Disclaimer: "The Legend Of Zelda" names, characters, places, etc. (C) by Nintendo. Original names, characters, places, etc. (C) by me.
Chapter 3: Mixed Feelings
Throughout the journey towards the Gerudolands Link and Zelda remained silent. Once in a while Link thought the Princess was trying to make eye contact with him, but every time he looked her she quickly averted her gaze to the road ahead. Not that that bothered him much. He was not really in a mood for conversation and actually felt quite content with Zelda being quiet for a change. It left him free to think about other things: How his wedding would be like, how much he already missed Malon, how they first met... Link's mind slowly wandered off into the fading depths of his oldest memories, calling forth a cascade of images he had hoped would never come back to the surface.
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"Link! Wait!" -......- "You were right, you know. A Hero shouldn't be distracted like that." -......- "Just leave me be you insensitive, primitive, boneheaded excuse for a man!" -......- "Link! Link! LINK!!!" -......
**********ma
"Link... Link!" Zelda called annoyed. "Were you even listening to me?"
Link shook his head and forced himself to return to the present. He looked at Zelda a little confused.
"I'm sorry, but did Your Highness say something?"
Zelda let out a growl of annoyance. She pointed towards the rocky area dead ahead which marked the beginning of Gerudo territory. Link had to do a double take. Had he lost track of the time that bad? He shook his head and nudged Epona forward, catching up with the princess. The sun had already begun to set and her orange light cast eerie shadows on the stones and boulders that flanked their path.
"I said that Nabooru is already waiting for us and you'd best behave yourself. Even with the non-aggression treaty our relationship with the dessert people is tense, to say the least. Both sides are taking a huge step here, with the Gerudos accommodating a member of the Hyrulian royal family. Even more so, because they are granting us safe passage across the desert."
"As my Princess commands," Link said half mockingly, bowing deep in his saddle.
"But aren't you and Nabooru both Sages?" he added, a little confused.
"I mean, if the two of you have that deep spiritual connection, then why deal with all this political stuff?"
"Use your brain, Blockhead!" Zelda spat, completely out of character.
"Hylians and Gerudos have been enemies for the last couple of centuries. People would get suspicious if we go from foe to best friend to quickly. Just do as I say and keep your long nose out of other people's business."
As they crossed the Gerudo Canyon Bridge, Link let his gaze wander from the waterfall on his right to the swiftly rushing rapids which led all the way to Lake Hylia. He knew it would be the last time he would see that amount of water in one spot. He took in a deep breath, savoring the sweet smell of the life-giving fluid one last time until he noticed something swimming in the waters. No, Link thought. Someone! Someone who seemed human enough, but had odd flipper like appendages on arms and legs. Someone who was unmistakably...
"Ruto!" Link called down into the gigantic crevice. He raised a hand to wave, but the Zora princess merely turned and swam downstream, away from Link. He sighed heavily and continued on towards the fortress where he would spend the night.
Why is it that I always make women mad at me one way or another? He thought grumpily. Except maybe Saria, but we're friends, nothing more. Malon is the woman I love, so I can't tell her about my little 'affair'. Ruto hasn't spoken to me since that discussion I had with her about me not being able to marry her. I'm not a member of any royal family, so it just wouldn't be proper. Zelda... He broke off his train of thought abruptly, forcing himself not to think about it.
"Keep your mind in the now," Link said to himself and rode on.
Matriarch Nabooru was already waiting for them at the entrance to Fort Gerudo, flanked by two of her warrior maidens, each of them carrying a large halberd.
"Welcome, Princess Zelda. We are honored to have a guest such as yourself within these humble walls. May this, our gesture of hospitality, be yet another step towards mutual trust amongst our peoples."
"Well said, Revered Mother," Zelda replied courteously, using the new mode of address for the Gerudo leader. She dismounted from her stallion and handing the reins to Link.
Nabooru scratched the back of her head and grinned sheepishly. "You think so? It took me two weeks to string those few words together and another four days to learn them by heart."
Zelda actually laughed.
"Please," Nabooru continued. "One of my girls will show you to your room. I have to see to dinner. Would you like to join me?"
Zelda nodded in polite thanks. "I would be honored."
She followed the Gerudo who was to lead her to her rooms, while the Matriarch moved over to Link and whispered in his ear: "We need to talk."
With a curious blink, Link followed her through a side gate and into the stables.
"What is it, Nabooru?" he asked once they were alone.
"There's something I need to tell you that Zelda and the other sages have been keeping from you for quite some time now. The mission you are on is not diplomacy, it's espionage."
"Huh?"
"We have been sensing a powerful dark aura emitting from Rhunia over the last couple of years. So powerful, in fact, that it makes Ganon look like an innocent little schoolgirl."
Link let out a low whistle. "So what's my part in all of this?"
"Rauru's cryptic on that matter, as usual. But from what I understood, you're the one who has to bring balance to the Triforce. Again."
Link snorted and led Epona into a free stall where he began tending to her tack.
"More hero business? Great. Just what I need. This bodyguard job was supposed to be my last before settling down with Malon."
Nabooru smiled. "You'll make a fine husband, Link. I'm sure of it."
"Thanks," Link said bitterly. "But that won't really help in this situation, will it?"
"You'd be surprised," Nabooru said mysteriously. She gave Link a hearty pat on the arm and left him alone.
"What should I do, Epona?" Link asked his mare. He let himself fall backwards slightly and slid down the wall. Epona nudged him gently as if telling him to cheer up. She had been his most trusted companion in most of his adventures. Their bond was so strong, in fact, that Link felt he could actually talk to her.
"Every woman I somehow get involved with ends up mad at me."
Epona turned her head to give Link a hard stare as if to say that it was Link's own fault.
"How? I can understand Zelda's behavior, to some extent, but Ruto? She should understand that it would be more than improper for us to get married. Besides I love Malon."
Epona emitted a series of snorts and whinnies.
"Watch your tongue, Missy!" Link snapped, raising a warning finger which he pulled back just in time before Epona could bite it off. "I don't want to hear another word about that, understood?"
Epona stared at him for a while, then nudged her friend slightly, a compassionate whine blowing softly into his ear. Link gently stroked her muzzle.
"Thanks, Epona," he said. "I think I might just do that." He got up to leave the stables, wished his mount a good night and made his way towards the fort.
He went into the mess hall, remembering it's location from his last visit. Once he got there he noted the usual goings-on one could observe in a military mess hall: Singing, drinking, and raucous laughter. He let his vision dart from one face to the next thinking: why is it that all Gerudo warriors look practically identical?
He spotted Zelda sitting next to Nabooru at one table in the middle of the room and made his way toward them. The Princess, it seemed, was having a wonderful time listening to stories about Link Nabooru had to tell.
"Why hello, Sir Link!" Zelda said jovially. "Nabooru was just telling me about your little adventures in the Fort. You never told me that you let yourself get caught during your little stint here,"
"I lost to the better opponent. No shame in that. Besides, it's not like you've ever been in a real fight, right?"
"Well, I..." Zelda began, but Nabooru cut across her.
"How about a game?" she asked , jumping to her feet.
"A game?" Link and Zelda repeated in unison.
"Yeah, a game. It's quite fun, too." She grabbed several bottles from other tables with colors varying from a venomous looking green to a soft, warm ember. Then she pulled out a deck of cards from her pocket and placed a singe but fairly large glass in the middle between the three of them, among the bottles.
"Okay, the rules are simple. Each of us draws a card. Every time someone draws a King she or he gets to pour a bit of drink in to the glass. The person who draws the last King has to drink it."
Link stared at her open mouthed and completely aghast.
"You can't be serious," he asked her.
"Yeah, I am." Nabooru replied and began shuffling the cards.
"Oh, don't be such a baby, Link," Zelda said.
Just how naïve is that girl? He thought. Does she think that's Pomegranate juice?
As it transpired, Zelda was the one to draw the fourth and last King of the Deck. The liquid in the glass now looked like someone had urinated in stagnant water. It also smelled like that.
"Go ahead, Your Highness, drink up," Nabooru said, handing the glass to Zelda. For a while she looked at it in disgust, then squared her shoulders and downed the entire content in one swallow. Big mistake, Link thought.
Zelda immediately began coughing her lungs out. Nabooru laughed heartily.
"You'll feel better after another round, Princess," she said shuffling the cards again.
It was quite obvious that Zelda had no experience what so ever when it came to playing cards (although in this case, it just came down to really bad luck), let alone strong drink. After only a few more games she was swaying violently in her seat.
"Listen here, mishter I-wanna-get-married-to-some-cowgirl-strumpet," she said after losing her seventh round in a row. "I don't care what it is you see in her, she'll all... *hic*... ways be nuthin' more'n a peasant girl."
"Zelda, you are most definitely drunk." Link noted calmly. Even though he had also had a few drinks, he was still quite in control of himself.
"What I want you to know, Link," Zelda put an odd emphasis on his name, "Is that I... that I..." she fell forward onto the table, not moving. Link jumped to his feet, worried that something serious had happened. But when the Princess began snoring so loud that the amazons at the other tables started staring, pointing and even laughing he simply put his hands to his head and rubbed his temples.
"I better get her to bed," he said in a strained voice.
Nabooru got up as well. "Meh, just leave her there. My girls will bing her to her room soon enough. Come on, let's go for a walk."
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"You are a very troubled man, Link," Nabooru said matter-of-factly. The night air blew cold through the mountainous enclave in which the fortress was nestled, but Link did not really care. Perhaps because of the alcohol he had drunk, or maybe he just had other things that were bothering him much more at that moment.
"No, really?" Link replied, his voice dripping with purest sarcasm. "Why on earth would you think something like that?"
Link and Nabooru were sitting on the stairs leading down towards the desert.
"For one: You have this staring-at-the-ground, hunchbacked walk. And we've already discussed some of your problems."
"Why is it that, even though saving Hyrule was literally forced upon me, I had so much less trouble coping with that than my own life? Things have gone stark-raving-mad around me, Nabooru. I really don't know how much more I can take!"
The two of them leaned on the fence of the mounted archery course. A cool breeze came from the west, bringing the sandy scent of desert air with it.
"Do you want to hear my opinion?" Nabooru asked.
"Does it come with advice?" Link asked.
"Will you listen to my advice if I give you any?" Nabooru asked.
Link sighed and looked up to the star-strewn sky. "Alright. Go ahead."
"I don't think that you are in control of your own life just yet. The Goddesses have chosen you to be the Hero of Time. But what they also wanted you to be is a human being. They didn't want some ice-cold person saving the world because he was destined to do so. They wanted a kind, loving, compassionate young man. You may be the Hero of Time amongst the Hylians, but you are still to be deemed worthy of that title by the Three. Perhaps your so-called 'personal problems' are nothing more than their way of testing you as a person, not as a hero."
"You know something I don't, right?"
"Well, Duh! I'm a Sage. I know many things you don't, but I can't tell you what they are. Union-rules, if you will."
Link had to smile in spite of himself.
"What was going on with Zelda back there, anyway?" he asked, his expression becoming stern again.
"I mean, you were the one who forced us to play that silly game of yours, but I would never have thought Zelda to drink herself silly so willingly."
"I think it has to do with the things that went on between the two of you. Zelda's upset and so are you. Maybe you should talk with her. And keep it calm. I don't think she can handle any more fights with you, the state she's in."
"She can handle a lot, except Desert Whiskey," Link muttered.
Nabooru laughed.
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Link's night was restless. He thrashed in his sleep and dreamt fragments of his past, incoherent and extremely unsettling:
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"I think it's best for both of us." -...- "First you hassle me to make it public and then..." -...- "Just go, Link." -...- "Link! I'm not done with you! Come back! Link! LINK!!!"
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Again he woke bathed in ice cold sweat and breathing heavily.
"What's going on?" he asked himself as he sat up in his bed. He looked out a small window which overlooked the fortress courtyard. A squad of Amazons was marching towards the desert gate, heeding the calls of a commanding voice, barking a marching rhythm. Rythor and Epona stood alone at the foot of the desert staircase. Link wondered where Zelda was, when he spotted her emerging from behind a corner, clutching her stomach in pain. Her complexion matched the white and lilac coloring of her traveling gown.
Link shook his head and, after he had dressed, made his way to the Princess and the horses.
"Good morning, Your Highness. I hope you have had a pleasant night."
"Oh, shut up." Zelda said weakly. Her eyes filled with terror while she pressed her lips against each other. An ugly retching sound emitted from her throat and she fell to her knees, vomiting violently on the floor. Link hastily took a few steps backwards to avoid the splashing mass. A pang of pity and affection made him sigh and go to his saddlebags, from one of which he pulled a small bottle containing a viscous red substance.
"Here, drink this," he said, unstopping the bottle and handing it to Zelda. The Princess eyed it wearily, but eventually grabbed and lifted the glass container to her trembling lips with equally shaky hands. With every gulp her skin went bit by bit from pale to the soft rosy color she usually had. "Thanks," Zelda said still a little hoarse. "What was that?"
"Red fairy draught. It was my last dose, but I'm sure I can find some more somewhere."
Zelda gave him a thankful smile and went over to Rythor to check his saddle.
Nabooru came over to them from the desert gate, bearing a traditional Gerudo halberd.
"I have put a squad of my finest Amazons at your disposal. They will escort you through the desert to the border of Rhunia. Let me introduce you to the commanding officer. Nayla!"
Link's face brightened when he heard the name. A young Gerudo woman, who was about half a foot taller than Link, came towards them and saluted Matriarch Nabooru respectfully.
"At ease, Soldier," Nabooru said with a smile. The warrior-maiden relaxed her stance.
"You remember Link, don't you, Commander?" Nabooru asked with a smile.
"Of course I do, Reverend Mother." Nayla smiled back.
"Well then, you will have plenty to catch up on. I'll leave you alone. Good travels and a safe return for you and Princess Zelda, Link."
Link and Nayla immediately began talking about what had transpired in their lives since they had last seen in each other. Nayla told him about how she had climbed up in rank from Lieutenant to Commander in only two years and was now in charge of organizing the desert patrols.
"You've come quite a way, I see," Link noted. It was then that he noticed Zelda watching the pair of them intently.
"You never met Nayla, have you, Your Majesty?" Link asked her.
"No I haven't. When did you two meet?" she replied.
"When he came back from that Termina place," Nayla supplied. "Link came by the fortress and asked Matriarch Nabooru for Sanctuary. She said yes and left him in my care. I was only a Rookie back then, so I guess she wanted to see if I could handle the responsibility. But I gotta say Link's been really pleasant to deal with throughout his whole stay. Didn't mind taking over duties either. We used to spend whole nights together on the fortress walls. Those were the days." Nayla sighed.
"Interesting," Zelda said with a hard look at Link, who returned the gaze equally.
"Come on, We better get going," Nayla said to them. "The desert waits for no one and it's going to get more than hot soon enough."
Link nodded and climbed into his Saddle.
A/N: Sorry if this is a week late, but I got caught up in something more important. I know, some of you might think "What could be more importatn than this?", but rest assured, I have just reasons. Even if I am not at liberty to discuss them at this point. Anyway, I hope you like this one. Don't forget to read an review.
Lord S.
