Just Like Old Times: A Legend of Zelda AU

Conference with the King

I stopped all my conversations when Minigoron came into the room holding Zelda. He put her down cautiously, then directed her towards Sheik and me. I quickly ran to her.

"Are you alright, Zel?" I asked, the concern very evident on my face.

She blinked a few times before answering. "I think so, for now. Man, I'm such a pansy when to comes to magic. I can't even cast a spell without fainting or going crazy." She looked down.

I lifted her chin up so she'd look in my eyes, which she had so far avoided. "Zelda, those were not 'little spells' as you called them. Those were incredible feats of magic. You are no wimp, Zelda Lanham. You are a hero."

She blushed. Sheik added, "If you're a wimp, then what does that make the Great Fairy? I do believe it was you who who had the power to heal her."

Darunia stood. "This is Lady Zelda? The one prophesied to save all of Hyrule from its impending death?"

She shrunk. When he put it that way, it sounded impossible. "Yes," I began. "But she's not alone. Sheik and I are with her every step of the way."

Darunia nodded in approval. "Well, Lady Zelda, Link, Sheik, and I were discussing the disappearance of the 3rd Great Fairy, the Great Fairy of Courage. I do believe I was one of the last to see her before she vanished."

He took a deep breath. "There is a cave nearby, filled with dodongos. They are dinosaur like. The Great Fairy had ventured into the cave, trying to stop the dodongos from breeding, as they could be used in Ganondorf's army. They would prove a deadly foe on an army formation, as they breathe fire and can only be damaged by hitting their tails.

"I believe that there is something else in that cave encouraging their rapid growth. A minion of Ganondorf's, no doubt. We need you to enter the cave and dispose of the dodongos and any other monsters you encounter inside."

Sheik spoke up. "Zelda, you'll need to save as much magic as you can for the boss fight. If you use a lot of magic on the smaller guys, you won't have enough magic for the rest of it. We need to save that Great Fairy."

She gulped, obviously nervous, and nodded.

Darunia clapped his hands together. "Splendid. Now, there is a special type of plant that grows in this cavern." He paused and handed each of us a small metal bracer. "These bracers will allow you to harvest the plants and use them to combat the monsters inside the cave.

I slipped mine on. It was quite cool to the touch. It was emblazoned with the Goron City symbol. I looked toward Sheik.

"Well, Sheik, should we head out then?"

"Yes, one moment. King Darunia, may we make a petition of your people?" Sheik formally pleaded.

"I'm listening."

"We had 3 potions to restore Zelda's magic, but had to use 2 this past time to restore her to her current state. If it is possible, could we have a few more magic potions to keep Zelda on her feet and able to save Hyrule?"

The king thought hard for a moment. "Ah, I do believe I know a Goron who is fantastic at making potions. He would be delighted to give a few away." He turned toward a servant. "Send for the potion maker and have him bring 3 potions of magic for these friends of the Gorons."

The servant bowed and scuttled away. The potion maker came quickly and presented the potions to us.

"Now, these potions are stronger than the ones you purchased in Kakariko Village. We Gorons have discovered a few new minerals that increase the potency of the restorative potion."

"Thank you," I said, bowing. "This gift will be a great help to us on our journey."

Darunia quickly dismissed us so he could attend to his other kingly duties and we bowed and left. He had given Sheik a map to the cavern and we were soon at the entrance.

He looked at me. "Are you ready?"

"I'm ready if Zelda's ready. If she's still a bit out of it, we should wait and protect her."

Zelda smiled. "I'll be alright, Link, it is just a few monsters. What could possibly happen to us down there?"