Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Zelda: Facade of the Living ❯ Corruption of the Heart ( Chapter 8 )

-Inside an active volcano live the proud, tall, indestructible Gorons.

Flesh and bone are hidden underneath thick layers of hardened mineral, creating men that are virtually impervious to the harsh realities of war.

Fortunately, the Gorons are a peace-loving people. They are very friendly and don't like to fight at all.

However, there was a time when the Gorons were bred to fight and die, and were feared all across the land. Their Goddess given strength could have won them an empire of their own, but the pain and suffering of the Fierce War taught them all too well that violence is never the answer.

Physical prowess itself is a virtue among the Gorons, but a warrior's ethic is not. Those who choose that path are ostracized from the community forever.

Rare is an occasion when one of those outcasts returns...



Chapter Eight: Corruption of the Heart



Tunnel leading to Goron City

The inner portion of the passage way was almost pitch black.

In the darkness, the weary travelers groped their way along the sides, slowly moving forward. The lushness of the Kokiri Forest was behind them now, and hopefully the comfortable warmth of Goron City before them.

However, this infernal tunnel separated the two.

Luckily, Princess Zelda's Omega Rod could provide light. Using her magic powers, she recited a quick enchantment spell and the ruby atop the rod began to glow brightly. With the passage illuminated, they could perceivably travel unimpeded to the Goron settlement.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

A black shadow appeared for a moment, danced around, then vanished.

"What the hell was that?!" said Zeta, searching the void for the mysterious shape.

Her question was answered as the Princess put more magic power into the Omega Rod. When the rod's light completely filled the tunnel, twenty spider-like creatures reared their ugly heads.

They seemed to come from all directions, emerging from behind boulders and under the stone floor. From out of crags in the walls they came, ferociously scratching each other in a bid to be the first to taste live flesh. Their chittering mouths were festooned with tiny hook like teeth, and their many eyes peered out into the expanse of the darkness. Their armored backsides had been hideously mutated into the sickening features of a human skull, the red eyes ablaze with unholy rage.

Within the short span of only a few seconds, the spiders had completely blocked the entrance to Goron City.

"Eeeeeew…what the hell are they?" said Zeta, shrinking away from the arachnids.

"Skulltulas," Jade sighed. "What a pain! How they do they piss me off."

Once Zeta got a good look at the huge creatures, she instantly froze in her place. The Zora woman had always had an intense fear of spiders, both large and small. Many types of aquatic arachnids lived in Zora's Domain, and they took up residence wherever they could find it. Frequently, the archer would awake to find several hundred larvae crawling around in her bedsheets. Such childhood experiences led to nightmares of giant spiders coming to eat her and other sickening hallucinations.

Her arachnophobia had continued well into her adulthood. Zeta could hardly look at a spider without shrieking, much less find the courage to kill one.

When one of the Skulltulas wandered close enough to brush her leg, she screamed with all the air in her lungs. Zeta dived behind Gonga's massive frame and hid there, shaking uncontrollably.

"Such a wimp," Jade remarked, stabbing the ugly creature. "Yeesh, they're not even doing anything and you're scared out of your skivvies!"

"Hey! I can hear you!" the archer shot back from behind the Goron. "I'm not a wimp! Shut your gob, twerp!"

"Then why are you hiding? Afraid of spiders are we?"

"Shut up! Don't ask questions!"

Before the argument could get anymore heated, the tiny Dreck spoke up.

"Both of you, cram it!" he exclaimed. "Stop acting like children!" The scrub grew visibly disturbed at their attitudes, and nearly threw a tantrum over their lack of cooperation. It was a wonder that any of them could work together in the first place if they disagreed so much. He was just about to kick the both of them in the shins before Link stopped him from causing a further ruckus.

"Let's just concentrate on getting rid of the Skulltulas first, okay?" said the hero. "No more disagreements until then, all right?"

Although they appeared menacing, the rest of the spiders had not dared to attack the group, or even come close. They were all positioned about thirty feet from the group, silently waiting. By nature, Skulltulas were rather timid creatures, using their fangs for defense rather than offense. They attacked only those things that came into their circle of influence. Nevertheless, right now they were blocking the way to Goron City, and they needed to be disposed of quickly.

And so, in a flash of genius, the Hero of Time reached into his magic pouch and retrieved what looked like a small, black sphere. Upon contact with the air, a piece of paper sticking out from inside lit on fire and began to burn. The very second it did, Link threw it to Gonga.

The massive Goron snatched it out of the air, and then stared at it for a split second before realizing what it was.

"Oh Goddesses! A bomb!" he yelled.

"Just throw it!" Link screamed loudly.

Bringing his arm back, he launched the explosive device into the air. It sailed, perfectly parallel with the floor, towards the mass of Skulltulas. When it hit the lead spider, the bomb instantly detonated, taking just about everything with it.

KaBlamo!

Debris flew in all directions. Shards of rock and bits of flesh pelted the travelers, forcing them to shield themselves.

When the smoke had cleared after a minute or so, Link and his party were ready to press forward.

Zeta lost her lunch after passing the disgusting remains of the Skulltulas.

Jade pointed and laughed.

Link slapped him upside the head.









Goron City

The tunnel ended abruptly. Once old, dank air morphed into warm, fragrant winds. The light dramatically increased as Link and his group were transported several miles in a matter of seconds.

Before them now was the vast interior of the Goron settlement. Colorful decorations of dancing rock men were scattered across the rather boring walls. Firepits illuminated the interior, and gave the weary travelers a warm, fuzzy feeling on the inside. High above them, a large chunk of solid earth was suspended in the air by thick, industrious looking ropes.

It was here that the Spiritual Stone of Fire, the Goron's Ruby, had once rested. The priceless jewel at one time had given off an ethereal light that filled the entire city. But because it was so valuable, many wanted to possess it, and the stone had to be locked away.

Despite the pictures of folks dancing to a hearty tune, there was no music.

Around the roaring fires, no one warmed themselves.

Everything was totally silent.

"Where the hell is everyone?!" Zeta yelled. "Tell me we didn't go through that infernal, slime filled passage for no reason!"

Link gestured for her to be quiet.

"Something isn't right here," he said quietly "Be real careful."

The group took a tentative few steps forward. Still, the normally vibrant city showed no signs of life whatsoever. Everything needed for daily life lay untended on the ground. Merchant stores, guard posts, and eating establishments were all strangely deserted. Not a single soul was anywhere in sight, but they could tell that someone or something was still here.

On a slight breeze, Princess Zelda caught the faintest whisper of dreadful happenings.

"Quiet!" she exclaimed, her slender ears twitching. "Can you hear that?"

Everyone froze for a split second, and listened intently to the air currents, which carried the sound of metal beating hard against rock. Hoarse yells also became audible, sounding remotely like a person screaming. They were coming from the far side of the city, muffled by large, solid stone walls.

It yearned to be investigated, and Link took a step forward.

"I'll go check it out," he said. "Just stay here all of you. I'll call for you if I need anything."

The hero started to slowly walk towards the ruckus, but immediately Jade stepped in front of him.

"Why don't I go?" asked the Sheikah enthusiastically. "I could scout ahead and find out what's really there. Wouldn't that be easier?"

Link just stared at him.

"Jade, your attitude sure hasn't taken a beating, but your body has," replied the Hylian. "Thanks for the offer, but until you're at full strength, I forbid you from doing part in any combat."

"You can't be serious?!"

"I do mean it kid. You're hurt bad, and you're lucky to be able to walk. Pace yourself for once."

At Link's final sentence, the boy's eyes flashed with anger. He didn't like to be patronized, or made to feel inferior in any way. Sure enough, as soon as the Hero of Time set off to investigate, the Sheikah jumped in front of him again.

"What's up with you lately?! You treat me like a child!" Jade exclaimed, his cheeks flush with rage. "Why won't you let me go?!"

A line had been crossed just then. Link was in charge of this expedition, not Jade, and certainly wasn't going to be dictated to. The hero quickly put the Sheikah in his place.

"You are still a child!" he snapped. "You don't know everything, and you're not the world's greatest fighter! There's a very fine line between great courage and simple foolishness. Use your brain for once and think about the consequences of your actions. If you still feel like rushing off into this, fine! The rest of us will applaud you as a dead fool!"

Stepping aside, Link gestured to the rocky path.

"You still wanna go kid?" he said sarcastically.

Jade simply stood there, completely blown away. The rage boiled up inside him, coursing through his veins. It took every single bit of his self-control to stop him from throwing a massive tantrum. His hand instinctively went to the hilt of his sword, and Jade started to pull it out of the sheath.

"Best you put that thing back where it belongs," the Hylian said between its teeth. "Don't even think about it!"

The Sheikah did nothing but stare at the hero, seething quietly.

"Kid, put it away!" the hero then yelled. "This isn't a game! It could be a trap and I will not let you get hurt again! Do you understand me?!"

Never before had Link gotten this angry with the boy, and Princess Zelda was rather shocked. Everyone had his or her previous disagreements, but this was the most explosive so far. What Jade just did would have been tantamount to mutiny if they were part of the Hylian Army. Fortunately, that was not the case, and Link was a little more forgiving than a military tribunal.

As the boy stood there trying to absorb his idol's threatening words, Zelda sidled closer to the hero.

"Don't you think that was a little harsh?" she whispered to him. "He's just a little ambitious."

"Oh yeah, well what happened the last time he felt 'a little ambitious'?" the hero retorted.

The truth made Zelda bite her lower lip. The young Sheikah had a huge attitude problem that needed to be adjusted. Almost two years of hanging around with the Renegades had spoiled him rotten. Even when they had little to eat and were hiding from Gorkhan, the boy still got whatever it was he wanted.

Disgusted with the situation, Link prepared to scout ahead. He straightened his tunic, checked his gear, and then started off towards the strange noises.

He stopped after a few paces, turned around, and glared at Jade, who had started to follow him anyway.

"Stay away kid! I have to do this myself!" Link yelled at him.

That was it, he'd finally crushed Jade's ambition. The Sheikah gave up hope and hung his head low. He only wanted to prove himself to his idol, but in his present condition it could be fatal to go into battle.

The Hero of Time took a few more steps, and then stopped once more. When he turned again, he had a devious smile on his face.

"Ya know, uh…uh…Princess Zelda said she likes you."

"Really?!"

"Uh, yeah…why don't you go and…protect her like you're supposed to?"

"Hey, I like the sound of that!"









Throne Room

Very quickly, Link traversed the expanse of Goron City. The strange noises got louder and louder as he approached, giving away their exact location.

In front of him was the entrance to a large room, hewn out of the rock. A torch holder burned brightly at the opening, beckoning him inward. By now the sounds of metal beating against rock was deafening, and Link almost had to cover his ears to stop the noise.

Walking in, he saw something he most definitely hadn't expected.

About twenty-five gargantuan lizard things were pounding on the back of a massive Goron. Their swords blows hit again and again, chipping off small mineral fragments that flew in all directions.

These deformed creatures were called Lizalfos. Once, they had been small reptile-like animals, but evil energy mutated their bodies into the hideous shape they now took. Six feet tall when standing on two legs, they carried thick broadswords for offense, along with a set of razor sharp teeth. The darkness had increased their brainpower along with their physical strength.

When the Hylian stepped inside, the Lizalfos immediately stopped assaulting the Goron. They stuck their forked tongues out into the air, sensing the disturbance.

Catching his scent, the Lizalfos suddenly began to attack.

Almost instantly they had closed the distance between them.

One of them jumped ten vertical feet, flipped over once, and landed behind the hero. It brought its blade down in a wide arc that Link easily blocked with his shield. The Hero of Time expertly parried its thrusts, ducked under a sideways arc, and neatly cleaved the Lizalfos into two, bloody halves.

Another charged recklessly at him, simply swinging its blade downwards. The Master Sword was embedded in the creature's chest before it had the chance to complete the motion, and was a dead heap of flesh before it even felt the pain.

When Link brought his sword back to the guard position, the hero saw that all the other Lizalfos had surrounded him.

They formed a giant circle around him, which began to advance as one very quickly.

Of course there was no way he could fight every single one of them off. Link would surely be hacked to pieces in a relatively short period of time by twenty-or-some-odd swords.

They were closing in fast.

He would be dead soon.

Unfortunately for the Lizalfos, the Hero of Time had an ace up his sleeve.

Time itself became nonexistent as Link channeled all the surrounding energy into his arms. The air temperature around him rose exponentially as he prepared to bring the attack to bear on his enemies.

"Din's Fire!" Link shouted with all his might.

He drove his left fist hard into the solid stone floor. The magic in his body then ignited the air around him, producing a writhing ball of flame. Four time's more powerful than Zelda's version of it, this spell was designed to take out massive numbers of enemies. It pushed violently onward as a sphere, filling the entire room with holy fire that scorched and burned everything in sight.

As quickly as it appeared, it vanished, leaving only the blackened bones of the Lizalfos. They had been burned alive, and their skeletons collapsed with swords still clenched tightly in bony hands.

"Yeesh, that wasn't too hard at all,"Link thought to himself as he kicked one of the corpses, watching it turn to purple smoke a second later.

He probably shouldn't have celebrated so soon.

Their leader, and the strongest of the bunch, was still alive. It had the common sense to hide behind the Goron, which shielded him adequately from the heat.

With a bloodthirsty rage inside, it raised its head to glare at Link.

"My warriors!" the lizard hissed in a raspy voice. "You made them no more!"

The hero was completely dumbfounded.

"You can talk?!" he exclaimed.

Again the creature glared at him.

"Dinolfos well can talk! Dinolfos can kill too!" it replied.

The thing standing before the Hylian now was not as simple minded as its underlings. Its head was much larger and more squared, with twice as many needle-like teeth in the jaws. The legs were thicker and more powerful, its sword longer and sharper, and the body was covered in almost impenetrable scales. Dinalfos was its name, and there were few dark things in the world like it. It was faster, smarter, deadlier, and more resilient than a Lizalfos could ever hope to be.

Whether or not it was a match for Link had yet to be decided though.

"Eat your flesh I shall when done with you I am!" said the Dinolfos.

Link didn't stop to mince words. He jumped as high as he could into the air and tried to bring the Master Sword crashing down on the Dinolfos' head. In a surprising feat of agility, the reptile stopped the attack with its own blade, and made a sharp counterattack that left a broad gash along Link's side.

It hurt badly, but the hero showed no outward signs of pain. He steadied his nerves and pressed the attack, doing his best to stay on the offensive.

The Blade of Evil's Bane scored many hits, but they were not very effective against the thick scales of the Dinolfos.

Advancing quickly on Link, the creature quickly gained the upper hand. Its blows were strong and on target, making huge scratches on the brilliant decorative finish of Link's Hylian Shield. He was being pushed back by the impacts, sending him careening into the wall.

Link replied with a devastating blow that shattered the steel plating that the Dinolfos wore on its right shoulder. The creature cursed vehemently at the Hylian, and launched itself up into the air and flipped over, landing behind him. Its blade crashed down hard against Link's back, and he was quickly knocked to the ground.

"I can taste the blood already," the creature taunted. "And when I'm done with you, I'll eat the Goron too!"

Countering the bad rhyme with a lightning fast overhead swipe, Link started to gain the upper hand. It wasn't much, as the Dinolfos' scales enveloped its body like a suit of armor. However, that was its weakness, for even the most expertly crafted plate armor has areas that it simply cannot protect.

While skillfully blocking the Dinolfos' attacks with his shield, the hero of thought how to defeat this creature. He had fought many like it before, and they'd been just as difficult to kill. This one seemed just a little bit more intelligent and skilled, but it certainly wasn't invincible.

Then Link remembered how he'd broken the shoulder plate.

It dawned on him how he could eliminate this creature once and for all.

On purpose, Link tripped himself and fell to the stony floor.

In a flash, the Dinolfos was standing over the hero, grinning sadistically in triumph.

The reptile brought its gleaming blade high into the air, ready to strike off Link's head.

"Hylian thought he could kill Dinolfos! Now you be killed!" it shrieked.

That was when it happened.

With its right hand raised, the lizard's armpit was completely exposed. Simply extending his arm out, Link pushed the Master Sword into the muscular flesh, driving it in as deep as possible. Anger and frustration filled the hero, increasing his strength so he could shatter the lizard's ribcage. The sacred blade pierced the creature's evil heart before it even felt the first twinge of searing pain. Its beady eyes flashed with horror as Link twisted the sword inside, cutting tendons and slicing arteries in two. Thick red blood dripped from the open wound as the creature began to go limp.

Blackness churning from the pits of its soul, it tried to taunt Link one final time.

"Mark…Dinolfos' words," it began, blood gurgling in its mouth. "Never…will…Hylian kill… my Lord G…"

Without finishing its sentence, the horrible reptile breathed its last. It slid off the gore encrusted Master Sword as a heap of dead, bloody flesh.

As the accursed creature vanished into smoke, Link turned his attentions toward the wounded Goron.


*****


"It's okay now," said the hero. "They're gone."

He tapped the Goron on the back to get his attention. Immediately, the massive rock man stood up on powerful, but relatively short legs. His long hair was spiked up and sticking out in at least twelve different directions. From his chin grew an enormous bushy beard that had at least thirty years worth of mineral deposits built up in it. This Goron was at least a foot and a half taller than Gonga, and three feet taller than the Hero of Time.

This powerful man was Darunia, leader of the Gorons.

And with his gigantic hands, he was rubbing his eyes.

"I can't see!" he yelled. "Oh lovely Goddess Farore, I'm blind!"

Appalled, Link rushed over to help him. The Hylian owed Darunia a lot, as he'd given Link the Goron's Ruby, otherwise known as the Spiritual Stone of Fire.

Eight years before, Ganondorf had passed through the Death Mountain area demanding that he be given the stone. Of course, the proud Darunia refused the requests and ignored his threatening remarks. Eventually, Ganondorf sealed up the Dodongo's Cavern, the main source of food for the rock-eating people.

Slowly but surely, all the Gorons began to starve. Darunia had to seal himself up along with the Spiritual Stone of Fire in order to stop his brethren from eating it. Just when all hope seemed lost, Link arrived in the nick of time. He played the song of the Royal Family, and when Darunia heard it, he knew Link was an important person. With a power-enhancing bracelet given to him by the Goron leader, he broke open the seal using an explosive Bomb Flower.

Swiftly and mercilessly, Link killed all the Dodongos infesting the cavern, replenishing the food supply and earning Darunia's admiration.

On that day, the two of them became Sworn Brothers.

That meant they would do just about anything for each other.

"Darunia, tell me what they did to you?" Link asked him.

"What now? How do you know the name of the great Darunia?" replied the Goron.

"Never mind that, just tell me what happened to this place."

"Ah, very well then. I still think I recognize your voice."

Feeling around for a second, Darunia folded his legs and sat down on the ground. He continued to rub his eyes, but still could not see anything at all.

"The Lizalfos came unexpectedly," said the Goron. "Everyone else sealed themselves away, but I alone stayed to fend off the hoards. I did well at first, but their leader was a coward. He threw burning torch cinders at me, and some of 'em got in my eyes. I haven't been able to see since, and…I've failed to protect my people…"

"Nonsense, you held up extremely well!" Link answered.

The Goron quickly brought him down a peg.

"Those swords were making good headway though. My back hurts like hell ya know? I'd be dead if it wasn't for you."

Indeed, large chunks of rock were missing from Darunia's back. It hurt for him to move, so he continued to sit there, pondering what to do.

Darunia struggled to find Link for a few seconds, but quickly found the young hero. He grabbed hold of his shoulders, and turned him around to face the practically destroyed inner chamber. Din's Fire had burnt every single piece of expensive tapestry in the room, along with all the tables and most of the clay pottery.

"I need my eyedrops," said the Goron leader. "For Nayru's sake, find 'em for me!"

Link immediately went out searching amongst the destroyed room. There was little chance he would find the eyedrops amidst all the carnage, but he at least had to try.

Thankfully, the hero wouldn't have to do it alone.

Into the room stepped the Renegades, along with Princess Zelda, Jade, and an assortment of other Gorons.

Everyone was appalled at the destruction.

"What happened in here?!" Gonga exclaimed.

"Lizalfos," the hero quickly replied. "They attacked Darunia. Threw hot ash in his eyes. He needs help!"

Gonga knew exactly what to do. He promptly walked over to the blinded Goron leader and knelt down beside him. Placing a hand on his shoulder, Gonga questioned him in a calm, soothing voice.

"Where are your eyedrops Brother?" he said in a tone of voice uncharacteristic for such a stocky Goron.

Darunia stopped rubbing his eyes for a moment, and reached out for the person in front of him. He felt the arm on his shoulder, recognized the familiar texture of Gonga's skin, and knew the raised symbol of the Gorons tattooed on his arm.

"Is...is that you…" he started to say before being cut off by Gonga.

"Where are your eyedrops?"

"Last time I saw them, they were in a pot over there."

The Goron leader pointed to the south wall, where the cinders of a once colorful tapestry were still smoldering. Wasting no time, Link dashed off to get the precious eyedrops. He would have burned his hands severely had his gauntlets not protected them somewhat from the heat. Pushing his left hand deep inside the burning embers, he fished around for anything like a glass vial. His fingertips were getting singed as he went deeper, but eventually he felt the smooth side of a glass bottle.

Link pulled it out just in time. He'd be short a gauntlet if he hadn't, and the hero was very attached to his current pair.

Running back over to Darunia, Link handed the Goron leader the vial.

"Is that what you were talking about?" asked the hero.

Darunia felt the peculiar shape of the vial and knew that this was the item he so sorely needed.

"Yes, they are," replied the Goron. "Now let's hope they weren't damaged."

Unscrewing the cap and lifting his eyelids, Darunia poured the contents of the bottle into his eyes. For the next few seconds, everyone held in his or her breath as the liquid struggled to take effect. At first it seemed like the eyedrops had done nothing at all, but the Goron suddenly blinked a few times, then got to his feet.

He could see perfectly now.

"Excellent!" Darunia exclaimed. "Sweet merciful Goddesses, my eyesight has returned!"

The Goron leader looked around the room at the six strangers who were crowded around him.

"So, who do I have to thank for saving my life?" asked Darunia. "Come forward now. There's nothing to fear."

Everyone seemed to just stand there, gaping at him as if they didn't understand. After a few awkward moments of silence, the leader of the Gorons finally recognized Link. The hero stood out like a sore thumb with his bright green tunic, and Darunia quickly grabbed him and paraded him in front of the crowd.

He immediately made a spectacle of him.

"Look everyone! It is Link, Hero of the Gorons!" Darunia said. "Thank the Goddesses, he has returned to us!"

The crowd of Gorons pushed the rest of the hero's party out of the way and gathered around in a tight circle. Every single one of the Gorons then tried to grope the young hero who had saved them from starvation eight years before.

"Hurray for Link!" yelled someone.

"Truly a Goron! The greatest of them all!" screamed another.

"A banquet! No, a feast! We must all have a great feast for Link the Dodongo-Buster!" exclaimed yet another Goron.

Just then, one of the rock people grabbed the Hero and slung him over his shoulders. With raucous cheers erupting from the crowd, Link was carried bodily out the door toward the banquet halls.

They were all gone within the course of a few seconds, leaving only Link's party and Darunia behind.


*****


After the rest of the tribe had left, the others were dumbfounded to see a little Goron boy clinging to Darunia's right leg. He looked up at Darunia with wide eyes and literally tried to climb up his back. The massive Goron leader picked the boy up in his arms and sat the child on his shoulders.

"Hello son!" boomed Darunia.

"Hello father!" replied the boy.

Of all the others there, Gonga was the only one not flabbergasted. Indeed, the boy was the son of the chief, destined to inherit the position when his father died. He was only eight years old, but already showed the potential to be a great leader.

He also happened to be named after the Hero of Time.

"Who are these people father?" replied little Link.

Darunia gave them a strange look that meant they needed to introduce theirselves. Of course, Zelda stepped forward and curtsied before the Goron leader.

"Salutations Lord Darunia, I am Princess Zelda of Hyrule," Her Highness said in a most diplomatic tone. "Can you help u…"

Taking a good look at the young woman in front of him, recognition immediately sparked in the Goron's eyes. He'd been present at her birth, and knew her father very well. Darunia had watched her blossom from a tomboyish little girl into an incredibly attractive young woman.

"Oh, I know you!" the chief interrupted. "I remember when you stood no taller than my knee. It's been so long! My, how you've grown Your Highness!"

"Yes milord, but we are here on urgent busin…" Zelda started again before being silenced.

"Oh bother bother! Come now, we must honor your presence by throwing an even bigger banquet!"

"But Darunia…"

"Yes, it will be quite a feast! Go now, leave your weapons here, and soon we'll talk of many things. Yes, soon…"

With his massive hands, Darunia ushered Zelda, Jade, Dreck, Zeta, and little Link out of the room.


*****


Gonga wanted to leave too, but the older, wiser Darunia kept him behind. The younger man stared forlornly at the hard ground, trying to keep away from the whole situation. Darunia refused to let him be silent, and spun his fellow Goron around to meet him.

"You were told never to come back here," said the chief. "You defy me."

"And what crime is that?" replied Gonga. "You no longer have influence over me."

Darunia's eyes flashed with anger, and he quickly retaliated.

"This is my kingdom, and you will show me some respect!" snapped the Goron leader. "Nary a day has gone by where I haven't thought of you, and this is how I am repaid?!"

Firing a look of rage at Darunia, Gonga turned away from him.

"How dare you show your back to me!" Darunia said through his teeth.

"And how dare you not acknowledge your only blood brother!" Gonga retorted.

Indeed it was true. Gonga and Darunia were brothers not just by aspect of Goron society, but also by lineage. Because he was older and next in line to assume the throne, their father always favored Darunia. Repeatedly, Gonga was pushed to the sidelines, forgotten about and rarely accommodated. All the banquets and all the feasts and all the balls were held for Prince Darunia, never for his younger brother.

Unfortunately, the problem went deeper than that.

If Gonga had one thing going for him at the time, it was that he was a rather handsome man as far as Gorons go. He had his particular sights set on a lovely young woman, who seemed to return his affections wholeheartedly. She was one of the most beautiful Gorons who had ever lived, and drew attention from all the men.

The two of them fell deeply in love, and spent most, if not all, of their time together. In fact, they had planned to marry sometime soon.

Then the bombshell hit.

Darunia had been given the choice by their father of who he would marry. Allowed to pick among any of the ladies, he unwittingly chose Gonga's intended. Instead of approaching Darunia, Gonga chose to complain directly to their father. Of course, he told him that the decision was final, and that there was absolutely nothing he could do.

It was a brash decision that would lead to years and years of bitter feuding.

Enraged, Gonga thought of ways to get back at Darunia. He and his lover perused all of the laws of the Gorons and found that the only way to get rid of a betrothal was to challenge Darunia to a duel.

This had not happened for several centuries, as the Gorons had long since given up on the use of weapons. According to Goron philosophy, physical strength in itself is virtuous, but using that strength to inflict harm on another is not.

Nevertheless, the duel would continue. For if Darunia would not accept, then he would be branded a coward, something no true Goron would ever allow.

And so, brother fought brother.

The conflict lasted for seven whole days and seven whole nights. They wrestled each other every second, their bodies aching and half broken. They dealt blow after blow to one another, but neither refused to fall down. It was a very brutal affair, yet it was allowed to continue, for honor had to be satisfied.

In the end though, Darunia proved to be too much for Gonga. On the seventh night, he bodily lifted his brother and slammed him down on the stone floor, knocking him unconscious.

Therefore, Prince Darunia would keep his betrothed, while Prince Gonga became an outcast within Goron City.

No one would talk to him, acknowledge him, or be courteous in even the slightest way.

When their father finally died, Darunia became the leader. He ended up marrying the Goron woman, and at that point, his brother chose to leave.

He had a hammer forged and began his new life as a mercenary.

All this had happened fifteen years before, and the rift between them was still very wide.

"Do you expect me to forgive and forget?" Gonga asked. "You could have had any other woman, and you stole her from me! What was I to do?"

"Easy! You could have told me about it!" the Goron leader responded. "I'd have found another. I did not know she was yours."

Still, Gonga wasn't convinced.

"I'm expected to believe this?!" Gonga exclaimed. "I spent years mulling over my decisions, and how I lost her to you. You were always better than me, stronger than me, held in higher regard. I had one chance at happiness, and she was stolen from me!"

Sighing heavily, Darunia hung his head low. Even with all the animosity between them, they were still brothers. The years of anguish, hardship, and worry needed to come to an end.

"Gonga…I'm not a perfect man," Darunia admitted. "And you are still my Blood Brother. I would not have it any other way. I was wrong to claim her as my own without speaking to you about it. That was my biggest mistake. She…always spoke very highly of you…"

Ever so slightly, Gonga brightened a little. At least his one time love had been taken care of, something he knew in his heart that he wouldn't have been able to do.

"What happened to her?" he asked off-hand. "You are still married I hope."

Darunia winced slightly after that last sentence.

"No…she died eight years ago, after giving birth to Link," he solemnly replied. "He's never known his uncle. Maybe now would be the time to start?"

His words fell on deaf ears, so to speak.

"I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, for the sake of little Link," Gonga cryptically replied. "But this isn't ever going to be over. What good would come of forgiving each other if we can't even forgive our own selves…"

Shaking his head in disgust, the Goron mercenary turned and walked out the door, leaving a saddened and heartbroken Darunia behind.

Rejected by his only brother, the proud chief of the Gorons shed a single tear for days gone by, friendships made and broken, and true love never fulfilled.

Darunia would never be the same again.









The Gerudo Fortress

With the blazing midday sun behind him, a blonde haired Hylian slipped into the cavernous Gerudo Training Ground. His bright yellow hair contrasted sharply with the black cloak he wore loosely on his shoulders, along with the dulled plate armor that once bore the seal of the Royal Family.

A rather tall man, his eyes were sullen and dark from years of both seeing and committing a myriad of horrible atrocities.

This was Basse, General Trebla's most fanatical devotee.

He was not to be reckoned with.

A young Gerudo servant came and took his cloak for him. Basse's presence put a deep seeded fear in her, and she quickly scurried off.

Trebla's lieutenant continued on into the recesses of the compound, searching for Gorkhan. He saw him conversing with the Gerudo assassin Baritoone, and approached to listen to her humiliation. Unfortunately, he would not be satisfied in that department.

"You've done well," the Gerudo King told the sorceress. "Things are falling into place."

"Of course, my lord," she replied. "We shall have all of them soon."

Absorbed in himself and a sense of power, he grinned sadistically. After dismissing the old Gerudo, he turned his attentions to Basse.

"What do you want?" he snapped, his demeanor quickly changing.

"My Liege, the Lizalfos have failed to assassinate the Goron leader," said Basse. "The 'hero' and his cohorts arrived in time to stop them."

Gorkhan flashed over with anger, but did not scream loudly as he would normally with one of his Gerudo servants.

"Then we shall do better next time," he said flatly. "Is everything in place? Are we ready for them?"

"Yes Highness, I've already made sure that they will no longer be trouble," replied the Hylian. "They've been placed in our prisons, and are under heavy guard. They are at your mercy."

The Gerudo King of Thieves laughed like the maniac that he was. For him, everything was looking up, and his evil plans showed no signs of interruption, despite all efforts to the contrary by the Hero of Time.

"Very well then, continue with your work Basse," said Gorkhan. "You are to be commended, unlike that incompetent fool Trebla. I don't know what I saw in him…"

"Uh…thank you my lord, I am humbled," answered the Hylian.

With that, the King dismissed the lieutenant, who returned to the vast, featureless expanse that was the desert.









That night: One of the many banquet halls in Goron City

"We have many banquet halls here in Goron City," Darunia boomed over the raucous crowd.

"I'm sure you do," Jade sarcastically replied, downing another glass of Goronale. "All you people seem to do is eat and sleep…"

The party had started only an hour before, but already about a quarter of the whole city had attended. A humongous table had been set up, with enough seats for up to a hundred people. Twenty or so large boulders had been arranged on the east wall of the room as a buffet for the Gorons to eat. A steady stream of rock people passed by, breaking off pieces and taking them back to the table. Immediately after sitting down, they began to chew the rocks noisily.

Most of Link's party, including the hero himself, would be unable to eat the stones. Therefore, Darunia ordered that some other food be brought out for the weary travelers.

It just happened to be fried Dodongo.

While the Renegades and the Princess found it to be disgusting, Link thought it to be the greatest thing ever created. As the others pushed their steaming plates away as respectfully as possible, the hero shoveled the food into his mouth at a mad pace. To the others it smelled and looked weird, but to Link it was perfectly seasoned, like fresh beef jerky.

His plate was empty less than a minute later, and immediately began on seconds.

"Ugh, how can you stomach that?" Jade asked him.

"Magic," Link replied caustically, his mouth half full. "Really, I need nourishment, and so do you. Eat up."

The Sheikah took one last glance at the food, then glared harshly at the Hylian.

"Allow me to be excused," he snarled. "I'd rather be dead than be forced eat this crap."

"No one's forcing you to do anyth…" Link started to say before the boy curtly stood up and walked away.

Jade walked to the other side of the hall and would stay there for the rest of the night, alone with his thoughts.


*****


After about five minutes, Zelda decided that it would be prudent to actually eat her dinner. Not to do so would be considered very rude by the Gorons. With the rudimentary knife and fork provided her, the Princess ate what she could of the Dodongo.

It left a horrible aftertaste, but she would live.

Pushing away the plate, Zelda turned her attention to Darunia.

"Tell me Lord Darunia," she began in a most courtly manner. "What do you know of King Gorkhan?"

Almost immediately, the Goron leader's jolly demeanor took a turn for the worse.

"He's the Gerudo leader," he answered. "A very violent man…not to be trusted at all."

"I have to agree," said Zelda. "But I'm afraid it's much more complicated than him simply being a bad man. I do believe he's truly evil on the inside, perhaps the equal of Ganondorf. Whenever he came to our castle, I could sense the raw ambition inside him, and it sent chills up my spine…"

"Quite interesting, but what exactly can he do to the magnificent Hylian Empire?"

At that point, the Princess winced. She didn't really want to tell Darunia one of the many secrets the Royal Family had kept from its subjects.

"Our…our forces are spread thin," Zelda finally said. "The fabled strength of Hyrule is merely a gleaming facade that hides the real dirt and corruption. There are enough soldiers to defend the city and Kakariko Village, but not the other provinces. If war breaks out they would slip right through our fingers. We might be able to hold Calatia, but not Termina or any of the others. I fear everything is falling apart…"

"That's terrible," Darunia replied, rather stunned. "I had no idea things had degenerated so much!"

"Yes, the Fierce War took a dreadful toll on the population. Already there have been monster uprisings that were only barely put down. Hylians everywhere live in ignorance of the threat, and if Gorkhan were to attack now there would be nothing to stop him, except the few of us who sit here with you. This latest attack on your people dramatically illustrates this..."

Although this was very true, it did not mean the end of all hope. The Gorons, while small in number, were incredibly powerful. With their help, if Gorkhan were to get any ideas they would surely come to the aid of the Hylians. They had done so gallantly during the long years of the Fierce War, and would do it again because of their intense fellowship with the Kingdom of Hyrule.

Darunia's stern, thoughtful visage lightened a bit then turned into a wide grin. He placed one of his massive hands on the Princess's shoulder for reassurance.

"You are truly your father's daughter!" the Goron chief laughed. "I sense his wisdom and courage in you, and since he is my Sworn Brother as well, that makes you my niece! Any assistance you need I will give you. Let Uncle Darunia do all the worrying for a while. Just go and have some fun!"

"Pardon me?" Zelda replied, a little bewildered.

"Why, it's time to dance, my dear. Dinner has ended, and now it's time for the music to start!"

The big Goron clapped his hands a few times, and suddenly everyone in the banquet hall became very quiet.

"In honor of the return of the Great Dodongo-Buster and of the Princess Zelda, the dancing shall now begin!" Darunia yelled in a loud, clear voice. "Bring out the minstrels!"

At that point, a small band of six Gorons took to a stage near the buffet table that had been erected hours earlier. Made of wood, it was marvel of engineering that it did not break under the weight. Nevertheless, each Goron picked up his or her instrument. While the rest drew out either tambourines or violins, one of them produced a small, ceramic flute.

Indeed, it was an ocarina, similar to the one Saria had given Link many years before.

From it came the very song she had taught the hero, the melody that allowed them to communicate with each other, even when separated by vast distances. It told of the forest, and of lighter days. Embedded in the notes were happy times when Hyrule was at peace and the ever vigilant eyes of the Deku Tree kept watch over the little Kokiri children.

It was a song made for youths, and perhaps that was why Darunia liked it so much, being so much of a child at heart.

"What is wrong My Lady?" the Goron chief asked of the Princess.

Zelda had a look of extreme consternation on her face, and didn't seem to want to go forward with this.

"I really have never danced like this," she said, embarrassed. "I've taken all kinds of lessons, but they were for ballroom dancing, not…this…"

All over the place, a hundred or so Gorons were jumping up and down, spinning like tops, and flailing their arms maniacally. Great circles of them joined hands and danced in rhythm to the overpoweringly seductive music. The once prestigious, formalized banquet had turned into a raucous party.

Everyone, including the Princess, was obliged to celebrate.

"It looks fun," she said, "but this more of a full-body dry heave than anything else."

"Hmm, I have to disagree. If Link can dance, then so can you. Come now, I'll teach you!" Darunia replied, sounding excited.

The Hero of Time was certainly enjoying himself, dancing like a madman in the midst of a group of cheering Gorons. After laughing heartily at this, Darunia bodily picked up Princess Zelda and carried her out onto the dance floor. She tried to protest, but it was truly the equivalent of arguing with a boulder, which is ultimately futile.

He put the now disgruntled Zelda on her feet.

That was when things started to go downhill for the young maiden.

Darunia was at least three feet taller than her, and five times as wide. Zelda was very skilled in the art of dance, as she had studied many different forms. On special occasions, such as the Carnival of Time, the beautiful princess would go to the celebrations and dance heartily with her people. Folks from miles around came to see her graceful, yet seductive movements. It was, of course, very tasteful, but it still drove most of the male attendants wild.

Zelda's reputation as a dancer had spread so far that she could hardly ever weasel out of it anymore, especially when among friends and family.

Now, for Darunia, for Hyrule, and for the sake of diplomatic relations, the Princess would make a fool of herself.

With a heavy sigh, she began to whip her arms around in completely random directions.

"Oh yeah, now you're doin' it!" Darunia exclaimed. "Feel the music! Dance like crazy! Whoo! Yeah! Now you're a Goron!"

Strangely enough, the thing Zelda thought she would hate she now found herself loving. The lively music invigorated her, sending the Hylian into a frenzy of wild gyrations. Zelda didn't care that the Renegades were staring at her as if she had lost her mind, nor did she care that Link wasn't around to share this wonderful experience

All the danger and suspense of the last few days melted away as Zelda danced with the Goron leader.

For a brief few minutes, there was nothing but happiness…

Forty-five minutes later

The evening was far from over, and Princess Zelda was far from being tired. Still, there was someone who'd been left out a lot, and who needed to be cheered up.

Finding him was difficult, but she eventually located the boy on the upper level of the city, quietly watching everyone else have a good time.

"Jade?" Zelda inquired. "What are you doing up here all alone?"

The Sheikah rolled his eyes at her in contempt.

"What do you think? I'm being alone," he replied sarcastically. "Do you need something?"

"Not really, I just wanted to know if you'd like to come and dance with me," Zelda answered.

Again, the boy looked very dismayed, and fluffed off her suggestion. He quickly turned his back on her.

"Sheikah don't dance," Jade said flatly.

"Oh, pish posh," said the Princess. "Come on now, we'll have a great time!"

Zelda grabbed his wrist and started to pull him away towards the dance floor. However, the boy violently wrenched free of her grasp, nearly causing her to stumble and fall.

This was certainly a new development. Jade had been perfectly fine before. He'd been a well-behaved young man, although a bit cocky at times. Recently though he had become increasingly antisocial, and lashed out violently at anyone who tried to talk to him. It definitely needed to be addressed, and now was as good a time as any.

"Jade, tell me what's wrong, please," Zelda asked him. "Where is all this coming from?"

Anger quickly flashed through him before he answered.

"Everything is wrong!" Jade exclaimed. "I don't have any other reasons to stay here anymore. I found Master Link for the Renegades, but he made me stick around!"

"What are you talking about?! He didn't make you do anything!" the Princess shot back.

The boy sat down on the edge of the wall, staring down at the people below. The rage inside of him had been slowly been building inside of him, but the Sheikah had been able to keep it in check. Now it had gotten to him, and Jade was taking it all out on Princess Zelda

"Is this about Yozefu and Jeison?" Zelda quietly asked him.

"Bah! This has more to do with you than with them," Jade replied harshly. "I don't know you, and yet I'm expected to lay down my life for you? I don't think so…"

That didn't quite make sense, especially coming from someone like Jade.

"It's the duty of a Sheikah to protect the Royal Family," said the Princess matter-of-factly. "It's…it's been a tradition for centuries."

Her last statement really set him off. Jade stood up again, and he clenched his fists as if preparing for a fight. Zelda took a step back in shock as the boy advanced on her, practically getting right on top of her. His breath reeked of alcohol, due to all the Goronale he'd consumed earlier, and his eyes were glassy and devoid of emotion. The Sheikah was definitely intoxicated, and the nice, humble warrior had become a raging drunk.

To Zelda, the boy suddenly seemed a lot taller.

"Well maybe traditions should change once in a while!" the youth exclaimed. "Where was the Royal Family at the Battle of the Fields?! Where was the Royal Family when Kakariko was under siege?! Thousands of Sheikah died for your family! How many were hacked to bits by Ganondorf's army because your father decided not to sacrifice any Hylian soldiers?! Their deaths were horrible, and their blood is on your hands! I've grown up hearing these stories from my Sheikah elders, and always to the point where it makes me sick! I hate the Royal Family!"

He paused a second before adding, "And I definitely don't want to serve you anymore…"

This was like being repeatedly slapped in the face for Zelda. True, the Fierce War was horrible, and many thousands of Sheikah did lose their lives, but those unfortunate casualties paled in comparison to the staggering amount of dead Hylians.

It hurt Zelda deeply for such a loyal friend to turn on her so suddenly, and a few tears began to well up in her eyes.

"Oh, stop crying!" Jade said harshly. "You Hylians think you're so damn righteous, but not a single one of you stood by my mother and father when they were killed! What does that say about your people, huh?!"

Immediately, Zelda took a hold of her emotions and set them on track. She squared her jaw and shot a cold glance at him, one that meant Jade had lost her trust completely.

"I never thought you would betray me like this," she said plainly. "My father's decisions were made long ago, and there's nothing I can do to change them. I'm sorry your parents died, but it wasn't my fault…"

"Not as far as I'm concerned Princess," Jade interrupted, his voice filled with contempt. "Your family has brought nothing but ruin to the Sheikah. I curse your family's name, I curse it!"

At that point, Zelda refused to take any more, and slapped him hard across the cheek. She stormed away, her face red hot, her blood burning in anger.

"Good-bye, Jade. I just wanted one dance with you," the Princess said as she walked away. "It looks like our destinies aren't as linked as I thought they were…"

The boy was left alone with his thoughts, just as he had wished. He'd alienated a friend, just as he wanted. Sick of everything and everybody, Jade fumed quietly in the flickering lights of Goron City, dark thoughts brewing in his mind.

"Don't ever presume to think you know what my destiny is Princess,"he thought to himself. "Bah! She doesn't even know what real betrayal is…"









Back at the banquet hall

Link's body was starting to really hurt.

Random Gorons had been giving him bear hugs all night. Sometimes two or three would do it at the same time, crushing him in the middle of a rock sandwich.

He was quite relieved when he saw Zelda re-enter the room. Finally, he could hold onto someone soft instead of a giant boulder. The Princess practically ran over to him at full speed.

She wrapped her arms around him and gave him a tight squeeze, from which he groaned because of his sore bones.

"Someone's happy to see me," Link said happily. "Having fun?"

"Not anymore…" she replied without emotion.

The Princess was frowning, feeling tired and irritated, she did nothing more than continue to hug Link.

"What's wrong Zelda?" he asked. "You can tell me."

"Do you really want to know?" she replied.

"Yes, of course."

"Jade is drunk! He had too much Goronale, and it made him so violent. He started screaming at me!"

For a moment, Link didn't believe her. The hero found it impossible that someone like Jade, a trustworthy, devoted servant of Hyrule, would ever do such a thing to his sovereign.

"Are you positive? He's never done anything like this before," Link answered.

"Of course I'm positive!" Zelda exclaimed, her voice sounding distraught. "He blames me and my family for the death of his parents. I can't see the source of this, and why it would ever come out now…"

Furrowing his brow, Link could do little to rationalize the Sheikah's behavior. Alcohol was certainly a major factor, but that was no excuse for the way he had acted around his princess.

Link made a resolution that he would talk with the boy, and would do so immediately. He began to walk away from Zelda towards where Jade was perched, but the Princess had a firm grip on his arm.

"No Link, just stay here…with me," she said quietly. "For one day I don't want anymore fighting. I'm tired of it, just as we all are. Just…don't push it on him, it'll blow over, I know it."

Whimpering, the hero let himself be pulled back to the dinner table by his girlfriend.


*****


Everyone else was still on the dance floor, so they were the only two sitting down. It felt good to rest after being on their feet dancing for so long. The rock stools that vaguely resembled chairs were hard and uncomfortable, but they would have to live with it.

The Princess turned to Link and let out an exasperated sigh.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," she said, looking forlorn.

"That's nothing new," Link replied. "I get those all the time. They keep you on your toes."

Zelda perked up a little after he said that. It was true, and it would probably turn out to be nothing anyway. All that was left was for them to return to Hyrule Castle and report to King Harkanian about what had been going on. It wouldn't take much longer, and they would all leave for Hyrule City in the morning.

For now, Link and Zelda could simply relax, but the Princess was still shaken by Jade's drunken spoutings.

"I'm still worried about the boy," said the maiden. "I've been having premonitions lately. Very dark premonitions…"

Link was suddenly very intrigued, and perked up his ears to listen more intently.

"You're having visions again? What kind?" he asked her, looking concerned.

"They have nothing to do with what's happening now, strangely," Zelda replied. "I get them in my sleep ever so often. They're visions of what might have been after you were sent back in time. I…I see myself without you. I see Hyrule without you, and it's a tortuous place. The darkness runs rampant, but you aren't there to stop it Link, and no one but you can wield the power of evil's bane…"

While the Princess slumbered, a steady stream of images of the future that had been narrowly averted often pummeled her. In her dreams, Hyrule is rebuilt to its former splendor. The Hero of Time is idolized, and many statues are built in honor of him, including a twenty-foot tall one in the main hall of the new Hyrule Castle. Zelda saw herself marry a noble and having children who would keep the legend of the Hero alive.

She saw hundreds of years into this strange future is well. The people say that after defeating the great Evil King, the Hero of Time departed on a "journey". Zelda knew the horrifying truth that Link had been sent back to his own childhood, where he could never return to the world he had saved during the quest to awaken the Six Sages.

"The darkness breaks out, and again terrorizes the innocent townsfolk," Zelda solemnly admitted. "The kingdom my descendants strived so hard to rebuild is nearly wiped out. The Hero of Time doesn't return to save them, and when the people realize he's never going to, they let the Goddesses decide their fate…"

Now Link was riveted. This was a secret that he'd never expected to come out. But he knew Zelda trusted him enough to reveal those secrets, no matter what they might be.

"So what happened? What did the Goddesses do?" Link inquired.

"They buried Hyrule under the ocean, the entire kingdom!" the Princess exclaimed. "It rained for what seemed like forever, and when it was over the land was a thousand feet below the sea. Only a chosen few were allowed to survive…"

"That's…I mean…how terrible! I find it hard to believe that there's another Princess Zelda sitting in some other world that we can't see," replied the hero.

Zelda sighed once more. She took a hold of Link's hand and caressed it softly, just as she'd done when they parted ways in the sky, and so many times after that.

"My short-sighted decision led to that," Zelda told him. "Maybe I shouldn't have sent you back. Maybe you should have stayed with me in that desolate future. You were the only ray of hope for those people, and yet I was a fool, so I sent you back here…"

"Well, maybe Zelda, maybe…" Link replied. "I don't care about that at all. All that matters is that you and I are here today. I wouldn't trade these past eight years for the world, I swear it. We've truly grown up together, and it's been the greatest experience of my life."

The Princess smiled at him, and leaned in to give him a kiss. They locked lips for a good few minutes, true love being shown for the entire world to see. Indeed, everyone did see them making out, for Link and Zelda were sitting right in the middle of a crowded room.

A few gaping stares were ignored by the young lovers. If all went well in the next few days, they would finally be able to take a real break from adventuring.

Zelda broke the kiss and gazed into Link's dark blue eyes.

"You're right you know," she said quietly. "Time only flows forward, no matter how hard we try to go back to change the past. I'm learning from my many mistakes, slowly but surely…"

"Finally, after all these years! Thank you Nayru!" the hero said sarcastically.

Princess Zelda kicked him playfully in the shin for that.

"Ha ha, you're so funny Link. I just hope that nothing like what I told you ever happens to us," Zelda sighed.

"Not as long as I'm around," Link replied in a soothing tone. "I love you, and I'll always be around to protect you."

With a sly smile, she yanked him up off the stool and proceeded to drag him out onto the dance floor. Her heart was soaring, and there was nothing on earth that would stop the two of them from being together.

Link didn't even bother to protest.

The band went silent for a moment, as their song was finished. After a few moments, the Goron with the ocarina and the other two who had violins stepped forward. They began to play a melody unlike any other heard during the night. The first notes of the ocarina were light and breezy, speaking boldly of the winds that swept across the majestic Hyrule Field. The violins that followed after told grand tales of the red earth's abundance and the magnificence and beauty of Hyrule.

With an extraordinary vigor, the Gorons began to dance. This one had a fast tempo, and was meant for partners. Everyone paired up, and feet began to move in tandem with the irresistible sound of the music.

It was an ancient song, laden with imagery and steeped in legend.

"I remember hearing this before," Zelda said whilst expertly following the rhythm. "Does it have a name?"

"You don't know?!" Link replied, incredulously. "This is the Lyric of Wind and Earth. Everybody knows this song! You've definitely been living in that stuffy old castle for too long."

Zelda gave him a little shove for being sarcastic, which almost made him fall over.

Link stopped in his tracks, crossed his arms, and mockingly replied, "Forgive me O' Worshipfulness! I do decree I shall never again speak ill of Your Majesty..."

Her Highness did absolutely nothing but make a funny face at him and continue dancing into the wee hours of the night.


*****


The rest of the evening would be absolutely magical. Journeys would finally end, and so would the pain and death that Gorkhan had tried to bring upon the land.

For now, that didn't matter, as it was something that wasn't going to happen until the next day. For the two dancers, the precious time in between would be a blissful eternity, filled only with thoughts of each other. Beautiful music drove them onwards, turning princess and hero into the most romantic and majestic couple on the floor.

It was almost as if the band was playing their sweet melodies only for them.

The Princess of Destiny and the Hero of Time vowed that day to never again be separated from one another.

Link and Zelda would be together forever.

Verily, Hyrule would see better days from now on…









Early the next day: Death Mountain trail

Finally, after a long night of drinking and dancing, along with some gambling, Link and his party set out for Kakariko. From there, they would be able to reach the City of Hyrule, where they would then report their findings to the King.

Darunia had given them his blessings, a promise of assistance if needed, and a few pounds of jerky made from Dodongo.

Before them now was the long trail that led down from Death Mountain. It was relatively straight, but also narrow at times. They were still very high up, and the edge of the cliff disappeared into a seemingly bottomless ravine.

The morning sun brightly cast its rays into the weary eyes of the travelers, who had all stayed up much later than they ever had before.

As the hero and his group started down an incline, the weather began to turn foul unexpectedly.

Dreck flinched as the deafening boom of thunder echoed across the canyon walls. The sky itself began to turn overcast, the rain clouds forming ever so quickly. Soon all the heavens were filled with dreary black clouds seething with an angry summer storm.

Then, as is normal around that time of year, it began to pour. Rain came down in a massive sheet, instantly turning the gravel that covered the trail into a think, soupy mud. And in a flash, everyone was soaking wet from head to toe.

It was miserable.

"Son of a…" Dreck started to say. "Nayru is laughing at us! I know it, she has to be!"

"Oh, quit complaining! It's only water," Zeta said in reply. "Really, you'll live to see tomorrow, okay?!"

"Easy for you to say fish woman! You live in the damn water! Dekus are made out of wood!"

"So the hell what?"

"Argh! Wood splits when it gets wet, and do you think I carry around a bottle of varnish with me? No, 'cause varnish is expensive! Mercenaries don't make enough money to buy all kinds of products like that! Think before you speak, fish woman!"

The little Deku Scrub had to glare at her from underneath Gonga's massive frame. The Goron made a good rain shield, and he'd definitely stay dry where he was.

However, the argument between Zora and Deku was impeding their progress, and the wind was starting to push the rain straight into their faces.

At the end of the procession, Jade was already freezing, drenched, worn-out, and extremely irritated. He couldn't stand when Zeta and Dreck argued, and this time they were holding up the line. Twisted thoughts entered his mind of what he might do to them if they didn't immediately start moving again. The Sheikah fought a desperate battle inside him for the self-control to not insinuate further discord among the group.

He quickly lost that battle.

"For Din's sake, will you all shut up and move your asses?!" Jade yelled at the top of his lungs. "It's cold, and I'm really tired of this shit!"

Everyone was shocked once more. He hadn't learned a single bit of prudence from his encounters the day before.

Perhaps he just didn't want to learn. There were times when he would fulfill his duty to the fullest extent possible, wishing only to serve. But those days were over now. Jade had come to believe that he didn't owe anybody anything, and led most of his life that way. Ever since his experience in the Forest Temple, the boy's mind had turned darker and darker by the minute.

Sickening images of his friends dead on the cold ground had haunted his thoughts and influenced his actions. He could feel something welling up inside of him, waiting to burst forth and cause pain and suffering to those who had cared for him the most. He'd grown to hate the Royal Family, and the Princess, and the Renegades, all within a period of forty-eight hours.

He was even beginning to despise Link, his greatest idol, the man he had strived to be like the most.

In fact, Jade did hate Link. The Sheikah loathed the Hero of Time and what he represented with a passion.

Jade had grown to hate the Kingdom of Hyrule.

Almost anything could set him off now, unleashing the monster inside.

Sure enough, Princess Zelda had to intervene.

"Be quiet Jade!" she snapped, her glare icy cold. "What do you expect?! All of us are cold, so unless you have something that will help, don't talk!"

The Sheikah boy gaped at her with eyes as big as dinner plates. His rage overwhelmed him, filling him with unknown strength. Evil voices told Jade to do something horrible for which he would never be forgiven.

It was about to drive him to do something he would regret for all time.

"Oh yeah Princess, I've got something for you and your infinite wisdom," Jade said coldly. "How 'bout this?!"

Within the course of a few seconds, the Sheikah had managed to reach into his pocket, pull out a Deku Nut, and whip it at the ground. A sharp bang was heard, followed by an explosion of blinding white light blinding white light. It was bright enough for long enough to obscure Jade's next actions.

Everyone was momentarily stunned, and that's when the boy did the deed.

He dashed as fast as possible towards Gonga, and slammed into him at full speed. The ungainly Goron, who had been standing nearest the cliff, fell off the mountain, along with Dreck, into the murky abyss.

Their desperate screams were heard all throughout the canyon as they plummeted into the ravine.

Then, as quick as a cheetah, Jade tackled the archer Zeta, slamming her head into the rock face behind her. The young woman crumpled into a heap on the cold, muddy ground, a trickle of blue blood flowing down the side of her face.

She wasn't moving.

Finally, the object of his desire, Zelda, Princess of Hyrule.

While she stumbled around rubbing her eyes in agony, the Princess felt a pair of strong hands reach around and grab her by the waist. For a split second, she though they belonged to Link, but soon found out otherwise.

Jade wrenched Zelda out of her place and dragged her to the edge of the cliff. It was his ultimate intention to throw the Crown Princess into the ravine. He would delight in hearing her beg for mercy before brutally ending her young life.

He cackled from the pit of his stomach, an evil laugh that filled Zelda with terror. For Jade, her death would inevitably be very amusing.

This was the price of ignorance, the death of the most sacred treasure of the Royal Family, Zelda.

Seconds before the boy was about to kill her, he picked up the unmistakable sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath.

Whipping around, Jade saw the Hero of Time before him, holding the Blade of Evil's Bane.

"You…" the Sheikah said in contempt. "I should have figured you would fuck everything up!"

"And I should have figured this is what you were up to, now let her go!" Link yelled.

Jade simply laughed at the Hylian.

"What will you do now Mister Hero?" said the boy. "If you kill me now, you might save her…but there's no way in hell you'll ever defeat Lord Gorkhan!"

Link was horrified as he watched Jade hit the Princess over the head with the hilt of the Gilded Sword, knocking her unconscious. Nothing in existence could have made hero more murderous than that, and he would have to kill the boy to stop his Zelda from dying.

"Coward! Traitor!" Link screamed with all his might. "Let her go and fight me like a man!"

"Ha! Never! I've got no reason to listen to you anymore!" said the boy.

"Then why kid, why have you betrayed us!"

"What, you think I had a choice in the matter?! Idiot! You think I wanted that old Gerudo bitch to cast her spell on me?! You're stupider than I thought!"

The hero finally understood how it was that Jade's easy going personality could do a one-eighty so quickly. Baritoone wasn't trying to kill the boy, only turn him over to the side of evil with her black magic. Only Dreck's quick medical attention had slowed down the Gerudo's woman's gradual take over of his soul.

All the alcohol Jade consumed the night before had completely tipped the balance in favor of the darkness.

Jade was now a faithful servant of Gorkhan.

Lightning accentuated the dark sky, seething with violence and practically doubling the tension between the two.

For a brief second, light flickered of the steel blade of the Master Sword, commanding Link to strike down the wretched soul in front of him and save the Princess. Din's strength coursed through his veins, Nayru's wisdom cleared his mind, and Farore's courage gave him the vision to see the true path.

Link would save Zelda at all costs.

"You forgot, I'm just a boy, remember?!" the Sheikah said caustically. "See what this 'child' does now! Instead of killing her, I'll do the next best thing! Zelda belongs to Lord Gorkhan now, and I intend to bring her to him as a prize. How do you like that, eh?! Die painfully Link, die painfully…"

And that was the final straw. He would never allow Zelda to fall into the hands of that crazed madman.

The hero spat at the Sheikah before replying, "You first!"

In a feat of amazing dexterity, the Hylian leaped at the boy, Master Sword raised high above to strike down the traitorous royal servant.

But Jade had been one step ahead of the game. A puff of purple smoke enveloped the Sheikah and the Princess, shrouding them in darkness.

The boy vanished with Zelda into thin air, complements of the evil magic now brewing within him.

Now there was nothing at all to stop the Hero of Time from falling to his bloody death…


End Chapter Eight

Proceed to Chapter Nine