Masked (A Hat In Time)

A Chilly Start

Haha, I missed reading through the comments and receiving all of your support.

Thank you so much, guys.

...even thought it's only Cosmo_Knight.

Hi there.

Thank you :)

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Holy peck, it was cold.

Well, it was a tundra, of course it was cold. But still!

From the moment Bow Kid set foot into the frozen realm, a sudden, horrid chill ran through her, and she started shivering uncontrollably. The frigid air pressed against her skin, numbing her awfully and intensely.

She managed a glance at Hat Kid at the risk of opening her eyes and having her eyeballs freeze. Hat Kid was trembling too. Bow Kid bit her lip, worrying. If it was this cold all the time, how would they ever get the timepieces? They couldn't last for long out here...would they just freeze to death over and over again?

That thought, for some reason, was more terrifying than anything they'd ever faced before.

She took a shaky step forward and her foot landed on solid ground. Bow Kid glanced down. The ground seemed to be more ice than snow. She lifted her gaze, taking in the landscape. Yeah, that was a lot of ice. It extended for miles, farther than she could see, paving the ground and climbing up in prisms of blue hues. Taking a moment to ignore the current icy situation, it was actually beautiful. It was almost as if a giant had taken the time to chisel crude yet magnificent structures from a solid block of ice.

Bow Kid sighed, her breath a cloud in the air, and closed her eyes. If she concentrated, she could try and use her hat to detect where the timepiece was.

But so far, her thoughts were just HOLY PECK IT'S COLD I'M GOING TO DIE OF HYPOTHERMIA-

She frowned. Well, that was pretty much the opposite of concentrating.

Bow Kid tried again. She tried to make her mind as numb as her body was. Which was a bad analogy, she suddenly realized. She breathed out again, trying to expel her intrusive thoughts along with her breath. Bow Kid thought of timepieces. How they felt: the soft wood and smooth glass in her hands. The strange sensation she felt when she held it. The small pops of static electricity under her fingers from the power it contained.

Suddenly she could picture the tundra in her mind, almost as clear as seeing it with open eyes. The world dimmed around one certain area- one structure of ice far to the left.

Her eyes flew open. She knew where she needed to go now. But the frigid air was more apparent now. Bow Kid winced. They needed to move fast.

"Come on!" she called. Bow Kid grabbed Hat Kid's chilly hand and started to run, pulling Hat Kid along to the left. "The timepiece is over here!"

Hat Kid's hand was shaking from the cold, and she was stumbling over the ground as she slipped and tried to keep up. But Bow Kid continued to push forward, pulling her forward.

This has to be the most dangerous place so far by a lot, Bow Kid noticed. Nowhere else could we just die because it was too cold. The only dangerous terrain we've faced was lava- and that usually came after we had an idea of what we were doing. And we haven't found any enemies or the main person who wants to kill us yet!

Hopefully, this icy, bleak nightmare would be too cold for anything to live here. Maybe there wasn't a dangerous person they had to deal with here. Maybe the whole thing would be struggling to fight the cold as they run for their lives trying to find timepieces.

Oh no.

Out of the corner of her eye, Bow Kid spotted the ice structure. It was enormous. It curved up into the air, creating an arc. It looked like a massive letter c. It reached at least thirty feet into the air, and it was as thick as a house at the bottom. Bow Kid could see the glow of the timepiece at its highest point. Her heart sank. They'd have to climb that?! But it was curved, and it was ice- they'd just slide off!

That doesn't matter, she told herself. We can find a way. We always do!

Hat Kid, now seeing their destination, managed to find footing on the slippery ground and ran faster. The hotter they grew due to the workout, the more the cold air pressed against them, stinging their cheeks and every exposed part of their skin. Bow Kid winced. She could feel her health slowly draining away.

They stopped in front of the massive structure, sliding a few inches. It loomed above them, curving over them.

Hat Kid squinted closer at the ice. "I swear there's something in there," she murmured. "I-I see something in there."

"Th-that doesn't matter right now!" Bow Kid snapped, impatient. Now that she wasn't moving, she was beginning to shiver again. Which, if she remembered correctly, was the first stage of hypothermia. Oh, wonderful. "What matters is that we get the timepiece and get out of here."

Her friend nodded. "I'm going to try and see if there's a way to climb this thing," Hat Kid told her, then, switching to her sprint hat, ran off to the left, sprinting around the diameter of the huge ice form.

Bow Kid stood there for a moment, trembling, then turned and examined the overhang of the ice. Was there a different way to get up?

The ice spiraled in on itself kind of like the iconic hill in the Nightmare Before Christmas. Her eyes widened. Maybe...

Hat Kid came running back, panting, skidding to a halt. "Nope, it's too steep," she reported between misty breaths.

At that moment, the two of them cringed in unison. They were already down to half health. Bow Kid needed to act now.

"Look," she said, pointing up at the overhang. Hat Kid looked up. "We can hookshot off of it."

Hat Kid's eyes lit up. Bow Kid pulled out her umbrella, aiming it steady. She heard the satisfying click noise that indicated that the hookshot was ready to fire. She launched her hook and it snapped onto the sturdy ice.

Bow Kid grinned as she was pulled steadily up there, but then she felt another pain as she lost more health. Her heart pounded in her chest. She was starting to panic. Stay calm stay calm stay calm- She managed to get a good swing, and Bow Kid vaulted herself up to the top. She landed, wobbling a little on the ice.

There it is! The timepiece was right in front of her, a few feet away. Knowing it would mean certain death if she fell, Bow Kid inched forward, reaching out for the timepiece. Her feet slipped from under her, and she fell to her chest, managing to wrap her arms around the thick patch of ice before she fell. It was so close- it was taunting her.

She reached out a trembling arm, scooting herself forward, and touched the edge of it with her middle finger. Letting out a slow breath, struggling to stop her heart from jumping out of her chest, she inched forward.

Bow Kid grabbed the timepiece.

She grinned in triumph.

The last of her health disappeared.

The smile melted off her face.

Was it too late? No, in her rapidly darkening eyesight, she could see the timepiece disappear into sparkles in midair. That meant was transported back to the ship...so why weren't Hat Kid and Bow Kid teleporting back with it? Why couldn't they escape this frozen nightmare?

The last of her strength sapped from her Bow Kid slumped onto the ice.

Was she going to die? Her worst fear was dying and not coming back- a permanent game over for her.

She struggled to open her eyes again. Come on, stay alive!

Was that a flash of green she saw?

Her eyes flickered closed again.