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A/N
Hey y'all, interrupting your reading real quick!
To clear up any misunderstandings, Link has only been gone for 2 weeks. The reason it stated he abandoned you for a year and a half was due to the fact he got DISTANT from you. If you already knew that, good job brain not smooth. That'll be all!
Published: March 12, 2021
Word Count: 14,039
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༄ In the glowing moon's light, the wind picked up a pierce of chilliness, and the trees clattered and hissed while bathed in said moon's silk.
You looked up at the trees that passed at high speed above your heads, mentally preparing yourself for the last visuals and smells of Ordon in this moment. The air quality felt magnificent, the oxygen produced by such healthy elderly trees infiltrated your lungs like fresh mint. However, it was time to bid farewell to familiarity.
Your arms were tightly wrapped around Link's waist while you both galloped off on Epona. Besides Epona's strong horse-smell, you could also unavoidably catch a whiff of Link's scents. Although they might've not been as pleasant as they once were, you could definitely make out that distinctive, comforting scent of his.
Once Ordon Spring was passed you could feel your nerves rising in pure adrenaline as you made it to the bridge. It was hard to contain a nervously excited giggle, you couldn't believe you were really going to leave your tiny village that you've known for so long. Despite the happiness to finally leave, you were definitely terrified. You could feel your adrenaline cause your stomach to drop, your body to shake and your teeth to chatter. But Link's warmth and smell aided you in your attempt to calm yourself, reassuring that everything would be fine.
When over the bridge, two close mountain walls began to thin and enclose in a space big enough for Epona to barely fit. Thereafter, the space had expanded again and forests of elevated trees surrounded a wide path. You stared around in wonder, feeling strands of Link's hair tickle your face while your own hair flew behind you. Say, you remember limping your way here with help of Coro, although you weren't exactly in the position to gawk around back then.
Perhaps you might've been staring off too long, a sudden jolt frightened you and you let out a sharp gasp when you felt Epona leap. You held onto Link tightly to gain control of your balance, but you realized holding on too tightly was a mistake. Again, Epona's impact back on ground bucked up against your pelvis, only this time you let out a cry of dismay.
Link whipped his head back towards you as much as he could, feeling incredibly guilty for not giving you a warning. He slowed Epona to a trot so he could bring his focus to you, "Y/N, I'm sorry—"
You took the chance to close your thighs a bit in discomfort since Epona had now slowed down. Link's own outer thighs, however, would only allow you to close your legs so far. Before Link could suggest anything, you reassured him, "I'm fine—keep going."
From his side profile you could see his brows press together before he turned forward again, "let me show you something." You gave him a confused look, obviously of which he couldn't see.
"Next time I warn you about a jump, as soon as Epona leaves ground, hold onto me but don't plant yourself against her," he explained, "well, it's harder for you since you can't use the stirrup, but try using your knees and inner thigh muscles to catch yourself on her impact." You lifted a brow, damn he sure knew what he was talking about. You looked behind you to see Epona had jumped over a gate between two mounds of earth.
"HYAH!" He whipped her reins for her to speed back up into gallop.
Along the way, another beautiful spring was passed that you never knew of. It radiated powerful energy just like that of Ordon's. You stared at it while Link dove his way in through the tunnel.
It wasn't long until he took a turn and bypassed Coro's shack. Your gaze lingered on his home, figuring he was most likely asleep at this time. A twinkle of emotions sparked within your heart, you felt enormous amounts of gratitude for that man. Smiling, you turned away and now forward to head out into the gates of what would be Hyrule field.
The exit to Hyrule field looked similar to that of the forest, is Hyrule field really just a huge forest? That doesn't sound right.
An answer soon came to you when you saw the endless trees cease abruptly to expose an enormous field. Excitement fueled your face at the sight, you felt humbled by how tiny you really are compared to what left there is to explore.
Although nighttime, the moon's light lit up every corner of Hyrule like the only source of light. You hoped you'd be able to see it in all its glory duribg the day, but even now it was enough to make your jaw drop. It looks super familiar, though. Isn't this where you were helped to escape by a mysterious golden goat?
However, the open field made it much easier for the winds to hit you directly. A shiver brought on upon you, you removed your arms from Link's waist and hugged yourself, pressing yourself against the warmth of his back. You felt his back tense up, not any different from all the rest of the times you've made sudden contact before.
Epona's pace began to slow and you found yourself wondering what that was all about, your eyes opened in confusion. Your head nearly fell forward when Link removed himself from your resting position, you glanced up, noticing he reached his hand backward behind you. Peering over at where his hand landed, he began unlatching some form of cloth tied to Epona's saddle.
Looking back up at him you realized he was trying to multitask in keeping his eyes on the road while Epona trot steadily, blindly feeling around to unlatch said cloth.
"Let me help!" You moved his hand away and unlatched the cloth for him, extending it against the air in your hands.
What did he need this for? It looks like a blanket.
"Wear it," he brought his hands back to hold on the reins again. "Oh—" you looked down at the blanket in your arms, "okay." Wrapping yourself within it you let out a sigh of coziness. The warmth of your own body entrapped itself under the snuggly fabrics.
You caught Link glance back with a tiny smile of delight, but then—
SQUAWWW!
With panicked eyes, he redirected his gaze forward. Instantly, your heart dropped and you could've sworn your lungs had given out at the terror of the situation. Epona neighed in distress, rearing her front hooves as Link tried to take control of her.
A disgusting hawk-like monster was fast approaching you. It looked like a skinned rooster that could fly, it's skin a pale grey. You felt paralyzed at such an ugly sight.
Surely your short adventure was to end as soon as it had started, the nasty creature spread out its claws only about a foot's width from your face. Your adrenaline felt like time had slowed down. Choked up, you had no idea of what to do.
CLANG
Right before you, an incredible force threw a gust of wind right towards your face. Your brain automatically tried to comprehend what had just happened; Link's arm was inches from elbowing you in the face, right under your nose while his shield was held strongly in his hand.
He had blocked the monster from coming near you.
Your dumbfounded stare traced up from his arm to his face. In his left hand, he had already drawn his sword and immediately struck the dazed creature of the sky. It let out a cry and fell to the ground, scrambling to get back up into flight. Epona continued to gallop around it once it managed to begin flying.
Link brought out the bow he'd been carrying on his back and loaded it swiftly before aiming and shooting at the bird that barely had gained momentum. The arrow struck it right in its long neck, piercing its flesh in a crunch then sticking right out through the other side. Immediately, it lost consciousness and pivoted straight into the ground as blood proceeded to squirt from it in a spiral through the sky.
Link stowed away the bow and whipped Epona's reins to quickly prevent you from bearing any more of its sight.
It had all happened so quick it was hard to process. Your stare continued to linger on the dead bird that slowly faded away due to distance. Gradually, you brought your gaze to the back of Link's head while he continued to gallop across Hyrule field casually. It became increasingly intriguing to know whether Link has dealt with multiple of those monsters—or worse. He has spoken of such things, but witnessing it was horribly crazy.
You didn't even want to ask in this moment.
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༄ It had been about 30 minutes and you already began to wonder where the hell you were actually going. A few minutes earlier, you had rode through a path that led to another field through the east of Faron's Hyrule field, now locating you in the Lower Eldin section of Hyrule.
It was almost all the same to you so you had no idea where you were, but the sceneries were pretty without a doubt. Your head rest against Link's back, feeling yourself becoming drowsy. However, you didn't allow yourself to sleep, especially not after the encounter from earlier.
Epona's hooves reverberated heavily on top of a wooden bridge in which you'd crossed over a large endless ravine. In the distance, you spotted a large metal gate but Link rerouted towards the left, away from it. Your stare stuck to it a while, wondering where it possibly led.
Through another tunnel that seemed to go on forever, it eventually opened up to reveal a field much bigger than the first field you'd seen and it had no borders. From here, your eyes could behold a giant castle illuminated by the moon in the distance. Now you were definitely left speechless.
"Link! Over there!" You excitedly shook his shoulder, "what is that?!"
Distraught, he gave you a confused glance and looked over towards where you were pointing. It was obvious you were on elevated grounds compared to that castle, given how you could only see the top half of its individual towers.
He chuckled at your exhilaration, "that's Hyrule's castle, and beneath those towers from where we can't see is castle town."
You expressed amazement with an 'ooh'. Staring a while longer, you then nudged at him again, "I want to go there." Looking at the back of his head, you heard him grunt in apprehension, "but first there's some stuff I need to do."
The castle began to fade behind the elevated side of the field you were on, so you directed your gaze forward where you noticed a giant structure that almost seemed like a piece of the castle itself. But it was only a large bridge, way bigger than the one of before and entirely made of grey distressed bricks. Epona's hooves clomped and echoed on the wide bridge, but even if it was wide it scared you to even look down. There was merely nothing but a black abyss.
Link despised this bridge for one reason; the multiple times he's been assaulted on it. Twice by those Shadow Beasts, a second by that giant Bulbin leader and occasionally by measly bulblins with bows and arrows. In fact, he hated all bridges, they're like his bad luck; he was assaulted before the wooden bridge, at the bridge of Hylia with fire as a wolf, and then bombarded by fire arrows at the bridge that led towards the hidden village.
Jeez, he thought, if for one second I were allowed to breathe I wouldn't always be so paranoid.
He hasn't actually told you how many times he's been assaulted so that you wouldn't worry, but considering the fact you're tagging along honestly counters not telling you. It was important to stay sharp.
Link was startled by a sudden drop of weight against his back. He felt your head against him before, but now your whole torso pressed against him and your arms that were interlocked around his waist loosened a bit. A smile creeped up onto the corners of his lips, was she asleep?
He couldn't look back at you, but he was pretty confident that you knocked out due to how your body would now lazily sway with Epona's gallops. Although it was incredibly cute, his face turned tense.
What if we were both to get assaulted and she was asleep?
He was tempted to wake you up, but it was past midnight and he was certain you were absolutely exhausted. However this doesn't sit right with him, knowing you were exposed and vulnerable behind him.
Before continuing off into yet another narrow path, he stopped at the end of the bridge of Eldin by one of the towers only to soon feel awkward.
He had no idea how to wake you up, he felt bad. He allowed himself to think for a moment, not specifically to figure out how to wake you but more-so to stall.
The night was quiet; all that was heard was the soft howling wind, the dancing tall grasses, the chirps of crickets, coos of owls and Epona's loud exhales. He pat her neck, "tired, girl?" He whispered.
But amongst all the minimal ambience noise was your soft breathing. He broke into a daze as he allowed his senses to maximize. Against his back he could feel your chest slowly rise and fall, at his waist he felt how tightly you held on although you were asleep, your grip tightening in a twitch every so often.
He chuckled softly, "you really tried hard to stay awake, didn't you?" He finally reached over a hand to gently shake at your arm. "Hey," he whispered to you while he shook you, "hey, wake up."
You were startled awake with a gasp, lifting yourself off of him, "wait—what's wrong? What happened?" You whipped your head around for any signs of potential threats. In front of you, he began dismounting Epona. "What are you doing?" You asked with a worried expression.
Did you mess up for falling asleep?
Remembering Link's statement that one must never have the disadvantage, you bit your lip.
"Scoot forward," Link motioned with two flicks of his fingers. "Wh-" you almost questioned him but you stopped yourself. He asked you to listen to every word he says, remember? You scooted forward towards the front of the saddle.
Link placed one hand against the cantle of the saddle and his other hand held onto the horn which was positioned between your inner thighs. With a foot inside the stirrup, he pulled himself back up on Epona but this time, behind you. You felt your cheeks heat up and now you definitely wanted to ask why, so you did, "um—so—why the change?"
Ignoring your question he got comfortable, trying his best not to press his area down below against your behind too much.
After adjusting himself, he grabbed ahold of Epona's reigns and whipped them for her to advance. Good thing your upper body was only tall enough to reach his collarbone, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to see the road.
Your head hung low, you were tense and your shoulders were shrugged against yourself in his figure. It was hard not to furiously blush at the way his body worked as a backseat for you, or the way his arms cradled you as he held the reins, or the fact you could literally feel his breathing against your head. Luckily he was unable to catch your expression, but perhaps your rise in body heat might've given it off.
While Epona trotted to the narrow path he finally answered you, "you're tired, aren't you? Rest."
You felt your insides flutter. So he was INTENDING to be your backseat. How could you do such a thing?
Maybe it's not a big deal.
A year ago before Link and you grew distant, you were pretty close, almost like siblings and doing things like this didn't faze either of you.
Still, it feels weird that he acts like normal all over again after abandoning you twice—first by distancing himself from your friendship and then by literally leaving Ordon for about two weeks.
Nevertheless, you wanted to attempt staying awake but you were horribly exhausted. The sounds of the night lulled you, Epona's gallop rocked you, Link's quick beating heart against the back of your head including his breathing soothed you. Your body dropped limp against his chest once again.
That was rather easy, he thought.
Link allowed himself to drown in the moment, an instinctual urge to protect you just grew much stronger seeing you so vulnerable.
Breaking out of his daze, he observed the tops of the cliffs above you both, checking for any upcoming ambushes since he last got ambushed in this place in an attempt to enter the hidden village.
To his surprise, for once, there was nothing. That's too convenient. Regardless, in case of an unforeseen assault he pressed himself against you even more, outlining your shape with his own body to shield you.
Link proceeded on his way to Zora's Domain.
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༄ You were awakened by sounds of running water, splashing, chirping birds, and children giggling. Opening your eyes became difficult when rays of light reflected into your eyes from what looked like water. Rubbing them, you finally adjusted and gasped.
A giant waterfall was positioned in the middle of multiple beautiful big waterfalls that fell from cliffs and all met a single body of water at the bottom. It seemed to be some kind of subterranean lake, however the swirls and designs that carved within the walls looked man-made. Morning light shun against a single half of a cliff and water, exposing the etchings even more.
What is this place?
You lifted yourself off of Link and turned back to him, meeting his warm smile.
"I'm-I'm sorry—was I asleep for long? Where are we?" You asked sheepishly. He shook his head, subtly whipping Epona's reigns for her to advance in a steady walk towards the edge of a cliff, "Zoras Domain." Looking back down at the lake, you noticed three tiny. . .fish looking people? They played and swam around full of giggles by some rocks. A face of extreme perplexity struck your face at the anatomy of these creatures. You were even more shocked to spot two huger fish people of feminine appearance sitting by said rocks, talking and observing their offspring. They kept their eyes up on Link and you too, perhaps in caution.
Placing a hand on Link's arm stretched out beside you, you stared at him again, "are those. . .Zoras?" Looking down at you, he nodded.
"Epona can't go on further from here," he pointed out, "we'll have to walk on foot."
You noticed he was pointing down at a narrow path alongside a river with a strong current. A look at this roaring river was enough to make you shiver, it would be devastating to fall in there.
Taking off your blanket, you pulled your leg over to join your other so that you could slide off of Epona. Link grabbed the blanket as you removed it from yourself, placing it on his lap temporarily to hold onto your underarms to help you land down safely.
After you, he placed the blanket to hang against the horn of the saddle, soon getting off Epona himself.
When you landed your inner thighs felt sore and you could barely walk on them, a static feeling tingled within your legs. You broke out in a stretch, a couple bones popping from the continuous position you were in.
"How are we supposed to get down there?" You crouched, squeamish at how high it was from the cliff you stood on down to the body of water.
"We jump," Link prepared himself.
"WHAT? No—I-" You began to feel sick from the thought of splashing into water from at least a 20 feet drop.
What if you landed wrong?
You flinched at the thought. Ouch.
"Position yourself in a dive, you'll be fine as long as you either go in head-first or feet first, alright?" He was readying his dive position, shooting a comforting look your way.
Adrenaline rushed within you and you began to internally pump yourself up, "o-okay," you breathed, "I've got this."
"Go first, so I can dive down for you if you end up in need," he explained with a smile. "One," he began to count for you, hopefully to encourage your jump.
"Two."
It was a woozy sight to look down, however, you decided not to overthink it and you knew by the time he got to three you'd change your mind.
You dove in before three.
"Y/N-"
You could feel your stomach drop as you made your way down head first, but you shut your eyes tight while waiting for impact. Finally, you submerged into the water, curling up before emerging. With a gasp, you wiped your face and immediately searched for land to get onto, feeling your sore legs wouldn't carry you in the water for long.
Link chuckled when he finally witnessed you emerge, relieved you were okay. He took a couple steps back, then ran for it to dive in.
Climbing atop land, you heard a splash behind you. "This-this is really c-cold," you shivered when the wind hit you. He climbed up as well, standing up like normal and continued to walk off towards the path he pointed out earlier.
"You do this a lot, don't you—" you got up and followed after him.
The breeze was stronger here, flowing in the same direction of the river and the air was much fresher but it was also colder. You cuddled into your own arms, shaking. Your legs still felt sore from being on Epona for so long.
"Wh-where we going n-now?" You asked.
Didn't he say he was headed to Zoras domain to begin with? Or was this a continuation of said place?
"You're cold, aren't you?" He turned back towards you. Answering a question with a question, of course.
You stopped walking, "I'm fine."
Yeah, your reply was totally believable given how you shivered and hugged yourself.
You grew confused as he made his way up to you, "this tunnel's gonna be a long way, and it'll only get colder." Walking behind you, he crouched to pick you up bridal style. "Oh—no! It's fine—" you tried to insist but he picked you up regardless of your struggle. "It'd be best if we shared body heat," he explained, furrowing his eyebrows at you in confusion.
Why was she so resistant against my touch? It's basic survival.
In terms of body heat, he was definitely right. Your body heat arose from his actions.
"I don't want to burden you—" he immediately cut you off. "Not a burden, you weigh nothing—it's fine."
A burden. I must not think of her as a burden. She's not a burden.
Looking up at his expression, he almost seemed upset with your comment. But then you had the thought:
Wait, if I weigh nothing is that a good thing or a bad thing for my sake—
Regardless, you just accepted his reasons to carry you. As a plus, you didn't have to walk on sore legs anymore.
"I need to help someone real quick," he finally answered the original question of before. His voice rumbled down his chest, you could feel the vibrations against your body and head. You decided not to ask further questions.
Wonder who he's gonna help, or with what.
Although you tried your best to keep yourself entertained by gawking around, staring at the water, avoiding Link's gaze, or simply using all your 5 senses to take in your surroundings, this tunnel admittedly got boringly repetitive and much colder. Not even your thoughts could keep you entertained.
What about Link? You wondered what he was thinking.
You looked upwards and from this angle you could see his chin, his stern expression and up his whole ass nose. You squinted your eyes, feeling his breathing against your face.
"Wow, you must pick your nose often—"
Link immediately looked down at you with embarrassment, "what are you doing???"
Turning your face forward again, you bust out laughing. You felt so bad, but the comment was impulsive and it burst out through your mouth without a thought.
"I'm sorry—I-" you continued to giggle, "I mean—it's a compliment!"
No really, it was clean in there.
You could almost picture him rolling his eyes already. Looking back at him with a playful smile, you witnessed his unamused face slowly transition into a smile.
Maybe it was okay to smile. Maybe it wasn't necessary to be so serious all the time.
He traveled alone for so long, two weeks specifically, that silence was usually his only companion, other than Midna.
However, when he looked at you in his arms; giggling, joking, smiling so brightly. . .it filled a certain void within him. It felt relieving to know he wasn't alone. Maybe it was a good idea to bring you.
Maybe he had just missed you so much.
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༄ "Get off here," Link dropped you down on the ground gently.
Observing your surroundings you noticed a cabin floating above the same roaring river, however the river was wider here. A woman with giant hair and brown skin sat at some steps outside her cabin. Was she. . .crying? She kind of reminds me of—
"Let's go," you felt Link's hand against your back. You waited for him to walk ahead to lead but he looked down at you in confusion, gesturing for you to continue. Awkwardly, you proceeded forward to the woman.
Is she the one who needed help?
She whipped her head up at the sound of your footsteps against the grass, sniffling. "Who—" she stammered in question.
"Hi—" you waved a shy hand but were immediately startled by a giant pillar of black rock encrypted by red stabbing the earth right before you. The girl instantly shot up and shrieked. You stumbled back, afraid as you sized up the giant pillar. It radiated horrifying energy, such negative vibrations and it reeked of death. Gagging, you tumbled backwards only to be caught by someone. Swiveling behind you, Link secured you by the arm, a look of remorse on his face.
But why did he look like he knew something?
You watched as multiple other pillars anchored themselves to the ground around you and Link, surrounding you guys in a circle.
Panicked, you pulled Link by the wrist to run off to the girl and hopefully seek refuge in her cabin but he resist against your pull, instead taking ahold of your wrist and jerking you back towards him.
You whipped your head back, fighting against his pull, snapping at him, "Link! This isn't fucking safe!"
He then grabbed ahold of your bicep, pulling you against him harshly, a serious glare about him causing you to halt your struggle. "Neither is that," he nodded towards the pillars, between each of the black rocks, a holographic looking frame resonated with a glowing red, connecting them each like a fence.
It was obvious, you were trapped.
Link loosened his grip off of you, but before you could even feel helpless, a chilling noise echoed within the sky. You both looked up to notice some type of blocky. . .portal? Perhaps? Open up above you guys.
To your surprise at your unfortunate correct assumption and growing horror, it was. Three horribly disfigured monsters dropped from it. They appeared humanoid, but way bigger and they stood on all four like gorillas, their face flat with multiple gross strings of black flesh hanging off from them. It seemed like they were scarred of red designs all over them just like the pillars, plus also reeked of death. How lovely.
You covered your mouth and nose with a face of disturbance. Your body began to tremble uncontrollably as you let out small whimpers.
Link instantly stepped in front of you in defense, drawing his sword he used his free hand to usher you back as much as possible. "Don't touch the wall," he demanded, equipping his shield.
Observing his stance of defense, you assumed he was gonna fight these horrible monsters on his own. You breathed heavily, looking around for any source of aid to no avail.
However, your pendant began to radiate strong energy waves that you could physically feel. Looking down at it, you held onto it, it's vibrations guiding you to tranquility.
With a shrilling shriek, the monsters became more hostile and began to make their way towards Link. He charged forward at them as well with no hesitation.
Letting out a battle cry, he swiftly swung his sword in a spin attack, slashing their skin like paper—paper that bled violently. The horrid monsters cried out in pain, dropping to the ground as their black blood seeped through the gashes inflicted upon them by Link's sword.
Except, one remained standing.
Your excitement began to arise in Link's upcoming achievement. Perhaps you had underestimated his ability.
However, that was soon a feeling laid to waste when another shrilling yowl erupted from the remaining beast. You felt it echo deep within your ears so painfully, you covered them desperately with your hands, shutting your eyes closed.
Opening your eyes again, you caught Link flinching at the terrifying yell as well, especially since he was so close to that monster. But he couldn't cover his ears, he had to keep his guard up.
That must be painful.
The other two beasts arose to life, their blood continued to seep while their skin slowly mended together like if the wound were never there. One of the beasts raised their long fingers in the air, aiming to strike Link—but Link was distraught!
"LINK!" You screamed. It was too late.
He fell against the ground hard at the impact of the beast's swing. It then towered over him to crush him and put an end to him. Link looked up at the creature with gritted teeth.
"NO!" You quickly scanned the area to spot a quiver full of arrows on the ground, presumably to have flown off of Link when he struck the ground. You cried out and ran towards it, swiftly grabbing an arrow and made your way towards the monster atop Link.
Another beast stepped before you, prohibiting you from getting to him. It let out one of its shrieks, causing you to flinch and instinctively stab it in it's flattened face. With a shriek of pain it arose and held onto its face, its blood squirting right out all over you.
Link panicked at the sight of you attempting to save him, his heart dropping immediately when a separate beast confronted you. "Y/N—" he attempted to yell, but he swiftly stuck his shield out with brute force against the beast atop him that attempted to smash him with its hand. Like a game of arm wrestling, he pushed against its strength, grunts escaped him and a violent glare was visible on his face along with endeavor.
In a quick movement, he let out a shout and swung his sword to sever the arm the beast was forcing against his shield. It let out an excruciating cry. He shielded his face from any splattering blood.
Before the third beast could react, Link picked himself up with haste, preforming a vicious spin attack that struck through all three of them simultaneously, killing them instantly without a chance to even cry out in pain.
Before you, the infuriated monster ceased any attempt to attack you, stumbling temporarily before falling towards you.
A strong force tackled you out of the way, causing you to fall on your shoulder but Link's arms cradled you from the impact.
Expressionless, you leaned up against your elbow, your gaze fixed on the lifeless creatures. Occasionally twitching, a pool of carbon blood surrounded them. Then, they exploded into pixel blue and black shards that made their way up to the portal again, converting the red of it to turn blue. The pillars faded off.
You felt Link sit up next to you but you didn't bother looking at him, you only looked down at yourself splattered in a bit of blood.
"Oh goddesses!" You heard the woman run up to you, "are you okay?!" Her voice sounded like that of a comforting mother with skin of ebony, but still young. "And—. . .you. . ." She stared at Link in awe. "How can you keep your cool fighting monsters like that?!"
You looked up at her who was crouched over with her hands on her knees. "Awh, here dear," she pulled out a handkerchief and placed it up against your cheek, wiping the blood from your face.
Link shifted his gaze from you to her, then back to you and bent his knees to stand up. He stretched out a hand for you to grab, lifting you from the ground. Before he could say anything to you, the girl pulled your arm to lead you to her cabin. "Come on inside, both of y'all—before any more of those—"
You were suddenly yanked away from her grip. "Oh—" you breathed. Link had pulled you from her, he wasn't gonna allow any interruption—he had something to say to you.
"Hey!" The girl started, but Link sent an empathetic look her way, causing her to feel bad. "I'll-I'll wait," she apologized and shifted her weight while she crossed her arms.
Link grabbed onto your arm, pulling you closer so that his face was inches away from your ear. You began to heat up.
Was he mad?
"Don't do that again—please," he urged politely, pulling away to give you a worried look. You stared at him with furrowed brows, inclined to rebel against that demand but you were supposed to do what he asked so he wouldn't take you back. Not fair, you felt like a child. But you nodded anyway, knowing very well that you would still step in regardless if he were in danger.
He let go of you, his gaze lingering on you as you looked away in shame. "Girl, come," the female rushed after you, placing a comforting hand on your back while she led you back to her cabin.
Link followed close behind, stopping to pick up his quiver and equip it.
"Is he bothering you? Do you need help?" She whispered to you, leaning in close to disallow Link from hearing. A face of surprise and confusion overcame you and you pressed your brows together. "N-no, why?" You glanced back at Link who trudged behind you, his gaze on the floor.
Was he really being that controlling?
Your eyes met her concerned face once again, "no—it's just my first time out here and he's really protective—"
Her eyes lit up, "oh-ho, protective huh?" She peeked back at him, "lucky gal, in that case. I might need to borrow his skill from you a moment." You raised a brow.
Shouldn't they know each other?
You all finally made it to her Cabin and she welcomed you both inside. It didn't seem so homey in here though, it looked like an internal dock.
"Talk about scary! I thought we were done for!" She exclaimed heartily, "things have been getting really crazy around here, let me tell you."
Link walked up a couple feet from her, keeping his distance as he listened to her.
"My name's Iza, I rent boats here," she smiled at you, then Link. But her expression soon switched to distress, "well I USED to rent boats here, but then we had a rockfall and it damned the river up."
"Wow, must be harsh for a business owner" I spoke, glancing over to Link who kept his eyes fixed on her.
Shifting her weight, she crossed her arms sensually, "yeah. . ." She let out a big sigh, "I could sure use a helpful guy around at times like this. . ." Iza eyed Link up and down.
You felt confused. Is she flirting or is she trying to get her way?
But when you looked at Link, he seemed unfazed by her act. The situation soon felt awkward for you.
"Yup," she continued trying to throw hints, "a big handy guy would sure be great help around here."
Link's face turned to slight annoyance by her act. He was planning to help her from the start when he saw her weeping about her shop as a wolf. "I'll help," he stated flatly.
"REALLY?!?!" She broke out in excitement, "you're a lifesaver!" Her gaze shifted towards the river below her dock, "well, do you think you could do something about that rock?" Iza pointed out large rubble blocking the stream like a dam. "I have a ton of bombs and arrows—do you think—"
Link picked out an arrow from his quiver and a bomb from a bag at his waist. Throwing the bomb far off at the rock, he shot an arrow that pierced it mid-air, pinning it to the rubble and causing an explosion.
Iza and you both ducked to take cover from any debris. That was unexpected. By the time you both looked up, the rubble blocking the river was gone. Iza's eyes lit up.
"Yay!" She squealed, "you did it!" Placing her hands on her hips, she continued, "well, my gal tells me there are still some rocks blocking the way along the river, so you should take care of those too."
Is Link even getting anything out of this? How the hell are you gonna get through this violent river?
Iza had read your mind, "here's a boat, hop in!" Leading you both to said boat. At a very small dock behind a gate, the roaring river's breeze felt much harsher.
You were honestly scared.
After walking through the fence, Link looked back at you who held your arms up to your chest meekly. "You can stay here, I'll be back," he suggested with a serious yet comforting face. Looking up at him, you trembled in anxiety a bit.
But you're not gonna pussy out.
Without a word, you pushed past Link and cautiously situated yourself in the rocking boat, gritting your teeth neurotically.
It was cold, very cold, your rising anxiety mixed with the freezing breeze only caused your trembling to worsen.
Iza looked down at you worriedly and Link just waved her off, placing himself in front of you. He gave you a small pat on the head before facing the opposite direction.
"Here," Iza handed him a wooden paddle, he took it and grounded himself against the boat firmly. This was gonna be a wild ride.
"Ready?" Iza spoke up, taking out a pocket knife to cut the rope that held the boat still, but without an answer she immediately cut it.
The boat began to run along with the river—but it wasn't so bad. You began to gain a bit of confidence. "Oh," you let out with a giggle.
Perhaps you spoke to soon.
Suddenly, the river steeped down and the water became more violent. Losing balance, you desperately held a grip of the boat's seat, planting your body onto the floor of the boat. Your nose became runny from the cold wind.
Link tried his best to maneuver the boat into control successfully, but he had to be practical and he had to think and move quickly.
Looking up at him, you observed how he grounded himself strongly on the boat, using his upper body strength fiercely against the current. His muscles flexed in tremendous effort.
Moving your gaze forward, you noticed a broken barricade of fences protruding from the waters.
"Link," you warned anxiously. He had already seen it, fiercely paddling to avoid it but the boat only slanted sideways. "Link!" You panicked, "Link-Link-LINK!"
The back of the boat smashed against it, causing you to collide forward onto the seat that you were holding onto. The boat bounced off of it and continued to rush downstream viciously.
Holding onto your head with a hand, you groaned in pain and wrapped your other arm around the seat to anchor yourself even more.
"Don't worry," you sarcastically yelled out to Link who was trying his best to regain control of the boat, "you drive great!"
"Y/N—I swear if you don't—"
Link was interrupted by a large waterfall above your heads splashing atop him, you ducked your head as the heavy waters fell upon you too.
It was only momentarily until the boat bypassed it.
You let out a shivering breath, "th-that's co-cold. . ." Your teeth chattered. Link wiped off his face with a hand and swept his hair back, throwing his green cap at you. It splat against your arm and you grabbed ahold of it, "r-really—I-I'm your s-servant no-ow?"
"Just hold onto it for m-me," he bit back the cold and focused harder on maneuvering the boat and any upcoming obstacles. You looked back at the green cap, clutching onto it tighter within your hand.
Another broken barricade came up, but Link managed to swerve it, paddling faster afterwards to continue to keep it on route. Then another came up right after that which he also managed to swerve, but there were an extra three waterfalls overhead.
"Can we not get drenched this time?!" You called out.
He managed to swerve the first one, but the river forced the boat forward into the next two waterfalls. If he had tried to continue maneuvering around them the aggressive waters would have flipped the boat.
You prepared yourself yet again for another good soak, closing your eyes with your head down.
At this point, water was beginning to pool within the boat, causing it to swamp and become a bigger burden in allowing Link to steer it.
"Y/N-" Link struggled to speak as he focused on not crashing or flipping the boat, "Y/N-get the water out! Get the water out of the boat!"
You fumbled around nervously, but your only idea was to splash it out with cupped hands. It wasn't working fast enough. You could hear Link grunting with force while he tried to turn the now heavy boat. It was hard not to panic.
You have to do something.
Looking down at Link's green cap, you had an idea. You grabbed it and began swooping it downward to throw out the water in the boat. It progressively lowered. Grinning at yourself, you felt proud at your actions.
Link turned back to see you using his green cap as a bucket, "what the fuc—"
Your stomach dropped when the boat suddenly hurled down incredibly steep rapids of the river.
Link fell backward, the back of his head hit against the seat you were holding onto, but his shield protected his back at least."Gghk!" He winced.
Yelping, you placed a hand on his back to push him forward so he'd gain stability and get up again. With a snarl, he lifted himself up and grounded himself on the boat once more.
A giant pillar presented itself at the end of the rapids, alarming the both of you. "Link! steer, STEER!" You hurried him to gain composure and put his paddle to work.
With great effort, he successfully redirected the boat away from it.
The waters were calmer here, but they were still ferociously running at the sides of the pillar you had avoided. In the distance you spotted something in the water.
"What's that?" You questioned, squinting your eyes. Was that a Zora?
"Ah!" She squealed as your boat drifted closer, "you've come at the request of the shop owner, haven't you?"
Who is she? Was she the 'gal' Iza was talking about?
Link attempted slowing the boat to listen to her speak. "Well, I'm in her employ. . .part-time, for now. I'm sorry we've troubled you so," she quickly apologized.
Why yes, we could've died, you thought.
The Zora turned around towards some more rubble in the distance, blocking an exit. Perhaps that's why the water was calmer.
"You see," she began, "these rocks are blocking the natural flow of the river. Could you get rid of it?" The Zora looked up at Link.
Already prepared, Link shoved an arrow though a bomb and ignited it, soon aiming with his bow at the rubble to shoot, causing the rocks to explode just like before.
The Zora began swimming towards it, "ah! You did it! The water's beginning to flow! Come-I'll guide you!" She hurried off.
All on its own, the boat was pulled by the water's strong current again.
You hoped that it would be easier from now on but you only encountered more difficulties worse than the last on the way. The boat would smash against some pillars or barricades occasionally, Link would struggle and fight the current, you would have to throw out water from the boat, and the Zora would help push the boat away from dangers every so often. You both also almost fell out a couple times. To top it off, at the end you both fell down a waterfall.
Huffing loudly, you crawled onto land, planting your body against a dock nearby the waterfall. You were dripping wet and exhausted—you could swear you swallowed more water than you've ever drank in your life.
Link exited the boat as well, his footsteps creaking against the wood of the docks. He began wringing out his tunic at the skirt.
"Good job out there!" The Zora congratulated from the waters as she held onto the boat. But you didn't want to hear another word, you just wanted rest.
"You have truly done us a great service. Now the shop can finally reopen!" She cheered, "when we were closed, my boss's temper only got worse and worse. . .it was a rough time for us all." She whispered the last part.
"Oh, and another thing," the Zora swam up to the dock and lifted her torso above it, "I don't suppose she promised you anything special for doing this, right?"
Link shook his head with a shrug, continuing to wring out his cap.
"Yes, she tends to bribe people with whatever's lying around. . .so stingy, really," she murmured. "So here, have this," the Zora handed him a bag, "extra space for your bombs—just in case." Link walked over and took it from her hand, flatly letting out a "thanks."
"Now, if you'll excuse me," she submerged back into the water, "come visit the shop sometime!" With that, she swam away back up the waterfall with the boat.
You lifted your head at the sight.
She's really gonna go up all that way WITH the boat? Jeez, props to Zoras.
You plopped your head back down onto the ground, the weight of your soaking hair was a bit too much for you. Man, the warmth of the sun felt good. Snaking your hand up to your chest you felt around for your pendant, clutching onto it. Taking a glance at it, you observed it to spot if any of it had been damaged. Water doesn't do too well with apophyllite considering it's a 4.5-5 on the Mohs scale, but there's a high chance it could resist water a while. Surprisingly though, there was not a single sign of damage to it.
You heard squeaking footsteps approach you and a heavy plop next to you. Facing to your other side, you noticed Link had sat next to you and flung his green cap over his shoulder.
A couple seconds of silence were present but it wasn't awkward, it was much needed. All that could be heard now was the gentle waters of the humongous lake, the howling wind through swaying trees and grass, and chirping birds.
"So. . ." Link awkwardly started, staring off into the water.
"So. . ." You replied exhausted but you managed to lift yourself off the ground and sit up, your gaze following his.
"Guess my cap served you well," he joked. It took you a second to comprehend until you burst out laughing, "admit it! It was bright of me!" He chuckled in response, his gaze moving to the floor between his legs, "yeah. Yeah actually, I guess it was smart of you." Your laughter died down and there was silence again.
You both sighed, your breath finally regulating.
". . .want to go to Castle Town?" He suggested, knowing that the sound of that would pique your interest.
Whipping your head towards him, you smiled brightly, "really?!" He played around with some grass that sprung out from some cracks in the wood of the dock. "Yeah," he calmly replied.
You instantly shot up, "let's go! I'm ready!" Wringing out your hair as you waited for him to stand up. He looked up at you, "where did all that energy come from?"
With a groan, he picked himself off the ground and dusted off his hands, "alright, let's go." You followed after him happily.
Say, this lake looks familiar. What are those giant snake statues over there?
"Where are we?" You asked Link while you both made your way through land with a shallow amount of water. "Lake Hylia," he replied.
Lake Hylia. . .why is that name so familiar?
Your head began to hurt the more you thought about it, you flinched.
Finally, you had made it onto another dock, however it was fenced and led off into a pier.
"Is it gonna be a long walk?" You asked, searching the top of the cliffs around Lake Hylia to see if you could catch a glimpse of the castle towers, but none were present. "We won't be walking long," Link answered in a way that made you anxious. "Why?" You asked him, but he didn't answer you. It wasn't possible to see his expression either since he was ahead of you.
"Um—Link, why?"
No answer, just a chuckle.
Below the statues of the snakes presented itself a large hole that led into a giant cave from what you could see. However, the feeling of a magnetized attraction that you felt at Ordon Spring could also be felt here. What lies in there? Your thoughts were interrupted when you caught a glimpse of something else.
In the near distance, there lay a large floating structure that looked like a home—a very weird one. It's roof was of colorful blues, purples, pinks, oranges and browns. It just looked unnaturally huge. In front of it, you noticed a short slouched old man.
You inched closer to Link, "what's that?" He only chuckled in response once again and two words, "you'll see."
Taking a left, you both walked through the pier that led to the man. His gaze fixed on the both of you, "eh?! Customers?!"
Customers???
Looking at him up close, he was definitely a Hylian, except his ears were flopped down. His face sagged into chubby cheeks, makeup plastered on him almost like a clown around his eyes and lips. He wore a pink cropped sweater that exposed his beer belly and for pants he wore some denim with designs stitched onto them.
Why did he look so traumatized though?
"Yeah," Link spoke up as you both stood before him. The man laughed in happiness, his hands in his pockets, "alright then! For the two of you together?! I'll merge a good deal of 15 rupees!"
"W-wait, for what?" You questioned, glancing at Link and the man quickly.
"Huh?" He squinted his eyes at you, "say, you're a newcomer ain't ya?" He let out another laugh, "of course, of course—welcome to Fyer and Falbi's Watertop Land of Fantastication! I'm Fyer! My cannon here will shoot ya up over to Falbi's up there to participate in a challenging game of Flight-By-Fowl! Are ya in?"
Cannon? I-
"Yeah-we're in," Link answered before you could. You just continued to stare, dumbfounded. "You-you're saying. . .that this house. . .is a cannon??? I don't th—"
"Here's the 15 rupees," Link interrupted you and began handing him rupees from his pouch. "Hold on now," Fyer pushed his hand off, "make that 10 rupees, the policy is a freebie for the first timer." He looked at your direction with a smile.
"W-wait—no," You waved your hands in the air, laughing nervously, "I'm not gonna just walk into a cannon." Link handed him a single yellow rupee worth 10.
"It's fine—I—I don't need a first timers freebie-I—" you stammered, trying to get out of the situation.
"Thanks! Hop on in," Fyer said as he walked over to a weird kid-like music box with a lever. You felt Link push you into a dark room revealed by a giant metal door that swung up. "Wait! Wait! I'm good I—" you planted your hands at the circular metal doorway. "You'll be fine," Fyer chuckled with a wave of his hand.
Link grabbed you by your forearms while behind you, forcing you to retract them and let go. Finally pushing you in, he got in with you as well and the metal door shut closed completely, leaving you both in darkness. Nothing except both your breaths could be heard, especially yours due to how hard you were breathing out of fright.
"Link—Link! I feel claustrophobic," you began to hyperventilate, too scared to touch any of the walls around you. It felt cramped in here anyway, there probably wasn't much to feel around. "Link," you called out for him again and reached forward, expecting to reach out far but instead your hands landed right on his chest only an inch in front of you, your chest meeting with his as well. "Oh-" you retracted your hands, but your back met the wall.
"You'll be fine," his voice echoed within the empty small space with a chuckle.
Suddenly you heard music, feeling the ground elevate and the walls shake around you. Your hands planted against the walls, panicked, "what's going on???"
He grabbed ahold of your arms, jerking you towards him before wrapping his arms around you tightly, "you might want to hold on." Scared, you instantly wrapped your arms around his waist. "Link, I swear, if this kills me—" you interrupted yourself with a scream at the sudden tilt of the space you were in. You fell backward against the wall, causing Link to fall on you.
Jeez, he's heavy.
Grabbing ahold of your head with one hand and wrapping his other arm around your body, you felt his chin press against your forehead. If it weren't for the alarming situation you were in, this surely would've caused your insides to flutter like crazy. But you were too scared.
Then, what was highly anticipated finally happened; the cannon fired you both off into the air.
Your grip around Link tightened and so did his, you buried your face into his chest while screaming and trying your best not to look elsewhere so you squeezed your eyes shut. It was hard not to feel dizzy, you could almost feel yourself nearly pass out, your mind becoming foggy.
We're gonna die, we're gonna die, we're gonna die—WHERE ARE WE GONNA LAND?!
Unexpectedly, you felt yourself slam into what felt like soft clouds.
Wh-what? Am I dead?
You slowly opened your eyes, your face hurt from scrunching it up so hard. Before you, you only saw nothing but the fabrics of Link's green tunic since your nose was buried into it. It seemed like you were on some inflatable sack. Allowing yourself to let go of him was hard but you gradually did, shifting your gaze up to him while you both lay on your sides. He smiled down at you warmly, his hand remained on your waist and your head lay atop his other arm.
Staying mad at him was difficult, his loving gaze always found a way to seep within your heart.
"Ohh~ what's this???" A masculine voice with feminine appeal interrupted the silence. You shot your head up to see who it was; a man with red slicked up hair, red chin hair, sweet but yet creepily wide eyes and a long nose towered over you and Link with his arms crossed.
"Oh!" You lifted yourself up, "hi!" You observed him longer, he emit the same vibe and fashion sense of Fyer's; giant earrings, a green crop top that exposed his bloated stomach, and some giant orange polka-dotted pants.
"Hi there, dear~" he giggled, "are you two here to play my ultimately fun game, flight-by-fowl???"
Link slid himself off of the inflatable sack, readjusting his clothes, "no, thank you, we're just heading to Castle Town."
"Ah~" Falbi seemed upset, but his eyes closed in delight regardless, "that's a shame, well safe travels! The exit is right that way after taking the ladder down~." He gestured towards a doorway. You noticed that you were on a wooden platform atop a cliff that merged itself to a medium-sized wooden structure. . .that's pretty cool!
Link nodded at his guidance, turning back to you and offering a hand. Taking it, you sat up and he pulled you so that you'd slide off.
"That was fun, wasn't it?" By now you'd began making your way to Castle Town after exiting Falbi's place. You laughed, nodding, "I'll admit, yes, yes it was." You smiled up at him, he laughed with you.
"What was up with all the cucco's?" You questioned. He chuckled in response, "it's apart of their mini-game, you have to use them to glide down and gain rupees."
"Isn't that animal cruelty?"
"Please," Link laughed, "cucco's are literally heathens, in fact they commit human cruelty on us, not the other way round."
The joke brought an even bigger laugh out of you.
Say, you haven't laughed this much in forever.
After making your way up some long stairs the wooden large walls that once surrounded them became fences, allowing you to catch a sight of Lake Hylia from above and a humongous bridge.
"Link! That is insane!" You flung yourself at one of the sturdy fences, "how does one build such a thing? We are dust compared to that!" Link walked up next to you, leaning against the fence. "Look! We're so high up, it's beautiful," you cooed.
It was noon now and the appearance of the orange sky only complimented the waters of Lake Hylia even more.
Turning your gaze to Link, you noticed he only stared down at you. "Wait until you see Hyrule Castle," he answered in response to your gaze.
You both made your way off, walking uphill until you were met with a sign that had Falbi's face on it and some cuccos.
"So where is this Castle Town you speak of?" You asked. He nodded his head towards a ravine path.
Link swung his hand down to snatch a horseshoe plant from the ground and brought it to his mouth to blow a pretty little melody from it. "Epona's favorite!" You squealed, looking off in every direction to spot where she'd come from.
After a couple seconds, the sound of hooves echoed within the path that led towards Castle Town and surely enough, Epona revealed herself, neighing happily while she trotted up to Link. He greeted her with a pet to her snout.
"Wow," you giggled, "does she just linger around nearby or something?"
Link gifted Epona a warm smile. "Or something," he playfully replied.
You rolled your eyes with a smile, "let's go then!" Gaining speed, you launched yourself up against him, who reacted quickly and caught you with surprise on his face. Catching the memo, he lifted you up on Epona. You scooted forward for him to sit behind you and after becoming comfortable, you both rode off to Castle Town.
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"This. Is. Enormous."
༄ It was clear to say your jaw definitely dropped at the sight of the castle as you approached the gates. From afar, the castle didn't seem so intimidating but now that it was up close, it was definitely the hugest structure you've ever set eyes on.
Link had slowed Epona to a trot to give you the opportunity to take in the sight of the huge castle. Behind you, he had on a heartfelt smile at your awe. Admittedly, he enjoyed exposing you to new adventures and places. Although he's been here and mostly half of all Hyrule, it felt like it was his first time here again now that he had you.
However, something caught his eye. Up above a pedestal smothered in vines by the castle's giant curtain walls, a familiar golden light eyed him in his movements. He squinted his eyes.
It was that golden wolf again!
He looked down at you, worried that you could see it too but you were too busy going on about how huge the castle was. Shooting a distinct look back at the wolf's red eyes, he whipped on Epona's reigns for her to gain speed towards the gate entrance.
I can't go now. I'm sorry.
"Let me help you get off," Link offered after he stopped Epona at the corner of the gate. While he helped you off by holding your underarms, he glanced back at the pedestal. The golden wolf was gone.
"I can't believe this!" You squealed, "I can't help but to wonder what it's like, is there other actual Hylians on the other side of this gate?" You turned back to Link who had barely dismounted his steed. "Link—it's-it's so huge! Like hundreds of feet! Look at this! I'm so tiny!" You pointed up the top of the towers at the barbican.
"Huh?" He looked up at you but quickly let out a "yeah."
An expression of confusion overcame you, why does Link seem distraught? Is he tired of me?
You waited for him to walk you over the bridge, fiddling with your hands while looking at the ground. He jogged up to you, "you ready?" Nodding, you snaked a hand to hold onto his arm for comfort, making your way across the incredibly wide bridge. Ahead, the giant wooden gates towered a several tenths of feet above your heights, an opening allowing some brightness to shine through.
"What's it gonna be like?" You asked nervously. You were unprepared to meet people that lived in such luxury compared to Ordon. "You'll see," he didn't give a direct answer.
Together, you walked through the moderately large gap in the double gates, and behold. . .
A whole new vibe overcame you as you eyed the place around, not knowing where to even look first.
You tried arranging your thoughts before you exploded into excitement.
Okay, there's a huge purple tent over there, a whole bunch of bricked buildings, so, so, so much tamed plants and bush decorations, so many beautiful expensive looking HYLIANS and OH GODDESSES—are those goats?!
Pointing over at the goats, you tugged on Link's tunic, "isn't that like ours?!" He nodded, silently laughing a your excitement over the dumbest things.
You brought your gaze back to them. But they look so trapped. Their stables were definitely more cramped than they are back at the ranch, and do they have any open field? At all?
However, your constant gawking brought you to bump into someone. "Oh-" you squeaked, "sorry!"
Looking up, it appeared to be a very elegant, tall and plump woman. She had an annoyed look about her, causing your smile to turn to confusion. She held up a pair of stylish lorgnette glasses to her eyes.
"My, what are you wearing?!" She judged as she looked you up and down, "goodness gracious! You must've been raised on a farm! What good lady would wear such attire?! So unclean!" You began to feel ashamed in yourself.
Suddenly, you felt a yank at your arm and got pulled away from the lady. Your body met with Link's, who wanted to glare up at the lady but instead just shot a blank look her way.
"Why, yes, yes! Collect your slave dog, young knight. Might want to send her a groomer's way," she waved off before walking away.
"Um—" you breathed. He looked down at you in concern, "are you okay?" You nodded your head furiously, "yes, yeah, honestly I don't understand what she means." Looking down at yourself, you really saw nothing wrong with what you wore. You looked up at the other women who strutted by.
But. . .compared to them, you definitely did look like a bum.
"Not a good welcome for your first time, but Castle Town is not so bad," Link tried reassuring you. You smiled at the ground sadly, "yeah, I'm sure it's not."
The street lamps began to light on fire as the night blotted the skies, the amount of people on the streets began diminishing.
Link looked down at you once again, "I'm sure you're tired, you barely slept. How about we rent a hotel for the night, I'll show you around Castle Town some more tomorrow, deal?" He pat your head.
You nodded, but then you shot him a perplexing look, "hotel? What's that?" He smiled, "we don't have one in Ordon, but here in Castle Town there are buildings dedicated to letting you borrow small rooms for a fee to stay in." You let out a noise of comprehension, "okay, we go."
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"1,000 rupees."
"What? For a two-bed room?!"
༄ You sat at some chairs in a waiting lobby, nervously looking over at Link and the clerk occasionally. It seemed Link was in a quarrel about how expensive a hotel room should be.
"No, for two bed in room." The old man replied calmly.
"Thats what I'm saying! You've been saying two beds in one room!" Link pressed his finger against the counter.
"No, two beds in separate rooms."
"What? You didn't say—you're not making sense anymore."
"Do you want two beds?"
"Yes!"
"Then 1,000 it is."
Link sunk his face into his palm, frustratingly sliding it down to land his eyes on the old man once again, "that's like, all my money."
"Then don't be broke."
He shot a face of offense towards the old man with a scoff, "it's really 1,000 for two beds in one room?!"
"No, one bed in two rooms."
"WHAT?!"
You got up to place a comforting hand on Link's arm, "it—it's not that serious, Link." You laughed nervously, "just get one room."
"That's what I'm trying to do," he looked at you, obviously fed up with the old man over the counter.
"No, you are trying to get two rooms," the old man corrected him.
"I-" Link whipped his head back at him and placed a hand on the counter, but then sighed and placed two fingers on the bridge of his nose, "okay, how much is one room?"
"One room is 500."
"Give me that, then," they finally came upon a decision and Link pulled out two silver rupees and an orange one. The man walked over to a wall full of hanging keys and picked out one before handing it over to Link, taking the rupees Link left on the counter.
"Let's go," Link nudged on your arm and began making his way up the stairs. He looked down at the keychain, "it says 1B, Y/N keep your eyes peeled for the door that says 1B."
"Like that one?" You pointed to a room all the way in the far end of the hallway as soon as you made it upstairs. It had the number and letter 1B plastered on it nice and visible. "Yeah, like that one," Link replied, making his way towards it with you at his side.
Unlocking the knob, he opened the door to reveal a nicely organized room. In the middle, there lay a neatly done bed with two nightstands at each side. A large window was positioned over on the left side of the room with a table and two chairs. Other than that, there wasn't much else, except another door on the right side of the room.
You both walked in and made yourselves comfortable. You sat on the bed to feel it's soft fabrics in your hands.
Link walked over to the table, disarming himself of his scabbard, shield, bow and quiver to lean them against the table and chair. He proceeded to undo his belt full of pouches and let it slam against the table. Then, he loosened up his arm guard on his left forearm, removed his gloves and let them drop on the table as well.
You watched him remove all these heavy things from himself. Wow, that's a lot. Wonder how he carries so many things around.
Taking off his cap and throwing it along with the rest, he began to lift his tunic to remove it.
Your face began to heat up, woah, okay, getting a bit intense.
Hanging it on the table, he was now only in his tight long sleeve, leggings and boots.
It was hard not to stare, his bicep muscles were outlined through his sleeves, his chest was also very much visibly in shape through his shirt but the shirt wasn't tight enough to make out his abs all that well—abs that you were certain that he had. But speaking of tight, it was possibly best that his tunic had a skirt because girl he really was packing—
His eyes met with yours and you immediately looked away, blushing furiously.
You heard footsteps approach you based off the heavy trudges of his boots against the creaking floorboards. You could already feel waves of heat exiting your body—goddesses why must I think in such way.
"Hey, do you want to shower first or do I?"
"Shower?" You looked up at him, "where does one shower?"
He pointed over to the door you'd seen earlier. You gave him a confused look, "how does that work?"
He waved a hand for you to follow and led you to the door, opening it to reveal a toilet, a sink, and a shower with curtains.
What in Hylia—
"How do they even make this work?!" You questioned out loud, observing the sink as you turned its handle. Water came rushing out, and exited through the drain. "I mean, we have drainage but we don't magically make water come out of things except our kitchen faucets-"
Link laughed at your cluelessness, "they have an advanced sewage system."
"Ohhh," you expressed, feeling stupid.
He then led you over to the shower, "to use this, you just turn these handles, right one for cold and left one for hot, both for warm." He turned them accordingly to set you an example.
Not only do they manipulate water in crazy ways, they can change its temperature without fire?!
Suddenly you caught a glimpse of his bicep while he was leaning over to turn off the running water. It was bleeding through his clothes.
"Link?!" You immediately began rolling up his sleeve. Startled, he pulled your hands off of him. "What happened to you there?!" You demanded.
He frowned, "you've heard of my stories, I battle—it's bound to happen." He rolled whatever sleeve you managed to roll up back down.
"Let me help you," you insisted, but he took you off of him once again.
"I'm fine," he huffed, "it's wrapped up, it just bleeds through sometimes."
"At least let me change them!" You continued to persist. Link sighed.
"Okay, but I need to shower first."
"Alright, then," You agreed, crossing your arms.
Sitting at the bed again, you heard the shower commence from the closed bathroom door. You stared down at your lap, a bothered look about you.
Why did he want to hide something so simple from you?
Perhaps hide wasn't the right word for it, he was pretty upfront about it. However, something about his vibe changed in that moment.
You scrunched up your face, placing your fingers on your nose bridge.
It happened often, he would be sweet and then suddenly he'd come off as shallow. Is there stuff he's hiding?
Who am I kidding, you frowned. You also had secrets of your own. Maybe it's best not to rush him, maybe he's not ready the same way you aren't.
After a couple several minutes, you heard the door creak open. Looking back, you noticed Link come out with only his leggings on and a white towel draped over this shoulder.
A face of surprise overcame you, was he really comfortable with you like this?
You watched him walk over to his belt on the table, retrieving something from one of his pouches before walking up to you. He sat down next to you, the freshness of his body emitting towards your skin.
"Here," he handed you a roll of gauze bandage then faced forward with his bicep at your disposal.
You looked down at his arm, then up at his face with a soft look and the bandage in your hand.
"It's cleaned up, so you can just go ahead," he added.
Placing a gentle hand against his shoulder, you caressed down his bicep along his scar. It was pretty wide, shouldn't this be stitched up? Your gaze went back to his face.
Link's resting face seemed so. . .weighed down, burdened, sad. Your stare trailed down his chest and abs. He had multiple small scars and cuts here and there. It was no joke, he definitely has gone through so much.
You brought another hand to his chest, trailing down his scars. He looked over at you, a soft expression on his face as he watched you feel around at his scarred skin.
His energy was so strong, you could feel his aura. It was luminescent almost, of gloomy shades that begged to become brighter. Your heart felt moved, a motherly instinct to heal and protect overcame your emotions.
Then, you pressed your hand flatly over his beating heart.
All at once, a rush of emotions engulfed you.
Looking around, there was nothing but water and a singular dead tree on a small mound of land. You panicked, whipping your head at every direction with heavy breathing.
"Where am I?!" You shouted out, but there was no answer much to your expectation. A dark presence disrupted yours, sneaking in from behind you.
Turning around swiftly, you spotted a dark figure, emitting black clouds of smoke from its body. You squinted your eyes, "what is—"
It began to approach you.
Negative energies infiltrated your aura, causing you to become uneasy. But it stopped in its tracks. A familiar shape flowed beside its head.
Is that. . .Link's cap?
It stopped looking so smoky and it's figure began to outline.
"Link?!"
It was him, it looked just like him, it had to be him. But he looked dark, everything about him was a shade of impure darkness except his eyes. His eyes were red—red all over, even the sclera.
Fear began to swallow you up further, there was a heavy burden, a weight on your heart that made you desperate to just escape.
Escape. Escape what?
"What do you feel?" The figure asked, it's voice echoed and sounded disturbingly distorted.
What do you feel?
. . .what do I feel. . .
I feel. . .
You felt anger. . .burden. . .anxiety. . .sadness. . . responsibility. . .pain. . .desperate. . .but mostly, you were scared.
Why were you scared?
What are you scared of?
"What are you scared of?" It proceeded with questions, it read you like an open book much to your discomfort.
"I'm. . ." You mumbled, "I'm scared of. . ."
Failure.
Failure?
Failure of what?
It began smiling at you, a smug grin from ear to ear that irked you to the core. Was he making fun of you? Was he taunting you? Does he think he's better than you?
"What are you smiling at?!" You lashed out.
It didn't give an answer.
"What are you fucking smiling at you smug bastard?!"
"Y/N." It called out your name.
Wh-what? It knows my name?
"Y/N, you out of the both of us knows best just what this is."
"N-no, don't call me that."
"Y/N."
"Stop calling me that!"
"Silent Princess, perhaps?" It smirked.
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!!"
"Y/N!"
You jolted with a gasp. Looking around the room, you noticed you were back in the hotel, safe.
"Are you okay?" You noticed Link was grabbing ahold of your hand that once lay on his chest, caressing it comfortingly with his thumb.
You huffed, smiling at him, "yes—yes of course." You turned your attention back to his wound, "let—let me wrap this up for you now, shall I?" Laughing nervously, you took back your hand and began to wrap the gauze bandage around him neatly.
He watched your every move and your face, concerned about you although his face didn't show it.
What was she thinking? She looked so out of it.
"Does it hurt?" You asked. He shook his head, "nah, it's nothing." You finished wrapping it up and tore it away from the rest of the roll with a bite, "good, if it bleeds again you need to see a shaman or doctor of some sorts." He seemed to be in thought for a second before nodding in agreement.
You both stared at each other for a moment. You noticed he'd observe your facial features, but his eyes seemed to linger on your lips a lot.
But man, his eyes. They held so much to tell. You wanted to ask, you wanted to know.
What if you asked him how he felt?
No, it's best to let it be for now.
"Say," you broke the silence, "I'm really tired, where will I sleep?" He looked at the bed, then back at you with a blush, "you'll sleep on the bed." You raised a brow at him, "how about you???" He gave you a shy smile, "don't worry about it, I'll sleep on the floor or sitting—I'm comfortable regardless."
That must be a lie.
"No no, you're sleeping on the bed! You deserve it after everything you've been through!" You crossed your arms.
Before he could answer, you stood up, "I'm gonna shower." With that, you walked off to the bathroom without listening to anything further he had to say.
In there, you noticed his boots were by the toilet and his shirt draped over the sink.
Wow, so organized, you thought sarcastically. Locking the door behind you, you began undressing and turned on the shower. Honestly, you were still amazed by such technology.
Stepping in, you allowed the warm water to hit your skin.
Man, this felt so nice.
You looked over at some bottled shampoo and body wash as labeled. "Wow, this comes with the hotel, huh?" You whispered amongst yourself. You proceeded to use each according to their purpose.
However, you couldn't help but wonder what that vision was all about.
There's definitely so much you thought you knew, but now you're not so sure about who Link really is.
Were those visions the same you experienced with Fado? What were all those emotions?
. . .is that how Link felt?
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༄ Opening the door, you exited the restroom. On you was only your brown bra and your brown leggings. You didn't want to put on dirty clothes after a nice clean bath but you also couldn't stay completely naked because of Link's presence, so you figured this was good enough.
Placing your folded clothes on the table and your shoes below it, you turned your gaze back to Link.
He was already knocked out on the bed. Of course, the exhaustion was unbearable, huh? You giggled.
Making your way up to the bed you spread your hands through the sheets, feeling their soft fabrics before staring down at Link's sleeping figure. His back faced you, showing even more nicks and scars but a bit less than his front.
How were you meant to sleep by him? He was literally shirtless.
You blushed at the thought but you decided to brush it off considering how damn exhausted you were, you've only slept about an hour or two these last two days.
Climbing into bed you got under the sheets and tucked yourself in, however before you could get comfortable you felt a grip on your forearm. Looking down, Link had waken up and grabbed ahold of you with a shaken face.
"Wh-what's wrong?" You gave him a confused face.
"Y/N," he scooted up closer, "remember when you sang at the spring?"
You blushed, embarrassed he'd even heard that, "um—y-yes, why?" He looked down, "do you think you could sing it for me?" He then sent a pleading face your way.
Ever since you last sang that song, he hasn't been able to rid of it, it replays in his head like a broken record every so often. He can't understand why, but it was addicting to listen to.
"Um," you stuttered nervously, "o-okay."
Satisfied, he lay his head down on a pillow right beside you, but this time facing your side.
Clearing your throat awkwardly, you tried to calm down your nerves and concentrate on your vocals, sitting up.
Gently, you commenced a deep vibrational hum, allowing it to gradually become a calming lullaby.
Link looked up at you in awe, your voice sending shivers down his spine. It made him feel. . .so at peace, it was to die for.
However, it also made him feel a sense of longing, some type of need.
Looking up at your chest he noticed you wore nothing but a bra, causing him to blush furiously as his body temperature arose. Adrenaline began to excite him, slightly bringing his fingers to trail down your forearm while he nudged his face into your arm, discreetly taking in your scent.
For fuck's sake, you're gross.
He immediately stopped his actions and urges, hoping you wouldn't take note of his impurity. Instead, he brought himself to close his eyes and sink into a peaceful sleep at the sounds of your mesmerizing vocals.
Eventually, you brought your gaze to Link who was sound asleep next to your arm. "Wow, take up the middle of the bed, why don't ya," you joked in a whisper, giggling knowing he couldn't hear you. It made you curious, why he'd ask you to sing for him. You caressed a gentle hand down his face.
You missed being around him, and now your heart fluttered at the fact you had him back. However, the way you felt for him now is different than back then—
Interrupting your own thoughts, you scoffed.
Link and I are only close.
In attempt not to disturb him, you gently slid into the sheets, facing away from him. Taking a last glance out the window by the table, you allowed the heaviness of your eyelids to overcome you.
Honestly, you believe you've experienced more this whole day than you ever have in your life before. It was all thanks to him.
But what about that cave you saw at Lake Hylia? Something within you longed for it, and curiosity was at play about all of Hyrule but that place specifically called for you.
Tomorrow, you'd ask Link to take you.
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