Goron Village

Link continued up the long path until dawn. He was tired, mentally and physically. He felt he might fall asleep, or die of exhaustion from the long walk. Luckily the path was clearly paved, so it wasn't ridiculously hard. He was sweating a lot, and his clothes were now quite damp. His boots were worn out even more. He groaned, wiping his forehead free of sweat. There was no sign of water anywhere, and the few trees were dried up and petrified.

This mountain was big. One could only realize this if they actually attempted climbing it. It was just huge. Link was wondering how even Din could make such a thing, so towering and big, inspiring when looked upon, and dreaded when climbed.

It was only active in recent years, and the oldest eruption took place about fifty years ago, and it mostly affected the mountain range far to the east, away from Hyrule - no mans' land. Link was still worried about even a small eruption. The smallest ones on a volcano this size could kill just about anyone nearby. That was what Link was mostly worried about.

He eventually came to the clearing somewhere around nine o' clock, when the sun was getting higher in the now-blue sky. About eighty feet away, was a massive metal wall. Two Gorons stood on top, looking down. One noticed him, and ordered him to stop.

"We don't allow Hylians!" the other snapped.

"Why not?" Link called back.

"Because, we have much distaste regarding your king!" he retorted.

"And that makes me guilty?" Link called back up.

"Yes. He represents you!" he cried.

"So I don't like you because of your leader!"

Link regretted every bit of that last sentence. The next the he knew, the ground shook hard, and he was surrounded by two vicious Gorons, who's fists were clenched.

Link drew his sword and shield, realizing all too-quickly that this would not end well. He would have to run.

And run is exactly what he did. He put away his weapons and charged towards the wall. They tried to chase, but were too massive and bulky to move quickly. Link had the advantage as he climbed a wide steel ladder to the top. He was even higher now. He started to run up the steep slope, hoping not to encounter another Goron. The trail was hard to run up, and Link was already very tired. He knew the Gorons were powerful. It would end bad, and he knew it.

Looks like it was all for nothing! The shadow tricked me...

He came to a part on the trail where two metal fortresses were on either side up him except the front and back. Many Goron guards stood at the top. They all spotted Link and started to shout. Link marveled at the size of the structures. The Gorons had a mine in the volcano, and they had an endless supply of metal and rock. That's about what they lived on, too. And that's what they fought with, and Link stood no chance.

Link just ran faster, hoping to get whatever his mission was over with. He soon found that the Gorons were throwing boulders at him. He did everything in his willpower to dodge them all, but each time they landed the ground shook hard. He was barely able to maintain any sort of speed, stumbling around like he was. He continued to fight upwards, sure he was growing near. He fell forward with a cry after an unusually large boulder landed behind him. He began to stand, but another landed by him, knocking him over a few feet. He pushed himself up and shot forward.

He saw an explosion up ahead, and knew there was more trouble coming his way. He pressed onwards through a trail carved in between two rock walls, knowing there were many Gorons chasing after him, and would kill him if he stopped then.

After climbing a small rock wall, he found that there was a ten foot long drop, full of flames, now, and many Gorons on the other side. Link cursed silently and ran, jumping over the gap. He could feel the immense heat as he passed over.

When he landed, he was knocked out by a waiting Goron.

---

Goron Headquarters

---

Link's first thought was that he had died. A second later, he realized he was actually alive, by the pain in his head area. He felt a cold stone ground beneath him, and a near-by heat source, most likely flames or candles. He groaned and sat up, opening his eyes.

His vision was blurry and distorted, but half a minute later it adjusted. He was in the center of a circular room, with many Gorons surrounding him. There were torches around him, and a fireplace at one end of the room. Across from the fireplace was a massive metal door. There were windows partly obscured by many of the Gorons along the walls. Link saw it was night.

They had banners, weapons, bones, and fossils hooked to the cieling and walls. It would have looked festive, if these people hadn't tried to kill him earlier.

"Ah, the Hylian awakes, doesn't he?" an older, gruff voice declared.

Link saw, in front of the fire, and old Goron, holding a staff with a ruby embedded at the top which gleamed in the flickering light of the torches.

"What a fool, coming here and upsetting the guards. It would seem he was sent by that cursed Hyrule, coming to assassinate me!" he accused in a surprisingly loud voice.

The Gorons roared and cheered in anger.

"We will punish him, drive him into the ground, make him a useless slave, because, after all - that's what they all should be!"

The crowd of Gorons crammed into the room went absolutely crazy.

"I didn't come to kill you..." Link said in a weak voice.

"Liar!" several cried.

"I was sent here, to see if you needed help... in any way..." he tried to explain.

The Gorons laughed.

"This fool thinks he can bribe his way out! It just goes to show what disgusting creatures these Hylians are! They never helped us, they just used our metal supply, making us work extra hard! And now they send help?! What stuck-up idiots!" he literally screamed, sending the crowd screaming too.

"I'm serious... I want to help... Isn't there anything I can do?"

The Goron elder frowned, and beckoned another old Goron over. They talked it over for a minute quietly before he turned, snickering.

"Alright then. You can help. You can go into out temple of worship, and kill the traitor or was sent by the King to terrorize us."

Link nodded slowly.

"And best of luck," he began sarcastically," Because no Goron has completed this task, and or returned from the temple for any reason, for that matter."

Link stood slowly, his head spinning. They had left him his weapons. The crowd began to disperse.

A/N: I hope everyone likes this chapter! Until next time -

Sam