They ended up following the river north. Farrow had considered cutting further east into Hyrule Field, but decided it wasn't worth the increased risk of running into a guardian. By following the river they increased their visibility but the ridge line just to the east mostly protected them.

Link followed her only a few paces back and a step to her right. His footsteps had been near silent as they crept through the woods.

Farrow scanned their left. The river was visible through the trees, but she could hear it. Farrow hadn't traveled this area of Hyrule before. She was relying heavily on her maps and the larger landmarks.

She knelt and unfolded her map. Link stood beside her, eyes on the forest around them. He'd left his hood down for the past few days, unwilling to sacrifice his peripheral while they were on less traveled paths.

According to her map, the woods would soon thin out. There would be a stretch of open field lands for several miles before the next forest. That was the area that worried her the most.

Farrow had never seen a guardian in person and had no desire to. She'd heard from other travelers that the eyesight of the monsters was incredible. One night at a stable a shaken merchant had recounted straying too close to Hyrule field one night. The merchant had been traveling the shortcut when a glowing red dot appeared on their chest.

The merchant had shuddered, her face pale. She said she hadn't been able to tell what direction the guardian was until she saw it moving half a mile out. She'd been able to escape by throwing herself down the ridge line and into the river nearby. She'd hidden under an eroded river bank for hours.

That was one of the few stories Farrow had heard from survivors. She'd once found the charred remains of–what she thought–was a horse on her way to the foothills of Death mountain. The air hand stunk of burnt fur and flesh. There had been blackened scraps of a wagon blasted across the path as well, and when Farrow realized that, she stopped examining the gore and moved along.

Farrow raised her head to squint at the sun flashing between the leaves of the trees. It was past noon, and sunset was only a few hours away. She had to choose: cross the grassland at night, or during the day. She didn't know which was the safer option.

Link tapped her on the shoulder.

She looked up and he signed, 'everything okay?'

Farrows kept her voice low. "I'm trying to decide if we should cross an open area during the day, or night." She drummed her fingers on her knee. She didn't want to ask, but decided it was necessary for their safety. "Do you remember if the guardians see better at day or night?"

Link glared at the dirt. After several seconds he shook his head.

"Then we'll cross during the day," Farrow decided. If there was no reason to believe the guardian's saw less at night, then there was no reason to reduce their own ability to see danger. "And we'll cross today." The less time they spent in guardian territory the better.

Link regarded the way ahead and nodded. Farrow stowed the map and they continued on. A half hour later they reached the tree line.

They crouched in the brush and scanned the field. The grass rolled in the breeze and a few shrubs provided modest cover, but the ridge that had hidden them most of the track north had flattened here and exposed most of Hyrule Field beyond.

Farrow saw a herd of wild horses grazing in the far distance, and the shadowed form of Hyrule Castle, but nothing else of note.

Farrow turned to Link. "Once we start we have to keep going until we reach the next woods. Ready?"

Link scanned the field. 'How far is it?'

"Roughly three miles."

'Then I'll watch…' Link signed something new and pointed over his shoulder.

"You'll watch our backs?" Farrow asked.

Link nodded and Farrow forced a grin. "Here we go then."

Farrow scanned the area one last time, then they broke from the trees. She didn't run, there wasn't a point to trying to out pace a guardian, it was better to save their energy and try to go unnoticed.

They reached the first clump of brush and stopped beside it. Ahead lay more grass and a gradual rise in the hill they would have to cross. There was no way to tell what was on the other side from here.

Farrow glanced back to see Link's back to her with his bow in his hands—arrow knocked. His shoulders were rigid.

They continued on. Farrow kept them on the west side of the hill, affording them some cover. She crouched and they cleared the hill, ready to duck back or down at the slightest glint of metal in the sun. Blessedly, there was nothing but more fields and one startled fox.

For the next hour Farrow led them towards the longer grass when possible, and away from hilltops. They crossed a few ancient roads now falling into ruin and used the collapsed ruins by them as shelter.

Soon after that the forest came into view. Relief flooded through her. The temptation to run for the trees urged her to sprint, but she kept them at their steady pace.

There was a stretch of hip-height grass between them and the woods and Farrow led them in. The grass hissed against the cloth of her trousers, and she could hear Link just behind her.

Something moved in the field to their right.

Farrow slowed as her eyes flicked to it. It took her a heartbeat to process what she was seeing.

In the distance a thing on six spider-like legs prowled across the field. Its body was dome-like and the head atop swiveled in place.

"Down," Farrow hissed, dropping into the grass. Link appeared beside her, bow drawn and gaze narrowed in the direction she'd seen the guardian. He glanced at her and mouthed 'where?'

Farrow pointed in the direction she'd seen it, now covered by a curtain of grass. She didn't think it had seen them, but she had no way of knowing now. It could be running right toward them. "Maybe a quarter mile out."

Link nodded and together they waited. After several minutes, Farrow began to creep in the direction of the forest. They stayed low in the grass, neither of them willing to risk peaking above it.

Soon though the grass thinned and the woods came into sight. Farrow realized they had to leave cover one last time to reach the trees.

She tensed to rise and a hand fell on her shoulder, holding her down. Farrow looked back to see Link shake his head. Farrow took in his grim expression and nodded. Again, they waited. Damp from the earth seeped into the knees of Farrows trousers but she stayed where she was.

It felt like ages before Link slowly rose. He stopped in a half crouch, his eyes just above the grass and bow drawn.

He nodded and stood fully. Farrow did the same and they ran for the trees.

As soon as the comforting cool of the shadows fell over them, Farrow slowed and let out a sigh of relief. She turned to scan the field beyond the trees and found no sign of the guardian. Her muscles felt weak from the adrenaline dump.

"Fuck these plains," Farrow said as they walked deeper into the woods.

Link nodded as he let his bow go slack.

((0))

Farrow stifled a yawn. When she found herself drifting off a few minutes ago she'd forced herself up to stay awake.

The sun had set not long after they reached the woods. Farrow had found a huge oak with a tangle of roots holding up a half eroded hill. It gave them a bit of cover and she decided it would be best to stay put for the night.

A fire wasn't an option, so they'd both been left chilled by the night air. Link had taken first watch despite Farrow's protest. She'd thought she'd been too wired for sleep, but had drifted off without issue. When Link had woken her for her shift she found sleep hard to shrug off. She'd decided to practice to stay awake and alert.

Now she worked through the knife forms Paya had taught her. She moved slowly to work on technique, and so she didn't make noise.

So far the night had been mostly quiet. Earlier something large had gone crashing through the brush, but whatever it was had passed them by without stopping.

Farrow swung the knife in a slow arc and eased through the stiffness in her shoulder. It didn't hurt anymore, but now she found it wasn't as flexible as it used to be. She repeated the motion and found it somewhat smoother.

Farrow stepped forward with her next swing—and stumbled as the ground shuddered and the leaves above shivered against each other, whispering into the night.

She froze. Leaves drifted down out of the dark and brushed past her shoulders. A second later another deep thud rolled through the forest. Then another.

Farrow sheathed her knife and got low. She turned to Link, reaching out ready to wake him, but found him already half standing, his eyes searching the dark. Another thud. They came steady now, only a second or two apart.

"Hinox," Farrow whispered. She'd only seen one before, and from a distance. They were huge, but slow moving and dumb. Their main advantage was their sense of smell. Most travelers avoided them by hiding or running. Unfortunately, she and Link were in the dark and without horses.

Link signed, but in the dark Farrow couldn't make out what it was. "I don't know where it is," she said, hoping she'd guessed his question correctly.

The tree canopy was too dense for her to see the sky well. There would be no moon or stars for her to orient with if they needed to run. The thuds were getting louder and foliage crashed closeby. More leaves fell down around them as Farrow strained to see any sign of the monster in the dark. "It sounds close. Be ready—"

A glowing orb appeared above them, and for half a second Farrow thought it was the moon. Then it blinked.

The hinox snorted and Farrow's blood ran cold. She threw herself away from the embankment they'd used for cover. The old oak wined and snapped as an enormous hand twisted it and pulled.

Link drew an arrow and loosed. The orb of an eye vanished in the same instant. A screech pierced Farrow's ears and she was knocked off her feet as the giant collapsed and shook the ground.

Farrow scrambled to her feet, debating fight or flight and ready to book it, when Link appeared out of the dark in a blur of blue and a flash of silver. He struck the side of the hinox, his sword barely cutting the creature's thick hide. The small wounds leaked wisps of malice.

Farrow drew her own dagger and ran for the Hinox's extended leg. She sliced at its ankle, aiming for the back of it. She felt the give of her knife slicing through flesh and grimaced. Anticipating the response, Farrow jerked back and away from the now kicking limb.

There was a thud and a blur of blue in her peripheral. Farrow pulled her gaze away from the flailing monster to the place Link was. Except he was gone and the Hinox's arm was still swinging. She realized Link had been knocked away. The monster's eye blinked open and it shifted to rise.

Farrow ran toward the direction she'd seen the blue blur fall and found Link sprawled behind a tree. He was awake, but gazed around with the blank look of the dazed. His sword was still in hand.

She hooked him under the arms, praying he wasn't badly injured, and pulled him up. "We gotta run!"

He staggered, and Farrow hauled his arm over her shoulder and started running. After a few steps he had taken his weight back and they were sprinting through the woods side by side. The hinox thundered behind them, but the pop of snapping trees and the booming footfalls were fading.

When the forest was quiet again Farrow slid to a stop at the base of a tree. She leaned back against it, panting, and trying to cool the burn in her chest. A moment later Link appeared beside her, also out of breath.

"Injured?" Farrow asked once she could.

Link looked down, rolled his foot, and shook his head. 'Are you?'

"I'm fine." Farrow's hands still shook from the adrenaline but she hadn't been hurt.

"We're going to have to keep moving," Farrow said. "It may still track us by our smell. I think that's how it found us in the first place."

Link nodded. 'Which way?'

Farrow scanned the forest and frowned. She'd lost their orientation. But the black void of night was beginning to warm to a deep blue. "Hold that thought."

She turned and heaved herself into the tree. She climbed until she broke through the canopy. A morning mist lay over the forest and cooled the still air. She found the place on the horizon where the sky was bluing with the coming sun. She turned north and found the castle. Between the sun marking the east and the castle, she knew what direction they needed.

Farrow clambered back down to Link. "Good news: we didn't run in the opposite direction we needed." Farrow guessed they had run vaguely north-east, which made their walk longer but they wouldn't have to back track toward the hinox.

They continued on.

((0))

The water of the river flashed in the morning sunlight as Farrow sloshed through the shallows. When Farrow had caught sight of the shoal, she immediately cut them west to cross it.

With boots in hand and her feet absolutely freezing, she picked her way across the river-worn stones. She was so focused on watching her step, she had forgotten about Link behind her. Until there was a splash and her back was doused in an icy wave slapping her in the back.

She yelped and whirled to find Link sitting in the stream. His arms were raised, saving his boots, but his entire lower half was soaked. Farrow snorted. Link looked up and she caught his baffled expression.

Farrow burst into laughter. It wasn't that funny, but Link's surprise coupled with her exhaustion sent her into a fit of giggles. After a moment Link joined in. His laugh was barely a whisper, but he grinned and his shoulders shook so Farrow recognized it.

Farrow extended a hand and Link took it. She caught the glint in his eye too late.

Link tugged on her arm and she fell into the water beside him. "Augh Link!" He burst into laughter again as Farrow splashed water over him.

'Sorry it was too funny.' He rose and when Farrow held out her hand with a narrow-eyed expression, Link helped her to her feet.

Minutes later they sat on the west bank, shivering. Farrow shoved her numb foot into her boot. Link sat beside her boots already back on but his teeth chattering. "Worth it?" she asked with a smirk.

There was a pause and the scratch of charcoal on paper. He held up his notebook.

'Definitely.'