Mipha: A Champion Rises

Chapter 6 - Seeing Eye to Eye with Guardians

Summary: The danger to Hyrule grows as the Divine Beasts become more active, a sign that Princess Zelda's sealing power is weakening. After a horrible nightmare, Mipha decides to improve her combat ability before attempting to reclaim Divine Beast Vah Ruta, then finally arrives in Zora's Domain.

It was morning near Goron City, and there was no reason to describe the weather: it was scorchingly hot as always. Gorons loved it here, as did fire-based monsters. But anyone else caught here without suitable protection from the heat faced a painful death by roasting alive.

The Eldin area was never a popular tourist spot, though in the old days adventurous Hylians sometimes visited to get a closer look at Death Mountain or soak in the Goron Hot Springs. And some Hylian rock collectors used to try their hand at a little jewel mining. But tourism had waned over the years, and especially so recently after Rudania awoke.

The Goron economy thrived by mining rare jewels and selling them to all buyers. The Rito used rubies to enhance the warmth of the armor they sold. And Hylians loved their gems as well. But their best customers were the Gerudo.

Gerudo buyers used to frequently travel to Goron City to seek out the best bargains, buying Sapphires, Rubies, Diamonds, and other rare minerals in bulk. They would then fashion them into exquisite jewelry, which they, in turn, sold to tourists and residents of Gerudo Town.

So, mining was the Goron lifeblood. But Rudania was ruining that activity as well. Its unpredictable barrage of Magma Bombs made mining operations hazardous and scared away Gerudo buyers. Rudania's recent revival thus threatened the entire Goron economy.

And if Rudania got too close to Goron City, it could wipe out their civilization.

To prevent Rudania's approach, Boss Bludo, their leader, made sure to keep the Bridge of Eldin raised. And he and young Yunobo would drive Rudania off using Yunobo as a living cannonball. As the legendary Champion Daruk's grandson, Yunobo had inherited Daruk's Protection, the power to surround himself with an impenetrable barrier. Thus Yunobo was not injured in any way in the process. But their remedy was a temporary one, as Rudania would eventually return.

So, this morning, Rudania had once again wandered too close to Goron mining activity, and Bludo and Yunobo were on their way to drive it away. Boss had lowered the Bridge of Eldin, and the two of them were traveling up the road to the canons used to attack Rudania. As usual, whenever Rudania sensed a nearby threat, its defense mechanism launched aerial sentries to track and deter its attackers.

"Here come those dratted sentries!" said Bludo. "Try not to get caught in their search beam this time."

"Right, boss," said Yunobo hustling to stay close to Bludo.

Yunobo still had difficulty judging the sentry search pattern and often triggered an alarm.

The two of them successfully made it past the first groups of sentries and to the first canon without incident.

"You ready to blast it?" said Bludo.

Yunobo curled into a ball, hopped into the canon, and Bludo launched him at Rudania like a cannonball. As Yunobo struck Rudania, it shook, cried out, and then moved further away.

"Come on, that's good enough for now," said Bludo to Yunobo after he bounced back. "Let's go."

"Sure thing, boss," said Yunobo, still a bit shook from the collision, but otherwise unhurt.

As they returned toward the Bridge of Eldin, however, Yunobo got careless, mistimed his movement, and was spotted by a sentry. The sentry blared its alarm and signaled Rudania, who promptly roared and lashed Death Mountain with its tail, sending a cascade of Magma Bombs down from the mountain.