Chapter 9: Wandering through a Winter Wonderland; Fire VS. Ice
Winter Crisis in Snowhead Arc
Disclaimer: I don't own The Legend of Zelda, this is just a Fanfiction.
Featured Music: "The Four Giants' Theme" - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask OST. Chapter Briefing.
"Get Goron Lullaby" - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask OST. Scene 1 (First Half).
"Snowpeak" - The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess OST. Scene 2 (First Half).
"Dungeon Appears" - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask OST. Scene 2 (First Half).
"Snowhead Temple" - The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask OST. Scene 2 (First & Second Halves).
"Dracula's Castle" - Castlevania: Symphony of the Night OST. Scene 3 (First & Second Halves).
Having succeeded in saving the once-thought to be doomed civilisation of Woodfall from complete extinction, Link and his new companion Tatl soak in all the glory they deserve from the Deku royal family living nearby; a dynasty once powerful but somewhat weakened during the crisis. Although the little guardian fairy Tatl doubted the young Hero of Time's abilities her distrust is very easily soon shaken when he, with astounding ease, takes down the sole infection in single combat; a sight that plants a seed within the little fairy's mind.
One that remains with her for all time.
In clearing Woodfall of its wounds however the two heroes begin their trail to save the country of Termina in earnest. With their morale riding high they press on into the frosty terrain of Weybour and Snowhead; a land that, similarly, is drowning in despair. Although the source of their problems appears to be murky and clouded, Link and Tatl at least find a lead within the beautifully-shaded white of Weybour; the lookalike to Hyrule's Kaepora Gaebora. He informs the adventurers of Weybour's great anguish and the cruel nature of its unnaturally freezing weather.
"It is doomed to become a land where no living thing can survive."
A chilling prospect indeed.
But it one that fills the former Kokiri with renewed purpose and morale. With the 'Eye of Truth' he had seemingly utilised once before in his quest as Hyrule's Hero of Time, he manages to identify and even speak with a fallen former fighter; the recently deceased Darmani III. The Goron hero leads the two heroes to his grave where he imparts not only his own grisly fate to them, but of his family and friends; the Goron elder, his son and all of the subjects that follow him are doomed to drown within the brutal snowstorm that afflicts their lands.
And all Darmani can do is watch.
It is with this knowledge in hand that he takes Link's gracious offer to make the final ascension to the next world but, before he does, he leaves behind a final gift; one that will shape the futures of the poor people in Weybour. A mask of great otherworldly ability that transforms the young Hero of Time into a form befitting that of a Goron, and one that closely resembles the formerly living hero's form.
Now with Darmani's identity and all of his great physical power, Link presses on to help the Goron people in whichever way that he can...
Scene 1
"T-That song..."
The anguished and blubbered tone that came from the little infant's mouth made the listening Link grin slyly in knowing, having finished the introduction to the Goron Lullaby.
"T-That's the song daddy always plays for me before I go to sleep!" The little Taba exclaimed, his eyebrows rising up, perhaps in realisation. "I-I'll finish the next part!"
And with that, the little infant stood up to his feet, a renewed frown upon his face as he joined his small hands behind his back almost as if to prepare himself to begin singing.
And sing he did.
This time however the noise of his chanting was far more preferable to the pained wailing he had been assaulting the poor Gorons of Goron Shrine with; a fact reflected in the wide-eyed men's hushed whispers and gasps as they cast their amazed gazes toward them. Even while the soft and yet hardened staccato of the Drums of Sleep echoed delicately through the Elder's throne room, at long last the groaning form of the little Taba began to close shut his limp and tired eyes.
"I-It's... just like...,"
Taba's low-toned murmurs of slumber managed to make the watching Link raise up his flaming grey-shaded eyebrows.
"Daddy's right... beside me..."
THUD
Before the standing youth the small form of the Goron Elder's son dropped rather noisily and yet somehow safely forward, curling up into a rock-like sphere that suited the Goron form.
THUD
THUD
A second pair of loud thumps made the sighing Link widen his deep-azure eyes and swing them 'round in sudden shock, as if a cat having been somewhat startled.
It was only then however that he realised the other two Goron men standing within the chamber had also dropped to the ground, falling straight to sleep.
"Huh...," the watching Link murmured out, swinging his half-scrunched up scrutiny 'round on the group of sleeping and snoring Gorons. "Ain't that somethin'?"
"It must be the power of those drums," Tatl at last spoke up for the first time in what felt like a lifetime; the frowning Link swivelled his spiky-haired head up to face the little guardian fairy. "The elder did say that it would help put Gorons to sleep didn't he?"
"I guess so...," the frowning Link commented on quietly, narrowing a single eye in curiosity as he watched the slow-slumbering form of Taba. "Hrm..."
"What are you thinking?"
He found himself gaining a very slow-gained grin in response.
"Maybe... it'll come in handy."
"W-Woah-ho! Up here! Up here!"
The young Hero of Time, ever in his sly Goron Mask's disguise, cast his grin forward and up to eye the gasping and shaking form of the Goron resting up high on the platform above him.
"I'm s-s-sorry to bother you up from such a high place...," the man gasped and stammered out, a pained tone to his voice as he endlessly rubbed his rocky hands across his similarly hardened textured arms; a sign of the great cold that loomed over them. "B-But I'm very hungry and have unfortunately gotten st-"
In a single grinning grunt Link tossed the large piece of meat he carried within his strong Goron-like arms, held together only by a similarly large stick of bone in the middle.
THUD
The nameless Goron, his breath taken away from him, could only gasp and widen his eyes in sheer shock and surprise when the stick of meat dropped up to meet him.
"Th-That's it!" He exclaimed out, briefly halting his shaking; a sheer sign of startled shock that fared him rather well considering his dire situation. "It's so good that I dream about... Dodongo Cavern's finest quality rock sirloin!" He called out, drool forming atop his widely-grinning face. "My absolute favourite! Blessed be this meal!"
KR-KR-KR-KR-KR...
In a comical display indeed the stick of meat was devoured almost in a matter of seconds; an indication of just how long the poor Goron was left to starve up there all on his lonesome. Link couldn't help but flash his usually confident and satisfied-seeming grin as he cast his gaze skyward, placing a muscled hand upon on his hip as he did.
"I-I'm coming down now!" The Goron called down. "Just wait one moment!"
In a single bound the small man curled up to roll forward; a Goron technique. As he twisted down the platform safely the grinning Link watched him, a sense of satisfaction drawing across his face as he did.
BRRR... THUMP
"A-Ah! I wondered who it might be!" The man gasped out, uncoiling himself to widen his eyes back at the grinning form of his rescuer. "Darmani! Is that you?!" He exclaimed out incredulously, visibly aghast by the sight before him.
"What can I say...," the smirking Link shot back in his usually overconfident shrug, limp-like eyes and all. "Snowhead gon' have to do worse 'n that to take down ya boy."
The nameless Goron, seemingly amused by the youth's prankster-like humour, could only chuckle in response, shaking his head and the odd frog-like mask he wore atop it as a result.
"You're too much Darm," the man chuckled. "What's gotten into you?"
"Nothin' much," the disguised Hero of Time grinned back, resting his gloved hand across his hip casually as he did. "Just feelin' as good as I been fightin' good."
"Well... thank you at any rate Darmani," the Goron spoke, this time in a thankful and grateful smile. In spite of the great cold that raged around them Link couldn't help but feel some kind of warmth coming from the man's smile. Re-opening his mouth to finish his sentence, he smiled again as he pulled off the strange mask he wore, holding it out forward for the youth to take. "Anyway... here, for the trouble."
–
2
"You sure weren't kidding..."
At last the cold-shouldered Tatl finally decided to speak; the whole climb up Snowhead itself had become a bittered and lonely experience, in spite of the extreme exhilaration he felt when crashing through huge snowball after huge snowball with the power of a Goron heroes' rolling technique. When she spoke as he uncurled himself up to march forward, Link couldn't help but raise a curious grey-shaded eyebrow upwards in her direction.
"Oh yeah?" He batted back, gaining a small childlike grin in response, as if readying to tease her no matter what came out of the little guardian fairy's mouth.
"All that time, wasted," she sighed, a noticeably exasperated frown in the tone of her soprano. "If you were gonna just run errands you could have said."
"Is someone a little irate 'cause we helped someone else...?" Link poked and prodded suggestively, his grin widening with growing amusement as he leaned to his left. Tatl, in brightly-held disregard for the youth, merely turned her milk-shaded form away from him as if in protest.
"Hmph!"
The former Kokiri, in all of his impudence, let loose a booming laugh within his Goron's bass as he gripped at his stomach.
"You're so easy!" He managed out, casting his one-eyed grin over at the little flying fairy, his laughs though derisive made entirely of well-intended humour. "Remember! Ya gotta learn to chill Tat-"
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
Wide-eyed and replacing his highly-amused grin with a shocked and startled frown, Link could only gasp as he was almost very suddenly blown off his very boots; mid-speech an abrupt gust of wind, as strong as Farore's herself, flew toward the pair.
"L-Link...!"
"H-Hold on...!"
Adhering to his warning, the little pixie let out a likewise surprised gasp as she attempted to turn her flight path toward her partner's, barely making progress in doing so. Eventually however, as she began to approach, she managed to find succour within the large Goron's green-coloured hat. As the great force of the powerful wind-storm cut through the valley before it with ruthless impunity. Link grunted, rising up both his rocky arms to block his face forward as if to help as he marched slowly through the deep snow beneath him.
When, at last the brutal hurricane passed, the heroes got a few minutes to rest their bodies, weakened and weathered by the ferocious weather.
"The hell is that?!"
"That'll be...," Link began amidst his gasping reply, drawing his breath in sharply as he turned his right hand to grip at the owl statue resting to his left. "What Darmani lost his life to..."
"I can believe that." Tatl retorted, a business-like frown in the tone of her soprano as she turned to view the valley ahead. Before them appeared to be a winding road marked only by what seemed to be two long and tall wooden flagpoles, the blood-red pennant blowing violently in the wildly unpredictable wind. Further ahead seemed to be a steep and tall ramp that, although appeared to be unscaleable, could perhaps be rolled up by a Goron.
That there's my ticket in Snowhead Temple, the frowning Link thought as he cast his gaze further forward.
The temple itself appeared to be situated in a similarly deep and circuitous path, ridden horribly with freezing icicles and deep-freeze.
"Quicker we're done here the better...," Tatl began in a frowning-eyed murmur, lowering her flight to hover next to the youth. "You wanna get going?"
Link, curious, could only double-take toward the guardian fairy; he looked at first toward the seemingly sparse road ahead before turning back to stare at the little pixie, as if she had just asked him to pull Atlantis up from undersea.
"Y-You don't...," he began curiously, his face scrunching up in scrutiny. "See it...?"
"See what?" She questioned irritably, swinging her light down at him and then toward the road, one after the other. "What are you seeing?"
Maybe it's this 'Eye of Truth' thing that Impa-sensei and that owl mentioned to me once before, the thoughtful Link frowned.
He turned his unsure frown ahead and, sure enough, there it was sitting atop the once-thought vacant ramp; a Goron of gigantic size indeed, one that filled almost every space of the large slope.
"So that's how it is...," the narrow-eyed Link murmured out as he stepped forward, watching the giant Goron stare back at him. "You're what's caused the huge wind-storms... but then...?"
"What are you talking abou-"
FWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...
Once again, regular as clockwork, the gargantuan behemoth opened up its mouth and let loose an extremely cold and powerful blast of wind. Grunting, Link rose up his arms again in a crossing formation; a quick reaction the young Hylian made that saved his life a second time. The gasping and interrupted Tatl however was not so lucky; she near was blown back into Weybour Village by the sheer strength of the man-made hurricane before she narrowly caught the inside of her partner's green-shaded hat.
Finally it passed again and, as it did, the angry Tatl flew back up, her bright light shining to match her rage.
"I swear to the Sainted Three I'm gonna kill whatever's doing that!" She exclaimed out angrily, her usually milk-shaded light taking on an annoyed red.
Recovering from his earlier defensive manoeuvre, Link cast his grin to his left as he chuckled in light amusement. "You should probably wait before followin' through with that one." He quipped in his knowing grin.
"And just what are you talking about this time?!" She snapped at him, turning her animosity on him with ruthless mercilessness.
Choosing instead to ignore her however, Link merely let his grin soften as he brought out the Drums of Sleep once more, knowing of what to do.
"What the-? What are you doing now?"
Tatl's words, though curious and of concern, didn't register within the shut-eyed Link's consciousness; in his newly regained frown he concentrated as he played through the melody that the Goron elder and his son had gifted him with.
He played the Goron's Lullaby.
GROAN...
The deep and echoing sound of a Goron's tired grunt managed to make it all the way down to the heroes' placement, seemingly and somehow coming from the top of the ramp ahead.
"What? What is-?"
GROAN...
Again the powerfully reverberating voice of the nameless invisible Goron before them interrupted Tatl's words; something it seemed to do quite a bit.
GROAN...
THUD-RUMBLE-RUMBLE...
At last the Goron had become visible to the common eye; Tatl's own eyes widened behind her form, sheerly flabbergast at what she saw; a groaning Goron falling to the ground, curled up like so many others of his origin, before he at last dropped to the seemingly endless abyss below them all. The sound of his form crashing to whatever ground may exist below them resounded just as powerfully as the first.
CRASH
"W-Woah...," Tatl murmured out, surely surprised and shocked by the proceedings. "H-How did you know that-?"
As the Drums of Sleep materialised away Link cast his regained grin toward the hovering guardian fairy on his top left. His words, spoken with the usual overconfidence and hubris that he led with, managed to make her roll her eyes all in spite of the grand display he granted her with.
"Told ya I was a big deal."
As the pair stepped through the deep expanse of the biting-cold of Snowhead Temple they soon found the place of a mysterious design; much like its southern cousin in Woodfall, it was very clearly not Hylian architects that made the grand building and its contents.
Regardless of any possible criticism however, it was magnificently-built indeed.
In what appeared to be the main hub of the dungeon there were five entrances (and effectively exits), Link standing within one of them; a kind of white-shaded door with a light blue stone frame. The door to his right, with a green frame, seemed to be locked from him in that a huge chunk of ice covered it.
That won't be too hard to deal with, the overconfident youth thought to himself in a light grin.
Resting dead ahead appeared to be two of these doors, one green and one golden-yellow framed. Strangely the green one also seemed to be coated in ice.
"I wonder if it's spread through the whole room."
Even as he ruminated on the pagoda's chambers he swung his oceanic-eyed gaze across to find a red-framed door, also blocked by another chunk of ice.
"Look as if this place is near frozen," Tatl spoke up as she similarly swivelled her light across the expanse in wilful search. "Thank the Goddesses you can use-"
CLICK-FRRR...
"You damn right I can...," the young Hylian grinned from his Hylian form; having clicked his fingers to again produce a stable and powerful small flame from his Aegir, he let it sit there for a second or two before re-opening his mouth. "This place is gonna be a piece of cake."
–
3
Having agreed for once to do things 'Tatl's way', Link chose to handicap himself and use a tool rather than rely on his inherent abilities. In utilising the Hero's Bow he procured from Woodfall Temple, and the torch resting just outside of the green and red-framed doors he managed to use the very flame with which the bright-white beacon held so dearly to his advantage. Although Tatl merely responded with her usual and suitably icy-shouldered eye-rolling, it rose the ever-grinning Hero of Time's morale up to its typically sky-high levels.
It was with this dynamic that the two heroes managed to come face-to-face with their first real challenge since Woodfall Temple; in stumbling into what seemed to be an important-looking chamber through the use of the deceased Darmani's Goron rolling, they walked into a deceptively simple room. What appeared to be four magical pads, charged with Aegir, rested in each corner of the small location.
They definitely have some kind of purpose, the narrow-eyed Link thought to himself as his azure-tipped eyes shot between all four, as if in search.
"Look!"
FWWWWWIP...
Just as Tatl called it, a humanoid's form seemed to arise up from the top-left tile, a bright-blue aura of Quintessence coating its form. Upon first inspection it appeared to be some kind of male figure and one that carried a rod, seemingly for what appeared to be magical techniques. He was similarly dressed in some kind of royal-looking robes; one befitting a royal sorcerer of a kingdom. Almost as immediately as he rose up to meet the narrow-eyed Link and Tatl's stares did he widen his own dull-gold eyes and begin running around in place, somehow as if in reaction.
"The hell is it doing?"
Link's half-scrunched up eye and unsure stare said it all; as he gawked over at the running mage he could only form some kind of conjecture as to what it, or he, was.
"It's a Wizzrobe!" The similarly shocked Tatl exclaimed out, her eyes likewise widened behind her intuitively yellow light. "Don't let it hit you!"
He turned his face up at her, unamused. "Easy for you to say..."
Almost as if listening to the pair however, the wizard dropped down the panel he once awakened from before swiftly re-appearing in another behind the heroes. Link, turning even in his simple frown, merely cast forward his gaze at the rising Wizzrobe behind him, the rest of his body still facing the other direction as he did. Even while his mage adversary pulled back the rod of fire he carried to strike with, the youth seemed uncaring and didn't even bother to move in evasion.
"Link! Wake up!"
Purely defying her orders the frowning young Hero of Time merely watched as the robed conjuror launch forward a large sphere of fire; an effective projectile indeed.
"LINK!"
The grin that suddenly shot up on his face was the only harbinger to the confrontation's results; as the projectile came dangerously close he rose up his right hand to meet it at eye level before narrowing his oceanic-eyed gaze with them.
CLICK
DROOM-FRRRRRRRRRR...
The Wizzrobe, laughing in response to the scene of utter destruction in his wake, could only lower his hands to rest on his stomach as if in sheer pain from the hilarity he endured. It was only when the sound of his crackling fire sphere began to make other noises however, that he stopped; with a grunting gasp he widened his deep-yellow eyes and turned his gaze forward.
Seemingly defying all the concern of which Tatl loudly proclaimed the smirking-faced Link stood unharmed and even unarmed to boot; along with the click of his fingers he gave came a brightly-red aura of pure Aegir that appeared to be engaging in a duel with the sphere of fire. Indeed, it even appeared to be consuming it.
It was only then that the Wizzrobe realised his mistake... and the natural Aegir affinity of his enemy.
"O-Oh... of course...," the watching Tatl gasped out, her eyes shutting behind her small form. "Fire..."
Just as she said it, the low-grinning Link merely ate away at the projectile made for killing him and instead turned it into a massive boost of Quintessence and power; with that power he re-opened his smirking-faced mouth, as if to voice his victory and ever overconfident sentiments.
"Thanks man!" He called over in some sarcastic bid of his dry style of humour. "I was runnin' a little low!"
Tatl, in great contrast to her earlier obvious anxiety and concern, merely rolled her eyes and groaned quietly to herself as she watched.
"Here! Have some back!"
CLICK
To match the young swordsman's claims, as he clicked his fingers one last time, the full sphere of fire shot back at the original caster, and with horrifying speed at that. The Wizzrobe himself, could only widen his eyes and managed to exclaim out a single scream before suddenly falling short, just as the sphere made contact.
DROOOOOOM-FRRRRRRRRRR...
The rustling and crackling of Link's powerful and even daunting Quintessence of fire echoed out as it struck the Wizzrobe square in the face, coating whatever remained of his body and perhaps even his soul itself.
Link, managing to finish the confrontation without even having to draw his weapons, cast his grin lowly as he rubbed both sides of his arms as if to clear them of any dirt; a gesture of arrogance, even if earned.
"All too easy..." He grinned out, the aura shield of his Aegir soon dissipating.
It was only then however that a pair of watching foes decided to reveal themselves and, as they did, Tatl double-took to the ceiling and widened her eyes.
"Above!"
Moving before the swift forms above him could even approach the recovery of his own, for once the young Hylian obeyed his wise companion's advice and leapt to his sharp-left in rolling evasion.
CLANG-CLANG-SKRRRRRRR
In a tumultuous pair of clashes the broadswords the two forms carried called out their battle cry as loudly as their owners did; a team of two Dinolfos, hungry as ever for their prey. A fact reflected by the animalistic drool hanging off their mouths as they swung around in swift search for the youth. When the first Dinolfos bound forward after tossing its broadsword ahead, as if a projectile, its steel singing through the air in relentless hunt for its target.
CLANG
Even as the twirling broadsword made savage contact with the ground on which Link once stood on, the young Hylian merely cast his overconfident grin toward the fast-advancing form of the dinosaur before him as he side-stepped to his left, hanging very quietly in the air as he did.
Before the first Dinolfos could even make the final approach however they made their first mistake in rash action; the grinning Link dropped his expression but only briefly to swing his head halfway 'round in acknowledgement of a quick-advancing presence behind him. He opened his mouth up to murmur out his only response to the crafty lizard-like entity, an excited grin on his face.
"Clever girl..."
Still seemingly unarmed he twirled around to meet the second Dinolfos in its seeming ambush attempt, before grunting as he smashed his fire-infused left palm across its face to effectively counteract its assault before it even saw the light of day. Sensing his enemy making its final arrival behind him however the young Hero of Time could only chuckle as he waited until the very last moment, before at last ducking down in a sharply-executed movement.
SLICE-SCREECH
In what appeared to be a rather amusing turn of events thanks to his simple tactic the second Dinolfos screamed in agony as the first's assault met with its body in a ruthless severing, intended instead for the grinning young youth below them.
Tatl, her eyes widened beneath the bright light she possessed, could only stare transfixed upon the impressive use of stratagem for such a seemingly unintelligent boy.
The grinning Link followed up his counter-attack by leaping up in place and spinning 'round as he unsheathed the newly-forged Razor Sword. Coating himself in his Aegir affinity's power, the red-hot fire of Din, he easily hacked through the remaining flesh that the poor dinosaur carried, the deep-blaze of his Quintessence assisting in its brutal flaying.
The first Dinolfos, attempting to attack the youth while engaged, roared primally as it swung its broadsword down, both hands gripped on the hilt in a savage downward assault. Defying all possible limitations however the former Kokiri merely snapped his free right hand up, no shield, to defend. When the Dinolfos' weapon made contact it crashed noisily against an invisible red-glaring shield of Aegir.
CRASH...
FRRRRRR...
The former Hero of Time, ever constant with the look of smugness as he swung his blonde-haired head 'round, couldn't help but smirk on as he watched his enemy's weapon become alight in the blaze of glory that he ignited. Just as he had seemingly planned it travelled down the shocked dinosaur's broadsword before, finally, connecting with the former lizard's arm and flesh. Like a virus it essentially spread and encircled the poor Dinolfos, erupting it into a sea of flames; in a pained roar it dropped the weapon it carried, all too late, before backing up step after step in a slow and painful retreat.
SCREECH-FRRRRRRR...
In a brutal ending to an exhilarating duel, the first Dinolfos at last screamed its last, turning its scaly-ridden head skyward as if in dire search for a solution not already tied to its life-ending wound. But, as with its poor comrade, it dropped to the ground in a shut-eyed grunt as its form erupted into a fit of brightly-blue fire before finally disappearing completely. Its only reminder was a single stray fairy, like its brother's, that escaped from its body as it died.
As the fairies flew up to circle the grinning Link he cast it around to eventually exchange glances with the wide-eyed Tatl and raised one of his thin blonde eyebrows.
"Gettin' tired yet?"
Author's Note: Normally I don't leave these sorts of things anymore but given 's odd issue with replying to reviews via Private Messaging was on the fritz I figured I may as well reply via this.
Thanks so much for your review; your words are very kind. Although this has just always been a simple hobby of mine I've always loved getting positive feedback like this. The honour is mine; I hope you enjoy the rest of my work, such as it is.