Chapter Eight

Kakariko

There was something to be said about Mipha's Healing powers; Link's mood had visibly improved ever since they had left Zora's Domain free of wounds. He no longer avoided use of his right arm, and he was far more responsive―nearly conversational if Zelda dared to say so. Spirits were feeling high. Not that the same could be said for Mipha, the poor dear looked like she would cry when they had to say their goodbyes that morning, eyes downcast and doleful. Even King Dorephan, her father, was notably saddened by their brief parting. That old Royal had enough sentimentality to compete with his impressive size, and not a bone of shyness about it in his body.

Apparently, the Zora Royal Family was far closer to Link than she had originally thought.

In fact, Zelda was shocked but so very amused when the Zora King nearly strangled Sir Link in a surprise hug. It reminded her of the sort of brotherly hugs the Goron were so well known for, especially those given by Daruk. As with those hugs, Link tensed every muscle just to not be crushed, his face turning red as he waited patiently until he would be able to breathe unrestricted once more, gasping a faint 'thank you for your hospitality,' or 'till next time.'

Oh, how the Princess laughed until it was her turn!

Lucky for them both, however, Mipha's goodbye embrace was of a much softer quality. Shy as she was, the young Zora ventured to kiss them both on the cheek before squeezing them tightly with her little arms. Link seemed the most surprised by that kiss, but he did not openly protest. He instead stood there with an awkward rigidness as if no one had ever shown him that sort of affectionate goodbye before. And well, it could have very well possibly been so.

Distantly, Zelda wondered if would be appropriate to ever say goodbye to him in the same way…

The thought made something stir beneath her skin. It was by no means a fleeting image in her head. However other business soon came to occupy her attention. Sidon, Mipha's baby brother made quite the show of his goodbye. While he was far too trepid to whisper anything more than a short 'bye,' Sidon presented both Zelda and Link with a pair of necklaces made from various species of brightly colored river mollusk shells and immaculate pearls.

The young boy's indominable and emerging smile was proof enough of his pride in his gift, though he was quick to slink away behind his sister when shyness struck him once again. Zelda gave him many sincere thanks; it was clear he had spent many hours collecting and stringing the shells and pearls together himself.

The Princess felt a little melancholy then, leaving he companions behind, but it wasn't a feeling that stuck around too horribly long. They were back on the road once more, and there was a long journey ahead of them, filled with many destinations. Most of which Zelda was looking forward to.

"Have you ever been to Kakariko Village?" She asked Link, who had scanned their surroundings intently and found no threats among the green rolling hills heading east. He rode a little easier.

"A handful of times," he answered. "I sometimes passed through for work, after I left the Hamish Estate."

"What sort of work?"

"Hunting contracts, mostly." Link shifted in his saddle to face the Princess a little better. If felt right seeing him like this, he had been such a bore on their trip up to the Domain. Sir Link could have made a profession out of brooding, the way he did then. But she supposed she couldn't blame him, how Mipha described his wound it must have been quite uncomfortable for him.

"Hunting contracts," the Princess repeated curiously. "Like wildlife contracts? Was there not enough work for you in Hateno… before you came to the Castle?" Link shrugged his shoulders.

"Sometimes work could be scarce," he said, "rupees even more so. I took what work I could if there wasn't anything local." Zelda tried to picture Link as a huntsman… but it didn't seem to fit just right. True, he must have been a perfectly capable hunter, but she couldn't imagine him as being anything other than a Knight.

"What sort of animals did you hunt?" Link gave her questions a pause, head tilting slightly as he tried to recall his memory.

"I hunted a bear once," he finally said. "A great Black Bear."

"Why am I not surprised," Zelda teased.

"Kakariko had quite the problem for a while," he explained. "Their food stores were regularly broken into, cuccos disappeared nearly every night," Link made a gesture with his hand. "Their not-so-friendly neighborhood beast could claw its way through just about any door; pulling them right off the hinges. So, the town hired me to take care of it."

"Did they not send their own hunters after the beast?" The Princess asked.

"They did…" Link replied, seriously. "But most came back fatally injured, others didn't come back at all. And after that, they didn't want to send any of their own. Understandably so."

"That's sad to hear. Kakariko is such a small, close-knit community. Everyone knows everybody there, I'm sure their losses must have been hard." Link nodded in agreement with her.

"I have reason to believe it was sick," he added. "Physically. Mentally."

"What makes you say that?" Zelda asked curiously.

"Well," he mused aloud. "I've never seen a wild beast act so… erratically before. Normally bears hibernate during the winter, yes? Well, this one did not. It spent nearly the whole winter season hunting and ravaging what it could, through snows that came up to the hip. And when I finally managed to track it and kill the beast it was nearly bone thin… And its den…" Link shook his head, as if in a mild disgust. "It wasn't a pretty sight."

"How so?" the Princess prodded. Link made a face that asked if she really wanted to know the answer. Of course, she insisted, Zelda had never heard of bears behaving this way, it was her scientific duty to collect such peculiar data!

With a clear reluctance, Link answered in a low and quiet tone.

"The smell alone turned my stomach. And the cuccos it stole were rarely eaten; dead mounds just left to rot whole. Something was wrong with that beast," he restated. "The bear's fur came out in handfuls, and the flesh was foul by smell alone. I'd like to believe I put it out of its misery, it was very sickly."

That certainly did paint an ugly picture worthy of turning Zelda's stomach. Something must have been very wrong with the poor beast. "It sounds horrible. But I'm glad you came out unscathed, I'm not sure where we would all be if the Hero had been mauled by a mad bear. Or any beast for that matter."

"I've come close more times than I would like," Link replied.

"Trust me, I know."

Their conversation dwindled a little bit after that; it was time for something less gruesome. Zelda took the opportunity to take in the landscape around them, the mountains eastern Hyrule were quite a sight in their own right―they were far greener than the sapphire mountains of Zora's Domain―and in the peak of spring they were quite beautiful. Wildflowers sprouted at nearly ever crop and bend in the road, trees sprouted in magnificent shades of emerald and jade, and in the middle of it all life flourished.

It made the Princess wished she could have spent as much time out in the wild as her companion had, hunting, working, and adventuring. Instead she was chained to a castle more often than not, kneeling in prayer pools in the early hours till her knees ached. Oh, how differently they had grown up.

"What an interesting life you have led," Zelda sighed. Link gave her a puzzled look. "In such short time you have been a Ward, a hunter, a common man, and now a Knight. You must have many more stories to tell, I'd love to hear them."

"I'm afraid you have heard all the interesting ones, Princess," Sir Link replied, though Zelda wasn't sure that statement was entirely the truth. As an afterthought, however, he added, "I haven't much left to tell."

"Hmm, I'm sure," the Princess teased, "though I'm regularly surprised by the tales I hear."

The day passed on slowly and gently from there. The trip from Zora's Domain to Kakariko wasn't a particularly hard one, just lengthy. By the time the sun was just dipping below the mountain peaks to the west, Zelda and her Knight turned the last rocky bend into the valley of the Sheikah. Kakariko was positively a mystical sight to see in the twilight hours.

Mystical and soothing indeed.

Gentle breezes rustled the leaves of the redbud trees, the waterways trickled with a calming trill throughout the town, and chimney smoke drifted off into the coming moonlight, the faint smells of food simmering on the fireplace.

Small lanterns made of a richly colored paper were the many of sources of light that lit the way through the town now that the sun had nearly gone. In row after row the lights hung on ropes that sloped from eave to eave of the villager's homes like the elaborate web of a spider, so that no corner was truly dark. They produced a soft light that was easy and pleasing to the eye, as inviting and warm as its designers.

And fittingly with such a sight, an elderly Sheikah woman crossed their path, and although she shuffled more than walked, bent over an old cane with and a wicker basket clutched in the other arm, she took the time to spare a smile that spoke of a genuine kindness one would associate with a grandmotherly figure.

"Welcome travelers," she said, squinting her eyes at them to help her aged vision focus. "What brings outsiders here so late in the evening?"

"We are here to see the Elder Impa," Zelda answered, slipping off her horses saddle so that she could speak with the old lady on the same level. Link followed shortly behind her and relieved her of her horse's reins.

"Ah," the Sheikah sighed, raising a boney finger to point further into town. "Impa has many visitors. You'll find her in the Elder's Pagoda at the center of town. Though I'm afraid she doesn't take guests after sunset. Maybe you would like to stop by my son's inn and find a room?" Her eyes grinned with delight as she got a better look at Zelda's face.

"My," she reveled with a breath, chuckling to herself. "What a pretty young lady you are. You really must meet my grandson, he's just come home not two days ago. He's a very well to do man, you know? In service to the King himself." The woman's eyebrow began to climb impishly. "He's so very handsome, and he has a lovely singing voice, too. I'm sure he would gladly sing a song for such a nice lady as yourself if you came to visit."

"Oh," Zelda exclaimed, albeit with no small amount of awkwardness. While it wasn't as if she was unaccustomed to such offerings, the mother's of well-to-do Knights often made similar gestures in court, it felt different and strange hearing it come from an old Sheikah who didn't even know who she really was. It was flattering, in a way, but still peculiar.

"I'm sure your son's inn would be delightful," Zelda excused. "But I'm afraid Impa is expecting me tonight, I wouldn't want to be rude." The old lady's grin drooped a little, but she kept good spirits about her.

"Of course, dear," she said, patting Zelda on the cheek. "Don't mind an old woman like, I prattle on like a wishful naïve girl. Go on, child, if Impa is expecting you as her special guest, its best you do not keep her waiting. She can be very impatient, you know?" With a quick shuffle and a laugh, the old woman then drew close to Link and patted him on the cheek as well, remarking the blade on his back with a curious sparkle in her eyes.

"Oh," she blew, "and if your handsome friend here needs a place, we have plenty of rooms too." The Shiekah then spoke a little more privately to Link. "Your lady must be a very important woman, young man, if she needs a fine escort such as yourself. Hylia be with you, child."

As if not knowing what else to say, Sir Link merely replied with a nod, extending out an arm for the old woman to lean on as she tried to regain her balance before continuing on her way. Zelda was certain he would have offered to walk her all the rest of the way to her destination had she not been insistent on needing no more help than that.

And so, with many goodbyes, the elderly Sheikah went on her way, shuffling along the gravel path as she headed up the road to a warmly lit thatch-roofed inn, where several patrons took their meals and drinks on the porch, leaning back in relaxing chairs, letting the stresses of a long day's travel seep away in the tranquil firelight of Kakariko as the spoke softly to one another and hummed soothing songs to themselves. Zelda almost wished she could join them under the guise of just another weary traveler, leaving behind all the necessities of royalty.

Impa, however, was quite a stickler towards duty, she would insist on things being done properly.

Wordlessly, Link trailed the Princess with horses in tow, but he did so closely. Even in the safety of the village, he did not ease up much. Given how much his eyes wandered the little nooks and high places of Kakariko with deliberation, it would be no surprise he would have already spotted the invisible sentinels: the Sheikah Shadow warriors, watching over them keenly from their perches.

"We're safe here," she reassured him. "Not so long ago the Sheikah were the original guardians of the Royal Family, you know? We could not be in better hands."

"Yes," Link replied tersely. "Until separatists formed the Yiga Clan." In an instant the Princess could feel the sentinels' eyes sharpen on them at the utterance of that title.

"Careful of your words, Sir Link," Zelda hissed quietly. "You would be greatly dishonoring them to suggest that. Their feud with the Yiga―their own blood turned traitorous―is a painful one. They have worked tirelessly to rebuild their reputation ever since the Separation. Do not insult them here." For a long and honest moment, Link's expression shifted beneath a mask of silence, till at last a reluctant, but sincere, acceptance took place.

"I apologize, Princess."

"It's alright," Zelda said, a little gentler. "I know you didn't mean harm. But these sorts of things are difficult to navigate, wording is everything. If you are ever unsure―"

"Do not worry, Princess," Link interrupted, making a gesture with his fingers to show that his lips were sealed indefinitely. A faint regret settled in Zelda's chest, practically speaking she had just told him to shut up… and after a whole day of him nearly speaking his mind freely. The Princess could only hope she hadn't botched their long-fought progress together.

Unfortunately, that was a problem to solve another time.

Now standing at the foot of the long staircase that led up to the Elder's Pagoda, Link and Zelda were greeted by two guards who knew their identities immediately, greeting them honorifically. The guards were quick to take the reins of their horses from Link's hand, handing them off to a young stableboy to be unsaddled and brushed. From there it was a short climb up to and through the front doors, which swung open with a low and grumbling creak.

The sweet aroma of incense and freshly brewed tea wafted past Zelda's nose. She took a deep breath and sighed with relief. Impa always did know how to welcome her guests.

"Princess, it is good to see you."

Heyo!

Long time no see, my friends. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, I know there wasn't a whole lot of plot that happened, but felt a little good slice of life was in order to solidify the developing bond between Link and Zelda. Think of this chapter as another in-between transition chapter, hopefully it wasn't boring. Anywho, I feel like this is now the point in the story I want to tell things begin to speed up.

There is still a good bit of ground to cover until we reach endgame content (The Prayer Pool Party time, Calamity's return, Champions fall, etc), but I did get a message from a reader asking how far I will take the story, and I can say I will go indefinitely to when Link is put in the Shrine and Zelda goes to fight Ganon, but I also have plans on extending into events that happen in/after the actual playable part of the game.

Now, am I going to recount every main quest in the game? Goodness no. I feel that it would be repetitive, because we have all played through the game in countless and unique ways. No one person has done everything the same. So that part of the story I want to keep relatively untouched, but I will tune in on crucial plot points, provide some exposition, and give perspective. I don't want to give away what I have planned yet, because its still in the workshop of my head, but do not fear, I do have plans, and I think (and hope) you will all enjoy it! Some of it will involve minor creative liberties. ;)

Cheers,

-Bold