Somewhere in her, Tya knew she needed to let Link go.

She understood it was vital that he be able to move and act for whatever was happening.

Maybe it was the floors. Maybe it was just the floors shaking. An earthquake, perhaps. They were common in Skyloft- the landmass itself was hoisted in the air, of course, it wasn't the most stable of surfaces.

An earthquake was the cause.

The cause of bones pulling toward one another like magnets, beginning to form an ugly amalgamation of joints with mismatched limbs.

Earthquakes just did that, right?

Right?

She knew she needed to let him go, and yet that thought wasn't connecting to her hands. He needed to be free to move without her tugging him back with every intention of hiding behind him because, no matter how much she was insisting, she knew that was wrong.

There was something. Something unseen. Something that could be anywhere, anything, something she didn't know, couldn't touch, couldn't burn.

Her breathing hitched in her throat, blocking the panicked whimper that threatened to spill out as her mind began to breach the idea of ghosts.

Fi would have been much, much preferred. She didn't like Fi, no, she was pretty sure Fi was a spirit herself. She had the air of a ghost but she also didn't. Uncomfortable but enough to handle.

Fi wasn't made up of ancient cracked armor and yellowed brittle bones.

Link ripped free from Tya's grasp, leaving her to quickly pull both of her hands back to clasp over her mouth and nose like it would do her any good. Sparks popped relentlessly against her own skin, uncaring to the dampness still clinging to her clothing and her hair.. The dull ache of it was further reminder for her to be afraid. That her defense was something so meager and untrained, something so physical against the possibility of something that had long since shed a mortal body.

Unreasonable, much like the fear that she could breathe it in like a sickness. It was taking a physical form. How was she to know that it couldn't take her as a physical form?

It had happened in only a matter of seconds, though to her it seemed like it was all moving in some cinematic slow-motion and strapping her to the wall to watch. That feeling broke with the grating sound of a hiss that escaped the creature. It was loud, it was throaty, she could feel it in her own bones which made her want to vomit and tear her skin off to get it out.

Its eyes ignited as the form of it actualized before them. Uneven, tarnished, rusted blades were clutched tight in fingers that undoubtedly didn't belong to the body on which they currently resided. Joints of hot, faintly shimmering magic cracked; a body stretching and reminding itself how to move after a long slumber. Yet despite the stiffness with which it stood at an attack-ready stance, it was fast.

Link was the target and yet Tya found herself falling back with a little squeak of fear as it lunged. She braced against the wall, the sparks in her palms flaring into a full flame that licked at the old stonework.

A hollow wooden crack signified the impact of one curved blade to Link's shield, then another; the slick sound of metal on metal. The second blade the skeleton wielded striking the flat of Link's own. As it broke free the rusted sword from Link's shield, he took that brief, brief window to deliver a hard kick to one of its shins.

The bone fragmented, knocking the monster's balance off long enough for Link to force away the second sword and deliver a strike of his own. Another collision, this one the sharpened edge against its forearm.

But pain was no object to something like that.

It found its footing, bringing its sword up again, but this time as it slammed into the shield, its already fractured forearm broke further. Bones so old and fragile weren't made for the amount of force held in that hit, and it pulled back, leaving the old blade wedged into the wood with its fingers still holding tight.

Link didn't seem to notice. He ducked out of the second blow from its remaining arm, and used the pommel of his sword to splinter its upper arm.

Then it was done. He'd severed the spine and smashed the skull and the bones all fell.

Whatever held it all together was out again. In the air. Pressing on her chest.

Her fire was out by the time she brought her hands back to her face, cupping both over her mouth and nose again.

If Link saw it, he made no indication, and she couldn't be concerned one way or the other in that moment. It would hit her, no doubt.

But she just wanted out of that room.

"It's okay," he said, voice soft as he hurried over to her and knelt at her side– knelt, because she'd at some point fallen back against the wall.

She closed her eyes tight, shaking her head, unwilling to take a breath but having to do so anyway. There was a little sound of alarm that left Link, followed by a bit of shaking and the clattering that suggested he'd removed the arm from his shield. But she didn't look.

He looked back around the room to be sure of their perceived safety, and after he was comfortable enough to do so, he slid closer. His sword was set aside, still within range should it be needed. With the arm his shield was strapped to, he pulled her in and effectively blocked the room out, one side with the item and the other, himself.

In truth, he had no fucking clue what was happening to put her in such a state. He didn't have any idea that it helped immensely to be quite literally shielded from the space around them. He was just doing his best, and Tya was immensely thankful for that.

Damp as he was, he was still a comfort to breathe in as she hid her face against his tunic. It was far easier to breathe through cloth than her own hands, and his presence was still solid enough that she felt like nothing could get in.

"C'mon," he said gently, drawing in a deep breath of his own as he set his free hand on her back. "Weren't you jus-just poking at so-something that wanted to eat-eat– something that wanted to eat us?"

Yes, yes she was, but that was different. She could see a plant. If it was going to invade her body it was going to be through old fashioned stabbing not possession.

Link tried to draw back so he could look at her, but the moment he threatened to make any space between them, she frantically threw her arms around his waist to keep him there. With a confused "okay", he resigned to his fate in her embrace. As he toyed with her braid, he rested his head on hers and said nothing, just waited for her to pull herself back together.

Link had settled into a somewhat content position at her side, resting there in her warmth until she finally found it within herself to loosen her grip. It was long enough that he seemed surprised she actually did begin to withdraw from him, like he really had just accepted he was going to starve to death from being locked in her grasp.

"Better?" He asked, letting one arm drop onto his bent knee. Tya didn't answer at first. She wasn't sure if she was better.

She hesitated, holding her breath once again now that there wasn't a Link Filter to keep out the ghosts. Her eyes locked onto the bones again, the unmoving arm lying not too far from them. Link had kicked it away, thus breaking its grip on the sword, and while she was glad to see it hadn't done anything on its own, she was still beyond uncomfortable.

"I want to get out of this room," she said finally, looking to Link, then back to the barred doors. He did the same, lips pressed in thought.

"We will," he assured her. "I'll look around. When…" he trailed, looking her over and making a small motion in her direction.

Ignoring the rising embarrassment over her behavior, she replied by nodding her head then said "I'm fine. Fine to be.. Left alone…?" Did that sound passive aggressive?

She ran a hand tiredly along her face, brushing back strands of gold that had escaped her braid. "I'm alright."

Link accepted that, watching her hands as she went about readjusting. First her hair, then her clothes, then he withdrew to do as he'd said. He kicked a few splintered pieces of bone in idle examination before going about anything more thorough. The room itself was relatively vacant, but it didn't seem as if it was due to disuse in the past. There was dust against the walls, the remnants of ancient rotted wood, shreds of decayed cloth. It was untouched of course, allowed to rot away along with the bodies of whomever these bones belonged to, but as Tya pulled herself to her feet and forced some semblance of focus, she noticed what Link also seemed to have his eye on.

Among the remains of old furniture sat a tarnished box. It was finely decorated with engravings that, as Link brought it back over to her, she thought looked almost insect-like.

He turned it over, studying the engravings and various small, reflective panels along the top of it. It was just slightly larger than his hands, perhaps nearly a foot long, and it was also just about the only thing that could help Tya calm down. It was a testament to her fear though, that she didn't lunge and rip it out of Link's hands out of pure excitement.

She sniffled needlessly, a hand reaching out to touch the cold metallic surface of the box. The plates along the top were familiar enough that it clicked after a second. Homes in Skyloft had them to store sunlight to light homes at night, but she wasn't sure what a small box such as this might need something like that for.

Link popped the latch, pausing at the fact that the still somewhat panicked girl next to him flinched at the sound. Again, she sniffled like a child, raising her hand up to rub her eyes. It hadn't taken a genius to figure out that Tya was thrilled by all the new things she was getting to see here, but it still came as a surprise to her when Link seemed to have noted that fact. Residual fear still lingered, but as he tilted the box toward her, it subsided enough for her to look at him with curiosity. He nudged it toward her, urging her to continue what he'd started, and after she let out a long, measured breath and looked around the room, she did just that.

The lid fell back on a pair of tarnished golden hinges, to reveal an insect-like item sat upon a red velvet cushion. Beside it lay a cuff with a reflective surface centered among decorations that resembled what was on the box.

Again, Tya's attention flickered around the room to be sure nothing had silently started to come for them, then she looked back to the item in the box. On the inside of the lid, were engraved various details which she leaned in to read. "The Beetle," she slipped her fingers beneath the cold metal, careful of it though it seemed weighty and still intact despite its age. Link shifted the box to one hand so he could poke at one of the wing-like pieces on its back. They seemed thin like cloth and yet they'd managed to stay whole and even functional. A lesser wonder in comparison to the fact that it was a small device that broadcasted picture onto the cuff in the box.

Link took the cuff and closed the box, holding it under his arm. There were a few buttons along the screen, and upon holding one down, it brought life into the machine in Tya's hands. The little yellow eyes on its engraved face were ignited with a green light from within the mechanism, and on the cuff, Tya caught a glimpse of herself reflected from its angle.

"...That's amazing," she said softly, leaning to look over at the screen which accurately displayed the movement from the Beetle's view. Link nodded eagerly in agreement, bringing the cuff up close to stare at the grainy footage on it. Ever curious, he began pressing all the buttons along the edge to see what they would do, only stopping when he effectively made the small pinchers on the front of the item nip at Tya.

With a sheepish smile, he said "sorry" before raising both hands to show he would no longer press buttons at random. He grabbed the box again and held it up, opening the lid for her to look at, which she was more than happy to do.

After reading outloud a few of the instructions and the meaning of some of the buttons on the cuff, Link tilted his head at her, a smile on his lips. "I noticed you read th-this st-stuff real-really easy."

Tya paused in the middle of leaning to look at the button that would better control the Beetle's altitude, so she may instead look toward the lid of the box again. She hadn't really thought about it at all when she'd gone about reading what was on the plaques throughout the temple as well as what was etched on the box. The language was so similar it just slipped her mind that some people may have a little more difficulty understanding the slightly different wording and the obsolete symbols. "...Yes," she answered, lips pursing. "I… May or may not spend a bit of time reading the older books Barnaby has in the library."

That expression he held brightened as she explained, but Tya couldn't resist a bit of embarrassment brewing over the admission to her interests. Zelda had called her a nerd– Rightfully, and meant in an endearing way, of course. But still.
The library; the building only a short distance from the academy, was probably the place she frequented the most in Skyloft right outside of work. It was where she'd initially met Zelda and Link for that matter, as well as various others from the academy. And Barnaby, while a somewhat reserved man, had been just like her in the sense that he would often get overjoyed to talk about things he'd discovered in books. When Tya had started showing interest, he'd been happy to share some of his more treasured texts with her, thus opening the possibility of both parties gushing.

"Didn't know he had a lot of old Hylian," Link replied with nothing more than a small shrug. Still smiling, he waved the cuff again, and Tya cleared her throat before returning her focus to it.

In Link's usual fashion, he took the barest amount of explanation and ran with it in a way Tya didn't consider.

The degraded state of the hollow statue in which they stood came in handy as Link used the Beetle to open the door from the outside as well as check their surroundings to be sure they wouldn't be ambushed immediately upon stepping out. Even with that security, he grabbed Tya's arm to keep her from full out sprinting from the room and proceeded to step out before her. She was, of course, right on his heels, holding tight to the back of his tunic out of fear the door would shut her in alone, but once she was out, she was undeniably less terrified.

With time having apparently deterred the enemy that ushered them into the room to begin with, Link was able to lower his shield and pat Tya's shoulder in an attempt to reassure her. It did help admittedly, but now that she was calmer she was just left with the embarrassment of an overreaction.

"Well," she tried, her voice remaining quiet to keep from alerting anything to their position. A fruitless endeavor given the fact that one, the door was loud and two, this space was so large it echoed with you much ease. "That clearly was not the way."

Link nodded to say that was a pretty fair assessment, tilting his head in the direction of footsteps that once again seemed to head in their direction. In a matter of moments, a screech was echoed off the high ceiling, followed by the bang of a club against Link's shield. And then the sickening squelch of his sword being thrust through a living body.

The pest collapsed to the ground and Link stepped forward to look around what could be seen in the circular interior from their point of view. Directly ahead of them was the way they'd just come from. To the left was another chained door like the last, and to the right, a barred door like the others that required a switch to open.

Neither looked used, again implying that Zelda had not gone this way, which came as little surprise to Tya. She'd accepted that Zelda had used the other entrance, and it didn't lead to this part of the temple in the least. It made things more difficult not only because she had a headstart through a passage sealed to them, but because there was no real way of tracking her in here. They didn't know which door would lead to wherever the tunnel was.

Link hesitated there for a second, lips pressed into a line and seemingly in thought. After a moment or two, he turned back to Tya.

"We went that way," he pointed to the right, and after needlessly glancing over there, Tya nodded. "The sealed door wou-wo-would be- would be probably there, ri-right?"

Fair point.

Tya glanced again toward the chained door on the left, then narrowed her eyes to consider what he was saying. They had indeed left the temple and gone left. If Zelda had used that entry point, then it was a relatively safe bet that she'd be somewhere in that area. Of course there were various possibilities to suggest otherwise, but it was a direction and that was what they needed, so Tya nodded in agreement. "It would make sense that the door would let out in that general area, yes."