Chapter 26: Hospitality
It turned out that an ice-filled dwelling was quite cozy when one illuminated it with blazing fires in all the right places. As an added bonus, the flames reflecting off the ice and dancing across the tiled floor gave the abode a mystical quality it otherwise lacked.
Steem had been nothing but hospitable since he awoke, showering them with gratitude and ushering them back to the Snow Sanctuary. He encouraged them to stay as long as they liked, emphasizing the fact that his home was—probably—the safest place in the Realms, and solidifying this claim by playing a sacred duet with Anjean to encase the sanctuary in a bubble of protection. In truth, Kid felt that the man was just delighted to have other human beings to interact with. It must get lonely being the only person in the Snow Realm.
Even if the Lokomo's reasoning for having them stay was slightly on the selfish side, Kid was grateful for it. Tetra desperately needed warmth to recover, and there was none to be found outside. The trek back to the sanctuary had been proof enough of that.
They had used the Space-Time Gates to cut travel time, but it hadn't kept them out of the blistering cold. In fact, Kid could still feel the burn of frost melting off his face as he sat near the largest fire Steem had kindled.
Tetra sat beside him, staring moodily into the fire and swathed in coats and blankets. He knew she didn't like all the fussing, but it was necessary. She'd been far too cold.
Of course, he wasn't going to lecture her about what was and what wasn't necessary. She'd only bite his head off. So he did the next best thing and kept her company, ready to have his ear talked off should she need to vent her frustrations. That was what friends were for, after all.
For once, however, Tetra wasn't talking. Ever since she had accepted the suggestion to ride on Wolf Link's back instead of walk, she'd been unnaturally silent, electing only to elicit a noise or two of irritation at everyone else's hovering. Kid knew not to hover. Tetra despised hovering.
"Your arm looks alright." Princess Zelda's proclamation startled him. He'd forgotten that she had insisted on checking on his wound after he'd complained about it hurting. Kid turned towards the princess, watching as she wrapped his arm in a clean bandage. "However, I would be careful if I were you. Try not to overuse it."
He nodded slowly in understanding. Not overusing it would be a challenge in battle, but he was sure he could manage between knowing his own limits and having Fi around to warn him if he was pushing it too far. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." Zelda's attention shifted to her counterpart. "Tetra."
Tetra jerked her head up from her arms and shot the princess a glare. "I'm tired."
"I understand that, but it's dangerous to sleep when your temperature is so low."
"It's not low," Tetra objected.
"It was," Zelda returned, moving to touch Tetra's skin only to be dodged.
"It's not anymore. You have me buried under a mountain!" Tetra exclaimed, shedding most of the blankets and coats so she had more mobility to avoid her counterpart.
Every swipe Zelda made for her, Tetra nimbly dodged, giving Kid the impression that she was telling the truth. After all, if she'd still been as cold as before, her movements would be slow and stiff. Still, this evidence didn't appear to satisfy Zelda for she didn't relent, constantly reaching out to feel Tetra's temperature.
Finally, Midna put a stop to it.
Appearing suddenly behind Tetra, the Twilight Princess poked her cheek, causing the girl to yell out in surprise and outrage. This only amused Midna.
"Eee hee! Gotcha!"
"Ugh, Midna!" Tetra jerked away from the Twili with an expression of severe irritation on her face.
Midna rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Relax. I just did you a favor. You're definitely warm enough now, so you can go ahead and sleep and won't have to be harassed by Zelda anymore." She shot a toothy grin at Tetra which the unamused, and decidedly ungrateful, pirate captain did not return.
Zelda, however, was grateful. "Thank you, Midna."
"Don't mention it."
The sudden presence of soft fur underneath his fingers drew his attention to Link. 'Ask Midna when she's going to turn me back.'
"Hey, Midna," Kid called to the still grinning Twili.
"What's up, short stuff?" Midna asked.
Kid couldn't help pulling a face. She'd picked up the habit of calling him short from the pirates for sure. "When are you going to change Link back?"
Midna tapped her chin in thought, eyes trained on the wolf at his side. Finally, she said, "When he does something for me."
She drifted over to hover directly in front of Wolf Link, tilted her chin up and declared simply, "Sit."
A growl rumbled from Wolf Link's throat, and Kid instinctively jerked his hand away.
"Come, now," Midna crooned. "I'll change you back; just do what I say."
The proud beast sat.
"Lay down."
Begrudgingly, Wolf Link obeyed.
"Now…roll over."
It seemed that was where his counterpart drew the line, for he let out an indignant bark.
Midna giggled. "Suit yourself." With that, she extracted the shadow crystal, leaving a very human Link shivering, face down, on the floor.
"Link!" Kid put a hand on his counterpart's shoulder, surprised to find that his coat was freezing, as if he'd just come in from outside. But they'd already been in the sanctuary for nearly an hour.
Link groaned, shakily pushing himself onto his knees.
"Here," Zelda said, appearing with a handful of Tetra's discarded blankets in her arms.
"Th-thanks," Link thanked her as she helped him cover himself with them. Kid helped too, adding the blanket in his lap to the pile. After all, he wasn't using it anymore.
Though Kid's coldness had all but fled, his confusion remained. "Why didn't it translate?"
"Why didn't what translate?" Zelda asked.
"Him being warm. He was warm as a wolf, so…" Kid knew he had seen Link's injuries as a wolf be reflected in his true form before. Being cold wasn't really an injury so much as a condition but still.
"His wolf body isn't his human body," Midna said. "They're connected, sure, but there are differences."
Kid wasn't convinced. "When he gets hurt as a wolf, he's still hurt if he transforms back into a human, so how's this any different?"
"Wolves have fur to keep them warm; humans don't. That's why having him transform earlier worked. But now it's the opposite. Sure, the wolf him has been out of the cold for a while, but the human him has only really been in a warm room for a minute or so."
It made an odd sort of sense, he supposed.
Fortunately, Link's condition wasn't nearly as bad as Tetra's, and he was almost completely warmed up by the time Steem and Anjean swept in from the other room, balancing steaming plates on their palms.
"I hope you're all hungry. Anjean and I prepared quite a bit of food," Steem announced as he set the two plates in his hands on a nearby table and turned to leave, presumably to grab more.
"Do you two need any assistance bringing it out?" Princess Zelda asked, rising from her seat on the floor.
"Yes, that would be much appreciated," Steem returned, inviting Zelda to come with them. She did so immediately.
"By Farore, I'm starving!"Link exclaimed, hungrily eyeing the food on the table.
"Me too," Kid agreed, staring longingly at the food as well. His family's rules of etiquette were the only things keeping him seated.
Link, however, stood.
"What are you doing?" Surely Link couldn't actually be…
"I'm going to move some of the tables together. It sounds like they prepared a feast and a side table is not going to be big enough to hold it all." Oh. Of course. Link wasn't Aryll. There was no way he'd do something so impolite.
"I'll help," Kid said, shooting to his feet.
Link threw a glance over his shoulder as he approached a small table. "You don't have to if your arm hurts."
"It's fine. I'll use my right arm."
"You'll move tables with one arm." Link raised an eyebrow, evidently not believing him.
He held out his right hand, showing off the golden bangle around his wrist. "Power bracelets."
"Power bracelet," Link corrected him, effortlessly lifting the furniture.
"Same thing. It makes lifting anything easy. I could lift up a table and throw it one-handed if I wanted."
"Now, that is something I want to see," Midna commented. Her fire red hair twisted itself into a large hand. "What do you say, kiddo? Your power bracelet against my magic. Let's see who can throw a table farther."
Kid grinned up at her, warming up to the idea. Then again, throwing tables wasn't exactly polite. Especially if they weren't your tables.
"No throwing tables," Link declared as he set down his burden next to the first table.
"You're no fun," Midna teased him.
"I am too! I was the one that started the snowball fight earlier, in case you forgot."
Midna rolled her eyes. "Oh, yes, so fun."
Kid smiled at their banter as he strolled over to a round table and picked it up with minimal difficulty, moving it to join the others. Small tables were really the only ones available as any big ones seemed to have been smashed to pieces. At first he'd assumed it had been because of the struggle between Steem and Vivian, but Steem had told them that wasn't true. He had been apprehended by Vivian while ice skating and had come home to the sanctuary in ruins.
Steem's guess was that Vivian had thought him to be at the sanctuary and sent some demons or evil spirits to attack him. When they didn't immediately see him, they tore the place apart in a fit of rage. Kid just thanked the Goddesses that whatever had been at the sanctuary was no longer here. Otherwise, they would be hard pressed for shelter.
It was a good thing they decided to move the tables together for when the others returned, they came bearing large dishes laden with food. As Steem, Zelda, and Anjean placed the food across several tables, Kid, Link, and Midna finished finagling the furniture into place.
Pushing one last chair nearby, Kid finally allowed himself to peek at the food. One thing was apparent immediately: Steem hadn't been lying when he'd said that he and Anjean had made "quite a bit". They had made a ton. So much that Kid's eyes couldn't take it all in at once. Did Steem expect them to eat all of this? Not that the young hero wasn't up to the challenge, but it was a lot even for someone with his reputation as a bottomless pit.
The hodgepodge of mismatching, overly decorated tables displayed a grand smorgasbord of steaming dishes. Freshly baked bread rested next to an array of soups. Next to that was what appeared to be some variation of fish, cooked in all manner of ways, and yet other dishes appeared to be a mix of foreign fruits and vegetables, though Kid wasn't entirely confident in that identification.
Nonetheless, he was too hungry to care what was what. As soon as all the food was laid bare, and he was given the go ahead, he dug in, grabbing whatever was closest first.
The spoon was halfway to his mouth before he froze. A nagging thought at the back of his mind told him that something was missing. A quick glance around their crude dining area clued him in to what it was.
His eyes wandered to the fire he'd abandoned in favor of eating, landing on the dozing form of Tetra immediately.
"We'll save her some." Zelda's voice pulled his attention away from his best friend. The princess smiled. "There's plenty."
Unable to formulate an argument, Kid raised the spoon to his mouth again. The soup was warm. It was delicious. It was on par with Grandma's cooking, and that was a feat in itself. No one cooked better than she did, but he had to admit that Steem did come as a pretty close second. He closed his eyes briefly. It was almost like being home.
One satisfying hot meal later and an interrogation on their journey from Steem in which he let the others do most of the talking, Kid laid stretched out by the largest fire. A very warm and fluffy Link curled up beside him, courtesy of Midna. She had apparently taken it upon herself to use Wolf Link as her personal heater. He supposed it made sense. After all, the shadows were typically cooler than any other place, hence why one always sought out shade on the hottest, most humid days. Here, the temperature of the shadows must have been equivalent to ice water.
The mere thought of ice sent a chill through him, and his gaze drifted to Tetra, unbidden. She hadn't stirred once since she'd fallen asleep, and he couldn't help being worried. He knew what being freezing cold was like. What it felt like when icicles took up residence in your lungs and stabbed your every breath. How your skin burned and froze all at once. How you couldn't move anything because as much as it hurt, you couldn't feel anything. It was like you didn't have limbs.
A wet nose nudged his forehead, and he tensed. "Are you cold?"
"No," he whispered back, though he shifted closer to Wolf Link anyway, his eyes still on Tetra. Zelda had put another blanket on her before falling asleep herself on a mildly beat-up couch that was positioned near the fire, but Kid wasn't sure if it'd be enough.
"She'll be okay. She just needs to rest."
Kid hummed in response, burying his left hand in Wolf Link's fur, and marveling at the thickness of it. He really was soft.
"By the way, do you know why she freaked out earlier?"
He thought back, trying to pinpoint the exact moment Link was referencing. He came up empty. "When?"
"During our snowball fight. I grabbed her like I did before with you, and she flipped out," his counterpart explained.
The description was just enough to jog his memory. Kid remembered her scream well. It wasn't unlike the one she'd made when the ghost ship had abducted her. At the time, he hadn't known the reason for it; now, he was sure he did. "She doesn't like being touched."
"Do you know why?"
He shook his head slightly, Wolf Link's fur tickling his cheek. Tetra didn't tell him a lot of things, and he respected that. It was her decision, and if she didn't want to talk about it, she didn't have to. He knew he avoided certain topics whenever possible as well. Unlike Tetra, though, he did talk about them if need be. Most of the time. "It's a pet peeve, I guess."
"I think it's more than a pet peeve," Link disagreed. Kid could feel his concern more than he could hear it. "No one acts so…desperate because of a pet peeve."
Kid chewed on that thought before replying, making sure to keep his voice down so he didn't disturb any of their sleeping companions. "What would you call it then?"
"I don't know. Sometimes after my adventure little things would remind me about bad things that happened before, and I'd get kind of panicky. It seemed like that."
Kid could relate. It was mostly names, but also places and objects that had the ability to transport him back to those terrible times when he had failed or was hurting or someone was dying or dead, and he could do nothing about it.
If Tetra was suffering through something similar every time someone touched her, he didn't know what to do to help. He didn't even know how to help himself when he had little episodes. All he'd do is let it run its course, though lately being able to talk things out with Link had helped somewhat. Tetra wouldn't open up, though. She was like a treasure chest with a missing key, impossible to open without causing some serious damage.
Link's voice pulled him out of the mental rut he'd almost become trapped in. "Sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry about her even more. I just wanted to see if you knew what was bothering her."
"It's okay," Kid mumbled, feeling useless because he didn't know. He'd known Tetra for a little over a year now. They were best friends. But…there was still so much about her he didn't know.
"Do you want to talk about something else?" Link offered.
"No, I'm tired. I want to sleep."This wasn't true of course. He never wanted to sleep, but he didn't feel like talking anymore.
Thankfully, Link didn't push and bid him goodnight. Kid did the same, removing his hand from the soft fur and instantly missing the heat of it when the chilliness of the tiled floor enveloped his fingers. He resisted, though, and closed his eyes instead.
The day's events, like they always did, flashed through his mind, and he did his best to suppress them and the feelings they brought with them. He and his companions were fine, mostly, so there was no point in dwelling on the battle. Instead, he concentrated on the snowball fight filled with flying snow and laughter.
And an out-of-place scream from Tetra. It soon became the only thing about the game he could recall, and he abruptly decided to shake the memory of the snowball fight out of his head. Still, it tormented him, and he tossed and turned, trying to find his happy place.
He must have found it at some point, for the next thing Kid knew he was waking from a light doze, the remnants of fear in his chest. Fear of what exactly, he didn't know. That was probably for the best.
Reaching up to rub the sleep from his eyes, Kid immediately noticed the cold. It rushed in, unbidden like an unwelcome guest. That's when he realized how close he was to Wolf Link. He must have unconsciously snuggled up to his counterpart's warmth while he was sleeping. Kid would have done so again, seeking shelter from the crushing cold for a few more hours, but the twisted feeling inside his gut stopped him.
Something was amiss.
Slowly, Kid surveyed the area. The fire burned much lower than before, but Zelda still slept soundly on a pale blue couch, Anjean was still curled up in an armchair like a cat, Steem still snored on another sofa pulled near the fire, Midna still dozed on Wolf Link's back, and Tetra…wasn't there.
He squinted to make sure he wasn't seeing things, that the pirate girl hadn't just buried herself under the many blankets heaped atop her, but the dim lighting made it difficult to know for sure. Carefully, Kid extricated himself entirely from his counterpart's warmth and stood, tiptoeing over to the pile of fabric.
Upon arriving, he removed a couple layers and quickly found his suspicion to be correct. Tetra was not here.
Kid turned his attention to encompass the rest of the spacious room. He couldn't make out much, just the tables they'd feasted at before, chairs still positioned around them. Other than that, it was just a hodgepodge of stuff smothered in shadows and dying fire-light.
Frowning, he quietly stole across the room, which was more of a grand hall in his opinion, deciding to explore the other areas of the sanctuary. He searched in every single room –not that there were many– and each nook and cranny. Tetra was nowhere to be found.
Unease bubbled in the pit of his stomach, but he didn't allow himself to completely panic. Not yet.
Kid swiftly made his way to the sanctuary's entrance, cringing at his inability to silence each footfall. No one called out or shifted in their sleep, so he could only assume he hadn't disturbed anyone.
The cold air was harsh on his face, slapping it without remorse and sending a deep chill through his bones. The young hero couldn't bring himself to care about that, though, for he had found his missing princess.
"Tetra!" He hurried over to her, nearly tripping over the packed snow at his feet in his haste. "What are you doing out here?"
"I was suffocating in there. I needed fresh air," Tetra explained, shooting him a less-than pleased look. "What are you doing out here?"
"Looking for you. You know it's the middle of the night, right?"
"I'm aware," Tetra huffed, crossing her arms over her chest haughtily.
He bit his lip, searching for words. In the end he could only come up with the truth. "I was worried."
"Well, don't be. I'm fine." She twisted away from him then, directing her gaze elsewhere. A signal to end the conversation. Any other time, Kid would accept this. He would walk away and leave her be. But this time, he couldn't because of what Link had mentioned earlier. And because in all honesty she didn't look fine. Her cheeks and nose and the tips of her ears glowed red from the low temperature, and the rest of her skin was unnaturally pale. She didn't even have a coat on for Din's sake! She had to be freezing. She was freezing. He could see her shivering if he squinted. But most concerning of all was her voice. At first, he'd thought it hoarse from sleep, but the more he observed her, the more he became certain that wasn't the cause. There was a tightness in her face, in her neck, in her chest, that indicated she was holding back or possibly in pain.
"We should go inside now," Kid said.
"You can go if you want. I like it out here. It feels good."
Something was definitely wrong. Sub-zero temperatures were not comfortable for any human. In fact, being a human himself standing in sub-zero temperatures without a coat, Kid could testify with the utmost confidence that it was one of the worst feelings in the world. It did not feel safe. It did not feel right, and by no means did it feel good. "Tetra, let's go inside." He tried to put the gentle sternness in his voice that he employed whenever Aryll was being disagreeable.
It didn't work. "No."
Gathering his own stubbornness, Kid stepped in front of Tetra, blocking her view of the snow-brushed landscape. "There could be more wolfos out here. It isn't safe."
"There aren't—" A pained expression flashed across her face and she swallowed with obvious difficulty before hastily retorting, "There aren't any wolfos this close to the sanctuary." She seemed to hold her breath after her outburst, further fueling Kid's concern.
"You don't know that. They could come closer at night. Let's just-" His reaching hand was slapped away right before it made contact, and Tetra's eyes met his, bright and roiling blue with anger. But he saw something else there too, a haze that wasn't quite right.
It was only present for a split second, however, for when Tetra opened her mouth to reply, she doubled over in a coughing fit.
"Please, Tetra," he pleaded with her once the coughing subsided, and she straightened. "Let's go inside now."
She shook her head in refusal.
"Why not?" he demanded, frustrated because he was beyond worried now and he couldn't seem to make her see sense.
Tetra seemed to struggle with wanting to say something and not wanting to. Finally, she spoke, her voice a rasp. "They'll make us stop."
"So? You can't travel or fight if you're sick," Kid returned.
"And leaving more people to die in the meantime is a good idea?" she demanded. "These are our people now, my people. I can't…can't just leave them to demons."
Kid's stomach twisted in knots. He knew how she felt. He felt the same, but… "I don't want you to die either."
"It's a cold." She paused for another round of coughing that left her gasping afterwards. "It won't… won't kill me. I can get over it while we travel."
Kid was shaking his head before she'd finished speaking. "You can't get better like that. You'll only get worse and you're making it worse by being out here right now. Let's go inside and tell the others." He held out his hand to her, urging her to take it, but she ignored it.
Her expression hardened, and a spark of fear rippled through him, though he couldn't accurately pinpoint why. "Don't. Tell. Them."
"Why? There's no point in hiding it. They'll figure it out like they did before with me. They're not stupid."
"They're not our parents or our guardians," Tetra hissed. "They're barely older than us! They have no obligation to take care of me, and I don't want them to anyway. I'm not a baby. Not like you."
That took him off guard, and for a moment, he was at a loss for words. But a moment was all Tetra needed to dig the knife in further. "Don't think I haven't noticed how you and Link are all buddy-buddy, acting like you're family and stuff. You're not, you know!" A cough. "He's not going to stick around when all this is over. He's going to leave and forget about you."
Kid's instinct was to deny her words, but deep down, he knew he couldn't. It was true. Link, Zelda, Midna, and Fi were only here because Ghirahim was unfinished business. Once that business was finished, however, they would leave. Link would leave. And he would be all alone with his nightmares and bad memories. Again.
Maybe it was stupid for him to want Link to be his brother, to want to act like he was because it would hurt later when he left. But…he needed the support and if that made him a baby by Tetra's standards, then fine. However, it made him sane by his standards and that thought was enough to dismiss her harsh words. She probably didn't mean them anyway. Probably.
"Don't speak a word about it to any of them, got it?" Tetra ordered him, every bit her bossy pirate captain self despite being ill.
"I won't as long as you come inside with me," he said.
Tetra frowned at his blackmail, but relented.
It was a relief to step back inside the warm sanctuary. Already, he could feel the burn of the cold being siphoned off his skin, and he rubbed his freezing hands together in an attempt to speed up the process.
Unfortunately, Tetra elected to stay close to the entrance, muffling a cough in the crook of her arm as she sat down, knees pulled close to her chest. But she was inside so Kid couldn't complain.
Returning to the place where the rest of his companions slept, Kid settled himself down by Wolf Link, instantly leaning into his warm fur. He allowed himself to enjoy it for a moment before getting down to business and attempting to shake the wolf awake as subtly as he could.
Link must have been more tired than usual, for he didn't wake. Frowning in frustration, Kid changed tactics, digging his elbow into the wolf's side. That got him up. And Midna too, by way of being roughly dumped off of Wolf Link at his jolt of wakefulness.
"Urgh, stupid wolf!" Midna mumbled, sounding barely awake. "Don't… shift in your sleep."
"What is it?" Link asked him, suddenly on high alert. "Did you have another nightmare?"
As discreetly as he could, which wasn't very discreetly at all, Kid glanced over at Tetra, checking to see if she'd noticed the scuffle. Fortunately for him, she had her face buried in her knees so she couldn't see them to notice anything. He laid back down and turned his full attention to his counterpart, keeping his voice extra soft. "No. Tetra's sick."
"Where is she?" Link demanded, eyes roving over the spot Tetra used to be.
"By the entrance."
Wolf Link shifted to see for himself. Once satisfied, he turned back to Kid. "How sick is she?"
"She's coughing a lot and I think her throat hurts. She might have a fever too but I'm not sure. Don't tell her I told you, though. She'll be mad. Just act like you noticed on your own." As much as he wanted to help her, he also didn't want to get on her bad side.
The wolf sighed heavily under his touch. "Is this a pirate thing, like she can't show weakness or something?"
"I think it's just a Tetra thing," Kid replied, thinking of the pirates that were, by no means, always strong.
"Regardless, did she learn nothing from before we came here?" Link asked, his frustration and disappointment palpable in Kid's chest.
"She said…" Kid stopped himself, wondering if it was really okay to say. Sick or not, everything Tetra had said to him outside had been said in confidence he wouldn't tell anyone else. The being sick thing was a different story but the rest…he wasn't certain he had a right to tell.
"What? What'd she say?" Link pressed.
"She said…" Kid released his breath, deciding a half-truth was better than a flat-out lie. "She said she wants to keep moving to help as many people as possible."
"And?" Link prompted.
"And…" Kid squirmed. "That's it."
"No, it isn't."
"How do you know it isn't?"
"Because I can tell. What else did she say?"
Kid bit his lip, but as the silence stretched on and his counterpart didn't say anything else, just leveled him with those piercing blue eyes of his, Kid knew he had no choice. "She doesn't want you caring about her or for her."
"Well, I'm not going to apologize for caring. It's just a human thing to do," said the wolf.
"I know but Tetra doesn't like it."
"Doesn't matter," Link returned. "If she's sick, she's sick and can't take care of herself."
"She seems to think otherwise," Kid muttered.
"Yeah, well she's going to learn really fast she can't. I get it if she wants to be independent, but there's only so much one person can do for themselves."
Kid was inclined to agree and nodded to express this, though he didn't say anything more.
"Thanks for telling me, anyway," Link said finally. "We'll see what we can do about it in the morning when Midna hopefully wants to change me back."
A tiny smile stretched Kid's lips.
"Try to go back to sleep in the meantime."
"Okay."
To be fair, Kid did try. He closed his eyes and evened out his breathing as much as he could, curling into Wolf Link's side. But his mind raced with worry for his best friend and he wound up keeping a vigilant eye on her the rest of the night to ensure she didn't sneak out again.
When the first rays of morning light filtered through the skylight above and his counterpart began to stir, he stretched and rubbed his eyes, feigning waking from the grip of sleep as well.
Soon enough, everyone else began to rise, and Steem stumbled away to prepare breakfast for them all. As Anjean stoked the fires around the room with Zelda's help, Kid did his best to convince Midna to turn Link back into a human. The Twilight Princess was quite attached to the warmth of her wolf, but she eventually relented, electing to join an uncharacteristically quiet Tetra by the recently rekindled fire instead.
Kid was nervous, uncertain about how his counterpart planned to breach the sensitive topic of Tetra's sickness without tipping her off that Kid had told. Stealing a glance at Link, Kid became certain that the Hero of Twilight didn't have a plan in mind. His expression was contemplative as he studied Tetra by the fire.
It turned out that Link's approach wasn't subtle in the least. "Are you feeling okay, Tetra?"
She nodded, but gave no other response.
"…Are you sure?" Link prodded after a moment. "You still look kind of pale."
"Huh, he's right. You do," Midna commented, peering at Tetra's face.
Tetra wasted no time shooting Link a death glare. Rather than flinch away from it as Kid may have done, Link stared right back and pressed on. "It's just a question. I'm not trying to make you mad. I just want to know if you're okay."
"I'm fine," Tetra snapped, whipping her head back around to face the open flames. Unfortunately for her, the words had cost her, and she was unable to hold back a cough.
"That doesn't sound fine to me," Midna remarked, concern creeping into her own tone now.
"Shut—" Another cough cut her off, but she quickly continued, "Shut up. I just had something stuck in my throat."
Kid wasn't convinced and neither was Link. "You're sick."
"I'm not," Tetra protested, scowling heartily at him.
"Why else would you be coughing like that?" Link challenged her.
Rather than answer, Tetra chose to change the topic. "When are we leaving for the Fire Realm? I hate it here."
"We're not going anywhere when you're sick," Link declared.
"I am not sick!" Tetra shouted, her volume nowhere near as loud as normal.
"You are," Link insisted.
"Am not!" Tetra retorted hotly. She suddenly turned to Kid. "Don't I seem fine to you?"
Kid knew he was supposed to agree. He'd promised her that he wouldn't speak a word of her being sick to anyone, and though he had broken that promise, she didn't know that, which meant that if he wanted to keep it that way, he had to agree with her. Still, he couldn't quite dismiss the facts of the situation. "…Your voice sounds a little raspy."
"That's 'cause I just woke up," Tetra objected, frowning deeply at him. "Other than that I'm fine, right?"
The Hero of Winds tilted his head in a way that wasn't quite up or down or side to side, but a confusing combination of both that really had no meaning but he hoped looked close enough to an affirmative to get Tetra's piercing gaze off of him. It kind of worked.
"The Spirits say you're sick," Anjean spoke up suddenly, alerting them all to the fact that she and Zelda had finished relighting the fires.
Tetra's glare was redirected to the purple-haired girl rather quickly. "They're wrong. Go away."
"I admit that they were wrong before in their guidance to me, but they're not wrong about this," Anjean asserted. "You have to-"
"I don't have to do anything!" Tetra shot back, jumping to her feet. She shoved past Anjean, covering up a cough with her arm as she turned to the rest of them. "Now, when are we leaving?"
Link opened his mouth to reply, but a harsh cough cut him off. Surprisingly, it had not come from Tetra, but Princess Zelda.
"Forgive me," Zelda apologized, lowering her hand from her mouth. "I fear I am unwell. The weather must have affected me more than I thought yesterday. Would anyone mind terribly if we remained here for another day or two?"
They were all silent, save Tetra. "I would. We still have stuff to do and people to save."
Zelda muffled another cough. "I understand that. However, I cannot be of much use in battles or rescue missions while ill. Not to mention that traveling will be a miserable affair."
Tetra seemed to consider this before mumbling something incoherent and settling back down by the fire. Zelda joined her shortly, wrapping her cloak snuggly around herself. Kid couldn't help but frown at their misfortune. Both Tetra and Zelda were sick. This was going to set them back quite a bit, but at least Zelda's sickness had convinced Tetra to stay and recover from her own.
"I'll go let Steem know we're staying a while longer," Anjean announced before scurrying away.
Link caught Kid by the arm before he could go to sit by Tetra. "Don't get too close. I don't want you getting sick too."
Kid frowned but relented. "Okay."
Satisfied, his counterpart released him and busied himself with dividing the blankets Tetra had been using the night before between the two Hylian Princesses. To no one's surprise, Zelda was more grateful and accepting than Tetra.
Breakfast came and went, Zelda eating little, and Tetra eating even less. Both girls laid down rather promptly afterwards, and Kid couldn't help but note how quickly Tetra succumbed to the grip of sleep.
"Anjean, can you do anything for them with your healing?" Link questioned the Lokomo girl as they cleaned up the dishes from their meal.
Anjean shook her head with regret. "Sorry but my healing powers don't extend to sicknesses. I can't cure them."
"Let me know if you need anything, though," Steem chimed in eagerly. "Anything at all!"
Link smiled at the guardian of the Snow Realm's kindness. "We will, thanks."
They finished clearing the table, and when Kid and Link attempted to help with the dishes, Steem shooed them away under the premise that he was the host and they were the guests and they had to look after their sick companions anyway. The white-haired man left no room for argument, so they had no choice but to agree and exit the kitchen.
"Tetra's definitely sick," Midna reported as they neared the fire where they'd left the girls. "I don't know how she can even deny it."
"She's probably out of it and doesn't know what she's saying," Link returned quietly, crouching down by Tetra and laying a hand on her forehead. "She's definitely warmer than normal. Kid, can you get me a cold cloth?"
"Yeah." He turned to search for a cloth, then, deciding that he could just melt some snow on it to make it cold. Goddesses knew there was plenty of the stuff.
"I have one," Zelda spoke up suddenly, pulling out a cloth from the folds of her dress and holding it out to him.
Kid took a step towards her before remembering his agreement with Link. Noticing his hesitation, Zelda stole a glance at the dozing Tetra before whispering, "It's alright. I am not ill."
Link's head whipped around so fast Kid was amazed his counterpart didn't get whiplash. "You're not?"
She shook her head with a small smile touching her lips.
Midna giggled, delighted by Zelda's trick.
"Princess, if you wanted to be waited on hand and foot, you just had to ask," Link said, standing and moving to Zelda's side. "As a citizen, I'm obligated to serve you."
"Noted; however, that is not my reasoning behind faking my illness," Zelda informed them, her voice lowered to such a degree that Kid had to lean close to hear her. "Tetra was not going to let us care for her. We would have had a difficult time making her rest if not for my own illness."
"And this is why you hold the Triforce of Wisdom," Link declared, causing Zelda to laugh.
Kid furrowed his brow. Something still didn't make sense. "Your cough earlier sounded real…"
"Yes, well, I've had sufficient practice," Zelda said.
"Practice?" Midna interjected with a mischievous grin splitting her face. "Practice how? You've faked it before?"
"When I was younger," Zelda began a bit guiltily, "I often faked illness to get out of meetings that were taking too long or just to have a day to myself, free of studies and such."
Midna burst out laughing, as did Kid, and it took much insistent shushing from Zelda to reign their giggles in. Thankfully, they didn't wake Tetra.
"I don't blame you at all!" Midna exclaimed, struggling to keep her voice quiet. "Meetings can be so dull."
"I applaud you on your quality acting," Link said, clapping slowly and causing Zelda to giggle and give a small bow.
"Though, I do wonder…" Midna's gaze drifted to Tetra, her expression turning serious. "Is it really wise to accommodate her like this? Isn't that teaching her she can be rude and stubborn all she wants? Don't get me wrong, I love Tetra. She's fun to be around, but she's got such an attitude on her. Someone has to straighten her out or else she might become a tyrant."
The Twilight Princess's words laid a heaviness over the room that wasn't there before. Tetra wasn't a bad person; Kid knew that. Could she really become the wicked person Midna was suggesting if her attitude was left unchecked? He had his grandmother to teach him right from wrong, but Tetra's moral code seemed…broken at times. And yet, who was he to attempt to right it? He'd done so before, helpfully interjecting his own moral opinion in issues only to be ignored.
"I agree," Zelda said finally. "I do not condone it, but I see no sense in getting her upset while she's sick. For now, I'll play the invalid and turn a blind eye, but when she's better, I intend to address her attitude."
"Good," Midna declared approvingly. "I'll even help you if you want."
"I'll let you know if I need your assistance," Zelda assured her, seeming slightly uncertain at the Twilight Princess's expression. Midna wasn't always the gentlest person, and her personality was close enough to Tetra's that it would only take one wrong word to start a heated argument.
"So, uh, playing along…is there anything I can get you, my lady?" Link asked with faux reverence as he knelt by the couch Zelda was lounging on.
Princess Zelda took some time to ponder the question before answering, "Yes, if you could brew me a cup of tea that would be lovely. Make enough for Tetra too; it will help her throat when she wakes, and put honey in it too if you can. I personally would like milk and two sugars in mine, thank you."
Kid could visibly see his counterpart struggle to keep the laughter out of his voice as he replied, "As you wish, your highness."
With that, Link departed to the kitchen where Anjean and Steem had yet to emerge, and Kid took the cloth from Zelda, briefly ducking outside to grab some snow. The frozen particles began to melt almost immediately within being brought back inside the sanctuary, and in no time at all, Kid was holding a cold, wet cloth.
Link wasn't back yet so, as swiftly and quietly as he could, Kid laid the cloth on Tetra's forehead, being careful not to touch her directly. That done, he stepped away, only to be drawn towards Zelda who had taken out the Goddess's Harp and was quietly teasing the strings.
"You're pretty good at that," he observed, taking a seat at the other end of the couch.
"Thank you. It's strange but…it seems that some part of me remembers it, as if I've done it before." Something seemed to occur to Zelda then and her head snapped up. "Fi, did a past reincarnation of mine play the harp?"
Forever graceful, Fi twirled out of the Master Sword and came to hover by Kid's side. "Yes. The harp you hold belonged to the Goddess Hylia and, later, her first reincarnation. My first Master also played it."
Suddenly, the harp was much more impressive. Kid couldn't believe the instrument was as old as Fi was suggesting and by Zelda's expression, she couldn't believe it either. Besides a few nicks and scratches, it looked brand new. No doubt, the royal family had done a superb job maintaining it.
"Will that be all, Your Grace?" Fi wanted to know.
"Yes, thank you, Fi." Zelda dismissed the sword spirit with a nod of her head. She then turned to him. "Would you like to try it? According to Fi, you played it too, once."
Curious despite himself, Kid accepted the harp. He plucked at a few strings, wincing at the discord. Though the harp did feel somewhat familiar in his hands, it also felt awkward and after a few minutes of fingering the strings without any particularly pretty results, he came to a conclusion. "I don't think I was very good at this before…Fi, was I good at playing the harp?"
"No." The reply was so immediate and detached of all feeling that Kid couldn't help but laugh.
"Eee hee! Fi doesn't cut corners, does she?" Midna giggled, and Zelda failed to conceal her amused smile as Kid returned the harp to her.
"At least she's honest," Kid said.
Link returned a handful of minutes later, carefully bearing a tray of steaming mugs, Anjean in tow. The Lokomo girl hurried to pull over a table for Link to set the tray on.
"Here's your tea, as requested," Link announced, handing Zelda a mug which she accepted with a gracious, "Thank you."
"And I made us hot cocoa," his counterpart added, holding out an equally hot mug to him.
Kid took the drink and stared curiously at the rich brown contents. "What's that?"
Anjean gasped. "You don't have cocoa where you're from?"
He shook his head warily which only inspired the girl to encourage him further. "You have to try it! Oh, but don't burn your tongue. It's hot. Blow on it first."
Kid did as she suggested, feeling slightly awkward with all his companions watching him, and took a sip. Hot, bitter-sweetness exploded over his tongue and suddenly he didn't know how he ever lived without such a wonderful taste in his life.
His pleasure must have shown on his face, for Link laughed. "You like it, I can tell."
He nodded heartily and took another sip, not even caring that it was a little too hot. It was warming his body from the inside out, which was a welcome change from the cold he'd been enduring recently.
"How can anyone not like it? It's cocoa!" Anjean exclaimed happily, taking a sip of her own drink.
Midna rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Light-dwellers."
"I made a cup for you too, if you want it, Midna," Link informed her.
She squinted her eyes suspiciously but eventually gave in. "Only a taste," she pledged. "Just to see what you guys are raving about."
'Only a taste,' turned out to be the whole cup, a fact Link teased the Twilight Princess about to no end, prompting her to threaten to turn him into a wolf again. Instead, they compromised, and Link promised to wait on her like he was doing for Zelda and Tetra for the rest of their stay at the sanctuary.
It was just after noon by the time Tetra awoke, and Zelda, who had previously been talking with Link, swiftly dropped back into her ill façade, letting out a cough for good measure.
"Good afternoon sol-shine. Have a nice nap?" Midna greeted, resting her chin on her fists.
Tetra sat up, frowning at the cloth that fell into her lap. She quickly cast it aside.
"Do you feel any better?" Link asked.
The young pirate glared at the hero and opened her mouth to speak only for a violent coughing fit to cut her off. Unlike Zelda's coughing, this was real, and it didn't sound good at all.
Link was beside her in less than a second, apparently forgetting her aversion to touch because he was rubbing her back like he'd done for Kid when he was upset before. Only Kid knew Tetra wouldn't appreciate the gesture like he had.
Kid rushed over, intent on pulling his counterpart away before Tetra recovered and did something she didn't mean, but he wasn't fast enough. Her fit subsided just as he placed his hands on Link's arm, and she pushed them both away, stumbling onto unsteady feet.
"Leave me alone!" A violent cough wracked her frame, but she regained control quickly, drawing herself up as straight as possible and wrapping her hand around the hilt of her dagger, white knuckled.
A spark of déjà vu that made his stomach flip was all it took for Kid to step in front of his counterpart. He held up his hands, nonthreatening. "He didn't mean it."
Distrust radiated from his best friend and it hurt. It hurt because he didn't know how to help.
"If you try anything with that dagger I'm taking it away," Midna said.
"No," Kid protested immediately, glancing behind him at the imp. That would definitely be the wrong thing to do. "Don't do that."
"She proved we can't trust her with it before. I'm not going to-"
"Midna, let Kid handle this," Zelda spoke up from the couch, looking much more alert than an ill person would, but something told him that Zelda didn't care about upholding fake illnesses at the moment.
"Listen, Link's sorry," Kid said, facing Tetra once more. "He won't touch you without your permission again, okay?"
The moments stretched into eons as they stood there with nothing but tense silence between them. Then, finally, Tetra loosened her grip on her dagger. "Keep him away from me."
Kid nodded vehemently in agreement, and though he was glad he'd defused the situation, he couldn't help feeling unsettled by how easy it was. Arguments with Tetra were always long, drawn out affairs that were liable to leave him with a sore throat and aching head afterwards. They were never simple. For Tetra to reign in her stubbornness so early, she had to be feeling awful.
The knowledge only put a pit in his stomach. He should have been watching her. As much as she always claimed she didn't need it, that she was capable of looking after herself, Kid knew better. Tetra attracted trouble, just as he did, if not more so. And that's exactly why he had to protect her. To save her from anything that wanted to hurt her. Only…he couldn't save her from illness.
"Hey," A soft rap on the top of his head jolted him out of his thoughts. His eyes snapped up to meet Link's. "Give this to Tetra for me?"
He looked down, noting the steaming cup of tea in his counterpart's hands. Maybe he couldn't save her from illness. But there were still things he could do to help.
Nodding, Kid accepted the cup from Link and delivered it to Tetra, who had since settled herself down elsewhere. She eyed him warily as he approached with the cup, but didn't say anything. He didn't say anything either. There was nothing to say. Tetra had ears, even if they were a little stuffy with sickness. She likely heard the entire exchange.
Therefore, it came as no surprise to him when she ignored the tea he'd set down carefully beside her. It also came as no surprise to him when she eventually tasted it, and liked what it did for her sore throat, draining the entire cup in record time. The sickness must have been taking its toll on her, for she fell asleep again soon after. Kid didn't allow himself to worry too much. He knew that rest was the best medicine, so he left his friend to it and busied himself with other things.
Training was out of the question for the time being, so he contented himself with talking to his counterpart and Zelda and asking Fi questions about her first master. It turned out that Fi had quite a few tales to tell about him, from his escapades of breaking and working off the expense of a chandelier at a local pub to being booed at the same pub for trying and failing to play backup for a girl with a lovely voice named Kina.
Anjean and Steem were interested as well, posing questions of their own when Kid and the others ran out. Fi answered them all in the same unfeeling monotone as always, but Kid liked to think that she was enjoying the reminiscing of an age long past.
Upon Zelda's request, he began to teach her his world's written Hylian and though he offered his services to Link as well, his counterpart didn't seem overly interested in the matter. Not like the princess was, and so Kid found himself playing teacher most of the time, reminding him vaguely of helping Grandma teach Aryll her letters. Although, unlike Aryll, Zelda had an entirely different concept of written language than he did and was thoroughly puzzled by his written Hylian. Only when the princess started to explain her own written language to him did Kid become confused as well.
To him, it was bizarre to have one symbol assigned to each individual letter instead of one symbol per sound. Maybe that was why Link and Zelda had odd accents. Nonetheless, he became determined to learn it and by the third day of their stay with Steem, both he and Zelda had caught on enough to at least write their own names and a few simple sentences with confidence. That was also about the time that Tetra became well enough to catch on to Zelda's ploy, the princess having been so excited to learn that she'd neglected her acting.
Fortunately for Tetra, her fever had broken by then which meant traveling was a possibility again. So, on the morning of their fifth day at the Sanctuary, Kid, Link, Zelda, Tetra, Midna, and Anjean said their farewells to Steem and disembarked for the Fire Realm.
To say it was a shock was an understatement. How two such conflicting temperatures could co-exist side by side without one destroying the other, Kid would never know. All of them were quick to shed their winter garb, though even in just his regular tunic the heat was suffocating.
"Almost makes you want to go back to the Snow Realm, doesn't it?" Anjean mused, letting her pan flute go and fanning herself with one hand.
"Nope," Midna quipped, blending into the cool shadows. "This is much better."
"For you maybe," Link said, appearing to be sweating already under his thick tunic and heavy chainmail. "Let's get this over with fast. I'm guessing humans don't live here."
"You're right," Anjean confirmed. "Besides Embrose, only Gorons live here."
"Do you have any idea where we can find the guardian of this realm?" Zelda inquired as she stuffed their coats, gloves, and hats into her satchel for safe keeping.
Anjean hummed in thought, turning in a slow circle and taking in every inch of the rocky grey and brown landscape with her purple eyes. Finally, her gaze came to rest on the mountain's peak, where a vortex of fire was belching into the air, burning the sky. "The volcano normally isn't erupting and there's a soul nearby it, so I'm willing to bet he's there."
Link sighed. "Great."
"I can stop its eruption with an ice arrow for five minutes if we need to," Kid spoke up. No doubt the lava-spewing volcano was making the area hotter than usual. Not to mention that it would be impossible to get close without burning to a crisp.
"Five minutes isn't enough time to defeat the guy," Tetra pointed out.
"No," Kid agreed, "but it's enough to lure him away to a less dangerous area."
"Right then," Link said. "Anjean is there a gate that can get us closer to the volcano?"
Anjean shook her head, an apologetic look on her face. "Unfortunately, no. But we can get there in the matter of a couple hours rather than a full day if we climb."
At their puzzled expressions, Anjean bounded over to a sheer rock face, reaching up for a handhold. She quickly found one and in a matter of a few seconds, the Lokomo girl had hoisted herself up a good three feet off the ground, clinging to nothing but the uneven rock in front of her. She threw a triumphant look at them over her shoulder. "It's easy! There are a bunch of handholds and footholds from when the volcano erupted in the past."
"If I may ask, what is the alternate route?" Zelda wanted to know.
Anjean hopped off of the cliff-face and spun around, pointing to the mostly flat expanse of ground to her left—their right. "That path will take us there too, but as you can see, it's quite winding, and thus a fair distance to travel." She patted the rock behind her. "This is a shortcut."
"Then let's take it and stop talking already," Tetra huffed, stepping forward to join Anjean.
"Wait a moment," Zelda objected. "The other route seems safer."
"You're just saying that because you're afraid of heights," Tetra snapped, placing her hands on the rock wall in search of something to grip. "Get over it."
"Actually, I was thinking of you. You're still recovering. Besides that, there's Kid's arm."
Tetra scowled. "I'm fine. And so is Kid. Right?" She threw him a look that seemed to war between irritation and concern.
"Right," Kid confirmed, moving his left arm experimentally. It only hurt a little. "I can climb."
"But you probably shouldn't," Link added.
Tetra rolled her eyes. "He'll be fine. It's more of a slope than a wall anyway."
Eyeing the rock before him, Kid found that Tetra was correct. It wasn't completely vertical. There was a neat slope to it. Enough that anyone attempting to climb it wouldn't have to rely on pure upper body strength.
Link scrutinized the wall as well before giving his verdict. "Yeah…no. We're going the long way."
Tetra planted her hands on her hips. "Who put you in charge?"
"Seniority."
"No."
Sensing an argument brewing, Kid quickly stepped in to mediate. "What if we vote on it? That's fair, right?" He glanced between his two friends. "All for climbing, raise your hand."
Tetra's hand shot up right away, and Kid's wasn't far behind. Anjean hesitated a moment before waving her hand in the air too. Link's and Zelda's hands remained firmly at their sides.
"It's decided then," Tetra proclaimed, dropping her arm. "We're climbing."
"Wait! Midna didn't vote," Link objected.
The Twilight Princess materialized from the shadows, arms crossed. "I don't care how we get there, so long as we get there. Just pick a route already."
"We're climbing," Tetra reiterated as Midna returned to Link's shadow.
Sighing heavily, Link turned his attention to Princess Zelda. "If I tie you to me will that make you feel safer?"
"Yes, it may help a bit," Zelda returned with a stiff nod and timid, yet grateful, smile.
Link's gaze shot to him. "Kid, can I borrow your grappling hook?"
"Sure." He dug out the requested item from his belongings and handed it to his counterpart.
"You know—" Link began as he started to unravel the grappling hook—"I have half a mind to tie you to me too."
Kid couldn't keep the annoyance off his face. He knew Link meant well but he was more than capable of climbing by himself. "I'm okay. Really. If my arm starts to hurt, I'll tell you."
"You better."
"I will."
Link glanced up and frowned. But not at Kid. At what was behind him. "Don't go too far ahead of us!" Link called to Tetra and Anjean who had already begun scaling the rock.
"We won't!" Anjean replied.
Tetra remained silent.
Kid waited until Link had finished securing himself to the princess and the two began to climb before starting up himself.
"I'll help you if you slip or if something happens to the rope," Kid informed Princess Zelda.
She thanked him, and he offered her a smile in return.
After that, there wasn't much talking. Everyone was too busy concentrating on finding hand and foot holds, and in Zelda's case, not looking down, that there was simply no time. Besides that, they had the oppressing heat to compete with and only a quarter of way up, Kid felt beads of sweat rolling down his back. From what he could discern bringing up the rear of their small band, everyone else was in a similar state of discomfort.
Kid didn't know how much time passed before they crested the top and were blessed with a wide, flat landing that was similar to the path they'd started on. All he knew was that by the time they did, his muscles were aching and his throat was screaming for water.
"We're not there yet?" Tetra exclaimed indignantly, peering up at the peak that was still very much out of their reach.
"There's a few walls we have to climb. There's no straight rock wall to the top," Anjean explained.
"Dear Gods, have mercy," Link breathed, plopping down on the ground in exhaustion. "We aren't even halfway there."
"Maybe you should take your chainmail off," Kid suggested, knowing it couldn't be doing his counterpart any good.
Link, however, shook his head in refusal. "I might need it. We don't know if we'll run into anything on the way."
"Don't be dumb," Midna admonished, appearing from the shadows to reprimand him. "You're going to get heatstroke at this rate."
"I will not."
"You will!"
As the squabble continued between the pair, Zelda passed around the bottles she'd had the foresight to fill with clean snow—which had since turned to water—before they left the Snow Realm. She withheld water from the Hero of Twilight until he conceded that Midna was right and removed his chainmail.
Revitalized, the five of them continued their climb in the same procession as before, no one quite beneath anyone else lest they should, Goddesses forbid, fall.
Thankfully, there were no such incidents and what must have been an hour or maybe four later—the heat was muddling his head—Kid found himself scaling the last traversable rock wall with his companions. Once at the top, he would fire an ice arrow, either allowing them to continue to the volcano's peak, or baiting this realm's guardian out of hiding. Kid only hoped he would be able to recall the frigidness of the Snow Realm while feeling so overwhelmingly hot.
To increase his chances of success, Kid began to replay the events of their stay in the Snow Realm, recalling the chill of the snow as it struck his skin, the slippery ice underfoot, and the numbing sensation of standing in the winter air without a coat. By the time Anjean, Link, and Zelda had reached the top and were scrambling over the lip to safety, Kid was confident that he could call on the ice magic.
Of course, that's when everything had to fall apart.
Tetra, who had begun to lag behind the others some time ago and was just above and to the left of Kid as a result, misjudged and a foothold that should have been sturdy was not. She let out a surprised scream right before she fell.
Everyone else screamed her name, but Kid didn't have time for that. He only had time to gasp and lunge for her, praying to the three Golden Goddesses above to let him catch his falling friend.
It seemed that they were willing to answer, for once, and Kid's left hand found Tetra's arm, jerking her to a sudden stop and him nearly off the cliff-face.
The two of them stayed like that for a second, gasping for breath. Then, the burn in his arm hit him tenfold, and he knew he couldn't support Tetra for much longer.
"Stay there!" Link ordered, hastily tugging at the rope around his waist to untie it. "I'll come get you."
Midna was faster, shooting out of the shadows and down to their level.
"Here, Tetra. Grab here," Midna instructed the pirate girl, helping her find stable ledges to cling to.
Without a word, Tetra scrambled to do as Midna said, jostling Kid's arm further in the process. He bit his lip to keep from crying out. It didn't hurt. Not that much. If he willed the thoughts into his mind, it almost kept the pain at bay.
When he was sure Tetra was steady, he let go. That's about when the tiny outcropping of rock in his right hand decided to crumble.
Weightlessness was not a new sensation. He'd been flung across the sea multiple times, tossed around by wind and enemies alike, and jumped from great heights. He'd even fallen down ominous holes and back flipped off a cliff once. This was a bit like that, except he wasn't in a Silent Realm and landing on the ground would actually kill him.
The knowledge tore a panicked scream from his throat, and he instinctively grappled for a handhold but everything was rushing by too fast and he was falling backwards and the sky was too red, like it was reminding him of the state he'd be in when he hit the ground.
He squeezed his eyes shut then, as if banishing the sky from his sight would change the outcome of his fall. To his utter astonishment, it did.
A buzzing that Kid could distinctly identify as magic, enveloped him like a cozy blanket and, though the weightlessness remained, the rushing wind ceased.
Unfortunately, it didn't last long, and when the wind returned, roaring in his ears, he couldn't help snapping his eyes open. A different, yet no less red, view of the sky greeted him. He was able to admire it for a second, maybe two, before he crashed down and cracked his head against the ground, causing darkness to rush in at the edges of his vision.
A sharp pain in the back of his skull made him flinch but it quickly evened out to cool relief, alerting him to the fact that someone was cradling his head.
Sound was a bit slower to return, but once it did he caught the tail end of a conversation. "…tch him! At least, that was my plan."
"It's fine. Is he alright?" The ground was rumbling.
"He should be…Kid, can you open your eyes?" Anjean's request should have been an impossible one. After falling from so high up there was no way he should be alive. And yet, here he was. Cautiously, he peeled open his eyes.
The purple-haired girl's worried face swam into focus, but upon seeing him looking up at her, it lit up. "You're awake! Good."
"What…happened?" Kid mumbled, his mind still muddled.
"You fell and I used my magic to save you," Anjean explained, her eyes soft and caring as they stared into his own.
"You…saved me?" Kid had a hard time believing it, considering how bent on killing him she'd been just a few days ago.
"Yes, but I misjudged a little bit when I teleported you," Anjean admitted, looking away sheepishly. "I'm not very good at judging distance and, well, you ended up higher than I meant you to. I was trying to get Link to catch you, but I didn't give him enough warning and you kind of both went down. Sorry about that, dear." She turned her attention to his counterpart then. "Are you hurt, by the way?"
"Just a little bruised," Link reported. Now the rumbling made sense. It was just his counterpart talking. He should really get off of him but his limbs suddenly felt like Chu jelly so he remained where he was and focused on breathing in an attempt to calm his racing heart.
"I think I have a fear of heights now," Kid commented.
"Will that fear stop you from saving your princess?" Midna's voice floated over to him from somewhere to his left. "Because I could use some help."
That's right! Tetra! Kid shot up into a sitting position and turned towards the edge. He shifted a little closer to it but could only catch a flash of his best friend still clinging to the wall, Midna hovering beside her, before vertigo crashed into him, and he was forced to twist away from certain doom.
"I'll get her," Link said, placing a hand on his shoulder and getting to his feet. Stay here."
Kid expected to hear a protest from the pirate captain about how she could do it herself, but there was no such remark. Tetra didn't say a word as Link came to her rescue, not even to thank him, though that wasn't so surprising.
What was surprising, or rather, unnerving, was the blankness in her eyes when Kid caught sight of her. Noticing it as well, Zelda suggested a break before continuing. No one objected.
