It had only been minutes since the ground sunk into the earth. Holt could still feel the icy fear in her veins, as that… that beast, Calamity Ganon, rose from the depths of the hole. It ticked, like the old clock that she had noticed in Impa's home. But it wasn't a good ticking- not like the calming sense of the rocking pendulum, perfectly on time with each tock. The Calamity was offbeat, loud, uncomfortable.

As she had stood, hands locked with Mimi and Yunobo, keeping Ganson in her peripherals, her talons digging into the cold, Faron woods snow, Calamity Ganon rose. It rose for the second time, and according to the Hero, it was nothing like the last. The last, the original Calamity Ganon, had been frightening, yes, but nothing quite as eerie as this one.

It's head bobbed side to side, twisting like a guardian's gear, and when it passed right over the champions, as though they didn't even exist- it was clear that it had something more important in mind. Which was unsettling, to say the least.

The moment it had disappeared from sight, Holt felt a tightness at her neck. Almost as though the aqua sash, that was wrapped around her neck and shoulders as a scarf, tightened itself like a snake. Something drew her mind towards the bottom of the sinkhole, something that made her feel the need to peer over the edge.

"Holt?" Came Yunobo's voice behind her, stepping carefully next to her as if he were afraid she would fall in.

"I feel like I need to go down there," Holt said, lifting her hand to tug the sash a bit looser.

"Go down there? Into the sinkhole?!" Ganson's questioned, teeth half grit. "Are you insane?"

"No, I'm a Rito," Holt said, unlocking the gear of her prosthetic, then spreading her wings. Ganson hardly had time to open his mouth to reply, when Holt let herself freefall down into the hole.

As she fell, she thanked the goddesses for her decent night vision. The hole had been much, much, deeper than she had anticipated, but she had herself readied for a quick stop. She glanced around, shivering at what suddenly seemed like a breeze, and noticed that there was a tunnel leading through the side of the sinkhole. After searching for a piece of debris that could be flammable, Holt pulled two arrows out of the quiver from around her waist.

A quick strike of the two arrowheads together at the thick end of a stick, and she had a torch. She watched the flames lick at the air, and noted how they flickered in the direction of the tunnel; the breeze felt like it was calling her along, so she answered it.

Every so often, the tunnel she had been walking through would branch off into a second path- and each time it did so, she would follow whichever way the breeze pointed the flame. She had started to feel like this was senseless, and that she wasn't going to come across something more than a mile underground.

The air had grown colder, nipping harshly at her shoulders even through her clothing; to which she replied by wrapping the extra length of the champion's garment around her more- even going so far as to wrap the last few inches over her beak. It felt like it would shatter if it got any colder, which was saying something, since Rito were quite used to the cold.

Turning around what she hoped would be the last corner, she stopped at the sound of whistling wind from ahead of her. She hurried forward, coming across a set of rocks, which seemed to cover another pathway. The breeze was a wind at this point, and the sudden strength seemed promising. So, Holt held a tight grip of the torch in her left hand, and pulled roughly at the rocks blocking the path with the other.

It only took a particular stone to come loose, when wind turned violent, blowing the rest of the rocks out of the way, and knocking Holt down onto her rear. The torch had gone out, and she groaned, getting ready to pull the arrows back out of her quiver- when she looked past the new entryway.

She wouldn't need to worry about the torch at this point, as the hall was littered with small, glowing, luminescent stones. They weren't bright, but they were just enough to help her see. She pulled herself to her feet, dusting herself off before stepping past the fallen rock. The width of this hallway was wider than the rest, like a small room.

Once she was inside the room, that constricting around her neck returned, and the heat she felt in her face was enough for her to unwrap the tails of the sash again. She walked slow, minding the tightening feeling, and taking in her surroundings. She picked up the brightest luminescent stone near her, and held it tightly as she aimed it around at the walls.

For a second, she thought she saw something. A marking on the wall? She squinted her eyes, then got up close, noticing that the wall was covered in frost. As she tapped at it, she realized that the wall wasn't made out of rock or sediment, but solid ice. She instinctively started wiping her hand over the frost, clearing it from the ice- only to fall backwards with a shriek- as in doing so, she revealed a rather unpleasant face.

She took in shaky breaths, sitting on the floor for a few minutes with her fingers pressed over her eyes, before deciding to face the… face.

With a closer look, she realized the face in the ice belonged to a Rito- like her. His beak was spread wide in a scream, but was quite literally frozen in time. His eyes were wide, the pupils white and dead. Holt dusted more of the frost off to uncover the rest of the Rito's body. She didn't recognize him, but felt as though that tugging force she had felt bringing her here, had brought her specifically to his body.

She looked around; the frosted walls did not go on much farther, so she began to brush away more of the frost. Even though she felt fright in her chest, she was not surprised to find more bodies encased in the ice. After she had cleared almost all of the frost, she had uncovered three more bodies; a Goron, a Gerudo woman, and a Zora. She didn't recognize any of the bodies, but she felt a feeling of dread as she pondered why- or how- the four of them had met their fate so deep underground.

Holt took the best step she could think of, which was turning around and walking back through the tunnel she had originally come from. The wind from before had turned around, blowing hard against her back and bristling her feathers. Once she had reached the mouth of the sinkhole once more, the wind had reached out with her, causing a pleasant updraft up to the surface. She used this to her advantage, letting the wind catch her open wings and bring her right back to her group.

The three had been standing together, Mimi and Ganson huddled in Yunobo's warm arms, waiting nervously for Holt. Mimi had let out a yell of relief when Holt returned, running forward to pull her into a hug.

"That was so reckless!" She scolded, but her form didn't read anger, rather, anxiousness.

"Maybe," Holt said, returning the embrace. "But I found something. We might want to get Link."