Chapter 4

"Two Young Warriors"

The walk up Death Mountain is a treacherous one. Tektites, Skulltullas, and other dangers are numerous, putting even adults in great peril, much less children. Luckily for us, we both had shields and weapons. Well, Link did. I had a slingshot, but it was close enough.

"Be sure to have your shield and slingshot out at all times," Said Link at last, "It's really dangerous up here."

I had kind of figured that, seeing an expression of tension cross his face and attempt to cover the look of complete shock.

"And by the way," he added out of nowhere, "You are really scary."

I nodded, taking my shield from off my back. I really was. There was no other way to describe the shock and astonishment of thinking something, then having someone reply aptly to your thoughts, swearing they heard them.

"Well, let's just get this over with," I said, nodding toward the Mountain Trail.

"Yeah, but don't you see the Tektites?" He asked tensely, then, he noticed my feet, "Oh, you might want to put your boots on now."

Tektites are spider-like creatures with four legs, one eye, and come in two different flavours; red and blue. They are about three feet tall, and came up to about the middle of my chest. They came up to above my head while I was sitting down to put my socks and shoes on. This time, my socks were dry, so I put them on. After I got my left boot on, I had another moment. I just stared at the Tektites further up the trail and couldn't take my eyes off them.

"Hey! Now is no time to get stage fright!" Navi yelled in my ear.

I batted her away, but this time she dodged me and continued yelling as I put my other boot on.

"What?" I said, "I'm not scared.. I'm preparing myself."

Link grabbed my arm, and jerked me to my feet and dragged along with him. He told me to take my slingshot out and help him with the Tektites. I used my free hand to get Link's slingshot and bag of bullets out of the knapsack and managed, somehow, to tie the bag onto the belt on my hip. Asking Link to let go of my arm, I prepared to fire off a few rounds at the Tektites. However, there were only three. I gave Link a questioning glance and he shrugged. There was an abundance of dead Tektite parts on the ground, but the three that bared down on us were the only ones left. Link raised his sword and shield, and I prepped the slingshot.

'Here we go', I thought.

When we'd finished off all the creatures, I stood next to Link, both of us staring at the carnage. I stole his sword, reached into my bag and grabbed what was left of the water, cleaned the sword and wiped off on my dress, and cut into my orange. I gave half the orange to Link, gave him his sword back, and we ate, trying not to puke at the mess. I could visibly see Link wretch a few times, and I had to turn around so I wouldn't succumb to the churning in my stomach.

And it was a MESS. Tektite body parts everywhere, my own blood from when one of the little suckers stole my handkerchief, and burn marks from... wait, burn marks?

"Link," I said indicating the burn marks, "is that normal?"

He thought for a moment as I secured the handkerchief again. Well, the burn marks really looked more like explosion marks, but what would explode up here?

"No... That's just weird," he replied.

'You ain't just whistling Dixie', I thought.

I felt a flood of emotion rush over Link as I sensed his thoughts drift somewhere far away. A tear ran down his cheek, and he wiped at his face with his right thumb.

"What's Dixie?" he mumbled to cover up the near crying.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said gently, "Like earlier, I didn't say anything."

"Okay, you know what?" Link said, shaking his head to snap out of it, "You are truly scary."

"No kidding," I replied nonchalantly.

Death Mountain has three levels of ground, kind of like a staircase, going up to Goron City in a zigzag pattern. Something rolled by giving off a faint hissing noise. Being on the second level of the slope gave me a sense of vertigo that made me shake. Once the rolling thing got to us, the hissing noise turned into a deafening roar of an explosion and Link was knocked into me by the blast and we fell! My fall was broken by a dead Tektite and I broke Link's fall, though he'd flipped sideways.

"Link," I groaned, "Get off me you fatso!"

Link didn't move.

"Link? Oh shit."

Link had been knocked out by the fall.

"Hey, are you two all right?" called a Goron on the second level, "Sorry!"

"HEY NOTHING!" I yelled, "WE NEED HELP!"

The Goron rolled down the slopes, and up to me. So uthat's/u what'd been hissing.

"What do you need help... with... Did I do that?" He said, seeing the dead Tektites, and Links unconscious body.

"Yes and no. No, we killed the Tektites, but yes, you knocked us off, and Link hit his head. I need some help getting him over my shoulder," I said, grabbing Link by the midsection.

"Oh my Gods," he said, "I'm really sorry."

I wasn't getting anywhere with picking him up.

"Hey, could you help?" I snapped, "Jesus, this guy is heavy."

The Goron lifted Link up effortlessly and put him over my shoulder, and I nearly collapsed under his weight.

"I am REALLY sorry about this. Do you think he'll be all right?" he said, helping me up from my knees.

I looked at Link's arm; it was around my neck and I didn't see any form of blood loss or poor circulation. He should be all right.

"He should be okay," I said, "Look, he's not bleeding anywhere and he's breathing."

He was heavy and weighed, I guessed, around ninety pounds. He seemed to carry all his weight evenly, so it was decently easy to carry him. Not extremely, but decently. Even so, each step I took winded me more. I couldn't talk, but the Goron was striding easily beside me, apologizing profusely.

"Oh, by the way," He said, "I'm Robertran. What's your name? You are really strong for a girl."

I sighed, my knees were trying to give under Links weight. Link had started breathing now, but he wasn't awake yet. He was sleeping, and he had the sleeper hold on me.

"I'm Hylia," I grunted, shifting Link and breathing ruggedly, "And this kind-hearted, patient kind of idiot is Link. I'll just have to carry him until he wakes up. Jeez, this guy can sleep through anything. I'm actually kind of glad he's just asleep, I'd hate for him to be completely unconscious. Why don't you carry him?"

"I'm not much into manual labor" said Robertran, "In fact, the only manual labor I've done is purely by mistake."

Great.

Another Goron, standing next to a blocked cave, ushered to Robertran. Robetran walked over, waved to me, and spoke with the other Goron. I heard a little of what they were talking about. The other Goron was named Cameron. Cameron wondered if Robetran would try using another bomb flower (I guess that's what blew us off the cliff). Robetran said that he'd all ready nearly killed two Hylian kids and a young Gerudo slave, and didn't want to. Wait a minute! Hylian kids and a young Gerudo slave? Maybe that guy could help me carry Link!

I looked around for someone, but the only ones around were me, Link, Robertran and Cameron. Great again.

Near the opening to Goron City, there is a little table-like protrusion from the ground. I set Link on this, and spotted a puddle. Link was sitting up, and snoring away. Oh, how humorous...not.

I went to the puddle to get a drink; I was tired. When I noticed my reflection, I had to swallow a scream.

My hair was a mess, my eyes were blue, and my ears were elongated and pointed, just like Links. I had a thin, pale face, bright red lips, and large eyes. I looked like hell! Before I could get a drink, another Goron, this time female, came out of the city.

"Oh, hello," She said when she noticed us, "Do you know if the cave is open, yet?"

Link snorted, and I jumped.

"Not that I know of," I said shakily, my knees about to give under my own weight, "Robertran and Cameron nearly killed us."

"Oh, my Gods! I'm so sorry! You poor dears. What are your names?" she asked.

"I'm Hylia, and this, sleeping-like-the-dead-and-snoring-like-a-used-saw young man is Link," I said, nearly picking him up, "And we need to see Darunia," and I couldn't get any more strength to pick him up.

In fact, the struggle of lifting him up knocked me to my knees.

"I'm Darunia's wife. My husband isn't in a good mood right now, but I'm sure we could help your poor friend until he's in a better mood" She replied, "My name is Danita."

She started to pick Link up, being careful not to make him hit his head again.

"Thank you for offering, but I'll do it. I've gotten this far, I should fare until he wakes up," I flat out lied.

"Oh, nonsense, dear, you're so tired. Would you like some tea?" She said.

I agreed to the tea, but I wanted something that'd wake me up. Like coffee. I was so tired I'd be willing to ignore what my mother told me and just drink a whole kettle of coffee. If I couldn't carry Link, I might as well make damn sure I don't pass out.

We entered the city, Danita chatting away, too. Do all Gorons like to talk so much?

"So, Hylia," she asked, "where do you two come from?"

"I'm from just outside Hyrule Castle Towne, I'm Zelda's cousin," I replied, "and Link is from The Kokiri Forest, but something makes me not quite sure that he is a Kokiri."

Link started snoring loudly before I could answer much more than that. His snores echoed off the walls of the city and grew louder and more reverberated with each echo. We'd gone down three flights of stairs before Link stopped snoring. The wall in front of us was carved into a multi-storied building complete with windows. I didn't have time to stare because Danita was all ready holding the door for me to enter. We entered into a standing room of sorts, with a large desk carved out of stone and several stone chairs. It sort of looked like a check in room of an Inn.

A particularly large Goron stood behind the desk with a blank look on his stupid-looking face. Danita asked for a room for two and the Goron directed her to sign a slab of parchment with names on it. She signed "Hylia and Link" in Goron script. Well, that's what I think she signed. I could read my name, so I guessed the second and third words. She motioned for me to follow her down a hall, I nodded and took a step, promptly running into a dark-skinned young man.

"I'm sorry, excuse me," I said, "I didn't mean to run into you."

"That's okay," he said. "It's hard to see in these caves; who would this be?" he asked pointing to Link.

"It's Link. He's... compromised," I said, remembering why I let Danita carry him in the first place, "OH! I need to help him!"

The big Goron spoke to the young man in worn red pants and a very old-looking purple-blue vest about something called a Dodongo, but I didn't have time to eavesdrop. I ran back up to Danita as she turned another corner. She took another turn and I heard footsteps following quickly behind me. I didn't think I had time to turn around, so I kept following Danita. She stopped quite suddenly and opened a wood door which lead to a sparsely furnished room. It had two chairs, both made of stone, a stone sink, a wood stove, also made of stone, and a tea kettle. The footsteps came closer, so I quickly shut the door, hoping whoever it was would stop following me. I took eight steps as Danita set Link down on a stone chair when the wooden door was smashed open. I let loose with a scream that pierced even my own ears, and the stranger jumped. The stranger was the young man I'd run into in the lobby.

"Sorry, I tried to stop, but I was moving too fast. I ran into the door trying to follow you guys. I'll fix the door if you need me to," he said apologetically.

"No, that's okay, dear," said Danita, "I'll get the manager to fix it. It wasn't your fault."

"I'm really sorry," he said at me, "are you all right?"

"It's not me you need to worry about," I said, "It's Link. He smacked his head on the ground after Robertran knocked us off a cliff with a bomb flower."

"You too, huh?" he laughed, "so how is he doing?"

"He's asleep, but I've still got a bad feeling."

Danita started brewing some coffee for herself as we spoke, and I noticed, out of the corner of my eye, how she did. She put the coffee beans on a cutting board, and used a stone to grind them up. Then she put them on a fabric, tied the fabric, and put it in water that she'd been boiling.

"Well he hit his head, did you check the damage?" he asked looking at Link.

"Awh, shit," I said, "I never thought of that. I checked his pulse, though."

I quickly walked over to Link in a slight panic and pulled his hat off. Sure enough, there was a patch of dark blood. Danita looked over at me and grimaced. The young man hissed between his teeth, a sound that indicated empathetic pain.

"Awh, shit," I repeated.

"Don't worry, it probably looks worse than it is. It looks like the blood has already started to clot."

"I'm not so sure," I said as I watched a line of blood slither its way down the back of Link's head, "I think he'll need stitches. Is there a sewing kit around here?"

"I'll go get one," Danita said, leaving, "clean his wound while I'm out, okay?"

"Just get a needle. I actually have some gut so I could sell it if I needed money."

"My mother taught me how to stitch up wounds," I said.

She nodded, "Your mother is a smart woman."

I nodded and she turned and left. I washed my bloody handkerchief in the pump sink and walked back over to Link. He'd fallen over and was on the arm of the big chair.

"Well, at least he's moving," I said.

"I'll hold his head still, be sure to get through the hair so you don't have to re-clean it when you stitch him up," The young man said.

"Yeah, I know."

I cleaned his head as best I could with the cloth, but his bleeding was hard to control. I wiped the dripping blood and pressed the handkerchief on the wound until Danita got back with the stitching needle. It was made of bone, so the threading would be easy, but it looked like it'd been run through a fire, so it'd probably be clean enough so I wouldn't have to clean it myself, but it'd probably be a bit brittle.

"Thanks," I said, grabbing the needle, "can I use that gut now?"

"Yeah, here," he said pulling it out of the bag on his hip.

"Can you part his hair for me?" I asked, taking the gut and threading the needle.

"Sure, here we go" he said carefully parting his hair gently, so he wouldn't make the injury worse.

"Thank you," I said again, and began to sew.

It was a long procedure, and I had to repress retching several times. I hated blood, as I discovered, and stitches made me sick. Halfway through the procedure, I had the young man hold my handkerchief on Link's scalp so I could throw up in the sink. I wiped my face on my dress and walked back. I finished without incident. I bit the gut so it'd break and handed it, along with the needle, back to the dark-skinned fellow.

Not having anything else to do while Link slept and Danita was away, I introduced myself.

"Where are my manners!" I began, "My name's Hylia. It's a pleasure to meet you."

I extended my hand, and the young man shook it with such strength that my fingers popped slightly.

"I'm Arlimand, and don't worry about it. In a situation like this, introductions aren't nearly that important. So, where are you from and how did you two meet?" He asked, releasing my hand.

I chuckled slightly, "Huh, so there is someone in Hyrule who's never heard of me. I'm Princess Zelda's cousin. You know, the one who lives alone just outside Hyrule Castle Towne."

"Hm, interesting. One thing though, I'm from Gerudo Valley. I don't know much about castle town."

"That's actually 'The Castle Towne'. There's only one. So, you're the young Gerudo Slave that Robertran was talking about? How'd you escape?"

Danita presented both of us with hot stone mugs of tea. I thanked her and Arlimand nodded in approval.

"Hold on," He said, "You didn't finish answering my question."

"Oh, yeah," I said, "well I suppose I'll tell the whole story. I had been down by the Lakeside, talking with Mizumi," Arlimand gave me a questioning glance, "The scientist. Suddenly, everything went dark and I woke up in the Lost Woods. Link was standing over me and..."

Link cut me short on my story by one rather loud snort.

"Where am I?" he asked, sitting bolt upright in his chair.

The idiot was awake.