When they arrived back outside the cavern, Heavy Swing stood in waiting, accompanied by two of his cohorts. The entrance was in the shadow of the mountain as sunset drew nearer.

How long has he been standing here? Emmy thought. "Hey, uh..."

"Ye alright, boy? Ah came ta see if ye were safe," he said. Link held up his hand, then pulled out the metal core from the main sentry. "Ye done it, lad! Good on ye!" The huge stallion placed a hoof on Link's shoulder, the vacant one, and patted down twice. Surprised by the strength, he fell to the ground. Slowly, he got back up and frowned a little. "Thanks to yer efforts, we can mine to our heart's content!"

"Wasn't just me. Emerald helped me a lot in there. I request a full pardon of her crime." Heavy nodded. "On a side note, you failed to mention the sentries could learn. Their ability to do this almost got me killed."

"But ye're alive, aye? No harm. Only forgot, ye get me." Heavy laughed a bit. "Ye did fine, considering." He took the core and put it in his bag. Link eased his expression and looked up at the stallion. "This'll make a fine story!"

"For who?" Emerald asked.

"My 5 year old boy o'course!" He directed his attention to the cavern behind them. "Those creatures sure did come up outta nowhere."

Link shook his head. "Wrong. They've been there. You and yours were just mining over them, ignorant that they were there first." Heavy looked down at Link. "But, their leader is no more, and the rest are somewhere... I'm sure you'll be able to track them down. Careful, they like to explode."

"Ye left 'em alive?!

"Couldn't find them all. They bury themselves in the rock, then fill the hole. For all I know, I slew a mere captain, and there's another, bigger one, somewhere else." Link shrugged. "Not likely, not impossible." Their side eyes have me curious... That's a prey thing...

"Aye, Ah see what ye mean... Well, Ah thank ye two fer yer help gettin' our metal back. We'll remake the spell, an' do it right." Heavy turned around to leave.

"Forgetting something?" Emmy asked him, appearing in front of him. "Like, oh I don't know... a certain chunk of rock?"

Heavy stopped, and turned his head to look back at Link, who had folded his arms and smiled. "A-Aye... Our stone..." He reached into his pocket, and held out the red stone with the familiar golden lining. "This stone, has been our city's centerpiece for ages. It's seen day, night, and everything in between, yet it holds together with an unyielding will. Ah present to ye, the Stone of Fire!"

Link took it, and looked it over. "Stone of Fire, huh... I accept." Easily, he pockets it.

"One more thing: ye two, seein' as how ye've helped beyond what Ah expected o' ye, are me Sworn Brothers!" Heavy looked over at Emerald. "Ye too, miss. Citizen, or trespasser, ye've done us a service."

Emmy landed. "Aww, shucks, mister. But... I'm a mare.. Shouldn't I be 'Sworn Sister?"

The stallion shook his head. "Brother is a word. What matters is the bond it forges!"

"I suppose..." She flew back to Link's side and asked, "So what now?"

Link sighed. "While I was down there, my shield... broke... Your main sentry saw to that. Well, I think it was weakened from the blast of one of those creatures. Certainly didn't help that it also took two full hits afterward... Anyway, I have a voucher for a new one, to be made by one, 'Titanium Hammer'."

"Ahhh, lookin' to go up the mountain, are ye?" Link looked confused, as well as Navi and Emmy. "No?"

"Why would we want to go up there?" Emmy asked him, looking up the mountainside. "What's up there that we'd wanna go see?"

"The summit o' course! There's a sacred pool o' water there, said to revitalize the body an' mind o any who drinks it."

"Is that really true?" Link asked in disbelief. "Doesn't sound like anything I've heard before..."

Heavy laughed and replied, "O' course not! That's just the rumor I spread. Truth be told, it's the creature who lives in the pool that does it." He laughed some more, then turned serious. "Don't you tell a soul. It's between Brothers an' all."

Link nodded, so did Emmy. "Hey, you're still forgetting something. My congratulations."

They all laughed and returned to the city in the mountain. Link, Navi, and Emerald looked for the smith on the second floor. There, they talked, went over the design Link had drawn. He wanted to have a red bird-like image with his triangles over its head. Hammer, in return, took the drawing and hoofed him a tablet; a promise of delivery. With it, Link thanked the stallion and went to a room he cared to rent for the night while the shield was being forged. First thing he did was undress and start cleaning the blood from his clothes. When he finished, he found the natural heat of the place dried them quickly, so he was able to redress shortly after. He walked back to his bed and fell upon it.

In their room, Emmy lay awake, looking up at the stony ceiling. "Hey..." she started, "Link..."

"What is it?" he replied, turning to look at her.

Emmy lay silent for a moment. "What do you think the creature at the top looks like? 'cause we've seen sentries made of rock, organisms that explode-"

"I'm sure it's nothing deadly. If it were, why would the boss of this place send us up there? I'm guessing it's really important, otherwise he'd have said nothing."

She sat upright. "That's also possible. But what if you're wrong, and he's sending us up there to deal with another thing he could have prevented?"

Link also sat up. Navi flew to the bed Emmy was in and replied, "Why would you think that? He called you his Sworn Brother, whatever that entails. I don't think he'd willingly throw you at another mess he made, just because of that."

"I suppose you're right..." I hope you're right. She fell back, spread her wings and closed her eyes. "Link..."

"What now?" he said, a bit unnerved. "More pre-trip jitters?"

"Yeah... But this one's more founded than the last. Why would your asking for a shield prompt him to ask if we're scaling the mountain? Is the path that dangerous?"

"That... that's actually a good point." He faced forward and took out his notepad and writing tools. "Hmm... 'Danger path up the mountain? New shield.' While I've got the stuff out..." He pulled out his journal and wrote his third entry.

Emerald Storm and I successfully completed our mission. We've retrieved the metal core from the last sentry, beat the other 7, and defeated the Bomb Creature leader. Unfortunately, my shield got destroyed in the process; that last sentry hits like a tank.

Currently, we're staying in a room in the mining city. Separate beds, so don't worry. Navi's here too. Never leaves my side. Not that I want her to. She says hi.

The mines we went into were a bit warmer than I thought they'd be, so sleeping in a colder room is a good change. We've still got candle light to work with, but that'll fade soon enough. Candle's down to about an inch.

I can't wait to get back home and tell Twilight the good news. Big sister loves her good news.

There's also a rumor of a pool of water that restores body and mind. I'm going up to see for myself after my new shield is made.

Link looked over and saw Emerald also writing, but in a scroll. "You too, huh?" she asked. "I try to keep up with my comings and goings. Gets hard sometimes."

"That reminds me... You said, in your letter, you were coming back for the Running of the Leaves. Is there a reason for you not coming back sooner?" Link closed his journal, and put his stuff away. "Just curious."

Emmy was silent for a few moments. "I still feel bad about what I did to Rainbow. It wasn't fair of me. Running with her in a race like that... somehow, might make up for it."

"And... she doesn't know you teleported to the end. So to her, it's just another race. Not one of forgiveness. At least, I think she'll see it that way. I'm still not entirely sure how my friends act when I'm not around."

She sighed and looked at him. "I wish I knew what to do... But that's not important now. We need to get something resembling sleep or we'll be too tired to make the climb tomorrow." She lay down once more and rolled to her side, away from Link and Navi.

"You're right. Good night, Emmy." He followed her lead, and fell asleep shortly after. Peacefully, Navi slept in his hat on the table beside Link's bed.

Originally longer, felt the two events needed a separating point.