Chapter 28 - Downtime
Zelda had wide eyes and a dropped jaw, her fingers folded against her bottom lip. She was staring off into space, trying her best not to envision what Link had just told her about, but nonetheless it had made her blush anyway.
"You're not serious!"
Link was resting against a tree growing at the base of a pool of water in the Misty Falls which a waterfall about twenty feet across from them both was flowing down into. It was still foggy around them, always was from what they knew of Misty Falls, and they were both relaxing where they'd come to rest after their baths. As Link sat against the tree overlooking the gentle pool of water behind him, his arms were settled behind his head in a relaxed position, white undershirt and brown pants all that he was wearing aside from his boots, hair hanging freely about the nape of his neck as he shrugged to her question, an amused smirk on his face.
"Well, it's a group of all women, with a different culture," he informed her. "The Gerudo do a lot of things differently than we do, most of it wasn't something I took part in if I thought it wasn't right, but in a way, I could see how it could have been considered right if you'd been instilled with their values since birth."
"But," Zelda looked at him, "two women!? And you saw them!?"
She sounded completely aghast. Try as she might, she couldn't imagine a fifteen year old Link having stumbled upon two women kissing each other the same way she had kissed him earlier, and she definitely tried not to. In order to preoccupy herself, she went back to trying to brush her wet hair, suddenly shivering, and not due to any cold.
She was dressed in a simple white slip which she knew was considered unladylike, especially in front of a man, but this was Link, and she wasn't nude. Not to mention when they were very young they'd taken baths together, and while yes, their anatomy had changed as they'd grown up, she still felt comfortable enough around him to wear something she'd normally just sleep in. The thought had crossed her mind in fact, that she was comfortable enough to do so, but she also couldn't bring herself to mind it.
It was a chilly evening, and she'd planned on grabbing Link's cloak to wrap up in once she was done brushing her wetted locks of hair, but the reason she'd shivered was that she couldn't imagine kissing another woman herself.
"I'd die if I did that," she told him.
Looking at his face, his eyes closed while he rested, she saw him smiling, and he went on with his story, telling her about Masita. "Well, believe it or not, I saw it, more than once. The first time, I ran away," he chuckled, "because I thought they were trying to bite each other, and I wasn't going to have anything to do with it. I wasn't completely sure what was going on."
He heard her snickering, and then heard some shuffling. Opening one eye, he saw her wrapping the cloak he'd been wearing around her body, which he was actually thankful for. As modest as the slip had been, it was only knee length, and though she was wearing her brown boots and the material of the slip wasn't sheer at all, it was a flimsy material that left very little to the imagination. He was glad she was comfortable with him again, but he wished she wasn't that comfortable, knowing she probably didn't understand the same way that he did what just looking at her body could do to him.
Feeling safer to open his eyes now though - the very reason he'd really closed them because he didn't want to torture himself - he glanced at her while she waited patiently for more of his story.
"The second time I saw it was when I realized they were kissing and not biting each other, and I reacted like you did, unable to believe it. I didn't mean to really watch them, but I couldn't stop, just," he shook his head, "surprised and shocked at what I'd realized. But, well, I got caught."
"Peeping tom," she snickered, completely curious despite the fact that the thought of two women kissing was very, well, taboo to her. "Who caught you, Nabooru?"
"Thankfully no," Link chuckled, "she never would have let me live it down. You saw how she always picked at me about Masita to begin with, and she doesn't even know the whole story."
"True," Zelda smirked, "then it was Masita, wasn't it?"
"Yeah," he drew out, snorting in amusement. "She thought I was trying to peep, but I guess my shock told her I just didn't think women did that kind of thing, so she took the time out to explain everything to me, that Gerudo did it because of the fact that they had to travel to find men, and that was usually only to have children, though sometimes they got married, but that was more infrequent."
"I see," Zelda nodded, considering that it was their culture after all, so despite the fact that she couldn't see herself with a woman in any way, she could understand how things developed with other people's ways of life. But she had a curious thought in that moment, slightly changing the subject, "By the way, how old is she again?"
Link thought about that for a minute, then said, "She's twenty one now, I think, three years older than me, or so."
Once that was explained, Zelda asked, "So then she taught you how to kiss like they were?"
Link snorted out his amusement, grinning, and the look made her become very curious, waiting on an answer and urging it out of him when he didn't give her one right away, "What!?"
"Well, Masita's very forward. She told me straight out that she liked me a lot, never hid it from me, and asked me if she could kiss me. I told her I didn't really feel the exact same thing for her, I liked her, a lot," he said honestly, "but I wasn't sure about it. So she kissed me suddenly to see what would happen."
Zelda stared at him quietly, holding the fabric of the cloak close to herself, thinking about this. If the way she'd felt a shock of heat when she'd kissed him earlier had been what Masita was looking for, then she could understand why he would do that. "Did you push her away?"
"No, I kissed her back."
She was probably about to get angry or maybe jealous, Link thought, but her reaction surprised him. He heard her snickering softly, and the sound drew his glance beneath a lifted brow. "What's so funny?"
"You're such a male," she grinned in explanation, "I don't think any man would turn down a kiss from a pretty woman. Well," she eyed Link, "that is, was she pretty?"
He smiled over her questioning, asking her in return, "Are you going to get mad?"
"No, just be honest, I won't get mad, I promise."
Smirking, he nodded, then told her, "Yes, she had long black hair and green eyes, and darker skin than you have because of all of the sun."
Zelda felt jealous, frowning over it, but as she'd promised, she didn't get angry. Seeing the look, Link smirked, adding what he'd been about to say beforehand, "But I always remembered seeing a girl I didn't know the name of who I thought was much prettier, with blonde hair and pale skin, and pointed ears like mine."
The flattery had her both blushing and shaking her head at him with pursed lips. "Are you trying to say I'm your dream woman, sir?"
Link hadn't thought about it like that yet, and he suddenly started chuckling, "Well, now that you mention it, it is kind of fitting."
Reaching over, Zelda pushed on his arm while he snickered, shaking her head at him. "So then, lover boy," she picked on him, "what happened?"
Link thought it over. He wasn't sure if the truth would be fitting, but he knew he owed it to her. After all, they were being honest with each other, and Link sighed out his breath. This was the thing he knew she might actually become upset about. "She showed me a lot more than kissing." He admitted the words, not in an ashamed fashion, but just truthfully.
The words had Zelda staring in disbelief. What did he mean by a lot more? Sex? Seeing the look on her face, Link went ahead and elaborated on it, "One thing led to another, she led me, and I followed her into the lair of the female body." His words were meant to be amusing, but he only made them that way just incase she was about to get angry, hoping to soften the blow.
He didn't! Zelda couldn't do anything but stare for a moment or two. She knew all about sex of course, but she wasn't sure what to think knowing Link had experienced it now, and that, maybe, he'd looked at her in that way. Quite honestly it made her heart skip a beat, and she finally managed to snap herself out of it.
"You slept with her?"
Despite the fact that no one else was around, Zelda had whispered the words, albeit somewhat loudly, and Link tried his best not to just start smiling or laughing, feeling she'd take it as if he might've been picking at her. Not to mention, her reactions being so innocently cute aside, he was glad she didn't seem to be angry with him. So holding those thoughts in, for the moment, he just nodded his head, and then added, "Twice."
"What!?"
He couldn't help it anymore, she just sounded so incredulous and surprise that he began laughing, and when he did, Zelda shoved him by his shoulder and said, "Don't laugh at me! It's not funny."
"No, it's just cute," he smirked, "and besides, twice compared to how many times I could have done it, not to mention there were other girls my age around, a lot of other girls, that I did nothing with, who seemed to like me too, isn't that bad if you would have rather I resisted."
That was very true, she had to consider, after all, there really was nothing but women around, and in a way, that explained to her why sometimes he came off as confident instead of shy when around other ladies who paid him so much attention needlessly. But the point he'd made of her maybe wanting him to resist it, as if he might've been thinking she would have preferred if he'd waited for her, made her blush and shake her head vigorously.
"Well, it's not that, I mean, you couldn't remember me, and we didn't even know for sure what happened to one another, so I'm not trying to become high and mighty and say that it's wrong at all," she rushed out quickly, adding, "I'm just," she trailed off, "stunned."
The way she'd stammered and rushed out her words told him she was very embarrassed, and he decided maybe another topic would have made her feel more at ease. "Well," he smiled, "if it makes you feel any better, we can change the subject."
"Oh, well, I don't mind, I mean it's a part of your past when we weren't together, so I'd like to know. I mean, well," she grumbled finally, realizing she was stumbling over her words due to her embarrassment, and she took a slow breath in order to calm herself down. But a curious thought popped into her head and she glanced at him, though the look was a little embarrassed.
"What?" He asked when he saw the look.
"Well, I was curious, what was it like?"
Link considered that for a moment, his brows raising. How could he sum up the experience in words? Looking back, his life having been as a Gerudo, no knowledge of what truly awaited him in his future, he'd thought it was, honestly, an excellent experience, and perhaps some part of him had actually cared deeply for Masita. But the question of his past had always held him back from her, the unknown coming between them, so he knew he didn't love her as completely as a man should love a woman, especially when he was intimate with her.
Now that he knew Mira again, Zelda, he had tried desperately not to think of what that intimate act with her might've been like, but it was there anyway, plaguing the back of his thoughts with a torment that he definitely could have done without. But when he did consider the experience, and consider it with Zelda, he had to really fortify himself from giving any physical signs of it. Which was why he completely denied himself the chance to go into any type of detail, otherwise things would become very awkward between the two of them.
When he didn't answer her right away, she pushed him, "Well?"
Finally, he smiled, looking over at her, taking in his breath, "It was very," he tried to think of the best word to use, "satisfying."
She watched him quietly for a moment. Satisfying? She'd been hoping for a better explanation than that, but she also didn't want details. After all, she couldn't help her curiosity over the entire act just in general itself, and she was also still surprised that he'd already experienced it. She'd told him she wasn't angry at him, and that was the truth, but considering her feelings for him now, she was a little jealous, though she also supposed she had a reason to be.
But perhaps his experiences had been what led his dark half to take what liberties with her that he had. Of course, that was just a very vague theory in itself, but she wondered if it held any merit. While thinking on the situation still made her feel violated, she tried to focus on the fact that she'd thought he'd been Link, and when she'd been under that assumption, she'd actually found a good deal of surprising pleasure in his actions, but she hadn't felt satisfied at all. Actually, she'd felt unsatisfied almost entirely, as if it hadn't been enough.
Maybe she'd just have to experience the whole thing before she understood what he was saying, and realizing the path her thoughts had gone down, she finally replied, "Oh, well at least it's not bad then. Right?"
Link gave her a halfhearted shrug and told her, "No, it's not, though it's hard to explain besides that. But that's why, if you say I seem to kiss well, I know anything about it."
She'd definitely gotten her answer at least. Finally, smiling, she turned from where she was sitting and moved toward him, not so shy she couldn't sit next to him when she knew more of his past with the ladies, though she did still feel a little embarrassment about it. Once she'd settled herself, she reached her hand up and covered her mouth, making a big yawn, then rubbed her eyes. The fatigue they felt had been starting to set in but she was still interested in talking rather than sleeping in that moment.
"So tell me more about the Gerudo and the time you spent there. You never really talked too much about it."
"What do you want to know?" He asked, and once he had, he turned his arm out and put it around her back, settling it there gently, not urging her to sit closer, just making contact with her because he wanted to.
She liked it, making a little smile because of it, and responded to his question, "Well, you said you'd traveled a lot with them."
"We did," he nodded, "mostly just places to go for items we needed, sometimes they were stolen," he added, "and I used to give Nabooru a fuss whenever they did that. But I learned a lot from it, after all, it's helpful to know how to slip things out of someone's pocket without them realizing it."
"How is that helpful?"
"Because someone stole from me once. We went to a ranch called Lon Lon. It was a nice place, quiet, but there was a pub there that had a good deal of people in it when we arrived. I'd gone to the bar counter and left my satchel at my table while I got a drink for Nabooru, and I noticed someone sneaking a rupee out of my bag. They didn't know I saw them, and eventually I just stole it back."
"I can see where that would come in handy then," she smirked, then she turned a bit and rested her head against his shoulder, becoming even more groggy than before. She got quiet, and so did he, both of them looking at the scenery surrounding them. The cliff sides and waterfalls were definitely nice to look upon through the foggy mists, illuminated by the fire before them that they'd set to knock out the chill in the air, and Link put his arm around her side more closely, letting his own eyes shut slowly.
They both drifted into their own thoughts, and after a moment, he heard Zelda asking, "Why did Lyonel come to Engleton? What did he show you?"
Link still hadn't relayed that information to her, having forgotten due to their talks about the gerudo and, well, sex in general, the notion making him smirk a little. Considering it was important information, he opened his eyes to try and stay awake for a little while longer in order to tell her what he knew. "He said he wanted to show me the lake, the guardian that Zora's Domain released to protect it."
"Guardian?"
Link had yawned while she'd asked, and he nodded, "Mmm hmm, some kind of fish or something. I saw it in the water, so the lake's not safe to travel right now. He said to consult Myriad, there's a stone hidden here somewhere, so we can try to figure out how to cross the lake safely."
"Hmm," Zelda drew out, not thinking on it too terribly much in that moment considering her groggy state currently. But another thought did come to mind with the mention of the former royal guard. "Link, do you think he was okay?"
"Well, from what I saw, it looked as if he could handle himself, so I think he was alright. Speaking of that, apparently Arden's known him for a long time, long enough to know who his wife was."
Zelda opened her eyes when he told her those words, and she turned her head and looked up at his face, the expression on her face asking him who it was without words, and so Link told her, "Lyonel was married to Myriad."
The news surprised her. Her lips parted a bit, and she shook her head, "Myriad? That's sad, I mean, knowing she's still alive, but he can't be with her." Zelda lowered her head again, resting it comfortably against Links shoulder, adding, "Poor Lyonel." The thought genuinely made her frown, for the both of them. Myriad because she had to leave her husband behind, and Lyonel because he knew she was still alive but imprisoned somewhere that he couldn't save her from.
"Yeah," Link agreed, yawning once again, feeling sleep really starting to drag him down into oblivion for the time being. But he still managed to say, "Maybe we'll be able to change that for them."
The words made her smile, her own eyes closed now, drawing her hand up to rest against his chest. She'd gotten comfortable, very much so, and she nuzzled her cheek against his shoulder, concentrated on his heart beat beneath her fingertips. She couldn't help in that moment but be glad for their downtime, and the chance to talk this way, wishing almost that the moment could last forever, or at least draw on for a little longer than it would. It was somehow so nice, and she felt the urge to tell him, "I love you," again, before she heard him making a little murmur of nothing really in response, knowing he was drifting off pretty quickly.
Smirking over it, she added the words, "Sleep well, Link," her own mind starting to enter the dream world.
---
Cold granite walls surrounded him in the throne room, silence the music of choice for the time being. Ganondorf wasn't concentrating on elaborate plots or schemes in that moment, simply sitting in wait, using the time to clear his head out and make sure he kept everything in perfect perspective.
One ankle crossed above the opposite knee, his fist beneath his jaw, elbow resting on the arm of the throne, the silence he'd been wading in was broken by the opening of the door. He didn't respond to it, knew whom was coming to see him, and it wasn't Arden. Slowly, finally, his black eyes opened, spotting one of Arden's higher commanding officers entering the throne room, and reaching the foot of the steps the throne was settled upon, he dropped down to a knee before his king in the proper show of respect.
Seeing this, Ganondorf told the man, "Rise up, tell me your news."
Doing as his king had commanded, the soldier stood back up straight, and spoke, "Arden left our contingency to head on alone two nights ago. He said he would be able to move faster tracking Lyonel by himself. The fugitive was heading toward Lake Hylia the last we were with Arden. Also, there have been rumors heard of a revolt forming against you, your majesty. Arden said to waylay this to you along with his intents to return in a day with the fugitive in tow."
Ganondorf didn't make an outward response, but he scoffed inwardly. A revolt? How...cutely futile. His inner thoughts weren't expressed to the soldier before him though, Instead, he simply asked the soldier, "Is this all?"
"That I was given, yes, my liege."
"Good, then you may with the command to gather together a group of your strongest men. I want them ready within a day's time. Be selective, bring those you think may not pass my expectations as well, so that I may also chose whom is the most worthy."
The soldier looked slightly confused, and he asked, "May I ask the purpose so I can better select?"
"Yes," Ganondorf told him idly, then explained, "I wish to bestow a gift to my strongest soldiers, one which I do not wish the unworthy receiving. A gift to make you...even stronger," he said simply, feeling that did the explanation justice. "I realize you may feel a bit of pressure when it comes to fitting my tastes since your captain isn't present, but don't let that bother you. Do you think you can perform this task for me?"
The soldier nodded his head, taking in a breath. "I shall have them gathered tomorrow then. In the courtyard?"
"No, bring them to the throne room. Once I've made my final selections, you'll be gifted, and I wouldn't want the rest of my men to feel left out."
"Very well, your majesty," the man replied, bowing before his king once again before he turned to leave.
The door shut out sound once again, leaving Ganondorf in the silence he'd chosen to preoccupy himself with once more. Once this happened, he considered the news he'd just received, including what Arden had done. Somehow, he couldn't blame the captain for taking matters into his own hands, but depending upon the status of his return to the palace would sway Ganondorf in his final decision over the matter. After all, these soldiers worked too slowly for his tastes.
It was time to grant them a little taste of power.
