Chapter 12: A Beloved Old Friend

Previously, the Strawhat Pirates and the fairy boy Link along with his partner Navi successfully awakened the Sage of the Forest, who turned out to be Saria, plus Link learns that he's a Hylian from the Deku Tree Sprout.

Link was surprised, but, he was okay with the truth, after departing from Kokiri Forest, he hoped to return to his home soon, after some thinking he decides to go to Death Mountain to awaken the Sage of Fire.

At the Death Mountain.

The group walked through the mountain walk paths, no Gorons were sighted, everywhere was quiet.

"This is odd, like last time we were here, the Gorons were practically rolling around," Sanji said.

"Yes, that's troublesome, every around the area is quiet," Robin agreed to notice the quiet atmosphere.

"Geez, let's just hope no monsters pop out of nowhere," Usopp said shivering a bit.

"Either way, I think we should head to Goron City, that's where they usually live," Zoro suggested.

"Let's go then!" Luffy stated as he ran up the hill in a flash.

"Right! "Link agreed and followed the pirate captain.

"Wait for me!" Navi called out flying ahead.

"Good to know that they're full energy," Robin giggled.

Goron City.

The city was quiet, too quiet.

"Man, no sign of any Gorons," Luffy groaned.

"Darunia isn't around either it seems," Navi said looking around.

Just then there was a rolling sound from below.

On the third floor, one Goron was rolling around.

"I stand corrected..." Navi whispered to herself.

"Let's go see him!" Luffy started jumping off the ledge.

As soon as they landed the others showed up.

"Great, still no sign of-" Sanji stopped as he saw Luffy, Link, and Navi down below.

"Is that Goron?" Brook asked.

"Looks like it, but..." Usopp began to say as he looked in every direction. "There's only one, where are the other Gorons?"

"Good question, it's obvious that something must've happened here," Robin said putting her hand under her chin. "Question is, what happened?"

Luffy began to wave over to the rolling Goron. "Hey, over here!"

The Goron kept on rolling as it came closer to the straw hat captain. "Whoa!"

He jumped out of the way. "Hey, did you hear me!?"

"Crap, why didn't he hear Luffy?" Usopp asked in surprise.

"The Goron can't due to the noise that it's making while rolling," Robin guessed.

"Come on, stop, can't you hear us?!" Link asked loudly.

The rolling Goron still didn't hear him, Navi saw the situation. "How are we going to un-roll it?" Her eyes caught the sight of nearby Bomb Flowers.

"Wait, that's it!" The fairy thought. "Link, use that bomb flower to stop him!"

Link was unsure about that, but considering that the Goron can't hear him or the others, there was no choice. "Alright..."

He picked up a Bomb Flower and started to sparkle. "I hope its endurance is strong..." As soon as the Goron rolled closer that's when the Hylian boy tossed it as far as he could.

The flower bomb landed in front of the rolling Goron and exploded, making the rock creature stop in his tracks.

"HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I'M THE HERO OF THE GORONS LINK!"

"His name is Link too?" The pirates thought in surprise, though Robin just gave a blank stare.

The Goron unrolled himself and stood up as Link walked over to him. "Sorry about that, I'm Link a friend and sworn brother of Darunia."

The Goron named Link gasped in surprise. "Link, I know about you, my father Darunia told me so much about you!"

"He's Darunia's son!?" The Strawhat minus Robin exclaimed in surprise.

A short time later, the other pirates joined with their friends to have a conversation in Darunia's room.

Goron named "Link", told of what happened a while ago including an ancient dragon named Volvagia

"Ganondorf warned any race like us that oppose him will be killed, frankly he's making an example of my people!" Goron Link sobbed practically on the verge of tears. "I was helpless, but, my father decided to deal with the evil dragon, but he hasn't come back a few days.

I see that's what happened..." A voice said.

"Who's there?" Link asked.

Out of nowhere, Sheik appeared before the group.

"Sheik, what are you doing here?" Nami asked.

"Same thing, you guys are doing here," The ninja-like man replied walking closer to the group. "The dragon he speaks of is causing havoc within the volcano, if this keeps up the entire Goron City, their people, even Hyrule will be reduced to a burning wasteland."

"Aah!" Usopp and Chopper screamed comically.

"That's not good, I knew that fire that circled the top of Death Mountain was unusual, but not like that!" Nami added with a terrified look.

"That's right, Sheik is right, at this rate, everyone including nearby lands will be burned to a crisp," Robin said. "But..."

She glanced at Luffy, Zoro, Usopp, Link, and Navi.

The four had disbelief looks on their faces.

Flashback

Seven years ago

Castle Town

"He was there seven years ago in the marketplace of the town below," Adult Link thought. "I believe it was after we met Zelda in the town, before Luffy and I went to see her at the Hyrule Castle."

Young Link along with Navi, Luffy, Usopp, Robin, and Zoro was looking around.

The fairy boy stopped as something caught his eyes. "Huh?"

Luffy was amazed. "Whoa, a dragon!"

Usopp was a little nervous so he hid behind Zoro. "Uhh... he's not going to do it, is he?"

Robin was astonished at such a little dragon, he was unbelievably cute. "What is this?" She thought.

Link paid for the dragon using seventy rupees.

The group then took him out of the plains.

"Okay, c'mon," Link said playfully.

Just then the baby dragon started a bit on Link's hand. "Ow! Ow! Ow!"

Luffy was laughing at his head. "That's funny!"

"Gee, that dragon has some jaw," Usopp whimpered in fear.

Robin just giggled.

"Figures, this dragon is just as vicious even as a baby," Zoro grumbled.

Link wasn't amused. "I helped you with some money we had left!"

The baby dragon then blew a flame breath at the fairy boy.

"Fine, then, be that way!" Link grumbled while stomping away.

"Let's go, this a waste of time," Zoro agreed.

"Wait, we can't just leave him here," Robin said.

"It's obvious we can't handle this little anyway, so let's go," Usopp said passing the black-haired woman.

Luffy just stared at the dragon. "Aw, I was going to have you join my crew, but, I guess you belong in the wild."

The straw hat then turned away.

Navi then looked back again for a moment, realizing the baby dragon wasn't leaving, instead, it was following them.

"Hey, the little guy's following us,"

Link just scoffed.

Later the group made camp.

They caught four fish and were grilling them over a fry place.

"Yum..." Luffy said drooling a bit.

"Wipe that drool!" Navi protested.

Just then there were footsteps from a nearby tree.

"He's still here?" Zoro asked.

Link took a piece and tore a piece off. "You want some?"

The baby dragon snatched the whole fish with its jaw in a flash.

"Hey!" Link yelled.

"That's our fish!" Luffy added.

"Looks like Luffy gets a taste of his medicine, huh Robin?!" Usopp laughed.

Robin giggled at that part, knowing that Luffy had a habit of snatching other people's food.

Just then a baby skeleton came out of nowhere.

But before it could do anything, the baby dragon burned it to ashes with its flame breath.

Link knelt. "You saved us..."

"Could be that you're lonely all by yourself," Luffy asked, despite that the captain was a naive blockhead about certain things, he knew what it was like to be alone.

Robin knelt too. "You must be lonely to have followed for a few hours."

"Yeah, that's quite understandable," Usopp said with a smile.

"L-Link... R-Robin... L-Luffy..." The dragon spoke. "Prrr..."

"Holy crap, it talks!" Zoro exclaimed in surprise.

"Wow!" Luffy yelled in surprise.

"I heard there are some dragons that can remember words, but, this is the first time I've heard one!" Navi explained in amazement.

"From now on, we're friends!" Link proclaimed putting the dragon on his head.

"Yeah, I bet you'd be a great pirate on my crew!" Luffy added with a huge grin.

Flashback ends.

"What is our next step?" Chopper asked.

The Goron Link spoke. "I have, behind that statue is a secret passageway, which leads to the center of Death Mountain."

Then the Goron handed over two red tunics. "This is the Goron Tunic, it'll help you through the hotness of the volcano."

Link took the first one and put it on. "I'm ready."

"What the other tunic?" Brook asked.

Sheik thought that out. "First, Link, you only take one person to the Temple of Fire, I think it should be the one that's super."

Franky realized who the ninja was referring to. "That's me!" He grinned. "Give the tunic."

The tunic fits perfectly, though his swimming trunk was still showing. "SUPER!"

The Goron Link pulled back the statue and behind it was a secret passageway.

"Let's do this!" Link stated.

"Right, bro!" Franky punched his fist into his other hand's palm.

"Be careful, you guys!" Nami called out.

Luffy wanted to go too, but, Zoro placed his hand on his shoulder, shaking his head.

Robin hoped that the baby dragon, Volagia would be alright.

The two eventually arrived at the Fire Temple.

As they went deeper into the temple, Link decided to speak.

"Volvagia, I hope you're okay."

"C'mon, focus, you need to remember why we're here," Franky reminded. "I know this is hard right now, but if you're not focused then Goron City, Hyrule, and its people are doomed."

"I know, I know," Link groaned.

"Come on, wipe that frown off your face!" Navi said in an almost demanding voice.

As they arrived in a room, there was a huge platform and it caught fire.

HEH HEH HEH HEH

A cackling laugh appeared from the center of the fire and out came a strange creature.

Mini Boss: Flare Dancer

"What the hell is that?" Franky asked in shock.

"That's a Flare Dancer, a monster that spins around and will shoot out flames in a radius around him!" Navi explained.

Link tried to use the fairy arrow but had no effect. "The Fairy Bow isn't working!"

"It must be immune to arrows!" Franky yelled.

Link then remembered what the Goron named Link said to him.

"There are monsters in the temple called Flare Dancers, once, they appear, you must keep focus, arrows won't work on them, so you must use two weapons that can harm them, one is the Goron's secret treasure and the other is the Bombs,"

Link took out a Bomb and threw it at the Flare Dancer which made him temporarily rid of his flaming body.

"It worked!" He proclaimed.

"Right, let's give this runt a go-ass kicking!" Franky declared revealing gun barrels from his left hand by opening a door-like hinge. "Weapons Left!"

His gun barrels fired bullets which hit the Flare Dancer, creating an explosion.

Flare Dancer jumped back into the platform and returned to its previous state. "C'mon, that didn't work?!"

"It did... I heard when the flames change color, that means he's losing energy!" Navi confirmed. "So, we'll be wearing him down!"

"In that case, Strong Right!" Franky launched his bigger right fist at the Flare Dancer which knocked it out of its flaming body. "Now, Link here's your chance, finish this bastard off!"

Wasting no time, Link charged ahead and jumped into the air, slashing the monster in half, then it grew bigger. "It's gonna blow, getaway, Link!" Navi warned.

Link jumped back until he was out of the explosion range.

Then a treasure chest appeared on the platform. "A treasure, it must have the weapon we need," Link said walking up to the chest.

He took out the weapon, which was the Megaton Hammer.

"WOW, that's some hammer!" Franky said observing the large tool. "Quite impressive, no, SUPER IMPRESSIVE!"

Link chuckled a bit. "Right, let's continue."

They eventually returned to the main room, Link used the Megaton Hammer to hammer away a statue. "Let's go!"

They jumped onto a pillar that was in the middle and managed to get to the other side, which had a large door.

"That must be where Volagia is," Franky said with a serious look.

"Yes, Volvagia, I'm coming and I'm gonna help you remember!" Link declared with determination.

The two went inside and into the lair.

In the center was a large flaming pit, the two jumped over to it.

Just then the pit started to shake violently, Volvagia popped out and let out a bloodcurdling roar.

"Volvagia, it's me, Link!" The fairy boy called out.

The now-adult Volvagia kept roaring like it has gone mad, which caused the room to shake more violently.

Luffy and the others felt the increased pressure of the shaking.

"This is bad, that rumbling was stronger the last one, a few days ago," Sheik said sounding concerned.

"He's right, at this rate, the volcano will surely erupt and we'll be fired to a crisp," Robin added.

"Gee, don't say that with a straight face!" Usopp shouted comically.

"Link, Franky, you guys better do something quick!" Nami yelled in panicking tone.

M

Franky used his Strong Fist to punch the dragon in the face. "Sorry, bro, but, I'm doing out of friendship, I know we didn't get the chance to meet, but, from Link's point of view, you sound... SUPER!"

Volvagia felt a bit of pain in his face, but he only got angry. "Man, this guy is strong!"

"You guys, use the Megaton Hammer, it might stun him!" Navi suggested.

"Are you crazy, we can't hurt him any more than ever!" Link yelled in great concern.

"Bro, I know this is painful, but you have no choice, if we don't anything, everyone is screwed including Princess Zelda, wherever she is anyway!" Franky pointed out.

Link held up the large hammer and looked at his old friend, the dragon looked at him for a moment before it lunged at him.

"AARRGHHH!" The fairy boy screamed as he slammed the hammer right into Volvagia's jaw.

The dragon fell on the ground seemingly stunned. "Finish him off... It's-it's-the-the-only way." Franky stuttered his bottom lip curling up as tears formed in his eyes. "TO SET HIM FREE FROM GANONDORF'S CONTROL!"

Link slashed his old friend's head off which killed him quickly and painlessly.

Volvagia's left eye opened a little, with a smile on his face. "Link... I love you... I love... Luffy, Zoro, Robin, and Usopp, Franky, nice to meet you..."

The Dragon's body disappeared as Link looked in grief.

Then a blue light glowed from one of the pits that were in the middle.

Darunia then appeared from within it. "Link, thank you, brother, as representative of the Goron Tribe, I thank you and your friends, you too, Franky."

Franky smiled a little. "Glad to see you're safe, bro."

Other Gorons were held prisoner, their cells unlocked, and were set free after the dragon's defeat.

"We're free, let's get out of here!" One of them said.

Darunia saw the grief expression on the fairy boy's face. "I can tell that destroying your dragon friend hit you hard, I have no doubt the ones that met him will be feeling the same way, I understand your pain."

A look of seriousness replaced Darunia's frown. "I suggest you and your friends stay at Kakariko Village for a while and cool your heads, if you or any of your friends erupt, you won't be able to defeat Ganondorf."

Link sighed. "Yeah, I understand, but, I can't forgive Ganondorf, we'll make him pay for what he did."

Franky was worried at the look on the fairy boy's face.

A short later.

The two informed me their friends of what happened.

Luffy was outraged and attempted to get revenge on Ganondorf, but, Zoro stopped him and tied up him to keep from him doing anything reckless.

Franky suggested that they stay in the village of Kakariko for a while until they have cooled off.

Agreeing with the Cyborg pirate, they decided to stay return to the village for a little break.

M

At Ganondorf's Castle.

Sheik was bowing to the dark king, informing the situation.

"I see, Volvagia has failed," The dark king said.

"Yes, however, the death of the hero's friend has surely left him and his friends badly hurt, it may be our time to strike before they continue," Sheik suggested.

Ganondorf glanced at the surviving Sheikah. "Heh, heh, heh, if that's the case, then watch over the successors."

"Understood," Sheik said nodding his head and disappearing.

The Strawhat Pirates and Link go to the Fire Temple, Link and Franky team up against the Dragon Volvagia, who was an old friend from seven years ago, but, breaking the curse came with the life of the dragon, grieving over their friend's fate, the group decides to go back to Kakariko Village for a little break, question is, will they be able to move forward.

Luffy: in the next chapter: Dark Link Appears.

I'm going to be King of the Pirates

End of chapter.