A Night to Rest

Hoping to Rest

 As the sun reared the west horizon, Link settled into what seemed to have become routine. He rarely got the opportunity to spend the night indoors, and on the off chance that the opportunity presented itself, Link found himself unable to spend the 20 odd runed a night would cost. He knew he was just being paranoid - 20 runes could be earned fairly quickly all things considered- but what if he desperately needed the bit of change in the near future? What if he found himself stranded in the desert or tundra long enough that he was inches from death, and he was just 5 runes short of an elixir rather than having enough with 15 to spare? The chances were slim, but the solitary hero couldn't deny the possibility. Regardless, there are no inns in the Hebra mountains where he was in the middle of looking for the infamous statue of the eighth heroine. And so, he resolved to set up camp.

The first thing the Hyian did was ensure that he had all the supplies he could possibly need for the night. Food? Check. Wood? Enough for the night. Fire element weapon? Should I use the spear or the sword? The last thing to do was find an acceptable shelter, which meant that it would need 3 things. 1st: A good vantage point. Not many monsters were nocturnal, but Link would need as much time as possible notice and respond to them with as little light as the night provided. 2nd: escape routes - yes, plural. Knowing a threat was coming doesn't mean squat if his only option to react is "fight". At night stal monsters came to play, and Link did NOT appreciate having to track down and obliterate their skulls as they rolled around the terrain under the dim light of the moon - all while their bodies and companions continued to attack him. He would much prefer to have the "flight" option available to him if it came down to it, so he NEEDED an escape route and a spare - just in case. 3rd: Last but not least, actual shelter was a necessity. He could guess a few hours with decent accuracy, but he didn't want rain or wind to put out his fire half way through the night... again. Not only was the nighttime freezing without a fire, but the groups of stal monsters seemed to take a fire-less camp as an invitation to crawl out of the ground mere feet from him. Needless to say, that was not ideal.

After spending the last hour and a half of daylight finding the perfect spot, the hero set camp for the night. He found a giant statue sword leaned against the wall of a small mesa on the mountain. The wind was bone-chilling, but the fire would be protected, and it would let off more than enough heat. There were two mesas which provided cover on either side of him, leaving only 2 yards between them. If the enemy was slow, he could easily run the other way and lose it swiftly enough, and if it was fast he could almost certainly scale the short cliff face behind him. It seemed perfect, or at least as perfect as he would find tonight. There was only one problem. A moblin had already taken up residence in the small gorge. Link decided the best plan of action would be to wait for it to fall asleep before quickly dispatching of it. It had already gotten late into the evening, so he didn't need to wait long before he crept up behind the large moblin and beheaded it with one swing of his claymore.

After the quick subjugation, it didn't take long for the weary Hylian to start up a fire under the shelter of the sword statue and begin his rest. And so, he let his mind and body rest as he leaned against the natural wall that the cliff provided. Link allowed himself to rest, while depending on his acute hearing to wake him in the event that danger found him.

Around 3 AM, the dozing Hylian was awoken by a loud crack or thunder. The thick layer of snow falling impaired his vision while howling winds and occasional thunder hindered his hearing. It was no small miracle that the fire survived the blizzard. The inability to rely on his senses disturbed Link too much to allow for sleep, so he steeled himself to keep watch for the night while trying to quiet his thoughts so he could at least somewhat rest his mind. It wasn't ideal since relying on vision was much more stimulating and would prevent any decent rest, but there was nothing that could be done. He would just have to make a couple of his special energizing elixirs with breakfast the next morning.

Right as Link was lost in his thoughts of how to deal with the dry eyes he would inevitably have the following day, he felt it. An almost magical static filled the air that he immediately recognized as Farosh's presence. That's... concerning. Farosh may not be aggressive, but Link was fully aware that it would indiscriminately shock anything in its personal space that breathed. He quickly gathered his belongings back into his inventory in case he needed to move out of its path. As soon as he finished packing, he saw it. It must've come from the other side of the mesa that Link's camp was behind after being spooked by Farosh, and it was staring straight in Link's direction as if it was trying to confirm presence it had sensed.

A Silver Lynel. Fantastic

......

A/N: Any critiques you have to offer are greatly appreciated!