I'm so sorry I've not updated for nearly three weeks!! I hope you've not all lost interest in this story! First had an attack of writers block, then I didn't like the original chapter 17 (this is the fourth draft!) and finally I acquired Persona 3, which has slightly distracted my every spare moment. I will try to do better though.
Thanks to: Yuleen75, BookLover13, QuinKilo1055, BrazeRancor, The Princess of the Universe, La Generala and ADD Kyuubi Naruto for your reviews! What can I say - You guys all deserve cookies and cakes and if I could I would provide them for you. Anyway, I'll let you get back to the story now! Thanks for reading.
Chapter Seventeen – Flutes and Frustrations
Link was the first to wake up. There was a strange soft rumbling sound coming from the air all around him. His fingers slid towards his sword. He always kept it within grabbing distance, just in case. As he turned slightly, he bumped into Zelda. This arrested his attention. The rumbling sound, so unfamiliar to him, was easily explained. His princess was a snorer. He grinned and prodded her. This did not stop the offending noise in the slightest, in fact it seemed to get louder, and she snuggled up even closer to him. Apart from the snoring, Link didn't object to this exploitation of his body as a pillow, so he leaned back on his knapsack and closed his eyes.
They had travelled quite far, and apart from an argument over whether keese made acceptable pets, a moment of friction when Link had shot a Skulltula from Zelda's head without forewarning her, a momentary lapse of concentration on her part, which almost led to him falling to his death, and a row over whether or not he should have his cloak and boots back, they had got on pretty well.
Link thought so anyway. He discounted the fact that Zelda had called him many vile names, sworn to kill him on at least five separate occasions, zapped him twice and threatened him with his own sword and had slapped him six times. He had lived for a long time in a nation controlled by women, such brutal punishment was par for the course as far as he was concerned. The only thing that had upset him was when Zelda had held his holey-reedy-notey-makey-thing (that she had insultingly described as a flute) to ransom. Just because he wouldn't tell her how he planned on keeping them both warm at night when it was freezing cold, and they only had a blanket and cloak between them.
She had been furious to learn he proposed either running away with all the supplies, leaving her stranded, or failing that, sleeping together. It was not until he explained that sleeping together had no improper connotations whatsoever, and that they would be lying back to back, and it really was the best way of keeping warm, that she relented a little. The icing on the cake was when he wondered what Impa would make of their actions.
Surprisingly, this thought won Zelda over. In fact, it had made her positively enthusiastic, although she refused to disclose the reason why. And, after demonstrating that he really could play the reedy-thingy by composing a beautiful, lilting lullaby on the spot, much to her amazement, they had called their day's adventure officially over.
It had been a fun day, decided Link, as he allowed the sun to warm his brain (and wake the hamster that lived in there – thus allowing it to spring to life on it's little wheel again) but he did not want to have another day like it for at least a week. All that running around, fending of lecherous trees, appeasing Tingle, worrying about Zelda and finding stupid keys was quite monotonous. And as for Zelda's assumption that there was another six of those 'dungeons' (as she put it – he preferred the phrase 'doom pits') to explore and another six Hylian Lords-come-monsters to defeat, the very thought made him groan.
However, if going through six such similar ordeals meant that he could wake up next to a sleeping Zelda, who had somehow managed to wrap her arms around him during the night and was now sleeping with her head resting on his chest, he decided it would be worth it. Or it would be until she woke up, realised her fatal error and either electrocuted him or burned him alive. Link gazed down at her and stroked her hair gently. Even getting a painful zapping was worth this moment of contentment. It only needed Amber to make it complete.
His dog always doubled up as a pillow for him.
ZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAPPPPPPP
"What the heck?" If the giant thunderbolt that still rung in his ears had not woken Link from his slumber, the shout coming from Zelda's panicked lips would have.
"Sorry." He mumbled, still in that horribly sleepy state, when you know you should be more awake than you actually are. He waited for a moment for the pain to set in – knowing that at any second, his muscles would start tingling as an aftershock of being targeted (yet again) by Zelda's anti-Link magical arsenal.
"Who are you?" Came Zelda's voice again. Link was still waiting the moment of pain to hit him but he realised that his companion was clearly just as asleep as he was. She apparently didn't recognise him, which was unusual. As he opened one eye to peer at her he realised that she was clinging tightly to his arm and was trembling. This made his eyes open properly.
"What's up, Zel?" He asked.
She was not looking at him, but something up on a rock above them. He followed her gaze and tilted his head slightly. Against the backdrop of the rising sun, it was difficult to see exactly what was standing there but whatever it was, it was the strangest thing he had ever seen. Its body was huge, rotund and dark, it's lanky arms and stumpy legs painfully thin, its head oddly flattened and its eyes large and beady. Its mouth was wide and its white teeth shone brightly.
Link had never been afraid of anything. He wasn't going to start now. He cast his eyes of the creature with more amusement than alarm. "Who, or what are you?" He enquired. He rested his hand once more on the hilt of his sword and stared right into the creature's eyes.
"Oh don't wake up, Goro." Came a slow, very deep voice. "I didn't want to disturb you." The monster started to slowly descend from the rocky outcrop. As it moved into the shade, its body became more defined. It seemed to be made entirely of brown and fawn coloured rocks. Its movements were awkward and slow, it's legs were very short and fragile looking, yet were apparently more than capable of holding it's massive body upright. Its dark eyes were kind, and its wide mouth smiled pleasantly.
"I do believe it's a Gorgon." Whispered Zelda.
The 'Gorgon' turned its head in her direction, looking puzzled. It studied her for a moment before saying "I'm a Goron, Goro."
"A Gorrongorrow?" Repeated Link, confused. "I've never heard that before."
The creature sighed and spoke with even more slow, deliberate calm. "I. Am. A. Goron. I. Called. You. "Goro". It. Is. A. Formal. Idiom. We. Gorons. Use. When. Addressing. Strangers."
"Oh. Right. You're a Goron, Goro." Link sighed with relief as he had this point clarified. He spoiled this effect by then turning to Zelda and whispered (loudly), "What the heck's a Goron?"
"One of those, idiot."
The Goron creature rolled his beady eyes and stared at the pair of Hylians with some exasperation. He didn't really like dealing with 'Stupids' (the more informal idiom he liked to use when referring to Hylians). And these two were definitely strange, he decided, and one looked a little dim. He sighed again and explained (slowly and in simple words that even the 'Stupids' would understand) that the Gorons were reclusive rock people that lived in the mountains, ate stones and were famous for their mining, bombs and spring water. "Speaking of which…" Continued the Goron, in a more upbeat manner, "Would you like to buy any?"
"Any what?"
"Spring water." He smiled happily. "Or I have some arrows, bombs, maybe even a shield…or…"
"Do you have any clothes?" Interrupted Zelda. As much as she enjoyed the vision of Link semi-naked (as any self-respecting Hylian girl would), she was feeling increasingly guilty over her theft of his tunic, gauntlets and boots. She remembered that he had almost been blue with cold last night (and had still refused to accept anything but his cloak back from her).
The Goron stared at his own body in a puzzled manner and then smiled. "Gorons do not need clothes."
Zelda refrained from glancing at Link, she knew that he would be laughing, they had both noticed the Goron was embarrassingly naked, and said in an equally plain manner, "Yes, but Hylians do."
"Ah. Well, I do not sell clothes, Goro, but one of my brothers in our village may be able to help. He sometimes trades with the Stupids-uh I mean-Goros down there." He waved his large hand in the general vicinity of Hyrule far below them. "So…you don't want to buy some hot spring water?"
"Who in their right minds would buy hot spring water?" Asked Link, any offence this may have caused minimised by the apparently lost look in his innocent blue eyes.
"It is very beneficial!" Began the Goron, enthusiastically. "Oo…we Gorons love it so."
"Can I have a free sample?" Link asked, cutting the Goron off mid-sales pitch. The Goron answered that he could have a taste for ten rupees. Link considered this for a moment but declined the kind offer. He glanced back at Zelda. "Shall we get going, sweetheart?"
"Might as well." She agreed. Ignoring the Goron, they got on with the simple task of repacking all of Link's meagre worldly possessions back into his knapsack.
"Um…" Began the Goron, watching these signs with some misgiving.
"Yeah?"
"Er…" The Goron scratched his head, thinking of words to detain the Hylians with. "What are you travellers doing on Death Mountain anyway?" He asked at length.
"Well…" Began Link, casting a mischievous glance in his companion's direction, which was duly ignored. The gauntlet had been thrown down. The challenge accepted with a grin. Link stretched his fingers and smiled, "It's a long story but have you ever heard of the Chameleon Stone?"
"Er…no." Replied the Goron.
"The Goddess Saeru?"
"Er…ah…no."
"How about the Sorcerer King of Calatia?"
"Um…"
"His name was Lefestra, if that's any help."
"Oh." The Goron scratched his head again and frowned. "No." He admitted.
"How about a Cursed Hylian Lord named Aranda, who is said to have fled to the confines of Death Mountain to live out his days as a nightmarish creature, feared and alone. Forever guarding his secret and a key to Saeru's heart?"
"Can't say it rings a bell." Said the Goron, apologetically.
"Hmm." Link rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Okay, how about this final question, do you know if there is anywhere on this Mountain where one might find a Dream Snatcher?"
"I don't quite get your meaning…sorry…"
Link sighed and shook his head. "I'll rephrase that. Is there a mysterious, hidden cave, deep within the mountain, which your people avoid as it has a great evil secret lurking in its depths, known to be filled with cute, fluffy, bitey creatures?"
"Fluffy Bitey…eh?" Repeated the Goron, casting a look of entreaty at Zelda.
Zelda, who stood watching Link with one arm folded across her chest and scepticism writ all over her face, sighed and explained, "He means things like Keese, Like-Likes, Rats, and Skultula's."
"Oh." The Goron turned his attention back to Link and gave him an odd look. Link immediately countered with a 'What?' look.
"Oh right – caves." Stammered the Goron, recovering. "Well it so happens that in the deepest, darkest mine there is a door, locked with a golden key that nobody has opened in a thousand years. There is supposed to be a demon sealed beyond the door. Of course, the key is lost now but still…"
"That's all we need." Exclaimed Link. "I just knew there would be a hidden doom pit out here. Yay!"
"It's not a 'Yay' moment yet, Stinkypoo." Said Zelda, attempting to calm his glee. "But it does sound hopeful." She returned her attention back to the Goron. "How do we…?"
"Don't ask him, we'll do this ourselves! It's more fun that way." Stated Link. To the Goron he smiled and said, "Well, we don't need to trouble you any longer. We'll be on our way now. Out of interest, just where are those mines?"
"If you want to go and have a look at the Door and try to find the key all you need to do is ask the Elder."
"Really? Nah, that can't be so. It's far too easy." Complained Link. "Let's do it my way!"
"Oh hush, Link. Let's just see the Elder first, shall we? Even if it is that easy, you'll manage to complicate everything anyway." Said Zelda, as she stemmed the flow of words from his mouth by placing her hand firmly over it. "Let's just count our little blessings, eh?"
"It is easy to get in the cavern, Goro." The Goron assured them. "The Elder's bound to let you go have a look. In fact, he asked me to come find you."
"Now this sounds more promising." Said Link, a beautiful smile adorning his face once more.
"Wrong word, Link. You mean 'disturbing' not promising."
Link pulled a face and thanked his companion for correcting him. "It sounds deliciously disturbing. Why does the Elder want to see us?"
"Well actually he just wants to see whichever of you was playing that flute music last night."
"Flute?" Link's smile vanished and Zelda was suddenly struck with the urge to giggle. "IT IS NOT A FLUTE!" Exclaimed Link, filled with righteous indignation. Zelda choked and he turned on her. "This is all your fault!"
"Oh get over yourself!" She laughed, "You know it's a flute."
"It is NOT. It's a blowy-reedy-notey-makey thing."
Sensing an argument was brewing, even though both combatants were laughing, the Goron hastily interrupted. "Er well, whatever it is, the Elder would like to meet you. Urgently." He added, a little nervously, "I couldn't figure out which of you was playing last night and my brothers didn't bring the light until you'd stopped so I…"
"Hang on." Interrupted Zelda, coldly. Link took one look at her face and took a step back. He recognised the steely eyed, tight lipped, clenched fist look instantly and knew it was time to get out of his Zelda's way. For once, her fury was not directed at him. She addressed the Goron. "Last night? Were you here?"
"Um…" The Goron's skinny legs shuffled from side to side, and he couldn't meet Zelda's flashing blue eyes.
"YOU PERVERT!" She screamed.
Even though he was far taller, bulkier and stronger than her, the Goron's fragile arms flew up to protect his face as Zelda flew forward. It could have been that he was genuinely scared of the diminutive Hylian, calling down murder on his head but it was more likely, decided Link – an appreciative audience to this spectacle – that the Goron was more worried about the way that Zelda's hands were lit by white flames and sparks of light were coming from the air all around her.
"EEEK…wait…" Stammered the Goron, as it curled itself up into a foetal position. "I wasn't alone…"
"WHAT?" Exclaimed Zelda, stopped in her tracks. "Explain yourself this instant."
The Goron didn't appear to want to come out of its protective ball any time soon, and whist Link didn't think Zelda could actually damage it, the Goron was clearly not so sure on this point. It was visibly shaking. "Couldn't…help…it. Goron women are…they don't have…"
"What?"
"They look just like us." Wailed the Goron. "You can't expect a lava-blooded males like us to just ignore a hot little…er…rock like you."
It was at this moment that Link ruined the whole atmosphere, that being the Goron's terror and Zelda's absolute fury, by bursting out laughing.
It took Link five hours and all of the charm of which he was capable to calm Zelda. As usual, after being angry at the Gorons for daring to spy on her, she then realised that it was all Link's fault for making her sleep on the mountain in the first place. Just as had happened when she was trapped in the Great Deku Tree, as soon as she realised that it was all Link's fault, she felt instantly better. And then, as Link was standing right in front of her, ready to take the brunt of her annoyance, she felt even more gleeful.
After a good hour of berating him, threatening to kill him and zapping him when she deemed it necessary, she felt much better. Link did not. In fact, he was a little annoyed with the Goron for running away as he did, leaving him to deal with the furious Zelda, even though she did apologise by kissing his cheek once she had calmed down (which he actually thought was quite a good bargain). And he still hadn't found out why the Goron Elder was interested in his reedy-thing song.
The Goron had left them at their campsite, whilst he rolled off rather quickly, giving them precise instructions on how to find the Goron City. He left with the words, "It wouldn't be good to add any more noise up there…"
So now it was day five, or six of travelling together, but both Link and Zelda were starting to lose count. Although she would not admit to anything so sweet, like Link she felt that she had known him for a lifetime. She was kind of glad she hadn't though. She had the feeling that knowing somebody like Link for any length of time would send her to an early grave. She never knew what he was going to do or say next and the experience had taught her to be constantly on the edge when around him.
As they walked side by side up the steep slope towards the entrance to the Goron City, a strange sound assailed their ears. It reminded Link of the Maku Tree and he shuddered. Zelda's hands covered her ears and she grimaced at Link. "Wonder what we're letting ourselves in for this time?" She asked.
"Sounds 'ominous'…is that the right word, Zellie?"
"Indeed." Zelda smiled at his pretend confusion and took his arm. "And 'cause you were so smart, you may pull me up the rest of the way." She ordered.
The Goron City was built inside Death Mountain. It was a massive oval cavern in one of the many caves that ran through the peak. The Gorons had built it up from that base. Dotted around the exterior of the cavern were small caves. As most of these had doors over the mouths, Link assumed they were actually houses. It was built on three tiers, the walkways were narrow and full of pebbles, and the air was slightly humid. On the lowest floor there was a pond filled with bubbling water and a couple more caves. The doors across these had been painted with various colourful symbols, no doubt poignant to the Gorons, but to Link's eyes, they looked like paw prints.
As they made their cautious way down, the wailing noise grew louder to the point where it was starting to give Link a migraine. It was clearly affecting his companion in the same way, for she had gritted her teeth and her clasp on his arm was so tight it had started to cut off the blood circulation in his fingers. He would have smiled reassuringly at her, but the noise was so dreadful that he could barely keep himself upright as it was. He just wanted to curl into a ball, as so many of the Gorons he could see had already done, and wait for the torture to be over.
Their nameless companion from earlier had told them to go to the Elder's house – it was the one with the red painted door on the lowest tier. So that was where they went. When they arrived there, the noise was deafening. The Goron was stoutly waiting for them, though his hands were covering his earholes. He grimaced in relief as he saw them and avoided looking in Zelda's direction.
"You're here!" He remarked, a little pointlessly. He shepherded them into the larger of the two caves and slammed the door behind them.
The first thing Link noticed was that the noise went from unbearable to deafening. It bounced off the walls and right into his poor ears. It was so bad that he actually realised he would have preferred listening to the Maku Tree's protestations of love for all eternity rather than have his ears destroyed by the vile racket. His face was screwed up in pain, so he didn't really take too much note of the second fact about the cavern – it was very dark in there.
"HELLO?" He shouted. His voice was like a whisper in amongst that dreadful wailing.
Zelda, who all the while had been holding on to his arm as if her life depended on it, suddenly went white. She had a sudden thought – what if this was the second Dream Snatcher? Surely this noise was the stuff of nightmares? She gulped and tried to peer into the cave but it was too dark to see anything, she also tried to warn Link but he really couldn't hear her. She was yet to perfect the art of shouting.
Suddenly her arm was grabbed from behind.
Zelda might not have mastered the art of shouting, but she could scream with the best of them. Of course, her screaming prompted Link into action. In a flash, he had drawn his sword and had slammed it down onto the hand of whatever held her. Then came another scream – even higher pitched.
"OWWWWWWWWW!" In the darkness, two little sparks flickered and then came the light of a lantern. It lit up the face of their attacker. It was an ancient Goron. His face largely hid by his long white hair, which hung limply to his shoulders. His lips protruded almost as far as his sagging stomach, and his legs and arms were even more fragile looking than the last Goron they had met. He was rubbing the back of his hand, where Link's sword had hit, his huge bottom lip quivering slightly. He glared at the Hylians.
"Whippersnappers!" He said, shaking his walking stick in their direction. "Is this how you young 'uns respect your elders in Hyrule these days? Zapping them and attacking them without warning – it's a disgrace… And all I wanted was to demand your help…honestly I don't know what the world's coming to…what with these Goros and…"
The Elderly Goron stumbled away, muttering to himself. Link was amazed by how long his voice had been, even above that dreadful wailing, he had heard every word, almost as if he had been able to read it. He exchanged a glance with Zelda, and reluctantly followed. They were led to a small room at the back of the cave. The door was shut behind them as they crossed the threshold. Surprisingly, this did not worry the pair as much as it normally would. You see – the door was made of stone and the stone blocked out a good portion of the crying. Granting the Hylians (and their ears) merciful respite.
"I'm sorry about that…" Began Zelda.
"Pah. Young 'uns have no manners." Snorted the elderly Goron. He stared at them for long moment before sighing and rubbing his eyes. He was evidently very tired. "You two got any kids yet?"
"Eh?" Said Link.
"We are not…" Stammered Zelda.
The Goron looked from one to the other and snorted. "Pah, no morals either, I daresay. Hylians today…it sickens me, it does!"
"Er – what sickens you?" Asked Link.
"People like you!" Grumbled the Goron. "In my day when a Goron met a Goron female…"
"Providing he was sure it was female!" Whispered Link. Zelda choked.
"…It'd be an honour to make an honest Goron of her." Continue the Goron Elder, his eyes (or at least the bits of his eyes that were visible) misting up slightly. He suddenly rounded on Link – catching him mid-grin. "Don't you want to marry her?"
"I did, and we are." Said Link, quickly.
"Oh." The Elder seemed nonplussed by this response, and did not quite observe how Zelda had taken it. Link had and quickly nudged her to play along. He figured it was easier to lie now, and still the old-fogey's tongue, than to bear a monologue about the morals of today's youth. "Oh. Well anyway, you don't have children yet?"
"No, but we will soon." Replied Link, back to his normal cheery self. This was despite the fact that Zelda was clearly vowing to kill him again. At least she was quiet, he reasoned as he took her hand. She glared at him. The Goron elder smiled benevolently. This was young love as it was supposed to be, he thought. It was just a shame that the girl seemed to be in such a sour mood. He remembered years ago meeting a woman from Kakariko who also acted in that manner. What was her name again? Inki? Bah, he couldn't remember. It was too far in the past, and the noise that had kept him and his entire tribe awake for the past three days had driven him almost to the point of insanity.
"It is a shame you do not have children, but you may be able to help." Said the Elder. "You might have noticed this noise?"
"We could hardly miss it." Snapped Zelda.
"Yes, it is my Grandson, Darmati." Normally one would expect to see a look of love, of pride or a smile in the eyes of a devoted Grandfather when he spoke about his grandson. Unfortunately, the only look in the Elder's eyes at that moment was one of slightly manic desperation. "He's been awake for three whole days now and nothing we can do will sooth him."
"And where do we come in?"
"Well when we saw you yesterday, we thought – Ah a Hylian Couple! Surely they will have children."
"Surely you've had children yourself, if he's your Grandson!" Said Link.
"Well yes, but you see…" Link's mind tuned off as the Elder slowly explained every circumstance that had led to the current situation, purely because he wasn't actually interested in the plight of the Gorons. Link wanted to accomplish three things – first help Zelda on her mission to find Doom Pits, second, to meet up with (and hopefully irritate the hell out of) Impa and, finally, he had to find Amber. He had found her as a tiny pup five years ago and this was the time he had ever been separated from her for more than a few hours. The worry was starting to get to him.
"…and that is why I asked my Gorons to bring you here. So you can play that flute melody again and try to send him to sleep."
The word flute instantly recalled Link's wandering thoughts and he glared at the Elder. He was going to state the obvious, when Zelda cut in. "If we do this and manage to help the young one sleep, what will we get in return?" She asked.
"Er…you will not help us out of the goodness of your heart?" Asked the Goron.
"No." Zelda smiled sweetly at him and added, "Especially not after I was labelled as 'a hot little rock.' What will you give us?"
"Fine, fine. I will give you a bottle of hot spring water. AND you can keep the bottle."
"That's it?" Zelda asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously, "A bottle full of useless Spring Water – probably the same water you bathe in? What kind of lamey prize is that? And, what's more…" The wailing, which had been getting louder and louder, started to get more irritating. Zelda cut herself off mid sentence and closed her eyes. Link heard her muttering a curse to herself and wondered if she too was losing her mind.
'It would be nice if she was', he thought. They would be so happy together, living in Link's Loopy World, a happy place filled with little ol' mountains, and lakes and happy trees and friendly bushes. And keese and skulltulas and Chus and… 'oh dear goddess, I'm cracking up too!' moaned Link to himself. He sighed and picked up his reedy-noise maker and slipped from the room.
He had forgotten how loud the crying was; as he approached he noticed that there were many Goron casualties littering the floor – curled up in the foetal position, spindly arms wrapped around their heads. Some were rocking from side to side, muttering to themselves.
It was not difficult to find the source of the terrible voice. Given that the Goron baby was relatively small, Link found it disturbing that it could make that much noise. It didn't even look up as he slid into the room. All around the bed his toys and spring water bottles and blankets were scattered. At the head of the bed, a solitary Goron stood, futilely trying to distract the young one's attention. Link closed his eyes and tried to block out the sound of the child's cries. It didn't work so he went to plan 'b' and tried to pretend he was a million miles away. He blew a couple of notes into the reed and then frowned. It was slightly off key. How dare the Reedy-Tune-Maker be out of tune at this precise moment! Link glared at the little flute (read: holey-ready-notey-makey-thing) and shook it. He blew it again, and it made a happy 'Phuu-ee' noise. That was far better. Link sighed and leaded his shoulders against the stone wall and held the flute to his lips again and then and then…
The melody was beautiful and calming. The notes trilled and danced through the air as lightly as a brook over stones. Link smiled as he played, his mind a million miles away. He did not notice the steady thud, thud…PLONK…noises as the Gorons literally started to drop to sleep one by one. Nor did he notice that the Goron child, Darmati, had ceased crying and was watching him with wide eyes, or that Zelda had slipped into to the room with the Goron Elder. The notes trilled higher and higher, like a skylark's song and then, as the melody came to a conclusion, it slowed and settled, becoming quieter and softer until it finished on a long, beautiful sigh.
Link opened his eyes and smiled slightly as he held the instrument to his eyes. He failed to see Zelda's amazement, for his attention was fixed on Darmati. "Go to sleep, little one." He murmured, almost like he was casting a spell.
The Goron child's big eyes remained fixed on his face. "You make nightmares go away..." whispered that child, and then his eyes closed and he slumped forward.
"Oh thank the Rocks!" Exclaimed the Goron Elder. Then he crashed to the floor. Link stayed motionless for a while; making sure the Gorons really all were asleep before stowing the flute away into his pocket and turning to Zelda.
"That was…beautiful." She admitted.
"What me stuffing things into my pants, or the song?" Returned Link.
"Don't be more stupid than you have to be, StinkiLink. The song you played was incredible. What did the kid mean though – you scare nightmares?"
"Dunno. Child speak – I never did get it! Anyway, shall we continue? Want to do a spot of thievery-I mean-shopping whilst these lovelies are asleep?" Link grinned at her, his eyes lit with nothing but sheer mischief. "Hey, we could even try these famous hot springs for free!"
"You really want to try them?"
"I think you're actually supposed to sit in them not drink 'em but still, I'd rather not." Answered Link. "You never know where those Gorons have been!"
"True. But I do think we should really continue, I don't really want to spend another day up here, entertaining rocks and I don't think our current attire is suitable for travelling through any more caves. If there is a Dungeon and attendant Dream Snatcher here, then we ought to prepare for the worst and get kitted out."
Link nodded and watched the Gorons thoughtfully. To him it didn't seem that they were going to wake up anytime soon. In fact, even when he nudged one of them with his bare foot, it just sighed and rolled onto its back, legs and arms splayed out at random. It reminded Link so much of Amber in one of her deep sleeps that he almost expected the Goron's legs to start making running motions at any second. "Did you find out anything about the Key?" He asked, as he padded around the room nudging all the Gorons onto their backs.
"Not really. I had got to the point of asking where it was last seen and then we heard your music and had to come listen to it." Answered Zelda, she watched Link's antics with a mixture of confusion and amusement. "I don't really want to steal from these people though. It goes against my morals."
"True." Said Link, standing back and admiring his handiwork. All the Gorons in the room were now splayed out on their backs, looking remarkably stupid, completely out for the count. "Last time I did that, the next time the shop keeper saw me he tried to kill me and everybody on the Island called me 'Thief' instead of 'Link'. It kinda got to me after a bit. I mean, I was broke at the time and I thought it was a bit mean of them. All I did was trick the shop keeper by running around him so he got dizzy then legging it out of the shop with his eight-hundred rupee bow, which incidentally I lost on the journey home."
"Well doesn't that teach you that crime doesn't pay? You know, I think the name kinda suits you, Thief." Smiled Zelda. "I'll bet you've done far worse things than that though."
Link smiled at this but did not make any comment. He never talked about himself if he could help it. Instead, he directed his companion's attention back to the matter at hand – namely equipping themselves for an adventure in the doom pit and how to pay for the said equipment. It was decided in the end to first see what (if anything) the Goron's had on sale that would fit, and then they would deal with finding the key to the hidden door. Hopefully, once they had done that, the Gorons would have woken up and they could pay for their goods in a perfectly legitimate manner and would be on their way, off on another adventure.
"So, what kind of monster do you reckon Aranda is?" Pondered Zelda, sometime later as they examined the golden doorway that led to the hidden mine.
"Let's think – it's probably hot in there, full of lava and boulders and fire and stuff. It's gotta be something cliché." Replied Link, grinning at the thought.
"What would scare you though?"
"Nothing. Haven't I already told you that?" Laughed Link. He ran his hand over the ancient door and frowned. "If Aranda was a Goron I reckon he'd turn into a wailing child. That was pretty horrific."
"Yeah." Zelda shuddered at the memory. Her ears were still ringing even though two hours had passed since Darmati was sent to sleep. "Something cliché, huh? What about a Salamander?"
"A Salawhater? Oh, lizardy thing. Oh no, Saeru would make it bigger than that! It's gotta be a dragon." Link grinned happily. "Now that would be a fabulous pet!"
I hope I wasn't too mean on the Gorons, and this chapter wasn't too dull. I couldn't quite get the tone of it right, so I apologise. The next installment should be more fun! As always, I would be grateful for your reviews!
