The Legend Of Zelda: The Curse Of Zant

Chapter 20: Two out of Three

Link slowed Epona to a walk so that he was able to check the list of ingredients that he'd written down. The first on the list was probably the easiest of them all to come by; a simple orange pumpkin. As long as held on to enough rupees, there would be no issue purchasing one from the market place in Castle Town. Before setting off in that direction though, he looked behind to face Midna, who was only now catching up to him.

His mind flashed back to what he'd said to her back in Hyrule field as she aligned her horse with Epona, and he mentally kicked himself. It wasn't just what he said, but the way that he'd said it that made him regret it. Midna had grown to be one of his best friends and hated the thought of treating anyone he cared about like dirt. With a sigh, the last of his stubbornness faded away.

"What are we doing here, Link?" Midna asked. "We don't have any time to waste." She added.

"I'll explain in a minute, but first of all... I owe you an apology, Midna." He stated.

Midna thought about this for a second. Her first instinct was to yell at him and give him a good piece of her mind for how much he had not only made her worry, but also how he had used such a disgusting tone with her. Though she knew that fighting with him more would only hinder their search for the second mirror shard, so instead she gave him a small smile, appreciative of the fact that he admitted to being wrong, and keeping in mind how much pressure he has been under in the past few days.

"Yes, you do owe me an apology, Link." She began. "I may not be human, but I am still a person and a person has feelings... You really hurt mine." She admitted.

"I know. I was such an idiot and I'm sorry. You're my best friend, but with everything that has happened in the past few days; losing Ilia, Zelda going missing, finding out that I'm going to be a father... I guess I just snapped. But I shouldn't have taken it out on you, I really am sorry." He apologized sincerely.

"It's okay, Link. I forgive you." She told him.

"Really? That easily?" He questioned.

"All I wanted was an apology and you delivered it. So yes, you knucklehead, I forgive you."

Chuckling at her choice of nicknames for him, he smiled at her before remembering that he had yet to tell her of what they needed to do next. "Aye, uh... Listen, I received a letter from my friend Yeta who lives up on Snowpeak mountain. It turns out that my other friend, Yeto, is sick. He needs the special pumpkin soup to get better, but unfortunately Yeta cannot get out to get them due to a terrible storm. We need to gather those ingredients and bring them to Yeta so that she can make the soup for Yeto." He explained.

"So, that's where we're headed now? To help Yeta and Yeto?" She questioned.

"Yes." Link confirmed, getting ready to make tracks again before he remembered to tell her one more thing. "Oh, and Yeta says that she has something that might be of use to us."

"Yeta?" Midna questioned in disbelief. "Hmm, I wonder what that something could be." She thought aloud.

"Beats me. But the sooner we gather these ingredients and get them to Snowpeak, the sooner we shall find out." He stated.

Midna watched as the determined glint that was in his eyes at the start of their quest returned even brighter than it had been before, and she knew that from this point forwards, there would be no hesitation from him.

Link rode on at a steady pace, following the path that would lead them to Castle Town, Midna was only slightly behind but still within reaching distance. During their travels, he thought about where it would be best to find the rest of the ingredients needed for the pumpkin soup; Reekfish heads and Ordon goats cheese. After purchasing an Ordon pumpkin from the market, he supposed the next thing they should be doing was heading off to Lake Hylia, to retrieve a bag of Reekfish. Once those two were out of the way, they would return to Ordon Village to collect some goat cheese and gather a few things that he'd left inside his house before they finally would start to head to Snowpeak mountain.