Not only was the remaining door another chained one, but it was one set across a chasm far deeper than the ones they'd seen prior. Why this one was any different than the last few, she wasn't sure, but what struck both her and Link as odd was that this one had been particularly fitted with a rope across. It was beginning to sink in that there was pretty much a clear path in the temple so long as they paid attention- doors fitted with more recent locks, this specific area, with a pre-planned way across. Was it Zelda's doing? Why would it be? What reason would she have to go about chaining up and locking doors behind her? It seemed wildly inconvenient to do so if it was even possible, and on top of that, just kind of a dick move.

Thus far, they hadn't exactly seen an abundance of sentient life. The Kikwi seemed content enough in their more densely wooded area far from the temple, though it was entirely possible that Tya was wrong in that assumption. It was also entirely possible that Gorko the Goron was a mastermind attempting to drive them out of the temple for some unknown reason. Possible, yet both were things Tya highly doubted were the case. The only other creature about the place that she thought could possess the capabilities or the willingness to block off doors like this seemed like the creatures the others had referred to so eloquently as The Pests. Which, admittedly, was a title Tya couldn't even begin to argue with.

Their awful means of communication aside, they were humanoid. While the gear they carried seemed rudimentary, even primitive in a way she could hardly grasp, it was an indication that they'd had a vaguely human consciousness of battle. It was something she couldn't quite put into words, but it seemed like more than the innate animal survival instinct to craft weapons and armor.

That was a theory which she had little evidence for, but it did make her feel a little bit better about abandoning the blatantly obvious Big Huge Important Plot Door. Interest still lingered in what may lay behind it, but at least this way seemed more fruitful in the overarching "find my friend and go home" story she was currently attempting to trudge her way through.

Tya didn't excel in a lot of areas, but balance was among the ones she could actually say she wasn't terrible in. For once, Link actually took a little longer to get across than she did, which was probably something to attribute to the gear he carried. Regardless of the reason, she couldn't help the minute boost of confidence.

Once on the other side, Link let out a long sigh of exasperation as he looked at the chains. Much like the last, the stakes that held them could be pulled from the ground, but that didn't mean it was a super cool and totally hella fun plan. Link wasn't thrilled to do it, and his reluctance was the first sign Tya took note of, that he was tired.

She stood aside as she watched him begin to finagle the first stake from the place it had been hammered into. With a little unceremonious levering and overall blunt force, he had managed to get it free, and it was at that point that she set her hands on his arm to draw his attention.

"Sit for a moment," she said, her voice soft as she tugged gently at him. He seemed to do a fantastic job at hiding his exhaustion. That, or she'd been too frayed to pay attention to one of the other few skills she possessed: observing human behavior. Given that it was something she often did without noticing, it was probably safe to say it was the former, but that didn't stop her from bludgeoning herself with the latter.

"...We've not rested all day," she said, leaning into his vision as it flickered to the remaining stake. She could see he wanted to argue, but she slunk to the ground in front of him, kneeling with her hand still rested on his wrist. He looked between her and the chain, then back, and with a bit of defeat, he let himself sink to the ground as well. He leaned back against the door, brushing aside the free chain so he didn't have to lean on it, and as he let out another huff, Tya shifted to join him.

The bag she'd brought with- more of a pouch she'd hooked along her belt to keep close- contained food and water. And now, with a start, it occurred to her that the food inside was probably completely ruined because of her many treks into the musky water of the temple. Starving as she was, she wasn't about to eat soggy sandwiches, and the wrappings she'd put around them were most definitely not enough to keep out the water. Still, she'd had a bottle in one containing fresh water to drink, and she wiggled a little to allow that pack to be accessible to her. Popping the button open, she fished out the bottle and grimaced as she confirmed that the small rations she had with her were indeed ruined.

Maybe it would be wise to pack fruit or something next time. Something that could get rinsed off and still eaten.

"Are you okay?" She asked Link as she extended the freshwater out to him and promptly ignored the fact that she subconsciously knew there'd be a "next time" in this endeavor. Whatever mess Link and Zelda were in wasn't one that would be escaped so easily but she'd not yet abandoned her hope that they'd find Zel and drag her home and this would become someone else's problem.

Once he took it, she busied herself with examining her hands to be sure she hadn't gotten any soggy sandwich remnants on them. Even though she didn't see anything, she still looked disgusted and proceeded to wipe them off on her pants.

Link nodded his head, sipping idly at the water. "Tired." He answered, another long sigh following, and as he pushed out this one, Tya arched one eyebrow toward him. The shaky inhale that followed made her wonder if perhaps it was less a sigh and more an attempt to take a full breath.

"We've been up for a while," she said as she let her head fall back against the door. She watched the few breaths he took between that statement and the next perhaps a bit too carefully. "I hadn't thought about it until earlier when we were locked in that room. I'd forgotten that I even brought anything to eat with me, but I also packed that days ago. Probably wouldn't have been wise to eat it anyway."

"It's been days," he echoed like he almost couldn't believe that this had been going on for so long. It was a feeling she could relate to; it still felt like this was a fucked up dream. It simultaneously felt like this had been going on for a century and like it had only been a matter of moments since Zelda disappeared.

Another thought fluttered in the overworked, charred remains of her mind.

Zel's bird hadn't come back either…

Guilt was an emotion so misplaced here, yet somehow there was still a sharp twinge of it as she realized she'd not even made an effort to look for her.

Had it been Tya that went missing, she would have wanted someone to find Corrdrin and help him before they even considered looking for her.

"Indeed it has," she finally said. Forcibly wrenching herself from the awful recesses of her mind where she was spending far too much time as of late, she continued with: "As delightful as rotten soggy sandwiches steeped in old mushroom water would have been, I think maybe just maybe, it wouldn't have been good for us."

Despite the thousand-mile-absence in Link's voice when he'd spoken previously, he answered Tya with a little more fluid ease this time. "Extra flavor."

A small, tired chuckle left her as she said " Had Corrdrin the capability, I am almost positive he would agree. That makes me think I'll need to make sure both of you refrain from eating strange things off the ground."

After one last sip of water, Link held the remainder out to her. He'd drunk a fair amount, but Tya didn't mind- he probably needed it far more than she did since he was the one doing the majority of the work. Still, that didn't mean she wasn't thirsty, so she took a swig as well. And after he rejected the second time she offered it back out to him, she capped it and put it back into the pouch that would most definitely need to be cleaned. If not thrown away entirely.

She hoped it didn't smell terrible.

They sat for a few moments more, chatting idly about nothing of real interest. This time, as she'd busied herself with the rise and fall of his chest, she did actually take notice of Link's brief, wary glances toward her hands. It was distracting enough to pull her from her concern, but even then, she couldn't bring herself to ask why he was doing it. All she could do was clench her fists and stuff them between her knees, which no doubt looked more suspicious.

Perhaps it was an indication of her exhaustion, the fact that she couldn't find it within herself to be any more anxious over that than she was about everything else. Which wasn't to say she wasn't anxious over it, it just wasn't as all-encompassing in her mind as it likely would have been any other time. Regardless, they were soon up and on their way again, this time made easier by the fact that Tya elected to try and help remove the remaining stake. Since it was nothing more than some blunt force, she was actually helpful- she didn't have a lot to offer, but you didn't need to be the strongest bitch known to mankind to kick a chain a few times.

They ducked beneath this door too, emerging into another hallway which very little light managed to find its way into. The darkness in this place was so commonplace that neither party paid much mind as they ventured deeper. It was only when they were met with the reason why the hallway appeared so dark, that they stopped to consider the oddities.

Given that the majority of the furniture within this temple was wooden and thus decayed and rotted away, finding boards to block their way struck them both as strange. Dim rays of moonlight poured from another overhead skylight on the other side of the blockade, allowing small rectangles to litter both the floor and Link's frame as he stepped up to peer through.

They were hardly sufficient in legitimately illuminating the space they were in, and as he narrowed his eyes at what lay on the other side, he realized why that was. The moonlight, full and unfiltered by clouds in the sky, was relatively bright as was the light which radiated from the bioluminescent mushrooms that had guided them so far. But neither of those things were capable of penetrating a wooden barricade, shoddy as it may be.

Link motioned for Tya to move back, and she did though admittedly she'd yet to see why. He followed only a step, the gap between himself and the wood now enough for him to wind back a hard kick. The boards weren't treated wood, nor were they built up in the most secure way, so it came as little surprise to hear them crack against his strike. With the damage weakening them further, he was able to pull them free and reveal the second make-shift wall. Much like everything else that had been put up thus far to block their way, this one was weak and riddled with an abundance of gaps.

Link reached the second wall, and with just as much caution as he'd peered through the first, he stepped up to look through one of the many gaps. Slowly, he stepped back and looked at Tya who hesitated in trying to figure out what he wanted from her. He gave a small gesture to the wall to answer her question, and with growing curiosity, she moved to look through as well.

She flinched back.

Tya hadn't anticipated looking through to see something staring back at her.

It was already one thing to have the walls staring at them before. On top of that, there was this constant vague sense that they were being watched that she kept noticing the farther in they went, though by what, she had no idea. It only built that unease in her core, constantly bringing forth this nagging thought that it was something invisible. Something in the air just waiting for the moment it needed to seep into her bones and take control of her body like it had the brittle skeleton Link had faced before…

To look through and see three pairs of glowing eyes on them was a whole new sense of discomfort that she'd yet to face.

There had been a split second where her fears were loud and realized as a shiver was sent down her spine at the sight of another skull with glowing eyes. Just before panic could truly sink in and trigger the fight or flight making her limbs itch, her mind had caught up with the information that said skull wasn't attached to a complete skeleton. Instead, they seemed to be masking the faces of a serpentine creature that had most definitely noticed the pair trying to invade its little lair.

She mimicked Link's previous action in taking a slow step away from the wall. Biting thoughtfully at her lower lip, she considered the wooden boards, then Link. If he was able to break it down, there was no doubt that the beast could, if it elected to strike. The problem wasn't that they'd be attacked though, in her mind, it was that… If they were attacked. That meant they'd have to defend themselves and that meant possibly killing it…

With the so-called "Pests", it was different. It very well could be that her morality was biased enough to only work in regards to animals, but to her, it just seemed like they seemed to have enough humanity in them to possibly communicate, and still chose not to.

They didn't seem like wildlife.

It already felt bad that they'd killed those plant creatures even if she'd taken the moment to examine them. And, despite her distaste, it felt bad to have killed the oversized spiders.

She understood why- that it was a Kill or Be Killed situation or merely one in which the aforementioned fight or flight response had chosen the former. But time had passed enough to make her wonder if perhaps there could have been ways to circumvent the attacks so as to not disrupt the wildlife as much as they had.

Link, a knight at heart that saw monster more than animal, seemed to have already considered his course of action because he had already gone to pull out his sword. He readied himself to start trying to kick down the boards again, but before he could, Tya waved frantically to stop him and then grabbed his arm.

"...I don't want to hurt it," she said. He arched a brow, once again looking between her and the makeshift wall. His expression was one of disbelief and skepticism, prompting her to dismissively say "I know," before he could even begin to tell her what a terrible idea that was. "This is just…" Its home. And if it wasn't its home, it was unfairly captured and held within that chamber against its will. Neither option was a good one; neither a reason for the beast to die. Given the fact that it wasn't actively trying to escape, she assumed this was its little place. That, and the fact that it seemed to have nested in a section of the room opposite them.

Again she moved up to the wall, peeking through each of the gaps in the boards to try and get a better view of the room as a whole. At this point, it didn't seem there was much left aside from the makings of the beast's home- things such as small scattered bones of prey animals, dirt packed against the walls, and the nest of vegetation built amongst the remnants of an old pillar.

It was getting increasingly agitated over the very obvious intrusion into its lair, but Tya was trying to get a feel for what they could do to avoid harming it. There didn't seem that there was any sort of upper layer to this one as there had been the previous room, though even if there was she wasn't sure what help that would give. The only plan she could arrive at was that they both just made a mad dash for the other door and hoped to god it was one that actually opened. In all honesty, judging by the looks of it, it may have been broken, but she would have had to get closer to find out. It was dirty from this angle and seemed slightly crooked but if it was still functional, that was something.

She took a step back, chewing at the inside of her lip in thought. This animal looked to be rather snakelike in appearance. The film of blue she could see on it suggested that it was cold-blooded, which honestly made sense to her given that it had made its nest in a room with a good entry for sunlight. This meant to her that it would be drawn to warmth, but…

Her attention flickered once more to Link.

She still couldn't bring herself to make it obvious. If he didn't know, she wasn't going to out herself. He had been looking at her hands with such skepticism, like he'd suspected her, and she just. Wanted it to go away.

What else, then?

Territorial responses were what drew animals to attack. That, and food.

She grimaced again.

Food.

Tya popped open the pouch on her hip she'd once again stowed the little bit of water they had left in. Though she had initially intended to withdraw the sandwich carcasses, she realized she still really didn't want to touch the nasty wet bread. Instead, she pulled out the water bottle and tucked it beneath her arm as she unstrapped the whole pouch from her belt.

A shame to lose it, especially when she no longer had her seamstress to possibly fashion her a new one, but it was a small loss that she could deal with if it meant not having to spill the blood of another innocent animal.

She'd packed two sandwiches, hoping that would have been enough to last her through the time on the surface. Now that she thought about it, it was convenient because there would have been one for Link too had she not let them get old and submerged. But regardless, that was something like fuel, wasn't it? Animals would generally eat anything, so it was worth a try.

"...Break the boards," she directed Link, who seemed increasingly hesitant about her questionable sandwiches and even more questionable plan.

He wasn't about to let his guard down when Tya was testing her luck. As much as she wanted to tell him not to defend her, not to risk himself for her possibly stupid decisions, she understood the kind of person Link was. She knew that he was going to no matter what she asked- that was why he was a knight. She didn't need ages to figure that out about him.

Link, sword and shield still drawn, took a step back and braced himself to kick the boards hard. Upon hearing them crack, he peered out at the beast growing ever hostile toward their intrusion. As it lowered its head as if preparing to strike, Link took hold of the broken boards and ripped them free, clearing just enough space for them to get through. However, that also meant that there was enough space for one of the creature's three heads to break through too.

Link fell back, shoving Tya with the weight of his body in the process. Whether or not it was intentional, she wasn't sure, but it did serve to keep them both out of the beast's attack, and Link didn't detrimentally lose his balance from the collision either.

As it recoiled, the head within their view turned toward the two others, almost as if it had realized then that it couldn't fit its full form through the small opening that had been created. She could see in the gaps of the boards, the creature's scales glittering in the moonlight that its mass now stopped from reaching the hallway.

Its weight creaked the wood as it pressed, trying to force itself through, but Tya didn't waver as she put herself in front of Link. In one swift movement, she underhandedly threw the pouch, the momentum sliding it across the worn, uneven floor some feet behind the animal.

Link pulled her back with his shield arm just as she raised her hands to cover herself from the shower of splinters accompanying one of the heads busting through the boards.

Curiosity kept it from striking again as the first ducked low, head bobbing toward the scent of food. She set her hands on Link's arm, uncertain of whether or not it had worked but staying his hand nonetheless.

Tya could imagine it wasn't a good scent, but if she'd learned anything from Corrdrin, animals were pretty lenient on things that supposedly smelled bad. She'd once had to shoo him away from three-day-old pumpkin stew that had been tossed out from the bazaar, and had it not been for Zelda later commenting on the bird's horrid breath, she might not have even known it was bad.

The distance between the creature and the potential snack meant it had to abandon its quarry to examine it. The body itself moved to better examine the pouch, and while one remained fixated on it, the other two stayed alert. The glow of its eyes stayed trained on them as they slipped from their perceived shelter and backed to the crumbling walls a good distance away. Slowly, each step quiet and careful, Tya and Link edged to the doorway.

Knowing well that she had little means of defending herself, it was up to her to try and sort the door while Link stood at her back, muscles tense and ready in the case the creature elected to strike. She could hear the snuffling and scooting indicating that it was now intrigued and attempting to get into the small container to get to the good part. As she traced the edges of the doorway trying to figure out what to do with it, she wondered how long it would take to either lose interest, finish it, or eat the pouch altogether.

Despite the fact that Link was on edge, he didn't say a word to rush her, and for that, she was appreciative.

She had to dig her nails into packed dirt to free the bottom from years of sediment. It only took a little finessing to urge the door up, and though it was sitting at an odd angle, it began to grind and pull itself back on track. In a small plume of dust, the heavy piece retracted, leaving the way open for her and Link to hurry through.

What was initially a glance back to be sure they weren't being pursued, turned into Tya smiling fondly at the three-headed creature's pleasure toward the questionable treat. Link, having a functional survival instinct, pulled Tya's arm before she could get the bright idea to try and go back in and pet the damn thing.

The heavy door fell closed just as they started on their trek once more, the gears of whatever mechanisms inside grinding pathetically to a halt that left the door once again slightly crooked. If it was necessary that they go back that way, they more than likely wouldn't get so lucky as they did this time. The only way they'd be saved would be by the pathetic remnants of the wooden wall buying them time to get back to the other side, but it was doable. Maybe. At least by Link.

Still, she couldn't help but feel a little proud. Even as Link blew out a breath of relief after determining they were in the clear. "Is this how you- how you felt wi-with the dumb pl-pla-plans I-" he brushed his hair back out of his face, leaving it in a damp, slicked back mess. Remembering he was wearing a hat, he then fixed the pins that held the piece and drew in another deep breath. "With the dumb plans I ha-had?"

She tilted her head, looking him over and judging the nervousness she could see. He had continued to fiddle with the pins long after having readjusted them and then continued on to brush his hair back into place. That one could have either been anxiety or acknowledgment that it had looked stupid how he left it initially, one of the two.

"Probably," she answered, a gentle smile on her lips. "Shall I call us even?"

"We were even when you- when you tr-tried to drown yourself."

"So accidental stupid decisions count, then?"

Link narrowed his eyes, lips puckered as he thought it over. Knowing he'd likely get himself a few points down if he agreed, he said "...Fine. Even." His expression belied the exasperation in his tone, and he started off down the narrow hall they'd emerged into without even trying to hide his amusement.

The pathway they walked was crumbled much like the rest, and illuminated this time not by time-frosted broken glass, but by pure, beautiful, star-studded night sky. It bordered an open crevice far deeper than what had been shown elsewhere within the temple, and Tya couldn't help but peer over the edge with curiosity as to what may have been the reason for it. Judging by the straight edges of the canyon and the leftover railings that had, in most parts, fallen into the abyss below, it had to have been somewhat manmade. It was, at the very least, present back in the time that the temple had been built, at least by Tya's assessments. Still, the darkness of the day didn't allow her to see into the depths of it, and she wasn't overly keen on finding out what they might hold. There was always something exhilarating about a fall, but with no clear-cut way of getting back up, she didn't want to risk it, even if she was beyond curious.

Link led the way along this path, helping her across gaps, especially the larger ones they were confronted with. They passed under ancient archways or just the remains of, in some places. It was when they circled back around to the barred entryway they'd been at previously, that Tya understood where they were. They had been unable to open it or to squeeze through, which had a simple solution now that they were on this side and thus able to see a switch placed over the arch. Would have been helpful like an hour ago, but fine, she guessed.

Another thing they'd been unable to see from the other side, was that, beyond the set of stairs centered in view of the archway, wasn't a walkway per se, but instead another strung-up rope over the vast fissure. It seemed wildly unstable, to have the stakes on two halves of a broken bridge, but stupid choices were the mood for tonight, and there weren't any other paths. They'd not passed any- she'd been keeping an eye out for this reason. Whatever there may have been had long since fallen in.

Just beyond that massive gap lay the also-massive golden door that had had her attention when they'd first looked through those bars. With how badly she wanted to see it up close, one would think she'd be jumping to go across the canyon on that unsteady rope, but she was undeniably reluctant. Having seen the craftsmanship of whoever was placing all this thus far, she couldn't say she was thrilled. The only consolation she could find was that the stakes that had held the doors closed had actually taken a bit of work to get out. This meant that, should these stakes be driven in the same way, they might just have the chance to get across.

Tya had few skills physically, but along with being near silent in her movements, she could admit to having pretty impeccable balance. Quiet and careful in her movements, always yearning to go unnoticed, it just came naturally to her. And, along with that, there was always the anxiety of falling down- not just falling off skyloft, but an embarrassment that was undoubtedly common among everyone.

Tya stepped up to the edge, looking at the stake driven into the old dirt and grout between the floor tiles. Link had gone about examining the area a little more thoroughly since one of his key skills seemed to be finding random door switches wherever they may be no matter how inconvenient. He had been the one to almost immediately notice the one above the bars, too.

Might still become helpful if this wasn't the right way, thankfully eliminating the possibility of having to go back through the room with the snake.

This seemed to be the right way. On top of the fact that that door was huge and decorative, just screaming "hey open me I'm cool", something else had clearly strove to get past just like they were. If that didn't say something important was here, she wasn't sure what did. Tya just hoped that that important thing would be Zelda, but she supposed she could settle for something cool like an ancient (hopefully not cursed) artifact.

"Hey Ty," Link called from behind her. She'd noticed that he'd briefly ducked out to look around the previous area they'd been in, but it was no different than it had been before so he'd come back and proceeded to look around here again. Her response was an acknowledging hum as she turned back around to face him. The pathway they were on had ended in this bridge as well as a tower built into the wall of the temple, and Link was peering through another set of bars that closed it off to them. This seemed to be the only entry to it, leaving Tya to wonder once more toward the purpose, but she was admittedly at a loss. Her initial guess would have been some sort of guard tower or entry, but why block it off? Why was there nothing inside but a single box that was beautifully decorated with a gemstone on it that could have probably sold and kept both of them comfy for life?

She didn't know.

She wanted what was in that box though.

Even just the box itself.

"Can you climb?"

She arched a brow, looking over at him and then up to see the distance he was intending to have her try. She was pretty sure they'd established by now that no, she had approximately zero upper body strength. There were branches here- ones connected to large trees that bent from the walls of the canyon below and curved out into the open. They might give her a good foothold, but again, she was pathetic in the area of arm strength.

"Even if I could, I'm not sure how I'd get back out," she replied.

He leaned close to the bars, reaching an arm through to point to the fact that there seemed to be a second floor of sorts. At least something for her to get to and to maybe get over with.

Still, she said "I think it would be best if I tried to give you a boost instead. I don't trust that I'd be able to do it."

With that, she bent, her hands clasped tight to one another to hopefully provide him with a stable step up. She'd done it once before, and even despite her aching limbs and tired body, she managed to do it again if only because of the position.

Link climbed the bricks, doing as she'd thought she may by using a few thick tree limbs to aid in his ascent. It wasn't that high, but that didn't mean she was at all confident in her ability. Everything thus far had proven she couldn't manage a single chin-up even if her life depended on it. And, admittedly, with how she was feeling, she'd probably be eager to take the death over a chin-up, but regardless.

He plopped onto the other side and she pressed to the bars to watch as he popped open the box. It had been placed inside with care, and she wasn't surprised to find that the item it held had been left with a similar thought. As he pulled the item out, she noted quickly that whatever the oddly shaped piece was, had almost the exact same design as what was on the large door across the way.

Link turned it over in his hands, examining the piece as she smiled almost deviously. Not only had she noted that the design seemed to line up from what little she could see of both, but she had also noticed from afar that there seemed to be a gap in the center of the large door. Whether or not she was right, her excitement was leading her to hope that what he held was a key. With her cheeks pressed to the bars like an antsy child, Tya breathed "I am so curious to know what lies beyond that door."

Link looked up at her, and after a second of examining her, his lips curved into a similar expression, albeit more amused than impatient like hers.

He latched the key to a part of his belt and started to climb his way back up and out of the closed-off tower.

Once he had plopped himself on the same side as Tya again, for a solid ten minutes, the pair stood and discussed the best tactic of getting both across safely. Time which, in retrospect, could have been spent getting the fuck across or even simply checking the area to make sure whichever was left behind wouldn't subsequently get mauled. But that was a type of thinking ahead that wasn't always included in having anxiety.

That particular issue was, as always, a rampant overachiever but not where it was convenient. Tya was confident in her ability to get across, but what was she without constant second-guessing? It was an odd mix between being urged to go, to hurry up and get it done and over so she'd stop working herself up. And then wondering if perhaps she was being too confident. Too cocky in her perceived ability. She was, after all, physically inept.

On top of her stupid, raging mind, Link had also brought up the valid point that they weren't sure if everything on the other side was safe. It would be more beneficial for him to cross and check the area while she made her way. But there was also the fact that the door behind them was open and they hadn't completely checked everything in there. As such, it was highly possible something could come up while the other waited.

All in all, it was a discussion of 'what ifs' all prompted by Tya's poisonous and contagious overthinking. While it could be somewhat valid, simply factoring the unknown and the risks no one was willing to take, the question was: where's the line? At what point did the amount of caution become too much? Tya sure as hell didn't know, and maybe, neither did he. After some discussion, they were both shut down by the circular talking, and Link offered up the best possible way to make any important decision: Rock, Paper, Scissors.

First round, Link pulled Rock. Tya, Paper.

Second round, Link went for Paper, Tya went for Rock.

Third round was a draw, both opting for scissors.

The tie breaker ended up in Link's favor as he pulled scissors again, and Tya had circled back to Paper.

So he went first, and made Tya nervous the whole way through. For once in her life, that worry was actually a valid one.

He was heavy and unbalanced with his gear, and she'd begun to wonder if maybe he thought he just couldn't die because of how actively he'd opt for rather dangerous stunts.

He stepped foot on the other side, and at first, it seemed fine. He'd looked around, and then moved forward like he was going to examine the door when an ear-splitting screech echoed through the canyon. Tya cringed at the sound, hurriedly moving to shield her ears on instinct. In the time it took for her to raise her hands, realize she didn't need to, and discover where the enemy had come from, it was downed.

She'd just begun to scold herself for her slow reaction time too, when she noticed Link tilting his head at the still present corpse. They were undeniably strange, and she'd wanted to get a look of her own in all honesty. But she didn't expect Link to show such interest, nor did she expect him to hurriedly start grabbing at it.

Her nerves already on edge, she was immediately struck with the thought that something was wrong, but that was only up until he straightened, a keyring in hand and a look of offense on his face. After jingling it a little, and then stepping back as the corpse began to melt away as they did, he looked back across at Tya and held it out to show her.

"It had all the keys," he said. It took a second for her exhausted, frayed mind to reroute itself from the path of worry it had started itself on, but once it did, and she realized why it was that Link was so thoroughly displeased by this fact, she found herself breaking into a fit of laughter.

After all the work they'd done.

Maybe they'd have the chance to use them if this wasn't the way Zelda went.

Tya made it across safely after having reigned in her defeated amusement over finding the keys at what very much appeared to be the end of their journey. In the time it had taken for her to do so, Link had thoroughly gone through the towers on either side of the door there as well, and was thrilled to show her that he'd found yet another ancient rupee lying around. He'd stowed it away in his wallet just before pulling her the rest of the way onto stable ground again, and when she was fully over, the pair faced their next challenge: being fucking short.

The door was grand, seemingly a much larger version of that which they'd initially entered through on the other end of the temple. It had the same silvery-white backdrop and beautiful leaf-like design, though more intricate and embellished with the size increase. Of the new additions, the most noticeable was the massive golden lock that sat in the center.

As she approached it, it became more obvious that the door, unlike the others, was one to open from the middle rather than something that would ride up along a track. The lock itself was similarly split, leaving her to wonder how exactly it would even work. Given how excited she had been for it, Link had suggested she be the one to open it, and she wasn't going to argue it in the least. So he had lifted her up on his shoulders again, giving her the height she needed to see the lock in a comfortable position. The key that Link had provided, she realized, she didn't understand. And that fact only seemed to enthuse her even more.

She traced a finger along the leafy engravings of the key, looking at it curiously and comparing it to the crevice in the door. She held it up, turning it a few ways, and stopped only when she lined the artwork up. The key fit perfectly, and as Link lowered her back to the ground, her anticipation and eagerness were rising through her chest with each old mechanism releasing and clicking into place.