Hero by Heart

Chapter 37

Zelda woke shivering in the cold shadow of the mountain. She could see the sun illuminating the peaks where she knew Link should be, but their own little camp was located behind a large overhang, casting long shadows over their path.
When she looked up to where she had previously seen a little fire, she found it to be just as bare as the other peaks.
They probably had already gone on, knowing how early Link usually rose.
Zelda now looked around her own camp, finding only Reeza and Laine still sleeping, but it was no wonder that they needed their rest.
Zelda stiffly got up and stretched, before taking some breakfast that was placed over the fire to keep warm.
She then sat down next to Merina, who was looking up at the mountain they would go up.
'Do you think they will be able to climb it?' Zelda asked softly, gesturing her head towards the sleeping Gerudo.
Merina turned to look at them, a doubtful expression on her face. 'I think a good night's rest can do wonders, but we will have to figure out when they wake up.'
She then turned to look at Zelda, a warm smile on her face. 'And how are you?'
The princess smiled back at her. 'I feel great. A little cold but well rested.'
'Good,' Merina said. 'I want to leave in a few minutes, so go get your stuff.'
Zelda did as she was told, but looked on curiously as Merina went to wake her friends.
Laine groaned in pain as she pushed herself up, but the bandages still seemed clean, with no fresh blood seeping through.
Reeza also muttered something, but rubbed her eyes and actually looked much better to Zelda. She had some colour back on her face and smiled as she made a joke to Laine.
The camp was momentarily full of activity, as everyone packed up their gear and hoisted their packs on their backs again, ready for another day of trekking.
The road was broad, but incredibly steep and littered with Electric Chuchus, which they tried to steer clear of.
Slowly but surely they got higher, and luckily neither Reeza nor Laine showed any real signs of fatigue. At least no more than the others.
When they made their way underneath a sort of stone bridge, they were suddenly greeted by the sun shining right in their faces, warm and very welcome.
Zelda took a moment to enjoy the feeling, as she felt her cheeks start to glow a little.
She was startled by Merina, nudging her shoulder and quietly gesturing her to continue, her fingers against her lips. She then nodded her head forward, where Zelda now noticed a group of Moblins sitting around a fire.
Luckily the road made a sharp turn and went up from here, so one by one they carefully snuck along the right side and up the steep slope, out of sight from the monsters.
Eventually they felt safe enough to pause, huddled close together.
'There will probably be a lot more monsters up here,' Merina said. 'Keep your eyes and ears open and, please, be careful.'

And indeed, behind the first corner already, they saw another Moblin, sitting on the edge of the road, looking down the mountain.
     In a single file, carefully holding their gear to not jingle something, they snuck past him, well behind his back.
     The path now turned left, around a large boulder that obscured them from whatever lay ahead.
     Merina held up her hand, indicating them to stop, before slowly crouching forward and peering around the rocks.
     She then lowered her hand and nodded over her shoulder, making everyone start moving again.
     They saw one single wolf, but apart from some howling and running around it formed no threat, staying well away from them.
     Not much later they finally reached the end of the road, stepping out on a plateau with a lake of some bubbling brown liquid that looked absolutely horrid.
    'Don't think we should tell anyone to stay away from that,' Reeza chuckled, looking down at the stuff.
     Zelda nodded, glancing down as well, before looking around. While most of them were distracted by the lake, she didn't want to be vulnerable to any monsters up here.
     Strangely enough, the entire plateau seemed devoid of any form of life, apart from some darners and butterflies.
     Her eye fell on the stone bridge connecting this plateau to the next, where the giant Divine Beast Vah Naboris was stationed.
     The old excitement started to boil up inside her and she started walking towards it, looking up at the beast in awe.
     From here it looked absolutely gigantic, as it looked out over the kingdom below, which was a spectacular view.
     At the feet of the camel Zelda was joined by the others, dropping their bags and looking around in amazement.
     'I didn't know it was this big,' Laine said, trying to see the top of the Beast with her head as far back as she could.
     'Imagine what would have happened if this thing had trampled into town,' Kotta softly added, her eyes big at the idea.
     'Thank the Heroines for Link,' Reeza muttered.
     For a moment it remained silent, as everyone looked up at the Divine Beast or down to the desert, thinking about the devastation it could have done in the days when it went rogue.