The path from the cave went downward, and they were hesitant to continue given their problem with sand before. They decided it was best for Tya to lead as she was the lighter of the two- if anyone was to get stuck in more quick sand, it was better it be the one the other can pull out with little to no effort.
Of all the places they'd been to that point, this had to be the least interesting. Ruins of something lay scattered about in the sand, and crawling atop them allowed them to see the extent of the land they were traveling, but it wasn't a particular exciting sight.
The ruins did have her attention, making her curious as to what could have been there- what kind of beautiful structure used to stand in this desert, but other than that, there was nothing. Sand and things the color of sand, all of which happened to just blend together, making the desert a rather dreadful sight.
Traversing the desert was just as bad as looking at the desert. The only thing mildly interesting that happened about it all was when the pair came across a set of three cages, one of which had a time shift stone, and another with the scraps of metal that suggested a robot was locked away inside at one point in time. The bones of something lay outside the cages, and so upon triggering the time shift stone, they got to meet what had imprisoned the poor little machine to begin with.
It was another of those red pests, though this one was somewhat different than the rest. The previous ones had wielded marred weaponry, but this one had some strange contraption that, upon seeing Link and Tya, lit up with electricity. As they stood up on some of the ruins walls, it was simple enough to take out the one enemy without it getting close, but still, the electricity did concern them a bit. They weren't the least bit prepared to fight something like that at all. It was obvious Link didn't think too much into it though- probably going with a 'we will deal with it when we get to it' solution.
Tya just hoped neither of them would get a nasty shock.
The little prisoner was freed, and in return for it's safety, it decided a little haphazard upgrade to the beetle would be fine repayment. Which it wasn't wrong about- the increased size of the beetles 'pinchers' allowed them to pick up larger, heavier things with it.
The two left the robot be with their newly modified beetle, and they continued on their way. There were multiple bits of dilapidated wall around the sands, all of which had sinksand and statues on and around them, but the pair paid little mind to them. They assumed their destination was the very large and obvious building with a triforce overlooking the land, therefore none of these pieces of wall held what they needed.
The trek became more and more tedious the more they went. They lived rather close to the sun, so their skin didn't burn that easily in the barren lands they walked upon, but that didn't make it any less unpleasant. They may not have been frying, but they were still and uncomfortable. Not to mention it was bright and all around boring.
A couple goddess cubes, bottles of that stamina potion, and enough quicksand to last a life time, and the pair finally reached a semi interesting area.
The ground looked as if it had just fallen in, in this new area. Fallen through, leaving deep chasms which were separated by thin, seemingly unstable paths. Pillars of rock stood here and there, some of which had time shift stones set atop them.
The mine carts placed across the unstable paths and railing that crossed over some of the chasms suggested that this place had fallen long before the robots had found it. They'd built around the fallen land, and now all these conveniently placed rails and time shift stones needed to be used to Link and Tya's benefits. She couldn't quite tell if this was a good thing or something she should be nervous about, but after walking all day in those unbearable sands, a little excitement was due.
"This… doesn't look fun." She muttered, ice blue gaze shifting up to the nearest time shift stone on its 'pedestal' far above them.
"I-I don't see why not." Link flashed a smile back at her before looking toward a broken down mine cart.
"We are going to fall in and die."
"Nahh," He shook his head, stepping forward to peek over the edge. "Th-they s-spent time building all th-this, I d-don't think it's unstable."
"Maybe that's the reason they are all dead. They didn't think it would be unstable either."
"You're just so o-optimistic th-there, Ty."
In all honesty, she didn't think much of the stability of these railways. They were built by other machines, she didn't doubt their stability at all. She had the feeling the work was much more precise than anything a human could have done. But Link was being playful. Unlike he'd been almost all day, he was acting friendly again. And she wanted to play off it, revel in it as much as she could. Just soak it up to remember when his unhappiness returned…
He tapped her wrist lightly, then motioned up to the time shift stone, giving a pretty clear signal that he wanted her to strike it. She raised a hand to do so, but dropped it again soon after and looked to the sky.
"I think… Perhaps we should rest. You haven't slept and I still don't think those stamina potions are going to make up for it." An admission that was made hesitantly and without any eye contact. She didn't know how he'd react, given the pressure the Goddess's Guardian had put on him to continue. It was what had stressed him out all day, she'd been assuming, and therefore such a suggestion may have just been 'out of line'. She had no desire to truly anger him, and for some reason she just couldn't bring herself to force him as she'd done before. If he refused this, though, she may just have to… He needed it, and she couldn't sacrifice their well beings just because that woman thought they didn't make good time.
Link had gone quiet after Tya's suggestion, and he watched her for a second as if he was really considering stopping like she said. That wasn't long lasted though, because he shook his head and started to search his person for the slingshot he had.
"I'm f-fine. We need to go."
"Link, please." She asked once more, softly, reaching out to set a hand over the one he'd grabbed the slingshot with. In response, he just shook his head and slowly drew away from her. He could somehow tell she didn't want to be as stubborn as she had been before, and seemed to think that she wasn't going to at all. For some reason the thought of him being angry with her was nearly terrifying, but not for the reasons they had been before- not out of fear he'd make her go home. She couldn't tell what it was, she just didn't want him to be angry. But even more than that, she didn't want him to be hurt…
She sucked it up. If he was angry, so what? At least he was alright.
She swiftly took the slingshot from his hands, causing him to fumble with a seed he'd pulled from the pouch and drop it on the ground.
"No, you're going to rest."
"We can't, we ha-have to move fast. G-give it back, Tya." He seemed less bent on actually getting back the item, and simply annoyed that he allowed her to get it in the first place. He seemed to know that, after last time, Tya didn't give things back until she got her way.
"We can't move fast if you die from exhaustion. Rest. Now."
"Stop treating me l-like a ch-child."
"Stop acting like a damn child and sleep."
Again, he just watched her for a second before plopping himself roughly on the ground.
He had taken the pack when Tya took the lead, knowing it would be easier to yank her around in the sand without it. It was pretty heavy, and they didn't need it weighing her down any. Not that she was complaining, as stated, it was heavy and she was weak.
When he was on the ground though, Tya moved to pull it off him and drug it to his front where she sat down as well. She sifted through their things until she found food and water, and she set them in his lap.
"It's getting late anyway. I doubt it's a good idea for us to be traveling at night, and I'm sure Zelda and her Guardian agree. They've got to rest at some point as well." Isn't that what he told her when they were in the first temple? Zelda had to sleep some time too.
Link didn't respond, he just spitefully pulled open the wrapper that kept his food and took a bite out of it.
She watched him, sighing heavily at the obvious anger in every move he made.
"Didn't we also agree that we had to take care of ourselves as well as Zelda?"
Again, no response. Just spitefully eating his food.
So she gave up. She stood, grabbing the pack off the ground and unhooking the tightly rolled up tent of theirs. It was simple enough to put together alone, so she did, and laid out both bedrolls in the sand. Night seemed to be falling over them much faster than it had in the previous places, though Tya was rather okay with that. The faster night came and went, the faster they'd be able to keep moving again.
Given the fact that the place was barren, it wasn't going to be easy to come by wood to have a fire. Luckily for them, the place was hot and therefore it didn't really seem like they'd need a fire. The heat was obviously not as intense as it was near the volcano, but she could tell it still bothered Link at times. She was glad they stopped to rest now, even if he was annoyed by it…
By the time she had things set up again, the sky had that bright orange coloring to it that suggested the sun would soon disappear.
She sat in front of Link again, smiling at him and taking one of the canteens of water they'd brought along. She took a drink from it and tilted her head at him.
"Are you still too angry to speak with me?" She asked, swishing the water inside around just a bit before setting the canteen down.
"...No." He said simply, leaning forward a bit and setting his elbows on his knees.
"Can we sleep in that case?" She'd been pretty concerned about Link's well being, to the point she hadn't actually noticed that she hadn't slept either. How she managed to forget that she was tired, she didn't know. But now that she remembered, she just wanted to lie down.
"...Yes." This time said a little more enthusiastically than last, though he still didn't seem all that pleased. He seemed anxious, actually. Understandably so, of course, because so was Tya. But this stuff was necessary, obviously.
Tya scooted back a bit, watching him to see if he'd follow toward the tent. And he did with little reluctance. When he reached his bedroll, he pretty much collapsed onto it, laying there and relaxing for a moment before actually adjusting comfortably into it.
Comfortably, which entailed sitting up again to strip off everything but pants and that long sleeved tan shirt of his.
Tya did the same, sitting straight in her spot to unstrap the curaiss, and then stripping off the chainmail so she was left in only cloth.
It was difficult for her to fall asleep in a place like this, especially as they failed to check the area for enemies. There didn't seem to be danger, but there were plenty of sounds that could suggest otherwise. Simply not knowing made Tya even more uncomfortable.
It wasn't until night really fell that they realized there really was a problem, though…
Without the sun, the desert had no heat. The cold often balanced Tya's temperature, and it was something she'd grown used to with the winds in Skyloft, but it wasn't always comfortable for her. There were days when it was, but that day wasn't one of them. It seemed to be even less comfortable for her normal-temperatured companion.
When it got to be too cold, not only did he wake up from the sleep he'd so quickly fallen into, he curled up as small as he could trying to calm his own shivering.
Tya hadn't started to shiver, but the feeling of her temperature dropping nearly made her sick. Skyloft rarely got that cold, given its position to the sun… As stated, there were cool winds, but that didn't mean the temperature got that low.
Peeking out from his bedroll, Link looked Tya over.
"You're not c-cold?" He asked, muffled by fabric he held up to his face.
"I am. But I'm not shivering to show it."
"...Can I get cl-closer to you?"
Tya shifted so she could extend her arms out toward him, and he very quickly took that as a positive response and shuffled over to her, dragging his bedroll across the ground to stay in it. He collapsed once again into her arms and cuddled to her chest, trying his best to siphon away her warmth.
One arm closed around him, and the other rose to try and ignite a flame. It took a couple tries with her concentration skewed and the fact that she was also cold. But she soon held a flickering flame over both of them.
When Link fell asleep again, she let the fire in her hand die, and set her other arm around him as well. Allowing the heat required for her magic to course through her warmed her back up a little, and if he could fall asleep that meant he was no longer freezing.
She didn't quite know why, but she was having trouble falling asleep… She was exhausted, but at the same time she was anxious. There were too many reasons why, to place which one was the real problem. Little things just piling up.
She pulled Link closer and hid her face in his hair. It should have bothered her, really, given the way both of them had been sweating all day. He smelled like the outdoors mixed with sweat, and it wasn't something she really enjoyed, but he was comforting. Both arms kept tightly around him and her face hidden against him, it seemed to alert him something wasn't right. Not enough that he fully woke up, he just adjusted for a brief second, nuzzling closer and setting an arm around her waist.
The gesture didn't pull her out of her thoughts like she would have liked it to… It helped. It made her feel safer and more wanted, but there were still other things. The time being one. The time, and whether or not Link was going to push himself to the point he hurt himself or even killed himself. She couldn't help but worry about so many things and it was all really numbing… What happened to her confidence? Why did it have to leave? Why couldn't she just stay happy?
Throughout the night, she fell asleep only to be woken up again by borderline nightmares.
All those worries of the undead creatures, the monsters in general, Link killing himself unintentionally, Zelda being taken by Ghirahim, Ghirahim in general- they caught up and they stayed. They tormented her to the point she just… stopped.
Link woke up the next morning as the sun was rising and heat was starting to return to the land. But Tya had already been awake for some time. An hour or so which she just spent laying there. Not wanting to move, not wanting to be there, wanting to go home, but knowing she didn't have the energy to do so or even voice that she wanted it. Why did it matter anyway?
He pulled himself out of her arms and smiled up at her, making a small joke about how she was like his own personal heater. And she smiled in return to it, though she wasn't quite sure it was genuine. It was done instinctively instead of out of amusement.
He crawled out of the tent and went right for the pack, getting food and water for himself. He offered some to Ty, which she refused.
He asked if she was okay and instinctively she said yes, but was she? She couldn't tell. He said they should get going and she agreed despite not actually wanting to move.
And it took her a while to even sit up in her spot.
"Are you al-alright?" Link had watched her move, adjust, and just stare.
"I just… don't feel very good." She replied quietly and dully, closing her eyes for a second before putting on a smile and dragging herself out of the tent.
She felt so weak for some reason… Just standing there was so difficult. She wanted to go lie back down.
"Oh, wha-what's wrong?" He crawled out with her, standing at her side before setting a hand against her face.
She didn't know what the gesture was for, but regardless she leaned into his touch and sighed heavily.
"I didn't sleep well." She responded slowly, closing her eyes and just resting in the hand he'd set there.
"Ah, okay. Th-that kinda n-not feel good. I was tr-trying to see if you were si-sick- like fever. But I realize th-that's a ba-bad idea." He chuckled and watched her leaning on him for a second before tilting his head and smiling. It wasn't until she opened her eyes that she noticed this though, and she immediately drew back out of embarrassment. When Link retracted his hand, it became very obvious very quickly that neither of them really knew what to say, and instead of trying they just turned their focus to the layout before them.
