C-1.22

"How about we split up? I want to check out what that feeling is and you clear the camp?" Linkle said after a few seconds.

It is not a bad idea but then again she is hurt and I am kind of getting bored of clearing Bokoblins...

"I don't know... if whatever you can feel is dangerous then you would not be able to defend yourself, or at least not as good as you normally would." She scoffed at my words.

"As long as I don't try to fight a black Bokoblin everything should be fine. And I don't think any Lizalfos are here, this isn't really a place where they would normally settle down. And even then I can always just run and call for you." 

I don't like it... but I don't think I can convince Linkle to not go there by herself, so I guess this is the best I can get.

"If you want to... but be sure to be careful and don't hesitate to call me when you need help, ok?"

"Sure. Just come to me when you are finished, you should be able to find me, after all. However, I will bind the horse to a tree near here. I don't think it would be a good idea to take an untrained horse into a fight or towards something possibly dangerous." She then started walking towards the nearest tree and continued talking. "But you be safe too, yes?"

"Mhm."

After which I simply walked towards the Bokoblin camp, only to notice another tree near us... And if Linkle would have seen my grin, I think she would call me another Calamity.

< A few minutes later >

So, using a tree as a massive weapon of destruction is a new feeling and I feel like I don't quite agree with those who call nature harmless... and my surroundings would also beg to differ. But then again I tried to clear this camp as fast as possible, I think that I won't even collect every drop, although that is also because I can't quite put them anywhere and would have to hold everything in my hands...

I then simply dropped the tree, that I still held in my hand, and now that I think about it, it is quite weird that it didn't simply break at the spot that I held it, but then again I think Superman once held up a plane without breaking a hole in it... so, maybe I can do something similar?

Not that important now, I kind of want to get back to Linkle as soon as possible, I don't feel that confident in leaving her alone, at least not with her arm hurt like that, which is why I closed my eyes and tried to hear where she is.

But I wasn't able to hear her, I'd guess that she was currently standing still, and hearing her breath over such a distance still seemed to be beyond my capabilities. For now, at least. Luckily hearing isn't the only thing I'm good at, as I was able to smell her from where I am right now, which in hindsight isn't the best thing to say and I will probably never tell her that I was able to easily smell her from a few hundred meters away, even though I was in a Bokoblin camp at that time.

After finding where she was I started making my way towards her, by jumping of course. I do not want her to be alone for too long after all, and this is faster than walking after all, besides walking is kind of boring after doing it for a few hours, at least for me.

Soon enough I was able to see Linkle and with a final jump I arrived next to her, but she seemed kind of out of it. Although I was able to hear how she was breathing and her heartbeat seemed to be normal, too, although a bit faster than normal, or at least I think so, I'm not quite an expert at this.

"Linkle? You there?" I did not receive an answer... although I think that she didn't even hear what I said, as nothing changed her heart rate or speed of breathing. Nothing.

I hope everything is fine, but I don't really know if I can even help, so I guess I will wait for a few minutes before trying to wake her with a bit more force.

I then looked around once more but wasn't able to see anything too interesting. But I was also able to hear something besides her heart rate, which seemed to become a bit faster, not a good sign, I'd guess, and breathing. Something like gears, which I easily recognized as the ones I heard at the beginning soon after. With the only difference was that they were louder than before, although I don't think that the sound itself got louder, I simply got closer to it, I think.

And while I would love to find out what exactly makes that sound. I don't want to leave Linkle here alone, especially not with her heart rate becoming even faster. If I didn't know better I would have thought that she was in a fight or something...

Deciding that it was time to try and wake her up, I walked towards her, and just as I was about to try waking her up...

"No!" She screamed out and as if she was a puppet whose strings got cut, fell. Where she then started crying...

Oh f*ck.

"Linkle!" I quickly crouched down and tried looking for anything that could have hurt her, but I wasn't able to find anything. And the only thing I could think of, that would solve the issue of not knowing what happened to her is asking her, but I don't think that she can answer right now. 

So, the only thing I could think of was calming her down. But I really do not have a single idea of how to do that. I have problems holding a simple conversation and now I have to calm a crying girl, which I don't even know for long, down? Well, this is going to be fun...

"Linkle, hey, what happened? Everything is fine." 

Damn, I'm (not) smooth. 

Yeah, I really have no idea how to do this... I think I am just going to take her back to the stable and book a room, maybe she can sleep it off? A man can hope, no?

After that very good idea, if I say so myself, I picked her up and not wanting to put her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes, I held her in front of my chest, which seemed to be a good thing as her hysterical cries slowly changed to quiet sobbing and her heart rate, too, started calming down a bit, which is good, yes, but still not good enough.

And so, I slowly walked towards the stable, careful not to bother Linkle, which meant that I had to walk quite slowly, but if this helps, why not? And it seemed to help, as her heart rate slowed down more and more, slowly returning to what I assumed to be a normal speed. Although her sobbing never stopped.

Soon we arrived at the stable and as soon as the employee saw us, her eyes went wide open. But before she was even able to say anything I started talking.

"A room for two." She stuttered for a bit.

"Ah y-yes, of course, five rupees, p-please." Ah, Linkle has all the money in her slate, damn.

"Can we pay in the morning?" I asked without much hope in my voice

"Eh? N-normally not, but I think th-that we can make an ex-exception this time..." Wow, that's nice, although I can't remember her having stuttered the last time we talked... maybe she hasn't yet seen someone so sad?

Not that it matters but still... I nodded as a thank you and then went toward where I assumed the bedrooms were. The employee quickly followed me and pointed towards a room.

"T-this room, s-sir." 

I opened it and saw two beds, each in a different corner and with a small drawer next to it. Besides these, there was a table in the middle of the room, with two chairs beside it and a small window on one of the walls.

"The t-toilets are t-there." The employee said while pointing towards a door a bit away from the one that leads into our room.

"Thanks." I then carried Linkle inside and slowly laid her in a bed. But instead of simply laying down she gripped my shirt and I was able to hear her small voice.

"Please." Does she not want me to leave her? 

...

I hope I'm right or else this will become really f*cking awkward...

I picked her up again and climbed onto the bed, where I then sat down, with my back against the wall. After that, I slowly laid her down and let her head rest on my legs. 

It was not the best idea I ever had, but if I guessed wrong and she did not want me to stay then this would hopefully have a better reaction than straight up sleeping beside her... or at least I hope so. But she didn't protest while I was putting her down and her sobbing is also becoming quieter and quieter, so I am inclined to believe that what I thought she meant to say is right...