After they had healed their wounds and stocked up on fairies, they looked over their inventory of sigils again. "Water, Fire, Shadow, and Light," Zelda muttered. "The first two probably point to the Zora and Gorons. Maybe we should go to the Zora first; they usually keep to themselves, from what I understand, whereas you see more of the Gorons in town." She flushed slightly. "At least, that's what I've heard…I've never been allowed to walk around the castle, much less the castle town."

`"You should go to the Gorons first. You're closer to their domain." They all stood in surprise as an irritatingly familiar voice singed their ears. A few leaves rattled down from the trees, and the Skullkid fell in the middle of them.

Ganondorf grasped him from the collar of his leaf-and-twig tunic. "We're not playing any more games, so run along."

"I'm not playing, I swear!" The Skullkid twisted around in Ganondorf's hand until he fell to the ground again. Sprinting to a set of boulders on their left, he said, "There's a passage through here. If you pull up the bomb flowers, you can make a hole."

Link walked over and began tugging at the grass fronds. "What do you mean?"

"Careful, boy." Ganondorf pushed him away and yanked a bomb flower out of the ground. It made a hissing noise, and they backed away as the sound grew louder. Finally, with a loud bang, a hole appeared in the mountainside.

Zelda brushed bits of stone from her dress, trying to hide how rattled the explosion from such a benign-looking plant had made her. Smiling at the Skullkid, she said, "Thank you. There's no way we would have found this by ourselves."

The Skullkid reached for something on his back and handed Link a fine ash bow. "You can have this, too. I found it in the Temple. It used to have arrows to go with it, but I don't have them 'cause I lost them when I was playing. There's people that sell them, though."

Link took it, puzzled. "Why are you being so nice to us all of a sudden?"

The Skullkid traced patterns in the dirt with his toe. "Well, it gets kind of boring when you're eternal and you've got a very small part to play, you know. So …I decided to add to it a bit."

--

Ganondorf walked ahead of the other two, holding out a small flame in his hand to light the way. The tunnel was smooth, as if at one point it had been used frequently, but their footprints clearly showed in the dust and fallen stones.

"What do Gorons look like?" Link asked.

"They're big," Zelda told him. "They look like big rocks with faces. They have really tough skin, and they're really heavy…they can't run, so to travel fast they roll along the ground." She paused. "I read that."

"You're not really all that far off," Ganondorf said, his voice echoing in the cavern so that he did not have to turn back to address them. "Where did you get all this information, if you weren't allowed to know of the outside world?"

Zelda flushed. "I persuaded my nursemaid to bring me books," she mumbled.

"That doesn't sound all that bad," Ganondorf said. "What did you do, give her a fatal case of puppy eyes?"

Zelda's face grew redder still. "No…" she said softly. "I just…kept thinking of ways to…to make her think that her job might be in danger if she didn't….that I would do things and she…would….get blamed…"

Both of the others stared at her, Link incredulous, Ganondorf with a kind of pleased surprise. "Desperate times call for desperate measures," Ganondorf assured her. "One of the hallmarks of wisdom is knowing when there truly are no other options."

The ground trembled slightly. Seeing the alert look on the others' faces, Zelda said, "The mountain is still active. But there's no danger from lava. You can tell when the mountain is dangerous…the sky above it would be filled with ash. I read that too."

The mountain rumbled again, like a hungry beast. "Even so," Ganondorf said as he let his little flame shine down a side passage, "we should be careful. I've never been in a place like this before, and I don't know what kind of dangers it can hold." Link drew his sword.

A rare look of fear crept over Ganondorf's face and he changed his fire to a glowing orb. "Yes, there could be creatures in here, Link, but bad air is a danger too. It could blow us up or put us to sleep…your sword won't be of an use in that kind of battle. I should have thought of this sooner, but this really is my first time here. Let me know if either of you smell anything funny or feel tired."

They crept forward in trepidation, jumping as the mountain growled again, louder this time. It grumbled like steady thunder, increasing in intensity. Ganondorf motioned for the other two to stop and stepped several feet forward, lighting up as much as he could of the dark.

Suddenly he turned on his heel and fled toward them. "Run!" he commanded, the roar down the tunnel already drowning him out.

"What is it?!" Link demanded, trying to keep his sword steady as he nearly tripped over several rocks in his way.

"A Goron! It'll crush us if you don't keep moving!"

Zelda glanced over her shoulder and saw a round rolling ball barreling toward them, filling up the entire channel. She tripped over her own two feet and felt herself being yanked violently upward as Ganondorf pulled her from the ground, still running.

Suddenly Ganondorf plucked Link from the path as well and ducked with the three of them into a side passage. The Goron rolled harmlessly past them, but Ganondorf didn't give them time to catch their breath. "Hurry, before he realizes what we've done!"

They threw themselves out of the side passage and tore down the hall, deeper into the mountain. Along the way Ganondorf marked side passages that they could duck into if needed. Twice they were accosted by rolling Gorons, but as neither one attempted to hail or threaten them, they had no idea of they were being chased or merely in the way.

Suddenly they burst into a huge cavern, at least twice the size of the main courtyard in the Gerudo Fortress, with a series of side passages leading off five different floors. They skidded to a halt, large stones coming to life all around them as the previously unaware Gorons sensed a threat in their inner sanctum. Two stooped and ripped up armfuls of bomb flowers, throwing them at the trio. Ganondorf stopped them with a magic shield, but more Gorons appeared both above and below them, stamping their feet and smacking fists against hands in a show of aggression.

"Hold!" a deep, booming voice echoed throughout the cavern. Another Goron, at least a head taller than the others with an odd headpiece that mimicked spiky hair, stepped forward as the others parted around him. He stopped in front of the travellers, hands on hips, staring down at them with obsidian eyes. "I am Darunia, the Goron patriarch, named for the most famous of our ancestors." He squinted at them with an appraising eye. "Two Hylian children and a Gerudo? What is such a strange trio doing here, harassing my people like robbers and brigands?"

Ganondorf opened his mouth to speak, but Zelda stepped forward. "Patriarch Darunia, I am Zelda of the Royal Family."

A slow, calculating look crept over the Goron's face. "The Hidden Princess, eh? Do you come seeking asylum?"

"We are here on a quest." She dug into her pack and produced the Fire sigil. "The powers of the Goddesses have been out of balance for many years, and we have come to restore them. We need to place this item in the deepest part of the Fire Temple."

Darunia's eyes shifted from her to the other two. "And them?"

"This is Link, and Ganondorf. They have both been with me for the entirety of this quest."

"Your small friend has a good name, that of a famous hero." Darunia's eyes narrowed. "But the Gerudo men have been known throughout history to cause trouble for Hyrule…especially those with that name."

Ganondorf stepped up within a few inches of Darunia, actually able to stare down at him. "Can you live up to the name of your ancestor? If not, do not judge me by mine."

Darunia stared right back, as immobile as stone, even more so than the other Gorons. "If you truly wish to aid the Princess in her quest, then you will leave her in my safekeeping. We will provide you with protective garments for you to wear, as even a desert-dweller would not survive long in the depths of the mountain."

"I have no problem with that," Ganondorf said.

Darunia gave him a mirthless smile. "I'm not finished yet. If you come back without the boy, you will not get the Princess back." His voice dropped an octave. "And we will kill you."

Ganondorf's face registered surprise, immediately followed by a smirk. "I've already been baby-sitting these two children and helped get them out of the clutches of Zelda's insane uncle. The boy will not be harmed - by myself or anyone else, by my will, not yours."

"As long as we agree on the outcome." Darunia turned and motioned for the three to follow him. They passed a long line of skeptical Gorons as they walked to the Patriarch's chambers. Darunia shut the solid stone door with a dull thump and began rifling through a cabinet off to the side.

"We generally keep to ourselves, and have few visitors," Darunia explained. "But for the few non-Gorons who wish to make a pilgrimage to the Temple of Fire, we long ago had Hylian mages put together a magic garment that gives the wearer protection against the heat." He pulled out two old but well-worn tunics, one small and one large.

He gave the small one to Link. "This may even be a little big, you can wear it over your normal clothing. "As for you," he said as he handed Ganondorf the large one, "It may be a little snug. You will have to wear it under your armor."

"Fair enough," said Ganondorf, and began to discard the metal surrounding his body until Zelda made a startled little squeak. He stopped abruptly with a confused look. "Oh…I forgot that…never mind. I'll put it on later." He draped it over his arm.

Darunia laid an enormous hand on Zelda's tiny shoulder. "The Princess will stay with me. We have much to discuss about her kingdom." She glanced up at him in surprise. "Do not bother looking for her here; you will not see her until you both return from the Temple."

"Very well,. Come, boy," Ganondorf said to Link, who gave him an irritated look before following.

"Good luck!" Zelda called after them.

--

Ganondorf struggled with the tunic, which ripped slightly as he shoved his thick arms through the sleeves. "I'm getting tired of this obsession with my ancestor," he grumbled. "I find it funny that they can all remember me, but much of the rest of the Triforce lore is lost to the general population."

Link waited impatiently at the entrance to the Fire Temple. "Well, maybe that's why Zelda's uncle was able to persuade people that it was dangerous…people like you kept trying to steal it."

Ganondorf merely grunted. Once he had replaced all of his armor, Link opened the enormous stone doors, each of which must have weighed many times more than him and yet opened smoothly. He did not pause to think about it but darted inside the temple, Ganondorf right behind him.

--

"What is this place?" Zelda asked breathlessly. She and Darunia stood in a huge cavern, the walls sparkling with minerals of many colors. Some of the stones seemed to produce light of their own, giving off eerie glows. As if to accent them, jet-black rocks with smooth, reflective surfaces doubled the light and color.

Darunia permitted himself a smile. "This is a stockpile of sorts, all of the tastiest rocks that we Gorons eat. We only come here every once in a while to add some delicacy to a feast, or in times of famine when we can find a buyer who will trade many more stones of lesser quality. None but I and one of my brothers knows where it is and how to get here."

"It's beautiful."

"Thank you." He offered her a seat on a chair made from rose granite and sat on the floor himself. "Hidden Princess, do you find it odd that we would threaten your company?"

She wavered. "A little…I was never allowed outside the castle, but I was able to procure some books on matters of state, and it said that the Gorons were friendly and trusting to a fault."

He nodded. "It is half true," Darunia explained. "On things of little import, we can afford to be trusting. Of course, most of these are of great import to the reigning Hyrulean King. Do you understand?"

Zelda nodded. "I think so. You might not care about the prices of bomb materials, but you're not going to bend on the price of quality stones, if you barter with the Crown."

"Yes, very good. For the most part, we are a friendly people, because we feel secure here in our mountain. But if that were to change, so would we. Do you understand that?"

"Yes…you only feel the need to be aggressive if threatened."

"Indeed." Darunia jerked his head in the general direction of Hyrule Castle. "We generally do not interfere in the business of the other races, but your uncle's bizarre attacks on anything connected to the Triforce has led me to watch them with a wary eye. I have been speaking secretly with the King Zora, and we will provide any assistance we can to you. If I had known the Gerudo were on our side, I would have included them as well."

Zelda's eyes widened. "Oh, Darunia! It is so good to hear we are not alone in this."

He smiled. "Though the Hylians may not want to admit it, we have always played an integral role in the affairs of the Triforce. Now…since it will likely take your friends a long time to return from the Temple, allow me to attempt to undo some of the damage…and fill you in on all the things that a Bearer of Wisdom should know by now."