boulder in a dead end in the castle approach, Link finds the second fairy, who teaches him a spell, Din’s fire, which I haven’t actually tested yet. There’s a new game available in the market, bowling with bombchus, which are a lot smaller than their Hyrule Warriors incarnation. This game is frustrating, especially the second stage with the target way off to one side or the other. The third stage is easier, even with the motherclucker sitting directly in front of the target and only moving a little in either direction. But there are a couple useful rewards, another heart piece and another bomb capacity increase, so it’s barely worth dealing with the aggravation.
Now it’s time to visit the zoras… well, it’s time to enter Zora’s River. Because before Link gets too far upriver, shortly after blowing up the rocks blocking the way, he meets a man selling magic beans. He encourages Link to plant them in soft soil, the kind that Link’s been able to lure skulltulas out of with bugs. There’s a patch right next to him – which is sadly skulltula-free – and then Link runs to the Kakariko Village graveyard and Death Mountain to plant beans where those skulltulas came out. Then he stocks back up on rupees to buy more beans; I was able to buy eight pods before I ran out of money the second time, and figured I could come back later to finish this off. And now it’s time to go upriver for real.
Next: Stream and pool is wet and cool: so nice for feet. And now we wish…
[1] Actually, when I called her, I was buttonmashing trying to play the Sun’s Song and played Saria’s instead. That didn't stop Navi suggesting Link go in person, oddly.
