(A/N: This did not go according to play AT ALL. I had completely planned to introduce the boss... hmm.

I have had this chapter read for a few days... well mostly ready. I have been debating on how I was going to write the dungeons for a long time and whether or not I was going to allude to the Master Quest version. I choose to use the Master Quest version and the original OoT if merely to add a little more detail. In the future I will detail more adventures in the dungeons but they will never be a room after room in full detail. We have, at least I assume, all played the games and my objective here to make a story based on the game.

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!

The rest of the day was spent keeping their minds from Darunia's anger. Rowan and Thomas both tried to approach the Goron again but, once Thomas returned with a possible concussion from being thrown out, they stopped.

Before night set, they returned to their room but Rowan wished to try once more to talk to the Goron Leader. He departed and left Thomas, Link, and Navi to silence. This was broken, shortly, by the young Lordling.

"What did Darunia mean by the rocks being poisoned?"

Thomas, unusually serious, placed his hand on his little brother's shoulder and squeezed. "Dark Magick, " His voice was soft and Link could not place the emotion on the thirty-year old's face. "is... hard to explain." The Knight shifted, sliding his back down the wall so that he sat next to the ten year old, and sighed. "But, the simple version is this: Life is an energy and magick takes that energy and manipulates it to the user's needs or wants. Hylians have the ability to pull this energy out but few know how to harness it..." Thomas dropped his arm across Lincoln's shoulder and allowed Navi to settled herself in the nook of his neck. "Those that do can make things like fire or perhaps mend small wounds... now if they are trained properly in the art and, dedicate themselves to learning the energy pathways of the world, they can become great sorcerers. These people can cure illness, control the wind, create an inferno, and even shield themselves with nothing but pure magick."

"Even bring people back from the dead...?" Link asked, his wide with wonder. Ever since he was a boy he was amazed by magick and when he met Navi he even became jealous. She could conjure a whole campfire where he had to work create a spark with rocks.

"And that is where it gets confusing." Thomas shifted, giving a brief nod of acknowledgment to Rowan as the man strode into their room looking worse than he had when he left. "Magick can be used for many good deeds and one would think that bringing the dead back would be good... but it isn't. It is unnatural."

Navi nodded. "Even my People shun it." When she saw that Thomas was allowing her to take the lead of the conversation, she flew out so that she could face her friend. "Faeries are born from the life, the energy as Thomas called it, of the Forest. This is very similar to how the Great Deku Tree created his children, our friends, The Kokiri..."

"So you can create life but you can't save it?" Link frowned. "What is the difference?"

Rowan turned his head from where he was laying on the carved stone bed provided. "The difference is that the Great Deku Tree took the lost, ancient souls wandering in the Forest from the first years of Hyrule's creation and gave them bodies. Long ago, they ceased to be what they formerly wore... whether demons or our ancestors... so, being given life himself by the Goddesses, he was allowed to care for these lost souls as his children. He created Life from souls." The Knight of the Realm sat up and made sure to make eye contact with Link. "When a Magick user brings someone back from the dead they are animating a body that not longer has a soul. It is a shell filled with the last emotions that they felt... or perhaps implanted emotions if the Spell Caster is talented enough."

Navi wrapped her arms around herself. "However," And the ominous sound of her voice brought all of eyes to her. "Ganondorf did not bring anyone back from the dead... Darunia said that the Caverns and all the rocks were infected. Poisoned. That means he has done something vile inside the Cavern... there must be a source of the Dark Magick threatening it."

"Like Gohma." Link whispered, dropping his head into his palms with eyes wide in disbelief. "That's how he poisoned it..."

"That was exactly my thoughts." Navi noddded. "He is going to murder the Gorons like he did the Great Deku Tree."

Thomas shook his head, shoving off the ground, and clenched his fists. "No. We will stop him. Tomorrow we will go to Darunia and ask if there is another entrance to the Caverns... and we will find that monster and we will snuff. it. out."

Link closed his eyes and felt the weight of the Kokiri Emerald in his pocket. He had his brothers here to help him... they knew the threat that Ganondorf posed... but they did not know why he was here, not truly. He made up his mind at that moment and waited until his brothers retired.

It was near midnight when Link began to ready had challenged him and he was going to rise to it. He would prove he is not some child to be dismissed.

A black tunic, matching cloak, black boots, his shield, sword, belt pouches filled with various items, and gloves to protect his hand from the hotter rocks. Link grasped the doorknob and whispered a prayer. "Farore... keep me safe..." He released a breath and slipped out.

It was dark but the wooden railings on the side helped guide him down. He wanted to speak with Darunia: alone. Link could feel his heart hammering in his chest but he swallowed any fear that might have escaped. He knew he needed to be like a steel hammer if he was going to crack a rock.

A lone beam of light spilled across the stone and dirt floor.

Darunia was still awake.

Careful to evade the spinning jar, Link stepped in and into the light. Cobalt blue met the shining pebble like eyes of the Goron Leader's and he almost faltered... but something inside him helped each foot walk forward until he was before the Goron.

"Well?" Darunia raised a brow looking no more impressed than when they had met before.

Summoning up all the courage his young ten year old frame had, Link spoke with a stern voice. "You wanted me to impress you." Link drew his sword and stabbed it into the ground, hand on the top of the hilt. "Something tells me that I can't do that if my brothers help me. So," He smiled. "I am here to clean up Ganondorf's mess."

"You?" Darunia frowned and for a moment Link thought he may punch him... but then a sound as loud as thunder bubbled up from the Rock-Man throat. He was laughing. "YOU?"

A dent was made in the boy's pride... he should have expected this. Ignoring the roaring laughter, Link smirked. "Yes." Then he smiled as a thought hit him. "Unless you're afraid a ten year old can defeat a monster that the great Darunia is so afraid of."

In an instant the laughter stopped and the Goron glared. "I am not afraid of the monster, you stupid kid. I am terrified of it. You would be an idiot if you weren't." Darunia crossed his arms and sized the child up. "Still... despite you being so, haha, tiny... you got guts."

"Will you let me take up this task, then?"

"No." Darunia shook his head. "Your Father would kill me and the last thing I need is a war with Raven Hudson." He shooed the boy with his hands. "Now, get out. I am not in the mood to play Dungeons and-"

Link growled, ripping up his sword, and thrust a finger out. "Listen here, you big Pebble! My family may think I am here to talk you into going to my damn wedding but I'm not!" Darunia blinked at his outburst but Link continued despite feeling suddenly very childish. "Ganondorf has murdered the Great Deku Tree! If you weren't so stubborn maybe we could have told you that earlier but, no, you threw us out before I had a chance to talk to you. I am here to help destroy that man and his ambitions!" He sunk his blade back down into the ground and snarled. "So you either let me take up this task in the name of the Crown or I go down there myself and show you just how tiny I am!"

They were interlocked in a battle of gazes. Darunia smirked, breaking their eye contact, and crossed his arms. "Like I said you got guts, kid... tell you what... if you can complete one simple little task then I'll let you take Edric's place."

"What is it?" Link felt his hands go clammy as he stood there. His brothers could wake up any moment find out about this... which would probably end in his murder.

"Play a song that I can feel."

The boy gaped. "You have got to be joking."

"That's my terms." Darunia shrugged, indifferent. "Do it or you and your brothers leave tomorrow, Shrimp." He spun Link around and gave him a 'light' shove that almost toppled him. "Until then stay out of my room."

Link walked out with a frown. He could leave and go on to the Cavern but he did not know how to get into them through the rock-slide... he hoped that if he could this than Darunia would tell him another way. "A song he can feel, huh?" Link sat down next to the shop and slipped his ocarina from his pocket. "What does he mean by that?" He stared at the smooth, wooden object and bit his lip. After a few minutes of tinkering around with a few tunes and thinking on how the Rock-Man seemed, Link removed the flute from his lips. "He needs something to cheer him up!" He scrambled up and dashed toward the room with a smile that he could not have. "Darunia."

The Goron had moved to a table to the left of him and had been sorting what looked to be blue prints. "Shrimp."

"You wanted a song that you could feel, right?" The ten year old did not wait for an answer. "How do you like this?" Pressing the ocarina to his lips, Link played the one song that made him feel the happiest.

Saria's Song.

The tune reverberated out and harmonized with itself. The sensory memories locked in Link's head filled him with the smell of the forest, the dirt beneath his toes, and the warmth of the sun as it poured through the Deku Tree's canopy. He remembered when the Twins and Saria taught him to swim, when Fado coaxed him to walk with her across the bridge to her look out, and even just chasing Saria's Fae, Allievander. His heart swelled and he would have never noticed Darunia had the Goron's fist not come within inches of his face.

"OHHH YEAHH!" Link could not believe the vision in front of him. The choleric Darunia, Leader of the Gorons, was flailing in a fashion very similar to what a man would do thrown onto hot coals... in what some would refer to as: dancing. His massive arms windmilled as he teetered back and forth between his feet and all the while he was screaming at the top of his lungs. "THAT IS ONE HOT BEAT!"

The ten year old plopped back onto his behind and watched, dumbstruck. His mouth dropped open, his eyes popped, and he shook his head. "D-Darunia?"

Beaming from ear to ear, the Goron stopped then realized what he had done. His face seemed to glow with inner heat as he resumed his previous serious demeanor. "Ahem... my... apologies... I have not enjoyed good music in some time."

"I... uh..." Link swallowed and his face crimsoned. "Noticed..." He gave a nervous smile. "Does this mean I can take up Edric's quest?"

Darunia recovered after a brief; very awkward; pause and let a small smirk crack across his stony face. "Yeah, kid, a deal is a deal...even if I wasn't entirely serious about it."

The boy stood, dusting off his tunic, and breathed in relief. "Now, that we are... amiable and that has been taken care of... Is the covered entrance the only way into the Dodongo Cavern?"

"Yeah, it is." Darunia frowned. "If we had made another we could have been attacked unaware during the 100 Year War... and now that it is infested... it would be dangerous."

Link sighed. He had not planned on this development. "Then how am I to get in?"

Darunia sighed, eyes watching the boy for a moment, then he smiled. "Listen, kid, I like you. You're brave... and maybe you can do this... take these, alright?" He crossed the room to where a small chest was hidden beneath a table and withdrew golden set of long bracelets bears the very symbol burned on the Goron's arm. "The only way that I can think of that would let you into the Cavern is blowing up that boulder... but I won't make any promises to you. These will let you pick up our lovely Bomb Flower... they grow all over the mountain so it shouldn't be too hard to find some. Just be careful. They are not toys."

Link smiled, slipped the cold gold bands around his wrists, and saluted the Rock-Man. "Thank you, Darunia... I'll be back. I'll clear out the Cavern for you... I promise." And dashed away.

"Kid!" But Link had not heard him and Darunia's hand flopped down at his side. "If he can even get in there... he'll see the monsters and leave... Yeah... he'll come back and..." He stopped his train of thought and sighed. "Good luck, kid." Already he was regretting letting the ten year old go.

Link snatched an unlit torch from the wall and gave it life with his spark rocks. He took a breath. "It's now or never." And ran.

He jerked the map Zelda had given him from his pocket and stopped just outside the entrance to Goron City. He allowed himself a moment to gather his breath before he turned to his right towards the path indicated to be above the Cavern... Link frowned as he gazed down into the abyss below him. The moon allowed dim light to pour across the mountain top but not enough for anyone intending to blow a hole into a large chunk of rock.

"Damn." He looked down at his map to double check himself and once that was done he began his search for these so called 'bomb flowers'... it was not long after that he found them. They were a cluster of purple-black petals in the shape of a bomb with an odd orange stigma that looked very much like a fuse. The youth frowned and ripped the plant up from its roots... he released a small yelp of surprise when the wick suddenly lit. "B-But, I'm not ready!" Link stammered and looked, frantically, for a good place to toss the object over. Realizing, he had mere seconds left, Link threw the flower as far as he could and watched it until the fuse disappeared. He held his breathe but when no explosion came he released it. "Maybe it was a d-"

KA-BOOOOOOMMMM

The fiery blast illuminated the scene in a collage of shadows, smoke, fire, and rubble as the entrance to Dodongo Cavern opened.

The exhilaration he experienced at watching the explosion sent shivers down Link's spine and a new vigor was introduced to his bones. Adrenaline.

"So, did you intend to do this all by yourself or should I come with you?"

Link whipped around to face the angry Fae at his back and gasped. "N-Navi! I-"

"Save it." The Faerie glared. "I know your usual excuses already." She smirked. "Really, you don't have to worry about me, Link. I'm your Partner... it just hurt is all..." She flew and, lightly, bumped her fist against his cheek. "I'll kill you after we're done with this, okay?"

He beamed. "Deal. Let's go."

Together, by torchlight, the friends descended into the dark madness that awaited them. Link banished his sword and stabbed into the eye of a leaping Tektite and tossed it corpses off the mountain. "How close?"

"Next turn. Let's hurry." Navi murmured, folding the map and stuffing it into one of Link's pouches. "Rowan and Thomas probably woke up to that."

Link's face dropped, guiltily, as he sprinted forward with sword in hand. "They won't wake up to that..."

Navi gasped. "Link, you didn't."

"I have plenty more draughts..."

"Why did you do that?!" She exclaimed, hands leaping to her short, spiky blue hair.

"I..." The conflict the waged in his mind made it hard to formulate a sentence on why he did not want his brothers to come with him. He felt like this was his weight to bear... the Deku Tree had entrusted him with the Kokiri Emerald, he had the nightmares about Ganondorf, and that voice... that voice... 'We have need of you.'. In the very depths of his soul, Link knew that this was what it meant. That he had to protect the Triforce... Zelda. He did not have any words to explain the way he felt so he ran in silence that forced Navi to focus more on keeping up then yelling at him. Link could feel the furtive glances she sent him but he shoved them from his mind for his guilt to fed on later.

The black leather boots he wore rolled rocks beneath him and Link caught himself on a nearby wall. His chest heaved from oxygen deprivation as he skidded to a halt in front of Dodongo Cavern. It glowed like the pits of Din's Seven Hells and the heat that radiated off of it cleaved at his skin...

"Link... you can wait. We can wait for Thomas and Rowan... you don-"

Lincoln unsheathed his sword, squeezed his shield in his right hand, and braced himself against the hot breeze as he charged forth.

-Across the plains of Hyrule-

The moon was tucked away behind the mountains and to the northwest the Sun was preparing his relentless heat. Bronze skin rippled across a strong, feminine form as it glistened in the pale light of early dawn. Golden brown eyes peered off into the desert in quiet contemplation.

The woman stood in the doorway at the topmost part of a fortress carved from the red canyon it was cradled against. The small amount of light allowed very little of the desert beneath her to be seen but she knew her Sisters were there patrolling.

Touching the amber stone just above the center of her brow, she sighed. Inwardly, she prayed for patience in such trying times for her People. The nights were getting colder, the sun hotter, and everyday it seemed a new struggle formed... The Treaty was supposed to fix that... but it had yet to come to pass.

The Hylians wanted a wedding... a way to secure the Throne in case Ganondorf tried to attack, Nabooru knew this. She had heard it all... yet she had not told her King. She suspected he knew but, then again, he knew a lot of things that he was not telling too. The Gerudo woman calmed her thoughts as she finally decided to acknowledge her unwanted shadow.

For behind her, a figure lurked with flames in its eyes, watching.

A pony-tail; tied high on the back of her head; of dark-red locks swayed softly as the woman turned to raise a brow at the shadow. "Stop staring." The Gerudo warrior snapped before leaning her toned body against the cold stone and crossing her arms. Golden bands glinted on her upper arms, intricate bands with two large rubies set in the center, that matched the decoration holding up her hair and choker. Being the Second-In-Command had many perks for a Gerudo and lavish jewelry was no exception. "It's rude and annoying." Her lips, painted light pink, snarled. "Two things that you are best at."

A deep voice chuckled and the figure stepped from the shadows. "Such hostility, Nabooru, yet I have done nothing to harvest it." Ganondorf, dressed in the fine silk of a crimson robe, smirked at her. His chest was exposed revealing his strong chest and small, curling red hairs.

She hated seeing him look at her with such superiority and only marred her face more by glaring. "Nothing, huh? You call abandoning Hyrule Castle 'nothing'?" Nabooru snorted, thrusting her body around to face him. "Let me amend what I said then. Rude, annoying, and stupid." He did not react to her name-calling just as she knew he would not. "Honestly, we should let them have their little wedding then we can get this damn Treaty over with." Pinching her her thumb and forefinger just an inch apart, she growled. "We are this close, G-"

"Disrespect me all you want, Nabooru, but you will call me King."

"Your fucking Highness." She spat, one hand grasping her hip while also allowing her to place her fingers ontop of the hilt of her scimitar. "But, no, you let your pride get in the way so now we are here." Her fingers stopped pinching and stabbed at the ground beneath her feet. "A week. That is what that kid wanted, right? We could have waited the week and smoothed things over with Edric."

"Do you truly believe it would have been as simple as that?" The olive-toned man, calmly, carried himself over to her then side stepped so that they were nearly touching elbows. His red eyes burned out toward the Desert as he clasped his hands behind him. "Our People are known as vicious warriors, correct?"

Nabooru turned and gave him an annoyed point-blank stare. "We are Gerudo. We are also known as thieves," She ticked her list on her fingers while she stared. "murders, amazons, oh, and evil." She frowned. "With you going around and spooking little Princesses, I'm surprised we aren't known as beheaded."

Ganondorf disregarded her comments and closed his eyes, continuing. "We are warriors. We are a proud People who have known suffering and have tasted little of the success blowing through Hyrule's fields." He opened his eyes and glanced sideways are her. "Would you call that fair?"

"Nothing is ever fair, G- Highness, that is why we are thieves. We take the cards we are dealt and change them when we can." She glared. "If we lived like those soft Hylians than we would not be the Gerudo. We are a proud People, like you said."

"Then... you do not want their gold? Their Power? The right to banish those who have done wrong in your eyes?" Ganondorf gazed at her... almost through her. "There is a Power there. A Power that could avenge the suffering of our People..."

Nabooru frowned. "We are there for the Treaty. A peaceful solution... not for blood... and not for some magick thing."

"Of course." He replied, turning his gaze back to the dunes lightly dusted with the pink of the dawn. "The Treaty shall come to pass..."

Nabooru did not let him see the worried expression she wore as she walked back into the confines of the Gerudo Fortress.

Her room was small enough to house a wooden bed, a chest for storing her clothes and jewels, and a desk. Nabooru treasured few things though she was granted many liberties as Ganondorf's Second in Command and often gave the things she plundered away for sheer lack of room.

She was his proclaimed "trusted" adviser though he refused to tell her much of anything... like the reasons he disappeared so suddenly two days ago or his sudden reappearance when no one had seen him ride in.

She questioned him, fiercely, on the subject but all that earned her was his anger. Nabooru often tread in dangerous waters by talking to him the way he did, she knew that. There were others, however, that had not survived the gale of his Powers. Gerudo women who had been strong, brave, and Sisters to all of their kind. Those women walked in dazes now with little mind of their own. They were slowly outnumbering the ranks of the free... and she was not sure who she could trust any longer.

There was War brewing and it was in her own ranks.

The door opened without a knock. Few cared for walking in on others undressed, they were all women, but it was usually a courtesy offered to Nabooru if only because she ranked higher than everyone excluding their King.

"Aveil?" Nabooru raised a brow, sitting down on the edge of her bed and leaning back against her palms. "I thought you were still negotiating with the Carpenters?"

"I am- Well, was." Aveil was dark skinned, had a prominent nose, lips that seemed in a constant pout, skinny frame, and dark eyes. She was the tallest of the Gerudo and one of the quickest thanks to her leaner frame. "But me and the rest of the girls were asked to return since the King returned." Aveil was nearly twenty, eight years younger than Nabooru, and was one of the few women that could be trusted. "How long have you been back?"

"Does your visit have a point?" Nabooru blinked, expectantly.

"If you're going to be a bitch then no." Aveil countered, glowering.

"Get to the point and I won't have to be."

Aveil kicked the door shut behind her and crossed her arms. "I was here for a quick catch-up but, clearly, something is wrong. So," She draped herself across Nabooru's bed and propped her head on her elbow. "want to tell me about it?"

"No." Her nerves were agitated and she had little interest in entertaining tonight. "I want you to get out."

Aveil frowned. "Nabs, are you-"

"I'm annoyed right now, Aveil, and you're not helping!" She flung herself up and turned; suddenly angry for so many reasons that she could not articulate. "Just leave me alone, okay?" The Gerudo spoke more softly but kept the sternness in her golden-brown eyes.

"Fine." Aveil, lazily, slipped from the bed and walked back to the door. "Before I go... You might want to know that Koume and Kotake were lurking around earlier... " Her hand spun about. "I saw crates being moved into the Training Grounds... Do you think they are moving back here?"

Nabooru did not answer. She had too many thoughts going through her head.

"I just thought you might want to, you know, know that." With a bit of a frown, the Gerudo departed Nabooru's room and left a lingering sense of dread.

Dread was not a normal emotion for a Gerudo to feel... They were a race of confident skill and personalities. They had little regard for those not of their kind and, though they were not wanton killers, they did not hesitate in destroying outsiders when needed. Dread was not a useful emotion and, especially, not during peaceful times.

The War between her People and Hyrule was over but the wounds were still fresh on both sides.

Ganondorf was slowly snipping away at the stitches... and if he was not careful one or the other was going to bleed out.

She did not know if he cared which one.

Nabooru, finished pacing across her floor, glanced out the single window carved in her wall and watched the red of the sunrise bled into the last traces of the night. She wondered why he allowed her to talk to him the way she did... she surmised it was probably due to her rank. If the other Gerudo noticed they would revolt... or worse Edric would suspect something.

She was merely a disrespectful shield. He needed to to keep his cover and he knew she would not attempt to stop him until she was entirely sure of his motives.

He had spoken of a Power... that was why he was gone for the last two days. She was sure of that but Nabooru knew Ganondorf's methods. He employed whippings, quickly, and used black magick where physical beatings would fail.

She hoped he had not jeopardized the Treaty... but Hope was a useless emotion as well.

Once he had been a good boy... but when his Mother died he was taken in by the Gerudo's Shamans, Koume and Kotake. They had long moved out across the Wastelands and into the Spirit Temple and that was where they took the young Gerudo King. Nabooru remembered that day as she clung to her own Mother's leg and watched the weeping nine year old walk, sullenly, behind his new Mothers.

That was the last time Nabooru saw any emotion besides anger in him.

"A week. That's what that kid asked for... four days remain..." Nabooru sighed, leaning against the wall and peering out passed the dunes. The Spirit Temple used to be a place where she could go for answers. She loved the feel of the place and exploring it... few Gerudo were skilled enough to survive entering but Nabooru had breezed through it.

That was why she claimed Ganondorf's Second In Command.

But there was always a place she was forbidden to go... because the power there was not hers to take...

"But, I am a Thief..." Her spin tingled at the moment... Nabooru's lips parted slightly in a gasp and a realization came to light in early Dawn.

Dodongos.

Link hated them. Absolutely hated the creatures with every fiber of his being. His forearm hurt from a sharp cut that wrapped around it and that did not account for the burns he had experienced from not only their breath but their corpses exploding. Navi had attempted to warn him the first time but he had not heard her over the sound of its babies attacking. Needless to say, he found himself flat on his face in the midst of chaos with his hair partly on fire but Navi kept him on target by keeping him calm so that he could focus on each opponent.

Now he stood at the highest point of the Cavern and stared down at the pristine skull of a long dead creature that gave the cave its name. It was the skeleton of a Giant Dodongo mentioned in a legend Link once read though he could not remember who had slain the beast.

"Gohma had been the source of the Deku Tree's death and since we have seen larva of the same species..."

Link frowned at the memory of the last hour. Keese, Lizafloes, 'Mad' Scrubs, Armos, Keese on fire, walls on fire, him on fire, and that did not mention the unexpected appearance of Gohma's spawn. He had dispatched the hatchlings with ease but it lended more truth to Ganondorf's involvement in the Goron's plight. Thinking back on his fights, the Lordling was surprised he had not found himself dead... had he came in alone like he initially planned he would have been forced to turn back.

Darunia would have mocked him.

"Ganondorf has been here... " He pulled himself from his reverie and moved his cobalt eyes to the tablet Navi's glow illuminated. "We'll have to hope he has not reached the Zoras too."

"Let's focus on the Gorons for now..." Navi frowned as she read the inscription written on the stone jutting out from the ledge they stood upon. "We haven't found anything that emitted the kind of magick that she did... that means it must be deeper inside."

"You mean he has hidden it?" Link questioned, slightly confused. "He wasn't that careful before..."

"Yes, I do, and because he expected it to kill everyone." Navi replied, color shifting between uneasy and sadness. The thought of the Great Deku Tree did that to her.

"When Gohma was destroyed all the creatures in Kokiri Village disappeared... that must be how we will cleanse this place too."

"Exactly."

Link glanced down at the inscription and frowned. "Why would he leave this then?

"I don't know..." Navi whispered and shivered despite the nearly unbareable heat. "Perhaps he knew-"

"He couldn't have!"

"But what if he did...?" Navi bit her lip. "What if he does and he's testing you?"

Link clenched his fists together. "Test or not. He is not getting the Triforce. I won't let him hurt anyone else that I care about... The Great Deku Tree was the first and he is the last." His eyes continued down the stone.

Our brothers died in combat's heat

against the beast or another's feet

and though this monster took their lives

it shall guard them till those who survived

are carried

beneath the creature's burning eyes.

Link nodded to himself " And, if this tablet is any indication then it means we need to lit those eyes on fire."

"That is taken pretty literally..."

"Do you have a better idea?" He asked with an irritated twitch of his brow.

Navi sniffed, thought a moment, and shrugged. "There could be a switch but we've been all through this place." Her lingered on the pale bone for a moment. "This is going to be hard-"

"Considering those monsters made a meal of my bow?"

"Bombs then." Navi nodded, scratching at her scalp with a calculating expression.

The discovery of the explosives was a tragic one. They had been attacked by Baby Dodongos crawling from the depths beneath and though Link tried to dispatche each one he ended up dodging most out of fear he would find himself blown to bits. When the babies finally retreated back into the earth inside the Cavern, Link saw a sight that made his blood run cold. A skeleton of a lone Goron was strewn about the hall in a grisly scene that hinted to the poor soul's demise. While gathering the bones into a pile, Link came across bombs kept in a bag made from the strong skin of the creatures he had just fought. He finished the pile, removed the burned and tattered cloak he wore and wrapped the pristine bones in it. He thanked the Goron for the bag for he knew it would assist him at some point and whispered a prayer before Navi reminded him that they must hurry.

For a moment, his thoughts wondered back to the bones lying beneath his cloak just a floor below. Link wondered if he or she had attempted to eat the rock infested with Ganondorf's magick and if that had killed him then perhaps they had been set upon. He did not dwell on it and allowed his friend's voice to lure him away from thoughts of Death.

"Wait... could you even hit it from here?" Navi crossed her arms and gave him a doubtful look. "That's pretty far."

"Clearly, you don't remember how well I throw." Link lit the fuse and smirked at her then tossed. "This is the only option we have left."

"I remember how you almost blew your arm off a couple of times today... like with that staircase."

Link chuckled, eyes watching the bomb as it neared its mark. "Almost. But I didn't."Hitting its target, the explosive went off.

The bone did not even crack and as the smoke cleared an eerie, ruby glow took hold in the socket. Above them, the ceiling rattled in protest as if some raging giant lurked beneath the mountain.

Link shivered. "That's disturbing."

"Watching you eat is disturbing."

"You still snore..." Link gripped another bomb in his hand, the leather of his glove squeaking, and launched it toward the next socket... for a moment he thought he had missed... but then a resounding boom shook the entire Cavern.

He was prepared to gloat, a rare thing for him, but as he turned with a cocky grin a rock landed between him and his Fae.

"Link, we have to get down from here now!" Navi cried, jerking his ear and spurring him into movement.

The ten-year old felt his knees collapse out from under him as the ledge shook and threatened to drop away. "Got it!" Pillars of rock rose and fell from around the large, circle platform made of stone that held the monstrous skull. Link prepared himself and leapt from the ledge.

The colors of the lava far below blurred together with the brown-black rock as the earth beckoned him to crash but his timing had paid off. The pillar caught him as it rushed toward its greatest ascent and then crashed to the ground long enough for the boy to leap away to where the remains of his first enemy still smoked.

A Beamos is what Navi had called it.

If it had not been for her Link would have been burned to death several times by that point. If she had not been filled with the invaluable information pounded into her head from long nights studying in the libraries available to her then they both would have died. Too her credit, Navi knew the exact weakness of everything they had met and had even reminded Link of the Deku Nuts Henry had given him.

Barely a breath after he had jumped on the large center platform another rumble shook the cave. Debris crashed, lava boiled up and threatened to spill over the rim of the horse-shoe like shape river it flowed through, and the jaw of the skull shook. Its sharp teeth chattered together and the red eyes glowed with more intensity than Link had ever seen the color...

The jaw dropped open.

"L-Link..."

He gulped , gazing into the dark area that had once been a monstrous creature's mouth. "Yes?"

"Are you sure about this?"

Link removed his shield from his back and gripped it in his hand. Its metal had once been painted black with a single, white tower painted in the center but now it bore scars from recent battle. His sword, the Kokiri Sword, glinted and he tightened his grip on the hilt. "Absolutely." Link gazed at his Faerie and gave her a faint smile. "Will you come with me?"

"Link," Navi landed on the top of his shield. "don't be stupid." Stepping back off the metal she flew toward the mouth and gave a small laugh despite the danger they had been in. "Besides, its not every day you get eaten alive, right?"

The boy made a disgusted face. "We will joke about that after we survive this."

An ominous screech sounded and the boy rounded to see a Lizafos leaping across the lava via the fallen rocks. Its sword glinted in the light though the creatures yellow eyes glowed with more danger for they promised vengeance.

"Come on, let's go before it gets here." Navi beckoned Link with her hands and gasped when it looked as if he was going to turn to face the enemy. "Link...?"

He nodded, still meeting the Lizafos' eyes. "I'm coming..." And as his boot heels rapped against the bone, he prepared himself for the monster that cursed this place.

(Guys, I hope I'm not boring you. I realize there hasn't been any action in these chapters but I hope to get better! :)

Also, I felt really silly writing Darunia. I remember that being one of my favorite cut scenes and I had not planned to actually write it but it was such a classic that I couldn't write Darunia without it. I hope I kept true to the award-randomness of it. lol

The next chapter will probably be a bit shorter than this but as I am currently writing it and going over it daily I am not sure... Oh, and I realized I have been spelling Nabooru's name as "Nabooro" which irks me. Really, really irks me. I cannot believe I did that.)