He found himself waking in yet another place he wasn't at last. But just as last time as well, it wasn't too bad to be at. Considering he didn't know exactly how long they'd been in the temple nor how long he'd been asleep at the moment he couldn't pinpoint whether it was sunrise or sunset at this moment because of his system not having fully loaded yet. Inhaling, he went to sit up, pushing himself upright but only half his body responded correctly. Not even bothering to look, he knew that in the time he was asleep, she had been as well and seeing as this always happened, it started to not even bother him. Pulling her with him this time, he sat up, leaving her to lean idly against him. That was at least until the Guays started crowing…
"Birds…?" she rubbed at one of her eyes with the wrist of her sleeve before sitting up herself. She stretched her arms a bit with an audible yawn, blinking the sleep away before coming to her senses slowly, much like Link did himself. Her reaction to him in the morning had calmed down considerably compared to the first time it happened. Noticing that she was situated in his lap, she simply slid herself forward until she was seated in front of his legs. Turning halfway, she murmured a "Morning." lazily, a curt nod from him as a response. "Are you...? Hmm...nevermind." Zelda started to question, small smile forming as she gazed at him. "I'm sure you'd just say something if I was bothering you."
He shrugged and waved off her playful sarcasm. It wasn't that it bothered him, it never had. It was more of a morning surprise that got less surprising each time. He stood then, since no one was weighing him down anymore, and did a couple stretches himself before taking a good look around. Now that it was bright and sunny and he was wide awake, he noted that they were at Lake Hylia. He looked to her and pointed his thumb off in a random direction, signaling he was going to take a walk around. She tilted her head at him as he decided to go off on his own for a while.
Not even five minutes gone, he returned somewhat excitedly, reaching his hand out to her as she sat in the shade on the ground. Taking his hand, he pulled her up and forward faster than she was accounting for and she soon found herself to be at a large brown dock as Link ran off again. Upon that was an inscription that was a bit hard to make out at first but was easily understood after squinted at the aged hylian.
"'Shoot for the morning light' huh?" looking to the swordsman once she heard his footsteps hurriedly against the grass, she raised a brow at him holding both their bows and quivers, holding her belonging out to her. He took an archer's stance, as did she as they aimed up to the skies and fired off a round nearly simultaneously. The sunlight flickered in almost a strange way for a moment and then something fell to a platform in the middle of the lake. "What…that can't be the arrow, can it?" She raised her hand like a visor for her eyes but when the item made a full stop, she didn't need to see it to know what it was. "Let's go get it. It…somehow got infused with a spell…I wonder what…"
Well, she always seemed to know her what's what when it came to magic related things so this might not be too bad a thing to try. Plus they were still wearing the Zoran tunics so it wouldn't really hurt to get in the water again. Sliding the bow into the quiver as well, he dove into the water and out of the princess' sight. She instead just slid down and began to swim as well. She didn't find it surprising that he was there in no time. She was half the distance by the time he'd went to reach for one of the arrows that had come down, his change in expression almost leading her to stop.
"What's wrong?" she pushed herself towards him a bit slower. He had his eyes closed for quite the while. As she finally came aboard the island, he blinked, eyes showing he was still off somewhere in his own mind for a moment. "…Link?" Suddenly, he snapped to attention, sapphire eyes showing the usual battle skilled sharpness as he looked at her. "So, what-" she found herself stepping back as he pulled out the bow and arrow suddenly and took aim at the water. She stared almost intently since he hadn't done anything but he seemed to have a serious air about him. When she first saw why he was focusing, she almost didn't believe she'd seen it. It was first just a momentary wisp, then a spark. He frowned a bit but was soon rewarded as flame danced upon the arrowhead. He let the arrow fly, it almost looking like a burning comet in motion before it hit the water and was extinguished. After her line of vision had followed the arrow, she turned back quickly, another smile on her face. "I didn't know you could use magic! And a fire arrow at that… Wait so that was what we did?"
He nodded, forwarding to the one still on the ground and she looked on just a bit warily. That was until he nudged her toward it. Huffing at him slightly, but understanding at the same time, she gingerly stepped to it and picked it up. The familiar sense of an extensive amount of knowledge being forced upon her washed over her. She, having been through this a few times before, it was easier for her to cope with this. She looked up, following almost exactly what he'd done though the application was a bit easier to understand. To her it was like applying Din's Fire to a weapon. Though not fully the case, enacting it that way made it surprisingly simple. She shot off her own fire arrow in no time, also letting it hit the water.
"Okay then, now that we've gotten this, what should we do now?" he raised a brow at her. "I'm asking you cause you're the one who's been everywhere. I only know layouts from textbooks…you know them from...actual experience. Well that and you're the only one of us that has a mode of quick transportation, no?" Well, there was no disagreeing there. When she wanted to use logic against you, she knew how. He held his hand towards her for a moment but then settled with reaching for the item himself.
Holding her still, he placed a hand against her waist and felt around her bag until her felt the smooth surface of the ocarina. It only took a quick few notes and a couple of minutes until they saw his mare on the horizon. He slid the instrument back into place only just then noting the peachiness of Zelda's face.
"W...what?" he raised a brow but scoffed it off as he rolled his eyes, turning to jump in the water to make the swim back. She found herself making a slight frown before going to make the same trek across the water. He hadn't even made it out the lake without Epona leaning down to nuzzle her nose against him. He pet her lightly then made his way around her, going to his bag right afterward. They had to change back into normal clothes, nothing helping it. Riding Epona while wet would not only lead to a possible sickness for him but Malon would give him hell for it. He shook his head remembering the time he rode the mare while it was raining and the redhead nearly tore his ear off with all the reprimanding about the care of a horse's pelt among health and so he learned never to do that again...at least not on purpose.
.-+Z.e.L.d.A+-.
"Hey…" the princess fiddled with one of the still damp strands that cradled her face as he looked at her. They'd finished not changing not too long ago and surprisingly enough, she hadn't been paranoid as she usually would be. Then again, she made sure he faced away from her so that was another thing. "Would it be odd if I asked you if I could try today?" Though she asked the question to him, her gaze was on the last living being of the three at the lake. He shrugged, then waved for her to come closer to where he was currently standing. Since he was still there, the mare most likely wouldn't act cross towards another person. Taking up her hand, he placed it against the horse's muzzle for her to stroke. Well, seeing as she was familiar to horse behavior, this was probably to get her to stay calm. After trailing her hand to Epona's side, she made her way to the side of the saddle, still looking to see the behavior of the horse. It was only when she went to put her foot into the stirrup, Epona got fussy. The horse began to back away suddenly, her rider was next to her so there would be no reason to feel anyone back there. That was when Link remembered something.
Walking away from them and once he got a good distance, he began whistling. Zelda tilted her head to the side as the mare trotted over, noting that it was the song he always played just to have the horse show up moments later. Once she realized Link was waiting for her to respond to it, she got it. Taking a light breath, she closed her eyes and began to sing the song to herself as he normally played it, which surprised the swordsman a bit. Who knew the princess sang? Though he was taken away from this thought as Epona, slightly curious, followed the tune again. It was only when the princess felt a warm presence by her that she stopped. Epona simply stared at the girl who did nothing but stare back. She then put her hand up to see the horse's reaction, and was rewarded with the creature nuzzling up to it.
"Hey! Link!" the girl was practically beaming. He then walked over to the two once again, signaling Zelda to once again, try to get up. "...should I? I mean.." Sighing, he shooed her with both hands. She laughed lightly. "Well...alright..." she looked up to the mare once more before situating herself to get up into the saddle again. She placed her foot in the stirrup. No fuss that time. Good. She swung her other leg over and settled herself in the saddle, all the while looking at Epona. All the horse did was give her a look back and then continued to look forward. Zelda couldn't help herself a thought of the fact that Link's horse was just as unique a character as he was.
Speaking of Link, he at this moment seemed to be leaning close to his horse once again, which caught the royal's attention. Her brows furrowed. He appeared to be whispering whenever he does that but she could never catch a sound. Though the sound she did catch was a smack as Link sent the horse into action, Epona taking off with a breakneck speed. The princess quickly snatched up the reigns, wondering why Link was, again, being sporadic with his choice of actions but figured that this might be another test of his. Just to see if she'd do fine. Well, she'd show him. She leaned down a bit, reducing the air against her before leading the mare in a lap around the lake with ease. Though she had a bit of a problem with this one at first, horses were something she loved to be around at the castle. Plus the added benefit of a quick escape if she needed one. As they approached the blonde, she slowed the auburn horse to a saunter, frowning at the man.
"It's a question of why you do things like that, you know. I could've fallen off and hurt myself. What would you have done then?" the tone was sarcastic, as she very well knew what she was doing. He shrugged as he looked up at her before turning his view towards the distance. "We should be leaving, huh... Let me-" before she could even finish that, he grabbed unto the seat horn as well as stepped on the outer loop of the stirrup and had gotten himself up there as well and had situated behind her. He looked a bit contemplative of something but shook it off. The princess on the other hand, couldn't stop herself from a bit of chest fluttering panic. "Uh, what...why...what?" she looked back at him, confusion clearly written on her face.
He was smirking again, which knocked a bit of the wary away from her. Leaning closer to reach around, he tugged the reigns that were in her hands then leaned back to push her elbows slightly. Taking the hint, she turned back forward slowly, about to give Epona the signal to take them to...take them to...
"Where are we going?" she had turned back again, seeming to regain her usual character. He surveyed the surrounding area, and then pointed towards Death Mountain. She frowned. "Are we...really going back there so soon...?" he shook his head. "Oh..." a sigh of relief, "Well then, Kakariko is it?" he nodded. She sent Epona into a sort of trot. "But I thought only the Fire Temple was connected to there...but now that I think about it, that is connected to Goron City, not Kakariko. I wonder which then... Actually, how do you know about all this?" he heaved a sigh. A long story apparently. Well, they'd be off for now...
.-+Z.e.L.d.A+-.
Zelda found herself not only frowning but her face a new found shade of red. For some reason, the swordsman had found himself to be more tired than he realized and had nodded off sometime in the middle of Hyrule Field. It was only the fact that he'd started leaning forward, or rather against her, to the point that his bangs were close enough to tickle her neck that she'd grown cherry faced. And if it wasn't his hair bothering her, his breath sure did the trick. She just made a trade off with the thought of: 'Malon did tell me he sleeps a lot. Maybe this is because he hadn't gotten his usual naps in. Which would be my fault so I can deal with this at least.' She peeked over her shoulder to check on him, nothing but the bobbing of his bangs along with the rest of his head, signifying that yes, he was out cold. That was until she stopped Epona at least. As he rocked against her suddenly, he grunted lowly, taking some space between them.
"Oh, you woke up? We're here." he nodded to her, grunting in recognition but suddenly leaned fully against her, sighing heavily. "L-Link?" her eyes were wide with the sudden gesture. After a moment, he seemed to come to some sort of senses because he took a deep breath along with a deep heave and braced her to sit straight before his presence seemed to just vanish from her. She then whipped around. He was off the horse, but what happened? She jumped once she felt a hand against her leg, tapping her. Looking down she saw him rubbing his eye and leaving his hand where it was a moment before. "Y-yes?" He simply held his hand out to her. Confused, she touched his and he shook his head. The only other thing was the reigns so she placed it there. Slowly, he began to lead his horse into town, where the sleepy man was going was unknown to her as she was pretty much sat there for the ride. It was answered though, when he approached a woman with red hair.
"Oh! You're back again-" her expression changed from cheerful to concerned. "Are you alright? You look tired..."
"Quite so." it was then that the female's line of sight finally met up. "I'm sorry. I'm guessing he knows you...?"
"Yes! Yes. He helps me from time to time. You can go ahead." the last phrase, she offered to him. Nodding, he led Epona to the short fence. "Ah, miss, mind your head. His mare is quite tall." Ducking down a bit as warned, Link was able to lead the horse over the small fence and under the awning, letting the reigns go as he let himself down into a bit of hay.
"Uh..." the princess was unsure of what to do and looking between them both was giving her no answers. The swordsman seemed to be making himself comfortable while lying on his front and the lady seemed to be fine with letting him do it, seeing as she just smiled at him. "Link?" He just raised a hand at her, which confused her even more.
"Only five minutes?" the red head asked. He seemed to look up for a moment but then held up both hands. "...only ten? Are you sure?" He nodded, folding his arms to lay his cheek on to go to sleep. The only thing that knocked the princess out of her confusion was a whinny from Epona. "Oh, miss? Could you get down? She likes to lay with him." Understanding easily, she pretty much slid off her, watching as she made her way over to the swordsman and lowered herself to a resting position.
"I'm guessing that he comes here to nap often?" Zelda inquired with the other female. Though in the back of her mind, she was rolling her eyes. Not because of the lady in particular but rather because of her gender. She hasn't seen Link with a male friend yet...
"Yes. He helps me with the cuccos so I let him rest here when he wants. He never stays for long or he just wants some apples for his horse or something." she laughed to herself.
"Ah. Well thank you. And if you can help it, maybe let him sleep longer? It's my fault he's tired this time and this is the only rest I've really seen him get so I'd very much appreciate it."
"Oh, yes. I usually let him rest until he wakes up anyway, that number was just the least amount of time he wanted to not be disturbed. After that, he doesn't mind being woken up."
"Oh. Alright then." she found herself giving a little laugh.
"Oh! Lady Impa is here today too? I should go say hello. Hmm? What's wrong...? You know, I haven't gotten your name..." going from noting the woman behind Zelda to Zelda herself, the youngest girl's expression seemed to change again.
"Her name is Zelda. Princess Zelda. That being, what are you doing here?" the friendlier demeanor the cucco lady was familiar with was gone as the platinum haired woman turned stern at the sight of the younger girl.
"I'm on my mission, Impa. You already knew I had to do it soon." the brunette had a melancholy look on her face at this point. She knew what was coming, it was never avoidable when it came to her.
"Have you learned to defend yourself yet? If not, I doubt you need to be out here. Or I have to question how you've gotten as far as you have."
"I...can do enough." well, that wasn't a lie. And that was as close as she could come to telling the full truth. Her defense came with a price of stamina, which was easily replenished by having a potion on hand but using one in a fight could prove to be dangerous.
"What is your 'enough'? Show it to me!" she declared, now glowering at the girl, who in turn grimaced. "If I'm able to keep you down, you aren't doing enough. We will bout in the town's clearing. Come child."
.-+Z.e.L.d.A+-.
Something was off. Normally when he slept here, it didn't sound quite so...active... something had to have been going on. He kept his eyes closed and tried to strain his hearing more so he could pinpoint what it was. If it was something non-serious, he could just go back to sleep, no use being bothered with that. There were people reacting excitedly for some reason or another. So they were watching something. He was about to just roll over and go back to sleep until he heard her yell. That was something to be bothered with it seemed...
The princess had been dodging blows from her past caretaker and teacher, which had been a huge improvement from how she used to be. Somehow she'd managed to get some sort of agility, Impa mused. It was only when she'd done a low sweeping kick that she'd hopped over but couldn't catch her balance that she'd fell when she landed. The platinum haired woman had aimed a downward punch towards her student, who'd quickly rolled out the way and found her way back to her feet. Even though she'd managed to recover, Impa was on her quickly, fist about to make collision with the unsuspecting princess. But to her own shock, the only thing she'd punched was a rather thick leather gauntlet.
It was hidden under an impassive mask she'd always put on for these occasions though. Out of the blue, someone had stepped in and looked rather protective. This blonde had simply framed the princess, not moving her but instead just held his arm in front of her where he'd blocked the impact. He hadn't made a move to strike but rather glared at her, in waiting. Deciding to see if what she figured was right, she attacked again, Link selectively both pushing Zelda out the way and blocking the attack.
Zelda had been confused since the moment she hadn't gotten hit, though she wasn't surprised to find Link behind her. She wanted to question him but when she paid attention to the intent staring contest that he was having with Impa, she found herself staying silent. After that the only thing she could take account for was Impa taking a step forward and then she herself was looking in a complete other direction. Every time she heard a step she was either swung or twirled somewhere else. Backwards, forwards, left, right, wind, grunting, more wind, by this point, she had to be dizzy.
"Hey. You do know that I am doing this for her own good, don't you?" the woman lightly frowned at the boy. He simply raised a brow at her, fighter's stare gone by now. "She's facing dangers that she can't handle, I cannot allow that. She's too precious to the kingdom to lose in some goddess forsaken temple because she couldn't protect herself." He shook his head at her. "What? Something she's not showing me?" he shook his head again and placed a fist to his chest twice. "...you huh...?" She looked off and down, pondering it. "I suppose she'd be fine then. I was under the impression that she was going at it alone, if you're there, I suppose it's fine." He nodded, letting go of the princess and standing relaxed.
"So, since he's here, it's fine? You normally judge people off what you see or do you two know each other?" Zelda then questioned, since the dance-fight whatever was done and she could collect her bearings.
"Of course I know him. We've sparred on a few occasions and I'm the one who told your father about him long ago. Though, I still lack his name..." she frowned, giving him a small glower, the target of said look simply shrugging it off.
"His name's Link." the brunette answered easily. "But anyway, I have a question about the temple that's nearby. Can you tell us where it is?"
"Where it is isn't your only problem. You'll run into a bunch of difficulties if not well prepared first." the sheikah closed her eyes and folded her arms, heaving a sigh before finishing. "'The Shadow will yield only to one with the eye of truth handed down in Kakariko Village' is what you would hear the moment you even set foot into the temple. You have to go retrieve that item first."
"That sounds simple enough. Where is the 'eye of truth'?"
"The bottom of the well in an area that's been sealed off. And that's all that I can tell you." and after stating that, she simply walked off. The female left frowned.
"I'm more than sure she could've told us more than that...and that well is full of water! How does she expect us to unseal the area..."
"Umm..." they both turned to see the cucco lady behind them, holding her finger to her chin in thought. "I believe the man in the windmill knows something about how to drain the well if that's what you need." Link gave her an appreciative nod and headed off without another word from her. Zelda then thanked her properly just to find that the blonde, again, had taken off at an incredible speed because he was now nowhere to be seen. Well, that would only leave the windmill so she headed up to the peak of town and inside to find...Link walking slowly on a rotating platform, though it made him look like he was in a constant place, she figured it like him to be a busy body.
"Uh, hello? Mister...?" she questioned to the man standing there, turning the crank of his music player and smiling lightly. He looked to her direction, continuing the music. "Umm...someone in town says you know how to drain the well?"
"Oh, that? It's impossible to just 'do' really. You have to wait for the rain." he laughed lightly at her frown. "Unless you can summon it, it's impossible. Though one day, a sudden rainstorm happened and threw this whole windmill out of whack a few years back. It messed up my old song, since I always played to the speed of the windmill. Since then, I play this song, which was the only thing I heard before it happened. Though, that too is strange." the man shrugged lightly then seemed to ignore them being there from that point. What was also ignored was the suddenly there, suddenly gone, almost sheepish smile across Link's face before something occurred to him.
He sat down on the rotating wheel and began to whistle the song along with the music crank the man carried. Once the princess looked at him, he signaled for her to pull out the ocarina and join along. Why he then stood up and began walking again, was weird but she followed his instruction anyway. She hadn't even gotten very far when thunder rang out, which of course stopped her from her continued playing. Well that along with the fact that it was now raining inside a building... She snapped her line of vision on the blonde, who for some reason looked all too happy to be picking up the speed on the rotating device.
"Link!" it came out as a hiss, which he just responded to with an even bigger grin. "Wh-"
"What did you do?!" the man in the mill voiced her question but it was directed at her, rather than the swordsman actually at fault. "It's going too fast again! It's going way too fast! You!" he glared at her. "What did you do?!"
"I...sorry? How was I even supposed to know that would happen?" and suddenly, it dawned on her. "Link...don't tell me that you-" Link was off the wheel and at her side before she could comprehend it as he grabbed onto her arm and whisked her out of the building and away from the man's irate grumbling. As soon as the door closed, he couldn't hold back the laugh. "You were the one who messed up the windmill years ago? And you knew if I played that song that that would happen, didn't you?" He nodded, not ashamed in the least. She punched him in the arm lightly. "You're a bully, you know that?! It started raining indoors for goddess's sakes!"
He held his hand out, looking up. If he remembered correctly, it would stop soon anyway. It's not like she'd believe where he got that song from to begin with anyways. As they made their way down to the well, it proved correct as it had gone down to a mere sprinkling before they even got there. Once they had though, the well had looked sufficiently emptied out. He waved her over to the ladder built into the side and climbed over before her and worked his way down normally to her surprise. Climbing into it herself, she noted how wide it was and how in actuality, she could've climbed down next to him. She was about to open her mouth to ask something when the only thing that made it out was a gasp as her foot slipped off the wet bar.
Link looked up when he heard the tell-tale squeak of her loosing her footing but he didn't expect to see her plummeting towards him at that speed. He leaned back slightly to prepare to try and catch her but her speed seemed to be greater than his as what happened was too quick for him as well. Her back collided with his shoulder. Her weight against him jolted him from the ladder as well. About the only thing to do now would be to brace for impact as he wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her down to be protected from the brunt of the fall. Only, it wasn't a hard landing as he was waiting to happen. A diamond shaped blue barrier had them suspended only about a foot and a half from the ground, it's points evidently jammed into the rock formation of the walls. It was only then that he exhaled.
"You...okay?" came the timid voice of the girl atop him, turning to partially sit up and look to him. Now that they stopped, it was as if they were just laying there. After calming his heart he leveled a light glare at her. "It was an accident. They put metal bars in a well, what else did they really expect to happen?" He folded his arms, tapping a finger on one of them before sighing. Either she'd been distracted or her boots weren't made with too good a grip so he figured it was out of his hands either way. It was only when she giggled lightly that his own expression changed.
"This is the second time I've knocked you down a hole like this. I'm sorry though, honestly." it was a small smile he offered back before shaking his head at her. Then he looked up and around, still curious about the barrier. When he made to move, she slid away from him, soon standing on the bottom slant as he went to do the same. When they both were upright, she dissolved it to let them fall the rest of the distance safely. Once at the bottom though, what appeared to be the closest thing to a doorway was sealed off with a bunch of rocks. Well, bombs would surely solve that. A few explosions later and they were inside. The first room was...just a square shaped hole at the bottom of the wall. "...excuse me?"
He looked to her before leaning down to check the size. If he was right... He lowered himself further to hands and knees and attempted to crawl through, which had actually worked. And if he could fit, there would be no issue for her. He looked back to she her looking rather...sad wasn't the word. He raised a brow.
"For some reason...crawling through there seems like a bad idea..." he shrugged as best he could but continued anyway. It'd be the first time she hadn't gone along with something, which is something he expected to happen way before. Though judging by the reluctant groan behind him, she'd crawled in anyway. Once they got out, he heard a whine. "I knew it..." he turned to see her frowning at the muddied marks against her sleeves. "Washing this out is gonna be a pain...what is this even? It's not mud but it's sticky?" Something like a scoff escaped him as he stopped himself from laughing. She hadn't wanted to get dirty it seemed. "What? You too you know." he shrugged. The ground was still wet, it was bound to happen. But looking at his own clothes, what they crawled through seemed more like a slime than mud. What it actually was though, neither would dare to find out. "Well anyway then, let's go. The sooner we finish, the sooner we leave." There was only one ladder in the middle of the room so that was the only way to go.
Down one ladder, then a second one, the first thing they were met with was a skulltula that hissed at them. It was met with the hissing wick of the bomb the princess was holding and with her aim it was quickly taken care of. He figured he'd have to remember that one. After that, it looked like they were at a dead end, the only thing down there with them being a skeleton of someone he assumed to be stuck down there. Going to try and lean down to check it, he placed his hand against the wall for balance...or tried to. His hand didn't meet anything and he fell straight through. Zelda blinked, seeing only his legs going through the wall was beyond strange. Getting over the initial shock himself, he finally stood up on the other side, putting his hand through again to signal her to come into the new room. She was getting wierded out by random limbs through the wall so gingerly, she followed him.
"So the wall is an illusion, huh..." she still looked to be unsure if they should even be walking through them but nonetheless, she figured to just follow "The Fearless Link". Where his courage came from, she'd never know.
.-+Z.e.L.d.A+-.
By this point, they'd found enough fake walls to last them. It was to the point that they were just touching along them to figure out when one disappeared. They had even found a couple of keys and they had to be only halfway through whatever this huge tunnel was. And not only that, the lullaby was also the key to stopping the water flow so that made the girl wonder what exact song did she grow up with really. At this point though, they were crawling through yet another crawl space that she didn't want to be in. This whole place seemed creepy, making her feel slightly ill...and the only thing to distract her at this moment was something she'd rather keep herself from looking at. A random thought that if this was Malon, she'd be enjoying the view of the rear end of the swordsman in front of her, crawling as well. As they got out, her face must've told on her because he started smirking in that way he usually did when he thought something was funny about her.
"What?" was all she grumbled back. Malon had to have been a bad influence on her. It was then that she finally noticed the skulltula in the room and she had to question herself. Between the swordsman and a fear of hers, one was clearly enough to distract herself from the other. This time it was he who pulled out the bomb and ended it not soon after. The both made their way up the grating and into the new room that...locked them in. "That's not good..." looking forward, she saw what looked to be four hands sticking out of the ground at random intervals of the room. "...that can't be good either..."
Considering they were the only things in the room, it had to be something about these, right? He stepped towards one, not even fully next to it and it suddenly grabbed his head. Initially, he yanked away from it but that didn't seem to do anything. It was when he saw something, a head of something white and red, that he confirmed he definitely needed to get away. Prying a couple of the fingers off, he slid away from it's grip and pulled out his sword, seeing what it would try to do. It's head craned down as it's mouth hung open, ready to try and chomp at him. It was a quick burst of heat that caught his attention more though as a flaming arrow flew by him, planting itself squarely in the forehead of the creature. All it did was turn away from them, blocking another shot from her, as it went back underground.
"I can distract it for you." she walked over to one of the hands before he had a chance to stop her. As it grabbed her, she'd shut her eyes, only hearing the rest of what happened. She heard the noise of something that sounded more like rocks grinding against each other than anything and not soon after, heard the whoosh of the blade going through the air. As that sound went off though, she was let go of as things went quiet before something sounded like it was burrowing again. Since she hadn't moved, it grabbed her again, leading to almost a repeat of sounds but this time instead of hearing it burrow down it groaned and landed with a thud, the hand on her head completely disappearing. It was only when she felt a lighter hand against her head that she decided to peek an eye open. The blonde had a brow quirked at her with the ghost of a smile playing at his expression. Though he soon popped her on the forehead. "Ow!" she scowled at him while rubbing the offended spot, which did nothing but cause that smile to fully appear.
Jabbing him with her elbow as she walked by, she went to the front of the chest that had appeared in the room with the creature's demise. She opened it to see something that looked to be a purple magnifying glass with a pink lens with a dark pink sliver in the middle, making it resemble something of an eye. She could feel a magic aura around it though.
"So...this is it huh?" she looked down at the instrument in her hands once more. Link tilted his head, wondering about why they'd found keys that they didn't even use. He pulled out said items, still looking quite befuddled. "Yeah...no. Leave those here. We can go now." He narrowed his eyes at her, which she returned. "Link. We're leaving. Come back on your own time, I've had it with this place. Can we please just go?" He stared at her, seeming to be honestly contemplating whether or not to leave this unfinished. Well, finishing this place would pretty much just be for his own entertainment but the face of pure "I'm uncomfortable here" on the princess' face pretty much won him over. Rubbing the back of his neck with a sigh, he put the keys in a small pile in the chest they just opened and headed for the door. The smile on her face told bounds about the decision he made.
.-+Z.e.L.d.A+-.
After the girl of the group deciding that after that place what they would need is a much needed and non-refutable bath along with a change of clothes, she figured to either go to Castle Town or Lon Lon Ranch. Taking in their current location, the closest would be her own home. Well, they could visit Malon and Talon some other time. They walked with Epona instead of riding, relishing the fresh air of the field compared to the dank smell of the well that they'd just come out of. She fiddled with the magnifying glass like item they'd gotten, once again giving it a once over before looking at him through it. Of course, he was confused by it, there was nothing hidden on him, and if it was he doubted he want to know what it was.
"It'd be nice if this thing could tell us things about people as well. It'd help me deal with you a lot..." she laughed lightly. He just tilted his head and raised a brow. "What? You're quite the mystery you know. Not just why you don't talk but a lot of things. I'm sure you're full of a ton of interesting things you could share with people. It's a wonder why you don't just open up as well..." He simply looked at her before giving her a half-lidded stare as she just went back to staring around the field. He took a small breath, leaned down to slightly pinch the area around the bridge of his nose and gave a resigned sigh.
"Why?"
"Hmm? Cause I think it'd be rather interesting!" there was a small giggle. "I mean you...you..." she turned her gaze back towards him slowly. "You!" He raised his brows at her. She'd thought she were confused if not for the entertained grin eating away at him. He clearly wanted to laugh. "You're talking to me!" he gave her a mock unamused stare, in which she responded by grabbing his cheeks. "You're actually talking!" he shook his head lightly as best he could before pulling down her hands.
"You say that as if I can't speak. I can, I just choose not to." he let go of her hands, smirking slightly. "And since you say I'm so interesting, what is it that you even want me to say?"
"I..." and she now found herself befuddled. Out of all the time she wished for this to happened, when it actually did, she was at a loss. "I have no clue..." As expected, he laughed before placing his hand over his face and exhaling. He looked at her then shook his head.
"You should figure out what you want. I won't talk all day."
"Hmm..." her expression scrunched. This was a blue moon chance and limited as it seemed. "How long do I have?"
"...Nightfall. Maybe." Link looked towards the sky, clearly noting that the sky was beginning to turn a mix between orange and pink. "Probably."
"No fair! Make it until we go to sleep, the sun is already setting!" he rubbed his face, looking at the princess' borderline pouting. Though, it did turn out to be interesting to see her reaction, as he thought, he was now rethinking speaking to her as she'd seemed to have gotten quite excited about it.
"Nope. You'll force yourself awake. Nightfall." he smiled at her now full on display of pouting, seeing as she wouldn't sway him. She mumbled something that sounded like 'stingy' before she looked to be in her thoughts for a while.
"So...first thing's first...is Link really your name?" for once, his expression faltered, his eyes squinted with confusion. "Words, mister."
"...yes. Hadn't expected that." Sure, he said that but at the same time, what could he expect from this girl?
"Well, it is an odd name. I just wanted to be sure." his expression remained. She laughed, more to herself than anything, "Whaaat? Could've been an alias since you don't like dealing with people." He rolled his eyes but a smile had returned nonetheless.
"You're losing the light. Is this what you wanted know?"
"I...know...no...but hmm..." well, asking him the actual reason why he didn't talk would be a bit pointless. He'd just said he just doesn't want to by choice. 'What would be a good thing to bring up then...this is like pulling straws, anything could work, but!' She ended up groaning aloud instead of just in her head. Link found himself shaking his head again, amused but he slightly pitied the girl's indecisiveness. He wasn't sure if she was too curious and couldn't pick something or if she'd gone blank but they'd been standing in the field doing nothing for the past few moments waiting for her to choose something. He glanced up. She really was going to lose the light at this rate...
"How about this: I will tell you one story you choose. I can't refuse it. Since questions aren't coming to you." If his statement didn't catch her attention, the fact that he was grabbing things from Epona's side bags had. The bedding particularly. Before she could verbally question him, "They raise the bridge at night. We won't beat the time."
"Camping out for this is even better for this situation. Plus..." she walked to his side, smiling up at him. "I've figured out what I want you to tell me." He simply raised a brow and her smile just grew. "Tell me about when you first met Ruto." His gaze flattened, the disdain clearly written across his face. The princess laughed though, apparently she'd hit the mark. Though she was legitimately curious, she also wanted to choose something that would bother him. "If we have time, tell me about Malon too, come on." The male hylian sighed a bit then looked to the sky once again. This would be a long night...
A/N: To be completely honest, this chapter had been finished for months now. I only forgot to upload it because at the time I completed it, I didn't have internet and it's slipped my mind since. I felt like writing and came across it again and was just "Oops..." lol but this seems to be the only story I can focus on so there might be a newer chapter to this sooner than later, but we'll see. Thanks for the patience if you haven't decided to just drop the story at this point and thank you for reading!
~Ruru out