Blighted Memories

Chapter 21. Worth Remembering

   Link and Yunobo ascended the mountain, pressing onward toward Divine Beast Vah Rudania. They were near the peak, slowly chasing the mechanical lizard upward by blasting it with cannons spread around the path—-with Yunobo himself acting as their ammo.

   "Alright, Link!" Yunobo said. "This is usually the last shot before Rudania retreats back into the crater. Once we do that, you should be able to get on. Are you prepared?"

   Link nodded.

   Yunobo curled up into a ball and activated Daruk's Protection, which had been passed down unto him. He leapt into the barrel while Link tossed a bomb into the chamber. He pressed the rune again to detonate it, sending Yunobo flying toward the target.

   Yunobo hit his mark with incredible force. The Divine Beast recoiled at the blast, yet despite the power packed into it, the machine itself didn't appear to sustain any sort of damage. It was only enough to stun it. To Link, it was a testament to the Divine Beasts' fortitude. Penetrating its defenses and infiltrating the inner workings of the beast would be a nigh impossible feat.

   But Link did it once with Vah Ruta. Surely he could do it again.

   Vah Rudania let out a mechanical roar and vented out steam as it began to retreat toward the crater. Yunobo landed next to Link, slightly dazed after being used as a cannonball. Thankfully, thanks to Daruk's Protection, he was completely unscathed.

   Link was surprised how Yunobo was still able to maintain balance like nothing happened despite being used as a cannonball. He did mention that his boss, Bludo, also used him to
chase off Rudania, and that this was far from his first trek up the sentry-filled mountain. Perhaps  he was just used to this...which was actually a bit alarming, now that Link thought about it.

   Vah Rudania suddenly dove into the crater. The impact inside caused the mountain to ground to shake and the lava to spill out. Link and Yunobo hung back for a bit, waiting for things to clear up on the summit, before they both advanced toward the crater's edge.

   "That was so cool!" Yunobo exclaimed as they approached the crater's edge. "You really put a licking on that thing, Link!"

   Link nodded. Vah Rudania seemed immobile inside the crater for right now after taking those strikes. The Divine Beast could climb on the sides of the mountain, so all Link needed to do was seize control of it in order to get back out of the volcano. But he needed to reclaim control quickly. If it started moving again before reclaiming it, he could end up in a fiery tomb.

   "It's time to finish the job!" Yunobo said, turning to him. "This is our big chance!"

   Our big chance...

   Link didn't like the use of that phrase. He had no intention of entering the Divine Beast with Yunobo.

   Link glanced at Daruk's descendant and pointed down the mountain, toward Goron City.

   "Huh?" Yunobo asked.

   "Go back," Link said.

   "Go back?" Yunobo asked.

   Link nodded. After what had happened at Vah Ruta, he didn't want to take any risks. He even waited until the first thing in the morning to prevent the Blighted from appearing, so that he needn't fret over Yunobo's safety when he eventually trekked back down.

   He didn't want Yunobo to be taken. He didn't want to see him sitting under that horrible tree like he had with Sidon.

   Yunobo was actually relieved that Link told him to leave. While he could drive away Vah Rudania without issue—despite being deathly afraid of the sentries it deployed—the idea of entering it terrified him, especially after hearing that his ancestor, Daruk, met his end inside. What if he saw his corpse? What if whatever killed him was still inside? What if he got trapped and there were no food rations stored inside the beast? What if the volcano erupted while he was inside? Too many things that could go horribly wrong.