Ascent on Ice
quest from Majora's Mask of Link traveling up to Snowhead
Trudging along on the snowy floor of the mountain, the Goron Link's stubby legs moved his huge bulk as fast as they possibly could. After leaving the Mountain Village, he now found himself staring at a precarious path ahead of him, which would lead to the Snowhead Temple. It was an icy road that ran along the side of a mountain, twisting and curving as it stretched to another cliff. Huge snow boulders rolled off precipices above it, and either down into a dark abyss, or back onto the path which Link would have to take.
"Ohh boy…that looks pretty scary…" Tatl moaned as her lighted body dimmed a bit at the sight. Even for what currently his huge size while wearing the Goron's Mask, the incarnation of Darmani was uneasy as well.
"You're right, and I'm sure it'll be pretty dangerous" Link added, not making his fairy feel any more relaxed, "but it's the only path we can take." As his big eyes scanned the area ahead of him, the Goron spotted a large wooden ramp on the sides of the first gap in his way. His spirits rose as he then noticed a few other pairs of the inclines up the trail. "I'll just to roll my way up there" he concluded. Tatl still wasn't fond of the idea.
"And how am I supposed to keep up with you then?" she quizzed, "you know you're too fast for me when you start rolling, and what if I get hit by one of those boulders or something?" At first, Link merely stretched his right pocket opening reply.
"Get in there then" he told the yellow sprite.
"Are you kidding? I'll get dizzy from you spinning all the time!" she protested. The Goron's voice was stronger when he responded to her.
"I'm not gonna say it again" Tatl knew already that Link was a stubborn boy, and while in the Goron form of Darmani, he wouldn't be any more lenient. She sighed, and flew into his still-open pouch, murmuring some derogatory things about him. Link paid no attention to her anymore, and closed the pocket. He braced his large feet, staring hard at the hazardous route ahead of him as he prepared his body for rolling-ball form. "Here we go…"
He curled up, and began pushing his body forward like a barreling rock down the slope of a mountain. As his speed increased, his body began engulfed by a mass of heat, glowing brightly before he entered the best stage of the maneuver. With an incredible application of velocity, Link pushed himself forward, moving faster than before and with spikes protruding from every part of his body. Going full-throttle, he flew up the first ramp, going clear over the gap and beginning to ascend up another incline of pure snow and ice. Boulders fell from cliffs above, and rolled down in his path to meet him head on. Though whenever they'd meet, the sheer force of the Goron Roll would plow through them and reduce all to clouds of frost.
When he finished going up the gradient, he made another great jump over a large crevasse, and landed on flat ground beyond it. He continued rolling, until after following the path he came to a remarkable sight. Within a massive crater, a lone icy island stood, with a large structure in the middle of it, what seemed to be just a giant glacier. Leading to it was a small, narrow path, which was seemingly being attacked with a cold, freezing wind. As Link stopped, and got out of his ball, he didn't need much time to realize where he had come to.
"Snowhead…" the Goron whispered to himself. Tatl finally brought herself of out his pocket, flying awkwardly as his illumination rapidly shifted from being light to dark.
"Jeez…please don't ever do that again Link…" she begged groggily. He paid no attention to her, once again, and was only rapt by the eerie sight of the entire area. Here was the sky was darker than anywhere else in Termina, and the sound of the wind blowing reminded the Goron of a banshee, crying loudly as it passed by. Even more the sight of Snowhead certainly wasn't very welcoming either; and that was just the outside.
Thought Link began to walk ahead, making his way up the snaky pathway as Tatl slowly followed. When he got no more than ten feet of progress, the icy gale blew by once again, pushing even his heavy body back. Link was nothing short of amazed.
"Good Lord, that's the strongest wind I've ever seen" he marveled. For a few moments it had stopped, and then again the gust came by once again, chilling the Goron, and the fairy, as it passed by. Link had then noticed something rather peculiar about the wind. "Where on Earth is it coming from though? It just seems to be blowing out of no where…" he meditated. Puzzled by the perplexing matter, Link began to tap his side in his thinking, and quickly felt a certain one of his many relics in his pocket. Reaching in, he grabbed something by the handle, and pulled out the purple Lens of Truth. An idea then dawned on him.
"Might as well try…" he conceded to himself, and held the object in front of him. Peering through the red glass, he began to see the unseen. To his utter shock, there on Snowhead, was a gigantic Goron, sitting nonchalantly and releasing the cold wind from his mouth every few seconds. As Link was literally frozen in surprise of what he saw, Tatl hovered over to him, and took a glance at it as well.
"Well boy isn't that a problem…" she muttered, not as alarmed as her companion was, "how are you going to take care of that?" Without an answer at first, the new incarnation of Darmani slipped the Lens of Truth away and instead reached at his back behind him. He moved his array of bongo drums in front of his bulging gut, and held his hands over them.
"Just hope it works like it did before…" Link admitted. He then brought his hands down onto two of the drums, and continued beating the quintet of them at a specific interval. The sound of the patting on the canvas echoed throughout Snowhead, over the gales and all. As the Goron continued the orchestra of deep thumps, Tatl finally understood what he was playing; the Goron's Lullaby.
Once he struck one of the drums a final time, the invisible sight that was the giant Goron seemed to materialize in thin-air, the huge creature yawning loudly. His eyelids began to droop, as well as the rest of his body, the thing trying to stay awake. But not even a Goron of his size could withstand the soothing sounds, and before long he fell forward in a ball. As he lay, curled up as Link could do, he slowly teetered over the edge of the narrow pathway. After more than five seconds, the monstrosity toppled over the side, crashing down into the massive crater below. Tatl was still flabbergasted by what she saw in the last minute.
"Wow…this is one really crazy journey…" she muttered. Link sighed as he slipped his drum set away.
"Tell me about it…"