A/n: This chapter has been revised.
Disclaimer: Pie.
Chapter 25: Medallion of Fire Part 5
"What the hell do we even do in this room?"
While not a master of words, Joey had handily summed up the rest of the group's thoughts by saying that. The room before them was a large, complicated room that looked like it had a million different things going on. On one side there were boulders rolling around and some platforms sticking out of the ground. On another side, and this seemed like the main attraction, was a huge platform in the distance with a large treasure chest, surrounded by a huge barrier of fire. Leading to the treasure chest, however, was a long staircase that was narrow and very curvy. The width of the staircase was only big enough for one person, maybe. And there was a switch at the start of the staircase that seemed to be a trigger to put out the flames. The staircase twisted out over another seemingly endless abyss, a one-way ticket to the bottom of the temple, Navi guessed.
"Couldn't I just go up the staircase at my own pace, walk through the flames, and open the chest?" Joey looked up at Navi.
"Uh, I would totally be okay with that idea." Navi had gone over to investigate the chest. "But I think that's a special kind of magic fire or something. Not normal fire. It's probably guarding something really important. My guess is that they made the fire impenetrable to guard against people who could slip past the system, like you."
"Really? I can't show off how awesome it is to be the Spirit of Fire? I haven't been able to show off at all this dungeon."
"You've been showing off enough by rubbing it everyone's faces how immune you are to the heat." Katara stated grumpily.
"Hey! I haven't been rubbing it in your faces!" Joey protested.
"Just you not having to wear this uncomfortable tunic and you not sweating at all is enough for me." Katara crossed her arms.
"You know, we can't pull the trick with Joey, but we can make this easier on ourselves." Navi looked down. "I'm sure this switch is timed for some stupidly short amount of time. One of us can make our way over to the treasure chest at a safe pace and someone over here can trip the switch once they're next to it."
"That works to." Joey shrugged.
"Alright!" Link started bravely along the stair case, which had no bars or sides or anything. His arms stretched out wide balance himself, he crept along at a snail's pace, obviously frightened by what had happened to their friends earlier. When he had finally passed the last step and was in front of the treasure chest, he sighed a huge breath of relief.
"Good job, Link!" Katara called out, stepping on the switch for him. When the flames disappeared, Link eagerly threw the chest lid open. From where they started, the group could only watch in anticipation.
"Is that hammer thing Darunia mentioned?" Link yelled, lifting up a large silver hammer in the air and waving it at the group.
"Presumably." Navi said. Link, hammer in hand, ran like a giddy child back down the staircase, this time paying no mind to being careful, and skid to a stop in front of the group. Upon closer inspection, they saw that the hammer was quite heavy and large, with a shiny silver finish and a sturdy black handle that was well-crafted. It fit comfortably in Link's hands, though it did seem like he was still getting used to it.
"This is the top, I think." Navi said flying around. "No other way forward."
"What do we do then?" Katara asked. "Isn't it really complicated to get back down to the first floor after the bridge broke?"
"Well, yeah." Navi blinked her aura in thought. "I don't want you guys going back to that room anyway. But I don't think we're done yet, anyway."
"Huh?" Link looked up at Navi.
"Yeah, what else do we do?" Joey said from off to the side, sticking his hand in and out of the flame of a nearby torch. "We traveled all the way to the top of this place, haven't we?"
"Yeah, and I think we actually saved almost all of the Gorons while we were at it." Navi shrugged.
"I really like this hammer." Link swung it a couple of times. His eyes were bright with curiosity, like a kid with a new toy.
"This kid has more weapons at his disposal now than an armed military officer." Joey rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I know." Navi blinked in annoyance. "If I didn't trust him with weaponry, I wouldn't let him keep any of these little prizes we find."
"I know. He really is armed and dangerous." Katara laughed a bit. Navi fluttered around a bit, trying to find a solution.
"Right. Anyways." Navi said while she was flying. "Remember what that first Goron we rescued said? That we needed to make our own platform to the dragon's lair since there was no way we'd be able to jump the platforms?"
"Oh yeah." Kaori lifted a hand. "How do we do that?"
"I find a way back to the room with fire maze. Let's find a way to get above it." Navi turned.
"Why?" Link looked up at the fairy.
"There was a huge pillar in the middle of that room. And it just seemed…suspicious." Navi explained.
"Like this platform?" Katara said from off to the side. They turned to see her standing on a platform that was oddly bouncy. Navi investigated it.
"Link! Hit this with your hammer." Navi turned, greeted with the grin of a hero who was really happy to oblige. He ran over and lifted the hammer above his head happily. With a couple of hard smacks, the platform fell through the floor, turning out to be the top of a pillar that slid neatly into place with a hole in a room right below, a room they had not been to yet. Of course, Katara had still been on it, but she didn't fall a dangerous distance.
"Owww." Katara whined. The rest of the party hopped through the hole to meet her below. "How'd you know to do that, Navi?"
"Considering we just got what I assume was a legendary hammer, I figured we'd just smack everything we could with the thing until we got what we wanted." Navi responded smoothly.
To Kurama and Aya
Really, the kiss hadn't lasted that long. Not even a full minute, Aya would wager. But it felt like it had lasted so much longer. And she had pulled away from it almost as fast as she'd initiated it. Now, she felt another wave of guilt.
"I'm so sorry!" Aya said, breaking the awkward silence that had taken over. She kept her eyes placed firmly on the ground. "I…I don't know what came over me. That was so rude. I….I'm sorry."
"…" Kurama was once again unreadable. She didn't know whether that scared her or not.
"I'm sorry." Aya felt terrible now, her voice choking up a bit again. She didn't want to ruin whatever friendship she had developed with Kurama.
"Aya. You can calm down." Kurama said after a minute. He hadn't turned to look at her yet.
"Huh?" Aya turned to him, tears welling up in her eyes again.
"I didn't stop it." Kurama tried to sound reassuring, but deep down, he was as shocked by what had happened as she was. The events of this temple had thrown too many curve balls at him. He was so used to being able to figure everything out ahead of time.
"What…?" Aya blinked, using the hand that didn't hurt to wipe some tears away.
"I could have stopped it." Kurama explained. "But…I didn't. It was certainly unexpected. But not unwelcome."
"Wait, so you…you aren't angry?"
"What reason do I have to be angry? I'm fine."
"Okay…" Aya smiled. Another wave of pain washed through her head, though, and she dropped her head back onto Kurama's shoulder. "Can I say something about that then?"
"Hm?"
"It was really nice. I mean, I'm not expert on that kind of stuff but yeah…Nice."
"I'm not an expert either." Kurama laughed a bit. "But yes. It was."
"Jeez, you're good at everything aren't you?"
"I'm obviously not good at crossing bridges. Even my talents have a limit."
"Well, I suck at that, too."
"Aya? I have a request."
"Yes?"
"Let's not tell the group about what happened." Kurama turned. "I don't really want to deal with that awkwardness."
"Nope. I agree." Aya smiled back. "Our little secret."
"Thank you. I greatly appreciate it."
"Not like Link would know what a kiss was anyways."
To everyone else
The party had gone past the next locked door and done some more wandering around, coming to a puzzle that let them free another group of Gorons. The Gorons were a very trusting race, they decided, because between their friendly demeanors and Link's goofy personality, there were instant bonds of friendship to be had.
"Are you all going to help Big Brother?" the Goron asked, looking at everyone.
"Yeah, we plan on going back down and helping him. We just need to find a way to make a platform to get to the dragon's lair." Katara explained.
"Oh. Well." the Goron looked at the hammer Link still had in his hands. "That's the legendary hammer! You guys can definitely do it."
"This really is the hammer thingy Darunia was talking about?" Link lifted the hammer up.
"Yes! The hammer of legend." the Goron said. "There is a large pillar lodged in the floor of the room with the fire maze. Legends say that the hero who defeated Volvagia used all of his might and magic to seal the carry that large pillar all the way to the top of the temple and seal it away, so that no one could get to the dragon's lair again. Then he sealed the hammer away so that no one could ever use the hammer to break the platform free and cause trouble again."
"So, that pillar can make a platform to the room with the dragon?" Kaori asked.
"Of course! If legends are true." the Goron nodded his head. "Just smack that pillar, and boom! You'll free it and open the path once again. But make sure he stays off of the pillar as it falls. That's quite a fall for little ones like you."
"We know." Link looked off to the side.
"Hm?" the Goron cocked his head, unsure of why Link looked sad.
"A couple of our friends fell when a rock bridge collapsed underneath them in another room." Katara poked her fingers together. "We're not sure if they're okay or not."
"I'm sorry. I didn't know." the Goron apologized. "But there are other ways to get back down. Side rooms and shortcuts. I am a worker who helps tend to the temple! I know all the shortcuts around here. Do you have paper on you?"
"Do we have paper?" Joey dug around in the group's main item bag. There were random scraps of paper, remnants of odd things they'd picked up by chance along the way, but the only full sheet of paper they had at the moment was Zelda's now faded letter. Joey flipped the piece of paper around and handed the Goron the paper and a stray pencil.
"Here are some instructions to follow." The Goron said as he scribbled away. "Once you do what you need to do with the pillar, follow these instructions and you can find some shortcuts down to the first floor again. This is supposed to be sacred information, only available to us Gorons, but Big Brother would surely make an exception for you."
"Thanks!" Link took the paper back, smiling broadly.
"Yeah! It's the least I can do." the Goron smiled back. "Thank you! Please, help Big Brother! And I hope your friends are okay!" The Goron waved and curled up, rolling away with the others who were imprisoned with him.
"Okay, that's helpful." Navi looked at the paper. "And why do we still have that letter?"
"I don't know." Joey shrugged. "I think it's been awhile since we've cleaned the item bag."
"Whatever." Navi flew forward. "Let's go! Between the Gorons, Darunia, and whatever condition Aya and Kurama are in, we're on all sorts of time limits." The party nodded in agreement and made their way through another door that led them to above the fire maze. Link took a cautious step forward, right in front of the top of the strange pillar.
"This is it?" Link looked up at Navi for clarification.
"Yep." Navi fluttered next to him. "Just smack it with your hammer a few times. But just be really careful. We're even higher up than we were when Kurama and Aya fell." Link nodded and lifted the hammer dramatically above him. He started smacking the hammer as hard as he could down, and after a few really hard swings, which were clearly exhausting his arms, the pillar rumbled. He hit in once more, yelling incoherently as a sign of effort, and wobbled , out of balance, as the pillar rumbled again and slipped through the hole, falling down to the first floor.
"Right." Navi seemed satisfied that her theory was true. "Let's follow this Goron's instructions and get ourselves back down to the first floor."
To Aya and Kurama
Kurama was never really scared or shocked by anything. That included the sudden shaking and rumbling from above them. He looked up to acknowledge it, but he also understood that this temple had gone out of its way to test the boundaries of his patience. Between falling to his near death with Aya and suddenly kissing her, he was, for lack of a better term, taken aback by everything that had happened. And that ladder event was only shocking to him because he, to his inner confusion, didn't mind that it had happened at all.
"What is that rumbling?" Aya asked. Her question was answered when a large pillar came crashing out of the ceiling, lodging itself into place between the platform that Darunia had been standing on and the platform with the door to the room, where they had been talking to him from. "Oh. Alright then."
"It seems the group probably made that platform the Goron we first saved mentioned." Kurama said.
"They never do anything inconspicuously." Aya rolled her eyes. "We've caused too much destruction in this temple."
"I'm sure Darunia won't mind." Kurama seemed assured.
"Kurama, I'm so tired." Aya said. Kurama looked down and noticed her eyes had shut again. He would have responded, but knew he had lost her to unconsciousness again. Kurama found himself very overwhelmed as well, though, and didn't fight it as unconsciousness took him away, too.
To everyone else
The rest of the party had really wished they'd found these shortcuts sooner. The shortcuts allowed them bypass almost all of major obstacles they had faced getting to the top. It was understandable, considering that these passages were only supposed to be known to the Gorons, but this had made everything so much easier. Getting to the first was making everyone eager and nervous, since, hopefully, getting to the first floor meant finding out what happened to Kurama and Aya. However, their travel time was cut in half and they found themselves in the main entry room again after passing through a hidden passage in the wall.
"Good. We're back in the main room." Navi fluttered around. "Come over here, Link!"
"It's like you're his boss or something." Joey laughed as they followed the fairy.
"I pretty much am." Navi turned. "You should have heard the Great Deku Tree explain what my job was going to be to me the morning I met Link. He sort of sprung this on me last minute and told me I was the only one he knew 'tough enough' to handle the job of being the Hero of Time's escort or whatever."
"You are strong! You're my favorite fairy ever!" Link grinned at the fairy.
"After all the crap we've been through, I'd hope I'm your favorite fairy." She sounded threatening, but in a slightly joking manner. "Anyways, beat these totem statues over in this corner aside with the hammer. It has a door behind it. It might lead to another group of Gorons. I hear voices in the distance." Link did as he was instructed, knocking the totem statues aside and revealing a door. On the other side of the door, they were met with an ambush of monsters, but the group, at this point impatient, disposed of them in little time. Then, the next door revealed another simple tan room. One step further into the room revealed the return of the Flame Dancer.
"This thing needs to die. It's just wasting our time now!" Joey took the hookshot from Link and launched it at the monster's black body, ripping it forward. The group was going to launch a group attack on the creature, but Link whipped out the hammer and gave it two really hard smashes.
"Die!" Link yelled, somewhat maniacally, smashing the monster one more time for good measure. The monster didn't have a chance, and the last smash of the hammer killed it. As it dissipated at Link's feet, there was a silence. "I didn't mean to kill it that badly."
"Well, it's dead, so whatever." Navi didn't have any hint of guilt whatsoever. "At least we know you're good at using that hammer."
"It's fun to use!" Link put the hammer away.
"Hey, guys! Before we leave get those fairies out of the pots in that corner." Navi pointed to a small gathering of pots in the corner of the room. "They're healing fairies, like we've seen before. If Kurama and Aya are alive, chances are they'll need them."
"Okay." Link nodded. He pulled out a couple of bottles and snagged the healing fairies, which calmed down at being captured after Navi explained their situation to them. Link gently put the bottles in the bag before moving forward. They came to another dark, depressing room with another cell of Gorons. These Gorons, the last batch they had to save, were stuck in a cell with what should have been the key to the boss room.
"We don't really need this since Darunia decided to screw the rules and rip the chains off the boss door with his bare hands, right?" Joey turned to Navi.
"Eh, take it as a souvenir." The fairy said.
"What is a souvenir?" Link asked. "Does it have to do with monkeys?"
"No. Link. It doesn't have to with monkeys."
"Okay."
The group took the key anyways and sent the freed Gorons on their way. When the left the door on the other side of the cell room, they found they had done a circle around to the other side of the entry room.
"Now all that's left is finding Kurama and Aya and then Darunia." Katara turned. "Where could they have fallen?"
"We don't really have a map or anything." Navi said. "I'm not sure where they fell down here in comparison to where we were several floors up."
"I really hope they didn't fall in the lava." Joey shuddered. They looked in the huge room with the platforms and wooden bridge first, slightly relieved to find they hadn't fallen from above into the lava there. Going across to the room they met Darunia in, they were discouraged at first, but Katara's eyes lit up when she saw a pile of rubble in the corner.
"Hey! That wasn't there the last time we were in this room!" Katara pointed. Navi looked in the direction Katara pointed and decided to fly across and investigate before the group jumped their way across for nothing. Navi's aura blinked brightly though in a motion of surprise and satisfaction. Lying amongst the rubble were the unconscious figures of Aya and Kurama.
"Found them!" Navi screamed. "Get over here!"
"You did?!" Link wasted no time, making a mindless leap to another platform, hopping his way over to Navi with a grace and skill she'd only seen Kurama use when jumping. When Link was determined to do something, he did with such determination and skill. The others followed suit and joined Navi over there. Joey used his strength to push some of the rubble out of the way. Katara ran past him and bent down next to them.
"They look awful!" Kaori put her hands to her mouth, clearly horrified.
"How are they?" Link's eyes were big and concerned.
"Alive." Katara had done the logical thing and felt for pulses. "I don't know how but they're alive. They're really beaten up, though."
"Yeah, his leg looks ready to fall off." Joey bent down next to Katara.
"Link. The healing fairies!" Navi instructed with a sense of urgency. Link pulled the bottles out and handed one to Kaori. Together, they opened the bottles and the fairies flew over to their next patients. The little pink fairies looked at each other, gauging where to start and began flying around the two, letting out little pink balls of light that got absorbed into their bodies.
"This won't one hundred percent heal them." Navi said as everyone else turned to her. "These are some pretty extensive wounds. It'll take some time for those bruises to go away. And they'll probably still be exhausted and in some pain. We'll have to take a break after this to let them regain their strength."
"At least they'll be okay." Katara smiled in relief. After a minute, the fairies stopped their work and nodded at Navi before flying away, done.
"…" Kurama's eyes fluttered open. It had felt like only a minute that he'd been unconscious but it was hard to tell. He didn't have a chance to comprehend that, however, before something had thrown itself on him, sobbing in almost comically over-the-top fashion.
"You're okay! I was so worried about you! I wanted to find you sooner but we couldn't and I was sad and we had to do lots of dangerous things and solving puzzles isn't fun without you and I almost died a million times because I forgot you weren't there to catch me and I'm so sorry I should have gone on the ladder last and fallen instead and I'm an awful friend because I do awful things and I was off having fun with my new hammer toy instead of finding you sooner and…and…and…and…." Link ran out of breath as he held the redhead what was supposed to be a hug but came across more as an iron death grip.
"Link?" Kurama seemed surprised by both Link's rant and the fact that, while still feeling some pain, he could move without being overcome with it. "You're okay. I'm glad you didn't fall. And I'm sorry you almost fell without me there. And I guess I'm sorry that solving puzzles is apparently no fun without me. And you're not an awful friend. If anything, your display right now proves the exact opposite."
"Kuramaaaaaaaa" Link whined.
"Ow, crap." Aya rubbed her head. She hadn't had a chance to move before Kaori launched on her.
"I thought you were gone! I was so scared!" Kaori whimpered. Aya returned the hug willingly but managed to pry herself out of it before it became a full out death grip like Link's hold on Kurama.
"I'm fine, though. Kurama managed to keep us both calm." Aya smiled. "It hurt a lot, but at least we're okay."
"I was really worried too!" Katara dropped to her knees next to Aya and Kaori. "I'm so sorry there wasn't anything we could do! I felt horrible going on without you guys. It felt like we'd abandoned you." She hugged Aya's other side. Kaori hugged her again to and Aya seemed to welcome the group hug.
"Hey, Red." Joey knelt down in front of Kurama. "You're the voice of sanity in this group. I don't need you dying. Keeping Link from dying in your place is really hard."
"I'm sorry, Joey." Kurama offered the best sarcastic apology he could muster before he stopped. "Red?"
"Yep. Red." Joey shrugged. "I'm working on nicknames. You're red. Link's Bud. Katara's Kat. I haven't found ones for Aya and Kaori that stick yet, though."
"Right. Thanks again, Joey." Kurama nodded. Joey held his hand out to help Kurama to his feet. Kurama took it and was pulled to his feet, where Link proceeded to trap him in another death hug. Once Kaori and Katara had helped Aya to her feet, however, Link launched on her, wrapping her in a death hug as well.
"I'm so sorry I let you fall Aya. It was so quiet when you were gone and I felt bad because I like it when you say sarcastic things and I know Navi missed it too and we were all really sad because you are funny and nice and things were lonely without you. I should have let you and Kurama go before me and I should have fallen instead because you're awesome and I missed you and you shouldn't have been suffering while I played with my new hammer and took forever to save you I'm an awful friend hate me foreverrrrrrrr." Link took another deep breath.
"Link. You're not an awful friend. You're a very good one, as weird as you are. And I don't want to hate you forever because hating you is like hating puppies, which is impossible." Aya said sarcastically, but still returning the embrace. "I'm glad I was missed."
"You were! We need everyone in this group to function!" Link smiled a goofy grin.
"Yep. There's something wrong with only Navi making sarcastic jabs at everyone else's expense." Joey patted Aya on the back. While this was going on, Katara and Kaori were greeting Kurama, offering their own apologies and words of worry. Katara had a motherly hand on Kurama's arm while she spoke.
"Yeah…It was weird without you guys." Navi admitted. "Let's have a happier reunion later. What are you two going to do?"
"What do you mean?" Aya asked.
"We're going to face the dragon now and help Darunia. Are you coming with us are waiting here?" Navi seemed concerned. "The fairies healed most of your injuries, but you still must be in pain."
"No. I'm going with you guys!" Aya stepped forward. "I'm sick of waiting. I said I'd help Darunia, too."
"I plan on going as well." Kurama turned. "There will be plenty of time to rest later. There isn't an argument here."
"Okay." Navi turned to Link. "Lead the pack, hero." Link nodded and the party finally managed to make their way to the boss door.
"Was there a boss key hidden in the temple?" Aya turned.
"Yeah, but since we didn't really need it we kept it as a souvenir." Katara pulled it out of the item bag.
"Nice." Aya smirked. Together, Joey and Link lifted the large stone doors and let everyone through before letting it slam shut behind them. The dragon's lair was large and ominous, nothing but a huge floating island with holes in it floating over sea of magma, swirling and bubbling ominously below them.
"Look!" Navi pointed her finger. "Get on that island, quickly!" The party turned to see a kneeling figure the middle of the island.
"Shit!" Joey yelled as they jumped the island and ran to the figure. "Darunia!"
"Are you okay?" Katara dropped to her knees in front of him.
"I am fine, brothers and sisters." Darunia smiled, though he looked exhausted, with blood dripping down various parts of his body. Gorons had a natural immunity to fire, so he wasn't burned, but he looked worn out, like he had been relentlessly fighting this dragon as hard as he possibly could. "I am a warrior. It will take more than that to defeat me."
"Darunia!" Link grabbed him.
"Do you have…the hammer? Did you save my people first?"
"Of course, Darunia!" Link frowned. "We came here to fight the dragon with you!"
"Use that hammer, brothers and sisters." Darunia said wearily. "I've done all that I…can." Darunia drifted into unconsciousness.
"Darunia!" Link yelped.
"He's alive, Link." Kurama grabbed his shoulder. Link was going to respond but he was cut off by a horrific and loud cry. The cry caused pieces of rock to fall from the ceiling and caused the whole island to shake. That's when the group saw the dragon flying in circle above them. It was long and serpent like and almost sparkled in rich shades of orange and red and yellow, as if were made of fire itself, with a long flowing mane of red and orange hair, fluttering around it like flames. It would have been beautiful if it weren't for the menacing claws or the piercing yellow eyes staring blankly down at them.
"Oooooooh, shit." Joey choked out, taking several huge steps back.
A/n: Okay, I changed some of the plot around. First off, I decided it's illogical for them to fall with the pillar from some ridiculous height and be totally unscathed by it when Kurama and Aya almost died from falling from lesser height. I didn't think that made sense. And, in my head, I figured that there were shortcuts that the Gorons used to escape the temple so quickly, so the party just put the pillar in place and used the shortcuts to get back to where Kurama and Aya were. That way, logic is still kept.