CHAPTER 14
As Epona gradually carried him and Ruto through the dense woods, Link explained what he could of recent events – which, to be frank, wasn't much. In fact, he still wasn't convinced that he hadn't simply hallucinated the last. . . . . . . . . however long he'd been in Termina. But he figured, nevertheless, that Ruto would rather hear him speak absolute nonsense than travel in absolute silence.
"So, in Termina, the moon was falling," Ruto attempted to summarize, "and you turned into a god of some sort. . . . . . . . ."
"The Fierce Deity."
". . . . . . . . .and stopped the moon from falling," she concluded, ignoring his interruption.
"Yes."
"And, thus, as you always do, you saved everybody."
Link gulped as Ruto rubbed her forehead against his neck. "Ehrm. . . . . . . . .more or less."
"But this didn't happen in Hyrule?"
This didn't happen in Hyrule. That statement alone confounded him. How could the moon have threatened to destroy one kingdom, but not another? But, then, he recalled the means by which he'd come to Termina – the chase that he'd given Epona and Skull Kid, the tree-portal that the miserable creature had led him through. . . . . . . . .
And, what was worse, he hadn't yet seen a similar tree-portal since he'd left Clock Town.
"No. . . . . . . . ."
No. It couldn't be. It – it simply couldn't be. Ruto – or, at least, her image (however immature, for the moment) – was here, with him. She'd scarcely set foot outside Zora's Domain, let alone Hyrule. If the pair of them were, indeed, still in Termina. . . . . . . . .then –
Before he could consider this question further, Epona froze in place and neighed fearfully, kicking the ground in obvious distress. Ruto squealed as she almost tumbled from his shoulders, but his right hand reached backward quickly enough to catch her and hold her in place.
"Oi, Epona! Easy, girl!" he shouted, latching onto his steed's reins with his free hand.
Epona ignored him and continued to squirm beneath them, snorting aggressively. Ruto clung even closer to Link's neck, trembling. "Link. . . . . . . . .?!"
"She'll be all right, Ruto. Something must've frightened her," he responded, regaining his balance and reaching out to stroke the young mare's neck. "Epona, what's the matter with you, girl?"
Epona replied with more violent chuffing, so he scrutinized every direction that he could think of, looking for any sign of the threat that she seemingly perceived. Ahead of them – and behind them, for that matter – were nothing but open trees, and neither to their left nor to their right was any particularly hostile thing – not that he could detect, anyway. Perhaps his steed had sensed something that he couldn't, and had responded accordingly?
His answer lay right beneath Epona's hooves – in the form of a patch of crimson leaves.