[EDITING] The Legend of Zelda: Goddess of Secrecy

Overworld Chapter 27 - Up the Frosty Path

...back towards Hyrule Field. It was not hard to catch up with Bruce and Wind, the knight asking as Link slowed Epona beside him, "You've got your ticket covered, right?"

"Why does everyone assume I'm broke?" Link replied with a laugh. He knew for a fact Bruce had also collected rupees when they'd gone through Deku Fortress together. Four more dungeons certainly hadn't hurt. "Yes, I can pay for it."

Bruce laughed as they climbed up onto the station. "Not used to you being this talkative! I like it, it's good on you." He hit a fist to Link's arm before fishing through his pack until he found his orders. The ticketmaster on the platform waved them through, after taking an orange rupee from Link and handing them both a ticket.

Epona settled down in the car quickly. Wind tossed his head, nervous about the ride. Bruce sighed. "Does your horse have to keep showing mine up?"

"I think so," Link replied as they sat down, catching Epona tossing her head up and down in confirmation as well. It was nearly empty in the car, save a few more knights on board. "Do you know what's going on in Frostbite? I just heard there was a massive storm."

"That's about the news I have," Bruce answered. "Supposedly, that's not supposed to be a big surprise. I mean, they don't call the place Frostbite for nothing. That is bitter cold, can go right through you in a second. There are really only two peoples suited for it up there: the Yetis and the Anoukis. Knights can't stay longer than a month. Then again, most of them skip Glenwood to get to the fort up on the mountain, so it doesn't surprise me."

"That's a short list. Sounds like an interesting community though," Link commented, thinking of size difference between an Anouki and a Yeti. He'd not met either, but the pictures made it seem like it would be a rather stark difference.

"Seems to work well enough," Bruce answered. He pulled out a flask from his pack. "Of course, we haven't been getting a lot of news out of there for a while. Seems like it's not just the storm. Think you can do something about that?"

"I might," Link said as Burce offered him the flask. He waved it off, to which Bruce shrugged and went back to drinking it himself.

Bruce muttered, "I hope the people at Glenwood can help us. I'd rather not freeze to death on the other side of the world, and the fort's not meeting us with supplies."

Thinking on the cold as well, Link nodded. A few hours in the snow in the enchanted riding corral was one thing. Trekking through it for longer in real life would be a hazard. They'd have to find out.

The ride took hours. The train stopped several times along its route, unbothered to rush for the passengers on board. Despite the fierce heat, they stopped at Sandsought again. Link figured it would be nice since they were about to go up into the mountains. The heat clung to the car, but Link worried about how long that would last.

Three hours after they started, the train started to rise. The warmth of the car started to dwindle as they rose. A shiver ran down Link's spine. Epona lifted her head as Wind leaned into her. The horse snorted, unhappy, but didn't walk away.

Again, Bruce pulled out his flask. Link pulled out his camping blanket to make do on his own. There was very little keeping them warm in here, that was for sure. As the cold grew worse, the door between the cars slid open and one of the train's staff poked through. He tossed a couple of blankets towards Link and Bruce, before handing out some more to the rest of the knights in the car. "Keep warm, folks. We're going to be arriving at the station in an hour, and it's another hour up to Frostbite."

After he was done, the man hurried back out towards the front of the train, which Link imagined was much warmed next to the engine compared to the storage cars they were riding in. Link wrapped the wool blanket around him, the wind starting to come through the sides of the car. Eventually, he built up enough heat between the two blankets to not need to shiver, even blazing under the heavy material. But he knew that removing it would be foolish.

Link asked, "How far away is Glenwood from the station?"

"I don't know, look at your map," Bruce replied, sinking into his own blanket.

Link pulled out the map Kaepora had given him. He should have looked at it more, but he usually knew where he was heading. More accurately, Endeavor knew where they were going and he didn't need much for directions. He traced his finger along the map until he found a set of runes near Frostbite. Bruce asked from inside his bundle, "Find it?"

"I think so," Link replied. He found the train station on the map and said, "It's about a half hour from the station, but it goes up into the mountains a little more."

"Then it's about the same as heading to Frostbite as far as staying warm goes," Bruce said. "But if we get to Glenwood, then we should be able to find something to keep us warm no matter where we head."

"You think so?"

"Well, if I'm wrong, we won't be getting to Frostbite in one piece, I can assure you that," Bruce replied. "Well, maybe one piece of ice."

"I don't think that helps," Link said as he folded the map in.

"Then hope I'm right," Bruce answered.

The train rolled into the station. Without taking off their blankets, the two mounted their horses and rode out of the car. Epona shivered as she set foot outside, but continued on when asked. Movement kept her warm and she eager for that. Reluctantly, Link had to hand over the second blanket. The cold quickly began to bite into his tunic.

Bruce rode up beside him. He said, "We've got a half hour to get there. If we don't reach it, we're going to freeze out here."

"You don't have any good news do you?" Link asked.

"Yeah, that sword looks great," Bruce replied, before he asked Wind on into the storm. Link shook his head at how unhelpful that was for the cold, and asked Epona into the storm. They only had so long, and he couldn't waste a minute of it.

The wind howled around them as they dove into thesnowstorm. It didn't take long for the train station to sink out of view. Linkturned away, focusing on the road ahead. He pulled his map out and held it down on his saddle. Now to make surethey didn't get lost...