sorry! i accidentally forgot to change the chapters title! the next one will be 'rito village'
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the ride to rito stable was a little long, but at least you had someone with you. link thought the same.
you passed tabantha bridge stable, and saw beedle. you actually knew beedle from your own travels and you two were good friends, since you both shared a love for collecting things. you waved at him and he smiled up at you from link's horse. link jumped off epona and went to beedle, buying a few items from him. while he was doing this, you moved forward on link's horse's back and started to pet her silky mane and patted her for a little. you reached into your larger pouch and pulled out a shiny red apple. you gave the horse the sweet fruit and smiled widely when it 'neighed,' showing it's happiness.
link returned from buying arrows and such from beedle and you moved back to your original spot, letting link sit in front of you. he turned his head to face you.
"you okay back there?"
you nodded and gave him a small smile across your light pink lips.
his eyes glanced at them for a moment until he swung his head back to the front. of course you didn't notice, but link's cheeks were more pink than usual and he shook his head. he patted epona, and told her to start walking. you looked at your surroundings, never getting over the way nature had spread itself everywhere. you really loved hyrule, despite it's devastating state it was currently in, due to calamity ganon. this brought a question in your mind.
"hey, link?"
link hummed, but kept his eyes forward, scanning the area and taking mental notes.
"do you think the hero is going to come back and save hyrule?"
link stopped epona in her tracks and he turned to you slightly. curious to what you were thinking.
"i mean, it's been how long since calamity ganon has risen? a hundred years? that's a long time without some sort of hero."
link took a deep breath, and nodded his head in understanding. you smiled a little while thinking that link was a really good listener and that you appreciated that.
"i know that there's a hero out there, training to defeat ganon. i can feel it. and i believe in them with all my heart, wherever they are..."
link couldn't help but feel somewhat flattered at your words, even though they weren't exactly directed at him. he smiled at the way you hoped for hyrule's return and answered your question.
"i hope they will too. and i'm sure if they heard your words, they'd definitely be able to."
you blushed a little at his answer, and shifted a bit on his horse's back.
you chuckled a little.
"yeah..."
— later —
you and the blonde hylian crossed the large bridge, trotting until you made it to the other side of it.
link suddenly stopped epona and tapped your leg. you blushed and replied with a small 'yeah?' and he pointed towards the sky.
there were two flying guardians, watching over the path you two had to cross.
link leaned forward slightly and peeked at you.
"hold on."
his whisper was a little too quiet for you and you leaned forward to hear him better.
"what? i'm sorry, i didn't quite catch tha-!!"
link suddenly yelled and slapped the reigns onto epona, making her run as fast as she could. you screamed and instantly held onto links waist tightly. the wind rushed past your face, making your h/l hair fly back. the wind was making the adrenaline kick in faster.
link dodged the first guardian, winding around the large rock pillar before it and easily made it past. he quickly checked to see where the second one was and he had to wait a little for it to circle past him so that it wouldn't target them. this made you anxious as you saw the first living ancient drone making its way over to you.
"uhh, link?"
link looked back and noticed this, determination flashed in his eyes and he ran past the second one, barely dodging the first one that was only inches from them.
once he was out of the small rock canyon, he pulled the reigns back slightly and epona started to walk. you wiped your forehead, and breathed in and out slowly. but smiled from the amount of adrenaline that rushed through your body. even though you were anxious the whole time.
link looked back at you, making sure that you were alright and by judging the big smile on your face, he knew you were just fine.
"wait y/n, i want to check something out first."
you nodded and he link turned directions, going left and riding up a pathway to the top of the rocks the guardians were at. he slowed down epona at the top, and told you that he wouldn't be long. the hylian jumped off, and started to jog his way to an ancient building you knew as a shrine. when you felt him loosen from your arms, you couldn't help but blush at the fact that you were holding him very tightly. his waist felt strong and it was slim, making you blush even harder. you shook your thoughts away and watched link.
"why would he go to a shrine? those things have been dormant for years!"
you watched link battle against moblins and lizalfos, eventually making his way to the shrine. however, he stopped in his tracks and you saw him pull out a strange looking box.
link squinted his eyes, suddenly remembering something...
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
princess zelda was sitting in front of a shrine, her light blue eyes glancing over at every single detail before her, while holding the sheikah slate in her hands.
she tried placing it over the eye on the stone, but nothing happened.
"nothing, just as i thought."
she looked at the strange engraved details on the shrine and looked up towards the top.
"hmm..."
"it appears that this structure was designed to be exclusively accessed by the sword's chosen one."
she talked to herself and gazed upon the ancient building.
she looked back down at the stone, and thought out loud again.
"but designs can always be worked around, at least i hope."
"how do i get inside...? i need to activate it somehow..."
suddenly, her ears were being filled by the sounds of hooves running across the grass and she turned her gaze towards it.
she saw her appointed knight, riding towards her with a blank expression.
zelda tightened her grip on the slate and narrowed her eyebrows at the hylian. she huffed while link jumped off his horse, and ran towards the princess.
she quickly put the slate away, and stomped towards him, with an angry look on her face.
"i thought i made it clear that i am not in need of an escort."
link stood where he was and stared at the frustrated hylian princess before him.
she stood a fair bit in front of him and put her hands on her hips.
"it seems i'm the only one with a mind of my own!"
her eyebrows were still narrowed at link and he only blinked a few times, listening to her complaint.
"i, the princess in question, am fine! regardless of the king's orders!"
link still stared at her, and still with a blank expression.
the wind gently swayed past the two, link's blonde hair following the direction of it.
"return to the castle!"
zelda put her arms by her side and walked past him.
"go back! i do not need you! why don't you go back and hang around your friend? i'm sure that she needs you more than i do! she's all alone, isn't she?"
zelda yelled at link, his dull face was immediately swapped with a more narrowed and and annoyed look. he couldn't help but feel his blood boil when she mentioned her in that way. she didn't need to tell him that she needed him, she always said that she was fine being on her own while link was out with the princess. he trusted her words but zelda just had to make him doubt himself. link narrowed his bushy eyebrows slightly at her words but quickly relaxed. he didn't want zelda to complain to the king and get link punished.
"what are you doing?! go back to the castle!"
zelda walked to her horse, with link following after her, even though he didn't want to due to her words about his friend.
zelda suddenly stopped and sighed out loud. she spun around and yelled at him one more time.
"and stop following me!"
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
link blinked, realising that the memory was over and he sighed. he really needed to know who this girl was. she seemed to be in almost every single one of his memories!
link was conflicted and he walked back to you. he couldn't be bothered doing the shrine right now, he felt as if that memory literally just happened and he was mad. he'll do the shrine later.
"link! are you alright? you sort of just stood there for about two minutes, staring into the shrine."
link didn't answer you and boarded epona, spinning her around and trotting off. you frowned at his attitude, and decided not to question it.