The Kingdom of the Snow Bull
by Wyna Hiros

Disclaimers and the ilk: I don't own Zelda 64 or the characters: no money is made off this. This story, and all original side-characters/monsters and locations, however, are my property and may not be used without my permission. If you'd like to archive it (or whatever), please see the contact information on my profile. I don't bite.

The Kingdom of the Snow Bull

There was a brilliant flash of lightning off in the distance, followed by a thundering boom. I cringed.

We had paused next to a strange outcropping of rubble - the walls of a long-abandoned cottage. It was cramped, but I didn't trust us to sleep with our backs exposed, if we could help it.

I had closed my eyes, calmed my breathing so that it was deeper, even, letting Link believe I was asleep. He had watched me intently, determined that I get rest.

I waited until I heard his breathing slowly fall in with mine, before I opened my eyes. He had dozed off next to me.

The clouds in the distance were thankfully moving away from us. There was another crack of electricity against the heavy underbelly of the sky. Another uncontrolled shiver.

I had never liked lightning. I liked thunder even less.

I closed my eyes again, shutting out the dancing lightning, letting my muscles relax. My body was thanking Link for the reprieve. Yet, I wanted nothing more than to at least get a little further from the storm clouds and thunder, but we were effectively grounded to a halt...

I was lagging behind. It had been only half a day's journey away from O-kerth when Link planted himself squarely in the middle of the path suddenly. He turned to face me. His jaw was set, as if he were steeling himself to do something potentially unpleasant.

"We're not going any further right now until you get some more rest," Link said.

I couldn't help the little hint of ice that crept into my voice. "Excuse me?"

Link did something then that I had never known him to before;

"I said, we're not going any further. You get some rest, or I don't help you out."

My jaw dropped. Link had never liked such underhanded tactics as blackmail, and had said as much when I'd resorted to them on others. I had never known him to even think of trying it himself.

I only gave him a cold stare in response, and he predictably flinched. It would only be a matter of seconds before he would look away, back down, just like the years before. We'd be on our way once mo-

Link's shoulders straightened as he visibly collected himself. "No. I'm not going to change my mind on this. It's not going to kill you to stop for a little bit."

I was too taken aback by this to protest any further.

I gave a start as something bumped against my side, and glanced down. Link's head had fallen to rest against my shoulder. I relaxed. There was something reassuring about that weight and warmth there.

Link had been right, whether I liked it or not. My pride had taken a blow, but that was all. Link was showing a practicality that was admirable, if unusual.

I couldn't fault him for it.

We had come out from the treeline, into what looked like rice paddies and fields. Farmland. After seeing nothing but earth-torn crags, dense forests, and O-kerth's interior after so many weeks, it was a welcome change. The valley stretched on, dipping gently every now and then, until it crashed right up against a massive mountain range in the distance. If my guess was correct, this was the Romani Valley. Other than that, I couldn't be sure: the only reason that I had bothered to remember even this fact was because one of their envoys had come to negotiate trade routes with the Hylian Empire last year. It had been resolved rather easily. I hadn't thought any more of it or the smaller kingdom since.

I was regretting it now.

I looked back at Link. He had been unusually silent since we'd resumed our progress. Long bouts of silence, from others like Impa, sometimes Her Highness, were things I had grown accustomed to. But not so much from the Link.

It was more than a little unnerving.

"Link..." I started.

"I'm sorry." Link blurted out. I blinked.

"For what?"

Now it was his turn to stare. When I didn't elaborate any further, the surprise only shifted into wary confusion.

"For what I did earlier. Threatening you like that." Oh. "It wasn't right of m--"

I cut him off. "Don't apologize for something like that. It needed to be done."

Whatever reaction he had been expecting, clearly this wasn't it.

I didn't know whether to be irritated that he wouldn't stand behind his previous action... or extremely relieved that he'd done this. For some strange moment, it had seemed like Link somehow had changed. The guilty apology - as unmerited as it was - did away with that discomfort. This was a Link I was familiar with, one that hadn't changed after all. One that couldn't feel at ease with using unscrupulous methods, even if necessity validated it.

Link was looking at the ground, confusion still furrowing his eyebrows, although I could now see both dissatisfaction and uneasiness lurking beneath that. He was troubled with the direction this had taken. Perhaps he'd been expecting something to assure him that he should feel guilt, that he should feel shame...and I wasn't giving it to him. It was making him feel worse.

I knew we didn't have time for this. But Link was one of the few that I would make time for.

"Link."

He met my gaze, almost unwillingly.

"In this case, you should do what you feel is right. Sometimes that means not always worrying about the consequences."

A small grin slowly spread over his face, the unhappiness erased, like a cloud lifting. It was an honest expression, a warm one. After so many years, it was a breath of fresh air that Link always brought with him.

The smile stopped whatever else I was going to say: it was relief, happiness...and oddly enough, a kind of realization.

"...Thank you," was all he said.

We followed the pathway, heading towards the fields. It was slowly progressing into an actual road as it hugged a small cliffside. There was an odd braying noise - somewhat close by- that was accompanied by creaking wood. My attention, however, was on the horizon: I could make out just the faintest bits of white.

A tantalizing glimpse of our destination.

However, I wasn't sure if the road we were on would take us there. I said as much to Link.

"Well, let's just ask the next person we see," he answered. "Someone's got to know."

The road rounded the bend then, and we came upon the source of wood and braying. We were no longer alone. Up ahead, there was a rickety cart laden with bags and barrels, pulled by a strange beast of burden. It was large and covered with dark blue fur, with two large horns on its small head that curled towards each other, nearly connecting into a ring. At the animal's side, was a woman and a man, dressed modestly, also carrying packs on their backs. Farmers.

Link broke into a trot, catching up to them easily.

"Excuse me! Can we ask you something?"

The couple turned, the woman grabbing at the animal's reins.

Part of me was expecting them to look drastically different from our citizens. We were far from the palace, even from the border villages. But - and it was almost disappointing - they weren't. Aside from the different clothes, they could easily have been mistaken for someone from the market place.

The farmer gave Link an open grin.

...which faded as soon as he saw me stroll up behind him. The woman's eyes widened and flicked away, refusing to even look at me. The farmer gave me a scathing glance, before turning solidly to face Link. This didn't go unnoticed by him - he flashed me an unhappy look.

This kind of reaction to my people wasn't particularly new, but perhaps to Link, it was. I just gave him a small shrug, and remained silent.

"How can I help you, stranger?"

"Uh, we were wondering if you knew which road would take us to the Snowden." Link's voice was uncertain.

The woman had inched herself as far from me as she could, behind her husband.

"You're going in the right direction--," the farmer started.

He paused, as his wife suddenly whispered something to him. He gave me another tiny, unreadable glance, as he pointed down the right path. "You want to go down this lane, past Tavaloba to Ambria-Scoud. The road will take you to the Snowden eventually, as long as you stay on it."

The couple vanished down one of the side roads after that, leaving us alone once more. It was refreshingly quiet. Other than the vague shapes of farmers out in the distance, we met no other travelers. The air was colder here, with a light, crisp breeze rustling against the grass and leaves.

Link and I trudged up the dirt road in easy silence. I found my eyes following after each little motion he made: even each little unconscious movement he made with his hands. Hands that, a few days ago, had been exploring almost every inch of my back. I could feel the phantom sensations - pulled from my memory with surprising clarity- all over again: from one scar, to another, the whip welt down to the hipbone, gentle heat, restrained strength gliding down my back...

I couldn't stop thinking back to it, much as I tried to otherwise. The moment had been dangerously intimate. Did Link know what he was doing?

Either way, I wasn't about to ask. Once or twice, Link nearly caught my eyes on him, but mercifully said nothing of it.

I redoubled my efforts on getting my attention back to where it should be: the mission.

We had come up on a crossroads. There was a battered sign, with arrows pointing in several directions, one pointing towards a small village a mile off. I moved closer to read the post...

...and slowed, my gaze suddenly drawn past it, to the gnarled oak tree nearby. I stared at it, shock and the following horror stopping me in my tracks.

The mangled corpse of a Sheikah had been brutally nailed to the tree trunk, his clothes torn and stained with dried blood. I could feel a sudden tightness in my chest growing at seeing this, at seeing the way that his fingers had been broken... at the way brand marks had all but destroyed his face, a glimpse of a white globe peering blindly off into space.

The horror turned into an anguished fury that threatened to flood over me, made me suddenly blind to everything else. I started to move towards it, to get the corpse down, to stop this atrocity, to try and give him a proper burial--

I was snapped back to reality, the red static in my vision vanishing, as a hand suddenly jerked me back. Taken off balance, I stumbled back, already twisting to pin Link with an angry glare.

"What're you doing?!" I hissed. I tried to break free of his grip, but his fingers only tightened even more, digging into my skin.

"Don't."

I stiffened. "I can't just leave him up there."

Link's face had darkened, and he gestured off to the side. "Unless you want to end up like her, you'll just have to."

I glanced over, following the motion, and let out a gasp of breath that I hadn't realized I'd been holding. Nearly hidden in the tall grass was another Sheikah corpse - a female once, of one of the Southern tribes- half-twisted in agony, flies buzzing around her. She'd been impaled several times by a trap from the ground, an arm still stretched out towards the corpse on the tree.

A trap. Someone had known that a Sheikah would've tried to approach the tree. Which meant that there had to be many more traps surrounding the tree.

/If Link hadn't stopped me.../

I couldn't stop staring at the corpses, even as Link pulled me away from the tree. This wasn't like the responses I'd ever seen from Nolan, or the others.

There was something terribly wrong going on in this region.

The path had dived back into a small forest, winding up a hill. It was a blessing in disguise. I could no longer look back at that grotesque tree. We finally stopped at the hill's crest, looking down upon Ambria-Scoud for the first time... and beyond it, the massive mountain range, capped with snow and harsh rock.

The Snowden.

The city was several miles off. As a central city, it was a respectable size, although it couldn't compare to Kakariko. Ambria-Scoud was divided into two by a vast river that acted as a natural moat around one of the halves. I could make out two bridges - a third possibly - that spanned it. And the city was walled, with guard towers breaking the wall at intervals.

We had to get through the city just to get to the mountains. There was no questioning it. And yet, my mind had gone blank. Where there would have been several plans forming, I could only see those rotting corpses all over again. Entering the city would only add mine to that tree...

"That's it, isn't it?" Link broke the silence.

He was watching me carefully. I didn't meet his gaze.

"Perhaps we can go around the city..."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Link shake his head.

"If they're setting traps like...like that on the small towns, wouldn't they have guards or patrols or something on the exits?"

He was right. They would see us regardless of whether we entered Ambria-Scoud or not.

"It would look suspicious for two travelers to be avoiding the city."

He nodded. "So there has to be another way."

Another glance back at the city. While it was no Hylian village, it had to have guards or soldiers about. A city of that size didn't spring up without some form of defense.

"Did you have any suggestions?" I finally asked.

Link leaned back on his heels.

"Well, it might not work but...When I was back in my own time and leaving home, the Deku Tree told me to meet Zelda. It turned out that was easier said than done."

I hadn't met Her Highness around then, but I could imagine that the King would have surrounded his daughter with a sizable number of guards and Sheikah. No doubt they would have been overzealous in their assignment.

"The guards wouldn't listen to me no matter what I said. I think I was thrown out the gates at least eight times," he shot a small glare at me, just in time for me to stifle the small smile, before continuing. "And that's when I had the Idea."

Link was unable to keep the smirk from his face. "The guards were everywhere where they expected an intruder to try: main gates, side entrances, you name it. But they weren't keeping watch on the waterway into the castle. Once I got in that way, it was surprisingly easy meeting Zelda."

He was right.

We had a chance. There didn't have to be any suicidal attempts at entering through the main gates.

"I don't know if this place has them, but if they do, it's worth a try."

We had set off down the hill. I kept any eye out for any signs of grating, the sound of water: anything that would be a decent entrance into the water systems into Ambria-Scoud. We had reached the bottom of the hill, and I'd found no signs. Only overgrown weeds, bramble and grass.

There was only a telling creak of wood as a warning. Several things happened at once. There was a loud splintering crack, followed immediately by Link suddenly crying out in surprise. I had whirled around to find him on a knee, his left leg swallowed up by the ground.

I was at his side in a second. There were decaying boards covering up a trench in the ground, neatly camouflaged by the creeping undergrowth. He had sunk thigh-deep through the planks.

"Are you alright?" If his leg was broken...

"Yeah, just get me out of here," he was straining to keep himself from sinking further.

I slid my arms under his and locked my fingers over his chest. Slowly, I started to stand, careful not to pull too fast or to let myself get dragged in after. The wood slowly gave way. Inch by inch, his leg appeared from the hole. I redoubled my efforts, heaving one last time. At the same time, Link pushed off with his free leg.

Suddenly freed, we fell back. Link heaved a sigh of relief.

"I have the worst luck."

I was inclined to agree. Link's head slowly turned then, looking downwards, at where my fingers were still laced across his chest. I swallowed, and released him. My hands didn't seem to want to respond as quick as I'd have liked, releasing him almost reluctantly.

He got to his feet gingerly.

"A trap?" he asked.

There was the sound of running water coming from the trench. I looked from the gap, away towards the city in the distance. Now that I knew what to look for, I could see the planks leading off towards it.

"I don't think so."

I bent, and began prying off more of the faded red planks, expanding the hole Link had made. With each piece that came free, I could see the telltale shine of the light on the water's rippling surface. When I'd widened it to the point where a body could fit through, I sat back on my heels.

"I believe you may have just found our entry point."

Link peered past my shoulder. "Is it deep enough?"

I mentally measured it. It looked to be at least six...seven feet deep. Deep enough.

As my answer, I eased my legs into the hole, sliding down into the cloudy water first. A hiss escaped past my clenched teeth: the water was startlingly cold. At this point, the water was up to our knees. As long as it didn't rise too much later, we'd be fine.

I moved further in. The trench was dark, sparsely lit with bars of sunlight. I glanced further down the tunnel. The top of the ditch was covered mostly with more of the planks wood-plank that were spaced out to allow cracks between each board: most likely to both protect the traffic from stumbling into the waterways, and to allow rain to refill them at the same time. And for our purposes, it would hide us from view. If something went wrong, we could probably break open one of the planks--

. There was a loud splash behind me, as Link slid down after. The trench tilted downwards slightly, following the hill's incline towards the city...

After nearly two hours, the water was up to our chests. We were right outside Ambria-Scoud's walls. Overhead, I could hear the murmuring and calls of people entering and leaving the city, wagon wheels making the ground rumble. Judging from the mass of activity above, we didn't have to worry about being overheard.

Ahead of us was a metal grating, with a rusted lock just barely holding it to the stone foundation. Link caught my glance and nodded, squeezing past me. I sucked in a breath, hoping to high heaven that he didn't hear it as he moved. The trench was too narrow for two people to get through side by side...and for that brief second, we had nearly been pressed flush against each other. For that brief second, my breath ghosted across the back of his neck.

I couldn't suppress the instinctive shudder.

There was a sharp ring of metal as Link smashed the butt of his sword against the lock. With some difficulty, I struggled to still the butterflies flying around my stomach. It was only after I'd sufficiently reined in the treacherous urges that I turned to watch his progress. He would wait several seconds, keeping an eye on the traffic above, timing each blow with the rumble of a cart or wagon.

It took several more blows before the lock groaned. Another two before it finally gave. Link carefully pushed open the grating. I followed after him. We came out into a small branch: to the left, the trench turned into a tunnel, the other an open waterway. Link was watching me, unsure of where to go.

Silently, I waved him towards the tunnel. We didn't want to come out of the waterway right now. We'd come right out into the middle of traffic, and I didn't want the entire city on us.

It had to be after sunset now. The water was growing colder with the minute, although it had thankfully lowered down to our waists. I halted under one of the ladders leading up to a manhole. We were far enough to hopefully avoid detection.

"This should be good enough."

"What about that river?"

"The current looks too strong to swim against," was all I said. A small part of me didn't want to admit that I didn't have a plan yet. In the past, Link had never expected me to have all the answers... just most of them. I'd have to come up with something as we went.

I started to reach for the ladder.

"Wait, let me," Link was suddenly pushing his way past me, and before I could stop him, was already climbing the ladder.

I could only shake my head. I didn't know whether it was a sudden surge of protectiveness (it wasn't as if I couldn't take care of myself) or just a fit of rash impulse, or both. There was a whine of metal on rock, followed by a sudden crescent moon of light as Link peaked his head out through the gap between manhole cover and the waterway. For several long seconds, Link was up there. I could see the shadow of his head and shoulders moving slightly against the light as he scanned the area, his back tense.

I didn't dare move: for all we knew, the waterway could easily amplify any sound to someone above.

And then, the cover was suddenly lifting and he was beckoning for me to follow.

I climbed up after him, tried ignore the chill of the dusk air against my soaked clothes. Noiselessly, I hauled myself out of the manhole. No sooner had I cleared it, Link had swooped in to replace the metal cover I winced at the dull noise, and glanced around.

We had been lucky. We had come out on empty sidestreet. Bubble-shaped lanterns, hanging from gracefully curling "leaves" extending from the metal poles, lined the street. The buildings around us were oddly comforting: they looked almost like those back near the castle. They were built of the same white stones, although the tiling and window designs were foreign. But there was that same warm glow of light coming from within, and it was suddenly very easy to imagine that I was done with this mission and back home...

Link jolted me out of that trap. He had grabbed my wrist, and was pulling me out of the street towards an alleyway. No sooner had we entered the alley did I hear it then: chuckles in the growing fog, some coughing, the scrape of metal armor against stone and other metal pieces. We both hid. I flattened myself against the wall, the house's supports providing a decent cover, while Link ducked down behind several water barrels. I could see through the space between the slats on the support. I let my hand hang limp, ready to flick out one of the throwing daggers if we were discovered.

They came into view: they looked more like militia men than the normal guards I was accustomed to. Their armor was pieced-together and ill-matched, but they all wore the same patch on their shoulders - a masked, iron bull against a black background.

/Three of them.../

Mentally, I played out the scenario. If it came down to it, I could take out the one furthest from me with the dagger, as long as I nailed him in the jugular. The one closest with the whip-chain, possibly, but that left the third unaccounted for. Link could cover for me, but I wasn't sure if he could take the last one out before he could sound the alarm...

The patrol stopped at the entrance of the alley-way, their attention thankfully on their conversation and not on their task at hand.

"--hat slacker ripped me off. Never showed this morning."

"Evan's not coming back. You didn't hear about last night?"

There was a grumbled negation. One of the men blew into his hands, steam rising in the air, in a futile attempt to warm his bare hands.

"They tried sending one of the squads up into the --ou know- to try and clean out the blockade. Evan--ith them."

I straightened at this. One of the men snorted, and mumbled something. His partner laughed, while the speaker frowned.

"That's not funny." And he leaned in close, lowering his voice. "--heikah slaughtered them before they could even say... -ord. They're like animals.--at's what Brand's say--g."

The guard who had snorted shook his head, "--on't understand why we don't just get everyone up there and wipe their little den out once and for all--"

The first speaker gave him a look that clearly told him how stupid that idea was. "We don't know how many there are. The traps seem to be working anyway. The Chief will come up with something."

The last was said with a certain unmistakable finality. Another round of grumbling from his subordinates. I ducked back again, as one of the men gave a lazy glance into the alley. Held my breath:

"Looks clear to me."

They moved out of sight. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Link start to rise. I waved him back down. I didn't dare move, even when their footsteps faded from hearing completely. Several more minutes passed, before I finally relaxed. My eyes went to Link's finally, and I nodded. He rose.

"What was that all about?" he looked uneasy.

"I don't know." But I was committing this Brand's name to memory. Whoever he was, he had to be linked to that tree near Tavaloba.

I forced us out of alleyway shortly after. Although we had escaped detection so far, that area was far from secure. I led him through alleyways and narrow side streets, always taking care to keep us out of the lamp light. I didn't know what I was looking for exactly, but whatever it was, we couldn't spend too long out in the open.

It was nearly a fifteen minutes of dodging patrols in the shadows, when Link finally spotted something. The lane lead past a deep alcove underneath and overpass: one of several alcoves formed from the supporting walls. Unlike the alleyways, there was only one entrance, and the lanterns didn't pierce very far back.

It was as good as our circumstances could provide us. Link understood immediately, and we ducked into the archway, towards the back of the underpass. It was dark as pitch here. I couldn't make out Link's face, but I could tell he was pacing restlessly. We were safe, for the time being, but we both knew it was only temporary.

"So what do we do now?"

"...We could leave the city in a similar fashion as our arrival. We could leave through the waterways." I didn't like this plan of mine. It relied too much on chance, on too many variables, and not enough control in either of our hands: had I more options, I would have discarded this immediately. "But we have to find a way to cross the bridges, before we can re-enter any of the manholes on the other side."

Link frowned.

"The hardest part's going to be crossing the bridge."

"We'll be out in the open, yes."

"We'll need to find where the exit near this Snowden of yours is first...maybe some way to hide your appearance from these people too," Link was muttering to himself, as if trying to mentally prepare himself. I glanced back towards the alcove's entrance. The mist was evolving into a sea of fog, that was slowly crashing in wisps and tendrils from the terraces and rooftops.

Perhaps the Three would favor us. The fog would provide a decent cover.

"You should stay here until I get back."

I started. "Wait--"

He was already moving towards the entrance. "It's safer if I go. I'll be okay."

If it weren't for the worry plain in his voice, I might have felt more at ease. But he was as uncertain - and as frightened... - as I was. Separated, there was a significantly lower chance of us surviving if attacked.

I hung back, watching Link's back as he vanished into the fog. There was the terrible sensation, of a yawning void in my stomach, as the white closed around him, and I was stricken by feeling that this could very well be the last glimpse I would ever have of him. That I could lose him again and this time, there would be no coming back.

I forced it down, forced down the need that demanded I follow after Link and stop him, forced the trembling from my hands, forced myself to simply breathe.

I shifted uneasily where I stood, barely resisting the urge to pace. Although it was a new moon, and even the lanterns didn't seem to quite pierce the murky night fog, I knew that sound would still carry. That it would give away my position, and that I could become like that corpse on the tree.

But I was restless: it had been several hours since Link left me, and even my clothes had managed to dry themselves. Worry, doubt had been gnawing at me - more so with each minute. I knew the villagers had to have seen a stranger with a Sheikah on the Tavaloba outskirts - word passed and quickly, especially during times when paranoia was as contagious as it was. What if they recognized Link? I knew that if they found me, they would kill me without a second's thought: would they do the same to Link? Guilt by association?

I forced my hands to still, and leaned against the bridge support. I couldn't go out and find him. I had no choice but to wait.

Another hour ticked by and Link hadn't shown himself.

/They must've caught him.../

A chill went down my spine at this. Could he be dead already?

I tensed at the sound of soft tread of boots, approaching me. They echoed through the bridge...or was it more than one behind this one? I took a step forward towards the entrance, strained to identify the newcomer. But - aside from a distant row of lamps down the cobbled road- the darkness was as impenetrable as a wall.

The sound was closer, and I realized that that the owner of it was within the tunnel's overhang. I took another step forward, hand twitching towards the blade at my side.

"Link...?" I kept my voice down. There was no answer, just the boot treads that were even louder as the person entered, suddenly a little faster and echoing in the inky blackness. I tried again. "Lin-"

That was as far I as I got: I was suddenly pushed back - hard- against the wall and pinned there by a heavy weight, a hand covering my mouth before I could make another sound.

: To be continued...:

Completed: 5/02/06

Feedback etc is always appreciated.

-Wyna