Chapter Text
Thankfully, Foothill Stable was pretty close to the Domain. So that part of the journey was over. Now you had to focus on the strenuous task of climbing Death Mountain.
However, since horses couldn't get to Goron City, you would need to leave most of your belongings at the stable. You and Robbie meticulously packed your backpacks, taking only the necessities, and the antiguardian armor.
“Ah! You must be y/n and Robbie, the ancient tech researchers!”
You felt a large hand hit your back hard, making you and Robbie fall over.
“What the?” You murmured. You looked back to see a large Goron standing behind you, a large grin on his face.
“Sorry bout that!” He said as he pulled you up. “I’m Boldon, Goron City’s ambassador of tourism. Lord Daruk appointed me to help you both get to Goron City safely!” The Goron said excitedly.
Boldon, supplied the both of you with Flamebreaker armor, which would allow you to withstand the scorching heat of the volcano.
“Goron City is the best, but you’ll still have to take precautions.” Boldon warned.
Finally, after gathering your gear, you were ready for Death Mountain.
You looked up at the giant volcano. Ever since Ganon was defeated, volcanic activity had almost ceased completely. But according to your guide, you would still have to be careful of earthquakes and falling rocks, much to your dismay.
As you climbed higher, the temperature became unbearable. At first, it was just a little hot, then it was boiling, and once you made it to the Southern Mine, it was so hot you could feel your skin burn. From there on out, you had to wear your flamebreaker armor.
“This is just one of the many mining sites here on Death Mountain. However, due to Vah Rudania, several mines were destroyed and are currently being rebuilt.” Boldon explained. “But of course there’s no shortage of fun things to do here. You can go mining, soak in the hot springs, enjoy some rock roast, and visit our one and only, Mine-cart land!”
“Rock roast?” Robbie asked.
“Ah! You don’t know what your missing out on brother! Rock roast is a staple Goron dish.” Boldon said. “In fact, we can take a snack break now, and you can try it! You can’t say you’ve been to Goron City without trying some!
Boldon rolled over to talk to some of the local miners and a few minutes later, he presented you and Robbie with a giant rock roast.
You and Robbie looked at each other in confusion.
“Uhm. Mr Boldon, this just looks like a rock.” Robbie said.
“Yeah cause it is one! A nice juicy rock roast! Well, dig in!” Boldon said, slamming his hand onto Robbie's back.
“Well, here goes nothing.” Robbie said, swallowing nervously.
You watched your boyfriend in horror as he attempted to eat the giant rock roast, Boldon gesturing for him to take bite after bite.
Robbie pleadingly looked to you for help, only for Boldon to ask if you would like a bite as well
“I’m not feeling well, but thank you.” You quickly lied as you pulled out your own snacks.
“Mmm, more for me I guess!” Boldon said.
Robbie trudged over to you looking hurt, and you handed him some much softer snacks.
“Haha i can’t believe you ate rocks…” you said to him, rubbing his jaw soothingly.
“Shut up.” He said as he rolled his eyes.
The rest of your ascent went smoothly. You passed by hot springs, rivers of lava, and old minecart rails. Before long, you made it to Goron City.
“There you are!”
You and Robbie were met with Lord Daruk himself.
“You’re those lil armor researchers! Pleasure to meet ya! I’m the champion of the Gorons, Daruk.” He said.
“Nice to meet you too, I’m y/n and that’s Robbie.” You introduced yourself.
Suddenly he grabbed you and Robbie’s hands into a bone crushing handshake, shaking you so hard you almost fell over.
“I’m glad you were able to make it up here! You sure are tough for some researchers.” Daruk said. “But you lil guys helped me and the other champions out a bunch. If you hadn't reworked those guardians, who knew what would’ve happened.” He laughed, slamming his large hand onto your back.
“W-well, as you know, we have a special delivery for you.” You said holding your back.
“Ah! Of course, come this way.”
Daruk led you into a kind of subterranean building, away from the hustle and bustle of the town.
You set your bags down before unpacking the biggest one.
Inside was Daruk's massive guardian stone crusher and matching armor.
“This is pretty neat!” Daruk said, after picking up his new weapon and donning his armor.
He stretched his arms and walked around, getting used to the armor.
“This is incredible. You both are quite the geniuses!” Daruk said.
“We’re just trying to keep everyone in Hyrule safe.” You said.
“This’ll crush through any monster!” Daruk exclaimed. “I’ll be stronger than ever. I can now protect more people.”
“How many rogue guardians have you spotted around Death Mountain anyways Lord Daruk?” Robbie asked.
“No need to be so formal, just call me Daruk. And thankfully we haven’t seen too many. The mountain’s pretty steep for em to begin with.” he said. “However, we have had issues in some of the abandoned mineshafts. As Boldon might’ve mentioned, several mines were destroyed during the Calamity. Most of them collapsed. However, a few were left intact. It wasn’t until recently that we could go back into those old mines.”
“Did you find anything unusual?” Robbie asked.
“Oh yeah, we found something unusual all right. We found several rogue guardians, all corrupted by this gloom thing. As you’ve probably already encountered on your travels.” Daruk explained.
“Gloom guardians again huh?” You murmured.
“The gloom has mostly appeared in the deepest tunnels in the mines. It seems to be coming from deep beneath Death Mountain itself. It corrupts and harms anything in its vicinity. It makes the miners extremely ill.” Daruk said. “I tried crushing them, but the guardians were too fast for me. In the end, I had to seal the entrances of a few mines. For your safety, I’d advise not venturing near any abandoned mines.” Daruk warned darkly.
You shot a worried look at Robbie.
“This is rather uplifting…” Robbie said.
“Maybe we shouldn’t stay for too long.” You said.
“Nonsense! There’s plenty of things to do on Death Mountain! Now that I’ve got this guardian resistant armor, I should be able to clear through any enemies that dare to attack us!” Daruk said triumphantly. “Don’t you worry, I won’t let a few measly guardians ruin your trip. How about we start at our brand new Mine Cart Land! I’ll keep watch.”
“What’s Mine Cart Land?” You asked.
“Well it’s a specially made mine cart rail that goes down the entire Death Mountain. It’s fast and super fun !” Daruk said.
“Ooh, I wanna see this!” Robbie said enthusiastically.
“Me too!” You said.
“Ok then, mine cart land it is!” Daruk exclaimed. “Meet me in the city center first thing tomorrow morning. We’ll have a lot of climbing to do.” He said.
After an extremely spicy dinner with Daruk, you and Robbie made your way to the neighboring Rollin Inn. You checked in and laid down on the uncomfortable beds, still in your flamebreaker armor.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to taste anything in a while.” You said. “ Seems like everything here is burning hot, the environment, the towns, the food. I’ll have to say, that was the spiciest food I've ever had in my life.”
“I thought the hot peppers back home were spicy.” Robbie grumbled.
“Hey! At least you didn’t have to eat rocks again. Much less spicy ones.” You giggled.
You tried to cuddle up with your boyfriend as much as you could through your bulky armor.
After a while of tossing and turning, you finally fell asleep.
In a dream
You imagined yourself venturing deep into an old mineshaft under Death Mountain. You walked miles upon miles of cold underground tunnels, with only a torch in hand. Years of hard work and dedication made evident by the chiseled markings on the walls.
As you went in deeper, the air got thicker and cooler. Still, you continued on until you were met with a steep decline in the tunnel. You held your torch out to see how far down the tunnel continued, but to your surprise, even with the light, you could only see darkness. Too late did you realize that the darkness, the gloom, was oozing towards you.
You felt the world shrinking in on you, growing dimmer and colder. Stuck in a dark and cramped mineshaft, gloom draining the life out of you.
“H-help me!” You groaned, keeling over. You looked behind you, and to your horror, you saw something in the darkness watching you, inching closer. A single bright blue “eye”. You panicked, stumbling away trying to make an escape, but it followed suit, beginning to glow.
A gloom guardian.
You froze in terror as it aimed its bright red laser at you.
“N-no!” You gasped. You closed your eyes as tight as you could, accepting your fate…
Outside of the dream
You bolted up out of bed, breathing heavily and heart beating furiously.
You felt a pair of hands hold you gently.
“Y/n? Are you alright?” He said worriedly.
“Y-yeah…” you huffed. “ I just had a really bad dream.”
“I see.” Robbie said, as he rubbed your shoulders.
“I imagined I was in an old mineshaft. I kept venturing deeper and deeper until I found a guardian.” You said shakily. “But it was too late, the gloom weakened me, and the guardian was about to kill me…”
“Oh y/n, it's ok, it’s just a dream. I wouldn’t ever let you put yourself in harm's way he said.
He shifted you so that you were in his arms, your back to his chest.
“I hate the gloom so much. It’s so awful. So cold, so draining…” You rambled, while Robbie leaned his head on your shoulder and stroked your hand, calming you.
After a few minutes you fell asleep again, listening to the sound of your boyfriend’s breathing and smelling the slight scent of autumn on his clothes.
You woke up in what must’ve been a few hours. You checked your watch to see that it was 8 am.
“Robbie…” you said gently as you shook him awake. “Robbie, dear wake up.” You said.
“Mmm… what time is it?” He said groggily.
“It’s 8, we need to meet Daruk soon.”
Robbie sat up tiredly, stretching his arms.
You handed him a small breakfast consisting of coffee and chicken skewers. Before long, you and Robbie were on your way to Mine Cart Land.
The walk was rather strenuous, the paths much steeper than before. And a handful of monsters lurking nearby.
Thankfully, Daruk easily cleared through the enemies before they even had the chance to notice you.
“This guardian sword works wonders on these small guys!” Daruk exclaimed. “How’d you even figure this stuff out?”
“Lots and lots of experimentation.” Robbie said.
“We modified an old guidance stone, same as the ones in the divine beasts, and turned it into the Ancient Oven. Then all we had to do was program it to create physical objects, in this case weapons and armor.” You explained as you hiked.
“Sounds pretty complicated. But thank you again, I’ll be able to put an end to Ganons forces in Death Mountain once and for all!” Daruk said. “Ah we’re here!”
You looked up to see a brightly colored giant sign made from scraps of metal that welcomed you to “Minecart Land”.
“Just what exactly do we do here?” You asked.
“Glad you asked! For just 20 rupees each, you can ride in a minecart all the way around and down Death Mountain. It’s a high speed coaster attraction!” Said a worker.
You looked ahead to see a large platform with several minecarts lined up on the tracks.
“You’ll even get a close up view of Vah Rudania! You’ll pass over the lava rivers, and you’ll travel through our famous crystal cavern!” The worker said.
“Whadya say little guys?” Daryl asked.
“Yeahh let’s do this!” Robbie said excitedly.
“Ok…” you said, looking wearily at the rusted minecart rails.
Robbie grabbed your hand and led you to a cart.
“Ladies first!” He said.
You sat down in the cart and Robbie squished himself in, hugging you from behind.
“I’ll be in the cart behind you.” Daruk called out.
“You ready?” The worker asked.
“Yeah!” Robbie said.
The worker began pushing the cart until it wasn’t on the platform. Then gravity took control and your cart began speeding down Death Mountain.
“Wo-o-o-oaah!” You cried out, as the cart sped up on the rickety rails, hot air blowing in your face.
“This is so cool!” Robbie cried out, hugging you tightly. “Ooh look at that!”
As your cart sped along the side of Death Mountain, the great Vah Rudania came into view, perched on the side of the mountain.
“We’re going under!” Robbie said excitedly as you drew nearer.
You looked up and saw the underside of the divine beast, and briefly marveled at its complexity before continuing your descent down the mountain.
You sped down the mountain before slowing down and crossing the great rivers of lava near the bottom. Despite the rails being elevated, you could still feel the intense heat of the lava below you.
“How’s it goin?” You heard Daruk’s loud voice from behind you.
“It's so cool!” You called out.
Soon the rails led you into a large cavern. As you zoomed along you could see colorful glittering deposits of minerals and crystals in the surrounding rock.
“So pretty…” you murmured in awe.
You continued in the crystal caves until you noticed a strange pinkish light in the distance. As you got closer you began to feel the air get colder and the cave get darker, despite the torches on the wall.
“Robbie…” you said worriedly. “Is that what I think it is?”
“Uh oh.” He said.
As you got closer you noticed a bright blue “eye”. That pink light was a guardian. A gloom guardian. It seemed to have heard you as it started moving towards you and your boyfriend quickly.
Your eyes widened in fear, you were heading straight towards the guardian. With no way to escape. The opening of the cave no where in sight.
“Lay low, maybe we can hide from it a bit and just zoom by.” Robbie whispered urgently, ducking down.
You peeked out only to be met with a bright red laser on your forehead.
“Eek!” You yelled as you ducked down. As you got closer to the guardian, you could feel the familiar coldness of the gloom seeping into your body.
You heard the familiar sound of its laser beam charging up, getting ready to fire.
Robbie grabbed your hand tightly.
“Ohmigoshohmigosh.” You whispered frantically.
“It’s gonna be ok y/n…” Robbie said, trying to be reassuring. “I love you…”
“I love you too!” You said squeezing your eyes tightly.
“I’ve got this!” You heard from behind you.
You looked up to see Daruk leaping over you, ancient stone crusher in hand.
You and Robbie watched as he crashed into the guardian, crushing it with his sword. The guardian suddenly exploded, bright blue light flooding the cavern.
“Are you alright?!” Daruk said, stopping your cart.
“Yeah, we’re alright.” Robbie said and he rubbed your shoulder.
“Let’s get out of here quickly, before this gloom begins to hurt you.” Daruk said.
He stood behind your cart before pushing it hard, causing you to resume zooming through the cave. Before long you had made it to the end of the rails, right outside of Goron City, Daruk right behind you.
“Goodness guys, if I had known there was a guardian down there I wouldn’t have let you gone. I’m sorry things didn’t go smoothly.” Daruk sighed.
“It’s alright. No one got hurt. These kinds of things seem to happen to us often.” Robbie grumbled.
“Yeah, let’s just find something else to do.” You suggested.
“I know something that’s definitely safe. Down by the southern mines, there’s a mine-your-own-gems attraction. You get to keep whatever you find. Most of it is amber or salt, but if you’re lucky you can find some precious gems. There’s miners all around that area, all the monsters have been cleared. It’s perfectly safe.” Daruk assured.
“That sounds interesting!” You said.
“If we went all the way down there we might as well head back to the stable.” Robbie said. “There’s healing springs nearby too. Maybe that can help with the effects of the gloom.”
“Whatever you do, I’m just thankful you lil guys made the effort to climb all the way up here. I know Death Mountain isn’t sunshine and rainbows, but at least you gave it a shot.” Daruk said. “Go get some rest, I’ll see you off tomorrow morning.” He said, slamming his hand on you and Robbie’s backs.
“Thanks for helping us.” Robbie wheezed.
“It’s no problem lil guy. Now, time to crack down on these pesky guardians.” Daruk said as he walked off.
You and Robbie headed back to Goron City and explored around for a few hours before heading back to the inn and falling asleep.
The next morning, you and Robbie packed your belongings and headed out to meet Daruk.
“Thanks again for making and delivering these for me.” Daruk said, inspecting his ancient stone crusher. “The Gorons and I appreciate it. I’ll be able to make Death Mountain much safer from now on. You lil guys are welcome anytime! I hope you get back safely.”
He walked with you both until you were at the exit of Goron City before waving you off. You finally were heading back, back to a much less hostile environment, much to your liking.
“Walking down Death Mountain is so much easier than climbing up it.” You sighed. “And it isn’t as hot either. I don’t know if I would’ve been able to survive much longer.”
“I just wanna get into a nice comfortable bed and get a full night of sleep.” Robbie said.
“We can mine for some gems, then relax in the springs before heading to the stable and resting.” You said.
“Sounds like a nice date.” Robbie said smiling.
You smiled at him and grabbed his hand, leaning into him.
Your hands found the necklace that Robbie had made for you several years prior, a small hand carved gem in the shape of a heart in the same color as your eyes. Given to you before he left Hateno Village.
“You still have that old necklace?” Robbie said.
“Of course I do.” You said.
“Hmmm. If we find any gems I would like to make you a new one, now that we’re together.” Robbie said.
Ooh ooh, we should make matching bracelets too!” You said excitedly. “You should teach me how to make something!”
“Of course my dear.” Robbie said.
“Let’s go! I wanna have as much time as possible to find some gems!” You said, leading Robbie quickly towards the southern mines.
Once you got there, you saw a sign reading “Mine your own gems! 5 rupees per pickaxe, ends at sundown, keep what you find!”.
You both paid your rupees and grabbed your pickaxes, hunting for the glimmering deposits of minerals.
————————
“This is a lot harder than it looks.” You heaved, swinging at a large rock. You had been “mining” for about an hour now. “Have you found anything interesting?”
“Not yet.” Robbie sighed. “Just flint and some small chunks of amber. Not exactly fit for jewelry.”
“Maybe if we split up, we can cover more ground.” You said.
“Good idea, I’ll head over there to the right.” Robbie said.
“And I’ll go left. Let’s meet back here in an hour or so.” You said.
You both turned and headed to find more ore deposits.
Robbie’s POV
“I swear I saw some big deposits over here.” Robbie thought as he turned around.
He wandered into a rather secluded spot, finding multiple chunks of minerals, all untouched.
“Oh yeah! This is what I’m talking about!” He said to himself, examining the ore.
“This seems like a really good spot.” Robbie thought, as he began swinging his pickaxe.
To his frustration, the rock gave way to mostly flint and amber, just like all the other rocks.
“Did we just fall into a scam?” He thought.
After around 30 minutes he finally found something of value, a small chunk of topaz.
“At least I found something to give to y/n. It’s a pretty small piece, it will be hard to make jewelry out of but I think I can make it work.” Robbie thought to himself.
“Gotta keep looking.” He sighed.
Another 30 minutes passed without much luck, though he did find a nice opal.
“I could probably make y/n a nice bracelet out of this. It’d look so pretty on her. It’s been about an hour, I should start heading back. Maybe she had more luck.” He sighed.
As he trudged back to the starting location, he noticed a faint glimmer out of the corner of his eye.
As he looked closer, he noticed the glimmer was coming from a subtle mineral deposit.
“I haven’t seen anything like this yet.” He thought.
He grabbed his pickaxe, and began swinging, expecting more flint. To his shock however, a large crystal dropped to the ground.
He dropped his pickaxe and kneeled to examine it. It was rather large, enough to fit in his large palm, and had a beautiful silvery sheen.
“This isn’t what I think it is? Is it?!” He thought in disbelief.
He held the crystal in his hands, feeling its weight, observing the color, and examining its luster .
“A diamond…” he whispered.
In very good quality as well.
“It’s perfect. Perfect, just like her. I could turn this into a ring. And maybe, maybe one day… when the time is right…” Robbie sighed as his thoughts drifted.
“This will make a beautiful engagement ring.” He decided(for the future of course).
“Robbie!” He heard in the distance.
He quickly fumbled the large gem into his pocket, zipping it up quickly to keep it safe, before standing up and walking towards the sound of her voice.
2nd person POV
“There you are. Guess what I found!” You said excitedly.
You pulled out a large sapphire from you bag.
“Isn’t it pretty!” You beamed. “We can use this to make our bracelets.”
“It’s perfect dear, I can teach you when we get back home.” Robbie said.
“Awesome! Did you find anything interesting?” You asked.
“Not really, just some topaz and an opal.” Robbie lied, feeling the weight of the secret diamond in his pocket.
“That’s alright, I just hope you had fun. I’m glad we found some nice gems though. Enough to make something with them.” You said. “It’s almost sunset, we better start heading back.”
You both returned the pickaxes and grabbed your bags, packing your crystals into a secure spot.
Feeling hungry, the both of you decided to sit down for a small makeshift dinner before heading to the hot springs.
“Ugh, this was fun but my arms are so sore.” You groaned, biting into a biscuit.
“Me too.” Robbie sighed.
“I can’t wait to get out of this heat. But I guess I can’t be excited for long. Our next stop will be in Rito Village. This time it’ll be the opposite. We’ll be freezing cold.”
“It’s almost summer, hopefully it won’t be too bad.” Robbie said.
“True. At least the outfits will be more comfortable too! I’ve seen Zelda in her snow quill armor and it looks pretty nice!” You said.
After finishing your dinner, you both started your walk to the hot springs.
“Damn, this mining really tired me out.” You groaned, holding you back as you tried to get up.
“Let’s get going.” Robbie advised, wrapping an arm around your waist and pulling you up.
Leaning on him, you both made your way to the hot springs.
—————————
By the time you made it to the springs, it was already dark out. The springs were illuminated with torches and the faint glow of the lava above. Thankfully, since it was late, no one else was there.
You quickly yanked off your flame breaker armor, relieved to no longer feel the searing heat of the volcano.
You grabbed your towel from you bag and made your way to the edge of the water, feeling the steam hit your skin. You dipped your hand in the water, hot, but not too hot. Perfect for relaxing your tired muscles.
Wearing only his swim trunks, Robbie stepped into the hot spring, loudly sighing as he submerged himself in the hot spring.
“Y/n, get in here it feels so relaxing.” He said, patting the space next to him.
Looking at him, you started taking off your clothes, leaving only your swimwear on. You smirked, catching your boyfriend staring at you before joining him in the spring.
You sighed as you stepped into the spring, the warm water easing your tired body.
“Mmmm…” you sighed as Robbie wrapped his arms around you.
You relaxed, your back against your boyfriend’s chest, while he pressed kisses to your head.
“Mmm, this feels lovely.” Robbie sighed,
“Are you feeling ok babe?” You asked.
“Yeah I'm fine y/n, just relaxing.” He said. “Are you feeling alright? Is there anything I can do for you? A massage?”
“I’m ok Robbie. A massage sounds nice. But I think I have a better idea…You smirked.
You turned around in his arms and pressed yourself against his chest, wrapping your arms around his neck.
“We haven’t had a moment alone like this in a while.” You said coyly, as you caressed Robbie’s jawline, kissing him gently.
You watched your boyfriend turn red and tense at your touch as he tried not to rudely stare at your body.
“Oh y/n!” Robbie huffed, quickly realizing your intentions.
“Relax dear…” you murmured as you leaned down and began kissing at his neck, pressing yourself up against him harder.
You felt him hold you tighter, groaning as you kissed him hard.
“Y/n…” he groaned as he leaned his head back as sweat began beading on his brow.
“You can look at me.” You said, cupping his face and forcing his gaze down. You smirked at his red face, his eyes darting not so subtlety to your chest. Your hands began wandering down past his shoulders. You grabbed at his firm biceps and pecs, before letting your hands slide down further.
“Y/n… I don’t how much longer I can hold on…” he grunted as you lightly brushed against his thigh.
Suddenly, Robbie hoisted you up and spun you around, pinning you to the side of the spring, towering over you.
“Robbie!” You huffed in surprise.
“Is this ok?” He murmured.
“Mhm.” You nodded as he eagerly pulled you into a deep make out session.
“Oh Hylia, how I’ve been waiting for this. I love you y/n…” he groaned before kissing you hard and slowly grinding on you.
“Robbie…” you sighed, as your hands began trailing down to the zipper of his swim trunks.
“Y/n…” Robbie groaned.
“Let’s have some fun baby…” You whispered.
—————————
You woke up late the following morning to the sound of your boyfriend packing his bag.
“Morning dear.” He said as he pushed your hair out of your eyes.
“What time is it…” you said groggily.
“10:30, but it’s ok, we’re in no rush to get back to Hyrule Castle. I set your breakfast on the nightstand.” Robbie said as he kissed your cheek.
You sat up, wincing at the ache on your bottom. You reached over and grabbed your breakfast, a fried egg and rice.
“How long will it take to get to Hyrule Castle from here?” You asked.
“A day and a half. 2 at most.” Robbie said.
You took your time eating breakfast and chatting with your boyfriend. Before long you were dressed and ready to head back to the castle. Only 2 more champions to go.