The Legend of Zelda: Real Courage [Version 2]

Chapter Eight: Avoiding Rocks

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."