It. Was. Freezing!
Forget trying to find a way underwater! Link was ready to go buy himself a new winter getup! It was a surprise the waterfall wasn't frozen as well, but then Ganondorf probably wouldn't have anything to drink if he did that. Selective magical properties, he assumed.
"It's even worse than before." Sheik muttered. He wasn't sure if it was this cold when he was here before, or if he was just too distracted before to notice. "The magic here is immensely strong. I had not realized just how powerful he was. Attacking him nearly costed my life..."
Link wrapped an arm around his shoulder and pulled him into a half-hug. "Don't go mellow dramatic on me now!" He grinned boyishly.
"I am not mellow dramatic!"
Link just laughed and continued walking in long strides, with Sheik still trapped in his arm.
His left eye twitched, but then he calmed. In a way, that youthful innocence was a refreshing contrast to the depression and constant brooding. "I can't comprehend how you have lasted this long."
"What can I say? I have an unbeatable spirit!"
Sheik rolled his ruby eyes.
It was very cold. Poor Navi had to hide in Sheik's cowl for warmth. Link found he was actually getting jealous of Sheik - Navi was supposed to be his guardian fairy! Not everyone elses! But that was irrelevant right now...
Ice platforms littered the water. One by one, it made a bridge to the ice cavern that he supposedly needed to get a legendary item from.
"What the Din is this?" Link scoffed.
"Ice. What else does it look like?" Sheik replied.
"No, no. Not that. It's..." Link motioned his hand, trying to gesture his thoughts. "It's, uh..."
"Ice."
"No! What I mean, is that it's... conveniently placed..."
Sheik surveyed the water. "It's ic-"
"I know its ice, Sheik!"
Sheik blinked for a minute. "..."
Link shook his head. "Never mind." He muttered. He positioned himself near the edge to start jumping.
"You're going to fall."
"I'm not going to fall."
"Yes you will."
"I won't!"
"Uh huh."
Link was going to rebuttal, but realized Sheik was... taunting him. It was almost childish. "Nope!" He finally said and jumped on the ice. 'You let your true self go when you don't realize it. Hehe...'
Link slipped off the edge and fell in the water.
Sheik smirked."I told you so, hero."
Link swam back to the edge and pulled himself out. "C-c-c-c-c-c-c-c-cold!" The green-clad warrior glared up at him. "I-i-i-i-i-it's L-l-link, b-buddy!"
"I'm sure it is."
His eyes had gotten softer. Link felt his cheeks tingle, and holding his stare was... uncomfortable. His voice had ditched him.
Sheik's eyes suddenly lost that pastel shimmer. "If you want to cross, you will have to be more agile than that. Ice is slippery. To stay on, you need balance."
"N-n-not that easy!" Link shouted. His teeth was chattering loudly, and his body refused to stop shivering. He finally looked away, confused with himself.
Sheik seemed to take notice. "You seem flustered..." Confusion was sown thinly into his tone. "I hope there wasn't any residue in the water after Ganon's curse." The warrior stood up and glared at the expanse of water, as if in some false hope he could see the monster beneath the waves.
'Is that why I feel weak in the knees?' Link thought. "Sh-Sheik... maybe I should go alone."
"Why is that, hero."
Link winced. His tone may have been normal, but he could feel the emotion underneath. "If there is something in there, I want you out of harms way."
Unsuspectingly, Sheik stomped on Link's right hand.
"OOOOOWWW!" Link yanked his crushed fingers. "Sheik! Get off, that hurts so bad!"
The sheikan removed his his foot. "Well. I think we've both come to terms of where I stand." He jumped over the platforms with ease, landing on the other side. He looked over his shoulder with coquet cherries.
The man garbed in green couldn't help but feel his heart play double-dutch with his rib cage. The only thing that came out of his mouth was a grouse whine; very shrill and reverberated deep in his throat.
Being such a far distance, Sheik didn't hear any of that. "Link, are you coming?" He shouted over the pond.
"...yes... I mean. Yes!" Link hurriedly stood up from his dog position. His face was an explosion of color. 'There HAS to be something in the water...' He thought. 'Th-this isn't normal!'
Link's aura was... murky. Like he was confused about something. Sheik couldn't read him as he usually could. He could only describe Link's moments as 'murky' if only from how... his emotions pour into each other and make things indistinguishable.
The Hylian-Kokiri finally made it across the pond after slipping around the rotating ice. "Made it!" He said proudly.
Sheik merely turned away from him. "We have wasted enough time here. Lets move on."
Link felt his moment of masculinity deflate superbly. It seemed Sheik had reverted back to his old personality. "... yeah..." He mumbled, following him disenchantedly.
The cave they entered was below zero in the scale of 'how cold can a cursed cave be'. It was so cold, Navi forfeit the warmth of Sheik's cowl for Link's hat. In a way, Link considered it a very small victory. He got his fairy back!
The entire cave was nothing but ice block puzzles, but strange red ice that can be melted by blue fire.
"This just doesn't make sense... the red ice is... hot... but it melts because of cold fire!?"
Sheik shook his head. "Link, you truly do not understand the simplicity of such a childish spell?"
"I'm not a mage! Fire is hot and ice is cold! Not the other way around!"
Sheik nearly snorted. "Link." He started. "In the fundamentals of magic, everything has its opposite. To exploit the elements, one must understand how each reacts and perform the opposite. Ice is cold and is melted by heat. But in this case, the laws are reversed. However the end results are exactly the same. The equation just has the numbers in different orders, but the answer will always be the constant. Understand?"
"No I good math at, Sheik..." He fumbled out.
Sheik sighed, but then smiled. "Come along you big, ineloquent brute."
Link just happily followed him. "Okay!"
They journeyed farther into the ice labyrinth. It wasn't difficult, as long as they took note of the icicles trying to impale them from above, and ice monsters that could be disposed off with a well-aimed arrow to the face!
Soon they were in a room.
Link looked around, wary.
"There is no one here."
Link rolled his eyes skyward. "Oh... make me feel like a dork, why don't you."
The sheikah merely walked past him. "You don't need my help for that, hero." He carved a hidden smirk when he heard him grunt antagonistically.
Changing the subject, Link eyed the chest in the center of the room. "So... is that the hidden treasure?"
"Yes." Sheik responded, his posture returning to that of a servant. "It is an item that will help you on your quest."
Link didn't like how unrelaxed he became. It was like all that bonding and friendship just went out the window. "Great. I'm sure it will be a great item on our quest." He corrected.
Sheik's eyes seemed to be blurred over. He was looking ahead, but not in anything particular.
'Don't turn back into a 'personal guard of the royal family' on me...' Link thought. If Sheik did, he'd slap him a few times to get that silly notion out of his head.
Link opened the chest. "Wh-what the Din is this!?" He pulled out a pair of iron boots. "I thought I was supposed to be saving the world, not starting a new fashion trend!" He picked them up over his head and stumbled. "I can barely carry these things! Screw this!" He tossed the boots with a mighty swing.
Sheik was horrified. "Link, what have you done!" The boots fell in a tiny pool of water and sunk to the bottom, as did Sheik's small shreds of sanity.
Link huffed. "All this way for a piece of junk... Come on Sheik! We wasted enough time here! We can get into the Water Temple on our own! We have bombs for a reason!"
Sheik was still lost. Even as Link pulled him by his arm, was his mind still spiraling over what just happened. The Hero of Time just tossed an important key item like it was nothing.
The rest of the trip back was completely fine, though Link was complaining about how stupid it all was. Sheik was just a levitating doll at this time, following without a word. Link decided it was time to take on the next dungeon, and without the help of the boots.
"... I can't believe you did that..."
Link laughed. "You still can't get over that? Geez, Sheik! You need to seriously unwind!"
Sheik snapped out of his stupor and harshly glared. "How can I unwind when all of Hyrule is doomed!"
Link continued his activity. "We are not doomed because of a pair of boots."
"Then how are you going to get into the temple - Link, what are you doing with those bombs?"
"While you were zoned out, I went into town and bought a barn load of bombs! If this doesn't get us in the Water Temple, nothing will!" Link lit the fuse.
Sheik's life flashed before his eyes. "LINK, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY INSANE!"
How many other authors can say they made Link bomb his way into the Water Temple? Hehe... B)
Next chapter is already in progress, but don't expect to see it so soon! Sorry for my long waits, but I can't help it! I'll try to update faster.
