22nd Entry: A Vacation-Recruitment
January 5th, the 7th year in the reign of King Ganondorf I
Dear Diary,
When I was little, I had this preconceived notion of what the Goron race would actually look like. You must admit, the mere mention of anything eating a rock would cause any child's imagination to run wild. Turns out, my own little mental picture was entirely false.
I meant to wake up around six this morning, so I could get an early start up the mountain. So when I woke to find light streaming in my window, I was not the least bit pleased. Hastily, I got dressed and stuffed all my clothes into my bag. Running down the stairs, I saw the one of the two sisters standing at the front desk. She turned to face me, her eyes twinkling with amusement.
"Hey hun! Sleep in?." she asked me.
"Yeah." I said, still cursing myself for it. Over the entire span of my life, I don't think I've ever slept in. Sleeping in just makes me feel...lazy.
I laid the money for my stay on the counter, forced a smile and left.
Of course, it was raining (though the word 'downpour' might have been more appropriate). What a perfect start to the day. I untied the scarf around my neck and tied it over my hair, but overall, it didn't help much, I was still soaked. I had half the mind to just go back to the inn and sleep for the rest of the day, but in the end I convinced myself to keep going.
As I made my way toward the entrance of mountain trail, I was met with a strange sight. A man with a large hooded cape was setting up some kind of stand to the right of the path. He seemed to be having some trouble getting the sign to stay up on the top of the stand, so I ran over to see if I could help.
"Umm...sir, is there anything I can do to help?" I asked him.
He didn't turn around, but motioned with one hand to come over. "Here, help me nail this to the top." the man said to me. I took hold of the sign and helped hold it in place as he nailed it to the top of the stand.
"Whew, thanks!" the man said as he turned to face me. However, the face that met mine was not quite what I was expecting. This man had brown, hard skin, rounded ears and bright violet eyes. He gave a wide smile when he saw my expression; my eyes must have been as big as sausers.
"Y-you a Goron...?" I asked with bewilderment.
He laughed. "Yes of course! My name is Link, it is a pleasure to meet you."
This caused my mind to reel. "Link? But...huh? Now I'm really confused..." So far, this day as not been good to me.
The Goron's gave an understanding smile. "Am I to suppose you know Link the Hero?" I nodded. At this he broke into a wide grin and gave me a slap on the back (knocking the wind out of me at the same time). "Wonderful! Any friend of Link's is a friend of the Goron's! Come, come, what's you name miss?" he asked with excitement.
"Uhh, my name is Malon." I said, still trying to sort through the last few minutes' events.
"Malon, like I said before, a pleasure to meet you. Now, I wonder if you'd like to help me even further." I gave him a questioning glance. "Please, do not feel as if you are entitled to help me, I would just ask for your help in a new project the Goron race is about to undertake. We'd only need your help for a week or so, and you will be payed for any assistance you provide, I give you my word."
"I can't say for sure, I would need to know how exactly I would be helping you." I said with a slight smile. Although I wasn't in the best mood today, he was helping to brighten my day.
He took a deep breath, and started into a speech of some sort. "Over the last couple years, my people have realized that many Hylians believe that the journey up Death Mountain Trail is just too dangerous. So we have decided to start," he took a breath to build up the suspense, "Goron Tours!" I tried to stifle a laugh. Not such a bad idea, but the fact that he was so into it was what was so hilarious. He continued on, "We will not only give tours up and down the mountain, but we will also of our capital, Goron City." he finally paused.
"So why do you need my help?" I asked.
He gave a confused look, and then the thought seemed to register. "Oh yes! You see, many Hylians are afraid of the Goron race, of the way you look, you see? So we need a nice lady like you to give some tours for a week or so, just so that all the Hylians can see that we're not really scary or anything like that. So umm..would you like to help us?"
I smiled. "I'll have to see what all goes into giving these tours, but if it's only for a week, I guess I could-" the Goron ran up to me and gave me a huge hug.
"Uh...Link...it's kind of hard of me to breathe..." He looked at me.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." he said, placing me on the ground. "But really, thank you so much Malon! My people will be so happy to hear that you have decided to help! Come now, it isn't good for either of us to be standing out here in the rain, we should start up the mountain." I nodded and we started up the mountain. We ran most of the way, and I couldn't get a very good good look at anything we passed, I just kept focused on following Link. About half way up he spoke.
"Had the weather been any nicer, I would have begun your training today. But because of this rain, your training will begin tomorrow, alright?"
"Alright!" I told him.
About three-fouths of the way up, I began to get tired, so he picked me up and carried me the rest of the way. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew, I was in a room that looked as if it was carved out of a rock. The bed I was lying on was surprisingly comfortable, and a small lantern rested on a desk across the room. There was a small window to my right, it was dark outside, so I decided to go ahead and sleep the rest of the night (Well, after writing in my diary).
I don't really have any idea what I just got myself into today, but tomorrow ought to answer a lot of those questions. Talk to you later!
-Malon Astira
