Heads up, these // are for italic parts (because I can't do it here on webnovel)
•••
The next morning, you woke up naturally before the break of dawn. The air was cold, which made every part of you shiver, but as the sun slowly began to rise the shivers went away. You stretched a bit, a small groan escaping your lips as you did so. You looked around you for a few moments, your stomach grumbling slightly, but you didn't pay much mind to it. Instead, you got up, seeing that Link was still sleeping, and went to a small pond that didn't lay that far from where you both were resting.
Wanting to wake yourself up more, you scooped up some of the cold water from the pond and splashed it on your face. The action made goosebumps appear on your skin, but it instantly washed away any form of sleepiness that was on your face. Now that you were all freshen up, you went towards Link, who was still enjoying his sleep. Deciding to be a good person, you let him rest and went off to find any nearby fruit to eat since there seemed to be nothing else but that in the Great Plateau. As you walked around aimlessly, you spotted a few mushrooms growing near some trees.
You quickly began gathering as many as you could before going back to where Link was. When you got there and saw that he was /still/ sleeping you shook your head. /How has he not woken up yet?/ Shrugging away the thought you began to start a fire. You weren't sure how to cook the mushrooms, but you decided to give it a go. You grabbed a stick that was near by and began to pierce the mushrooms, making a sort of skewer. After roasting the mushrooms over the fire for a couple of minutes you brought it close to you and looked at it. The smell that came from it was certainly desirable. In fact, it made your mouth water. Just as you were about to take a bite from the mushrooms Link began to wake up.
You put the skewer down to look at him, hearing sniffing noises come from him as well. Immediately he sat up, as if he had been awake the entire time. His bright blue eyes quickly made their way to the food that was in your hands.
"What is that?" He asked, eyes remaining on the food. "It smells so good."
"Well good morning to you too," you said, smiling as you rolled your eyes. "I'm thinking of calling it a mushroom skewer." You noticed how he just kept looking at it, so you figured he was hungry.
"Here, you can have it. I'll just make myself another one," you said, giving it to him before grabbing another stick to put the fresh mushrooms in.
"Thank you (Y/n)," Link said, a wide smile now placed on his lips. You simply smiled back, directing your attention to your food since the rumble in your stomach was getting more annoying. Link wiggled a bit on the ground, taking big bites out of the mushrooms before finishing it all in a matter of seconds. This made you laugh as you finished making your own skewer. He seemed satisfied, which was good since you both had a long day ahead of you. As you began taking a few bites out of the food you heard footsteps nearing. You weren't surprised to see the Old Man when you turned around. If anything you were expecting him to appear.
"I see you two have had breakfast already," the Old Man said, his hands resting at the top of his stick.
"Would you like some?" You asked in a polite manner, now getting on your feet. Link followed your action, though he seemed to stumble over something, but luckily he was able to prevent a fall.
"Oh, no thank you my dear, I would not want to waste your time. Now then, seeing that you are both well rested and fed, you can continue the search for the next three shines!" The Old Man exclaimed.
"Uh... about that," Link said with a questionable tone. He started rubbing the side of his neck. "Where are they exactly? I don't see any around here."
"Ah! Well it is always best to survey the area by looking around from a high point, rather then here on the ground. Hmm...," the Old Man began to stroke his beard in thought. He then nodded and gestured towards the Great Plateau Tower with his stick. "Why don't you make your way over to the tower?"
This made Link groan a bit. "Are you serious? You want me to climb that?" He asked in a somewhat whiny tone.
You looked over at the tower. It was very tall, and you knew that the climb up there would be exhausting, so you didn't question why Link would be reluctant to go there. The Old Man though, simply laughed at the faces the two of you made. He seemed to be enjoying this.
"I am serious. But you have no need to worry. I can teach you a little trick that you will surely come to enjoy," he said, before stepping just a tad closer to Link. "Go ahead and grab your Sheikah Slate and look at the map."
Link rose an eyebrow and looked over at you. You didn't know what the Old Man was planning so you gave him a shrug. "Just do it I guess," you told him. Link looked a bit uncertain but soon did what the man wanted. He took a hold of his slate and opened the map. His eyes then went up to the Old Man, now waiting for the next set of instructions. You also waited, since you were pretty curious.
"You see those blue icons on the slate? You should be able to recognize the cave where you woke, the shrine you did, and finally the tower," the Old Man began saying, pointing to each location before stepping back. "From what I have heard, you can travel to any of these places instantly. I am not sure if it does work, but perhaps you can give it a go."
"Travel instantly?" You asked. As always, the curious part of you asked multiple questions in your head. During this, Link examined the blue icons closely. He was certainly thrilled about the idea of transporting from one place to another instantly, but he didn't know if it would work. He looked up, seeing that the Old Man was already making his way towards the tower at a slow pace. His eyes then landed on you, and he chuckled a bit when he saw your questioning state.
"Lets see if it works," Link said, his fingers pressing the tower icon twice.
"Wait! What about me?" You asked, but you were a little too late. A blue glow began to surround Link as tendrils of light started wrapping around his legs and torso. Soon enough, the blue tendrils of light had engrossed every inch of Link, causing him to float in the air. A strange ringing sound was heard before he completely vanished. Your jaw dropped a bit, not at all believing what you had just seen. You were amazed, though a part of you was little upset since you didn't get to experience whatever it was Link did. You grumbled under your breath, turning to see the large tower that waited for you to climb.
•••
After was seemed like hours, you finally made it to the top of the tower. You were a bit tired from the climb. No, you were /very/ tired. In fact, your legs were a bit sore, but you didn't want to show it so you simply pushed the soreness away. Or tried to at least. You sighed, stepping onto the platform of the tower, eyes then landing on Link and the Old Man, who seemed to be talking. They hadn't noticed you at all, which made you frown slightly.
"Thanks for leaving me down there," you said in a sarcastic tone. You went over to pillar and rested your back on it, slowly regaining a bit of energy as you looked up at the ceiling. Your breathing calmed down after a bit as well, and when you looked back down you saw Link looking at you in a worried, yet embarrassed way.
"I'm sorry... I didn't expect it to work," Link said to you, gulping a bit. He bit his bottom lip, now slowly walking towards you. "I got the locations of the shrines already though!"
You sighed softly while rolling your sore arm around. "It's alright, and that's good. Where are they?" You asked, going towards him as well. He took out the slate and showed you the three glowing points that were on the map. You noticed they were all very far apart, but you were glad there was one that laid not to far from the tower.
"We're going to this one first. Since it's close by and all," Link said, pointing to the shrine before putting the slate away. "You ready?"
You nodded at his words, though you weren't glad on having to go back down the tower after /just/ coming up. Pulling together your stamina you headed down the steps one by one. It was much easier then the climb up, but you were still pretty tired. Once you were both on solid ground Link took out the Sheikah Slate and used the map to find his way towards the shrine.
During the walk, you started to hear strange pig like noises. You didn't know where the noises were coming from, but you stayed alert.
"Do you hear that?" Link asked you, his eyes coming up from the slate. You nodded and started looking around, hoping to find the source of the sound. You started walking towards the noise slowly. The sounds got louder with each step you took, but you still couldn't see what was making them.
"They sound like..," Link started to say before his eyes widening slightly. He grabbed your arm and pulled you back. "Let me lead," he told you firmly before going in front of you. You didn't protest, and simply followed slowly behind him.
"I knew it," he muttered under his breath. You rose an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder. Not that far from you was a campfire and a couple of monsters danced around it. They had long ears, and were a strange red colour. "Bokoblins." Link sneered at the sight of them. He started to look around, like he was searching for something.
"We don't have any weapons to fight them off," you whispered to him quietly, not wanting to get the monsters attention. Luckily, the Bokoblins seemed to be very distracted with their strange dancing and jumping around the campfire.
"Yeah I know," Link whispered back. His eyes then landed on two rocks that were resting on the edge of a slanted hill. A grin appeared on his lips, and he started to slowly make his way up the hill. You followed along, though you were careful on not making any type of noise. You didn't know what he had planned, but you decided to simply go along with whatever he did.
"On three, push this rock and I'll push this one here, okay?" He said to you once you had both reached the top of the slanted hill. You hesitated as you looked down the edge. You then noticed a steep path that led down to where the Bokoblins were exactly. As you squinted your eyes, you saw a few explosive barrels near them as well. This made you nod to Link, knowing what the rocks were meant for now.
"Okay... one, two..," Link counted slowly, waiting for a precise moment. "Three!" You both pushed the rocks down with all your strength, successfully causing them to roll down the steep path. The rocks gained speed in a matter of seconds, and in a blink of an eye they collided with the explosive barrels, making an explosion that immediately killed all the Bokoblins.
Link rose his fist in the air. "Ha! That was easy. Let's go down there and get their weapons," he said with a satisfied smile. He then sprinted down the hill and towards the camp. You followed and by the time you got there Link had picked up most of the equipment that survived the explosion. "Look! I got us a couple of weapons and two shields," he said, holding out the things in his hand to show you. "Here."
He handed to you one of the wooden shield he had salvaged and two spiked clubs. You smiled, taking the weapons gladly. You studied the shield and then fastened it onto the belt you had that went over your shoulder and torso. The shield covered your back and then you found a way to do the same with your two clubs. Link did the same before pulling out his slate.
"Alright, the shrine isn't too far off. We should make it there soon," he said, glancing over at you.
"Well then, lets get going," you replied with a smile. He smiled back and looked back down at the map, walking towards the point. You looked up for a few seconds, seeing the sun already going down from its highest peak. /Wow, time flies/, you thought to yourself. You simply hoped you would make it to the shrine before dark out. The walk was pretty silent, so in order to make conversation you asked the first thing that came into your mind.
"So, what did you find in that shrine yesterday?" You asked, your head turning to look at Link who looked really focused.
"Uh sorry what?" Link said, his eyes moving towards you after a few moments.
"Oh nothing, sorry. I'll let you stay focused on finding the next shrine," you said a bit sheepishly before turning your head down to the ground. You hummed a bit to yourself, keeping your mind occupied. As the two of you continued walking, you noticed the skies beginning to get dark. Your eyebrows knitted together when you looked up. There were dark gray clouds now covering the horizon.
"I think it's going to rain soon," you spoke your mind. Link followed your gaze before huffing out.
"Let's walk faster," he said, now picking up the pace. You nodded and did as he said. It was hard to walk fast, since there were so many things you wanted to gawk over like ruins and strange creatures you would see. After a few minutes, light rain began to come down. You were glad it wasn't heavy rain though. It was a bit freshening, and the cool air made the rain pleasurable.
"We're almost there," Link said, his walk now turning into a jog.
It didn't take long to find where the shrine was. From where you both stood you could see the faint orange glow that came from it. It laid in the center of some crumbled down stone walls. It looked very easy to get to, so Link and you made your way towards the entrance. Or well, one of the many entrances. You looked around, taking in the sight of the crumbled walls. You wondered what this place was before it was destroyed.
"Woah," you said to yourself when you saw a strange machine that was buried into the ground. You jogged towards it, feeling the rusty metal before turning to look at Link. "Do you know what this is?"
"They look like... some type of guardian?" Link said, his voice hesitant and with no certainty. "I'm not quite sure. But it looks deactivated."
You nodded your head, examining it more closely before coming across some weird looking springs. Ancient springs. You moved to the side, your fingers tracing over the object before stashing it into a tiny sack that was attached to your belt. You figured you could use it for something. After a few minutes of gawking over the guardian, you walked off with Link.
"So, what are in shrines exactly?" You asked.
"Oh, well the last one I went into put something in my Sheikah Slate. A rune I think it was called," Link began saying as he rubbed his chin. "Then with that rune I have to do some type of trial and whatnot."
"Sounds pretty easy."
"It is. Or well, least the previous one was. I don't know what awaits in the next ones," he said with a nervous chuckle.
"I'm sure you'll be alright," you said to reassure him. You looked ahead, seeing the top of the shrine peak over the stone walls. Before reaching the arch way entrance that lead into the shrine, you noticed another deactivated guardian that was also half buried into the ground in a tilted manner.
"Oh look another one. Maybe it has some of those weird looking springs like the last one," you said with a smile. You went over to it, getting ready to examine the machine until you noticed its head beginning to move. You rose an eyebrow, the head now completely turning as parts of its medal body turned a red colour. You stepped back, a single blue eye —or blue circular point— stopped on you.
"(Y/n) get away from it!" Link shouted, now running towards you. He grabbed your arm and in that moment a red dot was pointed directly to your body. A loud beeping noise came from the guardian, as it prepared to shoot at you. If it hadn't been for Link, you would've been shot with the guardians glowing red laser. He pulled you out of direct line of fire just in time. After making sure he had a good hold of your hand, he sprinted to where the arch entrance of the shrine was.
Another loud beeping noise was then heard from the guardian, but before it could shoot another laser at you, you were pulled behind a stone wall. The whole situation had your heart racing, but when the beeping noise ceased you sighed out.
"Are you okay?" Link asked you, removing his hand from yours. He looked at you intently, making sure you were alright.
"Yes, I'm fine," you said as you were catching your breath. The running had caught you off guard. "Thank you for basically saving me."
"You're welcome, but please be more careful (Y/n). Your curiosity could end up getting you killed," Link told you with all seriousness. You sighed, nodding your head in agreement.
"I will, sorry," you told him before looking towards the shrine. "Least we made it to the shrine." You nodded your head towards it and then sat down on the ground. "Go in, I'll wait for you here."
Link frowned a bit at the idea of leaving you here alone. "You promise to not move from here?"
"Yes, yes I promise. Don't worry about me and just go do the shrine."
He sighed and nodded, though you could tell he was still reluctant to leaving you. Either way, he made his way towards the platform of the shrine and soon enough he entered. He sent you a wave before descending down into the shrine.
•••
You were surprised when Link came out the shrine in just two hours. He had surely taken less time then before. As you both walked away from the shrine —after safely dodging other buried guardians that seemed to have been activated— Link was showing you the two new runes he had gotten from the shrine.
"So you push this and it detonates the bombs?" You asked, obviously amazed with the new rune he had gotten. "Amazing."
"I know right? I'm sure it'll come in handy when I come across any type of monster," Link said with a grin as he took the slate from you. He went back to the map. "The next shrine is just a few miles from here, but honestly I'm exhausted."
"Me too. We should look for a place to set up camp," you said, now looking around. As you scanned your surroundings you saw a what looked like a wooden cabin lying just ahead of you. You rose an eyebrow and went towards it, having Link follow behind you. The closer you got to the cabin, the more things you noticed. Near the entrance of the cabin was a long log, and beside it was a campfire. Not too far laid an axe and a few other things.
"I think someone lives here," you said, turning your head to look at Link.
"Well, I don't see anyone. I say we just stay here for the night," he replied, now going over to the fire. He sat down, pressing his back against the log before scooting closer to the warm fire. You were about to go and join him until you noticed there was no door at the entrance of the cabin. Curiously, you went inside, looking around before your eyes landed on a figure that was laying down on a bed. Not expecting to see anyone there you yelped and jumped back. The action caused you to stumble over a chair until you fell on your bottom.
"Huh? Who's there?" The person asked as they sat up from the bed. The voice sounded strangely familiar, and when you got up from the ground to meet a pair of eyes that were looking at you, you knew who it was.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't meant to startle you," you said to the Old Man, your face now turning a dark red from embarrassment. "If I had known this was your home—."
Before you could finish speaking the Old Man waved his hand, dismissing your words. "Do not worry young one. Please, make yourself at home and take whatever it is you may need during your travels," he told you in a gentle tone, not at all scolding your actions of entering his home unannounced.
"Thank you, you're very kind. Um, Link is outside. Would it be alright if we spent the night near the campfire?" You asked him with a hopeful tone.
"Why certainly!" He exclaimed with a soft smile. "I'll be heading to bed now. I will talk with you both in the morning." With that he laid back on his bed and in a few seconds you could hear snoring. You sighed, taking your time to look around his home, though you were careful on not making any noise. You found a couple of fruits and mushrooms on his table, which you took, but you didn't know where you would put them. Your eyes darted from one side of the room to the other until they landed on a satchel that hung on a wall. You went towards it, examining it before bringing it down. It was in great condition, and it had many compartments to put things like food, clothes, and a couple of other stuff in.
/The Old Man/ did /say I could take whatever I may need/, you reasoned with yourself. And so you got the satchel. You put the strap over your shoulder, having it rest against your hip. You began stashing the fruit, mushrooms, and the ancient spring you got from the guardian in the bag before heading out the cabin. Link was already half asleep by the time you sat by the fire. He looked so peaceful as he slept, and the way he was a bit curled up on the ground made you laugh quietly. You set aside the things you had on you and laid down, taking one last look at the starry sky before closing your eyes.