Chapter 24: Traversing the Realms

"I dropped them somewhere around here." Kid gestured to a broad expanse of downed, perilously leaning trees and flattened brush.

To Tetra, it didn't look much different from any other area in the immediate vicinity, so she was impressed that the Wind Waker could pinpoint a general location, especially since he'd been flying through the air at the mercy of a tornado when he'd lost his bow and quiver.

"Let's start looking then," Link said, taking in the large area they had to search with trepidation. Tetra could tell he was doubtful they would find the items. Honestly, she was as well. But Kid had insisted, and neither of them were going to deny him with how low he'd been lately.

The three of them split up, their eyes alternating between searching the ground and scanning the branches of the few trees still hanging on by their roots.

"How important are they?" Midna asked Kid when they all regrouped after ten minutes had passed without any success. No one had asked the Twilight Princess to help, she'd done so of her own volition, but it was obvious by her tone of voice that she didn't want to look much longer.

"Well…I guess the bow isn't that important," Kid admitted regretfully. "But the quiver is! The Great Fairies upgraded it so it can hold ninety-nine arrows at once."

"When do you even hold that many?" Tetra wondered. Personally, she'd never seen his quiver full.

"When I need to," Kid countered defensively.

Link sighed. "Alright, we'll keep looking."

Tetra was content to stay if only because it meant she didn't have to return to where her counterpart and Anjean were with Gage.

"I found your quiver!" Midna announced five minutes later, causing them all to gravitate towards her voice. The Twili was hovering near a tree that was leaning so heavily that Tetra was surprised it hadn't fallen already. Nestled deep within its branches that had been turned into a labyrinth by trapped twigs and foliage, Tetra could just make out Kid's quiver.

"Can you get it down?" Link asked.

Midna sized up the twisting branches and forest debris in her way. "I think so. Step back just in case the tree falls." Once they all did so, the Twilight Princess lost her solidity and became a shadowy figure. She slipped like water among the nest of forest mess until she reached Kid's quiver.

After some rather strong yanking and pulling that Tetra was sure would topple the tree, Midna freed the quiver from its wooden prison and delivered it into Kid's awaiting hands. He thanked her immediately.

"Is it alright?" Link wondered, stepping closer to Kid to see for himself. Tetra did the same.

"Yeah," Kid replied after a moment, turning it over in his hands. Tetra noticed that one of the arrows inside was snapped, and reached over, plucking it out of the container.

"Your arrows are messed up," she said, taking out more and more defective arrows as she found them and dropping them to the stick and leaf strewn ground. Kid frowned, beginning to pick out the broken projectiles as well.

"We can get you more arrows," Link said, causing Kid to nod absentmindedly in agreement.

"Alright, I found the quiver. The rest of you have to step up your game to find the bow," Midna teased with a mischievous grin.

Tetra embraced the Twili's challenge with open arms, as did Kid and Link. Their searching then took on a new identity and was executed with much more fervor than before, though it may have been less because of the challenge and more because Midna had found half of what they were looking for, and thus, proven that it was possible to find the lost items in the mess that the forest had become.

When the young pirate captain found the bow, she almost didn't realize it. In fact, she probably only recognized it for what it was because she'd tripped over it and taken the time to glare at it menacingly.

"Oi, Kid! I hope you didn't like your bow as much as your quiver," Tetra called, stooping to pick up the broken tool. It looked more like a snapped stick than a bow.

"Why?" Kid wondered. "Did you find it?"

"Yeah, come here," Tetra returned.

Kid hurried over and snatched the broken bow from her hands. He didn't say a word. Nonetheless, she could read him like a book. Her best friend had cherished his bow just as much as his quiver.

Link seemed to notice this as well when he joined them and took in the damage. "Let me see it. Maybe I can fix it."

Glumly, Kid passed over the wreckage, and Link took it with an uncertain expression etched on his face. Link's expression aside, Tetra could plainly see by the state of the bow that he would not be able to fix it. The bowstring was completely snapped off, which wouldn't have been much of a problem if it had been the only part of the bow that had sustained damage. Unfortunately, the pale, polished wood was also snapped in three places and half of the metal pieces were missing.

Slinging an arm around her best friend's shoulders, Tetra shot him a wink. "Don't worry. We'll just take advantage of Anjean and get you a new bow as soon as we come across a town." People here had to have bows to hunt with at the very least. Even if they didn't have a bow suitable for Kid, surely there was someone around that they could coerce to make one for him.

Kid didn't look entirely convinced but offered her a wan smile.

"Sorry, Kid," Link said, sounding as if he really was sorry as he set the broken bow on the ground. Personally, Tetra didn't see why. It was just a bow. It wasn't like it had been a magical, irreplaceable one or anything.

"You're too sentimental," Tetra commented, her arms tucked casually behind her head as they began the trek back to the others.

"I am not," Kid refuted.

"You are," Tetra insisted. "It's just a bow."

"And your necklace is just a necklace," Kid countered in the same blasé tone she'd taken.

"No, it isn't! My necklace is special!" Tetra cried, suddenly defensive herself. Her necklace was precious and not just because her mother had given it to her. It was a fragment of the Triforce of Wisdom for Goddesses' sake! It didn't get much more special than that. "It happens to be an ancient artifact."

"So was my bow," Kid said.

Tetra scoffed. "No, it wasn't."

"Yes, it was."

"Then why'd it break?"

"Because it's old," Kid stressed with a definitive frown on his face.

Tetra shrugged. "All the more reason for you to get a new one."

Kid didn't say anything to that, and Tetra took his silence as a sign of her victory. Nonetheless, an uncomfortable, twisting feeling settled in her stomach and didn't show any signs of abating as they drew closer to where they had left Zelda, Anjean, and Gage.

Their quest to retrieve Kid's lost belongings had gobbled up enough time for Gage to awaken. Now the two Lokomo and Princess Zelda were all situated on the ground in a disorderly half circle, deep in discussion. The worry lines creasing all of their faces appeared out of place to Tetra considering that they had just won a battle against an evil spirit and everyone was still alive and unhurt.

"What's the problem now?" Midna wondered, catching onto their companions' unjustified dark moods just as Tetra had.

Zelda opened her mouth to answer but Gage jumped to his feet before she could and bowed deeply to the four of them. Tetra stiffened at the gesture, briefly glancing down at her legs to confirm that a flowing pink skirt did not cover them.

"You have my utmost gratitude for expelling that evil spirit from me," Gage thanked them. "I am terribly sorry for dragging you kind people into this."

"Don't worry about it," Link told him, a small nuance in his voice telling Tetra that he was just as uncomfortable with the formal gratitude as she was. "It's what we do."

"Yes, I can see that," Gage returned warmly, finally straightening and allowing them to see his lively green eyes. They weren't glowing. Not like Anjean's or Carben's when they were soul-seeing but they were bright. Much brighter than seemed normal. Immediately, Tetra got the impression that this man was a very bubbly person. She wasn't sure she was ready to deal with bubbly and kept a careful frown pasted on her own face.

Gage must have caught on to her negative vibes for his smile fell a second later, and his tone took a graver turn. "Unfortunately, the spirit that possessed me caused far more people trouble than all of you. The Forest Sanctuary was completely destroyed along with the surrounding villages."

The news nearly took her breath away but she didn't know why. Shouldn't she have expected something like this?

"Is everyone alright?" Kid asked timidly.

Gage gave a slight shake of his head. "I do not know. The evil spirit did not linger past initial destruction of the villages."

"That's why we need to go there and help!" Anjean exclaimed, jumping to her feet with worry in her eyes.

"We are," Link assured her with a determined nod. He didn't need to consult the rest of them. It went without saying that they'd help. As Link had said before, it was what they did. "How far is the nearest village?"

"An hour by horse. Walking….double at least," Gage reported grimly.

Link swore. "We should've kept the horses."

"Maybe we can find them again?" Kid suggested, though he didn't sound like he believed that they could.

"Let's just walk," Tetra said, crossing her arms over her chest as a wayward gust of wind blew past. It was cold anyway, and she didn't want to sit atop a horse only to grow colder. "Lead the way."

Gage was more than happy to do so. Unfortunately, he was still weak from being possessed and had to lean heavily on Anjean at first. Thankfully, as they continued Gage became more and more capable of walking without a crutch and their pace increased.

If she had the stamina, Tetra would have run all the way there. People were dying right this very moment all because of them. Because they'd lost against Ghirahim. And she had no power to stop it.

What were the other possessed Lokomo doing right now? Destroying more villages? More lives? More people? Is this how the princess of Hyrule felt so long ago when her kingdom was overrun with Ganon's monsters and all she could do was run to the mountains?

More importantly, how was she supposed to fix this when it was all over? Could she lead these people to recovery after their way of life had been disrupted in such a violent manner? Even with Anjean's blessing, would these people follow her knowing that, though she helped save them, she was the reason they needed saving in the first place?

Tetra looked to Gage, noting his garb that was so like the other two Lokomo she'd met thus far. Billowing tan sleeves with embroidered berry-colored vines covered his arms and a loose jade green tunic hung off his slight frame. Tan pants and short brown boots added to his forest-y look, and a circular charm, much like the one Anjean wore in her hair, hung around his neck. He even sported an odd hair color, making his already bushy hair-do look like an actual bush atop his head.

Sure, he was grateful for what they'd done for him and what they were doing, but would the other people of this land feel the same way? Would Gage even feel the same way when he knew that they had brought this evil to their peaceful land? She opened her mouth to ask, the Forest Guardian Lokomo's name on the tip of her tongue, before she decided against it. Who said they had to admit to being the cause anyway?


When Gage said the villages had been destroyed, he hadn't been exaggerating. It was hard to imagine all the wood and downed trees ever being houses. Shards of glass twinkled in the sunshine filtering down from above, adding to the treachery of the devastated village.

They had barely taken a step in before Link stopped and turned to her and Kid. "You two stay here."

"What?!" Tetra cried in outrage. "Why should we?"

"Because I said so."

"That's not an answer," Tetra growled, brushing past him only to be yanked back. Hard.

"Ow!" Tetra said loudly to express her discomfort. Link's grip didn't ebb.

"I mean it. Stay here."

She wrenched herself out of Link's grip with difficulty. "Why? What's the big deal if we go too?"

"Just…" Link's eyes flicked to Kid, then back to her defiant face, and he heaved a sigh. "We don't know what we're going to find."

"We didn't know what we were going to find in that other village either and-"

Link cut her off, his voice low but somehow still managing to sound as if he was shouting. "That other village was different. We didn't know what happened there but we know what happened here so…" Link trailed off, seeming to grapple with his words before ending with, "we know what we can expect."

Tetra glared up into his fierce sapphire eyes with her own, but not because she was dismissing his words. It was because she understood them and his concern. They knew firsthand what the evil spirit possessing Gage had done here because he'd told them. A tornado had torn through this place so many of the people that lived in this village were bound to be injured. And dead.

Link didn't want them going because he didn't want them seeing that. She didn't want to see that. And yet, she didn't want Link winning this argument.

"I'll remain here as well," Zelda spoke up as if that would make any difference. Tetra redirected her glare to her counterpart to show that it didn't.

However, it apparently made a difference to Link, for he took a step back, and, with one last long look at the three of them, he turned on his heel, running after the two Lokomo who had gone ahead.

As if she believed Tetra was going to take off after the Hero of Twilight, Princess Zelda put a hand on her shoulder. Tetra shrugged her off with a huff, turning her back on the ruined village and stomping back the way they'd come.

"Wait, Tetra," Zelda called after her, but Tetra didn't pay her any attention. She simply continued on her mission to nowhere and eventually settled down against a tree that hadn't been entirely uprooted, just partially, so that it formed a somewhat uncomfortable seat, but a seat nonetheless.

Tetra sat there with her arms crossed, stewing in her own poisonous thoughts, so she didn't notice her counterpart approach. Only when a swath of black fabric was draped around her did she snap out of her own mind long enough to take note of the princess.

"If you were cold, why didn't you speak up?" Princess Zelda asked.

Tetra drew the princess's much too large, but delightfully warm, cloak around herself. "Because it's none of your business."

"It will be if you fall ill."

"I won't." Tetra scowled at the ground, loathing her counterpart for implying that she was a child that needed to be cared for. Of course, Zelda had implied it plenty of times before, but this time was different. This time, Tetra was starting to believe her.

If she were really an adult as she so often claimed to be, then she wouldn't be sitting here right now. She'd be in that ruined village doing something productive. Something helpful. But she had allowed Link to ban her from entering the remains of the village because she didn't want to enter it. She was too scared to enter it. Which was ridiculous. She'd seen death before.

A rustle in the mass of shrubbery off to her right caused her to flinch and reach for her dagger. She felt Kid and Zelda tense beside her too, feeling for their own weapons. The three of them waited, still as stone and hardly daring to breathe as they stared at the shuddering greenery.

Just when Tetra was losing patience, a blur of white and green burst into the open and came to a brief stop in front of them. Tetra could scarcely take note of the creature's beady eyes, four little legs, long ears, and fluffy white ball of a tail before it darted farther into the downed forest and out of sight.

"What was that?" Tetra demanded, craning her neck to try to catch sight of the odd thing. She'd been expecting a monster, but it hadn't looked like any vicious monster she knew of.

"It was a rabbit," Zelda supplied with a relieved looked on her face. Her tense posture had melted away, it seemed, at the sight of the so-called "rabbit". "You don't have rabbits on the Great Sea, I presume?"

Tetra shook her head along with Kid, a scowl on her face. This was the second time she'd been surprised by an unfamiliar animal.

"Are they dangerous at all?" Kid wondered, curiosity evident in his voice.

"No," Zelda replied. "They are often hunted for food and occasionally kept as pets as well."

"So…like wild pigs," Tetra said, though she kept a firm grip on her dagger.

"I suppose so," Zelda conceded.

"And are they normally so skittish?" Tetra asked, causing Kid to become tense again. She rolled her eyes. Of course he wouldn't have thought that the animal could have been running from something.

"Yes," the princess answered, though her gaze traveled back to the mangled bush the rabbit had raced out of as if she wasn't entirely convinced herself.

They waited for a minute or so, watching the shrubbery for any signs of danger.

"Maybe a Skulltula scared it farther down?" Kid proposed when nothing presented itself.

"Perhaps," Zelda agreed, though there were scarcely any trees left standing to provide cover for the oversized arachnids.

The three of them remained vigilant until Link and the Lokomo returned from their rescue mission.

Judging by the grim looks on their faces, it hadn't gone well.

"Well?" Tetra demanded when no one said anything.

"Nothing," Link said.

"Nothing?" Tetra echoed, skeptical. They couldn't have been gone that long only to find nothing. Yet, she didn't see anyone new with them either…

"Nothing" he confirmed.

"We didn't find anyone alive but we didn't find enough…" Anjean trailed off, leaving a pregnant pause before continuing. "The point is, the people that survived had to have left."

"Where could they have gone?" Zelda inquired.

This time, Gage answered. "The Forest Sanctuary is the most likely place."

"So we're heading to the sanctuary now," Tetra clarified.

"Yes," Anjean said. "It's where everyone would have gone, and there are villages between here and the sanctuary we can check too."

"Fine, let's go," Tetra declared, rising and shedding her counterpart's cloak.

Just like that, they were off once more, trekking through the thoroughly windblown forest. Every now and then, Anjean blew into her flute, supposedly to keep Skulltulas away. Other than that, there was no conversation as they traveled.

The next village they arrived at was no better off than the last and a quick sweep executed by Link and the Lokomo determined that it, too, was abandoned. At least, they all assumed the villages were abandoned because the alternative was too gruesome.

It took almost three more hours of trudging through the forest before Link reported hearing voices ahead. As Gage and Anjean led them farther, Tetra began to pick up on the voices too, though she couldn't quite make out what they were saying. One thing was for certain. The voices belonged to people. Living people.

The promise of civilization spurred their already tired feet on and soon enough they found themselves at the edge of what used to be a village. Like the others, it was destroyed beyond recognition. Unlike the others, men, women, and children were milling around and still others laid on the ground wherever people had managed to clear space. Shouting and screaming and crying filled the air as the most capable adults tried to create some order and the young, injured and dying panicked. It was almost worse than the silence of the previous two villages. No one had noticed them yet.

Thanks to Gage and Anjean, that didn't last for long. The two Lokomo rushed into the chaos immediately to help. The noise only grew with their entrance as Gage and Anjean began to heal any injured they could find, which wasn't difficult considering that everyone seemed to be wounded somewhere. Even so, there were only two of them, and they could only work so fast.

Tetra turned to Zelda. "The potions."

"We don't have ma-" her counterpart began to object.

"I know, and I don't care," Tetra cut in. Nearly everyone in the village needed medical attention and two healers couldn't attend to them all at once. The least they could do was distribute the potions as evenly as they could to help the ones the worst off until Anjean or Gage could tend to them.

Kid seemed to agree for he pulled out a blue potion from his bag, and with a bit of hesitance Link did the same.

"We don't need potions if we have Anjean with us," Tetra pointed out, which erased any reluctance Link held and swayed her counterpart to remove a couple bottles of blue potion from her satchel.

The young pirate captain grabbed a blue potion out of the princess's hand and with that the four of them split up, focusing on the areas where the Lokomo weren't.

Every person Tetra laid eyes on was bleeding from somewhere, and it gave her pause. Who should she give it to? Should she give a sip to each person? There wasn't even enough for that. Three villages worth of people were gathered here. She tightened the grip on the bottle, cradling it in two hands. The medicine was precious here and if she decided wrong more people might die before the Lokomo could reach them.

Logic told her to tend to the people that appeared to be the most injured so that's what she attempted to do. However, she quickly found that those the worst off were laying immobile on the ground, unconscious, and pouring anything down their throats could make them choke.

She cast her gaze around for another idea, her eyes landing on the form of a little boy sitting on the ground, bloodied and sobbing. Marching over to the child, Tetra knelt down in front of him and uncorked the bottle. All the while, he didn't seem to take note of her presence. Only when she held the bottle out to him and ordered him to drink did he pause in his wailing.

"It's medicine," Tetra told him.

He stared up at her, teary-eyed and fearful.

She pushed the bottle a little closer to his face, inviting him to drink some, but he twisted away and began to cry again. A frustrated frown fell onto her face. She didn't know how to deal with children, and yet she wanted to help this one. How ridiculous was that?

Tetra remained crouched there for a moment longer before standing and turning to find another person, preferably not a child, to help. It wasn't hard, and in moments she'd stopped a middle-aged woman who had previously been busy tending to the injured despite the fact that she herself was injured. Cuts stood out bright and angry red on her arms.

"This is medicine," Tetra asserted, holding up the bottle for the woman to see. "You can have some of it. It won't heal you but it will dull the pain."

The woman appeared startled but she quickly recovered. "Oh, don't give it to me. Here, I'll show you who needs it."

Grateful that some of the weight of deciding was off of her shoulders, Tetra trailed after the woman to a group of people stretched out on the ground that were not unconscious but clearly heavily wounded. Tetra set to work immediately, distributing the potion among all the people the woman showed her to as fast and as evenly as she could.

All too quickly, she found herself holding an empty bottle and seeking out one of her companions for a full one. However, when she finally found Zelda, the princess was out of blue potion. In fact, when the two of them met up with Kid and Link later, it was discovered that they were all potion-less, and therefore, useless.

Fortunately, the Lokomo seemed to be regaining order with every person they healed and in the matter of an hour the ruined village was much calmer than before. Tetra would attribute it only to the fact that no one was dying anymore, but when Gage and Anjean stood up in front of the crowd of villagers, it became apparent that more than just physical wellness was maintaining the peace.

"We have all lost much as of late," Gage announced as if the rubble they were all standing amongst wasn't evidence enough. "Our peaceful lands have been thrown into turmoil by an evil that has infiltrated The Realms and corrupted one of our own."

Fearful whispers rustled through the crowd like wind through leaves and Gage swiftly raised a hand to silence them. "Even so, the good outnumber the ill, and we will prevail. Rest assured that you are under both mine and Anjean's care now and will come to no more harm so long as you follow our instructions.

"That said, we cannot remain here. It is not safe. We will relocate to Poplar Village tomorrow morning. That is all." Gage stepped aside, then, and the villagers' mutters increased, no longer restrained by respect.

"Why tomorrow morning?" Tetra wanted to know. "Why not now?"

"I must retrieve my cello from the Forest Sanctuary," Gage replied, an apologetic look on his face. "Anjean and I can't cast a strong enough protection spell without performing a sacred duet."

"Didn't you say the Forest Sanctuary was destroyed?" Link recalled.

"Yes," the bushy-haired man confirmed, "but my instrument should still be there."

"Would it be possible to use a different sacred instrument for the duet?" Zelda wondered. Tetra knew she was thinking of the Goddess Harp.

"Unfortunately, the instrument is vital to the duet's song, so substituting another will not suffice."

"It will be okay," Anjean assured them, though she sounded desperate as she said it. "Gage and I will go get his instrument and come back before you even know we're gone."

Gage, however, had other plans. "Anjean, I'd like you to stay here."

"Why?"

"Because one of us needs to stay for the sake of the people," Gage explained, his tone gentle. "Besides, you need to rest. This is the most healing you've ever done."

"I'm fine," Anjean insisted, though as Tetra examined the Lokomo girl's face, she had to admit that Anjean's face did look drawn and drained of its usual vibrancy. "It's too dangerous for you to go alone, anyway."

"I'm sure one of our friends will be willing to escort me," Gage returned, looking meaningfully at Tetra, Link, Zelda, and Kid.

The four of them exchanged uncertain glances. None of them knew this place well, and if Vivian did show up again, it didn't seem like they would be much of a match for her.

"Link, Kid, why don't you two go with Gage, and Tetra and I will stay here?" the princess proposed finally.

With some reluctance, the two boys agreed. Gage then offered Anjean a small, endearing smile, one that a big brother would give to his little sister. "I'll be back soon." Without leaving ample time for the purple-haired girl to protest, the Guardian of the Forest Realm departed with Link and Kid at his heels.

Tetra frowned as she watched them go. She didn't want to be stuck here with Anjean and Zelda. No doubt Midna was going with the boys as well since she had constrained herself to the shadows for the better part of the day just in case they happened upon anyone. The Twili had to be itching for some freedom by now, and she certainly couldn't show herself here without freaking everyone out, which meant Tetra was on her own. Perfect.

"We should get some fires going before night falls," Anjean spoke up, turning Tetra's attention to the sky. They still had a good few hours left of light by her estimate. Still, she didn't object to the idea. Fire was warm, and she was cold.

In a matter of minutes, she, Zelda, and Anjean were joined by a few of the villagers that were more mentally recovered than the others, and the group of them set to work gathering firewood. If there was one good thing about the destruction around them, it was that it had made firewood as plentiful as grains of sand on a beach.

In no time at all, they had managed to both clear some of the debris and set up blazing bonfires in multiple locations around the ruins.

Tetra would have been content to just stand as close to one of the fires as she could get without burning herself, but her stomach reminded her of another problem. "How much food do we have, Zelda?"

"Not enough to feed everyone, if that's what you're thinking," her counterpart returned.

Curse her. That's exactly what Tetra had been thinking. "Can't we split it up somehow?"

In reply, the princess opened her satchel and the two of them surveyed their meager food supply, quietly planning how they could divide the bread, water, and dried fruit into as many morsels as possible without reducing them to drops or crumbs. Much to Tetra's annoyance, her counterpart was right. There was no way they would be able to divide it all amongst everyone here. They needed more food for that.

Tetra only had one more idea. "Anjean, is there any food to find in this forest?"

The Lokomo girl seemed to be dozing off but jumped at her name. "Well…" she trailed off, her gaze going unfocused as if she was listening intently to something. Suddenly, her eyes brightened, and she turned to Tetra with joy in her eyes. "There is! There's an apple orchard nearby."

"Where?" Tetra asked, getting to her feet and brushing dirt off her knees.

"I'll show you," Anjean offered, getting to her feet as well.

Tetra scowled at that. "Just point me in the right direction. I can find it."

"You shouldn't go alone," the princess berated her.

"Then come with me," Tetra invited her, though she didn't much enjoy Zelda's company either.

"Why don't we all go?" Anjean suggested. "We can carry more back that way."

Unfortunately, Tetra couldn't think of an excuse to shoot down Anjean's proposal, so she soon found herself trailing after Anjean with Princess Zelda by her side. The surrounding trees didn't fare any better than the village and as they followed Anjean, weaving amongst the wreckage, Tetra mused that it would be a wonder if they were able to find any food in the orchard.

"Here it is," Anjean announced ten minutes later. The orchard wasn't any more impressive than the rest of the flattened forest.

"Are there even apples left?" Tetra wondered, stepping over a skinny log.

"I don't know," Anjean returned with a shrug. "That's why we have to look."

"If we take into account the direction the trees were blown, the fruit must have been blown the same way," Zelda reasoned, causing them all to look beyond the downed trees to where their leafy arms were pointing.

Tetra was the first to find an apple. It was bruised and a mixture of scarlet and green, but it was probably still edible seeing as it wasn't smashed. Shortly after her discovery, Anjean reported finding another and Zelda yet another. They came across a treasure trove of the fruit, then, and each girl began collecting as many as she could carry.

Once their arms were full, they hurried back to the village to distribute the fruit to those they could before returning to the orchard for more apples.

On their third trip back to the orchard, they found trouble. Granted, they probably wouldn't have run into it if Tetra hadn't pushed to go farther into the forest. In her defense, the supply of available apples had been dwindling so it wasn't unreasonable for her to search farther for more. At least, that's what she told herself as she dodged a snapping Deku Baba and drew her dagger.

The plant monster was oddly colored and textured, unlike the Boko Babas she knew from home and the Deku Babas from her counterpart's world. She simply assumed it was a Deku Baba since its appearance was closer to that than a Boko Baba. Still, she'd never known either plant monster to possess a golden hue or sickly teal tongue. She could only assume it was something Ghirahim had created, and if that was the case, Fi probably knew what it was. Unfortunately, Fi wasn't here.

She stared the creature down, willing it to give her an opening. However, no matter how she stared or feinted, the plant monster followed her every move.

"Leave it," Zelda advised, coming up beside her and taking her arm. "There's no point in risking injury when we can go around it."

Tetra shook off her counterpart's touch with a huff but did as she said.

"It doesn't have a soul," Anjean reported, eyeing the Deku Baba as they passed it. "Maybe we should turn back. If they don't have souls I can't see them and we might be ambushed."

"We'll be fine," Tetra said, dismissing Anjean's concern with a roll of her eyes.

Zelda put hand to the sword at her hip. "We're not staying much longer. I agree with Anjean. This isn't safe."

Tetra scoffed at that. None of this was safe. There was no such thing as "safe" in the world.

Suddenly, the soil under her feet shifted, and a hand clamped around her ankle, causing her to drop the apples she was carrying. With a violent jerk of her leg, she reclaimed her appendage from the grotesque monster crawling up from the ground.

"Not these things again!" Tetra exclaimed in exasperation, hopping back to relative safety. She hated dealing with the Cursed Bokoblins before, and she wasn't in any mood to deal with them now.

"We're leaving," Zelda declared, taking a step back to flee.

"We can't," Tetra shot back. "We'd only lead them back to everyone else. We need to kill them." Plus, she'd dropped precious food near them. They had to get that back.

Three more of the bloated monsters had risen while they'd been conversing, and Tetra gripped her dagger tighter. None of them had bombs or knew how to execute an ending blow.

But they had Anjean, and she turned out to be enough.

Despite her apparent fatigue, the Lokomo girl was fast to leap into battle and flaunt her fighting prowess in Tetra's face. Tetra immediately joined the fray, unwilling to be shown up by anyone, least of all Anjean.

Unfortunately for the pirate captain, her limbs were stiff from the cold so the young Lokomo ended up dealing most of the damage to their enemies.

Soon enough, the monsters were nothing more than dust to add to the decimated forest floor, and Tetra was left gripping her trusty dagger, a weight of uselessness settling heavy in her chest.

Silently, almost broodingly on Tetra's part, the three of them gathered the apples they had dropped in the heat of battle and hurried back to the village. They would have to make do with what they had managed to gather because going back into the forest was only asking for trouble.

Fortunately, they had procured just enough to cut and divide the fruit semi-evenly among the rest of the villagers, which saved their own food supply, though that quickly dwindled as Tetra, Zelda, and Anjean dipped into it. It dwindled even further when the guys returned an hour later and was completely wiped out when Link took pity on some little kids that Tetra had definitely made sure to feed before herself not even two hours ago. She couldn't bring herself to be too angry about it, though. Her initial idea had been to share their food supplies.

As true night fell, everyone settled down wherever they managed to clear debris. Sleep was elusive for most, but especially for Tetra and her companions who knew of the monsters lurking somewhere in the shadows of the fallen forest.

Upon their comrades' return, Tetra, Zelda, and Anjean had shared the tale of their monster encounter, and it had been agreed that they would need to set up watches for the night. Midna was to take the first half of the night, while Link took the second. Even so, Tetra found herself lying awake until well into Link's shift.

The morning that greeted them wasn't a cheery one. It was gray and drab and smelled of rain. The rain found them about halfway through their trek to the village that Gage swore was safe, softening the already unstable ground and making it even more treacherous.

Tetra shivered, loathing boiling in her veins. As if her and her companions' job of keeping an eye out for monsters wasn't hard enough, now they had rain to contend with too. Unfortunately, none of them had control over the weather, so they had to grin and bear it, or in Tetra's case, scowl and bear it, as they continued.

The rain, it seemed, hadn't deterred the monsters, and Tetra soon found herself fighting off Bokoblins that should be dead and gold Deku Babas, classified as Quadro Babas by Fi, to protect the stream of homeless people she was escorting to safety.

Every now and then, there would be a break in monster attacks, and then they would start all over again, leaving Tetra, Link, Kid, Zelda, and sometimes even Gage and Anjean, scrambling to prevent the creatures from attacking the villagers, most of which didn't make things any better by screaming and trying to run like sane people would at any sign of mortal danger. Both Link and Kid had to run after terrified children multiple times to round them up and return them to the group.

By the time they finally reached Poplar Village, the rain had stopped and dusk was closing in. Everyone was exhausted from the trek, and for once, Tetra was grateful that she wasn't the one in charge. She was chilled to the bone even though the rain had stopped hours ago, her legs ached from what she'd put them through today, and to top it all off, her sandals had rubbed several painful blisters into her heels. To put it lightly, she was not in a pleasant mood.

That was why it was probably best for everyone when Tetra was directed to a soft bed and promptly fell asleep, the echoes of some unfamiliar tune meeting her ears.


"It's not much but these should work," Anjean announced the next morning, reentering the hut they'd all shared the night before with bundles of cloth in her arms.

Tetra eyed the pile of clothes warily as the Lokomo girl set them down on a rickety table. They needed appropriate gear for the Snow Realm, but that wasn't what had the pirate girl on edge. Rather, it was the fact that she needed new clothes entirely. And she'd already made herself quite clear before Anjean had left to gather what she could where she stood on that subject. Still, Tetra couldn't help but say it again as she approached the pile with her companions.

"I am not wearing a dress."

A fearful look passed over Anjean's face. "Sorry, there isn't much that can be spared."

"Tetra, now isn't the time to be picky," Link spoke up as he rifled through the pile, quickly finding a coat that looked to be his size.

She shot him a dagger-filled glare. "I'm not being picky. I'm being practical. A dress will restrict my movements and make it harder to fight." Besides, dresses were for dainty little girls with mothers to care for them, not fierce pirate captains like herself.

"You wore a dress during the battle with Ghirahim, and I didn't see it stopping you from shooting a bow," Link returned in a blasé manner.

"We lost that battle, you idiot," Tetra shot back hotly. If she wasn't so confident that Link would dismiss her claim, she would have continued to point out that her wearing as dress as Zelda was different. She'd had no choice, and she still didn't see herself as the same person as that fair-skinned, timid girl so her wearing a dress then didn't count as her wearing a dress.

"Yeah, but not because you couldn't move around," Link muttered, helping Kid look through the pile to find a coat that would fit him.

"You don't have to wear a dress," Zelda said, drawing the young pirate captain's skeptical eye. Anjean had practically said that, besides coats, dresses were the only articles of clothing in the pile before them. Tetra sincerely doubted the princess would order the young Lokomo to exert her power and obtain more masculine clothing for them. Then again, that wasn't a half bad idea…

Before Tetra could take action, her counterpart turned to address Anjean, "Are we permitted to keep these?"

"The ones that you use, yes," Anjean replied with a nod.

Zelda inclined her head in understanding, stepping closer to the pile of multicolored fabrics and fingering a few. Her icy eyes snapped up to meet Tetra's, and she was surprised when she saw…well, not quite ice there. "I'll use the fabric from these to make you something you like."

Tetra furrowed her brow, unsure. What was Zelda playing at? "What's the catch?"

"There is no catch," Zelda replied, appearing almost sad that Tetra thought there was. "I'm not going to force you to wear a dress if you don't want to."

Alright, something was definitely wrong with her counterpart. Since when did Zelda care about what she wanted?

"I don't think we exactly have time for you to sew her an entire outfit." Link interjected, addressing Zelda.

"I can help her," Midna piped up from where she was lounging on the edge of the wooden table.

"You know how to sew?" Tetra wondered, skeptical. It didn't seem like a thing Midna would know how to do.

"Not by choice, but yeah," Midna returned with a wry grin.

"We can have it finished by tonight if we start soon, and besides," Zelda added, her gaze drifting to Kid, "Kid needs a new bow before we depart."

"Aww, I didn't know that. I would've asked about it too when I was gathering the clothes." Anjean pouted, but she perked up almost instantly. "I'll go ask now but you should come with me for sizing purposes."

Kid's expression said it all. He did not want to go anywhere with Anjean. And for good reason. Who knew what she might do to him? Thankfully, Link offered to go along too, and the three of them left together a minute later.

With the others gone, Zelda and Midna got down to business, seeming more excited than the situation warranted. First, they had Tetra pick out dresses she liked for their fabric. This in itself was a challenge, since many of the dresses either boasted flowery designs or scratchy cloth. However, with some digging, Midna managed to help her find three different fabrics she liked. After that, Zelda took some measurements and then shooed her outside so that she and Midna could get to work without any distractions.

Tetra sought out Kid, Link, and Anjean, and eventually found them, discovering that they had managed to track someone down to provide a bow for Kid. Unfortunately, the bow needed to be made and wouldn't be ready until tomorrow. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though, since all of them could use the extra rest.

The remainder of the day consisted of helping the villagers in any way they could and Tetra sporadically being pulled aside by Zelda to try things on for size.

Come the next morning, Tetra was newly clothed and Kid had a shiny new bow to call his own. Zelda and Anjean had also donned warmer dresses, Anjean's of course sporting large, flowy sleeves in which she could conceal her knives. With no other reason to delay, they set off for the Snow Realm.

"Tetra, did you thank Zelda and Midna for that?" Link asked, indicating her new outfit with a nod of his head.

She looked down at herself, taking in the brown boots that hugged her calves, the grey pants, the royal blue long-sleeved shirt, and white vest. It wasn't much different from what she normally wore. In fact, the outfit was so similar that she was able to keep her bandana around her neck and the matching cloth around her waist without either piece looking out of place.

"She doesn't have-" Zelda began but Link cut her off.

"She does! You two spent all day on that for her."

Tetra rolled her eyes, annoyed that Link was right. "Thank you, Zelda and Midna," she intoned.

"You're welcome," Zelda returned.

"You're a princess so you have to look good at all times. We're just helping, princess to princess," Midna said with a grin.

Tetra scowled. "Don't call me a princess."

"But you are," Midna pointed out. "You can't only take the title when it's convenient for you."

"Yes, I can," Tetra argued. She folded her arms behind her head and shot one of her signature winks at Midna. "After all, I'm a princess. I can do whatever I want."

Midna laughed so hard that Tetra swore she'd fall out of the air. Thankfully, she didn't. "Can't argue with that!"

With a smirk, Tetra turned to Kid, sure she would've gotten at least a smile out of him for that, but his expression was decidedly neutral. Her own smirk fell into a determined frown.

Suddenly, Tetra was all too aware of Kid's depressed mood and an iciness slinked up her spine that had nothing to do with their surroundings. In fact, she was warmer than she'd been in days thanks to her new clothes. What chilled her was her own neglect. She'd been so wrapped up in her own personal miseries that she had become indifferent to her best friend's. And his were far worse than hers, when she really took the time to consider it. Tetra's expression hardened into one of resolve, then. She'd have to cheer Kid up somehow.

When they reached the Snow Realm that afternoon, Tetra found her opportunity.

"Hey, Kid, look. I'm Valoo." She cupped her hands around her mouth and breathed out, the cold taking her breath and transforming it into a stream of misty cloud.

She watched Kid closely as she did it, and it was a good thing she did for otherwise she would have missed the small smile that flashed on his face.

"Ah ha!" Tetra pointed accusingly at him. "I saw that!"

Kid instantly turned his face away from her in an attempt to deny it, but Tetra wouldn't let him. She marched over to walk on the other side of him, blowing a stream of fake dragon smoke in his face.

The Hero of Winds swatted it away, trying to hold back a smile and failing. "Tetra."

"Come on, you're not allowed to be pouty. We're in New Hyrule!"

"Not yet," Kid objected.

"It will be," Tetra insisted and they both knew it was true. Anjean herself had said they could have it when they cleared all the evil out. "Now come on, I bet I can be a better dragon than you."

Kid was smiling now. "No, you can't."

"Only one way to find out." With that, the two of them took turns blowing out air, each trying to create a bigger cloud than the other. This entertained them for a solid fifteen minutes before the cold hit them, and they found themselves shivering despite their gloves and winter coats lined with rabbit fur.

"Tell me the Snow Sanctuary isn't much farther," Tetra said, gritting her teeth against the chill and crossing her arms as tightly as she could to conserve warmth. She couldn't muster any cheer in these horrid conditions.

"It isn't much farther," Anjean replied obediently.

"You better not just be saying that," Tetra glowered. She'd never been so cold in her life.

"I'm not," Anjean pledged. "We're about…a half hour away."

Tetra groaned at that. "That's too far."

"It really isn't."

"It is when it's freaking freezing!" Tetra shot back with a glare, causing Anjean to flinch and shrink away from her.

"Tetra, do you want your cloak?" Zelda asked her.

She'd completely forgotten that her counterpart had also sewn her a cloak like hers. Tetra held out her hand expectantly. "Give it."

Wordlessly, Zelda handed her the cloak, and Tetra mumbled a barely audible "thank you" to ward off any potential nagging from Link before drawing it around herself, noting that it barely kept out the chill. She couldn't wait until they moved on to the Fire Realm.

After what felt like a century, they finally arrived at the Snow Sanctuary.

"Everyone stay close," Link warned. "We don't know where the guardian is."

Anjean's eyes were glowing purple, searching. She didn't say anything so Tetra could only assume she didn't see anything.

With some difficulty due to the extra layers, Tetra drew her dagger. She felt better with it in her hand. Her companions were also on edge, hands straying towards their own weapons. Even Midna was ready, vibrant orange strands of her hair floating up and twisting like a building flame, ready to morph into a fist if need be.

The six of them moved forward cautiously, creeping closer and closer to the sanctuary itself, which was set into the frozen mountainside.

"There are three souls up ahead," Anjean reported. "Steem isn't one of them."

"Are they people?" Link wondered.

"I…" Anjean squinted, "don't think so."

"Animals then?" Princess Zelda guessed.

Anjean gave a small nod as they continued. "Or monsters."

Even with the Lokomo girl's warning, Tetra still jumped when three creatures burst out of the snow around them, growling.

"Wolfos," Link gasped, drawing his sword.

"Weak point?" Tetra wanted to know. She'd never seen a Wolfos before, much less had to fight one.

"Anywhere you can hit them!" Anjean answered her, dodging as one charged her and whipping around to slice it with one of her knives. It yipped in pain.

A different Wolfos leapt towards Tetra, jaws open wide to show off its sharp, pearly white teeth. She just barely managed to leap aside, but not because she hadn't been paying attention. Rather, it was because she'd been paying great attention. Enough attention, in fact, to notice that the Wolfos looked similar to Link's wolf form, though it was white instead of mossy grey. Shaking the thought from her head, she struck. A howl of pain tore through the air as her dagger bit into its hindquarters.

Even so, it wasn't dead, merely wounded. Yanking her dagger out of its flesh, Tetra prepared to strike again, but the Wolfos whirled around before she could, eyes flashing in anger, and dove at her. Tetra gasped, losing her footing on the snowy ground and falling onto her backside. She raised her dagger in front of her face as a shoddy form of defense, tensing for the blow she knew would come.

However, it never came.

A giant orange fist struck the side of the creature's face, successfully redirecting its attack to the empty space next to Tetra.

She silently thanked the Twilight Princess as she scrambled to her feet, taking advantage of the Wolfos's disorientation to strike once more. With some minimal aid from her counterpart, Tetra was able to finish off the wolf monster a minute later.

Everyone else had managed to defeat the Wolfos attacking them as well. There had been an upside to being attacked. The adrenaline and blood rushing through her veins kept Tetra warmer than any snow gear could. Because of it, she was eager to keep moving, and once it was confirmed that everyone had emerged from the battle unscathed, they did.

To Tetra's delight, and everyone else's annoyance, they were attacked by monsters twice more before they reached the entrance to the sanctuary, though Tetra could have done without the ice Chuchus. Cold cascaded off of their gelatinous bodies in waves and only Kid, Link, Midna, and Zelda could dispatch them with long-ranged attacks. Her lone dagger and Anjean's twin knives simply couldn't keep them safe.

Tetra, however, was willing to push it to the back of her mind for the moment, for she felt a new fight coming on, one that she could participate in.

"I'll go first," Anjean informed them as they came to the entrance of the Snow Sanctuary, her violet eyes gleaming.

No one objected and Anjean waltzed through the opening in the mountainside. Tetra and the rest of her companions trailed inside after the Lokomo girl, single file with their weapons ready.

The room they emerged into was large and rectangular, but besides the shape, the first thing Tetra noticed was the mess. Furniture, intricately woven rugs, decorative items, and glass were strewn all around the room. Obviously, there'd been a struggle of some sort, and it didn't take a genius to figure out who the participants had been.

No one said anything as they progressed through the room, gazing warily at every piece of overturned furniture that could hide a person. However, by the time they reached the end of the room, it was apparent that the Guardian Lokomo of the Snow Realm was not here.

Anjean was quick to run into the next room, and Tetra was right on her heels, itching for a fight to warm her up. It was still horrendously cold despite the fact that they were no longer outside.

A rather small, circular room with a dais in the center greeted them.

"He's not here," Anjean breathed in disappointment. Tetra was disappointed too. She wanted a fight.

"Are you sure there's no other place he could be in the sanctuary?" Link asked.

Anjean nodded somberly. "Positive. We'll have to check the temple."

"And how far is that from here?" Tetra wondered.

"Traveling on foot it could take us anywhere from three days to five depending on the weather," Anjean reported, causing a noticeable shift in everyone's mood. She hastened to alleviate it. "But I can get us there faster! There are special gates called Space-Time Gates that us guardian Lokomo can activate and use. I think I can cut down the travel to a day if we use them."

"How close is the nearest gate?" Zelda queried.

Anjean frowned in thought. "It's a few hours out from here at least."

"We should remain here tonight and set out in the morning then," Zelda proposed, her eyes flicked to the skylight in the middle of the room where the last of the day's light was filtering in. "It's almost night and the darkness will only make it colder. Plus, I do not fancy sleeping outside in this weather."

"I second that," Link agreed.

"Shouldn't we hurry?" Kid spoke up. "What if the Snow Realm's guardian is terrorizing people too?"

"He's not," Anjean assured him. "No one except Steem lives in the Snow Realm. Well… there used to be one guy but he left and never returned."

"But what about in the other realms?" Kid insisted, and Tetra knew he wasn't going to drop it. Her best friend loved playing the hero and saving everyone. Unfortunately for him, that wasn't possible, and he knew it. That didn't mean he wasn't going to try or that Tetra wouldn't help him. The people here were going to be hers to rule over and care for. She couldn't have any more of them dying.

"Kid's right," Tetra said. "We can't just take leave while there are people out there that need our help."

"We can't help anyone if we're not in good shape ourselves," Link argued.

"We rested all day yesterday," Tetra shot back. "We're in good shape."

"Taking unnecessary risks is foolhardy," Zelda added. "It will be best to travel during the day."

"We still have some light left," Kid pointed out optimistically.

"Not enough," Zelda returned.

"I'm all for traveling at night," Midna piped up, turning two disapproving gazes and two hopeful gazes her way. "But I also know it's not safe for you light dwellers."

Tetra scowled. So much for Midna's help.

Breathing out a heavy sigh and leaning back against the dais, Tetra switched tactics. "You don't honestly expect me to sit here and do nothing for a whole day again, do you?"

"Of course not," Princess Zelda returned. "We'll use the time to train." That caught Tetra off guard. They hadn't trained since arriving at The Realms.

Her skepticism must have shown on her face, for Zelda continued. "I'll teach you how to use Din's Fire."

Tetra's eyes widened in surprise. She'd been begging Zelda to teach her to wield fire magic since the beginning of training and suddenly her counterpart was going to suggest it of her own accord? What had gotten into her? "Seriously?"

Zelda smiled. "Yes. If you still want to learn."

"Of course I do!" Tetra exclaimed, straightening.

"Come on, then," her counterpart invited her, strolling towards the exit. "We'll do it outside."

Tetra hesitated, but only for a moment. Sure, she was probably playing right into her counterpart's hands but the opportunity to learn how to control fire was too good to pass up.

The young pirate captain soon found herself standing just outside of the entrance to the Snow Sanctuary, her booted feet sinking into the snow. The crunch of it beneath her soles was odd.

But that wasn't the only thing that was odd. "Why the change of heart?" she asked Zelda as the princess instructed her to prepare her magic. She couldn't help but suspect that something other than Zelda's desire to persuade her to stay here tonight had inspired their training session.

Zelda seemed caught off guard by the question, and Tetra barreled on. "You can't honestly think I'm ready for this spell. All you've been doing anytime I ask is saying I'm not ready."

"Are you trying to blow this for yourself?" Midna wondered, expressing mock horror. She giggled and lowered her voice to a whisper so only Tetra could hear. "Keep questioning her, and she won't teach you the spell."

"I'm just wondering why now of all times is all," Tetra mumbled, kicking at the snow with her boot and watching the flurries fly into the air, only to be whisked away by a passing frigid gust of wind.

"Because it's safe now," Zelda said, answering Tetra's earlier question, and drawing the young pirate captain's gaze. "Safer. There's snow and ice all around us. It's incredibly unlikely you'll accidentally set something ablaze."

Tetra frowned. "That can't be the only reason why."

"You're right." Zelda agreed. "It's not."

Impatiently, Tetra waited for her counterpart to continue. When she did, it wasn't what Tetra had been expecting. "I want you to be happy."

Stunned silence was the only response Tetra could muster.

"Aww, how sweet!" Midna giggled, effectively shattering the moment.

"Why?" Tetra breathed, the word misting into the air.

Zelda didn't answer her. "Let's begin." And so they did. But Tetra couldn't help but be distracted by her counterpart's words. They kept turning over in her mind and no matter how she scrambled them, they always echoed back the same.

I want you to be happy.