The Bolero of Fire
Chapter 2: The Adventures of Sheik
Sheik was born on the same day as Zelda was. When the king of Hyrule didn't have an heir, the Sheikah choose Zelda of the Sheikah, who was slightly older than Sheik, as his new heir and Impa as her guardian.
Zelda quickly got used to royal life, but she wasn't allowed much fun - too much of a risk to loose the heir to the kingdom. In case of emergency, Sheik should become heir, but he wasn't suited to that job. They tried to train Sheik as a knight, bard and magician mixture, but it was standard that the kings of Hyrule should be knights and/or noblemen at all times. So while Zelda got to be a princess, Sheik was meant for another life, perhaps keeping the princess safe.
Sheik and Zelda were friends since they were children. But Zelda visited less and less over the years.
The Sheikah were stationed in a country beyond the Gerudo Valley.
By the time Sheik met Saria, Fado and Malon, she had already visited the Fire Temple and the Sand Temple.
Her instincts told her that princess Zelda was not the solution to all the problems that would arise in the future. Only the other sages would know of a solution to the problems that had arisen since someone touched the Triforce.
Sheik knew that there was a hammer in the Fire Temple, and she knew of some magic mirror in the Water Temple.
The Sand Temple could, under some circumstances, be about Fire and Ice.
In order to melt the seemingly everlasting winter, they would need the power that dwelled inside the Fire Temple - and then possibly also the power of the Water Temple, but then to get to summer, they would need the power inside of the Sand Temple.
Sheik was able to teleport to various places in Hyrule with the use of certain songs. As she played the Bolero of Fire, also known as the Song of Fire, she was transported to the crater of Mt. Doom.
Three figures wanted to go into the Fire Temple. She followed them, as at least two of them seemed to candidates for the sages that would one day save the world.
Sheik watched as they solved riddles and even as they battled the flaredancer. Sheik was a master at melding with the shadows on the walls, yet somehow Sheik didn't have a real shadow - none of the Sheikah really did anymore.
—-
When Fado and Sheik finally did go to sleep, they didn't get to catch much of it.
They let Saria and Malon solve the riddles, until they got to a huge room with a kind of staircase leading to the top - a very crude staircase that was.
Malon wanted to use the grappling hook, while Fado and Saria tried to give her more speed through wind. It turned out that there was a huge hammer in the chest - Malon wasn't able to lift it. She came down using the grappling hook.
Sheik saw her chance. Using the acrobatics she had learned in her life as a Sheikah, she went up to that place where the hammer was. There was a rusty switch.
She could use that hammer and use it on that rusty switch on the floor. This caused a door to open.
Somehow there were Gorons trapped inside the temple.
"I am not sure this Darunia is to be trusted." Saria said
"He seems to send Gorons in to be fed to the dragon" Malon added
"Or maybe he just doesn't know about those Gorons." Faey said
"I am still not sure about him." Saria complained
"We need to free them." Fado said tiredly.
Sheik was silent. This wasn't how things should go with Darunia.
It seemed that it was possible to crack the chains of those Gorons with the Megaton Hammer. Each of the Gorons had something more or less wise or funny to say, as:
The Goron's Ruby is a heavy weight on the shoulders of those who carry it. We Goron's should have eaten it long ago.
We Gorons you Gorons Gorons not everywhere not everyone Goron. Goron.
Break my chains and you shall be rewarded by me vanishing.
Are you a ghost?
Gorons liked the forest. But they never wanted to cross that border uninvited.
Our boss, Darunia, would rather wait than do something about Mt. Doom eventually erupting.
It takes either a dragon or a sacrifice to tame a volcano.
"Maybe these are ghosts of the past." Malon wondered
"Or the future." Sheik suddenly said
"When i was with the Sheikah, i learned that while the future is not set in stone, the future might give us glimpses of what could happen. I don't think this is supposed to happen."
"We still have the Goron's Ruby." Malon changed the topic
"I wonder what we can do with it. Besides throwing it in some pit."
—-
As they went deeper and deeper into the volcano, it got even hotter. Even in those places where they should be able to rest, there wasn't enough cool water. Fado's and Saria's magic was useless so far underground.
They would need the Serenade of Water, also known as the Song of Water, Sheik figured.
"Ouch, my Ocarina is too hot to play." Saria said
"Maybe you need to wash it with some of that water." Faey suggested
That made matters worse. The Ocarina was now so hot Saria was scared it would break.
Sheik played the Serenade of Water. Malon tried to chime in, singing. Saria tried to play along, somehow. Fado had just given up as her songs didn't work anyway and she didn't want to loose her Ocarina.
Slowly the temperature of the water in the room cooled down.
Sheik thought about that could not be the whole of the Song of Water, it just seemed like a prelude.
Saria had similar thoughts.
—-
They rested until the evening.