“Hey! Get up!”
Link rolled over under the small fur blanket that Layrel had given him two nights ago. The ground was warm beneath him, yet the outside air was the strong, airy cold of morning. Wind swept snow outside of the small, miniscule cave in the river rocks that was only large enough for him to crawl in and lie down. Truett did not seem to mind the cold, as the fairy kept flying around outside, shouting at him.
“I said, get up!” Swooping down next to him, she pulled on his ear until he propped himself up on his elbows, the top of his head grazing the stone above. Slowly he threw the blanket off and pulled on his cloak instead. He had not bothered to even take off his boots last night, and had little to pack. Rolling his blanket together last and tying his pack with leather straps, he set it down beside the miniature cave and walked out and down to the bank of Zora’s River.
It was well into the morning, and a clear sky let a cold sun shine down on him from its place just above the high east horizon. On the far west side of the river was the enormous, leafless winter forest. Now on its bank, he could see where the river disappeared into the forest in the south. The trees continued beyond this point, rising up on nearby mountains to the south, with one in particular standing out as the closest and easily the largest. The land leading to the mountains was rockier and fully of uneven hills, some sloping gently while others was sharp and unpredictable. All the land was dusted with white snow and frost.
“We’ll be going away from the river and back to the road,” Truett was saying as Link knelt down by the river, splashing his face lightly, shivering. “What I can sense—it’s coming from the woods and that huge mountain.”
Link stopped, looking at her. “I looked at the map last night. That mountain is the Forbidden Woods.”
“Yeah, so? You want to find your friend, Auru, right?”
“Well, yes.” He looked back at the river, seeing his own reflection blurred in its currents. “But I heard it was against the law to go there.”
Truett snorted. “You said that princess forbade you to go out and search for your friend. It won’t be much of a step further to ignore some silly law.”
After taking a long drink from the river, he headed back to his pack, asking, “Are there fairies on that mountain?”
“Well, it is where the Forest Children live, next to the Lost Woods. Fairies are everywhere around those places.” She sighed. “Or, at least they were.”
After double-checking to make sure he had everything, Link pulled the pack onto his shoulders and followed Truett away from the river. The wind blew strong, but snatched little snow in the air, as most of it had frozen over. Truett led him between the steeper hills and taller rocks, giving some cover.
Unlike further north in Hyrule Field, there were few signs of the snow monsters that hunted in the night. However, yesterday Link had spotted the paw prints of wolves by the riverbank. He had kept an eye out for them since and as they walked along continued to do so, but he had not seen any yet.
After a while, Truett flew up high into the air. Link slowed to a stop, shielding his eyes, watching her. She flew nearly out of sight, but then returned, diving at him and coming to land on his shoulder.
“We’ll reach the forest by tonight. Just take it easy today and watch your step. You’ll want to save your energy for the forest.” She started to fly ahead of him again, giving a tinkering laugh. “You’ll probably trip and fall and get caught so many times in those woods. Ah, it’s so hard not to be unable to fly and to be so cumbersome!”
Ignoring her insult, he asked, “Are you from the Forbidden Woods, Truett?”
She slowed for a moment, but then kept flying, saying, “I grew up there. Everyone does, normal fairies, Great Fairies, everyone. It’s our home.”
“How long has it been since you were there?”
“I don’t know. A very long time? I haven’t exactly counted the winters.”
After hurrying down a particularly rocky, icy ravine down into a narrow valley between two of the sloping hills, Link asked, “Did you have a family?”
“Well, of course I had sisters, but everyone did. “ Suddenly Truett turned, flying right into Link’s face, making him come to a halt as she asked, “Why are you asking so much all of a sudden? You’ve been silent as the grave ever since we left your home.”
After considering for a moment, Link shrugged.
Truett sighed, a sound like a wisp of wind caught in a pinched tunnel, making a high-pitched whisper. “Well, less talking, more walking.”
They continued traveling all day. The terrain varied constantly from solid stone to pebbles to earth, all laced with ice and snow. The going was slow, and any time he did slip on the ice, Truett would titter or giggle, and occasionally make a jabbing remark about his clumsiness. He never responded, and soon she too went quiet.
By evening the forest mountain towered close in front of him, and he soon started up the rocky incline leading to it. There were no trees outside of the forest’s edge, as if it was a singular body restrained from spreading outwards by invisible skin. The wind had died in the early afternoon, but now it picked up again, stronger, yet not nearly as cold as before. It rushed through the lifeless, tightly knit trees of the forest; lacking leaves, the naked trees just seemed to blur and bend together as one. Still, he could hear a consistent, dry moaning issuing from the forest as the trees were twisted by the wind’s overpowering breath.
“Where should we camp?” he asked. Now they were close to the forest, only about a ten minute walk away. The land sloped upwards neatly, not too steep, covered with a thin layer of crusted, brittle snow, though every now and then there was a rocky drop-off where the snow had not touched. There was no sign of life around, not wolves, squirrels or winter hares. With the sound of the river long gone, having flowed into the eastern forest and disappeared in the morning, Hyrule Field was completely still and silent behind them. There was only the groaning forest.
“Wait a moment.” Truett flew up again, then ahead and out of sight towards the forest. Link looked around. Nearby was a low, stony shelf, jutting out. Dusting the snow off, he sat down, folded his arms for warmth and waited, looking out at the field. In the distance, all he could see were the sharp hills he had just come from in the north. To the west were wide knolls, lit starkly by the setting sun, which was close to resting down for the night. The sky above was a pale peach, orange and blue, still cloudless. The wind’s breath suddenly renewed its vigor and he pulled his hat more firmly down onto his head. Pulling his cloak around him securely, he got up from the rock, looking around again for Truett.
After a few minutes, he heard the sound of her wings, beating so fast that it let out one, extended, high-pitched noise. Turning around, he saw her flying at him at top speed, her wings blurred, almost flying right into him.
“What is it?” he asked, watching as she slowed by flying circles around him and then came to a stop, hovering.
“There’s a camp,” she said tersely, sounding just a little out of breath. “I saw them at the last minute.”
“Did you see who they are?” he asked, his hand already around his sword’s hilt.
“Sort of.” He could hear the frown in her voice as she continued, “They aren’t bandits or anything like that. Honestly, aside from a couple bigger fellows, they look like a bunch of…well, they might be inner-city aristocrats, with fur coats and cloaks. Wearing nice things, just begging to be robbed.”
Link frowned, thinking, That scholar, Talno—he said he wasn’t the only one researching the Forbidden Woods. Maybe…
Truett sighed, coming to land on his head. “Do you want to go and spend the night with them? It’d be safer to be in a herd, group, whatever you call yourselves. As I know it, there are always packs of monsters in these woods.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course I am. Don’t worry, I’ll just stay in your hat.”
Link nodded. “I think I might know these people, sort of.”
“Fine.” She flew up and floated for a moment before flying inside his hat. She whispered, “Go to the forest’s edge and head left. You won’t miss them.”
Link did as she directed, first walking up near the line of thickly woven forest trees. The setting sun was still giving light to the world, but the forest was thick, dark and indiscernible. The trees were still groaning.
Soon a campfire’s light came into view. While the fire was rather small, he could make out the shadowed forms of several people around it, setting up tents and warming something over the fire. He slowed, squinting at the shapes. Three were smaller, wearing thick cloaks and coats lined with good fur. The other two were bigger, with leather armor and swords at their hips. They reminded Link of the guards that had traveled with the caravan on the way to Castle City.
Link walked close enough to see the contours of their faces, and then stopped. Knowing better than to approach silently, he waved his right arm, hallooing just loud enough to reach their ears. The two guards immediately reacted, turning towards his direction, their hands on their sword hilts. The three others looked around, eventually spotting him. He noticed a couple reached inside their thick cloaks, perhaps reaching for small swords or knives.
“Who goes there?” barked out the taller of the two guards.
Link slowed, realizing he had little idea how to answer this question. The truth would sound unbelievable, but he knew a lie would go afoul easily. So he called back, “My name is Link. Are you scholars from Castle City?”
“What’s it to you?” The guard’s voice was suddenly gruffer, lower. One of the smaller men broke apart from the rest, walking forward slightly.
Clearing his throat, Link answered, “I’ve heard of people researching the Forbidden Woods from a man called Talno.”
“Talno?” The small man who had stepped forward walked up beside the tall guard. “Are you saying you know him?”
Nodding, Link answered, “I met him on the way to Castle City a month ago.”
“Say that you got along,” Truett hissed at him. “Say you parted on good terms with him. Now!”
Link hesitated, but then added, “Talno and I parted on good terms once we reached the city.”
There was a pause, then the guard asked, “Are you traveling alone?”
“Yes.”
“Stay there.” The guard and small man retreated, and their company grouped together near the middle of their campsite. He could hear the mutter of their voices, but could not make out anything. After a minute, the guard gestured at him to come over and he quickly complied.
The campsite was in a small area surrounded by several tall stones, sticking upwards out of the mountainside, shielding them somewhat from the wind and letting their small fire burn well. There were five tents circled around the fire. Three were fine, made of good, thick, waterproof material and furs that would keep out the cold. The other two tents were thinner, cheaper, but covered with a sturdy tarp.
“Come over and sit,” the guard who had spoken earlier said, pointing to stones just big enough to sit on arranged around the fire pit. One of the smaller, well-dressed men was already sitting. Choosing the side of the pit opposite him, Link slowly walked over and sat down. With all of their gazes on him, suspicious and hardly friendly, he had to consciously keep his left hand from automatically trailing to his sword hilt.
“What do you know about our research?” asked the man on the other side of the fire. He was wearing a large fur coat that made him look rather fat, although Link could tell he had a thin frame.
Realizing that he only knew what Auru had regaled to him, which was very little, Link slowly replied, “Talno just mentioned doing research in the Forbidden Woods, that he was looking for things like temples, magical trees and fairies.”
“That’s unusually tight-lipped of him,” another fur-cloaked man said with a smile in his voice as he walked over and sat by Link. He pulled his hood back to reveal a middle-aged, thin, friendly face. The tension seemed to ebb away almost immediately as he said, “My name is Gutoh. Link, why are you on this mountain?”
“Actually, I wanted to go into the woods …” He trailed off, distracted by Truett hissing in his ear, saying, “Tell them you’re looking for fairies because your mother is dying.”
“That’s,” Link frowned, but looked at those around him with a clear expression as he said, “I’m looking for fairies—”
“For the money?” Gutoh frowned.
Shrugging, Link answered, “I don’t know how much they cost. I just wanted one because I heard that they were good for healing people, and, this winter has been hard on my family so far, and my mother is dying. Nothing was working…” He trailed away and looked at the flames, feeling as if his insides were made of uncomfortable muck. The words were coming out a little too easily. He was not accustomed to lying, and yet the hard winters in his own past were suddenly all too easy to use.
His genuine feelings of uneasiness must have been showing clearly, Guoth actually reached over and patted his knee, saying, “Sorry to hear that.”
“You want to camp the night with us, eh?” The taller guard stepped in front of Link, between him and the fire. His arms were crossed, his expression still skeptical.
Sitting up straight in his seat, Link nodded. “I won’t get in the way, and I have my own food. I’ll help if you need it—”
“We won’t need it, unless…” The man looked down at Link, his arms crossed, his expression thoughtful. “We’ve never been in these woods this time of year, see, and who knows what kind of monsters are about. You’ve got a sword, and you must be decent with it to be traveling on your own. Interested in coming in with us, helping us find some fairies?”
“He’s a jerk,” Truett was whispering in a sharp voice.
“Say something?” the guard was glaring at Link now, who shook his head quickly.
“No, just—”
“That would be great,” Gutoh was already nodding. “Most of us have been in the woods before, and this is your first time, isn’t it? Why don’t you come in with us?”
“The more, the more likely we are to survive,” the guard said gruffly. “How does it sound?”
The other guard and the other scholars were murmuring consent. Link shifted in his seat uneasily, but noticed the guards were both giving him hard looks. Slowly, he nodded.
“Fantastic!” Gutoh reached out and they shook hands. Immediately the scholar began to rail on about the Forbidden Woods (“It’s so old, we have no idea how old”) and why they had chosen to go in the winter (“Too many caravans in the summer, too many questions”). The last of the scholars soon also sat around the fire, and soon all three were talking amiably. They rarely asked Link any questions, and he tried to answer any that were posed as honestly as he could.
The whole evening the guards stayed out of this inner circle, save when the meat that was roasting above the fire was finished and they all settled down to eat. Gutoh forced a strip of the hot food on Link, who ate it slowly, relishing it.
Although the scholars said much, Link learned very little. They mostly talked of the weather, how the chill had kept the snow on the ground, and how it was unlikely to snow again within the week. They referred to previous expeditions to the Forbidden Woods, but these stories only mentioned what the weather was like then and how they avoided running into monsters. They gave lengthy description of the botanical life of the woods, but soon it became apparent they had not actually discovered much at all, nor had they gone very far into the woods.
Link did not ask them anything, but learned through the evening and as they prepared for sleep. Aside from Gutoh there was the man in the enormous coat who was the youngest of the group. His name was Roe, and was roughly in his mid twenties, but had a cleanly shaven, round face that made him look much younger. He was cousins with the last scholar, Faron, a late middle-aged man with a weather-worn face and a long salt-and-pepper colored beard.
The scholars did not bother to clean the camp up much after the meal was finished, and instead set on getting ready for bed, complaining about the cold night air. The guards securely cleaned and stored up food, but did nothing else. Faron, who was the most well-traveled by his stories, was the only one in the company who bothered to do any cleaning. Gutoh, apparently worn out from doing most of the talking, disappeared very quickly inside his tent. When Roe asked Link where he would be sleeping, he indicated a small are near one of the rocks where the land sloped down.
Roe shuddered, asking, “Wouldn’t you freeze?” Link just shook his head, a grin tugging at the corners of his mouth as he went back to helping Faron clear the campsite.
That night, the two guards stood watch in intervals. Link had learned during the meal that the taller guard was named Narif, and the other was Vinn. As the night wore on, the wind suddenly grew much colder, almost too cold for his fur blanket to keep out. Waking up several times in the night, Link looked out from underneath his fur blanket at whichever guard was awake. Both usually huddled by the fire, which they kept alive through the night. Occasionally they looked over in his direction, whereupon he would close his eyes. Around midnight, Vinn snuck over and reached for Link’s pack, which was at his feet. Thinking of Layrel’s engagement necklace, his money, sword and shield, Link tensed, but did not move or stop breathing slowly. Keeping his eyes shut, he lazily rolled over and mumbled quiet nonsense. Vinn left his things and returned to the fire; neither of guards tried anything else that night.
Early morning, Link was awoken by Truett whispering at him. She had stayed under his blanket all night with him, and was now seated next to his head. She was close enough for him to see her, and he smiled at the sight of her bed head as she used her long fingers to roughly comb out her messy bangs and the rest of her hair that was not braided.
“What are you smirking at?” she whispered, barely audible.
“Nothing. What is it?” As he whispered back a reply, with a pang Link recalled the nights out in the woods that he and Auru had spent sleeping under the same blanket due to the chill. The smile vanished off his face and he laid his head down fully against his cloak that was spread out underneath him, suddenly feeling very cold.
“Well, I wanted to let you know that…” She hesitated, her tiny face a picture of uncertainty. “Well, I can feel the magic of the Wizzrobes coming from the forest. And, if you go in this group, they’re more likely to show themselves. But, I can’t trace your friend anymore, at least not right now. Maybe once we’re a lot closer to him…” She trailed off, shrugging.
Link frowned, his brow furrowing. “I thought you said you could track him no matter what.”
“I can’t account for irregularities, okay? Listen, Wizzrobes took him and he’s probably going to still be with them for some time. They rarely take people or things, but when they do, they don’t just toss them away or let other monsters handle them. When I find the Wizzrobes, that’s when we’ll find him. And like I said, I should be able to sense him again once we are a good deal closer. It’ll be fine!”
Running his hands down his face, Link kept his mouth shut and he pulled his hat on his head, Truett flying inside just in time. He slowly pulled the blanket up, and pulled it down, poking his face out.
A wind immediately struck at him, far colder than before. Immediately he pulled the blanket back over his head, shuddering, his teeth already chattering. He did his best to pull his cloak out from underneath him and pulled it over his clothes, pulling it securely around his neck and shoulders. More grateful than ever for the warmth of Truett’s light in his hat, he slowly peeled his blanket back again.
It was sunrise, and the world was pale in its light. The sky above was clear save for high, distant clouds that were thin and wispy, indicating more cold weather to come. The air was so cold it was almost painful to breathe. Link’s cloak did not have a cowl, so he just pulled it up as high and firmly around his neck and chin as he could. He noticed the extreme dryness of the air and felt at his lips. They were already chapped. Digging into his things, he found the small glass bottle with honey, and reached in with one finger, pulling out just enough to smear on his lips as a balm.
The moment after he finished with rolling up his blanket and securing his pack, he made a beeline for the campfire. It was much lower than last night, and was mostly hot coals. Both of the guards were huddled around it, their tents and equipment already packed, stored in real, large leather packs. They looked much neater and nicer than Link’s mere thick straps securing his things. Wondering how much it would cost to buy a proper pack and maybe some smaller leather pouches for his belt, Link warmed his hands by the fire and occasionally stepped away to pace around the fire to keep warm.
The scholars got up very slowly. Faron was the first to come out of his tent, bundled up with his fur hood pulled above his head and a scarf shielding his neck and beard. He promptly pulled his tent down and folded it up, doing so with practiced ease. In just a few minutes he had got all his supplies ready to be hoisted on his back, and set them near his place where he sat around the campfire. The only thing he did not pack was a small pot in which he began to brew several cups of coffee.
The hot smell of the beverage was so pungent it spread over the small area even with the wind sweeping most of it away. They heard the scholars muttering and moving in their tents almost immediately. Within the half hour all of them had come out and had packed their tents.
The coffee was drunk and any breakfast was eaten in silence. They did not offer Link any coffee, which he did not mind—the drink’s intense, bitter smell was foreign and unappetizing to him. When most everyone was finished, Narif stood up, saying, “We’ll go into the woods within a few minutes. Now, you know your old path from here, right Gutoh?”
The scholar nodded, his friendly face managing a small affirming smile. “Most certainly. And we also have Faron’s help to guide us, should I confuse the path due to the season. There is a path I remember, but...” A smile crept on his face and he looked at Roe and Link. “That’s the thing, these woods have paths laid out in them, and yet you’ll still be lost if—”
“Yes, I’ve heard,” cut in Roe in a bored voice, though he was scowling. “Stop trying to scare me.”
It took them little time to finish packing and put out the campfire. As they left, Roe looked back at the campsite with a sigh, muttering about wishing to sleep longer. Faron clapped him on the shoulder and recommended that he “bear with it and stop your whining.”
They headed up the side of the mountain, straight towards the woods. At first the forest looked almost like tangled vines, the trees and their limbs so close together they seemed as a single barrier. Yet as they approached, Link spotted a small gap, like a thin archway in a wall, making a narrow opening into the forest.
To get inside they went in single file. Leading was Gutoh, the guard Vinn, Faron, Roe, Link and then bringing up the rear, Narif. The wind was colder, but not very strong, so the woods were no longer moaning as they were last evening. Yet as they walked into the dark forest, the entire company went silent. Link looked up at the tree limbs above them, seeing them crisscross and intertwine with each other perfectly. Even though the limbs were close and thick together, they never completely blocked out the sky, and there was plenty of light revealing their path as it began to wind up the mountain on gradual, crisscrossing paths.
Save from the frost on the ground cracking as they walked, the woods were completely silent. There were no squirrels hurrying in the distance, not even the slightest traces of rabbits or deer or wolves. These woods seemed to be utterly devoid of any life aside from plant life.
The hours passed as they walked along with little rest save a couple to take a quick drink of water. No one was inclined to speak, though every now and then Roe would hurry up to walk by Faron and ask whispered questions about the woods. He would answer for a while, and then tell Roe to stop pestering him. Still after a half hour or so, Roe would begin asking questions again, though Link realized that he never asked anything about the wood’s animals.
As morning turned to noon and the sky above was a strong blue as the sun looked right down on them, Link heard Roe and Faron speaking again in front of him. Talking long strides to get closer to them, he caught Faron’s eye and asked, “Where are the animals in this forest?”
Roe and Faron looked at each other, then Roe answered, “There aren’t any, except for monsters. Every time Gutoh or Faron or Talno came in here, they never saw any sort of animals. Just monsters.”
Link tilted his head slightly, frowning. “But what do the monsters eat?”
Faron shrugged, answering, “We do not know. The primary monsters in here are Wolfos, the rest like Moblins and Wizzrobes don’t seem to stay here consistently. And Wolfos are definitely carnivores, but they take after wolves so much we know they won’t cannibalize. We know they must be eating something else.”
“But you have no idea what?” Link asked.
“No. But why do you ask?”
Shaking his head, Link just said, “It just seemed too quiet, even for winter.”
Faron shook his head, then said, “Well, then let us stop chattering and keep walking!” He walked quickly ahead of them in quick, jerky strides.
“We weren’t forcing you to answer,” Roe mumbled as he too hurried up. Link glanced over his shoulder to see Narif still behind him, and looked back ahead, hurrying to keep in line closer to Roe than the guard.
By the shadows of the forest, Link could tell it was nearing evening by the time they reached a fork in the road. The left path sloped down, as if to return to Hyrule Field. The right path turned upwards, becoming extremely steep. Gutoh indicated the right path, and they went up it slowly. The path was stonier, so they took their time to find sure footing as they went along. Roe and Vinn slipped up a few times, but overall they kept going at a steady pace. Any chatter that had remained died out and was replaced by labored breathing, sounding haggard in the cold, silent air. Link’s throat felt hot and sore from the cold, and he concentrated on pulling his cloak over his mouth and nose and not breathing too quickly.
After an hour, the path leveled out, and Gutoh urged them to hurry, saying, “The spring is just ahead. It’s in a good clearing, so we can rest there.”
“Maybe for the night,” came Narif’s voice from the back.
“Good idea,” Faron said. “Traveling in these woods after dark would be unwise.”
“Will the spring be safe to drink from?” Roe asked.
“Sure it will be! In fact, it might have once been a fairy spring,” answered Gutoh, a smile in his voice.
“Hmph.” Vinn looked back at Link. “Maybe you’ll find some clues for those fairies you’re looking for, eh farm boy?”
Now the forest was growing dark with twilight and the two guards had brought out their lanterns to light the way. Link had taken his lantern out as well, and it only shone just bright enough to give enough light for him to clearly see the path right in front of his feet, but it offered no long-range light. A few nights ago however, the lantern’s magical light glowed as bright as a blazing campfire as he searched for a place to settle by the river for the night. Holding up the lantern, he looked at it, wondering why its light would change—it had always been the same bright glow for all the years it hung in the village.
I guess its part of magic, he decided dully, looking down at the lantern. Now he noticed that the iron ring where he held it was not cold, as it would normally be. He held it further away from him, wishing he had a normal lantern.
“We’re here!” Gutoh exclaimed from the front of the group, relief clear in his voice.
Link looked back ahead just as the trees spread away and they walked into the clearing.
It was almost completely flat, riding into the side of the mountain like a shelf. The woods all around it continued to slope upwards. The clearing was not very wide, and the small spring on its far side took up about half of it, resting next to the sheer face of stone that rose up and met the trees, which loomed high above the clearing.
They selected a small, dirt area for a fire pit, which Link volunteered to start as the rest set up their tents. The clearing was so small they narrowly managed to fit all of their tents, and only did so by putting them right beside each other, making a tight crescent. Although the clearing was open, it was enshrouded by the trees, and the wind did not reach down in. Still, the air was biting cold.
“Be sure to not make that fire too large.” Gutoh had stopped working to watch Link who had just got the flames going. The scholar folded his arms, and glanced over at Roe, who was still putting up his tent. Clearing his throat, he said in a louder voice, “You make that fire too large, you’ll frighten the trees. They’ll squish us in our sleep—that’s what happened to Talno’s brother—”
“Stop that, thank you.” Roe was glaring at Gutoh, his cheeks a little red.
“He’s right though,” added Faron, a ghost of a grin on his lips.
“No, I know he’s not, I know enough about the woods not to believe in old wife’s tales.” With one final indignant look, Roe returned to his work. Link heard Gutoh chuckling as he too went to finish putting up his tent.
After the fire was started and was strong enough to stay alive on its own, Link looked around the clearing for a place to sleep. The tents took up all the area of the clearing that was not next to the small spring; the fire was in between the middle tent and the spring, and the tents were arranged as even the one closest to the spring was still several feet away. Link wondered if they were afraid to sleep near the water.
The spring was a curiosity. Once the scholars finished with their tents, they gathered around the spring, taking out draughts, refilling their water skins, but also just touching it tentatively and testing its temperature. Despite that the day was the coldest day of winter so far, the spring showed no sign of freezing. Instead, it released a steady, mostly faint fog straight up into the air instead of filling the clearing. Link watched the fog, which looked much more like his own breath than the fog of Zora’s River, as it floated upwards and, once near the treetops, was swept away by the breeze.
Link circled the clearing to keep himself warm. Around the fire Vinn and Narif were standing, talking together. The guards noticed his gaze and immediately Vinn stooped down to stoke the fire while Narif turned back to finish putting up his tent. Shrugging, Link kept walking.
Circling the clearing a third time, Link spotted another trail, veiled thinly from sight by the shadows, that led up to the mountain. Getting Gutoh’s attention, he pointed the trail out, asking, “Is that the way we’re going?”
“Most likely,” he said, peering at it. “We’ll have to see what Faron says, of course. He’s the most experienced with these woods.”
The evening fell very quickly after that, and the cold air became more intense, prompting a faster dinner of packaged meat and other foods, coupled with plain hot water. At one point Link tried water straight from the spring and found it to be nearly lukewarm. Aside from that, it did not taste any different from normal water, except that it had a much more mineral flavor than the water of Zora’s River.
“It’s a hot spring, isn’t it?” Roe was asking as they finished dinner. “Well, a warm spring, anyways.”
“I can’t say for sure,” Faron answered, covering a yawn.
“It might very well be an old fairy’s spring, but we weren’t really able to prove that when I took some samples back last time I was here,” Gutoh said before sipping the last of his hot water.
Unlike the others, Link settled down next to the spring. It seemed to emit a warm aura of air, drawing him to bed down almost right beside it, knowing he never rolled about in his sleep. Quickly he took off his hat and, without letting Truett’s light shine in sight, slipped it under the fur blanket, fluffing it up so it would not push down on the fairy.
Lying back, he put his arms behind his head and enjoyed the warmth, watching the spring’s white breath as it was blown up and into the night sky. The sky was a little cloudier, but he could still see the stars very well, and it was too early in the night for the moon to be in sight. Sighing, he closed his eyes, waiting, listening to the sounds of the rest of the company. Most were already silent, waiting for sleep in their tents. He could hear Faron’s loud snores and the crack of the fire as Vinn, who was keeping watching, stoked it, probably out of boredom.
After everyone was asleep save Vinn, Link pulled his fur blanket over his head. Truett was already out of his hat, and walked up near his face.
“I’m bored,” she muttered in her small voice that only he could barely hear. “I want to go out and fly for a while.”
“That guard is still out there, by the fire,” Link whispered back. He frowned, and asked, “Truett, is this spring a fairy fountain?”
“If you must know, it’s definitely connected underground to a very old fairy fountain. Though since it doesn’t have anything special about it except for its temperature, there can’t be any fairies in the fountain anymore. And, don’t try to change the subject!” She bounced up and down once, as if stomping in anger. “I want to go out. I won’t let him see me. Your head is facing him, right?”
Link nodded.
“I’ll go out the other end. I’ll wait a little while, he’ll get a little sleepier, I’m sure.” She walked away, sitting down on Link’s hat. “But I want to have a look around. It’ll be fine.”
After a while, she excused herself, slipping out quickly and silently from underneath his blanket. Pulling his hat up, he folded it and used it as a pillow. Getting warm, he pulled the fur blanket back just enough that his head was uncovered, but his neck was still warm and protected from cramping from the cold. As sleep crept up on him, he only once rolled over to look down at his pack. It was still mostly bundled up, within arm’s reach around his knees. His sword and shield were near it, both covered by a thin, small, spare blanket.
With a small sigh, he rolled on his back again and, a small chill rushing past him on the night air, pulled the blanket back over his head.
The Legend of Zelda and characters copyright Nintendo
"The Legend of Zelda: Deluge" writing and original concepts and characters copyright Mahira / Mahira-chan
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