Nayru’s Silent Realm (The 2nd Trial)

With four dungeons behind me, I decided it was time to return to Skyloft for a bit. I finally took those gratitude crystals to Batreaux, and he gave me a piece of heart. Nice. He told me to return again when I had 30 crystals.

Getting a piece of heart from Batreaux.I did a little shopping and upgraded some of my equipment, including my shield and bug net. The big bug net is HUGE! I could catch Midna with that thing. 😉

Using a BIG bug net.When I was done in Skyloft, I went on to the Isle of Songs. After striking the Quake logo with my charged up sword, Smurf-Fi suddenly remembered a message for me from the goddess. She then taught me the new song, Nayru’s Wisdom.

Fi: I have memorized Nayru's Wisdom for you.She told me I needed to return to Lanayru Desert and use my dowsing ability to find the gate to the second trial. So that’s what I did. I found the spot, whipped out my harp, and played the new song.

About to enter the second trial.I had to thrust my sword into the ground and then the second trial, Nayru’s Silent Realm, began. It works the same way as the first trial: You’re transported into an ethereal, spirit world and you have to collect 15 Tears of Nayru. Collecting one freezes the vicious enemies for 90 seconds. You have to find them all and return to the entrance gate before being hit by an enemy. After you’ve collected a tear, it appears on your map. So even if you don’t pass the trial on the first try, you want to collect as many as you can so you can plan out the next trip.

Nayru's Silent RealmAfter completing the trial, I got a reward…something I’ve wanted for a long time: The hookshot! Well technically it’s called the clawshots in this game, but it’s the same thing. I’ve been seeing the clawshot targets since early in the game, and I’ve been waiting for a chance to use them.

Using the clawshots.After a little exploring, I saved my game.

Ancient Cistern (4th Dungeon)

I continued making my way through the dungeon. The whip lets you swing on hooks to reach new areas. There was also one area where you can swing your whip through steel bars to steal a guard’s key.

Stealing a guard's key.The whip is also often used in this dungeon to turn large faucets, which turn on jets of water that you can use as elevators.

Water elevator.Eventually I made my way to a cool underground area.

Everything's heavy underground.But I have to ask… What’s with the enemies’ leopard underwear?

Enemy with leopard underwear.It’s a fairly large and complex dungeon, but it’s also a lot of fun. It’s probably my favorite dungeon of the game so far. The boss fight was also enjoyable. It will drop some of its large swords, and you can pick one up and use it. Nice.

Using the boss's sword against him.After beating the boss on my second try, I then reached the green sacred flame, which powered-up my sword.

Powering up my sword in the green sacred flame.Smurf-Fi says I’m ready to learn a new song on my harp. I guess she’s my music teacher now. I need to return to the Isle of Songs next time, but that’s all for today.

The Sacred Water

The search for sacred water led me back to Skyview Temple (the first dungeon of the game). Once I made my way through it again, I was able to scoop up some sacred water in my bottle.

Obtaining sacred water.I then made my way back to Faron and gave her the water. She was revitalized in a big way. She grew to full size, which was much bigger than I expected.

Faron: Behold the full majesty of Faron.She then agreed to lead me to the sacred flame that I needed to dip my sword into. She led me to the large waterfall which I mentioned last time. She turned the water off and a doorway was revealed behind where the water once fell. I swear, it seems like every video game that has a waterfall also has something hidden behind it.

ss107Once I went through the doors, I was in the Ancient Cistern. This is apparently dungeon #4. There was a locked doorway in which you had to hit the four directional gemstones in a certain order to open the doorway. I thought there was probably a hint somewhere else in the dungeon (and there was, as I later found out), but with such a limited number of possibilities, I knew it would be easy enough to try out the different combinations until I found it. And indeed, it didn’t even take me two minutes to crack the code.

Cracking the code in the Ancient Cistern.I continued on until I found a treasure chest that contained a new item: A whip. Very nice. It let me turn the large faucet handles that turn on blasts of water, pushing me up to higher levels. The whip will also let me advance to a new area in the main room of this dungeon, but I’ll save that for next time. I made my way to the bird statue and saved my game.

Watch me whip.