Link held his horse in a tight grip. I was gripping the horse's mane so tight that I felt sorry for her. She was thundering through the dark, as far away from the mountain as we could quickly manage. I looked back, but little was visible under the new moon. So instead I looked up at the stars, trying to connect the constellations I knew. I wanted it to take my mind off what had just occurred, but it wasn't helping.
The horse ran until she couldn't, and Link forced her to stop. We climbed down and walked on either side of her, hands resting on her massive shoulders. Link was terse as usual, though now and again I tried to peek at him to see what he was thinking, but his expression wasn't very clear in the dark.
I must've fallen asleep on my feet at one point, because Link was shaking my shoulders gently, and the horse had come to a stop. Apparently, I hadn't. "Wake up, your majesty." His voice was low and quiet, and I yawned and looked around slowly. My back and neck ached, and my feet and legs burned. It was getting light out. The sky was a soft gray-green, and I could dimly make out the green of Link's tunic, the subdued red of my dress. His face was drawn, and he looked exhausted, but nodded when I came around. "Good." Link walked away, and I could see a small house a little ways ahead. It was rather war-torn, like everything else. The front door was torn off, windows were smashed, and some of the siding had been pulled away. A good distance beyond it was a dilapidated farmhouse, with the remains of a wide fence running from its side doors outward. Past even that were open fields.
"This is my home," Link murmured. His hands were folded across his chest, and his face was almost heart-broken. I put a comforting hand on his shoulder and looked over the shabby buildings. "It's… well, it's a roof, right?" Link was my anchor in this place. He was the only person who knew what I'd been through. So the least I could do for him was to give him my support. I headed forward bravely, going into the house. It was fairly clean, actually, if I could just ignore the thick layer of dust that covered everything. If it wasn't for the battered outside, I could think that the people who lived in the place just got up and left. I explored in silence. The kitchen, hopefully happy under the thick blanket of grey, was clean. The beds were made, everything arranged neatly. I turned to head out and nearly ran into Link. The carpet of dust had muffled his boots. We stared at each other.
Link broke the eye contact and headed into the other bedroom. "This is my old bedroom," he murmured. The bed was smaller, as was the room itself. I nodded. He looked back to me. "We should try to get a little rest before traveling further. I hope you find my parents' room accommodating." I did indeed. Almost timidly, I pulled away the sheets, sending dust flying around the room and leading to a dreadful coughing fit. I closed my eyes and coughed furiously into one hand, my eyes watering from all the irritants in the air. When I was sure it was safe, I climbed into the bed and pulled the covers up over me, burying my face into a clean pillow and willing myself to sleep.
When I woke, it was much brighter in the little room. I shook off the strange dream I'd had and couldn't quite remember, and climbed out of the bed. I peeked in at Link; he was still asleep. Instead I wandered around the little house, looking around, trying not to snoop but genuinely curious. I didn't know a thing about Link's home life. But this dusty little house didn't seem too intent on sharing. I wandered into the kitchen, hoping that I could find something for us to eat in there. Old potatos with eyes longer than themselves growing new potatos greeted me in one cupboard. In another though, I found some flour. If we could procure water somehow, we could make a sort of biscuit. I found a tin bucket in the corner of the kitchen and took it outside by the handle, looking around for a source of water, finally spotting a spigot some yards from the house. I walked over and set the bucket down, and grabbed the handle. Spiders as big as my thumbnail skittered away from the underside of the handle, and I kicked it a few times to make sure they had all run off somewhere. I started to pump the handle again, and the spigot produced dust and dirt, until finally a dribble of rusty water fell into the bucket.
Sweat was on my forehead and soaking my undershirt, but I was relieved, and I renewed my efforts, dumping out the water that was brown. When I had enough clean water for us to drink and to maybe make food with, I hefted the heavy bucket with both hands, even though my arms were cramping, and carried it back to Link's home. I slipped inside, and couldn't hear anything; he was probably still sleeping. I set down the bucket of water on the floor, and grabbed the tin of flour. Surely there had to be more to a recipe than just this? I started to explore the kitchen again, finding a dusty little box with a dozen or so recipe cards written in slanting, curly hand. I couldn't identify most of the ingredients it called for, and those I did know were ones that would have long gone bad. As I stood there reading, I sensed a change in the atmosphere behind me. Something raised the hairs on the back of my neck, and I held perfectly still for several seconds. Everything was very still, until finally feet shuffled and a board creaked, and I whipped around to see Link standing there, yawning sleepily and dressed only in his breeches and undershirt. I took a deep breath and laughed weakly. "You frightened me."
"I'm sorry, my lady."
There we go, he was back to that intimate honorific. I turned back around and busied my hands with looking for cups. Link stepped up and showed me where they were, and he peered into the bucket. "Water!" he cried in delight.
"I got it from the spout outside," I replied.
Link raised his eyebrows. "Really?" I nodded, feeling good that I'd accomplished something. Link smiled back and filled the cups with water. I drank eagerly, surprised at how thirsty I'd become so quickly. Link stood next to me, and when I looked up from my glass he was watching me with a smoldering gaze. "H-hey-" I cleared my throat and stepped back, feeling nervous and shy. Link set his cup down and started to prowl- that was exactly what he was doing- around the kitchen. He opened cupboards and pantries, frowning. "S'all you found?" he asked quietly, indicating the flour and water. I nodded, feeling shameful. Link brushed by me again, heading to the rooms. He returned with his bow and arrow hooked on his back, and he grabbed a small spade from near the front door that I hadn't seen at first. "I'll see if the garden's any good."
I nodded and lingered at the sink in the kitchen, because it had a wide window and I could watch him from there. He dug for several minutes, recovering a few shriveled, grey carrots. I watched with a sinking heart as he cursed and stood up again, kicking the sad vegetables in frustration. Instead, he grabbed his bow and arrow and trailed off outside of my vision across the house. I held my breath while in the kitchen, thinking again of the smooth way he had with moving. He prowled like a wolf, fierce and deadly. I was thankful that I was on his good side. I wandered back through the house for now, going into the room where Link had slept. His rucksack was open, and I spied some small, unlit bombs and a hookshot. They looked familiar, and I realized he'd gotten them from the castle. They'd probably been in his room when we lived there. Near the foot of the bed was a pile of neat clothes, but they looked far too small for him.
Taking a clue from this, I returned to his parents' room that I'd been staying in, and went into the closet. A sick sense of guilt rattled me for taking their clothes, but I would buy them more if we survived this. If they had survived this. Link's mother actually had a few pairs of work breeches, to my surprise. They were clean and whole. I slipped them on. The waist was too big, so I tore another strip of fabric off my beautiful dress and used it to secure the clothes to my waist. A door slammed in the house, and I tensed. "My lady?" Link called.
"I'm in here!" I replied.
He peeked in at me. "I ah… caught some breakfast." Peeking from behind his back were a few slain squirrels. "What are you doing?"
I let go of my nightgown. I'd been holding it up around my waist to tie my makeshift belt on, and showing off my bare legs. "I… seeing as our clothes don't fit us anymore, I figured it might be wiser to wear…" Shame made me look away. Link shifted, leaning on the doorframe. "No, no, it's a good idea. I'll ready breakfast, and you grab something for me to wear, okay?" I nodded, and he thumped back into the kitchen.
I turned my back to the door and took a flowy shirt and a tight bodice from his mother's clothes, grabbing a shirt and breeches and the other necessities for Link. I stepped out into the main room, where I could hear Link rustling about. I stripped off my shift and picked up the new shirt, pausing and taking a moment to study how I'd changed, physically. They were definitely bigger. I held one each gently in my hands, closing my eyes. Such a woman. My mother would be proud. For a few minutes, I noticed that stifling silence again, the feeling of being watched, and I hurriedly got dressed, lacing up the side laces of the bodice. I tied my hair up once more with the strip from my dress. Looking it over, I sadly folded it and left it on his parents' bed.
I slipped on some shoes I found in Link's mother's closet, and headed out to the kitchen. Link had managed to get a fire going in the stove, and had the squirrel cooking and sizzling in a pan, along with some small slices of potato. "Small, but hopefully it'll give us somethin' substantial on our bellies." He looked shy all of a sudden, and had trouble meeting my eyes. "It's okay," I said finally. "I like your house." He didn't have to be ashamed of living on a farm, not around me. Link laughed, and I laughed too. After that, he seemed more relaxed. We ate from the pan with the same fork, snapping the gamey meat in quick, hungry bites.
When finished, Link cleaned the pan with the remaining water from the bucket, and went to change. I went outside and looked around the barren ground, wrapping my arms around myself. What should we do now? What could we do? Obviously, going to Death Mountain was too dangerous. That was a shame, as I badly wanted to talk to their elder. We should go towards the ocean. If the plague was so horrible, no one would dare want to be there besides the Zora that had no choice, and Ruto was a dear friend of mine when we were children. With my mind made up, I turned and headed back towards the house. Link stepped out before I got there, fully-dressed. His father's clothes fit him well. He nodded his head at me in approval. "I think we should head to the ocean," I announced when we were both inside. Link had gathered up our things and carefully tied the bags closed as small as they could go, so they would be easy to carry. He looked at me in surprise. "Why there?" I picked up my parcel and held it in both my hands. "Because I am acquaintanced with their princess, Ruto. And they are so far from the castle, that hopefully Ganondorf would not be able to encounter us there." Link thought it over for a few minutes, then nodded in agreement. "Are you sure you can trust her?" I nodded. "Ganondorf has infected her people with a plague when they did nothing wrong. I doubt they'll go running to betray us." Link looked rather hesitant, but he gave in. "We'll try it out." I smiled gratefully.
Soon, we had packed up our things. He locked up his home tight, rather reluctantly. "There's nothing for me here," he muttered to himself. I couldn't think of anything to say, so instead I put a comforting hand on his shoulder. Link looked at me when I did, and we locked eyes. At that very instant, I realized how very badly I wanted to kiss him. I cleared my throat and stepped back, wheeling away and scooping up my small bag of things, holding it against my chest. When I turned back around, Link was still gazing at me. He smiled faintly, and picked up his own bag, and called his horse over. We climbed up, me in front as usual, and headed in a canter due west, towards the oceans.