Scattering petals

Link & Zelda

Chapter 12: Daruk's layers

When the princess aids the third champion to pilot Vah Rudania


Our journey to Goron Tribe has been rewarding in a certain way. I acquired several parts from a stray guardian. Though this achievement will contribute to deciphering the secrets of the sheikah technology, I'm afraid that the object awakening chaos in our way is the Master Sword. As contradictory as it seems, the energy of the sealing powers in the sword triggers ancient machinery with remnants of Ganon's malevolent scent. It may be a consequence of the sword's purpose to prepare the hero for the final trial. If my theories are correct, there is a chance that traveling along Link will eventually call my divine birthright to surface as well.

Sudden wrath shook the quiet Death Mountain, sending rocks down to the land below. Princess Zelda could hear the metallic collision of the earth against the rooftop of the small cottage she was in. The quill in the desk shook and some black ink tainted the letter meant for Impa as a result. In another context, she would have been annoyed by the stains on the paper though the earthquake was far more concerning at the moment. Back in Castletown, no natural hazards were nearly as probable as in the Goron Tribe and so the feeling was completely unknown by the heiress to the throne. Her first instinct was to crawl under the rock shaped as a table, turning her temporary desk into a shelter. Her body was protected but the entrance was open for her emerald eyes to see how the rocks were smashed into fragments merely by the impact and the distance of the fall.

The princess tried to breathe deeply in order to calm her alert senses. It was still a primal instinct to be afraid of the unknown phenomena and despite her internal reasoning, nothing could extinguish the fear she went through. The guards that had been posted outside doors and windows entered the rocky building to avoid the projectiles from the inactive volcano. She thanked some company and braced herself until the silence ruled over the Goron tribe once more.

"Your Highness, are you alright?" A gloved hand with the royal uniform was held out for her to come out from the hideout. She accepted the invitation and used it to get to her feet.

"I'm unharmed." Zelda confirmed, brushing the dust off her trousers. "Where did the earthquake come from?"

"Atop Death Mountain, your highness."

Yes. The Divine Beast was finally out of its slumber. In that case, as much knowledge as she had, Daruk was the only one capable of activating Rudania's mechanism. The sudden fall of rocks from the volcano was proof of his success. What else could it be, if not?

"My presence here is no longer relevant." The princess sentenced out loud for her guards to hear. She couldn't wait to get her hands on the newly rising beast. "Let's get to the top of Death Mountain."


Shadows vanished into a starless tundra, adorning the canvas of the sky with warm new shades of warmth to comfort people below. All traces of Ganon slowly faded in the background behind the clouds, grenadine rays of malice and chaos dissolving in the sunrise of a new Hyrule. A strong breeze whispered among the blossoming nature in the field, spreading scattered petals all around for the hylians to see. With the first blast of sunlight, the main tower of Hyrule's castle lit up to its glory as he was used to remembering it. Before its gates, the hero and the princess stood proudly after the battle.

Link was very aware of the lucid dream he was experiencing though it felt more real than a dream. Even though he could identify his kingdom, there were details that didn't quite fit his last memories of Hyrule field. Where were all the guardians? Why was Castletown so small? Since when has the wilderness swallowed most of the uninterrupted grass that quietly grew on the fertile earth? If he was in Hyrule, it was not the same as it actually was. Despite the specific detailing he could contemplate, his sight was slightly blurred, lacking the regular intensity of the colors. As time went by, that effect grew stronger, leaving Link with mere black and white surroundings.

With his limited sighting, Link could see his own image in the distance though with physical differences. It was the spirit of the hero yet not himself. Hard to explain, the same happened with princess Zelda, who was standing on the other side of the gates. She possessed the godly blood in her body though this Zelda was physically different too from the one he used to cope with. The royal garments she was wearing were also in pink shades, something Hyrule had changed centuries ago to adapt blue pigments as an emblem.

"Claim your future, hero." That voice he had heard before in his vivid dreams spoke out of nowhere.

Link couldn't control his perspective, but seeing in front of him was enough to realize how the princess and hero ran towards each other, the light within them getting stronger as they grew closer and closer in space. Eventually, when their silhouettes met, everything faded to an intense white that forced Link to close his eyes.

"Little guy!"

Link opened his eyes, suddenly feeling the weight of his own eyelids. He fought to stay awake and managed to push his body forward, leaning his upper body in his legs. His own breath echoed in the dark space he was trapped in, it almost was overwhelming to his own senses. Daruk yelling in the background didn't help either to calm his headache.

"Oh, the tiny princess will be very upset if I lose the hero." The Goron's lament went on out loud, his velvety voice being amplified by the Divine Beast's acoustic.

Link suddenly recalled falling off Vah Rudania's platform once Daruk got the hang of its control. As ironic as it sounded, he figured out how to pilot the Divine Beast without even having a chance to move it around as the first button he pressed made the knight lose his balance and fall off. In other circumstances, the hero could have managed to remain on his foot, but he had never visited the insides of a Divine Beast and its rotating platforms. He just had to figure out where to stand to stay still. After all, Princess Zelda did it all the time. The intense dream, however, was something out of the usual experience he had whenever he had fainted or suffered an injury that made him lose consciousness. It felt mystical and he didn't quite know how to address the topic to find out if it was some kind of prophetic vision.

"Where will I find another hero to replace him?" Daruk wondered, holding some dry tears of his own.

Oh, Revali would be glad to take that chance. But not today. Link snapped out of his trance.

"I'm fine." He muttered, the echo transporting his voice to the Goron's hearing.

Daruk's expression enlightened and somehow dried his non-existent tears that he had been shredding out of worry. As much as he tried to focus in the darkness, there was nothing he could do to be able to see in the dark. He couldn't do much from the main platform of Vah Rudania. Link, instead, could see the faint glow of the recently activated sheikah technology around the chamber, so he could mentally figure out the size of the chamber he was in. The dusty air and high temperatures were a mere annoyance though it made it difficult for him to focus straight after falling from a platform several meters down.

"Is there some way you can get out of the beast's guts on your own, tiny hero?"

The knight shrugged as if the goron could actually see him. The truth was that the particles of dust in the air were thick and an issue while trying to orientate down below. All indicated that without Daruk's help, it would be likely impossible to exit the divine beast. That would be the case if he didn't die first of hunger and thirst due to the scorching heat Death Mountain's lava produced. Worst case scenario, he would remain trapped inside Vah Rudania unless he could be aided by someone else that knew the divine beast well enough to control it in order to effectuate his rescue. If there actually were some person capable of understanding sheikah mechanics to perfection. Oh, wait…

"Uh… Do you want me to try and press some buttons to see if something happens?" The goron continued thinking out loud as if that could help find any kind of solution. Not to mention that Daruk pressing random buttons around had been the cause of Link's fall to the abyss of the divine beast.

"No, no!" Link didn't remember the last time he had managed to use his voice so loudly. "Just wait, I'll find a way."

But the way he intended to find was nowhere near, judging by the echo of the chamber. There wasn't a single entrance of natural sunlight that he could see from that angle. The engines of the fan at the rear of Vah Rudania were not active yet and he hoped it remained that way. He didn't even want to think what would happen if a fan trice his size started running in a small dark room with him inside. The only exit was located in the Divine Beast's mouth, the same place that they used to get inside. It was a one-way entrance and exit machine as it seemed, so Link would have to find a way to climb from the bottom. The main issue was that he couldn't see a thing. Unless, of course…

Link unsheathed the sword from his back, activating its shimmer around him. With his touch, the knight managed to light his near surroundings, though it still wasn't clear enough to search for a ladder of some sort. The glow was so dim that even Daruk could barely notice it from the upper platform.

"Hold on, I will try to find a torch of some sort or something to set on fire so you can see down there." The goron thought his idea was brilliant so he made his way to search for whatever could be flammable. Link, on the other side, warned him when it was already late. It wasn't a good idea, in his opinion, to bring fire inside an ancient machine that none of them knew maybe could explode anytime soon.

Link's main option was to explore around with the Master Sword's aid. On the walls was nothing he could use to climb his way up, at least nothing constructed by human hands. Another thing would be trying to find some boxes or maybe even stones to try and create some stairs or a tower of randomness tall enough to reach the control platform. Ruins were covering the surroundings of Rudania, there was a chance that he managed to find some lost objects that could be of some help there.


When Zelda and her two escorts reached Death's Mountain top it was almost midday. The sun hit hard on hylians, especially on the princess, who was covered in sweat. Nevertheless, when Zelda noticed the ancient glory of Vah Rudania finally activated, all of her sorrow washed away immediately. The impressive form of the Divine Beast was intimidating though mesmerizing at the same time, a deadly combination. Its salamander shape was perfectly capable of moving between the lava and the rocky terrain of Eldin, the design was clearly thought beforehand by whoever had been the creator of such tech.

Being on the floor to observe the animalistic machine everything seemed even bigger. Flying with Revali to Vah Medoh had given Zelda a different perspective but from the land, the Divine Beast was even more massive than she recalled. Before the knights could do anything against it, the princess was already analyzing firsthand the physical aspect and the heat-resistant materials with the Sheikah Slate. The Divine Beast itself was a mechanical wonder equipped with all assets to be prepared for battle surrounded by the volcano's lava. Not only it was armed to protect Hyrule from enemies but it also seemed well protected from the outside since at first glance there was no way to know where the entrance was located. Now Zelda understood why Vah Medoh had been so easy to master to Revali from the skies. Van Rudania, instead, seemed to be a gigantic dungeon on the inside, high temperatures aside.

"If only Purah and Robbie could witness this moment." Luckily the sheikah slate would keep all the information and images saved in its memory.

The rear wasn't accessible since the divine beast was nestled by the caldera. The ideal thing to do would be to reach the summit and place Rudania in a defensive position. Being so close to the crater, Daruk was the only one capable of piloting it towards the top of the mountain.

"Princess Zelda!" Speaking of which, Daruk appeared from nowhere with a torch and some stones on fire in his hands. "Worry not, I have everything under control." He assured her.

"It likely is. Vah Rudania seems to function exceptionally-..." Something in the goron's facial expression told the princess that he had to tell her something rather important, so she stopped her tracks and remained silent for Daruk to spill it out.

"Our little pal is inside Rudania and doesn't know how to get out." The Goron leader confessed, expecting some kind of desperation in Zelda's reaction.

The princess, however, wasn't nearly as worried as the third champion. Scrolling casually through the images in the slate, Zelda tried to sketch a mental map of the dungeon inside. If Link was stuck there alone, he probably already found a way out on his own. After all, he was Hyrule's hero, she thought to herself bitterly.

"Where is the entrance located?" She asked casually. Daruk pointed with his callous finger at the beast's mouth, which opened wide with his command. "We shall enter now. May I have the torch?"

The goron nodded with hesitation and kept the flaming rock to himself. As the princess led the way inside, a strange feeling filled her chest with uneasiness. It wasn't because of Link, she promised herself, though there was something unsettling in the atmosphere. Before she could even notice, pitch-dark had already swallowed both the goron and the hylian princess. The automatic gate on Rudania's mouth closed behind them and Daruk got a hold of Zelda to make sure she didn't trip over the platform. One hylian lost inside the dungeon was enough.

"Incredibly labyrinthic..." Zelda commented with an amazed sigh, using the fire on her torch to explore the surroundings of the first terminal. Eventually, the princess witnessed the depth of the dungeon below them and within it, the darkest obscurity she had ever seen. The fire on her torch wasn't enough to see the floor at the bottom. As soon as she realized the dimensions of the interior, worry started to blossom in the princess' chest.

"Link?" Her feminine voice searched for the appointed knight in the middle of nowhere. It seemed as if she were calling him in an endless void. Daruk, on the other side, was bent down to look over the platform.

The silence contrasted with the emptiness, allowing both goron and princess to hear some distant grunts. Zelda was so used to hearing him fight that she could recognize the sound of his weary voice anywhere. It was Link, indeed.


"Link! Are you alright?"

The knight finally heard Zelda calling his name from above. Link had been focused on the rear of the divine beast to figure a way out through the salamander's tail, but the princess's voice was coming from the other way around. In the foreground, he could see a diminutive source of light. Even from the distance, its glow was more intense than the one within the Master Sword. The reasonable way to act was to return to the starting point and see what brought the princess to end inside the Divine Beast on her own and unguarded.

He made his way back to the front of Vah Rudania, but with Princess Zelda there or not, he was still trapped on the lower floor of the machinery. Making sure not to trip over himself, the knight carefully paced towards the fire's guidance. When he caught a glimpse of Zelda's golden locks falling down the platform, Link swore he had never seen her before that way. The heat of Death Mountain made the baby hair usually locked in her bobby pins be untamed, framing her delicate face. The embers on the torch made her emerald eyes spark with fierceness, the glow her pupils sparkle like uneasy stars during sunset. All in all, her vision resembled what in his imagination pictured as Hylia's image. The length of her sunflower mane almost reached his humble frame in the middle of the darkness.

Zelda, on the other hand, decided to bear the burden of the worry for her appointed knight silently. She held out her hand to try and aid Link, but the length of a human arm still wasn't enough to pull him out of the divine beast's labyrinthic interior. Even if she reached him, the lack of strength wouldn't allow her to pull him upwards. Link didn't look as energetic as always. His healthy sun-kissed skin lost its color, turning his masculine facial factions paler than usual. The sweat on his forehead was also obvious and it damped the wild bangs in his front. The princess couldn't imagine how must feel to spend an hour inside Rudania. She had been there roughly for five minutes and she was feeling like a melting ice cube already.

"It's of no use." Zelda looked with resentment at the glowing Master Sword, once more a reminder of her failure to awaken her powers.

"Are you alright, little guy?" The goron appeared behind Princess Zelda with a few rocks on fire in his hands. The proximity of those flames with Zelda's golden hair made Link's protective instincts wave red flags.

The appointed knight nodded slowly, feeling some dizziness on him after so much time immersed in the abyss of Vah Rudania. The heat didn't have any effect on Daruk since he was a goron, but Zelda, on the other hand, had small drops of sweat running down her rosy cheeks. Despite that, the princess looked very aware of her surroundings and the situation ahead of them. Link, however, wasn't dealing so well with the temperature. The hot air around him made it even more difficult to breathe. At some point, he had started feeling as if he didn't breathe at all.

"Isn't there some rope within your reach?" Zelda's clever senses were awake but there was nothing he hadn't already tried. "Why is it that wherever you go trouble follows you?" She huffed out loud, switching her stance to kneel down on the floor and scroll on her sheikah slate.

Daruk shared a glance of complicity with Link, who remained stoic to the princess' scolding. An awkward silence filled Rudania. The goron, who wasn't familiarized with the tension following around the royal family of Hyrule, felt an increasing need to say something and fill the void. His eyes darted from Link back to Zelda until he found the first thing that crossed his mind to snap them out of awkwardness. The roaring echo of Rudania's engines made his goron hearing throb. The fire and earth in his hands were almost forcing him to do something.

"Here's something to keep you cozy, tiny hero. Catch." Daruk motioned to throw the flaming rocks down at Link.

"No!" Link and Zelda both yelled in unison.

For the first time, the knight and the princess were finally agreeing on something. The leader of the goron maybe didn't find a use for the rocks he struggled so much to find, but they made the hylian pair be on the same side for once. The essence of their relationship seemed complicated even at first glance. Revali didn't care much about it, but Daruk, being so empathic and socially inclined, could feel the cutting edge of the tension in the air. As Link awaited with his arms crossed over his chest, the princess was staring at some runes in the sheikah tablet she possessed. Daruk didn't quite understand the technology of the sheikah tribe as much as hylians did. His tribe, due to the habitat of Death Mountain, had always been the most isolated of all.

"Fire isn't the solution." Zelda's eyes sparkled with the same gleam that appeared whenever she made a discovery or had an idea. "Water. We need water."

Daruk and Link shared a second glance. The goron furrowed his brows in confusion. They would need a lot of water to fill the entire divine beast so the knight could swim to the surface. But his supposition wasn't what Zelda was exactly thinking about.

"Where will we find gallons of water in the crater of Death Mountain?"

"Just a bottle will do." Zelda smirked and pulled out a pouch of water she carried in the belt on her waist during treks like those. Zelda motioned for Link to get out of the way not without warning him beforehand. "You'll need to be swift."

As much as Link felt the urge to drink a sip of water in his raspy throat, he obliged and moved two steps aside. The thought of the promised meal Daruk offered him before was enough at the moment to calm his restless hunger.

"Ah! What a waste." Zelda spilled the whole content of her thermic pouch on the lower floor of the Divine Beast. Almost immediately, the steam came back to both Zelda and Daruk as a product of the heat the metal of Rudania's thorax was holding.

However, before the goron could say another word, the princess activated her slate with an electronic sound. A rune resembling a snowflake was activated by her agile fingers and almost immediately, a medium column emerged from the water that was at the knight's side. The trick impressed both the goron and the princess' escort.

"Hurry, climb up." She commanded with urge, seeing that the ice would soon end melting helplessly.

The agile warrior took a little run before jumping to the escalating ice column. With an impulse of his own legs, he jumped to the mid-length and despite the slippery ice, Link managed to push himself upwards and land on top of it. Still, the column wasn't tall enough to reach the central platform, so Daruk aided princess Zelda by holding out a hand for Link. With his goron strength, the knight was back in the main level of Rudania in a blink of an eye. Link even had to take a few seconds to himself and remain on the floor to regain his balance.

"Good job, Daruk. I knew you would be the ideal ally to fight against Calamity Ganon." The princess showered the goron with a round of compliments. She knew he had been struggling to tame the divine beast and needed a little more motivation, thus she had to make sure Daruk was confident.

"You did well too, little guy." Daruk now referred to the forgotten knight who finally had managed to stand on his feet. "Right, Your Highness?"

A cold glance from Zelda's verdant eyes discarded any doubts. Behind Zelda's resentment, deep down she felt the inferiority of her unclaimed birthright. She had been encouraging Daruk because he needed the support of Hyrule's royalty. Link, however, didn't need any of the praise the princess was offering. And much less if he was already prepared for Calamity Ganon to awaken anytime now. It was Zelda herself, who needed the benefit of the doubt to feel less burdened in her head. She was sure that in some way or another, her sealing powers weren't able to be unlocked by the stress she was holding in her petite frame.

"We should focus on improving your control over the terminal's device." The princess commented, letting the previous question fly away in the silent darkness of Rudania.

The thought of investigating firsthand the controls of an untamed divine beast made Zelda thrill with excitement. With Revali, Vah Medoh was already under control when she managed to visit its structure. With Daruk, however, she had the chance to manipulate and study all of the beast's controls unknown to the goron champion. It was a golden opportunity she just couldn't ignore. Yes, they could continue their journey to Zora's domain next and visit princess Mipha, but Zelda knew she aspired to be an excellent pilot on her own. Urbosa, from the Gerudo tribe, was the best leader she could think of and surely she would get the hang of her beast's controls quickly. So, against what Zelda was told, the princess decided to make her stay in the Goron tribe a little longer.

"Go get some rest. The knights are outside. Tell them to leave too." Zelda ordered and without furder ado drowned in the sea of knowledge of the terminal with the sheikah slate.

Link would have some objections if he hadn't spent the last hour trapped in a dark inferno with high temperatures. He needed to go to the springs, have something to eat and, of course, drink some shakes with protein to help restore his energy. Furthermore, he hadn't received a direct order from the king about the due date of their return, so it was the princess' decision that ruled over them during the journey.

Link kneeled slightly and with a gentle nod exited the mechanical dungeon. With the gate opening, a rush of fresh air caressed the hylian knight and offered some relief to the goron and the princess back inside.

"Alright, Daruk. Sheikah technology can seem intimidating though the divine beasts' terminals are quite intuitive."

Princess Zelda started her lesson, learning along with the goron champion too. Now that there was nobody to judge her position she felt more comfortable in her own skin. Daruk happened to be an easy-going goron with some sense of humor and lots of interesting stories to tell with the most unexpected endings. Although in combat, people said he could become fierce and loud, transforming into a great ally with lots of brute strength in the field. Zelda didn't doubt all she had heard about him, though she also couldn't deny the calm demeanor and pleasant company he offered. Under his tough surface, Daruk hid a generous heart and even a hint of sensibility while taking care of human matters. He ruled over the goron with gentleness and comprehension despite his general lack of knowledge about Hyrule's history, mythology, legends, and all about Ganon and the Triforce.

"Are you sure you can stay one more day with us? I wouldn't want to delay your visit to Zora's domain." He asked once the princess figured out the main struggles Daruk had to deal with as the pilot of Vah Rudania.

"Positive." Zelda assured with a warm smile. "Assuring the divine beast's optimal functionality is also part of my duty."

If only she could be as skilled with her sealing powers as she was with sheikah technology…


This one was a long chapter to upload since I'm preparing a new cover for the fanfic. I'm sure you'll like it. However, before jumping to more announcements, I will answer your reviews:

Peanut600: I'm so glad you are wondering how canon this fanfic material really is. I took the creative liberty to use some AoC and BOTW elements and combine them together, though there won't be any inclusion of the "Eggo" as you say nor Astor, etc. The memories won't be specifically re-written in this fanfic, but there will be mentions and even scenes that will serve as an extension of those. Aryll, for instance, is a character that I needed to include in order to give Link some proper background and character development, mentions of his father aside. We will see more of Aryll, for example. But that is for the plot's well-being and for me to keep a secret for now. I'm glad to have a Zelda erudite in here because these details that you pointed out sometimes confuse me. Please, tell me if there's something about the canon that doesn't quite fit in my telling, though right now I liked the choices I made. Thank you for leaving reviews, I appreciate them.

Random reader: As difficult as it may seem to believe, authors also like to write chill scenes, so it would make sense if readers notice this while exploring the fanfic. This should be a slow-burn, a long story to fill the gap before Calamity Ganon, so there had to exist a contrast between action, drama, tension and chill, preparations, castle procedures, etc. Yet I assure you every scene has a purpose. There's nothing I hate more than filler episodes. Thank you for reading!

Alisa of Silesia: Yes! I'm back with the fanfic! Thank you for your loyalty towards Scattering petals. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

FuukoUchiha: Thank you, thank you, thank you! You cheered my day!

TunaNToast: Thanks for your patience. I'm back to business, finally. Expect regular updates since I am working in an office and I have some free hours that I use to write. Thanks for your review!