-Chapter 5-
A large dog sat atop Shad's chest, causing him to cough profusely. Shoving the dog off and standing slowly due to the spear pointed at his throat, Shad turned to see that Shad was in a similar position. One of the guards called what he assumed to be the creatures name, followed by a command., Bejor [Bey-jour], as the dog was called, wandered lazily over to his master, when he sat on his haunches, panting heavily. The 'dog' was actually a domesticated Wolfos.
"Please pardon us", Ashei stated. "We mean you no harm".
"State your business", the taller guard replied, looking coldly at both of them. Carefully reaching into the side of his bag, Shad pulled out the letter that Auru had given them. Bejor idled over to sniff cautiously at the newly produced item, before giving it a derisive snort. The shorter guard followed and retrieved it. Taking a moment to glance suspiciously at Shad and Ashei, she read the letter. A small smile made it's way across her face as she recognized the handwriting. "Anina", she directed to the taller woman, "it's from Auru!"
Lowering her spear, Anina beamed at her friend. "What does it say" Reading it, the shorter guard, Brenea's, expression slowly became that of worry.
Brenea spoke directly to Shad and Ashei, saying "It is indeed dire circumstances that bring you before us, Shad Garwood and Ashei Marlston. We will do our best to help you, though there can be no guarantees. You should also get those glasses taken care of, and the risk of sounding a bit too obvious. Anina, would you mind attending to Ashei while I take care of Shad?"
"No problem", her friend replied with a smile.
"Thank you", Ashei stated, following Anina when she beckoned.
"Come Bejor!" she called, and with that they moved deeper into the city. As they all entered, Shad and Ashei were presented with a charming adobe village, a paradise of sorts within the harsh mesa. There was even a fountain in the middle of the village. Taking in the views, Shad was directed one way while Ashei was taken in another.
Shad carefully took in all that he saw, dong his best to commit every scene to memory. The city was nothing short of a marvel to Shad, and reminded him very much of Castle Town despite its location. Noticing Shad's expression, Anina jokingly stated, "Surely you did not think that isolation would hamper progress Mr. Garwood?" Shad sheepishly closed his open mouth.
After a few more moments of walking, the two guards split ways, with Brenea leading Ashei to the western part of the town, and Anina leading Shad towards the eastern horizon. Judging by what they had traveled through thus far, Shad deemed that the Gerudo settlement was at least twice the size of Castle Town, which was already formidable enough. As they traversed the landscapes, Shad was not surprised to see the makings of everyday life in Hyrule, and any legend about them was thoroughly smashed as he noticed several young boys playing tag between the shops.
Giggling happily, they rushed past and brushed the two with quick apologies as they continued their game. Taking in more of the scenery, Shad noticed that Anina had stopped in front of what appeared o be an optometrist. Grinning widely, he followed her into the building.
Brenea had led Ashei to a very cozy inn, and they were currently conversing upon the subject of all of Shad an Ashei's previous adventures. Each aspect of Ashei's soliloquy was met with the appropriate responses of excitement and sadness, respectively. Once she finished her tale, Brenea calmly cleared her throat.
"I honestly do not believe that there can be a definitive cure for your companion. However, deep within our desert temple, where the sage Nabooru was once said to have lived, is said to grow a wild herb which can cure any ailment. As no one has dared to venture into those areas of the temple in quite a few centuries, it may or may not be true. Those rooms are quite dangerous and in utter disrepair. There is no telling what sort of creatures dwell there, whether they be former followers of Ganon or no. The layers of dust which reside there will surely not be kind to your friend's lungs."
Nodding slowly, Ashei absorbed all that she had heard. "However, " the Gerudo continued, "I believe that the two of you show now focus on rest and the acquiring of provisions before proceeding any further.
Shad looked curiously at the odd contraption before him. "Now, you say that this machine will help to make the prescription for my lenses?"
"Indeed sir", replied the young but distinguished optometrist. "I shall be very surprised if you are not satisfied with your results." Shad carefully climbed into the seat of this strange device and stared ahead through what he assumed to be a variety of lenses. Occasionally, his young companion would change the lens that he was looking through and ask if the change aided or impeded Shad's vision. After a surprisingly short time of this, the man excused himself to a back room, presumably to work out the needs on Shad's glasses. Returning rather promptly, he handed the perfectly repaired frames of Shad's glasses, with the new lenses inserted into them. Shad was surprised to see what he would have eagerly said to be much better than 20/20 vision, if it were indeed possible.
"This machine of yours is truly marvelous", Shad complimented. "Have you ever considered sending one to Hyrule?"
"Well, we have had a machine sent to Terminia and the surrounding areas with some success. While terms are rather tentative with our ties to Hyrule, perhaps it is time to attempt reconnection. There is a woman in my study who wishes to one day work in Hyrule, so perhaps she will be the one you see the next time you are in need of optometrist assistance. Though, unless there is anything else you need?" the man trailed. "No thank you, this has been, though rather succinct, a marvelous visit. I hope to see you again someday. How much will the fee be for the repairs and the exam?"
With a sly grin, the doctor replied "For you my new friend, and friend of Auru, not a single rupee. May these lenses last you long – but not too long" he stated with a smirk. With a cheerful handshake, they parted ways. Upon seeing Shad exit the shop, Anina joked "See? Not so behind after all."
That night, Shad and Ashei shared their respective experiences for the day. "As Breanea says," mentioned Ashei, "it hasn't been disturbed for ages yeah? So I don't see why it shouldn't be there, if its growing conditions are the same." Shad agreed with the sentiment. With the whole day now behind them, they lay next to each other in the single bed, letting the comfort of each others company calm themselves into sleep.
Somehow in the night, Shad had managed to end up on the floor. Normally that would have bothered him a good bit, but since he remembered that he was in the desert, and that the floor was warm, he was less inclined to worry too much. However, as he heard a slight rustling from above him to his left, he became rather worried.
"Oof". The bundle of blankets that was Ashei joined Shad on the floor, and had decided that lying on top of him was not a good idea almost instantly after it happened. Rolling off of him, she inquired. "Are you okay?" "Kinda" Shad replied in a muffled voice. Thankfully, he had been propped up on his arms, ready to get up. That had most likely been the only thing keeping the air in his lungs from making a mad dash to escape.
Reaching over to brush the hair from his eyes as she turned to face him, Ashei smiled softly. Shad reached behind him to get his glasses off of the small set of drawers that were underneath the bed they had shared. Putting them on and returning his attention to Ashei, he returned her smile. Shifting once more so that he was lying on his back, He opened an arm to Ashei, who curled closer to him and placed a hand on his cheek. Pulling the blanket over them, Shad pulled Ashei closer. Both decided that it was a rather good idea to sleep until noon.
Back in the main part of Hyrule, looking over Castle Town, one couple could not afford to sleep until noon. Having to rise early into the day, they were delaying their rise for a few more moments of relative comfort, compared to dealing with snotty nobles. Thankfully, the magistrate, and ultimately, Captain Viscen, would deal with the disputes between peasants, leaving the King and Queen to more diplomatic matters.
While Link may have become King, a few months of marriage had done nothing in the way of helping him to learn the various needs to which he had to attend throughout the day. Being a more outdoor type, it was taking him much longer than others to have to adjust to indoor work, and the filing of various papers. Thankfully, Queen Zelda was there to help him learn.
"Link?" Zelda whispered.
"Yes?"
"What do you think happened to Shad?" Staring into the darkness of the canopy above them, Link thought for a moment. "I didn't see him at the wedding" Zelda continued. "I thought for sure that he would be there. I hadn't seen him in a few years when I sent the invitation, so I guess that I thought he might... But maybe he had other things to do. After all, how could he not hear about our wedding even if he didn't get the invitation?"
"He must have just been busy" Link responded in a worn manner. " He must have wanted to be there though. You guys are best friends right?"
"Yes, we are" she replied with a smile. Giving him a small hug and a peck on the cheek, Zelda began to get ready for another day of court duties. Quietly, Link thought about Shad's current status. He had always thought him to be rather likeable, if not naively eager. He knew that since Shad and Zelda had been so close, there could have only been one reason as to why he had not attended their wedding – and he could not help but feel poorly about it.
Rather than sleep until noon, as the plan had previously been, Shad and Ashei decided to get up around ten. Extricating themselves from their self-constructed cocoon of blankets, they gathered their things and trudged their way downstairs towards coffee and breakfast. After a quick chat with Brenea and Anina – with whom the couple had become good friends – and a gathering of provisions, they made their way out into the deeper wilds of the desert.
Bejor had followed after them for a short while, barking happily and playfully nipping their heels, before inevitably deciding that humans were boring. Trotting back towards the city, he gave a derisive snort. Half an hour later, the pair came upon their destination. The desert air whistled menacingly between the time-weathered stones of the ancient temple, the most terrible coming from the entrance. While it may have once been an imposing structure once without the need for the passage of time, for all its grandeur, it was most certainly not at its best. One thing that had aided them in their trek towards it had been the landmarks that were somehow left over from the age of the hero of Time. Naturally, things like the flagpoles no longer existed, but the large stone slab from which he had followed the spirit still remained. Though the cave beneath it had long ago been filled in by the desert sands, it did provide a brief respite from the biting winds, and gave Shad a chance to catch his breath. Though she would not like to admit it, Ashei was having just as much trouble, despite the fact that she was healthy. Sands or no, the greatest ting to be thankful for was that the sea of quicksand no longer existed.
They carefully entered the temple. It would do no good to die from a poisonous spider or a scorpion sting after coming so far. Sighing softly, Shad slumped into a corner of the entrance hall, coughing slightly with the effort. The sands, which billowed up with every step, seemed to be doing their best to invade Shad's lungs., even though the dry air did help a little.
Sitting slowly beside him, Ashei brought an arm over his shoulders. "I'm worried about you ya know" she whispered. "I don't want anything worse than this to happen to you."
"I know" Shad replied weakly. "I hope you never have to deal with anything like this." Closing his eyes, he leaned over slightly so that his head was resting on her shoulder. In response, she turned and wrapped her other arm around him. Shad had clearly not taken the trip to the temple very well. True the landmarks had provided them with some shelter, but the sands could never be inescapable. Ashei was truly worried for his safety. While it may have been true that the herb they sought could heal him, she could not help but wonder if the search for this herb would kill him sooner than his actual sickness.
Blearily opening his eyes, Shad looked around to be reminded of his surroundings. The majority of the sands had piled themselves in the furthest corner of the room, whether it be by natural causes or Ashei's attempt at a smaller amount of irritants. Bit useless, really, but thoughtful of her. Stretching, he repositioned his glasses before turning to Ashei.
"Hey, time to wake up." She awoke in a manner similar to his own, and gave him a sort of death glare. "Well, if you were doing your job and had woken me up, you wouldn't have had to wake up so early. " He stuck out his tongue in an uncharacteristic manner. Taking a playful swat at him, which he dodged, Ashei stood up to be met with the sound of her joints popping. Temple floor was not exactly the kindest of beds. Offering her hand to Shad, she helped him up as well.
Surveying their surroundings, she saw that things would be surprisingly smooth to begin with. Before them stood a large expanse, of what had most likely been an arbor or gardens at one point. The remains of a glassed roof lay around the expanse in small piles, partially covered by the desert sands. The odd stone furnishings also made their appearances, in various stages of crumbling decay. The room was about fifteen feet in height, twelve yards in length, and eight yards across. They were standing in the corner closest to the aperture which used to represent the entrance to the area. Gathering up and shaking out what they could of the sand invading their bedrolls, the two packed up camp with little conversation.
Shad took it upon himself to lead the way, small remnants of a map given to them by Auru in hand. The ragged thing provided a good bit of insight to the historical layout of the place, but did not seem to be of much service in comparison to the ruins of their time. Surprisingly, Shad seemed to be able to make sense of it. "I believe that in relation to this map, and a general assumption on my part, there should be some sort of medicinal area in the ruins. For there to be a gardens, there must have been a sort of living area located within the temple, correct? And if there are people living in the temple, these people are bound to get sick at one point or another, resulting in the need for such a place." "And maybe they even traded some of their medicines to travelers, yeah? It would make sense for them to get things they couldn't get in any other way from trade routes, and vise versa." "Exactly, Ashei" Shad approved.
Trudging onward, they came to a large gap not represented in the map. With a furrowed brow, Ashei shook a bit of sand off of her clothing and made her way to the edge. "So, what way do you think we should go?" Ashei queried. "There's a hallway over that gap there, but it's a bit had to see over there. Then we have this way off to our left here too, ya know." Shad rubbed wearily at the temples, careful not to let go of their map. If they lost it, they would essentially be trapped in the ruins, with no way to find their way back out. Ashei carefully snagged the map from Shad to have a look at it as well. "Now, which way does it go?" Shad reached over her shoulder to correct the alignment of the map – she'd had it upside down.
The dim light of their lanterns seemed to penetrate little of the darkness, and the odd shaft of light appearing through the roof hardly reached the sand drenched floors. Holding his lantern up in a way that would better illuminate the map, Ashei sat hers on the ground to show the path.
"From the way these lines are represented, it would seem that a sort of apothecary would be in this area, or maybe a library." Shad helpfully mentioned.
"Yeah, those do look like shelves of some sort. But then there's this smaller room off to the left here, it could be the apothecary. They did have trades, but if there was a library, it would probably be the larger room, yeah?"
Shad pondered this for a moment. "That's true, but there would be a need for a larger room if they were going to trade supplies. They would need the space for the tables to trade on. Also, even if they did have a library, all of the tomes would have to be copied by hand, so I don't believe that it would be very large." They both thought for a moment, trying to decide which way to go.
"Well," Ashei said, "the smaller room is on our left, and the larger one is across this hall. I think we should go ahead and check the smaller one since it's more easily accessible. We've been walking around for several hours, so it would give us the chance to rest as well. Maybe we can find something to get us across too." "That sounds like a good idea. Let's do it, as you would say." Shad smirked at his own comment, before lifting Ashei's lantern from the floor and handing it to her, retrieving the map. Ashei snorted, following him anyway.
After traveling for around ten minutes, they happened upon the remains of double doors. The map indicated that this would be their location. As Shad was about to open the door in a relieved manner, Ashei put out a hand to motion for him to wait. Pointing to the soft light coming from beneath the door that had nothing to do with their lanterns, Shad got the idea. Taking a step back, he allowed Ashei to get closer to the door. Pulling out one of her knives, she angled it so that she could see into the room. There were indeed shelve lining the walls, with crumbling remains of parchment rolls. Remains of old chairs lay on their sides, while the shelves seemed to have collapsed in some areas, reducing the knowledge on them into dust. There, in the center of the room, were the remains of a fire. Probably treasure hunters – they hadn't been around in a long time. Turning her knife slightly, she saw that there was a hole in the wall, letting in the light from the sun outside. It was not very large, but was angled in such a way that it would produce the light she had seen under the door. Breathing a sigh of relief, she voiced her findings to Shad.
"It's all clear" she said, pushing one of the doors open with a bit of effort.
The hinges – what was left of them – had rusted a bit from years of disuse. Entering, Shad gravitated towards the remains of the data on the shelves while Ashei set up an area for them to rest. He'd tried to hide it, but he had been looking a lot paler lately and had been trying to release surreptitious coughs here and there. Hopefully they would find the place soon. Ashei tried to keep watch, but several nights of doing so had made her rather thinly strung, and she slipped off into sleep within the hour. Shad noticed her fall asleep, and smiled softly at her. Finishing up what she had started with the fire, he pulled her blanket over her, and pulled his roll near hers. Settling down, he directed his attention towards the door. In her sleep, Ashei's hand snaked over to hold his, and after a few stirrings, she fell asleep again. With that, Shad prepared to give her a full eight hours before napping himself.