Summary: Luckily blonde hair fetches a high price in the Kakariko geisha community, but Link has a secret and aspiring geisha Zelda is determined to find out what that is.
The Spirit of the River
Crisp spring water lapped against her flushed cheeks as the gentle river ran its fingers through her fanned locks. It soaked her golden hair down to the roots. She gazed up at the open sky, sempiternal celadon eyes full of fluffy clouds. Others draped down in rainy shadows of grey miles into the distance.
A slight breeze played her dry bangs across her forehead, carrying the sweet aroma of wildflowers as it tickled her nose. The sun's light was enough to prick up the shiny wet hairs on her arms.
She remembers every detail of that place: the sound of the wind grazing the grass, how the crickets chirped in the silence. How she gasped and giggled in surprise when her mother splashed her with water just a little farther down the stream. All was tranquil and warm.
But that was years ago.
. ~ Night. ~ .
She had been found by the river, no home or family to speak of; a ragged pile of clothes covered in mud and tears as she sobbed on the bankside.
Watching from under a parasol on the main street, the Gerudo vai approached her. She took the young Hylian girl into her arms, into the safety and dryness of her cloak as she shielded her against the cold. "It's all right," spoke the deep, calming voice. The girl looked up. "You're safe now. Nothing can harm you." Clinging to the Gerudo like she was her only anchor to this world, the girl's face and body were still wet with tears and rain when she looked up with such admiration and curiosity in those celadon eyes as the vai had never seen before. It took her aback.
She carried the girl back to her dwelling: the most famous teahouse in Kakariko, knowing what would become of her should she be left on the streets – a slave in human trafficking for labor, or worse. So Urbosa took to cleaning the girl: scrubbing her hair until it was gold again, providing her hot food, a soft bed, and clean clothes. The attractive Gerudo vai was the mother of the Vah Naboris teahouse. She guided other young Gerudo in their pursuit of an artist's life, but now in whatever time she could spare, she searched for any sign of the girl's parents.
No trace of them was ever found. Not even a whisper on the breath of the wild, as though they were mere legend, and the girl had been borne by the river she'd been found.
Years passed and the Hylian grew. Rather than being interested in the fashions of the century or the drama of her surrogate Gerudo sisters, she took to splashing in rain puddles, searching the riverside for aquatic organisms and then dropping them into people's clothes as she snickered from the sidelines. She tormented Gerudo, Zoras, Gorons, and Rito alike. On rare occasion, she even tormented humans. Especially humans. There weren't too many of them in these parts. At least, not in the richer districts of Kakariko. It wouldn't be until Urbosa or one of her older sisters loomed over her that she would feel ashamed, knowing the punishment that awaited her – endless chores – and she'd scamper off. She caused all manner of trouble with that untamable spirit of hers.
She wasn't raised properly at all, Urbosa thought, exhausted from how many apologies she had to facilitate between this wild girl she called daughter and the rest of the city. I really have my work cut out for me.
But sometimes… Urbosa caught this golden-haired Hylian sitting on the windowsill. She would be watching the mist gather on the outside walls of Vah Naboris, and the colorful world of Kakariko pass by, waiting for a sign that she was here for a reason… And gradually, Urbosa accepted what had to be done.
She had to teach the young girl to become one of them so she could fend for herself. The vibrant innocence and curiosity of those reflective eyes that had charmed Urbosa the moment she scooped her up by the river would have to be tamed for the girl to join the life of an artist of the highest class.
~ Ten years later ~
Geisha in soft blues and golds mingled among the men seated around the room in dark blue, greys, and black. The atmosphere was dim and homey, but booming with laughter and the clinking of saké mugs. At a gathering as large as this one, all geisha houses were present: the faction of Gorons from Vah Rudania in the north, the faction of Rito from Vah Medoh to the west, the faction of Zoras from Vah Ruta to the east, and the Gerudo of Vah Naboris from the southern desert. Zelda wouldn't have fit in with any of them, but it was Vah Naboris to which she belonged – there was no faction for humans or Hylians.
Zelda walked between the crowds of people, her wooden geta clicking against the ground. Three young Gerudo maiko – geisha-in-training – approached her, hopping up and down. "Sister Zelda, Sister Zelda! Prince Sidon has been asking for you!"
She rolled her eyes, hanging her head to one side, heavy with pinned-up blonde hair. "Not again. I can't stand that guy – he's way too overwhelming for me."
The tallest and oldest of the maiko shrugged. "Well, he likes you and you get huge tips from him, don't you?"
A second piped up, "Yeah, you should be thankful!"
And the third, "I hope I have as many people asking after me as you when I reach the proper age!"
Zelda waved the younger girls off as she slipped away, the sleeve of her blue-and-gold kimono whooshing in the air covered with sakura petals. The Gerudo maiko were almost as tall as she, despite being five years younger. "Yeah, yeah," she mumbled under her breath, passing a group of Gerudo vai. Gerudo geisha draped around Gerudo officials, indulging each other in food, saké, and provocative jokes while Zelda headed toward the Zoras. Seated on a pillow on the tatami mat at the head and center, Prince Sidon jested with geisha from all factions. He's so energetic. It's hard to keep up with him.
Fixing her best demure smile on her face, Zelda stepped forward – when she noticed another geisha seated beside the prince of the Zoras.
A… Hylian…?
"Ah, Zelda! Welcome!" Sidon bellowed at her, breaking Zelda's train of thought. "Would you like me to grab you a seat?"
Re-uptaking her trademark smile, Zelda continued forward. "Good evening, Prince Sidon. And to what do I owe the pleasure of joining your company today?" Her tone was warm and laced with intrigue.
The Hylian geisha at Prince Sidon's side left, her kimono glistening in the low light, hurrying back with a pillow for Zelda to sit on.
"Ah, thank you, Link," said Sidon, nodding his head.
Zelda bowed also as she sat down on the provided pillow, smiling and sweeping her kimono under her. Link smiled back beneath white face paint, but said nothing to either of them. In fact, if not for her pointed ears Zelda would have questioned whether Link was Hylian or not. How had she not heard of another Hylian geisha within the ranks of a foreign teahouse? Surely, it would have been big news. Zelda was already sought highly after for being the only of her kind – or so she thought…
Link's kimono was a slightly lighter blue than Zelda's own, with a white and golden sash around her abdomen, and hair a medium blonde-brown color. It was very close to Zelda's own kimono, which was a bright celeste color, contrasted to the sky blue adorned by the Gerudo of Vah Naboris. Since Zelda was the only Hylian there, and any lighter of a color would have looked atrocious, she was given such honors of more elaborate dress. The color of Link's kimono wasn't nearly as vibrant as Zelda's own, but so similar that Zelda couldn't help but question how Link had obtained something of this quality, and from which house.
"Zelda," Sidon cut in, disrupting her thoughts once again. She would have to ask Link later.
"I was just telling Link and the others how delightful your last performance was," said Sidon.
"Oh, thank you, but it wasn't much, really."
Sidon chuckled, looking to the other geisha around him. "See, as I told you! She's just so modest!" They laughed in return, hands to their mouths, the skin around their eyes pinching from humor.
"She is very cute!" a Rito geisha cried.
"I can see why she's popular across all of Hyrule!" said another Zora.
Zelda knew Prince Sidon was annoying at worst, but he always brought up topics that got on her nerves.
Of course, in the life of an artist, one never loses their composure.
She lowered her eyes in an assumed flush, smiling again. "Well, I'm not sure about that. I'm still saving my best performance for when my time comes to be chosen by a danna, my sponsor."
Prince Sidon's eyes and mouth widened in exaggerated surprise. He leaned back in his seat, the silver royal necklace around his neck, inlaid with sapphire, glistening in the yellow light. "Oh ho! So you do have an arrogant streak! Well, that is certainly something I never expected to hear from you before!"
The other geisha and Sidon's disciples erupted in laughter again, devouring her in their dissonant coil, but Zelda remarked in a feigned, scolding voice, "Prince Sidon, you know perfectly well the boasting I'm capable of. Or don't tell me you forgot last time when you were drunk off your fins, ready to stand up and start singing on the table? I had to take the spotlight to save you from such a blunder."
Everyone exploded in laughter even louder than when Prince Sidon spoke, so caught up in it that they hardly noticed a Gerudo walked in on the scene.
"Good evening, Sidon," droned the deep voice of Urbosa. "You aren't wasting the time of my most prized geisha, are you?"
"Urbosa, good to see you!" exclaimed Sidon, spreading his arms as the others around him tried to stifle their chortling. "Mipha can't stop going on about the elaborateness of your parties and plays! Your geisha are simply the best! How do you do it?!"
Urbosa made an unamused face at the prince Zora's dramatic display, and it was then Zelda noticed that Link was no longer at Prince Sidon's side. While Urbosa and Sidon chatted, Zelda glanced quickly around the room to see if she could spot Link anywhere, but the Hylian geisha was nowhere to be found, having seemingly vanished into thin air.
"Anyway," said Urbosa, placing a hand on Zelda's shoulder, startling her back to the present for the third time that night, "If you don't mind, I'll be taking this one to visit the danna of other factions."
"Of course, of course," said Sidon, shooing them away with one clawed hand. "I have all the entertainment I need with all the other geisha here after all!"
The laughter of the Zoras and other geisha faded away behind Zelda as Urbosa led her through the crowd. She breathed out a sigh of relief. "Thank you for that, mother."
"Don't mention it," said Urbosa. "When someone told me you had been called by Prince Sidon, I knew it could only mean trouble." Her fiery eyebrows furrowed in irritation, blue lips pursing. "That idiot, always trying to take more than his full. He isn't terrible or anything, don't get me wrong, but it's a critical time for you – can't be wasting your time with spoiled rich kids who never plan to marry."
Zelda nodded, looking at the floor beneath her kimono and geta. "Yeah…"
The Gerudo vai watched the Hylian out of the corner of one green eye, fingers clenching slightly on Zelda's shoulder. She felt it through the fabric of her kimono. "Maybe we should talk somewhere private, huh…?" Zelda nodded.
Under the verandah overlooking the gardens, Urbosa slid the door to the teahouse shut behind them, sealing away the jubilance of the party. Green boots fell heavily against the wooden boards of the patio as she stood beside Zelda. She asked, "Something is weighing on your mind, isn't it?"
Zelda's gaze remained on the grass past the verandah, and her fingers tightened under the folds of her kimono's long silky sleeves. "Yeah… I'm sorry, mother, for acting like this during a party," she apologized, still not looking at her. "I know… I should be excited to be chosen by a danna – to live a life of luxury, able to practice the arts every day to my heart's content – but…"
The Gerudo acknowledged the conflict on Zelda's face, though masked in white, as she stared at the ground, not yet frozen by October. "Zelda."
This caught Zelda's attention, and her next words made her spin her head up at Urbosa in incredulity, glossed red lips parting. "I knew from the moment I picked you up shivering by the riverside, that you weren't suited for this life." Urbosa looked up at the starry night sky. In a distantly wistful note, she continued on, "I only hoped to save you from whatever the world might do to you, had I left you there to fend for yourself…" Her gaze fell to the gardens below, to the rushing stream. "I searched everywhere for any sign of your parents. No one, in any village here or across Hyrule, had ever heard your name…"
Zelda's nails dug into her palms as her hands tightened into fists. "I know, mother. And I'm trying to fit in with the Gerudo, I really am, but –"
Urbosa watched her with her cool green eyes, smiling gently. "But you aren't Gerudo, Zelda. And despite that, I have no idea where you came from. I don't know what will happen to you once I'm gone, or if you decided to find life somewhere else, outside of Kakariko. I've done my best to raise you up until now. I don't know how else to set up a plan for you." The woman bent down to stroke Zelda's face. Chalky white face paint stained her dark fingers as she pulled her hand away. "Whatever you choose, make sure it's the right choice."
With that, Urbosa left her. Zelda stayed frozen on the verandah, looking out to the gardens drowned in moonlight.
The beginnings of an autumn breeze blew against her face as she placed a hand on the pillar at the verandah's edge, the faint sound of water trickling in her ears. The door slid open and closed again behind her, and Zelda turned around, the beads from her kanzashi tapping against the back of her skull.
Her lips moved on their own. "It's you…"
The other Hylian geisha Link stood there, her cerulean eyes gazing upon her knowingly, striking spite in Zelda's heart. "What are you doing here?" she demanded.
"I might ask you the same thing."
The voice that answered Zelda felt like a punch to the gut. She hadn't been expecting an answer at all, though Link's voice was clear and soft. Sweet like honey. Harsh and mesmerizing like rain. It reminded her of the stream running from the river in the gardens just a little ways behind…
"You're a Hylian, aren't you?" Zelda questioned slowly. "Why haven't I ever seen or heard of you before?"
Link rolled her shoulders back as she looked at the ground. "I'm not sure… Because the world is a big place?"
Suddenly, Zelda found herself spellbound. Beneath the facepaint-mask, within the tweak of Link's eyebrows and smile, Zelda felt something she never had before. A sense of being home, but more than that, a sense of the boundless beauty and freedom that laid in store for her, in places Link had already seen, and was waiting to venture to see once more.
Link's face hardened as she became distracted by something, lifting one hand. "What happened to your makeup?"
Her hand drew nearer, and Zelda resisted the urge to step back, caught aware of her wayward thoughts. She wanted to touch it, that beautiful world past the lovely Kakariko horizon.
Seeing Zelda's nervousness, Link's hand hesitated, mid-air.
Zelda turned away immediately, steadying herself with both hands on the pillar behind her. Trying to distract herself from the blush in her cheeks, Zelda asked, "L-Link… have you seen much of the outside world…?"
Looking out to the elegant gardens – no, past them – Link nodded shortly. "Yes."
"What's it like?" Zelda prodded, leaning forward in excitement.
Link turned back to her, her face lighting up as she explained. "There are many different people all over, places beyond your imagination. Vast deserts, wetlands, the ocean… islands, monsters, treasures beyond compare… There's no way to describe it all."
"Wow…" Zelda shrunk back in defeat again, hands folding beneath her sleeves. "It sounds like you've seen everything. Meanwhile, I've just been here, wasting away…"
"You didn't decide to become a geisha?" came Link's nascent voice.
"No," said Zelda, "I was abandoned by the river as a little girl, so Lady Urbosa kept me. Around ten years old, I became a maiko and now I've been promoted to the rank of a full-time geisha. To entertain men and women alike, and to eventually be purchased by a danna who will set me up for life – to entertain the man who sponsors me, and anyone he sees fit until I am of old age, no longer of any use to anyone…"
"But that isn't what you want."
Zelda shrugged mildly, not looking at Link. "It doesn't really matter if it's what I want. It's simply the way things are."
Link's eyes never left Zelda. "The Gerudo purchase geisha too, you know."
Zelda looked over at her in disbelief. "Just what are you implying?"
Link shrugged lightly. "Nothing, I was just wondering if you would be happier in a different situation."
Unable to process the bluntness of the statement, Zelda puffed, "Well, I'm not Gerudo, so… it's out of the question!" She stuck her nose in the air. Link chuckled at her childishness. Zelda noticed something then – a hardening of the brow, jaggedness of the shoulders that she hadn't noticed before.
"Say, Link… are you…?"
The other looked at her, head cocked slightly. Without thinking, Zelda reached out, taking Link's hand in her own. With the other hand, she touched Link's face, getting chalky makeup on her fingers as Urbosa had. The skin underneath was smooth, and the fingers between hers were slender. It must have just been her imagination.
Link watched her intently, a question on their face.
Realizing her actions, Zelda removed her fingers at once, swiftly dropping Link's hand. "It's nothing." I must be wrong. All that really mattered was the flowery warmth that had ignited inside her from the laugh she produced from Link. It was something she had seldom done for anyone unless for her job as a prized geisha called for it.
Link stepped away, and again Zelda felt a sense that she was sharper, bolder than before – but not by much. "I have to go."
This arrested Zelda's breathing. "Oh…?" Please don't go… Whatever it was she was feeling, it was as though Link was her connection to the life she could have – should have – had. Link took Zelda's hands in her own, bringing them close to her chest – close enough for Zelda to feel her roundness and stuttering pulse. Hers was much the same. "I'm sure you'll find your way, Zelda. Whichever path that may be."
Subdued, she nodded. "Yes…"
Then Link brought Zelda's fingers to her lips, pressing against the tips so softly that it left Zelda breathless, and only once Link had slipped away, whispering, "We'll meet again," she was left, wondering if it had all been a dream.
Link gone, Zelda couldn't shake the feeling that something had been off about her. But that wasn't it. She took her head in her hands, trying to slap herself out of it. What Link had said was true…
Trudging forward, she descended the stairs to the gardens below. Kicking off her delicate wooden shoes, she slowly pulled the knot from her hair. Golden locks cascaded over her shoulders, and she fell to her knees on the rocks by the stream. Seeing her reflection with the dancing koi, the white and golden fishes swished just out of her reach. She leaned forward, submerging her face in the water.
Gasping as she came up, Zelda scrubbed her face with both hands. If someone found her like this, she would be shamed. At the moment, she couldn't have cared less. Her scalp ached from her hair being tied back so tightly and, slouching forward, she loosened the sash around her waist with wet and dirty hands, allowing herself to breathe. She threw it aside, onto the grass.
Soaking up the moonlight, her sleeves dragged on the ground as she spread her arms, slinking out of her kimono, down to the frilly and thin white gown underneath. Feeling lighter than she had in years, Zelda dashed through the river as she made her way through the gardens, giggling like a little girl again.
Zelda didn't remember her parents, but she remembered what it felt like to be near them. Her memories of Lady Urbosa were sturdier, more concrete – but she couldn't forget the warmth of her home, of the place she came from…
Face, hair, and clothes sopping wet, Zelda sauntered through the gardens, bare feet arching to the cool stone path and damp dirt. The pale pink cherry trees hung over her dance, blocking out the light of the moon in a pattern of petals as she brushed chalk-stained fingers against bushes and flowers as she passed –
Until she came to the edge where the gardens ended and the forest began.
Zelda looked back at the party, still booming with laughter, and wondered, for just a moment, whether it was worth it.
Ready to turn back to the forest and make her great escape, that's when she saw the dark figure crouched low against the top of the teahouse, blocking out the stars. She squinted at first, wondering who it could possibly be, and gasped in surprise when she saw the dagger poised at Link's side, glimmering in the moonlight.
Her wonder vanished at the blue, hawklike eyes that surveyed those in the party down below.
OKAY, wow. So… I've had this fic planned for so long that I wondered if I'd ever actually get around to writing it. Here it is! Every time I've tried to write something for a video game in the past (especially The Legend of Zelda), it hasn't turned out, so… I'm hoping to break that cycle once and for all. Initially this fanfic wasn't even planned to be in the Zelda universe – since I first conceived it years ago, I decided it would be better to mold it to a *coughs* better different fandom. And of course, Breath of the Wild was just such a beautiful game, nhg. (No, I haven't gotten Champions' Ballad yet… but I'm hoping to!)
Please leave your thoughts below!