Link was at least glad he didn't have to pilot the shadow bird. Midna steered it through the tunnel, avoiding the stalactites that hung from the top of the cave. Sometimes she would nudge it to move faster, and it would make that same unnerving trumpet-like noise. It would almost be a peaceful flight, if not for the shadow bird's talons clutching him so tightly.
A sudden explosion echoing through the cave ended the near-peace. Link's hackles raised, though he was powerless in the talons of the shadow bird.
"Ugh, more of those stupid archers. Why are they even here?" Another explosion, much closer than the first, echoed through the cave. Link noticed wooden platforms clinging to the walls of the cave, and sure enough a couple of the monsters were standing on the platforms.
"Hold on down there!" Before Link could snort at the silliness of her telling him to hold on when it was the shadow bird doing the holding, he was suddenly jerked to the side. An explosion rang out behind him, rubble pelting his tail. More concerning, however, was the explosion in front of him. It knocked loose a chunk of a stalactite, sending it shooting past the shadow bird, which reared back. Link felt the talons surrounding him loosen, and with a yelp, he plummeted onto one of the wooden platforms below him.
One of the archer monsters broke his fall, the force of Link slamming into it crushing its bow and knocking the wind out of it. A quick bite to the throat was all it took to finish it off, letting Link get a proper look around the area, and at the sight of Midna struggling to control the bird as it kept flying.
'Midna!' She wrestled with the bird, before it finally turned and flew back down to where he had fallen. At last it was flying in front of him, with Midna peering down from its back at Link.
"Are you alright?" He huffed, shaking himself off.
'As alright as I can be, with how far of a fall that was.'
"Sorry, I didn't think he'd drop you." Link could only stare up at her. 'She... actually said sorry.'
The bird dove forward and grabbed Link in its talons again, this time perhaps just the slightest bit more tightly than before. Again he was carried up and forward, as the bird let out a trumpeting screech that echoed on the walls of the cave.
As the bird carried him through another turn in the cave, another explosion rang out in front of him. Suddenly, pillars of rock began falling from where they stood on either side of the cave, tumbling down in front of the bird.
"Hold onto him!" To his surprise, he could feel the shadow bird's talons tighten around him as it pulled him past the falling pillars. Behind him, he could hear the pillars crash to the ground. He let out a sigh. 'I guess that's one good thing about these bird things.' Just as he finished that thought, he noticed a large pillar that was slowly falling towards them. 'Ordona's horns!' Midna said something, though what exactly she said, Link wasn't sure. The wind hissed in his ears as the bird dove to the side and around the falling pillar.
The explosions stopped as they rounded a corner. 'Maybe we're almost there? Wherever 'there' is, anyways.' The only sounds in the cave were the wings of the shadow bird.
"You alright down there?" Well, the bird and Midna's voice. He huffed.
'Wasn't expecting there to be that many explosions in this cave.' Midna scoffed.
"Yeah, I don't know why Zant has those archers in here of all places."
'Zant sent those archers?'
"I mean... who else would send Twilit Bulblins here?" Before Link could ask her why she called them Bulblins, another explosion rang out. A chunk of a stalactite crumbled and fell to the floor of the cave, thankfully not close enough to the bird to cause any harm. Though he couldn't see them all that well, the way Midna steered the bird made it clear that there were more of the archers - or, apparently, Bulblins - in the cave with them. With several trumpeting cries that echoed against the walls of the cave, the shadow bird slipped between falling stalactites until they finally came to a large open area, with what seemed to be the exit to the cave. Link let out a small sigh of relief as the bird carried him out of the cave and away from the Bulblins' explosive arrows.
At last, the bird gently placed him down on a rocky outcropping overlooking a dry riverbed, before flying away into the hazy twilight sky. Link almost smiled at the familiar feeling of the ground against his paw pads, even with the slight chill in the air and on the ground.
"That guy down there said the Zoras were up here, right? Where's their village?" Perhaps Midna had planned to say more, but even Link could feel her shiver, just slightly. "It's getting cold, let's hurry!" For once, Link found himself grateful to be in his wolf form.
Across the dry riverbed, he could hear the familiar whistling of a howling stone. 'Hm.. It doesn't look like I can jump across to it.' He looked around, noticing a building with a set of wooden stairs on either side of the rocky cliffs surrounding the riverbed. Down on the riverbed itself, there was some kind of collection of wood. 'Maybe if there were water flowing through here, I could use that to get across.' It was then that he noticed the spirit floating next to the building.
"ZORA'S RIVER TO LAKE HYLIA
Ride downriver the FUN way!
BOAT RENTAL CABIN
Rental Fee: 20 Rupees"
The spirit, as it turned out, was a woman. She sat on the stairs, grumbling to herself.
"What are those Zoras up to, anyway? The river's run totally dry!" She groaned, her face falling into her hands. "I can't work like this..." For a few moments she stared at the ground, before she shivered just like Midna had. Then she sighed. "I miss my fur coat..." Link let out a small laugh, just at the coincidence that she was lamenting a missing fur coat while he was stuck in a body that had its own fur coat.
The ground off to the side from the building sloped down to the dry riverbed, allowing Link to make his way there rather than trying to jump down. It was then that he noticed ice along the ground, reflecting the hazy twilight sky above. 'Is it really that cold here?' He slowly walked over to the ice, warily eyeing it. Ordon Village sometimes saw ice in the winter, if it was cold enough for it to form over the lake or in the goats' troughs. It was usually fragile, ready to shatter into pieces if too much weight stood on it. This ice, though, was at the bottom of a riverbed. There was no frigid water under the ice. He raised a paw and gently set it down on the ice.
The instant he did, the cold raced up from his paw pads and through his leg. He jumped back, letting out the smallest yelp as he did. Immediately after, the embarrassment came. 'Ordona's horns, Link, it's just ice!'
"Something wrong, wolfy?"
'No, I just...' How could he explain it without sounding ridiculous?
"Didn't expect the ice to be that cold, huh?" Midna saying it like that certainly didn't help him feel any less silly. He huffed.
'I don't have fur on my paw pads like I do on the rest of my body.'
"Well, it looks like there's a lot more ice up ahead than there is here. So you'll have to get accustomed to it now." He sighed, picking his paw up and placing it on the ice more slowly. He winced, but didn't withdraw his paw, as the cold again spread up from his paw pads. A slow step forward, and now the ice was gnawing on two of his paws.
After what felt like considerable effort, he was successfully standing on the ice with all four paws. He was also beginning to shiver. He shuffled, hoping the movement would bring the warmth back to his paw pads and legs. Soon the shuffling turned into sprinting, which mercifully brought some of the warmth back to at least his legs. However, that brought with it a new problem: the ice was slippery.
'Claws.' It had been some time since he had last 'heard' from... whatever it was that gave him the feelings and images. It hadn't led him wrong before. He skidded to a stop and extended his claws, digging them into the ice. With some tentative steps forward, and then more sprinting, he found that he didn't slip across the ice anymore. He could feel small flecks of ice fly away from beneath his claws and paw pads as he ran.
Eventually, he reached an unbelievably tall cliff face, with ice hanging down from above. Looking up at it almost made him feel dizzy. Some snow had even piled up in some places, though it didn't seem to be snowing as far as he could tell.
"What's going on here? That guy said the Zoras live up here, why can't I see any?" Link glanced around, looking for any sign of the floating green spirits. "Let's check things out. Maybe we'll find the Zoras."
As the ice turned into snow, Link found he didn't need to use his claws to keep himself from slipping around. He hadn't noticed how sore the muscles in his paws had been until he retracted his claws. The snow was heavy, and difficult to walk through. He had to pull his legs and paws forward just to take a step. Eventually, he made it to the bottom of the dangling ice.
"We can probably use this to get up there." Without saying anything more, Midna floated up and onto one of the pillars of ice. Link fidgeted, glancing between Midna and the pillar she floated above.
"What's wrong?"
'Are you... sure that ice is sturdy enough to support me?' Midna looked down at the pillar, then at Link. Then she shrugged.
"Only way to find out is to get up here. Unless you want to try scaling this cliff by yourself?" Link huffed.
'Why couldn't you carry me up there, like you did at Death Mountain?' He hadn't meant for that to sound childish. It was supposed to be a genuine question. But Midna smirked at him all the same.
"Aww, is poor wolfy tired? Does wolfy want Midna to pick him up and carry him?" Link's ears flattened to the side of his head. 'Don't you dare.' Midna's smirk turned into a grin.
"Does wolfy know the magic word now?" With a growl, Link leapt up to Midna, only to drag her down with him as he fell face-first into a pile of snow. Now the snow was in his nose, in his eyes, in his ears, and it was cold. He dug himself out of the snow, shivering more than he had been before. 'That... was not a good idea.' Midna floated out of the snow after him, shivering violently.
'Sorry.' The thought was sent before he even realized it was in his mind. Midna didn't respond at first, didn't even seem to have heard him. She just floated in the air, shivering as she brushed snow off of herself.
By the time he realized what had happened next, his face was already covered in snow again. Somehow, without him noticing, Midna had gathered some of the surrounding snow into a ball and thrown it at him. He shook his head to get the snow out of his nose and eyes, finding Midna smirking at him with another snowball in a hand that still shook from the shivering.
"Apparently wolfy isn't tired! So I guess you can climb up here after all!" With her shivering the way she was, there was no way she'd be able to carry him all the way up to the top of the cliff. He sighed. 'Good going, genius.' He looked up at the top of the cliff. It almost disappeared into the sky, from the ice and the height of the cliff face. He looked back at Midna, who was still shivering as she floated in the air next to him. The snowball was nowhere to be seen.
'Do you... not have magic to warm yourself up?' Midna clearly wasn't expecting that question from him. Truth be told, neither was he. After a moment, she held up her hand, and a small pinkish fire began to flicker in the air above her open palm. Link stared at it, even as Midna set it down in the snow and sat near it.
'Why... does it look like those shadow beasts' markings?' She didn't look over at him as she shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe it's because Zant made them with his magic." Link tilted his head to one side, even though he knew Midna couldn't see him.
'What do you mean?' Midna looked at him this time. She gestured to the teal markings along her arms.
"These markings mean I have a natural aptitude for a specific kind of magic. You've noticed how the portals I make are the same color as these markings, haven't you?" Link nodded. He hadn't realized that it was Midna making the portals. Though, perhaps he should have - how else did the shadow beasts turn into a portal? "Zant's markings are red, like the shadow beasts. I'll bet it's because he made them that they have those markings."
The two sat in silence by the fire for some time, allowing it to warm away the chill of the snow. To Link's surprise, it didn't melt the snow or the ice pillars, even though he could feel the pleasant warmth through his fur.
'So... if your markings are teal, and his are red... how is the fire red, if it's your magic?'
"Just because I have a natural aptitude for a type of magic, it doesn't mean I can't learn other types. Remember that energy blast I used to break your shackle, in the castle dungeon? This fire is the same type of magic as that." Link had almost forgotten how he had thought she'd meant to attack him then. He almost felt silly for having thought that. Almost.
Midna's shivering slowly eased away, until she was again calmly floating in the air. However, it came back as soon as she snapped her fingers and the fire disappeared. She sighed, floating over to Link's back, perhaps by habit. Suddenly Link was startled by the feeling of Midna laying on his back.
'What are you doing?'
"Your fur is still warm, and it's cold out here." He bit back a laugh, instead allowing a short huff from his nose.
'Bit difficult for either of us to get up the cliff, if you're going to bury yourself in my fur.'
"It's also difficult for us to get up the cliff if we're both freezing to death, now isn't it?" Link let out another huff of a laugh.
'You decided to put out the fire. Why not just keep it floating next to you?' Midna sighed, sitting up.
"Magic takes energy to use, wolfy. If I use too much, or use it for too long, I'll get tired. And then how am I supposed to help you?" He could hear the smirk in her voice, even if he couldn't see it.
'I thought I was the one helping you?'
"So did I, until I had to help you every couple of minutes in that dungeon." Link huffed.
'In my defense, it's not like I've ever been turned into a wolf before. That kind of took some getting used to.' He decided not to ask her if the same was true of Zant cursing her into the form she was in. Instead, he looked up at the top of the cliff again.
'It looks like no matter what, if we want to get up there, you'll be using a lot of magic.' Midna sighed again.
"You still want me to carry you up there, don't you?"
'I would prefer not to slip off of any of those pillars up there. One wrong move and I might break an ankle.' He huffed to himself. 'Again.' Midna left his back, once again floating in front of him.
"Alright, fine." She smirked. "But after this, you owe me!"
'Thank you.' Midna laughed.
"Don't thank me just yet." The orange hand floated out from the stone mask she was wearing, gently grabbing Link and lifting him out of the snow. Slowly, he was brought up and past the cliff, past the pillars of ice and the snowy ledges and the falling shards of ice. He didn't want to think about how painful the ice shards would be if he got hit by one of them.
Finally, Midna gently set him down at the top of the cliff. The ice had a thin layer of snow covering it; not enough to keep him from needing to use his claws. Ahead, Link noticed a silvery archway hanging over the ice. 'Let's see where this leads.'
As it turned out, the path under the archway led to three shadow beasts ambling around on top of the ice, surrounded by intricate fencing that seemed to have been carved out of the rock itself.
'Do you have enough energy left to use that energy field?'
"I should. But after that I'll need some time to rest." With that, Link charged at the three shadow beasts. A barrier appeared around him as he did, as well as a barrier that blocked him from the third shadow beast. The two shadow beasts swung at him, making him dodge to the side. From this spot, he could see that the barrier splitting off the third shadow beast wasn't anchored to the wall, leaving a small gap. Running through that gap, he lunged at the isolated shadow beast. A few quick bites to the throat, and it collapsed. Passing back through the hole in the barrier, Midna formed a noticeably smaller circle than usual. Catching the shadow beasts in it, he blew through them all the same. Their bodies exploded, forming into particles that Midna shaped into another portal, giving Link an idea.
'... How long would you need to rest before you could warp us somewhere else?'
"I could do that in ten minutes or so, but I would be exhausted afterwards. Why?"
'With the portal, we could rest somewhere nicer, that isn't freezing.'
"Hm, I guess that's true. But either way, I need a few minutes first." She laid down again on his back, nestling herself into his fur. As he waited, he took a moment to examine where they were standing. It was a circular area, almost like a room with an open ceiling. There was a gap in the fencing, which Link found himself wandering over to. To his surprise, there was something like a chair sitting on a ledge in front of him, with more intricate patterns spiraling out of the top of it.
'Senses. Look.' Following the voice, he focused, honing his senses and scanning the area once again. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he wondered if he could see deeper through the ice like this. Ice was supposed to be clear, after all. He looked down, and saw more of the fish creatures that had been down in Lake Hylia, sealed under the ice.
'Midna, are those Zoras in the ice?' He could feel Midna shift on his back, glancing over his side and looking down.
"Huh, so that's what happened to them. When the water froze, the inhabitants got locked within it."
'Do you think they could survive that?'
"They might, they might not, I don't know. Whatever way though, it wouldn't be pleasant." She returned to laying on his back, and they sat a few more minutes in silence. Eventually she sat up again, sighing.
"Okay, I think I can warp us now. And while I rest after that, you see if you can find some way to thaw this area. So where should we go?"
'What about Death Mountain? That's the hottest place I know, there might be something there that can help us.'
She didn't respond, but Link felt her float off of his back as she snapped her fingers. Like before, his body faded away to be carried on the invisible wind.
When his senses returned to him, he felt the familiar warmth of the path up Death Mountain, and the crushed rocks and packed earth underfoot. He caught a quick glimpse of Midna diving into his shadow. Maybe he was hearing things, but it almost sounded like she had yawned as she did.
Looking around, he recognized where along the trail he had appeared; he was near the howling stone. Running up the trail, he dodged the fumaroles once again, and leapt down the ledges that led to the Gorons' constructions. He stopped when he saw one of the Gorons standing guard on one of the larger ledges. The Goron looked over to him. He was worried that the Goron was going to try to attack him, but he slowly held up a hand and shooed Link away. When he didn't move, the Goron sighed and started walking towards him. "Come on boy, there's nothing for you up here. Just go back down the mountain."
'Calm down, Brother.' The Goron looked around with a start, before returning his gaze to Link.
"... Was that you?" Link nodded.
'Yeah. I need something hot to melt some ice in the home of the Zoras, and this was the best place I could think of to check. Can you think of anything that might work?' The Goron scratched his chin.
"Well, the mountain's been erupting until recently, those bits tend to stay warm for a good while. You might try your luck with one of them. They might even withstand the return trip!" He chuckled, before furrowing his brow. "But if there's freezing in Zora's Domain... Did Snowpeak start blowing over again? Those Zoras hate cold enough that they normally keep an eye on what happens, so how did it get bad enough to start freezing things?" He sighed, before shrugging his shoulders. "By the way, while you're out and about, can you keep an eye out for a brother named Igtaun? He seemed to just up and disappear around a week ago."
'I'll keep my eyes open. Speaking of which, can you pass a message along to Renado in Kakariko?'
"Sure, shouldn't be an issue. I can do that when my guard shift ends."
'Thanks. Please let him know that Link is safe. He and the kids probably got worried when my horse came back on her own.'
The Goron blinked, before grinning. "I'll make sure of it, Brother. Good luck on your search!" Link nodded, passing the guard and continuing down to the trench before the final climb.
The last time he had been here, an eruption dropped a bunch of rocks here, so it was the best place to start. After poking around for a little, he found something he remembered all too well: a massive slab of stone that had nearly crushed him on his first trip up the mountain and to the mines. Even standing a few feet away from it, the rock was unpleasantly hot, like the furnace Rusl used when shaping and repairing metal tools. 'If this can't thaw out the river, then nothing short of emptying the mines into it would work.'
For a moment he debated asking Midna to warp him back to the Zoras' home - or, as the Goron had called it, Zora's Domain. However, remembering her yawning as she dove into his shadow, and remembering how tired she sounded after using so much of her magic, he decided against it. Instead he looked up to the sky, noticing it had begun to fade from the reds of sunset into the blues of evening. 'She'll probably be asleep for a while longer, and it's almost night... I may as well rest, too.'
Looking around, he spotted a shaded alcove in the rock face, which he crawled into and laid down. Between the sun overhead and the rocks from the eruption, the alcove was comfy and cozy, and it wasn't long before he drifted off to a quiet, dreamless sleep.
When he woke up again, it was early night. He stood and stretched, only then noticing the shadowy form of Midna smirking at him.
"Did you have a good nap, wolfy?" He snorted.
'I could ask you the same. Feeling better?'
She raised her arms over her head, stretching. "Well, I can use magic again, if that's what you're asking. Did you find something we can use on the ice?"
'I found a rock, and if it doesn't work, we'd need to talk to the Gorons about draining their mines onto the Zoras.' Midna snickered, but said nothing as he walked back to the enormous stone. As they approached it, she floated over to the rock, placing her hands near it.
"This thing has been here for a while now, but it's still pretty hot... You want to try this one? Then let's head back!" She raised her hair-hand, and wrapped the slab of rock in energy, before hoisting it into the air. The rock split into particles, shooting off into the sky, as Midna floated back down to Link.
"Well, shall we then?" Link nodded, and the weightlessness returned once again.
