Zelda looked out away from the castle walls with hope of having clear up this adventure quite quickly. Her only problem? She was uncertain of her new travel companion. She looked up to him warily.

"So Link, where are we headed?" she partially knew but not fully. All she really knew was that she was heading to the temples, enough said. He glanced at her from his profile view then simply looked back ahead. Blinking away her annoyance, she asked again. "Where are we headed?" a simple glance at her again, except this one with half-lidded eyes. As if she could sense he was calling her an idiot. She huffed. "Fine, don't talk to me but how will I understand you or anything else?" a bored blink. There was no way she could deal with this man. She knew it. She just knew that she wouldn't be able to deal with him being this way. Sighing, she walked to her right just be stopped by his gloved hand. "What?" he turned her to the left and pointed outward. "...Kakariko Village is that way...what for?" His hand then trailed to the gigantic mountain just behind the village. "Oh I see...that does make sense...it is the closest isn't it?" a slight smirk crossed his face. "What? What's with that look you jerk? Staring off like you were won't tell me where you want to go...jeez...well...let's be off then..." she said stomping off towards the village. The hylian man sighed and shook his head, following the girl.

Upon entering the village they notice how quaint it was. It wasn't exactly amazing but it wasn't bad either. There were two men, clamoring about at the front of the village right after the entrance about something or other. As they continued along, the fact that it was a village of workers was easily found out as they ran along orders and carrying building materials and such.

"Get to work you lazy boys! The lot of you!" the apparent leader ordered. Everyone followed along, regrettably, but still doing so. Zelda found the sight more relaxing than the hustle about jobs they do at the castle. Everyone was worried about doing something wrong or displeasing or making a random mistake or fearing a beating at the hand of a noble just for looking at them wrong. Here, they were just...normal laid back people. She smiled. At least the commoners of her land were more enjoyable to be around.

Link looked at the girl strangely. She was smiling after snapping at him not so long ago...was this girl bipolar or just moody? Starting to turn away in light disdain he looked up to their destination. Death Mountain. He heard that the Goron tribe that lived there wasn't all too friendly and bet they'd have a hell of a time trying to find the temple in that place...especially if there was resistance, which was very likely to happen. I mean, honestly, what do they expect? A welcome party? He hung his head down at this thought.

"Why are you being an even bigger stick in the mud?" the particular question coming from the princess. He stared at her blankly before walking away from her. Her expression turned as sour as his mood as she followed him almost aimlessly. "Where are you going?" he glanced over his shoulder and went right ahead about his business. "If you don't tell me I won't follow you..." he stopped in place. "Finally, will you talk to me?" he gave her a look that said he was unamused with these antics of hers as he walked towards her. "What are you..." he grabbed the girl by the waist and hoisted her over his shoulder as if she was a travel pack. "H-Hey!" he ignored the complaints and continued on to the guardsman at the gate to Death Mountain. He guard blinked awkwardly at the two.

"Sorry but you shall not pass..." Link simply glared at the man irritably. He already had one annoyance over his shoulder and she was enough as it were...

"Let-me-go!" the girl huffed. Link, doing something quite similar to that, let the girl down. She straightened out her tunic carefully before facing the guard. "Ahem...I am Princess Zelda and I require passage unto this domain. I order you to move now.

"P-P-Princess! I am so sorry I had not recognized you!" the guard stammered, quickly getting unto one knee.

"I-It's fine. You don't have to do that. Besides...I don't very much see how you would've recognized me in the particular state anyway..." she added, glaring at the green clad man. He simply looked off as if he'd done nothing.

"But...I am also sorry that I can not grant you passage to this mountain. The King himself has ordered this passage sealed and only he can revoke such an order. Even if you are Princess, the King over rules your boundaries. If you go and retrieve an article or item that will prove that the King will allow you through then I may allow you passage your highness..." he said the last bit in slight fear of what she would do. He looked up, slightly afraid to, from his kneeling position. Instead of being angry, she sighed.

"Alright...if a parcel is what I need then I will go fetch it for your fancy, guardsman..." she replied, annoyance clear but controlled. The armored man did nothing but nod quickly in approval. "Link, let us go..." she turned around and headed for the entrance of the village, not as entering, but leaving the village that she'd barely spent ten minutes in. Link followed a few steps behind, hands in his pockets and blank faced. They reached the castle wall in no time at all. "Open the walls!" she commanded. The servants quickly did as told and the as the wall clanked in a slow rhythm, she tapped her foot in a high irritation. 'Hurry up...' When the wall got up to her chest height, she yelled "Stop!" and just leaned down to cover the rest of the way, the boy doing the same. She walked up to the front door, the castle men quickly trying to push it open before she got the chance to knock them down. Boy was she mad.

"Y-Your Grace!" the maid yelled quickly. The king looked up from slightly napping on his throne.

"What is it? Why have you disturbed my rest?"

"It's...it's the Princess."

"What about her? Is she hurt?"

"No, she's back!"

"...what?"

"Father!" they both looked over to the quite angry princess that tapped a boot continually against the now slightly dirty carpet with her arms folded. "How am I supposed to go about this mission with you placing bans on the places where I'll most likely need to go?"

"Ah, I forgot about that. I suppose you need something that will let them let you pass?"

"Of course!"

"I see...come here, with me..." the king led them both away and out of castle grounds into the town of Hyrule known simply as Castle Town. The people, being the lively ones they were, didn't even notice the three walk through. They were too busy trying to sell off their merchandise, or in some cases, buy weird merchandise. They took a turn to a part of town that wasn't abandoned but it wasn't occupied by any hylians either. Zelda looked around in slight awe at how this huge building was completely ignored by the townsfolk. The man of royalty led them inside as they reached a tomb that held three sacred stones.

"The Goddesses Gems..." she proclaimed more to herself than anyone.

"Yes, but that is not what you've come for..." he smirked as he headed for a door behind the stone's alter. They followed suit as he walked into a single room with a sword bathed in a beam of light in the middle of the room. "Link, my boy, this is for you to take along. Not only will you have the Princess along but that sword is a precious heirloom that this family has sworn to protect." he then allowed Link to walk past and retrieve the blade from it's holy stone. He then turned towards his daughter. "And for you Zelda, this ocarina. The Ocarina of Time. It has special abilities which you will most likely learn to use on your journey ahead." he foretold while handing the girl the blue ocarina. "Now, you both have something that will be much more useful than a mere pleadger. Go now, dear daughter and sworn protector. Complete this journey." and with that, he sent them off again. Unto Kakariko Village. They approached the gate again within the hour. Both faces looked bored and unwanting of this man but they approached him nonetheless. "We are here to pass again. Grant us passage."

"Have you proof of permission?"

"What do you think?" she asked a bit more than annoyed.

"Can I see the proof?"

"Link...would you please?" she asked turning towards the silent man. He unsheathed his sword and showed the hilt to the man. The symbol of Triforce was clearly seen and the man back stepped in surprise.

"T-The sacred sword? W-What?"

"And I also have with me my family's treasured ocarina as a symbol of us both being allowed to pass. Shall you move then?" she asked with her hands placed on her hips. The guard sidestepped to allow her pass, being slightly unnerved at her impatience. "Come on..." she commented to Link. The swordsman simply looked at her blankly but joining her when she was a good foot away. As they made their way up the winding trail, they heard a scuffling noise. "What was-" the warrior shoved her to the side while stabbing upwards quickly. She glared up angrily at the other but to the girl's surprise, a tektite was on the receiving end of the blade. After tossing off the beast he glared at the girl, most likely for being careless. She huffed but then yelled a: "Watch out!" as yet another tektite jumped from the high cliff above them. Due to quick reflexes, he thrust up his arm. As it landed on the hylian shield, he quickly tossed it aside and did a forward stab to end the life of the attacker. He huffed, trudging up ahead of the girl. When she took a step forward he held a hand in her direction, telling her to stay there. As predicted, there was one left. It hopped from behind the rock and towards Link. The stabbed the creature through it's center, the only eye it had. It's four legs crumpled underneath it as it's energy drained away. Link did a head motion towards the girl, and she complied by running up to meet him.

They continued up the trail as Link stopped her yet again. "What is it?" she asked but right after asking she felt a rumbling throughout the ground. He quickly pushed her against the wall, him standing over her. She blushed while she tried to stammer a question. He pressed on her closer as what seemed to be a rock rumbled past. He glanced down the trail questionably before looking back at the girl. He raised an eyebrow to her. She blinked, seriously confused. He tapped his face...no not his face, his cheek. That only made it worse.

"It's nothing! Don't worry about it..." she grumbled. A smirk crossed his face before he turned around to keep heading further into the rocky terrain. 'Perverted jerk...' Link's eyes wandered around the clearing right before what seemed to be a cave. There was a platform with eight rocks forming a circle sitting right before that as well. He shrugged, walking up to a sign right before the opening. Zelda, wondering who the careless one at this point was, walked up beside him, leaning over and reading the sign as well. "'Land of the Gorons. Goron City'...well, they should know something about the temple right?" she looked up to him inquiring. Again, he shrugged his shoulders and walked inside. 'It's a wonder he hasn't died yet...' She soon noticed that he was clearly out of eye shot and also walked inside. She was on the highest floor of the indoor city...and besides a Goron, she was the only one up there. She looked nervously at the being in front of her. "U-uh...excuse me..." the rock creature turned to her slowly.

"Yes?"

"H-have you seen a blonde man wearing green pass through here?"

"Oh, you mean that guy?" he asked, pointing to an area two floors down from where they were.

"H-How did he?" she stammered. Either he walked extremely fast or he had teleportation powers or...something!

"Oh...I told him that he had to go because our chief wasn't wanting anyone to come around. He just stared at me so I told him if he had a problem that he should take it up with the chief himself and told him where to find him and he jumped..."

"I...I see..."

"He still has no chance of seeing the chief though..."

"Why?"

"You'll find out..." and after that, he returned to looking like a rock by bending over and refusing to talk anymore. She sighed.

"Link!" the green clad man turned to the princess with an irritable look on his face. "What's wrong?" he waved his hand in a beckoning motion. A way of saying 'come here' she figured. But then she paused. "...how do I get down? I don't see any stairs..." he continued to stare at her as if the answer was obvious. Then, she quickly got what he was getting at. "I'm not jumping..." he folded his arms. "I'm NOT doing that...and how would I get over there anyway?" he pointed to the large rock in the center of the cavern that was supported by three thick ropes. "...you're kidding right?" he shook his head. Knowing that he was completely serious, she sighed. "I swear, if I get hurt doing this, it's your fault..."

She carefully took steps on the twine tightrope. As she neared the middle she slipped up, sending her plummeting over the side headfirst...if it weren't for the Goron already sitting it the middle of her destination. He just barely caught her ankle as he sat up from his nap and noticed her coming towards him. He looked at her drowsily when he brought her to safety. "T-thank you..." The warrior sighed quite noticeably from his current location. She stood up and looked to him warily. "Link...you better catch me..." and with that she ran and jumped, her hair flying over her shoulder as she plummeted two floors down with her eyes clenched tight. As expected, she landed in a pair of arms safely. She could feel the slight twirl he'd done to regain balance. She looked up to him slowly. He was smirking at her again...

"What's so funny?" he shook his head and placed her down, walking away from the girl in the process. She arched an eyebrow at him. "Seriously..." Losing the smile, he walked up to the door and knocked on it.

"I don't care how many times you do that, I will only open the door for a messenger of the royal family...and you have to prove that you are what you say." came a gruff voice from the inside. Link looked to Zelda irritably again.

"Oh, so that's what was wrong...hmm...if I remember correctly..." she trailed off, pulling the ocarina from the bag on her waist. The warrior raised an eyebrow this time as she brought her lips to the mouth of the ocarina. A soft, slow tune flowed out effortlessly. It was oddly calming and relatively peaceful to hear. All but suddenly the door rumbled open, rising above their heads. "Lucky guess...figured that lullaby that mother left me was good for something else than putting me to sleep..." and with that, she stepped inside the new found hallway. As they both made their way to the fire lit room the one inside was not so pleased.

"What the heck? Who are you? When I heard heard the song of the royal family I expected their messenger had arrived but, you're just a couple of kids! Has Darunia, the big boss of the Gorons, really lost so much status to be treated like this by his sworn brother, the King? Now I'm really angry, get out of my face, now!" he roared. The two stared at him dumbfounded for quite a long time. He glared at them crossly.

"W-Why are you yelling at us? We didn't really do anything to deserve that." Zelda huffed out.

"Are you asking me why I'm in such a bad mood?"

"That would be nice to know..."

"Ancient monsters have infested Dodongo's Cavern! We've had a poor harvest of our special crop, Bomb Flowers! Starvation and hunger because of the rock shortage! But...this is a Goron problem! We don't need any help from strangers!" he grumbled but yelled all the same. Zelda, bringing her hands down from her ears huffed yet again.

"Well...is there anything we can do to help you anyways?"

"Hmm...well...there's this song that's been stuck in my head you see...it's been bugging me...it has a forest type feel to it you know! If you find a song like that, it would cheer me up." he answered. Link brought a finger to his chin in slight contemplation. He held his hand out towards the girl as she looked at him strangely.

"You want...the ocarina?" she questioned. He nodded quickly. She shrugged and handed him the musical instrument. He took a deep breath and began playing the symphony of notes that had crossed his mind as soon as the Goron man had said the word "forest". As if something had snapped in the man, Darunia began to dance in an uncontrolled manner.

"Oh! Oh-oh!" he yelled amidst his dance, "C'mon! Come on! Come on! Come on! HOT! What a hot beat!" Zelda stared at the man, dumbfounded yet again as Link continued on his tune. "WHOA! YEAH! YAHOOO!" he screamed at the top of his lungs. Seeing as he ran out of breath accommodating the man, the warrior stopped playing, bringing the tune to it's end. The Goron, also catching his breath from the absurd dancing, smiled at the green clad man. "What a nice tune! Just like that, my depression is all gone! Something just came over me! I just wanted to dance like crazy!" he admitted smiling just absurdly as his previous dance. "I am Darunia! I'm the big boss of the Gorons! Was there something you wanted to ask me about?"

"Umm yeah...do you know where the Fire Temple is. It's said that the temple is on this mountain but so far we have not seen any clue of it's existence..."

"You want to know the location of the temple huh? I can't just tell that to anyone though...to prove that you are worthy of learning such a thing...if you want to know so badly...why don't you go destroy the monsters inside of Dodongo's Cavern and prove your good intentions? That way everybody will be happy! If you do it, I'll give you anything you want!"

"Ah...I see...how about it Link? It's the only way we'll find out..." the warrior exhaled heavily then nodded his head regretfully. Well, it was going to be a long journey, a little side quest wouldn't hurt...