A Ride With Epona
I own nothing related to The Legend of Zelda
A note: This is the first Zelda fic I have written. I hope you enjoy it! I'm writing it for a friend of mine who has been begging or weeks me to write a Link/Zelda fic. There is plenty of suggestive material in chapter 2 (and a bit in this chapter) so please don't be reading if you aren't part of a mature audience!
Hyrule was a majestic place during the Autumn months. The trees swirled with colors of bright red, sunset orange, squash yellow and nutmeg brown. It was truly a spectacular sight throughout the land. Today, was one of those beautiful fall days in Hyrule. The country was at peace and the people were jubilant. It was early morning and a strong and well rested Link was preparing his beautiful horse Epona for a ride. He would first be taking her to Hyrule castle where the beautiful Princess Zelda awaited him. After all, he was her lover and what better would make the day than riding off into the Autum air with his beloved Princess? It was hard to believe that Link was 20 years old now and eventually destined to marry into the royal family. Link abandoned his hero green color that he so typically wore for a simple white tunic and brown pants today. He made certain he had everything for the days' events ahead: carrots and apples for Epona, a change of clothes, his travel pouch, a canteen of water and of course, rupees; the accepted currency throughout the land of Hyrule and its neighboring territories.
Link bridled Epona and mounted her to leave. The pair slowly trotted through the trees, there was no reason to rush her on a day like this. Link could feel the autumn wind in his sandy blonde hair. He was so excited for the day ahead. In the palace, a simply clad Zelda made certain she had her bag ready for her day out with link. She was in her room with the window open. Zelda was anticipating the day to come. She didn't know what link had in store all she knew is that she needed a change of clothes and it would be her first time on Epona. It was strange, she had been with Link for over a year and yet she had never ridden Epona with or without him before. She looked at herself in the mirror and brushed her long brunette hair. The castle was quiet today, the guards had little to do and Zelda was alone to herself in her chamber. She liked it that way, days she knew it would be just her and Link. Days when she could be in her room and fantasize about him…the things they did together…and of the things they did after dark but she would never speak out loud to anyone. Sometimes Zelda caught herself drifting off in thought to the point where she would have to snap back to remember what she was doing in the first place. Right now was one of those moments. The sound of horse hoofs startled her.
"Link!" she said to herself. Zelda quickly closed her bedroom window, threw her hairbrush in her bag, picked it up and flew down the stairs. She nearly tripped over the last few steps as she hurried away to the door. Zelda pulled the side door of the palace open and quickly entered the courtyard. From the courtyard Zelda tried to jump high enough to see over the wall to see where Link was approaching. However, she was unsuccessful. Instead she left the courtyard and headed immediately to the main entrance to pull its massive doors wide open. It was a good decision because there was the man she loved, riding up alongside the places moat. Zelda used her strength to shove the massive door closed before carefully crossing over her own makeshift bridge that she made over the moat.
"Link! Link!" she called to him tripping up the bank only to regain her footing once outside the gleaming white palace.
"Zelda!" Link yelled at her waving with one arm and slowing Epona with the other. Zelda's face lit up at the sight of Epona standing still and Link quickly sliding off of her. "Zelda." He said all smiles now that he was face to face with his beautiful princess. It didn't take long for the two of them to end up in one another's arms in a deep and earnest kiss. The two hadn't seen each other for nearly two weeks due to official business in the palace of which Zelda had to take part. It was a long overdue kiss.
"I've missed you." Link said to her softly.
"And I you." Zelda answered him reaching her arms tighter around him. "I've been so excited for our day together.
"Here, come meet Epona. She's sweet." Link said taking Zelda's hand towards Epona. Zelda looked at Epona's sweet big black eyes. "Go ahead, pet her. She's very gentle." Link said petting Epona. Zelda carefully lifted her hand to Epona's muzzle. She stroked Epona's nose softly. Epona's ears faced pleasantly forward. Zelda smiled.
"She's nice isn't she?" she asked.
"Of course she's nice. Epona is a very gentle horse. So do you have everything I told you to bring today?" Link asked her taking her in his arms while Zelda petted Epona.
"Yes, I did. Everything is in this bag." She said taking it off her shoulder and handing it to Link.
"Good. Okay, now here's what we're going to do. You're going to mount Epona first and I'm going to get behind you. Go on, you can do it by yourself." Link encouraged her. Zelda had ridden other horses before, but not very often. Still, she was confident though Epona was bigger than other horses she had ridden. Zelda took hold of Epona's bridle and tried to throw her leg over Epona's back but she was unsuccessful simply because Epona was too large a horse. Zelda laughed. "Come on! Help throw me on her!" Zelda asked of Link. Link willingly swooped her off the ground so that she could get her leg over Epona's back. Zelda laughed and petted Epona again. Link mounted Epona behind Zelda and reached around her to take Epona's reigns.
"So why am I in the front?" Zelda asked as Link turned Epona away from the palace.
"So I can do this…" Link said putting his arms around Zelda and burying his lips into her neck. Zelda wasn't going to deny for a minute that she loved it when he did that.
"Hold on because we're going to speed up." Link told Zelda holding on to Epona's reigns with one arm and Zelda with the other.
"So where are we going today that I needed to bring extra clothes?" Zelda asked as Epona gained speed.
"You'll see soon enough." Link reassured her. Epona had now reached her peek speed and now the three of them were traveling across the autumn-swept land. They rode far from the palace following the river's path. They would ride for a couple hours before reaching their destination.
"Link, we're following the Zora River are we going to Lake Hylia?" Zelda asked.
"You'll see, just wait until we get to our destination. The path that followed the river grew narrower and so Link slowed Epona's pace down. Zora's River was beautiful and the falling leaves made continuous ripples in the water as the wind blew them from the trees before they came to rest in the river. The farther upriver they traveled the deeper into the Zora's Domain they entered. Instead of turning Epona toward Lake Hylia as Zelda had thought they would do, Link continued to follow the river with Epona until they reached a seemingly unnoticeable path that led into the mountainous range that surrounded Zora's Domain.
"Okay, there are very few that know where this path leads. One of the Zoras showed me this path a few years ago. It leads into the mountains but I'm not going to tell you what it leads to but I know you'll like it. Zelda turned and smiled at Link before kissing his neck.
"You do know me well." Zelda said rather dreamily. Link led Epona slowly up the narrowing path. The higher up they traveled the cooler the autumn air became. A soft breeze began to move. Zelda could hear a faint roar in the distance but she didn't yet question their destination. The farther up the mountainside they traveled the louder the roar became. "Link? Is that…..do I hear a waterfall?" Zelda asked her voice a little louder due to the roaring noise. The air around grew cooler faster. Link could feel Zelda's skin react to the cool air. He slipped his hand over her eyes.
"We're almost there." Link said to her softly before kissing her neck. After only a short distance Zelda felt Epona come to a halt and could now hear the loud roar of what had to be a waterfall. Link pulled his hand from Zelda's eyes. She gasped.
"Oooh! Oh Link….this is beautiful!" Zelda said grabbing his hands and pulling his arms around her. What she saw before her was tumbling water that fell into a lagoon below. Water lilies grew among the banks.
"I knew you would like it. I think it's beautiful here." Link said resting his head on Zelda's shoulder.
"Come on, let's give Epona a rest." Link said sliding off Epona and putting his arms around Zelda to pull her body into him. Of course, he wouldn't release her before kissing her first. He let her go and led Epona to a nearby tree where he tied her reigns to a branch. "Here, you want to feed Epona?" Link asked Zelda handing her an apple without giving her much of a choice.
"You know I can't believe the zoras showed you this beautiful place. It's just picture perfect." Zelda said petting Epona as she ate at the apple. "Hey, would you hand me…" Zelda stopped talking as she turned around and noticed Link bare chested before her. She hadn't seen him for two weeks and now here they were in an isolated zora lagoon and him shirtless?! What the hell was he trying to do to her!? She was just staring at him now and she wasn't even certain if her mouth was hanging agape or not. As if it were the first time they had ever been together, Zelda felt her body tingle all over.
"What?" Link said smiling at her and laughing lightly at her. He must have caught her secretly wishing he would throw her down in the mossy earth that surrounded them and have his way with her.
"Oh…uh…nothing." Zelda smiled feeling herself turn red. She knew if a zora would dare catch Zelda in a 'compromising position' there would be hell to pay. This was clearly not the time or the place yet at this point Zelda wanted the man she loved to the point where she could hardly hold herself from him.
"Come on, the water will be cold at first but you'll get used to it." Link said carefully making his way down the hillside bootless preparing to jump into the lagoon below.
"I'm sorry….what?" Zelda asked a bit alarmed that Link wanted her to jump into the cold water with him.
"Come on! You brought a change of clothes, right? This is why I wanted you to bring them. Now come on, take off your dress and jump in!" Link told her. Zelda felt her mouth go dry. She very well knew that what Link meant was take your dress off and just wear your slip into the water but the way she twisted it in her mind was 'take off your dress and everything else and jump in'. Zelda closed her eyes for a moment.
"Tame yourself." She whispered to herself biting her lower lip. She watched Link's now soaking wet body as he glided through the water. Zelda unhooked her dress in the back and fumbled with the zipper until she worked it down. She glanced over at Epona to see that she was now peacefully resting. "So, can I jump in from here? Will I hit any rocks under the water?" Zelda asked walking down the path. Only she didn't get an answer right away. She placed her hand on a tree and looked up only to see Link's eyes all over her. Of course, it was no wonder. You could see everything she had on and then some underneath her paper thin silky slip. He noticed her brunette hair falling untamed around her shoulders and one thin strap of her slip falling off her shoulder revealing her bra underneath. He thought she had never looked more beautiful than she did in this moment with the mist coming up from the water surrounding her.
"Link? Am I going kill myself on any rocks?" Zelda asked again.
"Huh? Oh…OH! No! No, no you're fine to jump in there." Link said snapping out of his trancelike state. "Here, I'll swim over there. I'm going to grab you when you come up after you jump in." He told her not really giving an option in this matter.
"Alright." Zelda answered and without warning plunged from the side of the hillside path into the colder than expected water. As stated, when Zelda came up for air Link had his arms around her. But right now she was squeezing his shoulders with her eyes as wide as plates.
"Oh my god, Link! You didn't say the water was FREEZING!" Zelda shrieked through shaking teeth. Her arms trembled and she was covered in chill bumps. "Oh my god! This air is so cold!" She said laughing yet mortified at the temperature at the same time. Link laughed at her.
"Here…you'll get used to it." Link now had her tightly wrapped in his arms. Zelda responded by holding on to him. Not only because she was freezing but now she could get as close to him as she had wanted to most of the morning.
"Where are you taking me? Oh my god, don't you dare touch my back to that cold rock! Link….are you going to…..oh my god that rock is cold I can tell! Link! LINK!" Zelda was getting nervous as Link took her over to the edge of the waterfall and threatened to lean her back against the rock wall where her feet could touch bottom. Link was just laughing at her reaction to this situation. "No! No! No! No! No. Oh my god…no! That's….eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" Zelda squealed as Link pressed her back into the cold rock. "Oh my god! That is so damn cold!" Zelda felt cold chills tear through her but she also felt Link's lips on her neck and his arms around her waist. She couldn't help but wonder if he could feel her ice cold nipples shoving through her bra.
"I hope so much that you have a blanket somewhere in that damn bag of yours that you attached to Epona." Zelda said through chattering teeth even though she loved the feeling of his lips on her neck.
"Yes, I have a blanket. Don't worry. You can wrap up in when we're on our way to our next destination today. See, I completely planned on you being freezing cold. Because then you have to get that much closer to me." Link told her. Zelda placed a wet hand on his face and kissed him hard. She loved the way he returned the fire in her kiss. Link tightened his arms around her waist. He could feel her hand leave his face and snake its way down his back as her other hand crept up his side to meet it. Link pulled his lips barely away from Zelda and leaned his forehead against hers.
"I've missed you." He told her softly. Zelda didn't answer instead Link felt her pull him hard into her kissing him again; her fingers digging into his back. He didn't mind, in fact he welcomed such a response from her. For a moment Link thought about caressing every curve Zelda had but quickly reconsidered as much as he disagreed with himself. He knew that if he dared put his hands anywhere that he wanted to this would escalate to the point where they would both fall out of favor with the zoras should one of them come to the lagoon to fetch water lilies for the kings hall. Finally, Link forced himself to pull himself away from Zelda's warm embrace.
"Come on. We need to go. The afternoon is fading and we're expected in Goron City tonight." Link told Zelda smiling as he grabbed her hand and pulled her through the cool water to the other side of the lagoon.