LYNEL SAFARI

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Promise of Adventure

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The Divine Beasts were no longer functional. Their purpose fulfilled and Calamity Ganon defeated, there was no longer any need for them; the spirits of the Champions had passed on, taking the power to control the Beasts with them. Hyrule was finally at peace.

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed," Zelda sighed, sitting near the Ta'loh Naeg Shrine as a glorious crimson sun sank over the land. "Many of my notes about them are gone - only my personal diary remains." She turned to Link with a grateful smile. "Thank you, by the way, for retrieving that for me. It means a great deal."

He shrugged with a slight smirk. "I did read it, you know."

Zelda raised an eyebrow. "Has my insatiable curiosity rubbed off on you after all this time?" she asked, grinning.

"Nah." His smile faded. "I was just… eager to get my hands on anything I could find about my past."

Zelda squeezed his hand gently, looking back out at the flaming dusk. "I regret that you did not get a choice in the matter of the Shrine of Resurrection. What we forced upon you was -"

"I wouldn't trade it for anything," Link interrupted, brows knit together. "I'm… creating something new for myself. Not everyone has the opportunity to start all the way back at the beginning. From what I remember of myself back then, I'm grateful for this opportunity."

"You were a good deal quieter," Zelda mused, thinking back. "I had to try so much harder just to get you to say a few words. It's much easier to speak with you now."

There was just a touch of uncertainty in his eyes. "I know I've changed," he murmured solemnly. "But… I really do hope that, deep down, I'm still the same man I was."

"Man?" Zelda punched his arm lightly. "I don't think so. Boy, perhaps. And… yes. You are the same boy that I fell in love with a century ago."

Link chuckled lightly, a teasing light glittering in his eyes. "I just helped you save Hyrule. What else do I have to do before you consider me a man?"

"Hmm… I don't know."

She did know, actually. He had to propose. It had only been a month or so after Ganon's demise, but… she'd been alone for a hundred years. It's understandable for me to want his eternal companionship as soon as possible, isn't it?

Link offered her a smile… that same soft, gentle smile that she had pictured, over and over and over again, throughout her battle with the Calamity. "Well, let me know when you've thought of something," he murmured. Her soul felt warm; she leaned in and kissed his lips gently, delighted when he wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss with passion.

Here, nestled within his embrace - which was a paradox of strength and tenderness - she felt afraid of nothing.

"You're free now," he said, a bit breathlessly, as they pulled apart. "You can do whatever you want - you can be whoever you want. There's no more… no more Chosen Knight, no more Princess or throne or anything like that. Just… just you, me, and this beautiful land."

Zelda smiled. "Thanks to you," she murmured, patting his arm. "So… what will you do now?" Her elation faded a little; now that the little dilemma regarding the Divine Beasts had been resolved, he wouldn't leave her… would he?

He blinked at her slowly. "I know I just said the Chosen Knight doesn't exist anymore, but… I was hoping you'd let me continue as your protector." The tips of his pointed ears went slightly red. "M-maybe you'd let me go with you, wherever it is you go."

She grinned at him. "I'm relieved to hear that," she chuckled. "And… that said, I would very much enjoy visiting the shrines with you. Do you remember when…"

"When you tried to enter the one overlooking the Tabantha Great Bridge?" Link finished with a smirk. "Yeah. It wasn't even glowing back then."

"I'm guessing the Sheikah Towers must have activated them," Zelda mused, feeling the urge for greater knowledge burn in her mind. "What have you found inside?"

Link shrugged. "Some of them were puzzles, others were battle training sessions, and… a lot were just blessing shrines. I get in there and there's no trial whatsoever, just a treasure chest and a mummified monk." He frowned. "To be honest… after I found ten or so of those, I stopped looking for shrines altogether. It… seemed like a waste of time, since you were still stuck fighting in the castle. I didn't want you to be in there a second longer than you had to, not after waiting a century."

Excitement bubbled up within her heart. "You mean… there are some shrines you've never been to?"

"Yeah…"

She grinned at him. "Then I suppose that's the first thing I'll want to do - visit all of the shrines that remain undiscovered. When can we start?"

Link laughed lightly. "W-well, we could set out in the morning..."

"You'll be able to pack everything we need in just one night?" she asked, eyeing him skeptically. "Don't you sleep at all?"

"I slept for the past hundred years - more than anyone ever should," he grinned. "I'll be ready tomorrow morning if you are."

/\/\/\

True to his word, Link had their horses, Aspen and Jackpine, saddled and laden with supplies by the time she set foot outside of Kakariko's inn, and still he seemed just as lively and energized as he had since the Calamity's defeat. No one else in the village had awakened yet, but Zelda left a message for Impa with the innkeeper and they set out.

"Aspen," she sighed, stroking her white horse's sturdy shoulder as they rode northwards down the Sahasra Slope to the marshlands below Kakariko. "It's a fine name for her. Did you remember that her ancestor's name was Cottonwood - another species of poplar tree?"

Link grinned and shook his head. "If you hadn't noticed, I named this horse Jackpine. I think tree names seem to fit with horses, and maybe it's because I subconsciously remembered that your old horse had a tree name, but… I don't know. Either way, I thought Aspen would be a good name for a white horse like that."

"I agree," Zelda smiled. "I could hardly believe it when you brought her out for me - it was like walking into the past."

And she hadn't failed to notice that Jackpine was the spitting image of the horse Link had owned when they travelled together before - a tall, burly, dark bay with a long stripe down the nose and four white stockings. Did he remember that his old horse had such coloring, or does he just naturally favor dark bays?

She sighed contentedly, turning her attention to the peace buoying her soul as they plodded down the slope. It was… heavenly, just travelling over rolling green hills with the sun warm above her and a fresh breeze blowing her hair freely back behind her. No worries about imminent destruction, no Yiga Clan, no Calamity, no unceasing demands to unlock a dormant power…

All thanks, in great part, to Link.

And with Link by her side, softly humming a cheerful tune that mingled with the soft thudding of hooves on loose turf… it was as if the world had finally learned what perfection meant.

"So what about the Shrines I've been through?" Link asked, turning to her. "Would you still want to go inside, or…?"

Zelda shook her head. "I think it'll be more entertaining for both of us if we go somewhere new. After all, if you've already solved the puzzle or completed the training, well… what's the point?"

"Makes sense," Link nodded thoughtfully. "So where should we go first?"

She tilted her head to the side, envisioning a map of Hyrule in her mind. "We should take a systematic approach, either heading from north to south or from east to west or something like that. And… since we're already more towards the eastern edge of the kingdom and we're heading north, I propose we start at Robbie's lab and head either south or west from there." She flashed him a smirk. "I thought this through last night, and… I believe it makes sense."

Link shrugged. "Alright. Do you want to go into any shrines we encounter along the way?"

Excitement fluttered in her soul. "If it's not too much trouble," she beamed. "I've waited a hundred years to set foot in these shrines - I do hope you're not trying to make me wait until we reach Akkala!"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Link grinned. "Okay, then - the first shrine is Daka Tuss, on the cleverly named Shrine Island. I would've gone into that one, but I was distracted by a Zora in a lotus pool. That was right after Impa she sent me off to free the Divine Beasts."

Zelda nodded slowly, closing her eyes as she remembered fleeting memories of that day… flashes she'd glimpsed through the connection she'd created between herself and Link before leaving him in the Slumber of Restoration. It was that connection that had allowed her to watch over him throughout his journey.

They continued down the grassy mountainside, caught up in cheerful conversation filled with good-natured jabs and tales of the past. Though it did not feel quite so long to them, it was three hours later that their horses splashed into the shallow water over the Millennio Sandbar and Zelda could see the Shrine just ahead, glowing a pleasant orange.

"Incredible," she murmured, her heart racing faster. Many of the other shrines she'd seen had already been glowing blue, completed by the hero she loved.

She couldn't wait to get inside one that was still a mystery to both of them.

"Wait," Link cautioned, slipping his bow from his shoulders and carefully nocking an arrow, holding two others in his hand.

Zelda frowned, pulling Aspen to a gentle halt and peering ahead at the little mound of earth rising up just ahead; her eyes narrowed as she noticed what had set him off. Three lizalfos paced near the water, wielding spears and primitive boko bows, beady eyes darting warily around.

In only a matter of seconds Link fired off each of the three arrows in his hand, killing the monsters one at a time with a single hit. He shrugged at her apologetically. "Can't leave them out here with the horses; who knows what'll happen."

"I'm certainly glad you're on our side," Zelda told him, spurring Aspen forward once again, splashing through the shallow water to Shrine Island amidst the little white marsh flowers and the elegant poplar trees vibrant with green life.

They settled the horses, leaving them loosely tethered to a tree with sufficient room to wander and graze, groomed and with saddles removed for their comfort. It didn't take much time at all, but to Zelda it felt like hours. The Shrine was right there, barely a few feet from her, glowing an inviting orange. If not for Link's calm demeanor and easy smile, she felt certain she would've imploded from impatience.

"Care to do the honors?" Link asked at last, holding out the Sheikah Slate.

Hesitantly she took it, heart throbbing with delight. Nayru's love, she was excited! She was… she was actually trembling; her knees felt weak and her heart was racing as if she were being chased by a thousand lynels, and it seemed that something alive was flying through her stomach, wings beating against her insides. Holding her breath, she held the slate to the pedestal. The lights around the bottom of the shrine flashed to blue, and the horizontal bars engraved with ancient Sheikah symbols folded inwards, revealing a small, dark chamber.

"That's… that's it?" Zelda murmured, suddenly numb with the beginnings of disappointment. "It's… rather small…"

Link laughed. "Come on," he grinned, taking her hand and leading her onto a circular platform also glowing blue, with the Sheikah Eye facing upwards. He curled his arms around her, holding her close against his firm body, and wisps of ancient blue flame flickered up from around the rim of the platform before it slowly began to descend. Zelda gasped in surprise, instinctively holding tighter to Link's chest as the platform took them downwards, through a tube comprised of vertical strands of glowing blue light, finally arriving in what seemed like a spacious underground room, from what she could see. With a wide smile, Link led her forwards, through the blue light, and her breath stilled in her throat.

It was indeed a large room, with a high ceiling that cast pale blue light down on the ground. Several small pillars bearing teardrop-shaped crystals of light stood in corners and around the platform they had just stepped away from. Orange designs, like constellations, decorated two of the walls, pulsing faintly. The walls and floor were a paradox, futuristic in design even while emanating a sense of age, of thousands of years of existence.

Then all at once a low voice echoed through the room, along with a rush of musty air. "To you who set foot in this shrine… I am Daka Tuss. In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I offer this trial: Sunken Scoop."

Zelda whirled to face Link, beaming. "This is… it's just… well, astounding!"

"Let's get to it, shall we?" he smiled, giving her a pointed glance at the Sheikah Slate. "We'll probably need to use that somehow. And there is a rune on there that lets you take notes, and photographs -"

She cut him off with a delighted laugh. "You know me too well," she smirked, quickly flipping through the runes and documenting every last inch of the shrine room. Only once she was satisfied did they actually move on to the puzzle itself.

It required heavy use of the Magnesis rune, which Zelda had never once used before. Link was a patient teacher, never once allowing herself to grow frustrated with her attempts to scoop a shrine orb into a giant metal dish. But neither did he attempt to do all the work for her; together, with his gentle, calloused hands guiding her own, she managed to lift an orb and place it within a shallow cavity closed off on all sides by metal grating, unlocking a second room.

This, too, Zelda documented extensively. "All of these constellations!" she remarked, snapping pictures. "I'm no astronomer, but perhaps I can find someone that will know where these constellations can be found. Perhaps they were significant to the Sheikah of that time, or to this particular challenge…"

The second task was a bit more challenging, she thought. This time, the cavity that required a shrine orb was closed in on all sides and the top, but a large button at the bottom of a pool caused the top of the cage around the cavity to fold inward, like a trapdoor. Together they managed to get a shrine orb to rest just above the crack before using the scoop itself to hold down the button; the water drained from the pool, revealing a submerged doorway to the next room. Zelda gaped in disbelief, hurrying down into the pool and examining the walls and the floor. "Amazing!" she exclaimed, eyes wide with delight. "You can't even see the drain! Perhaps the floor is made of some sort of porous material, but if that were the case, it would have drained long ago - amazing!"

I'll have to return, she decided, heart racing eagerly. With Purah, and Robbie as well, if he feels up to it. She would find out why, and how, such technology was created.

And this time…

This time there were no other duties, no other obligations, that demanded her mind and effort. The throne of Hyrule had been destroyed with Hyrule Castle.

Link was right - she was free.

In the next room, encased upon a platform within a cube of those same strands of blue light, this time with a bright Sheikah Eye emblazoned on the front, a shrivelled figure sat upon a pedestal. Link reached out with his left hand and tapped the center of the Sheikah Eye, sending out a single ripple across the surface of the cube. The blue light shone brightly before shattering into hundreds of splinter-like shards that drifted slowly away, glittering, fading.

Zelda stared in morbid fascination at the mummified monk sitting cross legged upon the pedestal, clad in tattered trousers and a cloth bearing the Sheikah Eye over its face.

"Your resourcefulness in overcoming this trial speaks to the promise of a hero," the monk murmured, with a voice that seemed to come from everywhere all at once. "In the name of the Goddess Hylia, I bestow upon you this Spirit Orb."

From Daka Tuss's withered chest, a bright light suddenly flashed, and an orb of deep violet liquid floated towards Link and Zelda - specifically, towards their joint hands. It sank into them with a curious sensation… almost like the insides of her hand had been suddenly dipped in cold water. Zelda shivered slightly, and Link smiled gently at her.

"May the Goddess smile upon you," Daka Tuss intoned, as slowly its body dissolved into flowing green flames that slowly wavered upwards before fading away entirely. The shrine all around them began to glow a bright, calming white, and Zelda felt her senses slowly numbing away…

When she opened her eyes, she was leaning against Link's chest, sheltered in the warmth of his embrace as they stood on the same pedestal they'd used to enter the shrine.

With rough hands that sent a shiver through her soul, he brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and gazed down at her. Truthfully, they were nearly the same height - he was only an inch taller, if that, but she enjoyed being able to look up at him.

"What d'you think?" he asked.

She sighed contentedly. "It was nothing like what I expected," she admitted with an insurpressable smile. "I never could have imagined… the miracles of Sheikah technology…"

He nodded, turning and beginning to walk back to the horses. Zelda matched his pace, reluctant to remove herself from beneath his arm. "They're not all quite so harmless," he warned. "I've… almost died a few times, actually." He chuckled, bashfully scratching the back of his head. "Once, after I activated a switch, the floor beneath me gave way and I was suddenly falling down towards a pool of lava. Or - or is it magma, if it's underground?"

Zelda stopped walking, a sudden tremor of fear seizing her heart. "Wh-what?"

He winced slightly. "It was a long fall. More than enough time for me to pull out my paraglider."

She blinked. "That's certainly… interesting. It seems… well, rather pointless, I suppose, to build trials in these shrines that could actually kill the chosen hero. What would become of Hyrule then?"

"Maybe that's why they built the Shrine of Resurrection," Link suggested thoughtfully. "To save the hero from the trials meant to strengthen him."

Zelda couldn't help but laugh at that. "That would have been unfortunate, to be sure."

After a quick meal, they continued through the marsh, over a string of three little islands through the marsh. The hinox resting on one was so soundly asleep that it barely twitched as they passed carefully around it and onto the complex series of bridges over the Zora River.

"Lizalfos built these?" Zelda asked skeptically. They were certainly not of the highest quality, but still surprisingly stable, with more than enough torches to keep the area well-lit come nightfall.

Link nodded, tilting his head to the side. "They're quite a bit more intelligent than a lot of people give them credit for." He paused. "Lynels, too, but in a much more sinister way."

"I don't see any lizalfos now," Zelda commented, looking around at the quiet river flowing by beneath the bridge.

"I took a group of Zora down here to drive them away after I freed Vah Ruta," he explained. "Monsters aren't the only ones that wanted a better way to cross the Zora River; King Dorephan figured it would help with trade."

"And… the hinox?" Zelda looked at him curiously.

Link snorted. "That thing's probably at least a hundred years old. All it does is sleep, day in and day out. I've never seen it get up, even when a magpie flew down to try and get the jewelled shield on its necklace. One of these days it'll die of old age without even realizing."

Zelda laughed lightly; all the same she worried what would happen if the creature finally did decide to take action.

As evening drew near, they made their way along the Ternio Trail, through a gray mountainous region heavily wooded with stately pines and populated by the usual squirrels and deer. Link shot a rabbit for their dinner and roasted it carefully over the little fire they built beneath a simple wooden shelter as the horses grazed nearby. Zelda found herself quite exhausted from the excitement of the day and the long hours of travelling; after she shared the rabbit with Link it wasn't long at all before she fell asleep against his shoulder.

At the crack of dawn they continued on their way, leaving the pines behind as the horses clattered over an ancient stone path weaving above a large lake framed by red volcanic stone. Crossing the Akkala Span, Zelda shuddered at seeing just how far above the ground they were and noted worriedly that part of the side of the bridge had crumbled entirely away.

"Don't worry - travellers cross this bridge all the time," Link tried to reassure her, seeing her anxious gaze. He pointed to the ruins of a guardian just ahead. "See? Even that thing could get across."

"Aren't you afraid of anything?" Zelda teased, trying to feel as lighthearted as her words.

Link smirked. "Nothing comes to mind. Except losing you, but that's it."

"That doesn't count," Zelda protested with a laugh. "Surely, in all your travels, you must've come across a situation or a creature that planted at least a little bit of fear into your heart."

He raised his eyebrows at her skeptically, but his eyes lost their focus as he thought seriously about her question. "Well… okay. I'm scared of bomb arrows. Seriously, I've seen what those things do to monsters - it's not pretty. I'd hate to be on the receiving end of one of those." He tilted his head to the side, poking his tongue between his lips. "And… I guess white-maned lynels are pretty frightening, too. I was just passing through, minding my own business, and suddenly a shock arrow comes flying out of nowhere and spooks Jackpine." He laughed with just a hint of exasperation. "Seriously, I was at least a mile away. Those guys are much too territorial. If Jackpine hadn't run so fast, I'm sure we'd both be dead."

Zelda smirked at him teasingly. "At last, a monster worthy of the great Hero of Hyrule."

"I'd take on Ganon any day instead of one of those lynels! With the Divine Beasts and your powers and everything, I… really didn't think Ganon was much of a threat. This time around, at least…"

/\/\/\

Welcome to my new semi-short story! A nice thing about Breath of the Wild's Link is that I can see his personality going both ways - confident and playful, or reserved and a bit depressed. I've written quite a few little stories with the latter, so I decided I'd give the other one a try. Enjoy!