A/N: I revised, added, and changed some things in chapters 8 and 9. I recommend you go back and read them.

Chapter 11

"Tremors Beneath"

"Terra," Link glanced at me from on top Epona, "What do you suppose is wrong with Midna? She looked really tired,"

I sighed, "I'm not sure, Link. It could be because she is a being a Twilight, and maybe she is feeling the effects of the Twilight leaving our world?"

"But then why is she helping us? If the Twilight makes her stronger, why would she aid us in dispelling it?"

"I don't know Link," I scratched my head, "Its confusing. I know we can trust her, because she saved our lives, but its hard to tell whether or not she has an ulterior motive,"

Link nodded his head in agreement, and said nothing more. We travelled in silence, the rocks and hills of southern Hyrule Field gradually flattening and replaced with sand, as we moved across the land.

I mused to myself to help pass the time. During our stay at Ordon, the villagers washed and mended our tunics, cleaned our weapons and equipment, and restocked our supplies. Despite completing Rusl's and Uli's daily chores while they grieved, it was a welcome rest from our journey. Link had asked around for a new saddle that would support two people, for ease of travel, but was told he would have better luck at the Capital as there is a man whom specializes in creating saddles. However, as a worker from the Capital had warned, prices are inflated at the Capital thus we would require a hefty sum of rupees. We didn't have much split between us – only 200 rupees - so it was a welcome surprise to find a sack of rupees tucked away in one of Epona's saddlebags. The villagers had gathered what they could and donated over 500 rupees. I smiled at the memory.

My reverie was cut short when Epona's high pitched whinny pierced my ears. I looked over just in time to watch her rear up in panic, her front hooves flailing in the air. Link held on for dear life, "Epona, settle down girl!" he managed to grunt out, "Epona!"

The sand underneath her hooves shifted, and I realized what had spooked her. Several creatures were slithering underneath the sand. "Link," I shouted, "Get off Epona and draw your sword. We have company," I readied my bow.

He hastily dismounted Epona and drew his sword, his broadsword rasping against its scabbard. No sooner than his feet had touched the ground, one of the creatures underneath the sand burst upward, spraying sand in every direction. Link reacted instinctively, swinging his sword diagonally and nearly slicing the beast in two. It writhed for a moment before settling onto the sand, dead.

A second beast lunged forth from the sand, taking advantage of Link's momentary surprise at being attacked so suddenly. I dispatched it with a well aimed arrow, and it retreated below the surface.

Link put his back against mine, as we waited for another attack, both our weapons at the ready. I felt the ground move beneath our feet, and I shifted nervously. Link cursed behind me, the monsters were trying to drag him beneath the surface, including one of which was latched onto his ankle. He swung his sword downwards, but the creature retreated below the sand before his swing could connect. Darn, they are fast.

"Terra," Link gasped out, "I think it broke my ankle," he cursed, "We need to run," he hastily scanned the horizon, "Where did Epona go?"

It seems Epona had bolted. There was an island of rocks in the distance, but it was too far to run on foot. The monsters would surely run us down.

"Link, there are some rocks in the distance there," I paused to shoot an arrow at one of the monsters, "We can try to make a run for it,"

He sliced in the direction of another sand monster, "Its too far, Terra!"

We were sitting cuccos, but we had to try something or we were dead. An idea popped into my head, "Link, stop moving!"

"What?"

"Do as I say,"

He listened. We didn't move, and didn't speak. Gradually, the slithering of the sand creatures dissipated until all movement had halted. The bumps in the sand indicated they were still there, just not moving, just like us, "Link," I whispered, "I think they rely on vibrations to hunt. So if we stay still and don't talk, we should be safe,"

"But where would that leave us?" he whispered back, more frantic, "We can't stay here forever,"

That was a very valid question, "We could try the rocks. I know they are far, but they are our only hope right now,"

"Agreed," he paused, "On three. One, two,"

Three. We sprinted towards the island of rocks in the distance. I could feel the ground vibrate behind us, the creatures were in pursuit. A few of the creatures attempted to leap at us from behind, but Link quickly dispatched them with a clumsy spin attack, pirouetting as his forward momentum brought him off balance. He stumbled, but regained his footing.

We continued to run towards the rocks, and I hoped the creatures wouldn't be able to get to us there. One of the sand monster burst forth from the sand ahead of us and cut us off, in our haste to escape I had forgotten to ready another arrow so my only hope was to dodge around it. I did so, but the creature proved to be very agile, and managed to latch itself onto my leg. I cried out as I felt the tearing of flesh, the creature's teeth dug into my leg. It wiggled in an attempt to rip off more of my leg. Adrenaline kept me running despite that its weight was slowing me down. Link cursed as one of the creatures struck, narrowly missing his head and only just knocking his hat off. The creature attached onto my leg retreated somewhere behind me.

We had reached the rocks, scrambled on top them, and nearly collapsed from exhaustion. One of the creatures leaped forth from the sand below onto the rocks, but as soon as it touched the rock it writhed as if in pain and retreated below the sandy surface. There was a sound of frustration from the sand monsters beneath the surface, before all was silent and still. But I'd bet they were still there, waiting until we made another mistake; we shouldn't have run.

Adrenaline still pumping through my veins, I barely noticed the pain from my wound. Link cursed, panting heavily from exertion, when he saw my wound. He tore off a piece of his tunic to act as a bandage and tightly wrapped it just above the wound to prevent any more blood loss. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. I tried to smile in thanks, but it came out more like a grimace.

I faintly heard the pounding of hooves in the distance. Epona was heading in our direction, apparently having sensed her master was in danger. Oddly, the sand creatures did not attack her; maybe they preferred smaller prey, like us, as opposed to a horse. She trotted onto the rocks and nudged Link with her nose. Link got up and limped over to one of the saddlebags still strapped to her, and rummaged in it, looking for something. After a short while, he pulled out a small bottle with clear liquid and some bandages. He looked at me, "Terra. I'm going to put this alcohol on your wound," he jiggled the bottle in his hand, "and then I'm going to bandage it with these wraps here," he limped over to me. His gaze met mine, it was one of sympathy even though his ankle must have hurt a lot, "This is going to sting a little,"

I didn't dare look at my leg.

He poured the alcohol onto my wound. To say it hurt was an understatement, but I suppose the burning meant it was doing its job. He firmly wrapped my wound with the soft bandage, and untied the ripped portion of his tunic from my leg. I heard him sigh in relief, "It doesn't look as bad as it probably feels, Terra. It needs to be treated by a professional, but this should be fine for now,"

Upon noticing my slightly bewildered look, Link elaborated, "Rusl taught me the basics in caring for a wound,"

He tested his ankle, moving it around and putting a little bit of weight on it, "I don't think its broken. Just very badly strained. But it still hurts something fierce,"

Epona nickered from somewhere behind us. "Good girl, Epona," I whispered, my adrenaline was starting to dissipate and the pain was getting worse, "Link, do you have any," I winced, "The pain..."

"I think I have some potion, yes. Hold on, Terra, you're going to be okay," he got up and rummaged around in one of Epona's saddlebags again.

He handed me a bottle of red potion, "This should help with the pain but it can make you tired,"

I muttered before taking a swig of the potion, "Well, we're not going anywhere soon," I handed the bottle back to Link, and he drank some as well, before replacing it back into the saddlebag.

The effect was nearly instantaneous. The pain started to weaken, and I felt drowsy. My eyelids heavy, I decided to give in to sleep, safe in the knowledge we were safe on the rocks. For now.

I awoke the next morning, feeling very groggy, weak, and a tad nauseous. Evidently Link felt the same, although he was no longer limping. I saw him throw a small pebble onto the sand, almost immediately it was swarmed by the sand monsters and dragged beneath the ground. They were still there, waiting for us. I shivered slightly.

"Terra, you're awake. How are you doing?" Link's voice sounded tired.

I noticed I was no longer in pain, "I...I don't know. I'm not in pain anymore,"

Link's face was puzzled, "That is very odd. I am not in pain either. I'm surprised I can walk, considering how bad of a sprain that was, but I'm even more surprised that you're not in pain anymore," he hesitated, "Do you mind if I look? I think its time to change the bandage,"

I motioned to him, "Be my guest,"

Upon unravelling my bandage, Link gasped in surprise. My wound was completely healed. A slight scar graced the surface of my thigh muscle, but other than that, it was like the wound was never there.

"What sorcery is this? How could-" I stammered out, bewildered.

Link felt the same, "I don't know. Perhaps the Goddesses were looking out for us," he turned his gaze to the morning sky, "Perhaps we should go back to Ordon,"

I shook my head, "I feel fine, Link. If you're feeling okay, we might as well take advantage of our luck and get off these Goddess' forsaken rocks,"

"I'm feeling a little sore, but I can walk," he paused, "But how do you suppose we do that?"

I motioned towards Epona, "We can try to make a break for it on Epona. I think the ocean is nearby, we should be able to make it,"

"That's what you said about the rocks, and look what happened to us,"

That was a good point. I didn't bother masking the frustration in my voice, "Do you have any other ideas then?"

Link threw another small pebble onto the sand below, further away this time. The sand slithered towards the pebble, and just like before, the sand creatures swarmed around the pebble and dragged it beneath the sandy surface, "It seems like you were right about them hunting using vibrations. Maybe we can use that to our advantage,"

"How?"

He grew pensive, "We can distract them by throwing rocks before we try to run on Epona. I think Epona can outrun them, but you'll have to sit on her too,"

I winced slightly at that despite myself. It was very uncomfortable riding on the back edge of the saddle; we needed that double saddle from the Capital, "Sounds good to me, Link. The ocean is that way," I pointed an easterly direction, "Let's start gathering pebbles,"

And we did. After we had gathered an armful of rocks and pebbles between us, we mounted Epona who neighed nervously. I cradled our rock collection in my arms, ready to throw them to distract the creatures.

"Ready girl," Link muttered to Epona, taking her reins in his hands, "Let's go!" he spurred her into a gallop, heading eastward.

As soon as Epona's hooves touched the sandy surface, the creatures underneath the sand shot in our direction. I threw a rock behind us. As soon as the rock thunked against the ground, the sand creatures changed direction and headed towards the decoy. I smiled, the plan was working! As soon as the creatures consumed the rock, I hurled another one in a different direction. The monsters went for the bait again.

We continued like that until I ran out of rocks. Occasionally a sand monster would break from the group and pursue us, but as soon as I would throw another rock it shot off in the decoy's direction. I was about to inform Link we had no more rocks left, but when I looked ahead I saw the wall of Twilight towering over us. It had reached our shoreline, and I assumed the ocean was completely covered in Twilight.

Link slowed Epona to a stop. The Wall moved in a non-linear fashion and inched towards us almost as if it was alive. I looked back, the sand creatures were no longer in pursuit; maybe they sensed the danger of the Twilight and gave up the chase.

Epona reared in fear when we were snatched by an orange hand off of her back. The wall consumed us, engulfed us, as we entered the twilight zone. I felt my bones shift as I turned into a hawk once more.

A/N: As always, thanks for reading. See you next time, folks.