Author's Note: Why is Link Darunia's musician? Well, I thought it was dumb for a great leader and champion of a strong, proud race to let a boy with a knife fight his battles for him while he sits and pouts about them. I think Darunia's a little too cool for that. Plus, it adds depth. I hope. Let's see!

A Hero's Path

Chapter 12: Explosions in the Mine

"Link, when are you carrying out this plan of yours?" Navi whispered. It was late. The torches in the cave city were out. Darunia had gone to bed, and Link and Navi were given personal quarters to sleep in.

"Very soon. Boy, I sure hope it works!"

Navi sighed. "Tell me this isn't like your other plans."

"It's not. It's well thought out. See we needed to wait till everyone had gone to sleep..."

"Are you going to steal it!"

"No!" Link looked offended, under the light of his condescending partner. "Ganondorf tried to steal the Stone, just like in the forest. The Gorons hardly trust me as it is. Why would I steal and become another Ganondorf?"

Navi was silent at her usually-predictable comrade's depth. Regardless of everything else, Link had a very strong sense of right and wrong. Except, apparently, when it came to cuccos.

But Link really did have a well thought-out plan. All through the day between sessions of the only full song he knew he asked Darunia questions about the community. Such as Dodongo's Cavern, and the Spiritual Stone. And all their conversations went about the same way.

"Hey, Big Brother?"

"Yes, musician?" For they had established a court-like relationship now, that required them to refer to eachother by position and not name.

"What's a bomb flower?"

"It's a mining plant. You cut the stem that connects the dark bulb to the leafy base and the stem immediately begins burning. When the spark reaches the bulb, it explodes! But why am I telling you this? We have had a poor harvest of the crop, and cannot make a new quarry! Our people are starving! You were hired to cheer the people up, not remind us of our troubles, musician! Play!"

Then Link would start Saria's Song again and the Gorons would dance to the tune.

"Follow me," Link said to Navi. He opened his door and found a guard standing beside it.

"Musician?" the Goron said.

"I... uh... I need to... you know..."

"Ah, yes. Well, you can take care of business outside." The guard led Link and Navi back to the entrancee to the city. They exited and Link went back to the ledge over-looking the mine.

"So, your plan?" Navi said.

"I knew it!"

"What?"

"See, the sun's gone down, so the Gorons don't need someone standing over the bomb flowers! So I can do this!"

He lifted the bulb of one of the plants and chopped the stem with his sword. As Darunia said, the stem sparked and started burning. Link dropped the plant off the cliff down to the boulder. It landed right next to the rock and blew apart, but the boulder remained firmly in place.

"You think the Gorons heard that?" he said.

"Of course! It was a loud, 'BOOM!' You think the Gorons didn't think to blow up the rock!" Navi said. "What're you thinking? Wait..." Navi said. "I have an idea!"

She grabbed the stem of one and tore it at the base of the plant, so it had a long wick to burn. She then tore another a little higher up the stem so they had about the same length wicks. Continuing to hold the stems, she dove down the cliff wall with two bombs in tow.

"Navi!"

She stopped just above the boulder and the bombs landed on top. The sparks passed the spot she was holding on each stem, and she let go. She pushed them together, right over the spot where two different crevices met. The stems were awfully short now. Could she get away in time?

The explosion was much larger this time. Dust flew into the air, and Link watched in amazement. "Navi!" he cried out. There was no sign of her anywhere through the dust. Could it be?

He jumped off the ledge, slid down a short slope, and fell the rest of the way, far below to the dust cloud.

He picked himself up, coughing out smoke. He couldn't hardly see through the dust, but where was Navi? He remembered the day they met, and his dance on his table. When Mido captured her and made him get the Kokiri Sword. All those times she helped him, teased him, comforted him... she was his closest friend now. It couldn't end like this. There was still so much left that he needed her friendship and guidance for. "Nav- coughcough! Navi!"

The dust settled, and the sight around him was splendid. Four large, splintered rocks surrounded him, and several smaller ones were scattered around. There was a gaping hole in the cliff wall where the boulder once was. Link wondered how even a rock that size had hidden such a large tunnel. It was deep and dark. Still, no Navi.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a small twinkle, like a star going out. He turned to see, and what he saw was a small flashing in a niche in one of the pieces of the boulder. He reached in and pulled out a fairy, unconscious.

"Navi?" She was right. She was more than a ball of light with wings. She was like a beautiful girl the size of Link's palm with insect-like wings. Even without the glow surrounding her, her skin radiated it's own soft light. "Navi! Say something!" Nothing. He set her down and started clapping. He heard somewhere that clapping could save a fairy's life.

Navi coughed a little and then disappeared in her shielding light.

"Navi! You're okay!"

"I'll be fine. Are you okay? You look bruised." She was right. He had scraped his knees really bad in the fall, and had some burns on his arms from sliding.

"I'm okay," he said. "Let's go!"

"I think I injured a wing," she said. "Can you set me on your shoulder?"

"Okay." He picked her up and set her on his shoulder. "So now that we opened the cave, we can tell Darunia, and he'll give us the Spiritual Stone!" Link said.

"I don't think so," Navi said.

"What do you mean?"

"You've gotta go above and beyond for these things, Link. Just because they can go in their mine again doesn't make us heroes. There's still Dodongos in there!"

"Oh yeah! I forgot all about that!"

"If we want the Gorons to trust us enough to give us their key to the Sacred Realm, we have to restore their mine."

"So we just go and kill every Dodongo?"

"Something like that."

Link walked into the cavern with Navi on his shoulder. The further they walked, the darker it got, until finally, Link stopped.

"Why'd we stop?" Navi asked.

"We didn't mean to," Link answered. "We hit a wall."

Link grabbed Navi and held her up like a torch.

"What are you doing! Put me down!"

"I need some light." He walked all around the room, tripping on a couple bomb flowers. The wall he ran into looked a little different than the others, like it was a different type of rock. Finally he found it was a dead end room. Or was it?

He set Navi on his shoulder again, and plucked a bomb flower. He threw the bulb at the misfit wall, turned, and ducked under his sheild. The entire wall came down with the explosive plant, and the room lit up. On the other side of the wall was a much brighter room, but not a very cozy one.

There was a pit in the middle of the room, and rock formed a "c" shape around the side Link and Navi were on. The pit was filled with magma, the light of which lit the room slightly. The most notable feature of the room, however, was a giant reptilian head staring at them from it's position on the opposite wall. Or rather, it wasn't staring, but just facing them, for it had no eyes. Along the walls with rock pathway before them were doorways, and statues. In the magma were smaller rock platforms leading to the central one.

Looking above, they saw a couple rope bridges, the sturdiness of which they had to question. Up with the bridges were floating embers, traveling the upper area.

Link turned to his right and walked along the walkway to the first doorway he came to. A metal door stood in it. Link went to open it, but at a touch, the door fell. The hinges had been melted.

"Link, be careful," Navi said. "This could be very dangerous."

"Thanks for the warning," he said. "But you know me."

Beyond the door was a pathway. They walked through and came to a familiar site. An entire room filled with eggs as tall as Link's waist.

"Breeding grounds," Navi said.

"What?"

"You know how some insects have one female queen that lays all the eggs? Well Dodongos had a king who impregnated all the female Dodongos. Here is where they lay all the eggs."

"I don't get it."

"Maybe when you're older. Right now, let's destroy the eggs!"

"Yeah!" Link ran forward and started slashing the eggs apart, like he did in Gohma's lair. He made his way across the room slashing them apart, until he had destroyed all the eggs he saw. He stared at the wall he had reached with pride.

"Uh, Link," Navi said. "I forgot one thing. The eggs could never hatch on their own. The Dodongos would crack the eggs with their mouths."

Link turned around and saw several "baby" lizards that were almost as big as he was creeping toward him.

"And the newborn Dodongos were always very hungry," Navi added.

"Great." Link thought about ducking under his metal shield, but knew that wouldn't do much good. It seemed everyone of the eggs he destroyed had brought forth a hungry little monster that was licking its lips at Link. The babies had green skin, two legs, a tail, and sharp little teeth.

With his sword already ready, Link prepared for the onslaught of infant dinosaurs. The foremost Dodongos leapt at him almost simultaneously. With a slash of his sword he slashed the mouths of several at once, causing them to fall to the ground wailing. Two clamped onto his bare right arm and one got his leg.

Screaming in agony, he stabbed the chests of the ones on his arm. Their grip released and they fell lifeless on the ground. He stabbed at the skull of the one on his leg, but the skull was too well protected. He kicked and screamed until he finally chopped off its tail. It unclamped it's jaw and flailed around on the ground, leaking blood like crazy, until it stopped moving.

"That's strange," Navi said. "Usually a lizard can live just fine without its tail. Wait, Link, look out!" Too late. An explosion knocked Link up against the wall with a good amount of force, along with some lizard guts.

"What was that!" he said as he slashed off the tails of the ones he had previously wounded.

"Dead Dodongos explode!" she cried out from her new spot on the floor.

"What!"

BOOM!

Link came off the wall again and buckled over. "Ughuh... Navi, you gotta remember this stuff... Navi?"

He saw a Dodongo laying in the spot she was in before. He opened its mouth and found Navi inside.

BOOM!

It and several other Dodongos exploded.

"What's going on!" Link said as he stood up again.

"The explosions must be killing the other Dodongos!" she said. "You've started a chain reaction!"

KABOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Every wave of explosions knocked the wind out of Link who was now on the ground, with his shield over him. Link kept getting plastered with the innards of the baby Dodongos as well.

Finally, there wasn't an explosion for ten whole seconds. Link looked up and couldn't see a single Dodongo anywhere. Just billions of scattered cartilage fragments and pieces of organs.

"Yuck!" he said. "It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it! It stinks too." He looked at himself. From head to toe he was covered in blood and pieces of dinosaur baby. He couldn't tell what was his blood or the lizards'. Suddenly, he heard a low growl and felt a blast of warm air.

Standing in front of him was another Dodongo, but it wasn't a baby.

"I think mommy's home..." Navi said. Her skin was a much darker green, brown in some places, and looked much tougher. She bore an almost completely exposed skull, complete with a horn on her nose. She snorted at Link, and had to have noticed her children's body parts all over him. She opened her mouth wide and inhaled.

"Link! Link! Let's move!"

"What?"

"Run!"

Link jumped out of the way just as the mother Dodongo exhaled a massive amount of flame. The flames licked his legs for a moment before he pulled himself out.

"Dodongos are fire-breathers, Link! Get her tail!" He ran around and chopped at her tail. It bounced off, but she turned around swiftly and snapped at him. He jumped back and put his right arm up to block, an automatic reaction from his Deku Shield. She took off a small chunk of skin with her front teeth.

No time to scream for the immense pain he felt, he started to run for it, and noticed one egg that hadn't been cracked. He slashed it.

"What are you doing!" Navi shouted.

"Saving your life!"

He stabbed the creature that was now presented from the egg and dropped his sword. He chucked the lizard at the mother's tail with his good arm..

"Bring it!" Link said as she inhaled to breath fire, in an attempt to keep her from noticing the dead baby behind her. It exploded and her tail flew off. She wailed loudly and fell to the ground in a puddle of blood.

Link fell to the ground and clutched his right arm with his left hand, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Link! Link, calm down." Navi went through his pack and pulled out his bottle of water from earlier. She fluttered over to his arm and landed on it.

"Move your hand," she said and pushed his hand away. Then she poured the water on his wound. Link clenched his teeth and breathed hard at the stinging sensation. "I had to clean it to keep it from getting infected. Here I saved just enough for you to drink a little."

"Thanks," he said through his teeth. He opened wide and downed the little bit of water.

"There's no telling if Dodongos had poison glands, either."

"Why do you keep referring to them in the past tense, Navi?"

"Because, Link, they lived hundreds of years ago on this mountain. They died out."