The Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction ❯ Gerudo Forest ❯ Chapter 26 ( Chapter 26 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The heat hit her like a wave. Everything had a red tint to it due to the huge lava pit that filled the bottom floor. The layer she was on was made of metal platforms connected by rope bridges. She looked around for any sign of Ganon and Darunia and spotted them a layer below her. Ganon had just finished taking out a few fire kesse like they were flies. Damn they were fast but she could catch up easily if she took a short cut. She smiled at having the opportunity to spread her wings and jumped off the side of the platform. She aimed for a stack of crates closest to her. As she glided she noticed the heat had made little currents that wanted to take her in the wrong direction. It took a little effort but she managed to reach her goal and landed a little harder than she had intended. She hoped they hadn't heard her less than graceful landing. She peaked around the boxes and couldn't see them anywhere. Had they already moved to the next room? She listened for the sound of footsteps but only heard the sound of lava bubbling below. As Melissa crept forward she kept a watchful eye out for where they could have gone and for any creatures that could be lurking about. As she neared another tall stack of crates she saw the door. It looked exactly like the one at the spirit temple. Shouldn't Darunia be showing Ganon the door? Maybe Darunia was keeping what Darmani had told her a secret. Darunia still didn't get that they were on the same side and was hindering the quest. It was starting to make her angry. She needed to find them and address this issue now. As she moved past the crates something slammed into her hard and held her back against them. Her head had hit the box behind her making her vision swim. The hand that she felt tight on her throat loosened after a second. Melissa was having problems focusing her vision but she was kicking furiously at her attacker. “Stop that!” she heard a familiar deep voice say. “What are you doing here! We told you to stay in your room.” said another. Melissa stopped realizing who it was. Ganon released her and she just slumped to the floor. “Are you okay? I could have killed you.” She heard Ganon say worriedly when she didn't get up. Melissa's head hurt and she could already feel the bruises forming on her back. Her vision was slowly returning and she felt him brush the hair out of her face. “ Are you alright?” He repeated lifting her head to look at him. “I think so.” She finally said when her head stopped spinning. Ganon was kneeling beside her checking how badly she was hurt. She could tell he was upset at what he had done just by the look in his eyes. “See this is what I was talking about! It isn't safe for her to be anywhere near you.” Darunia said not helping the situation. Ganon gave her a sad look. Was this what they had been arguing about in her room? She lifted her hand to his face and tried not to wince. “You didn't know it was me. Don't worry I'm fine.” She knew that he hadn't done it on purpose. He had thought her a monster or possibly even one of Agahnim's lackeys. She wanted to smack the hell out of Darunia for even saying such a thing. Ganon still looked upset with himself but it was enough for him to be able to compose his face into something more neutral before turning to scowl at Darunia. Melissa realized he was hiding his emotions now. She had noticed that even around the gerudos he tended to do the same thing. She guess he had an image to uphold and was grateful that he didn't hide all of them from her. “ We need to take her back.” Darunia said giving her a disappointed look. “No!” She almost shouted it at him. “I am not going back.” She got slowly to her feet then started walking. “ Where are you going?” Darunia called after her. She turned to him and pointed to the door which had the same familiar glowing symbols that were now tracing there way around the outer edge. “What's going on?” He said looking at the door astonished. Melissa stopped in front of it and waited for them to catch up. Darunia touched the glowing symbols tracing the pattern. “It's never done that before.” Darunia mumbled to himself. The goron put his palms on the door and pushed with all his strength but it wouldn't budge. Melissa just stood by and watched the goron as Ganon approached her from behind. She stifled a cry as he put his hand on her shoulder and he gave her another worried look. “You shouldn't have come.” He said moving her hair to look once more at the damage he had inflicted. “Leave me be. I'm fine.” She said pulling her hair back over her neck. “Why are you being so stubborn? If you had stayed put this wouldn't have happened. We could have figured this out.” He sighed. “ Yeah and how did you plan on getting the door open?” She asked indignantly. “Well I didn't know there was going to be one. Wait! How did you know about the door?” He asked now confused. “I talked to his son the other night” she said pointing at Darunia who was pushing the door so hard it looked like he might bust a vein. “It seems our friend has been keeping things from me.” Ganon said turning to watch the goron as well. “How long are you going to let him struggle with that?” Ganon said chuckling. “If I could? Forever, but I guess we couldn't move on then could we?” she smiled back. As they approached the door Darunia had given up. All it took was a single touch and it swung open beneath her hand. The goron stood there dumbfounded. She took great pleasure in it. Ganon led the way and Darunia guarded the rear from then on. After all the comments of her not being strong enough she felt she needed to prove herself on this trip but they never let an enemy even close to her. She wondered what they would run into this time. So far it had been torch slugs, and keese. It almost seemed insulting that they didn't think she could take down something as basic as that. The further into the maze like hallways they went the more she felt as if she were being pulled by some unknown force. Twice they had stopped at a crossroads to decide which way to take and both times they ignored her suggestion. They would end up at a dead end and then have to backtrack. She wasn't quite sure how she knew which way to go. It was like she could hear a little voice in the back of her mind calling her to the center of the labyrinth. Next juncture they ran into had a four way split. This time they turned to her. “Well which way do you think this time?” Darunia asked. “Why are you asking me?” Melissa huffed still agitated they had been treating her like a child. “ You have been doing such a good job so far. Why would I want to interfere?” She continued with sarcasm dripping from her words. “Fine! Fine! Shesh!” She finally said when Ganon shot her an impatient look. She started to walked past each one till the voice in her head told her to stop at the middle one to the right. “I think what ever it is we are searching for is this way.” She said looking down the hallway. She was wishing she was wrong though. Out of all the tunnels it had the creepiest vibe. All the tunnels seemed to be just as dark and full of cobwebs as the others so why was this one making her feel that way? “You coming?” Ganon said stopping at the opening noticing she wasn't following. “Uh... yeah. I'm coming.” she said giving the hall a hesitant look. “It's just that I am getting some serious bad vibes from that direction.” Ganon walked to her side and gingerly put his hand on her shoulder so as not to put pressure on her bruises. “Remember what I said the first day we met?” He asked bending down to her eye level. “You mean I won’t hurt you… yet?” She asked jokingly. He didn't take it the way she hoped he would. His composer cracked a little letting her see a glimpse of how he was truly feeling. She was hoping to make him laugh. Instead he looked pained but he pulled his composer back in a blink of an eye as if nothing had happened. “I am sorry about earlier.” He said looking at her seriously. “It will not happen again. I promise I will keep you safe.” He whispered in her ear. “I know you will.” she said wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his forehead. He looked at her tenderly for a moment and placed his warm hand to her cheek which caused her to blush. She found herself lost in his golden eyes for a second before coming back to her senses. She shouldn't be feeling anything for this man and yet she was. “What are you two doing?” the goron said impatiently tapping his foot rudely interrupting her thoughts. Ganon straightened back up. “Just stay close to me.” She nodded and followed closely behind him. Darunia gave her a look as they walked past and continued down the hall.