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Still, it was hot. Even inside the Fire Temple, Kuro and Link felt the intensity of Death Mountain’s flames.

“I apologize that I could not prepare you two the armor to help you focus in the heat of this volcano just as well as a Goron,” Darunia said as they entered the atrium. “The legendary hammer is said to be somewhere in this temple. I’ll go hold Volvagia off as long as I can.” He held up his hand and in it was the Spiritual Stone of Fire. It began to glow red as the stone on the chain around Link’s neck began to. “It is resonating…” Darunia looked at Link and back at the stone. “So, that favor you mentioned…” Darunia looked over at Kuro, who nodded.

“Princess Zelda requested that we go to the leaders of the Gorons and Zora to obtain the stones,” Kuro explained. “As we have seen, the Hylians are not the only ones being targeted.” They walked up the stairs. At the top, there were a pair of doors and there was one on each side of the room.

“We sealed up Volvagia to the left,” Darunia said, looking to the door in that direction. “I’m going to go try and kill him with the power of the Stone. It most likely will not be enough, so I want you and Link to go find the legendary hammer. It is said to be hidden on the top floor of the temple.”

“Oh, geez,” Kuro said, looking up at the ceiling. “Wish that the outside could have made that a bit more obvious.” She turned to Link who had already gone off to the right door.

“Humans…” Darunia muttered as Kuro hastily followed after Link, who was opening the door on the right. A wave of heat overcame them as they entered the next room. Lava was all around them and skulls—Red Bubbles—leapt from the lava and over the bridge that the two were to cross.

“Guh…” Link grunted, tugging on the collar of the white top underneath his tunic. Kuro had to feel bad for the boy. He wore such stuffy clothing. Even Warro would have trouble staying focused here.

“The bridge looks a little unstable,” Kuro said, examining how the bridge was broken somewhere along the way, and how there were no side rails. They probably—No, if they burned away, the bridge would be down. She turned to Link and looked down at his hand and turned a little pink as she suggested, “Why don’t we hold hands? It’d make this bridge a lot safer to cross.” To be honest, asking Link this scared her a lot more than the bridge did. Much to her astonishment, Link extended his hand, but then instead of grabbing her hand, he grabbed her wrist, which kind of killed the shock Kuro had. She sighed and tugged Link forward, as she grabbed his wrist. “C’mon.”

Rushing across the bridge, Link attempted to swing his sword at the Red Bubbles that leapt overhead. Kuro just tried to keep the heat from getting to her; she had no idea how Link could bear this intense heat, especially when he’s in more layers than she was. The broken gap was up ahead.

“Get ready to jump, Link!” Kuro called over the roar of another Red Bubble leaping from the lava as flaming Keese flew down from the ceiling. Just how the hell are they alive? thought Kuro, on the subject of the Fire Keese. She put all her strength into that leap; she had no second chance. As she landed on the other side, she heard a,

“Uaaaahhhh—Gaha!” Kuro turned around and saw Link lying on a platform. She let out a sigh of relief, but then noticed that there were small embers on his tunic and that the platform was sinking.

“Link, get up!” Kuro yelled. “Just get onto some safe ground!” As she yelled, Fire Keese flew towards her and she noticed that two of them have their flames out. Her eyes narrowed as she quickly identified them as the ones that had hit Link. She swung her halberd at them, attempting to swat them all away from her.

“Uhh…” Link groaned as he rose to his feet. He understood Kuro’s command and looked around for a same area to jump to. His hair was plastered to his forehead and sweat rolled down his face as he felt the heat grow, while the platform lowered itself into the lava. He patted off the flames, knowing he would be safe thanks to the leather gauntlets he wore. There was some safe land up ahead and he took the chance he had and leapt. He leaned forward and then back as he almost stumbled over and into the lava. He hastily made his way down the slight slope, while being wary of his balance and jumped onto another platform. It began to sink from his weight and he saw another next to it with another after it. He hopped to the second one and then to the third, before finally reaching stable ground. He looked across the lava pool and saw Kuro panting as she finished taking care of the Keese, and a roaming Red Bubble that had leapt up at her from the lava. She turned and waved at him and called out,

“The door is locked! Check the room behind you, alright? I’ll try and manage here!”

Link nodded and turned around. Behind him was a door to what he could assume was the area the key was. There were no other doors in the area, so far. He opened the door and took a step inside the room, when suddenly bars sealed off the exit; he knew what this meant: a fight. He took out his sword and shield and took several more steps into the room when suddenly—

“Agh!”

Something shattered against his side and then he heard another coming toward him. He turned and jumped to the side, lifting his shield as another hit him. The floor tiles had been floating up off the ground and spinning towards him. The impact of the tile against his shield had a bit more force than he had expected and it knocked him off balance. He jumped backward and flipped over the third tile, holding his blade out and attempting to cut through the stone tile.

“Ha!” The tile fell to the ground in two pieces as the blade seemingly cut through the tile with ease. He jumped back as a tile rose up from under him and jumped forward, slashing down on the tile, landing on the space that it rose from.

CLINK.

Link looked down and noticed a small switch under where the last tile was. He turned to see the bars sealing the door, from which he entered, rise back whence they came.

THUD.

Link turned around again and saw that a small treasure chest had fallen from thin air—maybe it was the ceiling, who knew how the dungeons were constructed? He approached the chest and kicked it, popping the lid open. Inside was a small, silver key. He smiled as he crouched down and took it out from the chest. He walked back to the door and exited, letting out a deep sigh as the heat hit him and he realized he’d have to make it all the way back to the bridge.

Kuro wiped her brow. She was in this room for only a few minutes and she was becoming utterly SICK of the heat. She leaned against the wall, shaking her head, trying to stay focused; trying to maintain that reputation of being the strongest—and only—girl in the Royal Guard. Even if it was Link, she would not allow herself to be seen in weakness. Never! She forced herself off of the wall and checked once again to see if Link had returned. As she saw the green hopping across the platforms, she grinned in relief. The sooner she was out of this volcano, the better. She gripped her halberd, just incase more monsters decided to attack Link. He had to have the key, and if he fell into the lava, there goes the key and Link. What was he doing, now? He was trying to leap the gap of lava between the lowest point of that rocky outcrop and that very flat surface that steeply slopes up to where she stood. Could he actually make that kind of jump? she thought. “He’s Hylian… they are a little more nimble than I am, so maybe so.”

“Hup!” Link leapt across the gap and landed safely on the other side. He threw the key up to Kuro and motioned her to go on ahead as he began to try to make his way up that steep slope. Kuro nodded as Link slipped and slid down as he began. Kuro turned around and placed the key in the padlock, turned it, and watched as the chains rolled into the lock, falling to the floor. She opened the door and entered the next room, which was not as hot as the previous one, if you excluded that pillar of fire in the center of the room that seemed to erupt from the ground every few seconds. She looked at the rest of the room and saw that there was a metal fence and a large block on the top of a pillar. Perhaps this was some sort of elaborate puzzle. Perhaps the flames need to be stopped with that block to open a new passageway? Well, there was only one way to find out. She noticed a fairly strong plank leading down to the area that was fenced in. As she took a step on, she slipped and slid down, dropping her halberd into the lava below in the process.

“Damn it.” She looked into the lava and saw a small flame as thee haft of her sword was incinerated and the blade melting into the lava. She sighed deeply and crossed her arms. That was her one and only weapon. While she was trained in hand to hand combat and fighting with other weapons, it was just not the same as her beloved halberd. The door opened and Link entered. “Careful with the plank. I dropped my weapon, slipping on it.” Link nodded and carefully made his way across the plank, eventually slipping himself, but he had his weapons secured and did not drop them. “Okay, Link, you’ll have to do the fighting. Leave the thinking to me, okay?”

They had a look around the fenced area and saw several Keese resting on the fence. Kuro motioned Link to help her shake the fence to wake them up and dispose of them, before they decided to climb. The fence was unusually cooler than she had expected it to be. It was not cold, but it was still cool enough for her to get a firm grip without burning herself. As she and Link shook the fence, the Keese stirred and circled above them. Each coming down one at a time. Kuro expected Link to take out his sword, but he took out something different. A bow? When did he get that, and why did she not notice the quiver and bow? Link placed an arrow on the string and fired. It hit the Keese, taking it with it up to the ceiling, where it was pinned against the wall. She was almost glad Warro was not with her. If he was here, he’d be cowering in fear of them and not doing a thing to help, as usual. Of course, the lack of conversation was what really bothered her with Link. Why was he so shy? Link finished off the Keese and turned to Kuro, waiting for her next phase of her plan.

“Okay, let’s climb.” Kuro placed a foot onto the fence and began to climb up as Link followed her. When she entered the room, Kuro had noticed a small alcove, where the fence formed a ceiling. “Link, be careful once we get up there. I don’t know how much weight this fence can sustain.”

“Hm.” Link nodded, looking up at Kuro. When they reached the top, they cautiously walked along he fence-ceiling as it bent under their weight. She hopped down to a stone platform that was the top of the pillar, where the giant block was.

“Okay, help me push this, Link,” Kuro said as she pressed her shoulder up against the stone block. Link walked up to her side and pressed his shoulder against it as well. “One, two... three!” She grunted as she finished as the two of them began to press their weight against the block. The block slowly budged before toppling over the edge and over the hole, where the fire was erupting from. “What the? You mean that was not the puzzle?” A loud rumbling could be heard from below. Suddenly the block rose up as the pillar of flames pushed the block up with even more power. As the flames died down, Kuro was speechless with the deafening thud of the block landing on the ground again breaking the silence. She looked up and saw a small square that was the perfect size for the block. “Just jump onto it.” She jumped off the pillar and braced herself for the hard landing. As she landed, she felt nothing. I bet that really hurt, but I’m just not feeling it, she thought as Link jumped down next to her. They crouched down as the block began to rumbled and rise up and through the hole. They entered a much cooler room that had green, stone walls with torches lighting the room. Before the stone went back down, Kuro and Link hurried off the block and sat on the cold floor. “That makes…” panted Kuro. “That makes no sense.”

Link nodded.

“Let’s just take a break for a few minutes,” Kuro said. “We won’t be any good if we’re too exhausted when we help Darunia.” She sat down on the ground and sighed. She could not believe that her halberd was gone. It was like her baby. She shut her eyes and tried to focus on the matter at hand. A weapon was not as important as a life of someone. She wanted to make Darunia eat his words, as she knew he thought the same thing as everyone else: Humans were weak and useless. “Link, once we find that hammer, you mind if I use it? You have your hands full with that sword and bow of yours, so I was just thinking…”

Link nodded.

“Thanks,” Kuro sighed. She really was hoping Link would at least say “yes,” but she guessed her expectations were a little to high for him. Just why was he not talking to her? Did she make her mad or something? Was it because she stood up for Warro? The Deku Tree was dead, so he had to be taking it hard. “Okay, I think we can go on, now.” Kuro stood up and helped Link to his feet. She headed over to the steel door and opened it up, expecting another wave of heat to cause her more problems, but instead got another room that was cooler than the previous ones. Standing right in front of them and blocked by a two sets of bars, one in front and one behind, was a small treasure chest. “This place seems more like a prison than a temple…” Link’s footsteps echoed through the room as he walked away.

He hoisted himself up a small wall and walked over to the next one, working his way up to get a better view of the room. As he reached the last “step” of the low walls, Link got a clear view of the room. He looked down at Kuro and waved his hand calling, “Come on!”

“What was that?” Kuro looked up and saw Link waving. “He… He actually spoke?” It came as a shock to her he actually said a word, let alone two words. She began to make her way up to him. Then as if they were awakened by the sound of Link’s call, slugs fell from the ceiling, surrounding the separated Link and Kuro. Their backs ignited like a torch as Link simultaneously readied his sword. As Link began to yell with each attack he made, cutting through each of the torch slugs, Kuro dodged the slugs that had surrounded her like they were the bars of that spinning dummy she had used for training back at the castle. If only she had her halberd, then she would be able to make quick work of these torch slugs! She hated this. She hated not being able to fight. She hated being weak and most of all, she hated being weak in front of Hyrule’s hero. She wanted to prove that humans were just as strong has the Hylians. Kuro backed up into a wall and the torch slugs cornered her on all three sides. “Damn lava,” she muttered, still letting the fact she was defenseless sink in. The cries of the slugs and the yells of Link were close. No! I can’t have him save me! Kuro thought as she desperately tried to find a way out. I am NOT letting you save me, Link; I’m not becoming a liability. The torch slugs slowly advanced.

“Ha!” Link cut through another Torch slug and jumped off the ledge bringing his sword back and down in a devastating strike. “Yaaaaaaaaaah!” He landed on the ground hewing a torch slug, rolling forward and piercing another as it leapt towards him. He swung his sword, throwing the slug into another that leapt towards him. Link held his sword behind him and crouched down as the slugs still standing, on his end, crowded around him. A blue aura surrounded his blade and the slugs came closer and closer…

This is ridiculous, thought Kuro as she pinned herself up against the wall. How am I supposed to… She looked up and noticed that a ledge was just low enough to reach. “I think Warro’s stupidity is getting to me.” She reached up and grabbed onto the ledge without turning around. She pulled herself up and sat on the ledge. The Torch slugs tried to reach her, but they all jumped just below her feet. Kuro stood over the ledge and looked down. “See that? I’m not that helpless!” She turned to Link and watched as he fought the rest of them off.

The slugs were close enough for Link’s face to turn red from the heat from their blazing backs. His sword’s swirling aura turned orange and grew larger. It was time! “HEEEEEEYAAAAAH!” He spun around in a complete three-hundred-sixty degrees spin, hitting all of the slugs and throwing them against the walls all around him, instantly killing them. He saw that one was still standing, although turned on its back. He stood up, held his sword upside down and leapt into the air, stabbing the slug right through its underside. He then turned to the slugs that had gathered by the wall Kuro stood on as they turned around, obviously angered at the slaughter of their friends.

Kuro decided to kill some time by going ahead. After all, there was not much except a gap she could jump across to another alcove jutting out from the side of the wall that encased the small chest she and Link had seen earlier. She leapt across the gap and stumbled against the wall, trying to catch her breath. For a second there, she thought she would miss and have a very painful landing. She looked down and watched Link as he took care of the Torch Slugs. As she watched, she leaned against a wall that was a different color with a moon on it. As she leaned the block began to move and then fell off a ledge. The thunderous thud nearly gave her a heart attack.

Link jumped as the block’s landing echoed through the room, increasing the loudness of its fall. The torch slugs seemed to contract and stand on edge as they too were startled by the noise. The all leapt toward Link, he lifted his shield, and the sheer force of their simultaneous impact sent the shield flying from his hand and sliding across the floor. He was knocked off balance and then evaded one again, but just barely as its skin was close enough to turn his cheek red. As it landed, he turned around and stabbed it, extinguishing the flame and killing it.

“Link, watch your back! Catch!”

A red stick came whistling through the air, spinning towards him. Link caught it as he turned around, swinging it out to block the Torch Slugs as if the red stick was a blade. “Ha!” A large yellow block appeared in front of him and landed on the torch slugs, crushing them all. He panted and looked at the stick he had received. It was long and it was shaped more like a cane.

“I found it in a chest,” Kuro panted. “I thought it’d be more useful than making blocks. Wait, let me check the chest again.” As Link was fighting, Kuro had found a small nook, where a fairly large chest was hidden with the cane inside. She opened it up again and noticed that there were some old notes inside. She took them out and examined what was written on them:

My name is Somaria, a wizard who once served the Royal Family. My partner, Byrna, and have grown old. We wish to live the rest of our lives in peace, and so we forfeited our staffs as a sign of us no longer wishing to use magic. If you are reading this, if you use to use my Cane, merely swing it once and a block shall appear. It is very versatile, because the block is made of a material heavy enough to crush, yet light enough to lift or float on water. However, the Cane can only support one block at a time. Swing the cane again to make it disappear and activate the second function, which sends bolls of fire out in the cardinal directions.


“What a useless item!” Kuro exclaimed, crumpling up the notes. “Making blocks. The inside of the Deku Tree and the Forest Temple had blocks conveniently placed for us. This one also had one for us! This Somaria guy was not lying about that block though…” She looked down to see Link was testing the theory of the block being light enough to lift. It was true. “Okay, Link, come on up. “ Kuro hopped down onto the block she had knocked over and knelt down, extending her hand out.

Link swung the cane again and the block exploded, sending fireballs in four directions, before he headed over to the block and was helped up by Kuro. There was a fence above them that would allow them to climb up to a higher ledge, and they followed it. Once they reached the top, they took a break to catch their breaths. Looking down at the lowest part of the room, Kuro felt dizzy. They were certainly getting very high up. Above them was a ledge that they could easily climb up without any form of assistance. A switch sat against the wall. It was a crystal with a yellow crystal inside.

“I’ve heard of these,” Kuro muttered. She stood up and walked over to the switch and dusted it off; there was a crack right down the middle. “It should still work.” These crystal switches could be struck by any kind of attack and activate. She remembered her mentor telling her stories of the war and how the Gorons employed these against the Hylians to activate traps, but this one looks a lot older. It has to activate something. “Link, you think you can hit this with your sword?”

Link stood up and removed his sword from the sheath. Kuro stepped aside a** he slashed at the switch. A click was heard, turning the yellow to green, and then ticking. It got faster and faster, until another click was heard and the green turned yellow again.

“Wait, let me try looking around to see if there’s something that could have activated.” Kuro went up to the highest point in the room and felt heat. In front of her, there was a ring of fire surrounding another fence that she and Link would have to climb. “Hit it!”

“Ha!” The click and the ticking began. Kuro watched as the flames lowered and counted how long it took for them to rise back up. When they did, she concluded that at the crack had made the switch work a lot faster. With the ledge not giving good balance, Link would not be able to get a good shot with his bow from up where she was. Then she got an idea.

“Link, use the Cane to make a block. After you make it, come up here.” Kuro watched as Link did as she told him and climbed up with her. “Now, on three, swing it again and run like hell.” Link nodded and swung the cane again. The block exploded and a fireball hit the switch, activating it. Kuro raced toward the fence and jumped on it and began to scramble to the top while Link followed. The ticking increased with their pace; it was only a matter of time before they learned high the flames would reach, but luckily they reached the next floor just in time. There, they took another breather before they faced what was beyond the next door.

Link looked at Kuro and then thought about Zelda. He had to admit, while she was his best friend, she caused a lot of problems back when she sent him in the sewers with her. Even without a weapon, Kuro had proven herself to not be a problem. While she did need help, she compensated for that with her ideas.

“What’re you staring at?” Kuro crossed her arms as she leaned against the wall. Link gasped and looked away; he did not notice he was staring. A few minutes passed and they decided to go onwards. The ground was dry dirt and the room was just as cool as the one before. The passageway was narrow, which could mean only one thing: “A maze.” Kuro stomped her foot and pouted. “Make things harder why don’t ya?” A rumbling sound could be heard and it was getting closer. “I’m going to regret saying that, aren’t I, Link?”

Link nodded with a sigh. He took it back; maybe Kuro was even more troublesome than Zelda was. At least Zelda did not jinx them both. It was time for him to take charge and lead them both out of this now. He waved to Kuro and yelled, “Come on!” He took off running away from the rumbling with Kuro following him. Kuro took a look back and saw a giant rock rolling towards them.

“Nayru, protect us,” Kuro muttered as she picked up the pace, running ahead of Link. They went through many twists and turns and eventually they felt that they had finally lost the rolling rock. They took deep breaths as the cautiously wandered the maze. Then, at one intersection they heard an even louder rumbling. Kuro looked down one direction and Link looked down the other. A pair of boulders were rolling towards them with a third coming from behind them. “Well, so much for asking Nayru,” Kuro sighed. “I think it’s because I’m human.” Link pulled her back out of the middle of the intersection and into the safe passage. Kuro landed on her bottom and grumbled as she stood up. “Warro really kills your intelligence, that’s for sure…” The rolling rocks stopped just short of the intersection’s center and then rolled back down the path they came from. Link tugged Kuro’s arm and motioned her to follow him. They slowly picked up the pace as they followed the boulder that went down the middle path. More twists and turns and then the boulder abruptly started to roll back towards them. Link pulled Kuro’s wrist and dragged her to a turnoff and waited until the rock rolled by. “Thanks…” panted Kuro.

Link looked down the path that the boulder had gone down and saw a door at the very end of the room. He cautiously made his way down to the other end of the room. It was safe to go over and so Kuro followed his lead. Once they were at the door, she nodded to him and they went through the door. They entered the room with a running start at first, but then suddenly stopped as they saw the path become narrow and split off at two points. Below them was a long drop to what seemed to be the “bridge room” as Kuro had now called it. Where they would land would mean a fiery death, if they fell from this height. The heat radiated from below, but it was not as hot as it was before, but it was just as uncomfortable. Kuro looked to Link and held her hand out to him.

“It’s best that we have a better grip, this time.” She looked to the two doors and saw that one was sealed with a switch nearby. “Think you can hit that switch?” Kuro pointed to the switch that was shaped like an eye. She hated how these were activated, as she always imagined what it would be like if that eye was hers. Link nodded and took out his bow and placed an arrow on the string. He pulled, aimed, and fired, hitting the eye right through the pupil. It shut and the sealed door was opened. Kuro cringed as the eye shut, but her eyes widened when Link took her hand as they slowly began to cross the narrow crossing over the chasm. After what seemed like and eternity, they finally reached the door and went through. “Not more lava!” groaned Kuro as that dreaded wave of heat overcame her and Link. Luckily there was nothing really in this room, especially since they were caged in. “Let’s make this quick…”

Link nodded in agreement. This heat was just annoying. If he had known he would be forced inside a volcano, he would have shed some of his garments before he went inside. Time was of the essence and there was no time for distractions. He watched as Kuro found a chest around the wall and retrieved parchment large enough to be a map and a bag, which she immediately looked inside of.

“Alright!” Kuro said. “I’m so lucky, Link! This bag has bombs inside of it! Now, I won’t be entirely useless!” She then opened up the parchment and added, “We also have a map. Looking at it, the hammer must be located at the top floor.” She folded it up and placed it into her pocket. “To reach the next floor, it looks like we have to go through a door in this room.” She looked through the bars. “It’s locked, so we’ll have to look for the key. You think it could be in that chest from earlier?”

Link nodded.

“Okay, then, let’s get moving,” Kuro headed back to the door, grumbling about how there will be more lava to deal with. Back in the “chasm room,” the name Kuro gave this room, she fastened the bomb bag to her belt. She held her hand out and Link grabbed it as he came through the door. They slowly made their way to the other door and groaned as they re-entered the room. Not only would they be forced to walk over more lava, but they would walk over a fence again. “Keep it quick, Link,” Kuro said. “We don’t know how much weight these things can hold, especially since they are heated up.” She then charged forth as if without a second to spare with Link following behind her.

“Hup!” Link landed next to Kuro as they jumped across a relatively small gap and onto another fence that was even closer to the lava. Link tugged on his collar as he ran. He had to admit, this was the most ridiculous room ever and it could not get any worse than this. As they ran, they head fire rise up from behind them and its roar getting closer. He turned around and say hat it did, indeed, get worse. A wall of flames was now approaching them from behind, forcing them to get moving forward. He picked up the pace, running ahead of Kuro, who then started to race ahead of ink. It was childish in such a situation, as they both wanted to get out alive, but it did indeed break his anxiety. The heat was getting to him and he was starting to feel weary. Two pillars were up ahead, and the idea came to his head that he could leap from the one closest to the door and get onto the platform that the door was situated by, after he and Kuro obtained the key to it. As they neared the other end of the room, the wall of fire died down. They climbed up the ledges and entered the door that lead to the top of the walls in the maze, from earlier.

“More torch slugs,” panted Kuro, looking up. Most of the sweat had been absorbed by her bandana, but a lot of it was rolling down the side of her face. That last room was the most dangerous room she had encountered so far; she did not want to go back in, but she had to. “Link, how many arrows do you have left?”

Link gave her a thumbs up, which she translated into: “enough.” Link took out his bow and fired at the torch slug that was across the gap. On the platform, Kuro could clearly see a crack on the floor.

Finally, I can be of some use, she eagerly thought. She hopped across the gap, reaching into the bag and retrieving a bomb. They were small, but from experience, she knew that they packed a punch. She lit the fuse and placed it by the crack, praying that it would not roll in. She backed up and gave Link the sign to stay back and not jump across; she wanted to get the key herself. BOOM! The bomb exploded, revealing a fence to climb down to the floor below, where the key was. “Stay,” Kuro said with a giggle. She was tired, but it was amusing seeing Link’s reaction to a command of a dog’s. He sulked and it was probably because he wanted to get more action and save the day like he always did.

Kuro lowered herself down to the second floor of the temple and wandered through the corridors, defenseless, the coolness of the room hitting her just as hard as the heat of the room with the flaming wall. She saw a switch up ahead; the chest had to be by it. She picked up the pace and stepped onto the switch. The bars that she had previously seen blocking the chest moved away and she obtained the key from the chest. She climbed back up and returned to Link with the key. “Okay, now, let’s go!” They returned to the room they were in before and made their way down to the lower level. Kuro did not know if it was just the adrenaline rush or not, but they both somehow made it to the platform the door was on easily. One wrong move would have cooked them. Kuro put the key into the lock and unlocked the door. She and Link entered into a narrow corridor and took another breather to look at the map.

“Lessee here,” she said, opening it up and turning the map so it was right-side up. She squinted her eyes, wiping the sweat from her brow, as she looked for their location. “Ah, here we go.” She traced a path with her finger to the next door, which would make them even closer to the next floor. “Okay, we have a big area coming up, Link. There might just be a lot of monsters, or something very big in there. I’ll try to help as much as I can, but I only have so many bombs.” She folded up the map and put it into her pocket with a sigh. “This dungeon is exhausting. If we had a few days, we’d be able to go through this rather easily.”

Link nodded, but gave the “serious face” to Kuro, which meant that there was no time to complain. He stood up and headed to the door. He panted as he walked. As much as he tried to not show it, he was growing more tired by the minute and it was growing difficult for him to keep his eyes open. Kuro stood up and followed him to the door at the other end of the corridor and entered the next room. There was no heat, only the sound of the revolving totems and the Fire Keese screeching overhead. They made their way down to the ground level and began to look at their surroundings. There was a rock rolling back and forth, seeming to be contained by three black poles in the ground. Kuro looked back at the map and then motioned to move onwards. Suddenly,

“Holy—“ Kuro skidded a stop as a wall of fire rose from the ground, between a pair of poles. She stepped back and the flames went down, while they went up as Link tried to pass through another pair next to Kuro. “Let’s try the last one,” Kuro said. “I think this is another maze, just a much more dangerous one. Let’s be cautious.”

Link nodded and stood back, in between the pair of poles closest to the wall. He crouched down, got set, and dashed forward, praying to the Goddesses that the flames were slower than he was. He shut his eyes tightly as he passed through the poles and… nothing happened.

“I knew it,” Kuro laughed. “Thanks for testing the trap for me, Link.” She patted him on the back with a grin on her face. “This should be an easy maze if we take it slow.” And slowly they did take it; they threw some dirt between a pair of poles before they went through, because the poles obviously sensed motion from how the rolling rock at that was coming up was activating the poles as it went by. There had to be a weak spot somewhere, but where was it? They continued forward, stopping every so often, when their trick on the fire traps failed to be accurate. Then as they came around the turn, they encountered a spinning totem. “Sidle along the wall, Link,” Kuro said, as she noted how the flames had a range reaching just short of the wall. Link stared at Kuro with an irritated look on his face. “Sorry,” Kuro sighed. “I did not mean to make you feel like an idiot. When you travel with someone like Warro, you’ll never be the same.” She pressed herself up against the wall with Link and made her way around the totem. The rolling rock was just up ahead, but there was a door. Kuro looked at the map again and checked where the door was. It was difficult to discern the exact location of the door. She approached it slowly and grasped the handle and turned it. It felt colder than the other doors and… “Damn! It’s a mimic!” Kuro jumped back as the door slammed down on the ground. She threw a bomb at the door as it rose back up, crushing it between itself and the wall and exploding.

Link sighed as he walked over to Kuro. It was a bit of a stupid move on her part to even try opening the door, but who could blame her? He was almost—ALMOST-- fooled himself by it, had he not noticed it protruded from the wall slightly. It felt so nice to feel smarter than Kuro for once, because after all, it was like she was running this whole show. Getting the Spiritual Stone was his job, but he trusted Impa just as much as Zelda did. He recalled that morning:

“Link, Impa and I will not be accompanying you today,” Zelda had said. “Since Impa thinks it’s best to learn to work with the other party in our investigation, you will be working with Kuro. She may be human, but she’s a prodigy.”

“Yes, as the Princess said, we are switching partners. She and I are going into the Shadow Temple with Warro to reawaken the Sage of Shadow.” Link remembered how anger swelled up inside of him. That boy not only tried to kidnap Zelda, but he violated her. He did not trust him at all. “Don’t worry, if he tries anything, I’ll stop him.” Just what was Kuro a prodigy for? They had never told him. She was smart, that’s for sure, but she was no older than him. He did not get it.

“I see a way to enter that area the rock is moving,” Kuro said, pointing to the space between two poles, where the flames did not ignite as the rock passed by. “The next one will be tough, though. I can’t tell which one does not light up on the other side.” Kuro rubbed her chin and pondered on what she had to do, when suddenly Link grabbed her shoulder and pushed her aside. In his hand was the Cane of Somaria. Kuro’s eyes widened and she hit her head. “Of course! That’s a great idea!”

“Ha!” Link swung the cane and a block appeared. Kuro sped up the process by helping him obstruct the rock by moving the newly made block in front of the rock, where it stopped; it began to roll to and fro between the block and the wall, now. The approached the first pair of poles and were instantly cut off by flames. They turned and pushed the block closer to the wall. They tried again. No. Push the block, try the poles, go back and push again. This was the process until they found the right spot to go through. They headed over to the door and opened it. In the next room, they found themselves walking up a very steep sloping corridor. At the end was another door and they found themselves high up, where a staircase that went along the circular chasm’s edge and stopped at a platform, where a ring of flames surrounded something. The silhouette was obvious: a chest. Kuro ran ahead as Link found the switch that put the flames down. As soon as he found it, Kuro was already at the chest.

A loud crash was heard, followed by a loud roar. Then, suddenly burrowing from the inside of the wall, came a large, flaming dragon. Inside of its mouth was Darunia, who continued to punch it as it flew with him, before it threw him next to Link. Kuro turned around, picking up the hammer from inside the chest and saw the dragon was coming straight for her.

“Volvagia sensed the Legendary Hammer was about to be stolen,” Darunia coughed. Blood splattered onto the ground as he handed Link the Spiritual Stone. “Don’t worry about me; I’ll live. I weakened Volvagia a little, but she can’t be killed by any other means than the hammer. That b*****d… Ganondorf.” Darunia passed out.

“Um, Link, a little help here?” Kuro called out as she jumped to the side, evading Volvagia as she darted towards her. Volvagia burrowed into the wall and then reemerged behind Kuro. Just as the subterranean dragon was about to bite down on Kuro, Link leapt forward, and stabbed down at the dragon from above. Volvagia swerved up and slammed it’s head right into Link’s gut, sending the boy up, over, and into the chasm.

“Link!” Kuro called out before being swatted by Volvagia’s tail and thrown into the chasm with him. Se kept a tight grip on the hammer as Volvagia chased after them. Kuro spun around and looked up the chasm and back down. Link was farther down than her. She looked back and Volvagia was right in front of her. “Damn you!” she yelled, swinging the hammer at its head. The blunt end of it connected and knocked the dragon away, hurtling into a wall, where it burrowed into it again.

“Gah-ha!” Link coughed as Volvagia came up from underneath him, head-butting him up. He quickly turned around and slashed at the beast, which had her mouth open. Blood stained his sword as the dragon did not even flinch. She took a deep breath in. Link’s eyes widened as he took the Cane out and swung it, creating a block. Flames pressed up against the block and pushed it up the chasm. Climbing atop the block, Link hoped to lessen the distance between himself and Kuro using the flames to ride the block, just like that one room.

“Link, you alright?” Kuro asked as he came up. “Good thinking, by the way. Just don’t get too comfortable. This hammer is strong enough to swat it away, but it’s slow.” She grabbed onto Link’s hand, when he reached out, and crouched down on the block with him. Volvagia had stopped breathing fire and the block began to drop. Volvagia turned around, whipping the block with her tail, sending it up higher and up against a wall. Kuro cringed as the block began to slide down, taking bits off the wall, with a loud scratching sound. Kuro looked up just in time to see Volvagia emerge from the wall, just above them, and she took the chance to swing the hammer at her underside.

“Ha! Tah!” Link slashed and stabbed with his sword with his left hand and held the Cane of Somaria in his right. As Volvagia staggered from the hammer’s blow, he slashed at the same spot, cutting through its flaming underside, before she got away and burrowed into the wall again. He looked down and noticed that a familiar room was coming up: the Chasm Room. It made sense the more he thought about it. There was only one drop in the entire temple. They all had to be connected, which meant that they would land in the lava on the first floor, if they were not careful. He heard rumbling and then turned to Kuro.

“I know,” she said. She grabbed onto Link’s arm and quickly kicked them away from the wall, just in time to narrowly avoid Volvagia’s head-butt. They fell through the narrow bridge in the Chasm Room and Volvagia followed them, whipping her tail off the wall to make rubble fall on them. “Link!” Kuro crouched down and began to lean to the left. Link nodded and did the same, rolling the block over to use it as a shield. “Link, we’re almost at the bottom! We need to think of something!”

Link nodded. He looked down and saw that they were almost in the open. Rubble pounded down on the block, speeding up the descent. As they exited, the intense heat that Link and Kuro loathed returned while they flipped the block again. Volvagia was catching up.

“C’mon, die already!” Kuro yelled, swinging the hammer at Volvagia’s head, sending her into a wall and then sliding down into the lava below. Kuro looked down, panting. “Did we do it?” she asked, looking down as the dragon landed in the lava. Her flames were extinguished and she seemed weakened. As they fell, the lava began to drain at a rapid rate. The heat was beginning to disappear, and before they knew it, Kuro and Link landed on safe ground, where lava had once been. The ground felt as if it had all the heat sucked from it as they fell from the block and rolled along the ground. “Owwww… You okay, Link?”

Link was already on his feet. Like Kuro, he was covered in dirt and soot. His hair was plastered up against his forehead and his tunic was singed at the ends of the sleeves. He gave a thumbs-up, when their victory was cut short. He and Kuro brought their hands up to their ears as a tremendous explosion blew out part of the floor as a dragon entirely engulfed in flames emerged. Volvagia was still alive! She had used to lava to heal her wounds and increase her power.

“Damn it,” Kuro muttered. She looked at Link as he prepared to charge, when he faltered. A stain of red was on his leg. “Link, stay down! You’ll only make it worse, if you move. Leave this one to me.”

Link shook his head as he got up.
“Okay, make it quick,” Kuro sighed, taking her bandana off and tossing it to him. “Make it tight!” She would be laughing at how similar he and Warro were, if it were not for the situation right now. Volvagia coiled around the bridge, incinerating it instantaneously. “She’s displaying her power,” Kuro muttered. “I hate show offs.” She gripped the hammer and charged toward Volvagia. “I should thank you for taking that lava out of here! Now, I can finish you off personally!” Volvagia brought her head back and then let loose a long breath of fire towards Kuro. “If you’re going to cook me take care not to burn me!” she said as she rolled to the side. Volvagia dove into the ground.

Link searched around for the Cane of Somaria. He had dropped it along with his sword, when he fell. He was not able to fight, but perhaps he could provide a shield for Kuro. He groaned as he bent his knee, crouching down to reach the Cane, when he found it. His leg was cut open from the fall. He briskly limped over to where Kuro was, but was interrupted by a sudden rumbling

“Link, a block!” Kuro yelled. “Now!”

Link swung the Cane and then picked up the block that was created. He then threw it over to Kuro, who caught it and placed it in front of her.

“Thanks—“ Volvagia rose from the ground, throwing the block aside. “Swing it, Link!”

“Ha!” The block exploded in midair, hitting fireballs against Volvagia, but not doing any damage, other than irritating her more. Volvagia breathed more flames and turned towards Link, lowering herself and skimming along the ground.

“There it is!” Kuro yelled. “The opening I needed.” She charged toward the tail of Volvagia, letting out the loudest yell she could muster as she flipped the hammer’s spiked backside down. This would burn her, but this was the best she could do. Running onto the flaming dragon’s back, she slammed the hammer’s backside into the tail and dragged it as she ran over to the head. She felt her exposed flesh beginning to burn as the flames got higher.

The Spiritual Stone of Fire began to glow in Link’s tunic and its power combined with the Stone of Forest. Kuro began to glow with a yellow aura as the power of the Spiritual Stones shielded her from the flames. Link’s eyes widened at this site. It was as if they responded to his worry for Kuro.

“I’m not going to let you underestimate me, or the rest of the human race,” Kuro yelled. “I’ll show these Gorons—no, the world that humans are just as strong!” She was at Volvagia’s head. “Now, stay dead!” she flipped to use the blunt end, as she swung it up, then swinging back down, smashing Volvagia’s head an extinguishing her flames. Kuro tried to remove the hammer from Volvagia’s head, but it was stuck. She was forced to abandon it as the dragon rose up and began to thrash at the ceiling. “Damn it,” Kuro panted, falling to her knees. Her shoulders and feet were burned. “She’s still alive…”
Link looked at Kuro and up at Volvagia. He was tired as well. He could not do much more. It would be mere luck if they were—

“Good work, kids!” a familiar voice called out. Link and Kuro gasped at the same time as they looked up. “Now, leave the rest to me!” Darunia fell from the hole in the ceiling, winding up for a great punch. He lined himself up with Volvagia, and punched her square in the nose as he grabbed hold of the hammer. He twisted and turned it, using his tremendous strength to jerk it free from Volvagia’s head, slaying her as he fell. Volvagia slammed into a wall and slid down to the ground, her body disintegrated, leaving behind a Heart Container. Darunia curled up, before he hit the ground. He stood up and approached the two. “You two look like you’ve seen better days.”

“Yeah…” Kuro panted. She tried to stand up, but cried out from the burns.

“I saw you from above,” said Darunia, scooping Kuro into his arms. “You ran along Volvagia’s back without any regard to your wellbeing. That there is the ideal strength a Goron seeks. You as well, Link. I am proud to call you my Sworn Brothers.”

“Ahem,” Kuro pouted.

“I mean sister,” Darunia laughed as he took Kuro over to the Heart Container, where she not only increased her strength, but healed her burns. She stood up and smiled.

“I’ll leave the hammer with you,” she said. “It’s a Goron treasure, and besides. I found the bombs. It’d be unfair to leave with two weapons.” A blue light appeared in the space where Volvagia’s corpse was. “Let’s return home, everyone.” All three then entered the blue light.