The Followings of a Hero and his Princess
Pairing: Zelink
Disclaimer: I do not own Zelda, it's characters, or the general gist of this story (kudos to Shooting star180 for letting me use your idea).
Summary: After Link and Zelda set out on their quest, they realize that their journey will take them far away from home, and up a dangerous mountain. But, if they want to succeed, they have to face dangers that they'd never imagine.
A/N It's chapter two! Thanks to those who reviewed, and to those who didn't, please make a little time to try. I've also discovered that everyone spoke in perfect (or near-perfect) grammar in the last chapter. Now I can see Zelda doing that, but Link, so I'm tweaking his speech a tad. Also, there's a little Japanese in Malon's entrance, just to give her character a little diversity. Ta!
Link's night was restless. He and Zelda had found a hidden place outside of Kakiriko village where the skeletons did not lurk to rest in. Zelda had fallen quickly asleep, for she was not used to constant travel. However, Link was too grief-ridden to close his eyes. Instead, he watched Zelda's body rise and fall with her soft, even breathing. Her blonde hair was splayed across the ground and her dress was already wrinkled. She looked so serene in contrast to the dangerous surroundings.
Link's own hair was a mass of blonde tangles and other miscellaneous forest things. His green hat was balled up and laying besides his other items. His forest tunic was still on, but he needed to wash it soon. He had left his boots beside his hat, and they were starting to wear thin. Link clenched his eyes shut in hopes to bring sleep on. It didn't come. Instead, he sat up and stroked a piece of Zelda's hair.
Zelda was the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on besides his best friend, Saria. It was rare to see such a girl, especially for Link. He realized that soon enough, her pretty face would be covered in scratches.
"I should take her back. But then she would hate me, and I can't have that." Link said. He was about to scoop her up and walk her back to the castle, but he refrained. He could already hear Zelda yelling,
"Link you sexist cucco! I can fend for myself!" Link winced at the sting of her imaginary words.
Link still wasn't tired an hour later. So he picked up the sleeping princess and carried her carefully to a safer place inside the village. After he was sure that she was safe, he turned and ran out into the field. As if his footsteps cued them, two stalkids popped out of the ground.
"Go away." Link sighed. He ran past them towards a large shape in the distance. As he did, the sun began to rise. 'Oh, great. Zelda's gonna wake up and realize I left her behind.' Link mentally groaned. Just as he finished the thought, a rooster crowed and the stalkids disappeared.
Link could swear he heard, far away, an angry female voice cursing him. He sneezed once and ran quicker towards the large shape. From his position, he could tell that it was building of sorts. He slowed down in front of the entrance to take it in. It was a ranch, Lon Lon Ranch to be exact.
"Might as well find out who lives here." Link reasoned. He took a few slow steps when he heard a scream. 'Oooh boy' Link mentally groaned and hightailed it into the ranch.
Link stumbled and stopped running to ready himself. He looked around the ranch and took a deep whiff of the farm air. He was about to walk into one of the doors, when he heard a scream.
"Ohayo!" a female voice screamed. Link, assuming it was Zelda come to assassinate him, he turned and ran deeper into the ranch. 'I'm gonna get it this time…' He thought in misery. However, in his train of thought, he collided with a girl.
"Itaii…" the girl groaned. She had fallen onto her butt and her red hair was in her face. 'Itaii…itaii….what does that mean?" Link scratched his head, but nothing came to him. The girl stood up and helped Link up.
"Daijoubu?" she asked. Link racked his brain, but nothing came to mind about what she was saying.
"Er, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious." He recited the first nonsense word that came to mind, not knowing that Mary Poppins would recite the word hundreds of years later.
"Oh, sorry. You don't speak Japanese, do you? I was expecting a foreigner to come look at our products. Oh listen to me, I'm rambling. My name's Malon!" the girl said cheerfully.
"Link." Link said, shaking her hand. Malon pulled her hand away quickly and looked at it.
"Your hands are rough, are you from the forest?" Malon asked. Link nodded. 'She seems really familiar.' He thought, trying to remember where they'd met. Most of his memory was of his and Zelda's conversation the other day.
"Have we, uh, have we met before?" Link asked. Malon rubbed her nose thoughtfully, then looked back at him.
"I remember! You woke up my father with that cucco I gave you. You're the fairy boy!" Malon cried. Link thought a moment, then remembered the few moments that they'd interacted.
"Yes, that was on my way to see the," Link paused, his face paling, "princess. Princess Zelda!"
"What's wrong, fairy boy?" Malon asked.
"The princess, she and I are... doing something today and I was supposed to go, um, meet her!" Link said, trying to cover his mission up as best he could. Malon tilted her head to one side.
"Are you two going out?" she asked seriously. Link's face reddened right to the tips of his ears. " 'Cause if not, I'm always available. Hee hee, just kidding." She winked and crossed her arms.
"Yes, well, I'll see you later Malon." Link nodded as he turned around.
"Come and visit me tomorrow!" Malon cried after his retreating back. Link gave no reply. Malon uncrossed her arms and sighed. She was about to turn and leave when a man came walking up the path.
"Ah, Miyamoto-san, ohayo!" she cried, rushing up to shake the man's hand.
"If that boy left me for the adventure, I'm going to-" Zelda said. She couldn't complete the sentence though. There was nothing she wanted to do to Link. She stood up and flopped back down again, as if about to do something, then deciding not to.
"Princess Zelda! Princess Zelda! I'm sorry that I was gone so long!" Link yelled. He was running up the stairs to Kakiriko's gates when he tripped and landed on his face.
"Where were you? I was worried that a stalkid had wandered up here and picked you off!" Zelda fumed. Link got onto his knees and rubbed his face.
"I was going to see who lived in the ranch. A girl I met on the way to see you came up and started speaking this weird language called Japaneesse or somthin' like that." Link said.
"Japanese." Zelda corrected and helped Link to his feet. Link examined himself for scratches and noticed that his shield had a crack in it.
"Damn it, my shield's cracking." Link swore, pulling the shield from his back and looking it up and down. "And this was very special to me." He groaned.
"Don't worry, I know a place where we can buy a sturdy shield. You wait here, and I'll be right back." Zelda said, heading for the exit. Link ran after her and grabbed her by the shoulder.
"Oh no you don't. I'm not lettin' you go anywhere without me. You could get hurt." He said sternly. Zelda shrugged him off and continued to walk down the path. Link ran up beside her.
"I'm perfectly capable of going by myself, but if you're too scared to stay alone, you can go." Zelda said. Link first looked exasperated, then angry.
"Wha-? I'm not scared! I just wanna make sure that you don't break a nail, princess!" Link cried. Zelda smirked, but kept walking down the path.
"You don't have to hide it, Link." She laughed. Link blew some air out of his nose and sat down where he was.
"I'll show you! See, I'm not scared, I'm-" he stopped, realizing he'd been duped by the princess. "Fine, see if I care when your left arm gets decapitated!" he yelled after her. All he heard was the princess laughing in victory.
About an hour later, Zelda returned. She was lugging a blue and white shield with interesting designs on it with her. Link ran up to her and took the shield. It was so heavy that he nearly dropped it.
"It's a little heavy, ne?" Link asked, hoisting it onto his shoulders and pulling off his old shield. He looked at it fondly one last time, and then set it against the gate.
"More than just a little." Zelda joked. She showed Link her palms and winced. A sharp part of the shield had bit into her hands, and there were two bloody lines streaking across her palms.
"I told you not to get hurt!" Link yelled. Zelda rolled her eyes as the two began to walk towards farther into Kakiriko.
"It's just a scratch. Plus, we have more important things to worry about now. Like, where the next Spiritual Stone is." Zelda said.
"You said there were three stones, right?' Link asked.
"Of course." Zelda replied. Link thought for a moment, pausing in midstep.
"What are they called? I know that the green one is Kokiri's Emerald, the Divine Stone of the Courage, but what are the others?" Link inquired, resuming his slow-but-steady pace.
"Goron's Ruby, the Divine Stone of Power, and, um…" Zelda paused to think. "Oh yes! Zora's Sapphire, the Divine Stone of Wisdom." She cried. The two were silent as Link contemplated the names.
"Isn't there a race called the Gorons?" Link asked. Zelda nodded. Suddenly, the thought hit her like a bag of rocks.
"Of course! The Goron's Ruby is on the top of Death Mountain, where the Goron's live! How could I have been so stupid?" she asked herself. She grabbed Link's hand and began racing towards Death Mountain.
"Zelda, this is dangerous!" Link yelled, trying to keep up with the girl.
"If the Goron's can live on Death Mountain, we can travel there. Plus, I'll have you, the great protector of the Triforce, there to keep us safe the entire way!" Zelda screamed back.
"No, I mean running this fast! We're gonna run into somebody!" Link replied. As if on cue, Zelda ran smack into the guard at the gates to Death Mountain. She and Link were sent sprawling across the ground.
"Ow…I'm so sorry, Mr. Guard sir." Zelda apologized like a little girl. She looked very flustered. Apparently, she wasn't used to being ungraceful. The guard looked sternly down at the two kids.
"You shouldn't be playing around here. It's dangero- Princess Zelda? Is that you?" the guard asked. He helped Zelda to her feet, leaving Link to get up on his own.
"Yes, it is." Zelda said importantly. Link smacked his hand to his forehead. 'So much for incognito.' He thought wearily.
"You should be careful around here, princess. You could get hurt running around with this maniac." The guard advised. Zelda smiled and nodded as Link fumed silently.
"We wanted to play a game on the mountain. Could you please open the gate?" Zelda asked, widening her eyes into a shining look of hope. The guard frowned, rubbing his nose.
"As much as I would like to let you pass, it's not safe up there with nobody to watch you." He said sternly. Zelda's smile twisted into a frown. She grabbed Link by the sleeve and pulled him over beside her.
"The Gorons will look over me. Plus, I have Link here to defend me." Zelda said, shoving Link into the guards face.
"Wha, huh? Oh, right. I'm the princess's guardian for now. She'll be safe with me, believe it!" Link yelled, pulling out his sword and hovering defensively around Zelda. The guard laughed and Link's face fell.
"Okay, Mister Hero. Protect the fair princess and mayhaps you'll win a kiss." He joked. Both Zelda and Link's faces turned red as the guard laughed. He opened the gate for them and nodded. The journey up Death Mountain had begun.
A/N Yayz! I know this was a quick update, but I'm on a roll here! Review! Please…