Found this old story of mine on my Laptop and I almost forgot that it existed.

Since we got masses of snow here (which is rare where I live) I found this story pretty fitting.

I will continue with my dragon series afterwards ;)

And I would be very happy if more people would show interest in my Zelda stories.
So far it feels like only one person in the whole internet is reading those stories of mine and this is not very motivating :(

Welcome to the winter wonderland

Snow. So much snow!

That was the first thing that went through Link's mind when he first entered the snowpeak mountains and the biting cold hit him like a hammer blow. Slowly and secretly, it slipped into his clothes and let him shiver until his teeth rattled and at that moment he did curse himself for not listening to his little companion, since she had told him to buy suitable clothes in Castle Town before he had started his journey into this freezing cold winter landscape.

Meanwhile, Midna had other thoughts on her mind, because she couldn't get enough of the sight of the white splendor around her. It was the very first time in her life that she saw snow. Although she felt the cold as she emerged from Link's shadow, but she didn't care for it. Her eyes sparkled like those of a small child who had just received the best gift of its life.

"Just look at that, Link. Isn't that wonderful?" she asked with honest enthusiasm in her voice, but as she turned around to the hero, her happiness faded a bit, because Link made a face like seven days of constant rain.

"Yes, really great ..."

The sarcasm in his voice didn't remain hidden from her, nor could he hide the quiet growl which left his throat and he trudged morosely through the snow, wrapping his arms around his chest to keep himself warm as best as he could.

"Oh, come on, don't pull such a grumpy face. I told you that you should prepare yourself better for this journey. That's what you get for not listening to me."

"Yeah, yeah, fine. I got it. Could we please continue our journey now? I want to leave this place as fast as I can. I don't like snow..."

"But why? Just look around you. That looks great!"

Despite everything, a small smile pulled on Link's lips as he looked at Midna and how excited she was.

Didn't she always call him a "little kid"?

At that moment, she seemed more like a little kid than he could ever be...

But the smile faded from his lips as quickly as it had come when he was just thinking of climbing those mountains of snow. Why did this mirror shard have to be here? And then in the clutches of a Yeti?

His thoughts came to a quick end when Midna appeared in front of his face, grinning at him.

"Do you know what I just came up with? I think I know what will keep you warm."

Before he even got the chance to ask her what she meant by that, she had already taken out the little crystal with which Zant had previously cursed him with, and as soon as she touched him with it, he changed shape and only split seconds later there was a gray wolf standing in the snow, baring his razor sharp fangs and growling at her. But Midna just chuckled and let the crystal fade away before swinging herself onto Link's back and playfully pulling on his ear.

"Stop growling. It will go faster that way and you shouldn't be feeling so cold with that fur of yours, am I right?"

Another growl was the only answer she got before Link started moving, ignoring Midna's mischievous giggling...

The ascent was long and arduous and their path was obstructed by many obstacles.

There was a wall of snow blocking the way, there they got attacked by white wolves. Bats, that had the power to freeze him, attacked him in small caves, and were it not the enemies who attacked him, it was the icy wind that hit him like a sword blade when he reached the top of the summit. But that was not even the worst.

In front of him, beside an old, gnarled tree, he could see the Yeti.

That monster, that has been haunting the Zoras for some time and stealing fish from their cave. Link had really expected everything, but not the enormous size of this Yeti and as he approached the beast, it turned its head to look at him.

"A wolf up here on the summit and then in such an unusual color? Hmm it's a shame that we already eat fish today..."

Link shuddered at such dark words and when Midna pulled on his ear, he knew that it was better to retire and come back as a human...

Only a little later he stood in front of the Yeti, who called himself Yeto, and he was back in his human form.

It turned out that Yeto was not the horrible monster everyone thought him to be. On the contrary, because he offered Link to come to his house, because he would find there what he desired: The shard of the mirror of twilight. His wife, Yeta, had kept the shard safe, but she was ill, as Yeto explained, and so he had gone looking for something he needed to cook a soup for his wife, hoping it would make her feel better. Before Link knew it, he and Midna had received an invitation to eat and Yeto had slid down the snowy hill on a large ice plate.

"What was that?" Midna asked and her eyes were as confused as those of Link.

"Honestly? I don't know, but I think we should follow him, because he said that his wife has the shard. Besides, I'm glad when I'm out of this snow and can step into a warm house."

Midna grinned.

"I'd rather think that you're just interested in the chance of a hot soup and a cozy place by the fireplace, aren't you, great hero?"

Demonstratively, Link turned his face away from her and pretended to look at the tree he was still standing beside and that was answer enough for Midna, which made her giggle again.

Link only rolled his eyes.

"How are we going to get down there?" he asked, looking at the tree.

"Well, just like the Yeti did it."

He turned around and looked at Midna in disbelief.

"What? Do you think that's such a good idea?"

"Of course. Or how else do you want to get down there?"

"You could warp me?"

"And how am I supposed to do that? I don't know this place. Just imagine I would threw you into a ravine and that would be the end of the great savior of Hyrule."

"Alright, I got it. But you won't get me onto such an ice plate!"

"What's that? Don't tell me you're scared of sliding down that little hill here?"

"I'm not scared…"

"Where is the problem then?"

"I've never done that before."

"There is a first time for everything. Come on, Link. I'll help you."

A sigh crept out of Link's mouth and he knew that Midna wouldn't give in and he had to bite into the sour apple. Even if he didn't necessarily want that. He didn't like the idea of sliding down this hill on an ice plate. Especially since he didn't know how deep it went downhill. But Midna was right. He had to do it, because there was no other way down. So he gave up and nodded silently to Midna, gesturing for her to get him an ice plate from the tree.

The plate was just big enough that he could stand on it with both feet and a shudder ran through his body as he only thought of sliding down this hill while standing on this thing.

"Come on. Just get onto it and let's go. It can't be that hard."

"You have easy talking, you don't have to do it..." he grumbled as he set one foot onto the plate. It was dangerously slippery and when he tried to put the second foot on it, he slipped and landed with his butt first in the snow.

A dark growl broke out of his throat and he glared at Midna as she hovered next to him, unable to stop laughing.

"Very funny, ha, ha, ha..." he grumbled and he got up and tried again...and promptly landed in the snow again...face first this time.

And Midna almost exploded with laughter as he raised his head and when she saw his face, which was now covered with snow.

It took several more tries before Link finally managed to keep his balance on the ice plate.

"Okay, I think I can do it now. Hold on tight, Midna," he said to the little Shadow Princess, who had sat on his shoulders and clawed her fingers into his green tunic.

He used his right foot so that the ice plate began to move and stretched both arms out to the sides, trying to keep his balance, as he slowly began to slide down the hill. It worked very well and even as the ice plate gained speed, he managed to keep his balance and a small grin soon played around his features.

"It's really not that hard."

His voice was drowned out by the roar of the cold mountain wind, but Midna understood his words and giggled.

"You were worried for nothing. It'll be child's play to get to the house of this Yeti."

It took less than a minute before Midna regretted these words and took them back, because the deeper Link slid down the valley, the wilder the ride became.

When she saw the trees and rocks, scattered all the way around, a loud scream broke from both their throats and Midna clawed her fingers into his shoulders so tightly that Link was sure to have bloody welts on his skin the next day, but that didn't bother him in the slightest right now. His shocked eyes were focused only on the rocks and trees in front of him and the more nervous he became, the more his concentration left him and he could feel how he started to lose his balance.

"Keep your concentration, Link!" he heard Midna roar into his ear and to give her words more power she pulled on his tunic. He tried to concentrate, tried to keep his balance and at the same time not to crash into a tree or a rock, but that was easier said than done. There he narrowly escaped the collision with a tree and there he just made it around a large rock.

But the really scary thing was still ahead of them.

When they saw the broken bridge, two loud screams went through the snowy mountains and Midna clawed her fingers into his cap and into his blond hair underneath, but Link barely felt the pain. His heart pounded hard against his ribs, the cold sweat ran down his entire body in spite of the icy coldness around him and inside he was already saying goodbye to his life as they headed straight for the abyss.

"JUMP! JUMP! DAMN IT, LINK! JUMP!", Midna yelled into his ear and out of pure reflex he did what she demanded of him and he even managed to jump over the abyss. But on the other side of the bridge the nightmare continued. More trees and rocks and big lumps of ice awaited him and here and there he could see smaller groups of ice bats trying to attack him as he skidded right through their ranks.

"WE WILL DIE! WE WILL SO DIE!" Midna shouted and she wrapped her arms around his neck until he felt as if she would suffocate him. But he managed to keep his composure and he even calmed down a bit, which was a clear advantage for him, because he could concentrate fully on the track in front of him now. And indeed, he managed to overcome the obstacles that had been put in his way, even though he sometimes had to fight hard with his balance. Especially when bigger trees got in his way and he had to slither around them. But at some point the track was free of trees, rocks and dangerous beasts and he even dared to gain speed, ignoring Midna's fearful screams in his ears.

Somehow he found it funny that Midna was suddenly so anxious, because otherwise it was on her who made fun of his fears and always acted as if nothing could scare her.

Apparently Midna had found her master here...and Link would tease her for a long, very long time about that; he swore that to himself.

But first he had to arrive safely at Yeto's house and so he concentrated again fully on the track in front of him, which now turned into a sharp curve. He crouched down slightly and shifted his weight so that this curve was not a big problem for him and when he did, he could finally see Yeto's house (or rather his manor) at the end of the track and a big grin sneaked back on his face.

Soon there...time for a bit of fun, he thought to himself and he began to do smaller slaloms and he enjoyed every little nervous squeak, which sneaked out of Midnas throat when he did that. Even when she nearly ripped his ears off his head as she clawed at them…

"Are you crazy?! Stop it! You will kill us both!", she hissed at him, but Link just grinned and in response he did another slalom; just to tease her a little more, which worked well. But after that he decided to stop teasing her; not that Midna really got angry at him, because he didn't want to imagine what would happen if she got mad at him for real. As small as she might be, he shouldn't underestimate her and especially not her powers as a resident of the Twilight Realm. He slowed down and just before Yeto's house he jumped off the ice plate and landed again with his butt first in the snow, but this time it was his laughter that filled the air and Midna who growled darkly at him, when she finally made it to jump off of his shoulders.

When her heartbeat had calmed down, she turned to face him and at the dark glare she gave him, Link would normally have been scared, but the young hero's laugher grew louder then, which his companion didn't find funny at all and she also let him know that as she dropped onto his stomach and pounded her small fists against his chest over and over again.

"You idiot! You did that on purpose!" she hissed at him.

Link just grinned at her, grabbed her hands and let himself fall back into the snow, where he took a deep breath to calm down and he didn't even notice the cold of the snow anymore. No wonder, with all the adrenaline that was still rushing through his veins...

"It's been a long time since I have had so much fun..."

"Fun? You call that fun?! We could be dead now!"

His mischievous look met hers and again there was that big grin on his face, which made Midna growl.

"How fast the roles can change. First you make fun of me, telling me that sliding down this hill is no problem and now you are glad that you have it behind you and I am the one who can only laugh heartily about it. Not a nice feeling, isn't it?" he asked and yes, Midna knew what he was alluding to and yes, it didn't feel nice when someone made fun of you and yes, she was sorry that she was making fun of him all the time and maybe, just maybe, she would stop doing that from now on...well...maybe...

"It's alright, I learned my lesson. Can I have my hands back now?" she grumbled, trying to hide her slightly flushed face from him, but she couldn't hide this from his watchful eyes, but Link didn't say anything about this, nor did he make fun of her and he also released her hands.

They were silent for a while and only the howl of the cold wind, which blew relentlessly through the mountains, was the only thing that was heard. Link was still lying in the snow and Midna was still sitting on his stomach and both seemed to be caught in their own thoughts. Anyhow, until Link thought of something and he turned his attention back to the little Shadow Princess, who returned his gaze questioningly when she saw that weird twinkle in his blue eyes.

"What?"

"I just remembered something."

"And that would be what?"

"I am sure you don't like snow anymore, don't you?" he teased, but to his surprise she grinned back at him.

"Oh don't worry, Linky. The little ride down the hill didn't spoil my fun. I still like snow and do you know why?"

He shook his head and raised an eyebrow at the same time as Midna's grin widened and without another word, she reached into the snow to his sides, forming two snowballs out of it and aiming for his face. But Link managed to raise his arms just in time so she couldn't shove the snow into his face and at the same time he turned onto his side, laughing and sending Midna into the cold snow, but that didn't bother her at all, because she kept trying to push a load of snow into his face. Link quickly rolled away from her, sitting up and quickly pulling his shield off his back. Just in time he managed to protect himself with his shield as already two snowballs flew into his direction.

"Do you really think your little shield could save you from my wrath? Please!"

Her voice was not serious, but playful, showing him that she wasn't seriously angry at him, that she was just teasing him and just wanted to have some fun and damn, why not?

They both had experienced so many terrible things in the past months and who knew what else would await them in the future?

A little fun here and there wouldn't hurt anyone and besides...they were completely alone here and protected from prying eyes.

And so it didn't take long before a snowball fight broke out between the two, in which Midna clearly had the upper hand, as she, as Link claimed, cheated, for she liked to use the big hand that she could form out her magic hair and which she used to throw huge snowballs at him. Link was caught many times by one of these snowballs and he got thrown into the snow more than once, but he kept getting up, laughing and attacking her with snowballs as well.

"Oh, just you wait! You'll be sorry for that!" Midna's voice soon cut through the air as Link finally hit her right into her face with one of his snowballs.

"Oh yes? I would like to see your pitiful attempts!"

"Pitiful attempts? I'll show you pitiful attempts!"

As fast as Link was lying in the snow again he couldn't blink.

And it got even worse for him, for Midna grabbed his wrists with her big hand, raised his arms high above his head and held them tightly.

Her grin made him shudder and helplessly he could only watch as she shoveled a large amount of snow into her left hand. With her right hand she pulled open the collar of his white shirt.

"A cool down will certainly do you good, don't you think?"

His eyes widened as these words reached his ears and laughing, he twisted beneath her like a worm on a hook, trying to break free, turning away from her, but he couldn't do this and soon a mixture of loud laughter and a loud shriek echoed through the snowy mountains as Midna shoved the amount of snow into his clothes.

After that, she quickly pulled away from him and soon she could hardly keep from laughing as she watched him and how he stuck his hand into his clothes and tried to get the remaining snow out of them and failed miserably at that, while he shrieked "Cold! Cold! So cold!" over and over again.

Yes, it were moments like these that were as precious as life itself and she would carry those moments in her heart forever and she knew that Link felt the same way.

Because it were moments like these that were worth fighting for...