Link woke sore and comfortably tangled in Sheik's arms. His head was pillowed on top of Sheik's arm with the others left arm draped over his waist. He looked uncomfortable with how he was laying, trying to keep any sort of pressure off of his chest and long hair tangled under both of their bodies. After yesterday all he wanted to do was continue to lay here with Sheik, just spend the entire day enveloped in each other's arms. But despite that desire he knew he had to wake Sheik to prepare for the day. Sheik wouldn't be happy if they neglected their duties for selfish reasons.
Rolling over a bit more Link brushed the back of his fingers across Sheik's cheek, thumb dragging along under his right eye. Sheik stirred a bit, letting out a murmuring sound then slowly blinked his eyes open. "Mmm." He closed them again and rolled over onto his back, blinking to look at the window and the morning sky. "It's just after dawn."
"I know, but I figured you'd want to get moving sooner rather than later." Because that was how Sheik worked, he liked having a headstart on the day when they knew they had a difficult task ahead of them. He was always one step head of Link and planning everything that they needed to do.
"You kept me up late, we're going to be tired all day." He moved his arm from underneath Link's head and dragged it across his eyes, missing the affronted look that Link was definitely throwing him. Pushing himself up he rolled over on top of Sheik, careful of his chest, and pulled his arm away from his face.
"You're going to complain now?"
Sheik hummed and reached his arms up, wrapping them around Link's neck to drag him down closer. He pressed his lips to Link's, giving him a brief and simple kiss before pushing him away. "Let me up, we need to wash before we go anywhere."
Untangling Sheik's hair was an adventure in itself, involving a lot of cursing in a language Link wasn't familiar with and glares thrown at him. Perhaps he had a bit too much fun playing with Sheik's hair last night and next time he'd definitely remember to braid it before either of them fell asleep. Link was getting better at learning how to braid and he had Sheik promise to teach him later. When they finally got dressed and ate something the sun was further up in the sky and it was the perfect time to bother the Goron's.
Sheik used the Sheikah slate to take them back to Goron City and Link sighed as the intense heat bore down onto him. He reached back, adjusted the Master Sword and tugged on the neck of his Hylian Tunic. "Those Fireproof Elixir's could at least make this feel like… a cool summer not a scorching hot desert."
"Ironically, the desert is our next location. So you might want to get used to it."
"You're joking. Tell me you're joking." He followed Sheik across the bridge and back toward the Goron City.
"No. The Gerudo are Desert dwellers. Actually, in my time, they were a guild of thieves. I read that changed though, they're honorable people that only let women into their settlement." There was a lot to unpack from that and Link had a lot of concerns on the subject but he clearly wasn't going to get to ask them right now. One Divine Beast at a time.
They didn't have to get far in looking for the Goron leader, the moment they got close enough to the City they could hear one of them stomping around and cursing the Divine Beast. Sheik turned in that direction, finding an older Goron outside a house cursing the sky as if for it's very existence. "Drat! That blasted Rudania!"
Sheik waved his hand, caught the Goron's attention and folded his arms across his chest. "Greetings, can I ask what's wrong?"
He apparently had no problem unleashing his concerns on a passing stranger. "With Rudania runnin' wild recently, Death Mountain's eruptions have gotten real bad. Do ya see Rudania stompin' around up there on the mountain? They say that a hundred years ago, it actually used to protect our people from harm… but that was then, and this is now! Now all it does is mess up our mining operations! We're all suffering because it's stoppin' us from doin' business! I can't tell ya how many times we've used the cannon to chase off that fiend!" he took a breath here finally and yelled at them. "BUT IT ALWAYS COMES BACK!"
Sheik winced and rubbed his ears, taking half a step back and partly behind Link. At the same time the older Goron moved too quickly and a painful sound came from his back, like a crack that certainly shouldn't be there. He started moaning in pain and rubbing with his left hand. "Are you alright?"
"Hmph, it's just some back pain. Wait… who are you two?"
"We're travelers. We came to speak to the Goron leader." Sheik moved back out to his side and looked at the Goron.
The older man grinned widely. "I see… so then, you came all this way to pay your respects to me? I like you already, brother! Well, my name's Bludo! I'm the Great Goron Boss who's fearsome enough to silence a crying child! Or to make a silenced child cry, either way." That… didn't sound like something to be proud of. "Yes, it is none other than I, Bludo! I was plannin' to drive off Rudania like I always do, but then this blasted pain in my back flared up outta nowhere." He sighed and hung his head. "That blasted Yunobo… when will he return?"
"Excuse us." Sheik seemed to be grasping onto the end of his patience. "Who is Yunobo?"
"Oh he's a young Goron who helps me drive off Rudania." Turning toward the way Sheik and him came from earlier, Bludo pointed in the distance. "He went to grab some painkillers for my back from the Abandoned North Mine, but he hasn't come back yet." Sighing, he turned back to them. "Slacker, I bet he's off somewhere wastin' time. Brothers, if you happen to see Yunobo, will ya let him know I'm lookin' for him?" They nodded and the old man's back made that horrible cracking sound again, making him double over in pain.
They wandered away from the old Goron, back up the way that they had come and Sheik let out a small sigh. "We get stuck with the weirdest tasks, the loudest people and the worst weather." Well, he's far from wrong but Link will take the heat over the endless rain they were stuck with in Zora's Domain.
"At the very least finding Yunobo shouldn't be hard, we're in Goron City the biggest threat should be the lava." As he said that though they rounded the corner and were stopped by Octorok's. He could feel the look Sheik giving him boring into the back of his head as he dealt with them with bombs. He should learn to assess a situation before speaking.
They rounded a corner and were stopped by another Goron who was blocking the path to the abandoned mine. "Yeesh! What's goin' on today? So many people out and about! You should know it gets much hotter past here, and there are also lots of monsters. It's really dangerous."
Sheik waved his hand and caught the Goron's attention. "Excuse me, sorry to bother you when you're working, but do you know Yunobo?"
"Hm, what's a stranger like you doin' askin' after Yunobo?"
Link pointed back the way they came. "Big Boss Bludo sent us to find him, he hasn't returned with his pain medication."
He exclaims loudly; "HUH? Boss does!?" They nodded. "Well… then I guess I better tell you where Yunobo is!" There was a small vault way in the distance that the Goron pointed to and Link had to practically squint to see. "Yunobo went ahead to the vault to fetch the painkillers. But now that ya mention it, I suppose he never came back. This place is dangerous, so ya probably shouldn't go lookin' for him."
They left the Goron to his work and Sheik stepped away, frowning a bit at Link before looking back to the distant vault they were shown. "So did he just intend to leave Yunobo all the way out there on his own? The Goron live by the honor code of being brothers, that strikes me as odd." He seemed to be stuck in that place, where he always went when he was thinking about the Hero of Time. The differences from that world to the one that he knew now. Link wanted to pull him from it but lacked the words he probably wanted to hear. From the story that he got from the Hero of Time the Goron's treated him like family, named their successor after him. Perhaps then, this was odd to Sheik.
"Link, you'll have to go get Yunobo on your own." He turned back to Link and waved to the surrounding area. "Look at the lava, if you paraglide out there the heats going to get too intense for the Elixir to work, you'll have to wear the equipment you got too protect your skin. You'll want to take the updrafts the lava ducts cause to float around."
Link walked closer to the edge to get a look at what Sheik was talking about. "Float to the next area and then use those cannons Bludo was talking about to take out the Fire Lizalfos that are gathered in the area. He said Rudania was causing volcanic explosions, the cannons must have been made for that very reason. Yunobo probably got himself stuck in the vault from a falling rock."
It seemed fairly easy, if he used the bombs like he did in the shrines he'll finish this in no time. It was no different from what he did inside those. "What about you?" He turned to look back to Sheik who shook his head.
"I'll wait for you, the heat will be too much for me and if I try to wear that armor you have I'll drop into the lava trying to jump. The weight of your body and that armor won't allow the paraglider to float enough. Don't worry, I'll make myself useful in the City." He smiled and left, vanishing as if he was never even there to begin with and leaving Link to his task. Great, this was probably going to be annoying with the Goron Armor on.
Link changed clothes quickly and shook the paraglider out, floating over to the first cannon and lining it up. Sheik was right, it was just a game of destroying the fallen lava rocks from his path and continuing on. Even the Lizalfos weren't a threat with the giant cannon blasting them off the mountain. When he made his way across to the last area he heard Yunobo yelling from behind the rock about being trapped. He hurried over to the last cannon, dropped the bomb inside and hit the switch to rotate it. He exploded the bomb, tossed the builder into the rock and destroyed the rock that was trapping Yunobo.
Hurrying over he made his way inside the vault to the trembling Goron. "Oh man, oh man, oh man… what am I gonna do?" He slowly turned around and then started screaming. "Oh no monsters! There here! They found me!" He began running in circles, nearly knocking Link off his feet as he shook the ground. He stopped suddenly and finally got a look at Link, panting for breath.
"Hello…?"
"Hmm…? HMM?" He started mumbling. "Now that I've gotten a good look… Woah! It's a Hylian!" Did he just call Link an... 'it'? "Were you the one that broke through that cage to rescue me, goro? Thanks, brother! But what brought you all the way out here to begin with?"
"I was looking for a Goron named Yunobo-"
"Oh! So, that's it! Boss told you to come find me! Phew, thank goodness. In any case, I sure am glad you saved me, goro! The name's Yunobo! Everyone calls me Yunobo. Makes sense, goro. I came to get some painkillers for boss, but a magma bomb caused a rock slide, sealing the entrance, goro. By the way, how did you break those rocks at the entrance, goro?"
Link turned and motioned toward the cannon. "I used the cannons outside."
"HUH? You used Boss's cannon?!" It wasn't hard, could other Goron's beside the Boss not use them? "That thing is so difficult to use! I thought only Boss could handle it!" So he was right. "Oops, nearly forgot! This isn't the time to chat… gotta deliver those painkillers to Boss. Sorry! I gotta run! But do come by and see the Boss later, okay? He may be gruff, but he always repays a favor!"
Yunobo took off… rolling back to the City and Link felt as if his entire world shifted from that one conversation. He was very confused.
He made his way back to the City and was stopped at the same house by Bludo waving his arm. "AH! IT'S THE TINY TRAVELER!" Link made his way down over and stopped in front of him, hoping he'd stop shouting if he stood closer. Did they think Hylians were hard of hearing? "Yunobo told me all about how you helped him, brother. Here's a reward for ya! Hylians like you need this sorta thing, right?" He handed Link more Fireproof Elixirs and Link added them to the pile Sheik had made already in his bag.
"Thank you but I didn't need a reward."
"Nonsense! Okay then. Well, I took my painkillers, so I guess it's time to meet up with Yunobo. I mean no disrespect to Daruk's legacy, but if I'm not there to give that Rudania a good walloping…"
"Daruk was the Goron Champion, right?"
He nodded and turned, pointing in the distance. Link followed his arm and spotted a statue built into the side of the mountain over Goron City. "That's Daruk!"
"I see."
"Anyway, Yunobo is actually a descendent of the Great Daruk. That's why that slacker can even use Daruk's Protection! He uses it to protect himself when we fire him at Rudania! That's the only way we can chase that blasted beast away. Well no choice because normal cannonballs are no good against him." Alright that's enough outta me! Time to go drive Rudania off!" He stretched and his back made that horrible sound again causing him to double over in pain.
Link winced for him. "Are you alright?" He mumbled and called Link dumb which he did not appreciate at all.
Bludo let out a groan that sounded close to a cry. "I'm afraid I won't be goin' anywhere today. I hate to put you on the spot, but… would you go tell Yunobo that I'm gonna have to cancel for today, please? He should be in Eldin Bridge."
Link did an entire search of Goron City for Sheik before leaving. He couldn't find him and he couldn't keep waiting for him, it was an impossible task to find Sheik if he didn't want to be found. It was unsettling though, it had been a long time since Link was alone. He'd gotten so used to having Sheik around that the loneliness he felt before on this journey seemed like such a distant feeling. He couldn't keep looking through, he had to believe that Sheik was fine and would come back. Besides, Link needed to get to Eldin Bridge before it got dark and before Yunobo got himself in trouble. Sheik would be upset if he learned Link left Yunobo to get hurt in the dark because he wanted to find him.
Getting to Eldin Bridge would have been a real pain if Link didn't have Revali's Gale. He used that to throw himself up the mountain he would have had to climb and landed on the pathway to the Canyon that overlooked where Rudania walked across the Volcano. As Link got closer he noticed that he was already too late and Yunobo had gotten himself surrounded by monsters. He got his bow out, climbed up a rock and perched himself above the monsters.
Using the high ledge he took the monsters down slowly and with headshots, picking them off and knocking them back until they fell off the ridge. Once the coast was clear he climbed back down and landed in front of Yunobo. "WOW! You're crazy strong, goro! You saved me again! Thanks! I would've been in real trouble if you hadn't shown up when you did, goro!"
"Yunobo, the Boss sent me to tell you he can't make it. His back's hurting too bad."
"And after all we went through to get them… the painkillers didn't even end up working, goro." He clutched his head and frowned heavily, looking near tears. Link kind of hoped he didn't start crying on him. "Well, if Boss can't help, there's nothing we can do. I suppose I'll just head back now…"
"Wait!" Link reached out and held his hand up in front of the Goron. "Listen, Yunobo, I came a long way to help with Rudania. I need to get inside it."
"WHAT? You're gonna try to board the Divine Beast!?" Link gave a nod of his head. "Who do you think you are… Lord Daruk? It's dangerous in there, goro! Though I suppose if you weakened it first, it might be possible…. but why risk it?"
"Because a friend and I promised to help." Because he had to, because it was his destiny, because a Princess in his head begged for help. There was a list of reasons, but mostly he did it because of Sheik.
"Hmm… well, I don't really get it, but I'm sure you have your reasons, goro." He nodded his head more firmly this time.
"Which is why I need your help, Yunobo."
"Hmm…" He looked up and Link followed his gaze out to the distance. "The problem is… good ol' Boss raised the Bridge of Eldin to make sure that mean Divine Beast couldn't get over here. In order to get where Rudania is, we'll have to find a way to get the Bridge of Eldin back down, goro. Boss would normally use the cannon to lower it… ugh, we can't get across unless we figure somethin' out!"
"I can use them." He looked back over to Yunobo and watched realization flicker across his gaze.
He then started to sulk. "Maybe we CAN get across after all. So let's just do what I do to help the Boss sometimes. That means I'm gonna be the cannonball! And you'll launch me, goro." He started to glow a bright red and grinned. "I've got Darkuk's protection, goro! My ancestor's help can't possibly fail me! That means I can smash into anything and it won't hurt one bit, goro! My ancestor, Daruk, was a big deal, goro. That's what Boss says, so it's gotta be true! And I can use Daruk's protection just like Daruk could! That means there's no need to worry, goro! So rest easy, got it? Well, go on then! Take aim at the Bridge of Eldin and fire away, goro! Just… y'know… be kinda gentle about it."
He should be glad that Link had very decent aim. Yunobo got inside the cannon and Link dropped a bomb inside, hitting the lever and circling the cannon around. it aimed up with the bridge and he fired it, launching the Goron at the Bridge of Eldin and knocking it down. Yunobo bounced back and Link made his way over to him, watching the Goron try to regain his balance and awareness. This seemed really dangerous. "We did it… see that, goro?" Did he even have awareness right now? "If we put our heads together… anything is possible." Nope. "That power I got from my ancestor… Daruk's Protection… is really somethin' else, isn't it? Anyhow, I guess my time as a cannonball isn't over just yet, goro. So let's get a move on and cross that bridge, brother!"
Link heaved a sigh, sent a silent prayer to Sheik to save him, and headed across the bridge with the Goron cannonball. The closer they got the easier it was to see Rudania walking across the mountain side. It seemed to notice them, or at least sense they were getting closer. As it paused on the mountain side it let loose small little sensors that seemed to fly and hover around the mountain side like the flying Guardian's. Yunobo saw them too.
"Oh… yikes! A sentry is always a nuisance, no matter where it is or how many of them there are. If one finds you, Rudania will go nuts, which will cause Death Mountain to erupt, goro. I… always get spotted, and then magma bombs come raining down one after another. If Boss were here, he'd just swat those magma bombs away like they were nothin' and force his way up! I don't think you'd be able to do that, goro. And I don't wanna cause you any trouble."
"Yunobo, take a breath it'll be fine." Now was the time where he could definitely use Sheik. But, they'd be able to do it fine on their own. Yunobo was without his Boss and Link was without his partner, they could work this out together if they just managed to stay calm. "Keep close to me I'll guide you up the mountain. It'll be alright if we just take our time. Here, I'll whistle and let you know when to stop moving and then to walk again, alright?"
Yunobo nodded and Link turned back to the mountain, they could do this. Link made his way past the first sentry by using hiding spots in the mountain that their light missed, and then making a run for it when the sentry passed. The second one he took out with a bolder above it and destroyed it entirely. There they reached the first cannon and Yunobo jumped inside. Launching him at Rudania they hit it on the back and it cried in pain before walking across Death Mountain. Yunobo bounced back, dizzy and glad they hit and mumbling something about cornering Rudania. He made sure the Goron really was alright before continuing on with him.
He learned with the next batch of sentry's that he could actually destroy them with bombs and after that his life became a lot easier. He got Yunobo to hide somewhere, climbed up high and timed a bomb to take them out. He hit Vah Rudania with the next cannon and set it around the side of Death Mountain. "How many times do we do this, Yunobo?"
"Usually three." So one more time to go, he could make it.
Yunobo got them caught at the next batch of sentries. He got startled by Link's bomb and ran right at them, being detected in seconds and setting Vah Rudania off. Link spun around and looked up at the thrashing Divine Beast, cursing his luck and the Goddesses. He snapped back around and loaded up the bombs, knowing he had to get rid of them or they'd never stop since Yunobo wouldn't and probably couldn't move. He set them off one after the other, it actually being a bit easier now that the sentries seemed to be frozen in detection mode. The rocks rained down from Death Mountain's eruption, exploding around him and the flaming magma burned his skin. It was incredibly painful.
When the eruptions finally stopped and the sentries were gone Link climbed back down and heaved a sigh of relief. "Let's keep going." The next time he had Yunobo stand further back as he scaled the mountain to take care of the sentries. The remaining three were a bit harder to pinpoint, especially with the updrafts from the wind. It took him a good few extra tries and he silently wished his bomb arrows worked in Death Mountain and weren't set off by the heat. Once he took them out he dealt with the monster by the cannon and got Yunobo inside.
The final hit to Vah Rudania sent it crashing into the mountain, the entire thing dramatic enough that Link would actually think they defeated Vah Rudania rather than just chasing it off. Yunobo and him rushed to the entrance of the volcano and peeked down inside.
"WOW! That was incredible! You really put a good lickin' on that thing, Link! It's time to finish the job! This is our big chance!"
He nodded to Yunobo and took a few steps back before running at Death Mountain. He reached the end, pushed off with his feet like Sheik always did and threw himself down into the volcano. As he started to fall he heard the strangest thing, the sound of a Lyre being played and though at first he thought the sound was completely in his head when he looked out to the side he caught sight of a very particular blue shape. Link blinked, flailed his arms a bit, and exclaimed in alarm. "Sheik!?"
The Lyre stopped and he watched the blue jump, flipping over the volcano and Vah Rudania. Sheik reached his hand out and Link tried to swing his fall toward him, fingers just barely grasping onto Sheik's own enough to get a good grasp on him. They fell quicker at this rate though and Link just barely managed to shake the paraglider out to break both their falls before crashing into Vah Rudania.
They landed off to the side of the teleporter pad with their combined effort of aiming, Link sprawled out across Sheik's chest and the two of them panting on the ground. "That," he mumbled lightly hitting Sheik on the shoulder. "Was stupid, reckless, you could have gotten yourself killed!"
"I knew you'd catch me." He replied with what seemed like all the confidence in the world.
"That-that's not the point! Though I appreciate the show of trust if I hadn't-"
"You did." He pushed himself up slowly, nudging Link back until he was sitting in Sheik's lap.
He wasn't going to win this argument so he stopped trying. Instead Link dropped his head forward until his forehead rested against Sheik's chest and heaved a sigh. "What the hell were you doing standing in the volcano anyway?"
"Mm, finding the Fire Temple."
"Finding-" he startled and snapped his head up, looking wide eyed at Sheik. "You found one of the temples?"
Sheik nodded. "I did, one still occupied by the sage too. Darunia the Goron Sage of the Fire Temple. I borrowed a few things from it."
Honestly at this rate he should stop being surprised so much by Sheik. "You just-borrowed some things… from a Temple?"
"Darunia won't mind."
Sheik reached inside his tunic and removed a strip of red cloth. It seemed like it wasn't much and that Sheik might have lost his mind searching an abandoned temple for a strip of cloth. However, he reached up and slid it around Link's neck, tying it in the back and dropping it against his collar bone. There was a gem hanging from it clearly meant for design, made of amber. It looked like a combination of the Hyrule Symbol mixed with the Sheikah eye. "You went into the Fire Temple for this?"
"No, the supplies for it. That I made. It's cloth from Dodongo scales and Bomb Flower fibers, it's fireproof. I enchanted it with magic since the cloth was to small to protect your entire body." He tapped the gem to explain which part he enchanted exactly. "You can put your normal armor on and stop drowning the Fireproof Elixirs, it'll keep you from combusting."
That would be an incredible relief, to handle the rest of this Divine Beast and the Fireblight with his normal, already enchanted by a Giant Fairy, armor that can take more than a few hits from flaming rocks dropped from the sky. "You went all the way there for this?" Honestly it was quite touching, considering how Sheik last described entering the Fire Temple. It had to be horribly hot and unpleasant.
"Mm, well for myself too. I wrapped the rest of the cloth around my arms in place of my normal bindings. Otherwise I'd probably be boiling alive right now." He hadn't even noticed honestly, but now that he got a good look he did see the red bindings around Sheik's forearms.
"I'm going to change, and then I'm going to kiss you, and then we can deal with the Divine Beast." Sheik chuckled and Link climbed up off of him, moving to the side to slip the heavy rock armor off and pull on his lightweight Hylian armor. He fixed his hair, put it back up into a bun and turned to face Sheik again. He moved to the Sheikah's side, grasped his mask to pull it down and pressed their lips together. It wasn't long, just one of appreciation, and Link was already pulling away to head to the terminal.
He placed the Sheikah Slate on it and activated the transport terminal.
Hey, little guy! Long time no see! I always knew you'd come back. Y'know, I never stopped believing in you! You're here to take control of ol' Rudania back from Ganon, eh? You're gonna need a map that shows the guts of this place. You can grab the info from the Guidance Stone over there. Now get a move on!
They walked down the steps and the door shut behind them, encasing them with darkness apart from the glowing yellow eyes and the blue lights. Sheik took the eyes out with a few dirks easily and Link looked the fire over. "So, special fire again?"
"Did you know blue fire can actually melt red ice?"
He blinks and turns to Sheik, watching him collect a torch from a chest. "No… what is red ice?"
"Ice that can't be melted by normal means, usually only found in Zora's Domain. Here, light the torch and then light the torches in the room, it'll probably open a door. Puzzles are like that." It really was that simple, the hardest part was finding Sheik in the dark and making sure not to hit him when fighting the small Guardian and taking out the eyes. They reached the map terminal and collected it along with the basic controls of the Divine Beast.
Nice job getting the map of the Divine Beast! The terminals that control Rudania are noted by the glowing points on your map! To take back Rudania, you'll need to activate all of the terminals! You got this, little guy!
"Daruk wishes us luck."
"Does he? How nice of him." Sheik blinked as light returned to the room and his eyes adjusted, poking around on the Sheikah slate. "So, five termianls once again but what's alarming about this Divine Beast is that we're going to have to rotate it. A full ninety degrees to get anything done."
"What?" Link breathed in alarm and looked over Link's shoulder.
"Yeah, let's hope we don't accidentally drop ourselves into lava or something if we go outside." Great, this Divine Beast was actually going to be a pain to finish. "Don't worry, if we're careful and rely on each other we should be fine." Sheik was right, of course, but he was still worried a bit.
The first terminal was actually just in front of them. Link and Sheik walked back into one of the other rooms and lifted their heads, looking and spotting the terminal just above them. They had to walk far back and rotate the Divine Beast to get to it. Link readied the paraglider, wrapped his arm around Sheik's waist and had the other rotate the Divine Beast in the direction needed. They tipped the beast to the side and shook the paraglider out, lowering themselves down onto the platform in front of the terminal. Sheik activated it and Daruk started the countdown.
With the dungeon rotated there was a staircase to the side that Link pointed out. They made their way over to it and up outside. Sheik's charm he made worked just as he said it would, there was barely any heat from the lava felt against his skin, he only felt mildly warm. Like walking on a beach in the direct sun. He looked around and motioned to the side. "We should rotate Vah Rudania. Here, stay close."
They rotated the Divine Beast back the way it was and slowly walked along its side until they were walking on a floor once again. They shot the malice that was spotted and continued along until they reached a small ledge. "According to the map we want to keep going, I'll need to rotate Vah Rudania again, stay close." Sheik reached back and grabbed the bottom of Link's tunic to hang onto him. He made sure Link was ready before rotating Vah Rudania again and walking slowly across the ledge. it wasn't that thin but one wrong step meant certain death so he'll take Sheik's caution.
"The Terminal is over there, just need to shoot the malice." He nodded to Link and pulled out a dirk, stepping to the side where he could easily see the malice by standing on the flatter areas of Rudania's side. He threw the dirk, took the malice out and returned to Link's side. "Okay, we need to rotate it one more time so the terminal is flat." They stood somewhere they'd get firmer standing and Sheik hit the button to turn Rudania back.
Link stumbled just the smallest bit when it started to turn and felt his foot catch on the edge of the Divine Beast. It wasn't like climbing rocks, the Divine Beast were more like trying to climb smooth flattened out diamond. There was no groove to stand on, no place for footing, so when he hit that edge he just slipped like it was nothing.
Gasping in alarm he reached out blindly for Sheik and felt the other grasp his wrist tightly, body ceasing it's fall and smacking into the Divine Beast. He held on tightly, Sheikah Slate trapped beneath his knee to keep from dropping it into the lava. With his other arm freed he reached down and grabbed Link's tunic, yanking him up as hard as he could until Link was again safe on the Divine Beast.
They sat there for a few minutes, gasping for breath and letting the rush of the adrenaline run out of them. When their heart rates returned to a mildly safer pace Sheik reached out and grasped the front of his tunic tightly. He yanked Link toward him and pressed their lips together before his head fell onto Link's shoulder. "You need to be more careful, we still have three terminals."
"I know, I'm sorry." Gently, soothingly, he pat Sheik's back and then climbed to his feet, grabbing the Sheikah slate and making his way over to the terminal. He activated the next one.
They returned to the inside of the Divine Beast and hovered over the map, looking down at it together. "I think before we forget about it, we should light that torch we saw outside with the blue flame." That wasn't a bad idea, there was definitely something specific about it so they might as well do it. He nodded his head and they devised a plan. Using the torch they had, they lit it with the blue flame and Link carried it as Sheik rotated Vah Rudania along the way. With them carefully working together Link safely lit the torch outside and caused a ball to drop.
Following it back inside the Divine Beast they chased it to the glowing spot and a metal block that stopped its fall. Sheik lifted it up with magnesis and caused the ball to drop into the glowing spot on the ground. This opened a door that revealed the next terminal.
He returned to the room to see Sheik staring upward and followed his gaze to the ceiling. "Doors."
"Mm, the Sheikah Slate said one was across from us so I was looking around. Looks like it's stuck with some wood so we won't be able to open it. Could probably burn it with the blue fire." Wasn't a bad idea. Link pulled out his bow and arrow and lined the shot up with the blue fire on the wall. He shot the arrow through the fire, to the door and burned the leaves and wood down.
Sheik rotated Vah Rudania and dropped them back onto the ground. Making their way over to the doors they opened them with Magnesis and collected the second to last terminal.
The last terminal gave them a bit of a fight to get to. Link had to shoot a fire arrow through a hole in the door beside the entrance to light a torch. This opened the door and from there, with a metal block and a bit of magnesis, Sheik had to jump through rows of fire to reach the terminal. Finally though, they activated the last one and Link helped Sheik back into the main room.
Nice! That was the last terminal! Now go ahead and start up the main control unit! There should be a new glowing mark on your map. You're gonna need to make your way over to that. Stay focused, little guy!
"Daruk says we can start the main terminal now. It's back outside on top of the Divine Beast's back."
"Great, more rotating and more holes and more lava." Sheik clearly hated the heat and lava as much as he had the rain. He let out a sigh and looked to Link. "Are you ready for a fight?"
"I have the Master Sword this time." He folded his arms across his chest, gave a small hum and smiled. "And I have you, Sheik. You and the charm you gave me. The heat won't bother me and the Fireblight doesn't stand a chance."
It earns him a smile and Sheik stepped up to Link's side, reaching his hand out to brush his fingers across the back of Link's cheek. "You've grown courageous, you know. Far more than when I first met you. You have the heart and strength of a hero, Link." The smile that pulled from his own face was probably doopy looking and not nearly as elegants as Sheik's, but it was very much real.
They made their way outside carefully and Sheik stayed far back just like before as he made his way to the terminal. Cautiously Link reached the slate out and tapped the front of it to the terminal. Just like before with all the others the main control unit burst into malice that spread its way out and took form in the distance.
Watch yourself now! That ugly pain in the crud is Ganon's handiwork! Thing got the best of me a hundred years ago! Good luck, little guy! Go get 'im!
Fireblight like the others that shared a similar name wielded an axe and actual fire in it's hand. When it started to move it swung it's hand with the fire and rained balls of them down onto them. Link dodged them easily enough and pulled out his bow to bring the blight down from the sky. He hit it with an arrow, which only stunned it but a second shot to the eye knocked it to the ground. The Master Sword did a lot more damage than the ones he was using against the other blights but the beast still got back up and teleported away.
Sheik pulled his Lyre out from his back and used that to attack from a distance, hitting the blight and stealing it's attention away from Link, he pulled more arrows from the quiver and loaded them up onto his bow, running to get a decent enough angle to on the Fireblight and let them fly through the air. Two more hits to the eye and he knocked it from the sky, rushing at it with the Master Sword and hitting it.
Fireblight gave a scream and teleported away from them, reappearing in the center and turning the fire on its own sword. It lit it up and then covered itself in what looked like Daruk's Protection that Yunobo was using earlier. Daruk started talking, something about a fireball that Link missed entirely in his distracted state. No doubt he'd be cursing himself for that later.
Flying high up into the air, Fireblight started to suck in the heat and lava from the surrounding area. When it stopped it launched a large fireball down at them that looked absolutely terrifying. Link backed up and then full on turned and ran, grabbing Sheik's wrist in the process and yanking him with him across the field. They ducked behind a pillar and the ball crashed into it, sending a wave of heat that he actually felt burn his skin.
"Bombs." Link blinked and turned his gaze to Sheik. "When it does that, throw a bomb! It'll suck the bomb inside the shield and you can set it off."
"Why does it sound like you've done that before?" Sheik passed him the Sheikah Slate and stood back up, adjusting his Lyre in his arms.
"Go! We're almost done." He ran a different direction and Link stood back to his feat, Sheikah Slate now secured in his hands. He loaded up the bomb, tossed it up and down in his hand and then tossed it when Fireblight started to suck things up again. As Sheik said it floated inside the shield and he set it off, knocking the blight from the sky onto the ground. Link again threw himself at the monster and with a good few hits from the Master Sword and Sheik's Lyre he took it out.
Fireblight yelled again and withered around before exploding into the cloud of malice like the others before it. Taking the Sheikah slate he made his way back over to the terminal, glanced to Sheik and with a wide smile activated their third Divine Beast.
Like the Champions that they had saved before Daruk appeared behind him, arms spread wide and grinning. "Good work, little guy! I owe the both of you big for this. Because of you, my spirit is finally free. Can't thank you enough! I feel though as if I should be apologizing. I was doing all I could to protect Hyrule when that thing got the best of me. Sorry that me resting with the rubble caused such a mess." He shook his head and Link wished he had the words to reassure him but nothing came to mind. He knew their time with him was limited and he wanted them to say their peace. The same must have been said for Sheik because although he clearly had the words to say unlike Link, and wanted to say them, he resisted.
"The good news is, Rudania is now back under our control! That means that our century-old Ganon beat-down can finally go into effect! I'm gonna take this thing down the mountain. I'll have a better shot at Ganon there. And then, once you've made your way into Hyrule Castle, we're gonna light that thing up!" He grinned widely and Link felt that this man was probably fun to be around when he was alive. "I want to give you something. It's a special power of mine called Daruk's Protection. It's no good to me now that I'm a spirit… but it might be useful to you. Here it comes!" He clasped his hands tightly together, formed a ball of light and launched it at Link just as the other Champion's hand. The warmth again filled his body and Link felt his strength increase. He clenched his hands into fists and then smacked them together, forming a glowing red shield around him like Yunobo had.
"From this moment forth, the power of protection, from the depths of my soul, now lives in you. Good luck, little guy! And give my regards to the Princess!"
The light carried him and Sheik from the Divine Beast back to Goron City. As they landed in the center of it they could hear Vah Rudania crawling itself out from inside Death Mountain and down the side of it. It seemed like all of Goron City shook with the activity of the Divine Beast until it managed to get itself settled high on a rock and stop moving. It aimed it's flower-like open head down at the castle and shot a light out toward it. Joining the three that had already done so.
"Link." At the call of his name he turned and looked over to Sheik. "We're more than halfway there." Ah, that was true. They had one more Divine Beast to go and then it was just fighting Ganon. There was a smile on his own face but an underlying feeling of fear. The end was close, what was going to happen?
"Hey! Brother!" Link and Sheik turned at the call from Yunobo, the Goron rushing over to them with a huge grin. He heard Sheik make a questioning sound, not having met the descendent of Daruk, and the Goron stopped before them. "Thanks so much for appeasing Rudania, goro! I didn't actually know what you were doing in Rudania, but… well… it seems to have calmed down, goro! Ya know… While I was up there, I coulda sworn I saw Lord Daruk standin' on top of Rudania! I wonder… was that his ghost? I dunno how to explain it, but I somehow feel a lot braver now, goro! Oh! That's right! I talked too Boss about you, he said to bring you to him! An order from the Boss can't be refused. Move it, goro!"
Link really wanted a nap but it seemed it would have to wait. Heaving a sigh he looked up at Sheik before he started the walk across the bridge toward Bludo's place. "That's Yunobo, the Goron I saved? He helped get me into Vah Rudania." Sheik nodded and they spotted Bludo standing in the same place he was when all of this started.
"Yunobo told me everything. You really are somethin' else, brother. Ya know that? I can't believe you conquered Rudania! Color me impressed. But good grief, did ya have to do it just when my back pain went away? I was all ready and rarin' to go at Rudania myself! Now you've gone and made it look like I was just fibbin' about my back pain this whole time! Imagine that! ME!" Actually, he really didn't think the Goron had been lying. He had heard the way his back cracked when he moved, that wasn't natural. "Oh! And I'm also happy to see Yunobo finally gettin' his act together! I know that's your doing, as well." Not really. "But enough back patting and other such nonsense. Take a look at this!" He turned and pointed to where Vah Rudania was aimed on the mountain side. "Rudania has calmed down and returned to his peaceful ways. Now we can get back to diggin' for more ore around Death Mountain. Oh, right! I've still gotta thank you, brother!" Bludo turned and motioned to the house. "There's some treasure in my house, grab it! Keep it, it's yours. It's a sharp blade that Daruk himself once wielded. I'm sure you'll be able to make good use of it!"
Together they headed inside the house and Link collected the Boulder Breaker from the chest in the room. He would hang it with the other champions weapons he had and didn't use as it wasn't appropriate for him to risk breaking such valued weapons. When he returned to Sheik's side the other had already pulled up the shrine in Hateno and was waiting for him.
"Ready to go home?"
He smiles, wide and happily, grasping Sheik's arm in his own. "Yeah, let's go home." It felt a little bit like home had a different meaning now. Like it was actually their house. It was though, wasn't it? They could at the end of this live there together, forever, right?