HUGE THANKS to ultima-owner and Nerdwen for reviewing!
Disclaimer: Don't own, 'nuff said.
Edit 10-29-14: Minor stuff, like splitting up big paragraphs, grammar, improved word choice(ish)... mostly, trying to make it sound marginally less stupid. Gah, my writing used to be so terrible...
The next day, we'd all gone out for a run with Epona and Link, just riding around Hyrule Field. This was beneficial in several ways. For one, it helped Epona get some proper exercise. Secondly, Link got to train with his sword on horseback, fighting the monsters that infested the field. Third, it was a good way for my brothers and I to practice keeping up with the larger horse.
But when we were over on the ridge to the northeastern end of the field that overlooked the surrounding area, we saw a giant green pig-like creature ride towards the gates of Kakariko atop a giant blue armored boar. It was then followed by a posse of smaller monsters that rode atop smaller brown ones, which weren't armored.
When the leader of the group reached the gate, he stopped and dismounted the giant pig and hunched over, unlocking the gate with a key hidden in its armor. Then it rode through, and locked the gate again when the entire group had entered.
Then the wind shifted so that we were downwind from the monsters, and I recoiled at the putrid stink of dead meat and... sand, of all things. What in the world...?
"They're going towards the village! Come on! The kids are there!" Link yelped, tugging on the chestnut mare's reins and galloping at full tilt towards the gate. Us three, however, opted for the more direct approach: we simply leapt over the wooden gate that blocked the chasm below and flew, cutting across and saving a few seconds of time. Link, however, still managed to leap Epona across the gate before we got there, leaving us to follow, quite literally, in his dust.
As we thundered into the village, I saw where heavy hooves had churned up the earth, giving the impression that a stampede had gone through. Though if you took a look at all those giant boars galloping together in a group, it was a bit like a miniature stampede.
Turning the corner, the five of us pelted into the village just in time to see the green pig-monster raise up an unconscious Colin, by the back of his shirt. Link, upon seeing this, growled wolfishly and spurred Epona on even faster, pursuing the monsters as they ran off to the northern end of the Eldin Province.
Colin was now attached to a long pole with a tattered red banned flowing behind it. Then the creature turned and faced Link, who had reined in Epona. The monster then unhooked a large white and red striped horn from its belt and blew it, summoning more of the smaller green monsters on brown boars.
Now that they had stopped I could get a better look at them, and recognized the boars as bulbos, giant pigs from the desert. They were highly aggressive and only tamed by bulblins, the green monsters riding them. Both species were from the desert, which led to my wondering what they were doing this far west. After all, the Gerudo Desert was on the far eastern border of Hyrule.
As the herd of bulbos crested the hill, their riders began firing flaming arrows at us, jolting Link into action.
"Yah!" Link cried, snapping the reins. Epona reared up and tossed her head, whinnying loudly. Then she lunged forward with a burst of speed, pursuing the large blue pig and its ugly rider.
The pair were almost instantly surrounded by the smaller brown bulbos with their bulblin riders, and Link had to duck down close to Epona's mane to avoid the flaming arrows that arched over his head. One brushed the top of his hat and it caught fire, leaving a black mark when it was frantically patted out with one gloved hand.
Dark was the first to react, leaping at the nearest bulbo and tore a gash in its flank. The creature screeched in pain and stumbled, landing heavily on its side. The two riders were thrown out, and easily dispatched by Vaati and I.
So while Link went after King Bulblin, the three of us managed to dispatch most of the monster's posse of bulblins and bulbos.
As Link pursued the injured leader across Eldin Bridge, a pair of archers shot flaming arrows at hastily erected barriers on either end, setting them alight. Those archers were then knocked off their perches on the archways and sent tumbling into the deep gorge below by a gust of wind.
The hero was now facing off against the larger monster, and as they galloped towards each other Epona swerved to the side at the last minute and Link opened a long gash in King Bulblin's side.
This was repeated two more times before the fat pig-monster was knocked from his mount, Lord Bulbo continuing on to smash right through the barrier, flames and all.
Ouch, I thought. Those are going to leave some nasty burns.
Colin, who had fallen to the ground, was luckily unhurt besides a few cuts and bruises. Epona reared up and neighed in victory, pawing the air with her hooves. Silhouetted against the curtain of twilight that still enveloped the Lanayru Region, the two were an epic and awe-inspiring sight.
About an hour later we were all safely back at the village, where our wounds were healed by the spirit spring. Or rather, Link's were. Colin was resting, while my brothers and I had settled into the cave next to the spring to quite literally lick our wounds.
Epona, who was free to roam around, nibbled at the dry brush that grew at the edges of the spring. Between nibbles she would tell us stories about Link when he was growing up, which were often embarrassing and hilariously funny. And for a horse, she was a surprisingly good conversationalist.
"Y'know, I'm honestly not surprised that Link's turned out like this. Adventuring across the land, fighting monsters, rescuing people... it just fits his character, I guess. I always knew that he'd never be content with just staying in the village for his entire life. He needs the freedom of travel," she told us once. Then she changed the subject to "The Catfish Incident," as the village called it.
Link, meanwhile, was stocking up on supplies for the trek up to where the Gorons lived, near the mountain's peak. He was shopping at Malo Mart, which was run by this kid from Ordon that didn't look much older than a toddler.
However, he acted much older, and had somehow managed to even get supplies from somewhere to use as his wares. What's more, some of his stuff was actually pretty good. Link had even purchased a sturdy metal Hylian Shield that wouldn't catch fire like his previous one had. This, of course, was vital for our upcoming trip to an active volcano.
So after a few days of rest and preparations, we walked to the base of the volcano and began the long hike upwards.
Death Mountain, the home of the Gorons, active volcano, and currently riddled with randomly erupting geysers. Yay.
The first thing that greeted us upon scaling the ledge that led to the trail was an angry goron who spouted something about humans not being allowed before curling up into a ball and rolling at us. Link, however, was prepared for this after his slightly humiliating defeat previously. This time, he equipped the iron boots and stood his ground, grabbing the goron in what looked like a goat-wrangling technique and throwing it off to the side.
"Wow," I said. "I didn't realize he's that strong."
"Yeah, I didn't either. Maybe all that time goat-herding paid off," Vaati replied, wide-eyed. Dark snorted with amusement, flicking his tail in my nose as we trotted behind the only hylian in the group that was in hylian form.
Several rolling gorons later, we had reached the area where the howling stone was. Only problem with getting through, however, was not only the randomly erupting boiling hot geysers, but the bulblin archers with flaming arrows. Honestly, did their arrows really have to be on fire every time?
Flaming arrows aside, Link was pinned. We were surround by a semicircle of the archers, who were hidden in crevices or on top of ridges. Link's slingshot didn't have the range or the accuracy, and the gale boomerang just wasn't strong enough. If we tried to run for it we'd all get skewered faster than you can say "bulbo chow."
Casting his eyes around, Vaati examined the landscape for anything that could help us. Then he made a sound of excitement and rushed forwards, gingerly plucking a strip of hawk grass growing at the base of a small ledge. Then he turned back to Link and dropped it at his feet, mewing excitedly.
"Hey, great idea! Thanks, Vaati," he replied. Blowed a simple tune, Link raised a gauntleted arm to receive the incoming bird of prey. Whispering a few words to the intelligent bird, Link then raised his arm and pointed it towards the nearest bulblin.
Now that the monsters were taken care of, our only obstacles were the rolling gorons that repeatedly tried to squish us flat into the ground. They were fairly easy to either dodge or grab and throw.
As of yet, my brothers and I had yet to use our powers. I was tempted, though. It would have been so much easier to just fly to the top instead of walking the entire way. But that would have been like tipping our hand before the most strategic time, something which could be very bad for us. The fewer people that knew about our abilities, the better.
"What the heck-? What in the name of Farore is there a hot spring where the gorons are, goddesses forbid, actually nice to us doing on the side of Death Mountain?" Vaati asked incredulously. Due to his dislike of the water, he was crouched on top of one of the rock ledges that stuck out there. I was paddling around, rinsing the dust from my fur. It was actually quite relaxing.
After our short break there, about another half hour of climbing, using gorons as springboards (one of the weirdest things I'd ever done- but the strangest part was, they curled up with one hit from a sword or shield. Why do that when they could have crushed us with one blow?) we finally made it to the top.
Of course, the moment we stepped in, we were immediately assaulted by no less than four rolling gorons that surrounded us, with our only escape being the door we had come from. But before we all became little more than squashed goop, the goron elder appeared and essentially told them to stand down.
One wrestling match later, with the help of iron boots of course, Link had one us passage to the Goron Mines, where we had to go rescue another one of their elders. Of course. Why was it that we always had to rescue someone or something, anyway? But Midna said that the power that possessed Darbus must have been another one of those artifacts she wanted, so we really didn't have much choice. Besides, I was going to be seriously ticked off if we'd spent the past few hours hiking up a veritable death trap only to turn back out of cowardice.
"Hot, hot, hot!" Dark yelped as he stepped paw onto to metal grating, leaping around and finally settling somewhere near the roof of the cavern. Then he yelped as fire slugs dropped down on him, passing right through his ghostly body but giving him a nasty scare all the same.
"Well, now we know what not to do," I commented dryly before hovering off the ground. Dark just glared, and Vaati rose up on a swirling tornado. Link then glanced at us and sighed enviously at our powers of flight, since they allowed us to move directly from one area to the next without any chance of falling into the boiling lava below.
We did, however, have to watch out for torch slugs. Now that was annoying. I mean, really, what was the evolutionary purpose of flaming slugs that dropped from the ceiling on people? None whatsoever!
And don't even get me started on the fire keese. Those things are just... ugh!
"Hey, do you think Link even knows how to shoot a bow? It doesn't look like he's even held one before..." Vaati asked me. Link was awkwardly trying the get the proper stance with his new weapon, without much success.
"Nah, I don't think so. I can tell his stance is way off, and I've only ever seen the horribly incompetent soldiers practicing!" I replied. Then, suddenly, Link stiffened for a second, and instantly looked as if he'd been handling a bow all his life. His aim was nearly perfect every time, and his stance looked like that of a professional archer.
"What the heck-? How do I know this?" he muttered, half to himself. The rest of us just gazed on in confusion. How did he know all that anyway? And why did the way he use that bow look so... familiar?
An image flashed across my eyes. A younger boy, in a simpler version of Link's tunic, but it was purple, holding a bow with a different make and design with using it with the same style. He was flanking a green-clothed boy who looked like another child version of Link, who had a yellow boomerang. Another Link clone in a blue tunic wielded a hammer to the green boy's right, and behind them stood yet another Link clone with a red tunic. This one held a rod with a red orb on the tip.
Vio. Green. Blue. Red. Vio's a dead shot with his bow, Green's amazing with the boomerang, Blue is actually pretty good with his hammer, and Red is surprisingly competent with the Fire Rod. It also doubles as an Ice Rod, I thought suddenly. Then I blinked in confusion. How in the name of the Goddesses did I know this stuff?
"... Hey! Hey! Hyrule to Vaati and Shadow!" Dark barked, getting right up in our faces. I yelped and jerked back, snapping out of my trance-like state.
"Whoah... I just had the weirdest image..." I muttered, shaking my head to dispel it. Vaati suddenly looked shocked, then asked, "Wait! Did you see four kids that looked like younger Link clones too?"
I stared at my brother in shock. How the fudge did he know? "Y-yeah, I did. How did you-?"
"Because I saw the same thing. Vio had a bow, Green had a boomerang, Blue had a hammer, and Red had a Fire and Ice Rod. How did I know that?"
Meanwhile, Link, who hadn't understood our animal language was moving towards the outside door he'd opened. "Come on, guys. It's still daylight out there. Let's go!"
Lava. A sea of lava. So much lava, everywhere, everywhere...
I felt angry, so angry. Vio, that traitor! He'd been about to break the Mirror! How dare he! And now his little friends were coming to save the day. Well, when one of the Four Swords was lost, then there'd be nothing to stand in his way!
Another flashback. I'd been having more and more of those as we progressed through the mines, much to the confusion of Link and my brothers. Most of them revolved around the group of four, but this was the second time the Four Sword had been mentioned. What heck was that, anyway?
"Ready?" Link asked. We nodded resolutely, pushing all doubts to the backs of our minds. Fairies had been acquired from various pots in case we got seriously injured, but we weren't too worried. After all, what could one old goron elder really do?
Boy, would we come to regret that particular thought in the next five minutes.
