A Couple of Trials (ZeLink)

Chapter 38: A Challenging Toast

It was cold. The air, the sheets, and even the pillow under his head. Link slowly opened his eyes, revealing the shadowed wooden beams that kept his roof above him. The room was surprisingly dark, even if it were evening. With a groan, he pushed himself up from the sheets. He looked up at the window, completely dark thanks to the snow covering the glass panes from outside. His body continued to shiver as he pushed the sheets off his lower body, revealing a set of dry clothes, different from the ones he remembered wearing. Confused, he brought a cold hand up to his throbbing forehead, trying to remember what had happened before. He could remember flashes of white and wind, staring at a spot for hours, a feeling of warmth in his chest before teleporting home and—

"Zelda?" Link whispered before quickly standing. He hurried to the railing of the loft, still shivering as he moved. He gripped the railing to stay balanced before looking over the edge. "Zelda?"

He looked down into the dark dining area, unable to see clearly what was below. Despite this, a shivering voice called back.

"L-Link? A-are you awake?"

"Zelda... Yeah... Yeah, I'm awake," he answered. For a moment, he was met with silence before she quietly uttered a response back.

"That's... good. I-I'm glad you're well again."

Link furrowed his brow. She didn't sound very pleased to hear him awake. In fact, through the cold, he thought he had heard a hint of anguish in her tone. Slowly, he moved from the railing and headed toward the staircase, carefully leading himself through the darkness of the home before making it down to the first floor.

"Why is it so dark in here?" he asked, stopping the moment he stepped off the final step.

"T-the snow... it blocked the windows and doors down here..." Zelda shivered. "And the lanterns above blew out when we came back and opened the door..."

"What?" Link asked, instinctively looking at where he remembered the windows to be. "How long was I out for?"

"About a day..." she answered through the shadows.

Using her voice as guidance, Link continued his venture through the void of darkness. Her voice hadn't lightened up. It actually seemed as though the closer he got, the more dreary she sounded. Finally, he found his way to the table. His eyes had somewhat adjusted to the darkness, allowing him to see the outline of her figure sitting at the table, wrapped in a blanket for as much warmth as she could keep.

"Why are you just sitting in the cold like this?" Link asked suspiciously. Zelda didn't answer. She continued to stay seated, not even bothering to look at him. With a frown, he asked, "where's the Sheikah Slate? I'll find a way to get us warm."

"I don't have it," she decided to answer.

"Then... Where is it?" he prodded.

"I can't tell you that," Zelda said simply.

"What?"

"I said, I can't tell you that," she repeated.

Link's jaw tightened. He could feel the frustration growing inside his chest, but he couldn't allow it to fester. While he sensed something was wrong, he knew there was something he had to fix the current issue at hand. Cautiously, he moved across the room toward the kitchen counter, where he knew a few bundles of sticks were sitting on the floor against the wall nearby. He crouched and felt around before his fingers found them. Taking note of their whereabouts, he then felt around for the cabinets which he soon found, opened, and pulled out what he hoped were a few small pieces of flint. Finally, he pushed himself up to his feet and felt around the counter's surface, where he found a knife.