The Wolves (Discontinued)

Chapter 12: The Spring

As they reached the spring, Zelda woke and groaned.

"Wh.. where are we?" Zelda twisted and cried out in pain.

"Shh... you'll be fine, but for now, just close your eyes, don't talk, and just relax. Okay?" Link said, his brows furrowing worriedly.

"Mm-hmm..." Zelda trailed off, her head lolling to the side as she succumbed to unconsciousness again.

Link looked forward again and saw the spring.

"There it is!" Link exclaimed.

Urging Epona faster, Link leapt off of her, and carefully laid Zelda in the spring. Much to his disbelief, Zelda started glowing an unearthly blue light, before finally turning her normal shade of colors.

"Zelda?" Link asked, afraid that he would only be greeted by silence.

"You can't get rid of me that easily," Zelda murmured with a half smile.

"You're alive!" Link said smiling.

"Of course I am! I wouldn't die and leave you to get all the glory!" Zelda said, smiling at the irony of her statement.

Chuckling, Link pulled her into a hug.

"I can't believe I almost lost you," Link said.

"Oh please! I bet you were getting ready to celebrate my death. Plus, I wouldn't die that easily," Zelda said, jokingly, "Now get off of me before you crush me to death!"

Laughing, Link released her and cleared his throat awkwardly.

"So, umm... we should finish that temple..." Link said rubbing the back of his neck and avoiding eye contact with her.

Zelda's mood changed suddenly.

Wistful that their moment ended, she replied, "Yeah... I guess so."

Well... I guess it was good while it lasted.

Studying his face, she wondered,

Was he really worried about me? He probably was, but not as worried as I was. Well, then again, he does think of me as his sister whereas I think of him as something else.

Noticing that Link was saying something, she tuned back into reality.

"Sorry, what?" Zelda said, fighting a blush.

Rolling his eyes, Link said, faking annoyment, "I said, what were you looking at? Is there something wrong with my face?"

Unable to hold back her blush, Zelda's face flushed. "I was.. umm.. just lost in thought. I wasn't studying your face!" Zelda said, a bit too quickly.

Smirking, Link replied, "Sure. I bet you were just daydreaming about me."

Because Zelda was shocked by how he managed to hit it right home, she said defensively, "No I wasn't! I was just wondering why you always act awkward and change the subject whenever we're talking about something and having a mini-moment!"

Link put his hands up and pretended to surrender, "Ok, ok, ok I get it! Bad joke! Let's just get moving."

"Alright. Let's go," Zelda said, letting out a breath she didn't realize she was holding.

❧ ❧ ❧

When they reached the temple, they made it back to where they were before. When she saw a shiny key lying on the ground, she picked it up and examined it.

Huh. Wonder where this goes.

"Hey, I think that goes over here."

Gesturing upwards, he pointed out a higher floor, where there was a locked door with a monkey in it.

"Okay, thanks. I'll go up there and put it in."

Brushing past Link, Zelda climbed up the vines and inserted the key in the lock. Twisting it to the left, the lock fell on the ground and the door opened. Clapping, the monkey dashed back over to the other room that Link had discovered before.

"That was the last monkey..." Zelda said trailing off.

Realizing what she meant, Link drew a shaky breath in.

"Time for the big battle," Link said.

"Let's go do this thing," Zelda replied.

When they reached the special room in front of the huge boss door, Zelda realized something.

"We don't have the boss key," she told him.

"Oh, I know where it is! I saw it in the first room."

Making their way back to the room with the pond water all over the bottom, she saw four pillars that looked like mini windmills.

"We have to put it in a Z shape," Link said, smiling at the irony.

Grinning and shaking her head, Zelda took out the boomerang and focused. Releasing it, the boomerang completed its assignment and returned. Tucking it away, she walked forward and opened the chest. Taking out the boss key, she raised her eyebrows at the sight. It was a huge, hefty key that was black, and had a diamond-shaped cage at the top with a red emerald in the middle of it.

Tucking that into her pocket, she turned and told Link, "Let's go kick some boss butt."

Laughing at how Zelda said that so seriously, Link gestured to the way back to the monkey room.

"Ladies first," Link said smirking.

"Very well. I shall accept your offering," Zelda said, laughing and making her way over.

When they reached the room, the monkeys all started screeching and climbing up the tree, making a huge monkey chain. They started swinging to and fro, suggesting that they jump and swing to the other side.

Zelda's face pales and she said shaking her head side to side, "No.. no.. no. I can't do it! The bridges were one thing, but I can't do this..."

"It's okay, I'll go first, so if you fall I can catch you," Link said.

Walking forward, he took a deep breath in. Taking a running start, he leaped towards the monkeys with his hands outstretched.