The ensuing hijinks were interesting only in the ways of how little prowess Tya had in… Well. Anything. The only thing one could argue she was actually good at, was catching raining plant penguins.

The first Kikwi they'd found in a similar predicament to that which they'd met Machi in. The difference here was that, after Link felled the threats around, Tya was left to coax this one down from a tree. Machi had been heavy, though not so much that she'd had difficulty lifting him. Just sizable and dense under a layer of squish. The real challenge, however, came about when she was abruptly tasked with one of them plopping full force into her arms.

Fortunately, the remaining few were less projectile in their reveals, and as such, the only struggle the girl faced was the ways in getting to them. Said pathways were difficult entirely because of her inexperience, and as much as she hated it, she did have to accept Link's assistance when it came to climbing up into places Fi indicated they should be. There was one point that was the reverse of that situation, and that one had lingered in the forefront of her mind as they made their way back to Bucha, escorting Erla, the last of the friendly little Kikwi.

Enjoying the scenery and searching for them through means of magic had proven to be a kind of relaxing little puzzle that had deterred her fried mind from drowning in the distress that it was dangling over. Staying clear of that dread overall wasn't a possibility though, and as they returned to Bucha, the suffocating dread was rising fast, fully prepared to swallow her up.

The floodgates had broken with the knowledge that, really, they could have avoided this entirely. There was no real reason to go out of their way to help the Kikwi. Yes, she was sympathetic, and yes, Bucha held answers. But she and Link had just been roaming the woodland anyway in search of something that was most definitely not their intended target. Bucha's possible information could have saved them time, but he did not freely give it, and as such, they should have abandoned this…

The Elder had, in their absence, dug something out of the ground intending to give Link a reward for his efforts. And as the knight happily accepted, pleased to have assisted him, Tya stood back, trying to calm the absolute self-hatred that had come about when she realized that she had gotten so easily distracted. They both had.

And now she was withering inside again.

Did she do anything else aside from be in the way and bitch?

The exact reason she shouldn't have come along, and yet for some ridiculously unintelligent reason Link had requested her presence. Self-loathing or not, she wasn't going to abandon the Sunshine that had guided her through this little trip today.

Whatever he'd been given, he latched to his belt and turned back toward her. This time, she had paid attention to the conversation that had been had between him and Bucha, at least for the most part. Zelda had been headed to a place much farther down into the woods. Alright. With their prior escapades, they'd sorted out quite a bit of it, at least along the main path. The density of trees had lessened, leaving little more than underbrush and massive fungi scattered around. While the canopy overhead was still rather thick with the branches of massive trees, there was a lot more light filtering into this end of the woodland, and even several openings as well as a small stream that filled into a pond. It had been lovely when she'd first seen it. It was lovely when they passed it again.

The pathway dipped down a small slope, shaded by thick snaking roots. The water beneath the tree seemed to have eroded the land on which it had sat. Now the pathway lined the edges of a pond with a mild little current that rippled in the relatively shallow depths.

It was such a wondrous sight, even with her ever-changing mindset. To walk beneath a tree as colossal as this one, and be in the safe cradle of its roots. She sniffled away some of her distress, her mind struggling between worry and awe. Hearing her, Link fell back a step so he could walk at her side. He followed her gaze to the cage overhead, smiling at the cascades of tangled and leafy vines.

"You like it?" Link asked, leaning in closer to her in a way that suggested he was trying a bit harder to see it from her view. It was unnecessary- he was only a little taller than her and was walking right at her side. But he was interested regardless, and something about it was endearing. He had, in an effort to keep from shoving her into the water, set his hand on the back of her forearm. There was no grip, rather just an attempt to guide her way from the pond's edge which was effective though it was also unneeded.

"It's beautiful," she said with sincerity. "I'm finding it so difficult to focus on one emotion when there's so much to look at."

He let out a short little laugh. "It's ni-nice," he said. "So, like, we don- we don't just get distra-distracted b-by wallowing."

She hummed a small acknowledgment, unsure of whether or not she truly agreed. She agreed that it was better than lying in bed and suffocating beneath entirely misplaced self-pity, but was her wallowing not keeping her somewhat on track with the mission at hand? Was it helping or was it damaging? She really couldn't tell anymore, all she knew was that her mind was struggling to move past the very basics: this tree was pretty, and Zelda was forward.

"I fear that, in getting distracted, we are wasting time," she admitted. The way he nodded said that he agreed.

"My job is to help," he said simply in response. "Z-Zel knows. Her's is too."

But even if his job was, hers wasn't. Then again, none of this involved her at all whatsoever. Her job was to stock goods in the bazaar, so clearly she was a far shittier employee than Link and Zelda were. She couldn't even stay true to the simple task of setting things on counters, meanwhile, Link was skewering middle-aged balding men in a land thought to be a myth.

The surface was so weird…

For a second she thought that no one would believe her if she relayed this to them, but then she realized that she didn't actually talk to anyone she could relay it to. Was that sad?

She raised her hands and scrubbed them against her face. Before dropping them, she swept them back through her hair. Though it was tightly braided still, some strands had escaped in their search, and now they were flattened back against the rest, at least for a very brief moment.

Link, his sweetness never failing, offered her a comforting smile and withdrew from her side so he could trot forward a few steps. The path curved around just slightly and snaked out from beneath the cage of roots through a thin curtain of vines that Link held aside for her to pass through.

It was a needlessly polite gesture; gentlemanly toward a girl that never called for it in a place far too wild to ask. But that just made it stand out to her more. She was grateful, and despite her shifting mental state, she was smiling softly upon stepping back into the light.

The way opened to something far more subdued than that of the woodland area. Though the grass was long and unkempt, and fungi had found its way out to this as well, the trees were deterred, leaving the space open to better reveal a white-stoned structure. Similar to the other man-made things they'd come across thus far, time had eroded this, but that meant very little in Tya's eyes.

The pit of her stomach still churned with dread over the situation, but the initial rush of pain and fear and worry had subsided to something constant and… She would hesitate to say manageable, but it was far less along the lines of panic. It was less fogged over by impulsive desires, at least. Her unsteady mind was both so simple and so difficult to stabilize; eased with the simple knowledge that the crumbling structure before her was so, so ancient.

For much of the day she'd swung between interest in the ruins, she'd gotten to see thus far as well as worry over Zelda's state. The latter was easy to assume the details of, but the former was something just beginning to stir from the dormant state it had been forced into initially. About the temple in the Sealed Grounds. The woman, the door that lay behind her, the broken pillars, the billowing black smoke, the divine-touched spike in the chasm's depths. She had wondered quite a bit if, after finding their third, they'd get the chance to go back so she could look around a little more...

She and Link followed the divot in the earth that was the dirt path they'd followed to this point.

Her thoughts were split, but more pleasantly this time. One side that of the Sealed Grounds, and the other, wonder over that which they were approaching now. It was really nothing special for anyone who could have frequented the area. Merely a large, curved set of stairs that had been dirtied by time and was in the midst of being swallowed by moss and vines. Beautiful in the ways abandoned structures tended to be.

Maybe it was the nerd in her, or maybe it was the fact that there wasn't a whole lot of brand new or very old in Skyloft. There was only the familiar, that she'd explored thoroughly for the past seventeen years of her life. That number was pushing it- more like the past six or seven?

It felt almost like it once belonged to something else. It was clearly built as a way to better traverse the cliffside on which it sat. Shaded by an overhang and topped with a balcony. Thick railings lined a symmetric half-circle of stairs and said balcony, and over the higher part, loomed one of the bird statues.

She had slowed upon approaching. There was no decor. Nothing to really admire, but that didn't stop her anyway. It looked like it had been the piece to what she could imagine of a castle. Like the great doors of its entrance would lay just beyond this stairway, and royalty would stand upon the balcony to overlook a gathering crowd. It was a magnificent image that she was lost in as Link waited for her to join him at the top of the stairs.

Her fingers ran along the stone banister, and she admired the fact that it was in good shape for how old it must have been. The columns of it hadn't been worn smooth though they were very close to it. The stone was chipped in several places, and green had begun to creep between bricks. But considering its age, it was in amazing condition.

Had there been designs etched on it long ago, she wondered? Had time erased carved art? Part of her wanted to look for any indication that there might have been, but all she found was Link waiting far too patiently at the top of the stairs.

"Sorry," she said as she hurried up to join him. He stepped to the side to allow her room and shook his head when she was at his side.

"It's okay," he said. "You're not both- not bothering me."

"Perhaps I should be, though," she said through a sigh. Rather than standing around to speak, she moved forward again to get him going.

He did so, tilting his head to silently question her reasoning for such a statement.

"I should not get distracted," she said. "Especially if Zelda is endangered, or anything of the sort."

He waved a hand dismissively toward her concern. "Bucha said they l-lost the cr-creeps."

"Still," Tya said. "That doesn't mean I should waste time. We should catch up to her as soon as possible, and then I may examine things."

There was a hint of reluctance in his expression, but even so, he nodded to accept her reasoning. With that, he guided her further inward.

The hillside steepened dramatically as they proceeded. The pathway became far more defined, lined on one side by a deep cliffside and the other, a thick density of trees. While most of this pathway was level, even with parts that dipped away into little coves, she found relatively quickly that not all of it was stable. It was interesting, to her, that looking over the edge managed to make her feel a little disoriented. Living on an island far into the sky, one would think that she'd be used to heights. She wasn't afraid, but that didn't mean it wasn't jarring to consider what would happen if she fell. That exact fear of hers had almost come true as rocks on the edge gave way when she wanted to peek over the side. And that was all she needed to learn her lesson. Sailcloth or not, it was a long way down with too much protruding to land it safely.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the only piece of unstable land that the path had to offer. She could only be thankful that they weren't the ones with the misfortune of testing the parts that caved, but that didn't mean that it wasn't a problem when they came to a gap in the pathway.

Link put balled fists on either of his hips, peering down the drop with knitted brows.

"Jumping it would not be a good idea," Tya said needlessly, earning a nod from Link. The abrupt shift in weight might cause more to fall if he even made the jump to begin with. And she was a whole different story. "So then perhaps we should create a bridge of sorts? Or backtrack and see if we could test our luck in landing on the other side." Both seemed incredibly risky, truth be told.

Link swayed with a little contemplation, then turned back to face her rather than the gap.

Without a word, he pointed up toward the sloped hillside, and she tilted her head.

"...You want to climb across?" She asked, her voice a touch nervous as she looked between the two. He nodded, seemingly unfazed by the possibilities as well as her anxiety given the bright smile on his lips.

"Let's go up," he said, starting down the path in the way they'd just come. When he reached Tya, he set his hands on her shoulders and turned her around to get her moving. He didn't remove his hands from the back of her shoulders either, which was a bit uncomfortable for a reason that was very, very far from rational. Link had no reason to shove her off the side.

Would it be easier to rid the nuisance with an accidental fall than it would be to tell her to go home and stay there? Was… that train of thought unreasonable?

Incredibly.

Link's reasoning for holding on to her became clear pretty quickly, and it was not, in fact, murder. He turned her down one of the more level areas of path that broke off- level being a vague term to say it could be traversed easier than the rest. It was still uphill, but it was a start that would allow them to get higher up from the gap and possibly find a stable footing to cross.

She half wished that there was some sort of conveniently placed rope that would allow an easier crossing, but she dismissed that as Link once again took the lead by circling her. He scouted a little bit ahead, having to crawl up a small portion, but he stopped to help her up from slipping and continued. When he came across a spot that seemed straightforward enough, he stopped and motioned out to it.

It seemed straightforward enough for him, to be exact. Her lips pressed into a line as she looked at what was almost a ninety-degree fucking angle with the path they'd left being the flat end.

Okay, she was being dramatic.

But it was still steep, and she was nervous.

Link took her silence as acceptance and started forward, using trees to hold himself right. He managed to do it with such fluid ease that she wound up with wrongfully placed confidence. She inhaled, held it, and moved to follow in his footsteps as best she could. Which was to say, not very good at all.

Upon seeing her slip the first time, Link stopped his progress and waited for her to join him. He held his hand out, the other anchoring him on a tree, and when she took it, he tugged her to him and flashed her a smile that seemed far too pleased for the certain death they'd fall to if she fucked up.

There was a level of control to be had on Skyloft. She was familiar with how close to the edge she could wander before she'd fall, and even if she did, all she had to do was call her bird. If all else failed, there were sky knights closer to the mainland. But this was far, far different. The incline which she was trying to traverse was littered with trees and roots, which could prove both useful and dangerous. She could either trip or catch herself, and she really didn't want to try either.

Link was doing this so easily. Was this even a skill one learned in the academy? Not falling to your death? Well, it did seem like something someone living in the sky should know, so probably, but this particular situation seemed wildly foreign given the fact that this type of terrain was not found in most of Skyloft.

Link glanced downward, then back toward her. A few slips had prompted him to just not let her hand go at all, lest one prove fatal, so it was easy enough for him to choose what they'd do next and not give her a choice in the matter.

They hadn't ascended so far that the pathway couldn't be seen, which was part of the reason this was all the more nerve-wracking. She could see the gap and the drop off from their position, but Link used it to his advantage. He knew when they'd made it past the obstacle, and they'd continued on some feet. But this part was gradually getting steeper, and more difficult to walk on. Link took that as his cue.

He was kind enough to not drag her, and for that, she was appreciative. But she was not pleased by the fact that he instigated a rather sloppy descent that was ultimately a mix of running and sliding. She tried to keep herself steady, avoiding falling on her ass or gaining so much speed that she'd just fly off when they hit the path. Link hit the path first, slowing himself on a root and getting his bearings easily. In all honesty, Tya had surprisingly good control of herself, yet either way, Link held both arms out and allowed her to practically collide with him. Lightly. He didn't even budge.

He couldn't fight another bright smile. Even with dirt smeared all across his uniform and his hands, he seemed so incredibly excited that she couldn't manage to be angry with him for pulling her down. It was, after all, kind of fun…

He plopped her on her feet, keeping a loose hold of her as she peered over the edge again, shocked at how close they'd come to stumbling off. In actuality, it wasn't that close, they'd landed closer to the incline than to the drop, but the path was narrow enough that there wasn't a lot of room for error. After looking back toward the crumbled edge, she finally exhaled that breath she'd taken in before embarking on this plan to begin with, and patted Link's shoulders rather gratefully for the help he'd given.

That seemed to be a pretty good indication that they were good, and so he released her entirely and swung back around to continue on his way.

She had both thought and desperately hoped that that would be the worst of this trek out to the temple, the architecture of which could now be seen curling over a parting treeline. With that obstacle aside, the hope of seeing Zelda safe and sound and excitement over seeing the temple that was their destination were welling in her chest.

Her imagination was running wild with the possibilities of artifacts; wonderful, magical things like that which she'd read about in books. Ancient people, ancient artistry, ancient weapons. It was running with all of it. Would she find anything more she'd be able to read, she wondered? Would there be tapestries intact from long ago? Illustrations on the walls that would tell stories lost to Skyloft?

There were so many amazing possibilities to the things she could find, but all of them were hushed when they arrived within view of the temple to see that the path there had caved as well. And not just the pathway, but a significant gorge in the land, leaving a scattering of karsts, none of which were near enough for them to possibly use as a method to get to the other side.

The rock had fallen away into a darkness she had very little desire to explore, and this chasm was vast. There would be no possible makeshift bridges this time, and again the thought occurred to her that they could attempt to return to Skyloft and drop to the area they needed to be in, but in much the same manner they had before, Link looked toward the incline. This one was much, much steeper than the last. There hadn't been any branching pathways for a while of the journey. Not since they'd passed along the last gap, actually. It was pretty much a sharply cut cliffside that bordered the walkway. But the bad news for her was that, distantly, said cliffside lined the chasm. They could see the edge of it from their view, just not overtop of it to see whether or not the ground was level. But if that which they could see in the distance was any indication, then it was, and both she and Link seemed to realize that at the same time.

His attention turned down onto her, and she looked at him with an almost pleading expression.

"I can lift you." He said.

She groaned. For someone that had been inwardly whining the entire journey about being useless, she certainly wasn't leaping at the chance to change that fact.

Not leaping, but she was slowly and dreadfully approaching it.

A leisurely stroll; taking her sweet time in reaching that chance. Her displeasure only really served to amuse Link, as indicated by the smirk that pulled one corner of his lips. She hadn't actively denied, only childishly pouted, and as such, he held his hands out for her. Letting out a long sigh, she begrudgingly complied.

"What exactly am I supposed to do once I am up there?" She asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked up at the edge, her back turned to Link.

"Find a way for me," he said. "You can't li- You can't lift me up."

Accurate. Displeasing, but accurate.

"I could try," she grumbled though that devolved to a squeak as Link bent and grabbed her just beneath the knees to hoist her up with a surprising lack of effort. It was the perfect height for her to grab onto the edge, but pulling herself up was the difficult part. In fact, she failed at it. Miserably. To the point Link actually took notice, and for a moment, she was left to hang there without any support at all because he let her go. Fortunately, he didn't abandon her as she immediately thought he had, but just lowered to clasp his hands beneath her boot as a better method of lifting her.

With his help, she pulled herself onto the cliffside and let out a huff, peering down at him, then looking back at where she was. It was gently sloped. Mostly level, though it did gradually ascend the farther it went on.

"What would suffice in helping you to come up here as well?" She asked, legs still dangling over the edge. He'd taken a step back and was watching her with squinted eyes thanks to the sunlight.

He replied with a shrug, and Tya pursed her lips in thought, looking around once again. It wasn't that high, in all honesty. Link just needed the boost to be able to grab ahold of the side, and jumping for it would end up with it being just barely out of reach. Was there anything sturdy enough to give him that boost? Would it have been more beneficial for her to act as that boost? She lacked the strength to do a simple pull-up, but would she, to hold him while he grabbed on?

He'd just done all that work to get her up there, and yet she said "perhaps I should try to lift you up here, instead?"

He tilted his head with curiosity.

"Because you are able to lift me easily. So if I was to get you up here, you could perhaps pull me."

"I don't think I'm that strong," Link answered. That very well could have been insulting, but neither noticed. It did after all make sense that he wouldn't be able to just lean over the edge and pull her up by the arms, not with the distance between and the fact that he'd likely have to lay on his stomach to do so.

She puffed out her cheeks, but otherwise nodded and slid back so she could get to her feet. Needlessly, she dusted off her clothing, ignoring the persistent dull sting that was still present despite being eased by the fact that she'd put something over the wounds to keep them from getting infected or dirty.

What was both a good height as well as sturdy enough to support his weight? Her first thought- actually her only thought- was a log. The difficulty came about with finding one that wasn't rotted so much it wouldn't support his weight, but still light enough that she'd be able to pull it over to the edge.

How did Zelda end up crossing to that temple with no help?

Tya trailed the crumbled edge, keeping her distance to be sure she didn't fall as well. There was honestly no sign of anyone having passed and yet apparently Zelda was over there? It seemed unlikely, in all honesty. Maybe it was her enthusiasm over the ruins, or maybe it was the fact that she had literally no other ideas toward where to go to find her friend, but she decided not to question it further. Instead, she focused downward instead of on the temple, fully in view from the edge of the wood.

What she found was not a log. Far from, actually; it was vines, and she honestly had no idea whether or not it would manage to bear Link's weight enough for him to get up there. But she did her best, which involved a very thick branch held horizontal between two close trees and a braided work of vines that she tested by tugging with her own weight. When nothing cracked or broke under that, she elected to present the end of said braid down to Link.

He did have to backtrack a few steps to get to the offered aid thanks to the fact that there were no trees conveniently close in proximity, but it was no problem. The harder terrain that separated this part from the last didn't begin for a little while longer.

Tya stood at the edge, her hands on the vines more as a way to feel the tension and whether or not it would be too much as Link grabbed hold of the end that dangled over.

And again, something else that was becoming a norm for this adventure, she was left admiring the fact that he climbed it with so much ease.

He didn't look nearly as powerful as he was, being so small and thin in stature. There was the briefest moment in which she wondered whether or not the muscle was visible when he was shirtless, but as soon as she realized how wildly inappropriate a thought that was, she cringed at herself and swept that out of her mind.

Link was up, and she was just going to look at trees instead.

"You did it," he said happily. "Thank you."

"You are very welcome," she answered, offering a small smile in return. Out of curiosity, or maybe out of sheer desire to not be thinking about someone shirtless, she asked "What would you have done had you been alone?"

He turned back for a moment, then motioned off in the distance toward the incline.

"You would have had to climb that," she said.

That response earned her a shrug and he said "would've been fun."

He was an odd one, and she couldn't help but appreciate it.