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 the battle with King Dodongo, Link and Zelda need somewhere to stay where they won't get caught. Luckily, there's a small ranch willing to take them in. However, things aren't so simple around the ranch owner's daughter and our princess.
A/N Six chapters. I can't believe I've kept with this so long. Don't worry, at the rate I'm going, I'll be writing for quite a while. I promised myself that this would be my first complete multi-chapter story. Any-nya, we're introducing Malon (again). Oh dear, it seems she doesn't get along too well with Zellie. I wonder why that could be? (/sarcasm) Don't forget to review!
There was a flash of blue light, and Link and Zelda were lowered to the ground slowly. Zelda rubbed her eyes wearily as Link dropped to his butt. They both sighed and looked at the entrance to the cavern. There was a sudden roaring.
"You don't think-" Zelda asked. Link jumped to his feet and drew his sword all in one swift movement. The two moved back-to-back and surveyed the area. No large monsters popped up from the ground. No roaring beasts came crawling from the dark shadows. All was quiet, until a large rock dropped from the sky.
"Aah!" Zelda cried. She took several steps back, dragging Link with her. The rock unfolded to reveal Darunia. Link grabbed Zelda's hand and pulled her back in front of the king.
"You're back! Sorry I was a tad late on my entrance. I fell asleep waiting for you on top of this cliff. You defeated the Dodongo, I assume? I guess so, or else you'd be dead!" Darunia laughed. He was speaking so fast that neither Link nor Zelda could offer a word in response.
"Yes! We defeated the king!" Link blurted out. Darunia stopped talking all at once, beaming. It was then that Zelda noticed that he had something behind his back.
"I knew you would. That's why I brought this," Darunia put his arms out in front of him and opened his hands, "beforehand. Good job. You deserve it." Darunia smiled. In his hands was a small, but beautiful gem: The Goron's Ruby.
"Thank you so much." Zelda sighed, reaching out slowly and it slowly into her hands. Light seemed to radiate from inside of it. Link peered over Zelda's shoulder in admiration.
"Now that you have saved our race, you are our sworn siblings." Darunia proclaimed proudly. Both Zelda and Link paled visibly and began to back away.
"Does this brotherhood involve a ceremony? With sharp objects? And blood? 'Cause if I lose anymore blood, I'm gonna, gonna-" Link cut himself off. Darunia looked puzzled, then laughed loudly.
"No, there is no ceremony involved. Just consider the ruby a sign of our friendship," he said kindly. Zelda released her breath and handed the ruby to Link. He gazed on it a moment, then stowed it carefully away in his bag.
"We'll take extra-good care of it, Darunia sir." Zelda said seriously. Darunia nodded. Suddenly, he got an odd gleam in his eye.
"I guess you must be off. A lady came looking for you. If you don't want to be caught, I suggest climbing the mountain and visiting the owl. He will take you to a safer place. Now, to see you off, we'll give you something very special." He said. He motioned towards the cave. Two more Gorons fell from the cave and opened up.
"A great big Goron hug." The three said in unison. They spread their arms out and began advancing on the two slowly, looking rather menacing. Link and Zelda looked at each other, then ran up the path, towards the top of the mountain.
"Phew. That was close." Zelda sighed, wiping her brow. She looked at Link again, then they both burst into peals of laughter. After recollecting themselves, they began up the mountain, chatting to each other casually. They'd only been walking an hour or so when the sun set and the wolf howled.
"Well, we'd better stop here and call it a night." Zelda sighed, dropping to the ground. Link grabbed her by the arm and pulled her back into a standing position.
"You never know where the guards are going to look. We need to keep moving until we get to the safe place Darunia told us about." Link explained. Zelda rubbed her eyes wearily, but nodded in agreement. The two had walked for about fifteen minutes when they reached a steep wall. Despite the grooves in the wall, it looked fairly difficult to pass.
"Darunia said the owl was on top of the mountain…" Zelda trailed off. Link grabbed onto one of the indents and hoisted himself up a foot. He climbed another three feet before sliding back down.
"It's sturdy enough. With any luck, we can make it up by midnight, and catch the owl. Then, depending on how long it takes to find the owl, we can sleep a couple hours and get a move on in the morning." Link said.
"Speaking of which, how do you suppose an owl will be able to get us down a mountain safely?" Zelda inquired.
"I don't know. But, we better start climbing. You go first, so I can catch you if you fall." Link said. Zelda stared up the wall. It was pretty tall and looked menacing, but not impassable. With only a moment's hesitation, she began to climb.
Climbing the wall was tough on the battle-weary pair. Each movement was made slowly and cautiously. There were a couple rough patches, but so far, the travel up the mountain had been tedious, but successful.
"Come on, Zelda. We're almost there." Link said. He hoisted himself up another foothold after the girl.
"Excuse me, but I don't exactly climb mountains very often." Zelda snapped. With sudden agility, Link climbed up past Zelda, then down so he was right in front of her.
"Get on my back. I'm gonna carry you up the rest of the way." Link stated, a bead of sweat dripping off of his nose. Zelda was so shocked she nearly lost her footing.
"No way. You're just as tired as I am. We'll go even slower if you carry me. Plus, the extra weight might make you fall. I'm not going to risk that," Zelda argued huffily.
"Look, we're almost to the top, and you're slowing down. We need to get somewhere safe soon, and the only way we can do that is if you get on my back and don't slow me down. I can take some extra weight." Link said. Zelda hesitantly wrapped her arms around Link's neck and hoisted herself onto his back.
"The instant I get to heavy, I'm getting off." Zelda insisted. For the first time, she looked down below her. The sight made her dizzy, so she buried her face in Link's tunic and Link began to hoist himself up the mountain again.
However much Zelda didn't want to admit it, the trip went much faster, and by the time the two were on top of the cliff, it was barely nine o'clock. Zelda slid off of Link's back and looked down again. She looked away quickly, not wanting to pass out and fall.
"Hoo!" a voice cried. Zelda jumped and stumbled back, falling onto Link and sending them both to the ground.
"Zel, it's just the owl." Link said reassuringly. Zelda blushed. He called me Zel. She thought, her heart pounding. Her cheeks were now very red, and she could hear blood pounding in her ears.
"Are you alright? You're face is really red. Do you have a fever?" Link asked concernedly, pressing a hand to her forehead. Slowly, the red in Zelda's cheeks died down.
"I'm fine. The height just scared me a little." Zelda laughed nervously. Link smiled and closed his eyes.
"I'm glad. Now let's go. By the sound of that hoot, the owl must be really close by." He reasoned, grabbing Zelda's hand and helping her to her feet. Zelda nodded, and the two began to walk towards the source of the noise.
Not too long after, Link and Zelda came to a plain. There was a single stone sticking up in the middle, but other than that, nothing was in view.
"That lying goron." Zelda sighed in exasperation. "We climbed all this way up for nothing. Now we're sure to be caught." The princess whined. She sat down on the rock and crossed her legs.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Link corrected, moving beside Zelda and pointing to a shape in the sky. It was an owl, a large one at that, and it was headed right for the rock! "Zelda, move!" Link cried. He took a running leap and sent himself and Zelda flying off of the rock and towards the edge. After an endless moment of teetering on the edge, the two steadied themselves and stood up as the owl swooped lower and landed on the rock.
"Do you really think I'd land on that poor girl? Of course not! Who do you think I am, a Gerudo?" the owl said, obviously miffed. Both Link and Zelda were silent, staring in silent awe at the talking bird.
"You can talk." Link finally managed to stammer. The owl looked appalled, as if Link had deeply offended him by pointing out the obvious.
"Well, I'm not barking am I? Well, Darunia told me you needed a ride. I can help you out, um..." the owl trailed off, cocking his head to both sides, then twisting it fully upside-down.
"I'm Zelda, and this is Link." Zelda answered quickly, hoping it would cause him to right his head.
"Ah, princess. I have heard many great stories about you. Well, where do you need to go? And decide quickly, I do have a life you know." The owl murmured. Link blinked a few times before responding.
"Do you know any places where we can eat and sleep without being caught by the royal guards? Hopefully, a place with people who will cover for us." He offered. The owl pondered a moment, then lifted into the air.
"One safe place coming up! Hold on tight!" the owl cried. Before Link or Zelda could respond, the owl swooped down and grabbed one of each's hands with his talon.
"Is there any safer way to do this?" Zelda screamed as she was lifted into the air. The owl was too busy whistling an obscure tune to answer. As if to reassure her, Link wrapped an arm around Zelda's waist.
After the trip down the mountain, the owl dropped Link and Zelda in front of a simplistic looking ranch. Zelda's face was slightly red, and Link looked exhilarated.
"If you ever need me, call for Kaepora Gaebora, and I'll coming flying. Anything to help keep Hyrule safe and peaceful." The owl, Kaepora Gaebora, stated. With that, he spread his wings and took off again, leaving Link and Zelda to cautiously enter the ranch. A few steps in, Link recognized the ranch.
"I've been here before. A strange girl named Malon speaking Japawhatsits greeted me asking for a 'Miyamotto-son' whoever that is." Link rolled his eyes and examined his surroundings. As if on cue, a redheaded girl came running into view.
"Fairy boy!" Malon cried joyously, racing towards the hapless Kokiri at a nearly inhuman pace. Link backed up, grabbing Zelda's hand and preparing to bolt. However, before his joints could respond, he was barreled over by Malon and sent rolling backwards several feet. When they finally stopped rolling and the dust had cleared, Zelda could see Malon's arms tightly wrapped around Link's waist.
A moment of silence passed as Zelda tried to decide what was going on. Malon was in a state of obvious bliss, and Link appeared to be suffocating. With his face turning blue, he managed to scramble out of Malon's death grip and stand up.
"Yeah, hi Malon." Link muttered, brushing himself off and examining himself for any injuries, minor or major. Zelda found herself looking away in disgust as Malon stood up and clenched Link's hand tightly.
"I asked you to come back and visit me, fairy boy. You did save my father, and we got along so well. I missed you." She whined, leaning her head casually on his shoulder as if she were his girlfriend.
"You must not get many people around here, 'cause as far as I know, you and Link don't know each other too well." Zelda said coldly, still keeping her gaze away from the two.
"Well pardon me for wanting to make a new friend. Who are you, his sister or something?" Malon asked, making a face at Zelda without a second thought. Link blushed and tried to shrug Malon off.
"This is princess Zelda, my traveling partner." He introduced hastily. As if by magic, Malon started blushing very deeply. She bent down into a bow and began to stammer apologies.
"I'm very sorry, miss Zelda. I just thought that you, well, I thought that Link was, I'm so sorry. Please forgive my rudeness. It wasn't my place." Malon muttered in embarrassment.
"I hope that you don't treat all of your visitors like this." Zelda muttered. She was shocked by her own discourtesy towards the farm girl, but something about the way she treated Link made her angry.
"Well, Malon, Zelda and I are on a very important mission, and we were wondering if we could stay here tonight." Link asked. He had managed to free himself from Malon and was hovering slightly behind Zelda.
"No problem! We always have room for guests at the Lon Lon ranch." Malon said cheerfully. "Especially for you, Link." She added with a wink. This did not help Zelda's current mood. Malon ignored Zelda's glares and began to show Link to a place where he could stay. Zelda followed three feet behind.
"So, where are your parents?" Link asked curiously as Malon opened a door and allowed Link and Zelda to enter the building. It smelled strongly of cows and damp hay.
"My father's making a long-distance delivery, and he left me here to take care of things." Malon explained. "Oh, I don't mind. I do it often." She added, seeing the worried look on Link's face. She then began to show them around the little room.
"Thank you so much for letting us stay here. I promise we'll be out tomorrow morning. It'll be early." Link said, sitting down on a bed and putting his nose against the pillow. It smelled as if a cucco had sat there for many days.
"Stay as long as you like. And princess, may I speak to you outside?" Malon asked, opening the door and beckoning out.
"Okay…" Zelda trailed off. She gave Link a wave before following Malon outside. The farm girl promptly closed the door.
"What's you're relationship like with Link?" Malon asked straight-out, without any attempt to lead into it. Zelda looked taken aback by the suddenness of the question.
"We're just friends and partners. We've been through a lot, but we haven't known each other too long." Zelda said honestly. The truth hurt.
"Good." Was Malon's simple answer. She began to head back to the door, but Zelda grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back into whispering range.
"I don't know what you're planning, but stay away from Link. He needs to be fully focused on his mission." Zelda whispered in a threatening tone. Her blue eyes were completely serious. Malon crossed her arms and sighed.
"Just because we've just met and he's on a mission doesn't stop me from liking him. Plus, you said you weren't involved, so I figured, what the hell? He's pretty cute, anyways." Malon winked.
"Listen to me. If you distract him, we could all die. Plus, he has no interest in girls right now. There are more important things in life." Zelda said menacingly. Malon frowned.
"Ah, I see you're in love with him too. That makes us rivals then. I'm going to bed, so I'd appreciate it if you let go of my arm. Goodnight, princess." Malon said and walked away before Zelda could even think to interject. Not that she had anything to say in defiance of Malon's words.
A/N Zellie likes Link! But it looks like she has a rival. But love conquers all, ne? When Link was talking about Japawhatsit and Miyamotto, I wasn't meaning any disrespect. I love the Japanese language and worship Miyamoto-san, so just clearing it up. Please review!