Chapter 14: Snows of Remorse

After coming out of the cave, Link had to explain to the other Goron's that the song he had played was a tribute to Darmani and had hoped to grant him peace. He also explained that he still had to go to the temple and nothing could be said to change his mind. Realising this, Bramne gave in but would not allow Link to go until he had had a night's rest to recover from his obvious exhaustion.

The growing darkness of night proved it to be getting late, so Link complied as he followed the other Goron's back to the Elder's home. They let him stay in the small room he was in earlier to which he gave his thanks, lay down on the bed and, as soon as it was clear, took out the newly obtained Goron mask.

"So Darmani's spirit should be in this mask, then?" Tatl said.

"It should be, but I can't hear him," Link replied.

"What do you mean?"

Turning to sit on the bed instead of lying back, Link fingered with the mask and took another look at it. It actually didn't look anything special. It didn't have the sideburns that Darmani had or the same facial features, just a face of your average Goron with a smile.

"With Dreek, I can speak to him through my mind even when I'm not wearing him. With Darmani, I don't think I can."

"Well, maybe you have to connect to him first. You know, wear him," Tatl suggested.

Thinking the somewhat obvious idea through, Link tested out the theory and placed the mask in front of his face. As with the Deku mask, there was a slight surge of pain as his body adjusted to the new shape. After the short transformation there now stood the tall, strong shape of the Goron Darmani in place of Link. Now that he had a physical form, you could see he had a scar across his chest that was once made by a large Wolfos in his earlier years.

Darmani, can you hear me? Link asked telepathically.

"Wh-what is this? Where am I?" Darmani looked around in confusion until his gaze found Tatl. "You…you are that fairy from my cave. Where am I now and…am I alive again?" He asked, noticing his non-ghostly appearance.

"Uhh, sort of," Tatl answered, almost as equally confused as Darmani was. "Your spirit lives on in a mask and, when worn, you become as you are now."

"But this body, surely it is my own. My scar-"

This is your body only in the vaguest sense. Link began. It is my body, only changed into another that is similar to what yours once was. I wore your spirit infused mask and now we are one.

"I am still confused. Who are you that speaks to my mind, and how are you doing it?"

"Oh great, another one sided conversation." Tatl sighed, not able to hear Link's words. She fluttered over to the small table by the bed and stretched out on it. "Tell me when you're done, Link. I'm kinda tired and wouldn't mind going to sleep soon."

Darmani, ever more confused by Tatl's use of the word 'again', instead closed his eyes in the hopes that it would make this voice more clear or perhaps put a body to it. To his dismay, all it did was close his eyes and make him see nothing.

If my voice does not make me recognisable, perhaps my appearance would. I am the boy in green clothes, the one who played the song to cure you. Link paused a moment, allowing the thoughts of Darmani, which Link could read, process this new information. I am the one you pledged to help, and this is how you can.

"By completing the trials of the temple,"

Yes.

"It may be dangerous, but I gave you my word, so I shall help. When do we depart?"

Tomorrow; we rest for tonight so that we may be fully prepared.

"Alright, but is it possible to reverse this? I am supposed to be dead and if I were seen, there would be too many questions that I would rather not answer right now."

Neither would I.…Good night Darmani.

"Good night, um…"

"Link," Tatl filled in.

"Thank you. Good night Link."

Link gently pulled the mask off which returned him to his Hylian form once more. He sat down on the bed then turned to the table where Tatl and the gas lamp were sitting.

"So, how's Darmani? Good?" Tatl asked.

"He seems to be fine. He just needs time to adjust to his new way of being. It looks like we all could use a night's rest."

"Oh, yes. With what we've been through today, never again will sleep feel so good." Getting comfortable on her makeshift bed, she turned to Link again and whispered a "Good night, Link," before quickly falling asleep.

Link stared at her for a moment, at the peaceful image of another fairy friend, and then managed to break his gaze by remembering the Goron mask. Placing it back with the other masks in his pack, he placed a hand over the lamp and blew out the flame. Much the same as Tatl, as soon as Link laid down beneath the covers of the bed, he fell asleep with what could possibly be guessed as a smile on his face.

Hours passed as the sun set behind the mountain tops, the cold claimed the land and forced all the local inhabitants to return home for their own rest. Soon, every Goron was asleep in the relatively warm confines of their homes and spending the night constantly hoping for something to answer their prayers and save their home. For a time, there was peace all through the village, but was broken in the middle of the night when a young child began crying.

This night seemed especially graceful to the Gorons as the crying did not disturb their sleep. Except, that is, for one Goron who would always awaken at the sound of this child crying. If he had eyes right now, Darmani would have opened them the instant he heard the faint sobbing.

Jack?

Unaware that his words could only be heard by Link, and that by speaking it was assured that he heard them, Link slowly stirred to Darmani's silent voice.

"Darmani; what is it?" Link asked, still half asleep.

Don't you hear it? That crying,

They both fell silent so that Link could hear the occasional shudder of sadness echo through across the cold walls of the building. At first, Link didn't hear it, but waited a moment more and found the same sound Darmani had.

I know who that is. Please, let me go to him. Darmani pleaded.

As an act of appeasement, and also seeing there was little risk of wandering the halls at night, Link transformed once again into the Goron form and let Darmani seize control to go where he wanted to go.

Confirming Link's guess, no other Gorons were roaming the house which was proven further by the sound of content snoring coming from the various rooms. The soft crying was coming from the highest room which seemed to, from below, have a more elaborate entrance to it than any of the other rooms. Being the Goron Elder's home, Link guessed that it belonged to the Elder himself. As Bramne had said earlier, though, the Elder was not home.

Reaching the top of the spiral ledge led them to a long ornate carpet that extended the length of the highest level and into a room beyond a pair of red velvet curtains. Treading carefully so as to not make much sound, Darmani moved on to the carpet and pulled aside the curtains to reveal a nicely decorated room. By the entrance there were two torches, only one of which was lit so it created a dim light to see, but not so bright as to prevent sleep. The walls were the same stone as the rest of the building, but painted in lines of various colours to make the room seem livelier. At the far end was a stone crib where the source of the crying was coming from.

Lying in the crib was a small Goron that was probably not much older than five or six years old. Tears slowly slid down the side of his young face as he used his small hands to try and wipe them off. Darmani slowly moved towards the upset child and whispered hushing sounds to alert him to his presence, then knelt down in front of him.

"Hush, little Jack. There's no need to cry." Darmani said in a surprisingly soothing voice.

The child looked up from his sobbing and moved his hands away from his face so that he could see who it was talking to him. When he saw Darmani's face, his crying subsided as he was more surprised to see Darmani than be upset.

"D-Darmy?" Jack asked, still shuddering slightly.

"Yes, it's me. What's the matter?"

For a moment, it looked like Jack would start sobbing again, but he managed to gain some control and held back the tears to explain.

"Daddy is missing. I miss him."

"The Elder; when did this happen?" Darmani asked, not having seen Link's thoughts to discover for himself.

"A few days after you left; he went to the hot springs to get some more water, but he hasn't been back…and I miss him."

Jack started crying again, softly this time, with tears running down his face once more. Before he had the chance to bury his face in his hands again, Darmani wiped the tear away himself and looked sternly into Jack's eyes.

"There, there, don't cry, Jack. It's going to be alright. I'll find him for you."

"R-really?"

"I promise."

Another tear rolled down Jack's cheek, but he rubbed it away himself. His face turned from one of sadness to one of hope and determination as he sat up and looked back at Darmani.

"Alright, then I'll stay here and be strong. I won't cry anymore, I'll just wait and do what I can in Daddy's place." Jack said firmly.

"That-a boy. Now, it's late. Go back to sleep. I'll start looking in the morning."

Receiving a smile, Darmani got up and moved to go back to his room, but stopped when he heard Jack's voice again.

"Darmy, could you play my lullaby? It feels like I haven't heard it in so long."

Darmani smiled. "Sure."

Picking up a set of drums on one of the shelves, Darmani set them on the floor and sat down behind them to start playing. Softly beating the drums, the calm melody flowed through the room and made it one of peace and tranquillity. Jack's eyelids drooped as his thoughts returned to his missing father. As he promised, he no longer cried but instead smiled at the comforting memories of the same lullaby being played before. Before he knew it, Jack had curled up and fallen back to sleep.

"Good night, Jack." Darmani whispered, pulling a small blanket over the Goron. "Sleep well."

Leaving the small Goron to his rest, Darmani returned to Link's room and gave him his body back so that he may rest as well. Link felt ready to, still half sleep from being woke up, but also wanted to get to know this Goron better. Not wanting to be as invasive as he once was, Link asked Darmani instead of reading his thoughts while he could.

"How are you on such good terms with the Elder's son? Are you related in some way?" Link asked.

No. We are not related. When I was a young child, my family and I were attempting to make it to Clock Town for the annual festival. We were attacked by a pack of Wolfos. My parents were killed, but the Elder found me and saved me from being killed along with them. He raised me until I was strong enough to take care of myself. When that day came, I decided to stay here and live out my life protecting the man and his village that had saved me.

"You have a high respect for him, then."

I do. That is why I will be looking out for him tomorrow.

"Tomorrow is when we leave for the temple." Link reminded in an accusing way.

Do not mistake me. I gave my word so I shall help you; I simply request that we look about on the way and back. Either way, we should get back to sleep. By the sounds of it, we have a long day ahead of us.

Darmani, closing his would-be eyes to sleep, didn't know just how right he was.

---

As the sun slowly rose over the top of the Ikana canyon, life came to Clock Town as people went about their business, still preparing for the festival. The Mayor, it seemed, still hadn't made up his mind yet. Regardless of this, there were still two beings that remained, and would still remain, in the centre of the large town.

One of those beings had not slept, mainly as he didn't need sleep, but also because he kept doing his job throughout the night. The other lay on the roof of the Clock tower and slowly stirred as the morning light covered his face. He half hoped that he would wake up like he had done all the other nights before, but when he was reminded of the other being's existence, he knew it wasn't so.

"Have a nice sleep?" Majora asked, tauntingly. Tael didn't answer. "You should have stayed up. There was a beautiful moon."

"It's a little difficult to stay awake when you've been knocked out by magic." Tael said dryly.

"Ah, yes, I had forgotten. Perhaps you can stay up tonight then. I hear the moon will be even bigger."

"Just what do you need the moon for, anyway, Majora? Isn't there an easier way for you to destroy everything?"

Majora gave a loud laugh before turning away from the moon that had stolen his gaze. He floated down, kneeling in front of Tael as if he was speaking to a young child.

"You poor, naïve fool. You think I live for destruction? That I yearn for nothing more than the end of all things?" Majora asked, laughing at his own words.

"If that is not your reason, then what is?" Tael continued to ask, wondering just how long this would last before he was silenced.

"Power! I yearn for the strength I once had so that I may exact my revenge."

Majora almost continued, but consciously realised he might be revealing too much, so he stopped himself. He refused to acknowledge the fairy now as he instead looked towards the mountain Link had climbed the day before. He knew a giant was there, he had made the winter spell as soon as the guardian magic no longer protected the snowy peaks.

What concerned him was if Link knew a giant was there as well. The only one who would know of the giants and have a need for their release would be the mask man, but he hadn't seen him since…not that it mattered anyway. Even if he was here, which was still impossible, he would not have the time to task the boy into releasing all four giants in three days. As far as he could see, Link was one day down and not even close to freeing one giant yet. It would be a number of times before Majora finally realised what was going on.

Unlike his once-upon-a-time idea of going down to mess with Link's plans like in Woodfall, Majora decided it would be easier and possibly smarter to stay in the same place and keep calling down the moon. Perhaps if he did, he might get ahead of schedule. This prospect delighted him, and helped make up his mind on staying and concentrating on his work.

The sun had risen on the second day. Majora smiled up at the moon which smiled back, while Tael sat on the roof of the tower, always hoping and thinking of his sister's safety.

---

As morning came to the mountain, Link awoke and, at first, had completely forgotten the events of the previous night. When the voices of Gorons could be heard, one sounding more younger than the others, he remembered what had happened and guessed Jack was now trying to explain how he had seen Darmani in the middle of the night. No doubt the others were attempting to convince him he had just been dreaming.

Pushing back the thin covers, Link saw Tatl on the table next to him, still asleep. Wanting to let her rest, but wanting to get up and locate this temple more-so, Link shook the leg of the table a little in the attempts of waking her up. He stopped when he saw the fairy stir and flicker her wings slightly, yawning at the same time.

"Oh, is it morning already?" Tatl asked in a tired daze.

"Yeah. Come on, we should make an early start." Link greeted.

Pushing herself up from the desk, she took a better look at Link who did seem ready to leave at a moment's notice.

"You're not going to rush off without breakfast again, are you?" Tatl quizzed.

A growl from Link's stomach answered the question before he had a chance to himself. Tatl giggled at the whole situation and got up to get some breakfast of her own, after waiting for Link to open the door for her. Being small had its disadvantages that Tatl knew all too well.

Taking the time, as little as he had, to get ready for the upcoming temple, Link made sure to have a big breakfast and packed away some extra food in a pouch for later which he attached to his belt. Equipping everything else he would need, such as his shield, bow and checking all his various masks were there, Link moved on to find his sword. It was different now as Bramne had said the smithy had worked on it.

At first, he was annoyed with this as it was taken without even asking and had no guarantee it would be any good, or still in one piece, but looking at it now, Link was pleased. Picking it up, the most obvious thing about it was that it was heavier and would take a little time getting used to this, but with the fine, sharp blade and a smooth, stream-lined surface, it would be something worth adjusting to.

Sheathing his new sword behind his back, Link finally checked to see Tatl was still with him, then moved out of the Elder's home and into the cold.

"Link, wait!"

Turning back to see who had called, Bramne rolled up to him and stopped just before him, holding on to something.

"You're still going, huh?" Bramne asked.

"Yes. I have to do this." Link said.

"I figured as much. Take this, then. You'll need it."

Revealing the Dodongo-hide pouch, which Link recognised all too well, Bramne passed it to him and made sure he accepted it. To confirm Link's suspicion, he opened the top to see a number of small bombs and two small pieces of flint with equally small straps attached to them.

"Where you're going, you'll need these a lot more than we will." Bramne said.

"No, we couldn't possibly." Tatl objected, seeing the number of bombs in the bag. "This snow must make it hard, if not impossible for bomb flowers to grow. We can't take from an already small pile."

Bramne smiled, almost a light laugh, at Tatl's kindness, but composed himself before talking.

"Do not worry. If you succeed, we can grow more and there will be no problem. If not, I doubt there will be much of a world for us to use them when that moon collides anyhow. Please, take them, and good luck."

Link tied the bag back up and attached it on to his belt, alongside the rest of his belongings.

"Thank you. I'll make sure these aren't wasted."

Glad to have his offer accepted, Bramne returned to the basement to serve breakfast for those who needed it, but was interrupted by Jack running around, carrying things that seemed too large for him. Shaking his head and sighing, Bramne ran off after him. Link, glad to see that Jack was trying to help as he had promised, turned to leave again.

Once outside, Link opened the bag again and took out the two pieces of flint, curious as to why they had straps on them. Tatl noticed as well and, after coming up with nothing, suggested Link should ask Darmani to see if he knew what to do with them.

It's to help save time lighting the bombs. You place one on your thumb and the other on your forefinger, then put the fuse between the two and click.

Putting them on as instructed, Link clicked his fingers without a bomb to see how this would work. It took a couple of attempts to get used to it and make it work, but the sparks came and dropped to the floor, melting in the snow for a second.

"Wow, that's pretty clever." Tatl marvelled. Link silently agreed, "So, which way now, then?"

"Darmani?"

Follow the main path out up to the crossroads. We go right, away from the path out. That way will eventually lead us to the temple.

"Main path, turn right. Got it," Link repeated for Tatl's sake.

"Let's go then!" Tatl said eagerly, glad to be doing something.

The start of their walk was safe and uneventful as the path led the way with no major difficulties. Due to the path being taken so often by all the other Gorons, it was padded down enough so that there wasn't much snow on top to impede their progress.

Because Darmani saw out of Link's eyes and not his own when just a mask, Link kept looking about for the Elder for him with Darmani being able to tell him to stop if he saw him or something indicating to him. Tatl noticed this, but not knowing of the search for the Elder had her thinking it was just Link being on guard in case of a sudden attack.

Time went by, though not too much time, and the split in the path soon became visible. The left turn remained padded but turned into roll tracks that would eventually lead back to Clock Town. Their right turn was more bogged down as not many dared venture towards the temple, for obvious reasons. Ignoring these reasons, Link turned down that way and immediately felt the change of effort needed to continue.

"Having a little trouble there, Link?" Tatl asked teasingly.

"None that I can't fix," Link answered back, reaching for the Goron mask.

You want me to roll there?

"Only if we're not likely to be seen."

Let's roll, then!

Enduring the pain again, which became less so as he grew used to it, the Hylian transformed into the Goron. Darmani took control and took a short run-up before jumping and curling into a ball so that his roll would start with a good speed. The snow was soft and easy to push to a side as he rolled and below was a path so there should be no bumps or rocks to disturb their passage, yet something felt wrong. Some ominous feeling at the back of his mind was telling Darmani that something bad was about to happen and no matter what he did, it would not go away.

For a time, nothing eventful happened which pleased Link for two reasons. First, it looked like he would finally get a short journey that wouldn't result in some kind of catastrophe or hostile nature, and secondly, he was allowed to devote his full attention to loving this new rolling experience that any child his age couldn't help but love.

What Link should have learned by now is that he would never get an uneventful journey.

Link, stop,

Still rolling, as Link wasn't in control and he only just heard it, Darmani became confused again at the sound of another voice that belonged to neither Link nor himself.

Dreek? Link asked to be sure.

Yes, it's me. Now stop!

Darmani, stop,

Screeching to a halt on the snowy track, and losing Tatl for a moment as she continued to fly ahead before noticing, the Goron form uncurled and got up, still obviously confused.

"Link, who is this other voice?"

His name is Dreek. He's a Deku spirit who inhabits a mask much like you do. Link explained as briefly as he could, sensing the urgency in Dreek's voice.

"Hey! Why have we stopped?" Tatl shouted, annoyed at the lack of warning.

"Good question. Dreek?" Link asked aloud.

"Dreek? Oh god. I'm getting pretty tired of your silent conversations, you know."

Ignoring her complaints, Link concentrated on Dreek now and asked him briefly to explain his reasoning.

There's something here, I can feel it, and whatever it is it's ready to attack us.

Is it Majora? Link asked, worried that he may try to intervene again.

No, it's something else. Something more hostile; it's…

Darmani had set himself as the guard while the other two spoke within himself and as a result, before Dreek had a chance to finish, he noticed something a little further down the path on the top of the frozen lake. At first, he shrugged it off as he would have done if continued rolling, but looking harder he could not deny that the shape was a familiar structure.

"…Elder?"

What?

Darmani, wait, it could be a trap. Link warned.

Ignoring the warning, or perhaps not hearing it with his own judgement blocking it out, Darmani ran towards the figure and slipped down the frosted bank. Skidding to a halt next to the icy statue, the large hunchback and thick lips turned blue by the cold fully registered in Darmani's mind and instantly set him to work at trying to free him. Tatl flew down after him, still confused with the whole situation and being a step behind. Because of this, she didn't notice the white camouflaged form silently hiding against the snow.

"Who is that?" Tatl asked, also recognising the form as an old Goron.

"It's the Elder." Link said aloud, yet not in full control of the body. Darmani retained that privilege and was using it to consistently punch at the ice with hopes of breaking the elder free.

"The Elder? Oh no. Darmani…"

She said nothing else. She couldn't do anything else except hover where she was and watch the desperate Goron throw punch after punch after punch. As cracks appeared beneath Darmani's large fist, it became more apparent to Tatl, now, that there was another noise besides that of the splitting ice, one more like snarling. Her intentions had been to slowly look around and try to locate the sound, but were quickly overridden by her instincts to fly away from a wide set of jaws set on her.

Flying back, Tatl was able to get a good, brief look at her surprise attacker and knew full well the features of a White Wolfos. The large jaws were a trademark amongst all Wolfos and also made them strong predators with teeth capable of biting through various kinds of flesh and hide. What made it a White Wolfos was the snow-coloured fur coating its entire body making it practically invisible against the surroundings if not for the blood-red eyes, the same eyes that had now turned to the large Goron that just screamed "dinner".

"Link! Look out!" Tatl screamed, unsure why she called Link's name.

Holding back the last punch set for the ice, Darmani turned to the flying beast and knocked it back across the icy surface, blood spitting out through its mangled jaw. Making the mistake of stopping to enjoy the victory, another Wolfos that all failed to see jumped from above and locked on tightly to the arm that just hit its kin. Howling in pain, Darmani did what he could to try and shake or pull the creature off, but it vehemently refused to let go. Acting on the sudden urge to do two jobs at once, Darmani swung his arm, and so the Wolfos as well, at the ice covering the Elder and shattered it, loosening the grip of the Wolfos enough for Darmani to rip it off and throw it next to the other one.

To his dismay, however, the two wounded, panting Wolfos got back to their feet and snarled maliciously with their red eyes narrowed to slits. Darmani readied himself in a fighting stance he knew all too well as a result of his training under the Elder, perhaps doing so as an honour to the watching Elder himself. At the time, though, the Elder was still frozen by the cold and only just starting to come around to a point of consciousness.

The blood dripping from Darmani's new bite wound enticed the hunger of the Wolfos as they immediately charged forward in random patterns not easily predictable. Darmani didn't care, though, as his current stance dealt with the unpredictable. The first came from the right, leaping up high with its sight set on the throat. Swinging his right fist around to meet the Wolfos, Darmani's strike hit full force on the side of the beast and sent it off course into the path of the other beast with similar sights.

Lying on the ice, not having fallen as far due to the collision, the first Wolfos reaffirmed a lock on Darmani's leg hoping to slow it down in any way it could. Enduring the pain much more than when it was a surprise to him, Darmani stepped forward and slammed his free foot down on the white body of the Wolfos; still refusing to let go of his prey. Seeing this, Darmani pushed hard into the ice and flesh beneath each foot and pressed them apart as much as he could. It moved slowly at first, but as the sound of ripping flesh grew louder, the horrific sight of blood and guts sprayed across the clear ice as the body of the White Wolfos split apart right across the chest.

Still fully alert of the other Wolfos and seeing it run and leap back up to avenge his kin, Darmani clapped two fists together and struck down with all his strength on the top of the long skull, crushing it to pieces on impact. The limp body fell to his feet next to the other fallen foe and failed to move, even when kicked just to be sure. With a sigh of relief that it wasn't much worse, Darmani turned to meet the failed stuttering of words behind him.

"D-d-d-d-Darmani?"

Running as fast as he could across the ice, Darmani pulled the Elder out of the ice and held onto his large back to keep him from falling. Now that he had a chance to look closer, the Elder looked incredibly pale for a Goron and his teeth were loudly chattering beneath his swollen blue lips.

"Elder! It's ok, I'm here to help." Darmani answered, never looking away from the Elder's cold face.

"I'm d-d-dying, D-Darmani," The Elder managed to say, his icy coating showing its effects on him.

"No, don't say that. I can carry you to the hot springs. We can warm you up and you'll be fine, you'll make it."

Darmani started to head back to the bank, to put his plan into action, but was stopped instantly by the freezing touch of a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm f-f-f-fine with this. It is a f-f-fitting end, being saved b-b-by you on this t-t-t-trail from w-w-w-Wolfos."

"Elder," was all Darmani could say.

Snow started gently falling from the sky, littering itself across the frozen lake and all upon it. Flakes fell upon the Elder's still blue lips, but did not stay long as the chattering of his teeth soon shook them off. Droplets of ice joined them from Darmani's tears as they quickly froze from the cold while he also started shuddering, shaking his own flakes of snow off.

"C-could you l-l-l-look after Jack f-f-for me?" The Elder weakly asked.

"And the whole tribe," Darmani answered, trying to put on a smile. "In your name I shall never fail them again."

Where Darmani could not, the Elder now had a warm smile on his face despite his quivering lower lip.

"Thank you. I'm…so p-p-proud…of you…"

The snow fell harder as the old Goron slowly stopped moving. His lips ceased to quiver, both eyes closed and his arms became limp as the kind, loved Elder died in peace.

Still holding on to his back, Darmani eased him down so that he lay comfortably on the ice. Under the white rain of the mountain, Darmani crossed his arms and lay across the Elder's motionless body, weeping his frozen tears.