Whatever Link had expected, it was certainly not this. Granted, his expectations had boiled down to "please don't be an enemy nest", and technically this fit the bill, but still, what he got was so much more than just that.

What he had expected to be a small hole in a tree that would be perfect for a bit of hiding – and maybe contain a treasure chest for him to loot – turned out to be the entire tree being completely hollow inside, which was… a big space in their current size. Not only that, but there were stairs on both his left and right leading to a platform that circled presumably the entire width of the tree. There was an eerie, dim light source suspended in midair in the dead center of the chamber, giving enough light to see things like the stairs and the platform near him, but not enough to see the entire room clearly.

"I have to say I wasn't expecting this", Sidon said, echoing Link's thoughts. He was able to stand straight again – which was something of a relief – and his eyes were roaming the room, but Link noticed that he was clutching his right side, exactly where his gills were located. He tapped Sidon's arm and pointed at the worrisome display.

Sidon grimaced and lifted his hand, which revealed a few bleeding gashes. Thankfully they were small and should close up on their own soon, as it wasn't like they could wrap a bandage over Sidon's gills unless the bleeding seemed fatal. "Whatever the magic attack was, it landed a hit. But don't worry, Wildberry, my bag strap took most of the damage."

...That was even more worrisome, if Link was honest. In his mind he could still see the map peeking out of the fallen bag, and he knew the selfsame bag had also contained most of Sidon's other equipment and possessions. Such as his food.

Damn it.

Sidon only had his spear, bow, arrows, and the Sheikah Slate left, because those had been strapped either to his back or on his belt.

'Did your bag have anything irreplaceable in it?' Link asked, because even though the situation wasn't ideal for a bag rescue mission, he would still do it if necessary. The map and the food were almost worthy enough in his opinion, but it was his fault they were lost in the first place – he was attempting to not make the situation even worse with more dumb and risky decisions along the same lines that had caused the loss in the first place.

Sidon frowned, presumably mentally cataloging his possessions. Finally he shook his head, a small smile that didn't quite reach his eyes on his lips. Link couldn't blame him for being unhappy with the situation. "No. I left any heirlooms at home, and the jewelry I had with me can be remade. My travel notebook for this trip was there, but I more or less recall what I had written in it. I can buy a new one in the next city and write it all anew."

…

'I will buy it. You don't have any money.'

Sidon blinked in confusion and then shock overtook his previous melancholy. "I don't! Oh, you're right, my money pouch was in there, wasn't it?"

This was probably the first time in his life that the Crown Prince of the Zora found himself rupeeless. Usually he carried enough money with him to not have to stop to consider any purchase he desired, no matter how expensive – kind of like Link himself these days.

Thank Hylia Link had a weighty purse, so this particular setback wasn't going to be a huge issue. Unlike the other parts of it.

'It's fine, I'm wealthy. That's the least of our problems', Link said, which calmed Sidon down for the most part. 'If you must, you can pay me back later. I'm more worried about the map and your food. You said we're halfway to the Korok Woods earlier; can you endure two days of unsuitable food?'

Link left out the fact that without the map their trek might take longer than that – he trusted Sidon to figure it out on his own, or he could just stay in blissful ignorance for now. They couldn't exactly help the situation anyway unless they were struck by sheer luck.

"I'm sure I can manage", Sidon said. "I don't have much of a choice, do I? I'll try to not let it get to me."

That was as good as it was going to be. In the meanwhile, they were hiding from the Vaatians in a neat looking place that Link was dying to explore now that the more pressing issues had been dealt with.

He looked up at the stairs… and sneezed.

Oh, right, he was soaking wet from the little dive and getting really cold. Not that this was anything new in these Hylia forsaken misty woods.

"Oh dear", Sidon said, and reached for his bag… which was obviously not there. A shame, as Link would have liked the nicely embroidered royal handkerchief right about now.

Link waved a hand, took off his backpack, and dug out the one towel he had on him. Thankfully he had done enough swimming and other activities that required a well proofed backpack during his journeys, so the insides of his dripping bag were perfectly dry.

"Maybe I should guard the entrance so you can undress and hang your clothes to actually dry for once?" Sidon suggested, probably eying Link's dripping attire – Link was toweling his face and hair and couldn't actually see it. "This place is dry, unlike the shelters we've assembled along the way."

Link looped the towel around his neck to keep his still damp hair from touching skin. "No", he croaked, making an attempt at vocalizing again now that his throat was finally less sore from the earlier coughing. "That'll take hours without a fire. And if the Vaatians attack, I don't want to make a choice between fighting naked or wasting time putting my clothes on."

Link would choose fighting naked, but he'd rather not have to do it.

Sidon looked unhappy with the choice, but voiced no objections – clearly he saw the wisdom in Link's words.

"Let's check this place out?" Link suggested, and pointed at the stairs on their left. "We should be able to hear it if the Vaatians come in, and we have an excellent opportunity to shoot them from up there if they do."

Sidon instantly brightened up at the idea, and eagerly followed Link's lead.

The stairs were thick wooden planks that were hammered into the wall and looked very old and foot worn, but still sturdy. There was no railing, so Link was careful with where he placed his damp bog flippers, as they really couldn't afford him falling down and getting a concussion or breaking something – they were in deep enough trouble as it was.

The platform was made of the same planks, but was thankfully reinforced with wooden pillars below to keep it steady. There was still no railing, but a platform was much safer for him to maneuver his flippers on than stairs, so Link wasn't too worried.

That, and he was very preoccupied by the pictures that had been carved into the walls, with their grooves filled with paints for better clarity.

"Are those…?" Sidon started, and Link nodded.

The pictures depicted Guardians. All kinds of them, as well as some vaguely soldier looking things that seemed to be mechanical constructs as well. The pictures were very detailed and resembled the old Sheikah drawings in Impa's house, but with a distinctly different flair that Link had seen all over their adventure in the Minish towns.

Link and Sidon walked forward, eyes glued to the pictures. After the generic Guardian pictures ended they came across a close-up of a regular Guardian… that apparently had a tiny built-in ladder going up on its side, and a vaguely Minish looking figure climbing said ladder up. There was a clearly outlined door on its head in one of the grooves that Link had always thought to be purely decorative.

The implication was clear: the Minish could enter the Guardians through secret doors that had been very specifically made for them and hidden from big people eyes. But for what reason?

The next picture was a blueprint that Link assumed to be the inside of the Guardian's head. There were several sentences of text next to various points of interest, but it was obviously enough in Minish so neither of the two could read it. The blueprint itself reminded Link of the Divine Beasts, however, so he could make a few educated guesses on what could be said there.

"They're like Minish-sized Divine Beasts", Link said out loud to mesmerized looking Sidon. "I wonder…"

Were the Guardians actually autonomous after all or were they all piloted by the Minish? Were there potentially hordes of Minish ghosts trapped in their beasts like the Champions had been? Link wracked his memory for what he had learned of the happenings over a hundred years ago for some clues.

All the Guardians they currently had around had been excavated from the ground, but most hadn't activated at all until Ganon took them over, right? But every single one of them activated at Ganon's will, so all of them had clearly been functional. If a Minish had been inside each Guardian in some form or another, wouldn't all of them have activated into their benevolent versions as soon as they were in said functional state? The Champions were able to control their Divine Beasts as ghosts even after Ganon's curse was lifted, so it seemed logical that a Minish Champion could do that too, which begged the question of why they hadn't.

The Divine Beasts stopped working once the ghosts of the Champions moved on, but the Guardians simply returned into their benevolent forms if they were still functional enough to keep going after Ganon's magic boost was gone. So if there were Minish ghosts, they hadn't moved on. But… Why would there be ghosts in the first place? The Champions stayed because they died suddenly and had unfinished business – or so Zelda speculated – so had there been-

"Link?"

Link snapped out of his musings and looked up at Sidon, who was a few steps ahead of him, half observing the next picture and half looking at Link. Said picture was depicting the blueprint of a flying Guardian.

"You were very deep in your thoughts", Sidon said, and lowered the Sheikah Slate he had been holding up – he had been taking photos of the illustrations, it seemed. "Would you care to think out loud? I'm afraid I can't make much of what I see on my own, so your insight would be the most illuminating."

Huh. Link supposed Sidon would make for a good sounding board if nothing else. He still kept forgetting that he now had a partner to share his thoughts with and didn't have to figure every mystery out on his own.

With a smile, Link narrated his musings while watching Sidon document their findings in picture form. Link was sure Zelda, Purah and Robbie would be over the moon over the pictures later.

"I see", Sidon said thoughtfully. "I have to say I find the ghost theory somewhat unlikely. I should think the ghosts would have kept the Guardians active all this time instead of letting them get buried in the ground over the millenia. Mipha's spirit kept Vah Ruta active for a hundred years, against her will as it was. She would have kept doing it until the end of time, I'm certain, if she had had to. Even if some of the alleged Minish Champions had given up eventually, I'm sure at least a few would have kept active at least long enough for their guardian to have stayed above ground. That, and the previous battle against Ganon was successful, so shouldn't any ghosts have found their peace afterwards?"

"Good points", Link said, mulling it over. "So if there aren't any ghosts and the guardians can move on their own, why would the Minish need to go inside? Do you think-"

His eyes, that had been looking in Sidon's direction as he spoke, slid over his form at the sight of the Slate's light reflecting off of something ahead of them. He craned his neck to look past Sidon and saw…

A treasure chest. No, a few of them, even.

Okay, history lesson and speculation time was officially over now.

He had his priorities, and treasures were high on the list.