Apothecary

Chapter 26

As I expected, Link returned thoroughly soaked by the snow--and thoroughly empty-handed. His  imprecations and scowls from earlier had cooled to an uneasy, sullen blank face again--though I could tell by the way his hand twitched just how upset he truly was. As the sun was setting beyond the peak of the mountain, I managed to convince Link not to go tearing off into the cold dark for answers again, to sit his butt down by the fire and have a bottle of soup, for Din's sake. He obliged, grumbling though he was, and Yeto and Yeta were happy for the company. For his part, Link didn't make any more comments that night, or indeed do much in the way of movement at all--I suppose his search had tired both him and the darkness out.

When I awoke the next morning, he was already up, stirring at the ashes of the dead fire to get at the embers beneath. He seemed more like himself in the daylight--he'd gone to get more firewood without being asked, pocketed a bottle of soup for the trail, and managed to nod at Yeto's cheery 'GOOD MORNING'--but he still wasn't speaking. I had a feeling that even without this whole 'subtle possession' thing going on, he would have still been upset.

"Link?" I began gently, not wanting to upset him more. "I'm--I'm sorry you didn't find anything."

A momentary scowl flitted across his face at the reminder of his failure, but other than that he remained silent.

"I asked Yeto and Yeta if they'd seen anything while you were away, but they didn't have any good leads. I think," I continued, taking a deep breath and bracing myself, "I think we should go and see Lanayru before we leave."

"Why?" The word was barked almost immediately, and I had to restrain myself from rolling my eyes. 

"Because if there's any one being that might be able to tell us where things like that are, it's the light spirit with partial dominion over this realm." I snapped back. I wasn't trying to be petty or start another argument, but at the same time I needed to let the Fused Shadow know I wasn't taking any of its crap today.

A moment passed in silence, and Link's eyes flickered between mine, as though looking for the hidden meaning he had every reason to suspect.

"...Is that the only reason why?"

His voice was low and threatening again, a tone I was unfortunately getting used to--but  I thought he actually sounded a little scared as well. And though his eyes were steely when I stared defiantly back into them, there was also a slight fear flickering deep within. Perhaps whatever was possessing him knew its time would soon come, and that was the fear I saw. Whatever it was, I saw no reason to give it any sort of leverage, and simply gave Link a long look before turning my back to begin packing our things--playing dumb. 

We left the manor just as the sun began its slow climb overhead--Yeta had mentioned that it would be the best time to avoid any more inadvertent snowstorms--and the presence of the sun did little to help Snowpeak's temperature. The cold was still bitter and biting, though I was grateful that with the blizzard past I could actually see. Far colder, though, was Link's distant attitude. Ever since this morning and my mention of visiting a Spirit's Spring, he'd been noticeably terse and on edge—no small feat, because he was already unusually distant.

We hiked back up in near-silence—again, eerily like our first hike up the mountain, except this time I knew what I was dealing with. The climb back up to the top of Snowpeak promised to be long and arduous, though, and the silence helped me stay alert for the sound of enemies headed our way. My vigilance proved not to be in vain, because as soon as we were past the large rope bridge, a strange noise greeted our ears--like a howling wind, mixed up with the sensation of packed snow and rime all wrapped up into a single sound.