Chapter 6. Playing in an Active Volcano

Getting across the lava wouldn't be easy. It was too wide to jump, and I sure as hell couldn't swim across. How could Medli have done it? Well, flew, duh.

I couldn't fly, so I had to find another way. There were a couple of statues holding jars on either side of the lava, and they were close enough together that I thought I could use them as a bridge if I knocked them down. There were some bomb flowers growing nearby, so all I had to do was chuck one of them at the statues, and try not to get myself blown up or burned.

Easier said than done.

The first one went down without much trouble, but the second was too far away. I had to hop onto the first statue and throw as quickly as I could. It took three tries, and I was severely bruised and scorched by the time it was over.

The inside of the cavern was less lava-filled and more...temple-like. There were carvings and stuff everywhere. Very pretty, but I didn't have time to admire it. Getting past the lava had taken too much time. I wasn't sure if I could catch up to Medli at all now.

Especially since I didn't know how to get out of this room. After some searching, I discovered that the statues on blocks at the back of the room weren't nailed down. So I pulled and push and found a hole in the wall. I wasn't sure if it was the way Medli had gone, but it was better than going back.

Well, that's what I thought anyway. Before the Bokoblins attacked me out of the dark. I ran around blindly for a bit, defending as best I could, until I got a lucky hit and one of them fell back and burst into smoke. With one gone, it wasn't long before I finished off the other one too.

I grabbed a stick one of the Bokoblins had dropped, and used it to light some of the torches I'd run into as I'd been fighting. Now that the room finally had some light, I could see that it was much bigger than the one I'd just left, but also not nearly as pretty. I did find a key on the floor, which was nice, since it meant I didn't have to go back or bust down a door to get out of there.

I headed down the little hallway, toward the ominous orange glow. I knew what I would find, but ii was hoping it would be easier to deal with this time. I passed a boarded-up doorway on the way, but I doubted there was anything interesting beyond it.

I was right. Lava. A gigantic cavern, the bottom of which was completely filled with lava. At least there was a bridge. And...a cage? Oh well.

To get to the big bridge I had to follow this smaller bridge to a ledge along the wall, halfway around the cavern. I had to move a big block just to get that far. Medli, no doubt, hadn't even needed to cross the bridge.

I was starting to suffer from serious wing envy.

Keese attacked me on the bridge. I had to swing carefully, to avoid cutting the ropes which protected me from burny death. In the end I figured it was easier to just run for it, and kill them only on solid ground.

Once the Keese were gone, I was presented with another problem. A huge boulder blocked the door. Luckily, this problem was easily solved with explosives.

It only took one bomb flower to blow up the rock, which was encouraging. Getting better at throwing those thing meant I would be spending less time getting blown up, and more time catching up to Medli.

The next room had more lava and a bunch of jars filled with water. I may not be the brightest torch in the hallway, but I know what happens when you mix lava and water. There was a big ol' chest on the other side of the lava, and I wanted to get to it. Pot goes in lava, smashy smashy, instant platform! Whoo!

I didn't think the platform would stay solid long, so I hopped across and to the chest as fast as I could. Inside was a map! All right! Now I would be less lost!

Another smashed water pot got me to the door and out of the now-boring room. Finally, I was out of the lava. Unfortunately there was another Bokoblin there to hurt me, and this one had a sword. Well, okay, it was really more like a gigantic knife, but it was still a weapon and it could still kill me. So I had to kill its wielder first.

At least, that's what I told myself.

There was another boarded-up doorway in the room, and my sword wasn't enough to smash through it. I tried kicking, even though I knew it was futile, then just gave up and used the fallen Bokoblin's sword. It worked, but I felt bad about it.

There were more boards in the room beyond, so I had to keep the big sword. I found another key, which was nice at least.

The locked door led me back to the giganto-cavern with all the lava and Keese, but there was a boulder blocking my way. The only bomb flowers were growing out of the wall, so I chucked rocks at them until they exploded.

I left the cavern by a different exit this time, one that the map told me led outside. There was another Bokoblin along the way, luckily without a sword. Once it was gone, I used the stick it dropped to burn through another boarded-up doorway. The switch beyond it lowered the bars that blocked the real doorway.

What was with this place and locked doors?

I took a deep breath of the salt-scented air outside. You don't know how good it feels to be able to smell the ocean when you've been inhaling sulfur for a good twenty minutes.

It wasn't exactly safe out there though. The drop to the water was much farther than I liked, and there were scorch marks on the rocks above me. The path curved up the side of the mountain, leading me up a ladder and across a slim board. There was a crack in the mountain with an ominous glow in its depths that made me want to move faster than was safe. It turned out my fear was justified though, when a jet of lava burst from the crack, mere yards from the back of my head.

Eep.

I couldn't go back, due to fear mostly, but it looked like I couldn't go forward either. There was another board in lieu of a bridge, but this one was placed right up under a rock. There was a bit of the board sticking out, but it wasn't big enough for me to walk on. It looked like all I could do was hang underneath it and go hand-over-hand.

Again, eep.

I walked out on the board as far as I could, then sat down and squeezed the edge as hard as I could with one hand.

Then I slid off.

It hurt a bit, pulling at my shoulder, but as soon as I got the other hand up there it wasn't so bad. Carefully, slowly, one hand at a time, I made my way across. The hardest part was trying not to look down. I knew I didn't want to see my feet hanging over that much empty air, but I had this morbid urge to look. It wasn't until my fingertips stopped brushing stone that I allowed myself to even move my eyes from staring at the rock face.

I pulled myself back onto the board and scrambled the rest of the way to solid ground. Since it was going to haunt me, I peered over the edge of the cliff. Oh yeah, I had not wanted to see my feet hanging over that.

I had to climb up a little ridge and blow up a boulder, but I made it back inside. I hadn't thought I'd be grateful to be enclosed by rock again, but given the alternative...

I came to a room with a bunch of blocks all stacked up in the middle of the floor. The doorway was way up high, so I pushed and pulled at the blocks until I had a suitable staircase. Beyond that was a room with rats, a compass, and a key.

Then I wound up outside again. Luckily this time there wasn't as much lava, or as much danger, but there was a Helmaroc on a little outcropping. Those things are mean, especially when nesting. Which this one was. It flew at me, screeching, and I barely had time to draw my sword to defend myself. I'd planned on just running past it, but the door was locked and I saw something shiny and key-like in the Helmaroc's nest.

It was a cautious fighter, hanging back at glaring at me, then darting forward as soon as my attention wavered. It had a long thin neck though, and one good swipe half-severed it. The carcass fell off the edge of the cliff, and I heard it burst into smoke on the way down.

There was blood on my sword. I scrubbed it off with dirt as best I could, but there was still a smear.

I decided that I didn't like blood.

There was more lava, and more Keese, and Bokoblins hiding in jars, and a lot of other stuff that I don't remember. I had given up on catching up with Medli, and was moving forward more out of inertia than anything else. Crazy lava centipedes and unstable platforms on top of lava spouts some how seemed easier than turning around and going back. Maybe it was stubbornness, maybe it was that the danger you don't know about is less scary than the danger you've already faced. Except that that doesn't make sense at all, does it?

I choose to blame testosterone.

Yet again, I found myself outside. There was a wide staircase this time. It looked slightly crumbly, and didn't seem to be supported by anything, but I assumed it would be safe.

I was wrong.

As soon as I started up the steps, they started falling down behind me. I switched to a run, and they just fell faster. Talk about poor engineering. There were a lot of stairs too, and more than one staircase. By the time I reached the top my legs were burning and I could barely breathe. I coughed a couple of times and spat, then straightened up and looked around.

There was a big gate, open, and a wide round space beyond it. At the far end was a cave, with bars at the mouth. I figured it was a prison, but why would there be a prison at the top of a mountain? That was when I saw Medli inside it.

"Medli!" I ran toward her.

"Link!" she shouted. "Don't! It's a-"

The gate slammed shut behind me, and a couple of Helmarocs dropped off a pair of Moblins.

"Oh shit."

Moblins are big, but they're slow and stupid, so in theory I should have had the advantage. In theory. But the theorists forget to take into account just how very big those things are. It had a spear nearly as big as it was, and nothing on its mind but hurting me.

I did the only thing that seemed reasonable at the time; I ran for it. The Moblin chased me, but like I said, it was slow.

Medli was shouting something at me, battle strategy maybe, or just words of encouragement, but I couldn't hear over the pounding in my ears. This was too much, too soon. I was tired, and I didn't know how much longer I could keep this up. The Moblin didn't care, of course, but it wasn't smart enough to figure out what I was about to do.

I ran a curve near the wall of the enclosure, looping around so that I was behind the Moblin. It followed my path, not seeming to realize it was in danger. It's also possible that it just didn't consider me a threat. I was about a fourth its size. But, tiny or not, I had a sword and I knew how to use it.

I got one good hit in before the Moblin turned around, and I manage to hit it again before it tried to hit back. I ducked under the giant spear, and hit the Moblin's hand with the flat of my sword. Sure enough, it dropped the spear, giving me enough room to finish it off.

I stood there and panted for a bit while it exploded into smoke, then grabbed the key it left behind and went to free Medli.

"What are you doing up here?" she demanded as I unlocked the door. "Don't you know how dangerous it is?"

"I do now," I said.

"Oh. Right. Well. You shouldn't have come!"

"Uh, Medli?" I opened the door and leaned against the frame. "I appreciate that you were worried about me, but I'm not the one who got thrown in a jail cell."

"Yeah..." she blushed. "All right, so maybe I got in a little over my head."

"A little?"

She bowed. "Thank you for rescuing me. I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"It's okay. So did you find out anything?"

"Oh! Yes! It's so terrible! Some creature is doing awful things to the great Valoo's tailཀ That's why he's so angryཀ"

"Huh. Makes sense, I guess."

Medli walked out toward the middle of the enclosure and pointed at the mountain. "The great Valoo's tail hangs down into the room right below here. There's got to be something in there... I wonder if those monsters who captured me have something to do with it..."

"Probably. In my experience, monsters usually have the same goal in mind. Of course, that goal seems to be mainly to hurt me, but you know what I mean."

She smiled. "I noticed. We've got to do something, before it's too late!"

"Like what?"

"I'll go and tell everyone what I've found out, you try and find a way into the room with the creature!"

I looked around. "But how do I get out of here? You can fly, but I'm grounded."

"Maybe not." Medli took a coil of rope out of the bag at her waist. "This is what I used to get this far. It's a device we Rito used before we evolved wings."

I took it, and noticed the big metal hook tied to the end. "Is this...a grappling hook?"

"Yep! Come on, I'll show you how to use it." She took off and flapped up to a ledge with a bar thing sticking out of it. "Grappling hook point," she announced, pointing at it. "You'll find them everywhere Rito have been. And Rito have been everywhere."

"Cool. So, uh, how do I..."

"Swing it around a bit, then aim for the bar."

I tried, missed badly, tried again, missed less badly, tried one more time, and actually made it! The hook spun around the bar a couple of times, then dug into the wood. I tugged on it to make sure it was really stuck, then swung across the gap.

"All right! That was cool!"

"Great!" Medli congratulated me. She flew over to another one. "Now try again!"

I did, and only missed once. It was surprisingly easy to get the hang of. The path with all the grappling hook point led down and away, to a big boarded up gap over a cliff. I smashed the boards with my sword and hopped down to the path below.

Medli wished me luck and took off down toward the beach. I entered the door behind me and made my way back to that big room with the bridge. The map told me where I needed to go, if I was reading it right, but it was a winding route. I had to slice the ropes of the bridge, bust up a cage, swing around with the grappling hook, chuck Magtails, and ride lava spouts. I'm pretty sure I was lost for part of it, but I made it to a room with stairs, pots, more Magtails, and a Big Creepy Door.

I could feel the heat coming from beyond it before I was close enough to touch it. There was more lava in there, I was sure. It's not that I was scared, exactly, but lava is not really god for people.

Medli had told me to find a way in. I had. That monster was lava-proof. I was not. I had no reason to go in there.

But I was going to.

Maybe it was Prince Komali, so shattered by his grandmother's death. Maybe it was righteous indignation at what the Rito were going through. Maybe I was mad as hell and not going to take it any more. Either way, I was going in there. And I intended to kick some ass.

I pushed the heavy door open, and walked into a room that was pretty much what I'd expected. This was a volcano after all. A big rough cavern, with a lake of lava in the middle. There was something odd and red hanging from the ceiling, and what looked like wide wooden shelves on the walls. For some reason.

As I stared around the room, all bemused, something was happening in the lava lake. The boiling didn't seem like anything unusual, given that is was a lava lake, but when the giant centipede monster thing burst from it, I knew I was in for trouble.

It was huge. I mean really huge. I can't even compare it to my own size, that's how big it was. Tan and red, with one giant eye. I don't know why exactly, but the thing just screamed evil.

And that red thing hanging from the ceiling? Valoo's tail.

The ginormous monster reared back, always a bad sign, and I ran for it. Good idea, as it turned out, since the monster could breathe fire. I ran and rolled and got around behind it. It started to turn, and I did the first thing that sprang to mind. I aimed for Valoo's tail and swung the grappling hook.

I heard the dragon roar, but there wasn't much I could do, what with already swinging through the air. The tail swung and the hook pulled free, and I wound up on one of those shelves.

I was very exposed, but luckily for me my swinging and Valoo's thrashing had shaken some rocks loose from the ceiling, and one of them crashed on the monster's head. It was stunned only for a minute, but its shell had cracked from the impact. Bugs, in my experience, were squishy under their shells. Couldn't hurt to try.

As soon as the monster recovered and tried to attack me again, I hooked Valoo's tail and swung across the room once more. Valoo screamed, the rocks fell, the monster cracked.

This time the monster was ready for me, and tried to snap me in its claws as I swung, but I was too small for it and it missed. Barely.

The shell cracked and split and fell completely off, revealing a much smaller head and a much larger eye. The eye rolled around, making the monster look almost like it was panicking. Good. The was, of course, a weak spot, so I chucked my grappling hook at it. Sure enough, the monster screeched and fell down, that big eye very exosed. I rushed it and started wailing away with my sword. There was no style in the attack, no technique, just sticking something pointy into something soft.

I felt the sword puncture the eye and go further, deeper, past another barrier and into something even more vital. I stumbled back, and watched, horrified, as the monster's eye wept blood and clear fluid, and then darkened. And finally, the body faded away.

The lava lake hardened into stone, and a light suddenly swirled around me. I had just enough time to realize it was a porta, before I was lifted off my feet and deposited on the grass next to the pond on the beach outside.

"Link!" Medli ran up to me, smiling. "You did it! I can't believe you did it!"

"Neither can I," I admitted, surprised at how much my voice was shaking.

She turned, and I saw Prince Komali coming up behind her. "Well, Prince Komali?" Medli said. "Don't you have something you want to say?"

Komali shuffled his feet and looked down at the ground. "Um, I heard everything from Medli... Link... Thank you so muchཀ I'm sorry I mistrusted you. I... hope I can be like you someday, Link."

"Like me?" I repeated. Medli interrupted before I could say more.

"You will, Komaliཀ I just know itཀ Right, Link?"

"Uh, right. Right! Of course you will!"

Komali shuffled some more. "So, Link?" He took something from the bag around his waist. It was that bright ball he'd had before. "...Here. I want you to take this, Link. Giving you the thing I value you most will give me the courage I need to stand up to bad thingsཀ"

"Are you sure, Prince Komali?"

He nodded, meeting my eyes for the first time. "I'm sure. Besides, I think you'll need this more than I do."

"Why's that?"

"Because." He pressed the ball into my hands. "That's Din's Pearl. It's a treasure that was handed down from the great goddess herself. And they say that it can be used to do great things." He looked up at me with eyes that held the kind of worship I hadn't even seen in Aryll's eyes since she was four. "I think you will do great things."

"Wow. Um. Gee. I... Thank you." It was hard to know what to say to that. But hey, I'd gotten what I came for.

"The Great Valoo is grateful to you, Link," Medli said. The dragon roared, and for the first time it sounded like there might be words in there.

"Use the wind god's...wind?" Medli said, sounding like she was repeating something. "That's what he said, but I don't understand. I wonder what it means? The wind's god wind... I wonder if what he's talking about has anything to do with the Wind Shrine that's through that tunnel..." She gestured at the tunnel that led under the mountain.

"Sounds like it's worth checking out," I said.

"Oh, I almost forgotཀ" Medli exclaimed. "The great Valoo also names you, Link, a true hero. I agree with him. As far as we're concerned, Link, you really are a heroཀ"

"A hero? Me? Because of that?" I waved my arm at the mountain. "That wasn't heroism, that was stubborness!"

"But you did it to help us!"

"Not really. I mean, sort of, but I had my own reasons too..." Then again, I was doing all of this to save Aryll and stop Ganon.

"Well, I'm going to go and visit Valooཀ" Prince Komali announced. "I'll come and see you sometime; with the best pair of wings everཀ"

He ran off and I smiled after him. "Good luck!"

"Hey! Prince Komali!" Medli started to run after him, but paused and looked at me. "Thanks so much, Link. See you again somedayཀ"

"See you, Medli."

And then I was alone.

"Link."

I turned in surprise. The King of Red Lions was floating near the shore, just where I'd left him. I'd almost forgotten about him. "That shrine the young Rito girl mentioned, you are right in thinking that it may be worth a look."

I just kept staring at him.

"Link?"

I shook my head. "I'm okay. I'm just...kind of tired. I've...had to kill a lot of things today. I don't think I like doing that."

King was silent for a moment, face passive as ever. "There is no shame in a dislike of killing. Sometimes it is necessary, to accomplish your goals, but it is not something to revel in. But you must remember that the creatures you destroy are not truly alive to begin with. They are composed of smoke and magic, and when their physical forms are destroyed, their essence returns to that."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

It was the first time I'd heard King use any kind of slang. I smiled at him. "That's nice to know."

"Now about that shrine..."

"I'm going, I'm going. Be right back."

"I will be here."

I smiled again. "I know."

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Whew. Okay, that was a mental workout. It's actaully twice as long as it was the first time I uploaded it, because I decided to make the entire dungeon one chapter. Be grateful!

The title is a nod to Hail Neko-Yasha, one of the best DeviantArtists out there. Not entirely sure I got her name right, but if you know her, you know who I meant.

It's, like, ten-thirty as I'm writing this. I've been awake for almost twenty hours (don't ask) so if I sound incoherent that's why. I really hope you enjoy this chapter, asI worked very hard on it. Oh, and be on the lookout for my Zelda doujinshi, sometime in the next few weeks over on DA.