Before the Wild

Daruk's Mettle

Zelda

The trek along the Death Mountain trail was a long and arduous one, helped by the fact that the teenagers were under the effects of a heat elixir to safety make the trip without succumbing to the heat. Link led the way while Zelda strayed not too far behind, sword and bow in their respective hands. Both had previous trips upon Death Mountain, and neither went without a fight with monsters. Matter of fact, as the pair passed through the mining area, Zelda began to remember her time with Daruk.

"When I asked Daruk to become a Champion, he accepted without hesitation. Anyway, we were about to discuss you when we saw Bokoblins assembling an attack. Me and my knights were ready for a fight, but Daruk told us to stay back and charged in."

She held the rest of the story, expecting her knight to respond. She remembered how she spoke of him, Daruk had commented that, with the rise of incidents with monsters, she shouldn't leave the castle without a "horde of mighty Gorons to watch your back," all while looking at the two knights behind them.

"You sound like Father," she had responded. "He's assigning a knight to watch over me wherever I go. I hear the top contender is the most accomplished swordsman in all of Hyrule." She knew it was Link, but she didn't know Daruk already met the Hero. That's when they spotted the monsters, and Daruk defeated them with his Boulder Breaker and impressive strength.

Link hadn't said a word in her silence. Normally she would be used to Link's quietness, but after yesterday when he was quite the chatterbox, she thought that maybe he'll be different. Maybe it was something she said...Oh. He went back to his reserved self right after she spoke of her fight against a Blue Lynel. What she told him was true, she beat the damn thing, but after retelling Mipha's story that Link destroyed his Lynel fiercely, her pride wasn't going to allow her to tell Link the entire truth.

Her battle was obviously much more dangerous, and she had foolishly gone off alone to confront the Lynel, even though Impa and Purah told her not to even go near it. She fought courageously, but the enemy was way out her league. She would have died had not Impa and other Sheikah showed up, and once it was distracted, Zelda had climbed upon its back and shoved a knife into a neck vessel, then leaped above it and shot up its face. Though she had lived (and was proud of herself) she received her sharpest scolding from Impa.

"Why the hell would you do such a thing, Zelda? A Lynel is not an enemy you just confront because you can! What is your reasoning for putting yourself in danger, and for putting Hyrule in danger?"

"Because...I... I thought that if I was in some form of danger, my power would come to me..." Yet, once more, she had failed to do the one task she had years to complete.

Pushing those thoughts away, she stepped up to Link's side, continuing her story. "After the monsters were defeated, I went to check on their victim to find a dog. It was the biggest, fluffiest, cutest dog I have ever seen. As I petted it, I saw Daruk shaking at his knees. He has a fear of dogs. All that boasting he did, and he's frightened by a little puppy! He even asked if Calamity Ganon was a dog monster, which is quite reassuring that he isn't...I hope."

Once more she turned to Link who was as ever stoic. Rolling her eyes, annoyed at Link's less than amiable showcase of emotions, Zelda faced forward, seeing the metal mess of an arch that signified that Goron City was close by. Zelda couldn't be happier. Once she was inside, she could begin her work, and LInk would vanish off to his own beat as before.

"LINK! ZELDA!" Under the main gate of the city were three Gorons, one immediately recognizable by both Hylians. Daruk stood between the gate guards with his gigantic arms crossed, his Champion cloth flowing behind him like a heroic cape. They both walked up to him but before the kids could say a word, Daruk grabbed them, giving them the tightest squeeze he could. "My friends, it has been some time since we've last seen each other!"