Shoes

In retrospect, not wearing shoes was probably the worst idea Odie had ever had. 

"Ow! Son of a—" they swore, high stepping to minimize the contact time between their feet and the hot rock of Death Mountain. They'd had to leave their horse at Foothill Stable, the stable master refusing to allow the kids to take their horses any further for the horses' sake. 

"Death Mountain is no place for horses. It's too hot and too volatile," he had said. Odie had shrugged and taken off all the same.

And now they were dying, feet scalding at every step. They hopped on one foot for a moment, swore again as they stepped on a sharp object, and took off again at a run. 

Zelda watched this all, shaking her head in disapproval. It wasn't even hot enough to need the fireproof elixirs and Odie was already making a fool of themself. Honestly. "We did warn you to put your shoes on," she said gently, swinging her bag around to pull out the offending articles.

Odie told her where she could stick those shoes, even as they hopped around like a complete doofus.

"Hey, I heard that there's a hot spring around here," Arson volunteered, big grin on his face. "We should check it out before we go further up the mounta—"

"OW THAT WAS FUCKING GLASS!" Odie squalled, hopping on one foot again, trying to pull out the lava glass from the sole of their foot. They hopped several times, then tipped backward, over the edge of the hill, landing with a splash in something… 

"Found the hot spring!" they called. 

Arson ran to the edge of the ridge, looking down at his now-soaked cousin, who was back to prying the glass out of their foot. "Are you okay?" he called, worried even as he began to scramble down.

"Perfectly! Healed the burns, even!" Odie called back, grinning up at Arson as they lowered their foot back into the water, the magic of the spring healing even that wound.

"Honestly, if you just wore your shoes, this wouldn't be a problem," Zelda said with a sigh, eyeing a slope nearby before stepping onto the loose rock and sliding down gracefully. She hopped off at the bottom with a little smile, definitely showing off. 

Odie raised a middle finger at the princess.

Arson was already getting rid of his shoes, socks, and shirt, hurrying over to the water to soak in it himself. "Well, we were looking for this anyway, so good job," he said with a big grin, dropping his pants at the shore and sliding in wearing only his underwear. Zelda, likewise, removed most of her clothing except for her chamise and bloomers, slipping in and letting out a satisfied sigh.

"You're an idiot," she said with a satisfied sigh, closing her eyes. "But you did find this so I forgive you."

"Yeah I'm putting my shoes on when we're done here," Odie said, defeated. They truly couldn't withstand the heat of the rock, and stepping on the lava glass had been just icing on the cake. They could admit when they had been bested.

They all splashed around a while, then got out, feeling warm, loose, and happy. Then, the kids spread out and changed clothing, grouping up again once they were done.

"Right, so, we'll have to use this potion soon," Zelda said, handing out vials of fireproof elixir. "But save it until we really need it, okay? I don't know how long they'll last, and we only have a few." Enough for three each, and she was hoping that it would be enough to get them up and back without incident.

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