Link often thought of himself as somewhat of a master at reading body language.

Unless directly spoken to, he usually opted to keep quiet, thinking of what he wanted to say rather than outwardly express it.

It often saved him from awkward situations and accidental embarrassments.

Reading himself on the other hand…

In hindsight, he should be working on that a bit harder.


The first thing he should have done when he left the castle was wonder why he had a fever.

He'd taken his suppressants with him, popping his daily two and quickly packed some of his things for their trek up the mountain later. He had met the Princess at her chambers early at sunrise and they had descended to the stables to their mares and had departed with little to no problems. They'd made arrangements with Impa and Purah to meet in Goron city with Daruk in order to work on Vah Rudania. Something about clunky movements that didn't seem right, even for a giant mechanical beast.

Zelda had been more than willing to leave as soon as she could.

Anything to skip morning devotions, Link laughed as she quickly sped out of the castle that morning. She had been awake by the time he'd reached her door, a rare feat for the Princess, and they had left before the King could have the opportunity to wake up and remind her of her religious duties.

What better way to avoid the long prayers than by waking before the Priestesses and King.

Before midday could even hit, they quickly reached the Foothill Stable and boarded the horses before starting the trek by foot. They both happily unscrewed the Fire Elixirs and began their long arduous walk up the volcano, climbing a shortcut Link had discovered a few months back during their last visit.

In his defence, he didn't realise he had a fever due to the extremely high temperatures of Death Mountain. Just about every piece of him felt as if he took a dip into the hot lava.

Throughout the trip, he'd wrongly focused on the ever growing temperatures of his body, almost allowing himself to be burnt by a strolling Chuchu jumping out at him from behind a rock. He had grumbled a few soft profanities at nearly being caught in the subsequent explosion let off by the dying jelly and had proceeded to apologise to Zelda for the indecent words that slipped from his mouth.

If Zelda had begun worrying about him, she kept her mouth busy by talking diligently about an entirely different subject.

A second instance quickly followed; Link had been talking to himself, fuming over his inattention of the Chuchu and it seemed he hadn't heard the frantic scurrying from behind him until after he felt a wet slap hit him in the back, leaving a sting between their shoulders.

Lizalfos now? He'd been glad Zelda had walked ahead of him now that he was being targeted by every monster in existence one after the other. He felt his patience thinning faster than it should, his frustrations taking the form of harsh swings to the lizard-monster that had attempted to fight them. His final swing had the Lizalfos rolling into a nearby pool of molten rock, never to be seen again.

He silently prayed Zelda hadn't noticed the rather rough tumble the beast had taken.

In the distance, the sounds of nearby mining could be heard, the clanging of hammers and pickaxes against the hard rock of the mountain echoing into the distance. It was approaching Goronbi Lake that, while Zelda looked in awe at the shrine sitting in the lava nearby, Link looked at the suspiciously empty stretch of land before his eyes.

That's… too quiet… his eyes narrowed at the numerous glowing rocks, landing on one significantly bigger one. He sighed, knowing he'd probably be fighting again. The large rock was connected to a few smaller ones, painting itself to be suspicious from the very start.

"Zel, can you wait over here?" He called her back over, pointing to a spot where she wouldn't possibly get lava-bombed in the instance the suspicious rocks turned out to be a Talus.

It was the stars in her eyes that made him sigh again. He knew that look. "Please Link? This could be my only chance to see an Igneo Talus! To study such a beast would be a dream!"

Absolutely not. You're going to get smushed.

"I'd rather you not get hurt?"

She rolled her eyes and sighed in disappointment. "Fine. I'll stay at the far end, is that ok?"

While he didn't want her in the pit at all, he knew she'd jump into it eventually when he turned his back.

"Alright. But if it sees you, you run."

"Understood."


Link watched patiently as Purah and Zelda played around with the main control unit of Vah Rudania.

The moment they'd reached Goron city, Purah had been waiting for them and had quickly whisked them away to the Divine Beast using Daruk as a guide. It didn't matter that they were exhausted or tired beyond their wits, Purah simply scoffed, grabbed their hands and pulled them along the moment they passed the city archway.

After Daruk had moved Vah Rudania out of its high resting point atop the mountain, demonstrating its movements for the two researchers while Link still couldn't spot the difference in its motions, the three boarded.

Link leisurely followed behind, letting Zelda and Purah run off together while Daruk watched the scene with the same confusion he had. Neither were very technology-oriented like the other champions, so they often agreed on simply leaving them to their fancy equipment.

When Zelda opened the first small guidance stone, Link and Daruk had hoped to see what they were attempting to find, but only found complex wiring and glowing parts. They'd shared one glance and had backed away slowly without another word to allow Purah to crawl in beside the Princess with a small light in her hands.

"Princess, the shafts seem to be functioning properly and none of the screws are loose either, perhaps it's the cores-" He eventually began drifting off into his own thoughts, Purah's voice far away, his mind only registering sounds rather than complex words.

One day he'll understand the conversations about Sheikah technology, but today still wasn't it.

Seeing that Daruk was standing guard and actively watching around for fire keese that might appear, Link quietly excused himself. He slowly made his way out of the small chamber and looked around the Divine beast.

Five terminals right? And a control unit? He looked around the large room, counting from the first one high up above his head against the wall. He imagined they'd have to shift Vah Rudania to access it so he stored that information to the back of his mind for later use.

Eventually he found two more terminals inside; one hidden away in a small compartment and another in a separate room. The soft blue glow of the terminals was quite captivating, easy to find against the dark ancient stone and the volcanic red glow. It hadn't taken him long to find the 4th, though most were out of his reach.

He watched the ramp for a moment, thinking. It was too high to jump and reach, and he definitely couldn't climb to it. He'd likely have to move Vah Rudania to reach it and that wasn't in his control to do, Daruk was the champion to the Divine beast after all.

He reached into his pack and grabbed a small bundle of rope with a heavy weighted stone he'd found outside. He tied the weight to the rope and swung it into his hands, swinging it in a circle before launching it up. He strained his ear, hearing the stone hit a few metal bars before falling back to him.

He briefly wondered if the gap in the bars would allow for the rock to even fall through, and decided to try once more. Launching the stone again, it clanged a few times before he heard the sweet sound of an echoed metallic thud.

He tested the rope first by tugging on it, then by putting his weight in it. He felt it tense, but not give—just as he'd hoped. He smiled and climbed with ease onto the makeshift ramp. As he slowly approached the exit door, it steadily grew much hotter, causing him to reach into his pack to down yet another fire elixir.

He slowly peaked his head out of the Divine beast turned to get a better view. He could see Volcanic embers flying around — they were in a volcano after all — and his eyes glued to the giant pool of magma below him.

We're inside a volcano after all, he had to remind himself.

He quickly spotted a ladder and carefully climbed, reaching the top. He easily spotted the 5th terminal from the ladder, though he wasn't about to do any stupid tricks to get to it, seeing the pool of lava beneath the beast.

Though his eyes drifted to the large bulbous terminal in the middle.

Must be the control unit, he easily deduced as he approached it carefully. Glowing blue like the eternal Sheikah flames, it intrigued him greatly. It was so much bigger than the other five he'd seen, but he didn't think he'd ever seen the main control unit before.

He felt an odd pull as he approached, coaxing him closer. A buzzing in his ear, a magnetic pull dragging him closer. It felt as if gravity increased with every step, the sword on his back suddenly weighing heavy on his shoulders.

With a brief glance to his back, he noted the glowing blue sword. He paid no mind until every nerve in his body forced him to stop.

His eyes darted between the sword and the unit repeatedly. Something wasn't right. Unsheathing the sword, he held it out before him, eyes passing over the Triforce crest near the hilt and tracing his sight over the captivating holy light of his sword.

Why is it glowing?

It confused him greatly. The sword only ever glowed in the presence of monsters, and yet here it was, glowing on the Divine Beast. He looked around the unit, trying to see if there was any, yet found none.

He attempted to use his advanced sense of smell to find the source but quickly clamped his nose shut with his hands. The lava and magma from the volcano simply burned the back of his throat with the rotting smell of smoke and ash that seemed to cling to every living nook and cranny of the mountain.

His attention quickly returned to the sword in his hands, still glowing bright and blue like the Sheikah's eternal flames.

"You have no reason to glow…" He muttered to himself, pointing the sword to different directions atop the beast, yet it maintained its soft blue glow. Maybe it didn't like the Divine Beasts? He attempted to recall any moment the blade had glowed.

He'd ventured aboard Vah Naboris more times than he could recall over the last few years when he was sent on a wild goose chase to find Zelda in the desert. No matter the amount of times he'd approached terminals, the absence of the pull and the increased gravity now stuck out to him. The Blade never glowed.

He'd boarded Vah Medoh once in the last six years since its discovery and appointment of its Champion and had never noted anything out of the ordinary there either. The only chill he ever felt there was the strong winds and high altitude.

So why here?

He shook his head and sheathed the sword onto his back, returned to the ladder to the safety of the beast below him. Maybe it's the heat. Right, it's the heat. He thought as he stepped back inside Vah Rudania. He promised himself he'd try to get more sleep that night.

"Link! We've been looking everywhere for you!" Zelda shouted to him from the ground the moment he came into view. "We're shifting the beast, come down."

Doing as he was told, he hopped down beside her as Daruk commanded the beast to shift.

Hours later, when they finally reached the main control unit, the sword lacked its brilliant glow it had displayed earlier that day. It hadn't glowed for a single moment more atop Death Mountain.