The fall seemed like it took forever, and each second she was in the air, her heart began to race faster and faster. Each second brought more and more regret, but it all came to a halt when she noticed the ground was nearing her. The sailcloth was allowed out, and her fall slowed, though her landing was still rough.
She fell upon already scraped hands and knees, and a quiet hiss left her as she plopped down in he grass to check over her palms. It wasn't anything serious, and therefore she'd deal with it at some other point. She gathered the sailcloth, adjusting it over her shoulders and tying it behind her back. And then she just sat. She didn't move, and it took her a second to get up the courage to look around at all.
A black, wrought iron fence lined the edge of a deep chasm, and not far from Tya, she noticed somewhat of a path beneath the grass. She pulled herself up and onto her feet, peeking around the corner from where she landed to see where the weathered path led. Not far from her, she could see a building that appeared just as worn as everything else in the area, and she assumed that would be a wise place to start...
Each step was set with absolute uncertainty, and the further she moved the more uneasy she became. Her aching palms faced the ground, and from them, popped some wary sparks. The area was so calm and quiet, it was difficult not to feel uneasy. There wasn't much wind, which was new to her. The air in Skyloft often cooled her off, which she had to admit she wasn't completely a fan of. The cold often bothered her... But it was warmer here. Not unpleasantly so, at least not to her. She kind of wished it was even warmer...
The smallest sound brought a flinch, and she'd look around to find its source, but even if she found it she wasn't put to ease. Especially when the silence was shattered by a sound she'd never heard. It was a strange growl, accompanied by this whipping sound that almost sounded wet. And it didn't take long to spot the source of that one, because less than two steps in front of her was a plant that had risen out of the ground and bared its teeth down at her.
She panicked, nearly falling back, and the sparks that jumped from her palms ignited without delay. Fire poured out, taking the plant up in a blaze that quickly dispatched it.
The smoking corpse fell on the ground before her, and she released a breath she didn't even know she'd started to hold. The fire extinguished and both hands placed over her chest as if that would somehow calm her rapid heartbeat.
She...
She needed a second...
She moved to the black fence that lined the edge and held herself up on it, hanging her head between extended arms. She closed her eyes, allowing her breathing to level again, before standing straight.
"Goddess, this was a bad idea, wasn't it..." She whispered to herself, before turning and starting off toward the stone structure once again.
Three more of those plants gave her trouble on the way, each being eliminated with small bouts of fire. On one side, she noticed the fencing had stopped, and on the other sat the structure she'd started toward to begin with. There was a second of mental debating but finally she decided that looking over the edge couldn't do that much harm to her. Just a quick peek...
At the bottom of the chasm before her, erected directly in the middle of a spiral pathway, was a white... Thing. She didn't know what it was. Surrounding it was some sort of strange symbols, all of which emitted this thick black... She wouldn't have said smoke, but she couldn't think of another word to describe the darkness that poured out.
She was curious, but not enough to go down and explore any further. Needless to say, it gave her an uneasy feeling... She promised herself a quick peek anyway, and that was all. So her attention then turned to the door of the structure... There was a strange symbol on it as well, one that gave off a bit of a glow when she looked at it. She was barely given the chance to approach it when she heard the rustling of grass, and then her name spoken in surprise.
She turned quickly, defensively almost, but calmed significantly when she saw Link.
"What are you d-doing here?! I thought you went home..." He moved to her quickly, looking back for a second at the cooling bodies of the plants she'd killed.
"I did go home. But then I left again, and I am here now. Standing. That is all." She told him plainly, looking passed him at her work as well.
"Y-Yeah, I see that, but why are you here... Just 'standing'. Y-You're supposed to be in Sk-Skyloft." He turned back to her, making a small motion up to the sky as he spoke.
"As are you and Zelda, but you are not. Now, I don't think this door will open, this symbol on it is strange. I think its a seal, help me figure out how to get rid of it, will you?" She reached a hand out, setting it against the door and allowing her fingertips to trace along the lines of the seal.
"Tya, you n-need to go home, it's dangerous here." Link's tone was sincere, and again, such worry was flattering. But while she was no hero, she was certainly not weak. Her hand fell back to her side, and she looked at Link, then back toward the enemies that fell at her hands moments before.
"I am no trained knight, I know this. But as you can see, I am able to defend myself. I'm not going home until Zelda comes with me. Now, helping me is your choice, I will not force you to. But know that I'm not leaving, and there's nothing you can do to stop me." Nearing the end of her sentence, she began to get absent. She'd turned back toward the door and started pressing herself against it to see if she could get it to budge at all. The attempt was in vein though, and she pulled herself upright again. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Link roll his eyes at her, then she heard him sigh. He looked around before moving to the edge just like she had.
Tya paid little attention to what he was doing up until she heard a quiet, pained gasp leave him. She turned to find him moving his hands to his head, and taking a step back from the edge. He watched the circle in the middle carefully for a moment before his hand hurried to the hilt of the blade sheathed on his back. There was a brief moment of panic but it quickly subsided...
By then, both of Tya's hands rested on his arm, and she had an expression of pure worry. But she didn't ask anything, only watched him carefully to be sure he was okay before releasing him. The feeling of her hands leaving his arm seemed to surprise him, as if he hadn't noticed they were there until he was no longer in contact with her heat. He looked at his arm, then at her, then back down to the bottom of the chasm.
"I-I'll... B-Be back..." He told her quietly and absently, taking a few uncertain steps away from her before he began down the spiral path way.
Her mind once again became overwhelmed by curiosity, but as he got farther from her, she realize much of it would have to wait until he returned. There was a small feeling of lingering discomfort at the thought of him going down alone, especially since the place had caused him pain just by looking at it, but Tya dismissed it. He was the stronger of the two, should anything sinister await him down there, he'd be able to handle it on his own, at least until Tya was able to get down there and help him, she was sure.
Her mind then wandered back to the sealed door, and as she looked at it through narrowed eyes.
Seals were often put on things permanently, were they not? Perhaps she had been wrong, this door was not the way she needed to go. When she'd looked over the edge, she'd seen no other pathways that led anywhere but down, so perhaps she was just... missing something.
The blonde stepped back, but not far. A hand reached out to rest against the walls of the structure, and as she walked her fingertips gently traced along it, catching themselves against the various vines that had tangled themselves on the walls.
She knew that an entrance to a new path would be something obvious, something large enough for her to see just by walking. But the hand on the wall served for another purpose. Searching for anything small. Any clue she could have looked over. Any abnormality in the stone was uncovered, and she'd examine it, but she found nothing.
It didn't take long for Tya to get frustrated, and she took a few more steps back with an aggravated huff. One last look was given to the sealed door before she turned toward the edge again, looking over to see where Link had gone. He'd made it to the bottom by then, and he had his sword raised to the sky. Tya watched as the light filled it once again, and then he cast it toward the small white pillar which the black smoke radiated from.
The light pulsed through the land, showing itself only through the markings on the ground. A second of silence and stillness, and then the spiral path began to show life. Air began to poor out of these small holes in the surface with enough force to push something upward to the higher edges of the path. Tya immediately got the idea that a sailcloth could be used to ascend the walkway faster, but before she got the chance to voice the idea she saw Link had gotten it as well.
He reached the top much faster than he'd reached the bottom, and when he landed he folded the sail cloth tightly and tucked it away into a small satchel of his own. He didn't speak, only looked to the sealed door...
The moment his gaze was set upon it, it began to emit this ringing sound, and Tya whipped around to see what he was doing to it.
The seal lifted and dispersed, the ringing sound slowly dissipated, and the two of them just stood there for a moment.
He watched the door, and Tya turned back toward the edge, looking down toward the bottom of the bit once more... Whatever he'd done down there was obviously the key to this seal, but that wasn't her concern. This building was evidently of some importance, and whatever lay on the other side was attempting to keep whatever was down there out. There was a mixture of feelings and thoughts stirring in her- It seemed he'd resealed whatever lay in wait underground down there back in, but he'd broken the seal on the door here. Had he accidentally broken the building's protection? What if he'd accidentally weakened the seal at the bottom of the pit? There were many more questions floating around in that head of hers, but they all went quiet at the sound of stone scraping against stone.
She turned to find Link pushing open the now unsealed doors, and when they sat ajar he cast a look back to her as if to ask if she was coming or not. And of course she hurried after him...
