Beautiful Darkness

Disclaimer: Same as last chapter, and not likely to change unless I somehow hit it big on the stock-market or something.

(Shadow's parents at the archaelogical dig in the desert.)


Chapter two: Breakthrough

"Natasha, hun, you got the spare batteries?" a tall Sheikah man queried, peering through the open flaps of the field tent. Within, a short-haired woman in shorts and teeshirt could be seen shoving various supplies into a large backpack. She paused, and flicked her red eyes up to meet those of the man, grinning wearily.

"'course I do love. Just putting in some more bags to seal findings in."

"Well, make it quick," the man looked over his shoulder at the sound of a car horn, and then back at the woman with a quirked eyebrow, "I think they're getting impatient."

"Really, I would never have guessed," Natasha quipped dryly, heaving the bulging backpack onto her shoulders. "Ready."

"Good – let's go," there was a note of edgy excitement in the man's voice, and she shook her head in amusement.

"Really, Vince Xavier, you'd think this was you're first dig, you're that excited," she declared, walking out of the tent past him. He quickly drew the flaps closed with the zip and retorted,

"Well, come on, when was the last time we found something as big as this? For all we know, the temple might still be intact!"

"I know love…just don't get your hopes up too much, eh?" she touched his arm, and he nodded.

"Yeah – it's just hard not to be excited though!"

"Adorable as this exchange is," their half-Zora, half-Gerudo driver bellowed, "we need to get going! I want to make the best use of daylight as possible." Already, the first rays of the sun could be seen peeking over the eastern horizon of the Great Desert. The two Sheikah obediently left the tent and hurried over to the jeep, where their two Hylian understudies were already waiting anxiously. The taller of the two stood up when he saw them approach, and helped Natasha hoist the heavy backpack into the trailer, before pulling her up as well.

"Thanks Aghanim," she said, making the Hylian flush with pride. He still couldn't believe his luck at being chosen by the Xaviers themselves for this dig!

"Gee, thanks for the help," Vince muttered sarcastically as he too clambered into the jeep.

Before he even had time to sit down, the engines roared into life, and he was nearly thrown straight back out of the jeep as it sped off across the sand, towards the dig. "Luto!" he exclaimed, his grip on the overhead bars so tight that his knuckles were turning white. The driver just waved one hand carelessly through the back window, and sped up. Gingerly, and silently cursing his grumpy friend, Vince collapsed gracelessly into the seat opposite his wife, who was struggling to keep a straight face.

"All right Vince?" the other Hylian student asked. Vince didn't answer, instead moodily studying his fingernails, which were (as usual) engrained with dirt. Such was the lot of an archaeologist… On seeing the abashed expression of the young man, Natasha murmured into his ear,

"Don't worry, he's always this grumpy in the mornings. Wait a couple of hours, then he's an angel." The student nodded, smiling uncertainly at Aghanim opposite, who returned an easy smile of his own.

The rest of the journey passed by in a slightly uneasy silence (only broken when Luto pretended to be lost, resulting in a panic attack on Vince's part, and hysterics all round). The sun rose higher in the desert sky, and the day began to heat up. The two Sheikah donned sunglasses to protect their sensitive eyes, and the Hylians ended up unbuttoning the collars of their neatly pressed shirts as the heat became too much.

Finally, after a bumpy forty-five minute drive, the jeep started to slow. Ahead, a deep trench (protected by tarpaulin and cordoned off) could be seen, as well as the tent outpost the Xaviers had left on their original trip to the site. The sheer volume of findings had meant they needed to call in reinforcements – hence, they'd grabbed the two best students they could find, and hurried back with more equipment and doubled enthusiasm.

Luto switched off the engine, and twisted round in the diver's seat to pierce the other four with an anxious look. "Well, here we are," she attempted to be jovial, but the prospect of a huge, career changing find constricted her throat. They understood her meaning though. Without further ado, the five disembarked from the vehicle, dragging equipment and supplies with them as they went. These were all dropped inside the tent, which provided welcome relief from the sun's burning heat.

Each person picked up their usual tools, and nodded at Natasha's orders to, "drink a lot of water. I don't want anyone getting dehydrated so we have to waste time at a hospital." Then, as a unit, they exited the tent, and one by one made their way down the treacherous slope to the bottom of the trench. Natasha went to the very end, and the rest took up places at regular intervals until the other end, so that each digger was responsible for the same area of ground. Luto readjusted the minidisk player at her belt, and fed one wire into her round left ear, the music blaring audibly.

The two Hylians (who were working next to one another) shared a radio, tuning it into a music station, which, though crackly, was at least discernable. Natasha listened in to their radio, but didn't pay it much heed, instead grinning as she heard Vince humming to himself all the way at the other end. As a well-oiled machine, they began to dig, dust and discover. Each find was placed in its own plastic bag, and sealed away.

The discoveries of the morning were mostly small – money, pieces of pottery and the like. However, some interesting things were found and exclaimed over, including a fully intact ancient scimitar – the hilt of the weapon was inlaid with roughly hewn precious stones, and the blade, though rusted beyond repair, still showed a skilled hand. Matt (the second of the Hylian students), who had made the find, was proud when he had to ask Natasha for one of her larger bags to store the find in.

"Bravo!" she exclaimed, joining the others to examine the piece.

"A fantastic example of ancient Gerudo workmanship," Vince breathed, delicately picking up the weapon to study it more closely. "See the snake carved into the blade?" they all leaned in closer to see what he meant.

"Oh yeah," Aghanim nodded, then ventured, "do you suppose it had any significance as a symbol?"

"Not sure – Luto's the one for symbols," they looked to the red-head, only to find that she had both headphones in and wasn't listening. "OI!" Vince tugged a headphone out. She scowled, and Aghanim cowered slightly as he asked his question again.

"Urm, I was just wondering what significance the snake on the blade had?"

"Here, let me see…hrm…I'd say it's a late Harkinian, maybe earlyZelda period piece. The snake is probably used to represent the strength of the wielder, though it could also have been used to show that this weapon was laced with poison. That was a favourite trick of the Gerudo during the holy wars during the reign of Ganondorf. I'd have to examine it for traces to be sure though…" She smiled smugly at the stunned look on the faces of the two Hylians. The Xaviers, used to her extensive knowledge, just nodded in interest.

"Well, let's bag it up for the lab and get back to work then, eh?" Matt suggested, and the others heartily agreed.

It was late in the day when Natasha hit upon something big. She had called upon her magic in order to shift about a foot of topsoil in her area (this was just after they'd finished their lunch), and had hit upon what looked to be a statue of some sort. With the help of the other four, she'd managed to uncover over half of the thing, and Luto voiced what they'd all been thinking. "This is a statue of a Gerudo…what if it's a mark of the Spirit Temple?"

"Could be…" Natasha nodded, wiping sweat from her forehead.

"What was that?" Vince asked, staring at her in disbelief.

"What?" she asked, sounding tired rather than annoyed.

"Did you just say something optimistic regarding a dig?" he mockingly gasped, before throwing an arm over her shoulder and whispering in her ear, "This means you're almost entirely sure we've found the temple…doesn't it?"

"Perhaps," she muttered, shrugging his arm off, and picking up her digging tools.

"We'll find out what it is we've found tomorrow – bright and early so we get good li-" A loud rumbling sound cut her off, and all five archaeologists felt the ground tremor momentarily beneath their feet. "Out of the trench," the Sheikah woman ordered, her voice level.

"Love, we can't go now – we're so close – this thing is supposed to be over the entrance-" Vince implored.

"No."

"Just a few more feet down!"

"Matt, Aghanim, if my stupid husband doesn't move from this trench in the next three seconds, please make him move," Natasha ordered, sounding thoroughly worn-out. Vince just scowled, knowing he was beaten (yet again). First she'd gained her doctorate before him, and now she insisted on making him look foolish in front of the rest of the team.

"I'm quite capable, thank you, darling," he hissed in Sheikan, turning on his heel and stalking off towards the slope out of the trench. The two Hylians quickly followed the male half of the famous Xavier duo, leaving the two women behind. Natasha looked down at the half-uncovered statue and sighed wistfully. Luto put her hand on the Sheikah's shoulder, the ring of blue scales around her tanned wrist glinting in the waning sunlight.

"C'mon, you know Vince – he's impatient – one of the many reasons you love him, remember?" The Sheikah woman just snorted and turned away from the statue. "It's been buried for a thousand years or more; it can wait a few more hours," the half-Zora, half-Gerudo pointed out wisely.

"I know – I just wish he'd remember that!" Frowning slightly, Natasha shaded her eyes from the sun with her left hand, and looked up to the top of the trench, where the other three were waiting outside the field tent. "Come on then," she said, beginning to make her way towards the edge of the trench.

Crack.

"What the-?" the famous archaeologist and explorer stopped dead in her tracks, and looked at the dry desert floor. A myriad of minuscule cracks radiated across the ground, circling where she'd placed her foot. "Don't move!" she warned her colleague, who wobbled slightly, having already picked up one foot to start walking. "Just…go slowly…carefully does it…" she muttered, staring at the cracks, which were, to her dismay, steadily growing.

"What's the hold up?" Vince yelled, petulance clear in his voice.

"Now's not the time love!" Natasha answered. Her husband immediately picked up on the panic in her voice.

"What is it?" from the corner of her eye, the Sheikah woman saw him start to move back towards the trench.

"Stay where you are! The ground's unstable…it could collapse."

"Ah."

Natasha smiled wanly at her husband's expression. "See if you can get some rope or something. Just in case this does collapse."

Rumble.

"That doesn't sound good," Luto commented, wind milling her arms in order to stay balanced on one leg. The Sheikah silently agreed, as her right foot actually began to sink downwards – panicking, she lifted it up, and the ground where she'd previously stood crumbled away. There were a few seconds of silence, and then a loud clatter as the rubble hit whatever floor was down below. "Perhaps we should run?"

"Sounds like a good idea – come on!" the Sheikah grabbed her colleague's hand, wary of the hole that was growing larger by the second. "You ready?"

"Ready for wh-argh!" Luto screeched as Natasha launched into a full-scale Sheikah leap, aiming for the other side of the hole, and the way out of the trench. However, just after they left the ground, the ground on the other side of the hole was no longer there! "Oh crap!" the half-Zora, half-Gerudo shrieked, flailing uselessly in the air in some vain attempt to keep the both of them aloft. She screamed as they fell, but the other was silent.

"Catch this!" Vince bellowed, at the same time nodding to the two Hylian students to brace themselves. Each was holding onto the rope, and as it sailed through the air towards the two falling women, the Sheikah man wrapped it a few times around each hand, and got ready to take their weight.

"Rope!" Natasha reached out with the hand that wasn't holding onto Luto, and managed to coax the end of the rope towards her with some quick, half-formed magic. "Here, Luto, grab hold of me with both hands!" she called down to the other woman, who obediently swung her other arm up to wrap around the Sheikah's small waist.

A few more seconds of free-fall passed, in which the two tumbling through the air contemplated all the things they had yet to do with their lives…

Then there was a snap, and the rope went taut. Natasha winced as her shoulders took the strain of not only her own weight, but that of the other woman as well. The three men on the ridge above slipped slightly on the sand, but managed to regain their footing quickly enough. "Hun?" Vince ventured, straining to keep his hold firm. "Hun, are you all right?"

"Y-yeah," she called back, stuttering slightly as she realised she was indeed still alive! "Just… Never let that happen again." Luto laughed, the sound slightly muffled as her face was pressed into the Sheikah woman's lower back. "Pull us up?"

"You heard her boys – let's get them up here."

"Uh, sir…?" Matt began, as another tremor ran through the ground. He looked at the ground, which seemed to be shaking. Aghanim looked down as well, and his eyes widened as he saw something burrowing just beneath the sand, headed straight towards them.

"What in Din's name is that?" Vince gasped. The burrowing thing continued on towards them, and the three men grunted as they tried to bring in the length of rope. However, whatever it was beneath the sand seemed to have other ideas. It butted into Matt's leg, making him fall backwards onto the sand – this also happened to Aghanim, leaving only the Sheikah man holding onto the rope. He began to slide towards the gaping chasm in the desert floor. "Help!" he hissed – Aghanim launched himself at the other man, and wrapped both arms around his legs, effectively stopping him.

"It's coming back!" Matt hissed, clambering to his feet as quickly as he could – yet, the floor was still writhing beneath their feet, the sand shifting without any wind whatsoever. "Here, give me some of the rope again!"

Below, the two women cringed as the rope suddenly went slack, and then tightened again. They began to spin around on the end of the line, and Natasha looked skywards fearfully. "What are they playing at?" she mused aloud. Then, she added in a loud shout, "Hey, pull us up will you!"

"Trying hun, believe us, we're trying! Just – uh – hang in there!"

"There's not much else we can do, is there?" she commented dryly, making Luto laugh again.

Up above, the burrowing creature had been joined by a few more of the same ilk. "Quick, quick!" Aghanim urged, still holding onto Vince's legs. He began to crawl backwards, dragging the Sheikah man with him. Matt helped also, dragging on the rope. Gritting their teeth, all three men withstood assaults on their legs, swaying but not actually falling. From his spot on the ground, Aghanim was even able to bat a few of them away with his hands.

"OW!" At least, he could, until one of them bit him. He stopped moving, but Vince attempted to continue walking backwards – the archaeologist tripped, and let go of the rope, leaving only Matt. And, well, being a scrawny adolescent student, there wasn't much hope of his holding onto a rope that carried the weight of two, fully grown women. With a high-pitched shriek of terror, he, and the rope, went flying downwards.

"NO!" Vince launched himself after the boy, but was brought back to the sand when the remaining Hylian tackled him midair. "Get off me Hylian!" he snarled in Sheikan. The student replied calmly in the same language (though with an atrocious accent),

"They're gone." He sounded disbelieving, and looked with wide eyes at the gaping hole in the desert floor. Dazedly, he rolled off of Vince and crawled towards the edge of what had been an archaeological dig. Looking down, he could scarce believe his eyes. "Vince."

"What," the other grunted, looking up at the reddening sky with disinterest. (My wife has just fallen into a pit in the middle of the desert – quite likely to her death. Leave me alone, you bloody Hylian.)

"Sir, come here, you're not going to believe this." With another grunt, the Sheikah man rolled onto his belly, and then crawled to join the Hylian at the edge of the hole. He looked down, and felt his jaw drop at what he saw. Then, with a lop-sided grin, he muttered,

"I was right. The Temple." He scrambled to his feet, and went over to the field-tent, dodging the burrowing sand-creatures as he did so. "It's the bloody Spirit Temple!" he bellowed, his voice echoing from the dunes.


And the fun is only just beginning...