A Princess's Problem.

Spring of Wisdom.

The festivities had lasted an entire week. A whole week of noble men and mighty rulers trying to win her hand. Zelda was, for the first time in her life, greatful to be sent back to training.

She was extremely nervous. That day they would finally come to Kakariko Village, their last stop before they headed up Mount Lanayru. With the news that they were visiting her home, Impa had gone with them. Impa was extremely excited to see her sister again. When she left for the castle, she left her younger sibling in charge of the village. She had no doubt she had left it in good hands.

The three came to a slow trot when they reached the entrance, making their way down to the grand house in the middle of the lake. Impa got off her horse and came running up to her grown up sister.

"Purah, you look wonderful!" She exclaimed, wrapping her arms round her.

"Please, do come in and make yourselves comfortable," she finally turned to Zelda and Link.

Zelda jumped off her saddle closely followed by Link. They started to walk to the flight of stairs that led to the grand house but Link suddenly yelped and hid behind Zelda.

"What's wrong?!" She asked as he cowered behind her, his hands on her shoulders, she couldn't see his face.

"Get those things away from me!" He croaked.

"What things?" She was utterly confused.

"Those things!"

He pointed to a group of birds that littered the grass a few metres away. They were bright and colourful, with a mixture of blue, red and white feathers.

"They're just birds Link..."

"No! They're not just birds! They are cuckoos!" He cried and cowered behind her more.

"Link... You never cease to amaze me... The Great, Mighty, Handsome, Hylian Champion is scared of cuckoos..." She giggled.

"You don't understand! They kill!" Link started to walk again, but stayed close to Zelda and made sure the cuckoos were in sight at all times while Zelda just laughed.

***

"I was thinking of taking a team over to Hateno Village, there has been some excavation work down there and many Guardians were found." Purah was filling bowls full of steamed rice and stir fried vegetables.

Impa was helping her prepare their dishes and was placing them on the table, "I think that would be a great idea, maybe the Princess could show you her Sheikah Slate-"

"I'd be happy to!" Zelda and Link entered the room and sat down at the table.

She unhooked the Slate from her belt and handed it over to Purah before she started her way through her meal.

"Hmmm... If I had sufficient materials, I believe I could create another one of these..." She whispered to herself as she examined the ancient technology.

***

Zelda was in her white prayer dress, that day, they were nearing the peak of Mount Lanayru, the last Spring of the three Goddesses. Zelda wasn't crying, though they both knew she wanted to.

They had taken cold resistance elixirs that morning. They helped, but that didn't mean the two weren't cold. Link wrapped his arms around her and placed his cloak over her head to keep her warm.

Finally, the Goddess statue came into view, and the freezing water of the Spring rippled in the wind. Zelda took off Link's cloak and handed it back to him, he tried to convince her to keep it on but she refused.

Slowly, she edged her way into the extreme cold alone. Her entire body shivered and she kept pushing herself further in, her hands raised in prayer.

"Goddess Nayru, I have come to you to pray for my powers that have been passed down in my bloodline..." Her head was bowed her her hands tightly shut together.

Link was off to the side, worried for Zelda. Elixirs would only work to a certain extent, and their's would not last that long.

This time, the glowing at the foot of the Goddess statue started up almost instantaneously, well, she was the embodiment of wisdom, where was the wisdom in keeping Zelda in the cold? Before they knew it, the golden glow had turned into a soft bluish purple. The figure that appeared was the most gracious of the three sisters...

Her ocean blue hair swished and twisted behind her and seemed to loose itself in the folds of her clothes. Her dress was a delicate blue and it seemed to cling to her skin with no effort. She held a rounded harp in her arms, playing softly as she floated down toward the two Hylians.

"Welcome Princess, I am Nayru, Goddess of Wisdom."

Zelda closed her mouth, which had opened at the sight of the last sister. Nayru came forward and walked around the water towards the Princess. She smiled softly, but it didn't hold happiness, it held sorrow.

"You want my blessing, my Tripeice..." She walked past the Princess but was obviously talking to her.

She looked to Link instead, her sorrowful smile growing with despair. She continued to play her harp peacefully, but she still didn't look back at Zelda who was dieing for an answer.

"My dear... I would sincerely love to give you these things..." They waited from the rest of the answer, but that never came, this was all she had to say.

"That's it?!" Zelda yelled, slapping her hands into the water in frustration.

"You have always had the power... You just need to make the choice of when to use it..."

With that, Nayru glowed a deep blue and vanished, rather a short trip, but one that Zelda wouldn't forget. What did she mean? She had never been able to use sealing magic like the other women in her bloodline. She didn't have the power! Zelda stormed out of the pool and dropped her knees, banging her fists against the rock underneath her.

She was a failure! She would be the cause of Hyrule's utter destruction! She would be responsible for the death of everyone in her kingdom! She would be the death of everything good! Zelda bit back tears, refusing to show her vulnerability. She furrowed her brow in anger and growled low and hard. She had dedicated her whole life to this moment and the Goddess had barely answered her!

Link crouched down and put his arms around around her. He didn't know what else to do, he knew how much this moment meant to her, and she was left disappointed. Finally, he helped her to her feet and they started their way back down the mountain. The Champions were to meet them down by the ancient archway. Apparently, Link and Zelda would have to be the bearers of bad news.