Chapter 7: Test of Strength
"Gather around, my fellow brethren! Watch as this insolent Hylian child faces one of the Goron tribe's children in unarmed combat! We will show this disrespectful Hylian boy the true strength of the Goron race!" Goron people gathered around, almost instinctively forming a ring around the two fighters. Ralph felt his adrenaline kicking in. He didn't know if he was feeling fear or anger or both. His heart rate became more aggressive, as did the drum beat in the distance. The Goron child was roughly his height, but his fists where like two sledgehammers. Ralph was sweating bullets, he was pretty talented for someone who taught himself how to use nunchuks, but a hand to hand fight was not is forte, especially not against a Goron. "Are both fighters ready?!" Darunia bellowed. The Goron child nodded, Ralph gulped and took a deep breath before doing the same. "Fight!"
The Goron put his mallet like fists in front of his face as he waddled towards Ralph with intent to destroy. The Goron threw two swings but the lanky blonde proved too fast. Without even thinking, Ralph retaliated with his own barrage of disorganized punches. The Goron staggered back. "Holy crap… I hit him" but before Ralph could finish processing his thought, the Goron child rushed at him throwing devastating haymakers. With his long legs, Ralph was able to back pedal with ease, avoiding the string of deadly punches. The Goron stopped throwing straight punches and cocked his tree trunk of an arm all the way back. He planted his front foot and pushed of his back one, launching a punch that would've knocked Ralph's head clean off. The human saw it coming a mile away, crouching as low as he possibly could in order to let the death blow pass over him. Before the Goron could defend, Ralph launched up from under his opponent, delivering the most powerful uppercut humanly possible.
There was silence among the crowd. Nothing could be heard but the continuous playing of drums, and a thud like no other. The Goron boy fell flat on his back as Ralph stood over him, making sure he had done enough damage. "Impressive." A low toned voice complimented from a distance, breaking the crowd's silence. "But I'm still not won over. If you really want to impress me, fight a fully grown Goron." Adrenaline shot back into Ralph's system, mixed with rage, and a desire for vengeance. "How about you fight me old man!" Ralph screamed in all his fury. The entire crowd of Gorons gasped in shock. No one had challenged their leader Darunia, ever. Darunia looked up at the boy, fully opening his half squinted eyes. He slammed his two fists together, letting out a deafening crack of knuckles. "You insolent child! I will show you a true warrior!" Darunia cried at the top of his lungs. "Give him a weapon!" Go'Aruchi hesitantly handed Ralph his nunchuks. Ralph took them without a second thought, and turned to face his new opponent. "Begin!"
Darunia didn't even bother to raise his hands. He walked towards the human boy with the confidence of a war god. Ralph knew he was in for the fight of his life, he quickly side-stepped the Goron chief and delivered quick blows to the chief's stony kneecap. Darunia grunted. "That actually hurt a little." He chuckled to himself. Darunia responded with a heavy right hook directly at Ralph, intention to kill. Ralph ducked it, but not before the master boxer could follow up with a vicious left. Ralph could do nothing but swing his nunchuks at Darunia's boulder-like fist, hoping it would do something. "Ungrrr-!" Ralph heard the Goron Chief let out a cry of agony as the nunchuck slammed into his hand.. "Well human, you've managed to break three of my knuckles. Now… you meet your fate." Ralph didn't understand. "A truckload of force was put behind that, punch how did…" Before he could finish thinking, Darunia had curled up into a boulder, and propelled himself in Ralph's direction. The long-limbed boy jumped out of the way just in time to not be obliterated by the Goron Chief's rolling attack. "The gift of the fairy!" Ralph's mind clicked as he suddenly understood how he had a chance at winning the battle. Darunia charged at Ralph with his fist once more. The blonde combatant waited for the punch to be in range, before deflecting the near two ton punch with a single swipe of his weapon. Darunia's punch was redirected by the technique, and Ralph saw an opening. He rushed toward the chief, leaping high into the air, nunchuks trailing behind him looking to land a finishing blow. Ralph shifted all his weight in front of him whilst midair, hoping to deal a death strike, when suddenly. "KLUH-!" Ralph gasped as he collapsed to the ground, vomiting blood. His vision began fading to black but he knew exactly what had happened. The Goron Chief had managed to catch him out of the air with a perfectly timed body shot. The sound of drums dissipated as Ralph fell from consciousness.
A dim, orange glow welcomed Ralph back to consciousness. "You're awake huh?" A low gritty voice sounded. "Here, drink this. Internal bleeding ain't no match for a well brewed potion." Ralph obeyed, his eyes not fully adjusted to the light. He held out his hand, and blindly drank the elixir that was given to him. When his eyes had finally adapted, his face twisted into a look of horror. "You… But why? Why didn't you kill me?" Ralph snapped at the tall Goron chief, who was standing at the foot of the bed. "I spared your life because even though you aren't a trained warrior, you showed great courage by taking me on." Ralph hesitated to respond. It wasn't really courage as much as it was insolent fury. "Does that mean you'll listen to what it is I've come all this way to tell you?" Darunia's temporary smile went back to a face of all seriousness. "Speak now human, I'm listening." Ralph got out of the bed and stood in front of Darunia, looking him in his dark eyes. "I was a visitor at Kakariko village, the small Hylian town located at the foot of your mountain. While I was there, I learned of the Goron/Hylian cicvil war and why no one was allowed to cross the gate leading to Death Mountain trail. The day I departed Kakariko to come speak to the Goron people, was the day a murderer killed the gate keeper, and set out on a mission to start a war between the two peoples. He died on the way up the mountain, and I continued on my journey to inform you that Hyrule truly does not want to go to war with its Goron citizens, these are just the actions of one organization." Darunia gathered his thoughts for a while before finally speaking, "Who is this organization that seeks war on my people. If the Hylian government truly wanted to avoid a war, why haven't they done their duty to eliminate this group?" Ralph thought about it. "I believe they are working in secret, the Hylians don't know about their existence. I talked to the man who was trekking the mountain before he died. He said he was seeking revenge for his forefathers who suffered during the civil war, though I'm not quite sure what that means, I know he was devoted." Darunia pondered on as he wrote something on a cloth. "Okay human, take this. It's an official request for assistance by the Goron patriarch. I'm entrusting you to get it to the royal family. Escorts will send you down the mountain tomorrow, feel free to rest here for the night, your journey tomorrow won't be an easy one."
The next day Ralph was up early, not that he wanted to be. It just seemed like it would be better to leave as soon as possible, he was getting sick of Goron food, and the stale, cave air was starting to make him feel claustrophobic. He walked out of the living quarters he was staying in, only to find Go'Aruchi waiting for him at the entrance. "Sleep well human?" The friendly Goron asked. "For a rock it was pretty comfy I guess." Ralph answered. "Well I'm ready to leave, let's get going." The two walked across the center of Goron city until they reached the zigzagged staircase-like trail that led to the outside of the Mountain cave. Ralph and Go'Aruchi were accompanied by two other Goron as they hiked down to the mountain base. "I never learned your name human. What is it?" Go'Aruchi asked curiously. "The names Ralph, Ralph Gudrisill." He answered. "Ralph… I'll remember it well." The Goron responded. They made it to the bottom of the mountain only to be greeted by Hylian guards. "Hello, fellow citizens." The chief guard said nervously. It was the first time in almost one hundred years that Gorons were seen in Kakariko. "Get this child safely to Castle Town, immediately." Go'Aruchi demanded. The Chief guard was stunned by the booming voice. "Y-Yes sir!" The guards escorted Ralph to Castle Town on horseback as quickly they could.
_So first off, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. I wanted it to have some interesting fight scenes that weren't too exaggerated. I mean considering Ralph is still just a suburban kid transported to Hyrule and all, I couldn't have him do anything too crazy in the fight. Well if you liked it, please review and recommend. Thanks!