Chapter 36

The sound of thunder immediately overhead woke the hylian with a jump. As his senses cleared, he finally noticed the rain as well. The large droplets were falling at a fast, constant rate. As he peered over the wagon cover, he saw that the storm clouds had finally fallen upon Craterville. He couldn't tell what time it was, but he was pretty sure that he wasn't asleep that long.

Buri was hidden in a corner of the wagon, shivering under a blanket. Link didn't notice any chill in the air, briefly puzzling him. It wasn't until he considered the buko desert that he realized the plight Buri faced at that moment. "Are you afraid of the storm?"

Buri looked up at him with a guilty look. "It's just that...the thunder and lightning are so erratic. There's no knowing if I may get struck if I go out."

As if on cue, a bolt of lightning struck the earth no more that ten feet away from them, causing the buko to cower back a little further. Link tried to get her up. "If that's the case, staying here is not going to be much good to us. We need to find shelter that won't burst into flames when the lightning hits it."

He led her to the edge of the wagon, looking for the closest source of safety. The barn next to them was not likely to hold, but the inn made of brick next to it looked promising. He hopped off the wagon with Buri in tow. As they reached the door connecting the barn to the inn, he knocked on it as loudly as possible. There was no response. He tried again. Still nothing happened.

After a good five minutes of knocking, he instead received a tug on his shoulder from behind. Turning to face the person, he saw Rusl and Saffir, both quite soaked with the rain. Rusl was the one with his hand on his shoulder, who immediately spoke once he was certain he had Link's full attention. "It's time. We need to get into that tower now while the storm is at its weakest."

The hylian looked past him back into the rain. "This is weak?"

"It'll only get worse, Link." Saffir said. "If you're goin' t' get inside, you're gonna need t' go now."

"I trust then, that you know how to get inside?"

Rusl shook his head. "Still don't have a clue, but that tower has to be where the spirit is being held. If we wait until the storm is over, people will notice us heading over there. If ever there was a time for us to go, it's now."

Link tried to glance at the tower, but it was obscured by the horses in the stables. He was going to have to take him at his word. "Okay. I'll need to change into my gear first." He rushed back to the wagon to crawl below it. Hidden on the underside of the wagon was his equipment, strapped tightly to series of planks. As he acquired everything he needed, he quietly crawled back into the wagon to change, using the cover to hide him.

Just as he was finishing up, Rusl hopped into the vehicle with him. He showed him the rope he'd obtained. It looked gnarled and weak, as if it would snap at any moment. "This was the only kind I could find that wasn't in use. It won't last five minutes in that rain. We might need to use those devices of yours instead."

"The clawshots? They're usually not useful in these situations, but I'll take them along just in case. Do we at least have the rope from Castle Widzan?"

Rusl picked that up from its place on the wagon and showed it to him. "Won't nearly be enough to get to the top, but we'd best take everything we've got that might even be slightly useful."

"Right." Link finished the last strap on his power gauntlets. Their energy coursed through his body once more and he felt ready to take on the world. Finally, he grabbed the Mirror Shield and unwrapped it. Being sure to face it away from anyone. He looked over to Rusl and saw that he was just about done getting his gear as well, seeing as he had less to gather. As Rusl placed his scabbard on his back, he glanced outside to see if any were watching. With a nod the two jumped out of the wagon and rushed to the corner of the inn.

There was a fence surrounding the crater to prevent people from falling down and hurting themselves, making the only way down a man-made staircase at the far side of town. Link and Rusl had no intention of going that way, so they tied their good rope to the rails and climbed down quickly. Saffir, whom was watching out as well, helped them untie the rope once they'd successfully reached the bottom and let the rest of it drop down to the two warriors. She quickly waved to them before hurrying back into the inn where she could dry off.

Rusl gazed into the distance where the tower stood. It was perhaps a mile away from where he was standing, and in between them was nothing but barren land with lightning constantly striking the ground. "How do you think we'll get across safely?"

Link brought his shield up over his head. "By running as fast as possible."

Rusl looked over to his companion. "I don't suppose I can fit under there too?"

Link grinned at him. "You're just gonna have to keep up with me."

Rusl rolled his eyes, but forced himself to stop so that he could catch up to Link, whom had begun to dash across the open land. Since Rusl couldn't see too well in front of himself, Link made it a point to yell back whenever there was an obstruction ahead of them. The only thing he could really see aside from his friend's back were the flashes of light. He was never quite sure how close the lightning was, but going off of the volume of the thunder, they sounded to be merely feet away. He found himself covering his ears, doing his best to keep his hearing.

The problem was that it came with price of Link's directions being just as muffled. This took effect when Link twisted to the right to evade a stone in the ground, Rusl wasn't able to correct himself in time before tripping over it. As he pulled himself up, Link hurried back to him and covered his head with his shield. Once he was back on his feet, another bolt of lightning hit the ground immediately in front of them. Rusl was starting to get more than a little annoyed.

"Is there a better way for us to get past without the fear of getting struck?!" He shouted loud enough to be heard.

"We're just going to have to endure it!" Link responded while patting him on the shoulder, "Just like all those lessons you used to give me!"

"My lessons didn't involve dodging lightning!" He remarked, slightly uplifted.

"'You make due with what you've got'!" Link quoted his mentor.

Another bolt hit the shield from above, which made Link recoil a bit. He waited a second just to make sure that he himself wasn't struck. Since he didn't feel the current, he reasserted his trust that his shield truly could defend him. He nodded back at Rusl. "It's not that much further! Just another couple minutes running and we'll be there!"

"Then let's hurry up!"

Link accelerated back to a run, so Rusl had no choice but to keep up with him. Still, he couldn't help but grin at how well his friend had grown. It was nice to hear his own words being parroted back at him. It reminded him that while he may not be a teacher anymore, he was not forgotten. It brought to his mind all those long winter days when he and Link were inside and he taught the young hylian how to read and write; then the new spring days where they were outside practicing their swordplay; and the summer days, where Rusl watched as Link played with Fado and Ilia.

Then they grew up, and Link was no longer the young boy dreaming of adventure, but a young man dreaming of Ilia. And Rusl had a child of his own to watch and to teach. Colin was the center of his life for a long time, and when he was taken away at the beginning of the Shadow Invasion, it was as if everything had collapsed in onto himself, and it was only made worse when he was wounded and unable to even stand on his own two feet. It was then that he had to rely on Link to find his son for him, and he'd succeeded.

And now...not only was Colin gone, but his wife and daughter, and there was no way they would be coming back. His heart had sunken lower than ever before, and if there was a mystical influence as Link explained compounding his feelings, he lost hope in practically everything. The only thing he had left was his student, and he'd already surpassed him.

Before he had a chance to ponder the thought further, Link had abruptly halted. Just a few feet away was the rocky surface of the meteor that covered the base of the tower. The two took their time hiking to the top, gathering their strength for the inevitable climb up the side of the tower. It brought Rusl's focus to the problem still at hand. "Have you figured out how we're going to climb that thing?"

Link kept walking as he answered. "At this distance, it looks like I'll be able to use my gauntlets to scale the side. There seems to be enough ridges and the like for me to use. I know you don't have the grip strength you used to, and gripping the one good rope we have will be difficult. Maybe you'll just have to cling to my back while I climb."

"No offense, Link, but I'm not going to ride on your back like a child."

"Why? Ashei didn't have a problem with it?"

"I'm not her. Besides which, I'm too old to being doing something like that."

Link was the first to reach the wall of the tower. He put a hand around the frame to get a feel for the material. "Do you have a better plan?"

Rusl nodded his head, though Link couldn't see it. "Why don't I just use those clawshots of yours?"

"It's not going to grapple to the surface."

"It'll grapple to you." Rusl commented as he examined them from Link's pouch, which he'd previously placed on the ground. Link was only slightly reluctant to his suggestion, until he realized what Rusl was thinking. "You want to latch them onto my gauntlets, while I climb."

"I just need some straps to make sure I don't drop them."

"The rope from the Widzan Castle will have to do." Link brought the rope over to Rusl and began fastening it to his grip on the clawshots. Once he felt them to be properly secured, Link turned back to the tower, and grabbed a protruding piece of the wall. Once he felt he had a strong enough grip, he pulled himself up and climbed a couple of feet, just to get the hang of everything.

As soon as he felt like he was oriented well enough, he motioned for Rusl to fire. The human took a little time to get the aiming properly, and fired the first one at Link's left gauntlet. It grabbed onto him with ease, and Link breathed easy now knowing that he wasn't feeling any pain in his wrist. After only another second, Rusl fired the other and was perfectly connected to Link. He kept the chain extend so that he could follow at a brisk pace. Due to the more vertical nature of his grip, he used it to allow him to walk sideways up the wall like a repel cable.

Their pace was still a bit slow, as the counter force on Link did make things difficult, but they suspected that it would only take slightly longer to get to the top than it did to reach the tower in the first place. And since they weren't out of breath from the running, it gave them time to talk amongst each other again.

"I'm glad to see you've cooled down around Saffir," Link commented. "I know it's difficult to believe what she says now after what you told me happened that first evening, but your strength of character is returning rather quickly."

"Link, don't patronize me." Rusl remarked, slightly annoyed.

"Sorry, that wasn't my intent."

"I know you're trying to help, but the compliments are not necessary. I just need your help when I start to go crazy again."

"Still," Link lost a hand for a second before regaining his grip. "I'm just surprised that when the two of you were out gathering information, you weren't at each other's throats."

"Well, she's..." Rusl couldn't find the word he wanted to describe how he saw her. "I don't know. She's different, but that doesn't seem to be an adequate description. She still won't tell us what happened that made her see the light, but for some reason, she seems completely genuine. Yet...I find myself wondering if she might be tricking us."

"If she were, I think there is little she could do to stop us now," Link paused for a moment as a second thought crossed his mind. "Unless the tower is a complete diversion for us and she knows of a place that the spirit is more likely located."

"She could be telling the inhabitants of Craterville right now to prepare for us when we come back." Rusl started to feel his distrust begin to return. "Maybe...maybe we should...no. We shouldn't abandon this now and we can't presume she's lying now without evidence."

Link chuckled briefly as he continued his climb up. Rusl faintly noticed before asking what it was about.

"Oh, it's just that while traveling with Shad and Ashei, I've occasionally felt like I'm the only one who really thinks things through. I like the change."

"I'd have thought Shad would at least be more rational."

"When he's not afraid, yes."

"Makes me think that this little excursion of ours has been long overdue."

Another smile crossed Link's face. "Yes. It has."

Buri shut the door as quietly as she could, hoping to allow Saffir to keep sleeping. To her displeasure, she found that her master was awake and pacing in her room. The buko could tell that she was incredibly worried about Rusl and Link. She hadn't even eaten the meal she'd brought her.

"Missus," Buri began, "You really should at least eat something. Starving yourself won't make them more successful or make them return faster."

Saffir turned to the plate of food. Though it had grown a bit cold, it was still good. She finally resigned to her hunger and sat down to her dinner. "Thanks, Buri."

The buko merely nodded while moving to the bed on the other side of the room. She made sure that it was to her master's liking before sitting on her bedroll next to it. It didn't take long for Saffir to start asking Buri about the hylian.

"He's a funny one, missus." She began to describe. "Always trying to be happy; trying to be in control, but I get the feeling that he worries a lot."

Saffir gave her a surprised look. "Is that so?"

"That's just what it looked like to me." Buri adjusted her position before being completely settled. "Why do you ask?"

Once Saffir had finished another piece of her meal, she shook her head while she replied. "Oh, it's nothin'. I just got curious since I spent a lot mo' time with Rusl than I have with Link."

She took another bite while Buri pondered further. "What do you think this 'spirit' that they're looking for is like?"

"I don't know. I ain't never heard o' one until they mentioned it, though it sounded like there was mo' than one and that it was a guardian of some sort."

"What do they plan to do once they find it?"

"Rusl mentioned sometin' about freein' it from some abomination's hold. He seemed to think that it's part of the reason why we don't get along too well." She dabbed a napkin over her mouth, wiping the last remains of her meal. She turned to Buri with a concerned look. "Why are you askin'?"

"I..." Buri had to stand up and approach her master to convey her feelings. "I just never seen you become so committed to something; thought it might have something to do with what was going on."

"Well, as important as what's appearin' t'be happenin', I just feel like I've...been called to help." She found herself retreating to the bed for a moment, but stopped herself and turned back to her servant. "Have you ever had that feelin'? Like you were called to do somethin' great?"

"Only to serve you, missus." She replied, which brought a smile to Saffir's face. "Well, I feel like somethin' is callin' me t'do what I'm doin'."

Saffir laughed nervously while wrapping a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "Maybe I'm just tryin' to make up fo' the awful things I said when we first met them. I dunno."

Buri put a hand on Saffir's shoulder. "For whatever reason it is, it's the right thing. I'm sure your mother would be proud of you right now."

Her smile brightened even further, and just as she prepared for bed, a knock came to their door. Buri answered it with haste, and found the person to be Muldoon. Saffir reverted back to her normal self to respond. "Mulddy, I know we've got a lot of catchin' up t'do, bu-"

"We need to talk, Saffir." The look on his face was sterner than she'd ever seen him before, but what made the woman turn pale was the realization that he knew something was up.

"We need to talk about your so-called husband and his long-eared companion."