Hyrule's Light

Alone

This chapter was revised as of 3/5/2020 <-- this may be something that I will do with my earlier chapters. I've realized that my writing has gotten better the more I've written, so expect a long wait for chapter sixteen. But then again, what else is new, am I right? 

The climb to the peak of Death Mountain was short yet treacherous, but Link made it all the way up without fault. The Hylian stood high on the ridge of the open volcano, leaning cautiously over to look into the heart of the mountain. Down at the bottom, hundreds of feet away was the giant Divine Beast Vah Rudania. It laid sprawled on the magma, it's pink light blinking wearily as if it were recharging.

Link felt as if he could empathize with the Divine Beast. He felt weary and slow as if he were in a daze. With Zelda's sudden injury fresh on his mind, he suddenly didn't feel motivated anymore to free the Beast. But he knew he had to. At any moment the ancient machine could crawl back out and destroy Goron City, either with an eruption or just itself. Unless, of course, he managed to board it in time.

Taking a deep breath, Link began to think over possible ways he could get down to Rudania in the first place. If he had some sort of cloth or a parachute-like tool like the paragliders King Rhoam had given him and Zelda before, then that would make this wonderfully simple. But it would not be that easy. The paragliders had been destroyed the moment Link and Zelda had landed off of the Great Plateau, all thanks to that stray Moblin.

Maybe he could climb down? No, that would be impossible. The lava running down the sides like waterfalls was proof of that. Perhaps he could wait for Yunobo and use his Daruk's Protection to jump him down? Link almost laughed out loud. The idea was absurd, and the risk was even more so. Besides, only the Goddesses above know how long it'll take for Yunobo to return, and for Zelda to recover. Link's throat tightened, and he quickly pushed the image of Zelda's limp body and pale face out of his mind.

He turned to scan the open mouth of the volcano, soon spotting an area almost on the opposite side where a giant boulder had blocked off the lava, leaving a downwards path directly to Rudania. He immediately began to walk around, having to go down the mountain just a bit multiple times to find a way across the many streams of lava that snaked down the volcano itself. Almost half of an hour passed by until Link made it to the large boulder before he jumped across the lava that it was splitting and climbing over the rock.

He stood on the edge for a moment longer, staring down into the volcano with nervous dread. He knew that the climb would be slow and arduous and that one slip would end his life without question. Swallowing nervously, Link turned himself around and lowered his body to the edge of the boulder, beginning the climb. He kept himself at a slow and steady pace, careful to find the right hand and footholds before proceeding.

The rock was easy enough to navigate down, as it was incredibly jagged and had many indents to hold onto. Despite this, the climb was treacherous and wore on Link's muscles mercilessly. The heat was unbearable with the lava slowly crawling down just a few feet away on either side of him. And as he slowly made it deeper and deeper into the volcano, the heat grew more intense, until it felt as if the metal of his Flamebreaker Armor would melt into his skin.

Everything was going smoothly until he made it farther than halfway down, starting to feel more confident. He picked up his pace, not taking as much time or care to check his footholds before stepping down. As he continued, his foot landed on a rock that suddenly fell loose, causing both of his feet to dangle from the sudden loss of support.

A gasp hitched in Link's throat as he hung there, his fingers screaming in exhaustion as they clung to the rock. His feet scrambled for a ledge or indent to rest on, and after a few breathless moments, they found a slight indent, stepping onto it gratefully. Link let out a sigh of relief, blinking the sweat out of his eyes as he vowed to keep at his slow pace from before. The slow speed was unbearable, but it was safe, and that was all that mattered.