The scrapes and bruises from earlier in the morning still stung.
Zelda groaned as the spring water chewed at the welts. Who knew a wooden sword could hurt so much? She drew her right index finger along the thin strip of raised, reddened skin along the side of her neck. If he wanted to dissuade her from using weapons, this was a cruel way to do it.
Then she remembered just how cruel a knight's training could be and suppressed her irritation. He'd been through worse.
"Hurt now and learn from the pain," Zelda muttered. "Makes sense now. I may not have the opportunity to feel the pain later."
Two weeks after she'd been restored to her mortal form, heading to Kakariko Village from the castle proper provided a demonstration of this truth. They'd been ambushed three times by moblins and bokoblins, with only her knight and his collection of weapons there to prevent the creatures from having the both of them as their next meal.
Moving through the scattered townships and settlements drove the point even further home. Laws were nonexistent. Order, a thing of the distant past. If she wanted these things to return, she had to stop being a princess...
Water ran along Zelda's skin in rivulets as she stood from the hot spring. If nothing else, the session with him had been worth it just to arrive at the safer areas of Death Mountain. She'd never had the chance to see, much less take a dip in, the renowned heated pools. Angry red marks that once itched something fierce barely registered after the first hour. The other two hours were a sheer indulgence.
He'd want to begin again after they went back to Hateno, his base of operations for lack of a better term. Zelda doubted that she even wanted to continue. The scratches were fresh in her mind even with the fading pain and the fact that she was still in one piece was a moot point.
He'd said over and over that she was dead or dying. The welt on her left thigh? Her leg was bleeding out. The one just above her left elbow meant her arm was no longer there. Her head rolled on the ground from the clean strike to her neck.
She took in a breath as she headed for her ceremonial white dress, neatly folded nearby. No matter. Try again.
Faces flashed through her mind as she donned her clothing. Her father, gone. The Champions, dead. The Triforce within her was suppressed. Oh she could feel it still, it was there... but far too subtle. It wouldn't be enough.
She had to stop being a princess and turn into something greater. Her nobility would be earned again through wit and knowledge and martial skill, as in times past. Her father was not there to stop her from picking up a sword and donning armor. He wasn't there to stop her from learning about the world around her all over again.
Sad as it was to have him gone... now she could do something. She could take action.
Her brows furrowed and eyes narrowed. "Again, then. Until I get it right."
Kanto the Slayer presents
A Breath of the Wild fanfiction
Princess of the Wild
Zelda stood at-attention, a suit of wooden armor weighing her down just enough to make it difficult to stand straight. Every piece besides a helmet had been strapped on ten minutes ago. A Korok sword rested in a sheath on her right hip, with an intricate shield strapped to her back made of wood from the same forest. Nearby, a bow and spear of similar make rested in a well-carved weapon rack.
Link's face may as well have been made of wood as well. He betrayed no disdain or approval, but simply wore the mask of indifference as if he were born with it. He stood easily in the sky blue tunic that marked him as a Champion, along with a pair of cotton pants tucked into brown leather boots.
Necessary as it was, damn him for making her wear this, and forcing her to watch as he looked so comfortable!
Zelda stared back, her blue eyes trying to bore through him. She was used to seeing this face... and part of her did not care for it after having broken past it a century hence. But she'd seen a training session with the knights once, and the master-at-arms had this same look. She realized this for what it was...
...and it still made her unreasonably angry.
Link took in a breath after a full minute. "I want you to realize that you asked me to train you quickly in what you don't already know. So let's start with what you can do..."
He began to pace back and forth. "You already know how to live off the land, what's good to eat and what isn't, how to make elixirs and what clothes to wear. You know how to speak and how to act when things are going your way, and how to negotiate when they aren't. You know how to ride and how to navigate, no matter how you're getting where you're going."
Zelda suppressed her smile, just barely. So much for 'wasting time playing scholar', as her father put it.
Link stopped pacing. "Your training in these wasn't because of some tutor or schooling. That was all you. Even when King Rhoam asked you to stop, you kept going in secret. Because of that, we can skip the formalities. A knight isn't just a suit of armor.
"That said, I think he made a... well-intentioned error in preventing you from learning how to defend yourself in the slightest fashion. So when you ask me to train you quickly..."
Zelda almost frowned as Link shook his head. "Not saying it can't be done, but you are going to feel every last second of it. The reason I asked you to spar first was to see where you were at..."
She couldn't stop herself from looking away. It really was that bad.
"Did I say you could rest?"
Her head snapped forward again. Damn him!
Link took in a breath. "You aren't a child. Neither of us is, so I'm not going to treat you like one. It's why I'm not barking orders. But we're going to be clear about this." He paused for a second and folded his arms. "It's heavy, isn't it."
Zelda cleared her throat. "Yes, surprisingly so."
"Get used to it." Link smirked as he walked forward, pointing at the greaves, vambraces, pauldrons... "These will not be made of wood when you're fighting for real. So you are going to run, climb, and ride in this until you no longer feel the weight when moving around. You will not know when this is over until your body tells you it's over. I will watch you as you do this, and if you slack off..."
Link stopped, a good twelve inches away from her. "...you will start whatever you are doing all over again."
Zelda sported a grimace. That explained why he wouldn't yell: any mistakes on her part would serve as a fine deterrent. "May I ask something?"
Link nodded.
She paused for a moment, taking time to put the words in their proper places. "The Sheikah and the Gerudo have warrior cultures as well. Why am I not training with them?"
He chuckled. "Figured you'd ask that. The Gerudo won't let me in without certain... circumstances being met."
Well, there had to be a story behind that one. Zelda made a note to ask him later.
"The Sheikah are a different story entirely. They're extremely exclusive on who they train, especially now that there are fewer of them. The only reason I know how to sneak around is that Impa decided it was worth her time to teach me, and I can just as easily show you rather than you being sworn to secrecy about it." He sighed. "Either way removes the factor of observation on my part, and I'd rather not have that. Besides, once I teach you how to fight and move like a knight, other weapons will be a moot point as they all work the same way... more or less."
Zelda couldn't contain her smile this time. "More or less, you say...?"
Link sighed. "I won't go into particulars of the... other weapons I've run across. Suffice it to say you can pick up anything and use it once you know how." He nodded to the course behind her. "I had the Bolson Construction guys set up that for me. It took quite some time to do, which is why we've been just mucking about with wooden swords up until now."
Zelda turned to the series of ropes, ladders, and various obstacles. "So I'm supposed to do all this in my wooden armor."
Link glanced at her. "You saying you can't?"
Zelda paused for a moment, taking a good look at each task. "That sounds like a challenge to me. Are you certain you want to do that?" She rolled her shoulders. "Show me where to begin."
Let it not be said that she wasn't determined.
Like her surveys in the desert so long ago, she'd nearly passed out from exhaustion twice that day. Her stamina was at an all-time low due to an absolute lack of practical movement. It couldn't be helped, and Link said they had ways to improve on that.
Link refrained from speaking about the ancient shrines, saying they were something to be experienced. Zelda resolved to take him at his word. The time would come, and the ordeal with Ganon forced her to learn patience.
She considered all this as she stared at the ceiling, the smell of spiced meat and honeyed fruit invading her senses. Every last muscle that could register pain suggested that she not move quite yet, but it would have to happen sooner or later. Worse was the desperate need for a drink of water!
Alas, this was the bed she'd made, and now she had to lie in it. Quite literally.
"You good enough to come down yet?"
Zelda huffed and tried to move. She was barely able to get her feet off of the mattress and sit up, but her body obeyed her commands. "Surprisingly, yes. Smells good." She stood with agonizing lethargy and made her way down the steps, toward the tantalizing aroma wafting from the first floor.
Zelda walked past the second bed, just beneath the stairs. Link insisted that he get another made, still seeing it as improper for them to share a sleeping space.
Again, part of her was incensed for no real reason. A hundred years hadn't changed him one bit.
She kept it in for now as she sat at the table set for two. Her eyes widened at the presentation and she recalled just how much he loved to eat, and subsequently make, his own meals. The spicy pepper steak with the sweetened, simmered fruit on top of it, was new though.
"Well... when did you learn to do that?"
Link shrugged as Zelda took a seat. "Trial and error. It took getting sick twice to learn what not to do." He gestured toward the plates. "These were simple. I know a few others that aren't so easy."
She picked up her fork and took a bite of the fruit... and nearly melted in her seat. Oh, there was honey in this, and the apples and cherries were everywhere. The durians helped even things out. "Link, if this is what simple tastes like, then you can keep doing this and we'll be fine!"
He gave a mock bow. "Anything for my guests."
They stopped talking shortly thereafter, and five whole minutes passed without a word. Zelda put her fork down with a sigh. "Now I'll have to do something better than this. Not going to be easy." She looked up from her plate. "I've been hearing about the monster camps that have held over since we defeated Ganon. They seem to be organizing their raids, which is unusual for moblins and their ilk."
Link nodded. "They aren't usually that bright, yeah."
Zelda placed a hand under her chin. "Without a properly-armed force patrolling the area, we have no means of curtailing these threats, let alone stopping them entirely."
"I wouldn't say that." Link leaned back in his chair, precariously balanced on the rear legs. "I've snuck into a base once. Heavily outnumbered, and they still had no clue I was there. Took their leader out before they even knew what was going on. It ticked the lot of them off, but it also destabilized them for the most part."
Zelda blinked. "You're saying that if we remove the leader...?"
He leaned forward again and shook his head, the chair righting itself with a thud. "I'm saying we can remove the threat entirely, make it so that the leader, and everyone else, never hurts anyone ever again."
The table was silent for almost a full minute.
Zelda took in a breath. "I do not approve of this. But since there are no other alternatives, I suppose we will have to try. The Zora and Gerudo have not responded adequately enough, even after the Divine Beasts returned to our control. Now it's even more important that we prepare quickly. An attack could come at any time."
Link opened his mouth to speak, and then paused for a moment. "Even if I told you to stay where it was safe, simply because you weren't ready, you wouldn't listen. So yeah... we'll pick up where we left off tomorrow."
Zelda smirked. "Glad we have an understanding. I look forward to it."
Well, not really. No one should look forward to torture like she'd endured today. But she had to become something more.
If she didn't, Hyrule would never rise from the ashes of the Calamity.
Chapter 1: I Will Know the Weight of my Sword...
This is my attempt to get back into writing.
Timeline wise, this takes place before Champion's Ballad. I know it's not out yet. I do not care.
Thanks. Bai.