✧ The Light Between Us ✧ ☆•° Chapter 6 °•☆ I woke up to Father's worried face. Bright, sterile lights made my head throb. "Trrn th lmmmts dn," I mumbled sleepily. "You're awake!" Father leaned over, relief replacing his nervous expression. "Trrn the lmmnts down," I tried again. My mouth felt stuck together. "What's that?" Father asked. "Turn the lights down!" I yelled, finally regaining control of my body. "That- came out much louder than I wanted it to." "Oh." He flicked a switch, and the glaring white dimmed. "So... what happened?" I wondered out loud. "The doctor says you were poisoned," Father explained. "What were you even drinking?" "Noble Pursuit," I said. "And it was only one sip. Wait-" I realized something and my anxiety flared up. "Mubs had a whole half the can. Is she okay?" "Mubs? She's..." My father trailed off. "Who's Mubs again?" "My friend," I said irritably. "She had much more than me. Is she fine?" "Uh... I think so," Father replied. That didn't reassure me. I slid off the bed I was laying on, grasping a nearby nightstand for support. My legs shook but I willed them to hold me. "I'm gonna go check on her," I said, determined. "No, no." Father gently sat me back down on the bed. "The doctor told you to take it easy. It was a very strong poison." "You're not listening!" I shouted, clenching my fists. "Is my friend okay?!" Father sighed. "If it gets you back in bed, I'll go see." "Okay." I crawled under the blanket. I was actually relieved that I wouldn't need to walk. I still felt squeamish, and my head throbbed slightly. Father walked out of the room after adding, "If you need anything, just yell." I nodded and sank back into the pillow. The cool sheets were smooth and comforting against my aching skin. I was sleepy after the uncalled-for exertion, but my mind was whirling around, trying to make sense of everything. Poison... in a Noble Pursuit... a boy named Link... return of the Calamity... a quiet thought floated into my head. I had read in my studies that before embracing the darkness, Ganon had been a king of the Gerudo. Noble Pursuit... a drink from Gerudo... I knew the connection was there, but my brain, still feeble from the poison, couldn't grasp it. Calamity... from Gerudo... Poison... from It clicked and my eyes widened. Maybe it was just a freak coincidence, but if the Calamity was returning, wouldn't he try to weaken the world? And what better way to do it than to frame the people that were once his but threw him out? By poisoning their products, he would then be able to harm so many people- and among them maybe even the princess destined to seal him away... I was about to yell to Father so I could tell him, when I heard a ping from my left. I glanced over and I saw my Sheikah Slate's screen glowing and the words "New message from: unknown number". I already knew in my heart who it was and I didn't want to see anything from them, but my morbid curiosity forced my hand over and picked up the Slate. Of course- the text was from Link. ʜᴇʏ, ʜᴇᴀʀᴅ ʏᴏᴜ ɢᴏᴛ ᴘᴏɪꜱᴏɴᴇᴅ. ᴀʀᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʟʀɪɢʜᴛ? the message went. I thought of a few choice words I could say out loud. There was no reason for my anger, though. It was purely my fault that he could contact me. ʜᴏᴡ ᴅᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ᴋɴᴏᴡ? I texted back. ɪᴛ'ꜱ ᴀʟʟ ᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇᴡꜱ, Link typed. ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴᴇᴅ? ɪ ᴛʜɪɴᴋ ꜱᴏᴍᴇʙᴏᴅʏ ᴘᴜᴛ ꜱᴏᴍᴇᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴍʏ ꜱᴏᴅᴀ ᴏɴ ᴘᴜʀᴘᴏꜱᴇ, I wrote. ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱɴ'ᴛ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ᴍɪɴᴇ ᴇɪᴛʜᴇʀ. ᴛʜᴇ ᴡʜᴏʟᴇ ᴄᴀꜱᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ᴘᴏɪꜱᴏɴᴇᴅ. A sad face emoji was the reply. I snorted. This was basically a catastrophic situation, and I was getting emojis here. ɪᴛ ᴡᴀꜱ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ɢᴇʀᴜᴅᴏ, I continued. ᴘᴜʀᴀʜ ᴛʜɪɴᴋꜱ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴀʟᴀᴍɪᴛʏ ɪꜱ ʀᴇᴛᴜʀɴɪɴɢ. ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇꜱᴇ ᴛᴡᴏ ᴛʜɪɴɢꜱ ᴍɪɢʜᴛ ʙᴇ ʀᴇʟᴀᴛᴇᴅ. My finger hovered over the send button. Did I really trust Link enough to tell him my crazy theory? Sure, he was checking on me to make sure I was alright- but why was he checking on me? I had already trashed his Slate with that stupid picture and forced my number into his pockets. Should I send a garbled junk thought on top of all that? I hit backspace. Once, twice, thrice... soon the whole message was gone- and for some reason, I was saddened. Maybe I just wanted to confide in somebody. ɪ ꜰᴇᴇʟ ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴛʜᴏ, I ended up writing. A disappointing substitute for a show of deep trust. I just couldn't understand my feelings. I was relieved I had stopped myself, but also regretted it. I couldn't decide whether I liked Link or hated him for being a source of embarrassment. A thumbs-up popped up on the screen. Again with the emojis. Maybe he just didn't have words for what he wanted to say. Three sliding dots appeared below the thumbs-up and I leaned closer, eager to see the next message. It was sent, but chills went through my spine when I saw it. ꜱᴇᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀᴛ ꜱᴄʜᴏᴏʟ! ☆•° Chapter 5 °•☆ ☆•° Chapter 7 °•☆
