FicWad

Lila tried to keep herself from thinking about the traveling prince from the bomb shop, at least for a short while. She followed her keese friend into the mines, a rocky path marked by a wooden arch. The entrance to the mines was open above with tall rock walls winding this way and that. The walls weren't nearly as high as in the village, but only because the ground sloped upward as it got closer to the mountain. Eventually, the two came to a narrow cliff face, which had been dug out of the rock.

Mori flew up to the next level, then turned back to Lila.

"You're so short!" he joked.

Lila glared at the creature. "Stop bragging just because you have wings!" She looked around for a way up, but the only thing she saw was the iron grating used to hold up the rock.

Before Mori could say anything more, the two heard a rumbling sound, coming from behind the keese. Mori turned around and uttered, "Uh-oh..."

"What?" Lila asked, furious.

"Incoming!" Mori shouted, flying higher.

A boulder flew off the cliff, soaring right over Lila's head before continuing down the path. Soon the rumbling went away.

Lila felt shaky and tried to brush it off. She turned her fear into anger towards Mori by yelling, "Give me more warning next time!"

Mori flew lower so that he was level with her. "I don't know if you noticed, but there wasn't much time to give you more warning than I had."

Lila glared at him for a few seconds. She could tell he was holding back a laugh. She turned away with a grunt. "I thought we wouldn't run into any Gorons."

"Oh, yeah, about that..."

Lila spun around to face him again. "What?"

"There's a secret path I forgot to show you."

She closed her eyes and took a slow breath. "Where?"

"Not far," Mori answered teasingly. "Just a bit back down the path. Follow me."

Lila opened her eyes to glare at him, but he was already flying away. She sighed, giving up. Then she walked after him. A moment later, they were standing in front of a small dip in the wall. Everything looked the same, but upon closer inspection, Lila found a hole. It was just big enough for her to crawl through but much too small for a Goron.

"That's it?" she asked.

"Yeah," Mori answered. "It opens up so you can stand. You're not scared, are you?"

"Nah," Lila replied. "I've been in tighter spots." With that, she got on her hands and knees and crawled into the gap. She crawled out of the short tunnel to find herself standing in a larger hall. She pulled out her lantern to help her see the way. The hall continued in one direction, almost parallel to the normal mine path, and the two followed it.

"This brings back memories," Mori sighed.

Lila glanced at him in confusion. Since when was he so nostalgic? She asked, "What kind of memories?"

"For starters, this is where I grew up."

"Really?" Lila wondered, "I've never heard about your childhood." The last word seemed kind of strange to her. Did animals have childhoods? The whole concept of Mori "growing up" was weird.

"Well, it wasn't long," Mori answered, "but it was fun. I had lots of siblings. I remember us all going out for a hunt at night."He sighed again. "Those were the good days."

Lila tried to keep herself from laughing. "What made things change?"

"Hm? Oh. The Gorons smoked us out. My family flew north, though I was the only one who went as far as Lady Gaonondras castle."

Lila stopped to look at him. "Seriously? That's how you came to be my guide?"

"Yup, pretty much."

She continued walking, deciding to let the topic drop. Though she couldn't admit it to herself, she was scared of asking more questions. She worried Mori would be mad at her. She couldn't help but feel guilty, knowing he was separated from his family.

Then again, so was she. As far back as she could remember, Lady Ganondra was the only constant in her life. She had Mori and Dalni now, but no mother and no father. Just servants and a trainer. Just training and quests.

Over the years, Lila hadn't let herself dwell on the questions of her family. This time, she turned her thoughts to the prince. Zale. What did he mean that he was making his "rounds"? Did he pass through Kakariko often? Did he work for other stores in other towns? Where did he live? Surely he had a place to call home. Even Lila had that.

Too many questions. Lila didn't like thinking about such weighty topics. She'd much rather be battling a monster at that moment. Her pace quickened until she was running.

"What's the hurry?"

Lila didn't answer him. She wanted her mind to clear of everything, even Mori's nagging. Of course, by definition, Mori would never stop nagging.

"Hey, are you listening to me?"

The tunnel opened up, and ahead was a faint light. Lila decided to give Mori an answer.

"I just wanted to get here quickly. Is that a crime?" She didn't mean to snap, but she couldn't help the words coming out of her. She decided right then and there that she should never think again. Action was much better.

"No, it's not," Mori said. "I was just wondering. Looks like we're almost there."

"I hope there are monsters for me to beat up."

"If the ice castle was any indication, there will be."

As they were talking, they came upon the source of light. Two torches stood about two arms' length apart from each other. Between them was a doorway, but rocks were blocking the path.

"It's a good thing I bought those bombs," Lila said, reaching for her pack.

"What if you bring down the whole cave?"

Lila almost dropped the bomb back into the bag at the thought. As always, she hid her fear.

"I'm not going to bring down the whole cave. These rocks are weaker than the walls and ceiling. The bomb should just blow them up."

"I don't believe you," Mori said, fluttering away.

Lila crouched and placed the bomb on the ground, exactly between the torches. Then, after a few tries, she lit it with flint and steel. She backed away quickly, wondering how big the blast radius would be.

"This will work," she muttered, a quiver in her voice.

After a few seconds, the wick burned down. Lila shielded her face with her arm.

Boom!

The bomb went off with a smaller explosion than Lila expected, but it got the job done. The fallen rocks were cleared... as well as the torches. Coughing from the dust, Lila pulled out her lantern again. Mori came in for a closer look.

"Hey, it actually worked!"

"I told you," Lila replied with a smug look.

"You were scared. I know it!"

"Was not! Do you see me running away from the cave because I was too scared to light a bomb? No! If it weren't for me, we would have to backtrack again."

Lila stepped over the hole left by the explosion and continued on. The tunnel branched into two paths, one of which was lit in the distance and a lot warmer. Before Mori could launch another insult, she asked, "Lava or darkness?"

"Um, what?"

"Which path should we take: Lava or darkness?"

"How should I know?"

Lila growled, "You're supposed to sense what we're searching for, remember?"

"Oh. In that case, we have to go left."

Left was the way of darkness, which probably meant there weren't any monsters to fight. Lila sighed and said, "Fine. Let's get going." She continued down the left fork with Mori following faithfully.

The path continued parallel to the mine's path for a short while, and then it was blocked by an ancient-looking wall with green decorations weaving all over its face. After emptying her bomb bag in an attempt to remove the obstacle, Lila decided to turn back and take the lava path. There she met with the monsters she was dying to fight. After a while, she found a trigger. She and Mori went back to the ancient wall to find it had slid into the wall. The path continued the length of the lava room, then turned right, where there was a hint of light. After a few more minutes, they came upon a room with three tunnels, all blocked off by the loose rocks from the tunnel's entrance.

"Well now we have to go back to town because someone used all our bombs," Mori mocked.

Lila was tired from fighting all afternoon, and the thought of the busy streets of Kakariko made her cringe. Then she remembered Zale's offer.

"Yup, we have to go back to town," Lila said, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She turned around and started jogging back to the entrance.

"What's got you so excited?" Mori asked.

"Nothing," Lila said lightly. "Hey, when we get to Kakariko, you should... stay away from me. We don't want to draw attention."

"You didn't say anything last time."

"Well, I didn't think of it last time. You don't want to get in trouble with Lady Ganondra, do you?"

"No, but why would—"

"Great! It's settled then. You'll leave me alone while I stay the night in Kakariko."

"Stay the night? Are you serious?"

"It won’t hurt anything."

"Lady Ganondra might get mad at you for taking so long..."

"She'll understand."

"What about Volvagia?"

"I can deal with him, too."

"Okay... if you think so..."