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Chapter V: A Mountain of Fire
Copyright: I do not own Zelda, Nintendo does. Story by Habuki productions.
"Death Mountain was a lot larger than that it looked. For the next three days, the couple spent the entire days climbing the mountains, but by the second day, they decided it was best to climb at night. There were no Stalchildren on Death Mountain, he heard the rutting of Skulltula in the walls, but never saw them. There was a new type of enemy on the mountain and, they were called Tektites. These monsters, which looked more like spiders than the Gohma spawn, only had four legs and a small torso. These monsters were red, with large eye in the middle, but the funny thing was they were easy. Link could dispatch three of them with the basic spin of his sword and block of the Deku Shield.
Traveling at night was more preferred, because of the hot sun on Death Mountain, was it called Death Mountain called that for the sun and the mountain was active? Probably so, it seemed, because after the first day he almost died of dehydration. This mountain was dangerous place. So, he would sleep in his shade, under the Hylian Shield, and travel at night. Instead of stopping in the morning, he traveled until it was well into the noon.
No time during his trip was there a 'volcano explosion', but Navi did explain what they were talking about. This mountain spilt out fire and ashes, it seemed, that would consume whatever was in it's path, but she said that the stuff happened up at the top of Death Mountain and Goron City was at the center of the mountain. While he was traveling, about the first day and a half, he ran into a large cave that was blocked by a huge boulder. A small sign was labeled Dodongo's Cavern. He didn't know what a Dodongo, but they must have been quite the secretive people, because they didn't want anyone inside.
Another strange thing happened to Link, he ran into a crossroads, and I mean literally. The duo ran into a small piece of wood stuck in the ground with a red flag hanging from the top of the flag. Him and Navi flipped a coin and went up towards the top. That was a mistake! The way up lead towards a huge set of boulders that they couldn't pass without some severe explosives. Maybe they have bombs for this bag! So, a half a day was spent traveling back down the mountain and going south of the flag. That led right to the city, it seemed they were right under it!
Link and his companion reached Goron City the third night on the mountain, coming close to the fourth, it was about eleven o'clock when he saw the inner gates. They weren't really gates, but a large arena slightly carved different from the rest of the mountain. It pointed out towards a large squarest structure that had a huge block in the center aligning rocks in a circle. Link kicked the rocks aside, to find some of those pretty hear containers and drank a few. The strength returned to his body, and he and Navi drank two apiece.
"Navi, is that is?" He pointed north where there was a medium sized door that lead inside of the rocks.
"I think so, Linky. Now be warned, this race looks a lot different from the Hyrulians, Kokiiri, and the Faries. They don't have pointy ears, like us, or the same colour of skin. We might find them repulsive, but don't show your disgust. We need their cooperation to get the Spiritual Stone of Fire, and knowing Daruina he won't give it up."
"Daruina? Who is that?"
"The Great Deku Tree told me about him once. He is the Great leader of the Gorons and as stubborn as a mule. He doesn't listen to other people, but he isn't a bad guy. Some where in the Lost Woods is a path towards here and there, so he likes the music of the Lost Woods, but he's never been here.
"Wow, alright. Are you ready?" It had been eight days since they left the Lost Woods, leaving Saria, and it had been twenty-three days since he had begun to journey. Wow, almost a month! Three weeks and two days! This was incredible, because it never felt like it. It was quite an astronomical feeling he felt. This journey was quite into it, he believes, and so he jumped off the rock and ran forward to the City of the Gorons.
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Why was it everywhere he went, the places seemed to get bigger and bigger? An asterisk of confusion swelled over his mind as he stared in the city. This was definitely why they called this a city, and Kakariko a village. This place was very lively, but not as much as the other town he had been too, though more than his hometown. Of course not, his village was so small that the only smaller place was the Lon Lon Ranch and that wasn't even a town. Link guessed they could just about fit twenty Kakariko's into this one Goron City. Probably every Goron lived her, he assumed, since he had never seen a Goron.
"This place is huge…" Navi spoke, reading Link's mind, and fluttered around the area in utter amazement. They entered from the top of six-layer city. This wasn't like a normal city, because there were no houses, there just was this huge…sanctuary was the only word! The first level was full of dirt clogged paths, the entire room was in a sort of oval shape, not really a circular, but it would be considered that. Different holes covered the area around the top level, and in those holes were endless paths of stairs. Large rocks covered one place when he turned right in, but something else caught his eye.
In the middle of the entire region, four ropes sprung out in the cardinal directions, and a small platform was suspended in the air from there. "Navi?"
"The Spiritual Stone maybe there, come on Link."
"N-Navi…that is a long way down. And I don't see no Cuccos." It was strange, he had come accustomed since he had spent some of his time with Malon and Epona.
Blowing out a long sigh of frustration, she took off her veil and latched onto his clothes. "Hold on, and don't scream."
"Navi what are you--" Link cried out in a gasp as he was lifted into the air and was levitating. Levitating! No, he was being pulled across the structure, through the air and to the center, by the one and only Navi. Holding his hands to his side, he prayed the Goddesses until his fit hit the five by five hexagonal shaped platform. In the middle was a stone with a small inscription.
The Spiritual Stone of Fire Lies here;
Separated by the Goddesses, and praised
For the Goddess of Flames, Din.
No one shall ever touch thee stone.
There was also something else he didn't notice, that surprised him. A large lump, which he thought to be a rock, propped up and stared at him with those beady little eyes. "Who are you?" It croaked.
Leaping back, barely catching his balance on the edge of the rocks, he stared at the being. It was obviously larger than he was, about seven feet this one was, but it was covered so strangely. A tannic colour, it was, with bumps of rock that ran along it skin in a structural way. A huge potbelly ran along its stomach. It was seen clearly that this fiend or friend was not that weak. Deep muscles ran along his chest, arms, and legs, with those veins bustling out. This one had a small amount of hair on its cone-shaped head, and some under it's lips. A pair of fish lips smiled out, those huge stained midnight black eyes staring at him. No pupils at all were on its face. Link let out a horrified gasp, and reached for his sword.
"Wait! Wait young Hylian! I am not a fiend!" He sat up; Link's guess about his height was quite accurate, and slowly wobbled over to the boy on its uneven feet. Huge bear-like paws were on its hands and feet, and upon its left arm was a small triangle with three triangles sprucing out in three single directions. Two holes were pressed into its skull, no nose, just blowholes, and the monster's hands went to his shoulder. "Wait, don't draw your sword, young Hylian. Just who are you?"
"…I'm not a Hylian, I am a Kokiiri, from the forest. What am I doing here? I am on a quest. Are you a Goron?" It sure was a strange-looking creature, but not very intimidating with that pot-belly upon it.
"A Kokiiri. So odd to see one out of the forest, I've never laid eyes on one." He chuckled and sat back on the ground, staring up at the boy. It was obvious he was male, his voice deep and charging. "Yes, I am a Goron. Now, young Kokiiri, what are you doing up on Death Mountain."
"I'm--uh--looking for the Spiritual Stone of Fire." He nodded his head a little, and looked down nervously, hoping that the man knew about it.
"Oh, the big, juicy stone? That red stone used to be out here, but Aniki took it away. I was so hungry, I just came out here for a little bite."
"Hungry, do you want some food? I have some bread and fruit." He smiled and flashed his pack towards the weird-looking man, knowing he wasn't exactly going to eat the Spiritual Stone of Fire.
The Goron made a gagging sound and stared at Link, bewildered a little bit at how the boy could eat that. "I don't see how you Hyrulian children do it."
"I'm not a Hyrulian--" He was about to finish out and claim he was a Kokiiri, when the Goron interrupted him and he just frowned a little bit.
"Yes, you are. I mean, you are the children of Farore-sama. We are from Din-sama, which means we live on the red earth." Of course from what the creature said, that did seem to make sense, the two were form the earth. Hyrulian, Hylian, and the Kokiiri were all from the ground, while the Gorons were around the fire or the mountain.
"Oh!" Link giggled, and nodded his head clearly, the boys thoughts thinking that maybe the Zoras were Naryu's? "So, who is Aniki?"
"Aniki means 'Big Brother.' It is the head boss of us Gorons, Daruina." That was what they called their boss, he assumed, because the text seemed of another language, the Goron most likely.
"Oh, the head boss, like the Zelda's father and the Great Deku Tree" He nodded, it seemed that each place had a ruler in it, so Daruina seemed to own the Gorons. He wondered what owned the Zoras, but pushed it aside, he would worry about that later on.
"You've met the Princess?" The Goron stared at the young boy; eyes were wide with such a small little passion, in unbelieving eyes. "Wow, I can't believe it."
The boy nodded and told him about his encounter with the Princess, then he told him about the Great Deku Tree, but that was when another question popped up, this time from Navi. "So, why are you hungry?"
The Goron stared at the young farie and sighed deeply, his tone had come from excited to just plain saddened. "Did you two see a large cavern down at the center of the beginning of the mountain?"
"Yea, Dodongo's Cavern. We read the sign." The cave was weird, the word Dodongo had also appeared upon the bag, another arising question. Just what exactly were those things, he pondered and there he awaited what would happen next.
"Well, our food supply was in there, but ever since that man showed up--" The Goron was interrupted by a wild-eyed Link, his voice was even fiercer than before, he seemed frightened..
"A man! Was he wearing black armour and have evil eyes!"
"Yes, he did. He came here about two weeks ago and asked Aniki for the special stone. Aniki denied and then that man shut up the cavern. We have tried to live off of our current rocks, but it is useless. We tried to remove the rock, and it was gone for twenty-four hours, but the people who went into there died." He frowned somewhat and nodded, that man had to have been the cause of all of these problems, or that's what Aniki had said.
"D-died? How!" Navi spoke this and she seemed just as sad as Link had, the two of them watching this Goron. It was so strange how death had come upon them so quick, and now it had spread like wildfire. They guessed that the cause of these unfortunate deaths had to deal with the man in the black armour. The auburn-haired man with the balding skin, the skin that was so dark that it was almost green. A strange coincidence, he knew that this man just had to be stopped before it went out of control.
"Well, the Dodongo are supposed to be extinct. They died out a long time ago, but after the man left, they started to repopulate the area and ate our fellow Gorons." So, the rocks were inside of this cavern, he guessed, and now that Ganondorf had seen that, he wanted to starve them.
"So, you eat rocks?" It was strange, Saria had told him, but still, he just couldn't imagine a person chopping into a rock. How did they do it, and he noticed that their teeth might have been sharp enough to crack them, maybe rocks had special liquids inside of them.
"Yep, that's about it. We eat rocks and that's it, the rocks are so sweet inside of the cave of Dodongos, and we are running out of these spares."
"Wow, could you take me to Daruina?" Nodding, it seemed like a long way down and just where in world was this man, this boss of the Gorons.
"Sure, normally it would take you about three hours to get down here, but I have a short cut." At this time, he curled up into a ball and laid down on his back, so they were pressed into the earth. "Climb onto my stomach and hang on." Link complied and put Navi under his hat, then he climbed on the Goron's stomach and smiled a little. What was he doing, was he going to jump…off? Hearing the rev of the rock-eater grunting, he tried to protest.
"Mr. Goron! Don't do what I think you are doing!" Crying out, he hung onto the Goron, burying his face into the rock-eater's face as they sailed off the mountain.
Each thing layer was about a story long, so they sailed past the layers in a matter of seconds. It was so strange as he went past, he felt the air whisping and his own ears beginning to pop harshly. Link thought he was going to have a heart attack, and he yanked Navi out, kissing her face and crying out. Yet, he held onto the Goron, hoping the impact wouldn't kill them, hoping the Goron hadn't out-shot himself. This Goron had strong skin, he probably didn't know much about the Farore-children, or their cousins the Kokiiri.
No, he does know. He knew that you were from there. Us Kokiiri may have been isolated, but it seems the other races weren't. The weird voice had returned itself back and he frowned, listening to it through the popping of his ears.
Why did the Great Deku Tree do that? Had the tree been so afraid of the world, which the children were unable to communicate with them. He was so scared of this world, but he hadn't died, so it was not that the Kokiiri would die, it had to be something else.
How should I know! I was separated along with you, but the Hyrulians and Gorons know each other. Plus, Impa is a Shiekah, and Ganondorf is a Gerudo. All these races know about one another except us. This weird voice acted as though it wasn't him, it was very strange how the voice spoke to him.
It was like time slowed down, that entire region around them was slowing down in time. What happened he couldn't guess, it was some sort of phenomenon, or his conscious thought time was down. They impacted into the ground and the Goron held onto the boy until the entire region stopped and a small hole was formed in the center of the earth. Link stared up, jumped up really, and screamed in joy, surprise forming as he glanced upward.. They were at the bottom layer! He stared up at the aerial platform that seemed hundreds of miles away, glad that they just saved a whole bunch of time.
"Navi, we did it! Thank you Mr. Goron…?" He saw the Goron was rolling away, in a ball, but a hand popped up and waved, and then the Goron was back inside a small hole and up the stairs.
He also noticed something else about this room, and the others, from looking up. There were paintings of the Gorons, and these were as large as most of the fifteen feet walls, all around the place. Something else was strange; he caught the sound of music. Almost the sound of ancient drums being beaten upon in a frivolous little manner. Remind him almost of the uncivilized tribes from the old stories, he thought that maybe the Gorons weren't too smart, and he spoke to his fairie. "You hear that?"
"Yea, sounds very soothing." She went to his face, and sat upon his nose, humming along with the tune, stopping when she caught his stare, giggling uncomfortably. "You ready to confront Daruina? I have heard he is a very hard Goron. That one from before was soft on you; he is just a citizen. Don't expect that from the Goron Boss."
"Yes ma'am. I guess I can handle him. I have survived a lot these past three weeks. Okies, I guess I am ready for this. Let's go." Besides, it wasn't like they were going to have to fight this boss of the rock-eaters, right?
"This place reminds me of an ant farm, Link. What is that!" She fluttered up to this huge tower, the large thing that seemed to be shaped from an old material. Now, this thing was about fifty feet tall, and in the shape or a Goron, a very large one. Why hadn't he seen it before? Because the monster-tower had been a layer below, nevertheless it was huge, just one below. Other than that, the place had no other distinct features, there were torches all around and a sealed door to the north of them. Link walked to the door and pounded on it, only responded with a voice almost as loud as the Deku Tree's.
"Unless you are from the Royal Family, Aniki doesn't want to speak to you! Leave me alone before I crush the precious stone!" Horrified, Link backed away; tripping upon a rub that was underneath his feet.
Navi flew to the rub and spread it out, reading the text upon it and noticing the Triforce symbol. "Link, the Triforce. I think you may have to play the Royal Family melody before we can enter. Thank Goddess we learned it, Eh?" Link grabbed the mat, positioning it back where it stood and read the text upon it.
The Great Daruina's Room.
Only shall the Great Royal Family enter the scorn
Without the Royal Family Tune, nothing complied soon.
A quick flash of the wrist, and the ocarina was placed in-between his palms, with the nozzle at his lips. Concentrating without the paper-written notes, Link played the entire Song of the Royal Family. As in compliment, the door slid from its hidden hinges and slid into the wall. It was a tyranny large door that stood at least seven feet tall with the scuffle of some paint upon it. The paint resembled some berry fixations, the whole door was outlined with connecting lines going inside of the door and forming the shape of some jewel of a kind. Link would take a guess and say it was the Spiritual Stone of Fire, but that was just a hypothesis. Inside of the newly opened entrance was a path that led into a field of darkness.
Navi stayed ahead of Link, to guide the way with her veil, she was almost reminded as some sort of flashlight. This prevented any misjudged danger of the ghouls that lived within in the dark, ghouls and all. Malachite form upon his body shone forward with the azure light just a few centimeters from his body, but the warmth kept the pursuit on. A hollow corridor led down for what seemed to be thousands of miles long, yet it only lasted less than five minutes. Pretty soon a rouged shadow of the room appeared as they crossed from around a corner.
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Damn that man! Damn him and his fucking Gerudo whores! Our entire race is going to starve just because I wouldn't give up our precious stone. Is this my own fault for my own gluttony? Sure, he liked to lick and nibble at the stone from time to time, but he guessed that this was his fault. When was the king going to send his men to help? We are sworn brothers! Daruina placed his hands at his sides, breathing in a deep breath from the Islamic cremation-look a like room. This room was his; it always helped him think during crises, so he had locked himself up in this room less than a week ago. A few days after that man from the desert had left, Ganondorf Dragmire, had visited him. Yes, he still remembered the coldness in his eyes.
It was strange how he wanted my help at first. Ganondorf had actually started the mission off as a plea-party. He asked the Goron for the stone.
"Please, Master Daruina, I beg you for the stone of the fire. The King needs it." His voice almost seemed sincere, but Daruina had learned to never trust those idiotic sand-monkeys.
Daruina didn't even want to have a damned thing to deal with him and simply he scoffed and broke back with a sarcastic comply. "Really? Then why hasn't my Sworn Brother sent me a keepsake? Unless you are one, but you don't seem the messenger type, to me. "
"I am not a messenger, but I need the Spiritual Stone of Fire, please!" Sincere was reflecting through his eyes, but Daruina could see that inside of those pores bled the heart of an evil man.
This man was not from the King, because the king always sent a special insignia with his messengers. Of course this man wasn't one, he didn't have the insignia upon him, the ceremony had always stated this. Daruina just scoffed at the man, shaking his head sadly. "I am sorry, Gerudo, but you are not allowed the stone. My Brother gave me this stone to me nine years ago, and told me to never lose it or give it too anyone. Besides, I never trust a Gerudo."
That was his fatal mistake, and Daruina was now regretting it when he heard the tune of the Royal Family. The big Goron regretted it because soon after that conversation, the man in the black armour looked him dead in the eyes and hissed out like a snake. "You will suffer, Goron. I will make sure you will suffer."
He took a swing at Ganondorf, if hit probably would have fractured his skull, but the skilled Gerudo leapt back using his theft training. Turning around, the evil man stormed out of the Goron City and was never heard from again. That wasn't the end of it, however, because by the end of the second night after he was gone, was when Daruina ran into some trouble. The long extinct Dodongo had reappeared, and a giant boulder had appeared on the cave of Dodongos. Whenever anyone broke or blew the rock up, it would regenerate in a matter of seconds, crushing those who had dared to get close to the site. He had sent word to the King that he was in trouble, but the funny thing was the messenger never returned. His long returns and bitter nightmares were interrupted with that tune.
Snapping out of it, he let out a long chuckle and pounded the switch that opened the room. Yes, his brother was coming to visit him, he felt himself calmed with this little expression in him. When he told the king of the troubles that Ganondorf had causes, his Sworn Brother would surely crush that preposterous villain, but something happened the Goron didn't expect. A small boy appeared in the front of the door, aligned with a light that seemed a bright blue.
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Navi didn't even get the chance to explain the structure of the Gorons, because a loud and voice as loud as the Deku Tree intercepted her feminine voice. This was the voice from earlier, except it was ten times as booming. "Is the King of Hyrule denying the Daruina the privilege of a real meeting!"
Link turned towards the voice, letting out a gasp of fright, he looked nothing like the other Goron! That first one he had met was a towering seven feet, but the Aniki of rock-eating races was a bludgeon nine feet tall. No flabby stomach was on this one, his stomach was sticking out, but it shone with the same muscle-veins that aligned over the rest of his body. They must all have those naturally it was wondered as the staring of the Goron continued.
Thought the boy, before noticing his face. The head was fit for the body that was for sure. Upon his head was more than a small inkling of blonde hair, the hair was naturally spiked up in the same right direction, but there was at least ten different up dikes on the top of his head. It curved down to his lower head and connected with his beard, that reached downward at the middle of his gut. A strong determined nose stuck out, not at all like those holes stuffed into the other Gorons. Speaking of his muscles, they bulged out three times as much as the other one from before, and two tattoos were on both of his arms.
Maybe that is the clan symbol? It was the same design as on the one from earlier. Another quality were his hands were so large Link could sleep in them, oh and the wrist bands around his arms and legs. Gulping, Link stared forward and started to speak. "I'm--"
Navi intercepted him, as usual. "This is Link, he was sent by Princess Zelda-sama to receive the Spiritual Stone of Fire."
Daruina stared at the small fly, or whatever it was, then his face grew a large red. "Now everyone is after it! No, no, no! I refuse to give the stone up, even if we all starve. You aren't from Princess Zelda, you are from Ganondorf, correct!" It wasn't a question; the Goron pounced forward, taking the small child up by the collar on his tunic, staring him in the eyes. "Don't you lie to me!"
"I-I'm not! She taught me the song! Impa-san used to sing it to her as a child… Please, Mr. Daruina!" Link cried out, when he hit the floor with an abrupt smack. It wasn't a forceful fall, otherwise his bones would be broken, but he stared up at the sighing Goron.
"I am sorry, young man. I did not mean to lash out at you, it's just that this half a month has royally pissed me off." He picked the child up, sitting him down in a chair and brushed him off gently with those huge hands.
Link couldn't believe how gentle he was, but he took the brushing off and nodded. "Anything I can do to cheer you up?"
"No, you are much too young to do anything I would like." He turned around and began to talk about his encounter with the Gerudo King.
While the Goron king spoke, Link took this opportunity to explore the room with his eyes. It wasn't that big, a very small room, and some of the rugs as from the outside were in here. The room was definitely different than the Hylian rooms or those of the Kokiiri, which was a plus. These had only random marks he couldn't make out, he guessed they were the Goron languages. Turning his eyes towards Navi, he rolled them boringly.
Navi shushed him quietly and turned towards the room, also exploring it to his full extent. The story was quite interesting, but with all the things they had heard about Ganondorf, they did not want to hear anymore about this cold-hearted bastard. Flicks of conflagrant fire went ablaze around the room, as if setting the mood for something. They were assigned in a pair of torches at each sides of the room.
Also, there was a huge wall at the back of the room, near where Daruina was, but on this wall were all kinds of rock-structures with a figure standing alight. This figurine was taller than the King Goron was, it actually reminded the two of pre-evolution Gorons. Navi went to Link's shoulder, sitting down and rested the face of her veil against his neck. A bright spark was accustomed when he stroked her veil, also stroking her body, rewarded with a small sigh of satisfaction.
Daruina finished just in time, for when he turned around, Link was staring at him nodding eagerly. "But, I guess this doesn't concern you. You aren't a Goron, after all. What are you? Some Hylian who likes green?" The Hylian men, except royalty, all wore the pants and shorts. This little guy was dressed in a tunic, had a sword and two shields. Surprised he was carrying a Hyrulian shield upon his back; he reached over and stared him down.
"I'm a Kokiiri." He smiled a little proudly, he was more interested in this than the story that the Goron had told.
"A forest child! Ho! That is a good one, but you can't be a forest child, they have far--" He had seen the spark from earlier, but he thought it was something else. No, Sprites were pink and never wore veils. "You are a forest child, I thought they couldn't leave the forest."
"Should I tell him, Navi?" It was different that he should know, but maybe he was like Zelda, a reliable ally whom he could trust him--hopefully.
"Sure, he is the King and wouldn't really try anything." She seemed to have agreed with him and with a smile aligning upon her lips, and she nodded.
"Try what, if I may prey to ask." Daruina hated the game of cat and mouse, he hated to be manipulated, and always wanted the truth straight out.
"The Great Deku Tree died, he was cursed by Ganondorf, that man you speak of. I clashed swords with the spider named Gohma inside of the Deku Tree-sama, but the poison was already fatal and he died soon after. He asked me to come see the Princess of Destiny, there I met Zelda learned this tune and was assigned here." There was what happened with him learning the tune, it was a good thing he told, and that tune was a tightly kept secret.
"The Deku Tree died, so sad. I remember him during the old war." Who would forget those little ones, for the Kokiiri were the ones who did not want to participate in the war, the only civil ones, as he remembered. "The Princess requests the stone?"
"Yes, sir."
"No, I refuse too. I do not feel the mood; I am too grumpy to even negotiate with my Sworn Brother. Leave, please!" Spinning around, he walked back to a table, slamming his fist upon, it and studied the maps. It wasn't actually a map, but how to divide up the food supply between him and the rest of his people.
Link craned his head, putting Navi in his hands, and stared at her, whispering. "What do we do?"
"Lighten the mood. Maybe you should play a tune for him?" The ocarina was a beautifully sounding instrument, it could probably be used to lighten someone up to a lighter mood.
"Which one?" He pondered.
"Zelda's didn't work, so try Saria's. I doubt the Sun's, or Miss Malon's will work." Navi fluttered down to his pack and retrieved his Ocarina, placing it into his palms, along with the paper of notes.
"I'll do my best." He muttered as he took a deep breath, and trying to not mix the notes up, he respectfully played the song of Saria for the grumpy Daruina, hoping the results were well..
Something changed between the old Goron, and the young boy. Daruina turned around, when he heard the first part of the ocarina tune, as to make him stop, but he stopped dead in his tracks. A bit of fear was displayed upon the boy's face as he watched the man jump all around. Staring forward, the Goron began to hop up and down, like a female rabbit in heat. Racket was displayed as he hopped up into the air and cheered to the Goddesses. The Goron spoke with a full jovial voice.
"Hot! Hot! Oh, yea!" Spinning around, knocking the table over, he began to bend down and shake his behind all over the room. This went on for another few minutes, when he stopped, heard the beat and broke up into another series of senseless dances, this time whooping with joy.
"Whoooaa! Yahoooo! What a hot beat!" Finishing the tune, the astonished and scared, Link gaped at the man in wonder. He was no dancer, that was for sure, but even Link could dance better than that. Gorons must have had two left feet, as the old saying went. Putting his ocarina back, the boy walked to the creature with easy steps, hoping not to get pummeled for doing something bad.
Daruina calmed down, giving a few belly laughs, before he scooped Link up, holding him before him. "Ha! What a hot beat, young man. You made my depression run away."
"So, we can have the Spiritual Stone?" Navi inquired, she had been just as shocked as Link of how much of a bad dancer this one was.
"Well, little farie, you may have it. But on one condition." His grin came upon him, it wasn't an angry one, but one that seemed to be one of enthusiasm. The Goron had something up his sleeves, even though he didn't wear a shirt, but that heavily-muscled Golem did seem suspicious.
"What's that, Daruina." Link spoke out.
"Clear the Dodongos out of the Dodongo's Cavern. Now, don't look so surprised. If you want this stone, you have to prove to me that you are a real man!" Beating on his chest, he sat Link down and reached back behind him pulling out a small wristband. This band was must different from the ones he was wearing; it was golden and looked sort of like a crown. The Goron insignia was implanted on the front of the fashion attire, and he slipped it on Link's right arm.
I'm not sure if I can do it, but I shall try. Of course he wasn't going to state that out, the man might think he was some sort of wimp or something. What he did and nod his head back and forth, smile somewhat and was about to leave when the man spoke out to him once more.
"Here, take this. Don't think of it as a present or anything, you'll need it, believe me. Wear this and even a little guy like you can pick up those Bomb Flowers. You are going to need them to survive the adventures in Dodongo's Cavern. The cavern is full of places that need to be bombed, walls and special areas of that sort." Nodding, the man let the boy take the piece of metal from him, just knowing that the kid was going to need it.
The new piece of equipment went right below his palm, and he could feel the newfound strength with this piece of hardware. He knew that a newfound power was in him, probably as strong as a Goron now, he wondered. If that was the case, this place would be a breeze, but cockiness would not come over him, he had learned with Gohma. Smiling towards the Goron, he ran out of the door and made his way up the stairs that led out of Goron City. In such a hurry to get out, the boy left the Goron City in an hour and a half, instead of the usual three hours. The Gorons were probably slow, that was all, right?
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It took a lot less more time to get back down then it took on the way up, and that was a wonderful thing for the two. The less time it took to get down, was the faster they finished the cavern and were on their way out with the second Spiritual Stone. On the way down Death Mountain, the same mistake was no repeated of the path switching, so they actually only spent a day heading down towards the Dodongo Cavern. It only took a day because Link would run down the paths, jump over the crevices, and went with no breaks. The climbing up would take longer, but the downward part was the most fun.
Before he left the Goron City, Navi had wandered a few yards from the entrance to the city and shone a bright green. "Link, another area."
The wandering wind blower's intentions had been true. When he got to the area, he saw one of those "Bomb Flowers" everyone was talking about. It was basically a huge black object stuffed inside of a flowing petal of leaves. Heaving the bomb up, the thing ignited, and the frightened Link threw it over the edge. That wasn't a real bad accident, because a few minutes later a small ignite went on and peering over the cliff, he saw that the boulder blocking Dodongo's Cavern was gone.
He had to beat; there was only twenty-four hours, maybe more since Ganondorf was far away. The boy just had to beat it, and he knew it was possible. That was the start of racing away from the city and dodging down the pathways to the Dodongo's Cavern. There were no stops, a two-hour nap spent the next day, and eating while he ran along the place. It was hard to keep not from choking, but he just went on with that, hoping his path towards the cavern would get easier along the way.
During the day and a half stride, he called Saria once. It was weird talking to her this way, and when he blew the tune of Saria, a voice piped in. It was hers, giving him a beautiful "hello." Link chatted with her while he ran and explained his situation. Also explaining he may not have been able to go out to the Kokiiri Forest, explaining where he was.
"It's fine Link. Oh, I found some information on the third Spiritual Stone. It's called the Spiritual Stone of Water." Although he had a presumption about that, he had gotten this from her was better than ever.
"Water?" Now panting, he had the Ocarina inside his satchel, since he didn't need it to talk to her. It was if they were linked telepathically.
"The Zoras own the Spiritual Stone of Water, also known as the Zora's Sapphire. I will tell you more about it when we talk next; you seem out of breath. Even if you can't come see me, come visit me before you head back to Zelda with the final stone."
"Sure, hee!" The conversation didn't end there, he told her of his travels so far from when he left the village. Mentioning the new friend Anjou, the people of Kakariko, and the outrageous dance of Daruina. That had actually caught a giggle from her, thinking of a giant Goron dancing around from her song.
"Link, I've heard that strange music you speak of. Maybe there is a passageway that warps the two lands together?" Perhaps that there was an old magic down in the forest and a hidden lake that linked the two lands together.
"Maybe, I'll check when I get back. I am on my way to beat the Dodongos to earn Daruina's trust." Daruina, he thought that she remembered whom it was, but either way he would tell her eventually. Upon the way back, he would make he way with the new spiritual stone and show it just for her.
"A Dodongo. You know what those are?" Her voice seemed a little worried, as if that the Dodongo were bad things--how could they be when their bags were situated in Hyrule.
"No, I don't." He muttered out softly.
A sigh blew through his ears, almost a feeling she was there, and then she spoke out sadly. "Link, I taught you better. Dodongo is Kokiirish for dinosaur. As in the ancient, extinct species of giant lizards."
"I will be on my guard then." Link had nodded bluntly, and then the talk went on for a few more hours, before he laid himself down for a rest.
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The rock never regenerated. Some withstanding act of purity kept the evil from multiplying and holding the hero back ever more. A hole was firmly standing ajar when the two descended down the slope to the cavern, only one fourth from the Kakariko Village. Brushing a loose strand of cornstalk back, Link went through his pack easily, checking to see if the Fairie Slingshot, nuts, sticks, and heart containers were at easy access. These beauties had saved his life one too many times, and he needed them for these occasions.
Navi prepared him by pulling out his Deku shield from the bag and wrapping it around his left hand where a small caplet was. There he could slip his arm under it, and prop the shield up with guarding defects. Doing so, the Kokiirish blade settled into his right hand. Navi fluttered at his side, staring down the path. There was no way to see what was going on, only blackness surrounded.
"You ready?" She peeped out, guarding above his head, as an animal guards its territory. The mistake with Gohma wouldn't happen again.
"I…I don't think I'll ever be ready for these adventures. Is it going to be like the Deku Tree?" He whimpered a little bit, muttering under his breath that he wouldn't let what happened last time come about again.
"I am very sure it is. These Dodongo's don't seem that tough, but there may be a mother, or a leader like Gohma was to her offspring." Link couldn't help but shiver at the name. Gohma, was the name that he still had nightmares about the spider. Sure he joked about it occasionally with Navi, but deep down he knew that he would never stare at another spider in his life.
"Ready?" This time a little more compassion in her voice."
"Yea, sure. I don't think I'll ever be more ready than I am now." Pacing himself a few steps back, as if turning to run, he stopped himself assertively. No…no running away from these monsters. I will prove myself, this time. A flick of the wrist, keeping the sword at his approach whenever necessary, and his hand never leaving the shield, the young hero entered the deep cavern with a guardian light at his top.