Warrior Princess
The warm sunlight poured down on my face, and the obnoxious sounds of a nearby crowing Cucoo pounded at my eardrums. It must have been morning already, although it felt like I had just gone to sleep. My hand fumbled around until I felt the fringe of my blanket. With a single swift motion I rolled over and threw the blanket over my head, hoping to shield myself from the world for at least another hour. "Oh no you don't." a familiar voice commanded. "C'mon sleepy head, time to wake up."
Zelda always was an early riser. When I was a kid, I'd stay at the castle often. It seemed like every morning she would be there to wake me up at the crack of dawn. "…no." I grunted childishly, cocooning myself in the blanket. I felt a brief tug on the blanket. "Alright, Get up!" I tugged back on the blanket with a grumble. "C'mon Zel, just a few more hours." "Oh No! As my Knight, you promised to protect me. And you're not protecting anything while laying in bed!" she had that commanding tone again. I let out a deep, annoyed sigh. Just as I was about to concede, I felt a hard tug at the sheet I was laying on. "GET UP!" she shouted as she ripped out the sheet from under me, rolling me onto the floor.
A bit dazed, I looked up. There was a blonde, slender girl towering over me with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face. She had, at some point, ditched the cloak. She was currently wearing a pink gown, decorated with fine jewels and a golden bird-like symbol on the front. Granted, it looked a little damp still and stained with mud. All of this was no doubt due to the long trek from the castle. She noticed me examining her. "What is it?" "You should really take that off." I said bluntly. She looked herself over before her face became flushed. She quickly covered hers sensitive areas, as if I were staring at her naked. "Link! Y-..You shouldn't talk like that!" Quickly understanding where she was going with that comment, I scoffed. "Oh, Zelda please! You know that's not what I meant! I mean if The Desert Man is looking for a princess, maybe you should look less like a princess!" She took a moment to consider my words, before the color in her face slowly began to return to normal. "Well… What else am I going to wear?!" she blatted, still covering herself and trying to sound angry. "Relax would ya? I've got an idea." I said, standing to my feet.
I dusted myself off a bit before walking across the house to a closet. "Dad said it belonged to a distant relative or something. I don't really know why he kept it." I explained as I began to dig through all the old junk that dad had kept in the closet. Before long, my hands touched the old, hard wood underneath some of my old kid's clothes. I fumbled around the large wooden object untill my hands met with a metal handle on the side. With a few hard tugs, I dragged out an old wooden chest from the closet. "Pretty sure this is it." I said before lifting the lid. The old hinges made a grinding sound as they were made to work since who knows how long ago. "Yeah, there's no mistaking this old thing." I said, grabbing one of the garments. It was some kind of top cover for the dull blue body suit piece that sat folded in the bottom of the chest. It looked like it had been a shirt once until the sleeves had been ripped off and it torn down either side.
Her light blue eyes seemed locked onto the large symbol embroidered into the chest of the garment. "Hey, can I see that?" Zelda asked, a hint of curiosity in her voice. With a shrug, I tossed the ragged piece of clothing to her. With seemingly little to no effort, she snatched it from the air the very moment it was in arms reach. In the same motion, she presented the ragged shirt in front of her and gazed intently at it the magnifying glass-like symbol embroidered on the front. "Zelda?" Upon hearing her name, she blinked a few times as if snapping out of a daze. "Sorry, just… I feel as if I've seen this somewhere before." She responded, dully, as if still concentrating. "It's not any royal symbol I've seen before." I thought aloud. "No, It's definitely not of the Royal Family. …it's something else. I just can't place what." She responded, her eyes still locked onto the shirt. "Well, I'm sure it will come to you. Just put the stuff on would ya?" She sighed in defeat. "Fine, but you're going to have to go outside while I change." She smiled playfully and stuck out her tongue. "Nice try though." I snapped my fingers "Curses, foiled again." I said sarcastically as I rolled my eyes.
I stood up, from the ground and dusted myself off. "Alright, if you need something, I'll be just outside the door." I said before pulling open the large wooden door and stepping out into the morning light, closing it behind me. I squinted my eyes as the warm, blinding morning sun hit my face. "Well, at least the weather's nice." I muttered to myself. I couldn't help but smile to myself, as I let myself be distracted by every last element of nature. The sound of chirping bird's filled my ears as I watched several of them sing while nesting in a nearby tree. Just then, a gentle spring breeze began to blow, playing with my sandy blonde hair. My nostrils were greeted by the smell of slightly wet grass. I always loved mornings after a good rain. The smell of moisture in the air on a warm spring morning to me was ecstasy. Just then a voice called to me. "Link. Uhm… can you help me with something." Zelda's voice called sheepishly. "Sure Zel" I responded, as I turned around and stepped back inside.
As my eyes re-adjusted, I saw her standing in front of the large vanity mirror I had leaning in the corner. What she had been wearing when I last saw her, was now lazily wadded up and tossed next to the mirror. The ragged shirt-like cover was draped carefully over the mirror the front symbol facing her. But once I laid eyes on her, it was all I could do to keep my jaw closed. She stood in front of the mirror, her back to me, practically half naked. Her chest was mostly bound in wrapping, but she still insisted on folding her arms to cover herself more. She clearly wanted this disguise to be convincing. She hung her head sheepishly, and her reflection in the mirror was a bit flushed. As I struggled for words, she muttered, clearly embarrassed. "I need help."
"I…uhh…-" I stammered "The stupid thing laces in the back!" She blatted. "Oh! Right! Yeah, hang on." I replied. I tried my best not to stare; she was my friend after all. "Ok… stay calm. It's nothing weird, she just needs some help." I thought to myself, taking a deep breath. As I stepped forward, I lost my focus. Through all her heavy dresses she wore all the time, I never really noticed she had such a wonderful figure. As I began to pay attention to her slender figure, and how the morning light glistened off her alabaster skin, she grabbed the top of the bodysuit that draped loosely on the floor, and yanked it up to her chest as she turned her back to me. She probably caught me staring, but it was enough to snap me back to reality.
I moved her, now braded, long blonde hair and helped her pull the suit on and over her shoulders. She adjusted the it to fit better before I grabbed the lacing that started at her lower back; I looped in through each of the sides and up her back. Finally, I jerked the gap closed and instantly heard a sudden grunt escape her. "Too tight?" I asked timidly. "No, its fine. I AM a princess, They cram me into stuff like this all the time." She said with an awkward smile. I figured she was lying, but I wasn't about to make a big deal out of it. "Right." I said somberly at the thought of what little royalty meant anymore.
I tied the strings together and took a step back. "Alright. Looks good." With that, Zelda turned on her heel and smiled. "So, do I look any different?" The bodysuit seemed to fit as if it were designed specifically for her. It hugged her body tightly, complimenting every aspect of her figure. "Uh… Yeah, a bit." Was all I felt I could say. I quickly began to feel the blood rush to my cheeks. "But we gotta do something about your face." I blatted. She raised an eyebrow, and spoke in an annoyed tone. "And WHAT exactly is wrong with my face?" "I didn't mean THAT." I shot back, choosing my words carefully. "Lots of people around Hyrule will recognize your face. We need to hide that." I turned around and began to scanning the room. "I'm sure I have a Happy Mask around here somewhere. We can use that." "Wait." She protested. "You want me to wear a mask meant for little kids?" she asked, clearly opposed to the idea. "Hey, if you have a better plan, I'm all ears princess." I teased. Unexpectedly, she responded. "Actually, I can just use this" she said as she took another cloth wrapping and began to slowly wrap it around her face, leaving nothing but her sapphire eyes and random parts of her golden hair peeking through.
"One more thing." She said, grabbing the loose shirt from the mirror and throwing it on over top. I took a step back and examined her. The shirt had a strange symbol on it. It looked like some kind of eerie-looking magnifying glass, with eye in the center of the glass. The shirt fit loosely, helping to mask her figure. "Hey, you ACTUALLY look like some kind of ninja warrior or something." I teased. "Now you just need a weapon." I said as I walked to the bed and grabbed my father's sword off the wall. "Actually…" she confessed. "My swordsmanship isn't very good, especially compared to you. You use it; I'm actually a much better archer than anything." She said sheepishly. Suddenly, an idea struck me. "Oh. …right. Uhm… just a sec." I said, as I reached under my bed and pulled out a long case. I knelt to the ground and slowly opened the case. Inside was a wooden long bow, with many royal symbols on it. Additionally, there was a quiver full of arrows.
Zelda casually strolled over, looked into the case and gasped. "Link. …it's beautiful. ..was that your-" "-It was actually mom's." I cut her off "Dad used to brag 'Your mom was the best shot in all of Hyrule. Not even the king's best archers can shoot half as well as she did.'" "Link I couldn't." "No. You take it. Mom would have wanted you to have it. …she always did like you. Dad too." I said, forcing a smile. "Miss Tetra, your mom. She… was always so nice." She said, as she carefully knelt next to the case, and lifted the weapon made of Hylian Oak. "It's so light." She murmured, almost entranced. Quickly, she snapped her head up, and her eyes met mine. "…I mean… Thank you." I couldn't help but smile. "Sure Zel. I mean, better than it rotting away in some dusty old case, right? And I can't use it. I couldn't hit a Dodongo from 10 feet away" Although somewhat embarrassed, I chuckled a bit at my own joke. "Sheik." She said calmly, gazing at the weapon again. I blinked a moment, confused at the word. "Huh?" I asked. "Call me Sheik, from now on." She said, looking up at me. I really couldn't read her expression, but I swore she was smiling.
"I see. You're really getting into this. Alright then Sheik, what's our next move?" I asked with another chuckle. She cleared her throat. "Well…" She began, her voice a few pitches deeper. "I say, we arm ourselves, and return to Hyrule Castle. There's an item there that will help us find The Hero." She said, grabbing the quiver of arrows, slinging it around her back. Had she lost her mind? Surely, there wasn't much left of the castle. "Ze-..Sheik. Are you sure that's…" "Trust me. There is one place in the castle even Gannon can't reach." I shrugged "Alright, If your sure."
Before leaving the house I had lived in for a majority of my life potentially forever, I packed a few quick things. Finally, as I walked to the front door, I glanced up above the door frame. Hung above it was a decorative wooden kite shield. It had the crest of the knight's of Hyrule engraved on it. It was probably a trophy or something ceremonial from my dad's academy days. I reached up and grabbed from the hanger and slid in onto the arm opposite to my sword arm. It was sort of light, and certainly wouldn't last long against any kind of swordsman. But it was better than nothing for sure. "Coming fearless Knight?" Zelda teased from the front yard. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm commin." I said, stepping out into the early morning daylight, closing the door behind me.