Princess Zelda, Impa, Link and Ganondorf arrived at the gateway leading up to Death Mountain after having passed through Kakariko Village. The mountain road ahead would be too rough on their horses, so Impa had them make a quick detour to her home to leave the horses in the care of an attendant before they proceeded.
"Halt!" A lone guard standing vigilante held out his hand in a motion for them to stop as he saw them approach. "No one is allowed up Death Mountain Trail without the King's permission."
"We have the King's permission." Impa replied in an annoyed tone of voice. "I believe that you may need to get your helmet adjusted."
The guard lifted his helmet back slightly so that it didn't obscure his vision and froze as he realized who was standing in front of him.
"L-lady Impa!" The guard stood at attention. "And P-princess Zelda?"
"We have been sent by His Royal Highness to visit the Goron City and investigate why their Chief has not arrived at the castle yet." Impa explained. "Now, open the gate for us so that we may pass."
"Are you sure?" The guard eyed Ganondorf suspiciously.
"Open the gate or I will personally see to it that you are stripped of your rank and removed from duty." Princess Zelda demanded haughtily.
"Y-yes! Of course, your Highness!" The guard nervously tapped the spear he carried on the ground twice and the gate opened up behind him. Link marveled at the gate, which seemed to move under its own power, though the others didn't seem fazed by it at all.
"Thank you." Zelda almost seemed to strut as she walked past the guard, and the other followed her.
"Be careful!" The guard called after them. "There's been an unusual amount of Tektite activity lately!"
"What's that supposed to mean?" Zelda asked.
It didn't take long for the Princess to get her answer, as Impa suddenly sprang into action and, in a single fluid movement, ran up to Princess Zelda and thrust out her dagger forward, almost directly in front of the Princess' face. The large, orange bug-like creature that had just tried to attack Zelda collapsed onto the ground, dead. Impa pulled her weapon from its eye socket as Zelda recoiled in horror and disgust.
"You should probably stay behind me." Impa advised the young Princess.
Zelda nodded and led Impa led the rest of the way. They encountered several more Tektites along the trail, all of which Impa was able to make short work of. After a little while, they made their way to a sharp bend in the road.
"That's odd." Impa stopped in her tracks and stared at the rock wall in front of them.
"What?" Zelda asked, sitting down on a large rock to rest her feet.
"The entrance to Dodongo's Cavern should be here." Impa answered as she placed her hand against the cold, hard stone. "But it looks like it has been sealed off."
"Perhaps you are mistaken on the cavern's location?" Ganondorf suggested.
"That's not possible." Impa shook her head. "I used to come here to train when I was young. I know the area well."
Zelda suddenly screamed as the rock she was resting on suddenly began to move out from under her, causing Zelda to fall onto the ground.
"Sorry about that, Brother." The rock said, standing upright.
"Hello." Impa gave the apparently living rock a polite greeting, as Zelda and Link were both freaking out and Ganondorf watched in interest. "Could you please explain what has happened here?"
"Big Brother had to seal off the entrance to Dodongo's Cavern because it became infested with Dodongos." The rock-like creature said mournfully.
"But a Dodongo has not been seen in this area for decades." Impa replied in alarm.
"They just suddenly appeared out of nowhere this morning. Now we don't have access to our quarry, meaning we can't access the delicious and nutritious rocks that we can only find in Dodongo's Cavern! If someone doesn't take care of this problem, it could be the end of all of us Gorons."
"That is very distressing news." Impa agreed.
"It's no wonder that the Goron chieftain hasn't arrived at the castle if something like this came up." Ganondorf observed.
"Goron City is further up the mountain." Impa turned to go. "We should make haste."
The rest of the journey to Goron City was relatively uneventful, with the exception of when a careless Goron had nearly run over everyone on its way to blow up the entrance to Dodongo's Cavern. Zelda was still a bit shaken up from the unexpected explosion shortly after they had all managed to jump out of its way on time.
The city itself was different than anything Zelda, Link or even Ganondorf had ever seen before. It consisted of a central cavern separated into three levels and surrounded by entrances into a complex tunnel system that formed the bulk of the city. A small platform with a pedestal on it was suspended in the air above the center of the main chamber by three very large and very tough ropes.
"Something is not right here." Impa pointed to the empty pedestal. "The Goron's Ruby is supposed to be on display there."
"Big Brother Darunia took the stone away." Said a nearby Goron who happened to overhear her. "Then he locked himself away in his room and won't come out."
"At least we know where to find him." Ganondorf mused. "Assuming that you know where his room is."
"It's down there." Impa pointed to a large stone door on the lowest level of the chamber. "Follow me."
Impa led the others through a series of tunnels that brought them down to the door she had pointed out. When they finally got there, Impa pounded on the door with her fist. There was no reply.
"Perhaps if I try it." Ganondorf said and knocked as loud as he could.
"Go away!" A muffled shout came from the other side. "I'm busy."
"We've been sent here by the King of Hyrule!" Impa yelled back.
"No, you weren't!" The voice shouted. "Now stop bothering me!"
"Now what do we do?" Zelda asked as the four backed away from the door. "We came all the way here and he won't even see us."
"I suppose that we'll just have to prove that we are who we say we are." Impa said. "Stand back for a moment."
Impa stood firmly on the rug in front of Darunia's room and cleared her throat while the others backed away a few steps. She then raised her hands to her mouth and began to whistle. Neither Link nor Ganondorf recognized the tune. Zelda suddenly started to get very drowsy and after a moment she fell onto Link. This woke Zelda up again and she suddenly jolted upright, leaving a very confused Link and a mildly amused Ganondorf. It didn't take long after that for the door to slide open and Darunia walked out.
"I guess you really were sent by the royal family if you know that song." Darunia said before getting a good look at who his visitors were. "Impa? Princess Zelda? The Gerudo King and… a boy?"
There was an awkward silence as Darunia stood in shock by the three highly unexpected quests and Link. Finally, Darunia blinked a couple of times and took a step back.
"Well, whatever it is that you have to say, it must be important for all of you to come here. Come in."
Darunia shut the door behind them, then walked over to a large mat on the floor and sat down, motioning for them to do the same.
"So, what's so important to bring all of you to my door?" Darunia asked. "Also, who's this boy and why is he here with you?"
"This is Link." Zelda said before Link had a chance to introduce himself. "He's here… as, uh… my bodyguard!"
Darunia looked up at Impa in confusion.
"I'm training him to eventually take over my duties." Impa had always been better at making Zelda's lies seem credible than the Princess was at coming up with them.
"Alright then." Darunia nodded. "But that doesn't explain why you're all here."
"We grew concerned when you and the Zora King both failed to arrive for the peace treaty negotiations." Ganondorf explained. "So we came here to see what was holding you up."
"Aw, hellyerite!" Darunia exclaimed loudly. "That was today?"
"Yes." Ganondorf replied. "Although it's perfectly understandable that it would slip your mind given what we've heard is going on."
"So you heard about the Dodongos? Yeah, it's a real mess." Darunia lowered his head. "No idea where they came from, or how to get rid of them. I was just trying to think of a way to clear them out of the mines again. You see, the only way I to get rid of a Dodongo infestation to take out the King Dodongo. Unfortunately, I just sent out all of our warriors on a well-earned vacation, and there's no way I could take that thing on myself."
"We could aid you in defeating the Dodongos." Ganondorf suggested.
"Thank you for the offer." Darunia said gratefully. "But you hardly look prepared for a battle like this right now and it would be disgraceful to let you get hurt while trying to fix our problems."
"It would be even more of a disgrace if we were to leave our allies to deal with such a problem on their own when we can do something to help." Ganondorf countered.
"And while we may not have come equipped for a fight, your blacksmiths are known as the greatest in all of Hyrule." Impa added.
"Fine, then." Darunia relented. "I guess we'll stop by Medigoron's on the way out. We should probably get going now."
Darunia stood up and got ready to leave, followed by the others. As they made their way out, Impa turned to Princess Zelda.
"You should stay here, Princess." She said.
"What?" Zelda whined. "But I want to help, too."
"It would be far too dangerous for you." Impa explained. "You are the heir to the throne of Hyrule, after all. Not to mention that you are still just a child and have no experience with combat. Link will stay and watch over you. He is your new bodyguard, is he not?"
"That's not fair." Zelda stomped her foot indignantly.
"She's right." Darunia said, walking up beside Impa. "Besides, someone needs to stay behind if something were to happen while I'm away, right? I feel like you two would be perfect for the job."
Zelda knew that he was just saying that to make her feel better and she was a bit ashamed to say that it worked.
"And why don't you take these as thanks for helping out?" Darunia grabbed a couple of bracelets sitting on a display shelf and handed them to the two children. "I made these Goron's Bracelets myself. When you wear one of these, they can make you as strong as an adult."
"Thank you." Zelda said curtly as she accepted one of the bracelets. "But I'm still not really happy about staying behind."
"You don't have to be." Ganondorf said. "We all do our parts, even if we don't want to."
With that, Ganondorf, Impa and Darunia left on their way to the weapons shop, leaving Zelda and Link behind in Darunia's chamber. Navi flew out from Link's hat for the first time since they left Hyrule Castle.
"Well, that was an unexpected turn of events." The fairy said in a bemused tone of voice.
"What do we do now?" Zelda wondered aloud as she slipped her Goron's Bracelet onto her wrist.
"I don't know." Link shrugged.
"Wait, what?" Navi was shocked. "Have you been able to talk this entire time?"
"Of course. You just keep cutting me off when I try to say anything."