The Price of Heroism
Author's Note: Here we take a (very) brief glimpse at Link in the midst of one of his many quests to save Hyrule and all the world, and we see the harsher... dirtier aspect of being a hero. This is the part of the story that the wisemen never foretold, and the tidbits of the tale that will surely be glazed over by our hero when he tells his tale over a pint (of milk, mind you) at the Kakariko Inn.
"Well?"
"Well, what?
"Aren't you going to go get it?"
"Wait."
So, they waited. A minute passed. Then two.
"Well?"
"Just wait."
A full five minutes had gone by, and nothing happened. Link stood, looking befuddled, and Riala impatiently tapped a webbed foot on the slimy cavern floor. A mass of membrane and sludge lay sprawled across the cavern before them.
"...Well?" she asked again, staring daggers at her green-clad companion. Link was, after all, keeping her from her important duties. As an attendant to the royal family of Zora's Domain, her schedule was constantly full, and the assigned task of chaperoning this Hylian brat on his stupid adventure was so obviously beneath her.
The blonde teenager scratched the back of his head with the end of the Hero's Boomerang, remarking, "I don't get it. It didn't go like this before."
"What in Lord Jabu-Jabu's name are you talking about?"
Link's apologetic gaze shifted from her to the shuddering mass that was once a gargantuan Like Like. "Well, last time something swallowed one of the pieces," he began, referring to the pieces of the ancient pendant Princess Zelda charged him with repairing, "I killed it, and the shard just sorta... popped out."
"It popped out?" Riala crossed her arms over her chest, fins out, and her eyes narrowed.
"Yeah," he replied. "You know..." He waved his hands dramatically and added, "Poof." And so it had - the second piece of the pendant did, indeed, magically spring forth from the massive dodongo that gobbled it up before Link could retrieve it. This piece, the fourth of seven, was similarly ingested by the quivering, gelatinous beast. As such, he was forced to ask permission from the King of the Zoras to traverse the caverns behind Zora's Fountain in pursuit.
Riala huffed and her foot tapped more rapidly. "You're going in there and getting it."
"But..." Link started to protest. Gore spewed forth from long gashes in the loose, leathery skin of the massive corpse. Bubbles formed and popped in the sticky mess, releasing steam into the cavern. The stench alone kept even the local Keese at bay. Link slid his curved weapon back into its strap and spread his arms wide. Riala stomped her light blue foot as forcefully as she could, jabbed her finger into Link's chest, and pointed at the gruesome mess.
Link's shoulders drooped. "Fine," he grunted. He loosed his sword from its sheath and took a hesitant step forward. He gave Riala one more pleading glance, was met by her pointing finger, and he sighed. "Zelda owes me for this," he muttered under his breath as he planted a boot in the sticky substance that oozed from the dead monster. He stomped with his right, and struggled to lift his left again. "She owes me big."