23rd Entry: A Vacation-Training
January 6th, the 7th year in the reign of King Ganondorf I
Dear Diary,
After writing in my diary yesterday, I went back to bed and fell into asleep. Next thing I know...
"Malon! It's time to wake up!" Something, rather someone, was shaking me, trying to get me out of bed. I opened one eye. Link (Goron Link) was standing there, a big grin on his face. "C'mon sleepyhead! Up and at 'em!"
I let out a sigh, and sat up, rubbing my eyes. "What time is it?" I asked.
He thought at it for a moment. "Um, about nine in the morning. I let you sleep in, I thought you might have caught cold yesterday."
I smiled gratefully. "Thanks."
He motioned to a bundle in his hands. "These are the clothes you'll be wearing for the tours." I looked at him curiously. "Put them on, and I'll come check on you in a bit. Alright?" I nodded slowly. He handed me the clothes and left.
Still sitting on my bed, I opened the package. Inside was an offwhite undershirt, a pair of trousers, a tan tunic, and a small leather bag. The tunic was very interesting, it had different symbols around the cuffs of the sleeves and around the neck. I stood up and held the tunic up to my body. It looked as if had been fitted to Hylians, but still appeared somewhat long. I slipped into the clothes, and was pleasantly surprised at the feel, very light and cool.
About that time, Link knocked on the door. "Is it alright to come in?" he asked from the other side.
"Yeah, it's fine." I replied. He opened the door and came in. After taking a moment to study the result, he smiled.
"The clothes fit you well. We were afraid they might be a bit small, but you're so tiny it doesn't matter." He looked down at my still-bare feet. "Do you have a pair of hiking boots?" I walked over to my bag and pulled out my work boots. He nodded. "Those'll work fine. You'll probably need to put your hair up, otherwise it'll get a little hot, you got it?"
I smiled. "Yeah, okay."
He gave a grin. "Good. Now c'mon, it's time for training." He motioned for me to follow. I put my hair up in a quick bun, grabbed the leather bag, and ran to catch up with him. As I came out of my room, I couldn't help but be amazed at the sight with which I was met. Goron City has to be one of the most incredible places I've ever seen in my life. It's built right into the side of Death Mountain, and has four different levels. Rooms and stores are built directly into the sides of the city. I noticed several new rooms being built, probably to house the Hylians on tour, along with the addition of two or three restaurants (all of which do not serve rocks).
"Try to take note of where everything is." Link said as we were walking. "You have two maps in the bag that came with your clothes. One is a map of the mountain trail, one is a map of the city." I pulled out one of the maps and opened it. Sure enough, it was a map of the city, though it took a while before I could decipher all the symbols.
He gave a brief tour of the city, and showed me which stairs lead to to which levels. After he finished, we walked up to the top level and left. Outside, the sun was high in the sky, it looked as if it was about noon. Link showed me the various trails, where to go, where not to go. I laughed when I saw a caged in area with several tekites jumping about inside. They didn't seem the least bit pleased to be couped up like that, but frankly, I didn't care. About half-way down the mountain we came to a large cave.
"That," Link pointed out, "Is Dodongo's Cavern. The best rocks can be found there, and it is our primary food supply."
I remembered Link (My Link) talking about Dodongo's Cavern at one point. Link (Goron Link) went on to explain, "About seven years ago, Ganondorf sealed up the cave, and our very was of life was threatened. However, your friend Link came and opened the cave, saving all of us in the process." He gave a big grin. "I was born not too long after that, and my father, our leader, Darunia, was so thankful to Link that he named me after the Hero."
I smiled, glad that he had finally explained why his name was Link (You've got to admit, Link isn't exactly a common name). He lead me through the rest of the mountain trail, and eventually we came to Kakariko Village.
"Now, it's time for your first assignment." I looked up in surprise. "You have some papers in your bag that give information about the tour. I want you to go and give each family in Kakariko one." I looked in my bag and sure enough, there were quite a few sheets of paper, all describing the Death Mountain Tour. He smiled. "C'mon, we don't have all day. Get to it!"
It was about four in the the afternoon when I started. I went to the potion shop, the bazaar, the inn, the "no longer cursed" family's house, the "Great Impa's" house, the shooting gallery, the windmill, and finally came to Kara.
"What's with the get-up Malon?" she asked when she saw me.
I handed her the flyer, sticking my tongue out at the same time. "I'm helping the Goron's out with this project of theirs." I replied simply.
She gave a smile. "But I thought you were supposed to be on vacation. And this doesn't seem very relaxing..."
I laughed. "I know, but you know I can't just do nothing for long periods of time. I have to feel like I'm actually accomplishing something."
She nodded. "Well, I might just have to see if I can come on one of these tours. You promise it'll be good?"
I gave my most confident grin. "Well of course, I'm giving it." She laughed.
"Well all right! I'll see about it tomorrow. Have fun." I nodded and went back to join up with Link.
I was a little self-conscious when he told me that I was leading the way back to Goron City, but my memory (and my map) served me well, and I had no problem getting back. Once there, it was about seven or eight in the evening, and Link reminded me that I had to get up early tomorrow, my first real day of work. So I went back to my room. I'm almost ready to go to sleep, so I'm going to go ahead and go to bed. Talk to you later!
-Malon Astira
