You wiped the sweat from your brow as the cool of the early morning began fading away. You and Link had managed to make your way to the mountainous crevasse which served as a gateway to the mountain range you two would most likely have to travel through. Tall, tan walls surrounded you as the ground slowly transitioned from tall grass to loose dirt. You could see layers inside of the rockface from where different layers of stone had formed over the years only to be consumed by another layer in the coming years. Luckily, the sun wasn't over you, so you could adventure in the shadows for now, but you could tell that once it was overhead, the heat would be blistering.
"It's warming up a little bit," you mentioned to Link as he led the way through the rocky path.
"Yeah," he signed back. "I hope you brought something that can breathe, because it's not going to get any colder once we start climbing."
"Uh, I'll figure something out," you said, remembering that you forgot to pack clothes for the occasion. You were currently wearing a pair of thick trousers, boots, a sleeveless shirt, and a thick tunic on top. Normally you would wear some armor underneath your clothes as well, but you decided to leave them off today so they wouldn't hinder your climbing abilities.
"By the way, do you have a good pair of gloves," Link asked.
"I don't, actually."
Link took his bag off his back and began searching through it while still walking. After a few moments of searching, he tossed a pair of gloves over his back towards you. You catch them and examine them.
The gloves are a dark brown. They have signs of wear, but they still seem to be in excellent condition. The palms are thick and seem to have been designed in such a way so that the wearer would have an easier time getting traction on objects that may normally be too difficult to grab onto. On the back of the gloves, padding was covered by hard metal plates that rested over the knuckles.
"What are these?"
"Climbing gloves," Link responds. "One of my favorite pairs, so don't lose em." Link turns towards you and gives you a wink.
You blush. "I know these are gloves, jerk. I meant the plates on the back."
"Oh, those. Yeah those are in case we get into a fight and you need to throw a good punch or two. Keeps you from breaking your knuckles, and it makes your hits have a much bigger impact. They've definitely saved my ass once or twice in the past. Cause like, sometimes a Moblin just sneaks up on you and you don't have time to pick something up, or you're fighting off Keese while you're getting dressed." Link turned to look at you. "That's super not cool, by the way. Keese are rude as hell. Everybody knows you don't attack someone while they're trying to get their pants on. It's just plain disrespectful."
Link's joke made you chuckle as you started to slide the gloves onto your hands. "Alright, thanks for the TMI there, oh great adventurer."
"Nobody said every part of adventuring was luxurious. Or fully clothed."
You shake your head and smile as you tighten the straps around your wrists. The gloves make you feel powerful, honestly. Almost like you could take on the world with just your fists. You close your hands tight a few times to get a feel for the gloves and throw a few punches into the air.
"You okay back there, fight night," Link asks you.
"Hell yeah I am! These things feel incredible, man. Thanks for lending them to me."
"Don't mention it. I just want you to be safe, you know? I know climbing isn't really your thing, so I wanna help you be ready. I don't think we'll have to do anything too bad since, assuming we were right to think our target was captured by Bokoblins, they don't reside too high up in the mountains. But I do think scaling a mountain face could definitely give us the advantage in a fight via a sneak attack. Do you think you'd be ready to do some easy climbing? I'll do my best to pick a route that doesn't have a hang this time. I know those ones are tough."
"Well you sure make them look easy. You're like a god damn monkey the way you scale those things. Hell, I'm sure you could climb a straight, horizontal rock if you really wanted to."
Link smiled. "I uh, actually have, before," he signed awkwardly.
"Oh my god. Do you just have drills in your fingertips? Like, do you just drill into the cliff and that's why your grip is so good?"
"No, but I do have years of training and practice."
"You should have lied and said yes, man. Would have been a lot cooler."
"Okay, you got me. I had drills surgically implanted in my fingertips when I was younger to give me incredible rock-climbing abilities."
"I fucking knew it," you whispered to yourself, quietly.
After several hours of walking and some slight climbing, you could feel the heat starting to take a toll on your body. You removed your sleeveless shirt from under your tunic, soaked it in water, and wrapped it around your head to try and cool yourself off. You also decided to roll the legs of your pants above your knees to let yourself breathe a bit. It wasn't the most fashion-forward outfit, but it definitely beat heat stroke, so you decided to roll with it. The gloves Link had given you were working wonders, allowing you to climb with almost half the effort it usually took. Link was right when he said climbing wasn't your forte, so these gloves were an absolute godsend. Not only did they keep you from falling on your ass during a climb, but you thought they made you look pretty rad.
Eventually, the two of you stumbled upon an abandoned backpack and what looked like torn pieces of clothing scattered on the floor. By now, the height of the walls around you had significantly decreased, only going about eight feet off the ground. On top of the walls were several large rocks lining the perimeter. There was also a difficult slope in front of you, covered in loose rocks and dirt. You looked up and noticed some claw marks on the walls as well.
"Okay, tell me what happened," Link turned around and asked you, stopping in the middle of the scene.
"Hm, well," you responded, walking towards the backpack and picking it up. "The bag is pretty empty, and it doesn't look like it was ripped open, so I assume it was meant to be like that. There's plenty of food and water, and only one bedroll, so I'd assume this is a traveler who needed plenty of space to carry things, and who was traveling alone. I assume it was our guy, since he would need room to bring back supplies from his journey. It would explain all the empty space as well as the single bedroll."
"Okay. What else?"
You turned your head towards the large rocks overlooking your position. "Well, it's very difficult to see past those rocks up there, and the path in front of us isn't hard to navigate, but it would take more time to get through than your average road due to all the loose rocks and such. I believe the Bokoblins may have taken advantage of this fact and set up an ambush by waiting above and jumping down to surround Pikle. Since the road ahead is tough to get through, his escape would have been very difficult, making him much easier to capture and allowing the Bokoblins to remain more dense, since they'd have less ground to cover to prevent escape."
"Good, good. I was thinking the same exact thing." Link came over and gave you a quick pat on the shoulder to say 'congratulations'. "I'm going to guess they went to our East. There're more people towards the West, and Bokoblins aren't ones who enjoy the company of others. They're not the toughest bunch of baddies, and they know it, so they tend to single people out and then take them far away from others to avoid being overpowered."
You shuddered at the thought. "I'd hate to be captured by those guys and hauled off somewhere all alone like that. Sounds like a nightmare."
"Yeah it's usually not a very good time for whoever got captured. But lucky for us, Bokoblins act slowly. So we should still have time to find our man before anything happens to him."
You salvaged the contents from Pikle's bag: some water, spare flint, and a family photo were the only things worth taking. All of the food inside was starting to go rotten, so you decided it was best to just leave it. You took a look at the photo and saw the man who you were told is Pikle, his wife, and two girls in their teens. The four were posing in front of their house, smiling and holding a large pumpkin. You assumed it must have been one of the larger ones they had grown that year for them to take a picture with it.
"I'm sure he'd be happy getting this back when we find him," you said, showing the photo to Link before stashing it in your bag.
Link nodded and the two of you began your journey to the East.
"Finally," you said quietly to yourself as you poked your head out behind a large rock overlooking a Bokoblin campsite.
The camp housed about twenty Bokoblins. In the middle of the camp was a large bonfire that seemed to have taken days to construct as it stood over ten feet tall. The monsters were gathered around the fire, jumping back and forth eagerly. Near them was their reason for celebration: Pikle was tied to a post, doing his best to try and squirm free of his bindings, but with no chance of escaping in sight. He had some cuts and bruises, but the short, slender, brown-haired man seemed to be in good shape overall.
"That's definitely him," you said, referencing the picture you had found in his bag. "He looks alright. Scared, but alright. Do you think we can take all these guys?"
"If we're smart about it, it should be a piece of cake," Link signed.
"Do you have a plan?"
"Yes. Do you see that cliff there in the back," Link asked as he pointed to a sheer drop towards the edge of the camp. "If we climb up from there and take out a few of their guards, then hide behind those nearby rocks and use our arrows, we should be able to take out enough by surprise to be able to brute force the rest of them."
"Sounds good to me," you said, standing up and getting ready to start walking.
Link grabbed your arm. "Wait. It's getting late. The sun is going to set soon. We'll have a higher chance of success if we wait for it to set and go in under the cover of darkness."
You crouched back down. "Alright. Whatever you say, boss."
The two of you fell back to a hidden position about thirty feet from the camp site and waited patiently for night to come.
"God, it's still hot as shit up here," you complained.
"It gets pretty bad, I'll admit," Link replied. "Those clothes aren't helping you out much, though. Why don't you change into something cooler? That tunic isn't really made for this kind of weather."
"I uh, didn't bring anything different…" you responded, embarrassed.
"No problem, man." Link searched through his bag once again and tossed a thin, black shirt at you. "You can borrow that for the time being."
"Alright. Now all I need are some pants and I'll have successfully stolen an entire outfit from you."
Link chuckled. "That shirt is a loaner. I need it back. You can keep the gloves, though."
"Awe, but aren't these like, your favorites or something?"
"Yeah but, you know. You really like them, and they help you out a lot, so you should keep them. I have another pair for myself, so don't worry."
"Well, thank you. I really appreciate it," you said, shyly.
After a moment of silence, Link asked, "So are you gonna change, or?"
"I can't."
"Why not?"
Your cheeks turned a little red. "I'm um. I'm not wearing anything under this shirt toady."
Link's cheeks flared up as you told him this. "Oh, um well. I'll look away. Just you know, tell me when you're done, okay?" After signing to you, Link turned himself around, staring at the rocks in front of him and rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.
Embarrassed, you slowly began taking off your tunic, watching Link to see if was going to try and take a peek. After a few seconds, you felt confident he wouldn't look, and began removing your clothes more quickly. You threw your tunic to the floor and picked up the new shirt you had borrowed. Your chest was bare since you decided not to wear any kind of wrapping over them today. Usually, you bind your breasts so your armor will fit better and so they don't get in the way during combat, but you didn't expect to get into a scuffle today, so you decided to skip it and give your chest a day to relax.
As you straightened the shirt and pulled it down past your stomach, you cleared your throat and told Link that you're finished.
"I'm done," you said, still a little flustered.
"You sure," Link signed while still facing away from you.
"Yes."
Link nodded and looked back at you before turning his body back around.
"Sorry about that," he signed, embarrassed. "I should have given that to you earlier when you could have had a little more privacy."
"You're fine. Thank you, though," you respond, doing your best to help Link feel less awkward. "Not like you're ever going to see these titties anyways," you joked, trying to make light of the situation.
Link almost fell backward, he was so caught off guard by your comment. He tried to sign, but kept messing up his hand gestures as his face turned a deep red.
You did your best to hold back your laughter as you watched Link try and form a coherent sentence. You thought it was hilarious just how flustered he was, but you also kind of felt nice inside. You took his embarrassment as a compliment: he was so taken aback by the thought of seeing you shirtless that he couldn't even function correctly. Chances are he was most likely just embarrassed because he didn't want to seem like some kind of a pervert, but it was a nice thought nonetheless.
After a few minutes, Link regained his composure and the two of you prepared to ambush your enemies as the moon took over the sky. Tonight, you were going to save Pikle.