Chapter 12
Darunia woke up early the next morning. He was determined to break that boulder. He walked out of his room and went over to where his people were sleeping. Most gorons didn't care about having a room. Darunia's people were the same. They would curl into a ball and fall fast asleep almost anywhere in his people's city. Darunia walked over and roared at the top of his voice.
"Rise and shine, my brothers! Today is the day we break that boulder in front of the Dodongo's Cavern!"
The gorons uncurled themselves and yawned. Some of them were even stretching their legs. Darunia was getting impatient. He looked towards them and urged them to get moving.
"Come on, brothers! We can't sit here and yawn and stretch all day! Let's go outside and take a closer look at this boulder and see if we can break it!"
Darunia and his people were at the foot of Death Mountain looking at the huge boulder Ganondorf had placed there. Most of the gorons groaned loudly. How were they ever going to move that? It was a gigantic boulder! Even the strongest goron would never be able to lift anything this large. Darunia turned to his people.
"I have an idea, brothers! We will take turns hammering at this huge rock with our fists and see if we can't put a dent in it! We have to think of a way to break it! If we don't, we may die from starvation!"
Just as those words left Darunia's mouth, a couple of gorons roared and ran up to the boulder and started punching it with all the strength they could muster. Darunia was pleased. They were really pounding at the boulder. Chunks of rock were flying everywhere. About twenty minutes later, the gorons needed a break. They were pounding steady at the boulder and they only made a small dent in it. They sat down and two more gorons took their place. Darunia kept repeating this process all through the morning.
By midmorning, all the gorons including Darunia were tired from pounding at the boulder. Altogether, they made a sizeable dent in the boulder, but they were far from breaking through. Darunia rounded up his people and talked to them. He wanted to keep their spirits up.
"Good work, brothers! If we keep this up, we will get through it! Don't give up, everyone! We will come back later after we rest up! Now, let's go eat some of those rocks our foragers found before!"
One of the younger gorons coplained.
"But those rocks taste aweful, chief. Besides, there isn't many left!"
Darunia frowned at the goron.
"Don't you think I know that, Argus? That's why we must eat carefully until we either break through that rock or think of something else! As for the taste, it's better than starving to death! I know they have a bitter taste! But unless you can find rocks that taste better that aren't behind a big boulder, keep quiet and quit complaining already!"
Argus shuffled his feet in embarrassment.
"Sorry, chief. You're right. I'll try to quit complaining."
Darunia smiled and patted him lightly on the back. Darunia was a good natured leader to his people. He tried not to get angry unless it was absolutely necessary.
"Don't worry about it, Argus. We all feel the same way. We just have to try and keep our strength up and hopefully, we will find a solution to our problem."
Darunia and his people made their way back up to their cave.
Navi was feeling nervous. She wanted to visit Link, but she didn't want Link to yell at her for deserting. She flew around the inn to look for Charlie, but he wasn't in there. She flew out of the inn and flew into the back alleyway. She spotted Charlie leaving a house with a red cross above the door. She flew up to him.
"There you are! I've been looking for you! Where have you been?", asked Navi.
Charlie looked confused. Why was Navi looking for him? He decided to approach the question casually.
"Oh you know. I was just seeing how Link was doing. Why were you looking for me?"
Navi sighed and flew over to Charlie and landed on his shoulder.
"I'm too nervous to visit Link, Charlie. I know he's gonna yell at me for deserting you guys when you could've used my help!"
Charlie sighed. He knew this might happen. Navi felt responsible for what happened to Link. Charlie tried to reassure her that it wasn't her fault.
"Listen, Navi. It wasn't your fault that Link was hurt. It's true that you shouldn't have taken off on us like that until you were sure we knew about it, but I don't think that would've been able to stop Max anyways. He's pure evil now and intent on killing me! He probably still believes Link is dead though. Anyways, go and talk to Link. He's just inside. Try to make it brief though. He's still weak."
Navi flew off of Charlie's shoulder as he walked away. She went into the doctor's office. The door was left ajar. She immediately saw Link sleeping on a bed groaning softly. She flew over to him and landed on his bed. She tried talking to Link quietly.
"Hey, Link. How are you feeling?"
Link groaned and sat up. He Looked at Navi in confusion.
"Oh hello, Navi. I haven't seen you in awhile. Where have you been?"
Navi laughed nervously.
"Well Link, I came here to confess something to you."
Link narrowed his eyes. "Go on."
Navi cleared her throat nervously. She didn't really want to tell Link about abandoning him before.
"Well you see, I kinda left to visit the Kokiri while you and Charlie were in Kakariko. I just got back here yesterday. Please try not to get too angry at me, Link!"
Link looked at Navi with anger. He almost ended up getting killed by Max! He could've used Navi's advice and insight at the time of the confrontation.
"Navi you idiot! We could've used your help! Why did you desert us like that?"
Navi felt saddened. She knew Link would be angry. Navi started to apologize to Link.
"I'm very sorry, Link. I didn't know this would happen to you. If I did, I would've stayed with you! I'm Sorry, okay? I promise I'll never do it again without asking you guys if it's okay!"
Link frowned. Navi sounded like she was sorry about deserting. He decided to forgive her.
"Well, the damage is done. There's nothing you can do about it now. Fine, Navi. I forgive you. Just in the future, try not to do anything foolish like that again! When I get better, we are going to climb Death Mountain and obtain that Spiritual Stone! I want you with Charlie and you guys are going to keep watch for Max. I don't want him to ambush us again. If he shows his face around me again, I want to be ready this time! Things will turn out different next time, Navi. I can promise you that!"
Navi smiled at Link. She admired his strong spirit. She was very relieved that all was forgiven between them. He no longer looked like a stupid dozy kid anymore in her eyes. He was becoming wise and strategic. Navi didn't doubt his word. She knew he would get revenge on the person who almost killed him and put him in the hospital.
Back at Hyrule Castle, Saska and Jaska went for a walk after Ganondorf's experiment was complete. Neither of them knew what the experiment was, but they figured they would get told eventually. Both were still in their guard disquises in case they alerted any of the guards that chased Saska the other day. They were walking down a long corridor in the castle looking at the different portaits of beautiful landscapes mounted on the walls. There was even a portrait of Gerudo Valley. They both assumed the King of Hyrule or one of his ancesters must have been there at one point. They were both walking and looking at the portraits when they bumped right into Captain Viscen! Captain Viscen shook his head and got up off the floor. He looked down at the two unusual guards that were helping each other to get up off the floor. There was something odd about these two, but he couldn't figure out what it was. He addressed the two guards casually.
"Hi, lads. Where are you two off to?"
Saska answered for them both. She stammered as she answered.
"W-Well, w-we were...looking for you! Where do you want us to patrol? We um... got separated from our group."
Viscen shook his head at the pair. Such disrespect! They never called him by his rank or even by name for that matter! He decided to give them a lecture about respect to those higher in the ranks.
"Listen, you two! Stand to attention! When you are addressing someone like me, call them by their rank! I've never heard such disrespect in quite some time. What do you two have to say for yourselves?"
Saska laughed nervously. She had no idea who this grouchy guy was, but he was beginning to make her mad. She tried to apologize.
"Uh, sorry, sir! We never meant to be disrespectful! Uh, what is your name again?"
That was enough for Viscen. He couldn't believe they didn't know who he was! He was the captain of the guard! He shouted at the two.
"What do you mean you don't know who I am? I am the captain of the guard god dammit! You two are going to the jail until you learn proper respect when talking to an officer!"
Saska knew they were in trouble! She and Jaska had to make a run for it! They could head to Ganondorf's room. They would be safe there. Captain Viscen was getting ready to escort the two to the prison when Saska turned around and faced Viscen.
"You fool! We are not going to your jail! Sister! Hold your breath!"
Jaska held her breath in confusion. Saska reached into her pocket and brought forth a small round glass ball of some sort. It was glowing green. Viscen looked at it in confusion.
"What do you have there, whelp?"
Saska grinned evilly.
"Only knockout gas! That's all! Say goodnight, sir!"
Saska held her breath and threw the ball on the floor. It exploded and green gas formed around them. Captain Viscen started to cough violently and he fell to the floor unconscious. Saska grabbed Jaska's arm and led her away from the cloud of green smoke. Once clear, both exhaled loudly. Saska looked over at her sister. She held her breath much longer. She was breathing heavy. Saska called her over.
"Okay, sister! Let's get back to Lord Ganondorf and see if he will show us his experiment!"
Ganondorf was sitting in a chair in his room relaxing and feeling happy. He never thought his experiment would be such a huge success. He looked over towards Max. He was sleeping in Ganondorf's bed. The kid deserved the rest after killing one of his former friends. He couldn't be more proud of him. Just then, someone knocked on his door.
"Yes? Who is it? I asked not to be disturbed!"
Saska answered her lord.
"Lord, it's me and Jaska! We've returned from our walk!"
Ganondorf got up and opened the door. Two hyrule soldiers walked in. Ganondorf thought he had been fooled!
"What is this? You aren't who you say you are! Leave my room at once!"
Saska tried convincing him that they were really Saska and Jaska.
"Sir, it's really us! You wanted us to look like the hyrule soldiers remember?"
Ganondorf smiled. He had almost forgotten about that!
"Oh yes! My apologies! I forgot! Hold still! I will take those disguises off!"
Ganondorf shot a beam of energy out of his hand at them. They turned and looked at each other and they were their old selves again! They sighed with relief! Saska thanked Ganondorf for ridding them of those annoying disguises.
"Thank you, Lord! We had a run in with the captain of the guard. He tried to arrest us! We escaped by using knockout gas!"
Ganondorf frowned. "You fools! That is going to arouse the whole guard in this castle! They will be looking for you two! If they find you looking like your old selves, we may be in trouble! Hmm! If I can find him quickly, I may be able to blank his memory of his encounter with you two! Where is he?"
"He is one floor down! Hopefully he hasn't been found yet!",replied Jaska.
Ganondorf disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.
Captain Viscen just woke up. Who were those strange soldiers? How did they get hold of knockout gas? He had to alert the guard immediately! He started to walk down a long castle hallway when he heard somebody calling to him. It was coming from behind him. He turned around and Ganondorf was walking towards him. Maybe he might've seen those two guards! He decided to ask him.
"Hello, Ganondorf! Nice to see you! You didn't happen to see two strange guards during your walk have you?"
Ganondorf grinned at viscen. "No I haven't, captain. And guess what? Neither have you!"
Ganondorf aimed a spell at Viscen and it hit him in the head. He screamed and went down onto the floor holding his head. He collapsed on the floor. Ganondorf shook him. He groaned and looked at Ganondorf.
"Lord Ganondorf, what's going on? I was taking a walk through one of these halls and everything went black. That's all I can remember. What happened?"
"I saw you walking and you fell to the ground unconscious. I ran over to you and woke you up just now",lied Ganondorf.
Viscen saluted Ganondorf.
"Thank you, sir! That was very thoughtful of you!"
Ganondorf grinned at Viscen. He had blanked his memory, so Viscen was inclined to believe him. Ganondorf returned the salute.
"No problem, captain. Glad to help!"
Ganondorf and Viscen parted ways. Viscen going one way and Ganondorf going another way, Ganondorf kept walking for a few minutes. He stopped and looked around cautiously. He wanted to use his teleport spell without the castle guards seeing him. The coast was clear. Ganondorf used his teleport spell and disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke and reappeared in his room. Saska and Jaska were seated on a couch. As soon as Ganondorf returned, they stood up and saluted him.
"Lord Ganondorf sir! Did your plan work? Did you blank the Captain's memory?",asked Saska.
Ganondorf grinned evilly. "What do you think? Of course I did! That fool has no memory of you two. Watch what you're doing next time alright? I already have the King suspicious. He never trusted me since day one. Now, I want to show you two my experiment!"
Ganondorf walked over to the bed in the right hand corner of the room and lifted the blanket. There was a young kid sleeping in there! What was even stranger to Saska and Jaska was that the kid looked very familiar! Ganondorf shook the kid gently.
"Come on, Max! Wake up, my son!"
Both Saska and Jaska gasped in disbelief. Did their Lord just call this kid his son? They both recognized the kid. It was the same kid they had brainwashed! Only this time, he had black hair and he was wearing the same armor as their lord! Max groaned and stood up.
"I'm up, father! What do you require of me?"
Ganondorf smiled at Max. He pointed to Saska and Jaska.
"I want to reintroduce you to my Lieutenant and my Captain! They haven't seen you without mind control!"
Max walked towards Saska and Jaska and shook their hands.
"I remember you two! It's good to see you again! Lieutenant Jaska, thank you for using that allegiance spell on me! If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be on your side!"
Jaska was speechless. She could only nod and smile. Saska was impressed with Ganondorf's skill.
"So lord, how did you make this one evil without the allegiance spell?"
Ganondorf seemed impressed by the question. He answered the question quickly.
"I'm glad you asked, Captain! I chanelled my own evil energy into this kid! When I was done, he immediately wanted to kill somebody! I sent him out on a mission and he came back after he killed one of his former friends! I have also adopted this kid. He is now my son! I want you two to treat him with respect! Treat him the same way you would treat me! If you treat him badly for any reason, there will be hell to pay! Do you understand?"
Both Saska and Jaska saluted.
"Yes sir! We understand perfectly!"
Ganondorf nodded. "Good! I'm glad we are clear on that! Max, I want you to get some rest still. Tomorrow, we are taking a little trip to Zora's Domain. That is where my spy said the other Spiritual Stone is! After we obtain it, we can return to the mountain and take the goron's Spiritual Stone! They should be weak from hunger by now! After we take it, we will destroy the goron race once and for all!"
Max, Saska and Jaska all laughed evilly. Their leader was brilliant! While they were taking the Spritual Stones anyway, why not eliminate one or two species while they were at it?
End of Chapter