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E̙̱͓̩̣ͅ ̤̙̙ͭ͂͑M̯͕̥͚ ͔̦̥̠̬̻ ̝Ẉ̘̟̯̝͓̔ͦ̋́̓̋ ̚ȯ̞̳͛ ͈̞͇͙̣͔lͪ̉ ̱͎̠̟̗l ͗ͭ̌͒ͨ̒oͤͅ ̯ͨF̳̫ ̜„
„͍͇͖̤̹̱̼ͪ̃̈̓̒̃̎ ̟ͣ...͖̜̘͖̙ ̲̭̗̗̿ͦͣͣ͂ͅY ̪̞͎̖̳͎̈ͪ̆̑ͥ̄Dͪͪ ͇̱̥͎ͭ̑ͭ̾o ̱̰̜̻̞̮ͅb̗̳͉ͨ̅̓ ̱͙̼̝ͮ̈ͪ̅y̆ ͈̻͍͋̄̀m̱ͫ ͋ d̳̙͎͍̃̋͌̾ N̙̱ ̤̮̣͎̺̮i͎̙ ̦̟̥͈̗̻̞̇͑͋̍ͨ̀͛f̀̀̾ ͙̠̜̰̝̙̏ͩ̽͊̂͑ e͕̹̳̮͍̩̿ͦͫ̋̇̂ ̜͇̞̜̈̔̍͗m̼͕͉̼̦ͪͮͣ͌̚ ̞̺̳Oͨ̇̚ ̬̆C͔̝̣̱͇ͬͩͣ̏̌̏ͅ
—
Link had really wanted to clear the tunnels by himself.
It wasn't safe under the castle. It was hardly safe inside the lower regions of the castle, even after he'd cleared it of monsters. The place was crumbling at the foundations. He hadn't seen any cave-ins happen, exactly, but there were several doorways that were merely a red carpet leading into a room that was packed with rubble, and he knew from experience that Hyrule Castle was not built on solid stone.
Still, Zelda wanted to explore, to see the extent of what repairs would need done. Link could tell she had half a mind to leave the castle and never look back, but as a leader, he knew she couldn't just leave the place to decay further. If she didn't live in it, someone else would.
He knew a lot of the tunnels under the castle. The Sheikah slate had been able to map each one that he'd found once he'd entered them. He'd gone down at night, sometimes, to clear out the worst of the monsters before he'd come back with Zelda the next day. He left a few of the ones that had apparently been locked in the dungeon cells by other monsters. He knew Zelda would be intrigued that even the monsters seemed to have a crude law enforcement system.
As much as he tried to rouse it, he couldn't get the Talus that lived near the mine cart track to stand up, so he was forced to leave that as well. It was a bit hard to defeat a pile of boulders that were embedded in the ground. He wondered just how much Ganon's malice must've influenced the creatures of Hyrule.
Despite all that, and despite the inordinate numbers of keese that he just couldn't seem to completely get rid of, he felt good about showing the Princess the way around the crypts beneath her castle.
At least, he had felt good about it. Apparently, Zelda already knew these tunnels well from her early days of keeping the Calamity here in the castle.
She also knew of a few secret doors and tunnels he hadn't seen.
Hidden doors, ones that looked like massive slabs of the walls and stones. Hidden tunnels, buried in debris, long, deep ones that she could not see or excavate, but could sense.
He'd tried to tell her that he should go first. If anyone was to encounter anything down there, it should be him. It was his sworn duty to protect her at whatever cost. He was quiet, he was a good swordsman. He didn't want to endanger anyone else.
In all her wisdom, she disagreed.
"It's dangerous to go alone," she'd said simply, looking him in the eyes. Her green eyes were worried, but there was a gleam in them that Link knew very well.
She wanted to see everything.
And after a hundred years of her only focus being the face of evil, he could hardly deny her that.
—
And so they walked.
Well, he walked, leading their pack animal on the damp stone path that wound down through this maze of dark caverns. It was clear that they were not the first to come down here—although perhaps they were the first in ten thousand years.
Ornate carvings riddled the walls, each depicting events he wasn't sure how to interpret, inscribed with a language he didn't understand. It looked Sheikah, but then it also looked like ancient Hylian, and unfortunately, he could read neither. There were some faded inscriptions that almost looked Gerudo, but he barely knew how to say more than good morning in that tongue.
Sav'otta.
"I believe it's afternoon now, Link," teased the princess from where she rode beside him. "But good morning to you too."
Link felt his ears go pink at the jest. It was hard to imagine that he'd be one to think out loud, but spending so much time alone after he'd awoken led to some habits he hadn't been quite aware of.
He muttered an embarrassed apology, diverting his attention to the long underground pool that followed alongside their path. Luminous stones, embedded in the rock all around them, cast faint blue reflections across the dark water.
The light from their lanterns cast a golden glow upon the walls, illuminating large patches of engravings and crumbled rock. The air was still down here, chilly and dank, and even his padded footsteps made small echoes as he walked.
Their Akkala river buffalo, a large but mild-tempered beast that Zelda had named Ramus, lumbered steadily alongside him.
(It had made Link question why the buffalo was claimed to be from an Akkala river when there was no river in Akkala. Zelda had been quick to educate him that river buffaloes lived several places, Akkala being merely one of them. That answered that question, but Link was still very curious if the creatures provided milk, and whether they were a prime meat or gourmet prime meat type of animal.)
Zelda rode perched on top of the beast's load of bedrolls and packs, constantly either looking down at her Sheikah slate or craning her neck to see every aspect of their surroundings. Right now, she was leaning forward a bit to give their buffalo a scratch on the head.
Link, though he didn't slow in stride, glanced over to keep one eye out in case she lost her balance. Zelda merely inspected the beast's massive horns for a moment before leaning back in her makeshift seat.
"You found him in Tarrey Town, correct?" she asked, peering down at the top of the buffalo's head.
Link glanced back up at her and nodded. There was a small herd of buffalo that now lived in the basin below Tarrey Town, now that he and Robbie had somewhat cleaned out the place of Guardians, and their herder sold stock from the town above.
Zelda hummed thoughtfully. "I'm surprised he didn't have a name when you bought him. I would have thought he'd have a '-son' name like everyone else there."
Link quickly looked straight ahead again, a guilty chuckle escaping him. He felt Zelda's eyes on him immediately.
"What?" she asked through a laugh. "He did have a name like that?"
A tiny grin found its way onto Link's face, and he shook his head briefly in embarrassment before giving a small nod.
Zelda burst into giggles. "I'm not sure what I expected. What was it?"
Link tilted his head up at her just a little, trying not to smile as he said it.
"Bullson," he answered simply.
Zelda laughed. The sound was musical, and he never realized how much he'd missed it until he heard it again.
He had to look away to hide his grin. The cavern seemed a bit brighter now, somehow.
"That's hilarious," Zelda giggled, one hand lightly over her face to hide her smile. She seemed to try to school her features into more of a straight face, but another thought occurred to her, and a burst of giggles ruined that plan. "Any relation to Bolson?"
Link had chuckled before he could help it. No, he highly doubted that the buffalo was a relation of the Hateno construction worker, even if both were burly and smelled often of grass and sweat.
"Was your name Bullson?" Zelda crooned to the buffalo in a playful voice, leaning forward to ruffle its topknot again. "I like 'Ramus' much better. Don't you? Bospho-ramus. Very kingly."
The buffalo let out a rumbly breath, turning its head a few degrees to see its rider out of the corner of its eye. Zelda reached lower to scratch behind its ear, and the creature began bobbing its massive head, leaning into the touch as far as its huge horns would permit. Link had to lean back a bit, one hand still grasping the lead under the animal's chin, so not to be hit by an enormous bovine nose.
Taking a brief moment to be unprofessional, Link smiled slightly and reached out to scratch the beast's broad forehead as they walked.
Zelda laughed softly again, and it was nice, but—something was off. The cavern was definitely brighter now.
Link hesitated, tugging the buffalo to a halt, one hand prepared to reach back and draw his sword as he looked around.
All around them, the luminous stones that they'd relied on to help light their path were pulsating. Barely, with a blue glow that dimmed for a brief moment and then became brighter, as if they were candles flickering in an otherworldly breeze.
There was a strange breeze here. A draft, at least—cold and lacking any real air. A small shiver ran through Link, and he tugged his cape closer around him.
"...Link?" Zelda asked from behind him, a wary note to her voice.
He looked up.
There, drifting along the ceiling of the cavern so high it was nearly unnoticeable, was a thin flicker of light. It was a bluish-green, like the lights inside the stones, and it wound in and out of the sharp stalactites that stretched down toward the travelers like teeth.
Another light joined it, seeming to have filtered out of the small fissures in the stone above. A short distance ahead of them both, several more bluish streaks floated forward, all heading in the same direction: down the cavern.
The two of them could only stare for a long moment.
"What is it?" asked Zelda, softly. When he looked to her, she glanced at him for only a moment before staring upward again in extreme curiosity.
She expected him to know; to have seen something like it before. It had been that way with everything she inquired about as of late. Link's bout of exploring and preparing to face the Calamity had resulted in a large amount of knowledge of Hyrule and its strange creatures.
But this—this tugged at him in a way he couldn't explain. He had not seen anything similar before, he was certain.
Then why did he feel as though he had?
"...I don't know," he admitted softly.
The blue wisps of otherworldly energy undulated slowly through the air, now joined by more, always filtering down, down the tunnel, down deep beneath the castle.
Cool water dripped down from various crevices in the ceiling. Each drop gave a musical plip when it struck the pool below. Something in his subconscious stirred at the remembrance—at this familiar feeling of water surrounded by stone underground—and his muscles ached a bit as if he were healing again.
He'd been underground for so long. Unconscious, but waiting.
There's something down here.
It nagged at Link's conscience, creating a familiar sense of uncertainty in the pit of his stomach. It was like a missing memory—something else he'd forgotten.
Something important.
He'd never been down here before. Zelda herself had told him the passage had been sealed until the Calamity had broken the tunnel walls open. He couldn't have forgotten something he never knew, could he?
Another Divine Beast? More Guardians? What more could be forgotten?
It must have been the cold and the pressure and the lack of fresh air, but amidst the pounding of his heartbeat in his temples, Link could almost imagine that he heard an eerie melody from a choir of departed voices.
ah...o...EE...
o...i—i...AH...EE
Something trailed down into the deep.
And the Hero and Princess, in a decision that was more foolhardy than brave and more foolish than wise, began to follow.