I'm not going to waste time with the author note formalities. Let's just jump right in.
I do not own Zelda. Enjoy.
Nix ended up coming with us, nearly in tears at the thought of us leaving him to the villagers… not like I would allow that anyway. I would have forced the kid to come with us in any other situation.
Despite my reluctance to continue up the mountain, Faie insisted. She didn't want to leave Zora's Domain a frozen wasteland—determined to find the cause of the cold weather and fix it—while I just wanted to find Cato and get the hell out of dodge. Needless to say, Faie won our argument.
Now, instead of sitting comfortably in Iza's cabin down at the base of the mountain, we were traveling up to the summit. Just what was going to be up there was beyond me. I wasn't even sure if there was going to be anything up there at all. Everyone else was more than certain.
Trudging up the mountain, snow seeping into my boots as it was up to my knees, I found myself tripping over hidden obstacles. The latest trip happened to be over a stone that ended up with me face first in the snow. Picking myself up, I swore like a sailor, ignoring the way my companions looked at me with horror for my atrocious language in front of a child.
"Do you guys have a staring problem?" I couldn't help asking, irritated.
I pretty much asked for it when Dark replied next. "Yeah, my face kind freezes when I see something ugly." The demon smirked, however, it was quickly wiped off of his face by the snowball I hurled at him. Dark panicked, desperately shaking the snow off of his face. "Oi!" he shouted.
I proceeded to laugh and point. "Ha! Serves you right!"
"Oh, yeah!" the demon countered, bending over to gather and pack snow in his hands. He stood upright. "I'll show you!" A snowball was chucked at my face, narrowly missing me thanks to my swift reflexes. "Damn," Dark swore.
"You'll have to better than that!" I retorted tauntingly, throwing another snowball Dark's way. With a yelp of surprise, he dodged; as for my snowball… well, that hit Faie.
The little dragon turned red with anger. "What. The. Hell?!" she yelled. "Have we not learned that I do not like the cold?!" With all her might, Faie threw a snowball at me, only for it to drop in altitude significantly and nail Dark in the back of the head. "Oops," the dragon chuckled sheepishly. "Sorry, Dark."
"Oh, you will be sorry." Dark's next snow ball managed to it Link, some of the snow falling down his shirt. What I learned today was that Dark had terrible aim.
"Dark," Link growled.
"Snowball fight!" Nix yelled happily and excitedly. It was nice to see a smile on the usually somber kid. Joining in our little battle, the incubus child gathered as much snow as he could building a wall.
I dove behind his improvised wall and smiled. "Mind if I join you?" Nix only smiled. Peeking my head from up over the wall, I yelled, "I'm on Nix's team!"
Dark threw a snowball before diving behind Faie. "I'm on Faie's team then!"
"Oh, sure," the dragon groaned. "The worst snowballer here decides to join my team and use me as a shield… great."
Link threw his hands up in the air. "What about me? The teams are uneven."
My head jerked backwards as I laughed. Throwing a snowball at the opposing team, I snorted. "Link, you're a full-blooded werewolf. You could probably take us all out."
And so the battle began.
I don't think I have to say that it was Link who won… as I knew it would be… full-blooded werewolf. We were no match.
After our little snowball match, we continued up the Snowpeak mountain range, more determined than ever to get to the top. And with our determination came—surprise, surprise!—a dead end.
"Now what?" Dark asked. "We're not even on the highest mountain in the range, which is where I assume we want to go, and yet we've hit a dead end."
I began to look around the mountain top we were on. Walking over to an extended ledge, I breathed in deeply, inhaling the scents of the cold wind and pine. If this place wasn't so dangerous, it would be a great resort. It would have one hell of a view at the very least.
Turning back to rejoin my companions, I began to take notice of how deep the snow actually was. Mountains of snow covered the pine trees, hiding their trunks and making them appear small. Could it be possible that the path that needed to be taken was buried? I began to search, noticing a dark indention in the snow.
"Hey, look there," I said to the others, pointing at the dark indention. "What's that?" Kneeling down in the deep snow, I began to dig, my hand feeling a cavernous space on the other side of the snow. "I think there's a cave here, maybe a path… Help me dig."
The others came to my side to join me and we dug through the snow, sifting through the white powder for what seemed like hours. The cold was biting, wet seeping into my gloves, by the time we managed to make an opening big enough to squeeze through.
"It is a cave," Faie noted. "Maybe there's a way through here to the other peak."
"Perhaps. It's better than just sitting here at the very least," Link agreed, shimmying his way through the hole. "Come on," he said on the other side. "Let's go."
We followed Link one by one, Dark bringing up the rear. As was predicted, we emerged in a cave, possibly a tunnel—more than likely—that stretched through the mountain. Link took the lead, pressing us onward. We remained vigilant, keeping on our toes. Who knows what could be hibernating here?
It became clear that this tunnel was man-made as we came across a ladder leading up to a series of stone ridges. Climbing the ladder and the stone ridges, we came to a wall of vines leading even higher. No doubt this tunnel would get us to where we needed to go.
Situating Nix on his back, Link started to climb, the rest of us quickly following. Pulling ourselves up to the top of the ledge, a door came in sight, a massive set of handprints stained on the stone. Dark placed his hand hesitantly over one of the prints. "What could have possibly made these?" he questioned.
The werewolf in front of me shrugged, Nix bouncing on his shoulders. "A yeti?" he suggested.
Dark scowled. "Come on, man! I'm being serious here!"
"I am too," Link glowered. "Iza did warn us that some dwelled on the mountain."
"Yeah, but that's just a tourist trap; a hoax." A pregnant silence ensued, a flood of emotions filtering over the shadow demon's face before settling on nervous fear. He looked at all of us. "Right?"
I shrugged, watching as the incubus child was set on the ground. "Who's to say?"
Shuddering, Dark rubbed at his arms. "That does not make me feel any better."
The two men gripped the door and pushed it to the side, holding it open so that Faie, Nix, and myself could leave the cave. We found ourselves at the top of Snowpeak itself. A cold wind blew and my body was wracked with small tremors as the fog began to roll in. "We made it," I gasped, acclimating myself to the thin air. Turning in circles, I looked around the snowy peak. "Where to now, though? There's nothing here."
Faie's head drooped. "I-I don't know," she admitted. "I would have thought there would have been something here, something magical? I thought I sensed something before, but now… I just don't know."
It saddened me to see the usually fiery dragon-kin so downtrodden. "Why don't we look around?" I volunteered. "Maybe we're missing something."
"Yeah!" Nix said, chipper and seemingly unaffected by the cold… of course kids usually run hot. "You're a dragon, right, Faie?" At the girl's nod, Nix smiled. "So you can't be wrong. Something must be here… after all, dragons can sense magical artifacts."
"Right," I established with the child. "He's right."
Faie perked up. "Yeah," she finally said. "Let's look around."
With a deep inhale and exhale, I took my first steps and began my search, the others doing the same in different directions. However… I hadn't even taken ten steps when I slipped on a patch of ice and fell. I slid for a moment before finally stopping. I groaned and rubbed my bottom. "Why me?"
"Callisto! Are you okay!" Dark called out.
Still rubbing my butt, I nodded. "Yeah," I confirmed. "Just slipped on a patch of ice." Standing up, I began to brush myself off when I heard a gasp. My head snapped towards the sound. "What?" I asked the dragon girl, confused.
Faie pointed. "That's not just a patch of ice."
Looking down, I swore through my teeth. What was originally thought to be just a frozen puddle was actually a shaft, a thin layer of ice frozen over a dark tunnel. A very thin layer, I might add.
"Callisto," Link warned, now in a crouch. "Don't move."
"Like I was planning on it!" I snapped, the ice beneath me emitting a sudden sharp sound. I grimaced, my heart leaping up into my throat. I just knew I was going to fall. As Link inched his way towards me, his body tense, I brought my hand up to my neck and removed the Forming Rose from my choker. I scowled seeing it withered in my hand. The damn thing couldn't function in the cold when I needed it most.
The ice unexpectedly cracked and popped again. I looked up, desperation and fear shining through my yellowy eyes. "Link," I whimpered, my instincts automatically seeking solace in the strong male. I yelped, feeling myself sink as the ice cracked more.
"Shh," Link cooed. "It'll be alright. You'll see."
My wolf—though usually dormant—screamed at me to run to the strong male before us… to take comfort in him. But I knew better. If I moved, I would be sent down who know how far.
Then, the ice abruptly gave way. I screamed and clamped my eyes shut, falling down the narrow shaft. Something grabbed me as I fell, strong limbs wrapping around me—strong arms embracing me—protecting me…
Link.
Darkness enveloped us, hiding everything and nothing.
THUMP!
Yes, I know it was short, but I think I'm going to end this chapter here. Rest assured, our supernatural friends are fine. You'll just have to see where they are in the next chapter.
Please, please, please, PLEASE review!
