Gathering Dust

by FlowerOwl

Left behind as the sole survivor after death descended on the world, Zelda cannot deny that she is fleeing from more than just the memories haunting her as each passing day adds to the weight of her despair, and when a chance meeting allows for her path to cross those of two strangers, it soon becomes clear that they all have more to make peace with than merely their own past.

17. Chapter 17

She awoke with a scream having already formed in the back of her throat as she opened her eyes to see how the green colour of the foliage above her head let through a sickly shade of light. Her breath already increasing in speed as it grew shallower, Zelda saw how her vision began to swim, the green of the leaves above and the brown colour of the tree trunks blurring together to form pure panic when she heard twigs break as someone crouched down next to her, placing a hand on her shoulder that Zelda lacked the strength to try to push away.

"Zelda, Zelda, calm down! Everything is fine, but you have to calm down before you pass out! You breathing—you have to get control over it. Now, breathe in and wait and out and wait."

Little by little, as she followed the instructions, distantly aware of how every last part of her mind screamed at her not to, Zelda found herself able to once again make out what she was seeing, the blur of red that had pushed away some of the green soon losing its resemblance to blood as she recognised Ganondorf and the way his hair was framing his face.

He seemed exhausted. Sitting there, Zelda slowly becoming aware of her surroundings, how the bark of the tree she was leaning against had left her with a sore spot just above her left shoulder blade, the little details began to stand out, Zelda seeing the blue shadows beneath Ganondorf's eyes, the way his eyes did not reflect the smile he sent her as he patted her shoulder for a moment, and how he swayed slightly to the side as he held out his hand.

He could not have slept at all. It was such an obvious conclusion, and still, Zelda found herself hesitating to reach up to take his hand, trying her best to recall anything from the day before that was not fear and instincts forcing her to move as they narrowly succeeded in keeping her alive, doing her best to remember how it had ended, only for all her mind was able to produce to answer her question being the vivid memory of seeing blood run along the edge of the blade of Link's sword and knowing that it was there because of her.

"You fell asleep shortly after we agreed that this was the safest we were going to be in the moment." Ganondorf must have been able to read her mind, for he answered the unspoken question without hesitation. That, or maybe he was able to guess what she was thinking. As Zelda finally reached up to take his hand, Ganondorf pulling her to her feet, that seemed like the most likely answer, especially as he followed it with a nod towards a point just next to them. "Link and I agreed that it would be best not to wake you up."

Zelda turned to look towards where he was pointing.

Sitting on the ground, with the rucksack solidly planted on the ground in front of him, Link could have made it appear like he was merely digging through it to figure out what they should eat now because they had gone hiking. With the cream colour of his clothing only slightly stained by a few patches of green where he must have come a little too close to the grass, it was a lie that Zelda could convince herself might have been the truth once. However, it lasted only for a second, before Link turned to the side to face her, revealing the cut that had drawn a line down his cheek, the dried blood having only recently formed a scab if the red stains that covered the lower half of his left sleeve were any indication.

He looked just as tired as Ganondorf, but he still raised his hand to wave at her as she and Ganondorf walked over to sit down next to him, gesturing towards the can he had placed on the ground in front of him like there was anything normal about what they were doing, like they had not just had to flee for their lives, almost been crushed by a boulder, and were now all alone out in the forest in an area Zelda would be the first to admit that she did not know that well.

"Hi. It is good to see you." picking up the can in front of him, Link pointed towards the picture on the side of it, Zelda struggling to focus on the fact that it proclaimed the contents of it to be beans. "I am afraid we are going to have to enjoy a cold breakfast. Ganondorf and I discussed the possibility of heating it up, but," Link let out a chuckle that was only slightly too high-pitched to sound sincere, "well, not only are we hiding in a forest and trying our best not to be found, we also had no idea about just how we would go about starting a fire, seeing as we left the camping stove behind, so it seems that the menu is going to be cold beans today."

He turned away from them again, leaving Zelda to her thoughts as Ganondorf leant to the side, the two of them leading a hushed conversation. There was no need for that. Though Zelda could see that they were talking about her from the way they continued to cast glances in her direction, she could not bring herself to even bother try to listen to what they were saying. For all she cared, they could have had their conversation out in the open, yelling over her head. Even then, she doubted that she would have been able to focus on it.

They were out in the wild again. Once again, they had stopped in a place Zelda had never been to before, Link having taken on the task of being the one in charge of the food without any of them outright giving the task to him. In a way, it should have felt familiar, and yet, for as much as Zelda tried to force herself to mentally return to the last time they had sat like that, to keep in mind what they would have to do next, her thoughts kept on going nowhere other than towards the place they had just left behind.

Kakariko Village. With how Zelda could no longer hear anything, no screams or sounds of fighting rising up in the distance, she was sure that the Yiga Clan was not searching through the forest in an attempt at finding them. Had she had any optimism or hope left, she might have decided to regard it as a sign that they had been forced to surrender. Only, Zelda was not an optimist. Dorian had been in Kakariko when the attack had begun, and so had Steen and Olkin, but they were only three people against the entire Yiga Clan. Zelda could only try to guess how many warriors were part of the clan, but if the fight with them in the museum had shown her anything, it was that they were easily able to outnumber three people. Even if that had not been the case, they had still had the element of surprise on their side throughout the attack.

"Zelda?" snapping his fingers in front of her face, Link brought her back to reality. "Do you think that sounds nice?"

"Huh?"

From how he shook his head, not quite managing to hide the concerned look he sent Ganondorf, Zelda knew that he had guessed the reason for why she had not paid attention. But at least he did not comment on it, instead smiling at her as he repeated himself. "I was just asking you if you thought that it would sound nice to eat beans now and then some paella for dinner."

She could not figure out just what she thought about that idea, mainly because none of the words meant anything to her, all of them little more than white noise in her ears. Still, Zelda tried her best to at least give off the impression that she was paying attention, tilting her head to the side as she went over what he had just said, her stomach sinking as she did. "Beans and paella—Link, just how much food do we have?"

The seed of fear was confirmed as Link hesitated for a moment too long before answering. "Uh… we have quite a bit of tinned food considering the situation, especially if Impa had planned for you and her being the only ones who would go out into the woods."

There was something he was not telling her. Zelda knew that as he reached up to rub the back of his head, so she continued. "And what else?"

She should have felt guilty for using the fact that she was the only one of them who had got the chance to sleep ever since they had fled from Kakariko Village, but as Link refused her attempts at maintaining eye contact, looking down at the tin, his hands, the ground, everywhere but her, all Zelda could feel was dread.

"There is also a knife," Link finally admitted, "a knife, a couple of bottles of water and… well, all of our Sheikah Slates are there as well."

"Oh, Hylia," Zelda whispered.

Next to them, Ganondorf sent the rucksack a long look, one that so clearly said what all three of them where thinking before he had even turned back to face them again. "You don't think," Ganondorf said, emphasising every word, "you don't think that she might have known that this would happen?"

Immediately, Link denied any chance of that being the case, placing the can down on the ground just to be able to cross his arms in front of his chest as he told them that it was not possible that Impa had known about it.

Zelda could only just pay enough attention to the conversation to faintly register that Ganondorf did not outright try to say anything to counter Link's argument, not as the memory of how Impa had told her to go to Ganondorf and Link came to fill ever last part of her mind. They had less time than she had hoped for them to be given. Was that not what Impa had told her as she had ordered Zelda to go seek out the others while she would make sure to pack a bag of supplies for them to bring along as they would make the journey out to the fountain?

As much as Zelda tried to search for the moment where she should have caught on to the fact that Impa knew more than she told her, the fraction of a second where Zelda would have been able to guess what was to come if she had only paid more attention to her, she could not see it. There was no second she was able to pinpoint as the one where she should have seen through Impa's talk of the forest and the fountain, no slight tremble in her voice Zelda could take as a sign that she had known. And yet, Zelda could not join Link in denying that there was something about the way Impa had rushed towards them, the rucksack already ready, telling them where to go, that made it feel like that had to be the case. They had been under attack, and yet, Impa had remained remarkably calm, just as she had ensured that the three of them would be together as the attack began by sending Zelda to see Ganondorf, Link, and Dorian, and now here they were, sitting with the rucksack Impa had prepared that contained far too many supplies for two people.

"Link," Zelda said, Link failing silent in an instant, "I think that Ganondorf is right. Impa—I think that she might have known."

The fight was over. Link unfolded his arms, looking at her with defeat in his eyes, but still, he did not stop just then. "But then why did she not tell us? What were her reasons for not telling us in advance? How was it in any way helpful that we did not know that we would be attacked?" the last question sounded exactly like what it was: a desperate way of trying to convince themselves that Impa had not kept something as big as an attack from the Yiga Clan secret from them.

The worst part of it was that Zelda did not even have any idea for what she could say in response, leaving her to shrug, knowing full well that it was not enough. "I don't know." the words came out as a whisper. "I really don't know, Link. I just know that, no matter what, we left everyone behind. Impa, Paya, Dorian—we left them all behind as we fled."

There was a rustle as Ganondorf moved over to wrap an arm around her, pulling her closer. Zelda could appreciate the attempt at comforting her for what it was, but even then, it did nothing to take away the fact that she had left them all behind. Even if Impa had known and failed to tell them about the impending attack, it had still been their decision to leave the village.

Looking down at her hands, Zelda could still feel where Paya had held onto her like it had been burnt into her skin. If she had held on for just a second longer, if she had tried again to convince her to come along, perhaps Paya would be sitting out there with them in that moment.

Zelda had hardly got the chance to try to envision it, Paya sitting across from her, her hair tousled and moved out of the perfect bun that had been piled up onto her head, before the guilt flared up again. Here she was, thinking about Paya, when the entire village had been attacked. A moment of weakness was all it took for Zelda to recall what Dorian had told them about his wife, and after that, there was no way back for her, not as she tried to think of ways the people they had left might have escaped, only to find that she could not think of one that did not involve a high risk of casualties. With the boulder having blocked the path through the defile, all Zelda could see was the option of going the other way, walking out in the open where the Yiga Clan would still have the advantage of having archers placed up in the hills.

"Hey," Ganondorf, said, running his thumb along her shoulder in a motion that was no doubt intended to be calming, but only served to remind her of the fact that they had survived against all odds when everyone else had most likely not been so lucky, "I am sure that they are fine. If Impa knew about the attack, I cannot imagine that she would not begin to prepare for it in advance—besides," Ganondorf's voice rose a bit, becoming a bit more hopeful. The change was not large, but it was still enough to catch Zelda's attention, making her look up from the ground as Ganondorf continued, "we all saw that Dorian left us moments before the attack began. I am sure that he would have gone directly to Impa. Then, she could have told him about the attack, giving him the chance to arm the rest of the village." he looked towards them, and Zelda could see the silent plea for them to agree.

Link was the first of them to give in. Once again picking up the tinned beans, he nodded at Ganondorf. "Yeah, that sounds like Dorian. Really, if anything, we should be feeling bad for the Yiga Clan—I have no doubt that Dorian would be able to defeat them with both hands tied behind his back."

That that had not been what they had seen back inside the museum was almost a sentence that left Zelda's mouth, but she bit her tongue at the last moment to keep it from slipping out. Just because she could not see a way for the people in Kakariko Village to have survived did not mean that she had to destroy her friend's hopes as well.

For it would appear that they were beginning to find genuine hope, Ganondorf's voice losing the edge of pretence as he pointed towards Link. "You are absolutely right. With Dorian, Steen, and Olkin, I am sure that the village would have plenty of time to organise their escape, and—"

"They have the motorcycle," Link finished, "that and possibly more than the one we saw, and—oh," Link's face fell, the second it took him to paint a smile onto it instead being more than enough for Zelda to notice it, "they have Epona as well… which means that they would be able to outrun the Yiga Clan!"

They both turned towards her.

She knew what they were trying to do, that that was supposed to be the moment where she would nod and agree with them, where she would say that they had a point. Deep down, Zelda supposed that part of her wanted to do that as well, wanted to give in to the idea of everything being fine. But she could not. It was not a matter of her not wanting to believe that everyone was all right—for, Hylia, did she wish that she was able to believe that Purah would have created some kind of machine or concoction that would give them the edge in the battle—she simply could not convince herself that it could be the case after all. They had left to save their own lives, and now, she would have to continue on with the knowledge that they had made that decision. And yet, looking over at where Link was leaning towards her, the tin of beans pressed against the ground as he tried to balance himself, she could not bring herself to tell him that.

Instead, Zelda let out a sigh. "I guess that you may be right."

Link did not outright let out a victorious yelp, but his smile did grow a bit brighter as he moved back into a more balanced position. "Yes, of course I am, Zelda. I am glad you agreed with me at last, just as I am glad that you are awake, because we really need to talk about what we are going to do now."

"What do you mean?" Zelda frowned, trying to figure out if there was something she had forgot about that would explain why he phrased it as a question when the answer was clear. "Impa told us to journey to the Temple of Time for the answers, so that is what we are going to do." Link's question was one with an answer already present, and yet, as Zelda took in the way Link hesitated to say anything, Ganondorf avoiding looking directly at her as she turned to him for support, it dawned on her that it might not be as simple as it should have been. Still, Zelda would not give up on what might prove to be their only chance of finding any answers about the cycle and how they could bring an end to it so easily, so she tried again. "Nothing we can do now will mean anything if we do not figure out how to end the cycle. If the answers to that question can be found at the Temple of Time, then that is where we will have to go; it is as simple as that."

"Zelda." Ganondorf said the word slowly, carefully, sounding like he was worried about what her response would be. "We agree with you on the cycle having to be our main priority, but…" he grimaced, "you have to admit that we really have no way of knowing whether or not that was what Impa meant when she told you that the answers could be found there."

She knew what the answer to her question was going to be, that it would feel like a kick to the chest, but Zelda still found herself asking it. "But then what could she have been referring to when she mentioned the answers we could find there if it was not the cycle?"

Looking towards Link for help, Link simply holding his hands up in front of him, Ganondorf closed his eyes before speaking. "I think that she might have meant your powers. I mean, it sounded like they would be important, and you still have yet to figure out how to access them, don't you?"

Having tried to prepare for being reminded of the fact that she had yet to prove herself the same way Ganondorf and Link had done did not make it feel any less horrible, but she could not allow herself to focus on that. If there was even the slightest chance that anyone from Kakariko Village might have survived, if she could think of Paya, Impa, Purah, anyone, as she tried to find something that would ensure that a disaster like the disease would never be allowed to strike again, then Zelda had to focus on that.

Rather than curling up around the wound in her soul, Zelda sat up straighter, Ganondorf's arm sliding off her shoulders as she turned to face him. "You are right about that. I still haven't figured out how I am meant to use my powers, or even what I can use them for. But I have to believe that Impa was talking about more than that; I have to believe that we will be able to find the answers to the question of how to break the cycle within the Temple of Time. Besides, she told me that we would head out into the forest specifically to help me reach out for my powers, being clear about the goal for that journey. Given that, I doubt that she would have meant the plea for us to go to the Temple of Time solely to be about my attempts at awakening my powers. I have to believe that, and I think that you and Link have to as well."

Ganondorf, having otherwise just opened his mouth, no doubt to try to counter the argument, fell silent, proving her point.

"I…" Ganondorf shook his head, letting out a sigh, "that is correct, Zelda. I do need to believe that we still have a chance of bringing an end to the cycle, and I have to admit that what you are saying does make some amount of sense. However," Ganondorf held up his hand, pausing her interruption before it had even begun, "that does not answer the question of how you are supposed to learn about your powers now. If Impa isn't here to teach you and with how trying to find the fountain on our own without running into the Yiga Clan is something we will have to give up on in advance, then the possibility of finding the answers within the Temple of Time is the only option I can see that we are still able to pin our faith on."

Zelda had nothing she could say in response to that. Really, there was nothing to say. She could have talked about the cycle and the importance of breaking it for as long as she wished to and it would not change the fact that Ganondorf was right to question her chances of ever figuring out her powers. They were not there, Zelda still feeling the barrier between herself and the spirit realm as she tried to reach out, still just barely out of her reach. If her being able to manifest her powers was needed for bringing an end to the cycle the way Ganondorf suggested, Zelda had to admit that he was right to doubt the possibility of there being any hope that following that plan would lead to anything at all. It was tempting to give up and admit defeat, Zelda would admit that. If she gave up, they would only have to convince Link that the most important thing right then was to ensure their own survival and then they would not have to think about the Temple of Time ever again.

But no matter what had happened to the people of Kakariko Village, whether they had survived or not, they deserved better than that, so Zelda squared her shoulders and prepared herself for the impending discussion as she looked directly into Ganondorf's eyes. "No," she said, "I know that I can figure it out on my own. I promise you that by the time we get to the Temple of Time, I will have solved the puzzle of how I am meant to reach my abilities."

Ganondorf shot her an exhausted look, Zelda making sure that she was not the first of them to break eye contact as he looked over at Link. "What do you think, Link?"

It was the deciding vote, something Zelda knew that Link was aware of as well from the way he did not answer immediately, instead taking a moment to look between them. "I think," Link said, "that Zelda might be right. If there is even the slightest chance that the means of breaking the cycle can be found within the Temple of Time, then that is something we cannot ignore. Besides, even if we are wrong and Impa really meant it as another opportunity for Zelda to try to gain access to her powers, that would also be a good thing for us. Really, the way I see it, going to the Temple of Time is our only real option right now."

The discussion was over. That much was clear from the way Ganondorf pressed his lips together, the tense line of his shoulders letting them know how he wanted to protest that decision but knew that they had reached an agreement already. It was the end of the discussion, but it did not feel like a victory at all, not as Ganondorf shook his head at them, his voice shaking slightly when he opened his mouth again to speak. "All right, all right. If the two of you agree that that it is what we have to do, then I will trust that you know what you are doing. But, Link," Ganondorf clutched the loose fabric of his trousers, creasing it as it formed a little ball in his hand, "I expect that in case anything goes wrong inside the Temple of Time, you will remember your promise."

"Of course I will." Link did not hesitate for a moment before he bowed his head, but it was the look in his eyes as he did so that captured Zelda's attention, the fear, sadness and pain that could be seen there combining to form something that brought an end to any hopes of the promise being something harmless that Zelda might otherwise have been able to nourish.

Looking back and forth between them, Zelda bit the inside of her cheek to keep the question from leaving her mouth. She did not want to know, not really, not if the answer she might have got was able to make Link's eyes turn dark, Ganondorf's face looking like it was made of stone as he did not show any reaction to the assurance that Link would keep his promise. The need to know was alluring, but Zelda could still sense how she would be better off living in blissful ignorance.

The moment could barely have lasted for more than a handful of seconds, but Zelda could still see how Ganondorf had to force himself to show anything other than grim determination as he looked back down at her again. "So, Zelda, do you have any idea about how we are going to get to the Temple of Time? Because, I don't know about you, Link, but I know that that was never something we discussed in our geography classes."

"Me neither," Link interjected, "it was mostly just general knowledge about the area around us, not really a lot about the locations of the temples." he added a chuckle that Zelda doubted would have been enough to convince even a five-year-old.

The atmosphere had changed, the air feeling thick around her, making Zelda struggle with the sensation of being unable to get enough air into her lungs, but she still forced herself to nod her head at Ganondorf. "Yeah, I know where it is. I—my old class and I, we visited it once back in the sixth grade—school camp, if I remember correctly. It is up on the Great Plateau, very close to the path up there. If we get there, we can't miss it."

"Okay." Zelda could not tell if it was merely wishful thinking or if Ganondorf sounded slightly more hopeful as he rose to his feet. "And I assume that you know how to get to the Great Plateau then?"

She could only nod in response, the lump in her throat making it impossible for her to force out any words.

Thankfully, it seemed to be enough for Ganondorf as he looked over at Link, motioning towards the tinned beans. "In that case, we should probably get going as soon as possible, preferably once we have finished breakfast. What do you say?"

It was a unanimous decision, and though Zelda knew that she could not speak for the two others, she could not shake the feeling that they too were eager to leave the forest behind and get as much distance as possible between themselves and Kakariko Village. To say that it was only a matter of fearing that the Yiga Clan might discover their hiding place would be a comforting lie, but a lie nonetheless. As Link handed her the can of beans without a word but with an expression that let her know that they had no way of knowing when they would come across more food and that they had to share, the only thing Zelda could do to keep her mind from flying back to the moment where she had been separated from Paya and the question of whether she, Impa, Purah, Dorian, Koko, Cottla, and the rest of Kakariko Village had survived was to force herself to focus on the flat taste of the cold beans.

There was no conscious decision to ration the food. They did not sit down as the sun reached the point in the sky where they would have returned to Impa's house for lunch and decide that if they wanted to make sure that their supplies would last them for long enough to let them reach the Great Plateau or at least another place where they could find food, then they had to be careful and not eat more than what was strictly necessary. Instead, it happened without any of them discussing the fact that the sun began to set before Link gestured for them to stop.

It was almost sad how little distance they had managed to cover in the span of a day. Zelda had not really realised just how much it had meant to be able to push a trolley in front of her, to have a horse walking along next to them at a pace that made them have to move quicker if they did not want to constantly have to make her slow down, but as she looked back at how the forest, albeit much smaller against the horizon than it had looked when Zelda had first realised that they would forgo lunch, was still visible, the trees looking almost laughably small against the tall cliffs next to them, she could not help but wonder just how little the day's journey would amount to if they were to compare it with how much distance they still had left to cover before they would reach the Temple of Time.

Perhaps that was why it just happened, that none of them were willing to be the one to stop and suggest that they should eat something, tearing into their limited supplies and calling for them to make a stop. No matter the explanation, fact was that they kept on going until they reached a bridge over yet another river.

It looked no less dilapidated than the one near the defile, but seeing as that had been able to fulfil its intended task of allowing them to move across the rush of water without breaking, Zelda stayed silent as they all stepped out onto it. A few of the stones shifted below her weight, Zelda having to reach out to grab onto the railing a couple of times to keep herself from falling, but the bridge remained intact as they reached the other side. Considering what had happened over the last couple of days, it felt almost like it should have required more luck than what they deserved, but if that was the case, Zelda would not try to argue against it, not if it finally meant that they had an advantage.

In front of them, the twin mountains of the Dueling Peaks rose up, cutting into the sky, the flow of the river continuing on its path between them, but none of them made any indication of being about to move forwards.

Looking towards the narrow strip of land on both sides of the river, a wave casting a little spray of water up onto it from time to time, Zelda had to admit that she did not look forward to having to traverse the distance, especially not if it would turn out that they might not be able to make it before nightfall, leaving them to sleep directly next to the river, with so little distance between themselves and the water that Zelda was already beginning to wonder just how much they would be able to move in their sleep before it would send them rolling into the river.

She could not have been much more grateful for the fact that her hesitation was shared by the two others, Ganondorf turning around to gesture towards Link, his plan already clear from the look in his eyes. "Uh… maybe, it would be for the better if we are fully rested before we face…that." He nodded towards the river, Zelda finding herself wondering if he was referring to the water or the fact that she did not dare to think about the risk of boulders falling from the top of the mountain while they were walking through the mountain pass below. "Link, did I hear something about paella?" Ganondorf motioned towards the rucksack Link had slung over his shoulder, waiting a couple of seconds before repeating his words again, the time made longer by how Link did not give any indication that he had heard him. "Link?"

Link did not react at first, instead staring down into the water, a dark look in his eyes making him look almost unrecognisable. It was not until Ganondorf had cleared his throat and repeated his name for the second time that he appeared to become aware of the world around him, looking up at them with a startle, a hint of fear in his expression that Zelda did not know the cause for just as she did not know what she could do to take it away from him as he stuttered slightly before nodding. "No—I mean, yes, the paella, yeah, I did say that we could eat that for dinner—just, give me a moment, and then I will have it ready—you don't mind that it is cold, right?" before they would have got the chance to answer, Link had already shaken his head at himself. "I'm sorry, I keep on forgetting that there is no way for us to heat it up." holding his hands up in front of him, Zelda unsure of whether it was meant as a placating gesture, if he was aware of what he was doing as he placed the rucksack on the ground and dug into it, still mumbling to himself. "Paella, paella, it is here somewhere, just give me a moment and then… then we will have something to eat, something cold."

Exchanging a look with Ganondorf, Zelda could see the question that went through her head reflected in his eyes as Link continued to cast worried glances towards the water, but as he pulled out the can of paella, not looking over at them for even a moment, she lacked the courage to try to address it. Instead, she allowed it to pass by without uttering a single word about it, Ganondorf appearing to make the same decision as he went over to sit down next to Link, Zelda following his lead.

The grass was still damp below her, but she could not tell if it was the result of the waves in the river or if it had rained recently. It did not matter, not in that moment, not when they had only barely made it away from Kakariko Village in one piece, but Zelda could still not shove away the growing feelings frustration as she sat there, unable to even find the answers to such a simple question. That had been what had been the issue the entire time, had it not? There had not been any answers for her to find within Kakariko Village, not in regards to her powers, not in regards to exactly what they would have to do to bring an end to the cycle, and certainly not about herself. Sneaking a peek at Ganondorf, Zelda wondered if he and Link felt the same way. She could not ask them, not without revealing her own feelings on the subject, and as the Master Sword caught the rays of the setting sun, reflecting the orange light directly into her eyes, she doubted that they would be able to understand what she meant if she were to explain it. Granted, they must be able to relate to at least some of it, if nothing else then to the feeling of being trapped in the cycle and the talk of destiny, but still, as Zelda tried her best to sit up straighter, only for her to give up moments later and instead allow her spine to draw an s-shape as she slumped forwards, she could not imagine that they would have understood just what she was trying to say if she had opened her mouth. They had been able to do something. It might not have been much, but at least Ganondorf had possessed the wits to get them away from Kakariko moments before their escape route would have been blocked by the boulder, just as Link had thought to grab a weapon to defend them with. Meanwhile, she had panicked, first trying to convince Paya to come with them, wasting time, and then almost causing all of them to be captured by having her hair be in the way, serving as a convenient way for the Yiga soldier to stop them.

Running her hand through her hair, Zelda felt how the knots had made her hair become little more than a big clump of tousled locks and split ends, and even without walking the few metres down to the bank of the river, she was certain that her reflection would have shown her the exact same thing, a girl with hair that almost threatened to drown her, overpowering the rest of her. Her father had encouraged her to take care of it, to have it be as long as possible, saying something about how the newspapers liked the image of the perfect daughter of the perfect mayor who might go on to become the next prime minister of Hyrule. It had been good for his image, and, in return, good for Zelda's meticulously crafted reputation of being the perfect daughter as well. Trying to brush out one of the knots with her fingers, Zelda could feel the tension build at the top of her head, and, suddenly, it felt as if she could not breathe, like the hair really was about to pull her down, drowning her by taking away any means of escape the same way it had threatened to do when the member of the Yiga Clan had grabbed onto it. Breaking through the surface with a gasp, Zelda tore her hands away from her hair just as Ganondorf turned towards her, brows already drawn together in worry.

"Zelda?" a moment before he would have placed his hand on her shoulder, Ganondorf stopped, his hand hovering just above her as he looked from her face towards the few strands of hair that had followed along as she had torn her hand away from the long locks of dirty and greasy hair. "Is everything all right?"

It would have been easy to nod and try to brush it off, perhaps even adding a laugh and a comment about how she was looking forward to them reaching a city where she might be able to find some shampoo and still water, but already as Zelda tried to form the sentence in her mind, she knew that she would not have been able to say it. It would have been a lie, all of it, from the idea that the main issue was the state of her hair and not the length to the idea that she feared the current in the water more than the idea of having it grab onto her hair as she ducked below the surface.

Zelda shook her head, her hair hanging in lumps around her face as she did so, making her have to press down onto it to keep it from flying into her face. It was horrible. It was as simple as that. She had been able to ignore it for so long, but now, as Zelda saw how it hung limply in front of her face, the centimetres at the bottom being nothing but dead hair that would have earned her a comment about having to go to the hairdresser only a few months ago, she could not bear the idea of it being there for even a day longer. Knowing how the despair must be visible in her eyes as she spoke, Zelda turned towards Ganondorf. "I can't take the weight of my hair anymore. I want it gone."

It was not that Zelda would have expected for Ganondorf to look down at her in surprise and disbelief, but she still had to admit that he looked remarkably calm when faced with her outburst, merely cocking his head in response. "You mean that you want to cut it off?"

"Yes." Zelda nodded. "I want it gone… I—it is a hazard that I cannot allow myself to keep. You saw how close we came to being stopped by someone holding onto it just yesterday. If there is anything I can do to keep that from happening again, I will do it in a heartbeat."

For a moment, Zelda was almost convinced that Ganondorf was going to comment on everything she did not say. She would not have blamed him if he had done just that, not as Zelda could hear how her voice shook, effectively ruining her attempt at making it seem like the tears pressing against her resolve not to cry over what had happened were simply the residual fear of what might have happened rather than the result of the fact that the hair was still there, weighing her down.

Glancing from her and down towards the tips of her hair, Ganondorf opened his mouth, Zelda seeing how he was about to ask her about the real reason for her wanting it to be gone, but, the last second before he would have broken through the façade, Zelda saw him make the decision not to, altering his course with a little nod. "Okay. Give me a moment, then I will see if I can find something." pushing himself up from the ground, Ganondorf left her side to instead walk over to where Link was still staring at the contents of the can of paella with a distant look in his eyes, the spoon that was sticking up from it seemingly abandoned, as Ganondorf stopped to look at him, Zelda seeing him try to find anything to say only to lack the words, Ganondorf instead continuing over to the rucksack.

She knew what he was searching for, but she still found herself unable to look away from the sun's reflection in the blade of the little knife Impa had given them as Ganondorf sat down next to her again, gesturing towards her hair with his free hand. "Do you want me to cut it? I can't promise you that it will look great, but I did use to cut Riju's hair for her."

Right then, Zelda could not have cared less about any of that. He had a knife that would hopefully be sharp enough to cut through her hair. Everything other than that was of little importance. "Yeah," Zelda mumbled, "I would like for you to cut it."

There was nothing about it that seemed like it would be a good idea, nothing about someone attempting to cut her hair with a knife that had never been intended for that purpose that should have made it easier for Zelda to breathe, and yet, that was exactly what happened, Zelda feeling the weight lift from her chest as she turned around, Ganondorf gathering her hair, holding onto it the same way she would have done when putting it up into a ponytail before turning on the Bunsen burner.

"How short do you want it to be?" Zelda could feel Ganondorf fumble with the knife as he held up the deadweight of hair for her to look at over her shoulder. "Is it all right to cut it just—"

There was no need for her to look at it. Any amount of hair still left on her head that would have allowed for her to brush it over her shoulders would still have been too long, so Zelda interrupted him, placing her hand at a point a couple of centimetres above her shoulders, just where she would be sure that it would not be able to reach down to touch her shoulders. "There."

Ganondorf did not ask her if she was sure and for that, Zelda was grateful. Instead, Zelda felt how the hair fell to rest against her back as he let go of it again to grab onto a smaller strand of hair. There was a brief moment of tension as Zelda could tell that he struggled to figure out how to position the knife so that he would be pulling it away from her, but at last, Zelda could hear the sound of hair breaking, a little sting of pain running along her scalp as he cut through the lock of hair, and then it was gone, Ganondorf holding up the handful of hair for her to see. Zelda took it, looking down at the matted hairs. It looked old and serious, exactly the kind of image her father had tried to teach her to project onto the world, that of a daughter who was nothing less than a prodigy. In a way, Zelda supposed that her grades would have satisfied him, had it not been for the fact that she had cared for the wrong things, how she had fallen in love with technology and the scientific subjects rather than with politics.

"Are you still sure about this?" Ganondorf asked from behind her.

The answer was clear as Zelda clenched her fist around the lock, seeing how it became little more than a tiny clump of hair in her hand. "Yes."

Little by little, the weight disappeared from her head, Ganondorf pausing from time to time to hand her the sections he cut off. It had to be horribly crooked, Zelda feeling how Ganondorf made a valiant attempt at maintaining the same length as he made his way towards her ears, the knife leaving him with no chances of achieving that. Finally, he tapped her on the shoulder, Zelda turning around. Already, the feeling of weightlessness was invigorating, the hair becoming even shorter by the lack of weight to pull it down towards the ground as she looked up at Ganondorf to see the uncertainty gradually leave his eyes as he looked down at her.

"Well," Ganondorf said, dragging out the word a little, "it is not perfect, and I think that I could definitely have done a better job with some actual scissors, but it suits you." he must have interpreted her reaching up to run her hand through it as doubt, for he repeated himself again as they both rose from the ground. "Really, it looks great on you. Do you want to see it?"

It would not have mattered what it had looked like. Even if she would have seen that he had chopped off all the hair on one side, leaving only a few short strands of hair on the other, it would have been a million times better than the feeling of the hair pulling her down, but Zelda still found herself walking over to the river bank along with him, hearing how Ganondorf held his breath as he held out his arm for her to hold onto as she leant in over the water.

With the waves disturbing the surface of the water, it was difficult to make out an exact reflection, but Zelda could still see everything that mattered as clearly as if she had been looking into a mirror. The hair was gone. There were no more tousled locks hanging down her back, no more having to be careful when moving through a forest not to have a strand of hair get stuck on any low-hanging branches and pull her back. There was no more of the heavy weight on her head or the hair that drowned out the rest of her. Instead, Zelda looked down to see a girl looking back up at her, eyes wide and with a face that spoke of the weeks of having struggled to eat enough, short blonde hair framing it all in a way she had not thought it would ever be capable of. It was uneven, Zelda able to separate the hair into the sections Ganondorf had divided it into before cutting it from how the length varied wildly from one to another, but it did not matter, not when none of the locks were long enough to reach her shoulders and threaten to drown out the rest of her again.

"Do you like it?" Ganondorf hesitated to ask the question, the doubt in his voice becoming even clearer as the seconds passed by without her saying anything.

Tearing her gaze away from the reflection, Zelda smiled up at him. "I love it! Thank you so much."

He looked almost like he was about to say something as they stepped away from the river again, but the moment before Zelda could have sworn that he would have opened his mouth, perhaps to tell her about Riju—whether or not she too had had short hair or if it had been something completely different—Link called out for them, reminding them of the fact that the rest of the world was still there.

"The paella is as ready as it is going to get, you two!"

Turning back to look over his shoulder, Ganondorf responded with a kind of whole-hearted chuckle that Zelda had not thought she would ever hear again. "Yeah, yeah, we are coming! Just a moment!" his eyes sparkled as he faced her again, the chuckle seeping into his voice as he continued. "Come on. I am sure that Link has yet to notice your new hairstyle, so let's hurry over to surprise him!"

It was an idea so childish that it was more than enough to make Zelda unable to resist the tug of a smile forming on her face. Throwing the hair into the river, the stream soon carried it far away from them as she and Ganondorf went over to join Link next to the rucksack, Link managing to look at her twice before noting the difference.

However, where Zelda had thought that he would, at most, acknowledge it with a short comment before going back to staring down at the contents of the can in his hand, Link visibly froze, his eyes going wide as he looked from her and over to Ganondorf, every last bit of colour leaving his face. "You—" Link stumbled over the word, "you cut your hair? Just now?"

There was nothing she could do to hide it, and for as much as Zelda wanted to make the gleam of something akin to sadness in his eyes disappear, she was not even certain she would have wanted to hide anymore, so she pulled at a strand of hair, making it stretch out to bounce back up, forming a little curl above her ear, as she let go. "Well, Ganondorf was the one who cut it for me. I doubt that I would have been able to make it not look like a disaster if I had done it myself, but, luckily, he volunteered to do it for me."

Link did not respond, did not do anything to try to distract them from the way his gaze flickered from her as he turned to look at the river next to them, a tense silence falling over them as they passed the tin around. It was a weight on her shoulders, one that left Zelda with a new worry in her stomach, sitting there like a stone that made it difficult to bring herself to eat, but the hair was gone, and nothing would have been able to take away the joy of not having it touch her shoulder blades of her back, a deadweight that not only posed a danger to them but also served as a reminder of her past life. She wanted to reach out and try to ask Link what was wrong, but every time she would try to sneak a peek over at him, all she could see was the back of his head as Link ate in silence, looking out over the water and only acknowledging their presence when it was to accept the can as they handed it over to him. Despite it all, even if it was selfish, Zelda knew that she would not have made a different decision if she had been able to know that that would be his reaction before Ganondorf cut off her hair.

They finished the meal in silence, Link moving to shove the empty container back into the rucksack as they reached the end of its content, pausing for a moment before looking towards the horizon as he spoke. "I will take the first watch tonight. You two should try to get some sleep—we have a lot of distance to cover tomorrow if we do not want to be caught within the shadow of the Duelling Peaks."

"Wait, Link." scrambling to push herself off the ground, Zelda did not miss how Link visibly startled, but she could not allow that to stop her, not when she could already see how he was struggling to stay awake. "I should be the one to take the first watch. You and Ganondorf, neither of you got any sleep last night. I am the one here who can be the most alert, the one who would be the first to notice an approaching threat."

It was the logical conclusion to the question of who would be the first to forgo sleep, but Link still shrugged it off like it was nothing, not looking over at her as he answered. "Maybe, but I would feel much better being able to know for a fact that everything is fine. Besides, I am still able to notice a possible threat in time for us to get up, just as I am the only one of us with an actual weapon."

"But—"

She was interrupted by Ganondorf reaching out to take her hand. The look on his face was more than enough to make Zelda drop the issue, letting Ganondorf pull her a couple of steps away from Link. Behind them, Zelda could hear how the grass moved as he sat down, no doubt to pull his leg up to allow him to rest his chin on his knee the way she had seen him do so many times. There was no doubt in her mind that, whatever it was that he had been thinking about before, that was once again all he was focusing on, but Ganondorf still lead them a few metres away from Link before stopping, taking a deep breath that told her everything she needed to know. No matter what it was that had made Link react like that, Ganondorf knew the reason.

"Zelda," Ganondorf began, letting the word trail off before adding, "Link knows what he is doing, trust me. If he thinks that he is able to take the first watch, then he is. Besides, I will make sure to take the next watch, so don't worry, he will get a chance to sleep."

It was not enough to take away the worry, not at all, but there was something about the way Ganondorf turned to look back over at Link that let Zelda know that she would not receive an answer to any question she could have asked about it. No matter what was happening, it was up to the two of them to figure it out, so even if Zelda could not quite muster up the fake cheerfulness that would have been necessary to joke about whether or not Link's reactions had also been as quick as Ganondorf made it sound like they were back during their training, she did not argue with him. It was, after all, easier that way.

Despite Link and Ganondorf having assured her that Link would make sure to get some sleep, as Zelda woke up the next day, it could hardly have been more obvious that that had not been the case. Not only were Link's movements slower, more sluggish than she had ever seen before, Zelda catching him staring off into the distance more than a few times as they packed up what little belongings they had left and began to walk past the Duelling Peaks, it was also clear from the tension that hung in the air between him and Ganondorf that they had argued while she had been asleep. As Link almost tripped over a slight indent in the ground, Zelda did not need to know what had been the cause of the argument.

They walked in silence, Zelda almost opening her mouth to suggest that Link should perhaps not be the one to lead the way if it had been days since the last time he had slept, only for the sour mood around her to make her decide against voicing her concerns. There was no need to give them another reason to argue and make it all even worse, not even if Zelda had her concerns about how Link swayed lightly from side to side as he walked, his steps becoming unsure every time they would face even the slightest incline. So, instead, they kept on walking in the same formation, Link towards the front of their group, Ganondorf in the middle, and then Zelda towards the back, a spot that allowed her to look in front of her and see both how Link had to lean against the mountainside a couple of times and how Ganondorf had seemingly decided to take his frustrations out on a stick he picked up from the ground, using the knife they had been given by Impa to sharpen it, leaving behind a trail of little slivers of wood.

By midday, they had almost reached what Zelda deemed to be the middle of the mountain pass, Ganondorf pausing for a moment to shove the knife back into the rucksack before running to catch up with Link. As he twisted the stick in his hand, Zelda did catch how he looked to the side, staring intensely down into the water, but it still caught her off guard when he stopped, aiming at a spot in the river before lifting up the stick and throwing it directly into the water.

She must have let out a yelp, for the next thing Zelda knew, Link was at her side, a wild look on his face as he held onto her arm with a grip so tight that Zelda was certain it was going to leave bruises. "What!" he looked from her towards the river, still not giving any indication that he was going to let go. "What has happened? Who is in danger? Ganondorf?"

At the mention of his name, Ganondorf turned around, his eyebrows rising as he looked up at them, Zelda seeing how he took in the sight in front of him, how she had jumped a step backwards as he had thrown what she only now realised was supposed to be a spear into the water and how Link had rushed towards her, an embarrassed look flickering across his face as he crouched down to catch the spear before the current was able to drag it away. "Everything is fine, Link, uh—I am sorry. I should have told you about my plan, Zelda, but I was just trying to catch a fish. Everyone is perfectly fine." he repeated the last part again, Zelda noticed, looking not at her, but instead staring intensely at Link as he did so.

Slowly, Link let go of her again, but Zelda could still hear how his heartbeat was a quick staccato in his chest, his breathing still shallow and fast as he nodded at him. "Okay, everyone's all right, okay." Link shook his head, a gesture that appeared to be meant more for himself than for any of them as he opened his eyes again, a tense smile on his face as he motioned towards Ganondorf's spear. "It is a good idea, though—trying to catch a fish, I mean."

"Yeah, or at least it would have been if it had not been for the fact that I failed to hit the fish." with a grin that did not come close to reaching his eyes, Ganondorf pointed towards the tip of the makeshift spear. "That did not exactly get us anything to eat."

Link laughed, an honest sound that Zelda did not realise she had been missing until that exact moment. "Well, if you remember what Dorian always said…"

"I will just have to keep on trying until I succeed," Ganondorf finished, the smile becoming a bit more genuine, "yeah, I know that. I guess we just have to keep on going then."

Rather than answering, Link nodded, but it was still more than enough for the atmosphere between them to have changed considerably as they continued on, walking in one big group rather than walking in a line with several metres between them.

Walking next to Link, with the mountainside on her other hand, Zelda could only try to guess what had been the reason for Link's reaction to her yelp and the way everything had changed in a matter of minutes. There was no answer for her to find in Link's face, especially not as he kept on looking over at Ganondorf, Zelda only seeing him send a short glance towards at her when she would look ahead for a while before quickly turning towards him. He was hiding something, that much was clear, but if asking him about it would mean risking going back to the tense silence that had been with them for the entire morning, Zelda was more than willing to accept the secrets.

Slowly, the sun began to disappear behind the horizon, leaving them in darkness as they approached the end of the passage. Stepping out from where they had been sheltered from the wind by the mountain, the coldness of the wind brushing past her neck took Zelda by surprise, making her stop for a moment to try to grow used to it while Ganondorf and Link stepped away from the river bank to begin to prepare for yet another night of having to watch out for the Yiga Clan, but she still moved over to stand next to them as they leant in over the rucksack.

"Link," Ganondorf whispered the words, but as Zelda slowly moved towards them, careful not to let them see her, it was still enough for her to overhear it, "you should try to get some rest. It isn't healthy for you to carry on like this, you—"

"It is fine. Really, trust me. I am going to be just fine." Link brushed the worries aside, Zelda able to decide the exact moment he became aware of her presence from how he clenched his jaw, Ganondorf turning to follow his line of sight, emotions flickering across his face at a rate that did not allow for Zelda to name them all as she went over to crouch down next to them.

Trying her best to pretend that she did not notice how they both exchanged long looks as she joined them, Zelda spoke up, making sure that her voice did not shake. "I will take the first watch. I… both of you need to get some rest, and I have yet to be the one of us to look out for threats. I will take the first watch, and that is final."

It was very much not final. Zelda saw that, Ganondorf and Link clearly agreeing on that one point even if she could still see how they disagreed on everything else.

Shaking his head at her, Ganondorf looked almost like he was trying to figure out how to best tell a little child that they would have to go to sleep as he looked from her and over towards Link before focusing on her again. "No, you need to rest, Zelda—"

"Well, so do both of you—" Zelda tried to cut in, only for Link to interrupt her.

"Ganondorf is right, Zelda. If you want to be able to figure out how to access your powers, you are probably going to need a lot of sleep."

"We don't know if that is how it works—"

"But we also don't know that it is not." Ganondorf joined in on Link's argument, and with that, Zelda knew that she had lost, Ganondorf seemingly reaching the same conclusion as he moved over to sit next to her before continuing. "Besides, you are the one who knows how to get to the Temple of Time, and I am sorry to say this, Zelda, but I would feel way more confident letting you lead the way if I know that you are actually fully awake as you make the decisions."

He was trying to turn it into a rational argument. Zelda could see what he was doing, what both he and Link were trying to achieve, making it seem like their attempts at convincing her not to lift her part of the burden that was ensuring that they would all reach the Great Plateau in one piece was about something other than what she decided to be a misplaced feeling of protectiveness. It would have made sense if there was a physical threat, if one of the Yiga Clan members had found them. If that were to happen, Zelda would have understood that without powers and without experience with a weapon, she would be the weakest of them in a battle, but this, however, the question of getting her to give up on her part of the burden, there, Zelda could not see any rational argument for what they were trying to do.

She was almost about to tell them that when she noticed the shiny look of tears in Ganondorf's eyes, and just as she had felt so sure in her conviction not to let them convince her a moment before, Zelda suddenly knew that it was an argument she had to let them win. Lowering her shoulders as much as the guilt allowed her to, Zelda bowed her head and let Ganondorf pull her towards him, leaning her head against his shoulder. "All right," she said, "if you are sure that you can handle getting so little sleep, then… that is what we will do."

"I am sure that I can. Don't worry about it." Link stood up, and without giving Ganondorf another chance to protest, he left them to instead move over to sit on the rock that stuck out of the ground.

Leaning against him, Zelda could feel the rise and fall of Ganondorf's chest, feel the exact moment he gave up on trying to argue with Link, instead looking down towards a spot on his chest.

It took a moment for Zelda to realise that he was not merely inspecting the tunic for any signs of dirt, something that would have been a laughable idea in the first place with how Zelda had already stained the back of her clothes green after having slept in the grass. Instead, he was looking down at where a little bulge in the fabric revealed that there was something underneath.

Ganondorf must have seen that she was looking over at him, for, without uttering a word, he pulled out a necklace, angling it towards her.

It looked nothing like the necklace Paya had worn, a fact that instantly made Zelda rule out the chance of it being something he had been given back in Kakariko Village. The way he was holding it, careful, like it could break at any moment, would already have been enough to tell her that, and, deep down, Zelda was sure of just where it had come from, but she still found herself looking back up at him, not daring to outright ask him but knowing that the question was written across her face.

"It would have been her birthday." in just the few seconds it took him to say the sentence, Ganondorf's voice had become thick, breaking as he shook his head. "Riju, I mean. She would have turned seventeen today, and I—" he wiped away the tears, but it was a battle he could not win, not as Zelda saw how the tears continued to steam down his face despite his best efforts of hiding it from her.

There was nothing for her to do, and as she sat there, separated from Link by only about ten metres but still completely incapable of thinking of anything she could say to take away a bit of the pain she had seen in his eyes as he had looked over at her, Zelda was acutely aware of the way Ganondorf looked from the necklace and over at her, but she still had to try, and so, she reached out to place her hand on top of his, making sure that she would not accidentally touch the necklace. "I am sorry."

It was almost laughable, the idea that that was really all she had to say in response to his pain. They had been travelling together for weeks and she had known about Riju for multiple of those; she should have known that there would come a time where the memory of her would return, either in the same way that Zelda could still recall her father or as a reminder brought on by their attempts at keeping track of time, and still, the only thing she could think of was to state the obvious, that she was sorry. They were all sorry, both for the fact that they had lost everything twice and for the fact that they had survived both times. To say that she was sorry for the specific fact that Ganondorf's little sister was not there with them should have been meaningless, and yet, Ganondorf managed to smile through the tears as he looked over at her.

"So am I. But…" he shrugged, pausing for a moment before pulling the necklace over his head, "it will—well, it won't be fine, but it will get better. Here, you can have this."

He held out the necklace for her to take, and it felt like the world came to a stop around them.

Zelda could look at the necklace. She could take in the large plastic beads and the worn look of it and see that it was most likely a gift from a small child, a gift that was several years old by now, but clearly still something Ganondorf had chosen to bring along and keep hidden. There was no doubt about it having been a gift from Riju, not as he continued to hold onto it, the necklace swinging lightly in the wind that brushed past them.

What had she looked like when she had given it to him? Running a hand through her hair, Zelda tried to imagine a little girl, maybe eight or nine, with the same brilliant red hair as Ganondorf, but all she saw was Link's expression as he had looked over at her after she had got her hair cut.

She looked back up at Ganondorf. He was still smiling at her, still holding out the necklace towards her, but behind the smile and the twinkle in his eyes, Zelda could see something else. It was so clear what the necklace meant to him, and still, she could not bring herself to actually reach out and take it, instead gesturing towards herself like there was any doubt about what he had meant. "Do you mean that I…?"

"Yeah," Ganondorf nodded, his smile not fading for even a moment, "I want you to have this."

That made the decision for her. Reaching out to let him lower the necklace down into her outstretched hand, Zelda saw how it formed a little pile of plastic beads and elastic in her hand, having to take a deep breath before she pulled it over her head. It settled next to her own necklace, the plastic beads being much lighter than the pendant depicting the Hyrulean loftwing, and despite how she had thought that she would have to fake it, the smile she sent Ganondorf was sincere. "Thank you. It means a lot."

If Ganondorf had tried to hide his relieved sigh, he was not doing a great job at it, but as he nodded back down at her, both of them leaning against each other, Zelda was sure that he had not tried to either. A few metres away from them, Link would be keeping watch for the next couple of hours, and although Zelda knew that she should have gone over to him to try to get him to talk about what the problem with her new hairstyle was, she could not bring herself to move. The necklace might have been light, almost weightless, but she felt incredibly heavy as the sun finally set towards the horizon, making her all too willing to give in to the temptation of letting that conversation wait for another day.