While in Goron City, the two were given potions so that they wouldn't melt from the insane heat of the volcano. Link never did like potions; he had only ever had sour and bitter common healing potions, but those were delicious compared to liquid lizard and bokoblin guts. Zelda didn't like it much either, but tried not to gripe too much. She worked quickly with Daruk to see what could be done about modifying the Beast. Link stood by to be called upon if needed, but there wasn't much for him to do. Even when some something heavy on the giant lizard needed to be shifted, Daruk easily moved things into place. Link felt that nothing would change if he melted into the floor once the elixir wore off. But he dotted around Zelda patiently as she tinkered with the Beast.
"I think the elixir is starting to ware off," she said wiping sweat from her brow, dampening her sleeve. "It's getting uncomfortably hot again. How do you feel? Should we get another?" she asked Link.
He nodded, wobbling slightly from the heat. He put his hand on Rudania's stone to stabilize himself, but its surface was hot, causing him to recoil. With a deep breath he pushed his hair from his face where it wanted to stick.
"Oh my, you should have said something," she said worried as she looked him up and down. "Well I'll hurry down Rudania to find us fresh elixirs and some water. You and Daruk give the Beast a test run to see if our alterations worked," she said wiping a sweaty hand on her shirt before turning.
"Alright, let's start 'er up!" Daruk called excitedly. "I'll wait until you've cleared the area, Princess," he said moving to the main control console.
"I'll be quick about it." She moved quickly to get back on the ground and jogged off.
Link pulled the cord from his hair to try and retie it up since most of his hair was making him incredibly warm.
Once Daruk was sure Zelda was clear of the area, he started up the Divine Beast. "Yeah! That's what I want to hear!" he called upon hearing the strange echoing call of Rudania. The beast shook slightly then began to move forward. The feet of the creature clawed into the rock below and sputtered with fire from the hot volcanic rock.
"Yeah! I think I'm finally getting the hang of controlling this Divine Beast!" Rudania came to a stop and called out once more, its head turned towards the sky. "Tell ya what… it sure is a blast piloting a toy like this around. Let those other champions know, they better eat their gravel if they want to keep up with Daruk," he called with a smile. "Speaking of which, can you believe this view?" He looked out over the jutting mountains and the volcano. Link didn't notice much that was interesting other than the boiling mountain, but the sweat in his eyes might have had something to do with that.
"Just look at all those delectable rocks sprinkled on those mountains…. Mighty tasty." This made Link wonder if the stone work of the Divine Beast had an interesting flavor. In his heated stupor, he thought of licking it before he came back to his senses. "I may not know a whole lot about this whole Calamity Ganon thing… but mark my words, I'll protect this land of ours to the death." He pulled his massive hand into a tight fist. "Right, little guy!" With a windup, he gave Link a hearty slap on his back, knocking him forward and nearly over as his back cracked in three places at once. He laughed as Link rubbed his back and tried standing up straight again. "Hey, by the way… congrats on becoming the Princess's appointed knight. That's a really big deal, protecting the King's daughter." He let out a brief laugh and put a hand on Link's shoulder. He almost flinched away from his hand, but his reflexes were too delayed. "No pressure! Seriously though. The Princess is a strong personality—so strong that she can't quite see the range for the peaks. Remember that, and you'll be fine. Huh?"
The ground started to rumble and Rudania quivered with it.
"What the—?!"
Once again Link nearly lost his balance, but this time Daruk nearly did too. One of the tall stone peaks next to Rudania gave way, and massive boulders came tumbling down straight for the two of them. Daruk let out a loud shout, thrusting his fist out towards the oncoming rock, creating a glowing, orange forcefield around himself and Link. The chucks of rock shattered upon impact, scattering around them. The energy shield hummed softly for a moment as the rumbling and shaking topped.
"Alright, so what was I saying?" he asked letting the shield dissipate. He turned from link and looked back out at the mountains. "That was a little strange. As far as I know, Death Mountain has been quiet for decades. But if the mountain is shivering enough to send down a bunch of boulders that size then—. Nevermind, forget I said anything." He stared off at the volcano and rubbed his chin for a moment.
Link suddenly thought about Zelda. Was she okay? Did rock break loose and fall on her? Did she lose her balance from the shaking and fall into the lava? What if the ground gave way and swallowed her up? With his mind now spinning, he started to make his way off the Beast.
"Wait a minute, brother." He grabbed Link's hand, nearly crushing is as he was about to jump off Rudania. I'm sure you thinking of Zelda, but I bet she's fine. We'll walk the Beast towards town to help her return quicker." He let go of Link's hand and pushed the Beast into turning so they headed for the city.
Link's mind was clear now with the adrenaline rush. What would happen if she was hurt? Or killed? The kingdom would fall into shambles. The King would be devastated. If Calamity Ganon truly did return, then no one could seal him away.
It was only a moment before they approached Goron City, and Link immediately jumped off Rudania to find Zelda. After hitting the ground and starting into a run, he saw her blue tunic as she exited one of the metal buildings.
"Did you feel that? Was that something Rudania did?" she called quickly. She carried a bottle of gray sludge and two canteens.
Link ran up to her and quickly looked her over to check for wounds, walking around her in search of blood.
"I'm fine," she assured, thrusting the bottle at him. "Drink up." She handed it to him. "One of the Gorons, Bludo I think, pulled me into one of the buildings just as the shaking started."
Satisfied with his look around, he took the bottle and sighed at it before taking a deep breath, popping the cork and downing it in one go. His shriveled at the earthy taste and thick texture.
Zelda let out what was almost a giggle. "Here." She pulled the bottle from his hand and traded it for the canteen as he tried to swallow what remained in his mouth.
He immediately opened it and drank almost half the water then let himself breath again. Already the air started to feel cooler and his head clear.
A bearded Goron came out of the hut and took the bottle from Zelda. "Got plenty more if you need any," he assured.
"Thank you, that's quite kind of you," Zelda said. "Now," she looked to Daruk. "How did it work?"
"Oh it worked amazing!" he boomed. "That thing is moving nice and smooth now."
"Perfect," Zelda said with a smile. "Then I think we're ready to depart."