"'Be sure to take the time to soothe your mount... That's the only way it will know how you truly feel.' your advice was quite helpful- thank you" Zelda leaned forward and patted Aspen's neck.
Zelda had just beaten Link at their last race and they were now trotting along besides each other. Zelda obviously teased Link with the fact she had won and was now mocking the fact that he was the reason she had. She had taken his advice to heart and now, Aspen and Zelda were quite the team.
"This little one and I are getting along quite well now."
She looked at the golden, purple armour she had given him, "At first, I wasn't sure if I should outfit him with all of the royal gear, I thought, maybe he should have to earn it first. But it works! He wears it like a true natural."
Zelda looked up to Link, "I'm trying to be a bit more empathetic, benefit of the doubt, you know?" She smiled at him before turning back to the path.
Up ahead she could see a monument of a horse. They headed towards it together before they got off to let their own horses rest. Zelda walked to the edge of the stone and saw the river underneath ripple silently. Link moved behind her. In the distance, the sun was low in the sky, in their excitement, they had lost track of the time.
"See that mountain?" She said softly, never even turning round, she knew Link was listening none the less.
"That's Mt Lanayru. It takes its name from the Goddess of Wisdom. Lanayru's decree is very specific. It says: "No one is allowed, under the age of seventeen... For only the wise are permitted a place upon the mountain."..." She looked down at the floor in a sudden thought of failure.
"I've prayed at the Spring of Courage and at the Spring of Power, yet neither awoke anything inside me." She closed her eyes for a moment as she forced a tear back, after all the crying she did, she was starting to get used to it.
"But maybe up there... Perhaps the Spring of Wisdom, the final of the three, will be the one." She nodded, as if she was trying to herself.
"To be honest, I have no real reason to think that will be the case," she held her hands up to her chest, as if in prayer, "But there's always the chance that the next moment will change everything." She lowered her hands and stared off into the sunset.
"Tomorrow... Is my seventeenth birthday."
She turned round and gave Link a hard stare. It wasn't aimed at him, he could see that she was in conflict with herself. She was showing Link that she had made up her mind. She had always dreaded going to the Spring of Wisdom. If she never got her powers there, then where or when would she? But she was obligated to do so, for the good of the Kingdom.
"So then I shall go, and make my way up the mountain."
***
The two had not spoken since they had left the horse monument. Link knew that Zelda needed time to think. She had told him that all her life she had felt like a failure. That was until Link had shown her that she could not have done anything more, she had done more than enough to prove her devotion. Now she would go to Mount Lanayru and she would have to finally come face to face with her failures. If she was given her powers, she would finally be free of that particular burden, but still carry the responsibility to defeat the Calamity. If she wasn't given the power, then when the Calamity came, and it most certainly would come, she would be responsible for the death of Hyrule, it's citizens, her family bloodline and all that was good in the world...
When they went to bed that night, Link held her tight. The next day was her birthday and she promised Link she would try to enjoy it. But, for the time being, she needed him, he was her only distraction in her life. Before him, she had no friends she could trust.