One of the advantages of having Gorons take care of you is that since they so rarely get Hylian visitors, they always have something prepared for them. A Goron rolled down into Kakariko to pick up something more suitable for me to eat – not that I doubted the rocks they liked were good, just that I didn't think I'd be able to properly appreciate them.

Contrary to what rumours say about them they don't provide rock beds for their guests, so I even slept comfortably that night. Even we heroes need our sleep sooner or later.

Much to my surprise, while I was waking up, having breakfast and the like, Darunia paid a call on me.

"You're looking better than last night, brother," he noted. "I didn't realize your clothes were magic."

"Magic?" I asked around a mouthful, not really catching on. I had only just woken up, after all.

Darunia nodded, pointing to one side, "Wasn't there a hole there? You looked a bit singed too, but now you look almost like you did when you first arrived."

I glanced down, noting he was right – the tear in my tunic had gone, as had the marks from the brief contact with the lava when fighting King Dodongo.

"Oh. That. I guess I just forgot about it. There's something I've been meaning to ask you, by the way."

"By all means, ask away!"

"You know you said you were waiting for a messenger from the king, right?" I asked. Darunia nodded again, looking curious. "What are you going to tell him when he arrives? Only I got the impression..."

"That I asked the King for aid?" Darunia suggested, then chortled. "Oh, I did. His messenger came by this morning, asking what the problem was. Should have seen his expression when I told him a little kid solved our problems for us because he was late."

"He came today? Is he still here?"

"Not any more. He left after I told him about you, saying the King would want words with you when he heard about this. Now let me ask you something, Silver. You came from the forest, right?"

"That's where I call home at the moment, yeah – Kokiri Forest. I look like one of them, but I'm not really."

"I can tell. Your features are too prominently Hylian. But that's not what I'm asking about – every Kokiri has a fairy, I know that because I've visited the forest before now, but just two days before you showed up – exactly two days after Ganondorf blocked off Dodongo's Cavern – there was another boy, very much like you, but without a fairy."

"The boy without a fairy," Navi said quietly. "The one all the Kokiri knew about, but wouldn't tell us about."

"Did the Great Deku Tree ever tell you anything about him?" I asked Navi.

"Only that he knew that boy wasn't the one we were waiting for – that was you."

Darunia spoke up again, "He didn't have a message from the king letting him up here, but we also don't know how he managed to get up here anyway. He wasn't like you – he was rude, made demands of us and several times was caught trying to steal from us. I was going to ask if you were related to him... but I gather you're not."

"Where did he go? I think I'd like to have a few words with him."

"With your sword, no doubt," Darunia said. "He was last seen heading down the mountain the day before you arrived, where the guard at the gate caught him. I gather he was found to be a thief down in the village below too."

"Do we have time to pursue him, Silver?" Navi asked.

"I figure it this way," I replied. "Ganondorf wants the three Spiritual Stones so he can break into the Sacred Realm, but because he tried to demand them rather than work for them, no one would give them to him. The Great Deku Tree was cursed and died-"

"What?" Darunia interrupted. "Ganondorf did that?"

"We tried to break the curse, but it had already run its course," I answered. "He entrusted me with the Kokiri Emerald before he died."

"If Ganondorf ever shows his face here again he will pay for this outrage," Darunia muttered darkly. "Go on, Silver."

"I'd love to help with that," I grinned back, then continued, "As I said, he cursed the Great Deku Tree because he wouldn't give up the stone, then it was entrusted to me. I come here at Princess Zelda's request to pick up the Goron's Ruby, only to find it's the same thing here."

"Right," Darunia agreed. "He told us if we didn't give it up he'd seal Dodongo's Cavern, and even if we blew up the rock in the way he'd fill it with monsters."

"But then I come along, destroy the rock and clear out the cavern in return for the Goron's Ruby."

"I follow your thinking, brother. You believe it will be the same situation at Zora's Domain – he'll have made demands of them, and they won't have given it up to him. Since he can't get his hands on any of the Spiritual Stones and he doesn't know you're going around collecting them, you can take the time to pursue little things along the way without consequence."

"Exactly. Like tracking down this little troublemaker. Ganondorf doesn't know about me, so I'm the perfect one to keep the Spiritual Stones safe. Once I've gathered them all I can take them to Princess Zelda at the Temple of Time, and we'll be able to protect the Sacred Realm from him – right under his nose."

"I am honoured to be your brother, Silver," Darunia laughed. "You couldn't have found a better way. You do realize of course that once you do this, you'll have made a mortal enemy out of Ganondorf?"

"You mean he isn't already?" I asked innocently.

"Oh dear," Navi murmured. "Not again."

"Oh, hush. It's not like he'll know where to find me, right? I'll be ready for him."

"Speaking of being ready," Darunia said. "Since you have the time, you may want to pay a call on the Great Fairy at the peak of Death Mountain. She will surely lend you her power and prepare you for what you have to do."

Darunia showed me on my map where to go to reach the Great Fairy, approvingly noting that the shield I had would do well for protecting me on the way up, though not what it would protect me from, then left me to finish my breakfast in peace.

"Who?" Tails asked shortly, forgetting to wait for his normal self to reassert itself after he shifted form. "Who was the other boy?"

"I didn't know at the time," Silver replied. "I just thought he was a Kokiri that had left the forest."

"So he wasn't a Kokiri either? What was he then?"

"You'll find out if you let me tell you the story, Tails. If I don't tell you things in the right order, they won't make any sense."

"Isn't that the excuse Zelda gave you?"

"Who says it was an excuse? Curl back up and listen, Tails. I'll tell you about him when we get to him."

The Gorons were all thankful for what I'd done, with many more of them around Goron City now. They were friendly, good-natured and very happy for what I'd done. I had more than a few offers of Goron hugs to see me off, which I sort of had to accept in the end. I didn't hear anything crack, but I definitely ached for a time after that send off.

On my way out a Goron told me that Medigoron, in thanks for my work, had forged what he called the Giant's Knife, a massive sword that I could barely wield even two-handed, and wanted me to take it 'for when you grow up enough to use it'. That would be some time, unless there happened to be no one around. I could just about hold it with my mind, but fighting like that wouldn't be very easy.

The trail to the Great Fairy was hidden behind the trail of rocks I'd noticed in my way up the mountain originally. At the time the only way of moving them had been with my mind, and with the Goron still there that was still going to attract attention. This time though, I had the bombs I could use to blow them up instead.

The Goron looked up at the sound of the first bomb going off, watching me set a second one so I could continue up. I suppose I could have floated up, but for some reason that idea never occurred to me.

After he watched me methodically blow up every rock along the way, he wandered up, examined the rubble then started to fill in a large gap with it, even filling in some of the small craters my bombing had left.

"Be careful if you're going to the top of Death Mountain," he warned me. "It is an active volcano. If you were a Goron you'd be alright, but you'll have to take care. That shield of yours should keep you safe if you hold it above you."

I didn't quite understand what he meant by that, but I took his advice. Since it was still not the easiest thing to wield due to my size, I waited until I was out of sight and then encouraged it to float above me instead.

Part way up the trail I understood. There was a thunderous detonation from the peak of Death Mountain, the mountain itself started to shake beneath me, then a shower of rocks, some on fire, some even glowing with heat and all a ruddy brown of superheated rock, came down around us. I quickly crouched beneath the shield, taking up as little space as I could so I'd be safe from most of the rocks, forming a mental barrier around me that would prevent any of the red-hot rocks from rolling in.

"Now I see where it got its name!" I yelled over the noise. "With this kind of welcome, it's no wonder it isn't on the list of holiday resorts!"

"I can't see that making people come," Navi called back, having to hover beside my ear just to be heard. "Welcome to Death Mountain, where we'll greet you with burning rocks! Very welcoming!"

The rockfall and noise began to subside, so I cautiously continued up the trail.

"I wonder if Ganondorf is responsible for this too?" I mused.

"Volcanoes are massive, Silver. No one can harness that kind of energy."

"Oh I know that, but that doesn't mean he couldn't have encouraged it to become more violent like this."

"I think you're just over-thinking it," Navi told me. "I hope you're up to doing this a lot more. We'll have to come back down again yet, and I don't think it'd be a good idea to try flying up there."

Sound thinking. The force of the rocks on the shield was stunning enough as it was, and I was bracing that with my mind. If I'd tried this by keeping it on my back and crouching low beneath it my back would have been black and blue with bruises in no time.

We paused for several more eruptions as we continued up the trail to a sheer cliff upwards. It had several naturally formed ledges on it, making it look as if a chunk of the mountain had just broken away, leaving chunks of rock behind and a random pattern of small holes that could, if you were daring enough, be used to scale the side.

Death Mountain erupted again, so I took shelter under one of the ledges while I waited for it to pass, searching ahead to see if there was anything to be concerned about. I was fairly sure I sensed a few Skulltulas, then when I passed the top and felt around I caught the sense of a powerful mind that had the same odd quality to it that I'd sensed in Saria. I couldn't quite place what it was, but I recognised it all the same. Perhaps this mind was somehow related to Saria?

With the ledges providing shelter I began my ascent of the cliff face, not by climbing but because I knew there was no one watching by floating up instead, slingshot in hand to defeat the Skulltulas along the way. It was a hard climb, and more than once I had to drop down and quickly take shelter beneath a ledge because the mountain erupted unexpectedly. I did not want to get brained by a rock halfway up the mountain, thank you very much.

When I finally passed the top edge of the face and landed on solid ground, I found the source of that odd mind – it was the owl again, perched on a pitted and charred wooden sign.

"What are you doing up here, Silver?" it asked me.

"Seeing the Great Fairy," I replied, looking around. There was a passage leading through the rock into what was probably the crater of Death Mountain, and a strange looking wall off to one side. It seemed out of place among the more natural rocks of the mountain, so I took out a bomb and lobbed it toward it. The owl quickly took off to avoid the explosion, then landed afterwards to look down the newly opened tunnel.

"When you have seen her, come back to see me here," the owl told me. "I can give you a lift back down to Kakariko Village, to save you from having to worry about the eruptions."

"Why not over to Zora's Domain?"

"I may be able to ferry you to Kakariko, but I am still an owl," it told me, overlooking its unusual size for an owl – at least as big as I was. "I cannot hold on for that long. You will have to make your way up-river to Zora's Domain yourself."

"Half measures are better than none I suppose," I muttered, just loud enough for the owl to hear, then went in to see the Great Fairy. Just like her cousin outside Hyrule Castle, her fountain was made of small, neatly fitted stones that were clearly not natural, and also just like her cousin she wasn't present, at least not visibly so, until I stood before the symbol of the Triforce and played Zelda's lullaby once again.

She too appeared with shrieked laughs, unlike the Great Fairy of Magic she actually sat up in the air rather than lounging on it, but once again the costume left very little to the imagination.

"Welcome, Silver!" she greeted me, even sounding the same as the Great Fairy of Magic. "I am the Great Fairy of Power."

"And... you're going to teach me a spell? Like your... uh... friend outside Hyrule Castle?"

"Oh, have you already gone to see her? She always did insist you'd see her first. No, Silver, I am not here to give you a spell – rather to teach you a new way to use your sword. I gather you know by now that you can use Din's Fire in ways others cannot."

"Of course. It's been very useful."

"And convincing," Navi added. "He didn't believe in magic until then."

The Great Fairy overlooked her comment. "As you know why, now it is time for you to learn to use magic in a different way. Should you channel it not into Din's Fire, but into the sword you carry, you will be able to do many things – from causing the ground to quake if you plunge your sword into it, to releasing a mighty spin attack that will reach far beyond the normal range of your sword. Should you ever be found worthy of the Sword of Evil's Bane, then you will find these powers become stronger still, and perhaps even discover new ones that only work with that sword."

"This... sword of Evil's Bane... where would I find it?" I asked curiously. It sounded like something useful I could use against Ganondorf.

The Great Fairy however had other ideas. "All will be revealed in due time, Silver. Now you must venture forth to collect the last Spiritual Stone. Before you embark on that quest, seek the next Great Fairy in the place where the Patron Deity of the Zoras is found. She will surely aid you further."

Then without another word, she vanished back into her fountain.

"Well that was useful," I muttered, wandering back out again. "A bit of advice, and getting pointed on to the next Great Fairy."

"Would you have thought to try your magic that way if she hadn't suggested it?" Navi said.

"Well no, but-"

"Then it wasn't a waste, was it?"

"What's all this noise?" a new voice echoed loudly into the tunnel. It sounded like a Goron, and very similar to Medigoron at that. When I emerged from the tunnel I saw why it was so similar – a Goron even bigger than Medigoron was stood towering over the top of the plateau.

"Would you be... Biggoron?" I asked somewhat hesitantly.

"That's right. Who are you, little fellow?" he asked, peering at me.

"I'm Silver – the one who cleared out Dodongo's Cavern."

"Oh? Is it open again? I heard it had been closed off, but I hadn't heard this."

"I did it just yesterday," I replied. "Darunia asked me to become his sworn brother for helping out. Oh, that reminds me – your brother Medigoron said to tell you he's still ahead of you."

"Good workmanship takes time," Biggoron shrugged a massive shrug. "When I'm done, I'll have a sword better than his. Of course, it would help if I had something to work with."

"Would this help?" I asked, reaching into the pouch to pull out the Giant's Knife. "It's the sword he forged."

Biggoron took it off me in two massive fingers, examining it.

"It's not bad work," he conceded. "But I think I can improve on it. If you don't mind leaving it with me, I can turn this into my sword in a few years. For a sworn brother of the Gorons, I won't even charge you for it."

"You're took kind," I answered. "Any idea how many years?"

"Good workmanship takes time," Biggoron repeated diffidently. "Just check back in a few years, ah..."

"Silver," I supplied.

"Silver. I'll remember that. Be sure to come see me," he added, then ducked back down out of sight, taking the Giant's Knife with him.

"Useful," Navi noted. "If you're still around by then."

"I'm sure I can wait around to pick it up Navi. Now then, how about we head back down to Kakariko Village, ah..."

"My name is Kaepora Gaebora," the owl answered. "Simply hold on to my talons, and I will carry you back down safely."

I still call him the owl even after that. It's easier to say.