As Link had predicted, he got little sleep...not that he needed much, but he slept for what was left of the night and then when the first rays of the sun had lit the land, he had awakened.

He first went to Meriweather, to look in on Vitanre, but upon arriving there he learned that she had already left.

“Oh sure, as soon as she was able to walk she left, so she did,” Meriweather had told him while forcing a small bottle of her blue potion on him. “It’ll come in handy, I’m thinking,” she’d winked, overpowering his polite refusals.

As Meriweather bustled off, setting her shop back to rights, Link turned to leave and was met at the door by a solemn Adra.

“Vitanre left an hour or so before you arrived,” she said quietly. “She went out into the woods...if I were to guess, I’d say she returned to that clearing she caught you in...”

Link thanked the woman and allowed his footsteps to lead him that way, carefully picking his way over the shattered archway and out into the forest. Surprisingly, he seemed to know exactly where he was going, and soon enough he heard a light swishing sound.

Walking silently, Link edged around a tree and found himself at the clearing. In the middle of that clearing was Vitanre, her scimitar out and performing a miraculous attack routine.

She lunged, dodged imaginary foes, sliced and jabbed, all the while remaining light on her feet and appearing to float through the air. Random direction changes, meant to put her on the defensive against any sort of attack made her appear as though she were practicing a complicated dance...one that she executed beautifully, and without a single misstep that would ruin the poetry of her movements.

She finished up with the salute she’d shown Link back before their fight in the shooting gallery, and then resheathed the scimitar so fast Link could have sworn she’d magicked it there. Almost casually, she then pulled a leather thong from somewhere within her clothing and quickly braided back her hair, swinging the long thing over a shoulder when she was finished.

Standing in silent awe at Vitanre’s back in his hiding spot, Link remained unnoticed by the girl,...or so he thought.

“We should get going,” she said suddenly, snapping Link back to awareness.

He nodded, for words were not needed. She turned, and Link saw a quiet weariness there. She, too, must not have had the greatest night’s sleep...not that he could blame her.

Joining him, the two headed back into the village. She then led him to the stables, which hadn’t been too badly damaged, and led him to Epona’s stall.

Link found that his things had already been placed inside the stall, and as he went in to saddle Epona, Vitanre walked further down the line of stalls and ducked out of sight into one.
The back of the stall opened up into a small pen outside, where Link led Epona when he was finished. A few moments later, Vitanre led a grey horse that was perhaps half a handwidth taller than Epona in the shoulder outside, saddled and ready for departure.

Vitanre opened a small gate in the pen, and led her mount out, Link following with Epona. She swung herself gracefully up into the saddle, Link mounting as well, and both turned their horses towards the forest. Vitanre gave hers a slap and the grey leapt and cleared the remains of the archway easily.

Turning in the saddle to watch him, Vitanre uttered not a word as Link jumped Epona and then pulled even with her. Reaching inside his tunic to pull out the sealed map, Link paused to look at her.

“Are you all right?” he asked softly.

She bit her lip and shook her head. “Of course not...but I shall live. Let us concentrate on the task at hand.”

Link opened the tube and carefully brought out the map, peeling the long- rolled parchment edges out and began to slowly flatten out the map. When he had finished, there was a very detailed map of Merilarmes spread out before him.

Vitanre pulled her mount as close as she could manage to, peering at the map in Link’s hands.

Merilarmes was marked clearly, as was the shoreline and forest surrounding the village. A few caves along the coastal cliffs were marked, along with the Shrine, and paths that crisscrossed through the woods were labeled.

Vitanre’s brow was wrinkled as she studied the map. “This is...remarkably accurate...I recognize everything on that map, but this must have been drawn...who knows how long ago this was drawn.”

“Must be a lingering spell, that changes with time,” Link replied. “But...where are we supposed to be going?”

Slowly, so slowly that at first neither really noticed that it was appearing, a red line materialized on the map. It showed a path leading out of Merilarmes, that headed out of the village and wound through the woods.

“That wasn’t there before...” Vitanre said, pointing to a mark on the map where the red line ended. By appearances, it was a cave in the middle of the forest. And indeed, before the red line had appeared, the marking for the cave was invisible.

Vitanre pulled her mount ahead, and looked around. “Hmm...I don’t know of a path that is anywhere near the one shown on that map...” She took the map from Link and urged her horse forward, turning the map so it lined up with their surroundings. There was the sea, far behind them; the woods on their left and infront of them; the village behind them, beside the sea.

But, no path.
“It appears we’ll have to make our own path then,” Link said behind her.

“Yes...” she said thoughtfully, rolling the map back up carefully and handing it back to Link when he caught up. “The nonexistant path would begin here.” She pointed to a spot within the trees, and then directed her mount there.

The forest here consisted of close trees, and Vitanre dismounted after looking off through the trees for a moment.

“We either walk our mounts through, or take a different route,” she said, patting the nose of the grey as she turned around to face Link.

Link hopped off of Epona and walked to join here. “Walk...there is a reason that a round-about path was marked, instead of a straight line from here to there.”

She nodded, and stepped between the trees, her mount moving along behind her with ease. Link followed with Epona, content to allow Vitanre to lead...she was most familiar with the terrain and creatures, and would be better able to determine where paths once were better than he.

They traveled for many hours, following the meandering woodland path as best as Vitanre could keep them on track. Encountering little more than squirrels and birds, they decided to rest for an hour, before traveling until darkness and exhaustion forced them to stop.

Vitanre tied her horse to a small sapling and then gave it a friendly pat, sighing softly.

“There is a stream just ahead,” she remarked suddenly, head cocked to one side. Link paused and listened...he could just hear running water somewhere infront of them, between the trees.

Vitanre untied her horse and led it forward, following the trickling sound. Link brought Epona and followed behind (he seemed to be doing a lot of that lately) and soon was standing on the bank of a narrow stream.

Its waters were clear and cool to the touch, and just beneath the surface was the occasional silver flash of a fish. Vitanre’s mount lowered its head and began to drink, and Link allowed Epona to edge up beside it and drink also...which left both hylians staring awkwardly at each other.

It was Vitanre to looked away first. “I’m going to look around...I haven’t been out this far before, so I only know what I’ve seen on maps...” and with that, she left, disappearing back the way they had come.

Link leaned against a tree, keeping a watchful eye on the horses and listening to the tranquil burbling of the water. He shut his eyes a moment, feeling a light breeze wind its way through the trees. A rustle behind him made him open his eyes again and turn that way.It was only Vitanre returning. She gave him a soft smile and headed for her horse again.

Link watched her walk...did she walk that way before? For some reason, she really seemed to catch his eye this time. She neared the horses, and Epona nickered suddenly and bolted. Link let out a sound of surprise and caught at her reins as the horse tried to run past. Digging in his feet, Link halted her run.

Behind him, Vitanre was likewise calming her own horse.

“What was that about?” Link asked, leading a reluctant Epona back.

“I don’t know...perhaps a snake, or a shadow upon the water,” Vitanre said, yanking down hard on the reins when the frightened horse tried to rear. It came thumping down back to all four hooves firmly on the ground and snorted into the girl’s face.

“Easy you,” she said. She went to stroke its nose and the horse bit at her. “Whoa, what is wrong?” Vitanre murmured, bringing her face close to the horse.

Finally, the horse quieted.

“Better,” she said, stroking its nose once more.

Link, unknowingly, had been slowly edging towards Vitanre. As though waking from a sleep, he blinked and noticed how close he was. Bright, beautiful purple eyes looked out at him from beneath a wisp of blonde hair that had escaped from the braid.

“Something wrong?” she asked simply, locking gazes with him.

‘Has she struck you dumb?’ a small voice in the back of Link’s brain was laughing at him as he tried to reorganize his thoughts. He tore his eyes away and stared at the ground, clearing his throat.

“Uh, no, nothing,” he said, hoping she didn’t notice the slight quavering in his voice.

Apparently, she took no notice, but instead took a few steps towards him.

“Are you sure there is nothing wrong?” she asked shyly, reaching out and resting a hand on his shoulder, those bright purple eyes staring.

Her touch was electric, making Link flinch as though she’d just stabbed him with her blade. Just as immediately, his entire body went semi-limp and he fell to his knees. Alarms went off in his mind...this wasn’t right. Something wasn’t right with Vitanre.

She dropped down with him, hand still resting on his shoulder. As he looked at her, her gentle smile became a wicked grin, and she leaned in close. From her mouth came a fine silvery mist that hit Link squarely in the face, causing Link to go into a coughing fit...and then his entire body went rigid, with only his eyes free to blink and move.
Trapped in his kneeling position, Link watched as Vitanre slid, almost bonelessly, infront of him. Her mouth hung open and her eyes glittered dangerously. A low hiss escaped her lips as she drew them back in snarl, displaying long black fangs.
Eyes widening, Link struggled with his unresponsive body. He tried to move, to punch or slap or fall backwards away from this creature. Even a muscle twitch or a cry for help would have been welcome.

But now, all he could do was helplessly watch as those curved black fangs came arching in at his unprotected throat as the creature suddenly lunged for him.