Apothecary

Chapter 24

I was nearly at my wits' end as I pushed forward through the storm. It was getting harder and harder to go on, and I was getting so cold I was starting to lose all feeling in my legs. I had no idea how Link was doing, either.

I took one more desperate step forward, and the snow under my feet felt different--as though I'd stepped on something. I almost didn't register it at first due to how determined I was to press on, but something--Hylia knows what--convinced me to stop and look down.

There--just at my feet.

Was that--was that hawk grass?

For a moment I just squinted through the storm, not fully believing my eyes. Did the grass even usually grow up here? 

I shook my head and silently thanked the gods as I carefully set down Link and slowly stooped to pick the bird-shaped plant with shaking hands. Apparently my prayers had been heard. It took a few tries, my lips were beyond numb by that point--but after some time I managed to play the bird call I had seen Link perform back in Ordon. For a few tense moments I waited, hoping against hope that the call was loud enough to be heard over the storm. 

Then a cry sounded from overhead, and the familiar dark form of our hawk friend swooped down from the sky. I began to trudge toward him--it was slow going with Link all but on my back--and when I got close it took off and landed further away. By the time the sun fully set, we'd passed the frozen tree and I could just barely make out the massive frame of the cavern we'd come from.

"Thank you." I mumbled, glancing at the hawk's watchful eye. "You saved our lives."

The bird cawed once, and took off into the air, probably to find a place much warmer than this.

***

I was boiling the last of the red potions over the fire when Link finally opened his eyes.

"...Every time I do something monumentally stupid, am I going to wake up with hypothermia?" 

"I certainly hope not." I looked up from stirring the cauldron. It was the first he'd woken up since I'd gotten the both of us back to the cave. "I'd hate to have such a repeat offender. There's only so many times I can cook Cucco noodle soup for free." I ladled some potion into an empty jar and set it by his bedroll, but he didn't move.

There was a silence wherein I stared at him and he stared at the ceiling. Finally I addressed the matter at hand. "...You left the sword, you know."

 "I know." He sighed. "And, like a fool, I didn't turn back to get it when I realized." He finally looked over at me. "And in the middle of being mauled by ice wolves, I decided to finally remember the reason I asked for your help in the first place. To watch my back."

I watched him carefully as he sat up and began to drink from the jar I'd handed him. He seemed alright enough, but there was no telling when the switch would flip and I would be staring at a stranger. For a while he just sipped and stared, not quite looking at me again. Then, as if he'd decided something, his eyebrows furrowed, and he drank the rest of the potion down. He stood up immediately after. 

"About everything I said before..." He glanced at me before walking over to the two bedrolls we'd set out, beginning to break camp. "I was being selfish, and...I'm sorry, Y/N, I really am, but we have got to keep moving." He seemed just as determined as before the argument, not letting up for a second as he folded the second bedroll before moving on to pack away the weapons. "We've wasted too much time already."

The warmth I felt from the fire--and the situation--seemed to drain away. This again? I just stared at him as he tucked the empty bottles back into his pouch. "That's really all you have to say for yourself? After all that?"