The next morning, the two went to the bazaar to find her armor still wasn't done. Neither of them felt right wasting any more time waiting for it, so they decided they'd leave and hope she didn't get killed.
This landing, Tya didn't fail. At least not as badly as the past two. She took what she learned from watching Link and very nearly got it perfect. There was still a bit of stumbling, and some pain in her legs, but she was getting better.
The first thing she'd noticed was a gust of heat that just poured over her entire body the moment they descended into the area, and when she landed she figured she'd do what she did the last time. A quick look around, then look to Link to see if he had any ideas on what to do next.
But no, the moment she looked up and spotted the lava she just froze. This place was... Fire. It was hot. It was nice.
"Master, this is Eldin Volcano. It is an active volcano, rich with the power of the earth." Tya had completely missed Fi forming, and almost completely missed her speaking with how pleased she was with the new area. She stepped forward to see if she could get a better view of everything. "Approximately 65% of the region is covered by lava. It is inhabited by a large number of creatures that thrive in the extreme heat and direct flame. Lease exercise caution with flammable materials such as wood and fabric."
"If any fire happens to get you, I'll put you out." Tya looked back at Link and Fi briefly, flashing an enthusiastic smile as she adjusted the straps to the pack then started off. This place was so comfortable. The heat just empowered her. Her entire body felt so light and fluid. It was amazing.
"You s-seem happy here." Link stated as if that should have been obvious.
"It's hot." Something someone normally would have said with a whine, but not Tya. Her tone made it obvious she loved it. "Its invigorating."
Another of those strange cubes was sent flying to the sky after Link noticed it just off a short ledge. They continued down more when Fi formed by Link's side.
"Master, I require your confirmation. You are currently attempting to ascertain the location of Zelda. Are you familiar with how to use the dowsing to search for Zelda?"
"Oh! Y-Yeah, forgot all about that us-useful little trick." He laughed a bit, drawing the blade and smiling at Fi.
"Of course you are. My apologies. Please continue your search for Zelda."
As she returned to the blade, Link quietly said "it's alright," then held the blade up and twisted until it pointed him in what seemed to be the right direction.
They started again, only to be interrupted once more by the dirt just before them starting to rustle. The ground broke open and out of it formed two strange looking creatures.
They were adorable actually, looking a bit like moles... The human aspect they had kind of made them creepy, though.
"Hey! Hey! HEY! Y-you mess with our turf you're gonna... pay?" One of them crossed their arms as if it was trying to seem threatening and stern, but the uncertainty in their tone made it evident it was only a show.
Link arched a brow as he slipped his blade into its sheath and stepped forward.
"Whoa! You're not... Yo, Ledd, I don't think they are any of those red creeps" The second reached over and lightly slapped the shoulder of their companion as they looked over Link, and then Tya.
"Y-Y-Yeah, I think you're right... No reason to scare the hair off us, though! Sorry 'bout that, pal. These monsters showing up and messing with our turf has got me on edge. They show up here, and I'm gonna knock the red clean out of 'em! That's what I'm doing here. Yeah, me, Ledd." This time their tone was exaggerated, and their companion shook their head before saying "Yeah, whatever, Mr. Too Scared to Dig in the Dark". The second was shot a glare before both of their attention turned to Link and Tya again.
"Anyway, if you're looking for treasure, you should stay clear of those red guys."
"W-We aren't looking for tr-treasure," a soft chuckle left Link and he shook his head. "We a-are looking for a fr-friend of ours."
"You nervous or somethin'? We aren't gonna hurt you." One cocked his head to the side, brows furrowing as he looked Link over. Link seemed confused for a second or two before realizing why they'd think he was nervous. Honestly, Tya had grown used to the stutter- at first she thought it kind of odd and hard to understand.
"Oh, I-I'm not nervous I j-just, have a speech th-thing."
"A speech thing?" Their simultaneous response of the two got a laugh out of Tya as the conversation seemed much too familiar.
"Well anyway, you said you were lookin' for your friend? That must have been your pal that passed by earlier, sprinting by without so much as a glance in this direction. Was sorta a blur of movement, so I didn't get a real good look, but I know it wasn't one of those red creeps. Your pal must have gone straight up here, so why don't you follow?" Ledd motioned back, so Link and Tya moved passed the two with some quiet thanks.
"So what other kinds of 'things' do you have?" Tya asked with a smirk as they started down the path again.
"What do you m-mean?"
"A speech thing, a breathing thing. Anything else?" Link paused again after she asked, then laughed a little and shook his head.
"I think th-that's all the things."
"...Has it ever bothered you?" As she walked just a step behind him, she held her hands out, letting her fire engulf them. It seemed their surroundings fueled it as well. Without much concentration set into containing it, it burned bright and reached high.
"The st-stutter?" He questioned absently as he watched her fire. It seemed he noticed the difference too. "It d-did for a while. I u-used to not talk much because of it, b-but I figured out th-that it isn't something to act ash-ashamed of."
"I'm glad you did. I like having conversations with you, and if you refuse to talk I think that would be difficult."
"Ju-just a little bit." He smiled, nodding his head in agreement.
A bit farther down the path they noticed some flames that seemed to hover in the sky. It wasn't until they got closer that they realized they were actually flaming keese. They were shot down by the sheer force of Tya's fire. It seemed to work so easily there, like just the air around it made her fire more powerful. Not that she was complaining.
They continued on, being met with another of those mole like creatures. One that seemed to imply they found Link unattractive. They may have said he wasn't as ugly as the red creatures, but something about the way they said 'not that ugly' seemed like they were saying 'not as ugly as them but still not that great looking'.
They then went on to tell the two about these strange flowers- bomb flowers, that... well were exactly what the name suggested. They were picked, and then in a matter of seconds they would explode.
They shouldn't have done it, but they couldn't help themselves. They just had to make something explode. Link grabbed one of the bomb flowers and rolled it toward a part of the wall where some rocks seemed to have fallen and blocked up a spot. The rocks blew up, leaving open a new path. Convenient.
They started down this new path only to be ambushed by a small group of those flaming keese. Link cut down one, and Tya shot down another. Just before Link managed to kill the last, it flew too close and caught a bit of his tunic up.
It was cut down, and a kindled hand was set over the flame. One would automatically assume that Tya's flaming hands would only make it worse, but with the fire under her control, she didn't let it spread. The fire on Link mixed with that on her hands, and she took it all before letting it die.
Part of his tunic was scorched, but she hadn't let it burn him.
He had raised an arm and twisted to watch her since the fire was set closer to his back than his side or front. "You can con-control other fire?"
"If mine mixes with it." She explained, drawing her hands back to look at how badly his tunic was burned, then to the gash in the shoulder. "When we return to Skyloft, I could sew that up for you."
He nodded a bit in response to her second statement, but immediately returned to the first. "S-So if you mixed your f-fire up with like those keese, you'd b-be a-able to control them?"
"I don't know, I haven't tried. Nor do I have much practice with anything more than shooting at things."
With that, they continued on with little problem. They ended up being stopped again by another of the moles, which told them about this 'funny-dressed character'. They said the person was dressed all in black, but didn't remember much else.
Tya and Link figured that wasn't Zelda- she was last seen in pink. She could have found something else, but they figured it could just as easily have been another person. Either way, it was worth investigating, in their minds.
They just had to figure out how to get over to the spot they'd supposedly gone...
They continued down the path until they came across yet another strange creature. This one was just absolutely adorable. They definitely rivaled Remlits, at least in Tya's opinion. The moment it spotted them, it hurried off to hide in a hole carved in the side of a steep hill.
They thought nothing of it up until they went to walk in front of the hole and fire started to shoot out of it. Luckily Tya was in front, and she was the one to catch fire that time. Her thin clothing burned through easily, leaving a hole with singed edges on one of her legs.
"That di-didn't hurt?" Link asked after she pulled back and put it out.
"No."
"You put it o-out quick like it d-did."
"I may not be effected by fire, but my clothes are. I think you and I both would appreciate it if I remained clothed." She lightly touched the edges of her burnt clothing before smiling back at him.
He cleared his throat, blushing a bit before nodding. "O-Oh, y-yeah I didn't th-think about that. S-Sorry."
"If that thing is going to start a wall of fire every time we try to pass, its going to be a problem."
"We c-can use one of th-those bomb things to bl-blow it up."
The thought of having to kill it made her feel awful. They had entered its territory, and it was only scared, trying to protect its home and itself. It wasn't fair to kill it for that, not in her mind.
Biting the inside of her lip she thought it over, stepping to its den again. When the fire started to blow out, she held a hand out and tried to mimic it. Tried to see if she could let fire pour out in the same manner. Hers didn't blow out, it only balled up, but she was able to manipulate it enough to curve around things. She was able to shape it somewhat, but not well enough to mix with the creature's and hold it back.
A sigh left her as she stepped back and nodded.
"I don't think we have any choice then. Do you think you'll be able to roll one in there at a distance?"
He nodded in reply, gesturing for her to move back while he retrieved a nearby bomb flower.
He rolled it from a safe distance; a distance which the creature wasn't blowing fire. After a second a little explosion in the hole caused a terrible screeching sound, and then a small crumbling of rocks inside.
The sound made Tya's heart drop, and she shook her head. "I hope we don't have to do that again..." Her voice cracked a bit as she spoke.
Link tilted his head just slightly at her, appearing to not understand why she was so upset toward it. But he didn't ask any questions, he didn't have the time too. The sound of the small explosion apparently grabbed the attention of those 'red creeps' as others had so accurately referred to them.
One charged forward first, attempting to hit Link only to have it dodged and have its stomach slashed open. Another had rushed Tya, but she lit it up before it got too close. Whether or not it was persisting or simply trying to put out the flame, Tya didn't know, but it continued to run at her with a harshly made club raised. It was easy enough to dodge, given its state. All she had to do was hurry to the side and it ran passed then dropped dead.
By the time hers fell, Link had defeated the remaining one.
Neither said anything, only nodded at each other and started off again. They came to the lowest part of the area- the area where much of the lava nearly overflowed onto flat land, and where on top of said lava, floating, was a strange bridge. Whatever creature once held the bones that made up the makeshift bridge, Tya didn't know. She was just glad she wasn't there to meet it.
Link stepped to the edge before coming to a halt. He looked at the lava beneath the bone just as a hot gust of air came up. He stepped back, coughing and attempting a deep breath before looking at the bridge again. It seemed to be the only way across, but it didn't seem very stable...
Tya looked at him, then to the bridge again. She truly had no idea if lava would affect her. She knew her skin wouldn't burn, but that was against fire. Whether or not it was all heat or just the heat of a flame, she didn't know. Nor did she want to find out, in all honestly. But still, her odds were much better than Link's.
She slipped the pack off, taking a step toward the bridge only to be stopped by a hand pulling her arm.
"I-It isn't safe. Will th-that stuff hurt you?" He motioned generally toward the lava once releasing her.
"I don't know. But my chances are better than yours. I'll test it and see if we can figure a way for you to cross." He seemed reluctant still, but after casting another quick look around, then up to where they'd been told to go, he figured they had little choice.
After getting no response, Tya started again, watching him to see if he'd allow it. When he made no movements to stop her, she turned her attention to the bone. She first nudged it with her foot, and watched as it barely budged. A good sign, meaning it could hold a bit of weight. The fact that it did budge though, made her question for how long.
She stepped out onto it, and it held for a second before beginning to wobble. She could tell the bottom was unbalanced- one side of the bone was thicker than the other because the side that wasn't thick began to dip down into the lava.
She went to take another step forward, but Link reached over and pulled her back before she could. He tugged her back on to land quite roughly, and watched the bone as it shifted back to how it had been at first.
"You w-weren't go-going to make it across that part. It was going to fl-flip." He told her quietly; apologetically.
She looked to the bridge, then back to Link and nodded. "Thank you, then. I'll move quicker."
Once again, he was reluctant, but he released her and stepped back as a silent way to show he wouldn't stop her.
This time, Tya did just as she said she would. She hurried, and just barely made it across without being harmed. On the other side, she stood for a second and looked around before looking back at Link.
"Just... Wait there for a moment, I'm going to see if this is actually worth our time. I don't want you to risk being burned up for something that isn't even worth it."
His body language then made no secret of just how much he disliked the idea, but yet he didn't argue. She did what he'd done to her a dozen times at that point: gave him a smile in hopes of offering consolation. Whether or not it worked, she didn't stick around to see.
She pulled herself up on a ledge just behind her (after a few failed attempts because her muscles were still screaming). Finally when she got up, she looked to the place they needed to be, and then to what she could only describe as a moat of lava around it.
She walked the safe land that lined the moat, searching for a place to get up but found nothing. So she walked it again. By that point, Link had taken a seat on the other side, just watching her curiously with a canteen in his hands.
A second walk across almost gave the same result, until she spotted a weak fall of lava through cracked rocks. The spot was feeble, like it would give with a little more force. A ball of fire was first thrown at it, but it did little to weaken it. Her techniques weren't strong enough, to break it with them would require more time than she wanted to waste.
She turned back to see if Link had any ideas and that was when she noticed more of those bomb flowers. She looked over the route that would be needed in order for the bomb to give enough force to break the plugged up area, then to Link.
"Link, do you think you could try and blow this up with one of those?" She motioned to the bomb flower, then to the plug.
He looked over the route once or twice before replying with "like run i-it, or th-throw it?"
"Throw it."
With that, Link got up, dusting his hands and readying himself before picking up one of the flowers. Tya stepped away from the edge he'd been directed to destroy, and watched as he hurried closer and launched he bomb over. He aimed well, but the throw was too much force and the bomb bounced off, exploding as soon as it hit the lava.
"...Perhaps rolling it? Less force behind a roll." And so Link complied, rolling it across the bridge. The roll lacked precision, though Tya felt it would have been perfect if it was in the right spot. Two more tries provided the same result, but the third finally got it just right.
The Lava from the moat poured into the larger body that separated her and Link, opening the path to the spot they needed to be in. A quick walk of the ledge shown her they now had the access they needed, and so she jumped down and moved to the edge of the bridge.
"It's open, this is the right way. You'll have to cross quick."
He pulled the pack on, then started across. A bit of stumbling at the end, but Tya helped pull him up before any damage could be done. At least so she thought. It was a short distance, but it was enough...
The moment he came across, he doubled over, a hand against his chest like that would help him breathe. A hard cough, and then wheezing made it completely obvious he was having much more trouble than he had in the woods.
Tya hurried to pull the pack off him, setting it down quick so she could help him sit. Once he sat, he started to adjust and Tya tried to help but soon stopped, feeling she was doing little to actually lessen his activity. Finally she just settled a hand over the one he still had against his chest.
The coughing continued, and in between, more wheezing. At first all she did was sit and watch him because she was honestly at a loss. She had no idea how to deal with this, and it took her a second to kick herself into motion.
Her hands drew back and she held them both up and open, then froze like she was resetting herself. Resetting all thoughts- doing her best to wash them away though that never really worked. Focus if she let it show that she was panicking so might he- panicking makes the breathing worse. What helps, what helps-
Mint? Didn't have any.
Tea? Didn't have any and takes too long-
She grabbed one of the flasks they'd packed and opened it, then set her hands on either side of it. Her hands ignited, and the fire curved around the flask but didn't touch it. The water would heat and steam, but the flask wouldn't be ruined.
A stupid decision at first, but she quickly realized her mistake and twisted so the fire wouldn't be near him- so her heat wouldn't make it any more difficult for him to breathe.
He'd closed his mouth at that point, though Tya would have thought that a bad idea. She thought he'd be able to take in more air that way, but she also figured he'd be panicking at that point- she certainly was. If he wasn't panicking, that meant he knew what he was doing. At least that's what she figured. And hoped.
The water heated quickly, to her relief, and after it did she held it closer to him as the steam started to rise out of it. She knew boiling water probably wasn't best for it, but she'd rather have one ruined flask and an alright Link.
She'd been watching his breathing the entire time, watching the rhythm in which he was trying to do it, but with her concentration on not setting the canteen on fire she wasn't able mimic it. With her fire put out, though, she was able to do it as well for no real reason other than to keep him on track if he needed it. Like showing what he needed to continue to do.
It seemed like hours before his breathing started to calm again, though she was positive it wasn't. When he was able to, he lightly pushed away the canteen in her hands. Not in a rude way of course just one that told her silently the steam wasn't needed. She closed it again and set it aside, but not in the pack so she'd be able to grab it quickly just in case.
"Are you alright?" She asked, barely above a whisper though that wasn't intentional. He only nodded in response, showing a brief smile before focusing on his breathing again. The smile was returned and Tya moved to sweep some of his hair aside and out of his face. With the heat it was... sticky. Sweat wasn't pleasant, nor flattering, but she was willing to deal with it. Having hair sucked in while struggling to breathe wasn't something that helped regulate. She knew well, given that her hair hung to her hips. It spent plenty of time in her way.
She rested her hands on either side of his face then sighed and quietly said "Goddess, you're terrifying..."
