A/N: Disclaimer: I do not own the Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

A Pair of Time

Chapter 42- Bolero of Fire, Part 2

Fire Temple; Night

Despite how strong Goron clothes are, our heroes feel uncomfortably warm when they enter the Fire Temple. Being in a structure that is completely submerged under the mountain's magma is a whole different story than traveling over it.

"Whew…" Malon feels sweat appearing all over her body. She wipes some of them off her neck. "… Hot."

"… Yeah." Link wipes some of his off, too.

"Really?" Navi gives a word. "Doesn't seem so hot to me."

"Wait, you're not heating up?" Malon questions.

"… No. Fairies don't suffer to conditions that are critical to Hylians. So, I don't feel different at all."

"Great… You're all fine and dandy while we have to endure this heat."

Ignoring this desired trait of Navi's, Malon and Link enter a room with platforms surrounded by fresh magma underneath. A pillar is stuck in the ceiling, and on the other side of the room, there lies the door to the Fire Temple's monster, probably Volvagia. And in front of it stands Darunia, looking strong as ever.

"Who's there?" Darunia shouts to them. But, all he sees are two people blurred by the hot air from the magma.

"Darunia!" Malon answers. "Is that you!"

Surprised that they know his name, Darunia leans in for a clearer view. "Is that you, Malon…?"

"Yes, it's me!" he hears her familiar, happy voice. "And Link's here, too!"

"Oh, it really is Malon and Link! You've grown so big since I last saw you two!" Even though they are tall, red blurs to his vision. "I want to have a talk with you, but now's not the time. Ganondorf is causing trouble on Death Mountain again! He has revived the evil, ancient dragon Volvagia! On top of that, he is going to feed my people to that evil dragon as a warning to other races that might resist him…"

"We know!" Link said. "Your son told us!"

"Link! If that fire-breathing dragon escapes from the mountain, all of Hyrule will become a burning wasteland! I will go on ahead to try to seal up the evil dragon…" Darunia slowly lowers his head. "I'm concerned, though, because I don't have the legendary hammer…"

"Then let us go find it!"

"No… I have to go on ahead. I have no choice." Darunia then stares straight at them confidently. "Link, Malon… I'm asking you to do this as my Sworn Brother and Sister… While I'm trying to deal with the dragon, please save my people… The prisoners' cells are in the opposite direction."

Darunia turns around, then unlocks the giant door.

"… I'm counting on you, my Sworn siblings!"

"Darunia, wait!" Malon cries, but he enters through the door. It shuts behind him, then resets its lock. "No! Fairy boy, we got to get in there! He can't face off with Volvagia when he doesn't have the hammer! He might not survive!"

"We can't get in there yet. We have to find the temple's Big Key first. And also we got to find that hammer…"

"Well, let's search through this temple, then!"

"Hold on." Link's attention turns to a small, caged extrusion. "There's a prison there, if you didn't know." he points at it. "We got to save the Gorons, too, not just Darunia."

Jumping across the magma pit via platforms, they find the prison housing a curled, trembling Goron and a treasure chest.

"Please… don't… eat me…" he said when he feels their presences. "If you eat something like me, you'll get a stomachache! You'll be sorry!"

Instead of hearing the roar of the dragon, the sound of the prison bars sliding open reaches him. He uncurls, finding Malon and Link freeing him with a nearby switch.

"Are you releasing me? Am I free to go?"

"Yes, you are." Link nods. "Go back to Goron City quickly. We'll free the others."

"Really? Thank you! I'll tell you a secret for saving me!"

"What is it?"

"I saw Darunia go through to that room," the Goron points to the locked door, "and you are wanting to get there, no?"

"Yes, we are."

"In order to get into that room, you have to do something about the pillar stuck in the ceiling."

"You mean that?" Malon points at it.

"Yes. Find a path that leads to a room above the ceiling right away!" he explains. "And now, I must be going. It won't do me any good to stay here any longer."

The Goron leaves the cell, then jumps across the platforms to the door. He leaves, heading for safety outside.

"Okay." Link stares at the pillar. "So, we have to get up there and do something about that pillar."

"Hmm." Navi darts up to it. "You know, it looks long enough so that when it drops, it can create a platform to reach the main monster's door."

"How do we lower it?"

"We got to get up to that room and hit it!"

"Well, we better start right now!" Malon said.

Leaving the room to enter a larger, more magma-filled one, they quickly find all the Small Keys they can scour, and continue on. Solving a few simple puzzles, they eventually enter a maze-like room, with individual walls scattered throughout. It seems easy to navigate, but they soon find out that nothing's ever easy, as a boulder comes rolling around a corner and towards them.

"AH!" Malon screams as they run around, finding themselves lost. "What were the Sages thinking when they built the damn temples like this!"

Apparently, they were thinking very oddly back then. But this doesn't matter as Malon and Link nearly gotten run over several times. Not only is it terrifying when they spot an oncoming boulder, but it's frustrating as they keep finding themselves running in circles around the walls. After many risky tries, they exit the room, panting extremely.

"When I get my hands on those freakin' Sages…" Malon mutters.

"Well, feel free to do so…" Link encourages.

Soon, they pass into a room with standing poles and rotating statues spilling out flames.

"Look!" Navi hovers over to a structure in front of them. "Down there…" she looks through the grate surrounding the structure. "Isn't that the room where we saw Darunia?"

"Hey, it is." Malon sees the familiarities of the room below. "We made it up here, then!"

"So, this structure must be the pillar…" Link said.

"Yeah, but how do we lower it?" Malon asks.

"Something powerful and hard," Navi suggests. "Like any other dungeon we've been through before, it must be the treasure."

"And I'm betting that the hammer is the item," Malon considers. "Let's go find it."

Passing through difficult fire traps, they blow open a fake door, revealing a real one. Inside is a room with a platform like any other, but is on fire. Unusable, Malon and Link are about to leave when the door blocks itself with bars.

"Another trap," Malon said.

A strange laughter fills the air as the flames nearby arouse themselves. A figure then emerges from its depth. A humanoid monster composed of fire and spikes for limbs jumps out and lands next to Link and Malon. It starts to spin rapidly, letting small flames fly from its body.

"A Flame Dancer!" Navi yells. "Wow! I never thought I would see one! Cool!"

It stops its twirling, then skates towards Malon. She quickly steps out of its way, but a little flame catches onto her dress.

"Ah! What the…" Malon flutters her dress to extinguish the flame. "It attacked me!"

"Aw, yeah!" Navi follows it skating around the platform. "Look at it dance!"

"Navi!" Link calls irritably while stomping out the flame on Malon's dress. "It's a monster!"

"Aw, but do we have to kill it? I never saw a Flame Dancer before, much less see it dance!"

"YES!"

"Ah, fine," she groans, her educational moment spoiled. "Just extinguish its flaming clothes first, using the Goron's 'special crop,' like that Goron said! Then just let it have it!"

Timing his Bomb, Link drops one and immediately clears himself from the area of explosion. It detonates just as the Flame Dancer got close. The black being controlling the flame clothing shakes violently, then falls from it. Seeing itself vulnerable, it starts to run away in the opposite direction.

"HEY!" Malon cuts it off on the other end. "Oh, no, you don't! Not just after you got me on fire!" she lets two arrows pierce the dancer's body.

Surprised, it runs away from her. It's useless, however, as Link 'greets' it on the other side. It is just caught in a classical strategy of a pincer attack. But, the flame is still open. It jumps inside, creating another coat of fire around itself. Once the dancer is protected by his new clothes, he jumps out, ready to resume his deadly dancing. But, Link forces it to lose its fire armor again, letting it run around in fear. Soon, Malon delivers the final blow with her shooting. The dancer swells up in its death and explodes, incinerating its body.

"Aw, come on now!" Navi cries when she sees ashes of the Flame Dancer's remains falling around. "I just wanted to examine the body when it's dead! Is that too much to ask for!"

"… You sure are one curious fairy, Navi…" Malon said. "But, still… it got me caught on fire! You do not just skate up to a person and let her clothes catch on fire!"

"… Um… Well, I think you two are very… unique," Link sighs. "What am I saying, you two are crazy…"