Zelda brushed her golden flowing hair out of her face as she gripped the leather of Kass's back armor piece, feeling Kass's wing muscles shift up and down as the two flew. Lifting her hand to cover the sunlight, the girl looked up at the morning clouds. As excited as she was to test her Fairy Tonic theory, she couldn't help but remind herself of the weighty feeling in her chest. Zelda sighed as she looked down at the quickly-passing pathway below them as they flew further up the mountain.
"Kass, can't we just use the Sheikah Slate to teleport to Vah Rudania?" Zelda asked, resting her chin on the flying Rito as they weaved through the air. "Or just fly there? Why do we need Bludo's permission?"
"Have you forgotten about the Yiga? Using the Sheikah Slate in a building is already bad enough, but blatantly teleporting is a bit too much, my dear Zelda!" Kass said with a joyful smile. "If there is anywhere the Yiga are waiting for you to see if you have the Slate, this is certainly one of the first four places they would check! Besides, if we left for the beast now, you would only want to come back later to test your Fairy Tonic idea!"
Zelda shrugged as she lifted her chin off the Rito's back, opting to enjoy the view of the passing mountain landscape.
"I guess you're right. It would bother me if I never tested the theory..." she said with a blank face. Kass smiled as he glanced behind him to look at her.
"What you really mean is your conscience would eat away at you if you didn't help them, correct?" Kass remarked teasingly. Kass noticed the frown grow on Zelda's face, apparently not enjoying the fact that she could be read so easily. The bard chuckled as he faced forward, continuing to fly up the mountain path. "My teacher always said you had a soft spot for helping people."
"Your teacher paid rather annoyingly close attention to me, it seems," Zelda said, her frown unwavering. Kass laughed out loud at this remark. She definitely was more feisty than her knight counterpart.
"How much longer until we reach the Bridge of Eldin?" Zelda asked, she too now facing forward on the flight. "The locals said that Yunobo likes to watch Vah Rudania from the bridge since it's been closed off by Bludo again."
"Not too much longer!" Kass called out. "In fact, I believe that is our young Goron right there!"
Zelda leaned over, looking down at the pathway they had been flying above, to see a bulky whitish-blonde Goron in the distance. Kass flapped his wings harder, picking up a bit of speed as they flew upwards before descending, landing right in front of the Goron. Yunobo shouted in surprise at the sudden flapping of wings and air, raising his arms to shield himself with a familiar orange glowing aura.
"Yunobo!" Zelda called out, jumping off of Kass' back. "That's Daruk's ability!"
"Oh darn it! I got scared again and used the protection..." Yunobo sulked, dropping the protection aura that had circled him. However, he blinked a few times before focusing on the little Hylian girl walking towards him. "Wait a moment, you know of the Great Daruk's Protection?"
"I do! It's a wonderful ability," Zelda praised as she looked up at Yunobo. "How are you able to use it?"
"Why, I happen to be a direct descendant of the Great Daruk!" Yunobo said proudly, bringing a large fist to his chest. "I seem to have inherited his abilities, but not his fearlessness. Though I plan to work on that and become fearless myself! I'm surprised Link didn't say anything."
"He seems to keep a lot from me these days," Zelda said darkly. Kass couldn't help but frown a bit at that. That didn't seem a bit fair. From what he knew, Link and Zelda hadn't visited the mountain together. Was there any point in mentioning that before then?
"Well, moving on," Kass said, his smile returning as he invited himself into the conversation. "We have come to ask you if you know of a Goron with similar injury to the boss? Zelda here believes she may have come up with a way to ease Bludo's pain."
"Already? That's incredible!" Yunobo cheered as he looked down towards Zelda. "You really are special!"
"T-Thank you, Yunobo," Zelda said, surprised at the sudden praise. "B-But it hasn't been tested yet. We can't cheer too early."
"Which is why we need to test it," Kass said cheerfully.
"Someone to test the painkillers on..." Yunobo mumbled, bringing his large fingers to his chin as he contemplated. "There was Bladon. He always talked about how he had Goron Shoulder."
"Goron Shoulder?" Zelda asked curiously. Yunobo nodded.
"Yeah. Sometimes if Goron works or trains too hard, the shoulders get really stiff. If it doesn't heal on its own, it can actually become quite painful!" Yunobo explained, instinctively placing a hand on his shoulder. Zelda raised a thoughtful eyebrow.
"The Gorons seem to have strangely smaller shoulders in contrast to their muscular arms," Zelda thought out loud. "Maybe it's something that can be explained through research."
"Maybe," Yunobo said, however his face grew a bit worried. "The thing is, Bladon claims his shoulder is cured! He and his brother Gonguron went down to discover a legend called the 'Secret of the Hero' with Link some time ago. It ended up being another shrine like the one in Goron City. But apparently the shock cured Bladon!"
"Well, things don't usually heal from simple shock value," Zelda said. She sighed, as if confused on how shock could cure a shoulder, before turning and looking up at Kass with hands on her hips. "I guess this Bladon is the best candidate for our study. We should go pay him a visit."
"Sounds like a good idea to me, dear Zelda," Kass said joyfully. Zelda nodded before turning back to Yunobo.
"Thank you for the- Yunobo?" Zelda suddenly questioned. Yunobo had stopped paying attention as he now stood staring blankly up in the air. The girl stared at Yunobo before looking in the direction he was. There sat the gigantic lizard, gripping the edges of the open volcano. Its faceplates were still open, and an inner tongue protruding from the center.
"Yunobo?" Zelda called out again, looking back at the Goron. Yunobo blinked a few times before slightly jumping, focusing his attention on the girl once again.
"S-Sorry about that," Yunobo said with an awkward smile, scratching the back of his head. "Was something wrong?"
"Not at all, I just wanted to say thank you," said Zelda, though her gaze was much more confused. "Why are you so fascinated with the Divine Beast, Yunobo? You seem oddly infatuated with it..."
"I mean, it is the death place of my ancestor," Yunobo said. "I figured it's a lesson... a lesson to always stay strong and valiant to protect those you love. But recently..."
Yunobo stayed quiet, not finishing his sentence. Zelda, catching on to the unfinished sentence, provoked the Goron further. "Recently... what?" Zelda asked. Yunobo turned to once again stare at the Divine Beast, as if trying to find the words.
"Don't you hear it?" he suddenly asked. Zelda blinked a few times before turning to look back at Kass, who simply shrugged. Apparently he was as lost as she was.
"Hear what?" Zelda asked curiously. "I don't hear anything."
"It's hard to explain," Yunobo said, his gaze unwavering from the beast, "but back when the Boss and I would come up to stop Rudania's rampaging, I would be shot directly at the great beast. Every time I was shot from the canon, I swore I always heard a beeping come from the beast. It was always so quiet though, I thought my mind was playing tricks on me. I haven't heard it ever since Link stopped Rudania for good. But recently... I've started to hear it again."
Beeping coming from the Divine Beast Vah Rudania? Did the Divine Beast have the ability to do that? Multiple questions flew through Zelda's mind as she too began staring up at the Divine Beast. Did Vah Ruta beep when she was in the beast with Link? The beast made multiple noises, but was a certain beeping one of them?
"Zelda?"
Zelda turned, a bit startled as she was knocked out of her thought process before turning towards the source of the voice. Kass stood, giving Zelda a perplexed look, not far off from the look she had given Yunobo herself. The girl blinked a few times before shaking her head. All the more reason to investigate the situation.
"Let us hurry," Zelda said, quickly stepping towards the Rito as he bent down to allow her onto his back. Yunobo continued to stare at the Divine Beast as Zelda climbed onto the Rito's back. As Kass began to walk towards a cliff to glide off from, Zelda quickly glanced back at the focused Yunobo, unable to shake an uneasy feeling from her body. Something felt off about the new information regarding the Divine Beast beeps, and she needed to know what it was. Or if it was even truly there.
With a leap from Kass, the two began to soar back down the mountain towards Goron City.
... - - - ...
"Well, this is it," Zelda said, looking up at one of the rock buildings in Goron City. This one had much more iron surrounding the frame and the sound of clanking could be heard from the inside. "They said Bladon and Gonguron live here."
"Let us enter then!" Kass said cheerfully. Zelda nodded without a smile, entering the building ahead of Kass. The Rito couldn't help but feel his smile drop. The girl had been acting much more distant ever since hearing the news that the Divine Beast may have been beeping, however Kass couldn't help but feel the situation was minor. From what he knew, machines beeped all the time. What was special about this instance? With a shrug, Kass followed the Hylian inside.
Kass eventually found himself standing next to Zelda as the two scanned the rocky interior of the building. It seemed more like a mineshaft than a house with an iron cart full of rocks in the corner, an iron desk with a couple of hard hats, and two rock-like circles on each side of the room, similar to Goron beds. And there at the back of the house stood two Gorons, one mining away, pickaxe in hand, while the other watched on in glee.
"H-Hello there," Zelda called out nervously. The observing Goron suddenly looked their way with a large smile on his face.
"Hello there!" he called out happily, walking towards the Rito and Hylian. "Have you come to meet my famous brother? He discovered the truth to the Secret of the Hero!"
"I did that!" called out the other Goron between his pickaxe swings.
"A-Actually, I wish to speak to you. Bladon is it?" asked Zelda. The large Goron, while seemingly a bit confused, continued to smile as he nodded.
"That's me! What can I do for you?" he asked as he patted his large stomach.
"Well, it's about your Goron Shoulder," Zelda brought up. "I was told it was cured because of shock, but I was wondering if it had returned at all."
"Matter o' fact, it has kinda returned," Bladon said, adjusting one of his shoulders as if trying to stretch it out. "I guess I was just in shock from seeing my brothers accomplishments. Nothing to worry about though, I don't like talking about it much anyway."
"Well... what if I was able to help with it?" Zelda asked. The Goron tilted his head, perplexed at the girl's sudden offer; however, after a moment's thought, the Goron shook his head.
"It's impossible," he said as he stretched out his shoulder again. "Goron Shoulder is incurable. Seems like only shock value can take the pain away."
"I believe I may have been able to find a way," Zelda said, reaching into her pocket. After a few seconds of shuffling, she pulled out the clear elegant bottle of Fairy Tonic. "This is Fairy Tonic, and it's said to have very potent healing abilities. I believe it may help..."
Zelda lifted up the bottle for the Goron to inspect. After a moment's inspection, the Goron took the bottle from the girl's fingertips as he inspected it further. With another large smile, the Goron nodded as he, as gently as he could with his large fingers, popped the bottle open.
"If you really think it would help, I'd be happy to try it!" the Goron said as he took a sip from the bottle. Zelda's eyes grew wide with anticipation as the Goron took a single gulp. Suddenly, the Goron recoiled and spit out the pinkish liquid.
"It tastes disgusting!" Bladon said with another spit. "I'm sorry little Hylian, but it's much too sweet for a Goron such as myself."
"Too sweet?" Zelda said as she furrowed her eyebrows, unable to believe what had just happened. The Goron nodded as he held out the bottle to return it.
"Now hold on there, brother!" a voice called out from behind them. Kass, Zelda, and Bladon turned to see that Gonguron had stopped swinging away at the rocks behind them to watch the interaction between the Hylian and his brother. "If it's too sweet, then all ya have to do is spice it up!"
Reaching onto a shelf that hung nearby, the mining Goron grabbed a bottle of bright red powder.
"Throw this in there, brother! I'm sure it'll make it taste nice and spicy!" Gonguron said as he tossed the bottle to Bladon. The Goron brother caught the bottle as his smile grew wider.
"Thank you, brother!" Bladon called out as he popped the bottle open. Zelda, however, watched in horror as Bladon duped the bright red liquid into the Fairy Tonic, turning the pink liquid into a magenta color.
"Wait! What is that!?" Zelda called out frantically as Bladon happily swirled the bottle, mixing the two substances together nicely. "We don't know if it'll have a different type of effect now!"
"It'll be fine! Especially if my brother over there says it will be!" Bladon said happily. "Adding Goron Spice to a dish makes everything better than before!"
"Goron Spice?" questioned the Hylian as she watched helplessly. Bladon brought the magenta drink to his lips as he downed the liquid in two simple gulps, leaving nothing but an empty bottle. He stood there for a moment, as if nothing had happened before his blue eyes dialated.
"WHOA!" The Goron shouted, waving his arm around. "That tasted incredible! I've never had anything like it! And not just my shoulder, but my whole body feels amazing! Ya hear that brother?"
"I hear it!" Gonguron said with a smile almost as large as his brothers. "I told you Goron Spice would do the trick!"
"I... What?" Zelda asked, unable to process what was happening in front of her. That worked? Adding Goron Spice didn't mess with the tonic's healing abilities?
"It seems as though the Gorons need a bit more of a fiery taste to enjoy something!" Kass said with a laugh. The Gorons laughed along with him.
"That's right, brother! Heat is the way to go when enjoying a dish!" Bladon said, holding the empty bottle out for Zelda to take. "Like a Rock Roast! Heat is always what needs to be on a Goron meal!"
"As long as it works," Zelda said with a sigh of relief, taking the bottle back from Bladon. She then raised the bottle to her eyes as she inspected the remains of magenta liquid that was once in the bottle. "Fairy Tonic mixed with Goron Spice. I'm not sure that it has a name yet... How does the name Fairy Spice sound?"
"Sounds perfect!" Kass said happily as the other Gorons nodded in agreement.
"Say... I think the boss would like that for his back!" Bladon said, pointing at the bottle. "Maybe you should show him!"
"That's the plan," Zelda said, storing the bottle into her belt as she made a mental note to make more Fairy Spice later on.
"So where can we get more of this fairy stuff?" Gonguron asked. "Can we mine it?"
"N-no actually," Zelda said, not expecting that type of question. "Fairies can be found in different parts of Hyrule. I've even heard of Fairy Fountains that sport copious amounts of fairies, but I've never actually seen these fountains. I haven't heard of fairies on Death Mountain, though."
"Aww, that's too bad," The Gorons said sadly. Zelda couldn't help but feel a bit bad. She had shown them this product and now they didn't have a proper means to get it...
"I'll figure something out," Zelda suddenly spouted. What was she doing?
"You'll find a way to get us more Fairy Spice?" The Gorons asked excitedly. Zelda gulped as she smiled awkwardly.
"Y-Yes," she agreed. "I will find a way. I promise."
Kass couldn't help but smile at the girl. She really did have a heart of gold, that one.
"I believe we best be off," Kass said, causing Zelda to turn in his direction. "We have Fairy Spice to deliver to Bludo the Boss.
"Indeed," Zelda said, suddenly conforming herself. She quickly turned and bowed to the two Gorons in the room. "Thank you for helping us."
"No, thanks for helping me, little Hylian!" Bladon said with a laugh. "Please visit again, goro! We can't wait to get more Fairy Spice!"
With a smile Kass and Zelda exited the mining house.
"Alright then," Zelda said, pulling out another bottle of Fairy Tonic. "Where do we go buy Goron Spice?"
"I believe there is a shop right up the path from here that sells some," Kass said, watching as Zelda counted how many bottles of Fairy Tonic she had on her belt.
"Very well, let us be off!" Zelda said with a newfound, confident smile. The two walked off, heading towards the next pit stop. Despite Zelda's confidence, the smile slowly faded from her face. The mention of beeping from the Divine Beast had remained in her head. She hadn't heard it herself, but something felt oddly familiar about that. The Divine Beast beeping... Hadn't she heard something like that before? Zelda sighed quietly as Kass and herself continued up the road. The questions just continued to pile up with no sign of an answer in sight.
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