Time was up.
A silhouette filled the doorway. The Yiga, feral in his posture and already breathing heavily, wielded a large windcleaver in either hand as he stepped through the threshold.
But when he came out of the shadows, his ponytail was blond. Or were her eyes just prey to the deceptions of ambient light?
"L-Link?" the princess breathed, almost not daring to believe it.
The Yiga removed his mask and the rest of his sandy-blond hair spilled around his shoulders. Wide blue eyes greeted her with relief. "Your Highness."
Her voice trembled. "Y-you came back for me?"
"Of course I did." He sounded almost offended, but then his mouth quirked to one side. "I'm duplicitous, remember? I'm getting you back to the castle in one piece."
She laughed through the saltwater threatening to spill down her cheeks. "That's not what that means."
"Then you can teach me a better word when we're out of here."
With a loud clank, the lock broke and fell to the floor.
Immediately, she rushed for freedom, but a sudden wave of nausea brought her to her knees.
"Princess!" Link tucked one windcleaver away into his only sheath and tossed the other aside. Then he dropped low beside her, hand hovering just above her back. "What's wrong? Did they do something to you?"
"No," she grunted, shoving down the innate shame of tripping. At the castle, she would've been balancing books on her head for the next two days straight.
Legs trembled as she pushed up on them, but fatigue hit harder than the nausea and the princess collapsed again.
Link didn't move. Nor did he inquire further.
One more time, Zelda tried to stand, and one more time, unsteady legs failed her. She thought she might retch on the floor.
Link's hand twitched a bit closer, then retracted to his side fully. Blue eyes darted towards the doorway. His tone was timid when he spoke. "We should hurry..."
Anger suddenly sparked. "Then why are you just standing there?"
Was he expecting her to grovel? Surely she looked as feeble and pathetic as she felt, and his inaction was infuriating.
He shifted awkwardly. "You... told me not to put a hand on you again."
One more unbid finger, she had said, and she'd threatened to send him to the gallows. Was he seriously hubristic enough to smart-ass her right now? Or was he just so dense he couldn't recognize a rescue mission was an obvious exception to the threat?
"So you're just going to watch me embarrass myself?" The solace that had struck her when she saw his blond hair just moments ago was suddenly unfathomable.
"I'm— You're not—" He stopped. Tried again. "Do I have your permission to carry you?"
"Hylia!" She couldn't believe he was making her say it aloud. "Yes, you are permitted to get me out of this prison cell!"
Link replaced the Yiga mask on his face. Then, gingerly, he threaded an arm under the princess's legs, the other beneath her back. He hoisted her up, bounced a little to readjust her in his grip, then took off out the door.
Aside from a slight limp, Zelda was mildly impressed that Link carried her with such little effort. He was smaller than her, after all. And there was something else she noticed. "Your shoulder's better."
"Yeah, dumb luck." The scrutinizing Yiga eye tilted towards her. She probably looked as green as she felt. "If the Yiga really didn't do anything, what's wrong with you?" Link asked, somewhat flatly.
What's wrong with you?
She'd been asking herself the same question since she was six.
"Hyperkalemia, probably," she muttered instead. She'd been fed nothing but bananas for days, it wasn't unrealistic that her blood potassium level was likely higher than it should be. But she'd be fine with a good meal and enough time.
He accepted the information with a nod. As if he knew what it meant.
They passed an unconscious Yiga soldier in the hall, slumped against the rocks. Zelda figured Link must have knocked him out earlier and stolen his windcleavers. That would explain the kerfuffle she'd heard.
The sound of fighting grew down the halls. They reached a fork and traveled in the opposite direction of the commotion. But, Zelda recognized it as the way back to Master Kohga's room, which was not only a dead end, but also definitely not the person they wanted to encounter.
"Wait, turn around— We can't go this way— "
Link didn't falter. "Good idea, let's head towards the fighting."
The backhanded comment caught her off guard, and the instinctive fire inside flared again. "This way leads to Master Kohga's room, smartass," Zelda snapped. "It's a dead-end."
The eye on the mask remained forward, and his tone was clipped. "I've got it, thanks."
Oh, how she wanted to snap back, but the rhythmic bounce of his steps reminded her she was pathetically dependent on him, and the embarrassment of it doused the fire. Her lips tightened into a thin, defensive line.
To her chagrin, it was not a dead end; the outside waited for them behind a rotating stone slab. But so did Master Kohga. Sooga also stood a few paces away restraining a red-ponytailed Yiga. She twisted in his grip, kicking his legs, but Sooga didn't so much as flinch. Zelda recognized her face and voice.
"Link!" Midna yelled. "Why did you bring the princess here? I told you to go!"
"And let you have all the fun?" Link yelled back.
"Ha!" Midna guffawed from across the room. "Your FOMO was always worse than mine!"
Zelda didn't quite understand what warranted such jocularity. As far as she could tell, they were raw meat and the Yiga were starved Wasteland Coyotes.
Sooga, shifting Midna's wrists to just one massive hand, suddenly drew his windcleaver with a flick, and the blast of sharp air it conjured came hurtling towards them.
At the last possible moment, Link twisted, shielding Zelda by taking the blow to the upper arm.
The arm under her legs gave out and her feet dropped to the dust, but with his other arm beneath her back he was able to keep her upright. He hissed the start of a curse, but sucked in a breath. "I knew having two good arms for that long was too good to be true," he grunted instead.
Despite this, he pulled his own windcleaver and slashed back. Even Sooga wasn't expecting retaliation that quickly, and the wind knocked him backwards.
Midna used his loss of balance to escape, rolling in the sand and retrieving a discarded sword a few feet away. By the time Sooga settled into his stance again, Midna was back in action.
Clang, clang!
In all this, Master Kohga was simply sitting on the sidelines catching his own breath. He was exhausted for some reason.
Link stepped away from Zelda. "Stay low."
Then he was moving before she could decide to protest. He slashed a gust of wind at Master Kohga, who barely reacted in time with his jutsu to dodge. Link used that time to close the distance between them, and he was right at his throat. Master Kohga threw his hands up in the air.
At the same time, Midna wound herself around Sooga in such a way that he tripped, collapsing in a cloud of sand. Standing on top of him like a platform, Midna twisted his arms back and held them there. It was almost comical, her petite stature suppressing the gigantic beast of a Yiga.
"It's over," Link declared. "Give us the Thunder Helm and let us leave."
"Fine, fine! You win! You can have the stupid helmet!" Master Kohga turned slowly, reaching behind himself, and Zelda felt the ground pulse beneath her. Like it was trying to warn her...
Ga-thump!
"Link!" she shrieked, but it was too late.
Pivoting quickly, Kohga drove a small, sharp rock into Link's stomach. He yanked it out and Zelda recognized it immediately; it was her own shank.
Link cried out, collapsing in the sand, and in the same movement, Sooga threw a stupefied Midna off of his back.
In a blink, Sooga was by Master Kohga's side. "Forget these cowards, it's time to retreat."
Midna was already back on her feet giving chase. "I think not!"
But it was no use, Sooga scooped the leader of the Yiga up and they were gone in a flash so powerful it kicked up an entire sandstorm. When the dust settled, the Thunder Helm was visible a few feet behind where Master Kohga had been sitting.
Zelda rushed over to Link's side. "Link! A-a-are you alright!?"
His trembling hand put pressure over the wound. "Yeah." His voice was trembling too. "I get stabbed all the time. It's no biggie. Your warning gave me just enough time to take it in the abdomen instead of the heart."
Midna came meandering over, stooping to pick up the Thunder Helm along the way. "Let your guard down again, Link?"
He looked up at her and grinned. "Yeah, saving your sorry ass. What were you doing holding hands with the big guy when we got here? Never seen that technique in a fight before."
"Hey, I said I'd keep him busy didn't I?" She flipped her ponytail over her shoulder flamboyantly. "A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. I'm not above using my feminine charms."
Green eyes danced as her knights quipped back and forth. Again, where on earth was this levity coming from?
"W-why are you two so jovial?" said Zelda. "We have to do something about that stab wound!" Even now, she could see red dying the fabric beneath Link's hand. "The fairy!" she suddenly gasped. "Link, where's the fairy?"
"There's no need for that..." he gritted out, sitting up a little straighter.
"What? You're bleeding profusely! Look at your shirt!"
As if it took conscious effort, his fingers uncurled slowly. The red of the Yiga uniform served to disguise the blood somewhat, but the fabric was soaked nonetheless.
"You have got to use the fairy."
"I am not using the fairy." Link put a hand up before Zelda could argue. "Please do not make that a royal command. I've never disobeyed one in my life, I'd hate to ruin my perfect record."
The princess sat back and glared. She'd hated Link before, obedient. She decided she'd like him even less disobedient. "You don't get to tell me what to do."
"I am not using the fairy, Your Highness."
Midna groaned and rolled her eyes. "Gods, I did not sign up for a lovers' quarrel today."
Zelda's cheeks flushed defiantly, but to her surprise, it was Link whose entire face went red.
"Sweet Hylia, Midna," he coughed. "That joke is fine about the other knights but you can't say it about our actual princess—"
"Ooh hoo!" Midna beamed, "I've never seen you so red, Link! You're not actually imagining the princess as your lover, are you?"
"For fuck's sake, of course not! And I'm not trying to get beheaded because you manage to get a new rumor started that I've bedded the princess—"
Lover? Bedded!?
Zelda's stomach swooped uncomfortably and her face's sanguine started to match Link's.
"You're right. I'm sorry," Midna apologized, but to Zelda's dismay that wasn't the end of it. "I forgot carrot-top already called dibs. He'd probably castrate you before the king got a chance anyways—"
Zelda was redder than red. It was just a few days ago that she'd had her first kiss. And everyone else her age was already—
"Are you suicidal or something? You can't say this shit when Her Highness is right here! She can literally order your execution—"
Zelda didn't know which part of this exchange had her the most taken aback. Link's still-untreated stab wound, the vulgar insinuations, the disrespect to the Knight Commander...! Did all the knights address him as carrot-top?
"Are you not..." she started. The two knights looked to her, Link braced for reprimand but Midna's crimson eyes twinkled like a froward older sibling. "Are you not also a carrot-top?"
Silence.
Then the pair burst out laughing, although Link clutched at his stomach and started sputtering ows instead. With that, the princess reset her priorities. "That's it, if you won't use the fairy, then we need to treat that wound immediately. Midna, go find us something to wrap it with."
Midna pulled together quickly, and gave an obedient solute. "You're in luck, Your Highness. I saw a whole-ass medical station earlier." Dawning the Yiga mask again, the redhead departed through the rotating stone door.
Zelda turned back to Link impatiently. "Show me."
"Okay, okay." Link carefully inserted his fingers into the tear in the fabric and tore it wider. As the wound became exposed they made eye contact, but Link spoke before Zelda could say what they both knew she was thinking. "I'm not using the fairy."
"Link."
"Your Highness, look at me." He forced a smile. "I'm doing just fine."
Their eyes remained locked for three more breaths. "Fine."
"It is fine. So let's just find Midna and get ou—" As he was talking, he moved as if to stand, but Zelda shoved him back down.
"Sit down! You're going to exacerbate it." Zelda leaned in for a closer look. "It's a miracle it's not worse. I don't know why Hylia holds you so favorably. It's asinine that an impetuous fool like yourself is this fortuitous."
He didn't turn his head far enough for her to miss his eye roll, although the resigned sigh was intentionally audible. "And I was just starting to miss the big words."
Examining the wound, she couldn't help her fascination. The untouchable Link actually took a hit. It was so unbelievable, she'd be less surprised if he bled green.
"How can you walk away from a fight with Mido without a single scratch but fall for a dirty trick by one bumbling Yiga?" She prodded the wound gently, and he sucked in a tight breath. It truly wasn't a deadly injury.
"For starters," grit Link, "it was, as you said, a dirty trick. And secondly, your beau is super predictable. He always looks where he's about to strike."
She huffed and reached into her pocket. Then the princess took Link's unbloodied hand and sprinkled the rest of her tired Hyrule Herb into it. "Here, eat this. Supposedly it's best used fresh in cooking, but I found the dried leaves had a potent efficacy of their own."
"You want me to eat dead leaves?" he deadpanned.
"Yes. I imagine it's the sort of activity you would choose to do for fun, anyways."
He snorted. "You're probably right."
The concurrence caught her off guard and she nearly snorted as well.
He hesitantly set the dried herb on his tongue, then made a face as he worked it around his mouth. Just as he forced it down his throat, Midna came barreling through the rotating stone door. She slammed back against it to keep it from over-rotating as soon as she was through.
"It's a mad scramble out there, we should move soon." She hurried over and handed Zelda what was essentially a first-aid kit. "I'm going to see if there's a way out of here that doesn't require climbing, since we've got a weak link over here."
"Haa," Link deadpanned again.
With a slight jog in her step, Midna began following the perimeter, dragging a tanned hand along the walls as if to catch on another secret door.
As Zelda rummaged through the contents of the box, she noticed Link's wound was already stanching nicely. "How does it feel?"
"Honestly? A lot better," he said as if he didn't believe his own body. "Is this really 'cause of those leaves?"
"The Hyrule Herb? Unless you used the fairy while I wasn't looking, yes" she replied flatly, preparing some medical thread.
Link's laugh was half disbelief and half astonishment. "Princess, this is amazing!" He sat up a little straighter, stretching his abdomen.
"It's still open, stop wriggling," she commanded as she pushed him back to his original position. Zelda set to stitching the wound back together.
Link hissed as she began, flexing his fists at his sides to dissipate the pain.
Cross stitch was once among Zelda's many princess lessons before prayer usurped them all, so despite having never sewn a real human back together before, Zelda was confident with a needle. She worked quickly, though perhaps not so tenderly on someone whose only painkiller was adrenaline.
Link's fingers continued to curl and uncurl. "So how'd you know about that Hyrule Herb?" Link asked, probably seeking distraction.
"I read about it."
"No way. You read that in a book?"
"No, I read it in a wizzrobe's secret diary." Snip. "Yes, from a book. What kind of question is that?"
He ignored the snark. "Do you know that much about other plants?"
Her hands froze and her heart stuttered unexpectedly, familiar and unfamiliar at once. Her desire to info-dump at the obvious invitation was quickly eclipsed by unwelcome flashes of that very tendency.
Quit wasting your time playing at being a scholar.
Princess, you shouldn't be reading that unnecessary rubbish. Hylia won't speak to distracted minds.
Just... don't bore me with the details, yeah? It's a bit much.
"...Only useless facts," she murmured. "Nothing worth sharing." The needle and thread were exchanged for a large bandage and some medical wrap.
"Nothing worth sharing? Are you crazy?" He beamed, but Zelda refused to meet his eyes. "Princess, if it's half as badass as whatever just healed my guts, it's not useless."
She removed the adhesive sticker and carefully set the bandage over her stitchwork. It seemed like the right thing to do, but she wasn't entirely clear-headed. "You and Midna speak with such vulgarity to your princess. That casualness is borderline criminal, you know."
The grin fell from his face, but his response surprised her. "That's what you've always wanted though, isn't it? To be treated like everybody else?"
The verity of his assumption rang like temple bells through her head, and it stunned her mute. Her eyes snapped up to his, but no words came out of her open mouth.
At her muteness, Link blanched. "Forgive me, Your Highness," he said quickly. "I've been overstepping my station this entire time— I've just always assumed—"
"Link, please." Zelda raised a hand and Link hushed immediately.
Being treated like everyone else. It was both an idyllic notion and a poor excuse for his attitude towards her.
What's wrong with you?
Getting lonely on the sidelines by yourself?
No big words this morning, Princess? Fairy got your tongue or something?
She wasn't dumb enough to think he reciprocated her bitterness as an act of friendship.
You think I haven't put every ounce of my being into fighting back against the Calamity?
No. I don't think you have.
They both knew she was a fraud. Maybe it would be better if she just started accepting that.
Zelda toyed with the medical wrap in her hands. "I know I can be... obstinate. You don't need to apologize. And please don't bite your tongue for my sake."
Link observed her for a moment. She was not so engrossed by the wrap as to miss his hand reaching for her shoulder, but it stopped on its own and returned to his side.
Footsteps approached. "Hey! Guys!" Midna called on her return. "Over here! I found another way out!"
Link rose to his feet, and without another word they followed Midna.
Some fallen rocks formed a haphazard staircase to a narrow crevice. The three of them shuffled through and trailed around the hideout until they came back around to the entrance, where the knights retrieved their clothes from a shallow hole they dug beneath a flat rock. Nightfall arrived soon after the trio departed, so they set-up camp under a rock awning.
Long after the fire died out, Zelda lay awake, tossing and turning. Not from discomfort, as she was well accustomed to the ground by now (despite her newfound hatred of sand), but from the deep gnawing in her gut. While fearing for her life at the hands of the Yiga was obviously not a solution, Zelda realized that there'd been a sort of reprieve by being in that cell. Her survival was the only thing she was responsible for there. But tomorrow she would continue back to her kingdom and she would regain responsibility for the entirety of Hyrule's survival.
"Can't sleep?" whispered Link.
Zelda was facing the other way. She gave a small nod.
"Are you worried about the Yiga? It's okay Princess, Midna and I will—"
"No. That's not it."
She heard him shuffle a bit.
"Then... what are you thinking about?"
"Nothing. Go back to sleep," she whispered back. "You're going to wake Midna."
"Pfft, don't worry about her. That girl could sleep through the Calamity."
As if in response, Midna's chest rose with a loud snore. Link waited, but Zelda didn't respond. After a while, she heard him roll back to his other side. Zelda closed her eyes, but before long, she was tossing and turning again.
Her brain began hyperfixating on her discomfort. Midna's snoring was getting progressively more frequent, and the sand that'd found its way into her clothes irritated her skin. Trying to shake it out only made it worse. Zelda frowned and opened her eyes only to find Link watching her. She felt strangely violated by it.
"What?" she hissed.
His mouth pinched in an innocent denial of any sort of mischief. Even in the darkness, his hair color was a perfect match to the despicable sand it rested upon.
Zelda groaned and rolled onto her back, wishing Mido was there to count the stars with her like they used to in the gardens. Instead, she stared into a constellation of cracks in the rock overhead, listening to a lullaby of deafening snores.
Link cleared his throat, so Zelda reluctantly granted him her attention through the corner of her eye. When dim green met muted blue, Link's mouth pulled into a half smile. "I can't sleep either," he said quietly. Then he propped up on an elbow. "Tell me another plant fact? How about... the most recent one you learned?"
Although the fire had long since died, the heat of phantom flames warmed her skin. In the corner of her vision, flecks of ashen paper floated on embers.
She sighed deeply, expelling hot smoke from her lungs. Despite herself, she humored his plea. "They're called sundelions..." She began measuring the cracks above her again. "They supposedly grow only at high altitudes. I've never seen one personally."
"What are they supposed to look like?"
"Five petals of black with an orange-gold center."
"And?" Link's faint smile tarried, and his eager eyes urged her to continue.
"And what?"
"Surely you know more than that."
It was a short entry. The only detail she'd omitted was... "Well... they're supposed to reverse the effects of malice."
"What!?" He was already sitting up, though his voice remained—somewhat—hushed. "Your Highness, that's huge. Why don't more people know about this?"
"Because..." She picked at the annoying sand beneath her nails. "They may not be real."
"You just said they grow at high altitudes. Like on mountaintops, right?"
"No, like on..." She was grateful for the darkness hiding the pink that rose to her cheeks. "On islands in the sky..."
At first, Link was silent. She felt herself break into a cold sweat. This was stupid; she was stupid.
"Islands in the sky?"
"I know, it's stupid—"
He rolled onto his back, a scrupulous dent forming between his brows. She should've just kept her mouth shut. If only she had a blanket she could bury herself under. Perhaps a blanket of sand would be befitting of the agony she already felt.
"Kakariko Village," he announced suddenly.
Had sand burrowed into her ears? She dared a questioning glance.
"There's something in Kakariko Village," he went on, "I'm not sure what exactly, but when I was at the stable, people were saying this huge structure just fell from the sky. Maybe it's one of these... sky islands. Or at least part of one."
Did the earth just stop spinning? She swore she felt it halt. Was Link trifling with her? Or was it really possible that a sky island had fallen to earth?
"Let's go to Kakariko, Princess. We can see for ourselves. Whatever that thing is, it might at least have some sorta clue."
"I-I can't do that—" she stammered.
"How come?"
Good question. What was the alternative? Head back to the castle and hope Father lets her back within its walls? If there was actually something in Kakariko, she wouldn't have to return to the kingdom empty handed. Or maybe it was a huge waste of time.
"...Let me sleep on it."
Link observed her a moment more before giving a curt nod. He tucked an arm under his sandy head as he rolled away from her. "Goodnight, Your Highness."
Zelda turned away too. "Goodnight."
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Hi everyone! Thanks for you patience on this chapter! My sister's wedding was amaaazing! And so romantic! It really got me in the writing mood again, and as a result I had a lot of fun with these upcoming chapters--I hope you'll have a lot of fun reading them, too!
(I didn't actually get a chance to proofread this one but I really wanted to stick to my Thursday post schedule, so I might go back and fix it later. Sorry for any wonkiness lol)
Oh! And my friend Hiyukee on Twitter is working on a picture for this chapter!
See you next week!