A/N: Oh hey look, an update. I'M SO SORRY GUYS, I KNOW IT'S BEEN A HELLA LONG TIME. I suck at updating okay.
Hopefully this chapter is quality enough for all of you! Enjoy!
Also, here's the disclaimer I always forget: I DO NOT OWN THE LEGEND OF ZELDA OR ITS CHARACTERS.
I was far away from the inn when the hilarity of the previous situation sunk in, causing me to almost fall off of Sprinkles from how hard I was laughing.
Norreen's reaction. Her confused stuttering, how she broke the vase she on her desk from flailing and trying to run after me, and how her eyes seemed to pop out of her head.
My laughter lasted for at least 5 minutes, and in that time I decided it best to dismount sprinkles and use him to keep my balance while I laughed. When I finally stopped, I noticed that Sprinkles was giving me this 'you're a fucking idiot' look.
"It was funny." I stated defensively, crossing my arms. In response my horse blew air out of his nose, and looked away. "Fine. Be that way." I said, getting back on him and lightly kicking him to make him go.
After a few hours of riding Sprinkles through Terrains De L'errant I was starting to get extremely bored. Everything looked the same. There was only patches grass and the dirt path that we were on, with the occasional tree, rock, or increasingly rare random building. We hadn't passed a village, forest, or other generic landmark since leaving the inn. Without a landmark that could be located on the map we were, by definition, lost.
Oh, and on top of being lost, I still haven't encountered any goddamn gypsies.
I blew my bangs out of my face in frustration, shifting my gaze from the path to the grassy area on the right to see if there was anything interesting. Nope. Just a gypsy...WAIT, WHAT?
My head whipped back to the right. Sure enough, hiding not-so-discretely behind a rock and staring at me, was a gypsy. We shared a minute of eye contact before she jumped up, flashed a big smile at me, and started running away. I sat in shock for a few minutes before making Sprinkles chase after the direction she ran in.
And I must say, it was a good chase. She was extremely fast, and kept a constant distance of a few yards between us. Every so often she glanced back to check that I was still behind her. If I didn't know any better, I would think that she was trying to lead me somewhere...
I was brought out of my thoughts when I saw a strange silhouette in the distance. The girl noticed it as well, because she seemed to speed up. I tried to make Sprinkles go faster, but he gave an exhausted whinny and stayed at the same speed. It didn't matter much though, because the girl slowed back down after gaining only a few more feet of distance between us.
The shadowy outline on the horizon grew clearer and clearer with each passing minute, and soon I could actually tell what it was.
It was a camp.
As we got closer, I could make out some more details. There were many tents set up with people wandering amongst them. Soon we were actually within the camp, and I could see all of the people. I noticed that a majority of them were extremely tan with red hair, like the Gerudo, although, there were some that looked as if they were from Hylian or Sheikah descent as well.
People stopped and stared at me as I passed, some even whispered or pointed.
As much as I loved the attention, it was rather unsettling. It wasn't a "Oh look! A newcomer" type of welcome, it was more of a "Look. It's a person we've waited to see for a long time." kind of thing. I tried to just ignore it and continue on.
"Ah. I've been expecting you." I heard a voice say, causing me to jump. I looked around for the source of the voice, seeing an elderly woman standing a few feet in front of me.
"Wait. What do you mean?" I asked as I dismounted my horse.
"Follow me." She said, ignoring my question. How rude. I'm a princess for crying out loud! All of my questions should be answered when I ask them.
I grumbled a few curses to myself bitterly, but followed her nonetheless. She led me through the camp and into a large and elaborate tent.
"Stay here." I said to Sprinkles before I went inside.
The woman was in the center of the room, sitting on a cushion at a table. She glanced at me, and motioned for me to sit on the cushion opposite of her. Once I sat down, she spoke. "Hello Princess Rosemarie, my name is Everilda. I am the leader of this caravan."
"How do you know who I am?"
Once again she ignored my question, and instead asked one of her own."What are you doing all the way out here?"
"That's not really any of your business, is it?" I snapped, causing her to laugh.
"I suppose it's not. But you should tell me anyway. Don't worry, I can keep a secret." Everilda said, smiling kindly at me.
I sighed in defeat. Her smile made all of my unease disappear, and I felt like I could trust her. "There are a lot of reasons why. Mostly, I just had to get away from the castle. Away from my life and everyone in it. I want to make a name for myself, since my existence is basically a secret right now."
"What do you mean, child?"
"Well I'm a princess, and I've only met a handful of people who actually know who I am..."
"Oh Rosemarie, many people know of you."
I let out a hollow laugh, "Oh yeah? Like who? And for what exactly? Because if it's for being a princess, then that's a lie."
"I am not the person to answer those questions."
"What? Why not? Who is?"
"Everything will be clear to you in due time."
The way she avoided answering my questions really frustrated me. I resisted the urge to cross my arms and glare at her, and instead tried to calmly ask her another question. However, as soon as I opened my mouth, someone interrupted me.
"Madame Everilda! Guards from Hyrule Castle are here searching for the princess!" A young girl panted out as she burst into the tent.
"So soon?" Surprise crossed Everilda's face
"They said some woman named Norreen tipped them off."
I swore under my breath. I knew that whole ordeal with Norreen would come back to haunt me. Panic instantly started to rise inside of me. What if these people hand me over. I looked nervously at Everilda. She looked completely calm.
"I see. Tell them I shall be out in a moment." Everilda said, getting up and walking across to the girl. "Take Rosemarie with you to your tent. Give her some of your clothes; change her hair, her make-up, anything to disguise her. And most importantly, do not be seen by the guards."
The girl nodded, and walked quickly to the back of the tent, where there was another door, and motioned me to come over. I walked over to her, and she grabbed my wrist and started sprinting, dragging me behind her.
"HEY!" I shouted in surprise.
"Shhhhh" She hissed, looking back at me, "Do you want to get caught?" I shook my head, "That's what I thought. Now come on, faster." She increased her speed, and I struggled to keep up with her.
We were running so fast that everything else was basically a blur. I didn't even notice that we were inside of another tent until the girl threw a two piece outfit at my face. I caught it and looked at it with distaste.
"You want me to wear this?"
"Yes."
"But. It's so skanky." I wrinkled my nose.
"Thanks for insulting my clothes. Just put it on." She growled, obviously agitated by my comment. I decided it would be better to not argue with her any more, and changed into it. As soon as I was done, she roughly pushed me into a chair and started doing my makeup. "Hold still." The nameless girl commanded. She finished quickly, and handed me a small, slightly see through veil that would cover the lower half of my face. I put it on, and she pulled my hair into high ponytail. "Now stand up."
She walked a circle around me, and was about to say something when a small girl ran in and shouted,
"SISSYYYY, they're coming."
"Shhh, Saphy." Another girl said calmly, following the younger one inside.
"Well, looks like this is going to have to do. Okay, Rosemarie, listen up. My name is Emerald, and this is Sapphire," She motion to the youngest, "And Amber" She motioned to the older girl. "and you are our sister..." She paused tapping her chin. "Amethyst,"
"She can't be our sister, Emerald, she looks nothing like us." Amethyst pointed out. It was true, they were all tan with red hair, and I was pale with blonde.
"Shit you're right. Uhm. Well just say that you live with us, since your family was killed along with the rest of your caravan." Male voices grew louder with each second, and Emerald sighed, "Try to remember that. It should be fine."
"Should be?" I asked nervously.
"Hey, I'm not going to guarantee anything. Who knows, if you were friends with a guard he could be in this search party and know who you are just by looking at you and hearing your voice. Or, these could just be smart guards. You never know." Emerald said with a shrug.
My eyes widened, and I resisted the urge to hyperventilate. The young girl noticed my nerves, and took my hand, squeezed it, and gave me an encouraging smile. "Don't worry, they won't find out."
"Sapphire, don't promise her anything." Emerald scolded.
"But you were scaring her." Sapphire replied, defiantly crossing her arms.
"Tough." Emerald stated coldly.
Amber laughed and patted me on the back, "Don't listen to Emerald. It's going to be okay."
I gulped, praying to the goddesses that she was right.