They stepped slowly together, careful and ready to strike. Sheik had said the weapon would have messed some creature up pretty bad. As much as he hated to admit Sheik was right, Link could also feel something dark in the air.
A faint stinging hovered around his feet. As his eyes adjusted, he could see a thick purple fog, reminiscent of the flooded waters in Faron Woods.
He put his arm in front of Sheik's path.
"What is it?"
"Look down. Do you feel that? Near your feet?"
Sheik bit the inside of her cheek and nodded. "It burns. Poison. Does it hurt too much?"
"No, but I'd rather not stay in it too long."
Sheik pointed toward the right. A mound of dirt and grass rose above the rest of the terrain, just enough above to avoid the fog. "Over there. There's a clear patch. We can figure out what to do up there."
Sheik took the lead as usual. A few steps away from the top of the mound, she tripped and fell spectacularly .
Link tried to stifle his laugh but it slipped out. Not so high and mighty now, huh. Serves her right for-
"GET BACK-"
A giant vine lashed out from the fog, sweeping his legs out from under him. So maybe Sheik hadn't tripped.
He scrambled up and grabbed his sword up off the ground. His eyes darted around, waiting for the vine to reappear.
The ground shook beneath him. Sheik raced over to his side, trying to keep them both steady.
Up on the mound, a thick vine shot straight up, thrashing. Atop the stem, a gigantic head jutted out, dark purple drool dripping between each of its long, sharp fangs. The mouth was large enough to eat Link whole. He felt his stomach drop. He was going to be killed by an angry plant.
It snapped at him, making him jump and back into the poison lining the ground. He winced at the pain, but anything was better than those teeth.
He looked over to Sheik. She seemed just as unsure as he was.
"Do you know what this is?" He yelled out to her.
The plant hissed at the noise and spat in his direction. Link sidestepped in time, but the dirt that got hit made a horrifying bubbling sound.
"It looks like a Deku Baba plant, but…" Sheik said shakily.
"But way bigger and way more dangerous?"
"...Yeah, to put it simply."
The giant Baba twisted it's head and stared at Sheik, then Link. It kept looking between them, as if deciding which snack to go for first.
"Ha!" Sheik's grunt filled the air and Link saw the glint of her dagger flying through the air. A sharp thwack echoed and the Baba plant howled before turning and lunging for her.
But Sheik was ready. Link ran behind the plant, being careful to avoid the dark thorns sticking out from the stem. It snapped dangerously close to Sheik's heels. Only her speed saved her from an unprompted amputation. She darted in a zigzag pattern, leaping from side to side before the mouth could land any bites on her. It seemed to have issues with following her pattern Maybe…?
Sheik figured it out long before Link did. She broke into a dead sprint, racing toward the rocky walls. The Baba shot right after her and was gaining quickly. Link sped up too, worry etching at his stomach as he saw the snapping teeth get closer and closer at Sheik's braid flying behind her. Sheik threw a glance behind her and a smirk grazed her face. Moments before impact against the stone, she split off to the side. The Baba crashed head first. The walls shook heavily. A whine echoed from the mouth before the vine flopped to the ground, twitching.
Link let out a breath he didn't even know he had been holding. "Is that it? Where's the weapon?"
Sheik stared at the body a moment before facing him. "I thought… Nevermind. Perhaps it's on the clear patch?" She walked over to the mound. The leaves of the Baba took up most of the area.
"Maybe." Link shrugged.
Sheik bent down and started patting the dirt around the plant. Link glanced around absentmindedly. He heard Sheik rustle the bottom tier leaves around the Baba's base.
A familiar howl shook the cave walls. Link turned in panic in time to see the vine reawaken. It shrieked and lunged with new speed toward Sheik.
Sheik scrambled to get up and barely dodged back. She lunged to the side as the Baba shot at her again. Purple drool flew across the room and sizzled . He saw a few splatters land on Sheik and winced for her.
By now the poison fog had hurt her feet too much for a proper sprint. Link too could feel the red hot blisters forming. Her running slowed and she limped helplessly. The Baba was catching up quickly and she was only getting slower and slower, every dodge closer than the last.
The Baba roared and spat behind her, snapping much too close. She jumped and rolled on the ground. Fighting to stand between exhausted panting, she turned to run but came face to face with the walls. The Baba lunged again and she ducked as fast as she could. But not fast enough.
Link watched as one of the sharp and prickly thorns lining the stem cut clean through her shoulder. He saw it come out, tainted red with her blood.
He heard her scream. And gods, what an awful scream it was.
He didn't feel himself start to run. He didn't remember reaching for his sword, his palm perfectly finding the handle. He didn't even feel the burning blisters lining his ankles, the burning in his lungs and his chest. Everything seemed sped up and slowed down at the same time. Everything was clear and vivid but his mind was blank. It was pure instinct taking over. He was up by the head, he somehow jumped high enough, somehow landed directly on the Baba's neck and sunk his sword deep into it's skull.
No whine this time. The Baba just collapsed. Link panted heavily before groaning in pain. The thorns on the vine. One stabbed into his boot and sunk into the bottom of his foot.
Link pulled his foot away with a grunt. He was lucky that the thorn wasn't as long as the one that struck Sheik, but it still hurt like hell. He yanked the sword out of the fleshy Baba and dragged it behind him, limping towards Sheik.
"Are you okay?" He croaked out.
Her face was stark white and solemn. "I'll be okay."
Sheik fought to get up while holding her shoulder. She let out a gasp of pain but made it onto her feet.
"Can I see?" Link asked carefully.
Sheik nodded and turned around. A harsh gash cut through the cloth. The wound was well soaked with blood, but it wasn't pouring out.
"How bad is it?"
"Stitches, maybe. You might be okay without them."
Sheik nodded and turned back around. Her eyes went wide.
"What?" Link looked down, hoping he didn't have some sort of injury he wasn't feeling yet.
"No- hold on." Sheik hurried over to the base of the plant. Now dead, it's roots were shriveling and blackening. In the center lay a dark metal… thing.
"Is that it?" Link tilted his head. "That doesn't look much like a weapon."
Sheik nodded. "It's a piece."
"A piece? Fuck, where are the rest of them? We have to do this all again?"
"Sort of." Sheik clipped the piece onto her armor and walked back to him. "I'll explain."
"You said you'd tell me everything when this was done."
"I will. I know a place we'll camp at. There's a small village, near Death Mountain."
"How are we gonna get there?"
"I found a stray horse. It's out in the woods. First I want to heal that foot." Sheik motioned for him to sit.
"Me? Your shoulder looks worse."
Sheik shook her head. "It doesn't work on me. I know the chant to heal others, not myself."
"That's kind of stupid. Why are they separate things?" Link gently lowered himself and stuck his bloodied shoe towards her.
Sheik sat on the ground and his leg into her lap. "I'll try to make this not hurt." She slowly started pulling the boot off his foot, careful not to hit the blisters.
He hissed in pain.
Sheik paused a moment. "They're different spells because spells use my energy." She slowly began pulling on the boot again, talking faster. "If I'm hurt and I use my energy to try to heal, the energy doesn't go anywhere. It doesn't have anywhere to transfer to. But I can transfer my energy to you, therefore I can heal you."
"So you're giving me some energy?"
"Exactly." She finished pulling the boot off and started examining the wound. "This part won't hurt you."
"Will it hurt you?"
"Not hurt, but I'll be drained. Similar to how long distance teleporting drains me. I trust you know how to ride a horse?"
"Yeah. I have my own, you know."
"You'll be in charge of guiding the horse, then." Sheik pressed her hands lightly against the bottom of his foot and took a deep breath.
A surge of warmth went up his foot. It wasn't unbearably hot. Almost comforting, even. He could feel the wound closing. Even the blisters began to disappear. But while he felt better, Sheik was looking worse and worse.
A minute passed and the warmth died down. Sheik removed her hands and handed him his boot. She took his leg off her lap and leaned back on the ground.
He took a quick look at the bottom of his foot. Not even a scar. Link quickly slipped the boot on.
"Sheik, what'll you do about your shoulder?"
"The place we're going. It has a healing spring. The sooner we get there, the better." She said between heavy breaths.
Link nodded and stood, offering his hand. "Come on."
Sheik hesitated but reached for it, climbing onto her feet.
"Back the way we came?" Link asked.
Sheik nodded.
Getting back out had been easy enough. Everything seemed calmer in the temple. No spiders or bats hanging around, no trapped monkeys. Even the platforms were stilled. It was much easier to find a path across when they didn't have to play the mind games.
By the time they made it outside, it was almost sundown. Light barely creeped over the trees. Even outside, the atmosphere seemed calm and a great deal less evil than before.
"Where's the horse?" Link looked back to Sheik. Every look at her made him a little more worried. Her movements seemed feeble and fragile.
Sheik walked down the tree trunk bridge and down behind a patch of trees. Lo and behold, there was a beautiful beige horse, fit with a well-polished saddle.
A very, very, very familiar horse.
"Epona?" Link rushed to Epona's side. The horse let out a soft nicker and pressed her nose against his hand.
"Oops." Sheik heistated.
"You… stole my horse?"
"No. She was running wild in Hyrule fields. I didn't realize she belonged to someone."
"Yeah, you know stray horses and their natural saddles." Link glared over at her.
"People abandon horses in the fields all the time."
That was true. It was common for people to leave their horses out in monster-ridden fields when they couldn't afford them anymore. "I guess that's an excuse, but I can still be mad about it."
"Are we going or not?" Sheik sighed, clutching her shoulder.
Right. They were a little pressed for time.
"Yes. You get on first. I'm guiding, anyway." Link backed away from Epona.
Sheik began to push herself up onto Epona before hissing in pain. "Sorry. Shoulder."
"Do you need help, or-"
"I'm good." Sheik bit her cheek and pushed herself up. She made it barely, her shoulder shaking pretty horribly once up.
Link shook his head. She was one stubborn person.
He jumped up with ease and settled in. "Hold on."
Sheik's hands barely gripped his sides. He rolled his eyes. If Epona bucked at all, she'd be off in less than a second. But this was Epona. If it was any other horse, he'd push it.
"So, where are we going?"
"Go through the field up here. Careful of monsters. We'll get to that tiny village. Kakariko, it has a sign. There's a spring right outside of there with a small cave. We'll stay there."
Link nodded. "Off we go, then."
The ride was only about an hour with Epona's brisk trot. Every look back at Sheik made him want to press her into a gallop, but that would attract the monsters surrounding the fields. They couldn't handle any more fights right now.
The sun was down by the time they reached Kakariko. Link spotted the falls immediately, but he couldn't shake that something was in the air. It felt like Faron Woods, before he killed the bug. Twilight Realm. Speaking of which, what was he gonna do with Midna, now that Sheik was here?
He clicked his tongue and Epona stopped just outside the spring. He slipped off and reached his hand out to Sheik. She reluctantly took his hand and gently jumped off.
"This way." Sheik said softly. A boulder blockade surrounded the area next to the spring. Sheik tapped on a few before grabbing one and pushing. Unlike the other ones, this one easily moved.
"How did you know that one was loose?" Link followed, leading Epona behind him. Just past the boulders was a spacious cavern connected to the spring.
"I loosened it. I stayed here before going to you." Sheik walked up to a small and hastily made fire pit in the center of the room. She reached behind a small rock and took out a pile of wood.
"I'll do that. Go heal." Link pulled a log away from her.
Sheik sighed. "Be fast. I'll need it."
Link carefully structured a teepee with some solid log pieces, then stuffed some small dry twigs beneath it. He walked over to Epona and hunted in the saddle pouch for his emergency kit. Thank god Rusl had forced him to pack some survival equipment with Epona. Link fought hard against it, claiming Epona would ever get lost with him as her rider. He never considered this sort of situation before.
He pulled out his matches and struck one, tossing it into the teepee. The fire caught, lucky for him. He only had a few matches left.
A splash echoed from the other side of the cave. Link's head shot up.
"Sheik?" He rushed over to the water's edge, peering through the dark. Did she fall? Faint?
Another splash sounded by his feet. "Right here." He heard Sheik stand up out of the water and watched her shiver. She brushed by him and picked up a pile and rushed to the fire.
"What-?"
"It's a legendary spring. Belongs to one of the light spirits of Hyrule. Usually these springs heal you completely, but this time it only helped some. But it helped enough that I'm not in danger anymore."
"Oh, thank god." Link sighed with relief. He walked back over to her, sitting on the opposite side of the fire.
"In fact, you should dip your other foot in. It'll help get rid of the blisters."
He nodded and moved to take off his boots before glancing up at her. Surprise shook him. "Where's your…?"
"My extra pieces are over there. I didn't want them to get wet." She pointed to the corner.
Without all the bulk of armor and sheaths, she did look pretty small. Looked about his age. A little too skinny, but that might come with roaming around without consistent food. But the main surprise was her face without the mask.
Sheik furrowed her brow. "What are you looking for?"
Her face was unlike anything he thought it would be. He pictured tough and hard skin. Scars covering half of her face, and definitely thought she'd be more tanned. Instead she looked like some merchant daughter who lived in fancy Castletown or something. No sign of a tough and violent life.
"I really thought you were going to be uglier." Link blurted.
Sheik went silent and stiff, a bewildered look crossing her face. Link began to regret ever using his brain. Her face froze like that.
"Um, I-" Link started reddening horribly.
A laugh escaped her lips and a gentle smile replaced her straight face. "We all can't be as unfortunate as you, Link."
Now it was Link's turn to be shocked. "Well, um, I'll have you know I'm actually the best looking bachelor in Ordon!"
"...Are you the only bachelor in Ordon?"
Damn. She got him. "That's besides the point."
Another laugh. Finally a sign that she wasn't some boring stone-faced alien.
"Anyway, moving on, I believe you owe me some information? Does only a piece of weapon ring any bells?"
Sheik's smile faded. "Yes, I do believe I have some things to explain. Settle in, it'll be a long story."