Through Fire

"Look out below!" were the only words of warning the Goron guarding Dodongo's cavern got before a bomb flower -tossed from the cliff above his head - came flying down, landing just beside the giant boulder blocking their mines. He curled and rolled, dashing a few feet away out of the line of fire. The flower exploded, shaking the area around him and throwing dust up into the air. Chunks of rock flew through the air beside him, landing with a crunch.

He stayed curled up for some time, until the dust finally settled. When he finally did look up though he found pieces of rock scattered about the area. He whipped his head back towards the entrance to the cavern. The boulder that had blocked the entrance was now in shambles, leaving chunks of rock here and there. The way may not be totally clear, but it had opened enough for someone to enter if they climbed over the remains. And most of said remains were now in pieces small enough to be moved out of the way.

Slowly, it occurred to the Goron to look up above, towards where the bomb must have been thrown from. His head tilted upwards. Above him a wooden child - the same child from the day before - stood, waving down with a big, toothy smile on his face. He hesitantly held a hand up to wave back.

"Did you see that Navi?" Link asked, turning his gaze to his fairy. "That was so cool!"

The fairy flittered back and forth around the child worriedly. "Yes, yes, but be careful with those Link! They're not like a slingshot, you could gravely injure someone with an explosion like that. Or yourself!"

The child laughed, waving his hand dismissively. "You worry too much. Now come on, we should get moving! The sooner we sort out that cavern, the better!"

Navi finally landed on his shoulder. "Are you sure about this Link? It's really one of the most dangerous places you could go. It would be bad enough for… say, a Kokiri. But you're made of wood. Highly flammable wood."

Link let his hands fall to his side, his cheeky smile faltering. For a moment, it seemed like he really was going to consider it. But then he clenched his fists. "I have to do it. I said I would. Besides, we need that stone!" Without another word, he began to climb over the fence, lifting a foot to climb onto the barricade.

"What are you doing?!"

"I'm going to jump. It's faster."

"You're going to break your legs is what you're going to do!"

"Can someone made of wood even break their legs?"

"YES!"

Link just laughed. With both feet on the top rung, he sprang, flying into the air before suddenly dropping like a rock. But before he hit the bottom, he found his fall broken by falling into someone's arms.

"Ooof!"

Dazed, it took Link a moment to reorient himself. He found himself in the arms of the Goron from down by the cavern, who must have had to move like crazy to catch him in time.

"Aw, thanks!" He said cheerfully with a giggle.

"No… problem…" The Goron replied slowly, eyes still wide from the stunt.

Navi, having been thrown off by the jump seconds ago, fluttered down at a much more reasonable pace. "Honestly, have you lost your mind? What if you had broken something, we'd be set back by weeks. Don't ever do that again. Understand?"

Link blinked at the fairy once, then nodded, although he did not seem to act like he understood at all. That, or he did not care. Regardless, he hopped out of the Goron's arms and began to scamper towards the rubble in front of the cavern entrance.

"Hey wait!" The Goron called out to him.

Link paused, turning his head back.

"You don't really mean to go in there, do you? It's dangerous!"

"I said I would," Link responded with a nod of his head before turning towards it once again.

The Goron hesitated for a moment. "Well… hold on a second at least!"

The boy paused, turning his head back towards the rock person, who hobbled over to him.

"Here, look, that shield is way too big for you to use it like that." He pointed to the hylian shield on the boy's arm, which was keeping him off-center with its weigh.

"Try using it like this." Carefully, the Goron slid Link's arm out of the straps, lifting the shield off and moving it to his back. He lifted one of the small skull kid's arms, pulling it through one strap, then did the same with the other. Finally, to give it a little extra stability, he took a third strap that ran diagonal and ran looped it over Link's shoulder.

"There. No you can duck behind it like a Goron would shield with their back." The Goron gave a friendly smile, gesturing to his stony backside.

Finally settled, Link fished again into his bag for the smaller Kokiri shield he had used before. Then he gave the Goron one last smile and wave before scampering off over the pile of rubble and into the cavern beyond.

As his eyes began to adjust in the dim light, the first thing Link noticed was the sweltering heat. Some summer days were so hot and humid that he would want to just lay down and do nothing. This heat was dry but seemed to be hotter than any day he was used to.

The room he was in was relatively small and dark. With the light provided by Navi, he could just make out the dim shapes of bomb flowers growing in the dim light to either side of him. But perhaps what was as out of place as the wooden boy was, was the boulder seated firmly in front of him, smaller but similar to the one that had blocked him from getting this far.

Link approached one of the bomb flowers, digging his feet into the ground as he gripped the bud from the bottom, pulling until it came loose with a satisfying pop. He stumbled back from the sudden loss of resistance, dropping the bud. Almost immediately, the flower began to fizzle and smoke. He grabbed hold of it only for long enough to chuck it at the boulder blocking his path, then sprang as far away as the small room would allow.

The flower continued to fizzle and pop for a few seconds, until finally, it exploded, bits of the bud flying outwards. Bits of rock flew into the air, thrown this way and that into the walls and onto the floor, one chunk just barely avoiding hitting Link in the head.

As the dust settled, light filled the room. As did heat, so much more heat than before. Link began to make his way towards the new opening, climbing over bits of debris. The heat continued to only grow worse, so much worse. Already, his body felt dry and parched. And as he walked into the cavern beyond, he could see why.

He was on a ledge overlooking a huge room. Below him, over the edge, slow, nearly solidified lava oozed around the center of the room, heating the rock and metal, and of course, the air of the room to sweltering temperatures.

Link took a couple steps back, assessing the rest of the chamber. The only way to advance was by jumping to a precarious pillar of rock, surrounded by the lava below. Another, larger platform stood beyond that. From there, he could travel by the same method to other outcroppings similar to, but larger than the one he was on.

Glancing up, he could make out the form of bridges and more cliffs suspended above him, way too far for him to reach. And at the far end of the room was a humungous animal skull buried partway into the wall.

Link slowly made his way out onto the metal pier, making sure to keep his balance on the spread-out slats. "This place is so weird…" he mumbled. "How would they do anything in here, with everything so… inaccessible?"

"Well," Navi began, considering. "For one thing, Gorons can survive on hot coals and even in lava for a short time. But more importantly… it sounds to me like this place was cursed by Ganondorf, just like the Deku Tree was. If so, depending on the strength of the curse, it could be anything from the destruction of paths, to literal warping of the layout of the caves.

"Which is why," she continued with emphasis. "I think we should try to speak with Darunia and find another way. This place would be dangerous enough for a Goron warrior that knows the ins and outs of this place. But you, someone who could be seriously injured - or worse - by the smallest misstep, have no business being here!"

"You worry too much," Link responded with a dismissive wave of his hand before stretching. "Besides, I thought you were pretty into this saving the world thing?"

"It's my job to worry about you, Link. But besides that, I am as on board with this as you. But you can't save the world if you're dead, you know."

"I'm… pretty sure I already died though, technically."

"Deader."

Navi's clarification fell on deaf ears. Link had already turned his attention to focus on the pillar of rocks between himself and the platform beyond. He began to back up, finding himself wishing once again that he had mastered the ability to teleport already. But this was certainly not the place to practice. Despite his disagreement with Navi, he still had to admit that this place was indeed dangerous.

Sucking in one final breath, Link took one final step, steadying himself, then dashed forward, springing off the pier at the last possible second.

He soared through the air, one leg outstretched. His eyes remained firmly glued to the platform in front of him. He landed with relative grace, taking a couple small steps at the end of his jump to slow down his momentum, coming only inches from the edge.

The stone column was not horribly small - giving him about enough space that he could take two bounds - but it was not really enough space to give him a running start either. And the next gap was just as wide.

Link turned and stepped till he was almost at the furthest point and turned, the heel of his boots almost parallel with the edge. One breath to steady his nerves, then he dashed again picking up as much speed as he could before springing off, arms outstretched.

This time, his momentum was not quite enough to carry him all the way across. He slammed into the side with a heavy "oomph," arms and upper torso grabbing hold of safety, but legs scrambling against the rough, jagged side in an attempt to find footing and push himself to safety. For one horribly long second, he felt himself slipping. Then finally, one boot found stable enough footing, then the other. With one last push of strength, he pushed up off the foothold and dragged himself up onto the platform, flopping onto his back once he was safe.

Breaths came ragged for a moment as the moment of fear subsided. Too close. Too close to becoming a living torch. His momentary rest did not last long, however. As he became aware of an odd whirring noise nearby. Slowly, Link rolled onto his side and pushed himself to his knees, eyes darting around.

In the center of the platform was a round… almost egg-shaped… thing. It sat on two legs, and a round orb rotated at the top. More disturbing, however, were the nose and mouth shapes jutting out of its ovular body. As the orb continued to rotate, a single eye came into view.

The eye came to a stop, staring directly at Link.

"Link MOVE!"

Link began to run to the side, instinctively reaching for his sword and smaller shield. Where he stood just seconds before, the monster shot a white, sizzling hot beam out.

But the beam did not stop. Instead, the creature began to turn its gaze towards Link, the beam following suit.

"Your sword and shield won't do any good against this guy!" Navi called out in alarm, flying ahead of Link towards a new rock pillar. "Here, this way!"

Link ran to the side, sharply changing directions. He had only seconds to judge the distance before he made his jump, this time landing on his butt to slow his momentum enough to keep him from toppling over the edge.

The sizzling behind him stopped.

"That was a beamos," Navi explained as Link caught his breath on the small pillar of safety. "They cannot see very far, but their beam will home in on you if you get too close. They must have been set up here to deter intruders. Sorry I didn't see it sooner."

"'S'okay," Link managed to respond between gasps as he desperately tried to catch his breath. After a second, he took a moment to take a swig of water out of his canteen, choosing to remain on the small bit of safety until he felt his nerves return to normal. Only then did he prepare himself for the next jump. This time, he made sure to spy out footholds before he sprang, climbing to the other side with relative ease.

He began to walk again, turning right to make his way down the ledge he stood on. At the far end a dark tunnel branched off from the room, no light in sight. Navi flew just barely ahead, lighting a path for the skull kid. Link followed shortly behind, brushing his right hand against the wall as a guide. As they moved further and further away from the cavern, the air began to cool slightly, though it was still just as dry as before.

Link took another large gulp of water as he walked and attempted to fan himself to cool off with limited success. Yes, he was indeed cooler than he had been in the first room, but it was still far hotter than would be comfortable.

As he made his way through the tunnel in relative silence, more than once he found a branching path that lead to a single room, only to turn and lead back into the tunnel. Likely, this was a hot mining area for the Gorons, given the multiple dead ends and occasional equipment he found lying around, none of it useful for him.

"Are you okay?" Navi asked when he took another sip of water as they returned from one such dead end.

"Just a little thirsty," he responded. "I don't know how Gorons can stand the heat here."

"Because they've adapted to survive the heat," Navi responded. "They can survive in environments like this. If they went elsewhere, they wouldn't do so well. Imagine a Goron trying to live in a lake. Or even…" She paused, considering.

"Okay, so you know how you and other skull kids are really good at sneaking and hiding, especially in the forest. In dense woods, no one would ever be able to find you if you didn't want them to, right? The same goes for Kokiri."

"...Yeah?"

"Now, imagine a Goron trying to do the same. Imagine, for a moment, a Goron trying to live in the forest. Sure, they could be safe from things like wolfos, but they wouldn't be able to hide from bigger threats. And food? They'd be hard-pressed to find a steady supply."

"Uh...huh?"

"Now, here you are doing the same. You've come into an area that Gorons are built for - hot and filled with lava, things they've adapted themselves against. But you? You're putting yourself in danger by being here."

"...And?"

"And what I'm saying, Link, is that they never should have asked someone that's not suited to this kind of environment, an environment that works directly against them, to come in and solve all their problems."

"But they did," Link responded with a shrug. "And I said I would do it so I'm going to do it."

Navi let out an exasperated sigh. "Please Link," she pleaded. "Please listen to me. You could get yourself hurt or killed! This is different from the Deku Tree. Yes, we need that stone. Yes, they said to do this, but there has to be another way. If we just went back and talked to Darunia-"

"I said I'm DOING THIS!"

Navi fell silent as the skull kid angrily whipped around to face her, hands clenched.

"Don't treat me like a little kid-"

"Link," she cut him off gently. "You are a little kid."

"I can take care of myself!" He argued. "I'm not some helpless Kokiri- I got along just fine this long without a fairy. Watch me, I'm going to get through here, with or without your help."

With a curt nod of his head, Link spun back around and continued down the path, stewing in silence. Leaving Navi to droop before rushing to catch up.

Again, the pair continued on in silence for some time, Link now leading the way despite his limited vision. After what felt like hours, but likely was not much more than one, he came to the end of the tunnel. As he turned to his left, he could just barely make out the outline of a huge, metal door to his left.

"Huh," he mumbled as he approached, climbing up iron steps to reach it. There was no way he could open it by himself. Was it even meant to be opened that way? As he looked it over, another object to the side caught his attention. Built into the floor was a large lever, just next to the door.

He approached, grabbing hold of the oddly carved handle, and began to pull with all his might, boots slipping and scraping on the dirt floor. For some time, it seemed like it would not move. But finally, with a creek, it gave way, snapping over all at once and sending him tumbling to the ground.

Almost immediately the door opened, leading through a small tunnel with another door at the end. As he approached, he felt another noticeable rise in temperature.

This door, too, opened by lever. As soon as the pulled the lever down and the door slid open, he was hit with an intense blast of heat and the light of red-hot lava. For a moment, he honestly considered turning back. But his desire to complete what he started got the better of him, and he stepped into the room.

He was once again on a large, rock platform. Perhaps six feet or so below flowed lava, mostly still hot and fresh. More poured down from a fall above; where it might be coming from, he did not know. A huge pillar of rock rose high above him, but he could not see the top from here.

Link began to make his way around the room, carefully avoiding the edges of his platform. It was separated from other platforms nearby, barely a jump away. As he continued to make his way around the pillar, another door. Upon reaching the final platform, he paused, rubbing his face.

"Are you okay?" Navi asked.

"Little dizzy," he responded, nodding regardless.

"Link, I really think-"

"Don't say it," he responded sharply, cutting her off. "Look, we're almost out of the room, see? we just got to-"

Link cut off when he heard a loud, angry cry from above. Suddenly, he watched as the lever to open the door in front of him seemed to move further to the side than it already was, metal bars slamming down in front. Before he had a chance to say anything, a monster - a lizard more than twice his size, donning limited armor, jumped from above.

A trap. Link scrambled back, watching the edge as best he could while keeping an eye on the lizard in front of him.

"A lizalfos!" Navi cried out. "Look out, it's got a knife!"

Link scrambled to the side as the lizalfos sprang into the air, trying to bring the knife down on his head like one would typically use a sword. It whizzed through the air harmlessly as the lizalfos came down inches to his side. He spun around to try and strike at the lizard, managing to cut a shallow, thin slice into its side.

The lizalfos spun, facing Link. The knife swung overhead through the air once again.

"Duck!" Navi cried out.

Without really having time to think about it, Link crouched down. He felt force hit his back, and a metallic clang as the knife bounced harmlessly off the back of his shield. As he rose back up, he struck out, attempting to gut the angry lizard.

It sprang back at the last possible second, avoiding being skewered. This time, it rushed forward, charging knife first.

Link scrambled backwards, then, as he felt his feet hitting the edge of the stone, he spun and leapt as far as he could onto the next one, whipping back around as quickly as he could, swinging his sword blindly.

A metallic clang rang out. Link turned his head in time to see the creature's knife fly through the air, falling into the pool of lava below. The lizalfos let out a startled cry. A small smile crept onto his face. He had the upper hand, this was his chance! He braced himself to thrust forward. At the same time, the lizalfos sucked in air…

"GET BACK!" Navi screamed, zipping against Link's alarm.

With little time to react to Navi's sudden dire warning, Link took a step back, throwing up his wooden shield. Almost immediately, he was met with a burst of flame knocking against the shield. He winced, bracing as flames licked around the edges, cinders threating to cling to his arm.

The flame attack began to die away… But unfortunately for the little hero, fire still remained. The shield! Crying out in alarm, he shook his arm until the shield came loose, flinging it across the room.

The lizard let out a delighted cry as it charged forward in hopes of overwhelming its prey.

"LINK!"

He let out a startled cry, thrusting forward with both arms in a last-ditch effort to defend himself, flickering his vision away and waiting for claws to tear at his arms.

But they never came. Only a garbled cry came from the lizard.

Slowly, Link peeked an eye back. His attack had driven his sword deep into the lizalfos' exposed stomach. Hesitantly, he brought a boot up to push the monster away, pulling his blade free. Blood poured from the wound as the lizard fell to the ground.

Link panted, watching for a moment as the lizard's cries and movement became weaker. Then, unable to bear watching, he turned his back, continuing back to the door, sheathing his sword. Slowly he grabbed hold of the lever and began to pull again, tugging with all his might as he pulled it forward first to unlock, then to open. The door slid open, the cooler air beyond only barely a relief. But still a relief. Unwiling or unable to bear the heat any longer, he dashed through the door, turning to shut it behind him.

"Darunia!"

The Goron chief glanced up from the map on his table, his attention caught by the Goron that had entered his room.

"Gordo, my brother!" Darunia called out with a hearty wave. "How goes the excavation of the entrance?"

The two took a moment to share a hearty embrace. "We've cleared enough of the rocks and debris for a Goron to enter, big brother! Although we're still stabilizing the entrance," The Goron, Gordo, announced as he stepped away. "Briggs stepped inside to check out the damages that might have occurred. The entrance cavern is mostly clear of monsters but…"

"But?"

"But unfortunately, the bridge is out, and lava levels are up even in the main room by at least ten percent. We could probably at least get some workers over to the eastern mining sites if we set up some ramps up for jumping, but we have no clue what might be waiting beyond the entrance."

Darunia gave the Goron a grim nod, considering their words carefully. "Still, it's a start. I'll take care of any infestation in the southern quarter myself, if I have to, as soon as I secure our sacred treasure. We need access to the mines back as soon as possible." He paused. "... Any sign of that kid?"

"He definitely entered – Igne watched him enter – and there had been a second boulder just inside that was also destroyed. But he must have jumped across the ledges and continued on, we have no clue where he is."

"Understood." Darunia grew quiet for a moment as he turned back to the map on his table. A map of the caverns. He had been looking over the layout carefully, something weighing on his mind since he'd sent the skull kid off to Dodongo's Cavern.

His fingers brushed over a particular room on the map, a room where lava poured freely from cracks in the cavern above. Gorons had no trouble in the lava. They could even safely walk in thin layers of it for a while. But there was a reason the mines were Goron territory. No other race could do that. Not Zoras, not Hylians, and certainly not…

...children made of wood.

His mind raced back to the Fairy's protests. What was wrong with him?

Slowly, he turned to the Goron in the room, who stood at attention, waiting for their dismissal.

"...Gordo, brother, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Yes, Big Brother?"

"I need you to have the men set up some rock ramps, like you were talking about earlier."

"Of course."

"I also need you to send a couple men to guard my room. I'll be out for a while. Oh, and… fetch me my war hammer, please."

Hands grabbed hold of the lever to tug it back once again, the door creaking closed behind him.

The new room was dark, but also significantly cooler. Link, knees weak, sank to the ground, hot and exhausted. Reaching for his canteen, he took another swig of water.

"Um… Link?" Navi spoke up after a moment, a nervous edge in her voice.

The skull kid's eyes turned to the fairy quizzically.

"Link, oh my goddesses, your arm!"

Link tilted his head, staring blankly at the fairy. Until he heard the pop.

A sharp pain shot up the boy's right arm. He whipped his head to the side. The bark on the outside had blackened, likely from the flames he had barely avoided. It sizzled as little bubbles of water boiled to the surface. But the worst was the smoke that still smoldered, as if it could burst into flame at any second in the heat. In alarm he cried out and shook his arm around, pouring the last of his water out on the worst spot. Only once it quit smoking did he let out a shaky breath.

Too close.

"Link, you need to leave," Navi insisted again. "Your body isn't suited for this kind of environment. If you had stayed in there much longer, you would have burst into flames!"

"But I can't just go back," Link argued, shaking his head.

"But you need to."

"No, I mean, I have to keep going, because I can't go back that way. What if I get locked in that lava room again? What if another lizard tries to ambush us?"

Navi considered it for a moment, then let out a sigh. "I suppose you're right about that… but I don't like it one bit. If we find a way out, you need to go leave, okay?"

Link said nothing in response, instead just standing up, stumbling slightly once he was on his feet.

"Link, are you okay?" Navi asked.

"...Just a little dizzy…" he responded, gaze down, before shaking his head to clear it and turning his attention to the fairy. "I'm fine. Come on, let's get moving. Maybe it will be cooler further down?"

Navi seemed unconvinced but fluttered on behind the boy anyways.

These tunnels were far less structured than the ones he had entered before, more naturally carved out, with no wooden or metal structure for support. From somewhere nearby echoed the slightest drip drop of a trickle of water.

The duo carried on in near silence, Links tired, heavy footsteps resounding in the dark cavern. One hand kept a tight grip his blade. The other felt carefully along the wall as he trekked on in the near darkness for some time.

Until the sound of something shuffling somewhere behind him made him freeze. He stood still for some time expecting something to jump him. But when nothing happened, and noise eventually settled into nothing, he slowly began to walk again. His feet shuffled a few feet further before one caught on something in the darkness, sending Link tumbling to the ground with a startled yelp.

He laid still for a moment, considering stopping to rest. Before Navi's cry of alarm made him scramble to his feet.

"Link! Get up! Run!"

He pushed himself back to his feet and whipped around to find Navi, finding her flying just behind him, face to face with a huge lizard creature staring the pair down. A huge lizard creature that looked none-so happy about being woken.

"What is that?" Link asked, beginning to reach for his sword.

"It's a dodongo!" Navi cried back, zipping to thump against his chest to try and get him moving. "Don't try to fight it, just go?"

"Why?"

Even as he asked, the creature began to breathe in. He took a couple stumbling steps backwards, then spun and stumbled off. The dodongo exhaled, and the floor he'd been standing in just a second prior erupted into a stream of fire. Link let out a cry of alarm and sped up.

Navi zipped ahead of him, lighting the way. When he looked back, he could see the beady eyes of the dodongo following behind him. Fortunately, it was much slower even than his exhausted form was.

He sprang over the form of another sleeping dodongo. Navi slowed to a stop a few dozen feet further ahead before zipping to the side, highlighting the form of a lever to open a door. Link wasted no time closing the last gap and grabbing hold, using every bit of strength he had to open the door, despite his injured arm's protests. As soon as it was open enough to slip through, he zipped by, not waiting to see if he was pursued.

When he could no longer hear the sound of the monsters pursuing him, only then did he stop to breathe. Only to look up in dismay as he looked around and realized he was right back where he had started early in the afternoon. Slowly, he sank to the ground. All that he'd done today had been for nothing!

Navi flitted about as she looked around the room. "This… Well, that was a waste of time," she sighed. "But… At least this will give us an opportunity to leave and go speak with Darunia again. Surely just opening the entrance up for them would be enough for him, right Link?"

"... Link?"

The brisk mountain air was eerily quiet as night fell. Unnaturally quiet. Perhaps an effect of the curse on the dodongo caverns. Or perhaps even the creatures that dwelled on the barren rocks sensed the tense atmosphere. Darunia shifted uneasily from foot to foot as other Gorons scurried about the cavern entrance in front of him, working to move and stabilize the debris and secure a safe opening. Others scurried about just inside, working to move the extra debris for use as makeshift ramps inside.

Oh, how he wanted to go barreling in immediately, and make sure the child was alright. But if he caused a collapse, it could trap both of them inside. And then it could take hours to dig their way back out. And his people could be in danger if he were to be trapped for too long. No, the child may be brave, but he couldn't risk his people's survival to rush in like a hero. He would just need to wait a little longer.

Still, he couldn't help but worry about the child. A child who had been willing to throw himself into danger for people he barely knew, even if he did have his own motives behind it.

"Big Brother Darunia," one of the Gorons called out with a wave.

He Lumbered over to the worker. "Are we in the clear?"

The Goron averted his gaze. "... Yes… and no. The entrance is clear and stable, but the ramps aren't ready within the main hall. We're working to pat down the stone and earth, so it won't shift and fall apart under our weight."

Daruina was quiet for a moment, shifting his weight as he considered his options. And considered Link. Then he hoisted his great hammer over his shoulder as he began to make his way through the entrance.

"Time is of the essence. You said it should hold up for one leap? I'll just make sure I make it the first time."

He stopped near the edge of the metal bride, ignoring the slightly uncomfortable heat of the ground underneath his feet. Certainly, it was no danger to him or his people. But he was positive it was hotter than normal inside.

Time truly was of the essence.

He stepped back from the edge and took a moment to take in his surroundings. Near the back, he could make out the form of… something. But it certainly did not look like Link. He must have continued somewhere. But where…

A flicker of light caught his eye to the side. As he turned his head, he noticed a ball of light come darting from the northern portion of the room, making a beeline towards the entrance. As soon as it noticed him, however, it detoured towards him.

The boy's fairy friend, he realized with a sinking feeling. Alone.

He turned to face the tiny creature as she flew forward. Too fast, not stopping in time and bouncing against him.

"Daruina!" She shouted breathlessly. "Oh thank the goddesses. Please you must help. Please."

Darunia held shifted his weight so that his hammer was in one hand, then offered a hand for her to rest on. "Slow down," he instructed. "Tell me what happened."

"It's Link!" she started, ignoring the resting spot. "He- He got overwhelmed by the heat, I think. He collapsed and passed out and I- think he's burned and I- I can't do anything!"

Darunia frowned grimly, moving to place his war-hammer on the ground slowly. "Take me to him."

Navi bobbed in agreement before zipping towards a ledge on the far side. Darunia paused, considering the best path of action. He could not leap across the gap to the ledge, and the bridge that would normally grant him passage was out. However, they had set up the beginnings of the make shift ramp…

He took a few steps back, mentally considering his trajectory.

The fairy looped back around. "Hey, what are you doing! This is serious, you need to hurry!"

He led up a hand towards her. "Hush, little sister. I need to concentrate." Fists clenched, he took a deep breath before curling up into a tight ball, making sure to keep his limbs tucked in. Then he began to rock and build up momentum. Another deep breath as he reached deep inside of himself, focusing on the earthy magic that Gorons could learn with time and dedication. Then he charged, speeding towards the makeshift ramp as fast as he could muster. At the same time, he released the magic he had built up. As he neared the ramp, he reached a faster speed, spikes of rock, formed from magic, protruded from his body. He blazed up the ram and soared across the gap, crashing into the wall.

Navi hovered anxiously nearby as the Goron sat up and took a moment to brush himself off. No injuries. Good.

"Alright sis, just tell ol Darunia where to go."

A/N: This is probably one of the most challenging chapters I've written so far. For the sake of the story, I had to suspend disbelief and reality some. It's also been the most research-intensive chapter thus far, since I've had to take the time to look into the difference between how dry/aged wood burns vs fresh wood - which is the reason we're using as to why Link does not immediately burst into flame.

Currently, I estimate two chapters left in the Dodongo's cavern arc. The next one is about half written as of the time of posting. For more updates and information, be sure to check out windskull on tumblr.