Hero by Heart

Chapter 37

Zelda woke shivering in the cold shadow of the mountain. The sun illuminated the peaks where she knew Link should be, but their own little camp was located behind a large overhang, casting deep shadows over their path.
When she looked up to where she had previously seen a flicker of fire, she found it to be just as bare as the other peaks.
They had probably gone on already, considering how early Link usually rose.
Zelda glanced around their own camp, finding only Reeza and Laine still sleeping, while the others huddled around the fire.
Zelda got up, groaning at her stiffness. She stretched to try and wake her cramped muscles, before taking some of the breakfast that was placed over the fire to keep warm. She then sat down next to Merina, who was looking up at the mountain.
'Do you think they will be able to climb it?' Zelda asked quietly, nodding 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 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 and sore, 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 on her arm still seemed clean, with no fresh blood seeping through.
Reeza muttered something, rubbing her eyes as she sat up. She actually looked much better to Zelda. There was some color back on her face and she smiled easily 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. In the blink of an eye, Zelda found everyone ready to set out again, prepared for another day of trekking. Even the injured Laine grinned at her as Merina gave the order to move.
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. If anything, Zelda felt like she was slowing them down most of all.
When they made their way underneath some sort of stone arch, they were suddenly greeted by the sun shining right in their faces, warm and very welcome.
Zelda took a moment to enjoy the feeling and closed her eyes. Her face, which had been numbed by the cold, started tingling.
She was startled out of her enchantment by Merina, who nudged her shoulder and quietly gestured her to continue, one finger 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 there. One by one they carefully snuck along the right 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.'
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 not to jingle something, they snuck past it, well behind its back.
     The path now turned left, around a large boulder that obscured the view on whatever lay ahead.
     Merina held up her hand, indicating them to stop, before slowly crouching forward and peering around the corner.
     She lowered her hand and nodded over her shoulder, making everyone start moving again.
     There was one single wolf, which kept its distance, howling and pacing. The animal clearly wanted to scare them off, but knew it was no match for them.
     Not much later they finally reached the end of the road. They stepped 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 there.
     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 bubbled up inside her and she immediately started walking towards it, looking up at the beast in awe.
     From this point of view it looked absolutely gigantic, standing tall over the desert far, far below.
     At the foot of the camel-like construction Zelda was joined by the others, most of them 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 added quietly, her eyes wide 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.
     In the end Merina broke the silence, turning to Zelda and looking at her questioningly. 'What do you want to do now, Zelda? We got you here, but can we be of any more help?'
     Zelda looked around the group, suddenly a little nervous now that she had to take charge again. It had actually been quite nice to follow Merina.
     'Ehm,' she started, looking at the entrance of Vah Naboris, 'I would like to enter, but maybe one or two of you can join, just to look out for danger. The others are free to do what they want in my opinion.' She shrugged.
     Merina nodded, then swept her gaze over the group. 'Kotta and I will join you. The rest of you' —she pointed to her fellow warriors— 'set up camp and take a rest.'
     Everybody nodded in agreement, and without another word the group split up and Zelda found herself making her way into the giant machine.
     This was where she felt at ease. This was her area of expertise. No fighting or heavy walking, no physical labor or exertion, but using her mind.
     Even though she doubted she would find anything different from the other two she had visited, she remained hopeful and excited. If only for the chance to be inside such a marvelous creation.
     Merina and Kotta walked on either side of her, turning this way and that as their eyes bulged out, trying to see everything at once.
     'This is unbelievable,' Merina whispered, locking on one of the pedestals and carefully touching it with one finger.
     Zelda chuckled. 'The Sheikah sure knew what they were doing. Even I don't fully understand all of it, after years of studying and researching.' She smiled fondly at the memories of her days roaming the kingdom and looking for the technology, now so incredibly long ago. 'Sadly enough, most of my old research has been destroyed in the Calamity,' she said, sorrow washing over her and making her throat ache.
     Merina obviously felt bad for her. She placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed it gently. 'The real important and interesting stuff will still be in your head, right? That's what counts now.'
     Zelda nodded. 'You're right. I know how these machines work without my books.' She sighed. 'It's just that I'm not sure if they will ever work again, so what good is that knowledge really?'
     'You shouldn't think like that!' Kotta exclaimed. 'You never know what will happen. I think it's incredibly important that there is at least one person left in this world who knows.' She shrugged. 'You saw what happened last time, when no one knew the real purpose of these things.' She pointed towards Zelda, a grin on her face. 'I think you should spread your knowledge. That way, if there is ever any need of them again, at least they will be ready for it.'
     Merina nodded excitedly. 'You might not be there to see it, but it could really prevent another catastrophe.'
     Zelda smiled at them, thankful for their support and encouragement. They had somehow managed to wash away her sadness and had replaced it with hope.