Scars of a Caged Bird | Zelink Medieval

Chapter X

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We trudged away from the Domain for a long time, and before long, a huge mountain came into view, Death Mountain, to be specific. I felt awful for leaving Zelda; she didn't deserve to be left behind again. Now both Sheik and I were gone. I was sure that she would integrate well into the Zora society for now and that we would meet up again someday eventually. I couldn't wait until that day.

"Link?" Aqua questioned, nudging me slightly. "You OK?" she waved a hand in front of my face and halted right then and there on the mountain incline.

I squinted ahead of us then saw something rather frightening. I grabbed her hand, pulling her over to the side as a huge rolling ball of rock went past us, barely missing us. Sheik, Marine, and Cove had followed suit, following behind us.

Noticing our confused look, Sheik gave a slight laugh. Pulling his hood up that had fallen in our hurry to escape being crushed, he explained, "That was a Goron."

My jaw dropped – That was a Goron?! What?! "That – thing – was a Goron?!"

Guffawing, Sheik nodded. "Yup. Welcome to Death Mountain, Wanderers."

Marine and Aqua linked arms, scooting closer together. "I don't think I like this, Aqua," Marine stated, her face twisting with worry.

Aqua, the braver of the twins, nodded in agreement. "I don't either," her eyes scanned over the area ahead of us. "There are more."

"We better keep on going," Cove stated, beginning to trek further up the incline.

"Ah! My sworn brother!" came an exclamation from a very deep, reverberating voice.

Sheik turned around, his hood concealing his face. "Darron!" he responded. He was locked into a very big hug by one of those Gorons. He looked like he was in some deep pain, and I thought I heard a couple of bones crack. Ow.

"My brother – We did not know that you would be coming so soon," the Goron, Darron, replied, slamming Sheik's back multiple times.

Sheik winced, stretching a bit to relieve himself of some of the pain. "It's good to see you too, Darron. I actually wasn't expecting to come today either, though there are some people I want Darunia to meet."

Darron nodded knowingly. "Are these the people you want Big Brother to meet?" he questioned, his eyes running over us curiously.

"Yes," Sheik agreed. "We should start heading over now, no?"

"Absolutely, Brother!" Darron exclaimed with surprising enthusiasm. "Let's go!"

Marine and Aqua exchanged wary glances, each keeping a careful eye on the huge Goron. They followed Sheik and Darron, avoiding all rolling Gorons at all costs. Cove and I followed after the girls, bringing up the rear.

"I'm beginning to wonder why we're doing this again," Cove whispered to me from the corner of his mouth.

I shrugged, sighing. "This is going to be interesting, that's for sure."

"Agreed," Cove nodded. We continued walking up the incline before arriving at a bridge of sorts. Crossing it carefully brought us to what I presumed to be the inside of Death Mountain.

"Welcome to Goron City!" Darron exclaimed, spreading his arms wide. He looked so – happy at welcoming us to his home. I found that almost – amusing.

I looked beneath us and inferred that the city was made of multiple tiers. There were more Gorons on all of the tiers, rolling. My cobalt blue eyes widened. What would happen if one of them rolled on top of you? That was a scary thought, and I cringed, also remembering how Sheik's bones seemed to crack from Darron's hug. Imagining one of them rolling on top of us, effectively crushing us. Yikes.