"What do we have here!?" A dark voice chuckled. She was now lifted in the air by her flower-petal shirt and turned to see the face of Scoll. Iris struggled in fear.

Vitani gasped. The creature spoke. "I thought I'd heard a some racket back here."

"Let me go you monster!" Iris screamed as she thrashed her arms about.

"Let you go? Then I wouldn't be able to keep my cozy warm fire going, would I?" He said as he pointed the fire out to Iris. Iris tried to throw her fists towards him, though, her short reach wasn't much help.

Footsteps dropped to the floor, catching Scoll's attention. "Let her go, now!" Vitani ordered as he pointed his staff at Scoll. Scoll simply laughed. "You don't really plan on hurting me, with THAT, do you?"

Iris growled, and spat a sticky bubble in his eye. "Gahhhh!" He shouted as he dropped Iris. He rubbed his clawed hands across his face trying to get the nasty mess off. Iris was petrified, and went running out the hallway, Skits flying down and following her.

"Wait, Iris!" Vitani shouted as he reached out. Iris was already gone. 'This is terrible!' Vitani thought.

Scoll swung his claws at Vitani, which Vitani quickly dodged. Vitani swung the bladed end of his staff at Scoll, scratching his arm. Scoll roared out, and his axed-tail came up from behind Vitani unknowingly. "Look out!" Warned Orion. Orion lept down from the large vent, and blocked Scoll's attack. Using his sword, Sol Blade, He'd left a pretty good gash along Scoll's tail.

"I'll kill you both! Then that Deku is next!" Scoll roared. He pulled his hurt, bleeding tail back to him, and raised his good one, and swung down, trying to hit Vitani and Orion, but missed.

Orion dodged it. A heavy punch to the gut made Orion cough, but he didn't let it faze him badly, as he came right back up, returning with a heavy high kick to the underneath of Scoll's jaw, a nasty crack sound coming directly after. Scoll cried out. He jumped back, swinging his tails wildly, and spewed hot flames from his mouth. Vitani and Orion couldn't get close enough to him, not without getting burned. "Wait, where's Kyutah?" Vitani asked.

Kyutah walked around and grabbed one of the swords along the wall, most likely from older prisoners who used to be here. She took a slash at Scoll's back, leaving a clean-cut wound going down. This caused Scoll to turn in a blind rage and try to slash Kyutah. She held the sword up and blocked his clawed attack, only hurting himself in the process. Kyutah continued swinging and blocking as Scoll wildly slashed. Orion began to think back. He soon remembered that he'd hit those old large lizalfos from before between the horns back in the cell. That's when an Idea struck Orion. He took off towards Scoll, who had his back turned. Orion dodged Scoll's wild swinging tails, and landed a heavy full-blown kick to the back of his head between the horns.

"GRRROOAAAAaarrr-rr-..." Scoll dropped like a rock.

They all breathed heavily. Orion spoke "Their weak point is the back of their heads between their horns... I think he's... Dead.."

It appeared so, as Scoll wasn't even breathing. Which was a relief to the tired trio.

Vitani looked worried. "We... We've gotta find Iris..."

Orion gazed at Vitani. "Poor girl wouldn't last very long here... You're right."

Kyutah held onto the sword. "So, how about we crack some heads till we find her?"

Orion nodded.

Vitani lead cautiously out of the room.

'huff, huff, huff, huff!'

The sound of rapid pitter-pattering feet was being overlapped by clanging and roaring from behind. "OH MY GOSH SKITS! WHAT'RE WE GOING TO DO!?" Iris screamed in terror. Skits flew above her in panic, keeping a close eye of Iris.

Behind her, tons of lizalfos were chasing her angrily as they swung their weapons. She came to a skidding turn as she dashed up a flight of stairs. The fortress was nothing but metal, everywhere. Iris looked over as she ran, running by rooms of which had worn maroon-red stains wiped across the walls, some complete with sets of bones chained to walls. These rooms appeared to be types of cells, or even torture rooms. Her eyes grew wide "We need to get out, now..."

Up the stairs near the top, were a cluster of lizalfos fighting something. Some were being thrown back. She paid little attention to the fight, and kept running. "Wait, Skits, I see a door!" She ran to it, and jumped, grabbing the nob and weakly turning it. The door swung open as she held on. She quickly dropped when she saw the hoard of monsters coming from behind her. Outside was nothing but white! Snow everywhere! "Why is it snowing!? It's in the middle of Summer!" Iris shouted. She was brought back to the terror at the moment upon hearing the angry roars, and continued running along the roof of the fortress. It was slippery from ice, thus, coming to a messy halt as she approached a dead end. The only way out now was too jump off the edge of the fortress to the snow below! It seemed deathly high for her. She looked back to see the angry hoard growing near, and was debating off of what she should do, then came to a final decision. "Skits, next time I think of doing something crazy like this, slap me if you're able, okay?"

Skits looked at her as if she was crazy.

Iris mustered up her courage, and jumped, bracing herself for the worst! The creatures that chased her looked down for a moment, then walked away as if nothing happened, pretty sure she was good as dead.

"aaAAAGGHHHHHhhhhhhhh!" She screamed as she fell to the white earth below. Iris squeaked as she hit the ground and rolled along the soft, cold snow. she was bathed in snow by the time she stopped. She popped out of the snow and shook. "Huh... That wasn't that bad, heck, falling out a tree feels worse than that. Though, it was probably thanks to my light body and the deep snow that I didn't get hurt..." Skits came gliding down to her and landed on her head. Iris looked back at the massive fortress, and began thinking about Vitani, Orion and Kyutah. "I hope they're okay... I feel bad that I ran off and left them to fight... But I can't do much, not against brutes like that! And I'd just get in the way..."

She turned, reaching up and petting Skits. She then walked out into the snow, hoping to find shelter of some kind.

She's walked on for a while, but Iris' body wasn't built to handle cold weather, and she didn't think about it until she began feeling ill... Only walking into colder weather. The cold wasn't doing her much good, as it simply made her move slower. The light from her eyes had grown dim, as the intense cold had drained her. And her leaves were starting to look withered. "Skits, you... O-okay...?" She asked weakly. He cawed in response. She nodded "Good..." Iris looked up. Feeling blinded by the brightness of the far beyond ahead of her. The snow that rained down was so thick, she could hardly see through it. Her arms and legs felt weak as her eyes began to dim a little more. She finally surrendered to the weakness in her knees and fell to the ground. She sat on her hands and knees staring weakly at the ground. "I... I can't go on Skits... I can't go much further. You go ahead and find someplace warm." Skits jumped down in the snow. He gave a caw as an expression of fear took to his face. He nudged her arm trying to get her to stand up...

"Go buddy... Don't you worry about me..." Iris said weakly. Her arms began to shake, and she soon fell to lay in the snow. Skits cawed loudly, as if trying to wake her up. He huddled up next to her. A shadow was soon cast over them both. Skits looked up, only seeing this figure's shadow and brown boot...

"Hello? Are you okay? Little Deku Scrub?"

Iris opened her eyes, as her light was returning. When her vision had cleared up, she looked around, spotting a boy in an orange tunic, wearing an orange hat. He had blond hair and orange eyes, and wore a brown belt. "Are you okay?" He asked.

Iris stared for a while before she grew wide eyed "AM I DEAD!?" She spazzed and fell off the surface she'd laid upon.

"Ow... Apparently not..." She corrected herself. The boy leaned over and looked at her with confusion on his face. "Umm..."

Iris scratched her head. "So, who're you?" She asked, as if nothing happened.

"I'm Link. You can just call me Orange, though." he answered with a smile.

'Huh, have I heard the name, Link somewhere? He oddly looks like that kid in the green tunic, I wonder if he's related?' She asked herself. Confusion still clouded her mind. Last thing she remembered was passing out in the snow.

"I found you out in the snow... I brought here, so you can warm up." Orange responded. "Are you okay?" He asked.

Iris chuckled "Aside from the fact I have NO idea where I am. Yes. Cold weather won't do a Deku good, I tell ya'" She glanced at her surroundings as she stood back up. It looked sort of like the Goron city in Death Mountain. But still... Different. She saw the Gorons wandering about.

"What's a little Deku like you doing out here anyway?" Orange asked in concern.

Iris gazed back at Orange. "Oh just taking a little vacation. Need time away from family, get out of the forest..." She joked, trying to light the mood. "Truth be told, I was kidnapped by these weird lizalfos freaks from my home in the Lost Woods... They were looking for something." She soon remembered the others. "Others were captured too... And are still in there."

"That's what happened to me..." Orange began. "I was walking through Hyrule field, then next thing I knew, I was being carried into a fortress in the middle of nowhere by Dragalfos. I got away, though, and came here, where the gorons let me rest up."

Iris was puzzled "Dragalfos?"

"Yes. Apparently, they're much stronger than lizalfos. This is the first time I've seen them. The Gorons told me about them." Orange replied.

"SO." Iris began "Do you know where we are?"

Orange leaned on the table-like stone slab next to him "According to the Gorons, this is the mountain village near Snowpoint, where ever that is..."

"NnnnEVER heard of it..." Iris remarked. "Are we even in Hyrule anymore?"

Orange shrugged "Not a clue. I've never seen this place before in Hyrule, though."

Iris glanced around, then spotted a Goron. "I'll be back..." With that, she scurried over to the big humble-looking Goron. "Hey."

He looked down with a big smile and his beady eyes. "Yes?" Iris breathed in, she really didn't know how to ask the question she was looking for. "Umm... Are we in Hyrule?"

The Goron gawked at her for a while, as if thinking, which began too creep her out. He finally replied "Um, I've never heard of a place like that."

"Ah, okay. Thanks." She walked back to Orange. "We now have a problem..."

"What's wrong?" Orange asked.

"...Well, either that Goron doesn't get out much, or we're now completely lost. He told me he'd never even heard of Hyrule before!" Iris replied.

Orange looked worried. "Then... Where are we?"

"That's what I'm wanting to know." Iris replied. "And more importantly, how're we going to get back to Hyrule?"

Orange sighed. He then looked to Iris, who had a 'thinking hard' expression. She appeared to be deep in thought. "Wait..."

"What?" Orange responded.

"Where's Skits?"

Confusion took too his face "Who?"

"He's a little black bird... He was with me, wasn't he?" Iris said in a worried tone.

"He's fine little one." Spoke an unfamiliar voice.

Iris jumped, then turned. She gazed upon a large Goron who stood high above her and Orange. He was very muscular. His face gave off an intimidating look. He had thick gray facial hair.

Iris' eyes grew wide. She'd never seen such a large Goron.

"You're lucky this young lad found you. You'd be done for, Deku Scrub." The goron said, as he gave Orange a hard pat on the back, making him go 'Oof!' and knocking him over.

Iris leaned down and tried helping Orange back up to his feet. Then gazed at the large Goron once more. "Who... are you?"

"I'm the goron leader, Darmorn." He replied.

"Darmorn, huh? Well, sir. Could I see my friend?" Iris asked.

"Of course." Darmorn replied. "This way."

Iris looked at Orange. "Hey, thanks for saving me back there, I owe ya one."

Orange smiled "You're welcome."

Iris followed Darmorn to a door. As she walked, she gazed around at the rocky scenery and the Goron residents who lived there. Among these giant, rock-eating creatures, stood tiny little Iris, who got plenty of stares. She stuck out- a lot, due to her bright flower petals compared to the bare, colorless ground and walls. Darmorn led her to the main room of which the leader and elders stay, which was empty at the moment, all except one little bundle of sleeping black feathers in a small cloth on the table. Iris noticed right away, and raced towards him. "Skits!"

Skits' head flew up upon hearing his name. He jumped out of the cloth he'd curled up in, flying to Iris. Iris held her arm out, letting him perch on her arm. She rubbed his head. "I'm so glad your okay!" Skits moved up her arm until he reached her shoulder, and rubbed on her.

"You seem quite close to that bird." Darmorn stated.

"He's not just a bird, he's like the brother I never had." Iris corrected.

Darmorn smiled and crossed his arms. "I see. So Deku S-"

"I've got a name, man. It's Iris." Iris corrected once more.

"Okay, Iris, I heard your story back there, about being kidnapped by the Dragalfos." Darmorn said.

Iris nodded. "They're a nasty bunch... they were going to freaking burn me alive for gosh sakes!"

Darmorn spoke. "Well, you and Orange aren't the only ones having trouble with them."

"Oh?" Iris was now interested.

"It wasn't until recently that a swift cold air began blowing from their fortress. It's usually beautiful this time of year, but our beautiful warm village had been covered in a thick snowstorm. It's great harm to us Gorons-"

"And Dekus..." Iris chimed in.

Darmorn continued. "Something like this happened long ago. But this time, it's different. And it all occurred when the Dragalfos leader, Scoll, returned... As to why though leaves me baffled"

"Well, he said he was looking for a fairy I think... I don't think a little fairy could do all this though, could it?"

Darmorn froze. "...A fairy you say?"

"Yeah." Iris replied back.

Concern grew in Darmorn. "I know of only certain types of fairies that have such power."

Iris lifted an eye. "What kind?"

"The great fairies..." Darmorn replied.

"So..." Iris began "You mean those big fairies?"

Darmorn nodded.

Iris looked around "I had no idea they were so strong though... Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

Iris looked worried and turned her head to Skits, a feeling of guilt fell onto her, feeling that she should return to those she left behind at the fortress. 'If those scales-for-brains can whip up a storm like this, who knows what else they can do... And if my friends back at that place get caught, they'll face fate either way, be it harsh spells like this or being lunch for those Wolfos... And I certainly won't be much help.' Iris stopped in her silent thoughts, gazing up at the ginormous rocky-creature before her. "Unless..." She finished her thought aloud, Darmorn looked upon after doing so.

"Hey Darmorn?" She asked with a pause. "Could you help me?"

Darmorn looked as if he'd be willing to help with anything "With what?"

"Well, I've got some friends back in the fortress, and-"

Back at the Dragalfos Fortress...

Orion had just finished off slaying two Lizalfos. "That's the last of 'em here..." Orion lifted his hands in the air and waved them, waving Vitani and Kyutah over. They were in another cell area. Much darker and damp here. And the smell was enough to make one sick... Who knows what you'd find here. Vitani walked carefully next to the rusty cells, only seeing the bones or remains of those who once resided there, as if now forgotten by the savage reptiles. "That's just sickening… They could at least dispose of the bodies..." He quietly commented, it was hardly even a whisper.

Kyutah and Orion walked ahead. Orion had his eyes open for any hidden unneeded "Guests" as Kyutah simply examined, such as Vitani did.

"...*mumble mumble*..." Came a sudden indistinct voice from within the dark.

The trio jumped, assuming quick battle positions. Again came the mumbling, but a little louder... And more, human?

"*Mumble* Lizards, I'd get *mumble*..." It was a female's voice, and she didn't sound very happy at all, actually ticked off- VERY. She continued the rant to herself about the reptilian creatures. Vitani peeked through countless cells until spotting a woman locked in one. "Hello?"

She jumped once he'd spoke, and looked startled, hoping it wasn't a lizalfos. But to her relief- and surprise, it wasn't. "Oh, hello..." She spoke, trying to hide her startled tone.

"I guess we weren't the only ones captured..." Orion said to himself, he then looked through the cell door "How long have you been here?"

The young woman looked up. "About a day now. My guess is you were captured as well?"

Orion gave a nod in response. He then turned to Vitani "You still got Iris' hair pin?"

Vitani nodded, then grabbed the hair pin and picked the lock on the cell door. "It seems these are older cells, the locks are just like our shackle locks." The old rusted lock that had been connected to the chains holding the cell shut had hit the floor, as did Iris' now bent up hair clip. Vitani took on an 'oops..' expression briefly before his attention was brought back to the young woman in the cell. She stood, luckily, she wasn't shackled like Vitani and the others had been.

She stepped out "Thank you, it was getting a little lonely down here, and the smell only makes things worse."

"It's no problem." Vitani replied.

Orion began "Are you okay?"

She nodded 'Yes' as she dusted herself off. "Might I ask of your names?"

"I'm Vitani."

Orion put away his weapon. "Names Orion."

"And I'm Kyutah." She said as she smiled lightly.

"Nice to meet you all." The young woman paused "You can call me Grayson."

"It's a pleasure to meet you ma'am." Orion said as he bowed slightly.

Kyutah looked around as clanging of armor could be heard coming down toward the cells. "We got company!"

"C'mon!" Orion whispered as he began head deeper into the darkness of the catacombs. The others followed closely. Two lizalfos guards came walking down through the catacombs. One began "Those humans are smarter than I thought..." He said in a gritty, in-human tone "And did you hear? They brought some kind of beast in today... It was tearing everyone apart, aparently, it's still here too."

The other guard replied " I swear, the youths these days just keep getting dumber and dumber... The boss instructed them to find the great fairies, not mortals or beasts."

They walked right on passed the open cell Grayson was once in, without even noticing her absense. They made a left turn toward a staircase that led to a lower floor.

With the group of escapees, they were now wondering through a tunnel that they'd met with at the end of the catacombs. "I really appreciate it you guys, thanks for getting me out of there." Grayson said her thanks once more.

"It was no problem. Do you know if anyone else is here is trapped?" Vitani replied with a question.

Gryason shook her head "No, not that I'm aware of."

"That's a relief." Kyutah said.

They continued down the tunnel hoping to see light eventually, but only ran into more turns. With sword in hand and facing forward, Orion walked steadily through the dark as he was now leading.

As Orion walked, a crunch beneath his foot had caught his attention. He looked down at his boot, noticing a sticky clear and white goop stuck to his boot. "What is that?" He questioned. he looked down where he'd stepped, and noticed a setting of small white broken shards covered in the same substance, taking a closer look, they had very light green spots. Slowly, he looked ahead, and squinted his eyes to get a better look ahead. Orion cursed under his breath as he stepped back. For as long as he could see, down the dark tunnel were countless eggs of the vicious beasts they were trying to escape from. "This can't be good..."

With care, they walked through the darkness, stepping over the eggs, which Grayson could've sworn she'd heard a few make noises, making her all the more eager to hurry on through.

"The tunnel gets so much bigger as it goes on." Vitani spoke, walking around a slightly larger egg.

Orion slipped around the other side. "Well, it's probably for whatever the heck laid this egg... I don't want to stick around and see what it is."

The girls followed closely behind them both.

Time passed, as they all managed to get quite a way through the large tunnel, which was now more like a ginormous cavern. Vitani yawned. The long walk and darkness had made him tired. "Goodness... I can't wait to see the sun again..."

Orions face lit with a slight smirk "I don't think you'll have to wait long, look!" He sheathed his sword, and ran ahead.

"Wait for us Orion!" Grayson shouted, jumping into a sprint behind him, as did Vitani and Kyutah. A large light began to draw closer with each highly spaced step.

"WHOA! Hold up!" Orion shouted as he came to a sudden stop. Vitani nearly fell onto Orion trying to stop.

"What?" Asked Vitani.

Grayson walked up "What the-..."

Kyutah looked quite confused.

There were two ways here, one was the way outside into a large yard with a huge fortress fence that kept everything in. It was the weather that left everyone baffled however. Blank white - besides the fence and the few dead trees - covered everything. Snow fell everywhere and as far as the eye could see, which wasn't far due to the thickness of it all.

"Um, wasn't it Summer?" Vitani questioned.

Grayson replied "Last time I checked."

Orion put his hand out, and caught some snow in his hand. "Somethings not right, now I'm sure of it."

The other direction was a tunnel that led even deeper, and within, a sudden crash echoed through the large tunnel.

Vitani held out his staff as he looked back "What was that!?"

"I don't know..." Orion replied as he turned to the tunnel behind them. Within it, was another light, but it wasn't very bright. He muttered to himself "Hey, I'm going to go check it out..."

"I'm going too." Vitani added.

Grayson and Kyutah turned and followed. Grayson caught up "You're not going without us."

As they drew closer, angry shouting began echoing through the tunnel.

"This is the end of the line I guess..." Kyutah stated. A locked gate blocked the rest of the way. Though, further down the hall on the other side of the gate was one of the dragalfos. He was shouting and roaring at a handful of lizalfos "How could you let this happen!? I mean- How did such a simple weak creature escape!?"

"She was very fast..." One of the lizalfos spoke.

The dragalfos put his hand over his face and sighed. "Well, it's not like we needed her, she's good as dead out there anyway." He turned, facing a glowing orb floating above an old broken shrine. "I called you all here to tell you our leader was nearly struck down, and many of our kind were killed today when they arrived with a captive. This creature alone is strong, but those who almost struck down our leader were mere humans. I need you to capture them, and bring them to our leader, for it is he who decides their fate..." He gazed back at the group with him now. "Thanks to the spirit of the Great Fairy-" He lifted his clawed hand to point at the orb on display in the room "we were able to revive our commander before it was too late. I'm sure you all already know that our Master has planned to capture the Great Fairies- all of them. Soon, we will have the final fairy... Then, Termina is ours! With these faires, we can be given great power, magic and riches, and even immortality! Just capturing one gave us our knowledge, now look at us! We're not mere monsters fighting each other for the last scrap of meat in a dungeon... We have an army, and our army is nearly complete."

"This is bad..." Orion said under his breath.

Vitani gazed in at the fairy spirit "How could they capture the spirit of the fairy though? And... What's Termina?"

"We need to get in once they're gone. My- Mmmmm!?" Kyutah began, but was cut off.

Orion threw his head back towards Kyutah "Kyutah!? Hold- Ugh!"

Goron Village

"ARE YOU NUTS!?" Iris exclaimed in horror.

"Well... It's our only way of getting in Iris. You want to save your friends, don't you?" Darmorn asked.

Iris crossed her arms and sat back "Yeah, but why do I have to be bait?"

Orange looked at Iris with a smile, as he tried to lift her spirits "I'll bet you wont get caught, After that story you told me about you escaping the fortress, I'll bet you could easily out run them anyway."

Iris chuckled "Well, I AM fast."

"Alright, don't get a big head now." Darmorn continued "If they really are the reason why we're having this bad storm, then the only way we can stop it is if we stop them."

Iris and Orange nodded.

Darmorn smirked and crossed his arms "So, you two go get prepared... Because things'll be getting rough once we get there."

Fear collected inside of Iris. She was terrified of those fire-breathing beasts. Not exactly an enemy she'd want to find herself facing someday. But now she was to come face-to-face with a whole clan of them "This is going to be bad... I can already feel it..."

Darmorn left, as he called some of the strongest goron warriors to the main chamber.

"You coming Iris?" Orange asked as he put his sword in it's scabbard, and grabbed his shield.

Iris' eyes fell. "I'm afraid so. I shouldn't have left them back at the fortress, and it wouldn't feel right leaving them there..."

Orange put his hand on her shoulder "Don't worry, Iris. We'll save them."

An expression of thanks captivated her face. "Thanks, Orange."

The young hero nodded, Then he walked off. Iris remained still for a moment, before realizing she probably should grab some sort of weapon. But from where is what kept her from doing so. "Oh great, it's the whole "Find the weapons thing again..." She grumbled to herself as she walked off. She explored every inch of the top floor of the cave-like village, but found nothing but rocks. Iris groaned as she walked down to the lower level.

She searched everywhere. Up, down, left, right... Just rocks and other unneeded things. She sighed, just before something caught her eye. A doorway.

"Hm..." She approached it as she walked through "... Hey! It's a shop!" Her tone grew in excitement, as she eyed the items across the wooden table. "There's bombs, and arrows, those would be useful. If I had a bomb bag and a bow… Hey… It's a slingshot! And there's rocks everywhere… Perfect..." She gazed across. "120 rupees!? I don't even have 20!" Just then, a little well-known instinct of hers kicked in. She looked around, when apparently noticing no one was here at the moment, all she saw was a big bolder behind the table. "This'll be like taking candy from a baby... I'll just 'borrow' this..." She ended in a sly tone. She reached up for the for the slingshot, intending to just take it.

"Hey Deku Scrub!"

Iris jumped and froze in mid-reach, her leaves twitching nervously.

"You have to pay for that!" Spoke the voice again.

She unfroze slightly as she glanced at her surroundings. "Uhh...?"

A bit of movement from behind the table caught her attention, that so called bolder was actually a curled-up goron! Apparently, the shop keeper, who heard her state she'd 'borrow' the slingshot. "You can't just take stuff..."

Iris slowly lowered her hand, and gazed up at the goron. "Um... Well, it's sort of an emergency..."

"Emergency or not, you still need to pay..." He glared down at her.

"Ughh..." She reached for the small wallet that was tied to her waist, which was turned to the back of her and sat hidden behind her long leafy-hair. She pulled it around, and reached into it, pulling out only 16 rupees... "As you can see, I'm a bit broke here..." The whole 'buying' thing made her feel weird, seeing as she usually doesn't get caught taking things.

"If it's such an emergency little deku, then I'll be willing to make a trade too." The goron stated.

Iris perked up a bit "Really now? And what is it you'd be interested in trading the slingshot for?"

"Just some of the best rock in the village!" The goron replied, looking delighted at the thought.

Iris stared for a while thinking 'Best rock, why would- OH! They eat rocks, forgot that...' She crossed her arms "And where would you find this rock?"

The goron looked a bit surprised. "You'll do it?" The goron then pointed "Follow the trail out of here, make a left, and there will be a tunnel, through there, we've found a very tasty type of rock that only the goron leaders can eat. I've always wanted to try it, just a taste would make me happy."

"Say no more. Taking without permission is my specialty." Iris replied jokingly. She made a quick run out of the shop. It seems Darmorn called all the gorons to the main chamber above, so there were no gorons around to witness her go into the leader's tunnel. She snuck in.

"Only problem is: What does it look like...?" She asked herself. She walked deeper, as she noticed the chunks of rock on the wall began getting darker and- shinier...? "I guess this is it?" She pointed her gaze deeper into the tunnel, noticing that chunks are torn from the walls and laying scattered on the ground. "How can any living thing eat rock?" She reached down and grabbed a small piece. "This looks like it'll be enough to get me my slingshot."

She turned, and began to reach the light that was the start of the tunnel. "Whoa...!" She quickly ran back in once she reached the exit. Two very large gorons who were covered in tribal tattoos walked by.

'I know I'm in trouble if I get caught by them...' Her thoughts rang.

They walked passed, not even noticing her. She made a quick "Huh." before running back out, and back into the shop. "Okay, heres you stupid rock, can I have it now...?"

The goron politely and slowly took the rock and examined, then gasped.

"This better not be the wrong rock, 'cause I'm not going back in there and taking a chance of my wooden hide getting chewed out..." Iris said, as she cut her eyes slightly.

He gazed at the rock, then bit down with a loud "Crunch" that made Iris shiver, still wondering how they can't break their teeth doing that. "It's..."

"...Yesss...?" She began growing impatient.

The goron continued with "It's... Not really as good as they say.

Iris almost hit the floor "What!?"

"Though, you risked a lot doing that for me. Thank you little deku, it's still good." He smiled big "Here." He handed her the slingshot.

Iris seemed a bit puzzled. "But it might not even be the right rock, and you're still giving it to me?"

"Of course." He leaned in closer to give her the slingshot, and free with the slingshot was a pouch to hold ammo in.

"Wow... Thanks." Iris thanked gradually, then left.

Iris sat down at the edge of a rock bench. She then reached for the rope that was tied around the top of the ammo bag, and tied the rope in a knot so she could hang it around her, "These rocks aren't as heavy as I thought they'd be."

She then leaned back, growing bored quick, then soon tired. Next thing she knew, she was waking up atleast thirty minutes later to the sound of heavy footsteps. Gorons were heading to the main door that led out of the village, Darmorn leading. Orange stood close, with sword in hand. "It's time to go Iris."

It didn't take her long to realize that he meant they were now heading out to storm the Dragalfos fortress, which caused her to grow nervous again. But she stood despite her fear, and approached them all, mainly staying with Orange. Skits came flying towards her, landing on her head. "Well buddy..." She began "Today, we might die..."

Skits was hoping for something encouraging, but remained quiet.

"But, either way, we're doing something good for once."

Darmorn curled up, then jumped, slamming down on the ground, causing the whole place to shake, and making Iris and Orange nearly fall over. Just as he hit the ground, the door ahead opened. "Let's go." Darmorn ordered.

Iris was not prepared, this may not be much to the gorons, seeing as they're quite the fighters. But Iris was a frail Deku, so this was a dangerous task. But today, it was 'Do or Die'... She walked out with the large group of gorons, facing the cold blizzard once more.

Orange looked down to Iris "Be careful Iris, I don't want you passing out again."

"I'll be fine Orange, I will make it..." Iris sighed. "Thanks for the concern though."

They continued on as the group trudged through the blizzard. Iris had to stay between the group to stay slightly warmer.

For what felt like several hours- which was actually thirty minutes, Iris and Orange saw the fortress ahead, as it grew into view the closer they came.

Once reaching the wall gates, Darmorn looked to a warrior, before giving a slight nod. The warrior stepped up, examining the wall gate's lock, before grabbing it, and completely ripping it off the iron gate. Iris' eyes grew wide upon seeing the brute strength of the goron. Darmorn gazed at Orange and Iris. "Okay, you two head in. Orange, rid the dragalfos guard at the front gate, their weak point is the back of the head between the horns."

Orange nodded before taking off towards within the fortress grounds. Darmorn turned to Iris. "Iris, you know what to do."

"Y-yeah..." She shivered. She watched a battle take place between Orange and the dragalfos. He rolled to the back, slashing his sword upward when he came back up from behind the beast, slicing it's back. It screeched before leaning down, giving Orange a chance to send a heavy kick to the back of it's head, instantly killing it. He waved his hands at Iris.

"Here we go Skits." She said with a slight tone of worry. She walked into the fortress grounds, as she approached the gate, briefly gazing at Orange, then turned back to the gates once more. Walking through the cracked entrance, not prepared for the thousands of lizalfos and dragalfos possibly waiting on the other side...

To Be Continued...

Vitani belongs to TheCrimsonKyuubi on DeviantART.

Kyutah belongs to sarcasticAquarium on DeviantART.

Orion belongs to kingofdarkness17 on DeviantART.

Grayson belongs to InsanityStories on DeviantART.

Orange belongs to TeaiX on DeviantART.