A/N: Before we start this chapter there's a few things I want to mention. First of all, it is important to note that from this chapter through the remainder of the "child arc" had a major restructuring half-way through writing this chapter. As a result, it may be a bit short in comparison to others, but I think the story comes out stronger as a result. Second, you might notice that there are some inconsistancies regarding capitalization between chapters. This is due to some internal debate over whether certain things, such as "goron" should be capitalized. Nintendo capitalizes it, but more than likely that is due to the nature of trademarks and other copyright stuff. I have decided to not capitalize these nouns going forward (i.e. hylian, zora, kokiri, etc), but have not had time to go back and edit previous chapters. I will eventually.


~On the Horizon~


As the blue-white light faded away, Link found himself surrounded by stone and dirt, the sun beginning it's climb in the sky. He glanced behind him. The warp had deposited him back outside the entrance to Dodongo's Cavern. He looked back in front of him catching sight of a goron staring at him incredulously.

The goron jabbed a chubby finger at the skull kid. "You just sort of. Appeared out of nowhere!" He exclaimed.

Link giggled impishly, bringing his arms back behind his head. "Yeah? Yeah! I did, didn't I!" He rocked up on his toes up, practically bouncing with amusement from the goron's astonishment.

His excitement was cut off by the sound of Darunia clearing his throat. He, too, had returned from the cavern depths in a flash of cool light, dusting himself off as he tried to make sense of the time. But before long, a big grin spread across his face. He reached a hand - nearly as big as Link's head - down to give the skull kid a rough noogie. "Ha ha! We did it kiddo!"

Link let out a squeak as the goron then gave him a hearty pat on the back. Hard enough to cause him to stumble and fall from the force. If Darunia noticed, he said nothing, focused instead on laughter and what else he had to say.

"My people will be able to fill themselves on the rocks from the cavern till our stomach's burst! No more starving! And it's all thanks to you kid!"

Link slowly climbed back to his feet, laughing nervously as he rubbed the back of his head. "Well-"

"What a wild adventure this was! It'll make an incredible story!" Without warning, the goron scooped him up into a tight hug. A hug so tight that for a moment, Link was certain that his barky skin would break open. "Oh! You know what? That gives me an idea. I think this calls for a celebration!"

He dropped the skull kid, his attention to the other goron. "Hey! Gormi, my brother! Head back to the city, start making arrangements immediately!"

"What?"

"Go, tell everyone to get ready! Link and me are sworn brothers now!"

"We are?"

"Of course! And though there's no need for a ceremony, I think our exploits call for a celebration!"


Goron parties were… an experience.

It seemed like the entire city had come out of whatever holes they were hiding in. Even more gorons were gathered than when he had performed music days ago. Huh, it had been several days now, hadn't it? Link had now discovered the use for the huge base at the bottom of the pit; young gorons were making a dangerous game of trying to toss small bomb flowers inside. On the middle level, a feast was under way, only the finest cuts of rock laid out for any goron to take. Link had to politely decline offers of the stone multiple times, sticking to his skultulla legs he had harvested before and bread.

Several times he'd had to wiggle his way out of bone crushing hugs now, or stumbled from a hard, friendly pat on the back. Despite all the excitement around him, Link felt… tired. And as the day wore on, he found himself desperate to get away from the festivities for a bit. He made his way around the edges of the walkway, climbing higher and higher until he finally found one tunnel near the top that appeared to be quiet and empty.

As he made his way deeper into the dim tunnel, he reached a hand into his bag until his hand brushed against what he was looking for: the fairy ocarina. He rubbed a finger against the wood, thinking about the notes to Saria's song in his head. A sigh escaped his mouth. In the excitement of the last few days, he had only just realized how long it had been since he'd contacted his friends back in the forest. He leaned back against the wall and brought the instrument up to his mouth, blowing into it as quietly as possible in hopes of not attracting any more attention. Navi poked out from underneath his hat, speaking in a groggy voice.

"Is the party over already…?"

For a moment after he finished the song, it was silent, not a peep of sound entering his mind. Fingers tapped anxiously across the woodgrain. Did he maybe play the song wrong?

But just as he was bringing the ocarina back up again, Saria's voice spoke out in his mind.

"Link? Are you still there?"

The skull kid smiled. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm here."

"Oh good," the fairy girl's voice said. "Sorry, I was in the middle of something and had to go somewhere quieter. I'm so glad to hear from you again. Is everything okay? It's been days since you last contacted us, we were getting worried! Skull Kid was about ready to come looking for you, I swear."

"Oh, um, everything's gone great," Link fibbed. "Absolutely perfect. In fact, we should be getting the second stone any time now."

"Really? That's great Link! The goron one, right? That means you only need one more?"

Link nodded. Then, realizing that Saria would not be able to see it, he let out a little "mhm." He paused for a moment before continuing with his own question. "Do you… do you have any idea where the last one might be?"

There was a moment of silence in his head. "I think the Deku Tree might have mentioned it to me once. You have the Forest Stone and the Fire Stone, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"So that would leave the Spiritual Stone of Water… I know, it must have been with the zoras."

"The… what?"

"They're a race of fish people. I can't tell you exactly where to go but… if you look for sources of water, you might be able to find something."

"That… makes sense I guess," Link said with a nod. His voice grew quieter.

"Are you okay?" Saria asked, sensing his hesitation.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just… I was wondering where Skully was."

"Ah, I see. He's hanging out in the woods. Or at least… I hope he's hanging out in the woods. He-" She cut off suddenly. Link really wished he could see what was going on right now.

"... He isn't waiting in the woods. I need to go, Link, before someone gets bitten by a skulltula that someone just released in the middle of the Kokiri Forest clearing. Check back with us soon, alright?"

"Mhm."

Link lifted away one of his hands, using the other to put the ocarina back in his bag. He stood still for a moment, staring down at the bag.

His hesitation did not go unnoticed by Navi. The fairy fluttered down from his head and into his line of sight, making a slow, concerned tinkling noise. "Link, are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine," the skull kid insisted.

"You don't sound fine."

For a second, the boy's fingers twitched, the glow of his eyes wavering ever so slightly. But the moment passed as quickly as it had begun. He let out a sigh. "I'm… fine, really."

Before Navi could protest further, he put on a smile, took a deep breath, and began to walk back outside into the noise, quietly avoiding the few gorons still on the upper level until he reached the outer edges of the walkway, looking down into the city's center pit.

Most of the gorons were further down in the lower rings now, heavily invested in whatever the game the gorons were playing with vase was or feasting. Link took a moment to watch the excitement, the kinship that the rock-like beings shared with each other. The smallest of frowns crossed his face. Just a few days ago, he had been so excited to play music with the gorons. But now, something felt off. It kind of reminded him of the kinship he had with Skully, he supposed, but at the same time…

A strong hand taking hold of his shoulder snapped him out of his thoughts. He let out a surprised yelp, turning his head to see Darunia just behind him with one hand on his shoulder, and the other behind his back.

The goron leader let out a hearty laugh. "Woah-ho! Easy there, brother! It's just me. Thought I saw you up here. Here, walk with me." He began to make for the exit, leaving Link to follow.

The two stopped just a little way outside. The sun was high in the sky now, mid-afternoon light casting small shadows among the cliffs. Few, wispy clouds dotted the sky, but thicker grey clouds were moving in on the horizon. Link turned to look back to Darunia. Before he could ask any questions, however, the goron held out his hand.

"Figured you might be getting ready to head out, brother. I thought I'd see you off, and make sure you didn't forget something important." He opened his hand. Sitting in his palm was a red jewel cut in a pentagon shape, set deep into a golden bezel. Its facets glinted in the bright sunlight.

Link carefully took the gem in both hands, turning it over to give the precious stone a thorough look over. While he did his inspection, Daruina continued. "I hope this helps you out on your quest, kid. You take that stone and do what you need to. Just make sure to bring it back next time you visit, alright?"

Despite the troubled thoughts on his mind, Link gave the smallest of smiles and a nod. "Of course," he replied quietly.

Navi fluttered in front of Link. "Thank you, Darunia, for trusting us with this. We will be certain to take good care of it and return it as soon as possible. We wish you and your tribe well, and I will pray to the goddesses for your continued prosperity."

She turned to Link next. "Come on Link, we've got no time to lose. All we have left is the Spiritual Stone of Water to collect. Do you have a clue of where we need to go?"

The skull kid nodded. "Mhm… Saria said to look for water sources - that it belongs to the zoras."

"Zoras, eh?" Darunia cut in." If you head back through Kakariko and follow the river outside of the village against its flow, you'll eventually reach zora's domain. Heh, haven't talked to those fellas in a while. I wonder how their king is doing these days."

Oh, that's helpful. Thanks so much Darunia!"

"Anytime. You two be careful now, and steer clear of that gerudo man!"

Link gave a firm nod, smiling as he turned away. "We will!" With that, he took a second to wave to the goron, and took off on the path down the mountain that he had traveled just days before.


Clouds had fully blotted out the setting sun by the time Link reached the base of the mountain. On top of the quickly darkening sky, a heavy drizzle had started. A roll of distant thunder shook the skull kid out of his thoughts. He paused just past the gates of Kakariko to squeeze a bit of water from his tunic. The goron tunic may have been fire-proof, and magically protected him from the flames and heat of Dodongo's Cavern, but it failed to keep from being soaked to the core.

The guard at the Kakariko gate gave him nary a glance as he passed back through, wordlessly opening it to allow him passage. Between the armor and the rain masking the scents of everything around him, he could not tell if it was the same one that had let him through before.

"I think we should find somewhere to rest for the night," Navi mumbled quietly from under Link's hat, breaking the silence.

"But I'm not tired," Link protested.

"I know," she said, "but it looks like the weather is going to get worse, and I'd hate for us to get caught up in this storm. There must be somewhere we can shelter for the night at least."

The skull kid tilted his head up, tapping his chin. "Wasn't there a cucco coop back near the graveyard? I could sleep there!"

"I was thinking more along the lines of one of these houses, actually."

Link paused, glancing over the wood and brink structures. "I dunno…"

"It would be much safer than some cucco coop," Navi goaded. "Warm and dry and sturdy. I'm sure there's someone that will let you stay. Come now, we have no time to waste if we're going to find a place before the storm worsens. Maybe the potion shop lady will let us stay, remember her?" Without waiting for an answer, she zipped out from the hat.

"Come on it's this way." She began to fly ahead, leaving Link no choice but to follow if he wanted out of the rain.

The fairy led him down the stairs and around several buildings to a fence. Besides the guard, everyone had taken shelter from the rain already, leaving the small village eerily empty.

"Wait here Link," Navi said. "I'll find an entrance."

"No need," The skull kid replied. With a quick adjustment of his bag and a running start, he scrambled up and over the fence, landing neatly on the other side.

"That works too…" Navi mumbled. Then she continued in a louder voice. "Don't do that again. This is trespassing."

"What's trespassing?"

"You know, climbing into other people's property. The kokiri may not care too much so long as you don't bother their personal belongings, but most hylians do."

"Oh, okay."

The fairy let out a sigh before continuing on, flying up a small brick wall. Link went around the stairs to the side. By the time he had reached the top Navi had already turned from the door with a huff.

"Never mind, its closed. She's not here."

"Oh." Link began to reach for the door anyways.

"Link, no!"

"What now?"

"You can't go into someone's home if they're not here. That's trespassing too! Come on let's find somewhere else."

The skull kid let out a huff but did not argue. He followed the fairy around but stopped short of the fence. Navi flew through the holes between posts.

"Come on now."

"You told me not to do that again. It's trespassing."

Navi let out a sigh. "Oh, for the love of Farore…" She mumbled. "Link, she continued in a louder tone, "it's trespassing to go into their property. Leaving somewhere you're trespassing into in the first place is the opposite of trespassing."

Link stared for several seconds before finally shrugging and scaling the fence just as he had before.

"That's better, now come on, there was house on the other side, we can try there."

Once again, the fairy led him around a corner to a different door, pounding against it a couple times to knock before the skull kid arrived.

A large, surly man in an open blue vest and green pants answered the door. He stared down at the fairy and skull kid incredulously.

"Hi," Navi started in a friendly tone. "We were just passing through and were wondering if we could stay here for the night to get out of the storm."

The man stared at them for a moment, frozen with eyes locked on the kid's eerie, unblinking, glowing eyes, then quickly looked back towards someone they couldn't see.

"Sorry, we're all out of space," he said quickly before nearly slamming the door. Navi swore she heard the click of a lock afterwards.

"Not so trusting after dark, are they?" she said quietly. "Sorry Link, we'll try somewhere else.

The two were off once again. The next door they tried was already locked, thought the boarded-up windows and numerous flyers around the door suggested that the house had been abandoned for some time. By now, it was all but pouring rain, with the occasional flash of lighting or roll of thunder.

"I still think we could try the cucco hut," Link suggested.

"No, no that's a bad idea."

"Why?"

"Well…" Navi began, trying to think of a delicate way to approach the subject, while still being truthful "Because… well, based on that other house's reaction, the villagers probably would think you were going to hurt their cuccos."

"That's silly, sure I could shoot them with a slingshot, and it would be funny to watch, but why would I make someone I'm staying with mad?"

"That's not it," Navi replied in a tired tone. "It's more that they would… well… probably think that you were hurting them because… Because they probably think of you as a monster, like the stalchildren or a lizalfos."

The skull kid faltered for a moment. "Oh, right."

"B-but that doesn't mean everyone will," she added quickly. "Come on, let's try another house. I'm sure there's someone hospitable… Oh look, I think I see a guard over there. Maybe they can help us."

The fairy turned and fluttered back ahead. Link followed at a slower, more cautious pace, suddenly feeling much more vulnerable after his talk with Navi. He thought back to the guards at the castle. He thought back to Darunia. The goron had said he was angry because the royal family had sent him a kid but… was there more to it? He thought back to the conversation he overheard between Navi and the potion woman. The woman had called him a monster then… And Navi had never protested, had she?

A grim thought popped into his head.

… Did Navi view him as a monster too?

He nearly jumped out of his bark when a loud crash of thunder shook him out of his thoughts. He could dwell on it later. For now, shelter.

He scurried to catch up to Navi, who had already reached the guard and was explaining their predicament.

"... so please, is there any chance you can provide us with a place to stay?"

The man looked over the fairy, then over to Link, who had just arrived.

"Well…"

Link heard footsteps from behind, he resisted the urge to reach for his sword.

"Let them inside," a deep, commanding, feminine voice said from behind. "My home is meant to be a safe haven for everyone, traveler and villager alike."

Link noticed that the man suddenly stood up a little bit straighter. "Oh! O-of course, Lady Impa!"

The skull kid turned. Sure enough, the sheikah woman from the castle was there, standing just behind him with her arms crossed.

"Good to see you again, Link. I trust your journey is going well?"

Link nodded.

"Lady Impa, you know this- you know him?"

The woman nodded. "Yes, he's on a quest for Princess Zelda. Since he's here, I'd like to speak with him. Now if you'll excuse us…"

She moved between the two to pass on to the door. Link bowed his head and hurried behind.

The inside of the house was dry and much warmer. Although it was dim inside, there was a small, brick oven ablaze, giving light to the room. Link noticed two people inside: a skinny man seated by a wall of bookshelves, his nose buried in a book, and a young red-headed woman tending to the fire. The man glanced up at the two and began to open his mouth to say something, but thought better of it when he saw Impa, and closed his mouth again.

The girl looked up at the new arrivals as soon as she finished shifting the burning logs. "Ah, Lady Impa, we weren't expecting a visit. I would have cleaned up the place if I had known. Oh, and… you're that kid from a few days ago, aren't you?"

Link nodded slowly.

"You need not apologize," Impa began. "I would love to hear about how the village is doing, but I'm afraid I cannot stay long. There is a lot going on at the castle, and I am only here for a few hours to check up on a few things. I'll be leaving as soon as the rest of the storm passes. For now, I need to speak with this boy."

She turned her attention to Link. "Come, let's get you out of those wet clothes. Do you have anything else to wear?"

The skull kid nodded, already pulling the gloves from his outfit off. He retreated quickly to the back of the room and up a flight of stairs, already beginning to pull his old, ratty kokiri tunic out.

Impa turned her back. "Let me know when you are finished getting dressed."

He moved quickly, shimmying out of the pants and the red tunic in exchange for the green one, fingers brushing over some of the old cuts and rips. He left his boots off, and called out to Impa when he was done, who moved his wet clothes over by the fire spread out to dry off before returning to sit by him at a table on the upper floor. Navi fluttered to a stop on the table between the two of them.

Impa began to speak in a quiet voice. "I apologize if any villagers gave you trouble. Things have been tense here, from what I gather. Gandondorf came through just a day or two ago on a trip up to Goron City, and they're on edge." She turned her head to look outside a window for a moment. "I cannot stay long. The situation at the castle is becoming precarious, and truly, I should not be away from Zelda's side. Tell me, how goes your search for the stones."

"We've just come back from Goron City," Navi responded. "Darunia gifted us the stone this afternoon for helping him."

Link began to reach for his bag to show off the stone, but Impa held a hand up to stop him. "No, not here child. Ganondorf has eyes in many places, it is best to not risk it." Once his hands were away from the bag, she gave him the slightest smile. "I'm glad to hear that you've succeeded though. Tell me, do you have a clue where the third one might be?"

The skull kid nodded. Navi spoke for both of them. "We have a good reason to believe that the last stone is with the zora people. We planned to head there as soon as possible."

"That would make sense. The zora are a race of fish-like people. It would make sense that they would hold the spiritual stone of water."

A crash of thunder sounded outside. Impa glanced downstairs, catching the girl mumbling something about how she wishes she had brought the cuccos in the house.

"I had come in hopes of finding out how things were going on your end. I'm glad to see that they're going well. Once this storm passes, I will be returning to the castle, and remaining there to keep an eye on the princess. I suggest you rest and return to your quest as soon as possible as well."

Link nodded seriously. "I will."

Impa smiled once again before standing up. "If you'll excuse me, I am going back downstairs to look over a book from my people. There is still much to prepare for. Remember what I told you before, Link. It's up to us to protect this land from evil. Everyone is counting on you."

The skull kid lowered his head slightly. "I know."

"I wish you luck on your travels. Be careful, Link, and may the goddesses grant you swiftness in your journey."

With that, the woman headed back down the stairs, leaving Link and Navi to dwell on their thoughts.

The skull kid remained seated for a moment, thinking about the responsibility he was left with. About how close he had come to dying in Dodongo's Cavern. About how vulnerable he truly was. What if something happened to him while he was seeking the final stone? Would that doom everyone? Or would things be as bad as they're made out to be?

He traced the shape of the Kokiri Emerald into the wooden table. Then the Goron Ruby. Both the kokiri and the gorons were depending on him returning their stones, weren't they?

Would something happen if he was unable to return their stones?

He really, really hoped he would not have to find out.