Chapter 7: Rudania's Heat

Aaaaaaaand they were off again. After that knight disappeared for… well, a whole day, the stable hands had packed up the horses ("Leave them at the stable by the base!" They warned. "The heat is too strong for horses."), the chefs had packed up food ("Have a good trip, Princess." They smiled.), and they were off.

The ride was just as silent as usual, with Zelda only speaking to muse upon her thoughts. The Hylian Champion, of course, said nothing. Zelda felt uncomfortable with his eyes upon her back.

They camped out once, the ride only being a couple days long, and rode the rest of the way to the stable, where they had dropped off the horses and rested.

In the morning, they were met by a troupe of Gorons.

"Good morning, Princess." The head of the troupe said with an almost-bow.

"Good morning, Daruk." Zelda said with a smile. "I heard you've been having trouble with your Divine Beast."

Daruk shrugged. "Moving it is tricky." Daruk turned to another, which, to Zelda's surprise, was Sir Link. "How've you been, Little Guy?"

"Fine." Link grunted. Zelda noticed the knight instantly move his right arm behind his back. She quickly shook it off. It's probably nothing.

Daruk's smile seemed to fall slightly. "Well, we'll have to catch up later. We have to get up the mountain, first. Here, you hylians need these elixirs." Daruk pulled two gigantic canteens out of his bag, which Zelda had only just noticed.

"Thank you, Daruk." Zelda nodded before taking in a mouthful. The liquid was icy as it went down her throat.

After that, she glanced at the knight, who was already recapping the elixir. Some of the blue liquid dribbled off his chin, and Zelda resisted the urge to laugh.

"Alright!" Daruk exclaimed cheerfully. "Let's be off, no-" He paused when he saw Sir Link's face. "Little Guy, you've got a little something…" The goron pointed on his own mouth, and Sir Link's eyes temporarily grew wide before he quickly wiped it off. "That's better. Off we go!"

The hike up the mountain was exhausting. Every few minutes Zelda had to take another gulp of the elixir. She glanced at Sir Link, who appeared to be completely fine. But of course. He's absolutely perfect, unlike little old me.

Then they finally made it to Goron City. The view was… gold. With fire. And lava. And gorons, of course. Lots of golden colors.

They were led to the goron patriarch's house, which was pretty much a slightly fancier cave than the others. Zelda didn't mind, though.

"Welcome, Princess!" Goron Patriarch Daruno greeted enthusiastically. "I expect that you won't want to talk about that boring trade nonsense…" He trailed off with a grimace.

Zelda laughed. "Of course not. We shall be examining Divine Beast Rudania. It seems that Daruk has been having some… difficulty." Zelda glanced at the kind-hearted goron champion, who was scratching the back of his neck.

"Unfortunately." Daruk mumbled. But then his mien brightened. "But with your help, I ought to get the hang of it faster than a hungry goron to the mines!"

Zelda nodded. "Of course, Daruk. I'll do what I can."

"Then you ought to get going!" Daruno said, shooing them out. "I can't have a bunch of lazy octorocks in my home!"

Then they were off to the Divine Beast, which was lying still near the city.

Despite the short distance, the terrain was rocky and steep. Despite that, Zelda was still surprised to see Sir Link just as blank as usual. In fact, she had forgotten he was there. Maybe she could actually deal with the arrogant knight. All she had to do was ignore him.

"Here we are!" Daruk threw open his arms, accidentally smacking Sir Link in the face. Zelda laughed slightly as Daruk turned, oblivious. "Welcome to Rudania!" Then he looked at Sir Link, who was holding his face. That will leave a mark on more than his face. Zelda thought spitefully.

"Oops." Daruk scratched the back of his head, as Zelda realized was common for Daruk. "Sorry about that, Little Guy."

To Zelda's great surprise, the Hylian Champion replied. "It's fine." He removed the hand from his face and waved a hand dismissively.

Zelda was beginning to regret her sly comment, despite it being in thoughts. A purple bruise had already begun to form, and even though Sir Link was so blank, she thought she saw a bit of pain in his eyes.

Well? Zelda demanded. Aren't you the mighty Hylian Champion, slayer of beasts? And yet, here you are, acting as if nothing happened, despite being backhanded in the face!

...Why?

"Well, Little Guy..." Daruk let his hand fall to his side. "I think that you forgive a bit too easily."

Sir Link shook his head, back to silence. Of course. Zelda huffed inwardly. What is up with you and shutting your mouth? There are some people that won't leave it closed!

Daruk led them onto the Divine Beast (this time keeping his arms quite stiff). "So Princess," He turned to face Zelda, looking a bit hesitant. "How do you think I can get better control of this?"

Zelda thought for a moment. "Perhaps it needs some adjustments. Would you mind if I… well, adjusted it?"

Daruk nodded with a wide goron grin. "Of course not, Princess!"

The princess had disappeared into the inside of the Divine Beast. Link allowed himself to close his eyes and relax his stiff shoulders. He sighed.

"Something up, Little Guy?" Daruk asked, causing Link to open his eyes and turn back to the goron.

"No." Link replied. "So, about your trouble with the Divine Beast…"

Daruk scratched his head. "The thing won't listen to me. When I tell it to move, it won't. When I tell it to stop, it doesn't." He gestured the giant beneath them. "The fact that it's holding still right now is a mystery to me."

Link let himself smile slightly. That makes me think of a… "Daruk, have you explored the Divine Beast much?"

Daruk shook his head. "Nope. Too busy trying to get it to listen to me."

"Then go."

"What?" Daruk asked.

"Go on." Link gestured to the innards of the Divine Beast. "Explore it."

"Uh, Little Guy, as much as I respect you, I can't see how exploring Rudania here would help with controlling it."

Link shrugged. "Do it, and you'll see."

Daruk scratched his head. Really, Daruk. Link resisted the urge to roll his eyes. At this rate, you'll end up losing your head.

"That is illogical." Fi said emotionlessly within his mind. "One can not lose their head because of something as trivial as an excess of scratching it."

Oh, do shush, Fi. Link thought, once again resisting an eye roll. It's a figure of speech.

"Okay, fine." Daruk said slowly. "But you're coming with me, Little Guy!" The goron grabbed his left forearm- Thank Hylia it wasn't the other one, Link thought as he felt a twinge of pain in the other- and dragged him into the Divine Beast.

"This is a cool- uh- doohickey!" Daruk said, pointing at a shiny orb. I think it has electricity inside of it. Link thought. Interesting.

No, don't think about stuff like that. The other part of Link's mind butted in. You're nothing but a soldier, right? Nothing! You aren't supposed to wonder about things like that!

Link suppressed a shiver. No, he wasn't supposed to think. He was only a little mutt that did what those better than him asked. In fact, what did he think he was doing, ordering Daruk around?

Well, another side of his mind reasoned. He asked for help, and you knew how to help him. You didn't force him to do anything.

"Uh, Little Guy," Link shook of his inner battle and looked at Daruk. "The princess is in there, right now, but I've already been there, and we've been to every other part of the Divine Beast."

Link nodded. "Alright. Then let's head back up to the deck. You're going to control this Divine Beast."

Daruk dragged him by the arm again. At this rate, Link was going to have two injured arms, not one. It wasn't long before they made it back up to the deck.

"So…" Daruk said slowly. "Now what?"

"Go for it." Link said with a shrug.

"Go for it." A strong, unfamiliar voice said. Zelda ducked down where she could see.

Daruk was standing beside Sir Link, who was as blank as ever. Zelda didn't really want to look at the knight right now. She had failed to find anything that needed adjustments, so she was quite bitter, especially towards the knight who seemed to do everything right.

Except destroying the guardian. She was still a bit upset about that. But everyone argued that it was the "only way."

However, she would be lying if she said she wasn't curious about what they were doing. "If you say so, Little Guy."

Daruk seemed to be concentrating.

Then there was a rumble. Zelda felt the Divine Beast shaking beneath her feet.

And then it was moving. Moving across the mountainous terrain as if it were flat plains, wading through lava like a swan through water.

Did I actually do something to help? Zelda felt her spirits brighten. Then she realized… I didn't make any adjustments, except for one that helps with defense mechanisms. How could that have helped with control?

The Divine Beast slowed to a stop at its previous position after making a small loop.

Daruk stretched his arms. "Woo! That was good!"

Zelda came out of her hiding spot. "Daruk, you did it!" She said with a smile. "How did you manage to get it to work?"

Daruk glanced at Sir Link. "Ah, well, maybe I just needed a moment." Daruk finally replied after turning back to Zelda. "Patience may be difficult, but it sure does help! Maybe one of your adjustments, Princess?"

Zelda shook her head. "I found only one thing that could use adjustments, and that was for some of the defense mechanisms."

Daruk glanced at Sir Link again before returning to face the princess. "Well, then we may never know! Isn't that right, Little Guy?" Daruk clapped Sir Link on the back, but it wasn't exactly… soft. The knight was thrown forward before he quickly straightened, pulling his arms behind his back, before quickly releasing them and letting them rest at his sides.

Well, Zelda thought. I suppose bad karma is real. Though she couldn't help the twinge of pity she felt. To be backhanded and patted on the back not so softly must hurt.

Come on, Zellie! Just look a little deeper!

This was a hard chapter to write. I do like Daruk, but I also want to speed ahead and get to the part where Zelda and Link start to be buddies. It's really hard knowing stuff but not being able to write about it yet. So tell me what you want added here, because I know something's missing! IT'S TOO SHORT! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!

I'm trying not to look like I'm siding with Link, but I think it still looks like I am. So I'm going to try and explain Zelda's POV to people. Think of it like this: You've been trying all year to... uh... memorize all of your multiplication facts. Or something else. Just imagine that you've been trying really, really hard to do this thing, for a really long time, but you just... can't. And then someone comes along and is doing it perfectly. Everyone praises them because of their automatic talent, intelligence, and skill, but you are simply ignored, or worse, mocked, because you just aren't good enough.

I know that a lot of people would hate Link too if they were in Zellie's position.

Repli-ies, Repli-ies, REPLI-I-IES! A terrible way to die! A terrible way to die! A terrible way to be talked to death, a terrible way to die. Repli-ies, repli-ies, REPLI-I-IES! (Yes, I know that no one gets that song. But maybe its on the internet? It's originally "Announcements." I think that it's also a Boy Scouts song? Maybe?)

thedarkesthorcrux: Yeah, I've been trying to get a chapter in every day! But I think I might have to start slowing down, soon. Oh, well. I have been trying to reply to every review, and am proud to say I have done so so far! I'm glad you like it!

SmokeyMirrors: Seventeen sounds like a good age. Let's go with that. And about the replies, no problem! I have personally reviewed on lots of stuff, and when people reply to them it gives me the warm fuzzies inside. I want to make other people feel like that, too! Like I have said before (maybe to another review, or on an author's note), the whole reason I'm writing this is to make people happy! Or at least, I'm trying to. I thought it would be kind of funny to put in that Link was going to end up getting himself killed, because, well, he does. That's morbid humor, for ya. I think I might do a chapter at the end about my ideas and my thoughts about Link's background and all that fun stuff. It has changed a lot, but I think I finally have something. Still not positive about how he got the Master Sword, though. Feel free to give me ideas! I think this chapter gave a short answer about the guardian. She's still feeling a bit... salty, so to say, but she's not going to bring it up. Maybe. I'm glad you like that Fi is in the story! I've only had small tidbits of her in it so far, because only Link can hear her and all that (hence that one conversation with Liari). I already talked about the sword, um... what else? Oh! I'm glad you love it! I've actually updated this every day since this has come out, but I don't think I can keep that up forever because I have a life... kind of. So thank you for your many replies! 😀