Fan Fiction ❯ Professional Hero ❯ Masks ( Chapter 11 )

Chapter 11 - Masks

Link woke up and looked down to see Romani sleeping on his chest. He reached down and kissed her on her head. She moaned softly and raised her head.

"Hey Grasshopper," she said half asleep, "you sleep okay?"

"Always when I sleep next to you."

Romani smiled and slowly sat up straight, looking for her clothes.

"Argh, fuck."

"What?" Link looked down in the direction Romani was looking.

Their clothes were lying around on the ground.

"Don't we do that at home as well?"

"Hah hah very funny!" Romani nudged Link, "at home we don't sleep so high above the ground. Now what the fuck are we gonna do?"

"Uhm, get them?"

"We're naked and it's cold," Romani pouted, "and what if Goro comes in?"

"That's strange," Link pulled Romani closer and kissed her neck, "it's warm here. And if Goro comes in, we'll ask him if he throws our clothes up."

Romani giggled as Link kissed down to her breasts and gave in.

Goro's hand went for the door but was stopped by Cremia.

"When they're ready to come out, they'll come out." She assured him with a small twinkle in her eyes.

"But my training..."

"Just practice on your own." She shrugged.

He lowered his hand as he gave the door one last look and turned around. Cremia sighed. Maybe it would be better for the Goron's training if she could convince Romani to sleep in her old room. She listened at the door, smiled, nodded her head and returned to Goron.

"Tell me Link, have you ever pulled a milkwagon?"

"Fuck." Link said.

"What?" Romani was awake again.

"It's 2:30 in the afternoon. I completely forgot about Link's training."

Romani closed her eyes as a silent "fuck" left her lips as Link jumped down to get his clothes.

"I completely forgot about him, sorry."

"Don't apologise, you have no need to." Link said with a wink.

Romani grinned widely as she caught her clothes Link threw up. Quickly they got dressed and left the barn, looking for Goro. Link frowned as he couldn't first spot the Goron until Romani nudged him and pointed towards the gate. Goro was pulling an empty milkwagon. He stopped for the couple and helped Cremia down.

"I hope you didn't mind I let Link help me bring milk to Clocktown?" she asked Link.

"Not at all. I hope you had a good trip."

Goro nodded.

"I really liked Clocktown, the people were very friendly and I hope I can return with you sometime."

"We will, but first we have to go someplace else. Romani, could you get the masks?"

Romani nodded and entered the house.

"Masks?" Goro informed.

"Remember I once said I was a decent Goron?"

Link slowly nodded.

"I could transform into a Goron, Zora and Deku scrub thanks to masks I found here in Tempora. And that's the main reason I'm here, to bring those masks finally back to their families."

"So, where do we go first?"

Romani came back outside and gave the bag with the masks to Link. He opened the bag and took out the Deku mask.

"Hm, water."

Link smiled as he looked at the troublesome face of the Goron. He motioned him to stay put on the side while he climbed the ladder to get the boattrip to the Dekupalace. A few moments later he jumped down next to Romani and Goro while the Goron still distrusting at the water, like he was expecting it to come alive and engulf him. Link started to grin when he thought this but froze when he suddenly remembered that really happened to him.

"Don't worry, Goro, you'll be in a boat."

"Yeah, but that boat don't really look... strong enough for me."

Link looked at the boat and had to admit the boat looked a bit more sturdy when he was ten.

"Well, try it, and if it doesn't hold, I'll pull you out. Don't worry."

"Of course not," the Goron said, without a trace of doubt in his voice, which kinda surprised Link, "if something happens to me, my dad's gonna find you."

Olay, that was a good threat. Link accompanied the kid to the boat and thank the Goddesses, the boat held, although it was probably safer for Link and Romani to get on the next one. When they were seated the boat slowly started to move. A little while later they stopped at the road to the Deku palace. After a short trip (with the young Goron still nervous at the great amount of water) they arrived at the palace gate.

"Hold!" a guard jumped out of the ground, "No one may enter the palace without official business. And I don't think you have official business."

"As a matter of fact," Link stepped forward, "I do. Could you please tell the princess her saviour from the temple has returned? Oh, and also bring the butler if you can."

"What are you talking about?" the other guard said, "Her saviour was a young Deku scrub, not someone like you."

"Just go." Link sighed.

The two guards huddled together for a few seconds, and then one skittered of inside. The other one kept his eye on Link as if he wanted to give the impression that Link was allowed to do anything funny and that he would suffer the consequences. Link gave him a look back that actually said, if he did anything funny, the only thing the guard would do was laugh if he didn't want to die. So it was perfectly understanding the scrub went crept back in his hiding place a bit, until he heard commotion behind him as his companion returned with the princess and the butler. Actually, he trailed the princess who came running to see her saviour again. She had grown in those years, obviously, but not only in length, obviously she took after her father who was a large fellow. She stopped right in front of Link and looked intensely at him.

"Yes," she said after a while, "you are the boy that freed me from the temple. But where's the Deku scrub that brought me back?"

"I am that scrub."

The princess raised what Link thought was an eyebrow. Link took the Deku mask and showed it to the princess.

"This mask enabled me to take the form of a Deku scrub. I'm sorry I deceived you, but I had no other option since no other races were allowed in the palace."

"How did you obtain this mask?" the princess asked.

"The Skull kid who poisoned the swamp turned me into a Deku scrub with the power of another mask, a masks salesman turned me back to normal and gave me this mask. When I travelled to Clocktown via the underground passage I found a Deku that had turned into a tree. I suspected this was his old form."

"My son." The butler stated.

"I thought so."

"He wanted to see the world and left the swamp. After the swamp was cleared I left to find him," the butler continued, "I found him in the state you just described. No wonder you reminded me of my son, you were him in a way."

Link slowly nodded.

"Then I believe it is best if I gave the mask to you then." Link handed over the mask to the old butler.

"I will keep this mask close as a memento to my late son."

"If I may ask, what was his name? He was the only one of my forms I didn't know."

"His name was Dekaru," the butler said, "and I think he would be proud that he could help you in your quest in his way."

"I'm sure he would be." Link said silently.

Suddenly the princess appeared to notice the two persons behind Link.

"Romani! What a pleasure to see you here," Romani bowed a little, "and this Goron, are you from Snowhead?"

"No, I'm not, your highness," the Goron bowed his head, "I'm from Death Mountain in Hyrule. I'm here with Link to explore new worlds."

"It is very brave of you to come this far, I've understood Gorons aren't too fond of water."

Link looked back at the water surrounding them and shook his head.

"To be honest, your highness, I'll be glad to be out of here, no offence."

"None taken," the princess shook her head, "I myself am not too fond of the cold of Snowhead either."

"I couldn't say, Death Mountain is an active volcano and has tremendous heat."

"Oh, then I definitely wouldn't come. Our kind is not too fond of fire. We burn easily."

"Then I think this is the only time we shall meet, what a pity." The Goron bowed his head.

"My, how charming, although my father probably wouldn't approve of an admirer of another species."

"Besides, not such a young admirer, remember you're only ten, Goro."

"Just ten? And already such a big boy." She said with a smile that implied a lot of things and even though Link was only ten, he knew what those things may be. Suddenly he felt uncomfortable.

"Anyway, I'm sorry to inform you that we must leave now, we have a long journey ahead of us. So if you will excuse us?"

The princess bowed her head as the trio turned around to go back to the boats.

"Thank you once more for Dekaru's mask." The butler said.

Link waved goodbye and stepped in the boat.

The boat slowly moved through the swamp water while Romani rested her head on Link's shoulder.

"This is nice," Romani whispered, "promise me there won't be any undead at the end of this trip?"

"I promise," Link laughed, "you're right, this is nice. Maybe we have to come back later to do this again, or maybe sail in the Great Bay ocean."

"Are we going there now?"

Link shook his head.

"I think it's best we go to Snowhead first, then we make a little stop in Clocktown and then we go on to the Great Bay, I'm sure we can throw together a big party there."

"Will you play the guitar again?"

"The guitar, the drums, the ocarina or Deku pipes, any thing you want." He smiled and kissed her.

The boat came to an abrupt end when the tour was finished and they cursed the boats for going this fast.

"Where to?" Link stood already on the shore, safe on the ground, away from water.

"Snowhead, to see the Gorons."

"Ah, good, it will be good to see Gorons again." Link said with a big smile.

"It will be." Link copied that smile.

After a long trip over the snowy fields they entered the Goron village. The Gorons outside looked surprised to see non-Gorons in their village, even more surprised than to see an unknown Goron. Link ignored them and entered the halls to see the Goron Elder, if he was still alive, he thought, because the guy had been pretty old ten years ago. He was in the throne room with a young Goron with white hair in a ponytail. He looked surprised to see Link and the kid looked suspicious.

"It's good to see you're still in great health." Link said.

"Do I know you?" the Goron Elder asked in a crackled voice.

"I am Link, I passed here ten years ago, when there was the trouble on Snowhead."

"Ah yes," the Elder nodded, "the trouble our great hero Darmani ended. He died shortly afterwards, again," He chuckled, "but I'm sure he will arise again when the time calls him forth."

"I'm afraid not," Link said seriously, "Darmani was dead before I got here, I rescued his soul and he granted me the power to turn into a Goron with this mask," Link took out the mask, "the person you thought was Darmani, was me. I'm sorry."

The Elder looked vacantly at the mask.

"It… it was you? Then we owe a great deal to you…"

"No!" the kid yelled, "that's not true, it was Darmani and not you!"

He jumped forward and grabbed Link's throat. Goro reacted and twisted the kid's wrist. He let go with a small cry of pain.

"That was a big mistake," the kid hissed while he was rubbing his sore wrist, "I'm the son of the Goron Elder."

"And I'm Link, the son of the Goron Big Brother of the Death Mountain Gorons of Hyrule. I'm not afraid of you."

Link couldn't help himself letting out a little smile. The Goron could handle someone about two, three years older than him, good.

"Mashka, please," the Elder stopped him, "if this indeed is the soul of Darmani," Link gave him the mask, "we must honour it properly and not fight in it's presence."

"Very well," the kid said with a look that could kill, "but this isn't over yet."

"I, eh, I will treat this with the proper respect, thank you, Link, but I think it is best for you to leave at once, we Gorons don't really socialize with other races."

"But this…" Link motioned to keep Goro silent.

"Very well, it was an honour to meet you again."

"Yes, yes, hum." The Elder mumbled and turned to hang the mask behind the throne.

Link and his friends turned around and left the Goron Halls.

"Who does he think he is?" Goro shouted, "you're Darmani's bloodbrother, that means he should treat you with the proper respect."

"Calm down, Goro, these Gorons tend to live by themselves, and…"

"It's like they're ashamed they were saved by you and not a Goron. Don't they know they could have died if it weren't for you?"

"Let me tell you something important of the hero business, Goro, not everything you do is appreciated by people and you may have to do a lot of things to get your goal that some people consider as not honourable. You just don't care about that. You do what you have to do, and try to save them, even if they practically hate you for it."

Goro seemed to calm down a bit, but was still angered.

"I feel almost ashamed that I have met them."

Link shrugged.

"If it makes you feel better, a lot of Gorons I have met are more open."

"So," Romani asked, "do we go immediately to the Great Bay?"

"First Clocktown and then the ocean."

"Hm. More water?" Goro objected.

They sat in the western part of town where Link had found ten years ago a perfect little restaurant not for from the post office. People tried not to stare openly but they could feel the eyes glow. Link and Romani seemed not to be bothered by this and Goro tried his best to ignore it. Apparently it came with the job. People seemed to distrust fully equipped adventurers when there was no trouble. No one had spoken much during the meal but now it was just waiting for the first person to discuss the behaviour of the Gorons of Snowhead. Luckily for Goro, Link was the first to drop the powderkeg.

"Romani, when you wandered the land, did the Gorons already seem so… aggressive?"

"I'm afraid so," Romani nodded, "they always distrust people from the rest of Tempora, whether from Clocktown, Zora bay or the swamps. They could handle their own problems, and if they couldn't, they always said they could rely on Darmani, the great hero that came back from the dead."

"Guess you bursted a bubble there." Goro said with a weak smile.

Link nodded grim.

"I must say," Goro continued, "this is completely different then in Hyrule, where we all have a tight connection."

"I wouldn't say that," Romani interrupted, "if you didn't have the right connections you couldn't get in either, Goron, Zora, Gerudo or even Castletown. But I must say, it was a lot easier to make connections."

"I had my connection thanks to Zelda," Link mused, "but I'm sure I would have gotten where I needed to be in time, but time was something that I didn't have."

They all sat silent for a few more minutes.

"I hope the Zora's are different." Goro sighed.

"They are," Romani said, "because of the band the Indigo-go's they tend to go all around Tempora, except Snowhead."

"Yeah, I saw them last year, when you came back." Goro nodded to Link.

"Well, I don't think we'll end our journey on a downnote." Link smiled and drank the last of his milk.

"It will, when they don't celebrate on the shore," objected Goro, "there's no way I'm getting to close to that much water."

Goro regretted his statement a few hours later. Even the shore seemed to unease the Goron.

"Don't worry," the fisherman said, "now it's still low tide."

"You mean, it gets bigger?" the Goron shouted.

Link laughed and turned to Romani.

"So, who goes to the Zora and who stays behind to babysit Goro?"

Goro grunted at the remark "babysit".

"I can get them, if you want," the fisherman said, "I mean, you're that kid that stopped the moon from falling, right? So I guess I owe you that much."

Link nodded and thanked the fisherman when he got out his boat and set sail to the Zora cape.

"When we're not here, just wait for a few moments." He shouted.

"Why, where are we going?" Goro asked.

"There was something I didn't do when I stopped Majora, something that might come in handy as a refuge to escape from the daily routine." Link smiled and walked towards the house next to the fisherman's hut. "Did I ever tell you about the spider's curse?"

"You mentioned something about that," Romani answered, "something about a hundred spiders in Hyrule that had cursed a family?"

Link nodded as he entered the small house.

"Well, there was something similar here as well." He said as he took out a bomb and placed it in front of the back wall.

With a small bang the wall exploded and revealed the passage to the lower section of the house.

"Well, what do you know." Romani smiled.

"Ready to go spider squishing?" Link asked Goro.

Goro just let out a big grin.

After they got rid of the last spider, they returned to the beachhouse. Link wasn't surprised to see a man waiting for them.

"Wow, I didn't know this thing had an underground section. Can I buy it?"

"No, sorry," Link nodded his head, "this is for personal use."

"Too bad." The man said, turned around and left.

"Personal use?" Romani smiled.

"It's seems bigger than I can remember. It would be good to have a refuge here at the bay. In fact, there is one at the swamp as well."

"In that case, let's go there too sometime."

When they exited the beachhouse, the fisherman just arrived with some Zora. Link recognised Lulu, Evans and Jappa, as well as Lulu's two sons, Link and Mikau.

"The fisherman said you wanted to see us. What can we do to help?" Lulu asked.

"I wished to finally return this to you." Link said and showed Mikau's mask.

"This… this is how you transformed in Mikau, isn't it?" Lulu asked.

Link just nodded.

"From what I could gather from information about the other masks, I believe it is actually his soul."

Lulu wiped away a tear.

"No," she said while he forced a smile, "I mustn't cry, this is a joyous day, for Mikau has returned to us."

She invited Link to Zora cape but he had to decline since the young Goron couldn't come along. Lulu then simply decided to bring the band to shore and have a great feast there. It was starting to be morning when the last bonfires died…