Yay, another chapter done! I think I can finish another one tonight. I think the battle at the beginning of this one is pretty good, partly because I went and watched someone playing through that scene. It helped make the mood of the scene more immediate for my writing. Hope it shows! Oh yeah, and also this chapter is the end of rewriting old stuff. From here out, it’s all new!
I also used these pictures as some inspiration, not directly, but just for the heroic tone that Link carries with him. Also you may enjoy this cute.
Let’s see, today I also have several emails to write, a run to go on, laundry to take care of, and organ practice to do.
Chapter 6: Strength
He shot out of the Kakariko Canyon, over a natural bridge across the ravine that encircled half of Hyrule, and they were waiting for him.
A great fat Moblin and a crowd of Bokoblins, all riding boars, had just turned and were watching him. They must have heard him coming. All the better, then he wouldn’t have to chase them to get Colin back.
Colin. They had tied him to a long pole that was strapped to the Moblin’s boar. The boy dangled like a limp banner beneath a long red rag of a flag that was attached to the top of the pole. He did not look conscious.
Link ground his teeth. He would get the boy back or die trying. He saw some of the Bokoblins drawing bows and launched Epona forward before they could shoot accurately at him.
Rana and Falone were on their way, entering the field behind him. “I’ll take the Bokoblins!” she cried. “You get Colin!”
The Moblin had no intention of letting that happen. Before Link could even get close, he had blown a rough note on a large boar-tusk horn and spurred his boar into motion, heaving up a huge axe. The Bokoblins began to close in on him, yammering as they came, until Rana galloped in front of half the line, distracting them and making them chase her instead.
Epona was faster than any boar, and she was charging flat out, responding to his shouts of encouragement. But how to attack him when he got close? He ducked an arrow and, pulling up on the Moblin’s left, swung his sword across the gap. The blade got tangled in the Moblin’s armour straps and he yanked excitedly; he was not in a comfortable position and he didn’t want to lose his sword.
The sword came free, and with it some of the Moblin’s armour, exposing green skin on that side. Link ducked away before the massive axe could come crashing down on his arm or worse, the rest of him – or Epona. The Moblin growled at him and changed direction abruptly.
Some of the Bokoblins, chased by Rana, who was seemingly driving them before her by the verbal power of her insults, came into Epona’s path and Link veered frantically. “Sorry!” she called anxiously, and knocked a Bokoblin off the back of his boar with a sweep of the flat of her sword. Epona weaved her way through the mob somehow, and Link let out a short breath and maybe stopped squeezing Epona quite so hard with his knees.
The Moblin was zigzagging north across the field. It took Link a few desperate minutes to catch up to him again. His attacks, this time from the right, bounced off the armour. The Moblin swung the axe horizontally at him and Link ducked, almost falling off Epona. She interpreted that as a command to move right, and the Moblin moved left, and he wasted precious seconds getting back into position.
He slashed away at the armour again and was rewarded by some of it falling off, but the Moblin reached out and grabbed his arm. For a half-second the two antagonists stared at each other, and then Link tried to wrench his arm free from the crushing grip. The Moblin grinned and hung on.
He heard Rana shout, and ducked on reflex. But she was on the other side of the Moblin, and he couldn’t see what she was doing… Wait, was she using a slingshot?
The Moblin growled some more, but tried to ignore her. Still, his attention was divided now, and at least he couldn’t attack Link with his axe at the moment.
An arrow came over Rana’s shoulder and struck the Moblin in the unarmoured part of his side, a lucky shot if Link had ever seen one. Or maybe not so lucky for the Bokoblin who fired it, who squeaked and immediately turned to run away. Link finally got his half-crushed arm back, and stabbed at the Moblin’s face. But now he was moving away, towards a bridge to the north, almost in the Twilight but not yet.
There was a barricade over the end of the bridge, but the Moblin’s boar jumped over it. Link and Epona followed close behind, her powerful form effortlessly clearing the barricade just as another flaming arrow set it on fire beneath them.
Rana swept past the line of Bokoblins, and their boars spooked, moving away from the bridge.
The Moblin had reached the other end of the bridge and turned. There was another barricade there, too, but he didn’t jump it and flee into the wilderness beyond. Then it, too, was on fire, illuminating the Moblin weirdly in combination with the light from the setting sun.
Link wondered why the Moblin had not fled, and then as the boar tossed its head, he realized. The Moblin was planning to knock him off the bridge to the swift river far below. Link glanced up at Colin. He was still unconscious. Link couldn’t knock the Moblin off the bridge without losing Colin.
Or could he…?
A plan of his own was forming in his head, a plan that would take all of the finesse he had in his left arm. But it could work, and it was probably his only chance.
The Moblin’s boar snorted, pawed the ground, and charged.
Epona reared with a high, defiant whinny, and charged back. Link swung his sword back, ready to target that one spot…
“Heya!” He kicked Epona to go faster with a shout, and she nipped to the right, barely clearing the swing of the boar’s tusks, and all Link’s focus went to that one point on the Moblin’s side where the arrow had struck him.
His sword struck flesh. Was it enough?
When he turned to look, the sheer force of his blow had apparently blasted the Moblin off his mount, for he was falling howling to the rushing water far below. The boar shuddered to a halt, and Link reined in Epona, his sword brandished high and out of the way as she reared in protest at the sudden stop.
As soon as he could, he slid off her back and ran to the boar, which was now standing quietly where its master had fallen from it, grunting softly. Link wondered if it was intelligent enough to know its master was dead.
He looked out at Hyrule Field and saw Rana coming back. Where the Bokoblins and their boars had gone, he didn’t even want to know.
He climbed up as gently as he could onto the boar, and found how the staff that held Colin was tied on. It was too tight for him to untie, and it was top-heavy.
“Go ask Rana for help,” he said to Navi, who bobbed and flew away.
Falone didn’t want to jump the burning barricade, so Rana jumped down. With a running start, she flipped over the fire and rolled as she landed.
“Nice,” Navi said.
“I agree,” Link said. “Can you cut this rope for me while I hold Colin?”
Rana nodded and did so.
Link’s arms shook with the sudden loose weight, and he carefully let the staff slide to the ground. Rana was quick to cut the boy free.
Link jumped down and took Colin from Rana. “His arm is broken.”
“But he’ll live. We need to get him back to Renado right away,” Navi said. “But the fire…”
“It’s dying down,” Rana said. “There wasn’t much there, I guess. I wonder if I can push some of it out of the way with my shield.”
Link carefully put Colin on Epona and mounted behind him, while Rana tried pushing the last of the burning brush aside. It worked, though she hissed to herself a little bit.
Back in Kakariko, Link called Renado before he had even dismounted from Epona. The other children were already clustering around him, and he knelt with Colin in his arms, so they could see he was all right. He was careful not to move Colin’s arm too much. The boy’s face was pale, but there wasn’t anything he could do for him without Renado.
Colin’s eyes unexpectedly fluttered open at that moment, focusing blearily on Link’s face.
“Green… Link… Is everyone all right?”
Link nodded, and Colin’s gaze wandered to Beth. “That’s good. Beth… I’m sorry for… for shoving you. Are you mad?” She shook her head quickly, and Colin smiled and his eyes closed.
The children gasped, but Renado swooped in and picked him up.
“Thank goodness he’s safe,” was all he said before disappearing back into his house. His daughter followed him.
Link turned and found Beth staring at him in the dimming light of dusk. “It’s all my fault!” And she burst into tears.
Link knelt down again. “What happened? It’s okay, Colin’s safe now. Just tell me what happened.”
She hiccoughed. “Me and Talo were playing in the street, just here outside the hotel, when we heard something. We looked around, and then these huge monsters came galloping around the corner in the road, the same ones who kidnapped us in the first place. Talo ran, but… I couldn’t. I couldn’t move at all!” She hiccoughed again. “And then Colin pushed me out of the way, and when I turned around, they had grabbed him. And then I… I ran and hid. I’m sorryyyyy!” she wailed.
Link gave her a little hug. “It’s all right. Everyone’s safe now, and I killed that monster. He won’t bother you any more.” She clung to him trustingly, and he picked her up. “Why don’t you go to bed? It’s been an exciting day.” She nodded slowly, and he carried her toward the hotel.
After he tucked her into bed, he went back down and led Epona to the stable. Rana was already there with Falone. Both horses looked tired.
“Thanks, Epona,” Link murmured to his horse. “You saved everyone, today. Not the first time, and probably not the last.” And he kissed her nose. She whickered softly in return and bent her head to get at her food.
“Today was crazy, huh?” Rana said, pulling a blanket over her horse. “Are you all right?”
“I’m all right,” he said, brushing Epona down. “You saved us too. You kept those things off our backs.”
“And almost got you killed with them, too,” and her face looked guilty.
“You’ll have to try harder than that to trip up Epona,” he said, and smiled. She smiled back, though there was a hesitation in it.
“Are you all right?” he asked at length. It wasn’t like Rana to be this quiet. Was she still worried about what had happened in the morning?
“Yeah. Just tired. You better sleep well tonight.”
Had she noticed him getting up in the previous night? “I will. Especially if you’re with me.”
Now that was a real smile, although shy. She was definitely still feeling awkward, then.
But he left space for her when he went to bed, and a few minutes later, she slipped in beside him, wearing an old grey nightgown that was probably two sizes too big for her. His rambling mind wondered where she had got it, and if it belonged to her, and if it did, why Naeri – or Zelda – hadn’t fixed that for her… and then he fell asleep.
He woke to find her snuggling in to him, even though it was already fairly warm out and he was fairly sure his body radiated heat more than hers did. If they were climbing Death Mountain that day, it was going to be killer.
She sat up and tilted her head playfully as she looked down at him. Her hair was tousled in all directions and her green eyes were still half-closed. She yawned and stretched, arching her back.
He yawned himself. “How’s Colin?” Immediately he knew it was the wrong thing to say, and his mind caught up with him – of course she hadn’t been to check on Colin yet. “How’re you?”
“Awake,” she said. She bent and tried to kiss him, but he was in the middle of another yawn.
When he was done, she pounced on him, and dreamily he lay there and let her kiss him. She paused. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing’s wrong,” he answered. “Why?”
“You’re not doing very much.”
“I’ve been doing a lot the last few days.”
She pouted. “But… with me.”
“I don’t understand…”
“More hugs, you idiot,” Navi said from the windowsill. “You’re just sitting there like a lump. Goddesses gave you arms for a reason!”
He mentally smacked himself. He didn’t need much attention, but Rana did, and he had forgotten.
Before she could react, he wrapped his arms around her and rolled over, and they tumbled together to the floor below the bed, with him on top. She squeaked into his mouth as he kissed her. But all traces of worry had vanished from her eyes. Her arms tightened around him.
Someone coughed in the doorway, and they turned to see Malo looking at them.
“Breakfast is ready,” said the precocious three-year-old. “I thought the thumping meant you were getting up, not getting ready to go back to bed.”
Both Link and Rana blushed crimson as Malo waddled away. Link sat up.
“Sorry,” Rana said.
“Why are you apologizing? I don’t think Malo really understands.”
“Well he certainly misjudged our intentions,” Rana said, squirming out from under him and jumping up. She grabbed her tunic and shorts. “I’m not going to bed you; that would be irresponsible.”
There was a teasing grin hovering around his lips. “You’re responsible?”
She smacked him with her tunic, grinning back and blushing. “Get out.”
He grabbed his boots and went to check on Colin.
Colin was awake when Link came across him. “Hi.”
“Hi,” Link said gently, sitting on the edge of his bed. “How are you feeling?”
Colin glanced at his cast. “Better. I’m so glad you saved me. I was just… you know? I remember panicking. I just wanted to get away from the monsters. But Beth was standing there, and I thought how awful it would be if she got taken again. So I… just… ran out there.”
“You were incredibly brave,” Link said. “I don’t know many adults who would show your courage.”
“I didn’t even think about that,” Colin said. “But I was thinking… I think I understand what my dad meant when he said I should be stronger, like you. He wasn’t talking about lifting stuff.” He raised his good arm in the air and made a weak fist. “He meant being brave.” The fist tightened momentarily, and Colin frowned at it, before letting it fall back to his side with a sigh. “Like you. You can do anything! You saved us, and then you saved me again. And I know you’ve been saving people all this time. You’ll save the Gorons next, won’t you?”
Link smiled and nodded firmly. “I’m heading up there right after breakfast.”
“Good luck.”
Renado glided into the room from the back as Navi came through the front door.
“Link, aren’t you going to have breakfast?” she asked. “It’s getting cold.”
“I wanted to see Colin,” Link protested.
Renado smiled. “He will heal well. He is in good hands. Fortune be with you on your journey.”
Colin waved at him as he left.
The Goron guarding the trail today was a different one than last time. “Hey! No humans!”
“Demi, it’s me, Rana, and Link! You haven’t forgotten him, have you?”
“But… you’re humans. I can’t just let you up here. Darbus said not to, no matter who asked, not even Princess Zelda!”
Link sighed, then called up. “I want to help. I heard you have some trouble. I’m Darunia’s sworn brother, doesn’t that count for anything?”
The Goron hesitated. “Our troubles are our own!”
“Just like ten years ago, huh? Look, I proved it to you then, and I’ll prove it to you now. Just let me up so we can save some time.”
“Sorry, I can’t.” The Goron curled up.
“Look out!” Rana cried. “He’s going to charge!”
“Rana, get out of the way. Navi, boots.” He seemed to recall being able to dodge rolling Gorons as a child, or maybe they were just regular boulders, but he wasn’t going to take that chance here with a full-sized Goron actively trying to hit him. He just hoped his arms would be able to stand up to the inevitable blow.
The Goron’s roll struck him head on and he gasped at the impact. Without even thinking, he swung the Goron around him and he continued his roll further down the trail, bouncing off a corner and uncurling in chagrin, too far away to stop the Hylians from continuing their climb.
Link checked his arms, legs, and ribs. Nothing was broken. But he was going to be sore tomorrow. He hoped he didn’t have to do that again.
“You all right?” Rana asked from behind him. “That scared me.”
“I’m still in one piece, yes. But I’d rather not do that again.”
“I’m with you on that. How about you let me go in front, and I dodge them? I can totally dodge them.”
Link shook his head. “I don’t want to risk that.”
Rana shrugged. “Just don’t get yourself killed by your own pig-headed allies.”
“Will do.”
“I’ll warn you if there are any more coming,” Navi said, flying up a little ahead of them.
Twice more he was saved by his fairy’s warning, although one time he was able to dodge by climbing a boulder out of the way. It took them longer than he was used to, but by noon they had reached Goron City.
The City had grown since he had last seen it. It was now occupying multiple levels in the cliffside, connected by metal platforms and ramps. On one side was an extensive set of hot springs, where several Gorons were relaxing.
Link’s green tunic and Rana’s blue tunic were not going to be inconspicuous in this environment, nor the glowing fairies fluttering alongside them.
“Let’s hope they think we’ve worked too hard to get here to throw us all the way back down the mountain,” Navi said.
“But you fly,” Rana said. “You don’t have to worry about anything.”
“Pfft, I’m worried about you two squishy beings,” Navi retorted. “You’re much easier to catch.”
“Well, come on,” Link said, starting straight across the open space to the main gate.
Before they were halfway, a line of Gorons had formed, blocking the gate, frowning down at the Hylians. It was intimidating, but Link stared back, unmoved. Rana and the fairies hid behind him.
“Darbus said no humans!” the biggest of the Gorons growled. “We have guards all down the trail. How did you get up here?”
“Through my strength,” Link answered. “Have you forgotten I’m Darunia’s Sworn Brother? It’ll take more than that to keep me out of where I need to be.”
“Need to be? Where you need to be, human, is off fighting monsters on the border… Miss Rana, you too. Not up here, getting up in Goron business.”
“For crying out loud!” Navi said. “He’s the Hero of Time, and we know you have some kind of problem, and Eldin the Light Spirit himself asked us to help! Link and I never met Darbus before, but let us see him and let him decide for himself!”
“No!” bellowed the Goron angrily. “I don’t care who you are! I know what the Hero did for us, but this is a different time and place! Get lost!”
“Wait!” said another voice, an older, creakier Goron voice. “Is that the Hero?”
The Gorons grudgingly backed away, revealing an old Goron with bright, cheerful eyes. “Hello, Sir Link. Hello, Rana! Sir Link, I am Gor Coron, one of the elders of the Goron people. I apologize for the trouble you’ve had coming up here.”
“But Darbus…” began the big Goron.
“I will deal with Darbus later,” Coron said. “For now, go about your business. I will have words with the Hero.”
Coron led them up to the highest floor of the city, where they sat on the floor of a ledge and looked out across the open space down towards Kakariko. Tea was brought in large clay cups. “I must be honest with you, Sir Link.”
“Please just call me Link.”
Coron nodded. “As you wish. You see, Darbus is not here right now.”
“I guessed as much,” Rana muttered.
“He… well, he went into the mines a few days ago, when the troubles started, and… I had better start from the beginning. You probably never knew about our mines, did you?”
“If they’re not part of Dodongo’s Cavern or the Fire Temple, then no,” Link answered.
“Well, you see, we had… lost the mines several centuries ago. A great cave-in blocked the entrance, and for all our efforts, we could not get back in, and we had lost the tools we needed to gain entrance in the mines themselves. But when the land went crazy, we found that we suddenly had an open door to them once more. Rana here says that it’s the Goddesses’ doing.”
“We also found what had caused the cave-in in the first place: a dark artifact of great power. For a few years it lay dormant, but just a week ago, it began to glow and give off some kind of aura. The mountain also got violent again. Big chunks of half-melted rock land around here all the time. It is good for the humans down in Kakariko Village that they aren’t closer. Darbus ordered us to keep the humans out for their own safety after that.”
“Darbus went to investigate, and us elders went with him.” Coron’s eyes twinkled briefly at Link. “Darunia isn’t here at the moment either, as your ladyfriend will probably have told you.” Link nodded. “He’s off on a quest of some kind. But the rest of us went down with Darbus. And the moment he touched that thing, he changed. He turned into some kind of monster. We were terrified, as you can guess! But we managed to lock him away, and he hasn’t broken out yet.”
“So this is what you need me for,” Link said. “To remove this thing from Darbus.”
“I’m not sure how you will do that,” Coron said. “You may have to beat the tar out of him first, literally. But I must be certain that you can do that, otherwise I’m not letting you go down there! It took the entire Goron council just to restrain him! There was no way we could defeat him.”
Link nodded. “I can beat him. With my help,” he gestured around at Rana and the fairies, “I can succeed.”
Coron stood. “I’m still going to have to test you. With… sumo! And I’m the sumo champion this month, so you’ll have a good work-out!”
Link leaned over and hammered his face on the floor. Rana laughed and tugged him to his feet. “See, aren’t you glad Bo taught you how to wrestle?”
Link shook his head in disbelief. “This is ridiculous.”
“Problem?” Coron looked back and forth between them, his eyes twinkling again.
“No,” Link said. “I initially didn’t want to learn sumo. And I don’t like being wrong.”
“No one does, lad. Come along! We’ll fight in the square on the ground floor.”
By the time they reached the main floor, a crowd of Gorons was following them, all rumbling in excitement.
Link looked around at them all, thronging around the sumo platform, and sighed.
“I’m going to need to use my boots,” he said to Coron, who was stretching.
The other nodded. “That is fine. You are a skinny little human and should have as fair a fight as you can.”
Link began to pull off his tunic. “Thanks.” He handed his things to Rana, who was already wearing a massive involuntary grin. There was no avoiding this, so he gave her a grin in return and went to take his place in the ring.
An even older Goron announced the challenge as Link and Coron bowed to each other, and bent low in the starting position, sizing each other up. Coron was older than most Gorons Link had met, which only meant that if he was the sumo champion for this month that the other top competitors had been sick… or that he was cunning and stronger than he looked. Which was already strong enough for Link.
The whistle blew, and instead of rushing forward and relying on his speed to bull Coron backward, Link chose instead to circle and see how Coron moved. Coron also circled, watching him. It was difficult to move with his boots on, but at least he wouldn’t go backwards in a hurry.
Coron made the first aggressive move, and Link sidestepped. Too simple. He was going to have to put up more of a fight than that. Coron took a swing at him, and Link sidestepped again and hurled himself at the Goron.
“Yeah!” Navi cheered. “Kick his butt, Link!” The crowd was going crazy.
Coron got a firm footing sooner than Link would have liked, and began to push back. Link strained, teeth grinding, the two of them locked together in the centre of the ring.
He had to do something unexpected. It didn’t help that Coron was smiling, looking at him like he could read his mind. Link gritted his teeth, this time in frustration. He really was an amateur. But he had determination, didn’t that count for something?
He gave a little and let Coron push him back a pace or two, and seized the other and performed what he hoped was a legal place-switching manoeuvre. From the screams of the crowd, it was acceptable.
Coron wasn’t going to go down so easily, and smacked him back and began pushing him back, regaining all the ground he had just lost.
Link dug his weighted feet in and pushed back with all his might, and slowly, Coron’s onslaught began to slow. The Goron’s grip on him began to slip, what with the sweat that was pouring off him.
He adjusted his own grip on Coron and heaved. He didn’t think a slap from him was going to cause Coron to pause anything except to chuckle, and he would probably hurt his hand, too. So he just sidestepped as unpredictably as he could and kept pushing. And Coron pushed back, and they were locked together again.
And Coron’s right arm, the one wrapped around his left arm, slipped, and Link almost fell but caught himself and put his weight onto Coron instead.
The Goron teetered on the edge of the platform, and as the crowd’s noise built into a deafening crescendo, he fell. Link almost fell off too, from exhaustion, but caught himself and pulled himself tiredly upright. His victory sank in, and he panted out a laugh.
Coron pulled himself upright. “Well done, lad. You are exceptionally strong for a human. I think you’ve earned the right to go into the mines.”
“Thank you, Gor Coron,” Link replied, and dropped off the edge of the platform in Rana’s general direction. Navi came whizzing over, whirling around his head in hyper-active excitement, and she couldn’t speak. He laughed and raised a finger to her.
He dodged a few backslaps from congratulatory Gorons on his way over to Rana. She had somehow acquired a towel and was waiting for him with it. He took it gratefully and scrubbed the sweat from his front and back. While it was looped around his neck, she grabbed the ends of it and pulled him close for a kiss.
He was surprised, but pleasantly so. And when she whispered “That was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” he couldn’t help but grin and kiss her more deeply. Her arms went around his neck and her hands crept into his hair, and his went around her waist. She was so slim, and she fit against him so perfectly.
They broke apart, breathing rather harder than necessary, to find most of the Gorons looking at their public display of affection, and grinning. And without his shirt, chainmail, or tunic, Rana was touching the bare skin of his back, which was pleasant, but really kind of strange for him. He could feel her body so clearly against his without any of that in the way.
He let go of her and shrugged in a “whatever” kind of way, but he knew his face was turning red.
Instead he went and got dressed again, though it was definitely time to get that shirt washed.
Gor Coron brought them to an opening in the City he had never seen before.
“You won’t need a special protective tunic to go in here,” the Goron elder told them. “At least, I don’t think so. And before I forget, we have a present for you!”
“Oh, yeah, that,” Rana said.
Coron held out his bow. “We’ve been taking care of it for you! But you’ll want it back now.”
“Thanks very much,” Link said. It was comfortable in his hands. He hadn’t used a bow in a while. But he could probably still handle it. He strung it and pulled experimentally, and nodded to Coron.
“How is it?” Navi asked.
“Good as ever,” Link said. “Nice to have a proper ranged weapon again.”
Rana had skipped ahead a little bit. “Link, come look at this. I want to show you this. This is cool.”
He shouldered the bow and its quiver and scrambled up beside her.
The Goron Mines were open to the sky, a steep-walled bowl dotted with mysterious technological-looking structures.
“Those are cranes,” Rana said. “I’m not sure why they call them that. But anyway they use them to carry metal equipment around the mine. Huh. Some of the walkways are broken.”
“Probably from the disturbance in the mountain,” Navi said. “We’ll find a way around. Do you know where we’re going?”
“No… Not really. They only let me in this part. They said the tunnels were too dangerous.”
Link nodded. “We’ll figure this out all together. And anyway we’ll have to find the key first.”
Navi was out in front with Naeri. “What are you waiting for? This isn’t going to get any easier the more you stand around!”
Link took a drink from his water bottle, capped it, and hastily followed the fairies.
They only explored the mines for a few hours before dusk came on them. Rana suggested they go back to the City for food and rest, since they had brought nothing to eat and there were some monsters in the mines – not too many, but enough to give Link pause about sleeping there for the night.
“I thought the Gorons ate rock,” Navi said.
“They do,” Rana answered. “But thanks to me being a regular guest, they’ve begun stocking more normal human food. They can make a mean salad, actually. We’ve made a good start today, we can come back tomorrow.”
Link was weary and didn’t take much convincing. He had done his sword exercises back in the morning, so all there was for him to do was eat and curl up on the ‘bed’, a raised rocky platform in a small chamber within the City. He had slept in worse places, and less comfortable, too. He didn’t even notice if Rana came to lie beside him or not.
If she had come in the night, she was gone in the morning. Link rolled out of bed and lay sprawled on the floor, which was not any more comfortable than the bed. He was sure he had bruises just from sleeping, and he was drenched in sweat from the heat. Rana had probably left from how terrible he smelled.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” Navi said, floating in front of him. “Rana’s already gone to get breakfast. No nightmares tonight?”
He shook his head. “I think this bed scared them all out of me.”
Navi giggled. “Go eat.”
He found Rana two rooms over, poking at a giant salad. “I’m not sure they believe I only need half of this,” she was saying to Naeri. “Hi, Link! Come help me split this salad, it’s huge.”
“Sorry I smell so bad,” he said as he came to sit near her. “I don’t suppose there’s anywhere in the city I can get a bath.”
“No,” Rana shook her head regretfully. Then she looked askance at him. “What do you mean, you smell bad?”
“Don’t I?”
“No, not to me.”
Link looked at Navi. “Don’t I?”
Navi shrugged. “If you do, I’m used to it. I ride on you sometimes, remember?”
Link glared at her. “You guys are weird.”
Rana rolled her eyes at him. “Isn’t it a good thing? I’m not complaining about it, right?”
“I guess so. But I still can’t wait until we go back to Kakariko and get everything clean. It’s been a week since I washed this shirt.”
“Wait, how have you not had time to clean? I did… I thought you were, too.”
“I’ve been busy doing other things. And every time I think of it, it’s at a point where I can’t do anything about it.”
“Your priorities are different,” Naeri observed. “Rana, you should tell him the next time you wash your things, and then you can get his and wash them too.”
“Otherwise, yeah, he’ll never remember!” Navi agreed.
Rana smiled and drank her water. “I was wondering if I smelled bad, actually, until you came in. I guess I don’t?”
“I haven’t noticed,” he answered truthfully, and she seemed to believe him.
They headed back into the mines a short while later, picking up where they had left off.
The sun was still climbing into the sky when they came across a cavern at the end of a tunnel. A large Goron was waiting for them, wearing armour. Link had never seen a Goron in armour before.
“Dan!” Rana cried. “Hi! How are you? What are you doing here?”
“I’m guarding the key to Darbus’s prison,” the Goron answered. “What are you doing here? It’s dangerous for you squishy little humans.”
“I need the key,” Link said. “I’m going to help Darbus.”
The Goron shook his head, and a great deal of his body as well. “No! You can’t go in there! He’s crazy! They told me about it, how he turned into a fiery giant with big pointy teeth! He’d probably eat us all alive!”
Link stared at him evenly. “I’m still going there. The least you can do is hand over the key.”
The Goron brought a hammer down on the ground with a smack, and the ground wobbled. It was a loose rocky platform floating in magma. “No! I have to protect this to protect Goron City, and the world! Go away! I don’t want to hurt either of you!”
Link drew his sword. “I don’t want to hurt you either, but you’re in my way. Rana, stay back.”
She drew up level with him, her sword also out. “Why do you keep putting me back?”
“Because I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“He really would feel terrible if you got hurt,” Navi said.
“I understand that, but I am capable of taking care of myself! Haven’t I improved over the last ten years?”
The Goron, Dan, was distracted by their arguing, and Link charged him. “You have, but that’s not going to make me feel any better when you get hurt.”
“If!” She ran after him lightly. “I might be fragile, but on the other hand, it’s very hard for my enemies to touch me. I bet you’d fuss over Zelda, too, even if Sheik was fighting.”
“Yes, of course I would.”
She scowled and jumped aside from a swing of Dan’s hammer. The platform wobbled wildly, and Link almost lost his balance. “Link, you’re going to have to work on that attitude. I want to help, I can help, and I’m not helping by sitting back out of danger. I thought we covered this before.”
“But then I’m not distracted by my worry,” he said, but it was a weak argument.
“And then I’m doubly distracted by my worry!” she shot back, as he locked his sword with the hammer and almost dragged it out of the Goron’s hands. “Just give it time. You’ll see, I’m worthy of fighting beside you or anyone.”
“I know you are. I just don’t like it.” They struggled to keep their footing on the sliding platform, but the Goron seemed to be having a worse time than they were, having a higher centre of gravity.
Link knocked him back with a blow from his shield, and the Goron tumbled backwards and curled up, skidding almost to the edge of the platform. “I yield! I yield!”
“So can we have that key?” Navi asked, getting in his face.
“Yes, yes. It’s back there. Just let me get clear before you go waking up the monster!”
“We can do that,” Rana said. “Take care, Dan.”
The Goron climbed out of the cavern and rolled up the tunnel, sparks flying from his armour.
Link climbed up the other side of the room as Rana amused herself by bouncing on the moving platform. There was a little box there, and in it was a large cylindrical key.
He held it up. “All set.”
“Hooray!” Rana cried. “I’ll race you to the locked door.”
“You’ll win,” Link called after her, struggling to cross the platform without falling down.
“Maybe,” she said, waiting for him at the tunnel.
“We’re really doing this?”
“We’re really doing this. Naeri, count us down?”
It was a close race. He had more tools at his disposal, but Rana was lighter and more quick-footed. Where he relied on strength and planned application of his various devices to get him to his destination, she seemed to dance parallel to him, making use of routes too narrow or too fragile for him to traverse.
He slammed, panting, into the closed door. Rana collided with his back a moment later, laughing uncontrollably. He slid to the floor.
“See, you won,” she said, leaning on her knees and breathing hard.
He just focused on gulping air. “Not for your lack of trying.”
She grinned. “We challenge each other. It’s good.”
He smiled back. “You’re right.”
“We need Sheik here, and then things will be just amazing,” she continued. “He’s cool.”
“Wait,” Navi said. “I thought we settled that Sheik was Zelda. So isn’t she a girl?”
Rana winked. “Magic. Also we’re keeping her cover. As a him.”
“Too complicated for me. But I did wish that he and I had been able to fight together more, three years ago,” Link said, and pulled himself to his feet. “Are you ready?”
She saluted cutely. “Ready and able, sir!”
Link unlocked the door. A dark tunnel stretched away before them, heading down. A hot wind blew past them.