Going by the order of the temples Sheik mentioned, the Water Temple in Lake Hylia is next, and Navi now talks about a cold wind blowing from Zora’s Domain, so that’s the next destination. The cucco Link used to help jump over the river is gone, but he can make the jump by himself as an adult. Alternately, the magic bean has sprouted into an elevator plant that’ll carry him most of the way upriver. There are two new skulltulas available en route, and a fairy pond by one of the skulltulas, although Link’s going to need empty bottles very soon, so there’s no point in catching them.
Zora’s Domain is completely frozen over, and the zoras are nowhere to be seen. The shop is encased in red ice, as is the king. Fortunately, he’s not blocking the way into the fountain; as long as he took to move over when he wasn’t frozen, I’d hate to see how much worse they could make it. He won’t be helping Link get Biggoron’s eye drops until he can get out of the ice, though, so onward to find a way to save him. There’s a skulltula to get here, near the diving waterfall, and then it’s time to see how time’s treated Lord Jabu-Jabu. As it turns out, it can’t be good. Jabu-Jabu is missing from Zora’s Fountain, but the Fountain is just colder than it was with some ice floating on the top. There’s a heart piece to be grabbed here, and then it’s time to visit a cavern along the wall, the first mini-dungeon and the key to rescuing King Zora.
The Ice Cavern is, as one might expect, filled with ice-themed enemies. The keese turn into ice keese that freeze Link on contact. There are freezards, evil blocks of ice that try to freeze Link with their cold breath. And the end boss of the dungeon is a white wolfos variant. There are also traps and hazards. The most common of these are frozen stalactites that try to fall on Link’s head; distractingly, the sound they make as they’re about to fall sounds a lot like the gold skulltula proximity scratching, so I’d stop when I hear it and look around only to have Link take a stalactite to the head for being diligent. And there are three skulltulas in the place, so it’s not like I can just ignore the sound.
The Ice Cavern features torches of blue fire, which can be scooped into a bottle and used to melt red ice. Fairies don’t like sharing bottles with blue fire, though, so Link has to let them go before he can start grabbing fires. Filling all the bottles with blue fire isn’t necessary, but any that doesn’t get used can be sold to the guy who buys bottle contents in the village, so may as well. After defeating the white wolfos that serves as the final boss, Link gets a pair of boots that limit his running speed but stabilize him on underwater surfaces, which he gets a chance to use leaving the cavern.
Sheik shows up when Link gets the iron boots, and confirms that the Water Temple is the source of the zoras’ misfortune and that it should be Link’s next destination. Ruto, whom he rescued from the ice, has already headed there to break the curse, and so she’s definitely going to be the next sage. After speaking poetically of Ruto’s feelings regarding Link, he teaches Link the song to teleport to the Water Temple, then ninjaports out before Link can get too close and figure out who’s hiding behind the mask.
With the blue fire, Link defrosts King Zora, who rewards him with a zora’s tunic that’ll allow him to breath underwater. Link takes this for a spin in Zora’s Fountain, where he discovers a heart piece on the floor. Then it’s back to King Zora to continue the delivery quest line; the zoras don’t have the eyedrops themselves, but they provide the eyeball frogs that the man at the Lakeside Laboratory uses to make the drops. They don’t stay good very long, and apparently warping is cheating, so Link and Epona have to hoof it to the other side of the map in three minutes. The scientist was hoping to eat the frog, but complies to make the medicine, which also has a short shelf life and has to be delivered to the top of Death Mountain. Fortunately, destroying Volvagia stopped the rockfalls, and the elevator plant provides a shortcut, but it still requires making good time. With his eyes cleared, Biggoron gets to work repairing the sword, and after three days gives the completed sword to Link, replacing the giant’s knife, which was rather useless as it broke if someone looked at it funny. Biggoron’s Sword, on the other hand, is a solid, powerful weapon, but can’t be used with a shield.
Now that that’s done, it’s time to go back to Lake Hylia. There’s a skulltula at the bottom of the Laboratory’s well that Link can reach now that he can walk on the bottom and roll into the crate, and then it’s time to head into the Water Temple.
Next: The boots were made for walking, and that’s just what they do. But first you have to put them on, and then remove them, too.
