Chapter 3: The Mountains

When the battle was won, Link and his allies regrouped. While battling, Link and Young Link found someone who came to their aid. It was Tingle, a 35-year-old man who believes himself to be a fairy.

He was successful in defeating Odolwa, awarding him with the monster's remains. But before the Twinrova fled, Tingle overheard of their plan; to collect the other three remains in the other three countries. He also heard that Skull Kid was already in the north, on a quest to collect another one.

Knowing that this has successfully worked in the past, Link decided it a good idea to split his group into three.

Link took a faction of his forces and led them into the mountains. Once they stepped foot in the land abundant in snow, they found it overrun with monsters. The gorons, who lived in the mountains, fought bravely against these creatures, but without a leader, were being slaughtered.

Without any hesitation, Link charged headfirst into battle to help the gorons and find Skull Kid.

"What hope does our tribe have!?" cried a Goron Captain, taking a swing at a Stalfos. The entirety of the gorons' morale fell.

"Don't worry, everyone," Proxi assured them. "We're here to help!"

"Thank you!" another Goron Captain cheered, boosting their morale again. "You can use our hideout, the Goron Shrine, as our Allied Base."

"Great! Say, what happened to your previous leader?" asked Proxi.

"He's gone!" another Goron Captain wailed. "Knocked off the side of the mountain by Goht, the mechanical bull. He lives in the Snowhead Temple now, so steer clear from there."

"Snowhead Temple," thought Proxi. "Does he wear a mask?"

"So the stories say," the goron answered.

"Link! That's probably it!" the fairy cheered. "If he lives in a temple and wears a mask, then that's got to be one of the remains!"

Link began advancing towards the Snowhead Temple, plowing through any enemies in his way.

"In the Snowhead Temple, you say?" asked a familiar voice. "Very well, then. Minions! Make your way towards the temple!"

Four Dinolfos began to lead factions of Stalchildren and Stalfos in the direction of the temple.

"Skull Kid!?" Proxi cried.

"Yes, it's me!" he laughed. "And you shouldn't be here! Minions! Exterminate the hero in green!"

Two Dinolfos charged at Link. He dodged a fireball that came from one of them and began slashing away. The second Dinolfos charged at him, only to get caught up in Link's attacks as well. Once they were knocked to the ground, Link finished off with a spin attack, killing them.

"Link, we should stop those other Dinolfos before they reach the temple!" Proxi told him. "By the way, where is Skull Kid?"

"Up there," a nearby Goron Captain answered, pointing at the top of a cliff. "That's where we built our grave for our leader, Darmani. But that evil Skull Kid took it over and claimed it as his base! He's also blocked the secret entrance up to it with snow!"

Deciding it would be best to find a way to reach Skull Kid for later, Link darted through the Southern Keep and arrived at the first group of monsters advancing towards the temple. Link fought bravely against the Dinolfos and successfully defeated him. He finished off all of the Stalchildren afterwards.

"He sure is fighting strong," one of the Goron Captains remarked. "We should help out! Men! Destroy any monsters advancing towards the temple!"

And just like that, the other three groups were all stopped by gorons.

"Thank you!" one of the Hylian Captains thanked them.

Seeing how they were taken care of, Link darted back to the keep he cut through and began slaughtering the Stalchildren inside. Once enough were defeated, the keep boss appeared. Link quickly destroyed the Stalfos, claiming the Southern Keep as his own.

Not too long after the keep was taken, a Goron Captain was successful in defeating an advancing Dinolfos, reducing the amount down to two.

"You're not getting past me!" he roared.

Link met up with a Hylian Captain and another Goron Captain working to defeat another advancing Dinolfos. Together, the three finished him off quite quickly. Link used another spin attack to get rid of the Stalchildren and hurried off towards the last advancing Dinolfos.

Before he arrived there, he found another keep, the Western Keep, overrun with monsters. He darted inside and began to fight the Stalchildren there. While fighting them, the Goron Captain was able to defeat the last advancing Dinolfos.

"Nice job!" Proxi congratulated him. "That was the last advancing monster!"

"Salvage your victory," Skull Kid warned them. "Because it will be your last!"

Skull Kid then used his magic to summon reinforcements.

"More monsters?" a Goron Captain complained. He and some other captains lead Hylian soldiers and gorons alike towards the new enemies.

"That's it! Enough hiding!" Skull Kid cried soon after. "It's time to find those remains!"

Skull Kid, accompanied by Tatl and Tael, levitated out of the Enemy Base. He looked down at the battlefield below and leaped down from the very top of the cliff. He landed on his feet and continued onwards, across the frozen lake.

After claiming the Western Keep, Link soon arrived at the snow bridge that leads to the Snowhead Temple. Attached from their mountain over to the other, it did not see very safe.

Nonetheless, he began to run across and towards the temple. He safely reached the other side and began to make his way up the spiral snow path that wrapped around the temple itself. He charged inside, where some of his forces, but mostly Skull Kid's Forces, already claimed keeps. He entered one and began fighting, beginning to search for the Boss Key.

He quickly defeated the Keep Boss and claimed the East Room, but found no key inside. He moved on to the West Room and continued to fight. Once the Keep Boss appeared, he defeated him, and this time was rewarded with a red and gold chest. He opened it up and removed the golden Boss Key from inside.

He hurried through the temple, killing any Stalchildren and Stalfos in his way, and arrived at the closed doors to the boss, Goht. Once he placed the key in the door, they opened by themselves.

When he stepped inside, he was surprised to find that it didn't actually lead to a keep; it led into a circular room that wrapped around the entire temple, outside of the keeps but inside the walls themselves.

There was a stack of wood lined up on the right side of the path. Suddenly, footsteps could be heard. They grew louder and louder, and the shaking on the ground grew harder and harder, until Goht himself crashed through the thin wall and roared.

He was a very large mechanical bull, almost as tall as Odolwa. But too be fair, this bull runs on all fours. Link eyed his two sharp horns.

Suddenly, Skull Kid entered the room.

"Thank you for opening the doors to the boss room," he thanked him. "I couldn't have done it myself. Actually, I could have, but I decided to leave all of the fun for you."

"Come on, Link!" Proxi began. "Let's beat this guy before Skull Kid does!"

Goht then began to charge down the path, making them all watch him leave.

"Tatl! Tael! With me!" Skull Kid demanded, and the three flew off after the beast. Link ran after them as well, with Proxi close behind.

They soon caught up with the beast, who was simply running. He was fast, so even if either one of them were able to catch up with him, they wouldn't have enough time to deal any damage.

That was when Link came up with an idea. He whipped out his trusty Hookshot, aimed at Goht before he got too far, and fired. The hook latched onto his rear, and the chain began to recoil, taking Link along with it. With his sword out, he stopped the beast, which knocked Goht down to the ground.

Link began to attack the beast while he was stunned. Skull Kid also did the same, attempting to fight Link as well. Once Link had enough energy, he leaped high into the air and landed on Goht's head, stabbing his sword inside. Goht roared in pain as Link jumped off, and he climbed to his feet.

Skull Kid attacked Link a few times and hurried off after the creature. He knew that Skull Kid, obviously, didn't have a Hookshot, so he would only be able to fight him once he was down.

Link came up with another idea. Seeing how they were too far, he began to run the opposite direction. He ran and ran until Goht came into view. He dodged out of the way as to not get hit, spun around, and fired the Hookshot again. It latched onto the back of the mechanical bull and pulled Link up.

Once he was down again, Link and Skull Kid began to fight it. Link performed a spin attack, which knocked Skull Kid into the wall. Because of the extra damage dealt, Goht was ultimately defeated, granting Link Goht's remains as they appeared in his hands. He also picked up all of the rupees dropped by Goht.

"Uh-oh," Skull Kid worried. "Koume and Kotake aren't going to be too pleased. I'd better get out of here!"

Skull Kid then disappeared from the battlefield, causing his forces to retreat out of the mountains.

"Hooray! The mountains are safe!" a Goron Captain cheered. "Thank you so very much for helping us!"

"We will always answer the call for help," a Hylian Captain answered.

"The battle is won," Proxi cheered as well. "I'm so glad you're not hurt, Link!"