Chapter 8: Parting

It was almost inconceivable to think, that amidst the crumbling rock falls, of statues that could disintegrate anything that moved into dust, and of a beast residing somewhere in this very cave - that one would be able to find a time and place to actually relax. To temporarily cast aside all logical concerns until the need for sleep would inevitably take over. But for Volga, sleep was a thorn to him at the moment.

The pair had spent several hours reading short stories next to the campfire Volga had made. They coursed through different genres, and each time a story was finished, they would eagerly pull up another book to read.

"Why is it," said Volga, frowning. "That in nearly every fairy tale with a dragon, the dragon is always a villain? And why does the hero or prince always end up being with the princess?"

He was unaware of how sulky he had come off sounding, or the movement of his lips that was closely resembling a…

"Volga," said Zelda in amusement. "Are you pouting?"

"I am not!" he protested. "Dragons do not pout."

"This one does," said Zelda, grinning.

With an indignant grumble, he hid his face behind a book. "I just think it's an overdone concept in fairy tales, that's all," he muttered. "I mean, what if the dragon never wanted to lock up the princess in a tower? What if he just…"

What if he just wanted to be with her?

Volga did not dare bring up his jumbled thoughts, let alone understand them. "If he," he repeated softly, not finishing his sentence.

"It would be a nice change of pace, I think," Zelda supplied, filling his uncertain silence, for which he was grateful for. "To give the dragon a happy ending for a change, wouldn't it? Maybe something like this."

He watched as she took one of the parchments scattered on the ground between their bedrolls. She placed the parchment on top of a massive dictionary and grabbed her quill, using the hard cover of the book as a surface for her to write on.

"What do you think?"

Zelda handed him the parchment she had been quietly working on for the past minute. But it was not writing she had done. It was a drawing. Well, a rather distorted doodle to be precise, in which he couldn't make out what it was supposed to be yet. It seemed however, that she was aware of this.

"That's a dragon," she said, looking embarrassed. "I know, I know, it looks like some deformed lizard with wings. I haven't exactly been blessed with artistic talent. And next to him is supposed to be a lady dragon."

"Lady dragon?" Volga quipped, raising an eyebrow, unsure of what to make of it.

"Well yes," said Zelda. "I just thought… since the prince and princess have a happy ending together, then the dragon should have something like that too. I know her drawing looks awful though. Here, I'll redo her." She scribbled out the female dragon with the quill.

Volga was not sure what made him do it. "I'll redo it," he offered, unprepared for the hurt that had been unintentionally caused. He inhaled a shaky breath, and fumbled with a few books, placing them beneath the parchment.

He left the male dragon Zelda had drawn untouched, and began to draw on the space next to it, the other side from where the scribbled out female dragon was. His artistic talent was not much better than Zelda's, but what he had drawn was far easier, not to mention more pleasant to him. He smiled at the sight of it.

"Can I see?"

Volga's eyes widened when he realized what exactly he had drawn. "N-no," he said quickly, flipping the parchment over so that it wouldn't be within view.

It was Zelda's turn to pout now. "Awww, please? It can't be worse than mine."

His cheeks were burning, but he did not care. "Maybe," he said reluctantly. "Maybe someday. But not now."

Someday.

Zelda stirred in her bed roll after what felt like a relatively quick sleep, but in reality, had been longer than she thought. Not that she could tell, since there was no sign of what time of day it was from where they were in the cave. She was surprised to find that her bed roll was not that uncomfortable, given that she had been accustomed to her grand, plush mattress from her royal bed at home.

Home.

It had dawned on her that she did not even think of her 'home' until now. Zelda had never been so far from the castle before, and while the idea would have normally made her more enthusiastic, she could not help but feel a little guilty as to how worried Impa and her father must be. She wondered how long it would take them to find out she had snuck here, if they hadn't already. She only hoped that they would not try to go through the cave themselves, or put themselves in danger, for her sake.

In a way, it was a bit of a shame that during her trip to this place, she had spent all of it hiding inside the crate of apples, rather than be able to have the chance to take in the sight of Hyrule. It would have been nice to be given this opportunity. However, she had not come here for another mere sneak attempt for freedom.

Volga. He seemed… off today, somehow. Like he was not really there, but his body moved for him. His face looked tired, making him appear older than he actually was. He was out of focus too, clumsily spilling the water he had tried to pour onto his flask.

"Here, allow me," said Zelda, taking the flask from his hands, her skin briefly touching his. At this, Volga's body gave an involuntary start, nearly dropping the flask. Zelda caught it by the handle just in time. Pouring the water into the flask, she handed it back to him, surveying him with concern.

"Sorry," he said, fixating his eyes on the flask, as if trying to avoid looking at her.

Zelda frowned. "You didn't get any sleep, did you?"

"I…"

And the cave trembled.

This time, it was not a minor seismic spurt, but the sound of heavy footsteps, growing louder by the minute. With each step, rocks and dust particles would lapse from the ceiling and wall. Volga, now fully alert, glanced around to make sure they would have a place to run to, should the need arise, but unfortunately, they were at a dead end. The only way out was through the direction those footsteps were coming from.

He could see a slanted shadow from the tunnel, which the creature was in no doubt, about to turn around the corner.

When the beast came into view, the first feature he had noticed were the curved claws, saturated in a blood red. Then its face emerged, slowly turning to stare at them. Red eyes gleamed in the shadows, as the rest of its body stepped into the lighting emitted from the gems, both from the cave, and from the beast itself.

Golden scales covered the creature's massive form, a somewhat rounded shape in the way it was hunched over, though its head was held high from its short neck. Two red horns were protruded from either side of its head, curling slightly at the tip. What looked like red crystals, or rubies, ran along its back and joints.

The beast paused in its footsteps, a reasonable distance away, but not far enough that it wouldn't be able to crush them in a single step, if it so desired to. Volga's grip clenched around his spear as he held his ground protectively, moving in front of Zelda.

"How curious," the golden creature drawled, its deep voice echoing along the walls. "So you are the mighty dragon that the lizard folk speak so much of? You, who have come here to pass the trial, and have made it thus far. Why, may I ask, are you in that pitiful, human form? Where is your true form, the one that Volvagia bore so proudly?"

Volga took a step forward, staring back into the creature's eyes, unwilling to show it any fear. "This form is a part of me," he said, resolute. "Are you the one to let me know what my trial is? Who are you?"

"I am King Dodongo," said the beast, opening its mouth wider, displaying sharp fangs that were almost as long as Volga's arms, glistening from the red reflecting its crystals. "And I am the one who will conclude your trial. You will first face me in battle. Not to the death, but as a means of measuring your strength. However, I will not be held responsible if you are killed. I have no intention of holding back."

"Now, now King Dodongo," a young voice hissed, a Dinolfos arriving from the same tunnel the monster had come from, followed by a group of more reptilians. This Dinolfos looked smaller than the other one Volga had seen, and he could only assume it was a hatchling, maybe around his own age even. "You should go at leassst a little easy on him. He's in that human form after all."

A Lizalfos, who must have been one of the chieftains, placed a clawed hand on the smaller Dinolfos's shoulder. "Amusei, my son, pleassse don't tempt Lord Dodongo. This isss a trial, not a game."

There were more Lizalfos and Dinolfos, but Volga reverted his attention back to Dodongo. He did not want an audience, but it seemed he had little choice in the matter.

"Volga," Zelda whispered. He turned around, catching sight of the worried look on her face. "Are you sure about this? I can try and -"

"Look, Mom," said Amusei, approaching the princess with hungry eyes "The dragon's brought a human. Is this our snack while we watch the battle?"

Volga, without thinking, lunged forward toward the Dinolfos, pointing the tip of his spear at its scaly neck. "Don't you dare touch her," he growled, before raising his eyes to glare at all of them. "That goes for all of you."

What appeared to be the Dinolfos chieftain, made a move in Volga's direction, but the Lizalfos chieftain who had spoken up earlier stretched out her arm to stop him. "Everyone calm down," she said warily. "Thisss is Dodongo's fight, not ours. Leave the human alone for now."

"Geez, so defensive," Amusei mumbled, rubbing its neck after Volga hesitantly pulled away.

Everyone began to step back as Dodongo settled himself ready for battle, making sure to give the two combatants plenty of space.

"Alright little dragon," Dodongo jeered. "Let us see what you're made of."

Volga consoled himself with the notion that due to Dodongo's size, the creature would be slower to hit him, and have a difficult time keeping up with the blond's agility. Speed wasn't everything however, because Dodongo could provide obstacles simply by moving, and Volga would likely have to focus on more than just Dodongo to keep up with the battle.

He remembered Impa's words about trying not to rely on blocking, though even if Volga wanted to, he was not sure what attacks would be blockable by this enormous creature. He waited for Dodongo to make the first move, unsure of what to expect, but ready to react, his lack of sleep long leaving him. Volga was so alert now that it was almost impossible to tell he had missed sleep at all.

"Allowing me to make the first move?" Dodongo questioned. "How very noble of you."

Volga saw a blur of red, as Dodongo raised its claws at him in a diagonal swipe. His reach was deceivingly long considering the short arms, and Volga jumped sideways, ducking his head as he did so. He was testing Dodongo's range, trying to grasp how far or how close he should be depending on what Dodongo did. Volga had to figure out when Dodongo left himself open, when it was safe to attack.

Suddenly, Dodongo opened his mouth wide - as wide as it could possibly go. Volga thought at first, that the beast was going to try and eat him, but instead, Dodongo was inhaling the air; he could see wisps of smoke circling around his mouth. Volga could feel the heat coming from Dodongo, could see the orange glow in its mouth. Could he block it, perhaps? Or should he evade?

The inhale had taken a bit longer than Volga had expected, giving him several more seconds of suspense as he debated on what to do. When Dodongo exhaled however, Volga was not prepared by the sheer size of the fire ball that flew in his direction. This was not a fire ball. It was a ruddy meteor.

Volga held up his spear in front of him, knowing he would not have time to evade. As he suspected, the attack was not blockable, and Volga took the blast, square in front of him. He was knocked backwards, slamming into the wall. The impact from which his body and the blast hit the wall caused the ceiling to shake above him.

He groaned, rolling on the ground to avoid the rock falls. He could hear Zelda's voice, aghast, in the background, his eyes hazy as they fixated on the golden creature approaching him.

The fire did not harm him as much as it would have to a normal human, the scorch marks more like minor sun burns, rather than permanent damage to the skin. It was the collision against the wall that was irksome, his ribs stinging with pain. Volga grunted as he stood up to his feet. He'd done enough scouting. It was time for him to start attacking.

Volga decided to try and strike Dodongo from the sides, now that he had seen the dangers of what fighting Dodongo face to face could pose. He knew he would still have to watch out for Dodongo's slashes, but if he could manage to avoid them quick enough, perhaps he could start a couple of jabs when the opportunity presented himself.

Dodongo swatted at him with his claws, irritated by the positioning in which he would have to take the time to turn his head in order to keep Volga on sight. The beast gave a growl of annoyance when he felt the spear thrust against the side of his stomach. Volga's eyes widened at the durability of Dodongo's scales. What should have been a deep cut was merely a scrape on Dodongo's body, his hide as thick as armor. But the damage was still enough to vex the beast.

Growing tired of turning his head, Dodongo decided to do a short jump each time Volga changed direction. Each time Dodongo jumped, each time he stomped, the cave rumbled with him. There had to be somewhere else he could strike.

His mouth, he thought, remembering how long it had taken Dodongo to charge his fire ball. If he could do it again, then perhaps he could try and strike inside his mouth, and channel his weapon with his own fire, as he had done with the Beamos when he and Zelda didn't have explosives at their disposal.

Dodongo's body curled into a ball, resembling a giant boulder, before rolling toward his direction. Volga threw himself to the left on the ground, panting as he glanced up to make sure Dodongo wasn't still with enough momentum to keep rolling. The monster nearly ran over the group of wary reptilians. "Back away some more," Dodongo snapped at them. "This area is not going to hold out for much longer."

And Volga found that he was correct. The walls and ceiling, having taken repeated damage from Dodongo's movements, were falling apart in catastrophic amounts. It was not just the rocks from above and around that Volga suddenly had to worry about, but below. The ground began to shake beneath him, and to his horror, crevices formed along what had been flat space a moment ago - breaking apart, and now falling into open air.

Dodongo was completely unperturbed by this, keeping himself and the reptilians just out of range from where the ground began to split open. "You know what's beneath us, little dragon?" he said smoothly. "Beneath this very ground lies a bottomless abyss. Whatever surface it might have once been is not a surface of being walked upon… it is a surface of the dead. If one is actually able to fall through the entire abyss… then well, at least your body will be crushed before the dead devour you alive. During wars long ago, certain forces would toss their enemies into this pit as a means of disposing of their bodies."

Being told this kind of information, while making sure the ground didn't split beneath where he stood - wasn't exactly helping to ease his nerves. Volga looked up at Zelda, to tell her to retreat to where the reptilians were, but she was already doing so.

Only… she was in a bit of a predicament. There were cracks on the ground completely surrounding her, making it impossible for her to step anywhere safe. Jumping did not even seem feasible… there was no way Zelda would have made it across the entire area in a single leap. She caught his eye, and she knew. She knew that she wouldn't have been able to make it.

No…

The ground surrounding her broke free, and she scrabbled at the rocks with her hands, making an effort to try and hold on to something, but they fell with her.

"NO!"

Volga cried out, jumping into where she had fallen.

"Is he crazy?" Amusei exclaimed, eyes wide with disbelief.

A young Lizalfos had her mouth open in shock. "Did he really just…?"

While the two hatchlings blabbered on, the chieftains said nothing, mulling over what could have possibly brought him to do that… for a mere human. Even Dodongo appeared taken back. "Well," he said after a moment. "I suppose his death will mean the end of the trial then. What a shame, I was starting to exert myself a bit to keep up with him."

Zelda could not scream. She was falling too fast for her voice to function, her stomach clenching in such a way that she felt sick. Her life was flashing before her eyes, not with light, but in a blur of wind and darkness. She tried reaching blindly for anything she could grab onto, her survival instinct still fighting inside her, still pressing her to go through everything until the very end.

Yet in this empty space, fate had other plans, taunting her strong-willed nature, daring her to try and defy gravity. Condescending and moralizing, like punishing a petulant child for finally not getting their way. Her wit would not scheme a way out of this, her powers and magic would not suddenly manifest into a guardian angel to reach out to her.

But something did reach out to her.

A shadow loomed above, though it was impossible to discern anything right now, not with her mind slipping in and out of conscious. She felt something snag around her waist, an exceedingly firm grip. Whatever it was, seemed to be placing the utmost care in lifting her carefully to where she could finally feel something solid beneath her.

I stopped falling…

Zelda's eyes slowly opened, her cheek leaning against an array of deep, red scales. She brushed her thumb across its dry smoothness, a certain familiarity tugging at her memory from this texture. She felt strangely… safe, even though her mind had not yet fully registered what was happening to her.

Something was tickling her neck, and she lifted her head weakly to find tendrils of a golden mane flowing in front of her, seemingly on fire. But it did not burn her. She gasped, overwhelmed by what she was seeing. By what he had done.

"Volga," she mouthed his name off her lips, the sounds barely escaping her throat.

The dragon turned his head to glance at her, fierce green eyes larger than she had ever seen them. Two dark horns curled around on either side of his elongated head. Then he turned his face away quickly, perhaps ashamed of her having seen him in this form. She shifted slightly so as to not put a strain on his wings, her arms woven around his long neck as he began to prepare to ascend.

Rocks were still plummeting from above, and Volga flew from side to side to try and evade them, two of them grazing his armored shoulder. They had been a long way down. Zelda could hear a strange assortment of inhumane growls and moans coming from beneath them. She glanced down and felt her blood turn cold. Corpses were surfacing from the bottom of the abyss, as if they had materialized from the very shadows.

Re-deads.

Zelda had heard of them before. Impa once read her a story about them hunting for stranded children, likely to scare Zelda from sneaking out at night during one of the times Impa caught her. Zelda had laughed at the absurdity of it at the time, but she was not laughing now. Seeing them before her eyes was an entirely different matter.

One of the Re-deads was about to latch onto Volga's tail. Zelda knew that reaching for her dagger, let alone use her arms, would not be wise at the moment. Instead, she worked with her feet, pressing the tip of her boots, at the outstretched arm, and kicking it, hard. The decomposed arm snapped, causing the Re-dead to fall back down with the the mass of bodies that were all coming to life. A group began to crawl up the walls, trying to reach them.

Zelda felt Volga's heat rise, feeling the flames course through his chest to his throat, before releasing a flamethrower at the corpses beneath them. The flesh burned and melted, but there was still more. It did not matter however, for they were far above them now, as Volga shot himself upwards. Closer and closer to the top they went, before Volga finally emerged from the abyss.

"Mom, look!" Amusei exclaimed, and every reptilian head turned in their direction.

One would almost think he was a completely different being, with the turnaround of how the reptilians were treating him now, compared to when he had been in his human form. He had not expected to be able to turn into a fully-fledged dragon. He had planned to try and reach Zelda with just his wings, but perhaps part of him knew that his wings would not have been able to fly properly. Even in his dragon form, they felt badly coordinated, lacking practice of use.

"What a magnificent form," Dodongo praised, bowing his large head to him. "I would like to continue our battle, but not today. And I would like to continue, not as a trial, but as a trainer. I should very much like to train you, Master Volga. If you would be willing to accept a place among the reptilian clan."

Volga found it odd to be called 'Master' when he would be the one to be trained, but he didn't really find any reason to object. Not that he trusted any of these creatures yet either, but at least it appeared that one solution was resolved. He surveyed the reptilian chieftains to make sure they were certain.

"That was very reckless, what you did," said the jeweled Lizalfos chieftain, bowing her head at him. "Yet you face death without fear. We are humbled to call you Massster."

"I'm sssorry for making you angry earlier!" Amusei spluttered. "I hope that we can get along!"

Volga sighed, though the sound came out to be more of a powerful wind sweeping in the cave. He laid down on the ground tiredly, as Zelda carefully slid off his back. They stared at each other for a moment, before Volga dipped his head on top of his front claws, exhausted.

Zelda was out of herself from shock, unsure of how to straighten her thoughts, to bring it back any sense of normality… well, normality for her standards, anyway. But normality had been long gone. She was watching Volga, seeing all of him for the first time - human, partial, and dragon. Now she had an actual proof before her eyes of what he was, and not just from scared jumbles of what she had heard.

And she was intrigued.

Volga felt his face grow hot at her proximity, of her wandering eyes. She appeared somewhat… boldly frightened, but this did not stop her from reaching out to him, tentative and curious. He tensed when her hand touched the top of his head, his body still reacting to her touches, regardless of whatever form he was in.

She sat in front of him, gingerly bringing his head to her lap. A puff of hot air escaped from his snout, driven from him exhaling heavily. Her hands slowly began to explore the sides of his face, along the roughened upper area surrounding his horns, and into his mane, running her fingers through them. Volga closed his eyes, his mind at loss of everything but of utter bliss. He could easily fall asleep like this.

"Human mussst be a dragon tamer."

Volga's eyes snapped open at the sudden comment, and he inwardly laughed at the fact that he had almost forgotten they were there. He turned to the reptilian chieftains."What happens now?" he asked them, his voice coming out like growls with every syllable.

"You may come with usss whenever you like," replied the Dinolfos chieftain, who had not said a word until now. "But what of the human?"

His green eyes flashed in warning. "She is not to be harmed," he reminded them. If they were indeed, going to follow his orders, then this would be the first rule he would set. "And I need to escort her back to the castle. What is the quickest way out of here?"

"Oh, I just remembered," said the female Lizalfos suddenly. "The quickest path out of here hasss an angry Sheikah outside. I shall show you the way out, it'sss not far from here."

The storm that had been of the angry Sheikah had come. Fortunately, Volga had managed to revert back to his human form, because he didn't think Impa would be able to handle any more stress than she was doing now.

"Take this sleeping draught and get in the carriage," she told Zelda sternly, pointing a finger at said carriage, where two horses had been stationed in front of it. "Your father and I are going to have a word with you later."

Zelda bit her lip. "Impa, is the sleeping draught really necessary?"

Impa's eyes narrowed dangerously. "It is absolutely necessary. I can't trust you to stay still on our trip home, so you will sleep until we arrive there. No arguments, Princess. In the carriage. Now."

The blonde sighed, taking a gulp of the potion, and heading inside the carriage. "Can I at least speak to Volga before we leave? I don't know how long until I will be able to see him again."

Impa pursed her lips. "Make it quick," she told them, glancing at Volga questioningly. "I shall have a word with your clan, and I'll be right back."

Volga hesitated, before stepping inside the empty carriage. Zelda took a seat on the cold cushion, grabbing the bundle of blanket and pillow that Impa undoubtedly had provided for her trip home. He shook his head gratefully when she offered him a seat, knowing that he was already extending his welcome as it was.

Zelda leaned her head against the small window, her only chance to be able to get a glimpse of Hyrule on her way home - and she would have to be asleep through it. Her eyes were already half-lidded from the sleeping draught having taken effect. Yet her blue gaze was searching, an ambiguous expression on her face. She had that same expression ever since the Lizalfos chieftain had led them out of the cave.

"You could have died, Volga," she said darkly.

He gave a faint laugh. "Coming from the one who saved me from being fried by some statues. And who kicked a dead corpse with her heel."

"But you just … d-did you even know you would be able to transform?"

Volga said nothing at this. He could not really explain to her what had gone through his mind at the time when he watched her fall. Could not explain the sheer terror that gripped his heart, in a manner that made anything else he ever dreaded completely insignificant in comparison. He could not imagine what it would be like now, if he hadn't at least tried, regardless of his own outcome. It was like trying to envision the sky devoid of its sun and moon. Of the absence of stars that would light up an otherwise endless stretch of emptiness and darkness.

Perhaps his silence told her enough. It wouldn't be the first time he communicated with her through this way. She must have meant it when she said his eyes were expressive.

"Hold out your hand," she said softly.

Puzzled, he obliged, watching her curiously. She turned her hair to the side, unfastening some of the lace ribbons that she had tied her hair with, taking a jewel that been adorned at the end of her braid. Volga recognized it of course, because its blue hue reminded him of Zelda's eyes. The top of the jewel was reminiscent of the crystal associated with the goddess, Nayru. What looked like a pair of gold wings enveloped around it, and beneath it, a stone in the shape of a water droplet.

"It's my brooch," she said, handing it to him. "And I would like you to have it. A token of our friendship, and our time spent together. Keep it, so you have something to remember me by."

His eyes widened. "Zelda…"

"You know why I didn't say good-bye to you before the trial?"

He looked up at her, weakly shaking his head. He had wondered this for awhile now, but he never brought it up. Bringing it up at all was a reminder of what neither one of them had the courage to say.

"Because this isn't really good-bye," said Zelda, giving him a sleepy smile, the same one he remembered seeing when she first taught him how to write. "I know we're going to see each other again. Until we do, you'll keep studying, won't you? And that way you can write to me, and read what I write to you."

"Of course I will," he said determinedly. If writing would be his only link to the princess for the next unforeseeable amount of years, then that's exactly what he would do. Having this optional gave him a much needed hope, regardless of its bittersweet nature.

"Then that makes me happy."

Her eyelashes fluttered shut, as her head slid against the window, the covers slipping off of her slumping body. Volga leaned over, and set her head gently on the pillow of the seat. He pulled the covers to her shoulders, absent-minded of his actions. Daring himself to take one final glance at the face of the little girl who had, and who would completely change his life.