Groose stood before the pedestal. Two large, intricately-detailed dragon statues loomed, intertwined above him. Wiping the sweat from his forehead, he stepped up the stairs to the surface of the pedestal. Lodged in the middle of the small rock formation was a thin staff. It was fairly long and appeared to be carved from a sturdy piece of wood. At the head of the spear was a larger piece, a pale bone, sharp to the point. It fascinated Groose. This is what he had come here for, a neat item to take with him. Groose was on an adventure, he was all about those cool items and shit, ya' know?
Grabbing it by the handle, Groose gave it a forceful tug. Fi, Cheeb, Link, and Ghirahim all stood at the base of the pedestal, watching him from afar. Wiggling it side to side, Groose managed to loosen up the hole just enough to wedge the staff out. He held it aloft, turning around to show the party behind him.
He was met with pale faces, void of any excitement. They were seemingly staring through him, or at least at something behind him. "Link… Ghirahim… Cheeb? You guys okay?"
"Master. Duck." Groose spun around to see two enormous dragons sailing down towards him at an alarming rate. He fell flat on his ass, scuttling back and off of the pedestal. He crashed down the steps, landing at the foot of the stairs. Rolling to the safety of his numbers, Groose watched as the two dragons circled the large stone dragon statues. As soon as it had seemed they appeared, the two dragons burst into a cloud of mist.
"...Is that it? What was that, a fireworks show?" Link said as he brushed himself off.
The statues began to creak and turn. First slowly, but gaining momentum, the statues began to slowly sink into the ground as they spun, activating machinery that was thousands of years old. The wheels spun, and as the double dragons fell beneath the floor, a third platform began to rise from beneath the pedestal. As it rose higher and higher, Groose made out the appearance of a large green gemstone, the size of a person. It was sealed away in a thin casing of dirt, cracked at some points, but intact nonetheless. Seemingly having weathered many untouched millennia underground, the gem's sudden rising caused the dirt to slowly fall away. As most of it cleared away, the green stone began to glow a bright, intense light.
There was a loud crack, and then another. Like an egg, the glowing emerald stone began to chip away, splitting at the seams and leaving a pattern of fractures on its surface. All at once, it fell away, revealing the source of the emerald light that would soon burn down. As the brightness faded, Groose and his gang watched as a heavily armored figure stepped out of his capsule.
His various crimson metal plates were spiked, stylized to resemble fire, adding an aura of both flair and flare to the man. His fists, clenched tight as he slowly walked down the stairs, lay claim to five fingers apiece, each one coming to a sharp point inside his armored gloves. His metal boots clanged against the stone steps as he approached Groose specifically. His eyes were obscured by a large headpiece, taking the resemblance of a metallic dragon's skull. The dragon skull's eyes shined with the same emerald hue of the stone the dragon warrior was encased in mere moments ago. The chain around his neck met at a small red stone, which rattled as he stepped down to the floor.
His youthful face was complemented by a large tail of hair. It was a bright orange and red fade, really helping to nail home that this guy's motif was likely fire. It was probably fire. The dragon, the fire, the cave temple, it was pretty obvious.
He stopped a few feet in front of Groose as the rest of the heroes slowly backed off, leaving Groose alone at the man's feet. The warrior snarled.
"You have something that belongs to me."
Groose threw up his hands in protest.
"You dare to believe that you could simply walk into my place of slumber and steal the Dragonbone Pike?"
Groose looked up, confused. This was a common expression to cross his face.
The warrior sighed. He stepped across the floor to behind Groose, grabbing at something with his hand. Pacing back to face Groose from the front, Groose recognized it as the staff he had just picked up a few minutes earlier.
He excitedly leapt to his feet. "Hey, you found my dungeon item!" he cried, grabbing at the staff. The dragon warrior pulled it from within his reach.
"Your? This is far from yours, you insolent peasant. The Dragonbone Pike is a relic of a bygone era, handed down to me from my father, general of the Eldin Dragon Elite force, the fiercest fighters in Hylia's War. This weapon represents the burning fire within their hearts that truly shone through the heat of battle, and you believe you can simply waltz in here like the gutted swine you'll soon be to take it from me, Volga, the Dragon Knight, terrifier of lands, heir to the battlefield, champion of all wars?"
Groose got in close, standing face to face with the Dragon Knight. "You listen here, you little shit, let me tell you how this works. I walk into the dungeon. I find an item. I take the item. I leave the dungeon. A simple, clean cut, efficient method. Don't mess it up, pal." On that final word, he threw out his hand to shove Volga over. However, as his palm met the Dragon Knight's chest, Groose saw that Volga hadn't even flinched, much less moved. He could feel the warrior's hot breath on his face. His stone cold expression never faltered.
Volga grabbed Groose by the wrist and pulled, hard. Groose was sent flying into the air, screaming. With a loud growl, Volga shook out his arm. As Groose reached the top of his arc, Volga began to smirk. This was his favorite part. Link, Fi, Cheeb, and Ghirahim watched in terror as Volga's arm transformed, bubbling over and covering itself with bright red scales. It grew in size, until it fully resembled the claw of a dragon. As Groose fell, Volga held out his hand, prepared to catch Groose and squeeze the life out of him for daring to lay claim to his property.
Groose, however, was on top of the situation. Holding out Coarstle's Glove, he summoned Link's shield to himself through magnetic force. The shield flew through the air and landed in Groose's hand. Throwing it beneath his feet and tucking his arms and legs inside of it, the shield slammed down on Volga's claw. He was pinned to the ground. Groose briskly jumped off the shield before peeling it off of Volga's arm, which had returned to its normal state.
"So this means I can keep it, right?" Groose taunted, grabbing the staff out of Volga's fallen hands. The Dragon Knight didn't move.
Groose reformed with his group. "You… you guys think he'll be alright?" Link asked.
"I believe it would be wise to leave this place, Master."
Groose glanced back at Volga, who lay motionless on the floor. He hurriedly walked past his friends. Taking the cue, Link followed suit, with Cheeb, Fi, and Ghirahim trailing close behind.
"We should help him." Ghirahim said, turning back to look at Volga. He felt a tinge of sympathy in his heart. "I mean, after all, it is Christmas."
Groose scoffed. "What do you mean, it's Christmas? Last I checked the calendar, it was like, August."
Link turned to Fi, who was already processing his unspoken request. "Master, it is presently Christmas Day."
Groose's jaw dropped. "What!?" he screamed, spinning to face Fi. "How is it Christmas!? How long have we been down here!?"
"Master, I believe this is a fault of the author's inability to keep a well-prepared schedule, despite having this chapter nearly completed for over three months." Fi replied.
The sound of metal scraping on stone echoed across the room. Not a single member of Groose's party dared to turn around and investigate its source.
"I'll give you a Christmas present, alright." Groose's face turned white. He slowly swiveled around to face Volga, who had staggered to his feet.
"D-Don't you think the staff is enough?" Groose stammered, eyeing his new toy.
"Groose, mighty warrior of the sky, my gift to you is a challenge most proud men of my era merely dreamt of receiving."
"Is it a Wendy's gift card?" Groose interrupted. Volga ignored him, continuing.
"I grant you the opportunity to duel me. You and I shall fight for glory."
Groose scratched at his chin. "I mean… I have the eight pieces of the Triforce of Wisdom. In theory, I have absolutely no reason to fight you. That being said…" Volga listened as Groose's voice trailed off. "...I really like this dragon staff thing. If I win, can I keep it?"
"I have no desire for search an earthly possession, but the honor that staff brings with it is a presence that I hold dear to me. That is a great burden to put on the line, yet I accept these terms."
"Alright, cool!" Groose said. "All I have to do is go beat up Demise, save Zelda, and then I can get back to you on that fight. You want to shoot for… is Thursday good?"
Volga burst into a fit of fiery laughter. "Groose… I don't like to wait. I've been waiting for thousands of years for an opponent worthy of my time. I'm not waiting any longer."
On those final words, Groose felt a rush of air begin to spin around him. He saw Volga lick his lips from across the room. Before Link or any of the others could get to Groose, a large cracking noise erupted from below. A bright red light burst from the ground. Groose fell to his back as a plume of lava shot up and consumed Volga. It ruptured the stone ceiling, tearing it apart and raising Volga to the ground above.
Groose felt the ground below him as it was lifted into the air. "The fire rises!" he cried. Lava shot up, tearing apart the stone above him, lifting him skyward.