The Legend of Zelda: Wisdom and Courage

Chapter 5: Terminian Moon

Zelda glanced over at Link and smiled as she brushed the tangles out of her long hair, which was still soaking wet from her late-night rush through the rain to hurry to his aid. They had arrived back to the inn quite some time ago, and the hero, still under the effect of the Chateau Romani's sleep-inducing qualities, was resting peacefully on the bed as the princess cleaned herself up. It had been mid-morning when they left the ranch, and though it took some trouble to keep Link balanced on the back of the horse, Zelda got them back to Clock Town by noon. Of course, the first thing she attended to above herself was the injured hero by checking on his stitches and re-bandaging his wound, before worrying about her own frazzled appearance.

And so, she let him rest in her bed, since she obviously wasn't going back to sleep even though she was exhausted. She had too much on her mind to rest, and so, after she had finished cleaning herself up, she sat down by the window and looked out at the town once more, which was busy and lively in the early-afternoon sunshine. Despite the fact that rest had evaded her earlier, after a few moments of watching the townsfolk roam about, her eyes began to grow heavy, until she finally shut them and drifted off into a stupor.

"Zelda?" the princess woke with a slight start upon hearing the hero's voice and feeling him place a gentle hand on her shoulder. Unlike the last time he had been awake, the effects of the aged milk had worn off and he was in full control of his senses once more, much to Zelda's relief.

"Hey," she smiled tiredly at him. "Look who finally woke up. Are you feeling better?"

"I am," Link nodded, giving her a smile of gratitude. "Thanks to you."

"You know, you really shouldn't be up and walking around on that leg yet," Zelda admonished as her smile faded. "You need to let it heal properly."

"I'll be fine," the hero assured her, refusing to let something as simple as a minor injury keep him down for too long, though he allowed her to help him move over to the bed as the two of them sat down beside each other upon it. "Don't I always make it through everything ok?"

The princess frowned at him, slight worry showing on her features. "Most of the time…" she admitted, but she wasn't going to let him get off so easily this time. "But that doesn't mean that you'll always be so lucky! You're so reckless, Link…. If anything were to happen to you, I'd-"

"Nothing's going to happen to me, Zelda," Link said with genuine confidence.

"You don't know that!" Zelda protested harshly. "You could have died last night!"

"From a simple arrow to the leg?" the hero asked with doubt.

"That's not the point, Link!" the princess scolded in exasperation. "The point is that there's always a chance that something bad could happen to you, something that you're in no way prepared for, and it could end up costing you your life and not just that, but everything else you care about and are sworn to protect…"

Zelda stopped her rant for a moment as she bit her lip and glanced away from Link, realizing that her worries were for both of them rather than just him in light of the terrifying nightmare she had last night. Confused with her sudden outburst, the hero placed a hand on her shoulder in an attempt to calm her down. "Zelda," he said softly. "Where is all this coming from?"

"I…I had a dream…" Zelda said hesitantly, not particularly wanting to revisit the ominous details of her premonition, but knowing that she owned it to Link to warn him in advance. "I was being chased through the Lost Woods by something or someone… I don't really know what it was… But when it caught up with me it said that it had finally found the "holder of the essence of Nayru". Of course, I know that it meant the Triforce of Wisdom, but then it said that soon, "all three" would be in its grasp and that it wants to conquer Hyrule. Link, I believe that this was a vision… A warning that something is after the Triforce… After us…"