With a soft yawn, Link awoke. It was early in the morning, the sun had seemingly only just risen an hour ago. He checked the Sheikah Slate which stated that it was 6 am currently. Zelda was asleep next to him, clutching softly at his tunic, she had turned around in her sleep it seemed. He felt a sleepy smile appear on his face as he filtered through his old memories which had returned to him once more. There was so much he had been through in his youth, though it paled in comparison to the intensity his journey after his slumber brought. There was one memory he was fond of ignoring, one he never truly allowed himself to experience with the thoughts that had gone through his head. Blatchery Plain, it was a fatal mistake a century ago. He had made them stop, to help out when they should have pressed on. Perhaps if they had, the casualties wouldn't have been so high, and Hyrule wouldn't be in such an exponentially ruined state. But what hurt him more, was how he treated death. He accepted it, he was okay with the fact that he was leaving Zelda to deal with all of this. Of course, he was trying not to regret anything in the moment, and instead focused on the positives at the time, but he avenged the kingdom, and as long as he restored it, that might be enough.
Zelda had woken up shortly after, Link felt a smile sprout on his face as she looked up into his eyes sleepily. "Good morning, sleepyhead." He teased softly, she rolled her eyes before placing her hand on the side of his face. "Good morning to you too, Hylian who wakes freakishly early." It was clear her mind was numbed from the depths of sleep, for had she been awake, she would have formulated a much more sophisticated rebuke. "What time is it?" She inquired softly, he handed her the Sheikah Slate and she checked the time. "Hmm, if we leave within the hour we should be in the city by 10, though it will likely be 11 before we even begin heading to the Divine Beast." Link took the Sheikah Slate from her, placing it on his hip. "I'll go get some elixirs." He heard her groan with disgust as he sat up. She grabbed onto his arm and so he turned his head to face her. "10 more minutes?" She pleaded, he couldn't deny such a tempting offer. He laid back down and she wrapped her arms around him before he pulled her close. "Things have turned out so well." Zelda stated after a minute or two. "They have, so far everyone is accepting, and apart from the blood moon, we shouldn't have much difficulty with moving forward." He noticed her frown. "We'd best keep a close on the moon, perhaps it's related to the task that the Sheikah have yet to lay onto us."
About an hour later they left for the mountain. Zelda seemed extremely unsettled at the thought of drinking an elixir, she couldn't even look at the vials. "Why can't they make it taste sweeter?" She whined, folding her arms dramatically. "Elixirs are made using monster parts and animals, if they added something to sweeten the flavour, the effects would be lost." She sighed, knowing he was right, to which he was glad. Luckily, they didn't need the elixirs for the first part of the trip, however, Zelda seemed to be getting uncomfortable with the heat and just up ahead there were hot springs, signalling the boiling hot climate. He reached into his bag, taking out two vials. He removed the corks before handing one to Zelda. She sniffed the substance and grimaced as she slowly raised it to her lips. He grinned with amusement as she slowly placed her lips on the glass before quickly pouring it into her mouth, after it was empty she gagged with distaste. "You're overreacting." He teased, to which she glared at him. "Oh yeah? Well show me how well you can handle it, Hero." She placed her hands on her hips before he shrugged at her words. He raised the bottle to his lips without effort and placed the liquid into his mouth. Before swallowing he wished to tease her more, so he swished the liquid around inside his mouth.
She rolled her eyes before stepping closer to him. Before he could even wonder what she was doing she placed her hands on each side of his cheeks, compressing the space in his mouth, causing him to spit out the contents of the elixir. "Oops, you missed some." She giggled before patting his shoulder and turning around, continuing on the path. He shook his head and smiled with admiration due to her witty response. He took out another vial and popped the cork off before consuming the contents and following after the former princess.
It wasn't long until they reached the city, the mines had been empty which appeared odd to Link, as far as he could tell, the Gorons never stopped mining. As they made their way closer to the city, sounds of cheering could be heard. "What in the name of Hylia is that racket?" Link glanced at Zelda as she spoke, he had no idea, there was nothing he could see which would explain the noise. However, as they arrived in the settlement it became apparent that some sort of celebration was taking place. They approached the group which was huddled outside the chief's hut. They were chanting the name of the chief, waiting for him to make an appearance it seemed. Link spotted Yunobo before grabbing hold of Zelda's hand and pulling her with him through the crowd to make his way over to his friend. Yunobo was taking part in the chanting, proudly calling Bludo's name. Link tapped the Goron on the side which caused the boy to turn and face them both. "Link! What a surprise, and who's this little one?" Zelda stepped forward, ready to introduce herself. "My name is Zelda, it's a pleasure to meet you. And you are?" She held her hand out for the Goron to shake, but it didn't seem as though Yunobo understood the gesture. "The name's Yunobo. Zelda's the name of the last Princess, isn't it?" Link watched Zelda nod softly. "She doesn't see herself as the Princess currently, she's trying to get over everything which transpired in the past before she becomes ready to move on." Yunobo nodded softly before looking towards the hut,
"So what's the big occasion?" Link asked, trying to drown out the sounds of cheering around them. "It's Bludo's birthday today. Though he doesn't seem to fond to come out, he's like this every decade, always sick of the first number increasing, goro." Link could see that the Goron wasn't proud of his age, it had lead to back problems which hindered his ability to use cannons and to assist his people in mining. "Ooh, there he is!" Yunobo exclaimed before joining in on the cheering again. Link covered his ears as the chanting intensified, though a few minutes later he took his hands away as everything calmed down. "Alright, alright! I'm here now! Hold onto your rocks ya lousy lumps of topaz." There were some chuckles in the crowd before Link heard the distinctive sound of the Goron's back breaking. "Ouch, someone fetch me my meds would ya?" Link noticed Zelda inch closer to him to whisper into his ear. "What's his problem?" Link leaned back slightly to make himself more audible to her. "He's got issues with his back, though his medication isn't strong enough anymore." Zelda frowned slightly. "I read about an elixir which does wonders for cases of stiff joints, though I wouldn't be capable of finding or blending the materials together." She glanced at Link. "Though maybe you could, but first I suggest we check out that Divine Beast." Link nodded at that and they quietly slipped out of the crowd, unnoticed as Bludo began to speak once more. And with that, they kept traversing the mountain.
The heat was beginning to pile onto the female yet again, she reluctantly tugged on the fabric of Link's tunic. "I need another elixir." She admitted softly, seeing a smirk form on the knight's face. She sighed defeatedly as he handed her a vial, she avoided looking at the repulsive liquid, and tried not to inhale its potent scent. She flicked the cork off before raising the vial to her lips and ingesting the liquid. The aftertaste was horrible, it was as though she was consuming the rotted skin of a bokoblin, which, being honest, she likely was. However, the taste soon faded and her body cooled down as the medicine worked its magic. They traversed the rest of the mountain without much hassle. A manmade pathway had been constructed by the Gorons, despite the dangers of Rudania. "What was it like when you tried the rocks Daruk offered you?" She glanced at Link who was finishing a vial of elixir. "It was.. tough as you'd imagine. I wouldn't be able to eat large quantities in one go, the strain on my jaw would be too great. The rocks are quite salty, but the volcanic aspect actually adds a sort of spice flavouring, similar to that of a spicy pepper." Zelda supposed that the salty texture was due to years of absorbing the water from Akkala. The area was extremely deprived of water due to the volcano which resided next to it.
They paused outside of the Divine Beast. It had retreated into the volcano a little bit after its work was done. "I mean, its plausible that we can jump in, but getting out will be more of a problem.." Zelda looked around for a more suitable solution before glancing at Link. "You helped Daruk learn to control this creature a century ago, correct?" He nodded, but didn't seem to see what she was getting at. "Perhaps you may have some luck in trying to move it." She suggested, he gave her a sceptical look, but he slowly nodded, considering the idea. "I'll go down first and see what I can do." She paused, raising an eyebrow. "And what if you get stuck?" She tilted her head to the side, she didn't wish for him to get stuck down in the middle of a volcano. He hesitated before giving a casual shrug. "I'll figure it out." She placed her hands on her hips. "I am not allowing you to storm in there on your own if you don't have some sort of a plan." Link sighed softly before looking down at the Divine Beast. "Then what are we supposed to do?" He asked, to which she became frustrated, she didn't know any more than he did. "I'm not su-" There was a tremor, one which robbed Zelda of her balance. She found herself falling backwards into the crater of the volcano, she watched as Link lunged, attempting to catch her before leaping into the abyss after her.
She was winded as she landed on the ground of the Divine Beast, her back hurt quite a lot. Link landed with a roll, standing up and brushing it off as though he'd just leaped off a small rock. Seeing her distress, he kneeled down next to her. "Hold on.." He reached into his bag and pulled out a small vial, it had a pinkish colour to it. "This is fairy tonic, I'm going to need you to drink this, alright?" She nodded softly, unable to speak due to her struggles at getting oxygen. He placed the bottle against her lips, and the thick liquid trickled into her mouth. It tasted extremely sweet, a little too strong. She swallowed with much struggle, feeling the pain fade and oxygen rushing into her lungs. She sat up, coughing violently. "Thank you.." She whimpered, getting to her feet. The taste of the liquid rested on her tongue, it was rather pleasant.
She looked around them, they were by the main terminal. Zelda was prepared to see whatever it was that this monk would offer them. "I wonder why the ground shook." She blinked as she looked at Link, she hadn't even thought about that. "I'm not sure, does it happen often?" She watched as he shook his head. "I recall Daruk telling me that the mountain shivering was an unusual occurrence, he linked it with the looming threat of the Calamity returning." Zelda frowned, things seemed rather odd. First the looming malice, then the blood moon, then a new task and now this, she wondered if the Calamity was destined to return again, but she wouldn't voice these concerns until she became more informed. "Let's see what is to be said." She suggested before making her way over to the terminal.
Link stepped beside her before placing the Sheikah Slate against the pedestal. She heard the sound of scraping once again, like they had in Vah Ruta. However, nothing was opening, but rather a stairway was forming. Zelda glanced at Link before watching him ascend the stairs. It led up towards the head of the Beast, where a small door rested. It opened after a few moments, revealing a downward spiralling staircase. They stepped inside, descending the stairwell and finding themselves in an open hallway, much like they had before. There were small slits in the walls, allowing the light from the magma to illuminate the room slightly. Another one of the tombs rested at the end of the hallway. Zelda had paused, but Link continued onward. She decided to leave the process to him considering he had the experience.
She watched him tap the blue energy, watching it shatter the box before the ominous sound of the monk's voice filled the chamber. "I am Vah Rudania, the keeper of this Divine Beast. To you who sets foot inside this chamber, you have already met with Vah Ruta. Your journey must continue to Vah Medoh. I must inform you that there are trying times ahead of you, all this will be made clear by the conclusion of this journey. Make haste and find your destinies, may the Goddess smile upon you.." Zelda frowned as she watched the figure fade away, they'd barely gained any information from that. "All that for nothing?" She sighed exasperatedly before watching Link step down from the pedestal, seemingly careless. "Have a little patience. Now come on, there's a party going on in Goron City, and I'll be damned if I miss it." Zelda smiled sweetly and nodded, she liked the idea of attending a celebration, she could worry about the journey later.
It was late in afternoon when they arrived back in the city. She could hear the sounds of drums playing a rhythmic beat as the Gorons sang along to some tunes. They didn't sound great, but the atmosphere was welcoming. Zelda spotted a bar nearby which had a small line, a Gerudo Vai had a stall set up and appeared to be selling noble pursuits. "Oh my goddess, Link you need to try that." She grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him down to the line. She had only ever had a sliver of a taste, but she wished to have a full glass now, she was independent after all, and of a legal age. "You seem rather excited." He chuckled as they waited in the line. "Link, this stuff is so good, Urbosa gave me a taste a century ago whilst I spent some time with her during our travels." Link raised an eyebrow and smirked softly. "Ah, so that's why you kissed me, you were drunk." She scoffed before punching his arm softly. "I was /not/, I was in a perfectly sound state of mind, and that kiss was the best thing to ever happen to me." She watched Link's cheeks darken slightly as he took hold of her hand. "I can say the same." She smiled brightly up at him before looking at the bar, they were next. "Two noble pursuits please." She exclaimed casually, placing her hands on the counter. Though the surface of the counter was hot, causing her to wince. She was handed two glasses of the stuff and she handed Link one of the glasses before paying for the drinks. "Now it's a party." She giggled before making her way over to the crowd with Link following behind.
Several hours, and drinks later. Zelda found herself being carried down the mountain by Link. "You didn't even have.." She looked at her hand, raising a few fingers, not caring how much she did. She waved four fingers in Link's face. "You didn't even have two glasses." She whined before looking around at the scenery. She turned to him once again and looked up at him. "Did I ever tell you how perfect your eyes are?" She blurted out before watching him blush. She giggled lightly before placing her hand on his cheek. "And your hair is incredible too, the way it flows.. I'm jealous, that nasty Yiga Soldier stole all of mine. Though, I guess you avenged me.." she giggled lightly before letting her hand fall from his face. "Your words are kind, Zelda." "My father will be so mad when he hears about thi-" She paused, coming to her senses a little. "I guess he won't hear about this.. oh well." She sighed before looking up at Link. "Why are you being so /boring/?" He glanced down at her before shaking his head. "I'm exhausted, that's all." She frowned dramatically. "Well then why are you making me rest?" She pouted as he took her into a stable and laid her down on a bed. "Because you certainly need it." She patted Link's cheek roughly. "You're so caring." She giggled softly before burping slightly, causing her to giggle more. He kissed her forehead before making his way over to a different bed. "You're not sleeping with me?" She frowned and crossed her arms. "I will when your breath doesn't stink of alcohol, and when I know you won't throw up on me." She giggled lightly before nodding softly. Everything seemed to be funny now, it was quite freeing. "Goodnight, Zelda." She gazed over at him. "Nighty-night Link." She responded before closing her eyes, though she wouldn't find sleep for a few more hours.