Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to The Legend of Zelda, only the rights to any OC that I create.
Shards of Time
An Ocarina of Time FanFiction
Chapter 12: Ruby
"This place is even creepier than the inside the Great Deku Tree." Link whispers through the darkness, sadness laced through his tone. While I did not go through what he had, the Dodongo's Caverns are sending shivers down my spine. I can't find my voice to answer, though. This place takes my breath away. I adjust the torch in my hand as we creep through, a single scimitar in my right hand. The Caverns haven't yet opened out since we entered them half an hour or so ago.
"Are you really going in there?" One Goron, their name was unknown at the time, had asked us outside of the entrance; body shaking from lack of nutrition. "Five of my friends went in there searching for stones because they couldn't stand the hunger... they never came out again." While we were nervous about what lay ahead of us, neither Link nor myself wanted to show weakness in front of the Gorons – especially Darunia. So we went inside with Kaei watching us apprehensively.
He might have looked worried about us if he wasn't wearing a "Sheikah Expression": completely neutral.
Navi's glow helps brighten the uneven ground beneath us. "I don't like this place..." She mutters from above Link's head. "I sense a dark power radiating from deep within the Caverns..." I want to snap something back at her, but she's as worried as I feel and she is only trying to help. She is a Guardian Fairy after all.
I stop suddenly when I feel a warm breeze drift through the Caverns, making my two other companions turn around when they notice that the torch light has stopped so suddenly. "Ciren, what's wrong?" Link asks before Navi can. "Is everything all right?" Something doesn't feel right... I think to myself without answering them. But what is it? Come on, Ciren. Think! But I can't. My brain isn't giving me any answers other than: "It's called wind, you dumb ass".
Shaking my head, I wave off the concerns of my partners as nothing but a weak hunch and we carry on through the Caverns. The Caverns, after a while, soon open out into a much more vast and open area. Lava pours in from the left and right-hand sides, Goron bodies everywhere, and dragon-like creatures roaming around the place like they own it. "They're Dodongos!" Navi cries out as one spots us. "Watch out for their fiery breath!"
Just as we are about to move in for attack, the nearest Dodongo shoots a ray of fire out towards us; making us all leap backwards in surprise. It shifts its head back for another attack, but I get there first. Malinda's scimitar embeds itself into the Dodongo's head, killing it instantly. By this time, more Dodongos have all ready noticed that outsiders have broken into "their" Caverns and are all ready moving towards us at a steady pace. I drop into a defensive stance, and so does Link – even without proper sword training, though I think he's just following me – with Navi as our guide.
And we begin.
I set off to the right-hand side automatically and begin taking out the Dodongos that come towards me, even with the torch, and instruct Link and what to do when he struggles; even with Navi's help. He seems like a natural fighter, especially without the sword training that I was given while growing up, but he is also reckless. A Dodongo that he fights lunges forwards and catches him off guard after a minute or so, sending him to the ground so the great beast can deal the killing blow.
I scan the three Dodongos that are surrounding me, and my resolve becomes clear. I perform a quick spin attack, even if it merely stuns them for a few moments, and run over to Link to aid him; even if Navi is warding the enemy off with her light a little. Before I can lose another... companion of mine, I stab the Dodongo straight through the forehead – killing it almost instantly.
Link stares up at me with wide eyes, yet I merely shrug with a smirk and sheathe my scimitar to help him onto his feet. As he goes to reclaim his weapon, a rather small one at that, an antagonising roar stretches through the entire Caverns and almost sends our ears into pools of blood from the sheer volume of it. All three of us cast a worried look to each other as the lava falls in the area are disrupted, causing them to produce double the amount of lava than it had done previously.
"That... can't be a good thing." Link mutters, bringing out his Deku Shield too – much to my concern. "Either we need to leave now or we need to face—"
"No!" I retort. "We can not leave now! I have to show that Darunia that I – that we – can do this!" My shoulder slump forwards. "You can go. I know you wanted to keep going with me, but it'll be safer if I go this—" Another roar reflects through the Caverns, sending some pieces of charred rock to the ground around us – some even beginning to mound up around the passageway that we came through. "This is not good." I drop back into a defensive stance, knocking back another Dodongo away from us. "We can't run, we have to fight!"
But when I finish my sentence, however, another shower of rocks fall down – making us whirl around to the way ahead opposite the one that we came through. A shadow appears through the mist, sending most of the Dodongos away from the open area and into the shadows outlining the Caverns. At first, I think that the large mass of shadows is just some rocks sliding from the shock of the roar – but that is only until the shadow has light shed on it, and my thoughts are flipped upside down.
It's a Dodongo. A Dodongo the size of a good half of the Gerudo Fortress!
The beast looks around the vast Cavern, locking onto our small group; mainly the torch in my hand. It rears back, and my eyes wide as I gulp. I can't take that thing on straight away, and we will tire out before it will certainly. As the giant Dodongo dashes towards us, Link grabs my arm at the last second and pulls me aside; making me drop my torch in shock. The Dodongo, sensing that it did not get its enemy, scans its eyes back around to find us.
"That's King Dodongo!" Says Navi. "The Great Deku Tree warned me of a beast like this. It eats absolutely anything given to it, so give it a shock and finish it off with your sword!" We dodge out of the way of another lunge from King Dodongo, and Navi suddenly shouts: "You two run! I'll distract it!" We don't move at first, but knowing that this is our only option sends us off and on our way down a random route that snakes away from the main area.
Now that I don't have the torch in my hand, I draw my second scimitar and run as fast as we can go. After no less than a minute, however, I can feel the ground shaking beneath us. "Apparently Navi wasn't the best distraction..." Link pants from beside me as we slide into an alcove down the route so we can catch our breath. A flash of light shoots past us. "Navi, we're in here!" She flies into the alcove and slumps against her partner's shoulder.
"It's gone berserk..." She breathes, tired all ready; though I don't blame her. "It wasn't distracted for too long because it senses you two some how, and you're the larger threats to it right now."
I nod. "So no matter how much we hide, it's still gonna find us?" Navi agrees without word. "Sweet merciful Din... there must be something that we can do!"
"Navi said that it eats anything, right?" I look over to Link, seeing something in his eyes that says he's on to something. "We can't throw our weapons, because that would be stupid, but there must be stuff in the Caverns that the Gorons used to get their fill of rocks. It might not work, but..."
"Let's to it." I step in, most of my energy back now. "It's our only chance."
I look at the two of them, both of them nodding at me, and I check to see that the coast is clear before slipping out. As soon as we step out, however, King Dodongo is charging down our route and sends the three of us dashing down the pathway as fast as possible. As we all run, there are many times where King Dodongo almost gets us – but we somehow manage to make our way through so many different routes that we end up back in the open area again.
"It's no use." I pant. "There's nothing out here."
"We need to get onto it's head." Navi replies. "But it needs to be stunned enough first."
I sigh. "I'll try and distract it as much as I can. I'm more experienced than you." They don't take it to heart, which is good. "Just... stay around the sidelines and look for anything that'll help." Neither of them move. "Go!" They rush off, and I try to steer King Dodongo away from them as much as possible. I hop out of the way when King Dodongo breathes a large ray of fire, throwing me off my game enough to get the top of my left arm burnt.
I cry out and stumble backwards, though I don't fall over, swinging my scimitar enough to slash at the beast's face. "Ciren!" I snap my head over slightly to see Link rushing over to my side, holding a black sphere above his head. "Gorons eat real strange things..." Malinda's voice echoes through my mind. "Call 'em Bombs. We don't have 'em out here, but they are amazing explosives!" With a cry, Link shouts: "Eat this!" at the open mouth of King Dodongo and chucks the Bomb into its mouth.
"Watch out!" As King Dodongo chews on the Bomb, it explodes inside of him – sending a shockwave outwards that stuns the "King" and knocks Link and I away from it. "Quickly!" Navi adds quickly. "Strike it's head! Now!" I try to push myself onto my feet, but the burn on my arm holds me back. Link pushes me back too, making sure that Navi stays with me, and starts to clamber up King Dodongo; but is soon knocked off when King Dodongo suddenly awakens from being stunned.
He half skids, half rolls, across the ground and into a stop; though apparently hit the ground with such an impressive force that it is too painful to get back up again. "Ciren, give King Dodongo the Bombs now!" He calls over to me. "Navi will show you where they are!" I nod, knowing that moving to help him would be the end of all of us, and follow Navi when she flashes at me – guiding me over to a patch of rounded flowers, the great beast hot on my heels.
Taking a deep breath, I pluck a single Bomb and spin back around to King Dodongo – who is slightly closer than I was expecting. I stagger backwards, but throw the Bomb into its mouth when it readies itself to breathe fire at me. The Bomb explodes within King Dodongo, but a shadow emerges from atop of the beast's head and plunges a sliver of silver into the head with a cry – leaping off of King Dodongo when it lets out a large, ear-splitting roar. The light reveals a familiar not-Kokiri, who moves over out me and watch as King Dodongo dies.
The gigantic monster cries out in immense pain and collapses to the ground and rolls after falling, crashing into the wall opposite us and sending another wave of rocks down around us; covering the body of the monster in a fall of lava that was flowing down the wall, leaving nothing but a pile of rock and scales left. "Well..." I mutter under my breath. "I officially hate these Caverns now."
"You... you actually did it..." Darunia grumbles. The three of us (and Navi) are surrounded by happy Gorons, eating all of the great rocks that have been cleansed somehow after we defeated King Dodongo. Darunia greeted us outside, and the other Gorons around him went straight into the Caverns after they heard of the monster's defeat. We now stand in Darunia's room once more, patched up (by surprisingly gentle female Gorons). "I don't know what you did, but I've gotta thank you for saving my race."
I smirk. "It's about time." I say. "Now, where's the Spiritual Stone? You said you'd think about giving it to us if we cleansed the Caverns – and we did."
He sighs deeply. "When that Ganondorf came here, he offered to take us under our protection in exchange for the Spiritual Stone. But when I refused, he somehow managed to make the Dodongo turn much more violent." Like my Sisters... I shake my head and look back at Darunia when he pats out shoulders, minding our injuries. "You, on the other hand... you are a true man and woman among men!" He turns around and picks up a small chest made of rock.
"Is it in there?" Link wonders, Navi all ready asleep under his hat.
Darunia nods, opening up the chest to reveal a diamond-shaped ruby within a "V" shape of gold. "Take it. It's a symbol of our gratitude, and our eternal friendship: the Spiritual Stone of Fire, the Goron's Ruby!" Link takes the Stone out of the chest and we inspect it together. We nod in thanks, not really able to form words after the Hell we have just been through. "This is a cause for celebration. Brother, Sister—" That's a strange nickname... "—stay here for the night and rest up. Enjoy the festivities, and we'll give you directions to the Great Fairy on this Mountain that will heal up your wounds for you."
And let's just say that the Gorons throw one Hell of a party...
The entire night is spent partying, drinking, and singing joyous songs. I find myself relaxing after a few hours, smiling more than ever as Darunia struts his stuff in the centre of the dance floor. Link, without his hat (Navi apparently wanted to sleep in it), even bought his Ocarina into the mix of things to spice things up as well. The Gorons sat around the dance floor in a circle, pots of drinks and rocks next to them for the entire night.
But I can't say that my night was spent entirely having fun.
By the end of the night, I sit on my stone bed in the room that I share with Link; my arms resting on my legs as I sit in a hunched position. I haven't drank anything tonight, no matter how many people offered me them, just because of the memories that it brings. "Ciren?" I snap my head up to the empty bed on the opposite side, where Navi sleepily flies out of Link's hat on the stone bed. "Where's Link?"
"Gone to talk with Darunia for the directions to the Great Fairy, just because we're going to set out early tomorrow – and the drunk Gorons probably won't be up to bid us farewell." Navi nods, and silence fills the room again; but there isn't anything that either of us can do about it.
After a few moments, she asks: "You worried about something?" I shrug. "You aren't alone in this, Ciren. After we get the last Spiritual Stone, then you can meet even more people that aren't going to hurt you like other people have."
I sigh. "That's my problem." She flies closer in confusion and concern. "I shouldn't even be saying this, but..." I shake my head. "Like the other races, the Gerudo are all about their Sisters and their King. We live for our people so we can survive. Ganondorf may have driven me out of my home, but I've completely neglected everything. I'm not living for my King, and I'm certainly not living for my Sisters. If I ever get my Sisters back, how could I even look them in the eye again after what I've done?"
"That is a problem..."
I tilt my head. "I thought Guardian Fairies were good for giving advice and whatnot."
"Yes, but what advice can you give when what you say is true?" I have no words to answer her with. "If you ever get them back, there's a chance that a few will not accept you for running from your fears. You'll have to wait another seventy-odd years for another King to be born, but you may not even live to see that even occur. You were stuck with a King who is causing havoc in Hyrule, but—" She says before I can get too depressed "—most of your Sisters will take you in because you tried to defeat your corrupted King in the name of your people..."
I smile a little. "Thanks, Navi."
"If you makes you feel any better: you're always an arrogant, stubborn girl who has one massive ego."
It makes me feel better.
~Interlude~
The newest Chosen Ones were watched from the Mountain as they clambered their way up the Trail towards the domain of the Great Fairy the next morning by a large owl. From the Sacred Realm, Rauru – the great Sage of Light – watched them in his spirit form after Ganondorf had murdered him numerous years ago. He had summoned a new form in Hyrule to watch over the new Chosen Ones: an owl known as Kaepora Gaebora.
"Come on!" The young Gerudo, Ciren, urged as she lifted herself up onto another chunk of rock and dragged herself over the edge of the wall her and her companion was flying up. She turned to her green garbed companion onto the very summit of Death Mountain. "These are some crazy ass directions. Are you sure that Darunia said that we had to scale the entire freaking Mountain to find this Fairy, Link? I thought Great Farires didn't even exist!"
"This was the directions he gave me." The boy, Link, responded. "And he said that there would be a tunnel into the Crater—" He gestured to the tunnel behind his friend, where heat and ash was slowly filtering out even that early in the morning. "—and a cave that would lead us to the Great Fairy."
Ciren gave him a dull look, but the boy's Guardian Fairy appeared from underneath the boy's hat. "Hey, if Guardian Faries can exist then Great Fairies can too." The Fairy commented with a huff, crossing her arms. "Let's just go into the cave and get you both fixed up. Darunia said that the final Spiritual Stone is the Spiritual Stone of Water and is in Zora's Domain, so let's get down to there quickly before the monsters start waking up."
"Water?" Ciren wondered as they moved. "I've heard about Zora's Domain being filled with water, and Zora's River being the same – but I never believed it." Their conversation was soon lost to the depths of Potentia's, the Great Fairy of Power, Fountain. Kaepora Gaebora hooted loudly, his spirit smiling broadly from the Sacred Realm as the great owl took flight into the blue skies of Nayru once more; his mission complete.
They are turning out to be wise Heroes, Your Graces...
