Play "Ancient Cistern" from Skyward Sword!
Dungeon 2: Sun Temple
Mission: Rescue the Summer Maiden.
Link was placed on a platform at the entrance to the temple. He gazed awestruck at the sea of clouds that stretched before his vision, underneath an expansive blue sky. He then turned to admire the beauty of the floating temple. The floor seemed to be built with blue bricks to reflect the sky, and there were lighter-blue pillars at every corner. The tops and bottoms of the pillars were golden with sun designs, and the walls were gold, too.
Link approached the towering front gate, sky-blue with gold edges. It was far too tall to open, but Link noticed a movable block with a peg on his right, and a cog partway over and above the edge of the walkway. Link used his boomerang to connect a rope between the peg and cog. Link pushed the block down the walkway; the block slid across as smoothly as if the floor were ice. It was then Link realized the block was set on a neon strip of floor, probably the cause of its smooth motion. When the block slid to the end, the rope turned the cog enough to open the entrance.
Link almost had to squint his eyes from the bright light of the interior. There was a carpet depicting a cloudy sky with a sun, and the jars had sun designs, too (Link decided to break them for some Rupees). In this first hall, there was a barred door to his left. In the middle right was a passage full of blinding light, and a locked door at the end. Sun Boes (little light balls with eyes) wriggled out of the bright passage to attack Link, but swift slashes from his sword were able to fell them. He reached a hand into the bright passage in attempt to gauge its heat, but he wasn't getting burned.
"Don't go in there, Link! That passage is brimming with pure Light Chi, you'll go blind if you set foot in there!"
"That's what I was afraid of. In that case, we need a key." Link searched the hall for anything suspicious, but even after breaking all the pots, there was nothing suspicious. He decided to approach the barred door—"Oof!" and he bumped into something invisible. With confusion, Link felt the object and determined it was a chest. He felt for the gap and opened it, finding a key inside the invisible chest. "Oh, great, I gotta watch out for invisible things in this dungeon?"
Link opened the locked door, entering a wider room where most of the floor was missing. Along the right wall were some platforms with pegs that had bright orbs. There were also enemies zipping around the room at lightspeed, though Link couldn't make out their appearances. On the left was a neon, light bridge leading to a platform with a large hourglass. "Could we have found the Phantom Hourglass?" Link joked as he crossed the solid light. He struck the hourglass with his sword, but it didn't react. The top of the glass had a sun symbol, while the base had a moon.
"I wonder…" Link waved his Wind Waker and conducted the Sun's Song. The hourglass flipped itself over, and the bright temple faded to an indigo blue. All the sun designs in the temple became moons, the carpet in the entrance became a night sky with stars, and the day became night. "Wait, does this song give me the power to change the time of day whenever I want?!"
"No, it doesn't seem to be that, Link. My analysis reads that this temple exists within its own day/night cycle. Only by playing the Sun's Song next to these hourglasses can you change the time."
"Well, as long as I'm not destroying the Balance or anything. But it looks like my bridge is gone." Indeed, the light bridge seemed to disappear. Link noticed a platform in the chasm where the bridge was, along with the boulder on it. He shot an Earth Arrow down to shatter the boulder, allowing a wind draft to blow up from the platform. He could return to the starting ledge by flying his Rito form through the draft. The bright orbs that were along the right wall had disappeared, allowing him to use the boomerang to connect ropes between those pegs. Furthermore, the lightspeed enemies were now flying more slowly: they were skulls with wings.
"Target locked: Lightspeed Bubbles. These skulls are able to travel at whipping speed by absorbing sunlight, during which they are nearly impossible to hit. However, when night falls, they are slow and vulnerable."
"Then they won't be bothering me, anymore." Link proceeded to shoot the Bubbles down with arrows, which also triggered the barred door at the opposite side to open. All he had to do was cross the tightropes to reach that door and enter. Beyond it was another mostly-floorless room with some high ledges around the sides. Down in the pit were some small platforms leading to one with a large chest. Link climbed down and hopped said platforms, with one having a switch that wouldn't stay pressed, and reached the chest. In cracking it open, a light shone from inside, signifying that he was about to collect a special item.
You got the Dungeon Map! It's virtually useless without the Compass, but the map will indicate which areas are inaccessible at which times of day! Hope you enjoy today's dungeon gimmick! Or, is it tonight's gimmick? Is time just an illusion?!
"Wait, I just remembered!" Link jumped the platforms and returned to the room's entrance, exiting to the previous and redoing the tightrope section, and afterwards returned to the first hall. The bright passage was now clear and free to enter since it was night! The Sun Boes had also turned into normal Black Boe, but they were still easy to defeat. The passage led to a door into a tower. The tower had a draft blowing up from its grated floor, so Link could float up as a Rito. The door at the top was barred, but there were rotating segments around the wall. Each segment had gaps, and Eye Switches would be revealed behind some areas. Link timed it and loosed midair shots from his bow, hitting each switch and unlocking the door.
The door led to an outside walkway, facing the north direction of the temple. If Link fell down to the lower roof, he would have to return to the beginning to get back on track. The walkway's floor was absent, with only the siding built, and there was a platform to the left with an hourglass. Link could become a Minish and walk along the tiny path on the left siding. There were fireflies floating around that path, and they tried to attack the Minish, but his tiny sword proved stronger. Once Link was at the hourglass, he returned to size and played the Sun's Song. Daylight bathed the temple, and a neon light path filled in the missing floor. (The light paths were the same as the ones from the Tower of the Gods.)
According to the map, the wind tower was now too bright to enter. Link continued further up: the path curved right to a locked door, while the end of the corner had a ledge with stacked two blocks, along with a chest on top of them. There was also a floating block automatically moving left-and-right against the corner. Remembering the first puzzle of this dungeon, Link assumed the two-block would slide along the light path, and right he was. He timed it so the stack would slide into the moving block, thus preventing it from going too far, then Link could push it toward the locked door. The stack slid over a square-shaped hole, falling down and hitting a bottom so that the chest was floor-level. Link collected a key from that chest and opened the door.
The next room had a zigzaggy light path going around the right of the room and ending at the left. There was another locked door, and beside Link was a stacked block with a chest. The center of the room had an hourglass, and a Skull Kid was playing a Fairy Ocarina next to it. It was playing the Sun's Song and changing the time of day every few seconds. When it was nighttime, the light path disappeared, revealing a solid path underneath, on which Link could push the block without sliding it. If the block slid on the light path, it would fall over the edge and respawn at the start. Link could only push it safely during nighttime, and he would cease pushing when the Skull Kid changed it to daytime. He was able to get the block into its hole and collect the key from the chest. (Apparently, the Skull Kid would stop playing when Link was out of the room.)
Link made sure it was daytime when he entered the next room. He was overlooking a pool of white water. There was a platform with a door to the far left and a platform to the right with a light staircase leading up to it. There seemed to be an intangible boat in the water, along with a small ray of light shining from the wall beside the right door. "Link, this white liquid appears to be Ocean Cloud. It's water made from clouds that can be swum in, but it has less density than normal water, so you have to maintain your balance to float in it. In fact, I can sense that this temple was built with Island Cloud."
"Okay, so it's a proper Sky Island." Link said. "Wait, how do I know what… Gah, it must be that voice in my head." The hero splashed in the cloud water and could feel his body weighing itself more than normal. Octoroks tried to spit rocks at him, so he quickly swum to the light staircase up to the door and entered.
The door sealed with bars behind him. He was inside a wide, empty room where nine lights shone from holes in the ceiling. Link already knew from experience that this was a mini-boss room, and the boss in question was planning to jump-scare him. Link walked forward cautiously… and the middle-front light was blocked. Link faced up and saw that a boulder was now clogging that hole. Link walked under the other lights, and each were blocked one at a time, but only when he wasn't looking up at them. The center light wouldn't block, however, until it was the only one left. When Link walked under it, it was then the culprit let itself be known:
It was a black-and-purple hand sticking out of a black hole. The hand clogged the light hole with a boulder before retracting into its void. The black hole slid along the ceiling, down the wall, and stopped in the center of the room, where it began to expand. (Play "Mini-boss" from Majora's Mask.)
Sub-boss: Throwmaster
The black hole began to expand, so Link hurried away from it, horrified as the hand's wiggling fingers began to rise out. Link quickly shot the middle ceiling boulder with an Earth Arrow, shattering it as light poked in and caused the vortex to shrink slightly. Link quickly blew open the other holes, giving the Floormaster little room to maneuver. The creature shrank to normal size and moved up the wall to try and reclog the holes, but Link shot arrows to destroy its rocks, then quickly shot the hand, but the hand seemed intangible. The hand plugged one of the holes, then moved down to that spot on the floor.
The Floormaster withdrew pots from its vortex, whirling its arm before chucking them at Link with great speed. The pots would shatter if they either hit the floor, Link himself, or his sword or shield. If Link got hit, the beast would move up to plug another hole. "Target locked: Throwmaster. This is an advanced breed of Floormaster that can materialize objects with its darkness and throw them at foes. The beast can only be damaged when exposed to light, but it seems to be vulnerable to its own conjured objects. Do you have a way to knock those pots back without breaking them?"
"Let's try this out." Link transformed into a Rito, in which he could perform spin attacks with his wings. The feathers wouldn't break the jars upon impact, but they were strong enough to knock them back. A jar hit the Throwmaster's knuckles, knocking it dizzy. Link quickly shot an Earth Arrow at the ceiling boulder, exposing the creature to light, then he reverted to human form to slash it up with his sword. Throwmaster recovered and smacked Link away violently, then swiftly slid up to plug all the holes with TWO hands. The creature returned to the floor and spun its arms like a windmill, spinning up to Link as he tried to run. Sadly, the hero was snatched in a hand, rapidly whirling around before being slammed into the wall.
Link recovered and quickly ran from the spinning hands. He realized they were creating an updraft, so he became a Rito, jumped, and floated in the draft. In midair, he shot open the holes to let light back in, the Floormaster retreating to the wall and throwing more jars. Since it was using both hands, it would throw a jar to intercept the jar that Link would hit back. Link would have to break a jar with his arrow, then hit the 2nd jar back to injure one of its knuckles. The other fist shook angrily before pulling out a bomb. It tossed the bomb down as it began ticking, then it slid away before Link could throw it back.
Link simply cut the fuse off the large bomb, then pushed it against the wall. The Floormaster perked with shock as it went over to recollect the bomb, shaking it confusedly. Link shot it with an arrow, exploding it against the Floormaster. The beast reached into its hole and yanked out the full body: it was essentially shaped like a giant tooth, had angry yellow eyes, and a frowning, grumpy mouth.
"Wig-wig-wum. Wig-wum." The beast grumbled. Walking on its fists, it charged at Link, spitting boulders. Link shot them with Earth Arrows, but the Throwmaster grabbed Link, spun him, and threw him into the wall. "Wum-wum-wum. Wig-wum!" It shook its hands in the air giddily and stuck its tongue out. The Throwmaster repeated its maneuver, but when Link shattered the boulder, he parried around the creature and slashed its backside while it was under the light. The beast escaped Link and began to break-dance along the floor, making another updraft. Link used Rito form to float up in the draft, then shot arrows into the beast's mouth.
The beast got far from Link and began to spit rocks at the hero. Link simply dodged the rocks instead of countering with Earth Arrows, suspecting it would pull a trick: indeed, the Throwmaster readied a bomb, and it was then Link loosed an arrow. The beast had assumed Link wouldn't prepare the bow in time, but it was wrong. The bomb exploded and stunned the beast, and then Link proceeded to land the final stab. (Resume "Ancient Cistern.")
"WUM…wig-wum… wub-wub-wub-wub! …Wubbo." The Throwmaster shook around a bit before falling dead on its back. It poofed into darkness.
Link watched as a large chest materialized in the center. He began to open it, eagerly anticipating the new item. What he withdrew was a purple magnifying glass, where the lens was red on one side and blue on the other. The lens had an eye in its center, and three red eyelashes at the top.
You got the Lens of Truth! This mystical magnifying glass can reveal invisible or fake objects! By shining rays of light through it, it can also make intangible objects physical. Usage of the lens will drain your Stamina Meter, so keep an "eye" on it. Bwa ha ha!
Link smiled and viewed through the lens, and he held it before Ayri's digital eye so she could see herself. They noticed an Eye Switch on the wall, which was otherwise invisible. Link shot an arrow at it, reopening the exit of the room. After returning to the Ocean Cloud room, Link noticed the small light shining from the wall. He could hold the Lens of Truth in front of the light, shining a sort of dark light through. He directed the light onto the intangible boat, watching as it developed a physical form. To make the boat move, Link could flap the wings of his Rito form the opposite way. He shot down the Octoroks trying to antagonize him and brought the boat to the door on the west side of the room.
This next room had a Beamos in the center and a rotatable mirror on the north side. The west side had a locked door, and the south had a door that was sealed due to bright light. The corner beside Link had a metal crate. The Beamos had a sun head and would shine a small ray of sunlight at Link for minimal damage. Link had to rotate the mirror to face a corner enclosing where an intangible hourglass was. He then let the Beamos' light shine through his Lens of Truth, reflecting the dark light against the mirror as it hit the intangible hourglass and gave it form. With that, he played the Sun's Song and turned the temple to nighttime.
The Beamos was now a moon and shooting a dark light, which would render Link unable to use his sword or Sheikah Slate. However, by letting it shine through the Lens of Truth, it became a normal light and restored him. Link entered the south door and was in a room with three Blue Bubbles. The Bubbles attacked and cursed him with darkness, preventing Link from using his sword or slate. He got beside the Beamos and let its laser shine through his lens, directing the light onto the Bubbles to rid their blue flames. He erased the darkness on himself and sliced the skulls. As a result, a large chest spawned in the room. It glowed as Link opened it, but he already suspected the reward.
You got the Compass! This handy-dandy gizmo will mark the hourglasses as well as other objects! Fun fact, it's shaped like a crescent moon now, but during daytime, it's shaped like a sun! We really went the extra mile to program that!
Link returned to the previous room: there was apparently a key inside that metal crate. Link pushed it close to the Beamos and shone its light through the lens. When the sunbeam touched the metal crate, it morphed intangible, allowing Link to reach through it and collect the key. He could open the door on the west side, entering a room where several square, wooden tiles were covering holes. A one-way Beamos was shining a dark light, and Link could push it around the room to shine the Lens of Truth on the wooden tiles to make them intangible. Link then dropped down one of the holes as a Rito to slow his descent: he had returned to the floorless room where he found the map, and he noticed a platform with an hourglass under one of the holes. Unfortunately, he had already fallen too low to glide to it.
Link made his way back up to that room, and he used the map and compass to determine the position of the hourglass in relation to the respective hole. With that, he was able to land by the hourglass and play the Sun's Song to return it to day. A neon light floor filled in the chasm, allowing Link a safe landing. With free reign of the floor, Link was able to slide a block around the light. Using the pegs that were based around the floor as stopping posts, Link navigated the block in what was reminiscent of an ice-block puzzle. He pushed it right, down, right, up, left, up, right, then down again: the block was now above the platform underneath the light floor that had a switch on it. The light floor also allowed Link up onto a platform, where he hit a Crystal Switch to activate a fan. That fan would blow his Rito form up to the hourglass, where he could change it to night without making the trip through the temple again.
When night fell, the block fell past the disappearing floor and pressed the switch, opening a barred door on the west side. Link changed it back to day before entering that door. He made the right call as a light stairway led him up through the ceiling and outside. The stairs led him up to a locked door, so Link about-faced: there was a chest set on a platform above the roof of where the stairs came out from. Link used his Rito form to jump and glide, but he fell too short of the platform. He returned atop the stairs and used the Lens of Truth: there were two invisible pegs on either side. Link used the boomerang to make a tightrope, then he bounced on said rope to gain extra height, able to glide and land on the platform and take the key.
Link unlocked the door and entered a round room where several Armos were lined around the wall. The statue monsters wouldn't wake up unless Link interacted with one of them. Link looked through the Lens of Truth and determined one of them was a fake, hiding a switch underneath it. Link pushed that switch and opened a barred door on the north side. "See ya~" Link teased the Armos before leaving. Link was outside, overlooking a chasm to the sky, over which wind blew up from. Link could lift a pot in his talons and carry it across the wind. Kargaroks cawed and flew in from the sides, trying to peck the Rito and make him drop the pot. Link could set the pot onto floating platforms in the windy chasm, then shoot the birds down with arrows. Near the end, Lightspeed Bubbles tried to attack the hero, but Link evaded them enough and made it, placing the pot to hold down a switch.
A barred door opened, and Link entered a wide, round room that was mostly chasm. Beside him was another two-block stack with a chest on top. There were strips of light paths, as well as small Ferris wheels rotating in midair, their platforms intersecting with the paths. Link had to slide the blocks across with such timing that the platforms would catch them. The blocks would be lifted up and bump into a barrier that would drop them onto the next path. Link followed them up and repeated the process until the blocks were brought to the ledge on the east side, falling into a hole to get the chest level with Link. He took a key from the chest and opened the next door.
Link entered a tall, diagonal room, looking up at a sloped, white waterfall of Sea Cloud. Platforms were slowly flowing down the fall, and they had pegs. Link used the boomerang to connect the pegs and walk up the tightropes, going up quickly before the platforms would fall off the falls. He would have to drop onto some platforms to link new tightropes, and once up top, he grabbed a ladder and climbed to a stable ledge. A Beamos was waiting and began to shoot a light beam, so Link made sure it went through the Lens of Truth. He noticed an intangible fan floating above the middle of the cloud-fall and shined the Dark Light on it. Once it became visible, Rito Link glided into the fan's draft and was carried up through the ceiling.
Link landed on a ledge and walked out onto the roof. He was probably at the highest point in the temple, but there was nowhere else to go. However, when Link turned right, facing the north direction, he saw a distant, but very wide neon staircase. He glided over and landed at the base of that staircase. To the left was a floating cage with a Skull Kid and hourglass inside: he would play his ocarina and change the times of day, causing the stairway to vanish at night. As Link made his way up, he would have to stand over solid platforms underneath the stairs, so he would be safe on those when the light stairs disappeared. The stairs became narrower the further up he got, and the Skull Kid stopped playing.
The neon stairs led him to a large door with a big, sun-shaped lock. "GAH, DANG IT! I hate finding the Boss Door before the Boss Key!" Link yelled. "Man, now we have to backtrack and everything." Luckily, there was a switch to activate a large fan, which would blow Rito Link back to the roof he started from. He checked his map for any rooms that he missed… and there was a section that caught his eyes.
The neon staircase that was west of the sliding puzzle room had another route underneath it. Link returned to that puzzle room and played the Sun's Song near its hourglass. When night fell, Link glided to the west door, and he could now access the passage that was formerly blocked by the staircase. Link advanced, but he was attacked by something invisible. He used the Lens of Truth, and was shocked at the sight of a hand monster walking on its fingers. "Target locked: Floormaster. This severed hand can harden itself and lunge at you, but otherwise, it's soft and fragile. It can split into three pieces that will try to choke you."
Link attacked the hand, and enough damage was able to cut it to pieces. Link quickly stabbed the smaller hands before they could choke him. Link kept the lens active, noticing the holes in the floor that would only be revealed with said item. The passage would turn left and lead to a door. This room had several metal crates around a central Beamos, along with a locked door at the south end. Link mixed the Beamos' Dark Light with his Lens of Truth, shining a light on a metal crate to make it intangible. A Yellow Chuchu came out of the crate and attacked; Link stunned it with the boomerang and sliced the blob.
"Do I just have to guess which crate has the key? Hmmm…" Link rolled against a crate, and he heard the Chuchu cry inside it. He hit all the crates until one of them didn't make a sound. He turned that crate intangible and found the key. When he entered the locked door, it sealed with bars behind him. The room was rectangular and empty, with a door on the opposite side. Link walked into the center of the room. (Play "Mini-boss" from Majora's Mask!)
"RAARR!" He jumped to attention when several large frames lowered from the ceiling along the sides of the room. The frames were white and fleshy with dried blood, and the upper bodies of blobbish creatures, with red-fingered hands and fleshy skulls with red teeth and eyes, emerged from those frames.
Sub-boss: Dead Hand
Link shot arrows at the monsters' heads, but they bore little effect. The monsters sank their many hands into the ground, and they emerged around Link, trying to choke the hero. He used quick spin attacks to keep them at bay, then ran to a Dead Hand to start slashing its head. The other Dead Hands sank their hands in the floor again and choked Link. Afterwards, the frames returned to the ceiling, and they all came back down shortly after.
"Link, this is a Dead Hand! It's a disgusting demon molded from dead flesh! It can spawn countless hands and have them travel underground to attack you. However, while it seems like there are multiple Dead Hands, one of them must be the origin. If we attack that one, the others will suffer damage, too."
"Ah, of course!" Link viewed through the Lens of Truth: all the Dead Hands appeared invisible, except for one. Link ran up and slashed the beast's head, and they all flinched at the same time from the same hits. The frames retracted to the ceiling, and Link felt the floor opening to the sky below. A draft was blowing up, so he used Rito form to float. All the frames were constantly moving up or down, the Dead Hands spitting globs of flesh at Link. The Rito avoided them and used the Lens to search for the truth. He saw the one and used ram attacks to knock its balls of flesh back into it. The Dead Hand was knocked dizzy, its long neck hanging, and Link reverted to normal in midair to deal a jump-slash for heavy damage.
Afterwards, he became a Rito again to slow his descent, but could change back when the floor reappeared. Link walked to the center, from which several hands grew and grabbed him. The Dead Hands had abandoned their frames and were now wobbling up to Link along the floor. The hero desperately escaped and sliced the hands, then used his Lens to detect the real one. The clones would all hammer their heads down consecutively, but Link dodged until the real one attempted it. He struck the beast's head, all of them sharing the damage, and Link dealt a few more strong slashes until—
"Brooooooaaaaaarrrgh." All their necks sprung straight up, and they all fell against the center, dead. Link had thankfully slipped in-between two of them, avoiding being crushed by the flesh. (End song.)
With the beast defeated, the barred door opened on the other side. Link entered a small room with a blue and yellow chest. With a smile, he cracked the fancy chest open, grabbing the item he wished he collected beforehand.
You got the Boss Key! Without this, the boss can't get in his office and finish his paperwork! Which means you won't get your paycheck! So, you better return it to him like a good employee does!
There was a door to Link's left. He entered, but it quickly sealed behind him. Link was now back in the first hall of the temple, directly behind the invisible chest that had the first key. "Oh yeah, this door. Heh, I guess it all came full circle."
Link was still outside as the door led him to a field. The ground was blue like the rest of the temple, but there were painted gold lines that formed a diamond shape. It looked like… a baseball field?
Link walked onto the home base. He searched around, but didn't see the boss. There were platforms with hourglasses on either side, and an intangible tree on the opposite side. He squinted his eyes from the bright light of the sun… it was growing brighter. "Huh?" The sun was shooting down like a comet. "WAAAAAAHHH!"
Link ducked out of the way, the sun crashing into the ground. Link pushed himself up, looking back. A large figure lifted the sun in his left, gloved hand, wielding a baseball bat in the other. He wore pointed blue shoes, wore a blue shirt with a moon design, and had a large, thick, sunny-orange mustache. "Griff groof groof groof… Grrrrooooo… GROOOO!" The creature performed a mighty swing of his bat, eager to play ball! (Play "Tower Power Pokey" from Mario: Sticker Star!)
Boss fight: Masked Baseball Master, SOLRUN
Link ran across the baseball field as Solrun spun his Sun Ball. The creature tossed it up and swung his bat with such power that it blew across the field with blinding speed, setting a trail ablaze with sunny fire. Link recalled the two high platforms on either side, each with hourglasses. The flames created updrafts that could help Rito Link float up, so he tricked Solrun into hitting a sun near the right side, allowing him to float to the hourglass platform. Link played the Sun's Song at the hourglass, and when day turned to night, Solrun's Sun Ball transformed into a Moon Ball. "Griffoo?! Groooo!" He perked up in shock. Link dropped back to the field, the monster glaring at him with determination.
Solrun twirled the moon and hit it so hard that it ricocheted around the field, bashing Link's head once as he fell over. He got up to see Solrun run to reclaim the moon after it stopped. Link quickly drew his Earth Arrow and fired, breaking the moon into a smaller size. Solrun seemed to fume with anger, but returned to the home plate to hit his ball, anyway. Link stood on the pitching plate, and when Solrun threw, Link spun and whacked the ball back with Rito wings. The moon bashed Solrun in the head, knocking the humanoid dizzy as he fell over. Link became human and ran to slash him in the head.
Solrun jumped to recovery and angrily blew a whistle. A Skull Kid appeared beside the hourglass and played the Sun's Song, changing it back to day. Solrun jumped up to the hourglasses and shot Sun Beams from his eyes, turning the glasses intangible. For good measure, he also enveloped himself with the Sun Ball to set himself aflame, ensuring Link couldn't damage him directly. Solrun twirled his ball and hit, but this time, the sun was now spinning and orbiting Link, completely surrounding him in fire. Now that he couldn't escape, Solrun shot Heat Vision at Link. Link remembered the intangible tree and got lined up with it, holding his Lens of Truth to turn Solrun's light rays into dark and make the tree solid.
The tree appeared to be growing round, white fruits. "Link, those are Raincloud Fruits! They're pumped with water!" Ayri informed. Link became a Rito and used the flames' updraft to float up to the tree. Solrun was currently stomping up to Link directly, since his Heat Vision failed. Link grabbed a Rain Fruit in his talons, dropping it over Solrun to douse his fiery body. The effect sickened Solrun and caused him to fall over, so Link dropped down, reverted, and stabbed his mustached head. Solrun jumped back to recovery and fumed at Link, his head steaming.
Solrun whacked the ball and willed it to float in the air, rotating around and above Link as it shot light beams down, setting the ground on fire. Link ran toward the hourglass and used the fire's updraft to fly up to the hourglass, but the sun followed him up. Luckily, this is just what Link hoped for, as he caught the sun's beam in his Lens of Truth and gave solidity to the hourglass. He played the Sun's Song and returned the night, the sun becoming a moon. Solrun called the moon back, and when Link returned to the field, the boss struck it again. It spun along the ground, orbiting Link and shooting Dark Beams.
Link, forming an idea, ran up to Solrun with his Lens ready. The beast panicked and tried to stomp Link, but he dodged enough to catch the Dark Light in his Lens, directing it onto Solrun's shoes. The shoes turned intangible, and the monster fell on his front. He crawled and tried to bash Link with the baseball bat, but Link knocked it back with a Shield Bash, weakening Solrun enough for Link to land the final blows into his head. (End song.)
"GRIFFOOOO! Griffooooo! Foooooo!" Solrun wobbled around on his legless belly, clasping his head and unknowingly controlling the Moon Ball as it spun around him. The Moon Ball closed in and- "BOOF!" crashed into Solrun's head, knocking it clean off. His body disappeared and the moon exploded into a Heart Container, a spirit resembling Araea's Mask floating away. The head merely rolled around on the ground.
"Hmm…shouldn't he become a mask like the last boss?" Link asked.
"Perhaps try playing the Song of Healing, Link?"
"Okay, but I didn't need to last time…" Link conducted the song in question. Solrun's head shrank to become a mask. Link collected the Heart Container to upgrade his health, then he collected the mask.
You've seized Solrun's Remains! You've just freed the innocent spirit who was imprisoned within the evil Solrun!
It was then Link noticed the taller platform behind the fruit tree. The temple automatically became day as a cyclone of fire surrounded an altar at the top of it. The fire swirled into a single thin point before spreading out. A dark-skinned girl with red hair, a purple top, puffy pants and shoes, and an exposed belly and arms burst from the altar and landed on the pitching plate of the field.
"Man, I didn't think I would ever escape from that monster! Do me a favor and don't tell anyone I was ambushed so easily. It would really sour my reputation."
"But I have no idea what happened." Link replied awkwardly. "You could've told a lie and I would've believed it."
"Oh! In that case… I fought an epic battle with that monster! I would've won if he hadn't cheated!"
"Eh…okay?"
"Ugh, never mind. Anyway, what's up? I'm Flaru, the Maiden of Summer and a proud Gerudo warrior."
"You look kinda young for a proud warrior."
"Look who's talkin', shorty! But by the looks of that Earth Arrow, I'm guessin' you already met Lyara."
"Yeah. You're the 2nd Maiden I've rescued. Would you know anything about that girl using Araea's Mask?"
"I don't know who she is exactly… but based on her frozen white skin, she's probably a Frosolite."
"Frosolite?"
"That's the tribe Araea hailed from. They live on the Snowcap Wastes far to the north. The wastes exist at the top of a mountain even taller than the Avian Highlands. The mountain is too high and slippery to climb from the Blue Sea. The only way to reach the top is from the White Sea."
"The White Sea?"
"The sea of clouds that this very temple floats above."
"Oh, so I can basically get to there from here!"
"Come on, kid, can you really swim that good?"
"Uhhhh…is there a way to bring my boat up here?"
"Not really, sorry. There's only one way I know that you can bring your boat to the White Sea, but you need the power of the Fall Maiden, Evea. She lives in the Twilight Isles to the west. Unfortunately, the only way to get there is to swim under the sea, and given the current climate, that probably wouldn't do well for your health. Luckily, I have just the thing to warm you up. Hold that Sheikah Slate up for a moment." Link did so, and an orange light came out of Flaru's chest. It flew into the device.
Ayri jumped out, bow drawn as she launched a fiery arrow to the sky.
You got the Fire Arrow! The Summer Maiden's power will allow you to fire arrows of fire! The fire can melt strong ice and warm the frigid sea! It can also set flammable things aflame, too!
"And before I forget… I think it's time we cleared things up a little." Flaru molded a ball of flame between her hands and threw it downward.
The ball exploded in the White Sea and completely spread it apart. The storm above the Avian Highlands cleared away, restoring a beautiful blue sky where the sun bathed the mountains. The Rito smiled, faces beaming like the sun. They spread their wings and took flight, no longer afraid of the raging lightning. The Murdo shirked under the light and made their way to the shadows.
However, despite the happiness occurring beneath them, Flaru bore a somber expression. "As much as I love the sunlight… I feel kind of bad. Not all creatures can enjoy it like everyone else. The Frosolites, the Twili… not even the Murdo. Still, it was my job to keep the sun strong, even in the cold of winter. Back in the day, Araea and I never got along very well. My firebending was the natural opposite of her Ice, and it was essentially my fault that her people couldn't journey outside the Snowcap Wastes for very long. The only person she really got along with was Evea, since neither of them were good at coercing with others. Evea was shy and never spoke up… and Araea acted coldly and sour towards others. But still… I never thought Araea would betray us. I really didn't think she hated us that much. Evea was really heartbroken when it happened, and she never talked to the rest of us after the fact. When you go to meet her… try to console her for me, would you?"
"Okay… I'll try."
"Evea…"
"Huh?" Link turned to Ayri curiously.
"Master Link… somehow, there is data about Evea inside my memory banks. There appears to be a file, but I can't access it."
"That's… weird. Anyway, thanks for the help, Flaru. I'm off to save Evea!"
"Good luck, kid! Oh, and just a little tip, you can use the Sun's Song outside the temple to advance time. I wouldn't really make a habit of it 'cause you'll kinda miss out on your life, but in case you're forced to wait around for long periods."
"Okay, I'll make a note of it! Bye!"
Link returned to the beginning and rode the ray of light back down to the peak of the mountain. "Liiiink!" Medoh was waiting to give the hero another hug. "The storm finally blew away! The Murdo have all gone into hiding; hopefully, they won't bother us, anymore! Did you do something up in the temple?"
"Yeah! Everything's going to be fine! …Er…well, I guess it isn't…"
"…" Medoh frowned. "Are you sure… Ko'an is really gone? Is there no way for him to come back?"
"I really don't know. I'll try to find a way, but for the time being… I need his power to help me. And I promise to bring his mask back after I'm finished."
"Hm…okay. But, for now… I don't feel I should tell anyone, yet. Not when everyone's so happy. In a way, he's technically still alive, so… I…"
"It's okay, Medoh."
"Thanks. …But come to think of it, this thing about masks reminded me of something. When I was performing in the bar, one of the Murdo appeared to be a mask salesman of some kind. He had this real creepy grin."
"A mask…A MASK SALESMAN?! W-Where is he now?! Is he still here?"
"I overheard him say that he was returning to Clockwork Island to sell masks. And he asked his fellow Murdo what their favorite mask was."
"Hnnnrr…slipped away again. Well, thanks, Medoh. Ko'an and I will see you later!" With a smile of assurance, Link made his way down the mountain.
"Hahaha! I certainly hope so…"