A/N - IMPORTANT! RETCON ALERT! For those of you who are reading this story for the first time due to this most recent update, this will not mean as much to you since you never read the story with this other name. For those of you who have read this story since the beginning, however, you need to read this. The past two years or so, every time I sat down to write on this story, I've felt guilty about the name of the character of Zelda's brother. When I began this story, I used the name Zeyde because I was inspired by it and I liked it a ton. However, that is because I read another fan fiction with a character named Zeyde. I don't know what I was thinking when I began this and just used that name on a whim, but I've felt like a cheat ever since. SO, I have done MUCH thinking and I have decided to retroactively change continuity (i.e. retcon) by changing Zelda's brother's name. While a "trademark" obviously cannot be put on the name of a character, I personally felt that I had stolen it, so I have changed Zeyde's name to Zeric. Rest assured, I have done a lot (A LOT) of thinking on this and I have tried out MANY names. I settled on Zeric because of the etymology of the name Eric. It comes from the Norse and essentially means ruler. Tacking on the Z at the front for me makes it feel like it fits in this world way better and fits in with a royal family who would name their daughter Zelda. It feels like a strong male name that feels right at home in the LoZ universe. I think the name is perfect and I hope that you can get used to it as I have.

Before I wrap up this note, I just want to give credit to the inventor of the name Zeyde. The writer who invented the name is KeriPeardon. KeriPeardon's fan fiction called "The Legend of Zelda: The Circle of Destiny" is an awesome read which I thoroughly enjoyed. I strongly suggest you check out his/her work. I sincerely apologize for copying the name thought of by another writer and once again, I hope you all can cope with the name change.

Yours truly,

Jack

Oh, one last thing: If you want to get accustomed to the name, go ahead and go back and reread the entire story up to this point, it's not that long. I also edited every chapter to review continuity and my grammar and prose and there are a few minor changes that make the overall experience richer, I think, so you should go check them out again anyway ;)

And FINALLY, without any further ado…


Carved From Stone

Zelda's heart teetered back and forth between feelings of relief and terror. On the one hand, Ghirahim's men were no longer a threat to them, but on the other, there was no telling what the Mountain Boulder Beasts would do with or do to them.

The soldier with one of Link's arrows embedded in his arm suddenly got up and fled, running toward the entrance to Hyrule Field. When he was barely out of the triangle created by the Mountain Boulder Beasts though, one of them suddenly punched the ground with such force that the earth around him shook for a moment, and the wounded soldier lost his footing and tumbled to the ground. He cried out in pain. The beast that had punched the ground began to approach the downed soldier, but the other living boulder spoke.

"Krane, let the human go." The beast's voice was gravelly and exceedingly deep. The being called Krane stopped, and although his features were squat and stone-like, a clear scowl appeared on his face. The beast had a beard of dark brown, coarse-looking hair that grew in sturdy groups that came to points. The one that had ordered him to stop had similar hair that wrapped all the way around his head and started down his back a tad, reminding Zelda of a mane. Its hair was closer to white, however, giving it the appearance of being older. All three Mountain Boulder Beasts looked incredibly strong, as their extremities were more stoutly muscled than any being she had ever seen.

"He will tell his masters of us," Krane said in a similarly deep voice.

"And you think they will believe him?"

Krane only grunted in response, but obeyed, remaining where he was and turning back around. The wounded soldier got back to his feet and ran.

The one that had commanded Krane then turned his attention back to the fear-stricken hylians and humans. "Why are you here?" he asked gruffly. Zelda looked to Telma, who looked back at her, then she looked at Pipit who was also looking to her. She swallowed hard.

"A tyrant has assumed the throne of Hyrule." At her words, the last soldier shot her a dirty glare. She saw his expression, but continued. "Yesterday he held a phony trial for our friend and sentenced him to death. We rescued him from the gallows and now we are in flight from the tyrant's soldiers. This is one of his men," she added, motioning to the soldier. A look of indignation crossed his features but it quickly turned to fear when he wondered what the Mountain Boulder Beast would do with this information. Seconds of silence passed while everyone looked expectantly to the one that seemed to be the leader of the living boulders; the one with the white mane. Tension rose as the silence extended.

"Bargoh," this voice was slightly higher than the other two (still deep in comparison with the hylians, mind you), but more gravelly. It was the third beast, the one that had crushed Telma's assailant. "Perhaps we should take these puny humans and hylians to the Big Boss. He will know what to do with them."

"I don't think we should harbor hylians in Goron City," Bargoh responded.

"I say we kill them all and be done with this business," Krane said darkly. "Taking them to the city will endanger our way of life. If we let them go after they see the City, word will get out to the Hyruleans that we exist and the stream of tourists will never cease. After that, this tyrant of theirs will send an army to try and conquer us. We cannot let them go, especially if they are taken to Goron City."

"Krane, killing in cold blood is not our way. If we did that, we would already be endangering our way of life. Besides, how could they possibly get back into the mountains without the ability to find our enchanted doors in the cliff face? Goron doors are invisible when closed."

"I know that," Krane snapped.

"I am beginning to think that Bayge's idea is the right one," the living boulder continued evenly. "The Big Boss will know what to do with them."

"He'll also be angry that we brought hylians to Goron City," Krane retorted.

"I will take any of his anger on my shoulders," Bargoh said calmly. Krane's purple eyes seemed to glare at Bargoh, but he relented, shrugging.

"As you wish," he said. Then he noticed Bargoh's face change to a look of curiosity. He followed the other living boulder's gaze and saw another hylian walking toward them from the direction of the path that led up into the forest.

Zelda also followed the beast leader's gaze. A bare-chested hylian with a T branded under his collar bone approached with a bow slung over his shoulder and calinduela and violet flowers bunched up in his left hand. As he drew near, her right hand grew warm again. At her feet, Zeric stirred. He moaned softly, then vomited.

"Your companion is very sick," Bargoh declared. "His arm is infected and he needs the magic of our healers." Before Zelda could respond, the giant monster greeted Link. "Hylian," he said. "You would approach us armed with naught but a bow with no arrows? Surely you have never seen the likes of us before."

"I may not have seen your kind before, but in the last few days I've seen horrors far worse than you, and I know what you are. Most noble goron, regardless of your intentions, this man," Link gestured to Zeric, "is my liege. He is the prince royal and the rightful heir to the throne of Hyrule. His sister, the graceful Princess Zelda, is in our presence as well." He entered the triangle created by the gorons and approached the princess. He reached out to hand her the flowers he had gathered.

"Hmmm," the goron leader mused, crossing his massive arms over his chest. When at their side, the Mountain Boulder Beasts' arms hung down slightly past their knees. Their legs were indeed stubby, but their arm span was clearly a thing to be reckoned with. "An intriguing piece of information that a pair of Hyrulean royals is in our presence. You have our respect, my Lady," he said, addressing Zelda, since she was the conscious one. Looking back to Link, he continued. "We are taking you and your companions, as well as this soldier, to our city."

"How long will the trek take?" Zelda asked. "I need to make a poultice out of the flowers Link brought me for my brother's wound."

"Ah, the calinduela flower and the violet flower. Doubtlessly for a red potion. Unfortunately, while the red potion may heal the wound in your brother's arm, it will not kill the infection now that it has already taken hold. Like I said before, your brother needs the magic of our healers, else his ailment will take his life. The trip to our capital will be short. We will take the Warp Pedestals."

"Warp Pedestals?!" Pipit blurted.

"Ah, I should have known you didn't believe in magic. You will see soon enough, young human," Bargoh stated calmly. "Come." The giant living boulder turned and began to walk back toward the gaping hole in the rock wall where the previously invisible door was still wide open.

Zelda knelt down beside Zeric and rested a hand on the shoulder of his good arm. "Zeric, do you think you can stand?" At his sister's words, Zeric groaned softly, but nodded. His eyes were tightly shut. Looking at him, Pipit wondered if the prince had any idea that they were in the company of the legendary Mountain Boulder Beasts. With a helping hand from Zelda, Zeric stood.

"Thanks," he whispered, opening his eyes to a squint. Then he drew in a sharp breath and his eyes opened more. He was indeed seeing the gorons for the first time. His eyes grew wide, and he looked from one beast to the other, then to his sister. "G-gorons?" he whispered. She merely nodded.

"They rescued us from Ghirahim's soldiers," she whispered back. "They know we are royalty. They are taking us to their city." Zeric took a few moments to process this information, but nodded in understanding impressively fast. He removed his good arm from Zelda's shoulder in an effort to walk on his own, but immediately he swayed on his feet. He began to topple when Pipit appeared at his side and caught him. The brown-haired sailor grabbed the prince's good arm and put it over his own shoulders to help him balance.

"Thank you, Pipit," the prince said quietly.

"Don't mention it," Pipit responded awkwardly as they began to follow Bargoh. Link, Zelda, and Telma, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, walked beside them. In front of them, Ghirahim's last soldier walked, frequently casting glances behind himself in mistrust of the fugitives. Bringing up the rear was Bayge.

They reached the secret stone door and followed Bargoh and Krane into a stone passageway. Their path was lit with torches and the light of the flames revealed only blank walls of rock crudely cut through the mountain and a stone ceiling which was about twice as tall as a man. Pipit was thankful for the great size of the passageway because he very much did not like tight spaces. When Bayge entered the passageway behind them, he turned around. After quietly murmuring a string of unrecognizable words, the enchanted door began to rumble again as it turned on its stony hinges - or lack thereof - to close. When it was shut and the light of day denied, it became clear that there was another source of daylight as the color of the light on the ground which the unknown source produced was whiter than the yellow light of the torches. Within moments, they realized that the new source of daylight originated in a cavern that they would be entering shortly. Seconds later, the passageway's walls opened up abruptly and the ceiling above their head vaulted up into blackness and the walls on either side swooped outward into blackness as well. Torches lined a pathway that curved to the right and led to a circular mound. In the center of the mound, a perfectly circular stone slab rose a span above the earth. Its round edge was visible as it was lined with a bright white halo of light. Within the white circle, an incredibly complex symmetrical design made of shining strands of light dazzled the newcomers. In the very center of the design, an eye shedding a single tear stared solemnly up at them. The Hyruleans looked at it in awe and wonder; none of them having ever seen anything like it.

"This is the Pass Warp Chamber, as this is the Warp Pedestal that provides access to Dangoro Pass," Bargoh explained.

"How many pedestals are there?" Zelda asked, amazement still written on her face in the dim light of the cavern.

"Many, but not all of them are functional anymore. Come, we do not have time for questions. Bayge, I want you to go through the warp first." At Bargoh's command, the other goron lumbered up from the rear of the party.

"As you wish, Captain," Bayge said.

"I will send the hylians through after you," Bargoh said. "You and Heehl will wait at the Goron City Warp Chamber and make sure they do not do anything rash once in the City. I will send Krane through just before myself, and then I will come through last."

Bayge nodded his understanding, and stepped onto the pedestal. "Irin rindë," the goron said quietly. At his words, white light shone from the designs in the pedestal so brightly that the bulky goron was consumed in it. The light shafted up toward the ceiling of the spacious cavern, and then the pillar of white light began to shrink, its diameter waning until it vanished entirely, the designs on the pedestal now glowing a dim yellow. Bayge was nowhere to be seen. Perhaps the most disconcerting aspect of the whole thing was the fact that it happened in silence.

Zeric moaned again.

"Um," Pipit whispered to Link who was standing next to him, "I definitely expected it to make some sort of sound."

Link managed a quiet chuckle. "I did as well," he said, "but then again, I guess light generally doesn't make any." Pipit nodded as he conceded that fact.

"Captain Bargoh," Zelda began, "what language did Bayge speak to go through, and what is it that we have to say?"

"A great question, Your Grace. The language is that of the Ancient Shiekah. They are the ones whose magic still powers these pedestals," the beast replied. "The words you must speak here are 'irin rindë'. Soldier, you may warp next."

Link watched the man step forward and up onto the pedestal. The soldier looked down at the glowing patterns with visible unease, but stood firm upon the stone. "Eerin rindee," he muttered quietly. Once again, the light shone silently from the pedestal, engulfed the soldier, and then receded, leaving nothing but air above it. The bright designs once again glowed yellow.

Because Pipit and Zelda were supporting Zeric, Link volunteered to go next. Moments later, the light was growing around him and the brightness completely enveloped him. As quickly as it had grown, it retreated, and his surroundings had completely changed. He was standing on an identical pedestal in a chamber the size of an average room in an inn. The first thing he noticed, though, was the heat. It struck him like a physical force.

"Get off the pedestal," Bayge ordered him. Link obeyed. In the room with him were Bayge and Ghirahim's soldier as well as another goron. He assumed this one was Heehl.

"Heehl," Bayge said, immediately confirming Link's assumption, "There are a few more Hyruleans coming through and one of them has a badly infected wound. If you will receive the rest of the warpers, I will go fetch Garbya."

"Aye, brother," the other goron grunted and Bayge strode powerfully out the entryway of the Warp Pedestal chamber. Link stood across Heehl from Ghirahim's man, watching him carefully. The soldier was still armed, and Link was ready for anything. In a moment there was a flash of light and Telma stood on the pedestal.

"Gods and goddesses, its hotter than Din in here!," the big woman stated loudly.

"Off the pedestal, ma'am," Heehl commanded.

"Oh, sorry," Telma murmured, stepping off toward Link quickly. When Zeric came through the warp a few seconds later, Link stepped up and supported him, leading him to the side.

"So this is the sick one," Heehl commented. Link nodded briefly as he helped the prince sit. "The heat in here will not be good for his infection," the goron added, "we must move him further into the City where it is cooler. There is a chamber of lava directly adjacent to this room on the other side of that wall." Heehl motioned toward the wall on the other side of the doorway into greater Goron City. "While we gorons are not bothered by extreme heat, this room is admittedly less comfortable than the rest of the City."

When everyone had made it through the warp and Bargoh came through last, he instructed the group to follow him. "Heehl, since Bayge hasn't returned," the goron captain added, "I assume Garbya doesn't believe that we have brought hylians to the City. Carry the sick princeling to the healer's room and I will take the princess and her wee entourage - including the pretender's man - to the Big Boss.

As Heehl moved to pick up Zeric, Zelda interrupted. "Wait," she said, "I will not leave my brother's side at this time."

"Honorable, young lady, but I assure you that your brother is in the best of hands. They are, in fact, his only hope now," Bargoh insisted. "Garbya needs no distractions if she is to quickly conjure up a healing curry for your brother's infection. If you will not acquiesce, I will be forced to pick you up in order to carry you to the Big Boss. I would not wish to do that." Seeing that she had no choice, Princess Zelda conceded.

"Very well, lead on," she said. Heehl proceeded to gently scoop up the prince in his immense arms.

"Follow," Bargoh said simply, and turned on his heel and strode out of the warp chamber. The hylians followed the living boulder into the City and were astonished by it.

As they exited the warp chamber, they found themselves on a broad catwalk. Zelda thought ten men could easily walk abreast on it, and the catwalk spiraled around the City. She stared in awe at the way the City carved from stone was structured. It was perfectly circular, and the catwalk wound its way around it, working its way up and up and up. As a result, the diameter of the City as a whole grew larger and larger as the walkway went higher into the mountain. Because she had no idea where the pedestal had sent them, she had no way of knowing how big the mountain was which they were in the heart of, but it had to be one of the grandest peaks in the whole of the Goron Range. In the wall running along the outer edge of the spiral, doorways carved into the stone led into many rooms of various purposes. There had to be a hundred different rooms branching off from the walkway. Each doorway had wooden posts with colored stripes painted on them. What was perhaps more incredible was the fact that despite being underground, the whole city was lit with what appeared to be daylight rather than torchlight. If she just looked at the dusty stone beneath her feet, she would have had no idea that she was in a gigantic cavern under a mountain.

As soon as they had left the warp chamber, the air felt cooler. It was still hot, but it was much cooler than the warp room. Upon entering the greater City cavern, Bargoh turned left while Heehl turned right with Zeric in his arms. Zelda cast a glance back at her brother with a lump in her throat. He was barely conscious and clearly not cognizant of what was transpiring. As she looked back, her eyes then drifted over her other companions. Link was immediately behind her, followed by Telma and then Pipit and then the soldier, and then Krane.

"Make one wrong move, and I'll crush you into a pulp," Krane was telling the soldier, who, between being in awe of Goron City and Krane's threat, was clearly cowed. Nevertheless, Pipit still glanced back at him in distrust. Telma was examining their new surroundings with intense but subdued curiosity, while Link nodded encouragingly to her when her eyes met his.

Shortly, Bargoh turned left into a doorway that led to a descending spiral staircase. It was not a tight spiral, and the staircase was wide, easily accommodating its goron inhabitants. When they reached the bottom floor, Bargoh led them out of the stair column and onto the main floor of the City. Because the city grew wider with each level of the city, the bottom floor was actually surprisingly small. Zelda estimated that the stone floor couldn't have been more than ten meters in diameter. Aside from the entrance to the staircase, there was only one doorway on this floor. In front of it was a sizable yellow rug with a sharply stylized, dark brown paw or hand on it.

Bargoh led them toward the doorway then stopped on the rug.

"Darunia?" the goron rumbled.

"BARGOH!" another deep voice came back immediately. "COME IN!"

"Darunia, I have something of a surprise for you," Bargoh said uncertainly and without moving, despite the Big Boss's emphatic welcome.

"Oh, what is it this time?" the Big Boss boomed from inside his quarters. "Did your miners discover a new source of luminous stone? Did you promote one of your soldiers? Did you find a green rupee? Whatever it is, just bring it in to me!"

"Um, I really think you should come out and look at… it." Finally, heavy footsteps were heard approaching and out of the room came an even larger goron. His stiff mane was nearly gold, his plum eyes were bright and full of life, and on his cheeks was what appeared to be white war paint.

The giant, jolly leader's expression changed from warm greeting to confusion, confusion to surprise, and then from surprise to bewilderment all in the space of a split-second as he came out and saw Bargoh's entourage. "By Hylia's golden hair," he whispered slowly, eyes wide. Bargoh, for his part, was clearly nervous at his leader's strange reaction. "And so in my days the cycle repeats itself," the Big Boss murmured to himself in awe. "PYLE!"

"Yes Big Boss?!" another goron appeared above them two levels up, looking over the edge of the walkway down at them.

"We have a naked hylian here, make Slergo craft a tunic hylian size."

"Yes, Big Boss!"

"AND HAVE HIM DO IT NOW AND BRING IT TO ME FIVE MINUTES AGO!" Darunia bellowed.

"Yes, Big Boss!" Pyle confirmed as he disappeared over the edge of the walkway again.

Then Darunia turned his attention directly on Zelda. "Welcome to Goron City, Your Highness Princess Zelda." As the Hyrulean royal and her company became immediately shocked at his premonition, the Big Boss continued. "There is something I must tell you and your companions in private."

Despite her shock, the princess didn't budge. "Wait. I will not hear it until I know my brother is well. Additionally, he too needs to hear what you have to say."

"Ah yes," Bargoh chipped in, "there is one more Hyrulean. He had an infected wound and we had Heehl take him to Garbya to be healed."

"I see," Darunia said. "Very well, let's go check in on him. Knowing Garbya, your brother is most likely recovering already." With that, he strode by them to lead them back up the stairs.

/\
/\/\

They reached Garbya's healer shop a few minutes later, and as they walked down the hallway that connected the main walkway to the room, Zelda found herself wondering curiously what a female goron would look like. In her scant studies of the mountain boulder beasts, she had never come across anything mentioning gender. It was obvious, though, that those which they had already met were male.

Then, they had entered the small cavern and laid eyes on Garbya. Their surprises that day were not yet finished, it seemed, as Garbya was not a goron at all, but a hylian. She had long hair drawn into a pony tail which was once fiery crimson, but which now was graced by streaks of silver. Her garments were a deep purple and bared her rotund midriff. Her golden eyes examined them with interest as they entered.

Zelda's first thought after the surprise that Garbya was hylian was that she and Telma looked strikingly similar.

"What's the matter with y'all, starin' at me like a buncha month-old rocklings?" the healer said loudly. At her query, Darunia looked back at the hylians' expressions and found amusement in them.

"I daresay they expected you to be a goron," the Big Boss said, suppressing a chuckle. "Now, we must keep moving."

Zelda got past her surprise at Garbya's identity and rushed to Zeric, who was sitting steadily at a table with an empty bowl in front of him.

"I was just as surprised as you when I met her that she is not a goron; she was adopted by the gorons at a young age," Zeric said as Zelda approached him.

"How do you feel?" Zelda asked, immediately changing the subject to the issue at hand.

"The curry was very spicy but look at my arm! I've never seen magic like it before and I feel totally fine!" At her brother's declaration, Zelda's jaw nearly dropped. He then proceeded to stand up, but as soon as he was on his two feet, he faltered and Link appeared at his side to support him. "Maybe not totally fine," the prince conceded.

"If you can manage to follow me, I have critical information to relay to you," the Big Boss reiterated in a not-uncaring manner.

Zelda looked to Zeric.

"With a little help, I can manage," he said, glancing at Link gratefully.

"Then we must go to my quarters to discuss these matters," Darunia said, spinning on his heel and heading back out the doorway. Zelda and the rest of the hylians followed.

When they came out of the doorway and emerged onto the walkway once more, Zelda found herself immediately behind the goron Big Boss and had a thought. She had expected Garbya to be a female goron. Embarrassed at her ignorance on the subject, she allowed the unprofessional thought to manifest itself in a query. "Darunia," she began, "Are there… are there any female gorons?" The immense living boulder cast a quizzical look back at her and for a brief moment, she was afraid that he had taken offense at her bizarre question. Then he slowed just enough to allow her to come abreast of him and a grin appeared on his face.

"It's true you don't see many goron women," he said in a surprisingly cheerful manner, "and in fact, they're so alike in voice and appearance, that they're often mistaken for goron men. And this in turn has given rise to the belief that there are no goron women and that gorons just spring out of holes in the rock! Which is of course ridiculous." At the goron patriarch's vague answer, Zelda only found herself more confused, and decided to drop it.

/\
/\/\

"When the Great Deku Tree told me that the cycle was repeating itself, I blew him off," Darunia said after they had gathered in his quarters.

"The Great Deku Tree exists too?!" Zeric asked in a hushed tone of bewilderment.

"The Great Deku Tree?" Pipit asked in confusion.

"Cycle?" Zelda queried. Darunia waved a hand dismissively to all their questions and continued.

"He told me that he had felt a great evil rise in Hyrule and that soon, hylians would be arriving in my care unannounced. I didn't believe him at all and I sent his messenger back the same day she had arrived. Now you all show up here and remind me how unwise it is to ignore prophecies of the Great Deku Tree."

"Darunia," came a goron voice from outside, "I have the hylian tunic!"

"BRING IT IN, BROTHER!" Momentarily, the other goron appeared in the doorway with a red garment in his hands. Darunia gestured to Link and Pyle hurriedly handed the tunic over. Link received it thankfully. "Well, put it on young man," Darunia urged him. As the sailor unfolded the garment and began to put it on, Darunia continued. "He also said that all of the ones present will play a part in the fate of Hyrule." At this statement, Pipit immediately looked to the soldier in disgust.

"That's not possible," the dark-haired sailor spat. "This one will only work against our cause or run away."

"Do not make the same mistake I did, human," the Big Boss chided gently as Ghirahim's soldier scowled at Pipit, "you can never know what the future may hold." Pipit did not respond, so Darunia continued once again. "You must all go to the Eastern Woods and find the Great Deku Tree. Find him, and he will tell you how to proceed."

"This is about the man in the black cloak," Zelda realized aloud. "It has to be."

"I do not know who it is you speak of, Your Highness, but the Great Deku Tree will have answers to all of your questions," Darunia responded. "I urge you to seek him out as swiftly as possible." Link had finished donning the red tunic now and the Big Boss looked at him. "Does our garment suit you?"

Link nodded gratefully. The tunic was a deep ruby red and looked to be padded like a gambeson in the torso and bore a stylized collar with a leather lace for fastening the top of the neckline. Link had left aforementioned lace loose, giving it an air of casual practicality. On the shoulders and down across the chest of the tunic was a hardened leather portion that was the same color of ruby and seamlessly integrated into the garment for extra protection. The gorons' tunic was a masterpiece.

"He's a stoic one," Darunia mused with a minimal grin sneaking onto his lips.

"We will go, though we do not know the way," Prince Zeric interjected. Back on the task at hand, the Big Boss nodded.

"Of course. I will send two of my best gorons with you," he offered. "Come, we must go back to the warp chamber."

As they made their way back up to the Warp Pedestal, Darunia instructed them of their course. "I will send with you my captain, Bargoh, and my son, Darbus," he stated.

"Your son?!" Prince Zeric said, surprised that the goron king would send his own son away for an undetermined amount of time.

"Yes. Darbus is my pride and he is my messenger who I have sent to meet with the Great Deku Tree as well as King Dorephan. He is also a strong, brave, and loyal fighter who will guard you without hesitation." When they reached the entrance to the warp chamber, Darunia turned around, facing Goron City. "DARBUS!" he bellowed. Within seconds, a rumbling could be heard. It crescendoed until they saw a giant boulder rolling down the catwalk a couple levels up. In moments, it had circled around the giant room twice and was upon them. Just when Zelda thought that the boulder was going to crush them, it unrolled smoothly onto its feet and before them stood the biggest goron they had seen yet. This massive Mountain Boulder Beast was easily three meters tall and nearly as wide. He had to have weighed a metric tonne.

"Yes, Father!" He shouted cheerfully, not even batting a plum eye at the Hyruleans standing before him.

"We are sending these hylians and humans to the Great Deku Tree. A great quest is beginning, and you will represent the gorons in this matter of supreme importance. I am sending with you the honorable Captain Bargoh for support. Guide these Hyruleans to the Great Deku Tree's glade and then deliver to His Imminence this message: 'I, Darunia the Big Boss of the gorons, do hereby sincerely apologize for my treatment of Fado, your messenger. I have been a fool to reject your counsel and I send Wisdom and Courage in the care of my own son and captain. Instruct them as you will and may the fate of Hyrule be blessed.'"

"I will do it, Father," Darbus declared. Zelda, for her part, was taken aback by the Big Boss's message to the Great Deku Tree. What could 'Wisdom and Courage' mean? As she considered these things, there was a loud sound of boulders striking one another, and it took her a moment to realize that the Big Boss and his son were embracing each other in a massive bear hug. Then the two were separated and Darunia was all business again.

"Bargoh, I trust you and my son to guide them through the Eastern Woods safely. You've heard the recent reports, yes?"

"Aye, I have, Big Boss."

"Good. You go through the warp first, and then I'll have all the Hyruleans go through after you. Darbus, you go through last."

"It will be done," Bargoh said, turning and heading to the Warp Pedestal. The Hyruleans followed after him with Darbus in the rear. Zeric was walking on his own now and Zelda meant to ask him what it was that cured him so quickly, but there was no time right now.

"Taurë rindë," Bargoh said quietly, and was enveloped by a column of white light, then was gone.

"Soldier, you go next, please." To Zelda's surprise, this was Link's command.

"I have a name," the soldier muttered bitterly, but stepped onto the pedestal all the same.

"What is it?" Link asked.

"Viscen. Taurë rindë," and he was gone. When Zelda and Zeric looked to Link for an explanation, he shrugged.

"He is still armed. Just in case he is still looking for an opportunity to get rid of one of you, I would not trust him alone with either of you, even in the company of a goron. I will go through next." A few moments later, he was gone, and Zelda stepped up onto the Warp Pedestal herself. She wondered what taurë rindë meant, but despite her curiosity, spoke the words. The ancient Shiekah designs' light shone brilliantly and encapsulated her. It was incredible how she didn't feel any physical sensation at all. Then the light receded, and she was miles upon miles away from where she had been mere moments ago.

\-][- /...to be continued...\ -][-/


A/N - When you encounter "ancient Sheikah" language in this story, it is J.R.R. Tolkien's elvish language Sindarin. I wanted the language to be something other than English, something unique, and not just gibberish that I made up. SO, I have tapped into the brilliant mind of the creator of Middle Earth. I must posthumously thank him for his brilliance. I don't THINK that makes this a crossover haha.