Chapter 14: The Prize

Somewhere in the corner of his mind, Link sensed the change in the atmosphere even before he woke. From the heat, he knew he was still inside the mountain, so it couldn't be that that had caught his attention. It was something else, a change in the very feel of the place, as of darkness turning to light or sadness to joy.

"Hey, he's awake!"

Feet pounded the cavern floor. Link sat up instantly, sure he'd be trampled by the crowd of Gorons pressing in around him. But Navi scolded anyone that got too close, intimidating even the largest of them with a feistiness that belied her size.

"Stay back. Give him room to breathe!"

Bullying his way through the crowd, King Darunia chuckled and dropped a rock at Link's feet. "Heroes don't get room to breathe."

A flicker of worry crossed Link's face. "What do you mean?"

"You killed the Dodongos. You saved our people."

"Are you sure I killed all of them?"

"We have witnesses." Flashing a savage grin, the King stamped his foot, rattling stones and stalactites. "Stonethrower. Mountainfoot!"

The two brothers appeared next to their uncle. Both avoided eye contact with Link.

"Well? Tell him what happened," the King said.

Still eying the floor, Stonethrower spoke. "We hid just before you fell into King Dodongo's mouth. We were only supposed to watch, but when he started chasing you, we couldn't stay put."

"I jumped first," said Mountainfoot. "By accident, I fell just where I needed to be to block King Dodongo's fire."

Stonethrower nodded. "And I was the boulder in the corner of the lake."

King Darunia slapped his nephews on the back, nearly bowling them over. "They told me you were a brave fighter. Normally, I'd punish them for disobeying me, but they only helped you by accident. Besides, what matters is that you proved yourself a hero." He pointed to the rock at Link's feet. "And for that, we give you the honor of eating the first rock."

Link stared, horrified beyond words. After all he'd been through, they expected him to do this? Please tell me I didn't hear that.

But the king pounded his chest. "No Goron will eat before the Hero himself has eaten."

"Oh." Link's lower lip curled slightly. "Well…I'm not hungry."

A fairy-sized elbow struck Link in the ribs. "Eat it," Navi hissed.

Link glared at his companion as if she had told him to jump off a cliff. Though she didn't show it, he knew she was enjoying his torment. He also knew she was right.

With a deep breath, he knelt facing the rock and grasped both sides of it. Slowly, he opened his mouth, ready to break his teeth for the cause of honor.

But then someone snorted, and the game was over. He remembered that Barough, the King's brother, had offered him the leg of one of the spider-like Tektites inhabiting the trail to Goron City as a joke when they first met. So he had fallen for the same trick twice.

For a split second, it almost made him wish he had left the Dodongos alive.

"That was great," said Navi. "You would have done it, too!"

Link spun on King Darunia. "I don't have time for this! You…you'd better keep your promise!"

"I gave my word," said the King. "I'll keep my promise and more."

Link made as if to reply, but a sudden buzz of activity at the center of the cavern drew his attention. He watched as Mountainfoot and some of the other young Gorons gobbled armfuls of the scrumptious rocks they had been denied for weeks. Having taken the edge off their hunger, a few of the older children threw their half-eaten rocks at each other and at the adults.

Unfortunately, one of the King's nephews—Stonethrower—seemed determined to involve the whole cavern.

"Food fight!"

Soon, the air was thick with pebbles, boulders, and slabs of granite that made the cavern just as dangerous a place for Link as it had been before he killed the Dodongos. Without looking back, he fled.

"Wait for me!" said Navi.

Link stumbled out of Dodongo's Cavern several minutes later, leaving the deadly food fight behind him. Golden fingers of sunlight dappled his face, making him well aware of all the burns and bruises he'd sustained in the last few hours.

"That was some party, wasn't it, brother?"

Startled, Link turned to find that Darunia had snuck up behind him amidst what was left of the boulder Ganondorf had planted at the cavern's entrance. "For you, maybe. I hope I never see another rock again."

"Does that mean you don't want the prize I promised you?"

Link paled. In his haste to escape the cavern, he had almost forgotten the Spiritual Stone. "Of course."

"Hold out your hands, then!" Darunia reached into his mouth and groped about the inside of his left cheek until he found what he was looking for, pulled it out, and dropped it into Link's hands.

Link gaped at the object in his palm. It was a ruby cradled in a gold sheath, shining as brightly as ever in spite of the saliva coating its surface.

The King smiled. "Goron's Ruby. It's a beauty, isn't it?"

"Gross is a better word," said Navi.

"What? Did you think I was going to call it out of thin air?"

Link grimaced. "I think I would have liked that better."

"Actually, it seemed like the best place to hide it from Ganondorf." The King patted his cheek.

"Oh." Link slipped the ruby into his leather pouch.

Once more, Darunia beat a fist against his chest. "What you did for us won't be forgotten. You're a real man now. If you and Princess Zelda are smart about it, that hare-brained scheme of yours might actually have a chance. But if you think the Dodongos were anything compared to Ganondorf, you've got a long way to go."

Link nodded. "I'll remember that."

"Say!" Darunia's smile grew bigger. "Why don't you and I become Sworn Brothers?"

Link raised an eyebrow. "Does that mean I have to eat rocks?"

"No, there's no ceremony involved. All you have to do is agree to become my Sworn Brother. That means we're bound together whatever happens. Among my people, there is no greater bond than that, not even blood."

Link traded glances with Navi. "I'll do it, then."

"Great. Now we make it official with a Goron hug."

"A Goron what?" Link eyed Darunia's bulging arms and imagined them wrapped tight around his neck. "Can we skip that part?"

Out of nowhere, Darunia's nephews came skipping out of the cavern. "Did someone say hug, Uncle Darunia?" Both of them saw Link in the same instant. "How about a big Goron hug, brother?"

Link wanted to say no, but the brothers seized his outstretched arms and locked him in their vicious embrace from both sides. Their grip, though not as strong as their uncle's, proved just as effective at smothering him.

Off to the side, Darunia laughed and observed as Link broke from his nephews and fled down the trail towards the village. "So long, Brother," he called out. "May it not be long before you return again!"

At any other time, the Golden Rupee would have echoed with the shouts of old men and young men debating over farming methods, the raising of cattle, or the wisdom of the latest royal decree—not necessarily in that order. Talk ran long into the night, until wives barged in to drag their husbands to bed or the husbands tired of repeating the same conversation time and again.

But today, there were fewer shouts and even less variety in the conversation. Many patrons traded whispers back and forth; some simply listened, content to sit back while the rest aired their theories, anxieties, and predictions for current events local and otherwise.

"I say a Gerudo killed him," one beefy man exclaimed, pounding his mug on the cherry table in front of him.

"And what makes you so sure?" A black-haired farmer pointed at the first man. "Who says it couldn't have been someone around here?"

"You know anyone who hates the royals enough to kill one of their best men?"

"Maybe it was Dampé."

"The grave keeper?" A third man chuckled. "He couldn't swing that walking stick hard enough to kill a Skulltula, let alone a Knight."

The farmer grunted. "All I'm saying is there aren't as many people dying lately. You know how much that codger gets for a burial? Maybe he just needed the business."

The man sitting to himself in the corner closest to the door snorted, his bushy mustache wrinkling with the motion. Though no one had paid him any mind since he came in, he had been listening as closely to the talk as any, so intently, in fact, that sweat had broken out on his face whenever someone mentioned the Gerudos.

"Doesn't matter who killed him." This came from the innkeeper. "Cahus is still dead."

The tavern greeted this with silence. Some sipped at their mugs, others at their pipes. Someone coughed.

The door opened with a creak. This would hardly have merited a second glance, were it not for the sudden quiet and the prevailing mood of suspicion that day.

"Din's Fire," someone whispered. "What a sight!"

The boy standing in the doorway shifted uncomfortably, as if questioning the wisdom of entering the tavern.

"Looks like he's been for a swim in the volcano," said another.

Link gently closed the door and tried to ignore the stares as he approached the innkeeper. "I'm hungry."

"And I'm Jem." The innkeeper stuck out a hand. "But you can call me Toadstool."

"Would it…" Link scratched his ear. "Do you have something I could take with me?"

"We don't call this the Golden Rupee for nothing, boy. You have money, we have food. Otherwise, nice meeting you."

Link hesitated before looking the man full in the face. "I came from Hyrule Castle Town. A woman named Impa said they could help me here."

This brought on a general murmur of conversation.

"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?" The innkeeper grinned. "Always glad to help a friend of a friend."

Link breathed a sigh of relief while the innkeeper rummaged through the pantry in the back room, returning with half a load of bread, a sliver of cheese, and a small vial swirling with a familiar white liquid.

Link licked his lips as he held out his hands to accept the offering. "Thank you."

The innkeeper nodded towards the corner of the room. "You can thank Ingo for the milk. Delivered fresh just this morning."

The mustached man in the corner nodded but did not meet Link's gaze. "Pleasure."

"Give my regards the next time you see Impa." The innkeeper waved as Link turned to scuttle back through the door. "Whatever your name is…"

The conversation remained muted until Link had shut the door firmly behind him. As if one hadn't been enough, now there were two major topics for discussion.

"There, did you see that?" The farmer gestured towards the door. "Dampé must have made the kid do it for him. The two are in cahoots, I tell you."

The innkeeper laughed at that. "What do you think, Ingo? Did the Gerudos kill Cahus, or was it the boy and the grave keeper?"

No response came from the table in the corner. It took a moment for the innkeeper and everyone else to realize Ingo was no longer there.

The farmer grunted. "Maybe Ingo's in on it, too."

Once they had escaped the tavern, Navi left her hiding place in Link's pouch.

"Are you sure that was a good idea?"

Link shrugged. "How else were we supposed to get food? It was Impa's idea."

"I don't think she meant for you to attract that much attention."

"Maybe." Turning south towards the stairway he had taken to get into the village, he frowned. "I'd feel better if I hadn't lost my shield. Something tells me Ganon's already tried to get the third Spiritual Stone. If he didn't get it, we'll probably have to fight if we want it for ourselves."

"If he finds out you have two of them already…"

Link shook his head. "He's never seen me. Even if he knew—"

"He saw you in Hyrule Castle Town. And you dropped the Kokiri Emerald in front of him, remember?"

"He was moving too fast. He couldn't have seen it."

"Just be careful, Link. Okay? The Great Deku Tree asked me to look after you. You're not making it easy."

Link never saw it coming. Before he had taken three steps outside Kakariko Village, a hard glass bottle cracked him on the back of the head, and he fell unconscious.

The fairy proved more difficult, but in thirty seconds, the masked man had trapped her inside the bottle with a stopper and thrown a cloth over it to keep her from seeing.

Now he had to get them both to the ranch and contact the Gerudos. If his lord was pleased, perhaps he would be rewarded with the prize he had earned from his good-for-nothing boss, Talon.

That prize, of course, was Lon Lon Ranch.