"Link, where's the bridge?" Zelda asked as she guided her horse next to Epona. Link gave her a jokingly confused look.
"Whatever do you mean, Zelda?" Link asked teasingly as he pointed out towards the first island pillar. "It's right there."
"Link. All I see is a few absurdly long pieces of wood connecting the islands. Where's. The. Bridge?" Zelda asked once more, praying deep in her heart that exactly what she knew was happening wasn't happening. Link, however, shattered those prayers.
"I'm pretty sure you just described a bridge. And that's it right there," Link said as he hopped off of Epona. Zelda stared off into the distance, trying to wrap her mind how any of this could have been possible for Hylians to build.
"Not everything was made with Sheikah technology, you know," Link said, appearing at the side of Zelda's horse, raising a hand in order to help Zelda down from the large saddle. Zelda allowed Link to take her hand and guide her off the horse as she continued to look onward at the wooden planks.
"All right, Zelda, there's two ways we can go about this," Link started in his teaching tone. Zelda sighed, now focusing on Link's words. Compared to other adventures he had gone on, this had to be nothing in comparison. "I can go first, clear the enemies and have you walk across on your own afterwards... or you can walk across with me. If I go first, you won't have to worry about Guardian Skywalkers, but you'll be alone crossing the bridge. If we go together, you'll have me to ensure you won't fall, but there's a chance Guardian Skywalkers will lock onto us and we'll have to fend them off. Your call."
Zelda looked down the cliff they were standing at. She watched as the ocean waves crashed against the heavy boulders lining the cliff walls. She then looked up to see two Guardian Skywalkers across the bridge, guarding the islands as they circled. As much as she wanted Link to be with her across the bridge, she would rather not have them both get shot down.
"I shall... I shall let you go first..." Zelda said, backing away slowly. Link nodded. In a flash, Link was sprinting along the planks towards the Guardian Skywalkers. Zelda watched in awe as Link effortlessly crossed the makeshift bridge. Either courage was truly a gift of his or he didn't think about the consequences of falling.
Zelda watched on as Link reached the islands. In only a few moments, Guardian lasers could be heard going off in the distance. After a few lasers,one of the Skywatchers had started smoking as it crashed to the ground. Zelda couldn't help but smile as she watched on. Link must have been having quite the time.
Suddenly, Zelda heard a loud neigh, snapping her out of her trance. She looked over to see Epona looking her directly in the eye. Zelda squinted.
"What? What is it?" Zelda asked. Epona did nothing but tilt her head toward the island. Zelda rolled her eyes. "That's none of your business..."
That horse was much too intelligent for its own good. Epona grunted as she returned to eating grass. After a few minutes, Zelda noticed the blue figure of Link down at the edge of the bridge yet again. Zelda squinted in order to make out what he was doing. He was... waving. He must have completed the Guardians out. Time to cross the bridge.
Zelda gulped as she looked over the cliff yet again. This was fine. This was okay. All she had to do was keep balance and not fall. Link was just on the other side of the bridge. Nothing to it. This was easy.
All right, Zelda... You can do this. You need the money... and to spend quality time with Link, she told herself as she took the first step onto the bridge. The bridge creaked a bit as Zelda instantly pulled her foot back. Oh dear...
From the other end of the bridge, Link looked onwards, watching as Zelda attempted to cross the bridge. Link sighed. He may have to go over there and walk her over anyway. It was getting increasingly difficult to watch as Zelda continued to take a step and then take a step back. Link smiled as he stepped onto the bridge yet again.
"I didn't need your help... I could have made it," Zelda sulked as she stepped off the bridge onto the grass of Davdi Island. Link chuckled as he guided Zelda onto the island, gently holding her hand in his. While Zelda was sulking that she needed assistance, this she could live with.
"Thank you, Link," Zelda said with a small smile. Link nodded, moving to take his hand away. Zelda, however, gripped firmly before he could pull away.
"Can we stay like this?" Zelda asked, taking this given opportunity. Link raised a confused eyebrow as Zelda quickly tried to come up with an excuse. "I... I don't wanna fall off the cliffs so, holding your hand would put me at much more ease..."
Link seemed to process her statement for a second before shrugging in acceptance. Link returned Zelda's grip, to Zelda's joy yet slight embarrassment, as the two walked along down the island fields. Zelda couldn't help but smile as they walked, the feeling of success flowing through her veins. Eventually, the two made it to the sides of the island, where ramps and wooden beams lay unused, leading downwards.
"This is it," Link said, pointing down the ramps. Zelda took a quick look before gulping yet again.
"The ores aren't on the top of the island?" Zelda asked. Link shook his head.
"Unfortunately not. There are some but they aren't worth a single rupee. The best ones are down there. We may even find another diamond if we're lucky. There should already be a hammer down there we can use. You ready?"
Zelda gripped Link's hand a bit tighter before nodding. The two began to make their way down the ramps, the wind growing stronger and stronger the further down they went.
"Hold on tight!" Link called out over the winds. "The winds can get a bit strong, they'll calm down in a few minutes!"
Link awaited Zelda's grip on his hand to get stronger, however he quickly realized the grip had all but disappeared. Confused, Link began to turn to see where the grip had disappeared to; however, in only a few seconds, the grip had returned not around his hand, but around his waist. Link looked down to see both of Zelda's arms wrapped tightly around him as she was looking worriedly but persistently ahead. Link couldn't help but smile to himself at the affection, however he made sure Zelda couldn't see it.
Eventually the two Hylians made their way around the cliffs, reaching the ends of the walkways. The winds had died down as Link and Zelda soon came to a stop. The wooden walkway had led to a widening ledge. This surface had a bit more room to walk around on, which Zelda had silently thanked the mountain for.
"Zelda, see those boulders and the black looking rocks?" Link asked, pointing towards the shiny darkened rocks stuck deep in the island's crevices. Zelda nodded.
"They look similar to the one I broke back when I camped on the Great Plateau," Zelda remarked, remembering the boulder she had hit with an axe back then.
"Exactly," Link said. "We'll be doing the same thing, except I will be showing you a better way more suited to you."
"Why can't I just use the hammer?" Zelda asked, using her own pointer finger to point at a hammer that sat peacefully against the face of the mountain. Link however, shook his head.
"I think that might be a bit too heavy for you, princess," Link said with a chuckle. Zelda however squinted her eyes. There it was again. The 'princess' nickname. Zelda allowed her arms to loosen their grip on Link's torso as she put her hands behind her back.
"So... what am I supposed to do here?" Zelda asked in a bit more of her usual old professional tone, a tiny pit appearing in her stomach. Link, who hadn't picked up on the tone having been used to it for so long, smiled as he brought out the Sheikah Slate. Zelda couldn't help but feel as if the pit in her stomach grew a bit more.
"So, I usually use the hammer to crack and break the ores. However you can also use a Sheikah Remote Bomb!" Link said cheerfully, expecting Zelda's eyes to glow with glee. Anything having to use Sheikah technology always had Zelda excited, however Zelda simply nodded. Link flinched just barely. Had he done something?
"All right then, I'll give it a try," Zelda said coolly as she held out her hand for the Sheikah Slate. The two had a bit of an awkward pause before Link handed the Sheikah Slate over to the Hylian princess. Zelda, showing surprisingly little interest in the task, opened up the controls to the Slate, lightly tapping on the squarish bomb icon.
With a flash, the bright blue bomb appeared in Zelda's grasp, a light illumination coming from the device. Link nodded as he watched the girl look around at the rocks, deciding where best to place the bomb.
"If I had to make a suggestion-" Link started, however Zelda raised a hand up.
"Don't worry Link, I understand the general premise," Zelda said, walking forward and setting the bomb down a slight distance away from the blackened rocks. "We don't want the ores to completely blow away if the bomb is too close, do we now?"
Link, who had now picked up on Zelda's slight coldness, decided best to stay quiet as he watched on. Zelda took a few steps back before tapping the detonate button. In a blue flash and a loud booming noise, the boulders and blackened rocks shattered, revealing a rainbow of assorted gems that had fallen to the ground.
"Simple enough," Zelda said to herself as she picked up the gems. Link opened his mouth to explain which gems were what, however Zelda simply opened the Sheikah Slate to the Hyrule Compendium.
"An amber... topaz... Ah! A sapphire! Those are worth a lot of money..." Zelda mumbered to herself. While the gems had certainly intrigued Zelda, thoughts of the nickname kept circling her mind. Why was it so hard for her to stop getting frustrated with him? It's not like he was doing anything wrong. But she couldn't help but feel like he was doing it on purpose, like he was avoiding her advances... if she could even call them advances. Zelda, with thoughts still swirling in her mind, went to place down another remote bomb.
While thoughts swirled around Zelda's mind, Link now had his own thoughts he was battling with. Why was Zelda so frustrated with him? Link thought back to the conversation they were having earlier before it hit him. Princess. Link internally sighed. Why did he get so nervous every time she asked a question with intimate underlinings? Yes, she used to be the princess, and a hundred years ago it would have been blasphemy, but that isn't how it is now. Zelda clearly wants to be closer. What was bothering him so much?
Link continued down his mental rabbit hole, watching as Zelda set off another bomb, before he looked upwards. Link's eyes grew wide as fear enveloped his face.
"Zelda..." Link called out as his gaze remained upwards. Zelda, still giving into her frustration, ignored him.
"Zelda, seriously wait a moment-" Link started, however Zelda cut him off.
"Link, I know what I'm doing! This isn't very hard," Zelda said as she went to place another bomb down.
"Zelda! Don't detonate that bomb!" Link yelled, now rushing towards Zelda. Zelda, not picking up on Link's panic, stepped back a few paces to move out the blast zone.
"Link! I've got this! What don't you understand about that?" Zelda said angrily as she tapped the detonate button yet again. This time however, Zelda heard more than just the bomb's explosion. Was that the sound of a rock moving? Zelda looked up to see a boulder falling, aimed directly where she was standing. Her eyes grew wide as fear sat firmly in her pupils. Did her repeated explosions cause a boulder to fall off the top of the island?
Zelda brought her hands up in a futile attempt to protect herself from the massive boulder falling her way. However, moments before the boulder could hit her, Zelda saw the familiar blue tunic shielding her body. With the Hylian Shield raised, a powerful fiery orange light shone from the shield as it engulfed the two Hylians. Time seemed to move slowly as Link grit his teeth.
Daruk's Protection had a maximum of three uses in a row before it broke entirely. The last two had been used in the battle against Calamity Ganon... meaning it was stuck on its last legs. Link hadn't needed to use the protection barrier since then. The barrier had never recharged, and this was its third use. Link could see the cracks in Daruk's Protection grow larger as the boulder grew closer. Link braced himself. It wouldn't hold against a boulder.
The boulder slammed onto Daruk's Protection, shattering the brilliant orange barrier as the boulder now crashed into the Hylian Shield. Time yet again slowed. Link barely had moments to react as the boulder's weight increased, only having been slowed for a second by Daruk's Protection. Link began to turn, trying to aim the boulder off his shield and off the ledge he and Zelda stood by. With his free hand, as he turned, he pushed Zelda out of the way of the boulder. Time began to speed up as Zelda flew towards the ground, now Link feeling his legs crush under the boulder's weight. However Link, with a powerful yell, managed to aim the boulder as it rolled off his shield into the water below.
Zelda landed on her bottom, trying to process everything that transpired. That all took less than a second. Link had created a plan and acted on that plan in less than a second's time.
However, even though Link succeeded in aiming the boulder off the mountain, he still had lost balance from being pushed by the heavy piece of hardened earth. Link fell, crashing to the ground as the Hylian Shield slipped from his arm.
"NO!" Link yelled trying to push himself off the ground and extending his arm, trying to catch the Hylian Shield as it tumbled off the mountain side along with the boulder. Link, his legs now incredibly sore from withstanding the weight of a boulder, leaned off the edge of the mountain with his arm still outstretched as he watched the Hylian Shield fall gracefully until it splashed into the waters below.
The Hylian Shield had been lost.
...