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“You’ll be fine,” Time says, starting to get slightly annoyed. “Your unlimited pass works just fine. You're not even going halfway up the mountain, you have your phone, there are lessons going on– so there will be staff regularly up and down the mountain. Stay on the busier trails if you’re that nervous, so you’re around people. You’re 16, kid. I believe in you. You can ski on your own”
“But–” I start.
“You’ll never know until you try,” he says, firmly, popping off his skis. “I have to get groceries. Stay here. My ringer is on, okay? I’ll be back at 3– that’s 2 hours– to pick all of you up when your siblings’ lessons are over. Go have fun.”
I sigh. “Fine. Okay.”
He buys me a hot chocolate and gives me a quick side hug. “Bye, kiddo.”
I hum in response, breathing in the steam off my drink. He leaves me alone in the lobby, surrounded by strangers. It’s midday, so lots of people are taking a lunch break before the mountain closes at 4. I’m in the corner, alone. I’m sure I must look awkward and, well, pretty sad, but I couldn’t care about that right now. I pull out my phone.
No new messages from the groupchat. That makes sense, especially for a Saturday during February Break. There were eight of us in the chat. Sky and Four are never really active, and mostly just preferred to watch the conversation, occasionally adding some cryptic comment and then going offline for a few days. Warriors was only really active in the early morning, or late night when he wasn’t working. Wind– well. We never really knew with Wind. Legend and Rulie were either sleeping, on call with each other, or both. Wild was probably still asleep. Even if they were awake, they weren’t allowed on their phone until 12 their time, and they’re 2 hours behind.
I take a quick photo of my hot chocolate and send it with the usual smirking cat emoji, just to tease them about it. I don’t get an immediate response, but that’s fine. I wasn’t expecting one anyway.
I seriously consider just sitting here in the lobby until 3, but ultimately decide against it. My parents spent a lot of money to travel up here– skiing lodges were expensive as hell, especially because it was a school/work break and everyone was up here.
I should atleast try to get good use out of my day pass, even if I stick to smaller trails.
I throw my empty cup into the trash, grab my helmet, adjust my turtle neck, and head outside.
It’s pretty cold today, but it could be a lot worse. The wind wasn’t bad here, but the farther up you went, the harder it was to handle. But even at the peak, it was pretty tame compared to my past visits.
I pop my skis on and buckle my helmet. I struggle for at least a minute to get my mittens on and tucked into my jacket. They had to be tucked in. Otherwise my wrists would be cold, and if I fell, snow would go up my sleeve– possibly my least favorite sensation in winter. And then it would melt and I’d be wet and – ugh.
So, the mittens had to be tucked in. Of course, one is easy, but then trying to get the other hand when you don’t have fingers is a difficult process. Luckily, I have experience.
Once I’m ready, I duck walk up the tiny hill, using my poles to push myself faster. There are two quad chairs here. Lift A, like usual, was loaded up with tons of ski school groups of all ages. It didn’t go very far up, and was a good way to warm up and test skills. Also, it was the fastest route to the Waffle Cabin. I’m gonna assume it was more for waffles than warm ups, because lessons have been in session for almost 3 hours now.
Lift B was just as backed up, probably even more so. It went farther up the mountain, and gave you a good route to access bigger lifts, which went to the highest of the three peaks.
I glide past B and head towards A. It was a longer line, but it’d get me further up.
Wait.
I’m skiing solo.
That meant I had to go in the singles line.
Shit.
For bigger rides like the quads, which have 4 seats, (duh. Quad.) groups that weren’t four would be added to. Let’s say a group of two was getting on– then a lift operator would call another group of two forward. Or, with a group of three, they’d turn to the singles line, where solo skiers waited. If there weren’t any incomplete groups, they’d just pull 4 singles and have them all go together.
It’s not a big deal.
But it was a little nervewracking for the first time.
Holy shit. I’m not gonna get murdered on a 5 minute chairlft ride. I’ll be fine. Calm down, me.
I skid into the line, behind a younger lady. Not a teenager, but younger than my mom. It was hard to tell with the mask on. In not even 10 seconds, a big, stocky guy with a snowboard slides in behind me.
Well. No turning back.
The line inches forward, and I space out.
Before I know it, my chest pocket is being scanned. The scanner beeps like usual, and the lift operator smiles. I think. They have a gator on– I can’t tell.
A group of three skiers is approaching, and the operator waves me forward. I join them.
It looks like they’re my age. 2 teenagers, with a younger kid in between, and then me on the end.
Once we’re on the lift, I reach my hand up to the bar. I pause, glancing down the seat. The person next to me is helping the kid get his legs away from where they’ll be crushed.
“Good?” I ask, and they all give me a “Yeah.”
We get farther from the ground. The kid and the other teen are talking excitedly about something, while the person next to me is awkwardly silent. I consider saying something, but decide against it. What if it’s not awkward? What if they don’t want conversation, and they find the silence peaceful?
I resist the urge to kick my feet– it’ll rock the entire chair, and I don’t need to get strangers mad at me right now. I resort to humming instead. I can barely hear myself, but it’s fine. Any louder and they’ll hear me.
I hum Lost Woods, a silly little tune from The Legend of Zelda franchise. That was how my group chat met– through our love for the series. And, it’s how we nicknamed ourselves.
To be honest, I probably responded to Twilight better than my actual name.
The melody is familiar, and therefore comforting. I lightly drummed the tambourine part on the bar, enjoying the unique sound my gloves made.
I feel someone staring at me, and I glance over. The other two are still engaged in conversation, but the guy next to me is staring. I pause, self-conscious. He blinks.
Well, I think he blinks. I can’t exactly see his face.
“Oh– uhm, sorry,” he looks away. His voice is quiet, and soft, and sounds weirdly familiar. I try to get a better look at his face, but his goggles and mask block it well.
The silence is a lot thicker now. This is awkward. What we had before was peaceful, compared to this.
Say something, help the poor guy .
“You uh– recognize the song?” I ask, trying for a grin, but it was probably more like a grimace.
He tenses a bit, before he quietly responds, “Uhm, yes. I– I’m a pretty big Zelda fan. You?” I catch him wincing at his own words, and find myself stuck between pity and amusement.
“I don’t know if I can call myself a ‘big fan.’ Like, I’m really into it but I only discovered it less than 2 years ago and I’ve only ever played the new games. Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, Echoes of Wisdom. You know.”
He nods in understanding. “If it matters, I think you’re a fan as long as you have passion.”
I smile slightly, “Thanks.”
He nods again, awkward.
Before he can turn away, I blurt, “What’s your name?”
“Link, yes, like the character– don’t ask. But most people call me Wild. Well, my friends do. My favorite game is Breath of the Wild, so uhm. Yeah.”
I stared. There’s no way.
There’s no way there’s multiple people with the exact same name, right?
“Do you live around here?” I asked, casually. “Or did you travel?”
“I’m from Hateno. We drove up last night for a little surprise trip.”
There’s no way.
But it all matches up. The name. The traveling. The personality. The interest in Zelda. Recognizing the music immediately. The voice.
The fact that Wild hadn’t been online since yesterday morning for a family trip.
“Wild?” I asked, voice cracking slightly.
He stared at me. I watched the realization dawn on him. The dark shape of his eyes widening. The way he sat up a bit straighter.
“Twilight?” He asked.
My face split into a huge grin, “Oh Hylia– It’s really you! You didn’t tell me you were coming up here!”
His face mirrors mine. He noticeably perks up, all sense of awkwardness and anxiety gone and replaced with pure delight. “Twilight!”
I laughed, “Wild– oh my god,” I didn’t know what else to say– my head is going a thousand miles a second.
“Can I– can I hug you?” He asks.
I wrap him in a tight hug as best as I can in the weird position we’re in on the lift.
“You’re crushing me!” He complained, hugging me back just as tight.
I held him by his shoulders. “Dude! You should’ve said you were coming up! We could’ve planned something!”
“I didn’t know! I specifically said ‘Surprise trip,’ remember? I didn’t know where we were going!”
I rolled my eyes, fondly. “Fine. You win.”
“Atleast I’m here at all,” he teases.
The chair nears the top, and we untangle our stuff from each other, grab our poles, and raise the bar. Wild puts his hand over the kid’s lap, shooting him a stern look when he tries looking under us.
The unloading goes almost perfectly, but the kid accidentally crosses his skies and tumbles into the other teenager. I hear Wild sigh as they stumble left. We glide straight forward before easily skidding to a stop.
I look at them curiously. “Who’re they?”
“Tulin and Sidon! Tulin’s the smaller guy, Sidon’s the tall freak,” he jokes. “I’m sure I’ve mentioned them before, right?”
“Ohh! Yeah, a few times.” I pause. “That’s Tulin? I thought he was older. He’s looks like, 10.”
Wild snorts and then leans in to murmur in my ear. “Don’t let him catch you saying that. He’s 12… just. Hasn’t hit his growth spurt yet, yanno?”
I give him a raised eyebrow. “It doesn’t look like you have either.”
Wild shoots away immediately. “ Excuse me! I am a perfectly respectable height! I’m 5’5”! You’re just tall!”
“Sure,” I say, patting his head. He flings snow at me.
I ignore him and take off my gloves. The cold bites against my hand but it’ll be worth it for what I’m going to do. I pull out my phone and open my camera app. I grin at Wild.
“They’re gonna be so jealous!” I snicker.
“Oh, they’ll be completely pissed,” Wild agrees. He skis to my side and I try and find an angle that works for a selfie.
I get a clear shot of the slope behind us. You can see the sky and the land stretching out for miles. The lighter colors of the scenery contrast nicely with our darker clothes.
I forward the photo to the group chat and Wild watches.
“We need to get all of us together soon,” he says.
“Definitely.”
“We could probably do it soon, too! We’re not that far apart. Farthest is Sky, and that’s only like, 6 hours driving. We could make it happen.”
“I bet my dad would be fine with it,” I say quickly, my voice a few pitches higher with excitement.
“Hell yeah! Father Time!” Wild says.
“LINK!!!” someone yells.
Sidon and Tulin are waving at us, pointing down at the slope as if it’s not the only trail here, and start down it, turning into colorful blurs.
“Race you down?” I say with a grin.
“You’re on,” he says, and he’s off before I can even start the countdown.