Author's Note: I'm not very happy with this chapter. It's probably the shortest off all of the chapters currently posted, and I just don't seem to know what's up with it really. So if you see anything, don't hesitate to tell me; I'll really appreciate it!

"The difference between a brave man and a coward is that a coward thinks twice before jumping into a cage with a lion. The brave man doesn't know what a lion is. He just thinks that he does."

-Charles Bukowski-

Shards Of Time

An Ocarina of Time FanFiction

Chapter 11: Doubts

We reach Kakariko Village by the time the moon is almost fully up in the sky. A nice woman named Anju allowed us to stay in her Inn for a reduced price; as much as we wanted to pay at the actual price. Link was already tired, so he went out like a light. Myself, however, couldn't find myself falling asleep. I stared at the ceiling, sat out on the small balcony to bathe underneath the moonlight, but nothing worked.

So now I sit out here – alone, I must add – as the sky above me lightens up to signal morning. The children here strapped a swing to the main tree in the Village, so I let myself think for a while on it before the kids waken up to take it from me. I am not afraid of the "King", but I am anxious on what he could do. I left his land to pursue a life out of boundaries, betraying him of my trust.

And now that I have done that, he now has the right to crush my plans and gain what he actually wants out of Hyrule.

Then there's Nisah, and the other Sisters of mine. Nisah hates my guts, and my Sisters apparently do as well, and either I need to find a way to make them see the light – or she's going to be after me once the King gets what he wishes from out of Hyrule. I lean my head against the rope with a sigh. "Fate seems to have a sense of humour when it comes to me, huh?"

"Fate isn't a nice thing in general." I raise and eyebrow and turn around, finding Link standing behind me, watching me with anxious eyes. He looks up to the sky ."You're up early. You must have a lot on your mind to be up this early. Are you all right?" I shrug and look upwards at the lightening skies above me. He steps closer and leans against the tree trunk. "What's wrong?"

I smile at his persistence. "I'm just thinking about the King and my Sisters. Nothing much." He raises an eyebrow at me. "I just wanted to start a new life away from the King and his controlling nature, but it seems that he's screwing up my life no matter where he treads or where I go in Hyrule." He watches me for a long time before moving forwards and embracing me tightly. "Ugh, I didn't need all of this for it..."

"Yes, you do." Navi responds from nowhere, flying up to us and enjoying the conversation at hand. "You need a hug once in a while to lift your spirits." I groan in response and we finally pull away. "I remember the Great Deku Tree saying something about the Spiritual Stone of Fire being in a place called "Goron City". Ciren, have you heard anything about that from your Sisters?"

I shrug. "A little. I just know that the Gorons like to hug, and they're made of rock, so... I'm not looking forward to conversing with these in the slightest."


Before the sun is fully up, we slip through the iron gate leading up to Death Mountain. The air is slightly colder up here, as it is whenever you go higher up in altitude, and yet some forms of shrubbery still manage to survive in places along the rocky road. With out swords and scimitars drawn, we kill some spider-like enemies (Navi calls them "Tektites", even though she's never been outside of the Forest before...) and head up the Death Mouth Trail.

Death Mountain soon comes into view, the tall mountain surrounded by a white cloud at the very summit, yet we have to turn away when the Trail leads us elsewhere. "The City has to be somewhere around here..." Link comments quietly, getting up onto a mysterious rock partway up the Trail in order to see more. Wait... "Those weird-ass Gorons love to curl up and do some sun-bathing or whatever in the day. Don't sit on 'em". That's what Malinda had said when she came back...

"Link, get off that—" The rock unravels itself and stands, sending the Kokiri flying onto the ground. I bate my lip, but I can't help but laugh. "—rock... Link, are you all right?" He stands up, disorientated for a few moments. "I think you just sat on a Goron. You can tick that off the Bucket List..." He shakes his head as I quieten myself down. "Uh, hey." I say to the rock. "Do you know where Goron City is?"

He chuckles deeply. "Why wouldn't I? It's straight up ahead." We nod and carry on. "But don't go near Darunia. He's not wanting any visitors!" Oh great... he'll have the Spiritual Stone, won't he? Nonetheless, we carry on up the Trail which soon leads downwards into the actual mountain. The path leads towards an entrance decorated with Triforce designs, and I know that we're here.

I pull Link inside, Navi flying into his hat for extra warmth (even though we're near an active volcano, you know), heading down the steps as quickly as we can to get inside. The City inside is a lot warmer, and I adapt very easily after being in the Desert for so long. Navi soon decides to re-emerge, and Link begins to complain about the heat – but I flash him a look that keeps him quiet.

"NO! I am not giving anyone the Spiritual Stone of Fire!" A deep voice bellows. "Not after that Ganondorf tried to take it and destroyed our crops! Now go, before I crush you to dust!" I hear small footsteps rushing out, and both Link and I look over the edge to see none other than Kaei rushing out of a room right at the bottom of the City.

I smirk, noticing some steps leading down further into the City. "Hey, why don't we go and convince this person to give us the Spiritual Stone of Fire?" I wonder. "It'll really annoy that Sheikah, and we'll be helping the Princess as well!" I don't give him time to answer before I go alone down the set of stairs, Link and Navi running after me as I go. Give me a chance to annoy that Sheikah, and I'll take it any day.

It doesn't take that long to get to the bottom of the steps, or to notice something. Navi says it before me, though. "No one is around... what happened here?" I open my mouth to comment with anything, but the Sheikah gets there first.

"Ever since Ganondorf wanted the Stone, he attacked the Dodongo's Cavern beneath us so the Gorons could get their rocks to eat. A lot have died from either starvation or dying when they tried to enter the Cavern themselves, and the others have moved away to find some other form of food that they can survive on until the rocks are edible again." He raises an eyebrow at me. "What the Hell are you doing here?"

"In fact..." I roll my eyes at him, jabbing my finger back towards Link. "I helping Link right here as we get some things for the Princess of Hyrule." I smirk at him. "Guess you didn't think that we would be doing such things, huh? Well, guess again."

He snorts. "And where is he then, if he's not behind you?"

"Huh?" I look over my shoulder, not wanting to turn back back to Kaei, only to see that Link is gone. He's pulling up the layer of material draped over the room where Kaei was just thrown out of, and is stupidly going inside. "Bloody child..." I run up to him. "Link, what the Hell are you—?!"

"Shush!" He hisses, making me raise my eyebrow at him. "I'm trying to get this Spiritual Stone." I watch him as he slips inside, and I follow him inside after a few moments; making sure that Kaei doesn't follow. The dark corridor leads into a large room where a Goron with a massive set of facial hair sits, more so slumped, against the back wall; staring at the red Stone in his hand.

Link gulps as he approaches the large Goron. "Um, excuse me Sir... but are you Darunia?" He grunts in response. "We're here from the Princess to—"

"Gather the Stones." He stares at Link. "Who really sent you, kid? That Sheikah? Or Ganondorf? They're both cowards, so why act like one of them?" I grit my teeth in frustration. How dare he say that sort of thing! Not being able to hold it back, I storm into the room and push Link aside; pointing my finger at the Goron. He speaks before I can, though. "And another? How many cowards are there in Hyrule?!"

I grind my teeth. "You can't talk about been cowardly when you're letting your people die out there!" Link steps back from my tone as I gesture back towards where we came in from. Darunia looks up at me, his eyes burning with anger. "Why don't you go out there and do something?! And if you died, then your people would see you as a hero rather than a coward!"

He gets onto his feet very slowly, rising to his full height over me; making me gulp slightly, but I maintain my composure. "You want to try and do something about it, squirt? Then go and die in that Cavern, I'm sure your parents wouldn't care." My lips part, and I can see in his eyes that he has struck a nerve. I bite my lip, but stare him down still. He drops his tone. "If you want to prove yourself worthy of this—" He holds up the Stone to my face. "—then go to the Cavern and cleanse it. I might think about it then."

"I'll show you." I growl, pulling Link's arm so he's by my side. "And so will he. You don't realise who you're talking to." Link nods beside me, which I am thankful of, and we both leave together. I completely ignore Kaei, even if Link does take a moment to wave at him while Kaei glares at me, and we clamber back up the steps. "Long live the Gerudo Pride..." I breathe.


By the time we reach the outside again, a weight is suddenly pushed down on my shoulders. People have died in these Caverns... what if I do as well. These doubts are apparently plastered on my face, however, because Link catches my arm before we get too far out of Goron City. "Hey, are you all right?" I avoid his eyes for a moment, deep in thought. "Just ignore Darunia, he's just... upset, I suppose."

Navi flies out from under Link's hat. "It's true."

I wave them off, getting out of his grasp and walking off. "I'm going into the Caverns alone." I resolve, sparking a reaction between the two of them. "I'll cleanse the Caverns, and I'll make this right." I keep walking, and neither of them move for a while. I can just go inside, come out – hopefully – and then get the Stone for them. I'll prove Darunia wrong, and the Princess will have her damn Stone.

It's a win-win... if I get out.

"No." I turn around, watching as Link walks towards me. I blink at him. "If you're doing this, then I'm doing it to." I shake my head and try to move away again, but he grabs my hand. I sigh heavily and pull away, but he doesn't stop. "I said that I was going to help get the Stones for the Princess, so I will—"

I whirl around, startling him. "Don't you understand?! I'm doing this so neither of you die!" I breathe heavily, dropping my tone. "If I die, then my Sisters won't care, neither will the King, and I haven't met enough people to mourn for me. If you die, you've got a whole Forest of people who care about you. Even for you Navi." I pause and sigh, pushing my hands through my hair. "You have a family and I don't, there's a difference there."

Letting my shoulders slump forwards, I finally turn back around and leave them be. As much as it hurt to say it, it's true. There's next to none who care about me, being that whatever happened in the Valley changed all of that, and it'll be fine if I show my courage and go into there. However, something suddenly grabs me by the waist from behind; and I gasp in alarm, drawing my scimitars. Searching around, I find none other than Link hugging my fiercely – Navi hugging my shoulder too.

"Wha...?"

"We care about you." Link whispers quietly. "And we'll follow you until the end." I stare down, my tense shoulders relaxing a little. When he finally pulls away, he breathes out a laugh from my stunned expression as Navi sits on his shoulder. "You stayed with me when I thought that I was going to die from being out of the Forest for too long, and I didn't... so we're staying with you."

I look down at the ground, feeling sad for a moment. I don't want them to come with me and die, but I won't be able to stop them. They're showing courage while I am being cowardly, and I can't do that. So after a few moments, however, I smirk casually at him. "Sure, I guess you two could tag along..."