Link was starting to regret his life choices.
They had left Bigeri's place early in the morning with the intention of reaching the next Minish town by nightfall. Bigeri had warned them that, while possible, only seasoned travelers managed it; most people would have to call it a night by "The Flower Patch Camp" or risk fumbling around in the dark.
Link and Sidon made a good time to the first commonly used resting spot and pressed on with high hopes, encouraged by the fact that they had reached the top of the hill and no longer had to ascend. They had kept a brisk pace and had even skipped one meal in order to save time, and had made it to the Flower Patch Camp still within daylight hours. They ate a hearty meal there and departed for the last leg of their current road.
And that's when things started going wrong.
First it was a minor nuisance of a few Chuchus. Granted, they were a lot bigger than what Link was used to, but Chuchus were simply not that dangerous in the first place, so the size made very little difference in smashing them to pieces as per usual. It wasted some of their limited time, but they still thought they had a fair chance of reaching the town before the forest got pitch black.
Then it started to rain.
At first Link thought he had accidentally dropped a bomb during the scuffle and then set it off right by some Chuchu remains. That would have explained the sudden loud noise, shrapnel of dirt and wetness hitting him from behind, and the small crater on the ground. Except the noise wasn't loud enough, the liquid was too thin, the crater not big enough, and the force pushing him face first into the ground not strong enough.
And then another enormous raindrop hit the ground nearby and made him look up while Sidon was still fussing over him. The sky had gotten dark with clouds while they had been distracted by the enemy, and they were more or less out in the open and in the danger of being hit by what at their current size were large and heavy water bombs falling at deadly speeds.
"Sidon", Link said and pushed himself up to his feet quickly. "We need to move. Now."
"What?" Sidon asked, but followed Link's lead of running towards what would hopefully turn out to be a decent shelter in the distance regardless of his confusion. "What caused-"
Another drop of water hit the ground and made Sidon startle, stop in his tracks for a second, and then get back to running with more haste.
"I see. We need shelter. Good plan."
Link didn't waste his breath replying. He noticed a shadow appear in his path and wisely avoided the spot right before another raindrop hit the ground with deadly force on that very spot. He stopped for a second to allow Sidon to catch up to him, then grabbed his friend's hand and began to guide him forward. He had figured out a strategy but couldn't know if Sidon had done the same. He wasn't about to risk it.
They spent a frightening fifteen-ish minutes running and narrowly dodging the quickly intensifying rainfall until they finally made it to the shelter Link had seen: a huge mushroom.
Link ran face first into the stalk to stop himself from running past the shelter, and wrapped his arms around it to stop his body from collapsing. Sidon tripped past him because of their linked hands, but thankfully stayed under the mushroom's protective hat when he let go and face-planted.
They panted from exhaustion for a good while, and eventually Link let go of the mushroom and sat down at its base. Sidon joined him soon after.
"That was… strange", Sidon said. "I never thought I'd have to run away from rain for any reason, much less to preserve my life."
'Try Gerudo Desert monsoons', Link signed. This rain had been much direr actually, since monsoons had to build themselves up for a while before they got dangerous. His point still stood, in his opinion.
"No, I'm almost certain I'd simply enjoy it unless lightning was invol-"
Like summoned by Sidon's words, a lightning bolt struck the ground frighteningly near, splitting the sky with a flash of light and being almost immediately followed by a deep rumble.
Link's mind was instantly elsewhere.
Smell of ozone. Sand everywhere; in his mouth, nose, eyes. Wind whipping wildly around him. Ground shaking with every enormous stomp. Screaming. His name.
Hands on his shoulders, shaking him gently. Link blinked and focused his gaze on beautiful yellow eyes full of concern and determination.
Sidon.
Link kept their eyes locked and took a deep breath. He was not in Gerudo Desert. Vah Naboris was long tamed. The lightning didn't target him specifically. He was with Sidon.
He was alright.
'It's fine', Link signed with a small smile. 'Thanks. That was quick of you.'
Sidon searched his face for a moment, then leaned back with a smile. "No problem. I'm glad you're alright. I figured lightning might trigger that kind of reaction, so I checked. I'm very thankful you told me the full story yesterday. I wouldn't have known to be vigilant otherwise."
Link wouldn't have known to watch out for it himself, to be honest. He didn't usually freak out because of lightning, as it had never been linked solely to Vah Naboris in his mind. Mostly it made him think of the Thundra Plateau or Farosh. He supposed his reaction was a combination of mentioning Gerudo Desert just a moment before, his recent onslaught of flashbacks, and possibly his current size. Either way, he was glad Sidon had snapped him out of it before it could get bad.
He would have been screwed many times over already if he had left Sidon at the Stable Inn.
"We're stuck here for the night, aren't we?" Sidon asked, snapping Link out of his thoughts.
Damn, Sidon was right. There was no way they could walk in the rain and very little chance of it ceasing anytime soon. It was already late and it would be well into the night by the time the rain was done pouring down.
So much for making it to the town today. They really should have just stayed at the camping spot.
"We are", Link answered with a weary sigh. "Let's just hope this spot is high enough to not get flooded. Damn, I don't think I have enough firewood for a proper fire either."
Tonight was going to suck.
"I think it's downhill on that side, so this spot should be good", Sidon said after a moment of looking around. He set down his bag. "At least the humid air suits me just fine. That's a silver lining. We'll just bundle you up to make up for the lack of fire and I'll hold you close."
Right. Link would still get to be in Sidon's arms the whole night. It wasn't half as cold as Hebra or the nights in Gerudo Desert either. And there were no sSal creatures around anymore, much less their size.
Yeah, this wouldn't be the worst camping night after all. He could deal with it.
ooooo
Link woke up to footsteps. Multiple footsteps. But it didn't sound like multiple people. A monster?
He bounced up without a warning and paid no mind to Sidon's 'oof' and coughing. He grabbed his sword and turned towards the sound completely on instinct.
There was a creature the size of a dog poking its antennae all over their bags. The creature had six legs, a segmented body, and large mandibles.
An ant.
Link swung his sword at it before he could even think about it, but it simply glanced off the hard exoskeleton. Not that he had been aiming precisely or hit that hard in the first place – thinking the ant an easy foe – but it still made him pause in mild shock.
It was enough to make the ant leave post-haste, at least. That was all that really mattered.
But still, the Master Sword failed to cause any actual damage to an ant. Link made a mental note to be more careful in the future, should they need to actually battle against any chitin-covered insects. Aim for the joints and maybe pierce rather than slash if aiming for the body; that sounded like a working strategy based on what happened just now.
"I see you took care of that already", Sidon's voice said from behind him. Link turned to look and found Sidon holding his spear and abandoning his effort to sleepily stand up. The Zora smiled ruefully. "I had no idea we were being ambushed until you used me as a springboard, and by the time I recovered it was too late. My apologies for being completely useless."
Link shook his head and sheathed his sword. 'I have better hearing. And you were a good springboard.'
Sidon laughed. "That would have made for an amusing carving on my headstone. 'He failed to defend himself, but at least he was a good springboard'. My lack of reaction to anything that might have meant trouble for us is simply appalling so far. You shouldn't need to defend me. I need to do better."
Link shrugged. He was used to being the bodyguard, so he didn't particularly mind. Besides, at least Sidon was more than capable of watching his back should he need it, so Link was already more at ease than he had ever been protecting Zelda.
Sidon looked around and smiled. "Good news. It's not raining anymore. I don't know if you noticed it, but I think it rained all night long. I felt it long after I fell asleep. Look, there are still droplets dripping from our mushroom's hat."
Link looked around. Everything he could see was either shiny with a fresh water coating or muddy if it was close to the ground or the ground itself.
That… didn't look fun to travel in.
Sidon walked to the edge of the mushroom's protective circle and peered up to the sky. He grimaced.
"There are still heavy clouds in the sky", he said and looked at Link worriedly. "It will likely rain more today. We should keep an eye out for shelters at all times if we're moving."
Great. Link didn't want to waste time sitting under a mushroom the whole day, but moving would be dangerous. He had also been making a lot of poor decisions lately, so maybe they should play it safe this time?
…
'Let's go.'
ooooo
Wading through the mud was tedious and slow. It turned out that what passed for an annoyingly muddy trek as a big person was an absolute hell for an acorn sized person. They were up to their knees in mud at good times and up to their waist at worst. Well, Link was anyway: Sidon was tall enough that the mud only ever reached his upper thighs. Link refused the offer to be carried, though.
At one point they needed to take shelter under another mushroom for about an hour, but they continued as soon as the rain let up. They should be close to the town now and didn't fancy camping out in the rain for another night if they could help it.
As long as it wasn't currently raining, they would damn well continue onwards.
They soon reached the base of what was a steep hill at their size and were faced with another new obstacle: a puddle had formed at the base. At their size it was more like a large lake. According to their map, it shouldn't be there and as such it hadn't been accounted to the travel time.
"It'll take a long while to go around it", Sidon said conversely.
"Yep."
"If we were Minish, we would probably be desperate by now."
"Yep."
"Shall we then?" Sidon asked, and jumped into the water with a delighted smile and his usual flourish.
"Yep", Link said with an equally large smile, and hopped on.
Sidon crossed the puddle in roughly five minutes, both of them enjoying every second of it. Then they spent an extra ten minutes washing the mud off their legs, or at least that was their thinly veiled excuse to frolic in the water.
"I've dearly missed swimming", Sidon said, floating on his back with Link straddling his stomach.
"Something good came out of that rain after all", Link answered, eyes locked on the blissful and absolutely beautiful contentment on Sidon's face. The sight made his heart ache something fierce.
"Mmhmm."
The only sound for a moment was the gentle lapping of the water and the distant singing of birds. Just peace and quiet that neither of them wanted to break.
Sidon closed his eyes and sighed. His smile was sweet and soft, and Link felt completely drawn to it, like a moth to a flame. Sidon's lips were always tantalizing, but now they were simply inviting, daring Link to reach out. He would only have to lean forward to press his own lips against them. He didn't want to resist any longer, not at that moment.
"Sidon?" he asked, deciding to throw all the caution to the wind. The moment was perfect. It couldn't get better than this and throwing away the opportunity would probably count as a crime.
"Hmm?"
"May I-"
There was a sudden 'plop' sound to their right that startled them both. They looked in its direction quickly, and saw ripples in the water. Then there was another 'plop'. And another.
"Shit!" Link said, and that was all he had the time to say before Sidon tossed him haphazardly over his shoulder and swam to the shore in what was likely just seconds. Then he was unceremoniously carried like a bag of flour under the huge leaf they had left their belongings at, just in case this very thing happened.
They made it there just in time before the rainfall began in earnest and the scenery around their shelter turned into a blurry curtain of wetness.
Link stared at it glumly from the spot Sidon had set him down on.
"...What was it you wanted to ask?" Sidon asked after a long moment of gloomy silence.
Oh, right. That mood was completely gone now, that was for sure.
'Nothing', Link signed, frowning at the rain unhappily.
From the corner of his eye he saw Sidon stare at him, then look around their dingy shelter with a contemplative frown. Finally the Zora sighed with a ghost of a smile that Link might even describe as sulky.
"I see. Nothing it is."
Link had the feeling Sidon was just as mad at the rainfall as he was. The thought lifted his spirits at least slightly.
Soon, he decided. No more excuses or waiting.
Very soon.