Wow. 213 hits and only 6 reviews? What's that supposed to mean? Is my fic so good that people can't find words to describe it? Or is it that bad? Or is everyone just lazy? -- Oh well, I got another review, so I'm inspired to write again.

Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Zelda, Miyamoto does. I do, however, own a copy of Wind Waker, Ocarina of Time (and Master Quest), Four Swords, and I own my character, Tarin.

Author's note: I changed the title of Chapter 5. I have also decided not to make this part into two parts.

That night, Tarin had the dream again. He burst through the fog and found himself on the bridge again, but this time, he could identify the riders as they galloped past—a woman and a child—before he was knocked into the water. In addition to feeling cold and wet upon waking, however, he felt something hard hit his head and the sound of giggling.

"Ow! What the…?"

Tarin opened his eyes and found himself staring into another pair of dark eyes set in a round, brown-colored face. Tarin yelled at the face, which yelled back, and Tarin scrambled into a seated position. A few seconds later, Tarin managed a nervous laugh, since the face staring at him had belonged to a young Goron, who was currently curled into a ball nearby. The Goron's friends stared at Tarin fearfully, as if he were going to attack. Some were holding small rocks, and Tarin knew what had hit his head.

"Hey," he said to the curled-up Goron, "are you okay? I'm sorry I yelled, but you scared me." He patted the speckled surface and looked around at the others. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you. See?" He held up his hands, palms facing outward, to show that he did indeed have no weapons. The other Gorons relaxed a bit, and Tarin smiled at them. He stood up, grabbing his pack as he went, and scanned the area.

Apparently, he had fallen asleep at the side of a circular pathway. On either side of him, the floor curved away, creating a half circle from which a handful of square doorways led. In the middle of the half circle was a small island of rock, suspended either by magic or by the four ropes extending from it to the main pathway. Tarin cautiously approached the edge of the path and peered over the edge. Below him, there was another circular pathway with more doorways leading who knows where, and below that, a circular shaped area of floor. The second pathway disappeared for a bit into a tunnel, and as Tarin watched, a large boulder emerged from the tunnel and rolled along the path. He would have to watch out for that. Here and there Tarin spotted other Gorons, both adults and children, going about their daily lives. The thing Tarin was most interested in, however, was the floating island.

Standing on the island was a young Goron, and beside him, embedded in a stone tablet, was a large red gem. The Goron's Ruby, Tarin was sure of it. The only problem was, it was over there, he wasn't, and he wasn't sure how sturdy the ropes were. He walked over to one of the ropes and placed a foot on it. It sagged just a little bit, but not enough to deter Tarin, so he placed his other foot on it and began tight roping across. About a foot from the island, Tarin jumped off and landed in front of the stone tablet. He moved towards it and reached for the stone, but his hand was grabbed suddenly.

"Hey, what are you doing?" the Goron guard demanded, keeping a firm grip on Tarin's arm.

"I…uh…just…wanted to look at the Stone," Tarin stammered, trying to pull his hand away. It didn't work too well.

"No one is allowed to touch the Goron's Ruby except for Darunia," the Goron explained rather testily, as if he had said it more times than he had the patience for. He let go of Tarin's hand and shoved the boy away.

"Okay, okay. I get it. I'll go." Tarin turned around and made his way across the rope bridge, where he turned around, stuck his tongue out at the Goron guarding the Ruby, misjudged his step, and toppled off the ledge.

"Uh…ah…Aaahh!"

Fortunately, he managed to land on his hands and knees, minimizing the pain. Unfortunately, he landed right in the path of the rolling boulder and had to dive into one of the doorways to avoid it. Also unfortunately for him, it happened to be a staircase that he dove into and spent the next couple seconds rolling head over heels downwards, finally stopping at the bottommost level.

"Ouch. This place hurts." Tarin checked his body to make sure nothing was broken, but everything was alright. He spotted a Goron who had just emerged from a doorway. "Hey, you…um…do you know where Darunia is?"

"He is in his room," came the reply. The Goron had a higher voice; perhaps it was a female. "He hasn't been out much for the past few weeks. No one has been able to talk to him."

"Where is his room? I need to talk to him," Tarin asked.

The female Goron pointed behind Tarin to a doorway decorated with a piece of cloth across the top and a rug in front. It was the only door Tarin had seen so far in the city that was closed. He walked over to it and put his hand on the slab of rock. He knocked on it a couple times, but nothing happened.

…the song of the royal family…

The woman's voice entered Tarin's head again, telling him again of the song. What was that about? What was he supposed to do about it? Listen for it?

…play it…

"Play the song?" Tarin asked nobody in particular. Frowning, he took out his ocarina and played the song he had heard the mysterious young man play at home. To his utter surprise, the rock slab moved up and out of sight, revealing a dark passage. Tarin took a couple steps inside and within ten seconds saw a large and wild-looking Goron. The room was fairly large, and well lit by numerous torches, except for the tiny hallway Tarin was standing in. There were four Goron-like statues and some pots lined up on a shelf against the wall to Tarin's left.

"Darunia?"

"Who's there?"

"My name's Tarin," Tarin replied, stepping into the light. "Prin—I mean Zelda sent me here. To get the Spiritual Stone." He took the Stone out of his pocket and showed it to Darunia.

Darunia looked at the Stone for a long time before speaking. "Yes, I knew she would. She is not the only one who can sense the coming evil."

Coming evil? Tarin was confused. Were the Stones supposed to protect against evil?

"Tarin," Darunia spoke again, "I believe your story, but I cannot just give you the Stone."

"What! Why not?"

"That wouldn't be fair." Darunia smiled. "One year ago, another young boy came to this city, also searching for the Stone. At that time, we were in the midst of a famine, brought about by the evil Gerudo Ganondorf, who blocked the cave below, cutting off our food supply. The boy volunteered to unblock the cave and vanquished the evil within. I gave him the Stone and he left."

During the story, Tarin had been moving around the room, examining the pots, statues, and even the torch brackets. He turned back to Darunia. "How did you get it back?"

"It was returned to me by the Princess."

"Oh. So to get it from you, do I have to go something like that other boy?" Tarin leaned against the wall and wrapped his tail around a torch pole.

"I do have something I'd like to request of you…" Tarin could have sworn that Darunia smiled a bit.

Well, how was it? Good? Bad? Ugly:D Review, people! Please? If I got the Goron's name wrong, someone please tell me. I think it's right, but I'm not entirely sure.