Hey readers! Fancy meeting you here! No, not really. Glad you stuck around though. School's finally out, so it's going to be fun updating almost every day! I get so...bored. But not anymore! I got a Wii and I'm kicking Okami butt! Woo! I'm actually thinking of doing a cosplay of Amaterasu next Anime Detour, so that'll be fun! I'm making a GIANT PAINTBRUSH!! Stuffed, of course. It'll be freakin' epic! I'll need a tail from the Ren Fest, a pair of white ears, at least 2 or 3 yards of fabric...(continues to list things)
Navi: Hey! Now I'll be taking over this disclaimer, sice she'd gon into cosplay mode (similar to Raine's Ruin Mode in Tales of Symphonia). Listen, The Wing Alchemist doesn't own anythign except for the random, unheard of characters, like Moriko, Taiki, Tanner, Kaiser, and so on. Enjoy!
Chapter 11: Death Mountain Dungeon
Heat blasted Moriko as she pushed farther into the inferno of Death Mountain. She'd been following the same tunnel for a while, with Tanner walking behind her, and she'd already had to stop twice to get a drink. They were running low now on liquids now, and the heat was getting worse. Moriko thought she'd have a heat stroke sometime soon if she didn't get out of the inferno, but she had to get the Rod of Seasons. It was a must.
They doubled their pace, carefully increasing their speed until they finally came to the middle of the volcano. Moriko screamed at the sight of the lava under her feet, even though there was a sort of fence under her feet. It was liquid fire! The heat seared her bare skin, making her feel as if her entire body was on fire.
Tanner leaned over the railing, watching the lava boil below. Suddenly his eyes went wide, and he pushed Moriko back into the tunnel.
"Get back!" he yelled, just managing to get everyone back just as a stream of lava shot up and out the top of the mountain. Moriko covered her mouth in awe and fear. She'd never seen anything like this before! What made it go upwards? How'd the lava get there?
The liquid went back down and stayed there as Tanner sat down, taking out two scarves.
"Put this on. It'll allow you to breathe easily in the intense heat."
Moriko took it and tied it around her head so it covered her mouth and nose. It fabric felt rough at first, but then it was suddenly gone. It felt like a cool mist on her face. She lifted her hand up to it, feeling the rough fabric rub against her fingers. How odd.
"How does this work?" she asked. Tanner just shrugged and looked at the lava jet that shot up again.
"Okay, I've got it. The lava shoots up every five minutes, so we'll use the caves along the ramp to our advantage."
"Why the bottom?"
"Think about it. Would a Sacred Item of the Goddesses be located near the top of the volcano with zip protection, or would it be within the core of the mountain, surrounded by lava?"
"Good point. Let's go," she said, poking her head outside the tunnel and heading down the ramp. Tanner followed close behind, along with Navi and Taiki, who hid behind his scarf to breathe. It seemed even they couldn't take this level of dust inthe air. The caves farther down were empty, which the group ducked into just before the lava would shoot upwards. Moriko groaned every time the lava began bubbling louder and more fiercely.
"Are we down there yet?" she kept asking. Each time, Tanner answered, "No."
Eventually, after many false starts, they finally made it to the bottom, where they found a door with the symbol for Din on it: three stripes with an orb on the opposite corners. Moriko pressed on the door, trying to open it, when the rumbling started again.
"Tanner, help me get this open!" she shouted, the rumbling almost drowning her out. Tanner rushed to the door and pushed it, managing to move it a little. Moriko wedged her arm against the door and pushed against the doorframe, forcing it to slide all the way back. She and Tanner dove in, the fairies as well, and landed in a heap on the floor. The door rolled back into place just in time, saving them from a very painful burning.
Moriko sat up, her heart hammering in her chest and her breathing ragged.
"I'm not doing that again!" she gasped out.
Tanner sat up and coughed out, "We'll need to get back up to the Gorons, you know."
Moriko froze, then her shoulders slumped. In her mind, she began wondering if she could really do this. Navi's voice brought her back.
"Moriko! It's the Rod of Seasons!" the fairy yelled. Moriko's gaze ripped from the door to the fairy, with was hovering near a staff resting on a pedestal with Din's symbol on it. Moriko reached out to grab the rod, but a wall of fire surrounded it, forcing her to pull her hand back. A girl appeared in front of her. Her hair was flaming red, and she had dark red eyes that burned with spirit. She wore a red one-piece dance suit with ribbons that floated around her like fire. She had gold bangles around her neck and wrists.
"You who seek my sacred item, you do not yet have the strength to use it," she said. Her voice rang like a bell in Moriko's mind, and pulled her forward until she was a few feet from the girl.
"Who are you?" she whispered. The girl shook her head and pointed to a door to the right.
"That's not important right now. At the moment, you need to gain some serious strength. Fight your way through this dungeon, obtain the item there, then come back. You and only you can fight there."
Moriko nodded and the girl disappeared. Moriko turned to see Tanner staring at her, his eyes betraying his fright.
"What just happened?"
Moriko looked at him blankly, then turned to the new door. "I'll be right back," she said, unsheathing her sword. Tanner twitched and followed her, but Navi stopped him.
"Let her be. She has to fight this one herself. If she makes it through, then we can leave."
"If she makes it?! You're her fairy! Go with her! You-"
"She held up against Kaiser on her own without us! She can do this!" Navi said sharply, cutting Tanner off. He bit his lip as Moriko pushed on the door, rolling it aside.
"I'll be right back, Tanner," she said, smiling back at him. He gritted his teeth and nodded, watching her head through the door with that foolish smile on her face. He prayed for her safety, and that she would be in one piece.
Moriko trudged into the area her sword heavy in her left hand. She couldn't stop thinking about Tanner, and that look he'd given her. It felt as if he'd begged her not to go. She choked back tears and kept walking. It was an odd feeling. She'd felt this when she'd left the village.
She straightened at the thought of the village. She reminded herself why she left in the first place. She had to protect them.
She slashed through the few monsters she encountered. Mostly torch slugs and fire keese. She followed the curve of the rooms, noticing how they slanted downward slightly. It spiraled downward for a while -- Moriko lost count after twenty rooms -- then opened up into a chamber twice the size of any of the previous rooms. The middle of the room was like an island, the outer edge being submerged in lava. Moriko quickly headed for the door opposite her. She didn't like how unstable this room looked.
As she reached the halfway point, a large reptile dropped from the ceiling, lashing out at her with its claws. Moriko barely dodged and got a good look at the creature.
It was a lizard about eight feet long, with large claws, jaws that snapped at her ankles, and yellow slit eyes. Wisps of fire and smoke trickled out of its mouth as it stared at Moriko, practically screaming "I want to eat you!" at her. She gripped her sword and ran at it, bring it down on the reptile's snout. The metal bounced right off, leaving the scales with only a scratch and Moriko with a sore hand. The reptile arched its back and spewed a stream of flames at her, catching her off guard. Moriko sucked in a breath as flame met flesh. It felt as if her leg was a giant blister. She took out Tanner's red potion and downed it. The skin grew back on her leg and she got up, feeling only a little sore were the flames had roasted her like a cobob.
"Stupid monster," she muttered, picking up her sword off the floor. The reptile gave her a grin and shot another jet of flame at her. This time she dodged it and ending up behind the creature. It didn't seem to notice her back there. She raised her sword and slashed at the exposed tail, wounding the creature until it stopped moving.
Moriko breathed a huge sigh of relief as the body disappeared, leaving behind a chest. She looked at it curiously, then opened it. Inside was a bow and arrow set, like the ones in town, but these were special. The bow was made of an extremely durable wood and the grip was extremely comfortable. The arrows were sleek and long, with red feathers tied to the ends. The arrowheads were small black rocks fitted directly onto the shaft, adding the elegance of the set. Moriko pulled an arrow back against the string, feeling her arms merge with the weapon, and aimed for a yellow gem hanging from the ceiling. With a twang, the arrow flew fast, smacking the gem in its middle.
The door Moriko was heading for opened, giving her a start. After retrieving her arrow, she entered the next room, praying for no monsters.
What she found was another room, but this one was odd. There were no decorations or carvings, no paint on the walls, and there were no monsters. The only thing there was a beam of light. Moriko stepped towards it and watched as the girl from earlier appeared in front of her. She was smiling.
"Great job, Moriko!" she said. Moriko paused, wondering why the girl's personality had done a complete 180. The first time she'd seen her, she'd been elegant and dignified. Now she was spunky and spinning in the air like a light spirit.
"You okay?" the girl asked. Moriko shook her head to clear her thoughts, then nodded.
"Who are you?"
"Huh," the girls said, twisting a lock of her vibrant hair between her fingers. "Usually people wait until I finish to ask me that, but okay. I'm the Goddess Din."
Moriko nodded, understanding it. She was like Farore, sort of. Her aura was similar, anyway.
"So, you made it through my trial, which is awesome, since you can now wield the Rod of Seasons!" Din was grinning now, while Moriko was confused. Why in all the world would that be cool? "Wait, so you're saying I can change it to winter and back if I wanted?" Moriko asked. Din nodded, then looked behind Moriko.
"Well well, if it isn't Link number 47 or something," she said with a smirk. "How's life treatin' ya? Sorry, I mean the afterlife."
Moriko turned to see the Link from Ordon standing behind her, looking as if he's swallowed something fowl.
"Din, you really shouldn't quit your day job," he said glumly. He turned to Moriko with a small smile. "Good job, Moriko. Go get the rod. I need to talk to Din."
Moriko nodded and stepped into the pillar of light, disappearing in a flash.
Din leaned back and floated in midair, playing with a small ball of fire. "So what is it, Link? Any news on Kaiser from Nayru and Farore?"
"Only a little. Kaiser's presence was found in a ruin to the south of Kakariko, and I think Moriko might have battled him there."
Din sat upright with a jolt, staring at him intently. "Did she see it? The markings?"
"I'm afraid so, but she'd still ignorant of their meaning. What now?"
Din sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, warding off a headache. "We keep her ignorant. If she finds out, the world is probably doomed."
"Right. I'll tag along with her, unnoticed, until the time is right," Link said. He disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Din alone to deal with her headache.
Moriko reappeared in the room she'd started in, a few feet away from Tanner and the fairies. They were watching the door so intently they didn't even notice Moriko until she tapped Tanner on the shoulder. He yelped and jumped up, his eyes widening even more when he saw Moriko unharmed. He was about to hug her when Navi and Taiki surrounded her, chattering angrily about how much they'd been worried and how Moriko had taken her sweet time getting back. She told them what happened as Tanner watched them, feeling kind of left out. Moriko glanced at him and smiled. He smiled back.
"So Din said you could take the Rod of Seasons?" Taiki asked, looking at the rod anxiously. Moriko nodded and walked up to the beam of light, looking the rod over with a expression of joy mixed with confusion. The rod looked like any other piece of wood, except it had Din's symbol carved into a knot of wood at the top. She reached into the light and gripped the rod, drawing it out of the light. It was surprisingly light for a rod of its size. It felt good in her hand.
Suddenly the ceiling shuddered, threatening to crumble. Tanner bolted to the door at a surprising speed, prying it loose from its current position. It rolled back easily this time, giving them a full view of what was happening in the other room.
Rocks rained down and into the lava, sending waves of it splashing over the pool's edge and onto the walkway. The group watched as part of the lava splashed the door, sizzling in the heat of the activation volcano.
"Let's go people!" Navi shouted. "This is no time for gawking! We have to get out of here!"
Everyone agreed easily and made their way towards the metal catwalk, only to be stopped dead in their tracks by a large lava beast. It looked like the reptile from before, except this one was bigger and was covered in lava. It trashed around in the lava until it saw the group. It froze, then dove back into the lava.
"Run!" Tanner shouted as the reptile launched itself out of the lava. It was off by a few feet, thankfully, and landed behind them. That was when they took off towards the ramp, not even pausing to see what was going on behind them until they felt the catwalk shudder, when they were a few floors up. Moriko turned looked down to see the reptile dragging itself up onto the catwalk.
"It's coming after us!" she shrieked, doubling her pace. The lizard roared loudly and charged up the ramp. The catwalk stayed in place, allowing the lizard to stumble after the group. Tanner kept an eye on the beast as it made its way up, covering half the ground in a fraction of the time it took him and Moriko to run up it. It was too fast. He skidded to a halt and unsheathed his sword, turning to face the monster.
"Moriko, keep running! I'll take care of it!" he yelled. Moriko stopped and sprinted back to him, pulling on his arm.
"No, Tanner! Don't develop a hero complex now! We're almost to the top!"
"But what about the Gorons?! They need these mines, and that monster isn't allowing them access! Now go!"
Moriko inhaled slowly, then smacked him across the face. He looked at her through narrowed eyes as he nursed his swelling cheek. She only grinned and took out the bow and arrows set. She notched an arrow and aimed at the beast. It was almost within range.
"Tanner, we're in this together. I needed your help, now I'll give you mine."
The beast roared as Moriko released her arrow. It sang in the air just before it pierced the beast's left eye. Lava and fire consumed the arrow, but the beast was left with no depth perception. It staggered as Moriko pulled Tanner up the ramp, heading past the opening for Goron City and headed for the top of the mountain. Tanner stopped to yell a warning to the Goron guards, then followed Moriko to the top.
Moriko pulled herself onto the top of the mountain through the hole the smoke escaped through. Tanner and the fairies followed shortly after. They took a quick break to take a few gulps of Tanner's spring water for healing, then readied themselves for combat.
"That thing is called a Dodongo, I think," Tanner explained. "They live in extremely warm places, such as this, and thrive on lava. They're protected by metal scales all over their body, and they hate the cold. That help a bit?"
"Yeah, I guess. Did you see its tail? Was it covered?"
"It was covered in lava, but that's probably gone now. Why, did you see something?"
"In the rooms where you couldn't go, I fought a reptile like this one, only it was smaller. It's tail was extremely unprotected."
"Then we've got a target."
"But it didn't let me near it until it was spewing fire."
"It does what?!"
"Spews fire. I had to drink your entire red potion to heal the burn."
"Crud. Whatever you do, don't get burned!" he yelled as the volcano began rumbling. For a split second, the smoke stopped, but that was because something had poked its giant ugly head out of the hole. The Dodongo hissed and set a small stream of fire at them before hauling itself out of the hole. It skittered away from the hole and after Taiki, who must've looked like dinner to it. Sure enough, the giant Dodongo had no armor on its tail.
"Get it!" Taiki shouted as Tanner sliced at the tail. The sword landed a blow, but the Dodongo lashed out, sending Tanner staggering backwards, clutching his arm. Moriko notched another arrow and let it fly, hitting its target on the mark: the right eye.
The beast screamed horribly as it lumbered around the area, having no idea where to go without its sight. It almost ran over both Moriko and Tanner, though both had miraculously dodged the maddened reptile.
When it was calm again, it began circling itself, as if stalking its tail.
"Crap!" Tanner groaned. The beast shrieked and ran at him, nearly flattening him against the rocky floor. Tanner slapped his hand over his mouth and took the long way around to Moriko, who was gripping her bow and arrow. Fear was all too present in her blue eyes, betraying her glare and grim set mouth.
"Moriko, it's guarding it's tail. What now?" he whispered.
"One of you plays decoy," Navi whispered, floating down to the hylians' eye levels. "If one of you distracts it with noise, the other can successfully land a blow. It'll only work once, so it'll have to be a strong blow."
"Then that makes me the decoy," Moriko said quietly, eyeing the big monster as it guarded its tail. Navi shook her head.
"No way. Tanner should be the decoy. He can run faster," she said bluntly. Moriko gulped.
"Can't we both do it? Why can't you be the decoy, Navi?"
"Because I'm a fairy and I'm your guardian. Now do this, or the Gorons are doomed!"
Moriko sighed and unsheathed her sword. "Fine," she said. Tanner nodded and ran off to the other side of the volcano. Once he was ready, he began throwing rocks at the Dodongo, causing it to lose interest in its tail. Moriko gripped her sword in both hands and ran at the creature, ramming her sword down into its tail with as much force as she could muster up.
The beast glanced back at her and tried to claw her off it, but it was too large to get around itself. Moriko stabbed it again and again until the Dodongo finally rolled over, in too much pain to fight back. It disappeared in an explosion of black smoke, leaving behind nothing except a fairy. The fairy healed her and Tanner, then disappeared, leaving them breathless on the ground.
"We…did it!" Tanner said through gasps. Moriko grinned, wiping some of the Dodongo's blood off her face.
"We did it," she said, her voice heavy with relief. "We saved the Gorons."
Hurrah! Chapter 11 is done, and now the story shall move on! Next chapter, we will be introducing two new characters, but their names shall remain secret until someone reviews! Muahahahahahahaaa-cough! Yay verily!
Navi: You're annoying.
Me: Not as much as you! XD See all you awesome readers soon!