Note: Here we are! Onto the next phase of the story (and game!) I'm thinking of replaying the 3DS remake soon.
The Trail to Death Mountain
Perhaps he had come on too strong, as the eight-legged creature immediately saw the fear developing in the girl's eyes, the boy she was with was quite alarmed by his presence as well. Then, the two bolted. Or rather, the girl bolted, dragging the boy in green with her, the fairy staying behind, mysteriously enough.
"No, wait!" the creature begged, Navi was startled by what she was seeing, yet, unlike the children, she didn't flee. Rather, she was more puzzled than anything. By all accounts, this…thing's appearance should indicate that it was a creature of evil, a monster from the depths. Yet she sensed no such malice or ill intent from the beast. Rather, she found herself looking upon a twisted yet pitiful thing that was pleading for its two potential saviors not to leave. "Come back! It's not what it looks like!"
Navi turned to see that Gris and Link were long gone, fluttering out of the room to see the two had migrated downstairs, the blonde girl grasping what appeared a small, green crystal in her hand.
"Come on, work, please!" she begged, clutching the gemstone with all her strength, eyes widening with hope when a small, green glow began to emanate from within the crystal's surface.
And, curiously enough, a light breeze had seemingly manifested in the abandoned home.
"W-Wait!" Navi pleaded, the children not even realizing that she wasn't even there with them.
Yet it was ultimately too late, a sudden whirlwind of bright green materializing and consuming the two youths, jostling several of the webs and other pieces of rotten furniture before vanishing altogether, Gris and Link completely gone from sight.
Outside
What had just happened?
From the brief recalling of events that had just occurred, Link had seen a spider with a face that could talk, and he was about to draw his sword to cut it down. Yet, before he could do so, an arm grabbed him and practically dragged him off his feet and down the stairs. And then, everything was consumed in a whirlwind of greens and pure whites, a comforting glow radiating throughout the tornado. And now, he was here, in the middle of a field, presumably still in Kakariko, but where exactly was completely unknown.
Perhaps Navi would be able to relay some answers…wait. Navi? Link looked around, spotting, to his shock and horror, no sign of the pale-blue fairy that had a particularly loud voice for such a little thing.
"Oh good, we're out!" a voice sighed in relief, Link turned to see a girl in pink standing up, dusting herself off to rid herself of any article related to where they had just escaped from. "I KNEW that place had spiders, but not like that!" she then looked to see she wasn't alone. "Great! That got you too!" she exclaimed with joy, giving the boy and thankful embrace. She then examined the crystal in her grasp, the green glow retreating back into the very center. "Looks like this can take more than just one person," she observed. "Good news, I guess, in case I need to bring you along anywhere-"
"Navi?"
Gris blinked in shock, momentarily forgetting that, in some moments, the boy could indeed speak. "What?" she asked, puzzled. Then she noticed something peculiar.
Or rather, something entirely absent.
"Navi?!" Link called out again, blue eyes scanning the grassy area, yet he saw no sign of the fairy anywhere.
But he did notice something else. Or rather, several somethings. Somethings with white feathers, red crests, yellow beaks, and, upon noticing him, a murderous look in their eyes. The blue-feathered male of the flock spotted the young boy and bellowed out a commanding crow, his orders clear as the entirety of the hoard descended on the two children.
Mostly the boy in green.
Any pecks the girl in pink received were due to close proximity.
Kakariko Village
"So, you just went inside for a second, and then this is how you found it?" Mutoh asked a woman far younger than he, yet it was clear that he wasn't interested in her in any sense. Rather, he spoke to her in a familial fashion, as if she were family.
"Essentially, yes," the woman, who sported short, red hair the color of dark rust, almost auburn in color, answered, her attire consisting of a blouse of white, a sleeveless vest of brown, high heels, and a blue skirt that reached down to her ankles. "So far, I've seen no one around that could've caused it, let alone where any of the Cuckoos could've gone."
"Not too far, surely," Talon assured her, having left Ingo at the stand to take care of products. "Although, who knows, the little critters can fly far."
"The point is, my Anju can't just go out and collect them herself," Mutoh explained, gesturing to his daughter. "She's allergic, you know."
"It's true," Anju confessed. "At first, it was manageable, but it's gradually been getting worse over the years to where my skin breaks out in hives if I even am exposed around them for too long. Much less have direct skin-to-skin contact," she then sighed. "If only Grog came to the Village at some other time other than night, he could probably get them."
"Well, I don't suppose you have any idea where they could've gone, do you, Sparky?" Malon questioned the baby dragon, who in turn shook his head in response to her inquiry. "Great," she sighed. "I may have found someone that actually doesn't care about my hair, and I manage to lose him," she muttered to herself, then she thought for a moment. "No, don't be ridiculous," she shook her head. "He just doesn't know any better. He's lived in the forest his entire life, of course he doesn't know what having red hair means," she examined her locks again, wondering whether or not it was a good thing she had been stopped before she could complete the deed of chopping it all off. "If he knew, then he wouldn't be. No one would be."
Sparky looked up and noticed the girl's downcast expression, chirping lightly to try and draw her attention. He presented his own red crest, and she sighed in response.
"You're not a Hylian, dragons are different," Malon told him. "But…I appreciate the effort."
The little drake squeaked. "Malon…" he chirped, purring afterward as if adding the soothing noise to her name.
Before she could answer, the redhead heard a commotion going on far ahead, yet, judging from the volume of the voices, whatever was going on was coming closer.
"Stop! They're trying to poke out your eyes!"
Malon's own eyes widened. "What the..?"
"Cover your face instead of your neck!"
A shout of frustration was heard among a slew of clucks and angered crowing, the source of both soon coming to be seen coming down the hill. "Link?!" she noticed the trouble, as well as the fact that there was a flock of furious Cuckoos ready to tear him to pieces. "Stay here for a moment, Sparky," she urged, placing the dragon on a nearby patch of grass. "This might be a little hairy," she said, racing up to the scene. "Or, should I say, feathery?"
Further up ahead, Link fled for his life, Gris far behind and seeing little more than a wave of white chasing after a speck of green, of which the wave was equipped with tearing beaks and sharp talons, not to mention a seemingly unrelenting will to hunt down and eliminate anything that displeased them. While she had been glad to catch him here, she wasn't exactly thrilled about the circumstances.
Link was just about out of breath, his legs tired and worn down, yet these blasted birds seemed to be completely insane! He wasn't sure how much longer he could go on, wondering just how much longer it would be until he would be torn to shreds.
Suddenly, a loud, bellowing whistle was heard throughout the area, both Link and Gris, along with the pursuing Cuckoos looked up to see another figure standing in the way. However, what they all noticed was the particularly strong presence of red atop her head. Upon seeing her, the birds stopped following the boy in green, allowing him to run right past, not even realizing at first that his pursuers had ceased chasing him.
Link looking behind and Gris looking forward, both saw the flock of Cuckoos gazing upward at Malon, even the rooster with blue feathers attentive to the largest "redhead" of them all, seemingly viewing her as one of their own. Or at least someone who had more authority.
"Now," Malon began, folding her arms. "Where did you all come from?"
"And then where did they go?" Mutoh asked Anju, the woman recounting what she came out to see when she had gone inside for just a moment.
"That's just it, I'm not sure," she answered her father. "I heard the fence breaking and someone fighting, but by the time I came out here, there was no one in sight, let alone any of my Cuckoos."
"Well, the first thing to do is round them up, and…?" Talon began but then heard distant clucking. Turning his head, he saw his own daughter leading a small flock of red-crested birds with white feathers, the boy in green that rode along trailing behind them, seemingly keeping his distance. What was he nervous about, it wasn't as if these guys were dangerous. "Malon!" the brunette man called out, running over to the young girl and the squad of chickens. "There you are! Where'd you go? And where'd you get these bids?"
"My Cuckoos!" Anju cried out, running over to see them. The birds recognized the woman's voice and immediately gathered around, it only being mere moments before she found herself breaking out into light sneezes. She then turned her attention to the red-haired girl. "Where did you find them?"
"They were out past the graveyard," Malon answered. But, let's just say I had some help finding them first. " She then glanced back at Link, who was still keeping his distance from the birds. "Sorry about the fence. My friend here said it was an accident."
"The fence can be repaired in no time, I'm just glad these little ones are back," Anju sighed, despite her skin now beginning to break out into small hives. "Still, I need to put them inside so they don't go off again," she then glanced toward her home which rested a short distance away. "All right, come on, guys! That means you too, Cojiro!" The blue rooster huffed in response, but obeyed, following the woman inside the house before she shut the door.
"Well, I guess that problem's settled," Mutoh observed. "Shouldn't you get back to your stand, Talon?"
"Yeah, probably. Ingo's taken care of things long enough," he then turned to Malon. "Although, where did you go off to? I thought you were going to the gate near the mountain."
The red-haired girl's face paled. "I…I got a little…sidetracked."
"...well, if you say so. I'm joining Ingo back at the stand if you need me." with that, Talon left.
Link said nothing, yet noticed that she avoided speaking about what had occurred before as if she didn't wish to even acknowledge it happened. Still, now that things had settled down, he could go back and look for…!?
"Hey!"
Whirling around, Link found the fairy meeting him right in the face by crashing right into him, knocking him back to the ground. "Ouch…" he moaned, rubbing his nose from the impact.
"There you are!" Navi shouted, flying down to the boy. "Where did you go? How could you just leave me?! Do you know what you left me with?! I was scared out of my mind!" she angrily beat her wings, almost creating a light breeze from how rapidly she fluttered.
"Sorry?" Link meekly answered, albeit only one word. Still, he was curious, how exactly did he get out of that house?
"That would be my fault," another voice spoke up, Gris stepping forward, Sparky in her arms as Malon had handed the dragon to her in order to lead the Cuckoos. "Well, sort of," she corrected. "It wasn't exactly me, it was more this thing's doing," she reached into her purse and pulled out the same gemstone from before, clear with a spherical center of swirling green. "Sorry about leaving you. I thought you were with us."
The fairy's anger died down. "Oh," she then turned to Link. "Apologies to you, then. Still, there's something that you should know. That house we were at…"
"What is that thing, anyway?" Malon questioned, visually examining the crystal as Gris held it in her hand.
"I don't exactly know," the girl in pink confessed. "I found it at the Castle. But, whatever it is, it seems to work well." it would certainly serve in handy now that she had a way to travel in the palm of her hand. She placed the crystal back in her purse. "Anyway," she then said. "Now that the whole thing with the Cuckoos is over, don't you have to go somewhere?" she asked Link.
That's right, the boy remembered! He was here to go to Death Mountain! The only thing was, where exactly was the way there?
"The way to the mountain is up there," Malon informed the boy in green, gesturing in the correct direction. "Although they won't just let you through, I'd imagine," she mentioned. "You'll have to have some sort of special permission to go into Goron territory."
Permission? Link had something like that, didn't he?
"Psst, the letter, remember?" Gris whispered, the boy in green remembering some time back what the Princess had given him when he went to the Castle.
"I suppose we can do this first," Navi sighed, understanding that perhaps acquiring the Spiritual Stone was the most important thing. "Still, there's something about that house you don't understand," she whispered, ultimately deciding to keep it to herself for the time being.
But she would bring it up later again.
She had a promise to keep to those that still lived in that desolate place, after all.
A Short Distance Away
"So…will this cover all that?"
Ingo was left robbed of words by the semi-clear gemstone placed before him, eyes wide and mouth agape at the amount of money presented to him as if it were nothing. "Uh…y-yeah. Sure. This'll cover it." he quickly snatched the large Rupee and placed it in his pocket, intending to keep it close.
"All right, I guess I'll be taking these," the man sporting rust-colored hair answered, taking the bundle of products ranging from milk to butter, to cheese, to preserved meats and salted pork. "Thank you, you have no idea how long it's been since we've had a meal like this."
"Yeah, yeah, sure, take whatever you want, pleasure doing business with you," the man in green and pink answered, all the while excitedly fingering the three hundred worth Rupee in his trousers.
Just as the man went away, Talon approached. "Hey, sorry about that. We make anything while I was gone?"
"Oh, we made some all right," Ingo responded, reaching into his pocket and retrieving the Rupee to present to his boss. "Take a look at this."
The brunette and far more round ranch owner was flabbergasted at what he saw. "What the?!" he took it from Ingo's grasp, examining the uniquely cut currency for himself. Indeed, it was genuine. "Where did you get this? No one in this village has that kind of money just lying around!"
"Well this guy did!" Ingo retorted. "He even offered more if it wasn't enough! But he took practically the rest of what we had to sell, so I consider it a win for us!" he snatched back the Rupee from Talon, grinning as its surface glistened in the sun's light. "Still, you're right about one thing, no one in Kakariko has something like this. Which brings to question where he came from."
"Maybe he's from another country? After all, a holiday is coming up." Talons suggested, referring to the upcoming Princess Day.
"Could be," Ingo agreed. "Of course, if that is the case, then he still bought a lot for just one person."
The two men continued to debate over this, all the while making sure to not lose sight of the precious money made in their sale, although Ingo would declare that it was entirely his own. The three children, however, paid no mind to this, and went on further ahead, spotting an iron gate sealing off the path ahead.
"There's the way to Death Mountain," Malon told Link, gesturing to the soldier guarding it. "You've got a letter from the Princess herself, don't you?"
Link nodded, reaching in and pulling out the note in question. Malon once again hid away Sparky in a sack on her back.
"Ok, then, if that's the case, can I ask you something?" the girl with red hair began, but ultimately decided against speaking about what was on her mind any further. "No, it's fine, forget it. Anyway," she then redirected the subject. "Best to get started climbing when it's still daylight out, right?"
"That's true," Navi agreed. "Still, who exactly lives here at Death Mountain again?" the fairy asked.
"The Gorons," Malon answered. "Otherwise known as the Rock People."
Gris bit her lip, shifting in her position. "It won't be easy to get them to see you," she told Link. "You're going to have to prove you're here on behalf of the Princess, or you might not even get one word in."
Link raised a brow, puzzled. Why was that? Were they that closed off?
"Gorons tend to keep to themselves and don't like being bothered," Gris informed the blonde boy in green. "It wasn't until The King established a truce with them that they actually stopped driving people away from settling here."
"That's right," Malon chimed in. "Castle Town was finished until just recently, so most people migrated here when their homes were destroyed in the war. But still, the Gorons came down from the mountain and began ruining efforts to build the village. Then…"
"Then?" Navi asked, tilting her head. Link followed suit.
"...then, it all seemed to just stop," Malon answered. "At first, the Goron's Leader refused to even listen to the King, but the next day, for some reason, he was willing to sign," she explained. "Since then, as long as we don't go past the barrier set at the edge of the village, we're not intruding on their territory," she then bit her lip. "Of course, that's just what you're going to have to do, aren't you?"
Link nodded, yet put on a brave face, unfazed by what he had just heard.
"Just…be careful, ok?" the redheaded girl urged.
Link nodded, approaching the guard, who had just now noticed someone approaching.
"Hm? Well, what's this, then?" the armored soldier questioned, perplexed by the sight of a child in green standing before him. Or rather, he stood over the boy. "Who are you? Are you new to this place?"
"He's new here, sir," Gris interjected, stepping up beside Link. "But he has important business with the Rock People past the gate."
"The Rock People?" the soldier inquired, becoming more convinced that either these kids were just playing some game or were quite foolish. "I don't know if you haven't noticed, but none of you are exactly the types that they'll just see on a whim," he informed. "They'll barely see any of us unless we express it's an order from the King himself."
"Well, this boy is different," Gris retorted, confident in the plan she had laid out. "He's got permission from the Royal Family themselves."
The soldier raised a brow. "Huh, is that so?" he asked, clearly unconvinced.
"Yup!" the blonde girl turned to the boy in green. "Show him the letter, Link."
Nodding in agreement, the child reached in and pulled out the fancy letter that held both words and a signature from the Princess herself.
"Wait…is this the Princess' handwriting?" the soldier questioned, reading the Hylian characters written by a quill and ink. Then, he turned his attention to Link. "So, you're a Hero, are you?" he asked. "The Hero of the Kokiri?"
Link nodded in response, gesturing to the pale blue fairy fluttering by his shoulder.
"Well, I don't know how you got this," the armored man then took the letter and shoved it in his belt, disregarding it entirely, creasing and folding the parchment from the force applied. "But it's unfortunately not going to be enough to get you through."
Gris's eyes widened, mouth hanging open in shock. "Wh-What?! Why not?!" she protested. "Why isn't my word," she paused. "I mean, the Princess' word enough to let him get in?! He's got to go see the Gorons in order to get the Spiritual Stone!"
The soldier quirked a brow in response to her exclamation. "And just how do you know the Princess?" he questioned. "Who are you anyway, kid?"
"Uh…I…just know her, that's all," Gris answered, blue irises shifting back and forth. "But that's beside the point! Why can't the Princess' word be sufficient to get him through the gate?!"
"Because the Princess' orders are trumped by those of her father, the King," the soldier answered. "And he has instructed us to not take anything she says seriously for the next few days."
Link tilted his head in confusion, wishing to ask why exactly. Navi sensed this and went in for him.
"If I may, mister, why is that?" the fairy asked the soldier.
"Because she's been spouting nonsense ever since about a month ago," the man garbed in armor answered. "Ever since she started having these supposed dreams or whatever she calls them, she's been going on non-stop about how 'The Evil King' is coming to destroy us all, and how the Gerudo King is somehow connected to it all," he then sighed. "I honestly feel bad for Impa, having to put up with all that talk, let alone having to indulge it to a degree."
Gris fumed, practically turning red as if she had been the one insulted, almost as bright as Malon's hair.
It was then that the red-haired girl realized that perhaps she had a trump card in handy. "Actually, mister, it's pretty imperative that he take a visit to the Gorons," she told the soldier, reaching into her sack.
"And I don't suppose you'd care to explain why, young lady?" the armored man inquired.
"Well, I may not come here often," she then reached into the sack. "But I doubt you would want a creature like this running around here."
The second she pulled out the little dragon, the soldier recoiled back, shocked and startled by the fact such a beast was before him, but that this girl was handling it as if it were a puppy or kitten! "What the?!" he yelped, at first believing he was hallucinating, but there was no mistaking it: before him was indeed a dragon. A baby, yes, but still, it wouldn't be one forever. "Where did you get this…thing?! How long have you had it?!"
"Someone was selling the poor thing in Castle Town, so I bought him," Malon explained. "All with the intention to eventually bring him to a better location than at the ranch, seeing as this guy's already breathing fire at his age."
The soldier gazed at the dragon, then at Link. "So, you're saying that you wish to go to Death Mountain to drop this little one off, right?"
"More or less," Malon answered.
The older man was silent for a few moments, pondering his options. "In this case, the Gorons probably would know what to do with this thing better than I would," he whispered to himself. "All right kid, how about this?" he asked. "If I allow you to go up and take this critter to the Rock People for safekeeping, would that be enough for you?"
Link nodded excitedly, eager to get going.
Gris realized too what this meant. "You mean you're going to…?"
The soldier nodded. "However, it's only to take the dragon back. Any of this talk involving whatever the Princess is spouting out is best left ignored."
Gris quickly snatched Sparky from Malon's hands, holding the small drake up right at the soldier. "Then maybe you should hurry up and open that gate because this guy could blow up at any second! Maybe even on your face!" as if to make the point, she shoved the baby dangerously close, causing the soldier to stumble back.
"Hey, hey! Careful with that thing!" he complained, trying to regain his composure. Not to mention his balance. "All right, all right! Just get that thing out of here!" With that, he retrieved a set of keys from his belt and unlocked the barrier between the winding trail upward and the rest of Kakariko. "Go on! Off with you!"
Seeing the way it had been accessed, Gris handed Sparky over to Link, the boy holding the squirming creature until he snuck his way into his rucksack, fitting surprisingly well inside despite some tight space. Stepping forward, the boy in green passed through and looked back at the two girls who had helped him get this far.
"T-Thanks." he muttered, thankful to actually be able to properly articulate what he wished to this time.
Then, after a few more moments, he ascended, his fairy following close behind with a small trail of light following her wings.
Note: Don't worry, the Skulltula House isn't done with yet, and we'll be visiting Kakariko again at night! But, for now, let's go to Death Mountain!
