“Whoa, am I interrupting something?”

Both Link and I turn our red faces towards Midna, who looks at us like we are freaks of nature. After that laughing fit, neither one of us could even stand—let alone sit upright—because our guts hurt so much. Even when we tried, the other person would laugh at the standing person’s failing attempt.

We stare at Midna a little longer, before we break out laughing again. “You guys didn’t eat any questionable mushrooms, did you?” Midna’s eyes narrow in suspicion. We try to nod, but just end up collapsing on our sides once more.

“N-no, we’re f-fine now,” Link replies, his voice breaking near the end. He clears his throat and says, “Aren’t we, Neri?”

I nod feebly, and see Link visibly attempt to not smile. Sitting up and brushing myself off, Midna comes by the fire we’ve prepared. At least we aren’t in my world, or else my parents would think I’m on drugs and deny my claims of having none.

“So,” I start when I’ve calmed down, “did you find the crystal?” She nods her masked head vigorously, and leans forward. Her arm stretches out and she opens her palm, while a small red crystal appears.

It essentially looks the same as the Earth Crystal. It’s a perfect diamond shape, about the size of her hand length and width-wise. The only difference is this one has a red tint instead of green. Encased in the red crystal is a small fire that licks at the crystal it’s concealed in. It never dies out and keeps burning bright.

“Wow! Should we do the ritual, then?” I gasp.

Midna shakes her head. “I can’t think of anything to promise you yet.”

Right—in order to claim it, you have to pledge something to Forgotten Goddess’ incarnation (aka: me).

“Let’s have supper, and I’ll think while I eat,” she suggests.

“Fair enough. We’ve only been waiting forever to have some food!” I exclaim. She rolls her red eyes and makes some of the soup appear, along with three wooden bowls and matching spoons.

Link and I both jump at it, and fight each other for it. He grabs my shoulders to pull me back, but I grab his face and push him away. I launch at the soup again, but he grabs me around the waist and I’m thrown back again. He chuckles triumphantly, but I jump onto his back and cover his eyes. Link lets out a surprised yell and tries to grab to me to throw him off his back, but eventually he loses his balance and falls forward. I land on top of him and get up, running to the soup to grab my portion.

“You’d think I’m feeding a pack of wild dogs,” Midna teases.

“Technically, you are,” I murmur.

Once Link had caught his breath, he comes for the soup. We dish out the last of it, and the empty big bowl disappears. I guess we’ll have to go hunting again. Ugh, that thought makes me shudder.

The fire has dimmed to red coals, but we take advantage of the dying heat. We perch around the embers, and our meal is eaten in silence—sort of. Our ravenous appetites get the better of us, so we basically shovel ginormous spoonfuls of the hearty meal into our mouths. I don’t care how rude I look; all manners hit the fan when you’re that hungry—and when you’re eating damn good soup. Clouds roll over us and darken the sky, and when I actually have the idea to look up, the deep gray and black swirls tell me a shower will be coming soon. The bowls disappear after being licked clean, and Midna stands up.

“Ready?” I ask.

“As I’ll ever be,” she replies unsurely. She tosses me the twilight crystal, and my hand catches the trinket. I feel my bones shift and my skin trade itself for fur, and I’m on all fours when I feel the movement stop.

I look to my side to see light tan fur that stretches to the tip of my tail, with a white snowy underbelly. Midna smiles at me, and in the reflection of her large eyes, I can see the deep ebony designs on my forehead that swirl across to my fluffy ears.

I give a small bark, to tell Midna to begin. She nods and clutches the crystal over her heart, which is almost bigger than her hand. Her sly eyes close, and she gets down on one knee.

“I oath on my life and the Goddesses, that to the incarnation of Hylia, I shall tell the unbiased truth until the day I die. My opinions and thoughts will reflect pure honesty towards the Lively One,” Midna pledges.

Just like the last time, my gray eyes close and I press my nose to Midna’s forehead. Or in her case, the Fused Shadow mask. I know that she’ll be honest. She has been so far, so I know that it won’t be too much of a stretch. Midna will keep her promise. I take a few prolonged and steady breaths before deciding that this ‘ritual’ lasted for an acceptable amount of time.

Backing away slightly, my eyes open again. Midna’s eyes crack open, and we look at her hand grasping the Fire Crystal. It opens, to reveal nothing except the place over her heart glowing a dim red before fading. She’s absorbed the Fire Crystal.

I nuzzle against Midna’s side, and she giggles and hugs my head that is nearly as big as her whole body.

“You’re so fuzzy!” she exclaims, and nuzzles herself in my fur. I laugh and start to tickle her, while she huffs and breathily tries to tell me to knock it off.

I roll her around and she tries to push me away, though she knows she doesn’t stand a chance. Wet drops of cold water roll down my light fur, and the splash of dropping water echoes off the rocky volcano base. The sky darkens as the sun starts to be covered by the rolling cloud.

The rain makes small slaps against the rocky ground, slowly darkening the stony ground and dampening my fur. If there was one thing I had to say I loved rain for, I’d say the fresh smell when the shower is over.

Link is about forty feet away, setting up a tarp against a rock face so he doesn’t get wet. With my enhanced hearing, I can hear him chuckling at our display.

“Neri, stop!” Midna shrieks, and her eyes start watering. Tears of torture and happiness roll down her cheeks as I push her to her tickling limit.

But right then, my biggest fear comes true. The sky above us lights up, and a ginormous crack nearly deafens us. My body grows rigid, and I freeze clear in my tracks.

“Finally! It only took long enough!” Midna says, and gets up off the damp ground. She sees my widened eyes, and she looks at me strangely. “Neri?”

“Hey, get over here! You’ll get catch a cold if you stay out there!” Link yells from under the tarp. Midna flies over, but I stand there, frozen.

Thunder and lightning are the only thing that set me off. My mind becomes completely psychotic and unhinged when a dark cloud starts crackling. No, it can’t be spiders, heights, or claustrophobia—I just had to have the most unusual fear of thunder and lightning. The last of my sanity drains, and I can’t control myself. It’s like a complete and terrifying anxiety attack.

Now, most people would think that being afraid of lightning is ridiculous—but I have my reasons.

When I was only four, my family went out for a reunion being held at one of my distant cousin’s farms, of which I had never been to or bothered to learn the name of. We decided as a group of twenty or so that we would go biking down the trail and around the circumference of the farm, and everything went smoothly. The sky slowly become overrun with a torrent of clouds, but none of us paid any heed to the oncoming storm. At first it started out as sprinkles, then came to the dime-sized heavy blobs that soaked our clothes. When it got unbearable, we decided to turn back. Right as we turned around, my distant uncle, who wasn’t really my uncle but I called him that anyway, cycled past one of the few telephone poles and landmarks of the farm, and lightning struck. It travelled down and shocked him, sending his body into a ball of white flame for a millisecond before dimming out and disappearing as fast as it had started.

No one would have ever thought it would have been possible, but somehow 911 was called with the little reception we had and his body was taken away. He passed away of heart complications later that same day.

The last thing I remember is my uncle’s wide and empty eyes and his terrified face. His mouth opened in a scream, but no sound came. Then his eyes rolled back as the light receded, and he stood for a moment before his legs buckled and he hit the ground.

No one ever figures that it’ll happen to them until it does. You always think, ‘This can’t be happening to me.’ It proved to be a traumatic experience, since I was only four at the time. None of my family ever talks about it, and it seems to be that one thing that is swept under the rug every time it resurfaces. Even if I were to mention it, everyone would pretend like they didn’t hear it. It was quite traumatic for all of us—especially Dad, who just witnessed his cousin being struck by lightning.

More lightning cracks overhead, and every time I see my uncle’s wide mouth and eyes staring at me. The light casts shadows on the rock walls, and long, twisted, monstrous shadows that could launch at me at any moment take form.

“Neri!” Link yells again. I can’t move. I just can’t.

I feel something warm in my back, and speaking of it, my back straightens out and becomes human again. Midna has taken out the crystal. Now that my fur’s gone, I feel chilled to the bone through my soaked clothes.

My whole body just stands there, while the rain fiercely pounds against my Cabela’s hoodie, making it a darker gray. The magenta label turns a darker pink. All the dirt and dust that had accumulated on me streams down my face, with the cold raindrops.

I just look into the sky, while the lightning cracks overhead. My eyes reflect nothing, just the memory of my dead uncle flashing through my mind over and over. The rain runs down my face, the droplets landing dangerously close to my wide eyes, but never landing in them.

If I was inside, like I usually would be, I would feel slightly irritated and read a book while shuddering every few moments when the lightning cracks. As long as it was slightly muffled or I was distracted, I was never actually bothered by thunder and lightning—it’s only when I’m outside and can see t clearly as it shakes the air. Ever since that incident, I’ve never had the horror of being trapped outside while the thundershower takes place, out of fear that my anxiety would drive out all my sanity.

Finally, I feel warm arms scoop up my legs and arms and the jerking of running. I don’t even know what’s going on. My whole body has gone numb, and all I feel is the pounding of my heart, the skittering of my brain from image to image, my freezing hands, and my sick stomach. I can’t comprehend anything. I barely look up to see Link’s determined face as he carries me against his chest under the tarp. After sprinting, he lets me down.

“Neri, what’s wrong?” he asks, his blue eyes widened in concern.

I give him a grim look, my eyes emotionless and dead as a few remaining drops of water roll down my forehead to the tip of my nose, then fall into my lap. I feel warm tears streaking down my cold numb cheeks, my heart is pounding, I can’t hear anything, and I can’t even comprehend my surroundings. All I can focus on is the death, the eyes of my uncle, the white fire dancing on his body before being sucked back into the sky.

“Your lips are turning blue. Neri, you were out in the rain way too long,” Link says.

“He’s dead,” I murmur. My mouth moves, but I’m not sure if any sound actually came out. Just talking brings on a wave of nausea.

“Neri, what’s wrong? Are you scared of lightning?” Link asks. I shakily nod, and bring my knees up. I hug myself and bite my lip until I taste blood, avoiding screaming. My shoulders shake as I try to quell my sobs.

“He’s dead,” I whisper again as I feel myself lose control.

“Link, she’s getting really cold, really fast!” Midna says.

“Mistress, a report,” Fi says. I’m not even listening. The rest of her report flows through my ears without being registered, but whatever she said casts a dark look on their faces.

All I care about and all I can see and hear is the thunder and lightning.

“Neri, Neri!” Link grabs my icy hands in his warm ones, and holds them. “Just focus on me.”

For a moment, my panic fades. But comes back when the thunder claps again, and this bolt is so large that it strikes the top of Eldin Volcano, and a few rocks rain down and crack from the foundation. I scream again, hunching my body into his.

“Neri!” Midna cries. “Focus, and take deep breathes!” She demonstrates, and I try matching my breathing to hers. Lightning explodes again, and this time I jump right into Link’s chest.

He holds me there, and wraps his arms around my violently shaking shoulders. Link cradles me in his chest and gently rocks me back and forth like a child. I’m completely enraptured by the fresh pinewood smell of his tunic which eases my mind slightly, but not enough.

“Neri, I want you to focus on me,” Link whispers in my ear. “Just focus on the lines. Say the lines with me, Neri,” he says. What lines? He licks his lips and whispers, “Lady, by yonder blessed moon I swear / That tips with silver all these fruit-tree tops—”

He looks at me and squeezes my shoulder, expecting me to continue. Even in my panic I remember the lines of that balcony scene. “O, s-swear not by the m-moon, th-the inconstant moon, / T-that monthly ch-changes in her c-circled orb, / Lest that t-thy love prove likewise v-variable.”

Link murmurs, “What shall I swear by?”

I almost start to sob again but swallow it and say with more clarity, “Do not swear at all; / Or, if thou wilt, swear by thy gracious self, / Which is the god of my idolatry; / And I’ll believe thee.”

“If my heart’s dear love—”

The quiet recital drowns out the constant rumbling and cracking of the thunder, and my heart starts to slow. The light that flashes through the sky no longer creating monsters against the rocks.

I choke back sobs and whisper into his chest, “Well, do not swear: although I joy in thee, / I have no joy of this contract to-night: / It is too rash, too unadvised, too sudden.” My eyes meet Link, quietly asking if I must continue. He nods slightly and hugs me tighter.

“I’ll say it with you,” he coaxes.

Reluctantly I start again, and Link syncs himself with the lines and my slightly louder voice that tests my limits: “Too like the lightning, which doth cease to be / Ere one can say ‘It lightens.’ Sweet, good night! / This bud of love, by summer’s ripening breath, / May prove a beauteous flower when we next meet. / Good night, good night! as sweet repose and rest / Come to thy heart as that within my breast!”

My panic starts to subside, and my feeling starts coming back. My golden-gray eyes start to drift shut and my grip on his tunic loosens. The constant drumming of my heart comes to a lower pitch, and my body relaxes its tensed muscles.

Link leans back to look at my face, and gently lays me down. His arms are so warm around me that I don’t want them to leave, but he grabs a blanket that Midna hands him and gently tucks me in. The heat of the thick wool still doesn’t compare to his gentle yet strong arms.

Surprisingly, Link takes his hat off of his dirty blonde hair, which is now somewhat ruffled. He places the warm cap on my head and lifts my chin with his fingers. His perfect smile becomes melancholic,  and he leans forward to tuck it over the crown of my head, then pulls it down to the tips of my ears. His fingers brush my cheeks as they pull away.

“Ninety percent of the body’s heat is lost through the head, you know,” Link whispers. His warm breath tickles my cheeks. My eyes start to slowly close again, and Link leans down.

He tenderly kisses my forehead and then lowers my chin as the world starts to blur together; with only the feeling of his warm lips against my forehead lulling me to sleep.