Chapter 9 - Funny
Link touched the door once the padlock had disappeared and the chains shrunk into nothingness. He stared into the next room for a few moments of silence. Neri flew next to him and looked into the Hylian's eyes. They seemed steady, full of resolution. He inhaled deeply, surely taking in the vastness and scope of the epic feat he was about to perform.
"Does it smell funny to you?" said Link. "The lair, I mean. I think it smells funny."
"No. But I've always wondered about that phrase. 'Smell funny.' Did the smell make you laugh?"
"H-uh. Good point."
Link stayed there for a little longer, his apparent confidence never faltering.
"You are going in, right?" said Neri
"I am. In a moment."
Link tried to register any movements or noises that seemed out of place within the chamber. There was nothing unusual about it, for a cavern in volcano, that is. Small, bubbling lava pits were scattered randomly on the floor, and there seemed to be a larger pool of the molten rock in the back, but nothing else.
"Exactly how long is a moment?" asked Neri.
"Fine! I'm going!"
There came the most onerous thud Link had ever heard from behind him. He didn't have to turn around and look at it to know it was the door that had slid down shut.
"I really do wonder how long a moment is," said Neri.
"It's just a word to reference a small amount of time," said Link. He stepped further into the room. It was a bit darker with no light other than the that of the magma, but it still had good visibility.
"Sooo, would you say that anything under a minute might qualify as a moment?"
"Why not the whole minute?" Link looked all around him as he walked to the center of the irregular chamber.
"Because then it would be a minute, not a moment."
"A minute could feel like a moment at times."
The earth shook suddenly. The fiery liquid in the pool at the back of the lair seemed to rise in a dome, but then slipped off the huge monster that was coming out of it. A huge leg slammed out on the edge of the pool and then another. The enormous beast climbed out of the magma slowly and let out a shrill roar. Below it, white letters seemed to fade in.
Fiery Pit Arachnid GOHMA, read Link. "Aaawww, come on! You just know it'll be invulnerable to my fire seeds!"
"You still have the normal seeds," said Neri.
"Yeah, those are sure to come in handy against a 'fiery pit arachnid.'"
Gohma raised one of it's claws and swiped at Link. He deftly jumped back and rolled to get as much space as possible between him and the monster. His shield and sword were already out by the time he stood again.
"Wait," he said. That thing only had one eye and four legs at most. It didn't have a belly, or pincers in it's mouth. "Is that a huge spider?"
"Doesn't look like one."
"So it's not a spider?"
Gohma lunged forward trying to tackle Link. He rolled sideways and out of its way. The monster crashed against the wall.
"What does it matter if it's a spider?" said Neri.
"I don't know if I should be afraid of it or not!"