"Princess. Princess."
Zelda could hear the voice, even if it was quite far away from her, playful, teasing, yet
slightly demanding, but never too serious. She didn't stop though, or called back to the person,
but rather listened.
"Princess. Princess. I've come to see her today."
If the voice kept calling out to her her guards would come into her room, search the
castle for an uninvited intruder, not that Hyrule was facing any threat at the moment. But,
everyone always wanted to make sure that Princess Zelda was safe and out of harm's way, even if
she knew she was more capable of taking care of herself than the guards sometimes.
As she was brushing through her hair, in the reflection of her mirror she could see
movement just outside her opened window. Immediately she knew that had to be the voice that
was calling out for her.
First one hand covered in armor propped itself against the window, then the other hand
resting against the sill as well, and lastly a head peeked through, making Zelda instantly smile.
"Honestly, Link, it's alright to come through the front gates of the castle. I've told the
guards to leave you alone." She said to him as he was in her full view.
They'd always given her weird looks whenever Link made the journey to come and visit
her. Everyone thought she and Link were always up to something, that was for them to
determine, but Zelda knew that they simply had lovely evenings together, no more consisting of
what they thought the two young adults were up to.
"Can't forget my roots, Zelda. Gotta keep in shape, bustling." Link said back.
She went over to the window and sighed as she noticed he had his upper body propped
up on it, while his feet were desperately clinging to the vines that grew on the castle's exterior.
"Much easier than risking your life hanging here." Zelda said nodding in the direction of
the window. "So, tell me, what has my favorite Ordonian come for all the way over here?"
"Well-" Link started as he grunted slightly. "Princess, oh, princess, she needs to get out of
the castle, explore. Not be a princess for once and just be Zelda."
Zelda smiled at that.
Just be Zelda.
A lot of other people might have taken that as a hint for her to loosen up or something,
let go and be free, but coming from Link it held a completely different meaning to her. Link knew
who she was, how she was around him, how she didn't have to worry, or pretend and just relax
while she was around him. He knew things of her other's wouldn't, only confided in him and a
few others like her royal servants, her family, but that was about it. Link knew exactly how to
make Zelda feel like a normal person with no responsibilities, that's what had made her
appreciate him so much.
"I like that. I'll meet you downstairs in a few minutes." She said to him.
"Great!" Link began to heave himself up over the window until Zelda stopped him.
"Wow, Link. You climbed all the way up here to talk to me, it was quite romantic you
know? It'd be more romantic if you went back down the same way." Zelda said, though she was
teasing him.
"But-" Link looked back down outside, then towards Zelda again, his eyes big and
pleading.
"I'm playing with you." Zelda said laughing quietly as she pulled on his hand, helping her
friend into her room. "Careful with the guards, they might think you're up to something here."
The second Link opened her bedroom door, there stood a guard, all clad in his armor
and a spear at his side.
"Thought I heard a disturbance up here." He said gruffly, as he stared at Link.
"Hi, Sir!" Link said to the guard, giving him a quick pat on his shoulder as he ducked
underneath the man and slipped out the bedroom.
Of course Link had been casual with the guard, there was no reason for him not to be. It
wasn't as if she and Link were up to any of the things people thought they were. He'd simply
come to visit her, though his entrance was quite a different one, even she had to admit, but it was
his childish, playful behavior that made her enjoy Link, it wasn't ever a boring time with him.
They could be up to nothing and somehow they'd manage to make it into an interesting moment
together.
"He's an oddball."
"Well, that oddball saved Hyrule from Twilight, shadow beasts and the 'great'
Ganondorf. I'd say he deserves a nice word or two for putting his life on the line." Zelda said
defensively.
"I suppose."
"And me too, Sax. He saved me, not only that but he trusted me enough to help him in
his journey to vanquish the land of evil. So, I'd say that's two 'oddballs' you better apologize to. I
won't put up for it." Zelda continued.
Sax grunted at Zelda and made his way down the stairs back into the castle's main
rooms.
Deciding on light beige trousers and simply matching colored blouse Zelda made her way
down to the front of the castle gates, in which she saw Link holding a small tabby cat in his arms,
trying to convince a guard to pet it so that he could lighten up while on work.
"Ready!" Zelda said to Link.
"Princess, and where are you going with this man?"
"He said I'm a man." Link laughed in Zelda's direction.
"Don't let the castle town burn without me for a few hours. Hylia knows that's the last
thing we need." Zelda said.
Before the guard could respond Link had set the cat onto the floor, had grabbed Zelda's
hand and was dragging her around the castle town, bumping into people, though excusing
themselves, as they made their way out. Thankfully not too many people were
able to recognize Zelda if she wasn't in her usual princess garment, the only time they seemed to
only care about her being. Any other time she might as well be invisible to the crowd of people.
Eventually the two friends were outside of the castle town, standing at the opposite end of
the drawbridge.
"Got my beautiful lady here and Zelda right by my side." Link said.
"Excuse me?"
"Epona of course, and you too Zelda." He added as he petted his horse's mane.
"She's a bright stallion, not a one two hit she can't take in the face of darkness, thick and thin
she's my blood."
Zelda couldn't help but laugh at the way Link talked about Epona, like she was the best
present he'd ever gotten, but people couldn't understand why she mattered so much to him.
Without waiting for any of Link's help Zelda clutched onto Epona's saddle and hoisted
herself up onto the horse. "What are you staring at, bright stallion? Surprised a girl can get on a
horse on her own?" Zelda said.
"Right, yes, sorry, you know, it was Epona. Her beauty blinded me for a second, couldn't
tell if that was my horse or not." Link said as he climbed onto his horse shortly after.
"So, where are we going on this exploration of today, Mr. Link?"
"Secrets. Wouldn't be a surprise if you knew." Link answered as he steered Epona into the
direction he wanted to be going in.
Zelda noticed as they passed through deserted fields, the shrubs growing here and there,
wild, but harmless animals playing or grazing in the grass. She looked over her shoulder and
could only see mountains, telling her that they were far far away from the castle.
The sun was high in the sky, beaming down on the two of them, bathing Zelda in
warmth, nature. A natural warmth she hadn't felt in days. She'd be outside of course, talking to
the townspeople, asking them if they needed her assistance with anything at all, but she rarely got
the chance to go further than castle town, unless she was with someone to watch over
her, and she felt that annoying. It was like she was the positive coin of public enemy number one,
only instead, everyone wanted to make sure she was safe within their presence, knew exactly
where she was.
But with Link right now, she was truly seeing and enjoying everything. Taking it all in,
these were the rare moments she got every few weeks.
"Nearly there." Link said.
He'd been so quiet on their way to the place that his voice had startled her.
That had been kind of him. The fact that Link knew this was Zelda's moments of
solitude, he wasn't bothering her with conversation, though she was sure that would be ending
quickly, let her enjoy the moments she didn't get.
"Thank you. Now, where are we?"
Link nodded, as if knowing exactly what she had meant. He got off the horse first,
though, and held out his hand for Zelda to take as she left Epona's saddle as well.
"Secrets all around us Princess. Secrets. Shall I remind you that we're exploring today,
so no complete set destination, the world's yours, don't stick to one thing. Adventure that's my
middle name."
"More like hero of a thousand lives, Mr. Link." Zelda said slyly.
"A thousand and one. It's no easy job being the chosen one." Link said smiling but
shrugging his shoulders.
Link led them inside a big two story house centered against a cliff.
The house was completely empty, minus the one latter propped to climb up to the second
floor.
Zelda looked around and heard weird pecking and clucking noises. It wasn't until she
stepped further into the house that she saw a few stray cuckoos walking around.
"Cuckoos. Link, what are we doing?"
Whatever he had planned, Zelda knew it would be ridiculous, no good could come of
this.
"Grab one, it'll be fun."
"This is so un-princess like."
"Yeah, you're right." Link said slowly, though he paused. "But, I can't believe Zelda is
denying herself some fun." He added a wink.
Zelda stared at Link for a few seconds, taking in his words, before she rolled up the
sleeves on her blouse and dove after one of the cuckoos, which managed to fly away from her
last second.
Link couldn't help but laugh.
She attempted her second try, and nearly caught the cuckoo completely, had held some of
it's feathers in her hand, but it still flew away. Zelda sighed. She was the princess, for Hylia's sake,
she could do anything! She helped bring Ganondorf to his demise and bring back light to Hyrule
, no easy task, yet this. A cuckoo. It was turning out to be her most ironic nightmare.
"Told ya they were wild, crazy things." Link said.
She'd remembered all of Link's story describing how the cuckoos every now and then
planned attacks on him at unsuspecting times.
Again she dove after one, this time slamming hard onto the floor, but she gripped her
hands tight against the cuckoo, and although it tried to wriggle out of her grasp Zelda would not
let it.
"Finally." She said to herself. "Now...what?" She was afraid to know the next plan of
action.
Link went over to an edge that looked over Lake Hylia, an odd looking man dressed in
bright, colorful clothes stood nearby with his hand out as he counted off rupees.
"Those platforms there, yeah?" Link said looking at Zelda. "This cuckoo right here is
your parachute, that's your landing pad."
Zelda could tell Link was serious based on his honest and straight face.
Zelda sighed at him. "Sometimes I hate the things you think up of."
"Sometimes."
"Let's go let's go, step right up for the fight of your flight. Its the safest and most fun way
to reach the lake and take in what it has to offer. No worries my dear, it's completely safe, I've
only seen one or two accidents myself." The owner said.
"And what would that be?" Zelda demanded.
"Oh, nothing too horrible my precious. Simply a customer lost their grip on their cuckoo
and went POOF right into the water!"
"Poof Zelda!" Link said excitedly.
"Say poof one more time and you're going into the water." She hissed at him.
There came complete silence from all three of them.
"Poof." Said the owner.
Zelda turned to him and said, "Thank you," before setting her cuckoo down and pushing
Link over the edge of the platform. She saw him, unfortunately for her, slowly plummet
through the air, his cuckoo making him glide through the gentle breeze of the day.
She could hear him laughing crazily, though she knew he was worried about dropping
into the water from too high. She could see Link trying to hold his grip on the cuckoo, and
every time he moved slightly he and his cuckoo would drop a dramatic, but slow height, his
weight bringing the two of them down.
Eventually Link landed on one of the many platforms and opened a chest that awaited
him. He looked upwards towards Zelda, and held out some rupees, though she could not make
out how much, as he waved his hands up in the air in a victorious manner before jumping into
the lake's water.
"How much was that?"
"100 rupees my dear sweets."
She just handed Link a hundred rupees for simply pushing him over.
"Is the plunge going to be taken?" The owner said.
Zelda glanced down at the lake and sighed. Link did say they were here for adventures.
She had never flown through the air with a cuckoo before, and however dangerous and
ridiculous that sounded and seemed, it was an adventure and thrill after all, whether she deem it
a good or bad one.
Gripping her cuckoo even tighter she let her feet miss a step and she was floating through
the air, although screaming all the same. She was crazy, Link was crazy. Who would've
ever thought this was a smart idea? Who had thought one day to grab a cuckoo and just see if
it could fly with a human? She feared what had happened to the person to ever first attempt that.
The cuckoo was flapping, trying to keep them afloat while squawking into
Zelda's ears.
Her guards would've killed her, her servants, all the townspeople. The princess risking her
own life for a good laugh and some fun, preposterous it would've been if they'd known. But right
now, Zelda wasn't really thinking about that, she was enjoying the view though, the vastness
of the pure crystal lake, the small hilltops with grass swaying side to side, a playful circus like
tune erupting through the area, all peaceful and happy, no one to bother her.
She completely missed one of the landing platforms and had splashed straight into the
water, as she emerged she saw Link a few feet away, paddling in spot but laughing at her
misfortune.
"Shut up." Zelda muttered to Link.
"No can do my Princess." He said, though smiling.
"You're such an idiot, Link."
"Hey, I'm not the one who pushed my friend off a platform ages away from a lake bed."
He retorted.
He did have a point, Zelda said nothing on it.
Again Link was quiet, minus some of the swooshing as he let his arms and legs keep him
from sinking into the lake. Zelda appreciated it, how he was letting her take this in. She knew of
the lake, but again, never had the chance to visit.
Zelda closed her eyes and let nature take her on a journey. Her ears opened up to the
playful music, while also focusing in on the chirps of birds that sang into the distance, as the
the lake's soft flow washed against her body, cleansing her of all the responsibilities she held an
hour or so ago. It was like she was being reborn, experiencing life in a new manner, a manner
only Link knew of too well, one that was foreign to Zelda.
"Alright, Princess-"
"I'm Zelda to you." Zelda said back.
"And I'm Mr. Link to you, so I can call you Princess." Link said.
Link knew Zelda found it annoying that he, her friend, called her Princess, it felt too
formal, that's why they had their odd nicknames for each other. It made Zelda feel normal,
human, unlike a leader, just any old person she was to Link.
"Time to really have a view." Link then pointed to a single tower that stood in the
distance.
Zelda shook her head, outwardly letting him know she found this once again out of
place, but inwardly she was looking forward to it, to how Link saw everything.
They climbed the sloping hills and then a ladder to get to the tower, and once up there
Zelda stood firmly in place and let her eyes glue onto everything she saw. If she was amazed by
the sight from flying down with the cuckoo it didn't compare to the simplicity of seeing
everything from the tower. They had a full vantage view of everything, the funhouse, lake and
slopes spread over them like a pop up book, each sight a vibrant new color, things Zelda was
deprived of, though not entirely.
"Soooo, Princess, what do you say?"
"It's beautiful, I can't believe you get to see these things all the time."
"Hey, not without its bad sides. My first visit here I nearly plummeted to my death as a
wolf and Midna riding on my back as the bridge I had been standing on was put on fire." Link
said.
"Yes, thank you for almost dying, Mr. Link, or else we wouldn't have any of this right
now."
Zelda sat down on the cold stone and continued to look at everything. Link eventually
sat down too and was simply marveling at everything, a small smile creeping on his lips.
She could tell Link was always appreciative of the little things that came his way on his
journeys, how he never seemed to take it for granted.
Slowly, and carefully, Zelda rested her head against Link's shoulder, letting herself relax.
She could see his attention had been changed as he looked far off into the Gerudo
desert.
"Do you miss her?" Zelda asked him quietly.
He was silent for a long time.
"I think it was easier for her, for us, to miss her if she knew we'd never see each other
again." Link answered.
"How so?"
"Longing. If you know someone you loved, if they're going off to some place to live their
life, most likely you won't ever see them again for years. You don't think all the time about
them, Princess, but when you do, its like a kick to the gut by a goat."
"You would know that feeling." Zelda laughed, hoping that would ease the tension.
"Yeah." Link said with a smile.
He'd always tell Zelda stories of the kids from Ordon, how they looked up to him, the
adventures they always wanted to go on with him, the way he was a farm boy, living amongst
animals, in tune with them.
Zelda gently wrapped one of her hands around Link's and squeezed it.
"Thank you, Link."
"Any time, Zelda."