Chapter 12

Link jumped back as the lynel reared up on its hind legs again with one final roar before falling forward onto its knees. It was motionless for a beat before disappearing in a cloud of black-purple smoke, like all of the other monsters that were revived with every blood moon. Its weapons, along with a couple of hooves and horns, were all that was left behind. Link reflexively sheathed his sword and replaced his shield on his back as his eyes turned to the east gate, checking the dragon's progress. Naydra had stopped, her gargantuan form hovering in the air with her head turned back as if something had caught her attention. The swordsman could just make out Zelda's form standing in front of the dragon before Naydra opened her mouth and released an icy breath.

Link had no time to do more than brace himself as the frigid white wall engulfed him, the extreme cold stealing his breath away. It rushed past him like a blizzard in Hebra for several long seconds before ending as abruptly as it had begun. He carefully lowered his arms from in front of his face, brushing off the snow that now covered him with shivering limbs as he looked toward the dragon again. Naydra stared down at the snowy ledge before her for a few more seconds before turning and heading straight up into the sky. A small light was shining on one of her horns, shooting off to the south and landing on the now snow-covered the mountain. Link fixed its position in his mind as mist quickly began to gather from the drastic difference in temperature between the landscape and the copious amount of white powder blanketing it. He hurried through the foot-deep snow to where he had last seen Zelda, pulling his cold weather gear from the slate before he lost all feeling in his hands.

"Princess! Are you alright!?" he called loudly, wondering what had caused the change in the normally docile dragon's temperament. The words didn't echo back, the white flakes still fluttering in the air muffling all sound in a way bare stone never could. The sudden silence he'd grown accustomed to in Hebra was slightly unnerving after the natural ambiance of the forest and Zelda's lack of reply sent a chill down his spine that had nothing to do with the cold.

The snow was gradually deepening as Link forced his way through it, the altered landscape making it difficult to navigate. The heavy fog diffused the moonlight, both providing more light in the immediate area while also restricting the view of anything more than a few feet away.

Link reached the base of the mountain after a few minutes, the darker gray stone visible above the heaping pile of snow that had slid off the steep grade. He altered his course, following along the wall until he found the east gate. The landmark allowed him to get his bearings, climbing to the top of the hewn stone before continuing on up the mountain slope in the general direction of the outcrop.

It wasn't long before Zelda's form became visible through the gradually thinning mists, bow still in hand and her opposite arm raised as if she had just fired an arrow.

"Princess!" Link hurried forward through the snow, recognizing the blue reflective sheen that covered her entire form. Many ice-type enemies were capable of coating their opponents in a thin layer of ice, which took several seconds to break out of, as Link knew from experience. It had taken him close to twenty minutes to make it back to the ledge and the ice showed no cracks or any other signs Zelda had tried to break free.

Words of warning about frostbite and hypothermia he'd heard from various people in the Snowfield Stable echoed in Link's mind as he ripped the ruby circlet from his brow. The cold settled more deeply over him as the warming effects of the stone disappeared, sending a tremor through his very core. Link ignored his own discomfort as he looped the circlet around Zelda's wrist, her frozen hair preventing him from placing it around her head or her neck. A few taps on the Sheikah slate brought out an over-sized sword, a line of yellow symbols from hilt to tip shining brightly against orange glow of the blade. Link carefully leaned the great flameblade against Zelda's side, still able to feel the heat it emitted even as he stepped back and began clearing away the snow.

Useless questions such as 'how' or 'why' this had happened were briskly pushed aside as Link quickly worked to build a fire. Right now, he needed to get Zelda warmed up as soon as possible. Everything else could wait until later.

Heat was the first thing to register as Zelda's mind crawled its way back to consciousness. Hot air against her cheeks, heavy blankets pulled up to her chin, something almost hot enough to burn running down the length of her back. Groggily, she struggled to free one arm from the blankets, pushing them aside and rolling off of whatever was exuding heat beneath her. The air outside wasn't much cooler and Zelda opened her eyes to find a campfire only a few feet away. She just stared at it dumbly for several long seconds, her mind slow to cast off the vestiges of sleep.

After another minute or so, she pushed herself to a sitting position and took a look around. She was surprised to see there was not one but three campfires situated around her, with snow covering the ground beyond. The moon had disappeared, though whether it had set or was merely obscured behind the heavy clouds covering sky above, she couldn't say. Anxiety gripped her as she realized she had no idea where she was or what was going on. She remembered the dragon and her last-ditch effort at shooting the horn, but after that...nothing. Where was she? Who had brought her here? And where was Link?

She pushed herself to her feet, the heat sapping her energy and making her movements sluggish. It took her a few seconds to notice another light some distance away, hidden within the campfire's blaze when viewed from a sitting position but clearly visible now that she had stood. She turned toward it to see a torch held by her knight as he trudged through the snow, her anxiety easing as she watched him move with purpose rather than panic. Whatever was going on, it seemed the swordsman had the situation well in hand.

Link followed the trail of the broken snow, having already walked this path several times over the last few hours to scout the area and gather firewood. Naydra's breath had blanketed the area in a 'v' formation, spreading outward from a spot twenty to thirty yards from where he had found the princess. While this side of the mountain was covered in a least a foot of snow, the promenade was mostly clear. Though he had managed to thaw Zelda some time ago, the fact she had yet to wake did not bode well.

As loathe as he was to move her right now, he had to get her to a healer. Carrying her through the snow when she was already suffering from hypothermia was not a good idea, especially now that it was beginning to melt underneath and some of the thinner patches had already turned to slush. Alternatively, the promenade had a flat road that was still in decent repair, with only one part where he'd have to traverse calf-deep water. The problem lay with the numerous monsters that had made their home there. Zelda would be completely defenseless when he fought, unable to run should he miss even one monster hiding in the dark.

The options weighed heavily on his mind as he glanced up to check his progress, surprised to see Zelda standing in the firelight. "Princess!" he called, the relief obvious in his voice as he hurried through the snow with less caution than was prudent. His pace slowed as he neared the fire, setting the torch on the bare stone as he glanced over her for any visual signs of discomfort or pain. "How are you feeling?"

"I am all right." Zelda also gave Link a once-over, eyes lingering on the thick gloves and fur-lined tunic obviously fashioned after the style of the Rito. Though she had seen the different outfits he owned stored in the Sheikah slate, it was still odd to see him dressed in anything other than the blue tunic that had marked his station a century past. She shook her head, dismissing such frivolous thoughts as Link closed the distance between them and reached for her hand.

"Any pain or sensitivity?" he asked, examining her arm in the firelight before lightly squeezing the tips of each finger in turn. "Do your fingers hurt? Or any of your exposed skin?"

Zelda shook her head, watching her knight's actions with some curiosity. While it was obvious he was checking if she had been injured, it seemed a rather peculiarly way to go about it. "No, I am fine. But where are we?"

Link raised an eyebrow. "We're still at the east end of the Lanayru Promenade." He spared a glance at what was visible of the altered landscape, the corner of his lips quirking in a half-smile. "Though I suppose it does look fairly different in the snow."

It didn't make sense. The temperature had been nowhere near cold enough for such weather and, even if there was a sudden drop, it would take time for that amount of snow to accumulate. "I don't understand. How did this happen? How long was I unconscious?"

"This is Naydra's doing. Given she's the very spirit of ice, I guess this is kind of like a slap on the wrist. I don't think she was actually trying to hurt you, but you were out for a few hours."

"Naydra did this?" Zelda's gaze wandered once more across the snow visible in the fire's light and the dark grey barely discernable beyond it as Link continued poking and prodding at her skin. She closed her eyes, replaying the last minute or two that she could remember. The dragon's head looking so much larger when it was right in front of her; the bowstring biting into her fingers as she struggled to pull it back at least a little further before letting the arrow fly; Naydra opening her mouth to reveal so many long, sharp teeth and then...nothing. It had been so very cold but, as Link had pointed out, Naydra was the literal spirit of ice. Zelda had obviously lost consciousness at that point, but why? What exactly had happened to her? And for what type of injury was her knight searching?

"Could you tell me what happened? To me, I mean. You said Naydra likely wasn't trying to hurt me, but what did she do exactly?"

"You know how most ice-type monsters can coat you in a thin layer of ice?"

"No."

Link stopped, glancing up at the princess in undisguised surprise. He had been fairly certain this was common knowledge, what with monsters everywhere. Then again, he did tend to leave the beaten path rather often compared to most travelers and the entire continent was vastly different that it had been 100 years ago. He huffed out a short breath, shaking his head with a small smile at his mistake. "No, I don't suppose you would."

Zelda didn't like the look of that grin. Was he teasing her for being ignorant of something he considered commonplace knowledge? "What do you mean by that?"

The swordsman seemed to sense her irritation as he reached for her other arm. "I wouldn't have been much of a knight if I'd let my charge- or myself -be hit by such an attack while accompanying you back then. I imagine the same is true for any other escorts you had prior to my appointment." He shrugged dismissively before continuing with her original question. "In any case, just getting too close to Naydra has essentially the same effect, which is layer of ice forming simultaneously over your entire body. It's thin, but it still takes several seconds to break out of. Naturally, a purposeful attack would be far more potent. I don't understand how it works exactly, like why you didn't suffocate before I was able to get you thawed out, but an ice-type monster's attack seems to be the best way to describe what happened to you. Well, an enhanced version of that, anyway."

"I see." She continued watching his examination, unwilling to reveal more ignorance by asking what he was looking for, before suddenly remembering the purpose of their trip. "Did we get the shard, at least?"

Link nodded, carefully manipulating the joints at her elbow and wrist. "It landed further up the mountain when Naydra left," he said, nodding his head in the general direction. "By the way, what happened? I've never seen or even heard of one of the dragons attacking someone before, even if it was more of a warning than anything else. What did you do?"

Zelda winced slightly. Link noticed and immediately stopped what he was doing, easing the pressure on her arm. "Did that hurt?"

The princess quickly shook her head. "No, I just...well, I suppose Naydra was irritated I used the sealing power to hold her in place for a moment."

Link stared at her for long several seconds before laughing. "The power of the Goddess used against the servant of the Goddess," he chuckled, shaking his head. "I can see why she was annoyed."

Zelda felt blood rushing to her cheeks that had nothing to do with the temperature. She dipped her chin slightly in embarrassment, only then realizing how much of an insult her actions must have been to the dragon. Excuses of the difficulty of hitting moving targets or drawing a bow meant for one with far more strength rose to her lips, but she held her tongue. Her justifications seemed childish in hindsight, especially as her knight had told her beforehand that missing only meant they would have to wait until the following night to try again. And she wasn't ready to admit her desperation stemmed from not wanting to fail the task Link had given her.

Silenced stretched between them as Link finished with her arm and reached for her chin, turning her head to examination her face and throat. Heat flared even hotter in Zelda's cheeks and she batted his hands away, quickly taking a step back. "Enough already!" she exclaimed a bit louder than she meant to, turning away to hide the furious blush staining her cheeks.

Link blinked at her in surprise. "I just wanted to make sure there wasn't any lasting damage," he explained.

Zelda shook her head, too embarrassed by her outburst to face him. "I told you, I'm fine."

Link watched her for a few more seconds before shrugging. "Well, I only know the basics about frostbite and exposure, so we should get you to a healer now that you're awake." Stepping past her, he began rolling up the blankets and bedroll she'd been sleeping on.

Zelda obligingly stepped back to allow him room to work. His movements had the air of familiarity that came from long practice; a tug at this corner straightening the blankets, a jerk on the opposite side folding it almost perfectly in half, rolling the entire thing tightly and securing it with a length of rope... The motions were quick and precise, almost mesmerizingly so, and Zelda's brief thought that she should help break down their 'camp' was over-shadowed by the feeling that she would only get in his way.

The bedroll soon followed the blankets, revealing a large sword with a brightly glowing orange blade beneath it. Zelda suddenly remembered the heat at her back when she woke, realizing Link had truly done everything he could think of to warm her at quickly as possible.

The bedroll disappeared in a swirl of blue energy as Link returned it to the slate. "I know it's late, but we can't stay here. There's a relatively easy path down to the promenade that way and we can make camp once we're out of range of an avalanche," Link said, pointing toward the path of broken snow. "Unfortunately the area is infested with moblins and bokoblins, but that's our only option right now."

"Down the promenade?" Zelda repeated. "You mean to head to Kakariko? But that would add days or even a week to the return trip without horses."

Link nodded, pushing himself back to his feet and brushing dirt from his pants. "I know, but you're in no condition to climb over the mountain right now- especially when it's covered in a foot of melting snow. Kakariko is the safer option."

"It is a waste of time." Zelda folded her arms stubbornly across her chest as she pinned her knight with a narrowed gaze. "In case you've forgotten, the reason we crossed the mountain in the first place was to save time. Your episodes are increasing in frequency, if not also in duration. Delaying an extra week is not worth the risk."

"I've been having these episodes of almost an entire year. A week or two isn't going to make any difference at this point." Link returned her gaze with a determined one of his own. "It's not worth risking your well-being."

"What risk? Falling in the snow? Even if we have to walk a bit more carefully, it is still faster by far to traverse the mountain than to travel around it."

"You were frozen by the dragon. I may not know much about treating hypothermia, but I do know that heading back out into the cold is not good for you."

"Naydra didn't hurt me! You yourself said it was just a slap on the wrist!"

"You were unconscious for hours! Getting you to a healer as quickly as possible is our priority right now!"

"I- the person in question -am absolutely and completely fine, as I have mentioned several times before. I see no reason for such an unnecessary detour!"

The swordsman closed his eyes, muttering a few choice words beneath his breath as he reigned in his temper. Had she always been so headstrong? He was reminded again of the memory of the princess yelling at him for obeying the king's orders simply because she did feel she needed an escort. Clearly, her stubbornness was nothing new.

Link couldn't help but wonder why, if the princess felt so strongly that time was of the essence, she had insisted on coming with him in the first place. After all, he could save far more time using the travel gates than by going on foot or even horseback. He started at the thought, eyes snapping open as the idea struck him. The princess would certainly be furious with him, but that was a cheap price to pay in exchange for her health.

The silence stretched between them as Link retrieved the master sword from the slate and strapped it to his back before taking out two chuchu jellies. The gelatinous blue balls were almost as big as a durian, jiggling and bouncing as the swordsman fumbled to hold both them and the slate. The attempt proved futile as one of the jellies escaped his grasp, falling to the ground and bouncing to the side.

"Hold this for me." The words were curt as Link thrust the slate at Zelda, not daring to look her in the eye lest she see though his charade. The slate was taken from his hand and he scooped up the chuchu jelly on the ground before stepping close to the first fire. Careful to hold the balls well above the flames, he pressed them together until they both burst. The liquid inside doused the fire with ease, leaving nothing but glowing embers behind. Flicking the excess liquid from his hands and wiping the remainder on his pants, he turned back to Zelda. "Hold the slate up so I can see the screen."

Zelda started to do as he instructed before clutching it to her chest instead. She realized Link could easily use her lack of direction against her, especially once the fires were out. "Will you try to force me to Kakariko?"

This was a question he could answer honestly, which was good. He knew he was a terrible liar. "No. We shall head to Hateno, post-haste."

Satisfied, Zelda held up the slate and turned the screen out so he could retrieve another pair of jellies. The other two fires were quickly doused, leaving the still-burning torch on the ground and the glowing sword at Link's feet as the only sources of light. He picked up the great flameblade, taping on the screen still held in Zelda's hand as if to return it to the slate. Since it was facing away from her, she couldn't see when Link opened the map and touched one of the glowing icons instead. "I'll meet you at the house as soon as I can," he said as he initiated the 'Travel' command and stepped back.

Zelda's eyes widened as the blue energy enveloped her, realizing too late what her knight had done. The energy broke apart into small strands of light, all heading up into the sky before fading away. Link watched until the last tendril had disappeared before leaning down and picking up the torch.

Part of him felt the slightest bit guilty for tricking her, but the larger part refused to do anything that would put her at risk. Selmie had told him more than enough horror stories about what could happen while traveling unprepared in the snow when she'd ran across him in the Hebra mountains. He'd only been wearing the ruby circlet at the time with a stock of spicy elixirs to stave off the cold- which meant he was an imbecile in the shield-surfing enthusiast's eyes and she had no qualms telling him so.

Whether the stories were true or had been exaggerated to discourage more 'reckless' behavior from him, Link didn't know. Regardless, he refused to allow such harm to befall Zelda due to her own stubbornness. It had been a long day, followed by an even longer night, but there was no time to rest. While she'd likely be too tired to do anything tonight, Link wouldn't put it past Zelda to head out in the morning in an effort to meet him halfway, just to give him a piece of her mind.

Steeling himself for a sleepless night, Link set out to cross the mountain with nothing but his memory and innate sense of direction to guide him home.

Zelda blinked as the blue glow faded from her vision, the vague shape of the landscape visible in the feeble light of the stars vastly different from only a few seconds previous. A bright blue flame burned merrily in a furnace off to her right, identifying her new location as the Hateno Ancient Tech Lab. Though technically not the first time she had used the travel gates, it still took Zelda's mind several long seconds to process what had happened. Being transported a few steps away from where she had started was one thing, but suddenly appearing in an entirely different climate was an altogether different experience.

Irritation flared once her mind had settled and she realized just what Link had done. While he hadn't technically gone against her wishes, such trickery as this was very unlike him. Worried or not, Zelda knew her own body and limitations far better than he did. It would appear he trusted her very little, indeed.

It seemed odd that he would deliver her to the door of the tech lab instead of the shrine near his house until Zelda remembered Link's limited experience with healers. Though Hateno surely had its own dedicated medical professional, Link would have only known about Purah. It was obvious he intended for the princess to wake the aged Sheikah and get an examination right then and there.

Scoffing at the notion of waking someone in the middle of the night for such a trifling matter, Zelda instead searched the ground for a stick. Once she'd found one suitable to her needs, she lit it in the fire of the furnace and marched down the mountain path with determined steps. She could practically hear Link's voice telling her to go back and get checked out, which only quickened her steps as if to prove she was perfectly fine. It was a petty type of rebellion, but it matched her mood perfectly.

Ten minutes later found her all but sprawled against a tree about halfway between the lab and the village, her breath short and her body feeling like it was being dragged down by lead weights. As much as she was loathe to admit it, her knight had been right. She could barely walk a completely downhill path that was well-maintained and level. There was no way she could cross a mountain covered in snow and ice. The previous irritation she'd harbored toward the swordsman had ebbed as quickly as her stamina, and she'd graciously decided against the verbal lashing she'd been rehearsing for him once he made it back to town. They could simply pretend that this incident had never happened. She wouldn't yell at him for deceiving her, he wouldn't smugly point out that he'd been right and they could both continue on to Lake Floria.

Zelda glanced toward the lab on top of the hill as her breathing calmed, wondering if it would be better to backtrack and spend the remainder of the night there. Though Link's house was still a fair distance away on the other side of town, her limbs trembled just looking at the steep path she'd have to climb to get back to the lab. It didn't take long to decide it would be far better to continue downhill than trying to head back up.

Although she kept a slow pace and tried not to over-exert herself, she still had to rest three more times before she made it to Link's house. The make-shift torch had burnt out in the middle of town, but her eyes quickly adapted to the meager starlight illuminating the cream stucco covering the houses and the lighter color of the dirt path. She was utterly drained by the time she entered the door, unable to contain a groan as she remembered the stairs leading up to her room.

Though sorely tempted to simply collapse on Link's cot, Zelda wearily clung to the rail as she all but dragged herself up the wooden steps to her room. Her last bit of energy faded as she flopped onto the bed, fleeting thoughts of changing her clothes or removing her shoes slipping away as she drifted off to sleep.

To Be Continued

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