Author's Note: Holy crap. I've had such bad writer's block it's not even funny. This is one of the only parts of the story I don't have planned out yet, so right now I'm kind of writing as I go. Also, I first wrote this WHOLE ENTIRE CHAPTER in Zelda's point of view, but then I didn't like it, so I wrote it in Link's instead.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Legend of Zelda franchise, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows that by now.
Link
We sit there in silence for countless hours. Ashei suggests a few times that we should just start traveling again and make it to Zora's Domain, but I respond by saying that we should conserve our energy, especially if we aren't going to sleep.
I try telling everyone that bublins aren't something to be too scared of, but even I know that's a lie. Those bublins now have direct orders to kill us, and they won't hesitate to. It's not a bad idea to stay alert like we are.
No one even tries to start up a conversation. We just sit there in the grass and watch the moon make its way across the dark sky. Every once in a while Zelda and I catch each other's eye. Neither of us says anything, but our emotions are clearly written in our eyes.
Mine are filled with encouragement but also concern. I'm scared for her. I worry about her. I know in my heart that she is a strong woman, but I'm in love with her; I don't want her to get her in any way.
Her eyes are filled with a mixture of different emotions. Fear, which stands out above all the others. However, there is a small glimmer of hope within all that fear. It's like a spark in those violet eyes. I realize I love that about her. No matter how bad things get, she always has hope.
We both stare for a few more seconds before I see another emotion enter her eyes. Longing. I realize that that same emotion is in my eyes. She gives me a sad half-smile and looks away. If only she knew how I feel about her.
Slowly, the moon disappears behind the desert hills and the sun rises above Death Mountain.
We mount our horses and begin riding quickly towards Zora's Domain. In a matter of minutes, my tunic is soaked through with sweat. It gets warmer and warmer every second, which is very strange, considering we are heading north.
We make it to Zora's Domain in less than three hours and it seems everyone is as hot as I feel. The water level is remarkably higher than I remember, so much that we are wading in knee-deep water on the ground that should normally be dry.
Despite the heat in the Domain, we bundle up in our cloaks, because we know that the temperature will drop very quickly when we enter Snowpeak.
Or so we thought.
It seems that the once frozen mountain has now turned into a melted field. The only mountains that are left are the ones that weren't completely made of snow.
I hear Ashei mutter a curse under her breath, and Zelda gasp. Shad is scribbling notes in his notebook frantically.
"W-what happened?" Zelda questions, obviously frazzled.
"I don't know," I say. "How could everything melt so quickly?"
"Are we really wondering what happened here?" Ashei asks, rolling her eyes. "Obviously it was that Shadow guy's doing."
"How could Shadow have melted an entire region? It seems highly implausible," Shad adds to the conversation.
"I don't know. How could he make an entire race ill?" I retort.
"Link's right," Zelda says. "Shadow obviously has countless unimaginable powers that we don't even know of."
"Well then, we don't really need these, yeah?" Ashei states, taking of her fur cloak.
When she says that, we all realize that it's scorching hot and we're all sweating profusely.
"So what should we do?" Zelda asks. "Without the slope being covered in snow, we can't very well sled down it, and it would take hours to reach the Yeti's Mansion on foot."
"I don't think we'll have to go to the mansion. Look right over there," I say, pointing to two large white creatures among the brown hills.
We all walk up to them, seeing the familiar, yet unusually sad faces of Yeto and Yeta.
"Uh!" Yeto exclaims upon seeing me. "Why little human come to mountains again? We don't have mirror to give, uh."
"No, that's not why we're here. We just came to visit you two," I lie, not wanting to explain things to them. "Where are you heading?"
"Up there," he says, pointing to the highest mountain in the vicinity. "There still has snows. We need snows. It's much too hot down here, uh."
"Uh, Yeto, hurry," Yeta quietly says.
"Okay, Yeta," he says, softly patting her on the back. He turns to me. "We must go, little human and friends. This no place to raise child, uh."
My eyebrows shoot up when he says this. "Child?" I question.
"Yes, uh!" Yeto says excitedly. "Yeta is with child!"
"Oh," I say. "That was, um, fast."
"We owe it all to you, little human! You restored love!" He says, picking me up and giving me a hug so tight I can feel my joints pop.
"Um, okay," I say awkwardly, scratching the back of my head once he sets me back down.
"Hurry, Yeto. Need to get to top of mountain by night," Yeta says.
"Of course, Yeta," he responds, nodding. "Uh, goodbye, little human. Goodbye, little human friends." He and Yeta turn around and begin walking up the mountain once again.
"See you later," I say, although I'm not sure it's true. I remember someone else saying that some time ago.
"Link, I… see you later," Midna said that when she broke the mirror. I fear that the phrase "See you later" has lost its meaning. We may, in fact, never see the yetis again. "See you later" will always just be a broken promise.
But that's just it. No one likes goodbyes. They signal the end of something. I suppose that's why Midna didn't say goodbye.
"Well, now where are going to go?" Zelda asks, looking for a suitable place for shelter.
"How about my dad's place?" Ashei suggests.
"Your father lives here?" I inquire.
"Yeah. Right over those hills. That is, if it's not flooded," she says, pointing to the opposite direction in which the yetis went.
"Well then," I say, mulling it over. "Lead the way."
It takes a few hours, but we finally make it to an old shack just behind a circle of mountains. Ashei walks up to the door and knocks on it.
It opens after a few moments, revealing a scruffy older man with a large sword in his hand. His build is very fit and he seems as though he takes care of himself in that area, but when it comes to hygiene, not so much. His long black hair is matted down and he has particularly thick stubble lining his jaw. Also, from what I can see, he doesn't keep his house very clean.
"What do you want?" he asks gruffly, looking at me, Shad, and Zelda.
"Dad, it's me," Ashei says, stepping into his line of vision.
His face doesn't brighten or show any sign of recognition except for him raising his eyebrows.
"Who are they?" he asks Ashei, gesturing to the three of us.
"Just some friends. Let us in, yeah?" she says, and he opens the door wider so we can walk in.
The whole entire place looks as though no one's been living in it for years. With its layer of dust and its scattered furniture, it looks abandoned.
"What do you want?" he asks again, although not as harshly as before.
No one answers immediately, not knowing what exactly we're searching for. I speak up after a few moments of silence.
"Well, sir," I begin. "We want to know if you've seen anything interesting recently."
He scoffs. "'Interesting?' Are you blind, kid? The whole entire place is melted. If that ain't interesting to you, I don't know what would be."
"What he means is have you seen something like a building or a structure that has revealed itself after everything melted?" Zelda cuts in.
Ashei's father sighs. "Well, when I was hunting this morning, I did see something at the bottom of a newly formed lake. But you'd have to be a Zora to get down there, it's way too deep."
"Alright, thanks," Ashei says, getting up from her chair and heading out the door. She pauses when she doesn't see us following her. "Come on, let's get going, yeah?"
We all hesitantly get up and follow her out the door.
"What was that all about?" I ask curiously once we get outside.
Ashei sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose. "That's the first time I've talked to my father in two years, so sorry if you didn't get the family reunion scene you were hoping for."
"Well, I figured you would at least ask him if we could stay the night!" I exclaim, surprised.
"Look, we can just find a place to sleep over by the lake Ashei's father was talking about, okay?" Zelda says finally, and we both nod in agreement.
It's about three in the afternoon when we arrive at the small lake Ashei's father spoke of. And he wasn't lying about the depth of it. It has to be just as deep as the Water Temple in Lake Hylia was.
We find a small overhang of rock near the lake and decide it's a nice place to set up our small camp. It's a little too early for dinner right now, so we decide to split up and explore for a while. Zelda and I head north while Ashei and Shad head south.
After a bit of walking, Zelda strikes up a conversation. "It's nice that Yeta and Yeto are expecting a child, isn't it?" she says.
"Yes, it is, but what if we don't get this place cooled down in time?" I respond. "At this rate, even the tops of the highest mountains will be thawed out."
She looks down at the ground for a moment. "I suppose that's the question. What if we don't do everything we need to do 'in time'? If we're too late, everything we did would have been for nothing," she says dejectedly.
"Hey," I say, bring her chin up so she can look me in the eyes. "I believe with all my heart that we can do this."
I'm a bit caught off guard when she wraps her arms around my neck and pulls me into a hug, but I don't object. I wrap my arms around her waist tightly, not daring to let go.
"Thank you so much," she whispers, still holding on tightly.
I chuckle slightly. "For what?"
"Everything," she pulls away to look me in the eyes. "The past year hasn't exactly been the best, but you've helped my get through it."
"I'm the one who should be thanking you," I admit. "You helped me through everything that happened with Midna."
She gives me a smile that makes my heart skip a beat and puts a similar smile on my face as well.
"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry," I say. "What do you say we go back to camp?"
"Lead the way!" she says, and we begin to walk back to where we set up our camp a few hours ago.
Shad and Ashei are waiting for us there, cooking what looks to be some sort of squirrel.
We eat and talk idly for a while until it's time to sleep. We don't need blankets or even the fire, because it's already quite warm as it is. I drift quickly off to sleep, being at peace of mind for the first time in a long time.
Author's Note: Done! Nothing really to say here, except thanks for reading!
Reviews are welcome and highly appreciated!