Author's Note: This… is getting annoying. It's like this story is taking a life of it's own- I'm already behind on the point where I want to be. Oh well.

Unfortunately, I'm really starting to hate this story. I just want it to be done, but there're so many points yet to be made. Sigh. Oh well, I swear I'll finish it. It's not hard to write this, but I'm beginning to loathe my own characters, dammit! But, I'll finish it for those of you who are still reading it. (According to the stats there are about twenty-three of you. That's enough to keep me going on this.)

Interestingly enough, I never planned this chapter. The whole following situation sort of sprouted and grew larger than expected.

The cucco was screaming from the peak of the mountain. All of Hyrule seemed to rise to it's cries, and when they came blinking and bleary to their windows, it seemed to them that they must still be asleep, that or Death Mountain must have cloned in itself. And indeed, it had.

We had named it "Shadow Mountain". Not a particularly clever or imaginative name, I'll admit, but fitting. And true, one entire point of view was marred by the original mountain itself. But the rest… by the goddesses, it was beautiful! More, more by far, than we had ever expected.

Still, there were things we had expected, such as the uproar caused by the mountain growing overnight. The first to come were the Gorons. Or rather, the two left. Darunia, still powerful and not yet awakened to his future place as Sage of Fire, had come with his son- Link.

I regarded them from a vantage point I had discovered. I could watch the paths leading to my mountain, and had seen them coming long before they had arrived, rolling like possessed boulders down the rocky trails. I had left my place to prepare for them.

Famarre, annoying as he was, was with me when they had made their way to the top, as was Gornam. I stood outside a cave, perhaps one that mirrored the Dodongo Cavern on the original mountain, to wait for them.

Famarre sat on a rock, scowling first at me, then at the empty path. "And you're sure you saw them coming?" he spat.

"Of course." I said.

"This is not some sort of game?"

"I do not play games, Famarre."

"You-"

"Famarre," Gornam interrupted, "enough."

Famarre was silent after that. Gornam had gained even greater respect since scaling the mountain- few disagreed with him, and his loyalty was of greater value to me than the loyalty of a thousand warriors. So long as he supported me, then I was supported by all.

Time passed. Famarre became more and more irritable, although he said nothing. A good hour had come and gone before the rumbling of the Gorons could be heard, and not long after, they both came shooting across the path, stopping and unrolling before the three of us.

Link the Goron stood a small ways behind his father, nervously shifting his weight. Darunia showed no such anxiety, and instead regarded me with cold, black eyes. I returned the gaze, and soon realized that neither of us would be likely to look away, not first. Our entire conversation was held with staring, locked eyes.

"You are the creator of this mountain?" Darunia began.

"I am."

"You seem familiar."

"I am the shadow of the one for whom your son is named."

The goron's forehead furrowed, although his eyes never left mine. "Your are Brother Link's shadow?"

"I am." I smiled. "I am every dark thought, every wrong deed, every hateful thing that ever was part of the 'Hero of Time'."

"The what? Brother Link had no dark thoughts, or wrong deeds, nor any hateful parts about him! You lie, shadow!"

"Hateful?" Gornam said behind me, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"I will explain later." Although I had long known the circumstances of my creation, I had not yet inferred this knowledge to the others. I had seen no reason to. Yet.

"And you- you lead these… others?"

"Yes."

The goron was silent for a moment. Finally, he began again. "I do not want a war with you. My people have enough problems as it is."

"I know." I responded.

His eyes became cold. "You know what?"

"I know your people have been captured. I know they will be eaten by Volvagia, if they are not rescued."

"My people have not been captured, shadow."

"Yes, they have." I argued. I knew they had been- The memories I had dug from my counterpart's mind had shown me this, although I had not bore witness to them myself. He had been to the Temple of Fire before meeting me.

Darunia was trembling, but neither of us broke the death-lock our eyes had on one another. "You…" He said, "You work for Him, don't you?"

For the first time I was puzzled. "Who?"

"Ganon! You work for Ganon, damn you!" He shouted in rage.

I nearly took a step back. "I work for no one." I replied.

"Damn you! What have you done to my people?"

"I've done nothing!" I screamed.

It would be impossible to tell who would've taken the first swing. I drew my sword as he raised his fist, both of us blazing in fury.

Things may have become bloody had not Juna stepped from the shadows. She drew a bow and aimed the shaft at the leader of the goron tribe. The bow had been made by Acantha, from what I'm not sure. She had made multiple weapons, all for this single purpose:

To copy Darunia.

I sheathed my sword as the others came from their own hiding places, surrounding the goron chieftain and myself. "I would not move if I were you." I said coldly. There was a squeal behind him. He turned to see what I already saw.

Vicor had snuck in and now held "Link" in a headlock, his spear held by the neck and poised to stab the child.

"You filthy son of a-"

"Son? Son of what?" I laughed. "Son of nothing. Son of no one."

Darunia opened his mouth. I cut him off. "Listen to me. You need only cooperate, and you and your… son may go free."

"Hah!" he spat. "I would never dishonor the Goron tribe by cooperating with Ganon's dog."

I shrugged. "Very well then."

Vicor raised the spear higher, then rapidly brought it down. The dark blade pierced the young one's arm. He screamed and struggled. Vicor was nearly tossed to the side. Gornam, moving quickly for one so large, grabbed the goron brat and restrained him while Vicor hefted the spear again.

Roaring, Darunia took a step toward his son. Juna released the arrow she had been holding. The shaft forced itself into the soft flesh behind the chieftain's knee. Roars of rage sharpened to roars of pain as he dropped to one knee. "I told you not to move." I said coldly. "Try it again."

Darunia kept his position. His back was turned toward me, so I moved to stand by my men. "You needn't do much, Darunia. Just… kneel there."

The proud goron did not move. He met my gaze, then slowly looked away.

I gestured to Acantha, who handed the potion to Etnad, who passed it to Juna. The potion made a slow circle to myself on the other side. I approached the prostrate goron, and smiled. "Don't be so worried. It doesn't hurt at all." I let the potion fall to his shadow.

As soon as the shadow began bubbling up, Famarre gathered it into his arms and carted it into the darkness where it could form without difficulty.

We all stepped to the sides, forming a semicircle around Darunia. Gornam released Link, and as soon as he was gone, Darunia limped to him. The child sniffled, and my stomach turned at the revolting display of weakness. Were all children like that?

"You are free to leave now." I sneered. "That wasn't so hard now."

Darunia glared at me, then bowed his head. "I have shamed my tribe. You will shame many others, it does not take a prophet to see that. But you will not thrive forever. You have made an enemy today, and you will make many more. And you will make them faster than you can kill them."

I shrugged again, and smiled cruelly. "I highly doubt that."

The goron lifted his son. Ridiculous as they looked, what with the son being far too large to be carried as such. They did not roll as most gorons do. He limped away, and the arrow, painful as it probably was and crippling as it should have been, bobbed in time to his step until he stopped, just beyond our view, and pulled it out.