Link feels the familiar weightlessness transport him back to the entrance of the Bosh Kala shrine. He had finished the shrine's trial easily enough even though he was still getting used to his paraglider. The challenge was going smoothly for awhile, he had accessed the first treasure chest with relative ease, and then on his next glide further into the shrine he hit a black metal wall straight in the face. Unfortunately, the intricate and airy laced design was rough and scratchy, scraping his cheek and twisting his ankle as he fell. After that, he didn't even bother with the second chest although he probably should have -he really needed to not be battling monsters with a soup ladle.

As his body materializes, he feels the warm rays of an afternoon sun on his face and a soft breeze through his shoulder length hair. With the sun now lower in the sky, he indicates that he had been in the shrine for a couple hours. It was easy to lose track of time in those things. But today, his first day off the Great Plateau, was….not what he expected. For a week he gazed out past the horizon, staring at all the structures and landscapes, wondering what this world had to offer him. He would walk along the Plateau's crumbling walls and stare straight down at the fog below him -mysteriously vanishing once he received the paraglider. The moment he had finally jumped from the structure, it had not been surprising to find monsters congregating underneath him. He had been ready to fight -perhaps a little too confidently, too recklessly, strategizing a plan to have the creatures chase him around as he threw bombs at them, cutting their numbers one by one. It would've taken longer, but he was low on weapons, his shield was damaged, and the pathetic bow he had looted from a bokoblin scout broke within a day. What he did not expect to experience his first day off the Plateau was a woman rider to literally sweep him off his feet.

At first, he wasn't sure if she was going to attack the monsters or him. She came barreling towards all the chaos with so much ferocity and brashness that it stunned him where he landed. Thankfully she came to help him because he would have definitely been defeated if she had been an enemy. She had a giant black horse that could've trampled him in an instant, a steel bow, and such an intimidating aim that he would have been a goner if she simply decided to pick him off like the bokoblins she struck.

Her archery skills weren't the only thing that made her intimidating either. When they reached the safety of the ruined bridge, she had ignored him almost entirely; attending to her horse for so long that Link nearly said something to gain her attention, but when she finally faced him she just…stared. Her eyes had trailed his body like she owned it and that had only increased his curiosity about her even more. Her gaze had been fixated and lingering around his waist for a solid several seconds that he contemplated saying a joke about keeping her eyes above his neckline. Then when she caught him staring he had felt so embarrassed he secretly started making deals with the Goddess to let the world swallow him whole -but the only thing Zel did in response was laugh at him.

All words had escaped Link after that, still humiliated by sneaking a glimpse at her breasts and getting caught -but in all honesty, she stared at him first. Even when she came down from her laughing fit, he still couldn't conjugate any words. Why had he been so nervous? It's not like he was shy around strangers, he had conversed with the hooded old man immediately -but that was perhaps more to due with waking up in a strange, foreign place and being so disoriented he would've spoken to anyone for some kind of answers. If Zel had never started speaking to him with her hands, they'd probably still be in a silent stand off, waiting for him to say something.

He didn't even realize he could understand sign language, but then again, he has been learning new things about himself each and every day. He had relied on forgotten instincts to help him venture across the Great Plateau so he could be gifted the old man's paraglider. Then that same old man revealed himself to be the spirit of the last King of Hyrule. King Rhoam had told him that before he slumbered for a century, Link had been a knight, a champion, a hero. He certainly didn't feel like any of those. Above everything else, he just felt weak, lonely, and confused.

Link was tired, his leg and cheek hurt from falling, his mind hurt with questions, and his body ached from sleeping for one hundred years, but he was looking forward to cooking some food and enjoying some much needed company.

He walks across Proxim Bridge, slightly limping by his twisted ankle. He's not in a large amount of pain, just irritated. He's so sick of feeling weak and it makes his shoulders tense in agitation, but the scenery around him is stunning and puts his mind at ease. Even if this world is supposedly in ruin, like the King told him, it's still alive with color, bursting with fascination and wonder. The sun hangs behind him, ready to cast orange hues across the sky at any moment as wild animals chirp happily in the distance. The trickling sound of the river flowing beneath the bridge could have been almost peaceful -if it wasn't for the splashing.

He reaches the end of the bridge's broken stonework, looks down into the water below, and spots her; knee high in the water and trying to catch fish with her hands. Zel had removed her rather eye-drawing white blouse and leather corset, had stripped down to just a white undershirt with thin straps and her riding pants rolled up to her knees. Even from where he stood he could see through the thin and damp fabric of her undershirt, revealing a light blue brassier and he has to force his eyes away. He has already been caught once, a second time could do him in. Link notices the smooth muscles on her arms and shoulders, and her short yellow hair is damp -sticking to her forehead at weird angles like she may have just been swimming or had fumbled and fell in. Something about her blends in with the scenery around them; a little bit wild, slightly intimidating, but exceptionally breathtaking.

She hunches over with her tongue between her lips in concentration and hands hovering in the air above the waters surface. She is graceful and coordinated, he has already learned this by witnessing her ability to strike foes atop horse back, but here she seems a little naive and confounded -but determined nonetheless. He watches as she darts her hands into the water, missing a passing fish completely, and he can't help but steal a laugh. Her head snaps up and sees him, caught off guard by his voice breaking through her focus, but she smiles when she realizes it is only him.

"Hi Link." She waves gingerly.

He waves.

"I've been trying to catch fish but-" She points at the water. "As you can tell, I'm no expert."

"Clearly."

Her hands drop to her sides, making a splash into the water as she purses her lips at him, perturbed by his comment, but before she could even come up with a remark, he dives into the river.

He springs up moments later with a fish in each hand and a cheeky smile on his face.

They walk across the path together, back to her make-shift camp. Her stuff is sprawled everywhere and she didn't even have a lot. She has a few korok leaves lying around to use as plates, a couple travel bags tossed around the campfire, and a well-worn journal by her bow and quiver. How long has she been here? He wonders. It's comfy for the most part, not a log cabin like the hooded old man's, but it's covered with a wooden roof and has a cooking pot with someone willing to share it with him. That's all he needed right now.

Link immediately kneels next to the fire pit and rekindles it. He really didn't want to waste anymore time by not eating. Zel hands him her skinning knife, already aware of his appetite and perhaps hers as well but she still hasn't attempted to put on another layer of clothing and it's slightly distracting. He watches her hips sway when her back is turned and he realizes another new discovery about himself; attraction.

"So, is that why you carry a soup ladle?" She asks, moving to the other side of the pit from him. He raises an eyebrow when their eyes meet, a little confused by her vague question so she reiterates. "Y'know, incase you come across any cooking pots to battle?" She mocks his fighting stance and displays a mighty exaggerated pout of her lips. Cute.

He didn't care too much for her jab considering he doesn't really have any other options for weapons at the moment. He obviously wouldn't be fighting with it if he had any other choice. He does have a few tree branches and a damaged bokoblin club in his inventory, but he had been hoping to trade them for some new weapons as he ventured.

"That's right." He snorts sarcastically, returning to his work in the fire. "Saving Hyrule one stew at a time."

She smiles at him, happy he's decided to play along. "Aren't I lucky then? Here I thought I saved you."

"Hold onto your words until you try my cooking."

"Alright." She laughs out the word but nods in agreement, and he watches her out of the corner of his eye while he starts to fillet the fish. She moves to sit on the ground and reaches for her blouse, pulling it down over her shoulders, then rests her back against the log behind her and watches him work. He does so diligently, slicing through the bass with artistic talent. He uses her skinning knife, knowing it's not necessarily the best tool to use -something serrated would be better -but he always had to work with what's given to him or what he can scavenge for. Link carves through the fish bodies from head to tail, trims the fillet off from the carcass, and expertly slices the skin away in one easy glide. He repeats the process three more times, eventually producing four long fillets of boneless bass -two hearty pieces from each fish.

He enjoys the silence that falls between them as he works, allowing her to watch him prove his worth in one form or another. He soon becomes heavily focused by the process, suddenly famished and his stomach starts to grumble deep in his core, making his patience wane. He can't even remember the last time he sat to eat a meal -he'd either be too busy running between shrines or dodging bokoblin camps this first week of his 'new life.' Zel remains quiet until he's separating the last fillet from its skin when she runs her fingers through her drying hair, pulls her knees into her chest, and asks another question.

"...Are there many kitchens up there then?" She asks, mocking him again.

"Is that the last ladle jab or should I just learn to get used to this?" He snaps with a little more bite than he anticipated, but she doesn't seem to mind the extra nip in his words.

"Just expressing an interest in your hobbies, that's all." She asserts and flips her dampened hair. "But it wouldn't hurt to get used to it either." She tries to smile confidently but her eyes deceive her. There's something hidden behind them and he can't quite place what it is.

She tries him at a different angle. "Anyways, I couldn't help but notice you were limping on our way back here -you weren't before you entered the shrine. You even have a little..." She touches her own cheek in the same location as his cut. "What happened in there?" She nudges her head towards the shrine.

His shoulders build a little in embarrassment but continues finishing his work on the fish. He really wishes the subject change could have been anything else besides his clumsiness.

"I fell using the paraglider."

"So it's that big within the vicinity of the shrines that you can use a glider to maneuver about them?"

"Uhh, yeah usually."

"Interesting." She reaches for the journal lying next to her and scribbles something into it. For a second he worries maybe he shouldn't be telling her but what harm could it really do? It's clear to him she's been alone out here for a long time, so who was she going to tell? She distracts herself with note taking as he lays out all four fillets on a korok leaf and unlatches the Sheikah slate from his belt. He taps a few times on the screen and it materializes a chunk of rock salt, Hyrule herbs, and an assortment of mushrooms. It isn't until he's salting the fish that he realizes the astonishment on her face.

"I never knew it could do that." She notes quietly.

"What, this?" He asks, pointing towards the slate by his side. "It definitely makes traveling a lot easier. I don't even have to carry a bag with me."

"Very interesting." She drops her nose into her journal and starts scribbling away again.

The silence that falls between them isn't cumbrous or difficult, but relaxing and sated in a way -their hunger pains being too far gone now to focus on topics of discussion. He continues his work on their meal, coating the fillets with salt and herbs, chopping the mushrooms and generously giving them a once over with the seasonings as well. She seems completely satisfied by placing all of her attention to whatever notes she's writing and soon their camp is encased in a luscious aroma of herbs, freshly ground salt, and roasted Hyrule bass as it sizzles together over a roaring fire. Link watches as Zel tilts her chin to the air and wafts in the new aroma, closing her eyes with an exaggerated sigh. Her exultant face and innocently feminine sound reaches him and buries deep in his spine, creating a gentle warmth within him and it makes him smile. When the meal is ready, Link dishes out half the pot's contents onto a korok leaf and hands it to her...and selfishly keeps the larger fillets for himself.

After a while the cooking pot lays bare -appetites satisfied and lips salty. Link had scraped the pot completely clean, down to the last remaining piece of herb. Neither one had spoken a word while they ate, both being too enchanted by the food; Zel not having a proper meal in ages and Link finally able to use a cooking pot, not just throwing mushrooms into a fire to toast them. He could've eaten several more fish and he considers going down to the river to catch some more, but then Zel throws her discarded korok plate into the fire and begins to speak.

"Thank you for the meal, Link. Honestly, it was incredible. I haven't had roasted bass like that in….years." She looks to the fire between them and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. There's that look again in her eyes -he almost places it.

"Not a problem." He shrugs and tosses his korok plate onto hers. He repositions himself within the camp, scooting himself over so he's out of the fire's line of smoke that has started to catch into the evening wind. He sits comfortably with his back against a log and his elbows on his bent knees, facing north towards the path as she sits to his right, facing the bridge and river -no longer across the fire from each other.

"I'd like to make it up to you."

"Make it up to me? I thought I was making this up to you." He says picking herb out of his teeth with his finger.

She frowns at him. Maybe for his comment or because of his manners, he wasn't really sure.

"Yes well, I'd still like to owe you for the meal."

"Owe?" He removes his finger from his mouth, placing his hand back on his knee, and gawks at her. "You're going to pay me?" He feels almost insulted.

"No, please if I may..." Zel could sense his offense and reaches for one of her travel bags. He watches her pick through it, hearing glasses clink and clank together with her movements. She pulls out three glass phials with blue, green, and red viscous liquid each, then looks at him -eyes bright and excited -almost like he's a test subject.

"I'd like to mend your injuries."

"Ummm. Are you some kind of healer?"

"Well no...but I assure you they work well."

"How can I be sure?"

She looks down at her lap sheepishly and instinctively rubs a hand over the top of another and that's when he notices them -two small and pale bumps on her skin.

"I used them yesterday on a couple bee stings."

"How'd you get stung by bees?" He asks.

"I was…trying to get their honeycomb."

"Why were you trying to get their honeycomb?"

"I wanted to cook some honeyed apples, but when I shot their hive down they swarmed at me. Then I burnt the apples." She makes a disgruntled face by the memory.

The image of her swatting the air and shrieking as she's being chased by bees makes a laugh creep up his throat but he doesn't give in to the temptation. "Aren't apples sweet enough already?" He jeers.

"Obviously" She rolls her eyes at him. "but I kind of have a...sweet tooth." Her diffidence is rather charming and he realizes he likes that about her.

"Noted." He smiles, tapping his temple.

She matches his smile but rolls the phials over in her palm, returning their focus back to her original intention.

"May I?" She asks softly. He looks down at the phials, then back at her eyes.

"Alright." He huffs. "If you insist, but will I have to owe you something? -Again?" Not that he was complaining. In fact, he's starting to enjoy this game they're playing of owing each other things.

"Hmm." She ponders, a playfulness returning to her voice. "That depends. Can you do more than cook?"

"I can think of a few things. For one, I can eat your leftovers."

She laughs warmly. "I bet you could."

She gets up from where she's seated, walks around the fire pit, and repositions herself on the other side of him. Her back faces the bridge and gravel path as she kneels down next to his injured left ankle which he's extended out towards the fire for her. He leans back against the log behind him, trying to get comfortable, but his shoulders are still tense. He can't help but feel a little nervous for some reason. Maybe because he was still really confused about pretty much everything; he didn't really understand the ointments in her hand, or why she was being so nice to him. Is this just how most people are in Hyrule? -giving and generous? He doesn't want to assume such optimism for a world in peril. Above all, he felt nervous for having such an attractive woman willing to place her hands on his dirty ankle. When his eyes eventually lock with hers, she starts.

"I currently have topical elixirs, not digestives. Topical medicine is much more successful in the healing process since applying it straight to the wound allows a higher concentration of medicine to seep directly to the injury and blood stream as opposed to waiting for the medicine to pass through the digestive system first."

"...Okay." He says the word -long and drawn out, not understanding (and not really wanting to understand) most of what she's saying.

She notices his reaction however, so she tries to explain in a more simple tone. She holds up the blue phial and points it at him. "This is a disinfectant. It cleans wounds really well. It's like soap but stronger." He nods that he understood and she drips some liquid into her hands, smoothing them over one another. She shakes them out, letting them dry in the air, then holds up the green bottle to show him.

"This is a pain reliever. If you'd like, I can rub some onto your ankle. By the slight limp, I assume you're in pain, correct?"

"Umm…It's more irritating than anything..?" His shoulders feel like they're hitting his ears, he's so nervous. The thought of her rubbing anything is making him immensely stressed -but if she noticed, she wasn't commenting.

She lets fall several drops into her palm, the liquid definitely more viscous and oily than the first. She begins to rub her hands together fast, like she's creating warmth and friction, then she places her hands on him.

Link immediately feels the pain dissipate from his ankle as the oil glosses his skin and he finally takes an exhale. His shoulders melt away and his leg muscles begin to soften. Her touch is gentle but firm and begins to rub soothing circles into his skin. She works slowly, leisurely -her eyes calm and attentive on easing his pain and nerves. She feels him relax into her hold and sends him a comforting smile.

"So Link," She starts. "You woke up on the Great Plateau with nothing but a soup ladle and a device able to access immensely ancient shrines." She states the information she has gathered about him so far. "Where are you headed now?"

"Kakariko Village." He says, sighing by the relief of her medicine. "I have to seek out Lady Impa."

"That's about a two days journey on foot."

"Are you headed that way?" He asks with unexpected eagerness and feels suddenly self-conscious about it.

Her smile moves to one side of her face in a captivating manner as she removes her fingers from his skin. His ankle feels suddenly cold by her absence.

"I go wherever I am needed most, it seems." She shrugs slowly, adding more allure to her words. Zel then reaches for the last glass bottle and points it at him. "Now this is a health recovery elixir. This should heal you by morning."

He nods an approval as she begins rubbing it into his skin as well. His ankle tingles like it had fallen asleep but the sensation quickly dissolves and he's left with a soothing warmth -but he can tell her fingers are lingering on his skin, looking for more contact, more interaction somehow, and he realizes he wants it, too.

"So...What's your story?" He asks. He could kick himself for such a pathetic line.

"My story?" She meets his eyes shyly and her cheeks turn a slight shade of pink. She's quiet for a couple breaths and Link wonders if she's going to answer him, but then continues. "Lately, I've spent most of my time researching the shrines, they're very intriguing to me. Such lost technology lying dormant for so long. I've spent the past week examining that one over there, trying to figure out what secrets it may contain….Would you like to see some of my notes?" She tilts her head at him and he nods politely.

Swiftly, she extends herself over his body to grab the journal lying on the other side of him. Her innocent action makes his body flush in response to the close contact that's so abrupt; her waist is hovering just inches from his groin. She doesn't notice his uneasiness at all though, too caught up in her own excitement to share her research with someone. Zel positions herself shoulder to shoulder with him, both their backs leaning against the same log. She clearly has no regard for boundaries around him and he wasn't entirely sure if he appreciated his personal space being invaded so quickly. Maybe she's like this with everyone? He doesn't really have another point of reference for this assessment. Perhaps she's just lonely? It's this thought that makes him shift closer in an effort to humor her.

She opens her notebook and he sees mostly scribbles at first, then it all comes together. The white pages are covered in artistic sketches of the Bosh Kala shrine at different angles and sizes, mathematical equations with letters he refused to even want to know about. Most of the questions she had written were unanswered though; questions like 'What's inside?' 'Are they all connected with an elaborate system of tunnels?' 'What type of reward is received -if any?' All questions he could answer. Above all, he's more interested in the several doodles around the perimeter of the pages. They were mostly botanicals and nature; a bee, a few acorns, an attempt at drawing a frog but it looks almost cartoonish, and a flower with five petals shaded darker in the middle, then becoming lighter at the ends.

"Can you imagine how amazed I was when you opened that shrine?" He takes his gaze away from her journal and finds she's already staring at him with a look Link can only describe as adoration. Her eyes are glimmering in the firelight and he becomes heavily distracted by them. She has such enriching green eyes and they remind him of the King's, but her's were greener, darker. The colors of an evergreen in the snow or shades of a forest at dusk.

"I should be asking about your story." She says closing her journal and placing it by her side.

"I -I don't have a story." He swallows and looks into the fire. "At least not one I can remember."

By his words, she places a gentle hand on his thigh. Link can feel the heat of her palm through his thin pants and even though they're merely acquaintances, he doesn't move away, the touch is too comforting.

"I'm sorry Link." She apologizes with such strain in her voice -like it was her fault. "Whatever your story may have been, I'm sure it was a fascinating one."

She shivers suddenly by the sun casting shadows over their camp, now hiding behind the ruins nearby. If he had any other clothes than the ones on his back and an itchy, ugly tunic in his inventory, Link would've given her something, but she stands up and walks over to her travel bag, pulling out an elegant long dark cape and wraps it around her shoulders. She had such fine clothing compared to him. Link's clothes are still damp from his dive into the water, but his hair is now dry and the cold never bothered him much anyways until the temperatures were below freezing. Maybe his blood ran hotter than others.

With nothing but a cough in her throat to reset the conversation, Zel closes the distance between them, picking up her medicine phials once again, sitting down on her knees next to his right hip, and speaks.

"Now, let's look at that cut on your cheek." She reaches for his face but Link reacts quicker -retracting his head back so fast his earrings jingle and he snatches her hand by the wrist, halting it in the air between them. He hears her breath hitch and she gasps by his lock on her, startled and caught off guard by his sudden recoil he had made to escape her touch. They stare at each other, unblinking, both a little shocked by what had just transpired. She speaks first.

"Sorry, I-"

"No, I'm sorry." Link releases her wrist and he finally exhales.

"I should've-"

"I just didn't-"

They both say at the same time. She fiddles with the phials in her hand as his heart starts to pound. Zel's movement towards his face had surprised him, and his reaction had been instinctual. He has been touchy and sensitive to his surroundings ever since he'd woken up to this world and he already had trouble accepting her lack of boundaries with him. It's evidently clear that she's not a threat in any way, she's merely trying to help him for Hylia's sake, but the action of someone reaching out and touching his face is so unfamiliar and jarring. He hopes he didn't just hurt or frighten her, but in all fairness her closeness had startled him.

"Take these." She hands the bottles over to him gingerly. "You can apply them if you'd like. Remember, blue phial is-"

"Can you do it?"

She seems hesitant at first but then nods. She takes the blue bottle from his own palm and drips some blue liquid onto her fingertip. She slowly eases her fingers close to his face -just incase he recoils again.

"This will sting." She says and he blinks in approval, then she grazes her finger over his cheek.

He sucks in an inhale through his teeth, the bite of the liquid medicine seeping into his wound and cleaning it from dust and germs. The sensation lasts for a few seconds but then it's gone and he feels slightly cleaner somehow. She places the disinfectant down onto the ground between them and picks up the next one -the pain reliever. She moves a little more confidently now, uncorking the bottle and dripping the oil onto her fingers, rubbing it between her index and thumb, then dabs it onto his face.

His eyes drop down to the ground as she works on his cheek, soothing his pain away. Why was she being so nice to him? So generous? Helping him with his cut and injury, sharing her space, her research notes, her medicine with him, and above all; saving his neck earlier that day. He's a stranger to her, a weird raggedy kid that descended from a desolate Plateau with an odd device strapped to his belt and absolutely no memory of who he was...or is. His mind is racing with thoughts, trying to figure her out, trying to understand how she could possibly be interested in him and not afraid of him, and the only thing he can come up with is that she's just as lonely as he is. Perhaps they were meant to meet. Maybe in this world...there is no such thing as coincidences.

When she starts to apply the last bit of her methodic process -the red healing elixir -his eyes flutter to hers. She works gently on his face, applying only the slightest amount of pressure, allowing the medicine to do all the work. Her head is tilted slightly in concentration and their eyes meet for a brief moment. She lets out a flighty, quiet, and quick laugh and flashes him a kind smile -the sound of her voice and the warmth of her friendliness reaching and climbing, cascading and plummeting all the way down to the pit of his stomach -it helps assure him what he's already concluded; they both were longing to be with someone.

Once she's done, Zel re-corks the phial and leans over to her side, placing the medicine bottles back in her travel bag delicately, and he watches as her messy hair falls into her face. She tugs at the seams of her cape, pulling the cloth closer to her arms and chest, then repositions herself next to Link -placing an elbow on the same log he's leaning against and shifting onto her side, legs curling and tucking close to her body, but her choice in this lounging position held a new consideration for keeping a generous distance between them.

"Can I ask you another question?"

He nods and naturally adjusts his angle, twisting his shoulders towards her.

"What happened after you woke up? Maybe I can help you figure this all out."

He's silent for a moment, unsure of how to even begin, but he knows he wants to share his experience. Perhaps she was right, maybe speaking to someone could help him sort out this mess. He considers his words briefly, then speaks.

"I...woke up alone in some sort of glowing room. I was lying in a liquid bath, but I don't think it was water around me. I got up and searched the room for awhile just...staring at everything. It felt really strange to walk, like I haven't used my legs in Gods know how long. Even my own voice sounded unfamiliar to me. I started looking for exits so I walked over to the only other thing in the room, some sort of pedestal, like the ones on the shrines, then this popped out, so I took it." He gestures to the Sheikah slate.

She nods slowly -a gesture for him to continue, but her face has started to weaken and crows feet form around her straining eyes, and he wonders if he should carry on.

"I know how weird this must sound, I -I don't want to-"

"No, please. I want to know." Her voice sounds sincere and convincing enough for him, so he takes a long inhale and continues.

Zel listens intently as he recites the last week he has had; meeting the hooded old man, accessing a strange platform that ruptured into a tower, and apparently it had resurrected several others across the land. He spoke in detail about entering four shrines which granted him runes on his slate like the bombs she witnessed earlier. He even showed her the icons of them on his slate -an ice block cryonis rune, a magnet that allows him to move metal stuff around, and another that can freeze an object in time. He tries to lighten the mood and tells her about the bokoblins he had to battle with a tree branch, and how he took down a whole encampment with just a metal box he hit them with over and over again. His attempt did make her smile, but her face still looked strained, perhaps the mood that had befallen over their campsite while he spoke was too substantial to avert from. Even though he notices she's having a hard time listening to his bizarre story -either it's too weird for her to comprehend, or just too pitiful -Link decides to drop the final piece of it anyways.

"Then this morning the old man gave me this paraglider and told me I've been asleep for one hundred years...That I was a knight who fell during the battle of Calamity Ganon and the Princess is containing the monster at the Royal castle." He pretends to scratch his forearm, staring down at his lap while he does, and waits for her words -her reaction -anything but she's silent for so long he looks up to her to try and read her face.

"Mmh, yes...the Princess." She nods and looks in the direction of the castle ruins. A deep and heavy thought seemed to wash over her face, encasing her in the same spell that dwelled in her eyes earlier, and that's when it occurs to him, that look. It's the look of distance, that the mind is no longer here in the present. Her eyes have glossed over and she's far from him now. It's a look that is somewhere else, gone, and away; recollecting and remembering. Still, she doesn't seem too convinced at his last comment -about the Princess. He doesn't blame her however, his story has been pretty ludicrous the whole way through. He's afraid he might have lost her, so he leans in, searching her face, trying to redirect her attention back onto him.

"That's impossible…right?" Link asks.

"Well-" She exhales, shaking off her emotions and returning back to him. "From what I've learned about this world, nothing is impossible."

For some reason this makes him smile, but just barely. He was almost expecting her to politely excuse herself from the campfire or even start laughing uncontrollably again like she did when they met several hours ago. She continues her thought but averts her eyes from him.

"Plus, your story does make sense; multiple towers rose from the ground at the time you have mentioned. And it's…it's clear to me that -that you have met with a terrible fate." She says, her words sound exceptionally reserved.

He leans closer to the fire, trying to catch her eyes again. "Why do you say that?"

She looks at him, suddenly shy. "Well Link, I- I can see you have multiple scars which my medicine can never cure, it's definitely from fighting harsh battles many times over, and...you certainly hold yourself like a knight. Well, not now of course, you're still picking food out of your teeth."

He removes his hand.

She's silent for a moment, eyeing him. She's trying to read him and it makes Link a little proud that she's having a hard time trying to figure him out because he was having the same difficulty with her.

"You don't really think you'll be able to get to Kakariko Village with nothing other than an old slate and a whim, do you?"

"What? You don't believe in me?" He asks rather puckishly.

"Have you considered finding someone to travel with?" She asks, ignoring his comment completely.

"Well, when I asked if you were going that way, you gave me a..." He pauses to search for the word. "...a vague answer."

She frowns at him and he knows for certain this time it's not because his fingers are scraping his teeth. She must have been expecting Link to invite her along with him.

"I could just lie and tell you I'm going to Kakariko." She quips.

"But you didn't."

"Of course I didn't."

"But you want to."

"To what?"

"Lie to me."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"So you can come with me."

"Yes-no, I mean I-" She puffs out a loud exhale.

Link smiles assertively, knowing where this is going, and he can't help but pester her. Link wants her to ask the question, maybe because he doesn't want to be rejected in case she actually does say no or also that he doesn't want to seem too desperate to have a travel partner. To be fair to him though, the advice the King gave had been in haste; 'head towards the Dueling Peaks, then follow the path north to Kakariko.' Link only had access to the Great Plateau portion on his map, which also didn't help the continuation of his journey. Nevertheless, he had been confident he could eventually find the village as long as he stayed on the path the King recommended, but what if this world had changed since the King's time? It's been one hundred years -what if there were ruins and monsters and enemy camps that Link couldn't take on alone? He already felt weak, despite the aid of Zel's medicine, and her indication of a travel companion was extremely tempting.

Zel is clearly a little agitated that he had been able to fluster her, however on her next exhale she sighs, silently admitting defeat in their conversation. When she speaks, her tone is soft and sweet but displays the slightest bit of monotone annoyance.

"Would you like me to come with you? I'm good with a bow, and riding on a horse would be much faster than walking, and-"

"Yes." His answer escapes him and he loses all dominance in their discussion. His answer had come out too fast, too high-pitched for his liking so he clears his throat immediately. "I mean, don't have you anything better to do?"

Surprise resonates on her face by his immediate response but it quickly melts into a form of smugness and contentment, like she's accomplished something. She simply smiles at him and answers.

"I told you, I go where I am needed."

"You should come only if you want to." He notes.

"Want and need; they tend to be interchangeable sometimes, don't they?"

He just shrugs at her and fiddles with the seam of his shirt. He knows there's an underlining note to her words but he can't understand it just yet.

He's a little stunned by what just happened -this new companionship -even if he had been expecting it. He would have her to keep him company, and vice versa, at least for another couple of days until they reach Kakariko. He smiles to himself and his head suddenly feels clearer, his body suddenly feels stronger -or maybe it was the medicine -he didn't care, because she offered to journey with him. He'd have someone to help guide him in a world so unknown to him -and with her knowledge on medicine and interest in technology, she might just be extremely valuable to him.

"Then it's settled." She speaks after it's clear he has decided not to answer her rhetorical question. "We'll get some rest here tonight then tomorrow we'll head towards the Dueling Peak mountains on Jassa. I believe there is a new tower and some shrines along the way that you'll probably need to inspect before we continue on." She picks up her graphite and journal and begins jotting down notes, their plans already swiveling and swirling around in her head. She begins narrowing her focus onto her work entirely but before she can get too caught up in it, he places a delicate hand on her shoulder. He feels and sees her body tense by his touch and her head rises out of her journal with a look of unease on her face. She stares at his hand, then her eyes slowly trace up his arm, to his own face, and eventually to meet his gaze. Her eyes are glimmering in the firelight again.

"I don't think I've said 'thank you' yet."

"You still haven't." She sneers and it makes him laugh.

"Thank you."

"You can make it up to me at breakfast."

He smiles and removes his hand from her shoulder.

She meets his smile and is about to dive into her journal again when her head turns back to him. "Actually, you hold valuable information to me."

"Yeah?" He scoffs, slightly worried she had just read his own mind about her. "And that is...?"

"The shrines!" She almost shrieks. "You can tell me all about them! Now...do you pray in them? And to whom? -the Goddess? Or some other divine being? Do you get a reward if you pray hard enough? You must get something. And why were you using a paraglider? No -they must be puzzles then. Puzzles for...you -the Sleeping Knight. But then how did the builders know you'd have something to fly around with? Or maybe the shrines are obstacle courses? But that's a misdirect because typically shrines are for veneration and worship not for flying around like a bird and..." She catches his wide stare. "-sorry. I get a little carried away sometimes."

"Clearly."

She shoves him playfully.

The sky grows dark around them and the cool night tries to creep into their campfire, but they couldn't be more distracted. The fire glows warm and bright, encasing and entrapping them in each other's company. They spend the next hour conversing about the shrines. Zel would ask a question which would lead into another, and then another -and then another. Link did attempt to answer all her questions truthfully -though every now and then, her vernacular would escalate over his understanding and he'd end up staring at her blankly and shrugging. Sometimes she would grow slightly irritated and argue back with "don't you think you should know that?" and it would only make him turtle into himself even more. She would scribble something into her notebook anyway. Eventually, she began to notice her commitment on the subject was overwhelming him, and started to silence herself in sketching one of the monks that he described to her. Every so often Link would reach over and correct a facial feature she drew or an intricate design on the monk's accessories.

After awhile, he added another piece of wood onto the fire and settled more comfortably into his spot on the ground next to her. He relaxed his head onto the log behind him and closed his heavy eyelids, listening to the crackling of the fire and the sound of her graphite scratching against the pages as she silently wrote and sketched all the information she had received from him. With his head angled at her forearm, occasionally the breeze would gift him the soft scent of a flower. He couldn't exactly place it but the smell was sweet and citrusy with notes of spice and rose. Between the peaceful sounds and her lulling aroma, his breathing became longer, sated -his mind became blank and relaxed, and soon Link began to drift off.

When he came back to his senses a couple hours later, he noticed an unfamiliar weight on him. Link blinked his eyes, processing his surroundings, looked down at his lap, and saw her. Zel's notebook was closed nearby and she slept soundly -curled next to him with her head and hand on top of his thigh. He lifted his leg slightly, testing the ability to move and trying to see if he could shift her onto the ground without waking her. Instead, her body reacted instinctively in her sleep -her hand squeezing him just above his knee as she curled more into herself. She nuzzled her nose into the fabric of his pants, letting out a slow and lofty sigh, just like when she smelled his cooking earlier, and it sent another surge of warmth down his spine. He tensed by her touch and squeeze of his leg, the sound she made in her sleep, the proximity of them so close together, but he hadn't the heart to move or wake her. She seemed so peaceful and desperately in search of another persons connection. She must be as lonely as I am. He thought before he tilted his head back, sighed quietly, closed his eyes, and drifted off to sleep once more.

For the first time since their resurrection, Link and Zelda slept soundlessly without any nightmares chasing their dreams.