Now that Link can swim, the game makes absolutely sure the player knows that maybe swimming is going to be the key to finding the sacred flame. When Link swims, the Stamina Lime becomes an Oxygen Blue Citrus Thing. It depletes much slower than the Stamina Lime; not quite to Guybrush Threepwood levels, but it was never a concern, even without the air bubbles that refill it being everywhere. (The potion shop in Skyloft has a potion that makes the Oxygen Blue Citrus Thing deplete slower, and I can’t imagine what possible use it might have.)
Anyway, there’s an underwater tunnel into the heart of a large tree. Inside, there are two swinging platforms across the gap to the exit. Outside, Link climbs the tree, and as he gets higher, begins hearing a noise. Halfway up, Link passes through a tunnel that’s blocked by a Moblin; it’s still easier to go up and over and just run to the exit before it turns around. There’s a bird statue in the upper branches, which is useful because there are three Goddess Cubes in the lower branches that Link can jump to from this area, then take the Loftwing Express back up. As Link approaches the top, Fi notes the sound, which turns out to be an old Kikwi named Yerbal’s snoring.
Link can wake Yerbal up with his Slingshot or Beetle (or maybe a bomb, I didn’t try), and he’ll tell Link something if he agrees to keep it a secret to everybody. The sacred flame Link’s looking for is Farore’s Flame, which was entrusted to the Water Dragon of the woods. The gate to the Water Dragon’s lair is sealed shut, and to open it, Link needs to complete Farore’s symbol with a Skyward Strike drawing. Before Link goes to continue the quest, Yerbal warns him to be careful not to offend the Water Dragon.
The gate is near the platform where Link originally met Bucha, and it has the circle missing from the symbol. Once Link’s drawn that in and gone through the gate, he comes to a cliff with several waterfalls, leading to Lake Floria. Through another tunnel and over another waterfall, Link finds a seahorse person who tries to run away from him. Link follows, and after he demonstrates a spin attack to destroy a barrier, the seahorse person realizes Link is the Emissary to the Water Dragon, and decides to lead him there so he can help her. Someone came in and hurt her, so she needs help. Link follows the seahorse person through a tutorial on how to swim and use the spin attack. There’s a Goddess Cube along the way.
The Water Dragon, Faron, recognizes the scale, but doesn’t think much of Link as an emissary. So, she devises a test: She’s recuperating from the wounds Ghirahim gave her in a basin of sacred water, only she doesn’t have enough, so she wants Link to find more. Fi analyzes the water so Link can dowse for it, and that leads him all the way back to the Skyview Temple. So it’s the sacred spring at the end. The dungeon has repopulated with tougher enemies, but Link opened a bunch of shortcuts on his way through the first time (and is better-armed than before), so it’s still easier than the first trip.
In the room where Link met Ghirahim, he fights three Stalfos at once; a little tricky, but he can use bombs to disarm them for some free shots. Once they’re gone, he goes to the spring and claims the water Faron needs. Faron emerges from her bath fully healed; in return, she stops the waterfall blocking the way to the next dungeon.
With the dungeon unlocked, it’s time to return to the sky to prepare. There are five Goddess Chests Link can open now: four that he activated during his search, and one on Skyloft that requires swimming through a tunnel to get to. The rewards are two heart pieces, 400 rupees, and a Rupee Medal to make rupees drop more often. With the rupees he’s got now, he can go to Beedle and buy the heart piece he has for sale, closing out his inventory. Now that Link has Dusk Relics, he can upgrade the Slingshot to the Scattershot, and the Sacred Shield to the Divine Shield to the Goddess Shield, each step increasing its durability. Finally, it’s time to select an Adventure Pouch loadout, and I’m sticking with what works: Goddess Shield, 3 bottles of Heart Potion++, Life Medal, Treasure Medal, Rupee Medal, Heart Medal.
Next: Serenity turns creepy.
