It has been a wild...Ok, we're going to leave the puns out of the author's notes.

Welcome back to Before the Wild. It's a month earlier than I said i would begin again, but with free time, you get a lot done and schedules can change.

If you need a refresher on where we are in the story, we are months after the "Blades of the Yiga" memory. In the game, that has to be a matter of months, because Link and Zelda are way too friendly with each other after the memory for it to be a few days. But that's beside the point.

Another refresher: Link and Zelda like each other, but neither knows it...yet. I won't reveal too much, as I am ahead in writing, but...it gets fun to write their romance. No, we're not surpassing the T rating, and while I could, I won't push it. After all...there won't be much of a romance anyway.

Part 3 is kinda packed with changes. We are 14 days away from doomsday in this story, still following the remaining memories of "Breath of the Wild", but I'm doing something different. I'll explain it here, and it will be repeated in the story and in an author's note later on. I have, theoretically, counted how many days it will take to travel around Hyrule, taking into account the times of day I start at Point A and end at Point B. Of course, this doesn't account for each day, just the days I plan on writing. This chapter officially begins on Day 1, and we'll end on Day 14.

Based on my initial calculations, Zelda and Link should reach Mount Lanayru on Day 14, which is more significant by it being Zelda's birthday in the story and that evening Calamity Ganon attacks. However, after going through the map and placing things in order and adding a little something to the story, Zelda will not arrive at the Spring of Wisdom on her birthday. My story is just a day late than the game's story after the "To Mount Lanayru" memory. In other words, Zelda's birthday will be somewhere else, and Mount Lanayru will be the following day and chapter.

Another change is how Zelda gets her power. Not to reveal too much, but I think you guys will like it better than how it is in the game.

13 chapters remain, hope you enjoy the rest of the story, starting with this chapter.

Part 3: The Great Calamity

Five months later, Hyrule Castle, King Rhoam, Day 1

"Zelda's seventeenth's birthday is in two weeks, Rhoam."

King Rhoam stood out outside the sanctum of the castle, looking down at the rest of his home and the city and country that surrounded it. A year it has been. Almost year since he had appointed the Hero of Hyrule, five months since he had ceremoniously knighted the Champions of Hyrule, and now another was about to pass. Another year has gone, another year without Calamity Ganon.

He was worried the threat might not appear in his lifetime, contrary to the evidence presented to him. Monsters were more common and increasing in strength. It was nothing his soldiers were unable to handle, but the threat was so taxing Rhoam had to pick his battles. He could only protect the Hylian people at this point. The other races were on their own. It had gotten so bad he had armed the Sheikah and fast-tracked their weapon developments. The weapons using the ancient technology was powerful in their ancient state, but fragile when used with modern weaponry.

Modern… More like medieval weaponry. Rhoam didn't understand how his ancestor 10,000 years ago didn't keep the Sheikah tech for military use. It was his people who used ancient tech, while the Guardians and weapons that came with them were modern. What possible threat could have made his ancestor act so hasty?

"I know it approaches." Turning his attention to Impa's statement, it was true that Zelda's birthday was in a month. Seventeen she will be, and seventeen his quest to defend Hyrule will have aged too. Seventeen years… Something told Rhoam that time was running out. He was tired and wanted it all to end, but he couldn't sit easy. The Champions were well-adjusted to their Divine Beast, Link was improving his abilities with the Master Sword, but Zelda…still hadn't awakened her power.

It had been weeks since they last saw each other, and by that, he meant as father and daughter. He would pass by many a day at the shrine located at the castle docks as she prayed, heard reports from either Link or Impa as she ventured to the fountain outside Castle Town, and they all said the same as it had for the past ten years. He was hoping, but every day that hope dwindled.

He had already failed her as a father, but soon, he might fail all his subjects as their king.

"It is time for her to seek the springs. Remember the instruction of the Great Deku."

"Even he was uncertain, Impa. I don't recall Tetra having to go the springs. Then again…maybe we have been doing this wrong all this time. We've treated this sealing power like regular magic when it is indeed the opposite. Zelda had her magical abilities. I know you've honed them to her protection."

Impa uncharacteristically bore a huge smirk. "She's an excellent mage and archer. True to her bloodline. If the royal life doesn't work, she'll make a great Sheikah."

"You didn't give her an attire, did you?"

"I didn't. Sheik did. Standard Sheikah fighting attire."

"Hmph." Rhoam folded his arms, gazing to the western side of the country. "You say she's on her way to the research lab."

"Yes, but she did do some prayer this morning. Blame Purah, not Zelda. She found a new function of the Sheikah Slate, and I heard something big with the Guardians is going down soon."

"Yes. Robbie believes that he has found a way to manually control the Guardians. The test is being conducted here, because why not?" Rhoam suppressed much of his laugh but couldn't hide his smile. "I hope it is enough, Impa."

"You think something could go wrong?"

Rhoam turned back to Impa. "Something? We're dealing with a monster that can wipe out our country. Anything and everything could go wrong. No matter how we come out if this, lives will be lost. Families torn apart. Places destroyed." Sighing, he faced the lower parts of the Hyrule Ridge. "I just hope my princess is ready. That's all I need to know."

Impa nodded. "I'll send word to instruct her and Link to head to the springs."

Hyrule Ridge

"Goodbye Purah!"

"Goodbye, Princess! Goodbye Hero! Take lots of snaps!"

Princess Zelda Hyrule and the Hero of Hyrule/her appointed knight/her best friend Link Ordon waved farewell to the Sheikah researcher Purah as they headed north of the Royal Ancient Lab. The pair visited the lab on Purah's request, as she had discovered a new functionality of the Sheikah Slate. Not only did it possess a variety of abilities using in the world, it had a camera embedded in it. Zelda, excited by this new discovery, decided to give it a go after leaving the lab.

As she got aboard Gaepora, she issued her instructions. "We will go a little north of her, to the Irch Plains. We can test out the camera functionality there. Is that okay with you, Link?"

Link nodded. "It is okay, Zelda."

Zelda smiled. "You are awesome, Link. Let's go!" Zelda clicked her heels into Gaepora's belly, commanding…no, instructing him to move along. He proceeded without protest, trotting in the plains. Epona followed behind, carrying her master. As they moved along, Zelda turned back to Link, smiling gleefully, unable to contain her excitement of him allowing her such freedom.

Truth be told, ever since the talk they had after the encounter with the Yiga, Link has been more relaxed in watching Zelda. Her adventures became their adventures, and it was much more fun now that she had someone to share them with. He's also been chattier than he used to be and offers insight into Zelda's various ramblings. But the biggest change) is that he finally dropped that blank face. The boy has emotions. She had seen him sad, confused, angry, tired, dumbfounded, surprised, and best of all, happy.

Like right now, he flashed her a smirk that she wouldn't have seen months ago, and that excited her…beyond the bounds of friendship. She would easily admit now that her crush for Link had grown substantially over the months, and at points, it was hard to contain it. Zelda is an independent girl, but a girl nonetheless, and being around Link was like breaking a fortified wall with a battering ram. The more time spent hitting the ram on the wall, the more that wall gave way.

Impa had caught on too, thanks in short to Purah's loud mouth. Her master and ex-guardian advised to not act on such things while her sealing power was still out of her reach but was proud that Zelda had finally found someone her age she liked being around. Zelda, however, decided that it wouldn't hurt to drop a few hints here and there, which, to her surprise, Link followed along with unsuspectingly. Impa also granted Zelda her freedom from her 'all-seeing eye' while with Link in the castle, trusting the young man, if he did have feelings for Zelda, wouldn't do something stupid.

What Zelda didn't know, Impa did. That's because Link had to tell Purah his secret crush for Zelda.

Link, in his part, now enjoyed his job as her appointed knight, though it was more than that. Ever since Zelda displayed her skill, he felt his knightly duties were only for extreme circumstances. He retitled 'appointed knight' to 'appointed companion,' because, as of late, that is what he became. Zelda was more amicable to his presence than she used to be, possibly happier in it, as expressed whenever he shows up in the castle to fetch her. She talked to him without the barrier of formality, as if they were peasant friends, not princess and knight.

During the day, he would watch her pray, silently offering his prayers to (if it would help), or if they managed to catch a day off, they can be found in the castle library, reading a collection of books ranging from scholarly research to the legends of Hyrule. Link's personally preferred the latter; hearing how those who also held the Master Sword team up with the fair maiden to defeat Ganon over and over inspired him. He envisioned that the other heroes were also named Link, the other princesses, Zelda, just to make the stories a little more personal.

If only he knew.

Other procrastinating activities would have them in a training area set up by the teenagers on the western side of the land the castle was built upon, close to Zelda's wing. There, they traded their best skills. Link had quickly mastered the art of firing more than one arrow at a time and a while longer to get the hang of focus fire, or 'arrow time' as Zelda called it, in which it seemed time slowed down as he took aim. Zelda had little trouble with swordplay due to previous training with Impa, but to come close to Link's ability…she'd an easier time climbing Death Mountain. But she eventually came to a point that Link couldn't beat her outright, giving him a run for his rupees. He never outdid her in an archery match, even if he tried his hardest.

After dinner, when their duties to Hyrule and each other were over, the hero and princess became Link and Zelda. They would converse about daily events, a moment of their past or whatever came up in their minds. Zelda was quite interested in Link's love life, not that there was much to tell anyway. He had liked girls before, like the Malon girl at the ranch by Mabe Village, or his friend Saria back home in Hateno. Neither had amounted to anything, but Link wondered why Zelda was so interested. Like…invasively interested.

His egotistical side told him the Princess liked him, but his rational side told him that she's a girl and a researcher. Information is like food to her.

Sometimes, they would say nothing, just stand out on the walkway between Zelda's study and her bedroom, standing outside in the night wind. If it got late, Zelda would usually rest herself in Link's arms, falling asleep on his shoulder. Link was a respectful boy, but a boy nonetheless, and with the inappropriate contact between Zelda finding herself in his arms and him putting her to bed came…discomfort. During those outside outings, Zelda would dress in her nightgown or something more apt for sleeping, and…he just had to suffer.

Sometimes that discomfort came at the wrong times during the day (is there truly a right time?) and Goddess be damned he was on Epona when it happened. It did happen once when they were returning to the castle from the Sacred Grounds. Zelda wondered why Link looked like he was in pain riding Epona, asking if he hurt his leg. He answered by saying he did and would get a medic to check it out.

She didn't need to know the truth if she believed him in the first place.

Once Impa confronted him about whether he had feelings for Zelda, Link answered truthfully, as he was scared the lady would indeed kill him no matter the answer. However, Impa just nodded, warning him about the obvious; if they were in the castle, nothing can happen. Outside the castle, she didn't say, but Link felt that it didn't need to be said to not try anything in the country. So far, so good.

He did have a talk with Purah prior to them leaving the labs, enforcing the idea that secrets are not meant to be shared, especially with the Sheikah guardian to the princess. Purah simply waved him off.

"Impa knows what it is like to want to get down with somebody. I know my sister. Stern giving instructions, she is, but I didn't get a niece because Impa just popped life out of her. If you hear Death Mountain erupting, that's her and Sheik. So Link, I suggest you grab your destiny if you know what I mean."

Link still hadn't met Sheik, and it has been months since he was first mentioned to him. He also didn't need to know…that information.

"That tree right there," Zelda exclaimed, pointing to a long tree just ahead of them, "we can stop there. There's a lot of flowers there, which will make quite excellent pictures."

"Sounds good. We can eat here too."

Zelda turned around, eyeing the basket strapped to Epona's left side. "Of course, you're hungry, you glutton. Is sleeping and eating all you love to do?"

Link rubbed his belly while holding his head high, speaking in a 'heroic' voice. "A hero's duty requires several unnatural hours of sleeping and a big, hearty meal to satisfy this stomach."

Zelda laughed as she parked Gaepora a few feet behind the tree. She played along, heavying her noble accent. "What shall we feast upon today, sir hero?"

Link grabbed the basket once he was off Epona, holding it up for Zelda. "I have gathered a glorious meal of salt-grilled gourmet meat, copious mushroom skewers, and the lady's favorite, a gourmet meal of meat and rice, topped off with the finest bottles of Chateau Romani."

"Oh, that sounds fabulous! I hope you brought silverware. I do not want to spoil my 500-rupee nail polish." Zelda held out his fingers in a ridiculous, pompous way that neither couldn't maintain their personas any longer. They laughed as Zelda unfolded and placed the picnic blanket on the ground, then sat upon it. Link handed each person their respective meat dish and bottle of milk, placing the mushroom skewers between them, and Zelda used her fire magic to heat their food. Conversation was sparse as they enjoyed their hot meal, but somehow the pair had fun by making faces when placing the initial hot bites in their mouths.

Definitely not the same Link and Zelda from months prior.

Once they were done, Zelda immediately took the Sheikah Slate in hand and began snapping pictures of the area. Link placed the eating utensils and plates back into the basket and hooked it up to his grazing Epona. He looked at both horses, chuckling as he brushed their manes. "Yeah, you two eat up. It'll be a while, knowing the Princess, before we head home." He turned back to Zelda, dropping to her knees to take pictures of the flowers while talking wildly. Link joined her, watching his princess silently. She was in the zone, and when she hit that place, there was no stopping her.

"There's one! Oh, and another! The flowers we have in Hyrule aren't just beautiful, they're also quite useful as ingredients for a variety of things."

"Such as cooking." Link licked his lips and patted his full stomach again, his mind racing with ways to use the flowers as ingredients for dinner. Zelda grunted her reply, looking for more flowers to take pictures of when she gasped, lowering the Sheikah Slate, and leaning over a very particular flower. Link recognized it from Zelda's study, though had never asked what kind it was. "What's this one?"

"This one here is called the silent princess. It's a rare, endangered species. Despite our best efforts, we can't get them to grow domestically yet. The princess can only thrive out here in the wild." Zelda lightly brushed the flower before leaning up, solemnly looking ahead of her. "All we can hope is that the species will be strong enough to prosper, on its own."

Link felt sorry for the flower, unfortunate that its fate as a species rested in the life of the wild. He wondered why Zelda got so sad suddenly. In his mind, Link believed his princess was no different from the flower. In captivity, in this case, the castle, she was imprisoned to her title and her destiny, to the nobility and her father, but out in the country, with just the two of them, she was herself. That's not to say she wasn't like that back at the castle, but out here, she didn't have to pick her moments to drop 'Princess' from her name. As soon as she left the gates of Hyrule Castle, at least to Link and a select few, she was Zelda Hyrule. No destiny. No prayers. No sealing powers. Just freedom to be whoever she wanted to be.

If only he could detach himself from his destiny, but swords are very hard to lose.

Zelda gasped again, leaning all the way over to grab something. "is that what I think it is?" While Zelda went on her fetch quest, Link's eyes made the mistake of looking at Zelda's raised back, the part her long hair failed to cover. As much as he wanted to look away, the shaping of the dark brown pants on her body was just too mesmerizing. Then it became slightly discomforting. Luckily, before Link's mind went to a dark place, Zelda raised up, her hands folded. "Look at this! I don't believe it, but I actually caught one!"

Link raised an eyebrow, his mind wiped clean of dirty thoughts. "You caught…what?"

"This delicacy is known to have very, very potent effects under the proper circumstances. Ta da!" Zelda's hands unfolded, revealing a yellow-eyed, green-skinned frog, the hot-footed kind (named for the orange feet it possessed). Link stared dumbfoundedly at the frog, and apparently, it stared back. "Research from the castle shows ingesting one of these can actually augment certain abilities. We wouldn't be in a controlled environment out, and with your level of physical fitness…"

Link gazed up to Zelda's green eyes, fearing at what she might be suggesting. "Oh no."

"You'll be a perfect candidate for the study!" Zelda shoved the frog in Link's face. "Go on!"

Link leaned back "Zelda no!"

"Taste it!"

"No!"

"Come on!"

"No way!"

"I demand you taste it!"

"I demand you stop asking me too!"

"Hoy!" Link and Zelda turned to the greeting, Link taking the opportunity to get on his feet. An incoming Sheikah messenger, straight from the castle, rode up to the pair. Unlike most Sheikah, who wore more comfortable robes, he wore their chest guard and tights, along with a skullcap and scarf on the upper and lower parts of his head. Link walked up to the rider as he came to a stop, Zelda staying behind with the frog still in her hands.

"Hello there."

"Hero. Princess."

Zelda waved from the distance. "Hello, Sheik."

Sheik nodded, then turned to Link. "Impa has given you instructions. The time is now. Princess Zelda is to go to the three springs across Hyrule and offer prayer."

Link sighed. The task set by the Great Deku Tree has finally come to pass. "Alright. We didn't pack enough supplies for such a trip, but I think we can get to the Spring of Courage then head back to the castle."

Sheik held up a pack, handing it to Link. "Here's some more to hold you. I suggest you make your way there as soon as possible." Sheik turned his steed around and began riding his way back to the castle. Link watched him ride off, then turned to Zelda, who heard the entire conversation. She still held the frog in her hand, but her earlier joy was cast aside. Sighing (and regretting his decision) Link walked back to her, dropping the pack.

"I'll…taste the frog."

As expected, Zelda perked up. "Really?"

"Yeah."

"Yes!" Zelda shoved the frog to Link, just inches away from his lips. "Come on." Link looked at the frog's eyes again, wondering what the amphibian thought of it. He could have leaped away at any time, yet he stayed in the Princess' hands. Did he want to be licked? Closing his eyes and his mind, Link slowly stuck his tongue forward, but apparently not fast enough for the Princess. He felt her hand on the back of his head, but before he could retaliate, he was…making out…with the frog.

He wouldn't sleep for the next two nights.