Link was on his way to the next material extraction point when he heard the strangest bird call. In fact, it wasn't a bird call at all, but a Goron calling out.
He ran over the ridge and saw a Goron with an impressive mustache trapped in a bear trap. There weren't many bears in the region, so there was a question of what it was doing there, but that question was greatly overshadowed by the need to help the Goron free. Luckily his skin was too tough for him to be bleeding, but it wasn't still obviously uncomfortable.
"Hold on a second," Link called down. The Goron quieted down, but was still in a lot of discomfort. Quickly, he disengaged the mechanism, allowing the trap to be pried open. The Goron pulled his foot out and rolled a good ten feet away.
"Thanks little guy!" he said, rolling his ankle out. "I was working up the courage to break free, but it's so shocking! You know?"
Link shrugged. He hadn't ever gotten stuck in a trap like that. Had he, and he probably would've lost a limb.
"Anyways, wow, a Hylian all the way out here. I thought I was only maybe going to run into a Rito."
"I could say the same for you," Link responded not unkindly.
"Quite right, quite right. It is a bit cold for me, but I was sent on a mission you see."
Link nodded in understanding.
"I don't know how long you've been out here, but a year or two back, the Princess of Hyrule announced these big magic robots that each nation could have. Anyways, the Goron leader, Gorunn was getting impatient with the rate at which that Sheikah scientist was giving us information, so he sent me to get some of that weird ore that's supposedly out here."
"Impa is pretty single minded. You have to ask Koshia if you want something in a reasonable time."
"Koshia?" the Goron asked, "Who's that?"
"He's like, Impa's first assistant." Link actually wasn't sure what Kashia was to Impa. They were close, obviously friendly with each other, but the exact nature he didn't know. He had heard something about them being married, but he couldn't tell if it was a joke or not. Impa seemed quite married to her work. "One of the Sheikah scientists… well he might be a sage by now."
"Yeah, those Sheikah are just going 'poof' into sages every other day it feels. Maybe that's just how it feels by the time it gets to Death mountain."
"Nah, when I was in the capital it was pretty much like that. Though it goes in waves. I think it has to do with Ganon stirring in his seal."
The Goron was putting weight on his foot again, though tentatively. "You sure know a lot. Say, you wouldn't happen to know where this certain meadow would be? It has a rare flower that's rumored to grow only there." He sheepishly scratched behind his head. "It's sort of the only reason I accepted this mission…"
"You don't want to know where the material is?" Link asked.
The Goron shook his head, "That can come after the meadow. The boss just needs to ask again. He was too hasty in his decision, but it did benefit me, so I can't really complain."
Link thought a few moments. He assumed Zelda– Princess Zelda would keep Impa from accidentally creating a political turmoil, but he remembered there was a real possibility of the princess not being in the castle. Finally he said, "I may know the meadow you're talking about," he muttered, "I wanted to take someone else there…" Then louder said, "But you have to promise me to do something afterwards."
"If you can take me there, I'll be in your debt!" The Goron frowned. "Well, more than I already am."
"You have to take some of the material and go to the Castle. Ask for Koshia. If he's not available, Arwana is a good alternative. Explain the problem. It should be fixed."
The Goron shrugged. "That sounds like a plan. You think they'd let me into the royal garden?"
"Probably."
The Goron jumped giddily, his landing causing a small rumble in the ground. Link held out his arm. "And don't do that once we get to avalanche territory."
The Goron nodded and made a point to step lightly. Link smiled at the Goron's antics.
"C'mon. It's only a day's walk," he said over his shoulder. "I need to pick up something along the way anyways I think." he checked the slate. It was sort of on the way.
It was strange traveling with someone. The wolves would sometimes follow him, but they weren't proper company. Listening to the Goron speak about flowers and his travels was immensely more interesting than wolves bothering him and asking invasive questions, or the suspicious eyes of the odd Rito. He was sunshine-y in a way that reminded Link of the princess oddly. The ease of talking and his quiet understanding. He wasn't as beautiful as Princess Zelda though.
The meadow was pretty high up, and were it not summer, the way would be snowed over. The horse flies were still relentless, but Link had gotten used to that long ago. Having rock-like skin, the Goron was unbothered.
"I don't care for the rocks around here," the Goron was saying, "They're all bitter, the few edible ones I have found."
Link listened along, but footsteps caught his attention. He placed a hand over the Goron's mouth and motioned for him to crouch. He crawled to peek over the ridge and what he saw took his breath away. In a bad way.
In the valley below there were bokoblins upon bokoblins. Lizofoles and moblins too. They were camped for the night, and Link couldn't see a clear leader. If there wasn't anything more intelligent then it wasn't as much of a problem as it could be.
The Goron gasped and Link snapped to look at him. Quietly he said, "We'll keep on towards the meadow, it should be safe." He marked a place on the map and tried to make a quick head count. "Can you try and count them?"
The Goron nodded, and looked down over the ridge. He had a number of fingers held up and looked to Link. They crept along, until they got to a pass. They walked silently and quickly along the deer paths up the mountain. The pair got to the meadow by sunset that night, and while it was beautiful, Link was more preoccupied with the horde of monsters in the pass below.
The Goron had forgotten the danger the moment he saw the delicate alpine flowers, and was carefully stepping around the meadow, taking notes in a notebook. Link sat on a rock and typed out a message to the Main terminal at the castle.
Large monster horde in the south of Hebra. Unsure how to proceed.
With that done, he went back to checking on the Goron to find that he was gone.
"You keep fiddling with that thing, it's Sheikah tech, right?"
Link jumped and turned around to see the Goron looking over his shoulder at the map. Link nodded.
"And that's where we saw the monsters… What're they doing there? You got any ideas, mountain man?"
"There used to be a witch around here, but she's… not here anymore. They could have been for her to command."
"I've heard about that sort of thing. But if the witch is gone then they'll be easier to deal with."
Link blinked.
"I may not look it, but I am a mighty warrior." he drew his shovel and unwrapped the chain wrapped around his body. "This is my Morning glory."
He shook his head. Even with the two of them there were just too many, and too much of a chance for some to get away. "I messaged Hyrule Castle, they might want to send some Guardians in and test them out."
"You can send messages on that little thing?"
"That's not all." Link showed the pictures he'd taken.
"Oh, that's amazing!" the Goron exclaimed, "Could you take some pictures of the meadow?"
Link shrugged and agreed. They had some time to kill anyway.