When the Lake Runs Red (Zelink- BotW) (Discontinued*)

Water

Zelda

Link has been acting odd lately. It seems like he's nervous. I wonder why. Maybe there's a Zora he doesn't like?
Zelda looked over at Link, her head resting on her hand, which was propped up on the railing of the porch. Link was sitting on the same railing. They would be leaving for Zora's Domain the next day, and they were already mostly prepared to leave.
He's so quiet. He rarely talks, like having a conversation. Sure, he talks to people if he's buying something, but he doesn't truly socialize with anyone. He used to talk to me, before...

《~》
Link

Link hopped down from the railing, causing Zelda to lift up her head
"It's getting late. We should get to bed if we're going to go to Zora's Domain."
Link would have offered to use the Sheikah slate to get them there faster, but it could only teleport one person at a time.

They walked into the house and to the bedroom. Link waited for Zelda to sit on the bed and get under the covers before he did. Zelda rolled onto her side, facing away from Link. Link got under the covers after her, turning on his side as well.

They didn't have pajamas yet, but Impa had given Zelda a stealth suit, so she didn't have to wear Link's clothes anymore.

Link could tell that Zelda stayed awake for awhile, but she fell asleep before he did. When he heard her steady breathing, the sound calmed him, helping him fall asleep.

《~》

When Link woke up, the first thing he noticed was that Zelda was no longer in the bed. He sat up sleepily, rubbing his eyes, then dragging his hands down his cheeks. Remembering that they would be heading to Zora's Domain today, he stood up and found his Zora Tunic. He figured it would make sense to wear it to Zora's Domain.

After he put it on, he walked out to find Zelda. He found Zelda outside talking to Paya.

He walked over, stopping before he got too close and waited to say anything so he didn't interrupt. Zelda looked up before he could say anything and exclaimed, "Link! You're up! Good. That means we can finish getting ready." Zelda stood up and walked over to him, smiling.

She told him what she planned on doing before they left. Link nodded and went off to get ready.

《~》

They decided to walk to the stable instead of Link bringing the horses back. They were silent the entire time.

Finally, after they had gotten their horses and begun the journey, Zelda spoke.
"Link, you've seemed... nervous the past few days. Why?"
"No reason!"
Link tried to look and sound believable, but he didn't manage either.

"Link, you can tell me. What is it?
"Uhhh..." Link tried to think of something other than the truth. He told himself that he wasn't lying, he was just protecting Zelda.
"I guess I'm just not used to traveling with someone else..."
Zelda didn't seem to believe that that was the reason for his nervousness, but she let it slide and decided to start a conversation.

《~》
Zelda

A while before they got to Zora's Domain, Zelda looked over at Link and realized something. She felt an odd, warm feeling. She recognized it from before when she would look at Link, but she wasn't sure what it was. Now, however, there was an additional feeling. It made her want to look away, get away, even. It made her angry. It was very negative, whereas the first was positive. Why would she feel a positive and negative emotion?

She knew this negative feeling. It was dislike- no, it was stronger than that. Hate. Why? Why would she hate him?

Realizing she was staring, Zelda quickly looked away.

《~》

As soon as the pair got to Zora's Domain, Link immediately jumped off his horse and dragged Zelda along, obviously excited.

Zelda saw a large red Zora sending near a statue, who Link was bringing her towards.
"Sidon! Hi!"
Sidon... she recognized that name...

The red Zora looked over, and upon seeing Link, he smiled, showing his teeth. "Link!" He looked at Zelda and said, "Who have you brought?"
Link introduced her. "Sidon, this is Zelda. Zelda, this is Sidon. He's the Zora Prince." Sidon shook Zelda's hand with both of his hands, causing Zelda to get shaken up. "Hello, Princess Zelda."
"You can just call me Zelda." Zelda said, smiling. Sidon also smiled at her again. "And you can call me Sidon."
"Thank you, Sidon. You are Mipha's younger brother, correct?"
"Yes." Sidon replied, looking at the statue, which Zelda recognized as Mipha. "That's a beautiful statue." She commented, smiling. "Mipha was wonderful." Link nodded in agreement even though he remembered very little about her.

Sidon paused for a moment before saying, "You should speak to my father. I'll go tell him that you're here."
He smiled at them again, then left. Zelda and Link followed Sidon.

When they got there, Zelda and King Dorephan talked for a bit, and Link talked to Sidon while he waited.

《~》
Link

Link decided that once Zelda and the King were done talking, he would give her a tour. There was also something he wanted to do here with Zelda, but he'd need to wait for that.

Zelda walked over and told him, "We have a while to wait before we have dinner, so why don't we explore a bit?" Link nodded and said excitedly, "Yes, I want to give you a tour." Zelda smiled, liking the idea, as Link pulled her outside.

He showed her around, excited for the final things he wanted to do. As soon as he finished giving Zelda the tour, he wanted to bring her to the shop and get something for her. Then, later, he wanted to take her up to the top of one of the waterfalls and watch the sunset.
Finally, after Link had taken Zelda all around Zora's Domain, Link led her to the shop. He asked her to pick something, as a gift for her. Zelda chose a simple hair comb with a silver feather on it. Link bought it and Zelda immediately put it in her hair, thanking him repeatedly.

《~》

1041 words.

This took awhile. I really need to focus on this story. Lately I've been more focused on my other zelink story called Close. It was originally just for writing practice, but I wrote so much of it that I decided to make it a new story. That story won't be updated very often, though, since I'm doing longer chapters for that one.